just. A heathen is a person, who is totally ignorant of the great truths of divine revelation. He either never thinks of any superior being; or he believes in many false gods, imaginary deities, themselves grossly sinful, and leading their besotted worshippers only into sin. He has no correct views respecting the nature of sin, or the manner in which it can be pardoned. Between such a person and the most ignorant man that can be found in a Christian country, there is a plain distinction. It is indeed true, that many in Christian countries will be crushed under a heavier load of guilt, than oppresses the poor heathens. We have our Savior's express warrant for the assertion. But the very reason why the impenitent in Christian countries are more to blame than the heathen, is, that they are favored with greater advantages. We only add, in this place, that if we look at the missionary operations of Great Britain, America, or Continental Europe, it will be found that the men, who have been most active in sending the Gospel to distant heathens, have been foremost in every labor and sacrifice for the instruction of the ignorant, the reformation of the vicious, and, in a word, for the salvation of sinners, in their own countries and neighborhoods. The reader will perceive, that we were led to these remarks by what occurs, at the beginning of the extracts. Ir any But what if we have heathens, even at the doors of our sanctuaries? Perhaps you will then say, "Charity begins at home." But where have you been taught this maxim? Do you find it in your Bible? There is indeed a charity, of which the Bible speaks. It is represented as a very im portant Christian grace; greater than faith, But, let us allow the maxim all its weight. Let us admit that charity is to begin at home. Still, may we not ask, Is this all that charity has to do? Is nothing more to be expected of her, than barely to begin? Is she to employ all her skill and strength about the commencement of her work? Has she no progress to make; no finishing to do? By what magic, think you, will her building rise, if she has no plan, no labor, no materials provided, beyond its foundations? Do you ask, then, "If our charity is to extend abroad, what shall we do with these perishing men around us, who will not obey the Gospel?" Leave them. Leave them, if you must. Leave them with the Bible in their hands, and with every facility afforded them for learning and obeying its sacred truths. Leave them where the sanctuary of God rises full in their view, a standing monitor of their duty; and with its lifted spire points them to a temple in the skies. Leave them surrounded by the heralds and the servants of Christ, the living subjects and witnesses of his mercy, and by whom he daily proclaims to them, "Ho every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters." Why should you not leave them? Have you not already given them the Gospel? Can you not plead the example of the primitive churches to justify you? Had not the churches at Jerusalem, and Antioch, and Philippi, and Corinth, heathens enough at home,-heathens, who had claims as strong upon them, as ours have upon us? Are our heathens more numerous than those were, among whom the church at Ephesus was planted? Or do they cry with a louder voice, or a more blind and fatal phrenzy, "Great is Diana of the Ephesians!" Why did the disciples ever leave Jerusalem, or Ephesus, or Corinth? Why cross sea and land in search of heathen? Had they not heathen enough at home? Why stretch their thoughts abroad hundreds of miles, even to the city of Rome? Above all, how came they to =think of heathen in an island so distant and insignificant, as the land of our fathers? Why could they not bury themselves at home, and suffer our fathers and us, down to the present generation, to go on sacrificing human victims, and looking for salvation to imaginary gods? We know the reason of their conduct. Theirs was a charity, which had a progress, as well as a beginning. Theirs was that heaven born charity, which "seeketh not her own." But among all the reasons, why those early missionaries of Jesus scattered themselves abroad, there was one, which outweighed every other; one, which would alone have borne them through all their journies and sufferings. The Lord Jesus Christ, the centre of their affections, who had bought them with his own blood, whom they had covenanted to serve for life, and whom to disobey, was ruin to all their hopes;-He had said to them, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature." After hearing this command, of what avail, think you, were all the opposing maxims of men? What though their near relatives, in the ardor of affection, clung around their necks to detain them? What though their Christian brethren, with a mistaken worldly policy, said to them, "Stay with us. You can be useful here. Despise not the claims of kindred and friends. Love not your neighbors better than yourselves. Beware how you leave heathen behind you, and weaken the hands of your brethren. We cannot send you off. We need all our labor, and all our wealth, and all our men, and all our religion, at home." Of what avail was all this, when the language of Christ was, "Go:-go, scatter abroad the blessings of salvation. Diffuse far and wide the difegiving influence of the Gospel. Let no bounds be set to your journies. Penetrate every desert; cross every sea; scale every mountain; and see that no dark corner of the earth be left uncheered by the glory of my Gospel." After this will it be objected, that "Christ can take care of his church; that he can convert the heathen when he We pleases, without our assistance?" answer: Christ can indeed do these things. He can raise up missionaries, and send them forth in multitudes, without any assistance from us. He can send his ravens to feed them, as he did to his prophet; or rain down manna from heaven for this purpose, as he did to his people in the desert. It is an important, a glorious fact, that Christ can do all this. But what has this fact to do with our present subject? Does the mere fact that Christ is almighty, secure the salvation of the heathen? How does it secure this object, any more than it secures any other object that is desirable? He can preserve your life and health, without your assistance. He can convert to himself all your friends and neighbors and countrymen,-all the heathen around you. But do you therefore conclude it will be so? Are you encouraged by it, to banish all your care, and make no provision for your worldly support; none for the religious instruction of your family; none for the public ordinances of the Gospel? But allowing that Christ were willing to convert the heathen without our assistance. How would even this affect, in the least degree, our duty to spread the Gospel? Does it alter one jot or one tittle of the great command of the Savior, which we are considering? Does not this solemn charge of his still remain in all its force,"Go preach the Gospel to every creature?" Shall then the servant, when his task is set before him, inquire whether his master may not, without any assistance, be able to perform a part of it, or the whole of it? When the absolute command of Christ is resting upon us, does it become us to stop and ask, what the Savior himself is able to do, or willing to do? If any one should object, that missions are attended with little success, we might easily prove, from a great collection of facts, that the preaching of the Gospel abroad, has been as successful as the preaching of the same Gospel at home. But if it had not been so, we might still ask, how this would affect our duty. Where are we commanded to be success ful? Where is this any where made a part of our duty? Where is it said to the missionary, "Go, fill that heathen heart with the love of God; go bring off this heathen from the worship of idols; bring || him submissive to the foot of the cross?" In short, the Savior's command is without any condition; without any qualification. Whether successful or unsuccessful, his disciples are to preach his Gospel, and to preach it to every creature; and it is not easy to conceive how any objection can stand before a mandate so plain, so authoritative, so divine. It answers every question, solves every doubt, sweeps away every obstacle. Bring up every ground of justification or apology for neglecting the heathen; and it passes over them all, as fire over the wood and hay and stubble. As fast as you state, one after another, your difficulties and discouragements, the Savior will meet them with the reply:-"Did I not know them all ten thousand years ago? Did I enter upon the work of man's redemption, without first counting the cost? Did I not see before hand, the sorrow, the sweat, and the agony of the garden? Did I not see the mockery, the suffering, and the blood of Calvary? Think you I did not know, that, to spread my Gospel through the earth, would cost you many a purse of gold, many an aching heart, many a parting tear, many a day of perplexity and toil and weariness? I tell you the cost was faithfully and fully counted at the first; and still I thought it best to meet my sufferings, and still I think it best that you meet yours. Still I say, and say to you, Go, preach the Gospel to every crea-. ture." ADDRESS OF MR. BARDWELL. On the Sabbath evening before the missionaries for the Sandwich Islands embarked from New Haven, the Rev. Mr. Bardwell, late missionary at Bombay, delivered a fraternal address. This he obligingly consented to do, at the request of the Prudential Committee. We presume our readers will deem any introduction, or apology, unnecessary for laying the address before them. DEAR BRETHREN, I rejoice in the privilege of meeting you, on this occasion; and in having an opportunity to express the interest I feel in your present circumstances, in the success of your pious enterprise, and in your eternal felicity. cipate and generally experience hardships, perplexities and discouragements. These they sustain with fortitude, patience and perseverance, in view of their beloved object. Where is the renowned statesman or warrior, who has sustained the government of a nation, or conquered a potent enemy, without occasional embarrassment and painful effort? So far as similar circumstances can excite similar feelings, I well know the emotions of your breasts; and can well sym- Though the kingdom of Christ is not of pathise with you in the pain of parting with this world, and his followers are not to be parents, friends and country. In the an- governed by the maxims and the policy of ticipation of labor and perils among the this world, yet the economy of this gloriGentiles; and in the hope of spending, ous kingdom, by no means frees its suband of being spent, for their salvation, Ijects from trials and sufferings, while here once did share. But, through the mysterious providence of God, I am removed from that pagan land, where, having planted my feet, I hoped to have finished my days, and laid my bones. "A man's heart deviseth his way, but the Lord directeth his steps." If enterprises are to be estimated by their consequences, to say that yours is great and important, is saying comparatively lit- || tle. However insignificant, or contemptible, your object may appear to the wise men of the world, I do not hesitate to say, that, in magnitude, it infinitely transcends our conceptions. High and glorious as the kingdom of God-infinite in duration as the ages of eternity;-who can compute or conceive the magnitude and importance of that work, the object of which is to rescue heathen souls from the despotism of Satan, and introduce them to the liberty of the sons of God! on earth. In this supremely important enterprise, now before you, you ought not to expect an uninterrupted series of prosperity. Though your king is the Almighty God, your captain Emmanuel, and your object the glory of Jehovah, you anticipate trials, hardships and discouragements. And when you experience these, you will not feel as though some strange thing had befallen you. The history of prophets, apostles and martyrs, as well as the experience of modern missionaries, lead you to anticipate many sighs, and tears, and painful anxieties, when laboring among the heathen. But, my Brethren, here suffer me to o say, that my own experience, and (so far as I know) the experience of my brethren in India, testify, that those trials, in the missionary life, are the heaviest, which were the least anticipated. The missionary among the heathen is In great enterprises, men usually anti-placed in circumstances and relations not only new, but in many respects peculiar. At the commencement of domestic life, he submits to a system of polity, which, at once, annihilates personal interest, only as it exists in the public good. There are probably but few situations in life, in which the selfish propensities of the human heart find so little room for their wonted operation, as in being subjected to those principles of domestic economy, which, at present, seem indispensable to missionary establishments. In these new and untried circumstances, when individual opinion and personal interest must yield to the voice of the missionary community, it is easy to see, that no other than Christian principles can ensure quietude and happiness. Though private opinion and feeling may for a time be repressed, or even sacrificed, in any given case, yet if Christian feeling, if brotherly affection, be not in lively exercise, selfishness may break out, and assume a thousand eccentric forms, to the destruction alike of personal happiness and Christian fellowship. In circumstances so peculiar and trying, to maintain the Christian spirit, is of the last importance. We are probably in much greater danger of being depressed and overcome by unexpected trials, than by those which were anticipated. But though we cannot foresee all the trials of our faith and patience, yet by uniformly cultivating the spirit of Christ, we may obtain grace sufficient to sustain us in the deepest waters of adversity, and in the fire of temptation. It is a very general sentiment among pious people in this country, that the circumstances, in which missionaries are placed, are peculiarly calculated to wean them from the world, and to induce in them an eminent degree of piety towards unfavorable tendency. Not that you will be deprived of Christian Sabbaths, and seasons of Christian communion; but they will be confined to your own circle. All without will be chilling as the hand of death-no devout multitude assembling for the worship of Jehovah to stimulate your Sabbath devotions, and to impart an impulse to your pious affections. Here, for a moment, let me anticipate your feelings, when you arrive at the place of your destination. You find yourselves surrounded by multitudes of degraded heathen. Beholding their ignorance, superstition and depravity, your very souls are moved with compassion for them.Viewing their wretchedness, you will be irresistibly impelled to draw the contrast between your situation and theirs. Your hearts glow with gratitude to God for his sovereign grace manifested to you, while so many thousands are left in darkness and death. Every exhibition of paganism increases this feeling-every step you take on heathen ground, enhances, in your estimation, the unspeakable value of the Gospel. The experience of a few days may lead to the conclusion, that your compassion for them can never diminish; nor your zeal for the honor of God ever grow cold, in view of such superstition and depravity. But is it not possible, that much of this feeling may arise from those common principles of association, and of education, which have no necessary connexion with pious sensibility;-and that after a short time, when the novelty of the scene is past, the keenness of your moral perceptions will be blunted? At length you may behold, with but little emotion, exhibitions of depravity and misery, which, at first, were overwhelming. You may be compelled to submit to a course of mental God: and it is not improbable, that mis-discipline-to employ a kind of sacred sionaries themselves, in some instances, may have gone out with the expectation, that by sacrificing many social and relig ious privileges, they should receive more ample supplies of spiritual comfort. It is beyond a doubt, that sacrifices made for the glory of God, will be rewarded with the divine approbation-"As thy day is, so shall thy strength be," is a most cheering word of promise. But, brethren, take heed that you do not anticipate too much from your sacrifices and self-denials. If the regular, constituted means of spiritual instruction have a tendency to invigorate the graces of Christians, then the absence of these privileges has a tendency to produce the contrary effects. If a well organized, religious society is favorable to the growing piety and spiritual enjoyment of individuals, then a licentious ungodly society has an logic with yourselves, before your feelings are enkindled. Brethren, say not this to discourage you. May you never experience this diminution of Christian sensibility. But if you do experience it-if you do find your compassion for the heathen around you becoming feeble-if you find your hearts unmoved, and your zeal for God unawakened amidst the abominations of paganism, then will your spirits sink, under the trials of the missionary life. The absence of friends, the loss of country-all the privations of a temporal nature, that can be assembled in the imagination, will be light as vanity, when compared with this spiritual lethargy. I do from my soul pity that man, who, having embarked his all in the missionary cause, finds too late that he is destitute of that pious sensibility, that love for the souls of the heathen, which are inseparably connected with his own happiness, as well as usefulness, in the sacred work. Unhappy man! He has separated himself from the ordinary sources of worldly enjoyment. He is sent forth and maintained by the sacred Fiberality of the church-a treasure conseerated by the prayers and watered by the tears of piety and love. He has taken upon himself the vows of the Christian missionary! To be active, faithful and persevering, even unto death, he has pledged himself to his fellow Christians, the church, and to God. Under these solemn responsibilities, conscious that he is destitute of the missionary spirit, how can he be otherwise than miserable! Brethren, may the Lord preserve you from the wretchedness of that man, who, having enlisted in this sacred enterprise, finds at length, that "he has no heart to it!" But this moral insensibility, which is so destructive of missionary happiness, does not necessarily result from a familiarity with scenes of wickedness. Paul had long been accustomed to paganism, in all its forms, when his spirit was stirred within him at Athens. His familiarity with the scenes of heathen superstition and wickedness, only enhanced his estimation of the Gospel, expanded his love for the salvation of the Gentiles, and enkindled his zeal for the glory of God. But to possess the enlarged benevolence, the expanding zeal, the missionary spirit of Paul and his associates, you must live as they lived. In no situation is eminent piety more necessary than in the missionary life, both as it respects your own happiness, and the success of your labors among the heathen. Being deprived of many of the external means of Christian edification and improvement, you must, in a qualified sense, depend upon your own resources. preacher must be your Bible; your closet, your sanctuary. Your When fatigued with the cares and labors of the day; when your hearts faint within you, in view of the ignorance, stupidity and wickedness of the heathen around you; when your most unwearied efforts to instruct them seem ineffectual, where can you find a more sweet relief, than to repair to your closets? To whom can you, with more pleasure or propriety unburden your souls, than to your Heavenly Father? Where can you leave these children of superstition and ignorance, but at the footstool of his mercy. The most useful missionaries have been men of prayer. When struggling with natural infirmities, and the hardships of his mission, Brainerd found sweet repose in his closet. There, too, he found those sure presages of that divine influence, which afterwards subdued the savage, and renovated the wilderness around him. The natural amiableness, the superior genius, the unwearied studies, the logical reasonings of Martyn, never would have induced the self-confident Sofis of Persia to call him, "The man of God," had he not acquired the savor of that character in his closet. Brethren, you have doubtless enjoyed much happiness in dedicating yourselves to God in this work of mercy; but have you not sometimes found it difficult to try your feelings by the work itself, detached from all that charm, which is thrown around it by the love of novelty and the applause of the Christian community? Have you not sometimes feared, that, when the novelty of the scene shall be past, and when on heathen ground you shall be assailed by the toils, the trials and the temptations connected with your undertaking, your strength will not be equal to your day? Lay hold on the promises of divine grace. Appropriate to yourselves the precious words of David, "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want:" "God is my refuge, I will not fear." O how refreshing are such cordials to the Christian missionary, when singlehanded he is called to encounter the "legions" of paganism! My dear Brethren, though in the preceding remarks, I have dwelt much on the trials and discouragements of your undertaking, it has not been with a design to depress your minds; but that you may be better prepared to meet and sustain, with Christian fortitude and meekness, the various evils you may be called to encounter. The work before you is not only important in its nature and glorious in its consequences; but it is a pleasant work, in which there is the purest satisfaction. In proof of this, we have the testimony of our beloved brethren, who are now laboring in various parts of the heathen world; nay more, the dying testimony of those, who have exhausted their lives, and laid their bones, among the heathen. Here suffer me to say, that no part of my life has passed more pleasantly, than the few years I spent in missionary labors among the pagans of India. No employment ever afforded me the satisfaction, I have experienced in preaching the Gospel to the heathen; and in leading their children to the knowledge of their God and Savior. No seasons of Christian communion-no hours of social prayer and converse, more sweet, than those enjoyed with my beloved colleagues in the missionary work! If, in the various dispensations of Providence towards me, I ever experienced af fiction, it was in being removed from that field of labor, in which I hoped to have spent my days. If seasons of separation |