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 Miller, Samuel, 1769-1850. 
 Letters on the observance of 
 the Monthly concert m 
 
LETTERS 
 
 ON THE OBSERVANCE 
 
 OF THE 
 
 MONTHLY CONCERT IN PRAYER 
 
 ADDRESSED TO THE 
 
 MEMBERS OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN 
 THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 BY SAMUEL MILLER, D. D., 
 
 Profostor in Ibe Theological Seminary at Princetoa, New Jeney. 
 
 I 
 
 PHILADELPHIA : 
 PRESBYTERIAN BO.VKD OF PUBLICATION. 
 
ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 The writer of the following Letters 
 was requested by a revered and be- 
 loved friend to prepare something for 
 publication on the subject to which 
 they relate. He felt the more disposed 
 to comply with this request, as he 
 was not able to refer his friend to any 
 existing manual on the same subject. 
 The substance of what is found in the 
 ensuing pages, was communicated in 
 four numbers in a periodical. The 
 whole is now presented in a revised 
 and somewhat different form, with the 
 humble hope that it may be blessed 
 to the advancement of that precious 
 cause for which alone it is desirable to 
 
 live. 
 
 Frinceton, Sept. 30,1845. 
 
 (3) 
 
CONTENTS. 
 LETTER 1. 
 
 Page. 
 
 Introductory Remarks — History of the Monthly Con- 
 cert — Duty and Importance of attending it, 7 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 Hints as to the best methods of conducting the 
 Monthly Concert, 31 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 The Duty of connecting Contributions with Prayer, 51 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 
 Concluding Remarks — Appeals and Exhortation, 77 
 
 (5) 
 
LETTERS 
 
 ON THE 
 
 OBSERVANCE OF THE MONTHLY CONCERT. 
 LETTER I. 
 
 Introductory remarks — Origin of the Monthly Concert- 
 Duty and Importance of attending it. 
 
 Christian Brethren : In the heart of every sin- 
 cere disciple of Christ, there is no sentiment 
 more firmly fixed, or more habitually recog- 
 nized, than that of his entire dependence on 
 God for every blessing, and the necessity and 
 duty of unceasing prayer for all that he 
 needs. Man can, in his own wisdom, devise 
 nothing aright ; he can, in his own strength, 
 accomplish nothing. It is not by human 
 might or power, but by the Spirit of the liv- 
 ing God, that any thing truly good is ever 
 done towards promoting the spiritual inter- 
 ests of individuals or of mankind. In his 
 hands are the hearts of all men, and he can 
 " turn them whithersoever he pleaseth, as the 
 rivers of water are turned." We may devise 
 
8 LETTERS ON THE OBSERVANCE 
 
 t!ie most promising plans for doing good ; we 
 may gather round us the most ample means 
 for carrying our plans into etfect ; and yet, af- 
 ter all, unless he " with whom is the residue 
 of the Spirit/' shall add his blessing, and make 
 the means effectual, all will be vain. "Paul 
 may plant, and Apollos may water, but God 
 alone cati give the increase. He that plantcth 
 is nothing, and he that watereth is nothing, 
 but Tfod that showelh mercy." 
 
 This sense of our dependence, for all good, 
 on the power and grace of Cod, is essential 
 to the spirit of true religion. Until we have 
 some real, practical impression of it, we can- 
 not either sincerely or rationally approach 
 God in prayer, or cherish those sentiments 
 which become us as sinners indebted to free 
 and sovereign grace for every blessing. Hence 
 we are exhorted t«)*<pray without ceasing ;" to 
 '< pray always wiili all prayer and supplica- 
 tion in the spirit f' and " in every thing by 
 prayer and supplication with thanksgiving to 
 make known our requests to God." 
 
 And, accordini^ly, we find the pious, in all 
 ages, acknowlodirin:^ their dependence ; im- 
 ploring with humble imporluuity the bless- 
 ings of which they fell their need ; and con- 
 
OF THE MONTHLY CONCERT. 9 
 
 fessing their utter inability to gain them by 
 their own wisdom or strength. 
 
 But further, not only do we find the pious 
 represented throughout the Bible history, as 
 importunately praying for the supply of their 
 own wants, but also as interceding for their 
 friends and brethren, and indeed for the whole 
 church of God, and for the world of mankind. 
 This duty is founded on the divine command 
 to do so, and also on the fact, that every hu- 
 man being is bound to seek the happiness of 
 his race, and, of course, is every Christian pe- 
 culiarly bound to desire and endeavour to pro- 
 mote the welfare of the whole human family, 
 and especially of all who belong to " the 
 household of faith ;" and it shows the wis- 
 dom as well as the benignity of our God, that 
 the discharge of this duty is always adapted 
 to carry with it its own reward. The more 
 we feel and pray for our fellow-men, and, 
 above all, the more we feel and pray for the 
 enlargement of the Redeemer's kingdom, for 
 the return of our revolted world to God and 
 happiness, the more our benevolence is in- 
 creased ; the more we resemble our Father in 
 heaven ; and, of course, the more our own 
 spiritual improvement and happiness are pro- 
 moted. 
 
10 LETTERS ON THE OBSERVANCE 
 
 But not only is intercession a duty incum- 
 bent upon every Christian, and a duty adap- 
 ted to carry a rich benefit along with its dis- 
 charge, but it is equally evident that union im 
 PRAYER is at once commanded, reasonable, 
 and delightful. We are expressly comniand- 
 ed to pray for one another : James v. 16 ; and 
 if all who belong to Christ are " one body in 
 him," and <• members one of another ;" if, 
 when " one member sulfers all the members 
 sutler with it, and when one member rejoices 
 all the members rt-joice with it," it follows 
 that all who really belong to that body must 
 and will deliglit in social united prayer ; prayer 
 in which the llame of love, kindling from 
 heart to heart, shall rise to the mercy-seat 
 with a brighter and warmer atfection. 
 
 Accordingly, our Master m heaven, in a va- 
 riety of instances in his word, has recognized 
 both the duty and the encouragement of this 
 union in prayer on tlie part of his people. " I 
 say unto you, that if any two of you shall 
 agree on earth, touching any thing that they 
 shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Fa- 
 ther which is in heaven." Matt, xviii. 19. 
 And not only have we this explicit promisVy 
 but the example of such prayers, and the re- 
 markable amccw* with which they were crown- 
 
OP THE MONTHLY CONCERT. 11 
 
 ed, in the inspired history, are as numerous as 
 they are striking. When the ancient church 
 was threatened with destruction by the con- 
 spiracy of wicked Ilaman, the pious Esther, 
 being warned by JNlordecai of the impending 
 danger, sent word to the whole body of the 
 the Jewish people within her reach, to spend 
 three days in fasting and united supplication 
 to God for deliverance. They did so ; and 
 by the most wonderful dispensation of Provi- 
 dence, they were delivered from the power 
 of their enemies. When Daniel was called 
 upon by the king of Babylon, to interpret that 
 king's forgotten dream, he engaged a number 
 of his pious friends to unite with him in pray- 
 er, that he might be enabled to comply with 
 tlie king's requisition ; and, in consequence, 
 that was revealed to him which all the wise 
 men and astrologers of the Babylonish court 
 sought to find out in vain. So when the 
 prophet Ezekiel predicted that the house of 
 Israel was " about to be cleansed from all her 
 iniquities ; to have lier waste places built up, 
 and her ruins to become like the garden of 
 Eden," he subjoins in the next chapter, *' yet, 
 thus saith the Lord : I will be enquired of by 
 the house of Israel to do it for them." Eze- 
 kiel XXX vi. 37. In the same strain does the 
 
rj LETTERS ON THE OBSERVANCE 
 
 propliet Isaiah call upon the people of God to 
 be importunate in praying for spiritual mer- 
 cies. " Ye that make mention of the Lord, 
 keep not silence, and give him no rest till he 
 establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise 
 in the earth." Isa. Ixii. 7. In like manner, 
 when the Apostle Peter was thrown into pri- 
 son by Herod, the bloody tyrant, unceasing 
 prayer wiis made by the church for his deliv- 
 erance ; and while they were actually engaged 
 in supplications on his behal!*, he was mira- 
 culously brouirht out of prison, and haj)pily 
 conducted to the very place where his friends 
 were assembled and engaged in interceding 
 for him. Acts xii. It was evidently in an- 
 swer to extraordinary and united prayer, that 
 the Israelites in the wilderness were made vic- 
 torious over the army ol" Amalek. It was in 
 answer to extraordinary and united prayer, 
 that the inunense army of the proud king of 
 Assyria, which threatened the destruction of 
 God's people in the days of Ilezekiah, was 
 destroyed in a single night. It is declared by 
 the prophets Jeremiah and Duniel, to have 
 been in answer to extraordinary and united 
 prayer that (lod's ancient pcoi)le were reMor- 
 ed from the Babylonish captivity to their own 
 land. And it is equally evident that it was 
 
OF THE MONTHLY CONCERT. 13 
 
 in answer to special and united prayer, in 
 conformity with the Saviour's command, that, 
 after tarrying in Jerusalem a number of days, 
 and spending their time in fervent suppUca- 
 tion for the Holy Spirit to be poured out upon 
 them from on high, the day of Pentecost, 
 brought enlargement and glory on the perse- 
 cuted and struggling church. 
 
 It was a deep conviction of the reality and 
 importance of these considerations which led 
 to the commencement of that Concert in 
 Prayer on the first Monday of every month, 
 which lias been so long observed by a large 
 portion of the Protestant churches in this comi- 
 try and in Europe, and which it is a leading 
 object of these pages to recommend to the at- 
 tention and observance of those who profess 
 to love the Redeemer's kingdom. 
 
 This plan of stated union in prayer for the 
 revival of religion, and for tlie spread of the 
 gospel, was commenced in the Church of Scot- 
 laud, almost exactly one hundred years ago. 
 
 In the month, of October, 1744, a number 
 of ministers in Scotland, taking-into considera- 
 tion the state of God's church, and of the world 
 of mankind, " did judge that the Providence 
 of God, at such a day, loudly called such as 
 
 were concerned for the welfare of Zion to 
 
 2 
 
14 LETTERS ON THE OBSERVANCE 
 
 united and extraordinary supplications to the 
 God of all grace, suitably acknowledging him 
 as tlie fountain of all spiritual benefits and 
 blessings in his church ; and earnestly beseech- 
 ing him that he would appear in his glory, 
 and favour Zion, and manifest his compassion 
 to the world of mankuid by an abundant ef- 
 fusion of his Holy Spirit on all the churches ; 
 that he would revive true religion in all. parts 
 of Christendom ; that he would bless all na- 
 tions with the li^ht of the gospel, and fill the 
 whole earth with his glory." 
 
 The authors of this plan, after seeking by 
 prayer for divine direction, determined on the 
 following method of carrying it into elTect, 
 viz : ^' To set apart such time on Saturday 
 evening and Sabbath morning, every week, 
 for the purpose before stated, as other duties 
 might allow ; and, more solemnly, the first 
 Tuesday of each (juarter, (beginning with the 
 first Tuesday of November then next ensu- 
 ing), either the whole day, or part of the day, 
 as persons might find themselves disposed, or 
 think their circumstances would allow ; the 
 time to be spent rithcr in private ]>raying so- 
 cieties, or in })ubHc meetings, or alone in se- 
 cret, as should be found most jjracticable, or 
 judged most couvcuient, by sucli as were 
 
OF THE MONTHLY CONCERT. 15 
 
 willing to join in this service. It was ex- 
 pressly understood by those who entered into 
 this agreement, that they were not to consider 
 themselves as rigorously bound to the particu- 
 lar days or hours specified, whatever their cir- 
 cumstances at the time might be; nor yet to 
 regard those days as holy, or set apart by di- 
 vine authority; but that specified seasons 
 should be agreed upon, chiefly for the pur- 
 pose of guarding against that indolence and 
 forgetfulness to which all are so prone, and 
 securing that concurrence and union in the di- 
 vine exercise, which are so adapted to warm 
 the heart, and to enlist the social principle in 
 the best of all causes." 
 
 This original agreement was limited to two 
 years. At the expiration of that time it was 
 agreed to continue it for seven years longer. 
 In the mean time, so many praying associa- 
 tions were formed, and such a spirit of pray- 
 er for the effusion of the Holy Spirit, was 
 excited and extended in various parts of Scot- 
 land, that the friends of religion were more 
 and more satisfied that their agreement was 
 both wise and useful. Nor was this pious 
 union long confined to Scotland. A large 
 body of ministers in New England concurred 
 in the measure, and, among the rest, the ven- 
 
16 LETTERS ON THE OBSERVAIffCE 
 
 /erable Mr. Edwards, then of NorllKimpton, 
 ' in Massachusetts, afterwards President of the 
 College of" New Jersey, and " w+iose praise 
 is in all the churches," laboured with no small 
 diligence and zeal to recommend and promote 
 the plan. There is reason to believe that this 
 / laudable concert in devotion, though slow in 
 making its way, and though sometimes lan- 
 ^ guishing, has never been wholly abandoned 
 I since the original agreement. 
 ^ In 1 784, soon after the close of our revolu- 
 ^ tionary war, this union in prayer received a 
 new impulse, and commenced a new progress. 
 About thi^ time, also, it received another 
 modification, as to time ; being, for the most 
 part, observed only once in each month, viz : 
 V on the evening of the lirst Monday. One 
 church after another, and one religious de- 
 nomination after another, not only in the Uni- 
 ted States, but in various parts of Cliristen- 
 dom, fell in with it, until we may safely say, 
 J it now pervades the greater part of the evan- 
 gelical world. Even in Asia, in Africa, and 
 m the islands of the sea, when the first Mon- 
 day of each month arrives, the voice of uni- 
 ted prayer is heard, ascending to tlie King ()f 
 Zion, bi.'seeching him to pour out his Spirit 
 on the nations; to revive Ins work where the 
 
OP THE MONTHLr CONCERT. 17 
 
 gospel is enjoyed ; to send it where it is not ; 1 
 and to hasten the conversion of a fallen world X 
 to God. ^ 
 
 The General Assemblyof our church has not "^ 
 only from time to time given its sanction to this C 
 monthly observance, but has, on various oc- \ 
 casions, enjoined attention, to it, in the most 
 earnest and solemn manner ; and, in the year 
 1830, observing that many of the churches 
 under its care manifested a diminution of zeal 
 and punctuality in attending upon this ser- 
 vice, the Assembly issued a Pastoral Letter, ' 
 the main object of which was to call the at- 
 tention of the churches to this important con- 
 cert in prayer; to point out some of the mis- 
 takes into which many have fallen respecting 
 it ; and to urge renewed and solemn attention .-- 
 to it on the part of all the churches. It is 
 evident, from the language of this letter, that 
 the Assembly regarded this subject as one of 
 deep interest, and that they considered the 
 falling off in its observance of which they 
 complained, as an indication of the spiritual 
 state of the church, deeply to be deplored. 
 So far, then, as the sanction of our beloved 
 church can go in regard to tliis matter, we 
 have it expressed in all its length and breadth, 
 and in all its deliberate emphasis. 
 
18 LETTERS ON THE OBSERVAXCE 
 
 A few years later, our General Assembly, 
 observing that this service was again thinly 
 attended, by many ol' oar congregations, on 
 the evening of a week-day, recommended to 
 such of our churches as might find the change 
 convenient, to attend upon it on the first Sab- 
 bath afternoon of every month, for the pur- 
 pose of securing a more full attendance. Ac- 
 cordingly, in a number of churches, this plan 
 has been adopted. Some other churches, 
 while they yet meet for prayer on the first 
 Monday evening of every month, make the 
 pecuniary collection which belongs to it, on 
 the afternoon of the preceding Sabbath, when 
 larger assemblies'are ordinarily in attendance. 
 
 Such being the history of that observance 
 which is known to us by the name of the 
 •' Monthly Concert in Prayer," let me now, 
 Christian brethren, call your attention to those 
 considerations which ought to recommend it 
 to your serious regard. And here, let me ap- 
 peal to your judgment and to your hearts, 
 whether it is easy to conceive of a service 
 more reasonable in its character, invested with 
 more interesting and attractive attributes, or 
 more adapted to address itself to the best feel- 
 ings of the people of God, than this? I am 
 indeed constrained to say, that it has often ap- 
 
OF THE MONTHLY CONCERT. 19 
 
 peared wonderful to me that, on the monthly 
 returns of this season of united prayer, there 
 should not be more feeling, and more deep in- 
 terest directed to this solemn service. Were 
 we left to calculate what might be expected 
 from the nature of the case, we should be 
 ready to say. Surely, on the return of this sea- 
 son, at least every member of the church will 
 be found in his seat, uniting in the common 
 supplication. Surely, every one who claims 
 to be a Christian, will be seen bowing before 
 the throne of grace, and pleading for mercy 
 to the church and the world. But is it found 
 in experience to be so ? Alas ! would that it 
 were ! But no ; in many cases not half, and 
 in some not a third of the communicants of 
 our churches make their appearance in these 
 exercises of special devotion. A considera- 
 ble number of those who are never absent 
 from their seats in the ordinary services of the 
 sanctuary on the Lord's day, are seldom seen 
 in the place where special prayer is wont to 
 be made for the revival of religion, and the 
 enlargement of the kingdom of him, v/hom 
 they profess to regard as the Lord, and the 
 only hope of the world. How shall we ac 
 count for this melancholy fact ? Is the spirit 
 which bears the disciple of Christ to the house 
 
20 LETTERS ON THE OBSERVANCE 
 
 of God on the holy Sabbath, a difTercnt spirit 
 from that which he is called upon to exercise 
 at the monthly return of the concert in pray- 
 er lor the reviv^al of religion, and the sjucad 
 of the glorious gospel ? This will hardly be 
 maintained. How shall we account for it, then, 
 that so many professors of religion, in other re- 
 spects deemed exemplary, allow themselves 
 habitually to neglect a service which might 
 be expected so strongly and peculiarly to in- 
 terest every Christian heart ? The indication 
 is, undoubtedly, anything but favorable to the 
 Christian character of such individuals. Those 
 who love the Saviour will, infallibly, love his 
 kingdom ; and those who sincerely love liis 
 kingdom, will, of course, take an interest in 
 its prosperity ; will be disposed, in proportion 
 to the sincerity and strength of their atfection, 
 to pray for its life and advancement, and to 
 exert themselves, according to their ability, to 
 promote its extension How then, shall we 
 estimate the spiritual character of those who 
 manifest little or nothing of the interest and 
 the disposition which liave been described ? 
 They are certainly wanting in one of the best 
 evidences that they belong to the kingdom of 
 Christ. I would solemnly and atfectionatcly 
 entreat all such persons to examine well the 
 
OF THE MONTHLY CONCERT. 21 
 
 hope which they cherish, that they really be- 
 long to the spiritual kingdom of the Redeemer 
 Let none say, as an excuse for neglecting 
 the monthly service in question, that it is a 
 mere human appointment, and therefore not 
 obligatory on the conscience as are the Chris- 
 tian Sabbath, and^he divinely appointed or- 
 dinances for that lioly day. True, indeed, it 
 is a human appointment in regard to the time 
 of its occurrence ; but so are all the lectures 
 and prayer meetings which occur on any of 
 the secular evenings of the week ; and so are 
 the special services preparatory to the admin- 
 istration of the Lord's Supper, which are ob- 
 served without scruple in a large number of 
 Christian churches. Bat what should we 
 think of any one professing to be a Christian, 
 who should turn his back on these services, 
 however much esteemed and attended upon 
 by his fellow professors, under the pretext 
 that they were not specifically enjoined in the 
 word of God ? Surely we should regard 
 such an one as giving miserable evidence of 
 Christian character ; and should consider his 
 professed reverence for the word of God and 
 for the services of the Sabbath, as a hypo- 
 critical cover for the absence of all spiritual 
 
22 LETTERS ON THE OBSERVANCB 
 
 taiste, and of all real concern for the prosperi- 
 ty of the Redeemer's kingdom. 
 
 But the })lea of not having an express di- 
 vine warrant for the observance of a particu- 
 lar stated day, at the beginning of every 
 month, to unite in prayer, for the revival of 
 religion, and for the spread of the gospel, is 
 altogether unfounded and delusive. That we 
 are bound by express divine authority, to pray 
 without ceasing for tliese objects, is abundant- 
 ly evident from the word of God, in passa- 
 ges either of preceptor example almost num- 
 berless. That we are bound, not merely to 
 pray in secret, but to unite whh our fellow- 
 christians in interceding for the prosperity and 
 enlargement of Zion, is equally evident. How 
 frequently, and at what particular times and 
 places, they shall come together for this pur- 
 pose, is not, indeed, specifically stated by di- 
 vine authority, but iiuist be matter of volun- 
 tary agreement among those wlio unite in the 
 service. The great duty of public worship 
 on the first day of the week, may be plainly 
 deduced from the word of God ; but how 
 often, and at what hours on that day, the con- 
 gregations in each place shall assemble, must 
 of necessity be left in each congregation to 
 conventional agreement, liiii if it bo the 
 
OF THE MONTHLY CONCERT. 23 
 
 duty of Christians to desire and pray that re- 
 ligion may be revived, and the world con- 
 verted to God; and if it be their duty to 
 unite in praying for these objects ; how shall 
 they ever statedly come together without 
 agreeing on some time and place for that pur- 
 pose ? And does this voluntary agreement 
 as to the time and place for the performance 
 of a commanded duty, destroy its character 
 as a duty ? Surely, it were unreasonable to 
 suppose this. But when such a union is ei- 
 ther formally or tacitly agreed upon, and is 
 afterwards neglected by those who do not re- 
 ally unite in this service in any other social 
 form, or at any other time, is it possible to ac- 
 quit them of the charge of turning their backs 
 on a plain and obvious Christian obligation? 
 Suppose a pastor should appoint a prayer 
 meeting to be held on some secular evening 
 of each week, by such of the people of his 
 charge as chose to attend upon it, for promo- 
 ting the great purposes of devotion and in- 
 struction. Meetings of this kind actually 
 exist in most Presbyterian churllies in which 
 the spirit of piety has any place. Now sup- 
 pose some of the members of the church 
 should never make their appearance at these 
 meetings, and should speak against them as 
 
24 LETTERS ON THE OBSERVANCE 
 
 uncommanded will worship. What would be 
 thought of their Christian character ? Would 
 even charity herself be able to regard them 
 as exemplary, zealous, healthful Christians ? 
 I need not wait for an answer. The public 
 voice, even of the world, would pronounce 
 their example altogether inconsistent with 
 their profession, and utterly unworthy of it. 
 Bear with me, then, Christian brethren, if 
 I venture to expostulate with those who claim 
 to be the disciples of Christ, and yet are sel- 
 dom or never seen to attend on this solemn 
 monthly service, observed by the churches 
 with which they claim to be connected. Do 
 you profess really to love the kingdom of the 
 Redeemer ? Do you profess to believe that 
 the human race is in a lost and perishing con- 
 dition ; that there is no salvation but in Christ ; 
 and that the reception of His religion in this 
 world, is the only method by which men can 
 be made happy hero, and happy forever ? If 
 you are really sincere in this belief, can you 
 refrain from fervent prayer that the kingdom 
 of Christ may prosper and be gloriously ex- 
 tended ? Clui you stand aloof, and hold your 
 peace, when thousands around you are uni- 
 ting their supplications for the spread of the 
 gospel ? Can you hear of the people of God 
 
OF THE MONTHLY CONCERT. 25 
 
 assembling, from month to month, in your 
 neighbourhood, to pray for this object, with- 
 out feehng an incHnation to join them ? Can 
 you receive inteUigence, from time to time, of 
 the darkness, corruption, and misery, of a 
 large portion of our race, while destitute of 
 the gospel, without having your spirits stirred 
 within you, to pray and labour for their re- 
 lief? If you can, where is the evidence that 
 you love the Saviour ? Where the ground 
 of hope that you have any " part or lot" in his 
 great salvation ? 
 
 It may, indeed, be sometimes inconvenient 
 to attend on this monthly service, and now 
 and then highly inconvenient ; just as a con- 
 currence of adverse circumstances may occa- 
 sionally render it difficult to reach the house 
 of God on the Lord's day. Where there is 
 little taste for spiritual things, and the preva- 
 lence of a cold, worldly spirit, the smallest 
 difficulties are often found to prevent all at- 
 tendance. But where there is a cordial rel- 
 ish for the service of the sanctuary, and an 
 ardent zeal for the glory of God, and the wel- 
 fare of perishing men, ordinary hindrances 
 give way, and the desired opportunity is at- 
 tained and enjoyed. We may apply here, as 
 
 well as in a multitude of temporal thmgs, the 
 
 3 
 
26 LETTERS OX THE OBSERVANCE 
 
 old proverb, " Where there is a will, there 
 is a way." Aud where there is a heart 
 which knows any thing of sincere love to 
 Christ, and fervent love for the souls of men, 
 this way will generally be found by those 
 who have bodily health and strength enough 
 to allow of their enjoying the precious privi- 
 lege. 
 
 Let me ask those who are seldom seen at 
 the monthly prayer meeting, how their excu- 
 ses will appear in a dying hour, and at a 
 judgment seat? I am very sure that many 
 of those causes which are now admitted as 
 an apology for staying at home, or devoting 
 those evenings to mammon or to pleasure, in. 
 preference to attending at the place where 
 " prayer is wont to be made," will not be re- 
 garded as suflicient, when we come to those 
 honest and solemn seasons which are before 
 us all, and which will " try every man's work 
 of what sort it is." Then, then, it will be 
 seen, that a want of interest in the service, 
 was the real and chief reason of the absence 
 of multitudes ; and that such a service has, 
 indeed, little attraction for those who have no 
 more of what belongs to the Christian, than 
 the venerated name. 
 
 Do you forget, my beloved friends, that, in 
 
OF THE MONTHLY CONCERT. 27 
 
 making it your duty to pray and labour with- 
 out ceasing for the spread of the gospel, and for 
 the conversion of the world to God, the great 
 Head of the church, is consulting our own 
 good, as well as that of the poor heathen, and 
 of all those destitute portions of our race in 
 behalf of whom we labour and pray ? But 
 is it not certainly and demonstrably so ? Is 
 not love to God and love to man the sum and 
 substance of all religion ? Is not everything 
 which serves to increase and strengthen these 
 affections, conducive to our own peace, to 
 the attainment of higher evidence that we 
 belong to Christ, and, of course, to our solid 
 and permanent scriptural enjoyment? The 
 truth is, the less our hearts are occupied about 
 the Redeemer's kingdom, the less our atten- 
 tion is drawn to it ; the less our solicitude for 
 its prosperity and enlargement ; the less our 
 sense of the value of the gospel, which will 
 always be proportioned to our sympathy for 
 those who have it not ; the less religion, of 
 course, we have, and, consequently, the less 
 our enjoyment of it. Surely, then, those who 
 neglect the stated exercise of which I am 
 speaking, forget their own mercies, and wrong 
 their own souls. They cannot but fail of that 
 spiritual enjoyment which is so truly desira-: 
 
28 LETTERS ON THE OBSERVANCE 
 
 ble and precious in itself, and which forms so 
 large a part of that evidence that the grace 
 of God dwells and reigns within us, and is 
 preparing us for that holy and happy kingdom, 
 in which '' that which is in part shall be done 
 away, and that which is perfect shall come.'^ 
 Do you desire, then, Christian brethren, to 
 receive a benefit from time to time in your 
 own souls ? There is not a more direct me- 
 thod of making this attainment, than to turn 
 away from all earthly idols to the cause and glo- 
 ry of Christ. Do you wish to enter more deeply 
 than you have ever yet done, into the interest 
 and glory of the Redeemer's kingdom? Would 
 you feel more for the wants and miseries of 
 your fellow-men, and cherish a stronger de- 
 sire for the promotion of their temporal and 
 eternal happiness ? Then embrace every op- 
 portunity of going where the people of God 
 are assembled, to implore a blessing on the 
 church and the world. There, and only there 
 may you expect to feel your hearts warmed 
 with love to your Master in heaven, and with 
 love to his people. There, and there only 
 may you expect the llame of sanctified afi'ec- 
 tion to kindle from heart to heart, and to 
 make your spirits as it were " the. chariot of 
 a willing people." Alas ! if the professing 
 
OP THE MONTHLY CONCERT. 29 
 
 people of God could be made to feel how 
 much spiritual benefit and enjoyment they 
 deprive themselves of, by abstaining from that 
 precious union in prayer for the extension of 
 the Redeemer's kingdom, which has been for 
 so many centuries the practice of millions of 
 the disciples of Christ in every quarter of the 
 globe — nay, if they would lay to heart as they 
 ought, that their neglect of the precious pri- 
 vilege in question, and of similar privile- 
 ges, is among the causes of their leanness, 
 their spiritual darkness, and their retrogres- 
 sion in the divine life, they would no longer 
 regard this neglect as a small affair in the life 
 of a traveller to the Zion above. 
 
 It is common, and it is just to say, that no- 
 thing done for Christ is ever lost. But it is 
 equally just to say, that nothing done with a 
 proper spirit for ourselves is ever lost. Every 
 sincere attempt to perform duty, leaves a bles- 
 sing behind it to the performer. Every throb 
 of gratitude for mercy, as it were, stamps on 
 the soul a new lineament of conformity to 
 God, and imparts a new element of spiritual 
 joy. Every prayer in which we cordially 
 miite with the people of God, gives a new 
 impulse to the spiritual life, and a new ardour 
 to the vital warmth. They who forget the 
 
 3* 
 
30 LETTERS ON THE OBSERVA!TCE 
 
 seasons of prayer, and the assemblies of God's 
 people, shall become " weaker and weaker;'' 
 but they who wait on the Lord, shall " renew 
 their strength ;" shall " mount up on wings 
 as eagles; shall run and not be weary ; shall 
 walk and not foint." 
 
OF THE MONTHLY CONCERT. 31 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 Hints as to the best methods of conducting the Monthly 
 Concert. 
 
 Christian Brethren : In the preceding letter, 
 on the Monthly Concert in prayer, I have en- 
 deavoured to show the importance of that ex- 
 ercise ; its value as a means of grace ; and 
 how much it is to be lamented that attendance 
 upon it is so much neglected by many profes- 
 sors of religion, belonging to those denomina- 
 tions which acknowledge the general duty of 
 paying respect to it. This neglect was traced 
 to a declining state of religion in the individu- 
 als who indulge it, or to erroneous views of 
 the character and claims of the exercise. But 
 it is probable that the entire blame in relation 
 to this matter ought not to be laid at the door 
 of private members of our churches. 13 o 
 our Pastors in all cases conduct this exercise p 
 in a manner calculated to attract and interest 
 those who attend upon it ? Thin assemblies 
 on the Lord's day, in many of our places of 
 worship, are, doubtless, to be ascribed to the 
 
32 LETTERS ON THE OBSERVANCE 
 
 want of attraction on the part of the officia- 
 ting ministers. Can it be any marvel, then, 
 if, when the monthly exercise of which we 
 speak fails to secure that large and general at- 
 tendance which its nature demands, we should 
 feel constrained to lay at least a portion of the 
 blame at the door of pastors, who will not 
 take the pains to engage in it the attention 
 and the hearts of their people ? So far from 
 such a supposition being improbable or mar- 
 vellous, it would seem that nothing can be 
 more natural or consistent with the strictest 
 justice. 
 
 When I have gone to the house of God, at 
 the beginning of each month, and have there 
 found assembled three or four dozen hearers, 
 out of, perhaps, three or four hundred com- 
 municants ; when I have seen every thing 
 wearing the aspect of chilling coldness ; the 
 prayers formal, dull, and full of vain and spir- 
 itless repetition; the pastor manifesting no 
 zeal, and giving no information respecting 
 tlie cause of missions, or the advancement of 
 the Redeemer's kingdom ; and nothing adapt- 
 ed to enlighten, to warm, or to edify, — I have 
 felt as if it was impossible to wonder that the 
 attendance was so small, or that those who 
 
OF THE MONTHLY CONCERT. 33 
 
 did attend seemed to look and feel as if they 
 should care but little ever to attend again. 
 
 Perhaps one of the greatest faults in such -^ 
 meetings, as now too often conducted, is their S 
 continual dull sameness. We are commonly ~ 
 called to unite in a succession of prayers, 
 comprising the same topics, couched in the 
 same or similar terms, and adapted to confine 
 the minds of those who join in them to a 
 narrow field of desires and requests. We 
 justly regard it as one of the advantages 
 which we, as Presbyterians, enjoy, that we 
 are not confined to a liturgy, but are at liber- 
 ty to enlarge and diversify our plan of social 
 prayer, so as to accommodate it to the vari- 
 ous circumstances in which we are placed. 
 There is a love of variety inherent in our na- 
 ture, which may not be, in all cases, unhal- 
 lowed, and which, undoubtedly, ought to be, to 
 some extent, consulted and gratified. That this 
 principle is not sufficiently remembered and 
 consulted in conducting the monthly concert in 
 prayer, has, no doubt, been often lamented by 
 most of those intelligent Christians who have 
 had frequent opportunities of attending on its 
 exercises. Of course, the introduction of an 
 improvement in these exercises, in this re- 
 
34 LETTERS ON THE OBSERVANCE 
 
 spect, would add materially to their attraction 
 and their usefulness. 
 
 Let it be remembered that the objects of 
 prayer contemplated by the original proposers 
 and founders of this monthly service are 
 many, and highly interesting. They are such 
 as these 
 
 Giving thanks that, while unnumbered mil- 
 lions of our fellow-men are destitute of the 
 gospel we are favoured with it, in all its fulness 
 and glory ; beseeching that the kingdom of 
 God may come — that every obstacle to the 
 spread of the gospel may be taken out of the 
 way ; that more labourers may be raised up, 
 properly qualified, and sent forth into the great 
 liarvest ; that the labourers already in the held 
 may be protected and strengthened, and made 
 to speak boldly as they ought to speak ; and 
 that the word of the Lord proclaimed by 
 them may have free course and be glorified ; 
 that the beloved brethren and sisters who have 
 left homes as dear to them as ours can be, for 
 the sake of bearing the word of life to the 
 benighted pagans, may be inspired with wis- 
 dom, and girded with strength, aided in every 
 diliiculty, and comforted in all their sorrows; 
 that the millions throughout the world wlio 
 have never heard the glad tidings of salva- 
 
OP THE MONTHLY CONCERT. 35 
 
 tion, may have them preached to them in pu- 
 rity and power ; that those who have the di- 
 rection and management of selecting and send- 
 ing forth missionaries, and of providing means 
 for their support, may be counselled and gui- 
 ded, and their work crowned with abundant 
 success ; in particular, that the Boards of our 
 beloved church, entrusted with the great work 
 of training candidates for the holy ministry, 
 and afterwards sending them forth to the do- 
 mestic and foreign field of labour, may be 
 enlightened, counselled, and prospered in all 
 their measures ; that the schools established 
 among the heathen, and other destitute parts 
 of the world, for training up children in the 
 nurture and admonition of the Lord, may be 
 multiplied and greatly prospered ; that the 
 Holy Spirit may reach the hearts of young 
 and old among those who are sitting in the 
 region and shadow of death ; that those who 
 call themselves Christians may feel their ob- 
 ligations to send theT gospel to " every crea- 
 ture" who is destitute of it ; that the sleeping 
 church may be roused to a sense of her duty 
 in regard to this great concern 5 that the tri- 
 umphs of evangelical truth may be great and 
 glorious wherever it is sent ; that the great 
 Lord of the harvest would go with his min- 
 
36 LETTERS ON THE OBSERVANCE 
 
 istering servants wherever they go to preach 
 his blessed gospel ; that the pagan heart may 
 be everywhere enlightened and soi'tencd, and 
 the way of the Lord be prepared for the 
 spread of his name among all nations ; that 
 religion may be revived in all our churches ; 
 that wherever the gospel is preached, at home 
 or abroad, it may take a saving elTect on the 
 hearts of men ; and that all ends of the earth 
 may see the salvation of God. These are 
 among the great and precious objects of 
 prayer which ought to fill the hearts, and 
 dwell upon the lips of the assembled wor- 
 shippers at every montlily concert. Here is, 
 surely, matter enough for enlarged, rich, and 
 ever varying petitions. Here are topics suf- 
 ficient in number, and in immeasurable im- 
 portance, to occupy the fixed attention and 
 the absorbing desires and zeal of every Chris- 
 tian. Surely, wherever there is a spark of 
 love to the Saviour, or to the souls of men, 
 such objects as these canliot leave an indiffer- 
 ent heart. 
 
 Many seem to be under the impression 
 that the principal, if not the exclusive object 
 of the Monthly Concert is to pray for the 
 spread of the gospel among the heathen : that 
 the revival of religion among our churches 
 
OF THE MONTHLY CONCERT. 31 
 
 at home, and the extension and success of do- ^ 
 mestic missions, though confessedly of the j 
 highest importance, are not intended to be^ 
 made prominent objects in these monthly ex-/ 
 ercises. This is an unhappy mistake. Every f* 
 thing pertaining to- the spread of the gospel: \ 
 in its purity and power, both at home and \ 
 abroad ; the success of this precious message 
 of mercy where it is already proclaimed, and 
 its speedy and effectual diffusion where it is 
 not ; and, in one word, imploring the divine 
 blessing upon every effort for bringing our 
 own land, and all other lands, into subjection 
 to the Spirit of Christ — are all appropriate to 
 this season of prayer, and all, evidently, en- 
 tered into the plan of those who originally 
 proposed it. 
 
 Not that all these topics are to be consid- 
 ered as essentially making a part of every 
 prayer offered up at the monthly concert ; but 
 that the objects contemplated, and the topics 
 of petition employed, on such occasions, are 
 such as have been mentioned, and are, of 
 course, various, grand and interesting in a 
 high degree, and such as may well engage 
 the whole hearts of all who love the Saviour 
 and his cause. Who would not expect that 
 
 an occasion when such objects as these are 
 
 4 
 
SB LETTERS ON THE OBSERVANCE 
 
 appointed to claim the attention and the pray- 
 ers of an assembly of Christian men and wo- 
 men, would prove an occasion of peculiar so- 
 lemnity, and draw to it every heart that had 
 the smallest desire for the glory of God and 
 the happiness of man ? 
 
 What means, then, ought to he taken by 
 every pastor to render this occasion in the 
 highest degree interesting and profitable, both 
 to himself and to the people of his charge ? 
 I answer, — let him, first of all, by meditation 
 and prayer, labour to keep his own mind in 
 a state of lively interest in regard to this 
 great subject. To this end, let him, through 
 the whole of the preceding month, labour to 
 keep awake and on the inquiry for every 
 kind of missionary information adai)ted to 
 engage, instruct, and edify the Christian peo- 
 ple. Let him gather from every channel of 
 public intelligence, everything bearing on the 
 state of the heathen world, and on the condi- 
 tion of all the dark and destitute places of the 
 earth, whether in our land or elsewhere ; 
 every thing adapted to give the people of liis 
 charge a distinct and strong impression of the 
 real situation of those who are without a 
 knowledge of the gospel — their blindness, 
 their vices, their misery, and their prospects 
 
OF THE MONTHLT CONCERT. 39 
 
 for eternity. Let him collect and exhibit, in 
 the most clear and lively manner that he is 
 able, the recent intelligence from the missiona- 
 ry field — the new plans and efforts of mis- 
 sionary associations — the glad tidings of their 
 success, or the mournful information of their 
 failure. Let him be laying up in store, for 
 the whole preceding month, for this solemn 
 occasion. Thus beginning, the moment one 
 such occasion is over, to prepare for another. 
 Let him carefully make a written memoran- 
 dum of every particular ; and be prepared, 
 when the time for the meeting arrives, to 
 make as lively and affecting an exhibition of 
 the whole as possible ; not by reading long 
 and tedious articles, as is sometimes injudi- 
 ciously done, from missionary papers, but by 
 presenting a rapid outline — a condensed syn- 
 opsis of what has been doing for the whole 
 month, in such a manner as to keep up and 
 reward the attention of an audience for twen- 
 ty-five minutes, or, at the utmost, half an hour 
 at a time. 
 
 How can a minister and his people be ex^ 
 pected to feel aright, or to pray aright, if they 
 do not know the state of the missionary field, 
 its wants and its difficulties, as well as the 
 signal blessings, on the one hand, with which 
 
40 LETTERS ON THE OBSERVANCE 
 
 it has pleased the God of grace to favour it, 
 and on the other, the adversities with which 
 he has seen fit, in his sovereign wisdom, to 
 visit it ? A pious minister was once observed 
 by a Christian friend, during a period of re- 
 markable public anxiety and trouble, to be 
 peculiarly intent on reading the public papers, 
 secular as well as religious. Upon being 
 asked why he was so much employed in this 
 manner, he replied, " I do it that I may know 
 how to pray." The answer was a wise one. 
 Every line of important information that he 
 read, was an additional guide in imploring 
 those blessings which were needed by the 
 church and by the world. 
 
 But while the pastor is careful, in every 
 service of tliis kind, to give rich information 
 to his audience respecting the state of the 
 missionary field; while he considers and 
 treats this as a primary object of the monthly 
 exercise, let it not be forgotten that prayer 
 forms a prominent and vital part of the whole 
 service. Its name imports no less ; and its 
 object is equally decisive in calling for a pre- 
 dominance of that clement. Let no plan, 
 then, for its manaa^emont, be suffered to shut 
 out, or even to abridi^e the proper amount of 
 prayer. Let there be generally tlirec prayers, 
 
OF THE MONTHLY CONCERT. 41 
 
 and never less than two. And let there be 
 an endeavour to have these strictly appropri- 
 ate, from beginning to end. There is often a 
 great lack of this character in the prayers in 
 which we are called to join in the service be- 
 fore us. It is not uncommon to hear those 
 who lead in it employing a large part of their 
 time in common-place topics, in general and 
 extended confession of sin, and in a minute 
 detail of thanksgiving for the common mer- 
 cies of providence as well as of grace. The 
 consequence is, either that those parts of their 
 prayers which belong to the occasion are 
 crowded into the latter part of the exercise, 
 and hurried over in too hasty and superficial 
 a manner ; or that the successive prayers are 
 so inordinately protracted as to become te- 
 dious, and to extend the whole service to an 
 inconvenient length. The prayers on such / 
 occasions ought seldom, very seldom, to ex- 
 ceed seven or eight minutes each, especially 
 when there are more than two. And I know 
 of no better method of securing the proper 
 brevity in our social prayers, than that of'-^^ 
 charging ourselves to be strictly appropriate y ^''' 
 to the occasion, from the first sentence. If 
 this plan were adopted, we should be better 
 able to judge of the length of our own pray- 
 
 4* 
 
42 LETTERS ON THE OBSERVANCE 
 
 ers, and be much more seldom led away by 
 those endless repetitions and wanderings of 
 request, which, though good and edifying in 
 themselves, do not properly belong to the oc- 
 casion. How much more suitable and happy, 
 when all the prayers are truly appropriate ; 
 and when, (as all that is appropriate cannot 
 be comprised in any one prayer,) those who 
 succeed each other are careful to take up and 
 present what those who went before omitted, 
 so as to exhibit something like a comprehen- 
 sive view of all the subjects of petition that 
 ought to be brought forward in the whole ex- 
 ercise. 
 
 And here it may not be improper to sug- 
 gest what I have often thought worthy of 
 more consideration than it has commonly re- 
 ceived. No one can be more friendly to the 
 practice of inviting the lay members of our 
 churches to take the lead in social prayer than 
 the writer of these lines. Such a practice is 
 adapted to dilfuse a spirit of prayer more 
 widely in the church, and to cause a spirit of 
 more active zeal in conducting the affairs of 
 the Redeemer's kingdom, to take a firmer 
 hold of the professors of religion than they 
 would be apt otherwise to possess. Thero is 
 nmch in llic principle of employing men in 
 
OF THE MONTHLY CONCERT. 43 
 
 the service of Zion — giving them something 
 to do, if we would engage them to take a deep 
 and practical interest in her affairs. But 
 there can be no doubt that this has been 
 sometimes done prematurely and uuAvisely. 
 In some congregations it is not unusual to call 
 upon young and inexperienced converts to 
 take the lead in prayer, in social meetings, in 
 less than a week, sometimes even in forty- 
 eight hours after they have been hopefully 
 brought into the kingdom of grace. This is 
 neither prudent nor safe. It is introducing 
 into the place of a leader and guide in sacred 
 things, one whose knowledge is small and 
 crude, who has no suitable experience, and 
 who may give utterance to that which is not 
 " good to the use of edifying." And if it be 
 not productive of this painful effect, it may 
 result in injury to the individual himself; it 
 may become the means of '^puffing up" a 
 "novice" so soon called into public view. 
 
 That the intelligent and warm-hearted con- 
 verts to experimental religion among the laity 
 ought, as before stated, to be trained gradu- 
 ally and discreetly to the work of leading in 
 social prayer, there can be no doubt. But let 
 a moderate and reasonable time elapse, after 
 they are united to the church, before they are 
 
44 LETTERS ON THE OBSERV^ANCE 
 
 called upon to take a part in this service. Let 
 them not be called so publicly into the view 
 of tlie religious community, until their reli- 
 gious knowledge is more mature, and their 
 new character, as professors of religion, bet- 
 ter known and established. And even then, 
 let them be first called upon for this service 
 in the smaller and more private meetings for 
 prayer, that they may, by little and little, gain 
 the confidence and self-possession, and form 
 the habit necessary to an edifying performance 
 of such a duty. 
 
 It has appeared to the writer of these lines 
 that frequently by far too little sound discre- 
 tion is exercised in selecting persons to lead 
 in prayer in the monthly exercises now im- 
 der consideration. In an exercise so impor- 
 tant to the interests of religion, on which so 
 much depends, and in regard to which every 
 etlbrt ought to be made to conduct it in an im- 
 pressive and edifying manner, surely those 
 who are not qualified thus to appear, wlio 
 have little eitiier of the gift or the spirit of 
 prayer, ought to be invited to take a leading 
 part as seldom as possible. The object of in- 
 viting any to take such a part is, not to pay a 
 compliment, not to minister to personal vani- 
 ty, but to edify the church of God, to promote 
 
OF THE MONTHLY CONCERT. 45 
 
 that great cause which the whole service is 
 intended to subserve — the diffusion of a spirit 
 of love to the Redeemer, and of zeal for the 
 extension of his kingdom throughout the 
 world. Can it be necessary to employ argu- 
 ment to prove that every instrumentality em-^ 
 ployed on such an occasion, when a portion 
 of the worldly as well as of the pious may be 
 assembled, ought to be well adapted to an- 
 swer its great end ? It is true, indeed, that, 
 with respect to all the means which we use, 
 our sole reliance ought to be on the power of 
 the Holy Spirit, vouchsafed to render them 
 effectual; still, in spiritual, as in temporal 
 things, " wisdom is profitable to direct," and 
 our constant aim ought to be, as far as possi- 
 ble, to make use of those means only which 
 are adapted to promote the great purpose in 
 view. ' 
 
 From all that has been said, it is easy to see 
 what a weight of responsibility rests on every 
 pastor in conducting this monthly service in 
 such a manner as shall tend most efiectually 
 to answer its great end. What a precious op- 
 portunity it affords for calling the attention of 
 his flock, twelve times a year, to the great 
 duty and the appointed means of converting 
 the world to God ; keeping them constantly 
 
46 LETTERS ON THE OBSERVANCE 
 
 and faithfully informed of the state and the 
 wants of the missionary field ; leading them 
 to the throne of grace to implore a blessing 
 on that field ; and stirring them up, by all the 
 means of argument, expostulation and en- 
 treaty in his power, to a faithful discharge of 
 their duty in causing the gospel to be sent to 
 every creature. 
 
 Perhaps it will be said, that if the monthly 
 prayer meeting be a matter of so much con- 
 sequence, if it bring with it so much duty, 
 and ought to be prepared for with so much 
 care ; then, instead of being regarded, as it 
 too often is, as a sort of bye-business, which 
 may be dispatched without material prepara- 
 tion, it must in reality prove one of the most 
 laborious services in the whole month. This 
 consequence is not denied. It ought indeed 
 to be so regarded, and every ellbrt made to 
 render it the most instructive, the most thril- 
 ling, the most solemn exercise during the 
 month. And can any faitliful pastor, any one 
 who loves his Master in heaven and the souls 
 of men, be unwilling to meet such an exer- 
 cise, and to make all the preparation for it in 
 his power ? Can any service, during any ordi- 
 nary month, be more precious, or more wor- 
 
OF THE MONTHLY CONCERT. 47 
 
 thy of employing all the time, and all the la- 
 bour which can be bestowed upon it ? 
 
 The complaint, that the monthly prayer 
 meeting is not well attended in most of our 
 churches, is, as before observed, an old com- 
 plaint, and I would that we could say it is not 
 well founded. In many cases, not one half, 
 nay, sometimes not one quarter part, even of 
 the communicants are present ; and, in gene- 
 ral, very few indeed of those who are not 
 church members, ever think of attending, un- 
 less it takes place in the afternoon of the 
 Lord's day. And, in truth, this was pro- 
 bably the main reason for the recommenda- 
 tion issued by our General Assembly a few 
 years since, to transfer the observance from 
 the evening of the first Monday of each 
 month, to the afternoon of the first Sabbath. 
 Until this transfer was adopted, only a small 
 portion of our congregations were usually 
 present at this service, and of course only a 
 small part contributed to the pecuniary col- 
 lection commonly made in connection with 
 the service. But is it probable that, if the 
 service itself were made what it ought to be, 
 if indefatigable pains were taken to render it 
 the most instructive, interesting and deeply 
 exciting service in the whole month, that it 
 
46 LETTERS ON THE OBSERVANCE 
 
 would be thus neglected ? There would be 
 no risk in answering this question with the 
 most decisive negative. No, the moment it 
 ceased to be the heavy, monotonous, com- 
 mon-place exercise which we too commonly 
 find it, it would draw the earnest attention, 
 and the full assembly which generally follow 
 ministrations of an elevated character. If 
 every member of each congregation wore 
 taught by experience to expect to find this 
 service rich in information, animating in 
 Christian duty, and in every respect adapted 
 to promote Christian edification, can any one 
 doubt that it would be well attended ? The 
 writer of tliese lines would be very far from 
 encouraging in any minister of the gospel the 
 indulgence of a spirit of indolence for a mo- 
 ment, in any service ; but he would say, with 
 deliberate solemnity, if such a spirit be ever 
 indulged, let it not be at the monthly concert 
 in i)rayer, wlicn his own soul, and the souls 
 of all who liear him, ought to be led out of 
 themselves to the largest concern for the king- 
 dom of tlie Redeemer ; when the desolations 
 of fallen man rise in solenm array before liis 
 mind ; when the wants and miseries of our 
 lost world ought, with concentrated and unu- 
 sual force, to move every heart ; and when 
 
OF THE MONTHLY CONCERT. 49 
 
 every feeling of love to the Master who died 
 for us, and to the souls of perishing men, 
 ought to fill the heart of every listening at- 
 tendant with peculiar and unwonted sympa- 
 thy, and the most fervent zeal for sending to 
 them the only cure for their misery. 
 
 Nor is it difficult, in a variety of ways, to 
 draw the special attention of a Christian 
 flock to this monthly service. Let not only a 
 specific notice of it be given on the preceding 
 Sabbath, if it be observed on Monday eve- 
 ning, or in the morning of the day, if ob- 
 served on Sabbath afternoon ; but let the no- 
 tice be couched in such language, accompa- 
 nied with a sentence or two of such brief and 
 comprehensive remarks, and preceded or fol- 
 lowed by such pointed prayers as may be 
 adapted to rouse the attention, and, in some 
 measure, touch the feelings of every hearer. 
 
 Let the pastor encourage all who attend on 
 this service to bring their children with them. 
 Is it not desirable that our children, from 
 their earliest years, should be habituated to 
 the company and the language of prayer, and 
 that they should be accustomed to the work 
 of contributing something of their little sav- 
 ings for the benefit of those who are " per- 
 ishing for lack of vision?" If we ever ex- 
 
 5 
 
50 LETTERS ON THE OBSERVANCE 
 
 pect them to feel right on this subject, we can- 
 not begin too early to imbue their minds with 
 benevolent sentiments, and to teach them to 
 feel what it will be their duty to practice when 
 they reach mature age. how large a por- 
 tion of Christian parents are deplorably de- 
 linquent in this, one of the primary elements 
 of Christian education — leading their child- 
 ren to a throne of grace, and to the house of 
 God, and leading them also early, by the uni- 
 ted force of precept and example, to remem- 
 ber that, young as they are, they are debtors, 
 deep debtors, to the kingdom of that Saviour 
 in whose name they have been baptized. 
 
 When shall we have monthly concerts con- 
 ducted in the spirit of these suggestions ? 
 When shall we see them bearing a character 
 which shall warm the pastor's own heart, 
 draw around him the mass of his stated hear- 
 ers, as well as of liis church members, and 
 constitute a little monthly era among his peo- 
 ple ? When that period shall arrive, it will 
 mark a season of prosperity and joy in the 
 church. It will be both the clfect and the 
 cause of better days, and will mark the pur- 
 pose of our covenant God to have mercy on 
 Zion. Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly, thus 
 to bless our lialf awake and struggling church I 
 
OP THE MONTHLY CONCERT. 51 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 The duty of connecting Contributions with Prayer. 
 
 Christian Brethren : As the Month^ Prayer 
 Meeting is an observance devoted to the great 
 interests of the revival of reHgion,the spread 
 of the gospel, and the conversion of the world 
 to God, it must, of course, be considered as 
 standing in close connection with every thing 
 that is necessary to the great work of evan- 
 geUzing the population of our globe, and 
 preaching the gospel to every creature. 
 Among these it is evident that contribu- 
 tions for sustaining the expense of missions 
 must ever be comprehended. This accom- 
 paniment of the exercise, is, by many church- 
 es, wholly omitted. This omission, however, 
 ought never to be allowed. Prayer and alms 
 ought ever to go together. When we assem- 
 ble to implore a blessing on the means em- 
 ployed for sending the gospel to the dark and 
 destitute nations, what can be more obvious 
 and reasonable than the duty of furnishing 
 our proportion of the means for carrying oa 
 
5:2 LETTERS ON THE OBSERVANCE 
 
 a work at once so expensive and so pre- 
 cious ? 
 
 We sometimes hear surprise expressed, 
 even by some of our pious people, tliat so 
 much is said at our monthly prayer meetings 
 about money ; that we scarcely ever pass 
 such a meeting without hearing the duty of 
 contributions at least hinted at, if not urgently 
 pressed. But does not this surprise result 
 from the want of consideration ? Is any 
 Christian man, however heavenly-minded — 
 however weaned from the world, able to live 
 himself, or to feed and clothe his family with- 
 out expense ? If the pagans knew the value 
 of the gospel, they would be willing to sus- 
 tain and even liberally to compensate those 
 who carry it to them. But they do not know 
 its value, and of course, those who bear to 
 them the bread of life, must be sustained by 
 those who send them. And is this to be done 
 without funds ; and if the number sent be 
 considerable, without large funds? Can mis- 
 sionaries and their families live upon air? 
 Or can we expect them to be supported by 
 miracle ? We do not expect our own fami- 
 lies to be sustained without money, and we 
 are willing to bestow it for their comfort. 
 Ought we not to be quite as willing, nay, 
 
OP THE MONTHLY CONCERT. 53 
 
 more cordially zealous in aiding to support 
 families who are devoting their time, and all 
 their powers to the advancement of the king- 
 dom of Christ ? What strange forgetfulness 
 and want of practical consideration blind the 
 minds, and affect the judgment of thousands 
 who seldom fail of judging correctly where 
 their supposed interest is not concerned ! 
 Alas ! that the children of this world are apt 
 to be so much wiser and more considerate in 
 their generation than the children of light ! 
 
 I am quite sensible that the subject of pe- 
 cuniary contributions may be made too promi- 
 nent at our monthly prayer meetings. They 
 may be insisted upon with a frequency, and 
 held up in a light which may make them ap- 
 pear to some as the great thing in the spread 
 of the gospel ; and to lead our people to for- 
 get that all the money in the world could not, 
 of itself, convert one soul. This is an un- 
 happy and mischievous extreme. But on 
 the other hand, all the prayers in the world, 
 if alone, will not, cannot extend the cause of 
 Christ in the world, unless God can deny 
 himself 
 
 If we examine the annual statistical re- 
 ports of our church, the mortifying and won- 
 derful fact is disclosed, that nearly, if not quite 
 
 5* 
 
54 LETTERS ON THE OBSERVANCE 
 
 one half of our congregations contribute no- 
 thing, absolutely nothing to the treasury of 
 the Board of Foreign Missions ; and quite as 
 many, if not more, who contribute nothing 
 to Domestic Missions. How many of these 
 churches pay any attention to the monthly 
 prayer meeting, is altogether unknown to the 
 present writer. How much they may pray, 
 either in public or private, for the extension of 
 the Redeemer's kingdom, no ecclesiastical re- 
 cords within reach manifest. But, surely, they 
 give little evidence that their hearts are in 
 these prayers, even if regularly offered up, 
 when so little practical fruit of love and zeal 
 is permitted to appear. This is what the 
 spirit of inspiration calls "loving in word 
 only, and not in deed and in truth." We 
 contended, for a long time, and against much 
 opposition, for the privilege and the opportu- 
 nity of conducting Foreign Missions, as a 
 church. Now that we have gained our ob- 
 ject, shall wc give occasion to the religious 
 public to suppose that we were more anxious 
 t) gain the victory over opposers, than to be 
 empowered to perform the great work for 
 which we professed to contend ? Surely the 
 history of the conflict by which, under the 
 blessing of God, we attained the position 
 
OF THE MONTHLY CONCERT. 55 
 
 which we now occupy, is deeply interesting, 
 and greatly increases our responsibility. Our 
 opposers in that conflict, predicted, that it 
 would be found that we had neither hfe nor 
 zeal enough to carry on to any advantage 
 the work which we undertook. How un- 
 happy if this prediction should be verified ! 
 Surely every consideration of worldly con- 
 sistency, as well as of sanctified principle, 
 calls upon us to arise in all the strength that 
 God may give us, and to pursue in good ear- 
 nest the object which we profess to love, and 
 which we have solicited the power of pur- 
 suing. 
 
 It is not uncommon, indeed, to hear the re- 
 mark, that some congregations are so small 
 and so poor as to be scarcely able to support 
 a pastor ; and that such ought not to be call- 
 ed upon or expected to contribute to the mis- 
 sionary treasury. This doctrine, I am bold 
 to say, has no foundation or countenance in 
 the word of God. No church was ever so 
 feeble or impoverished as to make it impro- 
 per to call upon its members to contribute to 
 the cause of missions. If I were asked how 
 a church, however small or poor, would be 
 most likely to rise and grow ; what would be 
 the surest means of attaining edification and 
 
56 LETTERS ON THE OBSERVANCE 
 
 Strength, I would say with conj5clence — Let 
 it begin in good earnest to pray and exert it- 
 self for sending the gospel to the benighted 
 and perishing. However small its strength, 
 let it rouse that little, such as it is, and engage 
 with fervent prayer, and with heartfelt love 
 for souls, in contributing to the Lord's treasu- 
 ry, and the very eifort would tend to enlarge 
 and build it up. A small church, or a sickly 
 Christian, may fitly be compared to an indi- 
 vidual long enfeebled by disease, who is be- 
 ginning, in the commencement of convales- 
 cence, to employ muscular eftbrt in exercise 
 in the open air. Every effort adds to his 
 strength. He may be so feeble as to feel as 
 if he could scarcely move a limb ; but every 
 movement is salutary and invigorating. So 
 that instead of saying, his weakness forbids 
 liim to take exercise ; he may rather say, 
 that he cannot regain his health without it. 
 In like manner, a small and feeble church, 
 instead of being able with propriety to say — 
 " Wc cimiot allbrd to give alms with our 
 prayers for the extension of the Redeemer's 
 kingdom," — ought rather to say — " We can- 
 not allbrd to live without doing something as 
 well as praying for the salvation of the be- 
 nighted aiid perishing.'* There is no case in 
 
OP THE MONTHLY CONCEPT. 57 
 
 regard to which the proverb of the wise man 
 is more appUcable than here — ^' There is that 
 withholdeth, but it tendeth to poverty-" 
 
 Nay, if I were a pastor, and were engaged 
 in collecting the contributions of Christian 
 liberaUty toward the missionary cause, I 
 should never think of passing the door even 
 of a pauper, whose whole support was de- 
 rived from the charity of the church. If, in- 
 deed, I were soliciting donations for complet- 
 ing the salary of the pastor, or for repairing 
 or rebuilding the house of worship, I should 
 never think of applying to such for aid ; but 
 if the object were to send the gospel to the 
 poor and perishing, as an accompaniment of 
 prayer on their behalf, 1 would not deny, even 
 to the poorest, the opportunity of contribut- 
 ing their cent or half cent per month, which, 
 if they had a proper spirit, would be regard- 
 ed as a precious privilege, and which, when 
 pious wishes and prayers went along, would 
 be accounted, in the sight of the great Search- 
 er of hearts, a more truly acceptable offering 
 than thousands of gold and silver from the 
 overflowing abundance of the rich. There 
 was no scruple, of old, in receiving the contri- 
 butions of the indigent. The poor widow 
 commended by our Lord, who cast " two 
 
58 LETTERS ON THE OBSERVANCE 
 
 mites which make a farthing,'' into the Lord's 
 treasury, is represented as having cast in more, 
 ill the divine estimation, than all the other 
 contributors, however liberal. A pious, but 
 deeply indigent widow, in our own day, in 
 handing her sixpence to the collection for the 
 missionary fund, said, with a starting tear — 
 " This is all I have to give ; but I give it with 
 my whole heart, and am desirous it should 
 go, with my hearty prayers, to the poor hea- 
 then." Was it wrong to receive this pittance 
 from her hands ? Surely not ; unless it be 
 right to turn away from the cordial offering, 
 and the fervent prayers of Christian love, 
 which in the sight of God are of great price. 
 There are those who are heard to com- 
 plain, that collections taken up every month, 
 for the support of missions, are too frequent ; 
 and especially when taken in connection with 
 the contributions for other purposes, called 
 for at intermediate seasons. Surely such 
 complainers have read the records of the 
 people of God, at diflcrent periods of the 
 church's history, with little profit. Under 
 the Old Testament economy, every member 
 of the Jewish commonwealth was required 
 to pay two tithes, or one-fifth part of all his 
 income, for the support of the ministers of 
 
OF THE MONTHLY CONCERT. 59 
 
 religion, and the expense of the daily sacri- 
 fices. And, indeed, little, if any less than one- 
 half of each individual's income was requir- 
 ed to meet all the demands which arose un- 
 der the theocracy. What would be thought 
 of requiring such a proportion of income for 
 the support and spread of the gospel now } 
 And yet that amount of contribution was fix- 
 ed by infinite Wisdom, who perfectly under- 
 stood what was reasonable and for the good 
 of the people. Let us also call to mind the, 
 large and almost boundless charities of the 
 early Christians. The system of tithes was 
 done away when Christ came. No specific 
 assessment was proclaimed by his inspired 
 teachers. The "law of love" seems to have 
 been made the rule for its almost limitless 
 liberality. Let the advocates of modern par- 
 simony read the record of their contributions 
 and sacrifices, and be ashamed of their nar- 
 row calculations. Think how they braved 
 dangers and denied themselves, and poured 
 out their property and even their blood, " Hke 
 water," for spreading the gospel. Yes, amidst 
 all the poverty, and privations, and persecu- 
 tions under which they laboured, they brought 
 offerings for sending the gospel of salvation 
 to others, truly wonderful in the amount. 
 
60 LETTERS ON THE OBSERVANCE 
 
 Nay, they not only gave their substance — 
 sometimes to the last farthing — to this object; 
 but they counted not their Uves too dear to 
 be made an offering for the promotion of the 
 Redeemer's kingdom and glory. In short, 
 for several centuries after the resurrection of 
 Christ, they devoted themselves to the sup- 
 port of the missionary cause with a univer- 
 sality, and to an extent, to which, as far as I 
 know, there is now no parallel. Let the pro- 
 fessing believers in Christ of the present day 
 read this record, and then say, whether those 
 who talk of giving only what is ^-conve- 
 nient" for the spread of the gospel, nay, 
 who appear to grudge the sacrifice even of 
 the smallest luxury, cither in unnecessary 
 dress, or in injurious feasting, can be consid- 
 ered as belonging to the same body, or as ani- 
 mated with the same spirit, with those primi- 
 tive disciples. 
 
 I know one church (not in our connection) 
 by no means wealthy, which has long been 
 in the habit of contributing fifty dollars, eve- 
 ry month, for the support of missions, besides 
 all other claims for the work of benevolence. 
 1 am acquainted with another church, also of 
 medium character as to wealth, and 1 am sor- 
 ry to say, not belonging to our body, which 
 
OP THE MONTHLY CONCERT. 61 
 
 never fails to raise one hundred dollars every 
 month for the same cause, in addition to large 
 liberality toward other objects of charity. 
 Happy should we be if a similar spirit per- 
 vaded our churches ! If all the members 
 of our churches could be prevailed upon each 
 to contribute twenty-five cents at every 
 monthly prayer meeting, or even half that 
 sum, in addition to the aid which hundreds, 
 not members, would be ready cheerfully to 
 give — the Boards to whom we have entrust- 
 ed the missionary work, would have a great 
 sufficiency for carrying into execution all 
 their wise plans. But how distressing to 
 know that even this pittance is more than the 
 great majority of our members can be pre- 
 vailed upon to give ; and that many even of 
 those who profess to come together to pray 
 for the spread of the gospel, while in their 
 addresses to the throne of grace they say to 
 the heathen. Be ye warmed and filled, yet 
 contribute nothing toward sending to them the 
 bread and the water of life. 
 
 Let every professing Christian be asked — 
 Does any month in the whole year pass with- 
 out bringing many mercies to you and yours ? 
 Health, reason, food and raiment, domestic 
 comforts, and above all, the privileges of the 
 
G2 LETTERS ON THE OBSERVANCE 
 
 gospel, are among the number which miceas- 
 ingly call for a grateful acknowledgment and 
 return. Do you owe nothing to the King of 
 Zion for these mercies? Do you owe no- 
 thing for your Bibles, your Sabbaths, your 
 open sanctuaries, your sacramental tables, 
 and all the humanizing, regulating and sanc- 
 tifying effects which these things are constant- 
 ly diffusing around you ? You are not slow- 
 to confess that all these institutions exert an 
 influence to make your children more orderly, 
 your families happier, and the whole aspect 
 of society more regular and blessed. Can 
 we recognize and acknowledge these mercies, 
 and yet feel no disposition to make the small- 
 est grateful offering for promoting the glory 
 of him who is the Author of them all ? 
 
 When the monthly prayer meeting returns, 
 have you the heart, Christian, to turn your 
 back upon it ; and, if you go, to grudge at 
 least a few cents as a thank offering to God, 
 and for imparting the same privileges which 
 you enjoy to those who are perishing for lack 
 of them? Think— think again of your own 
 mercies; and then if you can trample on the 
 obligations which bind you to plan and pro- 
 vide, as well as pray, for the temporal and 
 eternal welfare of those who are destitute of 
 
OP THE MONTHLY CONCERT. 63 
 
 these mercies, how can you dare claim to be 
 the disciples of him who has said — " It is 
 more blessed to give than to receive," and 
 who came to " seek and save that which was 
 lost?" 
 
 We cannot reasonably expect every one 
 who is friendly to the cause of missions to be 
 present at every monthly prayer meeting. 
 Bad weather — sickness — domestic cares — and 
 many events, incapable of being specified, 
 alas ! perhaps, at some times, even spiritual 
 inditference, will keep some at home. But 
 there is no need that obstacles of this kind 
 should prevent any one from forwarding his 
 monthly contribution. He may send it by a 
 son, or daughter, or neighbour. And if, for 
 the accomplishment of this object, he should 
 employ one who has no taste for attending, 
 and who is not accustomed to be there, he 
 may be the means of putting a beloved friend, 
 without seeming to design it, in the way of 
 receiving the richest of all blessings ; a new 
 heart and a right spirit — an introduction to 
 that kingdom which is " not meat and drink, 
 but righteousness, and peace, and joy in t. e 
 Holy Ghost." 
 
 Are any ready to ask. How much is it the 
 duty of each one, on the return of this 
 
64 LETTERS ON THE OBSERVANCE 
 
 monthly service, to give for the great purpose 
 of spreading the gospel ? " It has been fre- 
 quently wished by Christians," says the ex- 
 cellent Dr. Payson, <• that there were some 
 rule laid down in the Bible, fixing the pro- 
 portion of their property which they ought 
 to contribute to religious uses. This is as if 
 a child should go to his father, and say, " Fa- 
 ther, how many times in the day must I come 
 to you with some testimonial of my love ? 
 How often will it be necessary to show my 
 affection for you ?" The father would, of 
 course, reply — " Just as often as your feelings 
 prompt you, my child, and no oftener." Just 
 so Christ says to his people — " Look at me, 
 and see what I have done and suffered for 
 you, and then give me just what you think 
 I deserve. I do not wish any thing forced."* 
 Perhaps a better answer could not be giv- 
 en, when addressed to a gracious and truly 
 grateful heart. But alas ! how inadequate a 
 rule, when presented to the mass of Christian 
 professors! If pnst'nt inclination were the 
 only guide, what stinted and miserable results 
 would, in a multitnde of cases, appear ! An 
 indication of the divine will still more definite 
 and intelligible to all must be summoned to 
 
 * Payson's Mcmoire, p. 381. 
 
OF THE MONTHLr CONCERT. 65 
 
 our aid. True, the demand of a tenth part 
 of our income, as before stated, is no longer 
 in force, in so many words, under the New- 
 Testament economy. And yet, can any one 
 read the New Testament without perceiving 
 that all this, and even more, is virtually de- 
 manded — that, as the Christian dispensation 
 is one of more light, less servility, and much 
 larger privilege, so it brings with it more 
 extended obligations, and offers excitements 
 to spiritual enterprise and usefulness • in- 
 comparably greater ? I should say, that 
 every Christian, if he duly contemplated his 
 privileges and his obligation, would feel him- 
 self bound to go beyond rather than fall short 
 of that which was binding under the system 
 of tithes. Under this system, the pious Jew, 
 in the scope of his benevolence, was confined 
 to the limits of his own nation. It appeared 
 to be the will of God that, up to the coming 
 of the Messiah in the flesh, a single nation 
 only should be the depositary of his truth, 
 and the conservators of his laws. But now, 
 the Christian, with a vast enlargement of his 
 own mercies, privileges, and hopes, beholds a 
 WORLD lying in sin and misery before him, to 
 every part of which he is commanded, as far 
 
 as his ability extends, to send the glorious 
 
 6* 
 
66 LETTERS ON THE OBSERVANCE 
 
 gospel. Will not every enlightened believer, 
 in these enlarged circumstances, feel himself 
 called upon for greatly enlarged desires, ef- 
 forts, and contributions for the relief of a dy- 
 ing world, committed as it were, to the care 
 of each member of the Master's body ; and 
 for the extension of the kingdom and glory 
 of that Master ? 
 
 The relations and responsibilities of differ- 
 ent persons under the gospel, are such, that 
 no general rule for giving to the cause of 
 Christ can be laid down as equally applicable 
 to all. Those who have no children or im- 
 mediate dependents, and those who have 
 large families entirely dependent on them, 
 though they must be governed by the same 
 great principles, are not, undoubtedly, to be 
 regulated by the same measure of liberality. 
 All, indeed, whatever their situation may be, 
 are to consider themselves with all they pos- 
 sess, as dedicated to Christ, as bound to make 
 liis will the sovereign guide of their conduct, 
 as his glory is tho great end of all their ac- 
 tions. Ikit the same will does not dictate an 
 ecjual amount of giving to all. Some, like 
 the Apostle Peter, have nothing to give save 
 that which is brought to their hands in an 
 extraordinary manner (Matt. xvii. 27); while 
 
OF THE MONTHLY CONCERT. 67 
 
 Others, like Zaccheus, are rich, and have a 
 large store on which to draw for relieving the 
 wants of the poor, and supplying the exigen- 
 cies of the church. Where there is much 
 wealth, and, at the same time, any thing like 
 that ardent love to the Saviour, and that deep 
 sense of obligation to him which ought to fill 
 every Christian heart, the professor will hold 
 all that he has, consecrated to God, and to be 
 disposed of in such a manner as he verily be- 
 lieves will be most for the glory of God, and 
 the advancement of the Redeemer's king- 
 dom. Mr. Nathaniel Ripley Cobb, a pious 
 merchant of Boston some years ago, made, 
 with solemnity, the following covenant with 
 God, that he might supremely honour him 
 who had brought peace to his soul. "Re- 
 solved, 1. That by the grace of God, I will 
 never be worth more than fifty thousand dol- 
 lars. 2. That, by the grace of God, I v/ill 
 give one-fourth of all the profits of my busi- 
 ness to charitable and religious uses. 3. If I 
 am ever worth twenty thousand dollars, I 
 will give one-half of my net profits. 4. If I 
 am ever worth thirty thousand dollars, I will 
 give three-fourths of my profits, and the whole 
 above fifty thousand. So help me God ! or 
 give the property to a more faithful steward, 
 
0^ LETTERS ON THE OBSERVANCE 
 
 and set me aside." It was in the year 1821, 
 that Mr. Cobb drew up this solemn vow, and 
 began to act upon it. And he continued, till 
 the time of his death, most scrupulously to 
 fulfil all its terms. The fixed sum which he 
 had devoted to Christ was disbursed with as 
 much regularity, from year to year, as any 
 tradesman's bill ; and though he, at times, 
 exceeded it, he never would suffer it to be in 
 the least degree curtailed. Fhiding that he 
 had realized, in one year, seven thousand 
 dollars beyond his stipulated maximum, he 
 immediately laid out the surplus in commen- 
 cing the foundation of a Professorship in a 
 public institution. 
 
 I am far, my Christian brethren, from say- 
 ing that this example ought to be followed 
 by every professing Christian engaged in 
 prosperous business. Some ought not to do 
 so much, and others even more. If tlicre be 
 really and habitually reigning in the heart a 
 'sincere love to the Saviour as the life and 
 hope of the soul, and a supreme regard to the 
 enlargement and prosperity of his kingdom, 
 there will be little diiliculty in determining 
 how much of our possessions ougiit to be 
 devoted to the glory of lIim,to whom we owe 
 life and health, and all our temporal comforts, 
 
OF THE MONTHLY CONCERT. 69 
 
 and to crown all, the sum total of our hopes 
 of eternal blessedness. 
 
 What shall we say, then, to the man whose 
 possessions amount not merely to the sum 
 which this pious man assigned as the maxim- 
 um of his estate,but to ten or even twenty times 
 as much, and who is every year adding thou- 
 sands to his accumulation ; and who consid- 
 ers it as quite enough for him to pay his pew 
 rent, and perhaps as much more, toward all 
 the diversified objects which demand Chris- 
 tian liberality. To all the claims of world- 
 ly grandeur and worldly pleasure, however 
 large, he responds with a wiUing mind ; per- 
 haps with a spirit of ostentatious profusion ; 
 but to the claims of the Redeemer's kingdom, 
 his responses are habitually relactant and 
 sparing. Even worldly men see and ac- 
 knowledge that such an example is altogeth- 
 er unworthy of the Christian name. 
 
 When the professing Christian, then, per- 
 sists in the great work of accumulating pro- 
 perty, at the expense of denying what he 
 owes to the kingdom of Christ, he may con- 
 gratulate himself that he shall die rich ; but 
 it is no abuse of language to say, that, upon 
 Christian principles, he will die most sinfully 
 rich. 
 
70 LETTERS ON THE OBSERVANCE 
 
 Beloved reader ! for what purpose are you 
 so intent on laying up property, and so reluc- 
 tant to devote even a moderate portion of it 
 to the kingdom and glory of God ? Is it that 
 you may leave your children wealthy, luxu- 
 rious, swallowed up in worldly indulgences, 
 and raised above the necessity of exercising 
 and exerting their own talents ! how 
 many parents have starved and jeoparded 
 their own souls, for the sake of laying up and 
 leaving large fortunes, which, when made, 
 have proved a temptation to their children, 
 and their destruction for this world as well as 
 that which is to come ! 
 
 Each individual Christian, then, must of 
 necessity be left to himself to decide liow 
 much he will contribute, from year to year, 
 towards sustaining the church in her efibrts 
 to convert the world to God. It is in this case 
 as in a multitude of others. The precise path 
 of duty cannot be prescribed to each individu- 
 al in every case without encroaching on the 
 province of miracle. It is plainly made our 
 duty by the word of God to '' visit the fa- 
 therless and the widows in their alUiclion ;*' 
 but how much of our time shall be devoted 
 to this object must, of course, be left for each 
 one of us to judge for himself; and it is evi- 
 
OF THE MONTHLY CONCERT. 71 
 
 dent that the same portion of time is not, and 
 cannot be, required of all. Again ; it is the 
 duty of all to spend a portion of every day 
 in prayer and reading the Scriptures. But 
 how many hours of each day ought to be 
 thus spent, must, of course, be left to the oc- 
 cupation and the circumstances of each per- 
 son. Some ought, undoubtedly, to spend 
 more time thus than others. In like manner, 
 what shall be the annual amount of the con- 
 tributions of each one who calls himself a 
 Christian to the cause of religion, must be left 
 to his own conscience. No other mortal has 
 a right to decide it for him. But is there no 
 other tribunal where his decisions on this sub- 
 ject are to be reviewed, and, if erroneous, 
 condemned ? Certainly there is ; and there- 
 fore, the parsimonious giver, and he who re- 
 fuses to give, under the impression that he is 
 left at liberty by the Head of the church to 
 judge for him.self,are placed, in the new econo- 
 my, in circumstances of responsibility which 
 they too often forget. There is such a thing, 
 O professing Christian ! as robbing God un- 
 der the New Testament dispensation as really 
 as under the Old. The difference is, that now 
 the duty of paying what he demands is not 
 fenced round with the same rigour of servili- 
 
751 LETTERS ON THE OBSERVANCE 
 
 ty as it once was ; but that delinquency is at- 
 tended with more resistance of light and mer- 
 cy, and is, of course, likely to be visited with 
 a severer penalty. 
 
 The great subject, then, of which we speak 
 is by no means left in that indefinite posture 
 in the word of God, which many imagine. 
 When, therefore, he who is in the receipt of 
 a comfortable income for the support of his 
 family, is reluctant, and thinks it hard to de- 
 vote a tenth — or a twentieth — nay, even a 
 thirtieth of his revenues for the spread of the 
 gospel : — when he who is master of great 
 wealth, and lives in the enjoyment of every 
 luxury, is unwilling to lop off any portion of 
 his vain show, or to abridge a single luxury, 
 for the sake of promoting the kingdom of 
 him who gives him all that he enjoys, and to 
 whom he professes to be indebted for every 
 hope : when he who, on the recurrence of 
 hard times, which call upon him to retrench 
 — begins retrenchment first with his God ; 
 — these individuals, and many like them, may 
 confidently call themselves Christians, and 
 may imagine that there is none to review and 
 set aside their judgment. Of their fellow- 
 men, indeed, there is none. No man, or body 
 of men has a right to say to such an one — 
 
OF THE MONTHLY CONCERT. 73 
 
 "Why doest thou so?" But there is One 
 who has this right, and who will assuredly 
 exercise it. The God who made us, and who 
 has given us all our possessions, has declared, 
 that we are not our own ; that we ourselves, 
 and all we possess, are his property ; that we 
 are bound to " seek first the kingdom of God, 
 and his righteousness ;" that the love of Christ 
 ought ever to "constrain us to live not unto 
 ourselves, but to him who died for us, and 
 rose again ;" and that "holiness to the Lord'" 
 ought to be inscribed upon every article of 
 our property, as well as upon every affection , 
 of our hearts. This is the law of Christ — ■ 
 not of the ceremonial economy — but of his 
 New Testament kingdom •, and he will hold 
 us to it. If we entirely reject this law, it 
 only shows that, whatever name we may 
 bear, we have no part nor lot in his salva- 
 tion. But if we acknowledge and desire to 
 be governed by it, and yet frequently alto- 
 gether lose sight of it, the probability is, that 
 judgments in kind will be sent upon us for 
 our correction. There is reason to believe 
 that many a man who has refused to answer 
 the claims of his heavenly Benefactor, has 
 had that taken away from him which he 
 
 thought to lay up. A venerable minister of 
 
 7 
 
74 LETTERS ON THE OBSERVANCE 
 
 the Church of England, long since deceased, 
 used to say — with as much justice as preci- 
 sion — " Let me proportion my giving to my 
 income, or God will proportion my income to 
 my giving." The late John Thornton, of 
 London, of the same church, so eminent for 
 his religious charities, on hearing of the loss 
 of one of his ships, by which many thousand 
 pounds were unexpectedly taken from him — 
 said — '' It is because I have lately given less 
 than I ought to the Redeemer's kingdom ; I 
 must give more while I have it to give." 
 But what is more conclusive still, the Spir- 
 it of God, speaking by the prophet Haggai, 
 teaches the same doctrine. Remonstrating 
 with those in his day, who neglected the 
 building of God's house for the sake of at- 
 tending to their own houses, he says : — '* Ye 
 have sown much, and bring in little ; and he 
 that earneth wages, earneth them to put into 
 a bag with holes. Ye looked for much, and 
 lo it came to little ; and when ye brought it 
 home, 1 did blow upon it. Why ? sailh the 
 Lord of hosts. Because of mine house that 
 is waste ; and ye run every man to his own 
 house. Therefore the heaven over you is 
 stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from 
 her fruit — and I called for a drought upon the 
 
OF THE MONTHLY CONCERT. 75 
 
 land, and upon the corn, and upon the oil, and 
 upon that which the ground bringeth forth, 
 and upon all the labour of your hands." — 
 Haggai, i. 6, 9. Ah ! God is the most fear- 
 ful of all creditors. We may defraud other 
 creditors, and they may have no remedy ; 
 but when we are deaf to the claims of Om- 
 nipotence, we forget our own mercies, and 
 are in Hands from which there is no escape. 
 There is wisdom as well as convenience in 
 stated, systematic giving. An inspired Apos- 
 tle enjoined on the Christians of his day to 
 lay aside something on the first day of each 
 week— something for the Lord's treasury; 
 and the measure of their contribution which 
 he assigned was — "according as the Lord 
 had prospered them.'' Most people give at 
 random ; without calculation ; without a 
 plan. This is attended with multiplied evils. 
 Whereas, if the Christian, under a deep sense 
 of his obligation to that God who has given 
 him all that he possesses, deliberately settles 
 in his own mind what he ought to give to 
 the Redeemer's kingdom, and conscientiously 
 lays it by as a sacred deposit ;— he will know 
 how much he gives, which many, for the want 
 of this arrangement, greatly mistake. He will 
 come to this fund, when each successive ap- 
 
76 LETTERS ON TUE OBSERVANCE 
 
 plication is made, and take out of it witliout 
 a prejudice and witliout a grudge. He will 
 no longer be harsh to those who crave his 
 liberality. He will not be so ingenious, and so 
 much on the alert as many now are, to evade 
 an appeal. He will allow to every case 
 which presents, the amount of support which 
 It seems to demand ; and he will meet the 
 claim, not with reluctance or with frowns, 
 but with the promptitude and cheerfulness 
 becoming a Christian giver. How sweet tlie 
 privilege of, every week or month, devoting 
 something to the kingdom and glory of him 
 to whom we are indebted for all we enjoy, 
 and all we hope for ! 
 
 Oh, if our monthly prayer meetings were 
 strongly marked witli this spirit ; if we came 
 to them with hearts filled with love to the 
 Saviour and his cause ; if, while we pray in 
 word that " the heathen may be given to him 
 for an inheritance, and the uttermost parts of 
 the earth for a possession" — our whole souls 
 sincerely responded to our petitions, we might 
 expect to see the Lord's treasury filled to 
 oversowing, and a blessing poured out upon 
 all our churches, until there should be no more 
 room to receive it. 
 
OF THE MONTHLY CONCERT. 77 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 
 Concluding remarks — Appeals and Exhortation. 
 
 Christian Brethren : Having, in former num- 
 bers, briefly traced the history of the month- 
 ly Concert in Prayer, and endeavoured to show 
 the duty and importance of attending upon it; 
 and having made some suggestions respect- 
 ing the best method of conducting the exer- 
 cise, and the obhgation to accompany every 
 season of prayer for the conversion of the 
 world with contributions for carrying on the 
 work ; it only remains that I close with some 
 serious exhortations to fidelity and persever- 
 ance in this important duty. 
 
 We are now prepared to reflect on what 
 has been said, and to make the whole matter 
 of serious consideration and of practical ap- 
 peal. 
 
 Is it so, then, that the children of men with- 
 out the gospel, are in a state of deplorable 
 destitution and misery ; deprived of the best 
 and only eff'ectual means of temporal com- 
 fort, and without hope for eternity ? Is it so, 
 - 7* • 
 
T^ LETTERS ON THE OBSERVANCE 
 
 that we are all bound to feel for those who 
 \ are in this situation, and to pray for them ; 
 ^\ and that, if we have no heart to do this, we 
 can have no scriptural evidence that we are 
 Christians ? Is it so, that it is in the power 
 of the members of the Presbyterian church to 
 send this glorious gospel to millions, both in 
 our own country, and foreign lands, who have 
 it not ; and that, notwithstanding this, only a 
 small portion of them have ever made any 
 serious eifort to fulfil this important duty ? Is 
 it true, that, in a majority of our congrega- 
 tions, ministers, and elders, and deacons, and 
 people, after every exhortation and entreaty 
 to the contrary, are still slumbering over this 
 delinquency ; that our prayer meetings for the 
 revival of religion, and the conversion of the 
 world, are thin and cold ; and that our Boards 
 of Domestic and Foreign Missions, arc left to 
 struggle with all the embarrassments arising 
 from stinted means, and restricted plans of 
 action? And is it also true, that all this has 
 been stated, and again and again proclaimed 
 to the church, in all her length and breadth, 
 without exciting any thing like a general and 
 cordial response, and still leaving a large part 
 of our nominal body to all appearance indif- 
 ferent and inactive in regard to these high 
 
OF THE MONTHLY CONCERT. 79 
 
 claims, which address themselves so solemnly 
 to every Christian feeling ? 
 
 That there is a distressing lack of interest 
 in this great subject on the part of multitudes 
 among us who bear the Christian name, can 
 be doubted by none who have eyes to see, and 
 ears to hear. To what are we to ascribe this 
 deplorable delinquency ? Not, surely, to the 
 want of importance and of interest in the 
 great object recommended ; for it is, beyond 
 all comparison, the most solemnly important, 
 and the most interesting object that can be 
 presented to a thinking mind. There can be 
 none greater ; none more adapted to rouse 
 the attention and captivate all the sensibili- 
 ties of the Christian's heart. The temporal 
 and eternal welfare of unnumbered millions 
 of men — the extension of the Redeemer's 
 kingdom — and the glory of the eternal God 
 — can any objects be greater than these, on 
 more worthy of our supreme regard ? Nei- 
 ther does our deplorable delinquency in re- 
 gard to this object arise from ignorance of our 
 duty ; for it has been set before us, explained, 
 and pressed upon our consciences with a fre- 
 quency, a clearness, and a force which leave 
 no individual among us who has been willing 
 to be informed, at a loss to understand what 
 
80 LETTERS ON THE OBSERVANCE 
 
 the Lord would have him to do. Nor yet, 
 again, does the lack of zeal and effort on this 
 subject arise from want of power to discharge 
 the duty in question ; for we have abundant 
 time, and means, and power, for attending to 
 far inferior objects. Nor yet, once more, can 
 we plead that the discharge of the duty in 
 question is not accompanied with an appro- 
 priate and encouraging reward ; for, when 
 discharged from proper motives, and with a 
 proper spirit, there is no work in which a ra- 
 tional creature can engage Avith sweeter en- 
 joyment, and of which the performance as 
 well as the retrospect is productive of richer 
 or more abundant fruits. 
 
 To what, then, are we to ascribe the delin- 
 quency in question, so disreputable to our 
 character as a church, and so distressing to 
 all who take a cordial interest in the exten- 
 sion of the Redeemer's kingdom ? Must we 
 be driven to the mortifying conclusion that 
 the melancholy fact indicates that religion is 
 at a low ebb in our beloved Zion ; that the 
 greater part of those who externally belong 
 to our communion, liave only a nominal at- 
 tachment to the great cause wbicli they pro- 
 fess to love ; and that the great work of 
 spreading the knowledge of the gospel holds 
 
OF THE MONTHLY CONCERT. 81 
 
 a place in their affections far below that which 
 relates to the gains and honours of the world ? 
 Surely from a state so deplorable and crimi- 
 nal as this, every one who is concerned for 
 his present peace or his eternal welfare, would 
 wish to be roused. 
 
 Permit me, then, in the name, and in the 
 fear of the Lord, to reason with those who lay 
 claim, in any sense, or in any degree, to the 
 Christian character, and are yet conscious that 
 they are, in any measure chargeable with this 
 delinquency 
 
 My dear friends, can any thinking person 
 doubt that the situation of those who are 
 without the gospel, whether in heathen lands, 
 or in lands nominally Christian, is a situation 
 truly deplorable, and attended with circum- 
 stances in the highest degree unfriendly to ._ 
 their present enjoyment, and still more fatal \ 
 to their eternal welfare ? Can any one doubt 
 that for rational, immortal and accountable 
 creatures to be placed in circumstances in 
 which they can know nothing of the Bible ; 
 nothing of the means of grace ; nothing of 
 those principles and teachers which lead men 
 to present happinessandto eternal salvation, — 
 is, of all situations on this side the abyss of 
 perdition, the most perilous and gloomy ? 
 
88 LETTERS ON THE OBSERVANCE 
 
 Can any doubt that the gospel is the greatest, 
 richest, best treasure that can possibly be sent 
 to any portion of our ruined race that is des- 
 titute of it ? Can any really doubt that it is 
 .the duty of the church of Christ, as such, to 
 
 • take etfectual measures for sending this gos- 
 pel, far and wide, in all its purity and power, 
 to those who have it not ? And if this be 
 
 <; the duty of the church, as a living, active 
 body, does not every member of the church 
 participate in this obligation ; and is not eve- 
 
 ; ry one directly or indirectly connected with 
 the church, under a personal responsibility in 
 
 ^ regard to this matter ; a responsibility weighty 
 and solemn, and from which it is impossible 
 to escape ? Let me ask you, then, beloved 
 reader of these lines — if you call yourself a 
 Christian — how will you escape from this ob- 
 ligation ? Nay, whether you call yourself a 
 Christian or not ; — whether you bear the re- 
 lation of formal membership to the church or 
 not — how can you escape from it ? If, indeed, 
 / you h;ivc publicly and formally united your- 
 self with the church, this act adds, no doubt, 
 to your obligation ; makes it more strong and 
 ^^ tender. But if you have never taken this 
 
 I step, still if you have heard the gospel ; if 
 / you have the Bible in your hands, you are 
 
OF THE MONTHLY CONCERT. 83 
 
 bound to impart a knowledge of them to"\ 
 Others. To whomsoever much is given, of I 
 them shall much be required. Let none say, / 
 then, we have never made a profession of re- / 
 ligion, and therefore, are not under obligation I 
 to take an active part in spreading the gos- \ 
 pel. You are bound, reader, whoever you 
 are, to believe and obey the gospel. But, if 
 you fail of performing this duty, this failure 
 does not release you from the obligation to 
 perform another, that is, to send it abroad to 
 others. Every one to whom the gospel 
 comes is bound to believe it ; and, believing 
 it, to confess Christ before men. But if he 
 believe not, though he ought not, remaining 
 in unbelief, to profess a lie ; yet, surely, his 
 not making a profession of religion, in these 
 circumstances, does not, cannot release him 
 from the obligation to repent and believe. 
 All the weight of responsibility arising from 
 his character as a sinner to whom the otfer of 
 mercy comes, still hes upon him. In all our 
 contributions to feed the hungry, to clothe the 
 naked, or, in any way, to promote the happi- 
 ness of our fellow-men, it is our duty to give, 
 from proper motives, and with a proper spir- 
 it, from a disinterested principle of love to 
 God, and a sacred regard to the temporal and 
 
 t 
 
S4 LETTERS Oy THE OBSERVANCE 
 
 eternal well-being of those to whom we give. 
 But suppose a man supremely worldly, who 
 knows nothing of holy love either to God or 
 man, to know of a destitute family, hungry 
 and starving at his door, Avhile lie has bread 
 cnoucrh and to spare ; is he not bound to con- 
 tribute to their relief? If he should, unfeel- 
 ingly, refuse to afford relief, when it was in 
 his power, should we not consider him as a 
 brute ? And if he should plead, as an apology 
 for not doing it, that he was not a Christian, 
 should we not regard him as insane ; as one 
 who had entirely lost sight of the real nature 
 of moral obligation ? 
 
 The obligation, then, of all who bear the 
 Christian name, and of all who even possess 
 the gospel, to do their part for spreading it 
 abroad, being so plain, let me entreat you, be- 
 loved reader, to bring this question home, 
 without partiahty, and without evasion, to 
 your conscience and your heart, and to ask. 
 — Am I faithfully discharging this obligation ? 
 — am I fulfilling ttiy duty in regard to the ex- 
 tension of the Redeemer's kingdom ? — am I 
 acting as if I verily believed the gospel to be 
 the most precious of all gifts of Clod to fallen, 
 lost man ; and that there can be no real hap- 
 piness, temporal or eternal, without it ? — am 
 
OF THE MONTHLY CONCERT. 85 
 
 I, in a word, habitually acting toward my 
 destitute fellow-creatures as I should wish 
 them, if I were in their situation, to act to- 
 ward me ? Which of us, dear reader, can 
 honestly answer these questions without a 
 consciousness of deep delinquency ? And if 
 any of us are compelled, in candour, to reply 
 that we are entirely, or in a great measure, 
 neglecting the duty to which they refer, how 
 can we dare to take the name or the seat of 
 Christians ? 
 
 I fear there is a large amount of self-decep- 
 tion in the minds of many professing Chris- 
 tians in regard to this subject. If they were 
 asked, Can any one be a disciple of Christ 
 who does not sincerely desire the spread of 
 the gospel, and the enlargement of the Re- 
 deemer's kingdom ? they would promptly and 
 decisively answer, No. If they were again 
 asked, whether it is possible either for the 
 church, or for any individuals, to prosecute 
 any extensive plan for evangelizing the world, 
 without a large expenditure of funds, they 
 would with equal promptness and decision 
 reply. No. If further interrogated, how 
 these funds were to be obtained, they would, 
 without hesitation, say, The members of the 
 church ought, doubtless, to furnish them. 
 
 8 
 
86 LETTERS ON THE OBSERVANCE 
 
 But if one question more were addressed to 
 them — Have you contributed your due pro- 
 portion of what ought to be furnished for this 
 great object ? they would probably respond — 
 " Not, perhaps, fully, but we have contribu- 
 ted as much as was convenient, and we trust 
 that the great Head of the church, whose is 
 the power, will provide all that may be neces- 
 sary for the accomplishment of the object." 
 Is this the spirit of those who would deal 
 honestly with conscience, and with God ? Did 
 the Redeemer do no more than was convenient 
 for our salvation ? Did the Apostles do nothing 
 more than was convenient for bearing tlie 
 glad tidings of great joy to the benighted and 
 the perishing ? Will those poor, stinted con- 
 tributions, made without self-denial or a sac- 
 rifice, and which you feel, at the time, to be 
 falling below what they ought to be, give any 
 satisfaction in a dying hour, when you come 
 to review your course, and examine the evi- 
 dences of your sincere discipleship ? "0 that 
 we were wise, that we understood this, that 
 we would consider our latter end !" 
 
 We look back with sorrow and shame on 
 the want of zeal and energy on the part of 
 those who liave gone before us, wlicn we re- 
 collect that ciglitucu centuries have passed 
 
OF THE MONTHLY CONCERT. 87 
 
 away, since the full light of gospel knowledge 
 and privilege has dawned upon our world ; 
 and yet not more than one quarter part of 
 the population of our globe has ever heard 
 of the glad tidings of redeeming love. Our 
 fathers quieted their consciences with one plea 
 or another, while they were doing so little to 
 send the light of life to those who were sit- 
 ting in the region and shadow of death. We 
 are quieting our consciences with pleas quite 
 as insufficient for our indolence. But how 
 long will it take to evangelize the world, if 
 the work should go on no faster than we are 
 now conducting it ? Alas ! at the end of eight- 
 een centuries more, so slow is the present 
 rate of progress, that, if we proceed no faster 
 than we are now doing, and if the earth's 
 population goes on to increase as Ave have 
 reason to expect, we shall be found to have 
 gained but little, if any thing, on the wants 
 and miseries of our fallen world. 
 
 What Presbyterian is there who loves his 
 church, and who, above all, loves his Saviour, 
 who is not grieved and humbled, when he 
 learns how meagre is the support, and how 
 embarrassed the movements of our Boards of 
 Missions, in sending the gospel to the desti-^ 
 tute and the perishing ; when he reads in the 
 
88 LETTERS ON THE OBSERVANCE 
 
 various channels of public intelligence, that 
 all our missionary stations, abroad and at 
 home, are calling for more labourers, and en- 
 treating us to extend our i)lans, to enlarge our 
 schools, so as to comprehend the hundreds of 
 children who are waiting to be taken into 
 them, but cannot be received for want of more 
 means ? Who is not, I say, grieved and hum- 
 bled, when he finds that the funds placed at 
 the disposal of our laborious and faithful 
 Boards are more likely to be diminished than 
 increased ; that these funds are so inadecjuate, 
 that, instead of enlarging their plans, they are 
 likely to be obliged to contract them ; that, 
 instead of sending more labourers, there is 
 danger of their being compelled to call back 
 some who have been sent ? O that the friends 
 of Christ would be persuaded to arise as one 
 man, and to say, with a zeal and an empha- 
 sis never yet put forth, "These things must 
 not be so ! and, God behig our hcljicr, these 
 things shall no longer be so !" 
 
 Our blessed Saviour long ago said, "The 
 children of this world are wisor in their gen- 
 eration than the children o( light.'' Of the 
 truth of this fact, we liave testimonials so nu- 
 merous and striking, tliat they cannot escape 
 observation, and ought most deeply to hum- 
 
OF THE MONTHLY CONCERT. 89 
 
 ble us before God. The lovers of worldly- 
 gain, of carnal pleasure, and of secular show 
 and honours, are ready to bestow treasures 
 without stint on their favourite objects. Who 
 does not know that millions on millions are 
 freely, nay, eagerly hestowedoninioxicatingt^ 
 poisons, which, if devoted to the hallowed 
 work of evangelizing the world, would suf- 
 fice for sending the gospel to every heathen 
 nation now accessible to the religion of 
 Christ ? Who does not every day see the 
 votaries of this world submitting to priva- 
 tions, and making sacrifices for promoting 
 temporal objects, which, if they could be de- 
 voted to our missionary Boards, would fur- 
 nish the most ample means for executing 
 their largest plans ? And shall we be com- 
 pelled to sit down, under the mortifying con- 
 clusion that the mass of Christians cannot be 
 excited to pay equal attention, and to take an 
 equal interest in the kingdom of Christ, though 
 they acknowledge it to be of infinitely more 
 importance than all the kingdoms of this 
 world and the glory of them ? Remember 
 how busy the enemies of religion are, in cir- 
 culating their corrupt opinions, their infidel 
 tracts, and all those destructive influences 
 which unbelief and impiety are so zealously 
 
 8* 
 
90 LETTERS ON THE OBSERVANCE 
 
 engaged in scattering abroad. Remember, 
 too, liow active and unwearied the followers 
 of *' the man of sin," " the son of perdition" 
 are, in spreading abroad their miserable su- 
 perstitions and idolatries ; how they compass 
 sea and land to make one proselyte, and when 
 they have gained him, make him tenfold more 
 the child of perdition than themselves. The 
 foreign votaries of the papacy find it easy to 
 collect from a hundred thousand to a quarter 
 of a million of dollars annually, for sending 
 to our country to propagate their unhallowed 
 system of superstition and idolatry among us. 
 And shall those who profess to be animated 
 ■with the pure love of Christ, have less con- 
 cern for the spread of the glorious gospel, and 
 the salvation of their fellow-men ? Shall 
 those wlio are blessed with the knowledge of 
 a pure gospel, and who profess to have felt 
 its power, be unwilling to take the same pains, 
 and to make equal sacrifices lor sending to the 
 destitute and the perishing, that gospel which 
 is the power of God to salvation to every one 
 that believcth ? Alas, alas ! what shall we 
 say to the cavillers who exultingly recite 
 these things, and who allege that the system 
 of Romanism is more benign, and more abun- 
 
OP THE MONTHLY CONCERT. 91 
 
 dantly productive of benevolent fruits than 
 that of Protestants ? 
 
 Nor ought we, in our meditations on this 
 subject, to forget the noble example of our 
 brethren of the Free Church of Scotland,^ 
 since their separation from the national estab- 
 lishment, and their assertion of " that liberty 
 wherewith Christ hath made his people free." 
 Though, by the disruption of their seculari- 
 ties, they have given up all their public en- 
 dowments, and consigned their congregations 
 to poverty, and to a struggle with all those 
 difficulties which poverty brings with it; 
 though, from that thrilling hour, they were 
 compelled to take upon themselves burdens 
 and responsibilities to which they had been 
 altogether unaccustomed ; yet they have not 
 only replaced, substantially, national endow- 
 ments, by the abundance of their spontaneous ,' 
 contributions, but they have also contributed^^ 
 more for missionary objects, during the short 
 time that they have stood alone, than the 
 whole endowed church ever raised before 
 the disruption ! How was this ? Their af- 
 fliction gave them a deeper sense of the 
 value of the gospel, and of their obligations to 
 send it, as far as they could, to the oppressed 
 and the miserable. We are accustomed to 
 
92 LETTERS ON THE OBSERVANCB 
 
 speak of their achievements with applause ; 
 that we may catch something of their spir- 
 it, and learn, hke them, as the demands on 
 our Christian hberahty rise higher, and be- 
 come more abundant, to open our liearts 
 with cheerful and ever increasing enlarge- 
 ment I 
 
 Dear reader ! when you enter into your 
 closet, and ask the blessing of God on 
 your own soul ; when you thank him that 
 your lot is cast in a land of Christian light 
 and knowledge ; when you pray that your 
 liible, your Sabbaths, and all the means of 
 grace with which you are favoured, may be 
 blessed to your own spiritual benefit ; do you 
 never suffer your mind to turn toward those 
 who are destitute of all these spiritual j)rivi- 
 leges ? And if you ever think of them, in all 
 their darkness and misery, can you divest 
 yourself of the conviction, that you owe 
 them something — more than you have ever 
 doue for them? And can you ponder this 
 ^ debt in your mind, without rousing from your 
 lethargy, and resolving that, by the grace of 
 God, you will endeavor to do more than you 
 have ever yet duiu; for their benefit ? And 
 oh, in that solemn placf, and in that tender 
 and solemn season, when you extend your 
 
OF THE aVIONTHLY CONCERT. 93 
 
 views forward a little ; when you think of a 
 dying hour, and of the responsibilities con- 
 nected with your appearance before the judg- 
 ment seat of Christ, can you reflect without 
 pain on the millions sitting in the region and 
 shadow of death, for whose temporal and 
 eternal benefit you have contributed far less 
 than for some of the veriest luxuries, which 
 you would have been as healthful and as hap- 
 py without as with ? 
 
 Ministers of the gospel ! suffer an aged 
 brother, who feels himself to be on the verge 
 of his great account, to speak to you with 
 freedom and affection. I cannot divest my- 
 self of the impression that a large part of the 
 delinquency in zeal and effort in this great 
 cause, in many of our churches, may be 
 traced, in some measure at least, to the want 
 of that deep interest, and those corresponding 
 indefatigable labours in behalf of this cause, 
 which ought to characterize their spiritual 
 leaders and guides. I recollect too well, be- 
 loved brethren, my own delinquencies as a 
 pastor, to admit of my pleading with you in 
 any other than t'.ie most respectful and affec- 
 tionate language. It is presumed you have 
 made up your minds, that it is not your duty 
 to engage in missionary work, either in the 
 
94 LETTERS ON THE OBSERVANCE 
 
 foreign or domestic field. But is there, there- 
 fore, nothing incumbent on you in relation 
 to the great missionary cause ? I answer, 
 just as much and as solemnly as if you were 
 yourselves labourers in that great field. If 
 you were missionaries, you would be bound 
 to do all in your power to carry the gospel to 
 those who had it not. But, being pastors, or 
 labourers at home, you are bound by equally 
 strong and solemn ties to do all in your pow- 
 er to send the gospel to those who are with- 
 out it. You complain, perhaps, and express 
 regret tliat your people are torpid and back- 
 ward in fulfilling their duty in regard to the 
 cause of missions. But, beloved brethren, is 
 no share of the blame for this delinquency to 
 be laid at your door ? Have you done all in 
 your power to enlighten, stimulate, and urge 
 them forward to the discharge of their du- 
 ty ? Have you taken care to inform your- 
 selves of the wants and miseries of the hea- 
 then, and of those in our own land, who are 
 destitute of the gospel ? Have you carried a 
 deep impression of these wants and miseries 
 with you into the ])nlpit from Sabbath to 
 Sabbath, and into the family visitation from 
 house to house, and liave you laboured faith- 
 fully to impart this impression to all who lis- 
 
OF THE MONTHLY CONCERT. 95 
 
 ten to your voice ? Are you careful to keep 
 all whom you either statedly or occasionally 
 address, awake and alive, from time to time, 
 to the claims of God upon them, as workers 
 together with him in spreading the gospel ? 
 Are your habitual preaching, your public and 
 social prayers, and your daily example a con- 
 stant memento of their duty, and a powerful 
 stimulus to its performance ? If the leaders 
 and guides of the people have not done this, 
 are they free from the guilt of their people's 
 delinquency ? 0, if pastors really performed 
 their duty with fidelity and zeal, there would 
 be little need of public agents to go from 
 church to church to remind those pastors of 
 their duty, and in fact, to take it out of their 
 hands, and do it for them. If the great body 
 of our pastors were animated with the spirit 
 of Brainerd, and Whitefield, and Mills, and 
 Evarts, and many more who might be men- 
 tioned, would the cause languish and stand 
 still in so many of our churches as it now 
 does ? Yet can any one doubt that all our 
 ministers ought to possess this spirit, and that 
 it is to be lamented that they do not ? Yes, 
 it is because so many who bear the sacred 
 office appear to take so little interest in the 
 missionary cause, and either forget or neglect 
 
96 LETTERS ON THE OBSERVANCE 
 
 to bring it before the minds of their people ; 
 and, when they do attempt to speak of it, do 
 it with so httle apparent feeling, that they per- 
 mit the subject, if I may so express it, to die 
 away in the memories and liearts of those 
 committed to their charge. 
 
 Elders and Deacons of the church of God ! 
 allow me, before I close, to address a word of 
 exhortation and entreaty to you ! You are 
 set to be counsellors and helpers of your pas- 
 tors in attending to the temporal and spiritual 
 wants of the flock. Oi' course, if your pas- 
 tors, from feeble health, or failing memories, 
 or depressed spirits, become at any time, de- 
 linquent in attending to the claims of the mis- 
 sionary cause, it is your privilege and your 
 duty to interpose and to prevent its being ne- 
 glected or forgotten, so that 3"ou may be eve- 
 ry day saying or doing something to impart 
 knowledge, or awaken zeal in regard to this 
 great cause. By doubling your own exer- 
 tions, and endeavouring, each one, to excite 
 some friend and neighbour to do the same ; 
 and by labouring, in all your intercourse with 
 the members of your respective congrega- 
 tions to excite and extend a missionary spirit ; 
 by urging every one who can read, to take 
 the missionary publications of our Boards, 
 
OF THE MONTHLY CONCERT. 97 
 
 you may accomplish an amount of aid to the 
 cause which you cannot now anticipate. 
 
 Young Christian ! This subject ought to 
 be especially interesting to you. You are 
 now setting out in your career of devotion 
 and usefulness. If your course is to be an 
 elevated and noble one, let it be as early as 
 possible in good earnest. Begin at once to 
 feel and act on the principle, that you are 
 not your own ; that you and all you have are 
 entirel)'' and forever the Lord's. Be assured 
 there is nothing worth living for, but to do 
 good, and to promote the enlargement of the j^ 
 Redeemer's kingdom ; and the earlier, and 
 the more sincerely and thoroughly you enter 
 into the spirit of this plan of life, the happier 
 you will be, and the richer blessing to your 
 generation. Oh my dear young friends ! if 
 you Avould only realize the happiness which 
 grows out of being habitually " constrained 
 by the love of Christ," you would turn away 
 from all the grovelling and ignoble pursuits 
 in which a worldly spirit delights, and make 
 his glory your supreme good. 
 
 ' Worldly man ! have you nothing to do 
 with this subject ? Though you do not pro- 
 fess to love or seek the Redeemer's kingdom, 
 
 yet you profess to have a benevolent regard 
 
 9 
 

 98 LETTERS ON THE OBSERVANCE 
 
 to the happiness of your fellow-men. You 
 would be unwilling to be regarded as su- 
 premely selfish, and especially as misanthro- 
 pic in regard to the great interests of tempo- 
 ral and social happiness. But have you not 
 seen and heard enough to know that sending 
 the gospel to those who have it not, whether 
 at home or abroad, has a tendency essentially 
 to improve their condition in this world, to 
 say nothing of that which is to come ? Have 
 you no desire to take part in sending to your 
 fellow-men, that which, if received, will ren- 
 der them more pure, more temperate, more 
 industrious, and more happy; Avhich will 
 strike at the root of all those habits which 
 tend to destroy personal and domestic com- 
 fort, and even life itself, and to elevate them 
 at once on the scale of rational and social ex- 
 istence ? If you cannot love the gospel, can 
 you not see enough in the history of Chris- 
 tian missions to satisfy you that, in aiding 
 them, you are aiding the great cause of hu- 
 man happiness ? and if so, on what ground 
 can you hesitate for a moment ? 
 
 Finally, let us all endeavour to rouse our- 
 selves to deeper sensibility, and more active 
 zeal on this great subject. Let the language 
 of the evangelical prophet be sounding in our 
 
OP THE MONTHLY CONCERT. 99 
 
 ears wherever we go, and whatever we un- 
 dertake, " Awake, awake, put on strength, 
 Zion !" (Isaiah lii. 1.) that it might please 
 the Lord to raise up another Isaiah; another 
 Hke him in spirit and in eloquence, to go forth 
 through the length and breadth of the land, 
 proclaiming in the name of the Lord, Awake, 
 awake, put on strength, Zion ! Or rather, 
 that it might please Isaiah's God to pour 
 out upon all our churches, and upon all our 
 ministers and elders, a spirit of awakening, 
 and of active zeal for the salvation of souls ! 
 What object in the universe, let me ask, can 
 more emphatically or more worthily call on 
 us to put forth all our strength, than that of 
 extending the Redeemer's empire, and pro- 
 moting the everlasting benefit of millions of 
 immortal spirits ; and for this purpose send- 
 ing them that glorious gospel, which is the 
 power of God unto salvation to every one 
 that believeth ? Surely here is an object wor- 
 thy of every eifort, and of every sacrifice that 
 can be made by intelligent and accountable 
 creatures. — Again, then, I say, in the language 
 of the Prophet, to every minister, every 
 member, and every well-wisher of our Zion, 
 Awake ! Awake ! Pray and labour without 
 ceasing, until there shall be a general and 
 
100 LETTERS ETC. 
 
 united movement of our whole church to carry 
 the glorious gospel to every kindred, and peo- 
 ple, and nation, and tongue ; until the know- 
 ledge and glory of the Lord shall "cover the 
 earth, as the waters fill the sea." Amen ! 
 
A MISSIONARY'S APPEAL. 
 
 The following' earnest and pointed appeal, from a mis- 
 sionary in Calcutta, addressed to professing Christians in 
 India, seems to have an appropriate place here, [Editor 
 of the Presbyterian Board of Publication.] 
 
 Do you ever attend the Missionary Prayer 
 Meeting ? 
 
 Dear Friends : — Do you ever attend the 
 Monthly Missionary Prayer Meeting? If 
 not, come and see. You are Christians by 
 profession, and doubtless feel interested in the 
 progress of Christianity in the world ; at least 
 you should ; for angels, who know more of 
 the worth of the soul, and the importance of 
 its salvation, rejoice over every sinner who re- 
 pents ; they feel deeply interested in the sal- 
 vation of mankind. The Lord Jesus, in 
 whom you profess to rest all your hopes for 
 salvation, feels intensely interested in the sal- 
 vation of men. He sees of the travail of his 
 soul in it and is satisfied. Who will be there ? 
 Were the angels of God on earth in human 
 form, they would be present at the Mis- 
 sionary Prayer Meeting. They would not 
 
 9* 
 
102 A MISSIONARY APPEAL. 
 
 neglect it either for the purposes of ease, or 
 pleasure, or aggrandizement ; no, they would 
 press through all to be there ; yea, even as 
 they found their way to the house of Lot in 
 Sodom, so would they find their way to that 
 sanctuary in which is held the assembly 
 for united prayer. If the Lord Jesus were 
 on earth, as he was when he tabernacled 
 amongst men, he would be there, the most in- 
 terested of all spectators. If it is the spot to- 
 wards which the Saviour of the world would 
 bend his steps, because there he would find 
 those who are interested in the great work 
 for which he died and rose again ; if angels 
 and our blessed Master would be there were 
 they on earth, why should not you go ? Why 
 should you, or how can you, stay away ? 
 Nay, Christ is there, for he has promised to 
 be in the midst of his people, even with two 
 or tliree, when they unite together in ])rayer; 
 and he lias further said, that if we agree 
 touching any thing, it shall be given. The 
 Spirit of God is there, waiting to pour out a 
 blessing upon the church and the. world, to 
 enlighten, convert and sanctify the wliolc hu- 
 man family. The Father of mercies, the (lod 
 of all grace, is there, waiting to ]m gracious; 
 for for these things he will be incpiired of, by 
 
A MISSIONARY APPEAL. 103 
 
 the house of Israel, that he may do them for 
 them. The whole hierarchy of heaven watch 
 over it with intense interest. And seeing we 
 are encompassed with so great a cloud of 
 witnesses, let us be present ; let us lay aside 
 every weight, and the sin which doth so easily 
 induce us to remain away, or be negligent of 
 the Missionary Prayer Meeting 
 
 The object of the Missionary Prayer Meet- 
 ing has a strong claim on you as a Christian. 
 It is to beseech God to pour out his blessing 
 upon mankind, to pray that he would fulfil 
 his gracious and glorious promises to the 
 church and the world, that he would put 
 away sin from the human family, and bring 
 about that period when all the nations of the 
 earth shall be blessed with peace, and joy, 
 and hope. As you look abroad upon the 
 mass of idolators, and Mahommedans, and 
 Romanists, and unconverted nominal Christ- 
 ians ; some of them, it may be, domestics, 
 relatives, neighbours with whom you may be 
 on terms of intimacy and friendship ; can you, 
 as you look upon such and read such solemn 
 declarations of Holy writ as these — " Except 
 ye be born again ye cannot see the kingdom 
 of God" — " No idolator, nor whosoever lov- 
 eth or maketh a He, shall have inheritance in 
 
104 A MISSIONARY APPEAL. 
 
 the kingdom of God" — can you look abroad 
 under such circumstances, and not feel con- 
 cerned for their salvation ; especially when 
 you know that it has been said, by the un- 
 erring Teacher, Jesus, " What shall it profit a 
 man, if he should gain the whole world and 
 lose his own soul ?" Can you be indifferent 
 under such circumstances ; unfeeling in such 
 a position ? Can you stay away from the as- 
 sembly which is engaged in supplication for 
 the coming of Christ's kingdom and the es- 
 tablishment of peace, and truth, and right- 
 eousness on the earth ? Ponder and pray 
 over your own state if you can, and fear lest 
 you should come short of the rest promised 
 to the people of God. Fear lest you should 
 not yet have passed from death unto life, lest 
 you have a name to live and be yet dead. 
 " Awake, thou that sleepest, and Christ shall 
 giv^e thee life. Some have not the know- 
 ledge of Christ ; I speak this to your shame." 
 
 Yours, &c., 
 
 Pastor. 
 
Princeton Theolog 
 
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