But if the great end proposed by it be spiritual, the agency employed to accomplish that end is purely earthly; and, although the object in view be the achievement of much good, that agency may nevertheless be productive of evil.

In short, missionary undertaking, however it may blessed of heaven, is in itself but human; and subject, like everything else, to errors and abuses.

And have not errors and abuses crept into the most sacred places, and may there not be unworthy or incapable missionaries abroad, as well as ecclesiastics of similar character at home?
May not the unworthiness or incapacity of those who assume apostolic functions upon the remote islands of the sea more easily escape detection by the world at large than if it were displayed in the heart of a city?
An unwarranted confidence in the sanctity of its apostles--a proneness to regard them as incapable of guile--and an impatience of the least suspicion to their rectitude as men or Christians, have ever been prevailing faults in the Church.

Nor is this to be wondered at: for subject as Christianity is to the assaults of unprincipled foes, we are naturally disposed to regard everything like an exposure of ecclesiastical misconduct as the offspring of malevolence or irreligious feeling.

Not even this last consideration, however shall deter me from the honest expression of my sentiments.
There is something apparently wrong in the practical operations of the Sandwich Islands Mission.