22 LECTURE I. 



ceive the Gospel, they are open to Christian influences. 

 Among the Bechuanas the Gospel was well received. 

 These people think it a crime to shed a tear, but I have 

 seen some of them weep at the recollection of their sins 

 when God had opened their hearts to Christianity and 

 repentance. It is true that missionaries have difficulties 

 to encounter ; but what great enterprise was ever ac- 

 complished without difficulty? It is deplorable to think 

 that one of the noblest of our missionary societies, the 

 Church Missionary Society, is compelled to send to Ger- 

 many for missionaries, whilst other societies are amply 

 supplied 1 . Let this stain be wiped off. — The sort of men 

 who are wanted for missionaries are such as I see 

 before me ; — men of education, standing, enterprise, zeal, 

 and piety. It is a mistake to suppose that any one, as 

 long as he is pious, will do for this office. Pioneers in 

 every thing should be the ablest and best qualified men, 

 not those of small ability and education. This remark 

 especially applies to the first teachers of Christian truth 

 in regions which may never have before been blest with 

 the name and Gospel of Jesus Christ. In the early ages 

 the monasteries were the schools of Europe, and the 

 monks were not ashamed to hold the plough. The mis- 

 sionaries now take the place of those noble men, and we 

 should not hesitate to give up the small luxuries of life in 

 order to carry knowledge and truth to them that are in 

 darkness. I hope that many of those whom I now address 

 will embrace that honourable career. Education has been 



1 See Appendix, p. 156. 



