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toms, yet I conceive the origin of the malady to be the same, in both; viz. undue excitement occasioned by unscriptural expectations. The first class consists of those students of prophecy who have discovered (as they believe) from the word of God, that a very awful apostacy of the whole of Christendom is to be expected previous to the general conversion of the world, and is to be immediately followed by a time of unparalleled tribulation; and these have consequently not only abandoned their former views, but in some instances they seem to consider, that in giving countenance to these societies they are thereby helping forward a delusion, which tends to lull professors into a false security, when they ought to be praying, "that they may be accounted worthy to escape all those things that shall come to pass, and stand before the Son of man.' The other class are persons who were merely sustained in their exertions by the excitement produced by over sanguine expectations; and, without regarding prophecy, or any other portion of the scriptures, their energies have sunk, merely from perceiving that the success of the gospel has not been commensurate with their anticipations. If the views of this latter class had been corrected and sobered by the word of God, such a reaction (or rather such a collapse) would not have taken place. But both these classes appear not to have been duly influenced by adequate motives in their first support of missionary exertions, nor by clear apprehensions of their duty; otherwise disappointment on the one hand at the world's not progressing more rapidly towards conversion, or a discovery, on the other hand, that it is not yet to be generally converted, would not have rendered them either hostile or apathetic towards the work.

But though I conceive both partics to err in this respect, yet

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do I think the students of prophecy o be on the whole the whole correct, when they argue, that the conversion of the world is not to be effected under the present dispensation, neither by existing means. can it be considered a matter of little or no importance, whether men are in darkness or not in this respect. For the excitement occasioned by fallacious hopes will sooner or later terminate in a diseased state of feeling; even as it is written," Hope deferred maketh the heart sick;" and thus, as we have seen, the cause of missions itself suffers in the long run. And secondly, and most materially, if (as I believe) there is a period of apostasy and unparalleled tribulation at hand, it is an awful thing for any to be deluding themselves with the idea, that all things are rapidly flowing onward towards universal conversion. It would occupy too much of your space were I here to attempt to go into the proofs of this impending apostasy and tribulation. I shall conclude therefore by requesting the attention of your readers to some of those Scriptures which have a direct bearing on the missionary question.

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First-In regard to the Gentile dispensation under which we live, James declared in the apostolical council, that the object of God in visiting the Gentiles was to take OUT of them a people for his name. (Acts xv. 14.) Consequently, it is for the present àn election from among the Gentiles that is to be looked for, The parable of the tares, of the sheep and goats, and many other passages of Scripture lead to the same conclusion; as likewise do all those epistles addressed to the "called " from among the Gentiles. It is not until the Lord shall have gathered out the tares, the chaff and's from the wheat, and thoroughly purged his garner, that all shall be holiness to the Lord. And indeed,

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in Rev. xiv. where we have angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue," (which appears so aptly to symbolize the present times) the message of the angel is, "Fear God, and give glory to him, for the hour of his judgment is come." Which, by the way, shows us, that some signal judgment is to follow this evangelizing the nations, and that whilst the gospel is being preached "as a witness to them," they will be nevertheless becoming ripe for judgment. The same thing is to be implied from Rev. xviii. in which the angel who enlightens the earth with his glory, and announces the final doom of Babylon, first invites God's people to come out of her," shewing that there is an election of grace to be previously gathered in.

Secondly, the agents to be employed in the general conversion of the heathen are the Israelites,

may be seen from Isaiah lxvi. 19. Zech. ii. 11. and other places. Nor is it unimportant to observe, of the number of agents to be emin that work; that when

the shall arrive for it to be accomplished, it is written of it, The Lord gave the word, great was the the company of those that it. Psalm lxviii. 11. W hereas it is the common complaint of missionary advocates, that the number of labourers, now after thirty or forty years of exertion, is still so small, that they will not supply more than one preacher to a million souls!

Thirdly, it is written of that period, As soon as they shall hear of me, they shall obey me; the strangers shall submit themselves unto me." Psalm xviii. 41. But have we yet seen a anything of this character? Do not our missionaries, on frequently of the great difficulties

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and discouragements with which they have to contend, insomuch that their chief hope is from the rising generation? We have seen no instance of "a nation being born in a day; " Isaiah Ixvi. 8. For even the success in the South Sea Islands did not take place until after a long period of discouragement, through which the labourers had to toil; and so far were the natives from submitting themselves to Christ as soon as they heard of him, that the missionaries were well nigh abandoning their work in despair. To this I may add, that Psalm cxxvi. 6. seems to imply, that under the present dispensation, the witnesses of God are "to go forth weeping, bearing precious seed; even as the witnesses in the Apocalypse prophesy in sackcloth. Whereas of that time of general conversion, it is said, "that they shall go out with joy." Isaiah Iv. 12.

From these things it may be seen, that the whole circumstances and characteristics of the present ingathering of the elect remnant, differs from those which shall attend the general conversion of the gentiles.

Another circumstance requires to be noticed. It is admitted that if the world is to be converted through the instrumentality of existing means, those means must be greatly accelerated and extended. At

present we can, with the utmost facility, count the communicants at the various missionary stations throughout the world; and compared with the myriads still in darkness, they are yet but as drops in the ocean. That something like a proper idea may be formed, therefore, of the additional energy requisite to effect the world's conversion within anything like a reasonable period, I will place a few calculations before the reader, derived from various sources. In an American recently published, in which subject is handled, the writer, after

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estimating the present number of truly converted persons at ten millions, observes, that if there be no more, three hundred years have elapsed since the time of the revival of religion at the reformation; and yet only one eightieth part of the world is now converted; at which rate it will consequently require twenty-four thousand years before piety can pervade the world! Mr. Tyso, a Baptist minister in this country, in his Inquiry after Prophetical Truth,' takes the population of the world at eight hundred millions. These, he observes, die and are renewed by their offspring, three times on the average in every century; so that all converts die in about thirty-three years; and as all children are born unregenerate, the same work of conversion has to be done over again every thirty-three years. With the present rate of operation and success, (he says) it would consequently take one hundred and sixty thousand years to bring about that state, when all shall know the Lord, from the least even to the greatest!' Thirdly, the Rev. W. W. Pym, in his Thoughts on Millennarianism,' observes, that if every day we were to have a pentecostal miracle, and three thousand were to be gathered in daily, it would nevertheless require three

hundred and fifty years to convert the world.

From all this it will be seen, that some very signal circumstances are likely to occur, before we can hope to witness that great consummation which all desire. Nevertheless, it is written, "I the Lord will hasten it in his time," of which I am fully persuaded though I am equally convinced that we are now only employed in gathering out the elect remnant, and that we should constantly echo that prayer in the burial service, "That it would please thee shortly to accomplish the number of thine elect, and to hasten thy kingdom." For not until the stone smites the image on the feet, will it become a great mountain, and fill the whole earth; (Dan. ii.) and again, not until the body of the fourth beast is destroyed, and given to the burning flame, and the Son of Man shall have come in the clouds of heaven, shall all people, nations, and languages serve him." (Dan. vii. 11-14.)

I feel tempted to enter more largely into these latter considerations, but I must content myself with the present limits, and remain,

Dear Sir, your's faithfully,
A FREQUENT READER.