same lavish expenditure of talents and money in honour of their objects of adoration. Now let

these men be enlisted, and these resources appropriated in the extension of the Saviour's kingdom, and unless the streams of our benevolence swell and flow with far greater rapidity than ever, theirs will come in upon us, and help to fertilize whatever arid waste may exist within our own territory.

Since we came together in this holy convocation, one truth has been impressed upon my mind with unusual power, and that is the great honour of a personal participation in the work of missions. I am certain my young brethren do not understand their highest dignity and happiness. God does not solicit their assistance as necessary to the work. The removal of thousands, just prepared for labour, testifies to this humiliating truth. He proposes the engagement to them as a privilege, as a discriminating privilege, and by those who are inclined to accept it, such it is esteemed. They regard it as the fruits of wonder-working grace, and each exclaims with the inspired missionary of the Gentiles, "Unto me who am less than the least of all saints is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ."

Oh, if the spirit of God were poured out with

power from on high, how changed would be the feelings and language of Christians in reference to the heathen! Who would refuse then their personal assistance? Who could be kept back from this honourable service? What crowds would rush for the foremost ranks of the victorious army! None would think of preferring his own private interest to the conquest of a world. Parents would say to their children, nay, congregations to their pastors, "As much as we enjoy your presence, and value your exertions, we cannot detain you. Yonder are crowds loaded with guilt, and shrouded in ignorance. They have never heard of a Saviour, and yet their only period of preparation for heaven is as brief as ours. We enjoy the means of grace; we have the Bible. Even if deprived of the regular ministry, we need not "forsake the assembling of ourselves together." We possess the most valuable sermons in print, and we can read them on days of public worship. However great may be our sacrifices, they are nothing compared with the necessities of millions. We cannot, we dare not detain you. Go! our blessing shall accompany you, and the blessing of thousands, ready to perish, shall come upon you.

It is my earnest prayer, that this spirit of disinterested benevolence may soon animate the

church, and bless the world. The spiritual advancement of both must go together. He that limits his beneficence to the church, while he neglects the world, will probably accomplish but little more at home, than he attempts abroad.

CHAPTER XXIV.

A PRESIDENT of a literary institution followed with a short address. Our colleges and other seminaries of learning, said he, owe much to the spirit of missions which has recently been diffused among the churches. As pious students may be easily distinguished from the mass, who make no profession of religion; so those who are looking forward to the foreign field are generally distinguishable from their brethren.

It is in most cases superfluous to inform me of their expectations; I can discover it by the elevation of their character, and the exuberant fruits of their piety. Without neglecting their literary duties, they are always the warmest promoters of every plan for the spiritual improvement of themselves, or the conversion of their ungodly companions. And their influence is not limited to the Institution. You see them in the active labours of the Sabbath-school-you hear them in the praying circles of the neighbourhood — you meet them in the walks of the tract distributor ·

you find them enlisted in every good work which is not inconsistent with their academic pursuits. It is unnecessary to enter into any laboured investigation of their moral fitness for the missionary calling. As well may we inquire whether light proceeds from the sun, when he is pouring forth his mid-day effulgence. They act out their qualifications for office every day. They are missionaries at home, and these are the only characters who promise to be missionaries among the heathen.

I do not affirm that all who proclaim themselves actuated by this spirit, and devoted to this object, exhibit these traits of character. Much less would I declare that no others are eminent in their Christian course. I merely speak of the habits of a large majority of those who have formed this determination from correct motives, and in whose fixedness of purpose I have confidence. Where a young man does not disclose these attributes of character, however flaming may be his protestations of interest in the heathen, his zeal almost uniformly expires before the hour of separation from friends and country arrives.

There is something exceedingly salutary in the very expectation which many young men cherish of spending their lives in making known the riches of divine grace to benighted idolaters. I