ment. From the immense number already circulated, and the incalculable good they have already accomplished, we have a pledge that the great Head of the church will continue to smile on this work of faith, and labor of love. A fountain of Tracts should be opened in every continent, nation, town and hamlet, from which streams may continually issue to make glad the city of our God. Like the Bible, they should be published in all languages, and distributed among all people. These winged messengers should fly through the earth, carrying with them the Gospel of the blessed God, till their influence is as extensive as human ignorance and sin.

Tracts have already done great good. Abundant and striking evidence of this might be adduced. Incredulity itself cannot doubt it. The Dairyman's Daughter, and the Young Cottager, have been instrumental in bringing many sons and daughters unto glory. Others, too, have been equally successful. The light of eternity alone can reveal the whole amount of good, which has been accomplished by their instrumentality. "Distributors could tell us of the sorrows of widowhood assuaged, of the profligate reclaimed, of the burdens of poverty alleviated, of anger changed to gentleness, of profane habits abandoned, of Sabbath violations ceased, of the tear of penitence, and the radiant smile of hope" produced. The distribution of Tracts by the infidels of the last century, for the purpose of expelling from the world the Christian religion, first suggested the idea of Religious Tracts, and has given rise to Tract Societies, which will be an important means of banishing infidelity from the world, and filling the earth with the knowledge of God. The London Tract Society has attempted and accomplished great things. Its influence has extended to the four quarters of the globe. Following so bright an example, societies of this nature have come into existence in almost every

nation where the light of Christianity sheds its benign radiance. The American Tract Society at New York has been in existence only a few years; yet it has attained a greatness and glory, far surpassing the most sanguine expectations of its founders. It has received, most signally, the approbation and blessing of Heaven. How gratifying and animating to every benevolent heart! The more it is contemplated, the more it will afford matter for grateful and admiring praise. But though much good has already been effected, yet we shall see far greater things than these, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. The energies of Tract Societies will be increased many fold. Their march will be boldly and rapidly onward. A host of the sons and daughters of Zion will enrol their names among the friends of such institutions. The great and the wise will covet the luxury of thus doing good. Call not this sentiment enthusiasm. If it be so, it is blessed enthusiasm. Would to God Christendom was filled with it. There are 150,000,000 of families in the world, to which Tracts should be sent.

Antoninus was one of the best of the Roman emperors. His life was a scene of universal benevolence. Cecropia or Athens was held in high reputation, and attracted the attention of all the philosophers. But Antoninus discovered more than a local attachment. He looked upon the whole world as worthy of his attention, and considered it as the object of his benevolence. Shall any one," says he, "love the city of Cecrops, and you love not the city of God!" How much more disinterested and pure should be the benevolence of the Christian! and to how much greater degree ought he to practice it! It is not a little favored spot he regards, it is not an insulated portion of the globe, that he would have fructified and converted into a paradise. It is not his own garden and fields only, on which he wishes the refreshing showers to

fall. But with a noble, expansive, and generous mind, he prays that the whole earth may be filled with the glory of God. Such a spirit produced the Tract Societies, whose happy effects are felt in every direction.

What a striking resemblance to ancient Jerusalem at one of the great annual festivals, when the Israelites from every tribe presented themselves before the Lord, are the cities of Boston and New York, on the week of their religious anniversaries! Then are held the annual meetings of the Tract, Sabbath School, Missionary, Education, and other benevolent societies, whose object is the glory of God, and the salvation of men. Such too is London; and such is Paris, which less than sixty years ago, was infidel. And I trust the day is not far distant, when such will be the most distinguished places in every part of our globe. Are not these things a sign of the Millennium's approach? Will they not accelerate the day foretold in the oracles of God, when "all shall know the Lord, from the least of them unto the greatest of them"? What part shall we act in this great drama of human affairs? Let conscience decide. This is the cause of Almighty God, and it will prevail.

Appendix B.

DISSERTATION III.

FOREIGN MISSIONS.

"Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." This command of the risen Saviour was addressed to his disciples eighteen centuries ago. Upon looking at it, the question naturally arises, How far has this command been obeyed? An answer to this inquiry may be given by ascertaining what portions of the human race are still unevangelized, and what parts of the globe are inhabited by those who have not as yet embraced the gospel of Christ.

Pagans are unevangelized. This appears from a consideration of their religion, which is at a vast remove from Christianity. They pay divine homage to idols, or false gods. Those of this faith worship the sun, moon, and stars, fire, water, stocks, and stones; beasts, insects, reptiles, and even plants and herbs. In India alone, it is said that there are three hundred and thirty millions of idol gods. In their religious rites, ceremonies, and observances, the heathen are most horribly stupid, debased, obscene and bloody. Their religion is a yoke of cruel and wicked bondage. The most unnatural, atrocious, and barbarous practices prevail among them. In Hindoostan, China, the pagan islands of Polynesia, and in some of the

tribes of the North American Indians, it is lawful to destroy infants. In some nations, parents and dear friends, when they become sick or infirm, are exposed or slain. Some of the tribes in Africa and South America, as also the inhabitants of New Zealand, feed on human flesh. Thousands in India annually commit suicide, as a religious act, by drowning themselves, or burning themselves on funeral piles; by prostrating themselves under the wheels on which their idol gods are borne, or by yielding to the most agonizing tortures. Dr. Ward calculates that five thousand widows are annually burnt in Hindoostan. Females generally are doomed to the most contemptuous degradation and servility. In the language of the apostle, the heathen "are without Christ, aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world." Pagan lands are emphatically dark places of the earth, full of the habitations of cruelty.' They embrace the greatest part of Asia, the interior of Africa, the wilds of North and South America, and most of the islands of the seas. Four hundred and fifty millions of the human race are thus shrouded in moral darkness, in all its varied and horrid appearances.

Among those who are unevangelized may be reckoned Mohammedans. Their religion was framed and taught by Mohammed, the Arabian impostor, and is a mixture of Paganism, Judaism, and Christianity. Its principal characteristics are sensual indulgence, strict adherence to rites and ceremonies, and a malevolent spirit towards those of a different faith. It is absurd and superstitious; grossly indecent, and immoral. The highest reward it pretends to confer on its votaries, is a sensual paradise, where the base passions and appetites of man are gratified. This religion, so dark, delusive and wicked, has been propagated by the sword, and embraced by multitudes, crowding