should regret still more deeply, if any thing of this sort should be suffered to affect, to a large extent, the amount of our annual contributions for the promotion of this magnificent and holy cause. It is too true, that, as a nation, the rebuke of God is on us at this moment, in the derangement of our currency, and the unexampled pecuniary pressure, that has crushed thousands into bankruptcy and ruin. On the causes of this state of things, it were out of place here to enlarge, even were we competent; and the publication of Dr. Wayland's recent discourses upon this subject has happily rendered it unnecessary.* But the question, how is this state of things to affect the operations of our foreign missions, is one of great moment; and it has been forced upon our attention by facts just developed in relation to the American Board of Commissioners. From an official statement of the present financial condition and prospects of that noble institution, we beg leave to make an extract or two, which struck us as presenting, in a most forcible light, the relations existing between missionary boards and the community on whom they depend to sustain and carry forward their operations, in a season of commercial embarrassment like the present:

"The financial concerns of the Board, for five years preceding the last, were in a highly prosperous condition; and under the influence of encouragements received from every quarter, increased vigor was given to the missions, and the sphere of its labors was enlarged. But owing to an unavoidable increase of expenditures, together with the pecuniary pressure, which began to be felt in the mercantile community fifteen months ago, the disbursements of the year ending July 31, 1836, were greater, by about $39,000, than the receipts."

Then, after mentioning the methods adopted by the Board to awaken the attention of the Christian public to the case, the statement proceeds:

"The receipts of the Board indicate the increasing difficulty with which funds are obtained. In the Missionary Herald for January, $30,107 were acknowledged; in that for February, $19,436; in that for March, $24,124; in that for April, $17,578; in that for May, $19,234; and in that for June, $16,003. Many friends of the Board, who had intended to make liberal donations to its treasury, are, by the providential reverses experienced in their business, deprived of the ability to fulfil their generous intentions. The donations of others must be far less than they purposed. This is especially the

* See two discourses on "The Moral Law of Accumulation," by Francis Wayland.

case in our large towns and cities, where the pecuniary pressure is most severe; and unless the Board may rely on its friends in the interior, principally on the agricultural classes, for more general and enlarged contributions, the receipts, for months to come, must be expected to fall far below the estimate given above of the necessary expenditure (that is, from $23,000 to $25,000 a month).

In these circumstances, an inquiry of great moment arises, What course shall the Board pursue? Shall they send forth those missionaries and assistants that are ready to go? Shall the new fields, which Providence is opening, be occupied? Shall the missions already established be reinforced, and immediate advantage be taken of all the facilities which have been created for the more rapid diffusion of knowledge and Christianity? Or, must there then be a retrenchment in the expenditure of the Board? Are the friends of missions willing to look at the consequences of such a measure, and permit them to be realized? Think of the effect on the presses,— on the schools and pupils,-on the seminaries and the native assistants training in them, on the native teachers and catechists,-on the courage and hopes of the missionaries, and on the aspect of the missionary work. Curtailment, if carried to any considerable extent, must necessarily be a process of retrograding, an undoing of work already done, and which, if Christianity is ever to triumph, must be performed again. It must involve loss of time, loss of labor, loss of property, and a loss of the feeling of stability and progress. Is the Christian community strong enough, have they men and funds enough, and have they time enough, for performing their work at such disadvantage?

"But, supposing that immediate and great retrenchment were decided upon, are the community aware how long it would require to effect it? If the missions were located at our doors, or where the mail might carry communications to them in a few days, they might soon be reached by instructions from the committee, and their operations be modified according to the exigences of the times. But when it is remembered, that most of them are at distances from 6000 to 15,000 miles from the committee, and in parts of the world only occasionally visited by ships, and where communications are peculiarly liable to miscarriage or delay, the difficulty of making changes in them, accommodated to unexpected emergences in this country, is readily seen. Expenditures, therefore, must go on at the missions, and drafts on the treasurer must continue to arrive in the common course, for twelve or eighteen months after the committee shall have found retrenchment to be necessary, and shall have used all practicable measures to effect it."

A case like this, and the above full and frank exposition of it, appears to us worthy of more consideration than has heretofore been given to it by the Christian community. It is evidently one which is liable to befall other missionary institutions; indeed, all, whose operations are as extensive and progressive in their character as the claims of the heathen and the calls of Providence imperatively demand. It may be, that hitherto

the Board of the Baptist Convention have not felt such an embarrassment; and perhaps reasons for this may be assigned, drawn from the condition of the contributors, but few of whom are found among the wealthy commercial classes; but while their exemption, thus far, from whatever cause it may arise, is a matter for grateful and devout acknowledgment, yet the obvious liability of such an occurrence, at any future moment, certainly requires, that the extending operations of the Board, so full of hope and promise as they are, should be sustained by the prompt, the pious and growing liberality of the churches, most of whom delight to own themselves the devoted friends of missions. The danger should be steadily kept in sight, and by proper efforts avoided; for shall we dwell in our ceiled houses, to use the language of the prophet, and the house of the Lord lie waste? Amidst all the mutations of this world and of its kingdoms, let us remember, that we, through grace, belong to a kingdom that cannot be moved; and let the fluctuations of trade, the ebbs and flows of worldly prosperity, still find us steadfast and immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. It is a consolation, to reflect, that though disappointments attend us in every path and prospect of worldly interest, it is not so in promoting the interests of the kingdom of Christ. Whatever we do for him is never lost, is never done in vain. Not a cent that is devoted to the extension of his word, or the assistance of his servants, is given unmarked by his gracious eye. "Whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only, in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward." Matt. 10: 42.

May we not remark, that the times call especially upon Christians of the poorer classes to come forward universally to the work of the Lord? Now that the abundance of the rich is cut off from his treasury, now is the time that the offerings of the poor should be multiplied, that the widow's two mites possess not only the preciousness of principle, but the peculiar value of appropriateness, and the beauty of affectionate and universal combination. When the great reservoirs are dried up, we resort with eagerness to the little springs, and bless God for their unfailing and refreshing flow. Though each member of our churches seem but a drop in the ocean, let him remember, that the ocean itself is made up of drops. Let selfdenying charity be the order of the day, that the work of God

may go on, with unembarrassed means, and with increasing power and glory, among the perishing heathen. Let our prayers and our alms, at a time like this, go up with increasing ardor, as a memorial before God.

To promote this state of feeling and action among Christians, we call upon them, one and all, to read more on the subject of missions. We beseech them to form and to keep up an affectionate familiarity with the journals and letters of missionaries in every portion of the globe. Their object, their work, is one. A sublime unity reigns over all this great enterprise, though carried on at widely different points, by different denominations of Protestant Christians,-by the Moravians, by the English Baptists, by the London and the Church Missionary Societies, by the Wesleyan Missionary Society, by the Scottish Missionary Society, by the American Board of Commissioners, by the American Baptist Board, by the American Methodist Episcopal Society, by the Missionary Society of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States, and other societies of inferior importance; an ample account of all which will be found in the volumes at the head of this article. We have not space to enter into a particular analysis of the contents of this great record of missionary enterprise, nor to speak as critics of the style in which it is executed by the authors; and we rejoice, that this is the less necessary, because the work has been, in former editions, long enough before the public, to have secured for itself the unanimous suffrages of the most competent judges of all denominations, as to the primary qualities of completeness, authenticity and impartiality. We would observe, that to Mr. Choules the public are indebted for by far the greatest and most difficult part of this joint production; Mr. Smith's lamented death having prevented him from contributing any thing more than the history of the English missions down to the year 1822. The continuation of these missions, and the history of all the rest, is from the pen of Mr. Choules, who also has furnished the valuable matter embodied in the Introduction and the Conclusion.

We cannot more appropriately finish this article, than by an extract from his Preface, which, while it serves as a specimen of the spirit in which the work is written, suggests also the spirit in which it should be read:

"O, that the sacramental host of God's elect would make themselves acquainted and familiar with the revealed presages of Zion's

glory! O, that they would ponder the merciful purposes of God respecting the north and south, the east and west! O, that they would remember, that a Saviour's blood hath sealed the conquest of the multitude which man cannot number! Then they would feel, that, truly as there is a God in heaven, the kingdoms of this world are to become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ; and with an energy and rapture superior to that which once impelled all Europe against the followers of the false prophet, they would cry out, respecting the conversion of the world, 'It is the will of God! it is the will of God!'"—p. 8.

ARTICLE XIII.

THOUGHTS SUGGESTED BY THE TIMES.

ARCHBISHOP LEIGHTON, when apologizing for the character of his serinons, very piously remarked, that while so many of his brethren preached about the times, he might surely be allowed to preach on eternity. We can have no doubt, that eternity, with its momentous realities, is a theme which should often occupy the thoughts and pervade the discourses of our most eloquent preachers. It ought to command the profound attention of all human beings; for, compared with its sublime scenes, the fate of cities and the rise and fall of nations are but as the dust of the balance. And yet, by the circumstances of our earthly condition, we are so universally and deeply affected by the times, that we are of opinion, it best accords with an enlightened piety, to embrace in our contemplations, not only the things which are unseen and eternal, but those which are seen and temporal.

The times are God's book of providence, in which he teaches us, most impressively, the consequences of regarding or disregarding the laws of our personal and social existence. Next, therefore, to the pages of inspiration, this book of providence should be frequently and carefully examined; and we think, that the ministers of religion should consider it a part of their appropriate duty to interpret and enforce its salutary truths.

We all feel, that the present are extremely disastrous and afflictive times. An uncommonly numerous portion of our most active and enterprising citizens, who had amassed fortunes,