Part 1. Principal Instructions Concerning the Spiritual Duties of the Faith-Preacher

The instructions concerning this subject are stated clearly enough in the edict of 1777, where it is said: “that he is to understand his duty not in the hasty administration of baptism to those being converted by him, but is to endeavor to instill in them both the force of Christian teaching and guidance in every good conduct, without which baptism administered to savages can scarcely be called anything other than an abuse of one of the greatest sacraments of the Christian faith.”