Fruits of Toil in the London Missionary Society | Page 5

men were never rendering to the Society a
nobler service than at the present time; and were never more worthy of
our highest esteem. It is, therefore, with indignation and regret that
Christian men have seen the recent attacks made on the whole
missionary body, and the contemptuous terms in which their labours
have been described. Looking away from all that is temporary and
special, and contemplating that which springs from their ordinary
duties, the Directors would never forget what a noble position
missionaries occupy, and how truly great, from its very nature, their
work is. They have gone forth from home and country as ambassadors
of God, to preach His message of forgiveness; to bring the Saviour in
His human life to those who have never understood Him; to save the
perishing, and bind them as with golden chains to the feet of God. They
are battling with error, and breaking up the iron systems of priestcraft,
inhumanity, and wrong, which have enslaved men for ages, and have
shut off from them the light and love of their Heavenly Father. They
are staying the progress of crime; they lay the hand of law on the
slaveholder; they appeal to the drunkard; they clear out the dens of vice;
and to the hopeless and despairing they open up long vistas of light and
gladness, which terminate only in Heaven. Everywhere they are

preaching with power. Their Divine message is quickening the dead
conscience of nations: it is converting the wicked, and saving souls
from death; it is lifting women from the dust; it is purifying family life;
it is putting trade under rules of honesty, and teaching humanity where
cruelty was the universal rule. Its principles are going down to the very
roots of national life; it is substituting law for force; and is moulding
young communities for a higher life in all their people, a closer union
to their fellow-men, because they are gaining a holier and truer union
with God.
[Illustration: MR. VIVIAN'S HOUSE, RAIATEA.]
They are doing this among great varieties of place and people; amid
many forms of outer life; amid many grades of human comfort and
human resources. Some labour among the most glorious manifestations
of creative might; others upon scorched and barren plains; others in the
busy life of cities; others in lonely isles. In labours abundant, in perils
oft, by example, by preaching, by prayers, everywhere they seek to
approve themselves unto God, and serve their generation according to
His will. Politicians may lecture them: men of science may undervalue
them. Time-serving editors may pour on them their scorn; they may be
called enthusiasts, or be socially despised; but steadfast in duty,
unmoved by reproach or praise, they will reply: "Whether we be beside
ourselves, it is to God; or whether we be sober, it is for your cause."
Our "meat is to do the will of Him that sent us, and to finish His work."
[Illustration: BENGALI GIRLS' SCHOOL, CALCUTTA.]
[Illustration: CAPTAIN COOK'S TREE, TAHITI.]
It is impossible for any Report to describe in detail, and with full justice,
the varied labours in which these brethren are engaged. Like ministers
at home, our Missionaries preach the Gospel; instruct, govern, and
build up churches; watch over the young, and stir up their people's zeal.
But they do a great deal more. Placed in many cases in simple states of
society, on a low level of education and social connection, as well as of
religion; in states of society saturated with heathen vices and heathen
beliefs, our missionaries have not only to Christianize individual souls,

but to Christianize literature, to Christianize public law, to form a
healthy public opinion, to sanctify public taste. Forms of agency,
therefore, unneeded at home, are required on every hand; varied in
character, at times expensive, all carefully adapted to the case with
which they deal. And it is in the employment, the adaptation of these
means to their appointed ends, that missionaries specially prove
themselves "wise to win souls."
[Illustration: INSTITUTION AT MALUA, SAMOA.]
Thus it is that not only on the Sabbath but through the week, not only in
the pulpit but in the school, the market, the private house, in a boat,
under a spreading tree, our brethren expound and enforce that Gospel
which shall sanctify and govern the hearts of many nations. Thus it is in
the cities of China and India, in the villages of Africa, among the
swamps of Guiana, beneath the palm groves of Samoa, they seek to be
instant in season and out of season. Some are pastors of churches,
others preach almost entirely to the heathen. Some are training students
in seminaries. Some superintend a range of simple schools; others, in
Indian cities, give large time and effort to the important Institutions