you contemplate me and mine as situated in that island which once hospitably entertained a shipwrecked Apostle surrounded by seas which he traversed, and nations to which he fully preached the Gospel of Christ call down a blessing upon us from on high, such as God himself will delight to give; not for our worthiness, but according to the unsearchable riches of His grace: by which He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power which worketh in us; and which shall remain with His Church, working, conquering, and ruling, even to the end of the world.

Rev. William SawyerUnder the peculiarly solemn circumstances in which I, at this moment, appear before you-having been dismissed to my labours in a foreign and distant land-much will not be expected from me. It may be sufficient to say, that a knowledge of the deplorable state of a world lying in darkness, idolatry, and superstition, feeding on ashes instead of the bread of life, and worshipping the creature instead of the Creator; when contrasted with the privileges which the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ has bestowed upon my own happy land-the infinite value of so many millions of immortal souls, passing into eternity in as quick succession as moments follow one another-added to the express command of our Lord, when about to leave the world which he had died to redeem, to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every crea ture-all combined to produce in my mind a case so strong in favour of the benighted Heathen, as to be irresistible. The more my mind was tempted to resist the evidence of Scripture and Fact, as to the miseries of the Gentile World, the weaker all its arguments appeared; and, after years of struggle between the flesh and the spirit, I was constrained to cry out, Here am I, Lord ! send me,

The difficulties of the work I feel to be many; and, not unfrequently, my weak faith would persuade me that they are too mighty to be overcome but I trust that I can feel, notwithstanding there are many enemies to be encountered in such a warfare, yet that the Captain of our Salvation is mightier. The work is, indeed, so mighty, that the words of Moses are often on my lips and in my heartExcept thy presence go with me, I cannot go but the answer may well strengthen faith--My presence SHALL go with thee, and I will give thee rest. The promises of God are sure to him who trusts and labours for Him: on these promises we would depend; and, on the strength of them, we would go forth-knowing that He, who has commanded, Go ye into all the world, declared also, Lo! I am with you alway!

We desire to commend ourselves to your prayers, that the work of the Lord may prosper; and that, at last, we may meet thousands and tens of thousands in heaven, who are now buried in the thick darkness of Paganism. I pray God that this Committee may ever feel His presence with them.

Rev. Jacob Maisch

(In his own name and that of Mr. Reichardt.)

It is impossible for us, at such a solemn season— - by which we are brought a step nearer to our Missionary Life, and to all the obligations of it, and stand at the brink of an entire separation from all those with whom we are united in love and in the bond of peace, and are about to enter into the darkness of Idolatryit is impossible to express our feelings as we wish to do.

With grateful hearts we look up, this day, to our God and Father, for having called us to labour as His servants among the Gentiles, and to preach to them an everlasting redemption. His mercy has, indeed, abounded toward us: since the time in which we began to seek for our own salvation, He has been our Shepherd,

We commend ourselves to your fervent prayers, that we may be stedfast, immoveable, and always abounding in the work of the Lord, until our Saviour shall call us to be with Him in that place, where trials and temptations and labours cease, and where we shall see Him face to face, and praise God and the Lamb for

ever.

MY DEAR AND REV. BRETHREN

THE Occasion, on which we are at this time assembled, is one of the most solemn and interesting ever presented to us, even in carrying on the great work of this Christian Society. Our ordinary meetings in this place seem necessarily to be connected with matters of a secular nature; and, however important in themselves, are, in many respects, very distinct from the Meeting of this Day. All secular business is now completely excluded: here is nothing to interfere with the highest principles nothing to check the flow of our best affections. In looking, possibly for the last time, upon those, who, for the sake of Christ and His Gospel, are leaving every thing that usually

entwines itself around the human heart-their parents, their friends, and their cheerful home; and are preparing to encounter the hardships and perils of a Christian Missionary, in various climates and in distant countries-we feel ourselves to be under the influence of no common sympathies. And when we further call to mind, what an occasion like this almost irresistibly suggests to us, the mighty interests which are connected with the labours of these Ministers of Christ; when we consider how much (to speak after the manner of men), must depend upon the prudence and piety and zeal with which their labours are conducted; and, especially, while carrying forward our view to the final result of their exertions, we ask, what accession will

be made, through their means, to that innumerable Company, to be gathered from all nations and kindreds and people and tongues, and what place they will themselves occupy in the resurrection of the just-there is something, in the association of these thoughts with our present solemnity, which must be deeply felt by every one among us. May the impression be as permanent, as it is salutary! and may it assist in leading us to the cultivation of that truly Christian Spirit; without which we can neither appreciate the excellence of our cause, nor conduct it in a manner becoming the Gospel of our Redeemer!

In commencing this Address to you, My Reverend and Beloved Brethren, by adverting to the solemnity of the occasion which now brings us together, I cannot but feel how great might be the benefit, both to you and to ourselves, if the duty, which, by the wish of the Committee, has devolved upon me, had been undertaken by some one of my Reverend Friends around me, who, from the maturity of his experience, from the weight of his name, the authority of age, and the station which he holds in the Church, is so much better qualified to discharge it. I will not, however, detain you with apologies; nor express much regret, that I have been rather unexpectedly called to this service. It is a considerable relief to my mind, that the records of this Society contain more than one Address, delivered under somewhat similar circumstances, by Individuals

R

eminently entitled to be heard with attention; and, perhaps, the best GENERAL advice which can be given you is this-that you should make yourselves familiar with those Addresses, by the frequent and serious perusal of them.

Indeed, with respect to you, my Reverend Brother, who have already laboured for several years in the character of a Missionary, and are now on the point of returning to your destination, it would be unnecessary, if I were competent to the task, to say much in the way of advice or direction. The information which we possess of the religious state of the several countries to which your attention will be drawn, is, in some of its most important particulars, derived from yourself; and the knowledge which you have already obtained, by personal observation and intercourse with the Natives, will serve as a far better guide for your future measures, than any suggestions which ean come from me. To expatiate on the interest excited in a Christian Heart, on visiting places immortalized by the sufferings of the first Apostles of the Faith of Christ, and hallowed by the footsteps of the Redeemer of the World, where almost every village and brook and mountain is associated with some Sacred Recollections, would be only to tell of impressions, which the view itself has fixed indelibly on your mind. You have felt, that, if it were possible for a Christion Minister to be, in those countries, unmoved by the condition of an ignorant and degraded people, the very stones would cry out.

Neither can it be necessary to dwell upon the IMPORTANCE of a Station, which gives access to a line of coast, equal to one-half of the circuit of the globe; and which may, not improbably, be a source of incalculable benefits to myriads of the human race. These points have been strongly

urged by yourself on the notice of the Society; and, if we have become more than formerly awake to the claims which those countries have upon us, if we are more desirous to diffuse among them the blessings of the Gospel and find ourselves more encouraged to prosecute the work, we would not forget how much, by the Divine Blessing, you have contributed to increase this spirit, and to enlarge these prospects. For any good that has hitherto been effected, and for any hope that we may now venture to indulge, we concur with you in expressing our humble acknowledgments to HIM, who is "the author and giver of all good things."

Instead, then, of dwelling upon these and similar subjects, I would speak to you chiefly in the language of congratulation and encouragement. How different, at this day, are the circumstances under which you depart for your destination, from those which existed when you first went forth in the Missionary Cause! And how much has Divine Providence seemed to smile upon the attempt! When you entered the Mediterranean in 1815, it appeared as if scarcely a commencement had been made in any department of your labours. New Languages were to be acquired, new Translations of the Scriptures to be provided, new channels for circulating them to be created, and a system of connection with different countries was to be formed, without which the good work could scarcely be considered as begun. With what encouragement can you now return to the scene of your duty!-a scene no longer unvisited and unknown, but, in a great measure, explored by yourself and familiar to your recollections, You are now conversant with the principal languages of these extensive coasts-you can turn to some important Stations, where Societies have been established for the circulation of the Holy Scriptures-you are ac quainted, to a considerable extent,

with the manners and habits of the people-and, by the intercourse which you have established with many welldisposed individuals, you know whether to direct your steps with the assurance of friendship and support. With regard, particularly, to the Word of God-that incalculable Instrument for the diffusion of Christian Knowledge-how much more hopeful is the prospect at this day, than at the period of your former departure! When I look at the Translations already in our possession (and some of them, we record it with gratitude, through your exertions) or at present in progress; and observe through what a wide extent of country and among what multitudes of people, the Modern Greek, the Maltese, and Amharic Versions of the Scriptures, or parts of them, now for the first time issuing from the press, will proclaim the Gospel of the grace of God-when I further look at the opportunities which present themselves for distributing the Sacred Records-I cannot but be struck, although conscious of the vast difficulties that still remain, with the comparative advantages which you now enjoy, and admire the change which a few years have so happily produced.

The encouragement, which these facts are calculated to afford, is not a little augmented, by the symptoms of improvement reported to be visible in some countries bordering on the Mediterranean, and by the readiness of many persons to receive the Word of God. If it be true, as we are told, that the revival of pure religion is already begun among the Eastern Churches; that, in this case as in others, at the same moment when increased means are discovered for circulating the Holy Scriptures, there is a correspondent and increasing desire to possess them; that Syrians, and Greeks, and Abyssinians, are beginning to take an interest in religious truth, which has for many ages been dormant-then is there

sufficient to justify the belief, that God is prospering the work of our hands upon us, and to warrant the hope that it shall not fail for generations to come.

These prospects, indeed, we are painfully compelled to acknowledge, have been greatly clouded, by the calamities which have burst upon a Church very intimately connected, as it should seem, with the extension of Christianity in that quarter of the Globe. After ages of oppression, that Church still continued to exist; and recent circumstances had led us to hope, that the period of her restoration was not very remote. But, how awful has been the reverse! How mysterious the Providence, which has suffered her venerable Patriarch, the zealous friend to the circulation of the Holy Scriptures and apparently her chief earthly hope, to perish, with many of his Brethren, by a violent and ignominous death! In common with yourself, we feel most deeply the loss of that valuable Man; and look, with strong interest, at the persecuted and desolate Church of which he was lately so bright an ornament. But has all hope perished with the lamented Gregory?-Did the blood of the Martyrs extinguish the light of Christianity?-Was it from a state of order and harmony, that the earth and the heavens and all the host of them sprang into existence? If we look, beyond these commotions, to that Being, who rides on the whirlwind and governs the storm, we know that one word from Him can bid even this part of His Universal Church to arise and shine and cause His glory to be seen upon her. What may be the Counsels of His will, we presume not to conjecture; but it is possible, that, from the very events which we deplore, future ages may date the restoration of that afflicted Church, and a great extension of pure religion. This sentiment I borrow from yourself; and I repeat it, in the persuasion, that, with such a view of the ways of Provi