The Thirteenth Annual Report of the Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church: 1850. [pp. 525-541]

On the Return of Missionaries.
branch of commerce, because it is necessary to send their ships
to an African coast; nor do they shut up their work-shops
and factories, because their labourers are therein confined for
many weary hours to work that is injurious to health, while
they are breathing an atmosphere quite different from the air
that refreshes the farmer in his fields. The frame work of
society, and the employments of men in their every day life,
prove that a perfect exemption from the risk of disease or
even of death is not looked for by the men of this generation.
Surely our Lord did not fail to consider the risk of health, the
feebleness of human life, the certainty of many labourers passing early from their work to their reward, when he gave his
commandment that the gospel should be preached to every
creature. It is to be preached by men, with all their frailty
and with their brevity of life. And the Church must consider this, in her work of missions, so that she may perform her
duty humbly, faithfully, and wisely.
When a missionary goes abroad, especially if his destination
be to one of the eastern missions-in China, Siam, or India,
he certainly goes with the desire and expectation of spending
his life in the service of the church among the heathen. IHe
believes himself to be moved and called to this work by the
Hioly Spirit. By the leadings of Providence, an open door is
set before him. By the church he is accepted, and sent forth,
and supported. He goes forth willingly, though it may be
with inexpressible feelings of grief at parting with friends, and
going out of the hallowed circle of Christian society to take
up his abode in a land of darkness and spiritual death. Yet
he goes forth willingly, and not by compulsion or constraint;
his is a purely volunteer service; the only constraint he feels
is that of the love of Christ and a sense of duty to him as his
gracious Lord. And it is his earnest desire that he may be
enabled to devote the best energies of his life to the promotion
of the Redeemer's kingdom among the heathen. This is hii
solemn purpose, his most sacred desire.
It is a purpose fortified by the strongest reasons. The
lowest of these is the expense involved in his outfit and passage to the mission field, which would seem to have been incurred in vain if he leave it. Far higher considerations are
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[OCTOBER