and the greater part, I believe, felt so. The chair was taken by a nobleman of unaffected zeal ; and, although religion was once, and at no very remote date, considered incompatible with the profession of arms, two officers of the royal navy were seen on the platform, prepared to take an active part in the proceedings of the day; not far from whom sat another, of advanced military rank, who had acted a distinguished part in the still recent war struggles of his country, as an approving spectator, ready to publicly sanction with his voice that of which his judgment approved. Several gentlemen of fortune and local interest were also in attendance; and, although the society whose cause was about to be advocated had been organized and solely acted under members of the established church, protestant ministers of other denominations were also in attendance, willing to advocate the common cause of religion.

The object of the meeting was also well calcuculated to call forth the Christian's warmest gratitude, and most tender sympathy:—gratitude for the Gospel-light and the Gospel-privileges he has the means of so abundantly enjoying at home; and sympathy for the mental and moral degradation in which the heathen world is sunk. Cold is the believer's heart indeed, and little worthy of his high profession, if it feel no yearnings of compassion towards the inhabitants of those desolate fields, into which we seek to send forth la

bourers in the Lord, who shall make it meet, under their Master's blessing, for God's heritage and God's husbandry; while we ourselves sit, at comparative ease, each partaking of spiritual mercies under the peaceful shade of his own vine, and his own fig-tree-his lot cast, with undeserved favour, not in the dark abodes of the earth, but in "a goodly heritage."-In the state of the Gentile world, the Christian can likewise discern a proof of the utter apostacy of man from his Maker, as set forth in Scripture; and hence infer, amid a variety of proofs, that "all Scripture is given by the inspiration of God." Were it not for this apostacy, Baal and Moloch, Juggernaut and Vishnu, Jupiter and Woden, and all the long catalogue of pagan deities, would never have held an accredited existence, even in the most heated imagination. The Lord Jehovah has left witness of himself-of his own omnipotence and glory, wherever we turn the eye; nor could the wondrous Architect of the universe, the "Great Spirit of nature, unbounded, unknown," have ever been worshiped under the similitude of a graven image, and with base and earth-born attributes, in the absence of Revelation, were not every thought of the naked human heart "only evil continually:" for of the true and holy God it may, most truly, be said,

"The meanest pin in nature's frame
Marks out some letter of his name;
Where sense can reach or fancy rove,
From hill to vale, from field to grove,

Across the waves, around the sky,
There's not a spot, or low or high,
Where the Creator has not trod,

And left the footsteps of a God."

Such were the reflections which occupied my mind, before the business of the day was commenced; and such considerations, naturally suggested by the purpose for which we had assembled, convince me, more and more, each time they occur, on such occasions, how false is the charge that the promotion of religion abroad, decreases the means of religious activity and exertion at home. Far otherwise is the fact.-" "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations," is the plain, the positive command: freely as we have received, freely are we to give and a few minutes of serious meditation on the actual state of those "without hope, and without God in the world," can scarcely fail to excite our personal thankfulness, and call forth our domestic zeal; well knowing that it will be "more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the Day of Judgment," than for those who, in a Christian land, have loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

At length the chairman rose; and having made several preliminary observations, the respective speakers addressed the assembly, for the most part briefly, but earnestly and well. Although I have felt it my duty, at different times, to say a few words myself on such an occasion, I this day occupied the station most in unison with my own

feelings, that of a mere hearer and looker on; and had therefore more full leisure and ease of mind to attend to what was passing around me, and mark the appearance and note the words of each speaker. One in particular, ere he stood up, attracted my attention forcibly: his frame was slight; his countenance wore impressions of thoughtfulness and recent sickness, that added a few apparent years to the three-and-twenty he had actually numbered; and his features bespoke him a descendant, not of the sons of ancient Greece and Rome, but of the Children of Israel —of Abraham, the father of the faithful, and the friend of God. He came forward, in his turn, with evident modesty, but with unembarrassed ease; looked reverently around the venerable house of prayer; and, with a clear and mild enunciation, commenced in language that won its way to every ear of a hushed and listening audience.

He presented himself to notice, he said, with feelings he could not express; for he stood in the temple of that living God, whose very existence he had once denied, and whose holy name he once had dared to blaspheme. He believed it was expected by many, he should say something of himself; and although the fear of self-obtrusion, on his part, might forbid him to gratify their wishes, yet he remembered how his Lord and Master had told the cleansed leper to go and shew what great things God had done for him; and in obedience to that mandate, rather than to

the inclinations of his fellow-men, he would, for a few minutes, revert to his past history.

He was the son of a Jew; and the manner of his life, from his youth up, was among his own nation all who knew him, from his early days, could testify, that after the most straitest sect of his religion, he had lived a pharisee. His father was a rabbi of learning and reputation among his exiled brethren in London; and had early instructed him in all the intricacies of the law, and in all the traditions of the elders; so that, at the age of fourteen, his own knowledge touching these matters gained for him no trivial consideration. He was then sent to travel on the Continent; and remained abroad four years, visiting the greater part of Europe which can boast of social refinement. During this time he frequently met and mixed with infidels, men of learning and talent; of his owu religion he knew nothing beyond the rites and ceremonies, which daily appeared more absurd and unmeaning, as his intellectual powers became developed; and, ere long, he said in his heart, with the fool, "There is no God." But respect for his parents and kindred, forbade him to publicly express his atheistic opinions; and he returned to England from his tour, a Jew outwardly, and as rigid a pharisee as ever, in the eyes of his connexions.

It was now necessary that he should adopt some calling his education was liberal; and, as there was no physician of their own nation in the British