Our Lord had respect also, in this language, to the general state of the Jewish nation, and of the world.

The time of God's mercy was then near. The faith of the pious servants of God among the Jews had welcomed the consolation of Israel. The general expectation of the people was fixed on His character and doctrine. At the descent of the Holy Ghost, on the Day of Pentecost, multitudes were about to be converted to his name. The long series of typical sacrifices, and ceremonial observances, as well as the prophecies which had borne witness to the Messiah, had sown the seed of the harvest which was then whitening. Already were the fields laden with a plenteous crop; and the disciples had only to enter on the labour of gathering it in to eternal life.

But the whole civilized world was also, in a considerable measure, in a like state. The translation of the Holy Scriptures into the Greek language, which which was then diffused throughout the Roman Empire, and the dispersion of the Jews in various parts of it; the tranquillity which generally prevailed, and the facilities of intercourse from the union of so many nations under one government; together with the vague, but important, expectation which the prophecies of the Messiah had ex

cited, all contributed to prepare the way for the promulgation of Christianity.

Thus things were ripening for the harvest; and the Apostles were soon to go forth as reapers into that vastly more extensive field of labour.

The spirit of our Lord's address, however, is applicable generally to all periods of the Church, when the providence of God concurs with his grace to present remarkable opportunities for diffusing the Gospel. For when facilities are afforded for disseminating divine truth; when these facilities are embraced by suitable activity on the part of the spiritual church; and when, above all, a disposition to inquire into the truth of Christianity appears among the heathen nations, then the fields may be said to stand loaded with corn, demanding the hand of the reaper.

That such a scene is now rising before our own and other Missionary Societies, cannot, I imagine, be reasonably doubted. I may be thought, perhaps, to speak strongly; but I firmly believe, that there never was such a scene presented before the Church of Christ since the first promulgation of Christianity, as is now presented to us in this country. For if the three concurring circumstances to which I have alluded—a disposition on the part of the Heathen to inquire into the Gospel; opportu

tunities afforded for diffusing it; and a zeal in the true servants of Christ to avail themselves of those opportunities-form such a scene as that depicted in my text, then the present moment is eminently of that description.

For if you cast your eye over the different parts of the Heathen World, you will find that in most places there is evidently A PREPARATION

IN THE MINDS OF BOTH PAGANS AND MAHOMEDANS

for receiving THE SERVANTS OF CHRIST: while, in several places, there is an actual effusion of the Holy Spirit, and many are added unto the Lord. I do not say, that, among the millions and hundreds of millions of Idolaters, whom no Mission has yet approached, these favourable signs appear. Such an expectation would be unreasonable, and contrary to God's ordinary dealings. But, it may be safely affirmed, that throughout almost all the wide regions of Paganism subject to the British Sceptre, or enlightened by the benevolent efforts of Christian Teachers, a sensible movement is discernible, an inquiry after our religion, a disposition to receive the Holy Scriptures, a readiness to send their children to our schools, and an acquiescence in the abolition of some of the most cruel of the superstitions of the Heathen.

In the vast continent of India-the most promising scene for Missionary Labour-we are credibly informed by those who have been

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eye-witnesses of what they relate, that the Native Mind is obviously opening to receive the Gospel; that a spirit of inquiry is gradually extending itself; that the more thoughtful, both among the Hindoos and the Mahomedans, begin to be ashamed of their superstitions; that an expectation is becoming general, among both those classes of men, that some great change in their respective religions is near; that the rapid growth of new modifications of superstition, under rival leaders, is tending, with other causes, to promote discussion, and to hasten the overthrow of Paganism; that, in a word, India is demanding the Gospel; and, that the efforts of the present Missionaries are quite insufficient to meet its desires for instruction, or to supply it with the requisite translations of the Holy Scriptures.

Compare now this state of things in India, with that which presented itself twenty years ago; and say if the fields are not white for the

harvest.

Nor are the other parts of Asia, and of the Heathen World in general, without some prosspects of a similar kind; though not, perhaps, in an equal degree.

The late Reverend Dr. Buchanan, and the Reverend Messrs. Corrie, Thompson, and Thomason, Chaplains of the East India Company; not to mention many most respectable Civil and Military Servants of the Honourable Company.

In Persia, on the one side of India, and in China on the other, opportunities have offered for extending the knowledge of the Word of God; and, in proportion to the limited nature of these opportunities, the natives have shewn the same disposition to receive the Sacred Volume; while in Ceylon, in many parts of the Malayan Archipelago, and particularly among the Syrian Christians of Travancore, favourable openings are presented to Missionary efforts.

If, from hence, we pass to the countless Islands of the Southern Ocean, it is peculiarly animating to read the accounts of what the providence and grace of God are effecting in those newly-discovered regions. In some of them, large bodies of men have renounced their idols; and received the doctrine of Salvation.

The immense territory of New Holland also, and the neighbouring Islands of New Zealand -the latter under our own Society-are opening to the Christian Teacher.

If, from these places, we return to the Indian Ocean, we need not advert to the Islands bordering on Africa, such as those of Mauritius or Madagascar, though some attempts are making, or in contemplation, there; but, in the Southern extremity of that Continent, the Word of God has free course, and is glorified. Our admiration cannot but be excited at the effects of the Sa