of such exertions; but we may learn a lesson from the spirit of devotedness to their object which the men of this world, we may say, uniformly display.

But O how little (I had almost said how childish) are the most dignified and praiseworthy exertions of human intellect and human passions for the attainment of some earthly transitory good, when brought into comparison with the godlike, beneficent design of changing the face of the moral world, by the extirpation of ignorance and idolatry, root and branch, and filling the earth with the knowledge of the Lord! If the generous philanthropy of this design should fire every breast with zeal in the prosecution of it, the unspeakable misery of the objects of our compassion, the danger of failure from mistake or inactivity, or from engaging in it in an improper spirit, should give double emphasis to the obligation we are under to seek grace from God to be faithful and diligent in obeying his own command.

If these things be so, what manner of persons ought we to be in serious devotedness to this cause! When a plague is raging in a country, there is little thought of diversion; there is no heart for merriment; and in devising and employing means that the plague be stayed, there is deep solemnity in every countenance, The image of death every where presents itself. Hearts are lifted up in secret to the almighty Disposer of life and death. There are earnest cries for the

display of his mercy, for direction as to the use of means, and strength and courage to fulfil the melancholy but necessary duty of those who go between the living and the dead. Such a calamity as the plague makes people forget their little differences and private interests. And they who are mercifully delivered from it will feel it to be the most proper expression of their gratitude to God, to do all they can, and that immediately, to help the unhappy persons who are still exposed to the pestilence. An hour's delay would be felt to be criminal-the total neglect of the sufferers, while a remedy was at hand, the most preposterous and inhuman cruelty.

Such, I conceive, is somewhat like the spirit of solemnity, diligence, dependance upon God, gratitude for his mercy, and humility before him, which should characterize all who are concerned in the great work to which these Letters refer. While it is not shaded with the gloom and despondency that hang over the scene of a pestilence, concerning which we have no intimation whether it may be stayed, or whether all means will be alike ineffectual, we have but the greater reason to labour in hope. We have the gracious assurance that" our labour shall not be in vain in the Lord," if we set ourselves in good earnest to the work of saving souls. Right impressions of the duty will lead to deep seriousness in the performance of it. A work, to which the proper introduction is

"fasting and prayer," ought to be prosecuted in a corresponding spirit of self-denial and devotion.

The consideration of the partial success of missions in general, and an intense feeling of the need of divine influence, have of late years excited many to the duty of more frequent, special, earnest prayer for the Spirit of light and life to be poured out on all flesh. The church, "the garden walled around" needs these influences-and they are needed on the barren wastes of heathenism.

That

many have been thus stirred up to pray is a good sign, so far as it goes. But I have always thought that, unaccompanied with other signs of improvement, there is room to question how far such impressions of the need of divine aid practically affect those who profess to be under them. With regard to such a blessing, if we really ask it, we have it; and if we have it, we have also its necessary concomitants. What I mean is, that if there be so deep and universal a feeling of the importance of obtaining a more abundant measure of that Spirit of God, the residue of which is with him, the blessing is already in a good degree obtained. But as these influences are not to supersede, but to animate, our labours, the enjoyment of them implies more zealous exertion-more unreserved consecration-more simplicity of aim-more heavenliness of temper in all we say and do. Hence, to prove that this spirit of supplication, which has been in. some degree manifested, has come from God, and

is not mere animal excitement, produced by the call addressed to us to engage in it, seconded by our own conviction of the propriety of the exercise, there must be a corresponding spirit of zeal and activity in working. If we pray, and only pray, IDLY expecting an answer, and attempting nothing till we think we have received it, there is something wrong. The prayer that is sincere is followed by the immediate effort of faith to realize the blessing prayed for. If prayer be not so followed up, the meaning of it "being interpreted," it is just that God, by exerting his own divine power, in converting the heathen nations, would spare us the trouble of making any farther exertion-or at least so remove difficulties and dangers, that the performance of the duty would be to us all that was gratifying and soothing; and be in all respects more the joy of harvest, than the weeping labour of them that till and sow.

I do not by any means say, that the influences of the Spirit can be dispensed with, or that prayer for them is out of place in the present state of our progress in the work of evangelizing the heathen nations. This is impossible. Indeed, I think there is no hope of much good being done, either at home or abroad, till we see more of that heavenly influence pervading all ranks of contributors to this. work, and all labourers in every department of it. But I say that we must not rest in merely praying for this blessing. Praying must be followed with '

doing, and labour must be sanctified by prayer. Let us 66 'believe we have the petitions we desire of him," and act accordingly. Till we do so we ask amiss, if not as to the subject of our prayers, at least as to the spirit of them.

I am well aware that not a few contribute to the missionary cause, just as they do to any other benevolent institution, without thinking much about it. When we have gotten such people's money, we have gotten all we have to expect from them. The cause is not helped by their prayers, for they are not given to prayer. It is not helped by their example, for their conduct is not exemplary. It is not helped by their persuasive arguments in its favour, in their respective circles, for they are unable to reason in its defence. They neither understand its claims, nor appreciate its importance.

O when the Spirit of power and love, and of a sound mind, shall descend upon these, and upon all the professed friends of the missionary and Bible cause, there will be a change indeed! For this let us pray, and in the mean time be doing what we can with the limited means we enjoy.

True christians have a most exalted idea of the glory of their unseen Saviour. But as his glory, while he was upon earth, was obscured by the veil of humanity, he chose to wear, so his glory is still in a great degree holden from the world, because the number of his professed followers is comparatively small, and the light of many of them is hid