Soutljcrn Baptist Commition.
Correspondence nf tlic Foreign Hoard.
Communications relating to the general busi¬
ness of tho Foreign Mission Hoard, may be ad¬
dressed, post paid, to
James 11, Taylor, Cor. Sic.
Richmond ,
Га.
Communications enclosing donations, or relat¬
ing to the financial department, may bo address¬
ed to ‘ Archibald Thomas, Trees.
Richmond, l 'a.
Send the Best Men,
Wo clip tho following letter of brother Dean
from tho New York Hccordcr, and commend it
to tho careful perusal nf our
того
experienced
brethren in tho ministry.
11 And once here, though I lay claim to little
power of eloquence, I am not suro but you might
have been persuaded to remain. What, you re¬
main in China! Yes, you remain in China.
And why not f ,Ato you too good, or too big, or
too old to become a missionary! If you liavo
experience, bring it along ; 1f you liavo acquire¬
ments in any good thing, bring them along; if
you liavo influence, bring it along, and you shall
have uso for all here. You may smile, and say,
‘ Dear brother Dean means well, but he don’t
know - .’ That is very true, brother Dean
does not know much, but ho would submit to
your own good judgment, if thcro must not be a
new principle adopted in conducting missions?
Do you seriously think the churches arc in car-
nest in the wotk? Is it not the case in giving mo¬
ney, that retrenchment in missions is suggested in
tho councils of tho wise and good, befoio thero
has been a curtailment in the cipcwliturcs at home
with persons, families and churches? Is it ap¬
parent that the question is generally agitated by
individuals or churches, what personal or social
inconveniences aro demanded of them beforo they
apply tho pruning-knife to missions! Do you
think many seriously propose to themselves the
question, ‘Could I not double my contribution
without any essential injury to my family or in¬
justice to myself! ’ Have they any scruples of
conscience in appropriating for a single church
edifice half as much as the wholo denomination
send to the heathen in a year ! Do you suppose
that tho great body of Christians at homo have
any doubt as to the propriety of keeping all the
best men, as ministers, lor their own edification,
and allowing such fiont the remainder to go to
give tho heathen. as please? Do you believe the
churches, or pastors, or societies choose out such
men as appear eminently fitted for great useful¬
ness, anTl send them, though at a great sacrifice
to themselves and tho churches, becauso tho de¬
mand is urgent and the wotk great!
"If public sentiment on this point could be set
right, even at tho expense rf-ft-few Doctors .cf
Divinity, would it not ho a cheap bargain? But
there need not to be a sacrifice of doctors, though
it remains to be proved that they might not do
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among tho heathen than at home. It re¬
mains to be proved that men of years ar.d ex¬
perience, and literary and theological maturity
might not acquire an eastern language su as to give
tho heathen, in their own tongue, tho word and
ductrino of tho gospel. It may, perhaps, be
true, that a man of fewer years and less maturity
may sooner acquire a smaltciing of the language;
but what then? Ho may still lie like a- man
who could speak English, French, German,
Spanish, and Italian, and then could say only a
stupid thing in five different languages. Tho
question of greatest importance is, not who will
get to work tho earliest in the morning, but who
will do the most xcork in the day 1 It is by no
means certain that tho young man of inexpe¬
rience, fresh from school, has the prospect of
doing more as a missionary, than a man of ma¬
turity and influence, who has spent five or ten
ycats at homo learning how to work to the best
advantage abroad. Your copple
сото
together
every Sabbath, not to hear how well you can
speak tho English language, but. to hear what
you liavo to say ; and you labor during tho week,
not to amuso but to profit them; and I have too
high an opinion of your good sense to suppose
you think it less difficult to perform the duties of
tho preaching or tho pastorale of a church in
China, than in - . 1 liavo recently found
questions and difficulties in tho superintendence
of this little church— simply because it is new
and formed of raw matofial— which might prob¬
ably be never met with in - ; or, if they
were, you might call tu your aid the counsel of
wise men who do not lice lure.
“I have heanl it said by elder brethren, at
whoso feet missionaries would sit with venera¬
tion anil delight, that they would gladly go to
the heathen if they thought it would prove more
useful, and that they look upon the missionary
work with great, respect and count it an honora¬
ble service, wliilo by their example they have
been, though unconsciously, casting dishonor on
the work. If such men aro willing to enlist in
the service, and are sincere in their professions
nf personal inteiert, let some of them set the
noble example nf going in person to tho heathen,
and thus proce their oincerity.
“Them are men of the first class at home
who might do immense service to the cause of
missions by going abroad, and who could leave
home with no greater personal sacrifice than
others who liavo gone or may go. And as to
the sacrifice it might be to the churches ot the
cause at home, there is nothing to be feared. It
is just tho kind of depletion they need— at least
it promises as much for their health as anything
we can think of, and is worthy of a trial.”
'Whole Hcartcdncss in tiic Mission^
ary Work.
"Call it visionary, or call it what you please,
it is difficult for me to escape tho conviction, that
before any great result can be expected in our
missionary work, lliero must bo somo great
change in the principle of action. Them must
bu a wholc-hrartcdness in live work by those who
pretend to bo its friends and helpers, and if a
large proportion of the ptofessed friends be only
nominally such, tl.c cause might gain something
by some discriminating measures, if there are
friends of Christ who entered his service condi¬
tionally, and at first stipulated for home work ex¬
clusively, of course we cannot expect such to go
abroad ; but such as made no express contract tn
the contrary, at the lime of their convetsion, I
suppose are liable to bo drawn for foreign service
at any moment; and if any aro not ready for
such an event, it may not be out of time for ilusm
to look about their domestic and social matters
and . set things in order.
РетЬггпя-.по.
may
look upon their families and say, 1 Surely the
Master would not require us to go from, ot go
with our families to the heathen.’ Hut it may
ho well to beware lest God remove thoir excuse
by removing their families. God forbid that be
should find it necessary in any case to resort to
such severe discipline to enforce bis claims upon
tho sctvices of his children. Oli that ail may be
prompted to learn and do his will.”— Dean.
Claims of Missions.
Some indeed have asked, why send the gospel
to convert the heathen abroad, when wo havo
still so many unconverted heathen at home!' It
were a sufficient answer to this objection, to re¬
fer to the commission of our Saviour, as repudi¬
ating all such limited views, and requiring a
much larger plan of operations for the diffusion
of divine truth, lint docs it not occur to those
objectors, that if tho apostles and fust Christians
had acted on the plan that they recommend, the
blessings of Christianity must have been confined
to a comparatively small portion of the earth,
and all tho rest of the woild, including this coun¬
try, would have so far remained in heathenism
darkness and superstition? So far as wo can
judge from past experience, though it is the will
of God to save some of every nation, it does not
appear to bo his will to save all of any nation.
If, therefore, tv -js are not to seek to extend tho
knowledge of the Redeemer beyond the bounda¬
ries of nur own town, or neighborhood, or coun¬
try, till all within those boundaries are converted,
it is evident that the knowledge of salvation, so
far as any direct effurts are concerned, would
havo been confined within tho smallest imagina¬
ble space, and f|ie wido tvotld havo been shut out
still more hopelessly, if possible, than under the
Jewish economy, from the blessings of revealed
religion.
Such objection's remind us of the woodman,
who having mounted a tree for the purposo of
demolishing if, was
зо
intent upon bis design,
that at length, 'unwittingly, .he cut off the bough
on which he was standing, and precipitated ■ li im-
self to the eatlh. So it is with those who argue
against Christian missions. They argue against
that very kind of operations, to which they owe,
under God, their spiritual subsistence, and all
their privileges and hopes as Christians, and pre¬
scribe a lino ‘of conduct with regard to others,
which, if adopted towards themselves, would
have abandoned them to hopeless misery and
ruin ! I
Is it not, then, abundantly evident, that the
cause of Christian missions is indeed the cause of
Christ— tho cause of God? Can any serious
Christian reflect on the commission of our Sa¬
viour, and comprehend its true nature and ex¬
tent, without admitting that it is the plain and
palpable duty. of the church, to seek to originate
and austainjictivo efforts for promoting the king¬
dom of Christ, by sending forth' preachers' (if the
gospel to evangelize, the nations of the earth?
Is it decoious for us to be wise above what is
written, to pretend to pry into the decrees of
God, ar.d to set them against his plain and au¬
thoritative commands? Should we decline this
great, this honorable, this glorious enterprise
when called to it, for reasons which have no
foundation but in our own impcifect and errone¬
ous conceptions ef things! Should a mistaken
zeal to preserve our reputation for mthodoxy,
prevent cur coming forward to aid in the salva¬
tion nf;a lost and ruined world! Should we veil
our covetousness or indifference to the perishing
millions of our fellow-men, and our deficiency in
zeal for tho glory of our adorable Redeemer, un¬
der the excuse, tho time is not yet come, tho
time for tho Lord's house to be built? Should
we stand by and witness, with dcmuie gravity
and with a self-complacent smile, thousands of
out fellow-men going down to perdition, whilst
we have the means of salvation in our hands,
and make no effort for their rescue? Such was
tho too prevailing sentiment in our chinches at
one lime. But we rejoice that clearer and
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comprehensive views of Christian duty, and a
more truly evangelical spirit, aro obtaining among
them ; and wo hope that the time is not far dis¬
tant when evety church, by whatever doctrinal
peculiarities it may be distinguished, will be a
missionary church, such as was the eiiurch at
Jerusalem, and the chutch at Antioch; and when
all our ministers and deacons will render their
hearty co-operation in this glorious cause.
Benefits of Missions.
The object of Christian missions is essentially,
yea, identically the same as that of Christianity
itself. Their object is not merely to enlighten
and civilize mankind, but to convert sinners to
Christ, and to save them from eternal perdition.
True it is, that wherever Christianity lias ob¬
tained an entrance among a people, it has promo¬
ted civilization and learning; and in proportion
as it has gained a hold on tho public mind, it has
removed very many of tho disorders, improved
tho manners, and ameliorated tho institutions of
society. It has abolished Sutteeism iii India, it
lias, to a great extent in many places, abolished
polygamy, and replaced it by honorable marriage.
“In consequenco of Christian missions, new
islands have hebn discovered ; different tribes
havo renounced their wandering habit3, and
formed n fixed abode. At the call of Christiani¬
ty, the North American Indian, emerging from
his filthy wigwam,- the Greenlander, leaving
Ыз
burrow in the snow, compared with which tho
den of the bear is inoffensive, and the Hottentot
coming in from the bush, havo provided them¬
selves comfortable abodes, and exchanged the
happiness of a civilized, for the miseries of a
savage life.”
Grand object of Missions.
The proper and grand object of Christian
missions, is to convert sinners to Christ. The
proper calling of the missionary is, by the pro¬
clamation of tho truth as it is in Jesus among
heathen nations, to open the» blind eyes, ‘to turn
them from darkness to light, and from the power
of Satan unto God, that they may receive for¬
giveness of sins, and an inheritance among ail
them that are sanctified by faiih that is in Christ
Jesus. Tho object of Christian missions is,
through the instrumentality of truth, to save men
by the washing nf regeneration and the renew¬
ing of tho Holy Ghost, which God has shed bn
us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour,
It is to effeat a real, sanctifying, and saving
change in their characters; to redeem them from
their corrupt and sinful conversation, received by
tradition from their fathers ; tn teach them to live
to the glory of God ; and to prepare them for a
bright and glorious immortality. It is to empty
the abodes of heli, and to people the heavenly
mansions. It is to pluck precious souls’, as so
many jewels, from perdition, and to plant them
in the mediatorial crown of Jtous, there to shine
forever to his praise. It is, from the ruins of a
fallen world, to construct a living temple for a
habitation of God through the Spirit,— a temple
to.be filled with his glory, and to resound with
thanksgiving and praise to ail eternity. Tho
means which are employed to promote this ob¬
ject, are in accordance with the spirit and pre¬
cepts of Christianity. It belongs to the religion
of the false prophet, and to other fahe religions
and corruptions of tho true, to propagato them¬
selves hy the fire and the sword. Christianity
revolts from the use of any such
теапз.
It em¬
ploys no sword, but the swoid of the Spirit,
which is the wotd of God,— no fire, but thS fire
of divine lovo. For every battle of the warrior
13 with confused noise, and with garments relied
in blood ; but this shall be with burning and with
fire. Not by might nor by power, but by my
Spirit, saith the Lotd. The Christian missiona¬
ry carries a message of life and peace to the na¬
tions. He conveys to them the proclamation of
divine mercy to guilty men. He tells them that
God so loved the world, that he gavo his only
begotten Son, that whosoever believeih in him,
be he Jew or Gentile, Barbarian, Scythian,
bond, or free, might not perish, but have ever¬
lasting life. He makes manifest, by the light of
divino revelation which he holds in his hand,
their pollution and guilt, and exposure to tho
wrath of heaven, and God’s sovereign remedy
for all the evils consequent on human apostacy.
He unfolds to them that glorious method of sav¬
ing mercy, who3c simplicity, grandeflr, compre¬
hensiveness, and adaptation to the wants of man,
as a guilty and ruined creature, bespeak its di¬
vine origin, and commend it as worthy of all ac¬
ceptation. Nor does he scruple to say with the
apostle, standing on Mars' hill at Athens, and
surrounded by the most polished and enlightened
healhens of antiquity- -And the times of their
(former) ignorance God winked at — allowed it —
left men to their own sinful and vain imagina¬
tion, to provo how ultcrabiy unable the world
