The Litchfield County post., 1828-03-20

ueSn Ot our ueSn. Ana SoFfOunQe0 as Iney are by spiritual darkness that may be felt, their veIy condition calls for the sympaihies and charities of every Christian, and it is a. mOng the first dictates of our holy religion to do what we can for their relief. know they are far of, and to send them the gospel, sac riice and expense must be incurred. Admit also that they are ignorant of their own ne- cessities and exposures; and if it be suppOsa- hle, comparatively happy amidst the moral desoiatiOns which encompass them. What then! Does this diminish aught of their reoI wretchedness and danger? What if the poor maniac can dance and sing on some prOtruding rock of the highest Alps, unconscious of the headlOng plunge which awaits him. Is he not therefore in danger And will humanity leave hlm to leap from this fearful confluence without one effort to save him Sir,whatever unbelief. or mistaken sympathy may suggest, as regards the future prospects ofthe heather, if the word of God may be accredited, they are in danger. What ihsn is distance,ur sac rifce, or expense, compared with the object Ofthe Society whose cause we plead O-day Sir, the object of that institution, rendered venerable. ifnot by years, yet by the amount of good which it has accomplished, is, or might be, we'll knuwn to every inhabitant of Christendom. It is to feed the hungry ito open the eyes of the blind ito clothe the na- ked ito bring home to Christ the benighted wanderer ;-and to pour the light of fife on the darkness of his grave. Such an object is worthy of the religion we profess, and in ac- cordance with its purest dictates. and would therefore seem to commend itself to the pat ronage of every good man.
 Sir, a good hope of heaven through Jesus Christ, is as sweet to the pagan as to us.- Equally great is his loss, if he sink to the grave without the knowledge of Christ, ,and al-
 low for the dimness ofhis moral vision, equal
 y poignant are the bangs of the second death to him. And shall Christians suffer such to pass into eternity, uncheered and unhlessed, with out an effort for their relief, and that too, when God has put into their hands the ade- quate means of doing it! 4 Christian stand alOOf from all the movements of Christian charity. and look on, and object, and refuse his cooperation! Sir, would desire to speak with caution and candor, hut really, to me. such conduct looks like foul blot on the Christian name and profession. do not say that such man may not be Christian hut do say this is no part of ftle evidence of his piety. Sir, you may drive from your door the half-starved and half-naked wanderer, ,and be. m my apprehension, other things being equal. comparatively guiltiess. 1hdt act hut kills the body, Mis the soul Let those then who would leave the heathen to perish, with out an effort to save them, consider we'll how they shall reconcile it with the known and acknowledged principles of gospel benevo- lence. Let them consider, how. when call ed upon to meet the heather face to face be- fore the Judge, they shall answer to the charge r. xfo rlSA nf0 of the least of se."-"ye did it not unto me-" But we often meet with objections to ms- sionary efforts. It is more chan insinuated by some, that this missionary business is a money making matter. and that they who manage the affairs of the Society are quite as anxious to replenish their own coffers, as to send the gospel to the heather. It will be in season to notice thls objection when they who make it shall have become better acquainted ] with the character of the men whom the y thus assa, and with the history of their Op eratiOns. will only say, therefore, in this place. it is deeply to be lamented that any, protesting Christianity, should manifest such desire on the one hand, to hunt up, and be- lieve, and circulate unfounded rumors and on the other, such lamented ignorance of the facts in the case.
 But admit, it is said by others, that the con- tributions are honestly applied. Yet vain is the hope of convicting the heather to Chris tianity. Their characters. and moral habits, and modes of worship, are too strongly fixed ever to yield to its influence. And thus phi losophy, falsely so called," would alarm us with its objections.
 Now, Sir, like to see consistency in all who profess to love our Lord Jesus Christi desire therefore to knew whether they who pray Thy hingdom come." mean now, or centuries hence, or never land whether, if the event ever take place, it shall be aith, or scithout means?
 The question touching the practicabIity of covering the heather, is easily determined by facts. Sir, Paul was a missionary tO the heather. And did he devote his time, and 1 talents. and efforts. to useless vagrancy or did he plant the standard of the cross, and gather Christian churches in heather lands But Paul was inspired, and God signally bles- sed him. There can therefore be no analogy siOnaries Well, Sir, then let us look at the history of modern times, and the success of modern missionaries. We might tell you that the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, has, at this moment, under it's care 4S stations, and. 2O4 missiOna- aries and assistants. We might tell you of 25 Christian churches already planted in pa- gan lands. To speak of the Sandwich lsl- ands alone; we might tell you of nine chiefs. "embOdying large proportion of the civil influence, publicly protesting their faith in Christ and heartily anfspin~ nm 4ho h,,t;aa