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do all things. Without it you will be as weak as the bruised reed; with it you will be as strong as the all-sufficiency of Jehovah can make you. Let it be your daily, your incessant prayer, Lord increase our faith.

The spirit of missions is the spirit of love. Love to God— to Christ-pure and supreme is included in that holy and entire devotion, which has already been urged as the first indispensable requisite. But God has so loved this wretched world, as to give for it his only begotten Son. Christ has so loved it, as to come down from heaven, and labour and suffer for it even unto death. The same spirit of love, Dear Brethren, must dwell in you :love towards mankind--towards the lost love, such in its nature and intensity, as no loathsomeness of corruption, no perversity of error, no listlessness of stupidity, no contemptuousness of pride, no virulence of enmity, can quench or turn from its purpose. For an unceasing exercise of it, in all its compassion and tenderness, and gentleness and meekness, and readiness to make every sacrifice and every effort for those whom it seeks to recover to the knowledge of God, and to the way of life and of glory, you will find, in the different scenes of your labours, abundant occasion. Arm yourselves, therefore, with this mind; and at no time remit the most assiduous care, never to be without it.

"Love seeketh not her own:" it is the very spirit of selfdenial-of self-devotedness: and the missionary must never, for a moment, lose sight of the cross of his Master and Lord: never for a moment count even his life dear unto himself, so that he may serve the honour of Christ, the advancement of the gospel, and the salvation of men.

Essential also to the missionary character is the spirit of wisdom and of a sound mind. Without this the best intentions will be frustrated, and the purest and most ardent zeal will spend itself in vain, and worse than in vain.

A stated Pastor, in his native Christian land, where he is received and regarded by his people as a friend and a father, has great need of wisdom, amid the various conditions, capacities, opinions, tempers, caprices and interests of an ordinary parish. How much more the missionary in a foreign heathen land, where he is not only a stranger, unacquainted with the prevailing habits and manners and feelings: but is regarded as an invader, whose

design is to overturn long established systems, and to introduce a new religion, adverse to all which to the Pagan mind is most dear and sacred: and where he must lay his account with all that is deceitful and supercilious in philosophy, falsely so called, with all that is jealous and malignant in superstition, with all that is fantastic and absurd in delusion; with all that is indocile and obstinate in ignorance.

"As I passed by and beheld your devotions," says Paul to the philosophers on Mars Hill, "I found an altar with this inscription, To THE Unknown God. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, Him declare I unto you." To the Corinthians he says, "When I came unto you, I came not with excellency of speech, or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God." Again, "I have fed you with milk, and not with meat, for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet are ye able." Again, "I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means, save some." And to the Thessalonians he says, "We were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherisheth her children." If then you act upon the maxims and follow the examples of this great model of missionary wisdom, you will every where, and on all occasions be courteous and conciliatory in your manner; you will ingenuously avail yourselves of every admission in favour of truth, for the purpose of disarmning jealousy and softening prejudice; you will declare the testimony of God with all simplicity, without the artifices or the parade of reasoning or of eloquence; considering the unacquaintance of the poor heathen with even the first principles of the doctrine of Christ, you will begin with them in your instructions as a judicious teacher would begin with children; and that you may have the easier access to the minds and hearts of different classes and descriptions of people, you will be accommodating to their dif ferent humours and manners, and treat them all with winning kindness and affectionate gentleness.

In a word, "the wisdom which is from above, is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy." This wisdom, Beloved Brethren, you must "ask of God, who giveth liberally and upbraideth not."

But this heavenly wisdom, though conciliatory, is not tem

porising; though prudent, is not timid; though cautious, is not hesitating; though gentle and tender, is not retracting or nerveless. It knows no truce with wickedness; no collusion with error; no alliance with artifice; no fellowship with Belial. It has its principles, its plan, its object. Its steadfastness is immoveable; its courage is dauntless; its efficiency is irresistible; its patience and perseverance are invincible. Is this saying too much? It is saying no more than has been demonstrated before the world. It was demonstrated most decisively in the first age of missions; and it must, it will be demonstrated, not less decisively, in this new age.

Let the world boast of its heroes and men of renown, its trophies and monuments: The City of our God "is more glorious and excellent, than the mountains of prey ;" than the proudest empires of the earth, founded by the courage, and dazzling with the spoils of nations. In self-devotement and patient suffering, in constancy and courage, in energy and perseverance, in labours and achievements, in trophies and monuments, her sons have already eclipsed whatever the world can boast. In the face of all the terrors which earth and hell could present, they have stemmed and driven back the swelling tides of corruption; saved the world, instrumentally, from universal and total darkness; diffused the blessings of Heaven's best Gift to man among the nations; and recovered millions of their lost fellow beings to the knowledge of God, and to the elevations of immortality.

Greater things are yet to be done. The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth are to be utterly destroyed from the earth, and from under these heavens. Every false religion, every plant which Jehovah hath not planted, is to be plucked up by the roots. All nations are to be turned from their vanities. unto the living God. The Wise and the Disputers of this world are to be convinced that their wisdom is foolishness, and their reasonings vain. Heroes and Potentates are to be constrained. to lay down their arms and their regalia at the foot of the Cross; the spirit of war is every where to be subdued, and its pride to be laid in the dust; throughout the earth every knee is to be made to bow to the anointed King of Zion, and every tongue to confess HIM to be Lord, to the glory of God the Father; and

the kingdom and the greatness of the kingdom, and the domin ion under the whole heaven, are to be given to the people of the Most High God.

All this is sure as the word of everlasting truth; and all to be achieved by the spirit of missions. You, Dear Brethren, are to take part in this holy and majestic enterprise; to share its toils, its sufferings, and its glories. Be it then you are to drink deep into its spirit, and to sustain its character in all its sacredness, and in all its elevation.

To you it belongs to shew to the world, Christian and Pagan, that the missionary character is of transcendent excellence. Your course, in the regions of Gentile darkness, must be like the shining light, shining more and more unto the perfect day. You must make the heather ashamed of their gods; Infidels, of their philosophy! Jews, of their fondly cherished expectation; Christians, of their names and professions; and all men of THEMSELVES. You must wake up the world to faith, to action, to virtue, and to glory. All that you think, say, do, must be for God, and for eternity.

Go then, Dearly Beloved Brethren, go, teach the nations; baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things which the Lord Jesus hath commanded.

Go, and make known to the poor besotted Hindoos the God who made the earth and the heavens, and the INCARNATION for the life of the world. Go, and teach the untutored Tenants of the widely extended wilderness the blessings of Christian culture, and the hopes of immortality. Go, and from the heights of Calvary and of Zion proclaim to the long lost tribes of Israel, to the followers of the Pseudo-prophet, and to the bewil dered people of different lands, tongues, and religions, the Foun tain there opened, for the cleansing of all nations-the banner there displayed, for the gathering of all people. Go, tread in the steps of the primitive Missionaries and Martyrs of the cross; surpass their examples, and aspire to brighter glories. Go, and the Lord God of the holy Apostles and Prophets go with you; be evermore your sun and shield; and give you many hundreds and thousands, for your joy and crown, in the day of his appearing and kingdom. AMEN.

RIGHT HAND OF FELLOWSHIP,

BY REV. J. HUNTINGTON.

CHRISTIANITY, in distinction from all other religions, is suited for universal diffusion. It is founded on principles, which embrace the whole family of man. It is addressed to that rational nature, which is common to our species. Its institutions are so few, and so simple, that the weakest can understand, and the poorest observe them. And its grand essential requirements may be obeyed with equal ease, in every period of the world; in every state of society; by every creature under heaven.

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As Christianity is adapted to all; so, it is designed for all. Hitherto, indeed, it has been very partially known; and still more partially embraced. Darkness has brooded over the nations. The night has been long, and dreary. But it is passing away. The Sun of Righteousness has emerged; has beamed upon the hills of the East; and will presently pour from his expanded wings, light, purity, health, and joy, over all the earth. For thus runs the command, and promise of the unchanging God; Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.' The Christian world, roused from the torpor of ages, are beginning to believe this prediction; and to act with a view to its accomplishment. The commands so often heard, and as often unheeded," Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight ;”—“ Go through, go through the gates; prepare ye the way of the people; cast up, cast up the highway; gather out the stones; lift up a standard for the people ;" begin to be regarded. And in answer to the inquiry of the American Churches, "whom shall we send, and who will go for us?" you, Dear

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