eek. Facts show, that in every nation, however
barbarous and degraded, the Gospel of Jesus has power to convert,
purify, elevate and save. These facts are irresistible.

Neither are the heathen lost, because the ocean separating them is
rarely passed. For the sake of gain, men can visit the most distant and
sultry climes. To solve a question of science or merely to gratify
curiosity, they can circumnavigate the globe, or penetrate far into the
icy regions of the poles. The improvements in navigation and the
extension of commerce have united the two continents in one. The
Atlantic ocean no longer separates you from Africa, nor the Pacific from
China. The amount of intercourse between the seekers of wealth from
Christian lands and almost every heathen country, is absolutely immense.

Why then are the heathen left to perish? There is a lack of earnestness
in the church in the work of the world's conversion. What does the
present earnestness of the church amount to? They contribute on an
average two cents a month each, and they find that the pittance of money
will more than suffice for the small number of men: and then the cry is
"More money than men." A few men are obtained and then the pittance of
money fails, and "More men than money" is the cry. A year or two
afterwards the supply of men is gone, and the cry again is reversed. As
if, in repairing the wastes of the New-York fire, the citizens collect
together a small quantity of brick, and then find they have more brick
than workmen. So they employ a few more men, and then find they have
more men than brick. Was this the rate at which the ravages of the great
fire were so soon repaired? Was this the measure of their engagedness in
rebuilding the city?

Some derangement takes place in the Erie Canal: a lock fails, an
aqueduct gives way, or a bank caves in. Is business stopped on the canal
till the next season, because the times are hard, and it is difficult to
obtain money to make repairs? Some derangement takes place in a
railroad: is travelling postponed till next year? But in the work of
doing good, the reverse of times is regarded as a sufficient excuse to
detain missionaries, disband schools, and take other retrograde steps.
We coolly block our wheels, lie still, and postpone our efforts for the
world's conversion till more favorable times. Men are earnest in worldly
matters: in digging a canal, in laying a railroad, or in repairing a
city; but in God's work--the w