ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the central significance of her endorsement of missionary work to show that her advocacy was integral to the overall philosophy of her circle, closely allied to their vigorous promotion of the refashioned Tory paternalism previously discussed. Mission work at home and abroad was a necessary extension of a father's duties to the wider community. The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (SPG) agenda was to extend the embrace not just of Christianity but also of the Church of England as the true Apostolic Catholic Church treading in the footsteps of the first missionaries of the early Church. The hierarchy of the Church of England held themselves aloof from missionary enterprise in the earlier years of the century, even when their own Evangelicals in the Church Missionary Society were trying to stir up enthusiasm for the cause.
