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 SERMON, 
 
 DELIVERED AT GOSHEN, (Conn.) 
 
 AT THE 
 
 ORDINATION 
 
 OF TUK 
 
 Rev. Messrs. HIRAM BINGHAM & ASA THURSTON, 
 
 
 AS 
 
 ^twionatiw to tfjc ©anufaiclj Jialuntis, 
 
 Sept. 29, 1819. 
 
 BY HEMAN HUMPHREY, 
 
 Pastor of the Congregational Church in Pittsfield, Mast. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 
 PUBLISHED BY SAMUEL T. ARMSTRONG, 
 No. 50, CoRSHitt. 
 
 U. Crocker, Printer. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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 . 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
A SERMON. 
 
 And there remai)ieth 
 
 M 
 
 Joshua xiii, 1. 
 
 yet very much land to be possessed. 
 
 God, as the supreme Ruler and absolute Proprietor 
 of the world, thought fit to give all the land of 
 Canaan to Abraham and his posterity for an ever- 
 lasting inheritance. This grant was again and 
 again renewed and confirmed to Isaac and Jacob, 
 as heirs of the promise. But they were not to take 
 immediate possession. While the Canaanites were 
 filling up the measure of their iniquities, the chil- 
 dren of Israel sojourned and were oppressed in 
 Egypt; and it was not till the time of Moses, that 
 they were delivered from that terrible bondage, and 
 conducted by a series of miracles through the wil- 
 derness to the eastern border of the promised 
 land. There, upon the top of a mountain, which 
 overlooked the fertile plain of Jordan, Moses 
 yielded up at once his commission and his life — not, 
 however, till he had, by divine authority, invested 
 Joshua with the supreme command, and given him 
 
4 
 
 a solemn charge, accompanied with encouragements 
 and promises, suited to the momentous duties of so 
 high and responsible a station. 
 
 “Be strong and of a good courage, for thou must 
 go with this people unto the land which the Lord 
 hath sworn unto their fathers to give them. And 
 thou shalt cause them to inherit it. And the Lord, 
 he it is, that doth go before thee; he will be with 
 thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee; 
 fear not, neither be dismayed.” Joshua proved 
 himself, in all respects, worthy of the high trust 
 reposed in him. He was pre-eminent both in coun- 
 sel and in valor. Putting himself at the head of 
 the chosen tribes, he passed the river, and led 
 them at once into the heart of the enemies’ coun- 
 try. Every where the idolatrous inhabitants trem- 
 bled at his approach, and nothing could surpass the 
 celerity of his marches, or the impetuosity of his 
 attacks. Nothing could arrest, and scarcely could 
 any thing retard, his progress. Of the fortifications 
 which had been trusted in as impregnable, one after 
 another submitted to his arms, and, in a word, vic- 
 tory crowned every enterprize. Now, had the 
 Israelites in this state of things, vigorously pushed 
 their advantages with a humble trust in God, they 
 might soon have completed the conquest of Canaan. 
 But their courage seems to have failed them in the 
 midst of the most brilliant success. They wanted 
 faith. There Avcre giants in the land. The mountains 
 Avere inhabited by fierce and Avarlike clans, Avhom it 
 was thought imprudent to disturb, and this opinion 
 Avas naturally strengthened by delay. Joshua Avas 
 growing old. The people were inclined to sit doAvn 
 
ingloriously contented with present acquisitions, and 
 very few of them, probably, knew how large a part 
 of the promised heritage was still in the hands of 
 the enemy. 
 
 On the west and south the Philistines possessed 
 a large and fertile district. The Sidonians and 
 rOthcrs held the sea-coast upon the northwest, to- 
 gether with all the hill country about Mount Leb- 
 anon, and the Ainorites were still powerful on the 
 coast of Jordan. Several other nations also, whom 
 God had devoted to utter destruction, still dwelt in 
 the land. This state of things was neither safe, 
 nor honorable to those who had been brought 
 thither through so many perils, and encouraged to 
 push their conquests by so many promises. There 
 remaineth yet very much loud to be possessed , was a 
 cutting reproof of their inactivity and unbelief. 
 And that no more time might be lost, the aged 
 Joshua was commanded to divide this remainder by 
 lot among the tribes, and require them immediately 
 to drive out the heathen, and take possession for 
 themselves and their children. 
 
 The text admits of an easy, and I think a legit- 
 imate application to the present comparative state 
 of the church and the world. As the nation of 
 Israel was then militant, so is the church now. As 
 the land of Canaan belonged to Israel, in virtue of 
 a divine grant, so does the world belong to the 
 church; and as God’s chosen people still had much 
 to do, before they could come into full and quiet 
 possession of the land, so has the church a great 
 work to accomplish, in subduing the world “to the 
 obedience of Christ.” In this spiritual and most 
 
6 
 
 interesting sense, there remaineth yet very much land 
 to be possessed. The plan of my discourse, therefore, 
 will naturally embrace the following topics: viz. 
 
 That immense regions of /the earth, which belong 
 to the church, are still unsubdued. 
 
 That the ultimate conquest and possession of all 
 these is certain. 
 
 That, although the excellency of the power is^of 
 God, this great work is to be accomplished by hu- 
 man instrumentality. 
 
 * That but for the lamentable and criminal apathy 
 » of the church, it might have been accomplished 
 acres aoo. 
 
 O o 
 
 That as Christendom now possesses ample re- 
 sources and ability, she is solemnly bound in the 
 name of God, and with the least possible delay to 
 set up her banners in every heathen land. And, 
 
 That the aspects of Divine Pjovidence are pecu- 
 liarly auspicious to the missionary enterprizes of 
 the day r . 
 
 I. Immense regions of the earth, which belong to 
 the church, are still unsubdued. In advancing this 
 claim of the church, to the rightful possession of 
 the whole world, we must not forget, explicitly to 
 recognize the paramount and supreme authority of 
 Christ, her King. In the highest and most perfect 
 sense the world belongs to Christ. All things were 
 made by him and for him and by him all things con- 
 sist. The covenant of redemption, also, secures to 
 him, as Mediator, the ultimate possession of all the 
 kingdoms of men. The glowing language of the 
 promise is, “I have set my King upon my holy hill 
 of Zion. I will declare the decree. Ask of me, 
 
7 
 
 and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inherit- 
 ance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy 
 possession.” Christ is “made head over all things 
 to the Church.” She can possess nothing but what 
 she holds under him and for his glory. Wherever 
 she raises her standard, it is in his name. When- 
 ever she is victorious, it is through his might; and 
 all her acquisitions are subject to his absolute 
 authority. 
 
 In this subordinate sense the world belongs to the 
 Church. It is in effect given to her as a possession, 
 in every promise and prediction, in which the 
 universal spread of the Gospel is mentioned! It is 
 hers to. share in the conquests, as well as to fight 
 under the banners of her King. 
 
 But alas! how limited hitherto, have been the 
 conquests of the Gospel! How large a part of the 
 land of promise remains yet to be possessed! - How 
 vast and powerful and populous are the empires of 
 Pagan darkness and Mahometan delusion! How 
 much ground has the church even lost , both in Asia 
 and Africa, since the days of the Apostles and their 
 more immediate successors! And to speak of later 
 times, how slowly since the Reformation, have the 
 boundaries of the Redeemer’s Kingdom been ex- 
 tended! How few and scanty, in comparison with 
 what remains to be possessed, are the acquisitions 
 which have recently been made! How few even 
 now, are the instruments, and how inconsiderable 
 are the means employed in the missionary service! 
 
 If in looking over the map of the globe, we begin 
 with the eastern hemisphere, we shall find that 
 nearly the whole of Asia remaineth yet to be pos- 
 
3 
 
 sesscd. Upon China, that vast world of souls, no 
 permanent impression has ever yet been made. 
 Further west and south, very extensive and populous 
 regions are still in the hands of the enemy. Even 
 in Hindoostan, a few out-posts only have been gained, 
 while “the strong man armed keepetb his palace” in 
 the heart of the country, surrounded and defended, 
 by Cast and Vedas and Shasters and Brahmins; 
 those dread and mighty munitions of a lewd and 
 sanguinary despotism. The spiritual conquest of 
 Persia is scarcely begun, and very little progress has 
 yet been made, in reducing the wandering hordes of 
 Tartary to the obedience of Christ. The unnum- 
 bered Islands that cluster around the shores of the 
 eastern continent, are held in quiet subjection by the 
 god of this world; — and so, with barely enough of 
 missionary influence to constitute a slight exception, 
 are New Holland, New Zealand, and the Friendly 
 Isles: — and so is O why nee, lifting its hoary head 
 above the clouds from a fathomless abyss of waters. 
 
 The great continent of Africa, also, remaineth yet 
 to be possessed. The interior has not to this day 
 been explored by civilized man; while those parts 
 most accessible to Europeans, instead of receiving 
 from them the light and freedom of the Gospel, 
 have for ages resounded with the stripes and wail- 
 ings of a most accursed traffic in human blood. 
 Once, indeed, Abyssinia and the region round about, 
 were blessed with Churches and Pastors, walking 
 together in faith and love; but it is long since the 
 glory departed. The true light has ceased to 
 shine, and centuries have rolled away since the 
 prince of darkness re-established his empire. We 
 
 I 
 
9 
 
 must not indeed forget to acknowledge, with thank- 
 fulness, the distinguished zeal and perseverance of 
 the Moravians and others, both in the south and 
 west of Africa. They have done more, perhaps, 
 than could have been expected from their numbers 
 and the wild and savage character of the inhabitants. 
 But after all, there is only here and there a glim- 
 mering of light in a dark place. What comparison 
 do a few thousand natives rescued from idolatry 
 bear to hundreds of millions, who still sit in pagan 
 darkness. The ground, which it has cost the mis- 
 sionaries so many years and so much toil to gain, is 
 scarcely sufficient to afford them even a precarious 
 resting place for the soles of their feet. It is almost 
 nothing, compared with what remaincth yet to be 
 possessed. 
 
 A very large part of the American continent, is 
 in nearly the same deplorable state of moral degrad- 
 ation. Even within our own limits, the savage still 
 lights his death fires, to appease the wrath of an 
 idol. On the north, there is an immense region of 
 palpable darkness. From our western frontier to 
 the Pacific Ocean, nothing has yet been done, to 
 enlighten and save the wandering and suffering 
 nations of the wilderness. The whole of South 
 America, also, presents a most interesting field for 
 protestant missions, which is yet unoccupied. Nor 
 must it be forgotten, that most of the Mediterranean 
 Isles, together with trackless deserts of ice and snow 
 in the north of Europe, and other considerable por- 
 tions of the globe, which have not been particularly 
 mentioned, remain yet to be possessed. 
 
10 
 
 But let not the Church despair. Let not mission- 
 aries be disheartened. Let Zion trust in her God, 
 and she shall never be ashamed. For, 
 
 II. The ultimate conquest and possession of all 
 the heathen lands is certain. The heathen them- 
 selves may rage — Satan may come down with great 
 wrath, and in his convulsive struggles for empire, 
 may yet shake the foundations of the earth; but 
 the promise cannot fail. In spite of all his effort* 
 to prevent it, Zion will arise and shine, her light 
 being come, and the glory of the Lord being risen 
 upon her. How animating to the Church in her 
 darkest hours and most oppressive despondency, 
 must be the encouragements, vehich are poured into 
 her ear by the evangelical Prophet. “The Lord 
 shall rise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon 
 thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and 
 kings to the brightness of thy rising. Lift up thine 
 eyes round about and see: all they gather themselves 
 together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come 
 from far and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy 
 side. Then thou shalt see and flow together, and 
 thine heart shall fear and be enlarged, because the 
 abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee; 
 the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee. — 
 And the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, 
 and their kings shall minister unto thee. The sons 
 also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending 
 unto thee; and all they that despised thee, shall bow 
 themselves down at the soles of thy feet; and they 
 shall call thee the city of the Lord, the Zion of the 
 Holy One of Israel. — Thy people also shall be all 
 righteous: they shall inherit the land forever. — A 
 
11 
 
 little one shall become a thousand and a small one a 
 strong nation: I the Lord will hasten it in his 
 time.” Thus shall Zion at length be put in posses- 
 sion of the whole earth. Thus will Jehovah make 
 her an ^eternal excellency, a joy oi many gener- 
 ations.” 
 
 The darkness of a hundred ages is to be pierced 
 and scattered, by the all pervading light of the Sun 
 of Righteousness. “The strong man armed” is to be 
 ejected as a cruel usurper. Unnumbered millions 
 of captives are to be set free. Jerusalem and the 
 holy city are to be rescued from the hands of the 
 infidels, “not by might, nor power, but by the Spirit 
 of the Lord.” The river of the water of life is to 
 flow in a thousand new channels, bearing upon its 
 unruffled current, the blessings and the triumphs of 
 the Cross. Those who are scorched in equatorial 
 deserts will “sit down under the shadow of Christ 
 with great delight,” while all, who shiver amid the 
 ice of the poles, will be warmed into spiritual life. 
 The effeminate Hindoo and the degraded African 
 will be raised to the dignity of men and of Chris- 
 tians. The habitations of cruelty, in far distant 
 continents and islands, will be enlightened by the 
 Gospel and possessed by the church. The wild men 
 of the American forests will be tamed, and all the 
 wilderness will become the heritage of Zion. 
 
 III. Although the excellency of the power is of 
 God, this great work is to be accomplished by 
 human instrumentality. 
 
 It might be effected by a miracle in a single day. 
 Or angels might be employed instead of men. As 
 the sun shines and the planets roll without human 
 
12 
 
 agency, so might the boundaries of the Church be 
 extended, “from sea to sea and from shore to shore.” 
 But not so is the will of her Kino;. As well might 
 the Israelites have waited in the wilderness for the 
 conquest of Canaan. God had promised to drive 
 out the nations; but he thought fit to employ his 
 people to effect it, instead of doing it by his own 
 immediate power. They had actually to go up and 
 take possession. They ha\l to buckle on their 
 armor and meet the enemy, and if they had not 
 done so the land would never have been subdued. 
 Thus it is that the church must inherit the gentiles. 
 There is a great work to be done, and she must not 
 look for miracles, or angels to accomplish it. 
 
 How was the Gospel first propagated, even in an 
 age of miracles? By toil, by perseverance, by 
 encountering a thousand dangers: — by assailing the 
 strong holds of Jewish infidelity and Pagan idolatry. 
 Had the Apostles shut themselves up in Jerusalem, 
 what would have been the consequence? In vain 
 would they have waited for the conversion of the 
 heathen. Their commission was, “Go and teach all 
 nations;” and with what zeal did they engage in the 
 perilous undertaking! How great was their self- 
 denial! What inhospitable regions did they visit: 
 how diligently did they plant and water; how skil- 
 fully did they wield “the weapons of their warfare, 
 and how mighty were they through God, to the 
 pulling down of strong holds!” It was thus that 
 the spiritual conquest of extensive and populous 
 regions was achieved by the first missionaries; and 
 it was by human instrumentality, in a subsequent 
 age, that the immense fabric of Paganism was 
 
13 
 
 demolished in the greatest empire of the world, 
 and that the standard of the cross was planted on 
 the battlements of Home. 
 
 In like manner, when at a still later period, the 
 Man of sin had dispossessed the church of these 
 acquisitions; when she was wandering a persecuted 
 and bleeding exile in the mountains of Bohemia; — but 
 when she was nevertheless to regain a part of what 
 she had lost, suitable instruments were raised up, to 
 fight her battles with the sword of the Spirit, and like 
 Joshua to lead her on to victory. It was by the 
 power of God, through the agency of such valiant 
 champions of the truth, as Wickliffe and Zuinglius; as 
 Luther and Calvin; as Melancthon and Knox, that 
 the reformation was effected. 
 
 It is to the labors of a Swartz, a Vanderkemp, a 
 Carey, a Buchanan, a Marsden and their pious asso- 
 ciates in the missionary field, that the church is 
 indebted, under God, for those little verdant and 
 cultivated spots, which have been reclaimed, within 
 the last fifty years, from the barrenness of as many 
 centuries. In the same manner, by the use of means 
 and instruments, is the whole world to be subdued 
 and rendered fruitful. The missionaries now in 
 service must be supported and must receive strong 
 reinforcements. Every foot of ground that has 
 been gained must be kept. Every new advantage 
 must be zealously followed up. The Bible must be 
 translated into all languages, and the means of send- 
 ing it to every human habitation must be provided. 
 The Gospel must be carried to the heathen, before 
 we can expect them to embrace it. “How shall 
 they call on him in whom they have not believed? 
 
14 
 
 Ami how shall they believe on him of whom they 
 have not heard? And how shall they hear without 
 a preacher? And how shall they preach except 
 they be sent?” Missionaries then must be sent. The 
 conversion of the world is to be effected, by the 
 blessing of God upon the prayers and labors of the 
 church: and this leads me to observe, 
 
 IV. That but for her lamentable and criminal 
 apathy, it might have been accomplished ages ago. 
 The world ought to have been evangelized at a 
 very early period of the Christian era, and who can 
 doubt that it might have been, had the church 
 done all her duty? Think of the zeal and success 
 of Paul, and the despised fishermen of Galilee. 
 How much in the face of danger and death, did 
 they accomplish in a few years. Had the work 
 continued to advance, as it did under their preach- 
 ing, the triumphs of the cross would have been 
 universal, long before the end of the second cen- 
 tury. And what arrested its progress? Was 
 the arm of the Lord suddenly shortened, that he 
 could no longer save? No, my brethren, the 
 church was not “straitened in Him but in her own 
 bowels.” There was nothing in the world harder^ 
 to overcome, than the unbelief of the Jews, and 
 the proud philosophy of the Greeks. The same 
 power, which converted a persecuting Saul into a 
 zealous missionary, and planted a Christian church 
 in the heart of pagan Rome, could with infinite 
 ease, have changed the moral character of the 
 whole human family. Nothing .was wanting but 
 love and faith, union and perseverance. The church 
 
had only to go forward, with a humble and confi- 
 dent reliance upon divine aid, and she would soon 
 have taken full possession. 
 
 But she was afraid of the Anakims. Their 
 cities, it was reported, were walled up to heaven. 
 Unbelief arrested her march and palsied her arm, 
 so that while there remained yet very much land to 
 be possessed, she not only left it without a struggle, 
 in the hands of her enemies, but permitted them 
 largely to encroach upon what her sons of a better 
 age had gained. To pass over thirteen whole cen- 
 turies of strange and criminal apathy, what can be 
 more astonishing than Protestant remissness, since 
 the glorious reformation? Why, till wkhin the 
 last five and twenty years, did so few offer them- 
 selves as missionaries? Why was so little cast into 
 the Lord’s treasury for the noblest of all enter- 
 prizes? Why did only here and there an individual 
 think of giving the Bible to the heathen in their 
 own tongues? It was known, alas! that they wor- 
 shipped stones and wood and reptiles and devils. 
 It was known that the elements of their religion 
 were lust and cruelty and blood. It was known 
 that thousands were dying every hour in hopeless 
 ignorance of Christ, and it was admitted that 
 Christians ought to send them the Gospel. But ah, 
 how little Avas done, how little was even attempted. 
 What efforts were made to rescue the trembling 
 victims of a diabolical superstition from the knife 
 and altar? What friendly hand was stretched out, 
 to snatch the distracted widow from the pile, or the 
 weeping babe from the crocodiles? O how little 
 was done for Christ, or even for humanity: years and 
 
16 
 
 ages rolled darkly away. The whole creation 
 groaned and travailed together in pain, but the 
 church slept. She could not indeed help starting 
 at times when she dreamed of meeting the heathen 
 before the judgment seat: — but still she slumbered 
 over the miseries and crimes and perils of a world 
 lying in wickedness. And even now she is not more 
 than half awake. She does not realize how 
 much remains to be done. Her faitli is weak. 
 Her zeal too often languishes. Her present exer- 
 tions, though considerable compared with her for- 
 mer apathy, are still inadequate. She lingers on 
 the frontiers, when she ought to be raising the stan- 
 dard of her King, in the heart of every unevangel- 
 ized country under heaven. How overwhelming 
 is the thought, that millions for whom Christ died 
 are perishing every year, through criminal neglect. 
 
 V. As Christendom now possesses ample resour- 
 ces and ability, she is solemnly bound in the name 
 of God, and with the least possible delay, to set up 
 her banners in every heathen land. She is able; she 
 possesses the means of doing it. This has been 
 too often demonstrated, to leave any shadow of 
 doubt upon the benevolent and candid mind. If 
 Great Britain alone could raise four hundred mill- 
 ions of dollars, in a single year, to carry on the war 
 against her great continental rival, how easily might 
 she support an army of ten thousand missionaries. 
 How soon might she furnish half mankind with the 
 Bible. Let her for twenty years to come, do but 
 half as much to spread the glad tidings of Salvation, 
 as for twenty years past she has done, to chase all 
 hostile competition from “the mountain wave’’ and 
 
17 
 
 “bear her thunders round the world,” and how soon, 
 by t lie blessing ol' God, would the earth be filled 
 with his praise! The mere cost of powder and 
 cannon balls for one battle, would comfortably sup- 
 port all the missionaries now in service, for ten years. 
 But not to carry you too far from home, nor detain 
 you too long in foreign parts, how much more might 
 be done by our American Israel, than has ever yet 
 been attempted. To all her hundreds, contributed 
 for religious purposes, she might add thrice as many 
 thousands. For one Bible, which she now puts into 
 the hands of the destitute, she might distribute fifty. 
 For one school at Bombay, or Ceylon, she might 
 establish and maintain a hundred. For one mission- 
 ary expedition, like that which is now preparing for 
 the Sandwich Islands, she might fit out at least two 
 from every considerable port in the United States. 
 She is able to bear her full proportion of the neces- 
 sary expense of converting the world. This might 
 easily be proved, for the hundredth time, by the 
 plainest and most unexceptionable calculations. But 
 why should I trespass upon your time and patience? 
 Let me rather refer you to sermons and tracts which 
 are already before the public; especially to the ani- 
 mated and able appeal of Messrs. Hall and Newell 
 to the American Churches. 
 
 The question of ability, then, being decided in the 
 affirmative, that of duty next presents itself for our 
 consideration. Is the Church bound, with the 
 least possible delay, to give the Gospel to the hea- 
 then? This, my Brethren, is one of the few ques- 
 tions which will not bear argument. What if the 
 
 preacher should undertake to prove, that everv 
 3 
 
18 
 
 express command of the Savior is obligatory? 
 Would not the time and labor be worse than lost? 
 What if he should gravely attempt to demonstrate, 
 that two and two make four? Would you hear him? 
 What if thousands of your fellow men were now 
 famishing in the streets, would your humanity suffer 
 me to argue for one moment, upon the duty of 
 relieving them? Or what if some frightful plague 
 were now ravaging three quarters of the globe, and 
 the people of this country were in possession of the 
 only cheap and infallible remedy, who that should 
 attempt coolly to reason upon the duty of send- 
 ing out as many ships as might be necessary to 
 convey relief to the dying millions, would not be 
 interrupted by a hundred voices at once, exclaiming, 
 “This is no time for proving what is self-evident. 
 Under different circumstances, it might be amusing 
 enough to hear your arguments; but in the present 
 case we cannot be hindered a moment, as every hour 
 of delay may cost thousands of precious lives.” 
 
 Thus it is, dear Brethren, in the case before us. 
 The command of Christ is, Go ye into all the world 
 and preach the Gospel to every creature. The most 
 terrible and fatal of all plagues is ravaging all the 
 heathen lands. There is no remedy but the Gospel. 
 This remedy, God has sent to us, and shall we, or 
 shall we not, manifest our gratitude and benevolence, 
 by sending it to the perishing? My appeal is not so 
 much to the understanding as to the conscience: 
 and even this must be brief. I must not retard 
 your preparations by much speaking: — for while you 
 sit here, the cold hand of death is upon many 
 for whom 1 plead. O how they cling to life, and 
 
19 
 
 shudder as he tears them away? IIow they shrink 
 back from the darkness of the grave, from the tre- 
 mendous uncertainty of a hereafter! The duty of 
 the Church is written in sun-beams. Let her read 
 and obey. 
 
 VI. The aspects of Divine Providence arc 
 peculiarly auspicious to the missionary enterprizes of 
 the day. The church has every encouragement to 
 go forward. The mount on which she stands, over- 
 looks the whole land of promise. She lifts up her 
 eyes “northward and southward and eastward and 
 westward,” and as she gazes upon the affecting scene, 
 wonders how she could have slumbered so lon<r. 
 Where, she cries, have been my faith and my zeal 
 and the sounding of my bowels? And before she 
 has time to ask, Whom shall we send and who will 
 go for us, the scene is changed and she exclaims, with 
 astonishment, “Who arc these that fly as a cloud and 
 as doves to their windows? Surely the Isles shall 
 wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish, first to bring 
 thy sons from far, their silver and their gold with 
 them, unto the name of the Lord thy God, and to 
 the Holy One of Israel, because he hath glorified 
 thee.” A mighty impulse from above seems to be 
 putting the whole Christian world in motion. Multi- 
 tudes from whom we had not expected aid in this 
 great work, are “coming up to the help of the Lord, 
 against the mighty,” and resolving with one voice, 
 “For Zion’s sake we will not hold our peace, and for 
 Jerusalem’s sake we will not rest, till the righteous- 
 ness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation 
 thereof as a lamp that burneth.” 
 
 I 
 
20 
 
 The mists of ignorance and prejudice, which so 
 long hung over missionary operations and designs, 
 have been mostly dissipated by the light of truth. 
 Verily “the night is far spent, the day is at hand.” 
 If we are not greatly deceived, it even now shines 
 upon the tops of the mountains. The morning star 
 looks down with a smiling aspect upon the benighted 
 nations, or rather, a new and bright constellation of 
 Missionary and Bible Societies seems to be ushering 
 a flood of light and glory upon the dark places of 
 the earth. 
 
 Charity, robed in light and peace, has descended 
 from her native skies, and is flying from land to land, 
 upon the “wings of the morning.” How noble, how 
 godlike are her yearnings and designs! Her benev- 
 olence has no bounds. She is now teaching the 
 poor Hindoo in his cabin, and confounding the Bramin 
 in his temple. She is found by the admiring trav- 
 eller at Serampore, at Bombay, at Ceylon, and at 
 all the missionary stations in Asia; — at Bethels- 
 dorp and Leicester mountain; at Brainerd, and 
 all similar establishments both in Africa and America. 
 No region is so sultry, no atmosphere is so charged 
 with contagion, as to shake her steadfast purpose of 
 doing good at every hazard. No climate is so rig- 
 orous as to cool her ardor — no human abode so 
 remote, or obscure, as to escape her benevolent 
 regards. She crosses wide oceans, traverses great 
 continents and visits distant islands. It is now more 
 than twenty years since she took her flight to the 
 Pacific Ocean, and having at length persuaded the 
 Society isles to “cast their idols to the moles and the 
 bats,” she has recently gone over to Owhyhec, and 
 
21 
 
 is there anxiously expecting the ship, which is des- 
 tined tor that important missionary station. 
 
 Such are some of the animating signs of the times 
 in which we live, with respect to the general cause 
 of missions. But the occasion seems to demand a 
 separate thank-offering, in behalf of the Sandwich 
 Islands. It is not in my power to give jou a full 
 geographical, or statistical account of that interesting 
 group, even if my limits would permit; nor w ill a par- 
 ticular history of the events, which have resulted in 
 what we this day behold, be expected from me, after 
 what has been recently presented to the public, in 
 that little volume, winch has given birth to so many 
 prayers, and brought in such large contributions to 
 the missionary fund. But I cannot do less than advert 
 to some of the prominent indications, that the time, 
 even the set time to favor the Sandwich Islands 
 is come. Whence originated the design of send- 
 ing them the Gospel? \\ hy are we assembled here 
 to-day? “It is the Lord’s doing, and marvellous in our 
 eyes.” To him it belongs to bring good out of ev il and 
 light out of darkness. Who could have anticipated, 
 that an important Christian mission wouid ever spring 
 from a savage massacre in a far distant isle? Yet, but 
 for that heart-rending tragedy, Obookiah might never 
 have been heard of by the American Church; might 
 now have been a pagan priest, bowing before an idol, 
 instead of a “king and a priest unto God,” in his heav- 
 enly temple. And thus, nothing might yet have excit- 
 ed your particular attention, to the spiritual wants of 
 that interesting branch of the human family, to which 
 he belonged. You might have had no Foreign Mis- 
 sion School, and might never have witnessed such 
 
22 
 
 a spectacle, as now gladdens your hearts and bright- 
 ens your countenances with hope and admiration. I 
 know not where the hand of God has been more dis- 
 tinctly visible, even in this age of wonders, than in the 
 events connected with the present enterprize. Un- 
 belief itself, one would think, must at least be con- 
 founded at the recital. A poor heathen, orphan boy, 
 weary of life in his own native isle, resolves to leave 
 it for some distant country, where he may, if possible, 
 forget the bloody scene that broke his heart and 
 made him utterly desolate. He flies, but he knows 
 not whither. He is brought to a strange land. Num- 
 bers before him had come and gone, and no “one 
 cared for their souls.” W hy does not he also return 
 and die a heathen. Led by an unseen hand, Oboo- 
 kiah seeks for instruction. At first he seeks in vain, 
 because all the treasures of knowledge are locked up 
 in a language which he does not understand. But at 
 * length, the orphan’s tears excite both curiosity and 
 compassion. Christian charity takes him by the 
 hand, and assures him that he shall not want a 
 friend. It is soon found that he has an ardent thirst 
 for knowledge. The wonders of redeeming love are 
 unfolded to his view. He listens with astonishment, 
 is awakened, convicted, hopefully converted. Chris- 
 tians become more and more interested in his story. 
 His companion, who came with him in the same ship 
 from Owhyhee, is found and shares with him in the 
 benevolent regards of the church. It is soon ascer- 
 tained, that other natives of the Sandwich Islands are 
 in this country. They are gradually collected. The 
 establishment of a heathen missionary school is con- 
 templated. But where and how are questions not 
 
easily solved. Providence however removes every 
 difficulty. The Board of Commissioners lor Foreign 
 Missions extends its fostering hand. The friends of 
 the school are animated and “in the name of their 
 God” proceed to “set up their banners.” All eyes are 
 turned upon Obookiah, as eminently qualified to carry 
 back the news of a Savior to his benighted coun- 
 trymen. But God lias better things in store for him, 
 and we trust for them, fie is not permitted to re- 
 turn. He however speaks from the grave to the 
 American church in just such a voice as was needed 
 to rouse her energies. A mission is soon projected 
 on a more extensive plan than had before been con- 
 templated. Neither means nor instruments are 
 wanting. When the question is asked, “Whom shall 
 we send,” the answer that had been waiting for utter- 
 ance upon many a tongue is, Here are we, send us. 
 Numbers are ready to go. 
 
 We arc met this day to witness a renewal of their 
 solemn engagements; to see some of them consecrat- 
 ed to the work of the ministry, in the islands, and to 
 “bid them God speed” in their great undertaking. 
 In the mean time, the hearts of thousands who 
 cannot be bodily present are with us, while their 
 prayers are ascending to heaven, and their hands are 
 diligently employed in behalf of the mission. Such 
 is the ardor of Christian feeling on this subject, that 
 could the offerings of the church all be conveyed to 
 the ship, I am persuaded there would “not be room 
 enough to receive them.” 
 
 Add to all this the friendly character of the 
 Sandwich islanders; the progress which they have 
 begun to make in civilization; their ardent desire for 
 
further instruction; their high regard for European 
 settlers; the mildness of their climate, the fertility 
 of their soil and other favorable circumstances; — 
 and can it be questioned, that the aspects of Provi- 
 dence towards the present mission are peculiarly 
 auspicious? The Sandwich Islands are a part of that 
 goodly heritage, which the church ought long since 
 to have claimed in the name of her King; and while 
 she lingered, some of the benighted islanders them- 
 selves, as if impatient of her delay, come over to 
 America, and earnestly invite her to take immediate 
 possession. The church is roused from her slumbers 
 by this singular call in a strange language; prepar- 
 ations for the enterprize are in great forwardness, 
 and as the cloudy pillar is now manifestly rising from 
 
 the tabernacle, and these our beloved friends are 
 
 • x 
 
 preparing to follow where it leads, methinks I hear 
 them say, “We are journeying to the place, of which 
 the Lord said, I will give it you: come thou with us 
 and we will do thee good, for the Lord hath spoken 
 good concerning Israel.” 
 
 My first address, in view of this subject, will be 
 to the candidates for ordination. 
 
 Mv Dear Brethren, 
 
 You have often, I doubt not, surveyed with aching 
 hearts, those wide and populous regions of the prom- 
 ised land, which remain yet to be possessed. Y ou 
 have wondered, perhaps, how they could have been 
 left by the church, for so many centuries, in the 
 hands of pagans and infidels. You have felt a desire 
 to be employed as soldiers of the cross, in the holy 
 war, which is to be waged against the powers of 
 
darknes-i, where Christ has not yet been named* 
 In obedience, as you believe, to a divine call, you 
 have olfered yourselves for the missionary service 
 and have been accepted by the American Board. 
 Designated by them to the Sandwich Islands, you are 
 now to be consecrated by “prayer, and the laying on 
 of the hands of the Presbytery.” 
 
 We had, indeed, expected, that another would 
 have taken the lead in this new and important enter- 
 prize. It was in his heart to go; and his Master 
 accepted the desire, without subjecting him to the 
 hardships of the service. He has received his 
 discharge; “he rests from his labors and his works 
 follow’ him.” But never, till “the sea shall give up 
 the dead that are in it,” will it be known, how much 
 he loved and prayed for the heathen. Our hearts, 
 desire and prayer to God for you^ dear Brethren, is, 
 that the mantle of our ascended Samuel* may fall 
 upon you. 
 
 Bright is the sun that shines upon this day. Ani- 
 mating are the prospects of your mission. Propitious, 
 'as we would fondly hope, are the gales, which are 
 waiting to waft you to the field of your future labors. 
 You will go forth, the first commissioned heralds of 
 salvation, to those isles of the gentiles, followed by 
 the prayers of the church, and carrying with you 
 many tokens of her love to the heathen. I can fancy 
 that I see them, hastening down to the shore to 
 welcome you as friends, and as the bearers of those 
 “glad tidings of great joy, which shall be unto all 
 people;” that I behold them gathered around you 
 by hundreds, and listening with silent amazement, 
 
 4 
 
 * The late lamented Rev. S. J. Mrtis. 
 
26 
 
 while you talk to them of the babe of Bethlehem: — 
 that I see them casting awciy their idols and exclaim- 
 ing with one voice, Your God shall be our God, your 
 Savior shall be our Savior. The news of your 
 arrival spread from district to district and from 
 island to island. Wherever you go, you are selected 
 as messengers of salvation from that far land, where 
 Obookiah became and died a Christian. Your hearts 
 are encouraged, your hands are strengthened, while 
 the seals of your ministry multiply around you, and 
 accents of praise to the Redeemer, are heard, in 
 the school and in the church; in the poor man’s cabin; 
 in the hall of the Chief, and in the palace of the 
 King. 
 
 But ah! my dear brethren, this after all may, per- 
 haps, be no more than a bright and lovely vision. It is 
 not every morning without clouds, that gives us a fair 
 day. Nothing like certainty can be written upon 
 human hopes and prospects. All that now appears 
 so promising may be turned into bitter disappoint- 
 ments. Satan is not yet bound, and he will not yield 
 the empire of the Sandwich islands without a strug- 
 gle. He will instigate his emmissaries to oppose all 
 your benevolent plans and efforts; — and how far he 
 may be permitted to prevail for a season, we know 
 not. The Owhyheans may meet^you with dark and 
 lowering suspicion, and turn away from your instruc- 
 tions with contempt. After years of labor and peril 
 and sufferings, you may find yourselves constrained to 
 exclaim, “Who hath believed our report, and to 
 whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed? ’ 
 
 You will find much occasion for watchfulness and 
 prayer in the beginning of this enter prize, lest the 
 
27 
 
 very smiles of Providence which brighten your path, 
 should throw you off your guard, >vcaken your sense 
 of dependence upon God, and thus defeat the object 
 of your mission. Should the winds and the waves 
 all be propitious; should increasing hope animate 
 every countenance as you approach the scene of your 
 future operations, and should something whisper, 
 these must be sure indications of immediate success 
 and of a speedy conquest; — think of the Duff - — 
 when she first visited the Society Islands. Think 
 of the cloud which soon darkened the bright pros- 
 pects of the missionaries there, and hung for so many 
 years over all their perilous labors. Think of the 
 persecutions which they endured; of the ground 
 stained with missionary blood, and then bring home 
 the case of those afflicted brethren, to your own 
 little company. The promise, “j Lo I am with you 
 alway does not of course exempt you from disap- 
 pointments and sufferings. You may be persecuted 
 even unto death, — you will be opposed by the pow- 
 ers of darkness. Prepare yourselves therefore, for 
 whatever may await you. “Endure hardness as 
 good soldiers of Jesus Christ.” “Fight the good fight 
 of faith, lay hold on eternal life.” Let the words of 
 your divine leade? comfort your hearts in every 
 conflict, “He that overcometh, shall sit down with 
 me in my throne, even as I have overcome, and am 
 set down with my Father in his throne.” 
 
 “Finally my Brethren, be strong in the Lord and 
 in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor 
 of God, that ye may be able to stand against the 
 w r iles of the devil. For w r e wTestle not against flesh 
 and blood, but against principalities, against powers, 
 
28 
 
 against the rulers of the darkness of this world, 
 against spiritual wickedness in high places. Where- 
 fore, take unto you the whole armor of God, that 
 ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and 
 having done all to stand. Stand therefore, having 
 your loins girt about with truth, and having on the 
 breastplate of righteousness: and your feet shod 
 with the preparation of the Gospel of peace; above 
 all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be 
 able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.” 
 
 I now turn for a moment to those, who are to be 
 associated with you as helpers in this mission. 
 
 My Dear Christian Friends, 
 
 You also have enlisted as soldiers in this important 
 expedition. You have set your faces towards 
 Owhyhee, as a part of the promised land which 
 remaineth yet to be possessed., I hope you have 
 seriously and prayerfully counted the cost. The 
 Captain of salvation requires volunteers in this 
 service, who have made up their minds to “endure 
 hardness,” and never to desert his standard in the day 
 of action. You are going up to the “help of the 
 Lord against the mighty;” but, blessed be his name, 
 it is not with carnal weapons that you are to fight; it 
 is not with fire and sword that you are to make a 
 descent upon the Sandwich Islands. It is not to 
 enslave the free, or circumvent the ignorant, or 
 stimulate rival chiefs to acts of hostility — but it is to 
 “proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of 
 the prison doors to them that are bound.” It is to 
 persuade them to “beat their swords into plough- 
 shares, and their spears into pruning hooks. It is to 
 
20 
 
 save their children from the shark, and to make 
 them acquainted with the arts and improvements of 
 civilized nations. It is to pour in upon their benighted 
 minds the light of science and literature; to multiply 
 among them the sources of enjoyment in this life, 
 and above all, to prepare them for endless happiness 
 in the world to come. To God and the word of his 
 grace we fervently commend you. Be ye “faithful 
 unto death and he will give you a crown of life.” 
 
 Some of you. instead of leaving , are now to return 
 to your native lands. You are going back to tell 
 your astonished friends and countrymen, about the 
 Lord Jesus. But where is your elder brother? Ah! 
 his head lies low, he sweetly sleeps in yonder valley. 
 Obookiah cannot go with you to Owhyhcc. He will 
 not, however, forget you. Perhaps, if you should prove 
 steadfast in the faith, he may look down and smile 
 upon you from heaven. Possibly, he may even be 
 permitted to visit you, though unseen; to strengthen 
 you in the hour of temptation, and to whisper con- 
 solation to your souls in seasons of despondency. 
 
 From a land of Bibles and Sabbaths, and churches, 
 where you have been nurtured and instructed by 
 Christian charity^, where you have enjoyed the 
 prayers and counsels of the wise and good; and 
 wdiere some of you hope that you have been made 
 savingly acquainted with the Lord Jesus Christ, you 
 arc going back to that land of idols and darkness, 
 from whence you came. O, my beloved young 
 friends, what if you should be left again to w’elcome 
 that darkness and return to the worship of those 
 idols! How many pious hopes would it blast for- 
 ever! How many Christian hearts v 7 ould it break in 
 
30 
 
 America? Above all, how would it crucify afresh 
 the Son of God, who died to save your souls! 
 
 You shudder at the thought. You, I doubt not, 
 are firmly resolved to live and die Christians. But 
 remember the Apostolical admonition, “Let him 
 that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall.” 
 It is impossible for you to know what will be your 
 feelings, when you come to behold again your kindred 
 and your country; or to foresee, what earnest persua- 
 sions, or terrible persecutions may be employed to 
 shake your resolutions. You will need special grace 
 to keep you from falling, to endow you with pru- 
 dence, to inspire you with holy courage, and to make 
 you instruments of saving good to your people. For 
 that grace, then, let me exhort you daily and hourly 
 to pray. And may the Lord bless you, and keep 
 you, and bring you at last with all your benighted 
 countrymen to his heavenly kingdom. 
 
 This assembly will, I hope, indulge me for a mo- 
 ment longer, and I shall have done. “Blessed are 
 our eyes for they see, and our ears for they hear.” 
 How animating, how rich in hopes, are the opening 
 prospects of the contemplated mission. This is a 
 new scene in Connecticut; — if, indeed, it be a real- 
 ity, and not a heavenly vision of future times, kindly 
 vouchsafed to increase the faith and give new fer- 
 vency to the prayers of the Church. It is, it is a 
 blessed reality. Here we behold a little consecrated 
 band, ready to go forth in the name, and under the 
 banners of the Savior, to claim the Sandwich Islands, 
 as the rightful possession of the Church. A spec- 
 tacle so novel and so interesting, is calculated, for the 
 time, to occupy the whole field of vision. We think 
 
31 
 
 much of this expedition, and certainly, when we 
 take into view all the circumstances connected with 
 its origin and progress, we may well inquire, “what 
 hath God wrought?” But mv brethren, what are 
 the preparations now making, in comparison with the 
 actual wants of the single island of Owhyhce? Arc 
 we not in great danger, while we are doing a little, 
 and crediting ourselves largely for it, of forgetting 
 how much remains to be done? A vast empire is to 
 be subdued “to the obedience of Christ,” by his bles- 
 sing upon the efforts of the Church. Fired with 
 zeal to bear a part in this glorious cnterprize, we 
 dispatch a file or t\vo of volunteers, to occupy a 
 single out-post, in a remote corner of the empire, 
 and then, even before they depart, we felicitate 
 ourselves and congratulate each other, as if the cap- 
 ital had already surrendered. Our hearts arc pained, 
 perhaps, when we think of the “dark places of the 
 earth, which are full of the habitations of cruelty,” 
 and wc say they must be enlightened. We enter at 
 first with ardor into the good work. We joyfully 
 cast our gifts into the treasury of the Lord, in hopes 
 perhaps, that a few such offerings will suffice; and 
 when it is found that giving increases the urgency of 
 new and more frequent applications, some are ready 
 to ask, Are these importunities to be always sounding 
 in our ears? Are we never to be released from this 
 tribute to the heathen? No, my friends, never, unless 
 you will abandon them to their fate and deprive 
 yourselves of the honor of being instrumental in 
 their conversion. There is much more to be done, 
 than is likely to be accomplished in one day. We 
 shall have at last to leave a great work for our cbil- 
 
32 
 
 t 
 
 dren, if not also, for theiri posterity. Instead of 
 closing our hands, or relaxing our exertions, when we 
 have fitted out this expedition, we shall certainly find 
 occasion to redouble our diligence in behalf of the 
 heathen. If the world is ever to be evangelized, 
 the efforts of Christian benevolence must not only be 
 every where continued, but greatly increased. The 
 Christian philanthropist, who looks abroad upon the 
 immense field which is yet unoccupied, rejoices, not 
 so much in what has been done, or is now doing, as in 
 the gladdening promises which clustre around the 
 millennial glories of a coming day. Since then 
 so much remains to be done,vlet every one, in his 
 proper station, and according to the ability which 
 God giveth, iabor for the salvation of a perishing 
 world. Surely if we who “tarry by the stuff,” hope 
 to share equally with our brethren who “go down to 
 the battle,” in the honors and rewards of victory, 
 we must never cease to help them, by our prayers 
 and our contributions. 
 
THE CHARGE, 
 
 BY THE REV. DAVID L. PERRY, 
 
 PASTOR Of THE CUCHCH I3T 9HAI102*, C02CW. 
 
 Tuk voice of providence announces the accomplishment 
 of prophecy. ‘‘Hear the word of the Lord, O ye nations, 
 and declare it in the isles afar off. — The Lord will be ter- 
 rible unto [his enemies] for he will famish aJi the gods of 
 the earth, and men shall worship him, every one in his 
 place, even all the isles of the heathen.” 
 
 The period has arrived. “The isles wait for his law. 
 Let them give glory unto the Lord, and declare his praise 
 in the islands.” 
 
 It is our happiness to witness the fulfilment of thesa 
 prophecies commenced. It is yours, beloved Brethren, to 
 become the hopeful instruments of their accomplishment. 
 You have long contemplated the condition of the heathen, 
 and in secret, devoted yourselves to their cause. You have 
 heard the call of Owhyhee and its adjacent islands, “Come 
 over and help us.” Their cries have reached your hearts. 
 The voice of Providence is distinctly heard, “Get ye 
 down, and go with them, nothing doubting.” 
 
 This work is of God, and we dare not forbid it. We 
 dare not withhold our children, our substance, or refuse to 
 separate you to the work whereuuto the Lord hath called 
 you. 
 
 The interesting period has arrived. You have now 7 , dear 
 Brethren, at the request of those, under whose immediate 
 5 
 
34 
 
 direction you are to regulate your future labors, been sep- 
 arated and ordained to the work of Evangelists to the 
 Sandwich Islands, by the laying on of the hands of the 
 Presbytery, and with prayer. 
 
 We do, therefore, in the name, and in the presence of 
 the Great Head of the Church, who shall judge the quick 
 and the dead, at his appearing, now solemnly charge you 
 with the faithful execution of the high and awful commis- 
 sion with which you are this day entrusted. 
 
 The particular field of your labors is pointed out; but it 
 is yet in the hand of the enemy; and like the children of 
 Joseph, you must drive him out before you can take the 
 possession. 
 
 Of the company of pilgrims w ho attend you, it is expected 
 a church will be organized. You will carry with you this 
 little Vine. You are to plant it in a heathen land. Labor 
 to guard it against the blast that withereth, the worm that 
 consuincth, and the foxes that spoil the vine, if, under 
 God, this Church should be committed to your special 
 charge, you will take the oversight, not by constraint, but 
 with a ready mind, it will contain, we believe, the little 
 leaven , which will leaven the whole lump. 
 
 Take heed unto yourselves, and unto the Churches over 
 which the Holy Ghost may place you. ‘‘Feed the flock of 
 God. In all things study to shew yourselves approved; 
 workmen that need not to be ashamed, in doctrine shew ing 
 uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity, sound speech that cannot 
 be condemned; that he that is of the contrary part may 
 be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you.” 
 
 it will be your main object to promote the instruction, the 
 conversion, and the edification of the Heathen, in this 
 work, while you repose with entire dependence on God, 
 for success, you will not fail to exert every faculty of your 
 understanding, and every benevolent emotion of your 
 heart. Meditate upon the duties of your office and give 
 yourselves wholly to them, that your profiting may appear 
 unto ail. 
 
35 
 
 Devote a suitable portion of your labors to the instruc- 
 tion of the young. These, in every country, offer the 
 most successful field for exertion, and sustain the surest 
 hopes of future blessings. 
 
 You will gather and organize Churches, if God in his 
 grace, shall be pleased to prepare materials within the 
 sphere of your labors. Be not hasty in forming your 
 opinion of the spiritual attainments of the heathen; and 
 do not suddenly receive them to the communion of the 
 Church. One apostate may do more injury than hundreds 
 who are without. Be satisfied as to their doctrinal and 
 experimental knowledge of the Gospel before you commit 
 to them the means of wounding tiie cause. 
 
 Administer baptism to the proper subjects, and admit to 
 the Lord’s Supper oidy such as give evidence of faith in 
 Christ. 
 
 If, in the providence of God, you are called to commit 
 this ministry to others, “the same commit thou to faithful 
 men.” We charge you to “lay hands suddenly on no man, 
 neither be partakers of other men’s sins.” In planting 
 the standard of the cross in heathen lands, you w ill seek 
 to enlist such, and only such, as are qualified by the spirit 
 of God to defend it. 
 
 It is now too late brethren, to be allured by the fairy 
 dreams which deceived the first essays to christianize the 
 Islands of Polynesia. You know that temptations and 
 trials of no ordinary magnitude await you. The Mis- 
 sionary, as well as the Christian, must be fitted for his 
 work by passing through the furnace. If the great Head 
 of the Church intends to own your labors, lie will try 
 your faith. It is worthy of fearful remembrance that in 
 all the great missionary undertakings, the outset has been 
 attended with some such trials. While, therefore, you sow 
 the seed with tears, and labors, and watchings, be not dis- 
 couraged, though you wait long for the harvest. Should 
 no good fruit immediately appear, you will remember the 
 mission to (Jtaheite, and the long deferred, though glorious 
 success. “Let patience have her perfect work.” Prepare 
 
36 
 
 your minds to meet the ignorance, the stupidity, and the 
 opposition, as well as the superstition and vice of those to 
 whom you are sent. 
 
 You are soon, in the name of God, to set up the banners 
 of the Cross upon the fortress of the enemy, and proclaim 
 Jesus Christ to those whose native depravity, is fortified 
 by the most obstinate prejudice, and seared by the most 
 stu|od and senseless idolatry. The adversary will not give 
 up nis strong hold without a desperate resistance. 
 
 Hut rememoer your weapons are not carnal, but mighty 
 through God. Let your preaching be, not in the wisdom 
 of men, but in demonstration of tbe Spirit and with power. 
 Intermeddle not with any tiling foreign to tbe interests of 
 Zion, which will prejudice the truth. Be wise as serpents 
 and harmless as doves. 
 
 Cultivate an habitual and ardent desire for the salvation 
 of the heathen. Let the world be crucified to you, and 
 you to the world. Let no ambitious design, no desire of 
 worldly distinction from the missionary office, be found 
 among the motives of your heart. And count not even 
 your own life dear, if so be that you may testify the Gospel 
 of the grace of God. 
 
 Keep your hearts with diligence and maintain the power 
 of religion by your daily walk. He, who would guide 
 others, must himself be acquainted with the way. He, who 
 would administer tiie consolations of the Gospel, must 
 himself have tasted that the Lord is gracious. 
 
 But time would fail to recount all the duties and the doc- 
 trines, which it is incumbent on you to do and teach. This 
 holy Book contains your commission. This have wc receiv- 
 ed of the Lord, and this do w r e commit unto you. Hind 
 it upon your heart. Let it he your director and your com- 
 fort — a lamp unto your feet and a light unto your path. 
 
 To a people of 'a strange language, you w ill he called, 
 for many years, to preach even more by your benevolence, 
 meekness, fortitude, patience, and holy deportment, than 
 by your precepts. These speak a language which every 
 rational being can understand. Even heathen will judge 
 
37 
 
 men by their fruits. ‘‘AH your external conduct w ill be 
 regarded by them as parts of your religion.” They will be 
 influenced by your instructions no farther than they per- 
 ceive them to influence yourselves. 
 
 Remember, dear brethren, the sad downfall of Lewis, of 
 Rroomhall and of Vcasou. “Let him that thinketh he 
 standeth take heed lest he fall.” 
 
 The ordinary aids and consolations of ministers in Gos- 
 pel lands will be denied to you. The advice and Christian 
 faithfulness of your brethren you cannot enjoy. You 
 must therefore draw your support immediately from the 
 infinite fountain, and be eminently men of prayer. In 
 that moral wilderness you must gather your manna daily 
 or perish. 
 
 Rut let none of these things move you. ‘‘They that be 
 with you arc more than they that be with them.” The 
 consolations and encouragements prepared for you, if you 
 continue faithful, arc abundant, rich, and cheering. You 
 do not go out under untried circumstances. A cloud of 
 witnesses have already explored the “dark places of the 
 earth which are full of the habitations of cruelty,” and 
 have encountered the dangers. You will avail yourselves 
 of their experience. 
 
 You may be assured of an interest in the prayers of 
 many. Rut above all stay your trembling hearts upon 
 covenanted faithfulness, and live upon the promises of God. 
 You have put your hand to the plough; you cannot look 
 back. You have forsaken parents and friends, and the 
 elegances of civilized life, to labor and wear out in far 
 distant and benighted lands. 
 
 We have now consecrated you to God and to the heathen. 
 You are, henceforth, dead to the world, dead to the refine- 
 ments of civilized society, and the endearments of social tics 
 in the bosom of your native land. Our eyes are shortly 
 to behold you no more! But our prayers and our hearts 
 go with you. Be faithful unto death and may the blessing 
 of many ready to perish he your reward, and the crown of 
 your rejoicing in the day of the Lord Jesus. Amen. 
 
RIGHT HAND OF FELLOWSHIP, 
 
 BY THE REV. NOAH PORTER, 
 
 PASTOR OF TH* CHURCH OF CHBIST IN FARMINGTON, CON. 
 
 Among the early transactions of the Church, that was 
 not the least interesting, in which “James, Cephas and 
 John, perceiving the grace which had been given to Paul, 
 gave to him and Barnabas, the right hands of fellowship, 
 that they should go unto the heathen, while themselves re- 
 mained as Apostles of the circumcision.” This, no doubt, 
 was intended as an expression of their mingled confidence 
 and affection; as a token that though they were to he 
 locally separated, they would still be spiritually united, 
 and as a pledge that they would sacredly preserve their 
 union, by a common devotion of themselves to the. ser- 
 vice of the Redeemer, by a mutual remembrance of each 
 other in their prayers, and by such reciprocations of aid, 
 as the wants of the one might require, and the ability of 
 the other would afford. 
 
 Such fellowship exists betweeu all the people of God. 
 Though separated from each other by the space of half the 
 world’s circumference, they all have access, by the “One 
 Spirit, through the One Mediator,” to the “One God and 
 Father of all, w ho is above all, and through all, and in them 
 all.” Though distinguished by different languages, colors, 
 civil jurisdictions and ecclesiastical usages, they all belong 
 to one body, are animated by one Spirit, and by that Spirit 
 arc devoted to one glorious cause; the cause fur which 
 
39 
 
 the material Universe was made; for which the Son of 
 God was made flesh and became obedient unto the death 
 of the cross, and is exalted Lord of all; for which the Spirit 
 of holiness is promised and sent; for which angels are 
 commissioned as ministering spirits; and for which proph- 
 ets, apostles, and all the holy and excellent men who have 
 ever adorned the world, have prayed and toiled, and 
 suffered , — the g/ori/ °f redemption of the Church. 
 
 In this cause they all with one heart and one soul are em- 
 ployed. In this fellowship they greatly rejoice. They 
 find their highest felicity in being “workers together with 
 God,” and give united thanks to his name, that while lie is 
 neither worshipped nor served by men’s hands as though he 
 needed any thing of them, lie is pleased to prosecute his 
 designs of mercy in such a manner that his people may 
 co-operate with him in the accomplishment of them. 
 
 In what nation, and by what means soever, they can 
 promote these designs, they consider it their privilege to 
 he employed. But “to preach the unsearchable riches of 
 Christ,” and more especially to preach them among the 
 heathen, the chief of the Apostles, after the fullest expe- 
 rience of the privations, toils, and sufferings of the work, 
 considered an expression of grace to him, which next to 
 that of his conversion, demanded his admiring gratitude. 
 
 And now, Beloved Brethren, perceiving, as we think, 
 this grace to be given by the Lord Jesus to you, in the 
 name of the ecclesiastical council before which we stand, 
 I give you the right hand of fellowship, that you should go 
 to the heathen. 
 
 Brother Thurston, receive this right hand as a token of 
 our fellowship with you in the ministry of the Gospel. — 
 
 Brother Bingham, I present to you the same token and 
 pledge of mutual affection in this great and good work. — 
 
 In contemplating the untried sacrifices, hardships, and 
 perils of your mission, your hope and consolation must rest 
 on the all-sufficient grace of him who lias said, “Lo lam with 
 you.''' Yet it will be cheering for you to know, that your 
 fellowship with the multitude of your Brethren, whom you 
 
40 
 
 arc about to leave, will not cease. When the shores of 
 your beloved country shall sink for the last time beneath 
 your horizon, it will be consoling to consider the prayers of 
 the many thousands of our Israel as ascending to that God, 
 who commandeth the winds and the seas and they obey him, 
 for your protection and guidance upon the bosom of the 
 deep. When from the midst of heart sickening scenes of 
 idolatry, revolving Sabbaths shall turn your eager thoughts 
 to the multitude of your brethren, who are going up to the 
 house of the living God, or commemorating together the love 
 of the crucified Savior, it will be a supporting considera- 
 tion, that not only mention is made of you in our prayers, 
 but the God and Savior whom we worship, will be present 
 with you, to receive, at the same time, your praises and 
 supplications. 
 
 13eloved Brethren, we w ill make the cause to which you 
 are consecrated our own. We will consider ourselves 
 pledged, according to the grace given to us, to co-operate 
 with you in extending the Gospel of salvation to those w ho 
 dwell in the islands of the sea. We will not cease to make 
 mention of you, and of the object of your mission, in our 
 prayers; nor will vve consider aught that we possess, so far 
 as it shall seem to us to be required for this object, as being 
 our own. We w ill esteem it our duty and privilege, as it 
 is yours, “whether we live to live unto the Lord, or 
 vvliether w e die, to die unto the Lord.” And may the Lord 
 grant unto you and us, that when the labors of our mortal 
 course shall be closed, we may together receive from him 
 the blessed sentence of approbation: ‘‘Well done, good 
 and faithful servants, enter into the joy of your Lord.” 
 
INSTRUCTIONS 
 
 From the Prudential Committee of the American Board of 
 Commissioners for Foreign Missions to the Rev. Hiram 
 Bingham and the Rev. Asa Thurston, — Messrs. 
 Daniel Chamberlain, Thomas IIolman, Samuel 
 AVhitney, Samuel Ruggi.es and Elisha Loomis, — 
 John IIonooke, Thomas Hofoo and Villiam 
 Tennooe, — Members of the Mission to the Sandwich 
 Islands. 
 
 Dearly Beloved in the Lord, 
 
 The present is a moment of deep interest to you, and to 
 us all. You are now on tlie point, — the most of you of 
 leaving your country and your kindred and your fathers’ 
 houses, and committing yourselves, under Providence, to the 
 winds and the waves, for conveyance to far distant Islands 
 of the sea, there to spend the remainder of your days; — 
 and the rest, — of bidding a final adieu to this favoured 
 laud in which they were strangers, but in which they have 
 been blessed with a new and celestial birth, and returning 
 to those same — their native Isles, where their kindred 
 dwell, — but where the shadow of death still broods, and 
 where they know not what unanticipated and untried 
 scenes await them. 
 
 It is for no private end — for no earthly object — that you 
 go. It is wholly for the good of others, and for the glory 
 of God our Saviour. 
 
 6 
 
11 
 
 In those Islands, are many thousands of immortal beings, 
 for whom the Redeemer died; but who know him not, and 
 are perishing for lack of knowledge. It is his gracious 
 pleasure, and his high command, that his Gospel should be 
 preached to them; that they may be turned from darkness 
 unto light, be baptised in the Name of the Father, and of 
 the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, and taught to observe all 
 things whatsoever he hath commanded, — for their salva- 
 tion, and for his everlasting honour and praise. 
 
 To this high and holy service, you are solemnly de- 
 signated; to this arduous and momentous work, you are 
 henceforth to hold yourselves sacredly devoted. You go 
 to the Sandwich Islands, as the messengers of the 
 churches, and the gi,ory of Christ; — and expressly 
 and solely for the purpose of doing what you can, in your 
 respective stations and spheres, towards bringing your 
 long lost fellow beings there, into a full participation of the 
 privileges and blessings, which the Maker and Redeemer 
 of the world, in the plenitude of his goodness, has provided 
 for all who receive, and obey his Gospel. 
 
 It is with reference to this great enterprize, that you 
 are now to receive some general Instructions. If the prin- 
 ciples are not new to you, they are at least such, as cannot 
 be too often reiterated, or too strongly enforced. 
 
 The points of especial and essential importance to all 
 Missionaries, and all persons engaged in the missionary 
 work, are four : — Devotedness to Christ, — Subordi- 
 nation to rightful direction, — Unity one with 
 
 ANOTHER, — AND BENEVOLENCE TOWARDS THE OBJECTS 
 OF THEIR MISSION. 
 
 1. Devotedness to Christ. This indeed, is every 
 where the vital principle of the Christian character. 
 To the Missionary, an eminent degree of it is essential. 
 
 If the Christian is devoted to Christ, the Christian min- 
 ister is more especially devoted, and the Christian Mission- 
 ary to the Heathen, most especially. This is the general 
 apprehension and sentiment; the supposed process in becom- 
 ing a missionary; the profession, the condition, the visi- 
 
Ill 
 
 bility of the missionary life. This holy eminence must be 
 maintained. Level it, and the missionary spirit is sup- 
 pressed, and every mission to the Heathen is dead. What 
 is the purport of your presenting yourselves here — a spec- 
 tacle to God, to Angels, and to men? What means this deep 
 feeling; this extended moving and melting of heart? — 
 Let the den otement of the Missionary come to be regarded 
 as in no manner or degree eminent, or especial. — and all 
 this feeling will subside; this moving and melting of heart 
 will cease; and Christians and Christian ministers, finding 
 enough to do at home, will forget the command of the 
 ascending Redeemer, and leave the poor Heathen to perish. 
 
 Let it then be repeated, and let it be impressed on your 
 minds indelibly, — this eminence of sacred devotedness 
 must be maintained. 
 
 Hitherto, though Christians , you have been like other 
 Christians, labouring for yourselves, or your families. 
 Henceforth you are to labour for Christ, and all the fruits 
 of your labours, are to be held as irrevocably consecrated 
 to him, for the purposes of his mercy towards the dwellers 
 in the midst of the seas. 
 
 You have given yourselves to him for this service; you 
 have made your vows, and you cannot go back. If it be 
 not so, and if this point be not fixed with you, immoveably, 
 stop where you are, — and not venture to set foot on 
 that board, which is to bear this holy Mission, to the 
 scene of its labours, and trials, and eventual triumphs. 
 
 He who putteth his hand to the plough and looketh back, 
 is not fit for the kingdom of heaven: least of all is he fit 
 for an office in this kingdom so holy as that of the Mis- 
 sionary; for a service in it so sacred as that of the mis- 
 sionary work. 
 
 Sincerely devoted, however, as you may now be, you 
 will not feel as though you had already attained, or were 
 already perfect; but remember, that you are still in the 
 body, encompassed with infirmities, and appointed to 
 temptations. If then you have renounced the world; be 
 sure that in this renunciation, there be no reserve. If you 
 
IV 
 
 have crucified the flesh; be sure that you make the cruci- 
 fixion complete, — not sparing the right eye, if it offend, — 
 resolving decisively on the destruction of the sin that 
 easily besetteth you. In the scenes of your mission, there 
 will be urgent need of all this. 
 
 Whatever of earthly privations, or labours, or sufferings, 
 or perils await you, they arc comparatively as nothing. 
 You may glory in them all; you may count them all joy. 
 Other things, Dearly Beloved, arc before you. Your mis- 
 sion is to a land of darkness, as darkness itself; and of the 
 shadow of death, without order, and where the light is as 
 darkness. 
 
 To be far removed from these loved dwellings of Zion, 
 where the glory of Jehovah rests with healing and vivify- 
 ing radiance, — from these temples and these altars of the 
 living God, — from the thousand salutary influences, re- 
 straining, quickening, and cheering, of this extended 
 Christian community; to have your residence in the midst 
 of a strange people, who know not Jehovah, nor his ways; 
 on whose dwellings the light of heaven has not shosie; to 
 be surrounded with idols, and morais and altars of abomi- 
 nation, — and exposed to the impurities, the corruptions, 
 the nameless and numberless baleful influences of an un- 
 tutored nation, walking after their own lusts, and fulfilling 
 the desires of the flesh, and of the mind: — These will he 
 matters of no light kind. — If even here, amidst abundant 
 means, the divine life is hardly maintained, how will it be 
 in that region of death? What will you do there, if not de- 
 voted, heart and soul and body, to Christ? And what will 
 become of this Mission, and all the hopes of the church sus- 
 pended upon it? 
 
 We say not these things to distress you, and from no 
 boding distrust respecting you; hut that you may have 
 them always in remembrance; and being dead forever to 
 the world, and all that is in the world which is not of God, 
 you may be alive in Christ Jesus, and have life, more and 
 more abundantly through faith in him. You will find Him 
 
V 
 
 in 0 why lice, — as you have found him in this land , — n 
 Sun and Shield. His gracious word, Lo, I am with you 
 always, — was sufficient for the first Missionaries of the 
 Cross: — it will be sufficient for you. Sufficient for all the 
 purposes of safety, of support, of guidance, of consolation, 
 of strength, of courage, of success, of triumph, of glory. 
 Abide fixedly on this word, and you will have nothing to 
 want, and nothing to fear; and by example, as well as hy r 
 instruction, will teach the wanderers of the Isles, to observe 
 all things whatsoever he hath commanded you. 
 
 2. Subordination to rightful dirkjction. Tho 
 kingdom of the Lord Jesus is a kingdom of order. 
 Missions for the advancement of this kingdom, arc to he 
 maintained by a regular, though simple and free polity. 
 The free-will offerings of many Churches, and many thou- 
 sands of individuals are cast into one Treasury, and com- 
 mitted, for application to the intended objects, to persons 
 duly appointed to the high trust. Upon these sacred 
 funds, and under this constituted direction, approved per- 
 sons, freely offering themselves for the holy service, arc 
 sent forth to evangelize the Heathen. The compact, 
 explicit or implied, engages to them affectionate and provi- 
 dent patronage, maintenance ami aid; so long and only so 
 long as they conform themselves to the instructions and 
 regulations of the service. Contempt or disregard of the 
 instructions and regulations, would tend to confusion, and 
 every evil work. — The humble and devoted Missionary, 
 therefore, will consider a due observance of the directions 
 of those who arc instructed with the weighty concerns of 
 the Mission, as a point of sacred duty on w hich much is 
 depending. If in his judgment the service might be 
 benefitted by an alteration or modification of any part of 
 the system, or any special order, lie may reasonably con- 
 fide, that bis representations made in a proper manner, 
 will receive kind and considerate attention: for of all men 
 in public trust, the managers of Missionary concerns, have 
 evidently, the least inducement to treat those who act 
 under their direction, with unkitulncss, or neglect, and 
 
 I 
 
VI 
 
 the strongest motives to render them every facility, en- 
 couragement and aid in the faitiiful prosecution of their 
 work. 
 
 Nor is it much to say, considering the advantages which 
 the managers should be supposed to possess, for a correct 
 judgment, and the responsibilities under which they act, 
 that it will be a very rare case, in which the cause might 
 be served by a Missionary acting upon his own opinion, 
 in repugnance to their established regulations, or deliberate 
 decision. 
 
 Like the members of other Missions, you will find it 
 convenient, and necessary to form yourselves into a body 
 politic, having rules and regulations of your own, hut 
 conformable or not repugnant, to the directions of the 
 Board, or Prudential Committee; for the orderly manage- 
 ment of your joint concerns, — for the due distribution of 
 your means of support, your trusts and your labours, — for 
 the keeping of regular Records, and Journals, — for your 
 correspondence with the Secretary, and accounts with the 
 Treasurer, of the Board, — and for various purposes, im- 
 portant to the welfare and success of the Mission. Your 
 economical polity will be founded on the principle estab- 
 lished by the Board; “That at every Missionary station, 
 the earnings of the members of the Mission, and all monies 
 and articles of different kinds, received by them, or any of 
 them directly from the funds of the Board, or in the way of 
 donation, shall constitute a common stock, from which they 
 shall severally draw their support, in such proportions, and 
 under such regulations as may from time to time, be found 
 advisable, and be approved by the Board or by the Prudential 
 Committee.” And in your general system and particular 
 arrangements, proper regard will be had to the distinction 
 between Missionaries, and Assistants; to respective qualifi- 
 cations for different trusts and parts of the work; to the 
 convenience and satisfaction of individuals; and to the 
 essential interests and objects of the Mission. 
 
 To regulations or assignments thus rightfully made by 
 the body, as well as to directions, proceeding immediately 
 
VII 
 
 from the Board, or the Prudential Committee; every mem- 
 ber will hold himself bound to give heedful observance. 
 Likewise, ye younger , submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, 
 all of you be subject one to another , and be clothed with 
 humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the 
 humble, lie that is greatest among you, let him be as the 
 younger ; and he that is chief as he that doth serve. This 
 injunction of the sovereign and gracious Lord of Missions, 
 cannot sink too deeply into your hearts. The spirit of it 
 is vital to the Missionary Character, and to the Missionary 
 Cause. 
 
 3. Unity one with another: — Unity founded in 
 brotherly love, — on charity out of a pure heart, and of a 
 good conscience, and of faith unfeigned. 
 
 The words of the Lord Jesus, spoken to his disciples and 
 apostles, just as he was on the point of resigning himself 
 to the Cross, for them and for us, are never to be forgotten: 
 This is my commandment, that ye love one anoth- 
 er, AS I HAVE LOVED YOU. GREATER LOVE HATH NO 
 MAN THAN THIS, THAT A MAN LAY DOWN HIS LIFE FOR 
 HIS FRIENDS. Ye ARE MY FRIENDS, IF YE DO WHAT- 
 SOEVER i command you. Vcs, says the disciple, who on 
 that same evening, leaned on Ilis bosom, Hereby perceive 
 we his love, because he laid down his life for us; and ice 
 ought to lay down our lives for the Brethren. This senti- 
 ment was felt by the first Christians, and especially by the 
 first Missionaries of the Cross: and the exclamation was 
 extorted from their heathen observers, and other enemies, 
 “See, how Christians love one another.” The same senti- 
 ment should be felt, must be felt now; and especially, by 
 the members of every Christian Mission in heathen lands, 
 and the same impression must be made, on all who hare 
 opportunity to observe their quenchless charity, and their 
 indissoluble unity. 
 
 You feel now', Dear Brethren, little need of injunction 
 or exhortation on this point; you do love one another; and 
 your feelings would persuade you that your mutual love 
 can never be abated, — your affectionate union never be 
 
interrupted. The God of love and peace grant that it 
 may ever be according to your present, most fervent feel- 
 ings, and our most fervent desires. 
 
 But why is the commandment of the Saviour so emphati- 
 cal? and why is the injunction so often and so earnestly 
 repeated, by himself and by ins inspired Apostles? 
 
 In Christians, even in Christian Missionaries, there arc 
 remains of corrupt nature. Nor should it escape particular 
 advertency, that the circumstances in which Missionaries 
 arc placed, if in some respects favourable, are in other re- 
 spects unfavourable, to uninterrupted brotherly love and 
 unity. Brought together, and closely associated as 
 the members of a Missionary Establishment are, they 
 have opportunities and occasions to become minutely 
 acquainted with each other, and to perceive and feel 
 the differences of dispositions, habits, and inodes of 
 thinking and acting, and the respective defects as well as 
 excellencies of temper and manner and character; and 
 being in contact with each other, at so many points, 
 whatever of discordant qualities exists among them, will 
 almost unavoidably be often brought into unpleasant ac- 
 tion, and not unfrequently, unless great care be used to 
 prevent it, into painful and dangerous conflict. Add to all 
 this, that being separated from the great world, — from its 
 various and ever varying connexions, interests, objects, 
 pursuits and scenes, their unsanctified propensities and 
 passions, whatever they may he, are necessarily circum- 
 scribed, and held within a very limited range: and, there- 
 fore, if exerted or exhibited at all, will be exhibited and 
 exerted so as to bear with their whole effect upon particular 
 members, or in the entire body of the Mission. The almost 
 certain consequences are wounds of feeling, breaches of 
 mutual confidence, disaffcctions, alienations, animosities, 
 unkind debates, and embittered strifes. The old unsleep- 
 ing adversary is too fully aware of all this; and too 
 clearly sees the point to which his subtle artifices, and 
 malicious efforts, may be directed with the surest success. 
 
IX 
 
 Tlic emphasis of the injunctions, then, — the pathos of 
 the exhortations on this subject, — is not without reason; 
 not without special reason, in application to Missionaries. 
 To maintain brotherly love in its requisite purity, con- 
 stancy, strength and tenderness, that you may ail be insep- 
 arably one, as Christ and the Father are one, — will require 
 much vigilance, much prayer, much crucifixion of self, 
 much sanctifying grace. Put on therefore us the elect of 
 (iod, holy and beloved , bowels of mercies , kindness , humble- 
 ness of miml, meekness, long-suffering, forbearing one another 
 and forgiving one another; even as Christ forgave you, so 
 also do ye. And give all diligence to keep yourselves 
 always in this spirit. 
 
 4. Benevolence towards the objects of your 
 mission. Your Mission is a mission of mercy, ami your 
 work is to be wholly a labour of love. For lung and dis- 
 mal ages of darkness, the dwellers in Owhyhec, and the 
 neighbouring Isles, have been perishing for lack of knowl- 
 edge. The Sun of Righteousness lias never risen upon 
 them; they have been without God, and without hope in the 
 world, living in the wretched state of uncultured man. You 
 are going to publish to them Good Tidings, ‘ — to bear to 
 them the message of heavenly mercy and peace, — to pres- 
 ent to them a Light, which shall dissipate the glooms, so 
 heavily brooding upon them, ami show them the way of hap- 
 piness and of dignity, of glory and honour and immortality. 
 
 Your views are not to be limited to a low or a narrow 
 scale; but you are to open your hearts wide, and set your 
 mark high. You are to aim at nothing short of covering 
 those Islands with fruitful fields, and pleasant dwellings, 
 and schools and churches; of raising up the whole peo- 
 ple to an elevated state of Christian Civilization; of bring- 
 ing, or preparing the means of bringing, thousands and 
 millions of the present and succeeding generations to the 
 mansions of eternal blessedness. — Why should less be 
 done, or designed, in the Sandwich, than has been done, or 
 is now in fair prospect, in the Society Islands, 
 
 7 
 

 But it is an arduous enterprise, — a great and difficult 
 work. To obtain an adequate knowledge of the language 
 of the people; to make them acquainted with letters; to give 
 them the Bible, with skill to read it; to turn them from 
 their barbarous courses and habits; to introduce, and get 
 into extended operation and influence among them, the 
 arts and institutions and usages of civilized life and soci- 
 ety; — above all, to convert, them from their idolatries, 
 superstitions and vices, to the living and redeeming God, — 
 his truth, his laws, his ways of life, of virtue and of glory: — 
 To effect all this, must be the work of an invincible and in- 
 defectible spirit of benevolence; a spirit which is not to be 
 turned from its purpose by any ingratitude, or perverse- 
 ness, or mal-trcatment, or difficulties, or dangers; which 
 sufferetli long, and is kind; which, in the true sense of the 
 first Missionary to the heathen, will become all things to 
 all men; which will give earnest heed to the counsels of wis- 
 dom, and be studious in devising the best means and meth- 
 ods of promoting its great objects; and which most espec- 
 ially, and as its grand reliance, will humbly and thankfully 
 avail itself of the graciously proffered aid of Him in whom 
 all fullness dwells. 
 
 It is for Him you arc to do all, and suffer all: and the 
 same mind that w as in Him, — when He came to seek and to 
 save that which was lost, and gave himself a ransom for 
 many, — must be in you. As his kingdom, to which it is 
 your felicity to belong, and the interests of which only you 
 are to seek, is not of this world; — like Him, you will with- 
 hold yourselves entirely from all interference, and inter- 
 meddling with the political affairs and party concerns of 
 the nation or people among whom you reside; paying all 
 proper respect to the powers that he, and rendering to all their 
 dues; — tribute to whom tribute is due,cnstomto whom custom, 
 honour to whom honour is due: and showing unto all men 
 a bright and impressive example, of a meek and quiet 
 spirit, — and of whatsoever things are true, honest, just, 
 pure, lovely, and of good report. 
 
XI 
 
 Mr. Bingham, and Mr. Thurston, — to you is this grace 
 given, that you should he sent forth to preach among the 
 Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ; — to make him 
 known in all his grace, and all his majesty, to them that 
 dwell in the Isles ajar off, that have, not heard his fame , nor 
 seen liis glory. The world — think what it may — has not 
 an office in its gift, which is not annihilated, when com- 
 pared with that of the Christian Missionary: — not a crown 
 that would not fade into utter obscurity, in presence of that 
 of Paul. The seraph nearest the Celestial Throne, might 
 esteem it a distinguished honour to execute in a manner 
 befitting its nature and design, the trust committed to you. 
 Be not high-minded, but fear. You arc but carthern ves- 
 sels. All your sufficiency is of God; and the whole glory 
 w ill be his. 
 
 To you jointly is committed, this consecrated Mis- 
 sion, proceeding from the Bosom of Christian and of 
 Heavenly love: — this little but precious Church, an emana- 
 tion from that glory of Jehovah, which is rising upon our 
 Zion; and destined, we trust, to be a light shining in a 
 dark place, — shining more and more, until those long be- 
 nighted Isles shall all rejoice in the perfect day. 
 
 Sec, that like Moses, you follow, — and faithfully instruct 
 all to w hom your care is to be unremittingly extended, — 
 to follow the refulgent Pillar of unerring guidance; and 
 that like Paul, you resolve, and immovcably maintain the 
 resolution, to know nothing among the teofle to 
 
 WHOM YOU ARE SENT, SAVE JESUS CHRIST AND HIM 
 CRUCIFIED. 
 
 Messrs. Chamberlain, IIolman, Whitney, Ruggles 
 and Loomis, — the Apostles of the Lord had their Helpers. 
 Gains their host, and of all the Church, Luke the beloved 
 Physician, Marcus, Urbane and Tertius were Helpers. 
 Their witness is in heaven, and their record on high. To 
 the same high and holy work, you are designated as Help- 
 ers: and the same immortal meed is set before you. See 
 that you so run, as to obtain. 
 

 xii 
 
 Whatever you possess of various arts and knowledge 
 and faculties, is to be held as inviolably consecrated to 
 the service. All w ill be needed in the different parts of the 
 work; and all may be turned to important account. 
 
 To you it wilt belong to strengthen the hands and en- 
 courage the hearts of the Missionaries: to do what you 
 can, in jour several spheres, for the maintenance of the 
 Mission, and for the instruction, improvement and happi- 
 ness, temporal and eternal, of the poor pagans of the Isles, 
 and especially of the rising hope of their families, of their na- 
 tion and of the Church; and to shew' to them and the world, 
 that, in the various occupations of life, men may turn all 
 their talents, and all their labours, and ail their cares, and 
 all their sufferings to the honour of Christ, and to the 
 highest happiness and glory of themselves and their fel- 
 low-beings. All this, however, you can do, only by keep- 
 ing quietly, eacli one in his proper place, — pursuing cheer- 
 fully each one his proper duty, — and bearing joyfully 
 each one his own burden, and affectionately the burdens 
 of others. 
 
 Remember the Lord Jesus. — Though he was rich , yet for 
 our sakes he became poor. — Though he thought it not robbery 
 to be equal with God; yet he appeared in the form of a ser- 
 vant, and went about doing good. Remember loo, that 
 word of II is — He that over cometh, the same shall be clothed 
 in white raiment; and 1 will not blot out his name out of the 
 book of life , but I will confess his name before my Father, and 
 before lus angels. 
 
 The beloved females of the mission — are not to bo 
 forgotten. It was not in regard to tilings merely temporal 
 that Woman was designed, by the sovereign goodness of 
 the Creator, to be an help meet for Man; nor is there any 
 law — of heaven — for excluding the sex from the participa- 
 tion for which the same sovereign Goodness has fitted 
 them, in the toils and perils, the joys and the glories of 
 recovering the common race, lost in consequence of her 
 being deceived who was fust in the transgression. 
 
XIII 
 
 When the Son of God was on His Mission, women — 
 many women, testified the deepest, interest in it; minis- 
 tered to him of their substance; attended him in his jour- 
 lieyings and labours; and even followed him, when his dis- 
 ciples forsook him and fled, and earth and heaven were 
 in dismay; — followed him out to the scene of his crucifix- 
 ion. They loved the Saviour; loved his cause; and were 
 happy in the privilege of doing what they could for him. 
 
 And among the Helpers of the Apostles were 1‘liebe, a 
 succourer of many, and of Paul himself, — Priscilla, who 
 w as not less forward than her husband, to expose her own 
 life for the safety of the same Apostle, — Mary, Tryphena, 
 Tryphosa, Euodias, and the beloved Persia; all of whom 
 laboured much in the Lord; and their names arc recorded 
 with marks of distinguished approval, lor a sweet memo- 
 rial to everlasting ages, and before the throne of God and 
 the Lamb they share in the imperishable honours and 
 felicities of Apostles and Martyrs. 
 
 These favoured Daughters of Zion, then, who, with so 
 much tender cheerfulness, have given themselves to their 
 Saviour and Lord, for this arduous service, are not w ith- 
 out warrant, for thus leaving the world to its own opin- 
 ions and pursuits. He, it is not. to be doubted, kindly 
 approves and accepts this sacred seJf-devotement, and 
 these many sacrifices; and they may assure themselves, 
 that by the Directors and Patrons of this great enter- 
 prise, they are regarded, and will be remembered, with 
 most affectionate confidence and interest, as an important 
 part of the Mission. 
 
 Lpon them, under Providence, depend in no small de- 
 gree its comfort, its harmony, and its success. In the 
 domestic concerns, — in the education of the Heathen Chil- 
 dren, — in the various cares, and trials, and labours, of 
 the Mission, — by their assiduous attentions, their affec- 
 tionate offices, their prudent suggestions, their cheering 
 influences, and their unceasing prayers, they w ill help the 
 Brethren. And to tliemit will belong, to shew to the rude 
 and depraved Islanders an effective example of the purity. 
 
XiV 
 
 and dignity, and loveliness, — the salutary ami vivifying 
 influence, the attractive and celestial excellence, which 
 Christianity can impart to the Female Character. 
 
 John Honoouee, Thomas Hopoo, and William Ten- 
 nooe, little did you know, when you left the dark dwellings 
 of your nativity, for w hat purpose you were coining to these 
 unknown shores. Little did you think that here you were 
 to be born again; to be made the children of Him, who 
 created the earth and the heavens, — the everlasting God, 
 whom your fathers had never known, — and to receive a title 
 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and which 
 shall never fade away. But the purpose was well know n to 
 Him, who leadeth the blind by a way that they know not; 
 and is found of them that seek him not. Unspeakable is 
 the grace which lie has bestowed upon you; unspeakable 
 and everlasting are your obligations to him. 
 
 It is not, however, for your sakes only that this grace 
 has boon conferred. It is to be gratefully recognised and 
 hailed as a precious earnest of exceeding riches of mercy 
 to be ere long bestowed upon your nation, and to descend 
 with multiplying blessings to successive generations. 
 
 You go back to your native Isles with the richest treas- 
 ure, which the high Possessor of heaven and earth could 
 place in your hands. Y r ou must go with your own hearts 
 filled with this treasure; and burning with the desire, and 
 fixed in the purpose, of communicating it to your poor 
 perishing relations, friends, and countrymen. To them 
 you arc to carry back good tidings of great jot; and 
 to make known all that you have here learned, of utility 
 and importance, for tkc life that now is, and for that w hich 
 is to come. 
 
 What would have beenllie feelings of Obookiah, had he 
 lived to sec this day! — He does live, — and he does behold 
 this day; and amid the ten thousand times ten thousand 
 before the throne of God and the Lamb, lie is raising a 
 new ami immortal note of praise, for the light which is 
 dawning upon Owbyhcc and the kindred Islands. 
 
XT 
 
 \ou will never forget Obonkiah. — You will never forget 
 his fervent love, — his affectionate counsels, — his many 
 prayers and tears for you, and for his and your nation. You 
 saw him die; — saw how the Christian could triumph over 
 death and the grave; — saw the radiant glory in which 
 he left this world for heaven. You will remember it 
 always; and you will tell it to your kindred and country- 
 men who are dying without hope. 
 
 To the hearts of many thousands in this land, Beloved 
 young Brethren in Christ, you are dear; — they have borne 
 you often before the mercy seat of heaven: and upon you 
 as the First Fruits of the Sandwich Islands to Christ, hopes 
 of unutterable tenderness and interest are placed. Oh, 
 should you disappoint these hopes! — Should you, — the 
 first of your nation who have had the privilege to know 
 and confess the True God and Eternal Life — should 
 you turn away from llim, make shipwreck of your faith, 
 and plunge again into the corruptions of your former 
 state of ignorance, — earth and heaven might be moved! — 
 But who can tell the temptations that await you? And 
 w hose heart does not tremble, while it hopes concerning 
 you? 
 
 Put on, dear Youths, the w hole armour of God, that you 
 may be able to withstand in the evil day. fCe beseech you, 
 and exhort you by the Lord Jesus , that us ye have received 
 of us how ye ought to walk , and to please God, so you would 
 abound more and more. And this we pray, that your love 
 may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all 
 judgment; that ye may approve things that are excellent; 
 that ye may be sincere and without offence, till the day iff 
 Christ; being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which 
 are by Jesns Christ unto the glory and praise of God. 
 
 Beloved Members of the Mission, Male and Female, tliis 
 Christian Community is moved for you, and for your 
 enterprise. The offerings, ami prayers, and tears, and 
 benedictions, and vows of the Churches are before the 
 throne of Everlasting Mercy. They must not be vio- 
 lated; — they must not — cannot be lost. — But how can y<m 
 
XU 
 
 sustain tlie responsibility! — A nation to be enlightened, 
 and renovated, and added to the civilized world, and to the 
 kingdom of the world’s Redeemer and rightful Sovereign! — 
 In Iiis Name only, and by His Power, can the enterprise 
 he achieved. In Him be all your trust. To Him, most 
 affectionately and devoutly, and to the Word of his Grace, 
 we commend you. 
 
 By the Prudential Committee. 
 
 S. Worcester, Secretary, 
 
 Boston, Oct. 15, 1819. 
 
 MISSION TO THE SANDWICH ISLANDS. 
 
 Brig T/iaddeus , Boston, Capt. Andrew Blanchard. 
 MISSIONARIES. 
 
 Rev. Hiram Bingham, A. M. Mid. Coll, of Bennington, Vt. 
 
 Rev. Asa Thurston, A. M. Yale Coll, of Fitchburg, Mass. 
 
 ASSISTANTS. 
 
 Mr. Daniel Chamber i.ain, Agriculturalist, Brookfield, Mas.^. 
 Dr. Thomas Holman, Physician, Cooperstown, N. Y. 
 
 Mr. Samuel Whitney, Mechanic Ct Schoolmaster , Branford, Con 
 Mr. Samuel Ruggles, Catechist Cf Schoolmaster, Brookfield, Con 
 Mr. Elisha Loomis, Printer t? Schoolmaster , Middlesex, N. Y. 
 
 NATIVE TEACHERS. 
 
 John Honooree, Native of Owhyhee. 
 
 Thomas Hopoo, Native of Owhyhee. 
 
 William Tennooi, Native of Atooi. 
 
 FEMALES. 
 
 Mrs. Bingham, [late Miss Sybil Moseley,] Westfield, Mass. 
 
 Mrs. Thurston, [Miss Lucy Goodale,] Marlborough, Mass. 
 
 Mrs. Jerusha Chamberlain, Mother of 3 sons and 2 daughters, 
 eldest, 13, who go with her. 
 
 Mrs. Holman, [Miss Lucia Ruggles,] Brookfield, Con. 
 
 Mrs. Whitney, [Miss Mercy Partridge,] Pittsfield, Mass. 
 
 Mrs. Ruggles, [Miss Nancy Welles] East- Windsor, Con. 
 
 Mrs. Loomis, [Miss Maria T. Sartwell,] Utica, N. Y. 
 
 George Tamoree, — son of Tamoree, king of Atooi and 
 Oneehcow, two of the Sandwich Islands, — who has been educated 
 wiih the other Native Youths, at the Foreign Mission School. 
 Cornwall, Con. returns with the Mission to his Father.