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that period, our population has risen from six to twelve millions." Look forward twenty-five, fifty, a hundred years. When the population of our country shall equal that of all Europe, who can calculate the extent of her influence? It will emanate from the intellectual and moral character of the people. It will take its colouring from our religion. Ac cording to the principles of obligation laid down in the gospel, this country does indeed owe, and long will owe, a deep debt to mankind. Its amount must be determined by our moral power, as a people, of affecting their interests. And verily it is not small. Free, educated, with the Bible in our hands, and nothing to prevent its full influence on our hearts; at perfect liberty to meet in any numbers, and consult on any measures; there is nothing here to hinder the entire concentration of all the resources of the church. And I cannot help repeating, that American Christians are in the best possible condition to do good, precisely in the way in which most good can be done; to use just the weapons of warfare which apostles found to be mighty; to go in the simplicity of the gospel, with the single-heartedness of truth and love, and carry to our perishing fellow-men, the blessings of salvation. Indeed we are debtors to the world. The Head of the church has brought this great debt upon us, and it must be paid. Now, how shall we pay it? This is the question for most solemn consideration; and let none put it off; for the debt must be paid.,

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4. We owe it to the universal church of Christ, to do our part in carrying forward his cause, and accomplishing his purposes of mercy in the world.

As there is but one true religion, so there is but one church of the Lord Jesus Christ among men. The obligation to send the gospel to every creature rests on the whole body of the faithful. They must see to it, that the messages of mercy are sent to the ends of the earth. All must do their part of this work of love. But as God has placed us in a situation peculiarly favourable to our feeling the full power of religious truth, and so of being peculiarly holy, and peculiarly devoted to the cause of our gracious Redeemer; so the church at large, and the world, ought to be made to see and feel our warmer piety, our higher and holier zeal, our more expansive benevolence.

For ages, the true method of promoting religion had been sadly misunderstood. And when Providence placed the church in America on its own resources, the general expectation was, that we should become a nation of infidels. And even now, thousands in the world imagine that religion cannot live and flourish without the fostering care of civil government. America, therefore, owes it to the universal interests of the church, and to that method of promoting religion, which must be

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every where adopted, before religion, can have universal sway to be: very choly, very zealous, very benevolent to undertake enterprises..on a scale which measures the earth, and to demonstrate that they can be accomplished by the power of truth and love. The church in this country must not only sustain herself, and purify the nation, but she must stretch out her arms, and make the whole world feel the strong embrace of her benevolence.

There are Christians enough now in the United States if they will only throw aside every carnal weapon, and take the whole armour of God, and go forth in their strength to subyert all the ancient foundations of error; and pull down all the strong holds of sin;; and erect the standard of the cross over every demolished temple of idolatry; and pour the light of life into every dark habitation of cruelty, in the whole world.

"These weapons of our holy war,

Of what almighty force they are!"

The world does not know it yet :—the church does not fully understand it. The omniscience of God's word, the omnipotence of God's truth, only need be fully appreciated, to show that the church has resources, which render the evangelizing the world a reasonable enterprize.

III. THE VIEWS WHICH HAVE BEEN TAKEN OF OUR SUBJECT, SHOW HOW UNFOUNDED ARE THE SUSPICIONS AND JEALOUSIES - WHICH ÁRE ENTERTAINED OF THE MISSIONARY CAUSE, AND HOW UNWARRANTABLE IS THE OPPOSITION MADE TO IT.

They who are engaged in this cause, declare in presence of their Maker, and before the world, that they renounce the use of all carnal weapons that they acknowledge the lawfulness of no measures, but such as Christ and his apostles approved. A single sentence expresses their means and measures-they speak the truth in love. They, indeed; feel horror at opposition made to the pitre and benevolent religion of the gospel; but they are entirely willing-nay, earnestly desirous, that the use of any means or methods of extending its influence, different from those appointed in the Bible, may be denounced, and exposed. And the more clearly, the better. For they wish only to know what God teaches, and to do what God commands.

That perfect religious liberty, too, which is secured to Christians of this country, is regarded by them as all-important, nay, nécessary to the success of their enterprise. The full and free use of their weapons requires it deprived of it, indeed, they could not put forth half their strength. Indeed, should revivals of religion proceed as they lately

have done and the church go forward as she has gone, it is a thousand times more probable, that the enemies of religion will endeavour to lay restraints on conscience, than that her friends in this country will seek an alliance with the ruling powers. And truly the indications are already such, as may well rouse up Christian jealousy. Let the church be awake, and watchful of the liberty with which God has blessed her. Many already show that they want nothing but power, to break up every plan of religious benevolence which Christians have formed, and scatter their resources to the winds of heaven. But, brethren, stand fast, and fear not. The God of benevolence is with us the Lord of hosts is our refuge, and our weapons are of everlasting strength. We will hope by well-doing to put to silence the ignorance of foolish men, and allay all evil suspicion of our designs. But should opposition increase, sooner will we part with all that we hold dear in life, and with life itself, than relinquish the privilege of labouring without hinderance, in our Lord's, vineyard; of pursuing our efforts to glorify God, and bless mankind, in the way pointed out in the Bible.

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Opposition is altogether unreasonable. Express its true character, and it amounts to this: You shall not, if it can be prevented, oarry the truths of the gospel to the heathen. You shall not turn them from their base and foul idolatry to the living God. You shall not convert them from their impure and bloody rites, to the pure and spirit. ual worship of the Holy One. Their licentiousness, their dark fanaticism, their human sacrifices, and all their hopelessness shall continue. The morality, the doctrine, the hope of the gospel shall not be made known to them. They shall never hear the voice of mercy, nor see the light of life. But the unabated curse shall rest on them, and they shall wither and die under it for ever.' Redeemer of men! why should the kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take council together against thee, the Lord's Anointed? What spirit possesses the enemies of thy cause-the cause of truth of love; of heaven?

But let us pause a moment, to look at the subject a little more minutely. See one of our villages not that one, where an infidel lawyer and physician have stationed themselves, to live on the vices, and (the proper fruits of vice,) the discases of their fellow-men; where gambling, and the tricks of gamblers, are made to supply the place of knowledge and industry; and where ardent spirit brings in its legion of devils to possess and to destroy. Alas! the faithful missionary is needed there, as much as in the islands of the sea! But turn from this odious place, to that, where the people, appreciating the value of religion, have chosen for themselves, a pious, learned, and faithful minister, to teach them and their children, the doctrine of Christ and the way to heaven: where grandsires, just

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on the verge of heaven, repeat old Simeon's song, and then look on children, and on children's children, following in the same path to the Mount Zion above; where fathers hold forth the word of life by a holy example, before their families; and mothers enforce the lesson by all the sweetness of female piety; where the young are strong to do good, and find their pleasures in the fulfilment of their duty; and where lisping infancy is taught to sing hosannas to the Son of David. O, what a scene of loveliness! Here are the charities of domestic, and the kindness of social life. Here peace descends like the dew of Hermon: and love, like the holy oil, which consecrated God's high priest, diffuses its blessedness through the whole society. Here are heard the inspiring notes of hope, and the higher strains of heavenly joy-Nor need we wonder ; for heaven is here begun on earth. Now contrast this scene, with the ignorance, the tyranny, the licentiousness, the cruelty, the debasement, the brutality of heathenism!-Well; it is the object of the missionary enterprise, to shed light into all those dark habitations of cruelty; to pour through those sinks of sin the purifying waters of salvation; to awaken love in the hearts of the cruel, and hope in the bosoms of the wretched; to give the bread of life to the perishing, and salvation to the lost. And must this work of love, in this land of light, have to encounter the fierce and steady opposition of determined enemies!-Father forgive them, for they know not what they do!

But the work must be done-and it will be done. God has said it. The church has heard his voice; and is girding on her armour of heavenly proof; and is going forth in the name and spirit of her Redeemer ; and the Lord goes before her. Every mountain shall be levelled, and every valley shall be exalted; the crooked places shall be made straight, and the rough places smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God and all kindreds and tribes of men on earth, and the ransomed in heaven, the four living creatures, and the four and twenty elders, and the cherubim and seraphim, that stand in presence of the divine glory, in strains,

"Loud as from numbers without number, sweet

As from blest voices, uttering joy,"

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shall celebrate the everlasting triumphs of Truth and Love.

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OBJECTIONS OBVIATED, AND GOD GLORIFIED, BY THE SUCCESS OF THE GOSPEL AMONG THE HEATHEN.

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ACTS xi. 18.—When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, then hath God also to the gentiles granted repentance unto life.

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Ir gives us a peculiar pleasure to accompany the missionaries through those regions, and along the very paths, once consecrated by the residence and the journeys of Christ and his apostles. But how much more interesting to the missionaries themselves, to walk in the footsteps, and stand on the precise spot, where our blessed Lord walked and stood, when upon earth. What mingled emotions must be enkindled in the bosom of the pious pilgrim, while he drinks of the same fountain which afforded refreshment to the Son of God when weary with journeying and not only this; but enjoys the privilege of gazing on the hallowed place where he became incarnate ;—where he first. saw the light of this world ;-where he closed his eyes in death;—where he arose from the sepulchre ;-and where he was parted from his disciples, and ascended into heaven, while in the very act of blessing them. It is no superstition to be tenderly affected by scenes like these: it is the genuine effect of the association of ideas, in minds imbued with the love of Christ. It must have occurred to the attentive reader of the journals of our missionaries, that they often present facts, which bear a strong resemblance to incidents recorded in the Acts of the Apostles: and we are especially struck with this analogy, when the facts occurred in the same place: as, when we read the accounts of their visits to Jerusalem, to Bethany, to Gethsemane, to Calvary, to Bethlehem, to Nazareth, and to the sea of Tiberias; and of their journeys through Samaria to Galilee, and along the borders of Tyre and Sidon.

It is worthy of remark also, that the principles on which the gospel is now

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