like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour." No longer ensnared by his wiles, no longer deceived by his devices, the sons of men will breathe a purer air. The gospel shall have free course and be glorified. Second, an amazing revival of spiritual religion. It is called a resurrection of souls. (Rev. xx. 4.) The spirit of the martyrs shall live again. When the servants of God, like Stephen, shall be "full of faith, and power, and of the Holy Ghost," then will the voice of their joyful experience be-"Now thanks be to God, who always causeth us to triumph in Christ." Thus shall they live, and reign with him. And shall these bright days terminate?

4. Yes, for "after that Satan must be loosed for a little season," (Rev. xx. 7.) The rest of the dead are to live again. The spirit of ancient wickedness will be revived. Then the days before the flood and the scenes of Sodom will be reenacted. How, by this sad apostacy, will the depravity of man be shown -even when placed in the most favourable circumstances! How clearly will it be made known that all good can only live by constant supplies of grace,-that "even religion cannot perpetuate itself!" And how manifestly "will heaven be shown to exceed in glory the most perfect condition of things on earth!” And what will be the issue of all this?

5. The grand assize. Rev. xx. 12. "And I saw the dead small and great stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works."

VALEDICTORY ADDRESS PRESENTED TO
REV. R. MOFFAT.*

DEARLY BELOVED SERVANT OF CHRIST—

We, ministers and christian friends of Manchester and its vicinity, assembled in public meeting to welcome you once more among us prior to your embarkation, to resume your missionary labours in Africa, adopt this method of address to embody and put

The following is an Address presented to the Rev. Robert Moffat, on his intended return to South Africa, at a public meeting of the friends of missions, held in Grosvenor Street Chapel, Manchester, November 15th, 1842, by the Rev. Richard Fletcher.

on record the affectionate sentiments we feel towards you, and the good wishes we cherish for your future welfare and usefulness. When you first returned from the distant scene of your 23 years' labours and successes, to revisit the land of your birth, great was the joy which prevailed among the christians of this town to see your face once more in the flesh-with equal delight and satisfaction do we again hail your appearance here, mingled indeed this time with a feeling of sadness at the prospect of having so soon to utter the heart-rending word farewell.

As friends and supporters of the great cause of missions to the heathen, in common with thousands of our fellow countrymen, we claim an interest in you as one of its most active and successful labourers. But we feel that we have an additional and a special claim upon you, from your former connection with Manchester, where, when but a stripling, you enjoyed the invaluable friendship and counsel of the late beloved and venerated Rev. William Roby; where you first became a member of a christian church; where the spark of missionary zeal in your breast was first fanned into a flame; where the desire to devote yourself to missionary labour was first cherished and directed, and from whence you were sent forth, with the prayers and affections of many christians, as an ambassador to the heathen.

You appear here in far other circumstances this evening from those in which you were placed, when publicly commended to the grace of God by your pastor, Mr. Roby; then you were a raw recruit, now you have returned from the battle-field laden with the spoils of victory; then you were a missionary in purpose and in consecration only, now you can tell us of deeds which have been done, of nations instructed and converted, having come to rehearse how God through you has opened the door of faith unto the gentiles.

In hailing your appearance in this character we shall not adopt the language of compliment and flattery. That, we are assured, would be as painful to you as it would be dishonourable to us. No! we too firmly believe that "he that planteth is nothing, and that he that watereth is nothing," in comparison of him "that giveth the increase," unduly to exalt the instrument and overlook the only efficient cause of all the good you have been the means of accomplishing; and we are too conscious ourselves of the difficulties, temptations and dangers of the christian con

flict, and of the humiliating results of daily experience in the ways of God, to be so utterly wanting in sympathy with one who is himself compassed with infirmities, as to grieve his spirit by fulsome adulation.

Nevertheless, we should deem ourselves culpably indifferent to the gracious operations of that God whose hand has been with you, not to magnify his grace in you, by noticing and recording our sense of the eminent services you have been enabled to render to the blessed cause of missions to pagan lands.

We believe the desire to devote yourself to the service of Christ among the heathen, first excited by casually perusing a missionary placard on a wall, was of God; we praise his name that he who called you by his grace into the fellowship of the gospel, put this wish into your heart; that he accepted of your offer of service; that his providence directed your steps to that quarter of the world where it has been your lot to labour, and that he has crowned your benevolent endeavours with so large a measure of success.

From frequent private letters which some of us have been in the habit of receiving from you for years past, from the accounts published from time to time in the chronicles of the society which you have served, from your various speeches delivered since your return to this country, and above all from that noble, enduring monument of your fame, the "Missionary labours and scenes in South Africa," now happily given to the world, we have acquired some knowledge of your course as a missionary of the cross.

In tracing your career, we first of all observe with devout thankfulness how the special providence of God has been your shield by day and by night, protecting you in journeyings often, in perils of robbers, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the sea, in perils in the wilderness: saving you from the ferocity of wild beasts, and the more ferocious passions of untutored savages; from falling by the extremities of parching thirst, pinching hunger, excessive labour and fatigue, or fatal disease. What but the ceaseless care of Him in whose hand your breath is, and whose are all your ways, could, amidst so much exposure, have preserved you alive unto this day?

We have observed with admiration and thankfulness, that,

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after the example of the apostle, who "though free from all men, yet made himself servant unto all that he might gain the more, who unto the Jews became as a Jew, that he might gain the Jews, to them that were under the law as under the law, that he might gain them that were under the law, to them that were without law, as without law, that he might gain them that were without law; who to the weak became as weak, that he might gain the weak; who was made all things to all men, that he might by all means save some,”—you have been enabled to condescend to the lowly condition of uncivilized men, to dwell among them, to eat of their food, lodge in their huts, and join in their avocations, in order thoroughly to understand their character, win their confidence, and ultimately to save their souls. We have noticed how, to teach the poor barbarians the humanizing arts of civilized life, as well as to supply yourself and them with a few conveniences and comforts, you cheerfully submitted to the drudgery of manual labour; with your own hands felling timber, making bricks, welding iron, building houses, and performing all the work of the husbandman in the garden and the field. Nor can we but think that he who filled Bezaleel the son of Uri with his Spirit, “in wisdom and in understanding, and in all manner of workmanship," for the construction of the tabernacle, specially furnished you, as he did an illustrious labourer in another sphere, the lamented Williams, with the shrewdness to devise and skill to execute so many operations to which you had not been trained. And we rejoice with you that at length you reaped the fruits of these humble and exhausting labours, having been privileged to witness no small progress among the people in learning the various trades, and to behold the lovely sight of houses and gardens, and cultivated fields, rising in the midst of savage wilds.

Amidst bodily exertions so continued and laborious as you had to undergo, and such lengthened and perilous journeys as you had to undertake, it has equally excited our surprise and gratitude, that you could find time and energy for the more wearying toils of study and mental application, so as to reduce a barbarous and parole language to a grammatical and written form, and prepare the elementary works necessary for others to acquire it; and especially that you have been enabled to translate into this strange tongue, spoken by so many tribes, scattered

over a vast extent of territory, a large portion of the word of God, thus laying open the precious treasures of revelation to millions of the sons of Africa.

Cast among a people passionately addicted to commandoes, rapine, and bloodshed, a people unacquainted with any examples either among themselves or such Europeans as they had previously come in contact with, other than those of the most obvious selfishness, we rejoice that you had grace given to you to tread in the steps of him who "pleased not himself," to prove to the heathen, by years of unrequited disinterestedness, that you sought not theirs, but them; were not influenced by any sinister motive, but by the pure desire of doing them good; that you shed the oil of a peace-loving spirit upon the surges of fierce and contentious natures, and that thus, combined with prudent conduct and wise counsels, you were enabled to acquire so great an influence over many savage nations, as materially to diminish the amount and to mitigate the horrors of war, and largely to induce in them a taste for the gentle arts of peace.

Above all, it behoves us on this occasion to express our gratitude to God for having been graciously pleased to enable you to make full proof of your ministry as a missionary of the cross, a preacher to the heathen of the glorious gospel of the blessed God. We have learned with delight that you have not suffered yourself to be diverted from this your proper business, by those inferior, though still necessary labours, at which we have just glanced; but that you have diligently, perseveringly, and faithfully sought to save the souls of the heathen, by telling them the wonderful story of redeeming love, and unfolding to them the great doctrines of salvation, exhibiting at the same time, in your own conduct, a living example and specimen of the meekness, humility, benevolence, and holiness of the gospel which you preached. Surrounded as you must have been by temptations, of which we can form no adequate conception, we bless God who has kept you from falling, and enabled you to live in all good conscience and fidelity unto this day.

Many of your friends in the church assembling within these walls, had long to sympathize with you in the dark night of toil, during which your faith and patience were so sorely tried; and many were the prayers we offered up, that at length the dayspring of spiritual prosperity might visit you from on high. But