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THE 
 
 CULTIVATION OF THE SPIRIT OF MISSIONS 
 
 IN OUR 
 
 LITERARY AND THEOLOGICAL INSTITUTIONS. 
 
 The following paper is the substance of an address delivered to 
 the students of the Theological Institute, East Win^or, Connecticut, «?£ 
 by the Rev. E. W. Hooker, D. D., Professor in that Seminary. /L 
 It is printed with the hope that the important considerations it con¬ 
 tains may be duly weighed by those who are preparing for the gos¬ 
 pel ministry in the other theological seminaries and the colleges of 
 our country. 
 
 The expressions, “ the Missionary Spirit,” and “the 
 Spirit of Missions,” have been much in use in the Chris¬ 
 tian world within the last half century. They describe 
 that strong, ardent, and steady interest in the diffusion of 
 the gospel, which the grace of God inspires in the hearts 
 of his friends; and which prompt desires of good for a 
 dying world, and their efficient performance. This spirit 
 had always existed to some extent in the visible church of 
 Christ. It has been more especially manifested in some 
 of the sons and daughters of the church who have devoted 
 themselves personally to the work of spreading the gospel 
 in foreign and destitute lands, and many of whom have 
 laid down their lives in the missionary field. 
 
 The Great Example of this spirit was the Son of God, 
 who came on his divine mission into this world “to seek 
 and to save that which was lost.” Into his spirit drank 
 the apostles and others in the early ages of the church, 
 who devoted themselves to the first propagation of the 
 
 1 
 
2! Cultivation of the 
 
 gospel. The church in more recent times has been hum¬ 
 bly following, though at a distance, the steps of her Lord 
 Jesus Christ, in the exercise of this spirit. 
 
 The cultivation of the spirit of missions is, at the pre¬ 
 sent time, a subject of vital importance to Christian effi¬ 
 ciency in the spread of the gospel. This is important, 
 too, not only in the churches, but in our Colleges and 
 Theological Seminaries, as the places for training young 
 men for usefulness. Examples of this there have been 
 which are eminently instructive, and which it should be 
 our prayer to see multiplied—examples of young men who 
 have fanned in each other the flame of love to the souls 
 of men, and laid the foundation of good which shall be 
 lasting as eternity. 
 
 The particular object of the present tract is to offer a 
 few suggestions oil the cultivation of the Spirit of Chris¬ 
 tian Missions in our Literary and Theological Institutions. 
 It should here be observed that this is a subject for cul¬ 
 ture, like any other in which the powers of the mind are 
 brought into action, and the taste and feelings are enlisted. 
 If the spirit of general literature and science, or of taste 
 and the fine arts, is to be promoted by calling attention to 
 them, or to any of their specific departments, so also is 
 the spirit of Christian benevolence, in its various depart¬ 
 ments of enterprise and action. If it be deemed praise¬ 
 worthy in young men to throw their whole souls into the 
 pursuit of some branch of knowledge; much more is it so 
 to enlist their Christian feelings along with their intellec- 
 tual energies, in inquiries which shall lead them to form 
 purposes and to act upon them, for the spiritual good of 
 the human race And it is delightful to see that while 
 some men have studied and travelled and pushed their 
 tours of exploration and research into various portions of 
 the world, for the purpose of scientific or historical dis¬ 
 covery ; they have been equalled, if not exceeded, in en- 
 
3 
 
 Spirit of Missions. 
 
 ergy, perseverance, and fidelity of pursuit, by many men 
 in the character of missionaries. Science and the arts 
 have been under obligations to the missionaries of the 
 cross, as well as to the more exclusive sons of science. 
 While the former have had their eyes upon the great and 
 all commanding object of propagating the gospel, they 
 have been large contributors to the interests of science 
 and learning. 
 
 A few statements will show to what extent the Ameri¬ 
 can Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions has 
 been dependent on young men trained in our colleges 
 and theological seminaries, for planting and sustaining the 
 missions under its care; and from these we can infer to 
 what sources that Board must look for its missionaries in 
 future. If from such institutions, mainly, our missiona¬ 
 ries are to be expected, how important is it, in its bearing, 
 both on their number and their character, that the spirit 
 of missions should be sedulously cultivated and fostered 
 by those young men during their academical and profes¬ 
 sional studies. 
 
 The whole number of preachers who have been or now 
 are in the service of the American Board of Commission¬ 
 ers for Foreign Missions, is 239. The collegiate origin 
 of 199 of this number is ascertained as follows. Yale, 
 27; Amherst, 27; Williams, 24 ; Dartmouth, 22; Middle- 
 bury, 21 ; Union, 15; Bowdoin, 9; Rutgers, 9; Princeton, 
 9; Jefferson, Pa., 5; Hamilton, N. Y., 4; Western Re¬ 
 serve, 4; Dickinson, 3; Ohio University, 3; Miami do., 
 2; Vermont do., 2; Brown do., 2; North Carolina do., 2; 
 Harvard do., 1 ; New York do., 1 ; Pennsylvania do., 1 ; 
 Pennsylvania College, 1 ; Washington, Pa., I ; Marietta, 
 1 ; Illinois, 1; Centre, Kentucky, 1 ; Virginia University, 1. 
 Of the remaining 40 missionaries sent forth by the Board, 
 the places of graduation of some are not known, and 
 others did not receive a college education. 
 
4 
 
 Cultivation of the 
 
 Of the whole number of missionaries just mentioned 
 there were educated at Theological Institutions 189, dis¬ 
 tributed as follows. Andover, 91; Princeton, 28; Au¬ 
 burn, 19; New Haven, 12; Prince Edward, Va., 8; New 
 Brunswick, 9; Bangor, 7; Southern, S. C., 2; Lane 
 Seminary, 6; East Windsor, 2; Western, Pa., 1; Western 
 Reserve, 2; New York, 2. Of the remaining 50, their 
 places of study are unknown, or they were not educated 
 at seminaries. 
 
 With the facts before us, that by far the largest por¬ 
 tion of the missionaries of the American Board have come 
 through our institutions of science and of theology, and 
 that our dependence must be mainly upon them for mis¬ 
 sionaries in future, it is an interesting inquiry, ‘ How can 
 the spirit of missions be cultivated in our colleges and theo¬ 
 logical institutions 1 ’ This question will be answered in 
 a few suggestions relative to some of the principal means. 
 
 1. By establishing and maintaining in them societies of 
 inquiry on the subject of missions. To show that this, as 
 a preliminary means, is of first importance, let a few facts 
 be stated. In eight of the colleges which have been 
 mentioned as the places of the education of missionaries, 
 it is understood that such societies have existed, and it is 
 hoped they are still continued, viz : Yale, Amherst, Wil¬ 
 liams, Dartmouth, Middlebury, Bowdoin, Princeton, and 
 Western Reserve. From the statement of the collegiate 
 origin of our missionaries, it will be found that these eight 
 colleges alone have furnished 143 of them—considerably 
 more than half of the whole number of preaching mis¬ 
 sionaries of this Board. 
 
 The writer is not informed to what extent societies of 
 inquiry on missions exist in the theological institutions 
 named. He knows that such societies exist in three of 
 them, and it appears that from those three alone have gone 
 forth 121 missionaries. It is presumed that in some or 
 all of the others they have place. 
 
Spirit of Missions. h 
 
 These facts give a very direct and impressive answer 
 to our question, touching one of the means for pro- 
 moting the spirit of missions among our Christian 
 young men in the colleges. There is a power in associa¬ 
 tion for such a purpose, which is of inestimable worth. 
 Let young men, then, who have the Christian hope in 
 their hearts, and who show the Christian character in 
 their manner of life, unite their minds and their hearts in 
 contemplating this great system of Christian benevolence, 
 MISSIONS, on which so much of the hope of the world 
 depends. Wherever two or three can be agreed together 
 touching this object, as one for mutual inquiry, conference, 
 and prayer, let them be associated for such purposes. 
 This is recommended, not to those only who may have 
 their minds directed to the missionary life and service as 
 their object; but it can be recommended to all Christian 
 young men with an eye to their preparation for usefulness 
 in whatever fields divine Providence may assign their 
 duties. 
 
 Connected with the statement of this means, it is im* 
 portant to suggest that in all such societies there should 
 be singleness of object. The subject of missions is in 
 itself of such magnitude, and the field for research and 
 discussion in a society is so wide and exhaustless, that 
 justice can be done to it only by keeping it the sole 
 object of association. Attention is particularly called to 
 this point in the apprehension that in some instances the 
 spirit of missions has received a check, in societies of in¬ 
 quiry, from the plan of their organization being enlarged 
 to embrace other subjects besides missions. “ My im¬ 
 pression is, 5 ’ says a correspondent of the writer, “ that 
 these societies, owing in part perhaps to the novelty of 
 the thing being gone, but more to a modification and ex¬ 
 tension of their original plan, embracing more objects, 
 have lost much of their early power to promote the mis« 
 
 1 * 
 
6 
 
 Cultivation of the 
 
 sionary spirit. Their singleness of aim has gone ; and 
 of course their grand element of power for awakening and 
 fostering the foreign missionary spirit. I am quite sure 
 that this is true in some seminaries; and it probably is in 
 others. This may be and probably is in part the cause 
 and in part the effect of the declension of the foreign mis¬ 
 sionary spirit, and has led to the diminution of the num¬ 
 ber of missionary candidates for some years past.” 
 
 It is suggested for the careful and serious considera¬ 
 tion of those who compose societies of inquiry in our 
 literary and theological institutions, whether the subject of 
 Christian Missions is not one of such magnitude and im¬ 
 portance as to require the sole attention of such societies. 
 It surely cannot be necessary that subjects of scientific 
 and literary inquiry should be included ; for these are 
 amply provided for in other literary associations. The 
 writer speaks from his own experience and observation, as 
 a member of the society of inquiry on the subject of mis¬ 
 sions in the Theological Institution at Andover, in the 
 years when Nichols, Fisk, Parsons, Temple, Goodell, 
 Spaulding, Winslow, and men of their character and spirit 
 were there. That society was then exclusively devoted to 
 inquiries on the subject of missions. There was found a 
 most ample range for research on missionary subjects, 
 such a range as to exhibit almost a new field of science. 
 It was also found easy to render the meetings of the so¬ 
 ciety steadily and deeply interesting, through the presenta¬ 
 tion of these subjects alone. And while the subsequent 
 introduction of other objects kindred to missions into the 
 plan of that society has doubtless had its advantages ; it 
 admits of question whether it was wise to bring into 
 competition with so extensive and important a subject as 
 missions to the heathen, other subjects of inquiry, although 
 important in themselves. 
 
 2. The investigation of subjects which stand related to 
 
Sjririt of Missions. 7 
 
 the prosecution of the missionary enterprise is another 
 means for promoting the spirit of missions. Those inves¬ 
 tigations particularly will have this good effect which are 
 conducted in relation to different fields of missions, con¬ 
 sidered geographically, civilly, and morally; or which have 
 for their object classes and masses of men, as subject to 
 some specific and perhaps systematized form of religious 
 delusion. Such investigations come in appropriately in 
 conducting a society for missionary inquiry. The student 
 who investigates the history of Moravian missions; or who 
 examines and delineates the Tartar character, in its 
 various features ; or who gives a historic sketch of the 
 order of Jesuits ; or presents a compendious history of the 
 missions to the Sandwich Islands, or in the South Seas ; 
 or who writes a moral estimate of the character ofMartyn, 
 or of Brainerd, or of Buchanan, or presents any other of the 
 thousand missionary objects which might be put down in 
 a catalogue, is in the way to cultivate in himself the spirit 
 of missions. The studies of the mind warm the affections 
 of the heart; and if prayerfully conducted, will be sure to 
 promote in him the spirit of Christian enterprise. Con¬ 
 nect with these subjects of research the study of the va¬ 
 rious aspects of society in different countries, as influenced 
 by false religions ; and as they involve human happiness, 
 the moral, spiritual, social, domestic, and civil condition of 
 men ; and with these the manners, customs, laws, govern¬ 
 ment, and education or ignorance of the people of different 
 nations. They open fields for research bounded only by 
 the whole unevangelized world. 
 
 While on this point let us speak particularly of the 
 study of the life of our Savior and his Apostles, as they 
 afford light on the methods of evangelical effort in the 
 spread of the knowledge of the “ great salvation.” While 
 we go to the New Testament for our proofs of Christian 
 doctrine ; our statements of Christian precepts and prac- 
 
8 
 
 Cultivation of the 
 
 tice ; and for light on the great and interesting subject of 
 Christian experience ; and while we are interested in the 
 records of sacred history as such ; it admits of question 
 whether there has not been a deficiency in the single and 
 yet all-important point, the study of the spirit and method 
 of those labors which were performed by the Lord Jesus, 
 as he went about doing good ; and by the apostles and 
 their associates when they went every where preaching 
 the word. In our interest in their history and in the 
 great results of their labors, and in our search for doc¬ 
 trines and precepts, we should be careful to study and de¬ 
 fine and mark out to ourselves for our own use, the de¬ 
 tailed elementary rules of labor discernible in the history 
 of their lives and labors. 
 
 True it is, that in a comprehensive way may be stated 
 a general and all-pervading principle of missionary action, 
 which shall be understood and felt. For example take 
 that declaration of Paul, relative to the spirit of the apos¬ 
 tolic ministry, “ for the love of Christ constraineth us.” 
 This tells the whole, it is true; and nothing can be added 
 to it. But when Paul said, “I will glady spend and be 
 spent for you, though the more abundantly I love you the 
 less I be loved,” he comes down to one or two of the 
 particulars involved in the general and extensive prin¬ 
 ciple of action stated, viz. a disinterested and self-sacrific¬ 
 ing spirit. This is only one out of many such particulars, 
 in examining and drawing out which would be exhibited 
 the details of Paul’s missionary character. Thus might 
 be examined also the characteristic traits of the other 
 apostles and first preachers of the gospel. Thus also 
 (with reverence we would speak it) may be studied the 
 elements of the character of Heaven’s first and great Mis¬ 
 sionary, the Lord and Master of all true ministers, the 
 Son of God. For in “the form of a servant” and in 
 “ the likeness of man,” and “ in fashion as a man,” and 
 
9 
 
 Spirit of Missions , 
 
 in all his acts while he fulfilled his ministry on earth, he 
 showed what should be the spirit of every man who would 
 seek the salvation of this wicked world. 
 
 3. By reading, devoted specifically to the attainment of 
 a knowlege of the moral condition of unevangelized 
 countries. This book-making age is an age in which, 
 among various other classes, those books are multiplied 
 which shed light upon the condition of almost every por¬ 
 tion of the world. Many such books have been written for 
 purposes aside from religion or benevolence ; and which 
 yet repay a careful perusal, by furnishing much informa¬ 
 tion such as a missionary needs to have ; and which may 
 be useful to any Christian. Voyages by sea to distant 
 parts of the earth ; exploring tours made by land ; re¬ 
 searches into the characters, habits, and customs of vari¬ 
 ous races and nations of men, and over which the mere 
 acquirer of general information will spend profitable and 
 pleasant hours and days ; open to the Christian student 
 views of the various portions of the world which are in¬ 
 structive, and show him where is to be done the work of 
 Christian benevolence. Every book of authentic history 
 of any portion of the world, and of biography of the men 
 of other nations, and of travel and research among the 
 people of any country, civilized, barbarous, or savage, is 
 worthy a place in a missionary library, and of a careful 
 reading, by the Christian student. Every such book may 
 furnish motives or facilities for entering efficiently into the 
 missionary work. 
 
 In furtherance of the object of this investigation of mis¬ 
 sionary subjects, which has been recommended as a means 
 for promoting the spirit of missions, it is highly impor¬ 
 tant that in every theological seminary, especially, there 
 should be founded a missionary library; and that Chris¬ 
 tian munificence should be manifested in its annual en- 
 
 / 
 
 largement. The successful investigation of many sub- 
 
10 
 
 Cultivation of the 
 
 jects is so dependent upon the student having access to 
 suitable books, that it is a point of appeal to be pressed 
 upon the wealthy friends of missions especially, as calling 
 for their liberal benefactions. It should be presented to 
 such, by the members of societies of inquiry, and its im¬ 
 portance shown as standing related to the object of mis¬ 
 sionary education, and to the maintaining of a steady inter¬ 
 est in the minds of our young men, in the great enterprise 
 of evangelizing the world. 
 
 The culture of the spirit of devout and fervent personal 
 religion, more than any other instrumentality, ministers 
 to the spirit of missions. Look at the character of some 
 of the most devoted and holy men whom the church and 
 the world have ever known ; and while you admire their 
 lively faith as Christians, their fervent love to God, their 
 prayerfulness, their bright example, their deep and in¬ 
 structive experience, their abundance in labors, ask how 
 these men felt respecting the conversion of the world and 
 the spread of the gospel, as a missionary movement. And 
 facts will show that with their eminent piety stood closely 
 associated the spirit of missions. The very name of Pres¬ 
 ident Edwards calls our thoughts to bright Christian 
 character. And Edwards had his heart set on the mission¬ 
 ary cause, as appears especially in his plea for united and 
 extraordinary prayer for the spread of the gospel, and in 
 his life of Brainerd. And Brainerd’s fervent piety carried 
 him into the missionary field. Martyn’s did the same. 
 And Mills could hardly bear denial of the privilege of be¬ 
 ing a missionary. And Payson panted for the missionary 
 work. And Nettleton was kept from going forth into the 
 field of foreign missions, only by the strong hand of Prov¬ 
 idence, shutting him up to a line of service to the 
 churches, and to a department of ministerial work, in 
 which we now discern the wise direction of Him who 
 seeth the end from the beginning. 
 
II 
 
 Spirit of Missions. 
 
 In this connection let us be indulged in speaking of 
 one, a female missionary, who is now, we doubt not, “cast" 
 ing her crown before the throne” in heaven. Writing 
 to one whom she loved, on preparation for the missionary 
 work, she says, “ Although 1 am very far from setting 
 myself as a standard ; on the contrary, I am continually 
 lamenting my deficiencies; yet I can say that if I have 
 any heart for my work, I look back upon the hours of re¬ 
 tirement and devotion, which, before I knew my destina¬ 
 tion, were spent in my own chamber in my father’s house, 
 and when the beautiful stars were my only light, as the 
 means of obtaining this heart.” Indeed it seems true, 
 that only as an attendant upon much growth in grace and 
 large attainments in fervent Christian devotion, can it be 
 expected that the true spirit of missions will have place. 
 Indeed what is vital, controlling, practical piety, but that 
 love to God which makes the possessor willing to spend 
 and be spent to make him known and bring all men to 
 believe and obey the gospel ? 
 
 While this spirit is to be cultivated by Christians in 
 every station and relation, there are reasons deserving 
 especial consideration why this should be done in our 
 Theological Institutions. 
 
 1. They are the proper places for the cultivation of 
 whatever belongs to the ministerial character in general. 
 Where shall it be done, if these our sacred seminaries are 
 not the places for such culture ? 
 
 The ministerial character embraces the missionary 
 character. The sacred office of “ ambassador for Christ” 
 comprehends that of him who shall take his life in his 
 hand and go ,and “ preach among the Gentiles the un¬ 
 searchable riches of Christ.” A collection of young ser¬ 
 vants of the Lord Jesus, in a school of the prophets, is not 
 a collection of men called to the work of the ministry ex¬ 
 clusively at home, and in a Christian land : they are call- 
 
12 
 
 Cultivation of the 
 
 ed to this work to be performed, wherever, in this dark 
 world, it shall please “the Master” to send them. If 
 he chooses that some of them shall exercise their minis¬ 
 try among the pleasant hills and valleys of their own na¬ 
 tive country, he will show them this, by the pointings of 
 the finger of his Providence. 
 
 But to many a son of Zion he may say, as to his ser¬ 
 vant Paul, “ Depart, for I will send thee far hence unto 
 the Gentiles.” And respecting them he may be pleased 
 to foretell and promise, that “ the wilderness and the 
 solitary place shall be glad for them, and the desert shall 
 rejoice and blossom as the rose.” He may design, that of 
 this, that and another son of the church, preparing for the 
 sacred office, it shall yet be said, by rejoicing converts to 
 divine grace in some distant and dark land ; “ How 
 beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that 
 bringeth good tidings ; that publisheth peace ; that bring- 
 eth good tidings of good ; that publisheth salvation ; that 
 saith unto Zion, thy God reigneth.” 
 
 2. On the cultivation of the missionary spirit in our 
 colleges and theological institutions depends the spirit 
 and efficiency of the churches on this subject. It is a 
 singular fact that the great missionary movement which 
 has been made in our country, and which has had such 
 progress and success as at this day, began not in the 
 churches, but within the walls of a college among the 
 mountains of New England. 
 
 The churches of America were asleep over the whole 
 subject of foreign missions, till they were awakened by 
 the voices of a few young men, offering themselves to the 
 General Association of Massachusetts to go, and asking to 
 be sent by the churches, on a mission to the heathen. 
 They had been communing and praying over this subject, 
 most of them in Williams College, and afterwards while 
 in their professional studies at Andover. And from that 
 
13 
 
 Spirit of Missions. 
 
 day to this the interest and efforts of the churches have 
 been dependent upon being incited and encouraged to 
 move onward, aye, and being under the necessity of moving 
 on by the calls of devoted missionaries, saying one after 
 another, in quick succession, “ Here am I, send me.” 
 
 We are not saying that this is as it should be; for the 
 church should not wait for her sons to call out her ener¬ 
 gies, but should emulate and equal them. We speak of 
 what has been, and of that which goes for the proof of the 
 position upon which we are remarking. It will not there¬ 
 fore do for our young men of Christian character to make 
 their attention to missionary subjects and the culture of a 
 missionary spirit to depend upon the state of feeling on; 
 the subject of missions in the churches. 
 
 The churches have been, and still are, dependent, hu¬ 
 manly speaking, on the missionaries for this. This point 
 is urged with much earnestness in the following extract 
 of a letter from one of the Secretaries of the American. 
 Board, to the writer of the present tract. 
 
 “ Students in our theological seminaries we find are re¬ 
 fraining from devoting themselves to the foreign service, 
 and perhaps from thinking much about their duty in res¬ 
 pect to it, on the alleged ground that the Christian com¬ 
 munity do not furnish adequate funds for sending out and 
 sustaining more missionaries; thus endeavoring to shift 
 the responsibility from themselves to those who are looked 
 to for the pecuniary resources. Candidates for the min¬ 
 istry, an educated class training to be leaders in the 
 Lord’s host, may be expected to have more information, 
 more interest, and more enterprise, on such a subject, than 
 the mass of Christians. The foreign missionary spirit 
 may be expected to originate and become more control¬ 
 ling in such. We look for a disposition in them to go, 
 before we look for a disposition in the churches to send. 
 
 “ The foreign missionary spirit began in this country,. 
 
 2 
 
14 
 
 Cultivation of the 
 
 and in England too, and also among the Moravians, and 
 perhaps every where else, with those who were themselves 
 ‘pressed in spirit ’ to go to the heathen. Their determi¬ 
 nation to go, awakened in others a willingness to give 
 money and send them. Subsequently, when funds have 
 been deficient, the most effective argument we could use 
 for increasing the contributions, has been the fact, that 
 missionary candidates were waiting and desiring to go. 
 The history of the Board and its appeals to the communi¬ 
 ty will show, that those appeals when enforced by the ar¬ 
 gument that there are many missionary candidates, have 
 been successful.” 
 
 It shall be most readily admitted that the churches are 
 responsible to their Lord and Redeemer for their failure 
 to have and exercise the spirit of missions. But it is clear 
 that candidates for the sacred office are out of their place, 
 when behind the churches, in the great missionary move¬ 
 ment, and waiting their call. 
 
 3. The cultivation of the spirit of missions in our theo¬ 
 logical seminaries, by the means which have been sug¬ 
 gested, prepares the minds of young men to dedicate them¬ 
 selves personally to the missionary service. This, in 
 some of our schools of theology, has made them the nur¬ 
 series of missionaries; a designation most honorable and 
 ever to be coveted by the guardians and instructors of 
 these “ schools of the prophets.” 
 
 4. The cultivation of this spirit in our institutions of 
 theology fits candidates for the sacred office, generally, to 
 be the more efficient and devoted preachers. This will 
 be so, whether they shall spend their lives in the home- 
 ministry or in the foreign service. The spirit of missions 
 is the true and proper spirit of the ministry. In other 
 words, that Christian student who has the self-denial and 
 devotion to the cause of Christ, and the unquenchable de¬ 
 sire for the salvation of men, which are the grand elements 
 
15 
 
 Spirit of Missions. 
 
 an the missionary character, will, from this very circum¬ 
 stance, be the better fitted for the work of the ministry in 
 his native land. 
 
 Here were some of the springs of that untiring devotion 
 to the work of winning souls to Christ, which rendered 
 Samuel Pearce, of the English Baptist communion, one of 
 the holiest and most devoted of home ministers; and 
 which made Payson, Cornelius, and Nettleton, the minis¬ 
 ters they were. And other like cases show the influence 
 of the missionary spirit in making a good home pastor. 
 Let this be settled in the minds and fixed in the hearts of 
 the founders of our theological seminaries, whether they 
 be the pastors and churches in their associated capacity, 
 or munificent individuals^ and fixed also in the hearts of 
 the guardians, trustees, and instructors of our American 
 seminaries of learning and theology ; that the prevalence 
 of the true spirit of missions in them is one of the best 
 securities that the men they send forth will be such min¬ 
 isters as are needed ; men faithful and true, ready to 
 “ spend and be spent” for Christ and the salvation of 
 souls. If a candidate for the sacred office has a spirit of 
 consecration which would carry him to the ends of the 
 earth to preach “ Jesus Christ and him crucified ; ” he 
 has, from this very circumstance, that which will make 
 him so much the better minister to labor in his own 
 country, if Providence assigns his work here. We repeat 
 it, the spirit of missions is the true spirit of the ministry. 
 
 It is not alone in a foreign field that the missionary 
 spirit, as a self-sacrificing spirit, is needful; it is requisite 
 in almost any American parish. In some parishes this 
 spirit, as ready “ to bear and have patience and for 
 Christ’s namesake to labor and not to faint,” will have as 
 severe trials as in a heathen land,—if not even severer. 
 For example, here is an old broken-down, divided Ameri¬ 
 can parish, in which there are children of God who “sigh 
 
16 
 
 Cultivation of the 
 
 and cry,” and are strongly tempted to say, “ who will 
 show us any good ? ” and O my Lord what will be the end 
 of these things ? Here too are souls, precious as any on 
 earth, and as sure to perish as any impenitent men in all 
 the world. They must not be neglected, because their 
 condition is discouraging, and because they are accounted 
 difficult and unpromising fields. This, with a minister 
 possessed of the spirit of Christ—the true missionary spirit 
 —will be the very reason why he should enter that field of 
 desolation and trial. From its very condition, his labors 
 are the more needed. He will feel that they must not be 
 left to say, “ behold we die, we perish, we all perish,” 
 “ no man careth for our soul.” Some one, with the spirit 
 of a Martyn or a Brainerd, must be willing to go among 
 them, and “ spend and be spent for them ; ” and help 
 them to “ be watchful and strengthen the things that re¬ 
 main and that are ready to die.” Indeed the whole work 
 of the ministry, properly considered, is missionary work. 
 No matter whether it be in the cities and villages of New 
 England, or among its mountains and valleys; or on the 
 prairies and amidst the forests of the great west; or in 
 China, Tartary, India, or on the islands of the sea. 
 
 Not only will the minister who has cultivated the mis¬ 
 sionary spirit in himself, be the better prepared for the 
 ordinary labors and trials of his office, but he will also be 
 the minister to be relied upon for awakening, strengthen¬ 
 ing, and extending a missionary spirit among his own 
 people and in the churches around him. He will possess 
 and be still acquiring that knowledge on missionary sub¬ 
 jects which will enable him to instruct and interest them 
 at the concert for prayer, and in missionary addresses 
 and appeals. He will have that strong feeling in view of 
 a world dead in spiritual ignorance and sin, which will 
 break forth in his prayers, and in his public and private 
 labors among his people, and impel him on to any meas- 
 
Spirit of Missions. I 1 / 
 
 Wfe of effort, which his circumstances will permit him to 
 make in the missionary cause. A minister will not long 
 be settled over a church before it will be seen, by the 
 effect produced on them, whether he has the missionary 
 spirit or not. In no application of it is the passage, “Like 
 people, like priest/’ more true, under ordinary circum¬ 
 stances, than in this. The growth and efficiency of the 
 missionary spirit in the churches, as well as of any other 
 excellence of Christian character, must very much depend 
 on the thoroughness and vigor with which a like spirit 
 reigns in the ministry. 
 
 5. The spirit of missions is also eminently happy in its 
 influence on the religious habits and character of young 
 men in our colleges and theological seminaries. They 
 will be heaventy-minded, exemplary, devout, prayerful, 
 serious, as Christians in whom is that devotement of soul 
 to the service of Christ which this spirit indicates. The 
 writer well remembers ' the spirit of serious, devout, 
 exemplary piety, which pervaded that sacred seminary 
 where Parsons and Fisk, with others yet living, prepared 
 for their work as missionaries. Many an American pas¬ 
 tor has occasion to bless God that he enjoyed the privilege 
 of pursuing his professional studies in the midst of the 
 sacred spiritual atmosphere created by the presence and 
 influence of such men. 
 
 6. It gives these our institutions a powerful hold on the 
 affections and confidence of the churches. They will 
 love and prize the seats of theological learning from which 
 they see men come forth who are ready for any service, 
 and who “ count not even their lives dear unto them¬ 
 selves,” if they can glorify God their Savior and win souls 
 to him. 
 
 7. The spirit of missions connects these institutions of 
 theological education most directly and powerfully with 
 that great object of the sacred ministry the conversion of 
 
 2 * 
 
18 
 
 Cultivation of the 
 
 the whole world to Christ. The absence of this spirit 
 would be a reason for solicitude as to the permanent use¬ 
 fulness of any seminary to the churches. Let the object 
 of any seminary be simply to raise up a home ministry, and 
 to keep a Christian country supplied, and to maintain all 
 things as they are, without making advances and inroads 
 upon the kingdom of darkness ; and there is a lamentable 
 falling short of the high objects to be attained. On the 
 other hand, let it be written upon the walls of our theolo¬ 
 gical seminaries— consecrated to the glory of Christ , in 
 the salvation of a lost world; and let all which is done 
 in them, and the spirit which governs their members, be 
 in accordance with this ; and let every arrangement for 
 instruction be adapted to the preparation of men, “ to 
 preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of 
 Christ;” and they will be linked inseparably with the 
 great interests of “ Christ and the church” of Christ and 
 a dying world. 
 
 The subject thus imperfectly sketched, is commended to 
 those especially—at whatever stage of study, collegiate or 
 professional—who are looking forward to the great and 
 good work of the ministry. If the moral condition of this 
 world is in any just measure understood ; if the compara¬ 
 tive extent of the two kingdoms of light and darkness is 
 not greatly misapprehended, then we are in a world where 
 a great work is to be done. There is a solemnity unspeak¬ 
 able attached to “ the ministry of the Lord Jesus,” which 
 is contemplated by some of the sons of the church. 
 
 What shall the ministry be and do in the years which 
 are now coming on ? is a question for every candidate for 
 the sacred office to contemplate, on his knees, and lifting 
 earnestly the prayer, “ Lord what wilt thou have me to 
 do 1 ” 
 
 Readiness for any service which the Lord and Master 
 of ministers may see good to appoint, is duty. This read- 
 
19 
 
 Spirit of Missions. 
 
 iness must be sought and attained in the assiduous culti- 
 vation of every talent; in making every practicable attain¬ 
 ment ; especially in young men seeking to be “ strong in 
 the grace which is in Christ Jesus,” and to have a spirit of 
 devotement which shall say in relation to every trial, toil, 
 suffering, and the heaviest responsibilities which may 
 oppress the heart, “ but none of these things move me, 
 neither count I my life dear unto myself, that I may finish 
 my course with joy and the ministry which 1 have receiv¬ 
 ed of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of 
 God.” 
 
 This wicked world is continually rising in its demands 
 upon the men of the Christian ministry. Errors were 
 never more subtle than now ; nor more bold ; nor put 
 forth with more effrontery and industry, than in these days. 
 Never has the work of the ministry been a more arduous 
 work, whether to be exercised at home or abroad ; in 
 Christian countries, or in those unevangelized. The 
 ministry has been and will continue to be a work calling 
 with increasing emphasis for “ great grace,” for firm¬ 
 ness that shall never waver, for patience which can never 
 be worn out, for knowledge of truth and ability to dis¬ 
 criminate between truth and error in the nicest shades, 
 which shall guard against compromise in “jot or tittle; ” 
 and for perseverance which can never be persuaded to sit 
 down either in indolence or discouragement. 
 
 The spirit of the ministry then must be the missionary 
 spirit. Our young men will need to have this, whether 
 they are to preach the gospel in New England or in New 
 Holland; among the hills and valleys of their native land, 
 or on the burning plains of India; in this land of Sab¬ 
 baths, Bible classes, Sabbath schools, and religious order, 
 quiet, and education; in the destitute portions of the Great 
 West; or amidst the barbarism of Tartary, or the savage 
 state of Africa, or of the Islands of the sea. He who 
 
$0 
 
 Time of Deciding 
 
 fears no being but God ; loves not^ 
 the kingdom and “ work of Christ; ” who “ chooses 
 rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to 
 enjoy the pleasures of sin fof a season ; ” who is ready to 
 pass “ through the fire,” if it be on the path of his duty 
 to his Master, and “ through the waters,” if needful, to 
 reach the requisite point of honor to God and fidelity to 
 man ; he will be best prepared for the work of the minis¬ 
 try in the times which are coming on. And most sure 
 will he be, so to do his work, that it shall be said to him, in 
 the last day, “ Well done good and faithful servant, enter 
 thou into the joy of thy Lord ! ” 
 
 earth as he loves 
 
 fTo the foregoing remarks a few hints are appended on a kindred 
 topic.] 
 
 When should a candidate for the ministry decide 
 whether it is his own duty , or 7iot } to become a missionary 
 to the heathen ? 
 
 A common maxim is, That it is better to delay deciding 
 on our personal duty to the heathen, till near the close of 
 our studies preparatory to the ministry. The reasons for 
 such a delay are plausible. The student will be older — 
 his judgment more matured—his mind better informed — 
 the whole case more completely before him. Facts, how¬ 
 ever, show that conformity to this maxim, owing to the 
 various engagements, solicitations, and other embarrassing 
 circumstances, which beset a young man as he approaches 
 the confines of public life, almost necessarily prevents 
 altogether any impartial and thorough examination of the 
 question of personal duty on this subject. He remains at 
 home, not as the result of inquiry and conviction; but as 
 a matter of course, he having taken little or no pains to 
 
21 
 
 to become a Missionary. 
 
 ascertain whether there is any demand upon him from 
 abroad. But this is not the way to learn our duty on the 
 momentous question, Where is the field and the work , to 
 which the Holy Ghost hath called me ? 
 
 There are reasons which should induce every student 
 looking forward to the sacred ministry to decide early , in 
 view of existing circumstances, whether duty requires him 
 to become a missionary to the heathen. Some of them 
 will be named. 
 
 1. In college, and sometimes in the academy, the stu¬ 
 dent may enjoy nearly or quite all the helps in forming a 
 decision, that he will find in the theological seminary. 
 With a little pains he may have access to all the important 
 books, and to intelligent and discreet advisers, and may 
 gain all the essential information respecting the moral 
 condition of the world. There is not a principle, and 
 there is scarcely a fact, bearing on the case, of which he 
 may not obtain as full possession before, as after, he enters 
 the theological seminary. What need, then, of delay ? 
 
 2. An early decision is desirable in reference to its 
 bearing on the mind and conscience of the student. 
 Whether he desires to make advances in learning, or 
 grace, he should aim to preserve a tranquil mind. He 
 should have as few unsettled and perplexing questions of 
 duty as possible. He should endeavor always to preserve 
 peace of conscience, that he may have joy in the Holy 
 Ghost. When cases of conscience arise, and demand a 
 settlement, he should endeavor to settle them thoroughly 
 and speedily. 
 
 Let the inquiry come up early in the seminary, if it has 
 not been settled before; or, what is better still, let it come 
 up in the college; let it be met with a cheerful determi¬ 
 nation to examine into its merits; let the only question 
 be, “ Where will the Lord have me go, when my prepa¬ 
 rations for the ministry are completed ? ” And let the de- 
 
22 
 
 Time of Deciding 
 
 cision be formed in view of the existing indications of 
 Providence. If subsequently these indications change, let 
 the question of duty be reexamined. 
 
 3. A student who decides early to devote himself to the 
 cause of foreign missions, will be more useful to that cause 
 during his studies preparatory to the ministry, than he 
 otherwise would be. Indeed, should he, after a con¬ 
 scientious examination of the subject, decide that it is his 
 duty to go on a domestic mission, or to settle near his 
 paternal home, it is to be expected that he would be more 
 active and efficient in the cause of foreign missions, than 
 while he holds his mind in suspense. What is desirable 
 is, an early investigation and decision—no halting be¬ 
 tween two opinions — no shrinking from this great question 
 of duty. There is no estimating how desirable it is that 
 every college and seminary in the land have such men 
 among its students. What may not a man devoted to 
 missions do in the seven or eight years of his preparatory 
 studies? Had Mills, and Hall, and Richards, and Fisk, 
 and others who might be named, deferred all consideration 
 of the subject till they were on the point of entering the 
 ministry, what a loss would the cause have sustained. 
 Men in these institutions, who are not themselves decided 
 to be missionaries, will rarely make vigorous attempts to 
 persuade others to devote themselves to a foreign mission. 
 
 4. An early decision in favor of becoming a missionary 
 to the heathen, makes a man more courageous and cheer¬ 
 ful when in the field of missions. This is believed to be 
 the general experience of those missionaries, who came to 
 their decision early, of whom the number is considerable. 
 These early and thorough examinations and decisions of 
 the question of personal duty are recollected by missiona¬ 
 ries in days of adversity, and are as anchors to the soul. 
 “ It looks dark,” the missionary says to himself, “ but 
 here is the field of my duty. I am where I ought to be 
 
23 
 
 to become a Missionary. 
 
 and God will not forsake me.” He had long before taken 
 time to lay a broad and deep foundation, and his super- 
 structure stands. He went to the heathen from no sud¬ 
 den impulse of passion, but from a Jong revolved convic¬ 
 tion of duty, to which the feelings of his heart and the 
 habits of his mind gradually came into sweet subserviency. 
 
 5. An early consecration to the missionary work will 
 render a man more efficient and useful as a missionary. 
 It will do this for the reasons just mentioned, and also by 
 the attainments it will lead him to make with particular 
 reference to a mission, while acquiring his education, and 
 by the effect it will be likely to exert on his intellectual 
 and moral character. He will almost necessarily acquire 
 a familiarity with the field of his contemplated labors, the 
 character and condition of the people, and the labors and 
 trials that await him, which will prevent the disappoint¬ 
 ment and despondency almost unavoidable by the mission¬ 
 ary whose mind has not been thus familiarized with the 
 scenes before him. 
 
 6. An early decision to be a missionary, will be no dis¬ 
 advantage to a man who is providentially prevented from 
 becoming one. It will rather be an advantage. Some of 
 the most devoted ministers in our churches, once had a 
 foreign mission in view for a considerable period of time. 
 They did not go, because unforeseen and unavoidable 
 occurrences prevented, making it necessary for them to 
 remain in their own country. But their missionary zeal 
 had become a habit, and they carried that and their 
 knowledge of missionary subjects into their parishes, 
 remembering the heathen themselves, and not permitting 
 their churches to forget them. 
 
 7. An early and serious consideration of this subject, 
 with a view to a speedy decision, either that it is or is not 
 our duty to become missionaries, with an occasional 
 reconsideration of the subject, is the most likely way of 
 
24 Time of Deciding to become a Missionary. 
 
 avoiding mistakes in regard to our proper sphere of labor. 
 It is of great importance to ourselves that we be in that 
 sphere of labor where God would have us be. How, then, 
 shall we avoid mistakes in the selection of this field, and 
 how shall we acquire this evidence ? Shall we do it by 
 delaying all serious thought on the subject, till we have 
 so little time left us, and so many applications from differ¬ 
 ent quarters, as to create a feverish anxiety in the mind? 
 Certain it is, that not so many have gone to the heathen, 
 as ought to have gone, and therefore some must have mis¬ 
 taken the field of their duty. How desirable that they 
 had examined more thoroughly, and reflected more pro¬ 
 foundly ! Had they pursued the course recommended in 
 this article, they could scarcely have fallen into such an 
 error. 
 
 In conclusion, let it be asked, Whether there are not 
 many, well qualified to be missionaries, who have more 
 fear lest they should go without being sent, than they 
 have lest they shall stay at home when they are com¬ 
 manded to go ? To them I would put the question, 
 Whether the greatest danger is not the other way? What 
 then, is here urged upon the candidate for the ministry ? 
 Not that he should become a foreign missionary ; not 
 that he should decide in favor of becoming one ; but that 
 he should look the question of his duty in the face, and 
 look at it early in his education, and look at it with the 
 determination to discover his duty if possible, and to do 
 his duty. Is there any danger in this course ? And is 
 there any man, so destitute of moral courage and of the 
 spirit of obedience to Christ, that he shrinks from this 
 inquiry ? 
 
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