istians and of friends. But such a dependence must be uncertain,
especially as few Christians appreciate the reasons and feelings of
missionaries in sending home their children. Who of my readers in
Christian lands would be willing to throw his own child on such a
precarious subsistence?

But the strongest objection, in my opinion is this: _If no other course
can be adopted than that of sending the children home, it is to be
feared that the number of missionaries will never be so increased as to
afford a rational prospect of the world's conversion._ While the plan of
sending children home is cherished, it will seem so incompatible with a
large number of laborers, that it will tend to perpetuate the
destructive notion, that the nations are to be saved by the labors of
merely a few hundred men. But if means are to be employed in any measure
commensurate with the end in view, a few men cannot put forth the
instrumentality needed to elevate all nations. To commit the work to a
few is in truth to relinquish it. If, then, the measure of sending
children home should tend in the least to favor this destructive notion,
it must, if possible, be avoided. This tendency is disastrous; and is,
of course, an objection of immense force.

It is clear that there are, on the one hand, very strong reasons for
sending children home, and on the other hand, very strong objections to
such a course. Missionaries, then, are reduced to a very trying dilemma.
Whichever course they choose, it is equally distressing. Whichever way
they turn, they find enough to rend their hearts with anguish. There are
two cups, mixed indeed with different ingredients, but equally bitter,
one of which they must drink. Their only comfort is to look upward, pour
their sorrows into the ear of God, and cast their cares on him who
careth for them. This is a trial, the sting of which cannot be
appreciated except by those who have felt it. It is by far the greatest
trial of the missionary, and probably greater than all his other trials
combined. The pain of leaving one's kindred and country is nothing
compared with it.

But if the cup be of such a mixture, can there be found those whose
hearts are so insensible as to throw in other ingredients to make the
draught more bitter? If missionaries keep their children, and ask for
the requisite means of education, shall they be called extravagant? If
they send them home, shall they be regarded as possessing but a small
share o