beyond the visible heavens, sees nothing to expect or fear, but it will not do for the lofty benevolence of Christianity, which soars upon the wing of faith till she beholds the unseen world, which adapts the plan of her operation to the scale of eternity, and pursues it with an energy inspired by a view of heaven on the one hand, and of hell on the other.

Suppose that, out of compliment to the mockers of Missionary zeal, we relinquished its highest, and indeed its identifying object: suppose we confined our efforts exclusively to civilization, and consented to send the plough and the loom instead of the cross: and admitting that upon this reduced scale of operation, we were as successful as could be desired, till we had even raised the man of the woods into the man of the city, and elevated the savage into the sage, what I ask have we effected, viewing man, as we with the New Testament in our hands must view him, in the whole range of his existence? We have poured the light of science on his path, and strewed it with the flowers of literature, but if we leave him to the dominion of his vices, it is still the path to perdition. We have taught him to fare sumptuously every day; but alas! this, in his case, is only like offering viands to the wretch who is on his way to the place of execution. We have stripped off his sheep-skin kaross, and clothed him with purple and fine linen, but it is only to aid him, like Dives, to move in state to the torments of the damned. We may raise the sculptured monument upon his bones, in place of the earthly hillock in the wilderness, but while his ashes repose in grandeur, the worm that never dies devours bis soul, and the flame that can never be extinguished consumes his peace. We confer a boon, which is valuable, it is true, while it lasts, but it is a boon which the soul drops as she steps across the confines of the unseen world, and then passes on to wander through eternity, "wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked." But let us aim first to save the soul, by bringing it under the influence of Christianity, and then as we advance to the ultimate end of our exertions, we shall not fail to scatter along the path of our benevolence all the seeds of civilization and social order.

It is a mere assumption destitute of all proof, that such

tribes as those of South Africa, and the inhabitants of the South Sea Islands, could be civilized without the aid of religion but it is not an assumption, for experience proves the faet, that even in their savage state they are capable of receiving the Gospel: and who needs to be informed, that the principles of true religion contain the germ of all that is polished, as well as all that is excellent in human nature. Religion is strictly and essentially a civilizing process. By faith, the mind is raised above the debasing tyranny of sensible objects and sensual gratifications; by hope, the influence of present and pressing impulse is controled by the prospect of future benefits; love establishes a law of kindness in the breast, by which the irascible passions are subdued; and thus the very elements of barbarism are expelled whenever the soul is brought into union with Christ; industry is enjoined by the weight of a heavenly authority, and enforced by motives of eternal importance, while the intellect sublimated, and quickened by its communion with immaterial objects, is prepared to start in the career of an endless improvement.

If, then, you would convert the literal wilderness into a garden, let the first tree you plant in it be the tree of life, and you shall not long see it skirted by the nettle and the briar, much less like the poison tree of Java, exerting a deleterious influence around it, and describing a circle of death, but you shall behold it dropping its fruit for the life of the world, and shedding its leaves for the healing of the nations, while civilization, lifting up its feeble and tender arms, shall clasp around its trunk for support, and be raised by its agency into notice and strength.

II. Let us now consider the grand instrument of Missionary exertions. This is THE DOCTRINE OF THE CROSS." And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me."

It was evidently our Lord's intention to represent the conversion of the nations, not merely as a circumstance that would follow his death in the mere order of time, but as a consequence connected with it in the order of cause and effect. This day do we see something resembling the splendid

fable, to which historians ascribe the conversion of Constantine. Ye hosts of our British Israel, marshalled around this pulpit, and confederated in the mighty enterprise of wresting the empire of the world from the prince of darkness, behold the cross suspended from the firmament of revelation, radiant with its own brightness, and inscribed with the well known motto, "Hac vince." Yes, this is the emblem, which must wave in our banner, "to it shall the Gentiles seek, and his rest shall be glorious."

I am literally about to urge a crusade to the heathen world; far different, however, from that dreadful superstition, which in the midnight of the dark ages, disturbed the deep slumbers of the globe, and bursting forth like a volcano, precipitated all Europe in a state of fusion, upon the lovely vallies of Judea. Our object is not to recover the holy sepulchre from the possession of heretics, but to make known the death of Him that descended to it to wrest the keys of empire from the king of terrors ;-the weapons of our warfare, are not carnal, as the sword, the spear, and the battle axe; but spiritual as the doctrines of the Gospel exhibited in the sermons of our Missionaries :-the line of our march will not be marked by ensanguined fields, and the reign of desolation, but by the comforts of civilization and the blessings of Christianity. We shall not be followed in our career by the groans of dying warriors, and the shrieks of bereaved widows, but by the songs of redeemed sinners, and the shouts of enraptured angels; our laurels will be stained with no blood but that of the Lamb of God, and drip with no tears, but those of penitence and joy ;while our trophies will consist, not of bits of the true cross, or shreds of the Virgin's robe, but in the rejected idols of Pomare, with the regenerated souls of those who once adored them.

It will be important under this head of discourse, First, To state what is essentially included in the doctrine of the

cross.

It includes of necessity, the manner of Christ's death. The sacred historian having conducted us to Calvary, and pointed to its summit, exclaims with inimitable simplicity,-" and there they crucified him." Crucifixion was not only the most

agonizing, but the most ignominious death. By the Jewish law it was pronounced accursed, and by the jurisprudence of Rome, it was employed as the besom of destruction, by which the vilest of slaves and criminals might be swept from the face of the earth, as "the filth and offscouring of all things." Hence Cicero, in his impassioned oration against Verres, reserves it as the very sting of his accusation against the Pretor, that he had dared to crucify a Roman citizen, and on this ground invokes the Conscript Fathers, to appease the insulted majesty of the commonwealth, by punishing the guilty author of her disgrace. And didst THOU, who art the brightness of thy Father's glory, humble thyself to the death of the cross!!! Yes, and by that cross thou shalt conquer the world.

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The design of Christ's death, as an atonement for sin, is essentially included in this doctrine. It appears to me to be one of the mysteries in the world of mind, that the doctrine of atonement should be disputed by those who profess to yield assent to the testimony of revelation. Have its opponents ever read with attention the language of St. Paul, "whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past through the forbearance of God. To declare, I say, at this time, his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus." How is it possible to avoid seeing the great truth, for which we are now contending in this most convincing passage, where in the compass of two verses, it is thrice affirmed, that the end of Christ's death was a declaration of-JUSTICE; for in what other way, than as an atonement, his blood can be a manifestation of justice, it must confound even the ingenious spirit of error, to inform us. The atonement is not so much a doctrine of scripture, as the very scripture itself, which if it be removed, leaves all that remains, as incoherent and unmeaning as the leaves which the Sybil dispersed to the wind.

The divinity of Christ's person, as constituting the value of his satisfaction, appears to me to be an essential part of this system of truth. While the hope of a guilty world can rest no where else than on the atonement, that in its turn, can be supported by nothing less than the Rock of Ages: and

hence it is that these two are so often exhibited in the word of God in close connexion with each other. It was he "who was in the form of God, and thought it not robbery to be equal with God, that humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross."-Phil. ii. 6, 8. It was he "who was before all things, and by whom all things consist, that made peace through the blood of his cross."― Col. i. 17-20. It was he "who was the brightness of the Father's glory, and the express image of his person, and that upholdeth all things by the word of his power, that by himself purged our sins."

It should not be overlooked, how closely connected with the divinity of Christ, and how dependant upon it, is the success of the cause of Missions. This cause, with all which it involves, is supported by the power of Jesus. "The pleasure of the Lord is in his band." "The government is upon his shoulders. The Father hath made him to be head over all things to his church." "All power in heaven and earth is given to him." Do we, then, depend for success upon the energies of a mere creature? Is it an arm of flesh alone, that we must look to for support and conquest? Then, indeed, may we sound the signal of retreat to our Missionaries, dissolve our Society, and abandon to Satan the field of conflict. But we have not so learned Christ; we believe him to be the omnipotent, and the omniscient God. In him we trust, and shall not be ashamed.

Essential to the doctrine of the cross is the gratuitous manner in which its blessings are bestowed. "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him might not perish, but have everlasting life." It is of faith that it might be by grace." Leave out the justification of the soul by faith alone, and you send to the heathen but a lying resemblance of the cross,

And, to complete the scriptural view of this sublime compendium of truth, it is necessary we should include, its moral tendency and design in the heart and conduct of those by whom it is received. "I am crucified," said the Apostle, "with Christ," earnestly desiring, "that I may know him,