whereyer writers made ufe of fuch a fimilitude, they doubtless had a meaning very different from tha which he had supposed; and intended thereby to represent the ftrength and stability of the Chrif tian's hope; founded in the mercy of God, and the merits of the Redeemer. I told him, however, that while he was telling his dream, it ap peared to me probable, that the dream was occafioned by fome expreffions that he had heard me use, when I prayed with him the other evening. It appeared to me that certain ideas had then impressed his mind, just as he was going to ' exerted myself to the utmoft, ' and reached the ftone. As foon ' as I bore upon that stone, it rolled from its bed, and defcended to the bottom, into the hideous stream, threatening to take me along with it. Frightened and aftonifhed, at my marvellous ef cape; at the profpect below me; and the defperate attempt of making further advances upward; finding nothing to afford me the ⚫ leaft aid or fupport; yet unable to hold that fituation more than a moment longer, I thought that I muft now throw myfelf on fate, leap for my life, and if I failed, I must fail. I accordingly exerted my whole ftrength, and reach-fleep; which furnished his imagi ed the fummit of the mountain. "After a little refpite, reviewing the dangers, which I had ef caped, and the horrid appearance of the black gulph below, I began to question myfelf refpecting my object in going to that place; from what motives, and for what end? Aftonished at my infatuation, and blaming myfelf for my mad prefumption, I faid with myself, what remains for me to attempt next? To think of continuing here for any time, upon a fmooth furface, on a fmall fummit of a mountain, without the leaft fupport, or fhelter, would be madness in the extreme; to attempt to afcend higher, would be vain; to think of ever returning by the courfe, through which I advanced hither, would be the height of prefumption. 6 "In this dreadful fituation, through anxiety of mind, I a'woke; and found that the whole was a dream. "Now Sir, I have fomewhere 'read of a mountain of hope; I did not know but this might be that mountain." I replied to this effect; that nation with matter for the dream which he had. But however that might be, his dream had, by a very apt fimilitude, reprefented the conduct of finners, when they are under convictions from the fpir it of God. They are ufually found to purfue every wrong course, before they can be prevailed with to take the right way. Now, my friend, faid I, you must be fenfible, that your conduct for years, has been greatly to the prejudice of your fpiritual interest. You ftrove to your utmost to rid yourself of thofe religious principles and impreffions which were early fixed and made by your education; in the belief of which you grew up to manhood. You have been affiduous in feeking for vicious and prophane publications; with intent to poifon your own mind, and the minds of all, to whom you had accefs. The confequence of which is this, that thofe prophane writings have prejudiced your mind against the word of God, and the methods of his grace. When your confcience has admonished you of a judgment to come, you have had recourfe za Ethan Allen for relief; but have found him to be like the bushes on the mountain, which broke as foon as you had feized them, and left you to fall headlong into the black gulph below! You then eagerly feized hold of Thomas Paine, expecting a fupport from him, but like the ftone which you thought you faw aloft, on which you no fooner leaned, than it rolled from its bed, and threatened you with inftant death, fo are you now left without the leaft fupport, and are forced to quit your hold. You have fought one creature refuge and another; but find them all to be refuges of lies. Having toiled in vain, until your ftrength is exhausted, and life is nearly clofed, you are really in a forlorn ftate, which was in fo lively a manner reprefented by your imagination in the dream. You are left at the fummit of your hopes, in a condition, in which your foul muft perish: Or you have to undo all that which you have done. Judge now for yourself, whether the light of reafon alone, in which you have boafted, has been fufficient to fhow you the hope of everlasting happinefs, equally with the atonement of that Saviour whom you have denied and reproached? of natural religion, but difcards Revelation." The fick man attended to me as though it had been for his life. When I had finished the paragraph, he defired me to read it a fecond time deliberately. I did fo. After which he exclaimed, Alas! Alas! Why have I never met with this Author before? Whence is it, that in all my reading, I have never found truth exhibited in fuch a point of view? I do not know that I ever, for once, doubted the fufficiency of nature's light. Unhappy for me, if I have been miftaken! He then defired me to pray with him; but to pray "only to one God." My friend, faid I, will you act the fool at this late hour, and jus tify the Infidel in reproaching the facred Trinity? Who but Thomas Paine, and his Infidel affociates ever thought of Chriftians praying to more than one God? If you object to my mentioning the Saviour, and going to God in his name, you may be affured that I fhall not pray with you. He replied, in great agony, "for God's fake, pray with me fpeedily, and pray in your own way." I then prayed with him. After prayer he appeared perfectly calm until I left him. Afterwards his attendants in. I then told him, that I had with formed me, that his mind was regmea volume of Dr. Lathrop's Ser- ular, for the greatest part of the mons, in one of which Sermons, day: Though for fhort intervals, was a paragraph which applied fo fomewhat deranged. That in his aptly to his cafe, that I wifked calmeft feafons, he would exclaim, him to attend while I fhould read it."Oh the Saviour, of loft finners! The Reverend Author, in de- Oh Jefus Chrift, how precious art fcribing the "obfcurity and uncer- thou?" tainty of the way of the wicked, doth, in a very ftriking manner, reprefent how the way of that wicked man is covered with darknefs, who believes the great truths He took opportunity to reconcile himself to thofe of his connections with whom he had been at variance; and died that evening. This inftance, added to the II. The object of the Society is, to diffufe the knowledge of the Gofpel among the Heathens, as well as other people in the remote parts of our country, where Chrift is feldom, or never preached. III. The officers of the Society fhall be a Prefident, Secretary, Treasurer, and ten Trustees, chofen annually by ballot. donations; to answer the orders of the Trustees, to keep a fair account of his proceedings, and exhibit it to the Society at every annual meeting. VII. It shall be the fpecial du ty of the Truftees, to examine candidates for the refpective miffions, to employ and direct the Miffionaries, and, if expedient, to recal them. The Trustees are alfo,authorised to manage and dispose of the Society's property, and to tranfact all the concerns of the Society, which require attention, between one annual meeting and another. VIII. It is expected that the Trustees, hold at least a femi-annual meeting, that the fociety may reap every advantage by their reafonable and united attention. They fhall alfo make report at the annual meetings of the labor and fuccefs of the Miffionaries, and exhibit a particular account of their own tranfactions. IX. The Society fhall meet annually at Bolton, the Tuefday preceding every General Election of Maffachusetts at ten o'clock A. M. X. All questions before the Society, except thofe which refpe&t the amendment of the Conftitu tion, fhall be determined by a majority of the members prefent. XI. It is the expectation of the Society, that the Trustees employ no characters as Miffionaries, except thofe who give credible evidence of being the fubjects of fpe IV. It fhall be the duty of the Prefident to regulate the meetings of the Society, and ex officio to act as one of the board of Trustees, fix of whom shall conflitate a quo-cial grace; and of that Chriftian Tum. V. It fhall be the duty of the Secretary, to keep accurate records of the Society, and exhibit them at every annual meeting. VI. It fhall be the duty of the Treafurer, to receive the property of the Society, arifing from entrance money, annual taxes and zeal, wifdom, information, and diligence, which are adequate to the arduous work of Evangelifts in the moft felf-denying circumftan ces. XII. Any perfon may become a member of the Society, by fubfcribing the Conftitution, and paying two dollars into the hands of the Treasurer, for the ufe of the Society. of Zion; we, a number of minifters and people of Chrift, convened in Bolton, on Tuesday, May the 28th, in the year of our Lord 1799, for the purpose of attending to our duty in this regard, have deemed it expedient to form into a Society, in order to collect and combine our efforts, for the fpread of the knowledge of the glorious Gofpel of Chrift among the poor Heathens, and in those XIII. Every member fhall be confidered as retaining his memberthip, and obliged to pay two dollars annually into the Treafury, until his defire to difcontinue his connection with the Society be properly expreffed to the Secretary. XIV. It is refolved, that tho' this Conftitution be fubject to any amendments and improvements, which the Society fhall judge prop-remote parts of our country, in er to adopt; yet that neither any amendment fhall be accepted, except by the vote of two thirds of the members prefent, nor before the expiration of a year after having been propofed to the Society at an annual meeting. The above Conftitution being unanimously established as the bafis of the Society at Bofton, May 28, 1799, it was foon made public, and the patronage and aid of the friends of Zion were folicited in the following accompanying addrefs. To all who are defirous of the Spread of the Gospel of our LORD JESUS CHRIST. which the inhabitants do not enjoy the benefit of a Chriftian Ministry, and Chriftian ordinances. The Constitution of the Society we have offered to your confideration and we beg permiffion to obferve to you, that the adoption of this Conftitution, and the measures taken in the commencement of this Society, have been accompanied with fuch peculiar fmiles of Providence as awaken within us the most pleafing hope that it will enjoy the divine benediction, and be greatly inftrumental in diffufing the greateft of all bleffings, the falvation of finners. To God's omnipotent care and grace we commit our efforts in this hope. To exclude all mifconftruction and prejudice, we folemnly de clare, that it is totally foreign from our views, to weaken the evangelical influence of any fociety of a fimilar complexion already exifting; that we renounce all party objects, and utterly refufe to fuffer any political intereft or confideration whatever to have place in the design or operations of the Society. CHRISTIAN BRETHREN, WISHING that grace, mercy, and peace may be abundantly multiplied unto you, through the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jefus Chrift, we take the liberty to announce to you, that impelled by a deep commiferation for the unhappy ftate of thousands, who are perishing through lack of thofe precious means of falvation which we enjoy ; by a recollection of our folemn vows to devote Having thus offered ourselves as ourfelves faithfully to the good of the Maffachusetts Miffionary Soci the kingdom of our dear Redeem-ety to your notice, we take leave er; and by the imitable examples to addrefs you on the vastly interof many others, both in our own efting fubject we have in view. country and in Europe, who have nobly stepped forward in the caufe VOL. I. No. 9. By those who cordially fubfcribe to the divine authority of the Holy Ww tability, and your hopes in view, be intreated to caft the eye of attentive obfervation upon the condition of thousands and millions of our guilty race, in other countries and our own, particularly among the Heathen tribes, and on the frontiers of the United States, forming a vaft line of new fettlements, peculiarly embarrassed with respect to their religious interefts by local circumftances; and afk, whether, when their danger is fo great, when their spiritual wants are fo urgent, when there is fo much zeal on the part of wick counteracting the Gofpel, there be not reafon for us to put forth every exertion, for the fpread of that precious Gofpel, which is the grand charter of our eternal inheritance. Scriptures, and candidly admit the leading doctrines which they contain, as all real Chriftians must be fuppofed to do, it must be conceded, that the whole human race is in a state of apoftacy from God, under the curfe of his violated law, and expofed to the eternal punishments of his government; that the glorious Gofpel of Chrift is the adequate and the only medium of recovering loft finners to God and happiness; and that this Gofpel must be known, received, and obeyed, in order to the fecurity of the unbounded good which it furnisheth to the miferable tranf-ednefs, infidelity and atheifm, greffor; that the virtue and happinefs of mankind are really always in proportion to the influence which the Gofpel has upon them; that it is life from the dead to every believer; and that that glory of God, with which it is fo largely predicted in the Scriptures, that the world fhall fhortly be filled, will effentially confit in the univerfal and legitimate influence of this Gofpel. On these grounds evidently, the grand commiffion, which Chrift gave to his primitive difciples, "Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature; he who believeth and is baptized, fhall be faved; but he who believeth not, fhall be damned," was delivered. On thefe grounds the apostles of the Lord exhibited all that fidelity and zeal, in obedience to this charge, which are related in the New-Teftament; and on these grounds, zeal in every believer for the fpread of Chriftianity has an adequate fanction. With thefe confiderations before your minds; with the perishing, and therefore very compaffionable ftate of every impenitent finner; with your own immenfe indebtednefs to redeeming grace, your folemn covenant vows, your accoun-' Have we not, dear Brethren, been too long and too deeply flumbering, with refpect to our duty in this great affair? What fhall we not be willing to do? What fhall we not be willing to facrifice? Is not the intereft of Chrift our inter eft? And have we, as his people, any thing to do but to promote it? May we not, then, hope that our inftitution will meet with your warmest approbation; and that we fhall have the benefit of your joint co-operations, your influence, your prayers? Will you become united to our Society? If this be inconvenient, will you not, as the Lord has furnished you with the means, open the hand of a generous chari ty, and contribute to the support of the great object before us? As the ftate of the world is, the utility of the Society will depend much, very much, upon its pecuniary means. The Society holds itself refponfible for the most faithful appropriation of all monies, which may be contributed and forwarded to the Treasurer, who |