332 CHARLES HENRY CAREY
dent of the Mission who was at that time in this country, strongly urged the measure; and that this large appro- priation was made at a time when money was plenty and comparatively easy to be obtained; it seems to us that it should be viewed as one of those mistakes which fur- nish no just ground for censure, suspicion or distrust. It should be recollected, too, that some of the master spir- its of the Church were the first to favor this movement, and the most enthusiastic advocates of the measure; among whom we may mention the name of the justly revered and lamented Dr. Fisk. Is it surprising that a course sustained by an advocacy at once so eloquent and powerful, and recommended so urgently by the Super- intendent, who was naturally supposed to have under- stood the wants of the Mission, should have been adopted by the Board? Certainly not. That men of ordinary minds should have been disposed to surrender their judg- ment to influences so strong and commanding is only what might have been expected. To have done otherwise would have rendered them liable to censure by the very persons who are most ardent in their attachment to the missionary cause, and most ready to sustain it by their means. Still, subsequent events have shown clearly that men of the strongest intellects and actuated by the purest motives, are not always free from errors of judgment. Nor is it reasonable to expect, even from the wisest and best of men, an entire exemption from mistakes. To claim this would be to assume attributes more than human. All, then, that can in justice be said of this now regretted measure, is that through the influence of glow- ing representations and plausible, though unwise coun- sels, the Board were induced to sanction an enlargement of the Oregon Mission which, with additional light and experience, they are free to admit was not really neces- sary.
But shall we surrender ourselves to a spirit of de- spondency or cherish a spirit of suspicion and distrust
