Hope for the Heathen: 
 
 A 
 
 SERMON, 
 
 PREACHED IN 
 
 th£ old 'prEsbyteriAn' church, 
 
 BEPO&C THE 
 
 
 ^^EkF-YORK MISSIONARY SOCIETY, 
 
 i'. : i- . 
 
 a 
 
 , At their Anpual Meeting, Noveinber 7, 1797. 
 
 By JOHN M. MASON, A. M. 
 
 Pajior of the Sects Prejhyterlan Churih in tie City of NewYcrt, 
 
 NEIT-YORK: 
 
 Printed by T. to* J. SWORDS, No. 99 Pearl-ftrej^, 
 
 — 1797 *— 
 
At a Meeting of the New-York Missionary 
 Society, November 8, 1797, 
 
 Resolved unanimously, 
 
 THAT the thanks of the Society be given 
 to the Rev. Mr. Mason for his Sermon preach- 
 ed before them laft evening, and that he be re- 
 quefted to furnifh a copy for publication. 
 
 Extracted from the MinuteSy 
 . JOHN N. ABEEL, Clerk. 
 
HOPE FOR THE HEATHEN. 
 
 Isaiah xxv. 6, 7. 
 
 'The Lord of Hojls — will dejlroy, in this moun- 
 tain^ the face of the covering caft over all peo- 
 ■* pie ; and the vail that is fpread over all nations. 
 
 The exerelfe of divine mercy towards man 
 is coeval with his need of it. The fhock of the 
 c fall was hardly felt; Remorfe had only begun 
 
 to prey upon the confcience, and Guilt to rally 
 his terrors, when a hope, as confoling as it was 
 unexpected, dawned from' Heaven upon our re- 
 4 volted race. I will put,” faid God to the 
 
 tempter, “ I will put enmity between thee 
 and the woman, and between thy feed and 
 her feed : it fliall bruife thy head, and thou 
 “ lhalt bruife his heel.”* In this original pro- 
 mife were included all fubfequent revelations 
 concerning the redemption of Tinners. The 
 doctrine of Messiah’s perfon, of his facrifice, 
 of his triumph ; together with that vaft fyftem 
 of prediction which extends from the begin- 
 ning to the end of time, and all the correfpond- 
 
 • • Gen. iii. 15. 
 
4 
 
 ing dlfpenfations of the new covenant, are no- 
 thing but its regular developement. But this 
 being flow as well as regular, and all flefli cor- 
 rupting his way, the Lord felected the family of 
 Abraham to be, for ages, both the witnefles of 
 his grace, and the depofitaries of his truth. To 
 them were committed his living oracles ; to them 
 the ordinances of his worflrip ; to them the fym- 
 bols and doctrine of the great atonement. 
 Among them he deigned to dwell, and to raife 
 up an illuftrious line of prophets, who fhould 
 diredt their faith and hope to Jefus the Saviour. 
 “ To him,” faith Peter, “ give all the prophets 
 “ witnefs, that, through his name, whofoever 
 
 believeth in him lhall receive remiffion of 
 “ fins.”* 
 
 But though the children of Ifrael enjoyed 
 thefe privileges, while other nations were “ fuf- 
 “ fered to walk in their own ways,”’ they were 
 taught that the covenant of peculiarity fhould 
 one day be abrogated, and be fucceeded by a 
 more general and more glorious ceconomy. — 
 “ In thee, and in thy feed, fliall all the nations 
 “ of the earth be blefred,”-h was the catholic 
 promife to Abraham their father. As the time 
 of its accomplifhment approached, the circle of 
 prophetic vifion grew brighter and larger. Later 
 prophets were enabled to explain the enigmas of 
 
 • Adis X. 43. 
 
 t Gen 'xK. 3, xxii. i8. 
 
5 
 
 their prcdeceflbrs, and to fpeak, with precifioit 
 and clearncls, both of the coming of Mcfliah, 
 and of the glory that fliould follow. Ifuiah, in 
 particular, appears to have been favoured w'ith. 
 the moil liberal difclofure of the divine purpofes. 
 Born on high, by the revealing Spirit, he fees 
 far beyond the common horizon. The extremes 
 of the earth, and the ages of futurity, are com- 
 manded into his view. He fees the “ fun of 
 “ righteoufnefs” afeehding the Heavens, and 
 breaking in upon the thick darknefs which en- 
 wraps the globe. Tic fees the fiends of night 
 ftretch their foul wings, and fly from the fpread- 
 ing day. He fees the tabernacle of God de- 
 feending to dwell among men: His eye rolls 
 ardent over the wondrous fcenc; his bofom 
 heaves with mighty emotions; and when utter- 
 ance is granted, he burfls forth in the language 
 of the text, “ In this mountain will the Lord of 
 “ Hofis dejiroy the face of the covering caf over 
 “ all -people, and the vail that is fpread over all 
 “ nations.” 
 
 The Lord hath not been flack concerning his 
 , promife, nor have the w'ords of his fervant fal- 
 len to the ground. The elementary difpenfa- 
 tion of Mofes is no more ; its fhadows have re- 
 ceived their fubftance, and its types their truth, 
 in the perfon and offices of the “ Word made 
 “ flefli.’' Millions of Gentiles, and among 
 them, believers of this aiTembly, who were once 
 
6 
 
 “ afar off, arc now brought nigh by the blood 
 “ of Chrift,” and are “ no more ftrangers and 
 “ foreigners, but fellow-citizens of the faints, 
 “ and of the houlhold of God.”* 
 
 But though all this hath happened, accord- 
 ing to the fcriptures, much is yet required to 
 their complete fulfilment. Many families of 
 the earth are flill unbleft: Thefe too are re- 
 
 ferved for the trophies of Emanuel’s grace, and 
 are to be fubje6kcd to his authority, by the 
 fame means which he hath ever employed in 
 converting finners — the gofpel of his crofs. 
 Three topics of difcourfe, not lefs appropriated 
 to the defign of our meeting, than plainly fug- 
 gefted by the text : For in this mountain Jhall 
 the Lord of Hofts defray the face of the covering 
 caf over all people, atid the vail that is fpread 
 over all nations. 
 
 I. Many families cff the earth are yet unbleft. 
 They are defcribed as deftitute of fpiritual and 
 faving knowledge ; an idea obvioufty conveyed 
 by the figures of a vail, and a covering — 
 Darknefs, thick darknefs, enflirouds their minds, 
 and conceals from them thofe fa<5ts and princi- 
 ples which it moft interefts them to know and 
 to Improve. 
 
 Of the nations thus under a vail we reckon 
 four clafles : 
 
 • Eph, ii. 13, 19. 
 
7 
 
 1. The families which adhere to the “ man 
 
 of (in — Enticed by his lying wonders, and 
 
 given up to ftrong delufions, they have deviated 
 into the paths of apoflacy ; they are under the 
 vail of anti-chriJHan error. 
 
 2. The families of rejedled Ifrael: — Having 
 difowned their Me(Tiah when he came ; and be- 
 ing difqualified, by judicial blindnefs, for dif- 
 cerning the real fenle of their fcriptures, which 
 teftify of him ; the vail upon their hearts is the 
 vail of objlinate unbelief. 
 
 3. The families which embrace the doftrines 
 of Mahommed : — Turned afide after fables, and 
 amufing themfelves with the belief of lying va- 
 nities, they are under the vail of grofs impojlure. 
 
 4. The families which are ufually called Pa- 
 gan : — With no other inftruftion than the glim- 
 merings of natural reafon, and the refradted rays 
 of diftant tradition, they are covered with the 
 vail of deplorable ignorance. 
 
 All thefe are charadterized in the text. But 
 our attention is invited more immediately to 
 thofe who are without any fcriptural revelation. 
 Though true of all, it is of them pre-eminently 
 true, that they are under the double vail of a 
 benighted underftanding, and an erring con- 
 fcience. 
 
 God is the fource of intelledtual light ; for 
 he alone is perfedt reafon. Wifdom in natural 
 things is his gift j much more that wifdom which 
 
8 
 
 is fpiritual and divine. Lofs of ability to difco-* 
 ver the chief good, was at once the juft reward=,> 
 and the native confequence of revolt. • For ,as 
 all fpiritual light in^ the creature beams’, from 
 the effulgence of the. Godhead, whenever fm 
 had intercepted' the communion of i man' \vith 
 his' Maker, the day which flaone ’ around , him 
 vaniihed; the gloom of the pjt thickened ^on 
 his’ foul; and from that accurled hpuf > tofthis, 
 unlefs illumined from above, lie hath wandered 
 out of the way, and his feet have ‘‘ ftuinblcd 
 “ upon the dark mountains.’’ Does the affertion 
 need proof? Proofs innumerable are furniftied 
 by the unhappy Heathen. Of the very Gud 
 who “ breathed into, their npftrils the breath of 
 “ life on whofe bounty they are continual 
 penfioners; and at whofe tribunal they muft 
 Ihortly ftand, they are fatally ignorant, r The 
 “ Heavens may declare his glory, rand the fir- 
 “ mament fhew forth bis handy work;”* but 
 the' Pagans, 'unaccuftomed to decypher their 
 language, and to ftudy their leffons, do, not 
 thence derive, in faft, juft and clear perceptions 
 even of “ his eternal power and Godhead;” far 
 lefs of his moral character ; lefs ftill can they 
 learn that he .is the only fatisfying portion of ra- 
 tional beings; and leaft of all, that he is acceffi- 
 ble to the rebellious. ' Thole general notices of 
 
 * Pf. xix, I. 
 
9 
 
 bis being which have prevailed in all countries 
 ajid at all times, have never fufficed to diredt 
 men aright in their inquiries after him ; nor do 
 tlicy now prevent the mod foolifli, the mod ex- 
 travagant, the mod abominable conceptions of 
 his nature, and of his operations. 
 
 Midake in the firll principles of religion and 
 of morals, mud generate uncertainty in all the 
 fubordinatc principles of both. The rule of obe- 
 dience is, therefore, at bed, a fuhyedt of con- 
 jedlure. What, is the genius, mcafure, and 
 manner, of acceptable wordiip? What arc the 
 relative. duties of fociety.^ Wherein they come 
 Ihort ? And what diall be the fruit of tranl- 
 gredion ? few of the Heathen afk, and none can 
 tell. Yet they arc under a law of righteoufnefs 
 which faith, “ the foul that fmneth lhall die.” 
 The origin of their wants and woes they are 
 unable to explore.. To the demerit and wages 
 of fm they are utter drangers. The confe- 
 quences of death they are equally unprepared 
 to meet, or to edimate. All beyond the grave li 
 impenetrable obfeurity. Their, notions of im- 
 mortality are lefs a fpecylation than a dream. 
 When called hence, they plunge into the world 
 of fpirits, unconfeious of their dediny; and, 
 till that confummation of forrows, they grope, 
 at a venture, after the path of life j but grope, 
 alas ! in vain ; “ having the unejerdanding dajrk’ 
 .' B 
 
10 
 
 “ ened ; being alienated from the life of God^’ 
 “ through the ignorance that is in them, becaufe 
 “ of the blindnefs of their heart,”* 
 
 • Of this inteliedtual darknefs the infeparable 
 companion is an erring conjcience. . 
 
 Although light in the underftanding does not, 
 of courfe, imply moral excellence, yet, without 
 the former, there can be none of the latter. To 
 this it is neceiTary not only that there be a law 
 of morals, but that it be obeyed from a regard 
 to the authority of the lawgiver. Both the law- 
 giver and the law muft, therefore, be known, 
 or confcience will inevitably go aftray. The 
 general fentiment of right and wrong, though 
 fufficient, if violated, to leave men without ex- 
 cufe, will by no means condudt to the proper 
 difeharge of duty. The fadt is notorious ; and 
 a glance at the' Heathen world will defery a 
 thoufand monuments of it. To thofe who have 
 the advantage of revelation, no truths appear 
 more fimple and luminous, than that there . is 
 but one God, and that he only is entitled to re- 
 ligious homage. Yet how dubious, on thefe 
 points, were the moft celebrated Heathen philo- 
 fophers ! how embarralfed their refearch ! how 
 conjcdtural their opinion! And of that fjfiritual 
 devotednefs which is the life of real religion, 
 they had as little knowledge as the fons of mo- 
 
 • Kph. iv. i8. 
 
J I 
 
 dern unbelief. If from them we turn to the 
 inafs of their cotemporaries, or to thofe who 
 are now in a fimilar condition, we are ftartlcd 
 and fltocked to fee them “ wonhlp and lerve 
 “ the creature more than tlie Creator who is 
 “ blefled forever.”* One poor idolater bows to 
 “ the liofl: of Heaven;” another trembles before 
 an evil fpirit — Here, he finds his divinities in 
 birds, and beafts, and reptiles; there, he 
 “ changes the glory of the incorruptible God 
 “ into an image made like unto corruptible 
 “ man,”-f- and lies prollrate before a deity of 
 ftone or of w'ood, the work of his chizzel or his 
 axe. “ He hevveth him down cedars, and taketh 
 “ the cyprefs and tlie oak — he burneth part there- 
 “ of in the fire; with part tliereof he eateth 
 “ flefh ; he roafteth roaft, and is I'atlsfied ; — yea, 
 “ he warmeth himfelf, and faith, Aha, I am 
 “ warm, I have feen the fire : And the re- 
 
 “ fidue thereof he maketh a god, even his gra- 
 “ ven image : he falleth down unto it, and wor- 
 “ fliippeth it, and prayeth unto it, and faith, 
 “ Deliver me ; for thou art my god, — And none 
 “ conlidereth in his heart, neither is their know- 
 “ ledge nor underflanding to fay, I have burnt 
 “ part of it in the ‘fire; yea, I have alfo baked 
 “ bread upon the coals thereof; I have roafted 
 “ flefh, and eaten it ; and (hall I make the refi- 
 
 Rom. i. 25. 
 
 f Rom. i; 23. 
 
12 
 
 “ due thefeof an abomination? {ball I fall down 
 to the flock of a tree?”* 
 
 The rites of Paganifra are worthy of its creed. 
 Inflead of a worfhip, reafonable, reverend, and 
 purej it exhibits all the frightful varieties of 
 whatever is abfurd, or blafphemous, or obfcene. 
 Its effedls on individual and focial character, 
 are precifely fuch as we might anticipate. Un- 
 rcfiraincd by any juft apprehenfions of God, of 
 his law, or his government, the moft baleful 
 paflions domineer in the heart, and the moft 
 horrible exceffes pollute the life. Moral dif- 
 tindlions confounded; the fenfe of relative obli- 
 gation extinguiftied ; crimes the moft atrocious 
 perpetrated with deliberation, and upon princi- 
 ple, are, among the Heathen, the refult of be- 
 ing “ without God.”-h If, in the midft of this 
 degradation and thefe enormities, the thought 
 fhould occur, “ that they who do fuch things 
 “ are worthy of death,” a fccret horror creeps 
 through the blood ; Confcience, 'the fcorpion of 
 guilt, ftrikes his fling into the bofom; fore- 
 bodings, equally dark and intolerable, the myf- 
 terious prefcntiment of “ judgment to come,” 
 harrow up the foul. Whither, in this extremity, 
 fhall they turn for fuccour? All around them 
 is one dreary wafte ; the reign of filcnce and of 
 
 * Ifaiah xliv. 14 — 19. 
 
 f Ward’s Hiftory of the Law of Nations, vol. i. p. 8i — 8j, IC4 — 
 To6. 
 
^3 
 
 tlefolailon. No friendly voice is born to the 
 Jifteningcar; no tower of help rii'es up to thq 
 anxious eye. The Comforter, w ho Ihould com- 
 fort their. fouls, is at'ar oil'. They have not 
 heard, like you, ot' the name of jefus. They 
 have none to tell them of “ redemption through 
 “ his blood, even the forgivenefs of fins, accoid- 
 ■“ ing to the riches, of his grace.”* And the 
 tcrmination.of their mortal courfe — O brethren, 
 how' tremendous ! The Heavens blacken ; the 
 tempeft roars; the whirlwind nifhes by; down 
 pours the torrent ; and w'ithout a refuge, and 
 without a hope, they are fwept away in the ruin 
 of the nations that forget God. 
 
 • Expofed to this melancholy fate, the Hca- 
 <het^,clalrn our fyinpathy ; and w'e eagerly aik. 
 Is their doom to fuch woe irreverfibly fealed ? 
 Are they fhut out, forever, from the divine 
 compaflions No 1 To the pralfe of his grace, 
 •Jehovah hath thoughts of merq’, rich mercy, 
 towards them. Hk will destroy, faith the 
 prophet, the covering cajl over all people,- and the 
 vail that is fpi-ead over all nations — a defign, the 
 contemplation of which fonns the 
 
 II. Part of dil'courfe. 
 
 P'rom the days of eternity, the Father hath 
 gi\*en toj Mefliah “ the Heathen for his inlierit- 
 “ ance, ^d the uttermoft parts of the earth for 
 
 Eph»L*7. 
 
! 
 
 14 
 
 “ his poffeflion.”* The whole earth, there* 
 fore, being included in the covenant-grant, 
 (hall be filled with the knowledge, and fiib* 
 dued to the obedience, of Jehovah. On the 
 maxims of carnal wifdom, the fad is, indeed, 
 impoflible, and the expedation wild. To ex- 
 tirpate prejudices implanted in infancy, nurtur- 
 ed by habit, confirmed by example, and con- 
 fecrated by tradition — to enlighten the ftupid 
 idolater, and foften the ferocious favage — to 
 perfuade men to defpife as contemptible, and 
 loathe as abominable, the objeds of their refpcd 
 and veneration — in a word, to change the opi- 
 nions, the cuftoms,’ the charaders of nations; 
 and unite them in a religion, Ample, holy, hea- 
 venly — a religion oppofed to every vicious prin- 
 ciple, and every vicious ad — a religion which 
 profcribes all human merit, and proftrates all hu- 
 man pride — This is an undertaking wliich 
 equally defies the policy and the power of man. 
 And the belief that it (hall, at any time, be at- 
 tended with fuccefs, furnilbes inceflant matter 
 of derifion to the philofopher, and of fncer to 
 the witling. Their miftake lies in fuppofing 
 the God who made them to be as foolifh and 
 as feeble as themfelves, or as little concerned in 
 the falvation of finncrs. But we, according to 
 his promife, look for the interpofiti^n of his 
 
 • V(. ii. 8. 
 
 I 
 
15 
 
 irm, by which, however mean the inftruments, 
 this prodigious revolution lliall be effedled with 
 no lei's eal’e than certainty. For, 
 
 I . He diredts the complicated movements of 
 the univerfe. Howev’er confufed and contra- 
 didtory things may appear to our little minds; 
 with him whole “ underftanding is infinite,” 
 there is neither furpril'e, perplexity, nor chance. 
 
 Known unto the Lord are all his works from 
 “ the beginning of the world.”* Not only are 
 the laws of matter his Ibvereign will, and their 
 operation his continual agency, but the whole 
 fyftem of intelledt is under his control. All 
 the difeordant pafiions, interefls, deligns, which 
 dafh, in eternal collilion, the affairs of men; all 
 the adlivities of fuperior intelligences, as well the 
 enmity of fiends as the miniftr)^ of angels, are 
 combined, in the harmony of providence, to 
 produce the refult which he hath ordained ; and 
 hither every occurrence irrcflftibly tends. “ He 
 “ doth according to his will in the army of hea- 
 “ ven, and among the inhabitants of the earth.”-|- 
 He caufeth “ the wrath of man to praife him, 
 “ and the remainder of wrath he will reftrain.” J 
 The unpromifing fituation, therefore, of the 
 Heathen, is no obftacle to Ifrael’s God, and 
 Ihould be none to Ifrael’s faith. Be the moun- 
 tains of difficulty ever fo impaffable, at his pre- 
 
 Ads ZT. i8. 
 
 I Dan. iv. 35. 
 
 ; Pf. Ixzvi. 10. 
 
i6 
 
 fence they flee away. Let the “ nations' rage, 
 “ and the kingdoms be moved,” if he “ utter 
 “ his voice, the earth is melted.”* 
 
 2. The glory of Mefliah is a chief end of the 
 difpenfations of providence. ' . 
 
 The viciflitudes of kings and kingdoms, and 
 all the ftupendous events which Ihine in ancient 
 annals, were important chiefly as they lerved 
 to prepare the way, and to fpread the triumphs, 
 of him who was “ a light to lighten the Gen- 
 “ tiles.” For this God gave the learning of the 
 world to Greece, and its empire to Rome. Both 
 contributed to facilitate and extend the viftories 
 of the gofpel. The fame defign is profccuted 
 in the events which, at this moment, allonifli 
 the world. If “ nation rife up againft nation, 
 “ and kingdom againft kingdom” — if eftablilh- 
 ments, irapofing from their antiquity, and formkl* 
 able from their ftrength, be undermined by the 
 progrefs. of opinion, or lhattered by violent cx- 
 plofion — if impiety and ambition, and all the 
 infuriate paflions, be permitted to take their 
 courfe ; and feenes of defolation and blood, fuch 
 as hiftory hath not learnt to record, nor imagina* 
 tion to paint, be opened to our view; it is, that 
 God may deftroy the dominion of hell by her 
 own chofen legions, and make them fubfer\'c the 
 introduiftion of that kingdom, which is “ righte» 
 
 • Pf. xlvi. 6, 
 
*7 
 
 oufnefs, and peace, and joy, In the Holy 
 " Ghoft.” Thus laith his high decree, I will 
 “ overturn, overturn, overturn, until he Hiall 
 “ come whole right it is, and I will give it 
 “ him.”* - • • 
 
 • 3. In the fcriptures of the prophets, this fpi- 
 fitual revolution, by which the “ kingdoms of 
 this world fhall become the kingdoms of our 
 Lord and of his Chrift,”-f is frequently pre- 
 dicted, and ftrongly marked, “ All the ends of 
 *.'■ the world lhall remember, and turn unto thfe 
 LorI; all the. kindreds of the nations lhall 
 “ worfhip before thee.;); It lhall come to pafs,' 
 “ in the laft days, that the mountain of the 
 
 V Lord’s houfe lhall be ellablilhed in the top 
 “ of the mountains, and lhall be exalted above 
 “ the hills, and all nations lhall flow unto it ; 
 
 And rnany people lhall go and lay, come ye, 
 “ and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, 
 ‘‘ to the’ Houle of the God of Jacob : and he will 
 
 V teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his 
 “ paths So that “ from the riling of the 
 “ fun, even unto the going down of the fame, 
 
 his name lhall be’ great among the Gentiles,; 
 
 V and in every place incenfe fhall be offered unto 
 his name, and a pure offering.” || Is there, 
 
 fhen, a nation that yet “ fit in darkhefs and the 
 Ihadow of death?” for them “ light is fown,’' 
 
 •Ez.xxi.27. fR-ev.xi. rj. JPf.xxii.27. § If. ii. 13. . || Mai- >• 
 
 c 
 
i8 
 
 and to them fliall “ light fpring up.” Is there i 
 nation mad upon their idols ?” Jehovah (hall 
 “ familh all the gods of the earth,” and teach 
 their votaries that he is “ the God of falvation,” 
 and that “ there is none befide him.” Is there 
 a nation enflaved to fuperftition, or abufed by 
 impofture ? He fhall “ fruftrate the tokens of 
 “ the liars, fliall make the diviners mad,” and 
 convert the bondage of their followers into the 
 liberty of his dear children. “ Rejoice, there- 
 “ fore, ye Gentiles, with his people.* Faithful 
 “ is he that hath promifed, who alfo will do 
 ‘‘ it.”f 
 
 But here occurs an important query. By 
 what means are thefe predidtions to be fulfilled, 
 and thefe profpefts to be realized ? The means 
 are prepared ; they are extremely fimple ; they 
 are in your hands — even i/ie dodrines of the gof 
 pel of peace. And this is the 
 
 III. And lafl topic which I propofed to dif- 
 cufs — In this mountain, faith the prophet, 
 fhall the Lord deftroy the vail that is fpread 
 over all nations. 
 
 Mount Zion, to which Ifaiah refers, is a fi- 
 gure, moft familiar to the fcripture, of the 
 Church of Chrift. The apoftle Paul, addrefs- 
 ing believers under the New Teftament, fays, 
 “Ye are come unto Mount Zion.”J And the 
 
 • Rom. XT. 10 . t I Thcff. iii. 12. Heb. x. 23. t Hcb. xii. 22. 
 
»9 
 
 plain fenfe of the text is, that the Lord will 
 blefs the Heathen outcafts, by “ caufing them 
 “ to pafs under the bond of his covenant,” and 
 to inherit the privileges of his houfe; and this 
 (hall be effedled, by ditfuling among them the 
 glad tidings of falvation through our Lord Jefus 
 Chrift, “ Behold,” faith the fure word of pro- 
 phecy, “ behold thou flialt call a nation that 
 “ thou knoweft not, and nations that knew not 
 “ thee lhall run unto thee, becaufe of the Lord 
 ** thy God, and for the Holy one of Ifrael, for 
 “ he hath glorified thee.”* 
 
 Our faith on this point will, indeed, provoke 
 the ridicule of a tribe equally vain and licentious, 
 who claim to be tl>e exclufive benefactors of 
 mankind. Rejecting, with opprobrium and in- 
 fult, the gofpel of Chrift, they hail, as they 
 fpeak, a new order of things, and the world is 
 to be regenerated by a reafon without confciencei 
 and a philofophy without religion. “ No doubt 
 “ ye arc the people, and wifdom (hall die with 
 “ you.”-f But after all the oftentation and cla- 
 mour of infidels, what reformation has been 
 wrought by their doCtrines or by their fpirit ? 
 During forty centuries, reafon and philofophy 
 had the world almoft to themfelves. Where did 
 they overthrow the reign of idolatry? From 
 what vice did they reclaim the nations? One 
 
 • Ifauh Iv. 5. 
 
 t Job xii. 3. 
 
520 
 
 feet of pliik)fop^efs rofe on the ruin of anoth^, 
 to be itfelf the aggrandizement of a third. But 
 the world lay ftill in wickednefs; its difeafes 
 rankled with increafing fur)% and ftruck deejier 
 and deeper their poifonous roots, under the 
 fucceflive treatment of thefe “ phylicians of no 
 value.” Eighteen centuries more have, nearly 
 elapfed fince “ God manifefted in the fielh, put 
 “ away fin by the facrifice of himfelf:” and what 
 has been done in elevating the chara<fter, in pu- 
 rifying the morals, in ameliorating the condition 
 of man, that has been done without the aids of 
 his gofpel ? What' countries have the priefthood 
 of unbelief refeued from barbarifm? Where 
 » have they refilled the influence, or wiped off the 
 fliame, profligaq' ? Where have they promot- 
 ed either happinefs or virtue in public or in pri- 
 vate? Whom have they taught to “ deny un- 
 “ godlinefs and w'orldly lufts, and to live lobcrly, 
 righteoufly, and godly? By their fruits ye 
 fhall know them” 
 
 - How different is the genius, and how different 
 has been the career of the gofpel of Chrifl ! When 
 it was promulged to the Heathen, the philofopher 
 pronounced it folly, and fblked difdainfully by 
 the miflionary of the crols : yet tlu-ough the crofs 
 did the miflionary preach forgivenefs of fins, and 
 life everlafling ; and lo, the throne ofdarknefs tot- 
 tered to its fall ; the Gentiles “ turned from idols 
 to fer\’e the living God.” Abandoning, at once. 
 
21 
 
 iheir prejudices, their delulions, and their lufts 
 they “ lied for refuge to lay hold on the hope 
 “ let before them.” The face of the world was 
 changed, and the worldling knev/ not how. 
 No deep fpeculations, no fubtle reafonings, no 
 difplays of fcience, converted the nations. The 
 procefs was very Ihort, and very fimple. Their 
 guilt and their depravity — their certain deftruc- 
 tion without pardon and renovation — the grace 
 of God in fending Chrift Jefus to die for tin- 
 ners — his ability to fave unto the uttermoft — 
 and the freedom of his falvation to the moll 
 worthlefs and vile, are the truths which won the 
 Gentiles to the obedience of Chrift. It is this 
 fame gofpel which, at this hour, turns men 
 “ from darknefs to light,” and whicli is deftin- 
 ed to “ carry the banners of the crofs vidlorious 
 round the globe.” Thofe refined moral dif- 
 quifitions which, under the garb of fermons, 
 expel vital godlinefs from the church, will ne- 
 ver introduce it among the Heathen. Who- 
 ever hopes to gain them to the faith, mull imi- 
 rate the Apoftle Paul. He mull “ preach 
 “ Chrift crucified, to the Jews a ftumbling block, 
 “ and to the Greeks foolilhnefs ; but to them 
 “ w'ho are called, both Jews and Greeks, Chrift, 
 “ the power of God, and the wifdom of God.”* 
 Adapted to every clime of the earth, to every 
 
 1 Cor. L 33, 24. 
 
22 
 
 flage of fociety, and to all defcriptions of Its 
 members ; unveiling their real mifery, and bring- 
 ing near the only remedy; difcovering, at once, 
 their wants, and the means of fupplying them ; 
 and, fcconded by the energy of the quicken- 
 ing Spirit, this precious gofpel fallens on the 
 confcience, melts the heart, thrills the very 
 bones and marrow, and transforms the moll ob- 
 durate rebel into a willing lubjecl of Jefus 
 Chrill. When the “ Lord gives tellimony to 
 “ the word of his grace,” it fhall have “ free 
 “ courfe, and be glorified.” No darknefs too 
 difmal for it to difpel, no prejudices too oblli- 
 nate to fubdue. “ Mighty, through God, to 
 “ the pulling down of llrong holds,” this very 
 gofpel lhall force its way through every phyfical, 
 and every moral difficulty ; and in his name and 
 llrength, flaall its meflengers call down im^ina- 
 tions, and every high thought that lifteth itfelf 
 up againll the obedience of Chrill. “ Every 
 “ valley fhall be exalted, and every mountain 
 “ and hill lhall be made low ; and the crooked 
 “ lhall be made llraight, and rough places plain. 
 “ And the glory of the Lord lhall be revealed, 
 “ and all flefli fhall fee it together ; for the 
 “ mouth of the Lord hath fpoken it.”* 
 
 Come then, my brethren, let us alcend the hill 
 of God ; and, aided by the torch of the Ikies, let 
 
 • Ifaiah xl. 4, 
 
23 
 
 US look through the furrounding gloom, to the 
 glories that lie beyond. Sec ! an “ angel flics 
 “ through the midft of Heaven, having the ever- 
 “ lading gofpel to preach to ever)' nation, and 
 “ kindred, and tongue, and people.”* The 
 dandard of Shiloh is reared; his banner waves 
 on high : the great trumpet is blown : the nations 
 hear, and gather unto him. From the ead, 
 from the wed, from the north, from the fouth, 
 they prefs into the kingdom. On the one 
 hand, is the plundering Arab; on the other, the 
 pitilels Savage. Here, are the frozen children 
 of the Pole; there, the fable tribes of Afric; 
 and yonder, the long difinherited Jew deals 
 filently to his Meffiah, weeping as he goes. 
 Hark ! the din of arms, and the tumult of bat- 
 tle ceaie; Difeord and War retreat back to hell ; 
 and ^ain that hymn of Angels is heard below', 
 “ Glor)' to God in the highed ; on earth peace, 
 “ good-will tow'ards men.”-h The redeemed of 
 the Lord raife their refponfive fong, “ Now is 
 “ come falvation and drength, and the kingdom 
 “ of our Lord, and the power of his Chrid.” J 
 Brethren, ’tis no illufion ; ’tis “ the fober cer- 
 “ taint)'” of truth divine. The zeal of the Lord 
 of Hods will perform this — Hallelujah! 
 
 And NOW', dear brethren, fhall not the fird 
 fentiment of our hearts be a fentiment of grati- 
 tude for the grace of God manifeded unto us ? 
 
 * Rev. xii. 6 . f Luke ii. I4.’ > { Rev. sa. 10. 
 
24 
 
 Let it never be forgotten, that we, in our an- 
 ceflors, were among the perilhiiig outcafts. 
 Yet to us hath the word of falvation been fent. 
 Without the gofpel of Jefus, we (hould this day 
 have been burning incenfe unto, idols: With- 
 out the gofpel of Jefus, we Ihould have been 
 ftrangers to that bleffed hope which gives to life 
 its bell relifh, and. takes from death both his 
 terrors and his fting. O Chriftian, Chriftian, 
 remember, that if thou haft efcaped tlie wrath 
 to come, and art made “ an heir of God, and 
 “ a fellow heir with 'Jefus .Chrift,” it is to the 
 praife of fovereign mercy. Thy father was an 
 Amorite, and thy mother a Hittite ; and thou 
 mighteft have been left, with the Amorites and 
 Hittites, to die in thine iniquity. Yet thou liveft ; 
 iiveft unto God; liveft for glory; and lhalt ne- 
 ver come into condemnation, and never tafte 
 of the fecond death.* Thrice blelTed gof^xl; 
 w'hich “ hath brought life and immortality td 
 light Thrice glorious grace, which hath 
 conftrained any of us to receive “ the truth in 
 “ the love thereof:” And thrice condefeending 
 Saviour, who hath “ walhed us from our fins in 
 his own blood, and hath made us kings and 
 “ priefts unto God and his father.”! 
 
 2. Si.ace the Lord hath deftroyed the vail that 
 was fpread over us, by revealing to us the great 
 
 • John Y. >4. 
 
 f a Tim. i. 10. ' 
 
 } Rev. i. 5- 
 
. (alration, let all who have hitherto been inditTer- 
 ent about It, be deeply imprelled with the duty 
 ot embracing it, without delay, and with the lln 
 and danger of neglecl;ing it. 
 
 . “ It is a faithful laying, and worthy of all ac- 
 ceptation, that Chrilt Jefus came into the 
 “ world to lave the chief of Tinners.”* On the 
 authority of the moll high God, that gofpel 
 which we preach, tenders to you, my brethren, 
 to evay one of you, a free grant of this Sa\-iour,‘ 
 and, in him, of eternal life: and, futfer me to 
 add with all lolemnity, enjoins your acceptance 
 of it at the peril of your fouls. This is it's com- 
 mandment ; this, therefore, is your duty, your 
 immediate, your indilpenfible duh’, to believe 
 on the name of his Son, Jefus Chrift, that you 
 may be faved. A refufal is the moll aggra\'ated 
 crime which you can poffibly commit. For it 
 not only approves, with deliberation, all your 
 deeds of rebellion againft the God of your mer- 
 cies, but pours contempt on the riches of his 
 grace, and throws fcomlully away the only hope 
 that ever has been, or ever lhall be, propofed to 
 guilty men. The experiment, therefore, is not 
 lefs dangerous than linful. For if ye rejeck 
 Chrill Jefus, the Lord, “ there remaineth no 
 “ more facrilice for lin.”-f And when Jehovah 
 writeth up the people, he will count that ye 
 
 ? I Tim. L I?. f Hcb. i. j6. 
 
 D * 
 
26 
 
 “ trampled under foot the Son of his love, and 
 “ deemed the blood of the covenant wherewith 
 “ he was fandtified an unholy thing; and did 
 “ defpite unto the fpirit of grace.”* Think 
 not that this is a matter of trifling moment. 
 If the gofpel, which you hear from day to day; 
 be not the inftrument of your converfion to 
 God, it fhall be the occafion of your more 
 dreadful condemnation. If not “ the favour 
 “ of life unto life,” moft certainly “ the favour 
 “ of death unto death.”“f The Heathen will rife 
 up in the judgment againfl; you, and will con- 
 demn you ; for they never fhared your means of 
 falvation. The devils will rife up in the judg- 
 ment againfl you, and will condemn you ; for no 
 Saviour was provided for them; and, therefore, 
 whatever be their crimes, the rejedlion of a Me- 
 diator’s blood will be none of them. Now, then, 
 “ as though God did befeech you by us, we pray 
 “ you, in Chrill’s Head, be ye reconciled unto 
 “ God.” I O that ye may know, in this your 
 day, the “ things that belong to your peace, be- 
 “ fore they be hid from your eyes!” 
 
 3. In the affurance that Jehovah will deflroy, 
 by the prevalence of his gofpel, the vail fpread 
 over the nations, believers may fee how little they 
 have to fear for the exiflence, or for the tri- 
 umph, of their religion. 
 
 • Heb. X. 7 ,^. 
 
 t 2 Cor. ii. 16. 
 
 ^ 2 Cor. V. 29. 
 
Infidelity, it is true, profpers; and hath af- 
 fumal a mofl: effrontful air, and a nioft impe- 
 rious tone. Her threats are loud, and her ex- 
 pedtations fanguine. But threats as loud have, 
 more than once, been put to lhame ; and ex- 
 pectations as fanguine, more than once, been 
 blafted. Seventeen centuries ago did the adver- 
 farles of the church predict her fjieedy downful ; 
 but, unlike the prophets of Jehovah, they prov- 
 ed to be the feers of a lie: lire hath lived to 
 fee their rage perifh, their monuments moulder, 
 their names fink into oblivion: and fuch (hall 
 be the iffue of her prelent conflidt. She can 
 meet with no alfault more furious and formida- 
 ble than thofe which fhe hath a thoufand times 
 met and a thoufand times foiled. ** God is in 
 the midft of her; Ihe (hall not be moved; 
 “God lhall help her, and that right early.”* 
 Therefore, “ no weapon that is formed againft 
 “ her lliall profper ; and every tongue that 
 “ rifeth in judgment againft her, fhe lhall con- 
 demn.”-)- The temporar}^ fuccefs of the infidel 
 fhould, indeed, confirm our faith, becaufe it 
 verifies the feriptures. Our mailer, Chrift, 
 hath told us, that this fhall be one of the figns 
 of his approach : “ when the fon of man 
 “ cometh, lhall he find faith on the earth ?| 
 Every infidel under Heaven is, then, a witnefs 
 
 Pf. xlvi. 5. 
 
 t Ifaiah liv. 17. 
 
 ; Luke zviii. S. 
 
28 
 
 for Chriflianlty ; and carries in his forehead the 
 proclamation that it is divine — Let him enjoy 
 his exultation. Under a control which he can 
 neither elude nor refill, he is really, though ig- 
 norantly, working his own dcftruftion, and the 
 aggrandizement of Melliah. His progrefs Ihall 
 be arrefted, and his boaft confounded, when- 
 ever he lliall have performed the part allotted to 
 him in the “ detenninate counfel and fore- 
 “ knowledge of God.” In our patience, there- 
 fore, let us poffefs our fouls. What, though 
 Blafphemy difplay his columns in defiance to the 
 armies of the living God ? What, though Dif- 
 order fpread from pole to pole, and mingle the 
 nations in univerfal uproar What, though 
 the foundations be dellroyed, their fabrics over- 
 turned, and earth quiver under the falling wreck ? 
 That Jefus whom we worlhip, fitteth king for- 
 ever : He 
 
 “ Rides in the whirlwind, and directs the storm.” 
 
 With all power in heaven and in earth, he will 
 bring order out of confulion, and light out of 
 darknefs. In the moment of decifion he will 
 arife, and plead his own caufe. When he ap- 
 pears, in glory, to build up Zion, his enemies 
 fliall lick the very dull. The infidel, to his 
 aftonifl-jment, will find, that in planting the feeds 
 of unbelief, lie was planting laurels for the crofs; 
 
29 
 
 and the believer, to his unfpeakable joy, that 
 all the trials of the church, and all the tumults 
 of the world, were but preparative to the reign 
 of righteoufnefs “ in the ages of peace.” 
 
 4. The fubjefb which has this evening occu- 
 pied our attention, places, in a ftrong light, 
 both the obligation which lies on Chriftlans to 
 evangelize the Heathen, and their encouragement 
 to attempt it. 
 
 If we count it life eternal to know the only 
 true God, and Jefus Chrift whom he hath 
 tent, our bowels mull yearn over thofe who are 
 acquainted with neither. But, it would be 
 more than unkind, and worle than reproach- 
 ful, were our beft fympathies to evaporate in 
 empty words, or empty wiflies. We are call- 
 ed not merely to condolence, but to aftion. 
 A number of the families yet under the vail, 
 are our neighbours. They border on our 
 ccuntr}^; they are accefllble to our enterprlzc. 
 Prompt and fplrited meafures for introducing 
 among them the gofpel of Chrift, are our 
 bounden duty. 
 
 Our duty — becaufe we have the means of 
 grace, and they have not. The unfearchable 
 riches of Chrift have been poured in upon us, 
 while they are langulfhing in fpiritual poverty. 
 They muft addrefs themfelves for help to Jome 
 more favoured than thelrfelves; and to whom, 
 with a mere imperious claim than to us ? The 
 
very difference of our fituation creates us their 
 debtors : the vicinity of our refidence doubles 
 the debt. The word and ordinances were be- 
 llowed upon us, not only that ourfelves might 
 be faved, but that we might minifter to the (al- 
 vation of others. Our polleffion, therefore, of 
 the glorious gofpel, implies, in the very nature of 
 the privilege, an obligation to extend it as far as 
 poflible. Freely ye have received, freely ye mufl 
 give. This is the way in which the gofpel ever 
 has been, and ever muft be diffufed. Though 
 the emploj’ment w'ould dignify angels, God hath 
 committed it to men. They who polTefs the 
 treafure mull impart it to others; and thefe, 
 again, to more ; till palling, “ in earthen veflels,” 
 from people to people, and from clime to clime, 
 it enrich the world. An attempt to monopolize* 
 or, which amounts to the fame thing, a refufal to 
 circulate it, is treafon againft the law of the king-r 
 dom. And let it not, my brethren, be our dif- 
 honour and our crime, to betray both ingrati- 
 tude to our Redeemer, and cruelty to our fellow 
 men, by declining to communicate to them the 
 mercies which, through the inflrumcntality of 
 others, he hath lavilhed upon us. 
 
 With the fupjeriority of our privileges, the 
 genius of our profeflion confpires to challenge our 
 interference in behalf of the Heathen. As 
 Chriflians, we profefs that the glory of the 
 Lord Jefus is the objeft moll dear to our hearts. 
 
and moft worthy of our purfuits. We profefs 
 to believe that the redemption of the foul is pre- 
 cious, and that, without the virtue of his blood, 
 it ceafeth forever. Is this a fincere profeflion 
 Can it at all confift with unwillingnefs to ufe 
 every means in our power for diffufing, far and 
 near, the fweet favour of his name ? Mull not 
 a guilty blulh crimfon our faces, if we prefume 
 to pray “ thy kingdom come,” when we are 
 confcious that we have done nothing, are doing 
 nothing, endeavour to do nothing, for the pro- 
 motion of his kingdom ? Do we, in very deed, 
 believe, that there is no falvation m any other; 
 no name given under Heaven whereby finners 
 can be faved, but the name of Jefus Chrift, and 
 yet look coolly on, while multitudes of the 
 Heathen are peridiing within our reach; nor 
 ever ftretch out a hand for their relief.^ Yes, 
 my brethren, a generous and perfevering attempt 
 to proclaim among them the glad tidings of a 
 Saviour, is a tribute to the decency of our 
 Chrillian profeflion; and it is a tribute which 
 their moft afflidlin^ neceflities forbid to be de- 
 ferred any longer. 
 
 If you heard of a number of human beings 
 Ihut out from every fuftenance, and falling, in 
 rapid fucceflion, the vidllms of famine, and knew, 
 at the fame time, that vigorous exertion might 
 refcue the furvivors, what anxiety would thrill 
 every heart, what eagernefs animate every coun- 
 
tenance! How would the hand pour forth it5 
 {pontaneous benefactions ! How fpecdily would 
 meflengers be difpatched with the ftaff of life ! 
 Alas ! my brethren, we fpeak to you of a more 
 terrible famine ; “ a famine not of bread, nor a 
 “ third; for water, but of hearing of the word 
 “ of the Lord.”* We plead with you not for 
 expiring bodies ; it is the fplrit, the fpirit that 
 dies 1 To the heart of the Chriftian be our ap- 
 peal. Suppofe thy bible taken from thee ; thy 
 fabbaths blotted from thy days; the mercies of 
 the fandluary fled ; thy father’s fellowihip denied ; 
 thy hopes, “ full of immortality,” vanifhedj 
 the fliadows of eternal night ftretching over thy 
 foul — And if the thought be more intolerable 
 than ten thoufand deaths, think of yonder Pa- 
 gans, without God, and without hope. Ah ! 
 while the fentence is on my lips, they are pafs- 
 ing, by hundreds, into that world unfeen, with 
 no renewing Spirit, and no atoning blood 1 
 “ Oh that mine head were waters, and mine 
 “ eyes a fountain of tears,”-}' that I might weep 
 unccafmgly over the mighty ruin ! 
 
 If any additional argument can be needed 
 to render the proof of our duty, on this point, 
 completely triumphant ; that argument is luppli- 
 cd by the command of our Lord Jefus Chrirt. 
 When he left this world, and went unto the 
 
 • Amos viii. II. 
 
 t Jer. ix. I. 
 
33 
 
 Father, his parting injundlion to his follower 
 was, “ Go ye and teach all nations.”* And 
 that the precept is binding upon the whole 
 church to the end of time, the promife of his 
 prefence and fupport moft clearly evinces — “ Lo, 
 “ I am with you always, even loifo the end of 
 “ the worlds The command, being exprefs and 
 full, leaves no room for evalion. It cither obli* 
 gates <z//, or obligates none. If we may be ex- 
 empted without fin, the exemption mull extend 
 to every Chrillian Society under Heaven ; and 
 then the mailer’s commandment would be a 
 nullity, and his promile have neither grace nor 
 meaning. In this matter, therefore^ my bre- 
 thren, we are by no means guiltlefs. With a fin- 
 gle exception,-}* all denominations of Chriftians 
 among us have violated their faith to their Lord ; 
 and are now chai^eable with habitual difrefpe(5t 
 to his authority. Inllead of haftening, with ge- 
 nerous emulation, to the aid of the Heathen, 
 we have gone, one to his farm, and another to 
 his mercliandize : we have clamoured for the 
 fliibboleths of party, and have been unanimous 
 (ah, lliameful unanimity!) in declining, on car- 
 nal and frivolous excufes, that work of faith, 
 that labour of love. Now, therefore, thus faith 
 the Lord, confider your ways. If we perfift in 
 
 * Mat. xxviii. 19. 
 
 t The honour of this exception belongs to the Morayian bre- 
 thren. 
 
 E 
 
34 
 
 neglefting thcle Heathen, while we have the 
 means of fending the gofpel to them, they (hall 
 die in their iniquity ; but their blood may be 
 required at our hands. . ' 
 
 Let no one object 'difficulties.^ In a queftion 
 of plain duty, a believer is not to be deterred by 
 difficulties. Thus saith the Lord, is his 
 warrant : and as long as there is nothing too hard 
 for omnipotence, there is nothing to juftify difo-^ 
 bedience or demur. Unbelief looks at oppofi- 
 tion, and faints- Faith looks at the promife of 
 God, and conquers. In the ftrength of the pro* 
 mife, worm Jacob threfhes the mountains, and 
 beats them fmall as chaff. It is the way of the 
 Holy one of Ifrael to order his fervants on diffi- 
 cult duty, without (hewing them immediately 
 how they are to fucceed. Referving to himfelf 
 the manner and the praife of their vidloiy, he 
 kiys upon them a neceffity of trufting his faith- 
 fulnefs ; and they never did, and never (hall 
 truft it in vain. 
 
 But why do I fpcak of difficulties.'* The 
 moft formidable ones which mull be encountered 
 in a miffion to the Heathen, have been over- 
 come, and are daily overcome, by the tirmnefs 
 and intrepidity of caimal men. They can vifit 
 the favage tribes, can crofs their rivers, climb 
 their mountains, traverfe their forclls ; can learn 
 
 * See the Note fubjoined to the DLTcourfe. 
 
-35 
 
 their language, conform to their manners, ac- 
 quire their confidence; can patiently fubmit to 
 hunger and cold, fatigue and peril : — For what ? 
 
 * To decorate earthly fcience, or to colledt the 
 dull of lucre, or the vapours of fame. They 
 pretend to no divine command ; they think of 
 no divine fupjxjrt. Yet we, who talk familiarly 
 of both, turn pale at the mention of thofe obfta- 
 cles which tliey continually furmount. Whence 
 this refolutenefs on the one fide, and this timidity 
 on the other ! The uncourtly truth is, that the 
 men of the world are in eai nejl, and we are not. 
 And what mull they, what can they conclude 
 from our fupinenefs ? Either that our religion 
 is falfe, or that we do not believe it? How 
 long ere this reproach be wiped away ? Duty 
 urges ; Milery implores ; thoufands of precious 
 fouls are the depending ftake ; and not a mo- 
 ment is to be loft. In the work before us, in 
 the immortal work of evangelizing the Hea- 
 then, let us roufe each latent enei^% and brave 
 oppofition like good foldiers of Jefus Chrift. 
 And certainly the encouragement is as great 
 as the call is prefling. As far as man, w’ith 
 the lights of prophecy, can judge, the time is 
 not very^ diftant, when God lhall arife, and 
 have mercy upon Zion. What mean thefe 
 dire convulfions ? this crafti of kingdoms ? thefe 
 torrents of blood ? He who can here difcover 
 only the Ihock of human interefts, or the mad- 
 
3 ^ 
 
 ncfs of human pafSons, hath not penetrated be- 
 yond fecondary and inftrumental agencies. From 
 the eminence of fcriptural predidtion, a humble 
 believer overlooks the mole -hill of worldly politics, 
 and defcries the moving power, and the neceflary 
 effedt, of the machinery of Providence. To him 
 it is evident that Jehovah “ lhakes the nations,” 
 and is lliaking them, that “ the defire of all na- 
 “ tions may come.” And hence his faith derives 
 an eftablilhment, and his hope an elevation, 
 which earth is as unable to deftroy as to create. 
 Impending calamity, then, Ihould ftimulate, and 
 not difhearten, the difciples of Jefus. The walls 
 of Jcrufalem are commonly built in troublous 
 times. Nor hath the career of the gofpel been 
 ever more ample and brilliant, than in the days 
 which were memorable for “ diftrefs of nations, 
 with perplexity; the fea and the waves roar- 
 ‘‘ ing; men’s hearts failing them for fear; and 
 “ looking after thofe things which were coming 
 “ upon the earth.”* In thefe circumftances of 
 dilafter and difmay, the people of God are charg- 
 ed to look up, and lift up their heads, becaufe 
 their redemption draweth nigh, and the Son of 
 Man is coming with great power and glory. If 
 thefe are, in any degree, the figns of the times, 
 then, now is the time for the armies of Ifrael to 
 gird every man his fword on his thigh, and fol- 
 low David, his king, to conqueft and gloiy. 
 
 • Luke xxi. 25, j6. 
 
37 
 
 If from the fphere of politics vve turn to that 
 of religion, we fliall behold events which ought 
 to convert every doubt into proof, and every with 
 into a vow. While the fpirit of dii'cord rages 
 in the world, the fpirit of union and of love de- 
 feends upon the church. Bej ond the waters of 
 the Atlantic, our brethren in the faith and pa- 
 tience of jefiis, rejoice in his moil benignant in- 
 fluences. 'Aftonilliing I'pedacle ! The fpell of 
 party is broken ; the antipathies of the cradle 
 expire ; the ftrife of ages ceales ; and a fweeter 
 harmony of heart and of meafures, among Chrif- 
 tians of different name, is produced in an hour; 
 than has been granted to the intreaties, the la- 
 bours, the prayers, of the bdl of men, for cen- 
 turies together ! 
 
 . Do you demand the caufe of this gracious 
 unanimity? It is the doing of the Lord. Its 
 object? It is the extenlion of the Mediator’s 
 kingdom. Its fruits? They are, already, em- 
 balTies of peace to the Heathen. Great is the 
 company who have gone forth, with primitive 
 zeal, to publilh the word of life. The proba- 
 bility is that Chrilt crucified, that Chrift whom 
 our fouls love, is, at this moment, preached to 
 the barbarians of the fouthern feas ; and that an 
 evangelical miflion is on its w'ay to the interior 
 of Africa! Ye fervants of the moft high God, 
 who Ihew unto the Gentiles the v;ay of falvation, 
 all hail ! May the Breaker go up before you ; 
 
38 
 
 even Jehovah on the head of you ; may he cheer 
 you with his prefence, fill you with his Spirit, 
 clothe you with his bleffing ! And what more 
 aufpicious omen can we, my brethren, defire? 
 When the work is actually begun; when it has 
 received the moft unequivocal tokens of divine 
 approbation, lhall we ftill linger, and tempt the 
 Lord by afkihg any further figns? To him 
 who is not blind, the finger of his providence 
 points ; to him who is not deaf, the voice of his 
 providence calls. Incitement of a more imperi- 
 ous kind would encroach on the province of 
 miracle. 
 
 - If to thefe encouragements we add the pro- 
 mife of our mafter in Heaven, Reludtance will 
 be cut off from her laft retreat. He hath faid, 
 that he wall be with his people in their attempts 
 to teach the nations. If, on a defign fo tnily 
 Chriftian, we go in his name, and in his ftrength, 
 w'e have a right to exped his aid ; nor is it poflible 
 that he fhould abandon us, or put us to fhame. 
 He hath bound himfelf, by the oath of his cove- 
 nant, to beat down oppofition before thofe who, 
 obedient to his authority, conilrained by his love, 
 and confiding in his truth, enter upon arduous 
 duty; and the glor}^ of his crown is flaked on 
 the iffue. With the Lord of Hofls on our fide, 
 whom or what fliall we fear ? I'o him all diffi- 
 culties arc alike. At his command the treafures 
 of the earthling: fliall flow in the feivice of the 
 
 O 
 
39 
 
 crols; arid, hundreds (hall arife to folicit, as' an 
 enviable diftindlion, the office of a.gofpel-herald 
 to the favages. Clad in the armour of the fanc- 
 tuary, and condufted by the “ Captain of fal- 
 “ vation,” they lhall go forth “ conquering and 
 “ to conquer.” Ere his promife. fail, the moun- 
 tains fliall fink, the vallies rife, tlie rivers be 
 driven back to their fources, and Ocean .again di- 
 vide his waters. Who, then, are on the Lord’s 
 fide ? Who prefer the falvation of men above 
 their chiefeft joy.? Who burn to hide the dil- 
 honour of the paft in the glory of the future, 
 and afpirc to the dignity of being fellow^ workers 
 with God? Let them, with one heart and one 
 foul, in the faith of the gofpel, in the good 
 will of brethren, in the bowels of Jefus Chrift, 
 forthwith pledge themfelves to each other, to 
 thofe apoftolical believers beyond the lea, to the 
 Heathen, who are perifhing for lack of vifion, 
 that they will unite their efforts to fill the dark 
 places of the land with the light of God’s falva- 
 tion. Should we fucceed in the converfion of a 
 fingle Pagan, the acqulfition would infinitely re- 
 pay our expenditure and our toil. For our Lord 
 himfelf hath pronounced the whole world, in 
 comparifon with one foul^ to be a thing of nought. 
 But O, my brethren, who fliall count the num- 
 ber, or define the extent, or limit the duration, 
 of thofe bleffings which our exertions may be 
 inftrumental in imparting to the Heathen ! 
 
4? 
 
 Who, (hall flop the river of life in its courfe 
 through their parched foil ? Moft tranfporting 
 thought ! . that thoufands of believers whom we 
 (hall never fee in the fleih; and tens of,thou- 
 lands, who lhall come into being' when we are 
 gathered unto our fathers, may trace their know- 
 ledge of tlie Saviour to the execution of that 
 plan in virtue of which I addrefs you this even- 
 ing! and 1 that its magnificent refult may never 
 be fully difclofed, till the myftery of providence 
 be finilhed, the eledion of grace brought in, and 
 the fhout of final redemption thunder through 
 the temple of God I ' 
 
NOTE to Page 34. 
 
 objection to millions among the Indians, or other favagesi 
 tvhich many view as uiiaiifwcrabie, is, “ that fome confiderable 
 “ progrefs in civilization is previoufly ncccflary to prepare a peo* 
 “ pie for the reception of Chrillianity. You mull firll make them 
 “ men, fay the patrons of this opinion, before you nuke them Chrif* 
 “ tiaus. You mull teach them to live in fixed habitations, to alTo- 
 “ date in villages, to cultivate the foil, and then you may hope that 
 “ they will hear and underlland when you unfold the fublime princi- 
 “ pies of i^e gofpel.”* 
 
 Plaufible and popular as this objedlion is, it is equally unfupported 
 by reafon, by feripture, or by fadl. 
 
 If the gofpel cannot fucceed among the Indians, for example, 
 the obllacle mull be either in their underllandings or in their man- 
 ner of life. 
 
 The former opinion “ fuppofes a wider dilTerence between the 
 “ underllanding of the man of the woods and the man of the city, 
 “ than what does. In fadl, take place. The human mind is not, 
 “ in any country, below the reach of difcIpUne and religious inllruc- 
 “ tioB. The American Indian, the Pacific Illander, and the Afrl- 
 “ can negro, are fhrewd men, whofe intelledual capacity will not 
 “ fuffer in comparifon with the uneducated claffes of people on the 
 “ continent of Europe.”f Why Ihould it, fince it is culture, and 
 that alone, which dellroys the level of abilities naturally equal? 
 Surely the Indian, whofe necelfities compel him not only to hunt 
 and filh for his fubfillence, but to be. In a great meafure, his own 
 artificer, as well as the guardian of his private and public right, 
 mull be fuperior, in point of general underllanding, to thofe vail bo- 
 dies of Europeans whofe intelligence the divifion of labour has con- 
 fined to a detached article of manufadure, or to the merely fervile 
 operations of agriculture. Indeed, all the national traofadions with the 
 Indians Ihew them to poflefs great acutenefs, and no linall lhare of 
 
 * Dr. Hardy's f of Edinburgh ) Sermon before the Society, in Scotland, 
 for propagating Religious Knoiuledge, p. I4. 
 
 t li- f 15- 
 
 F 
 
42 
 
 what learning cannot bellow — common fenfe. How feldom will 
 you find, I do not fay among the vulgar, but among the polilhcd 
 orders of fociety, better fpecimens of well-formed idea, and of ge- 
 nuine eloquence, than are frequent in the Indian talks ? 
 
 If, on the other hand, their manner of life be confidered as pre- 
 fenting the decifive obftacle, this opinion fuppofcs it much more dif- 
 ficult to alter outward habits than inward principles. Chrillians 
 will not difpute that the gofpel can and does transform both the 
 heart and the charadter ; yet it is thought unable to overcome a pro- 
 pehfion to wandering from place to place- The plain meaning of 
 the objeAion, therefore, is this, that fome means more po-werful than 
 the go/pel, mull be applied to civilize the Indians, and prepare them 
 for its reception. J’or if it be admitted, that the gofpel can civilize 
 as well as fave, the objedlion falls at once to the ground. But if its 
 power to civilize be denied, while its power to fave is admitted, it 
 becomes the objedlors to Ihew the reafon of this dillindlion; and 
 alfo, what thofe more effedlual means of civilization are. Be they 
 what they may, fince the gofpel is excluded, they muft be merely hu- 
 man; and then the principle of the objedlion turns out to be this, 
 that the wifdom of man is better adapted to civilize the Indians, 
 than the wifdom of God. 
 
 Further; the objedlion fuppofes that favages are to be civilized 
 without any religious aid. For whatever arguments prove the utility, 
 in this matter, of religion at all, conclude, with tenfold energy, in 
 favour of the religion of Chrift. But to negledl the religious prin- 
 ciple, would be to negledt the moft potent auxiliary which can be 
 employed in managing human nature ; and to adl in the fpirit of that 
 wife j)hllofophy which would eredl civil fociety upon the balls of 
 Atheifm. 
 
 It would fwell this note into a differtation, to ftatc the various 
 confiderations which militate againft the idea of civilizing the Indi- 
 ans before we attempt to chrillianize them. But gfranting this, for 
 a moment, to be neceflary, who lhall eflfedl it? Philofophers? Mer- 
 chants? Politicians ? If we wait for them, the fun will expend his 
 lafl light, and the bufinefs be unfinilhed. The Indians have had in- 
 tercourfe with the whites, in the concerns of trade and policy, nearly 
 two hundred years, and moft of them are as wild as ever. To put 
 off evangelical millions to them, till, in the ordinary courfe of things, 
 they become civilized, is, therefore, equivalent to putting them off 
 forever. 
 
 2. If the opinion that the gofpel can fucceed only among civiliz- 
 ed people, receives little countenance from reafon, it receives Icfs 
 from feripturq. 
 
43 
 
 No fuch refiriiflion of iu iofluence is conteroplated in projihrcy. 
 It* * * § univcrfal reception is the fubjedl of numberlefs prcdi<5)ions ; but 
 they contain not a hint that the want of civilization (hall be fuch a 
 bar to its progrefs a* i* cominonly imagined. On the contrary, it 
 is czprefsly declared, that the mod roving and untutored tribes (ball 
 rejoice in Meiliah's falvatiun, cvcn^wjjjlc they retain their unpoliihed 
 tharaders and manners. “ Sing unto the Loan a new fong — Let 
 “ the wildernefs and the cities thereof lift up their voice, the villa- 
 “ ges* that Kedar doth inhabit — Let the inhabitants of the rock fing; 
 “ let them Ihout from the top of the moumains.’’f Beyond all con- 
 troverfy, the general fenfe of the prophet, in the words of that ele- 
 gant fcholar, Bifliop Lowth, is, that “ the mod uncultivated coun- 
 “ tries, and the mod rude and unciviKzed people, (hall confefs and 
 “ celebrate, with thankfgiving, the blelTing of the knowledge of 
 God gracioufly imparted to them.”j And he particularizes, as 
 an example, thofe wild Arabs, who, in every point of comparifon, 
 were as inaccelTible to the gofpel as the American Indians. 
 
 No fuch redriftion was thought of by the Apodle Paul. He 
 was a debtor not more to the Greeks than to the barbarians.§ He 
 maintains, that in the body of Chrid “ there is neither Greek nor 
 “ barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free.” A pofition which evi- 
 dently alTumes, that barbarians or Scythians might be Chridians no 
 Icfs than Jews or Greeks, bondmen or free. 
 
 No fuch redritdion is to be fonnd in the commifllon which the 
 Lord Jefus hath left his church. Thus it runs, “ Go and teach all 
 " motions — Go ye into all the nuorld, and preach the gofpel to every 
 “ creature" manifedly, every human creature, for fuch only are ob- 
 jeds of the gofpel-falvation. Not a fyllable about civilization. And, 
 unlefs it can be proved, that Indians, and other favages, are neither 
 nations nor human creatures; or, if they are, that they are in no 
 part of the world, the prejudice we are combatting mud be aban- 
 doned as in dire(d oppodtion to the will and the commandment of 
 Chrid. 
 
 Such a fedridlion, moreover, effaces the chief charadler and glory 
 of the gofpel, viz. that “ it is the povuer of God to falvation.” Were 
 it what many take it to be, a fydem of mere moral fuafion, of coolj 
 philofophic argument, the cafe would be different, and the preju- 
 dice jud. Indians and Hottentots are, indeed, rather rough mate- 
 
 • Or tents. 
 
 f Ifaiab xlii. 10, II. 
 
 J Tranjlation of Ifaiab. Holes, p. I98, 4/». 
 
 § Rom. i. 14. Col. iii. 11. 
 
44 
 
 rials for a religion cantly fliled rational. But whoever knows any 
 thing of real Chriftianity, knows that the convetfion of a finner is 
 the exclufive work of Jehovah the Spirit. It is this principle, and 
 this alone, v/liich makes the preaching of the word to men “ dead 
 “ in trefpafles and fins,” a reafonakle fervice. Now, to fay that the 
 gofpel cannot fucceed among a people not previoufly civilized, is to 
 fay, either that it is not the power of God, or 'that there are feme 
 things too hard for omnipotence. 
 
 3. This opinion, diffonant from reafon and feripture, is alfo con- 
 traiy to fatft. 
 
 Was the world unlverfally civilized when Chriftianity was pro* 
 mulged? or did it profper only in civilized countries? What were 
 the ancient Getulae, in Africa ? the Sarmatians and Scythians, in Eu- 
 rope? If we can credit hiftory, they were as remote from civiliza- 
 tion as the American Indians. Yet, among thefe, and other nations 
 equally uncultivated and favage, had the gofpel, in the time of Ter- 
 tullian, eftablifhed its reign.* And in Britain it penetrated into 
 thofe places which Roman arts and arms had never been able to 
 reach .f 
 
 This general affertion might be amplified in an intcrefting detail, 
 and might receive additional force from the fandlions of modem hif- 
 lory. But either would protraift, to an immoderate length, a note 
 already too long. We may, however, alk, why the gofpel ihould 
 be unequal to the effeifts which it foimerly produced, and of which 
 its friends made their juft and unanfwerable boaft ? Let us fairly 
 rilk the experiment, whether the crofs of Chrift has loft its influence 
 on baibarian minds. Inftcad of waiting till civilization fit our In- 
 dian neighbours for the gofpel, let us try whether the gofpel will 
 not be the moft fuccefsful means of civilizing them. The grace of 
 the Lord Jefus will do what philofophy and the arts will never 
 do — tame the wild heart: and there is no doubt of a correfponding 
 alteration in the condud. One Chriftian inftitution alone, the holy 
 Sabbath, will go farther to civilize them in a year, than all human 
 expedients in a century. Driven continually before an extending 
 frontier; their manners debauched by the commerce of unprincipled 
 whites; their numbers diminilhing by war and by vice; the only al- 
 ternative which feems to be offered them is, converfion or extermina- 
 tion. 
 
 • Tertull. ad'oerfus yudjeot, cap. vii. opp. p. 189. ed. Rlgnltii. 
 f Tnaceejfa Romanit loea. Id. ib. A number of teftimonies to the 
 fame fads are collcdcd in that learned work of Grotins, de veritale Reli'o 
 gionis Chrijiianit, opp. tom. iii./*. 46, 47. Fol. Lund. 1679, 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 REPORT OF THE DIRECTORS 
 
 or TUB 
 
 Mission ARY SOCIETY, 
 
 A FTER the organization of the Society, the 6rfl: 
 care of the Directors was to aim at laying a broad and 
 folid balls of future operations. The frontier of the 
 ♦ ftates, and tlie Indian country, exhibiting an extenfive 
 
 field of miflionary elForts, required great attention, while 
 they prefented confiderable difficulty. That a plan of 
 millions might be devifed with judgment, and executed 
 j with fuccefs, it vsas neceflary to obtain corredt informa- 
 
 tion of both. A committee of inquiry was accordingly 
 appointed for each of thefe purpofes, and diretSled to 
 prepare their reports as fpeedily as the nature of their 
 bulinefs would admit. No printed documents Apply- 
 ing them with fufficient materials, they were obliged to 
 have recourfe to individuals fcattered throughout the 
 country, arul many of them difficult of accefs. From 
 thefe and other impediments, the committees have not 
 yet been able to accomplilh their obje6f. 
 
 A correfpondence has alfo been opened with the lead- 
 ing Miffionary Societies in Britain ; but no communi- 
 cations from them have hitherto been received. 
 
 Afi inifitution fo novel in this country, and fo much 
 beyond the ordinary habits of religious enterprize as the 
 
46 
 
 prcfent Miffionary Society, could hardly expe(Jl to enjoy 
 immediate and univerfal fupport. Yet it is not without 
 j>eculiar fatisfaftion, that the DiretSlors rind, that in 
 proportion as it is underftood, it recommends itfelf to the 
 approiiation and afFedtion ot Chriftiana of different de- 
 nominations. Ref]>e£lable additions have been made to 
 the number of members; and both congregations and 
 individuals have evinced their anxiety for its profperity, 
 by liberal and unfolicited donations to its treafury. The 
 funds amount, at prefent, exclulive of all charges, to 
 nearly one thoufand dollars ; which, though a fmall fum 
 for any weighty undertaking, defeives to be view’ed as 
 an encouraging commencement. 
 
 The Dire£lors have thought themfelves warranted, 
 even by exiftingcircumflances and profjredls, to appoint 
 a committee to prepare, at their leifure, a fet of inftruc- 
 tions for Miffionaries, and to look out for perfons pro- 
 per to be employed in the fervice of the Society. They 
 are not without pleafing hopes, that the head of the 
 church will raife up, from time to time, candidates en- 
 dowed with a miffionary fpirit, who will glow with 
 zeal for the falvation of the heathen, and count it a dif- 
 tinguifhed honour to carry among them the fweet favour 
 of his name. 
 
 Inquiry has already been addreffed to them, to afeer- 
 tain whether it comes within the defign of the Society 
 to educate pious and promilmg youth cxprelTly for mif- 
 rionary labours. No office would be more gratifying 
 to them, as they arc pcrfiiaded that nothing can l>c more 
 congenial to the end of the Society, nor to the wifhes 
 of its members. 
 
 The Directors feel a peculiar fatisfadlion in obferving, 
 that the miffionary principle is not confined to their own 
 affociation. It hath penetrated to the dillant parts ot 
 
47 
 
 the ftate, and produced, fome months lince, anorlicr 
 Society, founded on the fame dodlrines, devoted to the 
 fame objects, and dchrous of co-operating in the fame 
 plan, by the ftylc of “ The Northern Miflionary So- 
 ciety in the State of Nevv-York.” Articles of union, 
 between that inftitution and theNew-York MilTionary 
 Society, have been propofed, and acceeiled to by the 
 Dire£lors, and will be laid before the Society for final 
 ratification. They cannot but indulge the confoling 
 thought, that the Spirit of the Higheft harii begun the 
 good work, and that he will carry it on till his people 
 throughout thefe States fliall combine their counfels, and 
 confolidate their ftrength, in one grand and triiimpham > 
 exertion to introduce his Gofpel into the “ dark places 
 “ of the earth, which are yet lull of tire habitations of 
 “ cruelty.” 
 
 It is to them a fpring of no common elevation to 
 •learn, that the zeal for miflions in the ifland of Great- 
 Britain, which fii fuggefted the idea of Miflionary 
 Societies here, is fo far from declining, that it gathers 
 vigour with its age. Obloquy only ferves to cement its 
 friends, and oppofition to call forth its energies. And 
 the probability, in which every gracious heart mufl: re- 
 joice, is, that at this moment Chrift crucified is preached 
 among the Pagans in the iflands of the Pacific Ocean. 
 Belides which, an evangelical mifllon is projedled, and 
 before now, perhaps, executed, into the interior of Af- 
 rica. The Lord blefs them, and keep them ! Grant 
 Chriftians here to emulate, and even furpafs their apof- 
 'tolic example ; and crown every embafly to the Gen- 
 tiles with greater and greater fuccefs, till the whole earth 
 be filled with his glory ! 
 
 John M. Mason, Sec'ry. 
 
 New- York, Nov. 6 , 1797. 
 
In fheir proceedings on the above report, the Society' 
 refolved, That the education of proper perfons to be fent 
 out as Miffionaries comes within their defign : and it 
 ■will, no doubt, receive their particular attention as foon 
 as their funds will permit. 
 
 The Society alfo agreed upon articles of union, and 
 principles of co-operation, with the Northern Million- 
 ary Society in the State of New-York, to take etfe6l 
 whenever they fhall be ratified by faid Society. 
 
 The obje6ls contemplated by the Society involving 
 heavy expences, and requiring the united exertions of 
 its friends, it was judged neceflary to folicit, from all 
 the congregations throughout the country, with which 
 it has any connedfion, annual colleflions for its funds. 
 Little can be done in pecuniary efforts, unlefs tliofe whir 
 long for the profperity of Zion fhall give their cheerful 
 and perfevering aid ; and from fuch aid, with the blcffing 
 of Zion’s King, the happiefl fuccefs may be rationally 
 anticipated. 
 
 The Society having agreed that two fei mons fiiall be 
 preached at tfieir next annual meeting, the Reverend Dr. 
 Livingston, and theReverend Dr. M‘Knight, were 
 appointed to preach tlicm : the former in the Scots Pref* 
 byterian Church, on the evening of the firfl: day of their 
 meeting; and the latter in the North Dutch Church, on 
 the evening following. 
 
 The Society having tranfadded their bufinefs, with the 
 harmony and affedfion of Chriftian brethren, and filled 
 with pleafing hope, that their labours (hall not be in 
 vain in the Lord, adjourned till the firft Tuelday of 
 November, 1798. 
 
49 
 
 State of the Funds of the Mijfionary Society, on 
 fVednefday, November 8, 1797. 
 
 Dlra. Ch. 
 
 Received, on 7th and 8th November, from Members, on 
 
 account of dues, I4J77 
 
 By fales of the Society’s Addrefs 3 25 
 
 The CoUeeftion after the annual Sermon 66 
 
 Balance from the late Treafurer, 943 78* 
 
 OUTSTANDING, viz. 
 
 Due by Members for Entrances laft year, as it 
 
 Hands on the late Treafurcr’s Books, . . . 12 50 
 
 Due by eleiHed Members who have not yet Cgncd 
 
 the ConHitution 
 
 Due by Subferibers in Arrears for annual Dues 
 
 not yet colleAcd, 129 50 
 
 - 232 
 
 Sixteen hundred and feventy-four dollars forty-fix cents. 1674 46 
 
 N. B. The annual dues not yet colledled arc eftimated at the lowed 
 fum to which the Conditution limits the Members, that is, two dol- 
 lars: the amount of receipts will probably exceed the eilimate. 
 
 * 7 bt fum referred to in the report of the Directors. 
 
 Officers and other DireEiors for the enfuing Year. 
 
 OFFICERS. 
 
 John Rodgers, D. D. Prejident. 
 WiiLiAM Linn, D. D. Vice-Prefident. 
 Mr. Divie Bethone, Treafurer. 
 Rev. John M. Mason, Secretary. 
 
 Rev. John N. Abeel, Cleri. 
 OTHER DIRECTORS. 
 
 John M'Knicht, D. D. 
 Benjamin Foster, D.D. 
 Rev. Gerardus A. Kuypers, 
 Rev. Samuel Miller, 
 Leonard Bleecker, Efq. 
 Thomas Mackanness, Efq. 
 
 By order., 
 
 Peter Wilson, Efq. 
 Thomas Storm, Efq. 
 
 John Broome, Efq. 
 
 Mr. George Lindsav, 
 Mr. George Warner, 
 Mr. John Bingham. 
 
 JOHN M. MASON, Secry. 
 
 Donations to the Society will be thankfully received by Mr. 
 Divie Bethune, Treafurer, or by any other of tlte Directors. 
 
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