re-animate our confidence. Cold, indeed, is the heart which does not glow as it approaches the fires of this great altar. Modern disciples of our Lord are permitted to tell of their successes; and they do it, in the spirit of those primitive Christian Missionaries who, having been sent forth "as lambs among wolves," "returned again with joy, saying, LORD, even the devils are subject to us through Thy name." It is never to be forgotten that the Man of sorrows was Himself gladdened by this occasion: "In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit." (Luke x. 21.) Happy they who, born from above, and prompted by the blessed Monitor who comes to glorify Christ, learn to weep and triumph with their weeping and triumphing Saviour.

This passage of the evangelical history suggests, at once, the answer to a question which we have occasionally heard: If Christianity is plainly and essentially aggressive,—if the argument of Missions arises in every doctrine of our holy religion,-how is it that our Missionary Societies are but of yesterday? We reply, that the particular organization may be new, but the work itself is as old as Christianity. Nay, in our firmest belief, the Bible is full of this subject. From the Pentateuch to the Revelation, its voices are clear and impressive. A thousand glorious Missionary texts have not yet been made to tell upon the church. Far be it from us to underrate the eloquence and learning which have been consecrated to this work. We highly esteem both. But, mindful that the eye of many a young Minister may fall on this page, we venture to affirm that an inestimable service remains to be rendered. He who will devote seven years to an examination of the BIBLE, the WHOLE BIBLE,-as bearing on the Missionary question, will expend his labour on no precarious issue. It will be found that here, as in the natural firmament, there are lights that have not yet been descried; and, moreover, that the nearer scenery, over which the eye has often wandered, comprises beauty and diversity beyond any conception yet formed. Each new aspect and disclosure will nevertheless agree with the Word of truth, thus indicating the unearthly perfection of that Word. Of the HOLY SPIRIT it is excellently said by Dr. Chalmers, that He "does not make us wise above what is written; but He makes us wise up to that which is written. When a telescope is directed to some distant landscape, it enables us to see what we could not otherwise have seen; but it does not enable us to see anything which has not a real existence in the prospect before us. ......... The natural eye saw nothing but blue land stretching along the distant horizon. By the aid of the glass there bursts upon it a charming variety of fields, and woods, and spires, and villages. Yet who would say that the glass added one feature to the assemblage?"

The evidence of the Missionary question is equal to the evidence of God's love to our fallen race. But where, in the compass of revealed truth, is this not found? If it be said that Mercy "flew" to man's rescue, let none ascribe such a saying to the impassioned muse. The promise of a SAVIOUR was given before the curse was pronounced on the guilty pair in Eden. That promise is involved in the terms of the malediction on the serpent. (Gen. iii. 14, 15.) Of all succeeding Revelation-a glorious systemChrist is the Sun. To spread the knowledge of Him, is the final cause. For this, Providence led patriarchs from place to place; that, to the extent of their migrations, the altar of sacrifice might be every where set up. For this, even when ancient promises specially pledged the Divine favour (for a series of preliminary ages) to a part of mankind, the hope of the rest was still distinctly recognised.

Canaan shall be his servant.

"Blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and GOD SHALL ENLARGE [or, PERSUADE] JAPHETH,

AND HE SHALL DWELL IN THE TENTS OF SHEM." (Gen. ix. 26, 27.) "And the Angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, and said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea-shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; and IN THY SEED SHALL ALL THE NATIONS OF THE EARTH BE BLESSED." (Gen. xxii. 15-18.) For the same reason Israel sojourned in Egypt, and wandered about in the pilgrimage to Canaan. Then, the light of testimony shone in the midst of the nations. The temple had its spacious Court of the Gentiles. The harp of prophecy, though struck in Judah, poured forth music for the world. David could utter no higher strains than those which finish Psalm lxxii. With his intense desire that "the whole earth" may be "filled with" the "glory" of "the LORD God, the God of Israel," "the prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended." A few centuries later, Messiah cries out, in prophecy, "Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far...... And now, saith the LORD that formed me from the womb to be His servant, to bring Jacob again to Him, Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the LORD, and my God shall be my strength. And He said, It is a light thing that Thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I WILL ALSO GIVE THEE FOR A LIGHT TO THE GENTILES, THAT THOU MAYEST BE MY SALVATION UNTO THE END OF THE EARTH." (Isai. xlix. 1, 5, 6.) No marvel that "many Prophets and Kings desired to see "the days to which these scriptures pointed; or that, in one of the songs of the Nativity, the HOLY CHILD was hailed as 66 A LIGHT TO LIghten the GENTILES," as well as "the glory of" His "people Israel."-But here we must pause; or the kindred topics of the New Testament will make us forget our limits. The great commission, the obedience of the disciples, the "Missionary Society" at Antioch for the conversion of the Heathen,-St. Paul's progress "from Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum," under the impulse of strong zeal "to preach the Gospel, not where Christ was named,”—the spirit that pervades the apostolical epistles,-the very description of "the new man," "which is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created him; where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free," the imagery of the "golden candlesticks," denoting that each of the churches in Asia was intended to diffuse a sevenfold light,-these, and many other references, will occur to every one who knows well what God "hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son."

"Christianity," says Dr. James Townley, in a valuable sketch to which we are glad to refer,* "is a Missionary system. Its first Ministers were sent forth as Missionaries into all the world, to preach the Gospel to every creature.' And most faithfully did they fulfil their mission; for by them the Gospel was preached not only to Jews, Greeks, and Romans, but to Britons, Gauls, Spaniards, Hindoos, Arabians, Persians, and Scythians.” That the primitive zeal declined, is but too plain; and yet, from age to age, the flame has been kept from expiring. It has been remarked, and by no means without reason, that " every century from the apostolic era has witnessed the diffusion of, at least, nominal Christianity." Fourteen hun* Ancient and Modern Missions. See Wesleyan-Methodist Magazine, 1834, pp. 429, 502, 588, 662.

dred years ago, Jerome could say, in magnifying the power of grace,→ "The Armenian lays down his quiver; the Huns learn to sing the praises of God; cold Scythia is warmed by the glow of faith; and the armies of the Goths carry about tents for churches." (Epis. Ivii.) And, at a later date, the zeal of Eastern churches (commonly called "Nestorian ") was emulated in other parts of Christendom.

To come nearer our own times, it is pleasing to find Protestant Christians early showing this sign of a genuine faith. A little after the middle of the sixteenth century, Geneva sent fourteen Missionaries to South America. The Dutch sent to Ceylon early in the following century; which also witnessed the munificence of Robert Boyle, the spread of the Gospel among the North American Indians, and the rise of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. The Society for Propagating the Gospel in Foreign Parts was incorporated in 1701. Four years later King Frederick IV., of Denmark, sent Missionaries to Tranquebar. The Scotch Christian Knowledge Society was formed in 1709. The Moravians went to Greenland in 1741; preceded, in 1721, by Hans Egede, who sailed from Bergen. To finish this business of dates in a single paragraph, we may add that Brainerd began his great work in 1743; that Monthly Missionary PrayerMeetings were established, among the Baptists, in 1784; that Wesleyan Methodism appeared in the West Indies in 1786; that the Baptist Missionary Society was organised in 1792; the London Missionary Society, in 1795; the Edinburgh Missionary Society, in 1796; the Church Missionary Society, in 1801; and the American Board of Foreign Missions, in 1810. It is not necessary to state to the reader, that the Methodists had extensive Missions long before the date of the "First Report," mentioned at the head of this paper. It would refresh us to look back to the former days, which saw the beginning of this work. But it may answer our purpose, just now, to use the document before us. In 1818 there is apparent, in many of our well-known fields, the promise of harvest. In some, it is the green "blade;" in others, "the ear;" and in others, already, "the full corn in the ear." We find recitals, on pp. 27-31, of which the names of Lilly Fountain, and De Berg Zion, in Little Namacqualand, may remind a few who "remain unto this present." But many of the Society's early friends are fallen asleep." Many, many eyes from which these beautifully simple records once drew tears of joy, can weep no more. It is most touching to look at the list of Committee and Officers, as appointed thirty-two years ago. "Your fathers, where are they?" The survivers do not constitute a third of the number! But our glorified friends have not ceased to love this If anything could "unparadise" their state of bliss, it would be the idea of insult and injury to the Missionary Society.*

66

cause.

*If we are inclined to linger here, our appeal lies to the best feelings of the heart. The warrior who traversed the beautiful plains of Elis, laid aside his armour. It was a realm safe from the noise of battles. But we have been accustomed to think the Missionary ground holier than Olympia—with its great temple, embowered in olives and plane-trees, on the banks of the sweet Alpheus. May we then, disa med and free, wander a minute or two in this inviolable region? Few will censure us if, in our enjoyment of this liberty, we quote a passage which the subject of the last allusion recals. It is borrowed from one who has now joined the to whom her animating lines refer.

"hosts

"But who are these, whose soft and shadowy light
Falls like a sunbeam through an evening cloud?
O, they are hosts of sainted spirits bright,
Who once within thy hallow'd temples bow'd ;—

In 1818 there were not more than 107 Missionaries, "actually employed' or proceeding to their stations." Of these "the greater number" were "engaged in ministering to the religious wants of the Heathen." From pages 41, 42, of the "First Report," we take a few details, to be compared with the encouraging "Summary " given in 1850.

NUMBER OF WESLEYAN MISSIONARIES, IN 1818.

These amounts," with the balance of the former year, and the sum of £1,082. 2s. 4d., collected by the Rev. George Smith in aid of the chapels lately destroyed by fire in Newfoundland, make a TOTAL of £20,331. 8s. 1d.” It is added, in a note, that Bahama raised £64. 10s. 6d. ; and Demerara, £96. 18. 8d.

The members of Society, under the care of the Missionaries, were reported in the following order to the Conference of 1818 :

(Ode on the Anniversary of the Wesleyan-Methodist Missionary Society, 1833; by A. B.)

Let any Christian man now take up the Report for 1849-1850, and he will be constrained to give thanks to God. In assurance that this document will be extensively read, we abstain from quoting any of its narrative parts. From its well-argued "conclusion," however, an extract shall be given:

To support prosperous existing Missions, until they may be able to sustain themselves, and extend and perpetuate Christianity in the countries where they have been respectively founded, is obviously the first care of a Missionary Society; and any plans which it may contemplate for the enlargement of its sphere of operations, should be considered with due regard to the obligations which it has already incurred. Recognising this principle, the Committee do not venture to recommend any new and extensive undertaking, until the present urgent claims of some of the Society's principal Missions be somewhat more adequately met. Opportunity ought to be taken of the present favourable crisis in the affairs of our South-African Missions to strengthen those Missions, and thus enable the Society to secure the vantage-ground which it has won. glorious openings in Western Africa, and in countries leading into the central regions of that vast continent, cannot be neglected without incurring criminality; especially when it is considered that the elevation of the tribes and natives of Africa to the condition of Christian and civilised people, would practically set at rest the momentous question, "How shall the Slave-Trade-that curse of Africa, and disgrace of civilised Europe

The

-be suppressed?" The extraordinary work of Christianity and civilisation in the country which, a few years ago, was only spoken of as savage and cannibal New-Zealand, must not at this interesting juncture be left without adequate support. The importunate cry from dark and sanguinary Feejee, where a noble band of self-denying Missionaries are sinking beneath the burden and heat of the day, and dropping one by one, worn down by excessive labour, into a premature grave,-that thrilling cry for help cannot be disregarded. The peculiar and touching appeal of the WestIndian Missions, in this the season of their deep suffering,-a suffering which, beyond all doubt, has been greatly aggravated, for the present, by the fiscal regu lations this country has been led to adopt, surely will not be made in vain. And what can the Society advance as its justification, if it do not greatly strengthen its Missions in Ceylon and India, and take its proportionate share of the work of imparting Christianity to the two hundred millions of idolaters in that still-extending portion of the British empire, all accessible to Missionary effort, and all possessed of the additional claim upon our liberality, arising out of the consideration that they are our fellowsubjects?

Such appeals will not be made in vain. The world's mind is more than ever awake; and all evangelical parties are, more or less, committed to this enterprise. Missionary Meetings are rising in holy influence, and promising to be what they ought to be-means of promoting the revival of our churches at home. The charm of the subject is deepening, while our path of duty is marked out by a strong and practical light. Archbishop Tillotson, speaking of the Gift of Tongues conferred on the Apostles, proposes to inquire "whether there be any necessity now, and consequently probability, of the renewing of this miracle, in order to the conversion of infidels, and the gaining over of those many and great nations, in the remoter parts of the world, who are still strangers and enemies to the Christian religion?" He argues that one may "hope well in this case," since," without some such miraculous gift, there is little or no probability of the conversion of infidel nations." After guarding himself from suspicion of "discouraging any from using their best endeavours to propagate" Christianity, he adds the following sentences :