LECTURE VI. ON THE PRACTICAL SUCCESS OF THE PROTESTANT RULE OF FAITH IN CONVERTING HEATHEN NATIONS. "Go ye unto the whole world, and preach the Gospel to every creature." Mark xvi. 15. THIS, my brethren, was the important commission delivered by our Saviour to the apostles. It'stands in close connection with that other command on which, on a former occasion, I expatiated at great length; wherein he ordered his apostles to teach all nations, teaching them to observe all things whatever he had commanded them, and promised to be with them all days, even unto the end of the world. On that occasion I endeavored to show you by the construction of the very text, that there was annexed a promise of success to the commission given: so that what was therein enjoined to the apostles and their successors, in the church of Christ, he himself would for ever enable them to put in execution. Now, therefore, it must be an important criterion of the true religion of Christ, or, in other words, of that foundation whereon he intended his faith to be built, to see where that blessing, that promise of success from his assistance, hath rested, and where, by its actually taking effect, it can be shown to have been perpetuated, according to the words of our blessed Redeemer. For we can not doubt that the apostles, in virtue of that promise, went forth, and not only preached to nations, but actually converted them. It was in virtue of, this same promise that their successors in the church continued to discharge the same duty of announcing Christ, and him. crucified, to nations who had never heard his name; and there can be no doubt that their success was due to their having been in possession of the promise there given; and, consequently, to their having built the gospel on that foundation to which the promise was annexed. In other words, it must be a very important criterion of the true rule of faith, declared by our blessed Redeemer to his church, to see whether the preaching according to any given rule has been attended with that blessing which was promised, VOL. 1.-12. and which secures the enjoyment of his support; or whether its total failure, proves it not to have satisfied the conditions he required. Such, my brethren, is in some respects the subject on which I am going to enter. I wish to lay before you, in this and my next discourse, a view of the success which has attended the preaching of the gospel of Christ, according to the two different rules of faith which I have endeavored to explain; and I will begin, in the first place, and it will occupy me this evening, with examining the history of the different institutions formed in this and other Protestant countries for the purpose of diffusing the light of the gospel among the nations who sit in darkness and the shadow of death. For this purpose, it is my intention to make use, as much as possible, of authorities which no one will impugn-I intend, perhaps with one or two exceptions, not to quote a single Catholic authority, indeed I will endeavor, as much as I can, to confine myself to the testimony of such as are actually engaged on these missions, or to the reports of the societies which direct and support their efforts. The progress of conversion had gone forward from age to age, ever since the time of the apostles; and not a century, particularly among those commonly designated as dark and superstitious times, not a half century had passed in which some nation or other was not converted to the faith of Christ. By conversion I do not simply mean their being kept in the missionary state under the direction and tutilage of persons sent from another country, but so established in the course of a very few years as to be able to exist independently. They of course always remained in connection and communion with the mother church, whence their faith originally came; yet so as to have their own native hierarchy, governing many congregations and churches regularly organized, and of such a character as that wherever the doctrines of Christ had once been preached, error was completely rooted out, and never again appeared; and the whole population, in the course of a very short time became members of the church of Christ. This is naturally the most simple and obvious idea that can be formed of conversion; and during these ages, this was the way that all the missions were conducted, and these were the results which they uniformly gave. And so far was this spirit of conversion from failing in later times, that on the contrary, just at the moment of the reformation, it is remarkable how a new field opened, and was cultivated with success, among the natives of America, and in the peninsula of India. When, therefore, the new religion took possession of this and some continental countries, it very soon struck those who were the founders of the new churches, that it was an important duty incumbent on them to show themselves inheritors of the promise made by Jesus Christ; and not content with supposing themselves to have received a new light, they determined to diffuse its rays among those nations who had not enjoyed the same happiness. Hence it was that so early as the year 1536, the church of Geneva instituted a mission for the conversion of heathens who had not received Christianity in any form. Of the history of the mission I can say nothing: but it is acknowledged on all hands, that it proved abortive, and was very soon discontinued, in consequence of its ill success. I may therefore date the missionary labors of Protestantism from the beginning of the last century. In the year 1706, Frederic IV, king of Denmark, established a mission, which still enjoys considerable celebrity, and of which I shall later give you some details. It flourished chiefly after the middle of the last century, under the direction of Ziezenbelg, Schultze, and Schwartz: and this seems to have been the first mission attended with any appearance of success. In this country, in the year 1701, the first missionary society was formed and incorporated by royal charterthat is, the "Society for the Diffusion of Christian Knowledge;" and about the same period the "Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts," was also completely organized and in activity. From that time, until towards the end of the last century, nothing particu larly striking was done in this department. It was in 1792 that the Baptist Missionary Society, since become so celebrated by its many versions of the Scripture into the eastern languages, made at its head-quarters at Serampore, was first instituted and consolidated; and in 1795 the "London Missionary Society," which belongs to the Independent Congregation, was also formed; followed in the next year by the "Scotch Missionary Society." In 1800 the "Church Missionary Society" came into activity. Since that time, a great number of secondary associations have sprung up; and many have also been formed by members of different religions in this country, as the Wesleyans, and others, whom it is not necessary to enumerate. Besides these societies in our own country, there are also similar ones in America, some in Germany, and some in France, which have all directed their labors to the same important purpose. In other words, I may say that the most wealthy and most enlightened nations of the earth, according to the flesh, have devoted themselves, with extraordinary zeal and diligence, to compass this important end, of bringing heathens to a knowledge of Christianity. Next we may inquire, what are the means which they have in their hands? They are such as never, from the time of the apostles have been brought to bear, I will not say upon the work of conversion, but on the attainment of any great moral object. I have not always had the convenience of consulting documents down to the very latest period; and I have therefore been obliged to content myself with such as have come within my reach. I mention this cautionary circumstance for this purpose, that, if I do not always quote the notices received within this and the last year, it may not be supposed that I have been ruled by a wish to avoid what might appear adverse to my assertions. With the greatest pleasure I would have examined the history of every mission down to the present day, if my other avocations had permitted me; or if it were possible to have access to the necessary documents. It has been in my power, however, to obtain those of two or three years ago in a pretty complete form; and this is why I shall seem to choose my specimens from that period. The statements I shall be able to make will be sufficiently accurate to direct your attention especially to the working of a principle-to the discovery of how the method pursued has been found to act; for this will be accomplished whether we take the average of a smaller or a greater number of years. For if we shall discover that the failure of these attempts has been in consequence, not of a want of time, but of a want of power in the means employed, we can arrive at a proper estimate of the correctness of their principle. I find from authentic documents published in the "Christian Register," for 1830, that five of these societies, from among which some of the most opulent are deducted, amassed funds in this country alone to the * *The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, and the Scotch Missionary Society, are omitted. amount of 198,1517.; and if the other societies received in the same proportion, the sum must have been perhaps nearly double that amount.* In addition to this, however, we must not omit the co-operation of foreign societies, especially those of America, the contributions of which have also been very considerable. There is another way of making a calculation. In the year 1824 it was boasted that 1000l. a day were expended upon the work of conversion, which would give us an estimate of 365,000l. per annum, devoted to this great task.f And you will see, presently, that even this falls below the truth at the present day. But, in addition, it would be unjust to overlook the immense assistance afforded to these societies by that which is generally considered the most important and most interesting in this country-the Bible Society. For a great portion of its funds go indirectly to these societies, by furnishing them with copies of the Scripture-the most important and essential instrument, in their idea, for the accomplishment of their object. The thirty-first annual report, the last published, gives the net receipts for the year ending March 1, 1835, at 125,7217. 14s. And from the same report we learn that the expenditure of the society, during the thirty-one years of its existence, amounts to 221,6407. 18s. 11d.§ It appears, moreover, that this society alone has printed nine millions one hundred and ninety-two thousand nine hundred and fifty Bibles or New Testaments; to which, if we add the issues from other societies in Europe and America, amounting to 6,140,378, we have the enormous aggregate of fifteen millions three hundred and thirty-three thousand three hundred There are omitted, the Society for Promoting Christian 50,000 £293,151 § Ib. p. 142. |