No. 6. 
 
 -Q 
 
 \ ■ ■ 
 
 i-v' ■''ii.i.. 
 
 ' I. { 
 
 LETTER 
 
 THE PRINCIPLES 
 
 or THE 
 
 MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. 
 
 SECOND EDITION. 
 
 PRINTED I OR THE 
 
 iCmrtfcan ^nitavCan ii^ssotfatton. 
 
 BOSTON, 
 
 BOWLES AND DEARBORN, 72 WASHINGTON STREET. 
 
 1827. 
 
 Price 5 Cents. 
 
The Executive Committee of the American Uiiitaiian Association 
 have been induced to publish this as one of their series of tracts, by 
 a conviction that the subject discussed is highly important, and the 
 manner in which it is here treated cannot fail “ to promote the inte¬ 
 rests of pure Christianity throughout our countiy ” 
 
 BOSTON, 
 
 Isaac R. Butts & Co. Printers. 
 
LETTER. 
 
 To 
 
 The Executive Committee of the 
 
 American Unitarian Association. 
 
 Gentlemen, 
 
 Debarred as I am at present, from the exercises of 
 the pulpit, by the feeble state of my health, and greatly 
 solicitous for the success of that appeal, which has re¬ 
 cently been made to Unitarian Christians, for the cause of 
 Christianity in India, I would ask for permission, through 
 you, to address a few thoughts to the members of 
 your Association, upon the princijples of the foreign mis¬ 
 sionary enterprise. There have long been, and still are, 
 as I think, both great vagueness, and great extrava¬ 
 gance of language upon this subject, alike among the 
 friends and the opposers of the cause of foreign mis¬ 
 sions. Some of our orthodox brethren have taken the 
 ground, that all the heathen, merely as such, are con¬ 
 demned to endless, and to irremediable misery, unless 
 indeed they shall be converted to Christianity ; a doc¬ 
 trine from which Unitarians turn with horror; and others 
 of them, in advocating the enterprise, in their care to 
 use terms less objectionable, have employed those only 
 which are too indefinite to bring home a strong sense of 
 its obligation to any mind, which was not previously dis- 
 
4 
 
 ©N THE PRINCIPLES OF THE 
 
 158 
 
 posed to engage in it. And most Unitarians, resting on 
 the principles, that men will be judged according to what 
 they have, and not according to what they have not; 
 and that, when God will have any section of the heathen 
 world to be enlightened by Christianity, he will himself 
 indicate his purpose, and provide the means for its ac¬ 
 complishment, have either thought but little upon the 
 subject, or have waited for very distinct instructions 
 respecting their duty in the service. A new era, how¬ 
 ever, seems now to have begun among Unitarians, on the 
 question of the duty of Christians to unite in the work of 
 extending the knowledge, and the influences of our reli¬ 
 gion. The primary objects for which your Association 
 was formed, I know, were “ to diffuse the knowledge, 
 and to promote the interests, of pure Christianity through- 
 nut our country^ But I observed that at the annual 
 meeting of the Association, a resolution was unanimous¬ 
 ly passed, “that this Association views with high gra¬ 
 tification the prospect, which is opened of a more ex¬ 
 tended mutual acquaintance and cooperation among 
 Unitarian Christians throughout the world.” This shows 
 that your thoughts have been directed to the situation of 
 other lands, and the extent and activity of your opera¬ 
 tions recommended an address to you in preference to 
 any other mode of communicating my views to those 
 whom I am desirous to reach. I hope, therefore, that, as 
 my attention has been for some time employed on this sub¬ 
 ject, I may, without exposure to the imputation of arro¬ 
 gance, call the attention of Unitarian Christians amono; us 
 to the general,—the original question, in regard to foreign 
 missions. This is a question, which^ I think, has not yet 
 
MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. 
 
 150 
 
 5 
 
 obtained the attention, which it claims from us; and a 
 fair and full consideration of which, it seems to me, can 
 hardly fail to bring Christians of every name, to a cordial 
 cooperation in every well devised scheme, for the great¬ 
 est possible extension of the privileges, and the blessings 
 of Christianity. 
 
 I would then propose to the members of the Ameri¬ 
 can Unitarian Association, and to all Unitarian Christians, 
 the inquiries, the missionary spirit, what is it ? What are 
 its principles ? Are they, or are they not among the 
 essential principles of our religion ? Are they or are they 
 not the principles by which our Lord and his apostles 
 were actuated ? Does the cause, or does it not, demand the 
 sympathy, the earnestness, and the aid of every Christian? 
 
 I am aware that there are those, and they are probably 
 not few, who will not at once be disposed to view the 
 missionary enterprise, as we now see it, as essentially the 
 very enterprise of our Lord and his apostles. I know, too, 
 that there are those who consider the missionary spirit, as 
 often as they hear of it, but as one of the many forms 
 which an ungoverned religious enthusiasm assumes, and 
 that there are those also, who are accustomed to view it 
 even more unfavourably; and but as one of the forms, 
 which are assumed by ambition, or by avarice, for mere 
 party, selfish, or worldly objects. There are those, who 
 will meet our first suggestion of this subject with the 
 inquiries, have not the heathen as.^ood a right to their 
 religion, as you have to yours ? Is not their religion as 
 dear to tliem, as yours is to you ? Are they not as sincere 
 believers as you are ; and will not God accept them in 
 their sincerity?” We shall be asked, “ what injury results 
 
 VOL- I. 1* 
 
6 
 
 OiV THE PRINCIPLES OF THE 
 
 160 
 
 to you from the faith, or practices of the heathen world ? 
 Or, who has commissioned you to quench the fire of 
 their sacrifices, and to overthrow their altars '? Think 
 you, that they will be cast out from the presence and 
 favour of God, in the life to come, because they know not 
 him of whom they have never heard ; or that, at the bar 
 of heaven they will be tried by a law, which they have 
 never had an opportunity to know ? Are they not as 
 happy in their faith as you are in yours; and, if God 
 intends their conversion to Christianity, will he not him¬ 
 self bring them to the faith of the gospel V ’—These are 
 inquiries which are abroad, and which are to be fairly 
 met. They involve objections to the missionary cause, 
 which ought to be fairly answ'ered. They may be, and 
 they are, proposed by mere cavillers ; by men who care 
 not for religion in any form; and w'ho would advocate, 
 or oppose any thing, by which they may either justify 
 their owm irreligion, or thwart, and vex those, who, they 
 think, are mere pretenders to more religion than they 
 have themselves. But they are made, too, by men, 
 whom they restrain from sympathy in the missionary 
 cause, only because it has not been viewed by them in 
 all its bearings, and obligations. They are made by men, 
 who have been disgusted with the cause, or at least have 
 been rendered averse from it, by the overcharged state¬ 
 ments that have been made in defence of it; by the inju¬ 
 dicious manner in which it has often been conducted ; by 
 the means which have been employed in its support ; by 
 the spirit and manner of some of its agents; and, by 
 what has been thought to be the waste of treasure that 
 has been made, in most ostentatiously doing nothing. 
 Let us then meet these inquiries, as the objections of fair 
 
IGl 
 
 MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE 
 
 minds; and answer them, by an appeal to principles, 
 which fair minds will readily acknowledge. Ii^ other 
 words, let us follow back the missionary enterprise into 
 its essential principles. Let us consider the subject, not 
 as belonging to one or another of the parties of Christen¬ 
 dom, but, purely as one belonging to our common in¬ 
 terests, and duties, as disciples of Christ. Let it even be 
 forgotten, if it may be, that any missionary efforts are 
 now making; that any missionary societies are now exist¬ 
 ing ; and let us dispassionately consider the enterprise, 
 as a subject for speculation ; as a question upon which we 
 are to determine, what is our duty as Christians ? If it be 
 not a work, which God will have us to do, the sooner it 
 comes to naught, the better. But if it be his will that 
 we engage in it, let us not oppose it, lest haply w'e be 
 found to fight against God. 
 
 I resume, then, the inquiry, the missionary spirit ,— 
 what is it ? what are its principles 7 
 
 I answer, the^rs^ principle of a missionary spirit, or 
 a spirit which is earnest in the cause of diffusing the 
 knowledge and influence of our religion,—is, a Christian 
 sense of the moral and religious condition of those, who 
 are living under the influences of heathenism, and of false 
 religion. 
 
 The question arises, what is a Christian sense of the 
 religious and moral condition of those, who are living 
 under the influences of heathenism, and of false religion ? 
 
 I know of but one way, in which we can obtain a sat¬ 
 isfactory answer to this inquiry; or, an answer to it, with 
 which we ought to be satisfied; and that is, by endeav¬ 
 ouring as well as we may, to see the world, to the extent 
 
8 ON THE PRINCIi^LES OP THE 162 
 
 « 
 
 to wliicb it is unenlightened by our religion, as our 
 Lord and his Apostles saw it; to see the religious and 
 moral condition of our fellow creatures, who are un¬ 
 blessed with Christianity, as it is exposed to us in the 
 light of the will and purposes of God, in regard to the 
 world, as they are made known to us in the New Testa¬ 
 ment. No one,—I mean, no sincere believer in Christ,— 
 can doubt whether he ought to view those who are with¬ 
 out the pale of Christianity, as our religion itself views 
 them; or whether we ought to feel, to cherish, and to 
 exercise towards them, the sentiments which our religion 
 expresses in regard to them. What, then, are the views 
 and sentiments of our religion, in respect to the heathen 
 world, and to all who are without the knowledge of 
 Christ ? 
 
 1 say not, for Christianity does not say, that among the 
 heathen, and the believers of a false religion, none are 
 virtuous. There were in the time of our Lord, and there 
 are now, virtuous and good men under every form of 
 religion in the world. Nor do I say, for our religion 
 does not say, that the offerers of a false worship, as far 
 as this worship is offered in simplicity, and sincerity of 
 heart, are not accepted by God. I have not a doubt 
 upon the question, whether they are accepted by him. 
 I believe, for I think that our religion teaches us, that 
 in every nation, he that fears God, according to the best 
 conceptions which he has of him, and does righteousness, 
 as far as he understands the law of righteousness, is spir¬ 
 itually a child of God, and will not fail of a part in the 
 inheritance of the children of God. And I further 
 believe, and doubt not, that no one who has lived, or who 
 
153 
 
 MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. 
 
 9 
 
 will live, from the necessity of his condition, ignorant of 
 the true God, in false religion, and in an idolatrous wor¬ 
 ship, will at last be condemned, because he knew not 
 what he could not know; and did not, what he had not 
 the means of understanding that it was his duty to do. 
 These, I hope, will be considered as ample concessions.*" 
 But, with all these concessions distinctly before us, let 
 us view the heathen world,—the world that is without 
 Christianity,—as our religion views it, and as it actually 
 is. I would not, if I could, excite a false, an artificial 
 sympathy, in the cause of missions. Christianity needs 
 no plotting, no trick, no concealment, no overcharged 
 representations, for the accomplishment of any of its pur¬ 
 poses. But let us not shut our eyes against the truth. 
 
 * I here quote with pleasure the sentiments of Macknight upon 
 the question of the salvation of heathens. I do not know any other 
 writer, of those who are called orthodox, who has treated this sub¬ 
 ject with equal liberality of feeling. “ That the pious heathens 
 should have their faith counted to them for righteousness at the 
 judgment, notwithstanding it may have been deficient in many par¬ 
 ticulars, and even erroneous, is not unreasonable ; provided in these 
 instances of error, they have used their best endeavours to know 
 the truth, and have not been led by these errors into habitual sin.*** 
 For it can no longer be pretended, that by making faith the means 
 of salvation, the gospel hath consigned all the heathens to damna¬ 
 tion. Neither can God be accused of partiality, in conferring the 
 benefit of revelation upon so small a portion of the human race, in 
 the false notion, that the actual knowledge of revelation is necessary 
 to salvation. For although the number of those who have lived 
 without revelation, hath hitherto been much greater than of those 
 who have enjoyed that benefit, no unrighteousness can be imputed 
 to God, since he hath not excluded those from salvation, who have 
 been denied revelation.” Translation of the Apostolical Epistles, 
 vol. 1. pp. 197—201. 
 
10 ON THE PRINCIPLES OF THE 10 i 
 
 Let US not view heathenism, and false religion, only as 
 they are seen in the characters of a few individuals, who 
 stand out in most honorable prominence, in the picture 
 which has come down to us of their age; and who, 
 against every adverse influence, were illustrious as models 
 of a piety and virtue, which would have made them wor¬ 
 thy of honour in any age. Nor let us determine the cha¬ 
 racter of heathenism, and of false religion, by considering 
 them as they are manifested merely in their gorgeous 
 shows; in their pomp and splendour ; or, as they are 
 sometimes brought before us, in their most simple and 
 harmless rites. They have other features, which are the 
 indices of another character. They have other princi¬ 
 ples, and interests, and ends, than are to be seen in a 
 casual glance at them ; other practices and consequences, 
 which open to us very diflerent views of their nature and 
 character; and which are suited to excite a correspond¬ 
 ing difference of sentiment, in regard to those who are 
 under their influence. Let us, then, view them in the 
 light in which they are brought before us by the senti¬ 
 ments, the feelings, and conduct, of Christ and his apos¬ 
 tles, in regard to them. 
 
 In this aspect of the subject, I would say that, even if 
 there were not to be found in the records of our religion 
 any clear and explicit expressions of its sentiments in 
 respect to the heathen, and to all to whom a knowledge 
 of it has not been imparted, it still would not be doubtful 
 what are these sentiments; and what are the feelings 
 with which we should view the world, which is without 
 the knowledge of Christ. Take only the conduct of our 
 Lord and of his apostles, their labours, and their suffer- 
 
105 
 
 jriSSIONAllV tM'ERrillSE. 
 
 11 
 
 ings even to death, in the cause of extending and es¬ 
 tablishing our religion; in the cause of opposing, and of 
 exterminating error, superstition and sin; in the cause 
 of rescuing men from the delusion, and the debasement, 
 of idolatry and of all false worship; and who that be¬ 
 lieves that Christianity is a dispensation from God, can 
 doubt whether the rescue of men from this delusion, and 
 this debasement,—whether the recovery of heathens, and 
 of those who are living under the influences of false reli- 
 gion, from their errors, superstitions and sins, was in 
 itself a cause as great and important, as essential to hu¬ 
 man good and to human happiness, as this plan in the 
 divine economy, and these toils, and privations, and suf¬ 
 ferings for its accomplishment, were themselves great 
 and peculiar ? Let us conceive, as distinctly as we can, 
 of the character of our Lord. Let us bring him before 
 our minds, as he is brought before us in the New Testa¬ 
 ment, as the Son of God; the long promised Messiah, 
 and Saviour, whom the Father had sanctified and sent 
 into the world, for the express end, “ that the world 
 through him might be saved.” Let us bring him before 
 our minds, associated, as he is, throughout the New Tes¬ 
 tament, in his mission, and life, and death, if I may so 
 express myself, with the deep interest of God himself, in 
 the cause of suppressing every where idolatry, and false 
 religion; and of recovering men from the degradation, 
 the vices and crimes, to which ignorance of Limself, and 
 superstition had brought them. Let us conceive of this 
 most exalted, this most holy of all the messengers of God, 
 labouring daily, and daily suffering, that he might bring 
 men to the truth, and sanctify them by the truth; en¬ 
 during the scoffs, the insults, the artifices, and the perse- 
 
12 
 
 ON THE PRINCIPLES OF THE 
 
 IGt) 
 
 cutions of those, whom he came “ to save, and to bless, 
 by turning them from their iniquities unto Godand at 
 last, in the cause of that salvation which he preached, 
 and for which alone he lived, humbling himself to 
 death, even the death of the cross.” Let us hear him, 
 when he sends forth his apostles to preach the gospel to 
 every creature, saying to them, “ he that believeth, and 
 is baptized, shall be saved, and he that believeth not, 
 shall be condemnedand let us follow these apostles, 
 who have given up every thing of this world, that they 
 might preach every where “ the unsearchable riches of 
 Christ,” as they spread themselves through Syria, Phe- 
 nicia, the populous provinces of Asia Minor, and of Ma¬ 
 cedonia and Greece, comprehending the cities of Anti¬ 
 och, of Lystra and Derbe, of Thessalonica and Phillippi, 
 of Corinth and Ephesus, of Athens and Rome; and, if 
 we should believe tradition, visiting even Spain, and the 
 shores of Gaul and Britain. Like their master, they are 
 willing to spend, and to be spent, in the work; and they 
 “ account all things to be but loss, for the excellency of 
 the knowledge of Christ;” for the privilege, as widely as 
 possible, of extending it over the earth; and, like their 
 Master, every one of them dies in the cause; and most 
 of them, the victims of their fidelity in it. Suppose, then, 
 that our religion had not given to us any very definite 
 expressions of the religious and moral state of those, who 
 were living in heathenism, and false religion. Must not 
 their condition, I would ask, have been most deplorable, 
 to have excited this sympathy, this interest, stronger than 
 death, in their recovery; to have led to this wonderful 
 plan, in God’s moral providence, and to these wonderful 
 
167 
 
 '^MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. 
 
 13 
 
 means, for their rescue, their salvation 1 and, can it be 
 a question, what is the interest, the earnestness, which 
 we should feel, in the cause of dilfusing the knowledge, 
 the spirit, and the blessings of our religion ? 
 
 But the language of our Lord and of his apostles, in 
 reference to the religious and moral condition of those 
 who are without the gospel, is not equivocal. Interpreted 
 as they should be, by the import which his own, and the 
 conduct of his apostles have given to them, the expres¬ 
 sions, surely, are full of most solemn and affecting mean¬ 
 ing, “ the Son of man came, to seek, and to save, that 
 which was lost.” Again, God so loved the world, that 
 he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth 
 in him should not perish, but have everlasting life: for, 
 God sent not his Son into the world, to condemn the 
 world, but that the world through him might be saved.” 
 Again; “ They that are whole have no need of a physi¬ 
 cian, but they that are sick. I came not to call the 
 righteous, but sinners to repentance.” Again; “I am 
 come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth in 
 me, may not abide in darkness, but may have the light 
 of life.” And, in conformity with this language, the 
 apostle of the gentiles represents them as “ without God 
 in the world,” and without any rational hope. He says 
 to them, “ ye were darkness ; but now are ye light in the 
 Lord.” “ Ye were afar off;” but now are “made nigh 
 by the blood of Christ.” But instead of quoting detached 
 expressions on this subject, let me refer any one, who 
 would conceive rightly of it, to the three first chapters of 
 the epistle to the Romans. Here is, a picture of degra¬ 
 dation, of sin and misery, which will prepare any one, 
 
 VOL. I. 2 
 
11 
 
 ON THE PRINCIPLES OF THE 
 
 168 
 
 who has read the evangelists with any serious attention, 
 for the inference of the author of this epistle. “We 
 have proved both of Jews and Gentiles, that they are all 
 under sin.” Our Lord, indeed, uttered no denunciations 
 against the mere offerers of a false worship; nor did 
 his apostles, great as was their zeal for the conversion of 
 men, pronounce anathemas against them, merely as idola¬ 
 ters. But our religion contemplates idolatry, and all 
 false religion, even in their best state, and least corrupt¬ 
 ing influence, as a delusion, from which God in his 
 mercy would rescue those who are living under them. 
 It also brings idolatry and false religion before us, as the 
 history of all time represents them, as the prolific moth¬ 
 ers of all the vices and crimes, that can debase our 
 nature and disqualify for heaven. In the view of Christ 
 and his apostles, the world w^as worshipping, “ they knew' 
 not what.” Men were not only in darkness, but were 
 “ loving darkness better than light, because their deeds 
 w’ere evil.” They were immortal beings ; yet “ aliena¬ 
 ted from the life of God, through the ignorance that was 
 in them ;” “ given up to uncleanness, and to vile af¬ 
 fections ;” degraded from the condition, and lost to 
 the purposes, for which God designed them. Let it 
 be admitted then, that there w'ere those, both among 
 Jew's and Gentiles, who, before they had heard the 
 teaching of our Lord and of his apostles, w'ere prepared 
 to sit dow'ii with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the 
 kingdom of heaven. Still, the records of the evange- 
 lists, of the apostles, and of profane history, alike assure 
 us, that offences both against piety and virtue, w'hich 
 are not to be named among Christians, w'ere not only 
 
169 
 
 MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. 
 
 15 
 
 established by usage, but were sanctioned by all the 
 authority, which the opinion and example of the master 
 spirits of tlie age could give to them. We do not vio¬ 
 late charity, when we say of the decidedly virtuous 
 heathen in the time of our Lord, that they were few; 
 that they shone as stars, appearing here and there in a 
 night, when heavy and black clouds had gathered, and 
 were rolling tumultuously through the air, accumulating 
 in their progress new elements of a storm, which was 
 threatening to burst with tremendous violence upon the 
 earth. And I would ask, has any important change, 
 since that time, been made in the character of heath¬ 
 enism, and of false religion ^ If not, what should be 
 our sentiments of them? And, what are our obligations 
 in regard to those, who know not God, and Jesus Christ 
 whom he has sent ? 
 
 “ While Paul waited at Athens,” as we are told, his 
 spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly 
 given up to idolatry.” This translation of the words of 
 the evangelists, however, expresses but feebly the emo¬ 
 tions, which were excited in the mind of the apostle, 
 when he saw every where about him the images, that 
 were worshipped by the Athenians. So zealous, indeed, 
 as is well known, were the Greeks, and especially the 
 Athenians, for this species of worship, that, not satisfied 
 with the number of deities, which had come down to them 
 from their fatliers, they not only often consecrated new 
 ones of their own invention, but freely adopted also the 
 gods of other nations. Nay, so careful were they not 
 to omit the acknowledgment of any divine power, whe¬ 
 ther celestial, terrestrial, or infernal, which they even 
 
16 
 
 Oi\ THE PRINCirLES OF THE 
 
 170 
 
 suspected might claim their homage, that they erected 
 altars to unknown Gods; until they had no less than 
 thirty thousand objects of worship.* Paul, therefore, 
 saw the city, not only given up wholly to idolatry, but 
 full of the images of the gods of Greece. He saw the 
 city, the most renowned in the world for the triumphs of 
 art, the most splendid on the earth in its temples, the 
 proudest in its schools of philosophy; the cityj to which 
 oven imperial Rome sent the most distinguished of its 
 youth, to train them for the forum, and to qualify them to 
 be iiistructers at home, filled with idols. He saw the 
 city, which was the centre of the learning of the world, 
 lying in the darkness of utter ignorance of the one true 
 God. He saw the human mind, there, at once exalted 
 by every earthly attainment, and depraved and debased, 
 by the most licentious and corrupt superstition. He saw 
 those immortal beings prostituting the highest powers of 
 their nature to the lowest and vilest services; and dis¬ 
 honoring alike themselves, and God their maker. Not 
 only, therefore, was his spirit “stirred within him;” 
 but his was at once, a mirigled emotion of indignation 
 against those, who, “ professing themselves to be wise,” 
 had closed their minds against the knowledge of God, 
 and were blind leaders of the blind; of pity towards 
 the miserably deluded multitude; of zeal for the cause 
 of God and of human nature; and of earnestness for 
 die reformation, and the salvation of men, so lost in 
 :io;norance and sin. It was the excitement of a mind, 
 which was enlightened and sanctified by Christian con¬ 
 ceptions of God, and by Christian sentiments of the 
 
 Robinson’s Aichaeologia Grseca, p. 195, 
 
171 MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. 17 
 
 worship and duty, which man owes to his Maker. It 
 was the action of a mind, under the influence of Christ¬ 
 ian views of the condition of man, while yet in idolatry 
 and sin; and of the designs of God in regard to the 
 world, by his Son Jesus Christ. It was the movement 
 of a mind, which felt the infinite worth of the religion 
 of Christ ; which felt an unquenchable zeal for the 
 extension of its blessings; and which could not be satis¬ 
 fied with itself, while any thing was neglected, that could 
 be done to reform, and to save the world. We have, 
 indeed, no reason to suppose, that Paul was more strong¬ 
 ly affected by the spectacle of idols and of idolatry at 
 Athens, than he was at Rome, or at Corinth, or at 
 Ephesus, or at Thessalonica; or than he was at any 
 place, in which he witnessed the triumph of a false, and 
 a debasing worship, and the corruption of heart and man¬ 
 ners that are associated with it. We have here but the 
 incidental expression of a feeling, or rather, of a state of 
 mind, with which he every where, and at all times, looked 
 upon the heathen world. He had been sent forth, like 
 the other apostles, “ to preach the gospel to every crea¬ 
 ture to call men, “ every where, to repent, and to turn 
 to God; to open their eyes, and to turn them from dark¬ 
 ness to lightand every where to establish the worship 
 and service of the one God, “ through the one mediator 
 between God and man, the man Christ Jesus.” And, 
 in this cause, he had made the greatest personal sacri¬ 
 fices to which man could be called; and had endured all 
 that man could sustain. I need not enter into a detail of 
 his journeyings, of his labors, and of the persecutions 
 
 which he suffered, while, with unimpaired fortitude and 
 
 o* 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
18 
 
 ON THE PRINCIPLES OF THE 
 
 17*2 
 
 resolution, he ceased not, in the city and the country, on 
 the land and on the sea, while at liberty and while in 
 chains, by conversation, by preaching and by his letters, to 
 do all that man could do, to reclaim his fellow-men from 
 idolatry and sin, to the faith of Christ; to the knowledge, 
 and love, and worship of God; and to holiness here, in 
 preparation for immortal happiness hereafter. We all 
 know that, in this work Paul presisted against all obsta¬ 
 cles, and under every accumulation of sulfering, untired, 
 and undiscouraged; and that, like his master, he glori¬ 
 ously terminated his life and his toils together in the 
 cause.—I would then ask any one, who is opposed to 
 the missionary cause, or who is indifferent concerning it, 
 here to pause and seriously to consider, whence was this 
 sympathy of Paul in the moral condition of the heathen 
 world? Was it unreasonable ? Was it excessive? Were 
 his efforts, or his sacrifices, beyond the fair demands, or 
 the true importance, of the object ? Or, did he in truth 
 feel no more for this cause, than ought to be felt for it 
 by every Christian ? 
 
 The true view of heathenism is, not that it is a condi¬ 
 tion, in which, if a man die, he is therefore necessarily 
 under eternal condemnation. Terrible thought ; and 
 most dishonourable alike to God, and to Christianity ! 
 But, still, that it is a condition of darkness, of sin, and 
 wretchedness, from which it is God’s purpose to redeem 
 the world. Paul saw not, nor did any of the apostles see, 
 in the heathen world, men who were doomed to endless 
 perdition, only because they were pagans. But he saw 
 in them the human nature degraded and debased; and 
 his was a deep, and strong feeling of the greatness of 
 
173 
 
 MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. 
 
 19 
 
 the change, in character, in condition, and in happiness, 
 which a cordial reception of Christianity would bring to 
 them. He saw in them men, who were groping their 
 way, they knew not whither; and who were sinking 
 deeper in moral turpitude by the very efforts, the very 
 services, to which their false .and debasing conceptions 
 of relicrion were leadino; them. He saw the moral image 
 of God in the soul to be marred and defiled; and he 
 saw, and felt that, by the religion of Christ alone, its 
 beauty and its purity could be restored. In these sen¬ 
 timents, and these feelings, is the first element of the 
 missionary spirit ; or, of a spirit alive to the cause of 
 the greatest practicable extension of the gospel of Christ. 
 Although, as a Jew, he had from his childhood known 
 and worshipped God, yet, as a Jew, Paul had felt no 
 interest in the cause of extending a knowledge of God 
 to the heathen. But Christianity had given to him new 
 conceptions of the character and designs of God; and 
 new views'of the condition of man, while living in igno¬ 
 rance of God, and in sin. And if we see our fellow 
 creatures in the darkness, and debasement, and misery 
 of superstition, idolatry and crime, and have none of 
 the sympathy with their condition which Paul felt, and 
 none of the interest which our religion breathes from 
 every page of its records, in the cause of their deliver¬ 
 ance, their redemption, have we the spirit of the disci¬ 
 ples of Christ 1 or, are we Christians ? 
 
 Different views are taken of heathenism, and of false 
 religion, and very different sentiments are excited in re¬ 
 gard to them, far less from the actual diversity of their 
 
20 
 
 ON THE PRINCIPLES OF THE 
 
 174 
 
 character,—although, indeed, it differs greatly in different 
 places,—than from the diversity of the state of mind in 
 which it is contemplated by men. An infidel has told 
 us, that the religion of the pagans consisted alone in 
 morality and festivals; in morality, w^hich is common to 
 men in all ages and countries; and in festivals, which 
 were no other than seasons of rejoicing, and which could 
 ^bring with them no injury to mankind.”* And with a 
 merely speculative Christian, by whom religion is regard¬ 
 ed only as a matter of opinion,—a subject for occasional 
 discussion, the pagan idolatry was, and is, a mere specu¬ 
 lative absurdity. With those wh6 view religion only as 
 a political engine, paganism, and all religion, is good or 
 bad, as it is favourable or unfavourable, to their views 
 of civil policy. And by those who care little or nothing 
 for the religion in which they have been educated, in 
 any of its forms, or of its characteristic sentiments, no 
 interest whatever will of course be felt, in the religious 
 or moral condition of the world. But neither did our 
 Lord nor his apostles, look upon heathenism with indif¬ 
 ference; nor alone, nor peculiarly in its political bear¬ 
 ings ; nor as a mere error of judgment; nor as an inno¬ 
 cent, or a moral institution. No. Had our Lord and his 
 apostles reasoned of the world, as too many now reason of 
 those who are without the knowledge of God, and the 
 blessings of his gospel; had they said, “ the time has 
 not come to bring Jews and heathens to the knowledge 
 of the truth. They are not qualified to receive it. God 
 will execute his own work, in his own time. They are 
 safe. They will be judged in equity, and in mercy. 
 
 * Voltaire’s Louis XIV. 
 
MISSIONARY ENTERPRISB. 
 
 
 21 
 
 Why then interfere, wliere our interference is not re¬ 
 quested —Had our Lord and his apostles thus reason¬ 
 ed of the world, what would now have been our condi¬ 
 tion? How much better than that of the ancient idolaters 
 of Athens, or of Rome ; or the modern idolaters of Hin- 
 doostan or of China ? Let impartial justice preside over 
 the inquiry, and I have no fear concerning the decision 
 upon it in every mind. 
 
 May I not then say to you, reader, whoever you may 
 be, cultivate a Christian sense of the religious and moral 
 condition of those, wlio are living under the influences 
 of heathenism, and of false religion, and, like Paul’s, your 
 spirit will be “ stirred in you,” when you look upon the 
 nations that are “ wholly given up to idolatry ?” Yes, carry 
 with you into those dark regions of the earth, the light 
 and spirit of the gospel of Christ, and your heart yuII 
 “ burn within you,” with compassion for their miserable 
 condition, and with Christian zeal in the cause of their 
 deliverance from it. What, indeed, is there, that is low, 
 what that is vicious, or what that is wretched, which was 
 not comprehended in ancient, and which is not compre¬ 
 hended in modern, heathenism ? There is nothing to be 
 conceived either of lewdness, or of cruelty, which had 
 not the sanctions of the religion of Greece and Rome ,• 
 and which is not now a part of the idolatrous worship of 
 the world. Nor, in any section of the world, was moral 
 instruction ever connected with any department, or office, 
 of heathen worship. Nay, more. This worship, with 
 the vices that were not only incidental to it, but which 
 found, in some of its exercises, their very spirit and life, 
 was not left, even in the most cultivated ages of antiquity, 
 
22 
 
 ON THE PRINCirLES OF THE 
 
 176 
 
 alone to exert its full influence upon the multitude. Even 
 legislators and philosoplKus, instead of endeavouring to 
 instruct, and to reclaim their ignorant and corrupted coun¬ 
 trymen, encouraged this degrading service by their teach¬ 
 ing, required it by their laws, and sanctioned it by their 
 examples. I ask, only, then, that the world which is 
 without our religion, should be seen by us in the light, and 
 considered with the sentiments, with which it was seen 
 and considered by our Lord and his Apostles; and we 
 shall be secure of the first element, or principle, of that 
 spirit, which will earnestly desire, and gladly seize the 
 occasion, as widely as possible to diffuse the knowledge, 
 and influence, of the truth as it is in Jesus. 
 
 The second element, or principle, of that spirit, which 
 feels its obligation to do all that it may for the diffusion 
 of our religion, is, a deep and strong sense of the reality^ 
 and power, and worth of our religion; and of the inesti- 
 mahle blessings which it toill not fail to impart to those, 
 2 vho shall cordially receive, and faithfully obey it. 
 
 I have dwelt, perhaps, longer than it may be thought 
 by many to have been necessary that I should have 
 dwelt, on the sentiments with which our religion regards 
 the heathen world. But I know that there are not a few, 
 even of those who have made some progress in religious 
 knowledge, whose opinions on this subject are unformed 
 and unsettled; and that there are not a few also, who 
 reason, as I think, most unjustly concerning it. I was 
 willing, also, to detain attention for a few minutes longer 
 than I would otherwise have done, upon the first ele¬ 
 ment, or principle, of the missionary enterprise, from a 
 conviction that, if this principle be distinctly understood, 
 
177 MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. 2;] 
 
 and strongly felt, a preparation will be secured for the 
 succeeding topics of this letter. These topics I will now 
 treat as briefly as I can. 
 
 Is our religion, then, a reality ? Are its doctrines re¬ 
 specting the character and government of God, respect¬ 
 ing the condition of man in this world, respecting our 
 Lord Jesus Christ, and the eternal life that is beyond the 
 grave, actually a revelation from God to us ? I appeal, then, 
 to the consciousness which the Christian has of the power, 
 and the worth of his religion. I appeal to his experi¬ 
 ence of its purifying, its heavenly influence upon the 
 heart that receives, and loves it, and yields to it. I ap¬ 
 peal to his experience of its adaptation to the strongest 
 wants of his nature ; to the w'ants of his immortal nature ; 
 to his experience of its power of exalting the soul above 
 all that would degrade and debase it; of bringing man to 
 the greatest nearness to God, to which he can be brought 
 in this world; and of giving, even here, a foretaste of the 
 blessedness, which it assures to its obedient believers 
 hereafter. 
 
 Who that thus knows the power and the worth of the 
 religion of Christ, will not most earnestly, m.ost solicit¬ 
 ously desire its widest, its universal extension? We 
 may possess knowledge, and riches, and other sources of 
 great immediate gratification, and be strongly sensible of 
 their worth, and yet not only not desire their diffusion, 
 but even feel our own interest and happiness essentially 
 to depend upon the very fact of our exclusive possession 
 of them. But so it cannot be in regard to the principles 
 and the spirit of the religion of Christ. In each one of 
 its principles, and in every object of it, Christianity is 
 
ON THE PRINCIPLES OP THE 
 
 17S 
 
 ‘;>4 
 
 stamped with a character of iiniversality, which belongs 
 to no other religion; and, corresponding with this pecu¬ 
 liarity of it, is the spirit which it aw’akens in its sincere 
 believers. Christian benevolence, the love which Christ¬ 
 ianity inspires, is a principle that cannot lie inactive in 
 the soul that receives it. It will even expand itself be¬ 
 yond the sphere of its capacity of action. It will wish, 
 and it will pray for, the amelioration of the suffering, to 
 which it can extend only the emotions, and the breath¬ 
 ings, of its compassionate desires. It will wish, and it 
 will pray for, the universal diffusion of truth, and purity, 
 and happiness. Nor will it evaporate in a wish ; or think 
 that its end is attained, only by a prayer for the good of 
 all men. It will not indeed waste itself on the expanse 
 of ignorance, and weakness, and suffering, and sin; or 
 spend its strength where it can impart no light, or com¬ 
 fort, or improvement. But, while it diffuses itself, like 
 that subtile, elastic, all pervading fluid which surrounds 
 and fills our earth, and is the life of every living thing, 
 it will ever delight to concentrate its pozver; and here, 
 and there, and every where, as it may, to accomplish the 
 greatest good of which it is capable. Christian benevo¬ 
 lence will never hesitate upon the question, whether it 
 shall act, wherever it may act, for the good of others. It 
 can no more live without this action, than the selfish 
 principle can live without action for its own indulgence. 
 Do I, then, address those who have a Christian sense of 
 the reality, and power, and worth of our religion ? With 
 them, the knowledge of an opportunity, and the possess¬ 
 ion of the means, of more widely extending it, will at 
 once secure all that Christian earnestness, and that Christ¬ 
 ian benevolence, can accomplish in this enterprise. 
 
179 
 
 3nSSI0NARY ENTERPRISE. 
 
 25 
 
 In thinking of the early extension of our religion,— 
 the unexampled rapidity of its extension during the life 
 of the apostles; and in pursuing the inquiries, “ why has 
 it not since been more widely diffused ? Why has it not 
 long ago penetrated into every region, where civil gov¬ 
 ernment is established, and the arts of civilized life are 
 cultivated, and where men are qualified to weigh the 
 evidences of its truth ? and, why has it not overshadow¬ 
 ed, and withered the superstitions, and exterminated the 
 false religion, and the idolatries, of Turkey, of Persia, of 
 Hindoostan, and of the vast empire of China? Why has 
 it not yet spread through Africa, and through South 
 America; why has it not accomplished in the islands of 
 the Indian ocean, and in all those of the Pacific, the good 
 which it is said recently to have accomplished in the So¬ 
 ciety isles?”*—In thus comparing what our religion has 
 
 * In the year 1773, Capt. Cook estimated the number of inhab¬ 
 itants in the Society Islands at 200,000. The missionaries think that 
 there must have been, at that time, at least 150,000. But in 1797, 
 when the missionaries arrived there, the number did not exceed 
 20,000 ; and before Christianity began to exert much influence 
 there, the number had diminished to little more than 15,000. It 
 is believed that two thirds of the children that were born, were 
 sacrificed to idols ; or were thrown into the sea to propitiate the 
 sharks, which were worshipped as gods ; or were buried alive. 
 In the years 1801 and 1802, Mr. John Turnbull resided at Otaheite 
 for commercial purposes ; and has since published “ A voyage round 
 the World, in the years 1800, 1, 2, 3, and 4.” Of the inhabitants 
 of these islands, he says, “ their pollution beggars all description; 
 and my mind revolts from a recollection, which recalls so many 
 objects of disgust and horror. Their wickedness is enough to call 
 down the immediate judgment of heaven ; and unless their mannera 
 change, I pronounce that they will not long remain in the number 
 
 3 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
26 
 
 ON THE PRINCIPLES OF THE 
 
 180 
 
 done, with what we are very plainly taught that it was 
 intended to do, we too easily rest in causes of its past, 
 and present condition, which leave the blame of the nar¬ 
 rowness of the present bounds of Christendom any where, 
 but where indeed it belongs; that is, with those who 
 have called themselves Christians. It is said too, in our 
 own justification, that the age of miracles has passed; 
 and that converts are not therefore now to be made, as 
 they were made in the days of the apostles. And then 
 we resort to the consideration, that there is work enough 
 to be done at home, without going abroad to proselyte. 
 And, if still pressed upon the subject, we ask, “ where, 
 
 of nations.” JSTow, however, not less than 12,000, in these islands, 
 can read the word of God intelligibly ; considerable portion of which 
 have been translated into their language, printed and circulated. 
 Three thousand children and adults are now in the school. Many 
 are able to write, and some are considerably acquainted with arithmetic. 
 The pleasures of the domestic circle are now known among them. 
 Industry has increased. Drunkenness has become rare. Theft sel¬ 
 dom occurs; and murder is still more unfrequent. The aged and 
 infirm are kindly treated. Hospitals have been established ; and 
 charitable societies instituted, to relieve the afflicted poor. Their 
 government is defined, and limited by a constitution; and the king 
 and his chiefs have power only to execute the laws. Their wars are 
 ended, and the weapons of war are perishing. Family prayer is 
 almost universal. Twenty-eight houses of worship are opened on 
 the Sabbath, and eighteen natives arc employed as missionaries in 
 the neighbouring islands. These are facts which require no com¬ 
 ment. It would be easy to adduce many others, in regard to these 
 islanders, which are not less interesting. But I would rather refer the 
 reader, who would know more of this subject, to the London Quar¬ 
 terly Chronicle for July and October, 1823; and to the INIissionary 
 Herald for September, 1825. 
 
181 
 
 MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. 
 
 27 
 
 and what, are the indications of providence, that our 
 labours in the work of extending our religion among the 
 heathen will be successful f ’ But I would ask any one who 
 so reasons concerning the missionary cause, to bring home 
 to himself the inquiry, as far as respects the intellectual 
 and moral condition of the world, “ what better indications 
 had our Lord and his apostles, of success in the work of 
 diffusing his religion, than we now have ?” I may ask, 
 too, even at the hazard of startling those who have not 
 so viewed it, if our religion be not, essentially, a religion 
 of proselytism ? Are not its designs respecting all man¬ 
 kind forcing themselves upon our notice, on every page 
 of its records ? Does it offer any compromise with false 
 religion, or with idolatry, in any of their forms ? Nay, 
 more, I would ask, if Christianity is to be extended over 
 the whole world, and if the age of miracles be gone by, 
 not to return, where is the consistency of waiting for a 
 miraculous direction in this work, and for miraculous as¬ 
 sistance in its execution ? Shall ?re then wait for miracu¬ 
 lous manifestations, to excite us to do what we may for 
 its universal extension ? The only miracle, indeed, which 
 is necessary for our success, in the enterprise is, that they 
 who call themselves Christians, should strongly feel the 
 power and worth of the religion of Christ; and, that 
 their hearts should be drawn out in the exercise of that 
 benevolence, without which, I know not on what ground 
 we can claim to be his disciples. I will even proceed a 
 step further, and ask, if we have not some advantage for 
 the propagation of our religion, which the apostles had 
 not? With them, Christianity was an experiment that 
 was yet to be tried. But we have the evidence of its 
 
28 
 
 ON THE PRINCIPLES GF THE 
 
 182 
 
 truth and excellence, which is derived from the admira¬ 
 ble institutions that have grown out of it; and which as 
 much belong to it, and depend upon it, as the branches 
 of a vine belong to, and depend upon, the stock to which 
 they are attached. We can shew, and prove, that in the 
 degree to which it has been left to itself, unfettered by 
 civil and ecclesiastical restrictions, it has triumphed over 
 the strongest passions, and the most inveterate prejudices 
 and customs; and has repressed abuses and crimes, which 
 have been established and sanctioned by every other reli¬ 
 gion. By the knowledge, also, which it has imparted of 
 mutual rights and duties, it has modified, and, we hesitate 
 not to say, has improved civil government, and public mor¬ 
 als, to an extent to which no other than Christian principles 
 could have advanced them. Who that has thoroughly 
 studied the history of our own country, has a doubt 
 whether we owe our peculiar civil institutions to Christ¬ 
 ianity Nor may we alone defend our religion, and 
 recommend it, by these most obvious and grand results 
 of it. The countless associations which it has origina¬ 
 ted, for all the conceivable purposes of benevolence; the 
 systems of education, that are essentially Christian, v/hich 
 are forming and advancing throughout Christendom ; the 
 new responsibleness which it devolves upon woman, and 
 the new rank which it has given to her; the emancipa¬ 
 tion which it has effected of the poor, from the entailed 
 ignorance, degradation and debasement, in which every 
 other religion finds, and leaves them; its efforts, and its 
 
 I would refer the reader, who has not much time for inquiry on 
 this subject, to the very able sermon, preached before the Legisla¬ 
 ture of the Commonwealth, on the 31st of May, by the Rev. Mr. 
 Dewey, of New JBedford. 
 
,188 
 
 flIISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. 
 
 20 
 
 success, in the work of abolishing slavery; and its influ¬ 
 ence on the domestic relations, and on domestic hap¬ 
 piness;—these are effects of our religion, which, in pro¬ 
 portion as they are comprehended, and are seen in 
 their true character by the intelligent of other religions, 
 will do much, and cannot fail to do much, for its exten¬ 
 sion.* From what it has done, bad as Christendom is, 
 wo can demonstrate its adaptation to the condition, and to 
 the wants of all men, and its tendency to an indefinite 
 improvement of the human mind and character. 
 
 * '' Before going to war, it is right to count the cost; and in the 
 conflict which Christians have begun to wage for the moral subjuga¬ 
 tion of the world, it is proper to estimate whether, with their few and 
 scattered numbers, they can cope with the myriads of their oppo¬ 
 nents. Certainly at no former period had they such means, and such 
 promising success, as we now have. All the ancient ‘ war weapons’ 
 of victory, excepting miracles, are at their disposal; and new instru¬ 
 ments of still greater potency, which the science of the latter days 
 has been accumulating for a universal revolution of the mind, are 
 ready to be brought into action, upon a scale of overpowering mag¬ 
 nitude. Even the single resource which is lost, may yet be recom¬ 
 pensed by equivalents ; and a substitute, in many respects, may be 
 found for miracles. The first effect of a miracle is, to arouse the 
 attention, and to overawe opposing prejudices. The second, to af¬ 
 ford a proof of the truth of the religion, of which it is a sealing accom¬ 
 paniment. The first object may be gained by experimental philoso¬ 
 phy. And as to the second, the difference in the proof of our reli¬ 
 gion, to any to whom it shall now be proposed, from its miracles, lies 
 rather in the fact, that this proof is at the present day more circuitous 
 '' than that it is less conclusive, than it was in the days of the apostles. 
 Besides, the turning point of receiving christiai^ity, even in the apos¬ 
 tolic age, consisted less in having seen the miracles, than in seeing 
 their own need of a revelation, and its adaptation to the present cir¬ 
 cumstances of humanity. Moral influence has always prevailed more 
 
 3 # 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
30 
 
 ON THE principles OF THE 
 
 184 
 
 The third, and last element, or principle, of that spirit, 
 which feels a paramount obligation to do all that it may 
 for the diffusion of our religion, is the feeling, that God, 
 in dispensing signal blessings to men, designs that they 
 whom he so distinguishes, shall be his agents in giving 
 the widest possible extension to these blessings. In other 
 words, God designs that man shall he his instrument^ for 
 imparting the blessings of ehi'istianity to man; and he 
 who has the means, and the opportunities, thus to benefit 
 his fellow creatures, will be held responsible at the bar 
 
 than supernatural influence. The generation that literally lived on 
 miracles, and had ‘ angels’ food’ for their daily bread, perished from 
 unbelief in the desert; whilst their children, brought up in the loneli¬ 
 ness of the wildernesss, far from the corruptions of the surrounding 
 nations, were even eminent to aftertimes, as an example of ‘ a right 
 godly nation.’ ” 
 
 Hints on Missions, by James Douglas, Esq. pp. 22—24. This is a 
 sensible little book ; and far better worth reading, than have been 
 many books upon the subject of missions, which have been, and are, 
 more popular. 
 
 A friend suggests to me the expediency of remarking here, that 
 the effect of miracles, as a means of missionary success, has been over- 
 rrated; for the apostles seem to have resorted to them only inci¬ 
 dentally ; and Rammohun Roy says, they are not of the value in the 
 East, which many Christians are accustomed to ascribe to them. It 
 is indeed wellknowm, that the Hindoos boast of far more wonderful 
 miracles, than are related by the Evangelists; and though these repu¬ 
 ted miracles are as wonderful absurdities, as were ever imposed upon 
 human credulity, they must,'^nd will dispose unconverted natives of 
 India, to allow but little importance to the miracles of our religion. 
 But converts to Christianity, in that country, will obtain new senti¬ 
 ments of the miracles of Hindooism ; and then also will they see, in 
 the miracles of the gospel much to confirm their faith, that it is, what 
 it claims to be, a dispensation fiom God, 
 
185 
 
 MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. 
 
 31 
 
 of heaven, for the execution of the work which God thus 
 requires of liim. 
 
 That man should sympathize with man, that he should 
 feel an interest, deep and strong, in the condition of his 
 fellow-men; and, especially, that we should be affected, 
 and strongly affected, by the wants and sufferings, not 
 alone of those around us, but of our whole race, I fear 
 not to say is as much a law of our nature, as it is that we 
 should feel a deep and strong interest in those, who are 
 immediately connected with us, in the nearest relations 
 of life; or, as it is, that we should love ourselves. This 
 feeling may be, and it is, kept down within us, by the as¬ 
 cendant influence, which is obtained in our hearts by 
 narrow, local, and selfish interests. It is a feeling, which 
 many of the circumstances in our early education are 
 suited to repress, and to enfeeble in us; and v/hich our 
 daily habits of business and of pleasure, as mere men of 
 the world, may be counteracting, and restraining, and 
 deadening within us. But there are occasions in the life 
 of every one, whose heart lias not been shut up by bands 
 of brass, or iron, or adamant, when this feeling, chilled 
 and dead as it may have seemed to be, is warmed into life, 
 and puts forth its strength, and breaks from its enclo- 
 ures, and speaks in a language not to be misunderstood; 
 at once vindicating our nature from the charge, that, 
 
 “ There is no flesh in man’s obdurate heart, 
 
 “ It does not feel for man 
 
 and demonstrating that it is the purpose of God, that 
 man shall be his instrument for the communication of all 
 possible blessings to man. I need not refer you to the 
 effects, which are produced wdthin us, while we are read- 
 
ON THE PRINCIPLES OF THE 
 
 1S6 
 
 ing narratives of real, or of imaginary scenes and cir¬ 
 cumstances of distress. Tliese effects alone demonstrate, 
 not only that God has made us for one another, but that, 
 in an important sense, he has made each one of us foi 
 the whole of our species. Who, I ask, dwells upon the 
 pages of history, merely that he may possess its facts; 
 or simply for the mere personal uses which he may make 
 of them ? Or who that knows the blessings of civil 
 rights, and of civil liberty, has not felt all his indignation 
 awakened against the despot, that has trampled upon 
 these rights, even though ages have revolved, since the 
 tyrant and the tyranny have passed away ? And who has 
 not felt a joy, an exultation, to be surpassed only by that 
 of an emancipated people, when the tyrant has fallen, and 
 when at least one well directed effort has been made in 
 the cause of human freedom 1 Who, as he has pondered 
 on the pages of history, has not gone forth with the 
 armies, over whose dust centuries have revolved, and 
 joined the standard of the leader whom he has chosen, 
 and fought for the rights of man; rejoicing, or suffer¬ 
 ing, as they were obtained, or lost; filled with the interests, 
 the hopes, the fears of the distant age, to which his exist¬ 
 ence for the hour has been transferred ; and prepared 
 for all the efforts and sacrifices of the cause which he 
 lias espoused, and which he believes to be the cause of 
 truth, and right, and human happiness ? Who has read 
 of the wise, intrepid, persevering, disinterested benefac¬ 
 tors of their age,—be that age as distant from us as it 
 may,—and has not felt that they were the glory of our 
 race ? Who has not sympathized with them in their pur¬ 
 poses, shared their toils, triumphed in their successes, 
 
187 
 
 MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. 
 
 33 
 
 and lamented their defeats ? Who has not felt, when 
 under the influence of their examples, the true greatness 
 and dignity of an heroic, self-denying, upright, and be¬ 
 nevolent spirit ; struggling against the difficulties that 
 opposed it; sacrificing its ease, its security, its peace, and 
 all its immediate interests, for the advancement of the 
 condition and happiness of others; and who has not felt 
 himself to be raised in the scale of being, by the conscious¬ 
 ness that he is united, by the bond of a common nature, 
 with all this virtue, this greatness, this excellence? Yes, 
 it is not less a law of our nature, that we should go out of 
 ourselves, that we should feel a strong interest in others, 
 and not only in the wants and the happiness of our fami¬ 
 ly, our neighbourhood, our country and our age, but in 
 those too of men in every country, and in all time, than 
 it is that we should love ourselves. I say not, that one 
 principle is as strong, and steady, and active at all times, 
 or that it is as generally manifested in human conduct, as 
 is the other. It is not. In many it is bound in the 
 chains of a sordid avarice. In many, it is kept in sub¬ 
 jection by a miserable ambition, which values nothing, 
 but as it conduces to personal distinction. And in many, 
 it lies buried under heaps of the rubbish of cares and 
 interests, of appetites and propensities, of prejudices and 
 passions, not one of which has an object beyond the in¬ 
 dividual, to whom they are the chief, and perhaps the 
 only good of life. But the principle of sympathy,—of 
 sympathy, I mean, with the cause of human nature, of 
 human good and happiness,—dead and buried as it some¬ 
 times seems to be, does also sometimes rise, and manifest 
 itself; and, with an electric influence, at once animate, 
 
34 
 
 ON THE PRINCIPLES OF THE 
 
 ' 188 
 
 and give new vigor, to thousands, and millions. How 
 has the thrill of its power been felt, in the cause of the 
 abolition of the slave trade ? How was it felt, when the 
 first struggles of the Greeks for freedom were published 
 throuo;hout Christendom ? How was it felt when it was 
 thought that the sun of liberty had broken through the 
 clouds, which, for centuries, had covered Spain; and 
 that a new day was about to open upon that dark spot of 
 the earth ? And how was it felt, when we ivere assured 
 that one and another of the oppressed nations of South 
 America had conquered, had triumphed, had secured a 
 government of its choice, a constitution, equal laws, 
 independence 1 And who, that has tasted the blessings, 
 and that knows the happiness of civil liberty, does not 
 desire, and will not pray, that it may be universal ? Who 
 would not rejoice to hear, that despotism is every 
 where at an end ? Who ivould not contribute what he 
 can, to the cause of the universal emancipation of our 
 race, from the injustice and cruelty, the degradation and 
 misery, of civil tyranny?—And is civil freedom, or are 
 civil rights and privileges, so great a boon, that, merely to 
 name them, is to kindle desire in every heart, that they 
 may be universal ? And is the sympathy that is thus ex¬ 
 cited, one of the provisions of God, for the advancement 
 of the great cause of civil liberty throughout the world ? 
 What, then, should be our sympathy in the cause of reli¬ 
 gion ; of religious liberty ; of the rescue of man from tlie 
 slavery of a superstition, a thousand times more debasing 
 than is any civil bondage; in the cause of bringing men 
 to the liberty, the exaltation of condition, and the hap¬ 
 piness, of the sons of God ? 
 
189 MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. 35 
 
 I 
 
 Christians, let us feel the value of our privileges, and 
 the greatness of our responsibility for them. God has 
 committed them to us for our own improvement, and as 
 means of our own salvation. But is it not also his will, 
 that we should be his instruments for the improvement, 
 and the salvation, of our fellow-men ? How, think you, 
 is our religion to be extended through the world, but by 
 the Christian earnestness, and the Christian benevolence 
 of those, who feel its reality, its worth and its power; 
 and the greatness of the blessings which it will impart 
 to those who receive it? We believe, indeed, that it ev'^er 
 has been, that it is, and that it will be, in the care of 
 him, who sent his Son to be the Saviour of the world. 
 But our Lord committed it to the immediate charge of 
 his apostles ; and they have left it—to those who shall be¬ 
 lieve in it. God will honor us as his agents, in the work 
 of imparting to all the greatest of all his blessings. Is 
 proof of the principle demanded ? I will ask, why has God, 
 in such diversified measures, allotted to us our talents, 
 and our capacities? Why has he appointed such a diver¬ 
 sity in the condition of men ? Why has he connected us in 
 bonds of families, of neighborhoods, and of communi¬ 
 ties ? And why has he subjected all to so many weak¬ 
 nesses, and exposures, and wants, and sufferings? No 
 one will doubt, whether one purpose of these ordina¬ 
 tions of his providence is, the accomplishment, by the 
 instrumentality of man, of his designs of benevolence " 
 towards man. And is it less clearly God’s design, that 
 we should extend, as far as we may, the bread of life, 
 and the waters of live, to those who are suffering from 
 the want of them, than it is that we should give of our 
 bread to the hungry, or relieve the distress which we 
 
36 
 
 ON THE PRINCIPLES OF THE 
 
 190 
 
 have the means and opportunity of relieving? Fellow- 
 christians, let us feel that we are to give account to God, 
 for the use which we make of our powers of mind and 
 of body, of our property, of our influence, and of every 
 means which we have of being good, hy doing good. And 
 if, where much has been given, much will be required, 
 will not much be demanded from us, and may not much 
 be most justly demanded, in return for the most precious 
 of God’s gifts to us, the religion of his Son ? Admit that 
 the heathens are safe, as far as that idolatry is concerned, 
 the evil of which they know not. The great question to 
 engage our attention is, are ivc safe, while we possess the 
 means of their instruction, their reformation, and their 
 best happiness, and yet fail to employ them to the pur¬ 
 poses, for which God has entrusted us with them ? Are 
 we safe, if this talent shall be kept by us, laid up in a 
 napkin ? Can w^e render our account with joy at the bar 
 of heaven, if, having freely received this unspeakable gift, 
 we have cared nothing for the condition of those who 
 have it not; and have done nothing, that they may be 
 partakers with us of the salvation, which is in Christ Je¬ 
 sus, with everlasting glory ? 
 
 Suffer me here to say, that I fear we do not think 
 enough of the importance of prayer in this, as w'ell as in 
 all our great and important enterprises, God wills that 
 religious truth, like other truth, should be extended by 
 human agency. But not by an independent agency of 
 man. We are, in this great concern, to “ be w^orkers to¬ 
 gether with Godand while our wills, and affections, 
 and labors, are to be given to the service, we are in all 
 our ways to acknowledge Him, that he may direct our 
 steps.” Before our Lord elected his apostles, he was all 
 
191 
 
 MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. 
 
 3 : 
 
 night in prayer to God; and we see his apostles relying 
 not more on their miraculous powers, than on their 
 prayers, for the cooperation of God in their work. Let 
 us not, then, indulge narrow views of our relation to God ; 
 of the intimacy of the communion which we may hold 
 with him; and of the influence which may be exerted by 
 God upon us, and by God, in cooperation with us, in per¬ 
 fect consistency with our own moral freedom. Let us, 
 more than we have done, realize what we ask of God, 
 when we pray, “ may thy kingdom come, and thy will be 
 done on earth, as it is done in heaven !” 
 
 . I address this letter, gentlemen, through you to the 
 Unitarians of our country; and, as a Unitarian, with de¬ 
 vout gratitude and joy I hail the beginning of a new era, 
 in the recent, and, I hope, unequivocal demonstration, of 
 a foreign missionary spirit among us. Scarcely less dis¬ 
 tinct, indeed, is the voice from India to us, than was that 
 to Paul, “ come over to Macedonia and help us.” A Uni¬ 
 tarian society in Calcutta, composed as well of natives as 
 of foreigners, who have themselves contributed largely to 
 the work, solicit our assistance in establishing there a 
 perpetual Unitarian mission. Native gentlemen of India 
 have contributed largely to the cause of establishing 
 Christian worship, upon Unitarian principles, in their 
 country; and they, with their English associates, are 
 earnestly requesting the aid of Unitarians in England and 
 America, for the accomplishment of their object. And 
 can there be a question, in this case, concerning our 
 duty? I leave it with every man’s conscience, in the^ 
 sight of God.* 
 
 ’“For information on this subject, see the Christian Examiner for 
 
 4 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
38 
 
 ON THE PRINCIPLES OF THE 
 
 im 
 
 We live in a time, peculiarly favorable to every attempt 
 that can be made for human inprovemeiit and happiness. 
 Nor is it alone in those departments, to which science, 
 with her new and wonderful discoveries, has extended 
 her influence, that we find a new spirit of excitement, 
 and of enterprise. The fact, that the long known mechan¬ 
 ic powers are, of late, found to possess capacities, very 
 far beyond all the uses to wiiich they had been applied ; 
 and the fact too, not less interesting and important, of 
 the discovery of a new mechanical agent, which may be 
 applied alike to works the most simple, and the most 
 complex; to the greatest and grandest operations, and to 
 those which are most minute; has given an impulse to 
 inquiry, and to the spirit of discovery, and effort, in every 
 department of human knowledge. The idea is awakened, 
 and is abroad, that nothing is to be deemed impracticable, 
 till it has been fairly tried; and that no exertion for an 
 object is to be relaxed, while any means remain, which may 
 be employed for its attainment. It is felt, that there may be 
 new applications of the known capacities of human nature, 
 not yet hinted at in any of our systems of mental philoso¬ 
 phy; and even that new moral agents may be discovered, 
 which may be employed to accomplish in the moral world, 
 changes and improvements, as great as have been extended 
 to the various departments of art, by the power of a new 
 physical agent. In Europe, and in our own country, great 
 are the changes that have been accomplished, within the 
 last fifty years, by the systems of education, which have 
 been devised and adopted, and which are widely extend- 
 
 March and April, 1826; and Professor Ware’s Address, delivered be» 
 fore the Berry Street Conference, on the 31st May. 
 
r 
 
 193 MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE. 39 
 
 ing ; by the multiplication of books, which grows with the 
 multiplication of readers; by the new views which have 
 been opened, and are every where obtaining, increased 
 and increasing attention; of religious liberty, and of re- 
 liorious rijxhts ; and which are awakening new convictions, 
 and new interests, and are giving a new impulse to 
 thought and action. Great are the changes of opinion, 
 which are spreading, and which will continue to spread, 
 through the nations, of the nature and ends of civil gov¬ 
 ernment ; of the rights of the ruled and of the duty and 
 accountablencss of rulers. And, I am happy to say, 
 that, compared with any former time since the days of 
 the Apostles, great, throughout Christendom, is the revo¬ 
 lution that has been produced in opinion and in feeling, 
 concerning the relation of man to man ; and concerning 
 our capacity, and obligation, to extend to others the bless¬ 
 ings, with which God in his mercy has distinguished us, 
 in the religion which he has given us by his Son. But 
 the principle which, more than any other, has given life, 
 and efficiency, to our systems of education, which has 
 peculiarly multiplied and extended books, and which has 
 spread widely the new sentiments, that have obtained of 
 religious liberty, and of religious rights; the principle, 
 which has given diffusion to the new views which are re¬ 
 ceived of the nature and ends of civil government, and 
 which has attempted, and done, what has never before 
 been done, for the universal extension of our religion, is, 
 the principle of voluntary association. And if we may 
 infer what it may do, from what it has done, where shall 
 we fix the limits of its power, and of its consequences 1 
 Look alone to the Bible societies, the anti-slavery societies, 
 
194 
 
 40 ON THE PRINCIPLES, d::.c. 
 
 the pfeJce societies, and the religious missionary societies 
 of England and of America, and say, what is to arrest 
 their: progress, and their effects ? Opinion has been call¬ 
 ed the lever, by which society is now moved, and its 
 vast operations are directed, and controled. But I should 
 rather call it the ground on which the lever is fixed, by 
 which the world is moved. The mighty agent, by which 
 those changes have been accomplished, which are every 
 day exciting new admiration, and new expectations con¬ 
 cerning the moral and the political condition of the 
 world, is, the power of voluntary association. It is a 
 power, which, like knowledge, and like wealth, may be 
 made as conducive to evil as to good. But let all the 
 virtuous and the wise feel its importance, and faithful¬ 
 ly avail themselves of it, and employ it with the calm, and 
 steady, and persevering zeal which should characterize 
 Christians; and, with God’s blessing on the work, it will 
 not long be doubtful to any mind, whether indeed the 
 enterprise be feasible, of the conversion of the world. 
 
 I will only add my hearty good wishes for the prosper¬ 
 ity of your association; and my hope that, while we are 
 aiming at the advancement of our religion at home, we 
 may all be excited to do what we can, to bring every 
 knee to bow in the name of Jesus, and every tongue to 
 confess him to be Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” 
 
 With great respect and affection, 
 
 I am truly yours, 
 
 Joseph Tuckerman. 
 
 Chelsea, June Sth, 1826 ,