him by the Holy Spirit, pardoned all his sins, adopted him into the family of God, and made him joint-heir with himself to the heavenly inheritance. In this way an obligation was created to the Savior, which the convert felt and acknowledged. Hence the inquiry-"Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" In reply, he was told to go to the Gentiles, and publish to them the gospel of salvation. From that hour he understood how and where to fulfil his obligation. Christ had transferred his claim to the heathen, and thus made Paul their debtor. Accordingly, he regarded them as his creditors, and his labors and sacrifices show that he endeavored faithfully to meet the demand.

What, then, was there peculiar in his relation to the heathen? Was he their debtor in any sense in which you, Christian reader, are not a debtor? Has not Christ redeemed you by his blood, renewed you by his Spirit, pardoned you as an act of free favor, and given you all the privileges and hopes of a believer? Are you not as much bound to love and serve Christ, as was the apostle Paul? Has not the Savior required you to fulfil your obligation to him, by efforts for the salvation of the heathen? Paul was instructed to pay the debt in a certain way. The way in which you are to do it may be different; but the end is precisely the same.

If I owe you for service rendered, or favor bestowed, I am your debtor. You have a right to say whether I shall discharge the obligation directly to yourself, or to some other to your order. You make your will, and direct that I shall pay the debt to the poor of the county in which you live and die. Thus the poor become, by your bounty, my creditors. My obligation is not changed by the transfer of your claim.

Much, my dear fellow-disciples, do we owe to the Redeemer of our souls. We have repeatedly and publicly acknowledged the obligation. We have promised to do his will, whatever it may be, and however indicated. He has left on earth a testamentary document, prescribing how we shall fulfil our obligation. He has made a donation of his claim to the world for which he bled and died; and now he says to us, "Preach the gospel to every creature. Inasmuch as ye do this, ye fulfil the conditions of your indebtedness to me."

CONCLUSIONS.

1. What we do for the salvation of the heathen, is not to be regarded as charity. We are their debtors. We cannot evade the obligation. Why, then, should we not conform our language and behavior to the fact? Is it charity to pay a debt? We owe it. Why treat it as if payment or non-payment were optional? Why regard this obligation as less binding than any other?

2. Let us be honest men, and pay our debt. We cannot plead want of ability, for it is required of a man only according to what he hath. What right have we to contract other obligations that will interfere with our duty to the heathen? What right have we to live in a style that shall disable us from paying a debt long since contracted?

3. A day of settlement is approaching. We must all appear before our original Creditor, and answer to the inquiry whether we have been honest debtors, and, according to our ability, discharged our obligations. The heathen will be there to testify to the measure of our fidelity, and we shall be held responsible for every deficiency in duty. How will stand the account of the present generation of Christians? Reader, are not you in arrears to the heathen?

S-w.

REQUISITES FOR THE CHURCH.

If eminent Christian devotedness constitute the great want of the church in its missionary relation, deep humility must be regarded as our first requisite, both on account of that essential deficiency, as well as to prepare us for greater improvement and success in the future. Had we "done all those things which are commanded" us, it would still have been our place to come into our Master's presence, saying, "We are unprofitable servants; we have done that which was our duty to do." Where, then, is the depth of abasement equal to the necessities of the case, now that we have almost entirely neglected that duty? And yet where are the tears of the church on account of that neglect? How much easier is it to find the signs of self-gratulation on account of the little which we have done, than of self-condemnation on account of the much we have left undone? Where are the broken-hearted confessions which should ensue on a thoughtful calculation of the souls which have probably perished, and the revenue of glory consequently lost to the name of God, through our want of fidelity to our trust? Where is the disposition which might be looked for, to ascertain our guilty omissions, and most crying wants, and to take them into the presence of God, and cast ourselves at his feet in order to our forgiveness and improvement? And yet, until these questions can be answered satisfactorily, we have no ground to expect the growing success we profess to desire. The law of the divine economy on this subject is, "He that humbleth himself shall be exalted, and he that exalteth himself shall be humbled." God will not trust those with success who are likely to appropriate the glory to themselves. One of the principles by which he regulates this part of his conduct is, to proportion the usefulness and prosperity of his people according as they are able to bear it.

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The next requisite for the church in its missionary capacity is, the due preciation of the spiritual nature of the work in which we are engaged. Let us remember that our proper work is unique; that our great aim is not the temporal, civil, or social improvement of mankind, but their spiritual recovery to God. But in order to this, we must sympathize with God. This is our only security. And yet how few comparatively do this! How much more frequently do we act from the lowest allowable, rather than from the highest possible, views of Christian duty! How content are we with mere occasional glimpses of the loftier order of Christian motives! as if it were quite sufficient to satisfy us if we can thus assure ourselves now and then of their existence. How seldom do we stand and gaze on our enterprise in the only light in which it is viewed from heaven; as having been revolved from eternity in the mind of God; as asking the universe for a theatre; involving the endless well-being of a race of immortals; requiring the Prince of Life for a sacrifice; and all spiritual natures, even the Infinite Spirit himself, as its only adequate agency; and the coming eternity for the full development of its issues! How little do we sympathize with God on that particular point on which, if on no other, the strongest bond of union might be supposed to exist-compassion for depraved, guilty, suffering souls! Who is there that makes the burden of a dying world his own? that goes about with "great heaviness and continual sorrow of heart," oppressed and borne down by the weight of its woes? Jesus wept over the guilt and obduracy of Jerusalem: who is there prepared to mingle their tears with his over the guilt and impending destruction of a thousand cities wholly given to idolatry? Enoch and Noah, Abraham and Moses, David, and Jeremiah, and Paul, evinced the tenderness and depth of their compassion for men by tears, entreaties, and unappeasable anguish of soul: who is there now that can say, "Rivers of waters run down mine eyes, because they keep not thy law"? Who now is heard exclaiming, “O that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people"? Who now asseverates, "I could wish myself accursed from Christ for my brethren"? And yet, until we approach this state of sympathy with God on the spiritual and lofty character of Christian missions, are we likely to be eminently devoted to their prosecution? Will not comparatively trifling acts of service too readily satisfy our feeble sense of

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duty? But what could appease the anxiety of him who was accustomed to stand in the counsels of God, and daily to look around on mankind from the moral elevation of the cross, or to view them in the light of the judgment fireswhat but his total consecration to the work of their rescue ?

A vivid and all-pervading apprehension of the missionary constitution of the Christian church, and of the corresponding obligations of each of its members, is also of the first importance. Until recently, the Christian church was well nigh as local and stationary as the Jewish. And is not the clear apprehension of its missionary design still confined to a small minority? Or, if felt by the many, felt only as a passing impulse, the result of an annual appeal, rather than as a personal obligation and a universal principle? Or, if felt as a claim, felt as one which may be easily devolved, and discharged by proxy ?

Now, the constitution of the Christian church supposes that every individual member is prepared to take his post as an agent for Christ. It does not allow the indolent to fold his arms, and transfer his duty to another. It does not permit the fashionable professor to wait till Christian labor becomes genteel. It does not permit the wealthy to buy off his personal services by the bribe of large donations. It requires both-his activity and his donations too. This doctrine of individual Christian obligation must be clearly understood, and generally felt. Until the Christian sees that it is not rhetorically but most strictly true, that he is not his own, he will be often acting as if his own will were his only law. Even when he sees theoretically that he is the property of God, unless he remember, at the same time, the subduing nature of that price by which he has been bought, he will often act from a stern sense of duty, instead of feeling constrained by the power of love, and will be tempted to reduce the amount of his service as much as he can, without refusing it entirely, instead of presenting himself a living sacrifice unto God. In addition to this, it is necessary that he should feel that he is redeemed for a specific end; an end which leaves no moment of his time unclaimed, and no property of his nature untaxed. Never, till every Christian feels himself as much ordained to diffuse the gospel as the minister is ordained to preach it; never, till every church regards itself as a society organized expressly for that diffusion, will its members be aware of its vast capabilities, in the hand of God, for blessing the world! What but this feeling in the hearts of a few has originated all the Christian instrumentality which at this moment is at work? And if a sense of responsibility for personal activity in only a few instances has led to so much, what might we not hope, under God, from the individual and united activity of the universal church?

And is not greater pecuniary liberality wanted? The great current of Christian property is as yet undiverted from its worldly channel. Many of the scanty rills of charity, which at present water the garden of the Lord, are brought and kept there only by great ingenuity and effort. Here and there an individual is to be found who economizes his resources that he may employ them for God; but the very admiration in which such a one is held in his circle implies that he stands there alone. In which of the sections of the Christian church shall we find a spirit of worldly self-indulgence to be only the exception, and a spirit of self-denying benevolence the rule? How small, it is to be feared, is the number of those who really and practically believe that "it is more blessed to give than to receive;" or who truly act on the principle, that they hold their property in trust for God! And hence is it not the fact that our very success in the cause of God is, in an important sense, found inconvenient and burdensome? Do we not, consequently, stand disqualified for extensive usefulness? Is not the great Head of the church himself placed under a moral restraint from employing and blessing us only in a very limited degree? A covetous, self-indulgent community! how can he consistently employ such to convert the world; especially, too, as that conversion includes a turning from selfishness? It is recorded, to the high honor of certain ancient believers, that "God was not ashamed to be called their God." So plainly did they "declare that they sought a better country, that is, a heavenly,” and so entirely did they live for his glory, that he could point the attention of the world to them with divine complacency; he could intrust his character in their hands; he could leave the world to infer what he was from what they were; he was content to be judged of by the conduct of his people. Could he leave his character to be inferred from the conduct of his people now? Is there any thing, for instance, in the manner and extent of their liberality, which would remind the world of his vast unbounded

benevolence? They know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, for our sakes he became poor, that they through his poverty might be made rich; but from what part of their conduct would the world ever learn this melting truth? No; in this respect he is ashamed to be called their God. Their self-indulgence misrepresents his self-sacrifice. Their worldly spirit of appropriation is a shame to his boundless beneficence. His character is falsified by them in the eyes of the world. Nor could he honor them in any distinguished manner before the world, without endorsing and confirming that falsification of his character. He is yearning for the happiness of the perishing world; but such, at present, is the nature of his divine arrangements, that he has only the instrumentality of his people to work by, and that is so steeped in selfishness, that his grace may be said to be held under restraint.

The liberality wanted is that which originates in Christian principle. As long as it is subjected to any inferior motives, its defects will be numerous, unavoidable, fatal. It will think highly of its smallest gifts; will be unduly influenced by the conduct of others; will wait for public excitement; and will ever be in danger of diminution, and even of total cessation. Nothing but a deep and abiding conviction of our vast, solemn, subduing obligations to God in Christ, can ever insure that cordial and entire consecration of our property, which his divine commands, and the necessities of his cause, imperatively require. By taking the Christian to the cross, and keeping him there in the presence of the great Sacrifice, he is made to feel that he is not his own, that his costliest offering, could he multiply its value a thousand fold, would be utterly unworthy of divine acceptance; and if called to pour forth his blood as a libation on the altar of Christian sacrifice, he would regard it as an ample explanation of his conduct, to say, with an apostle, "The love of Christ constraineth us."-Harris.

WOMAN'S MINISTRY IN MISSIONS.

A MEMOIR OF MRS. HENRIETTA SHUCK, the first American female missionary to China. By J. B. Jeter, Pastor of the First Baptist Church, Richmond, Va. Boston; Gould, Kendall & Lincoln, 59 Washington street. 1846.

It was so orThe lot of woman is the companionship and the help of man. dained in the beginning. "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help-meet for him." And therefore was woman made.

This divine appointment and constitution of woman's ministry has never been annulled. God has not repealed it. Man has not made it void, even when he has trampled upon it. Woman has not disclaimed, nor evaded it. It has survived the fall. Formed for a ministry of unalloyed blessedness, in an abode of order and harmony and perfect good, woman was also made so as to accomplish a higher service in a troubled and evil world. Sin entered, and death by sin, death physical, death moral; "with woe." But woman, true to the divine arrangement, is true to man. In sorrow as in joy, in labor as in repose, she divides his toil,-lightens his cares,-cheers his solitude,―teaches him gentleness, constancy, charity; soothes his griefs; wipes from his brow the damps of death.

The ordinances of Creation and Providence, which concern woman's ministry, are honored in the appointments of Grace. First in the transgression, woman is first in man's redemption. The Lord has put enmity between her and the "She loveth destroyer. She is the mother of the Avenger and Deliverer. much." "She washeth His feet with her tears.- She is first in the order of agencies for the saving of others. To her, providence and grace alike assign the training of the unformed, the flexile, the trustful infant mind; and her

agency there, being unparticipated, is the more effective. access to her own,—to woman-kind,--the half our race. does not know her power?

She too has readiest
And with man, who

Such is the ministry of woman, as appointed, recognized, fulfilled, and blessed of God. Such has it proved to be, in the history of our race. Nor can it be dispensed with, nor, without harm, be dis-esteemed. It is a part and element of man's social constitution, as given to him by his Maker. And to set it at nought or overlook it, would be as rational as to set at nought any other of the natural laws ordained of God when he made the worlds.

We have been moved to these reflections, partly, by an occasional suggestion, inquiry, or proposition; as if, in the prosecution of the missionary enterprise, whose object is to lift up the whole human family to its worthiest state and style, it might be well to forego, at least in the foreign service, the help of woman; as though missionaries would be more laborious and more successful, if disencumbered of woman's presence; as though some of the holiest claims of social life would be less exposed thereby to neglect and outrage; as though, in a work involving at best a fearful expenditure of life and property, a portion of the sacrifice, and that the costliest, could well be spared. We are free to say, that with the sentiments implied in these suggestions, important as they may appear, we have no sympathy. They are unauthorized, as we believe, by the gospel of Jesus Christ. They seem to us short-sighted expedients, false in principle, of partial and injurious bearing, the appropriate offspring of precipitancy, of unbelief, of penuriousness, rather than of cool reflection and faith and true philanthropy; wresting from the missionary abroad, in its practical operation, far more than a moiety of his power, even in his own proper sphere; withholding what in its direct efficiency is no mean part of the appointed ministry for the world's conversion; and breaking up or corrupting some of the main well-springs and channels of home supplies; in short, tending to self-destruction; and for all good ends, impracticable.

That cases may arise in which it would be wise in missionaries to enter into their work free from the ties of the marriage state, exempt from domestic cares, and periling no lives nor interests but their own, is not denied; as when some savage region needs to be explored, and the missionary can have no clear conception of what shall befall him there. So too, we concede, missionaries share with other men the right of ultimate choice for themselves, whether of a single or a wedded life. And again, Providence, wiser than man, may sometimes thwart the soberest calculations. A Brainerd, a Henry Martyn, may in this respect, though from different causes, be led in the steps of Paul. And God may seem, in the honor conferred on their solitary career, to have regarded their reclusion with peculiar favor. These apostolic men were greatly useful; and greatly honored is their memory. Yet the premises are narrow for broad conclusions. Was their usefulness conjoined essentially with their life of celibacy? Or, rather, might not their usefulness have been prolonged and amplified, if, in those sad seasons of weariness and sickness when nature was tasked beyond endurance, they had been timely succored by the faithful assiduities of woman? Moreover, we speak not of exceptions, but principles and general rules.

The subject before us may be regarded in several aspects. Viewed as a whole, the suggestion recurs, already adverted to, relative to the divine economy in man's creation. God is one, of one mind, and of one plan and method of operation; whether as Maker, Ruler, or Redeemer. What is his plan? what