bear to the immense extent of the heathen world? The population of the globe is estimated, at the lowest, at 800 millions, of whom not more than 175 millions are professedly Christian-that is, in the nineteenth century from the birth of the Saviour of the world, threefourths of that world never heard, to any effect, of his name; never heard of the God who made nor of the Saviour who redeemed them; were never told of their immortal destiny, of their duty and their danger, of the way of repentance or the foundation of hope. Surely this single fact is sufficient to afflict every considerate, every humane mind. And yet, time stops not in its course. Thousands of our fellow-creatures are hastening into eternity every year, every month, every day, who might have been enlightened and blessed with the truths of revelation, if we had possessed more zeal and charity in consulting their everlasting welfare. Indeed, were the temporal well-being of mankind alone in question, they who rightly estimate the astonishing effects of Christianity, in mitigating the evils of war and abolishing the cruelties of heathen superstition, as well as in communicating innumerable other benefits, would ardently wish to diffuse it with a view to the present happiness of their fellow-men, as well as to their eternal felicity.

It is painful to reflect, that amongst all the

nations professing the Protestant faith, our own country has had, till within these very few years, the largest share in the guilt of this inactivity. It is truly alarming to consider the rank and commerce and glory of this great empire, and yet the little that she has done in the noblest cause which can animate man. She stretches her dominion over an immense portion of the world: her ships cover every ocean: her territories border on most of the considerable heathen and Mohammedan states: her fame for wealth, and liberty, and valour, and good faith, has filled the earth and yet what has she effected for the highest interests of man. kind? what, worthy of the blessings bestowed on her? what at all answerable to the facilities which she possesses, and the correspondent obligations under which she lies? Especially, since the vast extent of her possessions in India has added sixty or seventy millions to her population-an event of incalculable moment, and bringing with it a deep responsibilitywhat has she attempted, to meet the great occasion which is presented to her, of extending the Christian faith?

If we except the laudable efforts of the Society for. Promoting Christian Knowledge in the South of India, where a few clergymen, and those of the Lutheran church, have long been supported, nothing, absolutely nothing, has been

done, till these late years, by our church, for the instruction of the heathen.

And yet what is there so holy, what so elevated, what so arduous, as the work of disseminating the most stupendous blessings among nations debased by vice and superstition, nations lost to heaven and to themselves, without hope and without God in the world? We boast of our benevolence and humanity; but what exercise of benevolence or humanity can be compared to that of rescuing our fellow-men from ignorance, and cruelty, and lust, and misery; of conveying to them the knowledge of a crucified Redeemer, and telling them that GOD IS LOVE? We talk of heroism; but what is so heroic as to quit the comforts of our native land, and cheerfully to encounter the dangers of a foreign clime, and all the labours and sufferings incidental to missionary undertakings? Surely there treads not on this earth a man so truly magnanimous as the faithful missionary! To be engaged in inviting such men into the field of exertion, and of aiding and animating them in their toils, can only, therefore, be second in importance to the becoming missionaries ourselves.

And yet England was for a long period, as a nation, utterly unmoved by these considerations. With a cold selfishness she monopolised the gifts of grace, which were confided to her for the benefit of mankind. She was contented with

languid wishes for the good of others; and, by her indifference, seemed to pour contempt on the ardour of those who were willing to enter on the high service of enlightening mankind.

But, blessed be God, these reproaches on the British name are, in their full force, no longer applicable. Within these few years, a zealous desire to promote these efforts of love has begun to appear; and it will depend very much on the British nation at large, to determine whether this spirit shall or shall not be nourished and augmented. Benevolent individuals, of various religious confessions in this country, began about twenty years back to form several missionary societies for propagating the Gospel in different parts of the world. The proposals were received with attention. The blessing of Almighty God appeared to rest upon these undertakings. It then occurred to a few pious and conscientious members of our church, that some success might attend a modest and prudent attempt to form a missionary society in our own body. The moment seemed inviting. Our immense Indian empire, our efforts to open Africa to freedom and the blessings of civilization, our increasing commerce, the apparent revival of Christian piety in many quarters, the example and success of other religious communities, the warning hand of Divine Providence in the commotions of the European

states, the long reproach which had rested on the church for her remissness in this labour, the comparatively small exertions of the only two societies within her pale which had any concern with missions, the circumstance that not one English clergyman was acting as a missionary among heathens, the duty at any rate of making an attempt though it should fail, and the possibility of its being crowned with success-these considerations loudly and irresistibly called on them to propose a new Society, exclusively devoted to the objects of

missions.

The Church Missionary Society for Africa Its and the East was accordingly formed. measures were, in the first instance, submitted to the notice of the then Lord Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of London. For the first few years it was chiefly engaged in making inquiries, circulating information, collecting subscriptions, and instituting preparatory measures. It proceeded with all due caution. It had to contend with various difficulties in its first attempts to send out missionaries. chief impediments, however, arose at home, from that want of a lively interest in the members of our church for the salvation of the pagan nations which, we must acknowledge with concern, had too long prevailed amongst us. Still its conductors bore up, though in

Its