"The first question which pressed upon the attention, of the diiectors oftlie London IMissionary Society after its formation was the selection oftlie most suitable fields of labor. Wishing to commence their operations in a part oftlie world where no efforts had as \et been made by any other society for the evan-eli/.ation of the natives, and eiieouiiejed bv the reports which had been brought to Eimland Irom the South Seas by an exph.ring exjie- dition whiih had discovered many new islands, they de- cided, ill the first place, to send missionaries to Polynesia. The field once chosen, and that choice published, it was found that neither aireiits nor money wete wanting for the enterpiise. The enth'usiasm w hich iirevailed was br.)ad and deep, tiiid the readiness with which service was of- fered and funds furnished cheered the hearts of the d.rec- tors, and was regarded by them as a clear indication of the diviue favor. In the early part of 179(5 the missionary
mssioxs
362
MISSIONS
ries were sent ont, and the canse again prospered. The srood work was afterwards extended to Madras, Belsraiini, Bellarv, Bangalore, Mysore, Salem, Conibaconum, t'oima- toor, Travancore, Chinsarah, Berhanii)ore, Benares, Sural, and oth(M- parts of India. At all these places schools wi re established, c()n!J:rc<rations gathered, the Gospel fiiithriilh
ship Duff was purchased, and freighted with a suitable car<'o ■ and twenty-nine agents who had volunteered their services embarked for their distant sphere of labor. These were not all missionaries, properly so called, only four of them being ordained ministers, and the rest mechanics
or artisans of different kinds, inicMKk'd to take a part in ^ , ■ , - , - , /,u - - u . ,■
the "ood work Everviliiii_' :ip|»an'il providc-ntial hith- preached, and many souls won for Christ through the erto^and to crown all, -Mr. .I:iiii( > Wilson, a retired cap- agency of this excellent institution.
lain'of excellent spirit iunl jicat jirol'cssional skill, prof- "At an early period of its history, the London Mission- I'ered his services to navigaic ihc ship with its precious ary Society was led to turn its attention to the West Indies. car"o to Polynesia. After some detention at Portsmouth, In lt-07 a Dutch planter in British Guiana made an earnest tiie 7>"//" weiit to sea on Sept. 23, followed by the earnest ' appeal to the directors for a missionary, accompanied by pravers of thousands; and by the good providence of (iod I a liberal ofier of pecuniary assistance. This led to the "' 1 her destination in safetv, uotwithistanding a se- | appointment of the Kev. John Wray as the lirst asrent of
reached her destination . , .
vere storm which she encountered on the Cape ol Good
'"'i'he missicmary ship Dt/jf arrived at Tahiti on March 6, IT'.iT, and anchored safely in Matavia Bay, at a distance of about three quarters of a mile from the shore. In the afternoon the captaiu and a member of the mission land- ed, and were met on the beach by Paitia, the aged chief of the district, who welcomed them to the country, and offered them a large native liouse lor their accommoda- tion. It was arran-red that to tlie lour ordained ministers and fonrtoieu of the nnnmrrieil brethren should be con- tided the eslablislnnent and iirosecution of Ilie mission at Taliiti ; tliat ten slionld .-luleavor to eflect a selilenient at ToULra, one ol" the b'riendly IsUinds; and that two should proceed to tlic .Maniuesas. The a;;cnts were distributed according to this arrangement, and commenced their la- bors, no doubt, with the best intentions. It would be an exercise of painful interest, if our space permitted us, to give the sequel of this enterprise in all its particulars. It mav suthce to say that in this large band of missionary agents, selected in such haste, there were several men who proved altogether deticient in mental power, moral coiiraiiC, and other necessary <inaliruations for the work Consequently, some proved unlaiilif enterprise altogether; others were
few who were stout-hearted and eourageotis labored un- der many ditlictilties. In some of the islands the mission totally failed, several of llu^ agents being murdered, and the rest having to llee for their lives. In after-years the London Missionary Society learned to select its nii-^sicnia- ries With greater care, and seminaries l>r tlieir ])roper traininir were speedily eslablishcd. Afur numerous re- verses,'disappointmeius, and lout: delav, ilic niis-ionnries of the London So^.iv iili in, ,Nl;, pi- ... . -i:, a llieir la1)ors in various islan.:- A I' < • ■ - ■- • i ii ' :i! - -t a most re- markable eliara. ;■ ,. , . . i i^-i '" '' ■■ i: -li Hie name of John William-, i li- in : ' ; -T 1 / ii.,ii ; i, and those ol other worlliies, will be handed down to posterity as enti- tled to afieclionate remeiubrance.
"In IT'.is, ;iboul three vears after its commencement, the London IMissionary Society sent forth four missiona- ries to Southern Africa: Dr. Vanderkemp and Mr. Ed- mcmds to labor in that part of the Cape Colony which bordered upon Kaffraria, and Messrs. Kitchener and Ed- wards were stationed north of the colony among the Bushmen. In the following year Dr. Vanderkemp and his colleague penetrated into l\alUrland, and offered the Gospel to' the wariike natives, but with little success nt that time. They afterwards labored among the Ilotten- tol^ liviie' within tlie colonial boundavv, several of whom were sui-resslullv instrmied in the Ihinirs of God, and bnaight to a savin- kiiowledL'e of the truth. In isuti the missionaries crossed ilie oiauL'e Kiver, and commenced their labors anion l' ilii' wild Nama<iuas. Here the cele- brated Robert Moffatt began his lionorable and eventful career, and was favored to rejoice over the notorious Hot- tentot chief Africaner. Mr. Moffatt afterwards estab- lished a prosperous mission at Kuruman, among the Bechuanas, many of whom he saw gathered into the fold of Christ, and into whose language he translated the Holy Scriptures. After a long, laborious, and honorable mis- sionarv career, extending over half a century, Mr. Moffatt tln.illv "returned to England in 1S70, a remarkable instance