conversion of the heathen world. We We may collect from them, I think, that in the glorious period to which they direct our eyes, it shall not only come to pass, that " that "Kings shall be the nursing-fathers, and Queens the nursing mothers" of the Gospel, and that, under their influence, there will result an universal national profession of the faith: I trace in these promises something far more exalted :-I see in them a pledge that the outpouring of the Spirit shall, in those days, be so large and so longcontinued, that men shall savingly and vitally feel in their hearts those precious truths to which their understandings shall assent;-that all they that shall hear of the bleeding Lamb shall mourn for Him, whom their sins have pierced ;-that the faith which shall prevail shall be uniformly a "faith which worketh by love," a faith, which, being implanted by the Spirit, shall be prolific of the fruit of good works;-that there shall be none of those false professors, who worship God" with their lips, whilst their heart is far from him ;" but, that all who worship him "shall worship him in spirit and in truth;"-that all, who are "hearers of the word;" shall be "doers of it" also,-that all the families of the earth, having been admitted into the visible Church, shall be blessed with "an unction from the Holy One, and shall know all things." Hear Jeremiah" They shall no more teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying,

Know the Lord,--for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord:"-and Isaiah still more strongly-" The earth shall be full of the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." Now these passages, and many others, of a similar import, which might be adduced, appear to me utterly incompatible with the notion, that, under the final establishment of the Gospel, there shall continue the same difference between nominal and real godliness which we now lament in the visible Church; on the contrary, I think, they warrant us in maintaining the belief, that in those glorious days, all the nations" naming the name of Christ shall depart from iniquity," and shall be justified by "the righteousness which is by faith."

If it be asked, by what means these mighty effects shall be brought about?—I answer, that the word of God lends us not sufficient light to give a full answer to this inquiry. There will undoubtedly be a special and extraordinary outpouring of the gifts of the Holy Ghost; by the efficacy of which the law of God will be written indelibly, and the love of Christ will be shed abroad abundantly, in the hearts of men. But I do not see that we are led to suppose, that what we usually call a miraculous interposition will be employed. The influences and operations of the Spirit will differ not so much, it may be, in their nature as in their degree; and we

have reason to believe that the conversion of the heathens, and the purification of the whole body of the Church upon earth, will be visibly effected by what are commonly termed the ordinary means of grace;-by the sending forth of missionaries-by the preaching of the Gospel-by the distribution, far and wide, of the sacred volume; that even these means-fostered by the blessing of God's Spirit (without which, whoever he be that plants, and whoever he be that waters, there can be no increase,) I say that even these means will bring together the stray sheep to the bosom of Jesus, and unite them in one fold and under one shepherd. The ordinary dealings of God through all the ages of the Gospel-and the commission and promise of our Saviour to his disciples, when he bids them go throughout the earth, and "preach the Gospel to every creature," and assures them that he will be with them "alway unto the end" of the world-all these things concur in convincing us, that, whatever other means it may please the Lord to call in at the last days for the conversion of the world, he will also largely employ and prosper those methods by which the progress of the Gospel has been hitherto effected.

And if it be so, brethren, I know not how I could set the two excellent Societies (whose interests I have undertaken this day to advocate) in a more attractive or a more engaging light, than by

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representing them as auxiliaries under God to bring about those great and important events of which I have been speaking, and to which we, as Christians, cannot but look forward with the most intense earnestness; the one Society, as labouring to maintain and to extend the influence of the Gospel, by means of the preaching of her missionaries, and the establishment and support of schools, through all those countries which are subject to the British Crown: the other, principally, as providing, by means of her publications, for the preservation and edification in knowledge and in holiness of those both at home and abroad, to whom the Gospel has been, or shall be, preached ;-I know not, I say, how I could more strongly recommend them to your admiration and to your support. We have seen the glorious prospects which await the Church in the latter days under the final establishment of the Gospel;-but, brethren, shall the believer be satisfied to stand idle with these prospects before him?-yea, shall they not, rather, stir up his soul to increased and increasing zeal?-shall the missionary be content with knowing that the Lord's word shall assuredly come to pass? and shall not that very knowledge excite him to persevere in "the work of an evangelist, whereunto he is called ?”—and will ye, brethren, who know these gracious purposes of the Lord, be wanting on your parts to promote the conversion of the heathen

abroad, and the spiritual instruction of our ignorant brethren at home, by such means as God has placed at your disposal? Has much been done? yea, and God be praised for it! But a wide field still presents itself on every side for your exertions. After all that has been done, let any one who casts his eyes to the British possessions in the East, overflowing, as they are, with the myriads of a population buried, for the most part, in the most profound darkness and superstition;-who knows the sad lack of spiritual instruction under which even our colonies labour, where the knowledge of the Gospel may, in some sense, be considered to have been hereditarily preserved ;-or, again, who views (what is still nearer to him) the gross ignorance in which some of the more remote districts of the mother country are enveloped ;-let any one, who does this, say, whether he can believe that the claims, which the objects of these Societies have upon his liberality, be diminished, or are likely to be diminished :-nay, rather, whether, in proportion as the tide of emigration to our colonies flows stronger and stronger, more enlarged assistance, more strenuous efforts, be not required amongst the friends of the Gospel ;-and whether, at a period when Unitarianism and Infidelity are more than usually active to poison the minds of the weak and the unstable, and to "take away the Word which has been sown in their hearts, lest they should believe

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