the Infinite can estimate the fruits of these doings, as they shall hereafter cover the soil where the seed is first deposited, as a return of blessings, not less rich and abundant, shall make glad the older portions of our country,-and the joyous harvest-home be shouted across every continent, and reach the remotest islands in the bosom of the sea!

Look then, for one moment, at these results, in this three-fold relation, as they will affect the West, our country at large, and the world we inhabit. Had I the talent for such an execution, I would present a picture to the eye of the imagination, or rather to the eye of faith, which would elevate our enterprise to a commanding pinnacle where it ought to stand, and bring it out in a radiance of light, till every eye should be attracted by its imposing moral grandeur! We are at work for ages to come, in the present world, and for the ages which are always coming, and never waste away, in another! Survey this broad and beauteous valley, a half century or a century hence, under the benign influence of the agencies put in motion by this Board, filled with schools of every order, and especially with the higher seminaries for instruction in science, and classical literature, and theological learning. Its population may then be computed by hundreds of millions,-and these vast multitudes enlightened, industrious and happy. The institutions of knowledge and piety we sustain, will send out their streams to bless the land, and science and religion will mingle their waters to refresh a grateful people. What more benign or blessed work could we project or accomplish, than to plant another New England, or raise up such a population as New England has furnished in some other portions of our country, beyond the mountains? If we do our duty to the West, that smiling valley, while the world stands, will reap the benefits of our well-timed labors.

Nor will these blessings be confined to that valley. A reflex influence may be looked for. We ourselves, and all the East, and all this American Republic, till the last ages of our confederacy, will share in the consequences of every wisely directed blow in the Western field. I have said, the inhabitants of that portion of our country are to be,-and at no remote period, the majority, and give us laws, and give us rulers; and, from the very nature of our government, we must feel our full share of the influence of their wisdom or folly. If they are intelligent and pious, and stand in their place, and discharge their social responsibilities, in the great brotherhood of this Republic, we are blessed as well as they. When the anthem of gladness shall be lifted up in that valley, and be shouted from the great Appalachian chain to the rugged cliffs of the Rocky Mountains, and shall roll down the western slope to the shores of the mighty Pacific, we too, on the Atlantic borders, shall be permitted to join in the loud choral hallelujah! The cup of their happiness will also be ours. By their

intelligence and prosperity, our whole nation will be protected and saved.

If any would estimate correctly the influence of the higher institutions of learning upon the future destinies of the West, he must examine and see what they have done for the East. They have made New England and the other northern Atlantic States what they are. Their agency in civilization and the progress of society can hardly be overrated. Take a few facts. "More than half of the graduates of Harvard University, for the first sixty years of its existence, became ministers of the gospel. Nearly three-fourths of the graduates of Yale, for the first twelve years, entered the ministry, and a little less than one-half during the first thirty years." Of the eight hundred graduates of Middlebury College, nearly one half have devoted themselves to the same office, and twenty-three have entered the foreign missionary field. In civil life the long list of governors, senators, justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, and judges of the highest State courts, distinguished members of Congress, and the lights of medical and legal science, can bear testimony to the pre-eminent importance of these and other similar institutions.

Nor is the world to be excluded from those blessings which we are endeavoring to secure, under God, for our Western brethren. Remote nations, and unborn and distant ages, may be sharers in our success or defeat. The poet hath said of "mercy"

"It is twice bless'd,

It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes."

But the truth would not be marred, if the poetry should be, if we were to affirm, that it is indeed thrice blessed,-it not only blesses him that gives and him that takes, but it blesses those who witness the noble deed, and come within the sphere of its influence. The world becomes the ultimate gainer. The reflex action rests not alone upon the benefactor. Every generous, Christian enterprise becomes a glowing, radiant point, from which rays of light and truth are sent out, through the whole circumference of the circle, to cheer and bless the race. I have long believed, that God directed our forefathers to the bleak coast of New England, and planted their feet on the rock of Plymouth, and, after having deeply schooled them in the lessons of adversity, made them a prosperous and happy people, that they may bear a prominent part in the conversion of the world to Christ. And they have been the pioneers from this continent, in this work. Their incipient doings. and sacrifices have been blessed. But we need the West with us. We need their talents, and influence, and future resources. We need their future men and means. Indeed, we need the nation with us. And this co-operation can be secured only by the united influence of knowledge and religion. If the experiment of popu

lar institutions and a free Christianity should fail here, it will fail because the nation, in its far distant and extending borders, is permitted to be overrun by ignorance and impiety. And should this experiment fail, it would be a dark day to the nations. It would be like another earthly apostasy, or the fall of another morning star from Heaven! But let the colleges, and academies, and schools, and Orthodox Churches of the best portions of the East, be spread all over our Western country, and, under the Divine protection, they are safe, and we are safe, and this land will send forth, under the banner of the Son of God, a trained and mighty army to the peaceful and bloodless subjugation of the world.

SERMON CCCCXLIII.

BY THE LATE REV. DANIEL A. CLARK. Furnished, from the unpublished manuscripts of the author, by his son, Rev. F. G. CLARK.

THE IMPORTUNATE PRAYER.

Oh, Lord! How long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear?-Hab. 1., 2. In the winter of 1829-1830, during one of the first "protracted meetings" that was held in this part of the country, and which preceded a powerful revival of religion, there came in the town of

a moment of awful suspense. The children had seemed to come to the birth, and there was not strength to bring forth. Meetings of high interest had been held for several days. A powerful sermon upon the parable of the prodigal son had been preached on the Saturday evening previous, when it was supposed that some fifty or more had listened for the first time to the message of eternal mercy. But nearly four days had now elapsed since the commencement of the meeting, and the apprehension began to be felt that the words of the prophet might be descriptive of our state: "Oh, Lord! how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear?" It was the opinion of the brethren that we must unite special prayer with another effort, throwing the whole responsibility upon the Lord, and applying to him to vindicate his own honor, and give us a little reviving in our bondage. There was a silent agreement to do so, and the inquiry was made, "Who shall address us?" We had come together without much concert, to pray and preach the gospel, for several days, as was not unusual at that time; leaving it with God to direct all the movements from day to day.

The preacher being selected, he rose and offered to preach if the brethren would not leave him to stand alone, but would be much in prayer; after which he named the text above mentioned: "Oh, Lord! how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear ?"

The question to be answered is this: How long will God suffer his people to pray, and still neglect to hear?

I answer

I. Till they see the plague of their own hearts-till each one sees his own individual iniquities, and lies in the dust before God. Each must learn what there is that stands between God and his own soul, and shuts out his prayers, and when he thus lies between the porch and the altar, and supplicates "with strong crying and tears," God will lift him up, and speak kindly to him, and allow him to come boldly to his throne, that he "may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need."

II. God will let his people cry, and will not hear, till the church feels that she stands in the gap between God and a sin-destroyed world, and that he will be inquired of to do all that he has promised, to give unto the sons of men "a new heart and a right spirit." Christians must feel that they have special audience at the throne of grace; that to them the sceptre of mercy is ever extended, and that God will put honor upon their prayers.

III. God will let his people cry, and will not hear, till they are willing to do whatever of duty he requires, in addition to praying. If God would have them spend much of their time in arousing their brethren to duty, in passing from house to house and pressing home the truth upon the conscience and the heart, "in season and out of season," they must do all this or they cannot hope for a revival, and this may be a field where the Christian must labor as

hard as the men of the world.

IV. God will let his people cry and not hear them, till they move the stumbling-blocks out of the way of a revival of his work. It may be that some of the professed people of God "drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils ;" it may be that they are sleeping in seed-time, and must "beg in harvest and have nothing." They may not hear the sound of their Master's feet at the door, nor heed at all the midnight cry. When the savages of our Western wilds were wont to meet for feasting and carousal, they used to appoint a sentinel, who should watch them when overcome with sleep, and give timely notice of the approach of any foe. If Christians were thus watchful, how often would it save them from being ensnared and taken?

V. Finally, God will let his people cry and not hear, if he sees in them any disposition to withhold from him the glory of the work he does. The glory due to himself he will not even share with another. If he must "make his people willing in the day of his power," he will have all the praise. "His glory he will not

give to another." The work of grace in the human soul must be begun, continued, and ended by Divine power. The sinner lies inactive and inoperative till he is "created in Jesus Christ unto good works," and becomes a new creature in him. It is "not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts."

REMARKS.

1. We see from this subject why so many prayers seem to be offered in vain.

2. We see some of the causes of spiritual declension in the Church.

3. This subject shows us how we should set about raising the Church from her low estate.

4. We see the duty of every Christian to search well his own heart. Such hindrances to a revival are the sins of individuals. Each Christian, therefore, must search and purify himself.

5. Lastly, since the Church is by Divine appointment the medium of communicating spiritual blessings to a perishing world, how fearful is her responsibility; and how great should be her watchfulness, lest by her apathy, her selfishness, or her unbelief, she hinder the work of the Lord.

SERMON CCCCXLIV.

BY THE LATE REV. DANIEL A. CLARK.

FATAL TENDENCIES OF UNBELIEF.

To whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not?-HEB. III., 18.

THIS text may be taken as setting forth the fatal tendencies of unbelief. The question is asked with regard to ancient Israel, but is equally applicable to sinners of all ages and nations. Mankind are wont to attribute the loss of the soul to other causes than the sin of unbelief.

I. I proceed to mention a few of these alleged causes, with a view to show that the soul's loss is not justly due to them.

1. In the first place, I remark that sinners do not perish for