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God for their success more cordially than ourselves? No place is here for envy and contention. The vineyard needs more labourers than can be found, to gather the clusters of the earth. Here, surely, at least, all bigotry, party, denomination and name, should merge in the one title of Christian; and no contention remain, but who shall serve with greatest fidelity; and, as helpers together in the truth, endeavour to strengthen the hands and heart of every other to spread the fame, and exalt the glory of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ. How strange, unchristian, and criminal to forbid any to speak to the Gentiles, that they might be saved, because they gather not with us, are of a different persuasion, follow a different mode of worship, or wear a different garb! But God will do his own work amidst the folly of some, and the unfaithfulness of more; and if he will work, then none can let it.

A Danish Mission hath long subsisted on the coast of Coromandel. Tranquebar, as well as the other settlements of Europeans, have submitted to the British Government: they continue to this day labouring, and have not fainted. Many congregations, formed by their ministry, subsist and flourish. They give the right hand of fellowship to all who embark in the same honourable cause with themselves. Our brethren, who have been with them, bear witness to their candour, charity, and zeal. Under British rule they will be assured of every protection and encouragement. Danes or English, natives or foreigners, freemen or slaves, one is our Master, even Christ; and whoever approves his fidelity to him will have his reward, whether he be bond or free.

A feeble Mission of our Moravian brethren subsisted, but was withdrawn, for want of support or success; but it has been succeeded by two other Missionary Societies, whose vigorous exertions give increasing confidence, that these labours of love shall never cease, till the kingdoms of the world become the kingdoms of the Lord and of his Christ!

The Baptists, prompted by some of their zealous pastors, determined on attempting a Mission to the East. The Danish governor at Serampore received them, and encouraged their labours. Mr.Carey, a name deserving veneration, with his Family and fellow-labourers, began the arduous task; and the great Master has crowned their endeavours with a progress in which all who love Him in sincerity, cannot but rejoice and give thanks. They have been kindly helped by the candid and liberal of all denominations; and he must have an unfeeling heart who hath read their Journals, and doth not breathe out blessing and praise to the God of all grace for what he hath done, and cry mightily to him to perfect what he hath begun!

The British and Foreign Bible Society hath especially sigDalized their high approbation, by a noble annual grant, for the furtherance of translating the Scriptures into the various languages of the east; in which Mr. Carey's eminence and proficiency has been proved so great, as to advance him to a chair in the College at Calcutta. Already, from their press, thousands of copies of the Scripture, in different languages of the country, have been circulated among the natives, by the indefatigable pains and attention of Mr. Carey and his associates, whose progress in this study hath corresponded with his own; while their travels, preaching, and conferences with the natives have, as it is recorded, produced the happiest effects. Indeed, this may be expected. The gospel is the same power of God unto salvation that it hath been from the beginning; and our anticipations of the effect of this progressive work may well be sanguine, when we see what hath been done, is doing, and hoped to be performed, till men of every tongue or nation shall have it in their power to search the Scripture, and, find therein eternal life, through the name of the holy child Jesus. Surely, the Lord hath not thus providentially led, and powerfully qualified them for their work, without designing to give them a plenteous harvest of souls for their hire. Shall the little distinctions among Christians check the overflowings of the gracious heart' over these reviving appearances? If Christ be preached, and sinners, Heathen or Mahometan, converted unto him, who must not express his high approbation, and own, 'I therein do rejoice, and will rejoice? Let the Lord send by whom he will send. When shall hateful bigotry and narrow prejudices give place to generous union, love, and peace among all who profess themselves followers of the Lamb that was slain! How strange must it appear, that these good men should meet owns instead of favour, and be regarded with jealousy instead of encouragement! Patiently pursuing their great object, they persevere; and in addition to their labours in Hindos tan, have penetrated lately into the Burman empire, where they will probably meet with less enmity and opposition than they have sometimes encountered from their own countrymen. The other great Society, which was formed upon a still larger scale, comprehending the whole habitable globe, hath, among other scenes of Missionary labour, stretched out its arms to India. Ceylon, Madura, Madras, the Northern Circais, Surat, and Mysore, have been their first objects; and they too have lately attempted to pass into the Burman empire. They are employed in the tuition of youth, and attend particularly to the poor of the flock. To their other labours they also have added translations of the Scripture in the Tamul and Telinga languages, for the benefit of those among whom they

minister; with Religious Tracts and Catechisms in the native tongues, suited to convey the great leading truths of Christianity to those around them. Their Journals will speak for them what they have done, and continue to do:-'Faint, yet pursuing. From the view of all that hath been thus effected, and the progress already made, Dr. Buchanan, in his beautiful view of the Star in the East,' hath drawn this reviving conclusion, That true Christianity hath taken such root in the soil of India, as all the malice of the wicked, and all the powers of darkness shall not be able to eradicate; and it will be acknowledged by every one who knows the man, that more accurate information, vigorous intellect, sacred adherence to truth, and spiritual discernment, will hardly be found than in Dr. Buchanan.

From this Society also, one man of a strong mind hath gone forth, with earnest desire to qualify himself first, and then attempt the arduous task of preaching the gospel in the hitherto, by Protestant ministers, unpenetrated regions of China. With zeal equal to any enterprize, and with ability and industry admirably qualified to attain the difficult language, Mr. Morrison resides at Canton; and his progress is said to be of the most promising nature. He hath already begun a translation of the Scriptures into the Chinese; and entertains no doubt he shall be able to master it. When I

view that desolate land, the jealousy of its government, the danger of the attempt, and the feebleness of the means, unabated as is his zeal and firm his pursuit, undismayed on the spot and persevering in his efforts, my unbelief, shall I call it, hath ever regarded the attempt as a most forlorn hope, and an expence our Society ought not to have incurred, without prospects more auspicious, and means more adequate; yet will no man I hope rejoice more unfeignedly in his success, or more honour his zeal and fidelity, and not the less for disappointment or failure.

After having thus raked up every living spark of truth and hope that I can discover, in the wide regions of Asia, I cannot but say, From whence shall Jacob arise, for he is small? -but dismaying and discouraging as all appearances are, the faithful never despair. Duty is ours, the issue is in better hands. Fresh warriors are preparing for the conflict, and buckling on the panoply of God for a renewed attempt in the heart of India; and two men of zeal and wisdom passing shortly to the great city of Surat. How great a fire may a little spark yet kindie, if the Lord, the Spirit, breathes upon it with the spirit of Judgment and the spirit of Burning!

[Africa in our next.]

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Too many forget that the operations of the Deity are all carried on by general laws; that he never works miracles except when he has some great end in view; and that, as on all occasions, the operations of his hand are directed towards the general good; the calamities that happen to individuals in bringing this about, are but as the small dust in the balance, and comparatively nothing.

At first sight storms and tempests, famine and pestilence, desolations, and the conflict of nations, sometimes bear hard on individuals, and appear the effect of a want of impartiality in the great Lord and Ruler of all;-yet, on reflexion, we find that they are all, not only marks of his wisdom and goodness, but calculated for the general good. Tho' tempests scatter our fleets, and dash them among the rocks; though hurricanes often cause dreadful destruction; and earthquakes, those awful scourges of the crimes of a nation, sometimes unexpectedly swallow the people of a country, the good with the bad; yet, is it either in the way of giving vent to the volcanic inatter, and scope to the causes that produced them; or, as a warning to all to behold and to consider. Were it not for its ebbing and flowing, and the furious storms with which it is agitated, the sea, notwithstanding the salt put into it by the hand of the Deity when he made it, to preserve it from putrefaction, would become one mass of corruption, and send forth such noxious vapours as would soon destroy every plant and vegetable, with every thing that lives. Thunder-storms, which, to the uninformed, seem of no use, by shaking the earth, and loosening the mould about the roots of plants and vegetables, not only make way for the rain, when it falls, but purify the air, and free it from the noxious particles lodged in it by exhalations from the earth, which are always in proportion to the marshy nature of the ground and the heat of the sun. Briars and thorns, blasting and mildew, ravenous animals, and devouring insects, are not sent to make us miserable; but for the exercise of our patience, of our fortitude and ingenuity, and for the general good. With regard to the animals in general, some are adapted for our comfort and conveniency; others, such as the slug, the weasel, the grub, and the like, for the exercise of our diligence and attention in keeping them under; and others again, such as gnats, flies, &c. to shew us how easily he can, if he pleases, blast the happiness of the greatest, the wisest, and the best. In a word, every animal seems useful, either in the way of supplying our Wants, exercising our ingenuity, or correcting our errors.

The same holds with regard to plants and minerals; and, if many things in the animal and vegetable, as well as in the

mineral kingdoms, seem to us to serve no valuable purpose, we may depend upon it this arises, not so much from the things themselves, as from our ignorance and inattention. Had they not been some way or other useful, they never would have been called into existence by him, whose wisdom and goodness are infinite as well as his power.

That Providence, sometimes, chastises severely those that, on the whole, appear to be virtuous and good, and showers down blessings on the head of those that are evidently wicked, none will deny ;-and why? not that he approves of the conduct of the wicked. No; he chastises his own people, because he sees it neccessary to their happiness, either here or hereafter; and confers blessings on the wicked, to lead them to repentance; and to shew them that, as his goodness deserves from them a different conduct, so is he just, though they may subject themselves to a severe punishment by means of their ingratitude.

Let not then the good man be cast down, when adverse circumstances occur. Let him not despair, though the arrows of a correcting Providence fly thick around him. Though no affliction be for the present joyous but grievous, yet all things work together for the good of them that love God. Whatever happen, the righteous have nothing to fear. God, who is kind to all, cannot but, in a peculiar manner, be so to them. It was his desire to communicate happiness that induced him, at first, to create the world. It is this that induces him to supply all the wants of his creatures. His daily care over them shews, that not one of the inferior animals, much less man, is below his notice. In winter the covering of many, for instance, which in all is admirably adapted to their peculiar circumstances, becomes thicker than in summer; such as the feathers of hirds, the scales of fishes, and the hair or fur of animals. The insects that crawl, the fishes that cast their shell, the frogs, the bees, the ants, the spider; nay, even the very trees of the field, and more delicate plants and vegetables, all exhibit evident signs of the care of the Deity in a thousand particulars.

If God then is thus watchful over the beasts of the field, the fowls of the air, the fishes of the sea, and the various species of the vegetable kingdom, from the tall oak on the mountain to the minutest plant; if, with regard to the mineral tribes, he, in general either makes them to grow, or forms a crust about them for their preservation, can we suppose that he does not behold with pleasure the conduct of good men, or that he does not consult their interest, in the dispensations of his providence? If, to protect them from birds and beasts of prey that otherwise would see and be ready to destroy them, he makes hares and ptarmicans *, with various other fowls and

* A kind of wild pheasants in the mountains of Scotland, &c.

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