*netructious 
 
 to the 
 
 MISSIONARIES ABOUT TO EMBARK 
 
 FOR THE 
 
 AND TO THE 
 
 Jev. Messrs. WILLIAM GOODELL, & ISAAC BIRD, 
 
 ATTACHED TO THE 
 
 Palestine i&feiiton: 
 
 J1BIIVEREB Br THE 
 
 CORRESPONDING SECRETARY 
 
 CAN BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS FOR FOREIGN MISSIONS, 
 
 BOSTON': 
 
 CHOCKER AND BREWSTER, NO. 50 , CORNHIEI. 
 
 1823 . 
 
JrttStrUCttOUS 
 
 TO THE 
 
 MISSIONARIES ABOUT TO EMBARK 
 
 FOR THE 
 
 AND TO THE 
 
 Rev. Messrs. WILLIAM GOODELL, & ISAAC BIRD, 
 
 ATTACHED TO THE 
 
 Palestine ^Rtssion: 
 
 DEUVEHED BI THE 
 
 CORRESPONDING SECRETARY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 AMERICAN BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS FOR FOREIGN MISSIONS. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 
 CHOC KE U AND BHEWSTEH, NO. 50 , COIlNBIEIu 
 
 1823 . 
 
r ♦ 
 
INSTRUCTIONS 
 
 OP THE PRUDENTIAL COMMITTEE TO THE MISSIONARIES ABOUT TO EM- 
 BARK FOR THE SANDWICH ISLANDS, IN THE SHIP THAMES, DELIVERED 
 BY THE CORRESPONDING SECRETARY, IN THE MIDDLE BRICK CHURCH, 
 NEW HAVEN, ON MONDAY EVENING, NOV. 18, 1822. 
 
 DEARLY EELOVED BRETHREN OF THE MISSION FAMILY, 
 
 Having devoted yourselves for life to the service of Christ 
 among the heathen, you are convened in this city to embark for 
 the field of labor, which has been assigned you, and upon which 
 your eyes have been fixed with earnest desire and fond anticipa- 
 tions. On the morrow you expect to commence your voyage to 
 the Sandwich Islands, there to be united with the beloved brethren 
 who have preceded you, and who have been importunately call- 
 ing for fellow-laborers. 
 
 \ our object is the greatest, which can employ human agency. 
 ^ ou go to proclaim the Gospel as heralds to those, who never, till 
 lately, heard of Christ as a Savior; who never listened to the 
 offers of pardon, nor had any just conceptions of themselves as im- 
 mortal beings, or of God as the moral Governor of the universe. 
 
 On such an occasion, assembled in this house of prayer, surround- 
 ed by a multitude of your Christian friends, who take the liveliest 
 interest in the success of your mission and in your personal wel- 
 fare, your will receive with peculiar sensations the last counsels 
 and instructions, which the Prudential Committee, speaking in the 
 name and behalf of the Christian community, will ever be able to 
 give with the living voice. These parting counsels you will re- 
 gard as the result of a truly paternal solicitude for you as individ- 
 uals, and for the advancement of the cause in which you are en- 
 gaged. 
 
4 
 
 Permit me here to refer you to the instructions, delivered three 
 years ago to Messrs. Bingham and Thurston, and their associates, 
 when about to lay the foundations of the mission to which you are 
 assigned. These instructions were drawn up with great care and 
 ability, with great wisdom and unction, by the late lamented Cor- 
 responding Secretary; and there is not a word in them, which the 
 Committee, after their experience respecting this mission, would 
 wish to have altered. Several topics, there discussed at some 
 length, need not be introduced here. 
 
 A subject of prime importance to the success of any combined 
 exertions is the preservation of union among those who labor together- 
 Our Savior has laid it down as a fundamental principle, of univer- 
 sal application, that a house divided against itself cannot stand. 
 This principle is to be kept continually in view, by all who take 
 part in missionary operations. A holy union of heart, of enter- 
 prise, of labor, is to be cultivated by every practicable method. 
 Among the means of carrying on this spiritual cultivation, the fol- 
 lowing are thought worthy of particular consideration. 
 
 If you wish always to be of one heart and one mind, you will 
 aim, in the first place, to become eminent for piety. This is, indeed, 
 the grand ingredient in every truly excellent character; but it 
 operates, with peculiar efficacy, to bring together and hold togeth- 
 er all who live under its divine influence. As God is the centre 
 of all perfection, and the source of all beneficent action, they who 
 live near to God cannot live at a distance from each other. As 
 God is love, they who enjoy communion with him, cannot but co- 
 operate most cheerfully and harmoniously in every labor of love. 
 When piety gains the ascendency, all the elements of disunion are 
 controlled, if not rendered inoperative, or utterly extinguished. 
 Aspire, then, to such attainments in piety, as shall lift you above 
 those little interests, which may endanger the peaceful and united 
 prosecution of your w’ork. 
 
 Secondly, the eager pursuit of a great common object is a strong 
 bond of union. Such an object, worthy of your most strenuous 
 and unremitted efforts, is ever before you. The conversion and 
 salvation of the islanders to whom you are sent — to be accomplish- 
 ed, so far as human agency is concerned, by the preaching of the 
 Gospel, the establishment of the schools, and all the means of im- 
 parting religious knowledge, — furnish an object of sufficient mag- 
 nitude to claim your greatest exertions. Keep this in view, as a 
 
goal to which you should be advancing with quick and regular 
 steps. In your most retired meditations, as well as your confer- 
 ences with each other, let the question often recur; “How shall 
 we do most for the object of our desires and hopes? How shall 
 these perishing immortals be saved? By what new and more effec- 
 tual process can their consciences be enlightened, their hearts af- 
 fected, and their lives adorned by the practice of Christian virtue? 
 How shall the power of sinful habit be counteracted, and that great 
 moral change be produced, which is forcibly described in the 
 Scriptures as a death unto sin and a life unto righteousness?” 
 
 By inquiries such as these, and by corresponding efforts, you may 
 hold the success of your joint labors in so prominent a view, that 
 your common object shall cast into the shade all other objects on 
 this side of heaven. Especially will this be the case, if, by extra- 
 ordinary vigor and diligence, you make visible progress in your 
 work. Let this be your constant aim and your high endeavor. 
 
 Again, it will greatly conduce to your proceeding in your voca- 
 tion with united counsels, if you cultivate the most endeared person- 
 al friendship , founded on, religious principle. By friendship we 
 here mean something very different from what the world dignifies 
 with this name; and something very different, also, from the mere 
 charitable opinion, concerning each other, that you are sincere 
 Christians. We mean something, which will induce you to desire 
 each other’s happiness with the tenderest concern; — to improve 
 each other's good qualities, and regard such improvement as a 
 common gain; — to aid each other in removing any defects of char- 
 acter, which may be apparent; — especially those, which seem to 
 be at variance with the employment of a missionary; — to watch 
 over each other as Christians, as fellow-laborers, in a most impor- 
 tant field, as persons destined, with the favor of Providence, to lay 1 
 the foundations of Christian society in many a dark neighborhood. 
 Consider not such an oversight as an irksome restraint, but rather 
 as a delightful duty, a mean of spiritual advancement; a source of 
 happiness here, and a preparation for future glory. Let your con- 
 fidence in each other be entire at the commencement, and let the 
 result show, that such confidence was deserved, and that it remain- 
 ed, as time elapsed and it was put to the test, not only unimpaired, 
 but strengthened and confirmed. 
 
 True Christian watchfulness, however strict and faithful, will 
 never diminish the care, which each maintains over his own soul. 
 
G 
 
 Tar otherwise 1 — it prompts to self-examination, to self-denial, to a 
 holy emulation in regard to the possession of those virtues, which 
 it urges upon others. As it springs from the purest benevolence, 
 its universal tendency is salutary. 
 
 By cultivating the friendship, which is here recommended, you 
 will arrive at that desirable point in Christian experience, where 
 each will think little concerning his own things,— much concern- 
 ing the things of others, — but most of all concerning the things of 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 Another powerful mean of promoting union is to entertain a salu- 
 tary dread of division. To a person little acquainted with the his- 
 tory of men, and of Christians, it would seem unnecessary, or im- 
 proper, even to allude to the possibility of disunion among those, 
 who are embarked in the most glorious and beneficent of causes, and 
 w'ho are held together by so many bonds, which would seem in- 
 dissoluble. But if we look into the New Testament, w r e every 
 where find exhortations to peace, to unity, to br Iierlv love, 
 and dissuasives from strife, and division. ^Vhat does all this impty, 
 but that men generally, and even the best of men, are in danger 
 of suffering from divided counsels and divided efforts; — from alien- 
 ation of affection, the fruitful parent of a thousand evils? As truly 
 converted persons may be said to persevere through a salutary 
 dread of falling away, you may very properly stimulate yourselves 
 to a closer union by considering how melancholy and disastrous it 
 would be, if your enjoyment should be marred by division; or by 
 a coolness, which should neutralize your exertions, and quench 
 your zeal. 
 
 Should this unhappily be the case, it obviously could not be con- 
 cealed from the people among whom you labor; nor from the nu- 
 merous visitors at the islands; nor from your friends in this coun- 
 try; nor from the Christian public of Europe and America; nor 
 from the enemies and opposers of missions. Mow deplorable such 
 a result would be your own feelings will represent more forcibly 
 than words can do. 
 
 That you may justly estimate this subject, be much conversant 
 with the writings of Paul, that illustrious missionary to the Gen- 
 tiles, who was fitted by long personal experience and by teachiugs 
 of the Spirit, to point out all the dangers to w : hich you arc expos- 
 ed, and to be your guide as the preachers to an unevangelized 
 people. Let such exhortations as the following be deeply engrav- 
 
7 
 
 cn on your hearts: “If (here be therefore any consolation in Christy 
 if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bow- 
 els and mercies, fulfil ye my joy, that ye be like-minded, having 
 the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be 
 done through strife or vain glory; but in lowliness of mind let each 
 esteem other better than himself. Look not every man on his 
 own things, but every man also on tin' things of others. Do all 
 things without murmurings and disputing#; that ye may be blame- 
 less and harmless, the sons of God without rebuke, in the midst ot 
 a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in 
 the world.” 
 
 The description in the clause last quoted is eminently true of 
 every heathen people. However they may differ as to tempera- 
 ment, habits, and manners, in regard to spiritual objects they are 
 all crooked and perverse. Among such people it is peculiarly ne- 
 cessary, that you should indeed sltine as lights , casting a mild and 
 heavenly radiance all around you, and dispelling the darkness 
 of ages. But how can this be expected, unless you are most cor- 
 dially united among yourselves, and most tenderly attached to each 
 other? Marching forward to the spiritual conflict under one steady 
 impulse, and keeping your eyes fixed on the Captain of your sal- 
 vation, the victory is sure; but if your ranks are broken, and your 
 attention diverted from your Leader, your force will be destroyed, 
 and a complete overthrow can hardly he avoided. 
 
 Let it then be resolved, and let the divine blessing be invoked 
 upon the solemn resolution, that as children of God, as missiona- 
 ries to the heathen, as fellow-laborers in the same field, you arc 
 one; — one in purpose , — one in affection, — in action one. 
 
 Thus will you be prepared to enter, with the proper spirit of 
 missionaries, into the necessities of the people to whose benefit 
 your lives arc devoted. 
 
 These people you will find in the greatest possible want of in- 
 struction. Though they burned their idols, and discarded their 
 odious and abhorred supcrtilions, before the first missionaries reach- 
 ed their shores, — an event altogether unprecedented in the histo- 
 ry of man, —their minds are still in utter darkness as to religion; 
 their hearts arc under the inllucnce of depraved passion, and their 
 lives are deformed by gross vices. Painful indeed it is, to behold 
 any portion of our race in such a debasing subjection to the god 
 ol this world. But we are not to shrink from a knowledge of the 
 
 / 
 
8 
 
 true state of things, when that knowledge is essential to the besc 
 performance of our duty. 
 
 Though your brethren already in the field have communicated 
 some general notions of God, of Providence, and of the Gospel, 
 to a few individuals around them; yet the mass of the inhabitants 
 you must expect to see stilly reclaming without God and without 
 hope. Some preparations may have been made toward convey- 
 ing instruction, both by means of interpreters and in their own lan- 
 guage; but the progress of divine truth among pagans, speaking a 
 strange tongue, and not even having any language adapted to 
 moral subjects, must be slow at first. You must therefore consid- 
 er, that, so far as the arduousness of the work is regarded, you 
 and your brethren are yet to commence the business of general 
 instruction. Before any great results can be expected, the rudi- 
 ments of moral truth must be conveyed to the minds of multitudes; 
 the conscience is to be formed and enlightened; the heart is to be 
 assailed by the simple, yet commanding, motives of the Gospel. 
 Man's native sinfulness and wretchedness are to be fairly exhibited; 
 the pardon of sin is to be proclaimed; the love of Christ display- 
 ed; — the atonement, with all its blessings, described; — and the des- 
 tinies of eternity presented to the mind. Your reliance on the 
 pure doctrines of revelation must be firm and undeviating. No 
 other doctrines, no other moral process but the preaching of these 
 doctrines, will ever prove a remedy for the diseases of the soul. 
 
 In your intercourse with the natives of the islands, you will la- 
 bor to convince them that you are their real friends. This you 
 will do, not by declarations and professions merely, or principally; 
 but by unwearied labors for their good. It is an established prin- 
 ciple in the Providence of God that men will at length be affected 
 by disinterested kindness. None are so low in the scale of intel- 
 lect, — none are so barbarous in their manners or disposition, — as 
 not to know the proofs of genuine friendship. False views may 
 be entertained at first; interested persons may excite prejudice; 
 having been often deceived may induce caution and jealousy; — but 
 a long course of beneficence will bear an irresistible testimony to 
 its own excellence. Among the most untutored people, individu- 
 als will be found, who are shrewd observers of human conduct, 
 and have a keen discernment of character and motives. The way 
 to secure the confidence of these natural leaders, is to feel an earn- 
 est desire for their good, and the good of their people; — to labor 
 
9 
 
 patiently, unremittingly, and with increasing zeal for this object; — 
 and to show, in the expressive language of the apostle, that you 
 seek not theirs , but them. 
 
 You are to abstain from all interference with the local and po- 
 litical views of the people. The kingdom of Christ is not of this 
 world; and it especially behooves a missionary to stand aloof from 
 the private and transient interests of chiefs and rulers. Inculcate 
 the duties of justice, moderation, forbearance, truth, and universal 
 kindness. Do all in your power to make men of every class good, 
 wise and happy. 
 
 Let it be apparent, also, that you have nothing to do with traffic, 
 or gain; that far nobler objects brought you from your native 
 land; and that you regard all that the world has to offer as of very 
 little value, compared with the salvation of a single soul. In any 
 discussions or claims concerning property, whether the persons 
 interested be natives or foreigners, take no part. This may be a 
 subject of very considerable importance, in the present state of 
 things at the islands, where you are to reside. 
 
 To visitors and occasional residents, whether from this country 
 or any other, show yourselves kind, affable, and obliging. Concili- 
 ate their esteem by the usefulness of your lives. Give no occa- 
 sion for any report, unfavorable to the work to which you are de- 
 voted; and if your designs should be misrepresented, or even your 
 characters defamed, you need be under no apprehension, lest God 
 should fail to vindicate your cause. 
 
 Nothing will so speedily convince the natives of the excellence 
 of your mission, as a laborious attention to its appropriate duties. 
 Untutored people are almost universally idle in their habits, prod- 
 igal of time, and prone to dissipation of almost every kind. A life 
 of industry, therefore, spontaneously exerted, and persevered in 
 from motives of public utility, is to them a singular phenomenon; 
 and one which makes a striking impression upon their minds. Be 
 urgent, then, in preaching the Gospel, in teaching the young, and 
 in every branch of useful labor, which your various faculties and 
 acquirements may enable you to accomplish. You will feel that 
 no time is to be lost. Even now, almost while l am speaking, in- 
 telligence is received, that your services are imperiously demand- 
 ed; that your arrival will be hailed as the signal for new es- 
 tablishments; that the schools are increasing; that, on the first 
 Monday of last January, the printing of an elementary schuol- 
 2 
 
10 
 
 book was commenced, iu a language never before reduced to wri- 
 ting; and that the number of readers will be multiplied, faster than 
 tbs translations and printing can be executed. 
 
 We know, dear brethren, that you bum with an anxious desire 
 fo have some share in the high and holy ministration of raising a 
 perishing people from their degradation and ruin, and of inducing 
 them to accept the blessings of Christianity and civilization. We 
 know' that you will count with solicitude the days and the hours 5 
 which must intervene, before you can engage in this divine em- 
 ployment. 
 
 But while you eagerly teach letters to the rising generation, 
 and attempt to form habits of industry, and order, and domestic 
 virtue in your pupils, you will never give countenance to the pop- 
 ular error, that men must be civilized before they can receive the 
 Gospel. You are well aware, that an ignorant and heathen peo- 
 ple never can be civilized without the Gospel. There has not 
 been an instance, since the first promulgation of Christianity, of a 
 barbarous nation brought into a state of well-regulated society, un- 
 less by the means and motives, which true religion alone can fur- 
 nish. You may, indeed, easily prove to a heathen and a savage, 
 that good laws, wholesome restraint, constant occupation, and a 
 regular discharge of the domestic duties, are favorable to the en- 
 joyment of this life; but when your proof is ended, what have you 
 accomplished? 
 
 “Alas, leviathan is not so tam'd/ 5 — 
 
 All the motives, which can be drawn from this world, are en- 
 tirely vain and ineffectual to reclaim from a vagrant life, to res- 
 train unbridled passion, to soften ferocity, and to implant a con- 
 trolling principle, which shall operate in the whole conduct. You 
 will not leave out of your estimate that religion which came down 
 from heaven, and which is incomparably the most powerful agent in 
 transforming the human character; — the only agent, indeed, which 
 can make a thorough transformation. What! Shall God be ex- 
 cluded from operating on the souls which he formed, by means of 
 the truth which he revealed for that very purpose? Shall Christ 
 have no share in bringing to virtue and to happiness the immortal 
 beings whom he died to save? Shall the Holy Spirit he debarred 
 from exerting the most beneficent agency, till man’s wisdom shall 
 have prepared the way by a process, which he fondly hopes will 
 
11 
 
 end in civilization? You indulge not, my brethren, in these dreams 
 of a vain philosophy. You have not so learned the Gospel. Preach, 
 then, the glad tidings of Christ’s pacification. Make known the 
 character ofGod, as of the Great and Holy One, who is infinitely op- 
 posed to sin in every form, and who will call every work into judg- 
 ment with every secret thing. Describe the character of man a3 
 it is, depraved, unholy, and enslaved to sin; and you need not fear 
 but its likeness will be recognized. Urge sinners of every class 
 and condition to flee from the wrath to come. The plain truths, 
 which are important to salvation, are as easily understood, even 
 by the rudest people, as the plainest principles of morals, or the 
 elements of human science. Rely on the means which God has 
 appointed, and you will not fail of ultimate success. If God should 
 honor your instrumentality as preachers of the Gospel, civilization, 
 purity of morals, refinement of intellect and of manners, will fol- 
 low of course. 
 
 The question whether God will use human instrumentality in 
 the conversion of heathens, is not now to be settled. You know 
 the promises; you know on what occasion, and by whom, the com- 
 mand was given: Go ye into all the world , and preach the Gospel to 
 every creature: a command perfectly intelligible, and of universal 
 obligation, so long as there is a Christian to hear it, or a pagan to 
 be converted. This command would alone be altogether decisive; 
 but it is supported by the whole tenor of prophecy, and by the 
 broad principle of Christian benevolence. It is only by obedience 
 to this command, that any part of the heathen world has been 
 converted to Christianity. It was by the labors of missionaries, 
 that all the nations of Europe, and our ancestors among the rest, 
 were brought, many centuries ago, within the hearing of the Gos- 
 pel. And now, within a few years past, what astonishing exhibi- 
 tions of the power of divine truth on the hearts of heathens, have 
 been made in South Africa, Sierra Leone, Bengal, Ceylon, the 
 wilderness of our own country; — and especially in the Society 
 Islands. The instance last mentioned must be peculiarly interest- 
 ing to you, as the circumstances of the inhabitants greatly resem- 
 bled those of the people, to whose service your powers are conse- 
 crated. 
 
 The change in the Society Islands is not only more extensive, 
 than the most sanguine friend of missions ventured to predict, or 
 oven to hope; but the universality of the change, within the short 
 
12 
 
 period of ten years since it began, is unexampled in the history of 
 Christianity. A nation of stupid idolaters, enslaved to the most 
 degrading superstitions, have become a Christian people, regularly 
 observant of the Sabbath and of public worship, habitually prac- 
 tising family prayer, and many of them giving satisfactory evi- 
 dence of personal religion. A nation of idle, and dissolute sava- 
 ges have become sober, chaste, and temperate. From being false 
 and perfidious, intriguing, revengeful, cruel and malicious, they 
 have become honest and faithful, placing confidence in each other, 
 and showing themselves worthy of confidence. A few years since 
 they were totally ignorant on all moral subjects; now they are 
 well instructed in religion, and formed into churches; they meet 
 for the worship of God in buildings which their own hands have 
 erected for the purpose; and multitudes read in their own language 
 the wonderful works of God, translated and printed by missiona- 
 ries on the spot. 
 
 These facts are familiar to you, my brethren; you know the 
 evidence on which they rest to be incontrovertible. 1 recount 
 them, not to inform your minds, but to cheer your hearts, on the 
 present solemn occasion, with these specimens of what may, by 
 the divine blessing, be accomplished through your agency. Lift 
 up your voices, then, daily with the importunate supplication, that 
 the mighty works which the Redeemer has wrought in Tahiti and 
 Eimeo, the same he would also perform in Atooi and Owhyhee. 
 
 You take with you, as an interesting part of your family, three 
 natives of islands in the Pacific; who, having received the benefit 
 of Christian instruction at the Foreign Mission School, and having, 
 as we trust, experienced the power of divine truth upon their 
 hearts, are now about returning to the land of their fathers. These 
 youths are committed to you as a precious deposit. They will be 
 exposed to many dangers and temptations; and the utmost vigi- 
 lance, both in you and in them, may be the means, which God 
 will use in preserving them. When further instructed, they may 
 be of important service, in various departments of your work. 
 Cherish them most kindly and tenderly, not only as pupils, but as 
 Christian brethren; and may the Great Shepherd recognize them 
 as lambs of his flock, and bring them to his fold. 
 
 To you, dear brethren, and to the beloved companions of your 
 bosoms, the partners of your joys and sorrows, are these instructions 
 given, with most affectionate desires for your weltare. They are 
 
13 
 
 addressed to you jointly, and severally, so far as they may be ap- 
 plicable to your respective circumstances and relations. 
 
 And now, in conclusion, we remind you of the high embassy, on 
 which you are sent. Always remember the dignity of your cal- 
 ling. This will not foster pride. It will rather be a perpetual 
 prompter to humility. Let who will mistake the nature of the 
 missionary office, be sure that you never forget it yourselves. 
 
 Indeed, my brethren, you are made a spectacle to angels and to 
 •men. The missionary vows are upon you; and you cannot go back. 
 
 But were it possible that you should hesitate on the subject, it 
 were better, infinitely better, that you should abandon your long 
 cherished design now, than at any time hereafter. You have vol- 
 untarily offered yourselves, after much self-examination and pray- 
 er, for the service of Christ among the heathen. Me graciously 
 accepts every cheerful sacrifice, made from a tender regard to the 
 souls for whom he died; and in the great and solemn day, when 
 your labors of charity and kindness to the people of Owhyhee shall 
 be acknowledged, Me will say, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto 
 one of the least of these my brethren , ye have done it unto me. 
 
 Though your first responsiblity be to Christ, as the Lord of Mis- 
 sions, there is also a responsibility of no light character to his 
 church on earth. Yes, dear brethren, the friends of missions in 
 our own land have a hold on you, which they will never consent 
 to relinquish; and you are thus laid under obligations, from which 
 you never can be absolved. Nor are you to look at this country 
 alone, when you contemplate the effect of your labors, your repu- 
 tation, your influence upon the great Christian public. Such is 
 the facility with which missionary intelligence is communicated, 
 and such the eagerness with which it is received, not only here, 
 but in every part of Great Britain, in many parts of continental 
 Europe, and at all the missionary stations in every region of (he 
 world, that your character is the common properly of Christen- 
 dom; and you act under the perpetual inspection of immense mul- 
 titudes of the children of God, including in their number many of / 
 
 the wisest and best of mankiud. Think not, that because you 
 traverse eighteen thousand miles of ocean, you will therefore be 
 unnoticed and alone. 
 
 In the present state of missionary exertions, every member of 
 the misson family has it in his power to aid, or to injure, the cause, 
 tc> an extent greater than words can describe. Should any of your 
 
14 
 
 number prove essentially defective in Christian and missionary 
 character; — my heart recoils at the thought; — should your con- 
 duct bring reproach upon that holy enterprise, in which you are 
 embarked; — you will not only clothe in sackcloth the friends of 
 the Redeemer throughout our widely extended country; but, as 
 the pages of the missionary magazine are turned over, by people 
 in remote climes, and of different languages, you will fill w ith sor- 
 row the heart of many a Scottish peasant, as he sits down to sol- 
 ace his evening’s fireside, and falls unexpectedly upon your disas- 
 trous story: you will wring tears from many a pious widow in 
 Switzerland, — 1 had almost said from the very rocks, which over- 
 shadow her humble habitation. The converted Tahitian will 
 stand aghast and confounded, when he hears of your fall; and your 
 brother missionaries, in so many distant regions, will hang their 
 harps on the willow’s: — their hands will be paralyzed; their mouths 
 will be silent, unless opened for the melancholy exclamation, Tell 
 it not in Gath. 
 
 But of this sad picture there is a delightful reverse. If you 
 adorn the doctrine of God your Savior in all things; — if you are 
 found faithful, and laborious, and devoted servants of Christ; — if 
 each revolving year bears cheering testimony of your persever- 
 ance; — if your Christian virtues shine with greater and still great- 
 er brightness; — whatever your immediate success may be, every 
 page of your history will be read with unspeakable interest by the 
 thousands of our Israel. Tour exemplary devotedness will kindle 
 new zeal, when known at the monthly assemblies, at which pray- 
 er is offered for the conversion of the heathen. It will strength- 
 en your fellow-laborers in India and Ceylon, in our western wil- 
 derness and in Palestine. The joyful tidings of your success will 
 penetrate the desolate regions of Kamschatka, and meet the enter- 
 prising missionary, as he traverses Siberia, or fixes his dwelling- 
 place on the shores of the Caspian. 
 
 And when it shall be told, that your Divine Master has remov- 
 ed you from the field of your labors on earth, though the tear of 
 friendship may dim the vision for a moment, a smile of heavenly 
 origin shall fix upon the countenance ©f survivors, while they 
 think of your triumph, and your eternal reward. 
 
INSTRUCTIONS 
 
 OF THE PRUDENTIAL COMMITTEE TO THE REV. WILLIAM GOODELL, AND 
 THE REV. ISAAC BIRD, ABOUT TO BE ATTACHED TO THE PALESTINE 
 MISSION, DELIVERED BY THE CORRESPONDING SECRETARY, IN THE 
 PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, CEDAR STREET, NEW YORK, ON THURSDAY, 
 DEC. 5, 1822. 
 
 Dear Brethren, 
 
 The hour is near, when you expect to leave the shores of your 
 native land, with the probability that you will never see them again. 
 You go for a purpose, which has long been held in contemplation, 
 and for the accomplishment of which your ardent prayers have 
 been continually offered. The call must be urgent, which can in- 
 duce you to bid farewell to country, relatives and friends; — to re- 
 nounce for life all the objects, of a temporal nature, to which you 
 have been accustomed, and many of which are endeared to you 
 by a thousand tender associations; — and to take up your abode, or 
 rather to enter upon a pilgrimage, among strangers and foreign- 
 ers, men of diverse languages and uncongenial habits, with the 
 prospect of incessant labor and care and responsibility. 
 
 On such an occasion you will receive with peculiar interest the 
 instructions now to be offered, in the name and behalf of the Board, 
 under whose direction you enter upon your missionary work. 
 
 Proceeding from this place to Malta, on board the vessel made 
 ready for your accommodation, you will there seek a temporary 
 residence, and prepare yourselves for ulterior duties; without neg- 
 lecting, however, any means of immediate usefulness. The first 
 thing, which will claim your attention, is the thorough acquisition 
 of the languages spoken on the shores of the Mediterranean, 
 and by the inhabitants of Western Asia. In this labor you will de- 
 rive great assistance from, your brethren now in the field, wh© 
 
1G 
 
 have trodden the same path before you; and whose solicitude fof 
 your improvement and effectual co-operation, will add a peculiar 
 value to their fraternal directions. Nor will you find these studies 
 barren of good. Almost all your translations, which in other case* 
 would be a mere scholastic exercise, may be turned to an immedi- 
 ate account, in the promotion of religious knowledge among the 
 multitudes around you. Not a tract, or a school-book, can you 
 publish, in any of the languages spoken in those interesting regions, 
 without finding a great population in need of it 4 and numbers anx- 
 ious to receive it. 
 
 This consideration is particularly important, as the liberal pro - 
 vision for the press, now established with the permission of the 
 local government, and probably just commencing its operations, 
 affords great encouragement to your evangelical labors. It may 
 be rationally hoped, that this distinguished advantage, possessed 
 at so early a period of your mission, will not only greatly aid you, 
 in every department of your work, but operate as an example of 
 successful enterprise, and thus exert a salutary influence upon 
 other missions at their commencement. What can be more ani- 
 mating than the thought of dispensing the lessons of heavenly 
 wisdom, in the form of portions of Scripture, school-books, and 
 tracts, to so many different classes of persons, many of them just 
 awaking to thought, to inquiry, and to the consciousness that they 
 are rational beings. What a delightful agency must that be, which 
 shall give a happy impulse to the characters of multitudes, who 
 are preparing to take a different part in the affairs of mankind, 
 from any that their fathers have taken. The spirit of the age is 
 at work in many countries. Stupendous results must be expected. 
 Happy they, who are engaged in turning every change, in the 
 circumstances of men, to some good account in their divine Master's 
 cause. Malta is a place eminently favorable to the diffusion of 
 knowledge, and to missionary enterprise. That indefatigable la- 
 borer, Mr. Jowett, has written to the Society, under whose direc- 
 tion he acts, that he could find abundant employment there, for 
 twenty able and faithful missionaries; and that, by the time these 
 were fairly engaged in their work, or fitted for active service in 
 other countries, there would be room for twenty more. It is in 
 a high degree probable, that this will be a radiating point, whence 
 light will be sent forth into all the surrounding countries, for many 
 years to come. The salubrity of its climate, the security afforded 
 
17 
 
 by the present government, the free communication which is thence 
 maintained with all the ports of the Mediterranean, and the fact 
 that so many foreigners resort thither from distant regions, afford 
 great facilities for the accomplishment of benevolent designs. 
 
 Your ultimate destination, with the blessing of the Lord of mis- 
 sions, is the land of Judea; and the particular place of your resi- 
 dence, the ancient city of David. It i3 far from your wishes to 
 cultivate a superstitious reverence for any place on earth; or to 
 indulge the thought, that the humble, believing soul may not as 
 easily rise to heaven from the most retired corner of the globe, as 
 from this centre of the ancient world, consecrated by the prayers of 
 patriarchs, and the blood of martyrs. Yet who could behold with- 
 out emotion those hills, on which Moses fastened his dying eye 
 from beyond the Jordan? Who could survey without intense inter- 
 est the plains and fountains, with which Joshua and Samuel, Elijah 
 and Isaiah, were once familiar? Whose mind would not be struck 
 with awe, as he looked upon the place, where the stupendous 
 plan of the world’s redemption was unfolded? the country, where 
 He, who was the son of David and the Son of God, appeared in 
 the form of a servant, 1 'wrought miracles, uttered his divine instruc- 
 tions, illustrated his teaching by his own spotless example, and 
 offered up his life as a sacrifice for sin? the city, where he rose 
 from the dead, comforted his disciples, commanded them to pub- 
 lish the Gospel throughout the world, and whence he ascended to 
 heaven? 
 
 You will endeavor, dear brethren, to fix yourselves in this in- 
 teresting spot, as soon as you can do it with the requisite prepara- 
 tions, and with the prospect of making a judicious application of 
 your powers and faculties to the spiritual wants of the people. 
 After three months residence at Jerusalem, your beloved brother 
 Parsons considered it a place of unrivalled importance, as the cen- 
 tre of missionary operations; and one that is to be occupied, if 
 possible. It comforted him, on his dying pillow, that God had en- 
 abled him to act as a pioneer to succeeding laborers. 
 
 It ever there was a missionary station, in which the persons en- 
 gaged would be continually prompted to fidelity, that to which 
 you, dear brethren, are assigned, is the very station. Every time 
 you cast your eyes on Gethsemane and Calvary, you will be re- 
 minded of the sufferings which your Savior bore for your sins, and 
 for the sins ol your brethren of the human family. When you walk 
 
13 
 
 over Mount Olivet, you will think how frequently the same glori- 
 ous Personage, in the daysofhis humiliation, passed that way, on 
 his visits of kindness to the friends whom he loved. As you look 
 back upon the devoted city, in which the abomination that maketh 
 desolate has so long been set up, you will remember with what 
 compassion and tenderness the blessed Jesus wept over it. As 
 you cast your eyes to the south, you will see the village of Beth- 
 lehem, where the wise men worshipped the infant Savior; as you 
 turn to the north, you will gaze upon Mount Zion, so long the em- 
 blem of the church on earth and the church in heaven. By all 
 these external objects be excited to unremitting diligence, to la- 
 borious industry, to a close and humble walk with God, to ardent 
 aspirations after eminent holiness. The very stones of the pave- 
 ment would seem to cry out against unfaithfulness in this consecra- 
 ted region; as the very hills and vallies would lift up the voice ot 
 joy and gratulation, at the revival of genuine religion in a place, 
 which formerly enjoyed the peculiar presence of Jehovah, but 
 has now lain, for so many dark and dismal ages, under the distinct 
 and visible expression of his anger. 
 
 In considering Western Asia and the neighboring parts of Africa, 
 as fields of missionary labor, it is obvious that a large portion of 
 present exertions must be applied to exploring the state of these 
 countries, and opening channels in which the waters of life may 
 hereafter flow to refresh many nations. It is probable that one 
 of you, in company with one or more of your brethren now in the 
 field, may find it conducive to your great design, to spend every 
 winter, for many years to come, in exploring tours. Egypt now 
 presents a very inviting aspect to inquiries of this sort; and is fa- 
 vored with a more enlightened government, than any other coun- 
 try under the domination of Mohammedan rulers. The press is 
 there beginning to exert its influence; and a favorable prospect 
 appears of introducing schools, on an extensive plan. While trav- 
 ellers are ransacking the most remote corners of this ancient seat 
 of the arts, from motives of curiosity, or of gain, shall not the 
 church have her agents employed; not to rake out, from the dust 
 of thirty centuries, the remains of dead men; but to impart to men 
 dead in sin that eternal life, which is brought to light in the 
 Gospel. 
 
 It may be thought, that the present troubles in the Turkish em- 
 pire will interpose a serious obstacle to missionary efforts. Suffer 
 
19 
 
 not your minds to be discouraged by this apprehension. The pre- 
 cise issue of the present political commotions, in that part of the 
 world, we do not pretend to foresee; but it is the opinion of men 
 best informed on the subject, that the result will be, and at no 
 distant period, favorable to the dissemination of knowledge and re- 
 ligion. But suppose it were otherwise; and, to the view of the 
 mere politician, nothing appeared in prospect but interminable 
 ages of cruel oppression — of bloody superstition and relentless 
 massacre; — is the opinion of the mere politician to be the rule of 
 duty for the Christian church, in regard to her operations for the 
 diffusion of light and life in the regions of darkness and moral 
 death? Is she to remain inactive and inglorious, and to defer her 
 spiritual conquests, till the god of this world is willing to surrender 
 his dominion, and to release his victims? Is she never to read the 
 plain command of her Savior, written as with a sunbeam, till, 
 through the glass of worldly wisdom, she can see plainly enough 
 to spell out the ambiguous indications of political changes? The 
 church is to enlighten the world, and not to wait till the darkness, 
 which broods over the nations, shall dissipate itself. The princi- 
 ples of the Gospel are to control and to subdue the jarring passions 
 of men, and not to suspend their divine influence, till these pas- 
 sions shall die without a struggle. 
 
 In whatever department of your labors you may be employed, 
 dear brethren, let it be always your endeavor to discharge with 
 vigor and fidelity the duties of each day. Whether you are occu- 
 pied in preparatory studies, or in superintending the press; wheth- 
 er you are travelling in the passage-boat of an Egyptian canal, or 
 pitching your tent on the east of the Red Sea, or spending your 
 summers at the loot of Mount Lebanon; whether you read the 
 Scriptures with pilgrims in the Holy City, or issue from its gates 
 with Bibles and tracts to be distributed in Armenia; — whether in 
 the house or by the way, in the city or the field, remember that 
 you are the servants of Christ. 
 
 For many years, during the period of your education, jou have 
 been preparing for this day. No time is to be lost. You will find 
 multitudes ol perishing souls, in every region which you visit. To 
 them make the proclamation of mercy, through faith in a Savior. 
 Disregarding modes and forms, as things of quite inferior magni- 
 tude, aim directly at the heart. Press home upon the conscience 
 the guilt of transgression, and the lost condition of the impenitent 
 
20 
 
 
 sinner. Thus may you hope, by a declaration of the simple truths 
 of the Gospel, to gain attention, to impress conviction, and, by the 
 blessing of God, to produce an entire renovation, in the character 
 of some immortal beings, who shall be the seals of your ministry, 
 and the crowns of your rejoicing in the day of the Lord Jesus. 
 
 A delightful part of your duty will be to cultivate the most en- 
 dearing union among those, who are embarked in the same cause: 
 not only with your brethren, attached to the same mission, but 
 with the missionaries of other societies, the agents for distributing 
 Bibles and tracts, travellers who wish to promote the progress of 
 Christianity, and all who love your Savior and wait for his appear- 
 ing. The hearty co-operation of men belonging to different com- 
 munions, and engaged in different employments, you will endeavor 
 to secure for the extension of our common Gospel. 
 
 Let it be an object with you to discover new modes of access 
 to the minds of the people where you may be, and the speediest 
 and most efficacious method of bringing divine truth into contact 
 with the conscience and the heart. Probably great improvements 
 are yet to be made, in both these respects. Paul declares it to 
 be a characteristic of pagan nations, that they are inventers of evil 
 things; and it should be a prominent trait in the character of those, 
 who aim to subvert paganism, and every false religion, that they 
 are inventers of good things. Do not suffer yourselves, however, 
 to be led astray by crude speculations or hasty conclusions. In 
 regard to any measures for the prosecution of your work, examine 
 faithfully, judge deliberate!}', and act perseveringly. 
 
 You go, dear brethren, as embassadors in a double capacity. 
 In common with all the ministers of Christ, you are his embassa- 
 dors to your fellow sinners, charged to proclaim the glad tidings 
 of his pacification, and to urge the acceptance of his gracious 
 offers. You are also embassadors from the churches in this coun- 
 try to their suffering fellow men in the eastern world. From a 
 continent but recently discovered, you carry back the knowledge 
 of the Scriptures and of salvation to regions where flourishing 
 churches once stood, but where the power of religion has loDg 
 ceased to exist. As our Christian community cannot go in a body 
 to deliver the message of their Lord, they send you to deliver it 
 for them. Whatever you have learned of God’s merciful designs 
 to a guilty world, — whatever of the excellency of Christian socie- 
 ty on earth as preparatory to the blessedness of heaven, — comma- 
 
21 
 
 nicate all in the name of Christ, and as the messengers of our 
 churches. 
 
 And now, beloved brethren, with most affectionate desires for 
 your welfare, and that of the dear partners of your lives, who ac_ 
 company you, we heartily commend you to God, and to the word 
 of his grace. You go attended by the best wishes of numerous 
 Christian brethren, with whom you are personally acquainted, and 
 of still greater multitudes, whom you have never seen, though 
 they are one with you in spirit, and rejoice with you in the same 
 hope of an heavenly calling. Their prayers will continually as- 
 cend in your behalf, and will importunately ask, that divine wisdom 
 may be imparted to you, and that in the language of the Apostle, 
 yon may not run in vain. Let this thought comfort you, through 
 the whole course of your uncertain pilgrimage. 
 
 Receive, then, the parting benediction of the Society, by whose 
 instrumentality you are sent forth, and of American Christians, 
 wherever scattered through our widely extended country. May 
 the blessing of Abraham’s God rest upon you. May you be de- 
 fended from the pestilence that walketh in darkness, and the de- 
 struction that wasteth at noon-day. May your labors be prosper- 
 ous in their beginning, and triumphant in their issue. May your 
 lives ever bear a consistent and powerful testimony to the religion 
 of your Savior. May you experience the full import of his de- 
 claration, Lo, I am with you alway , even unto the end of the world. 
 May you know what it is to overcome , in the great war, which the 
 Captain of your salvation is waging with the powers of darkness, 
 and thus you will be pillars in the temple of your God , and go no 
 more out for ever. 
 

 
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