1 10 ... 131 ... 66 Εισι τοινυν τινες δι τοτ' εξελέγχειν τον παριονία διονται, επειδαν ερωτήσωσι τι ουν χρη ποιεῖν ; οις εγω μεν το δικαιοτατον και αληθέςατον τέτο αποκρινόμαι, ταυλα μη ποιεῖν ἃ νυνι ποιεῖτε· ου μην αλλα και καθ' εκατόν ακριβώς ερω· και ὅπως, ὥσπερ ερωτώσι προθύμως, ούτω και ποιῶν εθελησᾶσιν.” DEMOSTHENES : Cherronesus. "We have those among us, who deem a speaker fully refuted by asking in a taunting manner, What then must be done? To whom I answer,--and I cannot conceive of reply better founded in truth and justice,-Any thing rather than what you are now doing! I will state the matter with the most explicit distinctness. But I have a right to insist that they, who are so eager to demand a plan, be not less earnest in working it out." "Not sedentary all: there are who roam WORDSWORTH's Eccles: Sketches. "The Lord, whose work it is, guide us by his Divine Providence, and stir up many promoters among persons of all ranks, that, in these last times, the Salvation of the Heathen may be sought with earnestness, and their conversion promoted by the whole Christian Church." Letter to King George the First, from Ziegenbalg and Gründler, Missionaries at Tranquebar, 1718. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS ON ANCIENT AND MODERN MISSIONS. WHEN the Religion of Jesus was examined, at its first announcement, by the philosopher and sage, it was felt by them to be impracticable by its very benevolence. Its general principles, its primary duties, were the dictates of a perfect philanthropy. The disciples who professed it were enjoined, under every vow and sanction, to carry out its spirit. Their life was to be spent in "doing good to all men." It did not leave the question, What is good? perplexed in doubt. It distinctly showed the nature of the true well-being, and pointed as directly to the only way in which it could be secured. But the existing state of public opinion was little favourable to it. Seldom, in all the course of time, has there arisen an age so flagrantly selfish. Men were "lovers of their own selves." No vestige,―amidst the mouldering heaps of forum, circus, and temple,-survives of refuge for decrepitude or of hospital for disease. So rarely was the abstract sentiment inculcated, that a simple expression of disinterestedness in a Roman comedy struck the assembly which witnessed it, with such surprise at its novelty, B and such delight at its sublimity, that, it is said, one prolonged shout of admiration stayed the performance and endangered the theatre.* Passages incomparably more just and noble abound in the Christian records. This divine Charity, therefore, could not but indicate, by its amiable contrast, all surrounding evils. It prepared itself immediately for their redress. They were, however, deep-lodged in human institutions, as well as coiled about the human heart. They could not be opposed without shocking the pride of those who had hitherto flattered them, or risking the stake of those who had embarked all their interests in their perpetuity. Idolatry was the chief prop and the direst bane of all. Those mischiefs which it did not produce, it most bitterly aggravated. And thus Christianity was compelled, at once, to take a hostile attitude. Had mankind more clearly reasoned, they would have perceived that in this antagonistic influence there was nothing imperious or oppressive; it was only the contest of the light with the darkness, the grappling of the remedy with the disease. But they would not yield. They stood up against it in defence of their favourite passions and aims. The joined battle was inevitable. The struggle was fearful, but the mild victory which decided it, compensated for all its sufferings, and only sought the olive-branch as the fruit and emblem of the triumph. How beautiful is the purpose and illustration of the gospel! "God, having raised up," that is, appointed or designated, "his Son Jesus, sent him to "Homo sum: humani nihil a me alienum puto.”— Terence: Heautontimorumenos. Lin: 25. bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities!" The polytheism, then overthrown, leaves no ground for fear respecting any other. Its mythology was taught to the associations of the earliest infancy, was embodied in the noblest forms of art, and entwined itself with the origin of states. It is difficult to withstand its enchantment still. The poetic legend, the gleaming marble, the pillared temple, the speaking statue,—the graceful robe, the mystic fillet, the symbolic procession, the bearded pontiff, the mighty orator, the crowned monarch,—the charm of the scenery,. the clearness of the atmosphere, the imagination of the multitude,—dome bending itself to the azure concave above it, pediment sculptured with the dreams of the classic antiquity, the intermixture of all with the institutions of education and policy,-the ever present recollection in gymnasium as well as sanctuary,-the romance and pageant,-the exhaustion of taste, genius, and splendour upon its fables and ceremonies,—even to our own times, constitute the ancient Paganism a marvel of all that was attractive and magnificent. Yet did the twelve poor followers of the Crucified One lay this stately, towering, system low. They lived to see it, not fallen but shaken, not absolutely renounced but narrowly scanned, not utterly deserted but coldly neglected; and though they perished themselves in the struggle they beheld the structure smitten by a blow, and rocking with a feebleness, which assured them of its certain and speedy subversion. They calmly in their writings and discourses alluded to rites and usages |