Missionaries yet Needed.
By Editor
By this we mean that the world is not yet converted; and indeed it is not approaching that time so faithfully preached by imaginative ministers. There is neither promise nor prophecy in the Bible to justify their expectation; yet to deny the conversion of the world is, by some, considered akin to infidelity. The truth is, that while some are being converted in heathen lands, the multitudes in those countries where the gospel has been preached the most, are drifting into open infidelity. An Auckland, New Zealand, paper comments on this state of things in introducing a notice of an infidel publication. Of the book it says:— "These general remarks are suggested by the perusal of a small book, entitled, 'Religion without Superstition,' written by Judge Williams, of Victoria. It was published in February last; but within eight weeks, two editions were sold out, and a third, in a cheapened and enlarged form, has made its appearance. This extensive sale is a significant fact, and is not accounted for by any particular brilliancy in the book itself; for though things are put well, the ground it covers has been traversed many times over. The arguments have been urged frequently, and in numerous cases quite as forcibly. What, then, is the cause of this unwonted sale? The status of the writer may have had some slight influence; but the spectacle of an unorthodox judge is surely nothing very wonderful. It is to be witnessed nearer home than Victoria. The true cause seems to be discoverable in the character of the present generation. A lucid setting forth of doubts and difficulties will naturally attract notice among an age of doubters. A few decades ago it is more than likely the judge's little volume would have fallen still-born from the press. He might have piped, but the public would not have danced. They had other things to absorb their attention, and would have let the skepticism of even an occupant of the judicial bench severely alone. Another state of things prevails now, and an 'infidel book' is in its third edition within a couple of months of publication." And so it is in every so-called Christian land. Worldliness, or conformity to the world, has absorbed the interest of professed Christians, and the salt is fast losing its savor. Having lowered the standard of Christianity until it trails in the dust, they look around bewildered, like men half wakened from sleep, and ask the world to vote itself Christian, and thus save the church from the overflowing tide of skepticism and irreligion!