VOLUME I, NUMBER 6,
a
“Go ye into all the world and preach tlie gospel to every creature, ,J
RlCflMOP, JUNE 1-5, 1840,
Sont^rn Baptist tfonwntion.
Correspondence of the Foreign Board.
Communications relating to the general busi¬
ness of the Foreign Mission Board, may be ad¬
dressed, post paid, to
James B. Taylor, Cor. See.
t Richmond, Va.
Communications enclosing donations, or relat¬
ing to the financial department, may be address¬
ed to Archibald Thomas, Treat.
Richmond, Va.
Thoughts* for Ministers.
“There aro but few who do not admit, that
the present distribution of ministers is anti-
•apostolic — that many, who aro now pastors,
ought to have become missionaries before they
were settled. And can the mere fact of being
settled havo produced such a vast chango in the
•question of duty, as to place it forever at rest!
If the clustering together of twelve thousand
ministers within the bounds of the United Stalest
tvheie a thousand moans of grace and improve¬
ment exist besides the voice of the living teach¬
er, is a very different thing from going into all
tho world, and preaching the gospel to every
•creature— an egregious disproportion to the
wants of tbe woild— must wo stifle all emotion
and all inquiry, in taking it for granted that it is
now too lato for change! And yet thero seems
to boa tacit understanding, that any other distri¬
bution than that now existing, of the present
generation of ministers, is a point not to be agi¬
tated. At least, many a pastor quiets himself
with the thought, that no change is to be con¬
templated in his particular case, for tho cate of a
churchy is on his hands. Almost by common
consent, pastors are excused ; and missionaries
are looked for from the young men and the child¬
ren ; and the hope -of tho heathen amounts to
this, that some young men may be kept from
imitating the cxamplo of their fathers and elder
brethren, and bo prevailed upon to enter tho mis¬
sionary work before they become pastors, l’or if
the mere fact of being a pastor places the ques¬
tion at rest, young men will feel themselves re¬
lieved as soon as they enter that office.
“ I have known young men whose, minds were
goaded on the question of going to tho heathen,
like tho conscience of a convicted «inner, till a
call was presented to some important church;
imd then they succeeded in hying the subject at
once and entirely aside. Liko tho pursued
•ostrich, who thrusts her head into tho sand, and
vainly imagines that she is concealed from her
•pursuers, so, 1 fear,' somo (endeavor > to elude
the convictions of conscience, f put tho ques¬
tion to your own good sense, your candor, and
your pious feelings : can tho mere fact of being
a pastor excuse a man from going to the heathen,
when perhaps ho became a pastor in violation of
tho Saviour's command!
“ It is acknowledged, that many, pastors oitglit
to have hccomo missionaries beforo they were
settled— that tho present amazing disproportion
between settled ministers at home, and missiona¬
ries abroad, ought never to have existed. To
argue so plain a caso would be a waste of breath.
How then can tlie fact of having wandered from
duty excuso one from tho performance of it!
To-day, it is tho duty of Jonah to go to Nine¬
veh. To-moirow, lie lias engaged his passage
to Tarsliish, has paid his fare, lias gone down in¬
to tho sides of tho ship, and is quietly at rest.
Is he therefore excused ! To-day, the command
of Christ presses upon mo the obligation to go to
the heathen. To-morrow, leaving out of mind
this command, which still applies in all its force,
I enter into an obligation with a particular church
'o take upon me its pastoral care." which ofcli-
.gatiou is binding! The last, do you say! Can
I then thus easily thrust aside the Saviour's .last
and most impressive command! 'Can I, by such
a course, shield myself effectually from its fur¬
ther application! I have yet to learn, that by
■any chango of place or, circumstances, we lean
free ourselves from tho weight of the Saviour’s
injunction. I mean not .to assert, that all who
ought to have become missionaries beforo they
were settled, ought to become so now. Somo
havo entirely hedged up their way ; and though
they may have been disobedient in doing so, yet
deep regret and sincere repentance is all tbe rep¬
aration' they can now make. But those who
ought to have gone to the heathen, and before
whom the door is still open for going, such
should still become missionaries, and on the ob¬
vious principle, that it is better, to do our duty
late than not to do it at ail. The
тете
plea of
being a pastor is riot a sufficient excuse; and it is
losing too, continually,
того
and mure of its
force. It is a wonder that it should be relied
upon so much as a quietus, since, in '.tho present
age, tho residence of a pastor is very transient
and uncertain.
Native Africans Generally Inoffen¬
sive.
It is a fact worthy to be known, that while com¬
paratively so little has been done to christianize
Africa, the Christian has but little to fear from
tho savage cruelty of her paoplc. This is the
testimony of undoubted witnesses. Mr. Wilson
being a missionary to that land, remarks: —
“During my residence in that country I have
traveled many thousands of miles among these
people ; sometimes on water and sometimes by
land ; among tribes to whom I was known, and
among those who had never seen a whilomau. I
havo gone among them in times of peace, and in
times of war. I have visited them at them homes,
and I. harei'metlihem oiutbe^yyay .to_*bed the
llood'of their fellow-men. And yet in all these
journeyings among remote, and to me unknown
tribes, I never thought it necessary to furnish
myself with a single implement of defence, nor
was l ever placed in circumstances where there
would have "been any just cause for using such
weapon, even ?f I had been supplied.
“ Among those of the natives, to whom I was
known as a minister of the living God, I have
generally traveled alone, and on many occasions
when called upon to visit the sick or to perform
some other errand of
теку,
I havo passed
through the largest villages alone, and in the
middle of the night, with a feeling of as much
security, as I could possibly have fell in travels
mg the streets of any city in these United States
under similar circumstances. And so far from
finding it impossible to live among'themj I may
further add, that, during the whole term of my
residence in that country, 1 scarcely remember to
havo heard a tingle syllable from the lips of ono
of these people, which could in any just senso be
construed as an intentional insult to myself.
“It is far from my intention to leave the im¬
pression that the natives of Africa are perfectly
inoffensive in their habits. They are heathen, in
the full
зепзс
of that word, and no missionary
-can live among them without finding ample cause
of perplexity and annoyance, But when it is
affirmed that the missionary cannot Ijve among
them on account of their turbulence ar.d lawless¬
ness, the assertion is without foundation."
Cau While Missionaries Labor ia
Africa.
No objection is felt .to the agency of colored
men from -these United States, or from tho West
Indies, iu-carrying on tliiq work, provided men of
the tight stamp can be found. They have phys¬
ical qualifications, to labor in that climate, which
while men have not; and if colored men of edu¬
cation, intelligence, and of humble and undoubt¬
ed piety could' be found willing toengage in this
work, we, who. ore. now on the field, would not
only give them a hearty welcome as fellow-labor¬
ers, 'but if they were sufficiently n'umeious, we
would cheerfully commit the whole work into
their hands, and seek some other sphere of labor
for ourselves. But it is in view of the fact; that
so few colored men of suitable qualifications have
comfl forward to engage in this work, and in
view of the fact likewise, that the future presents
no near prospects in this respect brighter than
the .past, that we aro to inquire what are our
duties to tho perishing -millions of Africa.
There is a reasonable prospect that white mis¬
sionaries, provided they are endowed with the
faitH, the courage and the. persevetance befitting
theit high calling, may live in that country to es¬
tablish Christian churches there, which will he
able, in due time, not only to sustain themselves,
but 'to communicate their blessings to the re¬
motest regions of that benighted continent. This
is all-wecan ptomise. This is the view of the
subject. upon which we base our arguments.
\Ve believe that no obstacles lie in the way of
this'undertaking as thus stated, except such as
have been permitted by God, to try the faith and
courage of his people. The bare existence of
trials and difficulties, provided they ate not in¬
superable, is never a sufficient cause for aban¬
doning any great and good undertaking. No
great result, fraught with blessings to mankind,
has ever been achieved in tliis apostate world of
ounr, except by a triumph of patient petsevei-
ance, over difficulties and discouragements. Hu¬
man probabilities have always been arrayed
against tho promises of tho Bible; and if mis¬
sionaries were to look at the former, without re¬
gard to the latter, every field of missionary labot
wpuld have been abandoned long ere this. Who
neeis to be reminde'd that tho redemption of
mankind itself was wrought out by the-patient
endurance of unparalleled sufferings? How
'liopS£sS*fre!rthe'prospcctWf4hri8rianit7^o
human eyes when it was first ushered into. tbe
world! What an endless and unnumbered
variety of sufferings, self-denials and discourage¬
ments had the aposiles to pass through in the
fulfillment of their mission? If there ever was
a task that appeared hopeless to the judgment of
men, it was theirs; if any set of men ever had a
plausible p-etext for abandoning their work on
account of its difficulties and its perils, they
were the men. — H'iVson.
people, that wo can perceive fully what is ‘f tho
will of the Gentiles, wherein they walk. in las¬
civiousness, lusts, excess of wine, rf cllings,
banqueting?, and abominable idolatries ; wherein
thoy think it strange that we tun not, with, them
to the same excess' of riot, speaking evil of us;
who shall give account, to Him that is'ready to
judge the quick and the dead.”
Anniversary Meetings.
METHODIST EPISCOPAL MISSIONARY
SOCIETY,
The annual meeting of this Society, composed
of northern Methodists, took place in New York,
May 7th, Says the Christian Chronicle, the
annual report showed that the receipts amounted
to S 6-1,045, the expenditures to 5 102,010.
Excess ;of expenditure over receipts, S 18,891.
The missions in Oregon, Liberia, South Ameri¬
ca, China, California, Germany, and to the In¬
dians, alljiassed under review. Addresses wete
made by Rev. Mr. Nadal and Dr., Durbin. In
the course of his remarks, the latter said -that
the fruits of the last fifty yeats of missionary
labor were proved by the accurate statistics of a
Jearocd professor in Switzerland, to be greater
fai than were the fruits of the first hundred years
of Christianity. The teligion of Christ had no
footing among the 100,000,000 of India, when
Lord Clive began his conquests in the last, centu¬
ry, but the missionary had since then labored dil¬
igently in that extensive field, and even now
Christianity exerted an active influence on the
face -of society, and was paving the way fur the
ultimate extinction of. Paganism.
A Loathsome Picture.
Mr. Spear of the Presbytciian mission an
Canton, thus writes:
There is a large district of this city west of
the foreign factories, built entirely on high piles,
or on boats, beneath which the tide ebbs and
flows, known by the name of Shamin. it is ex¬
clusively -occupied -by females of infamous
character, and their -owners and attendants, for
many of tho poor creatures are slaves purchased
in infancy from their parents, or the foundling
hospital. Last night it was accessary for me to
pass thioughthis place. -Our boat glided over the
dark waters which are often stained by the blood
ofinfanlicide; and wo saw on each side tenements
built in the most costly style, numberlees thin
green columns, carved in as many fashions,
amidst which wero lighted chandeliers and
lamps of cut-or scarlet-colored glass, masses of
gilding, stained glass windows, painted mottos
from popular books, baskets .and festoons of
flowers. VYe saw tables covered with wine and
luxuries, or jvith cards, dominos, or dice; about
which wero crowds ’of females with rouged
cheeks and stained eyebrows, and men generally
in the garb. of tho better elasses-of society; all
carousing,' gambling, quarreling, or fanning
themselves and listening to ballad-singers, or the
shrill .noise of various kinds of pipes and lutes.
A scene of fearful but splendid iniquity. We
seemed to -float over another Dead Sea, amidst
tho streets of Sodom -raised to its surface, -and
the crowd of thoso who vexed righteous Lot re¬
animated* llow does the anger of God smoke
against this place. He will “destroy them all.”
It is here, amidst thesepoor, heathen arid godless
~^FOIlElGNJ.\L\t,-OELlCAL.S0CI^T|Yfr..
This- Society aim3 chiefly, at the spiritual im-
proveraent of Catholics. The receipts .for the
year were $24,298, and the expenditures $24,-
434. These include the following appropria¬
tions:— To the work in France, $10,820,
Stockholm, $150; Russia, $500; Marseilles
anA Italy, $850; Canada, $.1000; New Orleans,
S CtO; New York, S 368 ; llayti, $735; Mex¬
ican Missions, $1,3(30 ; South America, $3G0.
AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY.
This .noble Society net on' Wednesday, the
9th of May. Its benefactions are distributedVa
diversified channels both at home and abroad.
Our own Board have received from their treasury
for the present year, $300 for our ,iwo missions
in China. Tho following statistics will furnish
a -general, idea cf their operations for tho year
just closed.
The number of new publications in English,
German, French, Italian, Danish, and. Welsh, of
which 23 are books, is 145— total publications
1,458, including 254 volumes— 2,387 in more
than ICO foreign languages ar.d dialect3. Ciici:-
lation during tho year, including 741,604 vol¬
umes, 7,203,532 publications, or 234,409,300
pages. Total since the formation of Society,
4,803,502 volumes; 104,153,674 publications.
3,208,410,020 pages, of these 47,690,225 page*
wete gratuitous.
Receipts of the year, in doftations, $94,081,-
43 ; for sales, S 164 ,281,73 ; balance in the treas¬
ury last year, S 1-10,90 ; total, $258,440,25.
Expenditures for paper, printing, binding, en¬
graving, translating, and copy-right, $ 148,077,-
40; fur presses, S 2,723,50; for cnlpdrtage,
$48,100,42; remitted for foreign and pagan
lands, $14,000; .total, $258,283,01; leaving
balance in the treasury, S 157,00,
' AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY.
Tito receipts of this Society have been, from
all sources, '$251,870 If}.
Tho issues of Bibles, 205,307 ; of Testaments
359,419— total for the year, 58i;72G.
, During the 33 years of its existence, it .lias is¬
sued 2,510.010 Bibles,. and 3,820,530 Testa¬
ments, making a total .of. ^317 ,140 . copies. ■
