it is that Britain and her religious ally, America, should divide the seas, and thus hold the keys of the world? Were we but awake to the designs of God, and to our own responsibility, we should hear him say, "I have put you in possession of the seas; put the world in possession of my Gospel." And every ship we sent out would be a Missionary Church-like the ark of the deluge, a floating temple of God-bearing in its bosom the seeds of a new creation. Ours is indeed a post of responsibility and of honour! On us have accumulated all the advantages of the past, and on us lies the great stress of the present. The world is waiting breathless on our movements; and every sign of Providence finds a voice to urge us on.

And in saying that a Missionary Church to be effective should be thus wise to mark and quick to avail itself of every providential indication, what are we saying, after all, but that God is conducting the affairs of the universe on a plan; that in every age that plan advances; that his people are to mark the signs of that advance and to fall in with it; and that in proportion as they adjust their movements to his, link themselves on to his plans, and keep pace with his progress, they move with the force of Omnipotence simply by moving in a line and in harmony with it. Oh, for celestial wisdom to place ourselves in harmony with Providence, and to seize the crisis which has come for blessing the world!

7. One of the first wants which that wisdom, of which we have been speaking, would discover, and one of the first steps to which it would lead, would be a spirit of greater devotedness to the Missionary work among ministers at home. If a considerable number of those who are now preparing for the Christian ministry, and of those who have already entered the sacred office, were to devote themselves, as one man, to the spiritual rescue of the heathen, who can calculate the impulse which would be given to the general cause of religion? What exalted piety would it evince; and what an increase of energy and devotion would it tend to call forth! No

fear need be entertained for the safety of the work at home; the spiritual efficiency of those who would find it obligatory to remain at their present post would be increased in a far greater ratio than the numerical reduction of their ranks; many a youth now devoted to secular pursuits would give himself up to the service of God; and, more than all, the act would discover so high a degree of devotedness to God, that he would be able, consistently with his character, to say in acts of unusual blessing, what he has already declared in words of promise," them that honour me, I will honour."

There is reason to fear that, at present, the number of ministers adequately acquainted with the Missionary aspect of the Church, and interested in it, is comparatively small; that the subject is introduced to the attention of the people too exclusively at stated times, on annual occasions, and in connexion with pecuniary collections; and too seldom as forming a legitimate topic of ordinary ministerial discourse, and to every part of which the heart of the Church should be supposed to be ever ready to vibrate and respond. And yet to this advocacy, partial and feeble though it be, it is owing, under God, that the Missionary enterprise has risen to its present position in the Church; what, then, might we not hope to see result were deeds added to words, and personal devotement to arguments and professions! Let them be respectfully reminded that besides their special relation to their respective churches, they and their churches sustain a universal relation; that the Gospel they preach embraces all interests; that the pulpit they occupy stands, in a sense, in the centre of the universe; that there are lines of relationship connecting it with every object and event within that vast circumference; that they are placed in that central position to watch and report to their people the progress of events, to impress on them the dignity and responsibility of their character as the agents of "Him for whom are all things, and by whom are all things;" and thus to induce them as their highest

honour and happiness, to fall in with that vast procession, including all orders and all worlds, which even now is moving on to the one appointed spot, where all the diadems of the universe shall be laid at the feet of Him on whose head already are many crowns. "This

is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop he desireth a good work;" but let them remember that he who said this, regarded a participation in the work of Missions as a higher distinction still "Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ." Let them estimate the Missionary office as highly as he did, and remember how much may depend on their adoption of it; much in the Church, for while the private Christian is to be an example to the world, they are to be "an ensample to the flock"-a model among models; and much in the world; for their central station and official character invest them with influence which render their every movement an object of interest to superior beings, and which, in reference to the heathen world, may implicate the everlasting welfare of myriads. Only let these considerations be devoutly laid to heart, and many a minister who now supposes himself bound to remain at home would be heard saying, "Here am I, send me ;" others, who could not go abroad, would become Missionaries at home; while the Church generally would find her highest interests benefited, as much as by any event which has occurred since apostolic days.

We have

8. Another requisite is Christian union. already intimated that it is very much owing to the fraternal influence shed on the various denominations of Christians by Missionary and kindred operations, that even a vestige of visible union remains. And how is it that on particular occasions we are induced to quit our denominational camps, and to proclaim the truce of God? By paying greater deference to the will of Christ than to the claims of party; by looking out on a world perishing; by erecting the Cross for its salvation, and

rallying around it; in a word, by reverting practically to the primary design of the Church. Who has not been ready to say at such times, Would that the whole Church could be converted into a Christian Missionary Society, and meet in that capacity alone!

The union wanted is not the union of one day in a year, but the union of every day; not the hollow friendship which merely forbears to misrepresent or to injure those who "follow not with us," but the Christian sympathy which sincerely mingles alike in their sorrows and their joys; not merely a oneness of purpose, but, as far as practicable, a union of means for the attainment of that purpose. One Church abounds more, it may be, in the zeal which burns for active exertion; another, in the wisdom which is profitable to direct; and a third, in the funds which are necessary to support the holy war. - Here, sympathy with each other's wants, by uniting their respective means, would happily supply them all; while a spirit of division makes that which is already little, still less. "One rule of action there is," says a distinguished American Missionary-Abeel-" which, if observed by all sects, would result in the greatest benefit to the Church and the world. It involves no sacrifice of party interests, and it is the only plan which, while Christians remain in distinct communities, does not sacrifice the interests of the Redeemer's kingdom to mere sectarian aggrandizement. In selecting their spheres of action, let each denomination pass by the place already occupied, and fix upon those where their services are most needed. Let it be a mutual understanding that if education or predilection dispose the inhabitants of any part of a country to a particular sect, all others will yield the ground. What endless collision and confusion this would prevent! what desirable consequences it would produce! If the attention of Christians could only be diverted from each other, and from the places already occupied, and fixed in deep compassion upon the destitute parts of the world, how soon their dying fellow men in every land would feel the quickening influence!"

It is in vain to plead the beneficial rivalry of sects. This only shows that we are so much accustomed to our divisions, that we can see beauty in that which forms. our deformity and disgrace. But let us see the natural fruits of past divisions in the fact that Mahometanism, Popery, and Irreligion, still divide the civilized world between them; that reformed Christianity finds, on numbering her followers, that she still stands in an insignificant minority. And are we to suppose that what has hitherto proved the curse of the Church, is now converted into a blessing? A spirit of disunion is still dishonouring Christianity in the eyes of the world. By confirming the irreligious in their impiety, disheartening the sincere inquirer after the truth, and blinding numbers with the idea that the sectarian spirit is true piety, it is still ruinous to the souls of men; by dividing our limited instrumentality at home, and tending to counteract our Christian influence abroad, and, incomparably more than all, by grieving the Holy Spirit of God, it is still enfeebling and endangering our Missionary operations, and delaying the conversion of the world. It is in vain to say that but little disagreement exists as yet among our Christian agents abroad; the seeds of discord only ask for time, and they will not fail to bear their proper fruit. It is in vain to urge, that good is done notwithstanding our disunion, the partial good which is effected abroad, is effected by merging the disputes at homein fact, by uniting or by pretending to a degree of fraternity which the relative state of parties at home will not justify. And would not a knowledge of our differences there be to a great extent fatal to our usefulness? Would it not shake the confidence of the religious noviciate there; and embroil the Churches, and cover the breast of the idolater with an additional coat of resistance to the arrows of the Lord; and arm the Brahmin, the sceptic, and every hostile hand with a new weapon of attack?

On the other hand, how greatly would the mutual regard and sympathetic co-operation of which we speak,