and the seats of the Inquisition must be purged with blood.

From the fury of these desolating judgments we have hitherto been preserved. Righteousness exalteth a nation." (Prov. xvi. 24.) It would appear as if God would thus do honour to a Church holding pure doctrine, and to a State, united with that Church, which hath defended the true Faith, from the superstitions and corruptions which have so long reigned in the Christian world. Lately, indeed, it should seem as if God had selected this nation, as he formerly did his chosen people Israel, to preserve among men a knowledge of the true religion; for we have been called to stand up, as it "were between the living and the dead," in defence of Christian principles. although it be true that we have fought rather for our country than for our religion, yet it is also true that religion is, in present

And

circumstances, identified, in a certain degree, with the existence of our country. And we trust, that it is in the purpose of Providence, by upholding the one, to save the other also.

Let this nation, then, weigh well what it is, in God's moral administration of the world, which preserves her at this period. Let her beware of infidelity, and of that moral taint which ever accompanies it. Is it true that any of our chief men begin to "laugh "at vice," like Voltaire? Let us recal to view the experience of France. We beheld infidelity gradually infecting that nation, even as poison insinuates itself through the human frame, till the whole body of the great was contaminated. Then was their iniquity full, and God's judgment began. Now, though it be true, that the faith of our Church is pure, "hat she holdeth the head," that she is founded on the Prophets, Evangelists, and Apostles; though it be true that there is in

the midst of her a large body of righteous persons, men possessing sound learning, enlightened zeal, and pure charity; men who are called by our Saviour, "the light of "the world," and "the salt of the earth yet it is equally certain, that the greater part of her members are not of that description. It is certain, that the spot of moral disease has been long visible. And we know not whether the true state of the nation may not be this; that there is just "salt" enough (to use the figure of the Gospel) to preserve the body from corruption.

Let us then consider well what it is which, in the present circumstances of the world, saves this nation. If it be the divine pleasure to save us, while other nations are destroyed, it cannot be on account of the greatness of our empire, or of our dominion by sea, or of our extended commerce. For why should the moral Governor of the

world respect such circumstances as these? But if we are spared, it will be, we believe, on account of our MAINTAINING the pure religion of Christ as the RELIGION OF OUR LAND, and promoting the knowledge of that religion, and of the blessed principles which accompany it, throughout the rest of the WORLD. This may be a consideration worthy of the divine regard. Chiefly, on our being an instrument of GOOD to the world, must depend our hope of surviving the shocks and convulsions which are now rending in pieces the other nations of Europe.

We shall now recapitulate the evidences noticed in this discourse, which encourage us to believe, that the time is come for disseminating the knowledge of Christianity in the heathen world.

1. The facility with which Christianity

is propagated generally in Asia, wherever the attempt has been made.

2. The peculiar success

that has

attended our own endeavours to promote the religion of the Bible.

3. The conversion of illustrious persons in Asia, by means of the Bible alone.

4. The translation of the Bible into almost all the languages of Asia; promising, as it were, a second promulgation of Christianity to the East.

5. The general contemplation of the prophecies in Europe and Asia.

6. The general commotion among the bands of Infidelity, who are hostile to the design, both in Europe and Asia.