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Why is the press teeming with volumes, pamphlets, tracts and periodicals, till it groans beneath the ponderous burden? And why should "power presses," and steam engines be employed to accelerate the work, till with inconceivable rapidity, some ten or twenty thousand impressions are made in a single hour? Why has God given to the motions of the press an almost electric velocity, except that the world stands waiting for the last rays of Gospel day, that they may catch some of its life-giving beams, ere the shades of an eternal night close in around them? It seems as if the divine hand would give to the instrumentalities of His providence an impetus so sudden, rapid and powerful, that light might be communicated to the world, I had almost said, as the lightning shineth from the east even unto the west." "The flying Angel" is abroad; his swift messages of love go on the wings of every wind. Newspapers and tracts are scattered. like the hail. In the early part of Franklin's life, there were but two presses in America, now there are about sixteen hundred. One can but feel amazed and overwhelmed at the grandeur of the spectacle. How stupendous the operations of Providence! How wonderful the innovations and improvements of the age! As in the natural world the telegraphic wires convey tidings with the speed of heaven's lightnings, so in the spiritual world, messages go forth with celerity unparalleled in the history of the world. The mechanical genius of man, and the business energies of the world, are developed, and put in requisition to furnish an apparatus for the rapid and universal diffusion of light in the earth.

6. The present is eminently an era of missionary enterprise. The great mass of the Church have slumbered over the command of the great Head, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature." But in our day the spirit of missions has been abroad throughout christendom. Societies for the promotion of this object have been organized, and some entire heathen communities converted to christianity. This development in the spiritual world is not entirely modern, but principally of recent origin. The American board of Commissioners for foreign missions was organized in 1810, the "American Baptist Board was formed in 1814, and in the present age many other associations have been organized for the purpose of concentrating the energies of the christian world for the dissemination of Gospel light; and an effort has been made which far surpasses all the efforts of the Church antecedently, to the present century. The standard of the cross has been erected in the benighted lands of the heathen. The war has been carried into the enemies' camp; and doubtless many men of God, whose hearts were fired with a holy fervor, and a true missionary zeal, have gone forth to preach the glad tidings of salvation to a perishing world. Missionary stations have been planted in China, Burmah, Siam, Australasia, Hindostan, Ceylon, Armenia, Syria, etc., in Asia; in Constantinople, Malta, etc., in Europe; in South Africa, Egypt, Abysinnia, etc., in Africa; among the Cherokees, Choctaws, Chickasaws, Crecks, etc., in America; in the Islands of the Pacific Ocean, and in general among all the nations of the earth. All these movements have been brought about in the operations

of providence, and the dispensations of divine mercy, that the world might receive a warning prior to the end. Thus we perceive, God can raise up instruments to fulfil His will, and accomplish every iota of His word, so that one of the last acts in the movements of the Church has been performed before our eyes; for says Jesus, "This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world, for a witness to all nations, and then shall the end come." Some believers in the immediate coming of Christ may object to this application of the passage, thinking it refers exclusively to the Advent message; but we are inclined to the opinion, that although the message of the flying angel having the everlasting gospel to preach, (Rev. xiv: 6,) has specific reference to the proclamation of the Redeemer's coming, yet the passage alluded to in Matt. xxiv: 14, is correctly applied as above,

7. Theological institutions are of recent origin, but they have in the current century multiplied till we have in our land thirty-seven of those seats of theological learning. Brethren may object to this method of disciplining young men for the ministry; but we speak simply of the fact, that in the providence of God such instrumentalities are in operation at the present time; that young men of intelligent minds, and professed piety, are flocking in great numbers to those richly endowed institutions, with their copious Libraries, and erudite Professors, and various facilities for the acquisition of biblical and classical literature. This at least is one of the items that characterize the present century, and distinguish the era in which we live from all other ages of the world.

Such are some of the leading agencies for the dissemination of gospel light, I need not refer to the operations of the "Seaman's Friend Society" for the benefit of hitherto neglected mariners, organized in 1812, the "American Education Society" for the assistance of indigent young men who are preparing for the ministry, formed in 1815, the "American Temperance Society," formed in 1826, although "the first considerable move. ment on this subject was in 1811," the "American Anti-slavery Society," formed in 1833," the "Society for promoting permanent and universal Peace," formed in London 1816, the "American Peace Society" formed in 1828, etc. In fact the very names of the different benevolent institutions, that have sprung up in our day, would almost fill a volume. It is an era of progress and diffusion, of missionary zeal, and benevolent enterprise, in every department of morals and religion. And as if God would not leave a dark spot in all creation, the very tombs of the ancient dead begin to shine with unearthly light, and the monuments of departed ages have come up to add their testimony to the truth, and tell the story of Egyptian and Assyrian kings. Thank the Lord for the bright, glorious, concentrated light that comes streaming from every quarter of the universe, blazing on our position as on a focal point, and giving us light on every department of biblical truth. The Egyptian hieroglyphics could never be deciphered in modern times, until our day. The Sinaitic inscriptions, and the arrow-headed figures

*Religious Encyclopedia.

of Assyrian writing were all equally blind and unintelligible till of late the Providence of God, in a most remarkable manner, has elicited light, and directed to an understanding of these hitherto unfathomable mys. teries. Thus do those imperishable monuments attest the veracity of the sacred historian.

Much light has been thrown upon the sacred record by the travels and observations of learned men, who have traversed the regions of sacred story, observed the manners and customs of oriental nations, the geographical position of cities, rivers and mountains, the natural history of the animal and vegetable tribes, etc. They have gone with mathematical instruments in their hands they have measured heights and distances of mountains, rivers, seas, etc., and returned with their journals, maps, engravings and measurements, and poured out those treasures of knowledge through the medium of the press in rich profusion. Among the discoveries of the age, the tower of Babel, or temple of the God of Babylon has been found and scrutinized, the halls of the royal palace of Nineveh, have been thrown open, the Assyrian throne exhumed and the tomb of those ancient kings opened to the light of day. The palace of Shushan also, with its floor of variegated marble, has been found as described in Esther i: 6, and last, though not least in interest and importance, the sepulchre of the prophet Daniel has been discovered presenting on its front the image of a lion; as if God would point the finger of His providence to the very spot where Daniel was favored with Divine communications, and then to the repository of the dead where he is resting according to command