J* T ^N To. THE EVEBGREEN. * > , > . » » « . » . • * • » T H F flKMlII CHRISTMAS, NEW YEAR, BIRTHDAY GIFT. K t to ¥ o r & : LEAVITT & ALLEN, 379 BROADWAY. E% ILLUSTRATIONS. -♦♦♦- REVERIE, ----.._ Feontispikos. PRESENTATION PLATE, - - - Before Title. INNOCENCE, - 13 THE WREATH, 104 WAR, - - - ... . - • - m POCAHONTAS, - . 210 M64477 CONTENTS Pag* Proem.— By the Editor _ v Preface The Spiritual Vitality of the Truth, considered in its rela- tion to Christian Missions.-*? the Rev. J. W. Alexander, D.D..- 1 The First Missionary— By Mrs. Lydia H. Sigourney 13 Woman, the Gospel Messenger— By Mrs. E. R. Steele 16 A Memorial— By John G. Whittier 31 The Reciprocal Influence of Missions.—*? the Rev. Erskine Ma- ll son, D. D The Captive.— By James Russell Lowell 52 The Winds.—*? Harry Franco The Sisters' Grave.—*? the Author of " Pen and Ink Sketches." 61 Moheagan Missions.— By Miss F. M. Caulkins 64 Pity.—*? the Rev. Ralph Hoyt 10 ° Sonnet— *? #. T. Tv.ckerm.an 104 Burmah.— *? the Rev. Eugenio Kincaid 1° 5 Mary at the Sepulchre.—*? Miss Hannah F. Gould 1522 The Debt of Perishing Humanity to Redeeming Deity 124 The Missionary Spirit.—*? the Rev. Henry Bacon 131 Missionary in the New W t estern Settlements.—*? Mrs. Lydia H. 14 w 2 Sigourney Almost There, or, the Missionary's Death.—*? Rev. fohn Dowling. 146 Th* Consecration.— By the Rev. Henry Bacon 165 Indian Missions.— By John M. Peck I 58 The Ship.—*? William W. Lord I 74 The Genius of War as contrasted with that of Christianity.—*? J. Lawrence De Graw ■ I 77 Pocahontas.— By W.Gilmore Simms 1" Mary's Charm.— By Anna Cora Mowatt 220 Selfishness.—*? Miss E.JaneCate 2 21 CONTENTS. Sonnet -The first Lock of Gray Hair.— By Thomas W. Rennc 234 Be True to Thyself.— By the Rev. Rufus W. Griswold 235 The Turk and kis Dominions.— By the Rev. S. W. Fisher, A. J\I 236 Recovery from Sickness 249 Thk Last Interview.— By Mrs. Lydia Baxter - 250 ^tam. Not vainly by the way-side bloomed the flowers Whose seed were scattered by a hand Divine; They breathe their perfume to the passing hours, And with sweet lessons of His love they shine. So from the seeds of grace which God hath sown Deep in the hearts of those who love his Word, Have sprung Memorial Flowers which here are shown In honor of the Servants of our Lord. These will impart the sweetness of a love That joys to own all sacrifice for Truth And may these gifts lift every heart above, As soars the eagle to renew its youth ! Till we aspire to serve that work divine Along whose paths these lights of glory shine. Editor. PREFACE The plan of this work being new, and distinct from that of any previous production, — differing from the series of Annuals, its contents being of a more substantial and permanent character, — it is confidently hoped it will meet with that share of attention from the entire Christian commu- nity, which the claims of an experiment so costly in its preparation deserve, and that it will prove admirably suited as a religious gift-book for the season. TOIE [EWIE^ffitMEftD, Sire Sjiriteal WMty 0f tire ttnrtfc CONSIDERED IN ITS RELATION TO CHRISTIAN MISSIONS. BY THE EEV. J. W. ALEXANDER, D. D. The grain of mustard-seed, less than all the seeds which be in the earth, but which groweth up, and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches, so that the fowls of the air lodge un der its shadow, is a blessed missionary emblem (Mark iv. 31, 32.) All Christian progress, from the beginning to the end, is typified by this development : it is our encouragement in the seed-time of the Gos- pel. That which the Church is scattering, by books and ministers, is not an inoperative principle. It is living ; it has a propagative virtue ; it perpetuates life • for it is seed. As a means, in the hand of the Spirit, without which no mind receives it, the word of God liveth and abideth forever. (1 Pet. i. 24.) This principle of germination and increase de- VITALITY OF THE TRUTH. serves serious attention, especially m regard to a great distinction ; namely, that which subsists be- tween a dead accretion and a living development, or between a structure and a growth. A fabric of art has no life. Though it be a pyramid, a Parthenon, or a Cathedral of Cologne, it stands — so long as it stands at all — only a3 it was built. It may be preserved, rep?i.rea, enlarged, beautified ; but it remains in brute quietude. Thd principle of the whole mass, how- ever vast or exquisite, is this : one stone upon an other. No art can produce any tendency towards vital force. No bud or blossom ever burst forth from amidst the carved foliage of the vine or olive of those glorious Gothic piers. But that which grows, is es- sentially living. It may be the merest winged seed of the dandelion or the thistle : yet it swells, and gathers force, and elaborates matter in due form, and evolves its like. The truth of God, under a spiritual agency, is a living principle. When cast into soil, it is not buried, as if it were only a dead coin, or a jewel of gold, or a diamond, but awakes to new forms of vigorous beauty, like a precious seed. To this character of the truth, all the Christianity now in the world owes its prevalence : and where the Holy Spirit breathes on it, every particle of this truth possesses a like power. It is this which emboldens us to send the Gospel where it has never been planted. In the Age of Missions, as the primitive age may VITALITY OF THE TRUTH, 3 be emphatically called, this was the encouragement ■ t was derived from the words and acts of our blessed Redeemer himself. He serenely dropped this seed in the earth, declaring its expansive nature. Under other images he taught that it would abide and spread : for it was salt, and leaven, and light. When Ave multiply works of art, the process is slow, and the series is arithmetical : but living things increase in a high geometrical ratio. Botanists tell us that the most vulgar of our yellow meadow-flowers is not indigenous in America ; but now it enamels all our plains, and is carried on its downy vehicle beyond the Rocky Mountains. It is so with the harvests of the South. Maria d'Escobar, a Spanish lady, first brought a few grains of wheat into the city of Lima. For three years, she distributed their produce among the colonists, giving twenty or thirty grains to each farmer. Maria d'Escobar, says Mackintosh, brought »nto existence more human beings by this supply of food, than Napoleon has destroyed. In so doing, she typified the work of missions. Had she built a thousand monasteries in Peru, they would have been only a thousand, even now. But she did not build — she planted. From such small and contemptible be- ginnings, the great harvests of Christianity arise ; and the extent and glory of the Church, in the latter day, will be the result of a like plantation. There shall be a handful of corn in the earth upon thagtop Df the mountains ; the fruit thereof shall shake like 4 VITALITY OF THE TRUTH. Lebanon: and they of the city shall nourish like grass of the earth. (Ps. lxxii. 16.) The solitary missionary carries his handful oi seed-corn, as did the solitary apostle. He has the same authority, and should entertain the same hope. The truth with which we deal is not only living, but abiding. The Spirit and the Truth are given in union, first to Messiah, and then to his people, to re- main forever : As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the Lord ; my Spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth and forever. (Isa. lix. 21.) The covenant promise is realizing itself every day. If our eyes were opened, we might trace the stream of life, threading its silver way, like the fabled Arethusa, through oceans of ignorance, idola- try, and crime. We might trace the now unseen links from father to son, and from lineage to lineage. And perhaps we might often discover that the piety, which seemed to us insulated and transient, was con- nected with the faith and love of foregoing ages. We know not the channel which brought the truth to Augustine ; but we know that he, being dead, yet speaketh. Church history does not now enable us to record the transmission, from apostolic clays, of thayaith which dwelt in Monica of Tagaste. But the child of her prayers carried forward the line "f VITALITY OF THE TRUTH. 5 •ropagation, and sowed, broad-cast, the seed which is still increasing. After fourteen centuries, we find the very words which he penned in Africa, exerting their vivifying power in Saxony, in Switzerland, and in America. They wrought in Luther, and led him, by a great change of opinion, to prefer Augustine to all the Fathers. They wrought in Calvin, whose name has been given to the scheme of truth which was thus suggested. How many thousands have derived the same doctrines — whether Augustinian or Pauline —from the writings of the two great Reformers ' The quiet valleys of this western world, sometimes even in the absence of all evangelical preaching, have received the truth from the Augustinian work Let a single instance suffice. It is now more than a hundred years, since the county of Hanover, in Virginia, was the theatre of remarkable religious awakening. The parish-sermons in the established church, at that time, gave but an uncertain sound. But among the books of a certain old disciple, Morris oy name, was a copy of Luther on the Galatians. He gathered his neighbors for prayer and praise, and read aloud from this and other good books. It was a sowing of the seed. Souls were converted. Soon after, the living preacher was sent to them in the person of Whitefield : at a later period the great Samuel Davies became their minister. These all walked in the same spirit — in the same steps, (2 Cor. xii. 18;} dispensing the same precious truth 6 VITALITY OF THE TRUTH which had been the life of Paul, of Augustine, and of Luther.* There is a resurrection-power in truth, under the beams of spiritual light and heat. It is the vitality of genuine growth ; as in the celebrated instance of seeds, disinterred from the mumrny-cases of Egypt, which, after twenty centuries, have germinated in tht, hot-houses of British naturalists. Let us not despise the means which we are employing ; for the humblest missionary, who goes forth weeping, bears with him the precious seed which may endure and grow until the second appearing of the Lord. If we look at the nature of this truth, we shall find a new reason for sowing in hope, even in dis- tant lands. It is the " Word of Life," which we "hold forth." It reveals Him who is "the Life." That which every true missionary endeavors to intro- duce, is Christ. And where Christ is received, cne series does not stop. The flame is communicative. This religion kindles, "like a torch of fire in a sheaf." (Zech. xii. 6.) Men die, but the flame survives : as in the ancient game of the Greeks, called the Lam- padephoria, a race in which a torch was carried for- ward by one, and then handed to another, and so to another, until the goal was reached.! By just such transmission the light has come to us. Successive teachings and successive sacraments do " show forth * Hodge's History, vol. II. p. 45. t Herodotus, viii 98. VITALITY OF THE TRUTH. 7 the Lord's death till he come." Who was the first missionary among the glens of the Vaudois, we know not ; but we know what seed he carried, for it is there still. Can any dare to predict, that the like effect shall not follow a like cause in Greenland, in Burmah, or in Hawaii ? Such distrust had been ex- cusable in the first missionaries from Jerusalem, but not in us. The first seed sown outside of Eden, by Adam and Eve, may have seemed hopelessly buried ; but they were reassured by subsequent harvests : and we are eating the fruit of their toils. The living growth of past Christianity is our encouragement in .planting the Gospel. Every evangelical mission reads us the same lesson. Lament as we may over the continuance of error in some localities, and the seeming decay of truth in others, there is still a meaning, which future light is to reveal, m such words as those : Every plant which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up. (Matt. xv. 13.) Shiloh, where God placed his tent among men, became a desolation ; Jerusalem, a curse to all the nations of the earth. (Ps. lxxvm. 60. Jer. xxvi 6.) Wittenberg is a nursery of Rationalism, Geneva is the seat of baptized infidelity ; and Cambridge, where the Puritan confessors avowed a divine Redeemer, is a high-place of Socinianism. But Shiloh may be re visited by the ark; "they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord." Wittenberg still conceals truth, Which the God of Luther can revive ; Geneva ahead) 8 VITALITY OF THE TRUTH. shows some who " spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water-courses ;" and the prayers of Oakes and Harvard are not forgotten before God. Evil dies, in many places, by a divine law. What missions were ever more flourishing than those of the Jesuits of Brazil ? Their last traces are now disap- pearing in the beautiful country from which that mighty Order has been expelled. On the other hand, Elberfeld, and the vale of the Wupper, retains to this day the goodly fruit of the Reformed theology ; and assemblies of four thousand sometimes listen to the sound of a free gospel, from the lips of Krummacher. The voice of the truth is faintly heard again iji the land of the Huguenots ; converts are welcomed from the churches of Asia ; and we look for the day when the candlestick shall be restored to Antioch, Alexan dria, and Jerusalem. There is much in the garden of the Lord to make us hope that the imperishable vine will again cover the spots where the boar out of the wood has wasted it. " In that day, sing ye unto her, A vineyard of red wine : I, die Lord, will keep it ; I will water it every moment : lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day." (Isa. xxvii. 2,3.) While we aim at sowing the word, wherever man dwells, it is good to consider the source of its vege- tative energy. Our arithmetic often misleads and dis- heartens us. We spread the map on our table, and compute so many millions of souls, and, over against VITALITY OF THE TRUTH. 9 this, so many feeble preachers ; and then, on the scale of the exchange or the shop, we conclude that such instrumentality in regard to the proposed result, is stark naught. But this reckoning is not valid in the house of the Lord. The Rule of Three, blessed be the name of God, is not the rule of Grace. In God's account, the proportion sometimes runs thus : One shall chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight. In this problem, we have no authority to omit the element which is infinite — the power of the Spirit with the word. God's arm can turn the bal- ance against all weights. I am reminded of the fa- mous old Roman story. During a Gallic irruption, the barbarians raised the blockade of the capital for a sum of money. Quintus Sulpicius complained that the weights were false ; but the Gaul threw his heavy broadsword into the scale. Gideon was ad- monished of this preponderating power of divine aid : " By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you." The watchword of his victory should be ours '' The sword of the Lord, and of Gideon." The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, shall countervail millions in the scale. In God's work, one Augustint, one Luther, or one Whitefleld, counts more than a vulgar unit of enumeration ; and the quiver of the Almighty is not exhausted of such ar rows. We do a grievous wrong to our p-ospects, when we measure the coming day by the morning twilight. There is a stage in evangelical effort, at 10 VITALITY OF THE TRUTH. which the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold as the light of seven days, in the day that the Lore bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound. By an effusion of the Spirit on the seed sown, Christ can, and doubtless will, make the labors of one husbandman equal to those of thousands. What have our own days beheld, in Burmah and the Sandwich Isles ? Such is the preciousness, such is the vitality of the missionary seed, that we should be hopeful in dis- seminating even a handful. In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thy hand. Our province is ministerial : the increase is of sovereign grace. Not every blade of wheat comes to the ear ; not every tract is read with the eye of faith ; not every preacher turns the heathen from dumb idols. Yet, in the grand reckoning, the truth is working, and sometimes mightily. Who questions the fact that there is a deadly efficacy in firearms on fields of battle? Yet military calculators tell us, that not more than one ball in twelve thousand proves mortal, or strikes a human being. If the church were only putting forth a consentaneous effort, causing the good seed to fly over all nations, it is reasonable to believe uat the world would soon behold singular and unex- ampled increase, from direct copious visitations of spiritual energy. " Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness VITALITY OF THE TRUTH. 11 from the womb of the morning : thou hast the dew of thy youth." If then it is truth, on which the Holy Spirit confers such vital and prolific virtue, we should be sure, in laboring for foreign lands, that what we sow is the very Word of God. In the missionary message, it is Christ which gives life and fructifies the toil. The nominal church has been bringing forth tares for cen- turies. An enemy hath done this. Amidst them all some seed has sprung up ; first the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear. This end is ac- complished only by the truth. To communicate this, pure and entire, is nowhere more indispensable than in the field of missions. Among the multiform propositions of truth, those are most quick and pow- erful which lie nearest the heart and centre. The doctrine of Christ, and him crucified, is the vivifying doctrine ; the missionary germ. How long did the Moravian brethren plough and sow in vain, plying the Greenlanders with the ethics of Christianity ! It was a lambent flame ; true, but inefficacious ; it kin- dled nothing. But when — as if by chance — they spake of the Cross, the frozen savages were in a glow — the arctic ice began to melt ! It is the grand secret of Gospel labor, at home and abroad : but it is especially pertinent to the dissemination of truth over new ground. The question, What is the Gospel, is one of awful moment in this vernal period of the Church ; and the Apostle Peter, addressing early 12 VITALITY OF THE TRUTH. Christians, ascribes to this gospel the very characters of power and vitality, which have been asserted of it in the foregoing desultory remarks : " Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth for- ever. And this is the Word which by the Gospel \* preached unto you." P ft A Y !? m n 3I)£ Ixxst Jittsaxonarg. BY MRS. LYDIA H. SIGOURNEY. Know'st thou the Leader of that train, who toil The everlasting Gospel's light to shed On earth's benighted climes ? Canst tell the name Of the first Teacher, in whose steps went forth ' O'er sultry India, and the sea-green isles, And to the forest-children of the West, A self-denying band, — who counted not Life dear unto them, so they might fulfil Their ministry, and save the heathen soul ? Judea's mountains, from their breezy heights Reply, — " We heard him, when he lifted up His voice, and taught the people patiently, Line upon line, for they were slow of heart." From its dark depths, the Galilean lake Told hoarsely to the storm-cloud, how he dealt Bread to the famish'd throng, with tender care, Forgetting not the body, while he fed The immortal spirit ; — how he stood and heal'd. Day after day, till evening shadows fell THE FIRST MISSIONARY. Around the pale and paralytic train, Lame, halt, and blind, and lunatic, who sought His pitying touch. Mount Olivet, in sighs, Spake mournfully — " His midnight prayer was mine I heard it, I alone, — as all night long Upward it rose, with tears, for those who paid His love with hatred." Kedron's slender rill, That bathed his feet, as to his lowly work Of mercy he went forth, still kept his name Securely hoarded in its secret fount, A precious pearl-drop ! Sad Gethsemane Had memories that it falter'd to repeat, Such as the strengthening angel mark'd, appall'd, Finding no dialect in which to bear Their wo to Heaven. Even Calvary, who best Might, if it would, our earnest question solve, Press'd close its flinty lip, and shuddering bow'd In silent dread, remembering how the sun Grew dark at noon-day, and the sheeted dead Came from their cleaving sepulchres, to walk Among the living. But the bold, bad host, Spirits of evil, from the lake of pain, Who held brief triumph round the mystic Cross, Bare truthful witness, as they shrieking fled, — THE FIRST MISSIONARY. 15 " We know thee who thou art, the Christ of God :" While Heaven, uplifting its eternal gates, With chant of cherubim and seraphim. Welcomed the Lord of glory entering in, His mission donf^ 2 tooman,.t!)c ©ospel ffitzsm%tx* BY MRS. E. R. STEELE "Kings' daughters were among thy honorable women."— Psalm. Theophilus, emperor of the Romans, wishing to select a wife, commanded the daughters of his no- bles to be collected in the imperial palace at Con- stantinople, and, with a golden apple in his hand, slowly moved around the blooming circle. Stepping before the brilliant Icasia, he archly observed, — " Women have been the cause of much evil I a the world." " And surely, sir," she quickly replied, "they have also been the cause of much good !" This assertion — which cost Icasia a throne, us the emperor passed on and presented the apple to the pretty but silent Theodora — will be supported in these pages, where the essential service which wo- man has rendered towards the general good, will be shown to be spreading the gospel truths abroad. Since the days when Solomon declared he vainly sought one virtuous woman in a thousand, and since he son of Sirach told us, "wickedness comes from WOMAN, THE GOSPEL MEiSENGEIt. 17 woman," a great change has taken place in her char- acter and situation. To Christianity is woman in- debted for a glorious revolution in her destiny ; and me Christian female, no longer the slave and play- thing of olden time, has been exalted by man to the rank of his friend and counsellor. There are some who would place her higher, and give her a share in the world's sovereignty. But this is not her fitting station ; let man be lord of the creation, since wo- man's God hath said, " he shall iule over thee." Woman has her own high and peculiar duties, and if we look abroad into the history of nations, we shall see she has understood and performed well her role. Christianity having elevated her position, she employed her new-found powers and energies in spreading its blessed doctrines over the earth, thus enabling her sisters of every clime to partake in its inestimable benefits. Man will scarcely credit the amount of female service in the holy cause of the gospel ; he will be surprised when informed how much of the world is indebted to her agency, as in- strument of the Saviour and the missionary's friend, for the introduction of Christianity In the early ages of our faith, woman was evei among its most zealous converts, — "first at the cross, and first at the sepulchre," — and when persecution commenced, her faith was sealed with her blood. I could speak of Prisca, Valeria, and Paula, with many others, but my subject would allude only to those 18 who disseminated the truths of the Gospel by exam- ple and exertion. The noble mother of Alexander Severus, Julia Mammae, gave the new religion most important support. She educated her son as a Christian, and herself zealously espoused its cause During her reign the Christians enjoyed a welcome repose. They for the first time appeared at court, and then churches were first erected. Julia was a woman of great powers of mind. During Alexan- der's minority, she enacted wise laws, surrounded him with excellent counsellors, and used him to sim- ple and virtuous habits. Her attention was directed to the improvement of female manners, and she abol- ished the custom, practised by former empresses, of appearing in the councils of the nation, and promul- gated a law by which woman was excluded from the senate. Let the sins of Marcia be forgiven when we remember her efforts in this holy cause. As if hoping to atone for her misdeeds, she declared her- self patroness of the Christians, and so well employ- ed ber power as to induce Commodus, the emperor of Rome, to show them mercy. By her influence persecution ceased, and after having suffered thir- teen years of tyranny the Christians lived in peace and multiplied greatly. Like Magdalene, Marcia loved her Saviour much, although a sinner, and let us hope she also was forgiven. B"t these lesser lights must fade before the ra iiance which surrounds the pious Empress Helena WOMAN, THE GOSPEL MESSENGER. 19 mother of the great Constantine. She was a zeal ous Christian, and in the conversion of her son en sured that of the Roman world. When Helena went into retirement, Constantine shared with his mother her sorrow and loneliness ; and neither those days of gloom, nor his subsequent exaltation to a throne, could shake the faith instilled by Helena. Constantine gloried in the religion of Christ. He publicly proclaimed it in the senate, bore the initials of his Saviour's name as a monogram upon his ban- ner, as the sign by which he hoped to conquer ; placed his statue in Rome, bearing aloft the cross ; and by his decrees secured the civil and religious rights of the Christians. During the reign of the son of Helena, Christianity became so firmly rooted, that not all the efforts of the apostate Julian could accomplish its overthrow. The pious Helena, in the midst of all the splendor with which her son could sur- round her, never forgot Him who was her friend and supporter in adversity. With this feeling of rever- ence strong in her bosom, she undertook a weary pilgrimage, to look upon that land where her Savioui had suffered and died for her. In Jerusalem, upon Mount Olivet, on Calvary, and Sinai, and other con- secrated spots in the Holy Land, she erected churches - and convents, adorned with rare marbles, gold, and mosaic, as monuments to direct the pious traveller to \he spot where the wondrous events recorded in Holy Writ had taken place. Some have thought this an 20 WOMAN exampie and precedent for much of that mummery and trade in relics which, with other corruptions, have since darkened the Christian religion ; but the advantages of having these interesting places thus early marked out will cancel this, and thousands have felt their faith assured, and hopes confirmed and hearts refreshed, while gazing upon these sacred stations. A late traveller, in gratitude to Helena, conferred upon her the glorious title of " Mother of the Holy Land." Among the most devoted adherents of the Cross, let not Pulcheria, virgin empress of Rome, be for- gotten. What a contrast is the pure and useful life of this first reigning Christian empress, to that of the debased pagan princes who reigned before her ! The court of her father Arcadius was, perhaps, more lux- urious and more magnificent than that of any of his Caesar predecessors, yet this, Pulcheria renounced, and turning from all those worldly pleasures, which her youth, her beauty, and rank might have com- manded, she consecrated herself to a life of celibacy, devotion, and good works. At the age of sixteen she received the title of Augusta, which she valued only as placing more power and wealth at her dis- oosal, to be employed in furtherance of the gospel. In the presence of the assembled people, Pulcheria. with her sistera Arcadia and Marino, to whom she had communicated a knowledge of a S&v* "ir, pub- ; cly dedicated themselves to the sen'-- - f the.'i WOMAN, THE GOSPEL MESSENGER 21 Redeemer. Their solemn vow of religion and ceii bacy was engraved upon a tablet of gold and gems, and placed in the church of Saint Sophia, in Con- stantinople. This resolution was celebrated through- out the empire as a " sublime effort of Christian piety." These vows were deemed necessary, in that corrupt age, to strike the attention of the pagan peo- ple, and to keep the new convert from all contact with a vicious society. Such monastic severity and celibacy, in our day is not called for. Pulcheria, in her palace, led a solitary, but not a useless life. She occupied herself with many Christian works, at home and abroad, and devoted herself particularly to the education of her brother Theodosius, who, under her wise tuition, became chaste, temperate, liberal, and merciful. The flame of paganism was then flicker- ing in the socket, and in the reign of Pulcheria and Theodosius it expired. The imperial treasures were appropriated to religious purposes ; while institutions for the poor and the stranger, and many magnificent churches, attest the ardent faith and Christian zeal of Rome's first female sovereign, the pious Empress Pulcheria. The Gospel was carried to benighted Russia by Olga, queen of that land. Through her efforts alone Christianity was introduced into that vast region which was then devoted to a debasing superstition She had heard — perhaps through some of her pirati cal subjects when returned from a predatory excur- 22 WOMAN, THE GOSPEL MESSENGER. sion, or some wandering missionary — of a new ami purer religion which was acknowledged by the em- pire of Rome, and as Christianity is always warmly we^omed by the female heart, she was anxious to behold its benign influence shed upon her savage peo- ple. For that object the princess resolved to visit Constantinople. The Russians had made them- selves feared by the Greeks, who looked with super- stitious dread upon those " arctic fleets," and count less savage hordes pouring from the dark and un- known regions of. the north to ravage their borders, and they were well pleased with the prospect of their conversion. The Emperor Porphyrogenitus resolved tc receive the Russian queen with all the honor and pomp which he thought would best im- press her with an idea of his power and magnifi- cence. Chariots of silver and gold, surrounded with purple curtains, drawn by oxen covered with trap- pings of scarkt cloth and jewels, awaited to conduct Queen Olga and her train to the imperial residence. The rude pagans gazed with surprise at the splendid marble palaces and churches, and the Hippodrome with its obelisk, and circle of bronze chariots each bearing a statue of some famous hero. Arrived at the palace, they beheld, through a long vista of gliUering guards, the Emperor Constantine surrounded by his richly apparelled nobles, seated upon a golden throne, arrayed in robes of scarlet, •mibroidered with golden dragons Two lions 01 WOMAN, THE GOSPEL MESSENGER. 23 gold stood one upon each side of the throne, which, worked by unseen machinery, roared aloud at the approach of the strangers, while a grove of trees behind the monarch, formed of gold, resounded with the melody of the gemmed birds which ornamented the branches. Carpets of glowing dyes, Tynan tapestry, and columns of marble, supporting a ceil- ing studded with stars and moon of gold, added to the magnificence of the imperial palace. Like Queen Sheba of old, Olga came with a state ly retinue from afar to visit the monarch ; but not, like the Arabian queen, to mark his wisdom, nor look upon his glorious array ; a " greater than Solomon' she came to seek, and by Him, her heavenly Lord, was she graciously received. Christianity, at first, spread slowly in Russia, its progress being retarded by Olga's grandson, Prince Walodimir, a fanatic follower of the barbarous wor- ship of his fathers. Here again we behold woman by her gentle influence smoothing the path for the missionaries of the cross. Walodimir loved Aime, daughter of the Emperor Romanus, and threatened war if denied the princess, but promised to support Christianity if she were given to him. The gentle Anne shuddered at the idea of a pagan husband, but she was a zealous Christian, and when the hope of his conversion was placed before her she dared not hesitate. Anne left her home, and the luxurious pa- 'ace of her fathers at Constantinople, for a sad exile '<£4 WOMAN, THE GOSPEL, MESSENGER, among a rude people in a savage dime. Hei self- denial was rewarded. God touched the heart of her pagan lord while he listened to the Gospel, now first heard by him, and he became a sincere" Christian. His once worshipped god of Thunder, Peroun, was torn from his throne, dragged with ignominy through the streets, and then cast into the Borysthenes. Wa- lodimir, once the enemy of the gospel, so exerted himself in its cause, that he has gone down to pos- terity with the glorious title of " Apostle of Russia." Who has not heard of the noble Bertha, through whose means, under Providence, Christianity was introduced into England ? It is true Claudia was the first convert to the new religion among the ancient Britons, and with Eigen, daughter of Caractacus, aided in its dissemination among her countrymen ; but her race w T as swept away, or pent up in the mountains of Wales, by the Saxons, whose barba- rous worship became the religion of England. That fierce idolatry, dear as it was to the Saxons, as being the faith of their ancestors, was overthrown by the zealous efforts of the pious Princess Bertha. Bertha was a descendant of Queen Clotilda, of Fiance. Here is seen how far the circle may extend which receives its impetus from a single individual Clotilda was wife of Clovis, king of the Franks daughter of the dethroned Chilperic, and niece of Gondebald, king of Burgundy. She was a devoted Christian, and labored to convert her husband to the WOMAN, THE GOSPEL MESSENGER. 25 same faith. In her, Clovis beheld such " beauty of holiness," and such Christian purity, as induced him to listen to her persuasions and turn his attention to that new religion which had so exalted the character of his wife. Dreading the disapprobation of his idolatrous subjects, he hesitated to declare his senti- ments. At the battle of Talbaic, when he saw his soldiers flying before the enemy, and found he had called upon his pagan gods m vain, he remembered the Deity to whom his wife had so often directed his thoughts : " O God of Clotilda !" he cried, raising his eyes to heaven, " give me the victory, and I will believe, and be baptized in thy name !" He who hears our prayers, imperfect as they are, listened to Clovis, rescued him from his danger, and enabled him to re- turn victorious. Rheims then beheld a more glorious pageant than any that in later years has graced its lofty walls. King Clovis, his sister Albofleda, wife of Theodoric, and three thousand warriors were baptized. How swelled the heart of Clotilda then, while gazing upon this band of warlike idolaters, and upon her beloved ones, all brought to the foot of the cross by her hand ! What joy and gratitude filled her bosom at being thus the chosen instrument of her Saviour ! Their man- lies of state and glittering armor, laid aside for bap- tismal robes of purest white, the new converts pledged themselves soldiers of Chri«* The soul of Clotilda 26 WOMAN, THE GOSPEL MESSENGER. was lifted up on high ; in heaven-sent visions she be held the future, when she and all that multitude should meet again, — again should stand before their Sover- eign's throne arrayed in white celestial garments, and see Him, not with the eye of faith alone, but " see him as he is." The conversion of Clovis was yet too recent to smooth away all the asperities of a pa- gan life. Soon after his baptism a sermon was preached at Rheims, by Remigius, in which was eloquently described the sufferings and death of Christ. Clovis suddenly started up, and seizing his spear, exclaimed aloud : " that I and my valiant Franks had been there, and I would have rescued him !" The Christian religion thus established in France, was professed by King Caribert, father of Bertha. Ethelbert, Saxon king of Kent, sought the princess in marriage, and although it grieved the pious Bertha to become the wife of an idolater, she duteously sub- mitted to her father's commands. She consented to marry Ethelbert, upon the condition that she should be allowed to practise her own religious rites. Re- ceiving this permission, she espoused Ethelbert. The Saxon king respected his wife's faith, and caused ar. edifice to be provided in which she might worship after her own fashion. Here, in the little church of St. Martin, the pious queen " sang the Lord's song in a strange land," surrounded by a small congrega- tion consisting of her attendants and the few con WOMAN, THE GOSPEL MESSENGER. 21 revts whom her zealous efforts had assembled. The Christianity thus established was certainly corrupted from the purity of the apostolic ages ; the seed, how- ever, thus planted, God in his own time caused to bring forth rich fruit. Soon after these events Augustin arrived in En«/ land as a missionary of the Gospel, and then did Bei tha reap a high reward for her religious constancy. She had " kept the faith," notwithstanding the per- suasions of love, or scorn of her new people, and she now experienced the heartfelt gratification of see- ing her husband kneel with her at her own shrine. The religion which Augustin came to teach, having already obtained entrance into the country through the queen, and warmly recommended by the king of France, ensured him a favorable reception. Ethel- bert, through his wife's teaching, was an almost Christian, but, like Clovis, dreaded the disturbance his change of religion would create among his sub- jects. As it turned out, this " lion in the way," like many people's lions, was a creature of imagination only. The Saxons, and many other barbarous nations, believed the rapid spread of Christianity was in con- sequence of magic exercised by its ministers. To avert this, it was resolved to receive the deputation in the open air, enchantments being thought thus less effective. Upon a shady spot, outside the city of Canter 28 WOMAN, THE GOSPEL MESSENGER. oury, sat Ethelbert and his queen, surrounded by al- ine nobles of his court. A procession approached chanting a solemn anthem ; at its head the mission* ary Augustin advanced, bearing a large silver cross, followed by a train carrying banners, upon one of which was a picture of Christ. This show was, in barbarous ages, deemed advisable to catch the eye of these rude pagans, whose attention once gained, a better hearing was ensured. Ethelbert received the missionary of his wife's religion with courtesy, listened to his arguments, could not deny their truth, and Augustin completed what Bertha had begun. Ethelburga, daughter of Bertha, married Edwin, king of Northumbria, and, like her mother, continued firm in her faith. She also converted her husband and people. Mercia also received the truth through the efforts of a woman — great-granddaughter of Ber- tha. Peada, king of that country, became enamored of Ahlfleda, daughter of Edwin and Ethelburga, but she refused to marry a worshipper of Odin, even with the permission of practising her own religion. Hei firmness induced Peada to inquire into that new re- ligion which enabled a young and timid girl to resist the enchantments of a throne, and of love. He re- ceived the reward promised to those who seek, and found the pearl of great price. Peada became a Christian, married the princess, and through their in- fluence Sussex, the only unconverted kingdom of the Anglo-Saxons, received the faith. Thus in a short WOMAN, THE GOSPEL MESSENGER. 29 time afu the arrival of Bertha in England, through her effort - and those of her descendants, as humble instruments of a higher hand, were the altars of the Scandinavian gods overthrown, and Christianity es- tablished as the religion of the Anglo-Saxons. History tells us also of Poland, Christianized by a daughter of the king of Bohemia, who induced hei husband, a Polish king, to be baptized in her religion. His people followed his example : Of Bulgaria, the wild fierceness of whose people, the terror of surrounding nations, was subdued, and Christianity introduced, by Bogoris, sister of the king, who received the faith at Constantinople, and succeeded in converting her brother and his people : Of Hungary, whose king, Geysa, married Sarolta, a Bavarian princess, and was induced by her clear exhibitions of gospel truths to become a Christian : Of Lithuania, the sovereign of whose country, Jagellon, loved the beautiful Hedwiga, heiress to the throne of Poland, who, refusing to marry him, he abjured his pagan gods, and joined his duchy to the kingdom of his bride, which became a Christian nation : Of Denmark, converted to Christianity by its quejn, Thyra, who prevailed upon her husband, Gorm, to permit the missionaries of Christ to enter the kingdom, and thus introduced Christianity into that country and Jutland. The Christian religion ^ad been introduced into 30 WOMAN, THE GOSPEL MESSENGER. Norway, but without success, until the celebrated Olaf Triggvason married the pious Princess Gyda, when he became a convert and overthrew the altars of Odin. I could speak of many more exalted and pious women, and martyrs, but enough has been said to prove the truth of my previous assertion, and to ex- emplify the words of a celebrated historian, who tells us : " Christianity has, in every age, acknowledged ts important obligations to woman." ye my sisters of every clime ! may ye know the power and influence which are yours, and may ye exert it as these exalted females have done before you ! Not alone on pagan shores, but around you, in your dearest circle, you will find a field ripe for the harvest. All those " honorable women" whose deeds I have narrated — Bertha, Helena, Pulcheria — are shining a brilliant galaxy on high, with a countless starry host of witnesses besides. See ! from the celestial city they are gazing down upon you ! While, pointing to a glorious cross on high, they seem to say, in the words of Constantine — " In this sign you shall conquer." % Jflatwrial. BY JOHN G. WHITTIER. Dakiel Wheeler, a minister of the Society of Friends, and who had la lored in the cause of his Divine Master in Great Britain, Russia, and the ial »nds of the Pacific, died in New York, in the spring of 1840, while on a re ligious visit to this country. Oh, dearly loved ! And worthy of our love ! — No more Thy aged form shall rise before The hush'd and waiting worshipper, In meek obedience utterance giving To words of truth, so fresh and living, That, even to the inward sense, They bore unquestion'd evidence Of an anointed Messenger ! Or, bowing down thy silver hair In reverent awfulness of prayer — The world, its time and sense, shut out — The brightness of Faith's holy trance Gather'd upon thy countenance, As.if each lingering cloud of doubt — The cold, dark shadows zesting here In Time's unluminous atmosphere — 32 A MEMORIAL. Were lifted by an angel's hand, And through them on thy spiritual eye Shone down the blessedness on high, The glory of the Better Land ! The oak has fallen ! While, meet for no good work, the vine May yet its worthless branches twine. Who knoweth not that with thee fell A great man in our Israel ? Fallen, while thy loins were girded still, Thy feet with Zion's dews still wet, And in thy hand retaining yet The Pilgrim's staff and scallop-shell ! Unharm'd and safe, where, wild and f r e.e, Across the Neva's cold morass The breezes from the Frozen Sea With winter's arrowy keenness pass ; Or, where the unwarning tropic gale Smote to the waves thy tatter'd sail, Or, where the noon-hour's fervid heat Against Tahiti's mountains beat ; The same mysterious hand which gave Deliverance upon land and wave, Temper'd for thee the blasts which blew Ladoga's frozen surface o'er, And bless'd for thee the baleful dew Of evening upon Eimeo's shore, Beneath this sunny heaven of ours, a MEMORIAL. 38 Midst our soft an s and opening flowers Hath given thee a grave ! His will be done, Who seeth not as man, whose way- Is not as ours ! — 'Tis well with thee ! Nor anxious doubt nor dark dismay- Disquieted thy closing day, But, evermore, thy soul could say, " My Father careth still for me !" CalPd from thy hearth and home — from her, The last bud on thy household tree, The last dear one to minister In duty and in love to thee, From all which nature holdeth dear, Feeble with years and worn with pain To seek our distant land again, Bound in the spirit, yet unknowing The things which should befall thee here, Whether for labor or for death. In child-like trust serenely going To that last trial of thy faith ! Oh, far away. Where never shines our Northern star On that dark waste which Balboa saw From Darien's mountains stretching far, So strange, heaven-broad, and lone, that there With forehead to its damp wind bare B4 A MEMORIAL. He bent his mailed knee in awe ; In many an isle whose coral feet The surges of that ocean beat, In thy palm-shadows, Oahu, And Honolulu's silver bay, Amidst Owhyhee's hills of blue, And taro-plains of Tooboonai, Are gentle hearts, which long shall be Sad as our own at thought of thee, — Worn sowers of Truth's holy seed. Whose souls in weariness and need Were strengthen'd and refresh'd by thine For, blessed by our Father's hand, Was thy deep love and tender care, Thy ministry and fervent prayer — Grateful as Eshcol's cluster'd vine To Israel in a weary land ! And they who drew By thousands round thee, in the hour Of prayerful waiting, hush'd and deep, That He who bade the islands keep Silence before Him, might renew Their strength with His unslumbering power, They too shall mourn that thou art gone, That never more thy aged lip Shall soothe the weak, the erring warn, Of those who first, rejoicing, heard Through thee the Gospel's glorious word — A MEMORIAL. 35 Seals of thy true apostleship. And, if the brightest diadem Whose gems of glory purely burn Around the ransom'd ones in bliss Be evermore reserved for them Who here, through toil and sorrow, turn Many to righteousness, — May we not think of thee, as wearing That star-like crown of light, and bearing, Amidst Heaven's white and blissful band, The fadeless palm-branch in thy hand ; And joining with a seraph's tongue In that new song the elders sung, Ascribing to its blessed Giver Thanksgiving, love, and praise forever ! Farewell ! — Ana though the ways of Zion mourn When her strong ones are call'd away, Who like thyself have calmly borne The heat and burden of the day, Yet He who slumbereth not nor sleepeth His ancient watch around us keepeth ; Still sent from His creating hand, New witnesses for Truth shall stand — New instruments to sound abroad The Gospel of a risen Lord ; To gather to the fold once more, The desolate and gone astray, A MEMORIAL. The scatter'd of a cloudy day. And Zion's broken walls restore ! And, through the travail and the toil Of true obedience, minister Beauty for ashes, and the oil Of joy for mourning, unto her ! So shall her holy bounds increase With walls of praise and gates of peace So shall the Vine, which martyr tears And blood sustain'd in other years, With fresher life be clothed upon ; And to the world in beauty show Like the rose-plant of Jericho, And glorious as Lebanon ! Stye Reciprocal Inflnmcc of fWi00ton0. BY THE REV. ERSKINE MASON, D. D. We live in an interesting, because eventful age. Occurrences are continually taking place which ar- rest attention, as well on account of their suddenness as their importance, seeming to indicate the approach of the world to some great crisis in its history. In this respect, the present is more distinctly marked than the past, and the future will be more marked than the present, as the lines of God's providence converge more rapidly to the point in which they are all ultimately to terminate. Every new phase in the aspect of human things, imposes some new obliga- tion, and wisdom is deriving instruction continually from the signs of the times. We learn generally what duty is, from the oracles of God ; we must learn what are appropriate duties, at any given time, from tbe particular developments of Providence by which that time is marked. In view of the characteristics of the present event- ful age, the Christian world has been awakened to a sense, of the obligation which these characteristics 38 INFLUENCE OF MISSIONS. impose ; and believing that the great point in wind all the lines of divine Providence are to terminate — ■ the issue upon which all events are directly or indi- rectly bearing, is the final triumph of the Gospel, the perfect establishment of the Redeemer's kingdom in the world, the claims of benevolent effort assume a peculiar importance, and plans of usefulness are projected and prosecuted with zeal, taking advantage of events, and having direct reference to the spread of the Gospel. It can hardly be supposed of a Christian observer of the signs of the times, that he should be indiffer- ent to any right form of Christian effort ; and yet it may be possible that, in some instances, there may be hesitation as to the most effective methods of use- fulness, and even a paramount importance may be given to agencies which are but secondary in their nature. It is not believed that any one of the sepa- rate parts in the great enterprise of the church of God, which are urging their claims upon the Chris- tian world, can be dispensed with. They combine to form a consistent whole, and a relaxation of effort in any one department tends to destroy the symme- try of the general arrangement, and diminish its ef- fectiveness ; and yet there may be one form of Chris- tian enterprise which, if not intrinsically more im- portant than the others, is so, because of its relations to all the rest — it may constitute the spring of the whole machinery, without which it could never move. INFLUENCE OF MISSIONS. 39 [f there is one point upon which the Christian eye should be intently fixed, it is undoubtedly the fiek* of foreign effort. The bearings and relations of the foreign missionary work are such as to give it a com- manding position, and to claim for it our highest in- terest. It is a very superficial view of the whole subject of Christian effort, which gives to the home field a paramount importance. Plausible, indeed, is it to say that we have all around us, in our own land, a large unevangelized population, which claims, as part and parcel of ourselves — as linked to us by strong social sympathies, and being immediately un der our eye and within our reach — our first regards The importance, nay, indispensable necessity on every account, of the firm establishment of the king- dom of God among ourselves is not called in ques- tion ; but then it may be asked, if an exclusive atten- tion to this. one end alone is not calculated to prevent rather than to secure its attainment ? There is, I imagine, a very mistaken notion preva- lent, and a very mistaken policy growing out of it, as though there was an undue attention given to the for eign work, leading to a neglect of that which espe- cially belongs to us, and which they who are at home imperatively demand ; and efforts to carry the Gospel to the heathen are prejudiced in view of the numer- ous and pressing claims of home. In such reasoning, however, and the position which t goes to establish, there seems to be an entire over 3 40 INFLUENCE OF MISSIONS. sight of this one thought. The peculiar character istic of the church of God, the secret of its efficiency, and the element of its success in any department whatever, is found in its aggressiveness. Progress, advancement to a given point, is the great law of every thing. Generally speaking, that which is al- ready attained is rendered secure in possession only by renewed attainments of the same kind. The hu- man frame, until it has reached its maturity, must grow, in order to secure a healthy action of its pow- ers ; if its general progress is arrested, there is no full development of any of its parts, but a stinted ac- tion which results in dwarfishness. The mind re- tains its already acquired stores of information, only by means of constant accessions to its fund of know- ledge, and by regular and unwearied application, preserves the strength and vigor of its powers. He who ceases to learn, ceases to remember ; and he who ceases to act, soon is reduced to mental im- becility. So in human enterprises, whether of a private 01 national character, the means of strength and per- petuity are means of progress likewise. The man who at any point in his history gives himself up to indolence, generally loses what by former en- ergy he had acquired ; and a people, marked by in- activity and supineness, very rapidly sinks upon the scale of nations. Analogy, then, may throw some light upon the INFLUENCE OF MISSIONS. 41 spiritual and religious world ; growth in grace is ne- cessary to the maintenance of a consistent Christian character, and the church of God can hold her own in the world only by constant accessions to her num- bers, and constant additions to the territory over which she exercises her influence : and it is not to be doubt- ed, that if, in order to secure what has already been attained, she should cease to make new acquisitions, she would soon be crippled in her influence at home, and as she should not make inroads upon the terri- tory of heathenism, heathenism would make inroads upon the territory which she now claims as her own. There is something in a magnificent enterprise which tends to enlarge the heart. He only does great things who aims high ; he only acts worthy of himself, and of his different relations, who takes large and commanding views of things. The man who never looks farther than himself, or the immediate circle in which he moves, whose thoughts never go beyond the boundaries which private interest has drawn around him, and whose plans never contem- plate as their result any thing but »eif-aggrandize- ment, never illustrates the dignity of his nature, or puts forth any high and honorable efforts : the heart 13 a very small one which a unit fills, and the ener- gies which it controls are very feeble, and its achieve- ments are very insignificant. He must be a degraded being, failing to illustrate the very characteristics of 42 INFLUENCE OF MISSIONS. uis nature upon which he prides himself, or accom plish the results which he proposes as the main ends of his existence. So true is it, that a worthy char- acter requires a noble aim, and nothing but a grand enterprise can call out efforts which honor their au- thor. The philosophy of our Saviour's arrangement, when he said to his disciples " the field is the world," and set before them its salvation as the prize for which they were to run, is perfectly apparent. It was to give them an element of action and a motive to ef fort, which nothing but an elevated aim could fur nish ; and it is the desire and hope of accomplishing the whole which explains the busy activity which at this moment pervades the ranks of the church, and secures all the good which is attained through her instrumentality. Let her lose sight of the salvation of the whole world, as her object, and her energies are relaxed, and her steps falter, and she comes down from the lofty sphere in which her Master has placed her, and exhibits scarce one of the characteristics by which, in the word of God; she is distinguished. It is with the church, as with individuals ; she must look out of, and beyond herself for an aim, in ordei to act worthy of herself and fulfil her destiny. The philosophy of this thought is fully illustrated by history, which, in the facts it records, presents a striking commentary upon our principle. The man of large and liberal views, whose plans of benevo INFLUENCE OF MISSIONS. 43 .ence are graduated upon a scale of vast dimensions, and who contemplates a great amount of good to mankind generally, is not the one to overlook the claims of individual suffering, however obscure its subject, which are brought beneath his notice and urged upon his attention. He who looks abroad upon the wide field of humanity, and throws the in fluence of his kindness over the whole scene, is not the man whose eye is closed, and whose heart is sealed to the distresses of those who are immediate- ly about his person, or who deals out in a stinted measure his liberality to meet their wants. So with the church of God. Her enlarged spirit of foreign missions has ever been her true glory, the element of her efficiency, the secret of her success. Wherever it has prevailed, Zion has " put on hei beautiful garments ;" wherever it has declined she has lost her energy, and seemed as though smitten Dy a paralysis which has made her well-nigh a use less thing. Every man who regards the history of the present times with a philosophic eye, knows that, for all the plans of benevolent effort to do good at home for which these latter days are so justly cele- brated, we are indebted to the revival of a mission-