ordinary life, a wish to see the wonders of other countries, and a hope of returning to tell the wonders they have seen. Was it merely a principle of feeling? Some have been touched with the deplorable representations which are given of the condition of the heathen; they have been delighted with the cheering pictures which are often drawn of the prospects of Christian missionaries; and they are animated with desire to engage in a work which presents such pleasing and such cheering scenes. Such are some of the ingredients which appear to constitute the motives of some who offer themselves as missionaries; in the same individual several of these may operate, varied in their proportions, according to his character and circumstances. Let us entreat you to exercise a careful scrutiny of your own heart, and see whether these, or similar unhallowed considerations are what chiefly influence you in offering yourself as a missionary. But, perhaps, you feel that you are actuated by motives of a higher order. What, then, are the considerations which influence you? Are you animated by concern for the glory of God? Does it grieve your soul to think that the Creator and the Governor of all things should be unknown in that world which his own hands have made; that the grossest and most distorted representations should be given of the perfections of his nature, and that idols of the basest descriptions should usurp that honour and worship which are due to him alone? Are you influenced by the love of Christ? Does the grace of the Redeemer constrain you thus to judge, that if he came from heaven to earth, and assumed the human nature into union with the divine, and suffered, and bled, and died, for your salvation, "you should not henceforth live unto yourself, but to him who died for you; that you are no longer your own, that you are bought with a price, that therefore you should glorify him with your body and with your spirit which are his ;" that you should consecrate yourself, all that you are, and all that you have, to his service? Are you moved with compassion for immortal souls? Does it melt your heart to consider the temporal miseries of the heathen world, consisting of so many millions of your fellow creatures, but especially to think that they are exposed to the wrath, the everlasting wrath of God Almighty? Does this kindle in your soul an ardent desire to carry to them the glad tidings of salvation; to rescue them from devouring fire, from everlasting burnings, and to raise them to glory, honour, and immortality in heaven? Such are the ruling motives which ought to influence the Christian missionary; and unless these are the animating principles of your life, you may rest assured you are not called of God to engage in this interesting work.

Lastly, Consider the ENCOURAGEMENTS to the work. By the various statements which we have submitted to your considera

tion, we have no design to discourage you, but only to try you. We wish you to consider the importance of the work; to weigh its difficulties; and especially to institute a solemn investigation of your qualifications and your motives. You may, perhaps, think that the picture we have exhibited is drawn from imagination; that persons possessed of such high endowments are not to be found, and that the work of a missionary need not, therefore, be viewed in that serious light in which we have represented it. But that we are warranted in drawing strong representations on this subject, is evident from the declaration of the apostle Paul, who, notwithstanding his eminent qualifications for the work, was so overwhelmed with a sense of its solemnity, that he exclaimed, "Who is sufficient for these things?" We cannot, indeed, expect any individual to possess, in a pre-eminent degree, the whole of the qualifications which are desirable in a Christian missionary; but yet unless a man possess them in a certain proportion, and that not a small one, he is more likely to prove injurious than useful to the cause of Christ among the heathen. But though the question of the apostle implies the general truth of such representations as we have given, the Christian missionary has ample encouragement in the promise of our blessed Redeemer: "Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." While the apostle Paul acknowledges his unfitness for the work, he draws consolation from this consideration "We are not sufficient of ourselves," says he, "to think any thing as of ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God, who hath also made us able ministers of the new testament." On one occasion, indeed, he received a special promise of assistance and support in his work, and we may consider the same promise as addressed to every faithful missionary: "My grace is sufficient for thee; for my strength is made perfect in weakness."

Besides having a promise of assistance in his work, the Christian missionary may cheer his heart with a prospect of success. He has no pledge, indeed, that his individual exertions will be successful; but he may labour, and live, and die in the faith, that the cause in which he is engaged will ultimately triumph over all opposition. Nothing can be more animating than the representations by the sacred writers of the future extent and prosperity of the Redeemer's kingdom. "It shall come to pass in the last days," says the evangelical prophet, "that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established on the tops of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow unto it; they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." wilderness and the solitary place," says the same inspired writer;

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"shall be glad for them, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice, even with "He shall have dominion," says the Psalmjoy and singing. ist, "also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth. They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him, and his enemies shall lick the dust. His name shall endure for ever, his name shall be continued as long as the sun, and men shall be blessed in him; all nations shall call him blessed." Finally, The faithful missionary has the promise of a glorious reward. Though he must be indebted for salvation solely to the merits of Christ, to the entire exclusion of the works of the law, yet those who have been distinguished in the present world by their labours, and sufferings, and success, in the cause of the Redeemer, will enjoy higher degrees of glory in the heavenly world, and will have sources of happiness peculiar to themselves. "There is no man," says our Lord, "that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God's sake, who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting." "They that be wise," says Daniel, "shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars for ever and ever." And the apostle Paul, in speaking of the converts by his ministry, styles them his hope, his crown, and his glory.

We conclude by earnestly entreating you to make your present proposal the subject of much serious consideration. A resolution of so much importance, and which involves in it such momentous consequences, ought not to be hastily taken; and if it is but lately that you have formed the desire to engage in this work, it is peculiarly desirable that you should take some time for further deliberation before you finally decide. Let us also recommend to you the reading of such books as may be useful in assisting you to come to a proper determination on the subject, and especially that you will make it matter of earnest prayer for direction from Him who alone can guide you in the path of duty.

Signed in the name of the directors.-Wesleyan Meth. Mag.

LETTER ON PERSONAL AND FAMILY RELIGION,

BY THE REV. THOMAS HARMER,

Author of " Observations on various passages of Scripture."

To Mr. R. A.

Wattesfield, October 16th, 1778.

MY DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS,-For I intend this letter for all four, though the name of the eldest brother alone appears distinctly pointed out in the superscription of it. As the connexion

between me and you, as your minister, seems now to be broken; as you are now entering into the world, and forming a distinct family, though somewhat incompletely; and as I have never had a fair opportunity, through a concurrence of different causes, of a more close conversation about religious matters with any of you, excepting one, (if that may be called an exception,) I would now set myself to write to you, and to say what appears right for me to mention on this occasion.

In the first place, attend each one of you with great seriousness, with great solemnity, to the affairs of your never dying souls. Think of them when transacting the common matters of life, and set yourselves more distinctly to do it in devout retirement. How important is closet religion! Do you all practise it? I would hope you do; I am sure you ought. **** Diligence is mentioned by Solomon, and justly celebrated by him, with reference to the things of this world; but, says the great Teacher of all, "labour not for the meat which perish eth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you." (John vi, 27.) That is, to interpret the words in a consistence with Solomon, and indeed with other passages of the New Testament itself, labour not so earnestly, with such vehement concern of soul, for the meat that perisheth, the things of this world, as for everlasting life.

I have been lately repeating in your ears from the pulpit, the great things to which a soul must be brought in order to arrive at sacred peace, and a being brought under the reviving, consolatory, joyful declarations of forgiveness, and of future blessedness. Are you convinced, deeply convinced of sin? We all readily acknowledge we are sinners, but have you felt that bitter, afflictive sense of sin, that makes a Saviour's name precious, and gives the soul an affecting sense of the riches of pardoning mercy? Have you implored forgiveness through the blood of Jesus? "Without shedding of blood," one sacred writer says, "there is no remission;" and the epistle to the Romans speaks of faith in the blood of Jesus, when it speaks of our being to be justified by faith. (Rom. iii.) Are you not only made dead to sin, but "alive to God, through Jesus Christ our Lord?" (Rom. vi, 11.) We must not only cease to do evil, we must learn to do well; live to the honour of God, and serve our generation according to the divine will in promoting religion among our fellow mortals, and busying ourselves in comforting the afflicted, relieving the oppressed, giving alms to the poor, and, in the language of the apostle, diligently following every good work. O the blessedness of a truly religious life! A life of consecration to God! Sweet inward peace of mind attends it; the love of good men, and the veneration even of many of the bad; and the sure preVOL. VIII,

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sages of being laid in the grave amidst the affectionate, respectful tears of survivors. But from personal religion let me go on,

Secondly, to family conduct. O that you might be a religious family, and begin with God! It was with great pleasure that I looked on a youth, near forty years ago, of a considerable family at Norwich, that being left an orphan, with two brothers and two sisters, (he the middlemost,) under the care of a very sensible good old lady, whom they venerated as a parent to the end of her life, who was so deeply, graciously affected with a sense of religious matters, that, young as he was, at fifteen or sixteen, would kneel along with the rest, and lead the worship of God in the family with all the seriousness and engagement of heart of one advanced in life. Let the reading of the scriptures be regularly performed in your newly constituted family. How graceful the reading the word of life there daily! And O! what an addition to the pleasure would it be to me, to hear that the eldest brother, or the two in turns, the one one day, the other the next, would recommend themselves and those around them, to the divine care and blessing every day. When you two, my dear young friends, attended some private meetings in the vestry, you expected, I have been told, to have been called out to prayer among others of the young; I then declined it, as thinking it might be rather overwhelming to you so early in life; but as you are since grown in years, and I would hope in knowledge and grace, let social prayer (praying with others I mean) be no longer delayed. How good and how pleasant would it be for brothers and sisters thus to dwell together in unity: it would be like the fragrant and precious oil poured on the head of Aaron, and like the It would tend to make your dews of the hot countries of the east. living together more pleasant to yourselves, and it might be useful to servants, especially when adorned with a becoming life and conversation in other respects. Let these exercises be daily; they need not be long; they ought not to be tiresome to any. But more especially thus employ the hours of a Lord's day, in which you are not engaged in public worship, or obliged to attend the avocations, which in a country life will more or less break in upon you. These may be very much diminished by prudence and foresight, but some things of a worldly nature are unavoidable. By care, however, you may redeem a considerable portion of time for private and for family religion; make use of it for such purposes; for recollecting what you hear preached, for reading, for meditation, for self-examination, for prayer. Guard against common visits on that day, they are extremely dissipating; and let your walks, if you indulge yourself so far, be solitary, and like what has commonly been supposed to have been the case with Isaac, "who at eventide went