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

On the Return of Missionaries.
being fickle-minded: and still more the fear that the cause of
missions itself, which he loves in the depth of his heart, will
be injured by "so many missionaries returning';" these things
will often prey keenly on a sensitive natiure, and may prevent
that course being followed, which the ablest medical advisers
recommend as indispensable, which his missionary brethren
cordially approve, and which his own best judgment dictates.
In this matter a man must throw himself upon God and the
church. Let him do what he honestly believes to be his duty,
and leave the consequences of his decision first to the judgment of his all-seeing and all-gracious Father, and then to the
candour and intelligennce of the people of God. The end
will be peace in his own mind, and no injury to the missionary
cause. He may regret that he has not been permitted to continue in his chosen work, and may feel deeply humble under
a conviction that he is not worthy of it; but the desire of it
was in his heart, and this God will graciously accept. For
the rest, what he knows not now, he hopes to know hereafter.
Before dismissing this point, we may add that the regulations
of the Board in regard to it seems to be wisely framed.
If a missionary finds his own health failing, or that of his
wife, after using the best medical aid and obtaining medical
counsel, he reports the matter to the Committee, with the action of the Mission to which he belongs. The parties immediately concerned, therefore, and those best acquainted with
the object under consideration, are those who are called to
act upon it; while their action in each case, must come under
the review of the churches at home. This method seems to
afford sufficient security against returns for insufficent reasons.
Connected closely with the general subject that has occupied the preceding pages, is another which we cannot now
fully discuss. We refer to the opinion entertained by some
of those who are most conversant with the missionary work,
that it is expedient for missionaries to return home at the end
of a given period, say ten or twelve years, on a temporary
visit to their friends and the churches.
The objections to this, as a general measure of policy, are
mainly two-the great expense involved by it, and the loss of
1850.]
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