feasting, and making merry all night, is all that is now going on; and every thing except such daily business as cannot be interrupted, is put off till the approaching Bairam. The painfully rigid observance which Mahometans pay to the keeping of the fast of Rhamazan, throughout the whole month, is most remarkable, and forms a striking contrast to the so misnamed fasts in Catholic countries. Here no exception is made in favour of a fine piece of fish, or a dainty omelette, under the plea of its not being flesh; nor are any discussions entered into as to what may be eaten or what may not; the term fast, or Islam, means total abstinence; and from the time the first rays of sun appear above the horizon, till the Murzzim from the minaret proclaims the hour of sunset prayer, no morsel of food of any kind passes the lips of the rigid Mosleim; and even when the Rhamazan falls in the hottest months of summer, which it sometimes does, (the lunar calendar used by the Arabians, bringing it of course through all the seasons every thirty-three years,) the hardy Homal in the streets, and the Caiquegi at his oars, toils through the labours of the day, exposed for so many hours to the broiling sun, without permitting themselves even a drop of water, to moisten their parching lips. This, however, is not all, for incredible as it may appear, it is no less a fact, that to some of the more rigid Mussulmans, even the hours of sunset scarce can be said to bring a breaking of the fast, since during the night, when it is permitted to eat, they scarce take what is sufficient to support nature. During the month Rhamazan, which thus converts night into day, the nature and habits of the Turk may be said to become entirely changed. Instead of rising, as usual, with the first beams of the morning, and retiring to rest again at a very early hour, he very rarely quits his couch till mid-day, and deprived even of the pleasure of his pipe, thus endeavours by sleep to get through his weary hours of fast. All except those who are really obliged to work, lay aside business of every kind, and about three of the day, all the gay world of Stamboul, not excepting the Sultan himself, may be seen promenading in the large open space in front of the Seraskier Pacha's. The Sultan, who is incog. on these occasions, passes almost unheeded through the crowd, and when he has fatigued himself with walking or riding, he seats himself in the shop of a tobacconist near the end of the promenade, from whence he amuses himself in contemplating the gay scene before him. In the evening, the mosques and houses are all partially illuminated the streets are again filled, and every calire is crowded with smokers, enjoying the so-long forbidden chibouque and amusing themselves with story telling, magic lanterns, &c., till morning's dawn again obliges them to commence their rigorous abstinence. Thus passes the Rhamazan at Constantinople, till the part of the Bairam which follows again, restores things to their ordinary course."

THE PROPAGATION OF THE GOSPEL,

WITH ENCOURAGEMENTS

TO THE VIGOROUS PROSECUTION OF THE WORK.

A SERMON

PREACHED IN SURREY CHAPEL, LONDON, OCT. 12, 1842.

66 OCCUPY TILL I COME."-LUKE XIX. 13.

A MERE glance at the employments and labours of men, with the slightest knowledge of the human constitution, must convince every impartial observer that mankind are not now in the situation in which they were at first placed by their Creator. Every other animal has a mode of life and employment entirely suitable to its nature; and though it may share in the common misery, all the attributes of its nature have their full scope. Its work is as high as its rank in creation; and no principle of its constitution remains without its proper exercise. Not so with man. He has a soul possessing powers capable of the most astonishing exertions, and of making endless progress in knowledge; yet, he is found in a state of the utmost degradation, with employments little above those of the brutes. The man of science and the savage have every principle of human nature in common. What a difference in their attainments and in their employments!

Nor is this unsuitableness of the employment of man to his high mental dignity exclusively to be found in savage life. It is to be found in the most advanced state of civilized society. In all countries, and in all ages, the great body of men are almost constantly employed either in manual labour, or in toilsome business. Indeed we need not to look solely to the great masses

of society for proof that man is doomed to toil. It is a law from which there is no exemption. Every man has the proof in himself. From the sovereign to the meanest subject, all, all labour under the same curse. The very honours of royalty are a load, which vanity itself cannot sustain without weariness.

The highest aim of the legislator is to provide reward for labour; and his object is fully accomplished when all hands are employed, and labour is adequately remunerated. The millennium of the statesman, as well as of the chartist is, "a fair day's wages for a fair day's work" when men have work and wages he sees nothing amiss in the lot of human nature. But the eye of the Christian should penetrate men deeply. In the incessant and universal toils of mankind he should perceive the curse of God against the first sin. From the cradle to the grave it is work, work, work.

The man of God is not exempt from the labours and toils of life. God feeds his people as well as he feeds the fowls of heaven; he clothes them as well as he does the lilies of the valley; but he neither feeds them as he does the fowls, nor clothes them as he does the lilies. He feeds and clothes them by means; and they must toil and spin, and sow and reap, and gather into barns. But blessed be God, the curse is in some measure turned into a blessing. All the labours which we are called to perform, and all the sufferings which we are called on to endure, are to be performed and endured to the glory of God. When the poor man toils to earn a scanty subsistence, and trudges home at night with a weary body, he can console himself with the reflection, if he has faith in Christ, that he is labouring in the Lord's service. His work is not merely to man it is to God.

The words which I have chosen as the subject of discourse, remind us that Jesus confers certain talents on his servants; and that he requires the diligent use of these talents. The injunction extends to every talent, and to every department of life. But I shall confine my observations to that which is the more immediate object of this meeting-the employment of our talents in the propagation of the gospel, presenting

some encouragements to the vigorous prosecution of the work.

1. My first observation on the subject is, that the gospel being destined to pervade the earth, christians are the appointed means to convey it to its destination.

It may not be without profit that we turn our attention for a moment to the wisdom of God in appointing his people as the means of propagating his gospel. To human wisdom these means appear inadequate; and in despair of success from these means, christians, following their own wisdom, are prone to look for others more effectual. In all ages and countries the people of Christ generally are poor and despised. How is it possible, then, that the gospel can be effectually propagated and supported by them? Did Christ place this burden on the shoulders of his people, because he was destitute of other resources? Is he poor, that he requires the labours and the earnings of his poor people, in order to the extending of his empire? If he possesses all power in heaven and on earth, could he not propagate his gospel without burthening his own servants, who generally have little to spare? Could he not lay his taxes on his enemies? Yes; our great Lord commands all the resources of the universe, and could execute his will by a greater variety of means than we can conceive; or he could communicate the knowledge of salvation altogether without means. He could reveal to the heirs of salvation the truth which interests them in the blessings of his death immediately with his Spirit, without any instrumentality at all. Atonement for sin through the blood of Christ was necessary, that grace might reign through righteousness; and that all the attributes of God might harmonize in the salvation of the guilty. But sinners might have been made acquainted with that salvation, and sanctified by faith in it, without any external revelation, either spoken or written. The Spirit of God could speak to the hearts of men in every part of the earth, as well without instrumentality as with it. Why then has not Jesus chosen this plan? To human wisdom it has many advantages; yet, when divine wisdom has not chosen it, whatever may be its appearance to us, it is

not the best plan. One thing is obvious in this procedure by means-it is analogous to God's way of working in other things. Jehovah manifests himself in the works of creation and providence; yet he lies hid by his way of working. In like manner, he reveals himself in his word; yet, while the light shines in darkness the darkness perceives it not.

But if instrumentality is to be used, an instrumentality might have been found more convenient for man, and apparently more effectual than that of christians. Christ could have sent the gospel through the world by the ministry of angels. How admirably, in the estimation of human wisdom, would the means be suited to the end! Christian missionaries need food and raiment while they are engaged in preaching the gospel; they must be carried to their stations by expensive conveyances; and they are subject to the violence of the enemies of their Lord. The angels needed no earthly supplies; they could convey the news of salvation to every quarter of the globe without expense, without loss of time, and without danger. Human missionaries must, with a great expense of labour and time, make themselves acquainted with the languages of all the nations they address. The angels could, in this, have no difficulty. Why, then, was not this plan chosen? It has innumerable advantages in the estimation of human wisdom. Yet, as it was not chosen, it cannot be the best plan. So far from employing only the ministration of angels in the propagation of the gospel, when on one occasion divine wisdom sent an angel to Cornelius, he was commissioned not to preach the gospel, but to charge the centurion to send for Peter, to "tell him words whereby he should be saved." It is not difficult to see, in fact, the wisdom of not employing this instrumentality. Had the angels been the heralds of the gospel, its efficacy would have been ascribed to the instruments, and not to the power of God. While the angels have a certain employment about the gospel, the propagation of it is confided on those who are higher than the angels by being one with the Son of God.

Another possible means of propagating the gospel,