Curnell University Library
Ithaca, New Yark

CHARLES WILLIAM WASON
COLLECTION
CHINA AND THE CHINESE

THE GIFT OF
CHARLES WILLIAM WASON
CLASS OF 1876
1918
issions and missionary society of the
 

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"MISSIONS AND MISSIONARY SOCIETY.

OF THE

METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH,

Three Yolumes. Cloth. 12mo. With Maps, etc.

 

VOL. 1. Contains Part I. Organization and Ad-

ministration. Part II. Missions Within
the United States or in their Immediate
Vicinity. Part III. Missions in Africa,
Part IV. Missions in South America.
Part V. Missions in China, and the Chi-
nese,

VOL. 2. Contains continuation of Part V. Missions

in China. Part VI. Missions in Nor-
way, Sweden, Denmark, and Russia.
Part VII. Missions in Germany and
Switzerland. Part VIII. Missions in
India.

VOL. 3. Contains continuation of Part VIII. Mis-

sions in India. Part IX. Mission in
Bulgaria. Part X. Mission in Italy.
Part XI. Mission in Mexico. Part XII.
Mission in Japan. Part XIII. Mission
in Korea. Appendix, List of Missiona-
ries, etc.

 

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NATHAN BANGS, D.D.
MISSIONS

ANDY

MISSIONARY SOCIETY

OF THE

METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH

BY J. M. REID, DD.
REVISED AND EXTENDED
BY J. T. GRACEY, D.D.
IN THREE VOLUMES

VOL. 1

WITH MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS

 

NEW YORK: EATON & MAINS
CINCINNATI: CURTS & JENNINGS
Copyright by
HUNT & EATON,
1895,
PREFATORY NOTE.

Missions and Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, by J. M. Reid, D.D., was published in 1879 in two
volumes. It covered the period from the inception of the Mis-
sionary Society to the close of 1877. It is sought herein to con-
tinue that history to the year 1894, making it thus to embrace the
first seventy-five years of the Society’s operations. It was hoped
that Dr. Reid might himself extend the account of the work, but
his enfeebled health forbade it. In 1877 the Board of Managers of
the Missionary Society directed that the undersigned be employed
to aid Dr. Reid in the preparation of a history of the Society, which
he did, searching all the records, correspondence and other material
of the Society through those sixty years of its growth, compiling, and
otherwise contributing to the production of those volumes. It was
natural, therefore, that at the joint solicitation of Dr. Reid and the
publishers, Hunt & Eaton, he should undertake the difficult, but
not unwelcome, task of revising and continuing that history, though
it would have been far easier to have written anew from the com-
mencement. The result of this attempt to comply with the wish of
author and publishers is now presented in three volumes, in which
the original text has been preserved as nearly as possible, and the
new material, equal to a little more than half of the old, has been
closely incorporated with the existing history, giving consecutiveness
and unity to the whole, making it all to appear as of one time and
by one author. Necessarily the plain narrative style and the general
order of the former volumes have been closely maintained, unless,
indeed, the extension has preserved more severely the character of
annals rather than history. The three volumes cover the first seventy-
five years (1819-1894) of the Society’s work.

The rapid development of the work on the principal foreign fields
to be recorded in the continuation of the former history, prohibits
more than a mere outline in the limited space which can be given to
it. Only some five years of the history of the work in Italy, Mex-
ico, and Japan were embraced in the original volumes. The mis-
sions in Korea, West China, and Malaysia were not yet begun, nor
were those of William Taylor in South America. The Society’s
2 Nove.

operations in the southern half of this hemisphere were limited to
Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay. Methodist missions now theo-
retically, and, to a fair extent, really, are distributed over the conti-
nent and the whole included in one vast Annual Conference organi-
zation. The later operations of Bishop William Taylor on the west
coast of Africa were not dreamed of when the former record closed
in 1878. Outside the North India Conference, the work in India
was then only in its incipiency, while the phenomenal development
of the work in North India, which has marked it as one of the most
successful missions of modern times, did not manifest itself in large
measure till 1884. India had but one Annual Conference in 1878 ;
now it has five and a separate well-organized mission nineteen hun-
dred miles distant, prospectively designed to aid in carrying the Gos-
pel to the Malay Peninsula and the entire island-world of south-
eastern Asia.

In preparation of this revision and extension, free use has been
made of the Society’s reports, the reports and minutes of the several
foreign conferences and missions, those of the Woman’s Foreign
Missionary Society and the Woman’s Home Missionary Society,
files of the Gospel in All Lands, The Heathen Woman's Friend,
World-Wide Missions, The Indian Witness, the several Christian
Advocates, and numerous other publications, all of which have been
diligently searched and suitable data collected from them. Private
journals and personal correspondence of missionaries have been sub-
mitted and carefully scanned. Courteous aid has been uniformly
rendered by all connected with the missionary office, by Dr. E. R.
Smith, Editor Gospel in All Lands; Mr. Thomas, Librarian of the
Methodist Library in the publishing house at New York; and
Dr. Mudge, formerly of India. Drs. Reid, Hunt, and Baldwin have
Deen relied on for judicious counsel. Dr J. W. Butler of Mexico,
Dr. T. J. Scott of India, Rey. D. C. Challis, formerly of Bulgaria ;
Rev. D. S. Spencer of Japan, Rev. H. G. Appenzeller of Korea,
Rev. F. Ohlinger and Miss Carrie I. Jewell of Foochow, Rev.
George B. Nind of Brazil, and many others have rendered signal
service by supplying specific data, and in a few instances furnishing
more or less elaborately prepared manuscript kindly placed at the
disposal of the writer. J. T. Gracey.
FROM THE ORIGINAL PREFACE.

HE sources from which this work has been derived are very nu-

merous. Among them may be specified the Annual Reports
of the Missionary Society ; the files of the Missionary Advocate, of
the Heathen Woman’s Friend, and of the Church weeklies; Dr.
Bangs’ History of our Indian Missions, and the writings of Rev. J.
B. Finley and other missionaries to the Indians; various books
on our early work in Oregon and California; publications on our
Missions in India, in China, and in Germany, and upon our Domes-
tic Ge-man work; Dr. Kidder’s Brazil, and the Life of Rev. Mel-
ville B. Cox by his brother; Dr. Butler’s Land of the Veda; the
Ladies’ Repository and Methodist Quarterly Review ; the General
Minutes and General Conference Journals; the printed Reports and
Minutes of the North India and South India Conferences; the Re-
ports and other issues of the Colonization Society, and many other
works. We had, also, free access to the files and records of the Mis-
sionary Society, and had the constant and faithful assistance of Rev. J.
T. Gracey in searching among them for materials out of which to
construct our history. To him we acknowledge our indebtedness,
not only for this service, but also for valuable contributions to va-
rious parts of the volume, especially toward the history of the mis-
sion in North India.

The daily journals and other private papers of Rev. John Seys were
put into our hands by the kindness of Dr. J. W. Gunn, of Spring-
field, Ohio, with liberty to use whatever we might need; also Mrs.
George Cone, of Utica, N. Y., favored us with an interesting com-
munication in regard to the early history of the Liberia Mission.
To Rev. W. F. Warren, D.D., Rev. D. P. Kidder, D.D., and Rev.
H. Bannister, D.D., we are indebted for papers in respect to the re-
lation of our Theological Institutions to missions. Several] ladies of
the Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society have aided us in 1espect
to matters appertaining to that society or its missionanes. Rev.
William Goodfellow, D.D., Rev. J. F. Thomson, Rev. Thomas Car-
ter, D.D., Rev. T. B. Wood, and Rev. H. G. Jackson, D.D., aided
us in the history of our South American work. Rev. L. W. Pilcher
sent a valuable representation of the mission in North China. We
severely taxed Rev. Dr. Nast, Rev. C. H. Doering, Rev. louis Wal-
lon, Rev. J. W. Freund, Rev. J. Y. Wolff, and others, to correct
4 FROM THE ORIGINAL PREFACE.

errors and guide us into truth with respect to our German work, for-
eign and domestic; and Rev. O. P. Petersen and others were service-
able to us in the same way in respect to the Scandinavian work.
The history of India was enriched from papers furnished us by Rev.
P. M. Buck, Rev. J. L. Humphrey, M.D., Rev. J. M. Thoburn, D.D.,
Rev. C. P. Hard, Rev. E. W. Parker, Rev. Henry Jackson, Rev.
T. H. Oakes, Rev. J. W. Waugh, D.D., Rev. T. Craven, Miss
Fanny J. Sparks, and Mrs. G. H. M’Grew. Several of the Bishops
who have visited our missions furnished us with very full reports of
their visitations, Complete histories were furnished as follows: Of
Bulgaria, by Rev. F. W. Flocken; of Italy, by Rev. L. M. Vernon,
D.D.; of Mexico, by Rev. William Butler, D.D.; and of Japan, by
Rev. R. S. Maclay, D.D. None of these papers, however, appear
as they came from the hands of the writers. There was an “office”
side of the subject of which they could not be informed ; there were
matters which their modesty forbade them to present, and there were
reports and histories from other missionaries in the same field that
have been more or less incorporated by us with the papers thus fur-
nished. No imperfections or faults in our volume should be charged
to these superintendents or to any others who have aided us, but to
us alone. Scores of persons have placed us under obligations to
them for some single item of information.

From all these sources we have appropriated, whenever it seemed
best, the words of the writers, and it was not always possible to give
due credit on the page without burdening our volume with refer-
ences. Our task has been largely one of preparation rather than of
authorship. It was assumed in response to a demand for the facts
of the missionary history of the Methodist Episcopal Church. This
preparation has been a most laborious task, especially as added to
constant office duty, extensive travels, and frequent public speaking.
Accuracy as to the facts, rather than literary excellence in commu-
nicating them, has been our aim, and yet we apprehend that many
errors even of fact may have escaped us. We invite corrections from
all quarters for future editions.

Neither the aurHorR of this history, nor amy ef the contributors,
recetves aught of pecuniary remuneration for their service, all the
profits of the publication going into the missionary treasury.

1879. J. M. Reip.
CONST BAN! 3.

 

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PART I.
ORGANIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION.......... g-82

Revival of the Missionary Spirit, 9; Origin of the Missionary So-
ciety, 14; Course of the Finances, 25 ; First Corresponding Secre-
tary, 30; Dr. Pitman, Corresponding Secretary, 33; Dr. Durbin,
Corresponding Secretary, 34; Later Administration, 41; The Office
of Treasurer, 44 ; Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society, 46 ; Wom-
an’s Home Missionary Society, 54; ‘‘ Transit and Building Fund
Society,” 58; The Bishops and Missions, 60; The Mission Rooms,
72; Missionary Literature, 76; Our Literary Institutions and Mis-
sions, 79.

PART II.
MISSIONS WITHIN THE UNITED STATES, ORIN THEIR
IMMEDIATE, VICINITY elites waves tars nevdbans 83-174

Introductory, 83 ; Initial Work of the Society, 84 ; Other French
Missions, 85 ; English-speaking Missions, 87; Texas, New Mexico,
and Arizona, gt; Other Domestic Missions, 95; Missions Among the
“Colored” People of the United States, 99; Missions to the Aborig-
ines, 102; The Flatheads and Oregon, 132 ; California, 145 ; Chinese
Domestic Missions, 147; Efforts for Chinese Women in California,
159; Japanese Missions on the Pacific Coast, 163; Mission Build-
ing, 166 ; Spiritual Life and Activities, 167 ; Sandwich Islands, 170.

PART III.
MISSTONS “POM AR RIG An. gsi mac ettfepatardereaiarnsuatmaieians 175-277
Origin of Liberia, 175; The First Missionary, 179; First Rein-
forcement, 189; Rev. John Seys, Superintendent, 196; Revival at
Heddington, 209; Collision with the Governor, 211; Mr. Seys
Temporarily Succeeded by Mr. Chase, but afterward Returns to Li-
6 CONTENTS.

beria, 220 ; Tours in the Interior, 222 ; Mr. Seys Permanently Suc-
ceeded, 228; Change of Policy, 232; African Bishops, 236 ; Bishop
Haven’s Visit, 241 ; Mission to Boporo, 247 ; Bishop Taylor’s Super-
intendency, 259; ‘‘Self-Supporting” Stations on the Cavalla River,
265; Self-Supporting Missions in South Central Africa, 268.

PART IV.
MISSIONS 1.0 SOUTH. AMERICA. c scuewnsecncee 279-407

Introductory, 279 ; Mission to Brazil, 285 ; Excursions to Differ-
ent Parts of the Empire, 292; Brazil Re-entered, 294; Buenos Ayres
and Montevideo, 302; The Mission Resumed at Buenos Ayres,
311; Superintendency of Dr. Goodfellow, 323; Opening of Our
Spanish Work, 347; Mr. Jackson’s Superintendency, 352; Buenos
Ayres, 354; Rosario, 365 ; Montevideo, 369; Close of Dr. Wood’s
Superintendency, 377; William Taylor’s Work on the West Coast,
379; Dr. Drees’ Superintendency, 382; Peru, 389; Bolivia, 391 ;
The South American Conference Organized, 393 ; Woman’s Foreign
Missionary Society — Rosario, 402 ; Montevideo, 405 ; Buenos Ayres,
406 ; Peru, 407.

PART V.

MISSIONS TO CHINA AND THE CHINESE..... 409-485

Introductory, 40g ; Origin of the Methodist Mission, 411 ; Enter-
ing the Field, 419; Progress and Vicissitudes, 428 ; The Dawn of
Day, 436; First Annual Meeting and Succeeding Events, 455 ; Kiu-
kiang and Peking Occupied, 463 ; Parted into Three Streams, 467 ;
China and the Chinese Continued in Volume II.
ILEUSTRA TIONS.

 

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Book CONCERN AND MISSION PREMISES, NEW YORK.......  7€

First Meruopisr EptscopAL CHURCH IN OHIO........... 8:
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MISSIONS IN CHINAG< 6s osiea canetianioea see eeasaises 409
METHODIST EPISCOPAL MISSIONS.

 

PARE 4,
ORGANIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION,

 

Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature.—Mark
xt, 15.

This Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness
unto all nations.—Matt, xxiv, 14.

1. Revival of the Missionary Spirit.

lee Lord Jesus Christ no sooner disappeared from
among men than his disciples, in compliance with
their great commission, “went forth and preached every-
where.” The enthusiasm of a divine life gave insignif-
icance to labors, dangers, and: sufferings; and before
the last of the apostles had gone to his reward they
had proclaimed the Gospel in all lands known to them.
Tradition declares that some of this band little spoken
of in the Bible penetrated the remoter Orient. The
twelve, in fact, filled the world with their doctrine.

The apostolic Church was a// missionary. Its Founder
was a missionary; so were all its members; and its en-
tire spirit was missionary. When “the hour had come,’
and he was praying to the Father for his disciples, he
thus described them, saying, ‘‘ As thou hast sez¢ me into
the world, even so have I also sev¢ them into the world.”

‘“

All were “ seut''—al/ were missionaries.

~
10 METHODIST EPISCOPAL MISSIONS.

This missionary spirit did not long survive the age of
the apostles. Heresies in doctrine began to appear, and
naturally gave birth to defenders of the faith. Dogma-
tism rapidly displaced spirituality. One cannot fail to
notice what an immense disproportion there is in patris-
tic literature between the amount of that which is polem-
ic, and that which treats of experience. Indeed, little is
preserved from the theology of the Middle Ages but dis-
putations. These often raged more fiercely as the dif-
ference was more minute. The missionary spirit of the
primitive Church was largely lost amid the fierceness of
these controversies.

With the conversion of Constantine came an influx of
wealth and power, and wonderful material development
of the Church, to the further disadvantage of its spirit-
uality.. The Church became a grand system of propa-
gandism, and its history for centuries was one of great
zeal for the Church; of great labors and sacrifices to
add to her numbers and possessions, to build magnifi.
cent cathedrals and monasteries, and to swell ecclesiastic-
al endowments. Emissaries of the Church there were
in multitudes, but not m/sstonaries except in name. “Con-
verts’’ were counted by hundreds of thousands among
the heathen, but they were made by a few drops of
water, or by some other ordinance that could not even
whiten the outside of the sepulcher, much less purify it
of uncleanness. There could be no permanence to a
work so superficial as this. These ‘‘missions” have
long ago, for the most part, been re-absorbed by sur-
rounding idolatries.

A renaissance of the missionary life of the Church
could only be produced by a revival that should affect
both head and heart. The Reformation of the six-
teenth century, which Martin Luther, under God, be-
The Missionary Spirit. Ir

gan, accomplished the first; and this was supplemented,
rounded and completed by. the great heart-revival un-
der the Wesleys and others., Then only did the lowly,
and degraded, and afar off, again enlist the prayers and
efforts of the Church. Prisoners were visited, colliers
preached to, and the Evangel of mercy borne to the
heathen. Individual effort naturally preceded organiza-
tion, and even organization was at first comparatively
crude and imperfect. The well-organized missionary
society of the present time is a development, its incep-
tion dating from this great spiritual quickening.

There were only two Protestant missionary organiza-
tions in the world in the first half of the last century;
namely, the English Society for the Propagation of the
Gospel, and the Moravian Missionary Society on the
Continent. Three others were added during the last
decade of the same century, namely, the Baptist Mis-
sionary Society, of which William Carey was the founder,
in 1792; the London Missionary Society, founded in
1795; and the Netherlands Missionary Society, in 1797.
All the other great Protestant missionary organizations
have arisen during the present century. The nineteenth
century is the missionary epoch.*

It is not to be understood that there were not isolated
instances, in all ages of the Christian era, of a noble ap-
preciation of the great commission. The race of the
faithful has never been extinct. But they were too few
and too limited in extent to modify the general spirit of
the Church till near the dawn of the nineteenth century.

The spit of Protestant America was stirred by the
same causes that had been reviving the Church in Eu-
rope; and the souls of Christians in the New World

* For a tabulated statement of the Missionary Societies of the
world, see Appendix, No. T.
12 MeEruHonist EpiscopaL Missions.

were going out after the lost and perishing. ‘The In-
dians and the new settlers called for special Christian
effort, and, with true comprehensiveness, the eye of love
and faith looked with prayerful interest and eager desire
to the far-off nations. \In 1799 the Massachusetts Mis-
sionary Society was formed. In 1806 a Mr. Morris, of
Salem, gave ten thousand dollars to Andover Theolog-
ical Seminary, declaring his great object to be “the
foreign missionary enterprise.” Many such indications
there were, but the rising missionary spirit had not yet
combined in any great enterprise or plan for sending the
glad tidings of salvation to the widely-extended pagan
field.

It was in 1806 that Samuel J. Mills became a member
of Williams College. When a child he had heard his
mother say, “I have consecrated this child to the service
of God as a missionary,” and his soul, when converted,
seemed fully penetrated with the idea that his mother’s
vow should be fulfilled. The next year after his ad-
mission to college he invited Gordon Hall and James
Richards to a walk, and led them to a retired spot ina
meadow, behind a haystack, where they spent all day in
fasting, prayer, and conversation on the duty of mis-
sions to the heathen. The spot where they spent that
day has become historic, and is now inclosed in a me-
mortal park. Their conferences at length ripened into
a private society among the pious students, the object
of which was declared to be “to effect in the person of
the members a mission or missions to the heathen.” Of
this society no person could be a member “ who is under
any engagement of any kind which shall be incompat-
ible with going on a mission to the heathen,” and each
member was to “hold himself in readiness to go on a
mission when and where duty may call.’ Richards.
The Missionary Spirit. 13

Mills, and others, upon graduation, went to Andover
Theological Seminary, and were joined by such students
as Adoniram Judson and Samuel Newell.

When the General Association of Massachusetts con-
vened at Bradford, in June, 1810, several of these young
men appeared before the body, and represented their
sense of duty to give themselves personally to mission
work among the heathen. Thus the association were
led to institute the American Board of Commissioners
for Foreign Missions, the earliest of the great missionary
associations of our country. Four years later followed
the organization of the Baptist Missionary Union; and
nine years later, namely, in 1819, the Missionary So-
ciety of the Methodist Episcopal Church, the third in
chronological order of the great missionary associations
in the United States.

Like nearly every part of our history as a Church, the
Missionary Society was a child of Providence, born not
of human suggestion, but of divine indication. For
many years the opening frontier had invited labor that
was supplied at the utmost sacrifice; and every-where
benevolent hearts were making occasional and isolated
gifts to aid in the support of pioneer preachers. Many
Methodists, whose hearts were enlarged for the salvation
of the world, in the absence of a Society of their own,
contributed freely to the foreign work opened by other
denominations. Our pioneer work at every point was
in direct contact with the heathen aborigines, and all
things were ready when God, with only a spark, touched
the train, and light broke forth along the whole line.
The deeply affecting interest which attaches to the in-
cidents at the beginning of the Missionary Society
possesses almost the charm of romance. Let us re-
hearse them.
14 MeEtuopist EpiscopaL MISSIONS.

2 Origin of the Missionary Society.

One Sabbath day, in the year 1816, Marcus Lindsay
wa3 preaching in Marietta, Ohio, and John Stewart, an
inebriate colored man, was among his auditors. Stewart
was sorely convicted and soundly converted. What fol-
lowed he himself relates in a manuscript sent to Dr.
Bangs for his “History of Missions.” Stewart says:
“Soon after I embraced religion I went out into the
fields to pray. It seemed to me that I heard a voice,
like the voice of a woman, praising God; and then
another, as the voice of a man, saying to me, ‘ You must
declare my counsel faithfully.” These voices ran through
me powerfully. They seemed to come from a north-
west direction. I soon found myself standing on my
feet, and speaking, as if I was addressing a congre-
gation.”

He could not subdue the feeling within him, that there
were sinners somewhere that even he must call to re-
pentance; and he was continually drawn to follow in
the direction from which the voices seemed to proceed.
He at last took his knapsack, and set off toward the
north-west, not knowing whither he was going. He
says, “ When I set off my soul was very happy, and I
steered my course, sometimes in the road and sometimes
through the woods, until I came to Goshen, where I
found the Delaware Indians.” The Indians, when he
arrived, were singing, and preparing for a dance, and he
captivated them with one of the songs of Zion. They
repeatedly asked him to “sing more.” He preached
to them, and fancied that, having discharged his duty,
he could return to Marietta, but the persuasive impres-
sion was irresistibly upon him, and he pursued his way
to the Upper Sandusky, till he arrived at the house of
Origin of the Missionary Society. 15

Mr William Walker, agent of the Wyandots. Here, as
the star of old rested over the manger, the voices seemed
to stay our traveler. Suspicion soon disappeared before
his artless testimony, and prepared his way before him.

Here he found, living as an Indian, one Jonathan
Pointer, whom he had in former years met in Kentucky,
He was now a fugitive slave, and a backslidden Meth-
odist. Stewart said to him, “ To-morrow I must preach
to these Indians, and you must interpret.” Pointer,
bursting into tears at the recollection of departed joys,
exclaimed, “ How can I, without religion, interpret
asermon?” Then followed a night of wrestling and
prayer, and the sermon on the morrow. Stewart made
an appointment for the next day, to which only one
old squaw came; but he preached faithfully to her.
The next day his congregation was doubled by the ad-
dition of an old man, and Stewart again preached. The
next day was Sabbath, and eight or ten attended. Soon
crowds came to hear him, and many notable conversions
followed, among which were Robert Armstrong, (who,
taken prisoner when a lad, had been adopted by the
Turtle tribe,) and the eminent chiefs Between-the-Logs,
Mononcue, Hicks, and Scuteash.

The Church through the land was stirred to its pro-
foundest depths by these triumphs of grace, and the
needs of this and other work of the kind led to the or-
ganization of the Missionary Society of the Methodist
Episcopal Church three years later. Individual solicita-
tions for this work were made by many persons, esfe-
cially in Ohio, where the family of Governor Trimble
became thus actively engaged, and like interest was felt
in Baltimore. Gabriel P. Disosway, Esq., then a young
enterprising merchant of New York city, came to Dr.
Bangs, pleading for the immediate organization of a
16 METHODIST EPISCOPAL MISSIONS.

missionary society, such as other denominations had
formed. But it was not then evident how such an in-
stitution could be formed and made compatible with our
peculiar economy.

Dr. Bangs and Rev. Joshua Soule conferred together,
and agreed that such society, if organized, must be under
the control of the General Conference, and its mission-
aries in all respects subject to the Discipline of the
Church, and that to so form it required much careful
deliberation. Doubtless much consideration was given
to the subject, and many propositions were made.
Already local missionary societies had actually sprung
up in Philadelphia, Boston, and probably at other places
in the connection. The event could not longer be de-
layed. Rev. aban Clark, some time in the year 1818,
moved, in the meeting of the preachers of New York
city, for the organization of a Bible and Missionary So-
ciety for the Methodist Episcopal Church.

New York city then constituted one circuit, the
preacher in charge of which met the preachers of the
circuit weekly to confer together, and transact any need-
ful business. The Book Agents, Editors, and visiting
ministers usually met with them. At this meeting were
present Reverends Freeborn Garrettson, Nathan Bangs,
Samuel Merwin, Joshua Soule, Thomas Mason, Laban
Clark, Seth Crowell, Samuel Howe, and Thomas Thorp.
The subject was fully discussed, the Society resolved
upon, and Messrs. Clark, Bangs, and Garrettson were
appointed a committee to draft a constitution. In due
time this committee reported, and the Preachers’ Meeting
approved the form of constitution, and determined to
submit it to a public meeting of members of the Church
and friends of the missionary cause. This meeting con-
vened in the Forsyth-street Church on the evening of
Origin of the Messtonary Socicty. 17

April 5,1819. The first record of the Society bepins as
follows :—

“Bowery Church, April 5, 1819. At a call made
yesterday from the pulpits, a large number of members
of the Methodist Society met this evening at half-
past seven o’clock. On motion of Joshua Soule, Rev.
Nathan Bangs was called to the chair.” Francis Hall
was chosen secretary of the meeting. The Chairman
stated the object of the meeting, and remarks were made
by Messrs. Garrettson, Soule, and others. Then, on
motion of Freeborn Garrettson, seconded by Laban
Clark, it was

“ Resolved, That it is expedient for this meeting to
form a Missionary and Bible Society of the Methodist
Episcopal Church in America.”

On motion of Joshua Soule, seconded by Thomas
Mason, the meeting proceeded to consider the Constitu-
tion that had been prepared, and, article by article, it
was amended and adopted. Subscriptions were then
taken, and, on motion of Joshua Soule, seconded by
William Thacher, the new Society proceeded to elect its
officers, with the following result,* namely:

Bishop WiLL1am M’KeEnpREE, President.

Bishop Enocu GeorGE, Lirst Vice-President.

Bishop Ropert R. Roperts, Second Vice-President.

Rev. Natuan Banos, New York Conference, 71d
Vice-Prestdent.

Mr. Francis HALL, Clerk.

Mr. DaniEL AyRES, Recording Secretary.

Rey. THomas Mason, Corresponding Secretary .

Rev. JosHua SOULE, Treasurer.

*For a complete list of Officers and Managers from the beginning,
see Appendix, No. II.
18 Meruopist EpiscopAL MISSIONS.

Managers.—Philip I. Arcularius, Paul Hick, Joseph
Smith, Gilbert Coutant, Samuel Stillwell, Joseph Sand-
ford, Dr. Nehemiah Gregory, Dr. Richard Seaman, Robert
Mathison, Samuel L. Waldo, Eliphalet Wheeler, George
W. Pittman, John Boyd, M. F. Smith, Stephen Dando,
William B. Skidmore, Abraham Shotwell, James B. Gas-
coigne, Nathaniel Jarvis, Samuel B. Harper, William
Duval, James Donaldson, James Demarest, John West-
field, for New York; Robert Snow, Andrew Mercein,
and Joseph Mosier, Brooklyn; Abraham Miller, Abra-
ham Davis, and William Barker, Westchester; James
Palmer and George Taylor, also for New York.

The above list, which differs from the one given by Dr.
Bangs in his “ History of our Missions,” is, nevertheless,
an exact transcript of the original record which now lies
before us. The list ordinarily given is of the Board as
elected April 17, 1820, as the record shows. On April
7, 1819, James Palmer and George Taylor sent in their
resignations, and Abraham Paul and George Caines were
chosen in their stead. On June 7, 1819, Eliphalet Wheel-
er also resigned; and on October 13 Abraham Miller,
Abraham Davis, and William Barker resigned. To fill
the existing vacancies the following were chosen, name-
ly: Lancaster S. Burling, James B. Oakley, John Shaw,
Benjamin Disbrow, and William Myers. On Novem-
ber rst James Demarest resigned, and on December 6th
Thomas Roby was chosen in his place. On the 6th of
March Gilbert Coutant resigned, but his place was not
filled, as the annual meeting was so near.

Strange as it may seem to us at the present day, the
first thing to be done was to overcome objections to the
enterprise, and arouse and interest the Church init. As
organized, the Society had the double character of a
Origin of the Misstonary Soctety. 19

Bible and Missionary Society. Many were opposed to
this, thinking the Methodist Episcopal Church should
co-operate with the American Bible Society; but this
last-named Society shared in the general objections en-
tertained at this time by Methodists to all societies that
had assumed the name AMERICAN, and set up a claim
to be Mational. Methodists were the only considerable
body holding prominent anti-Calvinistic views, and were
by no means distinguished for wealth or social position.
Whether justly or otherwise, many of them felt that in
these great societies they were permitted to exert but
little influence, and could therefore best do their Tract,
Sunday-School, and Bible work, through societies of
their own. This, doubtless, led to the grafting of the
Bible feature upon the present missionary organization ;
but by so doing it encountered the opposition of numer-
ous Methodists who were friends of the American Bible
Society. In the opposition on this ground the “ Mite
Society,” asthe Philadelphia Missionary Society was
styled, actively shared. Beside, it objected to yield the
tight it had, under the constitution of the Mite Society,
of appropriating its own funds—a right which the Mis-
sionary Society now organized proposed to yield to the
General Conference.

Article XIII of the Constitution of the Missionary
Society provided that the Society should be established
“wherever the Book Concern may be located,” and the
approaching General Conference was authorized to in-
sert articles into the Constitution for such purpose, and
to make the Book Agents treasurers, and also to provide
for the appropriation of its funds within the object spec-
ified. New York and Philadelphia, then young cities
of not very unequal prospects, were competitors for the
location of the Book Concern, and Philadelphia, having
20 METHODIST EPISCOPAL MISSIONS.

a missionary society of its own, was little disposed to
become auxiliary to the one more recently organized at
New York, although the latter had presumed to organize
itself for the whole connection, which the Philadelphia
Society had not. Never, until the Bible feature was
removed and the General Conference had requested it,
did the Missionary Society within the bounds of the
Philadelphia Conference heartily co-operate with the
Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
In 1844 a plan of actual union between these two Soci-
eties was ratified, and the Philadelphia Conference bears
to-day the banner of our missionary host.

The Board of Managers at New York evidently from
the beginning had expected the Society would in process
of time branch out into the foreign field, and, this being
apprehended, some were opposed to it on this ground.
Our whole system, they said, was missionary; our
preachers were not called, but sent; and the rapidly-
swelling millions of our own country would furnish fields
broad enough for all our energies and resources. The
arguments of the enemies of all missions fell naturally
into the hands of these persons, and were plied with
disheartening effect. Moreover, the denomination was
poor, and many doubted the possibility of success.
Most frivolous objections, most unfounded prejudices,
and evil surmisings without number, were presented on
every side. But the greatest hinderance of all was from
the apathy of the great body of the Church. Many who
were at first favorably inclined to the Society became
disheartened by the intensity of the opposition made ta
it. Managers tendered their resignations, or failed to
attend the meetings. For three of the months of the
year a meeting of the Board could not be assembled.
Much courage was requisite to abide in the ship at such
Origin of the Missionary Sectety. 21

an hour, but there were honored names that did it.
Rev. Joshua Soule at one of the meetings of the Board,
when very few were present, and when the whole outlook
was gloomy indeed, said, “The time will come when
every man who assisted in the organization of this So-
ciety, and persevered in the undertaking, will consider
it one of the most honorable periods of his life.”

The plan of procedure was to organize auxiliaries in
all the principal cities, and then have other local and
limited societies made auxiliary to these.) But events
took a course of their own. The first auxiliary formed
was the Female Missionary Society at New York. This
was organized about ninety days after the Parent So-
ciety was organized, namely, in July, 1819. It existed
for nearly half a century, and did the best of service in
this holy cause. One elect lady, Mrs. Mary W. Mason,
filled its chief office during the whole period of its
history, being in fullness of efficiency for two thirds of
this time. It took a deep interest in all women in the
mission field, whether married or unmarried. It exerted
a great influence with the Board and Bishops in behalf
of women, and raised a full proportion of the missionary
funds of the Church. So far as we can learn, this Wom-
en’s Missionary Society antedated all other missionary
organizations of women in the land.

When its officers had become old, and when congre-
gations had almost universally assumed charge of the
matter of raising missionary funds, younger women, un-
der the same inspiration, touched with the unspeakable
degradation and misery of the “Five Points,” in New
York city, entered that place, and the land was at once
electrified by their heroism and achievements. Similar
home missionary associations among women sprang up
in other cities, and the zeal and enterprise of these
22 MeruHopist Episcopars. MISSIONS.

absorbed the women of the time, and the first female
auxiliary ceased to exist. But it had made an honored
record.

The Young Men’s Missionary Society of New York
was the next auxiliary in order of time. It was formed
a month or two later than the Female Auxiliary, and
had not so long a history, but a very noble one. As
will be hereafter seen, it had in charge the Liberia
Mission.

Bishop M’Kendree and his colleagues entered heartily
into the work of sustaining the Society. The Baltimore
Conference led off in a most thorough indorsement of it,
and formed an auxiliary. Virginia Conference followed
the lead of Baltimore. Genesee Conference fell promptly
into line, and the Domestic Missionary Society that had
for some time existed in Boston reorganized and became
an auxiliary. These, with three other auxiliaries, one at
Cortland, N. Y., one at Stamford, Conn., and one at
Columbia, S. C., constituted all the auxiliaries that
had been reported as organized at the close of the
first year. Helpful and inspiriting words came from
them all, and the aggregate financial result for the year
was $823 64, of which $85 75, or more than ro per
cent., was consumed in expenses, though no officers
were salaried, nor had any missionaries ag yet been
appointed.

The first anniversary of the Society was held in the
John-street Church, April 17, 1820. It was probably
not a great occasion, if numbers in attendance be the
standard. Nathan Bangs was in the chair, and deliv-
ered an opening address. Samuel Merwin conducted
the opening religious services, and moved the accept-
ance of the report which had been previously read, and
supported his motion in a speech. Thomas Mason sec.
Origin of the Missionary Society. 23

onded the motion with a speech. The election and
collection, with an item or two of business, made up the
total of the exercises. The next year they sought to
make the anniversary an important occasion. Rev. Eze-
kiel Cooper, John Emory, Elijah Hedding, Chaplain-to-
Congress Ryland, Lawrence Keane, Asa Shinn, Joseph
Lybrand, George Caines, Esq., and J. W. Watson, Esq.,
were all invited to be present and deliver addresses, but
only a part of them came.

The General Conference convened in the city of
Baltimore, May 1, 1820, just at the close of the first
year of the Society, and its organization came to their at-
tention in the address of the Bishops, and was referred to
a committee, who in due time reported, and their report
was adopted, giving the Society, and the missionary cause
in general, a great and effectual impulse. First, the com-
mittee fully indorsed the cause of missions, reminding
the Methodist Episcopal Church of the United States
of its own indebtedness to missions, for Wesley was a mis-
sionary to the United States; so were Boardman, Pil-
moor, Wright, Asbury, and others, and gratitude should
prompt Methodists to be missionary in character.

The report said, ‘Methodism itself is a missionary
system. Yield the missionary spirit, and you yieid the
very life-blood of the cause.” It also pointed to the
fact that our British brethren were before us in this
cause; so were the Congregationalists of our own land,
and the Baptists. It conceded that “the time may not
be come in which we should send our missionaries be-
yond the seas,” but, at the same time, it pointed to the
nations that were flowing in upon us in an immense
tide, especially the French and Spanish; also to the
fields in the Canadas, the Floridas, in Louisiana, Ar-
kansas, and Missouri, and particularly to the vast field
24 METHODIST EPISCOPAL MISSIONS.

among the pagan aborigines of this continent. It re-
ferred with gratitude to the help proffered by the Gov-
ernment of the United States to establish and maintain
schools among the Indians, and to the success that had
already crowned missionary efforts among this people.
It also highly approved of the organization of the So-
ciety in New York, and of its constitution, recommend-
ing all the conferences to take measures for forming
auxiliaries. All this, as we have said, was adopted by
the General Conference.

After heartily commending the pious zeal of the Phila-
delphia brethren, and voting them the thanks of the Con-
ferer.ce, giving them also to understand that at the recom-
mendation of the Board of Managers at New York the
Constitution of the Society had been so amended as to
make it purely a missionary society, separated from the
publishing of Bibles, in accordance with the views of the
Philadelphia brethren expressed in their address to the
General Conference, they respectfully and affectionately
recommended that the “ Mite Society ” should become
auxiliary to the Missionary Society of the Methodist
Episcopal Church. It was also decided that the Bishops
should appropriate and draw the funds of the Society.

With a Constitution thus modified, and with the un-
qualified support of the General Conference, the Society
became possessed of a new being. Hitherto its life
had been like that of an infant born before its time,
barely breathing; now it began to live. The General
Conference had but just adjourned when the treasurer
enthusiastically announced that he had received a dona-
tion from one cf the managers, Dr. Nehemiah Gregory,
of $500. Other generous donations were added. Most
of the Conferences became auxiliary, and several of them
appointed each a Vice-President to the Society, as
Origin of the Missionary Society. 25

was their privilege according to the Constitution. The
founders and managers of the Society were joyful and
encouraged. The existence of the Society must really
date from the General Conference of 1820.

3. Course of the Finances.

Before we record the achievements of the Society, it
may be well, for the sake of unity, to trace some of the
changes in its policy and practice which years of ex-
perience wrought, and in the fersonnel of the Mission
Rooms.

For several years from its origin the Treasurer of the
Society had always considerable balances on hand, for
men and opportunities did not at once present them-
selvec—this, though the contributions were not large,
for there was little to stimulate great liberality. At the
close of the report of 1828, however, only $167 11 were
reported as being in the treasury. The work had over-
taken the giving, and an appeal was made by the Board
to the Church, in view of an empty treasury right in the
face of opening fields and increased demands. The re-
sponse of the Church was prompt, and the income of the
Society for 1829 was doubled.* At the end of the year,
though the drafts on the treasury far exceeded the in-
come of the year, many of them not being yet presented,
a large balance was again reported. Liberality at once
flagged, in view of this seeming surplus, and the collec-
tions for several years fell off.

Something, however, should doubtless be allowed for
the non-reception of funds from the Church in Canada,
which after 1828 ceased to be a part of the Method-
ist Episcopal Church, or a contributor to the Society,
[t was not until 1833 that the collections passed be-

* See Appendix, No. ITT, for entire receipts of the Society.

>
Vv
20 METHODIST EPISCOPAL MISSIONS.

yond the highest previous mark, but in 1834 the in-
come was double that of 1833. This was the natural
effect of opening the Liberia Mission. The South
American field, too, was looming up before the mind of
the Church, and was opened soon afterward, satisfying
in some small degree a long cherished desire of many in
(he Church to enter the foreign field. The reports of
the Treasurer from this time exhibit a steady advance
of receipts, till at the close of 1844 they fell barely short
of $150,000. The trifling falling off that followed the
extreme financial stringency of 1837 can scarcely be
counted an exception.

In the report of 1845 the receipts are greatly reduced,
but this needs no explanation, for the separation which
then took place between the North and South is yet too
fresh in the public mind. The Society started in the
dismembered condition of the Church with $94,562 27
for the year 1845, and amid the agitations that followed
no advance could be expected. In 1850 the contributions
of the Church again barely exceeded $100,000, but in
1852 there were reported $152,482 48. The receipts
reported in 1853 were more than double this amount,
but by changing the close of the fiscal year from May
to January nineteen months must be reckoned in com-
paring this year with the others, and some allowance
taust also be made for the unusual amount of legacies,
namely, $21,262 93, an amount not reached again till
1864. From this time onward there was a general ad-
vance, year by year, till after the opening of the civil
war,

In 1862, as will be seen, there was an increase of more
than 50 per cent., and from this there was a steady ad-
vance till, in 1866, the greatest figures were reached ever
till then recorded by the Society, namely, $682,380 30.
Course of the Finances. 27

Extraordinary expenditures on the part of the Gov-
ernment in carrying on our Civil War led to the issue
of currency, and money became very abundant. This
affected the collections favorably. Moreover, in the
disturbed state of the country it was not possible to
expand our work abroad or at home, and hence a large
surpius accumulated in the treasury to meet the un-
usual providential demand that was to follow upon the
return of peace and the re-opening of the South to our
labors, This it was that enabled the Society in 1867
to appropriate $1,030,000.

There was for several years a falling off in the income
of the Society, to be offset, however, by the increased
value of the currency. In 1872 the receipts were again
in advance of those of the previous year. The sum re-
ported this year was $680,836 64, to which, for the pur-
pose of comparison, must be added the grants of the
Bible Society that were always reckoned in till 1871,
making the income of the year $690,516 64. Very
large appropriations were made by the General Com-
mittee at their meeting in November, 1872. They
made appropriations to Canton and Intro-Africa, re-
newed those to Mexico, Italy, and Japan, and greatly
advanced all the mission work, both at home and
abroad. Some thirty missionaries, more or less, about
this time went out into our foreign fields.

These movements constituted a call rarely exceeded in
grandeur, and it seemed as if the Church were about to
respond to this extraordinary demand made upon her,
when, ere the year closed, in the opening of the autumn
of 1873, a financial panic seized the country, interfering
with the fall collections of this first year of the great on-
ward movement, so enthusiastically inaugurated. This
panic was followed by a derangement of the business of
28 MeruHopIst EpiscopaAL MISSIONS.

the country, by grave discussions about the true finan-
cial policy of the nation, and by a scarcity of money
and of work, from which the country but slowly re-
covered.

The disbursements of the Society steadily exceeded
its income for the four years succeeding 1872, till its
debt had mounted in November, 1876, to the sum of
$151,746 59. The lowest immediately fost bellum fig-
ures had been reached in 1868, namely, $606,661 69.
And in this crisis the collections again sank in 1878 to but
alittle above $550,000. Nothing was to be done but
to reduce the appropriations and expend all possible
vigor upon the collections. This was done, and before
the quadrennium had closed in 1880 the income had
advanced again and exceeded $625,000. In the follow-
ing quadrennium it passed beyond any previous record,
and that upon a gold basis. The report of 1885 gives
the receipts of the previous year as $831,028 36. The
General Conference in 1884 gave to the Society Rev.
Charles C. McCabe, D.D., as Corresponding Secretary,
who raised the cry, “A Million for Missions.” Sec-
retary McCabe gave his strength and energy to arous-
ing the churches, and the result was that in the year
1887, the million line was crossed and the debt of the
Society was extinguished. The Church was then asked
to raise the sum of twelve hundred thousand dollars for
the year 1888.

It may be encouraging to note this financial growth
as follows: In 1820, the first year of its history, the
Society raised $823 04; in 1830 the contributions had in-
creased to $13,128 63; in 1840 to $136,410 87; in 1860
to $262,722 77; in 1881 to $629,963 89; and in 1891 to
$1,251,059 37—the latter amount being an increase of
Course of the Finances. 29

nearly $116,000 over the year 1890, and very nearly
double the amount contributed in 1881, The total
amount raised by the Society from 1820 to 1892 was
$25,844,101 93.

Nor must we refrain from giving credit to the Wom-
an’s Foreign Missionary Society, the Woman’s Home
Missionary Society, and Bishop Taylor’s Self-supporting
Missions Fund. ‘The addition of the contributions from
these several sources to the receipts of the parent Mis-
sionary Society gives as the total offerings of the Meth-
odist Episcopal Church for missions, in the year 1891,
the sum of $1,709,020 04, or the average of seventy-one
cents permember. But even this amount was not large,
For by the official statistics of 1891 the denomination
numbered 2,386,549 members and probationers, owned
church property valued at $113,018,065, and had in-
creased over 100,000 in membership during the year.

Taking the Church statistics of 1893, and adding the
receipts of the Woman’s Foreign and Home Missionary
Societies and Bishop Taylor’s Self-supporting Missions
Fund, the contributions for missions were over sixty-
three cents per member.

It will be interesting to notice in passing that the con-
tributions for missions had grown more rapidly than the
membership. Thus in 1840, with a membership of
852,918, the Church gave for missions $136,410 87, or
sixteen cents per member. In 1860 the membership
was 994,447; missionary contributions, $262,722 77, or
twenty-six cents per member. In 18go the membership
was 2,064,437; missionary contributions, $1,135,271 82,
or fifty-five cents per member.

When the General Committee met in Minneapolis,
November, 1893, it found a decrease in the receipts of
30 MeTrHopist EPIscOPAL MISSIONS.

the year, the first time since 1888. The general de-
pression in the financial condition of the country, which
had resulted in the failures of many large corporations
and private individuals and left a large number of un-
employed persons, was partly the occasion of this de-
cline, which amounted to $71,374 27. Yetit was gratify-
ing to know that the bulk of this deficiency occurred in
the department of Lands and Legacies, always the most
fluctuating source of revenue, while but $10,000 of it was
attributable to the falling off of the collections from the
churches.

The condition of business was not materially relieved
during the following year, and on the seventy-fifth an-
niversary of the Society, held in Brooklyn, November,
1894, its debt was $175,764 12, and the business outlook
uncertain. The Committee faced the situation in faith
and slightly advanced their total appropriations.

It is proper to state that of these missionary con-
tributions about one half was appropriated to foreign
and one half to the domestic missions of the Society;
and that the total cost of collecting and disbursing
the same did not exceed three per cent.; or, in other
words, ninety-seven cents of every dollar went direct to
the mission fields.

4. First Corresponding Secretary.

It will be remembered that the Missionary Society
was located by the General Conference at the same
place with the Book Concern that it might avail itself
of the Book Agent for Treasurer, and have the counte-
nance and co-operation of the other general officers of
the Church. How much the Society has ever been in-
debted to these will appear by inspecting the lst of
First Corresponding Secretary. 31

officers and managers in the Appendix. These services,
for the most part, have been without pecuniary compen-
sation. As the General Conference of 1836 approached,
the Board felt impressed that the growing interests of
the missionary cause in the Methodist Episcopal Church
demanded the undivided services of at least one man.
In this judgment the General Conference concurred,
and took action. Accordingly ‘NATHAN Bancs, /est-
” appears for the first time
in the report of 1837. He had written every annual re-
port of the Scciety prior to this time, had acted for the
Society in various offices, and now gave to it the unre-
served energies of the best period of his life, and al] the
influence of a great name at its very zenith.

dent Corresponding Secretary
S Vy

The effect of this appointment is seen in the steady
increase of the funds of the Society; so that they were
actually doubled during his first term, in face of an un-
precedented prostration of business. More than any
other, he deserves to be considered the father of the
missionary work of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
The happy effects consequent upon this appointment,
led the General Conference of 1840 to make provision
for three Corresponding Secretaries, and the report an-
nounced: “Nathan Bangs, D. D., William Capers, D. D.
E. R. Ames, Corresponding Secretaries.”

The first was resident at head-quarters, the second
was in the South, and the last in the West. The chief
business of the two last-named was to visit our missions
to the [Indians and “blacks,” to stir up the Churches
and increase the collections, while the burden of the
correspondence and management still devolved on Dr.
Bangs. After a single quadrennium it was thought
that the cause ceuld again be intrusted to a single
Secretary, especially as there was a prospect of a greatly
32 METHODIST EpiscoPpaAL MISSIONS.

reduced field, and the General Conference of 1844
therefore, elected but one.

During Doctor Bangs’ administration, the policy of
the Society continued much the same that it was in the
beginning, though expressed from time to time with
greater precision in the Constitution and By-Laws. It is
significant that in the first Constitution this Society was
designated as belonging to the “‘ Methodist Episcopal
Church #2 America,” not the United States of America,
for its founders meant to have at least the continent for
a field. Upon revision, in 1828, the words, ‘in Amer-
rica’’ were stricken out, for already the possibility of
having the world for a field had entered leading minds.
The establishment of the Society, according to the Con-
stitution as perfected in 1828, was ‘“‘ for the express pur-
pose of enabling the several Annual Conferences more
effectually to extend their missionary labors throughout
the United States and elsewhere, and also to assist in
the support and promotion of missionary schools,” the
iast clause being an addition. At the close of the first
administration, the General Conference of 1840 still
further added the words, “in our own and in foreign
countries.” These various amendments are indica-
tive of the growth of the idea of foreign missions in
the Church. In 1836 the election of the Correspond-
ing Secretary was devolved upon the General Con-
ference, though he was to labor under the direction of
the Board of Managers. As this was a chartered insti-
tution, empowered by the Legislature to elect its own
officers, for legal effect the form of an election was al-
ways repeated by the Society. All ordained ministers
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, who were members
of this Society, were ex-officio members of the Board of
Managers, and every Annual Conference was entitled to
Dr. Pitman, Corresponding Secretary. 33

one Vice-President. ‘he Bishops were authorized to
establish missions, appoint missionaries, and pay their
expenses, by draft on the Treasury. So far as we know
this great trust was in all cases satisfactorily discharged.
Dr. Bangs continued to hold this office till. in 1841,
persuaded by friends and against his own judgment,
he resigned it to enter upon the presidency of the Wes-
leyan University, at Middletown, Conn.

5. Dr. Pitman, Corresponding Secretary.

The successor of Dr. Bangs was to be chosen by the
New York Annual Conference, as the Constitution of
the Society and the Discipline of the Church declared.
Public sentiment seemed to center on no one name, and
the great interest felt in the subject ripened into excite-
ment as the session of the Conference approached.
While the subject was before the Conference, Rev.
Charles Pitman, an eloquent and useful preacher of the
New Jersey Conference, entered the room, and many
beholding him, there seemed to be concentration upon
him, as the most fitting person, and he was accordingly
elected. Serving for the residue of the quadrennium he
was re-elected by the General Conference of 1844, and
again by the General Conference of 1848. The great
events of his administration were entering upon the
China Mission and the Mission in Germany and Switz-
erland, of which we speak in the appropriate places.

The Domestic work had also greatly enlarged, and
California, especially from the vast influx of population
consequent upon the discovery of gold, began to make
importunate demands upon the Society for mer: and
means. Dr. Pitman’s eloquent sermons and addresses
were every-where an inspiration to the Church. In the
34 MEtTHObDIsr EpiscopaL MISSIONS.

year 1849, in the midst of his work, Dr. Pitman was
smitten with paralysis of the tongue, and was compelled
to resign his office. This he did March 20,1850. The
disease slowly spread over his entire system, and four
years afterward terminated his life.

6. Dr. Durbin, Corresponding Secretary.

The Constitution of the Society had been so amended
by the General Conference of 1844 as to take from

   

ST =
REV. JOUN P. DURBIN, D. dD.

the New York Conference the power of filling vacan-
cies in the office of Corresponding Secretary, and it
had been given to the Board of Bishops. At a meet-
ing of the Board of Managers, held April 15, 1850,
Rev. John P. Durbin, D. D., was introduced, properly
accredited from the Bishops, as Corresponding Secre-
Dr. Durbin, Corresponding Secretary. 35

tary of the Missionary Society of the Methodist Epis-
copal Church. The General Conference of 1844 had
made still other important changes in the Constitu-
tion of the Society. ‘They ordained the division of
the Church into as many Mission Districts as there
were effective superintendents, and the appointment by;
the Bishops of one man from each of these districts,
who together should constitute the General Missionary
Committee, This Committee was to meet annually in
New York city, and, jointly with the Board of Managers,
Corresponding Secretary, and Treasurer, determine the
amount to be drawn for the ensuing year, and the pro-
portion of the same for Domestic and for Foreign Mis-
sions. In conjunction with the Bishop presiding at the
New York Conference, they were to designate what fields
should be occupied as Foreign Missions; the number of
persons to be employed in the same, and to estimate the
sums necessary for the support of each mission, subject to
the approval of the Bishop presiding. They were also
to determine the amount each Bishop should draw for
domestie missions, thus reserving to the Board the ad-
ministration of Foreign Missions.

A new mission field might be opened in the interim
of the sessions of the General Committee by the
Board of Managers, with the concurrence of a majority
of the Bishops, and in the same way any unforeseen
emergency was to be provided for. Here was inau-
gurated what, with certain amendments, continues to be
the excellent policy of this Society to this day. These
amendments we pause here to note.

In 1852 the Constitution was so amended as to make
the concurrence of the Bishops in charge of the work
necessary to open a new mission or provide for an emer-
gency. In 1856 the concurrence of the Board of Man-
36 METHODIST Er.scoOpAL MISSIONS.

agers with the General Committee was made requisite to
determine the fields to be occupied, the number of mis-
sionaries, the amount necessary for the support of each,
and what each Bishop should draw for the domestic work.

Hitherto the Board of Managers had consisted of
thirty-two laymen, with all ordained ministers eithe:
traveling or local who were meinbers of the Missionary
Society, as ex-officio members of the Board. The Gen-
eral Conference of 1856 determined that the clerical mem-
bers of the Board should not exceed thirty-two, the num-
ber to be defined by the annual meeting of the Society.
In 1864 the General Committee was made to embrace
the Assistant Corresponding Secretaries, and the Bishops
were endowed with full power to administer the missions
in the interim of the General Committee. In 1868 the
General Conference allowed the Board of Managers to
name annually from among themselves a number of mem-
bers of the General Committee equal to the number of
Missionary Districts, and it was required that the Bish-
ops be notified to attend the meetings of the General
Committee, and to advise in all matters before them.

In 1872 most radical changes were made in the Con-
stitution, necessitating a new charter, which in turn
necessitated still other changes in 1876, by which at
present the Board of Managers is made to consist of the
Bishops, thirty-two lay members of the Methodist Epis-
copal Church, and thirty-twe traveling ministers elected
by the General Conference for a term of four years; the
list being subject to annual revision by the General Com-
mittee. The Bishops were made members of the Gen-
eral Committee, while the representatives of the districts
were to be elected Ly the General Conference on nom-
ination by the delegates of the Annual Conference
within each district respectively.
Dr. Durbin, Corresponding Secretary. 37

Thus the Society reached its present degree of per-
fection during the administration of Dr. Durbin, who
brought to the office the most eminent qualifications.
He possessed a wealth of intellectual stores that were
given to the public in most thrilling sermons and ad-
dresses. His fame as an orator had gone out to the
ends of the earth. To all this was added a very rare
ability to do the business of the office. He was
thorough, systematic, painstaking, and consciertious
in the smallest matters. It was as if the great Head of
the Church had made him for this very post to which
the General Conference four times re-elected him. When
he ceased to be able longer to work, the Church felt it a
pleasure to retain him as Honorary Corresponding Sec-
retary till his death, which occurred October 19, 1876.

The Annual Report of 1876 says of him: “No name as
yet identified with our history as a Society is so memor-
able as that of Durbin; and justly so, for the inspiration
of his soul, and the peculiarly methodical character of his
mind, are stamped indelibly upon its every part. When
he entered the office our income was but one hundred
thousand dollars, now it exceeds six hundred thousand
dollars. Then but thirty-seven thousand three hundred
dollars were appropriated to foreign missions, now near-
ly three hundred thousand dollars are devoted to this
work. Foochow was then really our only foreign field,
for Liberia and South America could scarcely be so re-
garded; now the sun never sets on our work among thie
nations. To his wisdom, foresight, comprehensiveness
of view. and personal influence, these grand results must
be largely attributed. His monument is in every land.”

The chapter, ‘‘For the Support of Missions,” as it
stood in the Discipline for many years was mainly writ-
ten by him. Its first sentence, as he framed it. isa key
38 METHODIST EPpiscopaL MISSIONS.

to the new administration: “The support of missions is
committed to the Churches, congregations, and Societies,
as such.” Already this had become to some extent the
case, and the local auxiliaries were dying out, absorbed
in the effort of congregations and Churches, “as such,”
for inissions. This tendency was encouraged, and be-
came of full effect under this administration. The pas-
ers, without any expense to the Society, now take the col-
lections, and the Conference auxiliaries are now the only
ones. To reach the pastors and chief laymen of the
Church the amount of letter-writing and travel done by
Dr. Durbin was truly incredible. Having this in con-
templation, Dr. Durbin made it a condition of assuming
the position that assistance should be granted him in the
office, and a committee was appointed to confer with
Rev. David Terry, a member of the Board of Managers,
and a New York city missionary actively engaged at
that time in securing the Bethel Ship for Scandinavian
work, who was deemed the most suitable person for this
position known to the Board. He entered the office
with Dr. Durbin, and shared with him in the arduous
labors of this period of the Society’s history. After a
brief time he was elected Recording Secretary of the
Society, to which office he was re-elected each year till
in the year 1883 wasted by consumption, and beloved
and honored by all who knew him, he passed rejoicingly
from the most untiring labor to glorious reward.

In the year 1860 the General Conference provided far
the election of an Assistant Corresponding Secretary, to
reside in the West, and to labor to promote the general
interests of the Society under direction of the Board
at New York. To this office Rev. W. L. Harris, D.D.,
was elected, who faithfully and successfully addressed
himself for a quadrennium to his assigned duties, when it
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Dr. Durbin, Corresponding Secretary. 41

was decided that his services were greatly needed at the
office in New York, and provision was accordingly made
for two Assistant Corresponding Secretaries; Dr. Har-
ris being retained for the office, and Rev. J. M. Trim-
ble, D. D., elected for the western field, to take the
duties hitherto performed by Dr. Harris. Dr. Trimble
was one of the earliest and strongest friends of the So-
ciety, and his love and zeal for it led him to abundant
labors that yielded corresponding results. The General
Conference of 1868, however, indefinitely postponed the
election of the second Assistant Corresponding Secretary,
leaving Drs. Durbin and Harris at New York in charge
of the entire work. This proved a quadrennium of
much care and labor to the assistant. The failing health
of Dr. Durbin devolved upon the assistant, in fact, all
the great duties of the office. With amazing endurance
he performed the work until, in 1872, he was elevated
to the Episcopacy.

7. Later Administration.

The office of Corresponding Secretary being entirely
vacant, by the retirement of Dr. Durbin and the elec-
tion of Dr. Harris to the Episcopacy, after much de-
liberation the General Conference determined to elect
“three Corresponding Secretaries,” and chose to fill the
office Rev. R. L. Dashiell, D. D., Rev. T. M. Eddy,
D.D., and Rev. J. M. Reid, D. D. They toiled together
with great success, though amid the business reverses of
the country, until October 7, 1874, when Dr. Eddy was
suddenly stricken down by death. The universal Church
mourned the loss of his great activity and eloquent
words, and his colleagues were especially bereaved.

The Bishops did not exercise the right they possessed
4
42 METHODIST EpIscopaAL MISSIONS.

of filling the office, and the General Conference of 1876
provided for only two Corresponding Secretaries, and
re-elected Drs, Dashiell and Reid.

The quadrennium had not passed before Dr. Reid
stood alone with his great charge, for Dr. Dashiell had
sunk into the grave beneath an agonizing disease with
its painful surgical attempts at relief or cure. He died
in March, 1880. Dr. Dashiell’s was a tongue of fire, his
imagination vivid as the lightning, his heart tender as
a woman’s, his eye taking in at a glance the needs of a
lost world. It was thought advisable to impose upon
Dr. Reid all the duties of the office for the residue of
the term. God strengthened him for the demand, and
the next General Conference gave him as an associate
for the following quadrennium Rey. Charles H. Fowler,
D. D., who expended a wealth of most vigorous and suc-
cessful labor both in the office and on pulpit and plat-
form, and was then elevated to the Episcopate.

The most marked change of the administration was
the removal by death from the office of Recording Secre-
tary of the saintly Rev. David Terry, and the election
to that office of Rev. James N. FitzGerald, D. D., who
held the office till he was made a Bishop by the General
Conference of 1888. Rev. Charles C. McCabe, D. D., in
1884 was elected secretary with Dr. Reid.

At the General Conference of 1888, Rev. Charles C.
McCabe, D. D., Rev. J. O. Peck, D. D., and Rev. A. B.
Leonard, D. D., were chosen Corresponding Secretaries,
and this position emeritus was assigned to Dr. Reid.
Almost immediately afterward Rey. Stephen L. Baldwin,
D.D., was elected by the Board of Managers Recording
Secretary,

The Corresponding Secretaries were all returned te
Later Administration. 43

their responsible position by the General Conference of
1892, and went through the land sounding the clarion
cry “A million anda quarter for Missions.” Each Secre-
tary had his own peculiar endowments for the work of
raising money. The gratifying results of their eloquence
and song and toil were manifest in the advancement of
Methodist mission work as it is shown in all parts of the
world. But, to the grief of the whole Church, in the
spring of 1894 Dr. Peck was suddenly prostrated by
sickness, and on the 17th of May he closed the record
of a most successful life, and his eloquent tongue was
silent in death. Such was his fidelity to the work as-
signed him by the Church that, up to within two days
of the time when he was stricken with his fatal illness,
he was present in the office of the Missionary Society,
attending to his allotted duties. A strong man, who
had been especially eminent throughout the whole
Church as an evangelist, he was about starting, by per-
mission of the Board of Managers, to inspect some of
our mission fields in Europe and in India which had
been under his especial care. He anticipated with
great delight a visit to the land where Jesus was born
and suffered and died; but he was suddenly translated
to the land where the risen and glorified Jesus lives for-
ever. The Church at large felt deeply the loss which
it sustained, but the Missionary Society, and especially
his colleagues and associates in the office, felt it most
deeply of all.

The law of the Church authorizes the Bishops to fill
the vacancy in such a case, but after the most careful
consideration they decided not to do this, and referred
the responsibility to the General Conference of 1896.
The term is now in successful progress under the faith-
44 Meruopisr EpiscopaL MISSIONS.

ful labors of the surviving Secretaries and the co-opera-
tion of the Recording Secretary and others in and out
of the office. The results of this disposition of the
work will be set forth in the records of the following
pages.

8. The Office of Treasurer.

The Treasurer of the Missionary Society is elected
by the General Conference, but vacancies are filled by
the Bishops, and until the Bishops fill the vacancy the
Board of Managers can provide for the duties of the
office.

The following have filled the office to date: Rev.
Joshua Soule, D. D., (1819-22;) Rev. Nathan Bangs, D. D.,
(1822-35;) Rev. Beverly Waugh, D. D., (1835-36;) Rev.
Thomas Mason, (1836-41;) Rev. George Lane, D. D.,
(1841-53;) Rev. Thomas Carlton, D. D., (1853-72;) Rev.
Reuben Nelson, D. D., (1872-79;) Mr. John M. Phillips,
(1879-89;) Rev. Sandford Hunt, D. D., (1889 -——.)

The office of Treasurer has for many years been filled
by the senior Book Agent in New York, with the senior
Book Agent at Cincinnati as Assistant Treasurer. It will
be seen from the above that from before the division
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in 1844, Rev. George
Lane, D.D., filled the position till 1852, when Rev.
Thomas Carlton, D.D., assumed these duties and re-
sponsibilities, which continued in his hands till 1872,
when, “in accordance with established custom,” says
the Annual Report, he was “succeeded by Rev. Reuben
Nelson, D. D., one of the Book Agents at New York.”
The Board expressed, by resolutions, its appreciation
of the long service of the outgoing Treasurer. It is
“Cyclopedia of Methodism” by Bishop
Simpson that during Dr. Carlton’s term of office “the

recorded in the
The Office of Treasurer. 45

credit of both enterprises [Book Concern and Missionary
Society] was maintained at a high standard, and he dis-
played unusual talent as a financier.”

Rev. Reuben Nelson, D. D., succeeded Dr. Carlton in
this office in 1872, and continued to perform its duties
with fidelity till his death, which occurred in New York,
February 20, 1879. The Report for 1879 says, “He
remained at duty while death was stealing upon him,
and might be almost said to have fallen at his post.”

Mr. John M. Phillips, having become senior Book Agent
by the death of Dr. Nelson, was made the Treasurer of
the Missionary Society, filling that office till his death,
January 15, 1889. The Board of Managers declared
that “no utterances could be too fervid touching his
fidelity and competency in the custody and disburse-
ment of millions of dollars that came to his hands as
Missionary Treasurer and as Agent of the Book Con-
cern at New York, or concerning his long-tried, in-
flexible honesty, and his superior business ability. His
reputation as a faithful steward, crowned by years of
active and devoted service, was conspicuous for its per-
fect purity.”

Mr. Phillips, with his associate, Dr. Sandford Hunt,
gave much intelligent thought and urgent service in de-
vising the plan and superintending the erection of the
new building on Fifth-avenue and Twentieth-street for
the Book Concern and Missionary Society.

Rev. Sandford Hunt, D. D., was chosen Treasurer on
the death of Mr. Phillips, and succeeded to his duties
and responsibilities in the building operations as well as
in the usual cares of the treasury, It still continued to
be the custom that the senior Book Agent should render
all this service without compensation, though it had
46 METHODIST EpiscopaL MISsSsIONs.

grown to such dimensions as to demand nearly half his
time. The banking alone is a great responsibility, and
the cause of far more than ordinary anxiety when a time
of great financial depression, such as came upon the
country in 1893, makes it a difficult and delicate task. It
is needless to do more than to refer to the Annual Re-
ports to see with what marked success and fidelity these
onerous responsibilities have been met by the several in-
cumbents of the office.

The Assistant Treasurers who have shared this respon-
sibility and have performed their duties with fidelity,
with the dates of their service, are as follows: Rev.
George Lane, D.D., (1837-38 ;) Rev. John F. Wright,
D.D., (1838-45;) Rev. Leroy Swormstedt, D.D.,
(1845-61 ;) Rev. Adam Poe, D.D., (1861-69;) Rev.
Luke Hitchcock, D. D., (1869-80;) Rev. J. M. Walden,
D. D., (1880-84;) Rev. Earl Cranston, D. D., (1884-—.)

9. Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society.

The careful reader of these pages will not fail to per-
ceive how early the hearts of the women of Methodism
were touched for the heathen. The first after John
Stewart to fly to the heathen Indians was a young and
gifted woman of no mean rank—Harriet Stubbs. And
others followed her godly example.

At a meeting of the Board of Managers of the Mis-
sionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, held
April 7, 1819, two days after its formation, on motion of
Joshua Soule, seconded by James B. Gascoigne, it was

“ Resolved, That the females attached to the Meth-
odist congregations be invited to form a Society auxiliary
to this.”

Rev. Nathan Bangs was requested to issue the call.
Woman's Foreign Missionary Society. 47

Quick to respond, ninety days had scarcely passed after
the organization of the Missionary Society of the Meth-
odist Episcopal Church before the women of New York
city had organized an auxiliary that lasted for nearly
fifty years, and did noble service in the work of Method

ist missions. There were also Female Missionary Soci-
eties at an early date in Baltimore, Boston, and other
places. Our own Church gave the largest liberty to
women, and it was not strange that they should thus he
foremost among Christian women in this blessed work.

It is the fate of all independent organizations to perish,
but the Church will last while the world lasts. There
came a period soon when a very much wider sphere was
opened to woman in our land. She was bearing herself
in all departments with greater confidence and independ-
ence. Just at this time, also, the missionary work in
India had been so far prosecuted that the wives of mis-
sionaries and others were having greater access to the
women of India, who were in the main inaccessible to
Christian instruction from males. Christian women must
elevate and save these heathen women, and now the door
to doing it was opening.

Rey. J. W. Waugh, of India, in February preceding the
organization of the Woman’s Foreign Missionary Socie-
ty, wrote: “Some one hundred girls and young women
are here breaking over customs sanctioned by the prac-
tice of centuries, and are attending schools, learning to
read and write.” This, in truth, was like all other parts
af our missionary work. God had prepared the way
for this particular style of work, and touched the vision
of living faith to perceive this preparation, and seize
the opportunity for the glory of his own great name.
In a word, it was providential.

For some time Dr. Durbin had been writing, as his
48 MetTHopIst EpiscopaL MISSIONS.

wont was, to different persons, stirring them up to an in-
terest in the Zenanas, now evidently inviting Christian
workers. Before he had read the first letter about the
Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society he had sent an
article to the “ Missionary Advocate,” describing the
Zenana schools, and saying, ‘ Our sisters in the mission,
and particularly at Lucknow, are engaged in this work
to the extent of their ability, but they are greatly too
few to compass the work. Young devoted Christian
women ought to be sent to their aid.”

Since 1860 “The Woman’s Union Missionary Society
for Heathen Lands” had existed, and acted a noble part
under the leadership of that saintly and now sainted
woman, Mrs. T.C. Doremus, and in 1868 “ The Woman’s
Board of Missions, Auxiliary to the American Board,”
had been organized.

The head-quarters of the American Board were at
Boston, and here at this time were Rev. E. W. Parker
and wife, of the India Conference, on leave of absence;
Mrs. Dr. William Butler, wife of the first Superintendent
of our India Mission; and Dr. W. F. Warren and wife,
just from our mission in Germany. Methodist women
could not fail to be impressed and stimulated more or
less by the organization of the new Societies above-men-
tioned. an impression which these zealous missionaries
were careful to deepen.

On the 17th of March, 1869, Mr. Parker addressed
the Corresponding Secretaries at New York in reference
to a proposed missionary organization in Boston of
Methodist women. Dr. Durbin replied on the 2oth,
giving an outline of his own thoughts on this subject,
and advising mature deliberation in view of the great
gravity of the subject. He also expressed the hope that
the ladies would steadily aim at two points: First, To
Woman's Foreign Misstonary Soctety. 49

raise funds for a particular portion of our mission work
in India, perhaps also in China; Second, Leave the
administration of the work to the Board at home and
the missions in India. Two days after the writing of this
ietter Mrs. Parker and Mrs. Dr. Butler organized a So-
ciety at a meeting of nine ladies. At a meeting held on
the 3oth of March a Constitution was adopted, and offi-
cers chosen, mainly from Boston and vicinity. One Cor-
responding Secretary was from the West, and forty-four
Vice-Presidents were chosen from the various States.

It was soon found that this was by no means satisfac-
tory, but that to obtain the co-operation of Methodist
ladies throughout the country there must be mcre ex-
tended consultation. Much, perhaps, was said and
written within a brief period. On the 23d of April Dr.
Durbin invited the ladies to a Conference, which was
held in Boston on the 7th of May. The Secretaries
found the missionary spirit manifested by these ladies
worthy of all commendation, but were apprehensive of
collisions both at home and abroad. Dr. Durbin ear-
nestly desired unity of administration in both places.
The ideal of the ladies was, however, molded after the
“Union Missionary Society,” which was entirely unde-
nominational, and this ideal seerned to the Secretaries
incompatible with our rigid connectionalism. Compro-
mise was necessary, and thus resulted the present forin
of the ““Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society:”

1. The organization was to confine its labors to “‘send-
ing female missionaries to women in foreign mission fields
of the Methodist Episcopal Church.”

2. In the employment and remuneration of missicn-
aries, the designation of their fields of labor, and in the
general plans and designs of the work, they were to be
subject to the approval of the Parent Society, under the
50 MeEtTHopist EpiscopaL MIssIons.

supervision of which, and in harmony with it, they were
to work.

3. Collisions at home were to be avoided by taking
no collections or subscriptions in any promiscuous as-
sembly, but they were to raise their money in such
ways as would not interfere with the income of the
Parent Society.

One million Methodist women in the United States,
laying aside two cents weekly for the women of heathen
lands, would make a grand offering to the blessed Christ.
This amount could be saved by the poorest cf them who
had a heart to it. The oftener we give the oftener we
pray, and hence the reflex influence of the plan pro-
posed. To all this the Secretaries consented, and the
Parent Society gave the new organization their hearty
approval, saying, “If the ladies who govern these So-
cieties adhere to the plan of subordinating their work to
the rules and authority of our Church and of her chief
Missionary Society, we do not perceive that there can
arise any conflict or interference with the general plan of
our missionary operations. ... Until, therefore, the So-
cieties named depart from these principles, we discover
no reason for using other language in reference to them
than that of the great Master, ‘Forbid them not; for
who are not against us are on our part.’”

At the moment of this organization Miss Isabella
Thoburn had offered herself to the Parent Board for
India, and her case, in conformity with the compromise,
was commended to the new Society, and she was the tirst
missionary appointed by the Society. Misses Beulah
Woolston and Sarah H. Woolston were never, strictly
speaking, appointed by the Woman's Foreign Missionary
Society, but accepted by them in 1871 in pursuance of
an arrangement between the two Societies, by which the

 
Woman's Foretgn Misstonary Soctety. 51

girls’ schools in Foochow, founded, and fostered for
many years by the Parent Society, were transferred to
the Woman’s Society. The ladies had been in Foochow
since 1859, under the auspices of the Ladies’ China Mis-
sionary Society in Baltimore.

A medical missionary was called for, and Miss Clara
A. Swain, who had been preparing for work in our India
Mission, presented herself. ‘The Woman’s Union Mis-
sionary Society” proposed to support her, but this could
not be, as no one not subject to our direction could be
permitted to labor in our missions. ‘The “Woman's
Foreign Missionary Society” of our Church appointed
her, and she went out under their auspices. So far as
we know she was the first medical woman sent to Asia.
A royal line follows, whose names and heroic achieve-
ments are chronicled in the record of the several mis-
sions. At the request of the Woman’s Foreign Mis-
slonary Society the Female Orphanage at Bareilly also,
which had been so successtully carried on for years by
the Parent Society, was committed to their hands, and
after some years the premises occupied by it were bought
by the “ Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society.”

The Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society exists in
eleven branches, which are really so many different So-
cieties, confederated under one central Executive Com-
mittee.

At the time of the celebration of the twenty-fifth an-
niversary of the Society, March 23, 1894, it exhibited
ninety-four Conference auxiliaries with three hundred
and nineteen District organizations. It enrolled a mem-
bership of one hundred and fifty-one thousand; this in-
cluded two thousand eight hundred and seven members
connected with the ten German Conferences in the United
52 MetuHopisr EpiscopaL MISSIONS.

States, and others organized into fifty societies in the Ger-
many and Switzerland Conference. They had sent two
hundred and thirty-five missionaries to the several foreign
fields occupied by the General Society. Of these,
thirty-four were medical graduates. Fifteen of the
whole number had died; forty-six had married, and
nineteen had retired from the work. They were then
supporting one hundred and forty-six missionaries, one
hundred and eighteen of whom were on the field, and
twenty-eight at home with impaired health. The Bible
readers and assistants numbered over six hundred,
while nearly nine thousand pupils were under instruc-
tion in three hundred and eighty-three day schools and
nearly three thousand pupils were in forty-one boarding
schools; five hundred were gathered in ten orphanages,
and one hundred and fifty-six in eight training schools.
They also supported three “Homes for Homeless

’

Women.” In furnishing houses for its missionaries and
school buildings, it had at that date over $400,000 in-
vested in real estate. In its thirteen hospitals and dis-
pensaries some fifty thousand women were receiving
treatment.

“The Heathen Woman’s Friend,” the organ of the
Society, had a circulation of 21,519. The Society also
published a paper in the German language, “ Der Heiden
Frauen-Freund,” while the “ Heathen Children’s Friend,”
a paper not yet four years in existence, had a subscrip-
tion list of 13,521. A vernacular paper had been es-
tablished in India for circulation among the women in
zenanas, for which an independent endowment of
$25,000 had been secured, and the paper was being
published in five dialects. The “Heathen Woman’s
Friend,” besides meeting all its own expenses from the
Woman's Foreign Missionary Soctety. 53

beginning, contributed in eleven years prior to October,
1893, $26,000 toward the publication of miscellaneous
literature for the Society, of which they had issued some
millions of pages annually.

The accounts of the work abroad will be found in
connection with the several missions.

The contributions of the Society attest the zeal and
energy of those who direct its affairs. They have been
as follows:

From March, 1869, to April, 1870............. $4,546 56
oo Aprils ete L870, to.” s TG 7 Aiiste ew cnese ieee 22,397 99
+ “ T871, to. TB 7 2 errors ere tears 44,477 46
“ ne Liye, to ** 1b73 .okce sw eaw ae 54.834 87
“s + 1873, to ‘ POA ions eemiws 64,309 2
aS Bi 1874, to “ Tote. wees ee 61,492 19
ae 1875, to Feb. 10, 1876.........54. 55,276 06
« “Feb. 10, 1876, to “ LOT e ck tara ae ee 2,464 30
ae 1877, to “ AAR inchs eka een 65,063 52
ag A 1878, to ** TBO .wiers saGuvers 66,843 69
ne oe 1879, to ‘ TES Oe wear aayee 76,276 43
RY ce 1880, to “ TOOT sa aces apasroievons 107,932 45
ms a T361. fo Och.-1,. MeQiae esky arn 195,678 50
S- -Oct:.1, 1882). to * TSS 9. 6c waawas sax 126,823 33
ee a 783%, ta ** VOSS pies seasers 143,199 I4
ae on 1884, io “ TOGS ca was esiee oe 157,442 66
a ee 1885, to‘ TOS Olvisi ciaceriate tons ae 167,098 85
- a 1886, to ‘ TS Op ada earn a 191,158 13
ie Si 1887, to “ TBS Ses comet ee 206,308 69
a a 1888, to‘ TOS Mets cies eneie 226,496 15
ey ve 1889, to“ T3890: iscioetan ses 220,329 96
oe si 1890, to‘ T8OT seaswieiee se 263,660 69
a he 1891, to‘ TOQ2Qv ek euiiasne ase 265,342 15
ge ae $802, to) -°* ESOS sare pns anes 277,303 79
o #8 1893, to ~~“ TSO pis cise Se eases 311,925 96

 

 

Total since organization.......+.+++- $3,451,683 07
54 Meruopist EpiscopaL MISSIONS.

10. Woman’s Home Missionary Society.

At the close of the civil war the importance of work
for the freedwomen of the Southern United States was
seriously felt by many women of the Church, This was
urged on the attention of the ‘“‘Woman’s Foreign Mis-
sionary Society,” but it was thought they might better
continue to restrict their work to foreign fields.

A meeting of ladies interested in the home field was
called in Cincinnati, September, 1876, when a resolution
was adopted recommending work auxiliary to the Freed-
men’s Aid Society and the appointment of a lady assist-
ant to the Corresponding Secretary. This was not found
practicable, because the introduction of women into the
Board of Managers, by the law of the State of Ohio,
under which that Society holds its charter, would en-
danger its title to property.

Failing in efforts to secure the needed work through
existing agencies, those whose sympathies had been en-
listed continued to urge the work through the press and
by private appeals. The first contribution of money in
behalf of this movement was a five-dollar gold piece
given by the mother of Bishop Gilbert Haven, who said,
“This is for the work of freedwomen.” Making this
gift the opportunity, an appeal was issued for money to
sustain a missionary at Atlanta, Ga. This resulted in
the employment of women as missionaries at Atlanta
and New Orleans, who for several years were supported
by private contributions. The approval of this enter-
prise by the General Conference of 1880 led to the or-
ganization of the ‘“Woman’s Home Missionary Society.”

The first meeting in this behalf was called by Mrs.
Dr. R. S. Rust, in Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church,
Woman's Home Missionary Society. 55

Cincinnati, O., June 8, 1880, After consultation with
representatives of general Church work in Cincinnati, it
was decided to form a new Society. The Constitution
of the Woman’s Home Missionary Society, substantially
the same as was approved four years later by the Gen-
eral Conference of 1884, was adopted at a meeting held
July 10. This provides for co-ordinate organizations in
each Conference, and the forming of auxiliary societies
in the several charges. Its appropriations are made by
the General Board of Managers, a delegated body, which
meets annually. The administration of its affairs, ad
interim, 1s given to a board of twenty-one ladies, known
as the General Executive Board. While recognizing
the fact that our cities presented the largest and possibly
the most important home-mission field, the Society at
first sent her missionaries to labor among the neglected
populations of the South, and employed teachers in the
West for planting Christian schools among Mormons
and Indians. The contributions of the few scattered
auxiliaries could be united for the support of a frontier
mission, but at that time unanimity in behalf of any one
of our cities could not have been secured.

At the close of the war when our Church entered the
South with evangelizing influences in behalf of the freed
people, it became necessary that the mothers, the home-
makers of these people, should be instructed in the de-
tails of housekeeping and the moralities and proprieties
of a well-ordered home. This could only be secured
by the labor and sympathy of Christian women. It soon
became manifest that to secure this object some method
more permanent in results than house-to-house visita-
tion was demanded. The suggestion which led to the
establishment of industrial institutions in connection with
56 MeETHODIst EpiIscopAL MISSIONS.

the colleges and seminaries of the Freedmen’s Aid
Society came from Miss Jane Bancroft in 1882, then
Dean of the Woman’s College at Evanston, Ill., who ad-
vocated instruction in the practical duties of housekeep-

ing as a department of our Church schools, and sent a

‘ ”

contribution to provide a “cottage home” in connection
with Clark University. Two buildings for this object
were erected during the following year, one at Atlanta,
Ga., and the other at Little Rock, Ark., the latter fur-
nished by the liberality of Mrs. Philander Smith, of Oak
Park, Ill. Subsequently twelve others were placed in
co-operation with our colleges at Holly Springs, Miss.;
New Orleans, La.; Marshall, Tex. ; Greensboro, N.C.;
Morristown and Athens, Tenn.; Camden and Orange-
burg, S. C.; and schools with the industrial feature were
established at Jacksonville and Ocala, Fla.; Savannah,
Ga.; and Asheville, N.C. These provided training in
all departments of housekeeping, cooking, plain sewing,
millinery, etc., for not less than five hundred girls an-
nually,

The first building erected by the Society was in aid
of their seminary in Salt Lake City at a cost of $6,000.
Later an industrial school for Mormon women was pro-
jected in that city, for which Mrs. Angie F. Newman
secured an appropriation from the government. This
was diverted from its original purpose by political schem-
ers. The Society provided in Utah nine buildings with
the threefold purpose of mission-home, school-house,
and chapel. Mission schools were maintained at Elsi-
nore, Provo, Maroni, Logan, Ephraim, Spring City, Salt
Lake City, Mount Pleasant, San Pete Valley, Spanish
Fork, Grantville, and Richfield.

Missions for Indians were undertaken ameng the
Woman's Home Missionary Soctety. 57

Pawnees, Poncas, Otoes, Arapahoes, Osages, Apaches,
Navajoes, Nooksachks, for the Digger Indians in Cal-
ifornia, and in Alaska for the Aleuts. In New Mexico
schools were established at Las Vegas, Albuquerque,
and Candelarius.

A bureau in behalf of the Chinese was organized in
1883. A proposition for a union with the “ Woman's
Missionary Society of the Pacific Coast,” which had
been organized since 1870, was sanctioned by the Gen-
eral Missionary Society in 1893.

Twenty-five important missions and deaconess homes
were established in the leading cities of the country. In
1892, aided by the donation of a valuable property by
Mr. Ephraim Nash, the “Lucy Webb Hayes Training
School” was established at Washington, D. C.

As the missions of the Society increased they were
placed in sixteen departments or bureaus, under special
supervision—five, including the missions, in the South-
ern States; five in the Western States and Territories ;
one for immigrants and Italian work ; one for local or
city missions; for young people’s work; for supplies;
for lectures and reading circle, and for deaconess work.

The supplies department has furnished assistance,
without which many of our frontier ministers would have
been forced to leave their post of duty.

The recognized organ of the Society, ‘‘ Woman's
Home Missions,” has proved a source of great useful-
ness in promoting home missionary interests. Its sub-
scription list of 13,716 more than met its expenses.
Mrs. H. C. McCabe was from the beginning its Editor.
About five hundred thousand pages of special home
missionary intelligence annually, in leaflet form, had
been eer circulation. The deaconess work of the
58 MeruHopist Episcopal MISssIONs.

Society was specially represented by “Deaconess at
Work,” a paper published at Washington in co-operation
with the Society. ‘

The Society recognizes that the honor of originating
its organization belongs to Bishop Wiley, and that it
owes a debt of gratitude to the Providence which gave
to it as its honored president for the first nine years of
its history Lucy Webb Hayes, who came from the presi-
dential mansion at Washington to preside at their
meetings and participate in their deliberations.

The collections of the Society steadily advanced
from the beginning. The receipts by quadrenniums
are as follows :

First quadrennium, October 15, 1880, to October 15, 1883:
Cash, $23,874 19; supplies, $3,428 91. Total, $27,303 10.

Second quadrennium, October 15, 1883, to October 15, 1887:
Cash, $129,216 21; supplies, $87,031 06. Total, $216,247 27.

Third quadrennium, October 15, 1857, to October 15, ISgI:
Cash, $347,741 55; supplies, $247,849 $7. Total, $595,591 42.

The year ending October, 1892: Cash, $126,690 or ; supplies,
$55,363 89. Total, $182,053 go. Gain in cash receipts over the
preceding year, $24,453 67.

Twelve years ending October, 1892: Cash, $628,521 96; sup-
plies, $393,673 73. Grand total, $1,022,195 69.

At its first anniversary, in 1882, it had twenty-two
Conference Societies. At the close of 18g2 it had sev-
enty-five, while the one hundred auxiliaries had grown
to twenty-two hundred, with sixty-one thousand four
hundred members.

11. “Transit and Building Fund Society.”
The Society known as “The ‘Transit and Building

Fund Society, of Bishop William Taylor’s Self-Sup-
porting Missions,” was incorporated at New York in
“Transit and Building Fund Society.” 59

1884, under an Act which says, “ The particular busi-
ness and objects of said Society are to provide the ways
and means, and to manage, appropriate, and apply the
same as follows—namely : To procure a suitable outfit
for missionary preachers and teachers; to pay their
passage to foreign countries; to pay the traveling ex-
penses of pioneer evangelists in those countries; to
build or purchase dwelling houses, school-houses, and
houses of worship for the use of missionaries; also to

 

translate the sacred Scriptures and suitable religious
and literary publications into foreign languages, and to
print and publish the same. The funds of this Society
shall not be used to pay salaries of agents at home, nor
of preachers or teachers in foreign countries.” It is
added among the regulations that ‘The Society makes
no provision for missionaries returning from their field
of labor, nor does it deem itself justified in paying the
outgoing expenses entire where less than five years’
service is rendered.”

Bishop William Taylor was President; Rev. Asbury
Lowrey, D. D., and Anderson Fowler, Esq., Vice Presi-
dents; Rev. Alexander McLean, Corresponding Secre-
tary, and Richard Grant, Treasurer. There were a few
other officers, but would seem to have been no members.

This Society, which was perhaps more strictly a Fi-
nance Committee, comprising eight men and four wom-
en, was practically inaugurated (though not formally
incorporated) in May, 1878, when William Taylor, not
then Bishop, opened his Transit Fund and publicly ap-
pealed for contributions. He said: “I do not wish to
receive a dollar that would otherwise go into the regular
missionary treasury. This self-supporting work, which
the Lord of the harvest is opening with such success, is
60 METHODIST EpiscopAL MISSIONS.

outside of all missionary societies, but not antagonistic
to any.” In answer to these calls for help, $42,500 was
received and acknowledged between May, 1878, and
May, 1882, with probably $30,000 more in the next two
years. Forthe four years following 1884 the receipts
were $152,000; for 1889 they were $45,562; for 1890,
$51,151; and, for 1893, $39,677.

This Committee, up to November, 1889, had general
charge of the missions established by Bishop Taylor,
both in South America and Africa. But the Bishop, at
that time, for reasons of his own, took over the entire
control of the African missions, appointing later his
son, Rev. Ross Taylor, Treasurer of such funds, and Edi-
tor of his organ, “ The African News.” The Committee
later raised funds simply for South America, helping also
to some extent the work of Rev. C. B. Ward, in South
India, and a few mission churches in charge of Rev.
Stephen Merritt,in New York city. The history of the
transfer of the property and work of the Transit Fund
Society in Chili to the Missionary Society will be found
recorded in the chapter on South America.

12. The Bishops and Missions.

The Bishops have very important functions in respect
to the missionary work. They appoint all missionaries,
and their superintendence extends to all fields. In the
prosecution of these duties visits had been made to iso-
lated foreign missions, of which we speak in the history
of those missions; but in 1864, sustained by the General
Conference, the Bishops determined that one of their
number should visit our entire work in the Orient.

The lot fell upon Bishop Thomson. He embarked
from New York on the 24th of August, 1864, in the Persia,
The Bishops and Missions. 61

and landed at Liverpool onthe 4th of September, thence,
by way of London, Marseilles, Alexandria, the Red Sea,
Ceylon, and Madras, to Calcutta. From Calcutta he
went into the North-west Provinces, to which, with the
addition of Oude, our work wae then confined. The
Bishop traveled extensively, preached often, and per-
formed many other duties. Upon him devolved the
honor of organizing the India Conference, which con-
vened at Lucknow, December 8, 1864. Returning to
Calcutta, he embarked December 21, in the Thunder,
for Hongkong, and from thence he voyaged to Foo-
chow, the center of our mission in China. Returning,
he visited our infant mission at Bulgaria, and that in
Germany and Switzerland, reaching New York in safety
in the early spring of 1865. The result of this visit was
enlarged knowledge of our work and confidence in it,
and it was especially beneficial, as are all such visits, in
comforting and strengthening the pastors and members
in those distant fields. Two volumes of great beauty of
style, entitled “Our Oriental Missions,” contain the Bish-
op’s own account of his visit, and his wise and loving
suggestions.

The following quadrennium an Episcopal tour on a
more extended scale was proposed under order of the
General Conference. It was to be nothing less than a
tour around the world, for our missions were now gird-
ing the globe. Such an Episcopal tour the world had
never yet seen. The duty of making this visitation
was assigned to Bishop Kingsley. Accompanied by
his wife, ke left Cincinnati, Ohio, on May 10, 1869,
in good health and with high hopes. On his route he
met in succession the Colorado, Oregon, Nevada. and
California Conferences. On the 8th of September,
taking leave of his wife, he embarked from San Fran-
62 MeruHopist EpiscOpAL MISSIONS.

cisco. Calling at Japan, he passed over to China, visit-
ing Shanghai, Peking, and other northern cities, reach-
ing Foochow in November, where, on the 16th of the
month, he opened the Annual Meeting of the China
Mission.

Thence, on November 30, he sailed to Calcutta by
steamer “ Orissa,” touching en route at Ceylon. The
vessel entered the Hooghly, one of the mouths of the
Ganges, on Dec. 21st, and the next day he was in Cal-
cutta. Thence he journeyed eight hundred miles north-
ward to Lucknow, which consumed eight days. Until
January 20 was spent in visiting and inspecting the
work, at which date he met the India Mission Confer-
ence, and arranged the work for another year with much
satisfaction to the Conference.

His work in the remote Orient was now done, and he
turned his face homeward, His letters date from the
Arabian Sea, on February 10, 1870; Gulf of Aden, on
February 20; Red Sea, February 23; and Cairo, March 1.
His appointed duties yet embraced a visit to Bulgaria,
Germany, Switzerland, Norway, Denmark, and Sweden,
and he was further deputed as delegate to the British
Wesleyan Conference, and to visit the Irish Conference.
He had time to go to the Holy Land, and his soul longed
to behold with his eyes the places made sacred by the
earthly presence of his adored Master. He accordingly
took passage from Alexandria to Joppa, and passed
through Jerusalem on to Beyroot. He arrived there
April 4, and two days afterward suddenly fell into the
hands of death through disease of the heart, expiring in
the arms of Rev. Henry Bannister, D.D., whom he had
providentially met at Jerusalem, and who became his
companion to Beyroot. Thus suddenly were the desires
of his soul more abundantly gratified. for he passed from
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The Bishops and Missions. 65

just beholding the place where Jesus was to “behold
him as he is.”

The kindness of the Presbyterian missionaries in this
hour of our grief will ever be remembered with gratitude
by the Methodist Episcopal Church. The Bishop’s body
rests in the Prussian Cemetery, and friends in this coun-
try have erected on the spot an appropriate monument.
The granite may perish, but old Lebanon, with his hoary
head, will stand till the end of time, God’s sentinel over
this precious dust.

The letters of Bishop Kingsley to periodicals and
friends were subsequently gathered into two volumes,
entitled, “Round the World.” They abound in inter-
esting information and practical suggestions, which every-
where evince the Bishop’s unswerving faith in the final
triumph of Christ’s kingdom in the earth.

The General Conference of 1872 repeated its rec-
ommendation to the Bishops to visit the foreign mis-
sions. They designated Bishop Harris to visit our mis-
sions in Europe and Asia, the duty involving a jour-
ney around the globe. His long experience in the
office of Missionary Secretary, and his consequent famil-
iarity with missionary affairs, eminently qualified him for
this service. Bishop Harris left New York, May 6,
1873, passing overland to California, and then embark-
ing, on the 16th of June, for Yokohama, by the steamer
“Great Republic.” After a pleasant voyage he arrived
in the Bay of Yeddo on the 8th of July.

After much observation and consultation the mis-
sionaries were convened at the residence of Dr. Maclay,
in the city of Yokohama, on the 8th of August, and the
mission in Japan was then organized. Transacting its
business preparatory to the year’s toil, the missionaries
were appointed by the Bishop, and the mission work of
66 METHODIST EpiscopAL MISSIONS.

our Church was fairly launched in this island-empire
of the Orient.

This duty performed, the Bishop sailed the next day
for China, by way of the inland sea of Japan and the
Straits of Corea, spending a day at Kobe and Hiogo,
another at Nagasaki, and arriving at Shanghai on Sun-
day, August 17, about noon. He was immediately and
warmly welcomed by the Rev. Mr. Lambuth, of the
Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Spending a few
days in Shanghai, he proceeded to Tientsin by steamer,
and thence to Tungchow, about one hundred and twenty
miles farther up the river, by Chinese house-boat, and
thence by a mule-litter about fifteen miles farther to the
city of Peking, the capital of the Chinese Empire, and
the central station of our North China Mission. He
arrived in Peking on Friday, August 29, and opened the
Annual Meeting of the Mission on Saturday, August 30,
1873. The session continued till the 2d of September.

The Sabbath of this Annual Meeting was a day of
special religious interest. A love-feast; a sermon in
Chinese by one of the missionaries, followed by the
celebration of the Lord’s Supper; a sermon by the
Bishop to a congregation of English-speaking people,
among whom were missionaries from nearly all the lead-
ing missionary Churches of Christendom; and an ordi-
nation of the Rev. Sylvanus D. Harris to the order of
Elders, were parts of this rich Sabbatic programme. On
the roth of September the Bishop left Peking for Shang-
hai, arriving there on the 19th of September, and thence
proceeded to Kiukiang, where on the 24th of September
he met the Annual Meeting of the Central China Mis-
sion, leaving immediately upon its adjournment for
Foochow.
Lhe Bishops and Missions. 67

The time for the Annual Meeting had _ been fixed for
Saturday, October 11; but several meetings were held
preliminary to it, the first of which occurred on the 3d
of October. Missionaries of other Churches had been
invited to be present and participate in the discussion
of some most important practical questions.

‘The first session of the Annual Meeting proper opened
on the 11th day of October, 1873, in a large tent erected
by the native Church in Foochow for that purpose,
which was fitted up in truly Chinese style, with matting
on the floor, pictures, and painted lanterns, each lantern
bearing some inscription or device indicating the dis-
trict, circuit, station, and in many cases the class, to
which it belonged. hese lanterns served to light the
tent for evening service. The opening religious serv-
ices were conducted in the Chinese language by Rev.
S. L. Baldwin, the Superintendent of the Mission, after
which, as usual, the appointment of standing committees
and the transaction of other business followed, after the
manner of our Annual Conferences. Sunday, October
12, was a day of unusual interest. A love-feast at nine
o’clock in the morning opened the day. About three
hundred native Christians were present, including the
native preachers and their wives. Many of them had
come a distance of two hundred miles to participate in
the occasion. The speaking in the love-feast was
prompt, spirited, and spiritual. The burden of each
heart seemed to be for increased spiritual power, and the
descent of the Holy Ghost. As the meeting progressed
some seemed to be speaking too long, and the leader
said, ‘If your soul’s eye has seen the Saviour, and you
have put your fingers into the print of the nails, tell us
that, and leave the rest unsaid.”
68 METHODIST EPpiIscOopAL MISSIONS.

Next, the Rev. Sia Sek Ong, an Elder in the Church,
preached a sermon onthe “ Responsibilities of the Min-
istry,” from 2 Cor: ii, 15, 16. For vigor of thought,
scholarly elegance, and spiritual power, it was pro-
nounced by eminent missionaries of all denominations
tc have been the best they had ever heard in the
Chinese language—a sermon that would have done
honor to any pulpit in Europe or America. Upon the
conclusion of the sermon the following native preachers
were ordained to the order of Deacons by Bishop Harris,
namely, Sia Lieng Li, Li Cha Mi, Ting Mi Ai, Chiong
Taik Liong, and Pang Ting Hie. At half-past two
Rev. Hii Po Mi preached in Chinese from 2 Cor, xiii,
14, and at four o'clock Bishop Harris preached in
the church to an English-speaking congregation. In
the tent during the evening service Bishop Harris bap-
tized the infant son of Yek Ing Kwang, whose wife is
the daughter of the first convert in this mission, and
whose three sons have all been dedicated to God in
holy baptism, and bear the scriptural names of John,
Peter, and Samuel. At this service Li Yu Mi and Yek
Ing Kwang, who had been ordained Deacons by Bishop
Kingsley, in 1869, were ordained Elders, thus giving
twelve ordained native preachers in this mission, six
Deacons, and as many Elders, namely, Hii Sing Mi, Sia
Lieng Li, Li Cha Mi, Ting Mi Ai, Chiong Taik Liong,
and Pang Ting Hie, Deacons; and Hii Po Mi, Hii Yong
Mi, Sia Sek Ong, Ling Ching ‘Ting, Li Yu Mi, and Yek
Ing Kwang, Elders.

The Annual Meeting closed its session on Wednesday;
the 15th of October, having given patient and prayerful
consideration to many matters of profound interest to
the mission in China, and to the Church at large.
The Bishops and Missions. 69

On Saturday, October 25, 1873, Bishop Harris left
Foochow, proceeding by way of Amoy, Swatow, and
Hongkong to Canton, the most beautiful and interesting
city of China. Here he was the guest of the Rev. Dr.
Happer, of the Presbyterian Mission. Among the first
to call on him was the Rev. Archdeacon Gray, of the
Established Church of England. He is Consular Chap-
lain in Canton, and Archdeacon of China. On his invi-
tation the Bishop preached on Sabbath morning in
Christ’s Church, of which he is the rector. Returning
to Hongkong on the 6th of November, the Bishop de-
parted in the ‘“‘ Peiho” for India, and reached Calcutta
November 11.

He remained in India till the following February,
during which time he visited Calcutta, Benares, Allaha-
bad, Cawnpore, Bareilly, Nynee Tal, Moradabad, Budaon,
Shahjehanpore, Delhi, Agra, Lucknow, Bombay, and
other places.

The India Conference began its session in Lucknow,
January 7, 1874. At this session the work in Southern
India, which had grown up under the labors of the Rev.
William Taylor, was organized into the Bombay, Bengal,
and Madras Mission, and its founder was appointed its
first Superintendent. During the session of the Confer-
ence thirteen preachers were elected to Deacons’ orders,
of whom two were Eurasians, and five were Hindus;
eight were elected to Elders’ orders, one of whom was
a Eurasian, and two were Hindus. All were ordained
by the Bishop.

On the first day of February Bishop Harris left Bom-
bay for Italy, and arrived in Rome the goth day of April,
having made a detour to Palestine. He had expected
to go thence to Bulgaria, but ice in the Danube rendered
70 METHODIST EPISCOPAL MISSIONS.

that route impracticable. He spent the month of April
with our missions in Italy, and early in May left for Bul-
garia, by way of Vienna, Austria. The first Sabbath
after his arrival he spent with the native Church at
Sistof, of which Gabriel Elief was the pastor. The next
Sabbath was spent in Constantinople, whither the mis-
sionaries had gone to attend the Annual Meeting, so that
they might have the benefit of the presence and coun-
sels of the Rev. Dr. Long, who for so many years had
planned and prayed for Bulgaria. This Annual Meeting
was held during the last days of May at the residence of
Dr. Long, at Bebek, a suburb of Constantinople. At the
close of the Annual Meeting Bishop Harris left Turkey
for the purpose of meeting the Irish Conference, in Bel-
fast, to which he had been deputed as a delegate from
our General Conference. At Geneva, in Switzerland, he
was prostrated by a sharp attack of malarial fever, which
prevented his journey to Ireland. Having recovered
sufficiently to travel, he went to Frankfurt-am-Main to
attend the Commencement exercises of our theological
school in that city. The Sabbath after he spent with
the Church in Zurich.

On Wednesday, July 2, he opened the Conference in
Schaffhausen in Switzerland. At this Conference, which
continued for a week, there were seven preachers elected
and ordained Deacons, and six elected and ordained
Elders. ‘There were also nine Italian preachers admit-
ted on trial, and appointed to the work in Italy, and two
of these were elected to Deacons’ and Elders’ orders.
At the close of this Conference Bishop Harris went to
England, as a fraternal delegate from the General Con-
ference of our own Church to the British Wesleyan
Conference.
The Bishops and Missions, 71

He then went to Sweden, and held the Annual
Meeting of the Swedish Mission in Stockholm, Au-
gust 13. After visiting Wisby he proceeded to Chris-
tiania, Norway, to dedicate a new church; thence to
Frederickshald, where he held the Annual Meet-
ing of the Norwegian Mission, 25th and 26th days of
August.

At this meeting Peter Olsen, Anders Olsen, and Chris-
topher P. Ruud were ordained Elders, they having been
elected to that office by the Conference of Germany and
Switzerland at its late session. Proceeding southward
to Copenhagen, the Bishop held the Annual Meeting of
the Danish Mission in that city on the 29th, 30th, and
31st of August. On Sabbath, the goth, Jens J. Chris-
tensen, of Denmark, was ordained both Deacon and
Elder, and the following persons belonging to the mis-
sion in Sweden were ordained Deacons, namely: Alex-
ander Palm, Seved Hanson, Charles A. Stenholm, Nils
Sandell, and Charles J. Johanson. These persons were
ordained in Denmark rather than in Sweden, because
our Church not having been recognized by the Gov-
ernment of Sweden, ordinations in that country by
a Methodist Bishop would be unlawful; but as our
Church had been formally recognized by the Govern-
ment of Denmark, ordinations there by our Bishops were
lawful, and national comity required a recognition in
Sweden of lawful acts done in Denmark. Since that
time the Methodist Episcopal Church has been duly rec-
ognized by the Government of Sweden, and such device
is no longer necessary.

At length, having completed his visitation of Scan-
dinavia, Bishop Harris went to Berlin, to meet a Com-
mittee of the German Conference, in consultation con-
72 METHODIST EPISCOPAL MISSIONS.

cerning our church property in that city; and thence to
Bologna, in Italy, to hold the first Annual Meeting of the
Italian Mission. It began its session in the old city of
Bologna on the roth day of September, 1874, and con-
tinued two days. At this meeting Enrico Borelli and
Luigi Cappellini were ordained to both Deacons’ and
Elders’ orders, The residence of the Superintendent
was changed from Bologna to Rome, and the latter city
thenceforth became the central station of the Mission.
The Bishop reached New York October 19.

We have not space for the detailed reference to the
other official visits of the Bishops to our foreign fields.
We leave mention of them to fall into their place in the
history of each Mission, so far as it may be practicable.

The supervision of our Missionary Bishops at an early
day in Africa, and of Bishop Thoburn in India and
Bishop Taylor in Africa since, will be mentioned in the
chapters on Africa and India Missions.

13. The Mission Rooms.

Any sketch of the Missionary Society would be im-
perfect that did not at least notice the manner in which
it has become possessed of a local habitation. The first
movement toward this object was in 1839, when, on the
occasion of the Centenary of Methodism, the hearts of the
people were moved to give a part of their thank-offerings
to build a mission house. The Board of Managers, at a
meeting held September 19, 1838, resolved to celebrate
the day on which, a hundred years before, the first Meth-
odist Society was founded in London. This was to be
done by a sermon and other religious exercises, and by
thank-offerings to be appropriated toward a mission house.
The Church at large also settled upon this as an object
The Mission Rooms. 73

that was general, and would be monumental, and the con-
tributions for it were thereby swelled to a goodly sum.

In due time lots were purchased in Mulberry-street,
opposite the Book Room, and two dwellings erected upon
them, with a wide alley between, leading to a plain two-
story brick building across the rear of both lots, to be
occupied by the Secretaries for offices, and for meetings
of the Board, storage, etc. The dwellings were occupied
respectively by the Corresponding Secretary and the Re-
cording Secretary.

Unostentatious as was this mission edifice, it was,
nevertheless, a home for the missionary interests of the
Church, and it was gratefully acknowledged as such.
This was fully expressed by the forinal dedication of
the Rooms, which took place in presence of the Board
and Society on the r2th day of January, 1848. Bishop
Janes presided on the occasion, and Dr. Bangs, by invi-
tation of the Board, delivered a very appropriate and
deeply interesting address. This address was, in fact, a
history of the Society, and what it had accomplished.
He estimated that up to the date of his speaking not
less than sixty thousand souls had been converted to
God by means of the Society. The whole occasion was
rounded out by the missionary hymn, and a prayer by
Dr. Pitman.

At the Centenary of American Methodism in 1866 still
further contributions were made in view of obtaining
more commodious “ Rooms,” amounting to about $50,000.
Still other offerings for this purpose were made at the
Missionary semi-centennial, called the “ Jubilee,” of the
Missionary Society, which occurred in 1869. This jubi-
lee was seized upon as a very opportune occasion for
consummating the great desire of many for a new mis-

6
74 Meruopist EpiscopaL MIssIons.

sion house, and the offerings for the purpose amounted
to nearly $15,000. The old premises were in time
sold, for the net sum of $30,870 65. From all sources
the Society had on hand to invest in a new build-
ing $174,417 48, and it finally determined to become
owner of one fourth of the new buildings purchased by
the Book Agents of the Methodist Episcopal Church, on
the corner of Broadway and Eleventh-street. By the
time they were fully ready for occupancy, in the latter
part of 1869, their cost to the Society was $232,826 06.

The debt which was necessarily left upon the building
was reduced by the receipts from year to year, till it was
entirely liquidated during the year 1877—s0 far as obli-
gations to others were concerned. It was still charge-
able, however, with certain annuities that consumed a
part of its income from year to year, but, it was hoped,
would annually leave a sum sufficient to pay the salaries
of the Corresponding Secretaries.

This “New Mission House” was presented for use
to the General Committee, as the representatives of the
entire Church, on the rith day of November, 1869, in
presence of the Officers and Managers of the Society.
The presentation was made by Hon. E. L. Fancher, in
an address to be found bound up with the Thirty-
first Annual Report, to which Bishop Janes responded.
Remarks by Rev. Drs. M. D’C. Crawford, W. H. Olin, and
J. T. Peck followed. Thus the Society is in the present
beautiful and commodious “‘ Rooms,” with no rent to pay,
but with an annual revenue therefrom of some $10,000.
Not one cent contributed for missions was ever diverted
from that purpose, but the entire cost of the new Rooms
was provided for by special contributions, that can only
be used for the object for which they were made.
The Mission Rooms. 75

The Missionary Society could not become possessed
of real estate without becoming a body corporate, and
hence as soon as this was in prospect a charter was
sought and obtained from the Legislature of the State
of New York. This was passed April 9, 1839. It was
very brief and without any special privileges. On April
6, 1850, an act was passed for the relief of the Society,
empowering it to take and hold real estate by virtue of
devises in wills. The charter was amended June 30,
1853, detailing more particularly the manner of consti-
tuting the Board of Managers and the powers of the
Board. April 11, 1859, an act was passed to consolidate
the several acts relating to the Missionary Society, and
to amend the same, giving the Society a full and liberal
charter. On April 14, 1869, the charter was still fur-
ther amended, so as to conform to the changes al-
ready indicated as having taken place at that time in
the working of the Society. The great change by
which the Society came into possession of its pres-
ent form was made by charter passed April 4, 1873,
by which it was made to conform to the action taken
by the General Conference of 1872. Most of our read-
ers will not desire us to be more specific on these
points, and, as for others, the statute books are easily
accessible.

In the year 1887 the authorities in charge of the Book
Concern decided to sell its property at 200 Mulberry-
street and 805 Broadway, and purchase where their entire
business could be accommodated under one roof, and
invited the co-operation of the Missionary Society, which
was cheerfully granted. Ground was selected on the
corner of Fifth-avenue and Twentieth-street, with a front-
age on the avenue of 103 feet, and on twentieth street
76 Meruopist EpiscopaL MISSIONS.

of 170 feet. This property was purchased by the
Book Concern and Missionary Society jointly, and a

 

ra nae ce ee =
BOOK CONCERN AND MISSION PREMISES, NEW YORK.

building erected thereon, the Missionary Society own-
ing one undivided third of the whole free of incum-
brance.

14. Missionary Literature.

The missionary literature of the Methodist Episcopal
church has been far too meager; yet at a very early
jate attention was called to its importance, and action
was had by the Board and General Conference. On
December 16, 1822, the Board, having had the subject
for some time under its consideration, and having pub-
lished a number or two of “Notices,”’ provided for their
regular issue once a quarter. The preparation and pub-
lication of those Notices were committed to Nathan
Bangs, Thomas Mason, and S. Martindale. The peri-
odical had, however, a very fitful existence till, at a meet-
ing of the Board held January 5, 1842, Dr. David M.
Reese introduced a series of resolutions providing for
the appointment of a Publishing Committee, to whom
Missionary Literature. We.

should be intrusted the duty of issuing monthly “ Mis-
sionary Notices” for gratuitous circulation. The “ No-
tices’ were to be begun immediately, and the January
number sent to all the preachers and widely dissemi-
nated through the Church. Messrs. Pitman, Sandford,
Reese, Bond, and Coles were that committee, and under
their direction te issue was made.

These “ Notices” were displaced by the “‘ Missionary
Advocate,” which originated with the Young Men’s
Missionary Society in Boston, who had obtained for such
a periodical a list of two thousand subscribers. Dr.
Pitman opened correspondence with the young men on
the subject, and mature deliberation led to the conclu-
sion on all sides that such a periodical would accomplish
most by being issued by the Parent Board for the whole
Church.

The first number appeared in April, 1849, a monthly
quarto, illustrated. Eight copies were to be sold for one
dollar, forty-five copies for five dollars, and one hundred
copies for ten dollars. As years passed on, its circula-
tion became almost entirely gratuitous, Commencing
with January, 1873, it took an octavo form, and was
doubled in size. The circulation having reached one
hundred and ten thousand, exceeding that of any mis-
sionary periodical in the world, the General Committee
which met in November, 1876, in view of the great cost
of this immense edition, and the exceeding embarrass-
ments of the Treasury, decided to discontinue the peri-
odical for the present, and made provision to have the
missionary information of the office conveyed to the
Church through the weekly Church papers. The Gen-
eral Conference of 1880 directed that there should be
published and sent to all our traveling preachers, and to
such others as might subscribe for the same, a period-
78 METHODIST EpiscopaL MISSIONS.

ical of magazine form, called “The Manual of the
Methodist Episcopal Church,” to include a department
of Education, of Missions, of Church Extension, of
Freedmen’s Aid, of Sunday-Schools and Tracts, and
of Publications.

This “Manual” was commenced in October, 1880,
and was continued quarterly until April, 1888. The
General Conference of 1888 ordered its discontinuance.
In this the Missionary Society used from four pages to
thirty-five pages each quarter to present its work and its
needs.

In 1884 the General Conference recommended the
Missionary Society to publish a magazine devoted ex-
clusively to the dissemination of missionary literature.
In accordance with this action the Board of Managers,
February, 1885, purchased of the Rev. Eugene R. Smith,
proprietor and editor, an illustrated monthly of forty-
eight pages, called “The Gospel in All Lands,” and
“Little Missionary,” a monthly of eight pages, for chil-
dren. Both of these periodicals had been issued for
several years as undenominational publications, and
since May 1, 1885, these two publications have repre-
sented the interests of the Missionary Society. They
had both been edited by Eugene R. Smith since July
1, 1880.

In August, 1888, Dr. C. C. McCabe, desiring some-
thing that would take the place of the numerous cir-
culars he was sending out to the Church, started “ World-
Wide Missions,” a monthly of twelve pages, and after
that date it was issued each month in the interests of
the Missionary Society.

Great aid has always been given to this cause by the
other periodicals of the Church. Before the “ Notices”
Misstonary Literature. 79

were issued the “Methodist Magazine” gave efficient
help by many pages of missionary matter in each num-
ber. When this periodical was superseded by the
‘Quarterly Review,” most vigorous papers on the sub-
ject of missions appeared at suitable intervals in its
columns.

The Missionary Society is forbidden by its Constitu-
tion to use any part of its funds in publishing books,
except in foreign lands. Even in foreign lands the
Society for the most part has looked to the American
Bible Society, and to the Tract Society and the Sunday-
School Union of the Methodist Episcopal Church, our
noble auxiliaries, to do this part of the work. The Book
Concern has done its part in the production of standard
missionary literature, the Agents at New York and at
Cincinnati having published many missionary works of
great merit.

15. Our Literary Institutions and Missions.

Our schools of learning have been among the most
efficient auxiliaries of the Missionary Society. In near-
ly all of them Missionary Societies or Missionary Lyce-
ums exist, where the essays and discussions have refer-
ence to this holy cause, and contributions are made
each term for the support of missions. In some of the
institutions missionary cabinets and libraries exist,
which by their presence promote inquiry and inspire
interest in our mission fields.

Almost at the very organization of our school of
theology in Concord, in 1847, a “ Missionary Associa-
tion” was formed by the faculty and students, which
has been maintained to the present time. Stated meet-
ings have been held, correspondence from missionaries
80 MeEtHopIst EpiscopaL MIssIons.

read, papers prepared, addresses delivered, prayer-meet-
ings and social exercises maintained, greatly to the pro-
motion of the missionary spirit. Through the efforts of
Rey. W. Butler, about the year 1860, a valuable missionary
library was collected, and a large number of missionary
periodica.s added to the reading room. Revs. A. L. Long,
of Constar cinople ; E. W. Parker, of India; S. L. Bald-
win and C. R. Martin, of China, were representatives of the
institution while it remained at Concord. Dr. Dempster,
the efficient organizer of the school, served as a mis-
sionary for five years in South America. Dr. W. F. War-
ren, the reorganizer after its removal to Boston, served
the same length of time in a foreign mission. An effort
was made to develop a thorough training department for
missfonaries in 1869, (the jubilee year of the Missionary
Society,) and the co-operation of Drs. Durbin, Butler,
Wentworth, and Lore was secured. From that time to
this they have maintained a regular course of required
study on missions, besides occasional courses of lectures
by outside parties.

In 1872 a Spanish class was introduced into the in-
stitution, with a view to the preparation of young men
for mission work in Mexico and South America. Dr,
Mallalieu offered a prize of fifty dollars for excellence in
this department the first year, but all did so well that it
was divided among the class to provide them with good
Spanish Lexicons.

On the opening of the Garrett Biblical Institute at
Evanston, Illinois, in 1856, great prominence was given
to the purpose of instructing and training candidates
for the foreign missionary work. Two members of the
Faculty had themselves been foreign missionaries of our
Church, namely: Drs. Dempster and Kidder. Under
Our Literary Lnstitutions and Misstons. SI

their advice, fully sustained by the other professors and
the trustees of the institution, an overture was made to the
Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church,
to “furnish gratuitously board as well as tuition to
such young men {not exceeding five at one time) as
shall be selected by the Missionary Society and the
Bishops for any portion of our foreign missionary work.”
That the Missionary Society did not avail itself of that
offer was not the fault of the institution.

A Missionary Association was also organized among
the members of the Institute, having for its object the
familiarization of the minds of the students with mis-
sionary history and biography, and the state of the world
with reference to missionary effort. This Association
has had a continuous and active existence with the best
of results.

From among the students who in successive years
have attended the Garrett Biblical Institute many have
received appointments as missionanes of our Church to
foreign fields. Their work and history as missionaries
may be learned from the records of those respective
fields.

From the fifth class graduated by the Drew Theo-
logical Seminary (that of 1873) three young ministers
entered the foreign mission field. Almost from its foun-
dation this Seminary has been a training-school for
missionaries, and has been pervaded with inspiring in-
fluences and associations. Corresponding to that fact
a Missionary Association, composed of the faculty and
students of the Seminary, was organized some years ago,
and is kept in vigorous action.

Besides the great amount of information that is ob-
tained and promulgated through the regular proceed-
82 METHODIST EPISCOPAL MISSIONS.

ings of the Association frequent addresses are secured
from returned and outgoing missionaries of different
denominations, and also from the Secretaries of Mis-
slonary Societies.

Our leading Seminaries and Colleges, as well as our
Theological Schools, have had noble representatives on
the foreign fields. By 1893, the Genesee Wesleyan
Seminary at Lima, New York, had been represented by
sixteen persons who had been in its classes, in China,
India, Japan, Mexico, and Africa. Cazenovia Seminary,
New York, had also quite a number. Pennington Semi-
nary, New Jersey, had furnished a large list of missionary
names. It is needless to recount the special institutions,
some of which, like Allegheny College, Ohio Wesleyan
University, Syracuse University, and the now extinct
Wesleyan Female College, of Wilmington, Delaware,
have furnished whole groups of eminent missionaries.
In what is known as “ The Student Volunteer Move-

”

ment for Foreign Missions”’ our institutions of learning
early took an active and responsible part. Hundreds
of the students in our halls of learning united with the

local organizations of that ‘‘ Movement.”
PART 11.

MISSIONS WITHIN THE UNITED STATES, OR IN
THEIR IMMEDIATE VICINITY.

 

The field is the world.—Matt. xiit, 38.

Thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and
to the south.—Gen,. xxvttt, 14.

HE line between domestic missions and foreign is
not clearly defined. The missions of this Society in
Texas, Oregon, and California were once ranked as for-
eign, as were also missions among the Indians, even if in
the older States. At present all mission work within the
United States is styled by the Society domestic, and all
without, foreign. But no man is afar off, if the New Tes-
tament is to be the standard. The great commission
knows no such distinction. Every man is near to us, is
our neighbor, by virtue of his mere humanity. The dis-
tinction is admissible only as a geographical convenience,
and it will be little regarded in this history,

The Annual Reports designate 1812 as the date of
the origin of domestic missions in the Methodist Church.
This was seven years before the existence of the Mis-
sionary Society. We cannot assign a reason for this
date completely satisfactory to ourselves. But we know
that about this date Bishop Asbury began to solicit sub-
scriptions for the support of ministers on circuits where
they could not otherwise be sustained, which subscrip-
tions he entered in a pocket-memorandum-book that
he always carried with him for that purpose. This,
too, was the period when the Church began to push out
84 METHODIST EpiscopaL MISSIONS.

with most vigor into the far West, and into New England,
and perhaps is as appropriate as any other date, unless
we make our domestic missions coeval with the very ex-
istence of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United
States.

1. Initial Work of the Society.

The first missionary was appointed, and the operations
of the Society actively commenced, in the fall of 1820.
Rev. Ebenezer Brown, a gifted young minister of the New
York Conference, was at that time sent by Bishop George
to labor among the French people of Louisiana. This
appointment was in harmony with the spirit in which the
Society originated and the sentiments of the Board. At
a meeting of the Board, held June 7, 1819, on motion of
Samuel Merwin the advice of Bishop M’Kendree was
asked in reference to “ sending a person to preach to the
French inhabitants of the South.” John M. Smith and
Ebenezer Brown had been very early selected by the

‘Board to prepare themselves, by the study of the French
language, for a work such as this. Mr. Smith never con-
summated his purpose, but acquired eminence as a teach-
er. Mr. Brown, at the time of his appointment, had been
for some time devoting himself to the study of the French
language, and his general culture seemed to indicate him
as well fitted for the work. This initial step of the So-
ciety proves how fully it appreciated, at this early day,
the responsibility of American Christians to the thou-
sands from Europe who were finding homes upon our
fertile soil.

But French people had no ready ear for the Gospel,
bred as they were to a distaste for it by Romanism and
infidelity. To them it was bereft of every charm when
delivered in such French as could be acquired in the
Initial Work of the Soctety. 85

schools of the United States. As might have been ex-
pected, this mission was, as to the French, a failure.
But there was a little company of English-speaking
Methodists in New Orleans to whom Mr. Brown minis-
tered, greatly to their comfort and edification. His
clear, persuasive voice was the revez//e in that early
morning of Louisiana Methodism, and some rallied to
the standard which has never since been forsaken.

In 1825 the Society at New Orleans received a regu-
lar pastor in the person of Rev. Benjamin M. Drake, of
the Mississippi Conference, who was appointed to the
charge of this work. He fully organized the Society,
began the erection of a church edifice, and, in fact, laid
the corner-stone of New Orleans Methodism. The
charge continued for three years a missionary out-sta-
tion, and was then (1828) placed among the regular sta-
tions of the Mississippi Conference, reporting one hun-
dred and forty-one members, ninety-three of whom were
colored.

2. Other French Missions.

No more fitting place will present itself to say that
various other attempts have been made to establish mis-
sions among the French, but with little better success
than at New Orleans.

Rev. C. H. Williamson, in the year 1837, began to
preach to the French residents of New York city, but
soon after withdrawing from our Church, the work was
scattered. In July, 1851, the Rev. John B. Cocagne, a
Frenchman by descent, was transferred from the Black
River Conference to reopen the mission, and he met fora
time with hopeful success. This, however, was of brief
duration, and the work was suspended. The French
class became connected with the Duane-street Church,
86 METHODIST EPIscopAL MISSIONS.

and the results of the mission were absorbed in the
English-speaking Churches.

In May, 1851, a French mission was organized in
Detroit under Rev. Thomas Carter. The call to this
work was originated by the conversion of several French-
men who desired the Gospel preached to the people of
their tongue. There was some fruit. Mr. Carter was
succeeded in 1856 by Mr. Cocagne, who soon after per-
ished on a voyage to France, and the mission ceased.

The St. Lawrence French Mission, with its centers at
Dickenson and Parishville, Franklin County, New York,
was begun in 1850 by Rev. Michael Taylor, and a mis-
sion was also opened at Crogan. These continued for
several years, and then gradually disappeared.

Rev. L. N. Beaudry was received into the Troy Con-
ference in 1856, and sent to labor among the French
residents in the north part of the Conference. He gath-
ered in some souls, but no permanent Church was or-
ganized. Mr. Beaudry afterward went to Canada, where
he still continues, being Superintendent of the French
Mission of the Wesleyans in Montreal. These missions
all gradually faded ovt of existence, the reports from
them indicating that what was wanted was a devcted,
earnest, cultivated man, speaking both English and
French with accuracy, and with a soul on fire with love.
None such presented himself. It may be that our suc-
cesses among the French are only deferred, and that God
in due time will vrovide the needed instrumentalities
for this much-needed work.

At the meeting of the General Committee in Novem-
ber, 1852, Methodism in France having been formed into
an independent Conference, gave opportunity to the So-
ciety to aid the work in that country. An appropriation
of twenty-five hundred dollars was accordingly placed at
Other French Missions. 87

the disposal of Rev. Charles Cook, President of the
French Conference connected with the Wesleyan Con-
ference of Great Britain, This amount was doubled
the succeeding year, and tke appropriation was contin-
ued for several years. The greatest interest was felt by
American Christians for a land that had been the ally of
our country in its struggle for independence, and that
had waded through experiences of blood to a sense of
the need of a pure religion. Methodism in France still
survives.

38. English-speaking Missions,

Whatever division of sentiment may at this time have
existed in the Church with respect to foreign missions,
the conviction was universal that there were new and
destitute portions of our own land which the Methodist
Episcopal Church was under imperative obligations to
supply with the Gospel. Into this great domestic field
the Church heartily entered. No work of the Society
has been so extensive or important as this. Indeed, it
1s so vast both in extent and result as to defy all effort
to record it in brief, readable history. An outline of its
beginning is all we may attempt, except in special cases,
not passing beyond the first decade of the Society. It
will appear even from this view, so limited as to time,
and still more limited because it considers in this place
only the English-speaking work to whites, that the Mis-
sionary Society has opened fields that to-day yield the
largest revenues for Christ. New York, California, Or-
egon, St. Louis, Chicago, and other early mission fields,
abundantly testify to this.

One of the first missions undertaken was to the erring
women of New York city, to which work Rev. Samuel
D. Ferguson was appointed in 1823. He organized the
88 METHODIST EpiscopAL MISSIONS.

local preachers as his helpers, and prosecuted his Jabors
with great zeal, but with only moderate success. His
appointment was to “York and Long Island.” In the
west-end of Long Island he found a more fruitful field,
and had soon organized twoclasses, consisting of fifty-two
members, and in the following year a circuit was formed
which numbered one hundred and thirty-five members.

In 1825 missions among the Highlands, in Putnam
County, New York, were also begun under charge of Rev.
J. B. Matthias, and in the north-western part of Massa-
chusetts under Rev. Parmele Chamberlin. The Red
Hook Mission among the Dutch on the Hudson River,
and the Hammonasset Mission on the Connecticut River
were also soon opened. The north part of New York
Island, embracing all above “ Upper Greenwich ” and
“ Bowery Village,” * became a mission under the title of
“Harlem Mission.” Rev. Richard Seaman, M.D., the
second preacher in charge, gave his whole soul and all
his substance to the work. Are not his deeds and sac-
rifices written in the Lamb’s book of life? And is not
the visible result a recompense ?

In the east, in 1824, Rev. George Pickering was sent
as missionary to Newburyport and Gloucester; Rev.
John Lindsey, to South Hadley and Sunderland;
and Rev. Oliver Beale, to Piscatteques, in Maine. The
Welsh Mission of the Oneida Conference was begun in
1828. Rev. John Wood was sent to work on the St.
Mary’s River, Ohio; Rev. Elias Patten, and afterward
Rev. Benjamin Cooper, were sent to St. Clair River,
Michigan; and Rev. Erastus Felton to the north of St.
Joseph’s River, in the same State. Missions were also
started on the Salt River and Gasconade River, Missouri.

* The present Bedford-street Church and the Seventh-street
Church.
English-speaking Missions. 89

In the extensive frontiers of Indiana and Jllinois nu-
merous missions were established, namely: on the Fox
River, Rev. Jesse Walker, missionary; at Logansport,
Rey. S. R. Beggs, missionary: at Galena. Rev. senjamin

 

 

FIRST MELMODIST El ISCOPAL CHURCII IN O10.

Stephenson, missionary; on Rock Island, Rev. Philip
Cordier, missionary; also at Fort Wayne, ‘‘ Chicaugo,”
und various other points. The sight of these fields now
cannot but inspire gratitude to God for the services that
gave birth to this great work. Their numerous and in-
fluential Churches stand as monuments to the usefulness
of the Missionary Society in the home field.

Equally important missions were originated in the
go Metuopist Episcopat MISSIONS.

South, namely: at Pensacola and Mobile, under Rev.
Henry P. Cook; Providence Mission, on the Mississippi,
between Vicksburgh and Lake Washington, under Rev.
F. A. M’Williams; and at St. Augustine and St. John’s,
under Rev. A. P. Manly.

The work of the Society extended into Canada. Rev.
Fitch Reed and Kenneth M. Smith were sent as mission-
aries to York, Upper Canada, in 1821; Rev. Henry
Ryan, to Chippeway and Grand River Falls. There
were also originated the Perth and Missicepa Mission,
the Richmond Mission, and the Boncharrie Mission, all
before 1827.

The hand of the Society was every-where felt, north,
south, east, and west, in this Christly work of giving the
bread of life to those perishing for want of it. This is
the same blessed business in which it is now engaged,
and has been with increasing efficiency for the fifty
years that have since elapsed, until its home mission-
aries now number nearly three thousand. It has planted
Methodism in Oregon, California, Texas, Montana, Ida-
ho, Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona. Its
agents are the mightiest force that to-day antagonizes the
barbarism that reigns at Utah. It has been helpful to all
the important work along the frontier, struggling in its
infancy against unscriptural doctrines and practices im-
ported in such varieties from the Old World. It has
helped feeble Churches in the older Conferences; and is
the instrument under God for the salvation of thousands
annually in various parts of the land. The list of ex-
penditures* made by the Society for the years past in
the domestic work is an eloquent plea for this great in-
stitution, and the best brief summary we can give of its

* For table of expenditures for domestic missions from the be
ginning, see Appendix, No. IV
English-speaking Missions. gI

work. The glorious story in detail—its triumphs and the
heroism and sacrifices of its missionaries—is scattered
through all the periodicals and reports of the Church
through threescore years agone. In eternity it will be
revealed in numberless stars and crowns. In a few of
the fields only can we indulge even in brief details.

4. Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona.

The history of the work in Texas and New Mexico
might properly form .an introduction to that of our
Spanish-speaking work. These were States of Mexico,
and the latter even yet is not much assimilated to us in
language or institutions. At a very early period our
preachers crossed into Texas, and occasionally preached
there. The first preacher appointed to this land was
H. Stephenson, sent from the Mississippi Conference, in
1835. The work, however, never assumed form and
permanency until Rev. Martin Ruter, D.D., President
of the Alleghany College, offered himself for it in the
year 1837. Great interest arose at the time in the State
of the “ Lone Star,” which had just declared itself inde-
pendent of Mexico, as there was a disposition to place
it in the midst of our own constellation. Dr. Ruter
gave his whole soul to the work; churches were speedily
erected at San Augustine, Nacogdoches, Houston, and
Washington. In December, 1840, authorized by the
General Conference of the preceding May, Bishop
Waugh organized the Conference with nine preachers,
and nine candidates for admission. There were re-
ported sixteen hundred and twenty-three white ncm-
bers, and two hundred and thirty colored. Heroic work
was done in Texas in those days, and it yielded a goodly
harvest.

At the division of the Methodist Episcopal Church
92 MEtuHopIsT EpiscopaL MISSIONS.

in 1846, the work in Texas fell into the Church, South.
The present work there sprang up after the war, with
our othe: southern work, the Conference being organ-
ized by Bishop Simpson, January 2, 1867, five preachers
being readmitted, and ten being on trial; fifteen hun-
dred and eighty-four probationers and members were
then reported.

New Mexico was ceded to the United States in 1848
by the treaty of Guadalope Hidalgo, and in September,
1850, the present territorial government was established.
In the last-mentioned year Rev. E. G. Nicholson and
family were sent to that Territory to openamission. He
made his head-quarters at Santa Fé, and organized a
small Church, composed wholly of American residents
and of atfachés of the army. When the head-quarters of
the army were removed, as they soon were, the congre-
gation was greatly diminished. All the business of the
city was curtailed in consequence of the removal, and
many of the resident members were compelled to leave
Santa Fé. At this time, too, Mrs. Nicholson’s health
failing, the missionary also left the mission.

In the year 1854 two circumstances seemed providen-
tial indications for its re-establishment. First. There
was a young brother, Rev. W. Hanson by name, con-
nected with the Swedish work in New York city, who
could speak Spanish pretty well, and who had long de-
sired to go to Mexico asa missionary. Second. During
Mr. Nicholson’s residence at Santa Fé he had made the
acquaintance of Benigno Cardenas, a Catholic priest of
much influence in the country, who had avowed dissatis-
faction with the Romisa Church. Mr. Nicholson gave
him no encouragement, but he shortly after went to
Rome, and laid his case before the proper authorities
there, and obtained redress for his wrongs, as his papers,
Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. 93

duly attested, proved. But what he saw at Rome fixed
his purpose to forsake its communion. On his way
back he reported to Rev. Mr. Rule, Wesleyan minister
in London, and was for ten weeks under his closest
scrutiny, and received from him letters of commenda-
tion to the mission authorities at New York. Cardenas
visited Bishop Waugh, who, on consulting with Bishops
Janes and Simpson, determined to reopen the New
Mexico Mission, making Rev. E. G. Nicholson superin-
tendent, and Rev. W. Hanson assistant; and they were
authorized to employ Cardenas.

Early in the autumn of 1853 they departed for New
Mexico. The rumor that Cardenas was coming created
intense excitement. The Catholic Bishop repeatedly
denounced him from the altar. No place could be ob-
tained to hold service, and, with the consent of the Gov-
ernor, an appointment for worship was made at a point
of the plazza near his palace. The hour designated was
just when the Bishop’s congregation were retiring from
the church. The Bishop, as he was about dismissing
the people, warned them not to remain to hear Cardenas,
and the bells were rung in hope of drowning the her-
etic’s voice. But he preached, notwithstanding, a ser-
mon singularly simple and captivating, and was heard
with unbroken attention. The next day, Monday, No-
vember 20, Mr. Nicholson, in the Senate Chamber, ad-
ministered baptism to some children, the sponsors being
reputable and influential Spaniards, members of the Ro-
man Catholic Church, For this offense the Spaniards
were threatened with excommunication unless they gave
satisfaction to the Bishop within fifteen days. Cardenas
became a zealous itinerant, chiefly in the valley of the
Rio Grande, and in the vicinity of Socorro. The super-
intendent and assistant left the field within a year, bear-
94 Meruopist Episcopal MIssIONs.

ing to New York unfavorable reports of it, but Cardenas
remained at his labor, crying out for a superintendent and
jor other help. He thus continued for a year, when, in
1855, Rev. D. D. Lore was sent to examine carefully,
and report as to the prospect. He found a class of nine
at Socorro, and one of fourteen at Peralta. He organ-
ized them into Churches, and formed a circuit, consist-
ing of Peralta, Jarales, Polviden, and Socorro. But his
report was, on the whole, unfavorable, and Cardenas
soon proving himself unworthy and false, the mission
was permitted to expire. Inthe year 1869 Rev. Thomas
Harwood was sent out to reopen the work, with Rev.
J. Steele to assist. Since then it has progressed, until
now we have ten preachers in the field, a membership
of two hundred and thirty-three, and property valued at
$32,000. A promising school exists at La Junta, and
every sign is exhibited of a permanent and prosperous
work,

In 1884 the General ‘Committee divided the work
into English and Spanish departments, Mr. Harwood
continuing superintendent of the latter. In the subse-
quent year Rev. S.W. Thornton became superintend-
ent of the English work. Both have been prosperous
and increasingly important, the Spanish because of its
relations to our important foreign missions in Mexico
and South America, and the English because of the
development of the territories. Each mission has a
little over two hundred members and nearly thirty
preachers, if we count all grades and nationalities.
Important educational projects are afoot for both
nationalities.

In the year 1869 Charles P. Cooke, a local preacher
in Chicago laboring as a city missionary, was drawn
Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. 95

toward Arizona as a field, and offered himself for it;
but the Missionary Society seemed not prepared to enter
it. Mr. Cooke had been a godless soldier, stationed near
the Pima Reservation in this Territory, and after his
conversion the remembrance of the degradation of the
Indians haunted him by night and by day. Finally he
started off for this distant field, relying upon God for
protection and for the means to reach it. In due time
he came to the Reservation and was employed as Gov-
ernment teacher, and also did solid, earnest work as
a missionary. He was afterward admitted to Confer-
ence, ordained, and stationed at this point. In 1872
Rev. G. A. Reeder, of the North Ohio Conference, was
sent into this field and labored for a few years. Rev.
D. B. Wright then remained alone in the Territory,
holding the fort with an occasional and temporary re-
enforcement, till in 1878 Rev. G. H. Adams was ap-
pointed superintendent, since which time the work has
progressed vigorously as the Territory has developed
and become more accessible.

5. Other Domestic Missions.

A mission in IDAHO was projected in 1865, and
Rey. William Roberts, of Oregon Conference, was ap-
pointed to the field by Bishop Kingsley. He thus
became the pioneer in a second wide and important
mission field. At Boise City and other places impor-
tant Churches were firmly established, and as the popu-
lation increases they will doubtless be strengthened
and multiplied.

In 1864 Bishop Clark appointed Rev. A. M. Hough
and Rev. E. T. M’Laughlin missionaries to Montana.
It was late in the autumn of that year when they reached
gO Meruopist EpiscOpAL MISSIONS.

the field, but they proceeded vigorously to work among
the miners. A church was dedicated at Virginia City
the following November, the only one then in the Terri-
tory. Congregations and church edifices sprang up in
time at Helena, Bozeman, and other points.

The Mormons in the years 1847-48 were driven by an
outraged public sentiment to the fastnesses of the
Rocky Mountains. Here, fortified by their inaccessi-
bility and murderous bigotry, they hoped for exemp-
tion from all interference. They banished the United
States judges, and put the laws of the land at defiance.
Brigham Young was in consequence deposed from the
governorship, but his successor dared not assume the
office. Another was appointed, and, accompanied by
a military force, he once more set up the authority of
the United States in Utah. By means of Christians in
and with the army the gospel had now at least a partial
introduction to Utah, and zeal for the establishment of
Methodism there was re-enkindled.

In May, 1869, the Pacific Railroad being completed
across the continent, a healthful stream of travel began
to pour through the territory, ‘‘ Gentiles ” located in its
principal cities, and the Methodist Episcopal Church
believed her opportunity had come. An appropriation
of $6,000 had been made by the General Missionary
Committee in 1867 for Idaho and Ufa, which had
been repeated to half the amount in 1868, and in 1869
$3,000 were appropriated to Utah alone, since which
last-named time it has always been on the list of
missions.

Bishops Simpson, Ames, and Kingsley were especially
interested in the opening of this mission, and the latter
in 1869 visited Salt Lake City and preached in the
Mormon Temple. Bishop Simpson, presiding, in June,
Other Domestic Missions. 97

1869, over the Colorado Conference, erected a skcleton
district named Wyoming, without a preacher in it or a
presiding elder, and in August following appointed Rev.
L. Hartsough to preside over it. Mr. Hartsough had
been engaged in the work of Bible distribution along
the line of the railroad, had become interested for the
Mormons, and had visited the territory and preached
there. The new Presiding Elder at once ran a line of
semi-monthly appointments through Cheyenne, Laramie,
Carbon, Point of Rocks, Rock Spring, Green River, and
Bryan, and thence touched Utah at Wasatch, which
was probably the first regular appointment in the terri-
tory.

Toward the close of the year $200 of the appropria-
tion for 1869 was given to Mr. Hartsough for prospect-
ing within the territory with a view toa mission. On
this tour he preached at Corinne, Ogden, and Salt Lake
City, in the last named occupying, by the courtesy of
Bishop Tuthill, the hall where the Episcopalians usually
convened. He sought out Judge Hawley, and other
Methodists in the city, to awaken in them the hope of
the coming mission. Rev. N. Reasoner, then in Salt
Lake as a Bible distributer; Rev. C. C. Nichols, a local
preacher, who was railroad agent at Uintah, and after-
ward at Echo; Rev. W. C. Damon, Rev. A. M. Donnelly,
and Rev. E. Smith, were all at the time or shortly after-
ward within the territory, ready to take a hand in the
opening struggle, and did render faithful service.

On the 8th of May, 1870, Rev. G. M. Pierce, appoint-
ed by the Bishop Superintendent of Utah Mission,
escorted by Mr. Hartsough, arrived in Salt Lake City,
and the mission was formally inaugurated. “Gentiles”
of every opinion gladly hailed their coming. Colonel
Patrick, then in command of the military post there,
98 METHODIST EPiscopAL MISSIONS.

was seeking a court-room for the United States courts,
which were not admitted to their court-house by the
Mormons. The mission rented “ Faust’s Hall” for serv-
ices, and Colonel Patrick assumed one half of the rent
for its use as a court-room. F. H. Root, Esq., aided by
other friends in Buffalo, furnished it with settees. Other
friends gave music books and organ, and it was opened
with a congregation of forty, that soon increased to one
hundred. By May 20 twelve had been enrolled as com-
municants.

The first church built in Utah was at Corinne, a neat
wooden structure, dedicated September 20, 1870, by
C.C.M’Cabe, D.D. A very fine brick structure has been
erected at Salt Lake City by heroic and long-continued
efforts. Very good edifices are now at Provo, Evanston,
Ogden, and other places. Other laborers have followed
those named, and good schools have been maintained.

The General Conference of 1872 authorized Utah,
Montana, and Idaho Territories to be organized into
the Rocky Mountain Conference, but in 1876 Idaho fell
into East Oregon, and Montana and Utah had each a
Conference. Utah was subsequently set apart in a Mis-
sion Conference, including a portion of Idaho Terri-
tory, under a provision of the General Conference for
the constitution of such a body with all the powers of
an Annual Conference subject to the concurrence of
the presiding Bishop. The Black Hills Mission was
commenced in 1878, and made a Mission Conference
in 1888. Wyoming Mission was organized in 1888.
In 1892 the General Committee gave its approval to
the establishment of a Mission in Alaska by the Woman’s
Home Missionary Society, they having previously com-
menced work among women in that Territory. The
Other Domestic Misstons. 99

Indian Mission was erected into a Mission Conference
in 1889, and became an important factor for the de-
velopment of work among English-speaking peoples who
rushed in when Oklahoma was constituted a Territory.

6. Missions among the “Colored” People of the
United States.

The Christian world, without dissent, has long since
pronounced its verdict upon the gigantic crime by which
thousands of men and women were dragged from their
native homes, and transported, amid horrid cruelties, to a
distant land, to spend their years in unrequited toils and
bondage. But they came to our shores heathen, well-
nigh imbruted by ages of darkness. Through all this.
degradation, love to Christ discerned their manhood and
immortality, and busied itself in a thousand hearts and
by a thousand hands and feet to work out their elevation
and to save them. ‘Their own inward sighings and sor-
rows made them peculiarly impressible to a God who
had condescended to become human for their sakes,
and was ever in sympathy with them. They had faith
in him, Visions of the unclouded splendors and com-
plete blessedness of heaven always filled them with
rapture. Methodism seemed peculiarly adapted to their
fervent, impulsive nature, and by a law of loving affinity
this was manifested in going forth to seek and to save
them.

Before the Missionary Society was organized, individ-
ual planters and ministers were careful that the slaves
around them should have religious privileges. Humble
places of worship in some localities were built for their
use, ard the galleries of the great churches were com-
monly reserved for them. The Missionary Society be-
came an efficient auxiliary to work among them, making
100 METHODIST EpiscopaAL MISSIONS.

it possible, by appropriations, to carry the Gospel inta
regions where godless planters had been indifferent to
the subject, or where, for other reasons, the plantation
missionary had not penetrated.

Some of the very earliest missions of the Society were
of this class. Rev. Allen Turner thus went to the
“blacks” on Little River, Rev. Whitman C. Hill to the
“blacks” near Macon, and Rev. John Collinsworth to
the “blacks”? on Sugar Creek, all in the Georgia Con-
ference; Rev. George Moore to the “slaves’’ on Pon
Pon, Combahee, and Wappahoola; Rev. John Massey
to those on Santee, and Rev. Thomas D. Turpin to
those on Savannah River, all in the South Carolina Con-
ference. It is to labors like these that the colored peo-
ple of the South owe what elevation they attained while
in their former condition. There are remoter portions
of the South where the Gospel was less preached, and
many relics of barbarism linger, such as a full belief in
witches and charms, and the wildest superstition gener-
ally, and very much of ignorance and bestiality. Such,
indeed, might yet be styled heathen. The “ freedmen”
afford us, even now, a wide field for Gospel effort.

After the division of the Church accomplished by the
Louisville Convention in 1846, little of this great field
was accessible to the Missionary Society of the Meth-
odist Episcopal Church. <A very few isolated Churches
in the North, and a limited field near the boundary line
of the Church, South, were all that remained to us of the
work among the colored people. This state of things
continued till the breaking out of our civil war, in 1861,
which gave an entirely new aspect to affairs.

Upon the surrender of Lee and the reopening of the
South came responsibilities of the magnitude of which
we had no previous conception. We found that a hun-
Misstons among the “Colored” People. IOI

dred thousand and more of these sable sons of God, as
they welcomed the armies of the North as heaven-sent
einancipators, flew to the Methodist Episcopal Church
as the “ Old John Wesley Church,” from which they had
suffered for long years a most unconsenting excision.
They looked to us for ministers, churches, teachers,
books; indeed, for a supply of all their wants, material,
mental, and spiritual. The burden was absolutely over-
whelming. ‘To see with our eyes and hear with our ears
banished all doubt as to duty, and, with a heart for it,
the Missionary Society undertook the stupendous work.
By a wonderful providence the Missionary Society
had on hand the means with which to meet this unusual
demand. Amid the uncertainties of our civil condition
it had not been thought wise to expand our missionary
work, and, money being plenty, the usual agencies had
for several years brought into the treasury more money
than was needed, so that at this peculiar period a sur-
plus of half a million dollars was in the hands of the
Treasurer. The demands of the opening work in the
South soon exhausted the treasury, and the Society had
to call vigorously for increased contributions. The
work performed at this historic period is yet fresh in the
public mind. We are, it may be, too near to it rightly
to estimate it. It certainly becomes us not in the least
to repress a single rising feeling of fraternity, nor pro-
long ever so little the evils entailed upon us by our civil
war. Therefore we leave the details of this work among
the Freedmen to some future historian of the Missions of
the Methodist Episcopal Church. The social ostracism
under which the work was prosecuted amounted almost
toa crucifixion. But to be identified with the lowly
was to be identified with the Redeemer, and scores
coveted the honor, and put on the martyr’s crown.
102 METHODIST EpiscopAL MISSIONS.

7. Missions to the Aborigines.

Who shall say that the wonderful voice* by which
John Stewart was led to the Upper Sandusky was not
the voice of God? The results, immensely transcending
all that had followed previous labors among the Indians,
revealed to the Church, at its very door, a vast heathen
field, ripe unto the harvest. It is interesting to know
that those two old Indians who constituted his second
congregation became in the end genuine Christians, and
members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. It is
also interesting to know that on that first Sabbath among
the Wyandots, when the congregation of eight or ten
assembled in the Council House to hear Stewart’s mes-
sage, they were deeply affected under his words, and the
work of salvation immediately began. This was in No-
vember, 1816. Pointer would sometimes add to the
interpretation of Stewart’s words some of his own, such
as, ‘So he says, but I don’t know nor care.” But the
faithful exhortations of Stewart soon penetrated the soul
of Pointer, and at length, finding the grace of God, he
became a hearty co-worker, and eloquent interpreter of
the Gospel. Robert Armstrong, a native of Pennsyl-
vania, captured in boyhood, and adopted by the Turtle
Tribe, and whose wife was a half-breed Wyandot, a man
highly respected by the tribe, was also soon converted,
and became a zealous helper in every way.

Romish priests had long labored among these Indians,
aud their teachings had inspired the Indians with faith
in forms and ceremonies totally at variance with this
new spiritual heart-life which Stewart told them was re-
quired in the Bible. and essential to their salvation.
But it seemed to them that if the Great Spirit had in-

* See page 14, ef seg.
Missions to the Aborigines. 103

tended them to be guided by the Bible, he would have
taught them to make books, and would have given them
this book. Moreover, the Romish priests had told them
of one Bible, and now Stewart told them of another,
~ and, believing the Bibles must be in conflict, the question
was referred to Agent Walker, who, in their presence,
carefully compared the Roman Catholic Bible, which
was the Vulgate edition, and our version, and decided
that they were substantially the same, only cne was in
the Latin language, and the other in English. He
also told them that the Methodist hymns were all good.
By this the opposition was demoralized, and for three
months Stewart labored in this field with uninterrupted
success and joy. At the end of this period he left for
Marietta, preaching a farewell sermon amid many tears,
and promising his children in the Gospel to come back
“when the corn should shoot.”

As the work progressed the Wyandots became divided
into two parties, the Christian party and the pagan
party. The Romanists co-operated with the pagans.
Two of the chiefs, Mononcue and Bloody Eyes, were
violently opposed to the Gospel which Stewart preached,
and they and their party said many hard things against
him, and specially assailed him because he was not a
priest, authorized to do the work he had undertaken.
To obviate this last objection the Quarterly Conference
at Urbana, Ohio, in March, 1819, granted him license to
preach. This was a weak echo of the call that God had
given him long before. Moses Hinckle, also, a colored
man, from Mad River, was very helpful to Stewart, and
several good local preachers from neighboring circuits
lent him their aid and influence.

Miss Harriet Stubbs, a sister-in-law of Judge M’T.ean,
had no sooner heard of this work of God among the
104 MetuHopist EpiscopaL MISSIONS.

Indians than she hastened from her home of refinement
and plenty into the wilderness to work with John Stew-
art, under God, for the redemption of these savages.

Rev. J. B. Finley says: ‘“‘She possessed more courage
aud fortitude than any one of her age and sex that 1]
have been acquainted with. Ina short time the intrepid
female missionary was the idol of the whole nation,
They looked up to her as an angel messenger sent from
the spirit land to teach them the way to heaven. They
called her the ‘pretty red bird,’ and were only happy
in the light of her smiles. This most amiable young
lady took charge of the Indian girls, and began to teach
them their letters, and infuse into them her own sweet
and happy spirit.” The name of Harriet Stubbs is wor-
thy to be written by the side of that of Harriet Newell.

In the following August, (1819,) at the Ohio Confer-
ence, held in Cincinnati, Rev. James B. Finley was ap-
pointed to Lebanon District, in which this field was
included. On the 13th and r4th of the following No-
vember he held a Quarteriy Meeting for Mad River Cir-
cuit, forty miles from Upper Sandusky. Some sixty of
the Indians attended, with four of the chiefs and their
families, namely: “‘ Between-the-Logs,” “ Mononcue,”
“John Hicks,” and ‘‘Scuteash.” Pointer and Arm-
strong were also there, and not less than three hundred
whites. ‘lhe Gospel had evidently been gradually win-
ning its way among the great chieftains of this region,
and they were here to observe its fuller effects, and were
themselves witnesses to its power

The love-feast was a melting occasion, and the testi-
mony of the native converts rang out upon the air like
heavenly chimes. Atlength “ Between-the-Logs” arose,
tears streaming down his cheeks, and expressed his joy
that the Great Spirit had permitted him to be present.
Misstons to the Aborigines. 105

He said, “I have drunk whisky and committed many
other sins against the Great Spirit. But my eyes have
been opened, and I have been trying to forsake my sins.
I feel peace in mv heart to God and all men, but I feel
like a little child just beginning to walk. Sometimes I
am almost ready to give up, but I pray, and the Great
Father hears me, and then I feel strong and happy, and
I walk again. I want you all to pray that I sinno more,
always to be happy, and die happy, and be happy with
you forever.” “ John Hicks”’ and “Scuteash ” followed
in similar strains. The latter said, “I am a great sinner,
and have been such adrunkard! The Great Spirit has
been very mad with me, so that in my heart I always
sick—no sleep—no eat—walk—walk—drink whisky. I
have prayed to the Great Spirit to help me quit being
wicked and to forgive me. He do something for me.
I felt it come all over me. Now me no more sick—me
sleep—eat—no more get drunk—be no more bad man—
me cry—me meet you all in our Great Father’s house.”

The love-feast was adjourned to Monday night; then
“Mononcue ” spoke, and chided the whites for not
sooner sending them this good book, and “ Between-the-
Logs” gave a history of religion among the Indians, of
the religion of their fathers, of the coming of the Roman
Catholic priests, but of the ineffectiveness of their teach-
ing to make them good, of the Shawnee prophet that
arose among them, and the Seneca prophet, and how
they proved them to be vain teachers all, and how they
began to think their own religion the best. Finally,
how the Great Spirit sent Stewart, how badly they
treated him at first, and how patient he was, but how at
last they began to heed the good way; how Christ
came down upon them in the Council House, and many

Indians found the grace of God, and kept telling them
8
106 METuHOopIST EPiIscopAL MISSIONS.

of their joy, and how at last they had adopted Stewart,
and wished him to remain with them always.

At the Conference of 1820, held in Chillicothe, they
petitioned for a missionary. For this purpose they met
Elder Finley at Negrotown, and he being seated in their
midst, the squaws first petitioned as follows :—

“We thank the old father for coming to sev us so
often, and speaking the good word to us, and we want
him to keep coming and never forsake us; and we let
him know that we love this religion too well to give it
up while we live, for we think it will go bad with our
people if they quit this religion; and we want our good
Brother Stewart to stay always among us, and our
Brother Jonathan, too, and to help us along as they
have done. Next, we let the old father know what our
head chiefs and the others have to say. ‘They are will-
ing that the Gospel word should be continued among
them, and they will try to do good themselves, and help
others to do so too; but as for the other things that are
mentioned, they say we give it all over to our speakers,
just what they say we agree to; they know better about
these things than we do, and they may let the old father
know their mind.”

Then the chiefs delivered the following :-—

“We thank the fathers in Conference for sending us
preachers to help our Brother Stewart, and we desire
the old father to keep coming at least another year when
his year is out; and we want our Brother Armstrong to
come as often as he can, and our Brother Stewart and
Jonathan to stay among us and help us as they have
done; and we hope our good fathers will not give us
up, because so many of our people are wicked and do
wrong, for we believe some white men are wicked yet,
that had the good word preached to them longer than
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Missions to the Aborigines. 109

our people; and our great heavenly Father has had long
patience with us all; and we let the old father know that
we, the speakers, will not give over speaking and telling
our people to live in the right way; and if any of us do
wrong we will still try tc help him do right, and let
none go wrong; and we will try to make our head chiefs
and all our people better; and we are in one voice with
our quecns; and we all join in giving thanks to our good
fathers that care for our souls, and are willing to help
our people; and we want them all to pray for us, and we
will pray for them, and we hope our great heavenly Fa-
ther will bless us all: and this is the last.”

Moses Hinkle, Sen., was accordingly appointed mis-
sionary to Upper Sandusky, and he was succeeded the
following year by Rev. J. B. Finley. Mr. Finley was all
ready for the work, and the Indians ready to receive
him. The mission now began to assume shape. At
the first meeting to form classes twenty-three presented
themselves, while others stood trembling and weeping,
crying aloud, ‘““O! Sha-Shue, Ta-mow-tare!’’ O Jesus,
pity us! Mr. Finley erected a saw-mill, inclosed land,
and taught the Indians agriculture, laboring constantly
with hisown hands. The grant of ten thousand dollars
a year, made by the Government of the United States at
this time for native schools in which the useful arts, as
well as letters, might be taught, greatly facilitated this
good work. He began the erection of a mission house,
and sent out appeals throughout all the land for pecun-
iary aid. Baltimore became especially interested, and
Rev. S. G. Roszell sent a large sum. The Juvenile Fin-
leyan Missionary Society of the same city was formed
for the purpose of aiding this work, and proved a very
efficient helper. A Juvenile Missionary Society for New
York, modeled after the one in Baltimore, was organ-
110 METHODIST EPISCOPAL MISSIONS.

ized, with Wm. M’Kendree Bangs, then a mere lad, for
president, but it seemed to languish, and in a few years
ceased to exist, having done but little. Rev. John Sum-
merfield lent it all the power of his pathos, and took
collections in his large congregations of children in aid
of the mission.

Let it not be supposed that this great revival was
without drawbacks. There were backslidings and apos-
tasies. Some of the chiefs became offended at Mr. Fin-
ley’s straight, outspoken way of putting things. “ Be-
tween-the-Logs,” “ Mononcue,” and Hicks, however,
appeared before the Conference of Marietta, in Septem-
ber, 1822, and in earnest addresses besought the Bishop
to return Finley to the mission. Bishop M’Kendree
responded to their petition, promising to stand by them,
exhorting them to fidelity, and assuring them that they
would, perhaps, win back those who had forsaken them.
During the year the Bishop visited the mission. The
mission house was completed, the schools were prosper-
ous, a large farm was under cultivation, log-houses were
built with chimneys, more than two hundred of the na-
tives had renounced heathenism and professed saving
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and were evidencing it in
their lives.

In the autumn of 1823 Stewart’s health was fast fail-
ing Worn by labors and wasted by disease, he suffered
greatly. On the 17th of December he breathed his last,
earnest exhortations to fidelity being among his latest
utterances. This was in the thirty-seventh year of his
age, and the seventh of his missionary Jabors. His
name shall not perish from among men, and he will be
great in the kingdom of heaven.

The Conference of 1823 instructed Mr. Finley to in-
quire into the practicability of establishing a mission
 

 

Isabella Meeting-House.
Massions to the Aborigines. 113

among the Chippeways on Saginaw River. Michigan,
and he started on a tour of observation the following
December, accompanied by “Mononcue,” “Gray Eyes,”
and Pointer. The tour was full of interest, and in con-
sequence of the report they gave Rev. Charles Elliott
was appointed assistant to Mr. Finley, with a view to
extending labor to the Wyandots on Huron River, and
to the Canara, Upper Canada. Here they formed a
class of fifteen, to which twenty-seven were added dur-
ing the year, and the entire mission then numbered two
hundred and sixty,

Like circumstances are repeated in the history of the
mission from year to year. Now the members Ge-
creased and now increased. Branches of the work
were established at various points. Wecan but notea
few epochs in the mission, and then must pass on.

The year 1827 was a memorable year because of two
events: First, the succession of Rev. James Gilruth to
the mission in place of Mr. Finley, whose labors and
privations had undermined his health and necessitated
his being relieved. Second, the death of “ Between-the-
Logs,” the greatest of the Wyandot chiefs. His name
was given him because his father was a Seneca, and his
mother a Wyandot of the Bear tribe. The bear often
crouches between two fallen logs, and this child was a
Bear between the two tribes. He was always the friend
of the white man—a bold and gifted man, and a most
zealous local preacher. He died in firm hope and great
peace.

The previous year, with “ Mononcue,” he had visited
the East and seen its wonders, and been himself a
wonder. Not understanding the English language, and
hearing nothing that he understood, he questioned if the
people understood one another. There was a melting
114 METHODIST EPISCOPAL MISSIONS.

simplicity in all his words and conduct that was in-
creased by the dark flush of consumption that even now
mantled his cheeks, He became known to the whole
nation, and his death, so soon after his tour was com-
pleted, sent a new thrill through the missionary heart of
the nation. At his death there were four native local
preachers left in the mission, namely, “ Mononcue,”
Hicks, “Gray Eyes,” and “Herrehoot;” about three
hundred members under fifteen native class-leaders,
and seventy children in school. Ardent spirits were
banished by law from the nation.

Surely the first harvest of the Missionary Society was
an abundant recompense for all it cost. By treaty of
April 6, 1832, the tribe sold their lands in Ohio to the
United States, and nearly seven hundred sou!s removed
to the junction of the Kansas and Missouri Rivers, in
the present State of Kansas, where a fragment of the
nation yet resides, having acquired the right to become
citizens and to hold their land in severalty.

In 1822 Rev. William Capers, by appointment of
Bishop M’Kendree, undertook a tour through Georgia,
with a view to establishing a mission among the Creek
Indians. His object was to consult the people and to
make collections. Having spent eight months in this
way, he arrived at the Creek Agency on Flint River, in
August, 1822. The Creeks were then about twentv-
four thousand in number, and inhabited a territory
within the boundaries of Georgia and Alabama. Not
finding the agent, Colonel Crowell, at home, Mr. Capers
and his company pushed on to Coweta, where they met
the famous half-breed, and intrepid warrior, M’Intosh.
Mr. Capers’ heart was deeply affected by the nude. and
filthy heathenism that every-where met him. M’Intosh
received him with favor, but could conclude nothing
Missions to the Aborigines. ITS

without a general council and the consent of the agent.
Mr. Capers read to the Indians an instrument of writing,
signed by himself on behalf of the Bishop and the South
Carolina Conference, whose agent he was, explaining his
purpose, and assuming the proper obligations in the
case, which was heartily approved by M’Intosh. No
more could be done, and Mr. Capers returned home to
await the decision of the council which met on the 5th
of November following. On this occasion he was heard,
and his proposals were amended and approved. Rev.
Isaac Hill was now appointed to the mission, which took
the title of “‘ Asbury Mission,” and Mr. Capers was made
“superintendent ” of it. The chief work of Mr. Hill
seems to have been to commence buildings and prepare
the way. Rev. Isaac Smith and Hugh Hamill were his
successors, though Hamill soon left for another field.

“‘Big Warrior,” one of the most influential men of the
nation, encouraged perhaps by the agent, headed a most
determined opposition to preaching of the Gospel to the
adults of the tribe, which for a time compelled a halt in
the entire work, but at last a school was opened under
charge of Mr. Smith. He was an aged man, who, in
1782, had been a teacher in Virginia, and intense love
of this work seemed to possess his soul. With the aid
of his amiable wife he overcame the obstructions inter-
posed and established the school. The work was thus
fauly begun.

In a letter dated September 27, 1823, Mr. Capers
says .—

“T am now but just returning from Asbury. I would
have liked you to witness my arrival there. As soon as
I was seen the hills resounded with, ‘Mr. Capers is
come! Mr. Capers is come!’ and presently I was sur-
rounded with a crowd of eager, affectionate, rejoicing
116 METHODIST EpiscopAL MISSIONS.

children. They sing sweetly with us in our family de-
votions, and behave on all religious occasions with a
decorum I never saw equaled among children at home.
Indeed, both for their easy subordination and careful at-
tention to our instructions, the quietness of their tem-
pers, their respectful and affectionate behavior toward
us, aad the progress of many of them in learning, they
would excel on comparison with any school I ever
knew. One of our boys, within three months from his
letters has learned to read in the Testament. It would
not surprise you to hear that the hearts of these chil-
dren gently opened to the truths of religion. On Sab-
bath I baptized Mr. Martin, (hired to manage our little
farm,) and administered the Lord’s supper. While in
that moral desert we were thus solitarily employed, our
children, bathed in tears, bowed at their seats, and, sob-
bing out their prayers, gave a heart-cheering earnest of
what shall be.”

The opposition to preaching to the adults was unre-
lenting. It was fomented by infidel and profane white
men, if not by the agent himself. The superintendent
advised great caution and prudence in every procedure.
Smith, burning with zeal, applied to M’Intosh, called
also “‘ Little River,” for privilege to preach, and received
it. The preaching then began, and large numbers of
“blacks,” and some Indians, attended. At this the
opposition became violent, and the preaching had to be
almost entirely suspended.

The Conference which met in February, 1823, memo-
rialized the Secretary of War, Hon. J. C. Calhoun, on
this subject, and an investigation was instituted by the
“Department.” The report being made, Mr. Calhoun
addressed Colonel Crowell, the agent, in a noble letter
dated March 30, 1824, which can be summarized in a
Missions to the Aborigines. 117

single sentence. The Secretary says: “ You will give a
decided countenance and support to the Methodist Mis-
sion.” His letter to Mr. Capers is equally creditable to
his heart and head.

Even this, however, did not wholly remove the im-
pediments to success. Progress was slow and difficult.
Much instruction was given, and some souls were con-
verted, both of children and adults. The story of these
conversions, as given by Mr.Smith, was often most touch-
ing. In 1825 seven Indians were reported members of
the Church. In 1826 the restrictions upon preaching
were removed, and Mr. Smith preached in the Council
House. He reported this yeaz thirty-two members, six-
teen of whom were Indians. In 1827 there were twenty-
six members, eight of whom were Indians. In 1828
there were seventeen Indians among the membership.
In 1829 there were seventy-one members, twenty-four
of whom were Indians.

In 1825 M’Intosh and some others of the chiefs sold
the land of the nation to the United States, and agreed
to remove west of the Mississippi. There was, doubt-
less, corruption in this, and for it M’Intosh lost his life,
and the treaty was abrogated. But agitations and re-
movals followed, and opposition to preaching continued.
Hinderances innumerable existed, and the mission was”
at length abandoned. Later treaties were made in
1826, in 1827, and in 1832, by which this tribe parted
with all their lands, and were all removed to the Indian
Territory, where land was patented to them by the
Government.

Who shall say that the seed sown among the Creeks
ws all lost? In their new home they have abandoned
the chase, and now devote themselves to agriculture and
stock-raising. They became owners of slaves, to whom
118 METHODIST EpPIscopAL MISSIONS.

they have been indebted for many Christianizing in-
fluences. Their schools, churches, presses, farms, and
manufactures, as now existing, all speak to their praise.
The tribe is at this moment increasing and prosperous.

The mission to the CHEROKEES, originated by the
Tennessee Conference, was far richer in result than
that to the Creeks. This people were also in Georgia,
though their country extended somewhat into Alabama
and North Carolina. They held ten millions of acres of
excellent land, and had become partially civilized, and
many of them were wealthy. Some five hundred negro
slaves were held in the nation. The American Board
of Commissioners of Foreign Missions had sustained a
prosperous mission among them since 1817.

In the spring of 1822 Rev. Richard Neeley, a preach-
er on Paint Rock Circuit, accepted an invitation from a
Cherokee, named Richard Riley, to preach at the house
of the latter. The appointment was sustained by
Neeley and the preacher in charge, Rev. Robert Boyd,
and during the summer a class of thirty-three was
formed, with Riley for leader. Rev. William M’Mahon,
Presiding Elder of Huntsville District, held a Quarterly
Meeting at this place a few months previous to Con-
ference, when the power of God was manifested in a
remarkable manner, several natives being soundly con-
verted.

At the Conference Rev. Andrew J. Crawford was ap-
pointed missionary to this place. He arrived on the
7th of December, and, with the approbation of the
chiefs in that part of the nation, opened a school on the
3oth of December with twelve scholars, which was soon
increased to twenty-five. The school was wholesome
in its influence, though so modest in its beginning. A
little opposition to preaching was at first manifested,
Missions to the Aborigines. 119

but it was overcome by the help of Riley, and souls
were from time to time converted.

In the latter part of the summer a camp-meeting was
held, where the mighty power of God was demonstrated
in the conversion of thirty-one souls; twenty-five adults
and twenty children were baptized on this occasion.
When the meeting had closed twenty or thirty natives
came within the altar, and begged the ministers to tell
them how they could find favor with the Great Spirit
and be happy like these others. The meeting, in con-
sequence of this demonstration, was reopened for their
benefit. One man of wealth proposed that they should
all stay in that heavenly place as long as his means
would last.

They at length tore themselves from each other, but
the work of God went on in a glorious manner. By the
Conference of 1823 there were one hundred and eight
full members in the Church, and numbers of children
could read the word of God; for all of which the ex-
penditure of the Missionary Society was but two hun-
dred dollars. ‘This work soon embraced two Societies.
There was a similar work which began at the house of a
man by the name of Coody, some one hundred miles
distant. Coody was converted, and became an exhorter,
and a missionary was requested from the Conference
of 1823.

The Conference was held in November, and three mis-
sionaries were sent tothe nation; Nicholas D. Scales to
Upper Cherokee; Richard Neeley to Lower; and Isaac
W. Sullivan to the Middle Station. The work con-
tinued to prosper in their hands. They were teachers,
preachers, and laborers in general for the good of this
people.

It was in the year 1826 that an ingenious half-breed,
120 METHODIST EpiscopaL MISSIONS.

named Guess, invented a syllabic alphabet, by which
the language of this people could be read and written
with facility. Among the converts were some eloquent
pleaders for Jesus, very helpful to the missionaries. In
1827 four hundred members were reported, and a most
flourishing state of the schools, and four missionaries
were on the ground, assisted by a native ycuth called
Turtle Fields. The effect of this wonderful spiritual
visitation was visible upon the nation. It had taken
great strides in civilization within a very short period.
Houses and churches were built and towns sprang up;
in fact, the desert began to bloom.

In 1828 there were eight hundred Church members, in
seven Circuits, on which were seven preachers. Young
natives were being educated by benevolent persons and
societies in different localities. The nation was far
advanced in civilization. It had an organized govern-
ment and civil code; it had a weekly journal, the “‘ Che-
rokee Phenix.” Its press, its schools, its Churches, all
promised a bright future not far distant.

Could any thing short of covetousness conceive of
removing this people with such a prospect before them in
the interest of their civilization and salvation? Yet such
was the recommendation of an agent of the Government
after a tour of observation, and he was a clergyman!

At the same time the nation was thrown into great
agitation by the State of Georgia extending her laws
over the Cherokee nation, and because Congress author:
ized the President to extinguish the Indian title to their
lands with their consent. ‘Chere was division of senti-
ment and much excitement in the nation, well calculated
to destroy spiritual influences. Notwithstanding, there
were in 1830 seventeen missionaries, including inter-
preters, five circuits, five schools, with about one hun-
Missions to the Aborigines. 121

dred scholars, and eight hundred and fifty-five inembers
of the Church.

The missionaries sympathized with their distracted
people, and were in consequence arrested, maltreated,
convicted, and some of them sentenced to long imprison-
ment. It was not until 1838 that this tribe was induced
to exchange their land for a plot west of the Missouri, but
they did not remove till three years later, when General
Scott, at the head of two thousand men, marched into
their territory and compelled them to retire.

To their new home in the Indian country they trans-
planted their schools, Churches, and other institutions.
They are to-day some twenty thousand in number, un-
der wholesome laws and good government, with excel-
lent schools and school-houses, good church edifices,
and with prosperous Churches, mostly under care of the
American Board.

A mission to the PorawaTAmIES, in the neighbor-
hood of Fort Clark, on the Fox River, Illinois, was
attempted in 1823, Rev. Jesse Walker, missionary. To
all the usual difficulties was added, in this instance, an
implacable hatred of the whites, which extended even
to their religion. Patient effort for many years was
made to reach them, but the encouragement was so
small that in 1830 the work was abandoned.

The CuoctTaw Mission was in some respect the most
successful of our early Indian Missions. This tribe oc-
cupied territory between the Tombigbee and Mississippi
Rivers, and was mostly within the State of Mississippi.
They numbered twenty thousand, and had been favored
with the labors of the missionaries of the American
Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions for six or
seven years, when the Mississippi Conference projected

a mission among them under the superintendence of
2
122 METHODIST EpiscopAL MISSIONS.

Rev. William Winans, with Rev. Wiley Ledbetter, mis-
sionary. They were, like the Creeks, far advanced in
civilization, but our labors among them opened most un-
propitiously, and sometimes seemed almost desperate.

At a camp-meeting held mostly for their benefit, in
1328, by Rev. Alexander Talley, the work took a start.
Four captains were converted at this meeting, and sev-
exal private persons. Another camp-meeting was ap-
pointed for October, at which still greater benedictions
fell upon the people, Colonel Greenwood Laflore, the
principal chief of the nation, being among the num-
ber converted, and he became a zealous and successful
preacher. Six captains were also converted at this
meeting. At the end of the year the mission numbered
six hundred members, and had two missionaries and
two teachers. The work now rapidly grew and spread,
so that in 1830 four thousand members were reported,
with three missionaries, three interpreters, and four
teachers, all but four of the principal men of the nation
—the chiefs and captains—being converted, and hea-
thenism and alcohol banished.

Removal to the west of the Mississippi now began to
be agitated among the tribe, with all the usual results.
Sorrow was universal at leaving the graves of their sires
and the lands that were so dear to them; but the press-
ure was severe, and at a council held in March, 1830,
it was voted to sell their lands to the United States.

The Christians, and among them Laflore, the chief of
the nation, being most prominent in this concession, a
strong pagan party began to plot their destruction. Mush-
alatubee, once a chief of the “lower towns district,” but
now deposed, headed the pagans. He sought to displace
Laflore, and chose for it the time of distributing the annu-
ity. He surrounded the house to prevent the Christians
Missions to the Aborigunes. 123

getting any thing. Laflore, however, appeared with
eight hundred armed men, and the pagan leader was
only too glad to surrender and save his life. The re-
moval was effected in due time, the faithful Talley
seeing his flock safely settled in their new home.

They continue to be an industrious, frugal people,
making constant progress in the arts and sciences. No
schools or academies in the Indian Territory are better
than theirs. The English language is the most prevalent
among them, and they have become, in fact, Americans.
All this we may truthfully claim has been done for them
by the religion of Christ, and through the labors of
missionaries.

The ONEIDAS were a small tribe of Indians located
near the Oneida Lake, in the State of New York, who
were sadly demoralized because of close association
with the whites, and despite some missionary efforts
among them on the part of the Protestant Episcopal
Church. In this sad state Daniel Adams, a converted
Mohawk youth from Canada, in the year 1829 visited
them. Under his labors a reformation broke out, that
resulted in the conversion of more than a hundred of
these depraved people. A school was established of
about eighty children. Some of the young converts going
among the Oxondagas, a neighboring tribe, and relating
what God had done, a like work of reformation ensued
there. A class was formed among the Onondagas,
three members of which were chiefs. A house of wor-
ship was now erected for the Oneidas, and, it being soon
consumed by fire, another was speedily erected by the
liberality of friends and through the exertions of the
missionary, Rev. “Dan” Barnes.

In 1831 there were reported one hundred and thirty
members, and one hundred and fifteen children in schools.

ey

Py ter dente ate
124 METHODIST EpiscopaL MISSIONS.

The great body of these Indians removed to Green Bay,
Wis., then W. T., where successful missionary work was
done among them for many years. A fragment yet re-
mains at the old home in New York State, divided cven
yet into two parties; pagan and Christian. The latte)
are easily distinguished by their greater intelligence,
neater apparel, and better farms and homes—indeed,
by their general superiority. Rev. Welcome Smith is
the present missionary, and reports seventy-five mem-
bers and probationers, and a Sunday-school of one
hundred and seventeen scholars.

At the Mission Conference of 1830 the Rev. Thomas
Johnson was appointed to the SHAWNEE Mission, and
Rev. William Johnson to the Kansas Mission. Houses
were erected at each point, and faithful efforts made by
the missionaries. This mission was for many years of
special interest to the Church, and, in connection with
the Delawares and Wyandots, engaged the labors of Revs.
J. H. Dennis, L. B. Dennis, Henry Reeder, and others.

The Monawks were settled upon the Grand River,
Upper Canada, with the famous Colonel Brandt at their
head, who, though a graduate of Dartmouth College,
seems never fully to have embraced Christianity. <A
daughter of the chief, Mrs. Kerr, was a firm believer in
Christianity, and had a deep interest in the nation.
Itinerant Methodist preachers riding through the terri-
tory had occasionally preached among them. At length
in 1807, at a Quarterly Meeting held by Rev. Joseph
Sawyer, two were baptized, one of whom was a young
Indian who took the elder’s name, and the other was
Mrs.Jones, wife of the father of Peter Jones; a name
of which more is to be said.

In 1822 the Genesee Conference, which then included
Upper Canada, feeling the current missionary impulse,
Missions to the Aborigines. 125

sent Rey. Alvin Torry to preach to these Mohawks. Mr.
Torry made a wide circuit, and every-where found a
welcome. Superstition reigned, heaihenism was arro-
gant, and hinderances were numerous, yet he had a
hearing, and a few souls were converted.

There was in the settlement a young man named Seth
Crawford, into whose heart God had put the thought
of acquiring the tongue and devoting his life to the in-
terests of this people. At one of the meetings he was
holding, while Mr. Torry was absent at Conference, two
women became seekers of religion. One of these was so
powerfully wrought upon that she sank to the earth on
her way to the spring for water. Upon rising she came
into the house, and, calling her children around her,
all, kneeling, prayed. The Holy Ghost came upon them,
and one daughter, fifteen years of age, and the mother,
were soon converted. On Sabbath, the 27th of July,
1823, while singing and praying, the assembly broke
out into sobs and cries. The flame of revival seemed
at once to sweep every-where, and crowds flocked to
hear, till no house could contain them.

On Mr. Torry’s return twenty were admitted to So-
ciety. The work spread to neighboring tribes and set-
tlements. A letter from Seth Crawford, dated Novem-
ber 17, tells in glowing words of the continuance of
this gracious work, and closes with a passage of deep
interest as giving us the first glimpse of one who after-
ward became eminent as a native preacher. Crawford
says: “We are not a little encouraged that one of the
Indian youths, a Chippeway, begins to exercise his gifts
profitably. Peter, for that is his name, lately opened a
meeting by a few words, and then prayed. His words
were with trembling, but the blessing of the Lord at-
tended them.” Peter Jones was then about twenty-one
126 METHopIst EpiscopaL MISSIONS.

years of age. His mother wasa Mississanugah, and his
father an Englishman, the king’s surveyor. Peter had
spent his first years among the Indians, but iater had
attended school, and was intelligent, and now became
zealous for Christ. :

The success of the work becoming noised abroad, the
interest and liberality of the Churches increased, and a
house for preaching and school purposes was soon
crected. Oneofthechiefsof the Mississanugahs wassoon
converted, and also some of the worst of the whites that
infested the settlement. A remnant of the Delawares
and Chippeways inhabited the Muncey towns on the
Thames, and some of them believed the Gospel. In
1825 the number of believing souls in this mission was
one hundred and fifty. Opposition was aroused within
the settlement from the usual sources. ‘The traders,
the lovers of rum, the superstitious, and the vilest, were
all aroused to oppose the Gospel. Christ evidently
came not to send peace, but a sword.

The Indians manifested the best fruits of a godly life.
At the time of distributing the Government presents,
which had usually been the occasion of a drunken frolic,
the Christian Indians pitched their tents by themselves,
and Peter Jones exhorted them to steadfastness, and
they spent much time in prayer for the pagans. When
what Peter was doing became known the desire to hear
an Indian preach drew crowds of white people. Peter
was wont at times, changing his address to English, to
plead with the crowd no longer to hasten down to ruin,
and many of the white people were convicted and con-
verted. Peter Jones very soon became a power. Edu-
cated, speaking English and the native tongues fluently,
‘and having great zeal, he gathered about him natives
of like spirit, and their labors became abundant, and
 

Peter Jacobs.
Missions to the Aborigines. 129

very successful. In this connection the names of William
Beaver and Peter Jacobs must be specially mentioned.

The American Bible Society about this time printed
portions of the Gospel in the native tongues, and the
Missionary Society printed a selection of hymns.

In all this work Rev. William Case, General Super-
intendent of Aboriginal Missions for the province,
took a most lively interest. He raised money and pur-
chased an island named Sauguin, in the upper part of
the Bay of Quinte, on which the Christian Indians might
be settled, the better to protect them and furnish them
with school privileges. The effect was happy. The
whole body of Indians in the neighborhood, and even
those about Kingston and Guadanoqua, embraced Chris-
tianity. The small island chosen was insufficient, and
this Christian settlement extended to “ Big Island.”

In all parts of the Church the interest in these mis-
sions was very great. Dorcas Societies in New York
ana Philadelphia gave to them their best energies. Two
young ladies from New England, Miss Barnes and Miss
Hubbard, entered this far-off wilderness, and gave their
young lives and rare endowments to redeem the savages.
William Case visited the States with Peter Jones, John
Sunday, and Peter Jacobs—all native preachers—and
their sermons, addresses, and singing intensified the in-
terest of the Churches, and replenished the treasury of
the Missionary Society.

In 1828 the Church in Canada amicably separated
from the Methodist Episcopal Church, and our connec-
tion with these missions ceased. There were at this
time nearly two thousand adults and four hundred chil-
dren under instruction in Upper Canada. This work
has continued to prosper under our Wesleyan brethren.
Other new Indian Missions had been established. In
130 METHODIST EPISCOPAL MISSIONS.

1832 we find the Huron and the Sault St. Marie, while
the Green Bay Mission to Indians, removed from the
Oneida Mission, assumes a place as a distinct and most
important mission. Rev. John Clark had a memorable
and successful career in this field.

Several missions not here noted were originated among
these sons of the forest at different points. and were
prosecuted with more or less success, and the old fields
had many instances of successful and persevering mis-
sionaries. Rev. J. D. Torrey labored long among the Onei-
das, and Rev. Isaac F. Collins among the Cherokees.
Michigan had aline of worthies in our numerous missions
there, of whom we name Revs. J. H. Pietzel, G. Bradley,
James Shaw, Wm. H. Brockway, and S. Steele. The
Revs. Wm. H. Goode and Henry C. Benson achieved
distinction among the Choctaws, and there were many
faithful missionaries who maintained the work among the
Wyandots. It is sad to behold how little remains to at-
test the sacrifices and devotion of the men of God who
gave themselves to the salvation of these dusky savages,

Upon the division of the Church, in 1846, much the
larger portion of our Indian Missions fell to the Church
South, which had before the civil war an Indian Mis-
sion Conference of two districts, containing twenty-five
circuits. The work left to the Methodist Episcopal
Church was not half this amount in extent, and it was
widely scattered among different Conferences.

President Grant, in the year 1869, decided to give the
nomination of Indian agents to the various religious de-
nominations, hoping thereby to remove these important
interests from the arena of politics, and to secure Chris-
tian men as agents, who would feel an interest in civil-
izing and christianizing the tribes assigned to their
charge. ‘These agents were to be under the scrutiny of
Missions to the Aborigines. 131

the religious bodies with which they were connected.
He hoped thereby, also, to secure an honest distribution
of the Government annuities, out of which the Indians
were being lamentably defrauded.

In many of these agencies the results did not justify
the very humane expectations of the President, but in
some it was very happily otherwise. At Yakima, under
Rev. J. H. Wilbur, agent, hquor was nearly banished
from the Reservation. Many houses were built, a regu-
lar circuit was established, with five Indian preachers,
two of them ordained. During ten years there was
contributed in the agency as follows: To American
Bible Society, $400; to Missions, $1,200; to Sunday-
School Union, $120; to Church Extension, $300; to
Tracts, $75; to support of Bishops, $50; to support
of superannuated preachers, $100; total, $2,245. Dur-
ing the same time more than one hundred thousand
bushels of grain had been raised by the Indians, two
hundred comfortable houses built, ten thousand acres
of land fenced, about two and a half million feet
of lumber sawed, and more than three hundred per-
sons taught to read, write, and work. The Indians had
about two thousand head of cattle, besides thirteen
thousand horses, and had made two hundred and fifty
sets of harness. They had seventy-five wagons, two
hundred plows and harrows, with a good supply of
farming tools. About five hundred were members of
the Church. They had two comfortable church edifices.
At Round Valley Agency, California, while Rev. J. L.
Burchard was agent, nine hundred of the Indians were
converted within two years, and gave evidence of it by
clothing and housing themselves as civilized people, and
by betaking themselves to industrial pursuits. All this
132 Meruopist Episcopal MISSIONS.

may be correctly reckoned among the work of the So-
ciety, and like results, perhaps less marked, have been
visible in other Reservations.

8. The Flatheads and Oregon.

In the year 1832 four Indians of the Flathead tribe
living on the Pacific coast, crossed the Rocky Mount-
ains, and, traversing three thousand miles of intervening
wilderness, appeared at St. Louis. They had been sent

 

by their nation to inquire about the white man’s God,
and the book that revealed him, of both of which they
had heard from a trapper and hunter who had witnessed
some of their pagan rites, and told them they were all
wrong in their worship, and that far to the east the
white man had a book that revealed the true God, and
the proper mode of worshiping him. General Clarke, to
whom they reported themselves, received them with all
The Flatheads and Oregon. 133

due consideration. They had known him, for he had
accompanied Lewis in the famous exploring expedition
to the Pacific Ocean, known in history as “ Lewis and
Clarke s Expedition.” Sad to relate, two of these chiefs
died in St. Louis, worn out with their long journey, and
it is not known whether the other two succeeded in
again reaching their people.

The facts we have narrated became known to the
President of the Young Men’s Missionary Society of
New York, who, in March, 1833, published them in the
“Christian Advocate and Journal.” Dr. Wilbur Fisk
read the statement in his study at Middletown, Con-
necticut, and his tender soul was at once on fire. He
promptly penned a call for publication in the “ Chris-
tian Advocate,” with a caption that kept time to his
own quick heart-throbs: “Hear! Hear! Who will re-
spond to the call from beyond the Rocky Mountains?”
He asked for two men with the spirit of martyrs to
throw themselves into the midst of this nation. ‘‘ Were
I young, and healthy, and unincumbered,” said the
call, “how joyfully would I go!” He declared he knew
one that he thought would go, who had no superior, and
he asked for a companion to him. To that man he at
once wrote. It was Jason Lee, once tutor with him at
Wilbraham Academy, and at this time a missionary to
Indians in Canada, and residing at Stanstead. “ Money
shall be forthcoming; I will be bondsman for the
Church,” was his stirring affirmation,

Tle addressed the Board on the subject, and on the
2oth of March, 1833, the Corresponding Secretary was
directed to correspond with the Bishops and with Gen-
eral Clarke on the subject, and with any others he might
think proper. A month afterward it was reported to
the Board that Bishop Emory had seen Mr. Raub, of
134 METHODIST EpiscopaL MISSIONS.

the War Department, at Washington, in relation to the
Flathead Indians, and that they had no knowledge of
such a tribe. But the impulse was far too strong to be
stayed by this, and at the same meeting the Board 1e-
quested the Bishops to establish an “ Aboriginal Mission
west of the Rocky Mountains.” By this title the mission
was known till October, 1835, when it was changed to
“ Oregon Mission.”

Jason Lee responded favorably to the call, appeared
at the New England Conference of 1833, was received on
probation into that body, ordained by Bishop Hedding,
and appointed to this “‘ Foreign Mission,” practically
more distant then than IndiaorChinaisnow. In August
following Rev. Daniel Lee, nephew of Jason, was also ap-
pointed to this field, and the Board engaged Cyrus Shep-
ard and T. S. Edwards, laymen, to accompany them.

By this time all the land was in a flame; other de-
nominations sharing with ours in the excitement. An
inspection of the table of incomes of the Society will
show how it affected the treasury. One young gen-
tleman of New York offered two thousand dollars, (all
his possessions,) as his glad response to this cry of the
heathen.

But there was no overland route to the Columbia.
Only an occasional ship passed around Cape Horn, on
that fearful voyage of twenty thousand miles. The un-
known “ Great American Desert,” as the maps indicated,
filled with unimaginable perils, stood in the way of go-
ing across the continent. At length the missionaries
were informed that Captain N. J. Wyeth, of Cambridge,
Massachusetts, was about to return across the Rocky
Mountains, and, being applied to, he consented to their
accompanying him. They left New England in March,
1834, P. L. Edwards, another layman, joining the com-
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First Mission-House in Oregon.
The Flatheads and Oregon. 137

pany at St. Louis. After a most interesting farewell
meeting in St. Louis they struck for Fort Independence,
on the extreme frontier, where they met Captain Wyeth.
On the 25th of April they commenced their long, weari-
some, perilous journey. It was the first day of Septem-
ber before they had reached Walla Walla, on the Co-
lumbia River. On their route, and before they had
crossed the Rocky Mountains, they learned that the
tribe of Flatheads was very small; the chief interest in
them arising out of the practice of flattening their heads,
so that the forehead formed an acute angle with the back
of the head. This was accomplished in infancy by the
pressure of boards tightly strapped upon the head. The
missionaries found other Indians, though not in as great
numbers as they had anticipated, and they found a few
white adventurers, some of whom had never heard a
gospel sermon till they heard one from the Lees.

The first sermon was preached at Vancouver on the
28th of September, by Jason Lee. After some observa-
tion and much prayer for direction, they located the
mission at the Wallamette Valley. Their goods, which
had been shipped around the Cape, in due time arrived.
Log-houses were now to be built, and provisions to be
obtained. In the spring, ground was to be broken up
and cultivated, and, indeed, every thing was to be done,
and by their own hands, for no one was in the country
to do anything for them. The mission work was not
neglected. In the lapse of a short period they had in
progress a goodly sized school of Indian children, and
some other hopeful mission work. The manufacture
of rum, which was being introduced among the Indians.
was most earnestly resisted.

The Lees were devout, earnest, laborious missionaries.

and their enterprise and industry put a new face on
10
138 Meruopist EpiscopaL MISSIONS.

things in this young community. The Hudson Bay
Company, by no means friendly to missionaries, or, in-
deed, to settlers from the United States, sought in every
way to embarrass the mission. This was done especially
by making most exorbitant charges for cattle and other
necessaries. Accordingly, Lee entered upon a plan for
obtaining cattle from California, which he accomplished
with incredible labor. His enterprises were many and
various, many of them most wisely conceived and ener-
getically executed.

At the solicitation of the superintendent the mission
was reinforced, and in July, 1836, Dr. Elijah White and
wife, Alanson Beers and wife, Miss Ann Maria Pitman,
Miss Susan Downing, Miss Elvira Johnson, and Mr.
William H. Wilson sailed from Boston. Yet another
reinforcement to the mission had arrived in September,
1835, in the persons of Rev. Daniel Leslie and wife, with
their three children, Rev. H. R. W. Perkins, and Miss
Margaret Smith. Soon after their arrival the marriage
of Mr. Perkins to Miss Johnson was solemnized. The
newly-arrived force was stationed at different points.
Daniel Lee and Mr. Perkins were stationed at the Dalles,
(called Wascopam,) one of the most important pointsy
near which were the Wasco Indians. In the opinion of
the mission “ the harvest was plenteous, but the laborers
were few.” “The Umpquas, Killamooks, Klikitats,
Clatsops, Chenooks, Nesqualys, and many other tribes,
were still left destitute of missionaries.”

It was decided that Jason Lee should go to the
“States” for further reinforcements. He left on the
26th of March, 1838. While on his way a messenger
overtook him with the sad tidings of the death of his
wife and her new-born babe. Mr. Edwards, of the mis-
sion, and William Brook and Thomas Adams, two In-
The Flatheads and Oregon. 139

dian boys, accompanied Lee. Their appearance in the
States kindled anew the old flame of interest for mis-
sions among the Indians, Enthusiasm arose to such a
height that on the 6th of December, 1838, the Board
resolved to send to Oregon five additional missionaries,
one physician, six mechanics, four farmers, one mission-
ary steward, and four female teachers—thirty-six persons
in all. Such a missionary expedition had never before
gone out, and its going created intense excitement. J. H.
Frost, A. F. Walla, W. W. Kone, G. Hines, L. H. Jud-
son, J. L. Parrish, and J. P. Richmond, of this company,
were missionaries of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
They sailed on the gth day of October, 1839, and,
rounding the cape, reached the mission June 16, 1840.

For three years the mission was prosecuted with zeal.
Land was purchased, houses erected, and the instru-
mentalities put at the disposal of the superintendent
faithfully, and, as it now appears to us, wisely used.
The expenditures were, however, very large, and al-
though it now is evident that they were carefully made
and accounts accurately kept, yet so unfrequent and un-
satisfactory were the reports from the mission that great
uneasiness existed in the minds of the Board.

The very extent of the secular affairs of the mission,
the largeness of the purchase of lands, and the measure
of business to be transacted, gave rise, even among the
missionaries, to a suspicion that Mr. Lee was speculating
with a purpose to enrich himself; whereas, in a bond
executed to the Missionary Society he had made a dec-
laration that all his purchases had been made as super-
intendent, and that all the property so purchased be-
longed to the Missionary Society, and was for its sole
benefit.

Much dissatisfaction. also, arose at the manner of dis-
140 METHODIST EPISCOPAL MISSIONS.

posing of the missionary goods deposited at the Wil-
lamette. But it appears, after all, that the chief fault of
Mr. Lee was a want of sufficient capacity to manage a
business so varied and extensive as that of the mission
had become. The demand of the hour was for some
one to go to the field and examine into the affairs of the
mission, At a meeting of the Board, held March 1o,
1843, this was specifically requested, and Assistant
Secretary Ames was selected as the most suitable per-
son for this difficult task, but affairs connected with the
less remote Indian work detained him.

The adjustment of these complicated affairs could
not be delayed, and Rev. George Gary, of Black River
Conference, was appointed to supersede Mr. Lee in the
superintendency of the mission, and to report its condi-
tion. He appeared at Willamette Falls on the rst day
of June, 1844. Mr. Lee had already departed for the
States. Mr. Gary was clothed with large discretionary
powers, but it was understood in a general way that he
was to curtail the mission, especially in its secular de-
partments.

After due observation he proceeded to his work. He
dismissed all the laymen, sold farms, mills, and other
property. Even the school property was to be sold,
though by subsequent arrangement it became the “ Or-
egon Institute.” Four of the missionaries had returned
to the United States, and when all was done, and Mr.
Gary had returned to the States, only three preachers
remained in Oregon.

This entire case is quite unique in the history of mis-
sions. The true heart of the Church responded, as it
should have done, to the piteous cry of heathenism in a
far-off and unexplored region; but upon going to those
who called, no adequate field was found, but another and
‘eqynqySsU, UOSEeIO

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The Flatheads and Oregon. 143

a broader one opened, into which they entered and labored
with ordinary success for a time, and then in part with-
drew, but not before they had unwittingly founded an
empire, with a Church within it, and thus made prepa-
rations for the coming of tens of thousands, whose tread
was soon to be heard descending this beautiful slope.

A recognition of this invaluable service, by our na-
tional Government, is found in the decision of the Sec-
retary of the Interior of the United States, by which the
Missionary Society was awarded its claim at the Dalles.
The Secretary says :—

“From 1834, when the American missionaries first
penetrated this remote region, a contest was going on
as to which nation should finally possess it, and that
probably depended upon the fact which could first set-
tle it with emigrants. The British corporation of the
Hudson Bay Company had extended their posts and
trading stations through the country, and occupied it
with their agents and employés. The Jesuit priests, sent
by the Bishops of the Canadian Catholic Church, and
supported by them, were regarded as encouraging Brit-
ish influence. On the other hand were the missionaries
of the American Board and the Methodist Society,
who had established their stations among the Indians
in various parts of the country, and who attracted
thither the tide of American emigration that turned the
scale in favor of our Government, resulting in the estab-
lishment of the ‘ Territorial Government of Oregon,’
wholly American in interest, which continued to exer-
cise all the functions of Government over the territory
and its six or eight thousand inhabitants, until the erec-
tion of the Territory of Oregon by Congress by the act
of August, 1848.”

When Mr. Gary returned, in 1848, Rev. William
144 METHODIST EPISCOPAL MISSIONS.

Roberts was appointed superintendent, with Rev. J. H.
Wilbur assistant, and under their administration the
mission moved forward prosperously, and as the country
filled up the Church became strong, and the benefits of
our early movement became apparent. Some of its
incidental results, for which, no doubt, in part it was a
providential preparation, are yet to be noticed.

At the General Conference of 1848, Matthew Simpson
and John A. Collins presented memorials asking that the
work on the Pacific coast be brought within Conference
jSoundaries. The work in Oregon, California, and New
Mexico was accordingly ordered to be organized into a
Mission Conference under authority of the Bishops, who
were also authorized to appoint a superintendent and
specify his duties. They were further advised to visit
the field as soon as possible. This Conference convened
for the first time in Salem, Oregon, on Wednesday,
September 3, 1850, William Roberts, superintendent,
presiding. It adopted the name of Oregon and Califor-
nia Conference. Four hundred and sixty-nine members
and probationers were reported in Oregon, and seven
hundred and thirty-eight in California. There were
seventeen local preachers in the former, and twenty-one
in the latter. Fourteen preachers received appoint-
ments in Oregon. The General Conference of 1852
authorized the work to be divided into two Conferences,
and at the subsequent Conference the appointments were
made with reference to this, and the first Oregon Confer-
ence was held at Salem, March 17,1853, Bishop Ames pre-
siding, and F.S. Hoyt being secretary. There were seven
hundred and six members, two hundred and fifteen pro-
bationers, and thirty-five local preachers reported, mak-
ing nine hundred and fifty-six in all. Two “ Missions”
and one Presiding Elder’s District were constituted.
California. 145

9. California.

In the month of February, 1848, gold was discovered
on the land of Colonel Sutter, in Coloma County, Cali-
fornia. The news spread rapidly, and on opening their
eyes men saw that the country was full of it. There it
had lain for ages, sparkling in the sunlight among the
sands of the river, and variegating the quartz of the
mountains with its yellow veins, but the eyes of the
idolatrous were holden that they should not see it till
such time as it could be used for God’s great glory; and
then, as if by magic, it sprang into view.

Men rushed in thousands to the El Dorado—this
Ophir—to gather up nuggets on the hill-sides, and to
wash the precious metal from the sands. They came
fron Mexico, from South America, from the States
from China, in fact from every-where. These hordes of
men, freed from the restraints of home and public senti-
ment, and many from the influences of the Gospel, be-
came festering masses of corruption. Gambling became
a universal passion, and robbery and murder and almost
every abominable thing became too frequent to startle
any one. A new State was springing into being with
marvelous rapidity, desperately needing a force to coun-
teract its reigning vices.

God had been in advance of the multitude, and the
laborious pioneers of whom Mr. Roberts was the com-
mander were on the coast, ready to go down and give the
seekers of gold that which was beyond all price. On
their way to Oregon, in 1847, as already recited, some of
those ministers had haJted at San Francisco, and several
sermons were preached by Rev. J. H. Wilbur and Rev.
William Roberts. <A class was formed and a school es-
tablished. In the absence of pastoral care these were
146 METHODIST EPISCOPAL MISSIONS.

soon scattered, but were again collected in 1849 by
Messrs. Anthony and Hosford.

In June, 1849, Superintendent Roberts, by direction
of Bishop Waugh, visited almost all parts of California,
and put the class at San Francisco in charge of Asa
White. All things were preparing for the establishment
of a distinct work on this part of the coast, and it soon
began.

At a meeting held on the arst of June, 1848, the Board
recommended the Bishops to appoint two missionaries
to California. In the fall the Bishop having charge of
foreign missions replied that he would do so with as little
delay as possible, and he did appoint Rev. Isaac Owen,
of the Indiana Conference, and Rev. William ‘Taylor,
of the Baltimore Conference. Mr. Owen, being in the
West, took the overland route, and Mr. Taylor went by
sea. Mr. Owen was charged with the superintendency
of this new work.

The Gospel was now fairly let loose among the gam
bling and drinking saloons of California, and was ring-
ing in clear notes up the mountain sides and along the
streams of this golden but sinful land. Backsliders
were reclaimed, sinners awakened, and Christians were
rallied to the standard of Christ.

Mr. Roberts, before he left Oregon, had bought ma-
terials for a church twenty-four by forty feet, and had
it framed on the banks of the Willamette, and shipped.
It arrived before Mr. Roberts left California on his
return to Oregon, and it awaited the coming of Messrs.
Owen and Taylor.

Thriving Societies soon sprang up at Sacramento,
San Jose, Stockton, and Santa Cruz, and the Gospel was
carried into many a mining camp. Missionaries were
multiplied as the immigration increased. In the year
Caltforni. 147

ending with May, 1852, the Bishops sent eighteen men
to this field, thirteen of them with families. Some of
these yet remain in the field, and some of them have
risen to eminence in other portions of the Church.
Thus the Church and Conference in California have
come to exist, as we see them now, in their full strength,
the children of the Missionary Society.

The California Conference was organized by Bishop
Ames in the Powell-street Church, San Francisco,
February 3, 1853, at which time there were reported
one thousand two hundred and seventy-four members,
and one hundred and fourteen probationers, being
double the number the Churches reported the preced-
ing year. Ejighteen hundred dollars was reported as
raised for the missionary treasury. The same territory
is now covered by several Conferences. Of the work
among the Chinese on the Pacific coast we speak in
another place.

10. Chinese Domestic Missions.

As early as the return of Mr. Collins from Foochow the
thousands of Chinese on the Pacific coast of the United
States elicited the interest and prayers of the Church.
Various efforts were made by ministers and members of
our Church to convey to them the Gospel of Christ. Joss-
houses erected upon the soil of the United States, where
idolatrous rites were regularly performed, was a strange
sight indeed. No vigorous continued effort, however, was
made for Christianizing these strangers till June, 1868.
At that time Rev. Otis Gibson, D. D., who had served
ten years in the Foochow (China) Mission, was appointed
by Bishop Thomson missionary to the Chinese in Cali-
fornia. The only instructions given him were: “Go,
148 MeTHODIST EpiscopaL MISSIONS.

and commence de ovo. Use your own judgment, and
do the best you can.”

About two years were spent by the missionary in
efforts to interest and arouse the Christian sentiment of
the Pacific Coast more largely in this important work.
He lectured and preached quite extensively in California,
Nevada, and Oregon. Considerable interest on the sub-

 

REV. OTIS GIBSON, D.D,

ject was thus created in all the Protestant Churches, and
a system of Sunday and evening schools for instructing
the Chinese in the English language was commenced by
nearly all Christian denominations,

While engaged in this general work, the missionary
also collected funds toward founding a Chinese Mission
House, and on Christmas-day, 1870, the commodious
and well-furnished Mission House, 916 Washington-

street, San Francisco, was dedicated to the cause of
 
 
 

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Chinese Domestic Missions. 15t

Christian missions among the Chinese in America, and
was deeded, free of debt or incumbrance, to the Mis-
sionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
The building is 56 by 70 feet, three stories high above
the basement, and contains four fine school-rooms, an
asylum department for Chinese women and girls, a par-
sonage for the superintendent, and rooms for the as-
sistant missionary and teachers, besides the basement,
designed to be rented for business purposes. The total
cost of building and furnishing was $31,000. The lo-
cation is good, and the building is a standing credit to
the Church to which it belongs, and to the city in which
it stands.

A central, graded evening school for the Chinese was
at once opened, and continued with constantly increas-
ing numbers and interest. The average attendance the
first year did not exceed twenty-five. The average at-
tendance in 1877 was eighty, with a roll of one hundred
and fifty. It employed four teachers, besides the super-
intendent. The scholars furnished their own books, and
a nominal charge of $1 per month was made for tuition.
The payment of this tuition was altogether optional with
the scholars, none being excluded for non-payment;
and yet the receipts from this source amounted to about
$400 per year of ten months.

The scholars learn to read and spell, to write and
sing; they study geography, arithmetic, grammar, his-
tory, and the Bible, and seem equally interested in all
their studies. They are well-behaved, respectful, and
studious, and appear to appreciate what is being done
for them. A number of the more advanced and in-
telligent scholars became earnest Christians and accept-
able members of the Church; while hundreds of others
152 MeEvruHopisrt Episcopal MIssIONs.

were led to desert their idols, and, in theory at least, to
embrace the doctrine of one God.

Nearly all the Chinese in America come from the
Canton province, and speak a dialect entirely different
from the people of Foochow, with whom Mr. Gibson had
previously labored. A new and difficult dialect had there-
fore to be learned before the missionary could at all make
himself understood by these Chinamen. To aid in this
work of preaching the Gospel in the Chinese language,
Rev. Hu Sing Mi was transferred from the Newark Con-
ference to the California Conference, and appointed to
aid in this mission work. He arrived with his family in
January, 1871. Great hopes were entertained that this
native agency would be eminently successful; but after
spending about two years in the mission, most of which
time was devoted to learning the Canton dialect, Hu
Sing Mi became dissatisfied and unhappy, and in June,
1873, was allowed to return to the work in his native
country.

The first person baptized in this mission was Chow
Loke Chee—baptized in October, 1871. On the de-
parture of Hu Sing Mi, Chow Loke Chee was employed
as assistant preacher to his own people. He labored
faithfully and successfully until August, 1875, when he
also returned to China, married, and is now employed
as translator in connection with a newspaper of Hong-
kong.

The preaching place was a small chapel at 620 Jack-
son-street, known as the Fok Yam Tong, or Gospel
Temple. It was opened as a chapel in April, 1872, and
the rule was to open this chapel at two o'clock every
afternoon for the preaching of the Gospel in the Chinese
language to all who came in.
Chinese Domestic Missions. 153

At first the people were shy, standing a jhe door-
way, but fearing to enter. Many thousands of Chinese
heard something of the Gospel in this chapel, and this
frok Yam Tong became known among the Chinese all
over this land. A number of most substantial members
of the Church were also the fruits of this department of
the work.

By 1877 seventy-four had been baptized and received
into the Church in this mission.

Of this number five were now in China; twelve were
the fruits of the branch work at San Jose, under the
immediate care of Mrs. M. F. Burns; eighteen were
the fruits of the Woman’s Missionary Society, which
will be mentioned hereafter; and four were engaged as
assistant preachers or student helpers, and gave promise
of usefulness. One of those, Chow Loke Chee, already
mentioned, was a licensed local preacher in China.

In 1882 the Restriction bill was passed, shutting the
gates of this country against all Chinese laborers who
were unable to prove their resfdence in the United
States prior to the passing of the act. It soon became
evident that the enforcement of restriction laws would
injuriously affect our work while carried on along edu-
cational lines. The attendance upon the evening
schools, which had hitherto been crowded with young
Chinese anxious to learn English, now began to fall off.
No new arrivals came te reinforce our classes, while
the majority already in the country had learned all the
English they cared to know.

In 1885 another cowardly persecution of Chinese on
this coast was started, culminating in pillage, fire, and
massacre. Every day brought news of some fresh out-

rage, and several Chinatowns and camps were burned
11
154 METHODIST EpiscopaL MIssIONs.

to the ground. It was not strange that the heathen
should manifest a deeper repugnance to the white man
and all his works and ways, or that our Christian Chinese
should sympathize with their murdered and outraged
kinsmen.

In 1885 Dr. Otis Gibson was struck down. The con-
stant strain endured by this brave man was enough to
wear down the strongest frame. On January 21, 1889,
after four years of gradual decline, this honored founder
of the Chinese and Japanese missions in California
passed to his reward. “He being dead yet speaketh.”
His faithful labors and heroic courage in defense of the
oppressed and hated Chinese through seventeen years,
made his name a household word in every Chinatown
in California. The Rev. F. J. Masters, who had spent
nine years in Canton, and who was familar with the
dialect spoken by the Chinese in America, was called,
in 1885, to take charge of the work from which Dr.
Gibson had been laid aside. In 1886 the Japanese
branch of our work was organized as a separate mission
and placed under the charge of the Rev. M. C. Harris,
D.D., through whose wise administration such splendid
results have been accomplished.

For two or three years there had been a lull in the
anti-Chinese storm, and our work began to grow. The
congregations at our San Francisco service were often
so large as to tax the seating capacity of our chapel.
All departments of our work prospered. The schools
were better attended, and numbers of Chinese converts
came forward to join our Church. But the lull was of
short duration. In 1888 a presidential election was ap-
proaching, and then began another remorseless agitation
against the Chinese. The Scott bill, passed in 1888, set
Chinese Domestic Missions. 155

up stronger bars and bolts to keep the Chinese from our
shores. This law, which canceled twenty thousand
returned certificates without a minute’s notice, not only
inflicted cruel hardships upon innocent men, but broke
a solemn treaty that had been pressed upon the Chinese
by our government only twenty years before.

At the close of 1888 the attendance at our evening
schools had fallen off fifty per cent. Many of our best
scholars deserted our schools, while the great majority
of the Chinese on this coast became embittered against
Christianity, and could not easily be persuaded that a
Christian nation that had passed laws so hostile to their
race could be sincere in its concern for their spiritual
welfare.

In 1892 another anti-Chinese agitation was started,
culminating in the passing of the Geary Exclusion bill,
which imposed humiliating conditions of residence upon
the Chinese among us, and violated their rights and
liberties as guaranteed by our Constitution and by
treaty stipulation. It can easily be understood how a
heathen Chinaman, treated like a dog, stoned, beaten,
and abused, and driven from pillar to post, has not been
attracted by the street side of our civilization to assimi-
late with us and accept our religious teaching.

In spite of all these difficulties one hundred and
seventy-eight Chinese members were received into the
Church on profession of the Christian faith within eight
years; and since the commencement of the mission
twenty-two years ago, four hundred and twelve men
and women have been received into Church membership
in San Francisco, San Jose, Oakland, and Sacramento.
Had all these people settled among us as permanent
residents and formed families and homes the Chinese
156 METHODIST EPISCOPAL MISSIONS.

would have had one of the largest churches in the Cali-
fornia Conference, and a church which would have been
self-supporting. In 1892 the membership was only one
hundred and eighteen. Many of our older members had
returned to China, while others were scattered about
the United States. It must be borne in mind that the
Chinese are a migratory people, and that it is not likely
a permanent Chinese church can be built up in this
country. While it was disheartening to see our strong-
est and best members move away, there was comfort in
the thought that God was sending them abroad to col-
onize other mission churches, and to spread the knowl-
edge of the Gospel among the Chinese in places we
cannot reach. It cannot be denied that of this number
some have departed from the right path, but the cases
of declension are comparatively few, and there is only
one instance known where a Chinese baptized in our
Church has relapsed into idolatry and heathen practices.
The steadfastness of the great majority of our members
in the face of the fiercest assaults upon their faith is
wonderful. Threatened sometimes with death, aban-
doned by their heathen kinsmen, and in most cases cast
out of clan and guild, it is hard to discover what motive
can influence them to accept Christianity, if it is not a
sincere conviction of the truth of the Gospel. Several
of our more experienced members are preachers and
teachers, and one brother, Lum Foon, became a self-
supporting missionary in China, where he erected church
and school property at his own expense, and pushed a
most successful mission in his native town,

The liberality of our members, considering their
scanty means, was remarkable. During seven years an
average membership of one hundred contributed over
Chinese Domestic Missions. 157

$3,500 to the Missionary Society, or about $500 per
year. Besides this they met their apportionment for
other church benevolences, and helped to defray the
current expenses of their school. A fund was also
formed, amounting to upward of $2,000, to establish a
native missionary society for the employment of Chinese
evangelists and foreign-trained native physicians in their
own districts in China.

In the year 1886 some dissatisfaction was felt with
the results of school instruction, and an effort was made
in the direction of more aggressive evangelistic work
among the masses in Chinatown. The most interesting
service was the preaching every Sabbath afternoon on
the open street of Chinatown. A choir of twenty picked
Chinese voices sang gospel hymns while the crowd
gathered. ‘This service was held every Sunday after-
noon, weather permitting, for six years, and the large
and attentive crowd tells of the continued interest that
was taken in this service.

Dr. Masters says: “ Our first convert was baptized in
1871, since then three hundred and ninety-four adults
have been admitted to church membership. At least
ninety per cent. of these converts remain faithful. It
must be borne in mind that the effect of the Exclu-
sion bill, passed in open violation of treaty, and the
unfriendly local legislation of the State legislature and
municipal councils, as well as the daily instances of
brutal ill-treatment at the hands of white people, tended
to alienate the Chinese and to make them sullen and
bitter. Then we were working among a community of
young men of whom only one per cent. were married or
have their wives with them.”

Branches of our mission were established in Oakland,
158 MeTHOpIST Episcopal MISSIONS.

San Jose, and Sacramento, where young men were gath-
ered in for religious and secular instruction. Of the
five thousand scholars who have passed through our
schools, hundreds who have not had the courage to
confess Christ before men, have, in theory at least, ac-
cepted the great doctrines of the Bible, and have forever
broken with idolatry. The open-air services, in which
other missions took a part, were full of interest and en-
couragement. It was an impressive scene on a single
Sabbath afternoon to see four hundred Chinese gathered
around our preacher, the Rev. Chan Hon Fan, to hear
the Gospel on the open street. On the very pavement
that a few days before had been reddened with the
blood of murder, and under the rooms of a high-binder
society, the crowd stood for an hour while this brave
young preacher preached on “ Resist not evil: but who-
soever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him
the other also,” and openly denounced the murderous
societies that had disgraced their nation and terrorized
Chinatown.

As an illustration of the spirit of these converts, men-
tion may be made of a Chinese convert, who, refusing to
reveal his name to Rev. Dr. Masters, handed him a little
package, directing him to expend the amount in securing
a native Chinaman to preach the Gospel in China. It
embraced nearly all his earthly possessions. The pack-
age contained $100 in gold coin.

It now became evident that the future of the mis-
sion was to be along evangelistic rather than educational
lines.
Chinese Women. 159

11. Efforts for Chinese Women in California.

The Chinese women on the Pacific Coast are most of
them brought there to fill houses of prostitution, or to
be secondary wives to the Chinese who are able to sup-
port them. Many of them are sold by their parents or
relatives, when quite young, as servants, and at a suit-
able age are sold into lives of vice. Some, while little
children, are kidnapped by men who roam about the
country and make their living by stealing and selling
children, It is obvious that many of these women who
find themselves strangers in this country are unwilling
slaves in the worst kind of servitude.

One can scarcely imagine a more hopeless life than
that led by these poor creatures. Dwelling among a
people whose language they do not understand, and fear-
ing tomake their troubles known to their own countrymen
is it at all strange that among the items in the morning
papers one often reads that the night previous a Chinese
woman committed suicide? Some of the ladies of San
Francisco, reading such paragraphs, began to think of
the condition of these poor women, and tc wonder if
they could help them to a better life. They seemed
almost entirely out of reach, with the barrier of an un-
known language between them.

But something must be done; hence the “Woman’s
Missionary Society of the Pacific Coast” was organized,
in August, 1870, the object being, as stated in their con-
stitution, to “elevate and save heathen women on these
shores.”” It was intended to be a branch of the Woman’s
Foreign Missionary Society, but that society was forbid-
den by its constitution to make appropriations except for
heathen in foreign lands. This society then turned to
the parent Missionary Society, asking the Board to rec-
160 MeTHopIST EpPIscOPpAL MISSIONS.

ognize their work and appropriate funds for this special
purpose. In this direction they met with more encour-
agement: the Missionary Board annually appropriated
moneys for this work, and the Woman’s Missionary So-
ciety remitted to the parent society such amounts as it
was able to raise for this purpose. In 1893 it became
connected with the Woman’s Home Missionary Society,
as already stated, under the sanction of the General
Committee of the parent society.

The ladies were thus organized for work, but how
were they to reach the women whom they wished to
aid? They need not scatter notices among them, as
the poor creatures could not read them, and the men
would not tell the helpless women of a place of refuge.
The officers of the society let it be known at the police
station that they had rooms fitted up as an asylum for
any who might wish to escape from their life of bond-
age. Still no one came.

In May, 1871, a school was opened, and Miss M. E.
Williams was employed as teacher for three hours daily,
with a salary of $25 a month. Some of the ladies of the
society also visited the women, accompanied by Mrs.
Hu Sing Mi, who could speak both Chinese and English.
They invited the women to come to the school, and the
children were especially urged to attend. But this effort
was not successful, only about eight pupils accepting the
invitation, and the teacher being often obliged to go to
their homes and even bring them to school. After
eight months of trial it was thought advisable to close
this school, for it did not meet the wants of the soci-
ety, although the teacher was most faithful. In Octo-
ber, 1871, more than a year after the organization of
the society, the first woman sought refuge in the Mis-
Chinese IVomen. 161

sion House. She was weary of her sad life, and, know-
ing but one way to be rid of it, had gone to the bay and
thrown herself into the water, to end life and sorrow
together. She was rescued and taken to the police
station, whence she was sent to the Mission House.
‘This woman is now married to a Christian Chinaman,
and herself and husband adorn their profession by well-
ordered lives.

In January, 1873, there were three women in the care
of the society, and, as it seemed probable that the num-
ber would increase, it was thought best to hire a teacher
who should devote her whole time to the work in the
Mission House, and in visiting among the women out-
side. Miss L. S. Templeton was engaged for this work.
It was soon apparent that she must confine her labors
to the asylum, as the women from outside would often
come to school only for a day, and then simply for the
purpose of enticing away these already there.

After working over three years in the school, Miss
Templeton, not feeling able to take the entire charge of
the girls, and the society not having funds to warrant
them in hiring an assistant, resigned her position, and
Mrs. J. Walker was called to the place in September, 1876.

In 1878 there were seventy-one names recorded on the
books of the society, representing those who had sought
its protection. The society commenced work without
any definite plan as to how it should be carried on, wait-
ing for Providence to open the way, and circumstances
to denote what should be done. At first, women were
received into the asylum for a longer or shorter time, as
they might choose, but experience led to the adoption of
a rule by which none were received for less time than
one year.
162 METHODIST EpiscopaAL MISSIONS.

Some of the women were placed in the school by Chi-
namen who wished to marry them at the end of the year,
they paying $60 for board. ‘There were also twelve girls,
formerly servants, who ran away from their masters on
account of ill treatment.

By 1877 twenty-three women had been legally mar-
ried from the asylum. There were then twenty-seven
inmates. Two had been sent to the Mission House from
Oregon, one from Vallejo, one from Stockton, and one
from Sonoma. Eighteen had been baptized. Two of
the number had returned to China; one had been ex-

‘pelled from Church membership.

In 1893 Rev. F. J. Masters wrote: ‘Fewer Chinese
women and girls have found refuge in our Home during
the last four years. There are two causes for this:
First, the owners of these poor creatures are beginning
to understand that better treatment and more liberty are
necessary to make their chattels contented with their lot.
It must be borne in mind that to this class of women
there is no sense of degradation ina life of shameas with
our own race, and that it was abuse and cruelty which
drove them to the Mission Home rather than a sense of
shame or a desire to live a better life. Second, only
those women are now welcomed at the Home who are
willing to work for their living. The restraints of the
Mission and the daily tasks required possess no attrac-
tion to the average dissolute women of Chinatown com-
pared with the excitement and gayety of a fast life. The
plan of sending our Chinese girls to work as servants in
American families has worked admirably. Brought in
contact with all that is refining and elevating ina Chris-
tian home, they soon acquire a self-reliance, independ-
ence, and womanliness which, as paupers herded to-
Chinese Women. 163

gether in the Home, they could never acquire. Instead
of having a large number of idle and untamable women
on our hands, who corrupted the better disposed, we are
content with a few who can be taught habits of indus-
try, cleanliness, and virtue, and are a credit to our Mis-
sion. A few still remain in the Home, under the care of
Mrs. A. C. Downs, the matron, until they are able to go
out and earn their living, but it is not likely that our
Home will ever be as crowded as in years gone by.

“During the last two years this society has extended
its work in two departments. Better and more thorough
work is being done among the women of Chinatown by
the employment of a lady visitor. No work is so impor-
tant as to carry the Gospel into these dark heathen
homes—as dark as any to be found across the seas.
Another branch of our work was opened a year ago in
the establishment of a Chinese infant school. The
school is under the charge of Mrs. Hull.

“Since this work was started three hundred and eleven
Chinese and Japanese women have sought our protec-
tion, and have been for longer or shorter periods under
our care and instruction. Of these seventy-five have
become professed believers in the Lord Jesus Christ.”

12. Japanese Missions on the Pacifie Coast.

As early as 1875 the representatives of the “ Sunrise
Land” began to settle in and around San Francisco.
Before this many students and travelers, and now and
then embassies and diplomats, had passed through the
“ Golden Gate” on their way to the East and Europe,
but they halted only for a brief visit.

Among the earlier Japanese residents of San Fran-
cisco were to be found sailors, students, sightseers, and
164 MeruHopist Episcopat Missions.

adventurers—some of whom had left their country for
cause. ‘The increase of these strangers was so gradual
as to be almost imperceptible, and it was some time
before attention was directed to their coming.

The population on the coast, in round numbers, grew
to about six thousand. California had four thousand.
Oregon, Washington, and Idaho about two thousand.
Some fifteen hundred arrived in San Francisco in 1892.
The prospect was that the number would increase to
many thousands in a few years, unless restricted by law.
The majority of these were laborers. The student ele-
ment stood next, followed by merchants and sailors.
The working people were mostly employed on ranches
and railroads. Many students worked in offices and
families, their time being usually arranged so that they
might study or attend school. The merchants were in-
creasing, and trade was growing and passing into their
hands from the Chinese merchants,

The Japanese community occupies an enviable post-
tion in relation to crime. A few instances of petit lar-
ceny and gambling seem to be about all of the offenses
charged against them. The chief of police of San Fran-
“There is but little crime committed by
them. Their peculiar vice is gambling and drunken-
ness... Opium smoking is practically unknown among
them, and is abhorred by the whole race. Some disrepu-
table women found their way here several years ago,
but the Japanese Government has effectually prohibited
their coming.

cisco said:

In their habits, the Japanese conform to American
usages. It is almost impossible to find a complete na-
tive costume among the thousands who are here, and if
a man possesses one it is never worn in public. In
Japanese Misstons on the Pacific Coast. 165

food, clothing, and customs in general they are purely
American. The attitude of the people is decidedly
friendly to these men from the “ Far East.” The pub-
lic and private schools are open to them, and hundreds
of boys enjoy these privileges, no distinction being
made between them and American youth.

The Japanese mission of San Francisco was organized
at Pacific Grove, September, 1886, during the session
of the California Conference, though Rev. Otis Gib-
son, D. D., had commenced work among them nine years
before that time. In 1887 a few young men of the stu-
dent class were first attracted to the mission by the
English school for Chinese. Prominent among these
were Rev. K. Miyama and Rev. S. Ogata. In 1887 the
Japanese Gospel Society was organized under Dr. Gib-
son’s direction, with K. Miyama as the leader. The
members rented rooms in the basement of the Mission
House, and held religious services in their own language.
All who wished to do so attended the English school in
connection with the society. The organization pros-
pered; many were converted and became good members
of the Church. K. Miyama, as a student, helped and
labored with Dr. Gibson until the physical breakdown
of the latter occurred in 1884. Their relations were
like that of Paul and Timothy. Miyama was a true son
in the Gospel, and bravely stood by him during the
years when anti-Chinese sentiment caused a persecution
fierce and relentless. A few moments before Dr. Gib-
son passed away he directed that his gold watch should
be sent to Brother Miyama, then in charge of the mis-
sion in Hawaii. Dr. Masters, who, after the failure of
the health of Dr. Gibson, succeeded to the superintend-
ency of the Chinese work, also took charge of the Japa-
166 METHODIST EpiscopaAL Missions.

nese work, and continued it on the lines already marked
out, K. Miyama having special charge of his country-
men. Owing to the large increase of the Japanese the
superintendent rented a building adjoining the mission
for the exclusive use of the Gospel Society. On ac-
count of the difficulty of fusing the two nationalities so
heterogeneous in language and customs, it was decided
at the Conference of 1885 to organize the Japanese into
a separate mission. Rev. M. C. Harris, of the Japan
Conference, being compelled to return to America on
account of the illness of Mrs. Harris, was transferred to
the California Conference and appointed superintendent.
He arrived on June 9g, 1888, and at once identified him-
self with the work. While the chief calling of Dr. Mas-
ters was that of evangelizing the Chinese, yet the Japa-
nese mission, under his wise direction, made marked
progress. Some of the men he received into the Church
became excellent preachers and strong laymen.

13. Mission Building.

As the quarters were inadequate to accommodate the
growing numbers, the chapel and parsonage of the
Central Methodist Episcopal Church were leased for
five years, and fitted up at an expense of $2,500. In
November, 1886, the new quarters were occupied and
proved to be fairly well adapted to their needs.

As the above-named premises could only be had for
a limited period, and had become too small, a fine site
was purchased in August, 1892, for $12,000, in the midst
of the Japanese residents of the city. A church was
contemplated to be erected there, and the large dwelling
on the lot to be converted into a school and dormitory
for young men, the whole to cost about $100,000. Of
Spiritual Life and Activities, 167

this sum the Japanese nledged $5,000, a good part of
which was paid in advance.

14. Spiritual Life and Activities.

From 1886 to 1889 the growth in Christian life was
very encouraging. In that time the membership in-
creased from sixty to one hundred and twenty. In
August, 1889, a°*crisis came which proved to be the
dawning pentecost of the Church. A baptism of fire
fell upon the believers, and “They were all filled with
the Holy Ghost and began to speak ...as the Spirit gave
them utterance.”

The gift of power and revelation of spiritual verities
amazed the converted as well as the unconverted. The
believers were strangely wrought upon. Heart search-
ing, pungent conviction of sin, and groanings for full
deliverance came uponthem. They met day and night
in the chapel and private rooms and all other work was
suspended. Alone or by twos and in companies they
betook themselves to the hills and valleys around San
Francisco for prayer; most of them returned trans-
figured with their new experience of the Gospel power.
One brother, T. Kawabe, shut himself in his room for
two months, having only the Bible by his side. He
studied, prayed, and attained great nearness to God.
Suddenly he appeared to the Church saying, “God has
sent me to be a witness to you and all men tothe power
of the Gospel; now I am your slave for Christ’s sake.”
From that time he gloried only in the cross of Christ.
He joined the California Conference, and in three years
and ahalf over a thousand hopeful conversions occurred
under his labors. He established a branch mission in
Portland, Ore., where the same spiritual results at-
168 METHODIST EpiscOPAL MISSIONS.

tended his ministry. The baptisms since then were
above four hundred in a few months. Hundreds were
enrolled as probationers. The revival increased in
depths of spirituality and in aggressive character.

Many witnesses were raised up to speak to individuals
and engage in hand-to-hand work; most of the fruit
gathered was “hand-picked.”” The direct or positive
method of preaching prevailed, the two great words of
the Bible, “Sin and Salvation,” were continually upon
their hps. Following the practice of the Master the
workers visited the hospitals, jails, lodging houses, and
all where Japanese were to be found.

The evangelists traveled from ranch to ranch and
witnessed to the people. The spirit of self-help and
reliance on God was worthy of note. The Missionary
Society co-operated and assisted with its funds. During
the year 1892 the Japanese members supported six evan-
gelists; this, though all of them were poor and some of
them had very little income, being students and educat-
ing themselves.

The composition and publishing of tracts was a
feature of the revival movement. For some time the
monthly average was above seventy thousand. All the
work was done on the mimeograph. In 1892 about
thirty thousand copies were issued.

Educational work was from the first a special feature of
the mission work. Not only did all the Japanese want
to know English, but the students were specially am-
bitious to master the language and enter our schools,
An evening school was conducted from the organiza-
tion of the mission. The attendance was good, the
pupils at times numbering eighty. As soon as they can
use the language they enter a public or private school.
Spiritual Life and Activities. 169

Those pupils who first received help in the mission
schools were later found in many eastern colleges and
universities, Some returned to Japan, where they oc-
cupied prominent positions in Church, State, and
society.

At the session of the General Committee in 1892 ap-
propriations were made to the California Conference for
the Japanese work on the Pacific coast. ‘This placed
the superintendent of the San Francisco mission in
charge of all missions for the Japanese on this coast.
It was an important step, conducive to unity and ef-
fectiveness in the work. Branches at Portland, Ore.,
Nampa, Ida., and Seattle, Wash., were soon opened.
In tracing this outline of missionary effort much of in-
terest has been omitted. Of the many saved during
these years of ingathering comparatively few were per-
manent residents of California. By ship or train they
were leaving continually, but their places were filled by
new believers clothed with power from on high.

In 1893 Dr. M. C. Harris wrote: “About a year ago
the brethren, filled with the new wine of the Spirit, went
forth to testify among the unsaved. They met with
startling success, and rejoiced with unspeakable joy.
Within the past six months more than four hundred
have been hopefully converted. Of this number one
hundred and eighty-eight have been baptized and re-
ceived into the Church. But few of these have been
converted in the regular preaching services. In private
rooms, in class-meetings, in the field at work, in quiet
places, the great transaction was done. It is a personal
work. Two things, the two great facts of the Bible, sin
and salvation, have been presented and held up to the

Japanese, and pressed upon the conscience and the
12
170 MetuHopist EpiscopaL Missions,

heart. Conviction of sin, and in most cases intense
suffering, followed by faith in Christ and rapturous de-
light, are the usual characteristics of the revival.

“The believers carry forward the work with great
energy, both in the city and country. They meet and
welcome the comers by every vessel. All the clubs
and lodging houses are regularly visited. For months
past they have printed and circulated over three thou-
sand tracts each month. These have been prepared
here with special reference to the needs of their peo-

ple.

”

15. Sandwich Islands.

In the year 1855 some members of our Church having
settled in Honolulu, the capital of the Sandwich Islands,
for purposes of traffic, petitioned to be recognized asa
Church. Sandwich Islands was accordingly placed by
the General Committee on the list of foreign missions.
At the session of the California Conference of 1856
Rev. W. S. Turner was appointed to the work. <A neat
church was subsequently erected, the Jand being donated
by Mr. J. T. Waterhouse, who also contributed liberally
toward the building.

This work has been of the most fluctuating character,
but some gracious revivals have occurred, and the Cali-
fornia Conference has not yet relinquished its hold
upon these islands.

Numbers of our Japanese members having gone to
the Sandwich Islands, Mr. Harris thought they should
receive pastoral care.

In answer to many appeals in behalf of the thousands
of Japanese laborers in Hawaii, Rev. K. Miyama and
wife and Rev. ‘T. Ukai opened a branch mission there
in the spring of 1888. In the previous year Mr. Miyama
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Sandwich Lslanis. 173
had visited the islands and declared the Gospel with
such power that many turned from their sins and were
converted.

These laborers reached Honolulu in March, 188r.
A great revival occurred soon after. It began in the
Consul General’s family and resulted in the conversion
of the Consul General and his wife, five secretaries and
servants. It extended to the people in the city, and
scores were brought under Gospel influence.

In 1890 Dr. A.N. Fisher, of the Genesee Conference,
being in California on account of impaired health, was
invited by Bishop Fowler to try a still further removal
to the Sandwich Islands, in the hope that he might find
that climate conducive to regaining his strength, while
at the time he should look after the Japanese Methodists
who were there. He was appointed to it, as the Hono-
lulu District of the California Conference. He went,
accompanied by his wife, and remained till August,
1891; then the condition of his health required that he
return to California, Dr. Fisher did this work without
receiving a cent of salary. Owing to the distance of
the islands from America, and the small appropriation
made for the work, it was decided to transfer this
branch to the care of the Hawaiian Board, which was
done in December, 1891, Our workers in the field re-
mained at their posts until the Hawaiian Board obtained
men to supply their places.

At the close of 1891 Dr. Fisher’s report says: “The
working force of the mission is necessarily made up of
Japanese novitiates. They are, for the most part, young
men from our mission schools in San Francisco, inex-
perienced and but recently licensed. Except the writer
hereof there has been no member of this body at work
174 Metruopist EpiscopaL MIssIONs,

in that field during the year, and there is but one mem-
ber of the mission who has held a license for that
period. The personnel of the district is constantly shift-
ing. In the three years of its history, with an average
of not more than five workers at any one time in the
field, there have been sixteen different members of the
mission, And of its existing force of seven members,
five have been connected with it less than four months,
and but one has been there more than one year. Our
congregations are equally unstable, and we prosecute
the work under limitations in these respects, and others
not herein named, which render it an open question
whether we can establish in Hawaii a permanent mis-
sion.”

Nevertheless, the results of these four years of labor
in this distant field were blessed. Thousands heard
the word; hundreds believed and were saved. Bibles
and tracts in large quantities were sold and distributed
among the twenty thousand people dwelling on the
islands. Churches and classes were formed in eight
places. The Japanese opposed our withdrawal and urged
the re-opening of the work. Some resolved to work in-
dependently.
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PART III.
MISSIONS TO AFRICA.

 

Ethictia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God.—Psa,. lxviii, 31.

Thus saith the Lord, The labor of Egypt, and merchandise of Ethiopia
and of the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over unto thee, and they
shall be thine.—Isa. xlv, 14.

1. Origin of Liberia.

A COMPREHENSIVE view of the rise and progress
of the Liberia Mission would necessarily include
much of the history of American slavery and of the slave-
trade on the western coast of Africa. The colony itself
was in part born of that missionary spirit which, like a
rising tide, came in upon the Churches during the first
quarter of the present century. Some contemplated it
as a Christian nucleus on the border of a vast continent
of corruption, from which the Gospel might spread into
the interior. Others desired it as a wall against the
slave-trade, which then surged upon every part of the
coast. The interest felt by many in establishing a col-
ony on the west coast of Africa arose, doubtless, chiefly
from apprehensions of danger to our own country from
the rapidly multiplying millions or slaves and freedmen
among us. Each of these had its advocates in various
parts of the country, and the American Colonization
Society was the resultant of these various moral forces.
It was organized in the city of Washington in Decem-
ber, 1816.
Individual efforts at African colonization had pre-
viously been made. One of the most remarkable was in
176 METHODIST EpiscopAL MISSIONS.

the year immediately preceding this organization. It
was conducted by Paul Cuffee, who was born in New
Bedford, Massachusetts, of an African father and Indian
mother. He had risen from abject poverty to wealth
and respectability, and was largely engaged in naviga-
tion. He believed that only in Africa could his people
find civil and religious liberty. At a cost to himself of
four thousand dollars, and in his own vessel, he took
out from Boston a colony of thirty-eight persons, which
landed at Sierra Leone, and might have resulted in
something permanent and valuable but for the death of
Cuffee in the following year, and the exclusion of Amer-
ican vessels from British colonies.

The first important movement of the Colonization
Society was to send out, on borrowed money, Samuel
J. Mills and Ebenezer Burgess, to select a suitable site
for a colony. They sailed November 16, 1817, and ar-
rived the 22d of the following March, They passed
down the coast some one hundred and twenty miles, to
the island Sherbro, at the mouth of a river of the same
name. Here they found a small but prosperous colony
under direction of John Kizzel, who had built a church
on the island, and was preaching to the people. Kizzel
had been carried from Africa when a child, and sold as
a slave in South Carolina, but had joined the British
during the revolutionary war, and at its close had sailed
from Nova Scotia with a company of colored persons to
reside in Africa.

Mills and Burgess were so deceived by Kizzel and his
people as to report, on their return, that at this point a
suitable place could be found for the projected colony.
It was an island about ten leagues in length, consisting
wholly of alluvial ground, and, like the whole adjacent
coast, rising but a few feet above the level of the sea
Origin of Liberia. 177

It was often extensively inundated, and was, in reality,
most unfit for a settlement.

Mr. Monroe, President of the United States, in March,
1819, approved an act of Congress by which all Africans
recaptured from slavers should be restored to the coast
of Africa, and committed to the care of agents of the
Government of the United States. It was at once nat-
urally suggested that the depot of the United States fur
this purpose should be also the location of the colony
of the American Colonization Society. Rev. Samuel
Bacon and John P. Bankson were appointed by Presi-
dent Monroe, on the part of the Government, and Dr.
Samuel A. Crozer by the Colonization Society as agent.

Under the direction of the Colonization Society, on
February 6, 1820, the “Elizabeth” sailed from New
York with such emigrants as were accepted, and, guided
by the report of Mills and Burgess, landed at Campelar,
on the east side of Sherbro, the site chosen for the
colony.

Ten days after their departure from New York Rev.
Daniel Coker, one of the emigrants, formed on shipboard
a Society according to the Discipline of the Methodist
Episcopal Church, and this Church and its pastor were
landed with the expedition at Sherbro. This godly man,
during the disasters that befell the ill-fated company,
was most faithful in his devotion, and acted by turns in
the capacity of pastor, physician, nurse and governot.
Years afterward Mr. Ashmun speaks of him as the same
true and excellent man. He is worthy to be known as
the father of our Church in Liberia.
~ The utter unfitness of Sherbro for the purpose of
settlement became apparent in a very few days, in the
general prostration by fever, and the speedy death of
numbers, embracing two of the agents. One calamity
178 METHODIST EpiscopaL Missions.

followed another, till the colony was broken up, and the
fragment which remained alive returned disheartened
to Sierra Leone.

Early in 1821 this remnant was reinforced under new
agents, but remained at Sierra Leone till a proper loca-
tion could be selected for settlement. In November,
1821, Dr. Eli Ayres was instructed to visit the survivors
of the disastrous expedition, and proceed down the
coast in search of a place to make a new attempt.
Captain Stockton, in command of the United States
schooner “ Alligator,” was ordered to the coast to co-
operate with him.

These gentlemen proceeded down the coast about
two hundred and fifty miles, till they came to a high
point of land called Cape Montserrado, which seemed
to them admirably adapted to their purpose. With
great address and firmness they secured the purchase
of a valuable tract, including the cape, consisting of
thirty-six miles along the sea-shore, with an average
breadth of two miles. They paid for it in goods of
about three hundred dollars in value.

This effected, Dr. Ayres sought to remove the emi-
grants to the chosen spot, but encountered hostility from
the natives, who had repented of their bargain. After
various negotiations, and some collisions with arms, and
especially through the intervention of King Boatswain,
who was a kind of dictator among these savages, the
agents obtained possession of the land purchased. On
the 28th of April, with great enthusiasm, the emigrants
passed over and occupied the cape. So began the home
of the freedmen on the African coast.

It is not within the scope of our purpose to speak
of the arrival or the achievements of Mr. Ashmun, who
entered the colcny the following August, nor of the
Origin of Liberia. 179

wise manner in which he organized and defended the
colony, nor of any of the remarkable events of his ad-
ministration. Suffice it to say, he became the instru-
ment under God of giving form and permanence to
Liberian institutions; he established a civil politv,;
purchased additional land; and, in fact, founded Mon-
rovia. Others entered into his labors, and we now have,
as the result, the Republic of Liberia.

The Methodist Church, organized under Daniel Coker
in mid-ocean, landed at Campelar, and, driven by ca-
lamities back to Sierra Leone, had now at last found a
resting-place. Rude houses of worship were hastily
thrown up, and the work of God went on for many years
under the ministrations of colonists, guided by the help
afforded by pious agents.

Lot Carey arrived in the colony from Richmond, Va.,
in March, 1821, and began a mission among the Veys.
No doubt the influence of this mission over one of its
pupils afterward led to the invention of their syllabic
alphabet, the discovery of which has excited so much
interest. Many besides Carey deserve to be held in ever-
lasting remembrance for their fidelity and devotion at
this early and perilous period in the life of the Liberia
Church.

2. The First Missionary.

To the Baptists must be given the honor of sending
to Liberia the first white missionary, Rev. Calvin Holton.
Te went out in 1826, but was soon in his grave. Within
four years from this time the Methodist Episcopal
Church of the United States was moved to follow the
example of the Baptists. Before Holton went out they
resolved to send a man to this work, but had been de-
layed for lack of funds, and because they had not been
180 METHODIST EpiscOoPpAL MISSIONS.

able to find a satisfactory missionary. At a meeting of
the Board, held on the 17th of March, 1824, the opinion
was expressed by resolution that “this Society ought as
soon as practicable to send a missionary to that colony,”
and the Bishops were invited to select a suitable person
for the purpose. The General Conference which met
in May, 1824, adopted a report presented by Rev.
Joshua Soule, in which it was

“Resolved, by the delegates of the Annual Confer-
ences in General Conference assembled, That it is ex-
pedient, whenever the funds of the Missionary Society
will justify the measure, for the Episcopacy to select
and send a missionary or missionaries to the colony in
Africa now established under the auspices of the Amer-
ican Colonization Society.”

On the rgth of January, 1825, the Board resolved that
the Bishops be informed that “the state of the funds of
the Missionary Society is such as to justify the sending
a missionary” to Liberia, and they were requested to
proceed and make the appointment. On October 19, of
the same year, the Board again prompted the Bishops
to this work.

A letter from Gabriel P. Disosway, dated Petersburgh,
Va., October 21, 1827, communicates the fact that John
S. Raymond was ready to offer for this dangerous field,
but all we know of him is that he was not sent. The
Board and the Young Men’s Missionary Society seemed
to be in earnest to enter the field, but the Bishops were
evidently estopped by the want of a suitable person to
undertake the work, if not by other considerations.

At this time the infant Missionary Society of the
Methodist Episcopal Church had not appropriated a
single dollar to fields outside the United States and Can-
ada. Indeed, the annual contributions of the Church
The First Missionary. 181

for missions had not yet reached the sum of seven thou-
sand dollars. The conviction that we had a duty to
perform to the nations abroad had not largely penetrated
the Church, though it had fully entered the hearts of
many of the wisest and best of its members.

In December, 1830, a young man was wandering over
the South, burning with desire to preach the Gospel,
but broken-hearted in his widowhood, and crippled by
feeble health, that sometimes almost led him to despair
of ever being able to accomplish any thing important.
He was a member of the Virginia Conference, and
had been stationed at Raleigh, but could endure the
toils of a pastorate only three months. When rest and
travel had somewhat recovered him he was deliberating
whether to try and edit one of two papers offered him,
to become a colonization agent, or to go to South Amer-
ica as a missionary. He had “four anchors out,” as he
said, or, at another time, “all his irons in the fire.” In
his journeyings he at length came to Norfolk, Virginia,
the seat of the Virginia Conference for 1831. Bishop
Hedding was presiding, and to him this youth proposed
himself as missionary toSouth America. In response the
Bishop, who had been long and anxiously seeking a mis-
sionary for Africa, proposed that he should go to Libe-
ria. The youth promptly responded, “If the Lord will,
I think I will go.” This youth was Melville Beveridge
Cox. We find him for weeks afterward traveling with
Bishops M’Kendree and Hedding, “ Liberia,” as he
says, ‘swallowing up all my thoughts.” By the rst of
May, 1832, the Bishops and he were at Philadelphia,
the seat of the General Conference, the bishops, doubt-
less, conferring together upon the subject. The result
was his appointment to Liberia.

The way to this conclusion was more clearly opened
182 METHODIST EPIscOoPpAL MISSIONS.

by the appearance at Philadelphia of the Young Men’s
Missionary Society in the persons of Gabriel P. Disos-
way, its president, and Louis King, its treasurer, guar-
anteeing that this energetic auxiliary would furnish
the money to support the Liberia Mission.

On May 7 Cox announces the fact of his appoint-
ment, and hails it with exceeding joy. He writes: “I
thirst to be on my way. I pray that God may fit my
soul and body for the duties before me; that God may
go with me there. I have no lingering fear. A grave in
Africa shall be sweet to me, if he sustain me.”’ Indeed,
his mind seemed to have conceived the thought that if
be could but die for Africa he should have achieved
something for its millions. He said at this time to Mr.
Alexander Cummings, afterward Governor of Colorado:
“T know I cannot live long in Africa, but I hope to live
long enough to get there; and if God please that my
bones shall lie in an African grave, I shall have estab-
lished such a bond between Africa and the Church at
home as shall not be broken till Africa be redeemed.”

During his last visit to Middletown, Connecticut, he
said to one of the students of the Wesleyan University :

“Tf I die in Africa you must come over and write my
epitaph.”

“J will,” replied the youth, “ but what shall I write?”

“Write,” said Cox, ““ LET A THOUSAND FALL BEFORE
AFRICA BE GIVEN UP.”

His first great sorrow as a missionary was in the dis-
appointment he felt in not having a companion, as he
had confidently expected to have. Then followed the
agony of parting from friends, Church, and native land,
and, not least, from the grave of his sainted wife and
infant child. He confesses a “little sadness” at this
hour. but faith and hope never forsook him.
The first Missionary. 183

On the 6th day of November, 1832, the “Jupiter”
set sail from the port of Norfolk, bearing this messenger
of the Church, who was followed by the prayers and
mingled hopes and fears of all lovers of the world’s Re-
deemer. The voyage proved unusually stormy and
tedious, and he suffered much from sea-sickness. His
mission absorbed all his thoughts. On the roth he
wrote in his journal: “Liberia has seemed sweeter in
my contemplation than ever.” On the 24th he writes,
“My mind is planning for the good of my mission: a
mission house, a school, and a farm connected with it,
and, finally, an academy, rise up in perspective before
me. Hope stops not here. Young converts, churches,
circuits, stations, and Conferences, I trust, will yet be
seen in Liberia.”

The day before Christmas land was espied, and on
the 27th they put into St. Jago. On the first day of the
new year they set sail again, and came in sight of the
African coast on the 8th. He now began to study the
Mandingo language. Skirting the coast, and putting in
at different points where he made observations and
sought information, they at last moored off Sierra Leone
on the 29th. Here Mr. Ritchie, the Wesleyan mission-
ary, received him kindly to his home, and proved very
useful to him. Once more under way, he became almost
as impatient to see Liberia as were the Crusaders to
catch the first glimpse of Jerusalem. At last he is able
to write: “ Half-past three:—J have seen Liberia, and
five. It rises up as yet like a cloud of heaven.” On
Thursday, the 7th of March, they anchored off the
town of Monrovia, and at about eight o’clock the next
morning he went ashore, and was warmly welcomed by
Acting-Governor Williams and Rev. J. B. Pinney, whose

temporary guest he became. On Sunday he went to
13

 
184 Metuopist EpiscopaL Missions.

church, and heard the Gospel with overwhelming emo-.
tions. It is needless to say he lost no time, but at once
plunged into his work.

Before a month had passed he had on his own re-
sponsibility purchased a mission house for five hundred
dollars, resolving to make a draft upon the Young Men’s
Society for this sum, believing they could make it the oc-
casion of a special meeting, at which a collection could
be raised sufficient to meet the draft. This property
belonged to the Moravians, who had made most heroic
endeavors to establish missions in Africa at sixteen dif-
ferent points. The property had been left by Mr. Ash-
mun to the Basle Missionary Society of Switzerland, and
was worth many times the amount paid for it. In it
Mr. Cox at once established himself, without bedstead
or cooking utensils, and with most limited larder.

The existing congregations felt the inspiration of his
presence. He visited the Sunday-schools, set in motion
the first camp-meeting at Caldwell, had many special ap-
pointments, and was unremitting in his private labors.

Under date of April 8, 1833, one month after his ar-
rival, he addressed the Board as follows :—

“Sure I am, could they see our colony as it is—could
they have but one bird’s-eye view of the magnitude of
our mission, as seen from Cape Montserrado, in Africa,
and the millions that are perishing for the lack of know]l-
edge in its vast wilderness—they might take up as many
thousand dollars in New York alone as you now do
hundreds. There is not in the wide world such a field for
missionary enterprise. There is not in the wide world a
field that promises the sincere efforts of a Christian com-
munity aricherharvest. There is not in the wide world a
spot to which Americans owe so much to human beings
as to this same degraded Africa. She has toiled for our

 
my

f i

ql "

i

 
The First Missionary. 187

comfort; she has borne a galling yoke for our ease and
indulgence; she has driven our plows, has tilled our
soil, and gathered our harvests, while our children have
lived in ease, and been educated with the fruits thereof
Shall we make her no returns? If she has given to us
‘carnal things,’ can we do less than return her intellect-
ual and spiritual things? God help us to do it, nor to
think we have done enough till Africa is redeemed.

“Wat I want To Do, I want to establish a mission
at Grand Bassa, a very promising settlement, about
seventy miles to the eastward of Monrovia. Our Church
has children already there, who have emigrated from

“America. Zhey need our care—our instruction. Re-
ligion in our colored friends from home has not been
sufficiently fortified with principle to withstand the
temptations and to meet the difficulties which will nec-
essarily occur in a land of pagan idolatry and heathen _
superstition. I have thought, too, that through them,
perhaps, the Gospel might be the more readily commu-
nicated to the natives around them. Added to this, the
place is very easy of access, is better suited to the inter-
ests of agriculture than perhaps any settlement yet made
in the colony, and the natives are said to have a strong
desire to learn, and to be possessed of much more than
ordinary innocency and docility of character.

“T have already engaged a person to build a small
house, and a cane or log-church, near the center of the
settlement, the whole of which will cost, perhaps, one
hundred and fifty or two hundred dollars, over thirty of
which I have already advanced. The governor has kind-
ly offered an acre of land to build them on, which of itself,
in the course of a few years, will cover the expense.

“A mission of still greater importance I propose ta
establish at or near Grand Cape Mount, about fifty
188 METHODIST EpiscopaL MISSIONS.

miles to the westward. As you will perceive, we intend
to line the coast. And I do pray that it may be with
such a moral power as shall effectually put a stop to the
accursed practice of slave stealing, which, I regret to
say, is still carried on between this and Sierra Leone,
and between that and the Gambia. As yet no colonists
have settled there, but the king is exceedingly anxious
for a missionary who will teach his children ‘ Book,’
and the natives are represented as far more intelligent
than at any place under the protection of the colony,
The spot, from appearance as I passed it, and from rep-
resentation, I should think healthier than this; and, as
a mission for the instruction of natives, offers, in my
view, greater advantages than any place south of Sierra
Leone.”

He held two Conferences, at which most important
questions were discussed, and the Methodist Churches
were finally brought into organic connection with the
Methodist Episcopal Church, and conformity to its Dis-
cipline. This was a very delicate task, and cost him
much anxiety. Many unordained preachers insisted
upon the right, in their circumstances, to administer the
ordinances, a right which Mr. Cox could not yield.

All was progressing most hopefully till the rath of
April, when the African fever prostrated him. In his
solitary home, the governor, doctor, and housekecper
all sick, he was favored with no regular nurse, and sadly
wore away hours and days of untold suffering. Now
convalescing, and now having “a fall back,” his case
was not absolutely discouraging till the 27th of May, when
he was utterly prostrated with a new and violent attack.
Another weary month rolled away, and on June 26, he
made his last record in his journal. He had executed
his will on the 24th, and was evidently addressing him-
The First Missionary. 189

self to the end so near at hand. A typhoid condition
supervened, from which he aroused but little, until
three o’clock on Sunday morning, July 21, when he
passed away, crying, “ Come, come, come, Lord Jesus,
come quickly!”

38. First Reinforcement.

Mr. Cox’s greatest dying grief was, that no one had
been sent to the relief of poor benighted Africa. Two
had, indeed, been appointed before the Board had even
heard of the arrival in Liberia of Mr. Cox, but he had
gone to his reward before he knew of their appointment.
These “assistants”? to the now sainted Cox were Rev.
Rufus Spaulding and Rev. Samuel Osgood Wright, who,
with their wives, and Miss Sophronia Farrington, ac-
cepted this perilous undertaking. Miss Farrington thus
gained the honor of being the first young lady sent by
this Society to a foreign field.

Before sailing they heard the mournful intelligence
of the superintendent’s death, but, nothing daunted,
went forward to their work. They set sail from the
port of Norfolk, in the “ Jupiter,” November 5, 1833,
were at sea fifty-six days, and reached Monrovia on
the 1st day of January, 1834. Though long, it was a
pleasant passage. The mission was languishing for
want of superintendence, and the missionaries were _
joyfully received, and proceeded at once to work. Six
months elapsed before the Board heard from this expe-
dition, and not until the “Jupiter” had returned to
New Yerk.

Messrs. Spaulding and Wright preached on the first
Sabbath in the church at Monrovia, and administered
the holy communion, the Presbyterians uniting with
them in the memorable and holy service. On the
190 MEtTHopist EpiscopaL MISSIONS.

following Wednesday they organized the “ Monrovia
Sunday-School Society, auxiliary to the Sunday-School
Union of the Methodist Episcopal Church.”” On Thurs-
day they met the Quarterly Conference, at which it was
decided to rebuild the church in Monrovia, it being
very smail and much dilapidated. On the 1oth of Jan-
uary they organized “ The Liberia Annual Conference,”
which held a session of two days. It had no legal status
as a Conference, but was a mission acting in the form
of a self-constituted Conference. At the conclusion the
Conference was organized into a Temperance Society.
Evidently they were working with spirit and hope.
Soon, however, they were arrested by the fever, which
seized first upon Mrs. Wright, and on the 4th of Feb-
tuary, at the age of twenty-three, she departed for a
better world—a brief month in Africa, and then an eter-
nity in heaven.

A letter from Mr. Spaulding, dated March 7, brought
this sad intelligence, and also informed the Board that
he himself had been sick for twenty-seven days, at times
dangerously. Mr. Wright and Miss Farrington were
also sick, and Mr, Spaulding indicates his opinion that,
after all, the redemption of Africa must rest chiefly with
the colored man. Colored laborers there were, and Mr.
Spaulding was projecting mission enterprises for them
at Cape Mount, which he regarded of great importance,
and at Grand Bassa, where Mr. Cox had contracted
for building a house, which had been commenced, but
the work had been suspended for want of funds. Mr.
Spaulding directed the building to be resumed, did many
other things, but could not venture to visit the work ex-
tensively till he had somewhat passed his acclimation.

Mr. Wright and Miss Farrington were seized with the
fever on the 15th of January. He partially conva-
‘BIAOCIUOW 38 YOMYD redoosidg ys~pomiew ysarq

 
First Reinforcement. 193

lesced, but, suffering a severe relapse, passed away to
meet his wife on the zgth of March. He was twenty-
five years of age, and had been eighty-eight days in
Liberia.

“That life is long which answers life’s great end.”

A vast amount of care and toil was undergone by Mr.
Spaulding in settling the business left by Mr. Cox. The
erection of the church at Monrovia, a stone building
forty-two feet by sixty-two, was begun, for which about
one thousand dollars were subscribed in Monrovia.
Repairs and additions were also begun on the mission
house.

Mr. Spaulding did not recover so as to be able to re-
sume work, and on the 17th of May he sailed in the
“Salinaand Jane” for the United States. He purposed
to take Miss Farrington with him, and thus entirely
abandon the mission. At first she consented, but in the
end declined to go. Jier reasons are best told in her
own words.

She says: “I was now seized with the fever again,
which ran so high that about the fourth day I was given
up to die. The pain extended all over my system, and
was increasing. The doctor said mortification was tak-
ing place. After he had left I prayed that the silver
cord might be loosed and the golden bowl broken, if
it were the will of the Lord. I was alone, except a
little native girl who was asleep in the room. The
thought immediately came to me, Is there not some one
to sympathize with me? At once Jesus seemed to stand
by my side, with all his native sympathy, and showed
me that it was not his will that I should die at this time,
placing the mission before me as a reason why I should
remain. I said, ‘Then, Lord, remove the disease.’ Ina
194 METHODIST EPiscopAL MISSIONS.

moment, sudden asa flash of lightning, the fever and pain
all left me, and I was well.

“« «Tf half the strings of life should break,
God can our flesh restore.’

“The doctor said mine was the greatest cure he had
ever wrought, to which I made him no reply. Eight
missionaries were now dead,* and Mr. Spaulding, our
superintendent, was to sail on the following Tuesday
for America, with Mr. Temple, a colored man. He was
calculating to take me with him and to give up the mis-
sion. But I said, ‘No; I can never see this mission
abandoned. I can die here, but I will never return un-
til the mission is established.’ But he said, ‘The Board
will probably cut you off if you do not go.’ I said, ‘I
will stay and trust the Lord.’”

And she did stay, and was the only white person on
the coast to welcome John Seys, upon his arrival to as-
sume the superintendency. She remained a year after
his arrival, teaching in Monrovia, and returned with him
on occasion of his first visit to the United States in April,
1835. She died in honored old age the wife of Mr.
George Cone, of the city of Utica, New York.
~ Mr. Seys thus speaks of his meeting with Miss Far-
rington at a tea-table to which he was invited on the
first evening of his arrival at Monrovia. He says :—

““We were soon at the house, and in the presence of
the solitary remnant of the former mission band, Miss
Farrington, on whose visage the pestilence had left its

* She refers to Mr. and Mrs. Wright, Rev. Mr. Cloud and wife,
and Rev. Mr, Laird and wife, of the Presbyterian Board, who ar-
rived with them, Mr. Savage, of the Presbyterian Church, who ar-
rived at about the same time by another vessel, and a young man
an Episcopalian all these had died at about the same time.
First Reinforcements. 195

traces, and who was at the time enjoying a little, but
short, respite from its grasp.”

“There is a feeling at such an introduction, which a
missionary may attempt to describe, but in vain. It
is a mixture of joy, on the one hand, that help has
come, more help from the Church, which seems like a
propitious zephyr to fan the last expiring spark of
hope once more into a blaze; there is, on the other
hand, sadness mingled with sympathy, and by no
means divested of admiration, as the new-comer gazes
on those who have braved all dangers for Christ’s sake;
have seen others die, but have not feared to die them-
selves, standing their ground amid the peltings of the
storm. Never will I forget my emotions as I first took
the hand of, and was welcomed to Africa by, the only
representative of the Methodist Episcopal Mission in
that country, and that representative a delicate, frail,
emaciated woman.”

Sophronia Farrington was made of missionary stuff.
She had faith in God almost to enthusiasm. Her zeal
before she reached Africa gained souls for Christ by
scores, in her home Church, in the schools she taught,
and from among the seventy emigrants who went out
with her in the “Jupiter.” Her very accomplishments
were made tributary to the Master, as she charmed sav-
ages by her painting and drawing. Her zeal for Africa
was consuming. In her own heroic words, she was
ready to ‘offer her soul upon the altar of her God for
the salvation of Africa.” Her name must nct perish
froin the earth. ~

Lieutenant-Governor Williams, a local preacher of
our Church, properly accredited, visited the United
States during the yea: 1834, and was ordained Deacon
and Elder by Bishop Hedding at the Oneida Confer.
196 METHODIST EPISCOPAL MISSIONS.

ence, thus helping to supply the great want of ordained _
men in Liberia.

~ Within this year (1834) Rev. John Hersey, a minister
of our Church, accompanied an expedition as General
Agent of the Maryland Colonization Society, to Cape
Palmas, to found the colony of New Maryland. He ar-
rived in February, and consecrated his zeal and talents
to the interests of this charge for a brief period. Eunice _
Sharp (colored) sailed this year, intending to become a

teacher in Liberia, and proved a useful laborer.

4. Rev. John Seys, Superintendent.

In the latter part of this same year, (1834,) and but a
few days before the return of Mr. Spaulding, one of the
most important events in the history of this mission oc-
curred. We adopt the words of the Sixteenth Annual
Report: ‘The Rev. John Seys, of the Oneida Confer-
ence, under the appointment and instructions of Bishop
Hedding, in the face of all the appalling circumstances
heretofore attending the mission, but under the bright
prospect of the future regeneration of Africa—though
compelled on account of her sickness to leave his wife
and children behind—embarked on the ship, ‘Susan
Elizabeth,’ on the 2d day of September last.” By a
letter received from him in the month of February (1835)
it appears that he landed in peace and health at Liberia
on the 18th of October. There accompanied him a_
young colored local preacher by the name of Francis
Burns, who, on his arrival, was appointed to the school.
in Monrovia, in which Miss Farrington was employed.
Anxious inquiries, made of the officer who boarded
the vessel when she had come to anchor at Monrovia,
elicited the fact that death had been busy since they
Rev. Fohn Seys, Superintendent. 197

had last heard. Brother Searle, of the Presbyterian
Mission, and Dr. Webb were dead, while Dr. Skinner
and Governor Pinney were sick. “ This was sad news,”
says Mr. Seys, “but this was no time for our courage to
fail us.”

On the evening of his arrival in Monrovia Brother
Wilson accompanied him and Mr. Burns to the mission

 

house, and they were welcomed with much affection by
Brother and Sister Gripon. Mr. Seys says: ‘“ Here we
were, in the mission house in Liberia! Here Cox had
suffered and died. Here Wright and his beloved wife
had also expired. It was the house of death, and, as
we listened to the narrative, given in minute detail, of
the sickness and dissolution of our predecessors, and the
sufferings of our Presbyterian brethren, whose house just
over the way was pointed out to us, had it not been for
constitutions and temperaments of a rather sanguine nat-
‘ure, and, more than this, divine grace to sustain us, anda
firm and unshaken trust in God, that would have been
a gloomy evening indeed, and a sleepless night. But
not so. After friendly Christian converse till a late
hour we again joined in prayer, and retired both to the
same room, and I to the same bedstead on which Brother
Cox had ceased to breathe. Sweet and refreshing rest
was soon vouchsafed to us, and it was as sound and as
safe as though we had been in a palace in Europe.”

Mr. Seys was born in the Island of Santa Cruz, March
20, 1799. He became a Christian under the Wesleyan
missionaries from England, and married and commenced
his ministry on Santa Cruz. He resided on fifteen of
the West India islands, and for many years in Trinidad,
but ten degrees from the equator, and where a fever
like the African fever prevailed, and the seasons, as
those in Liberia, were divided into wet and dry.
198 Metuopisi1 EpiscopaL MISSIONS.

The similarity of climatic conditions between the
home of his youth and Liberia raised in the mind of
Mr. Seys the question whether he ought not to offer him-
self for the place made vacant by the death of Mr. Cox.
IIe revolved these things in his mind till he became
wretched.

At this critical moment his Presiding Elder, Rev,
George Gary, startled him with the inquiry, Whether it
was not his duty to offer himself for the Liberia Mission ?
About the same time Rev. David Terry, who had made
the acquaintance of Mr. Seys, and to whom it had been
suggested that one fully acclimated to Trinidad might
possibly endure the African climate, wrote to the Mis-
sion Rooms, suggesting these things to the Secretary,
and nominating Mr. Seys for the perilous work.

At length Bishop Hedding addressed him a letter,
intimating to him the willingness of the Church to send
him if he was willing to go. Having read this letter to
his wife, the noble woman replied, “I am willing to ac-
company my husband wherever God and the Church see
fit to send him.”” The Bishop also wrote to Mr. Gary,
who, the next morning after receiving the letter, called
on Mr. Seys, then missionary to the Oneida Indians, and
bore away his consent to go to Liberia. Bishop Hed
ding’s letter of commission is dated May 18, 1834.
There was universal consent to the exceeding fitness of
this appointment, and most happily did Mr. Seys realize
the hope cherished by the Church in his appointment,
that he would be able to endure the climate. His at-
tacks of fever were comparatively slight, and he pro-
ceeded almost without interruption in his work, traveling
and laboring with great zeal and success.

Amid the first preparations for departure Mr. Spauld-
ing arrived in the United States, and brought intelii-
Rev. Fohn Seys, Superintendent. 199

gence of the sad havoc death had made in the mission.
The heart of the Church naturally revolted at sending
another family into the jaws of death, and Bishop Hed-
ding, under date of July 17, 1834, addressed Mr. Seys a
letter proposing to release him from his appointment if
the recent tidings had led him so to desire. It was a
great temptation to escape danger, but Mr. Seys scorned
to be released from that to which he believed God had
called him.

In his first letter to the Board from Liberia, dated
October 21, he says: “My own health has been excel-
lent since my arrival, with the exception of one day.
This climate appears thus far to be quite congenial to
my constitution, and, in fact, I seem to breathe my na-
tive air.”

The colony seemed to have put on at this time a
most exhilarating prosperity, and Mr. Seys was evidently
taken with his new field. In addition to the superintend-
ent, there were in the mission thirteen preachers, all col-
ored, six teachers, about two hundred and four Church
members, and about two hundred adults and children in
the schools. One of the earliest acts uf the superin-
tendent was the purchase, at auction, of a lot in Mon-
rovia, with a dwelling-house upon it, the home of J.
Devinney, for the sum of six hundred and seventy-five
dollars. This he at once rented until new missionaries
should arrive. It was a convenient house, in the most
healthy location to be found, and with good garden and
abundance of fruit. He himself continued to reside in
the mission house.

The year proved to be one of great spiritual prosper-
ity. Not less than two hundred souls were converted.
The very first Quarterly Meeting held was a season
of special divine visitation. Mr. Seys speaks of it as

tt
404.
200 MetuHopist EpriscopaL MISSIONS.

an affecting time. The accounts the brethren gave of
their different fields was to him like a Macedonian cry
from every direction, and he says: “I wept in the full-
ness of my soul at the remembrance of our Lord’s
words, ‘The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers
are few.’”” This presence of the Spirit seemed to abide
with them during the year,

A very large community became accessible to mis-
sionary labors, not less than ten thousand pagans having
put themselves during the year under the care of the
colony. These last manifested eager desires for in-
struction, and, responsive to this, a determined purpose
sprang up in the minds of the missionaries to penetrate
the thick darkness of the interior with the light of salva-
tion. Mr. Williams, one of the colored ministers, had gone
into the Condo country, in King Boatswain’s dominions,
far in the interior, prospecting for a field, and found a
door wide open. A war breaking out delayed the mis-
sion, but in December an escort of two hundred arrived
in Monrovia, embracing several of Boatswain's generals,
and several intelligent Mandingoes, to claim the teacher
Mr. Williams had led them to expect. Moses Jacobs
was sent with them, and they went back rejoicing.

_ The subject of interior work had opened up to the
mind of Mr. Seys’ predecessor, but it was reserved for
Mr. Seys to make his administration distinguished by
some successful work quite away from the coast and
wholly among the heathen. This year, too, the White-
plains Manual Labor School was established.

Having done a good work, Mr. Seys determined to
return to America, which he did in March, 1835, with
a view to take back in the same vessel with him his
family to Liberia, and to settle himself there as for his
life-work.
Rei Fohn Seys, Superintendent. 201

During the period of this short sojourn of less than
five months in Liberia much had been accomplished
and much endured. He closes a grateful review of all
this by saying: “With what emotions that homeward
voyage was commenced it is not in the power of lan-
guage to tell. Gratitude to the merciful Providence
who had watched over, protected, and guided my every
step thus far was the prominent feeling of my heart,
and scarcely a happier soul could be found anywhere
than J, as the sailors manned the windlass, and with a
merry song began to heave up the anchor, and ‘make
sail for the shores of America.’”

His brief stay in the United States was an occasion
of great interest to the Church. He spoke at many
meetings in behalf of Africa, and every-where awakened
; new interest in missions, especially those in Liberia.
Mr. Wilson, a colored preacher, whom he had brought
with him to the United States, and a bright native Kroo-
man, Hughes by name, appeared at most of these meet-
ings. Hughes was very graceful and popular. On their
way to Baltimore and Washington he was told by some
colored people he met in the cars that he would be
treated badly when he reached the South, and be sold
into slavery. By this he was greatly excited, and, being
weak and ill from a change of climate, his reason forsook
him. Ata crowded meeting at Wesley Chapel, Foundry
Station, Washington, a paroxysm seized him, and he
sprang from his seat and through the window behind
the pulpit. Poor Hughes never fully recovered. At
times he was haunted with the idea of being murdered
or enslaved. He returned to Liberia and seemed com-
posed for awhile, but one day, taking a favorite dog
with him, he started for the Kroo country, and was
never again seen in the colony.
202 Metuopist Episcopal MISSIONS.

On the r1th of July, 1835, Mr. Seys was again on the
ocean, the prow of the vessel headed for Africa. On the
previous Tuesday a most affecting farewell meeting had
been held in John-street Church, New York city. The
chief speakers on the occasion were Rev. Squier Chase,
who had expected to sail at this time with Mr, Seys but
wes detained by illness, and Mr. Seys himself. Rev. J. B.
Barton, of Georgia Conference, had sailed on the pre-
vious Monday from Savannah to be Mr. Seys’ assistant.
The heart of the Methodist Church was thrilled with
hope for Africa as never before. Mr. Seys’ wife and
three children accompanied the outgoing superintend-
ent. One son was left at White Plains, New York, at
school, and one daughter with Miss Mary R. Garrettson,
at Rhinebeck. Dr. Skinner went out in the same ves-
‘sel, to be governor of the colony, and also some Baptist
missionaries.

Mr. Seys and family arrived safely, and a most de-
lightful welcome was given them. Their hearts were
saddened, however, when informed of the inhuman mas-
sacre of eighteen of the colonists by King Joe Harris,
who had made a sudden attack on Port Cresson; but the
cloud was brightened by tidings of Joe’s complete sub-
jugation. Mr. Barton was but little behind his superin-
tendent in arriving, and they both entered upon work
with ardor and devotion. On the 4th of November,
1835, Mr. Seys wrote to the Board the sad and om1-
nous intelligence that fever was prevailing in his family,
himself and wife being much prostrated, and his son al-
ready sleeping beside Mr. Cox and Mr, Wright. Here
the destroyer stayed himself for a time.

The General Conference which met in May, 1836,
gave legality to the “ Liberia Annual Conference,” mak-

ing it a “Mission Conference,” with all the rights of an
Rev. Fohn Seys, Superintendent. 20

Ww

Annual Conference, except the right of representation
in the General Conference, and the right to dividends
from the Book Concern and Chartered Fund.

Having spent a few months actively employed in the
field, Mr. Seys again embarked for the United States,
leaving his family in Liberia. The chief object of this
visit was to seek reinforcements _for_a_mission behind
which stretched out a vast field of impenetrable dark-
ness, peopled with uncounted millions of immortal be-
ings. To this end he proposed to awaken the enthusiasm
of the general Church, and increase its contributions to
the cause of missions; also to lay before the Board the
state of the mission and the needs of the field. Grandly
did he fulfil his promise.

On the 15th of October, 1836, he set sail for Africa,
Rev. Squier Chase and Rev. George S. Brown, a colored
local preacher, accompanying him. A great concourse
“was at the wharf to bid them farewell. Mr. Seysand Mr.
Chase embraced their friends—the former embraced
his son and daughter, again to be left behind—and the
whole company, with heads uncovered and moistened
eyes, waited till the forms of the missionaries could no
longer be discerned upon the deck of the disappearing
vessel. Mr. Chase was intended for the Cape Palmas
work. He was a person of rare loveliness of character,
and his presence was a perpetual blessing. Much was
hoped for from the labors of such a one, but, most un-
expectedly, epilepsy seized him, and rendered him ut-
terly unfit for itinerating. Entirely disabled, and sadly
emaciated, he returned to the United States, arriving
after an absence of about ten months.

The long-desired acquisition, a thoroughly educated
physician, had been obtained for Monrovia in the person
of Dr. S. M. E. Goheen, who embarked in June of this

 
204 METHODIST EpiscopAL MISSIONs.

year for his new field, full of ardor, not only in his pro-
fession, but for the cause of Christ in Africa, He
turned aside offers most flattering to love of distinction
and of competence, preferring the perils and limited
income of his station in Liberia to all such worldly
emoluments.

The Church in the colony was indirectly reinforced
this year, also, by the appointment of Rev. John J. Mat-_
thias, of Philadelphia Conference, as Governor of Bassa
Cove. He arrived August 4, 1837. A gentleman of ele-
gant manners and a Christian minister of devout zeal, he
rendered many and valuable services to the infant Church _
in the colony. His stay in Africa was brief. Bereft of
his wife, and driven from his post by the dreadful mi-
asma, he landed in New York, June 17, 1838. \

In company with Dr. Goheen and Governor Matthias
went out Mrs. Ann Wilkins and Miss Boers. At the
Sing Sing camp-meeting of 1836 the first rnentioned, in-
spired by an address delivered by Mr. Seys, offered
herself in the following note to Dr. Bangs: “A sister
who has a little money at command gives that little
cheerfully, and is willing to give her life as a female
teacher if she is wanted.” She was appointed. Upon
her arrival she at once gathered a school in Caldwell,
and upon the opening of the Liberia Conference Scem-
inary at Monrevia she became one of the assistants to
Principal Burton, Eunice Moore being the other. Mrs.
Wilkins was subsequently transferred to Millsburg.
where, in labors abundant, full of faith and love, and
crowned witb saving results, she continued till 1856, in-
terrupted only by two visits to the United States for her
health.

At one period she triumphed over the salvation of her
entire school, excepting only the youngest child. The
Rev. Fohn Seys, Superintendent. 205

souls, as well as minds and bodies, of her pupils was her
constant care. She was mighty in faith and works.

et
it

in
nu

 

  

 

 

 

MILLSBURG FEMALE ACADEMY.

Far in the interior, even to this day, we trace her in-
fluence over savage chieftains. She returned to the
United States to die, honored by the whole Church.
When she returned, in 1857, the New York East Con-
ference was in session at Brooklyn, L. I., and her first ap-
pearance in public was to witness the ordination services,
which were followed by the holy communion. Near
the close of that service Bishop Waugh announced that
Mrs. Wilkins was present, and invited her, if able, to
come forward. Slowly and feebly, leaning upon the
arm of Mrs. Mary W. Mason, First Directress of the
Female Missionary Society of New York, her own arm
having been broken during the voyage, and being held
in a sling, the slight form that enshrined so grand a
soul moved down the aisle and kneeled to receive the
sacred emblems. There was breathless silence, quick
heart-beats, and, when she turned her wan face to the
206 Meruopist Episcopau MISSIONS.

congregation, all hearts melted in love and tears before
one who had so nobly been partaker with the sufferings
of Christ. She died November, 1887, and was buried
in the family cemetery near Fort Montgomery on the
Hudson. In 1887 the Woman’s Foreign Missionary
Society caused Mrs. Wilkins’s remains to be re-interred
in Maple Grove Cemetery, Long Island.

The selection of Jackstown, Junk, Sinoe, and Boporo,
at this time, as missionary stations, indicates the enter-
prise of the mission, and its godly purpose to make the
continent its field. The little host were pressing far
down the coast and far into the interior. Little was then
done, however, at the two last-named places, because of
political troubles among the natives. The work of the
mission, i general, was beginning to assume a signifi-
cant importance. It had now fifteen missionaries, be-
sides Dr. Goheen, and seven school teachers, instructing
two hundred and twenty-one pupils. It had six Sab-
bath-schools, numbering about three hundred scholars.
From this point it rapidly advanced. The year following
cian, a missionary steward, and a printer, and the Church
numbered four hundred and twenty-one members.

The “ Africa’s Luminary,” a beautiful bi-monthly, the
only “Zve” sheet in the colony, was issued under direc-
tion of Walter P. Jayne, who went out with Mr. Seys on
December 12, 1838; for again the superintendent had
returned to America, driven from his work to recruit
his shattered health. Every return, however, was made
to yield a revenue of men and means for Liberia, and a
profounder interest for the cause. A building was also
commenced in Monrovia to be used asa classical school,
the finest building in the colony, with visions of its oc-
 

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EF v. ne ie
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aad OO EEL. Wego ae
Eg en oe ee Lo LEE a

Monrovia Seminary.
kev. Fohn Seys, Superintendent. 209

cupancy one day as a college or university. This was
the golden age of our Liberia Mission. There was vigor
UE BOIS ES Ok

 

in all its departments that inspired hope for Africa.

The next year the “ Liberia Conference Seminary”
went into operation under the charge of Rev. J. A. Bur-
ton, who had come to Liberia to do this important work, |

The superintendent obtained permission and aid from
the Board to erect a saw-mill and a sugar-mill, there
being neither in the colony; and, being always produced
by hand, lumber and sugar were quite expensive. Thus
the agencies of civilization were industriously added by
the missionaries to those of religion, all to further the
glorious cause of Christ and the interest of Liberia.

In this line, too, was the White Plains’ Manual Labor
School, which had gone into successful operation, and
was doing effective service, teaching agriculture and
various kinds of handicraft to the natives. For the
more thorough supervision of this school Mr. Seys had
removed from Monrovia to White Plains. The saw-mill
and sugar-inill were adjuncts of this school.

5. Revival at Heddington.

In the year 1839 Heddington Station and its native
school were in great prosperity, and were visited with a
glorious revival, the first-fruits of a harvest of souls from
the natives. In a letter of September 20, 1839, Rev.
George S. Brown tells the Board that up to that time
fifty-nine of the natives had been converted, and the
good work was still spreading. The previous July
Mr. Brown had written to Mr. Seys: ‘‘ For Christ’s sake
come to Heddington quickly. Let nothing but sickness
prevent. Come up and see the bush burn. Come up
and see the desert blossom. Come up and see God con-
vert the heathen. .. . Do not stop to change your clothes,

 
210 Metnopist EpiscopaL MISSIONS.

to eat or drink or sleep; salute no man by the way....
Glory! Glory! Glory be to God for his wonderful work
among the heathen!” On the 7th of July nineteen
were received into the Church, and among them King
Tom. On the same day nine were converted in the
morning meeting, six more in a later meeting: thirty-six
in all on that one day for Christ. The king said: ‘‘The
dcbely gone long, long way from his town, and spose he
come back, he pray God for kill him one time.” Great
assemblies of natives met every day and heard the word,
and were deeply moved. Tears gushed from penitent
eyes, and shoutings leaped to redeemed lips. It was a
pentecost, and its power, like that of pentecost, spread,
and surrounding towns caught its flame. The “ Lumi-
nary” says: “‘ Here were Veys, Queahs, and Deys, whom
we heard speak the wonderful works of God. It was too
incredible for some. The ‘set time to favor’ Ethiopia
seemed to have come.” The work possessed many distin-
guishing marks of genuineness. Yet it is not surprising
that haters of God should hate so glorious a demonstration
of his power and love, and the “awakening” was openly
and severely assailed. It was even feared by some that
Methodism was about to take the colony, if not the con-
tinent. The converts were steadfast. Their voice in
the later love-feasts was, “First time I get religion I
love God true, but this time I love him pass first time.”

Zoda Quee, a celebrated chief of the Queah tribe,
had at this time removed near to Heddington, with a
large company of his people, and commenced a new
town. To this town Brother Taylor was sent, and Zoda
came to hear the word, and was personally entreated to
give his heart to God. After one of the sermons this
tall, majestic, noble-looking African arose from his seat,
and, walking down the aisle, knelt at the altar. Here he
Revival at Heddington. ZA

prayed and wrestled for a time, and at length fell pros-
trate to the floor. He arose a new creature in Christ
Jesus; others followed their chief, and Mr. Taylor was
appointed to be the shepherd of this newly gathered
flock. The town received the name of Robertsville, in
honor of Bishop Roberts.

We have given these interesting glimpses of the work
in progress within the mission as samples—very remark-
able ones, it is true—of like gracious visitations at Mon-
rovia, and several other points. We may not follow our
missionaries, nor their leader, in their voyages and jour-
neyings. in their toils and trials. We have not told of
Mr. Seys’ tears this year, as he buried his eldest son, who
was drowned on the coast, and his infant son, who had
been just born to immortality. Nor have we fully recited
the triumphs of the year. How many glorious things
are written in the book of God's remembrance !

6. Collision with the Governor.

These cheering indications were, alas! of very brief
duration. In accordance with his fiendish nature, the
prince of darkness could not permit this bright and
beauteous prospect to be long unclouded. Trouble had
for some time been gathering, which a trifle at length
developed. It becomes us to detail this matter, for, as
we believe, we may date from its occurrence the begin-
ning of the decline of the mission and of the decay of
the colony.

A demand was made upon the superintendent of the
inission by the collector of customs at Monrovia for the
sum of $80 30 for duties on mission goods, which Mr.
Seys at first consented to pay, it being represented to
him by the authorities as lawfully due. He soon, how-
ever, withdrew his consent, on being assured by good
212 METHODIST EpiscopaAL MISSIONS.

authority that the demand was not only without a shad-
ow of support in the law, but that it was perilous for
him and the mission to pay it, as the statute read :-—“All
goods and merchandise imported by the American Col-
onization Society, and by any missionary society. shall
be free of duties, provided said goods, wares, or mer-
chandise so imported by missionary societies, are not
applied in the way of trade.”

The goods in litigation were distributed to persons
employed in building for the Mission, churches, school-
houses, and mission-houses, or used in supporting man-
ual labor schools, in clothing the poor colonists, and
sometimes in feeding them; in payment of teachers
employed in mission-schools, etc. In no instance had
any money or barter been taken for the goods, though
the agent was often solicited to sellthem. The Mission-
ary Society received nothing back: no money, cam-
wood, palm oil, ivory, nor any other article of African
traffic. Every article in contest had been given for the
good of the colony and colonists, and strictly within the
limits of mission work and the exemptions of the statute.

The missionary superintendent did not refuse to pay
legal duties, or set himself above the Government, but
he had often paid the customs, sometimes even when
doubtful whether they were due. It was proved on the
trial of this case that two thirds of the goods used by
the mission were bought in the colony, on all of which,
of course, duties had been paid. But this demand was
not of the same kind. There was here scarcely room
for the least doubt. ‘The Missionary Society had sent
goods, because goods were not obtainable even for
money, or, if they were, it was only at exorbitant prices,
and their em/f/oyés preferred the goods. It was wholly
in the interests and for the comfort of their emmployés
Collision with the Governor. 213

that the Missionary Society only partly paid in money
and the balance in goods. But this interfered seriously
with the exorbitant gains of traders, and brouglit upon
Mr. Seys the antagonism of all such selfish interests.

It was especially important to defend the mission from
the charge of ¢rading implied in this demand, because if
this could be established, every emp/oyé of the mission
was liable to a fine of forty-five dollars for each act of
so called “trading” done without license, and under
the same statute the entire property of the mission was
liable to confiscation. Enemies of the mission and the
missionaries there were, whose enmity was begotten
largely by its great prosperity and overshadowing influ-
ence, that would willingly have seized the opportunity to
annoy the missionaries, and even to destroy the mission.

Mr. Seys proposed to refer the question at issue to
the Colonization Board and the Missionary Board for
adjustment between them, but the Governor pressed the
claim, having already presented the question to the
Colonization Board, and having received from them a
decision that such use as the missionary agents made of
goods was “trading,” in the sense of the law. The im-
portance of the issue was at once perceived by the people
of the colony, and most violent agitations arose. Public
meetings were held and exciting speeches made. Meth-
odism, which comprised about all there was to the col.
ony, was charged with a purpose to overthrow the Gov-
ernment and supplant the Colonization Society, and
the superintendent was charged with aspiring to be gov-
ernor. The two Boards of management in the United
States came into collision on the subject, and the pros-
perity of the colony was threatened, if not its destruc-
tion made imminent.

In the midst of all this agitation the case against Mr.
214 MEeEtTuHopIsr EpiscoPpAL MISSIONS.

Seys came to trial before the Supreme Court of Liberia.
Governor Buchanan (the very man who was, in fact, the
plaintiff in the case) presiding. Mr. Seys conducted
his own case. No exceptions that he raised to the
judge, the court, or the proceedings, were entertained.
He then conceded all the facts charged in the com-
plaint, so that the plaintiff introduced no testimony.
The above recited facts in justification and defense
were proved by Mr. Seys without contradiction, and his
plea in defense of the mission was most masterly. After
being eighteen hours out the jury were discharged, not
being able to agree upon a verdict, two being for the
plaintiff and ten for the defendant. The case was dis-
continued, but by no means the agitation.

Other questions came in to increase the excitement.
As a matter of convenience Mr. Seys, it seems, had
frequently paid a part of the obligations of the mission
in promissory notes. These were for all amounts, large
and small, and began to pass from hand to hand, being
greatly preferred to the paper of the Colonization Society
or of the Government. The credit of the Missionary
Society made them as good as gold or silver, for which
they could always be exchanged, instead of “ for goods
at our store.” They became a kind of circulating
medium, and an occasion of outcry against the superin-
tendent as interfering with the currency of the country,
and a new proof of his ambition and of the treasonable
spirit of Methodism in Liberia.

The fact that the great meetings to express the sym-
pathy of the people with Mr. Seys were held in our
serainary building at Monrovia was often and loudly
cited. This last point was made for foreign consump-
tion, for it was known in Liberia that there was no other
building in Monrovia suitable for public meetings but
Colléston with the Governor. 215

ours, and that on great public occasions, political as well
as religious, they were always the place of assemblage.
Dr. Goheen and Principal Burton, in Liberia, and
Dr. Bangs, the Corresponding Secretary of the Mission-
ary Society at New York, gave Mr. Seys an unwavering
support in all these sore trials. The mission was, in-
deed, a unit on the subject, despite every attempt to
divide it. The Governor addressed the people of Bassa
in his own interest, but a “ pastoral” from Mr, Seys,
giving a noble defense of himself, set all straight again.
There is no small degree of majesty in the letter of
March 19, 1840, addressed to Judge Wilkinson, President
of the American Colonization Society, by Mr. Seys, in
vindication of his conduct, as there is, indeed, about all
his papers on this subject. In the letter to Judge Wilk-
inson, he most emphatically denies that at any time he
had meddled with the political affairs of the colony, and
he challenges any man to say to the contrary of this.
He was but twice within the six years of his Liberia
residence even present with the Legislature, and then
but for half an hour at a time. He declares that his
consent had been often sought to some of the mission-
aries holding political office, and in every case he had
refused; that he had never uttered a word against the
Government; that he had had no part in originating the
exciting meetings lately held, nor had he attended any
of them; that he courted the attentions of no eminent
men or politicians; that his visits to Governor Buchanan
had been few and far between, though the Governor
had often invited him to his house. So far from being
an enemy, he claimed he had always praised the Gov-
ernment and the Colonization Society, and both he and
his colleagues had given their persons and resources to

the defense of the colony in the hour of its need: that he
a5
216 MEtTHopIst EpiscopaL Missions.

had always sustained the laws except when they had
opened the floodgates of intemperance, and were con-
trary to the laws of God. The letter also defends by
irrefutable logic his right to give notes for money that
he might owe, even if they should be so highly esteemed
as to circulate as currency. He then refers to the judge’s
intimation to him that he was the most likely person
to succeed Governor Buchanan, and responds by thank-
ing him, but, at the same time, declaring he has no par-
tiality for the title of Governor, nor desire for the cares
and bliss of the office, but his sole business was to
preach the Gospel. In eloquent terms he describes his
own high office, and tells the judge he cannot descend
to be Governor.

To the Missionary Board he presents some instances,
out of many in the long line of annoyances, to which he
had been subjected, and which indicated to him a spirit
inimical to the mission en the part of the Governor and
his associates :-—

1. He declares that in May, 1838, he was required to
take out passports for himself and family to go to Amer-
ica, contrary to law.

2. They ran up the price of the lot for the seminary,
and he was compelled to pay more than twice its value,
though it belonged to the Colonization Society, and the
mission wanted it for purposes of public good.

3. During the war at Bassa he and his colleagues
volunteered for public defense in case Monrovia should
be attacked, but afterward a petty captain ordered him-
self, Burton, and Jayne all on guard, when there were
sixty others who could have been called.

4. The colonization vessel made unusual and increas-
ing charges for passage and freight, of which he cites
instances.
Collision with the Governor. 217

5. They had compelled them to pay duties on the
very food the missionaries ate.

6. Governor Buchanan attempted to claim four or
five lots as having reverted to the Government, but it
turned out that the deed to this property, although
burned in the fire that consumed the mission house, was
unexpectedly on record.

7. A motion was made in the council to break up the
mission at Heddington on alleged grounds of public
necessity, the town having been attacked by natives.

8. The colonization vessel refused, at Norfolk, to take
the provisions of the mission en board.

Madness seemed to rule the hour, and the strife con-
tinued until Governor Buchanan informed the Coloniza-
tion Society that Seys and Goheen must depart the
colony, or he must be relieved, and he declared he
would neither make nor receive concessions from the
missionaries, and would use physical force though blood
should flow. Governor Buchanan was in the worst
mood possible, and declared that he believed Mr. Seys
capable of any thing, however mean and wicked, and
that he was worldly-minded and ambitious. Nor did
he confine his invectives to Mr. Seys, but launched them
as freely at the Missionary Society and the Methodist
Episcopal Church, admonishing the Colonization Board
of the dangers to be anticipated from their privileges
and growing power.

The Colonization Society insisted upon the Govern-
or’s remaining, and as a peace measure the Missionary
Board began to dismantle the mission. On the 12th of
January, 1841, Dr. Bangs, Corresponding Secretary,
wrote, we doubt not with reluctant pen, a letter of re-
call to Dr. Goheen, in response to which, in due time,
this able and self-sacrificing physician appeared before
218 METHODIST EriscoPAL MIsSI0ONS.

the Board to answer for himself. As will hereafter be
seen, the head of the superintendent far too soon dropped
into the same basket. The men who could have stayed
in Africa, and who had shown themselves pre-eminently
fitted to work out its redemption, were gone. A few
subsequent attempts to maintain supervision by white
men were made, but they were failures. The life and
glory of the mission were departed.

The interest of the Church in the mission through all
this severe test did not abate. In 1842 Bishop Soule
had returned from Europe, where he had been sent as
delegate to the British Wesleyan Conference, and was
present at two meetings of the Board, where he ex-
pressed his willingness to visit the mission in Africa,
but for several considerations the Board could not ad-
vise it. The Board, however, resolved that two new
missionaries should be appointed for Africa, and a
teacher be sent out for Monrovia Seminary. There was
no flagging of spirit. The Bishop appointed Rev. Squier

_Chase, who now seemed entirely relieved of his malady,
and Rev. John G. Pingree, of Maine Conference, and with
them returned Rev. G. S. Brown, a colored preacher.
They sailed on the 3oth of January, 1842, taking back
with them the heroic Ann Wilkins.

Before their departure Mr. Seys had arrived in Amer-
ica, and his presence and advice greatly aided them in
their preparations. Mr. Chase was to be superintendent
in the absence of Mr. Seys, and some there were that
hoped he would be so in perpetuity. At this time the
membership of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Li-
beria was one thousand, one hundred and fifty of whom
were natives. Six hundred children were in thirteen
day schools, and there were fourteen churches and eight
parsonages. There were seventeen colored ministers
Collision with the Governor. 219

employed. Burton and Stockton had before gone to
their reward. Mr. Seys’ presence in America, though
his health was again suffering from repeated “ flashes of
fever,” as he called slight attacks, and “ occasional
fever,” was, doubtless, caused this time chiefly by the
fact that Governor Buchanan had come to the Statvs
with his heart bent on mischief to Mr. Seys and the
mission. Mrs. Seys, too, greatly needed a change, her
spleen being very much enlarged, and she had, there-
fore, consented to accompany him.

Mr. Seys, Mrs. Seys, and “ Little Maria” embarked
in the Brig “ Rudolph Gronig”’ on April 30, 1841. The
day before the departure, their precious babe, his “‘ pet,”’
was buried, having suddenly died of convulsions, being
the fourth child of theirs buried within three years, and
only three remained out of ten. He cried out: “Our
hearts bleed; they are broken. All our children, one
by one, are going from us. Great God! help us to be-
lieve that it is, that ‘it will be, all for the better.’” Ann
Wilkins and several other good friends made up the
ship’s company. Goheen and Burton came on board to
bid them farewell. To the latter it was a long, a last
farewell. He died August, 1841.

A captain not always pleasant, a nasty, filthy mulatto
stewardess, wretched food, his wife very sick, and him-
self down betimes with fever, and the brig withal a dull
sailer, made this voyage tedious enough. They took on
board the pilot on July 1, and Mr. Seys and his wife
stayed up all night to enjoy the ocean scene near to the
land of theirlove. Before daybreak on the 2d the vessel
anchored at Quarantine, New York.

His tireless spirit was promptly at work. On the 5th
he was at Worcester, with Dr. Pitman and Simon Peter,
a native whom he had brought over with him; next, on
220 METHODIST EpiscopAL MISSIONS.

a missionary excursion to the New England Conference,
where the Sabbath was spent. Thence followed a series
of like excursions, alone or with Simon; various strug-
gles with the Colonization Society about his return,
they seeking by every possible device to prevent it:
visitation of friends, and of the graves of his dear ones.
Amid these incessant duties he located his family in
Columbia, Pa., where were some of the kindred of “ dear
Goheen,” as he almost invariably styled the doctor.
From this home he radiated over the whole land, north,
south, east, and west, multitudes in every place hanging
upon his lips as he told of poor benighted Africa, and
collections being made every-where for missions.

7. Mr. Seys temporarily succeeded by Mr. Chase,
but afterward returns to Liberia.

His stay in America was prolonged by the opposition
to his return. As might have been expected, some of
the Mission Board, and even the Bishop, began to ques-
tion whether it were not best to purchase peace by his
withdrawal. The missionaries already sent forward were
claimed by some as a sufficient substitute for this “ pes-
The Board was in doubt, the Bishops in

tilent fellow.’
doubt, and Mr. Seys himself, worn out by the struggle,
also began to doubt. At last, at the session of the
Oneida Conference, in August, 1842, after agonizing in
prayer with God for direction, he wrote to the Board
and to Bishop Waugh resigning his superintendency,
and asking a transfer back to the Oneida Conference.
He was accordingly stationed at Wilkesbarre, Pa.
Here his work was delightful and successful, and many
souls were converted. He records more than fifty in
one single week. This delightful pastorate, however,
lasted but a single year. Three months before the
Mr. Seys succeeded by Mr. Chase. 221

Oneida Conference met in August, 1843, the amiable
Squier Chase had returned to the United States in great
feebleness, and in July, during the session of his loved
Black River Conference, held in Syracuse, died-in great
peace. His death was very sudden. Having preached
in a feeble state of health on Friday evening, and taking
cold from a current of air, inflammation of the lungs set
in and bore him off. His missionary life extended over
a period of sixteen months.

All eyes once again rested on Mr. Seys, and Bishop
Waugh, after conferring by letter with Bishop Hedding,
“read him off” for Liberia. His wife, still feeble, con-
sented, though they must again be parted from each
other. Wilkesbarre was bereaved. The implacable Col-
onization Board remonstrated against this reappointment.
Articles against it appeared in the “Colonization Her-
ald,” to which Dr. Bond, editor of the ‘“‘ Christian Advo-
cate and Journal,” replied in his own paper. A new love
and appreciation of Mr. Seys broke forth in all Meth-
odism. When all else failed, the Colonization Board
sought to have Mr. Seys’ jurisdiction confined tn Cape
Palmas, but he went without any trammels upon him.

Leaving his family at Wilkesbarre, he sailed from
New York in the brigantine “Atlanta,’’ Captain Larkin,
on Saturday, November 25, 1843. He says under date
of December 20: “Once more I am on the bosom of
the mighty ocean, crossing it for the ninth time as a
missionary of the cross of Jesus Christ to heathen lands.
The scenes of the past few days are not to be recorded
without deep emotion. On the said Tuesday morning,
after a sleepless night, a night of weeping, I gathered
my little family together, my poor wife, four little chil-
dren and the hired girls, and, bidding them farewell, we
all knelt around our family altar for the last time, and
293 Merruopist EpiscopaAL MISSIONS.

I commended them to the safe-keeping of our heavenly
Father. It was a sad parting.”

The voyage was in striking contrast with his last, pos-
sessing every agreeable feature that could be expected,
though the weather was unusually stormy. On Decem-
ber 30, at midnight, they anchored at Sierra Leonc, and
spent a joyful Sabbath at the mission house. New-Year's
day was to him a day of renewed consecration of heart
and life to the work of missions, and on the 2d they
were at sea, reaching Monrovia, January 11. Before
noon he was in his old quarters, receiving an ovation of
greetings. A stream of callers, much hand-shaking, and
many expressions of affection, filled up the day. The
governor himself—not Buchanan, but Roberts—received
him with much cordiality.

We find him at once immersed in his multifarious du-
ties. Now starting once more the “ Luminary;” now
at the printing-office ; now at White Plains, looking after
the boarding-school of Mrs. Wilkins; holding quar-
terly meetings, preaching every-where; meeting the An-
nual Conference on February 1; in fact, doing every
thing. Amid all this he was kept in unusual health,
having only a few flashes of heat, that were reheved by
fasting and a sudorific of hot lemonade, but working
through these as if they were trifles.

8. Tours into the Interior.

At the Conference held this year three of the breth-
ren, namely: Johnson, Russel, and Kennedy, were ap-
pointed to the interior to stations named respectively,
Garrettson, Mount Andrew, and Morrisburgh; the first
to be in the Queah country, and the last two in the
Goulah country. Elijah Johnson was destined for Gar-
rettson; A. F. Russel and W. P. Kennedy, for Mount An-
Tours into the Interior. 22:3

drew and Morrisburgh. On the 23d of January, 1844,
Mr. Seys started with them for their appointed work.
Their departure on this long journey was preceded by
a farewell meeting at the church in Monrovia, and a
prayer-meeting at the wharf. ‘They called en route upon
Mrs. Wilkins, and held quarterly meeting at Roberts-
ville. The quarterly meeting was, however, without
a sacrament, “ because the preacher forgot to get wine.”
At this quarterly meeting several natives were at the
altar for prayers, who had come to escort John Ken-
nedy from the Dey country, in which he had been cap-
tured and threatened with death. But John telling the
king he was a Christian, the king was afraid to kill him,
as he had intended to do, and therefore sent him back to
the colony with an escort, of which the king’s own son
was the chief. That son was now among those at the
altar.

From Robertsville they started with twenty-one car-
riers, which number was afterward increased to twenty-
nine, There were five preachers, Mr. Wilson having
joined them. After traveling a few miles they fell in
with Zodaquee, now a poor apostate. They passed oc-
casional villages and towns, and soon came to a “coun.
try increasingly undulating,” says Mr. Seys; “and we
frequently fell in with little streams of cool and delight.
ful water, a luxury of incalculable value to weary foot-
travelers on a hot day in Africa.” Exceedingly fatigued.
and saturated with perspiration, they finally arrived, at
three o’clock on the first day, at King Leon’s town, in
the Queah country, fourteen miles distant from Roberts-
ville. Here they tarried, washed their burning feet,
refreshed themselves, and preached. Starting the next
morning, a walk of less than an hour brought them to
King Tom’s town, (Garrettson station.) Mr. Seys and
224 MeEtn pist EpiscopaAL MISSIONS.

Mr. Russel preached, and they invited those who wished
to seek and serve God to come forward. At once King
Tom, leading several, came forward. This work seems
to have been very fruitful, for Mr. Russel reports niore
than twenty converted. From this point they made
some excursions to neighboring places, and then pushed
on farther into the interior, King Tom accompanying
them. Before he left them Mr. Seys had agreed to
build a small parsonage and a church at Garrettson.

The third day they made twenty miles more, but were
still in the Queah country. They rested at Cheapo,
preaching and praying with the multitude. When they
asked who would serve God, the whole assembly arose.
This was also to be in Mr. Johnson’s charge, but he was
to journey on with the company, and enter this work
when the whole tour should be completed.

Of the next day’s travel they speak as being through
“a hilly, well-timbered country with delightful water—
as good as ever I drank,” says Mr. Seys. The hills were
sometimes very high, and one stream was quite broad.
The paths were zigzag and circuitous. On Saturday
night, March 2, they reached King Beh’s town; ex route
to it, at Yallah’s town, a young woman took their hands
and praised God in good English. She was one of the
converts at Heddington, and she had been called Mary
Seys, and was firm in her faith and love to God. She
might be said to have washed their feet, so anxious was
she to minister to their wants. Preaching on Saturday
night and three times on Sunday, with the administra-
tion of the communion to the ministers and six native
Christians of the carriers, made the Sabbath a special
day of this town. On Monday they had passed through
unbroken forest, and reached the Goulah country. Paus-
ing to preach, whole towns turned out to hear them, and
Tours into the [nterior. 225

at Captain Sam’s beautiful town the people insisted that
Mr. Russel should stop with them.

Twenty miles more, and they came to Becan town.
Mr. Seys being prostrated by fever, they tarried a day.
Here they met William Capers and other Heddington
converts. The next day they reached Gosing, (Ashmun
town,) and thence proceeded to Becuo. Their stay at
this town was most delightful, and their preaching was
again rewarded with seeking and penitent souls. Mr.
Seys received seven on probation, and there were here
also nine Heddington converts, making a class of six-
teen in all. Taking their departure, they now plunged
into regions where the Gospel had never been heard.
A gap in the mountain gave them entrancing scenery.
and many clear, cool streams were a constant refresh-
ment.

At Cammacolla a white man had never before been
seen, and crowds came to gaze at them. ‘The superin-
tendent sought to make a station here, but the head man
hesitated, and they passed on to Dingding, a town of
forty houses, where they were kindly received, and where
they found more of the Heddington converts, and some
Bibles and hymn books. Mr. Seys preached, with great
thankfulness for the privilege of preaching where man
had never preached before. They next stopped at
Grupau, on the St. Paul’s. The scenes on the way, and
the kindness of the reception, were but repetitions of
what they had already experienced. Here Mr. Seys
had another attack of fever, and, all being wearied, they
tarried.

They were now about one hundred and fifty miles
from Cape Messurado by the course of the St. Paul. At
this point the river was one hundred and fifteen yards
wide. King Guzzama called several other kings into
226 Metrnopist EpiscopaL MISSIONS.

council, and all were willing to receive the Gospel, and
some of them signed a contract to that effect. Sabbath,
the roth of March, was spent here, and they made it a
glorious day for Christ. More than a score began to
seek Christ. After much importuning on the part of
the king, Mr. Seys determined to leave Mr. Russel here,
and thereupon a jubilee broke out in the town. A spot
was chosen for a chapel and mission house, and plans for
them drawn. Samuel Merwin wwas left with Mr. Russel
as interpreter. This wascalled Mount Andrew. They
left it and its newly-installed pastor, with many prayers
for heaven’s protection and benediction.

Mr. Seys speaks of the scenery of the St. Paul’s at
this point as beautiful, surpassing all possible descrip-
tion; the region also is rich in valuable gums. Passing
down the St. Paul’s, seeing much of interest, they came
to Gavegobley, which connects by a direct path with
Boporo, the capital of the Condo country, but he could
not visit that town, because his paroxysms of fever were
becoming more frequent and severe, and his exchequer
(of cloth) was almost exhausted. At King Boto’s town
he preached, and decided to make it a station. A site
was selected for a church and parsonage, and this be-
came Morrisburg. <A house was rented for Mr. Stevens
at Besseh Ballasella’s town.

That for which they had started being accomplished,
they turned their faces homeward. The narrative of
what they saw on the homeward voyage is most inter-
esting, but we must refrain from giving it. After a few
days they entered an unbroken forest sixty miles in
extent, encamping at intervals for rest. Having passed
through it, they reached White Plains on the a2ist of
March, weary and sick, but grateful to God for his

abounding mercies.
Tours into the Intertor. 227

A like tour had been made into these lands under the
leadership of Rev. B. R. Wilson, after Mr. Chase had
left Africa, and it was reported to Mr. Chase, as super-
intendent, the report being sent to America. Mr. Chase
was gone to his rest before it reached this country, but
it les before us, and is a paper of great interest. These
remarkable journeys, let it be noted, were taken mostly
through mere footpaths, overgrown by the wild luxuri-
ance of the tropics. Only for a very little of the way
did Mr. Seys enjoy even the Dummabalegh, or “ Big
Path.”

This year also Mr. Seys visited Cape Palmas, and gave
new inspiration to the work there. Governor Russ-
wurm became so much interested that he built a school-
house at his own cost at Barrakka. This was deemed
by Mr. Seys a most important part of the field, especially
as the very populous Grebo tribe spoke the English
tongue. Popery had made a costly and imposing effort,
with a Bishop at its head, to take this tribe, but had
failed, and Mr. Seys begged the Board to buy their de-
serted premises at Cape Palmas.

All this shows his unwearying enterprise, whether sick
or well. But he had many enemies. His family was in
the United States, and his wife seemed not to be recover-
ing her health and strength, and the climate evidently
was wearing upon him. He took his departure for the
United States soon after this tour, and resigned finally
his superintendency. In 1858 he went out again to
Liberia as agent of the United States for liberated Afri-
cans. He started on this, his seventh voyage to Li-
beria, Nov. 5, 1858, and arrived Dec. 25. The national
fair occurring at the time of his arrival, and, Monro-
via being full of people, he had a sort of national
welcome, making a speech beneath the great palm
228 MetHopisr Episcopat MIssions.

shades, and receiving in return a public vote of thanks.
He returned to the United States in 1864. During this
period he rendered good service as a private member
of the Church, His next work was done for the freed-
men in the South after the surrender of Lee. In 1868
he was appointed Minister and Consul-General of the
United States to Liberia, and his appointment so stands
in the Minutes of the Conference. This was his last
wotk. He died in Springfield, Ohio, February 9, 1872.
For a period of thirty-six years he was identified with
the interests of the African.

9. Mr. Seys Permanently Succeeded.

Mr. Seys resigned in 1844, and a year passed without
any superintendent in Liberia, because no man could
be found to take his place. The brethren of the Confer-
ence, howevet, maintained well the spirit and enterprise
that had been infused into the work by the superintend-
ents. Thus it remained till late in the summer of 1845,
when the Bishops appointed the Rev. J. B. Benham, of
the Oneida Conference, to be Superintendent, Rev.
W. B. Hoyt to assist, and Rev. W. B. Williams to be Prin-
cipal of Monrovia Seminary The last two were of New
York Conference. They found no opportunity to em-
bark till the 4th of November, when they took the ship
“Roanoke” from Norfolk. They reached Monrovia ina
little more than a month, landing on the 8th of Decem-
ber. Great was the joy with which they were greeted
at the mission house.

They had been but one week in Monrovia when their
sensibilities and energies were taxed to the utmost by a
scene of most appalling horror aid wretchedness. It
was Sunday evening, December 4, when news arrived
that Captain, afterward Commodore, Bell, of the African
Mr. Seys Permanently Succeeded. 229

squadron, had captured a bark, out from Cabena, having
nine hundred slaves on board. The first day after her
capture nineteen died, and before the vessel reached
Monrovia their number had been reduced to seven hun-
dred and fifty-six, and some of these were in a dying
condition,

The slaver was the “Pons” of Philadelphia. On
Monday, the 15th, Messrs. Benham and Hoyt, in com-
pany with the governor, Dr. Lugenbeel, and others,
proceeded to the vessel, and beheld this most revolting
spectacle. Mr. Benham says: “ The stench of the vessel
was such that we remained but a few moments on board,
long enough, however, to see something of the indescrib-
able horrors of the African slave-trade. It was supposed
a thermometer would range from 100° to 120° in the
hold. Though I did not go down, I saw that, with few
exceptions, they were in a state of entire nudity. Sev-
eral were in a dying condition, and many others were
so emaciated that their skin literally cleaved to their
bones; others, again, had worn their skin through, pro-
ducing putrid ulcers, which fed swarms of flies.” This
miserable company consisted mainly of boys, between
ten and twenty years of age; only forty-seven were
girls.

It became the duty of Dr. Lugenbeel, as the United
States agent, to provide for all these destitute and
wretched beings, and he proposed that our mission
should assume the care of one hundred of them. The
superintendent, after consulting with the preachers near
at hand and others, took the responsibility of accepting
the trust Thé preachers and members on the spot
made a subscription to meet the expenses of this provi-
dential charge committed to their care, and issued a
citcwar to the Church every-where, asking aid. The
230 METHODIST EpPIscopAt MISSIONS.

facts and thrilling appeals of the circular created a wide
and deep sensation in the United States. Public meet-
ings were held and money raised in all parts of the land.

By a wonderful providence, often exemplified in the
history of the Society, there was a surplus in its treas-
ury, from which, for the present, the support and educa-
tion of these youth might be provided for. In the course
of a single year nearly one half of these Congoes were
able to read, and had been converted to God. The tale
of these conversions, as published in the “ Advocate,”
is often a most touching one. We need not pause to
represent the pressure of extraordinary care and labor
that came upon Messrs. Benham and Hoyt from the
capture of the ‘‘ Pons;” all the more formidable because
it came at their very novitiate as missionaries, when ac-
climation was before them, and when the work of the
mission was tu be reconstructed. In the midst of their
arduous task Mr. Williams was seized with the fever, and
sank into the arms of death on the fifth day of January.

The Conference met, February 9, 1846. Native work
was assuming a dreary prospect. Heddington, Roberts-
ville, and Garrettson were about “done for.” Not
much more could be said for Mount Andrew or Mor-
risburgh. The “Luminary” was hereafter to be pub-
lished monthly instead of semi-monthly, and by a com-
mittee in Monrovia. No one could be spared to devote
his time to editing and publishing it. Mr. Hoyt becaine
Principal of Monrovia Seminary, and was to superin-
tend the publishing department. His wife suffered so
severely from the climate that in August she returned
to the United States. After her departure his own
health began rapidly to decline. A trip to Cape Palmas
somewhat recuperated him; but still suffering, and in
utter hopelessness of ever being able to du work in the
Mr. Seys Permanently Succeeded. 231

African climate, he was relieved by the superintendent,
and sailed for the United States from Monrovia, Feb-
ruary 9, 1847, having been in the field fourteen months.

Mr. Hoyt’s assistant, a colored man, by the naine of
Morris, being also in poor health, the principalship of
the seminary was devolved on Mr. Gripon, also a colored
man, who was called from Millsburgh for the purpose.

It was in December, 1846, that) Miss Laura Brush
sailed for Africa. Upon her arrival she was at once
employed at Millsburgh to aid Mrs. Wilkins, now much
worn by long service in this torrid clime. Miss Brush
endured well the terrible ordeal of acclimation, yet for
five months she could scarcely be said to have been free
from fever. She rendered good service till compelled
to return to the United States, and she offered her serv-
ices for this field again in 1859.

The Conference met at Monrovia, December 28, 1847,
all the members present, and reported among their sta-
tistics $241 58 missionary collections, and a membership
to the Church of nine hundred and sixty-five. Super-
intendent Benham, wife, and a Congo, soon after the
session left for America, and arrived at Baltimore on
the first day of March, 1848, he, too, having been driven
from the field by feebleness and inability to work in the
African climate. The superintendency was vacant; not
again to be filled for more than a year.

Mr. Benham in one of his reports gives the following:
“Of the thirteen white missionaries who have labored in
connection with the Liberia Conference six have died,
six have returned to America, and one remains here;
whereas, of the thirty-one colored missionaries who have
labored in the same field, seven only have died natural
deaths, one was drowned, one murdered, two expelled,

one located, three have been discontinued, one is super-
16
232 MetnHopist EpiscopaL Missions.

‘annuated, one supernumerary, and fourteen remain in
aclive service. The aggregate amount of time spent by
white missionaries is about twenty-eight years, that of
colored missionaries about eighty-five years. With the
exception of Mr. Seys, Mr. Burton, and Dr. Goheen, the
white missionaries have been able to do little more than
take care of themselves.”

We have not overlooked the fact that Rev. N. S. Bas-
tion, of the Illinois Conference, was appointed to the
superintendency, and arrived on the field, with his wife
and child, on the 19th of September, 1849, Under his
administration the Goulah stations were abandoned,
and the “Luminary” ceased to exist. The seminary
building, the finest building in the Republic, brick,
with stone foundation, was built, at a cost of $10,000;
also, a brick academy building, twenty-one by forty
feet in size, at Millsburgh, for females, at a cost of
$4,000. Grand projects these, but very costly, and
they with other fiscal complications and the liberty of
administration assumed by the superintendent, made his
superintendency very unsatisfactory to the Board, and
led to his recall, under date of February 9, 1850. He

returned alone, leaving his wife and child buried in
Africa.

10. Change of Policy.

The Bishops now determined on a change of policy.
First, they appointed Francis Burns to preside at the
Liberia Conference, to be held at Bassa Cove, January
3, 1851. They also directed the division of the Confer-
ence into three districts; to wit: Monrovia District, of
which J. W. Roberts was to be Presiding Elder, Cape
Palmas District, of which Francis Burns was to be Pre-
siding Elder: and Bassa District, of which J. S. Payne
Change of Policy. 233

was to be Presiding Elder; a measure that was destined
to continue. The number of preachers was not quite
as great as it had been, nor had the membership or
other parts of the work increased. Yet all Africa was
an “open door,” and every-where the people were cry-
ing out for “ God-palaver.”

Much of the work had been hitherto done in towns
that had disappeared, and even to-day scattered through
the interior can be found the fruits of that teaching and
preaching. Doubtless the work should have been identi-
fied with tribes and nations, instead of with towns which
were often made up of strangers in a strange land and
naturally transient, only the stockade towns being per-
manent.

The Liberia Conference Seminary was opened in its
new building February 7, 1853, under the principalship
of Rev. James W. Horne, of the New York East Conf,
assisted by Mr, Gibson. Soon there were in the school
about sixty pupils, a few of them natives. The school
was graded into two departments, one floor of the build-
ing being assigned to each, Mr. Horne instructing the
higher classes, and Mr. Gibson the lower. The course
of study extended to a full preparation for college, and
a collegiate institution was contemplated. Of the pupils
of M1. Horne many have risen to eminent usefulness.
We may name Rev. Daniel Ware, of Liberia Conference;
Rev. William Blackledge, of the Protestant Episcopal
Mission; Daniel Smith, Chief Justice of the Republic;
Benjamin Anderson, Secretary of the Treasury, interior
explorer, and author. The “examinations” of this school
were great occasions, usually held in presence of a
throng, among whom were the most notable and emi-
nent persons of the Republic.

Mr. Horne remained in Liberia till February, 1855,
234 MetuHopisT EpiscoPpaL MISSIONS.

assailed by the fever at intervals of three weeks or there-
about; but being a West Indian, like Mr. Seys, he was
able thus long to bear up against it. With liver and
spleen enlarged, and mind as well as body depressed,
he then sought relief in a voyage to the United States,
leaving Mr. Gibson in charge of the school. This voy-
age was precipitated by the death of his brother, Rev.
George W. Horne, of the Protestant Episcopal Church,
missionary at Rocktown, Africa, whose bereaved family
needed an escort home. In cooler climes he rapidly re-
cuperated, and found special joy in visiting the Bermu-
das, where his father was living, with his family, in the
honored retirement of a Wesleyan missionary of fifty
years’ service. Here he married Miss Julia A. Ferzo,
who on the following Christmas went with him to his
far-off field, and shared his labors and perils to the end
of his work in Liberia, in the fall of 1857. Mr. Horne
was five years in the mission, and Mrs. Horne nearly
two. No white Methodist missionary was after this sent
by us to Liberia, till Rev. Joel Osgood went out, in
1877.

‘The Liberia Conference of 1853 convened March 7,
and will be memorable because of the presence of Bish-
op Levi Scott. The Bishop had been deputed by his
colleagues for personal episcopal duty on the African
coast, and had sailed on the bark “Shirley” from
Baltimore, in November, 1852, accompanied by Rev.
J. W. Horne, whose presence in Liberia we have anti-
cipated, and by Sarah Arnolds, a young colored wow-
an, who was also designed for the educational depart-
ment. He visited all the stations on the coast except
Marshall, and preached twice at each, also Bexley, on
the St. John’s, and Louisiana and Lexington, on the
® aoe. At Cape Palmas he spent two weeks, and, first
Change of Policy. 235

and last, nearly three at Monrovia. Elis visit was abun-
dant in observation and very fruitful of suggestion.

To all the financial features of the mission he gave
the closest scrutiny, as his reports abundantly testify.
He rebuked growing evils, such as ministers seeking po-
litical preferment, an evil that had of late been increas-
ing Having done his work thoroughly, having been
blessed with good health while on the coast, he sailed
for the United States March 17, 1853. ‘There was a
small increase reported in membership, and the Bishop
regarded the work as generally prosperous. His most
important suggestion was a plan for educating native
youth by taking them into the families of the preachers,
away from their heathen surroundings, and training them
directly under churchly influence. The health of the
Bishop suffered somewhat on his voyage homeward, and
for many months after his return, but he finally recov-
ered. He died at his home in Odessa, Delaware, uni-
versally honored and beloved, July 13, 1882.

On October 25, 1854, Ann Wilkins, returning to Li-
beria in the “‘ Estelle,” took with her by appointment of
the Board three young ladies, Miss Staunton, Miss
Brown, and Miss Kilpatrick. A school upon a very
comprehensive plan seems to have been projected at
Cape Palmas, in which they were all to be employed.
But too soon did Miss Staunton succumb to the flerce-
ness of the heat and the malaria of the climate. She
was about to leave in the hope of saving her life when
death grasped her as his prey, on April 15, 1856. The
grave of Maria E. B. Staunton)was the first of an un-
married lady missionary of our Church to consecrate
the soil of Liberia. While she lived she had a passion
for saving souls, and the thought of the loss of a single
one would often wring from her scalding tears and
236 METHODIST Episcopal. MISSIONS.

burning words. In dying her visions of glory were
beatific,

Miss) Caroline M Brown was from the Corning Dis-
trict, ast Genesee Conference. She seems to have en-
dured the climate well, and two years after her arrival
we find her at Cape Palmas, opening a new department
in the academy there. She married one of the most in-
telligent and honored members of the Liberia Confer-
ence, lived a few years, and died in great hope.

Miss Margaret Kilpatrick must rank next to Mrs.
Wilkins for the length and eminence of her services in
this mission. Throughout its history we catch an occa-
sional glimpse of her activities. With a visit or two to
the United States for recuperation, she continued her
work for a long period. Her life and soul were given
to the missionary cause to the end of her stay on earth,
which took place in the city of New York, in 1865. At
least twelve unmarried ladies, six of whom were white,
were sent by the Board to this mission before the send-
ing of white missionaries from this country ceased.

11. African Bishops.

The first and most serious difficulties met by our mis-
sionaries to Africa arose from the want of ordination on
the part of the preachers in the field. Some of these
even assumed to administer the sacraments without au-
thority, deeming the necessities of the case a sufficient
warrant for their course. As will be remembered, it was
Cox’s great achievement to check these and other irreg-
ularities, and harmonize the Church in Liberia with the
Discipline of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Some
of the preachers visiting the United States were or-
dained, but there was imperative need that the number
of men in orders should be greatly increased.
African Bishops. 237

On the first return of Mr. Seys to this country he
brought this subject to the attention of the missionary
authorities, and it was carefully and fully canvassed with
Bishop Emory, with a view to the appointment of a
Bishop for Liberia. The constitution of the Methodist
Episcopal Church clearly forbade a local superintend-
ency, and no satisfactory method was suggested, either
in these more private consultations or at the General
Conference of 1836, for meeting the emergency. Even
had a feasible plan been proposed, the Liberia Confer-
ence had officially expressed no wish upon the subject,
though the general judgment of the Conference and
Church in Liberia was informally known, nor had the
Conference designated any one for the office of Bishop.

The visit of Bishop Scott had been a great blessing
to Liberia, for all who were entitled to ordination re-
ceived it at his hands. The visit had also served to
strengthen the conviction of the home Church that it
was impossible to superintend the work without a local
episcopacy. In this aspect the subject came before
the General Conference of 1856.' The length of time it
was under consideration by that body, the many prop-
ositions made in the form of substitutes and amend-
ments to the report presented by the committee, and
the careful manner in which the action, after it had
been taken, was defined, all show the inherent difficul-
ties of the case.

The restrictive rule of the Discipline was so amended
as to allow the General Conference to appoint a mis-
sionary Bishop for any of our foreign missions. limiting
his jurisdiction to the field for which he might be ap-
pointed. This amendment prevailed by a constitutional
majority in the General Conference, and the Bishops
were authorized to present it to the Annual Conferences,
238 Meruopisr EpiscopaL MISSIONS.

count the vote, and declare the result. If the amend-
ment prevailed, the Liberia Conference, assisted by the
Corresponding Secretary of the Missionary Society, and
under direction of the Bishop in charge, was authorized
to elect a Bishop for Liberia, and the Bishops were au-
thorized to ordain him.

Pursuant to all this, the Liberia Conference, at its ses-
sion in January, 1858, elected Francis Burns Bishop,
who, as promptly as possible, presented himself in the
United States, duly accredited, for ordination. Some
time was spent by him in traveling from Conference to
Conference, and every opportunity for observation was
afforded him. He was ordained October 4, 1858, at the
session of the Genesee Conference, held in Perry, New
York, Bishops Janes and Baker officiating, assisted by
five elders. He returned to Africa the following No-
vember, Miss Kilpatrick, after a brief visit home, return-
ing in the same vessel, to prosecute her arduous work of
love in the Female Boarding School at Millsburg, still
redolent with the memory of the sainted Ann Wilkins.

The Liberia Conference met this year (1859) in the
month of January, Bishop Burns presiding. He had
previously presided several times by appointment of the
Bishops, and the fullest confidence was reposed in his
judgment by the Church both in Liberia and the United
States—a confidence inspired by his able, explicit, and
full reports to the Board, as well as by other circum-
stances.

Bishop Burns seems to have been permeated with the
idea, which reigned in the mind of all the superintendents
of the mission, that the only hope of the Church in Libe-
ria was in its becoming a missionary Church. He said,
the extension of the work into the country more largely
“is a condition of both our spiritual life and growing
African Bishops. 239

asefulness. If we stay here we die.” Appointments
were accordingly made in 1860 among the Grebos, at
Cape Mount among the Veys, and at Careysburgh
among the Goulahs. The subsequent year a mission
was opened among the Queahs, to which Rev. C. A.
Pitman was appointed.

The General Committee, on May 2, 1851, had shown
its sense of the importance of interior work by adopting
the following :—

“ Resolved, That the sum of $3,000 be appropriated, to
be used at the discretion of the Board and Superintend-
ent of Foreign Missions, toward exploring the country
in the interior of Africa beyond the Liberia Republic,
for the purpose of establishing a mission among the
natives.”

One new scheme of Bishop Burns was a missionary li-
brary, to give the preachers a better idea of the work
being done for the world. He was proving himself a
wise and zealous Bishop, but at the close of 1862 his
health was failing, and at the Conference held in Janu-
ary, 1863, he was not able to preside. He hurried away
to America, hoping in vain that a sea voyage would re-
store him. He sank gradually, and expired in Baiti-
more, April 18, 1863.

. The General Conference of 1864 authorized the Li-
beria Conference to elect a successor to Bishop Burns,
pursuant to which the Liberia Conference at its session
in 1866 elected Rev. John Wright Roberts, and he was
ordained at St. Paul’s Methodist Episcopal Church, New
York City, on the zoth of June, in the same year, by
Bishops Scott and Janes, assisted by the venerable
Henry Boehm and Drs. Harris, Carlton, Holdich, and
Porter. In five days he was off for his field of holy en-
deavor. Like Bishop Burns, he seemed to have been
240 Mevruopist Episcopar MISSIONS,

an acknowledged leader. He had presided at the in-
tervening Conferences, and made full and satisfactory
reports of the work to the Board. Self-support, interior
work, education, especially on Bishop Scott’s plan, and
Church extension, all demanded and received the new
Bishop’s attention.

This year (1866) Rev. J. H. Deputie opened work
among the natives at Mount Olive, which is continued
till now. The year generally was full of hopeful indica-
tion. The increase in every department was encourag-
ing. There was an increase of two hundred and forty-nine
native members, and two hundred and nine native pro-
bationers ; total of natives, four hundred and fifty-eight;
the whole number of members being one thousand
eight hundred and nine. Four hundred and forty-five
dollars were given for the support of the Gospel, and
four hundred and seventy dollars for repairing churches.

The appropriation of the General Committee for Li-
beria had been reduced from time to time, till this year
it was only fourteen thousand dollars, while in some
former years it had exceeded thirty thousand dollars.
The one unpleasant feature was a decrease in the num-
ber of effective preachers. Indeed, from this time on-
ward to the present, the want of the mission has been
intelligent, devoted men to enter the field as pastors and
missionaries.

Nothing of peculiar interest now transpired till 1875,
when the Conference was to assemble on January 28,
in Greenville, Sinoe country. Early in the month Bish-
op Roberts came from his circuit to Monrovia, for the
purpose of engaging a vessel to take the preachers down
the coast. The vessel was engaged, but it stranded,
and the Conference was necessarily held at Monrovia.
The Bishop had been for months in failing health, and
African Brshops. 241

by the time the Conference was convened he was un-
able to meet with them. Two days after the opening
of the session, namely, on the 30th cf January, 1875, he
expired, with the entire Conference at his bedside.

Rev. William P. Kennedy presided at the Conference.
The year had been one of much commotion in the regiun
of Cape Palmas, occasioned by war with the natives.
Indeed, the derangement of the work from this ex-
citement and other causes was general. Nevertheless,
the members and probationers were reported as two
thousand three hundred, the largest number which had
ever been returned. The next year was one of general
revival and much increase. It was further distinguished
by a second episcopal visit from this country, Bishop
Haven having been appointed by his colleagues to that
duty.

12. Bishop Haven’s Visit.

Bishop Haven left New York in the bark “ Jasper,’
November 1, 1876, and reached Monrovia December
16, 1876. The vessel was leaky, and proved quite un-
seaworthy, so that during much of the voyage serious
apprehension was entertained of the safety of those on
board. The vessel carried some fifty emigrants. Mr.
Fuller, the Treasurer of the Liberian Government, who
had come to the United States as lay delegate to the
General Conference in Baltimore, was among the pas-
sergers. Rev. D. A. Day and wife. of the Lutheran Mis-
sion at Muhlenberg, Liberia, after a short absence in the
United States to recruit their health, were returning by
the same vessel. A Mr. Litchfield, agent cf a mercan-
tile house in Philadelphia, was the only other cabin
passenger, except the Bishop’s party.

The Bishop was accompanied by his nephew and
Rev. J. T. Gracey, formerly of the India Conference
242 METHODIST EPISCOPAL MISSIONS,

The opportunity during the voyage for gathering de-
tailed information from those of large experience in
evangelistic work in Liberia, and of familiar acquaint-
ance with Liberian society and Government, was of
great advantage to the Bishop.

The Conference convened at Monrovia, December 18,
and was attended by the most prominent people then
gathered from all quarters of Liberia at the capital, the
Legislature being in session. ‘The President and Vice-
President, and other officers of State, were in frequent
attendance upon the sessions of the Conference. Per-
haps nothing was of move interest than the meetings
held from twelve to one o’clock each day for the in-
auguration of anniversary exercises of the various be-
nevolent societies of the Church. The Bishop urged
the Conference to take up all the collections in all the
Churches, as a duty tending to increase the connectional
bond between them and the Churches at home.

The members of the Conference were extremely care-
ful lest the Bishop should become ill, and thus deter
other Bishops from visiting them, and so once more lead
to a local episcopacy for their land, which had not
been satisfactory to the Liberian Church. They felt
the need of episcopal visits from America to afford
them fresh inspiration, and to secure a full and influen-
tial representation of their case among the Churches of
the United States. Bishop Haven visited almost all the
principal stations of the Conference, ascending all the
rivers but the Junk; never, however, remaining on
shore at night, thus only reaching as far inland as Clay
Ashland, on the St. Paul’s River, and Bexley, on the
St. John’s.

He found the Church in only a moderately prosper-
ous condition, but more so than that of any other denom-
‘AMopeoy sewmeg eden

 
Bishop Haven’s Visit. 245

ination. It was largely represented in all the civil offices
of the country. There were good church buildings at
Monrovia, Bassa, Sinoe, and Cape Palmas. There were
also two good school-houses, one at Monrovia and one
at Cape Palmas. The Conference was composed almost
entirely of elderly men, there being few schools of any
kind in the country for the training of youth.

The country was at the time suffering from the effects
of the Grebo war, which had seriously threatened the
very existence of the Government, and public attention
was turned with unusual interest to the native tribes
The Government was discouraged in regard to immigra-
tion, as the source from which the labor and capital
necessary to develop the country were to come. It
was, therefore, seeking to conciliate the native tribes,
and to gradually affiliate them with itself. ‘The Church,
too, simultaneously with the State, was turning its atten-
tion this way, and there was considerable disposition
manifest to give increasing attention to the tribes in the
interior of Liberia and beyond. Bishop Haven sought
to deepen this impression of duty and interest by urging
upon the Church its obligation to be aggressive and
missionary. He also secured Rev. C. A. Pitman, of
Monrovia, to make a tour of inspection into the interior
as far as Boporo, and directed him to report on the
feasibility of a mission in that region.

After large social and public opportunities for in-
spection of the work at Monrovia and up the St. Paul’s,
at Buchanan, Edina, Bexley, Sinoe, Cape Palmas, Tub-
mantown, and other localities, the Bishop took steamer
for the Canary Islands, rejoining there Mr. Gracey and
his nephew, who had preceded him to this place, and
with them going thence through Spain, making an ex-
tended examination of the Protestant work of that country
246 METHODIST EpiscopaL MISSIONS.

—visiting Cadiz, Seville, Cordova, Granada, Madrid,
and other points. He then moved on to Paris, reaching
it by March 5, and thence to England, and, after con-
sultations and investigations relative to missionary mat-
ters, he arrived in the United States May 24,1877. In
this journeying Mr. Gracey was his constant companion.

The next session of the Liberia Conference assem-
bled in the Methodist Episcopal Church at Edina, on
January 16, 1878. The more commodious edifice of
the Baptist Church being tendered for the session, it
was gratefully accepted, and to it the Conference ad-
journed. Rev. D. Ware was elected President, and C.
H. Harmon, Secretary. The Monrovia Church sup-
ports its pastor, and had that year taken all the benev-
olent collections. Careysburg took four of the col-

6“

lections, and five other churches report “missionary”
collections. Buchanan raised $130 for the support of
its pastor, and Cape Palmas $141. This was a decided
improvement, and the fruit of Bishop Haven’s faithful
sowing.

Fresh inspiration was also given to the educational
work, and it was resolved to send to the mission school
a competent teacher, and Rev. R. J. Kellogg was ap-
pointed its principal, as hereafter named. His departure
was delayed for a little time by necessary circumstances,
but at length his pastoral charge was disposed of,
and his family settled at New Milford, Pa., when he
hastened to Africa za Liverpool. He sailed April 12,
1878, and took the steamship “Ethiopia,” from Liver-
pool to Monrovia. He arrived in Monrovia May 25.
On May 28, three days after his arrival, he issued a
circular announcing the proposed re-opening of the
Seminary, with the appended indorsement of Mr. Gard-
Bishop Haven's Visit. 247

ner, the President of the Republic, and of other prom-
inent citizens. He opened his Seminary June ro. He
reports in a few days about a hundred scholars, and the
greatest interest existing throughout Monrovia in the
school. Mr. Kellogg, with consent of the Board, under-
took extensive repairs of the school, and _ his labors as
teacher and builder were very taxing, and finally led to
the failure of his health and his return to the United
States. While Mr. Kellogg was in health this Seminary
was a noble school.

Miss|Mary A. Sharp, who had been in missionary |
educational work among the colored people on John’s |
Island, S. C., was appointed to work in Liberia, and
sailed in April, 1878. Arriving at Monrovia, she estab-
lished school work for the Kroos in Krootown, Mon-
rovia, which she has prosecuted with success until now.
The Kroos are the sailors of the west coast of Africa,
accompanying ships for some two thousand miles along
the coast to aid in loading and unloading cargoes. Their
principal home is in the Suttra Kroo country, Liberia.
They have marked peculiarities of temperament, have
never submitted to slavery of any of their number, are a
self-reliant, self-helpful, and independent race. A work
among them necessarily exerts an influence along the
entire coast towns touched by them.

18. Mission to Boporo.

Rev. Charles A. Pitman, immediately after Bishop
Haven’s departure, proceeded to discharge the duty as-
signed him. He left Monrovia on the 27th day of
January, 1877, in company with Rev. E. W. Blyden, D. D.,
M. Payne, Esq., son of the President, and others. The’

Kroomen rowed them to the head of Logan’s Creek,
17
248 METHODIST EpiscopaL Missions.

and then, taking carriers at Brewersville, they pushed
on for their destination. Passing through the Vey coun-
try, they distributed a few copies of the Arabic New
Testament, and were surprised at the avidity with which
these were received where the Koran held sway. Sun-
day, the 2oth, was spent at Vonzuah. Here, within
twelve miles of Monrovia, Mohammedau missionaries
had been sent down from Musardu, two hundred and
fifty miles, while the messengers of Christ were just then
struggling to pierce fifty miles into the interior. They
now passed due east to Sueh, a Vey town of consider-
able notoriety in Liberia. Next they came to Barbahsue,
and then to Bonoe’s town, where they found healthy
cattle and other evidences of salubrity. The land from
Barbahsue, though not a good day’s walk from Mon-
rovia, begins to rise, and the sheep grow larger. It was
‘quite cold”’ at Bonoe’s town, but pleasant. Passing
on through the Vey country, eastward, to the “city be-
hind the hills,” for this is what Boporo signifies, they
came in succession to Bongomar town, Sueh Zallah, and
then to the Goulah country, where they passed through
Sarweer’s town, Bow town, and More Lar. Here it was
“very cold,” growing colder as they ascended higher.
What they considered as “very cold” may be seen by
the fact that at six A. M. the thermometer stood at 68°.
Here, at More Lar, they were about fifty miles from
the coast the air was exhilarating, the scenery was
entrancing, and the country abounded in cool, shady
brooks and rills. Thence they went on to Wetch and
Bumbummar. At the last named town they found two
White Plains’ students; indeed, through all that region,
on their route, they saw traces of the civilizing effects
of our work done in Liberia. Bamboojar was the next
town, and it is in the Boatswain country, of which
Mission to Boporo. 249

Boporo is the capital. The entrance to the town is
beautiful, and within the town were more of the students
from the Liberia schools. The Boatswains, or Condoes,
as they are more commonly called, are the most power-
ful tribe in their region, and they earnestly solicited
missionaries. Sunday, February 4th, was spent at Bam-
boo town, but early in the morning the people were all
off to their farms, and nec public service could be held.

They were here delayed by Dr. Blyden’s illness, and
by the neglect of the king to send for them. A message
came soon after midday, on Tuesday, and they started,
passing through several large towns, and entered Bo-
poro by night-fall. It was the hour of prayer, and the
people were at the mosque, but, this over, they gathered
about our travelers, and extended to them their saluta-
tions of welcome. There were three school districts,
and three Mohammedan priests in the city.

The next day the chief of Boporo received them, and
expressed his pleasure at their visit. He said he would
give whatever assistance he could to Christian effort
made among his people. He especially rejoiced at the
prospect of aid in the matter of their education.

Boporo and vicinity contained about fifteen hundred
inhabitants. The people are very superstitious, being
taught to venerate even the tame cat-fish which King
Mormorro had so diligently cared for. Children fol-
lowed our strange visitors in crowds, getting into their
Japs, and begging them to come and teach them.

About two days were spent at Boporo very profitably,
and then they departed for Totokollie, where the king
of the Boatswains was for the time being residing.
This is a barricaded town, as large as Boporo, and bet-
ter kept. The king received them graciously, and in
their interviews he seemed very kindly disposed toward
250 Metuopist EpiscopaL MISSIONS.

our proposed mission. Mr. Pitman reported that the
king and people had little sympathy with Mohammed-
anism, and claim to be Liberian Americans.

On Sunday, February 11, they held divine service
in the king’s reception hall, Mr. Pitman preaching and
Dr. Blyden adding remarks. The king said if a school
were established he himself would attend it, and he in-
sisted upon some of the party remaining to initiate the
work. On Monday they proceeded to the reception
hall, and, after singing “Sowing the seed,” and prayer,
the king, for himself and for his people, understandingly
entered into an agreement, signed and witnessed, “to
protect, succor, and encourage any missionaries or

’

mission schools” of this society. Their work accom-
plished, the party set out on their return, and arrived
safely in Monrovia, February 19, 1877.

The report being made to Bishop Haven, he proceed-
ed to appoint Rev. Joel Osgood, of the Ohio Conference,
to this interior work. On the 2d of January, 1877, Mr.
Osgood sailed from New York, in the “ Liberia,” in
company with Rev. J. H. Deputie, of the Liberia Confer-
ence. For his outgoing the Bishop had reserved a small
sum from the appropriations to the Conference for 1877,
which was supplemented by the Board from the con-
tingent fund before Mr. Osgood’s departure. Advices
were received from him, dated Monrovia, February 13,
1877, three days before he set out for Boporo. He re-
mained every night on shipboard till all was ready for
his departure, and the first night he slept on shore was
at a place a day’s travel from Monrovia. He reached
his field in five days. After seeing him comfortably
provided for, Mr. Pitman, who accompanied him, and the
carriers took their leave of him in the wilderness among
Misston to Loporo. 251

the heathen, with a single civilized boy to act as his
cook, and, if need be, as nurse.

No sooner was it announced that Bishop Haven wanted
men for this field than some fifty young men offered
themselves. From these the Bishop selected_Rev. Mel-_
ville Young Bovard as superintendent of the Boporo
Mission, and Rev. Royal Jasper Kellogg to be principal
of Monrovia Seminary. Their commissions bear date
February 6, 1878. Mr. Bovard sailed from New York,
in the brig “ Mary E. Thayer,” on Wednesday, March
27, 1878. He arrived at Monrovia April 28, and, being
anxious about Mr. Osgood, he decided to push on to
Boporo. On the 7th of May he set out alone with his
carriers, and upon reaching Gintemah found Mr. Os-
good, who had remained there, as the town was as large
as Boporo, and higher and better in situation. On May
16 they went on to Boporo, which they found dilapi-
dated and its outskirts deserted, though the unpromis-
ing appearance of the city may have partly arisen from
an epidemic of small-pox that was prevailing at the time.
The missionaries conferred with the kings and found
them as agreeable as they had been to Messrs. Blyden
and Pitman, but not disposed to enter into any obliga-
tions. They evidently wanted large “dashes” while they
themselves should yield as little as possible. Our mis-
sionaries decided to remain at Gintemah as their head-
quarters,

Repairing the hut which was assigned them by King
Jimmy, as their home in Gintemah, they sought “palaver”
with him with a view to permanent work. But the
king waived a decision. A school was opened in the
hut of the missionary and such meetings held as were
possible. The missionaries found the women and chil-

 

 
252 METHODIST EpiscopaL Missions.

dren very teachable, and they became popular with
them. Ina little while they sought to cover the naked-
ness of the young women by giving them cloth. This
awakened the anger of the king and older people, who
tore off the clothing.

The king also became hostile because his expected
great gifts did not appear, though the missionaries re-
peatedly “dashed” him on the ordinary scale. The
king was taken sick and sent for Mr. Bovard to treat
him, as he supposed his illness was from their presence.
Mr. Bovard came and applied a mustard plaster to the
parts affected, instead of leaving some charm in his hut.
The king was still more incensed, and they never saw
him again. After a little the missionaries heard a cry
through the town forbidding all traffic with them, or that
any food be furnished them. They tried to appease
the king. But a few nights later the missionaries heard
that still another edict was proclaimed, forbidding them
to be allowed water. Through the kindness of the Vey
boys, who were with them, and whom the king dared
not harm because they were of a powerful tribe on the
coast, they were supplied notwithstanding the proclama-
tions. In a little while the missionaries’ cook was seized
with small-pox. They sent him to a neighboring town,
and in a few nights they made their way out of Gin-
temah, leaving their goods behind.

They made a stop at Bumbummar, where they at-
tempted to open missionary work, but about the same
history was repeated as at Gintemah, except that they
were allowed to preach in Bumbummar, which they were
not allowed to do at Gintemah. They were compelled
at length to retire to Muhlenburg and partake once
more of the generous hospitality of Mr. Day.
Mission to Boporo. 253

After a few days Mr. Kellogg also came to Muhlen-
burg to refresh himself from the labors and climatic in-
fluences of Monrovia. Consultations were held as to
what was to be done. Mr. Bovard had not suffered
from fever, but Mr. Osgood had had several attacks,
some of which were very severe; but both missionaries
had faith in their ability to labor in that climate, while
the particular work assigned them had not proved a suc-
cess, although they had gone forth in heroic consecra-
tion and the exercise of good judgment to evangelize the
Boporo and Mandingoe tribes. The Mandingoes were
not as accessible to the Gospel as was supposed, nor was
Boporo and the region around it by any means as high
and salubrious as had been represented. The barometer
of the missionaries had not indicated over seven hun-
dred feet above the sea at any point they had visited.
Mr. Bovard had formed the theory that the only way to
reach Musardu was by a line of missions at convenient
distances from Monrovia. He especially believed that
Cape Palmas was the true point from which to start out.
All parties agreed that he had better return to the United
States, and as Superintendent of the mission represent in
person all the facts to the Bishop and Board, which he
accordingly did.

Mr. Osgood remained in the Republic of Liberia
till it was ascertained that the authorities had decided
Mr. Bovard should not return, and that he also had bet-
ter return to the United States. He did so, arriving in
New York in May, 1882. But his health was broken, and
he lingered for some two years and died. Mr. Bovard en-
tered pastoral work in the New York East Conference.

The General Committee had from year to year re-
duced the appropriation to Liberia till it had become
254 Meruopisr Episcopat MISSIONS.

but $4,500, though it had once been more than $37,000. _
The General Committee had, also, in some instances,
distributed the appropriation among the charges, and in
doing so had remanded some of the stronger societies
to their own resources. In all this the General Commit-
tee had in view the development of a spirit of self-
reliance and independence—elements indispensable to
a self-perpetuating Church in any Jand—and were
guided by the advice of Bishop Haven on his return
from Africa. Some of the brethren of the Liberia Con-
ference regarded this as the action of the Board at New
York, and at variance with the general spirit of the
Church. They knew of the increasing interest felt
every-where in the evangelization of Africa, and could
not understand how this could be compatible with con-
stantly diminishing appropriations.

The result of this misapprehension of the intent of
the missionary authorities at home was, that when the
Liberia Conference met in January, @880, they agitated
the question of autonomy. They not only debated the
propriety of separation from the Church in America and
the independent organization of a Liberia Methodist
Episcopal Church for Liberia, but inaugurated measures
looking to this end. They determined, however, to
submit thts grave proposition to a vote of the members
of the Church in Liberia.

The Board at New York, learning of these proceed-
ings, addressed a circular letter to the churches in Li-
beria, July 20, expressing their judgment that the real
interests of Liberia Methodism would not be advanced
by the separation from the Church im America, but
assuring them of concurrence with the view that should
prevail in Liberia, promising, in the event of separation,
Mission to Boporo, 255

”

to “accommodate the new Church in all proper ways.
They added the caution against hasty decision on an
incidental basis. “If, as we suspect,” they wrote, “ this
is merely an agitation originated through misunder-
standing, and that the Methodist Episcopal Church has
in every congregation those who will not consent to
leave her, we beg you to pause before you awaken the
distractions, divisions, and litigations that must follow
secession.”

They were, however, ready at any moment to favor
the proposed independence “ when the evangelization of
Africa and the interests of the Church in Liberia would
be furthered by such course.” The vote of the lay
members did not, however, support the proposition for _
independence.

In March, 1880, the Board sent (Mr. R. P. Hollett) to
succeed Rev. R. J. Kellogg as principal of the Seminary
at Monrovia. Mr. Kellogg returned to America. Miss
Sharp made a visit during a month’s absence from her
school at Monrovia to the district of the mouth of the
Niger, with a view to ascertain the prospects of devel-
oping work in that region. {Miss Emma Michener \had
been sent out by the Woman’s Foreign Missionary So-
ciety, and was now prosecuting her work at _B Bassa. Her
health, however, yielded to the climate, and she died of
African fever on board a steamer off Monrovia, Decem-
ber 11, 1881, and was buried near the sainted Cox in
the Monrovia Cemetery.

Mr. Hollett continued to discharge his duties at the
Seminary, but doubted if Liberia furnished the best po-
sition for advance work by the Church of America in
the evangelization of the continent. He was authorized
by the Board to close his school for the purpose of in-
256 METHODIST EPISCOPAL MISSIONS.

vestigating the prospects for mission work by visiting
either the country extending interiorward, behind Libe-
ria, or up the rivers Niger and Schadda, or both of these
sections of the country, if found practicable. Mr. Hol-
lett proceeded to the Niger district, and, returning, sug-
gested that if work be undertaken there the first station
be chosen on the highland in the neighborhood of the
junction of the Niger and the Binué, but at the same
time discouraging the attempt unless the Society could
send a strong force and was prepared to inaugurate a
system of mission stations. The journey to the Niger
seriously impaired Mr. Hollett’s health, and, as the rainy
season had set in and three native tribal wars were in
progress in the interior, he was obliged to abandon his
intended journey into the Mandingo country. He re-
turned to America and reported to the Board the result of
his inquiries and experiences in the Niger River region.

The Liberia Conference convened at Monrovia on the
1gth of January, £881, the session having been changed
to this place from Virginia City in the hope of having a
Bishop present from the United States. In the absence
of a Bishop, |J. 5S. Payne was chosen President, and
James H. Deputie, Secretary. One of the members,
Rev. J. C. Lowrie, had died during the year. Five
young men were admitted on trial in the Conference.

A good revival had occurred at Mount Olive. The
Church at Cape Palmas had been continually petitioned
by natives of remote parts of the country to give them
the Gospel, but they were unable to respond from lack
of both men and money.

January 31, (1892, the Liberia Church met with a
great loss in the death of the Rev. and the Honorable
James S. Payne. For two terms he had served as
Mission to Boporo. 257

President of the Republic, and not only availed himself
of the influence of the position to attach the indigenous
tribes bordering on Liberia to the political measures of
‘his government, but constantly sought means to advance
the interests of the Gospel among them. He was for forty
years connected with our Church in Liberia, and was dele-
gated to the General Conference of 1880. He presided,
as already stated, at the Liberia Conference of 1881.

When the Conference met at Lower Buchanan, January
25, 1883, gracious revivals were reported as having oc-
curred in many charges, A temperance revival had been
inaugurated under the inspiration and leadership of
Mrs. Amanda Smith,/the well-known colored evangelist.
Mrs. Smith had done a great work in various parts of
the world, America, Great Britain, and India, and in con-
formity with strong desires on her part and providen-
tial openings, had reached Liberia to serve for awhile
among her own race. How far Mrs. Smith was suc-
cessful in this temperance work may be inferred from a
statement made by Bishop Taylor in his report to the
General Conference of 1888, to which reference is made
later on. He said that all the commercial houses in
Monrovia at the date of Mrs. Smith’s arrival were en-
gaged in the importation of intoxicating liquors, but
every Liberian firm had abandoned the business, leaving
the trade in the hands of the Dutch and German houses.
A leading merchant of Grand Bassa said that the 1m-
portation of rum and gin into the Republic did not
amount to one fourth the quantity imported six years
before.

The obstacles which had impeded the work of evan-
gelization of the interior, and rendered largely abor-
tive the efforts of Messrs. Osgood and Bovard, had
258 METHODIST I7PISCOPAL MISSIONS.

remained in force and discouraged any subsequent effort
to push far from the protective lines of the Liberian
government. ‘The unreliability of the native tribal
chiefs, the absence of any dominant power, the custom
of demanding at pleasure whatever of wares or money
the whim of a tribal headsman might suggest in any
locality beyond the limited sphere of influence of the
Liberian State, all combined to restrict efforts to reach
the heathen to those with whom the churches of Liberia
might come in contact, but this phase of the work was
by no means without result.

The station at Ammonsville is largely made up of
heathen converts, and being in the neighborhood of a
heathen tribe, the Marbans, its influence extends among
them. Talla and New York are Congo towns or settle-
ments of recaptured Africans to whom natives resort for
instruction, At Marshall, on Grand Bassa District, our
Church not only has many taken from slave-ships and
landed there, but from among them we have exhorters
and leaders and stewards. In 1883 a movement was in-
augurated in the Careysburg and Bensonville Charges to
reach the neighboring heathen. A corps of twenty-five
or thirty members banded together as a visiting mission-
ary corps, to go through a scope of country ten or more
miles in circuit to carry the Gospel to the Golahs and
Pessahs. Greegree and fetish-men and women crowded
to the services, laying down their charms and renounc-
ing them with tears. ~

The Conference which met January 28,1884, at Cape
Palmas, was presided over by Rey. Charles A. Pitman.
Two persons were received on trial. The financial re-
port of the year showed a marked advance on the past
in the contributions of the churches and in the value of
Mission to Boporo. 259

property. Under the heading, “ Paid for building and
improving churches and parsonages,” is found the re-
markable increase from $399 to $5,477; as also in the
payment of old debts an increase from $215 to $1,800.
Accounts appeared, too, in the columns for collections
which had hitherto been blank. The churches numbered
27; ‘“‘self-support” for pastors reached $1,637. The
membership showed probationers, 171 ; members, 2,337;
local preachers, 56; Sunday-schools, 35; scholars, 2,178.

14. Bishop Taylor’s Superintendency.

It will be remembered that there were no foreign mis-
sionaries or well-qualified teachers on the field when
1884 opened. The school-buildings were dilapidated,
ministers were waiting to be ordained, and the Con-
ference felt the need of superintendence. The com-
mon thought seemed to be as the General Conference
of May, 1884, approached, that some educated colored
minister of the Southern United States would be found
who would be equal to the situation and willing to de-
vote himself to the work. But while one or more were
found on whom the thought of the General Conference
centered, no one of these was willing to give his life to
this work. When the hour for'the election of a Bishop
arrived, the perplexity and doubt were so great that an
effort was made to postpone the consideration of the
subject, and that indefinitely. But the name of William
Taylor having been mentioned he was at once nominated,
and having obtained a large majority of the votes cast,
was declared elected “ Missionary Bishop of Africa.”
The following day, in company with the other Bishops-
elect, he was consecrated to his office, and a thrill of
hope passed through the Church.
260 METHODISst EpiscopAL MISSIONS.

Bishop Taylor sailed from New York on the “ City of
Berlin,” and reached Liberia in time to preside at the
Liberia Conference, which convened in Monrovia, Jan-
uary 28,1885. This Conference, as defined by the pre-
ceding General Conference, now embraced “the west
coast of Africa.”

J. H. Deputie and W. T. Hagans were Secretaries.
The President of the Republic, H. R. W. Johnson, vis-
ited the Conference, and occupied a seat by the side of
Bishop Taylor. Dr. W. R. Summers, Levin Johnson,
Ross Taylor, and Clarence L. Davenport were received
into the Conference, being designed for the field south-
ward, which Bishop Taylor afterward opened. Five were
admitted on trial, among the number A. E. Withey, also
designed for Bishop Taylor’s new field; and Joseph
Wilkes, designed for the same field, was re-admitted.
Eleven were elected and ordained deacons. Seven
members of the Conference and two local preachers
were ordained elders. The presence of a Bishop left
the Conference more fully equipped for its work than for
many years past. Joseph Harris had died during the
year, and two ministers had located.

The General Conference had not restricted Bishop
Taylor’s jurisdiction to Liberia, but had made him
‘“‘ Missionary Bishop for Africa.”” When the Conference
convened in February, 1886, he found it, therefore, easy
to adjust the ecclesiastical relations of the work which
he had begun in the Portuguese Province of Angola, and
in the region of the Congo Free State, by making this the
“South Central District” of the Liberia Conference.
Five preachers within that district were received on trial
into the Conference at this session.

During the year 1885 Rev. Charles H. Harman had
Bishop Taylor's Superintendency. 261

died. He had been taken to Liberia when but six years
old, was left an orphan soon after. He was converted
under Francis Burns, afterward Bishop, and was three
times called to the Presidency of the Liberia Confer-
ence. He served ten years in the national legislature,
and one term as Vice-President of the Republic.

The climate of Liberia is very destructive of property,
especially owing to the rainy season and the white ants.
It was found that during this year a large number of the
churches and parsonages were simultaneously in need of
repairs. A new church had been erected at Careysburg,
the gift of a native man, who nine years before was one
of the “mission-boys.” He had been converted, been ap-
pointed class-leader and exhorter, had fallen from grace,
and returned to heathenism, but stricken of conscience
had come back to a Christian hfe, and now presented
this church as a personal gift to the Conference. He
had, besides, planted a nursery of coffee-scions for the
benefit of the schools to be held there. Two native
chiefs were reported as also preparing to build similar
houses, and the cry came from the Pessah people in all
directions for preachers and teachers. Revival services
had been signally blessed at Edina and other charges,
and Mrs. Amanda Smith’s presence and services had
effected noticeable results. The membership, with pro-
bationers, now numbered 2,650.

Again, in 1888, Bishop Taylor presided at the Confer-
ence. Rev. J. H. Deputie, the. Secretary, was elected
delegate to the ensuing General Conference, and the
Lay Electoral Conference chose Hon. J. F. Fuller to
represent the laity. The Conference acknowledged the
special work of Miss Sharp among the Kroos, and of
Mrs. Amanda Smith in the Cape Palmas District, as
262 MeETrHopDIst EPIscOPAL MISSIONS.

having been greatly helpful. The Monrovia Seminary
building was under reconstruction, and though not
finished, Mr. Ware enrolled forty-seven boys and girls,
and a gracious revival had occurred among them, At
Powellville, a new church, dedicated a year previous,
was the scene of a revival of which a peculiar instance
was thought worthy of mention at the Conference. At
the close of one of the services two dozen native heathen
women crowded round the altar singing a Christian
hymn in their own language, and then gave their hand
to the preacher in pledge of their purpose to abandon
their superstitious customs and seek Christ. From
Bexley Circuit an effort had been made to reach the
neighboring heathen, and Bishop Taylor organized two
mission stations near the place, securing land and erect-
ing two houses. The extending trade of Liberia with
the interior presented great temptations to the young
men of the Church, and again the complaint was heard
of the scarcity of men entering the ministry. Bishop
Taylor traveled the Kroo coast down to Sinoe, and
thence to Cape Palmas. The “Old Liberia Work”
continued with varying fortune. Small-pox in Monrovia
in 188g, native wars in several localities, and other
vicissitudes affected its progress.

Rev. Daniel Ware, one of the oldest of our ministers,
died January 30, 1892. He was born at Caldwell, May
17, 1835; he was the son of the venerable Daniel Ware,
who early emigrated to Liberia, and was numbered
among the members of the Liberia Conference when it
was first organized in 1834. In 1845 young Daniel was
placed in the primary department of the Monrovia
Seminary, successfully completing his studies there at

the age of seventeen. He was licensed as an exhorter
Bishop Taylor's Superintendency. 263

in the Monrovia Church under the pastorship of the
Rev. Samuel Matthews. Being ordained to the Gos-
pel ministry in the year 1862 as deacon and elder, he
was sent as a missionary to Glemah, as his first mis-
sion station, where he remained two years, 1861-62,
and sowed those seeds of Christianity which took deep
root in the heart of the chiefs. He served at one time
as Secretary of the Interior of the Republic of Liberia,
and was delegate to the General Conference in Phila-
delphia, 1884.

At the time of his death Mr. Ware was missionary to
the native Vey tribe, the ruler of which, King Musa, a
Mohammedan, was converted through his agency, and
had joined the Church.

The Rev. Charles A. Pitman died February 5, 1892,
and was buried in the Monrovia Cemetery. In the year
1838 the Rev. John Seys established the mission in
Heddington, and in 1840, on a visit there, he outwalked
his luggage carriers, took the wrong path, and got lost.
While shouting for help a little boy of the Aneah tribe
came to his relief, having a bow and arrow in his hand
with which he had been “birding.” This wee lad led
Mr. Seys to the station, or “ Brown’s Place,’ as the child
understood it, Rev. George S. Brown being in charge.

Mr. Seys was so pleased with the boy for this kind
service that, with the consent of his parents, he took him
into the mission family at Monrovia and placed him at
school. He named him Charles A. Pitman. He was
placed with another lad, John Clarke by name, at the
printer’s trade. While learning his trade he attended
the primary department of the mission seminary and
afterward entered the academical department. He was

sent to the United States in 1850 to receive other
18
264 Meruopist Episcopal Missions.

educational advantages, and remained two years. He
was converted while a child, received his first license
to preach in 1856, and joined the Conference in 1862,
receiving in the course of his ministry all the honors
his Conference could bestow. He was a missionary to
the heathen, pastor and Presiding Elder for twenty-four
years, and the first delegate to the General Conference
from Liberia.

He organized the first volunteer company that had
been in Liberia since an early day. This company was
styled ‘‘New-Port Guards.” He was elected to the
legislature in 1877, was nominated for Vice-President,
but not elected, and was appointed judge of one of the
courts of Monrovia County, which position he filled for
eight years.

The Bishop returned to America to attend the Gen-
eral Conference in May, 1888, to which he presented
the following statement of the Liberia Conference:

 

 

 

1884. 1888, Increase.
Number of full members...........-. 2,314 2,041 327
Number of probationers. ........... 189 161
Number of local preachers........... 50 60 10
IDO CAI Warts: sletens caterer deus epken ohare 2,553 2,862 337
Number of Sunday-schools.......... 29 49 20
Number of officers and teachers...... 263 376 113
Number of ‘scholars... e200 2,213) 2,342 129
Wotalicss-cscsravcn se hie shone Be as 2,505 2,767 202
Number of traveling ministers and pro-
BALIONEIS. Vcataa tia vereewdcce ces 5 24 26 a
Number of missionaries in the Confer-
ence appointed to South Central
AMER 2a sume een eee Mane eo 6 1g 13

Totalias cic n dg deeaanskuteeed 30 45 15
Bishop Taylor's Superintendency. 265

1884. 1888. Increase,

Number of churches......... 0.2... 28 38 =0
Probablesvalwersrn wena cuts ieo sree nce $13.957 $31,044 $18,087
Number of parsonages......-....... 2 I
Probables allaeydecwnanceeas sen sakes $465 $150
Paid during year for building and im-

PUOVEMENES so7eainB sieseerseis he eee $287 $3,229 $2,942
Paid on old indebtedness. ........... $50 $655 $605
Present debts on the whole.......... $630 $655

Ministerial support................- $1,760 $1,208

The increase in the membership was 337, with a much
greater proportionate increase of faith and holiness, to-
gether with a higher standard of public morals in the
community at large.

He explained the small amount contributed for min-
isterial support, which could not be considered a sup-
port for twenty-six ministers, besides pensions to the
widows, even with the $2,500 added from the Missionary
treasury. How did they manage to live? Those men,
with a corps of local preachers in charge of circuits and
stations, had the honor of carrying on this work mainly
by their own productive industries of various kinds.

15. “Self-Supporting” Stations on the Cavalla
River.

During the year 1887 Bishop Taylor sought oppor-
tunity, while visiting the established work in the Liberia
Conference, to begin work on his “Self-support Plan”
in the southeast part of Liberia. From Cape Palmas
he made a tour up the Cavalla River, though he came near
losing his life while crossing the Cavalla bar. The
Cavalla River js navigable for a long distance from Cape
Paimas, and its banks are selvaged with many native
towns. Seventeen petty native kings invited the Bishop
266 MetuHopist EpiscopaL MISSIONS.

to establish work in their localities, offering to give
land and clear it, and furnish timber for the houses for
his teachers, ‘Thirteen of these invitations were ac-
cepted, and work commenced in those localities.

To help to a clearer understanding of the course of
the native chiefs in this proceeding the Bishop explains,
that the chief or head-man of each town, assisted by
his wives, clears and sows or plants a field which is kept
for strangers, except as it may be used by the chief wife
who has it in charge. When a stranger enters the town
he goes directly to the king or chief, and tells what he
came for. If the chief is satisfied, he says, “I receive
you.’ Soon he will be shown into the best house in the
town to use it as his own indefinitely, and he not only
gets his daily rations from the supply for strangers, but
it is daily prepared for him, and brought to him. In
opening stations on the west coast of Africa among
native savage tribes the Bishop and his companions were
thus provided for three times a day. In every place
they found it difficult to get away from the hospitality of
the people, and they never asked for one cent in return.

By the end of 1888 these stations extended along the
banks of the Cavalla River for a hundred miles, and then
forty miles south over rugged mountains. There was
not a Liberian nor foreigner of any sort in any of these
stations along the Cavalla, nor on the Kroo coast, to
which this class of work was extended.

The chiefs and kings kept their word faithfully, and
the missionaries in many places planted thousands of
digenous products, sought to make themselves independ-
ent of outside help. Schools were established in many
places.

coffee trees and sugar-cane, and otherwise, through in-
“Self-Supporting” Stations on the Cavalla River. 267

By the close of 1890 nineteen self-supporting stations
among natives in Liberia numbered nineteen proba-
tioners, two hundred and thirty-one members, nineteen
parsonages, of a probable value of $11,900.

In November, 1892, Bishop Taylor reported to the
General Missionary Committee twenty-six of these self-
supporting stations in Southeast Liberia; but serious
obstructions had occurred. War between the native
tribes and the Liberians had endangered or ruined the
work in six of these stations. The Bishop also reported
that the natives, having come to know that houses were
erected and teachers supported by funds from America
in other parts of Liberia, became dissatisfied and dis-
trustful of the missionaries among them, whom they
suspected were also receiving help from America, while
accepting support from themselves. The Bishop ex-
pressed misgivings as to the success of his self-support
scheme in proximity to missions where a different policy
obtained. Not a cent of debt, however, was on any of
these stations, nor on any of the property held by the
mission in this part of the country.

Bishop Taylor discovered a feasible plan, as he thought,
for the development of Christian teachers and artisans
for future work. It was the adoption of very young chil-
dren to be reared under Christian influences, which he
called a “Nursery Mission,” in each station, in charge
of a competent missionary matron, to whom should be
committed from ten to twenty boys and girls adopted
from heathenism, as children of the mission, before they
attain the age of six years, These should be taught in-
dustries and receive a good common school education
in the English language and their own vernacular. This
plan of operations has been objected to as involving a
268 METHODIST EpisCOPAL MISSIONS.

species of purchase of the children, which formula is
necessary according to the native usage, but is simply
the payment of the usual marriage dower. It is, how-
ever, too early yet to form a final decision.

16. Self-Supporting Missions in South Central
Africa.

The field of Bishop Taylor's Episcopal jurisdiction
was made by the General Conference co-extensive with
the continent of Africa. He decided to attempt his
favorite plan of establishing self-supporting missions
outside of the Republic of Liberia and with new labor-
ers. He called for workers and got them. On Decem-
ber 13, 1884, Bishop Taylor sailed for Africa; Dr. William
R. Summers and Heli Chatelain, having preceded him,
joined him at Liverpool. These were followed, in the
early part of 1885, by a company of over forty mission-
ary men, women, and children. They arrived at St.
Paul de Loanda, a town of five thousand inhabitants, the
capital of the Portuguese Province, Angola, on the zoth
day of March. They were kindly received by the gov-
ernor-general of the province, and by Mr. Newton, the
head of the English house at Loanda. A large, com-
modious house, one of the best in the city, was procured
at a reasonable rent for the temporary residence of the
missionaries. The objective point was the Tushalange
country, discovered by Dr. Pogge and Lieutenant Weis-
mann in 1883, some twelve hundred miles inland from
Loanda. They knew not whether the Lord would have
them march a thousand miles as quickly as they could
get into marching order, or proceed slowly by a chain
of stations commencing from the ocean shore. They
accepted the latter as the providential order. They
Self- Supporting Missions tn South Central Africa. 269

were unavoidably detained in Loanda, so that it was
not until the zoth of May that the Bishop and five of
his party started for the interior to select and open mis-
sion stations for those who awaited their call to follow.
One of the party died, and nine, including four little
children, returned to the United States; and by Sep-
tember 1 all the rest were settled in their new homes
and fields of labor, extending inland by the line of travel
three hundred and ninety miles.

The stations, in their geographical order, are as follows:
First, St. Paul de Loanda, where a school was at once
opened in the Portuguese language, which from the com-
mencement gave a support for the teachers engaged in it.
The Bishop bought a beautiful site there near the largest
native town, and built a large two-story house for resi-
dence, church, and school. Loanda is said to contain a
population of five thousand, but a few hundred of whom
are Portuguese, and the great mass of them Negroes.

The second station is at Dondo, two hundred and
forty miles distant from Loanda. It is a town of about
five thousand, mostly blacks, at the head of steamboat
navigation on the Coanzo River. Here they had a self-
supporting day-school from the beginning, with spacious
and comfortable buildings deeded to the trustees of the
“Transit and Building Fund Society,” to be held in
trust for the Methodist Episcopal Church according to
the formula printed in the Discipline. The property in
the two cities named cost over $10,000, and all the gift
of an honored friend of the movement, Mr. Thomas
Critchlow.

From Dondo they proceeded along a narrow path
over rugged mountains and hills, fifty-one miles to
N’ hangue-Pepo, the third station not in a town, but near
270 MeETHOpIST EpiscopaL MISSIONS.

a large caravansary, where a new congregation can be
found daily from the far interior, and it is contiguous
to several thousand villagers. This was to be a receiv-
ing station where missionaries might tarry, learn lan-
guages, and prepare for fields farther on. The first
house there cost $1,250, which was the gift of a gentle-
man in London, a member of the Church of England.
As one of the sources of self-support they had here one
hundred and fifty-five head of horned cattle.

Proceeding by the same path thirty-nine miles, they
came to a mountain elevation of extraordinary concrete
formation, the ancient capital of a remarkable Negro
queen known to history, her palace still remaining, Pungo
Andongo, the fourth station. Here they obtained a good
building which cost over $1,000, and started a school
with no industrial department, where all hands bend
down to honorable manual labor.

On the same path sixty miles farther to Malange,
they opened the fifth station with less costly yet com-
fortable houses, and began school, farm, and mechanical
work, with what preaching they could do with their,
as yet, imperfect knowledge of the languages of the
people.

In settling his people on that line of one hundred and
fifty miles, from Dondo to Malange, the Bishop walked
to and fro an aggregate distance of over six hundred
miles, over a rough narrow path, the caravan trail of
ages. The hundreds of thousands of slaves sold in 1.o0-
anda for two hundred years trod this weary way with tears
and blood—poor captives whose fathers had been slain
because they dared defend their homes and their aged
kindred who were burned in the destruction of their
towns. On each side of this path is a continuous grave-
 

 

   
 
 
    
      
 
  

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Self- Supporting Missions in South Central Africa. 271

yard a hundred and fifty miles in length. ‘The Bishop
says that on many a dark night on that dreary road
he seemed to hear the dead speaking to him, saying,
““O messenger of God, why came you not this way to
speak words of comfort to us before we died?”

William Richard Summers, M.D., accompanied Bishop
Taylor with the definite purpose of himself reaching the
Tushalange country. He was born in Guernsey, Channel
Islands, April 28, 1855. He became a printer, then a
conjurer and circus agent, wandering through the length
and breadth of the United Kingdom. After his conver-
sion he came to the United States in 1879, labored as
captain in the Salvation Army, studied in Pennington
Seminary, New Jersey, and graduated with honors from
the New York University Medical College in 1884.

He devoted his life to missionary work, and by the
reading of Pogge and Weismann’s reports of their ex-
pedition from the Upper Congo overland to the coast of
Angola land, he was induced to choose Bashalange as his
first and principal field of labor, and succeeded in win-
ning the newly elected Bishop Taylor to his plans. He
sailed for Liverpool, October, 1884, visited Berlin, where
he studied the unpublished journals of Pogge and Weis-
mann, and on January 7, 1885, embarked from Liver-
pool with Bishop Taylor and Mr. Heli Chatelain for
Loanda. From Loanda he went to Malange, where he
labored successfully as a self-supporting missionary for
not quite a year. A grateful native trader of Malange
having furnished him an outfit, he left in 1886 for the
interior, and reached Luluaburg, on the Kassai River, in
the Congo Free State, in October. There he built three
houses for the missionaries whom he expected to join
him; but after two years of toil and loneliness and weary
272 Meruopist Episcopal Missions.

waiting for re-enforcement, he died May 24, 1888, and
was buried in his grounds at Chiyama, His ethnologic
collection was given to the State, and his manuscripts,
by his special desire, to Mr. Heli Chatelain, afterward
United States Consular Agent at Loanda.,

In 1886 the Bishop adopted a new feature of his gen-
eral plan for reaching the Tushalange country, which
was to proceed by the water-highway of the Congo to
the Kassai, and thence by that river to the interior. He
accordingly this year led a party to the Lower Congo,
and established a station at Vivi, the old capital of the
Congo State, and purchased a house already built. Sta-
tions were established at Kimpoko, Isangala, Banana,
and other places which, with Luluaburg on the Kasai,
Mayumba on the coast, and Kabinda near the mouth
of the Congo, which had been occupied incidentally in
1885, constituted the Upper Congo District of the Afri-
can Conference; that in Angola became the Angola
District.

To reach the Kassai by the Cone the Bishop secured
a small steamer, the ‘““Anne Taylor,” but it being found
impracticable at the time to obtain portage round the
falls, the steamer was afterward put in service on the
Lower Congo; and the general steamer service of the
Upper Congo has been since so much increased that
the need for the “Anne Taylor’ in those waters is
much lessened.

In 1890 the Angola District reported fifty-six proba-
tioners, fourteen members, five parsonages, and $30,000
worth of absolutely unencumbered property. Congo
District had six probationers, six members, six parson-
ages, and $3,600 worth of property.

The report of Bishop Taylor for 1891 speaks of
Self- Supporting Missions in South Central Africa. 273

church property at Loanda most advantageously situ-
ated, and of a school conducted in the basement of a
large two-story house. At Dondo, two hundred and
forty miles inland by steamer, there was a self-supporting
school, but the trained workers had all returned to
America. At N’ hangue-Pepo, fifty-one miles east from
Dondo by caravan trail, the preacher in charge had the
care of nearly one hundred head of cattle, a mission
farm, a small commercial business house, school-teach-
ing, and preaching several times on the Sabbath and on
week nights. Over a score of converted natives were
organized into a Church. At Pungo Andongo, thirty-
eight miles farther east by trail, they had daily Gos-
pel work, and property worth $2,500. Sixty-two miles
farther on the trail was Malange, where they were
preaching in the Portuguese tongue, conducting mechan-
ical missions, and had thirty converted natives in Church
membership. The three stations last named reached
self-support in the third year of their occupancy of the
field. To reach the Congo District from Malange in-
volved a march of a thousand miles. That would bring
one to Luluaburg, in the Bashalange country, near the
headwaters of the Kassai River. William R. Sum-
mers, M.D., whom we have already mentioned, was the
only missionary who had ever reached this station.
Bishop Taylor thus describes the rest of the circuit
of the stations then occupied in this part of Africa:
“From Luluaburg we make a journey of one week on
foot to the junction of the Lulua and Luebo rivers,
and thence descend the Kassai, by steamer, eight hun-
dred miles to its flow into the Congo, thence down the
Congo seventy-five miles to our station at Kimpoko, on
Stanley Pool. Here we have been self-supporting, be-
274 Metuopist EpiscopaL Missions.

sides paying out quite a sum, and have built a new mis-
sion house 15x80 feet. The plantation, though small,
has been a great factor in reducing our living expenses,
while the sale of hippo meat has kept us in ready money.
We have built a house 10x36 feet for the boys and for
a shop, and repaired both the other houses. We hope
soon to get some cattle from the far interior with means
furnished us by friends at home.

“Leaving Kimpoko, we go by boat twenty miles to
Leopoldville, at the lower end of the pool. Then we
walk by caravan trail one hundred miles to Manyanga;
thence down the rapids in a freight-boat eighty-eight
miles, to the lower end of the middle passage of the
Lower Congo at Isangala, where we have a transport
mission station, with seven acres of land bought of the
Congo Government. Our missionary there is preaching
in the Congo language in many of the surrounding vil-
lages.

“A walk of fifty-four miles brings us to Vivi, the old
capital of the Congo Government. Being a high and dry
plateau, I presumed that we could produce but Ittle,
hence bought but twelve acres of ground, including our
mission buildings. It is, however, proving fruitful, and
gives promise of early and ample self-support.

‘“A hundred miles by steamer will bring us to Banana,
at the mouth of the Congo, and two hours by canoe or
boat lands us at our mission at Natombi, in sole charge
of Miss Kildare, an accomplished Irish lady, who paid
her own passage to Congo for the pleasure she has in
giving her efficient labors and her life to save the per-
ishing people of this great continent.

“The families of the Congo Liberians, which emi-
grated thence last year, were settled by the Congo Gov-
Self-Supporting Missions in South Central Africa. 275

ernment at Natombi, near our station, and twenty of
their children attend Miss Kildare’s school. We bought
of the natives, and then the government, ten acres of
ground, and built an iron house with wood frame 24x22
feet. Miss Kildare preaches in the village in the Congo
language.

“Our mission work at Kabinda, through the dis-
affection and then the sudden death of our missionary
at that important field, has been suspended for the
present.

“Two days by steamship northwest will bring us to
Mayumba, and then eighteen miles by boat up the La-
guna will land us at our mission station called Mamby,
in sole charge of Miss Martha Kah. We have there
by purchase of the natives, recognized and registered
by the French Government, one hundred acres of good
land, an old house, and new house nearly finished. The
French Government limits our labors there to what may
be done in the French language, hence our work is crip-
pled and not promising; but Miss Kah believes that the
Lord wants her to wait and work at Mamby, so we must
pray for our dear heroic sister, and let her work out the
problem.”

STATISTICS OF LIBERIA CONFERENCE, 1893.

Probationerssaauerebrcsonwioes daaasse en ees 477
Memlers.ocniecs ees coe en arene even ee 3,206
Tsocalupreachersiecsc pint Gaerne nee nee eno 58
WD eathsae a ence eae sya narod ois cnay euler duseeisnanane' 50
Children baptized): -fass\47 tyne te eget eee 139
Acluitsibaptize die) sens scny. saucy coe preemie ae ots 257
Sunday-schoolsenesc noes cseuor meibanne wlebrus yi 36
@ficerssanditeacherse.G a acest aes sate cress 375
Scholars yong toes sees ieee eres reaeved vse one eS 2,738

Climtehiten cases ee eee ene eae vee eRe 33
276 MeEtHopIsT EpiscopaL MISSIONS.

Puahabie Valic yess. a <scors cok Rarsien eee eas $34,275
PAanSONaG Cima aos isa nine ho arein Silent aoe I
Pronitle yaluse. cassava eae eaad ssa ewes S100
Paid for building and improvements.........-- $1,796
Paid on indebtedness on church property......- $100
Present indebted nessa73.. tasaeeyshunk caer ees $2,330
For support of the ministry...........+---+---- $1,375
For Conference claimants... ssece0 cans exens $4
For -cirrent expenses...s..6 caesce tin means e e58 $223

MISSIONARIES SENT BY THE MISSIONARY SOCIETY
TO LIBERIA.

In. Ex.
1833 Melville Beveridge Cox*...........---0-6. 1833
1834. “Rufus Spaulding... .c...4seveess ese eae 1834
1834 Mrs. Rufus Spaulding................--06- 1834
1834 Miss Sophronia Farrington....:......--.-- 1835
1834 Samuel Osgood Wright*.................6- 1834
1834 Mrs. Samuel Osgood Wright®..............- 1834
TOZg Politi Seysienw./yadee caer secs sce’: ere ecieeoers 1844
1836. Mrs: Ann Seysic.itecasiaesc so seers ress 3 1841
1335) JohueBy Barton®....0sicceaacza wie ese aoa 1841
1936. -S. My E. Goheen, Me Dyin). scens cake eunene 1841
£836: Mrs; Ann Wilkins: ss: 5.5:<scsesuese.eaece 185

T8399. Walter Bo Jaynes avtos ss caaskeaan seein 1841
1839. aber Ax Biiton®,). 5 dcexse oa iseseeheste 1841
B842> “Squter Chase: é c/cuco ens oe sere peas sae 1843
ri42- JohwiGePingreels 22. 6iac awa estan ates £343
T84is: Jo. Be Benham noags sia aire pots | ake or eetaae 1848
way Dire. Susan Denhaicxissccuiaey Seno ees 1848
T3845 William. Bu Hoyt. <ccacsed eget eda cetes se 1847
1845) (Mrs. Miatys|o Ay Ploytasagaicert cian ei elensiy secu 1846
845° “William: By Willtams*:4.0..00cc4a08 ee osans 1846
3845 Mrs. Elizabeth T. Williams .........-..... 1846
beay Miss aura Biel eos. cow ance eevee eee 1849
SiO. Neo. Bastiatiisie-encioe cameron ase akaons 1850
T8469) (Misi Ny, Ss. Bastian®. i .sn tet asencoeecas 1850
1853 James Wesley Horne..s. .cccc2 ei ses eleeciene 1857
7856. Mrs). Julia As ome@scc avnavedtenteeieess 1857

* Died in the field.
Missionaries to Liberia. 277.

In. Ex.
1854 Miss Maria E. B. Staunton*............... 1856
1854 Miss Caroline M. Brown...............-06. 1857
1854 Miss Margaret Kilpatrick................. 1865
1878 Joel Oseo0d coin. wevia cea ten eee sabes 1882
1878 Melville Young Bovard.............00000- 1878
1878 Royal Jasper Kellogg...........02eseeeeee 1880
1898) (Marty Ay Shatppicceewaaeoisssasoiaenae cas 1881
TO7On Rae Pe ELOMett aA suman cee ea ea strentans 1882
1894. Eddy H. Greeley. ...c00.00208pseneen cannes aie
1894 Mrs. Lizzie S. Greeley..........+--+4--5+> sabe

* Died in the field.
+ Miss Sharp is not now supported by the Board, but is still in Liberia doing
good work,

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56 Greenwich 52 48
PART IV
MISSIONS TO SOUTH AMERICA,

 

The Gentiles shall come unto thee from the ends of the earth, and shail say,
Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is
no projit.—feremiah xvi, 19.
ees the Methodist Episcopal Church first found

itself in circumstances to undertake the work of
missions to other lands there were twenty millions of
souls inhabiting the regions between the United States
and Cape Horn, who were either pagans or cursed with
a corrupt form of Christianity. Of all foreign nations
these were the nearest to us, and they were certainly
needy. Our interest in them was further deepened by
the fact that they were at that period putting off the
dominion of the Old World, and clothing themselves
with Republican institutions. It seemed as if they were
in the very act of repeating our own history as a nation.
Religion and patriotism conspired to present the Amer-
ican continent as a field for the missionary efforts of this
new organization.

The very earliest documents of the Society make
mention of the expectation of seeking, as one of the
first enterprises of the Society, to give to South America
a pure and vital Christianity. Frequent allusions were
made in the Board to this field, but nothing definite was
done till March 23, 1825, when Mr. Bangs stated that he
knew a competent person who would go there as a mis-
sionary, and it was resolved to inform the Bishops that it
280 METHODIST EpiscopaL MISSIONS.

was very desirable that a mission be established if a
door be opened and a suitable missionary found. A
committee was appointed, of which George Suckley was
chairman, to consider South American affairs. It met
on the 8th of April, and the chairman gave a most inter-
esting account of the people of Maracaibo, and the
villages bordering on the lake of the same name. He
stated he had a steamboat on that lake making trips
around the lake, and that the missionary might use it
at his pleasure, and so carry the Gospel to them all;
and again the Board begged the Bishops to find a mis-
sionary for South America. On October 19, 1825, the
Board directed the Corresponding Secretary to inquire
of the Bishops if they had taken any measures to secure
missionaries for South America or Africa.

As early as 1832 the General Conference recom-
mended the Bishops and the Missionary Society to es-
tablish missions in this part of the continent, and ad-
vised the appointment of some judicious person to visit
the region, and make personal observations, with a view
to entering at once upon the field. Not very long after
this a letter was received from a member of the Meth-
odist Episcopal Church, who had become resident in
Buenos Ayres, and who had succeeded in forming a
small class in the city, petitioning that a missionary be
sent to Buenos Ayres. The Board of Managers re-
sponded to this letter by recommending the Bishops ta
make the appointment which the General Conference
had advised, and Bishop Andrew promptly appointed
Rev. Fountain E. Pitts, of the Tennessee Conference.

He set forth on his tour July, 1835, visiting Rio de Ja-
neiro, Buenos Ayres, Montevideo, and other places, and
his report recommended the establishment of missions
at the two first-mentioned places, where the American
Missions to South America. 281

and English residents had especially encouraged it. At
Buenos Ayres he rented a room, furnished it with seats,
and began preaching to the people. At Rio de Janeiro
he formed a small society of religious people, giving
them promise that a pastor should at no distant day be
sent them. This was an important point. Rio de Ja-
neiro was the capital of Brazil, and the largest and most
commercial city of South America, and the surrounding
country was more thickly inhabited than was that of any
other city. The constant intercourse of the people with
other foreign nations had lessened their suspicions, and
hence they were more accessible to a new style of faith
and practice; one more in accordance with the Gospel
than that with which they had been familiar.

The General Conference of 1836, by resolution, re-
quested Mr. Pitts to visit Cincinnati, and report to them
in person, which he did, but without particular results,
save in deepening the general conviction that it was the
duty of the Methodist Episcopal Church to send mis-
sionaries to these lands, The sentiment of the body
was finally indicated in a report from the Committee on
Missions, to which was attached a resolution, request-
ing the Bishops to appoint two or more additional mis-
sionaries to South America, Mr. Pitts being regarded
as already belonging to this field, though he never, in
fact, entered it.

Rev. Justin Spaulding, of the New England Confer-
ence, who had offered himself for the Oregon Mission,
was accordingly appointed to Brazil, and sailed from
New York for Rio de Janeiro in March, 1836. In Oc-
tober of the same year the Rev. John Dempster, of the
Oneida Conference, sailed for Buenos Ayres. Thus,
nearly at the same time, both branches of our South
American work were inaugurated.
282 METHODIST EPISCOPAL MISSIONS.

There were many indications that the hold which
Rome had so long maintained in Brazil was rapidly
loosening. The Prince Regent, in his speech to the
House of Parliament, about the time of Mr. Spaulding’s
arrival, had referred to the refusal of the Pope to ac-
knowledge a Bishop who had been recently ordained in
Brazil, and the Prince more than intimated that they
could get along very well without his approbation. The
message was very popular, but a long discussion fol-
lowed upon a motion to accept the address, and many
efforts were made to bring about a reconciliation be-
tween the empire and the Pope.

It was something of an advance upon former intoler-
ance that we were permitted to work at all in these
Romish countries; but even now we were not permitted
a free and unrestrained promulgation of the word of
God. The current faith was protected by laws pro-
hibiting, in Mr. Dempster’s field, preaching the Gospel
by foreigners in the Spanish language, and in Brazil its
being preached in any building having the exterior form
ofatemple. But the chief obstructions were often only
ecclesiastical, springing out of the laws and usages of the
Romish Church.

A large English-speaking population, however, was
entirely accessible to our missionaries, and by most of
these they were sincerely welcomed. The Bible could
be distributed, and the American Bible Society and the
British and Foreign Bible Society generously supplied
Spanish and Portuguese Bibles and Testaments for this
purpose. Thousands of the natives of the country were
eager to possess and read a book, which, until recently,
had been prohibited them, if not by law, by priestly ar-
rogance. For the sake of convenience we will trace the
history of these two South American fields each by itself.
A
| \ iy I

bleed

‘OLISUBE EP OTY ‘eyVUES Jo eov[ed

 
Misston to Brazil. 285

1. Mission to Brazil.

Mr. Spaulding rented and fitted a piivate 100m for
public worship, and a congregation of thirty or forty per-
sons of very respectable social position convened. He
was rejoiced and greatly strengthened by finding ainong
them a few true disciples of Jesus Christ, who earnestly
seconded his endeavors to spread truth and holiness
among the people. His letters and reports were very
encouraging in their tone as to the prospects of the
work, and upon his recommendation the mission was re-
enforced the next year by sending to it an additional
missionary and two teachers, namely, Rev. Daniel P.
Kidder, of the Genesee Conference, as missionary, and
R. M’Murdy, a local preacher, and wife, as teachers.

They sailed from Boston in November, 1837. Mr.
Spaulding took the chief charge of the work in Rio de
Janeiro, while Mr. Kidder, under his superintendence,
entered upon extensive itinerations, scattering Bibles
and tracts as he went, and preaching as he had oppor-
tunity; for he had readily acquired comparative facility
in the use of the Portuguese tongue, and was carefully
prospecting for future mission work in the vernacular
of the country.

It was not long before more spacious accommoda-
tions were necessary for the increasing conyregation at
Rio de Janeiro, and “apparently greater attention could
not be paid to the word preached.” The people opened
a subscription to aid in the support of the work among
themselves. A Sunday-school was begun, and reported,
in June, 1836, thirty children. By the aid of weekly
contributions from the Sunday-school of Bangor, Maine,
Mr. Spaulding had been able to purchase a part of the
Sunday-School and Youths’ Library, and when the
286 METHODIST EPiIscopAL Missions.

children of the Rio de Janeiro school learned how it
was being obtained they also brought each Sunday their
vintens to swell the fund. The school contained two
classes of blacks, one speaking Portuguese and the other
English. This was, probably, the first effort of the kind
made in South America for the poor, degraded, and
oppressed colored people of the continent. Weekly
prayer-meetings were also established, and they proved
gracious seasons to the small company who assembled.

The superintendent was deeply affected by a view of
the field. In Rio de Janeiro there were a thousand
priests, but rarely was a prayer or a sermon heard in
the language of the people. No interest was taken in
the advancement of education, morality, or religion.
Not one in five hundred of the natives had seen a Bible.
Manufactures were sadly behind the age. Boards were
sawed out of the tree by the hands of two negroes;
grain reaped with the sickle; and about every thing else
on the same grade. The priests, sworn to celibacy,
were not ashamed to acknowledge numerous families of
their own children, and clerical licentiousness was unre-
strained. No wonder the superintendent cried out to
God for help, and petitioned the Church for re enforce-
ments. A school was the especial object of his desire,
and he felt the need of some one to itinerate extensive-
ly. To secure the first Mr. M’Murdy had been sent,
but he remained only a year, and then resigned. Yet
in this brief period an interesting school of natives and
foreigners was raised up.

The mission was sufficiently successful to awaken
the hostility of the Roman priests, and the superin-
tendent was subjected to every possible annoyance and
hinderance.

A periodical, with the title ““O Catholico,” was started
Mission to Brazil. 287

for the expressed purpose of opposing our movements
It survived but a month. An attempt was made to re-
vive it, under the title, “ O Catholico Fluminense,” but it
again expired after but four issues. It, in fact, had but
advertised the movements of the missionaries, and in-
creased inquiry. The attacks were often low and scur-
rilous falsehoods, but the missionaries went on in their
holy work without responding. Sometimes pamphlets
and books were hurled against them. One such, of a hun-
dred pages, was entitled “Desagravo do Clero, e do povo
Catholico Brasileiro,” etc.; or, “ A Refutation of the Lies
and Calumnies of an Impostor, who is entitled Mission-
ary of Rio de Janeiro, sent by the Methodist Episcopal
Society of New York to Civilize and Convert to Chris-
tianity the Brazilians.” It was filled with coarse epi-
thets, such as, ‘false prophet,” “liar,” etc., with ridicule
of the “ignorant” man sent to civilize and Christianize
Brazilians, and with pleadings that the people should not
endanger the salvation of their children by sending them
to the schools of this missionary. A brief extract will
show its style and spirit. This pamphlet says :—

“You cannot in any way show the succession of your
ministers from the apostles. It was a fanatical English
minister who gave you existence in the beginning of the
last century in London, where, affecting a rigid virtue,
he endeavored to reform the manners of the people,
and, preaching in the public streets and squares, gained
some proselytes from the infamous classes of the com-
mon people. The English clergy, frightened, denounced
him as a dangerous fanatic, and excited the populace
against this new apostle, who at different times drove
him away by stoning him.

“The protection of some distinguished and powerful
persons gave him courage to continue his preachings
288 METHODIST EPISCOPAL MISSIONS.

Then Whitefield (this is his name) chose from among
his disciples the most daring and loquacious, gave them
commission to preach, and raised on the common of
Moorsfield a stage, where the preacher, put within an
empty cask and exposed to the public gaze, became a
comic spectacle to the curious, who ran from all parts of
London to amuse themselves with the preacher and the
sermon, In this ridiculous pulpit (says the ‘ Historical
Dictionary,’ article, Whitefield) the Protestant preacher,
possessed with a devil, extending his arms, gesticula-
ting, roaring, throwing in every direction his flaming
eyes, and making horrible contortions, declaimed his
unintelligible discourses. As this fanatical sect had
not much success in England, the Methodist impostor
crossed four times to America, where he drew around
him a greater number of proselytes; and, making him-
self a pope, ordained a bishop—such a bishop as he was
a pope; that is, nothing at all, either of them, in the
ecclesiastical hierarchy. Behold! here is the reason
why the American Methodists are called Episcopal,
to distinguish them from those of England, who are
Presbyterians.”

Notwithstanding opposition of this kind the mis-
sionaries went steadily forward with their work, not
unfrequently assured by many of the people of their
hearty sympathy and appreciation. The missionaries
well knew that all their proceedings in their endeavor
to spread the Gospel of Christ were authorized by the
Constitution of the Empire, which, though it declared
the Roman Catholic religion to be that of the State, yet
tolerated all other forms of religion, and prohibited per-
secution.

From the first tney gave great attention to the dis-.
tribution of the Holy Scriptures, as the only appropriate
Mission to Brastl. 289

basis for evangelical effort. The country was practical-
ly destitute of Bibles at the period of their arrival, not
one in a hundred of even the priests having probably
ever seen a copy in any language, least of all in their
native tongue.

Messrs. Thornton and Dodson, English merchants at
Rio, had interested themselves to improve upon that
condition of things by procuring occasional consign-
ments of Bibles and Testaments in the Portuguese lan-
guage, from the British and Foreign Bible Society, of
London. Of the volumes they received some were sold,
and a few given to worthy applicants. Thus, in a very
quiet way, the introduction of the Scriptures had been
commenced. The gentlemen named cordially welcomed
our missionaries as persons who could devote more
time and attention to this great undertaking, and with
prospects of enlarged success. Such proved to be the
fact, and the results justified the efforts put forth by
them. When our mission first began its systematic ef-
forts to circulate the Scriptures at Rio de Janeiro a great
excitement sprang up inthe city. In fact, so varied and
multiplied were the applications for copies, that the
missionaries were not without apprehension that a sys-
tematic plan had been set on foot to secure as many
of the books as possible for the purpose of destroying
them. Careful observation, however, soon allayed such
fears, and encouraged the belief that nearly or quite
every copy was appropriately used. Of the first con-
signment of Scriptures made by the Bible Societies di-
rectly to the mission, some two hundred copies were
disposed of in three days to persons thronging the resi-
dence of the missionaries. Subsequent sales and dis-
tributions were made under less pressure, but with no
less promise of good results.
290 METHODIST EPISCOPAL MISSIONS.

Our missionaries coupled with Bible circulation that
of Christian tracts. Some of the tracts used by them
were the regular issues of the Religious Tract Societies
of England and America, and some were prepared by
theinselves and printed on the spot, in special adapta-
tion to the wants of the people. In such ways the rep-
resentatives of our Church were enabled to enlist the
power of the press in behalf of their important objects,
quite in advance of their ability to preach publicly in
the language of the nation.

It was to improve this necessary period of waiting by
such evangelical efforts as were at once practicable, that
our missionaries entered into active and systematic
measures to give the Gospel and Christian reading to
the thousands of seamen who visited the port of Rio de
Janeiro. In pursuance of that object, they made it their
custom to preach Sundays on the deck of some vessel
at the receiving anchorage. By correspondence with
captains, it was arranged in advance what vessel would
float the Bethel flag for the day, thus giving to the whole
merchant fleet the signal of invitation to meet for wor-
ship at the appointed hour. Some of the masters of
vessels, both from England and America, took a great
interest in the Bethel services, and little difficulty was
found in getting access to great numbers of seamen.
Many of these men, in their long absence from home
and friends, greatly appreciated the attentions shown
them, and the tracts and religious papers furnished thei,
while some entered heartily into the spirit of public and
social worship.

Besides what was thus done for the seamen of the
merchant service, a great door was opened for preach-
ing to seamen of the American navy. It so happened
that at no time during the continuance of our mission
Mission to Brazil. 291

at Rio was there a regular chaplain attached to the
American squadron stationed in the harbor. Fora con-
siderable portion of that time Commodore Nicholson, of
the flag-ship “ Independence,” commanded the squad-
ron, Taking a great interest in the moral welfare of his
men, that distinguished officer established the custom
of sending his boat each Sunday morning to secure one
of the missionaries to serve as chaplain for the day.
Grand and inspiring were the scenes in which our mis-
sionaries preached the Gospel to hundreds of men,
marshaled under the flag of their country on the broad
decks of our national vessels, at once in sight of the
naval ships of all nations, of the great city in which they
lived, and of the picturesque mountain peaks surround-
ing the bay of Rio de Janeiro. After public service
on these occasions it was their custom to visit both
officers and men, as far as practicable, for religious
conversation.

In the year 1839 the United States’ Exploring Squad-
ron, Commodore Wilkes commanding, spent some time
in the harbor, occupying a small island for scientific ob-
servations. In an unoccupied Roman Catholic church
on that island the commodore assembled his men one
Sabbath morning to listen toa sermon from Mr. Kidder.
The occasion was very peculiar and impressive, as, in
fact, were many similar ones on the government vessels,
on which, froin time to time, our missionaries officiated.

Nevertheless, all labors of that kind were by them
considered incidental to the establishment of an evan-
gelical Church among the Brazilians, the great object
at which they steadily aimed.
292 ME:ii0DisT EPisCOPAL MISSIONS,

2. Excursions to Different Parts of the Empire.

Excursions to various points were taken at different
times, for observation and the distribution of books.
One by Messrs. Spaulding and Kidder was made to
Macacu and other places on the upper border of the
bay of Rio de Janeiro. Longer voyages and journeys
were taken by Mr. Kidder alone.

In January, 1839, Mr. Kidder proceeded to Santos, the
principal seaport in the province of San Paulo. Thence
he proceeded to the city of San Paulo, where he made
quite a sojourn, going thence, as from a center, to the sur-
rounding regions. Mr. Kidder was the first Protestant
minister that had ever visited San Paulo. This prov-
ince, like most of Brazil, was without a pulpit, the people
nowhere being accustomed to assemble for religious
instruction or the discussion of religious topics; but
some of the Bibles given out at the mission house in Rio
were found there. In the interior he met with a hos-
pitable and liberal padre, who declared that Catholicism
was nearly abandoned, infidel books and infidel prin-
ciples having for the most part taken its place. He
even declared the Bible the best antidote for the pre-
vailing skepticism, and cheerfully consented to take part
in distributing Bibles and tracts in his vicinity.

Mr. Kidder visited the Andradas, distinguished mem-
bers of the Provincial Assembly of San Paulo, and ten-
dered to the Government a sufficient number of Portu-
guese Testaments to supply each of the primary schools
in the province with a dozen, to be used as reading
books. The proposition was cordially entertained, but,
through the interference of an English Roman Catholic
priest residing at Rio, was never finally acted on. Pro-
fessors in the college and men of distinction were among
Fixcursions to Different Parts of the Empire. 2093

those who, for philanthropic and patriotic reasons, gave
a hand of welcome to the missionary.

Similar histories might be given of scenes that took
place during Mr. Kidder’s tour northward to Bahia,
Macelo, Pernambuco, Olinda, Maranham, and Para, on
the banks of the Amazon.* After some months spent
in his long voyage up and down the northern Brazilian
coast, Mr. Kidder returned to Rio, and joined his col-
league more especially in his labors for the seamen. He
also began tu address himself to the establishment of
preaching in the Portuguese language. He was prepar-
ing a series of sermons which he hoped soon to deliver
in the native tongue, when his wife, smitten suddenly
by disease, was consigned to an early grave, and he,
bearing in his arms his motherless son, took passage for
New York, where he arrived in June, 1840.

At that period the Missionary Board was suffering
embarrassment from a severe financial revulsion which
had taken place in the country, and among the measures
proposed for relief was that of retrenchment. It was
not, however, adopted without long and anxious delib-
eration. The first step taken was that of resolving not
to increase expenses by sending Mr. Kidder hack to
Brazil. Mr. Spaulding, therefore, remained at Rio
alone until the close of the year 1841, when the resolu-
tion was finally taken to abandon the field as one which,
though having elements of ultimate promise, did not
give indications of those large immediate results which
our Church had been accustomed to expect. While to

* Samples of these scenes are narrated in the volumes pub-
lished by Mr. Kidder after his return to the United States, entitled,
“Sketches of Residence and Travels in Brazil, embracing Historical
and Geographical Notices of the Empire and its several Provinces.”

2 vols., imperial 12mo. Philadelphia. 18.15.
20
294 Meruvopisr EpiscopaLt Missions.

have left a field like this was very humiliating, and hardly
to be endured except in the hope of resuming it at some
later day, yet, as a Church, we have since had occasion
to rejoice in the fact that a sister denomination subse-
quently entered upon our labors there. Missions of the
two Presbyterian Boards are now well established in
Brazil, especially in the cities and provinces of Rio de
Janeiro and San Paulo, and it is safe to believe that their
success was in no small degree prepared for by our be-
ginnings. Hence we may justly infer that the unfold-
ings of eternity alone can discover to us how great results
will have followed from even so limited a use of our
men and means in Brazil.

8. Brazil Re-entered.

In June, 1880, Rev. William Taylor, Rev. and Mrs,
Justus H. Nelson, and Walter Gregg arrived at Para, the
commercial emporium of the Amazon Valley, a city un-
occupied by evangelical missionaries. ‘Thirty or more
years before, Richard Holden, a Scotchman of the Prot-
estant Episcopal Church of America, had gone to Bra-
zil to do missionary work, starting in at Para; but by
the time he had become able to speak Portuguese effect-
ively, he met with so much opposition that he withdrew
from Para, but not from missionary work in Brazil.

Para and all the Amazon region was then left without
any Protestant missionary until the American Civil War
broke out, when a settlement was made at Santarem by a
party from the Southern United States, among whom were
descendants of the Rev. Fountain E. Pitts and two
preachers of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.
One of the preachers did not remain long in Brazil, and
the other, becoming engrossed in business after a few
Brasil Re-entered. 295

years, exercised himself but little for the spiritual wel-
fare of the colonists, and never did anything for the evan-
gelization of the Brazilians. Thus it is seen that when
our Methodist people arrived at Para the field was prac-
tically as untried as was that of Rio de Janeiro when,
in 1835, Rev. Fountain E. Pitts arrived there.

Mr. ‘Taylor remained in Para about two weeks, dur-
ing which time he made arrangements for opening a
self-supporting school of high grade for Brazilian chil-
dren. It was stipulated that the Bible should be read
and prayer offered daily in the school.

At Maranham he secured the influence of a prominent
man to open similar schools whenever the teachers should
be sent. At Pernambuco he found a mission of the
Southern Presbyterian Church, and an independent
Evangelical church, the outgrowth of work by Dr. Rob-
ert R. Kalley in Rio de Janeiro, a few years after our
Methodist Mission was abandoned there; but neither
of the missions sustained any school. The way was
opened for founding a school there. At Bahia, where
the Presbyterians were at work, he did the same, and at
Rio de Janeiro, where the Presbyterians were well en-
trenched. Dr. Kalley’s work was strong, and the Meth-
odist Church, South, was making a beginning. Mr. Tay-
lor made partial arrangements for educational work on
the same linesas in the other cities. Hethen returned to
the United States to find teachers for all these places.

In the meantime the three at Para had begun work.
Mr. Taylor had been able to dono more for them than to
pay their passage out and supply them with school furni-
ture. The freights and duties on the furniture amounted
to $100. Mr. and Mrs. Nelson’s beard for the first few
weeks was at the rate of $50 a month, and they rented
296 MetuHopisr EpiscopaL MISSIONS.

a hall at $50 a month for school purposes, and for preach-
ing to the few English business men in the city. Yet
the income from the school, and the small contributions
of the few Englishmen who came to the preaching cov-
ered the expenses the first year. Mr. Gregg, after a few
months, went to work on his own account, and subse-
quently returned to the United States. During the year
Miss Hattie Curtiss went to assist in the school; but, be-
coming engaged in marriage to an explorer, she returned
to the United States.

Toward the close of 1880 Mr. and Mrs. B. W. Coiner
began school at Maranham. Mr. and Mrs. W. T. Robin-
son and Mr. and Mrs. Charles Shelton at Pernambuco,
and Dr. J. J. Woodin and Mrs. Woodin at Bahia. After
making a hopeful commencement, Mr. Coiner was pros-
trated with illness for a time, then rallied, and went on
with his work, but got discouraged and returned to the
United States. In Pernambuco, Mr. and Mrs. Shelton,
disliking the administration of the school, went to work
on their own account, but in a few months returned
home. The Drs. Woodin also soon returned.

In July, 1881, the school at Para was re-enforced by
the arrival of Rev. John N. Nelson, Miss Hattie Batch-
elder, and Miss Clara Blunt; but John Nelson and
Miss Batchelder died of yellow fever the following Sep-
tember. The school at Pernambuco was reenforced in
July, 1881, by Dr. Wray Beattie and Mr. and Mrs. George
W. Martin. Dr. Beattie’s constitution would not stand
the climate, and in about six months he was compelled
to leave. Mr.and Mrs. Martin became discouraged by
temporary ill health, and difficulties in the work, and
returned to the United States in June, 1882.

Upon the death of John Nelson, his brother, James
Brasil Re-entered. 297

Willett, offered to take his place, and in June, 1882, he
and his wife arrived at Para. Five months later his wile
succumbed to yellow fever, and he, weary in body and
sick at heart, returned to the United States, and with
him Miss Blunt, it having become necessary to close the
school.

In July, 1882, Mr. and Mrs. F. F. Roose and Mr.
George B. Nind entered upon work in the Pernambuco
school. Six months had scarcely passed when Mr. Roose
left the school and engaged in teaching on his own ac-
count. A year or so later he returned to the United
States.

In April, 1883, the patronage no longer warranted the
continuance of the school, and the furnishings were
sold to meet the indebtedness which had accumulated.
Mr. and Mrs. Robinson went to the work in Chili, and
subsequently to that in the Argentine Republic.

In March, 1883, Mrs. Justus H. Nelson had been
compelled, for the sake of her health and that of her
children, to return to the United States; so that upon
the departure of Mr. and Mrs. Robinson, Mr. Nelson
at Para, and Mr. Ninde at Pernambuco were the only
ones of the twenty-three persons left to work the fields.
It would be to no purpose to consider all the influences
that brought the schools at Para and Pernambuco to an
end; yet their experiences, though the places are a thou-
sand miles apart, were so similar that what is true of one
is true of the other. With the exception of the prin-
cipal, none of the teachers were connected with the
schools long enough to become efficient in the Portu-
guese language. ‘The loss by death, sickness, or dissat-
isfaction of the teachers before their work could con-
tribute materially to the reputation, and hence to the
298 MeEruHopist EpiscopaL MISSIONS.

income, of the school, was a great drain on its resources,
to say nothing of the want of confidence occasioned in
the public mind by so frequent changes. ‘To meet the
promises made to the patrons, the places of the Amer-
ican teachers had to be filled by the best native teachers,
who would not work for love, as it had been expected
the American teachers would do for the first few years.
And, moreover, the teaching being done largely by Bra-
zilians, the schools were at once reduced to rivals of the
Brazilian schools.

Upon closing the schools there were some pupils who
desired to continue their studies as private pupils of Mr.
Nelson and Mr. Nind, and the tuition from these, and
from some gentlemen who attended evening classes for
learning English, was their means of support. Aside
from the religious instruction Mr. Nelson had been able
to give in the school he had continued preaching in
English, and early in 1881 he began preaching in Portu-
guese. About this time, by a providential coincidence,
a colporteur of the American Bible Society began to
work in Para. July 1, 1883, Mr. Nelson organized a
Methodist Episcopal Church. In Pernambuco Mr.
Taylor’s principles of self-support had made an impres-
sion on Rev. James Fanstone, pastor of the Pernambuco
Evangelical Church, who resigned his connection with
his society, and entered upon independent work.

Mr. Nind and some other Christian laymen, while
they were learning Portuguese, assisted by Mr. Fanstone,
held meetings from Sunday to Sunday on board the
English and American vessels in the harbor, and then,
through the English chaplain, succeeded in establishing
a seaman’s mission, supported by the English residents
and the American Missionary Society, which in August,
Brasil Re-entered, 299

1883, supplied a missionary. In his association with
Mr. Fanstone and his church, Mr. Nind saw that a Bra-
zilian congregation could be gathered to hear the Gos-
pel wherever there was any one to preach.

A preacher, by teaching in private a few hours a day,
could earn enough for a comfortable support without
the risk and care of maintaining a school, and be free
to preach whenever he would. Mr. Nind, by corre-
spondence, endeavored to induce some Methodist
preacher to come to Pernambuco to work on that plan.

Mr. Nelson, however, had not given up hope of put-
ting his school on foot again, and took some steps to-
ward it. Mrs. Nelson and children returned to Para in
December, 1883, and soon afterward Mrs. Hannah Phil-
lips, who had had experience in city mission work in
Boston, came to be matron. Mr. James Willett Nelson
was preparing to return to take his place in the school,
but before he came the growth of the litle Church, and
the promise of such good results from the direct preach-
ing of the Gospel, led Mr. Justus H. Nelson to abandon
the school work. Mrs. Phillips’ health soon failed, and
she returned to Boston.

From July, 1885, to April, 1886, Mr. Nind had charge
of the Pernambucan Evangelical Church during the
absence of the pastor. Not having succeeded by cor-
respondence in getting Methodist ministers into the field,
Mr. Nind came to the United States personally to enlist
some. He secured Rev. A. G. Smith, of the New Eng-
land Southern Conference, and the Transit and Build-
ing Fund Society having secured Rev. Marcus E. Carver,
of the New Hampshire Conference, Mr. and Mrs. Smith
and Mr. Carver sailed for Para in May, 1887, to be
with Mr. Nelson while getting a start in the Portuguese
300 Meruopist Episcopat MISSIONS.

language, previous to going to Santarem and Manaos,
Mr. Nind, having married a sister of Mr. Nelson, re-
turned to Pernambuco in 1887.

The first meeting was violently broken up. There-
after, however, the police generally maintained order.
Mr. Smith was compelled to return to New York with
his wife. Mr. Nelson went with Mr. Carver to Manaos,
and spent about a week there helping to inaugurate
work. A Methodist Church was organized, with ten
probationers. In April, 1889, Mr. and Mrs. Nind left
their work in Pernambuco, and went to take charge of
the work in Para upon the departure of Mr. Nelson and
family for the United States.

At the session of the Methodist Episcopal Southern
Conference in April, 1889, the Brazil District was organ-
ized according to the provision of the Discipline (36
of 1888), and Mr. Nelson was appointed Presiding Elder
and pastor at Para. Mr. Carver having withdrawn from
the work, Mr. Nelson became pastor at Manaos as well
as Para, but, as the places were one thousand miles apart,
he was not able to give attention to Manaos, and the
loyal Methodists there though keeping together were
ever looking for a Methodist pastor in their midst who
could give them undivided service.

Upon returning to Pernambuco in December, 1889,
Mr. Nind had to gather, in the main, a new congrega-
tion, for some of the former attendants had moved away
and some had joined different evangelical churches.
Others had moved to another part of the city and joined
other evangelical congregations.

In January, 1892, the Pernambucan Evangelical
Church was unexpectedly left without a pastor, and Mr.
Nind was asked to give a helping hand, which he did
Brazil Re-entered. 301

until the month of September, when the state of his
wife’s health compelled their speedy return to the United
States,

In his returns to the New England Southern Confer-
ence in April, 1893, Mr. Nelson reported thirty members
in full connection in the Para Church, with twenty-four
probationers. The membership of the Church by no
means indicates all the work done by Mr. Nelson. An
English service was kept up until 1888. Aside from
the teaching and translating, which gave Mr. Nelson
his support, he maintained a day school a year or two
for the children of the Church. By correspondence he
kept in touch with persons who have come under the in-
fluence of the Gospel at Para, and such are scattered all
along the Amazon. Some members of the Para Church
live three thousand miles away from it. Two members,
removing to Rio de Janeiro for a change of climate,
became connected with the Methodist Episcopal Church,
and are now traveling preachers in that Church. Mr.
Nelson has given to Portuguese Christians some of the
best standard Methodist hymns, and has made other
valuable contributions to Portuguese evangelical lit-
erature.

The Brazilian Christian Advocate the first two years
was issued weekly, but in 1892 it was published monthly.
Though it had many subscribers outside of evangelical
churches the income from subscriptions was not enough
to meet expenses of publishing. On May 1, 1892, Mr.
Nelson published two articles which gave his enemies
the opportunity they had long been wanting. On the
11th he was summoned to appear before the Second
District Court of Para to answer to an indictment for
“outraging the Apostolic Roman Catholic religion.”
302 Meruopist EpiscopaL MIssIons.

The case was called on the 14th, and continued, with
two hearings a weck, until June 30, when Judge Ger-
aldode Souza Paes de Andrade, in an able document
favoring religious liberty, gave a decision of acquittal.
The State’s Attorney who had brought in the case ap-
pealed to the Supreme Court, which reversed the deci-
sion of the lower court, and on November 14 Mr. Nel-
son was sentenced to solitary confinement for three
months and a half, and on December 5 he was commit-
ted to jail.

In May, 1893, Rev. F. R. Spaulding sailed with his
wife and three children for Para, and became assistant
pastor there.

4, Buenos Ayres and Montevideo.

The work of the Society in South America was begun
n the Argentine and neighboring republic of Uruguay,
of the former of which Buenos Ayres is the capital.
To this city Mr. James Thompson, a Scotchman, was
sent in 1818 by the “ British and Foreign School Society,”
to establish a school on the Lancasterian system. He
was a licentiate of the Baptist Church in Edinburgh, and
a truly godly man. The first Protestant worship in the
city of Buenos Ayres was held by him at the home of
Mr. Dickson, an English gentleman, on Sunday, No-
yember 19, 1820, nine persons being present, all males.
None of these were American, but some of them were
Wesleyans.

These meetings continued between one and two years,
when, Mr. Thompson removing to Chili, they were
‘ransferred to the home of Mr. William Tate, a layman
who had assisted Mr. Thompson in the meetings, and
who assumed thereafter the sole conduct of them, till
his own departure for England in 1822. This house
Buenos Ayves and Montevideo. 303

was immediately adjoining the first Methodist Episcopal
church subsequentiy erected in the city. Dr. Lore, in
his history of the mission, written in 1852, names Mr.
Tate as being still of his congregation, thus closely link-
ing the present Methodist Episcopal Church to the orig-
inal congregation. On the 23d of March, 1821, the
first Sunday-school was opened with seven scholars,
four of them boys and three girls.

In October, 1823, Messrs. Brigham and Parvin arrived
from the United States. They were Presbyterians, the
former being afterward Secretary of the American Bible
Society. They re-established preaching at the house of
Mr. Tate, who had returned to Buenos Ayres in the
February following their arrival. This was in March,
1824, and the service continued for eighteen months,
when it was interrupted by Mr. Parvin’s departure for
the United States, Mr. Brighain having previously
gone. Mr. Parvin returned to Buenos Ayres in 1826,
having in the meantime married. He resumed preach-
ing, first in Mr. Tate’s house and afterward in his own
house. He also opened a Sunday-school, in which was
a class of Spanish children taught by an American gen-
tleman named Gilbert. This class awakened great in-
terest in the city, and at the first Sunday-school celebra-
tion, held July 15, 1827, was addressed in Spanish before
receiving their rewards.

The next year Rev. Mr. Torrey, also a Presbyterian,
went out to aid Mr. Parvin, and the latter remained but
a short time afterward. Mr. Torrey continued in the
field for eight years, and finally left in 1836, thus ter-
minating the American Presbyterian effort in Buenos
Ayres.

After Mr. Torrey ieft, Mr. Wiiliam Junor became
Sunday-school superintendent, and he remained a mem-
304 METHODIST EPISCOPAL MISSIONS.

ber of the Church at Buenos Ayres till his triumphant
death, in 1873. Mr. Torrey also left behind him Mr.
James Steadman, an active, devoted Christian, who sub-
sequently removed to Croyden, England, and was the
first Englishman to send an unsolicited contribution
(£200) for the first Biblical Institute in the United States,
founded by Dr. Dempster.

Just as Mr. Torrey was closing his labors Mr. Pitts
arrived in the field, and from this arrival the mission-
aries of the Methodist Episcopal Church have been the
sole representatives of American Protestantism in this
part of South America.

Mr. Pitts found the class yet in existence from whom
the first call to the field came to the Board. It con-
sisted of eight or ten members. He at once reorganized
it as a society, and, after being duly licensed by the
Government to preach, he opened public worship in
the dwelling of an American lady, which he maintained
during the brief period of his stay.

After an interval of a few months, namely in Decem-
ber, 1836, Rev. John Dempster arrived, and began preach-
ing in the building formerly occupied by Mr. Torrey.
There are, however, some important preliminaries to
note. The cautious congregation which had maintained
worship so long without a minister, received this stranger
into their entire confidence only after a committee con-
sisting of Messrs. James Steadman, William Junor, and
Richard Morton had examined him, and were able to
attest his soundness of doctrine and thoroughness of
experience. The committee never forgot what they
learned in this remarkable examination.

But there was a still more formidable power to be
confronted. The advent of Mr. Dempster was during
the full sway of the power of the bloody governor, Dan
Buenos Ayres and Montevideo. 305

Juan Manuel de Rosas, whose word was law and whose
punishments were seldom less than confiscation and
death. Penalty was direct, inevitable, and immediate,
and many offenses hardly noticed by our police were ac-
counted capital crimes. Enterprise and reform marked
their projectors as certain victims. Mr. Dempster called
upor. the Dictator with his project for preaching the
Gospel, and was cordially welcomed by him, but was
very strictly enjoined to confine his labors to the foreign
populations. This requisition shaped our work in the
valley of the La Plata, till the overthrow of Rosas in
1852, when a more liberal policy was introduced.

Time has justified the wisdom of our earlier steps.
Buenos Ayres is the commercial center of 1,250,000
square miles of fertile lands, seamed by over 4,000
miles cf converging navigable streams. It is for South
America the central point of immigration from Eu-
rope. We were early on the ground to hail and help
the Protestant English, Scotch, Irish, and American im-
migrants, who, according to a writer, (Frank Parish,
Esq.,) in 1876 numbered forty thousand, to whom our
first twenty years’ work were thus limited, but not by
our choice.

Mr. Dempster had a rich preparation and rare endow-
ments for his great work. With undaunted courage he
had, through a host of difficulties, wrought out for him-
self an intellectual character of the highest order, and
he now came to this work warm from a revival that will
be forever memorable in Central and Western New York.
Mr. Dempster at once commanded attention in his new
field. Soon the place of worship would not hold his
congregations, and it was found necessary to enlarge it.
The next year the Board appropriated ten thousand
dollars for the erection of a church, and the superintend-
306 Metuopist EprtscopaL MISSIONS.

ent was authorized to buy a lot for the purpose. A
subscription of $1,500 by the people of Buenos Ayres
had encouraged the Board to make the grant.

This was in 1837, but no purchase was made till 1839,
when a lot was obtained in the central part of the city,
fifty by one hundred and fifty feet, at a cost of one thou-
sand nine hundred dollars, United States money. A
parsonage was erected, and a church of brick, forty by
sixty feet, commenced. Neither of these were finished
when the Board sounded the retreat, though Mr. Demp-
ster was occupying the parsonage. Long delay in build-
ing was occasioned by the high prices caused by the
blockade of Buenos Ayres, and the consequent inad-
equacy of the appropriations to build.

In the autumn of 1838 Mr. Dempster visited Monte-
video, where several American families had settled, and
he was so favorably impressed by conversations with in-
fluential persons, natives and others, that he forwarded
an urgent request to the Board that a missionary should
be sent to that point in the double capacity of teacher
and preacher. For this purpose the Bishop selected
Rev. William H. Norris, at the time pastor of Sands-
street Church, Brooklyn, New York. His pastorate at
Sands-street had just been crowned with a revival of
religion of marvelous power and extent, and he went
forth to his work with the highest hopes of the Church.

He arrived at Montevideo, October 12, 1839, having
made the passage in seventy-seven days, and found a
very unexpected state of affairs. Two opposing armies
were within a few miles of the city, and five hundred
French soldiers manned the garrison. The city was full
of refugees from Buenos Ayres, and the crowded state
of the city made it impossible to find a home. Tle was.
therefore, compelled to remain domiciled in the brig
Buenos Ayres and Montevideo. 307

“Carroll” for twenty-three days. The first two Sab-
baths he preached at the house of Mr. Frazer, a mer-
chant and an Episcopalian from Philadelphia, to con-
gregations of eighty-five or ninety persons. Not finding
a hall suitable, he could do but little till he was able to
hold service in his own house. This was outside the
walls of the city, and inconvenient. It was July, 1841,
before he had obtained a central and suitable place for
public worship. On Sabbath afternoon he usually
hoisted a Bethel flag on some vessel, and held services
for seamen. He expressed himself confident of being
able to found a successful mission at Montevideo.

By September 9, 1841, he had obtained a decree from
the governor authorizing the consuls of England, Swe-
den, and the United States, “‘to erect a temple which
may serve for the exercise of the worship of their coun-
trymen, as also for the establishment of a public school
for the children of the same nations.” A lot had been
purchased, and other preparations made for building, to
which the people of Montevideo subscribed liberally.

In 1838 Hiram A. Wilson, a graduate of the Wesleyan
University, was sent out to Buenos Ayres as a teacher, and
the superintendent contemplated the establishment of a
school of very high grade—collegiate, perhaps, in rank.
The school was opened, and in December, 1840, the
corps of teachers was increased by the arrival of Rev.
Orrin A. Howard and wife, who accompanied Mr. Demp-
ster on his return from a brief visit to his home. This
visit to the United States was utilized by taking col-
lections for the church and parsonage at Buenos Ayres,
and by purchasing and shipping from New York the
necessary materials. The school contained children
{rom American, English, and German families, and also
two Indian boys from the island of Java. One of the
308 Mertuopist EpiscopaL MISSIONS.

latter was twenty-one years old, yet both began with the
alphabet.

Notwithstanding so goodly a force for the educational
work, so important in this field, the Society was not
able to make the necessary additional appropriations,
and the visions of Mr. Dempster were never realized.

One seemingly providential incident on the return
voyage of Mr. Dempster and family is worth recording.
The brig had been chased a whole day by a suspicious
craft, and in the early evening by moonlight the mys-
terious sail came alongside within pistol shot. After a
moment, instead of boarding, she tacked ship and quick-
ly sailed away, leaving untouched the mission family and
property. Who can say that the God of Daniel did not
deliver them ?

Mr. Norris opened his school at Montevideo with great
promise, but, finding his double duties very arduous, he
began to cry out for a teacher; but none was sent, for
the Board soon recalled all its workers, with a view of
abandoning the mission.

The action by which the recall of the missionaries
was consummated was taken by the Board at the meet-
ing held October 20, 1841, and no reasons were assigned
in the carefully-drawn preamble and resolutions but the
debt of the Society, which was already $5,000, with no
prospect of liquidating it at an early day. The annual
reports indulged another tone, and said that “ our labors
in South America have been less productive of visible
good than we had hoped. Hence the Board had not
felt authorized to appropriate any further sums toward
the buildings contemplated and in progress until peace
is established, and future advices from our missionaries
will justify it.” We conclude that the state of the treas-
ury, heavily in debt; the state of the work. its success
Buenos Ayres and Montevideo. 309

not demonstrated; and the state of the country, one of
almost constant civil war and revolution, all entered
into the decision that led to the retreat.

A single letter of Mr. Dempster’s will show how the
prosperity of our mission must have been retarded,
bound up as it necessarily was with the civil affairs of
the country. This letter is dated November 28, 1840,
and was written at the moment of his return from his
visit to the United States. It says :—

“T have this hour stepped on the shore at Buenos
Ayres, and find that up to the first instant the port con-
tinued shut. For almost three years its broad waters
lay unmoved by commerce, as if slumbering on the
bosom of some inland desert. Twenty-eight days since
the treaty was concluded, and we saw the blockading
squadron spreading its sails for the shores of Europe.
The business state of the city presents a perfect con-
trast to that in which, eight months ago, we left it. Then
the gloom which mantled it had been deepening for two
years. Activity and hope had deserted it. The forms
that moved along the streets had something depicted
on their faces which language was not made to por-
tray. Every tongue had become weary of foretelling
commercial activity, as all the calculations of the
mest far-seeing minds had been baffled by a mysterious
hand which had scarcely ever before touched the affairs
of anation. But now, with the mercantile community
all is bustle, every eye is ardent, every footstep quick.
All carts attainable are rolling down produce to the
beach, and all boats in the harbor are spreading their
canvas to waft it to the ships. The one hundred and
fifty vessels now in port cannot receive half the mass
for exportation which has been so long accumulating.

Laborers are exceedingly scarce; twenty of them are on
21
310 METHODIST EPISCOPAL MISSIONS.

the field of battle where one remains in his former em-
ployment. Indeed, the whole province is summoned to
arms, as nearly all the other provinces have dissolved
their connections with this, and are in hostile array
against it. Just prior to the removal of the blockade.
at the approach of the insurgents, scenes of cruelty, vi-
olence, and bloodshed of the blackest character opened
on this city and province. The property of those who
were supposed to favor the outside party was confis-
cated, and many of their lives sacrificed. Not only did
the assassin burst on the unsuspecting at midnight hour,
but in open day houses were forcibly entered, furniture
dashed to pieces, and the inmates left corpses in their
desolate dwellings. Ladies were assaulted in the
streets, their garments cut into strings and torn from
their bodies, their hair slashed from their heads, and
their backs made sore with the lash. Strangling, throat-
cutting, stabbing and shooting, have all been means em-
ployed to swell the number of victims and deepen the
scene of horror.

“To escape the agents of these horrific deeds, several
of the suspected leaped into the river, and at the most
imminent hazard swam to a vessel in which they might
leave the province. Ladies clothed themselves in the
uniform of our midshipmen, and in that disguise made
their way to a man-of-war.

“ During this reign of terror a sepulchral gloom veiled
the city; no one of the opposing party knew the hour
when his blood should swell the tide which was flowing
so copiously around him. It is stated that horsemen
have been seen conveying several human heads attached
to their saddles; one was fastened to the monument in
the center of the public square. But any attempt tc
particularize must produce heart-sickness. The scene
Buenos Ayres and Montevideo. 311

must remain undescribed, and as it is now closed we
cannot but fervently pray that it may open no more.”

After all, the mission had met with reasonable success.
Mr. Dempster, but five years in the mission, had col-
lected a large congregation and formed a Church. He
had organized a Sunday-school and a day-school. He
had built a parsonage, and nearly completed a church.
The mission was every-where commanding respect. The
seed sown was being carried by the Spirit to distant
parts of the land; but the necessities of the treasury
were imperious, and the mission was accordingly aban-
doned.

It would almost seem asif this action must have been
somewhat hasty, for it was less than a year previous
that, in view of Mr. Dempster’s purpose to return to
the United States, Mr. Kidder had been appointed by
the Bishop to Buenos Ayres, on recommendation of the
Board. We have already seen why he never entered
this field, but the appointment shows that there was then
no purpose of retiring from Buenos Ayres. We thus
close the first epoch of our South American mission his-
tory. The second extends from the re-opening of the
mission till the beginning of work in the Spanish lan-
guage. The third will complete the history till the
present time.

8. The Mission Resumed.
AT BUENOS AYRES.

This abandonment of the work was a surprise and
grief to the entire mission, At Montevideo the congre-
gation at once petitioned Bishop Hedding to resume the
mission there, with Mr. Norris as missionary, pledging
themselves to meet its expenses for one or two years.
Mr. Norris was to continue his school, the income
312 MeEtuHopist EpiscopaL MISSIONS.

from which, it was calculated, would meet half the ex-
pense, the residue being guaranteed by the foreign resi-
dents.

The petition was in most persuasive terms, and the
first signature upon it was that of John Tarros, Swedish
and Norwegian Consul-General. It declares that before
Mr. Norris came to Montevideo there was no public wor-
ship they could attend; no means of educating their chil-
dren in the religion of their fathers; and that they were
all living a life of darkness and ignorance. “The re-
moval of Mr. Norris,” they say, “ at this moment would
place us all in a worse situation than we were in before,
because in our ignorance we were happier, or at least
did not feel our unhappiness until our eyes were opened
and we received light. Falling back into darkness
would be as dangerous as relapse in a fever.”

At the same time the foreign residents of Buenos Ayres
formed a society under the title of “ The Society for the
Promotion of Christian Worship.’”’ This society memo-
rialized the Board, asking that Mr. Norris be sent to
them as missionary, and that they should have permis-
sion to occupy the church and parsonage belonging to
the Society. Accompanying the petition was a subscrip-
tion of $1,000 for Mr. Norris’ support, pledged for two
years, or $700 a year for any other missionary. Secre-
tary Brigham,of the American Bible Society, was deputed
to present the petition, and he urged the Board to grant
the request. He was permitted to indicate the proba-
bility that the society could support its pastor in perpe-
tuity. In the meantime Mr. Norris had arrived in the
United States, (May, 1842,) and the Bishops, after due
deliberation, appointed him to Buenos Ayres, This
preference for Mr. Norris on the part of the people of
Buenos Ayres arose from acquaintance with him, formed
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The Mission Resumed. 315

by many of them while refugees at Montevideo from
Buenos Ayres during the time of the bluckade.

Mr. Norris was ordered to dispose of all the Society’s
property at Montevideo and adjust matters with the
subscribers. He arrived at Montevideo in December,
1842, and after a day with friends and in looking after
the property, and preaching on Sabbath at Mrs. Jenkins’
school-room, he proceeded to Buenos Ayres, where he
arrived on the eve of Christmas day. He found the
State in a very unsettled condition, but he was received
with open arms, <A boat with friends met him at the
ship seven miles distant and escorted him to pleasant
lodgings. The church was not yet quite finished, and
worship could not be resumed for a few weeks.

On January 3, 1843, the church was opened with ap-
propriate dedicatory services, Mr. Norris alone officiating.
His text was Isa. Ixvi, 3-7: ‘‘ He that killeth an ox is
as if he slew a man; he that sacrificeth a lamb, as if he
cut off a dog’s neck ; he that offereth an oblation, as if he
offered swine’s blood; he that burneth incense, as if he
blessed an idol. Yea, they have chosen their own ways,
and their soul delighteth in their abominations. I also
will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears
upon them; because when I called, none did answer;
when I spake, they did not hear: but they did evil be-
fore mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted
not. Hear the word of the Lord, ye that tremble at his
word; Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out
for my name’s sake, said, Let the Lord be glorified: but
he shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed.
A voice of noise from the city, a voice from the temple,
a voice of the Lord that rendereth recompense to his
enemies. Before she travailed, she brought forth; be-
fore her pain came, she was delivered of a man-child.”
316 Meruopist EpiscopaLt MIssions,

It was an impressive occasion. The edifice was very
neat, built of brick, with slate roof and stuccoed front;
the gallery slips and pulpit were grained in oak; the
altar was carpeted, and the Bible, a present from James
Edney, Esq., of New York, was truly elegant. The con-
gregation exceeded all expectations as to size. It was
made up from at least eight denominations of Christians.
The Sunday-school was reorganized, with the mission-
ary acting as superintendent, secretary, and librarian.
There were nine teachers, five of them Methodists, and
fifty scholars, of four different nationalities. During all
the time the mission was suspended the class-meeting and
a regular weekly prayer-meeting had been maintained.
Mr. Norris found eleven members in the Church.

An interesting career of progress for Buenos Ayres
Methodism now began. In the year 1843 the class
raised seventy dollars for missions; one gentleman of
Montevideo gave an additional fifty dollars; and the
congregation contributed for repairs, salary, and other
items between seventeen and eighteen hundred dollars.
There were eight subscribers in the mission to the
“Christian Advocate and Journal.’’ A vast field of in-
teresting labor opened to Mr. Norris through letters
from parents and others in respect to friends in the
country, whose anxiety, Mr. Norris declares, would have
been increased had the temptations to which young
men were exposed in that land been fully known. He
began’ to call for religious literature for circulation
among the people, and he urgently petitioned the Board
for a teacher, which the Board steadily declined to
grant. He reported thirty professing Christians attached
to his congregation, and the class increased slowly by
conversions and by immigration, chiefly from England.
The Sabbath-school prospered. A temperance society
The Misston Resumed. 27

was formed, and did good work in stemming the torrent
of intemperance that was flowing over the land. Two
weekly prayer-meetings were also sustained with un-
abated interest.

During the greater part of Mr. Norris’ term of sery-
ice a bloody civil war raged in the country. The year
1846 was especially one of great trial: the English
and French had blockaded the port; the English-speak-
ing people had mostly left the city; the congregations
had been reduced; and the work of the missionary sad-

cor

ly interrupted. The Society for Promoting Christian
Worship in Buenos Ayres’”’ had not been able to raise
money to meet its pledges to the Missionary Society,
and had petitioned for relief. O. J. Hays, Esq., of New-
ark, New Jersey, promptly paid the arrearage for 1846,
and an irreligious man, who had been residing near
Buenos Ayres, hearing of the embarrassments of the
mission, came to the treasurer and tendered a hundred
dollars for the same purpose. The number of mem-
bers is reported as reduced to fourteen. The Sunday-
school had one superintendent, eleven teachers, sixty-
five scholars, and a library of three hundred and fifty
volumes. June 11, 1846, Mr. Norris writes : “ Our con-
gregation continues comparatively large; I mean large
compared with other Protestant congregations. The
Sunday-school is full of encouragement—never larger,
TVhe prayer and class meetings are all well attended.
That held at my house on Sabbath afternoons is full
to overflowing. The state of the Church is interesting
and prosperous.” The report of the superintendent
dated December 31, 1846, gives twenty-six members
of the Church, including some who had removed to
Montevideo, where a class and weekly prayer-meeting
had been established, which were frequently visited by
318 Metruopist EpiscopaL MISSIONS.

Mr. Norris, ninety-six scholars in Sunday-school, in
charge of one superintendent and twelve teachers, and
four hundred and twenty volumes in the library.

Early in the year 1846, under the exceedingly pressing
circumstances, Mr. Norris had signified a desire to re-
turn to the United States, and the “ Society for the Pro-
motion of Christian Worship,” after declaring the highest
appreciation of his services, expressed a desire for the
immediate appointment of a successor, and renewed
their pledge for his support. This matter came before
the Board in March, 1846, and the Bishop in charge was
recommended to appoint a man as soon as a suitable
one could be found, It was a great satisfaction to the
Church when it became known that the Bishop had ap-
pointed to this exceedingly difficult task Rev. Dallas D.
Lore, of the Philadelphia Conference, at the time secre-
tary of the Pennsylvania Bible Society.

A combination of circumstances delayed Mr. Lore’s
departure until the zoth of September, 1847, when he
embarked in the “Mason Barney” from New York,
and arrived in Buenos Ayres in eighty-seven days.
In October Mr. Norris and his family reached the
United States, having left Buenos Ayres on the first of
August. For more than four months the flock had been
without a shepherd, and they hailed with delight the
coming of Mr. Lore. During this interval, with the ex-
ception of a few weeks while the church was being re-
paired, a sermon had been read each Sabbath. All was
in good condition.

The superintendent’s annual report of February, 1848,
shows all repairs paid for, the two prayer-meetings well
sustained, the class-meeting not omitted, and the Sun-
day-school flourishing, having one superintendent, twelve
teachers, one hundred and seven children, and two libra-
The Mission Resumed. 319

ties of six hundred and fifty volumes. Mrs. Lore had
formed a Bible-class of young ladies; one of young men
was taught by Mr. Fay. The Church record contained
the names of seventeen members and four probationers.
In February, 1849, he sums up the results of the year
as follows: “Increase in the membership, seven; of
officers and teachers of the Sunday-school, three; of
scholars, sixty-eight. Missionary collection in the con-
gregation, $70. Missionary collection in the Sunday-
school, $25. Bible Society, $60. For Sunday-school
purposes, $75. Expenses of the station during the year,
about $1,200. Total, $1,430.”

In July following (1849) rare tidings came from the
mission. At one of the Sabbath afternoon prayer-meet-
ings a young man tremblingly arose, confessed his sins,
and begged the prayers of the people. Mr. Lore says:

“You can scarcely imagine the effect on our praying
circle, gathered in the dining-room of the parsonage.
We had many times enjoyed refreshing seasons, but this
was like the gushing forth of the waters from the smitten
rock to the thirsting Israelites in the wilderness.” This
barren field had discouraged the Church, because there
were “no conversions.”” Now the objection was to van-
ish before the manifested grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.
At a love-feast held on the 30th of March, at which
Rey. J. L. Lenhart, of New Jersey Conference, chaplain
of the United States Navy at this port, presided, twelve
persons were received on probation, six young men,
three married men, and three women, all promising
young converts. Six more were shortly afterward re-
ceived, and several more were seriously considering their
spiritual condition. The increase in numbers made it
necessary to form a second class, which the missionary
led himself, in his own study. Mr. Lore now began to
320 MeEtTuHopisr EpiscopaL MISSIONS.

extend his labors to the American, English, Scotch,
and German families in the surrounding country, oper-
ating upon the circuit plan. The Board appropriated
money to extend these circuits, as Mr. Lore desired, but
the Government refused to consent to the movement.
The Annual Report, received early in 1850, credits the
mission at the close of the year (1849) with thirty-five
members and sixteen probationers, being an increase
of twenty. Two hundred Sunday-school scholars were
registered, and of officers and teachers, seventeen. An
infant class had been formed during the year of about
thirty in number. At the close of 1850 the numbers
were somewhat reduced. Three members had been
permitted to withdraw because of neglect of class, one
withdrew, having become a Mormon, and one had died.
Seven of the probationers had been received into full
membership; three were not present at the love-feast to
be received; one had removed; and one was deemed
. Ineligible. One had been received by letter, and seven
on probation. Two of these probationers had been re-
ceived into full membership, and five still remained on
trial. There were, consequently, at the time of this re-
port, forty members and eight probationers. We are
thus minute for the purpose of showing the fidelity with
which the Discipline was administered in the mission,
The Sunday-school statistics were as follows: Twenty-
five officers and teachers, two hundred and twenty-nine
scholars, six hundred and fifty volumes in the two libra-
ries. The financial success of the year was complete.

The same even tenor of advancement continued from
year to year during Mr. Lore’s administration. There
was constant reference to extending this work. The
General Committee, which met in November, 1852, put
$2,000 at the disposal of the Board and Bishops for re-
The Mission Resumed. 321

establishing the mission at Montevideo, and $1,000 more,
contingent for interior work.

But the time came to terminate this superintendency
and Rev. Goldsmith D. Carrow, of the Philadelphia
Conference, was appointed to succeed Mr. Lore. He
sailed from New York in June, 1854, and reached
Buenos Ayres on the 15th of the following August,
where he was gladly received by Mr. Lore and the
entire mission. Mr. Lore bade a formal adieu to the
Church and congregation. His last sermon to them was
from 1 Thess. ii, 19, 20, “‘For what is our hope, or joy,
or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence
of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming? For ye are
our glory and joy.” At evening, after a sermon by the
newly arrived superintendent, a love-feast was held, the
membership generally being present. At the close of
the speaking, on Mr. Lore’s invitation, twenty-four per-
sons arose and pledged themselves to God. Of those
who thus united fifteen were from the Sunday-school. A
deep religious fecling pervaded the congregation, and
to Mr. Lore the parting was an agony. He left sixty
members and twenty-four probationers, all but six or
eight of whom were brought into the fold during his
pastorate.

Mr. Carrow entered upon his work with great en-
thusiasm. He opened a day-school, of which Mrs. Car-
row was the chief support, and he begged the approval
of the Board and assistance in his great work. All re-
straints upon religion having been removed by the latest
revolution, which closed in 1855, he gave particular em-
phasis to the often repeated suggestions of his predecessor
that the work should be extended into the surrounding
country; he also pleaded the duty of the Church to re-
enter Montevideo. Under the new phase of political
329 MEtuHopIst EpiscopaL MIssIONs.

affairs, the whole mission put on a most inviting aspect.
Bishop Ames accordingly appointed Rev. Thomas Carter
to aid Mr. Carrow, by relieving him in the school till the
expected teacher should arrive in the spring, and then
to devote himself to circuit work about Buenos Ayres.
Mr. Carter came as far as New York on his way to
the field, but on a fuller conference with the missionary
authorities it was agreed that he should be released.
Rev. William Armstrong, of East Genesee Conference,
in December, 1856, was also appointed to this work, and
he was directed to sail immediately after the session of
the Baltimore Conference, when he was to be ordained.
But he did not enter the field.

The “ expected teacher” proved to be Rev. Henry R.
Nicholson, who had been employed in the Wesleyan
work in Spain. He entered upon his school with much
hope. The Annual Report of 1856 speaks of the insti-
tution of a large mission-school as the great event of the
year. Not far from one hundred pupils were in the
school, and Mr. Nicholson had one male and two female
assistants,

The Board had also authorized the re-establishment of
the work in Montevideo, with special reference to the
native population; for with the inauguration of religious
liberty arose an irrepressible desire to preach the Gospel
to the Spanish people. Efforts in this direction were
for the present unavailing, and even the re-entering of
Montevideo was deferred. In 1857 the school was or-
dered to be discontinued, or in some way to be carried
on as a personal enterprise, having the countenance and
moral support of the mission, but not dependent on it
for means. These steps were ordered, chiefly, because
of the embarrassments of the treasury at home, follow-
ing the depression of business again at this period every-
The Mission Resumed, 323

where throughout the United States. At about the
same time, Mrs. Carrow’s health having failed, it was
necessary to relieve Mr. Carrow, and he left the mission,
During his administration the society which had been
formed merely to look after the secular affairs of the
mission undertook to control important interests of the
Church not at all within its province. This led to
lamentable distractions and divisions, so that the mis-
sion was reduced in numbers and strength. Calamities
multiplied at home and abroad, and Mr. Carrow left the
mission with a membership of thirty-nine, and without
a school, and the authorities at home were completely
disheartened.

6. Superintendency of Dr. Goodfellow.

Rev. William Goodfellow succeeded Mr. Carrow,
receiving his appointment to the superintendency in
February, 1856, but was detained in New York until
October 26, not reaching the river Platte till Decem-
ber 27. The wife of Mr. Goodfellow is the daughter of
Dr. Dempster, and proved, during the long superintend-
ency of her husband, a genuine missionary. The Corre-
sponding Secretary of the Missionary Society, in giving
his last instructions to him, said that the Society were
sadly discouraged over their only Spanish work, and if
prospects did not brighten they must proceed to close it
up, selling out the property and abandoning the field.
‘There were very many persons in South America hostile
to our work, both among Protestants and Romanists,
who would have been glad to see the mission discon-
tinued; the former were rivals, the latter antagonists.

As a first step the superintendent, under instructions,
placed the organization of the Church outside of and
above the local “ society,” which had so long controlled
324 Meruopist EpiscopaL MISSIONS.

it. This was done at a risk of losing most of the finan-
cial support of the society. The effect was wholesome,
and the administration of Mr. Goodfellow continued
nearly thirteen years, terminating August 9, 1869. The
period of its continuance was one of great commotions.
Twice the city was besieged, once visited by yellow
fever, twice decimated by cholera, and once shaken
fearfully by a foreign war. Progress was never rapid,
but rarely did a month pass without conversions and
accessions. Only a few years passed before prosperity
once more beamed upon the mission.

The week of prayer was observed at Buenos Ayres,
January 5-12, 1860, and there were two conversions. One
of them was that of John F. Thomson, of whom more
hereafter, The young men of the mission, during the
year 1860 and for some years after, went out on Sabbath
afternoons two by two, holding cottage prayer-meetings,
with Bible readings and exposition. Besides the culture
received by the workers themselves this resulted in many
conversions. The next year we find these zealous men
continuing this good work. They visited the houses of
such as did not or could not attend public service, read-
ing and expounding the word, and exhorting and pray-
ing. Accessions were thus made to the congregation,
and conversions were frequent. John IF. Thomson,
Charles T. Brill, W. D. Junor, W. IF. Froggatt, Carl
Schauffler, William Junor, and others composed this
active band. Sunday services were also established by
them at the British Hospital, by the courtesy of the
officers and physician of the institution.

During the year 1863 William Junor gave up his busi-
ness and began to give his whole time to the sale of
Bibles. He was a class-leader, steward, and Sunday-
school teacher, and was one of the most useful of men.
Superintendency of Dr. Goodfellow. 325

From this time until his death, in 1873, he remained in
the Bible work, persistent as an apostle, From among
these zealous and enterprising young men proceeded
the first native laborers in the mission, some of whom
have become eminent servants of God. After John F.
Thomson, who became the apostle to the Spanish people
in the Argentine Republic, there came into our Church
Robert H. Morton, who afterward entered the English
Wesleyan body, and did a good work in Portugal ;
Charles Reverong de St. Cyr, the Sunday-school evan-
gelist of Sweden; Andrew M. Milne, who, converted in
his youth in Scotland, after being with us a while began
a very successful Bible work; Ernst W. Wesley, who
came to the United States and entered the ministry in
New Jersey; Matthias Mathieson, now missionary in
New Mexico; George Schmidt, the indomitable traveler
and Bible distributer; Charles T. Brill, who finished a
noble life while yet young; William Tallon, a faithful
local preacher; and Mrs. E. M. Bolton, converted in
1858, and removed to London in 1863, who became
there a Bible worker among the poor. Her work as
city missionary was made a blessing to thousands.
There are others, worthy of all honor, who were asso-
ciates and fellow-laborers of these.

In the year 1860 Superintendent Goodfellow visited
Montevideo, and found there several members of our
Church ; one from New York, where he had been a local
preacher; one, also, who had been a class-leader in
New York. Mr. Goodfellow organized a class and es-
tablished a weekly prayer-meeting, and strongly urged
the Board to re-open the work in that city. The official
Board of the mission on August 17, 1860, passed 4 series
of resolutions declaring that there were abundant indi-

cations that a mission ought to be opened to the native
99
vu aie eon

aa
326 Meruopist Episcopat Missions.

population, and that for this purpose they turned first
to the Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal
Church. They further resolved that, in view of the
request of many of the citizens of Montevideo for such
a mission, no delay should be made in sending a mis-
sionary to that place. These resolutions were promptly
forwarded to the Board at New York, the superintendent
saying, ““We must extend; we must follow our scatter-
ing people; we must before one year have a Spanish
service in ¢h7s city.”

On April 27, 1861, Mr. Andrew Wells, of Montevideo,
called and presented Mr. Goodfellow a national bond
for $500, gold, drawing six per cent. interest, for the pur-
pose of opening a mission in his city. It was to be the
first money toward a church, and Mr. Goodfellow writes
Dr. Durbin: “Shall I return such donations to their
donors? Shall I say, We do not intend to enlarge, keep
your money?” This bond was, in 1868, stolen from Mr.
Goodfellow, and the thief, to escape detection, threw it
down a deep well. A policeman with two soldiers made
him bring it up, and it was the first money appropriated
toward the present property in Montevideo.

The people of the mission were in earnest sympathy
with all the interests of the country, and with every
charitable movement. When the earthquake occurred
at Mendoza, March, 1861, killing thirteen thousand
persons, and wounding and impoverishing many, Sefior
Don Domingo I. Sarmiento, afterward Minister to the
United States, and then President of the Argentine Re-
public, addressed our people on Sunday evening, April
13, and a collection was taken of $106 20, gold. The
people had previously contributed in various relations
$413 80, gold.

The South American Missionary Society had fixed
Superintendency of Dr. Goodfeliow. 327

its chief station on the Falkland Islands; they owned a
brig, the “Allan Gardiner,” commanded by Captain
Robert S. Fell, a preacher among the Baptists. On
Sunday, November 6, 1859, the captain and seven En-
glish and Norwegians were on shore on Button Island
holding a service in their wigwam, built for the purpose,
when the natives came upon them, killing all but one,
who had been left in charge of the brig, and who was a
witness of the massacre, and escaped among the tree-tops.

The widow of Captain Fell and the widow of Mr.
Phillips, the catechist, visited Buenos Ayres on their way
home, and our people, who had contributed largely for
that mission, renewed their gifts to these two families.
A concert was given in our church, by forty-five of the
best musicians in the city, aided by sixteen instru-
ments, and the proceeds were divided equally between
Mrs. Fell and Mrs. Phillips, amounting together to nearly
$500 in gold.

The last contribution reported to the home treasury
for missions was in 1864, and amounted to $96 96, gold.
About this time the desire for enlargement of our work
and the demands made on the people for actual mission
work in their own land diverted from its former chan-
nels the money given for missions. The people helped
the South American Missionary Society as if it was of
their own Church. Its missionaries, ministers, and col-
lectors were quite at home in our pulpits and among
our people. No year passed without some pressing
general subscriptions for important mission work south
of the equator. After the Lord called the first student
to prepare for the ministry, the people gave toward the
special object of the education of young men for the
ministry upward of $1,000, gold. The mission pos-
sessed a generous and aggressive spirit.

u we a
328 Meruopist EpiscopaL MISSIONS.

A view of the mission at this time appears in a let-
ter of the superintendent to the Corresponding Secre-
tary, dated April 27, 1861, in which he says: ‘“ Never
before had we so many persons attending all our
services as now. Yesterday was an ordinary day; En-
glish, Scotch, and Germans had their several services,
yet our house was full; instead of preaching in the
evening we had a prayer-meeting, which was a_pre-
known arrangement, and the house was filled again.
On Wednesday nights about sixty attend the prayer-
meeting, and the two classes are well attended. At the
recent communion seventy-one persons participated. For
our love-feasts we give tickets, and only admit per-
sons with them or with notes of admission. Every de-
sirable seat in the church is now taken. The aggregate
of pew-rents for this year is nearly $1,500, silver. If
we had more seats of a desirable character we could
rent them. Persons have spontaneously come to me and
given for a permanent fund to extend Methodism about
$1,300, silver. $800 of this sum is loaned, and $500 is in
government bonds bearing six per cent. interest. These
things are the result of the confidence inspired by Meth-
odism as a system. They were as unsought as they are
unexaggerated. They tell their own story.”

The spiritual s¢a¢ws of the mission is fully set forth in
the following report, dated January 20, 1863: “ Officers
and teachers in Sunday-school, 22; pupils, 178; conver-
sions, 4; increase of scholars during the year, 20. We
teach carefully our Catechisms, Numbers J, II, and III.
We have half an hour's singing every Sunday, and repeat
together the Apostles’ Creed and the Lord’s Prayer.
Prayer-meeting Wednesday night, and for half an hour
after service Sunday night. At the former we have usu-
ally about fifty, and at the latter about eighty persons.
Superintendency of Dr. Goodfellow, 329

“At watch-night we had preaching and prayers, and,
later, the Lord’s Supper. At the stroke of twelve there
were fifteen kneeling at the table, when all the house
knelt with them in a consecratory prayer. Afterward
several arose for prayers. The week of prayer was ob-
served, with two meetings for worship, at 6:30 A. M. and
at 8 P. M. There were five conversions and six acces-
sions by probation. At communion the following Sun-
day there were seventy-three present, the largest num-
ber ever known in that house. Among others at love-
feast was Sefior Don Antonio Ferrer y Fernandez, an
exile from Spain for the Gospel’s sake. He brought a
Church letter from his pastor (a Scotch missionary) at
Gibraltar.’’ The year closed with all debts paid; eighty
members and nineteen probationers; total, ninety-nine.

On the 15th of January, 1863, a school was com-
menced for the benefit of poor children, most of whom
went to no school, and the rest depended on uncertain
charity for a little ill-given education. It was opened
in the parsonage dining-room, and a young lady, Miss
Lucy White, was employed to teach gratuitously such
as would attend. A few gentlemen gave their names to
pay two dollars a month to provide a salary. During
January there were eighteen scholars. The necessity
of a Church-school had been long felt. The three other
Protestant Churches, all State institutions, had schools,
and by means of these they drew away not only our
poor, but others. By this means they depleted the Sun-
day-school constantly. To seek out, feed, clothe, and
elevate outcasts, and then, as they must be educated, to
have them driven to leave us, was not agreeable or to
our advantage, for many of them were soon in a way of
independent living, and ready to help others,

The school paid its own way—paid for seating the
230 Meruopist EpiscopaL MISSIONS.

school-room, bought its own maps and fixtures of all
kinds, and numbered at the close of the year one hun-
dred and three scholars. It now abandoned the name
of free school, and, out of respect for the schools taught
by our members all over the city, it refused to receive
pupils from them unless regularly dismissed for the
purpose. Prayers and reading of the Scriptures, study
of the Catechisms Numbers I, H, and III, the recital of
the Lord’s Prayer and the Creed, and the singing of
Sunday-school hymns were a part of the daily exercises.
The school became a power.

In January, 1864, a Mr. Shaffter came from Espe-
ranza, over one hundred leagues in the interior, asking
the superintendent to come and preach the Gospel to
his neighbors. Esperanza was a settlement of three
hundred and thirty families, of whom nearly half were
Protestant Swiss. They were Lutherans, but desired a
more vital Christianity. Mr. Goodfellow undertook to
supply them; aided them in building a church and par-
sonage and in conducting a school. For six years we
had a missionary at this point. The people worked for
the church edifice as Nehemiah’s countrymen worked
for the second temple. A very convenient and ample
building, forty-four feet by twenty, was erected, having
church, parsonage, and school-house accommodations
under the same roof. It was dedicated November 27,
1865, and was of great advantage to the people. It cost
$2,455 78 in gold, of which the Missionary Society paid
$666 10. After the close of Mr. Goodfellow’s adminis-
tration it was deemed best to dispose of this property,
especially as the people seemed little inclined to con-
tinue to contribute of their money for the expenses of
the charge.

The year 1864 witnessed many important steps in the
Superintendency of Dr, Goodfellow. 331

Go

progress of the mission. ‘The Missionary Society had
previously appropriated $12,500 currency toward a new
church in Buenos Ayres, a sum far too small to ad-
mit of any movement toward building. This year the
Board appropriated $16,000 in gold, but even this was
not enough, and delay ensued, until the Missionary So-
ciety in 1865 appropriated $30,000 in gold, which amount
was requisite to purchase a suitable lot.

For several years a committee of advice on real estate
interests for the city of Buenos Ayres had existed in
this Church, consisting of Edward Zimmerman, Thomas
Armstrong, James Semple, S. B. Hale, and H. W. Nichol-
son. There was a most desirable lot held by heirs and
involved in lhtigation which they desired to obtain, and
for which they had been waiting. This appropriation
of $30,000, renewed for a year or two, was about to lapse
on January 1, 1868, when Secretary Harris drew it and
forwarded it in the form of a draft, and the superintend-
ent, Mr. Goodfellow, placed it in the bank, awaiting the
decision of the court in respect to the desired property.
The lots were the finest for the purpose in the city, and
were eventually bought on the earliest day the law al-
lowed, costing $30,699 28, gold. Public estimate put
them at not less than $40,000. As the committee were
not ready for over a year to begin to build, the rent of
houses produced an income of $198 per month, gold.

The church, a beautiful edifice, was erected, and the
audience-room was dedicated on Thursday, May 9, 1871,
addresses being made by Mr. White, Sefior Estol, and
Superintendent Jackson. Our mission was not without
foes, who were wily and indefatigable. When this project
for building was ready to proceed a cry was raised that
we were a transient society, in a few years we would no
more be seen, and the money given would be lost to the
332 METHODIST EpiscopaL MISSIONS.

donors and to the country. Many were disaffected, and
some promised great things, if it were not for our ephem-

 

 

METHODIST EPISCOPAL CUURCH, BUENOS AYRES,

eral character. Hearing of this, the Board, in 1867, sent
permission to guarantee the return to donors or their
heirs all their benefactions for building in case that
mission field should be abandoned by us, and these ene-
mics suffered a defeat as total as it was unexpected.
Yebruary, 1864, brought to the mission the news of
Superintendency of Dr. Goodfellow. 353

the death of Rev. John Dempster, D.D., the first mission-
ary to South America. He died November 23, 1863, and
the whole community was moved by the intelligence.
Some of his old friends put on badges of mourning, as if
he had been their nearest relative, a Sabbath was set
apart for a service commemorative of his virtues and
labors as the apostle of Methodism in South America.

Two or three young men in the employ of the South
American Missionary Society during this year left that
society, and were received as workers among us. They
were employed chiefly in the country region around the
city of Buenos Ayres. Two of them, being Germans,
served among the Germans in the interior, one at Es-
peranza and one at Villa de Urquiza. Before the work
had taken permanent form in the country districts a
panic revolutionized the business of the sheep farmers,
scattering or disabling our friends, and changing very
materially the plans of the superintendent.. Among the
many workers thus employed from other communions
none were found who could readily adopt Methodist
modes or be developed into valuable workers. Indeed,
after a few years’ experience it was thought best to dis-
continue all these workers and surrender their outposts.
The committee decided that it would not in future ap-
propriate money to support missions among immigrants
in a foreign land, but that all appropriations to missions
in foreign countries must be for work among the natives
of those countries.

Rev. Thomas Carter, of the New York Conference,
having been re-appointed to this mission, arrived with
his family, February 14, 1864. Mr. Carter aided in the
work in the city of Buenos Ayres, and visited important
places in the country, until events called him to the city
of Rosario. This was a city of about thirty thousand
334 MeruHopist EpiscopaL MISSIONS.

inhabitants, in the province of Santa Fé. Our call toit
was providential. There were several families of Prot-
estants there, who had bought and inclosed ground for
a cemetery, and invited Mr. Goodfellow to dedicate it.
At the conclusion of the ceremony a German offered
land for a church, and made a contract to convey it,
but subsequently refused to abide by his agreement.
Mr. Thomas Armstrong, of Buenos Ayres, then came for-
ward, and gave a lot worth at that time about $1,200, gold.

Mr. Armstrong was our warm and serviceable friend.
No enterprise of ours, great or small, ever passed un-
helped by him. A Church of England man from his
youth, he was, nevertheless, a frequent and welcome
worshiper with the mission. Neither should Samuel F.
Lafone ever be forgotten in the history of our work on
the River Plate; our ministers were to him as his sons,
and our members as his brothers. He was of the same
Church as Mr. Armstrong, and his benefactions were
munificent, and generally given with a whispered “ Tell
no man.” He died of overtasking himself by care of
the sick poor during the prevalence of the yellow fever.

In the meantime Mr. Carter commenced services in
his own hired house, where the congregation gradually
increased, until the erection of a church building was
absolutely required. Without asking any help from the
Society at home he then went with a subscription paper
among the English-speaking inhabitants of Rosario and
the principal Spanish citizens, and raised about $1,800
in gold toward this object. After the building was
commenced he made a visit to Buenos Ayres, where he
raised $1,200 more. Thus by the generous aid of friends
in Rosario and Buenos Ayres the church edifice was
built without drawing upon the missionary treasury.
English, Romanists, Lutheran, Scotch Kirk, and Church-
Superintendency of Dr. Goodfellow. 335

men aided, and the church was dedicated, free of debt,
November 13, 1865. It was thirty by fifty-five feet,
having two rooms, tu accommodate Church and school.
The Church apartment is forty by thirty feet, the other
thirty by fifteen, and there is ample room for a parson-
age, as the lot is seventy feet by ahundred and seventy.
The cost, besides the lot, was $3,000, gold. Mr. Carter
had a congregation of forty or fifty, which subsequently
rose to between sixty and seventy, also a Sunday-school,
Bible-class, and prayer-meeting. A Spanish service was
also occasionally held in the new church gn the after-
noon of Sunday, at three o’clock.

This service was well attended on the first Sabbath,
as the people were drawn to hear from curiosity. It
was maintained for some time, then discontinued, and
then commenced again, but finally discontinued on ac-
count of the removal from the city of the only man who
could be obtained to lead the singing in that language.

A very important part of our work in Rosario was the
establishment of a day-school. On the first Monday of
January, 1865, Dr. Carter started a school in his own
house, consisting at first of six children. It was in-
tended to educate the children of English residents, but
the accessions came so rapidly from the native Spanish
people that ere long it was composed principally of the
latter. At the time the church was finished it was re-
moved from his house to the main room in the church
building, where it gradually increased until it reached
the number of fifty-eight, consisting almost wholly of
boys and young men from the Spanish-speaking na-
tive population. Very many of these boys and young
men were from families of the first respectability in the
city, who paid for their tuition, thus giving means to
provide teachers as assistants, and to defray other ex-
336 MetuHopist EpiscopaAL MIssIONs.

penses, without calling on the Missionary Society for
aid. Notwithstanding the character of the pupils the
school was conducted strictly on Protestant principles.
Every morning it was opened with prayer and reading
the Scriptures. At the opening of the afternoon session
every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday Dr. Carter gave
a practical lecture, in the Spanish language, on personal
religion, the errors of Romanism, the leading events of
the Bible, faith in Christ, etc.,in this way accomplishing
during the week the work which a Sunday-school is in-
tended to do, On the alternate afternoon sessions the
school was opened by reading the Scriptures.

Thus many of the young men now residing in Rosario
were educated in our mission school, and they and their
families and friends were prepared to look with favor onus
and on our religion, This work of education was main-
tained regularly for five successive years, and until within
a few weeks of Dr. Carter’s departure from the country.

A girls’ school was also opened in another part of the
city, and a teacher employed; this was kept up until
the removal of the teacher. The difficulty of obtaining
another instructor prevented its continuance.

The character of our English-speaking congregation
in Rosario was such that for two years before Dr. Carter
resigned its charge the average quarterly plate collections
amounted to $25 in gold, or $100 a year; and during
all the time of his stay in Rosario, except the first year,
$500 in gold, per annum, were raised in the country
toward his support.

Besides thus laboring in the church and school Dr.
Carter established an English monthly magazine, en-
titled the “South American Montbly,” which, for a year
and seven months before he left the country, regularly
appeared. It circulated in the cities of Montevideo,
Superintendency of Dr. Goodfellow. 337

Buenos Ayres, Cordova, Asuncion, Rosario, and in Par-
aguay, and almost at every station along the line of the
Grand Central Argentine Railway. It was started and
maintained without aid from the Missionary Society.
Almost without an exception, at every monthly appear-
ance of this magazine it was greeted with a commend-
atory notice from the principal Spanish newspaper in
Rosario, speaking in favor of our work, and recommend-
ing the moral and religious character of the publication.
Articles were frequently translated and published in
Spanish, thus reaching in this indirect mode the native
inhabitants of the country.

The work of the American Bible Society in the valley
of the La Plata was inaugurated in 1864, under the
superintendency of Mr. A. M. Milne, a young and encr-
getic Scotchman. His sales of Bibles have reached six-
ty-five thousand copies. He is an evangelist and Bible
reader, as well as Bible vender, and he knows by actual
exploration thousands of square miles of the territory.

During the first year of Mr. Milne’s work he employed
to assist him George Schmidt, a German, who spoke many
languages, and strangely united the sternness of Ehjah
with the sweetness of John and the heroism of Stephen.
He carried on foot his package of Bibles over thousands
of weary miles, entering every house, beginning with
the house of the priest, and beseeching him to return to
the Gospel. He heeded no warning to desist. Before
magistrates he was never harmed, so ably defending him-
self with native eloquence and power that he was always
acquitted. The police, directed by the priests, often
arrested him and thrust him into prison, but sales of the
Bible were more abundant when he was liberated, and
he almost rejoiced to be arrested. He faced mobs with
the utmost composure, and they were powerless before
338 METHODIST EPISCOPAL MISSIONS.

him. He often met persons waiting and longing for the
light, and then, on retracing his journeys, he found the
golden grain where he had left the seed. Himself con-
verted in a Brazilian prison by reading a Bible received
from the Bible Society, he had unbounded faith in the
word. He had been afflicted with kleptomania, so that
he could not sleep at night without first rising and
stealing something. For this he was cast into prison;
but, born of God, the kleptomaniac was completely re-
stored to his right mind. Until he was employed by
the Bible Society he worked at the trade of a cooper for
a portion of every year, and with the money earned
bought Bibles for distribution. In 1874, after exhausting
labors, he died, without a true Christian near him, in a
vile Paraguayan hospital, and without attendants.

The after-service prayer-meeting, one Sunday evening
in March, 1864, was enlivened by an Indian of the Au-
racanian nation rising up, all brassy and blue with his
new military uniform, worn as captain in the Argentine
army. He spoke of his tribe as reaping and sowing, mak-
ing butter and cheese, and living in houses on their own
lands, in southern Chili. They had convents, and mon-
asteries, and monkish schools: but the people did not
advance. He could not read, for reading was not taught
in their schools. He said he liked our simple worship,
preferred our religion to the Romish, and wanted one of
the missionaries to go with him. “TI will build you a
church,” said he, ‘‘about as good as this.” So spoke
Captain Antonio Negron, a cacique of his nation—a
pagan—baptized, but still a pagan—yet not too blind to
perceive the usefulness of our work. His request could
not be granted.

The year 1864 closed with the following force em-
ployed: Superintendent and wife, at Buenos Ayres; Rev.
Superintendency of Dr. Goodfellow, 339

Thomas Carter and wife, at Rosario; Rev. D. F, Sau-
vain, a local preacher, received from the Swiss National
Church, preaching in Buenos Ayres in French ; and Rev.
John Andres, who had retired from the service of the
South American Missionary Society and joined the
Church at Buenos Ayres, preaching at Esperanza; six
laborers, ninety members, and thirty-eight probationers,
with one hundred and six pupils in the day-school, and
five teachers.

The year 1865 began with reiterated requests from
the mission for enlargement. The catalogue of reasons
assigned was as follows: “Our old premises, valuable
for a building site, the house ready to fall down, the
church dilapidated, the people unwilling to put any
more money on it or in it, every seat in the house ap-
plied for, not a free seat left for strangers, the altar and
pulpit steps crowded every Sunday with children who
had no room in the pews, the parsonage premises out
of repair and unhealthy from the incurable condition of
the drains, lots cheaper in a more central part of the
city, school-rooms needed for a Church-school, the old
parsonage crowded on week-days with day-school and
Sundays with Sunday-school, the day-school self-sup-
porting in spite of the opposition it has always faced,
congregations larger and our Sunday-school the largest
in the city, and but one Church day-school superior to
ours.’’ Any other policy than one of extension was de-
clared to be useless, fruitless, wasteful, suicidal. We
have already anticipated their relief in the noble church
erected, and dedicated on May g, 1872.

The year 1866 was inaugurated by the Week of Prayer,
always a blessed season to the mission, during which
there were three conversions and as many accessions.
The services were usually well attended at Buenos Ayres,
340 METHODIST EPISCOPAL MISSIONS.

and each year there were conversions. This year a cir-
cular was distributed, calling attention to the time of
Church services and the topics to be treated, and twice
as many as usual attended. At Rosario Mr. Carter had
many more hearers. At Esperanza there were two con-
versions, and at Villa de Urquiza, where J. J. Rau, a
German, was employed, every Protestant man’s name
in the colony was placed on the subscription list for
his support. All these were hopeful indications.

In February, 1866, the superintendent made a visit to
Salto, in the Republic of Uruguay, where he received a
paper signed by twenty-nine persons, each pledging
himself to pay three dollars, gold, per month for salary
and rent, provided a minister could be sent to this
place. They called themselves “ Praying and Believing
Protestant Worshipers.’’ A few days afterward they
wrote that they could easily increase the sum to $200
per month. They needed one who could preach in
Spanish and in German, but none such could be found.

Rev. J. W. Shank, from the Biblical Institute, Evans-
ton, arrived to reinforce the work on March 1, 1866.
Mr. Shank aided in the work in the city of Buenos
Ayres, as the absence of the superintendent at outposts
was frequent. Mr. S. also supplied the work adjacent to
Buenos Ayres. The city work among a population of
over 200,000 was extensive; four prayer-meetings a
week were held instead of two, as formerly ; and preachi-
ing at the Barracas, one league away, and on board shirs
in the harbor, was also sustained. Mr. Shank himsclf
says: ‘“We landed in Buenos Ayres, March 1, 1866,
Found our missionaries there, like most of the missiona-
ries of our Church, much worn out by hard work. Itsoon
became evident to me that too much was expected on
the part of the church people from one fresh from the
Superintendency of Dr. Goodfellow. 341

home field, though that one may be young and inex:
perienced. There was much groaning and prayer by
some for a greater spiritual life in the Church. Not a
few of the members had been swept downward by the
enormous current of worldliness so prevalent in that
land, and both pastors and people were greatly desiring
the outpouring of the divine Spirit and the quickening
of the Church. With this feeling William Junor called
an extra prayer-meeting at the house of William Martin-
dale. This was followed by a series of extra meetings
at private houses, and the blessing of God was upon
them. The Church was greatly strengthened, and souls
were converted and saved. The meeintgs finally re-
sulted in a regular protracted meeting in the church,
with preaching as well as prayer services, and there was
quite a revival. The prayer-meetings at private houses
were continued for a long time afterward, and often the
Spirit of God was richly poured out upon the suppliants.

“Tn October, 1866, being the centennial month for
Methodism in America, it was thought best to make
some movement toward enlarging our work, and I was
selected for the purpose. Closely succeeding our pro-
tracted meeting, and much worn by the extra labor it
had occasioned, I set out on a journey into the campus.
Unused to camp life, I yet traveled, besides four hun-
dred miles by rail and stage-coach, about seven hundred
and fifty miles on horseback, and visited from house to
house nearly all the English-speaking people settled in a
space of country fifty by two hundred miles along the
Atlantic coast.

“The journey was romantic, but dangerous in no small
degree; often traveling alone, the compass was my only
guide. Iwas often compelled to ford lakes and rivers
and avoid dangerous quicksands as best I could, I did

93

99
342 Meruopist EpiscopaL MISssIONS.

what no native would allow himself to do, passed on
foot through a large herd of cattle, and once while alone
came squarely upon a lion in the open field. I was wel-
comed by the people, some even greeting me with
shouts of joy and with tears, not having heard a sermon
for years. The region visited was organized into a cir-
cuit, with pledges on the part of the people to support
the minister.

“Tt was while performing this labor, and when about
three hundred miles south of Buenos Ayres, that, owing
to insufficient diet and excessive riding on ill-trained
horses, I completely broke down, and, being compelled
to continue the excessive horseback riding for days in
ord-r to get back to the city, my maladies were so in-
creased that I could not recover except by long-con-
tinued rest, if at all. After about two months I returned
to the United States full of longing and prayer for a
people so hungry for the word of life, so willing to re-
ceive it, and where all the Gospel seed sown is sure to
produce a hundred-fold.”

Cordova, an old stronghold of the Jesuits near the
base of the Andes, reported to have about twenty-five
thousand inhabitants, was added to the work this year.
It is a center of great influence in the interior. Mr.
John Beveridge, of Ohio, was employed at a very low
rate to supply the work there for a year in the interests
of the mission. He sought the place for health, and
also had some light labor of his own. He was followed
by F. N. Lett, and on his leaving an effort was made
to sustain a Protestant school, but the distance from our
base of supplies, six hundred miles, and difficulty in
finding the zealous, self-denying, and discreet men
needed for a mission of such difficulty and delicacy, led
to the abandonment of the work. Cordova is a beautiful
Superintendency of Dr, Goodfellow. 343

city, one of the most healthy spots on the globe, and will
give grand returns for Gospel work when it shall be
faithfully bestowed.

Two young men arrived in Buenos Ayres late in the
year 1864, with plans for opening a commission house,
with connections in Europe. They were sons of an em-
inently useful minister of the Wesleyan body, and their
widowed mother, a class-leader, and a woman of culture
and powerful faith, resided in Leeds, England. The
younger entered a commercial house, to learn the busi-
ness modes and language of the country. On _ the
evening of August 5, 1865, he sat in his room alone,
thoughts of home crowding head and heart. He said
to himself: “ What are they doing at home? Celebrat-
ing my birthday, of course; but how? My mother is
praying for me to-day ; I will pray with her.” He knelt
down by his chair, made his vows, sought pardon, and,
after a struggle of an hour, arose with all his plans
changed. He sat down at once and wrote his mother,
under date of his birthday, all that had occurred, adding,
“ And now I am to be a Christian at all hazards; Christ

”

first, business afterward, if at all In six weeks he re-
ceived a letter from his mother, of same date, saying:
“This day I have been in prayer for you all day, and
now, just at night, my prayer is answered; you are to be
converted, and to become a minister; I do not know
when or how, but my covenant-keeping God has said it.”

His letter and his mother’s passed each other in mid-
ocean, and were read on the same day. He gave up his
business at once, became a teacher in our day-school,
gathered and conducted a suburban Sunday-school,
held Sunday services in the British Hospital, prepared
for college, and in 1866 set out for the United States,
raduating in 1870 at the North-western University at

Oo
gi
344 Meruopist EpiscopaL MIssIONs.

Evanston. He afterward entered the Michigan Annual
Conference. and he is now (1878) Rev. Charles William
Pearson, Professor of English Literature in his d/ma
Mater.

In September, 1866, Mr. Goodfellow visited His Ex-
cellency, General Sefior Don Justo Jose de Urquiza, ex-
President of the Republic, and then Governor of his
native province, Entre Rios. He carried letters of in-
troduction in general terms, and was admitted at once
to audience, when many other visitors had been denied.
Mr. Goodfellow on being admitted applied to the gov-
ernor for help to build our church in Villa de Urquiza,
a town named after the governor and within his own
province. The governor questioned the doctor closely,
and, being advised of his plans, asked how much was
desired of him. The superintendent suggested the hope
that he would insure the success of the enterprise. The
governor then asked if $500 in gold would do this, and,
on being assured it would, he clapped his hands for his
secretary, who wrote the order, which the governor
signed, and bade the superintendent welcome to the hos-
pitalities of his house. Mr. Goodfellow says: “TI grate-
fully left the mansion, which was both official and private,
and was the capital of one of his many farms, this one
embracing eight hundred and ten square miles. Our
Board, by vote, constituted him a Life Patron of the Mis-
sionary Society.”

Mr. John Andres, in April, 1866, left Esperanza on a
visit to Germany, and Rev. D. F. Sauvain went to supply
his place. Mr. Andres never returned, having joined the
Tutheran Church. He is now (1878) preaching in Illinois.

In October, 1866, Rev. John Francis Thomson re-
turned from the United States, taking with him, as his
young bride, Miss Helen Goodfellow, a niece of the
Superintendency of Dr. Govdfellow. 343

superintendent, both of them prepared to face the for-
tunes of missionary life. Mr. Thomson was born of
Scotch parentage, in England, in the year 1843. He
was taken in infancy to Glasgow, Scotland, and remained
in that city till he was ten years of age. He then sailed
with his parents for Buenos Ayres, South America, where
his maternal grandmother and her family resided, all cf
them members of the Presbyterian Church in that city.
The grandfather, before he died in Scotland, had, by
study of the Bible, broken away from Calvinism, and, in
his love for a congenial ministry of the word, used to
travel seven miles oz foot every Sabbath morning, re-
turning in the same manner in the late afternoon. On
these trips, characteristic of the Scotch thoroughness
of his convictions, he was accompanied by Mr. Thom-
son's mother, then a young but thoughtful lassie, who
used to carry the old man’s Bible, and drink in his views
on man’s responsibility, free grace, and free will, more
simply, and perchance more scripturally, enforced than
even by Arminius himself. What a beautiful picture!
What a Christ-like school of theology! A young maiden
starting with the Sabbath dawn to walk fifty furlongs
through glen and by hillside, listening all the way to a
doctrinal discussion from the lips of her loved and ven-
erable sire. From time to time, as they rested by the
wayside, she was commanded to turn to the passages in
the inspired volume confirmatory of the views advanced
and read them. Such teachings were even tore pre-
cious and prophet-like when they looked into the realm
of experience, and she was permitted to see the written
promise of what might be enjoyed confirmed by a fa-
ther’s trusted testimony of what had been enjoyed.

It is not strange that when this maiden became a
mother, and went with her childrer to Buenos Ayres,
346 METHODIST EPISCUPAL MISSIONS.

she found her spiritual home in the Methodist Church;
for the teachings of that Church, and the requirements
made of its members, harmonized completely with the
blessed and cherished lessons of her girlhood. Thus
the history of John F. Thomson, happily for him, became
identified with Methodism. At about the age of twelve
he joined the Methodist Episcopal Sunday-school, al-
ways the most attractive religious center for the English-
speaking children and youth of Buenos Ayres.

At the age of sixteen, when about to pass over into
Uruguay to begin sheep-farming, he was met one day
on the street by Dr. Goodfellow, and asked if he would
not like to get an education in the United States. The
project seemed too big, too far off, and too expensive
for the lad, and so he said; but his kind pastor assured
him that all that was needed was a resolute will, and
every difficulty would vanish, and bade him talk the
matter over at home, and report at the parsonage. The
report was favorable to the youth’s highest interest, and
on the following Monday he took the first step on the
long road that was to end, seven years afterward, on a
platform in the college campus at Delaware, Ohio,
where he received a roll of parchment, signed and
sealed by the authorities of the university, attesting his
attainments.

In the January following the beginning of prepara-
tion for college, Johr Francis was converted during the
week of prayer, and after a probation of six months
was admitted by Dr. Goodfellow into the Methodist
Episcopal Church.

In the year 1862 he sailed for the United States, every
thing having been arranged for the voyage and for his
future curriculum in the Ohio Wesleyan University, by
the kindness and influence of his devoted benefactor.
Superintendency of Dr. Goodfellow. 347

Dr. Goodfellow, who was also his preparatory instructor.
In Delaware he had the rare privilege of being an in-
mate, first, of the house of Dr. Godman, and later and
for a longer period, of that of President Merrick. Mr.
Thomson says: “God never gave better friends to any
young man, and well might the son of a prince have
coveted the influence and instruction of such a circle
as gathered round President Merrick’s table and hearth-
stone. This noble man did more by his blameless and
beautiful life to satisfy the reason of his students as to
the truth of Christianity than the books they studied on
that subject.”

During Mr. Thomson’s career as a student he felt a
call to the ministry, and was in due time recommended
to Conference by the St, Paul’s Methodist Episcopal
Church, Delaware; was received by the Erie Confer-
ence of 1866; was ordained deacon and elder under
the missionary rule, by Bishop Janes, at Bedford-street
Church, New York, the same year.

Mr. Thomson having been absent from the country for
four years, and his knowledge of the Spanish acquired in
his boyhood not being of the scholarly character needed
in public addresses, he spent some time in careful prep-
aration for Spanish work. In the meantime he fell into
line, aiding in the work in the city of Buenos Ayres and
the surrounding country. When he did commence to
use the Spanish it was with the grace and force of a na-
tive Castilian.

7. Opening of our Spanish Work.

Early in the year 1867 it came to Mr. Thomson’s
knowledge that there was a widow, a school teacher,
residing in the “Boca,” a place about twelve furlongs

from Buenos Ayres, who was a Protestant in conviction,
348 METHODIST EPISCOPAL MISSIONS.

and anxious to have religious services in her house
promising to exert her influence among the parents of
her pupils to secure a respectable attendance. The
name of this lady is Dofia Fermina Leon de Aldeber,
and her history presents a few points of striking interest.
She was born and married in Patagonis, Argentine Re-
public, all but the most southerly town in the world,
and on the very rim of civilization.

Strange vicissitudes took to that out of the way place
a lady from old Spain, who was possessed of a New
Testament, and became imbued with a deep love of its
teachings. She opened a school, and had among her
pupils Fermina de Leon, to whom she became greatly
attached. When this young lady was married to Sefior
Aldeber, and started to make a new home in Buenos
Ayres, her kind teacher presented her with that well-
worn copy of the New Testament, as a treasure of ines-
timable value, because it taught the sure way to happi-
ness. Years afterward, when Mrs. Aldeber was a widow
with four children, and keeping a school by the help of
two of her daughters, she learned that there was a
clergyman in Buenos Ayres preaching in Spanish the
style of Christianity taught in the much-worn old vol-
ume she so highly prized.

She gave him an invitation to preach in her house,
which was accepted, and this led to the establishment
of a work that, including regular preaching, Sunday-
school, and day-school in the Protestant interest, was
maintained for over ten years, till an epidemic of cholera
first, and of small-pox afterward, in a manner drove
this lady into Buenos Ayres, where she keeps a school
to-day.

Among the converts in her home in the “ Boca” was
Jose Cardoza, a dissipated and reckless sailor. who
Opening. of our Spanish Work. 349

worked the ships running up the Parana as far as Cor-
rientes and Paraguay. The change in this man’s life
was so complete and striking as to amaze his former
acquaintances. It was an entire moral transformation
and new birth, spiritual and inteilectual. During the
years 1867-1875 he was instant in season and out of
season, laboring honestly for the support of a family he
formerly neglected, preaching and exhorting wherever
he went, and leading not a few to the cross of Jesus.
In the fearful plague of yellow fever that devastated
Buenos Ayres in 1871 he was accompanied by Mr. Maul,
another of the converts of the mission, and was instru-
mental in saving more patients than many of the regular
physicians, besides pointing the dying to a balm for the
troubled soul, of which the doctors themselves were all
too ignorant. In 1875 he removed with his family into
a colony about that time started in the wilderness of the
Gran Chaco, and thither he took his religion with him.
The light that was kindled by the old school-teacher in
the southern limit of the Argentine Republic was thus
carried by a true and steady hand to illumine the dark-
ness that covered the northern frontier. Who can tell
what one act of Christian fidelity will lead to?

The first Spanish sermon in the Church in Buenos
Ayres was delivered on Sabbath, the 25th of May, 1867.
It was suggested by Dr. Goodfellow, whose whole soul
seems to have been bent on making the missior. aggressive,
and to whom this was the fond realization of the dreams
and prayers of years, his own spiritual son the agent
under God of effecting the work. When the service was
opened the larger congregation was outside the house,
and the exercises were varied with an occasional tuft of
grass or a cobble-stone thrown into the house. The
police came to protect the worshipers, and after using a
350 METHODIST EPISCOPAL MISSIONS.

horse-whip a few times the larger crowd was inside
Mr. Thomson was enabled to preach with fluency and
acceptability a sermon from thirty to forty minutes long,
when he could not, with any satisfaction to himself,
keep up a conversation on varying topics for half that
time. The evening service in English at the Church
was now suspended for the new service. An immense
audience greeted the young preacher, leaving no vacant
standing room. ‘The altar, pulpit steps, and sofa in the
pulpit were all filled. Members of Congress and of the
State Legislature, judges, lawyers, and physicians, min-
gled with the commoner people as they crowded the
house of God. A service being held on the following
Tuesday night, it was also thronged in like manner.

From the very beginning of this work a bold stand
was taken for the truth and against error. There was no
cringing or bowing to the intolerance and bigotry of the
apostate Church of Rome. Her soul-slaying errors and
superstitions were roundly denounced and condemned
by the evidence of Scripture. This course is logically
as well as biblically demanded in a country victimized
and emasculated by papal teaching. No man can de-
fine, in the exact sense of the word, the way of salvation
to a Romanist without breaking in upon his supersti-
tions. And to admit a man into Christian fellowship
who believes Jesus Christ is the Saviour of the world,
and Afary also—who admits that the blood of the Lamb
cleanses from sin, and the fires of purgatory have a like
power—is an attempt to reconcile God and Belial, and
a successful confusion of light and darkness.

Besides being the more manly and upright course, this
frankness calls around the flag of evangelism those who
can be relied upon—men who are not wheedled unsus-
pectingly into a communion cursed and condemned by
Opening of our Spanish Work. 351

a Church they are only half willing to renounce. Upon
the foundation so solidly laid the superstructure of our
Spanish mission in South America has been erected.
Though the work of reformation, from the nature of
things, has made most friends and converts among those
least affected by the social influence of the State relig-
ion, namely, the poor, it has also counted among its pious
and devoted adherents the best and most distinguished
in the land.

In February, 1868, three young men came to the
house of the superintendent to ask for help in getting
work, and to be directed to cheap lodgings. They were
all sailors just from the same ship. After answering
their inquiries, they told the superintendent their re-
ligious history. A neighborhood prayer-meeting was to
be held in half an hour at the parsonage, and they were
invited to remain. In the meeting there was a good
spirit, and each of the sailors spoke, two of them begin-
ning for the first time the new life, and one of them
coming back to a forsaken love. Each one began that
night a life of earnest piety. Two of them found daily
labor, and are yet living noble Christian lives; one of
them within two wecks became a colporteur, and a
few weeks afterward opened, in the old parsonage, a
sailors’ home, where, during evenings, sailors could find
books, stationery, light, and, on certain evenings, a re-
ligious meeting. During the day this sailor missionary
was at work among the five hundred seamen who are
always on shore. His support was meager, but the re-
sults of his work are incalculable. Many were being
converted, and frequent letters from faithful ones on a
voyage rewarded this servant of God. This worker was
Matthias Mathieson, a Dane by birth, but speaking five
or six languages, with less than Pentecostal perfection,
352 MetruHopist EpiscopaL Missions.

but sufficiently to be understood. One morning he
arose without money to pay for his breakfast, but he
resolved to work on till the means should be _ pro-
vided. He called at the post-office and received a
letter from a lady in Chester, England, telling him her
sailor brother had come home ill of consumption, and
had left one gold ten-shilling piece, which, as his last
request, he had desired should be sent to Mr. Mathie-
son as a token of his gratitude. Mr. Mathieson contin-
ued in this field till 1870, when he came to the United
States, and became a missionary of our Church at So-
corro, New Mexico.

8. Mr. Jackson’s Superintendency.

June 4, 1868, Rev. Henry G. Jackson arrived at
Buenos Ayres, sent by the Bishop, at Mr. Goodfellow’s
request, to take charge of the English-speaking congre-
gation, thus enabling Mr. Goodfellow to devote his en-
tire time to the superintendency.

Mr. Jackson gave his undivided energies to his as-
signed duties until the long superintendency of Mr.
Goodfellow closed, on account of the declining health of
himself and his wife. Bishop Clark’s letter of release
is dated April 8, 1869. At the same time Mr. Jackson
was appointed superintendent of the mission. His
work being now ended, on the oth of August, 1869, Mr.
Goodfellow sailed for the United States, where he ar-
rived in October. Highly complimentary resolutions
were passed by the official board of the Church in Bue-
nos Ayres, expressive of their appreciation of Mr. Good-
fellow’s personal character, and of his successful labors
among them as a minister of Christ; and at a farewell
entertainment given at the house of his successor, Rev.
Mr. Jackson, a committee from the congregation pre-
Mr. Jackson's Superintendency. 353

sented him an address of similar import, accompanied
with a purse containing $1,400,

Upon the recommendation of the new superintendent
a different policy from that hitherto pursued was adopt-
ed by the Missionary Society with regard to the South
American mission.

Our mission in South America being for the conversion
cf the people of that country from Romanism to the
crue religion of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the obvious
impracticability of effecting that object by preaching in
languages not understood by them having been set forth
by the superintendent of the mission, he was authorized
to close up at once the German missions that had been
opened and maintained by the Society for some years at
Villa de Urquiza, in the province of Entre Rios, and
also that at the German and French colony of Espe-
ranza, in the province of Santa Fé, and to confine mis-
sionary efforts to those speaking Spanish, which is the
language of the country. This was accordingly done,
and since that time no missions have been established
at the expense of the Missionary Society for the benefit
of English, French, or German colonists. Such mis-
sions, if established by the Methodist Episcopal Church,
must be entirely self-supporting.

It was determined to continue the English charges in
Buenos Ayres and Rosario, (that in Buenos Ayres being
sclf-supporting,) as bases of operations, and to direct
the energies of the mission in the line of the Spanish
work in both these cities, and in Montevideo, where
Mr. Thomson had already preached a few times in pri-
vate houses.

In 1870 Rev. Thomas B. Wood, son of Rev. Aaron
Wood, D. D., of the North-west Indiana Conference, ar-
rived in Buenos Ayres. The following disposition of
354 METHODIST EPISCOPAL MISSIONS.

the working force of the mission was then made: The
superintendent, aided for awhile by a professedly con-
verted Spanish priest, remained in charge of the English
and Spanish work in Buenos Ayres; Rev. John F.
Thomson removed to Montevideo to prosecute the
work in both languages in that city; and Rev. Thomas
Carter, having returned to the United. States from
Rosario, Rev. Thomas B. Wood succeeded him in
that city, to carry on the English work, and tuo open
a Spanish mission there as soon as he should acquire
the language.

We were thus planted in the three principal cities of
south-eastern South America—Buenos Ayres, the capi-
tal of the Argentine Republic, the second city in popu-
lation and commercial importance on the South Ameri-
can continent, and destined at no distant day to be the
first; Montevideo, the capital of the small but import-
ant Republic of Uruguay; and Rosario, the commercial
center and port of export for a vast region, rivaling in
natural fruitfulness the great Mississippi valley of our
own country.

The subsequent history of the several stations can be
best told separately.

9. Buenos Ayres.

ENGLISH CHARGE.—This charge, from June, 1868,
to July, 1878, was under the pastoral care of Rev.
Henry G. Jackson, D. D., Superintendent of the South
American Mission. During this time it maintained an
average attendance of from two hundred and fifty to
three hundred persons at the public services, with a
membership of about seventy-five; a Sunday-school
varying at times from one hundred and fifty to two
hundred in attendance; and prayer-meetings and other
Buenos Ayres. 355

weekly religious and social meetings, similar to any
well-organized Church in the United States.

This charge is now, and has been during almost its
entire history, self-supporting so far as its pastoral sup-
port and current expenses are concerned. During the
ten years under consideration, it had paid in this way
an average of $2,936 annually; besides a cash testimo-
nial to the pastor, at one time, (in view of services dur-
ing the yellow fever epidemic in 1871,) of $1,000, and
at another, (on his departure for the United States in
1878,) of $750.

This superintendency was distinguished by the erec-
tion of the existing church edifice, as already described.
The old property was very advantageously disposed of by
Mr. Jackson for the sum of $40,000, and the new build-
ing was begun in 1871. It comprised a church, lecture-
room, class and library rooms, and a commodious par-
sonage. The estimated cost was $60,000. Besides the
$40,000 received for the old church site, the building
committee had other resources amounting to $10,000,
without counting what might be raised by subscription.
The cost of the work when finished overran the archi-
tect’s estimate, as usually happens, so that there was still
a debt resting on the property, notwithstanding the fact
that the congregation, by subscription and otherwise,
has raised over $20,000. It should also be stated, that,
in addition to the $20,000 mertioned above, there was
raised during this period the sum of $2,000, which was
used in the purchase of the ground and the building of
a room for holding services at Barracas el Norte, a sub-
urb of Buenos Ayres; this property was deeded to the
Missionary Society. The total value of the mission
property in Buenos Ayres may be safely estimated, even
in those times of depressed prices, at $117,000. From
356 METHODIST EpiscopAL MISSIONS.

what has been stated it may be seen that the English-
speaking congregation in Buenos Ayres had, during the
past ten years, contributed for all purposes an aggregate
sum of $53,110, or an average of $5,311 annually. This
had been done in spite of a financial crisis that during
three or four of these years had paralyzed business, and
utterly crushed many of those formerly the most wealthy
and liberal supporters of this Church.

The spiritual fruits yielded by this charge during
the past ten years cannot be so easily or so exactly
calculated. Souls had been converted, some of whom
still bore testimony to the power of the Gospel of
Christ among men, and some had gone home to
heaven, leaving behind them triumphant proof that
the same Gospel has power to sustain and comfort
the dying. This charge has steadily fulfilled, and is
still fulfilling, all the purposes of a live, evangelical
Church, always loyal to Methodism, in the face of Angli-
canism, Calvinism, Lutheranism, Rationalism, and Ro-
manism.

The relation that this English-speaking charge sus-
tains to the real missionary work that we are carrying
on in South America is a noteworthy feature. It is a
center from which to operate, and a base of supply, es-
pecially furnishing for the work that which it is always
the most difficult to obtain, namely, laborers who are
on the ground, who know the language of the people.
and who are acquainted, by personal experience and
contact, with the character of the work and the nature
of the field. It had already given to the missionary
work in Spanish several efficient men, and could now
offer two more, who had been converted and trained
up religiously in its communion. Besides these, it fur-
nished a corps of Sunday-school teachers, singers, and
arp. ina e ar
Bucnos Ayres. 357

general helpers in the Spanish work, the value of whose
aid could not be overestimated.

SpanisH Work.—As we have said, the Sunday even-
ing was given up chiefly to the Spanish service. The
congregation did not at first differ much from that
which attended the English service; by degrees, how-
ever, Spanish people began to be attracted, until a large
congregation, consisting for the most part of those who
could not understand English, was gathered. For sev-
eral years two sermons were regularly given in English
each Sabbath ; consequently scarcely any English-speak-
ing people ever attended the Spanish service except
when they had been drawn thither by some unusual
attraction. The number of Spanish-speaking people
who attended the Sunday evening services in our church
in Buenos Ayres was between 450 and 500, as had been
ascertained by frequently counting them.

On Friday evening a service was held for prayer and
special religious instruction. From 200 to 250 persons
attended these meetings, in which the plain and simple
truths of the Gospel were expounded, and the necessity
of personal, experimental religion was urged upon the
hearers. On Sunday afternoon a Sabbath-school was
held in the Spanish language. This school was attended
by both adults and children, and was conducted very
much as are Sunday-schools in the United States.

The Spanish work in Buenos Ayres was carried on by
Mr. Thomson until 1870, in which year he removed to
Montevideo, having left the mission in Buenos Ayres
under the care of the Superintendent, who undertook
both the English and Spanish charges, assisted by a
priest, believed to be converted, and who, in fact, for
a while gave apparent evidence of genuine piety. Al-
though he proved to be the best of his class, it became

24

ZR
358 MeETHOpIsT EpriscopAL MISSIONS.

necessary to dispense with his services, which was done
in the early part of 1873, the superintendent of the mis-
sion taking upon himself all the Spanish services in ad-
dition to those of the English charge. This required
of him three sermons, and attendance at two Sabbath-
schools every Sabbath, two prayer-meetings during the
week, besides the official meetings, sick calls, funerals,
baptisms, marriages, and other pastoral duties pertaining
to two charges. In addition to this, the book-keeping
and correspondence connected with the superintendency
of the mission, and, during part of the time, the man-
agement of an extensive church-building enterprise,
frequent contributions to the Zvangelista, and the com-
position and publication of a collection of Spanish
hymns for the use of the congregations, helped to em-
ploy that portion of his time that was not spent in a
week-day school, which during three years he taught for
the sake of instructing his own boys, and at the same
time supplementing the salary received from the Church.
The additional burden imposed by the Spanish charge
he carried, with occasional assistance from Messrs.
Junor and Tallon, until his departure for the United
States in July, 1878. In the same manner double work
was being done by Mr. Thomson, who in 1877 was in
charge in Buenos Ayres.

By this arrangement that work was carried on in
Buenos Ayres after 1873 without charge to the Mis-
sionary Society. Even the incidental expenses of the
Spanish service were paid, for the most part, by the
English congregation, and the superintendency of the
South American Mission has been of little cost to the
Missionary Society.

Among the many who have identified themselves with
our Church since the commencement of the Spanish
Buenos Ayres. 359

work in Buenos Ayres, a number have giver satisfac-
tory evidence of being truly converted, some of whom
have been remarkable for their devotion and zeal in
the cause of the Master, and the genuineness of the
religious experience of some has already borne the
Wesleyan test—they have died well.

Of these two are worthy of special mention—Dofia
Juana Manso de Norhona, the most distinguished
woman of South America, especially noted in the de-
partment of literature and education; and Dofia Car-
mina de Davison, the mother of five sons and five daugh-
ters, all of whom, now of mature years, are, through her
influence, faithful adherents of the Church.

Of Dofia Juana Manso de Norhona it may be said,
that her extraordinary talents as a writer, her zeal in
the cause of popular education, her advanced ideas, her
practical sound sense, and her unselfish devotion to
the good of her race, had made her to be known wher-
ever the Spanish language is spoken; but the best of
all is, that during the last years of her life she was an
humble, devoted Christian. She connected herself with
our Church and Sabbath-school, to both of which she
was ardently attached.

The Sabbath before she died she was visited by the
superintendent of our mission in company with some of
the brethren of the Church. They found her awaiting
death with a serenity of spirit truly admirable. Her
Bible—a Christmas present from the Sabbath-school—
lay on a chair beside her. She said her daughter had
been reading to her. When asked if she found conso-
lation in the word of God, ‘‘O yes,” she replied, “God
is very good to me. In the night I wake from sleep to
praise God. In the midst of my sufferings I still must
praise him.” Each subsequent day of her life she ex-
360 METHODIST EpiscopaL MISSIONS.

pressed her confidence in the Saviour. Word was sent
to her by the Romish priest of the parish in which she
resided, that if she did not confess and receive the sac-
rament, and thus reconcile herself to the Church, she
could not be buried in consecrated ground; but she
cared nothing for that. She preferred that her grave
should be among those who, like herself, had died trust-
ing in Jesus alone for salvation, and so she was buried
in the “American ground,” in the little Protestant ceme-
tery of Buenos Ayres.

This sketch of earlier mission work in Buenos Ayres
would not be complete without some mention of the
fearful visitation of the yellow fever in 1871. Early in
the year the plague began; but at first it occasioned no
alarm, and even when it had become an object of ap-
prehension, much precious time, that might have been
speat in endeavors to prevent its spread in the city,
was suffered to pass unimproved, while the doctors and
editors were tediously discussing the nature of the
disease. In the meantime it was proceeding, slowly but
surely, from house to house, laying prostrate whole fam-
ilies at once, and the death rate was increasing rapidly
from day to day. Then the people became panic-
stricken, and began to leave the city by thousands
daily; but it was too late to stay the progress of the
destroyer. The very air of the city was poison, and
scarcely any who remained escaped the contagion,
Every inhabited house became a hospital, and it was
with difficulty that the sick could be cared for, or the
dead be buried. The death rate was appalling. Two,
four, six, eight hundred, even nine hundred a day, until
not less than twenty-five thousand people, one eighth of
the entire population, of every age and condition, had
been conveyed to their last resting place in the cemetery.
Buenos Ayres. 301

Our congregations had their share in the general suf-
fering. Nearly all our friends who remained in the city
were attacked, of whom forty died.

The most aged of our members, Lydia L. Sutton, who
was more than ninety years old, died of the fever. She
was a most devoted Christian woman. Cut off in a
great measure by deafness from intercourse with others,
she lived in almost constant communion with God.
After years spent in silence on earth she is now listen-
ing to the music of heaven!

Many of our members generously and heroically de-
voted themselves to the care of the sick and the dying.
At the call of suffering humanity they volunteered to
fight with death at fearful odds.

In 1880 the General Committee changed the name of
the Mission in the River Plate region to “South-East
South America,” placing the Mission of William Taylor -
on their list as ““ Western South America” for the Pacific
Coast stations, and “ North-Eastern South America” for
the basin of the Amazon and adjacent regions. These
missions had sprung up within a few years. Their his-
tory is traced in another chapter. Bishop Harris made
a special visit to them, as we have seen, this year. The
American Bible Society’s work was pushed by members
of our Church a thousand miles up some of the great
rivers. Rev. J. A. Wood penetrated the Parana River
region three hundred miles, nearly half way from Rosa-
rio to Asuncion, and found that it offered grand oppor-
tunity for our work. Mr. Correa itinerated over an
immense territory, extending from the Uruguay River to
the sea. The work among the English-speaking people
was augmented by the influx from Europe. The ratio
of increase of immigration to the inhabitants went up
362 MetTuHopist EpiscopaL MISSIONS.

from less than one half per cent. per annum, from 1860
to 1864, to one per cent. the next five years, and to over
two per cent. the next succeeding five years.

The Spanish work, organized separately but three
years before, now numbered four communicants to
one of the English Church. Many excellent enter-
prises were undertaken by our laymen. In 1879 a
zealous brother of the Spanish congregation of Buenos
Ayres, a watchmaker, commenced devoting several hours
a day to teaching a group of native children gathered
from the streets. A converted night policeman came
to his help, and six hours each day were given to in-
struction. The school soon had fifty boys and girls
in attendance. A room was rented and furnished, and
Mr. F. Fletcher, a philanthropic Englishman, came for-
ward with his money and his personal aid. He rented
larger premises, and the attendance varied from one hun-
dred to one hundred and twenty, with cheering results.

In 1882 the General Committee restored the original
name of “ The South American Mission.” Bishop Fos-
ter had made a hurried trip down the eastern coast in
1873, but in 1882 Bishop Harris circumnavigated the
continent, giving special attention to affairs in Monte-
video, Buenos Ayres, and Rosario, studying them in
their far-reaching relation to the whole south-eastern part
of the continent. He ordained A. M. Milne and W.
Tallon. His visit greatly strengthened the connectional
feeling among these churches.

The great incubus of debt on the Buenos Ayres prop-
erty had been swept away, and a revival under Brother
Thomson's labors, held chiefly for Spanish congrega-
tions, reached many of the English congregations as
well. The Ragged School received large local financial
Buenos Ayres. 363

help. The Missionary Society paid but $800 this year
for the work in this city.

The “El Evangelista,” the weekly organ of the Soci-
ety, established 1877, has been supported without appro-
priation from the Missionary Society from the beginning.
Its influence is felt to the heart of Bolivia on one side,
and to Spain on the other. Spaniards converted in these
countries send it to their old homes, sometimes with
marked results. In the interior of the continent, places
where preaching is not permanent, find a partial sub-
stitute for it in the weekly visits of this paper. It helps
our converts in Bolivia to defend their faith. Its articles
and news items are widely copied, and many a paper that
will not quote from it, is constrained to adopt its treat-
ment of many matters that are constantly agitating the
people. It takes strong ground against Sabbath break-
ing, bull fighting, intemperance, and other evils rooted in
the social customs of these lands.

Buenos Ayres, under Thomson, showed an increase
of fifty per cent. in local contributions, and Mrs.
Thomson had organized a society for the Ragged
School. Rev. Thomas H. Stockton and family arrived
from the United States and took charge of the English
work, leaving the eloquent and indefatigable Thomson
free for the Spanish work alone. He had crowded
houses and did nobly his part ina great pending na-
tional conflict on the question of exclusion of religious
teaching from the public schools. The conflict raged
violently. Thousands of women paraded the streets
carrving remonstrances. The papal legate then arrived;
urged compulsory attendance on public schools, and
Romanist dogmas as a part of the curriculum.

In 1883 Mr. Thomson got special privileges from the
364 MetuHopisr EpiscopaL MISSIONS.

National Government of Argentina for the circulation of
Bibles. Through an influential Bolivian resident in the
La Plata region, who became acquainted with our Gos-
pel work, entrance was gained into Bolivia.

The English Church at Buenos Ayres was still a center
from which important influences emanated. The first
year after its separation from the Spanish work it be-
came wholly self-supporting, and contributed to the
Missionary Society. Mr. Thomson at once attracted by
his eloquence three times as many people as could find
admission to the church, including men of the highest
rank. Ex-President Sarmiento became a member of
the committee to secure a new church for the enlarging
congregation. Mr. Thomson also made visits to the in-
terior, and much interest was manifested at Mercedes.
In the year 1885 the Spanish work was reconstructed,
Mr. Hudson and others taking local charge, while Mr.
Thomson attempted still wider pioneering. The English
Church this year entertained the annual meeting of the
Mission. A theater at Mercedes was also purchased, in
which Mr. Thomson had been preaching.

In 1886 Bishop Fowler visited the Mission. Rev.
Joseph R. Wood had retired on account of ill health,
and Rev. C. W. Miller was sent to fill his place. Pro-
vision had been made for a purchase of property at
Buenos Ayres for the Theological School and the Span-
ish Church. The whole work was put on a new basis.
Dr. Wood, in compliance with his many requests, was re-
lieved of the Superintendency,and Rey. Charles W. Drees,
of the Mexican Mission, was appointed his successor.

The English charge in Buenos Ayres, opened Decem-
ber, 1836, had now completed its fiftieth year, and
brought a jubilee to the Mission. The year was marked
Buenos Ayres. 365

by extraordinary calamities. War, political excitement,
financial disorder, and pestilence, concentrated their evil
effects on the work. Nevertheless, it was a year dis-
tinguished in the following particulars: The number
baptized, the number admitted to membership, the first
celebration of “Children’s Day,” the expansion of the
work about the old centers, the planning of new work in
Paraguay, in the heart of the continent, and in Vene-
zuela, at the extreme North—thus adding two nations
not hitherto appearing in the list of mission fields.
Buenos Ayres had, from first to last, been connected
with the anticipation of evangelizing the continent; and,
after tedious delay, it at last began to realize some of
the great results desired.

10. Rosario.

The opening of work at Rosario, and the erection cf
the church, have already been narrated.

Mr. Wood entered this field May 1, 1870, and ina sin-
gle year had acquired so much Spanish as to be able to
preach in that tongue. He attempted, however, some-
thing of Spanish work at once. His first semi-annual
report gives for the English work ten members and five
probationers. He was encouraged by the appearance of
the field, but greatly discouraged by the location of the
church, it being in the English section of the city, and
utterly unfit for Spanish work. Mr. Wood held the first
regular Spanish service on April 23, 1871, and curiosity
drew quite a crowd of people of all classes. The con-
gregation, however, fell off as curiosity diminished. A
Spanish Sunday-school was organized the next Sunday,
in which were four Indians and six gauchos, and it in-
creased till it became quite a school. Rosario is a very
interesting post. For more than two years Mr. Wood
366 Meruopist EpiscopaAL MISSIONS.

occupied the Chair of Physics and Astronomy in the
National College, an institution recently founded by
the National Government. This is the head-quarters of
higher education of the whole province, and this Pro-
fessorship affords an advantageous general influence
over the best class of young men of the province.

A Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
was organized, and sustained principally through the
personal efforts of our missionary, which, besides doing
a great deal of good in the usual line of such a society,
succeeded in banishing from the place the barbarous
practice of bull-fghting. ‘he bull-ring was sold for
old lumber, and the Society for the Prevention of
Cruelty to Animals held a cattle-show on the grounds,
awarding gold and silver medals as premiums. Subse-
quent efforts to revive bull-fighting in the province have
utterly failed.

A temperance movement was set on foot, a “teeto-
tal” organization being planted among the English. A
good many drunkards were reformed, general attention
directed to the cause, with universal approval of the
good results, though opposition was not wanting to the
movement, chiefly from the wealthier English residents.
To the natives the whole affair was a novelty, but the
more thoughtful among them applauded its intrcduc-
tion as opportune, not only for the foreign element, but
also for the natives.

The United States’ Consulate is curiously but usefully
connected with our work. As early as 1857 the Depart-
ment of State at Washington discovered the importance
of Rosario as the key to the interior provinces of the
Argentine Republic, and established there a commercial
agency. This was erected into a Consulate in 1870, with
jurisdiction covering all the Argentine provinces be-
Rosario. 367

yond Buenos Ayres. In 1872 a vacancy occurred, and
Mr. Wood, without his knowledge, was appointed acting
Consul, and recommended to the State Department for
confirmation as the charge daffaires at Buenos Ayres.
This post was held by him for a long time, and became
increasingly important as the growth of trade of Rosario
advanced. It served to give position to the incum-
bent, which was of value both in its effect on the
public mind and in facilitating intercourse with public
men. All the time-consuming work of the Consulate
was done by a clerk, and the requirements of the
office did not interfere with the regular work of the
missionary.

In 1872 Mrs. Wood commenced teaching a few chil-
dren, English and native. Before the close of the year
their number had so increased as to fill the house, and
to require two assistants. This served as an experiment
as to what could be done with native children. Late in
the year four orphan boys were received, to make room
for whom two pupil boarders were discharged. The in-
come of the Consulate, received about the same time,
provided the support of the orphans. The school was
closed for the hot season, and never afterward opened,
owing to Mrs. Wood’s ill health; but the orphans were
kept, and their number augmented by two others. The
entire support of these boys had to be provided by our
missionary.

Two lady missionaries, Miss Jennie R. Chapin and
Miss Lou B. Demming, were sent out iu 1874, by the
Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society. As they pro-
gressed in Spanish they began work under Mr. Wood’s
direction with great promise of usefulness; but in 1875
instructions came to them from the May Meeting of the
Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society, that the existing
368 METHODIST EPISCOPAL MiSSIONS.

arrangement was unsatisfactory, and they must com-
mence a separate work The May Meeting of 1876 was
solicited by Mr. Wood to alter those directions, but,
instead of that, a resolution was passed declaring the
request contrary to their constitution. The ladies,
therefore, commenced in 1876, and are still carrying on
an independent operation, consisting mainly of a day-
school and boarding-school for girls.

In the year 1875 Joseph R. Wood, a brother of
Thomas B., went out to Rosario, by appointment of the
Bishop. He entered upon the work with great zeal, and
in the year 1877 was left in charge of Rosario, while his
elder brother was transferred to Montevideo to supply
a vacancy occasioned by the absence of Mr. Thomson
in the United States on important business of the mis-
sion. While Mr. Thomson remained in the United
States his labors were a blessing to the Churches, to
the cause of missions in general, and to the South Amer-
ican work, and he returned in February, 1877, with
many tokens of the confidence of the Church.

By 1882 the region surrounding Rosario gave promise
of the development of regular organization in a little
while. The region east of the Parana was visited by
Mr. Penzotti, who held eight to ten services weekly.
The Spanish work had developed into a service in that
language in the evening. The general sentiment in
favor of religious liberty was greatly advanced. In

1882

a?
a new constitution was adopted, disestablishing the

in the province of Entre Rios, op a Rosario,

Church so far as provincial regulations do so. This
was considered the beginning of the end of official re-
ligion in all these countries. The next year West Entre

Rios Circuit, comprising the Parana side of the Province
Rosario. 3609

of Entre Rio, was separated from the Parana Circuit.
East Entre Rio, on the Uruguay side of the Province,
secured a site for a church. At Cordova the National
Government opened a normal school for young women,
with four Protestant ladies from North America. This
was antagonized by the priests, and the controversy ex-
tended till it involved the whole Republic. The Super-
intendent testified of the Woman’s Foreign Missionary
Society missionaries that without their help, apart from
their specific duties, much of the work that was in a
flourishing condition would be impossible. In 188s
Rev. J. R. Wood left for the United States, after organ-
izing two circuits in Entre Rio. Other circuits were
formed. Pioneering in the mountain provinces was
continued, and Mendoza, the metropolis of West Argen-
tina, at the foot of the Andine wall, was occupied;
Mendoza was connected, by rail, with Rosario and also
with San Juan at the north, which colporteurs had
penetrated, and the woman’s work rejoiced in the open-

ing of a new school.

11. Montevideo.

Mr. Thomson, in 1868, began work in this city by
preaching every other Sabbath, the alternate Sabbath
being spent in Buenos Ayres. The services were at
first held in the parlors of such friends as offered them,
most generally in those of Mr. A. M. Milne and Mr.
Samuel F. Lafone.* An audience was gathered by go-

* One of the names never to be forgotten in Montevideo is that of
Don Samuel F. Lafone. He was one of the first to welccme us to
Montevideo in 1839, and was a pious, zealous, liberal supporter of
all our enterprises. He made himself a Life Director of the Mis-
sionary Society by a gift of $500. He died in Buenos Ayres in 1871,
where he had gone as a volunteer nurse among the poor during the
prevalence of the yellow fever.
370 MetuHopist EpiscopaL MIssIONs.

ing out into the streets, and stopping the wayfarers to
invite them to a religious meeting. Spanish politeness
induced many a man to come and hear what he bad
never heard before—a gospel sermon.

Later, the Free Masons offered the use of their school-
room, accommodating about two hundred. The work be-
gan to be noised abroad, and this school-room became too
small. An opera house, being used as a theater, was pur-
chased for a church in the year 1869, and a monthly sub-
scription of $117, was raised for the support of the pastor,
and Mr, Thomson thereafter gave his whole time to Mon-
tevideo. A series of providential events soon filled the
newly-bought house with hearers, some serious and some
converted. Among these events was Mr. Thomson’s fa-
mous discussion in Montevideo with two Roman priests.

This began in the main hall of the State University,
where Mr. Thomson, by invitation and permission, took
exception to and refuted some of the positions taken by
the learned professor of canon law, who was then dis-
cussing the books of the Apocrypha, and asserting their
divine authority. The fact that Mr. Thomson was go-
ing to take these exceptions had been previously made
public, and the hall was packed with merchants, lawyers,
and students, eager to see the fray between the young
heretic and the distinguished Doctor of Laws. Of
course, one evening barely sufficed for the combatants
to state what they were going to contend about, and a
meeting was appointed for the following week. When
that time arrived an immense crowd besieged the doors
of the University, but they did so in vain. The rector
had forbidden the janitors to admit any but a few ven-
erable and privileged individuals, giving as a reason
the destruction of several articles of furniture by the
crowd on the previous week.
Montevideo. 371

Once in the hall Mr. Thomson found himself con-
tronted, zot by the professor, but by two plump and
tonsured priests, each armed with a threatening manu-
script; they were Fathers Mansueto and Elia.

The former of these worthies soon gained the floor,
and dernanded to know why the people were locked out,
and when it would be the pleasure of the authorities to
let them in. When informed of the order received from
the rector, he folded up his manuscript and bluntly
stated that he had not traveled three miles that night to
entertain half a dozen critics, how worthy soever they
might be, and that, in the discussion of a subject of such
magnitude as the one he was there to defend, the people
had a right to hear, and, for his part, the people only
should be his judges, and so he would say to all “ good-
night.”

Before he left Mr. Thomson hastened to agree with
him as to the people’s rights, and begged him to adjourn
to the students’ club-room, a few blocks away, or to ap-
point a meeting at that place or at the Methodist church
for another evening. To neither of these propositions
was he able to assent, alleging the prohibition of his
Bishop. On the following Sabbath night, however, just
as Mr. Thomson was announcing his text, who should
arise, dressed as a private citizen, but this same Father
Mansueto, asking permission, as an authorized repre-
sentative, to ‘say a word in favor of his Church. What
was to be done? It was Sunday, and not a fit season
for such a speech, nor would a gentleman have so sprung
it upon an opponent; but as we are commanded to be
instant even out of season, he was invited to say on,
And he did say on and on and on, till a quarter past ten.

The people gave him a courteous hearing. When he
concluded Mr. ‘Thomson announced that, seeing it was
372 Metruopist Episcopat MIssIons.

Sabbath evening, and so late, he would not answer the
padre till the following Wednesday night. But that very
night Mr. Thomson was attacked with what one set of
physicians called petit mal, and another angina pecterts,
and he was ordered, on pain of the most serious conse-
quences, to abstain from all public speaking, was not
allowed to ride in the street cars, or rapidly to ascend
a stairs. This interdict was held over him for three
months. Of course, when Wednesday night came the
church was closed, and Father Mansueto said some-
thing to the disappointed gathering about the conven-
lence of being sick when it would be very unprofitable
to be well, and other remarks bearing unkindly and in-
delicately on Mr. Thomson’s condition.

Mr. Thomson crossed the river to Buenos Ayres and
hid himself in the pampas for several weeks. Mean-
while Father Mansueto had printed the lecture he de-
livered in the Methodist Episcopal Church, under the
following caption: “Sermon by which Friar Mansueto
defeated the heretics and drove them from Montevideo.’
He also had a fine photograph taken, and exposed it in
the shop windows, with this inscription: “Friar Man-
sueto, the conqueror of Thomson.” In short, he and
his friends ran wild with absurd and baseless egotism.

’

Mr. Thomson recovered his health, returned, and
published in the papers two certificates from well
known and honored physicians, containing their imper-
ative injunction about abstaining from all labor, and he
tollowed these with an invitation to Father Mansueto
to continue the suspended debate on the following
Wednesday night.

The duplicity and mendacity of this priest were fitly
pictured in a scene that occurred between him and Mr.
Thomson a day or two previous to this Wednesday night
Montevideo. 373

encounter. Calling upon Mr. Thomson, the padre, with
ill-disguised hypocrisy, began to laud Mr. Thomson’s
ability and fine oratorical powers, and to lament that he
should be doomed to use them in a Church so modern and
denighted as the Methodist Episcopal. He dwelt upon
the grand work Mr. Thomson might do for the holy and
only true Church, and added that, seeing Mr. Thomson
was married, and had, perhaps, some affection for his
wife and children, he, the padre, was authorized to offer
a high and lucrative position in the Greek communion,
where Mr. Thomson could take his little family with him.

No lover ever longed for an appointed hour as Mr.
Thomson did for that Wednesday night. It was to de-
cide many things, and it came at last. The church was
packed in every part, not with Englishmen or Ameri-
cans, for they rather apprehended some shooting and
stabbing, or, at least, some “ unsavory marksmanship; ”
but with natives, Spaniards, Italians, and others of Ro-
man Catholic affinities. At the request of Mr, Thomson,
Don Ambrosio Velazio, LL.D., a prince among jurists,
presided, and, after a few remarks, gave Mr. Thomson
the floor. Mr. Thomson began by saying that some
of them would remember that Father Mansueto had
declared he would accept the people as judges in this
debate, and because they were not admitted, had re-
fused to make his speech in the University. But Father
Mansueto, without giving Mr. Thomson a chance to be
heard by the people, had, by means of the newspapers
and photographs, immodestly displayed all over town,
proclaimed himself victor, “I therefore want to know,”
continued Mr. Thomson, “if you consider a man de-
feated before he speaks, and if you will judge before
hearing him. To test this, and with permission of the
chair, I ask all those who think Father Mansueto enti-

95

wd
374 MeETHopIstT EpiscopaL Missions.

tled to the name of conqueror, which he has put upon
his photograph, to rise.” Not a man arose. This
proved that there was a sense of justice in the audience.
Mr. Thomson then said, “I now ask those who think
he is zof entitled to that name to rise.” Apparently
every man in the house stood up.

Mr. Thomson then made his speech. When Father
Mansueto got the floor he so insulted the audience by
his vulgarity, offering to establish one of his propositions
by means of a de¢, that they most justly refused to hear
him conclude, and, after compelling him to desist, about
two hundred waited for him at the door of the church
and followed him home, a distance of fourteen blocks,
through the center of the city, loudly expressing the
disapprobation and contempt inspired by his behavior.
As Father Mansueto had publicly declared he would
accept the people as his judges, their verdict was crush-
ing, and it taught the authorities of the Roman Church
there a lesson not readily forgotten.

Mr. Thomson identified himself with the young men
attending the University, delivering in their club-room
from time to time lectures on the Evidences of Chris-
tianity, Darwinism, the Elements of National Progress,
and other themes of world-wide or local interest. By
this means he was able to interest a number of these
promising young men on the great question of religion,
and to preach the Gospel, between the lines of a scien-
tific lecture, to many who would never go to church.
Yet, despite the prominence thus given by Mr. Thom-
son to religious themes, he was elected president of that
club, and afterward editor of their literary journal.

In the latter part of the year 1873 Bishop Foster
made an official visit to this mission, and inspected it in
every part. His report to the Board and Churches at
Montevideo. 375

home clearly showed that the work had been greatly
underrated as to its extent and importance.

Mr. Thomson, in 1877, was the bearer to the Society
of an important proposition from the Government of
Uruguay to place it in possession of a valuable prop-
erty—La Grange, at New Palmyra, in the Department
of Colonia; and also to put under the control of the
Society one hundred orphans.

In 1882 the Church at Montevideo planned for
central buildings in an eligible site, and the little old
theater, which had served for a church, was remodeled.
Mister Correa spent much time in Uruguay where self-
supporting sub-circuits had been established which
promised permanence. The following year (1883) a
legal precedent of great value to our work was had in
the National Government warning the local authorities
at Porongos (Uruguay) that our meetings were not to
be violently interrupted. Mr. Correa’s meetings had
been frequently broken up with crys of “ Long live the
Constitution!” “Hurrah for the State religion!”
“ Away with the Protestants!” “ Death to the Protest-
ants!’ Some noble champions of the faith were found
among a class of educated young men recently con-
verted. The site which was now obtained for the head-
quarters of the mission was close by a Romish church,
monastery, nunnery, and theological seminary. The
work in Colonia sub-circuit, which had been organized
by Mr. Penzotti, was now carried on by Waldensian
settlers and was not included in the statistical returns.

The unusual condition had hitherto obtained that
more men than women had united with our Church,
which may possibly be explained by the fact that women
are conservators of religion whether truce or false, and in
376 MeETHOpDIstT EpIscOPAL MISSIONS.

old Roman Catholic countries they are more under the
influence of the priest than are the men. The year
1884 saw a change in this relative proportion, and at a
single communion service in Montevideo station sixty-
one men and sixty-seven women were the participants.
Opposition at Laspiedras had lessened, but at San
Ramon hostilities took on fresh vigor, the preacher
being arrested and ordered to leave town in twenty-four
hours, and the class leader forbidden to hold meetings
even in his own house. The superior authorities soon
reversed all this, and suspended the officer who made
the arrest. Rev. D. A. Ugon, a graduate of the Walden-
sian Theological School at Florence, Italy, was put in
charge of our theological seminary. The Woman's
Foreign Missionary Society, under Miss Guelfi’s su-
perintendency, now numbered five, while the income
was steadily increasing. The work could have been
made self-supporting if the teaching of the Gospel were in-
termitted. A Spanish weekly paper, the “ El Estandarte,”
was started, and also “‘ La Escuela Dominical.”” The line
of newly occupied points, stretching from Montevideo to
Port Alegre five hundred miles through the region be-
tween the Uruguay and the sea, gave promise of perma-
nent results. Porongos had a self-supporting day-
school, besides its church work and incipient congrega-
tions in the towns around it.

When Dr. Wood was released from the superintendency
he was placed at the head of the theological school for
training missionaries for the Spanish work, and the
head-quarters of the mission were returned to Buenos
Ayres. The Montevideo station at this time had 209
members, 228 probationers, with 500 adherents, and in
the dependencies it counted some 1,300 more adherents.
Close of Dr. Wood's Supertntendency. B77

12. Close of Dr. Wood’s Superintendency.

Dr. Wood, in his review of the work at the close of

his administration, characterized what had been done

“indirect” work, it being specially

from 1837 to 1864 as
marked by operations in the language of the country,
and immediate approach to the people through all forms
of progressive civilization and Protestant forms of labor.
Three years of this new departure he described as
“pioneering” by the “peripatetic evangelist.” The
twenty years from 1867 to 1887 he called the period of
“occupancy.” This classification primarily applied to
the development in Buenos Ayres, but the same “type”
of history was found in every other center.

Mr. Wood said the “ direct” operations in this field
failed to command the confidence of the Church at
home till as late as 1882, mainly because the “indirect”
work of the mission had failed to produce any desired
results, and the Church had ceased to anticipate any
great development in this quarter of the world, while
other fields had been rapidly advancing and absorbing
its interest and funds. There had been, in fact, “ forty-
six years of fort-holding,” from 1837 to 1883, and but
“four years of conquest,” from 1883 to 1887. Never-
theless there had been no “ failure,” nor what could be
called “ poor success.”

The literary agency as a form of evangelization had
been pushed by house-to-house visitation, and the
record showed 186,989 copies of the Scriptures and
“portions ” sold or prudently donated, and the demand
and the supply were growing in an increasing ratio.
The evangelistic work had been conducted in English
from 1836, preaching in Spanish being forbidden by the
378 Meruopisr EpiscoraL MIssiONns.

civil authorities from Dr. Dempster’s time. It was
still forbidden in Bolivia and Ecuador as late as 1879.
In 1867 Mr. Thomson commenced preaching in Span-
ish. By 1879 the preaching was mainly in Spanish,
English, German, Portuguese, French, and Italian being
used at isolated points. In the eight years from 1879 to
1887 the members had increased from 231 to 5463; pro-
bationers, from 231 to 724; making a total increase in
communicants of 808; adherents had increased from
3,000 to 7,450. The preachers from the United States
only advanced from 2 to 5, but the preachers that had
been furnished on the field had gone from g to 56,
while the percentage of preachers without support from
the Missionary Society had more than doubled. Of the
41 ministers developed on the ficld 38 now received no
support from the Missionary Society. The contributions
for the support of the mission also greatly increased
within this period, advancing within the eight years
from $3,785 to $9,472 for expenses of pastors and
public worship; on all accounts together, except re-
ceipts from schools, from temperance work, and sales of
publications the increase was from $4,514 to $19,255.
In 1875 the mission began to conduct schools as a
means, not of indirect, but of direct, evangelization, and
this policy has not been since abandoned. With the
aid of the Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society this
policy and plan was inaugurated in Rosario. The same
policy was initiated in Montevideo in 1879, and Buenos
Ayres in 1881; in the latter place Government subsidy
was partially available. In 1887 the tables showed,
Sunday-schools, 37; scholars, 1,740; day-scholars in
self-supporting schools, 2,132; in evangelistic schools,
329. The evangelical schools in Montevideo were of very
Close of Dr. Wood's Superintendency. 379

remarkable character. ‘They were founded in 1879 by
Miss Cecilia Guelfi, a native of the country and a con-
vert of the mission, who conducted them until her
death, April r9, 1886. At the end of the ninth year of
their history Montevideo schools enrolled 650 scholars.
These results were reached without any teachers from
abread, being, from first to last, the work of native
South American converts from Romanism., They suc-
ceeded in the teeth of antagonism by all the resources
of priestcraft, and schoolcraft, even to the employ-
ment of Romanist teachers to help control families open
to the Gospel, and the organizing of rival schools in
imitation of the new methods. These schools were
thoroughly evangelistic—hymns, prayers, daily Scripture
study made every-day schools into Sunday-schools.

13. William Taylor’s Work on the West Coast.

It is necessary to make a digression and treat of work
on the West Coast of South America, which hereafter
comes into relation with what we have been discussing.
October 16, 1877, Rev. William Taylor sailed from New
York for the West Coast of South America, with a view
to found in as many places as possible a good English
school in every English-speaking community on that
coast, under a liberally educated Gospel minister, who
should also exercise a pastor’s care over the people.
This was not considered to be the end, but the begin-
ning of an evangelical work among the Latin races of
that part of the world. The plan was to meet the
expense of the missionary in reaching the field by con-
tributions in the United States, and perhaps to accept
aid as necessity indicated in the contribution of school
buildings and churches, while the support of the preacher-
380 Metruopist Episcopat MISSIONS.

teacher was to be got entirely on the field by school fees
or voluntary contributions in the locality. Acting on
this principle, Mr. Taylor visited and established work
in Peru, at Calla, Linia, Mollendo, Avica and ‘Tacna,
Iquique, Pabellon de Rico, and Huanillas; in Bolivia, at
Antofagista; and in Chili, at Calendra Copiapo,Coquimbo,
Valparaiso, Talcahuana, and Concepcion. On the East
Coast he established stations at Para, Pernambuco, and
Manoas; and at Colon on the Isthmus of Panama. In
the United States of Colombia, Santiago, Coquimbo, and
other stations were occupied later on.

In 1884 the General Conference had action by which
any Chureh outside of the United States, not included
in any raission field of the Church, might become at-
tached to an Annual Conference of its own election with
the concurrence of the Bishop presiding at the same.
At this ttme the mission in Concepcion had a school of
a hundred and fifty pupils. In Santiago they had large
school buildings, three stories high, with a hundred
rooms and a gymnasium. The whole, when grounds
and buildings were done, estimated to be worth $50,000.

At Coquimbo was a Methodist Episcopal church
building, lighted by electricity, a comfortable parsonage,
with thirty-six members, and a school building with one
hundred scholars, and a staff of eight missionaries. At
Iquique there were three missionaries; at Colon a Church
of forty-six members, and a Wesleyan pastor; at Para,
Brazil, there were twenty-nine members. Under the
provisions of the General Conference, stated above, the
mission in Brazil became a Presiding Elder’s District in
the New England Southern Conference, and those of
Chili took the same relation in the Cincinnati Confer-
ence in 1890. The Presiding Elder Districts thus
William Taylor's Work on the West Coast, 38%

oF

formed remained intact till they became an integral part
of the South American Annual Conference organized
in 1893.

This same General Conference of 1884 elected William
Taylor Missionary Bishop of Africa, which removed him
from the supervision of this work, and it passed, June
6, 1884, under the control of the “ Transit Building Fund
Society of Bishop Taylor’s Self-Supporting Missions.”

When Superintendent Drees visited these stations in
1890 he recognized the value of the educational work
that had been done, and coveted the means to develop
the work in Argentina along the same lines; while he
thought this, in turn, needed the strong evangelistic de-
velopment of the Argentina Mission. The large outfits
for higher education on the West Coast and the erection
of good church buildings as surely needed aggressive
evangelistic work as its cajolement.

Bishops Harris, Walden, Fowler, and Newman have
visited the South American West Coast Missions,

At the session of the General Committee of the
Missionary Society in Minneapolis in November, 1893,
the ‘Transit and Building Fund Society” offered their
entire missionary property in Chill, estimated to be worth
$200,000, to the Missionary Society on condition that
the missions in Chili be conducted on the self-supporting
plan on which they had been founded and administered
from their inception. The proposition was accepted by
the Committee and the Board of Managers concurred
therein, provided, that no funds be taken from the gen-
eral treasury therefor. An appeal was authorized for
$25,000 as a special fund for the work in Chili. There
were in this field at this time more than forty workers,
By this action, and the subsequent incorporation of all
382 MetTuHopist EpiscopaL MIssIoNs.

the Methodist Episcopal work in South America into the
South American Conference, diversity of policy disap-
peared.

14. Dr. Drees’ Superintendency.

Under the pressure of local work and the general
superintendency of the Mission Dr. Wood’s health suf-
fered greatly, and in 1881 he took a year’s vacation,
during which he made a visit to our work in Mexico for
conference with Rev. Charles Drees, Superintendent of
that Mission, concerning the common interests of
Methodist Latin-American Missions. In 1887 Mr.
Wood’s health was again seriously threatened, and he
plead as he had done repeatedly before, to be relieved
of the superintendency, and Dr. Drees, who had seemed
exceptionally familiar with the work in South America,
through the conference alluded to with Mr. Wood, in
1881, was transferred from Mexico and appointed Super-
intendent of the South American work. He entered
the mission welcomed by everybody, to administer
its affairs at this new epoch in its history, and at the
beginning of its second half century.

Dr. Drees landed at Montevideo July 25, 1887, and
reached Buenos Ayres, the head-quarteis of the Mission,
the following day, entering upon his official responsi-
bility on the first day of August following. When Dr.
Drees had a little opportunity to become acquainted
with the situation in South America, he was impressed
that the nations of the future in this southern hemi-
sphere were stillin a formative stage, and that Protestant
Christianity was here at the right time to influence
society at the beginning of a new erain the development
of these peoples. Two hundred thousand immigrants
were landing on these shores each year, and the Prot-
Dr, Drees’ Superintendency. 383

estant element being not inconsiderable, created a
vantage ground at all these points, while the Roman
Catholics, torn away from early associations of the coun-
tries whence they came, and almost wholly neglected
here, became peculiarly susceptible to evangelizing
agencies. There was also observable in the country a
modification of religious fanaticism, which in many
Roman Catholic countries tends to violence, and the
prevalence of an inquiring and tolerant spirit which
made it possible to secure audience. The Roman
‘Catholic clergy had but slight hold on the masses of the
people, and that Church exhibited inability or indispo-
sition to increase its agencies to keep pace with the
growth of the population. All these things encouraged
the new superintendent to hope that rapidly increasing
results might follow wise efforts among the variety of
elements in this vast field.

The first year, under the new administration, recorded
at least one hundred and seventy-six genuine conver-
sions, and the definiteness of the personal spiritual life
exhibited was specially satisfactory. Four pastoral
charges were reported, in the strictest sense, entirely self-
supporting. These were: Buenos Ayres, First Church,
Rosario and Carcarana, Central Santa Fe, and San
Carlos. The Mission Press issued 850,000 pages of
religious literature, which were read with avidity by the
people.

The increase of the English-speaking population in
suburban places around Buenos Ayres led to the multi-
plication of points where English congregations were
established, and the need of a Seamen’s Bethel was felt.
The Buenos Ayres Circuit, under Dr. John F. Thomson’s
care, saw the greatest spiritual and temporal prosperity
354 Meruopisr Episcopat MIssIons.

of its history. ‘he number of persons converted in
advanced age was now, as it had been before, the sub-
ject of special observation. Dr, Thomson made a very
acceptable visit several times during the year to Pigue,
near Bahia Blanca.

At Rosario the English work under J. M. Spangler,
begun a year before with some misgivings, progressed
admirably, the sum of $10,000 in pledges was given for
a church at Carcarana, while the American Church at
Montevideo, the Montevideo Circuit, and Rosario Cir-
cuit were partly supporting their pastors, and the minor
congregations, without exception, met all the expenses of
their worship. The school income at Montevideo
reached $1,700; that of Buenos Ayres, $1,200; Porto
Alegre, $1,600; Asuncion, $750. Cash contributions
to church building and church lots were encouraging;
not less than $26,000, gold, was collected this year.
Committees of organization in new places were actively
engaged in developing societies, and the people had
formed the habit of going every-where in aggressive
work, Services were being conducted in Spanish, Por-
tuguese, English, German, French, Italian, and by one
person in Guarani.

The Spanish work under Juan Robles also developed
favorably, and the importance of Rosario as a mission
center became manifest. Its population and commercial
importance were rapidly increasing. Mister Rudolph
Gerber continued his work among the German and Swiss
agriculturists scattered for forty miles along the line of
the Central Argentine Railroad west of Rosario, and the
German work in Rosario developed rapidly. In the up-
river districts of the Parana and Uruguay fields vast
tracts of fertile lands were thrown open to colonization,
Dr, Drees’ Superintendency. 385

which were being rapidly filled with immigrants. In
the beautiful city of Parana a piece of ground worth
$4,000 was donated by an American resident of the
place. A valuable property was also secured in the
important city of Mendoza, the emporium of a fertile re-
gion lying close under the Cordillera, on the frontier of
Chili, at the junction of the Eastern and Transandine
railways. In the southern province of the Brazilian
Empire, Rio Grande do Sul, special interest was
awakened in the condition of the numerous class of
freedmen who were liberated by the emancipation de-
crees of the Brazilian Government. Romanism had
done nothing to elevate the condition of these people
under slavery, and they were thus devoid of the influ-
ence of a true faith which the slaves in the Southern
United States had felt. The Annual Meeting this year
(1888) gave its thought to the obligation of the Church
toward these Brazilian freedmen, and toward the pagan
element, the native Indians. At Porto Alegre, a thriv-
ing town of fifty thousand inhabitants, a night school
was attended by fifty-two, “all slave women.”

When Bishop Walden held the Annual Meeting of the
South American Mission in Buenos Ayres September
19-21, 1889, he found twenty members of this body had
a relation to Annual Conferences in the United States,
of whom seventeen were present. The nationality of
these workers attracted his attention. Of the first
twenty, six were born in the United States, four in Spain,
two in Great Britain, two in Switzerland, one in Italy,
one in Portugal, and four in the Argentine Republic ;
and of these four one was of American parentage, one
of Irish, one of Italian, and one of Anglo-Portuguese.
Eleven of the number had been converted and called to
386 Metruopisr EpiscopaL MISSIONS.

preach within the mission, and the same was true in the
case of almost all the local preachers. The first death
of any one directly connected with the mission had oc-
curred; Rev. Francisco J. de Lemos had died at Asun-
cion the second day of the session. The countries oc-
cupied by the mission included an area estimated at a
million and a half square miles, having a population va-
riously estimated at from four to six millions.

Peru having become an integral part of the mission,
Rey. T. B. Wood, D. D., was appointed Presiding Elder
of the Peru District, as will appear in the section de-
voted to that country.

The Superintendent left Buenos Ayres February 20,
18g0, to visit the work in Western Argentina and the
“ Taylor” Missions of the West Coast. He crossed the
Cordillera and arrived at Valparaiso March 3 ; remained
a little while in Chill; spent a month in Peru, and
thence went into Bolivia for ten days. He returned by
way of the Straits of Magellan, arriving in Buenos Ayres
June 14, after an absence of four months. The aim of
the journey was twofold: first, to confer with the mis-
sionaries in Chili concerning the unification of all Meth-
odist work in South America in one Annual Conference
organization; and, secondly, to respond to the earnest
call of the brethren in Peru for help and to perfect
their organization as a Methodist Church. Subsequent
events have shown that our incipient work in Peru was
then on the eve of its greatest and probably decisive
trial. On the Superintendent’s return to Buenos Ayres
Dr. Thomson was dispatched on a tour through Bolivia,
as elsewhere related.

The year 1890 had seen a great financial revulsion in
the Argentine Republic, which affected the money mar-
Dr. Drees’ Superintendency. 387

ket of the world. No relief came from this great de-
pression in 1891. Commerce had declined, industries
languished, public works were paralyzed, and the labor-
ing classes suffered from lack of work and excessive cost
o: living. People of all classes directly and indirectly
related to the mission suffered in the calamity. But their
fidelity and self-sacrifice proved equal to the emergency.
‘The services were more largely attended than ever, and
revivals occurred in many places.

The First Church, Buenos Ayres, under the pastorate
of Rev. T. H. Stockton, closed the fifty-fifth year of its
history with a number of enterprises on hand, offshoots
of the central congregation having sprung up in different
parts of the city and suburbs, notably in the portion of
the city known as “ La Boca,” among the maritime peo-
ples under Rev. W. C. Morris. Rev. Mr. Milne estab-
lished a preaching service in the suburban town of
Banfield. A North American normal school, a high
grade educational institution, not directly connected
with the mission, was inaugurated by Mr. Stockton.
Dr. John F. Thomson, besides maintaining the activity
and influence of the Spanish work in Buenos Ayres
Circuit, pushed out new lines in all directions. North-
ward, in Calle Junin, near the aristocratic part of the
city, the day school enrolled one hundred and eighty
pupils, chiefly from the poorer classes. A day school
with forty girls and preaching services was maintained
in Calla Medrano, near the famous Palermo Park. At
Belgrano, and a dozen miles beyond city limits at San
Fernando, meetings were held. Westward, in Calle
Pasco and in the flourishing town of Flores, also in
San Miguel, and southwestward from the center, at two
new places a mile apart, worship was established.
388 Meruopist Episcopal MISSIONS.

In response to an invitation a preacher was sent to
the town of Balcarce, two hundred and fifty miles south
of the city of Buenos Ayres, near the sea coast, having
a population of about four thousand. Services were be-
gun in a ball alley, and in six months sixty-two proba-
tioners were enrolled. Loberio and other neighboring
towns felt the influence of this movement.

In Mercedes, lying westward of Buenos Ayres, and
westward from that, at the town of Chivilcoy, Luis
Ferranini gathered a number of evangelical witnesses,
and the remarkable change manifest in their lives influ-
enced other neighboring towns, so that an initial work
began in them. Indeed, there were a score of towns in
the province of Buenos Ayres which were now accessible
to the mission agents.

Central Argentina, comprising Santa Fe and Entre-
Rios, had five pastoral charges. The English work at
Rosario, under Rev. J. M. Spangler, developed an un-
usual proportion of benevolent and charitable activities,
among them being a night shelter for homeless wander-
ers, rendered destitute by the financial crisis, and a sail-
or’s home. The large German community in Rosario
requested a German missionary. On Entre-Rios Circuit
an interest developed among the people of Waldensian
descent; land was secured and $700 was contributed
to erect achapel. Much itinerating work was done in
neighboring cities, but, with only two preachers in all of
this most promising field of Entre-Rios, it was impossi-
ble to respond to the opportunities for church exten-
sion. The new work at San Juan, under Rev. V.
Aguirre, in January, 1891, presented most encouraging
features, $3,000 being contributed toward the first pay-
ment on property secured for the mission.
Dr. Drees’ Superintendency. 389

The second national division of the field, the Republic
of Uruguay, received this year an important accession
to its force in the transfer from the Mexico Mission of
Rev. A. W. Greenman, who had had years of experience
with Spanish work and was familiar with the Spanish
language. Montevideo, the capital, had three pastoral
charges. The Colonia Theological Institute was con-
ducted by Rev. D. A. Ugon, a Waldensian minister,
until its transfer to Buenos Ayres, where it continued
under the direct supervision of Dr. Wood, until his
transfer to Peru, as is stated elsewhere.

The year 1892 was one of peculiar trial, owing to the
continuance of the financial depression which bore with
special force on the provinces of Uruguay and Paraguay.
Political agitation, and even actual armed revolution,
created a feeling of uncertainty or actual terror, which
prevented the people from attending night services. ‘This
disturbance was specially felt in Southern Brazil. Added
to these two sources of interruption was the suffering
and loss from the prevalence of the epidemic influenza,
la grippe. ‘Two prominent workers were removed by
death. Miss Virginia F. Disosway died July 15; she was
of noble Methodist ancestry, and exhibited a rare com-
bination of Christian virtues, her successful service hav-
ing endedred her to the Mission in Rosario, and to a
wide circle elsewhere.

Rev. Thomas H. Stockton died July 29. Nine years
before he entered the service of this mission. He was
not only the efficient pastor of “First Methodist Episco-
pal Church, Buenos Ayres,” but, as Dr. Drees wrote at
the time of his death, “ His conviction of the importance
of educational work among the more wealthy classes

led him to assume heavy responsibilities in inaugurating
26
390 Meruopist Eptscopat Missions.

a movement which, if prosecuted, as we trust it shall be,
in accordance with his purpose, will be incorporated
into the educational system of South American Metho-
dism, and secure the perpetual memory and influence
of Brother Stockton in the larger future which is before
our Church on this great continent.” Dr. W. P. Mc-
Laughlin was appointed to succeed Mr. Stockton in
charge of the mother Church of South American
Methodism.

Dr. Thomson was appointed Presiding Elder of the
Central District, or so much of it as was not taken to
constitute the Andine District, under C. W. Miller as
Presiding Elder. At Mendoza a series of conferences
were held, treating vital questions of controversy be-
tween the Evangelical Church and the Roman Church.
On the Eastern District, over which Rey. A. W. Green-
man presided, the financial depression was resulting
in removals to Brazil, Argentina, or Europe, but the
work was heroically maintained. An arrangement was
effected at the Colonial Institute, now under Rev. D.
A. Ugon, of the Waldensian Church, whereby the
Waldensian Church of Italy and the Methodist Epis-
copal Church agreed each to furnish a professor, and
assume proportionally the running expenses of the
school. The work in Southern Brazil was intérrupted
somewhat by the revolutionary movements, which kept
the people of this province in an uneasy state most
of the year, The work in Paraguay suffered from the
prevailing influenza and absence of workers, yet special
meetings were held in nearly all the congregations.
The “Western District” is treated under the section on

Peru,
Peru, 391

15, Peru.

We have seen the beginning of Methodist missions in
Peru under William ‘Taylor. Ten years later the ag-
gressive energy of the Argentine Mission pushed its
evangelistic pioneering methods up into this Republic.
In 1887 Mr. Penzotti was appointed to Peru with a stalf
of experienced Bible colporteurs, with head-quarters in
Lima, the capital, thence to push on to Bolivia on the
south, and Ecuador on the north, as providences might
indicate. He found acceptance with the people, and
soon was preaching to a congregation of sixty persons.

On the 26th of July, 1890, while in Callao, without
previous notification, he was arrested for prosecuting his
evangelistic work in alleged violation of some legal tech-
nicalities, and thrown into the common jail, where he
was compelled to spend his nights in a half-subterra-
nean dungeon with from eighty to a hundred criminals
of diverse characters, from common thieves to murder-
ers. For more than eight months he was thus incarcer-
ated, during which time the charge against him was tried
by all the courts up to the Supreme Bench of the
country. He was finally declared innocent and set at
liberty. The interest and sympathy awakened in Eng-
land and the United States, as well as in South Ameri-
can countries, in his case, led to the intercession of the
United States and British diplomatic representatives,
and the activity of the Evangelical Alliance, on his be-
half, contributed to give to this an almost world-wide
significance as a test-case in the struggle to secure a
liberal interpretation of the letter of the law in favor of
religious liberty in teaching and worship. It was a
crucial event, and Penzotti had in him the martyr-spirit,
without which the advancing tide of freedom over all
392 Mertuopist EpiscopaL MISSIONS.

Peru, and in the adjacent republics, must now have been
turned back indefinitely, if not finally.

The services in the little church at Callao were main-
tained during all the time of Penzotti’s imprisonment.
One great outcome of all this was that the Missionary
Society resolved to prosecute the work begun under such
difficulties, and to establish itself in Peru, making Lima
the head-quarters. Rev. Thomas B. Wood, LL.D., so
long connected with our South American Mission, was,
in 1891, appointed Presiding Elder of this Peru District ;
and Penzotti, after eight months of rigorous imprison-
ment, was freed to work out still farther in pioneering
colporteur-preaching in other regions according to the
original purpose ; and, accompanied by Mr. Fernandez,
he proceeded to Ecuador, Colombia, Costa Rica, Nica-
ragua, Honduras, San Salvador, and Guatemala.

Peru appeared in the Minutes of the South American
Mission as the Western District, with Dr. T. B. Wood
as Presiding Elder, at the time of the organization of
the South American Annual Conference, July, 1893.
Dr. Wood reported five schools in Callao, preparations
for a high-grade school in Lima, church organization
well developed at Callao, and others in process of forma-
tion in and about Lima.

The Church at Callao numbered a hundred members,
and Dr. Wood was developing a theological school, and
inquirers showed a greater tendency to come for in-
struction. His high-schools also were satisfactory. But
the special object of attention was the preparation for
opening Lima, the capital, more fully to our work. Pub-
lic conditions were not now favorable to this, as in the
political world the liberal party was out of power, Yet,
Lima was esteemed an important center of influence,
Peri. 393

Penzotti and Fernandez were in Colombia, Bible can-
vassing was being carried on in Ecuador, Bolivia, and
Southern Peru, and Dr. Wood wrote: “From every
point the indications show that a far-reaching prepara-
tion of our work is going on in the hearts of these peoples.
The old Ouichua Empire, though divided among several
republics, is still a unit in moral characteristics and
tendencies. It was all once under the Viceroys of Lima.
It is still vitally related to its old head-quarters. Our
work must be strongly equipped in Lima and vicinity,
and then must radiate far and wide. The elements are
ripe for a strong circuit to be developed in points so
situated as to be easily reached by rail from Lima and
form an admirable, compact work.”

16. Bolivia.

When the Superintendent of the Mission, Dr. Drees,
returned in 1890 from his visit to Bolivia, he unexpect-
edly found the way open for Rev. Dr. John F. Thomson
to make a journey overland, without expense to the Mis-
sionary Society, from Buenos Ayres to La Paz, Bolivia, and
Dr. Thomson accordingly went on this tour, visiting the
most important cities of Northern Argentine and Bolivia,
delivering public addresses, attracting attention to our
cause, and forming relationships which, it was judged,
would be most valuable to the future of the work.

17. The South American Conference Organized.

The General Conference of 1892 defined the South
American Mission as including the Argentine Republic,
the Republics of Uruguay, Paraguay, Peru, and Bolivia,
together with the State of Rio Grande do Sul, in the
United States of Brazil, with its central station at the city
3904 METHODIST EpiscopAL MISSIONS.

of Buenos Ayres; but it also passed an enabling act author-
izing the organization of ‘The South American Con-

,

ference,” whose boundaries were not even limited to the
territory described above, but which should embrace the
continent of South America.

Bishop John P. Newman, after a patient and thorough
investigation of the entire Methodism of the West Coast,
and of that in the older territory of the mission in Ar-
gentina and neighboring States, in accordance with this
provision of the General Conference, organized this
mission into an Annual Conference in the City of Buenos
Ayres, July 1, 1893.

The Society’s report forcefully said: ‘‘ The historic
significance of this event will be as great, though not so
fundamental, in the development of South American
Methodism, as is that of the Christmas Conference in
our Church in North America. By this organization
Methodism declared anew her consciousness of a provi-
dential call and mission co-extensive with the Western
Hemisphere, as with the world-wide parish.” There
were great interests to be considered in connection with
the organization of this Conference. The larger object
of the unification and harmonizing of all the work of
the Church in all parts of the continent was to be
secured, by which the work maintained by the appro-
priations of the Missionary Society, and that conducted
in Chili and Brazil by the “ William Taylor Building and
Transit Fund,” might be adjusted to each other. The
report says: “A full understanding of the situation was
to be sought, important questions of policy and method
were to be considered, results under different and sup-
posed irreconcilable systems were to be judiciously com-
pared, divergent and possibly antagonistic interests were
The South American Conference Organtzed. 395

to be considered, a line of policy and a plan of campaign
were to be settled for a generation to come, and made
harmonious with the march of Providence, and co-ex-
tensive with a continent.”

Bishop Newman’s address on the occasion of the an-
nouncement of the organization of the Conference is
worthy of permanent record. We transcribe it here :

“Dear Brethren: At your request, and by authority
of the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, I organize the South America Annual Confer-
ence, the requisite number of effective traveling preach-
ers having made the said request.

“This action will unify Methodism throughout the
continent, will remove a standing protest against our
missionary policy, will provide for the effectual evange-
lization of Chili, will enable us to attend to the business
of the Annual Conference with precision and regularity,
will present to the Church at home a profounder claim
for larger appropriations, and will secure to the Church
of South America an annual episcopal visitation, which
is necessary for the ordination of deacons and elders,
the number of which annually increases. At the present
time some of our preachers, who have been merely
elected for ordination, mistake such election for the r7te of
ordination, and continue to administer the sacraments ;
they do not understand that the election is only the
authorization of the bishop to perform the rite of ordi-
nation.

“T am of the conviction that the organization of your
Annual Conference will be an uplifting of our beloved
Methodism, and place you in a commanding position
throughout all the South American republics. Wher-
ever I have gone in your provinces, halls and churches
396 MertuHopist EpiscopaL Missions.

were not found large enough to accommodate the people,
and it is acheering sight that two-thirds of all these
gatherings were men, who by the influence of popery
have become unbelievers or indifferent to the religious
life.”

At the conclusion of this brief but inspiring and im-
pressive address, Bishop Newman said: “I hereby an-
nounce the following transfers,” and thirty-eight travel-
ing preachers from twelve different Conferences in the
United States were made the charter members of the
South America Annual Conference.

We include the complete list, as matter of record for
the history of the mission and Missionary Society :

Charles W. Drees, George F. Arms, William F. Al-
bright, James P. Gilliland, Ira H. La Fetra, and Row-
land D. Powell, from the Cincinnati Conference ; Thomas
B. Wood, from the Northwest Indiana Conference;
John F. Thomson, from the Central Ohio Conference ;
Almon W. Greenman, from the North Indiana Confer-
ence; Charles W. Miller, from the Central Alabama
Conference; Andrew M. Milne, William Tallon, John
M. Spangler, Juan C. Correa, Francisco Penzott, Joaquin
Dominguez, William T. Robinson, Juan Robles, Juan
Villanueva, George G. Froggatt, and Rudolph Griot,
from the New England Conference; William P. Mc-
Laughlin, from the Ohio Conference; Lino Abeledo,
Antonio Guelf, and George P. Howard, from the New
Jersey Conference; Rudolph Gerber and Robert Weih-
mueller, from the Central German Conference ; Ramon
Blanco, Silvio S. Espindola, and Buel O. Campbell, from
the New Hampshire Conference; Justus H. Nelson and
Frank R. Spaulding, from the New England Southern
Conference. ;
Lhe South American Conference Organised. 307

Probationers of the second year: Juan Canut de Bon,
Harry B. Compton, James Benge, and Willis C. Hoover,
from the Cincinnati Conference; Carlos Lazzare, from
the New England Conference.

Probationer of the first year: James A. Russell, from
the Illinois Conference.

These, together with Alberto J. Vidaurre, received as
an effective elder on credentials from the Presbyterian
Church in Chili, and Martin Arnejo, Remigio Vazquez,
and William C. Morris, admitted on trial, form the com-
plete list of members and probationers of the South
America Annual Conference for the first year of its
history.

The missionaries of the Woman’s Foreign Missionary
Society at this significant date were: Miss Eleanora
Le Huray, Buenos Ayres; Miss Mary F. Swaney, Ro-
sario; Miss Lizzie Hewett, Montevideo; Miss Mary E.
Bowen, in United States; Miss Rebecca Hammond,
Montevideo; Miss Elsie Wood, Lima.

The appointments for the ensuing year were an-
nounced July 4, 1893.

The Superintendent, Dr. Drees, thus forcibly charac-
terized this important event in his report to the Board:

“This event is at once a consummation and a new
point of departure. It marks the close of the first
period in the history of our Methodism in South
America, the period of exploration, of occupation, of
experimental methods; the period of patient, persistent
effort to make use of and enlarge partial openings, to
establish upon a secure basis the legal status of our
work, to break down unfounded prejudice so as to get
vantage ground in public toleration for enlarged evan-
gelistic operations. The results of this period fully
398 Meruopist EpiscopaL Missions

justify the large expenditure of money and the price-
less personal toil and sacrifice employed during a pe-
riod of fifty-seven years, and engaging such men as
Pitts and Kidder, Dempster and Carrow, Norris and
Lore, Goodfellow and Jackson, Carter, Thomson, and
Wood on the East Coast, and William Taylor and his
pioneers on the West. Among these results are to be
counted the verification of a genuine providential call
to the evangelization of this continent; the undoubted
ascertainment of the fact that among the peoples of
Latin America there is a widespread consciousness of
spiritual need and preparation to respond to the truth
of the Gospel; the demonstration of the adaptation of
Protestant Christianity under the doctrinal and organic
form of Methodism to meet this need; the ample testing
of methods showing that the simple, direct preaching
of the Gospel will find a hearing and produce its proper
fruits in the conversion and sanctification of the people,
and that the place of higher Christian education is that
of a necessary complement, and not that of a substitute
or antecedent, to Gospel work; the building up of a
church community which to-day, after contributing ‘its
full contingent to the blood-washed multitude innumera-
ble, “ever before the throne and the Lamb,” numbers
about three thousand souls; the creation of a converted
native ministry in whose hands the interests of Method-
ism will be safe, and of a body of communicants who
show ample and increasing consciousness of the duty
and privilege of contributing to the maintenance and
spread of the Gospel.

“The newly organized Conference comprises six
districts, each co-extensive with a nation in the family
of South American States, and one of them with exten-
The South American Conference Organized. 399

sions into two adjacent countries. Thus our work ex-
tends to eight of the ten nations of the continent, in six
of which ours is at present the only organized missionary
agency for evangelistic work among the native peoples
and in the national language.”

‘The Argentine District embraced the Argentine Re-
public, about equal in extent to the Republic of Mexico,
with a population of four and a half millions, rapidly
augmenting by immigration from the countries*of South-
ern Europe, and, though the Roman Catholic religion
was the official religion of the State, yet there was en-
tire religious liberty and toleration of all other faiths
and sects.

Work was conducted in Spanish, English, German,
French, and Italian. The national capital and five
provincial capitals were formally occupied. The second
commercial city of the republic, though not a capital,
Rosario, the Chicago of the South, was one of our
strongholds. Many smaller towns were stations in our
work. In thirty-five places stated services were held,
and many others were visited by our preachers in their
evangelistic work.

Four missionaries of the parent Board, with their
wives, 2 missionaries of the Woman’s Foreign Missionary
Society, 8 ordained and 20 unordained preachers, 25
teachers, and 29 “other helpers” formed the staff.
Members, 886; probationers, 676; day scholars, 804;
Sunday-school scholars, 2,198; property, $200,000;
amount raised in the district for various purposes,
nearly $28,000, United States gold.

The Brazil District lay in Brazil, a territory about
equal to that of the United States, with a population of
about seventeen millions, being the largest country in
400 Meruopist Episcopat Missions.

South America. Although several Protestant Churches
of North America were doing good work in various
parts of this great nation, there seemed a providential
necessity that the Methodist Episcopal Church should
enter the Southern State of Rio Grande do Sul as more
closely related in soil, climate, productions and people
to the River Plate republics than to its own sister states.
We were in force at Porto Alegre, and in the region
open to {talian immigration; we were at the mouth of
the Amazon; we were in the valley of the Paraguay and
in the State of Matte Frasso, through our colporteurs.

The Chili District was the outgrowth of William
Taylor’s Self-Supporting Mission work. It is well to
give the statistics of this part of the work at this historic
turning point:

Missionaries from the United States: Preachers—
ordained elders, 6; ordained deacons, 3; total, 9; elect-
ed deacons, 2; not elected, 1; total, 3; total elders and
deacons, 12. Preachers who are pastors, 6; preachers
who are teaching, 6; total, 12; wives of pastors, 5.
Teachers other than preachers: men, 3; married ladies,
8; single ladies, 15; total teachers, 26. Total workers
from the United States, 43.

Missionary workers secured in Chili: Preacher
elected deacon, 1; local deacon, 1; not elected, 1;
total preachers, 3 ; exhorter, 1; teachers living in the
school, male, 2; female, 8; total teachers, tro. Other
helpers: colporteur, 1; foreman printer, 1; wives of
preachers, 2. Total native workers, 18.

Grand total of workers, 61; teachers employed part
of the day, 25; grand total of all employed, 86.

Church work: Organized churches, 6; other con-
gregations, 3; total, 9. Average attendance, 400; other
The South American Conference Organized. AO

adherents, 500; total, goo. Sunday-schools, 8; officers
and teachers, 43; scholars, 468; total, 511.

School work : Boarding schools, 6; day schools, 2;
total schools, 8. Boarding students, 180; day scholars,
752; total, 952.

Orphanage, 1; children, 13.

Property owned, not including furniture (calculated in
Chili currency; value, half gold): School buildings, 5,
value, $345,000; chapelsand parsonages, 2, value,
$34,000; chapel in school building, 1, value, $8,000;
printing office, not including presses, etc., 1, value,
$10,000; total value, $397,000. Property rented:
School buildings, 2; rent paid, $1,342; chapels and
parsonages, rented, and orphanage, 4; rent paid,
$4,000; total rent paid, $5,342.

Income: Tuitions in schools, $95,970; collected for
pastors, $5,366; collected for rent, $470 ; collected for
Sunday-schools, $982; collected for other objects,
organ, orphans, etc., $750; sale of Bibles and religious
books, $644; total, $104,182.

Contributed by schools to Gospel work, $7,120.

Printing: Tracts printed, 98,600; pages, 1,088,400 ;
periodicals, 13,200; pages, 105,000; total pages,
1,194,600.

The Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay Districts have been
fully sketched in their relation to the general work.
Paraguay embraced the capital city, Asuncion, and its
influence reached into Brazil and the eastern districts of
Bolivia. Peru District included Bolivia and Ecuador ;
Uruguay District, comprised all Uruguay, the Southern
Province of Brazil, and one charge in the Argentine
Republic, with a total population of nearly two millions.
Montevideo, Trinidad, Porto Alegre and other cities on
402 MetTuHopist EpiscopaL MISSIONS.

the Uruguay River were the principal centers from
which the work was anticipated to develop.

18. Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society.
ROSARIO.

‘The Minutes of the session of the General Executive
Committee of the Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society,
held in Cincinnati in 1873, record the fact that “very
earnest applications were received requesting the exten-

sion of the work in South America.” Previous to this
the Society made a small appropriation for a Bible
reader in Rosario, under the direction of Rey. and Mrs.
T. A. Wood. During the year 1874 Miss Jennie M.
Chapin was sent out by the New England Branch, and
Miss L. B. Denning by the Northwestern Branch to
open work in Rosario. These two young women sailed
from New York January 21, 1874, and, as soon as they
reached their destination, in March, they rented a house
for their home and school, which they commenced with
twelve girls, the number soon increasing to thirty-one.
They found themselves confronted with great difficul-
ties, as the priests taught the natives that it was a
mortal sin to send their children to a Protestant school.
The number of scholars, however, increased to ninety-
five, and they were compelled to seek larger and more
commodius quarters. So absorbing was the school that
their outside evangelistic work had to be abandoned,
and the missionaries took into their home a small num-
ber of children as boarders. For six years Misses Den-
ning and Chapin prosecuted this work, when their health
failed, and in 1880 they were compelled to return home.
Mrs, E. J. Clemens, of Illinois, and Miss Julia Good-
enough, of Michigan were appointed to Rosario in 1880.
Woman's Foreign Missionary Society. 403

Mrs. Clemens sailed on the “ Montana” from New York,
March, 1880, and on the 13th of the month the steamer
went on the rocks on the Welsh coast, and Mrs.
Clemens, with other passengers, was rescued, and, after
exposure in an open boat for five hours, brought
safely to land. She renewed her journey, arriving in
South America in August, and was soon followed by
Miss Goodenough. Mrs, Clemens took charge of the
school and family at the home with the help of an
assistant she had secured in Montevideo.

This school inaugurated the cause of Christian edu-
cation for women in the country. Miss Goodenough
commenced a second school, or a “ primary department,”
which, after a few months, was discontinued.

In response to urgent appeals Mrs. Turney, of Michi-
gan, was sent as matron. She arrived there May rg, 1881,
and assumed the care of the home, and assisted in
teaching. The health of Mrs. Clemens failed and she
was compelled to return home, sailing from Rosario
June 16, 1882. About this time many adverse circum-
stances checked the work. After the return of Mrs.
Clemens, Mrs. Turney became seriously ill from over-
work, and the home had to be closed. Miss Goodenough,
who had continued the school until the family was
disbanded, secured a room that she might continue the
instruction of a class of pupils who desired to finish the
school year,

On December 2, 1882, after a period of rest, Misses
Chapin and Denning sailed from Boston on their return
to their work, and arrived in Rosario February 9, 1883.
They were warmly welcomed, and wrote, “Some em-
braced us as if we had been their own children, and
some wept for joy.”
404 MerHopist Episcopal MISSIONS.

As soon as possible a small house was secured, and the
school reorganized on March 5, with twenty pupils.
The serious derangement of the work made the task of
bringing back system and order no easy one, but it was
accomplished, and in a short time the number of pupils
increased to forty. An appropriation was made by the
General Executive Committee in 1882 for the building
of a home, land was secured, a house modified, and the
school moved to it March 3, 1883. The property was
finely located on a lot 87 by 225, with fruit trees.

The school was conducted on a plan similar to Mount
Holyoke, the girls taking turns in the kitchen and doing
family work. A Spanish Sunday-school was organized
and conducted by the women.

The boarding and day school was so ably conducted
that it made a great impression on the city. The Presi-
dent of the Board of Education for the Province visited
the school and offered Miss Denning a large salary to
go into government employ, but she declined. On
March 5, 1884, a second school was opened on the op-
posite side of the city, and soon had an increase of fifty
pupils.

In the year 1887 a scourge-of cholera visited the city,
and the schools for a time were closed. Nine girls,
orphaned by this scourge, were received into the home,
and this necessitated enlarged accommodations, and
repairs were made involving an expense of $1,000. But
even with the increased room, the school grew, and they
were obliged to refuse utterly to take either day scholars
or boarders for lack of room. In 1888 Miss Mary E.
Bowen, of Warren, R. L, was added to the corps of
workers, and Miss Corbin, from Coquimbo, joined them
as an assistant, but this relief was temporary, as both
Woman's Foreign Missionary Society. 405

these ladies were soon transferred to Montevideo, and
Miss Denning and Miss Chapin were left alone again.

In 1889 the work passed through the crisis of a change
of management, made necessary by the coming home
again of the two faithful workers, who had carried the
school for so many years. Miss Elsie Wood, daughter
of Dr. T. B. Wood, Superintendent of the Mission, was
sent out by the New York Branch and took charge of
the work for the year, when Miss Mary F. Swaney, of
Manhatten, Kansas, who had formerly spent some years
in Mexico, and had an excellent knowledge of the Span-
ish language, was sent by the Topeka Branch. She
arrived February, 189t. Upon reaching Rosario she
found the house undergoing repairs and the children at
their homes. Again, in April, the school was opened,
and soon filled with as many as could be accommodated.
Miss Disosway, who had gone to aid Miss Swaney, was
taken ill with typhoid fever and died July 15, 1891. She
was of noble Methodist ancestry, of sincere piety, and
a beautiful, unselfish character. Her death threw ad-
ditional care on Miss Swaney, who had the entire work
on her hands. A new buildingwas greatly needed in
Rosario.

MONTEVIDEO,

In the year 1878 the Woman's Foreign Missionary
Society commenced work in Montevideo. The visit of
Mr. Thomson to the United States increased the in-
terest in South America. Mr. Thomson represented
that there was an excellent opening for woman’s work,
and a lady could be found there eminently qualified to
take charge of it. The Society made an appropriation
for the support of a teacher and rent of a school-room.
The person employed was Miss Cecilia Guelfi, a native

27
406 METHODIST EpIscOpAL MISSIONS.

of Argentina, and a young woman of superior talents.
She began her school February 10, 1879, with forty
pupils. She met with opposition at once from the priests,
but, notwithstanding this, the school increased, she was
compelled to make two departments, and to secure an
assistant. The notice on the building, “ Evangelical
School,” was sufficient for the owner to desire them to
vacate, and they were compelled to move. In 1883
Miss Guelfi wrote, “The number of pupils now is 159.”
During this year other schools of a lower grade were
organized. In 1885 the schools had increased to seven,
with 450 scholars. After eight years of most efficient
service Miss Guelfi died April 19, 1886. Her death
was an irreparable loss to the work.

After her death the schools, which had increased to
fourteen, with over 500 pupils, were under the super-
vision of Rev. A. Guelfi, a brother of Miss Guelfi. In
1888 Miss Minnie B. Hyde, of Michigan, was sent by
the Northwestern Branch. She undertook the superin-
tendency of the work, aided by Miss Bowen, who had
been at Rosario.

On Children’s Day, June 28, 1890, eleven members of
the High School joined the Church on probation, and
revival influences were felt during the year.

Miss Hewitt, formerly of Mexico, joined the mission
in 1886, and Miss Hammond in 1892. A new and valu-
able property was purchased during the year 1894 in a
fine location,

BUENOS AYRES.

In August, 1883, a stirring appeal was received by the
Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society from Mrs. Rev. J.
F. Thomson, of Buenos Ayres, asking the Society to
assume the support of a school, which had been organ-
Woman's Foretgn Misstonary Society. 407

ized among the poor, and cared for by a layman. The
results of the first three years of this school were won-
derful. Through its influence entire families were
brought to Christ. Out of it grew a religious paper,
taken and read in scores of families. This school was
known as the “Girl’s Evangelical School,” and Miss
Goodenough, who had been in Rosairo, was selected to
take charge of it. A second school was established,
known as the “ Ragged School,” located in the western
part of the city.

Miss Goodenough married, and so the large school
was left without care, only as given by the resident mis-
sionaries, until the arrival of Miss Eleanora Le Huray,
of Summit, N. J. She soon infused new life into the
school and devoted herself to all forms of Christian
work. She developed very soon a training school, to
raise up teachers for evangelical schools in all parts of
the republic.

PERU.

When Rev. Dr. Wood went to Peru in 1891, his daugh-
ter, Miss Elsie Wood, accompanied him as representative
of the Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society. Soon
after her arrival in Callao she rented a room and quickly
had a group of native children. The first school was
opened September 15, 1891. On January 4, 1892, a
second school was started, and in 1894 nearly two hun-
children were receiving education.
 

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MISSIONS IN

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PART V.
MISSIONS TO CHINA AND THE CHINESE,

 

Behold, these shall come from far: and, lo, these from the north and from
the west; and these from the land of Sinim.—Isa. xlix 12.

en’ is a colossal empire, whose area comprises

one tenth of the habitable globe, and whose popu-
lation numbers over four hundred millions. China
proper is about one half the size of all Europe. How
to give the Gospel to the millions of this vast empire
has ever been no insignificant part of the stupendous
problem of evangelizing the world. When the present
century opened with its revival of the missionary spirit,
impassable barriers to the entrance of Christianity into
China seemed to exist in the laws which for centuries
had prohibited foreigners from landing upon those
shores, except at a single point, and there only for pur-
poses of trade. But this mysterious land was a jewel
of priceless value, and was earnestly coveted by faithful
hearts to deck the crown of the world’s Redeemer.
Long before Christian missionaries were allowed tc
enter it they were waiting at the threshold, desiring to
do so whenever the opportunity occurred.

In 1807 the London Missionary Society appointed
Rev. Robert Morrison to this field. But vessels sailing
from England were not allowed to take missionaries to
India or China, and he, therefore, proceeded in January,
1807, to New York, and thence embarked for Canton,
410 Meruopist EpiscopaL MISSIONS.

where he arrived in September of the same year. Hon
James Madison, then Secretary of State of the United
States, gave him a letter commending him to the United
States consul at Canton, China; but the British offl-
cials threw all possible obstructions in his way. He at
once began the study of the language, and his man-
ner of life was so retiring that he escaped for the most
part the vigilance of the officials. In two years he was
appointed translator to the East India Company, which
gave him a subsistence, and at the same time purchased
for him an undisturbed residence in Canton, and ena-
bled him to prosecute with untiring industry those great
literary labors by which he finally gave the Bible to the
Chinese.

When missionaries were sent to reinforce him they
were not permitted to land, and were compelled to be-
take themselves to the “ out-stations,” as the islands of
the Indian Archipelago and the countries of Southern
Asia were called, throughout which thousands of Chi-
nese were scattered for purposes of traffic. Here the
missionaries set up schools and presses, and opened
churches at the threshold of China.

In 1828 severe prohibitory laws were passed by the
Government of China against the sale and use of opi-
um, a pernicious traffic in which had been introduced
from India. By this the British were exceedingly ex-
asperated, and in all possible ways sought to evade
those laws. Some military demonstrations were made
by the British in 1831 and 1834, with a vain hope of
intimidating the Chinese. In 1838 the Chinese Gov-
ernment made the use of opium a capital offense, and
in 1839 they destroyed $20,000,000 worth of opium
stored at Canton, and took other such energetic meas-
ures as drove the traders from Macao to Hongkong.
Missions to China and the Chinese. AI

Thus commenced the hostilities now known as the
“Opium War,” eventuating in the treaty of August 29,
1842, by which four other ports were opened to com-
merce, namely, Amoy, Foochow, Ningpo, and Shang-
hai, and increased facilities of trade were granted to all
nations.

The United States, by treaty of July 3, 1844, ob-
tained even greater advantages than Great Britain, and
the next year France stipulated for the toleration of
Christianity in the five ports; and by later treaties the
United States have secured all the advantages given to
other nations, whatever these may be. From the “out-
stations,” where they had been delayed as if for prepa-
ration, missionaries, teachers and presses now at once
poured into the empire, and the work of its redemption
vigorously began.

1. Origin of the Methodist Mission.

Methodism at this time had not a representative in
all Asia; but a fervent desire to enter the door which
the providence of God had thrown so widely open be-
gan to pervade the denomination. It seemed as if the
whole broad empire had been made accessible by the
Almighty to the labors of missionaries, and Methodists
were not likely to fail in meeting their proportion of the
consequent responsibilities. This was voiced in many
ways-—in articles in the periodical press, in the action
of conferences, in communications to the Secretary and
Board, and in that undefined something which so often
makes audible to the soul the presence of a great idea
in the public mind and heart. Occasionally this voice
became articulate.

In April and May of 1835 the “ Missionary Lyceum”
of the Wesleyan University, at Middletown, Conn., had
412 Meruopist Episcopal MIssions.

been discussing the prupriety of establishing a mission
in the interior of Africa, which led to a discussion of
the broader question, “ What country now presents the
most promising field for missionary exertions?” The
Chinese Empire was warmly advocated, and the Lyceum
resolved that the Methodist Episcopal Church should
send missionaries and a press at once to the field. A
committee, consisting of B. F. Tefft, D. P. Kidder, and
KE. Wentworth, were appointed to prepare an address on
the subject to the Church. This paper appeared in the
“Christian Advocate ” of May 15, 1835, occupying three
columrs with a very full exhibit of the field and its
claims. The anniversary of the Missionary Society was
held on May 11 of the same year. Dr. Fisk, of the
University, was one of the speakers, and in addition
to the resolutions assigned him for discussion he of-
fered an extemporaneous one, recommending a mission
to China, which he “advocated in a most impressive
and eloquent speech,” and proposed an immediate sub-
scription for the purpose. One gentleman offered to
be one of ten to raise $10,000 for the purpose, and $1,450
were actually subscribed on this occasion. On May 20,
in view of this, the Board recommended the Bishops to
select and appoint a suitable man to open a mission in
the empire of China. Ten years, however, elapsed be-
fore the work was begun.

We learn from the recorded proceedings of the Board
of its meeting of November 20, 1844, that Dr. Demp-
ster, the pastor of Vestry-street Church, New York city,
was present, and avowed a purpose on his part of visit-
ing China at his own expense, with a view to explora-
tion for the establishment of a mission there; and a
strong committee on the subject was appointed. At the
uext meeting the Board became pledged to the estab-
Origin of the Mtsston. 413

lishment of a mission in China if the repoits received
from Dr, Dempster should warrant it. Manifestations
kindred to these were frequently appearing.

The twenty-seventh anniversary of the Missionary
Society was held in the Mulberry-street Church, New
York city, on Monday evening, May 18, 1846, Bishop
Janes presiding. After stirring speeches came the col-
lection, during which Dr. Walter C. Palmer, now very
widely known, arose and proposed to be one of thirty to
give each $100 a year for ten years to support a mission
in China, Even at that time it was deemed necessary to
make some such long provision, because the impatience
of the Church for results, which the far-seeing well knew
could not be at once gratified in China, was likely to lead
to discouragement. Two responses to the proposition
were made upon the spot, and several others were soon
sent in. In a month the number of responses was in-
creased to eleven. The General Committee met in
joint session with the Board immediately after the an-
niversary, namely, on May 20, 1846, and China was
placed on the list of foreign missions, with an appro-
priation of $3,o0co@or two missionaries, $1,500 of which
was for their support, and $1,500 for their outfit and
traveling expenses. Married men were to be pre-
ferred.

The great Head of the Church has always an instru-
ment prepared for each appointed work. So it was in
this case. A lad, by the name of Judson Dwight Col-
lins, had been converted, at the age of fourteen years,
in the great revival at Ann Arbor, Michigan, which took
place in the years 1837-38, under the labors of Rev. E. H.
Pilcher. The boy was fond of study, and when the
State University was opened at Ann Arbor he entered

it with its first class, and in due course graduated, in the
19
414 MerHopist Episcopal MISSIONS.

year 1845. He loved souls, and was an unwearied la-
borer in every possible field of usefulness, alike zealous
as Sunday-school teacher, Sunday-school superintend-
ent, class-leader, exhorter, and local preacher. He be-
came an active member of the “Society of Inquiry” of
the institution, devoted largely to missionary interests.
He read every thing he could lay his hands upon with
respect to China, and the chief desire of his soul seems
to have been to carry the Gospel to its unsaved and un-
counted multitudes.

He had written to Dr. Durbin on the subject, but re-
ceived for reply that our Church had no mission there.
At the session of the Michigan Conference for 1845 he
wrote also to Bishop Janes, opening his heart in respect
to China, and expressing a conviction that God had
called him to this special work. He begged the Bishop
that he might be appointed to China. The Bishop ex-
plained to him that not even the most incipient steps
had as yet been taken toward establishing this mission,
and that funds must be raised, and that probably much
time would elapse before the work could begin. The
sublime response of this young hero+was, “‘ Bishop, en-
gage me a place before the mast, and my own strong
arm will pull me to China, and support me while there.”

In the following December events had so far matured
that Bishop Janes, unaware of Mr. Collins’ address,
wrote to his brother, Rev. W. H. Collins, that there was
now a strong probability that our Church would establish
4 mission in China, and advised the young man at least
to defer his plan of working his passage to China till
the ensuing May, when something definite would doubt-
less be done by the General Committee on the subject.

These interesting facts were communicated by Bishog
Janes to Bishop Hedding, who had the charge of foreign
Origin of the Mission. 41s

missions, and they were held in reserve for the ripening
of events, which, as we have seen, took place in May,
1846. But Bishop Hedding considered himself instruct-
ed by the Board to appoint only married men,,and as
Mr. Collins was single he felt that he could not appoint
him, though evidently greatly inclined to do so. At the
meeting of the Board, held October 21, 1846, Bishop
Janes presented the case, at the recital of which the
Board were greatly affected, and promptly resolved,
“That, should Bishop Hedding deem it expedient to
appoint the brother from Michigan, alluded to in the
remirks of Bishop Janes, the Board will concur in the
appointment.” It is needless to say that he received
the appointment.

At a meeting held December 16, 1846, the Board rec-
ommended that ¢wo young men should be sent to China,
‘one to be temporarily the superintendent of the mis-
sion, and they raised a committee, consisting of Messrs.
Kidder, Peck, and Pitman, to collect information, and
report in respect to the establishment of the mission.
This was, doubtless, pursuant to correspondence which
it was known the bishops had been carrying on with
Rev. M. C. White. He had been highly recommended
for the work, but the appointment of Mr. Collins led the
Bishoy to prefer an older and more experienced man
than Mr. White, who should become the superintendent
of the mission. Months of hesitation and delay ensucd.
and it was not till the year 1847 had fully opened that
Mr. White received his appointment.

By a singular train of providences Mr. White was un-
expectedly substituted at the last moment for the man
originally designated for this work. The time of de-
parture was just at hand. He hastened to Rochester,
and was married to Miss Isabel Atwater, who had con-
410 MeETuHopIST EprscopaL MISSIONS.

secrated herself to mission work from her espousal to
Christ, and longed to go to the heathen. Other prepa-
rations also were hastened, and the first company of
Methodist missionaries for China left Boston on the 15th
day of April, 1847.

On the 26th of March, 1847, the Committee of Inquiry
reported to the Board, and their report was accepted.
The most important item of that report had respect to
the location of the mission. Inquiry on this point was
of necessity restricted to the five open ports. Of these
the committee gave their preference to Foochow, the
capital of the Fokien province, situated on the river
Min, thirty miles from its mouth. It was quite inacces-
sible and entirely without commerce, and the people not
favorable to the introduction of foreigners; but it was the
only one of the open ports as yet unoccupied * by Prot-
estant missionaries, while every false and foul supersti-
tion had here its representative. It was, moreover, a
field of no ordinary claims. Half a million of souls,
(since doubled in number,) thronged its lanes, its hill-
sides, and its waters. It was the political and literary
center, and has since become the commercial center, of
a province containing twenty-five millions of inhabitants.
The committee were determined in their choice, also, by
the opportunity afforded our missionaries to accompany,
in their outgoing voyage, Rev. Mr. Doty, of the American
Board, bound for Amoy, in the southern part of the Fo-
kien province, the dialect of which city was quite simi-
lar to that of Foochow. Important recommendations
in respect to other matters were also made by the com-
mittee, all of which were adopted by the Board. The

* Such was the opinion of the committee, but Rev. Stephen John-

son, of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions,
had come to Foochow from Bangkok, Siam, some little time previous,
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Origin of the Mission. 419

same committee also prepared a careful letter of instruc-
tions for these missionaries, the first of our Church to
round the Cape of Good Hope.

2. Entering the Field.

The “Heber” bore them safely over the ocean, and
they reached Macao on the qth of August, 1847, having
been on the journey nearly four months. They pro-
ceeded at once to Canton, reaching it by the 7th. On
the 12th they took their departure for Hongkong,
reaching that place on the 14th. Here they remained
a week, and then left for Amoy, where they arrived on
the 28th, and were made welcome by Mr. Doty to his
own home. A day or two of rest, and they left for Foo-
chow. On the 4th of September they were beneath the
bold peaks and highlands at the mouth of the river
Min. Slowly they proceeded up the river, and by the
6th had landed. The brethren of the American Board
hospitably opened to them a house which had been
rented for one of their own missionaries, where they
bowed in devout family thanksgiving to God for their
escape from the perils of the deep, and in prayer that
God would help them to be messengers of light and life
to the benighted myriads around them. Methodism was
at last planted in China, never, we hope, to be uprooted.

Six or eight miles above Foochow (Happy Region)
the Min separates into two branches, and re-unites at
a point as far below the city, thus forming a fertile
island, some sixteen miles in length and three or four in
width. Foochow is situated to the north of the north-
ern branch, and about equally distant from the extremi-
ties of the island. In the river, just abreast of the city,
is another small island, densely populated, called Chung
Chan by the foreigners, but Tong Chin by the natives
420 METHODIST EPISCOPAL MISSIONS.

that is, Middle Island. It is connected with the city
by the celebrated “Bridge of Ten Thousand Ages,”
or the Big Bridge. This bridge is about a quarter of a
mile long, and thirteen or fourteen feet wide. It has
thirty-eight solid buttresses. Immense stones, many of
them a yard square and forty-five feet long, extend from
buttress to buttress, and upon them a granite platform
is laid. A similar bridge of seven arches also connects
Middle Island with the larger island, already described.
A great thoroughfare connects the bridges.

The missionaries were able to secure premises for
their occupation on this Middle Island, near its head,
fronting the river, and within sixty feet of the great
thoroughfare. They at once began to repair and re.
model the premises for their dwelling, for Chinese
houses are utterly unfit for occupancy by foreigners
without much alteration.

Foochow is a walled city, the wall distant at least two
miles from the river; but thousands of inhabitants live
on the north bank of the river, outside the walls. This
extra-mural part of Foochow is called Nantai. From
an adjacent mountain, which they ascended a few days
after their arrival, our missionaries beheld what seemed
to be five hundred villages, of at least one thousand in-
habitants each, all at that moment ignorant of even the
name of our blessed Christ, and they cried out, “Who
is sufficient for these things!”

Thus quietly housed, they devoted themselves to the
study of the language. They carefully used their little
stock of medicines in administering to the sick, and
were marvelously successful, often in cases where the
native physicians had utterly failed to give relief. They
also distributed some tracts, ten thousand of which they
had bought of Dr. Ball, and portions of the Scripture,
     

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son D. Collins.

Jud

Rev.
Entering the Field. 423

which had been translated by Dr. Medhurst, which were
accepted with eagerness by the people. In time the
Kiau San house, beautiful for prospect, was erected, and
afterward the Kalau Orchard house, on the same range,
south of the river. In the course of a year our mission
began to be fairly at home in Foochow.

In October Mr. Collins made a vigorous effort to get
a foothold within the walls of the city. He rented
quarters, and partly prepared them for his use, when,
because of the public excitement, he thought it prudent
to relieve the owner from the lease. Afterward he
tented a room in a temple, but with the same result.
The missionaries also turned their earliest attention to-
ward a press, and forwarded recommendations to the
Board on this subject.

On October 14, 1847, Rev. Henry Hickok and wife,
ot the East Genesee Conference, and Rev. Robert S.
Maclay, embarked from New York in the “ Paul Jones,”
to reinforce the mission. They reached Foochow
on April 15, 1848. While on the coast from Hong-
kong to Foochow Mr. Hickok was seized with diarrhoea,
wnich developed into dysentery, and left a chronic
inflammation of the bowels that excited apprehension.
His feebleness continued, till he was compelled to retire
from the field in the early part of 1849.

At the earliest possible period our missionaries opened
schools, employing native teachers for them, the mis-
sionary visiting them to give religious instruction, and
to conduct the devotions. The first of these schools
was opened on February 28, 1848, with eight boys, and
was very promising, but had soon to be suspended be-
cause so much of the mission force had been disabled.
The girls’ school was opened by Mrs. Maclay with ten
pupils, and became of very great interest. A mixed
424 METHODIST EPISCOPAL MISSIONS.

school was opened, and was taught by Mr. White The
first Sunday-school was organized March 4, 1548, of
which Mr. Collins gives the following account: “I had
appointed half-past nine as the time for the children to
come, but most of them were present by eight o’clock. I
observed that the day was a new era in their lives, and that
they had no correct notions of its sanctity; they were far
more boisterous and noisy than was proper. By gently
rebuking them, and placing a trusty person over them,
they were in a good degree kept in order. At the time
appointed I went, in company with Brother White, to the
school-room. All were quiet. We sung in Chinese the
long meter doxology, to the tune of Old Hundred. The
Lord’s Prayer was then read in Chinese, and explained,
and, all kneeling down, Brother White led our devo-
tions in the use of the Lord’s Prayer in English. The
second chapter of St. Matthew’s Gospel was then read
and explained, the boys being frequently questioned in-
dividually in regard to their understanding of it. They
seemed interested through the entire service. We closed
at eleven o’clock with singing and the Lord’s Prayer.”
Mr. Collins says: “It was a sight to gladden the angels,
These little Chinese boys, hitherto nurtured in the dark-
ness of heathenism, and in the midst of idol:trous rites,
assembled for the purpose of studying the claims of the
great Jehovah to our worship, and his denunciation of
all creature worship.”

A small chapel in Nantai, rented for the distribution
of tracts, with no thought of using it for a chapel, was
the only one we hadin China. Fifty persons might possi-
bly have gotten into it, but the crowd surging by supplied
an ever-changing congregation; one and another,with his
bundies or his tools, dropped in, to hear for a little while,
or to make his remarks and depart, but, perchance, to be
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Ching Sing Tong Church.
Entering the Field. 427

impressed, The Chinese are very fond of hearing pub-
lic discourse ; and connected with the restaurants every-
where audience-rooms were found, where public talks
wereheld. These audience-rooms, and other like places,
for the time being served for chapels. The erection of
the first church did not take place till the year 1855. On
petition of the mission, the Board then granted power to
proceed to build, and the Churches of New York and
vicinity furnished $5,000 toward the object.

-A plat of land was purchased on Iontau, the main
street leading to the south gate of the city outside the
walls, and distant from them about three quarters of a
mile, and a solid and comely brick and stone structure
put upon it, crowned with a cupola, in which was placed
a bell. The Chinese thus had their eyes and ears
opened to our purpose of remaining in China. The
church was called “ Ching Sing Tong ’’—“* Church of the
True God,” which title was carved on a tablet of por-
phyry over the door, to be read daily by thousands of
passers by. This house was dedicated on Sunday, Au-
gust 3,1n the presence of several missionaries of various
denominations, and of an orderly and attentive congre-
gation of Chinese, who filled it to its utmost capacity.

Having succeeded so well in this first church enter-
prise, an eligible lot was purchased in close proximity
to the homes of the missionaries, with a view to the
future erection of a second church edifice. Avery large
foreign community were in this neighborhood, and they
became very desirous for the church to proceed, and
offered to aid in its erection if there could be added an
audience room for them for English preaching. Fifteen
hundred dollars was placed at the disposal of the mission
for this purpose, and the building was decided upon

The Chinese part of this church, called “ Tienang "-—
428 METHODIST EpiscopAL MISSIONS

“Heavenly Rest”—was dedicated October 18, 1856, Dr.
Maclay officiating. It is a very tasteful edifice of brick
and stone, with interior finishings of hard wood. Here
the service is very orderly, a model to the Chinese of
Christian worship. The English part of the church was
dedicated December 28, 1856, Dr. Wentworth (who had
arrived the year before) preaching from 1 Kings ix, 3:
“And the Lord said unto him, I have heard thy prayer
and thy supplication, that thou hast made before me: I
have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put
my name there forever; and mine eyes and mine heart
shall be there perpetually.”

8. Progress and Vicissitudes.

The year Mr. Hickok departed Mr. Collins was se-
verely attacked with typhus fever, for which he was
treated with great skill by Dr. White, by which his life
was prolonged, though he never fully recovered his
strength. As soon as he was able he made an excursion
as far north as Shanghai, which gave him an opportunity
of observing other missions, while he was recruiting his
health. His observations during this journey evidently
impressed him with the importance of making a strong
mission, as a center of influence in China, and with this
in view the missionaries earnestly solicited the Board tu
send forward reinforcements. Inthe meantime, those on
the ground were working earnestly, distributing Bibles
and tracts, preaching and telling the saving truths of
Christ, and making occasional excursions for these pur-
poses. Two millions of people, without God and with-
out hope, were within half a day’s walk of the mission
premises; and by these extended excursions, in making
which they were not interfered with, the missionaries be-
came acquainted with multitudes. With formidable
 

 

 

 

 

 

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Tienang, Church of the Heavenly Rest.
Progress and Victssitudes. 431

difficulties staring them in the face, they had yet a full,
clear faith in the final evangelization of China.

The superintendency of the mission had hitherto de-
volved upon Mr. Hickok, but in the early part of 1850
Mr. Collins was appointed to that office. With great
modesty he accepted the office, and pushed on the work
with new vigor. But his health had been undermined,
and as the warm season of 1850 approached he began
to feel that his life-work was done. For months he was
drooping, till at length, wasted to a skeleton, he reluc-
tantly yielded to persuasion, and left China on the 23d
of April, 1851. In returning to the United States he
preferred the route by the way of California, because he
had heard of the immense immigration of Chinese to
that land, and had perceived the incalculable reflex
power upon China of a Chinese mission in California,
and wished to give the matter his attention. He reached
San Francisco on the 14th of July, and at once busied
himself projecting plans for the Christianization of the
Chinese on the Pacific coast. His strength continued
to fail from month to month, and on the 313th of May,
1852, in his thirtieth year, he ceased to suffer, and the
Lord put on him a missionary’s crown. Seldom has
one so young accomplished so much.

The year of Mr. Collins’s departure from the mission
witnessed the accession of Rev. Isaac W. Wiley and
wife, Rev. James Colder and wife, and Miss M. Seely,
the latter, soon after her arrival, becoming the wife of
Mr. White. The entrance of these fellow-laborers gave
a new impulse to the work. The translation and print-
ing of the Scriptures, which had been early undertaken,
now progressed as rapidly as could be expected. Preach-
ing was regularly maintained at both chapels.

The years 1853 and 1854 were, perhaps, the most dis-
432 MeEtTHopIsT EpiscopaL MISSIONS.

couraging to the mission of its entire history. Sickness
and death had made sad havoc among the workers, and
now Mrs, White’s health, too, was failing; and in the
course of the year Mr. White had permission to return
home with her. Moreover, differences of opinion that
were by no means healthful for the work had sprung up
among the missionaries. The most serious of them were
in respect to the duties and powers of the superintend-
ency; and as to the proper word to be employed in the
Chinese tongue as the name of the Divine Being. But
there were also differences of a minor nature.

For two years the local authorities of Foochow had
declined to authorize the building of the new church,
dwelling, and hospital, at that time projected by the
mission, and authorized by the Board, but which, as we
have seen, was built, after a delay of years, and dedi-
cated in the year 1856. The arrest of this important
work, for the time being, was a sore trial to the mission-
aries. The Chinese rebellion was then on foot, and the
Revolutionists were gradually nearing the coast, and, as
some supposed, were threatening Foochow. It was
judged best, in view of the danger, for Mrs. Maclay and
Mrs. Colder, who were in feeble health, to retire to
Hongkong, under escort of their husbands. Dr. Wiley
and wife were left alone in the field, both of them
with health greatly impaired. They felt that the dan-
ger to the city was not imminent enough to excuse their
withdrawal. Being very feeble, the melting heat of the
summer sadly affected Dr. Wiley. An excursion, made
by himself and wife on the river, invigorated them some-
what, but in another excursion to the mouth of the river,
to avail themselves of the bracing sea-air, they were un-
fortunately caught by a typhoon, and for days were
beaten about, drenched by the rains, and in great peril
 

;
ee
i
be

 

Mr. Gidson's School-house at Foochow.
Progress and Victssitudes. 435
The effects upon Dr. Wiley and his wife were very seri-
ous, and from them they never fully recovered. Mrs.
Wiley died in November, and the doctor was ere long
compelled to return home in bodily weakness and the
sorrows of bereavement. To crown all, Mr. Colder, un-
der date of November 5, gave notice that he had with-
drawn from the mission, having been led to entertain
views of Church polity and practice different from those
of the Methodist Episcopal Church. ‘The schools were
deserted, the missionaries, scattered; death had been
relentless; all was dark and unpromising; but the Board
courageously said to the Church, in their report: “Let us
hold fast our faith in the China mission, and trust in God.”

On the death of Mrs. Wiley and the withdrawal of
Mr. Colder, Mr. Maclay returned to Foochow, and Rev.
Erastus Wentworth and wife and Rev. Otis Gibson and
wife were sent to his relief. The former arrived in Foo-
chow, June 18, and the latter, August 13, 1855. Mrs.
Wentworth had been a long time in a debilitated state,
and the voyage had not, as was hoped, improved her.
Her soul was thrilled with the prospect of mission-life,
and every thing in China was beautiful to her. But
higher things awaited her, and, steadily declining in
health, her spirit escaped to heaven on the second day
of October next after her arrival in China, she not being
four months in the field.

Preaching, teaching, and distribution, were all re-
sumed. The rebellion began to develop features not
so favorable to foreigners and Christianity as had been
hoped, but it had called attention to religious subjects,
and awakened more freedom of thought. Mr. Maclay
was able to say, under date of September 30, 1854: “It
is not yet our privilege to report any direct conversions
to Christianity in connection with our own labors among
436 METHODIST EPISCOPAL MISSIONS.

this people, but we have evidence, to our minds most con-
vincing, that the blessing of God attends our work here.”’
The congregations in the chapels were attentive as never
before, and there was greater effect from the preaching of
the word, which was now done with increased pointed-
ness, earnestness, and frequency. The Board, evidently
less hopeful, say, ‘This mission is pre-eminently a mis-
sion of faith;’* and they comfort themselves with the
blessed outcome of the long continuance of apparently
fruitless labors of Dr. Judsonin Burmah. Neither Board
nor missionaries were aware how near at hand was the set
time to favor Zion, and the beginning of their triumphs
for Christ in China.

The Mission was pressing the Board for female teach-
ers. The school opened by Mrs. Maclay, but suspended
for awhile because of her inability to attend to it, was
reopenéd under the joint care of Mrs. Maclay and Mrs.
Gibson, and during the year about thirty girls were in
attendance. This was an expedient for the time being
till more permanent provision could be made for the edu-
cation of girls, and it was continued with excellent results
till the Misses Woolston arrived, in 1858. The whole
machinery of the Mission was once more in operation.

4, The Dawn of Day.

On Sunday, July 14, 1857, a memorable scene took
place at the Tienang Church, namely, the first baptism
in our mission. The convert was a tradesman, named
Ting Ang, forty-seven years of age, with a wife and five
children, and a large circle of kindred. For two years
he had been dropping in at the Iongtau Chapel, and
had obtained some of the books distributed. He fre-
quently called in at the day-school, by the teacher of
which he was brought to the morning service at Tienang
 

iy ae iG

Ting Ang, the First Convert.
Lhe Dawn of Day. 439

Church. and the missionaries thus made his acquaint-
ance. They carefully instructed him, and he com-
menced private and family prayer. Messrs. Maclay
and Gibson visited him, and found his home stripped
of idols, and blessed with religious books, and their
examination of him was scrutinizing and very satisfac-
tory. His family were also consenting to his course.
The men of God closed their visit by reading the fifth
chapter of Matthew and praying with the family. This
was the first time they had offered prayer within a Chi-
nese house inside the walls of the city, and this house
was almost under the shadow of the viceroy’s mansion.
The deed could not be done without emotion.

Ting Ang was consistent and steadfast, and the mis-
sionaries finally decided to baptize him. This was done
in the presence of the congregation at the afternoon serv-
ice. Mr. Maclay explained the ritual, as it proceeded,
sentence by sentence, and then sprinkled the water on
Ting Ang’s head while he was kneeling at the altar. They
then shared together the holy communion.

On October 18 following, the wife of Ting Ang and
two of their younger children were admitted to baptism.
During the year thirteen adults were baptized, and three
infants. The class of Chinese converts was organized
August 7, 1858, at the Iongtau appointment, Mr. Gib-
son leader, with Hu Po Mi assistant. Stewards were
appointed, two of them being native. A Sunday-school
was organized here, with seven scholars, conducted by
natives. The entire organization of a Methodist Epis-
copal Church, the first in all the Chinese Empire, was
completed, with its class-meetings, quarterly meetings,
and collections.

It must not be thought that these were the first spir-
itual results of the mission. A little boy had very early
440 METHODIST EPpIscoPpAL MISSIONS.

become a constant visitant at Dr. Wiley’s home, and
was delighted to hear from the doctor Bible tales, and
especially those concerning Christ. He had learned to
pray in faith, and died trusting in the Lord Jesus.
Though unbaptized and unrecorded on earth, he was,
doubtless, a true member of the body of Christ.

A bright, promising young man, named Ting Ing Kaw:
employed about the house of Mr. Colder, and greatly
attached to the family, begged to accompany them to
Hongkong in 1853, when they retired, in apprehension
of the coming of the insurgents, to Foochow. He had
been impressed with the religion of Jesus, and enjoyed
the perusal of Christian books. Soon after reaching
Hongkong he desired to be baptized. After careful
instruction on the part of Mr. Colder and Mr. Johnson,
a Baptist missionary with whom Mr. Colder lodged,
his request was complied with, and he was immersed.
It was here that Mr. Colder was himself immersed, and,
sailing for New York in December, 1853, he took this
youth with him. About the time of the above recited
outpouring of the Spirit Ting Ing Kaw returned from
the United States with a letter of Church membership
from Mr. Colder, and united with the infant Church
just organized in China.

It is astonishing to find so large a proportion of these
converts of mature age. Hu Po Mi, since become emi-
nent as apreacher, was thirty-one; his father, Hu Ngieng
Leu, was fifty-seven; Wong Tai Hung was thirty-five ;
and we find others reputed of like ages. Some of these
converts had to endure persecution, some of them the
loss of all things for Christ’s sake, but they remained
steadfast toa man. Ting Ang, the first of them, died a
few years ago in full hope of a blessed immortality.
His descendants are Christians. His daughter married
The Dawn of Day. 44t

Yek Ing Kwang, one of the native preachers cf the
Conference; and Bishop Harris, on occasion of his visit
to the mission in 1873, baptized their babe, Samuel, on
Sunday evening, October 12, the bishop having learned
the ritual in Chinese for the occasion.

This year (1858) was signalized by the establishment
of the Foundling Asylum, the chief purpose of which
is to save the lives of female children, thousands of
whom are cast away every year. The sum of six hun-
dred and seventy dollars was raised in Foochow to aid
in its establishment.

The work of the mission in 1859 began to extend
westward. This year the To-cheng (Peach Farm) ap-
pointment, about fifteen miles northwest of Foochow,
commenced with a class of thirteen members. This
year also native helpers were licensed and employed.
Hu Po Mi, Uong Tai Hung, Uong Kia Taik, Hu Iong
Mi, Tang Ien King, and Ting Seng Mi were all made
exhorters. Hu Po Mi became the pastor at the Peach
Farm appointment, and thus became the first native
itinerant in China.

The Hu family were intimate friends of the Li family,
who occupied an old farm-house in the outskirts of this
village. The conversion of the former was followed by
exhortations to the latter to seek their salvation in Christ,
which seemed not to be without effect. In February,
1859, Mr. Maclay went up to To-cheng and held relig-
icus services at the Li home, tea being served to each
person as he entered, while the services progressed.
Mr. Maclay and Mr. Hu spoke alternately. The simple
rustic people were greatly surprised to hear Mr, Maclay
talk in their tongue, and they gave willing ear to his
message. The next day was spent by the missionaries
in visiting from house to house, with most promising
442 MeErHopDISsT EPIscopaAL MISSIONS.

results. Before Mr. Maclay left for Foochow nine of the
Li family gave their names as candidates for baptism.

The success of this new work spread alarm throvgh
all the valley, and consultations were held to devise
some effectual method of preventing the spread of
Christianity. Some proposed criminal prosecution of
all who became Christians, a plan that had in former
years succeeded with the Roman Catholics. On apply-
ing to the courts, however, it was found that things had
changed, and that the old methods could not now be
tolerated. Personal violence was then proposed, but
the better class of the people discountenanced this, and
nothing remained but to create, as far as they could,
public sentiment against these enemies of their ancestral
idolatries.

The heathen members of the Li family declared that
when the missionary entered their house the spirits of
the idols all ran away. Hence when the missionary
had left they would go to the mountain in the rear of
their house, and beg the departed spirits to return, and
to this, as they imagined, the spirits yielded. After one
very powerful meeting they called in vain, for the spirits
refused to return. A famous exorcist then tried his
incantations, but found Jesus too powerful for them,
and the spirits did not again enter the house. The
exorcist and two others, heathen members of the fam-
ily, were conquered by Christ, and became his devout
servants. On March 13, 1859, seven were baptized at
this place, and five more on August 21 following. ‘The
zlorious Gospel of the risen Redeemer had fairly begun
its march westward.

The remarkable successes which, after so long a de-
lay, had been so suddenly realized in China, encouraged
the authorities at home to send out a larger force, and
The Dawn of Day. 443

che superintendent was soon gladdened by having the
number of workers actually doubled. At the Newark
Conference, held in 1858, Bishop Baker appointed to
China Rev. Stephen L. Baldwin, then just from the
Biblical Institute at Concord. In the course of the
summer two young ladies, sisters, were also appointed,
in response to the long cry from the mission for female
teachers. They all, in company with Miss Phebe E.
Potter, sailed in the “‘ Empress,” on the 4th of October,
1858.

On the Friday evening previous the Bishop ordained
Mr. Baldwin an Elder. This was done in the Clinton-
street Church, Newark, of which Mr. Baldwin had been
a member, and in the presence of a dense assembly, in
which were many of his relatives and special friends,
many ministers of the conference, and missionaries from
each of the quarters of the globe. The meeting was
addressed by Rev. B. W. Gorham, father of Mrs. Bald-
win, Bishop Francis Burns, of Liberia, and by Mr.
Baldwin. On Sabbath the missionaries and friends all
communed together; Sunday afternoon they were at the
Sands-street Church, Brooklyn; Sunday night at a final
meeting at Jane-street, New York; and at ten o’clock,
Monday morning, in presence of a great concourse, they
left Pier 1, East River, New York, for their appointed
field. Their voyage was made very profitable by the
Rev. Mr. Peet, of the American Board of Commissioners
for Foreign Missions, who was on board, and aided them
in the study of Chinese, and it was, besides, replete with
spiritual and physical comforts. On the 28th of Febru-
ary, 1859, they reached Shanghai, and were received at
midnight with open arms by the missionaries there of the
Methodist Episcopal Church, South. They remained at
Shanghai till the 18th of March, enjoying sweet com-
A44 Metuopist EprtscopaAt Missions.

munion with the Christian natives and others. Here
they heard, from Mr. Liew, for the first time, a native
sermon. Ateleven o’clock on the night of the 19th they
stepped ashore at Foochow, and had soon aroused Mr.
Gibson, Mr. Maclay, and Dr. Wentworth. Great joy
was that night in the Foochow mission.

Rev. C. R. Martin also was appointed to China, for
which he embarked with his wife, October 26, 1859, and
arrived in Foochow, April 1, 1860. He had been received
into the Erie Conference and transferred to Troy Con-
ference, but had been ordained at the seat of the East
Genesce Conference. He afterward, by division of Con-
ference, finally fell into the Vermont Conference.

The arrival of the Misses Woolston was an era in the
history of the mission. The long-desired day when fe-
male education in the mission could be put upon a
broader and a permanent basis had at last arrived. The
boys’ school, under Mr. Gibson, had already had quite
a long career of success. Its principal had shown him-
self pre-eminently qualified for this important depart-
ment of the work. The Misses Woolston, just arrived in
China, were destined to a like success for a long period.
Temporary provision was inade for the school in the
building formerly occupied by the boys’ school under
Mr. Gibson, and here the female school was opened on
the 28th of November, 1859. It was such an entire
novelty that none of the natives at first seemed willing
to patronize it. One little Chinese girl attended alone
for eight days, six others were then added, but four of
them were soon withdrawn. The ladies soon reported
ten interestiny little girls, between the ages of seven
and thirteen, all, excepting one, having unbound feet,
though soon two others were counted, of the small-footed
class. At the end of ten months, of fifteen girls whe
 

Girls’ Boarding School, Foochow.
 

The Dawn of Day. 447

had been in the school, only eight remained. Very early
signs were evident of the impression made upon their
minds against idolatry.

The next great object was to prepare suitable build-
ings for the seminary. The Female Missionary Society
of Baltimore had become deeply interested in Chinese
missions, and to them the inission turned with hope not
to be disappointed. This society gladly undertook the
work. Dr. Wentworth drew up an appeal for funds, the
stirring sentences of which are as true to-day as they
were then. This appeal made the following points :—

“y,. The low estimate in which females are held in
China, and their consequent debased condition, are the
first facts to which we would call attention in our appeai
for means with which to elevate their social position.
In five cases out of ten the birth of a female infant is
regarded as a calamity. I am often asked the singular
question, ‘Which sex do you prefer in your country,
male or female?’ The reply, ‘It makes no difference;
we are thankful for such as Providence sends,’ is re-
ceived with a shake of the head or a smile of incredulity,
and the invariable rejoinder, ‘Boys are a blessed god-
send, but girls are a curse and a nuisance.’ Nor are the
Chinese backward in using the readiest means to rid
themselves of the thankless charge. A family in good
circumstances will tolerate two or three daughters; but
the poorer classes destroy them without compunction
and without ceremony. Fathers and midwives believe
themselves to be doing a meritorious act in quietly sup-
pressing existence at the threshold by immersion in the
nearest vessel of water, or exposure by night to the
chance mercies of the public highways, with the surer
hazards of cold and starvation. It would chill the blood
of tender-hearted Christian mothers to hear the tales
445 Metnopist EpiscorpaL Missions.

told to our missionary ladies by their native nurses
All these women converse with levity and indifference
on the subject of female infanticide, until they come to
learn that we regard the practice with horror, when they
will deny or extenuate the offense, lest they should suf-
fer in the good opinion of their foreign employers. One
of our ladies questioned a woman in her employ as to
its commonness, and was told that in the rural villages
there was ‘scarcely a house in which one or more had
not been destroyed;’ that ‘one of the won.an’s near
neighbors, out of a family of seven daughters, had de-
stroyed five; that she herself had not committed the
cruel deed, though she had borne three daughters and
one son; ‘the son was alive, but the demons [query,
midwives?] had carried off all the girls!’ It is a signif-
icant intimation of the commonness of the practice, that
almost the only great public charity known in China is
the native Female Foundling Hospital, found, it is be-
lieved, in every important city to which foreigners have
access. Among the better classes female infants are
freely given away to any body who will bring them up;
and these, in some parts of the empire, are reared for
purposes to which death itself would be a preferable lot.

“2, But supposing the female escapes suffocation at
birth, what is her condition as she grows up? In this
province she is either a lady or a day-laborer; a gilded
recluse or a field-hand; destined to idleness, frivolous
occupations, and jealous seclusion, or made to delve ii
the soil, tug at the oar, groan under burdens, and jostle,
shout, and swear with the roughest and rudest in the
crowded streets, thronged rivers, and choked market-
places. Bad as it is, the condition of the Fuh-kien field-
woman is in one respect better than that of the Fuh-kien
lady. She enjoys freedom of locomotion. The lady is
The Dawn of Day 449

systematically crippled from infancy. It is not without
infinite pain and distress that the foot is thus unnatural-
ly cramped, swathed with cruel bandages, dwarfed, and
distorted, that it may be compressed for life into a gild-
ed slipper two inches in length. But the cramping of
the female foot is a small misfortune compared with the
more cruel cramping of the female mind. In a land of
books not one Chinese woman in ten can read, and then
scarcely more than sufficient to repeat, parrot-like, char-
acters of which she does not understand the meaning.
Her education is restricted to the few brief years of girl-
hood that precede a marriage consummated as early as
years and growth will possibly allow. She is betrothed
by others to one whom she has never seen, and bought at
a stipulated price by a lover who has his first view of her
when, after being carried to his house in the marriage
sedan, and the ceremony completed, she is finally un-
vailed in the presence of a lord and master with whom
she is never to eat, never to appear in public, and never
to share those delicate attentions which constitute the
charm of life in civilized and Christian communities. If
she belong to the working class, she is expected to share
the outdoor labors of her better half, or perhaps to work
for an idle rake who takes her wages as fast as earned to
pamper his own intemperance or gratify his own beastly
desires. Inher best estate the Chinese female is ignorant,
confined, and despised. Christianity alone will elevate
her to her true and deserved position among the women
of the earth. Christian schools, managed by Christian
ladies, will have this elevating effect. Shall we have the
means for establishing and maintaining such a school in
our Foochow mission? Methinks if the heads and fig-
ures on the coins in your purses had tongues and vocal
powers they would shout in chorus in the afhrmative.
450 METHODIST EpiscoPpAL MISSIONS.

“3. The liberality of the merchants and other foreign
residents of Foochow, English and American, has en-
abled us to establish in our mission a Foundling Asylum,
to rescue female infants from destruction. The native
Christians assure us that so soon as its existence shall
have become extensively known parents will hasten to
avail themselves of so merciful an alternative in place
of destroying their offspring, and that in a year or two
we shall have as many applicants as we shall have room
for, or know what to do with. This, in the suburbs of
a city of six hundred thousand inhabitants, seems highly
probable. All these female infants, doubtless as many
as we shall be able to support, will grow up on our
hands, and will be the property of the Methodist Epis-
copal Church. So long as they are infants they will re-
main, at our charge, in the hands of native nurses; but
with the age of weaning it is desirable that they be also
weaned, for a season at least, from all connection with
heathendom. Our female boarding-school will neces-
sarily have an infant department—a safe and conven-
ient asylum in which to rear these rejected foundlings.
Thirty or forty of these, grown up to girlhood, would of
themselves constitute a female school of some magni-
tude. Will the Church, will the ladies of Christendom,
provide the means for educating these adopted daugh-
ters, or shall they grow up in an atmosphere as thick
with ignorance and darkness as that from which they
have been providentially rescued?

“4. We want Christian wives for our Christian young
men. We have already baptized and brought into the
Church a number of single young men, but no single
young women. All these youths will have to betake
themselves to the Hittites for wives, or remain unmar-
ried; and are in imminent danger of being drawn into
The Dawn of Day. 451

or mixed up with the superstitions and idolatries insep-
arable from a Chinese wedding ceremony. The inter.
marriage of Christian converts with unbelievers has been
a stupendous difficulty from the days of Paul until now.
It is one of the most difficult things to manage connected
with foreign missionary work. Female boarding-schools,
where females may be trained to Christianity, will alle-
viate the difficulty to a considerable extent, and, in con-
nection with the orphan asylum, may ultimately do
away with it altogether.

“5. Girls converted in Christian schools, and return-
ing into the bosom of heathen families, will carry with
them the results of Christian instruction, and sow the
seeds of Gospel truth in the minds of their children,
and thus insensibly promote the spread of Gospel truth
in quarters where no other influence could possibly be
brought to bear. Christian school-girls make Christian
wives and Christian mothers. This it is that makes all
Churches so anxious to get the educating of as many
youth as possible within the influence of Bible truth.
Chinese girls will form no exception to the general rule.
The female heart is as religiously inclined in China as
in any other quarter of the globe. Shall we leave it to
be overrun with the weeds of iniquity, or shall we sow
it with the seeds of virtue, and adorn it with flowers of
celestial promise ?

“6 The enterprise is already in hand. It is an emi-
nently practicable enterprise. It has nothing prospect-
ive or visionary about it. It does not call for armies
of missionaries to penetrate the interior, or for an annual
expenditure in China of more missionary money than all
the Methodist Church now raises for all missionary pur-
poses. It is within the reach of small means, and en-
tirely within the compass of female effort. Its success
452 Metuopist Episcopat MISSIONS.

is assured by the success of similar operations in other
parts of China. It is stimulated by the example of those
heroic ladies who have, in former years, devoted their
lives, accomplishments, and, in soine instances, private
fortunes as well as personal labors, not without fruits,
to the renovation of their own sex in this barbaruus
clime. It is encouraged by the success of the corre-
sponding department in our mission. A flourishing boys’
school has been in vigorous operation among us for more
than a year past, with every prospect of usefulness and
efficiency as an auxiliary to the preaching of the Gospel
among this people.

“We are just now completing premises for the accom-
modation of thirty boys, and the narrow quarters aban-
doned by the boys will suffice for a handful of girls for
a year or so; but by the time our female teachers shall
have learned a little of the language, and fitted them-
selves to teach through this medium, we shall need an
academy building, with dormitories, class-rooms, and
other apartments, sufficient for thirty or forty girls and
their teachers, similar, on a smaller scale, to our confer-
ence academies at home. The Baltimore China Female
Missionary Society have heroically taken it upon them-
selves to supply this lack. Will not the ladies of the
entire connection come up to their help in this arduous
entetprise? It is to be done by special contribution,
and ought not to interfere with the regular missionary
collections for the year. We feel intense interest in this
scheme, but have endeavored to write calmly and dis-
passionately; and yet have desired to array before the
female members of the Methodist Episcopal Church
such substantial reasons for our appeal as should influ-
ence their judgments, and induce permanent interest
rather than elicit a few flashes of sentiment, or a merely
The Dawn of Day. 453

transient feeling, which would pass away without results,
or substantial evidence, in the form of ‘material aid,’
that they appreciate the greatness of the cause to which
we have thus briefly summoned their attention.”

The funds were forthcoming, and the building went
up. The “Waugh Female Seminary” and the “ Balti-
more Female Academy” were now permanently suc-
ceeded by “ The Girls’ Boarding School.” They should
really be regarded as different eras of the same school.
In time the school found a commodious house, where
it still remains, and is now one of the institutions of Foo-
chow. It is still meeting with continued success. On the
gth of March, 1862, Hu Sung Eng, one of the pupils, was
baptized and received into the Church, under the name
of May Marlett Irving, so named by the young ladies
of Irving Institute, of Mechanicsburgh, Pennsylvania.
This young woman has since become the wife of one
of our native preachers, and the mother of a Christian
family. Three generations of this family, already with
this infant Church, attest its capacity of self-perpetu-
ation. This was the first-fruit of a harvest of souls
since reaped from the school. Mrs. Baldwin also opened
a day school, which continued till it was suspended on
account of the failure of her health.

The year 1860 was remarkable also for the first in-
stance of testing, at the dying hour, the grace of God in
Chinese Methodist hearts. Father Hu died in great
triumph; he left, as a legacy, six sons, four of them
adult members of our Church in Foochow, two of them
in the boys’ school, and one girl in the girls’ school,
whose baptism we have just noted. The years that have
since passed have only increased the evidence of the
value of this legacy. Brother Nger also died in the

Lord. He was a useful man aad a faithful exhorter
39
454 METHODIST EpiscopAL MISSIONS.

Another old member also died in the faith during this
year. Even blear-eyed idolaters, one would think, must
have seen the chariot of fire in which they were borne
to heaven.

The year 1861 was marked by several other important
events. The work was pushed still farther westward,
and a class of thirteen formed at Kang Chia, ten miles
west of Ngu Kang, till then our most westerly outpost,
where a chapel was built. This little society, after en-
during a fiery trial of persecution, came forth as gold
refined. Mrs. Baldwin, in failing health, had embarked
for the United States, under escort of her husband, at
the close of 1860, and when within one week’s sail of
New York died on board the “ Nabob,” on the 16th of
March, 1861. Superintendent Maclay, after a visit to
the United States most profitable and arousing to the
Churches here, reached Foochow on the roth of Sep-
tember, accompanied by his family and by Rev. Nathan
Sites and wife.

Collisions having occurred between the Chinese Gov-
ernment and the allied Governments of England and
France, hostilities existed for years which had now
happily ceased, and treaties were ratified, in which the
Chinese Government agreed to receive resident ministers
from other nations, to tolerate Christianity, to protect
missionaries, to open other ports, and to make the Yang-
tse River open to all nations. Foreign intercourse
with the interior of China hence received a powerful
impulse, and the Gospel floated into the interior upon
the tide of these new political events.

The publishing department of the mission, as we have
seen, had at a very early date received such attention as
was possible, for its great importance was promptly rec-
ognized. Important tracts and parts of the Scriptures
The Dawn of Day. 455

were produced, now reaching five hundred thousand
pages annually, About the year 1850 Rev. M. C. White
issued, as an experiment, a translation of Matthew’s
Gospel in the colloquial dialect. During the year
1862 much time and labor was spent in revising this,
and in producing the Gospel according to St. Mark.
Increased attention was given to the publishing depart-
ment generally, the charge of which had been assigned
in 1861 to Dr. Wentworth. A press was obtained, and
a font of Chinese type. But though this work was of
vital importance to the success of the mission, we can-
not here enter into its details.

8. First Annual Meeting and Succeeding Events.

On Monday, September 29, 1862, the first Annual
Meeting of the mission assembled, and closed its session
on Wednesday, the occasion being replete with interest
throughout. A course of study for the native helpers
was ordained, and examinations established, the ap-
pointments regularly announced as at conference, and
the statistics reported.

The appointments were as follows :—

FOOCHOW.

Ching Sing Tong, R. S. Maclay, Hu Iong Mi; Tieng
Ang Tong, O. Gibson, Wong T’ai Hung; Kuaninchang,
S. L. Baldwin, one to be supplied; Ato, S. L. Binkley,
Tang Ieu K’ong; City within the wall. C. R. Martin,
Ch’aiSieu Ong; Boys’ Boarding School, O. Gibson, Wong
T’ai Hung; Girls’ Boarding School, Miss B. Woolston,
Miss S. II. Woolston, Ho Sieu Kieng; Printing Office,
S. L. Baldwin, Chinese Foreman and three Assistants:
Foundling Asylum, Mrs. Maclay, Mrs. Martin, Chinese
Matron.
456 METHODIST Episcopal MISSIONS.

COUNTRY.

Ngukang, N. Sites, Li Seng Mi; Koikung, N. Sites,
Li Seng Mi; Kanchia, S. L. Baldwin, Li Seng Mi, Sieu
Meh K’a, R. S. Maclay, Ling Sieu Kieng; Ming Ang
City, O. Gibson, Veh Ing Kuang; Tiong Loh, O. Gib-
son, Hu Po Mi; Lieng Kong, S. L. Baldwin, Tang Teu
K’ong; Lo Nguong, C. R. Martin, Ch’ai Sieu Ong;
Hohchang, S. L. Binkley, Tang Ieu K’ong; Ing Hoh,
R. S. Maclay, Li Ching Mi; Yenping, O. Gibson, Hu
Po Mi.

These appointments included eight fields never before
occupied. The statistics were as follows :—

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ae’ts oF Soc’y,| Native Cuurcues. Mission
|Amer’D. Baptisms, : 3)%18 é pd a
eis % Sayeed ee | 22 22
STATIONS. ele|2laf2/4}-/4 |2 e| 2 Bless ole ge
a|elel/2l2)]2/2/2/2/2| #/2] 2 | #2 2s
ZI ElslE]Zl2/e/ZlAla/Z/E| 6 | 25 88

FOOCcHOW. soa fa i
Ching Sing Tong.} 2| 2] 3] 7] 10 10) 4) .} 2} 8} 24) $6 00) $5 00) 2.500
Tien Ang Toug..} 1] 38} 2| 6 6 12} 18} 5) 1} §} 20) 10 00) 21 00] 26,615
Kuaninchang....J 1} 1) 1) 3}. ea] ll sl Mectal| ware ie eoereeee 50
DAO eos ets eissserateicne 1} 1] 1] 38. ste 200

COUNTRY.

Koikurg........ ats L | alee 1 .| 12} 1.00) 7 00 250
Ngukang........ 1 1) 3} 3 3) 1 8} 20) 2 00) 12 00 500
Kanehia...9.300. " 1) Yo Dae -| 11} 1:00) 5 00 Ris
Sieu Meh K’a.... alba CS ed a sel Eto erece rank
Totaliss tacos 6! S11) 25) 20, 12) 32! 16 418 19] 87'_20 ool 50 OOL $30,115

 

 

 

 

 

No observant reader can fail to perceive the wonder-
ful development of this great work of God; wonderful,
not only for its rapidity, but for the perfection with which
it crystallized into a Church, reaching out after an inde-
pendent life, and having even in its infancy benevolent,
educational, and publishing interests of no mean magni-
tude, a native ministry of exceeding promise, and the
spirit of aggressiveness pushing westward with a con-
stant and Christly energy. As an incident of this west-
‘TITLE, Ios Wo eouEpIsey S,ABLOBVBI “Id

 
First Annual Meeting—Succeeding Events. 459

ward movement, it should be said that in 1863 Mr. Sites,
being stationed at Ngukang, took up his residence there
with his family.

A still greater triumph is recorded this year, namely»
the purchase of a house and lot on East-street, within the
walls of Foochow. From the beginning such purchase
had been eagerly sought for, but had been prevented by
relentless opposition on the part of the Chinese author-
ities. With what joy the missionaries began to prepare
the premises for chapel and school, and for home of
native helper, only a missionary can know. On April 1,
1863, Mr. Martin, to whom the charge had been assigned,
as a part of the North Foochow Circuit, removed with
his family into a convenient house that had been rented
from the Church of England Mission. The city was at
last ours, but what was one minister to these more than
three hundred thousand people?

The second Annual Meeting was held from Se ptem-
ber 28 to October 1, 1863, and was even richer and sweeter
than the first. The results of the year may be summed
up thus: Four new chapels, four new appointments,
three new classes of Church members, two day-schools
and two Sunday-schools, the translation of the New
Testament carried on to the end of First Thessaloni-
ans, and the printing department, under the efficient
management of Mr. Baldwin, had more than doubled its
issues, producing 24,905 copies, or 887,490 pages. Every
Chinese page is two of our pages. Every department of
the mission had prospered. It was a sad feature of the
year that Mrs. Binckley was confined to her bed most
of the time, but notwithstanding this Mr. Binckley hero-
ically accomplished his full measure of duty.

The report of the next year showed as great success
as did that of 1863. Mr. Gibson and the Misses Wool-
460 MEtrHopisr EpiscopaL MISsIons.

ston had charge of the educational department; Mr.
Baldwin of the publishing house; and Mr. Sites, on his
westward march, was even then knocking at the gates
of Yenping, one hundred and fifty miles from Foochow:
while Mr. Martin, within the walls, found the native
helpers to be helpers indeed. The results were five
new chapels and appointments, and an increase of thirty-
four in the membership of the Church.

But the year had its great sorrows as well as triumphs,
Persecution raged, and the East-street Church was de-
stroyed by a mob; also the house of the missionary, from
which the women and children marvelously escaped.
Mr. Binckley was compelled, in March of this year, to
return with his suffering wife to the United States, and
the amiable Martin fell at his post just as he had com-
pleted the re-erection of the church destroyed by the
mob, the Sunday following his death being appointed
for its dedication.

The death of Mr. Martin was truly affecting. On
the evening of September 5, after a laborious day, dur-
ing which he had by no means been well, his younger
son was taken dangerously ill. He held him in his
arms till ten o’clock, and then, himself failing, he re-
luctantly gave him to others, and retired. Mr. Martin’s
disease was choleraic, and he soon felt that it would be
final. At four o’clock in the morning of the next day
the little one died, and at two in the afternoon the
father passed on to rejoin him. His last connected
words were, “It pays to be a Christian.” On the 7th
the two coffins were lowered into the same grave, while
the solemn words of the funeral service fell from the
hps of Mr. Gibson, and tears fell freely even from eyes
unused to weep. The widow and the remaining child
remained in the mission till the return of Mr. Gibson
First Annual Meeting—Succeeding Events. 461

and family, in 1865, who accompanied them to the United
States. Mrs. Martin still survives, honored and beloved
by all who know her.

The year 1865 will ever be memorable in the history
of the mission for the visit of Bishop Thomson. He ar-
rived on January 22, and remained till February 8. He,
of course, presided at the Annual Meeting, and he gave
important direction to many matters in the mission.
This year was also distinguished by a fraternal sur-
render of part of our territory to the American Board
of Commissioners of Foreign Missions. The new Ref-
erence Testament of Mr. Gibson was this year com-
pleted, and became the standard from Canton to Pe-
king. There were also preparations for a similar version
of the Old Testament. A colloquial New Testament
was also begun. New editions of Hymn Book, Ritual,
and Catechism were issued, and many valuable pam-
phlets.

The superintendent’s report of 1866 declares the year
to have been the most successful the mission ever had.
This is singularly repeated by the superintendent ver-
batim in the report for 1867. It is the initial sentence
in both reports, and is blessedly truthful in each case.
An increase for 1866 is reported in every department:
in native assistants, of five; in baptisms, of nineteen;
in Church members, of fifty-five; in probationers, of
thirty-six; in missionary collection, of $20 653; in day-
schools, of two; in scholars, of forty-seven ; ind of seven
million in the number of pages issued from the press.

Rev. V. C. Hart and wife, and the Rev. L. N. Wheeler
and wife and three children, arrived in the mission May
31, 1866, and addressed themselves directly to their
work. On October 10, 1867, Rev. Hiram H. Lowry
and his wife were also welcomed to the mission. Mr.
462 METHODIST EPISCOPAL MISSIONS.

Lowry was to aid Mr. Maclay, and Mr. Todd, when he
should arrive, was to aid Mr. Hart. Mr. Wheeler took
charge of she publishing department, while Mr. Hart
went on to a small circuit with a helper. The boys’
school, the girls’ school, and the foundling asylum, all
were exceedingly prospered. A violent persecution
broke out at Hohchang and Kucheng and a martyr
sj irit was shown by the converts in repeated instances.
When our helper was imprisoned one of the young dis-
ciples walked eleven miles, and presented himself at
the prison, begging to share the helper’s confinement,
and he actually remained in prison till the helper was
discharged and the danger was past. Some fled from
the persecution, but more stood manfully amid the
storm, not fearing while Christ was with them.

Twenty-six girls were reported in the year 1866 in the
boarding school, eight of them members of the Church.
Two, having each completed a term of five years, and
found the grace of God, were about to return to hea-
then homes, where they expected no encouragement, but,
on the contrary, much opposition, if not persecution.

The year 1867 was a great revival year. The native
helpers were never more energetic or evangelistic, and
the full force of zealous missionaries gave to the work,
with the divine blessing, a grand impulse. The harvest
is seen in four hundred and fifty-one members reported,
and in other advances of the mission. One of the
points of revival was the intromural appointment on
Nast-street.

The great literary labors of the mission were not in-
terrupted by the devotion of the missionaries so largely
to spiritual interests. An alphabetic Anglo-Chinese
dictionary of the Fokien dialect, which had been com-
menced, went on rapidly this year; and we may remark
First Annual Meeting— Succcedi ng Events. 463

here that, after years of labor, it was completed, and is
to-day a standard work, facilitating, in an important
degree, the advancing work of bringing China to Christ.
It is invaluable to new missionaries. Under Mr. Wheeler
the issues of the press this year increased to five mill-
ions of pages. “The Missionary Recorder,” a most
useful periodical, had been published until now under
the auspices of the mission. It had been received with
great favor, but at this period ceased to be issued by
the mission. ‘The foundlings were about this time
transferred to the girls’ boarding-school, and a like
process was continued from year to year, as the found-
lings reached a suitable age.

6. Kiukiang and Peking Occupied.

In the Report for 1867 the superintendent informed
the Board that plans were completed for carrying the
Gospel into two more districts of the Fokien province,
and for pushing westward of Fokien. In pursuance of
these plans, on the 1st day of December, 1867, Rev.
V.C. Hart and Rev. E. S. Todd entered upon the occu-
pancy of Kiukiang, an important city in the Kiang Si
province. The former took the westward circuit, ex-
tending out for sixty miles, and the latter, the circuit
eastward, extending seventy miles, and they opened a na-
tive chapel, some forty miles north of Kiukiang, where
they soon had nine inquirers. They found in their ear-
ly visits four native Christians, and formed them into a
class. Under date of November 11, 1868, Mr. Hart re-
ports having received thirty-seven on probation.

This new field now comprises the whole Kiang Si prov-
ince, together with portions of the Hu Peh and Anghui
provinces. Kiang 5i alone has an area of 72,176 square
miles, or more than all New England, and contains a
404 MetTHopIsT EpiscopAL MISSIONS.

population of more than twenty-three millions. The
Po Yang lake, a beautiful sheet of water, is bordered by
several large cities, each of which might be the center
of a large work. The missionaries were every-where
regarded with intense curiosity by these inland people.
Mr. Hart says: “I stopped over Sunday at a large trad-
ing place, and called upon an officer for a little quiet
and rest; but the people crowded into the building, and
made many holes through his paper windows in order
to see me. Some said I was not a foreign devil, but a
Canton man dressed in foreign clothes. This I consid-
ered a greater insult than being called a foreign devil.”
Mr. Todd and wife soon returned to the United States,
but Mr. and Mrs. Hart continued to prosecute the work
with vigor and success.

Peking, the capital of the empire, was occupied by
the mission at a later date than Kiukiang, and the field
comprises all China north of Yangtse, an area half as
large as the United States, and containing a population,
probably, of 200,000,000, nearly all of whom might be
addressed in the mandarin or court dialect. This is
also the dialect of Thibet, Mongolia, and Manchuria.
The great plain lying north-east of Peking forms the
richest and most productive part of the empire, girt
about by mountains in which are buried inexhaustible
supplies of coal and iron, with lead, silver, and gold in
abundance. It is traversed on its whole eastern part by
the Grand Canal, and is the grandest mission field on
earth. The city of Peking itself contains probably two
inilliions of inhabitants. These two new fields, Kiu-
kiang and Peking, exceed in area Foochow, but the
old mission, through the early energy of its missionaries
and by the blessing of God, even at this early date,
yretty well covered the whole province of Fokien.
Kiukiang and Peking Occupied. 465

It was on the goth of June, 1868, that tlie Foochow
mission, after full and prayerful consideration, resolved
upon a mission to Peking, not doubting it would have the
approval of the Board. In the estimates for 1869 items
were, therefore, inserted with a view to its immediate
opening. At the ensuing Annual Meeting Dr. Maclay
and Rev. H. H. Lowry were appointed to the ‘“‘ Peking
Circuit.” The former was at that time superintendent
of the China mission, and the latter a young man, a mem-
ber of the Ohio Conference, who had but recently en-
tered the field.

In January following, however, it was found that the
failing health of Rev. L. N. Wheeler demanded a change
of residence to a more northerly climate, and he was
accordingly designated to do the pioneering for our
Church in North China; the mission hoping there-
by to recruit his health and to enable the Missionary
Society to retain the services of a valuable and success-
ful missionary. Dr. Maclay, therefore, remained in Foo-
chow in charge of Mr. Wheeler’s appointments, and a
few days later, January 30, 1869, the latter, with his
family, sailed for the north, reaching Tientsin early in
March. Thence they made their way by Chinese
mule-carts to Peking, where they were hospitably re-
ceived by the missionaries of the American Board. They
arrived in Peking on the rath of March, 1869, and soon
succeeded in finding a house for temporary residence.
A few days after his arrival Mr. Wheeler was called to
mourn the death of his only son. They laid him to
rest in the English cemetery, just outside the walls of
the city. His death was caused by the exposures and
inconveniences incident to travelin North China. About
a month later, namely on April ro, Mr. Lowry and fam-
ily came to strengthen Mr. Wheeler’s hands.
406 METHODIST EpiIscoPpAL MISSIONS.

The city consists really of four walled cities: the
Southern, or Chinese, with walls about five and a half
miles long and two and a half miles wide; the Northern,
or Tartar City, with walls four miles long and about
three miles wide; then, within this city, the Imperial
City, and, within this Imperial City, the “Forbidden
City,” or place of the palace and imperial offices. Into
this last the foreigner never enters, and, indeed, he is
not a welcome guest anywhere within the Imperial City.
The whole city covers an area of about twenty-five
square miles, and has a population of about one million.
It lies in 39°56’ north latitude, and 116° 28’ east longi-
tude, in a vast plain, with mountains in the distance to
the north and west, and partly to the east. The climate
is excellent, the temperature ranging about the same as
at Philadelphia.

Roth of our missionaries immediately set about the
work of acquiring the Mandarin dialect spoken in North
China, at the same time instituting a rigorous search
for suitable premises for the mission center. Much
time was spent in this preliminary work; so that it was
not till February 12, of the following year, that they
succeeded in securing the excellent site which now con-
stitutes the mission compound.

The premises secured for permanent residence lie
just inside of one of the city gates, and are not far re-
moved from the Foreign Legations. When purchased
they consisted of about one and three quarters acres of
land, quite thoroughly covered with native buildings, in-
closing numerous small courts. The property was for-
merly owned by a chancellor of the empire, who made it
his residence, with twenty-seven wives and a numerous
retinue. As soon as it became occupied as the center
of our North China mission many of the more useless
Ktiukiang and Peking Occupied. 467

buildings were torn down, and the materials were used
to construct others more in harmony with American
habits and modes of living. To-day, on this place, are
found two mission-houses, one large chapel, rooms for a
boys’ day-school and for students in the training-school ;
also the mission stables.

Besides these were the house and school buildings
owned and used by the Woman’s Foreign Missionary
Society. In 1875 another piece of property was pur-
chased near at hand, on which were built a third parson-
age, and a home and hospital belonging to the Woman’s
Foreign Missionary Society.

With a permanent home thus secured, and a very fair
command of the language acquired, our two mission-
aries began to lay the foundations of a work which has
since assumed quite respectable proportions. One of
the buildings on the place was at once fitted up as a
temporary chapel, and on June 5, 1871, the first public
Methodist service in the capital of China was held,
about forty Manchu Tartars, and Chinese being pres-
ent, and a few foreigners.

Kiukiang reported for 1869 one missionary and fam-
ily, one unpaid assistant, one chapel keeper, two colpor-
teurs, two teachers, eight members, two probationers,
one chapel, and four boys in boarding-school. Peking
was without statistics, for the work there had as yet
scarcely begun.

7. Parted into Three Streams.

The visit of Bishop Kingsley made to this mission in
1869 was very opportune. He divided the work into
three missions, appointing Dr. Maclay superintendent at
Foochow, Mr. Hart at Kiukiang, and Mr. Wheeier at
Peking. Self-support received a definite form and an
468 METHODIST EpiscopaL MISSIONS.

impulse by requiring each charge to raise a certain
amount for its native pastor, and only appropriating
from missionary funds as much as might be requisite
to complete the needful sum; The Bishop, with wise
forethought, had taken the preliminary steps necessary
to the ordination of some of the native helpers, so that
he might ordain them if he should think best to do so.
With the advice of the mission he ordained seven of
them deacons and four of the same persons elders.

Viewing the vast field and its glorious promise, he was
convinced of the duty of the Church to give it more
laborers, and he recommended that they be single men.
The Board readily responded, and sent out six young
ministers, namely: Franklin Ohlinger, Nathan J. Plumb,
John Ing, Henry H. Hall, George R. Davis, and Leander
W. Pilcher. They took the overland railroad route to San
Francisco, and thence started across the Pacific, arriv-
ing in the field in October, 1870. This help was much
needed, for the Misses Woolston were taking a well-
earned furlough, and had gone to the United States, and
Mr. and Mrs. Baldwin were also there, seeking to recu-
perate their wasted energies. Messrs. Ohlinger and
Plumb were detailed for Foochow, Messrs. Ing and
Hall for Kiukiang, and Messrs. Davis and Pilcher for
Peking. They sailed from San Francisco September 1,
1870.

The year proved to be one of severe trial to the mis-
sioa. On June 21 a massacre took place at the port >f
TVientsin, eighty miles from Peking, in which about a
hundred native Roman Catholics, several Protestants,
and twenty-two foreigners were killed under circum-
stances of most atrocious cruelty. Doubtless but for
the interposition of Providence the foreign popula-
tion of Tientsin would have been exterminated, and
Parted into Three Streams. 469

our missions at Peking, Kiukiang, and Foochow extin-
guished. The officials seemed to connive at these -
atrocities, and every thing favored a general persecu-
tion, which at length broke out, and put the infant
Church to a severe test. The excitement had its origin
with the gentry of Canton, and was designed to drive
foreigners from China. The plot was laid with ingenu-
ity, and persistently followed, but the Jord preserved
his cause and people from destruction. The first vio-
lent blow produced a reaction so strong that the foul
scheme could not be carried out.

For days our missionaries shared with other foreign
residents in Peking all the pangs of anxiety and sus-
pense arising from uncertainty whether or not they
themselves might be the next victims of the fanat-
ical rage of a superstitious people. Every thing was
made ready for flight at a moment’s notice, and none
but those who have experienced similar horrible anxie-
ties can know what these brave men and women suf-
fered during those days of terror and nights of suspense.
The excitement began to wane, and in a little while fear
gave place to a feeling of security, and the work, which
had been paralyzed for the moment, then proceeded as
before.

The newly appointed missionaries, upon reaching
Japan, were cautioned not to proceed to their desig-
nated posts because of the uncertain state of affairs in
China. Messrs. Davis and Pilcher received letters at
Shanghai counseling them to delay until matters should
becoine more settled in the North, assuring them of the
inadvisability of proceeding, and endeavoring to dis-
suade them from it. But they ventured to disregard
this counsel, and at Tientsin they found Messrs. Wheeler
and Lowry both waiting to welcome them. The Chinese

31
470 METHODIST EpiscoPpaL MISSIONS.

were surly, but no violence had been done since the
fatal day of the massacre. The remainder of the jour
ney to Peking was accomplished by mule-carts, and
thus they reached the mission home and their chosen
field of labor on October 22, to find from Christians a
welcome of the heartiest kind.

Thus reinforced, our mission soon put into practice
the system of itinerating, which has every-where charac-
terized Methodism, and which has enabled the mission
since this day to scatter Christian literature and preach
Jesus Christ in hundreds of cities and villages, from
Dolonor, on the steppes of Mongolia, on the north of
the city, to the city of Confucius, four hundred miles to
the south, and from Wuc-taishan, the sacred mountains
of Shansi on the west, to the point where the great wall
of China reaches the sea on the east. These journeys,
though sometimes performed in Chinese carts, or mule-
litters, are, for the most part, undertaken on horseback,
with saddle-bags, after the manner of primitive Method-
ism, and occupy each from one to six weeks. A mule-
cart frequently follows, carrying books, bedding, and
often provisions, though for the latter it is usual to de-
pend chiefly on the country.

The persecution operated both as a winnowing and
educating process to the mission, separating from it
those who were false or weak, and teaching the others
new duties, and developing in them richer grace. The
native helper, Siu Tiu Tsai, one of the first-fruits of the
mission at Kiukiang, stood up daily amid the excite
ment, and with great boldness preached Jesus. The
work of the year was seriously interrupted, but many
things were accomplished. The greater part of the
Church ritual had been translated into the court dialect,
and the translation of the Hymn Book commenced. A
 

 
Parted into Three Streams. 473

site for the compound in the Tartar city was purchased,
and two comfortable dwellings erected. The boys’ school
was commenced at Kiukiang. The excellent church
built for the foreign community at Kiukiang was turned
over to the control of the mission, and English service
established in it. It was by no means a year spent in
vain.

The Annual Meeting at Foochow in 1871 was a most
remarkable occasion. In 1870 the appropriations to na-
tive preachers had been more carefully made than at
any previous time, and much anxiety was felt as to the
result, especially in view of the persecutions. It was at
this time that Sia Sek Ong stated the difficulties he had
experienced from a suspicion on the part of his country-
men that he had been “hired by foreign rice” to preach
the glorious Gospel, and he accordingly altogether re-
nounced his claim upon the Missionary Society.

The “ Self-support Anniversary” of this Annual Meet-
ing of 1871 was most enthusiastic. The audience were
asked by one of the missionaries to vote on the subject,
putting the question thus: “ All who are in favor of our
plan of self-support, and are determined in the fear of
God to do all you can toward making it successful, rise
to your feet.” The entire assembly arose... Li Yu Mi
then led in prayer to God for help to keep this solemn
pledge. On this occasion Sia Sek Ong was asked if he
did not regret the step he had taken a year ago, and he
replied, “I have not the thousandth part of a regret. 1
am glad I did it, and I expect to continue in this way
as long as I live.” A certain one asked, ‘‘ What will
you do if supplies fail, and your family suffer?” He
replied, “ They wont fail; but if they do—if I come to
where there is no open door—I will just look up to my
Saviour and say, ‘Lord, whither wilt thou lead me ?’”
474 METHODIST EPISCOPAL MISSIONS.

Two others, namely, Li Cha Mi and Sing M1 Ai, joined
Sia Sek Ong, and this year renounced their claim upon
the mission funds.

At the close of this year Dr. Maclay forwarded the
necessary papers to the Board, and asked a furlough to
recruit his health, now suffering from long years of toli
in Foochow. The request was granted, and he came to
the States to return, as events proved, to the Chinese
mission no more. While in New York the mission to
Japan was projected, and the Bishops determined to
avail themselves of Dr. Maclay’s ripe experience to lay
the corner-stone of this new work.

Mrs. Hart’s ill health necessitated the absence from
Kiukiang of Mr. Hart also, but Mr. Hall, who remained
at Kiukiang, reported some thirty avowed believers, two
of whom, who were regarded as truly converted, had
been received into full connection, and several had
joined on probation.

At Peking the events of the year 1871 were few. The
want of female workers, especially for the training of
girls and the teaching of Chinese women, was felt
thus early, and duly represented at home. Accord-
ingly, in the autumn of 1871, Misses Maria Browne,
of Melrose, Massachusetts, and Mary Q. Porter, of
Davenport, Iowa, were sent out by the Woman’s For-
eign Missionary Society, with the design of taking up
this department of the work. They were detained in
South China during the winter following because of the
close of navigation to the north, caused by the early
freezing of the Pei-ho, but reached their destination
the next spring—namelv, on March 6, 1872. They im-
mediately applied themselves to the study of the lan.
guage, and, as soon as time and circumstances permit-
ted, established the girls’ boarding school. Besides the
Parted into Three Streams. 475

care and labor in connection with the school, they,
assisted by other ladies of the mission, accomplished
much among native women. In December, 1875, Miss L.
A. Campbell, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, sent out by
the New England Branch of the Woman’s Foreign Mis-
sionary Society, joined the mission, to supply the place
of Miss Browne, who the previous autumn had been
married to Rev. G. R. Davis. Mrs. Davis’s connection
with the school, however, continued for a considerable
time,

From their first arrival in Peking the attention of
our missionaries had been directed to the southern por-
tion of the city, commonly known among foreigners as
the “Chinese city.” There the greater part of the
business of the city is transacted, and there, also, the
Chinese population resides in greatest numbers. No
society had found it practicable to enter this large and
most needy field. From the beginning efforts were
made to secure a preaching-place there, and in the early
part of 1871 a small Buddhist temple in the very heart
of the city was purchased. The idols, of wood and of
iron and of clay, were displaced, and the work of adapt-
ing the building for a temple of the true God was pro-
gressing rapidly, when, at an unexpected moment, two
native officials, accompanied by a posse of soldiers, put
an end to the work. The place was seized on the false
plea that it was Government property, and the con-
tractor engaged in making the alterations was thrown
into prison. The carpenter was finally released on con-
dition of undoing all his work and restoring the temple
to its former condition. The anti-foreign party gave
evidence that they were intent upon the extinction of
Christianity.

The search for a preaching-place was renewed, and
470 METHODIST EpiscopAL MISSIONS.

in December of the same year the premises now owned
by our society were purchased. They are situated in
one of the busiest portions of the city. From the first
day of our occupancy the official classes had not ceased
to show their hostility, and frequent but unavailing at-
tempts have been made by them to prevent the preach-
ing of the Gospel there. Notwithstanding all this op-
position, our missionaries, assisted by native preachers,
have continued for all these years to preach Jesus Christ
and him crucified almost daily to many who from
time to time have come to hear. The harvest of their
faithful seed-sowing will be garnered in eternity.

In the northern portion of Peking, called the “ Tartar
city,” our society came into possession of a chapel
most conveniently situated with reference to the mis-
sion compound. It had been owned by the Presbyte-
rian Board. whose work was at that time removed toa
more distant section of the city. In September of 1874
the large domestic chapel in the mission compound was
dedicated, and after that date we occupied the three
chapels in Peking already spoken of.

The Annual Conference of 1872 being over, Rev. S.
L. Baldwin was appointed superintendent of Foochow,
and entered upon his work with great vigor. The
Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society employed twelve
deaconesses, a development of missionary agency which
had been established two years previous. The Biblical
Institute for the education of native preachers was re-
established. The year’s work closed with an Annual
Meeting of great spiritual power. Sia Sek Ong preached
on full consecration, and nearly the whole audience,
pressing around the preacher, knelt in prayer to God,
the bitter cry of penitence, the pleadings of faith, and
the shout of victory, all commingling as they knelt. It
 

= a

Sia Sek Ong.
Parted into Three Streams. 479

was the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Then Li Yu Mi
arose and spoke. “This right hand,” said he, “is hence-
forth the Lord’s; these eyes, these ears, this cap, (hold-
ing out his skull cap,) these clothes, all, all shall hence-
forth and forever be the Lord’s.” The native brethren
said, “ The like of this we never before experienced.”

At Kiukiang Superintendent Hart was again at his
post. The Po Yang Lake was more than ever a point
of interest. At Peking a chapel in the southern city
was this year secured, after infinite trouble and disap-
pointment. The first Annual Meeting of the mission
was held with success. The Misses Porter and Browne
were prosecuting their school enterprise. The whole
outlook, in fact, was promising.

The work of our mission at Tientsin was begun in
May, 1872. Many reasons combined to render this
station almost as important as Peking as a center for
missionary operations. ‘The opening up of this new
station was assigned to Rev. G. R. Davis, but when he
was removed to Peking and placed in charge of the
“Chinese City” station, the responsibility of the work
at Tientsin devolved upon Rev. J. H. Pyke. A grow-
ing Church has been the result of their labors, and a
spreading work demands that the station be thoroughly
manned.

In the year 1873 eight missionaries, in the strength of
their young manhood, full of the purpose and spirit of
their consecration, entered this great field. Devoted
wives accompanied five of them, and three young ladies
also went out under the Woman’s Foreign Missionary
Society. Of these Rev. B. E. Edgell and wife were de-
tailed for Foochow; Revs. Andrew Strittmater, John
R. Hykes, and A. J. Cook to Kiukiang; as also Miss
Lucy H. Hoag and Miss Gertrude Howe. of the Wom-
480 METHODIST EPiscopAL MISSIONS.

an’s Foreign Missionary Society, and Rev. S. D. Harris,
W. F. Walker, and J. H. Pyke, with their wives, to Pe-
king, and Miss Julia F. Walling, another of the company,
who became Mrs. Plumb.

The Annual Meetings were favored with the presi-
dency of Bishop Harris, and with the presence of Rev.
Dr. Waugh, and Rev. Messrs. R. C. Houghton and W.
A. Spencer. That of Foochow was held October 8-15,
in a large tent erected within the mission compound.
Two natives were ordained elders, and five were or-
dained deacons, making six elders and six deacons
now ir the mission. Another advanced step was taken
in the appointment of four of the natives to be presiding
elders.

Self-support was still advancing. Rumors being afloat
that Sia Sek Ong had received missionary money, he
was led to a manly defense against the charge, in which
he said, “You all know that my family cannot be de-
cently supported on less than 72,000 cash.* All the
money I received from native sources was about 60,000
cash. The year was ending, and I did not know where
that 12,000 cash was to come from, when Mr. Baldwin
handed me ten dollars, saying the Tract Society had
sent it to me for my tract, and I thought that was God’s
way of making up the amount which the native Church
had failed to raise. I accepted it thankfully, and with
faith that God would take care of me in the future.”
At the close of his speech Hu Po Mi came forward and
heartily shook his hand in token of the entire satisfac-
tion of the brethren with his frank statement. The tract
to which Sia Sek Ong referred was his tract in Chinese,
entitled, ‘‘ Who is Jesus ?” which had been translated and
issued by the Tract Society of the Methodist Episcopal

* About 1,140 cash make one of our dollars.
Parted into Three Streams. 481

Church. and for which they had voted him as a testimonial
of appreciation the sum of ten dollars. This tract was
produced in response to a premium offered for sich a
tract by Rev. Young J. Allen, of the Methodist Episco-
pal Church, South, stationed at Shanghai. When the
prize had been awarded it was found that Sia Sek Ony
was the author of the successful paper. The tract has
been widely read, and much admired in America. Souls
were couverted at the Annual Meeting, and the visit of
the Bishop cheered and strengthened the brethren, both
native and foreign.

The year 1873 was the best in Kiukiang since the ori-
gin of the mission. The word of God was widely dis-
seminated and souls were converted; the devil raged in
mobs, but the native preachers were multiplied and cou-
rageous. The Misses Howe and Hoag had opened their
girls’ school, and during the year it was favored with an
average attendance of twelve; the public congregations
were increased, and females began to attend them. For
the first time we had statistics of this mission. Thirty-
six members and probationers were reported, nine native
preachers, and one chapel. During the year Mr. Hall’s
health failed, and he returned to the United States.
His last work was an attempt to open a chapel at Shinei
Chung, which a rabble broke in upon, destroying all it
contained, and driving the missionary from it.

At Peking the growth during the year 1873 was steady
and healthful. In the spring of this year the mission
suffered a severe loss by the departure of Rev. L. N.
Wheeler for the United States, with the prospect that
his feeble health would interdict his return.

Mr. Wheeler was a member of the Wisconsin Confer-
ence, and was one of the last of our Methodist mission-
aries who were obliged to make the journey to China in
482 METHODIST EPpIscopAL MISSIONS.

a sailing vessel by the long and tedious route around the
Cape of Good Hope. He arrived at Foochow on May
31, 1866, where, in addition to his regular ministerial
duties, he had charge of the mission press. After three
years of seryicc there he was obliged, as already stated,
to seek a change of climate, and labored in North China
for four years, when, greatly to his own regret and that
of his colaborers, he yielded to the severity of his dis-
ease and returned to the United States. Though never
fully recovered from the effects of exposure to the trying
climate of Southern China, he was able to do efficient
service in connection with his former conference.

The accession at this time to the mission of Miss Dr.
Coombs, sent out by the Philadelphia Branch of the
Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society, formed an epoch
in its history; and in the following year Miss Sigourney
Trask. M. D., was sent out by the New York Branch of
the Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society to Foochow;
and Miss Lettie Mason, M. D., was sent by the North-
western Branch of the same society, to Kiukiang, thus
giving to each of our centers in China a female physi-
cian. This was a most liberal and excellent provision,
from which the mission reaped great advantages.

Rev. D. W. Chandler and wife, in the year 1874, were
added to the mission force at Foochow, and the year
was prosperous. The Annual Meeting, held in Ances-
tral Hall, Siek-king, is best described by one of the
natives when he said, “ This Ancestral Hall has becorne
Jerusalem to us.” Four districts this year supported
their native presiding elders, and one circuit their bach-
elor preacher. Hu Po Mi, presiding elder of Hok Chi-
ang District, presented to the Annual Meeting deeds of
eleven chapels, all paid for, and vested in the Method-
ist Episcopal Church. One man traveled eighty miles
Parted into Three Streams. 483

to attend a quarterly meeting and give his heart to God,
in compliance with the exhortation of a dying brother,
who was a probationer. The Biblical Institute at Foo-
chow, recently begun, had in 1874 two students, who in
vacation went every-where preaching, the Lord follow-
ing with his Spirit.

During this year, 1874, a neat and commodious chapel
was built in the very heart of Kiukiang, and the return
of Mr. Hall, seemingly restored to health, with his wife,
and the advent of Miss Dr. Mason, already spoken of,
gave a new inspiration to the work, albeit to be so soon
blasted by the early failure of the health of Mr. Hall
and Miss Mason. With this addition the mission force,
with its three native helpers, two colporteurs, two Bible
women, and two day-school teachers, was more nearly
adequate to the demand. Thousands from all parts of
the land heard the word and received tracts. The seed
was sown broadcast, and with some visible results,
though with more, doubtless, that were invisible.

At Peking there is little to note for 1874; the work
was steadily and healthfully progressive. Miss Dr.
Coombs prescribed for three hundred and fourteen
cases during the year, and her treatment seemed to
win favor among the Chinese for her and for her Master.
In the fall of 1875 a hospital for women and children
was opened on premises obtained for the purpose. This
was eminently successful under Miss Coombs for two
years, and in January, 1877, Miss L. A. Howard, M_ D.,
a graduate of the Medical Department of the Michigan
University, joined Miss Coombs, and was initiated into
this medical work. In October following Miss Coombs
was married by Bishop Wiley to Rev. A. Strittmater, of
Kiukiang, and removed to Kiukiang, where her gifts
and acquisitions were all employed for the meltoration of
484 METHODIST EpiscopaL MISSIONS.

unhappy heathen women, and bringing them to the
Lord Tess Christ. Ten literary graduates were among
the number received on probation into the Church this
year at Peking. One especially became diligent in the
study of the Scriptures. He had come to Peking to
graduate, when the Spirit of God arrested him. During
the year he sent his son with a letter to the missionaries,
giving an account of the work which he had, under God,
originated at his home in Shan Tung, four hundred
railes distant from the capital. Eighteen had there
been led to renounce idolatry, and express their desire
to know Jesus as their Saviour.

The two years that followed were not dissimilar in
history from the years that have passed in review before
us. At Foochow the return of Mr. and Mrs. Sites from
a brief stay in the United States was a great joy to the
mission. The completion of the Sanitarium at Sharp’s
Peak, for which the Board had made an appropriation,
gave refuge and relief to our missionaries. Mobs at
certain places destroyed our chapels and houses, and
assailed the persons of our missionaries. This was es-
pecially the case at Yong Ping and Shin Chiang. Ex-
citements were constantly arising on occasion of the
most absurd rumors. But, withal, there was a constant
turning to Christ from among the multitudes, and a
steady growth of the Church. Defections occasionally
affected the missions, one of the most serious having
its origin in the self-support movement. A large body
withdrew because this matter was so zealously pressed
by the missionaries and by some of the native preach-
ers. In the year 1876 were very unusual floods in the
river Min, by which our property was seriously dam-
aged, and the Board was under the necessity of making
large drafts on the Contingent Fund for repairing it.
Parted into Three Streams. 485

But gracious visitations were numerous, and the statis-
tics show a steady advance. Much was done that
cannot be reported. Hundreds and thousands heard
the Gospel, and went away to ponder, and, perchance,
to pray.

Part V. CONTINUED IN VOLUME II,
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