whose condition, in respect of piety, was truly de- plorable. The authorized teachers were altogether intent on their own temporal interests, whilst they forgot entirely the spiritual and eternal interests of the people : so that the people were really as sheep without a shepherd. Happy would it be if there were not but too much occasion for similar com- plaints in the present day; and that not only amongst other churches, but our own. However, it is of heathens rather that I propose at this time to speak. They, as my text intimates, are in a state,
1. Of destitution —
[The people "fainted" through their want of that nou- rishment which their priests ought to have administered. And amongst the heathen world there are multitudes who feel their need of mercy, but know not how to attain it. Nothing can be more clear, than that the most uncivilized savages have an idea of some Superior Being, whom they conceive themselves to have offended, and whom they wish to propitiate. For this end, they have recourse to penances, and pilgrimages, and self- inflicted tortures. It is quite afflictive to read of the rites prescribed by the priests of different religions for the obtaining of favour with their deities. They seem to have exhausted their ingenuity in searching out modes the most painful, the most odious, the most absurd. And what is the effect ? The people, after all their self-denying efforts, faint as much as ever, under a sense of the fruitlessness of their endeavours, and with fearful anticipations of their future doom. Like Hagar, when her little stock of water was consumed, they see no pro- spect befoi'e them, but to lie down and die. No angel have they at hand to point out the fountain ; which, though hidden, is close at hand. And this is the state of many hundreds of millions of our unhappy fellow-creatures, even of the whole heathen world. Would to God it were not also the state of millions amongst ourselves!]
2. Of danger —
[Sheep, without a shepherd are exposed to dogs and wolves, who may tear them to pieces at their will : and, in like manner, are the heathen world exposed to the assaults of that roaring lion, who is never satiated with his prey ; even with Satan, who prowls throughout the world, seeking whom he may devour. By temptations too on every side, as well as by their own in-dwelling lusts, are they assailed ; so that there is indeed no hope of escape for them : for no shepherd have they, to warn them of their danger, or to point out to them a