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the power of lessening, is justly chargeable with guilt. As man is not at liberty to pursue his individual interests to the injury of Society at large, neither is he at liberty to withhold the means which he possesses of promoting its welfare. He has no solitary path to tread. He is bound to his fellow men. Not only the ties of humanity, but the motives of Christian love, constrain him to do all in his power to diffuse the knowledge of redemption, to communicate to his lost race the tidings of pardon, to tell the wretched victim of cruelty, and superstition, that GOD IS LOVE, to direct the votary of sin and guilt to the mysterious cross of Christ, and lead the ignorant and forlorn worshipper of idols to the temple of the living God. And if the man who could tamely witness a shipwreck, and withhold his aid from the perishing mariner, would incur indelible reproach, much more will the Christian who can behold unmoved a shipwrecked world, deserve the keenest censure,-I had almost said, himself forfeit a right to the blessings which he refuses to communicate. I may, perhaps, be thought to speak warmly, but I must avow my persuasion, that, next to his own salvation, a Christian's first duty is to do all in his power to save others. And to what, Sir, was England itself indebted for the very advantages which now raise her so high above the nations of the earth? Was it not to missionaries that she

owed her own illumination with the light of life? Did not England once wander in the darkness of a Druidical superstition? Was it not Augustine and his humble followers (as a reverend friend has already observed), who planted about the year 596 the first Christian mission on our shores? And is there a single argument which can be advanced against missions to Africa and the East in the nineteenth century, which might not have been raised against missions to Britain in the sixth ?

But I abstain from pressing these points further. I will not dwell on the value of the soul of man, on the infinite love of God, on the unutterable glories of redemption, on the gulph of dark and interminable woe in which the world now lies, on the efficacy of the Gospel -its unlimited offers-its exhaustless grace-its matchless blessedness-its exuberant compassion. Sir, I will leave all these topics, though they involve the mighty elements of this question; and will proceed to observe, that if it be asked why a new Society was formed in our church, when two old and most venerable institutions already existed in it, I reply, that new circumstances, new information, new opportunities, new demands, new duties called for it. I reply that, when every division of Christians in our land was awaking to fresh energy, and framing additional plans for missions, we could not en

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dure the thought, that the Church of England, the glory of the Reformed Churches, should appear to be behind-hand in the general effort. I reply, that it is an humble attempt only that we are making, that we urge no one-violate no rule of ecclesiastical discipline, cast reflections on no other Societies; but, rejoicing most sincerely in the solid and extensive benefits effected by the venerable bodies, now for above a century at work in our church, simply propose to those who may be disposed to join us, the opportunity of trying to do something more for the salvation of the world. We appeal to the compassion of Christians. We submit the case to their candid judgment. We conceal nothing. Our plans are before the world. Our proceedings openly declare who we are, whom we send, to what church we belong, what stations we occupy, how many Christian teachers we support, the number of our schools, the converts we have gained, and the general success that has attended our efforts. We stand prepared also to receive every additional suggestion, to adopt every useful hint, to avail ourselves of every caution, in order to guard against attendant evils, and increase the amount of the good we achieve. In this spirit of frankness and of charity we began our Society, and in this we endeavour to prosecute it; and it is to this spirit that we attribute, under God,

much of the general approbation which has attended our labours.

It is true that, as an infant Society, we have misrepresentation to meet with ;-the obloquy which has rested on the cause of missions generally, has attached itself of course to a new institution; the natural jealousy for the reputation of old, and venerable, and most useful Societies, has at times shown itself. But to the transient and almost harmless surmises of objectors, we uniformly return an answer of charity and peace. We are quite aware that there is no good to be done in a world like this, without difficulties and misrepresentations. We consider also that prejudice is best removed by a silent and steady perseverance in well-doing. In this way we have already gained the hearts of numbers who once opposed us; and now we simply ask of those who still object to our plans,

not that they should yield their own opinions to ours, nor that they should transfer their aid from older Societies to our own,-not that they should sacrifice a single conscientious sentiment which they may have formed-but that they would redouble their efforts in their own more approved institutions, and believe that we are sincere and honest both in wishing to aid them, and in labouring for ourselves; and I think it is not too much to say, that the five thousand pounds lately voted by our Committee to the

Lord Bishop of Calcutta, for his Mission College at Calcutta, is some proof of the truth of these statements.

If, however, misrepresentation and envy must for a time attend us, still we are prepared, I trust, to receive it with meekness, for the love which we bear that Saviour, on whom the reproaches of the world once rested for our sakes. And surely if a heathen could utter the noble sentiment-" He who for a great cause endures calumny, judges rightly, for hatred does not long continue, but immediate splendour and future fame remain never to be forgotten;" if this, I say, is a sentiment recorded by Thucydides, relating to earthly projects, and looking for its reward to human praise; much more may a Christian Society like ours cheerfully bear the shafts of unkindness, considering the incalculable importance of their object, the fleeting nature of unmerited reproach, and the eternal benefits which will at length remain as the fruit of their humble labours. Sir, good actions are immortal;-but objections and dislikes pass away like the dew of the morning.

It is, moreover, a further encouragement to these efforts of benevolence, that the success of Missionary Societies abroad is intimately connected with the revival of piety, and the progress of charitable institutions at home. It has been sometimes thought, indeed, that the de-›

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