sz. LETTERS FROM BROOSA, ASIA MINOR, BY MRS. E. C. A. SCHNEIDER, WITH A!* ESSAY ON THE PUOSPUCTS or THE IIEATllEX AND OUK DUTIKS TO THEM, BY REV. B. SCHNEIDER, AND AN INTRODUCTION BY REV. E. IIEINEK, A. M., President of the F. B. of M. of the German Reformed Ckurtk. " Every prospect pleases And only man is vile." BISHOP HEBER. " A \\alu:, awuke, put on thy strength, O arm of the Lord, awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old." ISA. 51, 9, PUBLISHED BY REV. SAMUEL GITTEHUS. Chambcrslmrg, Pa. I-KIN1ED AT THE PUBLICATION OKFICE OF THE GER. REF. CHURCH. ' 1846.' COPy RIGHT SECURED ACCORDING TO LAW. STACK ANNEX !* INTRODUCTION. . AT the request of the Board of Foreign Missions of the German Reformed Church, I take up my pen to prepare an Introduction to the Letters from Broosa, by Mrs. Schneider. The Letters are preceded by an Essay from Mr. Schneider, on the prospects of the heathen, and our duty to them. Both the Letters and the Essay are well written. The Essay, by Mr. Schneider, will be found to be of a most deeply interesting and affecting character. The picture that he has drawn of the pros- pects of the heathen, is very, very dark. A mere glance at it, is enough to make indifferent professors turn pale afld tremble. How shall they escape, if they neglect their duty to the heathen? I doubt not that the Essay will make deep and salutary impressions upon many minds, and I would respectfully call the attention of the reader of these pages to the clear and scriptural argu- ments of Mr. S., and to the weighty duties which he points out, as obligatory upon all Christians. The Letters from Broosa, by Mrs. Schneider, contain a large amount of interesting and valuable information. She holds the pen of a ready writer, and is most happy in all her descriptions of persons and places. Mrs. S. is manifestly a lady of fine intellectual accomplishments, as her style of writing is clear, vigorous, and instructive. . " I think," says the Rev. Mr. How, in a letter now be- fore me, to whom more particular reference will be made hereafter, " that a volume of her Letters would be well calculated to awaken a spirit of Missions in the Churches. A Female Association in my church have kept up a IV INTRODUCTION. regular correspondence with her ever since she has been in Broosa ; many of her letters are deeply interesting and instructive. We are very much attached to both Mr. and Mrs. Schneider, and would be much gratified to see a volume of her Letters when published." It will be perceived, that certain portions of the Letters are illustrated and embellished by twelve large and beau- tiful plates, lithographed in the best style, and printed very neatly and handsomely. The publisher has spared neither time nor expense to get out the volume in a man- ner that cannot well fail to attract and please. May it go forth and circulate widely, both in and out of the German Reformed Church. May it be read by many thousands, and accomplish the end for which it is pub- lished : the dissemination of useful information, and the awakening of the Church to a proper sense of h^r obligation to the heathen and there will be thanksgiving and rejoicing among the true friends of the Redeemer. Mr. Schneider's parents are German, and reside in N. Hanover, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, where Mr. S. was born and partly educated. At this time he is about thirty-nine years of age. His parents are mem- bers of the German Reformed Church, in the faith of which he was trained until about the age of fifteen or sixteen, at which time he left home and was placed under the care of the Rev. James C. How, in the Acad- emy at Norristown, Penn'a, in May, 1823, where he commenced his preparatory course for College. His talent for the acquisition of Language was strikingly man- ifested in the rapid advancement he made during his preparatory course. It was during his connection with the Academy at Norristown that he became decidedly pious, and united with the Presbyterian church in that INTRODUCTION!, r place. Fn a letter addressed to his beloved preceptor, when in the Seminary at Andover, he thus speaks of his awakening and conversion: " Permit me to allude to a slight circumstance which, I believe, I never men- tioned to you before. Perhaps you will remember that, while at Norristown, on a Sabbath afternoon, after the close of the Sunday School, you had a religious conver- sation with me in Mr. Hamill's piazza. My mind was Ihen exercised on the subject of religion. But there was no definiteness about my feelings. I had no full, determined purpose to seek the salvation of my soul. That interview was blessed to me. In reflecting upon it, I have often though-t that half hour was the' awful crisis the turning point the pivot on which hung sus- pended my everlasting destiny. If that half hour had been neglected, O, what might have been my condition in eternity ! It has often seemed to me, that if nothing had been said to me at that time, I might have been lost forever. " Great effects result from little causes." The f salvation of the soul often stands connected with -very slight circumstances. I mention this to encourage you to improve every opportunity x>f warning sinners to se- cure their eternal interests. I delight to reflect on the time I spent at Norristown. It formed a new and most important era in my life. There, I hope, I found an in- terest in the Savior. And to you, dear sir, do I look as the means of bringing me home to God. Wherever I may be situated in future life in whatever clime I may be located, I shall always think of you with the greatest affection." In the fall of 1826, Mr. Schneider entered Hamilton - College, in the State of New York, where he remained about one year; when, owing to some difficulties in the VI JNTKODLVTIOX. Board of Trustees, the Institution was closed in the fall of 1827. He then entered Amherst College, where he graduated in 1830, at which time he entered the Theo- logical Seminary at Andover, Mass., where he com- pleted a full course of study during- the summer of 1833. In the early part of his course, he thought of laboring in the Church of his fathers, in his native State; but during his residence at Andover, his attention was directed to a foreign field. In a letter to the. Rev. Mr. How, dated Andover, January 10th, 1832, he says: "You are pro- bably aware of my intention in regard to the future. If Providence spares my life arid health, I hope to spend my days in some foreign land. To this conclusion I have come, after much deliberation and prayer. The particular field I cannot at present specify, nor can I state the time of my departure. Time and circumstances must determine in relation to both. The principal rea- son for this course is this: I think it will enable me to accomplish more good not that its immediate effects Avill be as great, but its ultimate and more remote bear- ings will probably be more extensive and important. When I think of the condition of the heathen, and of the success which has attended efforts in their behalf, I long to be in the field. The Lord seems to smile in a won- derful manner on all these exertions, and by so doing-, he holds out to us abundant encouragement. To me it seems that the time for the dilTusion of Christianity has come. Openings for the entrance of the Gospel are made in every direction. There seems to be a simul- taneous movement in every portion of the globe. The voice, "Come and help us," reaches us constantly from different quarters. Missionaries are wanted by scores. In such a state of things, who will not say, "Here am I, isend me?" lam indeed deeply sensible of my inade- IWTRODUCTIOIf. VII quaey to so great a work ; still, if my services can be useful, I shall be happy in dedicating them^^o noble, and so glorious a cause." In the summer of 1833, Mr. Schneider was licensed to preach the Gospel, and in the fall of that year, united with the New Castle Presbytery, and was ordained at their stated meeting held in October, at Nottingham, Cecil county, Maryland. I have just had a conversation with a member of the Nottingham congregation which, at the time of Mr. S.'s ordination, was under the care of the Rev. Dr. Magraw, now supplied by the Rev. Mr. Burrows who describes the services as exceedingly solemn, and the whole scene as most deeply affecting. There was not a dry eye in all the immense congrega- tion that had assembled on the interesting occasion. After havihg, in company with Mrs. Schneider, visited most of the churches in the Presbytery, and aroused their attention to the cause of Missions, they made ready for an early embarkation. Of Mrs. Schneider's early history, I know but little. She was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Abbott, of Fra- mingham, near Boston, Massachusetts, and was liberally educated at Ipswich Female Seminary. I have been informed that she early became pious, and devoted her- self to the work of Missions. She is represented as a lady of engaging manners, ardent piety, and fine intel- lectual accomplishments. Her style of writing is clear, energetic, and instructive. On Sabbath evening, Dec. 8th, 1833, Mr. Schneider and Mr. Thomas P. Johnson, the former from the An- dover Seminary and the latter from the Union Theolo- gical Seminary, received their public destination as Mis- sionaries to Broosa, in Asia Minor, in the Chapel of the VIII INTKODUCTK'X. Seminary at Andovcv. The instructions of the Pruden- tial Con\jri^pe were read by Mr. Anderson, and addresses suited to the occasion were made by the Rev. Dr. Skin- ner, one of the Professors, and the Rev. Horatio Bard- well, General Agent of the Board for New England. There were also prayers and singing, as usual, and at the close of the service, the two Missionaries and their wives sung the hymn entitled the Missionary's Farewell. The instructions given to the Missionaries on this oc- casion, were of a deeply interesting character. Those who have the Missionary Herald for January, 1834, will find them at length, and if they will turn to them and read them, they will be well paid for a re-perusal. They will there find a geographical view of Asia Minor, and a brief description of the many ancient and popu- lous cities of that beautiful country. The Committee also speak of the Apostolical Mission to Asia Minor of the present condition of the Seven Churches of the plan and objects of the present Mission, and of the home of the Missionary. What is said under this last head, I beg leave to transfer from the Herald to these pages : "You have now come," say the Committee to the Missionaries, "to the evening preceding the day on which you expect to bid adieu to your native land. The time is, doubtless, one which you have regarded with fond anticipations and many prayers. Do you regret the day, and your solemn vows ? Do you wish the steps could be retraced and forgotten, which brought you hith- er, and that you might remain and occupy one of the shaded and favored bowers in the vineyards of our Zion? Does the field of Missionary labor appear less inviting as you approach it? Nay, we believe the joy of your hearts was never greater than in this moment of your INTRODUCTION. IX solemn designation, when you are about to launch for- ever, as we suppose, from home and native land. And yet not from home. The Christian's home is heaven ; or rather, it is wherever God would have him live and labor. The post of duty is the Christian's and the Christian" Missionary's home. There, and only there, can he dwell with God, his heavenly Father. There only will the Savior dwell with him, and only there will he find the holy Comforter. There are those best friends and kindred, without which earth would be in- tolerable to him, and heaven would not be heaven. What other home to be compared to this, where that holy fellowship is enjoyed, ineffably sublime, which makes heaven what it is, and can make a heaven of any part of God's creation ! The place, dear brethren, where the Lord your God will dwell with you, the promised land to you, the spot of this earth nearest the pearly gate of the New Jerusalem, through which you are to enter that glorious city, lies far off beyond the waves of the Atlantic, beyond the JEgean, where Apostles preach- ed, and where they triumphed over the powers of darkness and rejoiced in God. There, not here, is your home, your appointed place of sojourn, we trust, till God shall call you to dwellings not made with hands eternal in the heavens," Messrs. Schneider and Johnston, and their wives, sailed from Boston for Smyrna in the brig Hamilton, captain Snow, on the morning of the 12th of December, 1833, where they arrived in safety about the first of February following. It was at first designed, that the mission at Broosa should be commenced by Messrs. Schneider and Johnston, and their wives, but owing to circumstances which occurred about the time of their arrival at Constantinople, which was soon after they reached Smyrna, it was deemed best, by themselves and their missionary brethren there, that only one family should proceed to the place at first. Before removing his family to Broosa, Mr. Schneider visited the city, in company with Mr. Goodell, and made some tiecessary arrangements for residing there. Broosa is situated in the ancient province of Bythinia, near the western base of the Asiatic Olympus, and was the capitol of the Turkish Empire for one hundred and thirty years before the taking of Constantinople. It is now described as one of the most beautiful cities in Turkey, containing a large Moslem population, about 6000 Greeks, as many Armenians, three synagogues of Jews, and a few papists in all about 80,000 inhabi- tants. The place was first visited by Mr. Goodell, in May, 1832. The distance from Constantinople is about eighty miles. In the Missionary Herald for March, 1835, we find a letter from Mr. Schneider, dated at Broosa, August 5th, 1834, in which he gives an interesting account of the commencement of his labors in that city, and from which I propose to make a brief extract. " My last letter, which informed you of my first visit to this place and the reception the people gave us, stated my intention of removing hither as soon as possible. We arrived on the 15th of July. " "When we were here before, we found appearances highly favorable. The people were very friendly and seemed pleased in prospect of having one of our number in the midst of them. The door seemed to be wide open. After our departure, however, the priests began to excite opposition ; so that, on our return, we found the state of things materially changed. Though we had partly engaged a house, we were fearful of not suc- ceeding in securing it; for we ascertained that the Greek bishop had commanded his people not to furnish us a house until he had written to the patriarch at Constanti- nopl about it, at the same time threatening to use his influence with him to interpose his authority. But the owner of the house, being a man considerably enlight- ened, would not be deterred by the menace of the bish- op. " The house was his, .and he would dispose of it as he saw fit. If any one wished for it, he would give him the use of it at his own pleasure." In a few days after our arrival, he came to complete the contract, much to our relief. Thus have we been permitted to settle down quietly under our own vine and fig tree, grateful that we have a shelter, remembering that our Savior "had not where to lay his head." After noticing the commencement of a school, which in two weeks numbered seventy children, and the gener- al favor with which it met on the part of the people, and the determined opposition of the inimical priests, Mr. S. thus concludes his letter : " We are very glad to have reached our destined home at length. After wandering about from place to place for nearly a year, it is very pleasant to have a spot which we can call our own. Though we are alone, we are happy quite happy in our situation. Opposition in our work we expect ; but the more the people are opposed to the truth, as it is in Jesus, the more do they need our labors and our prayers. Our desire is that we may be faith- ful. May the Lord give us wisdom from above to di- rect us in all our ways and duties. Our health and spirits are very good." XII INTRODUCTION. From that day to this, Mr. and Mrs. S. have been faithfully and successfully engaged in the prosecution of the work committed to their hands. They have met with bitter persecution, from time to time, and on several occasions it was feared they would be driven from their field of labor ; but thus far they have been enabled by God's grace to triufnph over all opposition, and to see the work of the Lord prospering in their hands. They still fill their places at Broosa, and are zealous and un- tiring in their efforts to enlighten the ignorant and build up the interests of Christ's kingdom in and about that place ; and the Great Head of the Church is evidently crowning with encouraging success, their exertions to do good to the souls of men perishing for lack of vision. At this time, the Avhole Turkish Empire in Western Asia seems to be tottering, and the way appears to be rapidly preparing for the complete overthrow of the Mohammedan power, and for the re-establishment of the Kingdom of Peace throughout the whole of that ex- tended and interesting country. God grant that the day- may be near for the permanent and final triumph of the kingdom of light over the kingdom of darkness. The Mission to the Armenians, in Western Asia, at Constantinople, Smyrna, Broosa, Trebizond and Erze- room, embraces five stations, eighteen missionaries, six- teen female assistants, and twelve native helpers in all, forty-six. At Broosa, Mr. and Mrs. S. are assisted in their work by Mr. and Mrs. Ladd. The printing executed at Smyrna during the year 1844, in Armenian, Arrneno-turkish and Bulgarian, is sta- ted to be equal to 3,642,000 pages 12mo. The printing for the Armenians amounted to 39,000 copies, and 4,155. 200 pages. The total from the beginning in the language INTRODUCTION. XIII of the country, is 73,233,160 pages. The press in Asia Minor, and indeed throughout the vast foreign field, is made to contribute most largely to the successful prose- cution of the great missionary work. Bibles and relig- ious books and tracts have been translated into more than 150 languages and dialects, and hundreds of millions of pages are annually printed and circulated among the many millions of those who know not God and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent. Who can estimate the good that is being accomplished at home and abroad by means of the press ? In the Missionary Herald for March of the present year, the reader will find a very interesting account of the progress of the work among the Armenians in Tur- key, though nothing very special from Broosa. A letter from Mr. D wight, dated Constantinople, December 6th, 1845, informs us of his recent visit to Ada Bazar, from which Mr. Schneider was so unceremoniously driven away last summer. Mr. Dwight took with him a letter from the Grand Vizier at Constantinople to the Gov- ernor of Ada Bazar. The same parties who drove Mr. S. away showed a disposition to treat Mr. D. in the same manner; but when he produced his letter from head quarters, they broke up their cabal in confusion, and the Governor made many apologies for having al- lowed himself to be their tool in the persecution of Br. Schneider. It is probable that all parties will be more cautious, hereafter, how they interfere violently with our brethren, while in the peaceful prosecution of their work. The reformation among the Armenians is evi- dently spreading more and more in all parts of the Turkish empire. The last accounts indicate very clear- ly, that the evangelical portion of the people are just XIV ready to come out in form, as they have already in fact, from the corrupt mass of the national Church. At Con- stantinople the missionaries are straitened for room to receive the increasing numbers who attend their preach- ing, and ask earnestly for aid in erecting a spacious cha- pel. If the American Board aid them, it may not be long before our brethren at Broosa may make a similar request ; and if so, it is to be hoped that the German Reformed churches in this country will be ready to help in erecting a Reformed Armenian chapel in that city. Such is the encouraging state of things in regard to the Broosa and other Missions in Asia Minor. We should feel grateful to God for what he has wrought, and is now doing, in that interesting country where the " seven churches " were planted, and where Apostles once prayed and labored. How great the encourage- ments he presents to us for the faithful and untiring pro- secution of the work so auspiciously begun ! It is the duty, yea the privilege of the German Reformed Church to give the Broosa mission an efficient support. She should feel happy in the thought that God has permitted her to co-operate with him in giving the pure Gospel to those Churches which once enjoyed his light and salva- tion, but are now corrupt and fallen. How strange the workings of Providence ! How delightfully pleasant tp trace the operations of his hand, and the displays of his wisdom and goodness ! Some twelve years ago, an in- teresting and pious youth of German Reformed parent- age, of good native talent and liberal education, was moved by the Holy Ghost to resolve on a foreign mis- sion. In a short time he pitches his tent at Broosa, once the capitol of the whole Turkish empire, and commences the work of reformation among the people. At that time the German Reformed Church had no serious thought of engaging in Foreign Missions. In a few years, however, her attention is directed to the subject, and in September, 1838, at the meeting of her Synod in the city of Lancaster, she forms a Foreign Missionary Society, and, soon after, agrees to co-operate with the American Board in the wont of Missions. For a year or two her funds were appropriated to no specific Mis- sion ; and then the question arose, what particular Mis- sion shall receive the aid of our Church? There was but one answer to the inquiry : If Br. Schneider, who is "bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh," can be transferred from the Presbyterian to the German Re- formed Church, our funds shall go to the support of the Mission at Broosa. Immediately a correspondence was commenced between our Foreign Board and the New Castle Presbytery, with which Mr. Schneider was con- nected and from which he received his support, on the subject of the transfer, the result of which was, that in 1842, Mr. S. was formally transferred to our Church, with his own consent, and at our earnest solicitation. The Presbytery were loath to part with their beloved Mis- sionary. They had solemnly ordained him to the work of the ministry, with a view of sending him to a foreign field. They had become most deeply interested in him, as he passed from congregation to congregation within their bounds, and addressed the people on the subject of 'his Mission. The whole Presbytery loved him, and were happy to have one so much beloved by all their churches, to whom they might give their free and hear- ty support. To part with such a man as Benjamin Schneider, required a struggle. " But," said the Presby- tery, after having duly and prayerfully considered the whole subject, " if it will be for the interest of Christ's XVI INTRODUCTION. Kingdom, and if, by the proposed transfer, the German Church is likely to become more deeply interested in the cause of Foreign Missions, we are willing that it shall be made." Mr. Schneider himself was not at first willing to change his ecclesiastical connection. He loved the Presbytery as ardently and sincerely as they loved him, and for some time he was not certain that the transfer ought to take place. But, on more mature deliberation, and after having again and again invoked the Holy Spirit to direct him in the path of -duty, he made up his mind to ask for his dismission from Pres- bytery, and come back to the Church of his fathers. The request was granted, the transfer took place, and since 1842, Mr. S. has been a member of our Synod, and has received the support of the Church. Thus has God, in his Providence, brought back to us one of our own sons, whom He has called to labor in the foreign field, and now presents him to us, and asks us to sustain him in his work. And can we, dare we refuse? Thus far the aid we have rendered has been inadequate to the support of the Mission. This state of things should not long exist. Let the churches every where awake, and pray, and give, .and labor for the continued success of the Broosa Mission. God grant that it may be so. Having said thus much concerning the Broosa Mis- sion, and those connected with it, I shall now proceed to take a much more general view of Missionary opera- tions throughout the world, and to show that the Church is under the most solemn and weighty obligation to preach the Gospel in all the earth. It is the purpose of God that the Gospel of his Sun shall be preached among all nations, and that Jews and Gentiles shall be visited with his great salvation. This IXTRODfCTION. XVII purpose is clearly and beautifully expressed in many places in the Old Testament Scriptures. The Lord's prophets, men who spake and wrote as they were moved bv the Holy Ghost, declared that the time would come \vlien the whole earth should hear the Gospel, and bo filled with righteousness and peace. A few prophecies, evidently referring to Christ and the spread of his Gos- pel in the world, mny be quoted to prove the certainty of this event. The Psalmist says, " I will declare the decree ; the Lord hath said unto mo, Thou art my Son ; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession." In the prophecies of Isaiah we find the following beautiful passages touching this event : "And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall bo established in the top of the moun- tains, and shall be exalted among the hills, and all na- tions shall flow unto -it. And he shall ^judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people; and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pvuninghooks : nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. The earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. The glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. He shall not fail, nor be discouraged, till he have set judg- ment in the earth ; and the isles shall wait for his law. Look unto me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God, and there is none else. I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of rry mouth l.MHOLM'C TIOX. -_-, in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and Kings to the brightness of thy rising. Lift up thine eyes round about and see ; all they gather themselves together, they come to thee; thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side. Then shall thou sec and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee." In the prophet Malachi we read, that " From the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same, my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering; for my name shall be great among the Gentiles, saith the Lord of Hosts." The writings of the Prophets abound -with such pre- dictions as thfcse, which are too numerous to be quoted. The whole spirit of the prophecies breathes the assu- rance that the entire world shall hear of the way of salvation ; and as this has never yet taken place, though many centuries have passed away since God's prophets lived and wrote, these promises are still depended on as the ground of hope that the glorious Gospel of the blessed Savior shall yet be universally received by all the nations of the earth. The Church is the grand agency -by which God will accomplish the fulfilment of these predictions, and usher in " the latter day glory." To her belongs the high honor of spreading abroad among all nations the light, and truth, and glory of the Gospel of Jesus INTRODUCTION. *IK Christ. Tliis is truly an important and blessed work, nnd the Church should know and feel that it is such, so that she might be constrained to put forth strenuous and untiring efforts to accomplish it. I now propose to ditect the attention of the reader to the obligation and encouragement of the Christian Church to send the Gospel to the heathen, and to be actively engaged in the conversion of the entire world to God. The Lord Jesus Christ, by his command to the first preachers of Christianity, has made it obligatory upon his Church to preach the Gospel in all the earth. After he had finished his ministry and made the atonement, the Redeemer commanded his Apostles to preach the Gospel to all men every where, commencing at Jerusa- lem. This plain and pointed direction to the Apostles is given in the following words by the Evangelist : "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth ; Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost ; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you." And to prevent the mistake that would confine this duty to those whom he addressed, the Savior added : "And lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." The two other Evan- gelists, who give the same account in substance, express it in terms equally universal. According to Mark, the command was, " Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved ; but he that believeth not shall be damned." Luke records that the Lord said, " That repentance and remission of sins should be XX INTRODUCTION. preached among all nations beginning at Jerusalem." In his history of the Acts of the Apostles, the same writer expresses it, "Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses of me, both in Jerusalem, and in Samarifj, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth." The Savior's great command to preach the Gospel is very broad. It comprises all nations, includes the entire world, and extends to every creature. Such is the length tind breadth of the Master's great commission to his disciples. They fulfilled their part of it, and upon their successors devolves the duty of accomplish- ing it fully. Upon the Church still resets a large share of the high and weighty obligation of preaching the Gospel in all the world. The example of Jesus Christ, touching the spread of the Gospel among men, directs us in the way of duty and shows us the obligation under which we rest to give the Gospel to the destitute. When the Redeemer was in the woild he was actively engaged in doing the work which his Father had given him to do. This work consisted, not only in his <.!ying to make an atone- ment for sin, but in his revealing more clearly and fully the character and will of God, and in his instruct- ing the people in the way of salvation. The nature of his instructions and the manner in which he delivered them, filled all who heard him with astonishment, and even his enemies bore this testimony concerning him, that " never -man spake like him." He came down from heaven to earth on an errand of mercy, and per- formed the work of a faithful and untiring missionary. The labors of his life were love. He went about doing INTRODUCTION. XXI good. For more than three years he was engaged in self-denying missionary effort. He went from city to city, and from place to place, delivering his sublime and heavenly instructions to the people and making known to them the truth. Thousands flacked to hear this great missionary, who had come down from heaven to teach men how they could be saved, and then to die for their sins. Great multitudes were attracted to the sea shore, to the mouniain top, and many other places, to see and hear the Savior, and to listen to the blessed Gospel of the Son of God. His great object was to enlighten the ignorant and to save men from the dark- ness and wretchedness of sin. To accomplish this benevolent design he came all the way from heaven, took upon himself our nature, traversed with wearied step the countries of Judea and Galilee, preached the Gospel wherever he went to the thousands that waited on his ministry, and after he had finished this part of his work, offered himself a sacrifice upon the cross for the sins of the world. Do we not sec, in the example of the Master, the duty of the Church to send the Gospel to the heathen ? If he gave himself up to the work of a self-denying and laborious missionary, surely his disciples are bound to do likewise. Upon them now rests the weighty obligation to give the Bread of Life to the famishing millions of the human family. The duty of the Christian Church, to give the Gospel to the heathen, will also appear when we look at the example of the Apostles and other primitive preachers. Before the Redeemer's ascension he commanded his Apostles, as we have already seen, to go and teach all nations. On the day of Pentecost they received the Holy Ghost, the promised Comforter, who was to lead 3CXI1 1-NTBODUCtIOtt. them into all truth. Though unlearned men, for the most part, they went forth to change the religion of nations and to convert the world to God. The thick moral darkness which had covered the earth for ages, began gradually to give place to the light of the glorious Gospel which they proclaimed. The throne of heathen superstition gave way, temples were shut, altars were demolished, and there was a most glorious triumph of light over darkness, of Christ over Satan. Soon after the ascension of our blessed Savior, the Go.spel was preached in Judea, Samaria, Galilee, Phenicia, Syria, Asia Minor, Proconsular Asia, Macedonia, Greece, and some parts of Africa, with great success; and not long after this, the cross was planted in imperial Rome, and its blood-stained banner waved over the home of the Cesars. The proud and puissant mistress of the world was, at a very early day, visited by the self-denying missionaries of Jesus, who preached to her numerous inhabitants the way of salvation nay more, there in reason to believe that within thirty years after the first promulgation of the Gospel at Jerusalem, Churches were also planted in Scythia, Persia, Spain, France and Britian, as well as in Arabia, and the islands of the Mediterra- nean. The spirit of the primitive Church was indeed a spirit of missions. With this fact every one, who has ever read the Acts of the Apostles, and Saint Paul's Epistles to the Churches, must be familiar. It is evident, therefore, that the first Christians under- stood the command of the Savior to be binding in its literal sense upon them as his disciples, and that, during the first age of Christianity, it was in a good degree ful- filled with respect to the nations of the known world. And if the primitive preachers felt themselves to be INTRODUCTION. XXUI under solemn obligation to be actively and persevering! y engaged in evangelizing the heathen, surely we ought also to feel ourselves bound to give the Gospel to the pagan world, and thus imitate the example of the Apostles, and obey the great command of the blessed Master. It is by the agency of the Church that the Gospel is to be made known throughout the world. And " this is to be effected, not merely by the circulation of the Scriptures, but by the preaching of the truth; by persuading men to receive it; by teaching them its nature and necessity; by following the example of the Savior and the Apostles acting under his direction, who not only devoted themselves to the proclamation of the word, but addressed the most urgent appeals to men to take heed to it." It is the duty of the Church now, as well as in Apostolic times, to give the word of life and a preached gospel to a perishing and dying world. And oh, that the whole Church might soon be brought to understand this great duty in such a way, as that the cause of Missions would receive a new and powerful impulse, and the heathen world sing and shout for joy. The Church will find a strong incentive to an earnest and untiring prosecution of the work of Missions, when she contemplates aright, the present moral condition of the heathen world. Since- the Gospel was first preached at Jerusalem, eighteen hundred centuries have passed away, and yet the greater part of the earth is without a knowledge of ihe way of salvation. The Church seems to have for- gotten her great commission of giving the Gospel to all the world. She has most sadly neglected her duty, and XXIV IMTBQDUCTIOW. the consequence is seen in the present wretched condi- tion of three-fourths of the population of the globe. " It is a matter of great astonishment that, after the lapse of so many centuries, such gross darkness should cover so large a portion of the earth ; and it is a matter of still greater astonishment to know, that within one cen- tury after the ascension of Christ, not only most of those portions of the earth which are now enlightened, had hoard the Gospel, but that some of those which are now sunk in the deepest ignorance and the most gross idolatry, were the seats of large and flourishing Churches." Whilst this is an astonishing fact, it is at the same time a very humiliating one. The primitive missionary ?p;rit was checked by the corruptions and divisions which prevailed for centuries, and upon the Church rested a long, dark, and heavy night. This deplorable state of things was occasioned, in a great measure, by the hen sy and apostacy of those who pro- fessed the name of Jesus. It was this that blotted out the very name of Christianity in Africa, and in other places, where flourishing Churches had been planted by the first preachers of the cross. But let us look at the present moral condition of the heathen world. Taking into view the entire world, The Protestant population is - 05 millions. The Roman Catholic - 125 " The Greek Church - 40 " Making a total of 230 millions who have, nominally, the Gospel. Whilst there are of Mohammedans - 110 millions. Pagans - - 480 " Making the entire population of the world 850 millions, 620 millions of whom hai'e never yet heard the Gogpel, INTRODUCTION. XXV The moral condition of these many millions of human, beings is wretched and deplorable in the extreme. The Heathen are spiritually blind and ignorant. More than twenty millions of our fellow men go down to their graves every year, unblest with the light and sal- vation of the word of God. Without the Bible that holy and blessed Book Heaven's best gift to fallen man they know not God. They are ignorant of his existence, character and will. They are ignorant of the Savior and of his redeeming work. They are ignorant of the Holy Spirit, and of his enlightening, quickening, converting, sanctifying, comforting and saving influences. They are ignorant of the immor- tality of the soul, and of their future and eternal destiny. They do not even certainly know whether they shall have an existence beyond the grave. And oh, how dark the prospect of the poor heathen for another world ! On this subject Mr. Schneider has written with much clearness and effect, and I beg the reader to consider well what is said in the Essay, concerning the prospects of the Pagan nations. What they now are, they will remain, unless the Church carries to them the Gospel and lifts up in their midst the banner of the cross. Let her give them the Missionary and the Bible, and light from Heaven will soon break in upon their souls, and the clouds of darkness and death will speedily disappear. Oh, that the Sun of righteousness would soon shine upon the long, dark night of heathenism, and cause tho thick clouds of worse than Egyptian darkness to vanish forever ! These six hundred and twenty millions of our fellow men are in a most debased and polluted state. They are idolaters, given up to work all manner of unclean- 3 ness with greediness. They change the ' glwy of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things, and even dishonor their own bodies between O ' themselves, being given up to vile affections. They do those things which are not convenient, and plunge into all manner of irregularities. "The idolatrous -system of most heathen nations necessarily produces all kinds of impurity. How can it be otherwise, when the highest objects of their worship are adulterers, fornica- tors and prostitutes of the most infamous kind." To Jearn something of heathen corruptions and abomina- tions, we need but read the first Chapter of St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans, and yet Christians, who have travelled through Pagan countries, inform us, that dark and awful as this description is, it nevertheless falls far short of the reality. But send these poor, polluted creatures the Gospel, by which they will become enlight- ened, and they will mortify their members which are upon the earth, and in the blood of the Lamb and through the Spirit's influence, they will be washed from their uncleanness and made meet to serve and enjoy the true and living God. Such were the effects produced by a preached Gospel in the Apostolic day, and such are still the effects wherever the Savior becomes known. The preaching of the cross proves the power of Go.'iin lefei the reader tu the fii'ot Chapter of Romans, and to the testimony of those who have travelled or lived for year, in Pj , ,, ,:. 60,000,000 50 50 the Mediterranean, $ Western India, \ 30 Southern India, 120,000,000 85 Northern India, J 105220 Ceylon, 1,500,000 40 Siberia, 3,500,000 5 Burmah, 12,000,000 20 Siarn, 2,000,000 7 Malayan Peninsula, 6 China,* 150,000,000 20 98 Carried forward, 560 * According to the Chinese own statistics, their population is not less than three hundred and sixty millions. Some INTRODUCTION. XXXIII Indian Archipelago, > Australia, 5 Southern Pacific, Northern Pacific, West Indies, North Amer. Indians, Greenland, Labrador, South America, Population. Missionaries. .ight forward, StfO 10 25,000,000 20 30 AK 200,000 *v 55100 3,000,000 270 2,000,000 50 8,000 22 _ , 25 13,000.000 15382 1072 From this statement, we learn that there is one Chris- tian teacher to about six hundred thousand heathen, which is about equal to the supply the United States would have, if provided with thirty ministers of the Gospel. In looking at the unevangelized part of the human family in larger masses, it will be seen that Europe has 20 Missionaries; Continental Asia 308; Ceylon, Indian Archipelago and Australia 70 ; Polynesia or the Pacific Islands 100 ; Africa and African Islands J. 92 ; America, including the West Indies, Greenland and Labrador 382 in all 1072. At this time, there may be eleven hundred ordained Missionaries in the Foreign field ; but C hristian travellers and writers have fixed it at three hundred millions, and others again at one hundred and fifty millions. This is the lowest estimate I have ever seen of the population of China; and to this immense number of souls there are but twenty missionaries, which is about equal to the supply the United States would have, if provided with two ministers of the Gospel. XXXIV INTRODUCTION "% Jiow inadequate is this number to supply more than sjx hundred millions of souls with a preached Gospel ! This great moral harvest is ripe and ready for the sickle, hut how few the laborers to gather it in ! And in view of these plain and striking facts, is it not clearly mani- fest that the Church should at once awake to a proper sense of her high obligation to Christ, and send Bibles and Missionaries to the many millions of heathen who are perishing for lack of knowledge? 'It may be shown, too, that the Redeomor.'s friends should feel constrained to be actively and perseveringly engaged in the missionary work, and that they have great encouragement to be thus engaged, from the fact that a good beginning has already been made that a foundation, firm as the Rock of Ages, and broad as seas and earth, has been laid ; and that the Savior stands pledged to be with his Church, in her missiona- ry capacity especially, even unto the end of the world. To build on this broad and deep foundation should now be the great desire of God's people in every place and of every name. It has not been long since the business of Foreign Missions was entered upon by Protestants, systemati- cally, and with the extended views and fixed plans which characterize the purpose of Christians in our day. But what countries and denominations are most active in this noble enterprize, and what are they doing to hasten the fulfilment of those prophecies to which the attention of the reader has been called in these pages ? Let the following statistics give the answer. The tables here given contain a synoptical view of the missions -sustained bv different denominations of INTRODUCTION XXXV Christians, both in Europe and in this country. They have been prepared with care, and may be regarded, in the main, as a reasonable approximation to the truth. Entire accuracy, for the present at least, is impracti- cable. In explanation of the Tables, it should be borne in mind that only ministers of the Gospel are called mis- sionaries; physicians, catechists, teachers, &c., are classed as assistant missionaries. Females, whether married or unmarried, are. not included in the enumera- tion. EUROPEAN MISSIONS. The following table exhibits a general view of the missions sustained by different Protestant denominations in Europe. It will be seen, that the missions of the United Brethren, or Moravians, in Greenland and La- brador, and among the North American Indians, are omitted in the first table. According to a synopsis lately published in the United Brethren's Missionary Intelligencer, they had 4 stations in Greenland, 4 in Labrador, and 3 in North America. Several small German Missions are also omitted, amounting in all to some 6 stations and 10 Missionaries. The Society for the propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, has 40 Missionaries in the West Indies, 50 in New South Wales, 6 in New Zealand, and 4 at the Cape of Good Hope. Some of these, however, ought to be put down, perhaps, as Colonial Missionaries, like the large num- ber of ministers sustained, in whole or in part, by this Society iu British North America. XXXVI INTRODUCTION. Names of Countries and Societies* Stations. Missionaries. 1 a b. ir 104 4 16 * 2 35 * 'l 2 10 2 10 86 645 122 314 20 * 9 321 1 Communicants f. 1 2 7,300 1,248 2,655 6,700 * 105 5,475 2,104 70 1,000 * 2,644 3,331 804 2,612 12,687 * 6,903 6,186 1,072 1,050 118 16,246 7,806 11,171 762 West Indies, no so 33 3 14 1 J] 1 2 8 27 30 10 1 3 1 57 a 42 29 20 21 5 7 1 2 S 19 45 25 6 38 21 87 J14 5 12 3 re 3 1 Id g 40 33 2'.', 2 6 1 8 6? 40 50 IS 13 17 5 2 8 12 39 29 3 7 M S * 4 1 7 1 15 10 4 13 4 22 5 4 119 34,806 533 3,775 54,661 13,877 115 1,275 3,594 65 230 * 2,120 2,499 * 1,350 2,234 * 544 1,303 * 41 1,822 3,696 11,076 451 West Africa. East Africa. Church Missionary Society, South Africa. United Brethren African Islands. Countries near the Mediterranean. India and Ceylon. Church Missionary Society, Free Church of Scotland Farther India. Polynesia. Church Missionary Society, American Indians. 65;) 774 1,763139,97499,297 Returns not giren or imperfect. INXKODUCTIOJV. XXXVII The foregoing table shows the fields of labor oc- cupied by the various Missionary Societies of Europe, with the exception of a few small Moravian and Ger- man Missionaries, and those of the Society for the Pro- pagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, in New South Wales and at the Cape of Good Hope. It will be ob- served, that by far the greater part of what is done in Europe for Foreign Missions, is done by the Christians of Great Britain. In the following table, which contains a clear, and as precise a statement as possible, of the opera- tions and success of each one of the European Mis- sionary Societies among the heathen, from the date of their organization to the present time, I have included the few Missions omitted in the first table, so as to make the general estimate as correct as possible. It can be perceived, at a glance, what the respective Socie- ties in Europe have done, and are now doing, for the heathen. XXXV111 INTRODUCTION. 5 . -. ^ gl r. a Si V. ii ~ o B | g e 3 S^ Societies. i '- * B h Et, 3 B" s 3. J 2. B ? 5 -., % to R. ?* ! 1715 138 IC4 ag 332 8 176 20 r KX) 17!)i! Mi 81 193 36,237 180*1 I I'p '('I 1 000 6 351 j^'ooo Wesleyan Methodist Miss'ry Society, If 17 1 12 L82 13 314 70,555 VJ.IQ'J tUnited Brethren or Moravians, 1732 ;'} 1 l-lli ^__ 17.K/7 IHld g B 13 , , , Gospol Propagation Society, 1G47 HI 6 inn 13 300 " r.'ooo Free Church of Scotland Mission^,. . 1700 7 g 1 10 _ _ . r-'H 9 1 07 1 5 183 g 111 1 o 1,973 (V-2 HI!) 125 139,390 100,480 tFrom a table of the Moravian Missions, which I have just seen, it would appear that they have at this time about 70 foreign stations, 300 Missionaries and teachers, (includ- ing females,) upwards of 55,000 "converts," and about 22,000 communicants. The number of communicants may be distributed as follows : In the Danish West India Islands 4,500; in the British West India Islands 12,500 ; in Suri- nam 1,500; South Africa 1,650; in Greenland .1,000; in Labrador 600; among the Cherokee and Delaware In- dians 150. 'The German Societies have doubtless a much greater num- ber of Missionaries in their employ in the foreign field than is here given; but it is impossible to ascertain, at this time, the precise number. Besides, it should be recollected that some of the English Societies have in their employ a large number of distinguished German Missionaries. INTRODUCTION. XXXIX * AMERICAN MISSIONS. . The following table presents a comprehensive view of of the various Missions sustained by the Churches in the United States. Nuinc.s of Coun- tries & Societies. Oa g> ~' Missionaries. i -,,' | ~. U 51 a 1. | Scholars, Locutions. Indian Tribes. Am. Board F. Mis-* Baptist Board 27 H J 3 5 9 a 3 INTRODUCTION. XI.V P, S. Since writing the foregoing, it has occurred to me that it would be acceptable to the readers of this yolume, to be furnished with a table embracing the ministers and communicants in the principal evangelical denominations in the United States. According to the latest returns to which access could be obtained, the fol- lowing statement may be relied upon as being in the main correct : Ministers. Associated Calvinistic Baptists, 4,820 Free Will Baptists (and licentiates,) 930 Congregationalista, Orthodox, 1^200 Episcopalians, ------- 1,250 Episcopal Methodists, - - - - 4,000 Protestant Methodists, - - . - 425 Evangelical Lutherans, - - - - 400 German Reformed, ------ 210 Dutch Reformed, 280 Associate Presbyterians, - - - - 120 Reformed Presbyterians, - - - - 32 Associate Reformed, ----- 175 Cumberland Presbyterians, - - - 470 Presbyterians, Old School, - - 1,700 Presbyterians, New School, - - 1,550 Communicants. 580,000 53,500 165,000 85,000 1,100,000 52,000 145,000 85,000 36,000 17,000 5,500 28,000 55,000 168,000 135,000 Total, 17,562 2,710,000 ' A few of the smaller denominations, the Moravians, etc. are not embraced in this enumeration. The re- sult, therefore, is somewhat below the actual number. It is probable that there are at this time about eighteen thousand evangelical ministers in the United States and about two million eight hundred thousand communicants connected with their Churches. XI.YI INTRODUCTION. The population of tho United States, in 1940, was 17,062,566 ; by adding the increase of six years, at 3 per cent the ratio from 1790 to 1840 we obtain for the population of 1840, 20,475,078. Of this amount 6,000,000 should probably be considered as under ten years of age. If we deduct this sum from the whole population, we have 14,475,078 as the number of those who are ten years old and upwards. Assuming then the foregoing table to be correct, we have the following results: 1. About one fifth of those persons who are more than ten years old, are communicants in our evan- gelical Churches. 2. Were these 18,000 ministers equally distributed throughout the United States, we should have one to every 1,137 souls. Now let us contrast the state of our own country with that of the unevangelized portions of the earth. The whole number of missionaries in the world is about 1,100. This estimate will give us about one missiona- ry for every 600,000 of the heathen, leaving none for 140,000,000 of Mohammedans, and none for those nomi- nal Christians who have "another gospel." When will the Church of Christ be able to look out upon the whole earth, and say, "one evangelical minister has been given to every 1,137 souls?" E. H. NOTES TO THE READER. In the table of contents, there should be twenty eight let- ters noted instead of twenty seven. Letter XXVII treating of the " Various means for the diffusion of light and truth" was omitted in the copy, and the omission was not discover- ed by the printer in time to make the necessary correction. On each of the pages 42 and 124 the reader will observe a reference to a plate, which does not appear in the book. It was intended originally to illustrate and embellish the work with fifteen plates. The publisher, however, found it necessary to omit three of them, and through unintentional oversight the references to the plates on the pages referred to were permitted to remain. PREFACE. It may be well to remark, in this place, as is implied in the First Letter of the Book, that these Letters are designed for the German Reformed Church in America. As they take a deep interestin the Mission established in Broosa, it is pre- sumed that a series of Letters relating' to the same, may not be uninteresting-. The leisure hours of a missionary, and especially of a mis- sionary mother, are like "Angels' visits, few and far between." This being the case with myself, it could not ho expected that I should find much time to devote to friends at home. It may even by some be considered a sacrilege, that I should attempt to write any thing for the public eye. But conscientiously endeavoring to omit no duties of higher importance for this object, I have aimed "to gather up the fragments" (of time) " that nothing be lost,"' and have succeeded in bringing these letters to a close. They include a less variety of subjects, and are less sys- tematically arranged, as well as far more deficient in interest, than I could desire. " But such as I have, give T to thee." You will, therefore, kindly throwing the mantle of charity over them all, please accept them as a small token of interest, from one, who, though not of German extraction, still feels a deep interestin "the weal and woe" of the German Reform- ed Church in America. When the Nominal Christians are mentioned, unless the Greeks are particularly spoken of, the .Armenians arc invariably referred to. 2 ll tho jii-iusfil ut these letters should be the nicaii^ of creat- ing an interest in the minds of some in behalf of the cause of missions generally, and of deepening- it with regard to this station in particular, my heart's best desire will be accom- plished, and the glory shall belaid at the feet of the dear Redeemer. IJlessed assurance this, that "a cup of cold water, given in the name of a disciple, shall in no wise lose its reward." E. C. A. SCHNEIDER. CONTENTS, ESSAY. Prospects of the heathen, and our duty to them. LETTER I. General description of Broosa its situation size number of inhabitants buildings Mount Olympus. LKTTER II. Abundance of cold waters mineral waters description of some of the laths and analysis of their waters climate of the city and vicinity prevalence of diseases ; viz : intermittent fever, smallpox, plague quarantine. LETTER III. Animals, wild and domestic vegetables fruits wine rakee cultivation of mulberry tree manu- facture of silk taxes prison. LETTER IV._ Franks. LETTER V. Mussulmans number of mosques mauso- leums honacks nature of the worship in mosques -pre- tense at working miracles ramazan beiram mcdrcssef/s interior of a harem. LETTER VI. Dervishes. LETTER VII. Visit of the Sultan to Broosa. LETTER VIII. Many things seen in this eastern country indicating habits and tastes exactly the reverse of those in the United Slates Contrarieties. LETTER IX. Difference in the treatment of the sexes. LETTER X. Ignorance of the nature of true religion exist- ing in the minds of Armenians and Greeks. LETTER XI. Armenian Catechism. * LETTER XII. Early engagements and marriages. LETTER XIII. Baptisms. LETTER XIV. Death funeral services and kindred sub- jects. V CO.fTKNTS. LETTER XV. Various superstitions. LETTER XVI. Ecclesiastics. LETTER XVII. The Sabbath-, LETTER XVIII. Regard for the word of God. LETTER XIX. Opposition to the spread of the truth. LETTER XX. Praying for the dead prayers to the saints the cross. LETTER XXL Pictures. L KTTE R XXII. Feasts fasts confession absolution. LETTER XXIII. Services in the Armenian Church on Christmas. LETTER XXIV. Pilgrimages. LETTER XXV. Legends. LETTER XXVI. Miscellanies visit to an Armenian family return of the same murder in a village visit of B. C., and an account of his conversion happy death of B. S. LETTER XXVII. Concluding thoughts. HYMN. E S 8 A Y , Prospects of the Heathen, and our duty to them. It is the acknowledged duty of the Church to send the gospel to the heathen, and yet, the great mass of the world's population are still ignorant of the way of salvation by Christ. It is to be feared, that many of his professed followers do not practi- cally admit the solemn truth, that without the gos- pel the heathen must inevitably perish. They can- not think it reconcilable with the mercy of God. Although they are unable to say how they can be saved without a knowledge of him, "besides whom there is none other name given under heaven* whereby men may be saved ;" still, they imagine, that, in the infinite mind of God, there must be such a way. This feeling is, probably, far more prevalent, and exerts vastly more influence, than is supposed. Though it may not be openly alleged, this is, doubtless, the cause why many, who bear the Chris- tian name, neither ofTer their prayers, nor contribute of their substance, for the spread of the gospel in heathen lands. It becomes, then, an important question, wheth- er the heathen are in a perishing condition, without the gospel ? We propose to establish the affirma- tive of this inquiry, both from Scripture and from other considerations. And having proved this E s > A \- point, some motives, to engage in the work of mis- sions, will be presented. In the Scriptural part of the argument, our proofs will be chiefly drawn from Paul's reasoning in his epistle to the Romans. And here it is important to observe, that the same kind of argumentation, which he employs in reference to the heathen of his time, applies with ecpiial force to those of the present day. Their character is precisely the same now ; and the principles of God's moral government have not changed. Therefore, if he proved the heathen of his age guilty in the sight of God, and in need of the gospel, so are they at the present time. With these preliminary remarks we proceed to the dis- cussion. I. Without the gospel, the heat hen must perish. 1.) In Rom. 3 chap, and 9th verse, the apostle says, "We have proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin." To be under sin, is to be guilty of it, and exposed to the penalty, which it deserves. Such is the moral government of God, that whosoever commits sin must suffer its just ret- ributions, unless he repents and takes refuge in an atonement. "Cursed is every one that continued! not in all things, written in the book of the law to do them." "Sin is the transgression of the law." If, therefore, the Gentile world, as well as all others, are chargable with sin, they are under the curse of this law, which is death. And the death here in- tended must be that which is eternal ; for mere bodi- E s S A Y . "m iy dissolution, followed by eternal bliss, would be, comparatively, no curse. 2.) In verse 1 9th of this same chapter, Paul says, that // the irorhl is giti/ty before God." If all the world are in this predicament, then the heathen portion of it are included. And to be guilty before God, is to be exposed to condemnation ; to be lia- ble to punishment. 3.) In the 32nd verse of chapter 1st, Paul says, that while they "know the judgment of God, that they, who commit such things, arc worthy of death, not only do the same", but have pleasure in them that do them." In this passage the following things are to be noticed ; viz : God's judgment is denoun- ced against the various crimes mentioned in the verses preceding ; .the heathen know that such is the divine denunciation ; with this knowledge, they actually commit these very crimes, and not only so, but such is their corruption, that they take pleasure in those who indulge in them. In view of these things, did not the apostle mean tqpay, and does not reason also make the same declaration, that they "are worthy of death?" Painful as is the conclu- sion, how can we escape from it ? 4.) In chap. 2 : 1 2th verse, of this same epistle, it is said, "As many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law," viz : those who have sinned without the light of revelation, or the reveal- ed law, shall perish. Here is a very plain and posi- tive declaration, that those heathen without revela- tion, who have sinned, must perish. Now, if all 8 i: s s A r . the heathen are actually sinners, as is undeniable ; if they have sinned against the light which they en- joy, then it is as plain as the Bible can make it, that they will actually be lost. But that they are trans- gressors is clear; for the whole tenor of the apostle's reasoning, in the first part of the epistle to the Ro- mans, proves them to "be under sin." He says, "They are without excuse." "When they knew God, they glorified him not as God." He enumer- ates a long catalogue of crimes, of which they were guilty, and which call down the judgment of God. If it could be shown, that they universally, or gen- erally even, improved the light which they enjoy, then the argument derived from this passage would fall to the ground. But as it is a fact undisputed by all, that they commit numberless sins knowing- ly, the conclusion is inevitable, that they perish. This one plain text of Scripture is sufficient to over- throw every argument to the contrary, however much it may appear to magnify the mercy and compassion oL God. No opinion, or theory, or mode of reasoning, however specious it may seem, must be allowed to set aside the word of God. One "Thus saith the Lord," is of more force than scores of mere human arguments. 5.) They siri against the light of nature and con- science. Paul says, "The invisible things of God from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and God-head" The Psalmist says, "The heavens declare the glory of God, and E S S A T. 9 the firmament showeth his handy work. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard." These 'passages clearly teach, that, in the works of nature, God has revealed himself to man. The light ' which they disclose is sufficient to teach them their obligations to their Creator; so that, though they have not the additional light of the gospel, they have a sufficient degree, if they will but open their eyes to behold it, to lead them to worship and love the true God. And consequently, the apostle, after saying that the eter- nal power and God-head of the Creator were dis- played in creation, declares expressly, that they "are without excuse." But most obviously, if they are without excuse, they must have sufficient knowledge, or they could not be guilty. Guilt implies knowledge of obligation and law, which have been neglected. They sin against the light of God's goodness as revealed in creation. Of his mercy there are traces all over the globe. It is written in charac- ters of light every where, and may be read even by the darkest pagan mind. "He maketh his sun to rise oil the evil and on the good, and sendeth his rain on the just and on the unjust." Paul said to the idolators of Lystra, "Nevertheless, he left not him- self without witness, in that he did good and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness." To the Athe- nians, who were excessively devoted to idolatry, 10 K s.s A V. the same apostle declares, "That God is not wor- shipped will men's hands as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all, life and breath, and all things; and hath made of one blood all nations of men, for to dwell oh all the face of the earth, and hath determined (he times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation : That they should seek the Lord,'" mark this, "that they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him and find him." Here it is expressly asserted by an inspired apostle, that the goodness of God, as displayed in his providence, was designed to lead men to God. He mentions it as an inducement to abandon their idolatry. The heathen, then, do not sin ignorantly. Though their light is not the bright blaze kindled by the gospel, it is yet sufficient to shew them the sin and folly of superstition and idolatry. Again, Paul says, that the heathen "are a law unto themselves, which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bear- ing witness, and their thoughts the meanwhile ac- cusing or else excusing one another." According to this passage, the moral law is written in the hearts of the heathen. They are not ignorant ef the great distinction between right and wrong. When they commit murder, theft, and licentious- ness, and indulge in all the gross and corrupt feel- ings of their hearts, they sin knowingly, and their consciences condemn them. God has impressed on every mornl nnd neoountnble brinar. this sense of '- 1 - E K > A V . 11 right and wrong. Though degradation and sin of- ten render it obtuse, they cannot destroy it. It ever abides with them as a faithful monitor, to direct their minds to the Great Author of their being. Now, it is for sinning against this light of nature and conscience, that the heathen will be condemned. Not for rejecting and misimproving the light and motives of the gospel, which they have never re- ceived, but for disregarding that degree of light which they do enjoy ; not for what they do not know, but for what they do know but despise. This is the ground of their condemnation. Why may they not, and will they not be condemned as truly, for misimproving the feeble motives to honor their Creator, which bear upon them, as those who are unaffected by the more powerful ones of the gospel in Christian lands ? The principle in both cases is the same. If we admit that a gospel hardened sin- ner is justly condemned, because he has rejected the offers of grace made to him, must we not admit, on the same principle, that the less favored heathen, who wholly disregards the dictates of nature and conscience, must also be condemned ? On what principle of justice can you make -a distinction in favor of the latter ? True, his guilt and condemna- tion will not be as great as those of the former, but they will be just as real. The mistake of those, who persuade themselves that the heathen may be saved without the gospel, lies in their supposing that they will be overwhelmed with all the con- demnation, Consequent to a rejection of the gospel. i 12 ESSAY. But they will be called to suffer only the conse- quences of their actual guilt. Our remarks, thus far, have all tended to shew from the word of God, that the heathen are actually guilty in his sight, they having violated the moral law imprinted upon their hearts, and that according to that law they must perish. Now, according to the gospel system, there is only one way of satisfy- ing the demands of this law ; viz : by an adequate atonement. Either, all its precepts must be fully obeyed, or an adequate expiation offered, which will be accepted instead of the threatened punish- ment. As the heathen have transgressed this law, they are, of course, reduced to the necessity of tak- ing refuge in an atonement. They must apply for its benefit. The mere existence of one, while they do not apply to it, can no more save them, than it does those in gospel lands, who disregard it. To say that they will be saved on the ground of Christ's atonement, though they arc ignorant of it, is an assertion altogether unsupported by Scrip- ture ; while the whole tenor of the Bible is, that "there is none other name given under heaven, among men, whereby we can be saved." The passage in Acts 10 : 35, "But in every na- tion he that feareth God and worketh righteousness is accepted of him," is often referred to for proof, that the heathen may be saved without the- gospel. This, as far as I know, is the only apparent evi- dence from Scripture to support this sentiment. But a moment's consideration of the whole narra- ESSAY. 13 live of Cornelius, as given in this chapter, not only shews the utter groundlessness of the doctrine, but is itself a strong argument in favor of our position. True, Cornelius was a heathen by birth ; but by his~residence in Judea he became acquainted with the character of the true God by means of the Old Testament Scriptures in the Greek language, as is highly probable, and by his intercourse with the Jews. So deep an impression did his knowfedge of God make upon his heart, that it is said of him, that he was a "devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, and which gave much alms to the people and prayed to God always/' Not only was he a man of prayer and fasting, but he taught his family also the fear of God. Observe, this is not said of one residing in the heathenish darkness of pagan Italy, but of one, who had emerged from that darkness, and was enjoying the light of revelation among the chosen people of God in Canaan, and while he was residing in their midst. In other words, his character for devout-, ness and uprightness was formed, not under the influence of paganism, but of the word of God. Besides, even the degree of light and knowledge which he had was not sufficient. But as there was an evident preparation' on his part, to receive Christ as his Redeemer, as Doddridge says, "the passage proves that God would sooner send an an- gel to direct pious and upright persons to a knowl- edge of the gospel, than suffer them to perish by ignorance of it; and by no means determines the existence of such persons in every nation." * 11 ESSAf And when Peter declares, that God is no respec- ter of persons, etc., he, doubtless, means that God is not as exclusive in conferring the blessings of revelation as the Jews had supposed, who believed that no nation besides their own was included in the favor of God. They considered them all as outcasts. But Peter, in view of the case of Cor- nelius, asserts that such exclusive notions are wrong, and that other people and nations would also share in his mercy. Cornelius is supposed to have been the first Gentile, who was admitted into the Christian Church, without having been pre- viously proselyted and circumcised. It was, there- fore, altogether natural for Peter, at the commence- ment of this new state of things, to make such a remark. In view of these arguments from Scripture, we think the conclusion is inevitable, that while the heathen are without the gospel, they are in a perish- ing condition. So the apostles felt. Under this deep impression, they dispersed into all lands to publish the glad tidings of salvation. In this work they sacrificed their case and comfort ; they submitted to privations and hardships of every kind ; they were persecuted, afflicted, tormented ; they were in perils by land and by sea ; their lives were constantly in danger, and in the prosecution of their labors,most of them actually sacrificed their lives. But if the heath- en could have been saved without the gospel, then all this suffering was undergone to no p\irpose. And Christ, in calling them to such hardships, could not E 5 S A V . lb have been actuated by that teudei and ulfectionate spirit, which he manifested in his last interview with them just before his crucifixion. But the apostles were not mistaken, and Christ did not call them to so arduous a work, without an adequate object. They were persuaded that the heathen must perish, if they did not embrace the gospel, and it was a deep and abiding conviction of this solemn truth, which lead them cheerfully to sacrifice every thing, for the purpose of conveying that gospel to (hem. Furthermore : the very command to publish the gospel to every creature implies their absolute need of it. What is il, and for whom is it designed ? It is a system of mercy, intended for the deliverance of such as are in a perishing condition. It presup- poses, that all to whom it is to be proclaimed, are in a hopeless state without it. Why send it to them, if they are not in need of it ? What object is to be gained, if they are sure of eternal bliss without it ? Nay more, if this opinion is' correct, it would be better not to fulfil this command : for it is morally certain, that many of the heathen, after having re- ceived the offers of salvation, will reject them and perish, as multitudes in Christian lands do ; : where- as, if without it they will be saved, none would be exposed to the danger of perdition by rejecting it. So that, not to execute the most solemn of Christ's commands, would be an act of kindness to the heathen. But who will venture to take such a posi- Who will dare assume the responsibility of 16 ESSAY. saying, that disobedience to any of our Lord's in- junctions is an exhibition of mercy on our part, and that obedience, on the contrary, would manifest a want of compassion ? When the physician prescribes a remedy, it is for one, who is sick, and when you seek medical aid, it is when disease is preying upon your vitals. Now, the gospel is a remedy. It is designed to heal the spiritual maladies of men. It is the balm of Gilead. And when Christ enjoins it upon his disciples to carry this remedy into all the world, and to offer it to every creature, it is most manifestly implied, that all are infected with the disease, which it is adapted to cure. Finally : the character of the heathen proves them to be in a perishing condition. What that was in the day of the apostle Paul, he has told us in the first part of his epistle to the Romans ; and the same characteristics apply to all the unevangel- ized nations of the present day. He represents them as "doing those things which are not con- venient; being filled with all unrighteousness, for- nication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness ; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity, whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenant-break- ers, without natural affection, implacable, unmer- ciful; who knowing the judgment of God, that they Avhieh do such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that K SS A Y. 17 do them." Now, can persons of such a character be fit for the pure and holy enjoyments of heaven? Can those, who live in the indulgence of every unholy passion and in the unrestrained commis- sion of various sins, up to the hour of death, be then suddenly transferred to heaven, whose chief bliss consists in holiness ? There is a moral fit- ness requisite to a participation in its blissful glories. Heaven is not so much a place as a state. And if a person in a Christian land, who leads a good, moral life, but whose heart has not been changed, cannot be admitted to heaven on the ground, that the state of his moral feelings unfit him to be hap- py there, how much more must a heathen, whose only pleasure is to riot in sin and all manner of evil, be wholly unfit for so holy a place. He pos- sesses a moral incapacity for it. It is not so much that God has interdicted heaven to them as that, unless they are changed by the power and grace of the gospel, there is an utter impossibility in the way of their being admitted to heaven. In the na- ture of things it is impracticable. And it is this impracticability, which lies at the bottom of all such Scripture declarations as the following; viz: "Be not deceived ; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, not effeminate, nor abusers of mankind with them- selves, nor thieves, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God." " Without holiness, no man shall see the Lord." That the unevangelized have no conception of this holiness, so indispensable to salvation, and are 3 18 ESSAY. utterly destitute of it, is an undisputefo.nd undenia- ble fact. Wherever missionaries have gone, they have not found the least traces of it. The experience of all past ages, as well as the testimony of God's word, unite in declaring, that it is a plant which. grows only on evangelical soil. Naught but the truths of the gospel, accompanied by the grace and spirit of God, can produce it. If so, how can the 'heathen, as long as they are destitute of the gospel, be saved ? We arc constrained, therefore, painful us it is to the benevolent heart, to admit, that so far as the Bible gives us any light on the subject, the gospel affords the only hope to the heathen. It is an as- tonishing and moving fact, and one which makes a powerful appeal to every Christian heart. In view of it, we are prepared, II. In the second place, to listen to some mo- tives to send them the gospel. 1.) Ti id positive, and solemn command of Christ. "Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature" Nothing can be plainer than that our Lord intended to enjoin this duty upon all his disciples in all ages of the world; for he immediately adds, '-'And lo ! I am with you always, even to the end of the world ;" thus intimating, that while the world continued, the preaching of the gospel to the heathen was to be the great work of his people. The command was given under peculiarly solemn circumstances. It was his parting commission, and as it were, his dying request. It being the very last ESS AY. 19 charge lie gave them, he evidently designed by that circumstance, to invest it with peculiar interest and solemnity in their minds, and they understood it so and acted accordingly. When a friend makes a request on his dying bed, or gives particular directions in his will, how sa- credly his wishes are regarded by those who loved him. The request is fulfilled to the very letter, and not one iota is overlooked. Nay ; it is considered a privilege to shew marks of respect for the deceas- ed, by a minute compliance, even though it should be attended by much inconvenience and trouble. Whatever sacrifice it may cost, it is cheerfully made. And shall not an equally sacred regard be had to the dying commission of the Friend of friends ? Are our obligations to any relative at all to be com- pared with those we owe to Christ, who not only redeemed us, but through whom, as the channel, our friends with all the comforts and enjoyments following in their train, and all other blessings tem- poral and spiritual, flow to us ? Is our friendship and affection for earthly friends so much stronger than our love to him, on whom our hopes of heaven depend ? Forgetting and overlooking all their im- perfections, do we scrupulously carry out their wishes, though no one may be particularly benefit- ed thereby ; and shall not our affection for him, in whom every virtue shone with the lustre of spotless perfection, lead us to fulfil his last request, especial- ly, when by so doing we impart temporal and eter- ^0 K s s A y . nal bliss to the nations of the earth? O! the in- consistency of this disregard to the most s&lemn of all bequests ! Doubtless, it awakens the astonish- ment of angelic beings in heaven, who, with the rapidity of lightning, and all the alacrity of burn- ing love, would hasten to fulfil so high a charge. None of the other commands of the Bible are treated with so much neglect. A habitual violation of some of them deprives a man of all claim to Christian character, and no Church would receive any one as a member, who should disregard them. But a man may never think of this command ; he may feel no interest in the subject, to which it re- fers ; he may never offer one earnest prayer for its fulfilment and never give one mite of his substance to promote the object ; he may feel as though he ought never to be expected to do any thing for its furtherance, and that for him to do so would be a work of supererogation ; he may do all this and yet be a reputable Christian. Though deliberately liv- ing, and confidently expecting to die, in the habitual neglect of this solemn command, he still is regarded by others and himself as a Christian. Is not this passing strange ? How can it be reconciled with true Christian character? Why should this injunction have thus been lost sight of? The author of it made it as uncondition- al and positive as any other. There is not the least intimation, that he himself regards it as less impera- tive than qthers. The true explanation of the mat- ter is the painful fact, that (he spirit of self-denial is S S A Y. 21 lamentably wanting, and the sin of avarice too fear- fully prevails in the Church. Were her eagerness to obey her ascended Lord as great as is her love of ease and her eagerness to become rich, the case would be far otherwise. Had her heart been fixed as much upon extending the empire of Christ as on "joining house to house and laying field to field," the greater part of the world would not now be en- veloped in heathenish darkness. Here lies the real difficulty. There is not enough of true devotion to him and to his cause, and until there is an improve- ment in this respect, Christ's parting injunction will still be neglected. 2.) Jl regard for the happiness and comfort of the heathen even in this life, should induce us to give them the gospel. It not only prepares the soul for the superior bliss of heaven, but opens numberless sources of enjoy- ment even in this life. "Godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come." It lightens the bur- dens, diminishes the cares, sweetens the sorrows, and heightens the joys of life. Not only does it furnish comfort under afflictions, but it adds posi- tive enjoyments, which can flow from no other source. The joys of pardoned sin, and the de- lights experienced in the spiritual worship of the true God, are peculiar to the gospel. The com- forts and conveniences of civilized life ; the social and intellectual enjoyments of Christian lands; the improvements and facilities introduced by the W E S S A ? . prevalence of the arts and sciences ; and a thou- sand other blessings, all springing from pure Chris* tianity ; all these are unknown to the heathen. With all the humanizing and purifying tenden- cies of the gospel, this world is still felt to be a vale of tears ; how much wretchedness, then, must be experienced in a land, where human depravity is suffered to work out its natural results freely and fully. Compare enlightened and happy America with the condition of an African tribe. Place her intelligence and refinement by the side of African ignorance and vulgarity ; her Schools, Academies, Colleges and Seminaries in contrast with the entire absence of all such institutions in the land of Ham ; her flourishing villages and cities by the side of an African village of mud houses ; her enlightened senators and statesmen by the side of a heathen despot ; her reading population by the side of a whole race or tribe, who can neither read nor write; in one word, collect all the marks of comfort and enjoyment in the one country, and compare them with the total want of these and the presence of numberless causes of wretchedness in the other, and observe how much, even in reference to this world, the heathen need the blessed gospel. 3.) Gratitude, for our exalted privileges should induce us to send them the gospel. Nothing is more natural, than that the Christian should feel his heart swell with grateful emotions, as he enjoys his spiritual advantages.' As he reads the precious word of God, as he sits under the E S S A V . XJ8 droppings of the sanctuary, as he participates in the blessings of Christian fellowship, and as one re- ligious privilege after another comes in review be- fore him, he is ready to exclaim, "What shall I ren- der to the Lord for all his benefits !" What more natural and proper expression of this gratitude than the effort and prayer, that these same privileges may be extended to others ? By means of them he has been born again and made a spiritual man, and as the natural conse- quence, he desires that all the world may experience the same change. His own heart has been filled with joy and peace in believing, and therefore, he earnestly longs that the same internal peace may cheer the comfortless breast of the unevangelized. He has a strong and comforting hope that his name is written in the book of life, and consequently, he prays that the same hope may be cherished by every human being. Such are arid must be his desires, if he is a Christian. But to prove their sincerity, he must make corresponding efforts, and self-denial even, if necessary. There must and will be some tangible form in which they will flow out ; and one of the most natural and reasonable- is active effort for the salvation of those who are without the gos- pel. How does this feeling of gratitude operate in other cases ? Suppose an individual has been high- ly favored with intellectual privileges, of the value of which he is very deeply impressed. How does he express his estimate of it ? The very first and V4 K S S A Y . strongest impulse of his nature is, to put forth efforts for the promotion of intelligence and mental cultiva- tion. He will be the friend and patron of literary institutions, and if he has the means, he may even found some himself. How many of the literary in- stitutions of America have had their origin in this feeling, if they owe not to it their final completion and strength. Suppose a person has been afflicted with mental aberration, but by means of an Asylum for the in- sane has been perfectly restored. Is he not, during all his life time, a friend and supporter of such in- stitutions ? Is he not prompted to do all in his pow- er to extend the same mercy to those who are in his former state ? ' Let a man be delivered from bondage, and his r first impulse is compassion for those left in slavery. Our very being makes this certain. Now, if this principle is active in cases of a tem- poral kind, shall it be less so in regard to spiritual things? While the individual, who has been de- livered from mental degradation, longs and labors for the intellectual elevation of those still in that state, shall the .Christian, after having himself been delivered from moral degradation and spiritual death, have no anxiety for those who sit in the region and shadow of death ? Shall redemption from bodily slavery inspire to more effort than de- liverance from spiritual bondage ? Can any men- tal imbecility and derangement be regarded more lamentable than the awful moral insanity, which ESSAY. 25 destroys the heathen by millions every year ? O Christian ! shall the recipient of mere temporal mercies be more anxious to impart the same to those who need them, than you are to extend those spir- itual blessings, which are your joy, and peace, and salvation, to those who will be eternally miserable without them ? Is your gratitude so feeble ? While you are exalted, as it were, to the very gates of heaven, have you no solicitude and yearnings to- wards the perishing heathen ? How incompatible all this with the spirit of Christ, which, if a man have not, he is none of his. 4.) Another consideration is the solemn fact, that they will CERTAINLY perish, without the gos- pel. If, as we think, has been fully shown, they are in a hopeless condition, it is a fact of most solemn import. The man of the world may not feel any particular interest on the subject ; but the Christain, whose eyes have been opened to behold all things in the light of eternity, cannot, so far as he is true to his character, be indifferent. He may not take an active part in many of the praise-worthy, world- ly enterprizes of the age ; he may not bestow any particular care upon plans for the social and intel- lectual improvement of his fellow men; and he may be uninterested in any of the numberless temporal projects around him. But, if he be really and truly a child of God, how can he think with unconcern of the millions of heathen, who are perishing with- out the Bible ? Knowing, as he does by experience, 4 26 E S 3 A V . the joys of pardoned sin, and possessing a cheeiiug hope of heaven, and often realizing sweet foretastes of its ineffable bliss, can he forget those who are in danger of being eternally deprived of these joys ? Can it be to him a matter of indifference whether they ever knew or not any thing of the way to secure them ? Is it natural, is it reasonable, and I was about to say, is it possible, that so strange a phenomenon should ever occur ? Did it not actually exist in thousands of instances, no one would ever have imagined it within the range of possibility. It is a most humiliating fact, and per- haps, more than any one thing else, shews the mournful want of thorough Christian principle, even in the bosom of the Church herself. Suppose a great temporal calamity visits a com- munity ; a whole city reduced to ashes, and thou- sands rendered houseless and left without the means of subsistence. Subscriptions are at once raised, and relief is granted to the sufferers. Suppose hun- dreds and thousands daily fall a sacrifice to the ravages of a terrible epidemic, sparing neither age nor sex, and making no distinction between pover- ty and riches. How much sympathy is expressed ! How many prayers ascend, and that from hearts who never before raised a desire to heaven ! The calamity is spread out before the whole community in all its details, and is made the sole topic of con- versation and reflection. The- reason is the exis- tence of real suffering and distress, and that on an uncommonly extended scale. There is nothing ESSAY. 21 9> imaginary about it, but all is actual and palpable reality. ^W But there is a work of destruction going on con- stantly, which is just as real and far more extensive than the one supposed. Of the 600,OOOjOOO heath- en twenty-two millions die yearly fifty -four thou- sand daily two thousand two hundred every hour and thirty-six every minute. Yes, reader, while you are perusing these pages, some hundreds, and perhaps, thousands, have received their final doom. Even while you are performing your daily devo- tions, obtaining grace to fit you for everlasting bliss, though you consume only half an hour, more than a thousand have sunk to rise no more. What is the destruction occasioned by the greatest calamity which has ever visited the earth, in comparison with this ? The fact, that it is not visible to the bodily eye, does not take away its reality. To the spiritual eye to the eye of faith, it is just as real, as though it could be discerned by the organs of bodily vision. And is there nothing in all this to awaken the compassion of a Christian ? Shall we be prompt in affording relief from temporal suffer- - ing, and yet make no effort to rescue so many souls from spiritual death ? Is the body worth more than the soul ? And is the everlasting ruin of so many millions a matter of less concern than the death of a few hundreds by some worldly calamity? ! where is our Christian sympathy ? Where is our compassion ! Where is the tenderness and pity which our Savior manifested, as he wept over 28 ESSAY. ^ Jerusalem ! O ! that the Church might be com- pletely penetrated and saturated with his spirit, which lead him to sacrifice his precious life on the cross. c f. 5.) The.success of efforts already made, should Excite us to this work. Had but little been actually accomplished, the positive command of Christ, and the very nature of Christianity, would still require the Church to engage in it. But superaddedto these is the mea- sure of success, already vouchsafed. It can no lon- ger be regarded as a doubtful enterprize. The experiment has been made and proved successful. In estimating the extent and nature of this suc- cess, we must take into account many accompany- ing circumstances. The enterprize was entered upon without any experience. Many things were first to be learned. Much was to be done by way of preparation. Obstacles, which could not be an- ticipated and provided against, rose one after anoth- er. The fallow ground of the whole work was first to be broken up, before any seed could be sown. In all this preparatory work, obviously, much time and strength were consumed, before results could be looked for. The weakness of the faith of the Church in the enterprize, the fewness of those who were really interested in it, and the comparatively small amount of prayer offered up, at its commencement, were also unfavorable. But notwithstanding all these drawbacks, great has been the success bestowed. ESSAY. J29 There will not be room to spread out these re- sults, and a bare allusion to them is all th|it can be attempted. In how many countries Ms the stan- dard of the cross been erected? Though, compar- atively, but a small onset has been made on the empire of heathen darkness, yet this attack has been made at various points, and is becoming more and more vigorous every succeeding year. To whatever part of the world you direct your eyes, whether to Africa, Asia, or the isles of the sea, there numerous spots of heavenly light meet the eye. That light is gradually spreading. Truth is there being disseminated and conquering sin. In each of these places, there is a small portion of "the salt of the earth," of "the light of the world." The leaven, thus deposited, is destined to diifuse itself through all the mass. Look at the triumphs of the gospel in the South Sea Islands. After much discouragement, the la- bors of the missionaries began, at length, to be blessed. "From that time,"*says Williams, "one rapid series of successes has attended our labors, so that island after island, and group after group have, in rapid succession, been brought under the influence of the gospel, so much so indeed, that at the present time, we do not know of any group, or any single island of importance, within two thousand miles of Tahiti, in any direction, to which the glad tidings of salvation have not been con- veyed." How signal too, has been the success of the mis- 30 ESSAY. siouury work at ihu Sandwich Islands. In a popu- lation of 150,000, or less, formerly sunk to the low- est depths of heathenism, there are about 30,000 church members; and where formerly not even a written language existed, there are now 310 schools, and between 18,000 and 20,000 pupils. Where formerly nothing but the marks of heathenism abounded, the .eye now rests on neat villages, num- erous school houses, and many temples of the liv- ing God, raising their spires to the skies. But the results in these Islands cannot be better exhibited, in a few words, than by quoting, with a few ver- bal changes, from a report of the A. 13. C. F. M. "During the last 23 years, and by the generation of missionaries now living, their language has been reduced to a written form, and the Scriptures y and school-books, and other stores of useful knowl- edge translated into it ; the printing press has been introduced, with all the facilities it affords for dis- seminating information j as a people, they have embraced the Christian religion, and probably, as large a portion of them have become its living pro- fessors, as in almost any other community; a sys- tem of free schools has been adopted, which will soon make the whole population readers ; a code of laws has been enacted, which to a good extent, protects the rights and interests "of all ; the Chris- tian rite of marriage has been introduced, and measures adopted for promoting public morals gen- erally, as efficient, probably, as are to be found in any other community ; in short, they have ta- 1! S S A Y. 31 ken decisive steps in the great transformation, from being a nation of degraded pagans and savages, to becoming an intelligent, moral and Christian peo- ple ; after having done all this, they have asked to be admitted, and been actually received into the great brotherhood of civilized and Christian na- tions." And all this has been accomplished at an expense less than the cost of building one of our ships of the line, with one year's expense in the service the whole expense of the Sandwich Is- land mission, from the beginning to 1843, having been about half a million. Who will not exclaim, in view of all this, what hath God wrought T After such an experiment, who can doubt the final tri^ umph of this cause ! True, this is a marked instance of success, and the same cheering results cannot be reported from every Mission. But here we see the results to which the work is tending the blessed fruits which, with the divine blessing, when the work is vigorously prosecuted, may be realized. With the progress of every year, the aggregate of these re- sults will be greatly swelled. In every succeeding year, the proportion of success will be greater than during the previous one ; so that while, accord- ing to the estimate of Hoffman of Basle, about a year ago, the whole number of converts from heathenism, was four hundred thousand, the number five years, or ten years hence, will, doubt- less, be vastly greater. Remember thes'e are so many hopeful conversions, and not simply the F. 5 SAY. . * number of those who have come under the influ- ence of the gospel. Is there not then, every encouragement to prose- cute the work with vigor ? Set hefore the energetic and enterprizing merchants of our country an equal- ly fair prospect of gain, and how their breasts are fired with ardor, to embark at once in the enterprize. And shall not Christians manifest the same interest in the great work of giving the gospel to the heathen ? Nor can the German Reformed Church excuse herself from taking her part in it. She owes it to herself, to her best interests. May every one of her members ever feel it to be, not only a duty, but a privilege to take an active and lively interest in it. General description of Broosa Its situation Size Number of inhabitants Buildings Mount Olympus. MY DEAR FRIENDS: I presume there are many in the German Reformed Church, whose interest has been awakened on the subject of missions. They may not, however, have as much information rela- tive to the same as they desire. This may be em- phatically the case with regard to that station which they call their own, viz: the one established in Broosa. It has occurred to me that 1 might be able to seize an hour at intervals amid my various engagements, and appropriate it to the writing of a series of letters to you. I will imagine myself seated in some of your parlors, surrounded by a group of friends and sisters, who love the cause in which we are engaged as we do ourselves, and therefore, will listen with interest to what I may communicate. I shall en- deavor to aim at simplicity in my relations. One who is obliged to be more ceremonious in her inter- course, with these Eastern people than she desires, prefers, -when coming in contact with the minds of Americans, to waive etiquette and to feel herself once more at home for a brief season, in that blessed land, far away to the setting sun. Happy America ! thou land of freedom, of civilization, of refinement '* I LETTER I. and knowledge ! Thou land of our fathers' sepul- chres, of sabbaths, of sanctuary privileges, of benev- olent institutions! Thou land exalted to heaven in point of privileges ! Can we, thine exiled sons and daughters, (though cheerfully and voluntarily so,) ever forget thee? Ah no! If we do, "let our right hands forget their cunning and our tongues cleave to the roof of our mouth!" Many of my readers, I doubt not, are already ac- quainted with our location. But to those who are not, I will observe, that Broosa is situated in the North West part of Asia Minor, in Ancient Bythinia and at the base of Mount Olympus. It is about 15 miles from the sea coast, i. e. from one of the Gulphs of the Marmora. Previous to the taking of Con- stantinople by Mohammed II, in 1453, it was the capitol of the Turkish Empire for 100 years. Its present number of inhabitants is variously estima- ted from 80,000 to 100,000. The latter estimate is probably too high. More than two-thirds of the number are Mussulmans. There are about 10,000 Armenians, 8,000 Greeks, 2,000 Jews, and a few Franks, who belong to various European nations. When I shall have occasion to use the term Franks, I refer to those who belong to European nations and to America. There are no Americans, exclu- sive of three mission families, viz : that of the Rev. Mr. Powers of the Rev. Mr. Ladd, and our own. He who has acted as our consul, or consular agent, is an European. Tl is said that the citv of Broosa was founded LETTER I. 3H by Hannibal, whose grave is at Gebizeh, about mid- way between Constantinople and Nicoraedia, near the coas.t of the Marmora. The ancient city, (as it was first built,) was erected upon a high table land and commands a view of the beautiful plain, which stretches away from the city to the distance of 20 miles or more in length, and from 5 to 10 in breadth. Jt has been suggested that this plain might have been once a lake or an inland sea. There is now no positive proof existing in favor of such an idea. And if it ever had been so, with the exception of a small collection of water in the eastern part of the plain, it is now entirely filled up. No one can become weary with gazing at a prospect at once so rich, so variegated and so extensive. And when viewed from a distance, as distance here, as well as elsewhere " Lends enchantment to the view," it becomes in the highest degree inviting. The great number of gardens both within and around the city, afford charms of rural beauty to the same, however antiquated in itself, of the very first order. The city is about three and a half miles in length and from a half to a whole mile in breadth. The houses, many of them being built of frail materials, are going to decay. Fires are frequently occur- ring. Some of them prove very destructive. Many of the best houses have been consumed within a few years. And as the spirit of enterprize is ex- ceedingly low, few and tardy efforts are made to repair the ravages made. The streets are generally 36 J.KTTER I. irregular, dirty and indifferently paved. There are some fine, large konacks, which are the dwellings of the wealthier Turks. The mosques are nu- merous. Some of them may be reckoned as superior structures. The caravansaries or khans are con- siderable in number, and several of them very ex- tensive. Some of them contain forty or fifty rooms. Mount Olympus, at the base of which the city stands, is covered most of the year with snow. Its cold summits seem rather to forbid, than to invite the footsteps of the many travellers, who annually ascend it. The summit is also usually enveloped with clouds, reaching downwards midway, and sometimes to the very base. Attended with this sombre drapery, it presents a most sublime appear- ance. "It serves to remind one," observed a dear Christian brother,* "of the blackness of Sinai, when it was altogether enveloped with smoke and of the thick clouds that were round about Jehovah, which hung with awful majesty upon it. While in this case, the trunks or tops of tall trees, which now and then show themselves through the dark mist, whenever it becomes a little rarified, seem to represent the mighty angels, by whose disposi- tion the law was given on that memorable occa- sion." You will infer, as I did, that his imagination assisted not a little in making out this resemblance. To ascend this charming mountain is an object of great desire to many of the strangers, who visit * Rev. W. Goodell. LETTER I. 37 this city. To one whose sympathy with nature is strong and unperverted, the contemplation of such a scene cannot fail of awakening feelings almost enviable. The hand of God is so visible in every thing above, around and beneath, that a Christian brother, who ascended it recently, was led to ob- serve, that "whoever has the privilege of ascend- ing this mountain, ought to be a better person." Lord Byron, when he visited these Eastern countries said to some one, that "every thing was like heaven but the people." I have often been reminded of it, when viewing these grand scenes of nature. There are some lovely retreats around the base of the mountain, as also coffee shops and kiosks (sum- mer houses,) to which the natives repair in the summer months and pass away in lounging and smoking, many hours of their precious time. In reference to the natives of this region, with heart- felt concern, we may repeat the following lines : "Oh time! how few thy value weigh, How few can estimate a day ! Days, months and years are rolling on The soul neglected and undone!" Yours affectionately. LETTER II- Abundance of common tvaters Mineral wafers Baths, viz : Zeni Kaploodgeh, Kukurtlu, Tchikergeh Climate Diseases, viz : Inter- mittent fever, Cutaneous diseases, Small Pox Plague and Quarantine. MY DEAR FRIENDS: Shall we in passing take a view of some of nature's works. The common waters of Broosa are very abun- dant. In former years, I presumed that there was not one house in the city which was not supplied with one or more fountains. But I have since as- certained that there are a few exceptions. Again, there are houses which contain several, as ours for instance. Gushing fountains may be seen in the house, in the yard and courts and in gardens as well as in the kitchen. The continuous-sound of flowing water, much more the sight of it, is very pleasant and grateful during the oppressive days of midsummer. The mineral waters of this city are much cele- brated. Some of the public baths are a great curi- osity. They are supplied with an abundance of water, which comes direct and pure from the bowels of the mountain, and with such a degree of heat as to require some additional cold water to render it usable for bathing purposes. LETTER II. 39 i Kaploodgeh. The batli thus named is the most splendid one in the city. The largest room is sixty feet square. The large marble basin in the centre is from twenty-five to thirty feet in diameter and six feet deep. It is daily filled for use with the clear mineral water and regularly drained off at night. This bath is appropriated to the use of all classes to males two days in the week and the five remaining, to females. The wealthy, however, prefer a more private one. If it were possible I should be happy to give a vivid description of this public bath. It is similar to all which I have seen, with the exception, that it is on a larger scale. The number of daily visitors is said to be, often, from 100 to 1000 or more, on an average. The waters are clear and abundant both hot and cold. Analysis of the waters (accord- ing to the late Dr. Bernard) is as follows : In 10,000 grammes* of water there are of Sulphate of Soda, 2,395 " Magnesia, 1 ,494 " Alumine, 0,918 Chloride of Sodium, 0,945 Bicarbonate of Lime, 3,352 " Soda, 0,721 Sulphuric hydrogen, 0,552 Carbonic acid, 1,521 Silicium, 0,003 I have visited this bath at distant intervals for the promotion of health, and not for the pleasure of mingling in a crowd of Armenian, Greek, Mussul- The gramme is a French weight of nineteen grains. 40 LETTER II. man arid Jewish women. Every imaginable noise may be heard, whether of laughing, talking, singing or crying. There may be seen those of all ages and classes, both black and white, from the infant of a week old, to the decrepid old grand mother. There is the proud Turkish hanum (lady,) laden with ornaments, with a long suite of servants fol- lowing her, to watch her every movement and to execute her every command. Not far from her, may be seen some from the dregs of society, who can scarcely defray the expense of (to them) the luxurious treat of bathing and gossiping from morn- ing till night. They consider going to a bath to be the summum bonum of earthly good. And what do you imagine the remuneration demanded, to be 1 It is one cent ! For female adults, one cent and for a child, half a. cent ! Males are considered here, and indeed through- out the country, a race of beings superior to females, and therefore, they receive much more attention. And as a matter of course, they pay a much high- er price. The natives are in the habit of going to the bath once in two weeks and making a business of cleansing. Some of them, perhaps the majority, do not wash their faces once even, during this in- terim. Ladies, highest in rank even, do not. They express their astonishment that Frank ladies should take the trouble of washing their faces every day. "Oh ! how can you do it in cold weather ?" inquir- ed one of these belles- KiiKurttu. This is called Kukiirtlu or sulphur- LETTER II. 41 ecus bath, because it is impregnated with sulphuret- ted hydrogen. At the orifice, the waters are suffi- ciently hot to cook an egg, so as to be eatable, in five minutes. The temperature is somewhat less than boiling heat, though not very much so. As it issues from the ground, it has all the show and ac- tion of boiling water, A remarkable fact is this, viz: that both hot and cold waters issue from grounds very near to each other. ' A \ A L Y s i s . In 10,000 grammes of water there are of Chloride of Sodium, 0,453 Bicarbonate of Lime, 1,880 .Sulphate of " 2,375 " Magnesia, 2,357 Sulphuretted hydrogen, 3,321 Carhonic acid, 1,520 Tchekirgeh baths. These are several, deriving their name from the village where they are located, and all supplied with water from the same source. In this place there are also many private baths, at- tached to ihe houses of different individuals. These are often hired for the sake of enjoying more quiet than can be found in the public baths. A N A L y s i s . In 10,000 grammes of water there are of Sulphate of Soda, 0,020 " Alumine, 0,206 " Lime, 0,001 Magnesia, 1,022 Bicarhonate of Lime, 12,890 " Soda, 0,521 4'