Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly volume 23.djvu/371



METHODIST REPORTS WILLAMETTE MISSION 321

or ever have been talents of such superior order in this country that work commensurate to the ability could not be found. It may not, indeed, be such as flesh and blood would choose, but it is such as must be done by the follow- ers of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, before the heathen will be given Him for His inheritance.

Your exertions, beloved brethren, have not been mis- directed as some have judged, and though your expecta- tions may not have been fully met, yet the day of eternity will reveal that the good effected here in Oregon will ten thousand times repay the labor and expense of this mis- sion."

That the spirit of indomitable missionary zeal still exists in Oregon, will be seen in the following extract of a letter to the Corresponding Secretary, from the Rev. H. W. K. Perkins, dated Wascopam, March 15th, 1842. His language is : "I cannot but fear that the removal of some of our number from the mission field may dis- hearten you and cause your hands to hang down. To prevent as far as possible such a result, it might not be entirely in vain to communicate with you on the subject.

"Indeed, it is to be regretted that any of our small number should have been induced to leave, and those, too, who, to human appearance, were so well qualified to act. But, sir, we are not disheartened. This God of mission is still with us even He who hath said: "I will never leave thee or forsake thee," so that we may boldly say, "The Lord is my helper." Thanks be to God, the seed sown in this barren land has not perished ; its roots are strong in the earth; to God we look for the increase. Nor is it with our natural organs that we look. Our eyes are indeed "to the hills from whence cometh our help," but they are the eyes of faith. We know Him who hath said, "All things are possible to him that be- lieveth," and, "If two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done unto them." How many have agreed to ask for the sal-