ished, but not so much so
as may at first glance be supposed from the progress in Christianity
which has been made, and from the powerful revivals which have here been
experienced.

Again it must be remarked, that children trained up on heathen shores
are in danger of _contracting habits of indolence_. The heathen, as a
general remark, exert themselves no oftener and no longer than they
feel the pressure of present want. They are far from being industrious,
and farther still from anything like enterprise. Those nations that are
partly civilized exhibit more or less industry, and are acquainted with
some of the arts; but barbarous nations are acquainted with none of the
improvements that elevate society, and exhibit a state of lounging
indolence and torpid inactivity. If there be noise, it is not the rattle
and whirl of business, or the hum of industry; but the noise of giddy
mirth, boisterous and unmeaning laughter, or fierce and angry
contention. If there be stillness, it is not the peace and quiet of
well-ordered society, but the gloomy and deathlike stillness of
indolence, sensuality, and beastly degradation. Now, who does not know
that children are likely to be much influenced by the aspect and
character of the society by which they are surrounded? Who does not know
that they are likely to imbibe the spirit of the nation in which they
live, whether on the one hand it be that of industry and enterprise, or
on the other, that of sensual ease and torpid indolence? Let a youth be
trained up in a village of intelligence, active industry and stirring
enterprise; let his ears be filled with the noise of business from
morning till night; let him travel in stages, in steamboats and on
railroads, and it will be next to impossible for him to be indolent and
sluggish. But in heathen society, the whole atmosphere is entirely
different; it is a choke-damp to all activity, and it falls on the
senses with a benumbing and deadening influence.

But more than this, missionaries have no business in which to employ
their children; and if it were possible to devise business in which to
employ them, there is no one to superintend their labor. Missionaries
have no time for the purpose, and no other persons, among most pagan
nations, can be found who are trusty and competent. This is a stubborn
fact, and stands in the way as a very great obstacle. Neither, in most
cases, can the children of missionaries be kept industrious in the
acquisit