does not expect difficulties, has estimated the matter unwisely. Difficulties, the most tremendous difficulties, are to be looked for. Will satan suffer his kingdom to fall without a struggle? No, he will rouse all hell to arms against us; and his instruments on earth, uniting themselves to the host from beneath, will do every thing in their power to prevent the progress of the gospel of the Redeemer. But here is the foundation of our hope. Christ has all power, both in heaven and in earth. He is infinitely mightier than his opposers, and all his enemies shall be made his foot-stool: and he has assured us, that He came to be a light to enlighten the heathen, as well as to be the glory of his people Israel. Carry this thought in your minds, my dear hearers, in the answer I propose to every objection; that, while I endeavour to shew it as void of strength, and point out the great encouragement we have to hope for success, our sole dependence, in the use of his appointed means, is placed here, namely, on the wisdom, grace, and power of the Lord Jesus Christ.

But I proceed to consider the strongest particular objections, which have occurred to my own mind, or have been suggested to me by others.

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It is objected by some: "The work itself is so very ous, that success cannot be hoped for." True, my friends, you have mentioned one of the greatest difficulties we have to encounter; I perceive it in all its force. Were the attempt, to prevail with men of distant lands, merely to lay aside their ancient prejudices, to cast their dumb idols, which cannot save, to the bats, and to the moles, and to assume but the outward profession of the Christian religion, even this would be unspeakably difficult. For we see how strongly people are attached to the religious systems, received by tradition from their fathers. But this would not satisfy

us; could we persuade them to renounce their idolatry, and to espouse the Christian name, and join us in the ordinances of worship, if we did no more than produce an external conformity, we should account nothing done. The object we have in view is infinitely beyond this. It is to illuminate the brutish mind of a Pagan, besotted with ignorance and superstition, in the knowledge of the truth, as it is in Jesus. It is to make him feel his miserable state as a sinner, and to lead him to a cordial acceptance of Christ, as made of God unto him, "wis"dom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption." It is to bring him from the love of the world to a supreme love to God, as his Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier. It is to draw him away from the indulgence of divers lusts and pleasures, which reigned in his soul, and from all the impurities of a Pagan conversation, to a life of unreserved and universal obedi

ence to the will of God. It is to lead him from the stupid adoration of stocks and stones, and the senseless, impure, or sanguinary rites of the Heathen mythology, to worship the Father in spirit and in truth, and to render to him the homage of a pure heart, wholly devoted to his service. How difficult these things are, no true Christian need be told. Yet this is what we wish to do, what must be done; and nothing short of this will suffice. But who is sufficient for these things! May we not sit down in despair and throw the design aside? Yes, if we required or expected these things to be done by man, we might. But they are the work of God, who has promised to perform them and then I say, why are ye cast down, ye timed souls, and why are your unbelieving hearts disquieted within you? Man we regard as the instrument, as the pen in the hand of a ready writer, as the harp emitting a melodious sound; but we look up to God for his mighty power to accomplish the arduous work of the conversion of the soul. All now is easy; every obstacle disappears. He who created all things out of nothing, by a word, cannot he create the soul anew in Christ Jesus unto good works? He who raiseth the dead from the grave, cannot he raise the chief of sinners from the death of sin to newness of life? He who turneth the shadow of death unto the morning, and changeth the blackness of the night into the brightness of noon day, cannot he make the heathen man, who was once darkness, light in the Lord, and enable him to walk as a child of light? Our faith is confirmed by the unquestionable evidence of facts. God has already performed this work in millions of instances, aud in circumstances as unfavourable as we can possibly meet with. What he has done, he can still do; for he is the same yesterday, to-day, and forever. With these truths let the Christian's mind be fortified; and the objection will be heard no more.

II. Another objection very frequently urged is, "that the "time for the conversion of the heathen is not yet come, be"cause the millennium is still at the distance of some hundred "years."

"It is not for you," said Christ to his disciples, on a certain occasion, "to know the times and the seasons which the Fath"er has reserved in his own hands." Till predictions be accomplished we cannot, in most cases, define with certainty, the precise period of fulfilment. There are various opinions with respect to the commencement of the millennium, or that æra when all the nations of the earth shali have received the gospel. Many have placed it at the distance of two hundred years, or in the two thousandth year of the Christian æra. Some suppose that it will begin about the midde of the next century. It is neither my province nor my purpose to determine

the dispute. But I beg you to consider that in aiming to prop agate the gospel, we are to be guided by what God enjoins as a duty, not by what he delivered as a prediction. He has plainly told us, that "in Christ all the families of the earth "shall be blessed." He has informed us that by the preaching, of the gospel this great work will be accomplished; and he has taught us the strong obligations we are under to pity those who are sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death. Here is sufficient authority for us to form a mission without delay. Let all other things be left to God. I will grant, if you please, for the sake of argument, that before the millennium arrives, two hundred years must yet elapse. This in my view does not furnish any cause of discouragement. That the success. of the gospel will be so rapid, "that a nation shall be born in "a day," does not appear to have the weight of evidence, which many, without examining the matter, have always taken for granted. The work may be gradual, and if so, it will be allowed, that it is more than time to begin. But if we consider the subject attentively, we shall be compelled to acknowledge, that in order to propagate the gospel throughout the whole world in the space of two hundred years, its progress must be rapid indeed. In that space, to bring all the extensive Mahometan kingdoms to the faith of Christ, to convert all the vast Pagan empires in the east and north; and all the idolatrous inhabitants in the thousands of islands scattered over every sea, the progress of the gospel must be amazingly great, and millions must be converted in a year. In a word, the religion of Jesus must have more rapid success than it has ever had, since it was first preached in the world; more rapid success than it had under the ministry of the apostles themselves. So that if we view the objection closely, so far from being in danger of a spirit of procrastination, we must feel anxiety not to lose a single day ere we begin. If the shorter period mentioned above be the true one, there is need of haste.

Further, suppose we cannot hope for the millenniary state of the church among the heathen in our time, should that discourage us? I ask you, my brethren, who preach the gospel, whether it was with the hope of producing such a state, that you undertook the pastoral care of the several churches, over which the Holy Ghost hath made you bishops? All will say, "We should rejoice in such a state, but we do not ex(( pect it here in our days. We think ourselves more than "amply repaid, if we can see religion flourishing, though in a "degree unspeakably short of the glory of the millennium." Well then, if by the labours of our missionaries abroad we can but produce such a state of religion as in the best of our churches at home, will there not be the greatest reason to re

joice that we have not laboured in vain, nor spent our money and strength for nought? It may be the will of God, that by the labours of missionaries, religion shall attain the same degree of progress among those who are now pagans, as among us: and that thus they shall be prepared for some remarkable outpouring of the spirit, which shall precede and introduce the glory of the latter days.

What has already been effected by the preaching of the Gospel among the heathen, tends farther to destroy the force of the objection, and to encourage even sanguine hopes of doing great things. Every effort that has been made, has been crowned with as much success as could, all things considered, have been reasonably expected. The missionaries of the church of Rome boast of hundreds of thousands, nay, of millions converted by their labours. But to pass over their zeal, and their patient, vigorous, ardent, and extensive exertions, and to say nothing of the facility with which idolatrous pagans might embrace their shewy religion, their pompous ritual, and the worship of images, as all bearing some resemblance to their own system, the success of the Danish missionaries in Hindoostan, of the Moravian brethren in Greenland and the West-Indies, of the ancient pastors of New England, Elliot and Mayhew, among the Indian tribes, and of the Scotch society among men of the same origin, by the ministry of Brainard, Horton, and others in later times; these all give us the most ample encouragement to proceed; and plainly shew that God is willing by his spirit to give efficacy to the word of his grace, and "that the time to favour "Zion, yea the set time is come."

III. Others say, "what is there in the state of the Christian "church at present that flatters with peculiar hopes of success "for a mission to the Heathen? Many ages have elapsed, and "little has been done; what makes the time now so favoura"ble? Are we better than our fathers?"

That Christianity has spread itself among the heathen nations, in a very inconsiderable degree, for at least a thousand years past, is a mournful truth. Indeed if we except the colonies planted in Pagan lands, the boundaries of the church have been rather lessened than extended. But this is no ground of discouragement to those, who consider the matter with attention. The church of Rome, which for the greatest part of this long space of time overspread nearly the whole of Christendom, had so obscured Christianity by an innumerable multitude of rites, ceremonies, traditions, and errors, that the purity and simplicity of the gospel were almost wholly defaced. In such a state of things, could we wish Popery to be spread over the face of the earth? What would this have been but to

substitute one superstition for another? A reformation greater than the first, would have been necessary to make the people acquainted with the nature and spirit of the gospel. See ye not then, my dear hearers, sufficient reasons why it was the will of God, that what was then called Christianity should not become an universal religion in the world, and that the heathen should continue in their Pagan state during the days of Popery?

At the reformation the bishop of Rome lost his power. From that time to the present century, the Protestant churches spent their chief efforts in establishing themselves in authority; in each party trying to vault into the saddle of power, and ride upon the back of all others; in furious contests with each other; in inflicting or enduring cruel persecutions; in resisting oppression; or in attacking, and defending themselves against the papal pretensions to dominion. These causes prevented the propagation of the gospel. In the present century, the nature of the church of Christ, as a spiritual kingdom, and not of the world, has been better understood than it ever was since the days of Constantine; and Christians have felt their obligations to send the Gospel to the heathen nations. Some efforts have been made by different sects, but with one exception, feeble in comparison of what might have been; and I know not that any denomination has missionaries among the heathen, much exceeding in number the apostles of our Lord. Every one, however, who is awake, hails with joy the dawning of a bright day of true Christian zeal for the spreading of the Gospel in the world, and salutes with affection the various societies engaged in this divine work.

We have now before us a pleasing spectacle; Christians of different denominations, although differing in points of church government, united in forming a society for propagating the Gospel among the heathen. This is a new thing in the Christian church. Some former societies have accepted donations from men of different denominations; but the government was confined to one. But here are Episcopalians, Methodists, Presbyterians, and Independents, all united in one society, all joining to form its laws, to regulate its institutions, and manage its various concerns. Behold us here assembled with one accord to attend the funeral of bigotry: And may she be buried so deep that not a particle of her dust may ever be thrown up on the face of the earth. I could almost add, cursed be the man who shall attempt to raise her from the grave. Besides the display of liberality, greater than has ever appeared, I might add, that it is likewise a time in which the doctrines of the Gospel are at least as well understood, as they ever were before. If I should say better, it would not be arrogance, or