THE question is often proposed, very significantly and earnestly," What "What has the Missionary cause done?" What is the practical-the actual result of all the plans which have been formed -all the efforts made-all the excitement occasioned-all the contributions, from year to year, bestowed-all the difficulties encountered all the apparatus employed-all the mind and energy brought to bear on it-and the waste of valuable lives so frequently realised? The above inquiry is often proposed unkindly-sometimes sneeringly, or wantonly, from a sceptical, sinister, and improper feeling or motive. There is no love to the Missionary undertaking. There is no appreciation of its excellence and value. There is, indeed, no correct knowledge of it at all. Still, the question is legitimate-is most interesting and important-and as it is desirable to be proposed, so it is instructive and beneficial to furnish a lucid and dispassionate reply.

Has

What, then, we ask, has been the result of the Missionary enterprise, up to the present hour? Has it been strictly and highly useful and momentous? Has it, in any degree, answered its intended and legitimate end? it, in any way, realised the expectations of its friends, its advocates, its supporters, its benevolent and honoured agents? This is the question. This is the point specifically to regard. We will not dwell on preliminaries. We will not recur to early difficulties and struggles,

-to grievous and numerous disappointments-to the clouds often arisingto the unexpected failures sometimes experienced-to the death of so many valued and highly qualified Missionaries, and other agents, so frequently occurring-to] the comparatively little movement of an intellectual, moral, and religious character, which, in many countries, for a long period, has taken place. We might regard these, and numerous other considerations, — and the theme is tempting; but we pass them all by, and simply inquire,

Has the Missionary cause answered its great design? Have the results been, in any degree, commensurate with its magnitude, its importance, its expense, and the sacrifices connected with it? And we, at once, distinctly and unequivocally reply in the affirmative. It has subserved its great purpose; it has been positively, extensively, immensely, unspeakably, beneficial; indeed, its results-for their value, magnitude, permanent and mighty influences-cannot be at all adequately estimated.

In carrying out and establishing this statement, we can only glance at a few of the momentous consequences of the Missionary undertaking-recur to a few of the direct and priceless advantages which it has conferred. It will tend to confirm and stimulate our efforts, encourage us amid all our labours and difficulties, and give increased fervour, importunity, and power to our supplications.

The Missionary enterprise has been of the utmost value :—

I. Because numerous and peculiar difficulties and embarrassments, previously existing, have been removed out of the way.

fort, or to secure their elevation. We have often recurred, with wonder and delight, to the advantages which have been conferred, and will be conferred, on millions, not only by the presses employed on a large number of foreign languages, by the great Bible and Tract Institutions of Europe and America, but by the various printing-offices belonging to Missionary Societies in pagan lands. It is a well-known fact, that some of these have now from six to ten, or even more presses, and those generally of the best construction. Here is an engine for the intellectual and moral elevation of the nations of India, Africa, and China, in particular. The founts of type are abundant, and in many different characters. The work has been one of great expense and difficulty, especially from the cutting of punches, the sinking of matrices, and the large apparatus required for casting; and, as has been observed, the alphabets, moreover, do not consist of six-and-twenty letters, as in our language, but often of a thousand or more, including symbols and compounds. Besides, all the printing-offices have departments for binding, supplied with instruments requisite for the work of the several establishments. Many of the intelligent natives, also, at the expense of no ordinary time and labour, have been trained to all the branches of mechanics connected with the respective offices. School-houses, chapels, ordinary dwellings, libraries, orreries, globes, tools, and varied apparatus have been prepared and completed at the different Missionary Stations, especially those which may be termed central, at a very large, but necessary outlay. In getting all these things accomplished, our Missionaries, and those of other lands, like Williams and Moffat, Carey and Ward, Martyn and Thomason, and many others, have been invaluable. They have planned, they have taught, they have superintended-have displayed much intelligence and mechanical skill, and in

numerous instances have performed largely the manual labour required. Thus services have been accomplished, and expenses have been incurred, which will not be required again, in the same spheres of Missionary operation. An important scaffolding has been reared, the utility of which, for generations, can scarcely be estimated, and benefits of indescribable worth will be conferred on multitudes of the population in heathen lands. And it must be remembered, that, by the outlay already made, and the large available capital formed, there will be a material saving effected in future time by the works which have been planned and executed, and by the educational facilities which have been furnished.

The Missionary enterprise has been of the utmost value:

III. Because schools, based on purely Christian principles, have been instituted, and large numbers of heathen children and youth have received intellectual and religious culture.

This is a point, the importance of which cannot be too earnestly regarded; this is a blessing, the value of which it is impossible to appreciate too highly.

What is designated "The School System," the Missionary enterprise has always introduced into heathen lands. The uniform motto of Christian Missionaries everywhere has been - and nothing could be wiser-"We must commence with the young." Previously to the Missionary undertaking, scarcely any regard had been paid, in the ma jority of pagan countries, to the intellectual or moral culture of children and youth. What a change, however, has the introduction of Christianity accomplished! Schools founded on the firmest and most enlightened basis have been, in all directions, established ;and this most valuable and powerful agency our Missionaries brought into operation as early as possible after commencing their labours.

And thus, as has been justly re

marked, the Christian Missionary, and his wife or daughter, extend their influence through all the future relations of their pupils, and in this way affect the literary interests of the people as truly as their moral and social interests; for there is an intimate connection between the literature of a nation and the early education of its youth.

Some of these educational institutions are boarding-schools, where the pupils are wholly withdrawn from heathen influence; some are designed for the children of native Christians, who receive, in their own homes, impressions favourable to the growth and permanence of those which they receive at school; and the schools established in the first instance by the Missionaries, created, after a certain time, the necessity for higher seminaries of learning, and opened, indeed, the way for their formation; so that now, associated with all the older and more important Missionary Stations, there are institutions of a superior character, affording facilities to the rising youth of the respective populous towns or cities, for entering the higher walks of literature and science, and for occupying a position similar to that filled by so many intelligent youth in the colleges of our own country. Many, too, in pagan countries, have been taught by our Missionaries in languages never before committed to writing; so that the scholars are the first of their tribes who have ever been instructed to read. A large number of schools, especially in the East-and they are confessedly some of the most valuable and important-are devoted exclusively to the education of the female sex, in countries where that sex has not only been undervalued, but, in innumerable cases, kept in a state of profound ignorance. These Female Schools are ably and vigilantly watched over by intelligent, devoted, and morally heroic women, particularly from the British empire, and the United States; and thus, in reference to Chris

tian education, as well as civil and religious liberty, these two mighty kingdoms move closely and harmoniously together. It is delightful to consider in what manner many of these schools, established by our excellent Missionaries, have been regarded, and how they have been blest. Applications, in many quarters, are far too numerous to be entertained. Funds are requisite to secure not only a large, but an almost unlimited extension of the advantages of such institutions. In the great cities of India, even Brahmins send their sons, without any hesitancy whatever. Is not this already a grand and mighty result of the Missionary enterprise? And who can calculate its importance and wonderful efficiency in reference to unborn generations?

effected, in all quarters, great things. The minds of tens, and even hundreds of thousands of children, youth, and some near maturity, taught in them, have been awakened and enlarged; thought has been induced; correct acquaintance with Christianity and its disciples has been furnished; erroneous and pernicious systems of philosophy, of morals, of religion, have been exposed; vicious habits, in countries where the moral dangers are so fearful, have been counteracted; intelligent and promising hearers of the word of God have been raised up and sent into the mission churches and chapels; efficient teachers have been, in many instances, produced in these schools; in a large number of cases genuine conversion has been the result, and many native preachers have been eventually brought forth to proclaim the simple gospel of Christ to their benighted countrymen. Besides, as has been stated, priestly influence, the authority of the legitimately constituted heathen priests of various grades, has been by our mission schools and higher seminaries materially diminished; an intelligent, inquiring, and superior body of indivi