pray to be spared the greater agony of feeling that, if lost, you have not done what you might and ought for his salvation!

Death removes us from time into eternity. All our relationships have a bearing on that eternity. We are all immortal, and must dwell for ever in a state the most wretched or blissful. Do we entirely believe this great truth? Can anything equal its solemnity? Should it not be your chief, your uttermost desire through life, that all your beloved connexions should awake to a glorious and blessed immortality? Can anything equal the honour, the bliss, the joy of then appearing a redeemed family-a holy family-a united family-a family in heaven? Would you not willingly encounter all toils, any sufferings, any death to realize it?

Allow the reverse to present itself to your mind. Suppose that in that great day there was an exception; that all of your beloved family were admitted to the heavenly bliss-except one. That all were there-but a revered father; all-but a devoted mother; all-but an endeared son! How could you bear the agony of that discovery?

If so fearful, so irretrievable, then, should you not seek with your whole soul to prevent it now? In your family, as it is now found, is there not at least one member, of whom you must think that he is unprepared for death and heaven? If he were to die now, die as he is, would you not have just reason to fear that he would never see light, never see you in peace? And can you bear to think of him-your child, your parent-falling away from the bliss of heaven and the presence of God, down, down to the lowest depths of darkness and perdition for ever and for ever? Oh, if you would prevent the horrible catastrophe, prevent it now! Now is the acceptable time, now is the day of salvation. To-morrow may be too late. Your relative may be lost, and you may be guilty of his blood. You ought not to endure to live in comfort a day with him who is living without God; nor to accept with complacency the love of him who declines to love the highest object of affection.

Awake, then, from your slumbers; listen not to the subtle spirit of procrastination. Too much time has been lost already. Every hour the unconverted and impenitent remains such, he remains in rebellion against the author of his being, and stands exposed to his righteous but inexorable wrath. By all the con

siderations which have passed before you, with all their accumulated power; by your tenderest relationships and most solemn vows; by the misery and the guilt of those you most deeply love; by the encouraging promises and abounding mercy of God; by the bliss of heaven and the untold horrors of perdition, aspire to be a saved, a happy family!-Dr. A. Reed.

THE PREDICTED CONVERSION OF CHINA. "Lo, these shall come from the land of Sinim." China with all her children is to be added to the train of our immortal and all-victorious Prince. Hand in hand with all the other tribes and kindreds of the gentile world, she shall be seen travelling up to "the mountain of the Lord," "bringing her sons in her arms, and carrying her daughters upon her shoulders." "Lift up thine eyes round about," saith Jehovah to Zion, "and behold, all these gather themselves together and come to thee. As I live, thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them on thee as a bride doeth”—(verse 18). "Here is an object indeed, whose magnitude beggars description -the salvation of a whole empire-the most important empire upon earth-itself more extensive than all Europe, and containing at least one third of earth's entire population! Look where we may beneath the wide expanse of the heavens, we can find no distinct enterprise so laudable, so imperious, so inconceivable in its results, as the conversion of China." "How infinitely vast -how worthy of all sacrifice, all hazard, all experiment-does the moral elevation of this nation appear in connexion with the Redeemer's glory! Here is a triumph, a trophy for his victorious grace; a gem as pure and as bright as earth can offer to deck his mediatorial crown! With the eye of this gracious Being upon us, and his heart upon the salvation of those who have been promised him as his inheritance, what can express our gratitude, evince our discipleship, or display our allegiance and love, if the conversion of China be not the object of our prayers, and plans, and utmost endeavours ?"

Nevertheless, brethren, have not our missionaries again and again complained of, and wept over the heartlessness shown by the christians of England toward the claims of this unrivalled

empire? and for these reiterated complaints "is there not a cause ?" What attempt have we made as churches for its regeneration-worthy of the enterprise or even equal to the opportunities by which Providence has allured us into it, as a field where we might sow and reap the fruits of the Spirit and of Paradise? How small and divided the band of christian heroes, who have defied the rulers of darkness in the high places of that land! Are we guiltless of neglecting its welfare or not? Behind what excuse can we shield ourselves? By what arguments defend the listlessness we have thus criminally evinced? Is it not far better for us, in consciousness of omitted and violated obligations, to "hold our peace in the presence of the Lord God," than presume to ask, "Am I my brother's keeper?" What apology can we offer which shall abide the scrutiny of omniscient heaven-which shall still "the small voice" of conscience, accusing us in the moments of "unbroken solitude"which shall satisfy myriads of the Chinese, who, during our apathy, have sunk into the horrors of a pagan's grave, exclaiming in agony indescribable, "no man careth for my soul?" They lived-but are dead. They died in ignorance-we might have instructed them; without hope-we might have unfolded to them the heavenly state; without Christ—we might have pointed them to "the Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world." And still they are dying! Now, while I speak, while you listen, they are dying! See! how they pass along, melancholy, sad, and speechless, sinking down into endless night! O if they would but stay till we could yet make one attempt for their salvation! No! they would, but cannot, stay! They are gone-they are gone! We shall meet them next in judgment."

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And is this unconcern for "the land of Sinim" to remain as a spot on our feasts of charity?" to act as a barrier, restraining the blessings which heaven, in answer to supplication and as a recompense for our self-denial, toil, and prayerfulness, is pledged to give liberally? Rather shall not the remembrance of defection in duty be a stimulus to immediate, devout, well-sustained action for the future? Why should we be dilatory to meliorate that which is imperfect? Why be afraid to foster in the bosom of our churches that manly piety which shall anticipate events, not wait for them, which shall embolden us and all the re

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deemed, "as an army with banners," manifold but one, to move forward "to the help of the Lord against the mighty ?" Soon the conflicting hosts shall engage, the battle be joined, and is the day to be ours? Is China to be Christ's? Hark! the voice, the emphatic voice of Providence and of Prophecy proclaims to us from "the excellent glory," that "Sinim" shall be converted to the Messias; but it is with us, as his disciples, that the responsibility of this experiment rests; it is by us, as his soldiers, that the victory is to be achieved. Up, then, to the field! 66 'Fight the good fight." Resolve to conquer! Die, rather than be conquered!

Brethren, the longed-for crisis is come! Do we now wait for China? No! China waits for us! Providence, by commerce, has given us access to no fewer than five ports of that magnificent nation, and by conquest has facilitated our entrance among its inhabitants, as bearers of celestial light, as apostles of good tidings. What more can we desire? What greater inducement need we to go up at once and possess this "land of promise" in the name of "the High and Lofty One ?" Of what region now "in the shadow of death" have we a right to entertain such bright and glowing expectations? Does not the Bible, as the prophet of hope, now turn the eyes of all the soldiers of the cross to it as the field on whose ample plains the church, an army terrible with the banners" of truth, is to wage war with the powers of hell to win a certain but bloodless victory? Oh, who does not pant to gain a vantage ground whence he can look down and behold the militant hosts of Israel, pressing onward with unslackened pace and invincible prowess "from conquering to conquer"-putting the "armies of the aliens" to flight, until every enemy be subjugated-the shout of battle and the din of strife die away amid the louder hallelujahs of peace!

That such will be the subjection of Sinim to the christian church-rapid, yea almost immediate, we entertain not a single doubt. Altered is our position from that of Alexander Valignano, general of the Roman Catholic missions to the East, who, while he resided at Macao, daily turned his face toward the coast of China, and being oppressed with the melancholy reflection that it had been for ages "hermetically sealed" against the introduction of divine truth, with outstretched arms, and in the spirit of a prophet, often exclaimed with impassioned em

phasis, "O rock, rock, when wilt thou open ?" On ourselves, brethren, and on our times, we may pronounce the benediction of the Redeemer-" Blessed are our eyes, for they see, and our ears for they hear; for verily, many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which we see, and have not seen them, and to hear those things which we hear and have not heard them." China now is opened! "The rock" has been cleft!—a way, a high-way has been prepared for the triumphant chariot of the Lord-the people wait for his reign, and many signs and wonders are traceable on the wide expanse of heaven, omens and pledges of its being already the land of Immanuel.

Milne.

PHYSICAL SUFFERINGS OF OUR LORD.

A learned German physician, George Gottlieb Richter, in a treatise devoted to the subject of our Lord's crucifixion, has scientifically defined the character of those tortures which a crucified person endured, and which it seems well that the christian reader should understand. We are only acquainted with the work through the extracts of Jahn and Rosenmüller, to the former of whom we are indebted for the following passage:

"The position of the body is unnatural, the arms being extended back, and almost immovable. In case of the least motion, an extremely painful sensation is experienced in the hands and feet, and in the back, which is lacerated with stripes. The nails, being driven through the parts of the hands and feet which abound in nerves and tendons, create the most exquisite anguish. The exposure of so many wounds to the open air brings on an inflammation, which every moment increases the poignancy of the suffering.

"In those parts of the body which are distended or pressed, more blood flows through the arteries than can be carried back into the veins. The consequence of this is, that a greater quantity of blood finds its way from the aorta into the head and stomach, than would be carried there by a natural and undisturbed circulation. The blood-vessels of the head become pressed and swollen, which of course causes pain, and a redness