TO THE COMMITTEE

OF THE

AUXILIARY SOCIETY OF BRUSSELS

For the Propagation of Christianity in the two Indies.

Brussels, March, 1830.

THE AUTHOR,

A MANUSCRIPT copy of this discourse falling into the hands of a friend of missions in Holland, he translated it by the author's consent, and published it in the Dutch language.* The author did not at that time think of publishing it in French. The work that it recommends having been established in a more regular manner at Brussels, by the formation of a Society for the propagation of Christianity in the two Indies, auxiliary to the two Evangelical Missionary Societies, established, the one at the Hague, the other at Rotterdam, the author thought that this discourse might perhaps contribute to enlighten the friends of Christianity and of humanity, concerning the end proposed by the new Society; and it is consequently published in the language in which it was pronounced. That the Lord may make use of it, whether in our own or foreign countries, to kindle the zeal of some in favor of the best work which man can undertake, is the wish and prayer of his heart. The facts alluded to in this discourse, are drawn from the most authentic sources; many have been extracted from the Letters upon India, by the missionary Ward, which have recently been translated into French. Some passages in this sermon were not pronounced in the pulpit, for fear of occupying a longer time than is usually accorded to the preacher.

* Het Nut van Evangelische Zendelingen ouder de Heidenen, en onze Verpligting om deselve he Bevorderen, in octavo, Amsterdam, by Saaks, 1828, and more recently in 12mo. by the same publisher, under the title of Predikt het Evangelium allen Creaturen.

CHRISTIANITY AND FOREIGN MISSIONS.

A DISCOURSE DELIVERED AT BRUSSELS.

"And Jesus said unto them: Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature."-MARK xvi. 15.

THE work of publishing the Gospel among all the families of the earth, is the greatest and most glorious work which has ever been or ever will be undertaken. While many deep shadows still obscure the tableau of Christian society, and while the reign of selfishness is still far from being over among men, yet we must acknowledge that the present is distinguished for its love of public good and for its humanity. Numerous associations have been formed in different countries, for objects of general utility. But all the associations, all the enterprises of the age, are but trifles in comparison with the magnificent undertaking of carrying the Gospel to every creature. The friend of humanity, before engaging in this, can make but feeble efforts; but when he enters upon this chief work, he pays the debt he owes to his species, and has the glory of bearing in his hand one of the stones destined to raise the temple of the living God in the world.

Is there anything called great among men, which the work of publishing the Gospel to every creature does not infinitely surpass? Is it an association intended to release some unhappy beings who are pining away in dungeons, or under the pressure of some other misery? That were a great work; but the work of which I speak announces to a captive world the opening of the prison and the oil of joy for mourning. Is it a conquest, having for its end the deliverance of a people from the oppressors who desolate them, and their restoration to their legitimate sovereign? This were indeed a noble task; but the work of which I speak is intent on conquering all the nations of the earth to their true and eternal King. Is it the giving to a whole people a legislation which will establish it in peace and prosperity? But the work of which I speak bears to all nations the charter of the human race, the fundamental law of its happiness, a celestial legislation which alone can give them righteousness and peace. The work of Evangelical Missions is the most stupendous of all the works of benevolence in which men can engage, for it embraces the whole world; it is the noblest, for the benefit which it confers is, of all those which man can bear to man, the most in harmony with the immortal nature of which our bodies are but the mortal tabernacles; the most

generous, since those to whom we send such gifts are unknown to us, differing frem us in manners, in color, in language; who .can never testify their gratitude in person, whom we shall never see but before the eternal throne, whither the preaching of the Gospel may have brought them. Why does this restless age, which is so busy in a thousand different ways, take so small a part in this labor of love? Why, when they lavish money in so many useless expenses, do they reserve nothing to assist those who would carry to Pagan nations the salvation of the world? Some object that this work is not necessary; we will reply by showing the magnitude of the evil. Others pretend that they do not know what remedy to apply to so great misery; we will present to them the means, ordained of God from the beginning of time. Others again object that they have no hope of success in this work; and we will show them the success with which it has already been crowned.

The Saviour, when he pronounced the words of our text, was standing on the Mount of Olives, after his resurrection from the dead. Beneath him was the earth which he had saved; around him his weeping disciples, above him heaven and its glory, of which he was about to take possession in the name of his redeemed. At this solemn moment, the last he was to spend on earth, he embraced, in the glance of his love, the world and the millions of people and generations whose eternal chains he had come to break, and giving to his disciples his last will, he established them perpetual executors of his love: "Go ye into ALL the world, and preach the Gospel to EVERY creature!"

Lord! grant us hearts attentive and obedient to thy Word, to meditate upon its holy obligations! Amen.

THE EVIL.

And first, some say: "It is not necessary to send missionaries to Christian nations; they are as well off as we are, and are likewise just as happy. Would to God we had their innocence, their sweet and gentle manners!"

It is not necessary! It is impossible that it is a Christian who utters these words. Judge of this: the population of our earth is estimated at about ten hundred millions, of whom only two hundred millions are Christians; one hundred millions are Mahometans; and nearly seven hundred millions are Pagans. Thus, every thirty years, eight hundred millions of souls, immortal as our own, leave the earth without having known the true God, He who has said: 1 am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father but by me. Thirty years again roll round, and eight hundred millions more have followed the former to the grave-and thus generations on generations, millions descend sadly to the sepulchre, in the midst of a dark and lamentable night. What truly Christian soul, after this solemn reflection, can inquire: "Is it necessary?"

But the state of the unchristianized world is such, that the friend of humanity, whatever may be his faith, ought to be the

friend of the work which I commend. Everywhere, in the absence of Christianity, the earth is filled with barbarism, with ignorance, with horrid superstitions; for Christianity is not only the salvation of individual souls, it is also the strength and prosperity of nations. Among all these nations, is there one of which a false philosophy would undertake the defence? Do they speak to us, for example, of China? We will reply by showing them nine thousand children annually exposed, in the capital of this empire, to the most sorrowful death. Would they exalt Islamism, which unites the belief in the unity of God and the immortality of the soul, which they imagine sufficient for man? We will show Islamism extended like a corpse, for several centuries, over the finest regions of the earth, changing, by its impure breath, these countries to a desert, and starting from its slumber only to scatter furiously around it fire and sword, and to spill in torrents the ancient and generous blood of the defenders of the Cross.

No, my brethren, mild and simple manners are not found among Pagans !

Let us make the tour of the world, and see what is the condition of the people among whom the evangelical missionaries labor, in whose behalf we to-day implore your alms and prayers. Do not fail to discover the horrors which appeal to your charity.

What do we behold, if, leaving Europe, we first pass along the western shores of Africa, from whence are transported, with all their superstitions and terrors, those poor West Indian slaves, to whom our missionaries bear the law of true liberty? We shall see negro kings celebrating cruel feasts, which they crown by the massacre of their prisoners of war and of their own subjects. A king dies at Akim: they break the limbs of three hundred and thirty-six of the females of his harem, then bury them alive. Do ambassadors desire an audience of these kings? they must approach the throne by filing across long rows of still reeking human heads; such is their method of displaying their magnificence, and of making their glory to shine forth. A king dies in the kingdom of Ashantee, on the Gold Coast: his orams, or servants, to the number of one hundred, are immolated on his tomb, and a great number of his wives submit to the same fate. The reigning king has recently lost his mother, and he testifies his filial grief and mourning by three thousand human sacrifices, to which each of the large towns are obliged to contribute a hundred victims, and the smaller ones ten; and, in these unhappy countries, the manners of the subjects are always in keeping with the manners of their rulers! The Bushmen, of South Africa, live only by murder and robbery, and deliver themselves to the commission of the most horrible crimes. There, the mother, the tender mother herself, forgets her child, and, like the beast, forsakes it. In moving about from place to place, these people frequently abandon, in the desert which they quit, their aged parents and relations: placing near them a little food and some shells filled with water, they salute them-and soon these unhappy beings die of hunger, or become the prey of ferocious beasts. I would ask