world, and labour to promote it, you aim and labour, in the same proportion, for spreading happiness through the world. Neither the enemies nor the friends of the cause of Missions appreciate as they ought the mighty influence resulting from the success of this cause. So far as it makes progress among men, it is throughout identified with the progress of all the best interests of our race, for this world as well the world to come. It is the best pledge of the advancement of human elevation and human glory. It is essentially connected with the education of youth; the diffusion of literature, science and the arts; the establishment of civil and religious liberty; and the promotion of justice, purity, order and peace throughout the world. In short, it is that blessed cause in the progress of which every friend of man ought to rejoice, and to be desirous of co-operating to the extent of his capacity. It is that cause which, so far as it prevails, eradicates evil, removes, to the extent of its reign, the worst sources of human suffering; promotes useful knowledge; asserts and establishes the rights of men; is the best pledge of internal improvement of every valuable kind; and is alone capable of transforming a wilderness into a fertile and beautiful garden, and elevating man to the real glory of his rational and moral nature. Those who contribute any thing, then, to the promulgation of the Gospel throughout the world, contribute just so much to the melioration of the human race; not merely in respect to the interests of piety; but also in regard to every other interest, which either the wise statesman, the genuine patriot, or the enlightened scholar could wish to promote.

8. Consider, once more, now much the honour of our Master in heaven is involved in our compliance with the duty here recommended. The spread of the Gospel is the spread of that "Name which is above every name," and of that glory which not only we profess to make out chief end, but which is the chief end of all holy beings in the universe, and ought to be the supreme end of all created existence. It is extending the honour, and making known the unparalleled love of Him in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.' Disciple of Christ! can you resist this last appeal? Do you owe all you have and hope for to this Saviour? Do you expect in a little while to join that blessed Assembly whose enraptured song, through eternity, will be-"Unto Him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood, unto

Him be glory for ever and ever?" And will you not now take some interest, and make some efforts, for extending that glory? Nay, will you not now devote yourself, in some good degree, to adding as far as possible to that "multitude which no man can number, gathered out of every kindred and people, and nation and tongue," who shall spend an unwasting eternity in enjoying the love and the glory of Him who was slain, and who redeemed them to God by his blood!"

And now, Christian brethren, standing upon this interesting and hallowed ground, let me entreat you calmly and prayerfully to review what has been said, and to ponder it well. Ye who profess to have "tasted that the Lord is gracious," and to know by experience something of the value of the Gospel;-is what you have read according to the will of Christ, or is it not? If it be, can you venture, in full view of eternity, and of the judgment seat, to turn away and so say"We pray thee have us excused?" Well, be it so! But remember! that if you are excused from loving the Saviour supremely, and seeking his glory, and the advancement of his kingdom above your chief joy"-you will also, of course, be excused from sharing with him in the kingdom of his everlasting blessedness! This is not the mere judgment of a fallible mortal. The mouth of the Lord hath spoken it! And every one who loves the world more than the Saviour will find it awfully accomplished! O that I could cause you now to see the reality and importance of these things as I know you will one day view them! Yes, my friends, when you and the heathen shall meet before the bar of God, and when in the light of eternity, you shall see the insignificance of all earthly grandeur and glory, compared with the unfading treasures which the Gospel proclaims;-then, if not before, you will see that the half had never been told you of the importance of this subject.

The great scope of what has been said, is to convince professing Christians, not only that they ought to continue, systematically and perseveringly, to do all that they have ever yet done, for this most important of all causes; but that they are called to do much more than they have ever yet done. We ought to calculate on a great increase of missionary effort, with as little delay as possible. Those who take narrow views of this subject may, perhaps, think it enough to sustain, and a little to invigorate the missions already estab

lished.

But let not such an unworthy thought be entertained. The poor benighted heathen are passing into the eternal world by many thousands every day. While we deliberate and delay, they are rapidly falling beyond our reach. On the present plan of missionary labour, two centuries, nay, ten centuries would not suffice to evangelize the whole population of the globe: and, in the mean time, many thousands of millions would have sunk to irrecoverable ruin. The work must be made, under the divine blessing, to proceed upon a greatly augmented scale, or, at the end of fifty generations, it will be still but half done.

Let none say, that God will, in his own time, convert the world; and that all we have to do is to "pray without ceasing," and wait for the accomplishment of his promise. It is an utterly false and mischievous sentiment! It is the miserable refuge of indolence and parsimony. The Gospel has always been propagated by human exertion; and never, we may say with confidence, never has it been propagated signally and extensively, but by the instrumentality of efforts marked in a corresponding degree with zeal and heroic labour.

Ministers of the Gospel! This subject addresses itself most solemnly to you. You are appointed to be the leaders and guides of the people. To you it belongs to possess in the highest degree, and to exhibit with the purest lustre, and the most active efficiency, the high and holy spirit of Christian benevolence of which we have spoken. It is your's to enlighten those who are uninformed on this great subject; to exhort the indifferent; to stimulate the tardy; to shame the parsimonious; and to go before all in the faith, the love, the public spirit, the courage, and the heroic enterprise which are indispensable in this immense and most noble field of Christian effort. Great is your responsibility. Great will be your guilt, if found unfaithful; and, if otherwise, "great will be your reward in heaven."

Professing Christians! once more I say, consider what has been said. Your lot has been cast in a solemn and eventful period; a period in which all we have and are, are put in requisition for Christ. Will you dare to protest any of his drafts on your hearts, your time, or your substance? The time is short. The fashion of this world is passing away. But the record of what we do, or what we do not, will be eternal. This world is Christ's. It is infallibly to be subdued to the love and power of Christ. And the work is to be accomplished, not by miracle, but by human instrumentality. This work VOL. IV. No. III.-2 U

is now proceeding; and no man can be an idle spectator of its progress without sin. The requirements of the Saviour are too plain to be mistaken, and too solemn to be trifled with. His eye is upon us; and his judgment is at the door. God grant that you may be found faithful unto death; and that when that great crisis shall arrive, you may be able to look back with holy satisfaction, with heavenly joy, on much done for Christ and your generation; not as the ground of your confidence; not as your title to eternal life: No, the righteousness of Him who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, being the only foundation of a sinner's hope; but as means by which a Divine Saviour has enabled us to glorify the riches of his grace; as the fruits of his blessed Spirit; as evidences of vital union to his body; and as pledges of admission to the joys and glories of his presence!

MINIMUS.

ART. II.-REMARKS ON THE USES OF CHASTISEMENT.

THE intermingling of a few advices, particularly directed to the case of ordinary Christians under affliction, with our usual treatises and reviews, cannot, we are persuaded, be unwelWe therefore take our pen for the purpose of direct address to sufferers, of whatever kind.

come.

It is only in the Word of God that we learn to consider affliction as a blessing The utmost which the most refined philosophy can effect is to remove from our sorrows that which is imaginary, to divert the attention from the cause of distress, or to produce a sullen and stoical resignation, more like despair than hope. The religion of the Gospel grapples with the evil itself, overcomes it, and transforms it into a blessing. It is by no means included in the promises made to true Christians that they shall be exempt from suffering. On the contrary, chastisement forms a necessary part of that paternal discipline, by which our heavenly Father fits his children for their eternal rest in glory. The Psalmist asserts the blessedness of the man who is chastened by the Lord, with this qualification as necessary to constitute it a blessing,

Psalm xciv. 12.

that he is also instructed in divine truth. By this we understand that the influence of chastisement is not physical; that mere suffering has no inherent efficacy; but that the afflictions of this life are, in the hand of God, instrumental in impressing divine truth upon the heart, awakening the attention of the believer to the consideration of his own character and situation, the promises of the Gospel, and the rewards of heaven. The child of God is assured that all things work together for his good; in this is plainly included the pledge, that chastisements and afflictions shall eventually prove a blessing; and this is verified by the experience of the whole Church.

The subject can scarcely ever be inappropriate. We are all familiar with suffering, in our own persons or the persons of those whom we love: we are either now enduring, or shall at some future time endure severe afflictions. Among our readers, it is natural to suppose that some are at this very moment labouring under burdens of grief. Some, it may be, are experiencing the infirmities and pains of a diseased body, others are mourning over the loss of friends and relatives, and others still are living in the dread of trials yet to come. There are few of us therefore to whom the inquiry may not be interesting, How is affliction a blessing?

The question may be thus answered. The chastisements which God inflicts upon his children are profitable to them, as they tend under the Divine blessing to promote piety in the heart. Or more particularly, chastisement is useful, because it convinces the believer of his helplessness and misery when left to himself, and of his entire dependence on God; because it leads him to renew his repentance, puts his faith to the test, and strengthens his Christian graces; because it contributes to the exercise of filial submission, and fixes the mind upon the heavenly inheritance. Let us, with prayer for divine assistance, meditate upon these truths.

You

1. Chastisement is useful, because it tends to convince the believer of his misery, and shows him that without Christ he cannot be happy. And in order to bring this subject more directly before the mind, let us for a moment consider our readers as suffering under the pangs of some great affliction. will at once agree with us in the position, that if you had more faith, you would have less trouble of mind; or rather that if you had faith sufficient, you would be altogether clear from the deep impressions which lie upon you. Because we very well