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SIONARY? Was it visionary for the apostles to leave their country, and go through the world in the character of missionaries? No. It is the GRAND DUTY of christians, and ought to be the GRAND BUSINESS of their lives, TO PROMULGATE THE GOSPEL. Since, then, we have but a few days to spend in this world-a few days in which we can show our love to Christ and immortal souls; let it be the earnest inquiry of our hearts, What shalt we do for the poor heathen.

Young men, whose souls are fired with divine love, forsake your friends and native land. Forsake all for Christ. Go into the destitute regions of the earth and spend your days in winning souls from pagan dark. ness to your dear Savior.

Parents, give up your sons to this glorious work. Part with them to meet no more in this world; but in expectation of a glorious meeting amidst the congratulations of thousands saved by their preaching from a heath. en land. Christians, sleep no more. Awake, arise, and unite in this all important work. Methinks the call is heard. The christian world is rising. See. The negro slave raises his chained arm; a tear rolls down his sable check, and he blesses God, who brought him to "America land." The tawny Hindoo, weeping, says to the European, 'you cannot talk our language; but we see, that all our hearts are one." The Japanese calls to the native of the polar circle, "It is Jesus Christ that makes us all brothers and sisters." The song of praise ascends from all parts of the earth. Angels catch

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Christian, is it so? Go to your closet; fall on your knees; and, if never before, pray for the poor heathen. Pray for the few, who have left all to carry them the news of a Savior. Pray that more missionaries may be sent forth. And whenever you have

a view of Jesus, and have been weeping over the scene of his dy. ing love; whenever your souls are melted into pious tenderness and turned to heavenly joys, Oh, forget not to pray for the poor heathen.,

ORIGINAL LETTER OF DR. WATTS TO MRS. SEWALL OF BOSTON.

Newburyport, April 2d, 1810. SIRS, If you think the following extract is worth preserving, please to let it have a place in the Panoplist and Missionary Magazine, which will gratify a constant reader of that useful publication. B.

DR. COTTON MATHER was my yearly correspondent and I lament the loss of him; but, the loss you have sustained is of a tenderer and more distressing kind, yet let us see whether there are not sufficient springs of con. solation flowing all around you to allay the smart of so sharp a the Lord open sorrow ; and may your eyes, as he did the eyes of Hagar in the wilderness to espy the spring of water, when she was dying with thirst, and the child over against her ready to expire. Have you lost two lovely children? Did you make them your idols? If you did, God has saved you from idolatry.

If you did not, you have your God still, and a creature cannot be miserable who has a God. The little words my God, have infinitely more sweetness than my son, or, my daughter. Were they very desirable blessings ? Your God calls you then to the nobler sacrifice. Can you give up these to him at his call? God delights in such a sacrifice. Were they your all? So was Isaac, when Abraham was required to part with him at God's call. Are you not a daughter of Abraham? Then imitate his faith, his self-denial, his obedience, and make your evidences of such a spiritual relation to him shine brighter on this solemn occasion. Has God taken them from your arms? Had you not devoted them to him? Shew then, madam, the sincerity of your heart in leaving them in the hand of God. Do you say they are lost? Not out of God's sight and God's world, though they are gone out of your sight and our world. All live to God. You may hope the spreading covenant of grace has sheltered them from the second death. They live, though not with you. Are you ready to complain that you have brought forth for the grave? It may be so, but not in vain. They shall not labor in vain nor bring forth for trouble, (i. e. for sorrow without hope) for they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord and their offspring with them. This has been a sweet text to many a mother, when their children are called away betimes. And the prophet Jeremiah has very comforting words to allay the same sorrows, Chap. xxxi. 15-17. Did you please yourself in what comfort you

might have derived from them in maturer years? But, madam, do you consider sufficiently that God has taken them away from the evil to come and hid them in the grave, from the prevailing and mischievous temptations of a degenerate age. My brother's wife in London has buried seven or eight children, and among them, all her sons. This thought has reconciled her to the provi. dence of God, that the temptations of young men in this age, are so exceeding great, and she has seen so many young gentlemen of her acquaintance so shameful. ly degenerate, that she wipes her tears for the sons she has buried, and composes her mind to patience and thankfulness, with one only daughter remaining. Perhaps God has by this stroke prevented a thousand unknown sorrows. Are your sons dead? But are all your mercies dead too? A worthy husband is a living comfort (and may God preserve and restore him to you with joy.) Food, and raiment, and safety, peace, and liberty of religion, access to the mercyseat, and hope of heaven: all these are daily matters of thankfulness. Good madam, let not one sorrow bury them all. Show that you are a christian, by making it appear that religion has supports in it which the world does not know. What can a poor worldling do, but mourn over earthly blessings de. parted, and go down with them comfortless to the grave. But methinks a christian should lift up the head as partaking of high, er hopes. May the blessed Spirit be your comforter. Endeav or, madam, to employ yourself continually, lest a solitary and

inactive frame of mind tempt you to set brooding over your sorrows and nurse them to a dangerous size. Turn your thoughts often to the brighter scenes of heaven and the resurrection.

You know madam the great and blessed God had but one son and he gave him up a sacri. fice and devoted him to a bloody death, out of love to such sinners as you and I. Can you shew your gratitude to God in a more acceptable manner, than by willingly resigning your two sons at the call of his providence? This act of willing resignation turns a painful affliction into a holy sacrifice. Are the two dearest things torn from the heart of a mother? Then you may ever sit so much the looser to this world, and you have the fewer dangerous attachments to this life. 'Tis a happiness for a christian not to have the heart strings tied too fast to any thing beneath God and heaven. Happy the soul who is ready to remove at the divine summons. The fewer engagements we have on earth, the more we may live above, and have our thoughts fixed on things more divine and heavenly, may this painful stroke be thus sanctified and lead you nearer to God.-Forgive the freedom of a stranger, madam, who desires to be the humble and faithful servant of Christ and souls. ISAAC WATTS. Mrs. SEWALL of Boston.

London, Nov. 7, 1728.

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you oftener than I do, but other pressing duties forbid it. should feel more anxious to write, did I not know that your religious advantages were now very great. When I think of the place where you live, I am ready to think myself in a dry and thirsty land where no water is. Yet even here, God is doing something for Zion. Some are borne down under a sense of their sins, and some are rejoicing in the Savior of sinners. But why, my dear sister, why do I write this news to you? Zion's interests do not lie near your heart. You have no part nor lot in this matter. What though thousands of poor, wretched, starving sinners are flocking to Jesus, the friend of sinners : you are unconcerned, not knowing that you are indeed friendless, and helpless. Like the heath in the desert, you know not when good cometh; like the dry bones in the valley, to which ministers may prophecy; but in vain, till that almighty voice, which called Lazarus from the tomb, call them also from the dead.

O how dreadful to live in a land of divine influences, and remain unmoved: to stand by the side of others, who have God for their portion, while we have nothing; no God, no arm on which we may lean; to be in the same house with those whose eyes are fixed on heaven, while we can see nothing before us but the darkness of the grave upon which no light will ever rise, or the still more dreadful dark. ness of the infernal abyss; to be in the same bed with one whose heart swells with the cheering hope of eternal blessedness, while we have no ex

sinner live? My trembling heart responds, O Lord God, thou knowest. Breathe upon this slain.

Believe me, dear S

you share in the kind-
est wishes of my heart.
S. T. H.

DIALOGUE ON UNIVERSAL
SALVATION.

Minister. Good morning, neighbor Roberts, I am glad to see you, for I wish to converse with you upon the subject of my sermon yesterday.

pectation beyond the present
life but that of eternal wo! Yes,
O my sister, two shall be in one
bed;
one shall be taken, and
the other left. You are asleep,
while many others are awake.
You are dead, while many are
alive. Awake thou that sleep-
est, and arise from the dead,
and Christ shall give thee light.
No longer stay out of the king- A
dom, while others are pressing into
it. No longer be satisfied with
earth, while heaven is to be ob
tained. Shall this perishing earth,
which God gave us only to lodge
in for a night, be chosen for our
lasting abode; and that too in
view of the certainty of univer-
sal death. Shall the Son of God
descend from heaven to die for
you; and will you not regard
him? What must be the doom
of those, who, fearless of the ter-
rors of the law, and regardless
of the invitations of the gospel,
wade through the blood of Christ
to destruction. O my dear Sa-
rah, be anxious to obtain the
purchased salvation. Be en-
gaged to secure an unfading
crown. Lay down the weapons
of your rebellion, repent of
your sins, and by faith, rest
on a crucified Savior. Precious
Savior! A Savior from sin, and
from death. Make him your
own. Enter into this chamber,
and shut the door, before the
storm of divine wrath come.

My soul longs for your sal. vation. But when I remember your advantages; that you have lived where the Spirit of God has been poured out, have been the child of prayer, have had line upon line, and precept upon precept; my heart trembles with fear for you. When I ask myself; Can this dead

Roberts. Good morning, Sir, I indeed had the curiosity to go and hear you preach yesterday, a thing I do not often do, for I am more attached to a different system of doctrine.

M. So I supposed, and it is on that very account, that I wish to see you! I know the kindness and benevolence of your disposition, and it astonishes me, that you can believe the gloomy doctrines of Calvinism, which chill me with hor

ror.

R. You will not find me an experienced disputant; but I am ready to state to you and defend the articles of my belief as well as I am able; and if, as I think, truth is on my side, it need not shrink from scrutiny. You call the doctrines of Calvinism gloomy. What if I should call your doctrines pernicious and ruinous to the soul? Would you not remind me, that assertion ought to pass for nothing unless attended with proof? Let us not then deal in bare assertions nor call each other names, but en deavor to come at the truth.

M. This is what I want. Well then, you heard me expound the words, God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.* If the Almighty wills, that all should come to repentance, will not this most certainly be the event?

R. That is true; but do you understand the meaning of the word in this place?

M. That is the way with you then, is it? When a word in its obvious import, comes directly against your doctrine, then you must give it a new meaning! This is fine business indeed!

R. Let us look into this matter. What do you suppose is meant by the term all in the verse you preached upon?

M. I suppose it means all mankind without exception and without distinction; for this is its plain meaning.

R. So that the ungodly are included in it as well as the godly?

M. Undoubtedly.

R. What then is the meaning in the second verse before this, of the perdition of ungodly men, which is most expressly asserted? Does it mean, that they shall be saved?

M. Why, as to that-it does not mean it exactly-it means, that they shall be punished for a time.

R. Perdition means punishment for a time ! But do you think, that God wills this punishment for a time?

M. Yes, most certainly, for it is one of the methods of his love, it is discipline preparatory to sal. vation?

R. But have you not just

* 2 Pet. iii. 9.

said, that God does not will that any should perish, or suffer perdition, (for my minister, who knows Greek, tells me that these words are derived from the same root, and denote the same thing) and now you say, he does will, that the ungodly should perish, or be punished for a time? Here you point

are

blank against yourself!

M. What I intended was, that God does not will the eter nal damnation of any individual.

R. But he does will the perdition of the ungodly, for he will punish them, and he does not will that any should perish; and perdition and to perish have precisely the same meaning, just as in English, destruction and to be destroyed are the same. Here is will against will! He wills a thing and he does not will it !

M. That can't be indeed. It must be, that he does not will the thing in the same sense in both cases.

R. Pray what difference can you make out ?

M. Difference enough, as I will show you. When it is said, God wills to punish the ungodly, that only expresses the certainty of the event; but when he wills that none shall be punished, it means they shall not be damned.

R. Dear sir, you have shown no difference in the use of the word, for according to your ex. planation a certainty is implied in both instances. Indeed you cannot show any difference, while you retain your unscrip. tural scheme, and yet you are forced to admit a difference. I might retort upon you your own language, "This is the way with you, is it?" &c. But perhaps you will be ready to

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