granted their co-operation; and to denounce them as cold and dead, provided their views of policy or duty happened to be discordant with their own. We believe there are some laymen who make it nearly a sine qua non, that every plan of benevolent action which they encourage, should either have originated with themselves, or should have received their sanction as soon as it was proposed; and we know there are some, (we scarcely know whether we may use the plural,) who stand up in public assemblies and denounce the ministry by wholesale, as if there were only here and there, one who was not a mere drone in the sacred office.

Now this is a spirit which ought to be uniformly and firmly, though prudently, resisted. Not that ministers ought to shrink from receiving, or even asking, the judicious counsel of intelligent laymen: on many subjects connected with the interests of the Church, their judgment may be more likely to be sound and unbiassed, than if they were actually in the clerical profession. But as ministers value their character or influence, they must not submit to lay-dictation, in performing their own appropriate work. If they begin to give up their rights, they will find that the same spirit that requires that they should yield at all, will not be satisfied till they have yielded every thing; and the effect of this will be, that they will possess no official influence, and will forfeit the respect even of those to whose wishes they are subservient. It becomes ministers never to forget that they have certain rights, in virtue of their office, which they are bound to regard as sacred; and that either the surrender of these rights, or the indiscreet use of them, must greatly abridge their usefulness, if it does not completely nullify their official character.

We have dwelt at much greater length than we intended, on the prominent evils which seem to us to be connected with the ministry, especially of our Church, but, we think, not at greater length than is justified by the importance of the subject. Of these evils we have spoken plainly, because we regard them as contributing, in no small degree, either directly or indirectly, to prevent the best influence of the sacred office. We trust that we have not spoken in a tone of unchristian rebuke, or said any thing which ought to wound the feelings of those who are sincerely devoted to the cause of Christ. We would encourage, so far as we can, a spirit of mutual good will and affection among the followers, and especially the ministers, of our common Lord; but we do feel ourselves

ter.

bound to lift up the voice of warning, when we see, what seems to us, great abuses in the Church, even though they may be practised under the sanction of those whom we love and venerate. There is every thing in the present aspect of Providence to indicate that the American Church is destined to exert a leading influence in the renovation of the world; and that influence is to be so intimately connected with the character of its ministry, that whatever affects that, even remotely, cannot, in our estimation, be an unimportant matBut though we have dwelt in this article, chiefly on the dark side of the picture, we must again remind our readers, that there is a bright side too, which ought to strengthen our faith and animate us to higher and holier efforts. Though there are certainly some things to deplore in respect to the ministry of our country, there is much also to admire-much for which to give God thanks. There is much deep and earnest piety, much active zeal, and much sound discretion; much excellent preaching, and much fervent prayer, in various parts of our land; and we do not believe that God designs that in any of these respects we should be left to fall back. Rather may we not hope, that each successive year will find us upon the advance, will record more works of faith and labours of love, more harmony among brethren, and more faithfulness to ministerial obligation, than the year which preceded it. We cannot but regard the numerous and powerful revivals of religion, reported to us from almost every part of our country, with intense interest, and with cordial thankfulness. Surely these precious effusions of the Holy Spirit, after making all that allowance for the spurious admixtures to which we have before alluded, must be considered as the pledge of rich blessings to the Church and to the world. Nay, we hesitate not to say, that in the extension and continuance of the blessed displays of the power of the Gospel, we recognize the best and only solid hope of our country, for the enlargement of Zion; for correcting the abuses, and obviating the dangers to which we have referred; for supplying the ranks of the Christian ministry with an adequate number of sanctified candidates; and for preserving and transmitting our national privileges to the latest posterity. Let every minister, and every Christian, feel a personal responsibility, by holy example, by unceasing instruction, and by fervent prayer, to secure this glorious result; and then, by God's blessing, we may hope it will be secured.

ART. VI.-LETTERS ON MISSIONS.

Letters on Missions, by William Swan, Missionary in Siberia. With an Introductory Preface by the late William Orme, Foreign Secretary of the London Missionary Society. Boston, Perkins & Marvin; New York, J. Leavitt, 12mo. p. 288.

WE rejoice in the belief that the cause of foreign missions is daily taking a firmer hold on the public mind, and becom ing more and more identified with a Christian profession. If there be one fact, in the annals of Christian delinquency, more humiliating and wonderful than most others, it is the tardiness, not to say negligence, of a great majority of those who bear the name of Christ, in sending the glorious gospel to the benighted and perishing heathen. How it is, that those who call themselves Christians, and yet live in the allowed neglect of this duty, are still able to "patch up a peace" with their consciences in reference to this matter, we will not attempt to explain. It certainly cannot be a safe peace, or one which will stand the test of that Divine scrutiny which is before us all. Whether we consider the nature or the objects, the authority or the motives, the glory or the encouragements of the missionary enterprize, the only wonder is, that every Christian Church on earth is not formed on the avowed principle of its being A MISSIONARY SOCIETY; and every one who seeks admission to its communion, considered as entering himself a LIFE MEMBER of such a society. Such, undoubtedly, is the spirit of the Christian religion; and such, unless we greatly misinterpret the promises of God, will be the prevailing spirit of Christendom long before the arrival of that day when the "knowledge and glory of the Lord shall cover the earth as the waters fill the sea.' ""

If we were asked the reason of that strange phenomenon, that so many who call themselves the disciples of Christ, and cherish a hope in his atoning blood, yet appear to feel so little, and disposed to do so little for bringing others to the knowledge and love of the Saviour; we should reply-after a proper reference to our native depravity, which forms a sad clog to every "work of faith and labour of love" in which we engage that one great reason why the missionary spirit does not occupy a more prominent place among the Christian cha

racteristics and doings of the present day-is, that the leaders and guides of the Church are not more frequent, abundant, and zealous in explaining, recommending and urging this radical Christian duty. Were the ministers and elders of the Churches to do their duty in this thing; were they to hold up before the people, constantly and powerfully, the obligation lying upon all Christians to send the gospel to "every creature" who has it not; were they to insist upon this duty as unremittingly and perseveringly as they insist upon some others, and urge it, with proper elucidation and earnestness, as incumbent, not upon ministers alone, but upon all Christians; we cannot help believing that happy effects would follow. In short, were the pastors and rulers of the Churches to perform with fidelity their whole duty in reference to this matter, we are persuaded that the discharge of the duty in question, on the part of the body of the Church, would, in some measure, keep pace with that of others; or, at any rate, that we should not have occasion to mark so great a disparity between the prevalence of Christian zeal as manifested in the cause of missions, and as manifested in other departments of evangelical effort. We are verily persuaded that, if the great body of the communicants and stated hearers, in all those Churches which are in the habit of observing the Monthly Concert in prayer, were properly instructed and exhorted on this subject; and if the collections taken up at the close of each meeting, were sacredly devoted to the support of foreign missions; it would be found, in a little while, that from this source alone, funds might be obtained amply sufficient to meet. all the ordinary demands of the foreign service without the trouble of organizing auxiliary societies, or the expense of employing agents to do that which unsolicited Christian benevolence ought, by its monthly contribution, cheerfully to accomplish. It is just as really and obviously the duty of Christians to bring their offerings, from time to time, to help in sending the Gospel to the heathen, as it is to attend statedly on the ordinances of the sanctuary. And why should they not be as ready to attend to the former, spontaneously, and without incessant dunning and entreaty, as to the latter? The time, we trust, is not far distant, when this will be, in some good degree, literally and generally the case. When this hope shall be realized, it will be a signal for the approach of that blessed period when "the name of the Redeemer shall be one, and his praise one from the rising of the sun to the going down of the same."

The little volume, the title of which stands at the head of this article, is one of the most judicious and valuable that we have lately seen on the subject of which it treats. Mr. Swan, the author of the "Letters," which compose the principal part of it, has been, for a number of years, employed in missionary labour in Siberia under the direction of the London Missionary Society. He is already known to many American readers as the author of an interesting work, entitled "Memoir of the late Mrs. Paterson, wife of the Rev. Dr. Paterson, of St. Petersburgh," which has been republished in the United States. He spent a part of the year 1818 and 1819, in the family of Dr. Paterson, at St. Petersburgh, acquiring the Russian language. He then proceeded with his associate, Mr. Yuille, to the field of their missionary labour in Siberia, where he has been ever since employed, and where, it is believed, he still remains. In 1829, he sent to London, for publication, the Letters here presented to the American public. They were carried through the press by the late Rev. William Orme, the intelligent, pious, and devoted foreign secretary of the London Missionary Society, who introduced them to the public by an extended and interesting preface.

This preface makes a very valuable part of the volume. The principal objects of its worthy and lamented writer are two. First, to show that there is no reason for discouragement at the result of the missionary efforts which have been made for a number of years past; but that, on the contrary, as great a degree of success has attended them as could reasonably have been expected. And, secondly, to impugn some of the opinions expressed by the author of an anonymous work, entitled, "A new model of Christian Missions to Popish, Mohammedan, and Pagan nations." In doing this he manifests much good sense, piety, and practical acquaintance with the subject on which he writes. His decease, since the date of this publication, was a loss severely felt by the missionary society of which he was the invaluable secretary, and lamented by the friends of missions wherever he was known.

The "Letters" of Mr. Swan are twenty-one in number, and relate to the following subjects: Letter I. On the choice of a missionary life. Letter II. The same subject continued. Letter III. On missionary qualifications. Letter IV. The same subject continued. Letter V. Difficulties arising from diversity of temper among missionaries. Letter VI. The