region of light, and the high and holy obligations which rest upon the
ransomed of God are being recognized. The question is now asked, with deep
and serious earnestness,--

"Shall we, whose souls are lighted
By wisdom from on high,
Shall we to man benighted
The lamp of life deny?"

And the answer has been given. The church has felt, realized, and entered
into her obligation. By the cross she has stood, her heart beating with
kindly sympathy, her cheeks bathed in tears, and her lips vocal with
prayer. The Macedonian cry has been heard, and from every nave, and alcove,
and aisle, and altar of the great temple of Christianity has come the
response,--

"Waft, waft, ye winds, the story,
And you, ye waters, roll,
Till, like a sea of glory,
Light spreads from pole to pole."

In the early part of the year 1808 several young men, members of the
Divinity School at Andover, became impressed with the importance of a
mission to the heathen world. They first looked on the subject at a
distance, saw its dim and shadowy outlines, prayed that their visions of a
converted world might be realized, and wondered who would go forth the
first heralds of salvation. Ere long the impression came that _they_
were the men; and in two years the impression had deepened into a solemn
conviction, and they had determined on a life of labor, tears, and
sacrifice.