testimony; when the scene of life shall close; and our et rnal

state commence.

If so,

"Nothing is worth a thought beneath,
But how we may escape the death,
That never, never dies!

How make our own election sure,

And, when we fail on earth, secure

A mansion in the skies."

If you are hardy enough to reject the scriptural representations
of future misery, give credit, at least, to your own Bible, the
writings of the most respectable of the Heathen. They had
their Elysium and Tartarus as we our Heaven and Hell. Nor
was there ever any religious institution, which held not out
promises of reward to the obedient, and threatenings of pun-
ishn. nt to the disobedient. Indeed, every government whe-
the uman or divine, must naturally and necessarily do it,
or there is an end to all order. Every law must have its sanc-
tion. Accordingly, we find Homer, Plato, Virgil,* and
others, have said every thing that is horrible concerning the
future misery of lost souls. Our great English Dramatist,
who has copied from their writings, shall speak their opinions:
"Ay, but to die, and go we know not where;
To lie in cold obstruction, and to rot;
This sensible warm motion to become
A kneaded clod; and the delighted spirit
To bathe in fiery floods, or to reside
In thrilling regions of thick-ribbed ice;
To be imprison'd in the viewless winds,
And blown with restless violence round about
The pendent world; or to be worse than worst
Of those, that lawless and incertain thoughts
Imagine howling: 'Tis too horrible!

The weariest and most loathed worldly life,
That age, ache, penury, imprisonment,

Can lay on nature is a paradise

To what we fear of death."

he might feel the worst of his case. Three physicians attended him for some time; and the rich promises of the Gospel being held out to him, he was at length restored to a sound mind, and is now a happy witness of the power of redeeming grace. Vide Evang. Mag. for Sept. 1798.

The reader will find an account of the rewards of the righteous, and the punishments of the wicked, in Homer's fourth and eleventh books of his Odyssey: in Plato's Phædon, or Dialogue on the Immortality of the soul: and in the sixth book of Virgil's Eneid.

If this, or any thing like this, is to be the future destiny of a certain class of our fellow-creatures, we shall gain little by rejecting the Gospel representations. We shall be extremely unwise to suffer our probationary period to pass away unimproved. If our race be indeed in a state of moral ruin; if the Almighty hath devised means for our recovery; if, among other messengers, he hath sent a person higher than the heavens to be our Redeemer;* we shall be strangely wanting to ourselves, if we treat this glorious person, and the doctrines of salvation which he hath taught, with neglect or contempt. At all events, therefore, let us examine well the ground upon which we stand. Negligence in such a cause, is nearly as culpable as contempt. And be it never forgotten, that, on every system, a strictly moral, and religious conduct, is the duty, the interest, the felicity of all reasonable Beings. What an ideot must that man be, who rejects his Saviour, his Bible, and all his immortal expectations, because of some chronological, or genealogical, or geographical difficulties in the records of his salvation, which he cannot reconcile to the full satisfaction of his mind? I had almost said, if the Bible were as full of blunders, contradictions, and absurdities, as the Koran of Mahomet, yet might Jesus be a prophet sent from God. The reality of his mission does by no means depend upon the validity of the Scriptures † though the Scrip

* For a very clear and satisfactory defence of the doctrine of redemption by Jesus Christ, see the first vol. of Bishop Porteus's Sermons, discourse the tenth, and vol. ii. discourses the second and third; and that he is the real and proper Son of God, see the 14th discourse of the same volume. The reader who remains unconvinced after considering the various arguments advanced by the above learned and amiable Prelate, will probably resist every thing that can be said by any other writer. If, however, he is desirous of seeing the matter fairly argued between Christianity and Deism, let him have recourse to a volume of Sermons preached at the Temple Church by Bishop Sherlock. I myself remember that this book convinced a determined Deist, who is now an eminent instrument in the hands of Providence for the conversion of others. I would, therefore, to all such, use the words of Augustine-Tolle et lege; tolle et lege.

† If we have any doubts concerning the truth of the Gospel of Christ, it would be but fair to examine carefully all the other religions that now are, or ever were, in the world, and compare them impartially not with Christianity as established in the several countries of Europe-but-with the pure, unmixed Gospel, as taught by our Saviour, and left on record in the New Testament, and then give the preference to that which is most excellent. If

tures are as genuine and authentic as if all depended upon them.

Be wise, therefore, my Countrymen, to know the time of your visitation. Make the most of your little span of life. Seek Truth with modesty and humility, with patience and perseverance, and follow wheresoever it leads the way. Take the safe side. Believe in Christ, if you can. Believe as far as you can. Examine every principle, step by step. And should the evidence for Infidelity fall ever so little short of demonstration, if you act a reasonable part, you will believe in Jesus, because infinite danger presses on that side, and no danger whatever on the side of faith and obedience. Submit then, to his easy and delightful yoke. His ways (make but fair trial of them) you will always find to be ways of plea santness, and all his paths to be paths of peace.* In our opinion, and in the opinion of all wise and good men of every age and nation:

"Tis Religion that must give
Sweetest pleasures while we live;
"Tis Religion must supply
Solid comfort when we die:
After death its joys shall be
Lasting as eternity."t

the reader is disposed to make this survey, he will find some assistance in J. Stephens, Esq's. book on the Principles of the Christian Religion, compared with those of all the other Religions and Systems of Philosophy, which have hitherto appeared in the world.

To the books in favour of Christianity, mentioned on a former page, may be added Dr. John Rogers's eight Sermons on the Necessity of Divine Revelation; Dr. Conybeare's Defence of Revealed Religion; Gastrel's Certainty and Necessity of Religion in general, and his Certainty of the Christian Revelation.

* For a view of the 'pleasure and cheerfulness of the religion of Jesus, see Bishop Porteus's Sermons, vol. ii. p. 1.

† Though Infidelity is making its way rapidly among the nations, and among all orders of men, yet is the cause of the Gospel by no means desperate. The Europeans in the East Indies are said to be almost universally Infidels. The state of France is too well known. The same spirit is running through America. Thomas Paine has sent over among them, it is said, 14,000 copies of his deistical publications. But though every possible effort is making to establish the reign of Infidelity, there are equal efforts at least, I think, making by good men of all denominations, for the propagation of evangelical truth. The confict is severe. But it is easy to see how the contest will terminate. Let every man that is on the Lord's side come for

If, however, after your most serious and conscientious endeavours, you are not able to find satisfactory evidence, that ward and avow himself a friend of the despised Nazarene, in opposition to all the powers of earth and hell. Curse ye Meroz, said the Angel of the Lord, curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof; because they came not to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty. When one considers the present situation of the great bulk of mankind, whose heart does not burn within him to contribute something towards evangelizing the nations? The inhabitants of the world are said to amount at this time, to about 731 millions; of whom 420 millions are Pagans; 130 millions Mahometans; 100 millions Catholics; 44 millions Protestants; 30 millions of the Greek and Armenian churches; and 7 millions Jews.

The Rev. Mr. Carey, late of Leicester, and now a Missionary among the Hindoos, says,

Europe contains

Asia....

106,932,000 •387,884,500

Is not this view of things a loud call to the friends of the Gospel to use every possible mean to promote the spread of it among the nations!-If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed, is the language of inspiration. Are we in no danger then from that spirit of slumber which overspreads our minds? Ought not every man, who has any concern for his own future happiness, to lend a helping hand to promote the salvation of the many millions of souls, who now sit in darkness, and in the region and shadow of death? The Moravians, above all other people upon earth, have herein the greatest merit. That small, and, in some respects, obscure Sect, have done more to spread the honour of the Redeemer's name among barbarous nations,

Christ came from God; you must allow at least, with than all the Protestants in Christendom. These worthy people began their missions in the year 1732, and have now, in different parts of the world, and those several of them the most unpropitious, no less than 26 Settlements. In these Settlements near 140 Missionaries are employed in superintending about 23,000 converts from the Heathens!

A Swedish mission was undertaken to the Susquehanna river in America in the year 1697, by three persons, but with little success. The King of Denmark sent out two persons in the year 1705 to Tranquebar on the coast of Coromandel, which mission has been continued to the present time, with considerable advantage to the cause of Christ in that part of the world.

The Society for propagating the Gospel in foreign parts, and that for promoting Christian Knowledge in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, were both begun about the year 1701, and have both been extremely useful in spreading the knowledge of the Redeemer's name. America is particularly indebted to these two Societies.

The Society for promoting Christian Knowledge was begun in the year 1698, and has been carried forward with considerable spirit for near one whole century. At present they have six Missionaries in the East Indies, and one in the islands of Scilly. From these Missionaries some very pleasing accounts have been published in the several annual reports. The efforts of this honourable Society have been very considerable also in the distribution of Bibles and other religious books of various descriptions. The Bibles sent out the last three years averaged 5,228 each year: the New Testaments and Psalters 9,333, Common Prayers 9,738, other bound books 10,562, and small Tracts 69,754. A charity of a most extensive, valuable, and important nature! But, a principal object with this Society, is the education of poor children. And in this, as well as in the distribution of books, they excel any thing that ever was in the world. Let their annual meeting at St. Paul's bear witness. See the Reports for an account of their extraordinary exertions in the propagation of religious knowledge. See also the Report of the Foreign Bible Society for May 1808.

The Baptists in this country have lately sent out two persons to the East Indies, the fruit of whose labours begins to appear, though the mission is in its infancy. We are informed by them, that the Europeans in that country are very generally in a state of Infidelity. This confirms what has been said by the natives in broken English: "Christian religion—Devil religion! Christian much drunk-Christian much do wrong, much beat, much abuse others." The natives are apt to say in making their bargains"What, dost thou think me a Christian, that I would go about to deceive thee?"-"It is a sad sight," says one of the first Missionaries, "to behold a drunken Christian, and a sober Indian; a temperate Indian, and a Christian given up to his appetite; an Indian that is just in his dealings, and a Christian not so. O what a sad thing it is for Christians, to come short of Indians, even in