means of human exertion, and in answer to the prayers of the righteous-the power of Antichrist shall be dissolvedall fundamental errors in Christendom shall be exploded— the blasphemies of infidelity shall be hushed-the Jews shall believe in Jesus-the pale crescent of Mohammed shall set for ever in the blaze of the Sun of righteousness -the multiform systems of idolatry retire before the growing brightness of eternal truth-and the whole earth be filled with the knowledge of the Lord, the fruits of righteousness, and the works of peace.

So has God decreed. So has prophecy declared. “Men shall be blessed in him, all nations shall call him blessed."

"I saw in the night visions," said the prophet Daniel, "and behold, one like the Son of man, came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Antient of days; and there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people and languages, and nations should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away; and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed."

If on the one hand, there be much in the present condition of the world, to try our faith in these animating predictions, is there not, in the exertions of the Christian world, very much on the other hand to confirm and strengthen it? Contemplate for a few moments the state of the earth, together with the means which are employed for its improvement.

Suppose for the sake of illustration, that you occupied the station of the angel, represented in the Apocalypse, as standing in the sun, and that with eyes piercing as the beams of day, you were looking down on the revolutions of this low diurnal sphere. Scarcely had England turned towards the east, before Ireland, an integral part of your own empire, would present four millions of Roman Catholics, satisfying themselves with the crucifix, instead of the cross; at the same time, however, you would behold the preachers of the Irish Evangelical Society, and the schools of the Hibernian Society, lending their assistance to the Protestant ministers of various denominations, and all infusing the pure principles of the Gospel into this mass of superstition. The Atlantic having glided away beneath your view, and with it the United States, which fringe its

western shore, you would look down on the innumerable tribes which wander without God through the terra incognita of the American continents; still amongst these would be discovered here and there a Missionary conducting them to Jesus. Then would follow the broad Pacific spotted with innumerable islands, each the tenanted domain of idol gods; yet Taheite and Eimeo, would shine resplendent, like a bright speck upon the bosom of the ocean, from whence the light of salvation is diverging in every direction over that mighty mass. of waters. No sooner had your eye regaled itself with Christian temples, floating, as it were, upon the great South Sea, than China would heave its unwieldy empire, groaning as it rolled beneath the crimes of two hundred millions of idolaters; but even there, groups of Chinese, assembled to read in secret the Testaments circulated by our honoured Morrison and Milne, would exhibit the first attractions of the cross, in that most singular country. Now, the plains of Hindoostan, watered by the obscene and deified Ganges, would arrest your attention, and produce an indescribable horror, as they disclosed the frantic orgies of Juggernaut, the flaming pile of the devoted widow, with innumerable other spectacles of idolatrous cruelty; yet, in the centre of Oriential abomination, would you discover the crimson standard, waving from the Mission-houses of Serampore and Calcutta, with Carey, and Townley, and the men of other Missions, directing the teeming population to the means of salvation. If you looked northward beyond the mountains of India, immense tracts covered with ignorance and idolatry, would be seen stretching away to the pole, but at the same time you would descry Stallybrass and Rahmn, planting the rose of Sharon amidst the snows of Siberia, and attracting the Calmuc and the Tartar, by its fragrance and beauty. Persia and Arabia would succeed, presenting in the numerous millions devoted to the false prophet, a formidable phalanx of blindness and bigotry; but moving down from Astrachan, along the shores of the Caspian, and borne by the Missionaries of the Edinburgh Society, would be seen the cross, advancing to spread the spirit of division and revolt through this army of the aliens, and to bring down the tottering fabric of Islamism to the dust. Palestine, "the classic ground of sacred story," next appears. How would

your eye linger over the vallies where the father of the faithful pitched his tent, the mountains on which Isaiah struck his harp; and above all, on the summit of that hill where the Saviour of the world poured out his soul unto death. Little, I confess, would be seen at Jerusalem but the mosque and the minaret, save where a company of Jews, veiled with unbelief, sat down upon the site of their antient temple: still would you not there anticipate the accomplishment of those numerous predictions, which assure us that the exiles of Judea, shall one day dwell in their own cities, and look on him whom they have pierced, and mourn? In Asia Minor, amidst prevailing superstition, you would trace the Russian Bible Society, bearing back the golden candlestick to its place in one hand, and in the other the torch of truth, to rekindle those lamps which once threw their lustre on the wave of the Mediterranean. Africa would then pass by shrouded in the gloom of barbarism, and still bleeding from the wounds inflicted by the ruffian hand of commercial cupidity, an object, as wretched as ignorance, oppression, and idolatry can render her: but ah! you would exclaim, with joyful exultation, "I see Bethelsdorp, and Theopolis, and Gnadenthal, and Sierra Leone, in each of which I behold a pledge that Africa shall yet be free, enlightened, and holy.” –Europe, debased by the superstitions of the Greek church in the north, and by the errors of the Vatican in the south, would present that wonder of the age, the British and Foreign Bible Society, rising up to complete the work which Luther's life was too short to finish, and effect a universal and perfect reformation.

Such then is the present condition of the moral world, and such, in part, the means employed for its improvement: from which you perceive, that the church of Christ, like the woman in the parable, has hidden the mystic leaven in the mighty mass; and that the assimilating process is commenced. It is; and though it operate awhile unseen, it shall never cease, till the whole lump is leavened.

Evidence is not wanting that the period is rapidly approaching, when all the nations of the world shall be brought to Christ. I pretend not to ascertain the year, nor the cen

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tury, when the Millennium shall reach its meridian. I am not in the secret of "the times and the season which the Father hath put into his own power:" I am not versed in the symbolical arithmetic of prophecy: but it appears extremely probable, from all the movements of Divine Providence, that a great and happy era is struggling in the birth. The political, the moral, the religious world have all been agitated of late years, by some quickening principles. The stagnancy of past ages has been disturbed. A vivifying wind has been sweeping over the face of chaos, preparatory to the new creation. The Millennial day has broken upon the world, and, just as might be expected, after a night so lowering and cloudy, with beams of light diffusing themselves from one side of the heavens, and storms rumbling with awful grandeur, as they retire across the other.

Nor should it be overlooked that the chief splendour of that illustrious era will consist in the universal subjection of the world to Christ. It appears pretty evident, that the grand contest which was originated by the entrance of moral evil into the universe; which converted the regions of celestial peace into the scenes of destructive war; which was then cherished in hell by the powers of darkness; and has since been perpetuated on earth, in all the multiform systems of error and vice, has more particularly concerned the dominion and glory of the Son. He seems to have been the special object of Satanic envy and hate, and to prevent his reign, all the resources of the infernal world have been incessantly set in motion. Here, then, is the glory of the latter day; it shall exhibit the termination of this grand rebellion, the cessation of this long conflict, in an entire victory over the rebel hosts, and the universal subjection of the world to Jesus. "Every thought is to be brought into captivity to Christ." "He must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet." Hence, the shout of victory which is to be uttered at the close of this awful contest, is represented in this language" the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of God, and of his Christ." Let the children of Zion be joyful in their king. Let them anticipate with triumph his universal reign. All men shall be gathered to him.

Wherever the traveller directs his course, through this wide world of ours, he shall behold in every country, city, town, and village, the friends and the disciples of Jesus, and none else. He shall hear every temple echo with his praise, and see every land filled with his renown. He shall witness all the kings of the earth casting down their crowns, and all the nations laying their glory at his feet.

And how greatly will it contribute to his renown, that this mighty conquest was effected by his cross. This will raise the fame of his power and wisdom to the highest pitch, that by "the foolishness of preaching" he overcame every enemy, and subjugated the world to himself. Had human reason devised a method for overturning the fabric of idolatry, and for establishing the true religion upon its ruins, it would have been any thing but that which was employed by God. We should have said, "Adapt your system as nearly as possible to the fashionable philosophy of the day; emblazon it with Tully's golden periods; and announce it in the harmony of Virgil's numbers, and then you will probably succeed, especially if its apostles be the princes, the conquerors, and the scholars of the age."-" But God's ways are not as our ways, nor his thoughts as ours." He determined to conquer by an instrument despised for its weakness and hated for its ignominy. "The weakness of the rod of Moses magnified the power of which it was the instrument; the contemptible nature of the rams' horns signalized the victory at Jericho; the despicable appearance of the lamps and pitchers celebrated the discomfiture in the valley of Moreh; and the ignominy of the tree will raise the fame of the power of Jesus in conquering the world to a pitch beyond which nothing can advance it. To have broken and dissolved the gates of hell in a situation advantageous and honourable, would have magnified his power and wisdom; but to do this upon the cross, the instrument prepared by themselves for his destruction, elevates the glory of the achievement above our comprehension and our praise.

I shall now conclude with an address to the Directorsto Missionaries-to Ministers-and to the Congregation.