fected this, and it has been done by the very means which they despise: that which they presumptuously called "the foolishness of preaching," has proved the power of God. The scorn and derision turn upon their own heads; for "the foolishness of God is wiser than man; and the weakness of God is stronger than man."

be summoned to return to the mercy and | shrine, any more than change the heart of the sceptre of its lawful sovereign. Tell the worshipper. But Christianity has efthem that you are not the troublers of nations; but that their contentions and wrongs arise from the lusts which they cherish, and which you are anxious to remove. Tell them that which may silence their apprehensions as to the issue. It is only to look at the world as it is; worse it cannot be made; better it may be. But who can look at the world as it is, lying in wickedness, and broken with sorrow, without a relenting heart and a melting eye? without looking up to the Father of the family of man, and praying, "Thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is heaven," and without calling into exercise all the exertions which the expressed desire demands?

They tell you that your resources are inadequate; the means which you possess are not proportionate to the end which you contemplate. Reply to them, that you do not proceed upon human calculations; that this departure from the ordinary rule arises not from fanaticism, but because the rule does not apply to an ordinary subject; the cause is not your own, and the success is not your own; that you use the means prescribed by him whose interests you labour to advance, and that you cheerfully leave the result with him. Show them that by these despised and confessedly disproportionate means the triumphs of Christianity have been hitherto secured; and that what has been effected is a sufficient guarantee for whatever remains to be done. Your external means are, indeed, limited; but your hidden resources are eternal and inexhaustible.

They assert that our designs are sinister, our own efforts injurious. We have heaven and earth to refute the falsehood. Heaven, in the sanction which it has given to the efforts-earth in the benefit which it has received from them. To so foul a calumny it would be a degradation to make any other answer than to appeal to the principles which we inculcate, and to point to the effects which they produce. They require no defence-they speak for themselves.

When, having exhausted all other objections, they conclude that the thing is impossible, there are two clear answers to such an assumption. It is presumptuous, as it regards the Being whose work it is. It is, indeed, impossible with man; and their own vain labours sufficiently establish it—but not with God; "for with God all things are possible." It is irrational; for Reason replies, that what has been done, may be done again; and the history of the church in all ages, the state of our own country, nay, our own hopes and principles, establish the possibility of that moral change which Christianity effects upon human nature, and the certainty of its success. Such are the objections which the opponents of revelation usually bring against missionary objects and efforts, and you perceive of how small weight they are when laid in the balance of truth.

They say that yours is the wild dream and the contemptible effort of fanaticism. Before they venture to pronounce upon your pretensions, they ought to blush for the practical defeat of their own in every age. Point them to the desolated temples of superstition and cruelty; to the forsaken altars, where human blood flowed; to the abolished and infamous rites of heathen worship, and tell them, that while philosophy denounced these, it could not remove them; it could not stay the effusion of in- All the obligations generally stated, are nocent blood, nor cleanse the polluted | peculiarly pressed upon you. When the

III. And lastly, I detain you a few moments longer to press upon your attention the peculiar obligations devolving upon the rising generation, and their incalculable importance to missionary success. The application of these obvious principles must be left to yourselves.

prophetic eye of the psalmist beheld the expiring Saviour upon the cross, distinguished the manner of his death, and its cruel circumstances, saw the soldiers dividing his garments and casting lots for his vesture, heard the insulting taunts of the priests and of the multitude, and even his own dying complaint of desertion, he anticipated also the glorious results of this sacrifice, and the universal empire which should arise out of it. Then his eyes were turned upon the importance of the rising generation in connexion with the extension of his cause. As to the result, he said, “All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord; and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee: for the kingdom is the Lord's, and he is the governor among the nations." As to the means, and the especial influence of the young, he added, “A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation. They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this."

your early consecration to the cause of religion. You are now in the spring of your age, in the flower of your beauty; devote yourselves to that Saviour, for it is he who calls; who clothed you with grace, and girded you with strength; who gave symmetry to the frame, and intelligence to the understanding; his hand fashioned you, his Spirit inspires you; he died to raise the body which must soon decay to immortality; to renovate the faculties of the spirit which will become incumbered by the infirmities of its frail tabernacle, in a state fitted to their grandeur; to redeem the soul from destruction, and to give expansion to all its intellectual grasp in eternity. Come, and dedicate the firstfruits of your existence to him, who will ripen it into everlasting glory.

The voice of nature sanctions the demands of religion. Your fathers are passing away-the sacred phalanx that once stood so firm is broken-the ranks that occupied the front of the battle are thinned— the fragment of a clay remains alone to the veterans who yet keep the field. They called upon you to fill the vacant spaces; upon you, noble youths, to be baptized for the dead; upon you to receive the colours of the cross from their dying hand; upon you to stand last amidst the shock of battle, while the trumpet that blows an onset for you, sounds the signal of retreat for them. Buckle on your armour, and take courage by their example, who die with their harness on, and when they fall, write, "I have conquered," upon their shield. It was thus that Paul the aged encouraged the youthful Timothy"Watch thou in all things, endure afflic tion, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry. For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight; I have finished my course; I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day; and not to me only, but to all them also that love his appearing."

You possess advantages superior to those who preceded you. "Other men laboured, and ye have entered into their labours." So said Jesus when he pointed out to his disciples fields white unto the harvest, which patriarchs had ploughed, prophets sowed, and martyrs watered with their blood. "I sent you to reap that upon which ye bestowed no labour." This, my young friends, is your position; and this is your advantage. If the toil devolves upon you, so does the experience of those who went before you in this arduous enterprise. They sounded the alarm in the ears of a slumbering world: let the awakened nations now wait to receive your testimony. Besides which, when personal labours abroad cannot be rendered, your prosperity, your talents, your influence at home, may all be beneficially employed. The harvest of the world is ripe; the ingathering belongs to you, and to those who shall follow you. The present generation has sown in tears, although not altogether so; the future generation shall reap with unmingled The hopes of the world are fixed upon joy. you; and the cries of hundreds of millions There is peculiar beauty and fitness in of immortal spirits poured in upon your

ear. These hopes are cherished, and these cometh." You are about to occupy the cries are raised, with a confidence corres- place of your fathers, and your children ponding with the promise of your years. will hereafter occupy yours. Do the Age may be dull, and grow indolent; but | ravages of death appal you? It is true, youth is active, and cannot excuse itself ministers and missionaries are not im from employment. Avarice is cruel, and is sometimes thought to be the vice of age; but youth is generous, and for you to be covetous would be unnatural; to be parsimonious in such a cause would be criminal. Spare nothing; time, property, talent, influence, labour, prayer; bring all, and lay it upon the altar which "sanctifieth both the gift and the giver;" and before which eventually "every knee shall bow."

mortal, but their cause is: its friends are like the foam of the billows which the tempests scatter; but it resembles the eternal flow of the ocean, rolling its fulness upon the most distant shores.

O ye heroic spirits, who have met death in all its forms; by fire or the wave, by famine or the sword, by climate or oppression, from the beginning of the creation to this hour,-who have stood firm amidst all danger, undismayed by persecution, unterrified by your adver

You must succeed. It is possible that discouragements will arise; it is certain saries,-spirits of martyred missionathat difficulties must be encountered; it ries, who in all ages have suffered for is probable that disappointments may be the truth as it is in Jesus; from rightfelt. Fear none of these things; you eous Abel down to blameless Smith; if may be compelled to retreat; you can ye could attend our call, we would never be conquered. If the magnanimity summon you here to tell those young of a senate could thank a vanquished champions for the cause for which you general because he did not despair of his expired, from what fountains ye drew country-what cowardice is ours, fight- your resources, and what rewards now ing under the banner of a captain always recompense your labours. But it canvictorious, if we should faint, because the not be; you rest from your toils, and battle waxes hot, or the advantage seems even the cause of religion must not to balance for a moment between the con- interrupt your repose. To thee, then, tending hosts, or the campaign is pro- holy and eternal Spirit, by whom these longed beyond our expectations. To the were what they were, we appeal; thou timid pilot who was afraid to launch into art ever present; may a double porthe deep at the bidding of Cæsar, when a tion of those influences by which thou frightful tempest raged-"Fear nothing," didst honour them, rest upon those young said the hero," you carry Cæsar and his and ardent minds, devoted in their refortunes." And you who are embarked spective stations, and in their day, to in the missionary cause, carry in your the same service, and upon the genevessel, not Jesus and his fortunes, for rations that shall follow them, until all with him nothing is contingent; but shall be consummated; until the SaJesus and his interests, interests so dear viour shall appear the second time, withto him that he died to secure them; and out a sin-offering, unto salvation; and he who sails with you can rebuke the when he shall rise from his throne of tempest, and instantly there shall be a judgment, the shouts of the myriads of great calm. Does the lapse of time ef- the redeemed shall overpower the thunfect you? It is true, "one generation ders which destroy the material universe. passeth away, and another generation | Amen.

THE PULPIT GALLERY,

NO. XIII.

THE REV. WM. BENGO COLLYER, D. D.

"I venerate the man whose heart is warm,

ably elegant and polished, and there is a rich vein of evangelical piety running through all his works.

As a preacher, he is admired for the varied excellencies of his discourses. They are equally removed from vulgar cant and high flown mysticism.-His voice is soft and melodious, and his action re

Whose hands are pure, whose doctrine and markably elegant. The tender and pathe

whose life

Coincident, exhibit lucid proof

That he is honest in the sacred cause."

COWPER.

tic are his forte.

With a mind stored with classical learning, and a good memory, perfect self-possession, and a knowledge of Scripture language, he illustrates his subjects with such an easiness of manner as to awaken curiosity and secure attention: neither art nor labour is visible in his pulpit exercises. Like Jeremy Taylor, he does not confine himself to a dry exposition of a text, but ranges over all nature and art for new and striking images, and this is done without affectation, so that the poorest and most illiterate can understand him, and the learned cannot be offended.

THERE are few men who have obtained a greater degree of celebrity, or who have exercised a more powerful influence upon others, than the Reverend Doctor Collyer. His name has always been able to attract a numerous congregation, and for a long series of years his labours have been deservedly honoured by the Christian world. He is one of the few who have been able to withstand the seductions of popular applause, and to keep on the even tenor of his way, notwithstanding the flattery of friends. And few have been so much exposed to the temptation of vanity. Praised alike by the learned and ignorant, by wealth and fashion, by royal-His eloquence is like that of the school and noble friends, it is a sure proof of his genuine piety, that amidst such libations he has continued humble.

With all sects of true Christians, the doctor appears to be on terms of cordiality and friendship.-The bishops and clergy of the Established Church, his own and other denominations, equally venerate his character, and applaud his published labours. The list of subscribers to his lectures proves his acquaintance with the religious, political, and literary world; and names are found there which it is honourable to mention. This at least shows that his merit is sterling, that his piety is sincere, and that his works are valued.

Occasionally, he ascends to the dignity of argument and expostulation, and his language then becomes bold and animated, and his manner ardent and impassioned.

which immediately succeeded the orations of Cicero,-correct, polished, elegant,— where, if there was little to offend the taste, there was still less to call for the vehement emotions of mighty passions, struggling to imbody in action the various duties which the orator enforced upon the people. Yet this may be imputed more to the taste of the age than to the fault of the preacher.

The theology of the Doctor is drawn from the Bible; and to that sacred source he on all occasions appeals for the truth of his statements. He does not, however, despise the aid of learned men, but, where their sentiments are in unison with truth, he readily adopts them. This As an author, although he cannot claim gives greater variety to his preaching. the palm of originality, yet his researches He is most at home when dwelling upon -his various learning-his accumulation the consolations of religion; here, indeed, of interesting facts-his presenting old his talents shine forth, and the poor and and familiar truths in a new and striking wounded in spirit are refreshed under his manner, entitle him to rank high as a ministrations. When detailing the love theological writer. His style is remark- of our Saviour, when he exhibits his suf

The Doctor's life has been one of devotion to the cause of God and man: his great popularity as a public teacher has always kept in full exercise his pulpit talents, and the press bears testimony to his unwearied exertions to promote true religion. Besides his seven volumes of lectures, which contain many new and ingenious arguments in support of Christianity-a vast storehouse of curious and interesting facts-he has published a great many single sermons, and other useful works, all tending to increase and multiply the disciples of Jesus.

ferings and death to accomplish our sal-eclipsing all light in its surpassing ravation, he triumphs over the coldness of diance. So it grew as the mustard scepticism and unbelief, and warms the seed, which indeed is the smallest of heart with pious emotion. all seeds;' but when its maturity shall have come, not the birds of the air,' but all nations of the earth shall find repose under its shadow. So it rose as the fountain rises,—a spring of living water gushing forth; but now it is a river, the streams whereof make glad the city of our God;' and in the fulness of time, its healing waters shall flow over all the kingdoms of the world. Its voice is more powerful than the thunder, to which science can easily point out the bounds assigned; and it is softer than the gale of the summer's evening: it would The following is a specimen of his seem as though the universe were constyle, from the last volume of his Lec-structed to convey its sound into all tures: he is speaking of the progress of lands: it was whispered in the east, the gospel. "The beginnings were mi- and rolled round to the west-it is reraculous, but the close shall be inconceiv-peated in the west, and rolls back to able. Who, that had seen the little band the east. It is gentle as the spring of brothers issuing from their upper cham-shower, and as fructifying the wilderber, in all the simplicity of their charac-ness and the solitary place is glad because ter, unarmed, unpatronized, could have of it, and the desert rejoices and blossoms imagined that the throne of the Cæsars as the rose.'—It is all-embracing, vivifyshould feel their power, and veil its glory ing, enlightening, supplying, controlling, before them; and that the stupendous as the sun; but the sun has his period, structure of paganism, reared by philoso- and shall sleep in the clouds forgetful phy, cemented by habit, and upon which of the voice of the morning.' But, we restate policy had built its power and au- peat, what shall the end be? It is allthority, should vanish like a morning glorious and eternal as the heaven to cloud as they advanced? Yet so it was, which it leads-where there is no night so went forth the word of salvation, as the-for the Lord God and the Lamb are day breaks-its first beam distinguishing the light of it;' where the nations of itself, by its purity, from the lamp of the redeemed shall walk;' and they reason and the torch of philosophy; but shall reign with the Redeemer for ever wherever it poured its meridian splendour, and ever. Amen."

VOL. I.-51

2L2