To the full accomplishment of these great objects of our Institution, it will readily be believed, our means are inadequate. With a confidence therefore, inspired by the holy cause in which we are engaged, and justified by our past experience, we look to our fellow Christians, and fellow citizens, for their cooperation and aid. We look to the Honourable Legislature of the Commonwealth, whose generous patronage entitles its members to the name of nursing fathers to the Society. We look to the opulent, to cast in of their abundance, and to the poor, to cast in of their penury. We look to you, who compose this assembly; whose very presence, on this occasion, is a pledge of your pious liberality. Were there a famine in the land, my brethren, with what sensibility would you regard the distress of the sufferers, and with what promptitude would you open your hands for their relief! A famine in the land there really is; not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. To relieve the distresses of this famine, we now ask your contribution. What thou givest will help us to impart the bread of life to those, who are perishing with hunger; and the water of life to those, who are fainting for thirst. What thou givest may carry the name of Christ to those who have never heard it. What thou givest may convert a sinner from the error of his way, and save a soul from death.

In this labour of love, my brethren, we are not alone. A spirit of diffusing Christian knowledge

animates all Christendom.

The activity of the young, the counsels of the old, the courage of the enterprising, the labours of the diligent, the treasures of the opulent, and the erudition of the learned, are directed toward this grand object. To this are auxiliary the disquisitions of the scholar, the curiosity of the antiquary, the peregrinations of the traveller, the adventures of the merchant, and the discoveries of the navigator. The Gospel is now spreading with incredible rapidity, into the dark recesses of Europe; traversing the immense regions of Asia; and penetrating even the inhospitable deserts of Africa., Yes: AFRICA, instead of furnishing slaves for Christians, begins to enjoy the liberty wherewith Christ has made her free. The same nations, which, for centuries past, have been subjecting to the vilest servitude her miserable inhabitants, are now striving to bring them into the glorious liberty of the sons of God. The isles afar off, in the Pacific ocean, and other islands of the sea far remote and long neglected, at length hear the name of Christ, and wait for his law. The contemplative Hindu hangs on the lips of the Christian missionary, and inscribes his words on the palmyra leaf. The roaming Tartar is arrested by the sound of the Gospel, and catches the glad tidings of salvation. The unfeeling Boscheman is penetrated by that word, which is quick and powerful, and returns to his reed cell humanized, a new creature, a CHRISTIAN.

The industry and zeal of the present age supply the place of miracles. The Bible is translating

into barbarous languages; and the various nations of the earth will soon, as formerly at the memorable Pentecost, hear in their own tongues the wonderful works of God. "What John saw in vision, we behold an existing fact." We see another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting Gospel to preach to them that dwell on the earth; and proceeding to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.

Looking then, my brethren, at the predictions of the prophets; looking at the promises of God; looking at the events of this present time; have we not just cause to expect an universal propagation of the Gospel? Yes: The time will come, and will not tarry, when the Pagan idolater shall cast his idols to the moles and to the bats; when the Indian Powows shall be silenced by the songs of Zion; when the Vedas of the Hindu, the Shasters of the Gentoo, and the Koran of the Mahometan, shall be exchanged for the HOLY BIBLE; when the religion of Brahma, the Institutes of Menu, the rites of the Lama, the Zend of Zoroaster, and even the laws of Confucius, shall be superseded by the glorious Gospel of the blessed God. The Lord will assuredly hasten it in his time. Meanwhile, if we would either witness or participate the glory of these triumphs of Christianity, let us contribute what in us lies toward the spiritual victory. May God Almighty cause us to triumph in Christ, and make manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place!

O LORD, we beseech Thee, send now prosperity. God be merciful to us, and bless us; and cause thy face to shine upon us: that thy way may be known on earth, and thy saving health among all nations. Let that name, which is above every name, be propagated throughout the earth, and throughout all worlds; that at the name of Jesus every knee may bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue may confess, that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

AMEN.