MS. copy of a letter from C[hristian]. I[gnatius]. LaTrobe, [London], to John Rippon, London, 26 June 1793.

London, June 26, 1793.

Dear Mr Rippon,

    Mr Dixon has by your desire transmitted to me No 6 of Your instructive Work, The Baptist Annual Register, for which I sincerely thank you, and have given Mr Dixon the 9th No of the little Accounts concerning our Endeavors to propagate the Gospel among the Heathen which he promised to send or deliver to you. I have just received them from the Press, for I am sorry to say that my printer has unaccountably delayed these publications, to put forward a work of his own. Otherwise they would have appeared a month ago. 

  I have this morning perused the acct of the rise of the Particular Baptist Society for propagating the Gospel among the heathen, & trust that our Lord will lay his blessing upon your Endeavors, and by your means also extend his glorious Kingdom on Earth. You have made honourable mention of us—but no praise is due our poor labors. What could we poor insignificant people have done, had not our blessed Savior himself done the work, and to shew his power, made use of the weakest & most insufficient instruments?  I think the rise, progress and success of the Brethren’s missions are the greatest Proofs on Earth of the Truth of our Lord, my strength is made perfect in weakness.

  In Your account, the following articles are proposed for Examination & discussion in a diligent & impartial manner (No 5 p. 378.)  1. What qualifications are especially requisite in missionaries?  2. What  advice should be given to the Missionaries, or what regulations adopted concerning them &c. I did not find any answers to, or further Discussion of these subjects in Your 6th No p. 485. except that You have met with 2 Brethren willing to go among the East indian heathen. To the first question we Moravian Brethren should answer simply thus— The Love of God shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. A heart cleansed in the blood of Christ, and from Love & gratitude to Him who hath purchased him with his own blood, truly & wholly devoted to his Service; assured, that in life & death thee is the Lords & will abide with Him forever; void of self-love, self-seeking, self-complacency & the whole poisonous system of Self; conscious of numberless wants & infirmities, but by experience acquainted with the saving power of Jesus, & the sanctifying merits of His precious atonement; filled with Love to their fellow-man, as being bought with an inestimable price, and consequently precious in the Sight of our Savior, however depraved & corrupted, & however despicable in the sight of men; shunning no danger, no trial, no persecution when engaged in the Cause of the Savior, & always hoping, believing; unweariedly following the poor straying sheep; & even without present prospects, relying upon that gracious promise, that the Word of the Lord shall not return unto Him void, but accomplish that, in due time, & whereunto he has sent it. Those of our Missionaries, whose labors the Lord has blessed have had these qualifications. Learning, & what the world calls, accomplishments, we have not experienced to be of much use. A true Christian has always those accomplishments he wants; he is kind, courteous, gentle, peaceable & full of good will. Let the world produce any better principles of Conduct. He must put up with shame, because he has not the truth in him. 2. What advice &c should be given to ye Missionaries 

  When the Brethren went first among the heathen, they thought that they must first enter upon an explanation of the greatness, justice, omnipresence &c of God of the heinousness of Sin &c. but they soon found that “to know nothing among them save Jesus & him crucified” was the right way; the Word of the Cross, proved the power of God unto Salvation, and every other good thing followed. The minds of the converts were by degrees open to all other religious subjects. Therefore our advice is, that they preach the crucified Jesus; that they in externals look more for real conversion of heart in the few committed unto their care, than for numbers: that they carefully & kindly keep to the discipline of the Church, excluding transgressors, yet not forsaking them, but endeavoring by Gods grace to lead them gently into the right track; that they are continually watchful to prevent hurt to the Souls, to become acquainted with every individual, & baptize none but those in whom a Change of heart is visible. That is to Externals, they be satisfied with whatever Providence may appoint; & frugally manage their house-keeping. The Lord be praised, who has hitherto given us such ? subjects for our Missions. May he also give them to your dear people, and hear your prayers in behalf of all men. In those ideas contained in the preamble p. 372, is contained everything needful for a missionarys Consideration &c a complete answer seems to me to be given to these questions. Did our Savr do so much for us—how much then ought we to be devoted to Him!

  I have been much too prolix & must beg yr pardon for interfering in your Concerns; Nor was my opinion asked & I am sure you have persons in your society much more able to say something to the purpose, on these subjects, but I have simply written what just struck my mind in perusing your book. We differ in a few things, but we are I trust one in Jesus, and do what we do in His name. You are at liberty to insert what you please concerning us & our Missions into your work, if you think it can give any pleasure to your good people. I remain with sincere Esteem

                           Dear Sir

                                             Your affecte friend & humble Servt

                                           C. Ig. LaTrobe

Text: Timothy Whelan, Baptist Autographs in the John Rylands University Library of Manchester, 1741-1845 (Macon: Mercer University Press, 2009), pp. 63-66 (annotated version); also Eng. MS. 861, fol. 88, John Rylands University Library of Manchester. This letter is a response by La Trobe to a request from the leaders of the BMS concerning the Moravians’ ideas about proper qualifications for a missionary. Christian Ignatius La Trobe (1758-1836) spent most of his adult life promoting the cause of Moravian missions, first as secretary to the Society for the Furtherance of the Gospel in 1787, then as editor of the Society’s Periodical Accounts. The MS. copy of La Trobe’s letter (above) was emended by Rippon and John Ryland, who made numerous corrections and alterations in his own hand on the letter. The printed version in the Baptist Annual Register incorporates nearly all of Ryland’s and Rippon’s corrections and alterations exactly as they appear on this MS. When compared with the original letter, scholars can get rare glimpse into the editing techniques of Rippon (and in many respects late eighteenth-century editors in general) when printing manuscript letters. See Baptist Annual Register, 1: 371-78, 1: 531-33.