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    tegaftf to others also ; And then why should ministers preach- ; why did Jesiis dief ? Was it merely to rescue men from the present consequences of their actions ? At least , if the benevolent amongst us regarded the effects of their exertions as limited to this state , would not their inducements be

    materially diminished ? It is in the power of God to make the wicked happy hereafter without the aid of man ; and if we are to infer that he will do so the Christian Scriptures are wrong in their general tenour , and the greatest prompter to benevolent exertion is taken from us . Will it be pleaded that the state of the Heathen is involuntary , because they are deprived of the advantages which Christians enjoy ? This plea , however , TVill scarcely place a difference between the case of the Heathen and that of

    the wicked in Christian countries ; for in how many instances dpes vice result from disadvantages and the want of proper opportunities ! Nay , may we not assert as a general fact , that the wicked amongst us are so because they have not had the means of being good ? Their location in society , equally as the location of the Heathen in distant lands , has precluded them from virtuous influences . It avails them not to live in a Christian country

    if the principles and practice of their parents and associates are adverse to piety and goodness . Previously , however , to the advent of Christ , the whole Genftle world Was in a condition similar to that in which the Heathen now are . Did not Christianity offer to those who believed , eternal as well as temporal benefits ? If so , then at that period the future as well as the actual state of the Heathen was affected by the promulgation of the reYigioii

    of Christ , and consequently would not have been what it has actually proved , had they not received the message which it brought . I see no reason for believing that what was true of the Heathen in the days of Jesus is now false ; that then their future condition was affected by the want or the possession of Christianity , but now their present interests onl y are concerned .

    ; If , however , it Is only the present interests of the Heathen that are concerned , this feet should be plainly stated ; and then we shall have to judge between good and evil ; the probable benefit to ensue from their reception of the Christian religion , and the almost certain evil which the Heathen will suffer by giving up old-cherished and efficient principles of action , and by the contamination whteih civilized nations will communicate to them , together with their manners , customs , and religion . 1 do not mean to deny that

    the result upon the whole would be beneficial to the Heathen ; but I regard it as equally certain , that in many cases evil , not good , would be the immemiate effect . Take away , then , the consideration of futurity , and how small , comparatively , is the inducement to the conversion of the Heathen ! For myself , I had not been accustomed to regard the possession or the want

    of Christianity as matters between which so little difference obtained , arid certainly when I turn to the pages of the New Testament , I find neither in the language nor the conduct of Jesus and his apostles any thing to warrant such a conception . They speak and act as though interests of the greatest magnitude rested upon their conduct ; nor can I easily imagine that it is not our duty , in this as in every other instance , to imbibe their spirit .

    "But , " continues the Reviewer , " an intervening contingency is thus p laced between the manifestations of God ' s love , find the creatures who need -it" Granting this to be true , we have the uniform Course of Divine providence to shew that such an intervention is compatible with perfect wisdom and goodness . In this world it is certain the intervention is constant ; and this circumstance is enough to prove that there is nothing in the

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    50 tt Msshns to the Heathen . t

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), May 2, 1828, page 300, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2560/page/12/