Christian world. Without agitating the question, whether some individuals may not be sanctified by the Spirit, who are precluded from all acquaintance with revealed religion, it must be obvious, that the souls of the heathen are in the greatest possible danger. This proposition, Without holiness no man can see the LORD, believers in Christianity cannot call in question. On this principle, are the morals and worship of the heathen such, as that good hopes of their salvation can be rationally entertained? Are they among the pure in heart, who shall see GoD? I ask for no decision, but such, as fairly results from reason, and the sacred Scripture. True, indeed, it is, that God is impartial, and that all just allowances will be made, in the day of judgment, for that part of pagan ignorance, which is inevitable, and for that, which, though not absolutely inevitable, could be avoided only by extraordinary efforts of integrity and reason. True, indeed, it is, that Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum, will incur a more severe punishment, than Sodom and Gomorrha. But is it not true, either, that Sodom and Gomorrha will go unpunished, or that their punishment will be but of moderate severity.

But, to prove the duty of enlightening the heathen, there is another argument, more summary and more conclusive. GOD sent his Son into the world in character of a missionary. In the same character Jesus Christ sent forth his disciples. Go into

all the world, said he, and preach the Gospel unto every creature. Since that time, the nature of Christianty has not altered for the worse; nor has the character of paganism changed for the better.

We have now, my hearers, at considerable length, made known the cause, in behalf of which we solicit your co-operation, your prayers, and charity. If we do nothing for the heathen, they will do much against us, they will bring against us this heavy accusation before the LORD, that, with competent knowledge of their ignorance and misery, we neglected those means, which were fairly at our command, for turning them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to GoDa

To activity and promptness in this work we are urged by the events of divine Providence At the next anniversary of this Board, some of us may have no part in its labours, nor any interest in the things, that are done under the sun. An illustrious member of our institution, distinguished not less by the splendour, versatility, and comprehensiveness of his talents, than for the extent of his erudition, and the warmth of his piety, has been borne away, as no ordinary spoil, by the king of terrors. I shall not attempt to display the greatness of that loss, which, by the death of Dr. DWIGHT, has been occasioned to the interests of good learning, correct morals, benevolent institutions, and evangelical religion. Of the value of the Gospel, as it stands

connected with the glory of God and the salvation of sinners, he has now, without question, conceptions, more just, enlarged, astonishing, and glorious, than ever employed his vigorous imagination, in the most favoured moments of his earthly existence. In these elevated conceptions let us strive to participate, by contemplating that combination of wisdom, justice, and grace, which is rendered so prominent and conspicuous in the Gospel of our Saviour. And let us see, not only that the ardour of our zeal, but the purity of our intentions, correspond with the magnitude and sublimity of the object, to which we profess attachment. No efforts concerning the Gospel, no external actions, let us be reminded, are certain evidence of the piety of those, from whom they proceed. While we are assured, that, as many, as have sinned without law, shall perish without law, it is equally true, and, to us, of more personal concernment, that they, who have sinned in the law, shall be judged by the law, in the day, when GOD will judge the secrets of all men by Jesus Christ.

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NOTE.

THOSE, who desire to be informed on this subject, will read, with great interest, in the twelfth volume of the Christian Observer, an abstract of the proceedings of the British Parliament on the subject of renewing the East India Company's charter. A few extracts may not be unacceptable to the reader. "In reply to the observation of Sir H. MONTGOMERY, that the morals of the Hindoos were already better, than those of the people of England, Mr. WILBERFORCE produced a great variety of extracts, all tending to disprove that assertion, and to show, that the moral and social character of the Hindoos is singularly debased. The documents, from which these extracts were taken, were, 1st, The answers of the Zillah judges to questions, put to them by Lord WELLESLEY, respecting the moral state of the people of India; which had been laid on the table of the House of Commons, and which exhibited a frightful picture of vice and moral degradation. 2dly, The works of such writers, as BERNIER, TOURNEFOURT, SONNERAT, SCRAFTON, &c. 3dly, The concurrent testimony of such men, as Governour HoLWELL, Lord TEIGNMOUTH, Sir JOHN MCPHERSON, Lord CORNWALLIS, Sir WILLIAM JONES, Sir JAMES MACKINTOSH, &c. &c. We shall not, at present, think it necessary to give the quotations at large. They agree remarkably in assigning to the natives of Hindostan an extraordinary degree of moral debasement, and they show, that the vices, imputed to them, are not confined to the lower orders, but that they equally prevail even in the highest class, that of the Bramins.-Mr. COLBROOKE says, To such a pitch of audacity has perjury

reached in this province, that a total distrust of human testimony is the consequence. Another gentleman, Mr. TETTERSAL, in the province of Decca, one of the most populous provinces in that part of the world, says, "The minds of the natives are wholly uncultivated. Of the duties of morality they have no idea. They are indolent and grossly sensual. They have all the vices of the savage life, without any of its virtues. They have no attachment, but what centres in self; for the ties of relationship seem to render inveteracy more inveterate. Mr. HOLWELL speaks of them, as the most corrupt people on the face of the earth, and the Bramins, as exceeding in wickedness every other class among them."

"In no part of the world, can there be found men," says a public officer of the government of Madras, writing to the governour, “to whose habits and affections, the practice of vice, through all its debasing, loathsome, and hideous gradations, seems so familiar and dear, as to the natives of this country." CHRIS. OBS. xi. 356.