the excellence of the power may be of God, and not of us. The weakness and frailty of the instruments are to turn off the eyes of all men from them to God, and to make it manifest, that he does the work, and deserves all the praise.

Such is the view which the Scriptures give of the agents that God employs, and the reasons why he employs them, in the work of saving sinners. Such also is the view inculcated upon us by the events of divine providence, particularly by those which have recently taken place. The missionaries whom we send forth are "earthen vessels;" the most healthy and vigorous of them are frail as the grass. They may be quickly wasted away by sickness, or still more quickly cut off by the violence of men. And those of them who are most conspicuous for their piety, are subject to weakness and imperfection. Let us, then, never place our reliance upon feeble human agents, but upon God, the Almighty Agent, "of whom, and through whom, and to whom, are all things."

But let not the events which have come to pass discourage the devoted friends of the missionary cause. These events are appointed as the means of improving our characters, and so of leading on to greater success in the end. There is something very animating in that principle of God's providence, which makes disappointments and sufferings, the means of bringing about great results. Enterprises of extraordinary moment are not carried forward smoothly and easily, but are invariably associated with difficulties, and often with disasters. May we not then indulge the cheering thought, that the various adverse and painful events which have met us in the missionary enterprise, are in reality expressions of the divine favor, and are clear indications, that the work in which we are engaged is one of singular greatness and is ultimately to be attended with glorious success.

The present occasion leads us to contemplate a profound mystery of divine providence a mystery as unfathomable, as any of the doctrines of our religion. At the present day, almost two thousand years after Christ made propitiation for the sins of the world, and after so much has been done by apostles, and martyrs,

and other servants of God, and so many prayers have been offered up for the spread of the gospel, and when we have been inclined to think that the darkness is almost past, and the universal reign of Christ near at hand-there is still on the island of Sumatra a tribe of cannibals a million of human beings so savage and cruel, that they murder their fellow-men, even those who come to them on an errand of love, and then devour their mangled, lifeless bodies. Why is it that men are anywhere found possessed of a character so unutterably base and dreadful? But this mystery does not end with the cannibals in Sumatra, and in other parts of the earth. It extends in all its unsearchableness, to the whole heathen world. Why is it, that even at this day three fourths of the human race are left in darkness, having never known the name of the only Saviour? Why has not God caused them to hear the glad tidings, when at any time during the ages of darkness that are past, he could have raised up unnumbered ministers, and sent them forth into all lands, and could have made the gospel preached by them effectual to salvation; or could have saved them with infinite ease, if he had seen fit, without the labor of any ministers? Why has he suffered so great a part of the world to remain a barren, frightful wilderness, when it has been in the power of his hand to make it a fruitful field?

It does not clear up the mystery at all to say, that the Christian world has been in fault; that if they had been as benevolent and active, and as fervent in prayer, as they ought to have been, the sound of the gospel, accompanied with the power of the Holy Ghost, would long ago have reached all nations. The question is why God has not made the Christian world thus benevolent, and active, and fervent in prayer,—why he has not actually raised up well qualified ministers in sufficient numbers to accomplish the work of the world's conversion. The mystery of mysteries is, that God, with his infinite power and wisdom and love, has not done this. The inspired writers do not attempt to answer the questions which may be raised respecting this subject. They teach us, what is important for us to know, that God in all these things, acts" according to the counsel of his own will," and that

his will is infinitely wise and good-and there they leave the subject; and they leave it there, that the loftiness of man may be brought low, and that God alone may be exalted.

I shall touch upon one point more, and that is the true spirit of the Christian religion-so widely different from the spirit of the world. A tribe of cannibals in Sumatra have inhumanly killed and devoured our beloved brethren, who went there from the purest benevolence. What now shall we do to avenge the innocent blood of these missionaries? Shall we petition our government to send forth an army to inflict signal punishment upon those monsters of cruelty, and to teach them, that American citizens cannot be injured with impunity? Or shall we pray God to send down fire from heaven to destroy them? No, brethren. The God whom we worship, is the God of love. And our Saviour, infinitely merciful himself, requires all his disciples to copy his example, and to cherish a benevolent, forgiving temper towards their worst enemies. And when, after his resurrection from the dead, he commissioned his apostles to go forth to preach the glad tidings of salvation, he directed them to begin at Jerusalem, where so many prophets had been killed-yes, he directed them to begin the work of benevolence at Jerusalem, in the midst of those who had shed his blood! Behold the true spirit of our religion! It is the spirit of meekness, gentleness and forgiveness. It is the spirit of love love to enemies, persecutors and murderers. Guided by this spirit, let us meditate no return to those who have massacred our beloved missionaries, but to labor and pray for their eternal welfare. Let us take special pains to send the blessings of the gospel to Sumatra, and to the Batta territory where Lyman and Munson were slain. And let the missionary, selected for the purpose, be instructed to preach the gospel to the inhabitants of Sumatra, beginning at Batta. With holy confidence in God, let that missionary go forward to his work of mercy among those poor, wretched cannibals. And let him search out the very men who murdered our brethren, and begin with them. As they are first in guilt and wretchedness, let him first seek their good. With a heart that pities them, and longs for their salvation, let

him proclaim to them the glorious gospel:-Behold I bring you glad tidings. Jesus died for sinners, for the chief of sinners. I offer you pardon in his name. Thus let him preach to those miserable heathen, the unsearchable riches of Christ. And if the grace of God should touch their hearts, and bring them to repentance and if they should at length be seen at the feet of Jesus, weeping for their sins, and devoting their whole souls to him, and then going about to proclaim his abounding grace; Oh! this would be a spectacle, at the sight of which angels would rejoice, and the report of which would fill the hearts of ten thousand believers with gladness. And could those two missionaries, now we trust in heaven, hear the blessed tidings of the repentance of their murderers, how would they join with the angels in their rejoicing, while with a Christ-like spirit, they would feel willing to go down again to earth, and bear again the pains of death, for the joy of beholding such precious fruits of God's Spirit, and such glorious triumphs of his grace!

A SERMON

DELIVERED AT THE FUNERAL OF THE REV. JOHN HUBBARD CHURCH, D. D., WHO DIED AT PELHAM, N. H., JUNE 12, 1840.

BRETHREN AND FRIENDS; I stand here to-day in compliance with the request of that beloved brother, who now sleeps in death. I visited him near the time of his decease. During that visit, he requested me to preach at his funeral; then taking his Bible, which he had by his pillow, and pointing to a particular passage, he said, "I wish you to preach from that text." It was the second Epistle to Timothy, 1: 18, "The Lord grant unto him, that he may find mercy of the Lord in that day." He then said: "I want you to dwell particularly upon this idea, that we depend on the mercy of the Lord for our salvation; and that ministers of the gospel, as well as others, will need that mercy at the judgment day." He repeated it: "What I wish you to show is, that the salvation of ministers, as well as of all others, depends on the sovereign mercy of God; and that it is infinitely important that we obtain that mercy now and hereafter. Dwell upon the idea, that we shall need to find mercy of the Lord at the last day." He enlarged upon this sentiment in various ways; and in the whole of that interview he showed, that the doctrine of salvation by the free grace of God, through the righteousness of Jesus Christ, was the ground of his hope and the spring of his consolations on his dying bed.