Page:Australia an appeal.djvu/6

Rh the compassion of others for Australia; and thus many will be induced to follow Your Majesty's example, by interesting themselves in the salvation of the heathen—a charity of a higher and a holier character, than any that are to be found in the catalogue of Christian duties, or within the range of Christian benevolence.

The unprecedented nature of the request, will perhaps excite a smile. Its singularity is occasioned by an unwillingness to touch any of the funds which those whom you consult may consider indispensable to other objects, But what is there of excellence in the sublunary scenes of the life which man leads in this terrestrial abode that is not singular. The disposition, the life, and the actions of the Saviour of men, as well as those of his apostles, were distinguished by a heaven-born singularity. Nor should it excite our surprise. The common walks of life are all crowded with worldly pursuits and worldly interests, which tend alike to harden the heart, to darken the understanding, and to exclude heavenly things from our consideration, or to clothe them in an earthly garb, and degrade them with worldly associations. Hence, the treading of an unbeaten path, by the followers of the Redeemer in their efforts to save mankind, is as indicative of wisdom and good taste as it is of self-denial. It is impossible for them to act otherwise. In a world abounding with iniquity, singularity has therefore been, and ever will be, the characteristic of the religion of Jesus.

Singular, however, as the means which delicacy prompts for the attainment of an end so great and important, my suit itself is not without an example worthy of Your Majesty's imitation. Between the scene that occurred in the palace of Susan and that now acting in the British cabinet, there are coincidences and contrasts which are deeply interesting. True, I stand not in the same relation to the Queen of England as that of the distinguished Israelite to the Queen of the Persian empire. In this respect the suit of Mordecai and mine differ. Mine! did I say? Not mine, but that of the Redeemer of men. What though I be unrelated and unknown to Your Majesty? "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof;" yet it is not necessary—nor would it answer any end—to know "whence it cometh or whither it goeth." Such sometimes is the bearer of divine communications to a fallen world. I am merely the voice—the message is from heaven. There are in Your Majesty s dominions a people devoted to destruction by the colonizing enactments of your legislature and the avarice of your subjects, as certainly as if an edict had issued from the throne for their extermination. This is an affecting coincidence. The contrast, however, between your Rh