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necessary to take a short view of the missionary spirit, so far as it exists at present in the different countries of Christendom, and of the extent of that moral wilderness which it has to reclaim. England, English America, Germany, and Switzerland, and Russia,form the short list of those coun tries from whom any external effort can reasonably be expected, and are at present nearly in the same scale of efficiency as they are bere set down. England has triple of the resources of all the rest put together; but America, in a century, will undoubtedly have most at its disposal. In allotting to each the ground which it should occupy, England ought to have the largest field of present usefulness, while America is adequate to fill one which will grow with her growth, and disclose new openings in every succeeding year. England being far in advance of all the rest, in the multiplicity of its moral resources, and in the facility and intelligence with which it can concentrate and impel them upon any given points, however distant, is naturally destined to take the lead in every work of beneficence, and to become the centre of design and action. It is therefore requisite that there be English agents and superintendents in all these countries, to give a unity to their simultaneous movements; but more than superintendence is not required." Douglas-pp. 31, 33.

We have no disposition to dispute the general correctness of Mr. Douglas' observations on the comparative resources and efficiency of England and America; and we will grant that if the churches of the countries which he enumerates could be persuaded to submit their operations to the

superintendence of English agents, and if it were possible that foreigners should ever be able to call out and organize to advantage the resources of any community, the plan which he proposes would be equally feasible in its execution, and powerful in its influence. But while human nature continues as it is, the conditions are both of them impossible, and the scheme must be rejected. And is it therefore impracticable to give a simultaneousness and a unity to the movements of all these countries? We think not. Let the plan just proposed for adoption in this country be extended. Let leading Christians in different and distant parts of the world maintain a constant

um.

intercourse by every possible mediLet them labor in this way to draw out and embody the whole strength of the Christian world. And thus let them gradually organize a grand congress of the Church,—a truly holy alliance,-a Protestant, and in every good sense of the word, a Catholic" Collegium de propaganda fide." In this way all the powers of the true Christendom may be mustered. Every solitary church, however afflicted and desolate, may be sought out, and some task may be assigned it, adequate to its strength, till by exercise and by the consciousness of belonging to a mighty fellowship it shall grow to a capacity for manlier effort. And those communities of christians to whom God has given power and wealth and privileges, and on whom he delights to pour down the influences of his Spirit, may be directed by the voices of their brethren to those loftier undertakings and more arduous labors, which a wisely ordering Providence has placed before them. That the christians of one country are, in fact, qualified by their character no less than by their circumstances, for one particular field of enterprise, and the christians of another country for another, we might aver without any previous observation. And who that looks abroad on the world for a moment, can doubt that it is so? Who can doubt, for example, that it is the duty, as it is in the power, and as it might be the glory, of England to accomplish the conversion of India? Mr. Douglas thinks so.

"Every crown has been earned and worn; every other sort of glory has be come trite and faded. To renovate, not a nation, but the human race; to place the moral world upon a new foundation; and to commence an era in the history of mankind might be the destiny of England, at a small expense compared with the expenditure of keeping nations in subjection by terror alone. The whole education of India might be placed under the direction and control of the British government; and an empire more absolute than any which has tyrannized over the body, might be seated in the affections, and estab

lished in the opinions and literature of a hundred millions of subjects. The fiction of the Bramin might be realized, and the White Islands of the West become more sacred to the Hindoos than Meru, and the waves that wash them, than the waters of the Ganges." Douglas, p. 30.

Afterwards, when speaking of Central Africa, his remarks are more important to us, inasmuch as they respect our own immediate duty.

"All attempts either to penetrate into Africa, or to better the condition of the Africans, have failed from one obstacle, the climate, which, in a short period is death to Europeans.

"All travellers, and all teachers, must have a probationary year or two to qualify themselves as learners, before they can enter into the full fruits of their labors. At that very time their short lease of life expires, the climate exerts its destructive power over them, and others, in endless and fruitless succession, inherit their labors and their fate. The civilizers of Africa must be Africans; and America is the country where the civilization of Africa ought to commence. The methods of Providence, in preparing a way for the conversion of the uttermost parts of the earth, deserve to be well considered, and ought to be followed in our undertakings towards the same end.

"It has placed the sacred land of the East under British government, and has given the nations the desire, even of them selves, to seek after the arts and sciences of Europe.

"While the Chinese government prevents the entrance of Europeans, or their books into China, a new nation of Chinese is rising up in the Indian Islands, under European control, who will supply translators and missionaries, for the opportunities of better days; and while Europeans are prevented from entering Africa, by the unhealthy climate, and their suspected color, thousands and millions of Africans have been permitted to be carried into countries where Europeans can not only reach them with safety, but where they are continually surrounded with the arts and knowledge of Europe. These Africans may be trained with great facility to be the improvers of their country. Af

rica is in so low a state, that, at first, persons of very moderate acquirements will be most in contact with the minds of their countrymen ; and a knowledge of the common arts of life, and the power of instructing others in reading, writing, and arithmetic, seems sufficient for the first pioneers, who, thus qualified, if they are sineere and zealous christians, will find suf

ficient opportunity to spread their opinions.

"Such is the mystery of the craft in Africa, that a clever blacksmith has set up, on that ground alone, for a divinity, and obtained followers, and the Mahometans, or men of the Book, have no difficulty in insinuating themselves into respect and importance among the Pagans. There can be no doubt that the Africans, from the charm which they attribute to written

characters, would anxiously avail them

selves of education, and be anxious to transcribe portions of Scripture; an entrauce more and more abundant, and for persons of higher attainments would be afforded; the minds of the natives would be filled with more respect, and become more desirous of European information; meanwhile this African institution might with ease be prepared to furnish men of higher attainments, who might either incorporate our literature into the African languages, or, if they are found to be dialects too ramified and barbarous, might introduce English as the general and learned language of Africa. Europeans, without so immense a destruction, might then give their aid to the improvements going on in their country itself; for it is the personal exertions of missionaries and travellers that is so ruinous; and mere superintendence, which is all that would be required in this case, may be exercised for many years without fatal consequences, as instanced in colonial judges and govern

ors.

"There has been one easy method pointed out, by which the civilization of Africa might be commenced, by forming a school of Arts in America for such Negroes as show any promising dispositions. The expense of this on a small scale would be trifling, and its success to a degree certain." pp. 38-42.

Now we ask, why is it, if the redemption of Africa is thus committed to the Christians of America, if the arrangements of Providence have thus evidently placed in our hands the means of working out salvation for a coutinent, why is it that there is not at this hour on that continent a single American missionary? Why is it that our little colony stands calling for a missionary, in vain? Why is it that the school devised by the long reaching wisdom, and established by the industrious agency of Mills, has hitherto languished and lingered on the verge of being? Why is it that the foreign opera

tions of our churches are directed to
every quarter of the globe rather than
to that which discloses the fairest
prospect of the easiest success? It
is because these operations have
proceeded too much at random ;-
because the Church has not employ
ed the united wisdom of her sons, to
organize her efforts, and to lay out
the plan of the warfare before her.
It is because there has been compar-
atively no concert of action, no studi-
ed arrangement of the attack, no
wise forecasting of the results.
some expedient be adopted, like that
which we have ventured to suggest,
and the difficulty is removed; Chris-
tendom has become an organized com-
munity; the Church is one, as it was
when they that believed were assem-
bled with one accord in one place.

Let

It was our intention to offer a few thoughts on the various modes of conducting missions among the heathen; but the length to which these observations have already extended warns us not to enter here on a subAnd ject so fruitful of discussion. now, as we have spoken so much in the tones of dissatisfaction and doubt, we must say, in conclusion, that we are neither dissatisfied nor desponding. The deep and solemn enthusiasm that has always glowed within us, when we have contemplated the signs of the times, or the promises of God, burus now with undiminished ardor. And wearied as we are with the contemplation of the imperfections on which we have dwelt so long, we return with the kindlings of sincere delight to bless our God that we live in a day when Christianity is exhibiting her high pretensions and asserting claims to universal dominion. If ever we know the power of gratitude, or the fervency of love to the brethren, it is when we hear our fellow christians describing with the enthusiasm which Mr. Wayland expresses, the grandeur of the enterprise in which they are enlisted.

"Our object will not have been accom❤ plished till the tomahawk shall be buried

for ever, and the tree of peace spread its broad branches from the Atlantic to the Pacific; until a thousand smiling villages shall be reflected from the waves of the

Missouri, and the distant vallies of the West echo with the song of the reaper; till the wilderness and the solitary place shall have been glad for us, and the desert has rejoiced and blossomed as the rose."

"Our labours are not to cease, until the last slave ship shall have visited the coast of Africa, and the nations of Europe and America having long since redressed ber aggravated wrongs, Ethiopia, from the Mediterranean to the Cape, shall have stretched forth her hand unto God.

"How changed will then be the face of Asia! Bramins and sooders and casts and shasters will have passed away, like the mist which rolls up the mountain's side before the rising glories of a summer's morning, while the land on which it rested, shining forth in all its loveliness, shall, from its numberless habitations, send forth the high praises of God and the Lamb. The Hindoo mother will gaze upon her infant with the same tenderness which now throbs in the breast of any one of you who now hears me, and the Hindoo son will pour into the wounded bosom of his widowed parent, the oil of peace and consolation."

"Our object will not be accomplished until every idol temple shall have been utterly abolished, and a temple to Jehovah erected in its room; until this earth, instead of being a theatre on which immortal beings are preparing by crime for eternal condemnation, shall become one universal temple, in which the children of men are learning the anthems of the bles

sed above, and becoming meet to join the general assembly and church of the first born, whose names are written in heaven.” Wayland-pp. 16, 17, 19.

We bless God that this work is going forward to-day, to its accomplishment. Our world shall not be for ever the dark and warring chaos that it has been. It is even now like the imperfect creation, when the spirit had moved on the face of the abyss, and the elements were teeming with life. We see the plastic hand of the Creator rearing a universe of beauty. In all the aspects of our times; in the uproar of revolution; in the tumult of the commerce that leaves no sea unvisited, no region unexplored; in the general diffusion of knowledge, and the general consciousness of power; in the wonderful inventions of art, and

the undreamed of discoveries of science; in the enthusiasm that spreads through every department of human thought, and human exertion; in the brazen infidelity that, coming out from every lurking. place, curses God and looks upward, as if in the expectation of its doom; in the redeeming efficacy of the truth, arraying itself in the energy of its primeval purity, and going forth impartially to the high and the low, the proudest and the most abandoned; and above all, in the bold designs and the lofty faith and the vig

orous exertions of all whom the truth has sanctified, we see the operation of his hand, who will bring light out of darkness, order out of confusion, and who will fashion of these jarring elements a world of harmony and beauty, from which there shall arise the shouts of praise and the music of rejoicing, to mingle with the anthem of "the morning stars" and the triumphant gratulations of the "sons of God."

A scene of realities is before us, full of the energy and zeal of ancient evangelism; full of the power and glory of the reigning Saviour, and managed by a

Providence, all whose secret springs and visible machinery are in his hand. The nations are agitated by new principles and new powers, that are working out the civil liberties of men, and "turning from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God." A new era in the world's history is bugun!-We see Christians of all denominations, obedient to

some deep and common impulse, uniting in plans for the spread of the gospel, wide as the exigencies of nations, and with an

amazing force of intellect and action. After ages of indifference, of which we are ashamed to think, we are suddenly called to exertion; the selfish schemes and habitudes of life are forgotten in high adventures, that may extend the empire

and glory of Christ;-and interest in the

great cause, aside from prejudices and party feelings, is becoming not only the grand proof of piety, but the tie of brotherhood throughout Christendom!

"It is indeed, a heavenly vision!". "And does it not seem like the sunrise of

that day of glory, when the mysterious blessing of the gospel shall have reached the most distant and desolate places of human abode ;-when the world revived,

emancipated, shall be dressed in the order and beauty of a new creation, because her curse is removed her sufferings are past-her blood is washed away! Is not the hour at hand, when the arch of God's redeeming covenant shall encircle the bright heavens, and all nations rejoice-beneath it." Whelpley, pp.30. 32.

Literary and Philosophical Intelligence.

In the press and expected to be published in the course of the present month

Elements of universal Geography, Ancient and Modern; on the principles of comparison and classification; Modern Geography by William C. Woodbridge; late Instructor in the American AsylumAncient Geography by Emma Willard; Principal of the Female Seminary at Troy, N. Y." This work, which was announced in a former number, has been delayed for the purpose of revision and enlargement; it has been entirely re-written, and extended to 400 or 500 pages of a large duodecimo size.

A volume of sermons is about to be published, under the title of the "Southern Preacher." The sermons are to be selected from the manuscripts of a number of the most distinguished preachers of dif ferent denominations in the Carolinas and Georgia; among them are the Rev. Drs. Caldwell, Waddell, Leland, Palmer. Cum

mings and Furman, and Messrs. Capers, Hooper, Empic, and Brantley.-Fam. Vis.

Professor Everett is appointed to deliver the oration before the Phi Betta Kappa Society of Harvard College at their next annual meeting.

Mammoth bones were discovered a few months since in Shrewsbury, New Jersey. A piece of low marshy ground being cleared and drained for the purposes of agriculture, the bones were found in abundance both upon the surface and beneath it. A gentleman who recently visited the spot, found "one tooth which weighed 31-4 pounds. One of the shoulder blades, a little more than three feet in length, weighed 40 lbs. The bones of one of the fore legs from the top of the shoulder to the foot measured 10 feet. The ribs, which are much shortened by decay, are still 4 feet in length. He measured one of the knees horizontally and found it 15

inches. The vertebræ of the neck were 26 inches in circumference.”

The total of the black and mulatto population in all the West India islands, is one million six hundred thousand-the total of the whites, in the same, is four hundred and fifty thousand.

The Catholics of Montreal are preparing to erect a magnificent cathedral, surpassing in splendor and magnitude any ecclesiastical edifice on the continent of North America. It will be strictly and purely Gothic, after the best models extant, will hold ten thousand worshippers, and cost four hundred thousand dollars. Its length is to be 253 feet-breadth 132, with two towers in front, each 200 feet in height, and it is to have seven altars; the high altar at the east, behind which is to be a great window 32 feet by 45.

Philadelphia paper.

It was stated by Mr. Brougham, on the 3d Feb. in the British House of Commons, that, there was no part of Germany where the editor of a newspaper durst publish a single sentence or phrase disagreeable or likely to give umbrage, not merely to his own sovereign, but to any member of the Holy Alliance.

A latin manuscript, undoubtedly by Milton, long supposed to be irrecoverably lost, has just been discovered at the State Paper Office. The subject is religious, and the arguments are all drawn from the scriptures. There are many Hebrew quotations, and the work is of considerable bulk, as it contains 735 pages, many of them closely written, and believed to be in the hand writing of the Poet's nephew, Phillips, with many interlineations in a different hand. It was found in an envelope addressed to Cyriac Skinner, merchant. The situation which Milton held of Latin Secretary to Cromwell, will account for such a discovery being made in the State Paper Office.-London paper.

Heathen Chronology.—The following is from the journal of Gabriel Tissera, a young man attached to the mission in Ceylon, as interpreter and licensed preacher.

A Brahmin called upon me. The following is the sum of his discourse, "Your preaching, and that of the missionaries, are no more than what we are taught to expect in this last age of the world. For the last age is an age of misery, and is attended with many natural and moral evils.

In this age false religions will spread, and the true religion, even the religion of Siven, [that is, the heathen religion,] will become scarce. So that yours, being a false religion, of course spreads in this

age." He showed his belief in many foolish things, which are however sanctioned by their books. He said, "As this last age advances further, the earth will gradually lose its fertility, there will be little rain, and no water but what is in the sea. The inhabitants will therefore be obliged to throw cold sand upon them instead of water. At length mankind will grow shorter both in size and in age. They will become so short and weak, that they will be unable to build them houses, and so will have to live in the holes of large trees, where they will be exposed to birds of prey, which will often carry them away. At last the earth will be burnt up by the liquid fire which will descend upon it as copiously as the rain."

The month of January, in the year of our Lord 1823, is, according to the heathen, the tenth month of the year 4923 of the last age, or the age of misery. They reckon four ages, which they call by four different names. The first consisted of 1,728,000 years. The second consisted of three quarters of the first age, that is 1,296,000 years. The third had two thirds of the second age, namely, 864,000 years. The present, or the fourth age, they trust, will last only 432,000 years, including that part of it which is already elapsed. Consequently the whole of this fourth or last age, is equal to one fourth of the first age. To speak more clearly about the proportion of each age, the second was equal to three quarters, the third to half, and the fourth to one quarter of the first age. When the last age ends, the first one will commence again, and then the second, and so on in regular succession. They believe that these ages have already succeeded many times, how many they do not know. [See Walther's Doctrina Temporum, page 182.] At the end of every fourth or last age, or the age of misery, there is a deluge, which is succeeded by an universal conflagration. This conflagration is the same with the liquid fire above mentioned. Then Brahma creates a universe again, though he himself is not the eternal God.

For at the end of a certain number of these quadruple ages, the existing Brahma dies, and another Brahma is created by Siven. Perhaps this is the corrupted tradition of some particulars mentioned in the word of God. For several parts of the above account seem to agree, in some respects, with such Scriptural facts and doctrines as these, to wit. the holy and happy state in which Adam was before his fall, the longevity of the antediluvians, the sinfulness of man since the fall, the end of the world, when "the earth also, and the works that are therein, shall be burned up," and the new creation, or the "new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness."

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