tion, and yet the attempt added celebrity to his life, and in the bosom of the church embalmed his memory. But why do I mention these instances ! Jesus Christ himself did not succeed in his mission to the Jews. But though Israel were not gathered, yet was he glorious in the eyes of the Lord, and in the eyes of all his people.

There are those who exclaim, whenever the salvation of the heathen is proposed, There is a Lion in the way. And were it so, this would not diminish the propriety, nor would even failure mar the glory of the attempt.

The interposition of the Son of God in behalf of sinners, is 'the highest act of benevolence that the universe ever saw. Redemption by the cross -how admirable, how passing admiration. Creation assumes fresh loveliness, and the Creator shines in brighter glories wherever it is published. What then must be the glory of its publishers? What their glory who contribute to its publication.

God, from his throne, beholds not a nobler character on his footstool, than the fervent missionary, the man, who inspired with zeal, and burning with love, bids adieu to his friends, abandons his comfort, and his home, braves the perils of the deep, encounters hunger and thirst, and nakedness, and persevering through dangers and deaths, proclaims the Savior to those who know him not.

Yes! venerable messengers of salvation, who preach Christ in deserts, and publish glad tidings on the islands of distant seas, we admire your zeal ; we emulate your virtue, and by contributing to the object in which you are engaged, would be come partakers in your glory; and partakers we shall be if we truly aspire to it.In the estimation of heaven our services are appreciated, not by the good we accomplish, but the sincerity, the strength, and constancy of our exertions.

Cease, then, Christians to object; act worthy of yourselves, and remember, that "they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many unto righteousness, as the stars, for ever and ever."

Convinced of your duty, do you ask how, situated at a distance, as you are, you can contribute to the alleviation of Pagan misery? How?

By your prayers. God hath promised that the gentiles shall be gathered in. He is hastening to accomplish what he hath promised, and yet for this will he "be enquired of by the house of Israel." Wherefore, " ye that make mention of the Lord, keep not silence, and give him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.”

By your property. To Christianize the heathen, as well as to succour your destitute brethren on the frontiers, missionaries must be sent to them; these

sun is burning out its splendors-subterranean fires are consuming the bowels of the earth; the planets are known, by an examination of ancient eclipses, to be converging; and the sage perceives distinctly in the movements of nature, a constant and solemn advance towards that dreadful catastrophe, of which revelation pre-admonishes the saint.

But though these concessions are made, and tho it is also conceded, as Peter asserts, that great changes have already taken place, it does not appear that those heavens and this earth, which, after the lapse of six thousand years, still display so much magnificence, and shine in so much glory, will, in little more than a thousand years, have grown old. as doth a garment, and become unfit for use. Till this, however, shall be the case, this earth will continue the residence of the righteous, who, accord. ing to divine promise, are to dwell in it, in peace, for ever to all generations, even as long as the sun and moon endureth,

What ideas does this article give us of the de.. signs of Deity in creation and redemption! How august appears the character, how complete the victory of Jesus! Where once stood his cross now stands his throne. And the same world which once saw the transitory triumph of his adversary, now sees his own abiding triumph, and pays to his divinity a perpetual homage. This glorious period the death of Christ principally respects. All previous conquests are unimportant. Those sub

dued by his grace during six thousand

years, will be few compared with the number who shall crown his final triumph. How great that number will be I dare not even conjecture. But, though I dare not, I love to agitate the question-to recount the hundred and forty and four thousand-to contemplate, and to become absorbed, in that great multitude of the redeemed, from among all nations, a multitude which no man can number.

True; misery will continue, and abiding examples of the consequences of apostacy will for ever furnish to the universe an awful memento. But these examples will be comparatively few, and this misery will be comparatively small, and infinitely more than counterbalanced by the superabounding happiness of myriads of myriads without number, and without end, who, entering on a blessed' immortality, shall throng the courts, and fill the house of God.

You see, Christians, the extent and the perpetuity of the Messiah's reign-a reign which is to be introduced

BY HUMAN EXERTIONS.

As in the natural, so in the moral world, visible and intermediate agents effectuate the designs of the unseen first cause. The piety, and the prayers of Asa produced in Israel a memorable reformation. Jehoshaphat, inspired by the example of a venerable father, extended and perpetuated the heaven approved work. And when under a suc

cession of guilty princes Judah became corrupted, Jehoiada, the priest, espousing the cause of expir

ing virtue, rescued from perdition that apostate

tribe.

From the Jewish turn your attention to the Christian church, the era of whose commencement was emphatically the era of miracles. Ere an age had elapsed, the reign of Messiah was extended from India to Ethiopia, from Sythia to Britain. And how was it extended? Apostles were ordained, evangelists commissioned, and sent forth the advocates of the cross, conquering, and to conquer. The facts they attested were believed; the opinions they inculcated were adopted, and thousands, in every country, and of every age, recognized the promised Messiah, and paid a willing homage to the son of God.

From this bright period, pass on to that dark and dismal epoch, when authority prevailed against reason, and superstition triumphed over virtue. A glorious reformation is again to be effected: and again illustrious advocates of righteousness are raised up, by whose efforts the kingdom of error is shaken, and by whose light the city of God is made glad. In one word, wherever Christianity hath been extended-in Europe-in Asia-in Africa-it hath been extended through the intervention of human agency.

Late indeed, and with a feeble sound, has the gospel jubilee been published to the wandering