of California i Regional r Facility A> V^ i ** CONSTITUTION, LAWS AND REGULATIONS AMERICAN BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS FOREIGN MISSIONS. BOSTON: PRINTED BY CROCKER & BREWSTER, 1839. STACK ANNEX :, CONSTITUTION, LAWS AND REGULATIONS OF THE AMERICAN BOARD OF COMMIS- SIONERS FOR FOREIGN MISSIONS. eMwrnlto-ui/tuM'. COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS. In the year of our Lord One Thousand Eight Hundred and Twelve: An Act to Incorporate the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. Whereas WILLIAM BARTLET and others have been associated under the name of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, for the purpose of propagating the gospel in heathen lands, by supporting missionaries and diffusing a knowledge of the holy Scriptures, and have prayed to be incorporated in order more effectually to promote the laudable object of their association. SEC. 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, That WILLIAM BARTLET, Esq., and SAMUEL SPRING, D. D., both of Newburyport, JOSEPH LYMAN, D. D., of Hatfield, JEDIDIAH MORSE, D. D., of Charlestown, SAMUEL WORCESTER, D. D., of Salem, the Hon. WILLIAM PHILLIPS, Esq., of Boston, and the Hon. JOHN HOOKER, Esq., of Springfield, and their associates, be, and they hereby are incorporated and made a body politic by the name of the AMERI- CAN BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS FOR FOR- EIGN MISSIONS, and by that name may sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded, appear, prosecute, and defend, to final judgment and execution ; and in their said corporate capacity, they, and their successors for- ever, may take, receive, have and hold in fee-simple or otherwise, lands, tenements, and hereditaments, by gift, grant, devise, or otherwise, not exceeding the yearly value of four thousand dollars ; and may also take and hold by donation, bequest, or otherwise, personal estate to an amount, the yearly income of which shall not ex- ceed eight thousand dollars ; so that the estate aforesaid shall be faithfully appropriated to the purpose and object aforesaid, and not otherwise. And the said corporation shall have power to sell, convey, exchange, or lease all or any part of their lands, tenements, or other property for the benefit of their funds, and may have a com- mon seal which they may alter or renew at pleasure. Provided, however, that nothing herein contained shall enable the said corporation, or any person or persons, as trustees for or for the use of said corporation, to receive and hold any gift, grant, legacy, or bequest, heretofore given or bequeathed to any person in trust for said Board, unless such person or persons, could by law have taken and holden the same, if this act had not passed. SEC. 2. Be it further enacted, That the said Board may annually choose from among themselves, by ballot, a President, a Vice President, and a Prudential Com- mittee ; and, also, from among themselves or others a Corresponding Secretary, a Recording Secretary, a Treasurer, an Auditor, and such other officers as they may deem expedient ; all of whom shall hold their offices until others are chosen to succeed them, and shall have such powers and perform such duties as the said Board may order and direct ; and in case of vacancy by death, resignation, or otherwise, the vacancy may in like man- ner be filled at any legal meeting of the said Board. And the said Treasurer shall give bond with sufficient surety, or sureties, in the judgment of the Board, or the Prudential Committee, for the faithful discharge of the duties of his office. SEC. 3. Be it further enacted, That all contracts, and deeds, which the said Board may lawfully make and execute, signed by the chairman of the said Prudential Committee, and countersigned by their clerk, (whom they are hereby authorized to appoint,) and sealed with the common seal of said corporation, shall be valid in law to all intents and purposes. SEC. 4. Be it further enacted, That the first annual meeting of the said Board shall be on the third Wednes- day of September next, at such place as the said William Bartlet may appoint, and the present officers of said Board shall continue in office until others are elected. SEC. 5. Be it further enacted, That the said Board, at the first annual meeting aforesaid, and at any subse- quent annual meeting, may elect by ballot any suitable persons to be members of said Board, either to supply vacancies, or in addition to their present number. SEC. 6. Be it further enacted, That the said Board shall have power to make such bye-laws, rules, and regu- lations, for calling future meetings of said Board, and for the management of their concerns, as they shall deem expedient ; provided the same are not repugnant to the laws of this Commonwealth. SEC. 7. Be it further enacted, That one quarter part of the annual income from the funds of said Board shall be faithfully appropriated to defray the expense of im- parting the Holy Scriptures to unevangelized nations in their own languages : Provided, that nothing herein contained shall be so construed as to defeat the express intentions of any testator or donor, who shall give or be- queath money to promote the great purposes of the Board. Provided, also, that nothing herein contained shall be so construed as to restrict said Board from appropriating more than one quarter of said income to translating and distributing the Scriptures whenever they shall deem it advisable. SEC. 8. Be it further enacted, That not less than one third of said Board shall at all times be composed of re- spectable laymen ; and that not less than one third of said Board shall be composed of respectable clergymen ; the remaiaing third to be composed of characters of the same description whether clergymen or laymen. SEC. 9. Be it further enacted, That the Legislature of this Commonwealth shall at any time have the right to inspect, by a Committee of their own body, the doings, funds, and proceedings of the said Corporation, and may at their pleasure alter or annul any or all of the powers herein granted. 1* 6 In the House of Representatives, June 19th, 1812. This bill having had three several readings, passed to be enacted. TIMOTHY BIGELOW, Speaker. In the Senate, June 20/A, 1812. This bill having had two readings, passed to be enacted. SAMUEL DANA, President. June 20<7t, 1812. By the Governor, Approved. CALEB STRONG. Copy Attest, ALDEN BRADFORD, Secretary of the Commonwealth. N. B. The Associates, alluded to in the foregoing act, were the Hon. JOHN TREADWELL, LL. D., the Rev. TIMOTHY DWIGHT, D. D. LL. D., President of Yale College, Gen. JEDIDIAH HUNTINGTON, and the Rev, CALVIN CHAPIN, all of Connecticut. LAWS AND REGULATIONS OF THE BOARD. I. OBJECT OF THE BOARD. 1. The object of the Board is, to propagate the gospe! among unevangelized nations and communities, by means of preachers, catechists, schoolmasters, and the press. II. MEMBERS OF THE BOARD. 2. Corporate Members. The Corporate members of the Board, are those who have the right of voting at its meetings. These, according to the Act of Incorporation, must be elected by ballot, and only at the annual meet- ings. Not less than one third of the corporate members must be laymen. The corporate members, besides being under special obligation to attend the meetings of the Board, are pledged to attend the anniversary meetings of Auxiliary Societies, when required by the Prudential Committee, as a Deputation from the Board; their travelling ex- penses, in going to and returning from the places of such meetings, being paid out of the Treasury of the Board. 3. Corresponding Members. Clergymen and laymen, residing in distant parts of the United States and in for- eign lands, may be elected by ballot, as Corresponding members of the Board ; who, though it be no part of their official duty to attend its meetings, or take part in its votes or resolutions, yet, when occasionally present, may assist in its deliberations, and by communicating information and in other ways, enlighten its course, facil- itate its operations, and promote its objects. 4. Honorary Members. Clergymen, on paying fifty dollars, and other persons, on paying one hundred dol- lars, at any one time, shall be entitled to the privilege of attending the meetings of the Board, and of assisting in its deliberations as honorary members; it being under- stood, however, that the right of voting is restricted, by the charter, to the corporate members. 5. The certificates of membership for corporate mem- bers shall be signed by the President and Recording Secretary of the Board ; for corresponding members, by the Secretaries for correspondence; and for honorary members, by the Treasurer. III. OFFICERS OF THE BOARD. 6. The officers of the Board shall be a President, Vice President, a Prudential Committee,, as many Secre- taries as are necessary, a Treasurer, and two Auditors. These must be chosen by ballot, and they hold their offices until others are appointed to succeed them. 7. It shall be the duty of the President, and in his absence of the Vice President, to preside at each meet- ing of the Board, and to perform such official acts, either during the session of the Board, or at any other time, as shall be assigned to him by any bye-law or vote of the Board. In the absence of both the President and Vice President,- the meeting shall be called to order by the oldest member present, after which a presiding officer shall be chosen for the occasion. 8. The Prudential Committee shall consist of such a number of members, as the Board from time to time shall think necessary ; and three of the members shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business ; pro- vided such a notice of the meeting shall have been given 8 to each member, as the Committee shall direct by a gen- eral rule. It shall be the duty of the Secretaries and Treasurer, though they may not be members, to attend its meetings at the request of the Committee and assist in its deliberations. One of the members of the Committee, or one of the Secretaries of the Board, shall be appointed clerk of the Committee, who shall keep a full record of their doings, and sign all their official acts. The records above de- scribed shall be always open to the inspection of the Board. It shall be the duty of the Prudential Committee to carry into effect all resolutions and orders of the Board, the execution of which shall not have been assigned to some other committee ; to cause the more inviting fields for missionary enterprize to be explored, if neces- sary ; to appoint the places where missions shall be at- tempted, and to determine the scale upon which they shall be conducted, and to superintend them ; to ap- point, instruct, and direct all the missionaries of the Board ; to prescribe where the Treasurer shall deposit the monies of the Board, and the times and modes of in- vestments and remittances ; to draw orders authorizing the payment of monies from the treasury ; to ascertain the state of the treasury at least twice a year, and as much oftener as they see cause ; to appoint agents at home and abroad, with such powers and duties as they may think are demanded by the best interests of mis- sions; and, generally, to perform all duties necessary, in their opinion, to promote the objects of the Board ; provided the same shall not be contrary to any resolution or bye-law of the Board, nor to the Act of Incorporation. They shall annually elect a chairman and clerk, the for- mer of whom shall keep the bond of the Treasurer. For the purpose of bringing the whole annual report of the Prudential Committee under the distinct consider- ation of the Board, previous to its acceptance, it shall be prepared in such a form, that, on presenting it to the Board, the several leading parts of it may be referred to different committees. The Prudential Committee shall also cause to be printed, in connection with their annual report, an abstract of the Treasurer's accounts, and such/ other documents as they judge proper to be included in that publication. 9 9. The number of Secretaries shall be determined by the Board, from time to time, in view of the exigencies of its affairs. The Recording Secretary shall keep accurate minutes of the proceedings of the Board, and enter the same in a book of records, and certify all such doings of the Board us are to be known only by an inspection of the records. The other Secretaries shall act as the organs of the Board in conducting its written correspondence, both foreign and domestic, except what relates immediately to the Treasurer's department, and they shall prepare and edit its official publications, and perform such other duties as the Board or the Prudential Committee shall particularly direct ; dividing the appropriate labors of their department among themselves, under the advice and direction of the Prudential Committee. 10. It shall be the duty of the Treasurer to take the charge of all monies paid into the treasury of the Board, and to give receipts therefor ; to keep safely all the funds and monies of the Board, and all notes, bonds, deeds, and other evidences of property ; to keep fair and accurate accounts of all monies received and expended ; to make out annually a statement of receipts and pay- ments, and of the condition of the several permanent funds, for the information of the Board ; to invest and deposit monies, and make remittances and payments, according to the direction of the Board, or of the Pru- dential Committee ; to exhibit his books, accounts, vouchers, and evidences of property, whenever required, to the Board or the Prudential Committee ; to conduct the correspondence relating immediately to his depart- ment ; and perform such other acts as are necessary to the faithful execution of the duties of his office. 11. It shall be the duty of the Auditors to examine the books of the Treasurer thoroughly and particularly, at least once a year ; and, if they shall find the accounts correctly kept and accurately cast, the payments well vouched, the balance satisfactorily stated and accounted for, and the evidences of property duly exhibited, to give their certificate accordingly ; which certificate they shall enter at large in the Treasurer's books, and deposit a duplicate thereof with the Recording Secretary, to be by him entered in his book of records. 10 12. In addition to the officers above named, there shall be a certain number of General Agents, appointed by the Prudential Committee for particular districts of country ; whose duty it shall be, within their respective fields, to co-operate with the agents of other societies, with the pastors of churches, with ecclesiastical bodies, with the officers of the Board and its auxiliaries, and with other friends of missions, in promoting a missionary spirit, and in drawing out the resources of the Christian community, for the speedy promulgation of the gospel through the world. The General Agents shall be enti- tled to the privileges of honorary members of the Board. IV. MEETINGS OF THE BOARD. 13. If, in the opinion of the Prudential Committee, it shall at any time be dangerous to the health of the mem- bers of the Board, or on any other account highly inex- pedient, to meet at the place appointed for any annual meeting, the Prudential Committee are authorized to appoint some other place for such meeting, by sending a notice of such change to at least six of the religious newspapers, published in different parts of the country, and also a printed notice to each corporate member of the Board. 14. No member, who shall be present at any meeting, shall consider himself at liberty to leave, until he shall have applied to the Board and obtained permission ; and members, who may consider it necessary to be absent during any part of a session, shall be expected to give as early notice as possible of their contemplated absence. 15. The successive daily sessions shall each be open- ed with prayer. 16. Committees may be selected from each of the three classes of members. 17. There shall be an annual sermon preached before the Board by a person appointed at a previous meeting. A second preacher shall be appointed to preach in case of his failure, who shall be first on the list of candidates for preachers at the succeeding anniversary. Should both be prevented from preaching, the Prudential Com- mittee are authorized to procure a preacher. 11 18. At the annual meetings, unless peculiar circum- stances should render it inexpedient, the Board will unite with their fellow Christians in the celebration of the Lord's supper ; and such celebration shall take place in the afternoon of the second day of the session. 19. Each corporate member of the Board, who shall apply to the Treasurer for the same, shall be allowed ten cents a mile for travelling expenses in attending any annual meeting of the Board, reckoning the distance only one way, and the usual route from his place of residence to the place of meeting. It is understood that no one shall receive a greater sum than the amount of his actual expenses in going to and returning from the meeting ; and that, in no case shall more than forty dollars be paid to any one member.* 20. In case of an adjourned meeting, the Recording Secretary shall give suitable notice of the same in the religious newspapers. 21. Tt shall be the duty of the President, or in case of his death, or inability, of the Vice President, to cause a special meeting to be called, through the Recording Secretary, or one of the other Secretaries, on the written application of the Prudential Committee, or any seven other members of the Board. The time of holding the meeting shall be such, as the officer who calls the meet- ing shall appoint ; and the place, that at which the next annual meeting is appointed to be held. On receiving an application as above described, the officer to whom the same is directed, shall cause a seasonable notice of the time and place of meeting to be sent to each member, and also cause a notice of the same to be inserted in at least six of the religious newspapers published in differ- ent parts of the country. * This is a modification of one of the old bye-laws of the Board. The design is to place it within the power of those members, who are unable to pay their travelling expenses, to attend the annual meeting from year to year. The utility of this regulation is seen in the fact that members, who otherwise could not have been present when the sessions were remote from their places of residence, have been enabled to attend the meetings, with few interruptions, for many successive years. The greater part of the members, even of those who make it a rule to attend every meeting, receive nothing in return for their travelling expenses. 12 V. MISSIONARIES OF THE BOARD AND THEIR WIDOWS AND CHILDREN. 22. Every person received by the Prudential Commit- tee as a candidate for missionary service, is expected to hold himself at the direction of the Committee, both in respect to the field of his future labors, and the time of his going forth ; it being understood, however, that his inclination, as well as his particular qualifications and other circumstances, shall be kindly and attentively considered. 23. Applications for employment as missionaries or assistant missionaries, musi be made to the Prudential Committee, who shall carefully inquire into the character and qualifications of the applicants, whether males or females, before taking them under the patronage of the Board. In special cases, they are authorized to spend money in preparing the candidate more fully for the ser- vice assigned him. 24. A missionary is one, who has been ordained a minister of the gospel, and is actually under the direction of the Board. All others, whether licensed preachers, physicians, schoolmasters, printers, etc., are assistant missionaries, but, in the Reports of the Prudential Com- mittee, shall generally be designated by their specific occupations. 25. Whenever any missionary or assistant missionary has, in the judgment of the Prudential Committee, vio- lated the instructions given him, whether before or after entering the field of his missionary labors, or has failed to perform any duty reasonably required of him, they are authorized to dismiss him, in case they deem it expe- dient, from the service of the Board. In all cases, how- ever, where the missionary or assistant missionary has actually been named in any of the official publications of the Board, as having been received under its patronage and direction, the individual so dismissed shall have the privilege of submitting his case to the revision of the Board, at an annual meeting. 26. No missionary or assistant missionary of the Board shall engage in any transactions or employments yielding pecuniary profit, without first obtaining the con- sent of his brethren in the mission. 13 5J7. The missionaries and assistant missionaries are regarded as having an equitable claim upon the churches, in whose behalf they go among the heathen, for an eco- nomical support, while performing their missionary la- bors; and it shall be the duty of the Board to see that a fair and equitable allowance is made to them, taking into view their actual circumstances in the several countries where they reside. 28. When any missionary or assistant missionary of the Board shall desire, on account of ill health or .any other cause, to return to the United States, he is required to obtain permission from the Prudential Committee so to do, when it is practicable, (always sending with his re- quest the opinion of his mission,) and when impractica- ble to obtain such permission, he is required to obtain the consent of his mission, which consent shall always be subject to the revision of the Prudential Committee. 29. When missionaries or assistant missionaries re- turn home, their connection with the Board shall cease as soon as there is no longer a reasonable probability of their returning to their missionary labor. 30. When superannuated or disabled missionaries or assistant missionaries, or the widows of missionaries or assistant missionaries, return to this country with the ap- probation of the Prudential Committee, it shall be the duty of the Committee to make such grants towards their support, as the circumstances of each case shall require, and as shall best comport with the missionary character and the interests of the missionary cause ; it being un- derstood, (1.) That no pensions or annuities are to be settled on any person, and that no grant is to be made, except in extraordinary cases, for any other than the current year. (2.) That, except in extraordinary cases, after the lapse of a year from their return, no grant is to be made to re- turned missionaries or assistant missionaries, who are neither superannuated, nor disabled by sickness, and yet are not expected to resume their missionary labors. (3.) That missionaries and assistant missionaries, who return on account of sickness, and recover their health, and remain in this country, are no longer to be regarded as having claims upon the Board for pecuniary assistance. 2 14 (4.) That missionaries and assistant missionaries, who return on account of sickness, and partially recover their health so as to attend to the ordinary business of life for a number of years, are not to be regarded, when they again lose their health, as having the same claims upon the Board, as they had when they first arrived. 31. The grants made to returned missionaries and assistant missionaries shall, in all ordinary cases, be charged to the missions to which they last belonged, as a part of the expenses of said missions. 32. When parents, who are missionaries or assistant missionaries of the Board, are desirous of sending their children to this country for education, or for a permanent residence unless they shall be qualified and disposed at a future time to engage in the work of missions among the heathen, the Prudential Committee, at their discretion, may allow a sum adequate to defray the necessary trav- elling expenses of the children from the missions with which their parents are connected, to the place where the children are to be educated or to reside. 33. After the children have arrived in this country, the Prudential Committee at their discretion may allow, for a boy, an annual sum not exceeding fifty dollars ; the allowance not to be continued after the child is eighteen years of age, and the whole sum allowed for any one boy, after his arrival in this country, not to exceed three hundred dollars : and for a girl, an annual sum not exceeding forty dollars; the allowance not to be contin- ued after the child is eighteen years of age, and the whole sum allowed for any one girl, after her arrival in this country, not to exceed two hundred and forty dollars. 34. In ordinary cases, it shall be presumed that a child does not need pecuniary assistance, when no appli- cation is made to the Prudential Committee for such as- sistance by the parent or guardian ; and the grants shall be made only for the current year, and not without reason to believe that they are required by the circumstances of the children. 35. In case children are left without either parent, and there is no missionary family, or Christian friend, or guardian, by whom such children could be well taken care of in the mission,the Board will then authorise the 15 removal of the children to this country, and will provide for them according to article thirty-third. 36. The allowances made on account of the children of living missionaries or assistant missionaries in the service of the Board, wherever the children may be edu- cated, shall be charged to the mission to which the parents belong. 37. The allowance made on account of orphan chil- dren shall, in ordinary cases, be charged to the mission to which the parents belonged at the time of their decease. 38. The Board regard it as not consistent with the multiplied cares and duties of the Prudential Committee, for them to undertake the guardianship of the children of missionaries sent to this country. VI. THE MISSIONS. 39. A majority of missionaries and assistant mis- sionaries in any mission shall, in their regular meet- ings, decide all questions that may arise in regard to their proceedings and conduct, in which the mission is interested, the decision being subject to the revision of the Prudential Committee. At such meetings every male missionary and assistant missionary present, hav- ing arrived at the age of twenty-one years, is entitled to a vote. 40. It shall be the duty of the Prudential Committee to affix a limit to the annual expense of each mission. 41. The rule is applicable to all missionaries and agents of the Board, that real estate .shall not be purchased at the expense of the Board, nor money loaned belonging to the Board, without the express permission of the Prudential Committee previously ob- tained. 42. .In general, the sole object of the printing estab- lishments connected with the missions of the Board shall be to exert a direct influence upon the surrounding na- tive population ; and no mission, or member of a mis- sion, may print any letter, tract, or appeal at these estab- lishments, at the expense of the Board, with a view to its being sent to individuals or communities in the United States. 16 VII. LIBRARY OF THE BOARD, CURIOSITIES, ETC. 43. The Library of the Board shall be regarded as embracing the books, maps, manuscripts, pictures, etc. at the Missionary House, and all the books, maps, etc. appropriated to the use of the several missions, and not included in the original outfit of the missionaries, nor purchased at their private expense. The Library at the Missionary House shall be placed in charge of a librarian appointed by the Prudential Committee ; and those of the several missions shall be placed in charge of a librarian appointed, in ordinary cases, by the mission itself, who shall be accountable for the books to the mission and to the Prudential Committee. 44. The curiosities deposited in the Missionary House, and consisting of idol gods and other objects of superstition, together with specimens in natural history, etc., interesting on account of their being brought from countries which are fields for missionary exertion, shall be carefully preserved, arranged, and labelled, and kept in a room provided for the purpose, under the direction of the Prudential Committee. VIII. INTERCOURSE WITH OTHER SOCIETIES, AND WITH ECCLESIASTICAL BODIES. 45. A friendly intercourse shall be maintained with other protestant societies in this and other lands, which are engaged in the benevolent design of propagating the gospel of Jesus Christ. 46. The Board will send to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of the United States, to the Synods of the Reformed Dutch and German Reformed Churches, and to the several General Associations in the New England States, as many copies of the annual Report and other printed documents, as shall be suffi- cient to furnish those bodies with the means of informa- tion with regard to the state and necessities of the Board, its operations, and the success which God may grant to its exertions. 17 THE BOARD AND ITS OPERATIONS. The following persons were elected officers of the Board at the annual meeting in September 1839; viz. JOHN COTTON SMITH, LL. D., President; THEODORE FRELINGHUYSEN, LL. D., Vice President; CALVIN CHAPIN, D. D., Recording Secretary; Rev. BELA B. EDWARDS, Assistant Recording Secretary ; SAMUEL HUBBARD, LL. D. Hon. SAMUEL T. ARMSTRONG, CHARLES STODDARD, Esq. JOHN TAPPAN, Esq. Prudential Committee ; DANIEL NOYES, Esq. Rev. NEHEMIAH ADAMS, Rev. SILAS AIKEN, Rev. RCFUS ANDERSON, } Rev. DAVID GEEENE, > Secretaries for Correspondence ; Rev. WILLIAM J.ARMSTRONG,) HENRY HILL, Esq., Treasurer; WILLIAM J. HUBBARD, Esq. ) A ,,j- tnrt CHARLES SCUDDER, Esq. $ Audrtors. -. i The business of the Board is done at the Missionary House, Pemberton Square, Boston. The duties of the Secretaries are divided as follows, in accordance with Rule 9th ; To Mr. Anderson is committed the correspondence beyond sea, that is, the foreign correspondence. To Mr. Greene is committed the correspondence with the missions among the Indians, and the editing of the Missionary Herald. To Mr. Armstrong is committed the domestic corres- pondence, including the superintendence of the agencies. The Secretaries and Treasurer attend the meetings of the Prudential Committee, and bring forward the busi- ness in their several departments. One of the Secreta- ries is clerk of the Committee. In point of fact, the senior Secretary present at any meeting is the clerk of that meeting. The stated meetings of the Prudential Committee are on Tuesday of every week. Occasionally there are special meetings ; which may be called by the clerk for the time being, whenever, in the opinion of the 2* 18 officers at the Missionary House or of any two members of the Committee, there is sufficient cause for such a meeting. The General Agencies and Agents required by Rule 12th, are as follows : 1. Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont; 2. Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Eastern New York ; Rev. CHAUNCEY EDDY. 3. Central and Western New York ; Rev. F. E. CANNON, Geneva. 4. New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Mary- land ; Rev. WILLIAM M. HALL, Carlisle, Pa. 5. Western Reserve ; Rev. HARVEY COE, Hudson, Ohio. 6. Michigan ; Rev. ERASTUS N. NICHOLS, Clinton, Lenawa co. 7. Western States ; Rev. WILLIAM I. BREED, Cin- cinnati, Ohio. 8. Southern States ; The Board is constituted as follows : 1. Corporate members ; Clergymen. 70 Laymen, 40 110 2. Corresponding members ; In this Country, 5 In England, 6 In Scotland, 2 In India, 3 In Ceylon, 2 In Penang, 1 19 3. Honorary members, 2,836 Total, 2,965 The annual Report presented to the Board at its meet- in September 1839, was the thirtieth. At that time the Board had under its care 26 missions ; 77 missionary stations ; 136 ordained missionaries, of whom nine were physicians ; 9 physicians not preachers j 19 teachers ; 11 printers and bookbinders ; 9 other male assistant missionaries ; and ' - - ' 191 female assistant missionaries j - - - 3*75 9 native preachers ; 98 other native helpers ; 107 Whole number of persons, 482 19 14 printing establishments ; 24- presses, at which 200,000,000 of pages have been printed 5 4 type founderies ; 52 churches; 7,811 church members ; 7 seminaries, containing 363 pupils ; 10 boarding-schools, containing 344 pupils ; 350 free schools, containing about 16,000 pupils. The places of the annual meeting, and the preachers of the annual sermon, have been as follows, Year. Place of meeting. State. Preacher. Text. 1810 Farmington, Con. No sermon. 1811 Worcester, Mass. do. 1812 Hartford, Con. do. 1813 Boston, 1814 New Haven, Mass. Con. *Timothy Dwight, James Richards, John x, 16. Eph. iii, 8. 1815 Salem, Mass. Calvin Chapin, Ps. xcv, 10. 1816 Hartford, Con. Henry Davis, Ps. cxix, 96. 1817 Northampton. 1818 New Haven, Mass. Con. *Jesse Appleton, *Samuel Spring, 1 Cor. i, 21. Acts viii, 30, 31, 1819 Boston, 1820 Hartford, Mass. Con. Joseph Lyman, Eliphalet Nott, Isa. Iviii, 12. Mark xvi, 15. 1821 Springfield, 1822 New Haven, Mass. Con. *Jedidiah Morse, Alexander Proudfit, Ps. ii, 8. Mai. i, 11. 1823 Boston, Mass. Jeremiah Day, Neh. vi, 3. 1824 Hartford, Con. *Samuel Austin, Gal. i, 15, 16. 1825 Northampton, 1826 Middletown, Mass. Con. Joshua Bates, *Edward D. Griffin, John viii, 32. Matt, xx viii, 18, 20. 1327 New York city, N. Y. Lyman Beecher, Luke xi. 21, Res. etc. 1828 Philadelphia, Penn. *John H. Rice, 2 Cor. x, 4. 1829 Albany, 1830 Boston, N. Y. Mass. Archibald Alexander, Acts xi, 18. Thomas DeWitt, Matt, ix, 37, 38. 1831 New Haven, Con. Leonard Woods, Isa. Ixii, 1, 2. 1832 New York city, N. Y. William Allen, John viii, 36. 1833 Philadelphia, 1834 Ulica, Penn. N. Y. *William McMurray Gardiner Spring, , 2 Cor. x, 4. Matt, x, 6. 1835 Baltimore, Md. Samuel Miller, Num. xiv, 21. 1836 Hartford, Con. John Codtnan, Matt, x, 8. 1837 Newark, N. J. John McDowall, Acts iv, 12. 1838 Portland, Me. Heman Humphrey, Ps. cii, 13, 14, li J. 1839 Troy, N. Y. Thomas McAuley, Is. ii, 9. These sermons, except the one preached in the year 1820, have been printed. A Missionary House, for the more safe and convenient transaction of the business of the Board, was completed early in the year 1839, and began to be occupied on the 13th of March. The House is 31 feet by 50, exclusive of two rooms extending in the rear, from the basement, each ten and a half feet by forty feet. The materials are of a durable character, and the workmanship such 20 as to give it a plain but neat and substantial appearance. Its location, though central and convenient, is such as to leave it open to the light and air on three sides, while it is well removed from the noise and dust of the more fre- quented and busy streets. Pemberton Square, on which it stands, is surrounded by dwelling-houses, from which, in its external appearance, the Missionary House does not differ. The cost of the land and building was about $23,000. The whole was defrayed out of the perma- nent funds of the Board, only the income of which could, by the conditions fixed by the donors, be lawfully ex- pended ; so that the erection of the building, instead of diminishing the amount which could be used in sustain- ing the missions, is merely taking the funds from the banks and investing them in the Missionary House, and then having the house free of rent, instead of receiving the interest of the fund as formerly invested and using it to pay the rent of buildings hired. The advantages secured by the erection of the new Missionary House are the following, among others. 1. Possession of accommodations far more ample and convenient, and much better adapted to promote econ- omy of time and labor on the part of all those employed there, than could be otherwise procured, at the same ex- pense in any place equally favorable. 2. The Board will not be exposed to the loss of time, the expense, the injury to books, papers, and furniture, and the other not unimportant evils of frequent removals. 3. The books, papers, and other property of the Board are much more safe in the present building, than they could be made in almost any building which could be rented for the use of the Board. The seat of the operations of the Board is in Boston. This was directed by Providence, in the first instance, without any peculiar attachment to place or regard to personal considerations on the part of the members. There are conclusive reasons, however, why the seat of its operations -should continue to be where it is. Its charter would probably become inoperative, if its prinei- pal offices were removed out of the State of Massachu- setts. Though New York city is the great emporium of our country, yet there is vastly more direct intercourse between Boston and India, the Indian Archipelago, and 21 the Sandwich Islands, than between New York and the same parts of the heathen world. The same is true of the western and northwestern coasts of America, south- ern Africa, and the shores of the Levant. The foreign trade of New York is principally with Europe, South America, and Mexico ; whereas the foreign trade of Boston, though less in amount, is carried on with every part of the world ; and of course furnishes the means of conveying missionaries to almost every heathen country, and corresponding with them and supplying their neces- sities after their respective stations are formed. It is a strong confirmation of this statement, that most of the numerous letters received at the Missionary House from southern Africa, the Levant, western, southern and east- ern Asia, and the Sandwich Islands, that is to say, most of the letters from the missions beyond sea are brought into the ports of Massachusetts. For the reason just stated, the Baptist General Convention, which is a na- tional institution, has also the seat of its foreign mission- ary operations in Boston. The facilities for transporting letters and for travelling are such, that the domestic pro- ceedings of the Board may be conducted as efficiently in Boston, as in New York or Philadelphia ; and the system of agencies can be superintended as effectually in one place, as in the other. The object of the Board is foreign. This is the dis- tinctive characteristic of the Board, when viewed in its relation to domestic missionary societies. Its name im- plies that its labors are in a foreign field, and its charter requires them to be so. The Indian tribes come within its appropriate sphere, as being what our national judi- ciary has decided them to be " foreign communities under the pupilage of the United States." Excepting a part of these, its whole field lies beyond the bounds of Christendom. The oriental churches, in the strange revolutions of ages past, have fallen out of Christendom ; and, though nominally Christian, they properly receive attention, because the approach to the Mohammedan world must be chiefly through them. The Mohammedan nations cannot be converted to the Christian faith, while the oriental churches, existing every where among them as the representatives and exemplifications of Christian- ity, continue in their present state. In a large view of 22 the subject, and considering the ultimate design and final results of the missions to the oriental churches, they may be regarded as so many missions to the followers of the False Prophet. The Board is therefore a society for Chris- tian efforts in lands not Christian. It is an institution for foreign missions, and for no others. A domestic mission instituted by it, no matter where, or for what specific purpose, would be doing violence to its charter, its con- stitution, and its design ; and besides, would introduce confusion into our great system of charitable operations. Its object is, to save the souls of men, by the use of the most direct means, in the nations and tribes situated be- yond the bounds of Christendom, including the Indian tribes of North America. This is its single, well defined, grand object. Keeping this object constantly in view, it is easier to resist the powerful tendencies, on every hand, to a com- plex, expensive, cumbrous, and impracticable system of operations in the form of missionary hospitals and dis- pensaries, manual-labor schools, schools for mere human science, missionary colonies, model farms, mechanical arts, and numerous other civilizing instrumentalities ; all of which are well in certain circumstances, and some are indispensable to the full and proper establishment of Christian institutions in barbarous pagan nations, but are of questionable utility as a part of the system of means to be used by missionary societies for the conversion of the heathen world. The relation of the Board to its patrons is that of AGENTS for conducting foreign missions. Hence the word "* Commissioners ' in its name. It is a ' Board of Commissioners,' or Agents, acting for those who choose to employ it in the work of foreign missions. Whether its patrons shall be many, or few, must depend on the good pleasure of the Lord of missions. At present, there is much cause for thankfulness on that score. For the information of these numerous patrons, there are annual, monthly, and occasional publications. The relation of the Board to its patrons is direct and immediate. Noth- ing stands between it and them. Under the Great Head of the Church, it is accountable to them ; nor can it long persist in any course of measures, which they shall extensively disapprove. 23 In point of fact, however, patrons will be slow to con- demn the proceedings of a missionary society, and still slower to dictate what those proceedings shall be. And even where errors are discovered, if they are not long persisted in, or repeated, they will be regarded with kind- ness. We are in the infancy of foreign missions. The diversity of views in the religious community, and still more the want of definite and settled opinions, as to the best methods of performing the work, show that there is yet much to be learned. And the learning is to be by experience. The societies should therefore be allowed the free exercise of their judgments in the adoption of principles, and in the measures necessary to test the cor- rectness of those principles. So far as the Board has adopted principles, it has made them public ; and not only so, but in its instructions to its missionaries it has used the greatest freedom of discussion and explanation, and these discussions and explanations have also been generally committed to the press. The relations of the Board to other missionary institu- tions, are those of perfect, and it may be hoped perpetual, amity. The prosperity of each conduces to the prosperity of all. It is enough to know that they have the same general nature, are pursuing the same object, are subject to the same Lord, and are building up the same kingdom, and by the use of the same means ; and that there is morq room than all will occupy, more work than all will do, LETTERS OX THE CONSTITUTION AMERICAN BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS FOR FOREIGN MISSIONS. [Addressed to the Rev. DAVID ABEEL, of the Reformed Dutch Church, by of the Secretaries of the Board.] LETTER I. Occasion and object of the Letters. Origin of the American Board, and of iu official relations to the ecclesiastical bodies of the Presbyterian, Reformed Dutch and Congregational churches. The Board still more intimately con- nected with those denominations. Has always acted as a national institu- tion. DEAR BROTHER, You state that, from ignorance or misapprehension in many minds with respect to the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, questions are often proposed to which you desire materi- als for the proper replies. For this purpose, you ask for a precise view of the Constitution of the Board, using that term in its most comprehensive sense, with the special view of showing the adaptedness of the Board for con- ducting the foreign missionary operations of the Reformed Dutch church. As the Board sustains the same relations to the Pres- byterian and Congregational denominations, which it does to your own belonging to each and acting for 2 Letters on the Constitution each in precisely the same senses, I shall accomplish your particular object as well by showing how it is fitted to act for all three of these, as if I kept your church alone in view. At the same time my statement of the case, if I am successful, will meet the wishes of many of our friends in the other two denominations. The American Board had an ecclesiastical origin, and had its first existence, as did the foreign missionary enter- prise in this country, among the Congregational churches of New-England. It was formed in the year 1810, by the General Association of Massachusetts, who appointed certain gentlemen residing in Massachusetts and Con- necticut a Board of Commissioners, giving to the Board at the same time the comprehensive name it now bears. In 1812, for the convenience and safety of its fiscal con- cerns, it was incorporated by the legislature of the same State, and authorized to elect its own members. The act of incorporation, if conferred at all, must of course be conferred by some one of the States. Its national de- nomination was now confirmed to it, and at its next meeting, eight members were elected from the States of New-York, New-Jersey, and Pennsylvania, (which was as far south and west as there appeared at that time to be preparation for acting on this subject;) and also five others from New-Hampshire, Vermont, and Rhode Isl- and. The ecclesiastical bodies of the Congregational churches early gave the Board their full recognition. Its patrons, however, have never been confined to that de- nomination, nor to New England; although the United Foreign Missionary Society was formed with express ref- erence to the Presbyterian, Reformed Dutch and Asso- ciated Reformed churches, as early as the year 1818. This Society was amalgamated with the Board in the year 1826, at its own request. In the same year, accor- ding to the terms agreed upon for the amalgamation, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian church and the General Synod of the Reformed Dutch church gave the Board their official sanction and recommendation. In 1831 the General Assembly appointed commissioners to confer with the Board relative to the measures best adapted to enlist the energies of the Presbyterian church more extensively in the cause of missions to the heathen, who met and conferred with the Board in the autumn of J f the American Board. 3 the same year. These commissioners reported to the General Assembly that in their judgment the Board was a national institution, belonging as much to one section of the country as to another ; that it fully represented the Presbyterian, Reformed Dutch and Congregational churches, and sustained the same relation to each; that the proceedings of the Board had been in strict accord- ance with this relation ; that the Board, its Prudential Committee, and its missionaries, were under very high responsibility to the three denominations and to the Christian public, a responsibility peculiarly adapted to ensure the purity and efficiency of the whole system ; that in raising funds and in other proceedings in this country, the various ecclesiastical habits of the people had been, and there was every reason tp feel assured would be, regarded ; that it was wholly inexpedient to at- tempt the formation of any other distinct organization within the three denominations for conducting foreign missions, at least until the concern should become too extensive and complicated (if that should ever be) to be managed by one institution ; and that it was of the high- est importance to their own spiritual prosperity, and to the extension of the Redeemer's kingdom on earth, that the ecclesiastical bodies of the individual churches in these connections should give the Board their cordial, united, and vigorous support. In 1832 a committee also from the General Synod of the Reformed Dutch church attended the annual meeting of the Board at New- York, and after conference with a committee appointed by the Board for that purpose, agreed to a joint report, the ex- press object of which was to impart new vigor to the mis- sionary operations of that church, conducted through the agency of the Board. Such in brief is the manner in which the Board has acquired its official relations to the general ecclesiastical bodies of the Presbyterian, Reformed Dutch, and Con- gregational churches. There is, however, another and highly important view of its relations to these churches. The Board has been connected with the Presbyterian church from the year of its incorporation, by the very elements of its existence. The members originally incorporated were in number 4 Letters on the Constitution eleven. These, immediately after receiving the act of incorporation, elected thirteen others, eight of whom were from among the most distinguished members of the Pres- byterian church. The Board now became, by its very nature, connected with the Presbyterian church. In the following year, a member was appointed from the Associ- ated Reformed church. The present honored Vice President of the Board was the first elected from the Re- formed Dutch church. This was in the year 1816. In 1824 another member of that church was elected, and in 1826 four others. Now the Board is to be regarded as being, both in fact and in effect, what its corporate mem- bers are. Of these there are eighty-three ; and forty-four are Presbyterians, thirty-one are Congregationalists, and seven belong to the Reformed Dutch church. These numbers are proportionate to the number of communi- cants in the respective denominations. Hence the Board may, with equal propriety, be regarded as a Presbyterian Board, or a Congregational Board, or a Reformed Dutch Board. It is, at any rate, as much one as the other, and it is no more so. It is so, notwithstanding the Presbyte- rians outnumber the Congregationalists by one-fourth; notwithstanding the Congregationalists form but little more than one-third of the whole body. The most proper light, however, in which to regard the Board is neither as Congregational, nor Reformed Dutch, nor Presbyte- rian, but simply as a Board of COMMISSIONERS, or Agency, composed of members from each of these denom- inations, and designed to act for each of these denomina- tions, or for such individuals and churches in them as may choose to employ it in conducting missions among the heathen. The Board has always, since the year 1812, proceeded on the ground that it possessed a general and not a sec- tarian character. Its agents have ever been sent without reserve, into every part of the Union. Its appeals have ever been made to the friends of missions throughout the republic. It never appealed to Congregationalists as such, nor to the people of any one section of the country. It has felt and acted as a national institution ; as operat- ing within its proper sphere wherever there were friends of benighted men who would be disposed to make use of its agency. The tie which binds it to every part of the of the American Board. & country is in its very nature. This tie was strengthened by the amalgamation of the United Foreign Missionary Society with it, and by the official sanctions of ecclesias- tical bodies ; and it has grown strong, if not indissoluble, by the long-continued, general, and liberal patronage of the churches in every part of the land; by means of which it has, with the blessing of God, brought into exis- tence a great and extensive system of missions in the heathen world. On that patronage it is dependent for the means of supporting this system, and prosecuting the enterprise to a successful termination. The right, grow- ing out of the past and out of its very nature, to seek for missionaries and funds in every State of our nation, it can lose only by being shown to be unworthy of general confidence as a Board of Commissioners. The Lord make its members wise by his wisdom, and preserve them from mistaking or disobeying his holy will. I am, &c. LETTER II. The Board not an ecclesiastical body. Not a voluntary association. Possoaaos the advantages claimed for both forms of association. DEAR BROTHER, The American Board is not an ecclesiastical body. This is true, notwithstanding its ecclesiastical origin ; notwithstanding its members are all members of the Christian church ; notwithstanding it is obliged, by agreement with the general ecclesiastical bodies of the three denominations, to lay its report annu- ally before them. The fact is, that appointment by an ecclesiastical body, responsibility to an ecclesiastical body, and the individual relations of members to the churches, are not of themselves sufficient to confer eccle- siastical powers on a missionary Board; and without ecclesiastical powers how can such a Board be regarded as an ecclesiastical body? The American Board has none of these powers. It cannot organize churches, nor classes, nor presbyteries; it cannot admit members to the *1 6 Letters on the Constitution church, nor excommunicate them; it cannot ordain min- isters of the gospel, nor silence them; nor can it transfer them from one denomination to another, nor change their ecclesiastical relations. The same is true of all the other missionary Boards in this country, whether formed by ecclesiastical bodies or otherwise. Not one of them pos- sesses ecclesiastical powers ; not one of them, properly speaking, is an ecclesiastical body. All are equally pow- erless, in the respects above mentioned, with the Ameri- can Board, and that Board has no ecclesiastical power whatever. Hence, if a missionary, when he comes under the di- rection of the American Board, is connected with a classes, or presbytery, or association, that connection is not thereby in the least affected. There is no feature in the constitution of the Board, which prevents the body to which he belongs from having the same authority over him after the connection has been formed, as it had before ; and the ecclesiastical 'body is just as much bound to watch over him as a minister of the gospel, to counsel him, and to discipline him in case he needs discipline. And when his connection with that ecclesiastical body ceases, (if it ever ceases,) it will not be, for it cannot be, by any action of the Board, but by regular dismission from his ecclesiastical body, that he may join some other which has grown up in the field of his missionary labors. This is an interesting and beautiful feature in the ex- isting methods of conducting foreign missions. For, neither the churches nor their ecclesiastical bodies, as such, can devote the time nor acquire the experience necessary to the management of a great system of mis- sions. It is therefore necessary to appoint trust-worthy boards of agency, or to recognize existing boards, for this purpose. The American Board has in this respect been signally favored, having been employed by the churches for a long course of years, and never had its wisdom or faithfulness impeached in any quarter. The Board takes ordained missionaries and lay assis- tants from either of the denominations already men- tioned, with all their ecclesiastical relations upon them ; and experience has fully shown that there is scope for all the direction necessary on the part of the Board, without of the American Board. 7 interfering in the least with those relations, or with the performance of any of the duties growing out of them. The several missions form churches according to such models as meet the views of the majority. Whether they shall organize associations, consociations, presbyteries, or classes, is determined in the same manner. In the missions of the Board among the North American In- dians, nearly all the churches are Presbyterian, and as- sociated in Presbyteries. In Ceylon they are Congrega- tional, and are united by consociation. The mission composed of members of the Reformed Dutch church, about to sail for the Indian Archipelago, is expected to regulate its ecclesiastical matters according to the rules of that church. Every where the ecclesiastical proceed- ings of the missions of the Board accord and will con- tinue to accord with the views of the majority of male members, every clerical and lay member above the age of twenty-one years having the right of voting. 2. The American Board is not a voluntary association, in the common acceptation of that term. A voluntary benevolent association, in the strict technical sense, is one which any man may enter by paying a certain sum of money annually. Most of our national societies are constituted in this manner ; and when I allege that the Board is otherwise constituted, I by no means intend to imply that the mode of organization in those great socie- ties does not combine ample means of efficiency and secu- rity. I believe it does. What I wish is merely to state a matter of fact, not unimportant to be mentioned. The Board is neither an ecclesiastical association, nor is it a voluntary association. No person becomes a voting mem- ber by merely contributing to its funds. The act of incor- poration restricts the right of voting to the corporate mem- bers, who are elected by the members of the corporation, by ballot, and only at the annual meetings. Hence the ob- jection made against voluntary benevolent associations, (whether justly or not,) ' that a few designing indi- viduals, at the places and times of their meetings, might easily pervert them, by contributing a trifle to their funds and thus obtaining all the powers of members,' does not apply to the Board. No such combination can be made ; no such result can happen. The honorary members have indeed the right to attend the meetings of the Board, 8 Letters on the Constitution and assist in all its deliberations ; and they do attend, in greater numbers than the corporate members, and render most valuable assistance in the discussions of the annual meeting. None vote, however, in any case, except the corporate members. Hence the Board cannot properly be called a voluntary association, and is not liable to the objections alleged against such. At the same time it se- cures all the advantages claimed for that class of associa- tions, as well as the advantages claimed for associations ecclesiastically constituted, as will be shown in the next letter. I am, &c. LETTER III. Grounds of confidence in the future -proceedings of the Board. DEAR BROTHER, I believe all acknowledge the Amer- ican Board to be at present a safe and efficient instru- ment for propagating the gospel of Christ among the heathen. Will it continue to be such an instrument 1 This is our grand inquiry. For, if the churches have a reasonable prospect that the Board will answer their pur- pose, it is presumed they will not refuse to employ it. They certainly will not do so, one would think, unless they see a way of throwing more effectual securities around some other society differently constituted. Among the facts and considerations which have hith- erto secured for it the confidence of the churches, and which afford all reasonable, if not all possible, security for the future, are the following : 1. The members of the Board, like judges in the best administered governments, retain their membership dur- ing good behavior ; the charter making it the only con- dition of membership, that the persons duly elected, both ministers and laymen, shall possess "respectable" char- acters. The executive committee and officers, on the other hand, are elected by the Board annually. In this manner the responsible body is placed beyond those agitations that often attend elections involving great responsibilities in of the, American Board. 9 party times. In fact its proceedings have never yet felt the influence of the different parties, which unhappily divide large portions of the churches represented in the Board. There is no reason to believe that these or any other party feelings have exerted any influence whatever in the annual ballot for the executive committee and officers. In being so far removed by its constitution from the influ- ence of interests and feelings of this nature, the Board is obviously not liable to the objections on that score, which are alleged (whether justly or not) against boards elected annually by ecclesiastical bodies. 2. The character of its members affords strong grounds of security, "A considerable proportion of the members were presidents of colleges and professors in theological seminaries at the time of their election ; and more than one-fourth part of the present members ^sustain one or other of these relations. It need not be said that gentle- men in these important and responsible stations are exten- sively known and highly esteemed. They are also more likely than others to be intimately acquainted with the character of the missionaries. Another class is com- posed of venerable men, both among the clergy and laity, who have arrived at an advanced period of life, have dis- charged numerous public duties, and are not even sus- pected of valuing the little distinction which is implied in a selection to these services, except as it may enable them to serve God in their declining days, and to bear a distinct testimony to the excellence of the missionary cause. A small number, of middle age, residing near each other, have been selected to manage the executive business of the Board ; and others, in the same period of life, distin- guished for their active exertions in behalf of charitable objects, and residing in different parts o"f the Union, have been associated in this body." Not more than one mem- ber is under thirty-five years of age, and all, except three or four, are upwards of forty. Nearly two-thirds of the whole number are clergymen, the greater part of whom have an age and standing which places them among the fathers of the church. If the character of the members does not afford a guarantee for the integrity of the Board and the excellence of its influence in time to come, where fihall we find an institution, or how shall one be const;- 10 Letters on the Constitution tuted, which may take precedence of it in this respect? Especially when it is considered, 3. That none are elected members unless they are supposed at the time to be interested in the cause of for- eign missions. I will not say that every member is actu- ally thus interested. If any are not, they never attend the meetings of the Board, and are unknown to me. I believe there is no other association formed for promoting any of the leading religious objects of the day, which combines a higher, more general, more intelligent, more stable interest among its members, in the object for which it was formed an interest more generally associated with the sobriety, observation, experience, circumspection, and wisdom of age. In being composed only of those who are interested in the object of the association, the Board possesses the advantage, pre-eminently, which is claimed for voluntary associations. 4. The annual meetings of the Board are held for no other purpose than to attend to the subject of missions to the unevangelized nations. In this respect it is not liable to the objection made (whether justly or not) against boards ecclesiastically constituted, ' that the bodies which constitute them come together for other purposes besides attending to the management of the benevolent operations entrusted to those boards, and will not be likely, there- fore, to give vigilant and efficient attention to them.' The American Board comes together for the sole purpose of attending to the business of foreign missions, and its sessions usually continue for three days. 5. The meetings are held in different States, and as it is deemed important that the same members should attend from year to year, a special provision is made to secure that result. The following Regulation of the Board con- tains this provision, viz. " Each corporate member of the Board, who shall apply to the Treasurer for the same, shall be allowed ten cents a mile for travelling expenses in attending any annual meeting of the Board, reckoning the distance only one way, and the usual route from his place of residence to the place of meeting. It is under- stood that no one shall receive a greater sum than the amount of his actual expenses in going to and returning from the meeting ; and that in no case shall more than forty dollars be paid to any one member." It is true the of the American Board. 11 greater part of the members, even of those who make it a rule to attend every meeting, receive nothing for their travelling expenses. Yet there are members, valuable members too, who, but for this provision, would not have been able to attend the meetings, as they have done with few interruptions, for many successive years. One most useful member, who has felt it his duty to receive his travelling expenses, has attended no less than twenty-four annual meetings of the Board. Owing, in a degree, to the same provision, I am able to state the following results. Of the eighty-three members now living, twenty- three have each attended five meetings of the Board and upwards. Four of these have attended nine meetings ; one has attended ten ; another, twelve ; two others, thir- teen ; two others, fourteen ; one other, fifteen ; and the member above referred to, twenty-four. Of the deceased members, one was present at fourteen meetings, one at fifteen, and one at seventeen. Meetings thus constituted, thus attended, thus occupied and prolonged, cannot be otherwise than of immense value to the cause. The attendance of so many members from year to year, is a point in which the Board obviously has the advan- tage of all ecclesiastical bodies composed of delegates from associations, classes, or presbyteries, inasmuch as the same men do not often attend those bodies for suc- cessive years. The fact, too, that the meetings of the Board are held in different places, some of them widely separated from others, renders it impossible that any one section of coun- try should acquire undue influence in its annual deliber- ations. Since the year 1826, there have been four meet- ings in the State of New-York, (viz. two in New- York city, and the others at Albany and Utica,) two in Penn- sylvania, one in Maryland, one in Connecticut, and one in Massachusetts. 6. Another thing to be considered is, the dispassionate and thorough supervision exercised by the Board over the proceedings of its executive committee and officers. Its annual meetings, as has been remarked, are continued three days, and the attention of its members is directed exclusively to the subject of foreign missions. For the purpose of bringing the whole Annual Report of the Pru- dential Committee under the distinct consideration of the 12 Letters on the Constitution Board, the several portions of it, after the greater part has been heard by the Board, are referred to different committees appointed before the actual reading of the Report ; and it is not approved by the Board until these committees have examined the several portions submitted to them, and reported upon them. Subjects growing out of the proceedings of the year, and any other subjects connected with the leading object, may be brought up for discussion by any corporate or honorary member ; nor has there been any want of business hitherto for occupy- ing the three days. Most of the principles which now govern the proceedings of the Prudential Committee have been discussed in the annual meetings of the Board. Cases of difficulty, involving new principles, are generally referred by the Committee to the Board at its annual ses- sion. Mai-administration on the part of the Prudential Committee, could not long escape detection ; and as that Committee, meeting weekly and often semi-weekly, has always the Treasurer and Secretaries present at its meet- ings, it cannot be ignorant of the proceedings of those officers. In short, it is impossible that a voluntary asso- ciation meeting once a year in a popular assembly, or an ecclesiastical body with missions forming but one out of many items of business claiming its attention, should ex- ercise a. supervision over its agents by any means as thor- ough as that within the power of the Board. 7. Consider, also, what opportunity the general eccle- siastical bodies of the three denominations have for look- ing into the transactions of the Board and its missiona- ries. It was one of the terms of the agreement in the amalgamation of the United Foreign Missionary Society with the Board, and it is one of the standing rules of the Board, that as many copies of the Annual Report and other printed documents shall be furnished to the General Assembly, the General Synod, and the Congregational Associations, "as shall be sufficient to furnish those bodies with the means of information with regard to the state and necessities of the Board, its operations, and the success which God may grant to its exertions." In legis- lative bodies, where it is deemed specially important for the members to become minutely acquainted with the report of a committee, that report is printed and dispersed among them in a printed form. This is the course taken of the American Board. 13 by the Board. Their Report is dispersed among the members of the ecclesiastical bodies in a printed form, that the members of those bodies may examine it at their leisure, and as minutely as they please; and generally some member or agent of the Board is present, who may be questioned on any points needing explanation. And then, as ecclesiastical bodies, these Associations, the General Synod, and the General Assembly have all the facilities and scope for inquiry into the ecclesiastical and religious state of the missions of the Board, which the nature of the case makes possible under any arrange- ment. The ecclesiastical relations of our missionaries are with ecclesiastical bodies, and not with the Board. Those can require reports of missionaries connected with them concerning their ecclesiastical proceedings and the state of religion within the sphere of their labors ; and they can counsel, try, censure, suspend the missionaries from their ministerial office, and do whatever else falls within the compass of their ordinary and appropriate ec- clesiastical duties. 8. Hence, there can be no more effectual security for soundness of faith and purity of practice in missionaries, than is afforded by the constitution and usages of the Board. The character of its members, their interest in the prosperity of missions, the searching and effectual supervision afforded by its annual meetings, and the op- portunities enjoyed by the various ecclesiastical bodies for learning the nature of its proceedings and watching over and guarding the faith and practice of its missiona- ries ; all together furnish a degree of security, which needs only the influences of the Holy Spirit (without which nothing will be effectual) to keep the entire system of its operations purely evangelical. I am, &c. 14 Letters on the Constitution LETTER IV. Why the Board has the seat of its operations in Boston. It exists only by retain- ing the confidence of the churches. Feasibility and importance of union in the Presbyterian, Reformed Dutch, and Congregational denominations. DEAR BROTHER, The seat of the operations of the American Board is in Boston. This was directed by Providence, in the first instance, without any peculiar at- tachment to place or regard to personal considerations, on the part of the members. There are conclusive rea- sons, however, why the seat of its operations should con- tinue to be where it is, until there be a change of cir- cumstances in the case. Its charter would probably become inoperative, if its principal offices were removed out of the State of Massachusetts. Though New- York city is the great emporium of our country, yet there is vastly more direct intercourse between Boston and India, the Indian Archipelago, and the Sandwich Islands or any other part of Polynesia, than between New-York and the same parts of the heathen world. The same is true of the western and northwestern coasts of America, south- ern Africa, and the shores of the Levant. " The foreign trade of New-York is principally with Europe, South America, and Mexico; whereas the foreign trade of Boston, though less in amount, is carried on with every part of the world ; and of course furnishes the means of conveying missionaries to almost every heathen country, and corresponding with them and supplying their neces- sities after their respective stations are formed." It is a strong confirmation of this statement, that most of the numerous letters received at the Missionary Rooms from southern Africa, the Levant, western, southern and east- ern Asia, and the Sandwich Islands ; that is to say, most of the letters from the missions beyond sea are brought into the ports of Massachusetts. For the reason just stated, the Baptist General Convention, which is a na- tional institution, has also the seat of its foreign mission- ary operations in Boston. The facilities for transporting letters and for travelling are such, that the domestic proceedings of the Board may of the American Board. 15 be conducted as efficiently in Boston, as in New- York or Philadelphia. A great system of permanent agencies has been extended over the country, which can be superin- tended as effectively in one place as in the other. The whole national territory is divided into eight districts, each with its general agent. The effect of this arrange- ment of agencies has thus far been salutary upon the churches, and there is every reason to believe it will be increasingly so. The local organizations, with a view to the raising of funds and missionaries to be employed under the direction of the American Board, vary with the ecclesiastical habits, circumstances and preferences of the people. Tn the Reformed Dutch church, the business of procuring funds and missionaries is in the hands of a Board appointed by the General Synod of that church. In the southern States, it is in the hands of two Boards, denominated Central and Southern, appointed by the Presbyterian Synods in that section of the Union. An auxiliary has been formed for the valley of the Mississippi, which performs the duty in the western States. Anoth- er has been formed for the Western Reserve and Michi- gan. Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware and New-Jer- sey form another agency district ; New-York another ; Connecticut, Rhode-Island and Massachusetts another ; and Vermont, New-Hampshire and Maine another. In these districts there are no general organizations, but each has its Agent, together with numerous associations of males and females formed in congregations, or larger auxiliaries, or particular arrangements with pastors, ses- sions, associations, conferences, presbyteries. All these arrangements have one object, so far as funds are con- cerned, viz. the regular presentation of the subject of foreign missions, once a year, to every congregation. I cannot conceive how at present this system can be super- intended more efficiently in New-York or Philadelphia than in Boston. The Secretary having charge of the correspondence with these agencies, is a Presbyterian. Now what shall sustain the American Board, and give it influence in the churches and power to do good in the heathen world? Not sectarianism. Not party. The Board must change its nature and all its habits, and new model its missions and its entire system of operations, before it could pursue a course which would ensure it 16 Letters on the Constitution sectarian support. And how entirely aloof has it stood from party ; belonging to none, claimed by none, em- ployed by none. It makes no appeals to sectarian or party feelings. Its humble, prayerful endeavor, in dependence on the grace of God, has been and is to deserve the CON- FIDENCE of the churches by a judicious and faithful per- formance of its duties. This is all the hold it has, or seeks to have, on the community. "Whatever should de- stroy, shake, or weaken in any measure the confidence re- posed in it by the churches, would destroy, or diminish in the same proportion, its power of opprating both at. home and abroad. The Board has no power separate from the hold it has on the confiHpnrp and affection of its patrons. The ecclesiastical bodies of either of the three denomina- tions could at once prostrate its influence in their re- pective churches, by showing that it was no longer wor- thy of confidence, if such were the fact. But whether those bodies sound the alarm, or not, the Board can retain the confidence of the churches only by deserving that con- fidence. And I rejoice to repeat the declaration of one of its deceased Secretaries, that " the Board will aim to secure the best and most durable interest in the affec- tions of the people of God, by doing what is right, and leaving the issue to his disposal." The feasibility of union in the prosecution of missions to the heathen, by members of the Presbyterian, Re- formed Dutch and Congregational denominations, has now been shown by experience. No evils in practice have grown out of it ; none are apprehended. The pro- fessed doctrines of these denominations are no more unlike than the Catechism of the Westminster Assembly and the Articles of the Synod of Dordt ; that is, they are substantially the same. In their discipline there is little difference. They have " one Lord, one faith, one bap- tism." The ministry of each meet on common ground. The churches of each respect each other's constitutions. And as the union is feasible, so it is important. If any feel bound to act through some other channel than the American Board, I would do nothing to hinder them. I am arguing against no existing society, against no exist- ing system of operations. My only aim is to present a concise and perspicuous view of the constitution of the American Board, its relations to its patrons, its adapta- of the American Board. 17 tion to the offices and work for which it exists. Hnving done this as I trust I have my object is accomplished. If any should question the correctness of some of my views, I shall not be drawn into controversy. I do not expect the members of any one denomination all to think alike on questions of this sort. But, let every man take part in the great work of missions to the heathen. Let every man act speedily and efficiently through some channel, for almost the whole world is still lying in wick- edness. That all the disciples of Christ in either of the three denominations will act through the American Board, I dare not expect. Still the plan of union now existing in the Board, if feasible, is highly important. How much time, labor, and expense may it save in agencies, in the management of funds, in correspondence, in the gen- eral direction of affairs. How will it promote Christian affection; save toil, expense, and v.gor of life in the necessary research ami explorations indispensable to an intelligent and successful prosecution of the work of for- eign missions ; and bring the experience gathered from the whole system to bear upon every distinct branch of the enterprise. " To all which is to be added that con- stitution of human nature, by which interest and motive and effort and reward correspond with the magnitude and sublimity of the object presented ; creating a moral momentum, which declines every division and augments steadily up to the highest point of practicable combina- tion." It will not be merely intelligence of the good which one denomination has been instrumental in effect- ing among the heathen, which will bear upon each mem- ber of the denomination, but intelligence of all the good effected, under God, through the united efforts of the three denominations made to bear directly and power- fully upon each member of each denomination. Men and women may, in their contemplations, connect their donations. however small, with the whole system however large ; and as they hear or read of the saving influence exerted upon the natives of our western wilds, and Poly- nesia, and China, and Siam, and the Indian Archipelago, and India, and central and western Asia, and Africa, they may reflect that they were honored with an agency in all these triumphs of redeeming grace. I am, dear brother, most truly yours. *2 CORPORATE MEMBERS OF THE AMERICAN BOARD. Time of Election. Maine. 1813. Gen. HENRY SEWALL, Augusta. 1820. WILLIAM ALLEN. D. D., President of Bowdoin College. 1832. ENOCH POND, D. D., Professor in the Theological Seminary at Bangor. A*eu>- Hampshire. 1820. JOHN HUBBARD CHURCH, D. D., Pelham. 1830. Hon. GEORGE SULLIVAN, Exeter. 1832. NATHAN LORD, D. D., President of Dartmouth College. Vermont. 1818. Hon. CHARLES MARSH, Woodstock. 1821. JOSHCA BATES, D. D., President of Middlebury College. Massachusetts. 1810. WILLIAM BARTLET, Esq., Newburyport. 1818. Hon. WILLIAM REED, Marl>lehead. 1819. LEONARD WOODS, D. D., Professor in the Theological Semi- nary at Audover. 1821. SAMUEL HUBBARD, LL. D., Bojton. 1821. WARREN FAT, D. D., Charleston. 1823. EDWARD D. GRIFFIN, D. D., President of Williams College. 1823. HEMAN HUMPHREY, D. D., President of Amherst College. 1826. JOHN CODMAN, D. D., Dorchester. 1826. Hon. LEWIS STRONG, Northampton. 1826. JUSTIN EDWARDS, D. D., Andover. 1827. JOHN TAPPAN, Esq., Boston. . 1828. HENRY HILL, Esq., Boston. 1832. Hon. SAMUEL T. ARMSTRONG, Boston. 1832. Rev. RUFUS ANDERSON, Boston. 1832. Rev. DAVID GREENE, Boston. 1832. CHARLES STODDARD, Esq., Boston. 1834. Rev. SYLVESTER HOLMES, New-Bedford. 1835. Rev. WILLIAM J. ARMSTRONG, Boston. 1835. DANIEL NOYES, Esq., Boston. 20 Corporate Members of the American Board. Connecticut. 1810. CALVIN CHAPIN, D. D., Wethersfield. 1817. JEREMIAH DAY, D. D. LL. D., President of Yale College. 1819. JOHN COTTON SMITH, LL. D., Sharon. 1823. BENNET TYLER, D. D., Professor in the Theological Institute at East Windsor. 1832. NOAH PORTER, D. D., Farmington. New-York. 1812. JAMES RICHARDS, D. D., Professor in the Theological Semi- nary at Auburn. 1812. ELIPHALET NOTT, D. D , President of Union College. 1812. HENRY DAVIS, D. D., Clinion. 1813. ALEXANDER PROUDFIT, D. D., Salem. 1816. STEPHEN VAN RENSSELAER, LL. D., Albany. 1823. S. V. S. WILDER, Esq., New York city. 1824. DAVID PORTER, D. D., Catskill. 1824. GARDINER SPRING, D. D., New York city. 1824. ELEAZAU LORD, Esq., New York ciy. 1826. NATHANIEL W. HOWELL, LL. D., Canandaigua. 1826. JOHN NITCHIE, Esq., New York city. 1826. THOMAS DE WITT, D. I)., New York city. 1826. NATHAN S. S. BEMAN, D. D., Troy, 1826. THOMAS McAuLEY, D D., LL. D., New York citv. 1832. ORRIN DAY, Esq., Caiskill. 1832. ZECHARIAH LEWIS, Esq., Brooklyn. 1834. JAMES M. MATHEWS, D. D., Chancellor of the New York Uni- versity. New Jersey. 1312. SAMUEL MILLER, D. D., Professor in the Theological Semi- nary at Princeton. 1824. PHILIP MILLEDOLER, D. D., Professor in the Theological Seminary at New Brunswick. 1826. ARCHIBALD ALEXANDER, D. D., Professor in the Theological Seminary at Princeton. 1826. THEODORE FRELINGHUYSEN, LL. D., Newark. 1826. JAMES CARNAHAN, D. D., President of Nassau Hall. 1832. His Excellency PETER D. VROOM, Somerville. Pennsylvania. 1812. ASHBEI, GREEN, D. D., Philadelphia. 1812. ROBERT RALSTON, Esq., Philadelphia. 1826. JOHN LUDLOW, D. D., President of the University of Pennsyl- vania. 1826. THOMAS BRADFORD, Esq.. Philadelphia. 1826. SAMUEL AGNEVV, M. D., Hanisburg. 1826. WILLIAM NEIL, D. D., Gertnantown. 1832. JOHN MCDOWELL, D. D., Philadelphia. 1832. CORNELIUS C. CUYLER. D. D., Philadelphia. 1834. ALEXANDER HENRY, Esq., Philadelphia. District of Columbia. 1826. JOSEPH NOURSE, Esq. Corporate Members of the American Board. 21 Virginia. 1826. Gen. JOHN H. COCKE, Fluvanna County. 1326. WILLIAM MAXWELL, Esq., Norfolk. 1832. GEOUGE A. BAXTER, D. D., Professor in the Union Theological Seminary. 1834. THOMAS P. ATKINSON, M. D., Halifax County. 1834. Rev. WILLIAM S. PLUMER, Richmond. North Carolina. 1834. W. MCPHETERS, D. D., Raleigh. South Carolina. 1826. MOSES WADDF.LL. D. D., Willingion. 1826. BENJAMIN M. PALMER, D. D., Charleston. Georgia. 1826. JOHN CUMMINGS, M. D., Savannah. 1834. JOSEPH H. LUMP*.* F, . Lexington. 1834. THOMAS GOLDING, D. D., Columbus -; ; Tennessee. 1826. CHARLES COFFIN, D. D., President of the College in Greenville. 1834. ISAAC ANDERSON, D. D., Professor in the Theological Semi- nary at Mary ville. Ohio. 1823. LYMAN BEECHER, D. D., President of Lane Seminary. 1826. ROBERT G. WILSON, D. D., Presidentof the College at Athens. 1832. JAMES HOGE, D. D., Columbus. 1834. ROBERT H. BISHOP, D. D., President of Miami University. Illinois. 1826. GIDEON BLACKBURN, D. D. The number of Corporate Members who have deceased, is twenty- eight. There are, besides, twenty Corresponding Members, and fifteen hundred and thirty-nine Honorary Members. It, 2 S SG8 g 5 i S SGoCCS;*-' -5 co cc oo cc co co cc c: cc c-: -~. cc ;: c: MS ' i ^ -3 i} s ff '-^ -j 5: ^ U "3 3 ^ C |} J^- ; 23 Number of Missionaries and Assistant Missionaries needed and requested by the Board for the year 1836. Countries. Western Africa ; for Cape Palmas, - - - 211 European Turkey ; for Constantinople, Sa- lonica, Greece, etc. -------- 22 Asia Minor; for Scio, Caisarea, Galatia,etc. "62 2 Syria ; for Jerusalem, Damascus, Mount Lebanon, etc. --------- 311 Neslorians of Persia, -------- 11 Mohammedans of Persia, ------ Afghanistan, to explore, ------ Thibet, to explore, -------- Rajpoots, to be stationed at Ajmere, ... 3 Mahrattas, with a view to new stations, - - Tamul people of Southern India, - - - - 10 12 Singapore; for the Chinese, Bugis, Malay, and Siamese languages to take charge of the printing establishment and the Seminary, 6 1| 1 3 Siam, 4 The Chinese ; to be acquiring the language, and preparing for labor, - - ... - 15 3 Indian Archipelago; for Sumatra, Nya Celebes, Borneo, etc. - 12 4 Sandwich Islands, 16 3 21 Cherokees, 1 Choctaws, 4 Creeks, 1 1 Osages, 1 Pawnees, 1 Rocky Mountain Indians, 10 2 10 Sioux, ' 21 Ojibwas, 213 New York Indians, 2 107 29 50 11 Summary of the Missions of the American Board. The number of missions under the care and direction of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, is thirty-two, embracing seventy-eight stations. One hundred and nine ordained missionaries are connected wilh these missions, of whom seven are regularly educated physicians. There are also nine physicians not ordained, eight printers and book-binders, thirty other male assistants, and one hundred and sixty-one married and unmarried female assistants ; making a total of three hundred and seventeen missionaries and assistant missionaries sent from this country by the Board. There are also four native preachers, and fifty-one other native assistants. The churches gathered among the heathen by the missions of the Board amount to forty-one, contain- ing upwards of two thousand members. In the schools there are twenty- one thousand pupils, receiving, in a greater or less degree, a Christian edu- cation. Seven languages have been reduced to writing, and books pre- pared and printed in them, by the missionaries of the Board. The lan- guage of the Sandwich Islands, in particular, after being reduced to the most simple form of writing, has been enriched by the New Testament and portions of the Old, and by books illustrating the elementary prin- ciples of the most useful sciences. The germs of future colleges of sanctified learning have been planted in a number of the missions ; and in Ceylon a college, in fact, exists already, containing about one hun- dred and thirty pupils, more than three-fourths of whom give hopeful evidence of piety. The Board has nine printing establishments, at four of which there are the means of manfacturing type, and at two are foun- deries for stereotyping. Measures have also been taken to secure to China the benefits of metallic printing. These printing establishments possess the means of printing in nineteen or twenty languages, spoken by people for whose special benefit the missions are designed, and spoken too by more than four hundred and fifty millions of human beings. The amount of printing since the Board commenced its opera- tions, i> nearly one hundred millions of pages, in nineteen langua- ges. THE LAST OR Duty of Christians to the unevaiigclized World. [The writer of the following pages believes that it is the duty of Christians to give the gospel to the whole heathen world as soon as they are able ; and that they are able to do it before another generation of the heathen perish in thirty years. He cannot, therefore, take a final leave of his native land, and hid farewell to his Christian brethren in America, as he expects to do in a few days, with a clear conscience, without endeavoring to convince them that it is their duty to do it in that time, by spreading before them some of the reasons which have led him to that belVf. and making one serious, though it may be feeble effort, to excite them to the performance of this duty.j OUR Divine Redeemer left, as his parting mjlmrtioii to his disciples, the command, " Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." The requisition here made is, that the news of salvation by the blood of Christ be made known to every human being. The accompanying promise is, " Lo, I am with you" with the persons addressed "always, even unto the end of the world." It is, therefore, addressed to us, as truly as to those who heard it from the lips of the ascending Saviour. Let me, therefore, invite the attention of my readers directly to the subject in hand to the work tvhich Christians are required by this command, to do for the salvation of the world j their ability to do that work soon ; and the means of exciting them to engage in it immediately and in earnest. WHAT, THE:*, is THE WORK TO BE DONE ? The number of our fellow men now ignorant of the gospel cannot be definitely as- certained. The common estimate, which fixes the number of Pagans and Mohammedans at 600,000,000, is probably not far from correct. The number of Papists and other nominal Chris- tians, who are almost without exception destitute of the Bible and of the spirit of Christianity, is about 150,000,000. The whole number is 750,000,000. These must all, without ex- ception, receive the gospel. They must be instructed in all the essential doctrines of Christianity, or furnished with the means of acquiring a knowledge of those doctrines, themselves. A Bible must be placed hi every family ; and men, capable of guiding them to a right understanding of the Scriptures, must be sent forth, or raised up among them, in sufficient numbers to make known the gospel to every individual. This is the loork to be done. How SOON CAN IT BE DONE ? In attempting to answer this question, I would not estimate the work too low, nor the ability of Christians too high. The number of those to whom the gospel is to be made "A THE LAST COMMAND. known, I have supposed to be 750,000,000. This is considerably above the average estimate of geographers. Take, also, the high- est estimate of the proportionate number of families, and of mis- sionaries wanted. Allow oniy five persons to a family, and a missionary to every 20,000 souls ; making the number of families 150,COO,000, and that of missionaries wanted, 37,500. Suppose the United States to contain one thirti of the whole number of Christians in the world; and that they are able to do twice as much in this work, as Christians in other countries, in proportion to their number. Christians in the United States, then, have half of the whole work to perform the one third of the whole number of Christians here being supposed able to do as much as the two thirds in other countries. They have 75,000,000 families to supply with Bibles, and 18,750 mission- aries to provide and support. As soon as they can do this, Christians in other countries can supply the remaining half of the entire population of the globe, and the gospel be made known to every dweller on earth. The number of members belonging to churches commonly regarded as evangelical, in the United States, is not far from 1,500,000.* Suppose one half of these to be either so poor as to be unable to do any tiling towards evangelizing the world, or hypocrites and self-deceivers, and therefore not to be reckoned among Christians. Suppose the remaining half able to con- tribute, on an average, five dollars a year for this object. There are very few of them who do not expend more than that sura every year for articles of luxury, which, so far from being neces- sary, are positively injurious to health and prejudicial to happi- ness; or for the sinful gratification of their pride in useless deco- rations of their persons and dwellings ; and fewer still, who could not earn it, without any injury either to body or mind, by a better improvement of their time. It is less than two thirds as much as the average annual expense of the use of ardent spirits to the inhabitants of the United States, previous to the commencement of the temperance reformation so much less, that the difference would sustain all our other benevolent operations better than they are now sustained. And is it doubt- ful whether one half of the members of our churches are able to give two thirds as much, in proportion to their number, for the honor of their Redeemer, and the salvation of perishing millions, as the people of the United States, including all ages and classes, did then actually give for the privilege of using ardent spirits? No, it cannot be. We may, therefore, proceed with safety upon the supposition that 750,000 Christians in our country are able to give five dollars a year, each, for the diffusion of the gospel. The sum would be 83,750,000. Let the work of supplying with Bibles the 75,000,000 families, that fall to our share, be commenced immediately ; and let one thirtieth part of them, or 2,500,000, be supplied every year, so * In this estimate are included Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians, Con- fregationalists, Episcopalians, Dutch Reformed, German Reformed, Luther aas and Moravians. THE LAST COMMAND. 3 that, at the end of thirty years, that work shall he completed. The cost of Bibles, when they come to he printed in editions of millions, will very certainly not exceed one dollar a copy. The expense of carrying forward this part of the great work will, therefore, he $2,500,000 ; leaving 81,250,000 for the support of missionaries. This sum will support, at a salary of $(500, which, on an average, will he abundantly sufficient, 2,083 missionaries. The population of most or all the uuevangelized portions of the globe either remains nearly stationary, or is diminishing; but the number of Christians in our country is constantly in- creasing. During the years 1829, 1830 and 1831, it increased, if the number of Christians increased as rapidly ns that of church members, at the rate of more than twelve per cent. [1 name those years, because my means of information extend to no others.] But suppose it to increase less than half as fast as it did during those years only at ihe rate of six per cent. In ten years from the present time, it will he 1,328,295; and contrib- uting, as before supposed, five dollars a year each, they will be able, in addition to continuing the supj.iy of Bibles, to support 6,902 missionaries. In twenty years, it will be, 2,352,499, and their contributions will support 15,437 missionaries. In 18;>6, twenty-three i/:ars from the present time, it will be 2,792,543, and they will be able to support 19,104 missionaries ; or 354 more than the number supposed to be requisite. In thirty years, it will he 1,166,43(3, and they will be able to do half as much more, as has been supposed necessary for the accomplishment of their part of the work in view. In other words, Christians in the United States might take three fourths of the world instead of half of it; and give the gospel, so far as pecuniary means would do it, to three fourths of those now destitute of it, in thirty years. But are they able to furnish the requisite number of missionaries ? At the commencement of the work, Christians would be able to support 2,083 missionaries. To furnish these, one Christian from every 3!!0, or one from every 720 church members, must be- come a missionary. At the end of the twenty-three years, when the whole 18,750 can be supported, one Christian from every 148, or one from every 296 church members, must devote him- self to this service. And where is the church of 296 members, or of 148 even, which could not furnish one missionary ? The question now before us, be it remembered, is, not whether Chris- tians are willing, but whether, if they were willing, they would be able to furnish the requisite number of missionaries. And is it doubtful whether one Christian in 148 is of such an age, and possessed of such talents, that he may become a missionary ? No ; it is hazarding nothing to say, that if every young man, who is or may become qualified to preach the gospel to the heathen, and who can do more good in that way than any other, will furnish one enough, and more than enough, will soon be found to supply the world. But it may be objected, that they have not the means of pro* curing a suitable education. Let this objection have all the weight it can have. Suppose the whole 18,750 to be dependent upon other Christians for the 4 THE LAST COMMAND. means of preparation for their work. Suppose, also, that they spend ten years in preparatory study, and need assistance to the amount of $100 annually! The payment of the whole would not occupy more than the last eleven months of the thirty years. Christians, then, are able to furnish men in sufficient numbers to supply the world icith missionaries, to educate, send forth, and support them, and to place in their hands Bibles enough to give a copy to every family on earth in other words, THEY ARE ABLE TO GIVE THE GOSPEL TO EVERY HUMA>T BEING I>" THIRTY YEARS. Is this conclusion an unexpected one ? And does it seem to you, my Christian reader, impossible that it. should be true ? Look, then, again at the data from which it was deduced. Is it doubtful whether one half of the members of our churches are Christians, and able to do something for this object? To which half, then, do you, my reader, belong? Is it doubtful whether Christians are able to furnish the supposed amount of pecuniary means ? Think of the sums expended by thousands of Christian families for unnecessary and worse than useless articles of food and drink, of clothing and furniture, and in the erection of dwellings more costly than it becomes the followers of him, who had not where to lay his head, to inhabit, while millions, for whose redemption he shed bis blood, are perishing for lack of knowledge ; and of the many hours of precious time, now spent in providing for the gratification of an unnatural, factitious appetite, or an unhallowed pride, or in mere idleness, which might be improved in earning something for this object : think of these things, and every doubt on this point, if any doubt exist, must be removed. Especially when we remember that the sum requisite is less than two thirds as much as the people of our country, including all ages and classes, have, on ah aver- age, actually been giving to defray the expense of using ardent spirits, we cannot think the one half of the members of our churches, whom we suppose to be true Christians, and able to do something, unable to raise it. "What ! Christians unable to give two thirds as much for this object, as every individual in the nation, supposing all to bear the burden equally, can, and recently did actually give for the privilege of using ardent spir- its! Utterly impossible! Is it doubtful wh ether one church member from every 296 may become a missionary ? One eccle- siastical assembly the only oue, so far as my knowledge ex- tends, that has expressed an opinion on the subject has said that one from every fifty of the church members connected with it, may become a preacher of the gospel. If we suppose the proportionate number of suitable candidates there to be twice as great as in the churches generally, and that two thirds of those who become preachers remain in America ; even on that suppo- sition, the number of missionaries wanted can be furnished. Is it doubtful whether the number of Christians will inci-cr.sc, as was supposed ? It is the opinion of Christians generally, that the cause of religion is to progress with constantly increasing rapid- ity ; and is not that opinion founded on the immutable word the never-failing promise of the Almighty ? Instead, however, of supposing that cause to progress more rapidly, I have supposed THE LAST COMMAND. 5 the number of Christians in our country to increase less than half as fast as it now docs. But when Christians come to en- gage more earnestly in carrying into execution the last great command of th' 1 Red < mer, they will also do more for the sal- vation of sinners immediately around them ; and their increas- ing faithfulness will lead to a more rapid increase of the number of Christians. To doubt this, is to doubt the stability of the di- vine government; to doubt whether God will remain the. *.une, and he faithful to the most solemn promises recorded in his uord. Our data, then, are correct. They are such as we arc fully anthori/.ed by ivason, e\p i i nee, and the word of God, to as- sume. The conclusion, therefore, is sure. Christians in the United States aiv able to give the gospul to three fourths of the human race in thirty years. But only half of the work has been assigned them. If it app ar.; from mathematical calculations, founded on data whose corrertiiess cannot reasonably be doubt- ed, that they are able to do three fourths of it ; it is certainly making a moderate estimate of their ability, to say they can do half of it. It may, therefore, be asserted, loithout even an approach toivarJs extravagance, that Christian* in the United^ States are able to give the gospel to half the human race, and Christians in other countries to the remaining half, before another generation shall hoot perished. It being the duty of Christians to give the gospel to all who are now ignorant of it, as soon as they are able, and it having been shown that they are able to do it in thirty years; it follows that it is their duty actually to do it in that time, unless prevented by obstacles which none but God can remove. But far different from my own must be that man's opinion of God's government in this world, who believes that if Christians come forward to the work he has enjoined upon them, and give the gospel to every nation, and family, and individual, that will receive it, he will permit any obstacles effectually to oppose them in the prosecution of that work. No. there is no reason for fear on this ground. If Christians will do their duty, and trust in the power and faithfulness of the Almighty, he wiJl prepare the way before them as fast as they will go forward in it. If, then, this work is not accomplished before thirty years shall have passed away, it will be because some, or all of us, my fellow Christians, will not do our duty. If it is the duty of all to give the gospel to the whole world in thirty years, it is the duty of every individual Christian to do, at least, his part towards it. It is the duty of several thousand young men urunediately to consecrate their lives to the cause of foreign missions ; and of Christians generally to contribute not less, and some much more, than five dollars a year for the pro- motion of that cause. This follows unavoidably from the gen- eral conclusion. If that conclusion is a correct one, it is impos- sible to avoid the inference, that such is the duty of our young men and of Christians generally. Have you, my Christian reader, acknowledged the correctness of that conclusion ? You have, then, virtually acknowledged that it is your duty to do your part, in proportion to the ability which God has given you, 6 THE LAST COMMAND. towards the accomplishment of the work within the above- named period. You ttnll, therefore, if you are a Christian, try to do it. [Thus far I have dwelt upon Ihe duty of Christians to the heathen, directly; but there are duties relating to them indirectly, which are not less important than the former. To some of these, I uow respectfully and earnestly request your attention.] Seven hundred and fifty millions of our fellow men, whose souls are as precious as our own, are perishing for lack of knowledge. Salvation has been provided for them at an infinite expense, but they know it not. They grope in darkness at this noon-day of gospel light. One after another, in rapid and un- ceasing succession, they stumble upon the dark mountains, and fell to rise no more. Every passing year sweeps into the grave 25,000,000 of these benighted souls a number equal to two nations like our own. I see them sinking to endless ruin. 1 hear their cries of distress, and their groans of despair, and my heart is rent with anguish. I turn my eyes from this spectacle of wo, to see what Christians are doing for the salvation of these millions hastening to eternal death ; and what do I behold ? I see here and there one, who feels, in some good degree, his obligations to do all in his power for their salvation, and acts accordingly ; but the great body of Christians are living at their ease, as if all were well, while their fellow men are sinking, by millions, down to everlasting ruin, in consequence of their neg- lect. They are looking on, and seeing this flood of ruin, this rush of souls to hell, without raising a hand to help with any energy, or a voice to plead their cause with any earnestness, either with God or man. I see them abundantly able to make known the gospel to every human being, before the present generation shall have perished, but not even intending to do it.. In view of such a scene as this, how can I how can you, my reader refrain from saying, something must be done "to excite Christians to this duty ? WHAT, THEN, MCST BE DOXE ? I answer Christians are excited to duty, as well as sanctified, through the truth. The way, therefore, to lead them to do their duty to the heathen, is to bring the truths, calculated to produce that effect, to bear upon their minds. 1. They must be made acquainted with the icants of the heathen. They must l>e made to see the present misery and future ruin of their fellow men, who are ignorant of the gospel. They must be told of the degradation of the female sex, and the des- potism and cruelty which heathenism always leads in its train. They must hear of the impurity, falsehood", and vice of every form and degree, which are almost universally prevalent in pagan countries. They must be pointed to the altars smoking with the blood of human victims; to the. funeral pile, whose flames consume the living as well as the dead ; to the fields, whitened with the bones of the self-immolated victims of idola- try ; and to the mother casting her tender infant to the beasts of the forest, or the monsters of the deep, or trampling with her THE LAST COMMAND. 7 feet the earth that covers the still palpitating bosom of her child. To those, and ten thousand nameless crimes and miseries of our fellow men in heathen lands, their attention must be called, and they must be made to look upon them till they believe and feel, in some degree, the weight of wo that rests upon the pagan world. They must also be led to look beyond the grave, and learn what is the destiny of those who die in wickedness, and in ignorance of the only Saviour of sinners, in the future and eter- nal world. 3. When they have seen the wants of the heathen the depth and eternity of their misery they need to be convinced that the gospel is the sure and only rs.ne.dy. They should be reminded of the state of our own ancestors, when the blood of human victims flowed upon the altars of their idol gods ; and taught, from the history of the past, that we owe all our superiority to the da- graikd nations of Asia and Africa to the gospel ; and convinced that this, and this only, can raise the lowest of our race to an equality with ourselves, in knowledge, character and happiness, and make them heirs with us of eternal glory. 3. They need to be persuaded that the icork can be done soon. They need to be convinced that, with the blessing of God, the gospel can be made known to every creature not at some indefinitely distant period, so remote that their efforts can have little or no connection with that grand consummation, but so soon that they themselves may live to see it. Men never engage in any enterprise with much zeal, if they do not expect to see their object accomplished ; and they will not attempt, in real earnest, the work of evangelizing the world, till they come to belie >e that it can be done soon. 4. They need to be convinced that God will fulfil his projnises. The fear of loss or injury to themselves or their country, which is so apt to check the promptings of Christian charity, needs to be removed, by convincing them that the word of God is worthy of entire and practical confidence, when he says, " The liberal soul shall be made fat, and he that watereth shall be watered also himself;" and "Ho that soweth sparingly, shall reap also sparingly ; but he that soweth bountifully, shall reap also boun- tifully ;" and that obedience to his commands secures his bless- ing to communities, as well as individuals. 5. They should be made to understand the meaning and obliga- tion of the commands of God. The precepts, "lie not conformed to this world ;" "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself;" "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus ;" " Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature;" and others of a similar import, need to be rightly explained, and the duties enjoined by them made so evident that Christians cannot avoid seeing what they arc. The guilt of disobedience to them needs to be exhibited clearly and in its proper colors ; and obe- dience urged by all the motives that can be drawn from the scenes of Gethsemane and Golgotha by all the obligations of gratitude, and all the tenderness of love. Let these five things be done ; let the present miseries of the heathen be set forth in their proper colors, and their future ruin 8 THE LAST COMMAND. be clearly proved ; let it be shown that the gospel is the sure and only remedy ; that Christians are able to give that gospel to all now ignorant of it, in thirty years at the farthest ; that their own interest, and the commands of God, require them to do it; and let these truths be carried home to the bosom of every Christian, and urged by the motives which come from the wants of the perishing, the authority of God, and the love of Christ, and he wilt not he cannot resist them. There is a power in them, when properlv exhibited, which no Christian can withstand a power to subdue, and put an end to the selfishness, which the pride of his heart, the fashions of the world, and the delusions of Satan, have produced and cherished ; and make him willing to forsake all, and do all, and sillier all, as did his Master, for the sake of saving souls. They had their appropriate effect upon the fishermen of Galilee, and the great apostle of the Gentiles. They are the same now as then ; and they have the same mate- rials! in kind, to operate upon, which they had then. They can, therefore, be made to have the same effect upon Christians of this age, which they had upon those of primitive ages, and cause them to labor with a similar zeal for the spread of the gospel. The only reason why they have not had that effect is, that they have not been applied. Let them now be brought distinctly before the minds of Christians, and urged with a feeling and energy as nearly as possible commensurate with their nature and importance; and they will put an end to their guilty attach- ment to the world, break up their murderous inactivity, and lead them to consecrate themselves, with all they possess of property, time, talents and influence, to the service of Christ, in the pro- motion of his cause. But these means of exciting Christians to do their duty to the heathen, though sufficient to effect the object, if properly used, will produce no effect till they are applied. The inquiry there- fore arises, How can these truths be brought to bear upon the minds of Christians ? The answer obviously is in the same way in which other truths are made to influence public sentiment. 1. TJiere is need O/'?.TKX icho will devote their lives to this specific object. The wants of the heathen can never be fully known, or adequately described, nor the duty of Christians towards them be proved and enforced as it needs to be, by men whose time and attention are chiefly occupied with other subjects. There must be men, the great object of whose lives shall be to bring Christians to see and do their duty towards the unevangelized world. And never, surely, was there another object so well calculated to rouse to action all the faculties of the pious mind, and nerve the soul to the highest energy of effort ; and never were there more powerful means of moving the Christian world, than these men would have at their command. Never have there been described miseries like those which they would bring before the Christian public. What are all the terrors of the slave trade, and the horrors of the middle passage, compared with the terrors of a frowning God, and the horrors of the world of wo ? If the description of the former could enkindle the sympathies, and THE LAST COMMAND. 9 enlist the efforts of men who had never felt the humanizing influence of religion, cannot the description of the latter, im- pending over 750,000,000 of our brother men, excite the com- passion, and command the charities and the lives of thos;:, whose hearts have been softened hy the love of Jesus, and who have become, by similarity of disposition, children of the God of love? Never was there a duty more clearly demonstrable, than is the duty of giving the gospel, as soon as possible, to all whose souls are perishing for want of it. Never was there an evil more gen- eral in its prevalence, or pernicious in its consequences, than ia that conformity of Christians to the habils and fashions of the world, which now so completely destroys both their inclination and their ability to give th:: gospel to the destitute. The pope of Rome never exerciser! a more general and cruel domination over the minds and property of men, nor did the priests, his minions, ever grant more indulgences to sin, or open the way for the introduction of more abuses and corruptions into the church, than does this tyrant, custom. An evil of such magni- tude can surely bo made evident to the minds of Christians, and they can bs induced to avoid it. The abolition of tile slave trade, anil the temperance reformation, have proved that principle can now, if never before, be made to triumph over sell- interest, appetite-, and custom, however general in their prevalence, or confirmed in their power. A similar triumph it must and will ob'.ain over customs still regarded as innocent, or even com- mendable. Christians need only to have it clearly shown that their costly indulgences, and their compliance with the expen- sive habi s of society, are actually ruining souls, and they will forsake them. They will not, knowingly, seek their own sensual, momentary pleasure, or indulge iheir pride, at the expense of that which might save a soul from hall. They are doing it now, but they k.iow not what tiny d >.* Let some able man devote him> '!' to th:. 1 examination of this subject, and he will probably succeed in showing Christians in what respects they are living in unjustifiable conformity to the world, and inconsistently with their professed attachment to the causa of Christ, and their belief in the future ruin of the heathen. Let him point out the evils, pres -nt, future and eternal, of their present practices, and the infinite benefits to themselves and others, that would result from the change which they ought to make in their manner of living; let him publish to the world the abominations of fashion, as Luther did thoss of papacy ; let him bring to light the sins it * We shudder' at the; cruellies and injustice of the slave trade thai traffic in hiiiniiti ll.s'i ; bin. if wo pay that .noiiey, with which we wig-lit save a soul from dealli, for unnecessary or needlessly expensive articles oi food or drink, of clothing or furniture; why is it not' a traffic, not in human Jlesh, bid in human sails ? Tell me, if you ran for I know not why should it not be written on every su-h article, '' It is the price of souls ?" and why should not that writing remain, a mark of prohibition to every Christian, as long as there is a soul 0:1 earth, on whom tho cost of it might bestow salvation ? Hut, on this su'm-ct. 1 cannot dwell. I have thrown out the above questions, that you may be led (o think of the right or the wrong of the customs prevalent in society around you. Beware, lost your compliance with them ruin souls, and tain your garments with blood. 10 THE LAST COMMAND. causes, the murders it commits, the souls it destroys ; and, like Luther, lie will prove a blessing to mankind. The. lovers of wealth, and pleasure, and earthly honor, will oppose and revile him ; but the coming age will call him blessed. Let any man, of not inferior talents, and with a mind properly disciplined, devote himself, in a right spirit, to the investigation of the wants of the heathen, or the duty and ability of Christians to give them' the gospel, as Clarkson did to the investigation of the evils and wrongs of the slave trade, and he will find himself clothed with a Clarksou's power to rule the minds of a nation, and influence the conduct of Christendom. We may reasonably suppose, that the man who shall make it the great object of his life to awaken the churches to this duty, will be the means of hastening the publication of the gospel throughout the world, at least one year, and that it will be the means of the conversion and salvation of one in ten of those who receive it. That man, then, as 25,000,000 die in ignorance of it yearly, will be the means of saving 2,500,000 souls! It has been stated as an argument for the education of pious young men for the ministry" in this country and the argument is a good one that they may each reasonably be supposed to be instrumental in the salvation of one hundred souls. But that man will be instrumental in the salvation of twenty-five thousand hundreds. Where, then, shall men for this work be found ? To you, my youthful readers, to you especially, who have devoted your lives to the sacred work of the ministry, I address the inquiry, Where, shall they be found? Will you devote your lives to the attainment of a little property, a little pleasure, or a little fame, or to the investigation of some point of theological controversy, which can be of little or no practical importance, or be content with doing a little good here in America, and let Christians slumber on, and the heathen die? No, my brethren, no ; but let the reply, sincere, detei mined, and attended with a self-consecrating prayer to God, go forth from the hearts of some of you, " They arc here" 2. The influence of the press must be brought to bear more pow- erfully upon this object. In such a community as ours, the press possesses an almost unlimited control over public sentiment, and might easily be made immensely serviceable to this cause. Our religious periodicals may justly be expected to keep this subject constantly before the minds of those who read them. The editors of those periodicals have taken upon themselves an immense responsibility, in relation both to the character and conduct of their readers. No other individuals, probably, exert so extensive, constant, and powerful an influence upon the Chris- tian community. Let them hold up, from week to week and month to month, before the minds of those who peruse their columns, the three truths that Christians are able to give the gospel to the present generation of the heathen that it is their duty to do it and that neglect to do it will ruin souls ; and they will do much towards effecting an entire revolution in the opin- ions, feelings, and conduct of Christians, in respect to their duty to the heathen. Tracts, also, and small pamphlets, containing facts, arguments, TUB LAST COMMAND. 11 and pointed, moving appeals to Christians, on their duty to a dying world, need to be prepared, published, and circulated, till they reach every town, village, and dwelling, where a Ciiristian can be found. 3. The pulpit must be made to lend a more general and efficient aid in this >. n the history of the world will commence. Christians will know and do their duty. God will be honored and his favor secured. The Holy Spirit will descend, as never before, in Christian and in pagan lands; and soon very soon "all will know the Lord from the least to the greatest." Sli'dl, then, the ivork be done? Christian brethren, this is a question of tremendous moment to immortal millions. On the answer we give to it by our conduct, depends their eternal des- tiny. Look, then, dear brethren, at the situation in which you stand. On the one hand, your divine Redeemer addresses to you the command, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature ;" and as he sees you disregarding it, he expostulates with you, " If ye love me, keep my commandments ; and let it not much longer be in vain, that my blood was shed, to seven eighths of those for whom it purchased pardon. What though it cost you self denial to give them the gospel, will it cost you more than I practised for the same object? Or did I practise more than it is worthy of? Or must I deny myself of all the honors and joys of heaven, and come down, and labor, and suffer, and die, and you deny yourselves of nothing ? Go, then, if ye love me, go, aiid as soon as you have power, publish salvation through all the world." On the other hand, 750,000,000 of your fellow men are fast sinking down to endless ruin, and >u hold in your hands that gospel which alone can save them, heir life or death, their heaven or hell, depends on their re- ceiving it. While thus, on the one hand, millions, dying, plead with you for life, and on the other, the Saviour, bleeding, commands and expostulates ; what will you do ? Shall that Saviour command and expostulate without effect ? Shall those millions plead for the bread of life at your hand in vain ? Will you, my Christian brethren, will you, who have yourselves been redeemed with the precious blood of the Sou of God, let them perish while you have it in your power to save them ? Say, dear brethren, will- you? Answer, answer quickly, for they are dying; but answer firmly, or it will not save them. And now I have done. May the Lord grant to my readers, and to me, that greatest of blessings, &. WILLINGNESS TO DO OUR WHOLE DUTT. MISSIONARY PAPER, WO. 1, OUTLINE OF THE PLAN ON WHICH THE MISSIONS OF THE BOARD ARE TO BE PROSECUTED. THE following statements are made for the purpose, first, of showing that, in extending the operations of the Board among unevangelized nations, reference is had to system, and to great ultimate results; and secondly, of ascertaining whether the Christian community will sustain the Board in endeavoring, with the divine aid, to fill up the outline here presented, and to carry their plans into execution as fully and as speedily as possible. Has not the time arrived when the followers of Christ should be brought to look more distinctly at the work of introducing and establishing the Christian religion throughout the earth, as a work the whole of which is feasible, a work to be accomplished, by human instrumen- tality, and that without great delay? And having esti- mated the magnitude and difficulty of the undertaking, ought not each portion of the church, or the several so- cieties which act in their behalf, instead of regarding the work as an undivided whole, equally incumbent on all, but for which none is peculiarly responsible a work which may require they know not how large expendi- tures, or how many men, and to be accomplished they know not when; rather to obtain as well-defined views as possible of the several divisions of the great field which they are respectively called to cultivate, while each should make its calculations as to the number of men and the amount of funds and labor which it must furnish, and the length of time within which it might probably bring 2 Outline of the plan on which the missions its allotted task to a close? Each would then have its own work clearly in view; would compare its means with the extent of the enterprise; would measure the progress made towards the desired result, and would press onward with singleness of purpose, with well-directed exertions, and with animation and hope, till the earth should be FILLED with the knowledge of the Lord. Before presenting the outline of what it may be proper for the Board to aim to accomplish, two preliminary re- marks are important. 1. It is presumed that the evangelical churches of Christendom have entered upon the work of missions to the heathen with the intention of publishing the gospel to the whole unevangelized world. 2. That the American Board, however, as a missionary institution, does not undertake alone to publish the gospel to all these nations. Other societies in this land, and Christians of other nations, have entered upon this work, and others still will engage iu it. Our English brethren are doing more than ourselves, and will not be behind us in this race of usefulness. The French and German churches, too, are beginning to develop the spirit of missionary enterprise ; but for some time to come, owing to the state of their civil and religious institutions and the limited prevalence of evangelical piety among them, these churches can be expected to do little more than furnish auxiliary forces to the grand spiritual armies of England and America. In Russia, also, there seem to be the elements of religious enterprise struggling to be freed from the chains of civil and ecclesiastical despotism. Acting on the principle of not interfering with other evangelical missionary societies, and with the evangelical churches of other portions of Christendom, since there is room enough and more than .enough for all, the Ameri- can Board will direct its efforts to specific portions of the great field. THE PLAN DESCRIBED GEOGRAPHICALLY. In pointing out these portions as definitely as possible, reference will be first had to missions and countries be- yond sea. of the Board are to be prosecuted. 3 On the African continent the attention of the Board is directed more especially to the central regions, and at the same tipe to certain points on the western and southern coasts. The stations already formed upon the two coasts are starting-points for the interior. A range of mountains extends from west to east through the heart of Africa. In western Africa these are called the Kong mountains, and farther east they have long heen known as the Mountains of the Moon. Eastward of the Niger they are observed to rise, though in the torrid zone, to the elevation of perpetual snow. These must furnish temperate and salu- brious retreats from the burning valleys and plains. Recent discoveries lead us to suppose that a spur from this great central chain comes down to the neighborhood of our mis- sion at Cape Palmas. If so, with the blessing of Heaven, we may soon establish ourselves upon it. Taking another position at Cape Coast Castle, 450 miles eastward of Cape Palmas, and advancing thence into the Ashantee country, we may soon occupy the mountain range at a more ad- vanced position eastward. Now, too, that the passion for geographical research has opened the Niger to the obser- vation of the world, we only wait for commerce to render the ascent practicable for the gospel. Already steam- boats from Liverpool manned, however, almost wholly by native Africans are ascending and descending that river. As soon as commerce succeeds in making a speedy, annual passage up the Niger to Rabba, the Board propose to occupy that salubrious upland region, 1,200 miles in a straight line from our present station at Cape Palmas. This will bring us within reach of popu- lous nations, that will give us much scope for our labors, and make large demands upon our patrons for their sons and daughters, their contributions and their prayers. But why remain on the western banks of the Niger? The extensive highlands on the east will invite us to advance into regions nearer the centre of the continent, and never yet known to the civilized world. The Board propose, also, to approach the centre of Africa from the south. For this purpose they have com- menceil a mission at Port Natal, 900 miles eastward of Cape Town. What facilities or obstacles will present themselves in our progress towards the centre of the continent from this position, we do not know, the region 4 Outline of the plan on which the missions not having been explored. But there is a restless feeling among men of science, and merchants, and statesmen, and there is a noble feeling waking up in the church of Christ, which will grow stronger and stronger until it is known whether that space of 2,000 miles, now a void in the conceptions of mankind, be well watered, fertile, and populous ; or whether it be a great southern Sahara. If populous, the Board propose, the Lord granting permis- sion, to advance northward till our line of missions from the west and south shall meet, and keep a jubilee on the mountains of the centre. The proposed line of operations from Cape Palmas to Port Natal is about 4,500 miles. In Asia, the Board have another great line of missions marked out for the enterprise of the churches. The line begins at Constantinople, or rather in Macedonia; runs through the northern districts of Asia Minor, through Persia and Afghanistan, down through western and south- ern India to Ceylon. On this line we have stations already at Constantinople, two in Asia Minor, one or two in Persia, five in western India, three in southern India, and a number in Ceylon ; and a missionary has been appointed to Rajpootana, higher up the line in west- ern India. Another line commences in Greece, passes through the southern districts of Asia Minor, through Syria and Palestine to Mesopotamia. On this line three stations have been formed among the Greeks, one in Asia Minor, and three in Syria and Palestine. Another series of missions has been projected and com- menced in eastern Asia and the neighboring Archipelago. The central point is Singapore, at which a station has been formed. The plans of the Committee, however, concerning the vast field of which this is at present the geographical, commercial, and religious centre, are not matured, and cannot be, without more facts. It is proposed to extend missions up the populous valley of Siam, towards China in that direction ; to the great neighboring islands of Sumatra, Java, and Borneo; and to the coasts of China and Japan, as soon as Divine Providence allows missions to occupy them. Already we have a station in Siam, another at Canton, and one or two in the islands. How soon it will be practicable to extend our missions of the Board are to be prosecuted. 5 westward from the Sandwich Islands among other islands of the North Pacific, it is not now possible to determine. Such is a concise geographical view of the plans of the Committee, as far as they have been formed, for the mis- sions of the Board, in benighted countries beyond the limits of our own territory. The Indian tribes may be arranged geographically in two classes ; those within the limits of the States and territories of the Union, and those beyond the western frontiers. The former, to which a few years since mis- sions were principally confined, are now removing from their present location; and, considering their prospects, may in the formation of future plans, be left out of the account. Their number at the present time may be esti- mated at 75,000. The tribes beyond the limits of our States and territories may also be divided into two classes; the one" embracing the tribes which have emigrated from the east, and the other those who now occupy their original country. The former are generally agriculturists and settled in their mode of living, and most of them are partially civilized ; while the latter obtain subsistence mainly by hunting, are migratory in their habits, and savage in their character. The emigrant tribes, when they shall be joined by their brethren now east of the Mississippi river, will probably embrace about 108,000 souls, while the native tribes be- tween our western frontiers and the Rocky mountains, in- cluding about 10,000 Ojibwas on the north, are estimated to embrace 122,000. Of the number of those who occupy the territory including the mountains and regions beyond, to the Pacific ocean, no correct estimate can be formed. The western Indians have been approached at the southern and northern extremities of their territory. In the south, beginning with the emigrant Cherokees, Choc- taws, and Creeks, the line of our missions extends to the Pawnee country, and thence, by means of the exploring tour performed within the last eighteen months, and the new station recently taken among the Flat Head and Nez Perces tribes, to the Oregon river. On the north, our line begins with Mackinaw and the Stockbridge Indians, and proceeds on from the south- western shores of lake Superior, through the Ojibwa country, to the head waters of the Mississippi, and thence 6 Outline of the plan onichich the missions into the country of the Sioux, whose bands extend westerly to the head waters of the Missouri. Here we meet with numerous extensive tribes, through which the line should be extended till it intersect the first mentioned line beyond the Rocky mountains. The facilities of access to these portions of the world are rapidly multiplying. No science has made more rapid progress during the last twenty-five years, than that of geography ; no art has improved more than the art of traveling ; no enterprise has exerted itself with such amazing power and effect as that of commerce. Steam- boats have made rivers as navigable as the ocean ; and have extended the facilities of rapid water communication into the centre of vast continents. Already are they on the Niger, ascending to the heart of Africa ; and on the Ganges, the Indus, and the Euphrates, ascending to the heart of Asia. They ply between Calcutta and Bombay and the Red Sea; are found in all parts of the Mediterra- nean, and in the Black Sea; and have actually made their appearance among the islands of the Indian Archipelago. In all this we notice the wonder-working providence of God, preparing the way for his churches to publish the gospel every where. AGENCY TO BE EMPLOYED. The parts of the earth where it is proposed to establish missions, with a view to occupying, in connection with those already commenced, that portion of the unevangelized world which may properly be allotted to the American churches which sustain the Board, having been noticed, the AGENCY TO BE USED will now be briefly described. Human nature is found to be the same in every climate and nation. The causes which can degrade man in one land below his natural level, will exert the same depressing influence in every land where they are allowed to operate uncontrolled. On the other hand, the causes which, through the blessing of God, elevate him to a holy and happy life in one. land, will have equal efficacy and are equally necessary in every other. Man can no more be enlightened without education, or holy without the gospel, in Africa or Asia, than in America. He must rise there of the Board are to be prosecuted. 7 and every where else by the same means by which we are raised and by which we are sustained on the scale of social life. Hence the true and simple theory of missions. They are an endeavor to extend to heathen nations the means of improvement, and especially of moral improve- ment, which we enjoy. They are built on unquestioned principles of our nature, and upon our every-day experience of cause and effect, as well as. upon the plainest commands of the word of God. The institutions and influence which we observe to be so effectual, under God, at home, and in which we are taught to repose so much confidence, we endeavor to send abroad by means of foreign missions, and to make them the common property of mankind; not doubting at all their transforming influence, as instruments in his hands by whose command we act. These are the PREACHING OF THE GOSPEL, EDUCATION, and THE PRESS. The preaching of the, gospel is of course' the leading instrumentality in missions. This was almost the only means which the apostles could command, for in their day there was no press, and neither books nor education for the multitude. The preaching of the gospel is still, and ever will be, the grand means for the conversion of men. The leading object of the Board, therefore, is to supply the millions embraced within the contemplated range of their operations with the preached gospel. Excepting the Sandwich Islands, however, where the peculiar provi- dence of God has made it necessary for us to occupy the whole ground at once, and such other tribes as may become similarly situated, the Committee are not ex- pecting adequately to supply the people with stated preach- ing fronji our own land. Nor do they expect to furnish any foreign nation with preachers for many continuous generations. Heathen nations must be rendered indepen- dent of Christendom for their religious teachers as soon as possible. In no other way can this be done, than by endeavoring to raise up men in every place, men born and educated in the several countries, who may be ordained as pastors of the churches. The plans of the Board are formed with a view to this result. Institutions, combining in their nature both the college and the theological semi- nary, enter into the plans of all our missions beyond sea. We liave them now at the Sandwich Islands, in Ceylon, at Constantinople. We have them resolved upon and pro- 8 Outline of the plan on which the missions jected in the Grecian Archipelago, in Syria, among the Nestorians of Persia, among the Mahrattas of India, and at Singapore. They will be needed in Asia Minor, Mesopotamia, Rajpootana, Siam, China, and the islands of the Indian Archipelago. Around these seminaries, to a greater or less extent, are schools of different orders for the elementary Christian education of youth partly to furnish promising youths for the seminaries, and partly to furnish model schools, to raise up native teachers for schools, and to cultivate a habit of reading and a taste for education among the people. To superintend this department, it will probably be important to send a small number of well-qualified lay teachers to each of the missions. In process of time native teachers will be qualified to take the whole charge of elementary schools, and even to take the professorships in the seminaries. But, as the Committee have adopted the standing rule that none of the seminaries shall have permanent funds, it will be long before pecuniary aid can be withheld from them. The creative power in education has been the press. This is the modern gift of tongues; and in many respects it is better than that which the apostles had. It is pro- posed to make great use of the press. Printing establish- ments have already been formed at the Sandwich Islands, in China, Siam, at Singapore, in Ceylon, western India, Syria, Asia Minor. They are about to be sent to western Africa, south Africa, and the Nestorians of Persia. Ere long it is hoped that this stupendous engine will be planted in several other favorable positions. However, it will probably be expedient to employ presses owned by the Board only so far and so long as they shall be indis- pensahle to ihe printing which must be done. Natives are trained to the art of printing wherever we have presses. The more promising of these will be encouraged to set up presses of their own, and will receive the patronage of the Board as fast as they can be entrusted with its printing. Our books will be received with less jealousy when coming from native presses, and the native presses will thus be enabled to live, be placed under salutary restraint and stimulus, and will gradually be conducted onward to in- dependence. Gradually, too, our school-books, versions of the Scriptures, and other books, will be replaced by of the Board are to be prosecuted. 9 those which are the result of native labor; and thus native authorship will be encouraged, and the natives incited to literary labors by their own presses. Nor is there any thing visionary or remote in these results. Give the natives of the Sandwich Islands a press, and were you then to annihilate the mission, they would continue to write and print in their language as long as they remained a people. Thus much it seemed necessary to say concerning the mode in which the Board operates through its missions. The object at which they aim is, with the divine blessing, to render the natives independent of foreign aid as soon as possible. They would add, however, that they have no confidence in this or any other system of means, except as instrumentalities in the hands of the Almighty Spirit, which he is wont to bless. All will be in vain without his blessing. Yet that blessing is promised; absolutely pledged, in the work of propagating the gospel it may be calculated upon ; and it is unbelief to fear lest, not- withstanding the explicit prornises of God, the churches will labor in vain and spend their strength for nought in such a work as this. It is difficult to say what number of laborers will be needed to carry out the plans which have been described. Probably twelve hundred ordained missionaries, including those already in the service of the Board, would suffice for the countries beyond sea; and these should have the assistance of about three hundred laymen, as physicians, printers, teachers, etc. No portion of the heathen will require so many laborers or so great expenditures, in proportion to the number of souls to be benefited, as the migratory tribes of the North American Indians. No class of the heathen require more to be done for them, while none are with greater difficulty brought under a permanent Christian influence. Nearly the whole of this race must undoubtedly receive the gospel from the hands of the Christian community in the United States, if they are ever to partake of its blessings. That portion of them which might properly be allotted to the Board, would probably require sixty ordained missionaries, including those now laboring among them, and twice that number of lay catechists, teachers, etc., who should be intelligent men, qualified to give religious instruction among 10 Outline of the plan on which the missions the small bands with which they should have their resi- dence. Twelve hundred and sixty ordained missionaries, with four hundred and twenty lay assistants, besides female helpers, may be taken as the number of laborers which would be requisite to carry this plan into effect. The question will arise, whether it is practicable for a single missionary society to superintend and direct a system thus extended? It will be altogether practicable. More laborers would indeed be required in the corresponding and financial departments. The division of labor might be carried to much greater perfection than it is at present, and the multifarious business, which is now not without system, might be reduced to a still more perfectly sys- tematical arrangement. More time also would be required of the Prudential Committee. But it is important to add, that the labors and responsibilities in the executive depart- ment are not necessarily and materially increased by an increase of the number of missionaries in any one mission. In general the missions of the Board are expected to or- ganize themselves for united deliberation and business as soon as three brethren belong to them, and to become jointly responsible to the Prudential Committee for all their measures as a body and as individuals. The more numerous a mission becomes, therefore, provided proper care has been taken in selecting the members, the more responsibility will be thrown upon it, and the more will the executive officers at home be relieved from care. Three hundred missionaries distributed among our existing missions, after they had actually entered their respective fields, would alleviate rather than increase the cares of those who have the direction of the missions. The Board will not deem twelve hundred and sixty preachers of the gospel a large number to be sent into the extended fields we have been contemplating. Already, through the smiles of Heaven, more than one-twelfth part of the number are on the ground. But when all are there, supposing we assign to each man the responsibility of seeing the gospel published to 50,000 souls, our supply reaches only (53,000,000 of the hundreds of millions which are to be evangelized. But let the central situation of our con- templated posts be considered. In Africa they extend along its high places its central regions the sources of of the Board are to be prosecuted. 1 1 its great rivers the seats of its more civilized and powerful native races and kingdoms. In Asia, they are the very foci of the nations. They are the radiant points of light and influence. And should our thirty or forty contem- plated seminaries enjoy the gracious visitations of the Holy Spirit, they will be like cities set on a hill ; the light of them to be seen, and the influence flowing out of them to be felt, over a wide extent of territory. This plan of operation contemplates an annual and great increase of the number of missionaries and assistants in every department. To furnish twelve hundred and sixty ordained missionaries, which will afford only the scanty supply of one preacher to each 50,000 souls in the popula- tion embraced in this plan, and to accomplish this within any moderate number of years, must obviously require an immediate and great advance on our present augmentation of numbers, by adding eight or ten a year. At this rate of increase it would require more than a hundred years to bring the requisite number into the field ; during which time more than three generations of the heathen would go to the judgment, followed by more than five generations of missionaries ; thus leaving the great mass of the heathen now on the earth, and two or three generations who may succeed them, unaffected by the renewing and saving power of the gospel. CONCLUSION. Such was the plan presented by the Prudential Committee, to the Board, at their meeting in Hartford, in September, 1836, and by the Board deliberately and solemnly approved and adopted. And now it is for the patrons of the Board, and the friends of the cause throughout our land to say, whether it shall be carried into effect. For that purpose, large pecuniary resources, and these steadily increasing from year to year, will be not less indispensable than ad- ditional labqrers in every department. The Prudential Committee and the Board are but the agents of the churches in this work. They cannot go forward any faster than the necessary means are furnished by the Christian community. Will the readers of this paper do what they can, by prayer, and effort, and self-denial, to publish the gospel, with the least possible delay, in the 12 Outline of the missions of the Board. whole field thus marked out ? Will the whole Christian community take such ground on this subject as shall encourage every young man, whose heart the Lord has inclined to go to the heathen, to offer himself for this work ; as shall encourage the missionaries to extend their labors, and to avail themselves of all the facilities within their reach for enlightening and saving the nations; while the Committee also shall feel encouraged to take a wide survey of the heathen world, and to enlarge their plans, and press the work on to its completion, with an enterprise and vigor corresponding to the emergency of the case. Or must the progress of the work be stayed before the Board has one hundred and fifty ordained missionaries in the field ; and the young men preparing for the ministry be told that more of them are devoted to missions than can be supported among the heathen ; and the disheart- ening intelligence be conveyed to the missionaries now laboring abroad, that their ranks can be filled little faster than they are thinned by sickness and death; and succes- sive generations of our benighted brethren in heathen lands, to whom we might send the glad tidings, be suffered to go down to the grave, ignorant of the only name under heaven, given among men, whereby a sinner must be saved 1 HINTS TO COLLECTORS A FEW Hints are embodied in this Paper, for the ben- efit of those persons who are appointed by the several Associations to collect funds in aid of the Missions un- der the care of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. TO THE COLLECTORS OF THE SEVE11AL ASSOCIATIONS. It is recommended that, just before commencing solici- tations, you meet together, read these hints in company, concert plans for simultaneous and efficient operation, and seek the direction and blessing of God. It may be hoped that your pastor will be present to counsel and animate you; and that, when you are ready to go forth, he will himself preach, or request some other minister to preach, a Missionary Sermon; at the close of which public notice might be given, that you are about to Wait on the people at their several places of residence. Thus will you be strengthened and encouraged; and the way will be opened for a pleasant and successful effort. Your attention is now respectfully called to the duties you owe to yourselves as the agents of your respective Associations, the duties you owe to others and the inducements you have to the discharge of your important work. 1. DUTIES TO YOURSELVES. Feelinterested in your object This object is a great one, and worthy of all the interest you can feel and man* ifest. It is to make the way of salvation known to mil- lions, who are perishing for lack of such knowledge. 2 Hints to Collectors. This is the grand design of missionary efforts. Whatever is attempted, is with a view to this result. Preachers, Bibles, and tracts are sent to bring the heathen into the Way of Salvation; and with reference to this same end, printing presses are established, schools instituted, colleges founded, and secular labors undertaken, by the missiona- ries. Meditate on this great object pray over it con- verse about it read respecting it; till it seems, as it is, immeasurably great and glorious, worth all the labors and self-denials you can bestow, and a thousand times more. Understand what you are to do You are the agents of the Association to which you belong. Your business is to solicit, contributions, as one of the necessary and ap- propriate means of hastening the spread of the gospel among the heathen. The field of your labor is prescribed and its limits are defined. You know of whom you are to solicit. Let your requests be for the present year, and for that only. You will take no subscriptions, no pledges, for the next and succeeding years. Those years will take care of themselves. Your subscriptions, pledges, dona- tions, are only for the existing year; though it is hoped and believed that donors will cheerfully receive a similar application in the next. Obtain for the missionary cause as much as you can, by the use of a proper influence. If the subscription be paid immediately, you will be saved the trouble of calling again. Aim to finish your collec- tions in season, so that you may pay the money to the Treasurer of the Association, and it may pass to the gener- al treasury without unnecessary delay. In ordinary cases, the Collectors will do their work more thoroughly and successfully, if they resolve to complete it in a week or ten days, than if they allow themselves two or three months. Beside the sooner the collections are made, the sooner the money will be applied to the great object for which it is given. Where the gentlemen are embodied in one Asso- ciation, and the ladies in another, (as will generally be the case,) the two sexes will act independently. Ladies will not in common cases, solicit from gentlemen, nor gentlemen from ladies. The Collectors pay over their collections to the Treasurer of their Association; that officer pays to the Treasurer of the Auxiliary Society; and from thence, the amount, accumulated from different Asso- ciations, goes to the Parent Institution the AMERICAN Hints to Collectors. 3 BOARD op COMMISSIONERS FOR FOREIGN MISSIONS. Should any person give $10, or upwards, during one year to the Association, such a person is entitled to the Mis- sionary Herald for one year, that is to one volume; and, if the person so contributing desires it, the Collector to whom the money is paid should be careful to inform the Treasurer, in order that the Herald may be sent accord- ingly. If either of you collect $15 in one year, that sum, when paid to your Treasurer, entitles you, also, to a volume of the Herald, and the Treasurer should see that it is sent to you. But these copies of the Herald cannot be sent to donors and collectors, unless the names are communi- cated in some way to the Treasurer of the Board. Whenever you think a subscriber may be obtained for the Missionary Herald, you can propose the taking of that work; and if you succeed, your amount of usefulness will be increased.* This is a brief view of your duties as Collectors. They are simple and plain. The nature of your work is obvious. Be able to answer objections. You will be likely to hear them made; and if they are new to you, and you have not thought of an answer to them, they may discon- cert you, and perhaps discourage you. Think, then, of this, that those who have had most to do with missions, and feel the most zeal in them, and venture most for them, have generally been most in the way of hearing objections, and have known most about them. Why are not they alarmed and discouraged? Because they know, that the objections can all be answered, and that the most impor- tant of them have been answered a thousand times. In general, to overthrow the objections brought against mis- sions, requires only some knowledge of the history of mis- sions and of the moral condition of the world. If it is said that the heathen stand in no need of the gospel, such knowledge will show that they are in perishing need of it. If it is asserted that missions have done no good, such knowledge will show that there is not a nation in Christen- dom, which owes not its Christianity to missions; and * A Paper containing considerations designed to promote the circulation of the Missionary Herald, may be obtained gratuitously at the Missionary Rooms in Boston, or of Mr. Jesse Talbot, Agent of the Board. Chapel of toe Brick Church, New York. 4 Hints to Collectors. that the missions of the present age, considering the num- ber of missionaries, have been very successful, and are now in a high degree promising. If it is declared, that foreign missions tend to divert the public attention from domestic missions, such knowledge will show, that the fact has been quite the reverse. And so of the rest. Most of them are grounded upon ignorance or misappre- hension of facts. But the grand answer, that sweeps away every objection to sending the gospel to the heathen, is found in the command of the Lord Jesus Christ to make known the gospel "IN ALL THE WORLD TO EVERY CREA- TURE." This command stands unrepealed; it cannot be evaded; it is binding on. every one who enioys the gospel.* Be familiar with the strongest motives for contributing to the support of missions to the heathen. Consume no more time than is necessary in answering objections and never start objections yourselves. While replying to them, you are acting only on the defensive, and your conquests must be limited. Rather present, when you can do it, the motives to Christian liberality unconnected with ob- jections, and in their most attractive forms. Acquaint yourselves fully with these. Read often the eight and ninth chapters of the second epistle to the Corinthians. Think, as the apostle Paul did, of the motives to be drawn from the liberality of others whose ability is smaller than ours from the importance of deeds of charity to consist- ency of character in a Christian from the bountiful re- ward which follows a cheerful giver from the blessings secured by the prayers of those who are relieved by our benevolence and, above all, from the love and conde- scension of the Lord Jesus Christ, who, 'though he was rich, yet for our sakes became poor, that we, through his poverty, might be rich.' Here are motives exactly fitted to act on a pious soul. But these are not all. Look back, and see what Christianity did for our fathers, look around, and see what it has done for us; look forward, and see what prospects of blissful enjoyment through countless ages it opens to all who obey its commands and thankfully receive its offers. Then look abroad, and survey the sin and misery which fill the earth with lamentations. Behold * Papers containing answers to several common objections, and also an illustration and enforcement of the command of Christ, may be had gratui- tously of the Treasurer of the Board, or of the Agent in New York city. Hints to Collectors. 5 the hundreds of millions who give every proof of possess- ing unsanctified hearts, and of being unfit for heaven. Standing among these unhappy millions, glance your eyes forward through the generations to come. What will be the character of those generations? Can any enter heaven who die unholy? And will the generations to come, be holier than their fathers? The salvation of the heathen must depend upon their having the gospel, which is the grand instrument designed by the Most High God for renewing the hearts of men and fitting them for his presence; and whether the heathen shall enjoy the gospel, depends, according to all the known plans and principles of the divine government, on the will of those who possess the gospel. Will any one, then, take upon himself the responsibility of withholding his aid?* With these and other similar considerations be familiar. They will stimulate you; and perhaps you may occasion- ally find them useful in reference to others. II. DUTIES TO OTHERS. Several of these have necessarily been mentioned under the first general division of these Hints. Your attention will now be directed to two or three more. Give to every one an opportunity to contribute. Deprive no one of the privilege. It is to the poor no less a priv- ilege to contribute their aid for the spread of the gospel, than it is to the rich. The pious poor feel it to be such. They find happiness in doing it; withhold not this hap- piness. They claim it as their right; give them the op- portunity of using their right. Are there opposers, and will they treat you with civility? Perhaps you will do well to call on them. A respectful visit of this kind can do no harm, and may do good. Remember that there are few who are not displeased with neglect. Let no one have occasion to say, in the little territory assigned you, "I might, perhaps, have given, but the Collector thought me unworthy of a call." Rely solely on proper motives. In presenting motives, resort to none but such as are right. If right motives, suitably urged, will not avail, you have nothing further to * See a Paper showing when a Christian may be said to have done hi* duty to the heathen; to be procured as staled in the previous note. 1* 6 Hints te Collectors. say. You will regret the necessity, but must be contend, in such cases, to obtain nothing. But you should sit in judgment on the motives of no one;, nor be forward to sus- pect ill, either of him who grants, or of him who denies, your request. Aim to conciliate the good will of all. For your aid in this thing, the following suggestion are given, Urge no one. By this is not meant that you should not be in earnest, or that you should never argue and plead. It suggests that you should not go too far; that you should stop in the right place. Your duty may be discharged without offending reasonable people, and there is nothing- gained by giving offence. Pursue your solicitations only so long as you are heard patiently. Better not get any thing than obtain it at the expense of the good will of the donor. But be not timid; and never seem indifferent whether you succeed or not in your object. Remember that nothing is so likely to offend as heartless solicitation, cold argumentation, lifeless pertinacity. Throw your whole soul into your applications, and then, if they should happen to be continued somewhat too long, you will be more readily forgiven. Hear olycctions patiently. This will tend to conciliate the objector; and your reply will be the wiser and more forcible for the delay. If you reply, do it respectfully. Let the objections ad- duced appear to strike you with their proper force. Seem not to think lightly of the judgment of their author, or of his knowledge or candor. As a "soft answer turneth away wrath," so does a respectful answer disarm prejudice. Should you argue, do it coolly. Be animated and earn- est, but lose not your self-possession. Rather than lose this, cease to argue. Be frank. Make no more of an argument, nor less of an objection, than it is worth. Assume not that mission- aries, or the conductors of missions, are perfect men. They have like passions with other good men. Neither assume that missions are conducted in an infallible man- ner. The most you should affirm is, that the plan of them is the best that has occurred to the most wise and excel- lent men in Christendom, and is in imitation of the plan pursued by the apostles in the missions of their day. Yoa may add, that if any one knows of a better system, he wiH Hints to Collectors. 7 confer a great favor in communicating the knowledge of it to the directors of missions, who will receive such a communication very thankfully, and give it all due atten- tion. But it will not be thought disrespectful, if they re- quire it to be supported by at least a few well authenticated facts, before they substitute it for the one now in opera- tion; especially as the latter has been acted upon for so long a time, and with no small success. Disparage no other objects of charity. That species of Christian charity, which is the object of your Associa- tion, is not inferior in importance to any other; and its importance is superior to that of most others. Thus you may lawfully regard it, because such is the fact. But avoid instituting comparisons; unless it be necessary to show that missions have an equal claim with any other depart- ment of the great work of benevolence. None has a greater claim; but it will seldom, if ever, be expedient to argue that any particular object has less. Never regard the great works of Christian benevolence as in their nature opposed to each other. Missionary, Bible, Tract, Educa- tion, and sabbath-school societies all have the same great object in view. Repeat nothing to the disadvantage of any one. Should you hear, while discharging your duty, indiscreet remarks inappropriate objections, or strange misstatements of mat- ters of fact, repeat them not. Be 'wise as serpents,' but 'harmless as doves.' Consider the disposition, learning, age, and standing of those of whom you solicit. The same mode of solicitation will not do for all. The mode should be suited to the various characters and circumstances of persons. In short, be interested in your object; understand your work; be fortified against the paralysing influence of ob- jections on yourselves, and know how to lessen their influ- ence on others; act in harmonious co-operation with other benevolent societies and objects; injure no one; and prosecute your most commendable enterprise with zeal, prudence, patience, and with a wise adaptation of means to the circumstances in which you must use them, and to the end you have in view. 8 Hints to Collectors. III. INDUCEMENTS. Your cause is good. There is no better cause in this world. The promotion of literature, the sciences, and arts is commendable, and worthy of any man. The ex- tension of civil freedom and of enlightened principles of legislation is a noble cause, and deserving of the highest efforts of the greatest minds. But the cause in which you are engaged is more excellent and noble than these. It is that of eradicating evil of sweeping from the earth the sources of human wo. It is the cause which animated Martyn, Buchanan, Svvartz, Brainerd, and Elliot, which supported reformers, confessors, and martyrs for which the apostles toiled and cheerfully surrendered their lives and on account of which the Lord Jesus came down from heaven. The moral reformation of every individual, and family, and tribe and kingdom, in the earth! How vast the object, how excellent, how dignified! How worthy of the vigorous and constant endeavors of every man, in every condition, from the cottage to the throne. Your plan of operations is wise. So it has been pro- nounced by multitudes of intelligent friends of missions in various parts of our land. In England also, the excel- lence of a plan essentially similar has been fully proved. It is such an organization as this, in general, that gives to the British and Foreign Bible Society an annual income of 4.00,000 dollars, to the Church Missionary Society, to the Wesleyan Missionary Society, and to the London Mis- sionary Society, about 200,000 dollars each, with a gradual yearly augmentation. Thus it may be in this country, if there is but a proper organization. Let the plan you have adopted be but carried into full effect, and it would bring every friend of the Lord Jesus into the ranks. It would do more. It would organize this vast body like a host prepared for war. And this enlargement and organization of the armies of Immanuel can be effected, to a very great extent. Many ecclesiastical societies and towns, and many coun- ties have already come into the plan: it is generally ap- proved; and is applicable, with some modifications, to the whole country. Hints to Collectors. 9 And how consistent, also, are the duties prescribed by the system, with all that is becoming in domestic society? When rightly distributed, these duties can interfere with no paramount duties. They coincide, too, with all the proprieties of life, when taken in their most rigid con- struction. The sphere of action prescribed for the female, is wholly among her own sex. She is not obliged to give herself undue publicity, nor often to go out of the circle of her acquaintance. Finally: Much depends on you. You are delegated to act for the Association. It looks to your industry and zeal for its funds. Their amount will depend much on you. You have it in your power greatly to increase or diminish the missionary spirit, in the members of the As- sociation, and to do much good or harm. If you are faithful to your trust, there is no fear but that all will go well. If you are unfaithful, there is no doubt but the Association will decline. Moreover, a missionary spirit is the true spirit of piety, the spirit of revivals of religion, and of every good work. If then, you are faithful, you may greatly promote piety in general; may hasten a revival of religion; may lead to a more cheerful and abundant support of re- ligious ordinances, and will certainly aid the cause of Sabbath schools, domestic missions, the education of young men for the ministry, and the circulation of Bibles and tracts over the world. But if you should not be faithful which may God forbid your influence will tend to hinder the prosperity of every one of these most excel- lent objects. Be of good cheer. There is little to discourage, and much to animate you. You will be more kindly received than perhaps you dare expect. You have God and the hearts of his people, and the consciences of all men, on your side. Money is much needed, and it will be needed more and more, from year to year. The present missionary stations cannot be enlarged, and new ones cannot be formed, without an augmentation of funds. For this augmenta- sion, the Missionaries, the Board, the Auxiliaries, the Associations, and the Churches, all look, with much so- licitude, chiefly to you. 10 Missionary Herald and Annual Report. MISSIONARY HERALD. _ A volume of this work is presented, by the American Board of Commis- sioners for Foreign Missions, as follows: To every Collector, who collects, for the missions of the Board, during any year, a sum not less than fifteen dollars. To the Treasurer of every Society or Association that contributes to the Board, during one year, any sum not less than twenty dollars. To every Clergyman, who maintains regularly in his congregation the Monthly Concert, at which collections are made, during one year, and con- tributed to the board, amounting to not less than fifteen dollars. To every Individual, who desires it, contributing to the Board, in any year, not less than ten dollars. ANNUAL REPORT OP THE BOARD. A copy of this publication will be presented to every association that contributes, during one year, any snm not less than twenty dollars. Wherever it is practicable, Individual Donors, Collectors, and Associa- tions are requested to procure the copies of the Missionary Herald, and of the Report, to which they become entitled, through the Treasurers of the respective Auxiliary Societies with which they are connected. Treasurers of Associations should inform the Treasurers of the Auxiliary Societies how many volumes of the Herald, and how many numbers of the Report, are due to their respective Associations, and to whom thev should he sent, and by what conveyance. These notices the Treasurer of the Auxiliary Soci- ety will transmit to the Treasurer of the Board at the Missionary Rooms, who will cause these works to be sent as requested. CONSTITUTION OF AN ASSOCIATION. Article 1. The object of this Association is to aid the Missions under the direction of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. Art. 2. All belonging to and contributing to this cause, shall be members of the Association, until they shall de- cline making a donation at the subsequent annual call of the Collectors. Art. 3. The Association shall elect, annually, a Pres- ident, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, and a suita- ble number of Collectors. Constitution of an Association. 1 1 Art. 4. The President, and in absence the Vice President, shall preside in all meetings of the Association, and shall have power to call special meetings at pleasure. The Secretary shall keep the records, manage the cor- respondence, and, at the annual meeting, make a general report of what has been accomplished by the Association, in the course of the preceding year. The Treasurer shall take charge of the money collect- ed; and shall pay the same to the Treasurer of the Aux- iliary Society of , as soon as convenient after any considerable sum shall have been placed in his hands. He shall also present a report at the annual meeting. Art. 5. The four officers above named, 'shall consti- tute an Executive Committee; to manage the business not otherwise appropriated by the articles of this Constitution. Art. 6. The business of the Collectors is to solicit and receive contributions. And in order to do this most effectually, they shall make a suitable division of their appropriate labor; call upon all the individuals, who are friendly to the object, within their respective limits, and give all a respectful invitation to contribute; take their names, and the sums which they wish to give for the year and shall pay over to the Treasurer, on or before an appointed day, all that they have received. If no day shall be appointed by the Auxiliary, nor by the Associa- tion, the Collectors shall themselves appoint as early a day as they shall think, convenient. Art. 7. The annual meeting of the Association shall be held on the and shall be opened with prayer. At this meeting, the Reports of the Secretary and Treasurer shall be read; the officers for the year ensuing shall be chosen; and such other business and services shall be attended to, as may be deemed expedient. 12 Subscription List. DISTRICT NO. Subscribers' Names. Dolls. Ctt. MISSIONARY PAPER, NO. XII, THE MORAL CONDITION AND PROSPECTS OF THE HEATHEN. WHAT is the moral condition, and what are the prospects for eternity, of the Heathen? A question of most solemn and momentous import, applying to six hundred millions of immortal and accountable beings. Let us commence and pursue its investigation with candor, being willing and desirous to know the exact truth. If the spirit of benev- olence animates our bosoms, this will be the temper with which we shall pursue the inquiry; for surely that is not benevolence which refuses patiently and candidly to in- quire into the condition of an alleged sufferer for whom our aid is solicited. Love to the unhappy fellow being will lead us to an honest and thorough investigation of his condition, will produce a desire to ascertain the whole ex- tent of his wants and his wretchedness, that we may learn what is needed for his relief, and may apply the proper remedy. The immortal HOWARD, when he resolved to attempt the relief of the miseries inflicted by legalized op- pression upon the tenants of prison-houses, determined, in the first place, to ascertain the extent of the wretchedness he wished to exterminate. That determination he exe- cuted, at the expense of many a wearisome journey, and in the very atmosphere of contagion and death; and thus evinced, that his professions of sympathy for this class of his suffering fellow mortals, and of a desire to relieve them, were sincere. Are we then the friends of the Heathen? Do we wish to relieve the moral miseries of this larger por- tion of mankind? Let us imitate the illustrious example. 1 2 Moral Condition and Prospects of the Heathen. Let us guage and measure the very depth of the misery into which the Heathen are plunged, that we may know what is needed for their deliverance, and proportion our efforts to the arduousness of its accomplishment. What, then, is the moral condition, and what are the -prospects for eternity, of the Heathen? I shall not, in at- tempting to answer this most solemn and momentous ques- tion, indulge in conjectures, or depend on abstract reason- ings. My appeal shall be directly to the word of God, whose decisions will, I hope, be received, by all the read- ers of this paper, as infallible. How do the inspired wri- ters of the New Testament, or, to narrow the field of in- quiry as much as possible, How does Paul, under the guidance of the divine Spirit, represent the condition and prospects of the Heathen? In his Epistle to the Romans, his first object is to ex- hibit the moral state of mankind previously to their becom- ing interested in the salvation. provided by the mediation of Christ. In the first chapter he considers the state of the Gentiles, and in the second chapter and the former part of the third, of the Jews. And then (iii. 0,) states as the result, that " both Jews and Gentiles are all under sin." "ALL" the Heathen of his time, learned and un- learned, savage and civilized, were "under sin." What is the meaning of this assertion? To be "under sin" is, evidently, to be sinful. All the Heathen of Paul's time were, then, sinful. But he who is sinful, may justly be visited with the penalty of sin; he is liable to the punishment threatened against his transgres- sion. Under the divine government righteousness in any being always implies his acceptance with God; and sin, while unrepented of, implies that he who committed it is under condemnation. The Scriptures unequivocally as- sert, that sin, when found upon any individual, has already brought upon him the sentence of the law, and exposed him to its penalty. "Every one," says this same Apostle, "who hath not continued in all things written in the book of the law to do them, is under the curse;" that is, obnox- ious to the penalty of the law. But the Heathen of his time, having universally transgressed "the law written in their hearts," were, Paul affirms, "under sin;" by which, . unless we charge him with inconsistency, we must con- Moral Condition and Prospects of the Heathen. $ elude he meant to imply, that they were under the curse;, obnoxious to the penalty which God had denounced against sin. Again. Having occasion (iii. 19,) to repeat the senti- ment of the verse just considered, he expresses it thus, "The whole world is guilty before God." The literal meaning of the term rendered guilty is, under sentence of justice, which implies liability to punishment. The whole world, then, and of course the Heathen universally, in Paul's time, were under sentence of justice, and exposed to Hit wages of sin. Other expressions of similar import occurring in the course of his argument in the first part of this Epistle are the following. Chap. i. ver. 18, he says, "The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and un- righteousness of men;" and then immediately enters upon those specifications respecting the Heathen by which he says he had "proved them all under sin." An unequivo- cal indication that, in his opinion, the Heathen of that age were under the wrath of God, and exposed to its righteous inflictions, on account of their sins. In the 32d v. of the same chapter, he declares it to be "the judgment of God, that they which commit such things," as he had shewn the Heathen of that age committed, "are .worthy of death:" clearly implying that they were, in "the jitdgment of God, worthy of death." In the 12th verse of the second chap- ter he affirms, that "as many as have sinned without law," that is, without the light of revelation, as, he says,, he had proved the Heathen had done by transgressing the "law written in their hearts," "shall perish without law," that is, without being judged by revelation. Not, indeed, .re- ceiving the aggravated doom of those who go on in sin against the instructions and motives furnished by the gos- pel; but, having voluntarily transgressed the "law written, in their hearts," they "shall," unless, by repentance, they obtain the divine forgiveness, "perish." The original word literally signifies the loss of life; not of temporal life, mere- ly, for the Apostle is evidently speaking of a punishment to which they were liable; but the temporal death of a sinner, followed by the immediate possession of the hap- piness of heaven, would not be a punishment, but a bless- ing. The loss referred to must, therefore, be, of the life to, 4 Moral Condition and Prospects of the Heathen. be obtained by the righteous in the future world; it must be eternal death. Paul did, then, intend to assert, that the Heathen of his time would, unless pardoned by the mercy of God, in Christ, perish. That this was his opinion further appears from the rea- soning he employs in the 6th chapter of this Epistle to the Romans, for the purpose of guarding those who had been converted from Heathenism against perverting the grace of the Gospel. In prosecuting this argument he states, that, while they were Heathen, they "yielded their mem- bers servants to uncleanness, and to iniquity unto iniqui- ty;" and then adds, "what fruit .had ye in those things whereof ye are now ashamed'? for the end of those things is death, for the wages of sin is death." What death? He tells us, "The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." The sen- tence is antithetic; and therefore, the ideas it expresses are directly opposite to each other. If, then, the life which is the gift of God through Christ is eternal life, the death which is the wages of sin is eternal death. This death, Paul says, was "the wages," or merited reward, and "the end," or certain consequence, (if not averted by the gift of God through Jesus Christ,) of the state in which the Ro- mans were while idolaters, and in which, the Apostle de- clares, were all the Heathen of that age. Again. The Apostle says, in his Epistle to the Ephe- sians, that, while they were Heathen, they were "children of wrath, having no hope in the world." "Children of wrath," a form of expression equivalent to "son of death," "son of perdition," &-c., meaning, liable to the wrath of God against sin. Such was the state of the Ephesians while they were Heathen. And so certain was this con- sequence of their continuance in that state, that, while in it, they had "no hope." Were they then, had they died in Heathenism, immediately to enter heaven? Then there was hope in their case. Were they, had they died in Heathenism, to suffer a temporary punishment, and be afterward received to heaven? Then there was hope in their case. But Paul says there was for them, while Hea- then, "no hope." They were then exposed to eternal death. This was the unhappy condition of the Ephesians while they were Pagans, the condition in which, the Apos- tle declares, in the first part of his Epistle to the Romans, Moral Condition and Prospects of the Heathen. 5 all the Heathen of that period were, under the wrath of God and without hope. And now, contemplate the life of Paul, and see a most convincing attestation of the correctness of these represen- tations of his views respecting the condition and prospects of the Heathen of his time. Whence that ardent, that un- quenchable desire to "preach," as extensively as was pos- sible, "among the Gentiles, the unsearchable riches of Christ?" Behold him renouncing all the honors and emoluments he possessed, or might have anticipated, as a leader of the Pharisees, and devoting his life to the then thankless and despicable work of inculcating among the nations the doctrines of the Gospel. Follow him in his numerous journeys in almost every part of the then known world. View the dangers he encountered, the sufferings he endured. See him "five times receiving of the Jews forty stripes save one; thrice beaten of rods; once stoned; thrice shipwrecked; a night and a day in the deep; in perils of waters; in perils of robbers; in perils by his own countrymen; in perils by the Heathen; in perils in the city; in perils in the wilderness; in perils in the sea; in perils among false brethren; in weariness and painfulness; in watchings often; in hunger and thirst; in cold and nakedness!" Hear him saying, "I know, by the testi- mony of the Holy Ghost, that in every city bonds and afflictions abide me." And yet, you behold him pressing forward from city to city; until you see him fall, as he had anticipated, a victim of persecuting rage! Now I ask, whence these painful sacrifices, this unceasing effort, in a man of judgment and discretion? in a man excited and directed, in all his plans and exertions to spread the Gospel, by the Spirit of God? Did he consider the Hea- then in no danger? Ah, no. His eye, lighted by inspi- ration, beheld them sinking, as fast as, from among them, death multiplied its victims, to endless wo. His benevo- lent soul was moved at the sight; and he determined, at all hazards, to endeavor to "save some." With the un- paralleled sufferings that awaited him full in his view, you hear him say, "None of these things move me; neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy; and the ministry I have received to testify" among the Gentiles "the Gospel of the grace of 6 Moral Condition and Prospects of the Heathen. God." "The love of Christ constraineth me; because I thus judge, that, if one died for all, then were ALL DEAD.'* That was the judgment from which his self-denying exer- tions to spread the Gospel among the Heathen sprung. He judged that they were all "dead in trespasses and sins," and exposed to eternal death. One point in this important inquiry is, then, settled. If Paul wrote and acted, in establishing the Christian Church, under the infallible guidance of the Spirit, the Heathen at that time on the earth were guilty, and con- demned, and exposed to eternal death. The question now arises, Is this decision of the Holy Ghost applicable to the Heathen of the present day? As a preliminary to the prosecution of this inquiry I will simply state, that, since the principles of the divine gov- ernment are ever the same, and since the Bible correctly developcs ( those principles, whatever the Bible declares concerning' any description of character in one age, is true of the same 'description of character in all ages. This position is so obviously correct, that it only needs to be stated to receive the assent of every candid mind. To determine, therefore, whether the account given by Paul of the moral condition and prospects of the Gentiles of that age, is applicable to the Heathen of the present day, we have only to ascertain whether the character of each is substantially the same. What then were the traits of character in the Heathen of that age, which Paul states as conclusive evidence that they were guilty, and condemned, and exposed to eternal death? And are these traits of character found in the Heathen of the present day? These inquiries I shall now proceed to answer, keeping in view, in referring to the second, the two great classes of modern Heathens with which we are best acquainted those of Asia and the Islands in the Southern ocean, and the Aborigines of America. The specifications of Paul respecting the Gentiles of his time may be arranged under two general heads; those which refer to duties to God, and those which refer to du- ties to men. I. Of the character of the Heathen of that period in reference to God, the Apostle says, that "when they knew God, they glorified him not as God; but became vain in Moral Condition and Prospects of the Heathen. 7 their imaginations, and changed the glory of the incor- ruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things." Rom. i. 21, 23. " They knew God." The learned Heathen of that age, to whom it belonged to regulate the opinions of the mass of the people, knew the existence of our supreme God. In like manner, the Aborigines of America believe ill the existence of a Supreme Being, whom they denominate "the Great Being," "the Heavenly Inhabitant," "the Master of Life," &c. And the Heathen of the Eastern continent, generally, if not universally, believe in one Su- preme Deity, uncreated and eternal. But, adds the Apostle, concerning tRe Heathen of his time, "they glorified him not as God;" that is, they did not regard him with the esteem and reverence, and render him the worship and service, which are justly due to him. The philosophers, as well as the common people, either paid no homage to the Supreme God, or divided their ser- vice, such as it was, between him and a multitude of other pretended Gods. Their celestial duties were numerous, and of various orders. They also worshipped the planets; and paid divine honors to the souls of the dead, and fre- quently to the persons of the living. They personified and worshipped the various qualities and conditions of human beings, as fidelity, liberty, concord, victory, &LC.; and even the bad qualities of men, including their various passions and vices. Among some of the most enlightened nations of antiquity, quadrupeds, reptiles, and even vegetables, re- ceived religious homage. Indeed it would be difficult to find an object, either in heaven or on earth, which was not, by some of the ancient Pagans, regarded as divine. "They, in fact, worshipped every thing as god, but God himself." To many of their celestial deities they attributed the basest and most wicked passions, the most cruel and abominable conduct. The invisible objects of their devo- tion were represented by images of various forms, "made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things." Before these images, sac- rifices were offered, supplications presented, and praises sung. To them, and to them only, the worship of the great body of the people was paid. The service which S Moral Condition and Prospects of the Heathen. they supposed their gods required, had no respect whatever to the temper of their hearts; it was merely external. And their very worship was characterized by the grossest licen- tiousness, and the most unnatural cruelty. The most shameful debauchery was every where an attendant on: their religious services: while, not only among the Bar- barians, but among the polished Greeks and Romans, human sacrifices were frequently offered; nor was this horrible practice wholly abandoned by the latter people, till the second century after Christ. In like manner the modern Pagans, though they know God, do not glorify him as God. The savages of the West are not indeed so debased in their religious notions and practices, as the more refined Greeks and Romans, or the more civilized Hindoos. But still, there is evidence enough that the charge now under examination is substantially true of them. They very generally worship the spirit of evil, and pay religious homage to numerous imaginary beings, and to the luminaries of heaven. They do not, generally, worship images; it is, however, a common opin- ion among them, that the divinity resides in different ani- mals. "One supposes that he dwells in a buffaloe, another in a wolf, another in a bear, another in a bird, and an- other in a rattlesnake. And no one ever kills his deity," or rather the animal in which he is supposed to reside, "or eats any of it when killed by others. Thus," by one and another of them, "every animal, and almost every rep- tile, is deified." The service which they render the ob- jects of their worship consists merely in the observance of a variety of outward ceremonies, which they believe to be efficacious in averting calamities, and in procuring the blessings they desire. Among some of their tribes, till very recently, human sacrifices were occasionally offered. By the Heathen of India, the Supreme God is, avowedly, not worshipped at all. To him, no temples or altars are reared, no prayers are offered, no thanksgivings or praises are rendered. They represent him as omnipotent, eter- nal and unchangeable; but as entirely destitute of moral qualities, as neither loving nor hating, without desires, without action, and without happiness. A description of the divine essence which, if it be intelligible, entirely strips the Deity of his glory. The objects of their devotion are 1 Moral Condition and Prospects of the Heathen. 9 even more numerous and more disgusting in their char- acter, than were the idols of the ancient Pagans. Among them are numerous imaginary beings, of different orders, who are supposed to inhabit the heavens. In addition to these, they worship the planets. Every species of vice has its presiding divinity; while, among all their numerous gods and goddesses, there is not one to represent any of the virtues. They worship the souls of the dead, and liv- ing men and women. They also pay divine honors to beasts of the very lowest species, to birds, fishes, rivers, stones, and logs of wood. The character attributed to their celestial deities is a most disgusting compound of ev- ery thing that is indecent and wicked. Their whole histo- ry is but a highly colored representation of quarrels, wars, and licentious intrigues." "The very heavens in which they dwell are pervaded with pride and selfishness, jeal- ousy and rage, parly and lust." Falsehood, fraud, revenge, adultery, incest, and murder, are the most prominent traits in their character as presented to the contemplation of their worshippers. These celestial gods are supposed to have bodies, and to inhabit place. Nor are such objects of devotion sufficiently gross to accommodate the moral degradation of the people. They must be presented to their immediate contemplation by a great variety of im- ages; some in the form of men, others of the various species of beasts, and fowls, and reptiles; in others these varieties are combined; while others still are "unlike any thing we conceive in heaven, or on earth, and beggar all description." By the mass of the people these images are supposed, after consecration, to be really gods. To them they bring their oblations, address their prayers, and offer their thanksgivings and their praises. The service the gods are supposed to require has not the least reference to the state of the heart, but consists in a mere round of cer- emonies, by.which the conscience of the worshipper is sat- isfied, and the deity thought to be propitiated. In their religious services is combined every thing that is disgust- ing and cruel. Self-inflicted torture and voluntary immo- lation are considered highly meritorious, and are extremely common. The most open debauchery is every where an attendant on their religious festivals, and not unfrequently a part of their worship. In most of the Pagan nations of 10 Moral Condition and Prospects of the Heathen. Asia, and in the Islands of the Southern Ocean, human- sacrifices were, till recently, frequently offered, and still continue, except where Christian authority or missionary efforts have abolished them. The character of the modern Heathen in reference to' God is, then, in all essential particulars, the very same with that given by Paul of the Pagans of his time; in the great majority it is even more debased and disgusting than theirs. II. In reference to relative duties, the Apostle says of the ancient Heathen, 1. That they were "without natural affection." Rom. i. 31. In several Pagan nations of antiquity it was not unusual to expose and destroy their nearest friends andr relations, and even their parents, when afflicted with dan- gerous sickness, or rendered decrepit by age. While the murder of infants was very common; was permitted by the laws of several countries, and continued among the Ro- mans at least till the time of Seneca, who died A. D. 65. Modern Paganism exhibits the same trait of character. Among the western Indians, "as persons of either sex approach the state of superannuation, the respect of their family and acquaintance is withdrawn from them; and they are finally regarded as useless burdens upon the com- munity, and subjected to the uncensured pranks and ridi- cule of the young. When the aged become helpless on a march, and the transporting of them is attended with diffi- culty, they are abandoned to their fate " In some of the nations infanticide has been common from time immemo- rial, and, in particular cases, is practised in most of their tribes. Among the idolaters of the East the exhibition of this trait of character is still more revolting. The aged and the sick are very frequently abandoned, and some- times forcibly drowned, even by their own offspring. Wid- ows are often buried alive, and very generally burnt, with the bodies of their deceased husbands; their own sons, if they have any, and if not, their nearest relatives, perform- ing the principal part in this work of unequalled barbarity. The number of widows annually murdered, in this way, in Hindoostan, was, not long since, estimated, by intelligent Europeans resident in that country, at ten thousand. In- fanticide is common all over the East. In the Society Moral Condition and Prospects of the Heathen. 11 Islands, before the introduction of Christianity, the major- ity of infants were destroyed. In India, thousands are annually murdered. And in China, we are told by a Eu- ropean, who resided several years in that populous country, that it was the common opinion that several thousands were murdered, in one year, within the precincts of a single city. How many, then, must we suppose perish annually throughout the empire? These murders are generally per- petrated by the parents themselves. Yes, till English au- thority, within a few years, put an end to the horrid prac- tice, mothers might be seen approaching the banks of the Ganges, and "casting their living offspring amongst a num- ber of alligators, and standing to gaze at these monsters quarrelling for their prey, beholding the writhing infant in the jaws of the successful animal, and 'remaining motion- less while it was breaking its bones and sucking its blood." Truly, they are "without natural affection." 2. The Apostle says of the Heathen of his time, that they were "given up to vile affections," and to the most shameful "uncleanness." Rom. i. 24, 26, 27, 29. The same is true of the Heathen of the present day. Of the savages of the West it is asserted by those well ac- quainted with them, that "all the married females, with very few exceptions, are addicted to illicit amors." "Many husbands will take no cognizance whatever of a breach of conjugal fidelity on the part of the wife." "There is among them a very free use of licentious language." "Sodomy is a crime not uncommonly committed; many of the subjects of it are publicly known, and do not appear to be despised, or to excite disgust." The sacred books of the Hindoos expressly allow adultery in certain cases. The people do not deny their addictedness to this and kindred vices, but justify themselves by the example of their gods. "In open day," says the late Rev. Dr. Ward, "and in the most public streets of a large town, I have seen men, entirely naked, dancing with unblushing effront- ery before the idol, as it was carried in triumphant pro- cession, encouraged by the smiles and eager gaze of the Brahmins. Yet sights, even worse than these, and such as can never be described by a Christian writer, are exhib- ited, on the rivers and in the public roads, at the Doorga festival, which is the most popular and crowded of all the 12 Moral Condition and Prospects of the Heathen. Hindoo festivals in Bengal." "The character of the gods, and the licentiousness which prevails at their festivals and abounds in their popular works, with the enervating na- ture of the climate, have made the Hindoos the most effem- inate and corrupt people on earth. Fidelity to marriage vows is almost unknown among them; the intercourse of the sexes approaches very near to that of the irrational animals." Equally licentious is the character of the Chinese, and of the South Sea Islanders. The modern Heathen, universally, are "given up to vile affections," and addicted to the most shameful "uncleanness." 3. Another characteristic of the ancient Pagans given by Paul is, that they were governed, in their transactions and intercourse with each other, by supreme selfishness; exhibiting itself in the various forms of covetousness, de- ceit, falsehood, dishonesty, and fraud. Rom. i. 29, 31. In modern Pagans the same characteristics are found. Respecting the Indians of the West an unexceptionable witness testifies, "Much intrigue, cunning, and artifice are blended with their policy; and, judging from their usual practice, it is a favorite and well approved maxim with them that 'the end justifies the means.' These at- tributes of character manifest themselves, not only in the well known stratagems they adopt in warfare, but also in the management of their domestic concerns." Falsehood and fraud are extremely common among them; and as to stealing, they even pray that they may be made expert in it, boast of their success in it when recounting their ex- ploits, and expect to be rewarded for it in the future world. "They are generally friends or enemies as they view it for their interest. If, to-day, you give them presents, they are your friends, but if they think they can procure more, and discover any prospect of escaping with impunity, they will, to-morrow, plunder and murder you." Among the idolaters of the East, the experience of our merchants has taught us that deceit, dishonesty, falsehood, and fraud are almost universal. "The Hindoos," says Dr. Ward, "will utter the most abominable falsehoods without a blush: and will commit perjuries so atrocious and disgusting, as to fill those who visit the courts of justice with horror. Their sacred books allow them to steal, even from their own slaves, in case of want, or for the sake of performing Moral Condition and Prospects of the Heathen. 13 a religious ceremony; to lie to preserve the life of a Brah- min, to appease an angry wife, or to please a mistress; and to perjure themselves, if they can only feign a benev- olent motive. Among the people it is a common sentiment that, in secular transactions, lying is absolutely necessary; and perjury is so common, that no reliance whatever can be placed on the testimony of Hindoo witnesses." 4. The Apostle says of the Heathen of his time, that they were unmerciful, malicious, implacable. Rom. i. 29. 30, 31. That the same maybe said, with equal propriety, of the Heathen of the present day, has been already evinced by the statements made in proof of their being "without nat- ural affection." Additional evidence is not wanting. Of Paganism universally, it may be said, with truth, that it has no charities. Throughout Us widely extended domain, not a hospital, or an asylum, rears its head. Almost every where, the sigh of the orphan is unregarded, the tear of the destitute unpitied, the groan of the dying unheeded. In their treatment of strangers, the savages of the West are, indeed, models worthy the imitation of civilized and Christian nations. Still, it is most emphatically true of them, that they are "implacable and unmerciful." Cru- elty and revenge are among the most prominent traits in their character. With the stories of their unparalleled atrocities and barbarous murders, we have been familiar from our childhood. "Their reluctance to forgive an in- jury is proverbial. Injuries are revenged by the injured; and blood for blood is always demanded, if the deceased has friends who dare to retaliate upon the destroyer." So permanent is their desire of revenging an injury or an in- sult, that "it would seem neither time nor circumstance can utterly eradicate it. It is not always extinguished with the life of the offended individual, but sometimes de- scends as an inheritance to his posterity, and quarrels are settled long after the parties immediately concerned have become extinct." Among the idolaters of the East, these malignant passions are equally, and even more, prevalent and pernicious in their influence. Compassion for the dis- tressed is never felt, or if felt, is never exhibited. Those who have ample means of relieving their suffering fellow creatures, "permit them to perish for want at their very 2 14 Moral Condition and Prospects of the Heathen. doors; refusing to administer to their necessities while living, to inter their bodies, to prevent their being de- voured by vultures and jackals, when dead." "The sa- cred books of the Hindoos contain forms of prayer for the destruction of enemies, and prescribe offerings to be pre- sented to the goddess Buyunvuttee that she may be in- duced to assist in the gratification of their revengful passions." Yes, so malignant is their temper, that, when the events of providence cross their wishes, they vent their anger in imprecations on the Very gods who, they suppose, govern the world. '-'When it thunders awfully, respecta- ble Hindoos say. ; Oh, the gods are giving us a bad day;' the lower orders say, 'The rascally gods are dying.' Dur- ing a heavy rain, a woman of respectable cast frequently says, 'Let the gods perish, my clothes are all wet;' a man of low cast says, 'These rascally gods are sending more rain.' " Such are the Heathen of the present day. The partic- ulars I have stated are all derived from the best authori- ties; from the testimony of men whose character for veracity is unimpeachable, and who were eye-witnesses of what they relate. And how manifest is it, from the accounts they have given us, that the several ingredients of character attributed by Paul to the ancient Pagans are equally attributable to the Heathen of this age? But by shewing that these were the characteristics of the heathen of that period, the Apostle affirms that hehad "proved that they were all under sin, and without hope in the world," guilty, condemned, and exposed to eternal death. And whatever the Bible declares concerning any description of character in one age, is true of the same description of character in all ages. The conclusion is irresistible, that the Heathen of this age , are "all under sin, and without hope in the tear Id," guilty, condemned, and exposed to eter- nal death. A truth, in view of which benevolence weeps, and common humanity cannot withhold her tears; but a truth as incontestible, as that the things contained in the Scriptures "were written for our learning," and that Je- hovah "is of one mind and changeth not." And now, in confirmation of the affecting conclusion, let me ask, Are the employments and the joys of heaven perfectly holy? Is it a fixed principle of the divine govern- Moral Condition and Prospects of the Heathen 15 ment that without holiness no man shall see the Lord? Is it true, as the. Scriptures abundantly teach, that no change of moral character takes place in or after death? Is it a fact, as every one's experience testifies, that such is the nature of the human mind, that we cannot be happy in any place unless its employments and society are con- genial with our taste? How evidently impossible, then, is it that men of such a, character as we have seen the mod- ern Heathen are, should be happy in heaven? How man- ifest that, dying with such a character, they must, from the very nature of things, be miserable? And with such a character the great body of 'them do unquestionably die. Is it asked, 'How can this condition and prospects of the Heathen be reconciled with the justice of God? They have never known his character and will, how then can it be right to punish them for their idolatry and vices?' The inspired Apostle to whom we have so often appealed has furnished the answer. The Heathen of his time were rational beings, and might, had they chosen to do so, have "clearly seen the invisible things of God, even his eternal power and Godhead, from the things he hath made." But "they did not like to retain God in their knowledge." Their ignorance of God, from which their idolatry and wickedne. s proceeded, was voluntary. They were there- fore, he snys, "without excuse," and ,the sentence which, he affirms," God has pronounced upon them, was just. So it is witJi ihc Heathen of the present day. They are not condemn! I for not believing on Him of whom they have never h-: .ird, for transgressing laws which tJtey could never have known. They are judged, and condemned, not by light which they have not, but by the light which they have. They too, like the ancient Pagans, are rational beings, and might, if-they chose, "clearly see the invisible things of God, even his eternal power and Godhead, from the things he has made." And they, too, do not "like to re- tain God in their knowledge;" their ignorance of God, whose existence and character they might learn from the light they have, is voluntary. They are, therefore, "with- out excuse," and the sentence which rests upon them is just. If you admit that Paul was correct in saying this of the Heathen of his time, you must admit that 16 Moral Condition and prospects of the Heathen. it is correct to say the same of the Heathen of the present day. They sin voluntarily against the light they have; for that, and for that only, they are condemned. Their condemnation is therefore, most manifestly, just. Is it asked again, 'Do you mean, then, to assert that none who live and die without a knowledge of Christian- ity can be saved? 1 I answer, No. It is possible that there may be some, even in those regions enveloped in the mid- night darkness of Heathenism, so far enlightened by the Spirit of God, as to be sensible of their guilt, and their need of a propitiation for their sins, and to trust in the di- vine mercy to provide such a propitiation, and, for its sake, to forgive and save them. Among the millions of Heathen with whose character modern missionaries have become acquainted, three or four individuals, apparently thus en- lightened, have been found. A few, a very few, others of a similar character may exist, here and there, among the five hundred millions of Pagans now on the earth. These few, if such there are, 'I feel warranted in hoping are saved. But that those who die in the guilt and pollu- tion of Heathenism are lost, the investigation to which we have been attending compels me to believe: it must, it seems to me, compel all to believe who are willing to receive the unequivocal testimony of the Holy Ghost And in the guilt and pollution of Heathenism, the great body of this portion of our race do unquestionably die. And what though it is possible that a very few from among the Heathen may, by an extraordinary interposition, be saved? The same possibility existed in the time of Paul. But what was its influence upon his feelings and conduct in reference to the Gentiles? Did it lessen his compassion for them, or his exertions to extend to them the knowl- edge of Christ? It had no such influence; for he knew that possibilities and extraordinary interpositions were not to be the rule of his judgment and procedure. Nor are they to be the rule of ours. Though it is possible that here and there a solitary individual, from among the hun- dreds of millions dwelling in Pagan lands, may, by an ex- traordinary interposition, be saved; our feelings and con- duct toward the Heathen should be the very same as if no such possibility existed. Such they will be, if we follow the example of Paut, who was a follower of Christ. Moral Condition and Prospects of the Heathen. 17 Behold, then, the condition and the prospects of the Heathen world; of almost three quarters of the human race, your brethren, immortal beings like yourself; sunk in degradatiosi and wretchedness, hastening, as fast as the stream of time can carry them, to an eternity of wo! And do you not pity them? Will you not earnestly pray for them? Are you not resolved henceforth to do all in your power to enlighten and save them? The Gospel of Jesus Christ is a sovereign remedy for all their wretched- ness and wo; a remedy that has never failed. Wherever it has come, men have turned from their idols unto the living God; the cruelties and abominations of Heathenism have fled away; the charities of social life, and the num- berless delights which endear to your heart the thought of family and of home, have diffused their blessings; integrity, industry and beneficence have shed their lustre over the nation's character; souls, immersed in the guilt and pollution of sin, and ripening only for fellowship with the spirits in the prison of never-ending despair, have been transformed into the likeness of the Holy One, cheered on earth by the consolations of his grace, and received to the mansions lie hath prepared, for them that love him, in the skies. It has ever been, it will ever be, "the wisdom of God, and the power of God, unto salva- tion," to a dying world. This remedy, reader, it is in your power to assist efficiently in sending to the perishing nations. Without your exertions, and those of others who, like you, know its efficacy, it will never reach them, and they will "die in their sins;" for the all-wise God ordinarily dispenses spiritual blessings to men only through the instrumentality of men. Are .you, then, a Christian? Does the spirit of benevolence reign in your heart? Have you the feelings of humanity? Deny yourself, and con- tribute liberally, systematically, and perseveringly,to send the Gospel to the perishing Heathen. {The authorities for the statements here made respecting. the ancient Heathen, are those referred to in Part I. of Leland's Advantage and Neces- sity of the Christian Revelation, The statements respecting the modern Heathen are -derived from authors of unquestionable veracity, who have themselves witnessed the abominations they describe. The authorities of this class relied on are; in reference to the North American Indians, James Account of Major Long's Expedition to the Rocky Mountains in 1819 and 18 Moral Condition and Prospects of the Heathen. '20; and Giddings' Exploring Tour, quoted in the Missionary Herald for 1823, p. 128; in reference to the idolaters of Asia and Ihe Islands of the Southern Ocean, A View of the History, Literature aud Religion of the Hindoos, hy the Rev. William Ward, one of the Baptist Missionaries at Serampore; A Sermon on the Idolatry of the Hindoos, delivered Nov, 29, 1816, by Samuel Nott, Jun., late Missionary at Bombay; Journal of Gabriel Tissera, a native preacher in Ceylon, published ia the' Report of the American Board of Missions for 1823; London Missionary Society's Narrative of the Mission to" Otahelte; Farewell Letters of Rev. William Ward: and Leland's Advantage and Necessity of Revelatio'n. Part II.] Extracts from a sermon on the Prospects of the Heathen without the Gospel, by Bennet Tyler, D. D. I will not undertake to decide that none of the heathen are saved. I know that God is able to change the heart of a Pagan, and to communicate to him all that light, in regard to the way of pardon, which is essential to salva- tion. I cannot say but there are such instances. But to suppose that this is a general fact, or a fact which exists to any considerable extent, is inconsistent with the tenor of the Bible, and with the whole history of the heathen world. "The kingdom of God, is a kingdom of means;" and the gospel is ordained as the grand means of bringing sinners to repentance, and preparing them for heaven. After that the world, by wisdom, knew not 'God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching, to save them that believe. God might, if it were his pleasure, sanctify and save all his people, without the instrumentality of any means. And he might also, if he pleased, give us food and raiment without the use of our labor. But such is not the plan, which his wisdom has devised. He might have changed the heart of Henry Obookiah in Hawaii, and made to him a special revelation of the Savior," but this would not have been according to the economy of his providence. No Obookiah, must traverse the oc"ean, and come within the sound of the gospel, in order to be made a vessel of mercy prepared unto glory. In all ordinary cases to all classes and conditions of men, the gospel is manifestly indispensable to their salvation. It is not surprising that those who dissent from these views should take but little interest in the cause of mis- Prospects of the Heathen without the, Gospel. Id sions. If their views are correct, then let us sleep on, like the generations before us; and let the heathen live and die in their blindness, ignorant of Christ, and trusting in their vain superstitions. But if their views are not correct, if, as we have seen, we have reason to believe that the heathen are in a state of sin and condemnation, and are exposed to everlasting perdition; then let us awake to a sense of their condition, and let us consider no labors and no sac- rifices too great, to bring them to a knowledge of that Savior, who came to seek, and to save that which was lost. It iff estimated that there are, at this moment, not less than 600,000,000 of our race, sitting in darkness and in the region and shadow of death. All these, my brethren, are immortal beings, like ourselves. They are descended from the same progenitors are polluted with the same depravity, and are hastening to the same eternity. Each of them has a soul infinitely more valuable than ten thou- sand worlds. And how are they to be saved? To whom shall they look for mercy, but to a crucified Savior? But hoto shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? It is amazing, that the Christian world have so long slum- bered over the state of the heathen. Eighteen hundred years have elapsed, since our Lord gave the command, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. Since this command was given, sixty genera- tions of the heathen have gone down to the grave, and even now, but a small part of the world is evangelized. Do you ask, why this has been permitted in the Provi- dence of God? The question admits of the same answer with numberless others. You might ask, Why God per- mits thousands who hear the gospel, to reject it and perish? You might indeed ask, why God permits sin and misery to exist at all? And the true answer to all questions of 'this sort, is, Even so Father, for so it hath seemed good in thy sight. But if you inquire for the criminal cause, why the heathen have not been evangel- ized, it will be found in the apathy and inexcusable neglect of those who enjoy the gospel. The apostles did what they could, to publish the gospel to every creature; and had those who came after them, prosecuted ~ the object with the same diligence and zeal, the world would long since have been evangelized. To the shame of the 20 Prospects of the Heathen without the Gospel Christian world, whole centuries have elapsed while this great object has been forgotten. But blessed be God, a new era has commenced. The Christian world are wak- ing from the sleep of ages, and are beginning to exhibit some of that spirit which characterized the apostolic age. They are beginning to feel a deep interest in the welfare of those who are perishing for lack of vision; and to make efforts for their salvation. Missionary Societies have been established in this country and in Europe; and not a few have offered themselves to the Missionary service, and have bidden farewell to their country and kindred, that they might preach Christ, where he has not been named. Numbers more, are ready to go, so soon as adequate means shall be obtained for their support. How shall they preach except they be sent? Who shall transport them to the distant heathen, and support them there, if those who enjoy the gospel, and who are blest with abundance of this world's goods, refuse their aid? Who of us is not emulous to have a part in this noble enterprize? Who of us can wish to stand idle in such a day as this, and look with cold indifference on the perishing millions of our race? Do we esteem the gospel a blessing, or do we consider it a curse? Should we be willing to exchange places with the heathen, or to be sent back to that state of darkness, in which the gospel found our ancestors? If so, let us burn our Bibles and demolish our sanctuaries. Let us send into exile the ministers of religion, and abolish our schools. Let us sweep away those Christian institutions in which our fathers gloried, and which they deemed the richest legacy which they could leave to their children. Let us set our carpenters, and our mas,ons, and our smiths to work, to make us gods of wood, and of stone, and of iron. Let us fall down before our senseless idols, and cause our children to pass through the fire unto Moloch. Let us erect our swinging posts, and our funeral piles, and burn our widows with the dead bodies of their husbands. Let us degrade the female sex to the condition of slaves, and wallow in all the pollutions of the heathen world. But if we are not willing to return to this state of b,ar- barism if we prize the gospel as an invaluable blessing, let us think of those who have it not; and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye even so to them. MISSIONARY PAPER, NO. VIII. MISSIONARY BIOGRAPHY. IT is the design of this Paper to give a Bio- graphical Sketch of ASAAD ESH SHIDIAK,- a convert to the Protestant faith in Syria, writ- ten chiefly by himself, and by his friend and patron the Rev. Isaac Bird, missionary to that country. BRIEF MEMOIR OF ASAAD ESH SHIDIAK; AN ARAB YOUNG MAN, OF THE MARONITE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. -.. . % SECTION I. Birthplace, family, education, and employment oi Asaad he is dismissed from the service of the Maronite patriarch employed by Mr. King attempts to an- swer Mr. K.'s Farewell Letter perceives errors in the Roman Catholic church is commanded by the patriarch to leave the missionaries and obeys returns to Mr. Bird progress of his opinions. ASAAD ESH SHIDIAK was born in the district north of Beyroot, called Kesruan, where, and at Hadet, a small village five miles southeast of Beyroot, his family have ever since lived.* This family now consists of the widow- ed mother, five sons, (of whom Asaad is the third,) and two or three daughters. At about the age of lt>, he enter- ed the college of Ain Warka, and spent a year and a half in studying grammar (Arabic and Syriac,) logic, and the- ology. After this he passed two years teaching theology to the monks of a convent near Hadet. * Mr. King thinks Asaad must have been, in 1827, about thirty year* of age. Of course he was born about the year 1797. 2 Memoir of Asaad EsTi Shidiak. He was also, for a considerable time, scribe to the bishop of Beyroot, and also to the patriarch, the latter of whom was a teacher in the college when Asaad was a student. During a rebellion, headed by the shekh Beshir, a mere complimentary letter of Asaad's written to one of the dis- affected party being intercepted, and shown to the emeer Beshir, his suspicion was excited, and he wrote immediate- ly to the patriarch, in whose employ Asaad then was, to dismiss him from his service. The letter of Asaad was produced, and though it was seen to contain nothing ex- ceptionable, the patriarch thought proper to dismiss him without ceremony. The dispensations of Providence often seem afflictive when they happen, and most benevolent afterwards when their design is perceived. So it was in the case of Asaad. Being thus cast out upon the world by those who ought to have befriended him, he applied to Mr. King for employ- ment as his instructer in Syriac, and was accepted. Though a young man, Mr. King pronounced him to be one of the most intelligent natives whom he had met with on Mount Lebanon. "At that time," Asaad says, in a statement he drew up of his reasons for leaving the Romish communion, '*! was very fond of engaging with Mr. King in disputatious conversations, to prove him to be in error; but with none but worldly motives, to display my talents and knowledge and acquire .the praise of men. After this, I applied my- self to reading of the word of God with intense interest. Now this person wrote a Farewell Letter to his friends, in which he excuses himself from uniting with the Roman Catholic church. After reading this letter, I found in the holy Scriptures many passages which made against the opinions of the writer. These passages I selected, and from them and other evidences composed a reply to him. But when I was copying the first rough draught of the same, and had arrived to the last of the objections, which he said prevented his becoming a member of the Roman Catholic church, viz. that the Roman Catholic church teaches, that it is wrong for the common people to possess or to read the word of God, but that they ought to learn from the popes and councils, I observed the wri;er brings a proof against the doctrine from the prophet Isaiah, viz. Memoir of Asaad Esh ShidiaZ. 3 'To the law and to the testimony, if they speak not ac- cording to my word,, it is because there is no light in them.' "While I was endeavoring to explain this passage ac- cording. to the views of the Roman Catholic church, with no other object than the praise of men and other worldly motives, I chanced to read the 29th chapter of Isaiah, from the 15th verse to the end. I read, and was afraid. 1 meditated upon the chapter a long while, and feared that I was doing what I did with a motive far different from the only proper one, viz. the glory and the pleasure of God. I. therefore threw by my paper without finishing the copy, and applied myself diligently to the reading of the proph- ecy of Isaiah. I had wished to find in the prophets plain proofs, by which to establish, beyond contradiction, that Jesus Christ is the Messiah so long expected from ancient days; proofs that might be made use of in ansvver to Mos- lems and Jews. While I was thus searching, I found va- rious passages that would bear an explanation according; to my views, but did not find them sufficient to enforce conviction on others, until I finally came to the 52d chap- ter 14 verse, and onward to the end of the next chapter. "On finding this testimony, my heart rejoiced and was exceeding glad, for it removed many dark doubts from my own mind also. From that time, my desire to read the New Testament, that I might discover the best means of acting according to the doctrines of Jesus, was greatly in- creased. I endeavored to divest myself of all selfish bias, and loved more and more to inquire into religious subjects. I saw, and continue to see, many of the doctrines of the Roman Catholic church^ which I co.uld not. believe, and which I found opposed to the truths of the Gospel; and I wished much to find some of her best teachers to explain them to me, that I might see how they proved them from the holy Scriptures. As I was reading an appendix to a copy of the sacred Scriptures, printed at Rome by the Pro- paganda, arvd searching out the passages referred to, for proving the duty of worshipping saints and other similar doctrines, I found that these proofs failed altogether of es- tablishing the points in question, and that to infer such doctrines from such premises was even worthy of ridicule. Among other things, in this appendix, I found the very horrible Neronian doctrine, that it is our duty to destroy 4 Memoir of Asaad EsJi Shidiak, heretics. Now every one knows, that whoever does not be- lieve that the pope is infallible, is a heretic in his opinions. "This doctrine is not merely that it is allowable to kill heretics, but that we are bound to do it. From this I was the more established in my convictions against the doc- trines of the pope, and saw that they were the doctrines of the ravenous beast, and not of the gentle lamb. After I had read this, I asked one of the priests in Beyroot re- specting this doctrine, and he assured me, that it was even so as I had read. I then wished to go to some place, though it might be a distant country, that I might find some man of the Roman Catholic church sufficiently learned to prove the doctrine above alluded to. "After this, as I was at Beyroot teaching a few Greek youths the Arabic grammar, I received a letter from his holiness the Maronite patriarch, saying, that if I did not cease from all assistance whatever to the English, and that if I did not leave them within one day, I should, ipso facto, Tali under ihe heaviest excommunication. "Thinking, as I did, that' obeying my superiors in all things not sinful, was well and good, I did not delay to leave, and so went to my friends at Hadet; but still think- ing very much on the subject of religion, so that some peo- ple thought me melancholy. I loved exceedingly to con- verse on religious subjects; indeed I took no pleasure in any worldly concerns, and found all worldly possessions vain. After this I received a second letter from his holi- ness the patriarch, in which he said thus; 'After we had written you the first letter, we wrote you a second; see that you act according to it. And if you fulfil all that was commanded in it, and come up to us when we come to Kesruan, we will provide you a situation.' But I saw that nothing, in which 1 was accustomed to take delight, pleas- ed me any longer. I returned again, after some time, to Beyroot." Asaad went home on the loth of November, 1825, and returned on the 12th of December, risking whatever oblo- quy and violence might come upon him. For his greater security, a written protection from the English consul was procured for him, which ensured to him, while in the im- mediate employment of Mr. Bird, all the safety and liberty of an English resident. He was Mr. Bird's instructer in Arabic. Memoir of Asaad Esh Shidiak. 5 About the close of the year 1825, Asaad became satis- fied with the proofs that the books of the Apocrypha* were not given by inspiration of God, and employed himself in searching the Scriptures with such an intensity of interest, as to leave him neither time nor relish for any thing else. In January 1826, Messrs. Bird and Goodell questioned Asaad closely with regard to the state of his heart, and were rather disappointed at the readiness with which he replied, that he thought he was born again. They could hardly believe that he had yet, even speculatively , very clear notions of the nature of regeneration. In the evening of the same day, an acquaintance of his, who had expressed great friendship to him, and pretended to lament very much that the patriarch and priests had so much sway, came to give Asaad a last serious admonition. "This," said he, "is the last time I intend ever to say a word to you on the subject of religion. I wish, therefore, before you go any farther, th?t you would pause, and think whether you can meet all the reproach of the world, and all the opposition of the patriarch and priests." Asaad replied, that he had made up his mind to meet all these things. "And now," said he, "if as you say, you intend never to hold any more conversation with me on the subject of religion, I have one request to make of you, and that is, that you will go and make the subject of religion a matter of serious prayer and inquiry, and see where the path of life is; 1 then leave you with your conscience and with God." After relating the substance of this conversation, Asaad remarked, that these people reminded him of the late pa- triarch such an one, who had a moderate share of under- standing, but was ambitious to appear very well. This patriarch had a bishop, who was really an acute and learn- ed man, and whose opinions were always received with the greatest deference on all matters relative to religion? The bishop being; on a visit one day at the patriarch's, the lat- ter called him to his presence, and proposed to him the interpretation of a passage of Scripture. The bishop gave the explanation according to the best of his judgment. * The papists reoeire these book* ew of o(jual divino authority with the can- onical books of tho UM Testament. *1 6 Memoir of Asaad Esh Shidiafc. "No," said his holiness, "that is not the meaning of the 1 passage;" and proposed to have a second. When the bishop had given his opinions and reasons, the patriarch answered as before, "That is not the meaning of the pas- sage." In a third and fourth case the bishop was equally unfortunate, all his arguments being swept away by the single sage remark of his holiness, "That is not the mean- ing of the passage." At last the bishop, in a fit of dis- couragement, said, "Your holiness has put me upon the solution of a number of questions, in all which, it seems, I have been- wrong. I would now thank your holiness to tell me what is right." The patriarch being startled at the new ground he was on, changed the conversation. "So," said Asaad, "these people can all tell me I am mistaken; but when I ask them what is right, they are silent." Asaad often remarked, that he was full of anxiety, and found no rest for the sole of his foot. In many things he saw the Romish church to be wrong, and in some things he thought the missionaries so. Their apparent tranquillity of mind, was a matter of surprise to him. "I seem," he said, "to be alone among men. There is nobody like me, and I please nobody. I am not quite in harmony with the English in my views, and therefore do not please them. My own countrymen are in so much error, I cannot please them. God I have no reason to think I please; nor do I please myself. , What shall I do?" Asaad observed, that whatever might be said, and whatever might be true, of the object of the missionaries in coming to the country, he saw that the doctrines they taught were according to truth, and he was more than ever determined to hold to them. He wished to have another interview with the patriarch, that he may fell him his whole heart, and see what he would say. The patriarch was not, he said, of a bad dis- position by nature, and perhaps if he could be persuaded that he (Asaad) was neither acting from revenge nor from love of money, but simply from a conviction of the truth, he would be softened in his feelings, and something might be done with him for the benefit of religion. He desired among other things, to propose, that an edition of the New Testament should be printed under the patriarch's inspection at Shooair, the expense of which (if he chose,) Memoir of Asaad Esh Shidiak. 7 should be borne by the English. This he actually pro- posed, but the patriarch would not listen to the proposal a moment. SECTION II. A regular excommunication against Asaad was daily expected from the patriarch; but instead of that, on the 6th of January Nicholas, a priest and also a brother to the patriarch, arrived with a request from the latter to come to him, and a promise of a situation in some office in case of his compliance. Asaad's account of this event is as follows. "Priest Nicholas began to converse with me in the way of reprimand, for being in connection with the Eng- lish. I replied that, as we ought not to deny the unity of God because Mussulmans believe it, so we ought not to hate the gospel because the English love it: He then began to tell me of the wish of his holiness the patriarch, that I should come out to him, and of his great love to me; and said that he (the patriarch) had heard, that I had received thirty or forty purses of money from the Eng- lish; and he assured me of their readiness not to suffer this to be any hindrance to my coming out from them. "He then gave me a paper from his holiness the patri- arch, in which he says, -'You will have received from us an answer, requesting that when we come to Alma you wiH come up and see us. We expect your presence, and if God please, we shall provide you some proper situation with an income that shall be sufficient for your sustenance. Delay not your coming, lest the present happy opportunity should pass by.' Knowing, as I did, that many peopla supposed my object in continuing with the English, to b gain, I did not delay fulfilling the request of his reverence, hoping to remove this suspicion, and to enjoy an opportu- nity of speaking the truth without being hired to do it." 8 Memoir of Asaad Esh ShidiaL When his missionary friends were informed of what had occurred between this priest and Asaad, and of Asaad's intention to go and see the patriarch, they expressed their fears that he would be ill treated; but he did not antici- pate it. He said, he had known an instance of a vile infidel and blasphemer, who was simply excommunicated, and that it was not the custom of the Maronites to kill, as was suggested, on account of religion. They assured him, that he had not yet learned how much men hate the truth, and that his church would not feel herself half as much in dan- ger from an open blasphemer, as from an active lover of the gospel. But he was so confident that good would re- sult from such a visit, that they ceased from urging their objections, and commended him to the will of God. Asaad now continues his own history. "About the 7th of January, I left Beyroot with priest Nicholas, and arrived at Der Alma the same night. His holiness the patriarch was not there. On the next day, when he came, I met him and saluted him in the road. In the evening he called me into his chamber, and began to ask me questions, that he might discover what I was; and I answered him, telling him the whole truth, although this course was opposed to rny personal convenience. At this he seemed surprised, for he must have perceived, that it was contrary to what he had been accustomed to see in me. Afterwards, when I declared to him that I never had before been a believer, according to the true living faith, he was probably still more astonished. He then asked me, if I believed as the Romish church believed. I again told him the truth, that I did not. He asked me then what was my faith, and I answered to the following purport: 'True and living faith rnus* be divine, connected with hope, love, and repentance, and that all these virtues are the gift of God, &c.; that I believed the truth as God had inspired it; and that it would be but a lie, if I should gay that I believed as the Romish church does, when in fact I do not. I must have proofs.' "After some conversation like this, he told me that this doctrine of mine was heretical, and that as long as I re- mained in this state of opinion, he would suffer no one to have intercourse with me in buying, and selling, &c. This prohibition of his brought to my mind the words in the Memoir of Asaad Esh Shidiak. 9 Revelation, xiii. 17.* Then he, gave me to understand, that if, after three days, I did not get back out of this state, I must no more enter the church. At other times he wished me to swear by the eucharist, and by the gospel, that my faith was like the faith of the Roman Catholic church. He asked me if I was a Bible-man; I replied, 'I do follow the opinions of the Bible-men; but if you think me a Bible-man on account of the opinions I have advanced, very well.' "The sum of what I said was, that without evidence I could not believe what the Romish church believes. From that time, after three days, I did not enter the church for a space. Some time passed again, and the patriarch in- quired of me my faith. I then explained to him what I believed respecting the unity and trinity of God, and that the Messiah was one person with two natures, and that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. Then arose a disputation about who is the vicar that Christ has appointed to explain his law. I answered in substance, as I afterwards did in writing, 'that by reason, and learning, and prayer to God, with purity of motive, we may know, from the holy Scriptures, every thing necessary to our salvation.' This was the purport of my reply, which perhaps was not expressed with sufficient clearness, or perhaps I was not able to say it in the manner that was appropriate; for such a tumult and storm was excited in the company, that they seemed tome to be intent on over- coming me by dint of vociferation, rather than by argu- ment, and to drown my voice, rather than to understand my opinions. "When, after some days, came bishop Abdalla Blabul and padre Bernardus of Gzir, the patriarch one day called me to them in his chamber, and asked me what I wished, whether money, or office, or whatever it might be, prom- ising to gratify me, speaking of his love to me, and of his great interest in my welfare. These prefessions I knew to be sincere, but they are according to the world, and not according to the gospel. I assured him that I wanted nothing of the things he had mentioned, that I was sub- *"He causeth all. .....to receire a mark," &c. "and no man mieht buy or sell, tare ho that had the mark or the name of the beast." The patriarch was atao clothed in scarlet, like the woman on the scarlet colored beast. 10 Memoir of Asaad Esh Shidiak. missive and obedient to him; and that if he thought of mtf that I had taken money of the English, he was welcome to shut me up in my chamber as in a prison, and take from me every thing that I possessed; that I wished from them merely my necessary food and clothing, and that I would give them this assurance in writing. The bishop and priest then begged me in presence of the patriarch, to say that my faith was like that of the Romish church. I replied, that I feared to tell a falsehood, by saying a thing, while actually, in my reason, I did not believe it. " 'But,' said they, 'the patriarch here will absolve you from the sin of the falsehood.' I turned to the patriarch, and put the question, whether he would so absolve me. He answered, that he would. I said, 'What the law of na- ture itself condemns, is out of the power of any man to make lawful.' He then again asked me what 1 wished to do. I said I wished to go and see the Armenian patriarch Gregory, and inquire of him what I ought to do. He con? sented, and requested me, when I had done this, to return to him, to which I agreed. I was accompanied by a priest from the station of the patriarch, to the college of Ain Warka, where I found priest Joseph Shaheen, with whom I conversed a considerable time, and with great pleasure; for I found that for himself, he did not believe that the pope was infallible in matters of faith, that is to say, unless in concert with the congregated church. I then began to confess to him: but when I saw that he held steadfastly some opinions for no other reason than that the church so believed, and that without bringing any proper evidence of the fact, viz. from councils or from the fathers, and burst out upon me with exceeding bitter words, saying, 'Know that the church neither deceives, nor is deceived, and be quiet;' and when I wished him to instruct me according to the word of God, with the simple object of glorifying God, and fulfilling his will, I saw that he was not disposed to support any opinion, because it was according to the word of God, but because so thought the church; and I saw him also ready to retain these opinions, although I should bring the strongest evidences against them from the holj Scriptures. He told me that it was impossible for him to teach any thing contrary to the Council of Trent. So 1 found I could not receive his system, because, though you Memoir of Asaad Esh Shidiak. 11 should show him that it was wrong, he would not give it up, lest with it he should be obliged to give up his office. I therefore told him, 'You are bound, i. e. shut up as be- tween walls, by the doctrines of the pope and the Council of Trent.' "In conversation on the images, he would have proved their propriety from Baronius's church history. We found this author quoting the sacred Scriptures to prove that our Savior sent a picture of himself to the king of Abgara. I declared that it was false, in so far as he stated that the Gospel, made any such statement, and on that account I could not believe the story. To this he gave me no an- swer. After this, as we were reading this book, and found a statement respecting the bishops collected in Constanti- nople, to the number of 313; that they decreed the abo- lition of the use of images, because it was idolatrous, and that in the clearest terms, 1 asked him the question, 'If an assembly composed of the bishops of the .church w,ere infallible, how is it that this council is said to have com- mitted an error." "About this time, I heard that a certain individual wished to converse with me on the subject of religion, which rejoiced me exceedingly, and I was impatient for an interview. He came on A Sabbath day to Ain Warka, for the study of Arabic grammar, according to his custom, and we had a short conversation together on works unlaw- ful on the Sabbath day, and other subjects. He then ex- cused himself from further conversation for want of time; but promised that when we should meet again, he hoped to have a sufficient opportunity to dwell on these subjects at large. I continued at Ain Warka the whole week, read- ing with the rest at prayers, and confessing to priest Jo- seph above mentioned; and on the next Lord's day, the Armenian priest aforesaid came again and I fully expect- ed to have time and opportunity to ascertain his opinions: but I was disappointed again; for he wished to have the dispute carried on in writing, and to have an assistant with him, with other conditions. "In these circumstances I failed of my object; but was on the whole more inclined than before to receive the doc- trines of the Romish church; since the priest had promised to bring his evidence, on all points, from the word of God, 12 Memoir of Asaad Esh Shidiak. that they (the papists) were walking in light, and not in darkness. "At this time one informed me, that his holiness, bishop Jacob, superior of the convent of Bzumar, wished to see me. And because priest Joseph at first told me that this state into which I had fallen, was a temptation of Satan, and at one time shewed me that it was usual for people, when they carne to the age of manhood, to be tempted on the subject of their religion, 'and, at another, assured me that this was a state of delirium: and again, because, 1 had heard formerly, that this bishop Jacob had himself been delirious, and that he was a man of information, I wished very much to see him; and on the same day I went to priest Joseph and declared to him plainly my opinions, and shewed him that the beast mentioned in the Revela- tion was a figure, as the lamb evidently was, and how dreadful must be the torments of those who worship the image of the beast. I then disclosed to him my intention of going up to the convent of Bzumar, where were the patriarch Gregory, bishop Jacob, and the Armenian priest already mentioned. I set off the same day, and on my arrival saluted the patriarch, and on the same night reason- ed on the subjects of faith, hope, and love. It appeared that the patriarch's opinion was; that a man may be pos- sessed of living faith, faith unto salvation, although he should feel nothing in his heart. I answered him with a quotation from St. Paul; 'With the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.' But this did not convince him. He explain- ed the heart to mean the will. It then appeared to me that he was not a true believer; and from that time forward I could not believe him, as I would believe a real Christian; but I wished to hear his worldly arguments. On the fol- lowing day, I asked him how it can be said, that the pope was infallible, if there were no proofs of the fact to be brought. I asked him if this pretension of the pope was that of an apostle, or a prophet? If an apostle, or a proph- et, he could not be believed without miracles, and that we Christians were not to believe any one, though he were to bring down fire from heaven.* His replies to me were * See Rev. xlii, 13. Memoir of Asaad Esh Shidiak. 13 weak, and after considerable conversation on what is the church of Christ, on the ignorance that is pardonable, etc. he began to prove, that if the pope is not infallible, then there is no religion, no gospel, and even no God. But I observed all his proofs so weak, that I could not be con- vinced, and I fell into deep perplexity as to what I should do. For, sometimes 1 greatly endeavored to submit my judgment to his rules and opinions, and made these efforts until my very head would ache. The next day I asked him what was that great city, ruling over the kings of the earth, mentioned in the Revelation xvii. 18. After he had brought his book of commentaries, he answered that it was Rome, which is also called spiritual Babylon, or Babel; and after wishing me to yield to his opinion, or that of the book, he said nothing more. "From this time I was with the patriarch etfery day for three or four hours, and his best advice to me was, to pray to St. Antony of Padua, together with one repetition of the Lord's prayer, and one of Hail Mary, &c. every day for three days. When I was thus in doubt from the weakness of their proofs, one of the monks said to me, 'If you wish to know good tobacco, ask the patriarch.' I hoped that this priest would explain to me those doctrines of the Romish church, which I could not believe; so I went into his chamber and questioned him very particular- ly on all points. He expressed his wish that we might discuss together all the points o'ne by one, but on condition that the patriarch Joseph should appoint him to do so. He told me he had in his possession a book refuting the opin- ions of Luther and Calvin. I begged permission to read it; but he refused, telling me that the doctrines of the church all remained unrefuted. He wished me to go down to the patriarch Joseph on this business. So after a stay of four days from my arrival, I departed for Ain Warka, ac- cording to my promise to priest Joseph. "Here I found one of my friends, of whom I had heard that he had been very/ much astonished at my connection with the Bible-men. After I had seen him and had con- versed a little on some points, he would no longer hear me, fearing among other things lest he should be crazed. When we touched on the subject of the great city above mentioned, he told me that he had seen a book of commentaries on the 2 14 Memoir of Asaad Esh Shidiak. Revelation, which made the city clearly to be Rome. At this I wondered greatly, since the meaning was so clear that not even the teachers of the Romish church herself could deny it. I then finished my confession to priest Joseph Shaheen, and about sunset, the same day, went down to the patriarch to the convent Alrna. "fle requested me again to write a paper, stating that my faith was according to the faith of the Romish church. From this I excused myself, begging that such a thing might not be required of me, for the Council of Trent had added nothing to the rule of faith, which was established by that of Nice, which begins, 'I believe in one God,' &,c. A short space after, I gave him my advice, with modest arguments and mild suggestions, on his daty to cause the gospel to be preached in the church among the Maronite people, and .offered him the opinion, that this should be done by the priest in the vulgar language, every Sabbath day, for the space ofone or two hours; and if this should appear too burthensome to the people, to take off from them some of the feast days. After this, I remained silent in my chamber, near to his own; and as there came to me a few of the deacons of the patriarch and others, I read to them, at their request, in the New Testament printed in Rome. But in a little time after, I entered my room and found in it none of all the books that had been there, neither New Testament nor any other; and I knew that the pa- triarch had given the order for this purpose, for he reprov- ed me for reading the gospel to them, but he could accuse me of no false or erroneous explanations, or that I taught them any thing heretical. "One day after this, he called me to his presence, and began to threaten me in a most unusual manner. I said 'What do you wish of me, your reverence? What have I done, and what would you have me do? What is my sin, except that I conversed with some individuals, shewing them the errors of the church of Rome?' Then he request- ed me again to say, that I believed as did that church, and said, grasping me firmly by the chin, ''See how I will take you if you do not repent." I begged him to appoint .some one to shew me the truth, by way of discussion, but he would not, and continued expressing his own sentiment, that we are bound to hold fast to the church, even to suchl Memoir of Asaad Esh Shidiak. 15 a length that if she should even reject the gospel, we should reject it too. "And here I wish to say a word to every reader that regards and loves the truth, How does such doctrine appear to you? and how could 1 believe in all which the Romish church holds, without knowing all of it? and how could I feay, without a lie, that I believe, when I do not believe? "When 1 saw the patriarch breaking out in an exceed- ing loud and unusual voice, I was afraid that I should be found among 'the fearful,' (Rev. xxi 8,) and rose to de- part. When I reached the door, I turned and said to him, '1 will hold fast the religion of Jesus Christ, and I am ready, for the sake of it to shed my blood; and though you should all become infidels, yet will not I,' and so left the room." SECTION HI. Letters to Mr. Bird Asaad is forcibly detained occasions of wonder the bishop of Reyroot written discussion with the patriarch and bishop Asaad again pro- poses' that the gospel be prertched in the churches discussion respecting ths eurharist lie escapes and returns to Beytoot sensation at the convent nobla resolution of Asaad. Two days after Asaad had arrived at the convent of Alma, he wrote to Mr. Bird in the manner following. "I pray God the Father, and his only Son Jesus Christ our Lord, that he would establish me in his love, that I may never exchange it for any created thing that neither death, nor life, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor riches, nor honor, nor dignity, nor office, nor any other thing in creation may separate me from-this love." On the 22d of February, Messrs. Bird a,nd Goodell, fearing for the safety of Asaad, sent a messenger to as- certain his state. The next morning this messenger ar- rived at Der-Alma, and chanced to find Asaad alone. After a short conversation, in which they were providentially not interrupted, Asaad handed him a brief and hasty letter to Mr. Bird, in which he says; "I find myself reduced to quite an extremity. One or more of three things are be- fore me; either to be thought mad, or to commit sin, or to offer up my life. I call upon God for deliverance." 16 Memoir of Asaad Esh Shidiak. The emeer of that district had threatened to send him to Bteddeen to be imprisoned. Asaad replied, that he was ready to go to prison and to death. He was engaged in daily disputations with the patriarch and others. His countenance was said to wear a shade of melancholy, and his eyes to be red with weeping. When it was proposed by the messenger to interfere with English authority for his rescue, Asaad said such a course might exasperate his enemies, and cost him his life: it would be better to wait a while, and leave it for Provi- dence to open a way for his escape. We now resume the statement of Asaad. "One of my friends told me, that he had suggested to the patriarch the grand reason why I did not believe in the pope, which was, that among other doctrines of his he taught that he could not commit an error, and that now, though a pope shoirld see any one of his predecessors had erred, he could not say this, for fear that he also should appear to be an unbeliever. This friend also told me, that the patriarch wondered how I should pretend that I held to the Christian religion, and still converse in such abusive terms against it; and / also wondered that after he saw this, he should not be willing so much as to ask me, in mildness, self-possession, and forbearance_/or what reasons I was unwilling to receive the doctrines of the pope, or be- lieve as he did; but he would not consent that the above Armenian priest should hold a discuss-ion with me, and more than this, laid every person, and even his awn broth- er, under excommunication, if he should presume to dis- pute or converse with me, on the subject of religion. "Under this prohibition from conversation, and this be- reavement of books, from what quarter could I . get the necessary evidence to believe in. their opinion? "Another cause I had of .wonder, which was, that not one of all with whom I conversed, after he saw. me to be heretical and declining from the -truth, thought proper to advise me to use the only means of becoming strong in the faith, viz. prayer to God the Most High, and searching his holy word which a child may understand. I wondered, too, that they should ridicule me, and report me abroad as one mad; and after all this, be so fearful to engage in a dis- pute with a madman, lest he should vanquish them in Memoir of Asaad Esh Shidiak. 17 argument, or spoil their understandings, or turn them away from the Jruth. "After some time came the bishop of Beyroot. I gave him the usual salutation, and was greatly rejoiced to see him, as 1 knew the excellency of his understanding, and his quickness of apprehension, and hoped that, after some discussion between us, he would explain the truth, and that he would rest on clear evidence to support his views. But in this case, also, I was disappointed; for one day, when I asked him a question, and during the whole short conversation which followed, whenever I began to bring evidence against him, he was angry, and finally drove me from my chamber in a fury, and that for no other cause, as he pretended, than that he did not wish to converse with a heretic. "Some time after this, priest Joseph Shaheen came down to the convent of Alma, and I endeavored to get him to unite with me in persuading the patriarch to send out among the people preachers of the gospel, or that there should be preaching in the churches as before mentioned. But he would not co-operate with me in this, and I was again disappointed. "Then, when the patriarch and the bishop of Beyroot wished to dispute with me, I expressed a hope that the discussion might be in meekness and without anger. It was concluded that the discussion should be in writing, that no one should afterwards be able to alter what he had once said. They then commenced by asking me questions. The first question was, in amount this, 'Has the Messiah given us a new law?' At first I did not grant that he had, strictly speaking, given us a new law, and quoted the words of John, that 'the law was given by Moses but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ;* but when I after- wards saw that by 'a new law' they meant merely the gos- pel, or the New Testament, I answered in the' affirmative. They then asked me if there were not to be found in this new law some obscurities. I answered, 'Yes.' 'They then asked me, 'Suppose any difference of sentiment should arise between the teachers of Christianity, how are we to distinguish the truth from the error?' I answered, thus; 'We have no other means of arriving at the truth, than searching the word of God, with learning and reason, and 2* 18 Memoir of Asaad Esh Shidiak. inquiry of learned spiritual teachers, with purity of motive, and with disinterestedness of inclination. If the obscuri- ties of the word of God cannot be understood by these means, our ignorance is excusable and will not prevent our salvation. If the passages which still remain obscure con- cern faith, it is sufficient for a man to say, I believe ac- cording as the truth is in itself before God, or I believe in the thing as God inspired it to the writer. And if the obscurity respects our practice, after making use of the means above mentioned, if that branch of our practice be forbidden, or under a doubt, desist from it, but if it is not forbidden, do it, and blessed is he that condemneth not him- self in the thing which he alloweth. "After I had given them this answer, they brought no evidence to prove any error in it; and moreover afterwards never put me any question jn writing. "Once, as I was walking with the bishop of Beyroot, he began to tell me how much they all felt for me; and how uuwilling'they should be to put me in chains to die a lingering death; and that were it not for their sympathy and their love towards me, there were people who had con- versed with them, who were ready to take my life. Some further conversation passed, and I began to introduce the subject of religion, and to ask how we could believe in the pope, that he was is fallible. He quoted for proof the words of our Savior, Thou art Peter, etc. I asked him if it was proper to suppose that all things bestowed on Peter were also given to the pope? If so, why does not the pope speak with tongues, and why is he not secure from the evil effects of poison, etc.? He answered that these last things were not necessary. 'But how do you prove it ne- cessary,' said I, 'that the pope should not err? Is it not sufficient if any one has doubts, to ask his teacher who is not infallible? If you say yes, then the opinion of a fallible man will answer. But if you say no, and that we must go to the pope, what must become of the man who dies before the answer of the pope can reach him?' He then resorted to another mode of^ proof, saying, 'Is it not desirable that the pope should be infallible?' < I assured him I wished he might be so. 'Well, is not God able to render him so?' 'Yes, He is able to do all things.' He wished to infer his point from these two premises. But I said, your reason- Memoir of Asaad Esh Shidiak. 19 ing with regard to the pope may be applied to all the bish- ops of the church; for it is desirable that they should all be infallible, and God is able to make them so.' He said, 'No, for the bishops feeling less their need of the pope, would not look to him or submit to him as their head, and thus there would be divisions and contentions in the church.' 'But why,' said I, 'did not divisions and con- tentions arise among the apostles'? Were they not all in- fallible, as well as Peter?' He would not admit they were infallible. I told him it was an opinion that could not be believed, that the pope was infallible and the apostles not: for it is weJl known to all, that the Holy Ghost descended on the apostles in a peculiar manner. I asked him again, how it could be made to appear that divisions would be produced if all bishops were infallible; for if they were all of one opinion, as they of course would be,4heir union must be the more perfect.' We conversed farther atsdtone length, when he concluded by saying, 'You are possessed of a devil.' "The next day,as the patriarch and the bishop of Bey- root were seated under a tree without the convent, I went out to them, and said, 'Your holiness sent for me to come hither for' employment, and I came, and have remained here a considerable time. What do you wish me to do for you, for I cannot remain here in idleness?' He said, 'What do you wish to do?' 'If your holiness pleases that I teach in the school of Ain Warka, I will do that.' 'No, I cannot have you go to Ain Warka to corrupt the minds of those who are studying science, and to contradict my opinions.' 'But I will instruct in grammar.' 'No, the youths of the College are BOW attending to moral 'science.' 'Well, I only beg you will let me know what I am to do; and if you have no employment for me, I wish to return home.' The bishop here broke in upon the conversation, saying, 'I will not suffer you to go back among my flock to deceive them, and turn them away to heresy.' Will you then debar me,' said I, 'from my home? If so let me know where I shall go, and what I shall do.' The bishop then said to the patriarch, 'Indeed, I will not suffer this man to go abroad among my people, for he is even attempting to make heretics of us also.' 'Yes,' replied the patriarch, it will not do after this, to afford him a residence in any part 20 Memoir of Asaad Esh Shidiak. of the land.' The bishop then turned to me, in the bitter- est anger and rage, reviling me and saying, 'If you go among my people again, I will send and take your life, though it be in the bosom of your own house.' I said, 'Well, what would you have me do, and what will you do with me? If you wish to kill me, or shut me up in prison, or give me up to the government, or whatever it may be, I wish to know it.' 'You must wait here till spring or sum- mer,' said the patriarch, 'and then we shall see how you are.' I answered him in the words of that Christian who was given by his judge ten days to deliberate whether he would worship an image: 'Consider the time already past, and do what you please.' "I asked the Bishop his reason for wishing to kill me. What evil had I done' He was filled with high and bitter indignation, saying, 'What, miscreant! shaH we let you go forth to corrupt my flock for me? Is not what has passed enough?' I rose and said to them, 'God at least is with me,' and left them. The patriarch soon sent after me his nephew, requesting me in soothing words to return, and saying that he would do what I wished. "But when I contemplated the hardness of heart mani- fested by the bishop, I could not restrain myself from re* proving him, hoping that he would grow mild. I said therefore, 'Our Lord Jesus Christ said, out of the abun- dance of the heart the mouth speaketh, and that Satan, who was in his heart, wished to kill me, for Satan was a murderer from the beginning.' 1 told him moreover, that he was not a true disciple of Christ. And when I had left them a second time, the patriarch again sent his nephew to inquire of me what I wished; whether it was money, or what else, promising that he would answer my inquiries. "I returned, and told him 1 had a request to make of one thing only, and that I hoped he would answer me, not as a little child who would ask a childish thing. He asked me what it was. I said, 'I have to ask of you the favor to send from your priests two faithful men to preach the gospel through the country; and I am ready, if neces- sary, to sell all that I possess to give to them as part of their wages.' He promised me it should be done. But I had reason to expect that he would receive such a request as from the mouth of one out of his reason. Now there Memoir of Asaad Esh Shidiak. 21 was at the convent a man called priest Gabriel, who was said to be insane, and was known to all his acquaintance as a man that would never say a word on the subject of religion, and he was a scribe of the patriarch, and from the time of my arrival until that day, had never asked me a single question about my faith or opinions; nor had given me the least word of advice about any of my errors. The same night, as this priest was passing the evening in company with the patriarch, bishop, and other individ- uals, as if they had been conversing on my idiocy in mak- ing the request of to-day, the patriarch sent for me to come and sit with them. I came. The patriarch then asked this priest and the others present, if two proper men could be found to go and preach the gospel? They then an- swered, one to another, such an one and such an one would be the fittest persons, some mentioning one, and some an- other, looking at me in the mean time and laughing, to see what I would say. "I smiled in a pleasant manner at all this, and when one asked me why I laughed, I said to the patriarch, 'Have you not perfect confidence in the integrity of the priest Gabriel?' . He said, 'Yes.' I then said, 'Pray let this priest then examine nje for the space of a few days, and if he does not v conclude that I am a heretic, I will,-for one, take upon myself this duty of preaching.' This re- mark put an end to the conversation. "The next day when the bishop wished to mock me- before the patriarch and a shekh of the country, I answer- ed his questions according to his own manner; but in a little time he began to revile me, and rebuke me for blas- phemy against the eucharist, against the virgin Mary, and the pictures; and that because I had said before one of his deacons, that were it not for fear of the patriarch, I would tear all the pictures in pieces and burn them. I gave him answer to every particular by itself, and when he found that he could produce against me no accusation, he increased in wrath. I then said, 'If this is your pleasure, I will say no more.' I told him that I had said the pictures were not gods; that such was my opinion always; and that I wished to tell all the common people so, that they might understand it. But to this he would not consent. He then began to accuse me of saying of the eucharist, 'Let them smell the 22 Memoir of Asaad EsJi Shidiak. scent of it, and know that it is but bread and wine still.' I told him that if he would give me leave to speak, or if he wished to hear my views, I would speak; 'But how is it that you bring against me accusations, and do not suf- fer me to make my defence?' Here he again was not willing that I should speak; but the patriarch said to me, 'Speak.' "I then observed, that St. Ephraim says, 'Come, eat the fire of the bread, and drink the spirit of the wine;' and began to say from this, that our eating the body of Christ was not natural, but spiritual. Then again he fell into a rage against me. I said to him, 'It is written, be angry and sin not. I told you before, that I would keep silence and not speak without your consent, and whatever you wish, tell me, that I may act accordingly.' At this the patriarch smiled. But the. bishop fell into a passion still more violent against the patriarch, as well as myself, and rose and went away. I also left the room. In the evening, when were collected together the patriarch and bishop and all the monks with priest Nicholas, whom they were about to ordain a bishop on the morrow, the patriarch began to ask me questions respecting my faith. When I saw that their object was neither to benefit me, nor receive benefit, I gave them answers calculated to continue the conversa- tion in a trifling strain, saying, "My faith is the faith of Peter, and the faith of Peter is my faith. I believe all that God has given by inspiration to the one holy catholic church." He asked me, "What is the church?" I answer- ed "The church is the whole company of those who be- lieve in the Messiah and his law, on all the face of the earth." "But where is the place of the church?" "The place of the church is the whole world; it is made up of every nation and people." "What," said he^ "the Eng- lish among the rest?" "Yes of the English also." After- wards when he continued to question me, and I saw that he had -no other object than to try me, I assured him, "This is my faith, and to this faith will I hold, whether it is worth any thing in your estimation or not." I then asked him if he was willing to hbld a discussion on the subject; but he would not permit it in any shape. He afterwards re- quested me to tell my faith again without fear and without concealment. I referred them to the priest that was about Memoir of Asaad Esh Shidiak. 23 to be ordained, saying that I had conversed with him on all points particularly, and that he was able to make an- swer for me. The priest then bore testimony on the spot, that I had said before him, that I believed the pope to be infallible, while I never said this to him at any time. Af- terward, when 1 was in his company privately, I inquired how he could bear such testimony as he had done. He confessed in the fullest terms, that he knew it was a false- hood, but that he said what he did, that they might cease talking with me. The same night I had resolved on quit- ting them; so, at about midnight, I left the convent, com- mitting myself to the protection of God, who never deserts them that trusts in him, and arrived at Beyrooton the morn- ing of Thursday, March 2, 1826." The darkness was such, that he often found himself out of his road, sometimes miring in mud, and sometimes wad- ing in rivers. After some hours of weariness and anxiety, he came to the shore of the sea, where he found a large boat thrown up, under which he cast himself, and obtained a little rest. After this, he continued his walk without in- terruption, till he reached Beyroot. The preceding evening had been observed bj the mis- sionaries as a season of prayer, particularly on his account, and the meeting in the morning was one of great joy and thanksgiving to all. When it was first discovered at the convent that Asaad had fled, the patriarch and his train were occupied in the religious services of the morning, so that no great sensa- tion was apparent among them. One individual spoke boldly in favor of Asaad, saying, "Why should he not leave you? What inducement had he to remain here? What had he here to do? What had he to enjoy? Books he had none; friendly society none; conversation against religion abundant; insults upon his opinions and his feel- ings abundant. Why should he not leave you?" Others, especially the great ones, pitied the poor maniac, (as they called him,) and sent in quest of him in every direction, lest peradventure he might be found starving in some cav- ern, or floating in the sea, or dashed in pieces at the bot- tom of a precipice. The spirit which animated this young man, has already appeared abundantly in his statement, which has been in 24 Memoir of Asaad Esh Shidiak. great measure inserted in the preceding pages, and which he drew up at this time at the request of Mr. Bird. It will be made still more apparent, however, by the conclud- ing paragraphs of that document. "The object in all that I have done, oc attempted, or written, in this late occurrence, is, that I may act as a disciple and servant of Christ. 1 could not, therefore, re- ceive any advice, which should direct me to hide my re- ligion under a bushel. I cannot regulate myself by any rules contrary to those of Christ; for I believe that all who follow his word in truth, are the good grain, and that all those who add to his word, are the tares sown by the en- emy, which shall soon be gathered in bundles and cast into the fire unquenchable. And I beg every member of my sect, i. e. of the Maronite church, who loves truth, if he sees me in an error to point it out to me, that I may leave it, and cleave to the truth. But I must request those who would rectify my views, not to do as did a priest at Bey- root, who after a considerable discussion, denied the inspi- ration of the New Testament. Men like him I do not wish to attempt to point out my errors; for such men, it is evident, need rather to be preached to than to preach, and to be guided rather than to guide. But if any understand- ing man will take the word of God and prove to me from it any doctrine whatever, I will respect him and honor him with all pleasure. But if a doctrine cannot be established thus, it is not only opposed to the doctrines of Christ, but to the views of the early Christians, the fathers of the church, such as St. Ephraim and others. Such doctrines I cannot confess to be correct, although it should cost me the shedding of my blood. Be it known that I am not seeking money, nor office; nor do I fear any thing from contempt, nor from the cross, nor from the persecution of me.n, nor from their insults, nor their evil accusations, so far as they are false. For I am ready for the sake of Christ to die daily, to be accounted as a sheep for the slaughter, for he, in that he suffered being tempted, is able to succor those that are tempted. I consider that the suf- ferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us. I believe that Jesus is our High Priest for ever, and hath an un- changeable priesthood, wherefore he is able to save them Memoir of Asaad Esli STiidiak. 35 to the uttermost that come unto God by him, for he is the One Mediator between God and man, and he ever liveth to make intercession with the Father for us; and he is the propitiation for our sins, and to him be glory with the Father and his Holy Spirit of life for ever and ever. Amen. "I would only add, if there is any one, whoever he may be, that will show me to be under a mistake, and that there is no salvation for me unless- 1 submit to the pope, or at least show me that it is lawful to do so, I am ready to give up all my peculiar views and submit in the Lord. But without evidence that my views are thus mistaken, I cannot give them up, and yield a blind obedience, until it shall'not only be told that I am mad, but until I shall be so in fact, and all my understanding leaves me; not un- til men shall have burned not only the Bibles printed by the English, but all the Bibles in the world." * SECTION IV. Asaad is visited by rehitives their violence importunity of his mother he sap- poses himnolf [ioisanod returns home his books are destroyed Pharqs comes to the missionaries tor protection Asnad'n letter to him conversation of PhareS with the bishop of Beyroot letter of Asaad to Mr. Bird. Asaad had not been at Beyroot many days, before he was visited by three of his brothers and an uncle. Mansoor, the eldest brother, was a furious bigot, and regardless of the first principles of religion. The second, Tannoos, or Anthony, the next in age, had been employed as a teacher by Mr. Fisk, and possessed good native and acquired tal- ents, but was envious of his brother Asaad, because, though younger than himself, he was more noticed; and -besides, he thought it preposterous to quarrel with bishops, and patriarchs on the subject of religion. The name of the third was Galeb, who was younger than Asaad, and pos- sessed a better disposition than the two elder brothers. The uncle was more violent than even Mansoor. The uncle and the two elder brothers contradicted Asaad, scoffed at him, threatened him, declared him to be mad, possessed with a devil, and so on. Asaad finally consented to go home, provided they would get the patri- arch to say in writing, on the faith of a Christian, that he would not molest him. "But," said they, "then you must 3 26 Mtmoir of Asaad Esh Shidiak. hold your tongue, and not broach your new opinions among the people." "What," replied Asaad, "must I go arid live like a dumb man? No, that I will never do. My re- ligion binds me not to do it. I must love wy neighbor as myself." "Why do you not go," said they, "to the Druses, and the Moslems, and preach the gospel to them? You answer, because there is danger. So there is dangef in the present case; this is not a land of liberty, therefore be silent." "Secure me," replied Asaad, "but the free ex- ercise of my conscience, and I will go with you. My religion is my all, and I must be free in it." To this they replied, "We can give you no such security. Nobody dares go to the patriarch with such a request. You can- not be permitted to publish your notions abroad among the people." "Then," said Asaad, "there is no more to be said;" rising, and with clasped hands walking the room "Religion unshackled Religion unshackled, is my doc- trine." They rose and left the ro6m in angry despair. Mansoor returned, and wished to speak a word with Asaad at the door. In a moment, Asaad returned. "Do you know what Mansoor has told me?" said he. "His last words were, Evtn if the patriarch and the, emecr should do nothing, if they make no attempts to take your life, be assured, we our- seh-cs will do the tcork; so take need to yourself accord- ingly " Asaad was much affected 'by the interview. As soon as he lound himself at liberty, he' stepped up into the loft where he sleeps, and threw himself on his couch in prayer. The next day, Caleb came again, and urged Asaad to leave the missionaries, saying that his connection with them had brought an insupportable shame upon the fami- ly. Asaad insisted that the disciples of Christ were to ex- pect. such shame as a thing of course, and that therefore it was no argument for leaving the missionaries. Galeb as- sured him he would be safe at Hadet: but when Mr. Bird asked if Mansoor had not threatened to kill Asaad, Galeb colored, admitted that he had, and soon took leave rather abruptly. The rest of the family not having succeeded in draw- ing Asaad away, his mother next came, with an apparent determination to effect her purpose. The missionaries welcomed her with all cordiality, and treated her with all Memoir of Asaad Esh Shidiak. 27 the respect and attention they could. But all they could do or say did not alter her resolution to get her son away, if in her power. She besought Asaad 'by the honor he owed her, by the love he professed for her, by his regard for the reputation of her family, for religion itselfj and for his own personal safety, that he would immediately accom- pany her home; and when she found him inflexible, she declared she would never stir out of the house unless he went with her. . To all this Asaad replied, "To what purpose would it be, that I should go home? 5fou wish rne to go, you say, that people may be convinced that I am not mad. But you, who come hither, and see and converse with me, say, after all, that I- am mad. How can it be expected that I should convince others that I am not mad, when my own mother will not believe it. Or do you think that if I once get out among you, the air of Hadet will change my opin- ions, or induce me to'ba silent? AH these are vain expec- tations. I see no object 'to be gajned. if I should go to Hadet, and be constantly disputing with the people, and telling them ,that you are all going astray, that you are wor- shipping idols instead of the living God, that I could wish to tear down every picture in your churches, that the bread and wine of the Lord's Supper are not Jesus Christ, that I believe the pope to, be the beast in the Revelation,* whose business is to deceive the people and ruin their souls; by all this I should injure your feelings, enrage the people, ex- cite .the opposition of the emeersand bishops and patriarchs, and then return here just in the state I am in now." The youngest brother, Phares, /who accompanied his mother, conversed freely and in good temper, and, listened with attention to all Asaad's arguments, by which he en- deavored to.justify -his 'views and determinations. -But no argument or evidence could convince the disconsolate mother. Asaad had repeated the name of Christ, and the word of God > so often, that she, at last, in a fit of -impa- tience exclaimed, "Away with Christ, and the word of God; what have we to do with them!" arid when the mis- sionaries pqinted out to Asaad some text of Scripture, which they thought applicable in any case, she would en- * When he first cnmn to Beyroot, this same sentence was dictated to him, and it appeared in' his eyes so much like blasphemy, that he refused to write it. 28 Memoir of Asaad Esh Shidiak. deavor to close the book, or catch it from him, as if it had taught paganism or witchcraft. Daring her stay, they din- ed, and as Asaad took the meat upon his plate, and ate it without a scruple in this season of Lent, it was remarked with what a gaze of wonder she regarded him. She seem- ed to say in her heart, "All is over my son is lost!" After some hours of troublesome expostulation and en- treaty, during which Asaad once said he could bear it no longer, and rose and shook Mr. Bird's hand to go, it was finally settled that the mother should go home without him, but that to save the family from the insupportabte s.hame which threatened it, Asaad should give her a paper, stating, in effect, that he was not a follower of the English. When the paper was finished, "Now," said Asaad, "go to your home in peace;" and walked away: but suddenly recollect* ing himself, he' called his brother back, and said, "Phares, I wish you fully to understand, that I love you; and I have one request to make of you, which is, that you will take the New Testament, and read i't attentively." "Give me a New Testament," said Phares quickly. A book was given him, and he went his way, evidently affected and softened by the interview. t On the llth of March, 1826, one of the neighbors brought Shidiak a letter, cautioning him 1 , if he went to the shekh's house, not to smoke or drink with him. The next day, word came to Asaad that the shekh* was with the fam- ily below, and would be glad to see him. Asaad went down, but in a few minutes came up, pale and trembling, and said he was exceedingly dizzy cmd faint. He had just taken coffee below, attended with suspicious circumstances, and begged to know if he might not be poisoned. Mr. Bird opened a-medical book, and explained to him, as rap- idly as possible, the symptoms of a poisoned person. 'Oh! these are my feelings,' said he, and fell upon his knees before his seat in silent prayer. An emetic was immedi- ately given him, which operated well, and before night he was relieved of every alarming symptom. The youth who gave the coffee, being sent for, gave good evidence of hav- ing had no bad intentions; and notwithstanding many sus- * This shekh, or sheriff, immediately after Asaad's escape from Dor Alma threat- ened to take his life, .in case he continued with the mis.siona.ries. Afterwards he_ promised Asaad his daughter in'ruarriage, on condition of his leaving them. The threat and the promise were equally vain. Memoir of Asaad Esh Shidiak. 29 picious circumstances, there did not appear evidence of an attempt lo poison sufficiently strong to pYosecute any pub- lic inquiry into the matter. Soon after, four of the relatives of Asaad came down, and succeeded in persuading him to accompany them home. He said he could not believe, after all that had been said, that they would do him violence, .and he strong- ly expected that his visit at Hadet would do good. He left Beyroot toward evening, expecting to be absent only a few days. Asaad was the more confident of receiving good treatment, as he had, on the day before, received a letter from the patriarch, written in very plausible terms. On the 24th of March, Phares Shidiak came and wished to speak with Mr. Bird in private. "Yesterday morning," said he, "as I was in my room reading the New Testa- ment, my brother Mansoor entered, drew a sword he had, and gave me a blow upon the neck. 1 continued with the book in my hand, until one snatched it from me. Mansoor afterwards drew up his musket, threatening to shoot me; but my mother interfered to prevent him. My brother Tan- noos hearing a bustle, came in with a cane, and began cudg- elling me, without stopping to inquire at all into the merits of the case^ calling out, Will you leave off your heresy, and go to church like other people, or not? Mansoor not find- ing Asaad present, as beseemed to have expected, went to Asaad's chest, which stood near me, seized all the books he had received of you, Hebrew, Syriac, Italian, and Ara- bic, tore them, one by one, in pieces, and strewed them on the floor. In the course of the day, I came down near where the soldiers of the emeer were encamped, and passed the night in company with my brother Galeb. This morn- ing he returned with a line from me to Asaad, and /came off to Beyroot, with the fuH determination never to go home again. And now I will either go to some place in this country where I can enjoy my liberty, or I will take ship and leave the country altogether." As he wished the ad- vice of Mr. Bird, he counselled him neither to go from the country, nor from his home, but to return, and at least to make further trial for doing gopd to his relatives, and bear- ing their persecutions. He, however, continued inflexible. In the space of a few hours, Galeb came in search of Phares, with a letter from Asaad, of which the following is a copy. 30 Memoir of Asaad Esh Shidiak. "To my beloved Phares; the Lord Most High preserve him. Your departure caused me great, grief. First, be- cause you were impatient, when trial and persecution came,upon you. It is a thing we are regularly to expect, that if we hope in God in this world, we shall give universal offence. But we have another city, for which we hope. Do not lose your courage, for ye have not resisted unto blood, striving against sin. Remember, we cannot share in the glory of Christ, if we share not also in his sufferings. There- fore rejoice whenever you are tried; rejoice, and never be sad, for our faith is sure. , Secondly, I was grieved because you gave me no information where you were going, and what you intended to do. Now it is not becoming, that we should do any thing rashly, that is, till we have prayed to God for direction. Come home, then, and let us set apart a season of fasting and prayer to God, and do wjiat is most. agreeable to him. Perhaps it is best to let our works 'preach in silence, in these evil days. "You must know, that if .you fail tq come home, you will give us great pain, and this would.be inconsistent with love. Jesus says, By this $liall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. You well know how much joy and consolation it would give us to see you; do not then deny us this pleasure, but come at all events. If you do not come, it may be an injury both to yourself and me. I wish to see you, if it be only to say to you two words, and then act your pleasure; for not every word can be said with paper and pen. Farewell. Your brother and companion in tribulation. ' ASAAD." The advice of Mr. Bird, and the solicitations of Asaad and Galeb were not sufficient to persuade Phares to return, and Galeb went away without him. After Galeb had gone, many questions tvere put to Phares, and he communicated the following particulars, which ere related in his own words. "The day that Asaad and myself left you," he /says, "the bishop of Beyroot was at the next house, and I went to salute him. He said to me, 'I understand you have be- come English, too. Yoju reason on the subject of religion.' 'But,' said I, 'is every one English, if he reasons on that subject?' Bishop. 'But you read in the Bibles of the English/ Phares. 'Yes, and from whom is the Bible? Memoir of Asaad Esh Shidiak. 31 is it from the English, or from Gad? B. 'But it is print- ed by the English.' P. 'Well, is it altefed in any place?' B. 'See, now you have begun again to argue on the sub- ject of religion. I tell you, young man, cease this heretical habit, or you are excommunicated.' " Two brothers of Phares afterwards decoyed him from the house, as if for a walk, After searching for him some time, 1 went down to the inn in quest .of him, but he was not to be found. As I was on my way returning from the inn, where \ had gone in search of my brother, I prayed to God, that he would take every thing from me, if neces- sary, only let faUh and love towards him remain in my heart. . "As I proceeded on, a man came up, and gave me infor- mation that all the consuls of Beyroot were slain, and that you also were slain with them.* The report came from a man, whe, said he had deposited goods with you for safe- ty. In order to be the more sure, I asked the man if it were really true, and he again assured me that it was. Ask me not the state of my feelings at that moment. "On reaching home, I heard this terrible news confirm- ed, at the same time looking out, and seeing the heap of * Several Greek vessels came into the harbor of Beyroot at this time, and created great disturbance and alarm. 32 Memoir of Asaad Esh Shidiak. ashes near the house, all that remained of the eleven copies of the holy Scriptures which my brothers had destroyed,! burst into tears, and committed all my concerns into the hands of God, saying, 'Blessed be his holy name: the Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away;' and so I prayed on", with tears and groanings, which I cannot describe. "I afterwards heard, that Phares was probably in the neighborhood, and set off to search after him by night, but found him not. When I heard the news of your death confirmed, I sent off a messenger, that wherever Phares might be found, he might return; and when I received his letter, saying that he had gone to your house, I could not yet believe that the report respecting you was false. "But when the truth on that subject began to appear, then I heard, by a person who came here yesterday eve- ning, that the patriarch and the emeer had made an agree- ment to kill me, and that they had sent men to lie in wait for that purpose. I was afterwards told, by another per- son, that some of the servants of the emeer were appointed . to accomplish this end. "Here I am, then, in a sort of imprisonment, enemies within, and enemies without. "All my concerns I commit into the hands of God, who created me. Through the blood of our Lord Jestis Christ, 1 hope that all my distresses will be for the best. "I accept with pleasure all your kind wishes, and send you many salutations in the Lord, and pray for you length of days. Yours, &c. ASAAD." After Mansoor, in his papal zeal, had destroyed the Bibles and Testaments in Asaad's possession, the latter could not remain without the Scriptures, but sent and ob- tained a copy from a small church in the neighborhood, which he daily read, marking the most striking and impor- tant passages. SECTION V. Asaad is taken -by force to- the patriarch his firmnesa^is ill treated escap and is taken escapes the second time, but is apprehended and is cruelly used- third escape, apprehension, and abuse fourth escape and .consequent suffering* tig case meliorated. On the 31st of March information was received, that Asaad had been taken against his will, to the patriarch. Memoir of Asaad Esh Shidiak. 33 April 4. Phares Shidiak arrived at Beyroot in the eve- ning direct from Der Alma, and said he had accompanied Asaad to that convent a week ago, that Asaad was still there, and that the patriarch, having in the morning set off for Cannobeen, would send down for Asaad after a few days. He then handed Mr. Bird the following line from Asaad. "If you can find a- vessel sailing for Malta, in the course of four or five days, send me word; if not, pray for your brother ASAAD." The following facts in relation to this cruel and unnatu- ral proceeding, were related to Mr. Bird by Phares, whose mind, by this time, had become considerably enlightened. When his relatives, to the number of twenty or more, had assembled, and Asaad perceived they were come to take him to the patriarch by force, he began to expostulate with Tannoos, and besought him to desist from a step so inconsistent with fraternal love. He besought in vain. Tannoos turned away from him 'with a cold indifference. Affected with his hardness, Asaad went aside, and wept attd prayed aloud. The evening before he was taken away, he said to those who had assembled, "Jf I had not read the gospel, I should have been surprised at this new movement of yours. But now it is just what I might have expected. In this blessed book, I am tdld, the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and a man's foes shall be they of his own household. Here you see it is just so. You- have come together to ful- fil this prophecy of the gospel. ..What have I done against you? What is my crime? Allowing that I do take the Bible as my only and sufficient guide to heaven,. what sin is. there in this?" During the evening he laid himself down to sleep, as he was to set off early in the morning. But he was often interrupted, for, whenever he caught a word of fake doctrine frorn the lips of those who continued their conversation, he would rise ..up, refute them, and again compose himself to rest. One of his uncles, speak- ing of his going to the patriarch; said Hi a great rage, "If you don't go off with us peaceably we will take .your life." Asaad replied, "Softly, softly, my dear uncle, don't be hasty: blessed are the meek." 34 Memoir of Asaad Esli Shidiak. A messenger who had been sent by the missionaries to make inquiries respecting Asaad's situation, brought back word that he had been conducted to Cannobeen, accord- ing to the patriarch's intention, and was kept in close con- finement, in chains, and daily beaten. The great cause of complaint against him was, that he refused to worship either the pictures, or the virgin Mary. The history of Asaad will now be continued by Naami Latoof, a young shekh of Tripoli, frequently mentioned in the journals of Mr. Bird^ by whom Naami's accpunt was translated from the Arabic.* "When the relatives of Asaad brought him to the con- vent of Alma, in the district of Kesroari, and gave him up. to the patriarch, the latter began by way of flattery to prom- ise him all the worldly advantages he could bestow; but withal demanding that he should put away all the heretical notions, and all the corrupt knowledge, which the Bible- men, those enemies of the pope, had taught him. He re- plied, 'These things which you hold out to me, are to me of no value. I no longer trouble myself about them, for they are vain and of short duration. Every Christian is bound to think and labor and strive to be accounted worthy to hear that blessed welcome, Come ye blessed of my Fathtr, inher- it the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. As to rejecting from my mind those things which I have learned- from the Bible-men, I have to say, that, for many years, I had read, occasionally, the holy Scriptures, which are able to make us wise unto salvation, but could not live according to them; for I was given to the indulgence of , * Mr. Bird thus speaks of Naami's account, in a letter dated March 2&, 182/. "This account of niii suffering friend, though by no means cornpfele, may be relied on as authentic, and is hy far the most lull and satisfactory account which we have been ahlo to obtain. It was sent us, as you will see in the journal, hy the friendly young slickh, Naflmi Latoof, who. sometime previous, spent a frw -weeks in our families, and Vhose heart seems to have been touched f>y the tiuths of the gospel. The priest, who has* proved so greaA a benefactor to Asaad, is a relative of tlia ghekh. and they liavt grown Op together from childhood on the niost'intiniate terms of familiarity and friendship. Many i.f the occurrences here related, ihe priest found wrjtten amnng the monks, who pass their time idly with the patriarch, and " to many J, and. strict orders were. given that no one should say any thing .to him more ior. less. . In this state he remained for some days. The patriarch then sent to him to inquire after his faith, especially respecting his trust in the images of the church, declaring taTijm that without faith in these, he could not, be saved. He replied, 'Let no man beguile you of jour reward in a voluntary h'tir mility and worshipping of angels.'c - They brought him proofs from the councils, that images were, .used by the fathers, and ought to be set up and worshipped in the churches, in honor of the saints, -and to obty priests and servants, who silence, when the patriarch was. at length announced. I advanced to meet him. On coming up he appeared troubled, but recovering himself, he began compliment- ing me in a proftise and vapid manner. I attempted to interrupt him, but in vainj he kept on. Then suddenly retiring, for what reason I know not, he again appeal- ed, and 'we all wertt underneath the awning. Here he again renewed his compli- ments, but I succeeded in interrupting him, saying that I wished to speak with him one word. "Speak," said he. ' "By authority from the Emeer Bcsheer I require at your hands Asaad Esh Shi- diak." Here he trembled. "He died," said he, "in this convent two years age; but as you may not believe me Paolos, -(calling a priest,) shew this Englishman all over the convent, and open every room in it for his satisfaction, and let two soldiers go with him." It was'now Hark. Lights and keys were sent after. "But stop," said the patriarch to Paolos, "shew Asaad's grave to him, and that may save the convent from further search." \ ."I shall search," said I, "every part of the convent." The pfctriarclr's agitation increased. .The two priests, apparently with tears in their eyes, conjured'me to show him a little respect on account of the servants. Lights, keys, and servants were now in attendance, and we began a regular and minute search. The two soldiers, partly to show their zeal for their lendpr, and partly perhaps from their hunger and fatigue, set about their work in the most bois- terous manner, striking with their clubs, as they passed, every box, chest, and diVan, calling out, "Asaad, Asaad, come forth." We searched every room, cnvern, and dungeon, the soldiers, notwithstanding my remonstrances-, continually shouting, and making the corivept ring with Asaad's name. The chapel alone I declined en- tering. We saw the room where the priests said Asaad was confined. They said the door had not been walled up. It was a cell about five feet by four, having no window, but a hole to admit the .air, and -opening apparently into tho couit. Ac- cording to them the disease of which Asaad died was the dropsy. 1 left 'in the room a paper on which was written in Arabic these words, "Blessed are the dead which die'in the Lord from henceforth; yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors, and their works do follow them." I remarked to Paolos and the rest, that the blood of Asaad was on the patri- arch's head. "Did you know Asaad?" said Paolos. . t I answered, "No." "Why, then, do yt>u take so much interest in him?" -,. 'Because in England and Ameiica, Asaad is considered like Paul." * The river Kadeesha, (holy river) sometimes called Jbu ML It falls isito tjt* tea at Tripoli. Sole by Mr. Bird. Memoir of Asaad Esh Shidiak. 47 "This does not concern us. Yon seem to think Asaad was barbarously treated, but I assure you, the patriarch is a mild man, and we merely kept Asaad a prisoner here." Another priest said, "1'am his relation, apd be was put under my -charge when the patriarch was absent months together. W6uld ITiave ill treated my relation."'* I here recollected the prince's injunction not to reason at the convent. ' We had now finished our search, but there was no Asaad. "Shall we now go to his grave?" said Paolo^; ''shall we'dig up his bones? Only say so, and we shall instantly com- ply with your wishes." I said, "Show me the grave." Lights were again brought, and the two priests accompanied me out of the con- vent, to .what appeared to be a little burying ground. Tue way was along several precipices. Paolos took firm hold of my coat, and entreated 1 me to take care and avoid the serpents. We went cautiously, our lights shewing indistinctly the path, and at last came to a pztt so precipitous that, in spite o'f my caution, I lost my bal- ance, and should have had a most serious tumble into the ravine, had not Paolos held me with all his might. I could not holp feeling 1 gratitude for his kindness. On reaching another very steep place, Paolos and another priest said that they would stop there, and wait my return, unless I specially wished them to proceed. I got over, and a servant pointed me to the grave. I answered, "It is enough;" for as I had no means of ideptifying .the remains, I did not think it best to have them disinterred. Ou my return, they entreated me for a long time to sup and pass the night in the convent, as they said all travellers did. There were wild beasts and serpents out- side, which might do me injury, perhaps take my life. I told them that I could re- ceive nothing from the patriarch, and that positively I would neither eat, drink, nor sleep in his convent. At the same time I gave them to understand, that I made a difference between the patriarch and them, for in truth I was affected by their at- tentions, specially those of Paolos. Finding their entreaties ineffectual, they left me. I now went along the precipice, seeking for some spot where I could pass the night. I had not gone far, when I heard howling and cries not far from me, as of ome wild beast in the jaws of a greater. Being well armed, however, I continued my steps until I came 16 a large tree, underneath which was .a platform. Here I determined to pass the night. I had not watched long, when I perceived a couple of objects rise above the brushwood, a few paces from me. After attentively con- sidering them some time, I was convinced they weiemen, and put myself in a pos- ture to receive them, in case they meditatedTny Harm. Seeing themselves discov- ered, they came out and looked at me some time, without saying a word. From their dress, I presumed them to beservants of the convent. While they continued staring, I heard my name called aloud from towards the convent, and in a moment after, Ahmed appeared in considerable agitation. "Are you mad," said he, "to remain here? These, men will murder you, and throw your body down the ravine. They only wait till you shall fall asleep. And ifthey don't, you may be devoured bj wild beasts, or stung by the serpents." Here he wept, and went on "I entreat of you go and sleep ia the convent. Don't yon know that the patriarch -will send word of this search to the cottages below, and hi* people will come and murder you?" * y ,,- . "Let them come," said I. "I am ready. You may sleep in the" convent, but I tell you 1 shall not." "Uut," said he, "there is a place of greater safety nigli to the convent. Only come up thorei and I will lie down near you." ' .' : ' ' : ' H6 trembled, wept, and entreated so much, that I went up to see the place he poke of, and find>ng it about fiRy yards from the convent, and in a,6rag of the pre- cipice, I let him spread my carpet; our arms were laid beside us; and, forgetting the patriarch, wild beasts, and serpents, hungry and exhausted, I immediately fell asleep. On waking next morning, I observed a priest and some one with him apparently watching us from the terrace of the convent. Having now nothing to do with Can- nobeen, or its inmates, we mounted our horses, bade adieu to the priest, and set off. * It may he well to recollect, that the treatment received bit Jlsaad in the convent, hat been gicen to the world according to the representations solely tf Maronites. These representations, of course, lie open to contradiction from the pitriarch: bat the testi- mony of tkt priests must be received with caution, since they would hace us take their word, tliat the patriarch is a mild num. and that no relation of Asaad would ill treat &. .Note by Mr. Bird. 48 bfempir of Asaad Esh. Sfiidiak. This search, though in itself by no means, conclusive as to the fact of Asaad's death, increased the amount of tes- timony in favor of it, and rendered it almost certain: and thus the matter stood at the close of the year 183;>. The case of Asaad altogether is remarkable; and in him we find proof, that there are noble, materials for the grace of God to operate upon in Mount Lebanon. His faith and constancy appear to have been. of the highest order. ''The anathemas of his church, the tears of his half-distracted mother, the furious menaces of brothers, uncles, and townsmen, 1 the general odium of an extensive acquaintance, imprisonment, chains, the torturing basti- nado, exposure in the most abject and suffering condition to the coarse insults of a misled and vicious populace, and the malignant revilings of a tyrannical priesthood all had no power to shake the constancy of his attachment to the truth, and of his faith in God. The spirit he man- ifested was that of a martyr;, and, if our information con- cerning him be correct, he died a martyr, and his memory will be blessed., . . His statement of his religious sentiments, and of the treatment he had received from the dignitaries in his church, contained -in the former part of this paper, indi- cates powerful talents, great presence of mind, a sincere desire to find the truth, and a heroic zeal in its defence. T,he same is apparent in ( his letters, and indeed in the en- tire history of this reformer, from the period of his conver- sion. And how* meek was his spirit! IVhen, like his Lord and Master, he was reviled, he reviled not: when he suffered, he~ threatened not; but committed himself to him thatjudgeth righteously. -There is a liberty WHich monarchs cannot grant, nor all the pow'rs Of eafth and Jiell conted'rate take away; ' A liberty, which -persecution, fraud-,. . .'Oppression, prisons have no power to bind, Which whoso tastss can be enslav'd no more,. . 'Tis liberty of heart, deriv'd from heaven, Bought with HIS Mood, who gave it to mankind, And sealed with the same token. It is held By charter, .and that charter ganction'd sure By th' unimpeachable and awful oath Ami promise of a God. MISSIONARY PAPER, NO. 12, MEMOIR OF KEOPUOLANI, QUEEN OF THE SANDWICH ISLANDS. THIS Memoir, was drawn up at the Sandwich Islands, by one of the missionaries at Lahaina. The facts were derived from personal observation, or by conversation with the older chiefs of the islands. CHAPTER I. Her nativity and family Wars of Tamehnmeha He takes Keopnolani prisoner, and makes her liis wife. KEOPUOLANI was born in the year 1778, at Pahoe-hoe, in the district of Wailuku, on the north-east side of Maui, one of the Sandwich Islands. Her name like most other names in these islands, was significant, and one which the people generally would not venture to appropriate to them- selves, or their children; fe opu ' o /am', The collecting of heaven; or, The gathering of the clouds of heaven. She was often called by other names, as Kai, (the sea,) Makuahanaukama, (the mother of many children,) Kala- nikauikealanco, (the heavens hanging cloudless.) Her original name however, and the one by which she was usually called, was Keopuolani. The family, from which she descended by her father, had governed the island of Hawaii for many generations. The family from which she descended by her mother, had long governed Maui, and for a time had also governed Ranai, Molokai, and Oahu. 2 Memoir of Keopuolani. For several generations, there had been frequent inter- marriages between the reigning families in different islands, so that the two families, from which Keopuolani descended, were nearly connected with each other. Her father's fam- ily had been particularly distinguished as far back as its history can be traced. Her father's name was Kauikeouli. He was king of Hawaii at the time of his daughter's birth, but was slain, about two years after, in a sanguinary bat- tle with Tamehameha. His father, and Keopuolani's grandfather, was Tarani- opu, often called Faraiopu,* and was king of Hawaii at the time it was visited by capt. Cook, in 1777. This was the king, whom that celebrated navigator was leading by the hand on a visit to his ship, when the jealous rage of the natives burst on him, and terminated his enterprising life. All who have read the English history of the death of capt. Cook, will be pleased to know, that the natives themselves give the same general account of it as was given by capt. Cook's officers. The wife of Taraniopu, and grandmother of Keopuola- ni, was Kanona, daughter, of the king of Maui. She threw her arms about her husband's neck, while he was walking with capt. Cook, compelled him to desist from his visit, and furnished the natives an opportunity for commencing their fatal attack. She was, also, the nurse and guardian of Keopuolani during her early years. The mother of Keopuolani was Kakuiapoiwa, daughter of Keoua a young- er brother of Taraniopu. She was also half sister to Ta- raehameha. At the time of Keopuolani's birth, her parents were in Maui, on a visit to Kehekiri, who was the uncle of Keo- puolani, and at that time king of Maui, Ranai, Molokai, and Oahu. Kauikeouli and his wife soon returned to Hawaii, leaving their infant daughter under the care of her grandmother Canona, where she remained until Maui was conquered by Tamehameha in 1790. The reader may perhaps inquire why she was at this early period separated from her parents. It should there- fore be mentioned, that it is not customary with the chiefs to bring up their own children. A chief, from the time of * Terreeoboo in Cook's Voyaget. Memoir of Kcopuolani. 3 his birth, has a train of attendants almost as numerous as when he arrives at manhood. He has, also, a nurse, or guardian, and wherever he goes, although he may be car- ried in his nurse's arms, one man follows bearing a fly- brush, another a fan, another an umbrella, another a spit- box, another a pipe, and usually a large company of other attendants, all of whom anxiously wait the nod of the child. Thus it was with Keopuolani. At the early age of thirteen, she became the wife of Tamehameha, the late king of all the islands. The char- acter, wars, and exploits of this celebrated man would afford sufficient matter for a volume. In this place we can only mention two or three circumstances respecting him. He was the son of Keoua, the younger brother of Tar- aniopu already mentioned, and was not among the highest chiefs, being only cousin to the reigning king" His au- thority was confined originally to two districts. Even dur- ing his minority, he manifested a great degree of enterprise and strength of character. In the year 1790, he rebelled against his cousin Kauikeouli, who had been on the throne only two years, and slew him in a sanguinary battle. He then went to Maui with all his forces. Kehekiri, who has been already mentioned, to whom this island belonged, resided then atOahu. Tamehameha, therefore, succeeded in taking Maui without much bloodshed. Keopuolani now twelve years of age, and celebrated for her beauty, fell into his hands as a prisoner. Her grandmother immediately betrothed her to the con- queror, who soon proceeded to the island of Molokai. He had but just arrived when intelligence reached him that a younger brother of the king whom he had just slain, had risen in arms, and was taking possession of Hawaii. Tamehameha took his newly betrothed bride andteturn- ed in haste to his own island, where he soon succeeded in quelling the rebellion. Having been jealous of this chief, he had made' a treaty with him. After the conclusion of the treaty according to the custom of the country, a pig was slain, signifying that thus it should be done to the party by whom it should be violated. When, therefore, the vanquished chieftain was taken, he was put to death; though by some it is said, that it was not in consequence of the king's order, who designed to have pardoned him. 4 Memoir of Keopuolani. At this time Kehekiri sent from Oahu, saying to Tam- ehameha, "You and I are friends. We are brothers. Let us not fight. Come not to this place, for if you come I must defend myself. You are young, and I am old. Wait till the black tapa covers me. Then you will be king alone." Tamehameha respected his message. After his death, Tamehameha repaired with his forces to Oahu, where he met with a spirited resistance from the chiefs of that island. But he soon gained the ascendency, and, excepting Kauai, became king of all the islands. CHAPTER II. Her children Veneration for her person Plurality of husbands Humanity ef her disposition Human sacrifices on account of her sickness nature of the tabu Keopuolani consents to its abolition Further proofe of the reverence in which the was held, and her consequent personal sacrifices in the destruction of the ancient system. AFTER this Tamehameha took up his residence at Kailua, on the island of Hawaii. Keopuolani became his wife in the year 1791. At seventeen she was a mother; but her first son, bearing the name of the present king, died at an early age. Her second son, Rihoriho, the late king, was born in the year 1796. Besides these she had born nine children, five sons and four daughters. Of her eleven children two only are liv- ing, a son and a daughter, named Kauikeouli and Nahi- enaena. Keopuolani, while her husband lived, usually resided with him at Kailua. This, however, was by no means their constant dwelling place, although it was a favorite one. No chief on the Sandwich Islands is confined to one, two, or ten places of residence, and nearly all the high chiefs divide their time between the different places of importance. Thus it was with Keopuolani. A part of her time she spent at Hawaii, a part at Maui, a part at Oahu, and a part at Kauai. Tamehameha had three, and at one time, four, other wives. These all followed him wherever he went. It does not appear that Keopuolani was his particular favor- ite, except as she was much the highest chief upon the islands. Memoir of Keopuolani. 5 Agreeably to the practice of all the females in the coun- try, she accompanied her husband in all his battles. Her person was counted so sacred, that her presence did much to awe an enemy. She was permitted by the king to have another husband. Hers was not a privileged case, however, for nearly all the chief women, especially those who are higher in rank than their husbands, follow the same practice. The second husband of Keopuolani was Karaimoku. He sustained that relation only a few years, and after him she choose Hoapili, who continued her husband until her death, and as such was evidently much beloved. As a wife she was tender and affectionate. Her sister queens now speak of her with admiration on account of her amiable temper and mild behavior. For these quali- ties her husband was not remarkable; and on this account her native excellence shone with additional "brightness. Often was her compassion manifested toward those, who had broken tabu,* violated the laws, or otherwise incurred the king's displeasure. These, if their crimes were not heinous, or if they had any reasonable excuse, always fled" to her, and were safe under her protection. Many of the high chiefs, who have pursued a very differ- ent line of conduct themselves, now say to Keopuolani's praise, "She was never the means of any person's being put to death." She was always remarkably strict herself in the observance of tabu, although she was mild in her treatment of those who had broken it. About the year 1806, while at Waititi, in Oahu, she was taken sick, and fears were entertained that she would not recover. Various means were used, but without any effect. At length a priest was consulted respecting her, who immediately pretended to tell the cause of her sick- ness. He had just heard of some men, who had been eat- ing cocoa nuts, and had thereby broken tabu; for in those days cocoa nuts were prohibited to all the common people. The priests said, that as Keopuolani was descended from the gods, they were offended with the men, and had af- flicted her with sickness, from which she would not re- cover unless the men were offered in sacrifice. * The restraints enjoined by their system of idolatry. *1 6 Memoir of Keopuolani. According to the advice of the priest, orders were im- mediately given by Tamehameha, that ten men "should be taken. The orders were obeyed, and the men quickly obtained. A gracious God saw best however to spare part of the number, and remove all excuse for sacrificing any. Before the time appointed for offering them arrived, the alarming symptoms of Keopuolani's disorder abated, and confident hopes of her recovery were entertained. Seven of the intended victims were consequently unbound, but the other three were slain and laid upon the altar, which had before often been stained with the blood of human victims. It would seem that Keopuolani had no knowl- edge of these transactions until they were past.* After Keopuolani's recovery from the sickness men- tioned above, we know but little of her, until the death of Tamehameha and the accession of Rihoriho to the throne, which took place in the year 1819. When the high priest of the island had given his opin- ion in favor of abandoning idolatry, it appears that a gen- eral consultation among the chiefs was held respecting this measure. They generally expressed their dissatisfac- tion with the system; and then, as Keopuolani had not been present, Karaimoku and Kalakua went to converse with her. She inquired particularly into the reasons for the course which they recommended, and at first seemed unwilling to join them. "What," said she, "is the fault of the system, that it should be discontinued, and what evil have our gods done to us, that they should be burned'?" During the existence of the tabu, or days of prohibition, BO person except a chief, or priest, must presume to eat a coacoa nut; no female must eat pork; males and females must never eat with each other, or even from the same dish; and if by any means a man was found upon a tree, or on the mast of a vessel, or in any other place over the king's head, his life was forfeited to the gods. The same was the case with a man who by accident placed his hand over the king's head. Besides the tabus above described, which were perpet- ual, there were others embracing certain days in the year, * The practice of offering human sacrifice* has been common in these ialandf fiom time immemorial. The special occasions, on which they were offered, were, the dedication otHeiaut (temples,) tte sickness of high chiefs, and the approach of great battles. Memoir of Keopuolani, 7 when no fishing canoe must be seen in the water, nor any man out of his house. At this time, also, the priests, tak- ing some image with them, usually went from island to island collecting the taxes for 'the gods. The penalty for breaking tabu was death. When a sacrifice was wanted, and no criminal could be found, they imposed a new tabu of such a nature as to pre- sent a strong temptation to some person or persons to break it; perhaps it was laid secretly, and then whoever should be so unfortunate as to break it, was immediately seized, by persons on the watch, and hurried away to the altar. A foreign resident has told us, that, on one of these days of restriction, he saw a canoe sailing out in front of several houses, and upset by the surf. One of the men afterwards appeared to be drowning. An old man of ten- der feelings sprang from his house to save the sinking man. In an instant he was seized by the servants of the priests, carried to the adjacent temple, and there sacrificed. In the mean time, the man apparently drowning jumped into his canoe, and rowed away. To these shocking practices Karaimoku and Kalakua alluded, during their interview with Keopuolani. She said, "You indeed speak very properly. Our gods have done us no good; they are cruel; let the king's wish and yours be gratified." The person of Keopuolani had ever been counted par- ticularly sacred. At certain seasons no persons must see her. In early life, she never walked abroad except at evening, and all who saw her walking at that hour, pros- trated themselves to the earth. Being held in such rever- ence, it was a greater sacrifice in her to renounce the old system, than in those who were less venerated.* Provi- dence seemed already to be preparing her mind for the Christian religion, with which she was shortly to be made acquainted. * Vancouver in his Voyages, relates a circumstance, which corroborates these remarks. Describing a ffura, (dance) which he attended near Kearakekua bay, ho says "The piece was in honor of a captive princess, whose name was Crycow- cujleneaow, (Karaikaukealaneo, one of Keopuolani's names,) and on her name being pronounced, every one present, mrn as Well as women, who wore any orna- ment above their waist, were obliged to take them off, though the captive lady was at least sixty miles off. This mark of respect was unobserved by the actresses who engaged in the services, but the instantany one sat down, or at the close of the act, they were also obliged to comply with this mysterious ceremony." Memoir of Keopuolani, ".if..::' CHAPTER III. Consultation among the chiefs, on th arrival of the American missionaries Keop- uolani approves of their settlement Her temporary sickness Receives into her family a pious native of the Society Islands as a teacher Some account of her conversation Dismiss! s one of her husbands Her manner of receiving the new missionaries Removes to Lahaina and requests that some ot -the missionaries would accompany her. ON the arrival of the American missionaries in April 1820, all the chiefs were consulted respecting the expe- diency of their establishment in the islands. Some of the chiefs seemed to doubt; but Keopuolani without hesita- tion approved their proposals. She ever after appeared friendly to the mission, and favored the palapala* She did not, however, apply herself to learning until August 1822. Shortly after this period, she went to Waititi in Oahu, where a protracted illness gave her leisure, and seemed to lead her to think of a future state. During her sickness, she received visits from the mis- sionaries, by her particular request, and usually had preach- ing in her ranai\ on the Sabbath. In February 1823, Keopuolani and her husband Hoapili expressed a desire to have an instructor connected with them. They selected Taua, a native teacher sent by the church at Huaheine, one of the Society Islands, in com- pany with the Rev. Mr. Ellis, to instruct them and their people in the first principles of the gospel, and teach them to read and write. Their choice met the approbation of the mission, and with them Taua resided until the death of Keopuolani. He proved a faithful teacher, and by the blessing of God, we^believe, he did much to establish her in the Christian faith. From him we have received ac- counts of several of her questions, aud of his answers on the subject of Christianity. One morning, when confined to her couch, with many of the chiefs and people about her, she said to them, "I wish you all either to retire, or be silent, for I desire to pray to Jesus Christ, and must have no interruption." The chiefs immediately began to laugh at her request, and seemed unwilling to comply with it, With great resolu- tion she reproved them for their impiety, told them they * The whole syttem of instruction ii called by this name, t Temporary house made of cocoanut leaves, or rujh?. Memoir of Keopuolani. 9 still kept their "dark hearts," and insisted that her request should be granted. One chief seconded her request, and though the others continued to oppose, she succeeded, and enjoyed a season of prayer. At another time, during the same illness, a high chief, whom she tenderly loved, came to her and said, "Let us two drink rum together again, as formerly. Enough of this new word. Let us cast it away, and attend to it no more." Keopuolani replied, "I will never adopt that evil custom. I am afraid of the everlasting fire." She then turned to Taua and said, "My heart is much afraid I shall never become a Christian." He replied, "Why what, is in the way?" She said, "I think I am likely to die soon." He replied, "Do you not love God?" She answered "O yes, 1 love I love him very much." Taua then communicated farther instruction suited to her case, At the close of the conversation she said, "Your word, I know, is true. It is a good word; and now I have found, I have obtained a Savior, and a good King, Jesus Christ." At one time, when a larger number of people than usual were present, she experienced a relapse in her disease, and some of the spectators apprehended she was near her end. She immediately sent a messenger to Taua to come and pray with her. When he arrived, the house and rauai were filled with chiefs and people. When about to enter, some of the chiefs stopped him at the door, and told him he must not go in, for there was no room. They then went to Keopuolani, and told her it would not be well to admit him, for he was a bad man, and would tell her many lies. She said, "My teacher is not bad; he tells me no lies; let him come in, for I greatly desire to see him.'* They replied, "The house is full, there is no room." She said, "Then you must make room." They said, "What do you want of this Taheitian?" She answered, "He is my good Christian teacher, and now while I am sick, I desire that he may come and speak to me, and pray with me.' They said again, "The house is full, he cannot come in." She said to them, "Why do you say there is no room? There is room enough. I have done praying to my old gods, to stones and wood, and my desire now is, that while I He here, my Christian teacher should como and pray with me to Jesus Christ," 10 Memoir of Keopuolani. Much conversation followed, during which some of the people, encouraged by a few of the chiefs, threatened Taua's life. But he still remained at the door, with the Gospels in his hands, At length Keopuolani said, "Taua, come into the house, and pray with me." Some of the chiefs were still intent on stopping him, when the king approached saying, "Let him go in, and let all the chiefs and people be perfectly quiet .while the good teacher of my mother prays to Jehovah." When nearly recovered from this illness, she called on one occasion to her teacher, and inquired what she should do, as she had two husbands. He answered, "It is very proper for a woman to have one husband, and a man one wife, but Christian females never have more than one husband." She said, "I have followed the custom of rny country; but we have been a people of dark hearts. I have had two husbands, but since I thought it wrong, I have not desired more than one. 1 wish now to obey Jesus Christ, and to walk in the good way. Hoapili is my husband, my only husband. The other man I will now cast off." She then called him and said, "I have renounced our old religion, the religion of wooden gods; I have embraced a new religion, the religion of Jesus Christ. He is my King and Savior, and him I desire to obey. Hereafter I must have one husband only. I wish you to live with me no longer. In future you must neither eat with my peo- ple, nor lodge in rny house." From the time of her sickness, she manifested a strong desire that her people might attend to instruction. She frequently advised them on this subject; occasionally even commanded them. At one time, a sermon was to be preached in her house, and nearly all her attendants were out of doors. She said, "Some people have ears, and some have not. All those who have ears, are requested to come in." She did not entirely recover from the illness already mentioned, until the arrival of the missionary reinforce- ment from America in April 1823. While Mr Bingham was conducting religious service with her at Waititi one Sabbath morning, intelligence was communicated, that the reinforcement had arrived at Ho-* Memoir of Keopuolani. 11 nolulu. At the conclusion of the service, Kekauonohe, one of the king's wives, returned, in company with Mr. Bingham to Honolulu, a distance of three miles, with a request from Keopuolani, Taumuraii, and other chiefs, that the new teachers would meet them there at the after- noon service. Those who had the pleasure of being introduced to her on that day, will never forget the mild and beautiful ex- pression of her countenance, when she raised her head a little from her pillow to bid them a joyful welcome to the islands. As soon as she learned that a physician had arrived, she requested medical aid. Dr. Blatchely visited her sev- eral times, and rendered essential service, which was gratefully received. At one time, Dr. Blatchely, in company with Mr. Ellis, called upon her as they were on their way to the king's residence. As they took leave, she inquired where they were going. On being informed that they were about to conduct evening worship with the king, she said, "It is very proper that you should go and pray with my son. Prayj^or him too. I love him much, and I greatly desire that he should become a good king and love Jesus Christ." About the last of May, she made known to the mission her intentions of taking up her permanent residence at Lahaina, in Maui, her native island. She specially re- quested, as did also the king and chiefs, that missionaries might accompany her. As Lahaina had been previously selected for a missionary station, the missionaries were happy to commence their labors there under such auspices. Messrs. Richards and Stewart therefore accompanied her, resided near her, enjoyed her patronage, and had the priv- ilege of instructing her until her decease. CHAPTER IV. Her kindness to the missionaries Daily worship in her family^-Her diligence in study Her desire for religious knowledge, and firm attachment to the Christian religion Her exemplary conduct She erects a house for the woiship of Jeho- vah. ON the 31st of May, Keopuolani arrived in Lahaina, with Messrs. Richards and Stewart and their families. On their 12 Memoir of Keopuolani. passage she told them she would be their mother; and in- deed she acted the part of a mother ever afterwards. On the evening of Saturday, the day of their arrival, she sent them as much food, already cooked, as was necessary for their comfort at the time, and also for the next day, which was the Sabbath. Immediately on their arrival, she requested them to commence teaching, and said, also, "It is very proper that my sons (meaning the missionaries) be present with me at morning and evening prayers." They were always pres- ent, sung a hymn in the native language, and when noth- ing special prevented, addressed through an interpreter the people who were present, when Taua, or the interpre- ter, concluded the service with prayer. These seasons were usually interesting. Often in conversation she would introduce the subject which had been discussed, and ask important questions respecting it. She spent a principal part Of her time every day in learn- ing how to read, and notwithstanding her age, numerous cares, constant company, and various other hindrances, made some proficiency. She was indeed a diligent pupil, seldom weary with study; often spent hours over her little spelling book; and when her teacher rose to leave her, rarely laid it aside, but usually continued studying after they had retired. She was apparently as diligent in searching for divine truth, as in learning to read, and evidently gave attention to her book, that she might know more of her duty to her Maker. She omitted no favorable opportunity of making inqui- ries on such religious subjects, as were from time to time presented to her mind. One morning as Mr. Richards went to attend prayers with her, she said, "I think much about the love of Jesus Christ, which you last night de- scribed to us." She said she loved Jesus Christ much, and immediately sent for an engraving, on which the Sa- vior was exhibited on the cross. Mr. Richards pointed to the man holding the spear, and said, "wicked man." She immediately inquired the characters of all who were rep- resented there. The expression of her countenance, while she contrasted the characters with each other, was such, that it was noticed by all around; and the impression made on her mind was never afterwards eradicated. Memoir of Keopuolani. 13 Not many days after this, Mr. Stewart called on her, and found her reclining on her settee, apparently in deep thought, and giving no attention to any thing about her. He heard a number of exclamations in her own language, accompanied with expressive gestures, as though she were in distress. Her exclamations were, "O the punishments of wicked men! They will cry for water. O yes, they will cry for water. But there will be no water, none at all, not even a drop for their tongues!" Many other similar accounts might be given, but these are sufficient to show the impression made on her mind by the truths which she heard. She often spoke of the goodness of God in sparing her life when she was sick, that she might leartf more of the good way which leads to heaven. She made many interesting inquiries respecting the guilt of her ancestors who worshipped idols. On one occasion she closed these by saying, "The great guilt is ours, who know the good way, but do not walk in it." So decided was her stand in favor of Christianity, that she thereby incurred the displeasure of many of the people, and of some of the chiefs. But their opposition, instead of driving her from the ground she had taken, only gave her an opportunity of showing more fully the firmness of her principles, and the strength of her attachment to the Christian cause. Soon after she arrived at Lahaina, a high chief, to whom she was greatly attached, came to her and said, "You study too much; it is not good. You are an oW woman, and it would be well for you to study but little." She re- plied, "I am indeed an old woman, and shall die soon; I must therefore endeavor to learn fast, or I shall die before I obtain the good I seek." The chief replied, "Well, you ought not to build so many houses. You have built two houses for the missionaries and one large meeting- house, and now you are about building a school-house. All this is not well." She answered, "Karaimoku says it is well, and Taua my teacher says it is well, and I am sure it is well." He said, "No, Taua tells you lies; he is a bad man, and you had better send him away." She said, "You are wrong; he is not a bad man; I shall not send him away; he tells me no lies, none at all." 2 14 Memoir of Keopuolani. Soon after this, this same chief proposed that she should send away the missionaries, and give up the whole system of instruction. She replied, "Why? what is the wrong?" He said, "Their iastructions are not good. They bind us too close. They will not permit us to drink rum, or to do as we formerly did. Their instructions are false and bad. Let us do as we formerly did. It does no good to sing and pray. Let us, I say, do as we formerly did, and drink a little rum together." She replied, "Why do you call my foreign teachers bad? They are good men, and I love them. Their religion is good. Our old reli- gion is good for nothing. Their ways are all good, and ours are bad. Are not their instructions the same as for- merly? You then said they were good, and told me I must regard them, and cast away all my old gods. I have done as you said, and 1 am sure I have done well. But you now disregard the new Teligion, and desire me to do the same. But I will not. I will never leave my teach- ers. I will follow their instructions, and you had bet- ter go with me, for I will never again take my dark heart." Soon after this, several chiefs combined to turn her from the course she was pursuing. They said, "We have just learned the truth respecting these new things, about which the missionaries tell us. We find that a part of what they tell us is true. It is well to attend to reading and writing; but prayer, and preaching, and Sabbaths, are of no conse- quence. We have been told, that in India they can read and write very well, and have so much property that all the people in England and America go there after it; and yet they keep their gods of wood and stone just as they always did. Now our advice is, that we attend strictly to reading and writing, but that we give up prayer, preaching and Sabbaths, for these will never increase our riches." Before Keopuolaui gave any answer, she sent for Taua, and inquired respecting India, and then replied; "The people of India are still heathens. They are still in dark- ness of heart as we formerly were. If you wish to keep your dark hearts, and be heathens, and live like the peo- ple of Satan, then live so, and give up the Sabbath and prayer, and when you die go to Satan and the world of misery; but trouble me no longer." Memoir of Kcopuolani. 15 These examples are sufficient to shew with what spirit she resisted the attacks, which were made upon her by those opposed to Christianity. To most religious duties with which she was acquainted, she was particularly attentive. At stated seasons she called on Taua to pray with her; but she desired him always to be near, that she might easily call upon him at other times. Taua has informed us that she spent the greater part of one night in asking him questions, and in prayer. She was at that time particularly anxious, because she thought she did not know how to pray. She said, "I knew very well how to pray to the idols, but how to pray to Jesus Christ, I do not know. You must pray for, me." After he had prayed, she added, "Now tell me about Jesus Christ." He related the particulars of his crucifixion, and as he spake of the nails driven through his hands and feet, she burst into tears, and exclaimed, "Stop, I can hear no more; I and all my people are wicked and cruel like those murderers." Perhaps she in no case manifested a stronger attachment to Christian duties than during a visit to Molokai. While on this visit, she had much to engage her thoughts and occupy her time. Yet this venerable queen regularly re- tired every morning and evening, to offer up her prayer to that God who seeth in secret. On the Sabbath too, she gave evidence that she needed not the example of others to induce her to attend to the duties of the day. In the morning she was in a house with the other chiefs, many of whom were noisy and some intoxicated. She called Taua and said to him, "We are now away from the missionaries, but we must not forget the Sabbath, the day of God. Let us, with some of the people, retire, that we may sing and pray." They then went to a small house at a little distance from the compa- ny, and enjoyed a season of worship there. At evening she said to one of the chiefs, who had disregarded the day, "You and I have each of us our Christian teacher. You formerly told me, that I must observe the new religion, and keep the Sabbath. I have done so, but now you neg- lect it. You do not love prayer; you do not love the good way, nor walk in it. My heart is sorry for you, and on your account I often weep alone." 16 Memoir of Keopuolani. She approved of Christian burial, and was anxious to introduce it among the people. On the death of one of the inmates of Taua's family, she requested Mr. Bingham, then on a visit to Maui, to conduct the funeral service. Dressed in black tapa, and followed by an attendant, bear- ing a black kahili, she herself then attended as a mourner, and appeared peculiarly interested in the exercises. We have already alluded to the circumstance of her erecting a house for the worship of God. This house was dedicated on the 24th of August. Those who then saw her will never forget the expres- sion of her countenance, as she heard the translation of the hymn : ' Blow je the trumpet, blow " The gladly solemn sound," &c. Her conversation and her whole appearance on this day, well became so solemn and interesting an occasion. It was the firs! house ever reared to the praise of Jehovah on the island of Maui, and although Keopuolani little thought that after this day she was no more to worship in the house she had built, yet the joy she manifested, the exertion which she made to understand every word of the sermon, the wishes she expressed to have all her people enlightened in "the good way," conspire to make us feel, that the Lord by his Holy Spirit was fast preparing her for himself. Could she, with a prophetic eye, have looked forward to her end, like the aged Simeon, she doubtless would have said, "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation." This sentiment indeed she often expressed, when speak- ing of the goodness of God in permitting her to live to see his missionaries; often also regretted that they had not arrived earlier. At one time she said, "What a pity it is you did not come in the days of our childhood." From the account already given, it will be seen, that hers was not the religion of a sick-bed merely, nor yet a religion assumed for the sake of gaining popularity. Memoir of Keopuolani. 17 CHAPTER V. Her last sickness Is visited by the missionaries Charge to Karaimoku and Kee- aumoku Her solicitude for her children Charge to the king and her other chil- dren Her dying hope* Desires Christian baptism She is admitted into the visible church Her death Wailinffs Funeral CONCLUSION. Brief notice of Kaahumanu, another pioua queeu of the Sandwich Isiands, who died June 5, Id32. ON the last week in August, Keopuolani began to be seriously affected by a local indisposition, which soon seemed to relax her whole system, and in her view was a premonition of her approaching dissolution. On the first day of September, the chiefs began to collect in conse- quence of her illness. This was agreeable to their uni- versal custom Whenever a high chief is taken ill, although there may be nothing threatening in his illness, all the chiefs assemble from every part of the islands, and wait the result. Thus it was in Keopuolani's sickness. Ves- sels were despatched to the different islands before there was any occasion for alarm. It was not many days, how- ever, before it was seriously apprehended that the disease would prove fatal. On the evening of Tuesday the 8th, the chiefs and peo- ple were suddenly alarmed and supposed her to be dying. The exclamation "Ua make Keopuolani," Dead is Keo- puolani, was to be heard through the village. Although it was late in the evening, a messenger was sent to inform the mission family, several of whom imme- diately repaired to her house expecting to see her die. As soon as she heard the voice of the females, she raised her head a little, and with a pleasant smile reached her hand to them and said "maitai," (good,) intimating that they had done well in coming to see her at that late hour. She added, "I love the Great God," and soon after, "Great is my love to God." She requested that one of the missionaries should stay with her, and Mr. Stewart accordingly spent the night there. In the morning she was a little better, and some hope was entertained that she might recover. By the king's direction, a vessel sailed immediately to Honolula for Dr. Blatchely. Her mind was still active, and the coun- sel and instruction which she gave to those about her, *2 18 Memoir of Keopuolani. shewed that her senses were unimpaired. She manifested a great degree of solicitude for her children, several times calling them to her side and giving them Christian ad- vice. She often conversed with her husband, Hoapili, on the goodness of God in sparing her life to see his servants, to hear his word, and know his Son. In her first interview with Karaimoku, after he came to Lahaina, she said, "Great is my love to the word of God r by which I hope my mind has been enlightened. The word of God is a true word, a good word. Jehovah is a good God. I love him, and love Jesus Christ. I have no desire for the former gods of Hawaii. They are all false- Em I love Jesus Christ. I have given myself to him to be his. When I die, let none of the evil customs of this country be practised at my death.* Let not my body be disturbed. Let not my bones be separated and the flesh taken off, as in the days of dark hearts; but let my body be put in a coffin. Let the teachers attend and speak to the people at my interment. Let me be buried in the ground and let my burial be after the manner of Christ's people. I think very much of my grandfather Taraniopu, my father Kauikeouli, my husband Tamehameha, and all my deceased relations. They lived not to see these good times, and to hear of Jesus Christ. They died without * At the death of chiefs, their bodies were always cut in pieces, the flesh burnt, and the bones preserved. These were committed to the care of some chief, and during his life were venerated, or indeed worshipped. When the chief died who . had the charge of the bones, they were secretly conveyed to some unknown place, and nothing more was heard of them. In some rare cases, however, they were preserved for two generations. The prevalence of this practice accounts for Ke- opuolani's charge respecting her remains. The common people are buried secretly in the night. This practice prevails universally through the islands, except among the few who regard the instiuctioni of the mission. The "evil customs," of which Keopuolani spoke, were of the most criminal kind . It had from time immemorial been the practice, at the death of high chiefs, for all the people to indulge with impunity and without restraint, in every kind of edness. They threw off the little clothing which th had even custom to shield them from the most open wickedness. They threw off the little clothing which they usually wore, and none had even custom to shield them from the most open assault. A man might steal from any place with impunity. Neighbors, who were at enmity, might taka any revenge they could get. It was no crime for a man to burn his neighbor'* house, put out his eyes, take his life, or that of any of his family. Promiscuous lewdness prevailed extensively. Knocking out each other's teeth was a common and almost universal practice, during the days of mourning. But if by any means a man was so fortunate as not to lose any of his teeth, by the violence of another, he would, with a sharp point- ed stone, d'ig them out himself; for it was a disgrace to any man not to lose some teeth at the death of a high chief. In consequence of these customs, there are few men to be found who have not lost some of their fore teeth. Memoir of Keopuolani. 19 knowing Jehovah the true God. They died depending on false gods. I exceedingly mourn and lament on account of them, for they saw not these good times." Soon after she had said this to Karaimoku, she called Keeaumokn, (governor Cox,) and said to him, "When I am dead, let it never be said that I died by poison, by sor- cery, or that I was prayed to death; for it is not so." There was much reason for this charge, because it has been the universal opinion, that chiefs usually died by these means. It has been supposed, that if a priest could by any means obtain the spittle of any person, he could then succeed in praying him to death. For this reason every chief had an attendant following him with a box to receive his spittle, lest a priest should get it and pray him to death. A few days before her death, she called her husband, and said to him, "See that you take good care of Nahie- naena, (her young daughter.) See that she is instructed in reading and writing, that she may learn to love God and Jesus Christ. Do not be weary in your attention to her, for it is a good thing for her to learn the good way. "Take care of my people when I am dead. Be a friend to them, and watch over their interests with compassion- ate regard. After I am dead do not you cast away the word of God, or the Sabbath day. Neglect not prayer, neither cease to love Jehovah, that he may love you, and that we two may meet in heaven. I think a great deal of my sins and of the love of Jesus Christ. He is very kind to me. I hope he will take me to his right hand." This, which took place only two or three days before her death, was nearly the last conversation she had with her husband. The day before her death she conversed with Karaimo- ku respecting her children. She said, "I wish much that my two children Kauikeouli and Nahienaena should know God, should serve him, and be instructed in Chris- tianity. I wish you to take care of these my two children. See that they walk in the right way. Counsel them. Let them not associate with bad companions." She then added, "And do you not neglect praying to God. Cease not to regard the Sabbath. Commit no sin, and love Jesus Christ, that we two may meet in heaven." 20 Memoir of Keopuolani. In the same interview, Karaimoku inquired of her, if she did not wish to be baptized, like the people of Jesus Christ. She said, "I do very much wish to have water sprinkled on me in the name of God before 1 die. I have already given myself to Jesus Christ. I am his. I love him, and I much wish to be like his people, and to be baptized in his good name before I die." Soon after this interview with Karaimoku, she called the king and her other two children, and all the chiefs, and said to them, "I am now about to die. I shall leave my children, my people, and these lands, and I wish now to give you my last charge." She then turned to the king and said, "I wish you after my death to be a friend to all the friends of your father, and to all my friends. Take care of these lands which you have received from your father. Exercise a tender care over the people. Protect the missionaries, and be kind to them.. Walk in the straight path. Keep the Sab- bath. Serve God. Love him, and love Jesus Christ. At- tend also to the word of God, that you may be happy, and that we two may meet in heaven. If you see any of the people going wrong, take care to lead them in the right way, but I entreat you not to follow them in the bad way, when your mother is gone." She then turned to the chiefs and said, "Watch over the king my son. Exercise a guardian care over him. But particularly 1 wish you to watch over my two younger children. See that they are brought up in the right way, that they are instructed in reading, that they keep the Sab- bath day, that they both love God and pray to him. Pro- tect the teachers who have come to this land of dark hearts. Attend to their instructions. Cease not to keep the commandments of God, to love him, to obey his word, to regard the Sabbath and all the means of instruction, and do not neglect prayer to God. He is a good God. Our former gods were false, but he is the God by whom we may all live forever in heaven, I love Jesus Christ. I hope he has loved me, and that he will receive me." This was not her last charge, although when she gave it, she supposed it would be. On the morning of the day on which she died, Taua her teacher desired to converse with her, but the people Memoir of Keopuolani. 21 and some of the chiefs were much opposed to it, and were so angry with him for attempting it, that he went and called Auna his associate. Auna said, "We must not be afraid. We must talk with her now, or not at all, for we shall never have another opportunity." They then pressed through the crowd of chiefs, and took their seats beside Keopuolani. Auna said to her, "How do you feel, as you are about leaving the world?" She answered, "I remember what my teachers told me. I pray much to Jesus Christ to be with me and take me to himself. I am now about to leave my three children, my people, and my teachers. But it is not dark now. It would have been, had I died before these good times. You must pray for me/ and all the missionaries must pray for me. I love you. I love them. I think I love Jesus Christ, and I trust he will receive me." At this time, Messrs. Stewart and Richards were with- out an interpreter, a circumstance peculiarly trying. They were unable to converse with her, or learn any of her feel- ings, except what they could collect from the few words they understood. They thought that she was a fit subject for baptism, but they were unwilling to administer that ordinance, without an interpreter, or some means of com- municating either with her, or with the people, on so in- teresting an occasion. They were also hoping that one of the missionaries would arrive from Honolulu in season to administer that holy ordinance. This hope was not entirely disappointed, for early in the day in which she died, Mr. and Mrs. Ellis and Mr. Ruggles arrived. Her wish to be baptized was immediately communicated by the chiefs to Mr. Ellis. After consultation, the mission family repaired to the spot for the purpose of witnessing the administration of the ordinance. When they arrived, they found her so weak, that they said to the chiefs, "Per- haps it is not best she should be baptized." The king, in a most expressive tone, replied, "Why, what is the harm?" He afterwards said, "I know that this is only an external sign, but my mother gave herself away to Jesus Christ before her sickness, and now, because she is about to die, do you refuse to sprinkle water upon her in the name of God?" 22 Memoir of Keopuolani. Although they were well aware that it was too late for her to receive any personal benefit from baptism, yet, as they felt there was no impropriety in administering it, they concluded to comply with the earnest solicitations of the king and chiefs. While waiting for the necessary prepar- ations, there was a sudden change in her appearance, and many thought her dying. Her husband, and some of the other chiefs, immediately set up a loud wailing, and were instantly joined by the thousands about the house, all of whom supposed, from the lamentations which they heard, that she was dead. Those, however, who sat round her couch, said, she is not dead, and requested the missionaries present not to leave the house. It was also announced to those without, that she was still alive, when their wailings, and the irregularities which some had com- menced, ceased. As soon as all was still again, orders were given to the people by the king and Karaimoku to abstain from every kind of irregularity whenever she should die. They were told, too, that Keopuolani had expressly forbidden it. Af- ter this she revived a little, and the request that she should be baptized was renewed. Mr. Ellis made an address on the subject of baptism, in which he stated the ground on which it was administered to Keopuolani. He also told what was necessary, in or- der to the proper reception of it; and then he administered the ordinance. Although there were others who gave evidence of piety earlier than Keopuolani did, yet no one had ever yet been baptized; so that Keopuolani may be called the first fruits of the mission. The king and all the heads of the nation listened with the most profound attention, and when they saw that water was sprinkled on her in the name of God, they said, "Surely she is no longer ours, she has given her- self to Jesus Christ. We believe she is his, and will go to dwell with him." This was done at five o'clock in the afternoon of the 16th of September 1823, and an hour afterwards the Hawaiian convert fell asleep. The king had previously inquired whether it was wrong to weep. Being told that it was not, he, with all the chiefs. Memoir of Keopuolani. 23 joined in the loudest wail ings. These did not entirely cease till after the funeral ceremonies. The principal chiefs desired to have morning and evening prayers in their several houses; and in time of prayer all was still within the house, though out of doors the wailing contin- ued. For two days there was scarcely a sound to be heard in Lahaina, but the most deafening wailings and the most bitter lamentations. "Keopuolani was a mother to every body ! We have all lost a mother !" were exclamations constantly ringing through the settlement. The people collected from every part of Maui to join their tears and cries. Sometimes whole districts were seen walking in single file, in most perfect silence, till they came within about a hundred rods of the corpse, when the whole company at the same instant commenced their mournful cries. On the morning after her death, we were awakened by the firing of minute guns, from the vessels in the roads. These were continued at regular intervals, during the day. The vessels also hung their colors at half mast. A flag staff was erected in front of the house where Keopuolani died, on which the national banner was displayed. The chiefs wished the funeral to be conducted accord- ing to Christian custom. The number of people about the house did not in the least diminish, but rather increased until after her remains were deposited. Kuakini arrived from Hawaii in the afternoon, and his meeting with the other chiefs it is impossible to describe. On the morning of the 18th, a bell was brought from one of the king's vessels, and hung beside the chapel, for the purpose of giving notice of the funeral. As the house was not sufficiently large to contain the people, it was thought advisable that the funeral service should be attended under a cluster of beautiful Kou trees, where worship had usually been attended previous to the erection of the building. A convenient platform was pre- pared for the speaker, on which was placed a table, and chairs for the missionaries. The circle was formed so large, that it contained the corpse on the bier in the cen- tre, the bearers, pall-bearers, mourners, all the chiefs, missionaries, and respectable foreigners, surrounding the 24 Memoir of Keopuolani. corpse. All who were within the circle were respectably dressed, and nearly all wore some badge of mourning. It was computed, that there were present at least three, per- haps five thousand people ; and during the religious ser- vices, they ceased their wailing. Mr. Ellis preached from Rev. xiv, 13. "Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord." The people were attentive, and the chiefs listened with signs of deep interest. After service, a procession was formed, the prince and princess, and Hoapili and the king, taking the lead as mourners, and after them the chiefs according to their rank. The procession was led by the foreigners who were present, next to whom followed the missionaries in mourn- ing dresses, and directly preceding the corpse were the favorite attend ants of the deceased. Following the chiefs was a large train of their attendants. All in the pro- cession, amounting to about- four hundred, were dressed in European style, except a few who fell in the rear after the procession first moved. The path was thronged on every side, by thousands of the people, who had never witnessed any thing of the kind before. Minute guns were fired from the ships in the roads, and the bell continued tolling until the corpse was deposited in the place prepared for it, which was a new house built of stone and cemented with mud, designed as a tomb for the chiefs. During the whole time the most perfect order was preserved, and we were reminded of the similar pro- cessions, which we had frequently witnessed in the land of our "Fathers' Sepulchres." Temporary dwellings were immediately erected by the chiefs around the house where she was laid, and in them they resided for several weeks, as a testimony of their af- fection for the deceased. They spent much of their time in conversing about their departed chief, and the charges she had given them during her last sickness. Whenever any persons arrived from any part of the islands, they went and seated themselves beside her tomb, and there indulged in grief and lamentation. Notwithstanding all the charges which she gave, and all the light which has been communicated by the missiona- ries, there are many superstitions prevailing respecting her. Some of the people assert, and appear to believe, Memoir of Keopuolani. 26 that she has not gone to heaven, saying that her soul has been seen by many of the people living on her land. Near- ly all the chiefs, however, seemed to believe, that she was a child of God, and lives in heaven. Thus ended the life of the Hawaiian convert, and thus terminated the ceremonies attending her death and burial. We wish all who read these memoirs of Keopuolani to call to mind, that she was once a heathen; a heathen, too, who was satisfied with the system of idolatry, notwith- standing all its horrors. It was for her that the altar was once stained with the blood of human sacrifices, and had she and her people remained unenlightened, the same mur- derous altar would doubtless have been stained again at her last sickness. Let the reader contrast these two periods of Keopuolani's life. Let him remember, too, that it was the benevolence of Christians that took away the sting of death, and opened to her the gate of heaven. Oh that we could speak to the readers of this tract with Keopuolani's voice, or inspire them with her feelings, when she said, "It is not dark now: it would have been, had I died before these good times." Let the friends and supporters of missions to the heathen, into whose hands this short narrative may fall, call to mind that their offerings furnished a part of that light, which shone around her path to the grave, and dispelled the darkness which would otherwise have hung overi . Let him, who thinks that the heathen will never be con- verted, tell, if he can, why other heathen cannot be con- verted, as well as the highest chief upon the Sandwich Islands. Yes, the heathen can be converted. Some of them have been, and all will be, turned unto God. "Yea, all kings shall fall down before Him, all nations shall serve Him." May all who read of Keopuolani be encouraged to new and vigorous exertions in that work, which, though great and difficult, will, through the aid of our Almighty Helper, purely result in the universal triumph of the gospel, 3 36 Brief Notice of Kaahwnanu. BRIEF NOTICE OF KAAHUMANU, ANOTHER PIOUS dUEEN OT THE SANDWICH ISLANDS, WHO DIED JUNE 5, 1832. Kaahumanu was another of the wives of the celebrated Tameharaeha, and, after the decease of his son Rihoriho, became regent of the Islands. She possessed naturally great firmness and independence of mind, and no small share of pride. Several years before her death, she yield- ed herself to the influence of the gospel, and a surprising change appeared in her character. She became an ardent friend of the mission, and thenceforward aimed steadily at the improvement of her people. The following account of her last days, is taken from a letter of Mr. Bingham, written immediately after her de- Kaahnmanu had been unwell for some time, bnt in the latter part of May her illness began to assume a more alarming char- acter, and she appeared to give up the expectation of recovery, and calmly engaged in settling her affairs. She called the king to her and gave him her kawtha (charge,) which is of the nature of a last will. She then chose to be removed from her house at Honolulu, to her house where she had frequently lodged, in the beaulifal, and perhaps more healthful, valley of Manoa, and was carried on her bed upon men's shoulders, having a covering ingeniously raised over it, to shield her from the sun. She appeared to be as com- fortable while moving gently along in this manner the distance of four or five miles, as when on her couch at home. Dr. Judd and myself accompanied her. She halted at a charming spring about half way, and took some refreshment; appeared calm, butfeeble; seemed to be retiring voluntarily from this world of care and sorrow. From lime to time as we visited her, she expressed her confidence in Christ, and represented herself as having an unshaken reliance on him, as her friend and Savior. For several days after her arrival at Manoa, we cherished the hope that she would still recover. She had often been ill, and very ill, and the Lord had raised her up again; and though we had many fears, we hoped he would now. But her work was done, and the hour of her departure drew near. She bore her pains with patience, and without murmuring; took the medicines prescribed for her, with promptness; manifested no anx- iety about recovery, or remaining longer in the world. She was tenderly affectionate towards her friends around her, and seemed grateful for their attentions. The chiefs were sent for, who all gathered around her, and the house was filled with interest- ed attendants from day to day. Dr. and Mrs. Judd and Dr. and Mrs. Chapin spent some days with her, and felt it a privilege to be near her, and to do what could be done for her. Most of the mis- great book Brief Notice of Kaaliumanu. 27 ionaries, both of this station and other stations, visited bet in these trying hours. She regarded them all with great kindness. She had built a house near her own, in a grove of ohia and kukui trees, for their accommodation, when they wished to breathe the pure air of the mountains. From the lime Mrs. B. and myself got access to her on her sick bed, in the early part of our labors here, and from the time she laid aside her cards, and accepted of an elementary tract from my hands, she seems to have cherished a great friendship to- wards me, which continued till the end. On the third instant, Sabbath night, about midnight Dr. Judd sent down to me to say he thought her dying. 1 hastened to Manoa, and remained there till the fifth. She was very low, and evidently sinking. She, always appeared grateful for copies of any part of the Scrip- tures, and until she became too low to read, spent much time in reading the different portions of the New Testament, as they were from lime to time issued from the press, since the publication of the gospel of Luke four years ago. Since her sickness commenced, the New Testament has*been completed in the langungepf the county I hastened to get an entire copy of it bound for her (in red mo- rocco) by the assistance of Mr. Goodrich, and sent it to her by the hand of Dr. Judd. She took the sacred volume in her hands with eat interest, turned it over and over to assure herself of what it contained, and though she could no longer read, looked at it again and again, both inside and out. pronounced it emphatically "maitai," [excellent], wrapped it carefully in her handkerchief, laid it upon her grateful bosom, gently cbisped her hands over it, and looked upwards as if she had received the precious boon as a pass- port to glry. Evidences of her Christian character seemed to brighten still in this furnace, and some of the foreign residents, who before had thought rather lightly of her conversion to Christianity, now became convinced that it was real and genuine. She would attend with apparent pleasure to the reading of the Scriptures, and to prayer, when in great distress. On the night of UK> 4th, when we sat round her thinking that she was near her journey's end, she said, (perhaps in reference to what she had not long before heard read in the first part of the 14lh chap- ter of John, and partly perhaps in reference to a royal custom of Sandwich Islands rulers of sitting out on a journey "when a new house was completed for them in some distant part of their territo- ries), "The way that I am going the house is prepared send the thoughts thither with rejoicing." This she pronounced with pecu- liar emphasis. Soon after, in a distressed turn, I said to her, "This perhaps is your departure; *tay yourself on Jesus; he is your Phy- sician, your Helper, your Savior; trust in him." She signified her Unchanged confidence; but said to me, "Perhaps you are tired of me.' : '-Oh no," I replied, "we wish you to stay with us; in that we should rejoice; but we think the Lord will soon lake you away from us." She said, "1 will go to him, and shall be comforted." She was quite sensible, retaining her reason till ihe last. Just before the power of speech failed, inconsiderable distress she repeated two lines of a favorite hyrnn, "Here am I now, oh Jesui, Oh smile upon me now." 28 Brief Notice of Kaahumanti. These lines, with their connection, shew how her thoughts were running, and the penitent, humble, believing posture, which, with their context, they exhibit. They may be translated those "Now will I go to Jesus, My Lord, who pitied me, And t big feet lie prostrate, For there I cannot die, Here am I now, O Jesus, Oh smile upon me now, But if tor sin I perish, Still righteous is thy law." Towards the dawn of the fiRh instant, (June), perceiving herself to be expiring, she called for me. I was quickly by her side, and as I took hf r cold hand in mine, she turned her languid eyes upon me for the last time, and said "1 am going now;" and said no more. I returned a tender aloha, and bade her "Go in peace, leaning on your Savior, and dwell with him forever may he re- ceive your soul;" then gently closed her eyes, as her breath, fainter and fainter, ceased, and she fell asleep, to awake, we trust, in Jesus, in the morning of the resurrection. The king, Nahienaena, Adams, Hoapiliwahine, Kinau, Kekau- luohe, and many others, wept over their beloved friend, as she rest- ed from her labors here below. After a prayer was offered, she was immediately removed to Honolulu, much in the same manner as she had been carried to Manoa. This afternoon her remains were attended by a long procession, of residents, missionaries, relatives and other chiefs, members of the churches, and others of the people, from her house to the church, where it fell to my lot to preach her funeral sermon. As the foun- dation, I chose the triumphant language of Paul who has gone be- fore her to glory. "1 have fought a good fight, 1 have finished my course, I have kept the faith; henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day, and not to me only, but to all them also that love his appearing." The solemn lolling of the bell struck on the ear as it has never done before in the Sandwich Islands. We feel her loss; and (hough her removal is believed to be gain to her, all classes of people that know her, will feel that her departure is a loss to the nation in gen- eral, and to the missionary cause in particular. The Lord has done what pleased him, and we can trust in him still. In a decent coffin, covered with crimson velvet, and brass orna- ments, having her name, and age [otf] marked upon the lid, we have deposited her remains in the tomb erected for the royal family, there to rest till the archangel's trump shall wake the dead, while we are allowed the consolation to hope that her spirit is permitted to join with Obukaiah, Keopuolani, Karaimoku, and Opii,and Evarts, and Worcester, and Paul, and David, and Moses, and Abraham and all the spiritual children of Abraham above, in celebrating the praises of redeeming love. MISSIONARY PAPER, NO. 13. ON DECIDING EARLY TO BECOME A MIS- SIONARY TO THE HEATHEN. THE object of this paper is, to assign reasons in favor of the following proposition, viz: That every student, looking forward to the f acred ministry, should decide EARLY, in view of e: i sting circumstances, whether duty requires him to become a missionary to the heathen. I have my mind upon a current maxim, which has de- prived the heathen world, I fear, of many excellent mis- sionaries. The maxim is this "That it is better to delay deciding on our personal duty to the heathen, till near the close of our studies preparatory to the ministry." The reasons for such a delay are plausible. The student will be older his judgment more matured his mind better informed the whole case more completely before him* My appeal, however, is to facts. For ten years and more, I have watched the operation of this maxim, and I am sure that its influence is, to prevent a thorough and impartial examination. The procrastination which it requires, becomes a habit, and is usually too long per- sisted in. The "more convenient season" for investiga- tion, is generally allowed to pass by. Engagements are formed, rendering the case more complicated; solicita- tions and inducements to remain at home, multiply; the natural love of one's own country grows stronger and stronger; the early predilection for the missionary life, if there had been one, wears away; the cries of the hea- 2 On Deciding Early to become then, and their distress, move with less and less power, and the man remains at home: not as the result of any vigorous exercise of the understanding upon the question of duty, but because he decided to postpone consideration upon it till he was about to launch into the world, and then surrendered himself passively to the control of cir- cumstances. This is not the way to learn our duty on the momentous question. Where is the field and the icork, to which the Holy Ghost hath called me? And what inquiry is there, which can be more important than this to our growth in grace, and to our happiness and usefulness in future life? And what more directly connected with the sentence to be passed upon us, at the great day, as the stewards of Christ? Next to the relation which we sustain to the Lord Jesus, there is nothing we are more interested to know, as his ministers, than where he would have us spend our lives; where the field is, which he commands MS to cultivate; and where the Holy Ghost, the Comforter, will complacently regard our residence, and delight to bless our exertions and alleviate our trials. Is there not a foundation for solicitude on this point?, Can it be a matter of perfect indifference to the Head of the church, where we preach, provided only we are diligent, and preach the truth? It was not so in respect to the Apos- tles;* nor is it so now. Mistakes on this subject, when committed needlessly, much more when committed be- cause we will not consider, must have a very serious bear- ing upon us as ministers of the gospel. The proposition is, that we should begin to look early at this question, with reference to the claims of the hea- then world upon us, and that we should decide it early, in view of existing circumstances. An unconditional de- cision is not desired. Such an one is indeed forbidden by the word of God, in reference to all our future meas- ures. We must say, "If the Lord will we shall live, and do this or that." The decision should be in view of things as they now appear, and with an understanding that the grounds of it hall be occasionally revised cer- * Acts xiii, 2; xvi, 10. a Missionary to the ffeatken. 3 tainly as often as there is a manifest change in our cir- cumstances. And is it not true, that however late the decision is made, it must still be conditional? It is not necessary that the resolution to spend life among the heathen should be unconditional, in order to insure the advantages to be mentioned in the sequel as resulting from its being made early. It is formed with reference to the Lord's will. As that will is now indi- cated, the determination is unreserved and decisive. No sooner is it formed, than a mission to the heathen world stands. up before the mind as the great, paramount duty of life. The command to "preach the gospel to every creature," comes to us with a distinct specification of the unevangelized world as our field; and we res.t in this de- cision, till unanticipated, unsought-for events change the grounds of our decision, -and call for reconsideration, and perhaps a reversal. Some may ask, 'Why decide early upon the claims of the heathen world, and not also decide early upon the relative claims of the different parts of our own country?' And truly I see no objection to deciding upon them too, whenever the duty can be made clear. This latter ques- tion, however, is not one of so easy solution at an early period of our preparatory studies, as the other. The relative necessities, and of course the claims, of some parts of our country, are rapidly changing: and there is not such a broad distinction existing between any of them, as is found on comparing our own country with the heathen world. Moreover, the difference between paro- chial life in our northern and middle States, arid that of a missionary in our western settlements, is not of so serious a nature, as that which distinguishes a foreign from a domestic mission. The labors of a foreign missionary, and his exposures and hardships, may not be greater than those of a missionary in our new settlements; and, in many instances, there may be less of travel, and more of the conveniences of life. But the sorest trials of a mis- sionary, whether he be foreign or domestic, are those which chiefly concern the spirit; and this is pre-eminently true of him, whose dwelling and labors are in the midst of a heathen people. He is peculiarly insulated from the 4 On Deciding Early to become religious world from society congenial to a man who has been nurtured in a civilized community from that sym- pathetic, companionable intercourse, which ministers in this country may soon find almost everywhere. And even when God blesses the labors of a foreign missionary, and multiplies converts among the heathen around him, though this must be a source of unspeakable joy, those converts do not rise so high on the scale of intelligence, but that they are still far below him in almost all that constitutes a foundation for free and familiar intercourse between mind and mind. They are children emphati- cally babes in Christ. The limits of this article do not allow me to illustrate the numerous other points of difference. Some of them are sufficiently obvious. It is a serious matter to leave one's friends and country for life, and spend that life amid the darkness and pollution of heathenism. The question whether we shall remove far to the west, and preach the gospel there, and raise up families there, where the wave of civilization will inevitably overtake its in a feio years, is nothing, in comparison with the other; much less is that, whether we shall build up waste places surrounded by the institutions and privileges of our older States. The way is now prepared for stating some of the prin- cipal reasons in favor of an early decision of the ques- tion, whether we ought to become missionaries to the heathen. 1. In college, and sometimes in the academy, the student may enjoy nearly or quite all the helps in forming a de- cision, that he willjind in the theological seminary. With a little pains he may have access to all the important books, and to intelligent and discreet advisers, and may gain all the essential information respecting the moral condition of the world. There is tiot a principal, and there is scarcely a fact, bearing on the case, of which he may not obtain as full possession before, as after, he enters the theological seminary. What need, then, of delay? Is the student competent to decide the momentous question, whether he ought to be a minister of Christ, and yet, with the data all before him, can he not deter- a Missionary to the Heathen. 5 mine whether it be lawful for him to devote himself to the service of Christ in heathen lands? Indeed, I believe the student may not only. ascertain his personal duty to the heathen at an early period of his education, but that he may then ascertain it with com- parative ease, being, in some respects, more favorably situated for deciding correctly, than at the more advano- ed periods. The subject is really very simple; and it is most apt to appear so to the student while his position is remote from the world. He, too, is then more entirely uncommitted; and his views of the comparative claims of the heathen world upon himself, will be more likely to accord with what is the actual fact, than in the later stages. Hence the reason why you find a greater pro- portion of pious students beginning to prepare for the ministry with some special reference to a mission in hea- then lands, than you see entering the field of foreign missions. , : , : ,. 2. An early decision is desirable in reference to its bearing on the mind and conscience , of the student. Whether he desires to make advances in learning, or grace, he should aim to preserve a tranqnil mind. He should have as few unsettled and perplexing questions of duty as possible. He should endeavor always to preserve peace of conscience, that he may have joy in the Holy Ghost. When cases of conscience arise, and demand a settlement, he should endeavor to settle them thoroughly and speedily. He must either do this, or else do violence to his moral nature; and if the case be one of importance and of frequent recurrence, he must either determine it, or submit to the alternative of suffering much inquietude, and of weakening his conscience, if not all his mental powers. Now it is true of some institutions of learning, with which, I am acquainted, that duty to the heathen early becomes in them a serious question of conscience. In several theological seminaries, it is among the first and most solemn inquiries, of a prospective nature, excit- ed in the minds of students newly entered. And as the cause of missions advances, the members of all our semi- naries will find it more and more difficult to avoid com- ing to a speedy decision; and their interest, as well as 1* 6 On Deciding Early to become duty, in such cases, will obviously be to make up their minds with as little delay as possible. The only way in which they will be able to avoid meeting the subject, will be to place themselves in the attitude of resistance to the light, and to be less active in promoting the cause of Christ, than they otherwise might be and thus greatly retard their growth in grace, and their preparation for usefulness. The wisest course for them will be that de- scribed in the proposition I am endeavoring to establish. Let the inquiry come up early in the seminary, if it has not been settled before; or, what is better still, let it come up in the college; let it be met with a cheerful determina- tion to examine into its merits; let the only question be, "Where will the Lord have me go, when my preparations for the ministry are completed?" And let the decision be formed in view of the existing indications of Providence. Whenever these indications.' materially change, or when the mind is led to regard them in new lights, then let the student inquire how his relations to the heathen world are affected by the change. Thus the mind will be preserved from useless and worse than useless agitation, and will always be cheerfully advancing with a definite object in view. 3. A student who decides early to devote himself to the cause of foreign missions, will be more useful to that cause during his studies preparatory to the ministry, than he otherwise would be. Indeed, should he, after a con- scientious examination of the subject, decide that it is his duty to go on a domestic mission, or to settle near his pa- ternal home, I should expect him to be more active and efficient in "the cause of foreign missions, than while he holds his mind in suspense. What I wish to see is, an early investigation and decision no halting between two opinions no shrinking from this great question of duty. But, if a man is led by his views of duty heartily to con- secrate himself to the work of evangelizing the heathen, such a man begins immediately to think, with a special interest, how he may increase the number of missionaries, and the means of sending them forth, and how the deep intellectual and moral gloom resting upon the heathert world may be dispelled. There is no estimating how de- a Missionary to the Heathen. 7 sirable it is that every college and seminary in the land have such men among its students. What may not a man devoted to missions do in the seven or eight years of his preparatory studies? The greater part of the influence, which Samuel J. Mills exerted directly upon foreign mis- sions, and which has given him an imperishable name in our churches, he exerted while in the college and semi- nary. He decided on his duty to the heathen before en- tering college imparted the noble design, which the Spirit of God had implanted in his own bosom, to the kindred minds of Hall and Richards, whose dust now rests beneath the sods of India and, after seeking divine direction many times on the banks of the Hoosack , form- ed a society, in which the members pledged themselves to effect, in their own persons, a mission among the heathen. Here was the germ of our foreign missions, and it was the fruit of an early decision. Had Mills, and Hall, and Richards, and Fisk, and others who might be named, de- ferred all consideration of the subject till they were on< the point of entering the ministry, what a loss would the cause have sustained! And what good will be prevented, if the maxim, controverted in this paper, becomes a com- mon law of duty to our pious students! Every man has a circle of friends of greater or less extent, and an early decision to be a missionary gives him time and power to exert a salutary influence upon them. If he is a man of the right character and spirit, his influence will increase from year to year, and he may often effect as much for the cause, during the last two or three years of his residence in his own country, as in the first three or foiir of his la- bors among the heathen. Where we especially need the influence of such men, however, is in our public institu- tions of learning. Men in these institutions, wtio are not themselves, decided to be missionaries, will rarely make rigorous attempts to persuade others to devote themselves to a foreign mission; and if they do make an effort, in public addresses to their fellow-students, while they are themselves generally supposed not to have given the sub- ject a thorough investigation in regard to their own duty, (as I have sometimes known to be the ease,) the effect is anything but that which they aim to produce. But a 8 On Deciding Early to become man, who has given himself to this work, and is sincere- ly devoted, heartly interested, discreetly zealous, and properly qualified, may almost certainly increase the num- ber of missionaries. And those, to whose direction mis- sions among the heathen are especially committed, need such co-workers in all our colleges and religious semi- naries. 4. An early decision in favor of becoming a missionary to the heathen, makes a man more courageous and cheerful when in the field of missions. I believe this is the general experience of those missionaries, who came to their de- cision early, of whom the number is considerable. By long anticipation, they had become in a manner familiar- ized with the missionary life before they entered upon it. Its peculiar trials were in some good degree understood, and the mind and heart acquires a sort of assimilation to the missionary work. This lightened the shock, which must always be felt on transferring our residence from a civilized and Christian land to one that is heathen and barbarous. The disgusting manners of the people, their sottish ignorance, their deep degradation, and their hor- rid rites, had been contemplated for years, and again and again had the work been chosen with these things all in view. And when, after long and laborious toil, the ob- stinacy of the heathen still seemed unbroken, and success delayed, causing the spirits to flag, and faith sometimes to tremble; the mind was not invaded and harassed by misgivings on the subject of duty, as might have been the case had not the subject, for a course of years before en- tering the heathen world, often been carried to the throne of grace, and considered in all its bearings in the light of God's word. These seasons are recollected in days of adversity, and are as anchors to the soul. "It looks dark," the missionary says to himself, "but here is the field of my duty. I am where I ought to be, and God will not forsake me." He had long before taken time to lay a broad and deep foundation, and his superstructure stands. He went to the heathen from no sudden impulse of pas- sion, but from a long revolved conviction of duty, to which the feelings of his heart and the habits of his mind gradually came into sweet subserviency. Till that con- a Missionary to the Heathen. 9 viction is destroyed, he will find delight in his work, and on the whole, will be contented and happy. To have this conviction 1 of duty well rooted in the mind, when the mis- sionary is in the midst of disheartening trials with few outward supports, is of itself a sufficient reason for begin- ning early to look seriously at the subject, and, indeed, for looking at it with reference to a speedy decision; for, whoever commences an inquiry with a determination to hold his mind in suspense whatever may be the merits of the case, will certainly be superficial in his examina- tion. 5. An early consecration to the missionary work wilt render a man more efficient and useful as a missionary. It will do this for the reasons mentioned under the pre- ceding head; and also, by the attainments it will lead him to make with particular reference to a mission, while acquiring his education,' and by the effect-it will be likely to exert on his intellectual and moral character. What- ever increases a man's courage and cheeriulness in the performance of the missionary work, increases his use- fulness. The fact of having come to an early decision, and of having had the work long before the mind, may sometimes be the very thing, which God employs to sus- tain a missionary under sharp adversity, and prevent his sinking in despondency and leaving the field. Besides, he who has had the missionary iife in view through nearly the whole course of his education, will necessarily ac- quire a great number of principles and facts and consider- ations, which would probably be overlooked by scholars having in view only the common circumstances and du- ties of pastoral life, and which, in thousands of instances, will be of use to him. These peculiar acquisitions are auch as may be made, and ought to be made, without neg- lecting any of the studies required in the collegiate and theological course. So far as I have y'et learned, all those studies are as important for the missionary, as they are for the minister at home; and there is this additional rea- son why the candidate for a mission should give them thorough attention, that it is almost certain he will have, little opportunity to revise them after he has entered the- field of his labors. 10 On Deciding Early to become In addition to the peculiar acquisitions just now men- tioned which will bear some proportion to the length of time between the forming of the decision and the depar- ture on a mission there will be an important influence exerted upon all the other acquisitions, vyith direct refer- ence to the missionary work. The degree of this influence must of course vary in different men Where there is that intense interest in the cause of missions, which is desirable in all who aspire to a mission among the hea- then, the mind will make all its acquisitions under the influence of this ruling passion. It is easy to find illus- trations of this principle. The student who has given his soul to medicine, or the law, digests and secretes his learning (so to speak) according to the laws of the pro- fession he has taken. The mere divine, makes every thing bear upon natural and revealed religion. He who, like Payson, has consecrated every faculty to the high endeavor of drawing sinners to Christ, converts every thing into .argument to flee from the wrath to come. So he who has devoted himself to the enterprise of impart- ing the knowledge and blessings of the gospel to the hear then world, makes his acquisitions, and associates and stores them in the mind, with reference to that object. Ideas of all sorts, as they enter his mind, are marshalled and trained for the spiritual and holy wars of foreign con- quests. I cannot conceive of a more desirable influence: nor can I help regretting that it cannot always be felt through the whole course of that man's education, who is destined to become a missionary in pagan lands. I shall not do justice to this subject, unless I mention the influence which an early decision to be a missionary may be expected to have upon the heart. Let it be re- membered, that I am'not speaking of a devotion to the cause in which the affections of the heart are imperfectly enlisted; but of a devotion in which they are all active. The decision, which is the ground of all my illustrations, is formed no less by the heart, than by the judgment. The whole soul chooses, and chooses cordially and joyfully. I wish not to speak of this particular exercise of Christian duty so as to, excite spiritual pride in those who have de- termined to be missionaries. Let such as have been led to a Missionary to the Heathen. 11 resolve on proclaiming their Savior's love to nations that never heard the glad tidings, give Him the glory, and wonder that they should be sent on an errand which angels from heaven would rejoice to perform. It is ob- vious, however, that next to the determination which gave the soul to God, the decision to devote one's life to preaching the gospel to the heathen, must be the most important of those voluntary acts, which the grace of God employs to set the soul at liberty from the enchantments of the world. At God's command, the man resolves, like Abraham, to go out from his own country, probably with- out knowing where, and to become a stranger and pilgrim on the earth. He chooses a course of living for his whole earthly existence, which, if he has just notions of it, can appear desirable and tolerable only as the soul is ani- mated and sustained by the faith that "overcometh the world." Such a choice, sincerely and understand ingly made, must exert a great influence on the heart; for the influence of it must reach every earthly thing, and tend strongly to shut the world out from the affections, and to open the soul to the afflatidns of the Spirit. From the moment, too, in which a man forms this decision, he realizes, more aflfectingly than perhaps he otherwise could do, the relations he sustains, as a disciple of Christ, to the world of souls in pagan darkness. They are brought nearer, and seem more like neighbors and kinsmen. The motives, which act on his benevolent regards, are increased prodigiously in magnitude and power. Numbers, extension, variety, all lay siege to his heart with mighty force. Six hundred millions of men, living in a moral gloom as dark as midnight; and this vast multitude spread over three- fourths of the world found in all climes exhibiting every painful variety of human condition and character going from this state of probation at the rate of a million and a half a month, and in thirty years all gone! What affecting, what overwhelming objects of contemplation to any pious man; but peculiarly so to him, who has chosen his earthly home among those very millions. Let the decision, then, be formed early, that such contemplations may exert their influence on the heart for a longer time, rousing its sensibilities into habitual activity, and impart- 12 On Deciding Early to become ing comprehensiveness and efficiency to its desires. This will be a qualification of a high order for a mission to the unevangelized world. 6. An early decision to be a missionary, will be no disadvantage to a man, who is providentially prevented from becoming one. It will rather be aii advantage. Some of the most devoted ministers in our churches, once had a foreign mission in view for a considerable period of time. They did not go, because unforeseen and unavoidable occurrences prevented, making it neces- sary for them to remain in their own country. They lost no character by so doing, because it was manifestly their duty to relinquish their purpose. Neither did the "God of all grace" forsake them. They were enabled to carry their missionary fervor into their parishes. They remem- bered the heathen themselves, and suffered not their peo- ple to forget them. The acquisitions they had made in missionary history, while looking forward to a mission, and the habits they then acquired of reading, remember- ing, and communicating missionary intelligence, laid a foundation for their usefulness as pastors in a most impor- tant, but much neglected, department of ministerial duty. Their monthly concerts were not suffered to become lifeless and unedifying. Those occasions were embraced for opening the volume of Gad's providence, which is full of matter. At any rate, the habits acquired, and the at- tainments commonly made, by persons who, for several years, have a mission constantly in view, must be exceed- ingly favorable to the performance of this and other kin- dred duties of a parish minister. Nor will it be any disadvantage to the parish minister to have cherished for years a spirit of self-denying enter- prise, with reference to a mission in remote and bar- barous countries. He will be none the less faithful as a preacher; none the less active and enterprising as a pas- tor; none the less alive to the calls of Christian charity; none the less "a workman that needeth not to be asham- ed, rightly dividing" to every one, and to every object of pastoral duty, "the word of truth." 7. An early and serious consideration of this subject, with a view to a speedy decision, either that it is or is not a Missionary to the Heathen. 13 our duty to become missionaries, with an occasional recon- sideration of the subject, is the most liki-ly way of avoid- ing mistakes in regard to our proper sphere of labor. I repeat what I have already said, that it is of the greatest importance to us to be in that field in which God would have us he. And there will be many seasons, in the course of o;ir lives, when it will support us exceedingly to be in possession of ample and clear evidence, that such is the fact. How, then, shall we avoid mistakes in the se- lection of this field, and how shall we acquire this evi- dence? Shall we do it, by delaying all serious thought on the subject, till we have so little time left us, and so many applications from different quarters, as to create a feverish anxiety in the mind? Shall we do it, when, im- mediately after our decision is made, we are under the necessity of committing ourselves, either by accepting or refusing an appointment from some church or benevolent society? And can we do it, if we postpone all thorough investigation till the close of our preparatory studies, and then, at the last, yield without much reflection, to the force of any current that happens to strike us? Certain it is, that not so many have gone to the heathen, as ought to have gone, and therefore some must have mistaken the field of their duty! How desirable that they had examin- ed more thoroughly, and reflected more profoundly! Had they pursued the course recommended in this article, they could scarcely have fallen into such an error. And who- ever cornes to the question early, with a sincere desire to know arid do his duty, and with fervent prayer for divine guidance; and decides early, with an humble reference to the divine will, and occasionally reconsiders the grounds of his decision; and habitually cherishes a be- nevolent and obedient spirit will be likely to understand where the 'Head of the church requires him to exercise his ministry. In concluding this nrticle, I ask, Whether there are not many, well qualified to be missionaries, who have more fear lest they should go without being sent, than they have lest they shall stay at home when they are com- manded to go? To them I would put the question, Whether the greatest danger is not the other way? Does 2 14 On Deciding Early to become not the tide of feeling, in the great body of our pious stu- dents, set against the life of a foreign missionary? Far be it from me to intimate, that there is no danger of a man's mistaking the field of his duty when he decides to become a missionary. Such mistakes have been commit- ted, and have had a most unhappy influence; and the inquiry should be approached with a godly jealousy of our motives, and with humble prayer for the illumina- tions of the Spirit. But I insist that, taking into view the whole body of young men preparing for the ministry, the paramount danger is, that a man will give undue force to the reasons in favor of spending his life in his own country. And now, what is it that I ask? Not that a man should become a foreign missionary; not that he should decide in favor of becoming one; but that he should look the question of his duty in the face, and look at it early in his education, and look at it with the determination to discover his duty if possible, and to do his duty.* Is there any danger in this course? And is there any man, so destitute of moral courage and of the spirit of obe- dience to Christ, that he shrinks from this inquiry? Are you afraid that you shall be told to proclaim to the hea- then the unsearchable riches of Christ? Consider well what you do. You have consecrated yourself to the Lord Jesus, and have solemnly engaged to do his will, and you will gain nothing by a neglect of your duty. No path will be so good for you as that wherever it may lead which your divine master shall prescribe. Nowhere else will you be so respectable, and happy, and useful; nowhere else will you find so much joy in God a hope so full of immortality. Stray from that path, and you are on forbidden ground. You may avoid the wilderness and many a rugged steep, but must not expect God to accompany you, unless it be with the rod of rebuke. You need have no fear whatever of this question. If it shall be your duty to leave your country and the charms of cultivated and Christian society, and you resolve to do * As an excellent help in relation to this subject, I recommend a work lately republished in this country, entitled, "Swan's Letters ou Missions:" indeed it should not fail of being attentively perused. a Missionary to the Heathen. 15 so, you will have grace imparted to make the sacrifice with cheerfulness. He who commands you to go, engages to go \\ith you; and he will go with you, and will give you "manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting." Should friends object to a man's devoting himself to a foreign mission, let him bring all their objections to the light of God's word; and if they will not bear that light, he must not allow them to have any weight in de- termining the merits of the case; but if they will bear the light, they are among the facts which he is seriously to consider. The probability or improbability that the churches will furnish the requisite means of sending him' forth, need not come into the inquiry. I am not aware that any man, well qualified for missionary service, has ever yet been rejected because there were not the pecuniary means for supporting him among the heathen. I trust this never will be necessary. The disposition of the churches to make pecuniary contributions to the mis- sionary cause, will generally be greater or less, very much in proportion to the number of suitable men who are pressing into the field. When a decision is formed to become a missionary, the proper course to pursue in relation to it is, neither to take pains to conceal it, nor to make it known. If a man is under the guidance of humble benevolence, with his selfish desires subdued by love to Christ and to souls redeemed by the blood of Christ, he will be in little dan- ger of ostentation, and need not fear the consequences of having it known that he is aspiring to the missionary office, even should he afterwards find that his duty re- quires him to remain at home. A sincere regard for duty, and a resolute pursuit of it, are far less apt to be in- jurious to a man's usefulness, than is a timorous shrink- ing from responsibility when duty calls. 16 On becoming a missionary. EXTRACT FROM SWAN S LETTERS ON MISSIONS "I am clearly of opinion that many individuals, ministers, students, and private members of churches of various ranks who are staying at home, ought "to forsake all" and follow Christ as preachers of the gospel to the poor dying heathen. This is an awfully serious subject. It involves nothing less, so far as human agents are concerned, than the question, whether these millions upon millions of idol- aters shall live and die, 'without Christ and without hope in the world,' or whether 'they shall hear the gospel, and believe and be saved?' O what a tremendous responsibility rests with them who have the bread of life! I make no allusion to individuals. I have no particular body of Christians in my eye. But I cannot help thinking that I see in this want of real, practical, effective concern for the souls of perishing men this want of zeal in spread- ing the: gospel among the heathen ONE reason why the faithful preaching of it is so little blessed at home. Is there not room to suspect that God may be looking with a frown instead of a smile upon the labors of a man, who, faith full v as he may be preaching the gospel to a congre- gation of professed Christians, is hiding in a corner among them the talent that might have told with effect against the fabric of heathen idolatry? Is there not rea- son to suspect that hi may here find the secret cause of his laboring from Sabbath to Sabbath, and from year to year, without seeing much, if any, actual fruit of his la- bors? Is there not reason to suspect that the church, sit- ting under its own vine and fig-tree, but, after the exam- ple of ils pastor, little caring for others, should have little of the presence of God in their souls and little manifesta- tion of his blessing among them as a body? 'There is that scnttereth, and yet increaseih; and there is that with- holdeth more than is meet, and it tendeth to poverty.' If they concern not themselves about sending food to them that are perishing of hunger, is it to be wondered at if God command the clouds that they rain no rain upon their vineyard; and that he withholds his blessing both from their basket and their store?" MISSIOITARTT PAPEH, NO. 14, THE SPIRIT OF PRIMITIVE CHRISTIANITY. [The following sermon was preached by the late Rev. SAMUEL MCNSON, missionary of ihe Board to the Indian Archipelago, jusl before his embarka- tion, June, 1833. His short missionary career was a more full exemplifica- tion, ihan has, perhaps, before occurred in ihe history of modern missions, of the privations, hardships, and perils, which were encountered by primitive Christian missionaries and martyrs.] ACTS viii. 4. " Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word." THE gospel originated in heaven. Its purity of pre- cept, its sublimity of doctrines, and its adaptedness to the wants of man, all bespeak infinite wisdom and benevo- lence. There is in it a singleness of purpose, a confi- dence of hope, a strength of obligation, a compass of motive, and a richness of reward, whiph will ever remain unparalleled. It cannot be denied that the influence of the gospel on the Christian character at the present day, is but too im- perfectly marked. There is a lamentable discrepancy between Christian faith and practice. The motives and obligations of the gospel are comparatively powerless, and the most solemn professions seem to be words almost des- titute of meaning. This inconsistency of character is a stumbling-block to unbelievers, and a reproach to the cause of God. It is the poison in which infidelity has dipped its deadliest arrows. But the church has cause for everlasting gratitude, that the power of the gospel has been tested in a thousand instances. Its power to reform the heart, to elevate the affections, to inspire hope, and to control the strongest and noblest feelings of the soul has been established by the living and dying testimony of a " cloud of witnesses." 1 2 The Spirit of Primitive Christianity. The disciples of Christ have proved beyond controversy, that the love of God is the strongest passion that ever took possession of the human bosom. In proof of these state- ments. I make my appeal to facts. What was it that influenced primitive Christians " to go every where preaching the word ? " What was that living, thrilling principle within them, which, like the visions of the prophet, seemed to be a " fire shut up in the bones?" What inspired them with fortitude to preach the word in season and out of season in weariness and painfulness in hunger and thirst in cold and nakedness ? What armed them with courage to stand up in defence of the truth before governors and kings, when they were despised and hated of all men on account of it ? What enabled them to receive with cheerfulness the " spoiling of their goods," and the loss of reputation, to meet with com- posure the tortures of the rack, the gloom of a dungeon, and the fires of the stake ? The answer is simple. It was the power of the gospel. What moved Stephen to bear witness to the truth at the expense of his life ? What constrained Paul, amidst the sorest trials, to journey and preach the word through the Roman empire ? What stirred his masterly spirit as he stood on Mars Hill and witnessed the idolatries of Athens ? What moved him to go up to Jerusalem when he was assured that bonds, imprisonment, and death awaited him ? The answer is perfectly plain. It was the power of the gospel. It was the spirit of the gospel reno- vating and commanding the strongest feelings of the heart, moving all the moral sensibility, and resolving every motive, desire, and purpose into one, viz. the glory of God and the salvation of man. The Holy Spirit descended on the apostles and the churches planted by them, and inspired them with invin- cible fortitude to go wheiever misery existed and human happiness could be promoted ; and prompted them to put forth a series of efforts, such as the world had never before witnessed. This spirit, which was a plant of celestial origin, could survive, while the church was active in her appropriate work ; it could flourish when she was trodden down beneath the fiercest persecution ; but it withered before her listless inactivity. Though it has slumbered for ages, The Spirit of Primitive Christianity. 3 some faint glimmerings of the same heavenly disposition are to be seen in the zealous, systematic efforts of benevolence at the present day. True its name is different ; but its nature is unchanged. It possesses the same all-inspiring energies as it did 1800 years ago. If it could then hurry the devoted martyr to the place of execution, it will now constrain a man to forsake all for Christ ; to encounter hardships and privations ; and amidst the most appalling discouragements to hold on with untiring courage until death. Let a man be under the influence of this spirit, and wherever he may be stationed, whether abroad or at home, he will feel a resistless impulse within, constraining him to act. He will feel compelled to adopt the broad maxim, " what ought to be done can be done," he will " attempt great things, and expect great things." In the prosecution of this subject, I propose to give a brief outline of the obstacles encountered ; the labors and sufferings endured; and the success of primitive Christians in preaching the word. I. The opposition encountered by primitive Christians in preaching the icord. One of the most prominent sources of opposition which I shall mention, was Paganism. Nearly all the nations among whom the apostles and their immediate successors preached the gospel were sub- jects of the Roman empire ; and with the Romans pagan- ism was the established religion. What paganism might have been in the early stages of its existence, I know not; but it had been so modified by the corrupt inclinations of men, as exactly to correspond to the feelings of the unre- newed heart. Not a passion could rankle in the human bosom, but that some were found to patronize it. Not a crime could be committed, even of the blackest character, but that some divinity had before been guilty of the same. Those who trembled at the sanctions of paganism could purchase indulgence with sacrifice ; and those who did not, could give loose reins to passion without fear of retri- bution. Its ceremonies were interwoven with the most flagitious practices. The drunkard, the glutton, and the prostitute alike found a sanctuary for crime within its consecrated temples. 4 The Spirit of Primitive Christianity. Considered as a whole, it was a system of the basest accommodation. No adequate conception of the opposition which such a system would exert to the spread of the gos- pel, can be formed from paganism as it exists at the pre- sent day. It is now a cripple, tottering with the infirmities of age ; it was then a giant, armed with the vigor of me- ridian manhood. It was not merely an alliance of " church and state," but an actual incorporation of paganism into the civil constitution. There was, therefore, the jealousy of civil rulers, the fierce opposition of pagan priests, the contempt of philosophers to whom the gospel paid no defer- ence, the superstitious attachment of the common people to the religion of their fathers, and the criminal passions of men, to which the gospel would give no license, all united in one solid phalanx to bid defiance to the efforts of the Christian missionary. To overthrow such a system, upheld as it was by prejudices, passions, and worldly in- terests, and introduce in its Stead the stern and unyielding doctrines of the gospel, and that too, in the face of an enemy whose prohibitions were sanctioned by death, was an enterprise of no ordinary hazard. Jewish infidelity was another serious obstacle to the progress of Christianity. By revealing a resurrection, the gospel incurred the hatred of the sceptical Sadducee. By enjoining humility as a practical precept, it roused the indignation of the sanctimonious Pharisee. By placing all nations on a level, it wounded the pride of the apostate Jew, and disturbed his idle dreams of national aggran- dizement. Christianity had, therefore, nothing to expect from them, but the most settled opposition. Accordingly every exertion put forth by" Christ and his apostles for eleven years, to purify the Jewish church, and to avert the national calamities that threatened, was rewarded in full measure with stripes, imprisonment, and death. Justin Martyr informs us that they actually sent out an antichristian mission into all the surrounding nations, declaring that an atheistical heresy had been excited by Jesus, a Galilean impostor, whom they had crucified, but that his disciples stole him by night from the tomb, and deceived mankind with the fiction, that he had risen from the dead and ascended into heaven. So true was it that they would neither enter the kingdom of heaven, themselves, nor suffer those who were entering to go in. The Spirit of Primitive Christianity. 5 Such were some of the obstacles amidst which the early propagators of Christianity went forth to announce to the world the glad tidings of salvation. II. The second point to which I would direct your attention is, The zeal of primitive Christians in preaching the word. It is much to be regretted that the first century fur- nished no faithful historian to record the labors and triumphs of the church. For at least a hundred years, during the most interesting struggle of Christianity with paganism, the history of the church, as it respects her internal operations, is buried in oblivion. The few frag- ments that remain give but an imperfect idea of the form and power of primitive godliness, as it was then exhibited in the lives of its professors. To gather the true spirit of Christianity, as it then existed, from what it appears to be at the present day, would be to learn the splendors of the sun from the glimmerings of a taper. Primitive Christians labored and prayed and preached the word from the overflowings of a full heart. They planned and executed with the promptness and sincerity of dying men. They evinced by their conduct that their souls were roused up to an enterprise of daring, in the execution of which all sacrifices, whether of property, reputation, or life, dwindled into insignificance. One distinguishing trait in the character of primitive Christians was, Their indifference to the luxuries of life. Says a Christian Father, and I doubt not he spoke the sentiments of the whole church, "Will not a table contain our food unless its legs be ivory? Certain it is that a lamp made by a potter will give light as well as if it were the work of a silversmith. "Our blessed Lord ate his food from a common dish. He sat upon, the ground and washed his disciples' feet without a silver basin. Nay, he quenched his thirst from the earthen pitcher of a poor Samaritan; and are we better than he? Is this part of his example of no binding obligation ? Could he wander about, not having where to lay his head, and cannot we live without a splendid mansion and costly furniture?" Says another, "The believer who is satisfied with the supply of his necessary wants, lives little less than the life 6 The Spirit of Primitive Cliristianity. of angels; for while he is contented with little, he imitates their want of nothing." " We are commanded," he continues, " to pray for our daily bread not for riches and delicacies not for splendid garments and golden ornaments not for silken carpets and great possessions ; but for bread" in other words for the common necessaries of life. This habitual temperance did not result from frequent and urgent calls for means to spread the gospel ; but from enlightened views of Christian duty. The injunctions of holy writ, " Lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth," "Let not a man be greedy of filthy lucre," "Let women adorn themselves in modest apparel," they understood literally. They felt that such precepts imposed a binding obligation on every conscience. Another trait of character no less conspicuous than that already mentioned was, Their readiness to suffer in defense of the truth. This point can best be illustrated by facts. The public meetings of the church at Edessa were prohibited on pain of death, by a royal edict. Disregarding the prohibition, they continued to assemble as usual. When the governor was ordered to go with his guards and execute the threat, on his way, he was overtaken by a woman hurrying for- ward with the utmost expedition. He inquired where she was going 1 ? She replied, 'To the assembly of the Chris- tians. 1 ' But did you not know that they are devoted to immediate death?' 'I well know it,' she replied, 'and I was hurrying thither lest I should be too late!' We are told of forty Christians at Sabastia, in Armenia, who were condemned by the governor to be exposed naked to the frosts of winter. Before the execution of the sen- tence he attempted to bribe them to deny Christ, by the offer of immense fortunes. But they calmly told him that he had laid his snares at the wrong door for them ; that he could not bestow what he attempted to take away. While suffering under their extreme tortures, they cheered each other by balancing their present pains with their future hopes. " Is the frost cold and bitter," said they, " the rest that remaineth is sweet and pleasant. Let us hold out a little longer and Abraham's bosom will refresh" us. We shall exchange this one night of suffering for an TJic Spirit of Primitive Christianity. 7 eternal age of happiness. 'Tis but the fesh that suffers, let us not spare it, let us die that we may live." Christians of both sexes, and of all ages, from the child who could only say, " 1 am a Christian," to the man of gray hairs, went cheerfully to the stake and sealed their testimony with their blood. It was their constant intercourse with heaven, their sterling piety, that sustained them in these appalling moments of suffering and trial. Says one, " they continually kept company with dying thoughts, and lived within prospect of eternity." " They well knew that the more haste their enemies made to break open the prisons of their bodies, the sooner would their redeemed spirits be at liberty to mount upward to regions of blessedness and immortality." So ready were they to bear public testimony to the truth and excellency of their religion, that they wearied the patience and sated the vengeance of their persecutors. Hear the confession of a heathen magistrate on this point. Says the president of Palestine, in his relation to the Roman emperor of his proceedings against the Christians, "I am quite tired out in punishing and destroying the Galileans; and yet they cease not to offer themselves to be slain. Nay, though I have labored both by promises and threatenings to make them conceal themselves from being known as Christians, yet I cannot save them from death. For when interro- gated, they will still answer, 'I am a Christian.' " When Antonius, proconsul of Asia, had commenced a furious persecution, the Christians collected in one vast body and presented themselves at his tribunal, and so con- fused was the wretched man, when he heard them freely confess Christ, and calmly submit themselves to the ex- ecutioner, that he ceased from his infernal purpose of extermination. With hopes full of immortality, how could they deny their Master? What were tortures and death, when ail heaven invited them and waited their approach ? How could they deny him who had purchased them with his own blood? How dare they deny him, when the terrible denunciation was ringing in their ears, " Who- soever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father who is in heaven." Says Tertullian, in his apology addressed to the Roman 8 The Spirit of Primitive Christianity. emperor, "We say we are Christians; and we say it to the whole world under the hand of the executioner. In the midst of all the tortures you can heap upon us, to make us recant, torn and mangled and covered with our own blood, we still cry out as loud as we are able, ' We are Christians.' Let your tormenting irons tear our flesh, your gibbets exalt us, and your fire lick up our blood, a Christian on his knees in prayer to God is in a posture of defense against all the evils you can heap upon him, " Call us what names you please, fill our flesh with fag- gots to set us on fire; yet let me tell you, that when we are thus begirt and dressed about with fire, we are in our most illustrious apparel. These are our victorious palms and robes of glory; and mounted on our funeral pile, we feel ourselves as in a triumphal chariot. We conquer when we die; and the spoils of that victory is eternal life. Go on, therefore, and do your worst. Rack your inventions in torturing Christians; it is all to no purpose. Every device of your inhuman policy does but promote our religion. The faster you throw us down, the thicker we shall rise. The Christian blood, which yon pour out like water, is like seed sown upon the earth ; it brings forth a hundred fold. What you reproach in us as stubbornness, is the best means of proselyting the world. For who has not been struck at the sight of our fortitude ; and from thence pushed on to look into the reason of it? And whoever looked well into our religion but that embraced it? and whoever embraced it, but that was willing to die for it?" Such was the challenge of a Christian Father living in daily expectation of martyrdom. A graphic description of the scenes of a persecution and of the indignities suffered by the Christians, may be found in an epistle from the churches at Lyons and Vienna, in Gaul, addressed to their brethren in Asia. " The grand enemy," say they, "assaulted us with all his might. Christians were absolutely prohibited from ap- pearing in any house except their own, in baths, in the market, or in any public place. But the grace of God fought for us, preserving the weak and exposing the strong, who like pillars were able to withstand them in patience. The first trial was from the people at large; threats, blows, - the dragging of their bodies, the plundering of their goods, and all the indignities which could be offered by a fierce The Spirit of Primitive Christianity. 9 and outrageous multitude. The martyrs being apprehended and brought before the tribunal, discharged their part with all alacrity of mind, while they sustained tortures which exceed the power of description. The whole fury of the multitude, the governor, and soldiers was spent in a par- ticular manner on Sanctus'our deacon, and on Maturus, a late convert indeed, but a magnanimous wrestler in spiritual things ; and on Attalus a man who had ever been a pillar and supporter of our church ; and lastly on Blandina, of whom even her enemies confessed that no woman had ever suffered so mueh. " Some young persons, whose bodies had not been exercised with suffering, unequal to the severity of the confinement, died. " Pothinus, the bishop, upwards of ninety years of age, and very infirm, yet strong in spirit, and panting 'after martyrdom, was dragged before the tribunal, treated with the greatest indignity, and thrown into prison, where after two days he expired." The same letter informs us that the bodies of the mar- tyrs, after being exposed for six days, were reduced to ashes, and scattered by the heathen into the Rhone, that they might prevent their resurrection, and thus destroy in others the hope of a future life. Rut blessed be God, they could not destroy that hope, which like a ministering angel hovered over the expiring martyr in his departing moments. The pratings of philosophy could not drown the voice of that faith which discovered to him visions of approaching glory, and caused him to exclaim from the scaffold and the stake, " Come, Lord Jesus, come, quickly." Thousands thus perished, whose names are buried in oblivion. No stone marks the place of their repose ; no epitaph tells the story of their sufferings. Yettheir names and their deeds are registered in heaven ; and they will be known in- the day of final accounts. In the persecution under Domitian, which happened about A. D. 94, it is believed that not less than 40,000 perished by the most excruciating tortures. And let it here be remembered that these were the choicest sons and daughters of the church, singled out by their peculiar zeal and activity as the fittest victims of popular fury. Yet before the close of the first century converts were gathered in out of almost every nation in the known world i 10 The Spirit of Primitive Christianity. and churches were planted from Hindoostan to Gaul. The stated means of grace were established, and an army of missionaries were raised up, who were waging an exter- minating war against the criminal passions of men and the abominations of idolatry. In the tenth persecution which took place under Dio- clesian, when God in his wise providence had heated the furnace seven fold, the church was reduced to the last extremity. By an edict of the emperor, the heathen magistrates, like so many hungry wolves, were let loose upon the defenceless lambs. The scene that ensued no tongue can describe. Some were pent up in their own houses and perished beneath their ruins. Others were buried, drowned in the sea, burned at the stake, or in a red hot iron chair. Others were hung up by the feet over a slow fire ; they were crucified, beheaded, sawn asunder. No less than 17,000 perished in a single month. In Egypt alone, 150,000 suffered martyrdom; beside 700,000 others who came to their end in banishment, or at the public works. The streets were literally wet with the blood of the Galileans, while every city, town, and hamlet rung with the shouts of persecuting pagans, and the songs and accla- mations of expiring Christians. " From torturing pains to endless joys, on fiery wheels they rode." Yet this sacrifice of a million of her chosen sons, this awful havoc, at which humanity shudders and the heart sickens and turns away in horror, was just at the dawn of the brightest morning the church ever saw. It was the rising of a glorious sun, which nothing but her own crim- inal delinquency could ever obscure. If we would see Christianity in all its glory, we have only to contemplate a primitive disciple in the character of a Christian philan- thropist. We are accustomed to call that age blessed, which pro- duces one such man as Howard or Brainerd. But in the age we now contemplate, every man who bore the Chris- tian name possessed the philanthropy of a Howard, united to the piety of a Brainerd. When the grand enterprise required the sacrifice of all that was dear, whether of property, reputation, or life, that requisition was promptly and manfully answered. " Their divine Master had before established this high The Spirit of Primitive Christianity. 1 1 standard of action both by precept and example. He it was who taught them to esteem all the sacrifices they could make as far inferior to the promotion of his king- dom, as the interests of time are beneath those of eternity. On this high and noble principle did they habitually act. Though they went forth like sheep in the midst of wolves, yet they possessed a magnanimity and elevation of soul that raised them far above the fear of personal danger or personal suffering. I would not say that their minds were always strained up to this pitch of intensity. No, they were nun ; and as such, they were liable to be sub- jected to misgivings and disappointment. Doubtless there were seasons when they longed to finish their work and be away. When persecuted and troubled on every side, and hunted by violence from the abodes of men, no won- der if they looked wishfully towards that better country, " where the wicked cease from troubling and the weary are at rest." Yet, their lives corresponded with their high profession. They knew no other standard of effort or sacrifice than that established by their divine Redeemer. They fixed their eye habitually on the highest standard by which human actions can be governed. They were con- sequently " a city set on a hill " a great light hung up in mid-heaven. III. Thirdly, the success of primitive Christians in preaching the word. On this point, time will permit me to remark but briefly. About the beginning of the second century, Pliny, gov- ernor of Bithynia, assures the emperor that Christians had become so numerous in his province as to call for serious and well devised measures for their suppression. Justin, forty years after, informs us that converts had been gath- ered in by the apostles and their successors out of every nation in the'known world. Tertullian, who wrote at the commencement of the third century, says the common cry was, " The city, town, and country are overrun with Christians." Addressing himself to the heathen rulers, he says, " Your cities, towns, camps, and assemblies all swarm with Christians ; and if we should but remove from your empire, you would be struck dumb at the general silence as if the world had departed." Following the church 12 The Spirit of Primitive Christianity. down 100 years further, and calamitous as the event proved, we find her actually putting on the royal purple, and sitting down on the throne. We find that gigantic power, that would long before have blotted out her very name from the earth, had not God been her helper, now arrayed to demolish the kingdom of darkness. Heathen temples were every where leveled to the ground ; their idols were cast out and trampled urrder foot, and an army of pagan priests who had been active in persecuting the Christians, now stripped of their honors and emoluments, and dispersed or sent into banishment. Splendid Christian temples were erected, and every office was filled by a professed follower of Christ. Thus in 300 years, did the disciples of Christ preach the gospel throughout the 120,000,000 embraced within the Roman empire. Yes, to their honor, and to the glory of infinite grace, let it be said that a handful of disciples under God, disarmed and -subjugated a nation that had conquered the world { The application of this subject is easy. From the brief view that has been given, it is not difficult to see how primitive Christians understood the precepts of the gospel. To renounce the world and embrace the Saviour, was to give up all for him. It was nothing less, than a literal and entire devotedness of time, talents, property, reputa- tion, and life to the promotion of his kingdom. In this surrender there could be no reserve. El ad they said, " We can give up our property to be confiscated, we can bear reproach or pine in a dungeon ; but we are unwilling to lay down our lives," How would such a profession have been considered by the church ? How would the Lord Jesus have looked on it? Not as obedience, but rebellion; not as fidelity, but the basest treachery. But if such were the requirements of the gospel eighteen hundred years ago, are they not the same at the present day 7 If so, are not the men of this generation under obligations to put forth as vigorous efforts, and make as great sacrifices in spreading the gospel, as did primitive Christians 1 Surely there are no intimations that the terms of discipleship have been changed. If Jesus Christ once exacted this of his followers he will require it of them down to the end of time. But hear the terms of discipleship from the The Spirit of Primitive Christianity. 13 Saviour's own mouth. Says he, to his early followers, and through them to all succeeding generations, " If any man come to me, and hate not his father and mother, and wife and children, brethren and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple." But what is the meaning of this unequivocal declaration? It is plainly that a man must love Christ and his cause, more than every other object, or all other objects put together ; and he must manifest that by his actions, or he cannot be Christ's dis- ciple. Take now this standard and go through the church of God, trying every professed Christian, and how many true disciples will be found ? Where are the men who evince by their conduct such strong attachment to Christ and his cause ? Where is that zeal, that devotedness, and that energy of Christian character, which were once the crown and beauty of the church ? The fact is well known, that at least 20,000,000 of heathen annually close up their earthly career, and pass on to their final account, cheered by no brighter prospects than that of entering upon a mis- erable eternity. From year to year does this tide of deso- lation roll on, with scarce a single barrier to stay its fear- ful progress. If any are convinced of the folly of heathen- ism, they know of no city of refuge, they have heard of no ark of safety. They can only stretch out their hands and implore the bread of life, with all the importunity which the direst necessities can inspire. But what are the followers of Christ doing to answer these large demands upon their sympathies and efforts ? Are they standing with their loins girded up, holding themselves, their talents, and their property at the disposal of their Master? Do they feel their personal responsibility? Are they willing to make any sacrifice, even of life itself, that can promote the salvation of men ? In short, are they living up to the primitive standard of self-denial ? Perhaps it will be said, that the conversion of the world does not now require such sacrifices as were made by the early propagators of Christianity. This may be true ; yet it is equally certain that an amount of labor and sacrifice is required in the conversion of the nations, to which the church is manifestly unwilling to submit. Are the few hundreds that have been sent to the heathen, all that can be spared from her ranks? Is the work of evangelizing the nations moving onward with all possible rapidity ? Is 2 14 The Spirit of Primitive Christianity. this all that Jesus Christ has reason to expect ? Is it all that primitive zeal and devotedness would accomplish with the wealth, the numbers, and the talents of the American churches ? But I will not push these inquiries. The value of the undying soul, and the obligations which Christianity imposes, are the same now as they were 1800 years ago. Impelled by a sense of duty, primitive Christians could search out every corner of the Roman empire, they could penetrate into India into the land of our fathers, and among the barbarous nations of the east ; they could spare no labor and no sufferings in scattering the bread of life among their fellow men, while we, heirs of the same promises and bound by the same obligations, hoping at last to sit down with them in the kingdom of our common Father, can calmly remain in our own beloved native land, and hear the Macedonian cry without emotion. They could sacrifice their all, and count it but dross, if they could be the means of saving a soul, while the utmost stretch of our benevolence is measured by a few dollars. And whence this amazing difference ? Such is the progress of our efforts, that it will require a thousand years to do what primitive zeal would enable us to accomplish in a hundred. Yet the opinion is prevalent in the church, especially among those who are putting scarcely a finger to the work, that the millennium cannot be far distant, while they seem to feel wholly unconscious that they have any part to act in achieving this grand revolution. But are they not expecting more than facts will war- rant ? Is not that a dead faith which is not followed by corresponding effort ? The truth is, the church are expecting more than primi- tive success, while they are falling infinitely below the primitive standard of action. They are " expecting great things," while they are not " attempting great things," and are doing comparatively nothing. It is true that the church is not called to brave the fires of persecution ; but she is called by the providence of God, and the command of her Saviour to accomplish a work scarcely less extensive or difficult than that assigned to primitive believers. * Note. 15 Their manners and institutions need not be adopted, but more of their spirit she must have, or she is un- done ! NOTE. RET. SAMUEL MUNSON, the author of the foregoing appeal, accompa- nied by the REV. HENRY LYMAN and their wives, embarked at Boston, June 10th. 1833, for Batavia. These brethren expected to remain at Bata- via Such a length of lime as might be necessary for the purpose of preparing themselves most advantageously for exploring the islands of the Indian Archipelago, especially the Malayan group ; which, in accordance with their own inclinations, they were instructed to make their first object of missionary labor. The end to be accomplished was to obtain and present to the Christian community more full and definite information respecting this large and almost wholly neglected porti6n of the heathen world; and also to ascertain where there were important posts which might be occupied by other missionaries, who might afterwards be sent into that quarter of the world. They arrived at Batavia on the 30th of the following September, where they remained till April of the next year, when they commenced their travels, going first to Padang, on the southwest coast of Sumatra, where they arrived on the 26ih. Early in Way they proceeded to the Batoo group of islands, exploring Niyas and some others ; and thence reached Tapanooly, a lown of Sumatra, about half way from Padang to fhe northern point of the island. After remaining at Tapanooly about a week, making inquiries respecting the Battas, (who bccupy the interior of the island, north of that place,) and preparing for their journey, they de- parted on the 23d of June. Having travelled on foot five days, across mountains and ravines, and a country very sparsely inhabited, they came to a log fort, and before they could have liroe to make known their character or object, they were surrounded by two hundred armed Baltas, wlio rushed upon them and soon shot Mr. Lyman with a musket, and thrust Mr. Munson through with a spear. One of the attendants also was killed. The others fled and reached Tapanooly, and made report of the distressing event. Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles gives the following account of the Battas "The Baltas are an extensive and populous nation, occupying the whole of that part of the island lying between Acheen and Menangkabu, [em- bracing nearly half the island,] reaching to both the shores. The coast is but thinly inhabited, but in the interior the people are said to be 'as thick as the leaves of the forest ; ' perhaps the whole nation may amount to be- tween one and two millions of souls. They have a regular government, deliberative assemblies, and are great orators ; nearly the whole of them 16 Note. write, and they possess a language and a written character peculiar to themselves. In Iheir language and terms, as well as in some of their laws and usages, the influence of Hindooism may be traced; but they have also a religion peculiar to themsdves; they acknowledge the one and only great God, under the title of Uibala Assi Assi. They are warlike, extremely fair and honorable in all their dealings, most deliberate in all their proceedings; their country is highly cultivated, and crimes are few." With these indications of civil and intellectual improvement, the Battas, according to the same author, exhibit some of the worst characteristics of unmitigated barbarism. They are cannibals even the laws of their country enjoin it upon them, in the case of four crimes at least, to devour the flesh of the criminals, and to dispose of prisoners taken in important wars, in the same manner. The law does not permit them to wail till they have put a period to the life of the victim. This, however, is said to be seldom, if ever done to gratify private malice or revenge ; and in the case of criminals, the awful punishment is never inflicted until after a regular trial has been held, evidence produced, and the sentence publicly pronounced by the constituted authorities. It is said that the people prefer human flesh to an} 1 other; and that formerly this savage practice was much more prevalent than now, so that the lives of nearly all the old people were terminated in this manner. Sir Stamford Raffles, in 1820, estimated the number of persons annually eaten, in time of peace, at from sixty to one hundred. He still speaks of the people as being honest and honorable, and as possessing many virtues. Messrs. Burton and Evans, missionaries of the English Baptist Society, settled in Sumatra in the year 1820, and the former look up his residence at Tapanooly, in the Batta country. They were afterwards reinforced by Mr. Ward, from the same society. He wiib Mr. Burton penetrated far into the interior, intending tc reach lake Tobah, but this, owing to the sickness of one of their number, they did not accomplish. Mr. Burton and his wife subsequently settled among the Battas, was well received, established schools, and the people seemed gladly to avail them- selves of the means of instruction thus offered. Alter laboring some years he was cut off by disease. No missionary is known to have since gone among them. Does not Christian enterprise demand that other missionaries should with- out delay follow in the steps of these brethren who laid down their lives for Christ's sake ; and carry that gospel which is so powerful to enlighten, humanize, and purify the mind, to a people professing so many interesting traits of character, but deformed with so much barbarity and guilt ? MISSIONARY PAPER, NO. 2O. MISSIONARY SCHOOLS. (Bj one of the SecreUrie. of the American Board of Commlwionen for Foreign Mission..) IT is thought by some, that modern missionaries among the heathen give too much attention to schools, and that they do this at the expense of time which ought to be devoted to the preaching of the gospel. There may have been something to justify this opinion in a few of the missions, especially in their earlier stages. In general, however, the impression is probably a mistaken one. Missionaries among the heathen will bear comparison, in respect to the frequency of their preaching, with the more zealous among the pastors at home. Still it is admitted, that schools constitute a prominent part of the system of modern missions, and that there is no evidence of their having formed any part of the mis- sions prosecuted by the apostles. The inquiry therefore is very natural and proper, Why this departure from apostolical usage 1 To this inquiry it is the object of this paper to furnish a reply. Our first inquiry will be into the extent of territory embraced by the apostolical missions. The inspired history gives no information that the apostles and 'their companions extended their personal labors beyond the Roman empire. Fabricius has col- lected from the New Testament the names of all the places there mentioned, at which they planted churches, some forty or fifty in number; and also the names of the different countries which they are said to have visited.* These countries were Judea, Syria, Asia Minor, Macedo- * Fabricii Lux Evan, exoriens, etc. p. 83. No. 20. 1 2 Missionary Schools. nia, Illyricum, Greece, Italy, and the islands of Cyprus and Crete, with several others of less note. Mesopotamia should probably be added, on the strength of 1 Pet. v. 13. All the principal districts or provinces of Asia Minor are named in the Acts of the Apostles. The parts of Arabia in which Paul spent several years, are supposed to have been adjacent to Damascus, and within the modern Syria; and there is no evidence in Scripture that this apostle actually made his contemplated journey into Spain. The whole territory, therefore, traversed by the apostolical missionaries, so far as the Scriptures inform us, was within the Roman empire, and formed but a part of it ; and, so far as territory is concerned, but little more than was afterwards governed by the eastern or Byzantine empe- rors.* If we inquire what further light ecclesiastical history throws on this subject, we shall not be able greatly to extend the travels and labors of the apostles. Mosheim gives it as the result of his researches, that "the stories often told respecting their travels among the Gauls, the Britons, the Spaniards, the Germans, the Americans, the Chinese, the Indians, and the Russians, are too recent and fantastic to be received by an inquisitive lover of the truth." "A great part of these fabulous stories," he con- tinues, " were got up after the days of Charlemagne ; when most of the Christian churches contended as vehe- mently about the antiquity of their origin, as ever the Arcadians, Egyptians and Greeks did." Dr. Murdock, the American translator of Mosheim, believes chiefly in view of the authorities quoted by Fabricius that Peter, after preaching long in Judea and other parts of Syria, probably visited Babylon, Asia Minor, and finally Rome ; that Paul, after his captivity, visited Judea, Asia Minor and Greece, and returned to Rome, but did not proceed further westward than Italy ; that John, after remaining many years in Judea, removed to Ephesus, where, except- ing the time of his banishment to Patmos, he remained till his death ; that James the younger (the elder James was put to death by Herod) spent his life in Judea; and that Andrew probably labored on the shores of the Black * The countries mentioned Acts ii. 9 II, add Media and Parthia to the above named. Missionary Schools. 3 Sea near the modern Constantinople, and perhaps in Greece. " Philip," he adds, " either the apostle or the evangelist, is reported to have ended his days at Hierap- olis, in Phrygia. Thomas seems to have travelled east- ward, to Parthia, Media, Persia and India. Bartholomew took perhaps a more southern course, and preached in Arabia. Matthew is also reported to have travelled east, in the Modern Persia. Of Simon the Canaanite, nothing to be relied on can be said. Thaddeus, Lebbeus, or Jude the brother of James, the author of an epistle, is reputed to have preached at Edessa, in the north of Syria. Of the companions of the apostles Timothy, after accompa- nying Paul many years, is said to have been stationed at Ephesus, where he suffered martyrdom under Domitian or Nerva. Titus, another companion of Paul, is reported to have been stationed in Crete, where he died. Mark, or John surnamed Mark, attended Paul and afterwards Peter, and probably preached the gospel in Egypt. Of Luke, little can be said, except that he accompanied Paul, and wrote the book of Acts and a Gospel. Of Barnabas, nothing can be said worth relating, except what is learned from the New Testament From this account, imperfect as it is, we may conclude that the apostles and their companions scarcely extended their labors beyond the boundaries of the present Turkish empire."* To the countries, then, which are mentioned in the New Testament as favored with the missionary labors of the apostles and their companions, ecclesiastical history adds Egypt, Southern Arabia, Persia, Media, Parthia, and India. But we have nothing that throws light on their manner of proceeding in these countries. For information of this kind, we must look solely to the missions described in the New Testament, which were in Syria, Asia Minor, Macedonia, Greece, Italy, and the islands of Cyprus and Crete. I say Crete, for although we have no account of the labors of the apostle Paul in that island, we have his epistle to Titus, instructing him how to proceed in his mission to the Cretans. 1 omit Judea, as being the source of the missions, and not a heathen country. Mosheim's ?ccl. Hist. vol. I. pp. 55, 56, Note. 4 Missionary Schools. Our next inquiry relates to the state of education in these countries. The mere mention of Syria, Asia Minor, Macedonia, Greece and Italy, is enough for the reader of history. What were they in those times but the very foci of civili- zation 1 Where were other countries in the wide world, to be compared with them in this respect? And the time, too, in which the apostolical missions were per- formed, was it not in the palmy age of Roman literature? But though the evidence of the hi^h state of general civilization and individual intelligence in those countries at that period, is unquestionable, it is not easy to show precisely what means of education were possessed by the people at large, nor to what extent the multitude was actually educated. Two events must have exerted a powerful influence on the minds of men and on the tone of education throughout the field traversed by the apostles; viz. the general dis- persion of the Greeks, with their language and philosophy; and the general dispersion of the Jews, with their inspired books and their religion. The Macedonians, upon the conquests of Alexander the Great, planted their colonies every where. They built Grecian cities even in Media. " On the Tigris, Selucia was principally inhabited by Greeks: to the southeast was the magnificent Ctesiphon ; and to the northwest was Sitace Babylon imitated Macedonia ; in its neighborhood lived Greeks and Macedonians. From thence along the Euphrates upwards lay Nicephorium, a Grecian city, surrounded also by other Greek towns ; and further on in Mesopotamia was Charrae, a settlement of the Macedonians. But not to enter into details, we refer (in Appian) to a large catalogue of cities in Further and Hither Syria, which were reckoned to the Greeks. Ti- granes, the Armenian, in his march to Phenicia by way of Syria, destroyed no less than twelve Greek cities, Between Syria and Babylonia we meet with the ruins of Palmyra, on which are found more Greek than Palmyrene inscriptions. Even some written in the Palmyrene char- acter, are nevertheless in their language Greek. In Hither Syria, on the boundaries of Palestine, and in Pal- estine itself, the Greeks, as was natural from the situation Missionary Schools. 5 and neighborhood, made still greater intrusions." Anti- och, the capital of Syria, was peopled by its founder with Greeks and Macedonians, and acquired a reputation for Greek refinement and science. Tyre and Sidon adopted the Greek language. Ca&sarea was peopled chiefly by Greeks. Gadara and Hippos, on the east of the Jordan, became Greek cities, and the former possessed men learned in Greek science. So also did Gaza, a city on the southwest border of Judea. Philadelphia, east of the Jordan, is still majestic in its Grecian ruins. Indeed the country east of the Jordan, was towards the north Greek, and towards the south mostly in possession of the Greeks.* In this manner were the Greek language, manners and institutions generally diffused. As early as the time of Cato, that language was understood and spoken through- out the civilized world. Homer was read in Persia, and it is supposed even in India. In Carthage navigators described their voyages of discovery, and Hannibal wrote a history of his wars, in the language of the Greeks.t "The natives generally," says Cicero, "read the Greek." During the reign of Augustus, the study of the Grecian philosophy was so prevalent, that almost every statesman, lawyer and man of letters was conversant with the writings of the philosophers. This philosophy originally embraced all inquiries about the nature of God, the origin and destiny of man, and the phenomena and powers of the material world. Afterwards the consideration of physical topics was to a great extent excluded. It is no doubt true, that comparatively few of the people knew any thing of the different sects of Grecian philosophy, yet the fact that their disciples were so generally dispersed, must have had no small influence on the minds of men.J A consideration of the schools and the public libraries which are known to history, will assist our impressions as * Hug on the prevalence of the Greek language in Palestine, etc. Biblical Repository, vol. i. pp. 53T> 550. Prof. Pfannkuche, in his dissertation on the prevalence of the Aramean language in the same country in the time of the apostles, restricts the use of the Greek to narrower limits. Bib. Repos. vol. L. pp. 3)7363. The reader will incline to the views taken by Prof. Hug. t Schlegel's Hist, of Literature, vol. i. p. 111. t Eschenburg's Manual of Class. Lit. tianslated and edited by Prof. Fiske j and Enfield's Hist, of Philosophy. Missionary Schools. to the state of education in those large cities, in which were the recorded labors of the apostles and their asso- ciates. Athens for many ages had been renowned for her schools, which were resorted to from all quarters by those who were eager for learning. In the period under consideration they had rivals at Apollonia on the western shore of Macedonia, where Augustus finished his educa- tion, not far south of lllyricum and Dalmatia; at Rhodes; at Pergamus, where was one of the seven churches; at Tarsus, the birth-place of Paul; and especially at Alex- andria in Egypt. The law school at Berytus, in Syria, was of a subsequent date ; and the schools of Antioch, Smyrna, Caesarea, Edessa and Seleucia, were of Christian origin, and arose after the death of the apostles. The Christian school at Alexandria was opened in the latter part of the second century. But the school of pagan philosophy in that city, at the era of our Saviour's advent, was thronged from all quarters, and is said to have sent forth eminent philosophers of every sect to distant countries. The celebrated library at Alexandria needs no description. About one hundred and fifty years before Christ, Pergamus contained a library of 200,0(10 volumes, rivalling the collection of the Ptolemies. Before the era of our missions, Mark Anthony had presented it to Cleopatra, to replace the one in the Museum, which had been de- stroyed by Julius Caesar during the siege of Alexandria. As to the influence of the Jews in their dispersion, it may be remarked, that as long ago as the reign of Ahas- uerus, or Artaxerxes Longimanus, they were found in considerable numbers in all the provinces of Persia. The evidence of this is in the book of Esther. At the com- mencement of the Christian missions, this people were dispersed over the Roman empire. The geographer Strabo, quoted by Josephus, says, " The Jews have already passed into every city ; nor were it easy to find any place in the world, which has not received this nation and been occupied by it." Strabo flourished in the Au- gustan age. At that time the antiquities and sacred books of the Jews began to attract the attention of pagan scholars, and conversions from paganism to Judaism were not uncommon. Synagogues composed in great measure of proselytes, existed in many of the Grecian cities. Missionary Schools. 7 Schools are said to have been common among the Jews ; and no one can doubt that this dispersion of the Jews must have had a great effect on the gentile mind.* From all this it would seem, that education and knowledge must have been considerably prevalent in the countries where were the missions described in the New Testament. Especially is it almost certain that men of education would be found in those cities generally, in which they gathered churches. Some of them would already be among the proselytes to Judaism, and it is highly probable that these would occasionally embrace the Christian faith. The apostle Paul does indeed say, that "not many wise men after the flesh" were called. It was then no doubt much as it is now. In every city where converts were multiplied, there were a few from the less proud and ambitious classes of educated men. These would be superior to most of the apostles in respect to mere learning, and, it may be, quite equal to Paul himself, the best educated among the apostolical missionaries. In point of fact, the standard of education among the Gen- tiles, in Syria, Asia Minor, Greece and Rome, was at that time higher, than it was among the Jews, and the amount of education was greater. I am now prepared to state some facts, illustrative of the apostolical missions, which are important to the main object of this discussion. One of the most prominent of these is, the small number of missionaries sent by the Holy Ghost into the several heathen countries. The New Testament gives no evidence that more than three apostles visited Asia Minor. If we call in the aid of ecclesiastical history, we have but four. To these add Barnabas, Luke, Mark, Silas and A polios, and there are but nine missionaries in all. Timothy was a native of the country. So was Titus; at least he was a Greek. The list of the seventy disciples now extant, which would make nearly all the Christians named* in the Epistles to be missionaries sent from Judea, is rejected by ecclesias- tical writers as fictitious. But even if this list were authentic, it would then appear that not more than a dozen missionaries were sent to the countries of Asia * Eschenburg's Manual, etc. p. 282. 8 Missionary Schools. Minor ; and, excepting Syria, no other country appears to have been so much favored in this respect. Now we are told that Paul and Barnabas, in their missionary tour through Asia Minor, "ordained elders in every church." Whom did they ordain 1 Sixteen cities are named where there were churches, and pas- sages might be quoted from the Acts and Epistles, im- plying that a far greater number of churches were planted. Paul also informs Titus, that he had left him in Crete, among other reasons, that he might "ordain elders in every city." Whom 1 Not men sent for the purpose from the churches of Judea. Not missionaries. The elders thus ordained were chosen from among the native converts themselves. Now, in what manner did the apostles obtain, in every city, men qualified for such a trust ? It appears that their missionary labors, so far as they are recorded in the New Testament, were in the best educated, and in some respects highly educated, portions of the world; that they were chiefly in cities, and, ex- cepting Rome and a few others, in Grecian cities, in- cluding most of those which were distinguished for learn- ing and general civilization in those times; that in most places they must have preached more or less to educated men, rendering it not improbable that some of these were among their converts; and that these men, with some special instructions in the knowledge of the gospel, would be fitted to preach the gospel and take the pastoral charge of churches. During the three years Paul spent at Ephesus, and the year and a half he labored at Corinth, he might have trained numerous candidates for the ministry. Wherever the apostles went preaching the gospel, they found mind in that erect, intelligent, reason- ing posture, which is the result of civilization a more learned and refined civilization even, than existed in the communities from which the missionaries themselves pro- ceeded. It would seem, however, that whatever was the amount of education in the communities favored with the labors of the apostles, it was impossible to supply the gentile churches properly with teachers, without a miraculous agency ; for, in these churches, the Holy G host saw fit Missionary Schools. 9 to put forth a supernatural influence to raise up prophets, teachers and governors, that they might the more speedily and effectually be built up in the faith and order of the gospel. On this subject, Moshieim gives his opinion as follows : "As there were but few among the first professors of Christianity, who were learned men and competent to instruct the rude and uninformed on religious subjects, it became necessary that God should raise up in various churches extraordinary teachers, who could discourse to the people on religious subjects in their public assemblies, and address them in the name of God. Such were the persons, who in the New Testament are called prophets. Rom. xii. 6: I Cor. xii. 28: xiv. 3, 25): Eph. iv 11. The functions of these men are limited too' much by those, who make it to have been their sole business to- expound the Old Testament Scriptures, and especially the prophetic books. Whoever professed to be such a herald of God, was allowed publicly to address the peo pie ; but there were present among the hearers divinely constituted judges, who could by infallible criteria dis- criminate between true and false prophets. The order of prophets ceased, when the necessity for them was past." * The still more eminent ecclesiastical historian, Neander, believes the gifts of teaching, prophecy, discerning of spirits, governments, tongues, miracles, signs and won- ders, all to have been supernatural. He understands the teachers to be such persons as had been in some measure prepared, by a previous culture of the under- standing, to communicate what the Spirit revealed to them, in a connected series of doctrinal instruction. The prop/iet, on the contrary, spoke as he was impelled by the might of a sudden inspiration at the moment, for the awakening, exhortation, warning, and consolation of the church ; or else to rouse the conscience of the careless sinner.t But self-possession was to accompany inspira- tion, and the absence of this was to be decisive that it was not genuine. No one was to speak alone and ex- clusively ; no one was to interrupt another.^ To guard * Moaheim EccK Hist. vol. i. p. 83. 1 1 Cor. xiv. 25. $ 1 Cor. xiv. 30-33, 10 Missionary Schools. the churches against imposition, the power of infallibly discerning the true supernatural gifts of prophecy and teaching was conferred upon certain individuals.* The word ut knowledge he believes to have been the capacity for unfolding the Christian doctrine theoretically ; and the word of wisdom the capacity for applying it prac- tically to the particular relations and circumstances of life : they were distinctions in the gift of teaching. The gift of governments, or of church government, was designed to qualify individuals for the station of officers in the church. It was such the apostles ordained over the churches they gathered among the gentiles. Neander understands the gift of kelps as having reference to the various services required in administering the affairs of the church, as the superintendence of alms and the care of the sick ; and to this class probably belonged the gift of miraculous cures.t " The gift of foreign tongues," says Mosheim, " appears to have gradually ceased as soon as many nations became enlightened with the truth and numerous churches of Christians were every where established ; for it became less necessary than it was at first. But the other gifts, with which God favored the rising church of Christ, were, as we learn from numerous testimonies of the ancients, still conferred [i. e. in the second century] on particular persons here and there." | There is reason to think that they did not wholly cease until some time in the third century. Thus were the apostolical churches among the heathen furnished with religious teachers and guides. The apostles (excepting Paul) after spending three years in the most intimate connection with one who spake as never man spake in a school for which any candidate for the min- istry would gladly exchange the most favored of the halls of science were wondrously endowed by the Holy Ghost with miraculous gifts and graces. Paul, pre-eminently the apostle to the Gentiles, spent his youth, probably, in the schools of Tarsus, but completed his education at the feet of Gamaliel in Jerusalem. He received his 1 Cor. xiv. 29: Uohn iv. 1. t Bib. Repos. vol. iv. pp. 241277, t Mosheim, vol. i. p. 125. Missionary Schools. 11 knowledge of the gospel by immediate revelation ; " for I neither received it," says he, "of man, neither was I taught it but by the revelation of Jesus Christ." Next were the evangelists, often companions of the apostles in travels and labors, also endowed supernaturally for the work of missions. Next came prophets, teachers, etc., in the several churches. And these supernatural gifts appear not to have been restricted to one or two members of each church, but, sometimes at least, were bestowed, for mutual edification, upon numerous members, if not upon all.* Now we must believe that the Holy Ghost would not have exerted this supernatural agency upon the minds of the first Christians, had it been unnecessary. And whence the necessity? Why were their minds strength- ened, made the subjects of a spiritual illumination, and endowed with a facility and force of utterance beyond the reach of their natural powers in their ciicumstances? And why was this supernatural agency gradually with- drawn, as the church became more enlightened by edu- cation, and able to train up her own teachers in her schools at Alexandria, Caesarea, Antioch, Edessa, and elsewhere ? It has been said that the church grieved away the Spirit by her corruptions and follies. But it is far more reasonable to suppose, that the agency was withdrawn because the exigency which called for it had ceased. We now turn our attention to modern missions, and contrast their circumstances with those of the missions descried in the Neio Testament. Modern missions have been sent to the oriental churches, to the Mohammedans, and omitting some small districts to the pagan nations in Western and Southern Africa, India, the Archipelago, Polynesia, and the territories occupied by the native tribes of North America. The * 1 Cor. xiv. 23, " If therefore the whole church be come together into one place, and all speak with tongues." v. 24, " if all prophecy " v. 26, " When ye be come together, every one of you bath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation." y. 2931, " Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the others judge. If any thing he revealed to another that sitteth by, let the first hold his peace. For ye may all prophecy one by one." 12 Missionary Schools. oriental churches and the Mohammedans occupy most of the countries that were the scene of the apostolical missions. These 1 pass by at present, to contrast the circumstances of the modern and ancient missions to pagan nations. One obvious and most important fact in modern mis- sions to the heathen is, that they are prosecuted in the less civilized, and to a great extent in uncivilized, portions of the world. What heathen nation of these times will compare with the nations visited by the apostles? India is partially civilized ; the rest are in a state of barbarism, and most of them, except as they have been affected by the gospel, are absolutely savage. On the score of edu- cation and intelligence, they stand immeasurably below the Greeks and Romans. The aboriginal American, the Polynesian, and the African nations were without an alphabet until they received it from the missionaries. The larger nations of the Indian Archipelago have long had the use of letters, but scarcely one in forty of the inhabitants can read, and books of every kind are rare. Concerning India, the Abbe Dubois, who is good author- ity, except where he speaks of Protestant missions, says the Brahmins regard the sciences as their own exclusive property, that they make a mystery of them to the vulgar, and have always taken the greatest pains to prevent their spread among other classes of men. At the same time they have themselves made no progress in learning beyond their ancestors of the era of Pythagoras, and stand, with the whole body of the Hindoos, where they did two thou- sand years ago. It is worth while to add, that the sciences above referred to, which are the ones that in ancient times gave so much celebrity to the Indian philosophers, are astronomy, astrology and magic. The native schools now existing in India are so unlike those of Europe or America, and so inferior to them, as not to bear a com- parison. The Abbe says they are in the larger towns, or within the precincts of some large temple, and are without method, or plan for study, or discipline, without excitement for the student, or encouragement for the teacher.* I hesitate not to advance the proposition, that mind, in * Description of the people of India, vol. i. p. 354. Missionary Schools. 13 all the pagan nations, now open to missionaries, is in such a state that the converts, without either the supernatural gifts of early times, or the substitute for those gifts (im- perfect as it may be) which is found in education, will not be fitted for the offices and duties of the Christian church, nor to stand alone without the help of mission- aries. They need such extraneous influences far more than did the early converts. This is true of the nations of India; and it is pre-eminently true of the more barbarous pagan nations in which the experiment of Protestant mis- sions has been made. How it would be in China, I do not know. A more thorough and practical discipline appears there to be given to the mind in the class of students called " literati," than is known to any class of minds in India. But in the large portions of the heathen world just named, it is impossible, without either miracu- lous gifts, or education, fairly and fully to introduce the Christian church, in any one of its existing forms; or if in- troduced, there is no reason to believe that such churches could be sustained and flourish without the constant pres- ence of missionaries. They could not on the plan of Congregationalism; for want of that intelligence and discretion among the members, which are so necessary where every man has a vote and a direct agency in the affairs of the church, and for want also of men qualified to act as deacons and committees. Even now, after all that has yet been done in the way of education, Congrega- tional missionaries (and the same is equally true of all others) are obliged to exercise a governing influence in the churches they have gathered very analogous to that exercised by the apostles. They could not on the plan of Presbyterianism ; for want of suitable men to be intrusted, as ruling elders, with the government of the church. Neither could they on the plan of Episcopacy ; for want of men qualified to perform the duties of priests and bishops. Indeed, the want of well qualified teachers and pastors would be equally felt, and equally fatal to success, whatever form should be given to the ecclesias- tical organization. I repeat; without either miraculous gifts, or that in- tellectual and moral discipline which is not ordinarily attained without more education than is to be found in No. 20. 2 14 Missionary Schools. the heathen world, the native churches, if left to them- selves, would soon run into confusion, and the institutions of the gospel would perish from among them. One has but to study the writings of the apostolical Fathers to see, that even in their times in the centre of the civilized world, and almost in the brightest period of ancient learn- ing the churches founded by the personal ministry of the apostles, as soon as miraculous gifts ceased, and earlier, were kept with the greatest difficulty in the doctrines of the apostles.* And we know that it took the church three long centuries to acquire even the ascendency in the Roman empire, and that the hour of her triumph may be regarded as the commencement of her decline. It would be an interesting inquiry, how far this slow pro- gress, (it must be regarded as slow, if we take only the time into view,) and the early, rapid, and terrible decline of the church, followed by ages of darkness, were owing to the want of those very facilities for general education, with which God, chiefly through the medium of the press, has furnished his people in these latter days. Not to pursue this subject, let us illustrate somewhat more the intellectual degradation, into which the great body of the present heathen world has fallen. To how great an extent have all useful ideas perished from the minds of pagan nations ! In those which make the greatest pretensions to learning, in India for instance, the researches of Christian scholars have discovered that there is but little of truth on any subject. Their history, chronology, geography, astronomy, their philosophical notions of matter and mind, and their views of creation and providence, religion and morals, are exceedingly destitute of truth. It is not, however, so much vacuity of mind that we have here to contend with, as plenitude of error ; the mind being filled with theories and systems of geography, astronomy, metaphysics and theology, all mingled together the accumulations and perversions of three thousand years and all claiming the same divine origin, the same infallibility and authority. So that, happily, even the simplest course of elementary instruc- * See Osburn on the Doctrinal Errors of the Apostolical and Early Fathers, passim. Missionary Schools. 15 tion in schools, could not be otherwise than a direct attack upon their false religions. But when we go beyond the limits of civilization, among the wild children of paganism living on our western wilder- ness, in Africa, and the islands of the sea, then it is vacuity of mind, and not a plenitude, we have to operate upon. The savage has few ideas, and those few relate to his physical experience and wants. The relations of things escape his attention. He sees only the objects just about him. He knows nothing of geography; nothing of astrono- my ; nothing of history ; nothing of his own spiritual nature and destiny ; nothing of God. His mind, if it were possible for it in these circumstances to be expanded, would still be empty. It could not stand erect. It would have nothing to support it. The worst consequence of all this in connection with the natural depravity of the savage, is that paralysis of the thinking power, especially on spiritual subjects, so often mentioned and lamented by missionaries. How very unlike our field among the heathen is, to that cultivated by the apostles and their associates. Moreover, we go forth to our work without their power of performing miracles, and our converts must be built up in the faith and order of the gospel, and qualified to stand alone and extend the triumphs of the Redeemer of men, without those gifts of teaching, prophecy and government, which were supernaturally conferred on the first gentile converts. Would any one, notwithstanding this vast difference of circumstances, still restrict us to the single method of oral preaching, because only that was employed by the apostles ? But why overlook the supernatural qualifica- tions, the miraculous powers of the apostles ! Why over- look the supernatural gifts conferred upon their converts? Why lose sight of the fact that the apostles did actually press into the service all the natural powers they pos- sessed, all their intellectual acquisitions, all their gifts and graces, and all the providential facilities within their reach, and brought these all to bear to the utmost upon the people to whom they were sent ? And would they not have been grateful for more power, and greater means and facilities? Would they not have used them if they could? Would not the apostle Paul, for instance, in the prosecu- 16 Missionary Schools. tion of his missions, have rejoiced in such providential facilities, as rail-roads by land ; steam-boats by water ; paper instead of papyrus, or parchment; printed books instead of manuscripts; bills of exchange, by means of which to remit the contributions of the Macedonian and Grecian churches to Jerusalem, rather than the necessity of sending messengers all the way thither to carry the money ; and the log-line and compass, in that terrible tempest when for many days neither sun nor stars ap- peared? Would he not gladly have favored the whole body of his converts with the reading, as well as the hearing, of the word ? And when laboring with his own hands at Corinth and Ephesus, because he deemed it inexpedient to be chargeable to the Christians of those cities, would it not have been grateful to his feelings and facilitated his missionary work, if some society in Judea could have relieved him from this necessity? Nothing can be more illogical, than the objection brought against missionary schools, because the apostles established none. How many things the apostles omitted to do, which they would have done if they could. And how absurd to restrict the church of the nineteenth cen- tury to the means that were at its command in the first Must no use be made of the numberless providential gifts to the church since then ? Must no notice be taken of the subsequent changes in her circumstances? Must no regard be had for the very different attitude and relations of the pagan world towards her ? The heathen to whom the church then sent her missions, were as well instructed in human science, as she was herself; now, the heathen are as much lower on the scale of intelligence, as the church is higher ; and does this fact create no additional obligation? Besides, where is the divine command to restrict ourselves to one mode of propagating the Christian religion ? The apostles certainly had two. They preach- ed ; and then, by the laying on of hands, they instrumen- tally conferred extraordinary gifts of teaching, prophecy, government, tongues and miracles on certain of the converts.* The first we do as they did ; the second, in the only manner within our power, viz., by a course of * Rom. i. 11. Acts viii. 17. 1 Tim. iv. 14. Acts six. 6. Missionary Schools. 17 instruction. And as the command to do a thing includes the means which are necessary for its performance, this, being essential to the accomplishment of the work en- joined, is also commanded. Moreover, by what authority do we limit the meaning of the Saviour's last command to the public, oral, formal proclamation of it to a congre- gation ? When has it been shown, that the apostles delivered sermons in the manner of modern times ? And why make adults the only object contemplated by the injunction ? Should the gospel not also be proclaimed to youth and children, and the manner of proclaiming it be suited to their years? Why tie up this blessed command, so full of good will for mankind, to one single method of conferring the benefit? Why limit its applicability to one single combination of circumstances? Is the conse- crated church the only place where the gospel can be, where it ought to be preached? May the gospel not be preached in an upper, private room? May it not be preached, in conversational tones and manner, to a single family ? May it not be preached by the way-side to a single traveller? May it not be preached in the Bible class, and Sabbath school, and even in the week-day school ; and then may not the media of truth, common in such circumstances, be employed to make it known to the youthful mind? I would ask, too, if the writing of Paul's Epistles was not an act of obedience to the com- mand under consideration ? No one doubts that it was.; and if so, and if a copy of his Epistle to the Colossians was made out for the church of the Laodiceans,* was not the copying of the epistle in obedience both to the letter and spirit of the Saviour's command? And when we, arailing ourselves of the manifold copying powers of the press, print this epistle and the other portions of the word of God, and distribute them by thousands, is not this obeying the command ? And when we teach the unlet- tered to read the word of God for themselves, and thus enable them to confer the same ability on others, and to grow more in knowledge and grace than they otherwise would, is not this also obeying the command ? Yes verily ; it is intelligent obedience. For the printing of the word * Col. iv. 16. 16 Missionary Schools. of God, and teaching men to read it, are not something different from the work enjoined. They are not designed to open and smooth the way for the gospel. They are not preparatory work. They are a part of the very work itself as much so as the conferring of miraculous gifts of prophecy and teaching, or the writing of the Gospels or the inspired Epistles anciently were. The schools are if they are what they ought to be nurseries of piety, places and means for the direct inculcation of gospel truth in youthful minds and hearts. They are folds where the lambs of the flock are to be fed. It is time now to show the place which education should hold in the system of modern missions. 1. If we were to regard education simply as a conven- ient method of inculcating a knowledge of the gospel on minds of a certain class, it may still properly be used by the missionary. So far as heathen youth are concerned, it is found in practice to be the only method of getting early access to their minds, the only method of preaching the gospel to them. It is often the most direct and effectual means of bringing others, and especially parents, under the preached gospel.* The visitation and superin- tendence of schools also gives a fine field of usefulness to missionaries recently come upon the ground, and not enough acquainted with the native language to preach formally to the adults. It is almost the only thing they can do; and in the larger missions there will almost always be some missionaries in this condition. 2. In barbarous pagan countries, if we would make any use of the press and the printed word of God, elemen- tary schools are indispensable. If we withhold the Bible from the pagan, no matter how, in what respect does our policy differ from that of the church of Rome? I need not say that books and the press are useless in a commu- nity which cannot read. 3. Ages of experience in protestant Christendom have shown, that connecting a small system of schools with the stated and frequent preaching of the gospel, is wise as a means of increasing the effect of preaching and the * Acts six. 9. Missionary Schools. 19 durability of its influence. And if it be so within the bounds of Christendom, why not beyond ? The ministry throughout the world, acts under one and the same com- mission, and is governed by one and the same code of laws. The gospel they preach is the same. Human nature, with which they have to deal, is the same. If the circumstances differ, as they do very greatly, the differ- ence only shows the greater need of connecting schools with preaching among those who know not the gospel. The ordained missionary will indeed engage no more than is necessary in their elementary instruction. He will commit this as soon as may be to native teachers. But when occupying a fixed station, he will no more be without such schools than the pastor at home, and no more will he withhold from them his fostering care, and watchful guardianship. The missionary who has these schools around him, and the missionary who has them not, will do well from year to year to compare their respective congregations, and the results of their preach- ing. Let their native churches also be compared, and their prospects among the rising generation. 4. After all, we cannot undertake to educate the youth of the whole heathen world, nor even any considerable proportion of them. The labor and the expense are both out of the question. Whatever it may be proper or de- sirable for us to do, in a general point of view, the scanti- ness of the means placed at the disposal of missionary societies renders it expedient, yea unavoidably necessary, that schools at the expense of such societies be established on a limited scale. We can educate only the few, and they must educate the many. Our pupils, as far as possi- ble, should be select, and selected with some regard to the ulterior employment of the most promising of them as helpers in the mission. Our schools should be model schools. They should be nurseries of teachers. They should be introductory to the higher seminary, and pre- paratory to it. The preached gospel must at all events be sustained, and the number of schools should be regu- lated by the means placed at the disposal of the society, and the balance remaining of what is appropriated to the mission, after providing for the support of its preaching members. Still I must doubt, if missionaries are not to 20 Missionary Schools. be mere itinerants, if they are to have a fixed residence and operate within the bounds of some one district, whether the church has any right to insist upon their laboring wholly without schools ; or, in other words, without a system of means in operation around them for rearing up native helpers and successors in their work. Do the Scriptures confer any such right on the churches? Do they impose any such obligation on the missionary? Had missionaries the power of conferring supernatural gifts by the laying on of their hands, as the apostles and some of their associates had, the case would be very different. 5. While I assert the legitimate use of schools as one of the means of propagating the gospel in foreign missions, and while I maintain the right of missionaries to be fur- nished with them to a certain extent, I would suggest a general rule in relation to their establishment ; having respect in this rule to the average amount of funds which experience has shown may be relied on by missionary societies, and the proportionate demand which will be made on these for sending forth and supporting preachers of the gospel. The rule is this: That the system of education, in all its parts, so far as it is supported by the funds of the mission, should have a direct reference to the training up of native teachers and preachers. To this, in the smaller missions, and also in the less concen- trated missions, there must be exceptions. A liberal construction should always be given to it. In some missions, as among the Tamul people of Ceylon and South India, the rule itself may require a considerable number of schools ; to awaken attention, give tone to the public mind with respect to education, furnish a better selection, give importance to the subject in the view of the select pupils, open a field for the occasional trial of their powers while pursuing their studies, and strengthen their motives to arrive at high attainments. Still, whatever scope is allowed for the exercise of discretion in arranging and managing the details of the system, there will be a great practical advantage in having the one definite object proposed by this rule. And it is a question, whether missions themselves ought not to be established, organized, and prosecuted with more reference to the Missionary Schools. 21 same end. Are not many of our missions modeled as they should be, if our object and expectation were to furnish a full supply of preachers from Christendom for all the nations of the heathen world, now and for ages to come ; and as they should not be, if our object be to imitate the apostles by throwing the great amount of permanent labor upon converted natives, and introducing what the Holy Spirit may be expected to make a self- sustaining, self-propagating Christianity? The plan suggested would involve a seminary of a higher order in each considerable mission, which would receive pupils from the preparatory schools, and conduct them through a course of liberal education more or less protracted. These seminaries should be commenced on a small scale, and enlarged no faster than shall- be neces- sary. They should combine the college and the school of theology. The notion that instruction in the principles of human science must precede the study of theology, is derived from the schools of philosophy, and is not counte- nanced by the word of God. The plain, simple theology of the Scriptures can be taught to youth, and even to heathen youth, in every stage of their education. Th institutions should be eminently missionary institutions. The whole course of education, from beginning to end, should be Christian. It should be no part of the object of these seminaries to educate natives for the law, nor for medicine, nor for civil affairs, nor for trade, except so far as this will directly promote the legitimate objects of the missions with which they are connected. The course of instruction should be planned with a view to raising up, through the blessing of God, an efficient body of native helpers in the several departments of missionary labor to be teachers of schools, catechists, tutors and professors in the seminaries, and, above all, preachers of the gospel, pastors of the native churches, and missionaries to the neighboring heathen districts and countries. For this, purpose the seminaries should be furnished with compe-^ tent teachers, and with all necessary books and apparatus, and a press should generally be in their neighborhood.* * See a Statement of Principles, on which Missionary Seminaries hould be reared, in the Appendix to. the 2dth Annual Report of the Board, pp. 151 155. 22 Missionary Schools. These missionary seminaries will be as really subordi- nate to the preaching of the gospel, as are the theological seminaries of our own country. If we teach in them, and in so doing turn aside in any degree from the formal ministry of the word, it will be that we may multiply teachers and ministers of the word. Our object will be the more effectually to plant those instrumentalities, which, with God's blessing, will secure for the gospel a permanent footing and constant increase in heathen countries. Our protracted discussion now draws to its conclusion. We should not forget, however, to glance at the claims of education among the oriental churches. The oriental churches are the Coptic, Syriac, Greek and Armenian, and they number about six millions of souls. The Copts are found in Egypt ; the Syrians, in Syria, Mesopotamia, the mountains of Koordistan, and on the western shore of Hindoostan ; the Greeks, in Greece, European Turkey and Asia Minor. Many of the Arabs in Syria are of the Greek church ; and so is the Georgian nation, living at the northern base of Mount Caucasus, between the Black and Caspian Seas. The country of the Armenians lies between Asia Minor and Persia, but the Armenians are a commercial people widely scattered. About a hundred thousand Maronites on Mount Lebanon, and some thou- sands from each of the sects above mentioned, are con- Terts to popery. These are relics of the churches planted by the apostles. To them were first given the oracles of God, and from them emanated the light of the glorious gospel which shines upon us. " But in treading over again the tracks of the apostles," says the Rev. Mr. Smith, " I have sought in vain for an individual that now breathes the spirit of Jesus, unless he had borrowed it from a foreign source."* I shall content myself with affirming, that the state of education and intelligence is much lower now, in the countries where the oriental churches are found, than it was in the apostolical times. But even if it were not, regarding education as taking the place of miraculous gifts, and as our only means of raising up teachers and * Missionary Sermons and Addresses, p. 233. Missionary Schools. 23 preachers, it is to be numbered among the legitimate objects of modern missions to these churches. The necessity for schools sustained by missionary societies, is, however, less urgent among the oriental Christians, than in heathen nations ; and recent indications encourage the belief, that we may pretty easily and without great expense "provoke" those churches to do far more than they are now doing in the way of self-instruction. Thus the case stands. Apostolical usage has been urged upon us to exclude the use of education from our missions, only because the immense difference in our circumstances has been overlooked. It has been for- gotten that their missions were to the most civilized nations of the world, and that ours (I speak 'now only of those to pagans) are to the least civilized ; that theirs were to a people comparatively educated and refined, and ours are to a people uneducated, and to a great extent barbarian, and even savage ; that miraculous gifts were conferred by the Holy Ghost upon their gentile converts, so that the churches might be promptly and effectually supplied with pastors and teachers, while, notwithstanding the present intellectual degradation of heathen nations, Infinite Wisdom no longer sees it best to bestow such gifts. Thus far the comparison is against us ; but now the tables turn. We have a knowledge of the world such as they had not ; facilities for travelling far exceeding theirs ; paper, printing-presses, printed books, where they had only the papyrus, parchment, the written page, and the voluminous and costly manuscript. In these circum- stances, so diverse from those of the apostles, why demand of us that we use no means for publishing the gospel except what they used ? Are not means and opportunities talents to be employed providential gifts bestowed upon us with special reference to the advancement of God's kingdom of grace on earth? Why, when the Head of the church bids us go into all the world, and has provided for us rail-roads, and steamboats, and the thousand improvements in modern navigation, should we go on foot, or venture out to sea, without compass or quadrant, in some " ship of Alexan- dria ? " Why, when he bids us make known the gospel to every creature, should we depend only on the living 24 Missionary Schools. voice and the manuscript? Why should we not avail ourselves of the progress of mind, of art, of science ? Is it said, that means are nothing in themselves, that the power which must accomplish the work is of God, and that an extended array of instrumentalities has a tendency to make us rely on them and forget his power ? This is all true. But did Paul do less because his planting was nothing by itself, and God must give the increase? Did he not exert all his strength, and plant and water, and become all things to all men, and put into requisition every possible means to save them? Unquestionably he did; and so should we. Creation, education, grace, and providence go to make up the degree of our accountability. Still it is a precious truth, that we are no less dependent on the influences of the Holy Spirit, than the apostles were. None of our plans will succeed, none of our efforts prosper, without his influences. Go where we will, if the Holy Spirit go not with us, our missions, however vigo- rously prosecuted, will fail. Missionaries and their direc- tors and patrons have not felt this dependence enough. There is no danger of feeling it too much. When weak in ourselves, we are strong in God. But faith is not the only grace we are to exercise. We must practice obedience. We must act, as well as believe. Looking unto Jesus, we must do with our might whatsoever our hand findeth to do, for the honor of his name and the advancement of his cause on earth. MISSIONARY PAPER, No, 21, THE EXTENT OP THE MISSIONARY ENTER- PRISE. [By the Rev. Gardiner Spring, D. D., New York.] " The field is the World." MATT, xiii, 38. THE text represents this world as the field, where every thing is in progress for a great moral ingathering ; and from the labors of which, neither God, angels, nor men will rest, until that eventful consummation, when he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come. We occupy here and there an enclosure in this vast ter- ritory a kingdom or nation a few spots reclaimed from barrenness, and clothed with beauty ; while the wide field is for the most part grown over with thorns. And yet it is not one portion of the earth alone toward which the efforts and prayers of the friends of God and man are to be directed ; it is to the world. I repeat it, it is to the world. This is the field, and nothing short of this. The field is the world. 1 2 The extent of the Missionary enterprize, I, As it regards its icants. Man's apostacy is universal. Every thing in Nature, Providence, and the Bible, proclaims that the whole world is in a state of alienation from God. Should an inhabitant of some sinless planet visit this earth, he would behold a most tragic spectacle. With the exception of a few irradiated spots, he would see this fair creation, with all its busy inhabitants, without a beam of light to cheer their despondency or dissipate their fear ; without a ray of hope to gild their passage to the dark and narrow house ; without a star to twinkle on the gloom that stretches itself along the horizon of their eternity. It is a solemn and affecting truth, that " where no vision is, the people perish.". If the Gospel of Christ is the only means by which men are turned from darkness unto lijrht, and from the power of Satan unto God, then without this Gospel are they without God and holiness, without heaven and hope. The history of the world shows nothing more plainly, than that all other means of moral purity are ineffectual, and that where the Gospel is hid, it is " hid to them that are lost." There is, and ever has been, a wonderful uniformity in the character of the pagan world. What Paul said of them eighteen hundred years ago, has been true every where, and at all times, and is true still. They are " given over to a reprobate mind;" abandoned to the most stupid idolatry, to the foulest impieties, and to every species of debasing and degrading wickedness ; to vile affections, and un- natural lusts ; to cruel malice, and rapacious wrong ; to luxury, treachery, licentiousness, and blood. Such is their character, whether roaming over barren deserts, or dwelling in fertile plains ; whether inhabiting the lonely waste, or crowded city ; whether amid the snows of Greenland, or the burning suns of Ethiopia. Go where you will, from the most savage to the most civilized state The extent of the Missionary entcrprize. 3 of man, and you find the same indications of sin and woe. Wherever the apostles travelled, whether into Athens or Rome, Corinth or Ephesus, Europe, Asia, or Africa ; wherever the recesses of the human mind were explored, and the heart of man made bare, were the same marks of disorder and ruin. And wherever modern mis- sionaries have directed their course, they have found the ravages of sin the same. Such was the character of our heathen ancestors; and such would be our character now, but for the Gospel. Remove these candlesticks out of their places; quench the light of truth; and Britain and the United States would not differ from trie heathea of Bombay, or the Indian Islands. Nor are these moral ravages essentially more destructive in one place than another. The lohole earth groans under the sin of man, and feels the explosion of his apostacy to its remotest bounds. Most emphatically, in this respect, the field is the world. It is so, II. As it regards the provisions of the Divine mercy. The world by wisdom knew not God. Eye hath not seen it, nor ear heard it, nor hath it entered into the- heart of man. The depth saith, It is not in me ; the sea saith, It is not with rne. It cannot be gotten for gold> neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof. Nor is it by the deeds of law that a creature fallen by his iniquity can be justified before God. And yet is there a method of deliverance which, though not contemplated by the law, and in itself utterly above and beyond the claims of a legal dispensation, so honors and satisfies the law, that the Lawgiver can be just, and the dispenser of pardons. This method is the Christian atonement the expiatory sacrifice of the Son of God the vicarious righteousness of the Word Incarnate. It is the salvation of the cross ; it is redemption through the blood of Jesus ; it is forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his 4 The extent of the Missionary enterprize. grace. While, by this expedient the blessings of the new covenant are secured to all who were given to the Savior as the reward of his sufferings and death, yet is there a fulness and all-sufficiency in the very nature of this redemption, which vindicates the offers of mercy to every creature. The scenes of Calvary affected every part of the world, and every age of time. They gave birth to measures in the Divine administration before unknown. They gave a new aspect to the Divine gov- ernment toward the universe, and especially toward this fallen world. They surmounted the obstacles which obstructed the exercise of the Divine mercy, placed the whole family of man in new relations, and brought every son and daughter of Adam within the reach of repentance and pardon. Hence, wherever this Gos- pel comes, it makes a free and unembarrassed offer of life eternal to all mankind, without distinction, and without exception. It makes it upon the lowest and most reasonable terms, and with the affecting and solemn protestation, that the Father of mercies has no pleasure in the death of the sinner, but rather that he would turn and live. The sufficiency and fulness of the Divine mercy, therefore, run parallel with the apostacy of men. They are co-extensive with the wants of a world that lieth in wickedness; they are every way adequate to the depth and extent of man's apostacy, and stand abreast with the ravages of sin. " As by the offence of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation, even so by the righteousness of One, the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life." Such was the bounty of the Father's love. "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him might not perish, but have everlasting life." And when the Son hung upon the cross, it was not that he might The extent of the Missionary enterprize. 5 be the propitiation for Gentile or Jew, but for the sins of the whole world. No matter where the transgressor is found, or in what age he has lived, or to what customs he may be in bondage; Jesus Christ saves to the utter- most all that come unto God by him. No matter by what caste he may be enchained, or what idol he adores, or what planet he worships, or in what enchanted waters he bathes, or how deep the stain of his impurity ; the blood of the Lamb can make him white as snow. No matter how many his fears, or how heavy his burden of iniquity, or how fearful his prospects ; the meek and lowly Savior can refresh him when he is weary and heavy laden, comfort him whea he is disconsolate, give him rest from the burden of his guilt,, and in the last conflict crown him with victory. No matter who he is, nor whence he comes; so long as he belongs ta the world for which the Savior died, he may have life and heaven if he will repent and believe the Gospel. No : no matter who, no matter how many press into the kingdom let them come in from the continents and the islands, from the hills and the valleys, from the thronged metropolis or the retired hamlet let them come from the high lands of Thibet, or the plains of the Ganges, from Norway or the southern capes ; there is a boundless sufficiency in the provisions of the Gospel. But this observation re- ceives additional force when we consider, III. That the Gospel is alike adapted to every portion of this fallen world. Whatever adaptation to the peculiar character and condition of men the Gospel possesses, it is universal. What it can do for one man, it can do for another ; and what it can accomplish for one part of the world, it can accomplish for another. It has nothing that is local, and that is suited only to a particular clime, or district, or form of government. It has nothing that is temporary, *1 6 The extent of the Missionary enterprize. and limited to any particular age of the world. It has nothing that respects the persons of men, but consults the conditions of the poor as well as the rich, and the rich as well as the poor. It has nothing in its nature that is exclusive, and that necessarily shuts out any part of the human family. It consults all conditions, and all orders of intellect. It speaks to the whole, and to each individual part, with the same explicitness, authority, and adaptation. The philosophy of the schools, the paganism of Greece and Rome, the dogmas of the Koran and the Shaster, the multiplied systems of modern paganism, could none of them become the universal religion. The Gospel alone is " adapted to man as he is, all over the world." It is adapted to the human intellect. It sets before men the most interesting objects of thought objects which, when seen and felt, never fail to arrest and elevate the mind. It satisfies the mind by its truth, and does not abandon it to doubt and conjecture. A religion that is untrue can never be of extensive and universal applica- tion ; because the human intellect sooner or later revolts at it. False religions are dreams, and must vanish away. They give no repose from uncertainty and fluctuation, no direction to the wandering mind, nothing for the expanded and enlightened intellect to rest on. Nor is the Gospel less adapted to the conscience, than the intel- lect. Penances and prayers, fastings and self-torture, ablutions and sacrifices, the blood of bulls and of goats, and the sprinkling of the ashes of an heifer, cannot take away sin. The wretched pagan, who gives her first-born for her transgression, and the fruit of her body for the sin of her soul, after all, finds her conscience unrelieved of its burden. But it is a fact in the history of man worthy to be remembered, that the soul that feels the burden of its transgressions, that trembles with appre- The extent of the Missionary enterprize. 7 hension at the coming wrath, that is stung ever so mor- tally with the guilt of sin, may always find healing and peace in the blood of the cross. No matter how severe the scrutiny with which the foundation of her hopes is inspected ; no matter how many and great her sins and apprehensions may have been, here she finds rest. Nor, where it is loved, is the Gospel less adapted to the heart than to the intellect and conscience. It is to the heart that it makes its most powerful appeals. That moral advancement and purity which are so indispensable to the present and eternal well-being of men, find no cul- ture, no aliment, save in the Gospel. Nor is it to be overlooked, that the Gospel, though it has not a magic, has a transforming power. It possesses resources in which it differs even from the pretensions of all other religions. It reveals an agency, an insinuating, control- ling, omnipotent influence, by which its truths and motives are accompanied with a resistless energy. It is the power of God and the wisdom of God unto salvation. It can form the soul anew. There is not a human being so abject and degraded that it cannot elevate; not a mind so benighted that it cannot illumine ; not a tribe of all the families of men that it cannot reclaim, sanctify, and save. And equally adapted is it to man's immortal nature. Life and immortality, elsewhere conjectured, or at best hoped for, are here brought to light, and with a plenitude and clearness that consults the deepest exigen- cies of perishing men. Such is the universal adaptation of the gospel to the character and condition of man. Unlike the instructions of pagan philosophy, and the mysteries of pagan worship, its doctrines are intelligible and true, its rites few and simple, its duties authoritative and sacred; its promises, its threatenings, its worship, its rewards, suited to every variety and condition of human kind. Name, sect, sta- 8 The extent of the Missionary enterprise. tion, character, country, are all alike open to its visits of mercy, and alike fitted to profit by its influence. It has sympathies for the Cossacks of the Don and the Volga, and for the polished inhabitants of the British Islands ; for the purple of the palace, and the nakedness of the desert ; for the Greek and the Jew, the barbarian and the Scythian, the bond and the free. It reveals facts and principles, and offers of mercy, and a Redeeming Savior, every where adapting themselves to the genius of human society, and the fittest instrument to be em- ployed in the conversion of men. And when yon speak of them, they shall lose none of their importance, or power, from any peculiarity in the condition and charac- ter of those to whom they are addressed. Just as the earth, the air, the seasons, and the light are adapted to man, so is the Gospel. " As the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater," so is the Gospel. IV. The field is the world, if we regard the command of the Savior, ?n relation to the extent of territory to be cultivated. It were a safe conclusion from the facts already advert- ed to, that men are bound to the most unlimited dissemi- nation of the word of life. All are the offspring of the same great and almighty parent ; all are born for immor- tality ; all must appear at the final judgment ; all are destined either to a world of joy or woe ; all are apostate and lost; in the provisions of the Divine mercy there is sufficiency for all ; and it were the dictate of reason and benevolence to give all the Gospel. But the Savior has not left us to our own deductions, even on a point so plain. By a precept which cannot well be misinterpreted, or misunderstood, uttered by his own lips, and under cir- cumstances of memorable interest, he has solemnly direct- The extent of the Missionary cntcrprizc. 9 ed his church to inculcate the truths, and enforce the duties of his Gospel on men far off and near, known and unknown, men of every nation and clime, whether friends or foes, and whatever may be their language, their intel- lectual culture, their rank, color, or religion. It was his last command. He had descended from heaven to earth, to establish the only religion that proclaimed, "Glory to God in the highest, peace on earth and good will to men ;" he had already made himself an offering and a sacrifice unto God; he had poured out his sorrows and blood on the cross ; the print of the nails was in his hands and in his feet, and in his side he still bore the mark of the spear ; he had risen from the dead, and given public demon- strations of his conquests over death and hell ; he had laid aside the wreath of thorns, and been invested with the crown of the mediatorial kingdom ; he was just about to assert his claims, sway his sceptre, and commence the conquests of his truth and love in this revolted world nay, the opening heavens were in his eye he was just about entering upon the glory he had with the Father before the world was : and he came and said to his disci- ples What did he say ? "ALL POWER is GIVEN UNTO ME IN HEAVEN AND ON EARTH : Go YE INTO ALL THE WORLD, AND PREACH THE GOSPEL TO EVERY CREATURE." What injunction could have been more affecting, more easily remembered, more obligatory ? And is not the field the world ? Whom does this commission exclude ? What untutored tribe? What clime? What govern- ment ? What land of friends or enemies? What remote and barbarous people? What living man? And what interpretation did the early Christians give to this injunc- tion? "They went every ichere preaching the word :" to Phenicia, to Antioch, to Syria, and to the provinces of Asia Minor ; to Macedonia, Greece, and Italy ; to the Islands of the Mediterranean, to Scythia, and Persia; to 10 The extent of the Missionary enterprize. Spain, Gaul, and Germany; to Arabia, Armenia, Ethio- pia, and China. With diligence, with suffering, with strong crying, and many tears, night and day, they toiled and labored, at home and abroad, on the land and on the sea, in necessities and distresses, in stripes and imprison- ments, in watchings and fastings, that they might bear the messages of the Savior's love to every land. And who will charge them with enthusiasm ? Why should these glad tidings be proclaimed only to a favored few? Could our blessed Master more definitely have individ- ualized the race, than he has done in this commission 1 Preach to every creature ! O it is marvellous that through the apathy and unfaithfulness of his own follow- ers, the heavenly message 'has been " arrested at the shores of Christian lands," and the angel impeded in his flight, that would long ago have borne it across every ocean and every shore. V. The field is the world, if we regard the predicted and ultimate triumphs of the Redeemer. Had it been revealed that any part of the earth were perpetually abandoned of God, though the duty might not have been called in question, we might, perhaps, have questioned the expediency of extending our efforts to such a proscribed and reprobate territory. But, when the first promise was published in Paradise, the point was settled, that the assaulted Redeemer should extend his kingdom over the inhabited world. And when the Savior gave the command that his Gospel should be published to every creature, he did it in view of its ultimate and uni- versal triumphs. There were indeed centuries of darkness to pass away, before this glorious consummation. His church, in her origin, was a little flock, though ultimately to possess the kingdom and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven. When first planted on the banks of the The extent of the Missionary enterprize. 11 Jordan, she was like the handful of corn on the top of the mountains, destined to shake like Lebanon ; or like the grain of mustard seed, one day to overshadow the nations. Nothing is more certainly determined in the Bible, than that the heathen are given to the Son of God for his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession; that he must reign, until all enemies are put under his feet ; and that the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. The Prince and Savior has done and suffered what no other being in the Universe has done and suffered ; and he shall have his reward ; he shall see of the travail of his soul and be satisfied. And hence, Prophet after Prophet foretels his conquests. At one time they say, " From the rising of the sun, unto the going down of the same, his name shall be great among the Gentiles." At another they affirm, that " in every place, incense shall be offered to his name, and a pure offering." At one time they say, " The Lord of hosts will destroy the face of the covering cast over all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations." At another they affirm, that " the Lord shall make bare his arm in the sight of all people ;" at another, that " the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together;" and at another, anticipating the consummations of his reign, they announce, " the kingdoms of this world have be- come the kingdoms of our Lord and his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever !" Tell me not of difficulty in the accomplishment of these purposes, for, " the mouth of the Lord hath spoken them." Say not that the world opposes itself to these designs of mercy, for " as I live, saith the Lord, all the earth shall be filled with my glory !" Speak not of principalities and powers who resist the progress of his kingdom, for " he shall speak to them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure : he 12 The extent of the Missionary enterprize. shall rule them with a rod of iron, and dash them in pieces as a potter's vessel." Complain not of the want of instruments or agencies to advance the design, for he has all secondary causes in his hand, and he will urge for- ward his purposes of love with the least possible delay. Why then should toe take a more limited survey of the field than is taken by the Divine purpose ? Why not include within our efforts all that is included within his ? If his purposes are circumscribed by nothing but the world, why should our plans be so narrow as to retard and embarrass his career ? If nothing else will satisfy the extent and largeness of his desires, nothing short of this may satisfy ours. Why, when he is going forth conquering and to conquer, and with the avowed purpose of subjugating the world, why should not his church prepare the way for his most extended and universal tri- umphs? It is not more certain that all the nations shall call the Savior blessed, and be blessed in him, than that all shall become acquainted with his Gospel. It is not more certain that thousands and millions, in all lands, shall be translated from the power of darkness into the kingdom of God's dear Son, than that all lands are the appropriate sphere of Christian exertion. Since there is no portion of this fallen race where the God of love will not shed abroad the serenity of his grace, then is there none to which the ministry of reconciliation must not be commissioned with the overtures of pardon and peace : none on which the light of Sabbaths must not shine in all softness and splendor ; none on which the supplica- tions of the saints do not draw such copious and con- tinuous showers of mercy, that the wilderness shall be- come like Eden, and the desert like the garden of the Lord. It is one of the darkest mysteries in the admin- istration of the Divine government, that this world has been permitted to remain so long in a state of alienation The extent of the Missionary entcrprize. 13 from God. But who may affirm that it had not been otherwise, had the church been faithful in the dissemi- nation of his Gospel ? I add : VI. The field is the world, if we regard the existing intimations of Divine Providence. There have been seasons when unyielding difficulties have stood in the way of every thing like combined and well organized effort for the conversion of the world ; and when, from the paucity of numbers in the church from the want of means from various circumstances in the existing state of human society from hostile relations of different parts of the earth from intrinsic difficulties in international intercourse from the domination of anti-christian governments and from the internal agita- tions of heathen lands, it would have been impossible to have disseminated the Gospel beyond very circumscribed limits. More than once, the church has had enough to do to save her single self from being swept away by the torrent. Such was her condition during several periods of the patriarchal age. Such was her condition after the confusion of tongues. Such was her condition at the calling of Abraham. And long after this period, a dark and heavy cloud overshadowed the earth. The Sun of Righteousness was withdrawn , and save the single nation of the Jews, was withdrawn for more than six thousand years. During the most of this period, there was no encouragement for missionary effort. There were no intimations in the providence of God, that the time had come for the extended and universal dissemination of his truth. So forbidding were the indications, even in the days of the apostles, that those holy men did not venture to labor among the heathen until they were expressly and divinely directed so to do. For several of the earlier centuries of the Christian era, the pagan world was 2 14 The extent of the Missionary enterprize, indeed more accessible, and every part of it was by turns open to missionary effort, and successively visited by the heralds of the cross. But this little illumined zone of time grew narrower and narrower, and the light gradually waned, and became more and more dim, till it almost vanished away. During the middle and dark ages, ignorance and superstition overspread the earth ; the fairest portions of it were desolated and overthrown ; the church herself was fleeing before an implacable enemy; and every thing precluded generous and benevolent effort, Never was the human mind subjected to a heavier bon- dage; never did a longer or more afflictive night pass over the earth ; never did every thing concur to throw a deeper shade over the prospects of the heathen. But these days have gone by. Since the revival of letters in the sixteenth century, and especially since the great Reformation, there has been a gradual expansion of the human mind in all the departments of knowledge. Men have been preparing to appreciate every advance in intelligence, liberty, and religion ; and to co-operate in designs for the purpose of superseding the dominion of vice, anarchy,, idolatry, hypocrisy, and superstition, by the simplicity and power of the Gospel. Since the inven- tion of the art of printing, the deep foundations of human ignorance have been broken up, and the knowledge of God and his salvation has found a channel through which they may be poured upon the world like a flood. Since the discovery of the mariner's compass, also, there is no shore so distant, but is sought with eagerness; no ocean so vast, but is traversed with safety. Remote continents and distant islands are brought within our reach. There is no excuse for not carrying the Gospel to New Zealand, or the islands of the Pacific, as well as to other immense territories which may now be explored with less prepara- tion and alarm, than the ancients "would cross the The extent of the Missionary enterprize. 15 Euxine, or a small arm of the Mediterranean." In every view, the aspect of the world is changed. The present state of the sciences universally the discoveries in astronomy and geography in natural philosophy and chemistry the wonderful power of steam in its applica- tion to the mechanical arts, and the means of intercourse all these lay open to the world, to the eye, and heart, and hand, of the Christians. The despotic sceptre of human governments, also, is melting away ; the influence of a corrupt and wicked priesthood begins to be suspect- ed ; the Islam power is on the wane, and large portions of the pagan world are already under the influence of Christian governments and wholesome laws. And never was there a time when the heathen world itself was so prepared to receive the. Gospel as it is now. The pagan intellect is waking up. The Indian tribes, the islands of the sea, Africa, Burmah, the hither and farther Indies, and even China, weary of their philosophy, and half dis- gusted with their idols, are stretching forth their hands unto God. Every where the church is breaking forth on the right hand and on the left. The blood of her martyrs .has begun to flow. There is a magnificence in her plans, a concurrence in her operations, a promptness, a bounty, a zeal, an invention in her benevolence, which have never been before witnessed. Missionary stations are to be found in almost all parts of the earth. And when you take the map of the world, you will see that they have been so selected as to afford a ready intercourse with one another, and with pagan, Mahometan, and anti-christian countries. There is a line of stations in different latitudes,, making circles of light round the globe. The sacred fire is thus enkindled, and at such distances, that it is not difficult to see that it must spread, till it burns over this vast desert, and prepares it for the harvest. It deserves to be noticed with gratitude, also, that through the noble 16 The extent of the Missionary enterprize. efforts of the different Bible Societies, and especially of the British and Foreign Society, the languages of the earth are in the progress of rapid attainment by Christian missionaries ; and this formidable obstacle to the world's conversion is so far surmounted, that in nearly two hun- dred different languages, men may now read in their own tongue the wonderful works of God. Add to this that there are schools and higher seminaries of learning estab- lished by Christians in pagan and anti-christian lands, where thousands upon thousands of youth and children are instructed in the truths of the Gospel. Never had the church so fair an opportunity of making an impression on the minds of this apostate world as she has now. There is, in a word, at this moment, a more extended and a more varied series of causes for the conversion of men and a more rapid succession of means and ends for this grand result, than has ever distinguished any preceding age, not excepting that of the apostles. And if these efforts are continued and advance, in humble dependence on God, we cannot suppress the hope, that in a few genera- tions more, perhaps when another generation shall have passed away, the strong holds of paganism will be broken down. Surely the field is the world. Every thing unites in saying, The field is the world. Men, means, effort, expectation, all proclaim, The Jield is the world. It is the voice of providence; it is the voice of prophecy ; it is the voice of ruined millions, borne on the winds from every sea and land ; it is the voice of Calvary ; it is the voice of God. Yes, the field is the world. The dwellers on the rocks and on the mountains reiterate the cry, The field is the world. Hundreds of Zion's choicest sons, her talent, her learning, her eloquence, burning with zeal to live and die for the heathen, all proclaim, Thejield is the world! These scenes of mercy, this house of God, these The extent of the Missionary enterprize. 17 days of glad recital and fond remembrance, the design of our present meeting, these hopes and supplications, these tokens of hallowed fellowship in widely separated churches, every thing we see, and hear, and feel, has a tongue to proclaim, THE FIELD is THE WORLD. In suggesting a few of the thoughts inculcated by the preceding illustrations, we cannot but observe, 1. The obvious inequality in the distribution of the means of grace and salvation. When our Lord pro- claimed, " The field is the world," he did not mean that all the seed of the kingdom should be collected into a single furrow, or all the labor of his servants devoted to any one inclosure. When he told his followers that they were the light of the world, and the salt of the earth, he instructed them that their influence ought to be widely diffused. So when he gave the command to his church, to disciple all nations, to preach the Gospel to every creature, it was not that they might confine their instruc- tions to a few favored spots, and leave the rest of the world a moral desert : nor was it, that any one portion of the earth should in this respect be distinguished above another, except so far as the most effectual distribution of the Gospel throughout the world might require, and his providence lead the way. And who does not see that this is the only way in which the world can ever be converted to God ? If a man wishes to burn over an extensive forest, he lights up, not a single fire, but a hundred or a thousand fires, in different places, and at different distances. So if we ever expect to send the Gospel to the world, there must be something like an equal distribution of the means of grace and salvation. This is the way in which the Gospel was first published. It is obvious, at a glance, that the apostles directed all their movements upon this principle. Nor was it an uncommon thing, when they lost sight of 18 The extent of the Missionary enterprize. this, and began too eagerly to concentrate their forces, for their Great Head and Master to commission the wrath of their enemies to scatter them among the nations. Take a glance at the unevangelized portions of our globe. Look at Russia, extending from the Baltic to the Pacific, and containing a population of fifty-seven millions; and for this vast territory there are only six Christian missionaries. Look at China, containing a population of three hundred millions ; and for all this immense empire there are not more than seven or eight Protestant preach- ers. Look at the countries lying on the Indian Ocean, and you see Siam with a population of two millions, and Burmah with eleven millions, and with only eighteen preachers of the Gospel. Look at Hindostan, where there is a population of one hundred and twenty millions, and where there are more missionaries than in any one pagan country, and even there, there is not one Christian teacher to a million of people. Look at Persia, where there are eleven millions of inhabitants, and at Arabia, where there are twelve millions, and where, in neither country, until within a short period, has there been a single missionary. Look at the thirty millions scattered throughout the Asiatic islands, most of them pagans and Mahometans, with a supply of only sixty missionaries. Look at Africa, containing probably one hundred and ten millions of souls, and throughout all its coasts, including the English settlement of the Cape of Good Hope, and the districts of Sierra Leone and Siberia, there are less than a hundred Christian teachers. In the Eastern hemisphere alone, the population of unevangelized countries is at least six hundred millions, while the number of missionaries is not far from four hundred ! Now look at Christendom. The United States of America contain fifteen millions of inhabitants, and have more than eleven thousand ministers of the Gospel, and The extent of the Missionary entcrprize. 19 in addition to these, three thousand young men in train- ing for the sacred ministry. England has a population of fourteen millions, and has not far from twenty-four thousand ministers of the Gospel. Scotland has a popu- lation of two and a half millions, and about two thousand ministers of the Gospel. Were the means of religious instruction in the American States equally distributed, the country would be amply supplied. But it is no un- common thing for us to see a city, containing thirty thou- sand inhabitants, supplied by thirty ministers of the Gos- pel ; and still more common, to see a village that con- tains but twenty-five hundred inhabitants, to have five or six settled ministers. And the same is true of Britain, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales, only upon a more exten- sive scale, and more obvious inequality of distribution. The United States has one minister of the Gospel for every fourteen hundred souls ; England has one for every six hundred ; Scotland has one for every twelve hundred ; and the poor heathen have one to a million and a half! And is it so that the field is the world? Then must there be sin somewhere in relation to this matter. My brethren, will not the Last Great Day show that our skirts are not all pure from the blood of the heathen ? I am not for emptying Christendom of its ministers ; but I am for distributing this immense disparity of her supplies. What should give a few favored lands a pre-eminence in this respect so much above all others ? Must we despair of devising some method by which the conflicting inter- ests of sect and denomination may be so adjusted, that this evil may at least be in some measure removed, and the number of missionaries to the heathen augmented a hundred fold ? England, if all her ministers are true men, has at this moment five or six thousand to spare for the heathen. The United States could spare fifteen hundred ; and Scotland a thousand. Ten thousand ministers might, 20 The extent of the Missionary enterprise. during the present year, be drawn off from Christendom, and given to the heathen. What a donation to a dying world ! What a present to its redeeming God and King ! Oh Christians ! what miserable economy is this, of mind, and heart, and moral power, that a single man, who, if he were on heathen ground, might preach the Gospel every Sabbath to thousands, should remain in Britain or the United States, and exhaust his life, and wear out his days, in preaching to some two or three hundred ; and who, if they were deprived of his labors, would be well supplied elsewhere ! Where is our warrant, when the Master bids us evangelize the world, thus to confine our efforts 1 The world can never be converted at the heavy and slow rate at which the work is now going on. Cen- turies of darkness must roll over the earth, unless some- thing is done to secure a more equal dissemination of the Gospel. Oh that the day would dawn, when all who love the Lord Jesus shall be of the same mind and judgment when party animosities and sectional jealousies shall die away when apprehension and distrust at home shall no longer diminish the number of laborers abroad and when churches of every name shall consecrate their best services and their first men to the great end of con- verting the world. 2. If the field is the world, then does it become every minister of the Gospel to institute the inquiry, To what portion of this extensive field Jesus Christ requires him to repair 1 From motives of mere preference or self-grati- fication, no man may select his own sphere of labor. It becomes him, when he receives his commission, to inves- tigate its import. What is it ? How does it read ? "Go, preach the Gospel to every creature ; go, teach all nations : and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world !" Do you acknowledge the prerogative of your Prince in this matter ? Do you recognize on this The extent of the Missionary enterprizc. 21 commission the image and superscription of your Divine Leader ? Then, to what part of the world does it send you? Where does it require you to unfold and plant the banner of the Great Captain of our salvation ? Is it in the territories of light and life, or in the region and shadow of death? Is it at home, or abroad? Inclination leads a man to stay at home. Friends and family, name and worldly comfort, lead him to stay at home. Sickly climes, savage men, and the blood of martyred missiona- ries say, stay at home. But his commission, the only commission by which he is warranted to preach the Gospel any where, runs in this solemn form : " Go, preach to every creature!" What shall he do? My brethren, if the fear of God and the love of Jesus Christ nre the paramount principles of his conduct ; if love to the souls of men bears sway over all earthly loves ; if he counts not his life dear to him, so that he may finish his course with joy ; in coming to a result in this important concern, the questions he will ask are few, simple, and decisive. And they will be such as these: For what part of this vast field am I, or can I be best qualified? In what part of it are my labors most needed ? Where is the most important sphere of action ? And where can I accomplish most for the Savior who died for me ? He may not shrink from difficulty, nor be afraid of toil, nor tremble at the wrath of kings, nor the malice of the peo- ple. Nay, rather let him aim at the martyr's crown, than basely shrink from the service to which his more than martyred Savior calls him. We scarcely know how to account for it that so few of that sacramental host, who have professed before God, angels, and men, an unreserved submission to their duty, and who glory in being the disciples of the self-denying and crucified Savior, should, for seventeen centuries past, have consented to devote themselves to the most exten- 22 Tfte extent of the Missionary enterprize. sive promulgation of the Gospel. When, O when shall the time come, that young men. baptized with the spirit of their ascending Lord, shall press in crowds to heathen lands ? When shall the time come, that it will no longer be thought the dream of chivalry and romance to talk of the conversion of the world ? I am persuaded that the day of mercy has dawned upon the heathen. The time is just at hand, when it will be deemed no marvellous act of self-denial to forsake all and follow Christ when not young men only will flock to pagan lands but when men of fortune, men of talent, men of family, will deem it their highest honor, their greatest joy, to live and die and fill up the measure of the sufferings of Christ, for this perishing world. Oh what are a few years of labor and fatigue, a few short years of suffering and sorrow, of faithful and painful devoternent, for an object so immeas- urably important ! Are there none among those who hear me, whose duty it may be to live and die among the heathen ? Are there none within these walls to whom the Savior is saying, " Chosen disciple, lovest thou me ?" Then "feed my sheep." Get thee far hence among the heathen. Go, " feed my lambs." Yes, go. By the sor- rows I bore for you on the cross, and by the love I bear you still, go feed my lambs ! They are wandering upon the mountains in a gloomy and dark day. And though they are not of this fold, them also must I bring, that there may be one fold and one shepherd. 3. This subject presents in its true and proper light, the great object of Christian missions. It is nothing less than the conversion of the world. This is the grand object which now demands the united and vigorous effort of the people of God on the earth ;. and that they may promote this object, is the reason why they occupy a place on this earth, rather than in the mansions of their Father's house. The extent of the Missionary cnterprize. 23 We live, my brethren, for the conversion of the world. What an object ! The glory of our God, the extension and adornment of his church, the welfare of our fellow men nay, all those objects which make their appeal to the most enlarged and disinterested love of the Christian mind are embodied here. This is the object the church needs, to foster her graces, to sustain her activity, to annihilate her divisions, to give harmony and effect to her councils, and to fit her for heaven. And this is truly a great work. It is a growing, per- manent enterprize, and one for which good men must lay their account to labor, and give, and pray, till they go to their final rest. It is one for which they must make up their minds to act more upon principle than upon sudden impulses, and to advance on their beginnings until the work is accomplished. It is not enough to contemplate the conversion of a province, or island, or empire ; Zion must enlarge the place of her tent ; she must stretch forth the curtains of her habitation, and set herself in earnest to the work of sending the Gospel to every creature. It is not enough that she penetrate territories where she is protected by the arm of power, and cheered by the light of civilization ; she must make invasions upon hostile lands, scale the walls of her most infuriated enemies, and, with the courage of other days, select as the most honored and envied fields of labor, the scenes of suffer- ing and the -posts of danger. It is not enough that she visit salubrious climes and a balmy atmosphere; she must go forth under burning suns, traverse arid deserts, inhale pestilential vapors, and plant her standard alike under the shadow of the Upas, and amid the exhalations of the Nile. It is not enough that a few isolated indi- viduals, or favored departments of the church of God, wake up to this mighty undertaking; a missionary spirit must be fostered throughout all her borders, and the ardor 24 The extent of the Missionary enterprize. and strength of her concentrated piety lay themselves out to send the Gospel to the world. It is the cry of universal distress that falls upon our ear. It is the world, the world, that is famishing, while there is bread enough and to spare. We have the Gospel. But a few centuries ago; and our ancestors were pagan, and worshipped gods of wood and stone. Now we are the children of the kingdom. And yet, we inhabit a world where there are more than six hundred millions of immortal beings living and dying without God and with- out hope. What demands upon our compassion and ten- derness, our munificence and prayers ! Eighteen hun- dred years have passed away since the blood of propitia- tion was shed, arid yet three fourths of the world in which we dwell have never seen a Bible, or heard of the name of Jesus. O that our head were waters, and our eyes a fountain of tears ! Why, why do we thus ignobly slum- ber in the work ? O for that abhorrence of human im- piety which moved the heart of Paul ! O for that com- passion for the souls of men, and that zeal for the honor of God, which gave self-denial and firmness to men who counted it all joy to labor and suffer for a dying world ! O for the love of Swartz and of Brainerd toward the per- ishing heathen ! O for the day when the heart of Chris- tendom shall be moved with pity to the heathen, as the trees of the forest are moved by a mighty wind ; when the hallowed influence of the Gospel shall be diffused through every land ; when the wilderness shall blossom as the rose, and the songs of salvation shall every where ascend to God and the Lamb. MISSIONARY PAPER, NO. 22, RESULTS OF MISSIONARY LABOR AT THE SANDWICH ISLANDS. THE following statements, illustrating the progress and influence of mis- sionary efforts at the Sandwich Islands, have been deliberately made by the mission there, in answer lo an official oall upon them for information that might be entirely relied upon. They have the sanction of the whole mis- sion. The men who make them testify to facts, that have occurred tinder their personal observation. The statements were drawn up in 1835, and have been strengthened by the subsequent success of the mission. ORIGINAL STATE AND CHARACTER OF THE PEOPLE. In the early part of 1820, the pioneers of this mission arrived on these shores to offer the gospel to a nation to whom Christ had not been preached. The inhabitants were sitting in the region and shadow of death, and were emphatically without God and without hope in the world. The idolatry of the country had then received a decisive stroke by the singular determination of a young ruler, whose licentiousness was unwilling to be hampered by it, vile as it was. By him, supported by a few able coadju- tors, the public rites were abolished ; not, however, with- out an opposition which involved the nation in blood, and for a season threatened to overwhelm the bold innovators, and restore the public rites, and establish the ancient religion, the degrading influence of which, on the minds and characters of the mass, still existed. The tabu system was exceedingly impure, oppressive and bloody. A vile priesthood, in compliance with its sanguinary and rapacious requirements, often imbrued their cruel hands in the blood of their fellow-men. In league with the civil power, they Contributed their influ- ence to support its oppressions ; and deriving support from it themselves, proceeded unmolested in their work of desolation. In many cases the direct and main object of the worship of the multiplicity of deities, which different classes, tribes, or individuals were ignorant or wicked enough to honor, was to effect the destruction of their fellow-men. The inhabitants regarded their own lives No. 22. 1 2 Result of Missionary La as in constant jeopardy from the prayers of their own countrymen, who were supposed to exercise their malice through the agency of the different gods whom they in- Toked ; as well as from the hand of private revenge or cupidity, and the weapons of ruthless warfare. The glowing descriptions, given by early voyagers, of the happiness of such a people, and the fine speculations of a hollow philosophy on the felicity of the savage state, compared with the civilized, are, it must be acknowl- edged, sufficiently romantic. And to suppose the inhabi- tants of the Pacific islands, are happy enough, and safe enough, without Christianity, is, it would seem to the mind of any Christian, sufficiently absurd. Let it be remembered, for in contemplating the true picture of Hawaiian idolatry it should be distinctly re- membered, that the religious services rendered to rep- tiles, sea-monsters, birds, four-footed beasts, and creep- ing things, volcanoes, human beings and human bones, and imaginary demons which were so universal here had little or no reference to a future state, and never roused the mind to a hope of a blissful immortality ; never awakened the delightful expectation of a better state than the present, or the fear of a worse. It will then be easy to conceive what must have been, and what was actually found to be, the character of the community on which the mission proposed to operate. Multitudes of mothers assisted by their husbands or paramours or interested friends, through the influence of adultery, jealousy, or the fickleness of conjugal affection, or through poverty, oppression, laziness, or imbecility, or through want of natural affection multitudes of mothers became the murders of their own offspring. Sorceries, robberies, murders, suicides, and thefts were common. They were countenanced by the rulers, and practised by all classes. Concubinage, polygamy, polyandry, prosti- tution, coveting and taking away husbands, wives, houses, lands, clothing, etc. ; gambling, drunkenness, and obscen- ity in songs and conversation, were popular on the intro- duction of Christianity, even in the highest classes, and continued to be so for three years after the commence- ment of the mission. The incestuous marriage of a brother and sister of the highest rank was considered as the glory of the nation. at the Sandwich Inlands. 3 The prostration of the ancient tabu system seemed in no way adapted to diminish these evils. The influence of foreign shipping was any thing but favorable to the pro- motion of chastity and piety. As to the means of moral renovation, they had none. The art of reading was un- known to them. Not a single written syllable of their language had the nation to begin with, when we com- menced our work ; no Sabbath or sanctuary, no worship of Jehovah, no schools but those of vice to teach the heathen song and dance or other vile amusements ; no Christians among them to pray, or think, or speak of heavenly things. If any had chanced to hear the name of Christ pronounced, it had been in connection with profane oaths and bitter- ness. Such was the state and character and destitution of the people when the missionaries came among them. Means employed to Improve the Nation. The Press Preaching. To meet the wants of the nation in such circumstances, an alphabet of their lan- guage was formed, and the language reduced to writing ; schools were opened in every district ; school-books pre- pared and brought into extensive use; religious tracts pub- lished and circulated ; the New Testament and other por- tions of the Bible translated and made accessible to thousands. Three printing-presses are kept in operation to supply the means of light, and a thousand pages of new matter are now added in a year to the amount in use. The preaching of the gospel, very feebly and gradually com- menced, is now maintained by preachers acquainted with the language, at fourteen different stations in the islands, is pretty regularly continued at several out-stations, and is occasionally extended through every district where no missionary is located. The congregations where public worship is maintained conduct with decorum. They always give a respectful and often an interested attention to the preaching, prayers, singing of hymns, and the ad- ministration of the sacraments in the house of God. Schools and their Influence. The attention of the mis- sionaries has from the first been more or less directed to schools. Within about five months after the arrival of the pioneers, a quarterly examination of the first school at Honolulu convinced the chiefs and people here tnat we could teach them to read and write. An impulse 4 Result of Missionary Labor like this was early given at the other islands, and has not yet ceased to be felt. The missionaries and their wives and helpers have, up to the present time, endeavored to cherish the schools as a primary means of reforming the nation. They have had classes under their own imme- diate instruction, amounting sometimes to not less than a thousand individuals of different ages. But the mass of those who have attempted to learn, embracing those numerous collections of the people in different parts of the islands called schools, have been under the instruction of incompetent native teachers. The aggregate of learners in the islands has, at some periods, amounted to 50,000. Probably more than four-fifths of these were advanced to years of maturity, and not a few beyond middle age. Most of them had the ordinary occupations of life to attend to, as though no school existed. While it has been our business to teach a few hundreds personally, and superintend their efforts to teach others, our steady aim has been to extend a moral and religious influence over the whole community, by means of the widely extended, and in some respects, the loose school system. Whatever may have been the defects of that system, it should be understood that the design of it has not been merely or mainly literary ; that mental culture has not been in the schools, especially of adults, our most prominent object ; for in those points of view, hun- dreds of schools under native teachers, embracing thou- sands of readers, would hardly deserve the name of schools, as that term is ordinarily understood in the most enlightened countries, as the nurseries of science and literature. But the general system was and is intended to supply in some measure the want of family govern- ment and education ; the want of a well regulated civil government to restrain from vice and crime ; and to sup- ply amply, by a mild and salutary influence, the want of the power once derived from a horrid superstition. It has afforded, to a great extent, by the pencil, pen, and book, a substitute for the pleasure which the people once derived from games of chance, and of skill and strength, connected with staking property ; and in many cases in- struction imparted by dictation and the exercise of joint Recitation or cantillation of moral lessons by classes, has been a happy substitute for the heathen sang and dance, at the Sandwich Islands. 5 where ignorance of the value of mental culture, or a want of interest in the subject of education, or the incompetency of the teacher rendered a severe method of application impracticable. When this easier method of communica- ting and receiving some knowledge of what we desired to teach has served to enlist our stupid pupils at all, they have been ready to try to learn the art of reading and writing, where the means have been supplied ; and as these have been acquired by numbers, the desire for books and other studies has been increased to an extent beyond our ability to meet. While, then, we have labored to afford the people the means of learning the art of reading and writing, geog- raphy and arithmetic, for the discipline of the mind and the purposes of life, and to facilitate their future access to the sacred Scriptures, it has been our steady aim through the schools, to bring to bear constantly on the dark hearts of pagans those moral and evangelical truths, without the presence and possession of which, the design of their rational existence cannot be secured. While our school system does indeed contemplate the disciplining of the mind, and affords some important means and facilities for it, it has always contemplated chiefly a moral influence over the heart and life, which the want of family and civil government, and the want of an adequate number of the preachers of the gospel has made indispensable. We have, therefore, in our first books, inserted such plain pre- cepts in the science of duty as every reader can under- stand, and have added evangelical tracts and portions of Scripture, as reading lessons for all our schools ; and have endeavored to give them an influence similar to that of Sabbath schools, as far as circumstances would allow. And we believe their agency has been, and still is, far more indispensable than that of Sabbath schools in the United States or Great Britain. In the spelling book most commonly used to teach the art of reading among the natives, the first combination of words which make sense, and which in English contains in five monosyllables the delicate reproof and affectionate call to repentance or reformation of life, given by the Saviour to a sinner, " Go and sin no more," appears to be thus understood by many a learner on his first putting 1* 6 Result of Missionary Labor these words together. The words of the prophet which immediately follow, " Cease to do evil and learn to do well," confirm the sentiment ; and the reader, without an interpreter, begins to feel that the author of our religion is addressing him personally. Many have been led by these plain precepts, to inquire further what was required of them, and have found the light increase, as they have read on, even though they must long spell out their sen- tences. This light, though it may have been feeble, has, we trust, been salutary, even when the pupils have never been able to read fluently ; and where they have not been able to comprehend all that they read, it has helped to fix attention and draw the mind from vanity and folly. It has helped to show the way to heaven. Not unfrequently a school has assembled, simply to read together a new book of Scripture put into their hands. Most of those who have at any time been collected into the schools have appeared to feel ready to hear preaching. The schools therefore, have afforded the missionary great facilities for proclaiming divine truth, and for exerting an influence over the people by means of the preached gospel, which he would not otherwise have enjoyed. This is a circumstance of no small value among a people so wild as the mass of the Sandwich Islanders were found to be, on the first arrival of the mission. When one of the earliest missionaries first attempted to preach in the northern part of Oahu, ten miles from Honolulu, having with some diffi- culty collected a few individuals of the place for that pur- pose, and begun with the aid of a native interpreter, to tell them of the God of heaven, and of his salvation, they hastened back to their houses as in a panic. When native teachers had collected numbers of the people in what were called schools, they were by tens, forties, and hun- dreds, put into possession of some of the leading truths of Christianity truths read, rehearsed, and canlillated, over, and over, till they became familiar to the multitude. Then thousands were easily brought together to hear the gospel preached, both at the missionary stations and at other places whenever a missionary came among them. In many places a considerable portion of the congregation receive Sabbath school instruction from a missionary or his wife ; and in many other places from native teachers. The plan of a Mission Seminary is at length in some at the Sandwich Islands. 7 good degree matured and put into successful operation, and three of our number as instructors, are devoted almost exclusively to its interests. The number of pupils is 118. Their studies at present are geography, including that of the Bible, arithmetic, trigonometry, composition in their own language, with the rudiments of the Greek language to a select class. The science of duty here also is, and must be, the prominent object of pursuit ; and it is hoped that some will attain to a thorough acquaintance with theology, natural and revealed, and be prepared to preach the gospel with acceptance and success. Mental Acquirements of our Learners. Of the mental acquirements of the best pupils, both of those in the High Schools, and others who have enjoyed particular personal instruction from the missionaries, we are disposed to speak with reserve, partly because the amount of attention which the missionary has been able to give any individual is so small, the books and other means of mental culture at command for most of the whole period in question so limited, and the vacancy of mind with which the pupil commenced, though perhaps at mature age, was so great, that, though the difference between his former and present state is considerable, yet all his attain- ments, placed beside those of the wise and learned of other countries, would appear exceedingly small, and be likely to be regarded as unworthy to be named at all in connec- tion with the idea of a student. It is supposed that fifty or sixty may be found who could now sustain as good an examination in mental arithmetic and topographical geography, as a majority of the students in the common academies in the United States, or as ordinary men of business. A much greater number may be found among the pupils of the Seminary, the best teachers who have the charge of common schools, and the foremost members of our churches, who are able to give an exhortation, or offer a prayer in public with much propriety. Respectable pieces of composition have been produced by them. Among them are several interesting and useful pieces of evangelical poetry, some by men of middle age, and some by females past middle age, who learned to read and write by aid of spectacles. A considerable number make contributions for a paper. The pupils of the Mission 8 Result of Missionary Labor Seminary would themselves readily fill one page a week in a small newspaper, with their own original articles, respectable without the slightest touch of a teacher, and without interrupting their daily studies. We are happy to say that among those who have received our instructions there are many fair fruits of our labor, who are valuable assistants to the missionaries, and who are rendering important services to their countrymen. It is supposed that the number of readers in the nation now is not less than 23,000; and that the whole number who have been taught to read, so as to derive, or be able to derive benefit from the perusal of tracts and other portions of Scripture, may be from 7,000 to 10,000 above that number, i. e. from 30,000 to 33,000. Our school system, then, designed as the means of pro- moting mental and moral improvement, and social and public order, and spread over so wide a surface, imperfect as it has been in all its incipient arrangements, has, in our view, been well adapted to the condition and wants of the people in its time, has filled a place which nothing else could have filled, and to some extent given order and form to society, which must otherwise have been a chaos, or a mass of human materials dissolving and crumbling into ruins. Even the schools under the most ordinary native teachers, fickle and changeable as they have been, and as unlike to regular schools in civilized countries as they are acknowledged to be, have still had their use, which is not small. The influence of the whole has been favorably exerted on multitudes who have gone the way of all the earth, and multitudes who remain; and it is believed that future generations will reap the benefit of what has thus been accomplished. Should every native school in the Islands be from this time discontinued, as a considerable number have been, some are discontinued by the wish of the missionary with a view to revive them in a better form, and some through the remissness of the people, or the teachers, or the head- men of districts, or chiefs, the good of what has been done by them would not all fall to the ground with them. Thousands who have been instructed in them would be found to read tracts and portions of Scripture, should these continue to be circulated by the missionaries ; and if no schools were put or kept in operation, it is presumed at the Sandwich Islands. 9 the art of reading would be preserved ; private individuals would learn from their friends, as some have done, and the power of the press would still be felt. And should the press stop, natives now able to write for a newspaper might be expected, through letters and manuscript essays, to convey instruction to their countrymen by the pen, an art as new to the people, almost, as though it had now been conferred by magic or by miracle. Such is the dis- position of the people to correspond by letter, that were there nothing printed to be read, we might expect con- siderable matter would be furnished among themselves, and the art of reading and writing be thus perpetuated, and enjoyed to a considerable extent. It appears to be a general impression among them that the mode of com- municating thought by the pen is as sure and v as intel- ligible to the reader, as by the tongue to the hearer. More confidence indeed is usually placed in a written than a verbal message in ordinary intercourse. The ability of several thousand of the Sandwich Islanders to correspond by letter, to write to their friends intelligibly, and to read understanding^ notes and letters (sometimes not well penned) received from them, is a decisive mark of pro- gress in our work, and holds out an unequivocal induce- ment to furnish the people with reading, in such kind, variety, and quantity as will be useful. Operation and Influence of the Press Introduction of useful Arts and Customs. During the last year, in view of the wants of the people, a religious newspaper has been undertaken, to encourage a taste for reading, and to afford a variety of useful in- struction. It was issued semi-monthly, and afforded to subscribers at a dollar a year. At first 1,500 copies were circulated. As soon as its character was known, 3,000 copies were required. One large edition of the New Testament has been scattered among the people, and another of 10,000 is demanded, and now in press, and expected to be issued in a few months, which will probably be taken up as fast as it can possibly be bound. Payment in, advance has been offered in some cases. The number of pages of matter prepared and printed for the Mission Seminary, counted in a continued series, 10 Result of Missionary Labor amounts to about 2,000 duodecimo and 2,000 octodecimo, including half the sacred volume. The printing done at Honolulu for the last five years amounts to about 30,000,000 pages, or 6,000,000 a year. The aggregate of printing in the native language done by and for the mission for the whole period amounts to about 43,000,000 ? hen you have given a native access to our publications by teaching him to read, and have made him acquainted with one tenth part of what they contain, and so far secured his attention that he will listen to the preaching of the Gospel and seek further instruction from books, you have done much towards his improvement and his conversion ; though it may still require ten thousand strokes by human hands to elevate and form his character, and the special agency of the Spirit of God to renovate his heart and fit him for heaven. How long were the inhabitants of Great Britain in the process of emerging from a state of barbarism and rising to a state of elevated civilization, after the light of the gospel dawned there? More than six hundred years rolled over the restless inhabitants of that island, after Christianity began to be introduced among them, before the great charter of their civil rights was obtained from a king who nevertheless shortly after waged a war with his subjects in violation of its reasonable provisions. It was more than nine hundred years after the introduction of the gospel, before the first ship of war was built in England ; and then the first fleet was required to be manned in a good measure by foreign seamen. It was about eleven centuries from the dawn of Christianity in that now favored and exalted country, before the freedom of con- science and the liberty of the press were established. And should it be thought strange, if, in ten years after the gospel is fairly established here, and ten or twelve missionaries able to preach forcibly its sacred truths, the nation is not raised to an elevated state of civilization and Christianity? In estimating the progress of our work, we make less account of the style of building, dress, and living, than some might be disposed to do ; for we regard it as a mat- ter of less importance whether these are altered or ifn- * May 1st, 1837,_63,074,168. at the Sandwich Islands. 11 proved or not, provided the one thing needful for the soul can be secured. Still, we are disposed to encourage by precept and example such arts and usages, as are suitable to the people, and adapted to the promotion of the best interests of the nation ; and in them there is a manifest gain. The habitations, dress, and manners of those who have been most attentive to us, are far superior now to what they were when we arrived. Some of the houses of worship are very creditable to the people. The making up of clothing in foreign fashion, the manufacture of hats and bonnets, combs of tortoise-shell, and the wearing of these articles, is probably increased an hundred fold since the commencement of our work ; and the appear- ance of our congregations thus greatly altered. The trowel, turning-lathe, saw, and plane, begin to be used to improve their buildings and furniture. One or two pupils of the Mission Seminary have commenced rudely engrav- ing on copper, with a view to furnish copies for writing, maps, etc. Thirty natives or more have been instructed and well initiated into the business of printing and book-binding. They learn with tolerable facility to set types, and correct them ; and they perform a great portion of this labor in issuing our publications. Nearly all the press-work that has been done at our presses has been done by native hands. They now use the elastic ink-roller, which one of them is expert in preparing. The pressmen can bring off about 2,500 impressions daily from each press, under a superintendent. The printers and binders are paid cash, by the piece, for the work they perform, and work cheerfully, and steadily, with a sobriety that we think will not suffer by a comparison with journeymen and appren- tices of the trade in any country. Our printing establish- ments, therefore, give the nation daily a practical lecture on industry, -inspiring hope and encouraging to effort, while they are sending forth the streams of light and peace to bless the land. . JV*mZ>er of Converts Influence of Christianity on the Nation and on Individuals. Great numbers of the people, during the period of our labors, have in some way expressed a desire to be taught the word of God and guided by its precepts. Multitudes 12 Result of Missionary Labor have said, " We repent, we believe, we wish to be ser- vants of the Son of God." Among thousands of these, eight hundred and sixty-four* have been selected and admitted to the fellowship and ordinances of the church, as having at the period of their admission given, in the judgment of charity, evidence of a radical change of heart, and of true subjection to Christ. But this number is by no means a satisfactory criterion of the extent to which the gospel has been blessed to the nation. The field has been so wide, over which the seed has been scattered, and the missionary laborers so few, and their personal acquaintance with the mass even of those who have been connected with the prayer-meetings among them so very limited ; that no tolerably satisfactory estimate can be formed of the number of true believers from the com- mencement of our work up to the present time. There is reason to believe that unsound members have been admitted to the church. Of the eight hundred and sixty- four members admitted, thirteen have been excommuni- cated, and others suspended for gross offences. So that the number of church members is not a criterion, at any time or in any place, by which the extent of the saving influence of the gospel can be correctly measured. None can tell how much divine truth must be present to the minds of these children of pagans, how clear their percep- tion of it, or how strong their conviction of sin, or their desire of heavenly things, must be, in order to their being united to Christ by faith. We know they must believe, and be disposed to obey the truth, and call on the name of the Lord with a sincere, humble, penitent heart, in order to inherit that promise, " that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved." To those who have offered themselves as candidates for admission to the church, we have in a majority of cases, given no intima- tion that they could be admitted, for want of acquaintance with them, or for want of some decisive mark of Christian character, which would not make a long probation, or familiar personal acquaintance necessary. A long proba- tion, even to several years, has not been uncommon. In connection with these facts, it may be proper to advert to a cause which has cut short or apparently oblft- * May 1st, 1837, twelve hundred and fifty-nine. at the Sandwich Islands. 13 crated a portion of our labors. From the bills of mortality which have been only partially kept in some districts, it appears probable that there have been not less than 100,000 deaths in the Sandwich Islands, of every period of life from infancy to old age, since the arrival of the mission fifteen years ago. Among these, thousands of our readers, aged, middle-aged, and youth, and thousands who in some way professed more or less regard to the gospel, have gone down to the grave. Whatever, there- fore, of blossoms or of fruit once appeared among them, the fatal blast of death has swept over them, and they have vanished from our schools and our congregations, to be seen no more, to be instructed by us no more ; and the efforts of our labors on that numerous class are placed forever beyond the observation of the world. While this generation has been travelling through the wilderness, and making some efforts to emerge from the surrounding darkness, and while hope was entertained that a fairer and brighter scene was just ready to open upon them, such have been the ravages of death, that the pillars of the nation have been shaken and removed. Seventy- eight members of our infant churches have fallen by its strokes, embracing some of the active and distinguished ; and the whole community have appeared to be passing away like a flood. Yet a goodly number of the instructed have escaped these ravages, and have been gaining more or less by the means employed for their benefit, while the number of our readers, and the number of those who can be relied on as substantial friends of our cause, has, in the midst of all opposing causes, been gradually increasing. While, therefore, the effect of a great amount of mis- sionary labor well expended, has, as it were, been blotted out from human view, so that, to the traveller or the mis- sionary recently arrived, it is as though it had not been ; there are still in the midst of this desolation many remain- ing marks of the good influence of the mission, and of the real progress of our work. The very existence of the nation in a state of quietude, is to our minds proof of the salutary influence of mission- ary labors ; for without the restraints of some religion they could not thus long have continued in prosperity ; and without Christianity, the removal of its leading men would No. 22. 2 14 Result of Missionary Labor doubtless have involved the nation in sanguinary wars, and vice and crime made desolation sure. To the possessor piety is as valuable in the poor man as in the rich and great ; yet, where it is found in the rich and great, it evinces a greater triumph of the gospel, which, while it gains an ascendancy over all that the world can offer, subdues pride and regulates the desire of earthly gain, opens larger sources of good to the commu- nity, and will perhaps thus bring greater glory to God. As evidences of the influence and progress of our work and the triumphs of the cross, we could point to the great changes and radical reform in the characters of Keopuolani, Opiia, Karaimoku, Kaahumanu, Naihe, and others of high rank, who have left the church below and gone, we trust, to join the assembly of the blest above. Of the steady efforts of governor Hoapili and his wife in the cause of reformation ; of Kapiolani, Kekauluohi, and Kinau, who in their habitations, dress, and intercourse, appear with Christian dignity and politeness, and exert a good influence in their sphere, we could speak with plea- sure, as fruits of our toil find evidences of progress in our work. Others of rank deserve to be reckoned, as holding an important place as helpers on our side. But the evi- dences of unfeigned piety are as clearly obvious in the poor. By those who cannot from an experience of their own, discover the influence of divine truth on the heart, or conceive of the power of the Spirit of God to implant in the soul other than selfish or worldly principles, it may be sometimes insinuated that the people are religious merely because their rulers tell them to be so. Who then requires the rulers to be religious? By what authority did the haughty Kaahumanu learn to bow her knees before the throne of the exalted Messiah, and with her own hand to subscribe to the self-denying religion which the Man of Sorrows taught? Before Kaahumanu or any of the rulers had given evidence of being converted to the faith of the gospel, the earliest missionaries cherished the hope that the truth had found its way to the heart of a poor blind man, who listened to them with attention, and early began to exhort the queen, who afterwards died in England, to seek the salvation of her soul. Thus the Sandwich Isl- ands Bartimeus commenced himself a useful Christian course, which he still continues, holding on his way re- at the Sandwich Islands. 15 joicing to this day; and affords, like many other cases, a convincing proof that the truth of the gospel carries its own power, independently of civil authority. He was the first native admitted by us to the communion of the Lord's supper. Evidences of reform and of improvement cannot of course always appear in the same way, nor be equally appreciated by different witnesses. Merely worldly prin- ciples may affect the exterior, and doubtless have their influence here in adorning the person, improving and decorating the habitation, etc. of some ; but it is probable that the love of character in Great Britain and the United States has vastly more influence in producing regularity of life, than it has ever had in the Sandwich Islands, or is likely soon to have. At the time of our general meet- ing in June, 1834, Miriami Kekauluohi, half sister of Kinau, having with her husband, Kanaina, built an ele- gant two story dwelling-house near the mission houses at this place, received and entertained one evening, at a well furnished table, thirty-three missionaries including men and women, presiding herself with the dignity and grace of a Christian matron. Recently, Kinau, the heiress of Kaahumanu, in her spacious and well furnished apart- ments, in like manner, except that her tea was sent round, received forty-four of us, the king, and eight or ten chiefs, and about twenty of our children. The entertainment in, either case, would have been respectable for a state gov-. ernor in America. In both instances, at their request, a blessing was asked and thanks returned, and singing and prayer followed the repast. These are indeed rare cases, but they are facts. A stranger might have been struck with them very favorably and very justly too, while other instances, indicative of improvement, equally decisive in our view, might pass with him for nothing. He might pass from one island to another in company with such men as John Je of Oahu, David Malo of Maui, Bartimeus of Hawaii, or Davida of Kauai, and, not understanding their language, or having proper access to their feelings, might regard them as bar- barians, still we look on them as sterling Christians, whose influence is salutary, whose advice we value, whose prayers and exhortations we delight to hear, whose letters and essays we are gratified to read, and whose services and 16 Result of Missionary Labor assistance we cheerfully employ in the discipline of the church, at funerals, prayer-meetings, conferences, etc. In here and there a convert, whose house is not worth a hundred dollars, whose wardrobe, if he has any, would scarcely sell for ten, and whose external appearance might provoke a sneer in the passing voyager, or in those accustomed or inclined to judge of men by the quality of the cloth they wear, the missionary, who has seen him arise from his moral pollution and fix his thoughts on Christ and heaven, perceives a dignity and moral worth which throws into the shade the glittering robes of wealth, and the splendor of the equipage of the man of the world. Though such be but babes in Christ, the missionary looks on them as the salt of the land, the light of the nation, and the heirs of the kingdom of heaven. He loves them and loves to feed them, and guide them, and show them the way to go and sit down with Abraham and Moses and Daniel and Paul, and with' Christ who died for them that he might redeem them with his blood. A brief sketch of an individual Sandwich Islander and her connections may serve to show what the gospel had to do, and what in some cases it has accomplished, during the progress of fifteen years. Deborah Kapule is a chief of inferior rank, naturally aspiring, and ready to avail herself of personal advantages. Just before the arrival of the mission, Kamahololani, her husband, a low chief from the windward islands, died at the leeward, and she became the wife of Kaumualii, the king of Kauai. She was his wife on the arrival of the missionaries, but acknowledged his own son as a husband or paramour for two years after the establishment of the mission, though strongly repugnant to the feelings of the missionaries, their instructors, whom they pationized. She was barren. Kaahumanu. the haughty queeo dowa- ger, took from her Kaumualii as a husband for herself, removing him to Oahu ; where, continuing his grateful attention to the instruction of the missionaries, and yield- ing such obedience to the light he had, as to encourage the hope that he loved the truth, he left the world and all its concerns, as we trust, in the faith of Jesus, about four years after he began to hear the gospel. Kaahumanu without hesitation took also, by intrigue or power, the son, Keliiahonui, from Kapule, who then united with his half at the Sandwich Islands. 17 brother, Kaiu, and removed to Oahu before Christian marriage was fairly introduced. Special attention was still paid to them all, and they listened from Sabbath to Sabbath to the preaching of the cross. Before the close of the fifth year of the mission, Kapule and her husband and her former husband's son, Keliiahomii, and Kaahu- manu, all gave evidence of being disciples of Christ. The two latter separated, as by Christian rules it is not lawful for a son to have his father's wife. The four made a public profession of their faith in Christ together, and as first fruits, were baptised, with Opiia, Laanui and Richard Karaaiaulu. Kaahumanu, ever after lived a single life, adorned her profession, and died as she had lived, a Christian, after several years of useful exertion as a Christian ruler. Keliiahonui married Kekauonohi, who had on our arri- val been one of the five wives of Rihoriho, and removed to Lahaina, where she united with the church. He has submitted to the discipline of the church for scandalous sins, and has been restored on evidence of repentance. Kaiu, who was baptised by the name of Simeon, and Kapule, who took the name of Deborah, have sojourned at different places, exerting a good influence. They have now resumed their residence at Kauai, and are connected with the church there. Simeon has sometimes acted as one of the twelve judges of Kauai. He was selected and sent to assist our deputation in the survey of the Marque- sas Islands. Deborah Kapule expressed a hearty willing- ness to go as an assistant missionary to that field when it was taken. Some of the chiefs chose to detain her here, on account of the value they attached to her advice and influence. The only objection in her mind, she said, was the concern she would feel for her beloved son, in remov- ing him to that heathen land. One of the common people of Kauai, the island of which she had been the haughty mistress, a pious domestic in Mr. Gulick's family, accom- panied the brethren and sisters to the Marquesas Islands, and labored like a faithful Christian to assist them in planting the gospel there, till they found it advisable to return. Simeon and Deborah appear humble, contented, friend- ly, prayerful, ready to do what they can to aid the cause 2* 18 Result of Missionary Labor of Christ, and are now exerting themselves to promote a revival of religion among the people of Kauai, at a place where no missionary is stationed. Deborah like other converts, exerts the same kind of influence in a smaller sphere, that Kaahumanu, her rival and superior, did, after her conversion in a larger. Reformation of Morals effected Public sentiment on the side of Christianity. Whatever efforts have been made since the death of Kaahumanu, to arrest the progress of temperance and reform, we are happy to say there is still a phalanx in the family of the chiefs which has nobly breasted the opposi- tion, and they have the conscience of not a small part of the nation on their side. Probably a larger proportion of the people of the Sandwich Islands refrain from using and dealing in ardent spirits, than of the population of the United States ; and it is probable that a larger propor- tion have abandoned the use of tobacco, because it is thought wrong to use it, than can be found in America of those, who having been thoroughly confirmed in the habit of using it, have now forsaken it. The missionaries eldom see a drunken native, and it is believed the num- ber of habitual drunkards is very few compared with those in the United States. When in a youthful freak, being opposed in his wish to unite himself illegally with a woman of inferior rank, our young ruler made an effort to break the bands of Christ, and cast away the Christian yoke, he became more thoroughly convinced than before, that the gospel had got a footing in the land. He remarked in a private conversation with a Christian teacher, in reference to the firmness with which the professed friends of the truth maintained their course, " The kingdom of God is strong." One of his favorites, a member of the church at this place, was induced by his persuasion or authority to taste a glass of spirits, which he said he would do for once that the word of his king might not fall to the ground. He had no sooner wiped his lips, than he felt conscience- smitten, came to his teacher to tell him what he had done, and that it was the last spiritous liquor he should drink. This man is now the chief of Wailuku on Maui, and adorns his profession as a Christian, and is a valued coadjutor in the work of reform. at the Sandwich Islands. 19 When the king and some twenty others, including one wandering member of the church, took their horses to lead the way for Sabbath riding, it was regarded by the people generally as wrong, and the church member soon made a public confession of this sin. The practice has no where become popular, and in this respect even Hono- lulu would not suffer by a comparison with any city in the United States. During the agitation, when the king summoned a council, as was supposed, with the intention of deposing Kinau, she met him in the council and said, " We cannot fight with the word of God between us, but we cannot approve of your rejecting it." He has con- firmed her in her authority next to himself, and she holds a responsibility as great, perhaps, as is desirable. When recently, his sister proved herself unworthy to hold her standing in the church of two hundred members, where ahe had made her vows, painful as the measure was, the final step of excision was taken, and not a word of mur- muring or direct opposition to the measure appeared among the members more immediately concerned ; nor, as far as we know, was complaint made in any of the other churches. Nor does she herself allow that she has lost her confidence in the truth of the Christian religion. A year ago a house of worship was burnt by an incen- diary. The church and people have since cheerfully erected another in its place, much more expensive, com- modious, and durable. Notwithstanding the sale of foreign spirits and the revival of the manufacture on Oahu, and the licensing of a few grog-shops by the king at Honolulu, the execution of wholesome laws throughout all the Sandwich Islands is now perhaps as rigid and as regular as it has ever been. The baleful influence of opposition to reform, exerted in Oahu, was not severely felt at the other islands. Some of their dregs were drawn off to enjoy for a season greater freedom from restraint at Honolulu. These facts, while, by the out breaking of sin, they prove, on the one part, the existence of an evil and rebel- lious heart of unbelief, illustrate, on the other, the salutary counteracting influence of the gospel, where it has begun to exercise its sway. 20 Result of Missionary Labor Protection of Property and Personal Rights, It is very noticeable, that, where life and property were so perfectly insecure before the introduction of Christianity, cases of theft, robbery, murder, and infanticide, once so common, are now very rare. The rights and well being of the common people are far more respected by the rulers than formerly. A better code of written laws for the se- curity of rights, than has before been published or enforced, has the last year been sanctioned by the king. The ex- istence of written laws, the prompt attention of magistrates to crimes, and the introduction of a jury of the people in important trials, is evidence of a desirable advance in the administration of justice. Two years and six months after the establishment of the mission, the chief magistrate of the nation, in a fit of jealousy in respect to one of his five wives, ordered a favorite petty chieftain in his family to be slain, and there was ne arm in the nation that could shield him from the despotic and murderous blow. He was beheaded in the night with a common axe while asleep. Others of the same rank expected a similar stroke to fall as reasonably on themselves. The first ship that ever entered the harbor of Honolulu was perfidiously seized by the ruling chief, after he had been assisted in a battle with his rival by the captain. Some days after this successful battle, captain Brown was killed and his vessel taken, but was afterwards recovered by the crew. Lieutenant Hergest of the Dedalus and his astronomer, as they landed on the northwestern shores of Oahu, were instantly massacred by the natives. When a British officer demanded the murderers, the chief who was employed to search for them took up two men who had no concern with that affair, and brought them forward to be shot, and assisted in their execution, as he now con- fesses with grief. When the Royal George was wrecked here, since the establishment of Christianity, Opiia, a chief of rank, who was just beginning to seek the salva- tion of her soul, sent her schooner to assist in saving the cargo; for which service the captain gave her one hundred dollars. This, though a moderate compensation, she returned to him, and he proposed to divide it with her, to- which she consented. When the Lyra was wrecked on Maui, Kaahumanu sent a schooner to render gratuitous at the Sandwich Islands. 21 assistance, a service which could hardly be expected of a magistrate in a civilized, Christian country. When the Helvetius was wrecked recently, the king and his people and some of the residents made exertions to save the cargo, and received a salvage such as was proposed by captain Jones of the Peacock. Some saved portions of the cargo, which they returned without salvage. The captain remarked that he had obtained more from the wreck and cargo, than he should have expected on the coast of the United States, and felt grateful for the prompt aid he had received. More than one hundred ships a year recruit at these islands with little trouble, except what arises from rum tmong their own seamen, procured of foreign dealers. Missionaries and their wives feel secure in their houses and employments, though far from any American or European family. The method of regulating the amount of rents, levying taxes, and collecting a revenue for the support of the government, admits of great improvement, which time, experience, and intelligence will promote. As better protection and security of rights are enjoyed, industry and the means of comfortable living may be expected to increase. But such is the earnestness with which our Saviour urges his followers not to be anxious for the body, but to seek the treasures above, we must not be much grieved if we see his professed people indifferent on the subject of amassing wealth, or not warmly engaged in laying up treasures on earlh by their own painful and persevering exertions; nor need we think it the greatest fault of character, should we see the poor among them, like the widow, ready to part with the last shilling in their possession to promote some benevolent object, as was the case with numbers here when the mission to the Marque- sas was fitted out from this place. Among the means of securing the rights of children, of women, and of all, the introduction of Christian marriage should not be omitted. The prevalence of Christian marriage, the foundation of domestic order and happiness, the bond of social peace, the extinguisher of infanticide, licentiousness, and various national evils, is a decisive proof of improvement in the nation, and of pro- gress in our work. Marriage, though now regulated and 22 Result of Missionary Labor protected by law throughout the islands, has hitherto, like the schools and churches, been greatly dependent on the care and influence of the propagators of the gospel. The marriages celebrated by them the last year were 1,546. The Christian Sabbath, too, observed as it is in the Sandwich Islands, though by no means with that sacred- ness that we could wish, may be regarded as a more efficient guardian of the rights, the persons, and the property of the inhabitants, than all the rulers could enact without it. Reception of Missionaries Encouragement to renewed Effort. When for several successive days the pioneers of the mission labored in doubt and anxiety to make the rulers acquainted with their object, and to bring them together to decide, as they hoped, in favor of their settlement, they were looked upon with a kind of jealousy and indifference, which were appalling ; and at the very hour when the king and chiefs were expected to attend to it jointly by appointment, two dancers presented themselves before the mean old cottage of the king, and with several musicians drew thousands around to witness a heathen hula, which then to the highest chiefs of the nation had more charms than the great salvation that was offered them. Now a majority of the rulers and thousands of the people prefer the songs of the sanctuary, the instructions of divine truth, and the public or private worship of the true God. It was many months before the first missionaries could obtain permission to build a house such as they had been accus- tomed to occupy. But mark the change. On welcoming the sixth reinforcement of the mission, which, without a sentiment in the government very decidedly in favor of our cause, could not have been so cheerfully and cordially done as it was, the chiefs pleasantly referred to the strong feeling of jealousy and opposition which existed in the minds of the nation against the early missionaries, even in eighteen months after their arrival. " When you dug your cellar," they now laughingly said, " it was thought and alleged to be intended for military stores ; and the casks deposited there" (containing bread, flour, and meat) M were filled with powder and men for war." It is true' that some of the rulers and some of the people take little or no interest in the spiritual objects of our mission, and at the Sandwich Islands. 23 some have openly turned their backs upon us ; but there is nothing now to hinder the gospel more than at any former period. There is apparently no obstacle to revivals of religion that has not before existed, and the means of promoting them are vastly increased, and the missionaries are regarded with confidence and affection. We can have as many hearers as we can well attend to ; as many schools as we can suitably watch over; as many pupils, children, youth, and adults, as we can possibly teach to good pur- pose ; and the field is obviously open for more and better laborers than we, to come in, both to break up fallow ground and to sow and reap on the partially occupied portions of the field. The Spirit of God has evidently been present at the different stations. Protracted meetings have been held by the missionaries and churches ; numbers have readily attended, and obvious good has thus been accomplished. The way of the Lord is prepared and is preparing.* We are required "to give the people the Bible with the ability to read it." This has been done in part, and is in good progress. The translation of the Bible into English, as it is now received in Great Britain and the United States, with all the helps of colleges and former transla- tions, cost a labor somewhere near equal to that of one man one hundred and forty-seven years. It has been said by one not much in favor of our puritanism, in reference to what is required and expected of us, " You have filled the land with schools and churches, but with pleasant dwellings and fruitful fields, you have not." Neither the one nor the other has been yet accomplished, but the introduction of the light of the Sabbath, of Christian marriage, of the press, of the Bible with its doctrines of temperance, industry, purity, and righteousness, are, we think, important steps towards so desirable a result. We have 'taken what we supposed to be indispensable incipient measures to raise up the people to a state of elevated civilization and Christianity ; and though a great proportion of the inhabitants of the Sandwich Islands are low in respect to their habitations, dress, mode of living, manners and pursuits, thought, taste, intelligence, etc., * In 1837, the whole number of stations on the Islands was fifteen, and there were favorable openings for more than twenty others. 24 Missionary Labor at the Sandwich Islands. yet the immediate effect of the measures employed, has been such as to comfort the laborers in their toil, and stimulate to further exertion. Considering what all were, in a state of gross idolatry, or in the pollution and dark- ness in which the vanishing tabu system left them, and what all would probably have been now, without having had the blessed gospel ; and then taking into view what we see Christianity has done and is doing for those who embrace it, the missionaries in the field, even those who have had fifteen years acquaintance with the nation, feel as much encouragement to preach the gospel to them now and labor for their conversion, as at any period, and as for any people. While we have reason with shame to acknowledge the failings, errors, want of faith and zeal, of fervent prayer, and unreserved devotedness to Christ, which may have been attributable to us, and feel occasion often to mourn over the imperfections in those who have received our best attentions, we regard it as a cause of great thankfulness and unceasing glory to God, that through your prayers and the prayers of other friends of the Redeemer, he has deigned to grant so desirable success to attend cur exertions, and thus far to speed our work ; that in proportion to the means employed for instructing the people, and for influencing them to do their duty, compared with the amount of means employed in Christian countries, or compared with the baleful influences which Satan has here employed to bind them to his service, the number of converts to Christianity it o great as we believe it to be; and that now, in our congregations and churches, so many may be found who appear to have so far come over to the Lord's side as to afford a cheering confirmation of the inspired truth that the word of God will not return unto him void ; but that in due time it will accomplish that for which he in his wisdom and benevolence is pleased to send it forth. For all the good that has been achieved or undertaken here, let the glory be given to God, to whom it is due; and for all that is expected to be accomplished, or hoped for, let his almighty favor be relied on by all the friend* of the Sandwich Islands mission, and of the Sandwich Islands nation. MISSIONARY PAPER, NO. 23, REFLEX INFLUENCE OF FOREIGN MISSIONS. [Substance of an address delivered before a Society of Inquiry on Mis- sions, by one who is now a Missionary of the American Board.] THE remark is frequently made, that the American churches are to sustain an important part in the work of converting the world. This opinion is not confined to our own country, but is prevalent in other parts of Christendom. The zeal and success of American Mis- sionaries, which have drawn forth the commendation, have perhaps given rise to a spirit of national and unholy vanity in the breasts of some Christians, who seem to regard the work as their own and not the Lord's. It has produced in such a reckless ardor in the use of means, without that deep sense of dependence on God, which should characterize the Christian. Their language is ; Come, see our zeal for the Lord ; see what we have done, and are doing, and are about to do, in spreading the gospel over the earth. On others the influence is directly the reverse. If the American churches, say they, constitute the citadel of the kingdom, our first and greatest care should be to see every part of this citadel fully and properly manned ; for if this fall into the hands of the enemy, the cause is ruined. And it is true, that if error and superstition should ever overrun this fair land, and the institutions of our fathers be subjected to the man of sin, or to the cold influences of infidelity, the brightest hope of our ruined world is extinguished. But I propose to inquire into the nature and extent of the influence exerted by our Foreign Missions on the church at home ; and the bearing of this upon the question agitated by these Christians ; whether in the present state of our own country, more men and money ought to be devoted to that work 1 The true Missionary Spirit, let it be premised, is not a spirit of vanity and outward zeal ; it is not a spirit of No. 23, 1 2 Reflex Influence of Foreign Missions. romance, or a love of notoriety, though these are some- times mistaken for it. But it is that entire devotedness to Christ, which marked the character of a Buchanan, and a Martyn, and a Brainerd, and preeminently of the great Apostle. It feels the worth of the soul, and encircles all mankind in its embrace of love. It looks at things in the light of revelation, and cannot witness unmoved the un- broken succession of immortal souls rushing unprepared into the eternal world. It is, in a word, the essence of religion ; the Spirit of Christ. Now, what is the natural influence of such a spirit on the interests of our country ? How does it affect the political, social and ecclesiastical institutions, which form our invaluable heritage ? Look at its bearing on the ele- ments of society ? When a church or a community be- comes interested in sending the word of life to those who have never heard it, do the individual members suffer in the least in their spiritual interests ? Does the family cir- cle become less happy ? Are brothers and sisters, parents and children, husbands and wives less affectionate, because they possess the spirit of Foreign Missions ? Do professing Christians become less spiritual and faithful, less compas- sionate towards the poor around them, or more careless of the salvation of their own dear friends and the welfare of their country, when they labor and pray for those who have never heard the name of Jesus'? Can it be main- tained, on any principles of philosophy, or any induction of facts, that those who contribute their money and surrender their friends, for the good of a nation on the other side of the globe, become less solicitous for the spiritual prosperity of their own country ? Both facts and principles teach the contrary. Raise the fountains of benevolence so high that their streams shall flow round the world, and you secure a thousand more refreshing rivulets for our own waste places. The spirit of Missions can never produce indifference to the religious prosperity of any part of this ruined world. Let us now examine the nature and extent of the in- fluence, upon the American churches, of those individuals who resolve to spend their lives in foreign service. Regarding the cases of peculiar adaptation to a dif- ferent field as exceptions to the rule, I lay down the broad Reflex Influence of Foreign Missions. 3 position that every individual who, with a proper spirit and suitable qualifications, leaves our country to serve his Master in a pagan land, is more than gained to the church at home ; and that, in the present state of our nation and till the number of our Missionaries shall be much in- creased, every such individual who shall be supported by the churches on heathen soil, will accomplish more for the cause of Christ in our country, than he would by remaining in it. In proof of this, we have only to advert to the history of missions, and consider the influence of missionary zeal upon those who devote their lives to missionary labors. Let us select an individual and examine his influence, from the time his attention is directed to the subject, till nature sinks under the toil and hardship of missionary life. Look at him when his thoughts are first turned to the wants of a heathen world, and he trembles, for fear of the answer, to ask " Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" Observe him, when his worldly ambition is humbled, and he is ready to renounce his fond anticipations of earthly preferment, and the delights of social intercourse, and say with the prophet, in the midst of ecstatic vision, " Here am I, send me." Follow him through his preparatory course, and trace his influence in the various churches with which he may have intercourse, before he leaves his native land. Hear his solemn charges to his impenitent friends, and his earnest exhortations to his Christian brethren, as he bids them a final adieu. Place yourselves on the shore and catch the parting message from his lips, as he turns his eyes for the last time on his friends and country. See what elFect his departure has on all who knew him; how the impenitent are awakened to the belief that there is a reality in religion, and Christians and churches are made more spiritual and faithful by his example. -And when he is established on some lonely island, or in some dark portion of the earth, listen to his fervent prayers for his loved America, and hear his earnest exhortations to his Christian brethren, as he pursues his laborious path to his eternal rest. Follow him, in short, through his whole course, and ask, at its close, if he has not done more for the salvation of his own country, than he would have done, had he spent his life in one of her most favored fields of usefulness. 4 Reflex Influence of Foreign Missions. The great want of the churches is not funds, not men but spirituality. Increase the piety of ministers, and you increase their efficiency. Double the piety of individual Christians, and you do more for the salvation of these United States, than if you gave them double the present number of pastors. Now the influence of the devoted Foreign Missionary eminently produces this spirit- uality. The very exercises of his mind when he forms the resolution thus to devote his life, imply a peculiar nearness to God. It may have cost a struggle similar to that which preceded his conversion ; for the cases are not unfrequent, in which it exhibits the same phenomena of conviction, the same struggle of renouncing friends and earthly hopes. Though he was sincere when he first professed to consecrate himself to his Saviour's service, for time and eternity, he has allowed worldly principles and worldly affections to gain the ascendancy over him. He still loves the cause in a measure, has perhaps the reputation of being devoted to it, but the love of the world in some form has greatly modified his plans of usefulness. He is not willing to renounce a favorite plan of life and the society of friends, for the lonely toils of a Missionary. With all his professions of zeal in the cause of Christ, the painful truth forces itself upon him, as he searches his own heart, that he is not willing to follow the path of duty, if it leads to lands of darkness. He is surprised and alarmed at the discovery. In vain he tries to put the subject away. His thoughts revert to the time when he first felt a " Saviour's pardoning love." Did he not then give himself entirely away ? Why then now this shrink- ing from duty ? Conscience holds her grasp. Like the convicted sinner, he turns from side to side. Like Jonah he would rise and flee to Tarshish. But at length he yields the unequal contest, and, like the converted sinner, asks, with a sincere desire to know, " Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" He is now willing to go to the darkest, loneliest part of this degraded world, and his only prayer is. that God would direct his path, and fit him for his work. The ground he occupies is now peculiar. He may not be more a Christian or a better Christian than many others around him ; but his prospects are peculiar. Those Reflex Influence of Foreign Missions. 5 schemes of ambition, those ideas of literary distinction, those plans of social, worldly pleasure, on which his imagination had so fondly dwelt, are all renounced. The struggle was like the rending of the heartstrings ; but the surrender is entire. He looks upon his friends. They are as dear to him as any ; yet a few days or months, and he must leave them. He thinks of the scenes of his childhood. The hallowed recollections of youth come over his soul. The thousand affections which bind him to his native country struggle within him. But he checks them all. They must nob be indulged. His purpose is fixed. His Saviour calls and he must obey. And he is not reluctant, for that Saviour will go with him. His sources of present and anticipated happiness are now changed. He clearly sees and feels, that if he is happy in this world, it must be from communion with God. If he is useful, it must be by the grace of Christ working in him. Thence he seeks for happiness and usefulness, and there he finds them, and there alone he expects to find them, to the end of life. Thus he stands on peculiar ground. His treasure is not here, and although his friends remain, yet he and they are soon to part, as surely as if at the stern command of death. From the necessity of the case, there are elements in his character which would not have been found there, had he expected to spend his days amid the delights of civilized and social life. Now what is the effect of the peculiarity thus induced upon his character by his consecration to the cause of missions ? During the few years preceding his departure from his native land, will he not often do more, to enlarge and purify the church, than in a whole life, with a lower standard of piety ? Follow him through the college and the theological seminary and mark his influence upon his Christian brethren. The same spirit which makes him long to spend his days among the heathen, stirs up his soul to a sense of the spiritual wants of those immediately around him. Can he feel for the unknown distant pagan, and behold, without emotion, a Christian brother dis- honoring his Master's cause, or his own dear friends forcing their way down to death ? But his time is short. An impenitent parent, an irreligious brother or sister will 1* 6 Reflex Influence of Foreign Missions. soon have had their last admonition from his lips. A lukewarm church will soon have listened to his last exhor- tations. But his example is more powerful than his precept. The very act of renouncing so much for the heathen, sometimes has more power than the preaching of a life. A church which has slept for half a century under the ordinary ministrations of the gospel, rebuked by such a sacrifice, will arouse to action. The gospel-hardened worldling, who for years has ridiculed the hollow preten- sions of worldly Christians, feels his heart relent, and is forced to admit that there is a reality in the religion of Christ. In illustration of these principles, I may allude to the familiar history of Samuel J. Mills. The missionary spirit which he inherited from his mother, and which he had so much cherished, with his companions, in the open field, on the banks of the Hoosac, was to be circumscribed by no narrow limits. His interest in the heathen world only increased his earnestness for the salvation of his own beloved country, and rendered him more efficient in laboring for her welfare. And he probably did more for domestic missions and the cause of religion, in our great Western Valley, than any other individual of his day. Another example is found in the history of Levi Par- sons, who went as a missionary to Palestine. Just before his embarkation, he undertook an agency among the churches and destitute places in the northern part of Vermont, under the patronage of the Domestic Society of that State. And it appears too evident to be denied, that no small part of his success in waking up churches, and promoting revivals of religion wherever he went, was owing to that spirit of devotedness which he had acquired in consequence of having consecrated himself to the work of foreign missions. A circumstance which happened in connection with the embarkation of Doct. Scudder, of the Madras mission, is not less in point. I refer to the case of James Brainerd Taylor. A Christian brother called at his door and invited him to go and "see Doct. Scudder off." He went, and such was the impression of the scene, that the conviction that he ought to be a minister of the gospel never left his mind from that moment. He shortly retired Reflex Influence of Foreign Missions. 7 from his business, and commenced a course of study, and those who are acquainted with his history will readily admit, that so far as human observation can reach, the influence of Doct. Scudder's departure on that single individual, to say nothing of others, did more for the cause of true religion among our churches, than his whole life would probably have done, spent in his professional duties, in this land. But the influence of a true missionary spirit has perhaps in no case been more strikingly manifest, than in that of the late Mrs. Allen, of the Mahratta mission. " Intent on seizing and improving every opportunity of benefiting her friends and acquaintance, she assembled the children and youth in her father's neighborhood, to give them her parting counsels, and take her final leave. With the little group gathered around her, and a heart overflowing with benevolent desires for their salvation, she invited them to Jesus. She drew a contrast between their con- dition and that of the degraded heathen, and besought them to seek shelter for their souls beneath the cross of Christ. By the dying, melting love of the Redeemer, by their obligations to their Maker, by their regard for their present and future welfare, and their esteem for their departing friend, she urged them to defer a preparation to meet their God, no longer. " Have you ever witnessed the intense earnestness of a dying Christian, pleading with endeared friends to secure immediately their immortal interests ? Have you ever listened to one who felt that the present was the last opportunity who realized, too, that eternal consequences were pending, and who summoned all his powers to give efficacy to the last effort he could ever make, to save the lost from interminable ruin ? Such was now the effort of our friend." " The effect," says an eye witness, " was great. It seemed like one speaking to us from another world. Every heart was melted. Every eye was suffused with tears. Many wept aloud, and seemed as if they could not leave the house until they had secured an interest in that religion which had been so faithfully and so affectionately recommended to them. It seemed to be the language of their hearts ; ' Shall our friend sacrifice so much to go 8 Reflex Influence of Foreign Missions. and tell the heathen of a Saviour, and we have no interest in this Saviour ? Shall she be the instrument in the hand of God, of saving their souls, and we perish in our sins?' Although my fears were strong that all this feel- ing might be merely the effect of sympathy, yet it was not long before numbers were anxiously inquiring the way of salvation. The work of God soon became general through the vicinity. It was a day of mercy, when all were con- strained to say that God had visited them of a truth. The result was, that almost all who had arrived at the period of youth, became pious, and united with the people of the Lord. When I last visited the place, I found that of thirty-seven, comprising about the whole of those who were present on the occasion which I have mentioned, thirty were professedly the children of God. The work was not confined to that particular place, but spread into the neighborhood, so that about all who were then children have become hopefully pious;" Many other examples might be adduced, to show the happy influence of Missionaries before they leave their native land. From these it would appear, I think, in relation to every suitable individual who goes on a foreign mission, that the very fact of his goiug has been the means of raising up others to fill his place at home. But the influence of the Missionary upon his native country does not cease at his embarkation. True he is far away, a voluntary exile from the dear land of his birth, and the society of friends which constitutes so much of earthly happiness. But he does not forget them. He feels, more deeply than others, that the hopes of a lost world hang in a great measure upon the religious pros- perity of his loved America. He -sees more clearly than others can see, that if the piety of the churches at home be suffered to languish, the spirit of popery and infidelity to encroach upon her fair domains, and controversy to take the place of pure and undefiled religion, the cause which lies so near his heart the conversion of the world must to human appearance be hopelessly aban- doned. And can he rest with such a prospect before him ? Eternity alone can reveal the influence of these impressions on our country's prosperity. No prayers for her welfare are more frequent and earnest, than those Reflex Influence of Foreign Missions. 9 which ascend from heathen lands. No appeals to a slumbering church are more tender, than those which come from the devoted Missionary. He has taken his life in his hand, and thrust himself into the midst of Satan's kingdom, and there, surrounded with the abominations of moral pollution and death, he looks upon a world lying in wickedness, as no others can. His own strength is fast wasting away. He cries for help, and his voice comes over the wide waters of the ocean, as from one on the borders of eternity. He occupies a ground in relation to the church, on which no Christian at home can place himself. I have been told by an Agent of the American Board, who fully understands the operation of such influences, that few appeals to the churches have been attended with such an influence as the letters of Doct. Scudder. The same person remarked that when Messrs. Hall and Newell first published their tract entitled " Conversion of the World, or Claims of 600,000,000," the effect through the American churches was like an electric shock, and that the influence upon the piety of Christians was in the highest degree salutary. The influence of the Missionary Herald might be mentioned in this connection, more than 20,000 copies of which are circulated monthly among the churches of the United States. To say nothing of other sources of missionary intelligence, through the pages of the Herald more than 120 missionaries of the American Board have access to 150,000 Christians, and make known the wonderful doings of God in converting the gentile nations to the knowledge of the truth. Those who read the Herald most attentively, unite in calling it one of the most useful means of grace placed within their reach. Pastors generally are beginning to feel (what some have long felt) that it is one of the most effectual helps in sustaining a deep tone of religious feeling among their people. One of the greatest calamities that could befall our churches would be, to have such a channel of communication between them and the heathen world cut off. One step more with the devoted servant of Christ, and I leave him. His happy influence on his country does not cease, when worn out by the toils of missionary life 10 Reflex Influence of Foreign Missions. he sinks into an early grave. He has gone to his rest. But still he lives, to animate the drooping spirit of those whom he has left behind. I need only allude to such names as Henry Martyn, and Harriet Newell, and Mrs. Judson. Like Samson they may be said to have accom- plished more in their death than in their lives. Numerous and large editions of their memoirs have been circulated in various languages. Probably no little volume ever produced such an influence on the cause of religion in general as the life of Mrs. Newell. I have been told by the compiler, that its effect was to raise the spirit of piety wherever it was read. He received numerous letters from various parts of the country, from which it appeared that the influence of the book on the minds of youth was such as to produce many extensive revivals of religion. I have been told by a gentleman who has traveled extensively as an Agent of the Board, that he found very many who ascribe their first serious impressions to the narrative of the devotedness, sufferings, and death of this missionary martyr. Of the early Missionaries of the Board, a large proportion, in their offers of service, trace their first interest in the missionary cause, to the same source. Numerous illustrations of a like nature must he passed over. They have probably fallen under the observation of all. But some may say that the present condition of our own country affords an ample field for the exercise of Christian benevolence ; that effort in her behalf is immensely more important now than it will be at any future period ; and that when a few years of concentrated effort have secured her safety, her united strength may be given to the work of converting the heathen. This reasoning contains much that is true and involves important principles ; yet it is mainly founded on false analogy. There is wealth enough in the churches to accomplish ten times more for the cause of religion than is now doing, without injury to temporal interests. And domestic effort, as has been already intimated, is not so well calculated to draw out their resources, as that which is directed to the heathen world. There is a difference between settling at home and going abroad. In the one case, our separation from those we love, is temporary, and we may frequently visit Reflex Influence of Foreign Missions. U them for relaxation and the restoration of wasting health, at comparatively small sacrifice of time or money. In the other case, the separation is for life. In the former, we are still in the land of our birth ; but in the latter, we are far away from kindred and loved friends, and in the ordinary course of events we never expect to see them on earth. There is something in the one case to remind us of the nearness of Eternity and the final consummation of all our labors, which does not exist in the other. This something has an important influence both on those who go and those who stay. It draws the Missionary to God and the contemplation of eternal things for support and happiness in the hour of separation, and in subsequent years of absence and loneliness ; and the same influence comes over his friends who think of him in ^ his distant but blessed work, and know that they never shall meet him on earth. The relation is peculiar. It cannot exist in the case of the domestic Missionary, and seems to account for the fact, that one of the most effectual means of waking up the church to a sense of her own spiritual wants, is to point her to the darkness of the pagan world. This is amply illustrated by the first missionary efforts in the United States. As soon as the Board had resolved to sustain the first Missionaries who offered themselves for the work, the church in looking around for means to support them, began to awake from her slumbers. A correspondent of the Panoplist at that time thus expresses himself: " If we have no means of giving money, let us retrench our expenses. I would direct the thoughts of the church to a particular source of expense, viz., wine and ardent spirits. Let us estimate the probable expense of a year's stock of wine and ardent spirits. Let this sum be paid where most needed, for missionary purposes, and we shall see a fund arise, which, with a blessing, will be a means of- building up the church of Christ in both hemispheres." This suggestion was heeded, and some of the first donations which the Board received, were the fruits of it. In a month after the first Missionaries sailed, another correspondent of the same paper thus writes : " A new era seems to have commenced in America an era of Foreign Missions. I live in a large town in New England 12 Reflex Influence of Foreign Missions. which has partaken of the missionary spirit that has been excited for the last two months. This town, for its strength and opportunity, has done well. And I wish to record it for the praise of God's grace, and for the encouragement of his people, that as soon as a beneficent concern for the heathen was raised among us, the religious aspect of the place began to change for the better. People started from their sleep, to ask for the Redeemer's kingdom. Religion appeared an interest with which they have some concern ; which ought at least to divide their attention with the world. Not all the means which have been used with this town for many years have been so much blessed as this missionary exertion. Their dear young Missionaries who have left their native shores may sink in the waves, or die as soon as they land in India ; but the mission is not lost. Many, I trust, who will ascend to heaven from America, will eternally bless God that it was undertaken. -I know not how often the promise has recurred to my mind within the last four weeks, ' He that watereth, shall be watered also himself.' I verily believe that this missionary spirit, whatever be- comes of the heathen, will prove the greatest blessing to our own churches, and the salvation of many of our children." In further illustration of the same principle I remark that prayer for the conversion of the world, and particu- larly the appropriate observance of the monthly concert, has a happy tendency, not only to keep alive the spirit of religion in the hearts of Christians, but to secure the con- version of the impenitent. A single instance, selected from a great number, must suffice. Some years ago, a powerful revival of religion commenced in a town in Massachusetts. About forty souls were almost simultaneously awakened. The inquiry meeting was crowded but few conversions took place. The first Monday in the month arrived. An aged member of the church suggested to the pastor whether it might not be best to change the meeting to meet the cases of the many anxious sinners who were present. The pastor did not favor the proposal, but went forward and conducted the meeting in a manner strictly appropriate to the occasion. The meeting was one of uncommon interest. Those who led in its exen- cises seemed to forget that there was an impenitent sinner Reflex Influence of Foreign Missions. 13 present. More than ordinary desires and enlargement of soul for the conversion of the world were manifested. The comparatively small concerns of individuals seemed almost forgotten when the whole world was the object. From that meeting the revival received a new impulse ; and some months after, when candidates were examined for admission to the church, many referred to that monthly concert, either as the date of their conversion, or the time when they received those religious impressions which resulted in their change of heart. I have alluded to the influence of a missionary spirit upon the religious prosperity of the West, and will here introduce some extracts from a letter from one of the General Agents of the Board, in that section. " There can be no doubt in any observing mind that the foreign missionaries who have gone from the West, have done more to raise the standard of piety, and conse- quently to promote and secure the conversion of sinners here, than they would have done if they had remained at home. " A lady in Kentucky gave me four dollars for the Sandwich Islands mission who said she did not know there was such a mission till Mr. A. resolved to go there. Now she was deeply interested in reading all she could find about that mission, and this had led her to become interested in missionary information in general. Her pastor told me she was before inactive in the church, but now she took delight in the praying circle, and tried to interest others to pray for the heathen, and was more active in her efforts to pursuade the impenitent to give their hearts to God, that they might aid in their prayers and contributions the work which lay nearest her own heart. Mr. A. went from her native town, and his going made this woman more than quadruple what she would have been, had he settled in Kentucky. And the same is true of many others in that place and in other places where Messrs. A. and V. and T. were known, though I cannot state facts. Every Christian acquainted with these places, knows that this is the case. " A girls' missionary sewing society was formed in Lex- ington, Ky., which earned forty dollars the past year. I was in the place at the time of their first annual meeting, No. 23. 2 14 Reflex Influence of Foreign Missions. and was invited to attend. Their forty dollars was to be appropriated to aid in establishing Sabbath schools in the Sandwich Islands. I gave them a pretty full account of the condition of the Sandwich Islands youth, and closed by inquiring what sort of a meeting they expected to have with the Sandwich Islands children at the judgment, if those who received the benefit of their donation should be saved by it, while the donors should be lost. None of the society were hopefully pious, yet I considered it so unnat- ural that they should continue these efforts without being led to accept the otters of mercy, which they were sending to others, that I told Mrs. B. on my return, that I expected to live to see all those girls hopefully pious. In less than three weeks, more than half of them had become so. They told the session when examined for admission to the church, that they were led to repentance by reflecting on the inconsistency of laboring to save others while on the road to ruin themselves. I always think I have taken one step towards saving an- impenitent man, when I have influenced him to send the gospel to the perishing. " I will mention one fact showing the effect of leading feeble churches to contribute to the cause of Foreign Missions. I visited a church that had never been able, with the assistance of the Home Missionary Society, to have preaching more than half of the time, and had now become so divided that they had no preaching at all. I preached several sermons, and assisted in ordaining two elders, and at last proposed to preach on Foreign Missions, and take up a collection or subscription. No one sup- posed I could obtain more than five or ten dollars. I told them, however feeble they were, and small the sum they would give, still they ought to feel that they were aiding in the effort to convert the world. To the astonishment of all, thirty-five dollars were subscribed. Several of the church said they felt worth fifty or a hundred per cent, more than they ever had previously. And before I left, they showed they were, by resolving to raise three hundred dollars a year and have preaching all the time, if they could borrow one hundred dollars from the Home Mis- sionary Society and obtain a pastor. If I had given them five hundred dollars, it would not have done them so much good as to persuade them to give thirty-five." Reflex Influence of Foreign Missions. 15 Of the same tenor, is the following extract from a letter from a gentlemen who was formerly a General Agent of the Board in the South, and is extensively and thoroughly acquainted with the bearings of the cause in that region. " In my own labors as an Agent for Foreign Missions, for nearly two years, I had the pleasure of witnessing in many places, the beneficial influence of this cause in arousing Christians to livelier zeal, and more vigorous efforts for the promotion of the kingdom of Christ in their own hearts and families and neighborhoods, as well as in enlarging their desires for the salvation of perishing men in the dark places of the earth, and enlivening their hopes of the universal triumph of redeeming mercy. And pastors of churches, and leading members, have frequently borne testimony to the same happy effects of holding up before the people of God a world perishing in sin, and pressing upon them the last command of their ascending Lord. I have been told repeatedly by judicious Christians, that in their view, the spiritual benefit expe- rienced by the churches in having their attention fixed upon the great work of spreading salvation through the world, was an ample equivalent for all the labor of visiting them, and all the funds they raised for the work. " I have been especially impressed with the happy influ- ence, exerted upon a group of churches, and their pastors, where one or two of their own number, known and approved in piety and usefulness, have consecrated them- selves to the work of Missions, and gone forth to testify among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ. Such a circumstance has appeared to awaken hundreds, perhaps thousands, to think and feel about the whole subject as they had never done before. It has led many pious young men to think of the ministry and enter upon preparatory study, and awakened a number of contiguous churches to prayer and contribution for every good cause, quite beyond any thing they had been used to, previously. " I have now in my mind's eye, a beloved brother, for some years the pastor of the largest church in the Synod to which he belonged, and blessed in his labors beyond any of his brethren, who went hence to the Gentiles, a little more than two years since ; but whose influence, happy as it was over a large group of churches, while he 16 Reflex Influence of Foreign Missions. was among them, is I verily believe more valuable now, than it ever was before he went out. But while I am free to make these general statements, and am persuaded they are correct, I find it difficult to recur to particular facts in illustration of them. One instance more only, I will mention. " An important church, in a southern city, had been for some years burdened with a debt of more than five thousand dollars. Repeated efforts had been made to liquidate it; but they had proved abortive. Pastor and people had become much disheartened, in this state of things, and a separation was talked of. This church was visited by an agent for Foreign Missions ; he preached repeatedly on the subject. Much interest was excited, and subscriptions to a pretty large amount were cheerfully made. On the last evening that the subject was brought forward, at the close of the meeting, one of the members, the father of a family and in moderate circumstances, rose and said to his brethren just as they were about to retire, * Brethren, I feel that we as a church are not doing all it is our duty and privilege to do, to spread the gospel through the world. I am anxious we should do much more. For this purpose, I am solicitous that our debt, which I know is an obstacle in the minds of many, should be removed, and I feel it to be my privilege to give up freely what is due to me from the church ; be it more or less, I freely relinquish it.' He sat down. Another member rose, one of the warmest and most liberal friends of Foreign Missions. ' Brethren,' said he, ' I do not know how much that brother has given up, but I feel as he does, that we must do more to spread the Gospel through the world, and therefore I deem it my privilege to give as much more for the extinguishment of other claims, as he has given up.' A third person, one of the largest credi- tors, followed him in the same spirit, and all this without any preconcert. Next, a subscription was handed round, and very soon the church was free from debt, and seven hundred dollars in the treasury. I ought to add that the same night, one hundred and fifty dollars were spontane- ously added to the subscription for Foreign Missions." I cannot forbear adding, in this connection, a very brief account of the experience of a Christian brother with Reflex Influence of Foreign Missions. 17 whom I am well acquainted, and who has devoted his life to Foreign Missions. " You are aware," he says, " that my decision to be a Foreign Missionary was formed, some three years since, in college. My parents, though professedly, and I have no doubt really pious, refused, from the first, to give their consent. They would not for a moment harbor the thought of giving me up to all the privations and toils of missionary life. They had no doubt that it was the duty of very many to consecrate themselves to the work ; but my health and other circumstances were such, as to render it certain that God never intended me for a Mis- sionary. For more than two years I labored, by furnish- ing them with missionary tracts and letters, to infuse into their minds the spirit of missions, but apparently in vain. They persisted in their ' firm conviction,' as they termed it, that it could not be my duty to be a Missionary, and told me plainly they never could give their consent ; if I went to foreign lands, I should tear myself forcibly from them, and go against the decided wishes of nearly all my friends. You can readily see that my situation was most trying. After some consideration, however, I resolved for a time, to say less on the subject of missions, and labor and pray especially for their more entire consecration to God, despairing of ever seeing them resigned to my deci- sion, until they were brought to feel more deeply the necessity of making a full surrender of all they had to his service. After some months, I resolved to make one solemn and perhaps final appeal to them by letter. This J did, with feelings which I have no language to describe. After urging them to set their affections supremely on Heaven and live wholly for God, I told them I had long been satisfied that I stood between them and Christ, and felt it to be a duty I owed them to step out of the way, and cut the cords which bound them to earth. I told them it would grieve me far more than them to leave them against their wishes, but unless the future and unknown providences of God should absolutely prevent, I must be a Missionary. After a few weeks of the most anxious suspense, and I think I may say agonizing prayer, I received the joyful intelligence from them, that they could withhold their permission no. longer. That if 2* 18 Reflex Influence of Foreign Missions. I really felt it to be my duty to be a Missionary, they would acquiesce and bid me God-speed, although it had cost them a pang such as they had never know before. They felt that they had done wrong in refusing permission so long, and had been wanting in consecration to God. I am fully persuaded that nothing ever produced results half so beneficial to their piety. They had followed to the grave, two years before, an only sister, a son, a daughter, and four grand-children, in the short space of six months, and not all these afflictions produced so powerful an effect in leading them to an unreserved sur- render of all to Christ, and turning their affections from earth to heaven, as my decision to be a Missionary. I will merely add, that I have no reason to believe they would ever have given their consent, had they not been brought to an undivided consecration of all to God." I will conclude my illustration of this subject with an allusion to an event in the history of one of my own friends who is now on missionary ground. He decided, in the early stage of his education, to be a Missionary. His parents were most decidedly opposed to it from the first, and when they saw that he was fully determined, they could hardly find words sufficient to express their opposition. A few weeks before he bade farewell to his country, his mother suffered herself to be so carried away with her feelings, that she said if she had suspected at the first that he would become a Missionary, she would not only have refused him her assistance in acquiring an education, but if possible would have pre- vented his going to college at all. On the evening previous to his taking his final leave of his friends, he gave a public address on the subject of missions in his native town. His parents, still refusing their consent and entreating him to yield to their wishes, were induced to attend the meeting. After speaking some time and expressing his own feelings in view of his mission, he suddenly stopped short in his address and turned round to catch the eyes of his parents. A profound silence ensued, which in a few moments he broke, with his eyes still fixed on his weeping parents, by proposing to them several questions, among which were the following^- " My father ! my mother ! what did you mean by giving Reflex Influence of Foreign Missions, 19 me up, when an infant, in the ordinance of baptism ? Was it a mere ceremony, or did you mean that henceforth I was not yours but the Lord's?" This appeal, made under such circumstances, and with such an expression of countenance and melting tone of voice, proved to be the very thing needed. They relinquished their hold upon him, and cheerfully bade him farewell. The cir- cumstance produced a most powerful effect upon their piety, and there is reason to believe it was the means, if not of their conversion, of rendering them far more holy than ever before. I desire, in conclusion, to address one remark to my brethren, who are contemplating the work of Foreign Missions. To you I must appeal, for corroboration of the sentiments I have advanced. I have said that the mis- sionary candidate has a habit of living near to God to which the generality of Christians are strangers. Is it so with you ? I have said that the true missionary spirit produces a regard for God's cause and a love for souls, which could not exist without it ; that he who devotes himself to the sacred work, in a peculiar manner renounces the world, and expects his happiness from God ; that those who consecrate themselves to a life of toil and suffer- ing in a heathen land, are rendered more tenderly alive to the spiritual wants of those immediately around them. Can you support me in these positions 1 I have said that they often do more for the salvation of their own dear friends and for religion in general, in the short time before they embark, than they would accomplish in a life with a common spirit of Christianity ; that instead of -losing, the church will gain by sending them abroad. Brethren ! will this be true of you ? Have you taken God as your portion ? And do you, when you think of the distant pagan, forget the lost condition of a dear relative, or the desolate state of your native land ? I am persuaded not. No. It is not because he loves his friend or his country less that the Missionary goes abroad, to spend his days amid the scenes of savage life. Dear to him is his native land, and he leaves with it his blessing ; but dearer are the souls for whom Christ died, and the land for which he seeks to prepare them. It is sweet for him to let the affections twine gently and warmly around kindred hearts; 20 Reflex Influence of Foreign Missions. but it is sweeter to surrender them to his Saviour. The familiar tones of friendship are sacredly dear ; but the voice of the Good Shepherd is ravishing, and it calleth him by name, and he must follow. " My soul is not at rest : there comes a soft And secret whisper to my spirit, like A dream of night, that tells me I am on Enchanted ground. Why live I here ? The vows Of God are on me, and I may not stop To play with shadows, or pluck earthly flowers, Till I my work have done and rendered up Account. The voice of my departed Lord * Go TEACH ALL NATIONS ' from the Eastern world Comes on the night air, and awakes my ear. And I will go. I may not longer doubt To give up friends, and home, and idol hopes, And every tender tie that binds my heart To thee, my country ! Why should I regard Earth's little store of borrowed sweets ? Full well I know that never was it His design Who placed me here, that I should live in ease, Or drink at pleasure's fountain. Henceforth, then, It matters not if storm or sunshine be My earthly lot ; bitter or sweet my cup ; I only pray God fit me for the work ; God make me holy, and my spirit nerve For the stern hour of strife. Let me but know There is an arm unseen that holds me up, An eye that kindly watches all my path Till 1 my weary pilgrimage have done ; Let me but know I have a Friend that waits To welcome me to glory ; and I joy To tread the dark and death-fraught wilderness. And when I come to stretch me for the last, In unattended agony, beneath The cocoa's shade, or lift my dying eyes From Afric's burning sands, it will be sweet That 1 have toiled for other worlds than this; I know I shall feel happier than to die On softer bed. And if I should reach Heaven If one who hath so deeply, darkly sinned, If one whom ruin and revolt have held With such a fearful grasp if one for whom Satan hath struggled as he has for me, Should ever reach that blessed shore O how This heart will flame with gratitude and love, And through the ages of eternal years, Thus saved, my spirit never shall repent That toil and suffering once were mine below." CONNECTION OF THE MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE WITH THE CAUSE OF LEARNING. [The conclusion of an article in the "Christian Review," from the pen of Rev. ENOCH POND, D. D., Professor in the Theological Seminary at Bangor, Me.] IN the foregoing remarks, I have endeavored to show that, from the character of Missionaries, as learned, gifted men from their situation, as permanent residents in foreign lands, having a familiar acquaintance with languages, localities, and other circumstances and from the nature of their pursuits, being scholars, teachers, travellers, authors, as well as preachers of the gospel, it might justly be anticipated that they would be able to do much for the cause of science and learning, as well as for the promotion of their more immediate objects. The learned world have much to expect of them. The connections between their great enterprise and the in- terests of learning are sufficiently numerous and obvious to justify such expectations. I have shown, too, as fully as possible within the limits assigned me, that the ex- pectations which might reasonably be indulged have thus far been realized. In a great variety of ways, Mission- aries have labored in the cause of science, and have done all that for its advancement which could well be expected of them. It must be borne in mind, however, that the missionary enterprise at least the Protestant missionary enterprise is but just commenced. The great object aimed at is but in the infancy of its accomplishment, and the incidental advantages to be anticipated are but just beginning to be realized. And if, under all the dis- advantages of a new and untried undertaking, when the number of Missionaries is comparatively few, and the most of them have been at their stations but a little 22 Connection of the Missionary Enterprise while, so much as we have seen has been already done, what great results are to be expected, in the progress and consummation of this holy work ! When the un- evangelized portions of the earth shall have been explored and fully occupied by Christian Missionaries when, fired by a quenchless, apostolic zeal, they shall have penetrated and permeated the heart of Africa, the central and north- ern regions of Asia, the wilds of America, the deserts of New Holland, and all the islands of the sea when they shall have scaled the walls of China and Japan, and planted the standard of the cross in every place on which the light of heaven shines when Missionaries shall have been longer at their posts, and shall have become more thoroughly acquainted with the languages, the literature, the localities and circumstances of the different nations when their schools, their presses, their colleges, their seminaries, shall have been longer in operation, and, under the influence of these, native mind, all over the earth, shall have been roused into action, and learned natives, in great numbers, shall have been raised up in a word, when the missionary enterprise, now in its infancy, shall have had a full development of its powers and resources, in a manly growth, and a just consum- mation what great results may assuredly be expected, not only in a religious, but a literary point of view ! I know not but I may be mistaken in the judgment I have formed in reference to this matter ; but really it has seemed to me that the literature of the world has more to expect from the successful prosecution of the mission- ary enterprise, than from any other cause whatever. I certainly know of no other cause I can think of no other which is likely to produce so great results, even in a literary point of view. And if this be true, then I may, in conclusion, address myself boldly and earnestly to literary men, and bespeak their favor for the cause of missions. Some of my readers, I know, deeply sympathize with this cause, from higher considerations than those here suggested. You love it, and value it, as philanthropists and as Christians. You wish to see the multiform cruelties of the dark places of the earth abolished their idolatries purged their super- stitions and their crimes forever done away. You wish With the Cause of Learning. 23 to see the debased soul of the poor heathen enlightened, elevated, purified, sanctified, and made meet for the in- heritance of the saints in light. But if any shall read these pages whose views are un- like those of evangelical Christians generally, in regard to the primary objects of missions, such will bear me witness that these objects have not been urged unduly, on the present occasion. I have exhibited the missionary work in other connections, and have endeavored to enforce in on other grounds. I have addressed myself chiefly to literary men the professed friends and promoters of science and learning. And, in view of what Missionaries have already accomplished for the cause of learning, and the greater things which they may be expected to accom- plish, I ask such men to dismiss their prejudices, if any have been indulged, and to regard, henceforth, with in- terest and favor, the mighty enterprise in which Mission- aries are engaged. I ask the literati of our country to follow, with their eye, those hundreds of learned, edu- cated men, who are already abroad in different parts of the earth. Watch their movements; read their journals; note their discoveries in the different departments of useful learning. Listen to the accounts not of unprincipled libertines, who sometimes wander among them, who can- not endure the strictness of their discipline, and to whose ungodly lives their holy example ministers a constant re- proof but to the accounts of enlightened, virtuous, honor- able men, who have the opportunity of witnessing the results of their labors; and the more you become ac- quainted with Missionaries in this way, the more, I am sure, you will honor them. The more you know of their work, in its progress and results, the more you will become interested in it, and the more earnestly you will desire to see it consummated. -, \ . eo/i! >!I AN ADDRESS THE MISSIONARY CHARACTER. BY ELI SMITH, MISSIONARY OF THE A. B. C. F. M. TO STRIA. BOSTON: PRINTED BY PERKINS & MARVIN. 1840. a. a / [THIS Address was originally prepared by Mr. Smith for the Society of Inquiry in the Theological Seminary at Andover, and after having been delivered there, was repeated before other societies for similar objects in other seminaries ; and at the request of that in the Theological Seminary at New Haven, an edition of the Address was first published.] ADDRESS I HAVE been invited to address you as a Society of Inquiry. The name your organization bears, is under- stood by none of you, I presume, as referring merely to inquiries of curiosity. Inquiries after personal duty come equally within the department which it occupies. Indeed, do I misjudge in presuming that its members, on the eve of coming forth upon the stage of life, are more anxious than for any thing else, to learn the part which duty calls upon them to act 1 The proper clue for you to follow in so important a search, is the alternate study of your characters, and of the fields that are open before you, accompanied with prayer to God that he would direct your judgments to a right conclusion. Among the fields that invite you is that of foreign mis- sions. So extensive, and so far from your personal obser- vation is it, that I presume you will not consider it an unnecessary service, if I attempt, on the present occasion, to portray the CHARACTER which the work of foreign mis- sions requires. I shall assume that you are all inquirers after the claims of the missionary work upon you individually. For to my apprehension, it is very near an absurdity that any one should come forward into the ministry of the gospel, and never seriously and candidly inquire whether it may not be his duty to engage personally in this service. What are the words of the commission under the authority of which you are expecting to act as ambassadors of Christ? Open the sacred document and read. " Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." These are not instructions to missionaries merely ; but the decree by which the gospel ministry was instituted. They are the credentials of every minister. By them is he authorized to hold his office. And what is the idea of his office which they imply? Not merely that of a pastor, who settles down for life to take care of a parish a few miles in extent. Not merely that of a professor of theology who devotes his life to training up those who are to preach the gospel. Not merely that of a domestic missionary, who goes forth 'to build up the walls that have fallen down, or have never yet been erected. Not merely that of a foreign missionary, who expatriates him- self that he may carry the gospel to the heathen. It embraces us all together, under the broad seal of a single commission. An idea sublime in the expansion, within which it embraces such an extent of space, and such a variety of subordinate duties ; and beautiful in the unity with which it brings all to bear upon the one great object, the conversion of the world. What a narrow, one-sided view of this grand idea have they, who see in their commission nothing to create the suspicion that it may be their duty to go abroad. They forget that the object for which the church is organized, is not so much the maintenance of fortresses already taken and garrisoned, as for universal conquest. And what are they but commissioned officers in this great army ? Was ever an officer in Napoleon's army, with which he would fain have subdued the world, commissioned with the understanding that he was of course to remain at home ? His very acceptance of office was a pledge that he held himself in readiness to obey orders, wherever they might direct him to go. And what does your acceptance of office, under the great Captain of salvation imply, other than that you will lead up to the conflict whatever part of the army he may direct ? Your very entrance into the ministry implies a promise that you will go to the ends of the world, if your Lord direct. The offer of one who gives himself up to a missionary society, to be sent to China, or Palestine, or wherever they see fit, is not more absolute. Am I wrong ? Then the ministerial office loses in my estimation much of its dignity and honor. Am I right ? Then how inconsistent are they who enter the ministry, and never candidly entertain the question, whether the Lord may not be directing them by his providence to enter the foreign field. But my object now is not so much to urge the mis- sionary work upon you, as to help you in the inquiry, whether you are qualified for it. In doing this, I shall be led to claim so many high qualities in the missionary character, that I feel, that being a missionary myself, I ought at the outset to apologize for what may seem to some like arrogance or vanity. A word of explanation will suffice. You know that we often perceive most distinctly what we ought to be, when some painful ex- perience shows us what we are not. This principle will be called in to aid me on the present occasion. And if I shall at all succeed in the model I am about to sketch, it will be because I shall not hesitate to draw liberally from the experience of my own faults. Proceeding, then, with my subject, I will say, FIRST, the work of missions requires A CHARACTER WELL DISCIPLINED BY A THOROUGH EDUCATION. 1* By education, I mean that training of the mind, and also the elementary knowledge of most branches of science, which are furnished by the most thorough courses in our colleges and theological seminaries. The faculties thus acquire a just proportion and an even balance, that fit them to act correctly and with effect in all circumstances. In my opinion, this general training of the mind, carried as it is among us to the extent of an introduction into all the branches of science, preparatory to the study of any of the professions, is far more conducive to soundness of public opinion, and to the interests of truth, than if particular departments were entered earlier, and pursued more exclusively. By selecting a certain study early, and devoting himself wholly to it, the German scholar does, indeed, succeed in pushing his investigations farther than any among us. But can you rely upon his opinions ? Take him out of his own department, and you will often find him possessing hardly a school-boy's knowledge of other subjects. Hence he is wanting in that practical sense of the general fitness of things, which would check the wildness of his speculations by showing their in- consistencies. Now, if there is a man on earth who ought to be trained under these enlarging and adjusting influences of a well proportioned education, it is the missionary. He has to act in circumstances to which he was before an entire stranger, and for which he could of course make no specific calculation. And how can he be prepared to act with safety, except by having a foundation laid so broad, that it will serve for whatever superstructure he may need to build upon it. I do not say he will have use for half the facts he may learn. But he will need all, and more than all, the discipline of mind the acquisition of them will give. He will have to cope with prejudices and superstitions, hydra-headed in their variety and tenacity of life; to adapt himself to a state of things different from all he has known before, often the very opposite; and to shape the mould in which is to be cast the religious, and sometimes the civil and domestic character of nations. And for such emergencies, is not a mind required whose machinery is so perfect and compactly adjusted, that no jarring can derange it, and no disturbing force drive it from its track to the ruin of all who are moved by its power? I know of no station occupied by a minister of the gospel, that requires a more complete education than that of a missionary, unless it be the station of those by whom missionaries and ministers are themselves educated. The missionary candidate should go through the same course of study as the candidate for the sacred office at home. He should neglect no one exercise at college, or the seminary. Indeed, I consider it a great advantage which our country has, that it furnishes from its colleges and seminaries a sufficient number of missionaries, with- out the necessity of special institutions for their education. The financial advantage is considerable, but that is the least. We thus send forth men of more enlarged minds, and better prepared in fact for their work, than if they had had an exclusively missionary education. But is there not, also, a special training needed by the missionary, in addition to the education he receives in common with others ? 1 am strongly tempted to say that there is. Extensive learning is always in place as a missionary qualification, and other things being equal, the more a missionary has of it, the more useful will he be. Few persons have better opportunities than he to enlarge the circle of the natural sciences, and extend our knowl- edge of geography. Few have more use for a minute acquaintance with history, in its least investigated depart- ments, or have a better opportunity to add to its treasures. And few have more to do with foreign languages; certainly none should know them better. But how shall so much learning be acquired ? The candidate for missions may do something ; if he be talented and diligent, he may do much, by extra study during the course of his education. And here is one great advantage of deciding early upon a missionary life. With what branches he shall make himself familiar, must and ought to depend somewhat upon his own taste. But one branch should be attended to in common by all. It is the languages. What I mean is, that a thorough acquaintance with the general principles of language, should be acquired by realty mastering the few which come up in the course of his studies, so that he shall know what points to seize upon first, and how to proceed in learning a new one ; rather than that he should study many. French he ought, however, to be acquainted with, and perhaps, also, German ; that he may use the valuable elementary and other books those languages contain, and if possible, be able to converse in the former, with foreign travellers and others whom he will meet abroad. But with all he can accomplish during his course of education, the student comes out at best, but poorly entitled to the epithet of learned. Shall he tarry at home, that he may increase his qualifications? In my opinion be should not, unless he be very young. While remaining at home he would be growing older, and the early years thus spent here, are just the ones in which are acquired most readily, certain experiences essential to the mis- sionary's success, as well as the practical use of foreign languages. Were all missionaries destined to be teachers of seminaries, or directors of printing presses, or trans- lators, there would be more solid arguments for their remaining to increase their learning before they go. But they are not. Most of them are to be preachers; not of written sermons, for we never write sermons for the natives ; but preachers from house to house, by the way- side, and to assemblies irregularly and occasionally gathered, small and large ; in the most literal sense, popular preachers. For this is needed great tact in getting the attention of the people, dealing with their prejudices, and finding the way to their hearts, which only much experience among them can give. And they are to be addressed, not in the language of books, but to be talked to as they talk, in their own idiom, and with their own accents and tones, which are acquired the more perfectly, the earlier in life they are attempted. Certainly this command of their spoken language, can be gained better in the midst of them than at home. There are three steps in the learning of a foreign tongue for purposes of intercourse. One is to understand it in books, another is to understand it when spoken, and the third to speak it intelligibly. Of these we usually in this country take only the first. It can be done any where,' from the study of books. Yet even this can be accom- plished fastest, where the same words and idioms are daily sounding in one's ears from the mouths of those around him. The other two can hardly be accomplished with entire success, any where else. A book acquaintance with a language acquired at home, will indeed facilitate the acquisition of the practical part of it abroad. And still, while that book acquaintance can be learned more speedily where the language is spoken, it will be no economy of time to remain at home to learn it. Besides, I have found it of some consequence, in the learning of foreign tongues for use, that the learner do not carry on his study of the theory, much faster than he advances in the practice. If he does, he becomes too sensitive to the mistakes he will inevitably make at the outset, and there is a chance that diffidence will long prevent his attaining entire fluency of speech. It is when the words are put to use as fast as they are learned, and the study of books carried on at the same time, gradually to correct the errors that are made, that the most entire and speedy success is attained, in the acquisition of a language for missionary purposes. Moreover, there are important experiences, and much knowledge of the people, of their prejudices, their par- tialities, their peculiar notions, to be learned, that are scarcely less necessary to the success of preaching, than is a knowledge of the language to be used. All of which the missionary is acquiring while studying the language. So that it is not a loss of time, but with a wise design, that his tongue is tied for a season after he enters the field. Indeed, I have often thought, that the gift of tongues might be a dangerous endowment, unless, as in the case of the apostles, inspiration accompanied it. Allow me to remark in addition, that other faculties are called into exercise in acquiring languages as we learn them where they are spoken, than those which ensure success to a mere book linguist. The imitative and the social powers come in as important auxiliaries. Hence we can judge with no certainty, from the relative success of different persons in the study of languages at home, which will bring them into practice soonest, and with most success abroad. My SECOND remark is, that the work of missions re- quires A CHARACTER THAT CAN ADAPT ITSELF TO CIRCUM- STANCES. 11 Important as it is that a missionary should be thoroughly educated, he must not be a mere scholar. In his habits he must be disposed to mingle with the people, in his own house and in theirs. After spending eight or ten years in close application, the diligent student is apt to acquire a strong partiality for his study. It is his sanctuary. Every interruption of his mental pursuits he considers a calamity, and the day that brings nothing to pass in the way of study, is regarded as lost. But the missionary has to do with people that know nothing of the sacredness of a minister's study, and who are accustomed to no regular hours of visiting. He must be ready to see them at all hours, or he is set down as not wishing to be social, or perchance, as proud, and his house is soon deserted. And if it is, what becomes of his usefulness 1 Not only the good he might do to visitors is lost, but he will have no congregation to preach to on the Sabbath. For it is generally only by the attraction of personal acquaintance, that congregations are gathered. He must, therefore, make up his mind for all these interruptions, and feel when they come upon him, that he is jus? in the path of duty. And yet he must by no means neglect study. Such a love should he have for it, and so high should be his idea of its importance, that while his mind is thus pliable to circumstances, he shall not actually abandon it. He must be able to pursue it by saving the scraps of time, and to apply himself efficiently, though he have not the same hours every day in an inviolable sanctuary. In his views of things he must be practical. Some persons have minds so formed that they can never take things as they are, and make the best of them. They can put up with nothing but perfection. What is not absolutely perfect, is worse than nothing. And every thing must be made perfectly straight at once. They 12 forget that we live in a world of imperfection and universal derangement, where a choice of evils is often the only choice that is left us. Such minds will be unhappy any where. They will be in danger of quarrelling with every body and every thing, and thus destroying their usefulness. But peculiarly unhappy will they be in the missionary field. There the evils between which we are left to choose, are often very great. Some of the greatest, perhaps, we cannot touch at all ; but are obliged to let them go for more favorable times. And those we can reach are so many, that we cannot even attempt to uproot them all at once. We must act upon one and then upon another, sometimes doing our work almost by halves, and, as it were, at loose ends, waiting for God's providence to bring about a favorable juncture, when the ends can be put together, and the whole organized into order and symmetry. In such circumstances, the man who can act only by the square and compass of absolute perfection, must be very uneasy. He will feel that nothing is doing, and nothing can be done, and will be very apt to quarrel with his brethren, and in the end abandon the cause. The missionary should be a man who in forming his plans, shall not merely see that they be perfect in them- selves, but, tracing out their workings step by step, be able to judge, and judge correctly how they will suit the exigencies to be provided for. He must look at things as they are, and surveying his field with a practical eye, be willing to attempt only such things as are practicable, and let the rest alone; not quarrelling with all the world and with the providence of God, because impossibilities are not to be effected. While he would be glad to see every evil removed, and presses forward towards so desirable a result, hoping one day to see it attained, he must not be disappointed, if it be not at once reached, 13 nor despise the day of small things. He must be able to rejoice in the good, and take courage from it, though it be not unalloyed with evil. In his partialities he should not be narrow-minded. We naturally think our own country the best in the . world ; the best in its soil, its scenery, its climate, its government, its people. Among ourselves, it may be well enough to say all this, for we have no one at hand to feel aggrieved, nor to make us ashamed of our vanity. But will you let this American partiality bias your feelings and govern your deportment in the missionary field ? You will, indeed, be apt to meet there with more deference than here, in those with whom you converse. They will very likely express admiration to your face, at all the great and good things of which you tell them, and call them- selves mere blockheads for not having the same there. But should you undertake actually to substitute your peculiarities for theirs, you will find in them partialities not easily overcome, strengthened, perhaps, by having been wounded by what you have said. Better is it for the missionary to feel himself a citizen of the world. Much that we are partial to here is better than what is found in other countries, only because we are accustomed to it ; and much that is really preferable relates to matters morally indifferent. With all such things, the missionary should intermeddle as little as possible. He goes not to denationalize the people. Let him have expansion of mind enough to discern what is merely national, and leave it to regulate itself. The work of missions requires, also, in the THIRD place, INDEPENDENCE AND STRENGTH OF CHARACTER. We are not apt to be aware how few persons really think independently. Many who never suspect themselves 2 14 of it, nor are hardly suspected by others, take their opinions from tradition or upon trust, and in their move- ments are directed by the general current. Such men are not properly qualified for foreign missions. Here at home, he who receives his opinions from his fathers, as an inheritance no more to be rejected than the real estate they bequeath him, or accepts the opinions of others, his cotemporaries, with little care to guard against depreciation or forgery in the mental currency, may be in no danger of bankruptcy, for he can pass off the bills upon others, as little disposed to protest them as himself. But let him go abroad, where they have no such credit, but must all be promptly redeemed with solid proof, and he will soon find his resources exhausted, and his mouth shut. The missionary must be eminently a man who can give a reason for the hope that is within him. He must be able to give it in little things, as well as great ; in regard to first principles, as well as conclusions. For he will find many current maxims, which are never questioned here, entirely new there, and even directly opposed to prevailing opinions. All such, if they are defensible, he must be able to defend, by arguments not merely valid in them- selves, but which he can make to appear so to those with whom he reasons. Nor is this all ; he will find himself looking at his own opinions from a different point of view. What, as he saw it at home, may have seemed symmetrical, solid, and standing upon a firm basis, will now, perhaps, as he looks at it from another side, appear to be disproportioned, going to decay, or standing upon a sandy foundation. He must have independence and discernment enough to go up and examine and decide for himself, whether the defects are merely in appearance, or real and fatal. If he have not, he will be in danger of abandoning as rotten, what is 15 really as sound as he ever supposed it to be. Cases have occurred where important theological opinions have been abandoned, perhaps merely from this cause. Yet some change will undoubtedly take place in the opinions of every missionary. Such a thorough revisal of them as his circumstances and experience call for, must be expected to lead to the rejection of some, for which he must adopt others. Then will be seen whether the action of his mind be independent and correct ; for it will no longer feel the reins of a sound public opinion. From that quarter now, there comes only a misguiding influence; for public opinion around him will lead only to error. You may think there is little danger that a pious mission- ary will yield to it. But look at the principle of assimila- tion there is in us all. It is like a tendency, to an equilibrium. A decided independence of mind is required to keep one above the common level of moral sentiment. If the missionary has it not, he will find himself gradually sinking to the common standard, and coming to think light of error and of sin, if he does not actually fall into it. So very strong is this tendency, as to overcome almost every degree of independence that is not sustained by divine grace. I have rarely known an unrenewed man, who retained the soundness of his principles in those circumstances for any length of time. Nor is independence of mind, merely enough to keep himself from falling into- error and sin, sufficient. He must be strong enough to act on the offensive. He must make himself felt. His mind must have a power that shall carry others along with it. Merely to hold our own, is not what we go into the heathen world for. Men are needed for the work who have enough of character to impart it largely to others ; who cannot live long in a place, without giving forth influences that shall assimilate many to them. 16 It is not only in his opinions, but also in his actions, that the missionary must be independent. What I mean, is not merely fertility of mind to devise plans of action. This may be, and often is combined with great inefficiency. A man may devise forty schemes in a day, and abandon every one of them before the next day arrives. This is one of the most undesirable characters for the missionary service. It will bring nothing to pass, except to keep others employed in canvassing its schemes. What is needed is, a mind comprehensive enough to embrace the whole field of action, inventive enough to devise plans best suited to meet its exigencies, and strong enough to hold fast to them. Should temporary difficulties arise, he must not be daunted. Should others doubt and waver, he must have strength of principle enough to spare some to them. In a word, he must be a safe and courageous pilot in the storm, as well as in the calm. Equally fearless of the foaming breakers, as keen to discern the deceitful quick- sands, he must be able to conduct the precious freight with which he is charged, free from all loss and damage. Would you know what all this implies ? Leave these ecclesiastical and benevolent organizations, adapted by the accumulated experience of generations, to the circum- stances in which they have grown up. Bid farewell to these veterans in council, at whose hands you have been accustomed to ask arid receive wisdom. Throw yourselves out of the current of this sound public opinion, which almost of itself conducts with safety those that float upon it, with .little aid from oar or helm, and go where other circumstances of government, national character, and existing institutions, require other organizations. Feel that you are but a novice in the knowledge of these circumstances, and in experience any where, and that a false step may expose the best of causes to failure, and endanger the souls of a whole generation ; and find your- 17 seff alone, without experienced counsellors from whom to borrow wisdom in time of need, and with no aid from any salutary tendencies in public opinion. In a sea where you are alone and a stranger, you have to build your own ship, construct your own chart, and act the pilot yourself. Tell me now, is a weak and dependent mind, the one to be sent upon such an expedition ? There never was manifested a greater ignorance of the work of foreign missions, than by some who have supposed, that because a man possessed peculiar strength of character, it was his duty to remain at home. Why, is this foreign war to be conducted only by men so timid that they will only seek to entrench themselves, thinking it well with them if they escape capture ? or so weak as to be decoyed away into every ambush that may be set for them ? Such men, I might almost say, are worse than none ; a sort of non- combatting supernumeraries, who only consume our stores, and require our care. To send such men betrays bad economy, as well as a misjudgment of the claims of the cause. The work of missions requires your strongest men ; men who will not be frightened into idleness, nor inveigled into danger, nor driven from the field. FOURTH ; The work requires also A PATIENT AND PLIANT CHARACTER. After all that has been said of the necessity of inde- pendence and strength of mind, we want no rashness, obstinacy, nor self-confidence. It is not the way of God to accomplish his plans, nor even to develope them, all at once. The kingdom of heaven is likened to a grain of mustard seed a very small beginning, leading to great results. So in the missionary work. It requires a patience that can submit to start from very small beginnings. This is true of individuals, as well as of stations. 2* 18 The missionary goes forth fired with zeal for the (in- version of the world, expecting great things, and intending to attempt great things, perhaps not often without some degree of romance mingled with his ardor. But he finds himself suddenly brought to a stand, the moment he reaches his field. He has no tongue to preach or talk with. Though his spirit be stirred within him, and he would fain be as eloquent as Paul upon Mars hill, not a word can he command. He has to submit to the drudgery of gathering vocabularies, or of turning over grammars and dictionaries, and to the drilling of Munshies and Mu'allims ; he has to have patience to stammer on for months before he can make himself decently understood, and for a year or two before he can really preach effect- ively ; and must suffer the mortification, in the mean time, of feeling that almost every thought he expresses is maimed, and himself often worsted in argument, merely for the want of words. All this requires patience, nor is this all that requires it. The work at his station makes, perhaps, but slow progress. It may not appear that a door is open at all, until an attempt is made to enter it. Then it opens but slowly. Patient perseverance alone will secure any progress. To abandon his position will not do. Rashly to drive for- ward, heedless of what he runs against, will not do. God Buffers no one, with impunity, to run before his provi- dence. Faithfully to perform the task he has already given us, is the way to induce him to give us more. And this he will never fail to do, generally spreading out work before us considerably faster than we can accomplish it, that he may encourage our industry. But by neglecting work in hand, to attempt what he has not yet assigned us, we inevitably involve ourselves in embarrassment, and incur great liability to be entirely laid aside. Such rash- ness in the missionary work is peculiarly hazardous. 19 Nor is obstinacy scarcely less to be deprecated. The world is ever changing, and with it we must change ; not our principles, for they should lay fast hold of the immu- table throne of the Eternal ; but our plans, for they rest upon the fluctuations of human things. Yet some men are as inflexible in their plans, as in their principles. This is not expansive independence of mind, but rather contracted obstinacy. With it the missionary would transport his plans formed here, unmodified, to the mis- sionary field, heedless of the changed character and cir- cumstances of those who are to be affected by them. Or, having once formed his plans there, he would adhere to them, whatever changes may occur around him. Such a man will not keep up with the providence of God. That is always on the advance, when his servants do their duty, and their plans should advance with it. The mis- sionary should calculate upon the probability, that what could not be done last year, may be done this, and fear no charge of fickleness in modifying his plans accordingly. Not only should he allow his plans to be modified by circumstances, but by persons. His independence of mind must not degenerate into a self-confidence, brooking no control from his associates, or his society. Mission- aries must operate in communities, and must operate harmoniously, with unity of plan. This, where all are men who think for themselves, can be brought about only by mutual deference and concession. If one refuse thus to condescend, feeling that his opinions and plans must be carried, 'maugre all objections, he becomes a divider, and harmony is at an end. Not less necessary is a willingness to be controlled by a society. It is a favorite notion with some, especially in England, that missionaries should go out unconnected with any society, and dependent only upon their own 20 judgment for direction, and upon Providence for support. They call it the apostolic plan. Were the men indeed selected by Christ, as the apostles were, there would be less objection to it. But as the case is, a committee of pious, judicious men, seems the best substitute we can have, whereby to prevent unfit persons from taking upon themselves so weighty and difficult an office. And when in the field, had they the miraculous gifts and inspiration of the apostles, they might get along as well as they, without support and direction from a society. Paul could afford time to support himself by making tents, for he had no languages to learn, nor theology to study. But min- isters at home cannot do this now, much less can mis- sionaries. Direction, also, the apostles had from the Holy Ghost. But can missionaries claim this now in any such sense? And shall there be no substitute for it? No man is so wise or so holy as not to need it. It does us all good to feel that we are responsible, not merely to God, but to some tribunal on earth. To say this, is no impeachment of wisdom, of honesty, or of piety. We are all human. And when we know that our conduct is looked at by others who have a right to ask the reasons for it, we are almost necessarily more careful to see that we have reasons. This is one of the means employed by God to keep frail, erring human nature straight. And if any person needs it, it is the missionary, removed so far from the great regulator of even the good here, public opinion. The officers of a society are the regular channels, officially constituted, for the conveyance to him of this public sen- timent of the Christian community. No proper inde- pendence of mind requires him to sever this bond. If he is uneasy under it, something is wrong in his character ; whether it be a jealousy, that will distort his view of both 21 friend and foe, or a consciousness of defect, that makes him shrink from the light, or a degree of self-will, that will lead him into measures unwise and ruinous. Far more necessary still is it, that the missionary should acknowledge and feel his dependence upon God. Every whit of independent feeling that militates against this, is entirely at war with the missionary character. Such independence can do nothing. Man has power to con- vert the soul nowhere, least of all amid the callousness and superstition of the unevangelized. Let your mission- ary attempt the work, relying on his own arm, and he will soon be discouraged. Whether he directs his blow at their vain superstitions, or aims at their hearts, it is equally without effect. One is thin air that closes after the stroke ; the other is adamant that receives no impression. Nor will God encourage him by giving him success. God is jealous of his honor in the work of conversion. He will be known as its author. And where his agency is not acknowledged, there will he not work. It is when the missionary feels and acknowledges his dependence on God, that he is successful. Let it be entire and constant, and he becomes strong, for God gives him of his own strength. What his own arm could not do, an almighty arm now accomplishes. Superstitions vanish, and hearts are broken before it. It is the mis- sionary's only resort. And the more distinctly and con- stantly he flies to it, the more success will he have. FIFTH ; The work of missions requires A SELF-DENYING CHARACTER. On this point, I want to begin with an argument which I fear would not be valid. I want to say that the Chris- tian community have a right to expect it. But you might justly question whether they have reason to expect it, or a 22 right to do so. Were all of them as self-denying for purposes of benevolence as some are, they might have. But look abroad upon the land, and tell me how many there are of these self-denying ones. Do Christians at large give enough for works of benevolence, to oblige them to curtail at all the comforts or luxuries usual to their rank of life ? Some do it, and blessed be God, the number is increasing. But I am mistaken, if the greater part, so far from giving enough to occasion self-denial, actually give enough to feel it in any way. Their purses do not feel it, nor their hearts either. Now, is it in the natural course of things, that missionaries, sent out by such Christians, should be self-denying? Does water in the reservoir rise higher than at the fountain ? Have they any right to expect it ? I know not by what text or principle of Scripture it can be proved, that the Saviour requires more from one in this work, in propor- tion to his talents, than from another. His last command lies equally heavy upon all. It does not single me out to go and expose my life in poverty and exile, and permit my brother Christians here to sit down in their ceiled houses and hardly lift a finger in the work. Think not that I am advocating a sort of agrarianism, which would strip the wealthy of their riches, before they can claim self- denial of their missionaries. Most missionaries have not deprived themselves of wealth, nor the prospect of it, by entering upon their labors. It never was, and never would have been theirs. We. will leave the rich to their consciences and their Saviour. But a comparison we may make with them who start in life on a level with missionaries ; if you please, their brethren in the ministry. An illustration in point is before me. Here you are, brethren, candidates for missions, and candidates for the ministry at home. Let me then ask you who are ta remain here, when you come to be as comfortably settled as many of your brethren who have preceded you are, what right will you have to complain of your brother mis- sionary, who now sits here by your side, should you hear of his purchasing a horse, or a carpet, or furniture, as good as your own, when the prevailing style of those with whom he associates requires it of him, it may be, even more than it does of you ? Has the Saviour sold you a dispensation from the strict requirements of his commands, which he has withheld from him ? But I will say no more. This plea for self-denial I must abandon as un- available at present. To compare ourselves among our- selves is not wise. Nor is it necessary. We have argu- ments enough without it. One is, that the heathen have a right to expect it. Look abroad upon the world, and see the dark clouds of ignorance and of sin that rest upon almost every land. Go forth and penetrate the gloom. Sit down in their hovels, the abodes of every species of wretchedness, physical and moral. Walk through their temples polluted with lust and blood. And let the conviction fasten upon you, with a power not to be shaken off, and a weight scarcely to be borne, that they are all lost, lost forever, unless rescued by missionary efforts. Then compare the stinted means contributed by Christians for the accomplishing of so mighty a work ; so stinted as to be only as the small dust of the balance toward outweighing a world full of sin ; and increased with so much difficulty, that it seems almost as if it had reached its maximum. And finally, calculate that every dollar you save by economy, makes these limited funds go further and reach a greater number of the perishing. Do this, and you have my argument for self-denial, drawn from the claims of the heathen world. It appeals directly to the deepest feelings of the Christian's 24 heart, those feelings which are the proper source of the only true missionary spirit. And can the missionary with that spirit be self-indulgent ? The Saviour has a right to expect it. He has set the example. But how shall we describe, or conceive of his self-denial ? Those glories which he had with the Father before the world was, and laid aside when he entered upon his mission, who hath fully known ? Even for a glimpse of them, you would need the vision of the prophet to reveal the worship of the seraphim that surround his throne. And the depth of abasement and suffering to which he descended, what is all that missionaries ever encounter in comparison with it ? Such an example of self-denial makes one ashamed to appropriate the name. It seems an almost impious misnomer. Yet this very feeling results from the force of the argument. We need really to practise self-denial, before we dare even to con- template our pattern. It is an argument we ought to feel, for it was for our sakes the Saviour did it all. " Though he was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor, that \ve through his poverty might be rich." And shall we shrink from imitating the self-denial by which we were ourselves redeemed ? If we do, where is the evidence that we have any portion of his spirit ? that we are his disciples? Oh, how can self-indulgent Christians, in any station, meet such a Saviour ? As they see the print of the nails in his hands, and of the spear in his side, will they not hang their heads with shame ? Much more confounded must the self-indulgent missionary be. For he is the ambassador of this Saviour in the very work in which he set such an example. And pray what does he think, when he attempts to consult his ease in carrying forward a work which it cost so much self-denial and suffering to begin ? Does he imagine that the servant is 26 above his Lord? or that he that is sent is greater than he that sent him 1 Such is the inference from his conduct. How will he meet it, when called to render an account of his mission ? The nature of the work calls for self-denial. Its pros- perity depends upon it. I urge this point because I am, and have long been deeply convinced of this fact. I pray never to see the day, when missions shall no longer be considered a self-denying work. Their glory will then be departed. I would increase this feature of the work rather than diminish it. It is the flaming sword to deter the unqualified from engaging in it. While it keeps its position, only they who can endure hardness are likely to venture upon the work. Remove it, and you let in the indolent and the fearful, who in time of peace will do little, and when the noise of battle comes, will turn their backs and flee. We want those who, for the love of the Saviour and of souls, will be content with moderate outfits ; who, when called to it, will not complain of small houses, plain furniture, and coarse food ; and who will throw the weight of their example and influence into the scale of self- denial, rather than of increased expensiveness in style of living. Then we shall keep the standard high, and be pretty sure of men who will not desert their post, be it one of labor or of danger. SIXTH ; The missionary work requires A BENEVOLENT CHARACTER. By this I mean, not a speculative abstract benevolence, which remains torpid the greater part of a Christian's life, but a living active principle, never weary with well doing. It must be a benevolence that will go in search of objects to bless. The missionary must not sit down and wait to be inquired after. If he do, he may live almost a solitary 3 26 and a useless life. For few will feel that they need his instructions, until he has himself excited the feeling. He must have a benevolence that will urge him forth among them. It must be such as will not allow him to shun their hovels and their cellars, but will find there, in deeds of kindness, the very enjoyment it relishes, and will give him patience to bear with their ignorance and stupidity. This going out into the highways and hedges, and compelling men to come in, is a kind of work of which the missionary has much to do. It is thus his congregations will be gathered, and their hearts opened to receive the truth. Indeed, we find that personal acquaintance is the secret of our influence and usefulness. While we remain strangers, the people will not come to hear us, nor will they receive what we say. -They feel more at home where their own superstitions are practised; and their priests can tell them any falsehoods about us they choose without danger of detection. But a personal acquaintance refutes all such slanders, and draws them around us. It must be extended as widely as possible. And an ardent benevo- lence is the very thing to send the missionary forth among them for this purpose. It must be a benevolence that will attend to small things as well as great. Our Saviour's chief errand in this world was to save souls. Yet he did not neglect the bodies of men. So blunt were their spiritual perceptions, that had he confined his attentions to their eternal interests, they could hardly have appreciated the benevolence of his character. But good done to their bodies they could feel. So he fed the hungry, healed the sick, raised the dead. And thus, by bringing down his benevolence to acts, the value of which they could appreciate, he took the most effectual course to make them realize it in spiritual matters of far higher moment. & 27 Our situation is analogous. They see not what benevo- lence there can be in attempts to give them a new religion, when their old one is, in their estimation, good enough and perfectly satisfies them. But they have still among them the poor, the sick, and the distressed. These come to us, sometimes perhaps to our annoyance. We are sometimes, it may be, a little provoked, that they will consult us only in regard to temporals, and consider attention to these a waste of valuable time. But our Saviour judged more wisely. A disease cured, hunger appeased, useful advice given, may produce a stronger conviction of our real benevolence, and do more to win a way for truth to the heart, than all the anxiety we could possibly express for the salvation of the soul. Their confidence is won by good which they can appreciate. But to this end, it must be done in a manner that shall carry a conviction of its sincerity. The missionary's be- nevolence should be legible in his features, it should be heard in the tones of his voice. It should shine out as through a transparent medium. It should be so evident as to be felt by all, that he does good, not from a sense of duty, nor from expediency, but because he loves to do it. Yet after all, his benevolence should aim steadily at the salvation of souls as its great object. While he has a heart to pity temporal wretchedness, he should feel unspeakably more for the misery of the soul. External evils he should regard only as the indications of a fatal malady within. And while he applies remedies only to them, he should feel that he is merely treating symptoms, and be ever waiting and anxious for an opportunity effect- ually to reach the seat of the disease. As he surveys with curiosity the throngs of populous cities, the thought should ever be uppermost, that their souls are perishing. As he searches into their temporal wants, and attempts to relieve 28 them, it should whisper to him, be not content with this, of spiritual help they stand in far greater need. As he gathers them into schools, and aims to elevate their minds by the diffusion of intelligence, it should not let him rest till the saving truths of the gospel have taken possession of their hearts. It should be as an ever active instinct, to detect for him the best ways of access to their hearts. It should be a craving appetite, never so nearly satisfied itself as when he is breaking to them the bread of life. His benevolence must also be such as can bear opposi- tion. It will meet with many returns of ingratitude and hatred. But if this quench it, it is not Christlike. Where should we have been if the love of Christ could have been thus quenched ? He met here with little else but ingrati- tude, and finally was murdered by those he came to save. The missionary should imitate his model, ' considering him who endured such contradiction of sinners, lest he be weary and faint in his mind.' Can his benevolence not outlive ingratitude, it is only the fitful selfish benevolence of nature, not the benevolence which the missionary is to have. His Lord has said, " If ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye ? for sinners also do even the same." " But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you." This benevolence, unquenchable by opposition, is the only thing that will sustain him. He will have occasion for it every day. And if he possess it, the very ingratitude and enmity which would discourage others, will only move him with new zeal. It is only additional fuel to kindle into a brighter flame the benevolence with which he is fired. SEVENTH ; The missionary work reqtdres A CHARACTER POSSESSED OF STRONG FAITH. 29 Missions are eminently a work of faith. It is the aliment upon which they feed. To engage in them, one needs a realizing faith in spiritual things. He needs it in respect to himself, as well as in respect to the heathen. What besides this, unveiling eternity before him, can detach him from friends and country, and send him off cheerful to seek a grave in a strange land ? If he believe and feel not eternal things, so as to make things here appear trifling and transitory, and those alone worth living for, will he be contented in his exile ? He has put himself in a position which faith alone can enable him to enjoy. There is no remedy. He must walk by faith, or not at all. Without it he will soon stumble into the mire of despondency and discontent. He needs it in respect to the heathen. What else can feed his benevolence, and fire his zeal, but a belief in what the Bible says of their future prospects? Nothing strikes so deadly a blow at the missionary spirit, as the notion, that after all, the heathen are not exposed to eternal punishment. Be it founded upon the imagination, that there is some mistake as to their real moral desert, and that they are not so wicked as they have been repre- sented ; or upon the fancy that in some way, there will be made to them after death, those offers of salvation, which they failed to receive on earth, it is still fatal. I do not believe that. Paul had any such notions of the salvability of the heathen, when he was exposing himself to that long list of perils for their rescue. And certainly nothing but -the belief, that they are in a mass going down to eternal ruin, can keep modern missions alive. The missionary needs it at every step. It is this that starts him upon his career. It renews his resolution when diffi- culties crowd his path. It breathes into him new strength, when his feet faulter from weakness in sultry climes. It 3* 30 helps him to descend cheerful and without regret into an early grave. The object he aims at is worth all he has sacrificed for it. It is to save souls that are perishing, each of which outweighs the world in value. He needs also faith in the divine promises. For what else is there to encourage in him the hope of the world's conversion ? I know that some talk as if current events show plainly, that we are advancing with rapid strides towards the millennium. It may be that an over-estimate of the difficulties of the work to be done, from long struggles with them, has unfitted me to appreciate as I ought, the progress that has actually been made. At any rate, I cannot clearly see the ground for the congratulations that some indulge in. I fear they are founded more upon what is hoped for, than upon what actually has been done. Success has attended missions, signal in some cases, and in all greater than we had a right to expect, considering the instruments that have been employed ; and for it let us be grateful. Let us take courage from it. But all this is only a drop in the ocean, towards the conversion of the world. And it sometimes almost appears as if what is gained abroad is lost at home. Some, looking at the world in this light, and leaving out of view the promises, come to the conclusion that the actual conversion of all men, is not to be expected. According to them, the gospel is to be published to all, and a few saved, and this is the highest aim of missions. Others expect equally little from missions, but hope for the conversion of the world by miracle. It is to be done, they imagine, by the personal presence of the Saviour, in a new dispensation. Such low expectations from missions, most assuredly will not keep them alive. It is nothing less than the hope of converting the world, that will call forth the efforts of the church. Abandon this hope, and 31 you may as well call home your missionaries, and disband your societies at once; for it will ultimately come to this. The proper course is, to turn from our poor efforts, and their hitherto comparatively small effects, to the divine promises. They are explicit, full, and cover the whole ground. With faith to build a hope upon them, firm, efficient, strong, we shall find encouragement, though all around be dark and disheartening. For we can wish no firmer foundation for our hopes, than the truth of God. There is no mistake here. The object it promises is great enough to absorb all the energies of the church, and it shall certainly be accomplished. He must have faith, also, in the power of 'God. I do not say in men, nor philosophy, nor means and measures. Such faith will fail on missionary ground. Here at home the ardent and the sanguine may sometimes be led to indulge it before they are aware. But the missionary work is a corrective of all such errors. Such faith is a plant that can rarely grow on heathen ground. It will find no nourishment. Who are the men in whom you would trust ? Powerful in argument and eloquent in language they may be here, but there they speak with stammering tongues. What is the philosophy that is to be so convincing? The minds of the heathen are in- capable of perceiving its nice distinctions, and probably their language also of expressing them. And what are the means and measures that are to effect so much ? Apply them to the callousness of their consciences, and the obduracy of their hearts, and they are not felt. Every sermon you preach, every conversation you hold, makes you feel that it is not in men, nor in philosophy, nor in means and measures, to change the heart. You are driven to God, as having alone the power that can effect it. Here rests our only hope for the conversion 32 of any individual, and much more for the conversion of all men. How are those glorious promises, upon which we hang our hopes for the conversion of the world, to be fulfilled I As things go on now, is there any prospect of it, from such feeble means, and such feeble men to use them ? Our only source of encouragement is in the power of God. The influences of his Spirit alone can renovate the face of the moral world, and to these must we look. They must be felt so extensively as to reach the hearts of all, preparing them to embrace the truth almost as soon as it is heard ; so that there shall be no waiting as now, for line upon line and precept upon precept, year after year, without, after all, in a majority of cases, any cordial embracing of the truth. And they must be felt so power- fully, as to bring believers -up to that state of holiness, where they will not, as is too often the case now in times of prosperity, run off into the extravagances of spiritual pride, or fall into the lethargy of spiritual sloth, from which nothing but adversity, or perhaps persecution, and it may be not even that, can arouse them and bring them back. There must be something like a new dispensation, a dispensation of the Spirit, before the word of God shall have free course, and run and be glorified, in the con- version of the world. . This must be the missionary's sole reliance. All cal- culations founded upon the inherent efficacy of means, lead only to the conclusion, a conclusion as inevitable as are the results of arithmetical calculation, that the world will never be converted. Have you this trust in the power of God ? Then you can plunge into the cares, the toils, the discouragements of the missionary work, safely de- fended against all the onsets of despondency. For you have a shield that shall quench all the fiery darts of the devil. Lest any of you should be discouraged by the con- sciousness of falling below the standard I have set before you, allow me to add, in conclusion, that the missionary character in a great measure forms itself in the work. If there be the germs of the necessary qualifications, and the work be entered upon with an entire consecration, and pursued with a singleness of eye, they will be developed, and the character will in time grow up to the standard. It is a delightful proof of the excellence of the cause, of its entire coincidence with the spirit of the gospel, that it has this effect to mature the character. No employment to which a Christian can devote himself does this more effectually. To review, in proof of this, the several qualifications that have been specified, and show its influence to form and perfect them, would not be expedient. I will merely take time to say, that it liberalizes, confirms and enlarges the views of doctrine and of duty. It liberalizes them, by lowering undue estimates of points of minor consequence. To the peasant who never left his native valley, the greatest stream, the most powerful man in it, is the most important in the world. So to the Christian who was born, educated, and lives within the circle of one set of circumstances, the doctrines and the duties that stand most prominent there, are the most important. Some of these may be speculations or duties, brought into vogue by local events, and hardly intelligible or practicable elsewhere. All such the missionary has to leave behind him. And as he views them in the distance from his field of labor, they diminish to their proper rank of minor points, true indeed, it may be, but of limited application, and therefore of minor consequence. In the same manner are his views of other doctrines and duties confirmed. What is of universal application 34 and utility, is of primary importance. And as he goes to other nations, barbarous it may be or civilized, but in either case equally different in character and customs from his own, and finds the same great doctrines and duties of the gospel, as dear to himself, and as intelligible and efficacious in their application to them, he puts them down as tried corner stones. And while he swings loose from points of local interest and minor value, he settles down upon these, sure that they are a foundation that shall never be moved. Not less noticeable is the tendency of his work to enlarge his views. Examining old opinions and facts from new points of view, helps him to understand them better. Observation and study of other countries and other people, not as a hasty traveller, but for many years, with the great variety of experience through which his work leads him, stores his mind with new ideas and in- formation, to which he would otherwise have remained a stranger. But above all, does the object for which he labors enlarge his views ; yea it swells his heart. By its greatness and nature, it invites to enlarged conceptions, to generous emotions. It has nothing in it local, nothing selfish. It is wide as the world. What capacities of the mind or of the heart are there, that have not here room enough to expand 1 They reach no restricting barriers till they encompass the globe. I conclude with the earnest prayer, that those of you who are contemplating this work, may, by entering upon it from proper motives, and pursuing it with more devoted- ness than I have done, secure to yourselves a far larger share of its blessed influences upon your own characters, as well as far more souls as seals of your ministry. PRAY LESS, OR BO MORE. MISSIONARY PAPER. PRAY LESS, OR DO MORE. [By the Rev. Hollia Read, late missionary to the Mahrattas.] CHRISTIAN BRETHREN, You have been praying for many years, that you might have access to the heathen world. Your fervent petitions have gone up to God, from the sanctuary, from the ap- pointed place of social prayer, and from the domestic altar, that every obstruction to the speedy evangelization of pagan nations might be removed that political obsta- cles might be taken out of the way that prejudices might be softened down, or eradicated the bondage of superstition broken the iron grasp of caste loosed, and the hearts of the heathen inclined to receive the messen- gers of a crucified Saviour, bearing the good tidings of salvation to a miserable and degraded world. You have been praying that the Bible might be trans- lated into every tongue that the press, unfettered by the fears of ignorance and superstition, and undaunted by the threats or evil forebodings of priestcraft, might pour its rich stores of invaluable knowledge over those regions of moral death that education, as a mighty auxiliary in the conquest of the world by the gospel, might be allowed to exert its wonted influence, in its various departments, and on every class of pagan communities, enlightening, elevating and refining; and to achieve its accustomed victories over ignorance and error, unobstructed by the vile monopolies of a designing priesthood. You have been praying too, that the Lord of the har- vest would raise up, qualify and send forth laborers. You have surveyed those vast fields of death, and mourn- ed over their desolation. You have rejoiced that a few have, in these latter days, voluntarily forsaken their 1 2 Pray Less, or Do More. country and the home of their youth, and gone to pro- claim the good news of redemption to the millions of per- ishing heathen; and you have lamented that their num- ber is so small. You have fervently and constantly pray- ed that the little band may become a thousand that the voice of the living preacher, proclaiming liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison-house to them that are bound, may be heard throughout all the dark regions of idolatry. You have been praying, " thy kingdom corne." You have desired the downfall of every system of error. Your petitions have come up to the court of Heaven, that the King of kings would "overturn and overturn," till every fabric of Paganism be demolished, and on its ruins be reared the everlasting kingdom of righteousness and truth. You have desired that the mill of God may be- come the adopted will of man universally that His glory may fill the whole earth. Especially have you longed to see the Sun of Righteousness arise on the dark places of the earth, and the habitations of cruelty become the abodes of mercy and truth. Well, Christian friends, God has heard your prayers. He has answered them. He has at length done what you have so long and so earnestly prayed that he would do. And how do you stand affected at this merciful interposi- tion of the Most High in condescending to grant the very things you asked ? Are you rejoiced ? Does your heart expand in gratitude and love that God, by answering your poor prayers, has opened such a widejidd for your Chris- tian enterprise and given you so much to do 1 Or has God taken you by surprise ; and are you secretly disap- pointed that he has heard you a little chagrined at the consequences ? When you offered up those fervent sup- plications for the removal of obstacles in the heathen world, and for the rapid enlargement of the Redeemer's kingdom through the various means now employed, did you not know, that the answer to each of your petitions would make a new draft on your purse, on your personal services, on your friends, your relations, or on your own children ? Did you not know that every new instance of success would add a new call on you 1 Pray Less, or Do More. 3 God, I say, has answered your prayers. He has made the heathen world accessible to your benevolent efforts, in a manner unparalleled in any former age. Political revolutions have thrown one mighty empire of Pagans into the hands of a Christian nation, and have secured to Christendom a vast predominance over nearly every nation of idolaters on the face of the earth. Commerce has followed in the train of these political changes, and opened a high way to every portion of the unevangelized world. Men of different nations, and languages, and creeds, have thereby been brought together. Prejudices have been modified or abandoned. Superstition has been shamed, error exposed, and caste forced to loose its iron grasp. Many of the strong holds of idolatry have already been demolished, and others have been sapped at their very foundations and begin to betray marks of infirmity and decay. Never before was so much of the world accessible to the operations of Christian missions. Never before were there such facilities for introducing the institutions of the gospel among the nations. India, with her 150,000,000 is accessible at every point. The missionary may safely traverse her immense territories ; distribute the word of God and religious tracts and books to any extent he pleases; preach the gospel without any other obstruction than that of man's depravity, and freely and openly discuss any point of Christian doctrine or practice, and call in question and publicly expose and refute any error of idolatry. He may establish schools ; introduce and promote true science, and use the press to any extent he wishes. Burmah, too, is open, and Siam and the Islands of Austral Asia are reaching out their hands to receive the bread of life. The great continent of Africa, too, is inviting the labors of God's people. Her coasts, once the scenes of 'bloodshed and cruelty, are now presenting to the Christian world fields white for the harvest, where we may at once enter and reap the golden fruits of immor- tality. Persia, and Syria, and Asia Minor are prepared to receive the herald, of the cross, to an extent tenfold greater than have yet been sent to them. The number- Jess Isles of the Pacific are waiting to receive the law of God. Thus have your prayers, that the way might be 4 Pray Less, or Do More. prepared for the spread of the gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth, been answered. The Bible too, has been translated into every principal language spoken by heathen nations. Christian books have been prepared ; education in all its branches has been promoted ; and the press is already sending its in- valuable treasures through the vast domains of darkness and spiritual death. Thus you prayed and thus the Lord has heard and answered. He heard you too, praying that he would raise up and send forth laborers. He has done it. Many are this mo- ment laboring for you in foreign lands bearing the heat and burden of the day. God has in answer to your pray- ers, sent them forth, and now he asks if you will sustain them ? The number of those, who have offered them- selves for the foreign service of the church, has, within a few years greatly increased. Now the question comes fairly before you : Do you rejoice that God has heard your prayers, and raised up laborers for the work 1 Are you ready to meet the consequences of your own prayers? You prayed for enlargement, and the work has been en- larged beyond, perhaps, what you expected. Are you now ready and willing to sustain the work in that advanced stage to which God, in answer to your prayers, has brought it? The Bible has been translated, and now your money is wanted to print and distribute it. Tracts and Christian books have been prepared, now they must be published and put into circulation. Will you give us the means to do it ? Schools and higher semina- ries have been founded, and great numbers of heathen youth have been gathered in, and are pursuing a course of Christian education. Will you support them ? A great number of missionaries are now on the foreign field, and their labors increasing in every department. Will you sustain them in their enlarged operations ? Or must they allow the work to retrograde ? It must retro- grade or advance. It cannot remain stationary. And what will you say to those fifty candidates for the foreign service, who are waiting your answer to the question, whether they can be sent abroad ? And to those who have offered their services but cannot be accepted till you authorize the Board to do so, by your increased dona- Pray Less, or Do More. 5 tions ? And what encouragement will you hold out to the young men in our colleges and theological semina- ries to come forward and say " here we are, send us." Alas ! will you repel every such generous and devoted feeling? Will you nip in the bud the tender germ of mis- sionary enterprise? Shall the wide field, which God, in answer to your prayers, has opened, be supplied; or will you, in the spirit of base ingratitude, provoke him to draw back the dark curtain that once separated you from those perish- ing millions, and again envelop them in midnight dark- ness? The question is a fair one, and one that demands an immediate and decisive answer. We have arrived at a crisis. The providence of God is far in advance of us. What shall be done ? You are, Christian friends, reduced to this dilemma : you must either stop praying so that the progress of the work may be arrested, and the demands on your personal services, and on your relatives and children for actual service abroad, and on your purse, may not increase or, if the demands be too great in your estimation, you must begin to pray on the oilier side that God would undo what he has done that he would withdraw the dominion of Christian nations over pagan countries that he would restore to the millions of idolaters their former jurisdic- tion and give them the power to draw back once more the dark cloud that so long enshrouded their lands that he would restore to superstition her wonted ascendency over the minds of every heathen people that he would revive the cruel tyranny of custom ; invigorate with all their pristine strength, the enthralling institutions of caste, and restore to their ancient vigor the waning sys- tems of a cruel and voracious priesthood. Then those little lights which have been kindled " in the dark places of the earth" would soon go out, and the unbroken gloom of pagan night roll over the vast dominions of idola- try. Missionaries would be driven out ; schools be dis- banded ; the press suspended ; the Bible prohibited ; Christian books would no more be sought or required, and you would no longer be troubled with demands for the heathen. 6 Pray Less, or Do More. No further demands would then be made on your- selves, your friends, or your children, to go abroad as missionaries. No more would you witness or experience those heart thrilling scenes of separation from country, home and friends ; no more would your time be broken in upon by those endless calls for charitable efforts for the heathen no longer would those frequent, and some- times unwelcome drafts be made on your purse for the support of missions. All your time might then be en- joyed in the pleasures of this life, or employed in the en- terprises of ambition or wealth. All your capital might be invested in schemes of accumulation, and you might live on the rich bounties of God's providence, surrounded by your dear families and friends, and enjoy all the com- forts of spiritual dearth, and all the luxuries of inglori- ous, unhallowed repose. Or, if you dare not by repressing a praying breath, or by praying backward take on you the awful responsi- bility of arresting, or turning back the wheels of benevo- lence which are now rapidly rolling over this wretched world if you dare not, by unholy sloth and broken vows, arrest the progress of the glorious gospel just at the time perhaps when it is about to achieve its greatest tri- umphs if you dare not present yourself before the Lord and pray that he will close the wide and effectual door which he has opened, and thereby give you a respite from the increasing and, too often, annoying demands that are now made for your assistance, you must come forth, and cheerfully and liberally meet the demands which the present state of missionary operations makes on you. It now remains to be seen and the world are sharpsighted enough to discern whether you were indeed in earnest when you prayed that the way might be prepared for the universal spread of the gospel. A cheerful acquiescence in the present state of things, and a readiness to meet the consequences of your prayers, are the only sure tests of your sincerity in offering such petitions. It may not be quite convenient for you to meet these consequences as you are now called on to do. It may cost you more than you anticipated when you prayed so often and so earnestly for the very things which have come to pass, yet to shrink from a duty which you begged Pray Less, or Do More. 7 you might have the privilege of doing; to feel burdened, and sometimes almost annoyed with the frequent and increasing calls which are now made on you because the work of your hands prospers , is not to display the magna- nimity of the Christian. There are many in the American Zion, who, doubt- less, do rejoice that the ways of doing good are so much multiplied that they now have twenty calls on their be- nevolence, where thirty years ago they would have had but one. They rejoice that their prayers have been heard that the way has been opened before them that the work of the world's conversion has so abundantly prospered that they are now invited to enter a wide field, and to increase their efforts ten or a hundred fold. They began their work with the intention to persevere to its completion. They have experienced the luxury of doing good ; they have enjoyed the fulfilment of God's precious promises. They have never been impoverished by giv- ing, nor do they desire to try the dangerous experiment of attempting to be rich by " withholding." What to others is a matter of stern duty, is to them a choice privi- lege. What to others is a task or a burden, is to them a delight. What is wrung from others, by appeals to their piety or generosity, by the pressure of Christian duty, or by the lashes of conscience, comes from them as the free- will offering of a grateful and liberal heart. Such shall not fail of their reward. But are there not many, who, if we may judge from the reluctance with which they come up to the work in its present enlarged and prosperous state, feel none of these emotions of joy and holy gratitude that their peti- tions have at length come up into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth, and that he is granting their requests 1 Already they find the work too much extended for them calls are too frequent. Ministers begin to fear for their peo- ple ; and their people are growing restive and " sore," under the oft repeated and more urgent applications of our benevolent institutions. The Lord, by answering their prayers, has taken them by surprise. They never anticipated such results. They cannot but manifest, at times, a little disappointment. They evidently did not consider that the enlargement and prosperity of the mis- 8 Pray Less, or Do More. sionary work would involve them in so much labor, ex- pense and trouble. They did not well consider that every prayer they offered for the success of missions, was an application to God that he would open the way for the employment of their children, or their own dear friends, or their dearer selves, as missionaries among the heathen ; and for the expenditure of their own money there that every missionary that is sent out, that every school that is established, that every Bible or tract that is printed and circulated, is preparing the way for a tenfold increase of the same. Such is the natural progress of the work ; and you must either take on you the awful responsibility of arresting this progress, or you must cheerfully meet the consequences of a system of operations which you have been willing to commence. Would you throw off these burdens which to some are becoming too grievous to be borne we said you must resort to the fearful alternative of ceasing to pray. And if that be not enough, pray God to undo what he has so gloriously done. Then might you repose in the apathy of spiritual dearth, and live in all the luxury of inglorious ease. Would to God that there were no indications that some portions of our once favored American Zion, have adop- ted this fearful alternative. One evening of each month, has, by common consent, been set apart to pray for the success of foreign missions. All recognize the duty and consent to the arrangement. This meeting is therefore thought to afford a just criterion by which to judge how much prayer is offered up for the prosperity of this work. And what is the actual fact with regard to this meeting ? Perhaps one half of the churches do not regard the occa- sion at all ; and those who pretend to observe it, do it by a minority, on an average, of about twelve per cent of their entire numbers. Shall this be taken as an indica- tion that Christians are apprehensive that the heathen world is opening too fast that missions are too-prosper- ous, and that they shall themselves be called on too fre- quently for their support? or shall we seek another cause ? Have we no reason to fear that our lukewarmness and apathy will provoke a righteous God, to close the door Pray Less, or Do More. 9 that he has opened, to withdraw his aid, and to blast the labors of our hands. Let us take timely warning. Let us return to the Lord who will have mercy on us, and to our God, who will abundantly pardon. Let us give him no rest until he establish the gospel in every nation, and make his church a praise in all the earth. Great are our obligations. Solemn and fearful our responsibilities, far beyond those of the generations that have gone before us ! But why is it so? Because our privileges are peculiar, our opportunities of doing good unexampled, and our prospects bright with tokens of the near approach of such a day, as has never yet dawned upon a benighted, suffering world ! Prophets and kings, and holy men of former times, desired to see the things which we see, and to hear what we hear, -but they saw them not, they heard them not ! Shall we complain that such a prize is put into our hands ? Shall the answers to our prayers, instead of filling us with gratitude, and animating us to effort and self-denial, only leave us more inexcusable in our sloth and covetousness and unbe- lief? Rather let us with obedient, believing, joyful hearts follow on where our blessed Master leads us, con- secrating time, talents, influence, property, all that we have, all that we are, to the promotion of his cause. Then will God be merciful to us, and bless us, and cause his face to shine upon us, and his way shall be known upon the earth, even his saving health among all nations. AMERICAN BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS FOR FOREIGN MISSIONS. Proposal for raising up a Native Ministry in the several Missions. FOR four years, there has been no increase in the receipts of the Board, or in its appropriations, or in the number of its laborers. There has been no progress in these respects. Is it not time there should be some onward movement ? There can be no sufficient rea- son for longer delay. And it is becoming of the utmopt importance, that new strength and new spirit should be imparted to the missions. They ought to have more laborers, more pecuniary means, and more of the vigor and animation resulting from the assurance that they are remembered, and prayed for, and will be sustained, by their brethren at home. Tt should be acknowledged, however, to the praise of God, that in several of the missions the operations of his grace have never been so distinguished, as dur-" ing the four years past. The enterprise, as a whole, has been gloriously advanced by his Providence and his Spirit. And now that his people are recovering from their dismay and stupor under the overwhelming rebukes he saw fit to administer to their worldliness, and tremblingly ask, "Lord, what wilt thou have us to do ?" their attention is invited, in the providence of God, to a particular feature of the work ; and that is, the raising up of a NATIVE MINISTRY in connection with the several missions. The example of the apostles, who ordained pastors in every place from among the native converts, together with expe- rience, and a regard for economy, a steady influence, a constant progress, a permanent impression, and the speediest accomplishment of the work, all point us to a native ministry, which shall be at home in the cli- mate, language, manners, customs, superstitions, pre- judices, and peculiarities of the people. God has prepared the way for such a ministry in many of the missions ; and by raising up native preachers of the gospel on a large scale, we may, with the divine bles- sing, set forward the work greatly, in little time, and secure the most important permanent results. The Prudential Committee respectfully invite the immediate co-operation of their brethren in a vigorous effort of this kind to increase the company of preach- ers abroad. First in the order of claim for such a ministry, they present the Sandwich Islands. The church-members at these islands in good standing, are now about 18,000. These would make a hundred churches, each large enough for a native pastor, and might fur- nish as many as five hundred youth, of both sexes, sufficiently promising to warrant their being liberally educated. This would be three hundred more than are now in the boarding-schools and seminary. With the blessing of the Holy Spirit, a hundred preachers, with pious, educated wives for all, might be obtained from these ; and the rest would serve for deacons in the churches, teachers, physicians, civilians, etc., all of which are important to the social well-being of the islanders. The training of these future pastors of the churches would require from five to ten years ; first, in the boarding-schools ; then in the seminary ; then, in the more direct acquisition of theological knowl- edge with some missionary ; then, as licensed preach- ers. Having "purchased to themselves a good de- gree," they might receive ordination. The cost would not exceed ten or twelve thousand dollars annually, even if the whole expense were defrayed from this country. Having supplied the islands with tolerably competent pastors, it would no longer be necessary to sustain the mission on its present scale. Our influence would become auxiliary. The Hawaiian people would regard the work as theirs, and us as their help- ers. Theirs would be the Christian institutions we had planted and watered, and theirs the responsibility of sustaining them. Of course our expenditures would at once be greatly diminished ; and they would con- tinue to be so progressively, until the last survivor in the mission, of those who had continued to reside among the islanders as councillors and guides, should be laid in his grave. Shall the mission be enabled to rear up this native ministry 1 No one can be indifferent to the answer. Now that the papists are on the ground, every month's delay is attended with fearful hazard. Nor is there any reason for delay. The Holy Spirit has gone before us with his converting influences. Our work is made ready to our hands. We have only to put in the sickle and bind up the sheaves. We may do our work better now, than hereafter. Let us have the satisfaction of seeing it done, and of showing the world what can be done for a barbarous heathen peo- ple, through the grace of God, within the period of a single generation. Let us finish it without delay, that the goodly harvest, now covering those fields, may not be torn from us and destroyed, and thus, through our avarice and sloth, the cause of the Redeemer suffer great loss and dishonor. Turn now to the opposite side of the globe to the Nestorians. Here is a community about as large as that at the Sandwich Islands, and also thrown, as it were, into our arms. We found it, however, a nomi- nally Christian community, and it carries back its Christianity to apostolic times. The Nestorians in ages past were an enterprising and zealous body of Christians. They were a missionary church ; and they are now the purest branch of the ancient church. All they need at our hands is, to have the learning and the spirit of the gospel revived among them. Why not at once give them an educated priesthood 1 The pa- pists are on every side of them, flushed with victory over a part of that very people, and straining every nerve to get possession of the residue. If money zeal, craft, and 'compassing sea and land,' can extend the papal sway over them, it will be done. So im- portant a body of Christians, situated so advantageous- ly for exerting an influence on central Asia, ought not to be lost to the church of God. It would require but a few thousand dollars a year to effect this object, in addition to what is needed for the support of the missionaries. It should rebuke our fears in respect to difficulties that may arise, to remember that, for tea years, the tide of Nestorian feeling has gone with our efforts for their spiritual renovation, and that the Spirit of the Lord is evidently with us. Let us aim to finish this work, also, without delay. Here celerity of move- ment is necessary to success. A slow, irresolute movement may be expected to result in divisions and parties among the people, and in a partial, if not total, failure. Let us move onward, then, and rescue our Nestorian brethren from their spiritual foes, and make them our efficient allies. The Tamul missions, in Ceylon and Southern India, come next in the order of claimants for a native ministry. And they should have it in great numbers. England conquered India, and now holds it in subjec- tion, chiefly by native troops , commanded, indeed, by English officers, with here and there a small body of English soldiers. In no other way could she have subdued that country, or now retain it. Ours is a different warfare, and our weapons are not carnal ; but we are opposed by the same formidable obsta- cles distance, expense, and climate. We must have 6 native troops. The missionary cannot live on rice alone, nor merely wrap a cotton cloth about him for a garment, nor dwell in a mud-walled, grass-covered cottage without furniture, nor travel on foot in the sun, as a native does. He could not thus live in India ; nor ought he to attempt it. Hence his sup- port costs five times as much as that of a native preacher. The expense, too, of his outfit and pas- sage, if he be a married man, would defray the cost of a ten years' course of education for five natives of the country. But the superiority of the missionary over the native preacher, as an instrument for exerting influence on the native mind by preaching and con- versation, is not proportioned to the difference in the cost of their support. Where the well-educated na- tive preacher labors under judicious superintendence, experience shows that the preaching of two of them may be expected to do as much good as that of one missionary. What an interesting field does this open for contemplation and enterprise ! Why not increase the number of our native preachers in the Tamul mis- sions, as soon as possible, to two hundred 1 The cost of educating a thousand youth, from whom these preachers might be obtained, and afterwards of supporting the preachers with their families, would not exceed 25,000 dollars annually; which is little more than the average expense, in India, of only twenty-five missionaries. By this process we gain, in instrumental power, the equivalent for one hundred missionaries, and save an expenditure of nearly 75,000 dollars a year. Already we have three him- dred youth in the boarding-schools. Suppose the number should be increased to a thousand, and that, through the blessing of God, two hundred preachers should be obtained from these, with educated Christian wives for them, how would the mission be set for- ward, in the space of a few years, far beyond the point where it now is ! Its strength would be in- creased five or six times, and without so much as doubling the present expenditure. The Committee might dwell in like manner on other missions ; as those to the Mahrattas, Syria, Turkey, West Africa, etc. But enough has been said to shew that a great and feasible object is here presented for the contemplation, the prayers, and the contributions of the friends of Zion. What if two thousand youth of both sexes were put on a course of liberal education, with a view to obtaining compe- tent native laborers in the various ministries apper- taining to the work, and especially in the preaching of the gospel 1 ! There being eight hundred youth already in such a course of education, twelve hundred would make the two thousand ; and 30,000 dollars a year would meet the additional cost. Is not here a way to invest money to good advantage ? How can it be employed with the prospect of yielding a more heartfelt satisfaction ? But the case is not yet fully stated. This decisive effort to transfer the work, at the earliest possible day, to the natives of the several countries, will but partially succeed, unless each of the missions is made strong in the number and character of its missionaries. 8 The schools of the prophets, thus filled with native pupils, must be made to shine all over with learning and grace ; and in them, and all around them, must be the unceasing, faithful preaching of the gospel by missionaries from Christian lands, as an indispensable means of the life and prosperity of the enterprise. In short, accessions of first-rate men should be made without delay to nearly all the missions ; and the full success of the plan would require the annual receipts of the Board to be raised to three hundred and fifty thousand dollars ; and it is exceedingly desirable that the sum should not come short of four hundred thousand. Even then the annual income would fall much below what our English brethren now place at the disposal of each of their three principal missionary societies. All that is needed is the FUNDS funds steadily given from year to year. And what other plan, than the one proposed, will save the Sandwich Islanders, and the glorious fruits of our labors among them, from utter destruction ? What other plan will successfully resist the aggressions of the Roman catholic missions, which are reviving all over the world, and threaten from every quarter to come in upon us like a flood ? Let the churches take hold of this work in earnest. If they do, they may ex- pect, and doubtless will enjoy, the ' blessing of the Lord, which maketh rich, and addeth no sorrow there- with.' Three dollars a year given annually by each member of the Congregational churches of New Eng- land alone, would amount to more than 400,000. Only half that sum from each member of all the churches with which the Board stands related, would make 450,000, which the associated members of the con- gregations would raise to half a million. How easy, by a united effort worthy of the cause, and of our religion, and of the Redeemer we profess to love, to accomplish the work proposed ! We ask for no unseasonable effort ; no derangement in the systematic plans of the churches ; no interference with the other branches of the great enterprise for the world's con- version to God ; but, that an effectual end may at once be put to this portentous, ruinous pause, and animation and vigor be imparted to the work of Christ among the heathen. The Committee would respectfully, yet earnestly, continue to urge upon their brethren the plan of rais- ing funds at a stated time every year, by means of collectors, male and female) who shall be instructed to call on all the members of the church and society. If this is done thoroughly, after the way has been pre- pared from the pulpit, and if the object is also remem- bered in the contributions at the monthly concert of prayer for the conversion of the world, there will scarcely fail to be a swelling tide flowing into the treasury from year to year, and thence with blessings upon the -several missions. The experience of some of the churches of Boston and its vicinity was men- tioned in an appeal to pastors, a year ago, in order to show the superiority of the plan of raising funds by means of collectors, over that of congregational subscriptions and collections on the Sabbath. To the churches then mentioned as having adopted the 10 plan of collectors, may now be added the following in the city, viz. 1840. 1841. Bowdoin-street church, - $1,458 - $3,100 Salem-street church, 433 560 Franklin-street church, - 354 - 1,000 South Boston, - 60-200 Total, $2,305 $4,860 Nor will it be amiss to mention the experience of the following churches for two years on this plan ; they are among those mentioned a year ago ; viz. 1839. 1840. 1841. Old South church, $1,223 - $3,000 - $3,200 Essex-street church, - 906 - 1,200 - 1,300 Pine-street church, - 291 - 600-600 Winthrop church, Charleston, 265 - 900-920 Total, $2,685 $5,700 $6,020 It is not known, that there was any increase of ability to give among the donors in these societies, regarded as a body, in either of the specified years. It is believed that they generally stand ready to aug- ment their subscriptions in future years, as God shall be pleased to enlarge their means of so doing. With these statements, the Prudential Committee submit this proposal for raising up a Native Ministry to their brethren and fellow-laborers in all parts of the country. None will question the magnitude and importance of the object. None will doubt that it is in accordance with the will of Him, who will have 11 his gospel published to every creature, and that he will add his blessing. Nothing appears to be wanting to accomplish it, except the pecuniary means ; of which, after all that can be said concerning the times, there is much that can be spared, without even tasting the blessedness of Christian self-denial. RUFUS ANDERSON, > DAVID GREENE, $ Secretaries. WILLIAM J. ARMSTRONG,) Missionary House, Boston, March 4th, 1841. AMERICAN BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS FOR FOREIGN MISSIONS. DONATIONS FROM HOLDERS OF SLAVES. THE reason for publishing the following letters, in the present form, may be stated in few words. They were originally written in reply to letters addressed to the Secretaries of the Board, on the propriety of receiving donations made to its treasury by those who hold slaves. To avoid the necessity of writing on the subject at length, when inquiries may be made upon it in future, this method of making known the views of the Committee has been adobted. The letters are given en- tire, and in their original shape, that any one to whom the pamphlet may be sent, may the mere readily regard the state- ments and considerations contained in it, as being addressed to himself. MY DEAR SIR, Your favor of the came duly to hand, and has been submitted to the Prudential Committee, as you requested. We feel greatly obliged by the frank and Christian spirit which characterizes your letter, as well as by the confidence in the Board and lively interest in its objects, which you express, and which we have ample evidence that you feel. We take no offence at any inquiry or suggestion which yourself or any other such friend may make, in such a spirit and manner, relative to the proceedings of the Board; and in reply we will express our sentiments without reluctance or reserve. If we can view subjects in the same light with you, we shall be glad; but if there must be disa- greement, there shall not be contention or unkindness. No principles or modes of proceeding on the subject to which your letter relates have been adopted by the Com- mittee, which they wish to conceal, or which they think are incapable of defence. Still the liability to error in both is such, as should dispose them to receive kindly and thankfully the hints and reasonings which the friends of the Board may see fit to communicate. In what I am about to write now, no attempt will be made to reply directly to the six reasons which you ad- duce against receiving donations from those who hold slaves; though some considerations might, perhaps, be ad- vanced on this point, which would, at least, detract somewhat from their force and conclusiveness; but ad- mitting, for the present, that the reasons are well found- ed, some difficulties will be mentioned, which seem to lie in the way of applying the principle involved in them, in transacting the business of the Board; difficulties so numerous and great, that, until a practicable method of removing them shall be devised, the course which you propose cannot well be adopted. But before proceeding further, I beg leave to premise three things. 1. The Board, in its corporate capacity, as a benevo- lent and Christian institution, has nothing to do with slavery. Its members, as individuals, or as members of other associations, are free to act as they please on this and all other subjects; but, as members of the Board) they do not feel obliged, nor at liberty, to look after and condemn, or endeavor to put down every thing which they individually, or which other good men may think to be wrong and wicked in the community. They leave all works of this nature, not fairly embraced among the ob- jects for which the Board was organized, to others. 2. The Board and its officers do not profess to know, and cannot generally know, the character and motives of those who contribute to its funds, or the sources of their income. To make inquiries on these points would prob- ably, by most persons, be deemed impertinent. A man from Kentucky, sends to the treasury of the Board, one hundred dollars; it is received; and the donor is, by the rules of the Board, constituted an honorary member. The treasurer does not feel under obligations, before re- ceiving the money, to ascertain whether the donor ob- tained it honestly or not, or whether he is a good citizen or a moral man. I can conceive that a case might oc- cur, of so marked and notorious a character, that the do- nation might properly be refused. But such cases will be rare, as few grossly immoral or dishonest men are in- terested in the objects of the Board, or disposed to use their property to promote them. 3. In your letter you remark, that many who profess to be the friends of missions, and you subsequently say that you class yourself among them, think it wrong to solicit funds from those who hold slaves, "for the same reasons that they would regard it wrong to apply to a company of counterfeiters and highway robbers, or any other company who gained their subsistence and wealth by means of systematized wickedness, for a portion of their income, by means of which to carry on this great and glorious cause." We cannot regard donations from those who hold slaves in the same light that we should 1* 6 donations from counterfeiters and highwaymen. There seems to us to be this wide and obvious difference: the donors in one case are, as you will admit, exclusive of the fact of their holding slaves, almost without exception, good citizens, honest and moral men, and a large portion of them reputable professors of religion; and in general, they are persons seriously disposed, and professedly, and so far as we have any evidence, really desirous, by the dissemination of Christianity to convert the heathen to God. This, we suppose, cannot be said of the other classes of persons mentioned by you. Having made these remarks, I proceed to say, that the general principle which seems to me to lie at the founda- tion of the several reasons which you allege against re- ceiving donations from slave-holders into the treasury of the Board, I suppose to be this: Donations of property, the acquisition of which involves sin, should be rejected. Or, to render it a little more comprehensive, and to make it more appropriately the basis of some of your remarks, it should be. Persons living in the practice of certain sins should not be permitted, by means of their pro- perty, to aid in such a work as that in which the Board is engaged. Without attempting, as I before said, to decide wheth- er this principle, in all its extent, is correct or not, let us look for a moment at some of the difficulties which must be met in its application to the case before us. One important question to be settled on this subject is, How much of sin must be involved in the acquisition of a man's property, before we shall be bound to reject it? Perhaps there are few men, in any department of busi- ness, whose property has not been, to some extent, and in some manner, increased by some wrong course of pro- ceeding, either known or unknown to themselves. Pro- bably yourself and they who view the subject as you do, readily admit, that even among those who hold slaves by a legal tenure, there may be, so far as this view of their character is concerned, different degrees of sinfulness. For the sake of illustrating the case, let us admit that the profane and unfeeling master, who regards his negroes simply as he does his cattle, is not to be suffered to con- tribute money acquired by their labor. He is too wicked, and his wealth is too much the fruits of oppression and cruel injustice to be received. What then will you say of the planter in some retired part of the Carolinas, who is a reputable professor of religion, and, as you would ad- mit, a humane and upright man in every thing, except holding slaves; who inherited his negroes and grew up with all the habits and prejudices naturally springing out of such circumstances; who has read, or heard, or thought little on the subject, and consequently regards the relation of master and slave very nearly as his father did fifty years ago? Shall he be permitted to contribute? If not, shall the master, who, possessing a similar char- acter, but with more intelligence and reflection than the one just referred to, admits slavery to be wrong and inde- fensible, but thinks that he sees no way in which he can meliorate the condition of those under his- care; and therefore continues the relation, instructing them, pro- viding for them, and treating them kindly? May he contribute? If he may not, what will you say of the man, who, with all the feelings of the last, has actually formed his plan for emancipating his negroes, and is hastening it on to its consummation, though he may feel obliged to sustain the legal relation a year lon- ger? Shall he be allowed to contribute now? or must he wait till his negroes have quite gone from under his hand? Or shall he not be permitted to contribute at all from the property which may have been the avails of slave labor? Again, How large a portion of a man's income must be the fruit of his wrong doing, or, as in the case be- fore us, of slave-holding, before we are bound to reject it? A man owns a plantation which is worked by slaves. The income of it is, of course, the joint avails of the sum invested in buildings, land, implements, and of his own skill and management, and of slave labor. How much of all the income from that plantation is the pro- duct of slave labor, and justly due to the slave? Obvious- ly all of it is not, any more than all the profits of a voyage belong to the sailors, to the exclusion of the owner of ship and cargo, and the officers who managed it; or any more than the avails of all the cloth manufactured at a mill belong to those who work at the spindles and looms, to the exclusion of those who own the buildings, machinery, and stock, and who mature and execute all the plans and make the contracts. A portion, then, and obviously a considerable portion too, of the products of a plantation does not belong to the slaves who work on it, and does belong to its owner and manager, and when appropriated to his use, is not to be regarded as the fruits of robbery, or oppression, or injustice. Is a man, then, who desires to do good, to be excluded from the privilege of doing it, because that some portion of his property has been ob- tained by means which we, though he may not, deem un- just? Suppose that a planter, mechanic, or merchant, carries forward his business by means of ten men, only one of whom is a slave, (and many cases like this might probably be found in Western Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee,) are all his gains so contaminated by his re- lation to this slave, that his offering must be rejected? 9 Again, Ifow directly must a man's income arise from the avails of slave labor, before his donations must be re- jected? What will you say to the Charleston or Mobile merchant, who buys and sells cotton? or of the New York and Boston shippers who carry it? or of the New England manufacturers who work it into cloth? or of the whole- sale and retail dealers who scatter it through the commu- nity? All these make their profits to a greater or less extent, and more or less directly, from the avails of slave labor. Are we to break off all co-operation with any or all of them, and refuse their donations, and class them with the offerings of counterfeiters and -highwaymen? Which makes the most net profit upon cotton, the plan- ter, the shipper, or the manufacturer, it may be difficult to determine. Similar views may be taken respecting the gains of the producer, the carrier, and the vender of rice, sugar, to- bacco, and all other articles which are exported from a slave-holding community. Nor does the connection be- tween slavery and the gains of trade cease here. The New England merchant who sends his shoes and cloth, and other articles of manufacture or produce to a south- ern market, even if he receives cash in payment, receives to a greater or less extent the avails of slave labor, and of course a portion of his gains originate there. Indeed the subject has a thousand ramifications, in each of which the same general principle is involved, and in deciding the point' as you propose, we must make a decision which shall cover much ground. But are the donations of slave-holders, and of others who derive gain from slave labor, the only donations which must be rejected? As it is not easy to measure the guilt of different men, so it is not easy to measure the sin involved in particular courses of conduct. Much presumption is manifest in our attempts to do either to any considerable extent. The zealous advocate for peace may see more sin in war and the preparations for it, than in any thing else; and may think that no offer- ings will be so offensive to God as those which are made from the wages of the soldier. And, for aught that I can see, the offerings of the smith and the founder who man- ufacture the weapons, and of those who furnish the cloth- ing and provisions for the army, must come under the same condemnation. The temperance agent may think that none are so great sinners as they who manufacture or deal in intoxi- cating liquors, and that they ought not to be allowed to aid with their donations any object of religion or benevo- lence. And then he would involve the mechanics who erected and furnished the distillery, the farmer who pro- duced the grain, and the carrier who transported the raw material, or the manufactured article, and all others who in any manner made a profit from this branch of business. So we might proceed and point out one branch of busi- ness after another, which many, if not most honest men think is injurious to the community, and the avails of which, on the principle which seems to me to be involved in your letter, ought riot to be received into the treasu- ries of societies designed to promote benevolent and re- ligious objects. But here other questions arise of a very practical char- acter, and at the same time encompassed with not a lit- tle difficulty. Who is to decide what branches of busi- ness, or what practices in the prosecution of them, do in- volve so much of wrong and wickedness that the avails should be rejected by all good men engaged in a good object? Who is to decide how much a man must be 11 Concerned in these proscribed pursuits and practices, be- fore his donations must be rejected? But supposing general rules for deciding these points to be fixed, before what tribunal shall the individual do- nors be brought, and on what evidence shall we rely? Shall every treasurer be constituted an inquisitor on this subject, and his office be made a hall of examination, where the character, and occupation, and sources of in- come of every man who offers money shall be inquired into; and before he shall be permitted to leave his gift, it shall be ascertained that he is not a soldier, nor a slave- holder, nor a distiller, nor a dealer in intoxicating li- quors, nor a gambler, nor a thief, nor concerned in lotte- ries, etc.? How shall this be done? Shall we put the donor under oath; or correspond with his neighbors; or make him bring a certificate from men known to be good and true? But you may say that all this minuteness in the pro- cess is unnecessary, and is embarrassing the subject to no purpose. I honestly think, however, that every line I have written has a real and practical connection with the subject, and that when our Board shall decide to act in conformity with the suggestion in your letter, their examination and decision must cover this whole ground. How otherwise can they act equitably and on principle? Perhaps you will say that it is enough to decide that no donations shall be received from within the bounds of any slave-holding state. But where would this lead us; or rather, where shall we start from? Shall we begin with New York, and reject your donation, because one person in thirty thousand in your state is a slave? Or shall we begin with Connecticut, and reject the donations from all its churches, because one person in fifteen thou- 12 sand is a slave there? Or shall we begin with Pennsyl- vania, and reject donations from that state, because one person in three thousand is a slave there? Or with New Jersey, because one in one hundred and fifty is a slave there? Or with Delaware, because one in thirty is a slave there? Or with Maryland, because one in five is a slave there? Or with Tennessee, because one in four is a slave there? Or with Virginia, where one in three is a slave? Or with Louisiana, where one in two is a slave? Or with South Carolina, where four out of seven are slaves? Where will you draw the line? What bounda- ries will you prescribe? Perhaps you will say, that donations must be rejected from those states which are taking no measures to abol- ish slavery, and whose rulers, by the consent of the peo- ple, uphold and defend it. Here questions might arise which it would be difficult to answer satisfactorily. In respect to some States, we might, perhaps, properly de- cide that they do uphold and defend slavery; and in re- spect to others, where some slaves still remain, we might decide that they do not uphold and defend it. But in respect to many others it might be impossible even to form an opinion whether the rulers and the mass of the population do uphold and defend it, or not. What shall be the decision relative to Delaware and Mary- land, not to add Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Missouri? But supposing it granted, that, in excluding men from co-operation with us in the work of missions. State lines are to be followed; and that all the States south of Pennsylvania, and of the Ohio river, and those west of the Mississippi, are to be proscribed; will it be equitable and Christian to shut out from participation in this work every church member in Delaware, not one half of whom 13 own a slave, or derive profit from slave labor more than you or I ? Will you shut out all those of Virginia west of the mountains, where comparatively few slaves are found, and where, as I heard a very intelligent gentleman from that quarter say in a public meeting a few years ago, the people are as thoroughly anti-slavery as are the inhabitants of Massachusetts? Will you exclude every man in East Tennessee, of a majority of whom the same may probably with truth be said, and where has existed, I believe, the only newspaper avowedly in favor of eman- cipation, to be found within the general limits just now mentioned? Will you exclude all Kentucky, in whose Synod the subject of slavery has been openly, repeatedly, and thoroughly discussed, the continuance of the system disapproved by a considerable majority, and measures for speedy emancipation recommended; and where it is to be presumed that similar views are entertained by a ma- jority of the church members? Will you exclude the Quaker, the Scotch, and the Moravian settlements in the central and western parts of North Carolina, by whom few or no slaves are held, and who are decidedly opposed to the system? Will you exclude the many Christian merchants and mechanics in the southern cities, who do not own slaves, and have little or nothing to do with them in any manner? Will you exclude the many preachers and teachers who cross the line before men- tioned without ever possessing a slave; or those who, with the same principles and practice on this subject, feel compelled by disease to seek a residence in a southern climate? Shall the gifts and co-operation of any or all of these classes of persons be spurned by our several relig- ious and benevolent institutions? If not, it must be ask- ed again, How shall the line designed to mark the de- gree of criminality, be drawn between him whose gift is 2 14 to be received, and him whose gift is to be rejected? or, How, when the gifts are sent to the treasurer or agent a hundred or a thousand miles off, is he to ascertain which comes from the man whom we may recognize as a fel- low-laborer, and which from him whom we must disown as no more worthy of fellowship in such a cause than a 'counterfeiter or highwayman?' But perhaps you will say, that, if we cannot properly adopt rules excluding donations from within the limits of slave-holding States, we may, at least, refrain from send- ing agents there to solicit them. If,- however, it is right to receive donations from the classes of men just referred to, is it not right to furnish them with facilities for trans- mitting their offerings? If it is the duty of these men to give, is it not right for the Board to send agents there to tell them of their duty and urge them to perform it? to spread out before them the information, and enforce the arguments and motives which may lead them to .regular and increased liberality? To discriminate and fix limits where we may, or where we may not send agents, would be as difficult as to decide from within what limits we might or might not receive donations. Further still, Is it not the duty of the Board, holding the place and mak- ing the professions which it does, a duty which its members owe to the Lord Jesus, to the church, and to the heathen, to use all suitable means within their pow- er, to bring all men to co operate promptly and vigorous- ly in disseminating Christian knowledge among all na- tions? Is it wrong to urge the performance of their duty in this respect, on every class of the Christian communi- ty, whatever may be their dwelling place, their charac- ter, or occupation, on the infidel, the Mohammedan, and the idolater, even? The Board has information on the subject; has bestowed much thought upon it; may 15 be supposed to feel deeply; possesses the means of ex- erting influence; which, altogether, render its situation peculiar, and impose peculiar obligations and responsi- bility. Shall the Board neglect to avail itself of all these in regard to the whole class of men in question? But it may be said that the agents of the Board must first enjoin it on all such persons to renounce slave-hold- ing. Why is it not as incumbent on them before they deliver their message, first to deliver a lecture on licen- tiousness, or war, or masonry? Is it never allowable to permit, or even urge men to perform one duty, while we know that they neglect another?* A gdbd man goes from village to village, lecturing on astronomy, or history, or chemistry, and does not say a word about repentance or the atonement, though the majority of his hearers may be neglecting both. Does he do right? or must he never say any more on these subjects until he find an assembly who have all repented and believed in Christ? The * For our principles on this point I would refer you to the Anti-Slavery Record, for October, objection fourth, page third of the cover, which I have just read, and where they are well expressed and maintained. "It is objected to the abolition enterprise, that unholy men are engaged in it. This is doubtless too true. But does it impair the truth of abolition prin- ciples? Does it stamp unboliness upon abolition measures? Why, we might as well deny the truth of the multiplication table because it is be- lieved in and practised upon by unholy men. If I have right principles and a good object, can they be the less worthy because wicked men unite with me in avowing the principles and promoting the object? By agree- ing and actmg with them wherein they are right, do I become responsi- ble for all things wherein they are wrong? Were we to be influenced by this objection, it is quite possible that there are not in the world men enough who agree to think each other good and holy, to do it. But if a man has holiness enough to hate slavery and to love his fellow men, why should he not be encouraged to exercise it, even if he have a bad creed or none at all? And why should not the objector aid and encourage him in well-doing? Whose spirit was it to shun a good deed because a Sa- maritan did it?" 16 Board sends its agents to Virginia, and they preach only on missions to the heathen, and say nothing in their pub- lic addresses for or against slavery. The Anti-Slavery Society sends its agents to the same field, and they preach only on the abolition of slavery. The Home Missionary Society sends its missionaries there, and they preach on Christian doctrines and duties generally. Why should the Board complain of the Anti-Slavery Society that its agents do not lecture on missions; or the Anti-Slavery Society complain of the Board that its agents do not urge the abolition of slavery; or the Home Missionary Society complain of the agents of either, because they do not preach repentance and faith? The Board, dear Sir, does .not pretend to be cutting one wide swath through the world, with the aim and expectation of clearing it, alone and at once, of all the sins, and wrongs, and miseries which infest it. It is at- tending to one thing the conversion of the heathen to God, while it leaves other associations to attend to other things; and in the mean time, its members will sympa- thise with them, and pray for and rejoice in their suc- cess, just so far as their objects seem to be prosecuted with a Christian spirit, and to be likely, in their result, to promote God's glory and the welfare of men. The same community and the same individuals may patronize any number or all of the various religious and benevolent enterprises of the day; but in extending their aid to them severally, why should they not act through the organiza- tion and agency appropriate to each, without requiring one organization or its agents, to encroach on the appro- priate sphere of another and do its work? We have sup- posed that a division of labor was as desirable and advan- tageous in accomplishing great moral and philanthropic objects, as in intellectual pursuits, or those which require 17 manual labor and skill; and we have supposed, too, that one of the brightest features of the times one which gave the fairest promise that this world would ultimately be recovered frorn its state of guilt and ruin was the fact, that for almost every class of evils which man can inflict or suffer, there is an association somewhere de- signed, and endeavoring to apply the appropriate remedy; and that over that evil chosen men are pouring out their feelings and prayers, and toward its removal they are di- recting their best thoughts and labors. Is it wise to de- stroy this arrangement, and in place of it impose what are now the duties of all these associations and agents, acting in their several spheres, upon one of them? Or while they all exist, is it wise to disturb the harmony of their action by inducing one to encroach on the sphere of another, and thus lay the foundation for jealousy, fault-finding, and counteraction? I am almost ashamed, dear Sir, to tax your patience by so long a letter; and it is a subject of regret that it has been so long delayed. For the former my apology is, that it did not seem easy to despatch the subject, as it presented itself, in less compass; and for the latter, I have only to say, that the business before the Committee would not permit them at an earlier day to consider your communication. Praying that the time may soon arrive when all who love and desire to serve our common God and Savior, may see eye to eye on all subjects relating to his glory and human welfare; arid that in the mean time we may all in gentleness and forbearance cultivate the spirit of our Master. I am, dear Sir, very respectfully and affectionately, your servant in Christ. 2* 18 The remaining letter was written about two years earlier than the foregoing. It contains, as will be seen, some of the sentiments found on the preceding pages, but in connection with a more general view of the subject The remarks assum- ed their present shape in order to reply to the inquiry, whether the Board ought not, in some public manner, to express its disapprobation of slavery and slave-holders. Both the letters, it should be mentioned, were written to ministers of the gospel, highly esteemed and respected, who have given unequivocal evidence of their attachment to the Board, and the work in which it is engaged. DEAR SIR, In reply to the suggestions contained in your favor of , relating to the course to be pursued by the Board or the Prudential Committee in respect to slavery, I can make but a few remarks. We have sup- posed, after much thought on the subject, and, I trust, some sincere prayer for heavenly guidance, that, as a society, the Board has nothing to do with any of the questions respecting reformation of morals, or political abuses, any further than these evils have an obvious and specific bearing on the work which the Board is attempt- ing, through divine aid, to accomplish among the hea- then. If any evils or abuses, moral or political, whose 'seat is in this country, extend themselves, so as to pre- sent hindrances to our work abroad, we suppose it to be proper for us to lay the facts before our community at home, and leave public sentiment, acting directly, or through appropriate organized institutions, or by the laws of the country, to effect a remedy. For example, if our licentious men go to the Sandwich Islands, and there act out their licentiousness, to corrupt the inhabitants and hinder the work of our missionaries, we state the facts, and leave the community to work the cure. So if our 19 dealers in intoxicating liquors go there to do their work of death, we state the facts, and turn the perpetrators over to our temperance societies to reform them. We have taken this course in regard to both these classes of persons. So, if the slave-trader from our country should go to the vicinity of one of our African missions, and there, by his inhuman traffic, should spread consterna- tion and misery among the people and retard our work, we must make his wickedness known, and leave him to the reprobation of the community and the punishment of the laws. But we have never supposed it to be duty or wisdom in the Board to adopt any direct measures for suppressing licentiousness, or intemperance, or any simi- lar evil at home; nor does it seem to us, now, to be re- quired of the Board to take any stand against slavery as it exists in our country, or against any other abuses or immoralities sanctioned by our government, such as Sabbath mails, Sabbath drills in the army, etc. If any proceeding of the government should bear directly on our missionary operations, as in the case of the Chero- kees, we must state the case and pursue the course which duty seemed to point out for remedying the evil, and leave the result to the providence of God. The object of the Board is specific and simple the conversion of the nations to Christianity an intelligent, hearty Christianity. All persons who will labor with us honestly in this work, we receive and acknowledge as fellow-laborers. They may be very imperfect Christians themselves, manifesting glaring inconsistencies, and, in the opinion of large portions of the community, they may be guilty of gross sins; yet if they say that a conviction of duty compels them to aid in our work, why should we reject them? We say, Never prevent a man from doing one duty because he does not acknowledge or perform 20 another. Performing one duty, honestly and steadily, seems to us to be the best method of coming to a knowl- edge and performance of all others; and the neglect of one known duty the surest way to keep from knowing and performing others. If our brethren at the South will not do all which we think they ought, still, let them do what they admit and are willing to perform as duty. If the dealer in ardent spirits or the slave-holder brings money to our treasury, we see no propriety in asking him how he obtained it or in refusing to receive it. We take it and make the best use we can of it, though there may have been sin in the manner of obtaining it. Perhaps scarcely any man conducts his business wholly without sin. It may be inseparable from the business itself, or it may be in his manner of prosecuting it; and it may be perceived or unperceived by him. The difficulty lies in drawing a line and saying that the gains of a business which has more than this specific amount of sin in it shall not be received. Here casuists would disagree end- lessly. We suppose that, with exception of some classes of sinners who are not at all likely to offer money to our object, we are to receive the contributions, as Paul di- rected the Corinthian Christians to take meats sold in the shambles, or set before them at a feast, "asking no ques- tions for conscience sake;" believing, if it is rightly ap- propriated, and in a right spirit, it will be, as the same apostle told Timothy in a similar case, "sanctified by the word of God and prayer." Proceeding on this ground, we leave the societies for moral reform to do their appropriate work; the abolition societies to do theirs; the temperance societies to do theirs; and so with regard to those institutions designed not so nuch to rectify particular evils, as to accomplish more immediately a positive good as those for home 21 missions, education for the ministry, the distribution of Bibles, tracts, etc.; while the Board makes it the imme- diate and sole object of its efforts to propagate Christian- ity among the heathen. I must not extend my remarks, already twice as many as I anticipated they would be when I commenced, by stating in detail the grounds on which gentlemen in our southern states have been elected into the Board, and still act with it; but must simply say, that the members of the Board in all parts of the country are men in good standing in the churches where they reside; men of re- spectability and influence in the community; men who seem to love our common Redeemer, and who seem to be hearty in their desires to promote his cause and save the heathen; men who give personal labor and influence, and their property to this work. Would it be consistent with the spirit of Christianity, or with kind and fraternal feeling, for men of this character in one part of our coun- try, and with reference to such a work, to say to men in another part of the country, We will have no fellowship with you in converting the heathen to Christ (a work which both acknowledge to be right and obligatory), be- cause on another subject we think you are greatly defi- cient in duty, or are guilty of heinous transgression? We will not be associated with you, we will not receive your money? What would be the result? The Board would become, not only so 1 far as southern support is concerned, but also at the north too, strictly and exclusively an abolition for- eign missionary society; and if other partizans on this subject should act in a similar manner, there would be a colonization foreign missionary society, and a slave-hold- ing foreign missionary society; and perhaps other socie- ties to embrace other classes of friends to the conversion 22 of the world to God, who entertained some opinion on the disputed question, different from these three. The same separation should, for similar reasons, be carried into all our other great religious and benevolent societies. And why should not similar divisions be made to run through all our societies, grounded upon different and conflicting views which their friends entertain on other great questions of morals or politics? What a scene of division, contention, and inefficiency would our Christian community then present! How fatally would some of the strongest cords which bind the church togeth- er, in this day of excitement and separatism, be sundered! It seems to me that the honor of Christianity and the efficiency of the church require that each of our religious and benevolent institutions should confine itself most strictly to its own sphere of action, leaving others to pur- sue their objects in their appropriate way; and that the friends of each object, as their judgment and ability may direct, should rally around the appropriate society, unit- ing and co-operating gladly, where they can; and in re- gard to other objects and other institutions, differing kindly, where they must differ. Thus, each one doing what his hand and heart find to do with his might, the work of subjecting this world to Christ will be all accom- plished, though by persons and in ways which to us seem often most unsuitable; and when we shall arrive at the hill of Zion above, and sit down there, finding ourselves surrounded by our fellow-citizens of every class and com- munity, then seeing eye to eye, we shall look back to- gether on the complicate scenes in which we acted while on earth, and through which we were guided by heavenly wisdom, and be surprised, that, with all our imperfections and mutual jealousies, we were ever honored with doing 23 any service for our Master; though we may, perhaps, be permitted then to see that our very partialities and emu- lations were necessary as motives to quicken our ease- loving souls into laborious diligence, or to substitute a watchful search after right, for that indiscreet zeal which complete unity and unquestioning confidence are so apt to engender. Very respectfully and truly, dear Sir, yours in the common labors of the gospel. r i & MISSIONARY PAPER. PROMISED ADVENT OF THE SPIRIT THE WORLD'S CONVERSION. BY RUFUS ANDERSON, D. D. FOREIGN MISSIONS. BOSTON: PRINTED BY CROCKER & BREWSTER, 47, Washington Street. 1841. This Missionary Paper was originally delivered as a farewell address to a company of missionaries, in Park-street church, Boston. It was sub- sequently preached in a number of places as a sermon ; and is printed in compliance with the recommendation of judicious friends, who regard the subject as one to which the prayerful attention of the churches should, if possible, be secured. Missionary House, Boston, July 1, 1841. THE PROMISED ADVENT OF THE SPIRIT. And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh ; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions ; and also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days, will I pour out my Spirit. And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered. JOEL, 2 : 2832. How evident it is that more is wanting than we now have to bring about the conversion of the world both to multiply the means, and to give them success. Not that the churches of Christ are unable to publish the gospel everywhere. Not that there is a lack of opportunity. Not that the experiments already made have been without ample encouragement. Not, in short, that a sufficient motive is wanting to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. But who does not know, that the churches are slow to engage in this work ? that the work itself is regarded in the light of a charity, which one is at liberty to perform, or not, as he pleases, instead of being the great thing, for which the church exists, and for which the Christian lives ? and that it is hard to obtain the men to go as missionaries to heathen nations, and still harder the means of supporting the few that go ; while the results of missionary labor, though equal, nay, superior to those of pastoral labor at home, and greater than is generally supposed, are still such as would require ages upon ages to complete the earth's spiritual renovation ? Does it follow, that the conversion of the world, by means of human instrumentality, is a hopeless or even doubtful work ? By no means. On the con- trary, the enterprise is full of hope, full of certainty. And it is so for a reason which is gloriously set forth in the Scriptures. The piety of the professed people of God is not always to remain in its present low con- dition. The church is to have a transforming visita- tion from on high ; and the world is to have a similar visitation. The Spirit is to be poured out upon all flesh. There is to be an advent of the Spirit, so to speak a grand putting forth of his influence, a mighty effort of his power, that shall ensure both the publication and the triumph of the gospel over all the world. The delightful theme, then, on which we are to dwell, is this : That a time is coming when divine power is to be exerted, in connection with the preached gospel, at home and abroad, to an extent far greater than it ever has been, so as to render the gospel everywhere triumphant beyond all former experience. 6 My first object, of course, will be to ESTABLISH this great truth. As a first step in the argument I assert the fact, that such an exercise of divine power is NECES- SARY, if the world is to be converted. Look at the greatness of the work to be done. The field is the world, with scarcely less than a thousand millions of inhabitants. Three-fourths of these are beyond the pale of Christendom Mohamme- dans, or else Pagans. Estimating the population of China at three hundred and fifty millions, which is believed to be its true population, at least eight hun- dred millions are yet to be made acquainted with the gospel. Whether we regard this part of the great field numerically, or geographically, its magni- tude is truly overwhelming. And all the missions, which we discover in our survey of it, seem only a few bright points on a boundless region of darkness. We may contemplate the magnitude of the work in a two-fold aspect ; first, as so many hundred millions of minds, to be approached in all the extent of their wide dispersion, and then interested, enlightened, and won over to the kingdom of Jesus Christ, involving the overthrow of numerous ancient systems of philoso- phy and superstition, and an almost entire revolution in the social state of mankind. And, secondly, as an endeavor to enlist the whole Christian community in in this work, and for a long course of years, and to an extent of self-consecration and devotedness very far beyond any thing yet seen in any portion of that community. How many thousands of the best and 1* 6 ablest members of the church must engage personally as missionaries ; and how many millions of money must be contributed annually, to furnish them and their native helpers with the means of living and usefulness. Now who does not see, in this view, the necessity of such an agency of the Spirit? IH vain shall we ex- pect so universal a movement, so vast a spiritual revo- lution, without it, either in the church, or the world. Indeed it must be confessed, that the zeal and enter- prise of the church are almost as much behind this result, as is the spiritual condition of pagan nations. There is even more difficulty, as I believe, in perceiv- ing how we are to obtain the means for the great moral conflict, than how, if we had them, they could be suc- cessfully employed. I feel more inclined to despair, when looking on the worldliness and apathy of the church, than by all I can see of opposition and diffi- culty elsewhere. Woe to the world, if the church is not to be blessed with such an outpouring of the Spirit ! And alas for mankind, if that Almighty Agent does not soon wing the rays of his truth everywhere, with far more of his Power Divine ! 2. Proceeding another step in the argument I assert, that such a result is not only necessary, but HIGHLY PROBABLE, irrespective of all direct prophecy or promise on the subject. Who can believe, that a world embraced within the range of the influence of Christ's atoning blood is always to remain covered with the ruins of the fall ? Who, after learning that the Son of God made a sacri- fice of 'his own life in order to destroy the works and power of the devil, can believe that the god of this world is always to hold his usurped dominions ? Who, that has reflected on the object and plan and history of redemption, does not expect that work to proceed onward till its influence embraces the whole earth ? It is not prophecy and promise alone, that awakens expectations of this sort. Such expectations arise also from just views of the gospel as a system of mercy ; they are the spontaneous breathings of every heart that is filled with the love of Christ. The true follower of Christ rejoices to anticipate the tri- umphs of his King, the universal extension of his reign, and the clearing off from the face of the whole earth of the ruins of the fall. And though this result be connected with ever so great an amount of human instrumentality, he spontaneously refers it to divine power as the only effective cause. And the more pains you take to make him acquainted with the greatness of the enterprise, the more does he feel the necessity of divine interposition for its accomplishment ; and the more probable does it seem to him that his almighty and gracious King will grant such an inter- position. Yes, it is an animating truth, that what the world needs there is the highest probability, under the government of God, that it will sooner or later have. And what does it need so much, let me ask, as such a gracious visitation of the Holy Spirit as is pre- dicted and promised in the Scriptures ? 3. This brings me to my third topic, in which, after all, lies the main strength of the argument, viz. the direct Scriptural evidence of a great and general out- pouring of the Spirit in the latter days. 8 The following is, perhaps, the most remarkable pas- sage bearing on this subject, in the word of God. " And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh ; and your sons and your daughters shall prophecy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions ; and also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days, will I pour out my Spirit. And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of. the Lord come. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered." The apostle Peter, in his sermon on the day of Pentecost, declares this passage to be a prediction of events, which were to happen under the Christian dispensation. Referring his hearers to the outpouring of the Spirit and the wonderful events they then saw, he says, "This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel ;" and then he quotes the whole passage above cited. He means, that the time on which they were then entering was the time referred to by the prophet, that the events they then saw were the kind of events foretold, and that this remarkable prophecy began then to receive its fulfilment. Then commenced the dispensation of the Spirit. It was, however, only the commencement of that dispensation. The grand progress, the glorious consummation, was reserved for other days. The pouring out of the Spirit on all flesh, with that universal, overwhelming influence described 9 by the inspired bard in figurative language drawn from prophetic raptures and oriental warfare, is a blessing the world is yet waiting for. It is to be an all-subduing agency of the Almighty Spirit. When coming in its power and fulness, it will be to the whole church, with the exception of miraculous gifts, what it was to the small company of disciples assembled in the upper room on that memorable day ; and it will be to the whole world, what it was to the three thousand that wept and repented under the preaching of Peter. Then was seen, though on a small scale, what is yet to be seen on the broad scale of the universal church and the entire earth. Then was seen the beginning of the fulfilment of a prediction, that looks mainly at that last great shock in the mighty conflict, which is to be followed by voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever ! But there is another source of proof, still more con- vincing, in the results foretold as to follow from the reign of the Messiah and the publication of his gospel, every one of which presupposes an extraordinary putting forth of divine power. 1 can quote only a very few of the many predictions. " Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice, with the voice together shall they sing ; for they shall see eye to eye, when the Lord shall bring again Zion." (Isa. lii, 8.) " And they shall beat their swords into plough-shares, and their spears into pruning-hooks ; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war 10 any more." (Isa. ii, 4.) " The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf and the young lion and the falling together, and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed, their young ones shall lie down together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice's den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain ; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the wa- ters cover the sea. The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries also of Judah shall be cut off; Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim." (Isa. xi, 69, 13.) " In his days shall the righteous flourish, and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth." (Ps. Ixxii, 7.) " For thus saith the Lord, behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream." (Isa. Ixvi, 12.) " The kingdoms of this world [shall] become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever." (Rev. xi, 15.) " And so all Israel shall be saved ; as it is written, There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob." (Rom. xi, 26.) Now these results are to happen on earth, under the reign of the Messiah ; and who does not perceive that they are what has never yet been ? Yet, making due allowance for figurative language, they are what would certainly follow from such an outpouring of the Spirit as is foretold by the prophet 11 Joel. But in vain shall we look for them, either in the church or in the world, without such a visitation. All that we now see, and all that we read of down from the apostolic times, whether in the church or out of it, are scarcely the dawn of the glorious day pre- dicted in the passages just quoted. In the church Ephraim is then no more to vex Judah, nor is Judah to vex Ephraim ; because the spirit of sect will then cease to exist, if not its very form and reality, under the almighty influence of the Spirit of truth and love. The world, too, is to become thoroughly pacific, and to be filled with the knowledge of the Lord. On the most moderate supposition, its inhabitants will then be blessed with a religious education, and with a general prevalence of piety. Now there are said to be as many as ninety-five thousand teachers of schools in the United States, and not less than fifteen thousand preachers of the gospel. To supply the world, there- fore, with means of instruction no better than our own country possesses, would require (to say nothing of books) that in some way a million of preachers be furnished, every twenty years, for the pulpit, and more than six millions of teachers, every five years, for the school-room. And to bring the world under such a holy and blessed influence as the word of God predicts, even within the space of a century, the church must hear of not less than twenty millions of souls brought into the kingdom of Christ every year, or what on an average shall be equivalent to that. All this and far more would take place, if the Spirit were to be poured out upon all flesh ; for the great 12 body of these teachers, both for the school-room and the pulpit, are not to be sent from Christian lands, but raised up on the spot ; they are to be of native growth. But without such an outpouring, the greatest possible array of means could be regarded with no feeling of hope. Nor must we for one moment forget the lamentable truth, that the very same outpouring of the Spirit is as necessary to procure the means, as it is to make them effectual. With the same unwavering confidence, therefore, with which we do actually look forward to the universal triumph of the gospel on the earth, do we anticipate this universal outpouring of the Spirit. This certainly is yet to come. All that has been seen of his agency in the world hitherto, has been in the first instance to plant and then to preserve a church upon the earth, rather than to make that church universal. His presence has been as it were local and occasional, rather than general and constant. The church has looked to this grandly decisive outpouring as yet to come, rather than rejoiced in it as already happened. As, under the old dispensation, the church waited and waited long for the promised Messiah to make re- demption for the world ; so now, under the new dis- pensation, the church waits, and has waited long too, for the promised Spirit to come and appropriate to the world the blessings of that redemption. Ye?, we now stand in the interesting attitude of waiting for the com- ing of the Spirit, just as the saints of old did for the, coming of the Saviour. And let us wait with prayer, with hope, with joyful expectation. For he 13 will surely come. We are disposed to believe he will come suddenly it may be not every where at once, but wherever there are the due preparations for his operating on the minds of men. It may be that he will come first into his church, his spiritual temple, and cast out thence the spirit of the world, and fill it (blessed day !) with the beauty and glory of his celestial influence. 4. We now proceed another step, and show how this advent of the Spirit is even now Indicated by certain remarkable preparatory measures. Some of these preparatory measures result from direct efforts of the church, and others and those the most important from great providential movements in human society. The unprecedented effects made by the church to multiply the number of preachers of the gospel in Chris- tian lands, to plant new churches, and to extend the benefits of a Christian education, are all so many preparations for the Divine Spirit to exert his power. The Spirit operates on the minds of men by means of the truth, and therefore whatever is done to increase the amount of religious knowledge, prepares the way for his coming and agency. This is the object of the Christian ministry ; and, I need not say, this is the object of Christian missions to the heathen. Mission- aries go as the forerunners of the Spirit, as pioneers, as heralds. Their whole prescribed duty is to make proclamation of the truth. They are answerable only for making this proclamation faithfully. He who sends them forth says to each of them, as he does in- 2 14 deed to every preacher of the gospel, " Son of man, if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity, but thou hast delivered thy soul." Chris- tian missionaries have executed their commission when they have made all possible efforts to bring the gospel in contact with the minds of men. They can do no more. The hearing ear, the awakened conscience, the understanding heart, the willing obedience, are all the appropriate work of the Holy Spirit. Paul plants, Apollos waters, but God gives the increase. Now there has been a commencement of prepara- tions of this sort in very many of the benighted na- tions and tribes of men. In hundreds of dark places the truth begins to shine ; in most very feebly, never- theless it shines, and there is a gradual and constant increase of the light of life. Some millions of immortal minds are no longer in the total darkness they once were ; and all that is necessary to make full prepara- tion for the Spirit among the heathen, is to have these lights multiplied and increased in brightness, so as to throw the rays of truth over all nations. The other preparations, resulting from providential movements in society, are on a far more extended scale. God, by means of a thousand causes, is fast throwing the world open to his people, and is even bringing large portions of it either under the govern- ment or the controlling influence of Christian nations. He is furnishing his people with means for making the gospel bear on the minds of men, far more pow- erful than he saw fit to bestow on his people in former 15 ages ; and he is taking away the impediments to trav- eling, and making access easy to almost all parts ot the world. In a word, who can look over the earth, and not believe that providential preparations are in progress on a vast scale for the coming of the Spirit ? While the preparatory agency of good men is beheld only here and there, providential preparations are going on, at this moment, throughout the habitable earth. And doubtless there are, too, preparatory in- fluences of the Spirit himself on the minds of men, even where the gospel is not known, and where there is no truth except a few rays of the light of nature. But on this I shall not now dwell. To do justice to this part of the subject, I must call attention to one other cheering indication, namely, 5. In some recent events in heathen lands, which seem like forerunners to this advent of the Spirit. Perhaps the most remarkable of these events is the recent outpouring of the Spirit at the Sandwich Isl- ands. Such an outpouring as that was in connec- tion with all the other protestant missions now in the heathen world, would bring millions of souls into the visible church in a single year. And it is well known that many of the islands in the South Pacific ocean, where English missionaries are laboring, have been blessed with similar gracious visitations. In Tinnevelly, a district in southern India, there was an awakening, a few years since, which, had it extended with like power over all India, would have subverted the great brahminic system of idolatry, and made Christianity the nominal religion at least of a hundred millions. 16 Even the recent awakening at Krishnagur, in Bengal, with only a very small amount of the light of truth, needed only to become general to overturn the su- perstitions of that populous province. There have also been outpourings of the Spirit in South Africa, which, if they had been more diffused, would have christianized the entire Hottentot and Caffre races. The same remark may be made respecting the Karens of Burmah, the Greenlanders, and the North American Indians. Among some small portions of the Oriental churches also, there are, at present, operations of the Spirit, which, were they extended to all portions of those churches, would raise them from their spiritual death. Now these several agencies of the Spirit, viewed in connection with the preparatory measures already mentioned, seem like forerunners of that universal out- pouring, which is to change the moral aspect of the world. They encourage the hope of such a blessing, and they may perhaps be regarded as the first fruits of it. And it is interesting to observe how, in these events, there are diversities of operations, but the same God working all in all ; how the agency of the Spirit pre- sents itself to our view in different aspects, but all tending to the same result. The several operations that have been referred to as forerunning events, have each their distinctive traits ; from the " great and strong wind," rending the mountains and breaking in pieces the rocks, as at the Sandwich Islands, to the " still small voice," as among the Oriental churches. 17 I have gone through with the argument, which seems to me fully to establish the fact, that there is yet to be a great and universal outpouring of the Spirit upon the church and the world. And can there be any reasonable doubt on the subject ? May we not yield our faith to the delightful anticipation? Believing that we may, let us now take a brief survey of the EFFECTS of this outpouring of the Spirit. And, first, in the CHURCH. The real people of God will be induced to enlist fully in the'work of pre- paring the way of the Lord in every part of the habitable earth. There will be no longer any reserve, any holding back. A mighty result ! but it is one which the Holy Spirit can perform with infinite ease. He has only to exert an influence upon the spiritual discernment of the soul, and upon its powers of feel- ing, and the work is done. Then the spiritual world opens and spreads out in glorious prospect, as Canaan did to Moses on the top of Pisgah. The whole heart, the whole man yields, voluntarily, joyfully. Where now is the fascinating, bewildering power of riches, or of the honors and pleasures of the world ? Gone ! Fled before the presence of Him, whose pre- rogative it is to proclaim liberty to spiritual captives. Ambition^ pride, vanity, and the love of the world disappearing, let go their avaricious hold upon millions of wealth. God's people are made willing in the day of his power, and there is a liberal hand and a full treasury. Men come up to their duty, and feel it to be a privilege. What the amount will be of 2* 18 individual prayer and labor, and what the proportion will . be of individual contribution to help onward the cause of Christ in that day, I pretend not to deter- mine. But who believes, that the men and the women now constituting the visible church are doing all they would rejoice to do, if the Spirit were to make them this visitation ? Ye ' who dwell in your ceiled houses, who recline on your couches of ease, whose tables are loaded with the bounties of Provi- dence, and who have all that heart can desire, may you feel this melting, all-subduing influence. And may all be anointed with this holy anointing, bap- tized with this heavenly baptism, created anew in Christ Jesus by this spiritual regeneration. Even so I believe it will yet be throughout the church. The low state of benevolence, now scarcely anywhere above the lowest standard of Christian self-denial, is not always to continue thus. The true members of Christ's church are to become the subjects of a wonder- working divine energy. They are to feel the powerful Influence of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, who for our sakes became poor, that we through his poverty might be rich. The abundance of their joy, in their unreserved consecration of themselves to their Lord and Master, will abound in the riches of their liberal- ity ; yea, and abound too in prayer, flowing out of a full spirit that will not cease its importunities for this very blessing from on high. What an admirable object will the Christian then be, and what an admirable object the Christian church ! Zion will arise and shine, her light being come, and 19 the glory of the Lord being risen upon her. The church will exist for the good of the world. No talents will be deemed too great for the missionary work, no learning too profound, no eloquence too fervid, no standing too elevated. What armies will be sent by the church into the empire of darkness, and what means will it put in requisition for the holy warfare ! I must here guard, however, against a serious misap- prehension. Nothing in the leading sentiment of this discourse can excuse the church for delaying to enter fully upon the prosecution of this work. I have in- deed stated my belief, that, in point of fact, the church will not enter upon this work as it ought to do, until the Holy Spirit is poured out upon it in more copious measure. But this belief is founded only on the fact, that the love and zeal of the church are at present wholly inadequate. Let no one urge this as forming any excuse for the church to delay the work. It can be no reason why the work should not be prosecuted to its full extent. How can the church be excusable in waiting for the grand advent of the Spirit, when the very thing it is required to do is to go before the Spirit, and prepare the way for his ad- vent ? .and when too it now has all the learning, all the wealth, all the power of speech, all the facilities for traveling, that it would have, if the Spirit were thus poured out ? and when it has the most abundant fa- voring indications of Providence, and all it ever will have that is imperative in the command of its Savior, and all it ever can have that is affecting, that is 20 overpowering, in motive ? How can this be a valid excuse, when all that the church needs, more than it now has, to cause it speedily to publish the gospel through the world, is more willingness, more dispo- sition, more inclination to do what is confessedly its duty ? In view of this lamentable indisposition and backwardness, we do indeed rejoice in the promised great outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the Christian church; but then, ye people of God, ye surely can have no right to wait till ye are thus visited. If really converted men and women, how can ye have the face to demand more grace, before performing the very work for which ye were called into the kingdom ! I must also make one other remark, before proceed ing to illustrate the effects of this visitation upon the world at large. In speaking of this great outpouring of the Spirit, I would by no means deny that it will be attended, for a time, by such divisions and heresies in the church, and by such fearful convulsions in and among the nations, owing to the vastly excited and as yet unsubdued state of men's minds, as almost to realize the prophet's figurative description of wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood and fire and pillars of smoke, the sun turned into darkness, and the moon into blood. Such a thing is not improbable. It may even be an indirect consequence of the first onset of the mighty Agent for the overthrow of iniquity. And what observing, thoughtful mind does not now perceive indications of a future war of opinion, in which religion shall be a predominant element, a war of religions as it were, more extended and more terrible 21 than anything of the kind yet seen, and which may at length fearfully threaten even the very existence of the true church ? And it may be, and the Scrip- tures give countenance to the idea, that just in this emergency God, the Holy Spirit, will come forth in the transcendent power and majesty of his grace, as he came forth, at the formation of the earth, with his cre- ative power upon the dark, tumultuous waters of the great deep. And then, will the WORLD feel a renovating spiritual influence throughout the vast extent of its population. Far more than we have seen on any of the more favored spots that have been mentioned, will then be witnessed wherever the gospel is proclaimed. The progress of the heralds of the cross will be one of light, and every- where the rays of truth will be winged with power. At the sound of the gospel trumpet, every Jericho shall come down ; and at the call of the minister of Christ, the sun shall stay his progress in the heavens. And then, as we believe, will Satan be bound that he deceive the nations no more, and satanic power and influence be withdrawn from the earth. What a change will there be in the policy of the nations, when he, who, with iron grasp, has swayed his wicked sceptre over them for ages, is hurled from his impious and bloody throne ! What a change in the civil and social relations and condition of mankind! What rapid, what wonderful changes will there be daily, all over the world ! Men will yield themselves to the divine influence in masses. Nations will be born in 22 a day. Idols and idol worship and superstition in its thousand forms, will come to an end. How glorious the prospect ! See the multitude assembled before yonder idol on the plain of Juggernaut, and in the midst, that Christian preacher. The tumult of the people around him is like the sound of many waters. But soon it is hushed. Every ear attends, every heart is touched, every eye melts, and thousands bow to the reign of Jesus. Lo, the day of mercy for the world has come. The Almighty Spirit is going forth conquering and to conquer. Brumha, and Vishnu, and Boodh, and the False Prophet, and the Man of Sin, and every other spiritual abomination in high places, flies before him, like the shades of night be- fore the rising sun, and the messengers of the gospel have free course throughout the earth ; till at length every island and every continent is subdued. Then the rapt visions and prophetic paintings of the latter day are realized, and Jesus reigns over a re- deemed, sanctified, and happy world. In conclusion I would ask, what hinders this work from advancing among heathen nations far more rapidly than it does at present ? What is the insuperable ob- stacle ? Alas ! what can it be except the world liness and apathy of the Christian church ? The real difficulty exists no where else. To the church is given the work of preparing the way for the Spirit to bless the heathen world with his influences, and the church has not done it. The gospel has not been everywhere preached, and comparatively few minds among the 23 heathen have yet been trained by culture to take the oversight of converts, should they be greatly multi- plied in every land. Should the harvest wave over the field of the world, it would perish, yes, it would perish, for want of reapers. Why has the church so long neglected this work ? Why does she neglect it now ? The cry of spiritual death, that is heard over the earth, bears witness to an amazing disregard of obligation on the part of members of the church, and to a corresponding accumulation of guilt. And who of us can plead guiltless ? "Are we in- terested as we ought to be in the progress of Christ's kingdom ? Have we prayed as we should have done? Are we doing all we can to awaken songs of praise to the Savior in every nation and tribe of mankind ? The indifference of Christians to this great work is amazing. Who would believe that a child of God, an heir of glory, redeemed by the blood of Christ and commanded to publish abroad the tidings of His love, could think and care so little whether these tidings were thus proclaimed ? And if it be so with us, how can we believe that we have the spirit of Christ? And how look forward with hope to the time, when we shall stand before Him in yonder Heaven, and see Him face to face ? Verily the church has neglected this work too long, and so have we its members. Let us arise every one, in the strength of the Lord God. He calls us from on high, and commands that so far as in us lies we prepare his way to every family, and to every human heart. No more let us take counsel of our love of the world, no more of selfishness, no more of un- belief. In the fear and love of God let us do our duty in this matter, that our own souls, in holy fellowship with the Spirit, may rejoice with heart-satisfying and with everlasting joy. Sovereign of worlds ! display thy power, Be thia thy Zion's favored hour ; Oh bid the morning-star arise, Oh point the heathen to the skies. Set up thy throne where Satan reigns, In western wilds, and heathen plains ; Far let the gospel's sound be known, Make thou the universe thine own. Speak ! and the world shall hear thy voice ; Speak ! and the desert shall rejoice ; Scatter the gloom of heathen night, Bid every nation hail the light WHAT WILL YOU DO FOR THE HEATHEN 1 By an American Missionary in Asia COMMANDS OF GOD. 1. "Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others." Phil. ii. 4. Christian reader what does this mean? That you should "look out for one," for one only? 2. "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." Phil. ii. 5. Have you this mind? Look at him? living, laboring, suffering, dy- ing for what? for himself? No! but to do good to others; and then judge by your conduct, whether you are ready to follow his example to deny yourself, as he did, of ease, pleasure, wealth, honor, for the sake of doing good. 3. "Be not conformed to this world." Rom. xii. 2. And what does this mean? That you should follow the fashion? in dress? furniture? style of living? 4. "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." Mark xvi. 15. The meaning of this command is, make known the gospel: and the accompanying promise is, "Lo I am with you," with the persons ad- dressed, "always, even unto the end of the world." Is it not then binding upon you, as truly, and as strongly, as it was upon those, to whom it was first addressed? And does it not require of you, as great efforts, though it may be efforts made in a different way, as it did of Peter or of Paul? Why not? "If ye love me, keep my commandments." Will you fry to obey these four commands? Will you, or will you not? Say, Christian reader, what is your decision? FACTS. 1. Six hundred millions of our fellow men are igno- rant of the gospel, and perishing. "There is none other name (than Jesus Christ) under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved," but they know not that name. "He that believeth not shall be damned;" but "how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?" "Without holt, ness, no man can see the Lord;" but they are exceedingly wicked. "The fearful and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, 1 and whoremongers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone:" and such, almost without exception, are the heathen generally liars, a large propor- tion of them thieves and murderers, and all idolaters. See also Rom. i. 18 32 literally true now. 2. They are dying and hastening to their awful doom rapidly. Twenty millions of there die evcrv year fifty four thousand every day. 3. Multitudes of them are waiting to receive the gospel many pleading, like dying men r for the bread of life. At the Sandwich Islands a nation waits. Borneo Waits. Burnaah pleads. Siam urges her request. China's million's begin to raisfi their voice. Africa lifts up her cry. All plead for the gospel. They stand on the brink of the grave on the verge of eternal ruin. They stretch forth their imploring hands, and raise their supplicating voice, for the gospel to save from hell to guide to heaven. INFERENCES. 1. The salvation of the heathen depends as really, though in a different way, upon us, as ours did upon Christ. If he had not denied himself honors and enjoyments, and come into the world, and suffered for us, we should have been lost forever: and if we do not deny ourselves, and give them the gospel, they will be lost forever. God has appointed no other way of publishing his gospel, but the self-denying efforts of his people. 2. If we have the same mind, which Christ has, per- fectly, our talents of every kind will be entirely devoted to the work of doing good we shall do, all we can, for the salvation of the world. The heathen for whose salvation we are called to labor, are in a state as deplorable, as were those, for whom Christ labored and suf- fered, and the necessity of our making exertion for their rescue is as imperious. He did all he could he spared no labor, avoided no indignity, -shrunk from no suffering, that was necessary for our sal- vation. Take the history of his life on earth and find, if you can, a single instance in which he sought his own honor and pleasure in preference to (he good of others. No, he pleased not himself. He did all he could to save a dying world. If then we have the same mind, shall not we do all we can for the same object? Can we leave more, or do more, or suffer more, than he did? Or are our lives, our honor, and our happiness more important than his? If not, we shall do all we can. QUESTIONS. 1. If we have the mind of Christ, shall we be pre- vented from going ourselves to labor as missionaries, or otherwise, for the salvation of the heathen, by love of ease? pleasure? honor? friends? 2. If from other considerations than these, it is evi- dent that we ought not to go in person, to carry the gos- pel to the heathen, will our efforts to send it be dimin- ished, by spreading our tables, with articles of luxury? by following the fashion? by desire to lay up property? or to obtain any earthly good? or by any thing but ab- solute inability? Will they? PROPOSALS. 1. That every Christian save all he can, consistently with health, decency and propriety, [not worldly but Christian propriety,] from the expenses of the table, of clothing, furniture, equipage, &c. 2. That they use all they can save by this course of strict economy, and all they can earn by a corresponding industry, in the manner, in which it will dq most for the salvation of this dying world. 3. That every young Christian inquire seriously, and with prayer and fasting where he can probably do most good: and go there, whether it be in America, or in any other part of the world. RESULTS. What they will not be. 1. The following declarations of God will not prove false. "The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth, shall be watered also himself." "The liberal deviseth liberal things, and by liberal things shall he stand." "Honor the Lord with thy substance, and with the first fruits of all thine increase: so shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine." "Them that honor me, I will honor. 2. Our country will not be impoverished. It has just been shewn that individuals will not: and if the individ- uals, who compose the nation can not, the nation can not be. When did the nation of Israel prosper? when they did not, or when they did, obey the commands of God? 3. The influence of Christians will not be diminished. "What do ye more than others?" has been cast in their teeth year after year, and century after century. It is quite time to re- move the occasion of this. Let them show by their conduct, that they "love not the world," and really believe what they professi and they will not lose by it a fraction of iheir influence. What they will be. 1. If the members of evangelical churches in the United States only accede to the "proposals," there will be men enough, and money enough, to carry the gospel to every human being, and place the Bi- ble in every family on earth in twenty years. Supposing the number of church members to increase during those years only at the rate of five per cent, and allowing- the cost of Bi- bles to be one dollar, and the salary of missionaries six hundred dollars: it would require only one man from each church of one hundred and fifty members to supply the whole Pagan and Moham- medan world with missionaries, and only about five dollars a year, or ten cents a week, from each member, to supply every family with a Bible and support the missionaries -Some pious students, whose mode of living had been by no means extravagant, thinking they ought to practise some self-denial for the sake of doing good, by re- trenching their expenses, saved fifty cents a week. If two thirds of our church members could save half as much, the sum would be $26,000,000 annually, enough to defray the expense of evangeli- zing the world in ten years. 4. Peace of conscience and joy in the Holy Ghost, to those who accede to the proposals. To other Christians, incitement to go and do likewise To the impenitent around, conviction of the truth and excellence of our religion, and of their own guilt and danger con- version, and salvation. 5. To the heathen salvation for two worlds from present wretchedness and coming wrath the possession of Christian privi- leges here, and of ever-during blessedness in heaven. 6. Joy and triumph to all the saints on earth and angels in heaven confusion and sorrow to all the enemies of God, and of men's salvation. 7. "Great voices in heaven," soon, "saying, 'The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ.'" Louder and eternal ascriptions of "Blessing, and honor, and glo- ry, and power unto Him that sitteth upon the throne and unto the Lamb forever and ever." CHRISTIAN READER, What is your duty towards these six hun- dred millions of your fellow travellers to the eternal world? Do you know it? Are you doing it? If not, will you try to learn it? when you know what it is, will you try to do it? If you refuse, or neglect, and they perish, how will you meet them at the Judgment Day? Ah! how? Will you indulge in sensual pleasures, or in the gratification of an unhallowed pride, and love of the world; and let six hundred millions of your brother men go down to dwell with everlasting burnings? Can you enjoy pleasures bought at such a price? Say, can you? will you? If the salvation of the whole heathen world depended upon you alone, and you could do it, you would snatch that world from ruin. But will you refuse to save all the souls you can, because you cannot save all you would? No, fellow Christian, follower of Jesus, no; but be this your resolve and mine From this hour, the Lord being my helper, I will not cease my most vigorous efforts to rescue the per- ishing nations of the earth from the thaldrom of sin and Satan, and bring them acquainted with Jesus Christ, till the work is done, or I shall no longer have a hand to labor, or a tongue to speak in their behalf. Turn not away, I pray you, from this subject unresolved. Hea- then souls will, doubtless, perish in consequence of it, if you do. Resolve then, as you would save souls from death, resolve that you will do your duty. DUTY TO THE HEATHEN. Go ye into all the World, and preach the Gospel to every Creature Unbelief. There are so many heathen, and so much opposi- tion to the Gospel, the world can never be converted. THE LORD. "The God of Heaven shall set up a King- dom which shall never be destroyed : but it shall break in pie- ces and consume all other kingdoms, and it shall stand forever." Rend Dan. 2 : 44, 45. Psalms 2 : 8, and 72 : 8. Isa. 2 : 2, 4. The Devil. The heathen will be saved without the Gospel. St. Peter. "There is none other name (but Jesus) under heaven, given among men, whereby we must be, saved." Acts 4: 12. St. John. "He that believeth not the Son shall not see life ; but the wrath of God abideth on him." John 3 : 3G. JESUS CHRIST. "He that believeth not shall be damned." Mark 16 : 16. Infidel. The Gospel makes the heathen no better. Fads. 1800 years ago, except the Jews, there were none but heathen ; what nations are now better, have been made so by the Gospel. Go, PREACH THE Go'SPEL TO EVERY CREATURE. Scruple. But all have not gifts to preach. St. Paul. "Having then gifts, differing according to the grace that is given to us ; whether MINISTRY, let us wait on our ministering he that GIVETH, let him do it with simpli- city. For as we have many members in one body, and all the members have not the same office ; so we, being many, are one body in Christ." See Rom. 12: 413. 1 Cor. 12: 1422. Read 1 Cor. 9 : 7, 13. Rom. 10 : 15. Truth. God hath made all nations of one blood. Every man is one member of a. body of seven hundred millions, five hundred millions of whom, are perishing, through ignorance of the Gos- pel, and the way of life. Enquirer.' As one member of this family, what ought 1 to do ? JESUS CHRIST. Have the same care for your fellow men, as the members of the body for every part. Place yourself in their condition, them in yours. " Whatsoever ye would that ffuy should do to you, do ye even so to them" Perplexity. I have a family and friends to provide for so many calls, I cannot attend to the wants of the heathen. Benevolence. Yourself in their condition, would you have them thus treat you ? " Render to all their dues." Provido for every part. Foist Philosophy. By giving much to send the Gospel abroad, I shall rob myself and children, and come to want. THE LORD. "There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth ; and there is that vvithholdetli more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty." "The liberal soul shall be made fat, and he that watereth shall be watered also himself." Prov. 11 : 24, 25. Selfishness. But I ought to lay up something beforehand, for myself FIRST. JESUS CHRIST. "He that trusteth in his riches, shall fall.'' 1 Prov. 11 : 28. " Seek FIRST [to promote] the Kingdom of God, and his righteousness." Matt. 6 : 33. "Lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth." Worldly Prudence. But if I lay not up something against time of need, who will take care of me, when old and in- firm ? JESUS CHRIST. "Take no thought for your life" &c. " Shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith ?" " Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." Read Matt. 6 : IS 34. Miser. Then you forbid me to provide for my family ? " He that provideth not for his own is worse than an infidel." Experience. Is the best wa'y " to provide" for your own, to ' rob" God, and your fellow men ? Read Mai. 3 : b 10. The very way " to provide" a curse. " There is that maketh him- self rich, yet hath nothing : there is that maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches." Prov. 13 : 7. See also 2 Cor. 8 : 9. Avarice. I a'nt able to do much. If I had as much as some men, I should'nt value giving. St. Paul. "If there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath." 2 Cor. 8 : 12. Ignorance. I would give, but 1 know not what becomes of my money. Public Prints. Read and understand. Pride. I am ashamed to give so little as I feel able. I must do more, or it won't be thought any thing. THE LORD. "The pride of thy heart hath deceived thee.' Obad. 3. See the widow's two mites. Luke 21 : 1 4. Self-indulgence. But why banter and urge a man so ? What the " s;reat hurry" of sending the Gospel to the heathen ? Mercy. Heathen die as fast as Christians; 15,000,000 sink into the grave every year, and go, without the Gospel, to the judgment, unprepared. Zeal. "What thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might Ecc.9: 10. QO YE INTO ALL THE WORLD, AND PREACH THE GOSPEL. ALL THINGS, whatsoever ye would that men should do tt> you, rfo ye even so to them : for this is the Law and the Prophets." Matt. 7: 12. Now, were I in a land of darkness, in a heathen land exposed to misery inrom-eivable and eternal; and were there those who could tell me how I might be saved ; What would 7 that they should do ibr me ? " Make known the way of Sal- vation ?" What should I think of those who saw me perish- ing w ho willingly beheld me sinking into Hell ; while they might, but did not, tell me how to " flee the wrath to come ?" ' Oh, my SOUL ! A SINNER ! A GOD ! ETERNAL WRATH ! ! Will they be indifferent, and see me perish ? Eternity '.Eternity ." Well, There are 500,000,000 in this condition, and know no way to escape eternal burnings ! The Saviour left the abodes of glory, told me the way, arid commanded me to tell it to oth- ers.* And Oh, my Soul ! what will these " perishing millions" think of thee What will God require at thy hands, but their Uood ;} if, while thou canst, thou dost not send to them the WORD OF LIFE "The knowledge of salvation?" Were 1 in their condition, what would / that they should do for me ? "THAT will I do for them." Now, therefore, I do solemnly purpose to DO ALL I CAN, in consideration of my responsibility to God and the retribu- tions of Eternity, to send the "knowledge of salvation" to those who sit in the " region and shadow of death." A Christian deciding to do his Duty to the HeatJien Extracted from an Address of the Rev. Beriah Green. Thanks be to God, a few the Lord increase the ntimber a hundred fold a few have begun to taste the luxury of " doing good." Would you hear the story of a plain man of this stamp ? All along, his reputation for Christian piety had been good and fair, all along, he had given what he could conveniently spare, to promote the interests of Zion. It was a pleasant morning in the month of May, when his wife and children were gathered round him to hear him read a chapter in the Bible. It was the 28th of Matthew. When he had read the chapter, the sa- cred volume still lying on his knee, his family saw in his countenance, the workings of a soul waked up to some new and most interesting object. At length the husband and the father the priest of the domestic circle spoke out the feelings of his heart the new emotions which were agitating his bo- som the steadfast resolutions with which his soul was strug- gling. " I am," he said, " no preacher ; I claim no skill in sacred criticism ; yet I plainly see that this last injunction of the Saviour extends its obligations to me. I am bound to do what I can, to bring all nations acquainted with the Gospel to extend to the going down of the sun, the limits of the church * Mark 16 : 15. Matt. 10 : 8. 2 Cor. 8 : 915. Actg 4 : 12. t Ezek.3: 18 and 18:23 and 33: 8. JameiS: 20 and UehoS: 17. Hitherto, I have neither understood nor done my duty. Hence- forth, the great object for which I will exert my powers and expend my strength, shall he bear witness, ye, who hear me speak the extension and upbuilding of my Saviour's kingdom. Know, my sons and daughters, that henceforth when you see your father labor and deny himself, it is not that he may add field to field that he may augment an estate to afford you the means of sensual gratification when he is dead to be a bait to lure your souls into a fatal snare. The improvement of your minds the cultivation of your hearts, is a thing he may not neglect. He is bound to train you up for extensive usefulness in this world and for happiness iri heaven to exert your own powers, to act well your part on the stage of life. Beyond this my obligations do not extend beyond this I cannot go. Hence- forth, my time, my influence, my substance are devoted to the cause of Christ to the interest of the church." This declara- tion made, he cast himself down at the mercy-seat, and with his household sought in prayer the universal diffusion of Chris- tian light. And when the petition " Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth, as it is done in heaven," fell from his lips, they fell as words of weighty import. There was a sim- plicity, a fervency, an energy'in his supplications, which could not fail to give them power with God. As he went forth to his accustomed labors, he thought his fields were clothed with a richer green, than he had ever witnessed ; that never before had they sent forth so sweet a fragrance. When he wiped the sweat from his brow, he felt it to be a privilege to toil for Jesua Christ. And when he filled his bosom with the golden sheaves, his harvest joys were unspeakable. Now he exulted in the smiles of a gracious Providence, because he had learned to make those smiles subservient to the glory of his Master to the upbuilding of the church to the advancement of his own eternal interests. No longer, did he make his benefactions a mere matter of custom or convenience. He acted on principle. His exertions were the result of deliberate design of a well arranged system. To do good was his leading object an object, to which other things were made subservient. And with him, it was as much a matter of calculation and provision, how much he should attempt to do for the Saviour's cause, as how much he should expend to support his family. This man held on his way. The pages of his history were one continued illustration of the Saviour's memorable words, It is more blessed to give than to receive. When he died, it was an easy thing to settle his estate. It had been sent on to Heaven, and transmu- ted to eternal gold T. R. MARVIN, Printer. ' AN APPEAL OF THE MISSIONARIES OF The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, RESIDING AT CONSTANTINOPLE, TO THE FRIENDS AND SUPPORTERS OF THE MISSION IN THAT CITT. Respected and Beloved Brethren . IT is one of the distinctive characteristics of the true Christian, that he always wishes to be reminded of hia duty, and he is ready to respond cheerfully and promptly to every call upon him from Providence. The language of his heart is, " Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" And when his duty is clearly ascertained, he shrinks not from its performance, whatever may be the amount of self- denial or suffering involved. We, therefore, come, with a good degree of confidence, and appeal to our Christian brethren in America, who are directly united with us in the great work of evangelizing the world, in behalf of the people for whose benefit the Lord has called us to labor. The providence of God and the movements of the Divine Spirit among this people are so marked and peculiar, that we feel called upon, by the most solemn and weighty con- siderations, to direct the attention of our beloved Chris- tian brethren in America particularly to this opening and promising field. The time has come for us to speak and to speak loudly too, calling upon all who love our Lord Jesus Christ and the souls of men, to see to it that they fall not behind the providence of God ; that they refuse not to enter doors that he has opened ; that by their thoughtlessness or a feeling of irresponsibility, they do not farther hinder or postpone that day of blessing and of glory, which the Lord, by his providence, seems just ready to usher in upon these eastern nations. As watchmen standing upon distant and lofty eminences, we proclaim to the churches at home, " The day is beginning to dawn in the East ! The shadows of a long and dreary night are departing ! The glorious Prince of Light is himself at hand ! We see the harbingers of his approach ! Up, brethren, to your posts ! prepared to meet him at his com- ing." But, laying aside figures, you will permit us to address to you a few statements, adapted to enlighten you in regard to your duty towards these eastern churches ; and there we must leave the matter. We shall inform you of openings made by the providence of God into this field, which, if you are prepared and willing to enter, you may be the instruments of saving multitudes of souls. But if, on the other hand, you decline listening to this call, and those souls perish, their blood will be upon your skirts. We wash our hands in innocency before you this day. We have given you fair warning, and if you will not furnish us with the means of doing all for the salvation of those souls, that God by his providence permits and invites us to do, where lies the blame but at your own door ? We call God to witness that we are free. Very early in the history of this mission, the Lord be- gan a good work among the Armenians, and with repeated interruptions from opposition and persecution, and not- withstanding the fact that the ' powers that be' in the Ar- menian nation have uniformly proved inimical, that work has steadily moved on until the present day ; and, blessed be God, we have now about us a small body of enlight- ened and fearless Christians, who are ready to live for Christ, and we trust also to die for him. This number is steadily increasing, as is also the number of those who are inquiring after the truth as it is in Jesus. But with the increase of inquirers there is also an increase of work, and as new doors are opening before us, additional laborers are needed. We look in vain to America for an adequate supply, and in fact we do not wish our supply from thence. The experience of the past, as well as reason and common sense, teach us that the work is chiefly to be done through the instrumentality of native teachers and preachers of the gospel. A few such we have now the opportunity of em- ploying, but we look to you for the pecuniary means. One of them is a sober minded, intelligent, active, and deeply pious young man, one of the first fruits of this mission, who has already suffered much for the cross of Christ. He has a family, and his house is situated in the very heart of the Armenian population of the city. On every Sabbath day he has one or more meetings at his house, at which he reads and expounds the Scriptures, and prays with those who come to him ; and indeed scarcely a day passes, in which he does not converse and pray with some one at his own house. And besides this, he goes abroad in the city, calling upon different individuals, and address- ing them on the salvation of their souls. We have in years past given him much instruction to fit him for use- fulness, and he has recently commenced a course of theo- logical study under our direction. He is an invaluable help to this mission, and he must be supported well, so as to place him entirely above the necessity of laboring for this purpose, and also to secure his whole time and ser- vices to us. Are you, dearly beloved, not willing to make a special effort for his support? Besides this individual, we have under our influence two pious priests of excellent characters; and having received freely of the grace of the Lord and the knowledge of the gospel, they are ever ready freely to communicate to others. To one of them we have given a very scanty support, for a few months past, because our means are small, and even that little we have not taken from the funds of the Board. Most of it is con- tributed by an English gentleman connected with one of the mercantile houses here, who, being an eye witness, feels a deep interest in the work which God is carrying on in this place. This priest is a man of great worth and very zealous in proclaiming the faith of Jesus. If we do not afford him a good support, he must soon leave our employ- ment, and be placed as priest in some church, where he will be very much fettered and his influence limited. He is now acting for us as a kind of city missionary, and if our brethren at home will only furnish us with the means, he will be enabled to open a school for girls in Constantinople, to which he will devote a portion of his time, being assisted in this department by his own daughter. For opening such a school he can easily pro- cure permission from the patriarch ; and indeed he must either do this or else go back to the duties of the priest- hood, as they will not permit him to live long in his pres- ent disorderly manner. This priest has already been the honored instrument, as we have reason to hope, of win- ning several souls to Christ. His mind is remarkably clear on the great doctrines of the gospel, and his piety is apparent to all. We have hitherto paid him too little to enable him to get a house for himself, and now all that he asks is an additional allowance sufficient to enable him to pay the rent of a small house for a school and for himself. We were compelled to say to him more than once, " We have not the means of increasing your allowance." But at length the case seemed so urgent, and it was so palpa- bly evident that his valuable services ought to be retained by this mission, that we said to him, " Go on with your plan ; take your house, and open your school, and we will try to get the money for you." Brethren, will you enable us to redeem this pledge? The other priest alluded to is still officiating in one of the churches, but he is as desirous of entering upon la- bors more congenial to his feelings, and more consistent with an enlightened conscience, as we are to have him. We propose to send him to N , a city in the interior, where he formerly resided, and where his influence is greatly needed. If he goes there, he will probably devote a part of his time to teaching a female school, and a part to active labors for the spiritual good of the people. The. Lord has already commenced a good work in that city, and several, we trust, are truly converted, but there is no leading mind among them, and they greatly need one to 'go in and out among them, and break unto them the bread of life.' The door is now open there, and here is one laborer, whom God has raised up, and made ready to enter it. Shall we say to him, " Go, and the blessing of God go with you ;" or must we be compelled to withhold our helping hand and thus prevent all the good that might otherwise be done, merely because Christians in America neglect to bear their part of the burden, and do their part of the work ! But we have another object of still higher consequence, to present to you in this connection. We have spoken of some of our native assistants. We have others employed busily in the department of translation, of whom we will not speak in this appeal. We wish in a few words to spread out before you the subject in general, of native agencies for the spread of the gospel in the East. We rejoice to see that this subject, in its application to the whole unevangelized world, is of late attracting much at- tention in America. We wish you to understand that we have no expectation that very great things will be accom- plished among these eastern churches, except through thef instrumentality of the natives themselves. Missionaries from America, or from England, are on very many ac- counts poorly fitted for the work. The most that can be expected of them is, that they may be the means of com- mencing operations, and training up natives for the labor of teaching and preaching the gospel. We find none of the natives fully qualified, in all respects, for the deeply important labors that must be devolved upon them. Had our present assistants had the regular literary, scientific, and theological training of most ministers in America, their influence would be far more extensive and powerful. Perhaps, however, we ought not to say this confidently of the past, for no doubt God, whose works are all in har- mony, has adapted his instruments to the circumstances of the people. It was no doubt better, at the beginning, that there should not be too great a disparity between the laborers and those for whose good they labored. The time has evidently come, however, when a more solid, and a better instructed agency is required. We cannot turn away from the voice of Providence on this subject, or fail to meet this demand, without doing great detriment to the cause we are endeavoring to promote. The young men of the Armenian nation who are to be the future preachers of the gospel here, and the professors and principals of their institutions of learning, cannot be educated in Amer- ica, or England. They must be trained up on the ground, and your missionaries must have the means of commencing the system of training them. Already have we established a boarding school, and placed it under the charge of Mr. Hamlin, with this specific purpose. We have asked from our Society the means of placing it on a liberal foundation; but as yet we have received no answer to our appeal, and we greatly fear, from the reports that come to us from time to time from America, that our fond hopes on this subject are destined to meet with a sad disappointment. We pos- itively need for that school for the present year at least two thousand dollars, and more for years to come. Must we be disappointed in this respect? Must that school be disbanded, merely from the want of a few dollars from our highly favored brethren in America? Must we always give the negative to earnest applicants for admission, who are thirsting for knowledge, and whose characters hold forth promise of great usefulness, as we have been obliged to do in repeated instances, because we have not the means of sustaining them? O if it must be so what shall we say? That our brethren in America are taking part with our enemies ! Many here are wishing for the downfall of our school, and repeated efforts have been made to crush it, but it still lives, though we may truly be said to sustain it with great difficulty. Must we be obli- ged to struggle lest our friends also should be the means of its overthrow ? We feel confident that could you see the bright faces of those who are now under a course of instruction, and could you witness the disappointment of those who apply for admission, but are dismissed with the assurance that there remains no longer any room for them, you would be ready to deny yourselves any luxury, and almost any comfort, that we might have the means of en- larging our operations in this department. There are at this moment many young men in the Armenian nation of bright and promising talents, who are hungering and thirsting for knowledge. Not long since one of this de- scription was engaged for our school as a teacher of the Armenian language, with the understanding, that he was also to have time to pursue his studies under Mr. Hamlin's instruction. Unfortunately his father was a priest, and as they are altogether in the hands of the high ecclesiastical authorities, he was at once sent for and thrown into pris- on, until he should take his son from our school. Though the young man was more than of age, he had, with great difficulty, obtained the consent of his father to enter the school. Out of regard to his father's safety, however, he returned home, and the father was released. Thus, after having his highest wishes gratified and after remaining in the school only four short days, he was forcibly, as it were, compelled to relinquish all his bright hopes and prospects, and return again to ignorance and darkness.. His days are now spent in sorrow and weeping. He said, the other day, to one of our number, " My nights are now the hap- piest part of my time, for I am perpetually dreaming of Mr. Hamlin and his school. I always find myself there, very happy in pursuing my studies, but as soon as I awake my sorrow begins." This young man is still determined to acquire the English language, which he had com- menced, and he is continually trying to find out some means of accomplishing his object. His thirst for knowl- edge is perfectly insatiable, and there are many like him. What shall we do with them, brethren ? What does God 8 expect us to do with them ? When he excites such de- sires, and gives us the means of satisfying them, does he not also hold us responsible ? Can we neglect to em- ploy those means, without incurring guilt? We wish it to be impressed on your minds, brethren, that God is positively calling upon us by his providence to maintain a school of this description here. He is opening new fields, which none but native brethren can prudently enter. We want this moment two or three well qualified native preachers to send into the interior to places, where God invites us to come in language which we cannot misunderstand. You all remember the inter- esting circumstances already communicated in regard to Nicomedia. Various considerations would render it in- expedient for any one of us, or for any missionary from America, to be stationed there at present. And yet the field is open and white for the harvest. For the last year we have been wishing to send one of our native brethren there, but hitherto have not been able to do it. A short distance in the interior there is another town containing a large Armenian population, among whom God has com- menced a most marvellous work. No missionary has yet visited that place, though we may say with truth that the revival of religion there, was commenced and has been carried forward, through missionary influence partly by books from our press, and partly by means of a pious native merchant of that place, who often comes to Con- stantinople, and with whom we have had much inter- course. He has just arrived here again, and brings us the pleasing intelligence that some fifty of the Armenians are in the habit of meeting together every Sabbath, and at other times, for reading the Scriptures and prayer ; and according to him, at least twenty of these are firmly established Christians, ready to suffer banishment, and death if may be, for the kingdom of heaven's sake. For a while they were much spoken against, and threatened with persecution. This individual himself was thrown into prison on his last return from the capital, but released after a confinement of only three hours and a half. The opposers, in general, seem now to be satisfied that these are not bad men. They only read the Bible, and pray, and wish to conform their conduct to the rules of the gospel. These brethren now conduct their services in public, and many of the other party are usually present as spectators, and they approve of what they see. Some whole families are among the enlightened, and daily the word of God is read and expounded, and prayer is offered in the family circle. One of the priests of the church is also of the number. Truly this is the Lord's doing, for no other power is adequate to produce such results except the power of God's Spirit. Our first feelings would prompt us to despatch a missionary there at once, but our better judgment decides that such a step is not desirable at present. Were a foreigner to go and establish himself there, in connection with the enlightened Armenians, it would immediately throw them all under suspicion, and prevent much of the good which they are now enabled to do. But a native assistant might go there and pursue his labors in perfect harmony with the rest, and such an one is imperiously demanded at the present time. But where is the man, and where are the funds? How unspeakably important, in this connection, is a boarding school for raising up -native assistants ! There are other places in the interior, indeed many of them, where we earnestly long to send native agents, for we have reason to believe that they would labor to very great advantage. In many circumstances, one pious and prudent native assistant is worth more than a dozen missionaries. Nor are there wanting pious men among the Armenians, whom we might train for this purpose, if the churches would enable us to defray the expense. We put it to your consciences, brethren, in view of the field thus spread out before you, and also in view of the judgment day, where every man must give account of his stewardship before God; we 10 put it to your consciences, will you withhold from us the requisite means, and thus leave the darkness which has spread its dismal sway over these churches for centuries, still to reign ! Now that the day has begun to dawn, must the night be rolled back again upon those who were just be- ginning to open their eyes, and they be doomed to perpet- ual darkness, merely because Christians in America love their treasures and their comforts ! Brethren, are you not bought by the blood of Christ? have you not declared and acknowledged yourselves to be his, and not your own? Where then are the evidences of your attachment and obedience, if you leave souls to perish, rather than prac- tise a little self-denial, and loosen a little your hold upon the world? The providences of God in regard to the Armenian church, are marked and peculiar. In different and dis- tant places among the same people has a promising refor- mation commenced, and we cannot doubt that God has special designs of mercy towards this people. Is he not plainly pointing out to us our duty, by these movements of his providence, and shall we not prove recreant to the cause of our glorious Redeemer, if we withhold ourselves from the work, and neglect to follow where the providence of God leads us? In fact the movements of God among this people are such, that we who are on the ground ought to be enabled to take advantage of every favorable circum- stance, and enter at once every open door. It will not do to restrict us to just so many dollars and cents, as though we could make a regular contract one year in ad- vance, that we will not employ more than a certain speci- fied number of instrumentalities, and do or cause to be done only a certain amount of labor, to whatever new and promising fields the Spirit and providence of God may point us. It is impossible for us to decide what six months, or even one month may bring forth, and already, in repeated instances, have we been constrained to fore- go important advantages, which a more liberal allowance 11 from home would have permitted us to take possession of. You can, therefore, in some measure imagine how much our hearts have been pained, to learn, by a late letter from the Missionary House, that our allowance for the year to come is to be far short of our own estimate of the amount of funds absolutely demanded by the wants of this mission. It is plain that the Treasurer cannot supply the missions with a larger amount of funds, than he receives ; and if we are restricted, it is because the churches do not enable the Board to meet our wants. To you then, dearly beloved brethren, followers of the same blessed Saviour, devoted to the same glorious work, to you we make our appeal. You have sent us forth to this country to do all in our power for enlightening and reclaiming this people. We have labored long and hard, and sometimes when al. most every door seemed to be shut against us. Now, doors are opening all around us. Will you prevent us from entering in and taking possession of the fields? You might almost as well send for us all to return and remain in our native land, as to compel us to sit still in such cir- cumstances, until the doors now open are closed upon us again ; and none of us can tell how long, in this country of changes, they will remain open, if they be not entered. Were it in our power we would speak personally to every individual of those whom we now address, and we would affectionately urge each one to ask himself Am I living and using my strength and all my possessions as one who is bought with a price, even with the precious blood of the Son of God 1 Am I acting, in my contri- butions to benevolent objects, on the enlarged scale mark- ed out for me by the finger of Providence 1 Am I doing all in my power to prevent any hindrance to the work in Turkey, and in other countries? Am I prepared to meet, at the judgment seat, those benighted souls who are now just beginning to see some faint glimmerings of the light of the gospel, and to put forth all my ability to rescue 12 them from their deplorable condition, and cause the full blaze of the gospel to shine upon them 1 Brethren, we have now told you the story of our wants. No time is to be lost, when we would rescue dying men from everlasting destruction. We have endeavored faith- fully to represent to you the openings Providence is making among this people. We now leave the subject, praying earnestly that God w'ill enable you to act in all things agreeably to his holy and blessed will. H. G. O. DWIGHT. W. GOODELL. CYRUS HAMLIN. In a letter dated Constantinople, Aug. 18, 1841, the above named brethren state that instead of $d,000, the limit which the Prudential Committee found it necessary to'place on their expenditures for the year 1842, they needed at least $13,000, or an increase of $5,000. Their letter is addressed to one of the Secretaries of the Board, and they say : Dear Brother, When our way is hedged ur>, that we can scarcely turn or move, the church urges and impels us onward. Will she then hold us back now, when God himself gives us marching orders? We are not to blame for not forcing open what God shuts. But we are to blame for not entering, when he opens. And if, on the one hand, it requires a great deal of faith to wait, when almost every avenue is completely closed against us, so, on the other, it requires a great deal of patience to hold back, when the door is set wide open. May the good Lord enable us all to be co-workers with him, and not to act counter to him. AMERICAN BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS FOR FOREIGN MISSIONS. ON THE USE OF MISSIONARY MAPS MONTHLY CONCERT, BOSTON: PRINTED BY CROCKER & BREWSTER, 47 Washington Street. 1842. THE following Address was prepared by a special Committee of Pastors appointed by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Mis- sions, consisting of Rev. EDWARD HOOKER, D. D., Rev. ALBERT BARNES, and Rev. DANIEL CROSBY. ON THE USE OF MISSIONARY MAPS AT THE MONTHLY CONCERT. To the Pastors of the Churches patronising the Missions under the care of the American Board of Commis- sioners for Foreign Missions. CHRISTIAN BRETHREN : THE Board, by whose appointment this paper is pre- pared, regard it one of their most pleasant and invalua- ble privileges, that they may address you with perfect fraternal freedom and confidence, on the means for pro- moting the spirit of missions in the churches ; and they earnestly hope for your cooperation in all proper mea- sure for giving impulse to the great enterprize of evan- gelizing all nations. The means for rendering the Monthly Concert inter- esting and effective, is a subject which has much engaged their attention, and among them that which constitutes the title of this paper. They feel convinced, and you will all doubtless admit, that in this matter much de- pends upon the pastors. Whatever pastors heartily feel, and wisely and diligently do, they believe will have pow- erful influence in the churches. It was for these reasons, among others, that at their anniversary, held in Phila- delphia, September, 1841, the Board appointed a special committee " to prepare, carefully, and as early as pos- sible, a Missionary Paper, to be addressed to pastors of churches, and to be published under the direction of the Prudential Committee ; in which the subject shall be fully and earnestly presented, and such details given on the methods of preparing maps as may be necessary for the assistance of pastors." Believing it important that this subject should be brought before the minds of our brethren, pastors, not as a sanguine and perhaps uncertain and deceptive scheme upon paper, but as a plan fairly tested, and proved practicable and useful, this committee have prepared themselves, by correspondence with several pastors, and by bringing together the results of thejr own experience, to give statements of experiments which have-been made, their influence on the minds of Christians, and so far as practicable the matured views of the pastors who have made them. A few of the statements will be recognized as having been published in the Missionary Herald and elsewhere. Most of them, however, have been recently collected by correspondence. They will be arranged under numerical heads, as follows : I. Experiments by different Pastors. The earliest experiments in the use of maps in the Monthly Concert, known to this committee, were made in the year 1827, by one of its members, the Rev. Daniel Crosby, late pastor of a church in Charlestown, Massa- chusetts. On becoming established in the place of his first ministrations, a retired country parish in this State, he "found the Concert in existence, but without any strong hold on the affections of the people; and more- over regarded by them as a mere prayer-meeting for pro- fessors of religion, which few others were expected to attend." The necessity thus existing for special efforts to raise this meeting from its very low state, and render it instrumental in promoting the spirit of missions and of Christian liberality among his people, led him to the use of maps, in illustration of lectures on missionary geogra- phy, and also of current monthly intelligence on mis- sions. From his account of his method of procedure, published in the Missionary Herald for March, 1839, the following extracts are given. " Having formed my plan, and prepared myself on my first subject, I made an address to the people at the close of the service on the Sabbath preceding the first Mon- day in the month, in which I explained the design of the Concert, and the proper manner of conducting it. I remarked upon the necessity of understanding the object for which we prayed, of having it distinctly before the mind ; and of course upon the necessity of information. I stated that it was not so much 'the object of the meet- ing to offer a specific number of prayers, as to create a deep and lasting interest in the subject of the world's salvation. I then unfolded my plan, giving them the subject for the next evening, and throwing as much interest into its outlines as I honestly thought I could sustain in the filling up. If I recollect right, my first subject was South Africa. I exhausted the little stock of travels in my library ; faithfully examined eleven vol- umes of the Christian Observer ; and got, as I thought, a pretty correct knowledge of the condition and character of the people before the introduction of Christianity among them. You know what the Hottentots were, and how interesting this would be. I did not omit the political revolutions of the country, dwelt upon the introduction of Christianity, traced its progress, and disclosed its results as seen at the present time ; interspersing anec- dotes of Kircher, Martyn, and others. In subsequent meetings I chose a variety of topics ; sometimes taking up a particular district or country, sometimes a particu- lar mission. I took up the two great systems of eastern philosophy, Brahminism and Budhism, and detailed the popular superstitions founded on them. Another subject was the nature of Mohammedanism, and the state of Mohammedan countries. Another, the dispersion, num- bers, and present condition of the Jews. I give these as specimens. In treating of all these topics, I had con- stant reference to maps. I had suspended before the audience a large map of both hemispheres, and generally a map of the particular country upon which I was remarking! By the one I could point out the relative condition of the country, its distance from some place familiar to the people, and the general route by which it was approached ; the other was of service in more minute details. We had our meeting in the upper story of the school-house, which was the largest room we could command, out of the meeting-house. I went early, that I might get my maps in order. The people poured in, and soon the room was filled. The experi- 1 * ment was triumphantly successful. Every body was Interested. Almost twelve years have elapsed, and yet I can recal the sensations with which I sat down by my study fire in the evening after the meeting." The experiment next in order of time and known to this committee, was made in Bowdoin-street Church, Boston, in 1837. The account of this is given in a report on this subject, read before the Board at their last annual meeting. " A map of western and central Asia, drawn in India ink and water colors, was introduced into the Concert in that church. It was, of course, little more than an outline of the coasts, and of the more prominent natural and political divisions. It was found to add not a little to the interest of the meeting. In the summer of the same year, a map of the world was intro- duced, seven and a half feet by five, constructed on Mercator's projection, or on the hypothesis of the earth's being an extended plain ; but it was never of much use, the scale being too small for a map of the world, and Mercator's projection not being easily apprehended by people in general. " Meanwhile, the maps most depended on, from month to month, were made by the individual who communi- cated the intelligence ; and were hastily and roughly drawn, costing no more time and labor than every one must give to his preparations who would succeed in the meeting. The expense, too, of these maps, which was defrayed from the contributions at the meeting, was very small. In the autumn of last year, a hemispherical map was constructed, six feet in diameter, embracing the eastern continent; and it promises wll, though, for spe- cial occasions, there is nothing so good as the cheap, easily made, rough outline, which any body can make, by con- necting a few sheets of paper together with wafers. The map of central and western Asia, already men- tioned, has been in frequent use, and is sufficient to demonstrate that it is better to have sectional maps than maps of the world, or even separate maps of the hemis- pheres, if we cannot have all." The Rev. Silas Aiken, pastor of Park-street Church, Boston, has furnished to this committee a statement, not so much of experiments, as of what has been for some time a settled and well arranged system of use of maps in the Monthly Concert of the Congregational churches of the city, held in the place of his ministrations. "The missionary maps are used at the united Monthly Concert in Park-street Church, in the following manner : The large map of the world is suspended on the wall, back of the pulpit, and far enough above it to be visible to all the congregation. On this map, by means of a rod six or seven feet long, is pointed out the place of the mission to which attention is to be directed; and the people see where, on the map of the world, the mission is situated. "Over the face of this map is then usually drawn the map of that particular mission, say of the Sandwich Islands, Western Africa, Greece, the Nestorians, or some other, as the case may be. This is constructed on a much larger scale, showing the locations of the several stations belonging to that mission, their relative position, distances, &c. ; the stations being indicated by red cir- cles, large enough to be seen from any part of the house. The congregation having obtained from the former map a distinct idea of the place of the mission, easily transfer the idea to the latter. They have only to remember that what was a small space on the map of the world is here spread out as a district or country, with its moun- tains, rivers and cities, all distinctly marked. Informa- tion is communicated concerning this mission. Some- thing may be said of its origin and history ; of the former and present condition of the native population, as to civilization, morals and religion ; of political changes going on ; of the obstacles to the truth ; of the condi- tion and prospects of the mission ; especially of recent intelligence. In the mean time, a free use is made of the rod and map in pointing out the places spoken of, and connecting events with the stations where they transpired. Thus the eye greatly assists the memory, attention is aroused and kept awake, and the facts stated, take strong hold on the mind. If another mission is to be noticed, the proper map is suspended, and the same course adopted as before. Should the same missions furnish subjects of remark at successive Monthly Con" certs, the map of the world, after the first instance, is used more sparingly." 8 The Rev. Albert Barnes, pastor of the First Presby- terian Church in Philadelphia, writes : " I began the course of lectures at the Monthly Concert about four years ago ; at first without maps ; but I soon became convinced of their necessity and procured them. I began with China and travelled westward ; spending, as the importance of the subject might demand, one, two, or three evenings, on a particular country." The Rev. Samuel I. Prime, one of the editors of the New York Observer, and formerly pastor of a church in the country, gives the following statement : " My parish was a manufacturing village, where the people were gen- erally intelligent, and interested in the cause of missions. The Monthly Concert was better attended than any other prayer meeting ; but was still neglected by so many, that I felt the importance of some measures to call out the people on that occasion. The use of maps was attempted ; and for want of better materials we adopted the following plan. Constructing a slight frame, about six feet long and four wide, we stretched cotton cloth upon it, on which were drawn, with India ink, the outlines of the country which was to be the subject of remark at the Concert. It was easy to make the boun- daries, rivers, chief towns, &/c., so large as to be dis- tinctly seen across the lecture room. But any deficien- cies discovered in the course of the lecture were readily supplied with a bit of charcoal. A series of instructions was marked out, commencing with the travels of our blessed Lord in the land of Judea. A map of Palestine was prepared, and all the places in which any of " his mighty works were done," laid down. I then followed him from city to city, as he " went about doing good ; " and was astonished at my own increased interest and that of the people, in the mission of the Son of God. Then we followed the Apostles from place to place, in Asia Minor; having another map for that subject. Having thus given the people a view of the spread of Chris- tianity by the early missions of the church, I proposed to take up modern missions, and communicate similarly illustrated intelligence of the gospel in various parts of the world. " The construction of the maps was simple and cheap. The same frame being used for all, there was no ex- pense incurred but for the cotton cloth ; and the one who drew the maps was always more than paid for the trouble, by the knowledge necessarily acquired in the operation." The Rev. Henry B. Hooker, pastor of a church in Falmouth, Mass., writes to this committee: " At differ- ent times during the five years I have been here, I have made use of maps to increase the interest of the Monthly Concert. These have been such rude outlines of differ- ent parts of the world as I have been able to make with ink, black and red, wafers for cities, &.c. I have drawn maps of Borneo, Madagascar, Persia, and parts adjacent. These outlines have been drawn on a scale Jarge enough to be seen distinctly in all parts of our spacious vestry. I have generally used in connection with these, Mitchell's large map of the world ; as. I could thus refer from one to the other, and give a better view of the relations of the particular region under consideration, to other parts of the world. A feather, dipped in black ink, and, as occasion required, in red, was my dignified instrument in drawing the outline. Rivers, mountains, lakes, and other prominent objects, were sketched with feather dipped in ink. I thus succeeded very acceptably, I be- lieve. The novelty of the matter excited much atten- tion." The pastor of the First Congregational Church, Bennington, Vt., a member of this committee, adds his own statement on this point : " I was for a long time sensible that there was something wanting in our Monthly Concerts, to give my people clear and vivid conceptions of the wide extent to which this is a dark world, and of the very limited prevalence of the gospel as yet. Many Christians seem to suppose that the world is almost Christianized. But it is not easy to make them see, by mere preaching and stating facts, that the work is only begun. I had preached to my congregation a sermon, prepared with much study care and research, on 1 John v. 19. ' The whole world lieth in wickedness.' I gave, in that discourse, a de- scription of the various portions of the world, with the forms of religious delusion prevalent. Then I gave 10 arithmetical estimates of the hundreds of millions of Pagans, Papists, Mohammedans and Jews. Then I estimated the extent of land, here in Bennington county and Vermont, which they would cover, if gathered in one vast assembly. Then I showed how many times they would extend around the globe, placed in a line of military closeness. But after all, I failed of accomplish- ing the impressions I wished. My hearers did not see this lost world as it is ; and there was clearly something more to be done than to describe, and give statistics and work by arithmetic. I recollected Jeremiah's words, " Mine eye affecteth rny heart;" and he seemed to have understood the philosophy of feeling and the means of awakening it. I resolved on one more experiment by which, if possible, to make the subject of the world's real condition preach to the hearts of my people through their eyes. I employed a carpenter to make me a board, of light material, seven feet in length and five in breadth, and painted as pure a white as possible ; with handles for carrying, and a ring by which it could be suspended. This idea was suggested to me by the use of the black board in schools and academies. 1 drew upon my white board, (on as large a scale as its dimensions would allow, and so that it could be easily seen in the most distant parts of our meeting house,) that dark and gloomy ' Map of the Evangelical condition of the World,' some time since published by the American Sunday School Union. It exhibited every country on the globe destitute of pro- testant Christianity, with a surface dark as India ink could make it. I prepared a sermon on these two texts combined : Ps. Ixxiv. 20, ' the dark places of the earth, 1 and Ps. cvii. 10, ' Such as sit in darkness and the shadow of death.' On the intermission of the Sabbath then to occur, on the evening of which our Monthly Concert was to be held, with the assistance of my carpenter I suspended my white board map above my pulpit, and so that it should be in fair view of the congregation ; and standing before it, proceeded to preach my sermon. I described each country very much as I had done before, but illustrating every thing local by turning to my map and pointing out all with a staff. That dark and gloomy map did tbe work which I had not been able to accom- 11 plish with my most pains-taking and earnest preaching. It accomplished the distinct and solemn impression, that indeed ' the world lieth in wickedness.' In the evening of that day, the attendance at our Monthly Concert was doubled ; and when the brethren who were called upon, prayed, they prayed as I never heard them before ; as though they had seen the ' darkness ' which ' covers the earth,' the ' gross darkness' which 'covers the people. 1 Said a brother in the church, the next day, ' I had no conception before, that such a proportion of the world was without the gospel.' " Being convinced that it would be necessary to keep alive in the minds of my people the impression of that Sabbath and its map sermon, in all our future Monthly Concerts, and having other uses planned for my white board, I drew the dark map on a still larger scale, upon a paper surface nine feet long and four broad, and de* signed for permanence and as a map of reference, to be always suspended in our place of concert meeting. " My next measure was, to draw upon the white board, from time to time, maps in outline, of portions of the world with which, as missionary fields, I wished to make my people acquainted, and on which to give short lec- tures at the Monthly Concert. I believe that my first was a map of Hindostan, drawn on the scale of seven feet length by five breadth. Providentially, the Rev. Hollis Read, formerly of the American mission at Bom- bay, was present at the Monthly Concert for which this map was designed ; and in the use of it occupied from forty to fifty minutes with great interest to the congrega- tion. While an American pastor, it is true, who has never trodden the soil of a heathen country, cannot give the precise kind and degree of interest to such a lecture, which can- be given by a returned missionary who has seen and wept over ' the region and shadow of death,' yet he will be able to do far more than would be possible for him in any other way, to interest his people in the work of prayer and effort for a dying world. " My experiments have been continued in maps stretched upon the white board, of the Pacific ocean with its shores and islands, and affording field for many lectures, particularly on the South Sea and Sandwich 12 Islands missions ; and of Armenia and the countries adjacent, on which I am now giving a course of lectures. I am not yet, in any respect, disappointed in my antici- pations of the practicableness and utility of the prepara- tion of maps upon the white boards. The large map of the evangelical condition of the world also answers, in most respects, my expectations of its uses for reference, both in the communication of monthly intelligence, and in lecturing on particular districts, so far as their position are concerned, and as a monthly memento to the church, of the condition of the world, and the reasons for hold- ing such meetings as the Monthly Concert. Through the liberality of an individual, we are also furnished with the excellent map recently published by the Rev. Joseph Tracy. And through these three, and the occa- sional use of others, such as are possessed by members of the congregation, we are quite well provided for the present." It will be obvious to our brethren, pastors of churches, that the simple exhibition of maps with some few expla- nations of them, and a general understanding of their design, is but the beginning of their uses. They simply exhibit to the eyes of an assembly, districts on which their minds must be instructed ; and in the condition and wants of which are almost inexhaustible materials for information, and afford points for earnest and power- ful appeal to the hearts of the people of God. These remarks bring us to consider the subject II. Of Preparations for the Use of Maps in the Monthly Concert, On this point, as upon the one already presented, we give statements of the views and practices of different pastors. The Rev. Mr. Aiken, pastor of Park-street Church, Boston, thus expresses his views : " Every thing depends upon a thorough preparation. Let a pastor devote time each month to collecting information; fixing facts and places in his mind, making himself familiar with his. maps, so that he can proceed at the Concert without embarrassment, and he will not long complain of the small attendance, and want of interest in the meeting." 13 The Rev. Mr. Hooker, of Falmouth, Mass., remarks, in answer to inquiry by this committee on his me: hod of preparation : " I have been so driven, by great cares in my large parish and frequent revivals, that I have not bestowed as much labor on this point as is desirable. When I can, I take up a missionary station or field, say Siam, or Ceylon, or Borneo, and drive through every volume of the Missionary Herald for past years, (which, by the way every pastor ought to own,) and every other book upon which I can lay my hands. I take notes of all interesting matters, as history, productions of the country, objects of commerce, manners, customs, reli- gion, &.c., together with as full account as possible of the mission, down to the present time. This account fills up an evening, sometimes more; making constant reference to the map as occasion requires. At other times, I get as much information from the Herald and other periodicals, as I can; reading paragraphs, condens- ing, remarking," &c. The Rev. Mr. Barnes, in answer, especially, to inqui- ries on his studies for the Monthly Concert, gives a state- ment of his views and practice. Having expressed his conviction, given tinder the previous head, of the great utility of maps in these meetings, he proceeds to ob- serve : "But they need much study with them. And no man can make much use of them who will not take all the time which ought to be taken to make prepara- tion. And a few moments or hours will not do." That this pastor spoke from experience and acts on his convictions, on this point, will be seen from the fol- lowing passages : " My practice has been, to commence my preparations at an early part of the week previous to the Concert, and usually to spend considerably more time on it 'than I ordinarily do in the preparation of a sermon." " My aim has been to state the religious con- dition of the country which was the subject of the lec- ture, or to give to a friend or an enemy of missions an in- telligent view of the obstacles which exist to the introduc- tion of the gospel, and of the arrangements which might exist in reference to it. My object has not been to teach geography as a science, but to teach whatever might bear on the subject of missions. The points at which I 2 14 have usually aimed in relation to each country have been such as the following : " I. The geography of the country, embracing its location, boundaries, size, population, language ; and in- cluding under this head whatever I might find in archae- ology, history, manners, customs, &-c., that would be interesting. " II. The religion of the country I mean the native religion with an account of its origin, the modes of worship, written books, &/c. " III. The obstacles which exist to the introduction of the gospel, arising from the religion, laws, customs, cli- mate, &c. &.c. ; and the facilities which may exist from any of the same causes. " IV. The history of former attempts, if any, to intro- duce the gospel, from the apostolic time to the present. "V. The present state of- missions there; the number of missionaries; by whom employed ; their success, &c. " On these points I have usually found enough to occupy all the time that can be allotted to this exercise ; and have believed that it was interesting and profitable to the people. In making the preparation I have availed myself of all the books to which I could have access, bearing on these points, and have usually found no diffi- culty in obtaining what I wished." The Rev. Mr. Crosby's practice, as detailed by him- self, has been this : " In selecting my subject, I had a general reference to the state of the public mind. I usually selected it early in the month, had my eye upon it in my general reading, and marked any thing I saw that bore upon it. On the morning of the first Monday in the month, I sat down with the general plan I had before formed and the information I had obtained, and gener- ally spent the whole day in preparing for the meeting in the evening. I have frequently spent eight or nine hours in my study on that day, hard at work preparing for the Concert. It was with me a settled rule, to make every thing familiar. I do not read from the Missionary Her- ald, or from any other book, except to illustrate some point. I never hesitate, however, to carry books into a Monthly Concert if 1 have occasion to refer to them, but the reference must be short. ** You will of course see that all this requires time. And how can a minister prepare for his Monthly Concert without taking time ? So fully am I persuaded of the importance of a minister's devoting lime and study to prepare for this meeting, that I am in the habit of omit- ting my weekly lecture on the week of the Monthly Concert." III. Effects of the Use of Maps in aicaldng interest, fyc. In some of the statements of experiments already given, this point has been incidentally illustrated. Ad- ditional ones are here given, more particular. Rev. Mr. Aiken, of Park-street Church, -Boston, who has observed and participated in some of the best experi- ments for giving interest to the Monthly Concert, which have been made in our country, remarks : " I am con- vinced that a wise use of maps is a valuable aid to the Monthly Concert. It gives the pastor a rare opportunity for instruction and profitable remarks on the interests of Christ's kingdom." Rev. Mr. Barnes also gives his testimony on this point : " I am more and more impressed with the utility of maps in the Monthly Concert; and believe that a great change would be produced in the interest of the meeting by their appropriate use. My meeting has considerably more than doubled in numbers since I begun the plan, and increased at a much larger ratio in interest and profit. I should anticipate the happiest results in regard to the cause of missions, if the pastors would lay them- selves out to give all the profitable information about the religious state of a country which they might." In confirmation of these views, the Rev. Nehemiah Adams, pastor of Essex-street Church, Boston, observes : " If there was ever a question which seemed to have but one side, it is that which concerns the use of maps at the Monthly Concert. I hope that the discussion of the question will not excite objections which otherwise would never have existed ; though it is difficult for me to con- ceive of any that can be raised, except those which may grow out of a want of information or of interest in the subject. My observation of the use of maps at the 16 Monthly Concert, has led me to wish that all who con- duct that service, would make the experiment of using maps to illustrate missionary intelligence. In the in- creased interest and information, and contributions of their people, they would also find, that what has been said by those who have made these experiments, is con- firmed by their own experience." The Rev. Mr. Crosby, after describing his- first experi- ment already given, observes : " Henceforth our Monthly Concerts were our most numerously attended evening meetings. We often had to bring in extra seats. And what is most pleasing of all, in one instance, certainly, if not in more, the first indications of a revival of reli- gion were discovered in the Monthly Concert. We gen- erally had three prayers, and joined in singing when a proper stopping place occurred, or the people became a little weary." The Rev. H. Winslow, pastor of Bowdoin-street Church, also remarks, on the effect of their use : " They seem to increase the interest of the meetings; of course make them more fully attended, and thus have operated favorably in extending the missionary spirit and enlarg- ing the contributions. How much of the increase of interest in our Concerts is referable to the use of maps, I cannot say, as other causes have conspired, but I should think considerable." Rev. H. B. Hooker also observes, of their effect : " Much interest has in this way been excited in our Monthly Concert, and the people have expressed great satisfaction with the course. I have found such maps of special use among the young, at Concerts held with them. The interest awaked in their minds has been very gratifying. Questions to them relating to the maps, their own geographical knowledge, the moral state of the heathen, &c., have stirred up their minds and awakened their attention in a very high degree. I am persuaded that due attention to this course will be of great importance in making the people better acquainted with the missionary cause ; giving them definite concep- tions of the countries already occupied or to be occupied by the heralds of the cross, and associating the fields of missionary enterprise with other regions of the world 17 already and perhaps better known to them. I think also that as the maps of various countries are exhibited for missionary purposes, there will be an excellent opportu- nity to glance at the various political relations of those countries to each other, and the most important events occurring in them from time to time, and the bearing of these events upon the interests of the kingdom of God. Thus the providences ef God may be noticed in connec- tion with the moral condition and prospects of the world; while the great cause of missions may become associated in the minds of men with the political and providential occurrences of the times, and thus acquire interest, when, but for some such association, there would have been little or none. For example, a Monthly Concert, with a map of China before the audience, might be made deeply interesting by showing its position in relation to surrounding nations, as Siam, Thibet, Japan, neighbor- ing islands, &,c. ; showing the present aspect of affairs in the contest with Great Britain, with a brief history of the opium trade and its pernicious effects." Writing at a more recent date, Mr. Hooker observes : " More attend than formerly, and much larger collections are taken up. Persons out of the church are much inter- ested, and are regularly present; and I think their inter- est is increased by the use of maps, and the various interesting discussions to which their use give rise. This course very much interests the young. I think its influence over this class will be exceeding happy. God has been and is now pouring out his Spirit upon this class among us : and I intend no pains shall be spared to have the missionary spirit diffused among them. Our Concerts powerfully aid this." It appears one very great encouragement to pastors to adopt this-system, that it is so easy to interest religious assemblies in it ; to hold attention for any length of time proper to be devoted to it ; and greatly to assist the conceptions of hearers relative to a given portion of the great field, in various points. Christians need to know when and what the country is, and the condition of its inhabitants, for whose enlightening with the gospel they are to give their contributions and offer their prayers. If it is mapped out before their eyes, and described in its 2* 18 moral conditions, they will receive deeper impressions than it is possible for them to gain through the mere reading or hearing of statements, however well drawn up. The pastor last quoted has suggested another point for consideration, of great importance, and which appears the result of his own experience and practice : " I think it of great importance to throw upon men's minds, who are interested in the political aspects of the. nations, as much as possible of our views of the great fact, that THIS WORLD BELONGS TO CHRIST ; has been redeemed by his blood ; that he is using means to reclaim it from its darkness and guilt ; and that we, his ministers, are looking upon the world with the deepest interest in its affairs, for these reasons. We are looking for its moral emancipation, hailing every auspicious event with glad- ness, and joyfully confident that there will yet be a glori- ous redemption. Now the use of maps naturally and easily suggests many interesting facts respecting the state of the nations. While the eye is upon them, it is easy to make a happy use of great events in their politi- cal history, and their past and present condition, as related to the growing kingdom of the Redeemer. In this way we may incline numbers, who have not been accustomed to such trains of thought, to consider the moral bear- ings of the events which are occurring in various parts of the world." IV. Practicability of this course of Missionary Instruc- tions, by Pastors of Churches. This committee anticipate the questions, " Are you not proposing a plan for the conduct of the Monthly Concert, which will make a heavy addition to the studies and public labors of pastors ? Will it not unreasonably tax the health, strength and time of some ministers, and interfere with the other and stated duties of the minis- try ? On this point also, we have and give the views of pastors. Rev. Mr. Aiken remarks, respecting the meet- ing held in Park Street Church : " This Concert owes much of its interest to the labors of Dr. Anderson, one of the Secretaries of the Board, who regularly attends it ; yet the service done by him is such as may be per- formed by any pastor, who will use the maps, avail him- self of the common sources of information, and give the requisite attention to the subject." Rev. Mr. Winslow, in reply to a question particularly put to him on this point, observes : " I see not why all pastors may not use them." "It is my opinion, that they may be introduced to advantage in all Concerts. The experiments having been successfully made, nothing remains for pastors to learn, except what they will easily learn by experience." But we would farther say, we feel confident that no pastor, after having carefully and diligently made the experiment for three months, or even for a single Con- cert, will feel any difficulty on this point. Those labors in which the heart with all its best feelings of benev- olence has become interested, are rendered light and easy of performance. They come to be esteemed a pleasure which cannot be sacrificed, instead of being accounted toils burdensome, and to be avoided. And this brings us to another point. V. The interest of Missionary Studies to the mind of the Pastor, in Preparation for the Monthly Concert. No lecturer, in any of the departments of science and learning, enjoys higher satisfaction in his studies, than may the pastor with a true missionary spirit, in those of which we speak. " The field is the world," over which he can expatiate, and in which he can prosecute his researches. If he is capable of being interested in the study of mankind, in their various conditions, and the study of the gospel as adapted to the wants of mankind, and is willing to study, he will find himself compensated at every step of his prosecution of this course. Let pastors speak on this point, who have tried the experi- ments stated in this paper. The Rev. Mr. Barnes will doubtless be regarded a good witness. " I know not," he observes, " that I have ever pursued a course of studies that has been more gratify- ing or more profitable to myself, than this. Whatever may have been the effect upon my people, I have always felt myself abundantly repaid for all the toil which the preparation has cost me. I am persuaded that no pastor can pursue a method somewhat like this, without great interest and advantage to himself, and without utility to the missionary cause." The Rev. Mr. Aiken says : " The hours given to a faithful preparation for this meeting, the pastor will soon regard as among the most profitably spent in his life." Rev. Mr. Adams observes: "Pastors would find their own knowledge of geography revived ; definite impres- sions respecting missionary fields fixed in their own minds, with enlarged views of the relations which the several stations bear to adjacent countries; and much assistance would be afforded them in giving variety, and suggesting incidents, and connecting important miscella- neous knowledge with the services of the Concert." Rev. Mr. Hooker, of Falmouth, says : " I see not why this course may not be every where adopted ; at least the occasional use of maps. It -will cost the pastors some extra hard work to push this matter along, and draw from it all the good it is capable of furnishing. But they are called to it by the exigency of the times. Be- lieving, as I do, that the Concert is a powerful agency for increasing the missionary spirit among our congrega- tions, I feel that we should make the most of it. I can- not forbear saying that the reaction of this system on the pastor himself is eminently valuable. He cannot study out a Monthly Concert subject, with a map, and with a purpose of using it, without giving an order, clearness, and definiteness to his own ideas, which he would be able to gain in scarcely any other way. It will fix his- torical facts ; the relation of countries and places to each other; interesting incidents in the progress of a mission, &-c., and will fix them in his mind, and prove of great advantage in better qualifying him for his impor- tant work as connected with the conversion of the world." The Rev. Mr. Crosby, on this point, asks : " Where is the pastor who does not wish his people to be familiar with the details of the missionary enterprise ? If they see him interested, they will soon catch at least a portion of his spirit and feel the value of intelligence. And then, in the acquisition of such knowledge, there is an expand- ing, elevating influence. It liberalizes the mind ; arms 21 it against the arts of the sophist, and shields it against the power of the objectors to missions. After all, its influence upon the minister himself .is perhaps the most valuable. Keeping himself thus fully informed on the subject of missions, he feels a more lively interest in them. In the progress of time, he acquires a large amount of geographical and historical information, and all in the regular discharge of his ministerial duties." With such testimony from pastors who have probably as little time for extra labor as any men in our country, it is believed that our brethren, pastors, will be convinced that they are not only called to consider it as a practica- ble system of studies and efforts, but that they are invited into a field of research and labor, presenting promise of most rich satisfaction to their own hearts, and most invalurble improvement to their own minds. If any thing need be added to the strength of this conviction, it can be furnished in the language of one of the pastors (Rev. H. B. Hooker) from whom testimony under this head has already been given, and whose preparations for the Monthly Concert probably fit him as much as any man to delight in this department of labor. " I love," says he, " to stand before a map of a nation, and espe- cially before a map of the world, and, pointing the audi- ence toit, to say, ' There are the regions, the continents, the islands of a fallen world. Our Redeemer is their rightful possessor, though the present ruler is the prince of darkness. We are wresting them from Satan by our missionary triumphs. We have set up the standard of redeeming love, here and there. We have this nation now sitting at His feet, ' whose right it is to reign ; ' and that is beginning to humble itself before him. We have a little spot on this dark continent illumined with his gospel, -and on that benighted island we have ' set up our banner.' We have made openings into the realms of sin and death, and our beloved missionary co-workers are there, distributing the bread and the waters of life. The world is our Lord's, and we are conquering it for Him. There it is ; a vast field ; but through his power and grace we shall prostrate every idol, break down every strong hold, and cause every knee to bow to ' the Prince of peace.' " VI. Construction of Maps and Methods of Use. Statements on this point have been necessarily in- cluded in some of the accounts of experiments given under another head. A few suggestions will be given, the result of experiments by one of this committee. in the preparation of sketches upon the white board. The dimensions and construction of the board, have been given. Upon this, maps ran be drawn of sufficient size and distinctness of delineation, to be seen, with ease, in the most distant parts of an ordinary church or lecture room. This work consists simply in copying, on an enlarged scale, maps of continents, countries, or groups of islands, &.G., from any good Atlas. The first, and indeed principal part of the work, is the accurate draw- ing of the lines of latitude and longitude. These, of course, must be only the same in number and relative demarkation upon a surface of seven feet by five, as upon a common quarto page of an Atlas ; and accurate measurements, in the use of dividers and a seven foot measure marked in inches, will be necessary ; and then the careful drawing of the lines of latitude and longi- tude. This last can be done in the use of the seven feet measure, of course, where strait lines are to be made ; and in the use of a cord, having one end fixed at the proper centre and the other end with a pencil fixed in it at such a distance from the centre, that when the sweep of the cord is made with the pencil, it shall describe upon the board a line of proper curvature. Or this may be done with the seven feet measure, if made thin and of elastic material, by bending or springing it to the proper degree of curvature, and then drawing the lines by it with a pencil. The lines of latitude and longitude accurately drawn, the next part of the process is to draw, with a common lead pencil, and by the eye, with the Atlas map before you, the shores, boundary lines, and other princi- pal features of the district required. Passing on from one square, made by the lines of latitude and longitude, to another, and making each square on an enlarged scale, to contain precisely as much as is laid down in the same square on the Atlas map, and no more, the enlarged draught is accomplished with ease and correct- ness, and the way then prepared for sketching rivers, mountains, subordinate divisions of the country, and making the locations of principal cities, missionary sta- tions, and other important objects. Thus much done with a common lead pencil, the next step in the process is in the use of a camel-hair brush, and with water colors, (which are strongest and most easily visible by contrast with the white surface of the board) to trace over all the lines of shores, &-c., which have been made with the pencil. For this India ink should be used first, and then vermillion or some other color of like vividness, drawn in close parallel with these. The difficulty of making water colors adhere to the oil paint surface of the board, is obviated by having first rubbed' it over with a sponge dipped in alkali or a strong solution of soap and water, and allowed to dry. The shading necessary to be done along the shores of oceans, seas and lakes, and around islands, is best done with a lead pencil, in the use of light strokes such as will be made in the horizon- tal play of the hand, and which after a very little prac- tice will be done with ease and rapidity. The inscribing of names of districts, cities, rivers, &c., will be best done with a small camel-hair brush, in th-3 use of India ink. The time required to draw such a map depends upon the ingenuity and skill of the person who does it. Almost any person will acquire, in the preparation of two or three such sketches, a facility which will make it easy to accomplish a sketch in a short time ; and so that if a new map even every month be necessary, it shall be easy to have it, with only the expense of a few hours time and labor. It is here suggested, that it is well to have this descrip- tion of maps drawn with neatness and in good taste, and made agreeable to the eye, in their whole appear- ance ; and to be in all points as much like the Atlas maps from which they are drawn as possible. The face of the board, if properly painted, will present to the eye, at a little distance, a surface much resembling drawing paper; and a map neatly and accurately executed upon it, will make upon the eye of the observer an impression even of beauty. And nothing of this kind is ever lost upon a religious assembly, if done in good taste. The 24 face of the white board may need a new coat of paint once in a year, which is easily given. If time be not at the pastor's command for the draw- ing of the maps, his studies of the field to be laid down can be done by an Atlas map ; while he deputes the labor of drawing to some of the young members of his church, to whom it may be a most useful geographical exercise, and in time a pleasant employment. The necessity, also, of their giving attention to some inter- esting field for missions, followed by listening to a lec- ture upon it at the Monthly Concert by the pastor, may kindle up in some hearts the missionary spirit, and prove the commencement of the preparation of some of the younger sons and daughters of the church to go forth on the errand of Christian love to the perishing in the " ends of the earth." The methods of exhibiting maps before an assembly are perhaps sufficiently indicated in the statements of experiments already given. The general advice may be here given, that their advantageous exhibitions should be studied in the various particulars of fixtures for their suspension, position, light, height from the general level of the audience, &.c. On this subject, valuable hints will be found in the pamphlet by the Rev. Joseph Tracy, designed as a Key to the map of Western Asia, recently prepared by him.* It will not be difficult for any pastor to provide himself with maps from which to take sketches for monthly use, on the white board. The Atlasses now published with school geographies will furnish him with some. The larger ones designed for family libraries, will add to these. Maps will also be found in the volumes of Dr. Robinson, of Rev. Messrs. Smith and Dwight, and many others. The maps of smaller districts and missionary * This committee take great pleasure in recommending to their breth- ren, pastors, and to the churches, the new and beautiful map above men- tioned, and now to some extent in use in Monthly Concerts. Embracing as it does, upon an extended scale, some of the most interesting fields of missions into which this Hoard have entered, and so well adapted for ref- erence in the communication of current missionary intelligence from month to month, it is an article without which no pastor and church should be willing to pass a Monthly Concert. It is gratifying to learn that this map is to be followed, (if properly patronized,) with others; of the world, on an extended scale, and of the various portions of it ; and is to furn- ish, when the series is completed, a set of maps adapted in every practi- cable way, to give interest to the Monthly Concert. (See Appendix.) stations, like the Sandwich Islands, Ceylon, and others, and which have been published in a pamphlet form by the American Board ; the Cerographic maps, published by the editors of the New York Observer ; and, in short, almost all descriptions of maps and charts to be met with, can be made valuable by any pastor who will take pains to collect them, in order to constitute a stock from which to draw his sketches, from month to month. VII. Books of Reference, for Use in the Preparation of Lectures for the Monthly Concert. It may be questioned, by our brethren, pastors, whether the want of books of reference, in sufficient number and of the proper kind, for use in the preparation of lectures, may not be an obstacle in the way of the plans proposed in this paper. We would reply, that the libraries of most pastors probably contain some books of the kind needed. Almost any pastor in New England, it may be presumed, has, or can collect, in the families of his parishioners, one com- plete series of the Missionary Herald, which is almost a missionary library in itself. From the books of authen- tic travellers, though their objects may have been explor- ing for scientific, commercial, or political purposes, and which may be found in the libraries of parishioners, or in the libraries of societies or lyceums to which he has access, he will be able to derive information respecting many portions of the world. But what books he cannot obtain thus, or afford to purchase from his .wn purse, he can perhaps obtain in still another way. Every church, in these days, which would cherish the spirit of Chris- tian missions in itself, and help in this great cause, should provide itself with a Missionary Library. This is one of the ways in which churches should show that they design to " live for the world," as to be converted to Christ. Without lessening their contributions to send forth and sustain missionaries, they can, in one year, lay a foundation for such a library, in the purchase of a few volumes carefully selected. This may be increased by the presentation of books from family libraries ; and thenceforward, from year to year increased by appropria- tions from the church treasury, or by contributions for this particular purpose, to be laid out by the pastor and 3 26 deacons for purchase of new and valuable books, such as are suitable for such a library. And almost before he would know it, a pastor may, in these several ways, find himself surrounded with sufficient helps, so far as books of reference are concerned, to begin his course of Monthly Concert lectures to advantage ; and would find his stock increasing from year to year. Additional to this help to the missionary studies of the pastor, would be this advantage also, that the members of the church and the intelligent and reading portion of his congrega- tion, could have access to this library for half of each month, to get books to read ; while the rules for return- ing books might place them all in his hands in season to make his preparations for the coming Concert. That church must be poor indeed, whose members are unable to place thus, in the hands of their pastor, the means for preparing to impart to them interesting and profitable instruction at the Monthly Concert. It will be found also of great assistance, doubtless, to every pastor who can take a religious weekly journal, added to the Missionary Herald and the Dayspring ; that the commercial enterprise of this active age is bringing to us intelligence respecting other and distant portions of the world, and which is industriously gleaned for the religious press, and brought to our doors every week. Amidst this " running to and fro," of the men of the world as well as the missionaries of the cross, " knowl- edge is increased." And any pastor who remembers the Monthly Concert every time he reads his religious news- paper, and notes facts and occurences, will find that he does not lack, even in that, valuable matters of refer- ence. In short, a pastor with the true missionary spirit, and keeping his eyes open, will derive aid from many and often unanticipated sources, for this object. For the convenience of pastors and churches, disposed to try the experiment of a Missionary Library, a few works will here be mentioned: Encyclopaedia of Geog- raphy, 3 vols. ; Tracy's History of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, second edi- tion; History of American Missions, by Tracy and others; Choule's History of Missions; Stewart and Dib- ble's Sandwich Islands; Southgate's Armenia and Per- 27 . sia ; Dr. Grant on the Nestorians ; Medhurst's China ; An- derson's Peloponnesus ; Smith and Dwight's Researches in Armenia; Read's Christian Brahman; History of South Sea Missions, (by Mrs. Smith, of Middlebury, Vt. ;) Dr. Robinson's Researches in Palestine; the Memoirs of Brainard, Martyn, Parsons, Fisk, Buchanan, Mrs. Winslow, Mrs. Judson, Mrs. Smith, and other mission- aries; Winslow's History of Missions; Ellis's Polynesian Researches; Jowett's Christian Researches in Syria and the Holy Land ; Tyerman and Bennet's Journal ; Wil- liam's Missionary Enterprises ; Long's View ; the Voyages of Bougoinville, Cook, La Perousa ; the Geographies of Make Brun and Bell ; Harris's Great Commission, &c. &c. Should it be apprehended by any of our brethren, pastors, that in such a course of lecturing at Monthly Concerts, there will be liability of exhausting the cata- logue of subjects, this committee would observe, that a few experiments made in the preparation of lectures, and these experiments made in the diligence, thorough- ness and patience of research appropriate in the exami- nation of any subject of knowledge, will put that ques- tion at rest. The studies of a pastor, for the instruction of his people at the Monthly Concert, on their duties to dying men, are studies of the world, in its almost in- numerable diversities of condition, physical, moral, spirit- ual, social and political ; in its exhibitions of character, various almost to infinity ; in its errors, delusions and deceits, innumerable ; and in its forms and phases of unhappiness and wretchedness, like the sands on the sea shore, like the stars in the sky, which cannot be reck- oned up. There is presented, in truth, to the eye of every pastor, in this subject, almost a new science; a department of knowledge and instruction having all the interest and attractions of entire newness. If a pastor cannot expect to exhaust the gospel, as a system of instruction for a world of lost men, not much more can he expect to exhaust the subjects of study which enter into the condition of this world as a Ji eld for the spread of that gospel. The young pastor, with the spirit of a missionary, and the love of research which belongs with this spirit, may begin this month his researches, and 28 continue them, and bring forth from one month to another, till the frosts of" three score years and ten, and fourscore years " shall have whitened his locks ; and even then cease from these studies and labors and lie down on his dying bed, conscious of it, and saying it, " I have but begun the study of the world as the field for the dis- play of the power and the triumphs of ' the gospel of the grace of God.' " Concluding Remarks. The inquiry has been considerably agitated, in past years, how shall the Monthly Concert be rendered more interesting and profitable ? And many a one of you, brethren, pastors, has probably said in himself, " how shall I bring the people of my charge adequately to un- derstand and feel the true condition of this dying world, and to pray and act as they ought for its conversion to Christ? " It is our hope that something has been done, in the foregoing statements, towards answering these questions. The inquiries have been virtually made in our churches, " who are the destitute on whose, behalf we are to pray, and to send the gospel to whom we are to contribute ? Where are they ? What their numbers, condition, errors, prospects for eternity 1 What has been done for them? And what remains to be done?" The pastor who adopts the course of instrumentalities now recommended, will find that he is in the way to answer such inquiries to his people ; and to keep the answers so before their eyes and their minds, that they shall be effectually influenced, in their prayers and their contributions, in aid of the world's conversion. If it should seem to any, at first sight, that too much is pro- posed and asked of them, in the plan of studies and efforts now presented, we would earnestly urge them not to dismiss the subject without trying the plan, and in the conclusion that they can do nothing. What have our Monthly Concerts been in past years, brethren, com- pared with what it now appears, from fair experiment, they might be rendered ? Have we not lost time ; and is not the enterprise of missions far behind the point of progress which it might have reached, in serious fact 29 throagh the want of more done to give interest and effi- ciency to this meeting ? The spirit of missions in our churches, brethren, depends much upon how we preach to our congregations on its behalf; but it alsodepends very much on the means which we use, in the Monthly Concert, to stir them up to prayer and effort. The time seems to have arrived, in the providence of God, for both pastors and churches to enter into the great enterprise of missions with an earnestness, zeal, and solemn consecration of spirit, beyond what has ever been before manifested. To this end, if we mistake not, we who are pastors must become, beyond any thing we have been before, students of the great subject of missions; and our churches must be " Societies of In- quiry " on this great subject, whom we must meet, from month to month, with the results of study and research, which shall make them intelligent for the offering of prayer, and liberal in the besstowment of alms. Our churches will keep pace with our advances in this mat- ter. The pastors who have tried the methods recom- mended in this paper, have found their churches awaking from the slumbers of indifference ; and listening, pray- ing, and giving as they never have done before. It is reasonable to believe, that no pastor will put forth his efforts thus in vain. And the fidelity and earnestness and diligence in missionary studies, of pastors, may be contemplated, with good confidence, as the means, through the Divine blessing, of giving new and mighty impulses to the missionary spirit in the churches, and of prompting to efforts more principled, systematic, power- ful, and on a scale far more enlarged and commensurate with the magnitude of the object before us, than ever yet has been. In saying these things, brethren, we have virtually said that the pastors of churches are mainly responsible for the depth and strength of the missionary spirit in the churches. We mean to say it, distinctly and solemnly. Pastorship, in every point of view, involves high and solemn responsibilities; for the purity of the churches in the faith, practice, and order of the gospel, and for all else which conduces to the advancement of the kingdom of Christ in a Christian land. But just as directly and 30 solemnly does pastorship also involve responsibility for what the church shall be, as a body pledged, for the propagation of the gospel through the world, in obedience to the high command of her ascended Lord. This may seem like adding to that pressure under which, hitherto, and in view of labors for souls immediately around them, pastors have been saying, " Who is sufficient for these things?" But brethren, let us remember him, our Master, who stood under the mighty pressure of responsibility for the enterprise of the salvation of a world from ruin ; and who, to every minister of his, under the pressure of deepest consciousness of responsi- bility, speaks that word so full of encouragement, " My grace is sufficient for thee." Need we then hesitate or shrink a moment from the work proposed? What more do we need of inducement or of encouragement to enter into it? For what were the minds of men made, brethren, but to be put upon the intensest stretch of effort of which they are capable, and which is called for by the word and the providences of God, in order to the more rapid advancement of the kingdom of righteous- ness and peace on the earth ? For what is the grace of God given us, and through it perception of responsibility for the faithful discharge of our trusts, but that we may be impelled and move forward in an unceasing, untiring outlay of our whole strength, in the work we have to do for a dying world ? We and our churches expect it of the missionaries we send forth that they will act thus, under our auspices and the command of Christ. And brethren, our Master expects us to do the same ; and to incite our churches to do so, in our duties and labors at home, for sustaining our brethren and strengthening their hands abroad. And here we are brought to another point, of vital importance to the future advancement of the cause of missions; which is, that there should be no disparity be- tween the tone of the missionary spirit at home, and the same in the hearts of our best missionaries whom we send abroad. If it be true, in natural philosophy, that the stream never can rise higher than the fountain, then we may regard it as also true, as a general fact, that our mission- aries abroad will be what we their pastors are at home. 31 Pastors and churches at home, must be accustomed to " see eye to eye" with our best missionaries in the field ; and to labor, " hand to hand, and heart to heart " with those devoted servants of Christ and the church, whom we have sent " far hence unto the Gentiles." Have we not felt, brethren, sometimes, when their appeals have come home to us, and when they themselves have come home and spoken to us, that there is too wide a disparity between the conceptions of their minds and the fervor and earnestness of their desires for the conversion of men, and those of many of us who " dwell among our own people," and under the vines and fig-trees of this land of our privileges. When we see some of them " face to face," and perceive how men think, feel and speak, who have come up out of " the land of the shadow of death " to tell us of the wants and woes which are there, and of the need that we feel more deeply, and pray more fer- vently, and give more liberally, we are made ashamed of ourselves, and to be conscious that we are but half awake to the magnitude of the enterprise in which we profess to be engaged. But let the pastors cultivate, with steadiness and assiduity, the spirit of missions in their own breasts, and enter with diligence, enterprise and pains-taking into the study of missions, as a part of their duty as ministers of the Lord Jesus ; let their instructions to their churches, from the pulpit, at proper intervals, and always in the Monthly Concert, be such as shall transfer them, in thought, to the lands of dark- ness, and help them to look on the miseries of men with- out the gospel, and almost to hear the sighs of the cap- tives of Satan, and also let them show their churches what God hath wrought through efforts thus far made, and in answer to prayers offered, and the encouragements thus given them to " go forward " in the work ; let these things be done, and it cannot fail that the ministry and the church at home will come into a nearer conformity to the pattern of Christ, to the spirit of" the Lord of the harvest ; " ami be prepared to sympathize more inti- mately with their missionaries, and to sustain them more efficiently in their arduous work. When this shall be, it will not be needful to say to the Christian in the land of his privileges, " awake thou that sleepest ; " or that re- quests to the church for her prayers and her contributions, shall be made in painful doubt and uncertainty whether she will render them. She will not suffer her Lord to point out to her her duty in vain; nor his servants to ask her to do it, in vain. There will be the promptitude and energy of Christian action which fervent Christian be- nevolence inspires, fed by the Holy Spirit of God in the souls of his sealed ones. The cries of our brethren from their fields would be anticipated, and they made to feel that " though we be absent from them in the flesh, yet we are with them in the spirit ; " that in nothing are we coming behind their own consecration of spirit to this great and high enterprise, the evangelization of the world. There will not be heard in all the church at home, the question whether the pictures of moral desola- tion given by our missionaries are not overdrawn, and whether there is not needless earnestness and loudness in the voices of our missionaries. The church, instructed thus by her pastors ; her eye kept on the desolations of the earth ; her ear kept attent on the voices from afar ; and her heart and conscience plied with the appeals of duty, and of encouragement to its faithful performance ; she will not be able to withhold her hands from her work, not to keep her voice from supplication to her God, nor to hoard up her treasures to be " cankered." The mis- sionary spirit will have close affinity with all her enjoy- ments of her privileges and of her precious and lively hopes. And truly, to her " to live will be Christ." The object of her establishment in this dark world will be answered ; her Mighty Redeemer and God will be hon- ored ; and her own preparation delightfully advanced, to " enter into the joy of her Lord," and into " the rest which remaineth for the people of God." Christian Brethren, Pastors of the Churches patronising the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Mis- sions, shall these things come to pass ? Do your hearts desire them 1 Shall your prayers be for them ? And more, shall the methods by which we have endeavored to show you that these results can be reached, have the sanction of your adoption among your respective charges? Shall this be done speedily 1 Shall the years next coming on, show, that in the use of these means you are moving onward perseveringly, intently, unitedly, and the churches with you ; delighting to be laborers together with Christ; and knowing no joy so sweet as in his service ; having no hope so lively as " hope of the glory of God," of the triumphs of the " King of kings and Lord of lords," and of that glorious consummation, " the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ?" The Board, on whose behalf we ad- dress you, will wait for your reply. But, brethren, one higher than any earthly board, the Lord of missions waits your reply. In behalf of the A. B. C. F. Missions, E. W. HOOKER, ) ALBERT BARNES, V COMMITTEE. DANIEL CROSBY, ) APPENDIX, Is the following letter addressed to the Chairman of the Committee, who prepared the preceding document, the Rev. Mr. TRACY enumerates the maps which will probably make up his series for the Monthly Concert, when completed. BOSTON, JUNE 6, 1842. REV. AND DEAR SIR: I expect that my series of Monthly Concert Maps will contain, 1. A Map of the World, on hemispheres of three feet in diameter. On this I am now engaged, and am finishing some parts of it more carefully and slowly, in the hope of diminish- ing the necessity for local maps. For example, I hope to get down the missions in the Oregon territory, so that a distinct map of that territory will not be needed. 2. A Map of Western Asia and parts adjacent, already pub- lished. 3. A Map of "India within the Ganges," including Ceylon of course, and probably Caubul and Affghanistan, and perhaps Persia, so as to connect with the map of Western Asia. 4. A Map of South Eastern Asia, including the Malayan Archipelago, Siam, and the south part, at least, of China. The necessary extent of this map can better be determined after the map of the world is completed, as I can then see what parts need to be shown on a larger scale. The same remark will apply to several maps. 5. A Map of Western Africa, and another of Southern Africa ; or a map of that whole continent, unless the several 35 parts of that continent should show plainly enough on the Map of the World. 6. A Map of Syria and Palestine, embracing the late dis- coveries of Robinson and Smith, and the still later surveys of the British army. 7. Such smaller maps as may be called for ; for example, the Sandwich Islands; the Tamil country; the District of Jaffna; Siam. The publication of these will depend on the call for them. Probably, the plan will be considerably modified, as one part of the world after another is subjected to a close examination. The maps are to be as few and cheap as will answer the pur- pose. Yours truly, JOSEPH TRACY. MONTHLY CONCERT. THE following letter from the Rev. JOHN RICHARDS, of Hanover, N. H., published in the Vermont Chronicle, of July 20, 1842, describes a method of conducting the Monthly Concert, which is worthy of considera- tion by the pastors. It would have perhaps the following advantages : 1. It would set intelligent and influential members of the church to the study of missionary subjects, for their own good. 2. It would turn to account their talents, and Christian feelings, and influence, in the churches, for the cause of missions. 3. It would give variety to the Concerts, whereby minds of different cast might be interested. 4. If the missionary spirit has place in the pastor, it will through the aid of such brethren, with the divine blessing, be communicated to other members of the church. THE Monthly Concert of the church in Dartmouth College has for the past four years, been regularly increasing in its interest, and in so great a degree as to be worthy of some re- marks. For the years ending June, 1835-6-7-8, the contributions averaged $100 a year, and the attendance was small. In 1839, the evening was changed from Monday to Sabbath evening. A committee was appointed to communicate intelligence. To each member of this committee some portion of the world was assigned, from whom was expected, every evening, some intel- ligence or remarks respecting it This committee have been faithful in the duties assigned them, and the consequence has been, that the attendance has increased so much that for a year past it has very nearly equalled the attendance of the regular meeting of the Sabbath, forenoon and afternoon. The contri- butions also testify to the increase of interest In 1839 they were $125 ; 1840, $168 ; 1841, $210 ; 1842, $265. Every church must judge from its own circumstances of the expediency of holding the Monthly Concert Monday evening or Sabbath evening ; but of the expediency of having some system of providing and communicating intelligence, there cannot be a question. That a number should have something to say each evening, is better than that an individual should occupy the whole time appropriated to remarks and narrative. Variety is desirable here. The field of the world is becoming daily more interesting to the church, and from the monthly and weekly journals of the religious press, there can be no want of materials for the purpose of the Monthly Concert Let every church do its duty in this matter and this meeting will be increased in efficiency for good to Zion. MISSIONARY PAPER. THE DIVINE METHOD OF RAISING CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTIONS. " Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when 1 come." 1 Cor. xvi. 2, LOVE gives a cup of cold water to a disciple. Love visits the needy and the afflicted. Love goes forth to seek and save the lost. - In a distant country, under the burn- ing sun, amid privations, many and great, love cheers the weary, drooping stranger, while he pities, and instructs, and guides the returning wanderer. So God sent his Son into the world to save sinners. So the Son came, saying, "I delight to do thy will, O my God." To build the taber- nacle, the willing-hearted brought enough, and more than enough. Said the man after God's own heart, " Because I have set my affections to the house of my God, I have of mine own proper good, of gold and silver, prepared with all my might three thousand talents of gold, and seven thousand talents of silver. Who then is willing to conse- crate his service this day unto the Lord?" Love was the grace of God bestowed upon the churches of Macedonia. Then, in a great trial of affliction, the abun- dance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality. They were willing of them- selves beyond their power. They prayed the Apostles with much .entreaty to receive the gift. They first gave themselves to the Lord, and then were they ready to do his will in every good work. Love inspires the grateful recollection of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, though he was rich, yet for our sakes became poor, that we through his poverty might become rich. We are not our own, but are bought with a price; and, in the exercise of love, we devote to him that loved and bought us, all that we are and have, and all that we can do, to carry into 1 2 The Divine Method. effect his designs of mercy to perishing men, and we ask, each one for himself, " What can I do for Him that died, To save my wretched soul 7" Knowing, as we do, the languishing state of the missionary enterprise, in all its departments, we shall rejoice to find the Divine Method of raising all the funds we need. Let us examine this DIVINE METHOD. 1. It is to contribute frequently and statedly. Upon the first day of the week. This is frequently, for it is once in seven days. Nor shall we think that God calls too frequently, if he calls once a week, to make some appropriate acknowledgement of his right, by giving a portion of what he gives us, to carry on his peculiar work in the world, and to save the perishing ; to save them, not from starvation, but from perdition. Can once a week be too frequently to lay by in store to feed the hun- gry and clothe the naked? Was it not ordered in the Churches of Galatia, as well as in the Church of Corinth, that the same rule should be observed ? And can we hesitate for a moment to adopt it in regard to the evange- lizing of the world ? Once a week can this be too often to make a pecuniary contribution to send the word of life, or the messenger of mercy, announcing life to those who are dead in sins? Were our souls where theirs are, should we think once a week too often to be thought of and prayed for, and labored for, that we might live ? Relief must be had. God has ordered it to be given by us, and given on the first day of the week. Frequently, so that we may never forget it. Statedly also. Upon the first day of the week. What day could be more appropriate ? The Redeemer's birth- day. As it is said, "This day have I begotten thee." The day of the Church's foundation : for, on the first day of the week, the stone which the builders rejected, be- came the head of the corner. What precious associations! A rising Savior! A Church founded! Now, on the same day, we lay by in store that which may honor the Savior, add lively stones to the building, send hope to the benighted world. It must be good also to begin the The Divine Method. 3 week with this labor of love. Let God have the first fruits of all our time ; let the noble object of saving lost men, as co-workers with God, pre-occupy our thoughts and our plans, give tone to our spirit, and direction to all our movements. To commence the week in, this manner assimilates earth to heaven, the employments of Christians to the employments of angels. The sanctity and the bles- sedness of the Sabbath are thus spread over all our time and all the work of our hands. Thus frequently and sta- tedly the Divine Method requires to lay by in store. 2. It is to contribute universally. " Every one of you." Is it a duty to contribute frequently and statedly for evangelizing the world ? Whose duty is it ? the duty of every Christian. Is it a privilege? Whose privilege? Does our Lord demand the service of every one ? Does he not, at the same time, allow every one the privilege ? Who is it, then, among all his friends, that is to be exempt from the duty ? Who that is to be deprived of the privilege ? Not one. Due allegiance is expected of all, and due favor is shown to all. It is ordained that every one shall lay by him in store. How suitable and how beautiful is this arrangement ! Here the whole Church of Christ, the hiuh arid the low, the rich and the poor, the male and the female, appear before him on the first day of the week. Nor does any one appear empty. Every one lays by him in store an offering, as an acknowl- edgement of obligation and thanksgiving. This being done frequently and statedly, and on that day of consecra- tion and blessing, it is suited to produce the most happy results. Here all hearts beat in unison before the face of the Lord. This act is done by every one in his own dwelling, under the eye of the Lord, who seeth not as man seeth, but looketh upon the heart. From a principle of obedience sjnd love every redeemed sinner gives an offer- ing to the Lord. While this method cherishes the best feelings towards God our Savior, and towards his people and cause, it does, at the same time, lie as the basis of all that is needful by way of contribution. For a moment think of the power which the mighty Savior can call into action on this principle. Suppose a church of two hundred and fifty members. Let every one be poor, and every one lay by only the widow's two mites, 4 The Divine Method. which make a farthing. One cent a week from two hundred and fifty Christians, will amount, in a year, to at least one hundred and twenty-five dollars ! Is not the DIVINE METHOD one of great power ? How vast the sura from a million of Christians ! from a million of poor Christians ! Not less than five hundred thousand dollars! But this is by no means the divine standard of contribu- tion. It is only the frequency and universality that we have yet considered. And far be it from us to intimate that the rich are to contribute no more than the poor. Such is by no means the DIVINE METHOD. 3. It is to contribute in due proportion. " As God hath prospered him." It is supposed that every Christian is engaged in business. It is needful while in this world that every one should have some honest and laudable mode of acquiring property, both to supply personal and domestic wants, and afford -a surplus for the needy. Believers were generally poor in apostolic times, and obtained the means of their support by their daily labor. At the end of the week, their work being done, they could be ready to observe the Divine Providence in regard to them, and to know how they had been prospered in their business. And this was the rule of proportion for their contribution. They might lay by in store a certain per cent., five, ten, twenty, or any other proportion, just as they were able, or as their love prompted them to do, either more or less. If, at any time, they had received more than common, then their proportion would he the same, while the amount would be greater. And so if they had received less. This would operate equally upon all the members; for the rich would give abundance from their abundant income, and the poor would give a little, just in the same proportion. The Apostle does not say, however, how much each man should give, only that it should be proportionate to each one's prosperity. Every one is able to exercise his own judgment. God wishes not that we should feel as tributaries, but as friends and children; that he is Lord of all, the Father of mercies, and the Savior of the lost; that we should understand the work he is engaged in, and that we are allowed and expected to co-operate in it. Aad, that our views may be enlarged and our affections The Divine Method. 5 engaged, he allows us the unspeakable privilege of con- sidering his kingdom as our kingdom, his work as our work, his glory as our glory, and the happiness and glory of all that is achieved arid done, as his joy, in which we are permitted to share. With such a work before us, and such results as our ultimate reward and portion, he calls us to take part in the work, with the assurance that every one shall receive a reward according to his own labor. With our eyes fixed on the future joy, he allows us to deny ourselves, to labor, to make sacrifices, and bear his cross, Justin proportion to our faith and love; all proceeding spontaneously from our ardent affection for him, and his cause, and the souls of men. In this blessed enterprise he lays out before us, not only this world, which is the field in which he works and employs us, but heaven and hell, with their eternal realities. Heaven, the dwelling of all that become holy and happy, on the one hand ; and hell, with the wicked and the lost, on the other, God reveals to us as the final destination of every soul of man. It is not, then, a mere estimate of our doing a certain amount of labor, or giving a certain amount of contribution, or bearing a certain weight of sorrow and affliction, that is to regulate our action, or our suffering; but it is the worth of the soul, the bliss of heaven, the pains of hell, the example of God, angels, and good men, that are to be always before us. Such are the themes of thought, the expanding, ennobling, and invigorating reali- ties, which are to move us. And, with these in view, God allows us to judge and determine how great shall be the amount that we will consecrate to this noble, angelic, godlike enterprise. The purpose and the act are to be our own, in the sight of God, with the glory and joy that are set before us. Such is the DIVINE METHOD. 4. It is such as requires order and care. " Let every one of you lay by him in store." Laborers have store- houses. In them they preserve the fruits of their labor. They have also a place for their money ; their iron chest or some other place of safety. This is their treasury. In this they deposit the results of their industry and frugality. For what? For the double purpose of order and safe- keeping. On this place of deposit, how much thought 1 * 6 The Divine Method. may be expended ! It is the store, perhaps, laid up for a day of trouble, or for the helplessness of old age, or as an inheritance for children. In view of this store, one may say to his soul, " Thou hast much goods laid up for many years." Another may calculate how much he may gain by the provident use of this store ; or he may pride him- self on the power he can exert with his wealth. Others may look towards their little store with an anxious eye, unable to tell how their wants shall be supplied amid the vicissitudes of an uncertain hereafter. But where is the man who keeps a treasury for Godl I mean a place of deposit, in which he may lay up in store, as God has prospered him, his contribution for the relief of the needy, especially the needy soul. It would be no great stretch of the imagination to suppose that a pious mind would find as much pleasure in thinking of the Lord's treasury as of his own. It is the testimonial of his heavenly Father's bounty. Every thought of it calls forth a new emotion of love, with a strong desire to do good to the needy. In this treasury the money is safe, and it is ready. This was one design of the Apostle in ordering this deposit " that there be no gatherings when I come." He was making collections in Asia and Europe, among the churches of the Gentiles, to relieve the poor saints at Jerusalem. He was the general agent in this concern. As he was passing from one church to another to promote their spiritual interests, he was willing to take charge of their collections, and be the bearer of them for the relief of the poor. But he did not wish to do what they could do themselves. Nor did he wish to be diverted or detained from his great work while their collections were being made. If they would follow his directions, all would be ready. lie would receive their bounty, and rejoice with them in their readiness and liberality. Then God would be pleased with their cheer- fulness, and honored by the abundance of their contri- bution and their joy. So in all cases of charitable liberality, if the DIVINE METHOD were followed, how pleasant, how delightful would be the aspect of the Church! Every member laying by him in store upon the first day of the week, as God had prospered him, what an abundance would there be for every want ! How promptly, how cheerfully, how satisfactorily would every want be met \ The Divine Method. 7 Then would there be no complaint of hard times ; for every one's bounty would be ready. Then would there be no complaint of too many calls : for on every Lord's day the store would be replenished. Let there be a call on one Lord's day for the Bible Society ; on another for the Tract Society; on a third, for the Foreign Missionary Society; on a fourth, for the Home Missionary Society ; on a fifth for the Education Society ; on a sixth, for the Sabbath School Society ; and so on, till all the Societies, which deserve our aid, have called and then what? Let them call again ; for again we shall be ready. Note, however, that the Apostle does not direct these supplies to be laid by in the house of God on the first day of the week; but every one in his own house. Then, at the call of the Lord, there may be brought forth, from everyone's store, whatever has been laid by, or as much as may be needful and proper for that object. LET THESE DIVINE INSTRUCTIONS BE APPLIED. 1. Personal responsibility is an essential element of the DIVINE METHOD. Our Lord does not intend that the individual shall be lost in the mass. His eye is upon the treasury. He ob- serves every offering. The rich may cast in much. But his eye is upon every one. He orders every one of us, on the first day of the week, to lay by in store as he has pros- pered us. And he looks as carefully at the gift of the poor as at the gift of the rich. He kindly takes notice of the love, the hard labor, the self-denial of the poor disciple who presents a small oblation. The turtle-dove, the young pi- geon the two mites, the hard-earned shilling, given cheer- fully, joyfully, with a heart overflowing with faith and love, attracts the notice of the " High and Lofty One." But if there be among his professed followers, one, or two, or any other number, who present no oblation, how do you think the Omniscient views them? They have no trea- sury for God. They lay by nothing in store. They have no present for him in their hand, nor in their house. He sees nothing in all they possess designed for him, unless connected with some self-interest. Do you think that Christ is pleased with such? They may think, indeed, that the church to which they belong does much; and they may think that they shall pass along with the church, 8 The Divine Method. as being bountiful. But what theology, what logic is this? The Church is bountiful; therefore, every member is boun- tiful? Do such expect to die with the mass, to be judged with the mass, to be admitted into heaven with the mass? Is it not written that, "Every one of us shall give account of himself to God?" And does not the same authority or- der that " upon the first day of the week, every one shall lay by him in store as God hath prospered him?" As cer- tainly as every member of the Church is an- individual being, just so certainly is every one ordered to lay by in store as God hath prospered him. 2. The Divine Method is feasible. In regard to ma- ny plans there is doubt whether they will operate well in practice, because it may be difficult to carry them out. But there is no difficulty in regard to this; for only one person is concerned in carrying it out. He is not depend- ent on any one but himself. None need inquire whether the whole church, or any considerable number, or even any other one, will do it. It is a personal matter. Nor can any one say he is not able; for it is only to lay by in store as God has prospered you. It is the simplest of all methods, and can be easily carried into effect by every one that desires to do it. Let there be but a willing mind, and you will do as did the contributors to build the taber- nacle or the temple; or, as did the Gentile churches to. relieve the poor saints at Jerusalem. A willing mind makes a cheerful giver, and God loveth a cheerful giver. 3. The Divine Method is for the lest intrreft of the Church. Let every member try it at once. It will give new views to many on this most practical subject. It will greatly enlarge the mind. It will put every one on a de- sire to arrange his affairs with system. It will tend to inspire every one with energy. It will dilate the heart with joy. It will open a new source of enjoyment. And it will give an unwonted impulse to all religious feeling and action, and to the common business of life ; for, as you adopt this Divine Method you will feel more than ever before that you live for God, for the Church, for the benefit of soul?, and for a vast eternity. Your meditations, your prayers, your plans, your whole manner of life will be improved. You will at once become more like Christ in The Divine Method. 9 your regard lo the great work of evangelizing the world; and, in many important respects, the aspect of the world, of time and eternity, will be changed. You will aim at higher, nobler, more enduring, and more glorious objects, for you will more readily understand the mind of Christ, and more justly estimate the superlative excellence of his kingdom and glory. 4. The Divine Method carried out will furnish abun- dant srjp dies. If one cent a week from a million will fur- nish five hundred thousand dollars, as the contributions of the poor, what an abundant supply will be furnished when the more able and the rich shall lay by in store as God has prospered them! Fifty cents are but the tenth part of five dollars. If every one should adopt Jacob's vow, what an income would annually flow into the Lord's treasury ! For every ten dollars one; for every hundred dollars ten: for every thousand a hundred ! But we are not to suppose that the more able will be content to give no larger pro- portion than the poor. Where much is forgiven, the love will be much. Where the Lord bestows bountifully, he expects to reap bountifully. And the pious soul, that receives much from the Lord, delights to consecrate much to him in return. There can, therefore, be no doubt of abundant supplies, if the Divine Method be carried out. 5. The Divine Mithod affords a test of Christian love. In some parts of the world a man becomes a Chris- tian at the risk of his life. So it was generally during the first three hundred years after the Christian era. And thus were verified the words of Christ to his disciples: Ye shall be hated of all nations for rny name's sake. He added, " He that loveth his life shall lose it ; and he that hateth his life for my sake, shall find it." But what is the test of Love to Christ, at this time, and in this land ? It is not the name of Christ. So many are called Chris- tians, that the name is far from being a term of reproach. It requires no self-denial, no sacrifice, no cross, to assume the Christian name, at this time, and in this country. What then is a test of Christian love? Is it orthodox doctrine? Is it moral duty or religious form? Is it penance or abstinence ? Is it frequent or long continued 10 The Divine Method. exercises of prayer, preaching, or effort to persuade sinners to become such sort of Christians as everywhere abounds? None of these, nor all of them together; for all these may be where there is nothing of the peculiari- ties of that love which would die for Christ. But here is a tent of Christian love. When one hears the command of Christ, " Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature," and says, "Lord, here am I, send me," and goes forth: when another perceives that he is not qualified to go, but is willing to do as much at home, and deny himself as much, and suffer as much to encourage and sustain him that goes, this is Christian love; and this is precisely what is needed in this country at this time. For the sake of illustration, suppose that you were to devote yourself and your all to the missionary cause, just as the most devoted missionary of whom you ever heard, and labor at home instead of going abroad. You live in as good a house, and wear as good apparel, and spread as good a table, and regulate all your expenses, and improve all your time, and train your family just as you think it becomes your brother, the missionary, to do ; at the same time you deny yourself as much, and do all in your power as much to promote the cause, as you expect him to do. In all these things you keep the Lord Jesus Christ in view, and seek to please him, and imitate his example, and bear his cross, and seek his kingdom. You also, as a true yoke-fellow, work shoulder to shoulder with them who toil abroad ; pray as they pray, and feel as they feel, and hope as they hope. Tell me now, is not this Christian love ? Tell me again, does not the Divine Mt-thnfl lead to this very course ? Is it not then a test of Christian love ? Is not this the very thing that is needed at this time and in this country 1 It is not a hloody test, to be sure ; but is it not as surely a test ? Admit indeed, if it be demanded, that all this might be without love to Christ. We contend, too, that a man might " give his body to be burned " without charity ; but this alters not the nature of the test. It still stands good for this pur- pose; and by this must Christian love, at this day, and in this land, be tried. 6. Finally. Shall the Divine Mrthod be. adopted and pursued? For one, I answer in the affirmative. I will The Divine Method. 11 not preach to others what I will not do myself. I have weighed this matter ; and I beg you to allow me to say, without being thought ostentatious, that I have practised this method, substantially, for about thirty years. I do not say that I have literally laid by on the first day of the week, as God has prospered me ; but that I have done the same as to the general amount. I do not say that I have loved Christ, or his cause, or the souls of men, or denied myself and suffered so much as I might have done. But I do say that 1 have, during these years, devoted a certain proportion, a tenth at least, of all that God has given me, to his treasury. Nor would I have said this publicly, were it not that consistency seemed to require it, for I wish to bear testimony that the Divine Method is good. It impresses upon the Christian a sense heathenism of O SLAVERY NOT A SCRIPTURAL > idolatry? Or shall they preach against both at once? Is either of these the prescribed way to convert the Gentile nations ? When Christ commanded his Apostles to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, did they understand their commission to lay them under the obligation to preach against the heathenism of oppression as much as against that of idolatry ? Certainly they could not have inferred such an obligation from the example of their Master. Though Christ did not himself become a missionary to the heathen, yet he lived under a heathen prince whose government was despotic ; and his enemies strove hard to ensnare him, by inducing him to declare it to be unlawful to pay tribute to that despot. But without drawing out any opinion of his concerning the character of the emperor or his government, they were told to " render to Caesar the things \vhich were Caesar's, and unto .God the things w r hich were God's." "I think there is no evidence that the Apostles, when they went forth at the command of Christ to disciple the nations, preached against the heathen- ism of oppression, as they did against that of idolatry. When their persecutors, in punishing them, contravened the laws of the country, they made their complaints ; but in their complaints, they said nothing against the laws themselves. They enjoined it on all their converts to obey magistrates to be subject to the existing powers to submit themselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake ; "whether to the king as supreme, or to governors as sent by him. And how has the heathenism of oppression been met by the most pious and devoted missionaries of later times ? Has it been with harangues in favor of liberty and against tyranny ? Is this the course which has been taken by the missionaries at the Sandwich Islands? Or is this the course which they ought to have taken ? Doctor L. acknowledges that they have already been instrumental in effecting a sensible melioration of the civil condition of the inhabitants. He says, " The government, from being an entire despotism, became a limited monarchy. A constitution was formed, setting forth the character the government should hencefor- ward assume, and defining the limits of its several depart- ments. Laws were made and published, the right of property w r as recognized, and a representative branch was added to the legislative department." That the missionaries have been the cause, under God, of this betterment in the civil condition of the Sandwich Island- GROUND OF DIVISION. ers can admit of no doubt. And it greatly concerns us to be made acquainted with the means by which they have brought it to pass. Doctor L. has had a better opportunity of knowing the means which have been used, than we who have tarried at home. But from the acquaintance I have with some of the missionaries, and from an attentive peru- sal of their published reports, I feel confident in saying, they have not effected this change in the civil government of the nation, by inveighing against the despotism of the king and his chiefs, or by delivering lectures on civil liberty. They did not visit these distant islands as political men, but as the ministers of Jesus. They, therefore, went to declare war with no prince, except the prince of the power of the air, the spirit which worketh in the hearts of^ the children of disobedience. They went where Satan's seat was, to assert the rights of Jehovah, and to preach a crucified Saviour as the only hope of a fallen race. This was their legitimate work as the servants of Him who declared that his kingdom was not of this world. Considered in the cha- racter of Christian ministers, their great object was not to produce literary or governmental improvements among these ignorant and oppressed people. They had a much higher object in view, even to make them know the only true God and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent. They who know these great truths, in a saving manner, shall be free indeed ; while all the rest of the world, in a spiritual sense, are the subjects of the most cruel despot. We do not mean to say that human science and civil liberty are of no value. We freely acknowledge that im- provements in these are important, since they not only render this life more comfortable, but have a favorable bearing on the interests of the life to come. And I would now ask, had the knowledge of letters and improvement in civil governTnent been proposed by the missionaries as the grand desideratum, could they have taken any other way, different from that which they did take, which would have answered the purpose so well ? I am persuaded that every considerate man will acknowledge, they could have taken no other way to improve the condition of that degraded people, as it respects the present life, which would have been so speedy, so effectual, or so scriptural. Who can but admire the wisdom displayed in this divine arrangement that the simple preaching of the gospel, unembarrassed with the politics of this world, should be 1 made the readiest and O SLAVERY NOT A SCRIPTURAL most effectual means of improving the condition of the civil community ? If we grant that a heathenism of oppression is spread over the pagan world, which is more in the way of the success of the gospel than the heathenism of idolatry, I do not per- ceive how this obliges us to change the structure of a mis- sionary society, or alter the mode of our attack on this portion of Satan's dominion. In waging this holy- war, we go against the enemy, wholly in the capacity of a spiritual host, clothed with spiritual armor, for the purpose of bringing them under a new and spiritual dominion, even the dominion of Zion's King. It is not the object of our mission to pre- judice them against their temporal rulers, but to turn them from the power of Satan unto God. If Doctor L. has reflected new light on the heathenizing influence of oppression, the light may be valuable ; but I do not see that it discovers any -new path for the missionary who is sent forth to the heathen. I can hardly suppose that he would wish the American Board to give their missionaries instructions on this subject, different from those which they have heretofore given them. The civil oppression, under which many of the heathen nations are groaning, may operate as one motive to hasten the work of evangelizing them. What- ever light Dr. L. has reflected on this matter should have its influence to speed us in our work, but not to change the manner of our doing it. I do not see, provided all which he has said concerning the influence of this kind of hea- thenism be admitted, that there is any new missionary organization called for, or any different mode of operation from that which has already been adopted. Would Doctor L. propose that, in order to meet the heathenism of oppres- sion, every missionary society should place in its constitu- tion, an article expressive of their abhorrence of an absolute monarchy, and their determination to suffer no professed converts to be admitted into their churches who did not sympathize with them in this matter ? Such an article would exert no good influence on the mind of the missionary, nor would it afford him the least help in winning souls to Christ. But the effect it would have to hinder him in his work is very manifest. (1.) It would tend to secularize that which is spiritual : it would give an earthly complexion to the kingdom of heaven. (2.) It would render it difficult, if not impossible, for the missionary to get access to those of his fellow men who live under despotic governments. GROUND OF DIVISION. 9 To such his Master sends him as well as to others ; and yet he puts no sword into his hand, by which to gain access to them, except the sword of the Spirit. (3.) The effect of such an article, in case the missionary were to be imbued with the spirit of it, would be to divide the attention of those to whom he is sent, between things as dissimilar as time and eternity, to divide their attention between the free- dom of republicans and the freedom of Christians. I can hardly deem it necessary to extend my remarks on this part of the subject ; for I do not believe that Dr. L. or his friends would wish to have missionary societies prepare themselves, by explicit enactments, or a declaration of their opinions on governmental affairs, to attack the heathenism of oppression, when that oppression consists in, the want of what is termed civil liberty, or the freedom of citizens. Let us now suppose that these benevolent societies are about to send their messengers of peace into a country where a portion of the inhabitants are in a state of domestic bondage, and where this bondage is sanctioned by law. Shall they prepare to encounter this evil by special enact- ments, expressive of their abhorrence of slavery, and of their determination not to tolerate its existence even for an hour ? Is it the duty of the missionary to bear with cim/, but not with domestic bondage ? Does it require that the structure of the society which sends him should be different in the one case from what it is in the other ? Is it true that, while the missionary is forbidden to disturb the rela- tion which exists between sovereigns and their subjects, he is allowed to annul that which exists between masters and their servants ? If the Scripture has given us instruction on this subject, let us thankfully receive it ; for all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for instruction in right- eousness, that the man of God may be thoroughly furnished unto all good works. For our present purpose, we do not need to know what are the decisions of the Scripture con- cerning the character of the thing in question. To guide our missionary operations in countries where slavery pre- vails, we need to be informed on these two points : 1st. Did the Apostles and their associates preach in such coun- tries ? 2d. If they did, how did they treat the subject of slavery 7 ; and how were they required to treat it ? 1st. Did the Apostles and their associates preach the gospel in countries where slavery prevailed ? That they 10 SLAVERY NOT A SCRIPTURAL did I think can be made perfectly certain, without referring to profane history or any writings but their own. I should suppose that no reader of the IVew Testament could enter- tain a doubt, that a servitude existed in the places where they preached, and to which they sent epistles, which was of a character fundamentally different from that of hired servants. Men distinguished by the epithets bond and free are repeatedly spoken of as having membership in the Apostolic churches. 1 Cor. xii. 13; Gal. iii. 28; Eph. vi. 8. In those primitive churches there were not only ser- vants, but " servants who were under the yoke." 1 Tim. vi. 1. There were evidently servants who could not be made free at their.own option. 1 Cor. vii. 21-22. 2d. If servitude of the involuntary kind existed in the days of the Apostles, and in the places where they labored in the gospel, we are next concerned to know how they treated it ; especially as they received their commission and instructions from the highest source. I have attentively examined their epistles with this subject in view, and I can- not perceive that they allowed themselves to make any more direct attack on the bondage of the servant who was under the yoke of his master, than on the bondage of the subject who was under the yoke of his prince. I do not find that they taught servants to disregard the authority of their masters, on the ground of the injustice of slavery, any more than they taught subjects to disregard the authority of their sovereigns, on account of their unjust and tyrannical governments. So Paul taught the servants at Ephesus and at Colosse. And such teaching on this subject he strictly enjoined on Timothy and Titus, who were ministers of the word, and to each of whom he wrote an epistle. In the same strain was the preaching of the Apostle Peter. See Eph. vi. 5-8 ; Col. iii. 22-24 ; 1 Tim. vi. 1,2; Tit. ii. 9 ; 1 Pet. ii. 18. I do not adduce these passages to show that Paul and Peter and Timothy and Titus approved of the institution of slavery ; or that the Author of the Scriptures approved of it. Nor did I, just now, bring forward the declaration which Christ made, when he was inquired of whether it was lawful to give tribute to Caesar, to show that Christ approved of the despotism of that monarch : nor the injunc- tion which Paul laid on all Christians to be subject to the existing power, as a proof that the Apostle had no objection to any of the forms of government which were then in the GROUND OF DIVISION. 11 world. My sole object in bringing forward these passages has been, to show how Christ and his Apostles and friends treated, and how they required others to treat, the govern- ments of the earth, both national and domestic, even when they were manifestly of a despotic character. Now, if such were the rules given to the church in pri- mitive times to direct her efforts in spreading the gospel among the nations, and if she has been furnished with no inspired rules of a subsequent date, can she safely depart from these precedents ? Had the American Board been organized for the express purpose of sending missionaries to the slaves of this country, it would have been unwise, and contrary to the inspired rule, to have put themselves in the attitude of belligerents against their masters. As they sent their missionaries to convert the Sandwich Islanders, who were under the heathenism of civil oppression, without inveighing against their rulers, just so it would behoove them, in sending their missionaries to those in domestic servitude, to forbear to inveigh against their masters. This, as it appears to me, would not only be according to " the pattern shown in the mount," but also in accordance with sound reason. If, in the capacity of teachers of religion, we were to claim it to be our duty wherever we go, among freemen and bondsmen, to denounce slavery as a grievous sin, it would render it impossible to approach the slave population of any country. But if such denunciations should not prevent our access to them, it would nevertheless be of a hurtful tendency to the slaves themselves. These men are involved in a bondage of two kinds ; for the one they are innocent for the other guilty; the one will, at the longest, end within a few years, but the other, if the chain be not broken soon, will remain through eternity. Freedom from domestic bondage may, in some cases, add very little to one's happiness ; but freedom from " sin's old yoke and Satan's chain " brings the soul out of the lowest dungeon into God's marvellous light. The converted slave would not ex- change conditions with an unconverted master, nor with an unconverted king on the throne. It was in view of this infi- nite privilege, which every convert enjoys, however mean his condition in this life, that Paul said in his letter to the church of Corinth, " Art thou called being a servant, care not for it." If you are a Christian, you are a king and priest unto God, and have an inheritance which will never fail. 12 SLAVERY NOT A SCRIPTURAL Some may imagine that the heathenism of oppression bears so heavily on the slaves of this country, that there can be no hope of reaching them with the means of grace, until the yoke of bondage is thrown from their necks. I wish most sincerely that this heathenism were removed from our land, by the repeal of all the laws which sustain it. Were those States where such laws exist to annul them, I am persuaded that in so doing they would not only do an act of justice to their servants, but do themselves and their child- ren an essential service. But the Church owes a present duty to this portion of our inhabitants. We have no right to wait for the repeal of the slave laws before we make an effort to preach tha salvation of Christ to the enslaved. And while those laws remain, the gospel does not authorize us practically to abrogate them ; or so to conduct as if we knew nothing of such a relationship as that of master and servant. But while we are required to recognise the re- lationship, we are also required to enforce the duties which grow out of it : the duties of the master, as well as of the servant. While we enjoin it upon the servants to obey in all things their masters according to the flesh, we are to say to the masters, " Give unto your servants that which is just and equal ; knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven." We are to remind them that their servants are their fellow-men, whose interests they cannot disregard with impunity : that they have souls which will exist for ever souls which need intellectual and moral cultivation. For it is an inspired proverb, " That if the soul be without knowledge, it is not good." Masters ought to know that their servants have a right, in common with themselves, to be made acquainted with the Bible. If they should tell us that the laws do not permit them to teach their servants to read, we must urge them to do what they can to counteract the ill effect of such laws, by taking opportunity themselves to read to their servants, and espe- cially from the word of God. And, without arraying our- selves against the government, we may join with others in petitioning for the repeal of those laws which have such an unfavorable bearing on the immortal interests of so many of our fellow -probationers ; those laws which preclude them, from obeying the Saviour's command to search the Scriptures- Now, if I am correct in the position which I have taken, namely, that our inspired instructions require us to preach a spiritual deliverance to the oppressed, whether their oppres- GROUND OF DIVISION. 13 sion consist in being under despotic kings or despotic mas- ters, without absolving them from their allegiance in either case ; then it would seem to me inappropriate for a mis- sionary society to declare itself either anti-monarchical or anti-slavery. The members may be both anti-monarchical and anti-slavery in sentiment, and yet, if in the capacity of a society for the propagation of the gospel, they declare themselves to be so, they array an opposition to their good work of spreading the gospel which is not called for. 1'hey make an impression on the public mind, both at home and abroad, which the Scriptures do not authorize them to make ; namely, that their work, as a Christian society, is as much to oppose earthly princes, as ,to oppose the prince of hell ; and to deliver servants from their earthly bondage, as much as to deliver them from the bondage of sin. I have little doubt, that Paul was, in heart, opposed both to slavery and absolute monarchy. But he too well under- stood his work as an Apostle of Christ, to make any direct attack on either. He entered into the spirit of that good confession which his Master made before Pontius Pilate, when he said, " My kingdom is not of this world." None, I conclude, will pretend that it was the spirit of cowardice which led Paul to tell Christian servants to obey their mas- ters ; and which led him to forbear to require Christian masters to release their servants. As an Apostle of Jesus Christ, employed in establishing a spiritual kingdom in the earth, he would have gone out of his way to have said any- thing more on the subject than to enjoin a faithful, consci- entious performance of the duties of all the civil and do- mestic relations which existed among men. It was not surely a cowardly spirit, or that fear of man that bringeth a snare, which led Jesus Christ to say to one, who wished him to speak to his brother, that he would divide the inherit- ance with him, " Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you ?" Nor was it shameful fear which made him re- fuse to pass a decision on the case of the adulterous woman, who was brought to him in the temple. John viii. 1, 11. He doubtless designed, by his treatment of these cases, to give a proper view of the spiritual character of his kingdom, and to let all understand that he could not be diverted from his appropriate work ; nor needlessly bring himself into col- lision with the governments of this world. Those brethren who are desirous that Missionary Boards should take action on the subject of slavery, may think it I 14 SLAVERY NOT A SCRIPTURAL is a cowardly spirit which prevents them from doing it. But why should they impute it to so base a motive. How do they know but these Missionary Boards are kept back from taking action on the subject from the same motives which influenced the Apostles, and the Redeemer himself? Were I a member of a Missionary Board, I should certainly be afraid of displeasing the head of the church, by clogging its operations with any such secular appendages. Anti-Slavery, Colonization, and other societies may have- their proper sphere of useful operation, but why should they wish to em- barrass the church in her appropriate work of extending the kingdom of Christ, by requiring her to identify herself with any one of them ? Would it, I ask, have been consistent for some of the primitive ministers of the Gospel, together with private brethren, to have formed an organization for mission- ary labors which should have been distinct from that of the Apostles, for the sake of exhibiting more clearly their ab- horrence of slavery ? Could "they have done such a thing in consistency with a full belief that the Apostles wrote to the churches as they were moved by the Holy Ghost ? Had they believed, what I have expressed as my own belief, that Paul was in sentiment opposed to slavery, would it have become them to complain of the method in which he treated that subject in the letters he wrote to the churches, and in those which he wrote to his brethren in the ministry ? Would it have been consistent with a spirit of humility and of reverence for the Scriptures had they stigmatized Paul as a time-server and a pro-slavery Apostle ? What if they could not see why he was not explicit in opposing servi- tude, by giving the servants full liberty to escape from their masters ; or by requiring the masters to take the servile yoke from their necks, still, if they believed, as we do, that the Spirit of Christ guided him in writing those letters, they could not with any consistency have supposed that he had made a mistake in his manner of treating the subject. If it would have been schismatic for some members of the church, at that period, to have formed a society for the propagation of the Gospel, to be governed in its missionary operations by rules repugnant to those laid down in the in- spired writings ; at what subsequent period, we would ask, did it become proper to disregard such rules, and substitute others in their stead ? If a society formed in the days of the Apostles had made this a rule that no master, having servants under his yoke, should be allowed the privilege GROUND OF DIVISION. 15 of becoming one of its members, or of contributing to its funds, would such a rule have been in accordance with the authorized practice of admitting such masters into their churches, and at the same time enjoining it on their servants, not to despise them because they were brethren, but rather to do them service because they were faithful and beloved partakers of the benefit ? What should we have thought of Paul, had he incorporated such a rule in the same epistle which contained the above direction to servants ? Between the two there would have been no agreement. But is it not wrong, it may be said, to put the price of blood into the treasury of the Lord ? And does not the Lord declare that he hates robbery for burnt-offerings ? I would reply to, this by asking, do the Scriptures justify us in stigmatizing every offering which is made by a master who has bond-servants, by calling it robbery, and the price of blood ? By fixing such a stigma on his gift, merely because he is a master, we seem to manifest great disrespect for that part of Scripture which suffers masters to hold a place in the same church with their servants, and that " without reproof or rebuke." There might then have been masters on the earth, whom it would have been proper to class with robbers and murderers and other vile criminals ; but I am sure that it could not have been proper to put them all into this class, at the very time when an inspired Apostle was greeting them as brethren, faithful and beloved. Have the apostolic epistles lost their inspiration through age ? Or have they ceased to furnish rules to regulate the church of Christ ? If they have not, I should suppose we had no authority for any essential change in the mode of our aggressive movements against the kingdom of darkness. I have no doubt that the church would be better prepared to extend the kingdom of Christ in the world, provided every Christian master were to release his bondsmen. Nor do I doubt that it is proper for such as have released theirs, to persuade their brethren to imitate their example. Other Christians have also a duty to perform towards their slave- holding brethren. They should urge them to let the golden rule have its full effect in the liberation of the oppressed. But in case we do not immediately succeed in bringing our brethren to adopt our views on this point, have we a right to turn upon them and call them murderers and man-stealers ? Or is it right we should refuse their offerings to the house of our God ? Will the Scriptures authorize us to tell them. 16 SLAVERY NOT A SCRIPTURAL that to receive their offerings would be as criminal as to re- ceive the winnings of the gambler, or the profits of the brothel ? The reader may wish to ask, whether I should judge it proper for a missionary society to receive a donation in slaves : and why this would not be as proper as to receive the avails of their labor. In my view the two cases are quite different. The difference is the same as between bearing with my brother who has slaves, and having them myself. The one I am required to do, but not the other. My bearing with my brother in this case, is no proof that I approve his practice ; but the adoption of his practice as my own, is setting to it the seal of my approbation. A be- nevolent society, in receiving donations from the country at large, without excepting the slaveholders, manifests nothing more than that spirit of toleration, which I think the Scrip- tures inculcate ; but were it to ^accept a proffered donation in slaves, this would constitute it a slaveholding society. Were I to adopt the sentiment, which I believe has been adopted by some, namely, that every master who has a bond-servant is a graceless man, still, if this were the only way in which his graceless character was developed, I should not dare to exclude him from a place in the church of Christ. With this characteristic, however unlovely it may appear to me, Christ allowed him to come into his visi- ble family, and gave him a place among his disciples. See Eph. vi. 9 ; Col. iv. 1 ; 1 Tim. vi. 1-3. Now, until a man- date shall come from the same high authority which gave him admittance, requiring him to be excluded, I dare not turn him out of the family. Should any one say, that since the time the master was admitted, there has been such an augmentation of light on this subject as to render the rela- tionship he sustains no longer tolerable, it would not satisfy me that I have a right to consider the toleration act, which brought him into the church, as being henceforward null and void. As a master was he permitted to come into the church, and as such he was received. If he neglected to. perform the duties of a master, he exposed himself to the censures of the church. But by what divine edict, I would ask, is he exposed to those censures now merely for being a master ? I have a right to reason with him on the sub- ject, and show him that I consider the act in his favor as mere toleration, like that which Moses gave to the Israel- ites because of the hardness of their hearts. I have a right GROUND OF DIVISION. 17 to entreat him not to avail himself of the toleration, but to cease forthwith from sustaining his present relation to his domestics. Nevertheless, in case he does not yield to my entreaties, have I a right to say to him, though you may be as pious and faithful a master as was Abraham himself, you can have no place with me in the family of Christ ? I wish it to be understood that it is not the design of any of the remarks I have made, to throw the least obstruction in the way of effecting an essential (though peaceable) change in the laws of civil society in relation to domestic servitude. I rejoice in all the laws which have been enacted, and efforts which have been made, to counteract the infamous slave trade. I rejoice in the abolition of sla- very in one and another of the kingdoms of the old world, and the states of the new. As this is one of the institutions or appendages of the civil community, to this community it belongs either to modify or abrogate the laws which sustain it. When the state has abrogated her slave laws, no such laws, as a matter of course, can remain to disturb the peace of the church. The church did not enact these laws, but merely recognized their existence, and thereupon enforced the religious duties resulting from the relationship of master and servant. While these civil enactments remain, the church seems not to be authorized forcibly to repeal them, even in relation to her own members. She is doubtless at liberty to use moral means to persuade her members volun- tarily to relinquish their legal right to hold their fellow men in bondage. But she has no right to enact laws, even for the regulation of her own discipline, which shall contravene those which have been given her by her King. What her King has declared He will tolerate, she has no right to say she will not tolerate. Where He allows her to use per- suasion and nothing more, she has no right to use coercion. Some of those who acknowledge the involuntary charac- ter of the servitude which the precepts of the New Testa- ment required should be tolerated, are nevertheless of opinion that these precepts have no present application on account of a change of circumstances. But who has author- ity to pronounce circumstances sufficiently changed to annul divine rules ? The* rules referred to oblige no man to violate the dictates of conscience by retaining his bondsmen in their bondage, but in case his conscience suffers him to do it, these rules lay his brethren under obligation to bear with him in so doing. While increasing light may increase his 18 SLAVERY NOT A SCRIPTURAL obligation to emancipate his bondmen, I do not know that it gives his brethren a right to compel him to do it. If God has once required us to bear with the master who 'has ser- vants under his yoke, does not this requisition continue to be obligatory until He himself releases us from the obliga- tion ? " Who art thou that judgest another man's servant," and that in contrariety to the rules prescribed by his own master ? As the servants of Christ we all have one Master. Where our Divine Master has prescribed rules for the regu- lation of our treatment of our fellow servants, what right have we to alter them, and offer this as our reason for doing it, that circumstances are sufficiently changed to justify the alteration ? An epitome of my reasons for dissenting from the new missionary arrangement, recommended in the Address which has drawn forth my remarks, I will now state in numerical order, that it may be seen at a glance why I am opposed to this innovation. First. My first reason, and one which to me appears enough to decide the matter, is this ; I think it to*be un- scriptural. That is, it seems to differ entirely from the directions of Scripture in relation to this very matter. Slavery existed among the nations to whom the gospel was sent while the pen of inspiration was still in the hands of the Apostles. Then, it is evident, the anti-slavery test was not required of the members of the church, to give them a right to send or carry the news of salvation to the heathen. Then was it expressly enjoined on the ministers of Christ that they should teach servants to be subject to their mas- ter. Nor were they authorized to require believing masters to give freedom to their servants. See 1 Tim. vi. 1-3 ; Tit. ii. 9 ; 1 Pet. ii. 18. These rules were not designed to hinder any master from giving freedom to his bond servants, but I do think they were designed to teach us that in our ecclesiastical capacity, or in our missionary associations, we are forbidden to agitate this question. That is, we are for- bidden to make it a term of communion. We are forbidden to go forth, as propagators of the religion of Christ, in the appropriate character of an anti-slavery mission ; just as much as in the appropriate character of an anti-monarchical mission. A Christian mission is neither one nor the other. Secondly. The proposed change in our organizations has a direct tendency to embarrass missionary operations, and is, in my view, exceedingly calculated to hinder the GROUND OF DIVISION. 19 conversion of souls both at home and abroad. Though I agree with Dr. L. in believing that the heathenism of op- pression is a great obstruction to the conversion of souls, still 1 believe it would present an additional obstruction to their conversion, were the church of the Redeemer to in- scribe on her missionary standards, EXTERMINATING WAR WITH DESPOTISM AND SLAVERY. Nor does she, in withholding this inscription from her standards, act the part of deceit. It is but a fair representation of her exclusively spiritual character. But would not the church practise deceit, were she to assure the nations whom she seeks to Christianize, that she has no intention to intermed- dle with their civil or domestic polity ; and yet, as soon as she has effected their subjugation to the cross, insist on their changing their polity as the only condition of retaining their place in the household of faith. It is true that if, after em- bracing the religion which she sends them, they should become so changed in their views and feelings as to be induced, of their own accord, to change their civil or domes- tic government, or either of them, they can have no cause of complaint. But should they be constrained to effect the change, as the only condition of being permitted to retain their place in her communion, they will have occasion to say : ' The soldiers of the cross approached us under false colors. They assured us they would not interfere with our civil or domestic government. In accordance with this as- surance they left on record for the instruction of their con- verts such precepts as these : " Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake : whether it be to the king as supreme, or unto governors as unto them that are sent of him. Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to thefroward." But now they tell our servants that they are under no obliga- tion to be subject to us; and they tell us, if we do not relinquish all claim to their service they will drive us from their com- munion and deliver us to Satan.' Thirdly. It is, in my view, a great objection against the proposed system that it is calculated to divide the mission- ary ranks ; to divide the friends of Christ, the friends of the heathen, and even the friends of the slave ; for it is a grand mistake to suppose that all the friends of the slave are on one side of this dividing line. They who adopt the new system seem to feel themselves constrained to declare war against other missionary organizations. They hold up to 20 SLAVERY NOT A SCRIPTURAL scorn those societies which God has so signally owned and blessed. They are seeking to alienate the affections of Christians from those societies to whose care they have heretofore entrusted their contributions, and whose officers have evinced great ability and fidelity in using them for the purpose of extending the kingdom of Christ. Now if the precepts of God's word do not imperiously demand of them that they should abandon the societies with w r hich they have been united, is it not a matter of regret they should do it ? It is truly affecting that the friends of missions, and that too in their missionary capacity, should be placed in hostile array one against the other. Some may, peradventure, imagine that the division in the missionary ranks which is caused by this subject, is not be- tween the friends of Christ or the friends of the heathen. I cannot, however, but believe that there are on both sides of this controversy the friends of Christ and the friends of the human race. Ought they not to remain together and work together in the great missionary enterprise ? Can it be a harmless thing to throw into opposing squadrons those parts of the army of Israel which belong to the same tribe, and have heretofore pitched by the same standard ? We, who are for adhering to the old standard, feel convinced that the inspired records, which relate to the first attempts of the church to evangelize the nations, forbid us to make such alterations in our constitutions as are insisted ^n by our brethren. Nor have they any good reason to believe it to be a predilection for slavery which holds us back from gratifying their wishes. But because we still adhere to what seems to us to be the good as w r ell as the old way, some of their number denounce us as being not only the enemies of the slave, but also of Christ. The churches have been warned against the ministers of their own choice as against the most dangerous men not because they were unsound in doctrine or immoral in their lives but because of their different manner of treating the subject now before us. And yet this different manner of treating the subject of slavery has implied no complacency in the thing itself, nor any desire for its perpetuation a single day beyond the time when it shall be practicable to effect its abolition without violence. Now I would seriously ask my Christian friends who favor the proposed change in our missionary organiza- tions, whether they do not believe that the result of this change will be unfavorable to the missionary cause, by sowing discord among brethren. GROUND OF DIVISION. 21 Fourthly. It is in my view a great objection against in- terweaving the slavery question into a missionary consti- tution, that its tendency will be not merely to divide missionary societies, but to create a similar division in Christian churches all over the land. The church is already broken into so many fragments by denominational differ- ences that in many places it is quite difficult for one denomi- nation to be at the expense of erecting, a house of worship and supporting the gospel ministry. And besides sustaining the gospel at home, very much is needed for the extension of its privileges to the destitute settlements in our own land, and to the heathen in foreign lands. We ought, therefore, most earnestly to deprecate any additional subdivisions as an evil of great magnitude, unless they shall be urgently called for. Now, if the slavery question is once made a test for membership in a missionary association, it will soon be made a test for membership in the churches. But why should this thing be made a test for membership ? It was not so in the churches formed by the Apostles. In those churches were found masters and servants ; and yet it made no schism. Why then should this matter be the cause of division among the churches of our country, and especially of this northern portion of it ? Here are no slaveholders ; nor do any of us express a desire to possess a slave. But even here, this very matter bids fair to interrupt our fellow- ship and break us asunder. But why should you be alien- ated from your brother, so as to break fellowship with him, merely because he feels himself bound by the word of God to bear with his brethren whose minds on this subject have not been made as much enlightened as his own ? I cannot but think that those divisions in the churches, which shall be the fruit of different sentiments on this sub- ject, will be very disastrous to the cause of religion wher- ever they shall take place. They will doubtless be very gratifying to- that grand adversary of the chunch who walk- eth about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. We know that he is always seeking to get some advantage of us. Nor are we altogether ignorant of the devices by which he is seeking to get some advantage at the presept crisis. My prayer is, that the friends of the Redeemer may so seasonably become apprised of the wicked design of their adversary, and so vigilantly guard against its success, as to frustrate this attempt of his to divide the churches of our land. 22 SLAVERY NOT A SCRIPTURAL Fifthly. The tendency of making this a dividing line be- tween the friends of missions, and also (as its legitimate consequence) between the members of the churches, will ultimately be, to cast into the shade all other tests of Christian character. Its tendency will be to make us leave out of sight an orthodox faith, an experimental acquaint- ance with the Gospel, a meek and quiet spirit, and a godly and upright life. A man may have all these -in an eminent degree, and yet be esteemed utterly unmeet for a member of a Missionary Society or a Christian Church. On the other hand, he may be destitute of these, and yet be received as a meet member : for whenever that is made a test of Christian character which is not made so by the Word of God, it will be a wonder if it does not exert an influence, like that of Gideon's illegitimate son, to destroy those tests which have the authority of God himself. If the candidate for membership is found to be orthodox on this one point, whatever it may be, that we make our party -badge, we shall be apt to sit down satisfied, without proceeding to ex- amine him on points of supreme importance to the cause of truth and holiness. There is already a unionism in the land which does not consist in an agreement relative to holy doctrines or holy practice : for it manifests great indiffer- ence to the most fundamental doctrines, and to some of the most important duties of our holy religion. It need not seem strange if a unionism of this kind should propose some shibboleth of its own, by the distinct or indistinct pronunci- ation of which it shall receive or reject applicants for ad- mission into the communion of the Church. I am aware that the ground which I have taken in speak- ing on this subject, may bring on me the odium of being a pro-slavery minister. But I can assure my readers that I have no interest in the perpetuity of slavery ; but in the perpetuity and extension of the kingdom of Christ in the evangelizing of the nations in the Christianizing of this fallen world (the enslaved among the rest), I have much interest. And did I believe it was the Scriptural way of doing the work the way most pleasing to Christ our king that his church should perform her missionary operations with such an explicit declaration of her opposition to sla- very, as thereby to identify herself with the Anti-Slavery So- cieties, I would not dare throw a straw in the way of a re- organization of her Missionary Boards. If this be the way marked out by her Divine Head, to effect the more speedy GROUND OF DIVISION. 23 recovery of this revolted world, let it find favor in the eyes of all Zion's friends. But since I am convinced that the new way, the way now proposed and entered on by some of our brethren, is not " a more excellent way" (though many doubtless believe it to be so), I have felt myself constrained to show my fellow Christians why I believe the old way to be the best. As I have advanced beyond the three score years and ten, and am now just finishing the fiftieth year of my ministry, I know the time of my departure must be at hand. I am, therefore, admonished that whatever I have to do for the cause of Christ must be done quickly. My place in the ministry and in the church of Christ will soon be vacated ; but the Christian ministry and the Christian church will continue as long as the sun. Nor have I a right to feel an indifference concerning what shall be the character and condition of the church when I shall be sleeping in the dust. Whether it shall be advancing in knowledge and holy union, or be sinking down into an apathy concerning gospel truth, and be more than ever split up into parties, cannot appear a matter of small importance. They who have long been praying that the earth may be filled with the knowledge of the Lord, as the sea is filled with waters, must exceedingly desire to have the work of evangelizing the nations advance with greater rapidity than it has ever yet done. It has been no object of this communication to impugn the motives or impeach the character of the brother whose Address has drawn forth my remarks. I have already ex- pressed my approbation of the spirit he manifested in giving liberty to his bondmen ; and I hope I rejoice in all the Scriptural efforts which he has made to induce others to imitate his example. But I verily believe that, in the efforts which he is now making, not only to alienate the public mind from thfe Missionary Board in whose service he once labored, but to involve all the missionary societies with the slave question, he is doing that which is adapted to hinder the cause which I hope he loves. My reasons for believing thus, I have now stated ; and I ask that they may be care- fully weighed in the balance of the sanctuary. Brethren, consider what I have said, and may the Lord give us understanding in all things. We who are now upon the stage of life are called to act our part in troublous times. But even in such times, it is predicted that the walls of God's city shall be built. Jerusalem is, by its very name, a 24 SLAVERY NOT A SCRIPTURAL GROUND, ETC. city of peace, and such it ought to be in fact. If it has war, it should be from invasion, and not from her own citizens. We are required to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, accom- panied with an assurance that they shall prosper who love her. Let us not forget, brethren, that the Jerusalem that is above, which is the mother of us all, is a spiritual and not a political city. If we are her legitimate offspring, we are born of the Spirit and are spiritual men. And the mrfre spiritual we are in our tempers, in our intercourse with each other, and in all our pursuits in this present evil world, the more shall we do to preserve the peace and promote the prosperity of the city of our God. Should worldly politics at any time disturb the peace of our city, it behooves us as officers and members of the church to avoid angry strife, remembering that we are brethren. Let us freely concede to others that right of private" judgment which we claim for ourselves. There may be obstructions in the way of the world's con- version, which God has not placed directly within the power of his church to remove. Now, if there be other, and per- haps greater obstructions which are within her power, here let her zeal and efforts be concentrated. Error in material points of doctrine the restraining of prayer in the secret chamber, at the family altar, and at the prayer meetings, if not in the sanctuary itsetf the profanation of the holy Sab- bath the neglect of church discipline, and the religious training of children indifference concerning revivals of re- ligion, or concerning their character a spirit of covetous- ness holding us back from providing the requisite means for the spread of the gospel these, and other things of this nature, constitute a formidable obstruction to the conversion of souls at home and abroad. And these obstructions, let it be remembered, are fully within the sphere 01 operation be- longing to that kingdom which is not of this world. Were all the subjects of this spiritual kingdom, both ministers and private brethren, to be united, heart and hand, in removing these obstructions, is there not reason to believe the Lord would give them success ? And would not union in these spiritual efforts do more than anything else to pave the way for the removal of those obstructions which now lie beyond their reach ? Brethren, consider what I have said, and may the Lord give us understanding in all things. THE CULTIVATION OF THE SPIRIT OF MISSIONS IN OCR LITERARY AND THEOLOGICAL INSTITUTIONS. The following paper is the substance of an address delivered to the students of the Theological Institute, East Wiosor, Connecticut, by the Rev. E. W. HOOKER, D. D., Professor in that Seminary. It is printed with the hope that the important considerations it con- tains may be duly weighed by those who are preparing for the gos- pel ministry in the other theological seminaries and the colleges of our country. THE expressions, " the Missionary Spirit," and "the Spirit of Missions," have been much in use in the Chris- tian world within the last half century. They describe that strong, ardent, and steady interest in the diffusion of the gospel, which the grace of God inspires in the hearts of his friends ; and which prompt desires of good for a dying world, and their efficient performance. This spirit had always existed to some extent in the visible church of Christ. It has been more especially manifested in some of the sons and daughters of the church who have devoted themselves personally to the work of spreading the gospel in foreign and destitute lands, and many of whom have laid down their lives in the missionary field. The Great Example of this spirit was the Son of God, who came on his divine mission into this world "to seek and to save that which was lost." Into his spirit drank the apostles and others in the early ages of the church, who devoted themselves to the first propagation of the 1 2 Cultivation of the gospel. The church in more recent times has been hum- bly following, though at a distance, the steps of her Lord Jesus Christ, in the exercise of this spirit. The cultivation of the spirit of missions is, at the pre- sent time, a subject of vital importance to Christian effi- ciency in the spread of the gospel. This is important, too, not only in the churches, but in our Colleges and Theological Seminaries, as the places for training young men for usefulness. Examples of this there have been which are eminently instructive, and which it should be our prayer to see multiplied examples of young men who have fanned in each other the flame of love to the souls of men, and laid the foundation of good which shall be lasting as eternity. The particular object of the 'present tract is to offer a few suggestions on the cultivation of the Spirit of Chris- tian Missions in our Literary and Theological Institutions. It should here be observed that this is a subject for cul- ture, like any other in which the powers of the mind are brought into action, and the taste and feelings are enlisted. If the spirit of general literature and science, or of taste and the fine arts, is to be promoted by calling attention to them, or to any of their specific departments, so also is the spirit of Christian benevolence, in its various depart- ments of enterprise and action. If it be deemed praise- worthy in young men to throw their whole souls into the pursuit of some branch of knowledge; much more is it so to enlist their Christian feelings along with their intellec- tual energies, in inquiries which shall lead them to form purposes and to act upon them, for the spiritual good of the human race. And it is delightful to see that while some men have studied and travelled and pushed their tours of exploration and research into various portions of the world, for the purpose of scientific or historical dis- covery ; they have been equalled, if not exceeded, in en- Spirit of Missions. 3 Tgy, perseverance, and fidelity of pursuit, by many men in the character of missionaries. Science and the arts have been under obligations to the missionaries of the cross, as well as to the more exclusive sons of science. While the former have had their eyes upon the great and all commanding object of propagating the gospel, they have been large contributors to the interests of science and learning. A few statements will show to what extent the Ameri- can Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions has been dependent on young men trained in our colleges and theological seminaries, for planting and sustaining the missions under its care ; and from these we can infer to what sources that Board must look for its missionaries in future. If from such institutions, mainly, our missiona- ries are to be expected, how important is it, in its bearing, both on their number and their character, that the spirit of missions should be sedulously cultivated and fostered by those young men during their academical and profes- sional studies. The whole number of preachers who have been or now are in the service of the American Board of Commission- ers for Foreign Missions, is 239. The collegiate origin of 199 of this number is ascertained as follows. Yale, 27; Amherst, 27; Williams, 24; Dartmouth, 22; Middle- bury, 21 ; Union, 15; Bowdoin, 9; Rutgers, 9; Princeton, 9; Jefferson, Pa., 5; Hamilton, N. Y., 4; Western Re- serve, 4 ; Dickinson, 3; Ohio University, 3; Miami do., 2; Vermont do., 2; Brown do., 2; North Carolina do., 2; Harvard do., 1 ; New York do., 1 ; Pennsylvania do., 1 ; Pennsylvania College, 1 ; Washington, Pa., I ; Marietta, 1; Illinois, 1; Centre, Kentucky, 1 ; Virginia University, 1. Of the remaining 40 missionaries sent forth by the Board, the places of graduation of some are not known, and others did not receive a college education. 4 Cultivation of the Of the whole number of missionaries just mentioned there were educated at Theological Institutions 189, dis- tributed as follows. Andover, 91; Princeton, 28; Au- burn, 19; New Haven, 12; Prince Edward, Va., 8; New Brunswick, 9; Bangor, 7; Southern, S. C., 2; Lane Seminary, 6; East Windsor, 2; Western, Pa., 1; Western Reserve, 2; New York, 2. Of the remaining 50, their places of study are unknown, or they were not educated at seminaries. With the facts before us, that by far the largest por- tion of the missionaries of the American Board have come through our institutions of science and of theology, and that our dependence must be mainly upon them for mis- sionaries in future, it is an interesting inquiry, ' How can the spirit of missions be cultivated in our colleges and theo- logical institutions 1 ' This question will be answered in a few suggestions relative to some of the principal means. 1. By establishing and maintaining in them societies of inquiry on the subject of missions. To show that this, as a preliminary means, is of first importance, let a few facts be stated. In eight of the colleges which have been mentioned as the places of the education of missionaries, it is understood that such societies have existed, and it is hoped they are still continued, viz : Yale, Amherst, Wil- liams, Dartmouth, Middlebury, Bowdoin, Princeton, and Western Reserve. From the statement of the collegiate origin of our missionaries, it will be found that these eight colleges alone have furnished 143 of them considerably more than half of the whole number of preaching mis- sionaries of this Board. The writer is not informed to what extent societies of inquiry on missions exist in the theological institutions named. He knows that such societies exist in three of them, and it appears that from those three alone have gone forth 121 missionaries. It is presumed that in some or all of the others they have place. Spirit of Missions. 5 These facts give a very direct and impressive answer to our question, touching one of the means for pro- moting the spirit of missions among our Christian young men in the colleges. There is a power in associa- tion for such a purpose, which is of inestimable worth. Let young men, then, who have the Christian hope in their hearts, and who show the Christian character in their manner of life, unite their minds and their hearts in contemplating this great system of Christian benevolence, MISSIONS, on which so much of the hope of the world depends. Wherever two or three can be agreed together touching this object, as one for mutual inquiry, conference, and prayer, let them be associated for such purposes. This is recommended, not to those only who may have their minds directed to the missionary life and service as their object; but it can be recommended to all Christian young men with an eye to their preparation for usefulness in whatever fields divine Providence may assign their duties. Connected with the statement of this means, it is im- portant to suggest that in all such societies there should be singleness of object. The subject of missions is in itself of such magnitude, and the field for research and discussion in a society is so wide and exhaustless, that justice can be done to it only by keeping it the sole object of association. Attention is particularly called to this point in the apprehension that in some instances the spirit of missions has received a check, in societies of in- quiry, from the plan of their organization being enlarged to embrace other subjects besides missions. " My im- pression is," says a correspondent of the writer, " that these societies, owing in part perhaps to the novelty of the thing being gone, but more to a modification and ex- tension of their original plan, embracing more objects, have lost much of their early power to promote the mis- 1 * 6 Cultivation of the sionary spirit. Their singleness of aim has gone ; and of course their grand element of power for awakening and fostering the foreign missionary spirit. I am quite sure that this is true in some seminaries ; and it probably is in others. This may be and probably is in part the cause and in part the effect of the declension of the foreign mis- sionary spirit, and has led to the diminution of. the num- ber of missionary candidates for some years past." It is suggested for the careful and serious considera- tion of those who compose societies of inquiry in our literary and theological institutions, whether the subject of Christian Missions is not one of such magnitude and im- portance as to require the sole attention of such societies. It surely cannot be necessary that subjects of scientific and literary inquiry should be included ; for these are amply provided for in other literary associations. The writer speaks from his own experience and observation, as a member of the society of inquiry on the subject of mis- sions in the Theological Institution at Andover, in the years when Nichols, Fisk, Parsons, Temple, Goodell, Spaulding, Winslow, and men of their character and spirit were there. That society was then exclusively devoted to inquiries on the subject of missions. There was found a most ample range for research on missionary subjects, such a range as to exhibit almost a new field of science. It was also found easy to render the meetings of the so- ciety steadily and deeply interesting, through the presenta- tion of these subjects alone. And while the subsequent introduction of other objects kindred to missions into the plan of that society has doubtless had its advantages ; it admits of question whether it was wise to bring into competition with so extensive and important a subject as missions to the heathen, other subjects of inquiry, although important in themselves. 2. The investigation of subjects which stand related to Spirit of Missions. 7 the prosecution of the missionary enterprise is another means for promoting the spirit of missions. Those inves- tigations particularly will have this good effect which are conducted in relation to different fields of missions, con- sidered geographically, civilly, and morally; or which have for their object classes and masses of men, as subject to some specific and perhaps systematized form of religious delusion. Such investigations come in appropriately in conducting a society for missionary inquiry. The student who investigates the history of Moravian missions ; or who examines and delineates the Tartar character, in its various features ; or who gives a historic sketch of the order of Jesuits ; or presents a compendious history of the missions to the Sandwich Islands, or in the South Seas ; or who writes a moral estimate of the character of Martyn, or of Brainerd, or of Buchanan, or presents any other of the thousand missionary objects which might be put down in a catalogue, is in the way to cultivate in himself the spirit of missions. The studies of the mind warm the affections of the heart ; and if prayerfully conducted, will be sure to promote in him the spirit of Christian enterprise. Con- nect with these subjects of research the study of the va- rious aspects of society in different countries, as influenced by false religions ; and as they involve human happiness, the moral, spiritual, social, domestic, and civil condition of men ; and with these the manners, customs, laws, govern- ment, and education or ignorance of the people of different nations. They open fields for research bounded only by the whole unevangelized world. While on this point let us speak particularly of the study of the life of our Savior and his Apostles, as they afford light on the methods of evangelical effort in the spread of the knowledge of the " great salvation." While we go to the New Testament for our proofs of Christian doctrine ; our statements of Christian precepts and prac- 8 Cultivation of the tice ; and for light on the great and interesting subject of Christian experience ; and while we are interested in the records of sacred history as such ; it admits of question whether there has not been a deficiency in the single and yet all-important point, the study of the spirit and method of those labors which were performed by the Lord Jesus, as he went about doing good ; and by the apostles and their associates when they went every where preaching the word. In our interest in their history and in the great results of their labors, and in our search for doc- trines and precepts, we should be careful to study and de- fine and mark out to ourselves for our own use, the de- tailed elementary rules of labor discernible in the history of their lives and labors. True it is, that in a comprehensive way may be stated a general and all-pervading principle of missionary action, which shall be understood and felt. For example take that declaration of Paul, relative to the spirit of the apos- tolic ministry, " for the love of Christ constraineth us." This tells the whole, it is true ; and nothing can be added to it. But when Paul said, " I will glady spend and be spent for you, though the more abundantly I love you the less I be loved," he comes down to one or two of the particulars involved in the general and extensive prin- ciple of action stated, viz. a disinterested and self-sacrific- ing spirit. This is only one out of many such particulars, in examining and drawing out which would be exhibited the details of Paul's missionary character. Thus might be examined also the characteristic traits of the other apostles and first preachers of the gospel. Thus also (with reverence we would speak it) may be studied the elements of the character of Heaven's first and great Mis- sionary, the Lord and Master of all true ministers, the Son of God. For in "the form of a servant" and in " the likeness of man," and " in fashion as a man," and Spirit of Missions, 9 in all his acts while he fulfilled his ministry on earth, he showed what should be the spirit of every man who would seek the salvation of this wicked world. 3. By reading, devoted specifically to the attainment of a knowlege of the moral condition of unevangelized countries. This book-making age is an age in which, among various other classes, those books are multiplied which shed light upon the condition of almost every por- tion of the world. Many such books have been written for purposes aside from religion or benevolence ; and which yet repay a careful perusal, by furnishing much informa- tion such as a missionary needs to have ; and which may be useful to any Christian. Voyages by sea to distant parts of the earth ; exploring tours made by land ; re- searches into the characters, habits, and customs of vari- ous races and nations of men, and over which the mere acquirer of general information will spend profitable and pleasant hours and days ; open to the Christian student views of the various portions of the world which are in- structive, and show him where is to be done the work of Christian benevolence. Every book of authentic history of any portion of the world, and of biography of the men of other nations, and of travel and research among the people of any country, civilized, barbarous, or savage, is worthy a place in a missionary library, and of a careful reading, by the Christian student. Every such book may furnish motives or facilities for entering efficiently into the missionary work. In furtherance of the object of this investigation of mis- sionary subjects, which has been recommended as a means for promoting the spirit of missions, it is highly impor- tant that in every theological seminary, especially, there should be founded a missionary library ; and that Chris- tian munificence should be manifested in its annual en- largement. The successful investigation of many sub- 10 Cultivation of the jects is so dependent upon the student having access to suitable books, that it is a point of appeal to be pressed upon the wealthy friends of missions especially, as calling for their liberal benefactions. It should be presented to such, by the members of societies of inquiry, and its im- portance shown as standing related to the object of mis- sionary education, and to the maintaining of a steady inter- est in the minds of our young men, in the great enterprise of evangelizing the world. The culture of the spirit of devout and fervent personal religion, more than any other instrumentality, ministers to the spirit of missions. Look at the character of some of the most devoted and holy men whom the church and the world have ever known ; and while you admire their lively faith as Christians, their fervent love to God, their prayerfulness, their bright example, their deep and in- structive experience, their abundance in labors, ask how these men felt respecting the conversion of the world and the spread of the gospel, as a missionary movement. And facts will show that with their eminent piety stood closely associated the spirit of missions. The very name of Pres- ident Edwards calls our thoughts to bright Christian character. And Edwards had his heart set on the mission- ary cause, as appears especially in his plea for united and extraordinary prayer for the spread of the gospel, and in his life of Brainerd. And Brainerd's fervent piety carried him into the missionary field. Martyn's did the same. And Mills could hardly bear denial of the privilege of be- ing a missionary. And Payson panted for the missionary work. And Nettleton was kept from going forth into the field of foreign missions, only by the strong hand of Prov- idence, shutting him up to a line of service to the churches, and to a department of ministerial work, in which we now discern the wise direction of Him who seeth the end from the beginning. Spirit of Missions. \ I In this connection let us be indulged in speaking of one, a female missionary, who is now, we doubt not, "cast- ing her crown before the throne " in heaven. Writing to one whom she loved, on preparation for the missionary work, she says, " Although I am very far from setting myself as a standard ; on the contrary, I am continually lamenting my deficiencies ; yet I can say that if I have any heart for my work, I look back upon the hours of re- tirement and devotion, which, before I knew my destina- tion, were spent in my own chamber in my father's house, and when the beautiful stars were my only light, as the means of obtaining this heart." Indeed it seems true, that only as an attendant upon much growth in grace and large attainments in fervent Christian devotion, can it be expected that the true spirit of missions will have place. Indeed what is vital, controlling, practical piety, but that love to God which makes the possessor willing to spend and be spent to make him known and bring all men to believe and obey the gospel ? While this spirit is to be cultivated by Christians in every station and relation, there are reasons deserving especial consideration why this should be done in our Theological Institutions. 1. They are the proper places for the cultivation of whatever belongs to the ministerial character in general. Where shall it be done, if these our sacred seminaries are not the places for such culture ? The ministerial character embraces the missionary character.' The sacred office of " ambassador for Christ" comprehends that of him who shall take his life in his hand and go and " preach among the Gentiles the un- searchable riches of Christ." A collection of young ser- vants of the Lord Jesas, in a school of the prophets, is not a collection of men called to the work of the ministry ex- clusively at home, and in a Christian land : they are call- 12 Cultivation of the ed to this work to be performed, wherever, in this dark world, it shall please "the Master" to send them. If he chooses that some of them shall exercise their minis- try among the pleasant hills and valleys of their own na- tive country, he will show them this, by the pointings of the finger of his Providence. But to many a son of Zion he may say, as to his ser- vant Paul, " Depart, for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles." And respecting them he may be pleased to foretell and promise, that " the wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose." He may design, that of this, that and another son of the church, preparing for the sacred office, it shall yet be said, by rejoicing converts to divine grace in some distant and dark land ; " How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings ; that publisheth peace ; that bring- eth good tidings of good ; that publisheth salvation ; that saith unto Zion, thy God reigneth." 2. On the cultivation of the missionary spirit in our colleges and theological institutions depends the spirit and efficiency of the churches on this subject. It is a singular fact that the great missionary movement which has been made in our country, and which has had such progress and success as at this day, began not in the churches, but within the walls of a college among the mountains of New England. The churches of America were asleep over the whole subject of foreign missions, till they were awakened by the voices of a few young men, offering themselves to the General Association of Massachusetts to go, and asking to be sent by the churches, on a mission to the heathen. They had been communing and praying over this subject, most of them in Williams College, and afterwards white in their professional studies at Andover. And from that Spirit of Missions. 13 day to this the interest and efforts of the churches have been dependent upon being incited and encouraged to move onward, aye, and being under the necessity of moving on by the calls of devoted missionaries, saying one after another, in quick succession, " Here am I, send me." We are not saying that this is as it should be ; for the church should not wait for her sons to call out her ener- gies, but should emulate and equal them. We speak of what has been, and of that which goes for the proof of the position upon which we are remarking. It will not there- fore do for our young men of Christian character to make their attention to missionary subjects and the culture of a missionary spirit to depend upon the state of feeling on the subject of missions in the churches. The churches have been, and still are, dependent, hu- manly speaking, on the missionaries for this. This point is urged with much earnestness in the following extract of a letter from one of the Secretaries of the American Board, to the writer of the present tract. " Students in our theological seminaries we find are re- fraining from devoting themselves to the foreign service, and perhaps from thinking much about their duty in res- pect to it, on the alleged ground that the Christian com- munity do not furnish adequate funds for sending out and sustaining more missionaries; thus endeavoring to shift the responsibility from themselves to those who are looked to for the pecuniary resources. Candidates for the min- istry, an educated class training to be leaders in the Lord's host, may be expected to have more information, more interest, and more enterprise, on such a subject, than the mass of Christians. The foreign missionary spirit may be expected to originate and become more control- ling in such. We look for a disposition in them to go,. before we look for a disposition in the churches to send. " The foreign missionary spirit began in this country, 2 14 Cultivation of the and in England too, and also among the Moravians, andf perhaps every where else, with those' who were themselves 'pressed in spirit ' to go to the heathen. Their determi- nation to go, awakened in others a willingness to give money and send them. Subsequently, when funds have been deficient, the most effective argument we could use for increasing the contributions, has been the fact, that missionary candidates were waiting and desiring to go. The history of the Board and its appeals to the communi- ty will show, that those appeals when enforced by the ar- gument that there are many missionary candidates, have been successful." It shall be most readily admitted that the churches are responsible to their Lord and Redeemer for their failure to have and exercise the spirit of missions. But it is clear that candidates for the sacred office are out of their place 7 when behind the churches, in the great missionary move- ment, and waiting their call. 3. The cultivation of the spirit of missions in our theo- logical seminaries, by the means which have been sug- gested, prepares the minds of young men to dedicate them- selves personally to the missionary service. This, in some of our schools of theology, has made them the nur- series of missionaries ; a designation most honorable and ever to be coveted by the guardians and instructors of these " schools of the prophets.'' 4. The cultivation of this spirit in our institutions of theology fits candidates for the sacred office, generally, to be the more efficient and devoted preachers. This will be so, whether they shall spend their lives in the home- ministry or in the foreign service. The spirit of missions is the true and proper spirit of the ministry. In other words, that Christian student who has the self-denial and devotion to the cause of Christ, and the unquenchable de- sire for the salvation of men, which are the grand elements Spirit of Missions. 15 in the missionary character, will, from this very circum- stance, be the better fitted for the work of the ministry in his native land. Here were some of the springs of that untiring devotion to the work of winning souls to Christ, which rendered Samuel Pearce, of the English Baptist communion, one of the holiest and most devoted of home ministers ; and which made Payson, Cornelius, and Nettleton, the minis- ters they were. And other like cases show the influence of the missionary spirit in making a good home pastor. Let this be settled in the minds and fixed in the hearts of the founders of our theological seminaries, whether they be the pastors and churches in theit associated capacity, or munificent individuals ; and fixed also in the hearts of the guardians, trustees, and instructors of our American seminaries of learning and theology ; that the prevalence of the true spirit of missions in them is one of the best securities that the men they send forth will be such min- isters as are needed men faithful and true, ready to "spend and be spent" for Christ and the salvation of souls. If a candidate for the sacred office has a spirit of consecration which would carry him to the ends of the earth to preach " Jesus Christ and him crucified ; " he has, from this very circumstance, that which will make him so much the better minister to labor in his own country, if Providence assigns his work here. We repeat it, the spirit of missions is the true spirit of the ministry. It is not alone in a foreign field that the missionary spirit, as a self-sacrificing spirit, is needful ; it is requisite in almost any American parish. In some parishes this spirit, as ready " to bear and have patience and for Christ's namesake to labor and not to faint," will have as severe trials as in a heathen land, if not even severer. For example, here is an old broken-down, divided Ameri- can parish, in which there are children of God who "sigh 16 Cultivation of the and cry," and are strongly tempted to say, " who will show us any good ? " and O my Lord what will be the end of these things ? Here too are souls, precious as any on earth, and as sure to perish as any impenitent men in all the world. They must not be neglected, because their condition is discouraging, and because they are accounted difficult and unpromising fields. This, with a minister possessed of the spirit of Christ the true missionary spirit will be the very reason why he should enter that field of desolation and trial. From its very condition, his labors are the more needed. He will feel that they must not be left to say, " behold we die, we perish, we all perish," " no man careth for our soul." Some one, with the spirit of a Martyn or a Brainerd, must be willing to go among them, and " spend and be spent for them ; " and help them to " be watchful and strengthen the things that re- main and that are ready to die." Indeed the whole work of the ministry, properly considered, is missionary work. No matter whether it be in the cities and villages of New England, or among its mountains and valleys ; or on the prairies and amidst the forests of the great west ; or in China, Tartary, India, or on the islands of the sea. Not only will the minister who has cultivated the mis- sionary spirit in himself, be the better prepared for the ordinary labors and trials of his office, but he will also be the minister to be relied upon for awakening, strengthen- ing, and extending a missionary spirit among his own people and in the churches around him. He will possess and be still acquiring that knowledge on missionary sub- jects which will enable him to instruct and interest them at the concert for prayer, and in missionary addresses and appeals. He will have that strong feeling in view of a world dead in spiritual ignorance and sin, which will break forth in his prayers, and in his public and private labors among his people, and impel him on to any meas- Spirit of Missions. 17 ure of effort, which his circumstances will permit him to make in the missionary cause. A minister will not long be settled over a church before it will be seen, by the effect produced on them, whether he has the missionary spirit or not. In no application of it is the passage, "Like people, like priest," more true, under ordinary circum- stances, than in this. The growth and efficiency of the missionary spirit in the churches, as well as of any other excellence of Christian character, must very much depend on the thoroughness and vigor with which a like spirit reigns in the ministry. 5. The spirit of missions is also eminently Kappy in its influence on the religious habits and character of young men in our colleges and theological seminaries. They will be heavenly-minded, exemplary, devout, prayerful, serious, as Christians in whom is that devotement of soul to the service of Christ which this spirit indicates. The writer well remembers the spirit of serious, devout, exemplary piety, which pervaded that sacred seminary where Parsons and Fisk, with others yet living, prepared for their work as missionaries. Many an American pas- tor has occasion to bless God that he enjoyed the privilege of pursuing his professional studies in the midst of the sacred spiritual atmosphere created by the presence and influence of such men. 6. It gives these our institutions a powerful hold on the affections and confidence of the churches. They will love and prize the seats of theological learning from which they see men come forth who are ready for any service, and who " count not even their lives dear unto them- selves," if they can glorify God their Savior and win souls to him. 7. The spirit of missions connects these institutions of theological education most directly and powerfully with that great object of the sacred ministry the conversion of 2* 18 Cultivation of the the whole world to Christ. The absence of this spirit would be a reason for solicitude as to the permanent use- fulness of any seminary to the churches. Let the object of any seminary be simply to raise up a home ministry, and to keep a Christian country supplied, and to maintain all things as they are, without making advances and inroads upon the kingdom of darkness ; and there. is a lamentable falling short of the high objects to be attained. On the Qther hand, let it be written upon the walls of our theolo- gical seminaries consecrated to the glory of Christ, in the salvation of a lost world; and let all which is done in them, and the spirit which governs their members, be in accordance with this ; and let every arrangement for instruction be adapted to the preparation of men, " to preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;" and they will be linked inseparably with the great interests of " Christ and the church" of Christ and a dying world. The subject thus imperfectly sketched, is commended to those especially at whatever stage of study, collegiate or professional who are looking forward to the great and good work of the ministry. If the moral condition of this world is in any just measure understood ; if the compara- tive extent of the two kingdoms of light and darkness is not greatly misapprehended, then we are in a world where a great work is to be done. There is a solemnity unspeak- able attached to " the ministry of the Lord Jesus," which is contemplated by some of the sons of the church. What shall the ministry be and do in the years which are now coming on ? is a question for every candidate for the sacred office to contemplate, on his knees, and lifting earnestly the prayer, " Lord what wilt thou have me to do?" Readiness for any service which the Lord and Master of ministers may see good to appoint, is duty. This read- Spirit of Missions. 19 iness must be sought and attained in the assiduous culti- vation of every talent; in making every practicable attain- ment ; especially in young men seeking to be " strong in the grace which is in Christ Jesus," and to have a spirit of devotement which shall say in relation to every trial, toil, suffering, and the heaviest responsibilities which may oppress the heart, " but none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, that I may finish my course with joy and the ministry which 1 have receiv- ed of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God." This wicked world is continually rising in its demands upon the men of the Christian ministry. Errors were never more subtle than now ; nor more bold ; nor put forth with more effrontery and industry, than in these days. Never has the work of the ministry been a more arduous work, whether to be exercised at home or abroad ; in Christian countries, or in those unevarigelized. The ministry has been and will continue to be a work calling with increasing emphasis for " great grace," for firm- ness that shall never waver, for patience which can never be worn out, for knowledge of truth and ability to dis- criminate between truth and error in the nicest shades, which shall guard against compromise in "jot or tittle; " and for perseverance which can never be persuaded to *it down either in indolence or discouragement. The spirit of the ministry then must be the missionary spirit. Our .young men will need to have this, whether they are to preach the gospel in New England or in New Holland; among the hills and valleys of their native land, or on the burning plains of India; in this land of Sab- baths, Bible classes, Sabbath schools, and religious order, quiet, and education; in the destitute portions of the Great West; or amidst the barbarism of Tartary, or the savage state of Africa, or of the Islands of the sea. He who 20 Time of Deciding fears no being but God ; loves not earth as he loves the kingdom and