own internal character, as so opposed to all the corrupt propensities of man-the missionary's dependance on the will of heathen princes and rulers for liberty of access to the people-the opposition made by an interested and wicked heathen priesthood-the missionary's difficulties as a foreigner— as a Christian among a heathen people-as a man accustomed to retirement, and requiring it for the performance of some of the most important branches of his work, but placed in a sphere of active exertion, the management of secular concerns demanding a great share of his attention, and con suming much of his time,—these and other things more or less felt by all missionaries, show, that although there is an analogy between the office of a minister at home and the charge of a missionary abroad, there are also considerable points of dif ference that while they have some duties and trials in common, there are other arduous duties, and not a few hardships and perils, which are in a great measure peculiar to the missionary.

My design in stating these things so circumstantially is to give you a more distinct view of the missionary work. The best way to judge of two objects supposed to be nearly of the same color, is to place them side by side, and then, although both may be green or yellow, their juxta-position will discover to you a much greater difference of shade than was before suspected.

I am, &c.

LETTER VII.

ON LOW VIEWS OF THE MISSIONARY OFFICE.

My dear Friend,

In giving you my thoughts on the character and qualifications of missionaries, I have been diffuse in speaking of talents and acquirements, while I have more briefly touched upon piety-the possession and exercise of the gifts and graces of the Christian. You will not attribute this to my considering the latter inferior in importance to the former; but they are less disputed, or rather not disputed at all, while the question of the intellectual and literary character of missionaries has been much agitated; some contending that missionaries should be able men; others that weak men are strong enough. It seems to me strange, that the importance of good intellectual endowments should be decried by those who consider piety to be indispensable. Their argument is, that it is not the great learning or shining abilities of men that will convert the heathen. But what does this argument prove? It proves, among other things, that neither is piety requisite in a missionary; for it is not the piety of the preacher that is to convert the heathen, any more than his learning. The truth is, that in every case it is God that giveth the increase. It was so when Paul preached and Apollos watered. But was the learning of the one acquired in the school of Gamaliel, or the eloquence of the other, of no value? Did not they consecrate all their talents to God; and did not He make use of these as means adapted to the end

of pulling down the fabric of idolatry and building up the church? Did not they and others, as wise master-builders, lay the foundation, and exhibit to all ages a pattern of what they were to build, and how? and what sort of workmen ought to be chosen to carry on the sacred edifice, till it should reach its destined dimensions-its breadth and length filling the earth, and its top reaching to heaven? According to the theory of some, God should have refused to give the increase when Paul and Apollos labored, lest the talent they brought to the performance of their work should obscure the lustre of his own power and grace in the effects that followed.

I am well aware, at the same time, that many individuals of small pretensions to literature, and not greatly distinguished by talent, have been exceedingly useful in the Lord's vineyard both at home and abroad. They loved and served their Master faithfully, and he honored them with success, not because they were men of more limited abilities; but although they were so. I am persuaded, that when any such instance of a man of inferior talents, in the general sense of the expression, being rendered highly useful in his sphere, is narrowly examined, it will be found that he actually did possess some specific qualification for that very work assigned him, to which, under the blessing of God, his success may be traced.

The case of the Moravians furnishes an apt illustration of my meaning; and perhaps a short consideration of their proceedings may serve both to obviate objections to the view I have attempted to give of the requisites of the missionary character, and illustrate the doctrine of the necessity of adapting means to the end.

I have represented piety as the foundation of the missionary character. This we may, without any great stretch of charity, concede to the Moravian missionaries. I have insisted upon a predilection for the work as another requisite, and the mode of the admission and appointment of missionaries among the United Brethren is a practical acknowledgment of this principle. Good natural parts, good temper, great practical wisdom, prudence, self-denial, ardent devotion to the work, have also been enumerated among the desirable qualifications, and I think the numerous biographies of deceased Moravian missionaries, as well as the communications from the brethren now laboring among the heathen, prove that most of them possessed these excellencies of character in an eminent degree. Amidst all the genuine Christian simplicity so admirable and so characteristic of these worthy servants of Christ, I have been again and again gratified by the proofs their letters and journals furnish of their acute discrimination of the character of the people to whose conversion they

*

* Since writing this page I have turned to the Periodical Accounts of the Brethren's missions, to refresh my memory by glancing at the brief memoirs they contain of departed laborers. The part that caught my eye, viz. "The Life of David Zeisbergen," exemplifies what I have said,-great quickness and decision of character, accompanied with a large share of prudence and zeal, a fine talent for languages, &c. were his distinguishing qualities. Had I time to search for further confirmation of what I have stated, it would be easy to select abundance from these records of missionary exertion. See also the accounts of T. S. Schuman.-Per. Acc. No. 103.

This word conversion is used by the Moravians in a sense which has an odd effect upon an English ear. They seem to mean nothing more by it in their application of it to the heathen, than the circumstance of becoming a scholar or catechumen. Thus the phrase often occurs in their journals,

have devoted themselves. How wisely and circumspectly they deal with them-how well they know the heavenly art of winning and ruling them -gaining the entire command of their converts, while they make themselves more beloved as fathers and friends than feared as masters. Nor is the charming naïveté and happy Christian cheerfulness of the female part of their communities less worthy of notice, as qualities of great price in such situations as they fill. If occasionally passages in the brethren's letters or journals may be met with that betray superficial knowledge, or the substitution of warmth of pious feeling for soundness of judgment, many paragraphs might be pointed out indicative of their quick perception, sagacity, and good common sense.

I am far from approving some things in the management of their communities (e. g. their regulations as to marriage and single life), and I am not blind to some defects that adhere to their system; nor can I admire the cant phrases peculiar to the sect, plentifully scattered over the pages of their publications; but they hold up a pattern to the world of the unobtrusive but mighty energies of the Christian character. If their piety and zeal have not been made to shine out as in combination with superior talent, it has been because their talents, their whole hearts and souls have been devoted to the accomplishment of one thing-the

that such an one desired to be converted, i. c. to come under instruction. They of course understand that a farther and more important change must take place before this heathen disciple becomes a Christian-and their manner of procedure shows it, for such are not admitted to Christian privileges till proof is obtained of their sincere belief and profession of the iruth.