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mutual duties." Our young brethren, who have just been set apart to the sacred office, have received their charge; and perhaps you may be ready to ask-who, and where, are the people, that are to be charged, to perform the mutual or correspondent duties, which the constitution contemplates as due to the evangelists now ordained? My reply to this inquiry may possibly give surprise to some who hear it, but answer unhesitatingly-all the, people of the Presbyterian church, who are concerned in sending forth these missionaries to the heathen, are they who are to be charged, in the name of God, to sustain them; and you, brethren, who are present on this occasion, are in the first instance, and as it were the representation of the whole, to receive this charge.

Lay it to heart, then, dear brethren, that sacred duties are weightily incumbent on you-rather let me say, on us in virtue of the relation which this ordination service has created, between us and these beloved young brethren, who are leaving parents, home, friends, and country, and with their lives in their hands, are going" far hence to the gentiles." Yes, and in virtue, too, of the relation in which we stand, -shall I say, as parents and guardians-to millions of heathen, who, in regard to the gospel, are like infants in nonage, who cannot yet act for themselves; but who, when they shall have become even "babes in Christ," will heap blessings on us, that we were mindful of the worth of their souls, when they were utterly ignorant of it themselves.

What, then, let us inquire, are the duties which we, ministers and people here assembled, and throughout the whole bounds of the Presbyterian church, owe to these young ministers, who have made a deodand of themselves, to

go into the wilds of Africa? Our duties may, I think, be comprised under three particulars, sympathy, prayer, and provision (so far as pecuniary contributions can make it,) for their personal comfort, and the success of their enterprise.

1. Sympathy. That it is a sacred Christian duty to cherish this feeling towards every faithful minister of Christ, but especially and pre-eminently toward those who submit to great hardships, privations, and perils, in preaching and promoting the gospel, is apparent from the numerous appeals that are made to it in the New Testament; as well as from the nature and effects of the sentiment itself. How often does the great apostle of the Gentiles appeal to this feeling, when he speaks of his bonds; of his being a prisoner in bonds; a prisoner of Jesus Christ for you, Gentiles. Nay, he gives a command on the subject. "Remember my bonds." What honourable mention, too, does the beloved apostle John make of the kindness and hospitality of the well beloved Gaius, arising from his sympathy with those who, for the name's sake of the blessed Redeemer, went forth, taking nothing of the Gentiles;" and with what commendation and gratitude does Paul speak of the Christian sympathy of the Philippians, who, when "no other church communicated with him, as concerning giving and receiving, sent once and again to his necessity."

Consider the nature of sympa-. thy. It is the identifying of ourselves, if I may so speak, with other individuals; it is putting ourselves in their places-feeling as they feel, and entering, as if they were our own, into their sorrows, their fears, their sufferings, their joys, their hopes, their wishes, their pleasures, their pains, their successes, and their disappointments. They who do this, will do for them with whom they sym

4

pathize, if not exactly all that they would do for themselves, yet all that they would wish others to do for them, in the circumstances contemplated. It is a modification and exercise of this principle of sympathy which makes the cause of Christ, with every genuine disciple, his own cause; and makes the believer enter feelingly into the situation, duties, labour, and trials, of every faithful minister of our Lord Jesus. It is, therefore, manifestly the source and vital spring of holy, amiable, liberal, devoted, vigorous action, in the Redeemer's cause and service. The lively exercise of this powerful Christian principle, will make him that feels it think and act, in some good measure, as the Saviour himself did. It will make him emulate the example of the apostles and primitive Christians-men of like passions with ourselves. He will aim to feel, think and do as they did, in endeavouring to extend, to adorn, and to recommend the cause of our Redeeming God, and to bring perishing sinners to become partakers of his great salvation.

Now, beloved hearers, there is, in the case of these young brethren, and in the mission with which they are charged, every one thing that is caculated to awaken our Christian sympathy into its most intense action. These devoted youth are not only going to do what is common to all foreign missionaries--to leave behind them the dearest earthly relatives, and the still dearer ordinances and privileges of the gospel, in a Christian land; but they are going to encounter perils and hardships, unusual and extraordinary, even to missionaries themselves; so much so, indeed, that if this holy enterprise had not been that of their own choice and preference, the society that sends them would not have recommended it. But, 'said one of them to me when reminding him of the dangers of an

African climate" Shall men of the world, influenced solely by the love of gain, run every hazard of climate, and incur every inconvenience of savage life and habits, to accumulate wealth; and shall no minister of Christ be willing to face the same dangers, and endure the same privations, to save the immortal souls of the perishing heathen!"-O Christian brethren! shall we not give the warmest sympathies of our hearts, to these dear young men, when they feel, and speak, and act, in this manner. Weshall; we will; we cannot refuse it; we cannot help it: as Christians, we cannot-I had almost said, as human beings we can

not.

And then, think of the object of this mission. It is to carry the torch of the gospel into the Egyptian darkness of Central Africa. In the early periods of the Christian church, the gospel in its purity was enjoyed, in a portion of the northern part of this country, bordering on the Mediterranean Sea. There flourished Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, and Augustin, bishop of Hippo, with a number of pure and prosperous churches under their care; but for centuries past the candle of the Lord has been utterly extinguished in that entire region. The whole coast has long been under the Mohammedan delusion and domination.

At a very early period, Christianity was planted on a part of the eastern coast of Africa; supposed by many to have been carried there by the eunuch, treasurer to Candace, queen of Ethiopia, who was baptized by Philip, as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles. An Ethiopic version of the Scriptures, or of a part of them, still exists; and there is a remnant of what is called a Christian church, still to be found in that country; but those who professedly belong to it, are so lost in ignorance and error, that the most of

them are little better than the heathen and Mohammedans, among whom they are mingled. In South Africa, the missions of the London Missionary Society are prospering gloriously-and on the western coast, the small Christian establishments at Sierra Leone, and Liberia, are known to us all.

Now the result of this short review is, that probably more than nineteen-twentieths of the inhabitants of the immense continent of Africa, are under the absolute dominion of Pagan superstition, and Mohammedan delusion. The interior of the country is indeed but little known; yet from some late discoveries it is ascertained, that a very considerable part of it is well peopled; and that many of the tribes are not fierce barbarians, but of a gentle and even timid disposition-having made some progress in the useful arts, possessing most of the domestick animals, disposed to be kind and hospitable to strangers, and inhabiting a country as healthy as any part of the world in the same latitudes. The strong probability is, that in what is called Central Africa, there is a region thrice as large as the whole territory of the United States, populated with many millions of inhabitants, on whom not a single ray of the Sun of righteousness has ever dawned; who have never so much as heard of the name of Jesus, but are groping in all the darkness, and all the degradation of heathen superstition; and passing, generation after generation, into eternity, unapprized of what is to meet them there, till a change of destiny is forever hopeless. To these ungospelized millions of perishing heathen, those missionary young men now before you, are determined, in reliance on the grace and protection of Almighty God, to endeavour to find their way; and there to tell of the unsearchable riches of Christ-the

glorious redemption of that precious Saviour, to whom the eternal Father has promised that "he shall have the heathen for his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for a possession.'

The first effort of our missionaries will be, an exploring tour; to ascertain where missionary stations may be most advantageously established; and thus to be pioneers in an invasion of Satan's empire, where he has reigned undisturbed, for ages in long succession. It is hoped that from information derived from this exploring expedition, a host of missionaries will at length go forth, and display the banner of the cross, and proclaim freedom to the captives of sin and the slaves of the prince of darkness, till the liberty where with Christ Jesus makes his followers free, shall bless the uncounted myriads of wretched, hapless Africa. I do affirm, that from the days of the apostles to the present hour, in my judgment, a more noble Christian enterprise was never undertaken; a wider scope for the triumphs of the cross was never contemplated, by the good soldiers of Jesus Christ. And if the great Captain of Salvation shall go forth with these devoted men, shall protect them from the numerous dangers and enemies with which they will have to contend, and shall eventually crown their efforts with success, a more glorious achievement will never have been witnessed, in the fields of missionary daring, toil and conquest. All your sympathies, Christian brethren, are, I am satisfied, at this moment, alive and enlisted, in behalf of this soul animating purpose and plan of Christian benevolence. And do you ask how we are to show our sympathy? I answer―

2. We must pray a great deal, and with strong faith, that. God may have these our dear missionaries constantly in his holy keeping; prosper their voyage across

Africa the

reary, long neglected, ch injured Africa-That from this region of the shaof death, myriads of redeemand sanctified spirits may yet rise, and join the General Assembly and church of the first born whose names are written in heaven, arac and unite in the song of Moses and the Lamb, in strains of celestial bliss, to all eternity.

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Dear Christian brethren-I must state it as my conviction, that a chief reason why there are not

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why those which exist are not more successful, is, that the peo

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more as they ought to pray, in regard to this great object. And now that the first mission which the Presbyterian church, single handed, has ever sent beyond the

the eve of its departure, I charge

for

joyful and sorrowful alike. We must boundaries of this continent-now also pray much, and with much ear- that this first infant mission is on vidence and abounding grace of charge my own soul, to pray i of this mission; that the good pro- you, in the name of God, and I God may give our brethren an it incessantly; not with formality, but, with God's help, in holy open agony-with pleadings and groanings that cannot be uttered-To pray for the success of this mission, almost whenever we pray for ourselves; and with as much earnestness as we pray for ourselves, or for the dearest objects of our affections-To pray for it in the closet, in the family, in the social prayer meeting, in the publick worship of the sanctuary, and in the monthly concert. Doing this, we may reasonably hope that God will bless the mission-bless the effort, whether immediately successful or not-bless it as one of the events that shall be instrumental in bringing on the millennial glory; when every language, and kindred, and people, and tongue, shall speak the praise of God, and of his Christ-when his " 'name shall be hallowed, his kingdom come, and his will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

door of access to the heathen; may, by the powerful influence of his Holy Spirit, incline them to listen favourably to the messages of the gospel; to receive the truth in the love of it, and submit themselves willingly and sweetly to the sceptre of the Prince of Peace. In a word, we must plead with strong cries and tears, that under the dispensation of the gospel, God may grant his all powerful, soul-transforming grace to the heathen of Africa; make them new creatures in Christ Jesus; give them repentance unto life; a vital union to the Saviour by faith; clothe them with his finished righteousness for justification; make them holy, humble, exemplary Christians; form them into churches; extend the reign of Immanuel over the ruins of Satan's empire, in be

* Alas! it never occurred to the speaker, that they might die of the pestilence before they left their native shores.

3. Finally. We owe it as a sacred duty to these missionaries, to provide for their personal support nd comfort, and the success of ir undertaking, so far as this be done by pecuniary contrins. After doing all that we n do all that money, and effort, and Christian sympathy can effect, the missionaries will have to make sacrifices, with, which all that we make, can bear no comparison. This they expect, and for this they have been disciplining their minds. But surely, brethren, we ought not to neglect a single thing that can lighten their burden-not a single thing that may contribute to enable them to endure without fainting, the arduous labours and trials that await them. Every practicable accommodation in their out-fitevery article that can be of use to themselves, or which they may use to advantage in their intercourse with the natives of Africa, we ought, with all readiness, and liberality, and assiduity, to furnish. And this, it is confidently expected and believed, will be

done.

Per

But this is not all. It is indeed but the smallest part of our duty, in this great concern. manent funds for the support and the extension of this and of similar missions, must be provided. It will be to the honour of our church, if it shall be seen that the ample ability and means which we certainly possess, shall be readily and cheerfully drawn into action, for the support of foreign missions, when they are under our own direction; and it will be our lasting reproach and disgrace, if any signal deficiency in this matter shall be witnessed. But let us go far beyond all personal, or denominational concerns and views. While we pay, as we ought, a certain degree of regard to the reputation of the church with which we are connected, let our thoughts be chiefly and directly fixed on the Ch. Adv.-VOL. X.

salvation of immortal souls; on the evangelizing of the heathen; on the travail for them of the Redeemer's soul; on the conversion of this sin ruined world to God. To what end can wealth be so properly consecrated, for what purpose can it be so worthily employed, as in promoting the best, the eternal interests of perishing immortals? Ah! the day will come, when this will be considered as the great object for which it is desirable to possess property-to possess, in order to employ it, in extending the Redeemer's kingdom, and rescuing sinners from eternal death. Yes, and the hour will come to each of us, either in this world or in the next-either before, or at the day of final judgment-when that part of our substance which we shall have expended to promote the salvation of souls, will give us more satisfaction in the review, than all that we shall have devoted to the gratification of ourselves, or our families, in superfluities which we ought to have denied ourselves, to augment our efficiency in doing good to the souls and the bodies of necessitous perishing mencandidates with ourselves, for the weal or wo of a dread eternity. Let us then, brethren, begin this evening to contribute as we ought to evangelical missions, and continue in the same to our dying hour. So, in the name of God, I charge you, and I charge my own soul. Amen.

From the Christian Observer. ON THE GRACIOUS OPERATIONS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.

In answer to your correspondent, A. L. permit me to offer a few observations on the question "What are, and what are not, distinguishing and essential characters of the gracious operation of the Holy Spirit on the soul?” 3 X

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