of the Presbyterian Church in the U. S. 187 was a time, when those whose duty it is to guide the exertions of their fellow men, had more reason to feel their responsibility, and to ask for wisdom and strength from above! Let ministers take great and comprehensive views of the signs of the times, and the prospects of the Church! and while they point out the way to those who are willing to be workers together with God, let it be seen that it is their meat and drink to share in the labours as well as inthe rewards of the Redeemer's kingdom. Let all the MEMBERS OF OUR CHURCHES Consider themselves as called upon, in their several stations, to do something—to do much for Christ. Millions of our race are still sunk in ignorance and depravity. Dark and waste places abound, even in our most populous and enlightened neighbourhoods, and still more in the remote portions of our church. In very large districts within the United States there are no Bibles, no Sabbaths, no Sanctuaries, none to show them the way of salvation. Can a single heart be unimpressed, or a single hand idle, while such calls for compassion and exertion abound? No, brethren, these obligations, we trust, are too tender not to be felt ;-these calls too solemn not to be heard. Be entreated then with one accord, to come forward to the help of the Lord against the mighty. Embrace every opportunity, to the extent of the ability which God has given you, to form, and vigorous. ly to support, missionary associations; bible societies; plans for the distribution of religious tracts; and exertions for extending the benefits of knowledge, and especially of spiritual knowledge, to all ages and classes of persons around you. Exert yourselves, individually, and in combination, to oppose all those degrading and destructive vices over which we have so long had reason to mourn, Endeavour by your example and your influence to discourage the unnecessary use of spirituous liquors; to promote the sanctification of the Lord's day; to guard against a criminal conformity to the world; to promote a general attendance on the, means of grace; -and to advance the great interests of truth, purity, and righteousness, in all manner of conversation. In these hallowed labours, let none refuse to join. It is among the distinguished glories of the commencement of the nineteenth century, that pIOUS FEMALES are more extensively associated, and more actively useful, in promoting evangelical and benevolent objects, than in any former period of the world.-Let them go on with increasing activity and ardour in these exertions, so worthy of women professing godliness, and so useful to mankind. And let them, by precept, as well as by example, train up their daughters in principles and habits so well calculated to elevate the female character, and to enlarge the sum of human happiness. Let not even LISPING CHILDHOOD, or TENDER YOUTH be idle.Let every Bible Class, every School association, every employment which brings your beloved children together, be made a medium for conveying to their minds that benign impression which shall enlist them on the side of truth and of the church of God, from the earliest dawn of reason. Happy congregations, happy families, in which even babes and sucklings shall be taught, as in 188 Pastoral Letter from the General Assembly times of old, to sing-Hosanna to Him that cometh in name of the Lord, Hosanna in the highest! In a word, let your plans of co-operation in carrying on these works of piety and benevolence embrace every class and every age; and be pursued with growing ardour, until every congrega tion within our bounds shall be completely organized for exertion to promote the temporal and eternal welfare of men ;-until every heart that can lift a prayer to the throne of grace, and every hand that can cast a mite into the treasury of God, shall be fully engaged in this mighty effort of christian charity; until the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose ;, until men, under the reign of millennial glory, (we trust not far distant,) shall live together as brethren indeed, having no other wishes than to promote their common happiness, and to glorify their common God. To these efforts in behalf of the cause of Christ join fervent, united PRAYER. We need not remind you, brethren, that all Zion's blessings come down from her King and Head; and that he will be inquired of by his people to do for them that which they need and desire. We are persuaded that all those periods and churches which have been favoured with special revivals of Religion, have been also distinguished by VISIBLE UNION AND CONCERT IN PRAYER. We entreat you, brethren, to cherish this union and concert. We especially exhort you to pay renewed and more solemn attention to the MONTHLY CONCERT IN PRAYER, recommended by a former Assembly, and so generally and happily observed. Has not the Saviour promised, that if any two of his people agree as touching any thing which they desire, He will grant their request? What blessings, then, may we not hope will be shed down upon the Church, when the thousands of our Israel are found bowing together before the throne of mercy, saying, for Zion's sake, we will not hold our peace, and Jerusalem's sake we will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth! Endeavour to maintain A SPIRIT OF HARMONY WITH ALL DENOMINATIONS OF CHRISTIANS. While you contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints, and bear a faithful testimony to the Apostolic doctrine and order, which we profess to receive; let no bigotry, or prejudice, no party rancour or offensive crimination, pollute your testimony. Remember that the period is approaching, when all real christians shall see eye to eye; when they shall be united in opinion as well as in affection. Cherish now the sentiments which correspond with this delightful anticipation. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and evil speaking, be put away from among you with all malice; and continually look and pray for the happy period when believers of every name shall agree to act together upon the great principles of our common salvation. Finally, dear brethren, be UNITED AMONG YOURSELVES. If you desire to profit by your spiritual privileges; if you hope to be instrumental in promoting the cause of Christ, or to be honoured with his blessing; cherish harmony of affection, and union of effort. of the Presbyterian Church in the U. S. 189 Besides the common bonds of christian love which unite the great family of believers, the ministers and members of the Presbyterian Church are cemented by a compact which every honest man cannot fail to appreciate. We mean the "Confession of Faith" of our church. While we believe the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the only infallible rule of faith and practice, we do also, if we deal faithfully with God and man, sincerely receive and adopt this Confession, as containing the system of doctrine taught in the Holy Scriptures. Let us adhere to this standard with fidelity, and endeavour to transmit to our children, pure and undefiled, a treasure which our fathers at great expense have, under God, bequeathed to us. But while we hold fast the form of sound words which we have received, let us guard against indulging a spirit of controversy, than which few things are more unfriendly to the life and power of godliness. It is never necessary to sacrifice charity in order to maintain faith and hope. That differences of opinion acknowledged on all hands to be of the minor class, may and ought to be tolerated among those who agree in great and leading views of Divine truth, is a principle on which the godly have so long and so generally acted, that it seems unnecessary at the present day to seek arguments for its support. Our Fathers, in early periods of the history of our church, had their peculiarities and diversities of opinion: which yet however did not prevent them from loving one another, from cordially acting together, and by their united prayers and exertions, transmitting to us a goodly inheritance. Let us emulate their moderation and forbearance, and we may hope to be favoured with more than their success. disposed to sow the But resist him in this, Surely those who can The great adversary will, no doubt, be seeds of discord and division among you. as well as in all his other insidious efforts. come together on the great principles of our public Standards, however they may differ on non-essential points, ought not to separate, or to indulge bitterness or prejudice against each other. Dear brethren, let there be no divisions among you ;-but be perfectly joined together in the same mind, and in the same judgment. Follow the things which make for peace, and the things whereby ye may edify one another. Behold how good, and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! Brethren, farewell, love one another, for love is of God, and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. Be of one mind; live in peace, and the God of love and of peace shall be with you. AMEN! Signed by order of the General Assembly, Extract of a letter from MRS. JUDSON, dated RANGOON, May 10, 1816, to a Lady in Beverly, (Massachusetts.) My dear Mrs. Lovett, THE Sun of another holy Sabbath has arisen upon us, and though no chiming of bells has called us to the house of God, 190 Letter from Mrs. Judson at Rangoon, yet we, two in number, have bowed the knee to our father in heaven, have invoked his holy name, have offered him our feeble praise have meditated on his sacred word, and commemorated the dying love of a Saviour to a perishing world. Inestimable privileges not denied even in a land where the prince of darkness reigns! Since worship, I have stolen away to a much loved spot, where I love to sit and pay the tribute of affection to my lost darling child. It is a little enclosure of mango trees, in the centre of which is erected a small bamboo house on a rising spot of ground, which looks down on the new-made grave of our infant boy. Here I now sit; and though all nature around wears a most romantic, delightful appearance, yet my heart is sad, and my tears frequently stop my pen. You, my dear Mrs. Lovett, who are a mother, may guess my feelings; but if you have never lost a first born, an only son, you cannot know my pain. Had you even buried your little boy, you are in a christian country, surrounded by friends and relatives who could soothe your anguish, and direct your attention to other objects. But behold us solitary and alone, with this one single source of recreation! Yet this is denied us, this must be removed, to show us that we need no other source of enjoyment but God himself. Do not think, though I thus write, that I repine at the dealings of Providence, or would wish them to be otherwise than they are. No: "though he slay me, I will trust in him," is the language I would adopt. Though say with the prophet, "Behold and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow,' yet I would also say with him, "It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not." God is the same when he afflicts, as when he is merciful. Just as worthy of our entire trust and confidence now, as he was when he intrusted us with the precious little gift. There is a bright side even in this heavy affliction. Our little Roger is not lost. The little bud which began to open into a beautiful flower, is now rapidly expanding in a more propitious clime, and reared by a more unerring hand. He is now, I doubt not, in the immediate presence of that Saviour of whom he was ignorant in this world, and I "Adores the grace that brought him there, That wash'd his soul in Calvary's stream, That shortened life's distressing dream. Short pain, short grief, dear babe, was thine, Now joys eternal and divine !" Who would not, from motives of gratitude, love a Being who has made such provision for a perishing world! who can, on account of the merits of the Redeemer, consistently with his own perfections, raise polluted sinners from the lowest state of degradation, aud make them fit for the enjoyment of himself. "They who know thy name, will put their trust in thee." June 14. I have just been reading over your kind, affectionate letter, for which I sincerely thank you. I should have answered to a Lady in Beverly, (Massachusetts.) 191 it before, but multiplicity of business prevented. You ask, my dear Mrs. Lovett, "Is not the mission attended with more difficulties and dangers than you anticipated?" I answer, Perhaps they are of a different kind from what I formerly imagined. As it respects real personal suffering, I have never realized more than I anticipated; or rather, I have felt a greater support under trials than I expected. But the almost insurmountable difficulty of acquiring a foreign language and of communicating religious knowledge to the dark mind of a heathen, cannot be known by any but those who make the trial. In a short time one can get enough of a language for common use. But to think, to reason, and to get hold of the little connections and idiom of a language entirely dif ferent from one's native tongue, is quite another thing.. Then, after the language is in a tolerable degree acquired, new terms must be invented to give them right ideas of a being of whom they are entirely ignorant. But the difficulties do not stop here. The mind in its native state is slow to receive new ideas. Very little can be received at a time, and that little constantly repeated, or it is soon obliterated. But even when truth is received and retained, if it is received with the notion that self has no concern in it, it has no effect. O how utterly impossible it is that these Burmans can be converted by any other than the power of God. This is our only hope; this alone keeps us from discouragement and dispair, and will continue to encourage us, so long as we have such examples of distingishing power and grace before us as the conversion of the Otaheiteans. The conversion of a nation wholly idolatrous is not the work of a day or year. Though it is infinitely easy for God to effect it even in so short a time; yet he has not seen fit thus to operate, nor have we any reason to hope that he will vary so far from his usual method of operation. The Scriptures must be translated, Tracts circulated, Schools established, and a spirit of inquiry excited, before we can hope to see any essential alterations. The natives must have time to examine the effects of a new religion by observing the conduct of the missionaries, before they will be willing to renounce their old. Alas, what can one single missionary do in a country where thousands are needed! And yet, should a host of missionaries arrive, it might at once destroy this little beginning, by exciting the suspicions of the natives (naturally jealous) and occasion a total banishment of every missionary. Thus we are compelled to see the miseries of this people, groping in thick darkness, without being able to relieve them; and knowing also it must be some time before any thing can be effected. But, my dear Mrs. Lovett, we are not idle; we feel we have but one object on earth, and we make every thing bend to this. Mr. Judson has completed a tract, (a summary of the Christian religion) and a grammar in the Burman language, which are now ready for printing. He had also got some way in the translation of the Scriptures, when he was taken with a violent pain in his head and eyes, which obliged him to lay by his studies of every kind. |