FUCKINGER BV 2590 . F54 1907 Flickinger, Daniel Kumler, 1824-1911 . Fifty-five years of active ministerial life J Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015 https://archive.org/details/fiftyfiveyearsof00flic_0 Fifty-Five Years of Active Ministerial Life by BISHOP D. K. FLICKIINGER, D.D. For Forty Years a Laborer in the Mission Work of West Africa, as Missionary, Missionary Secretary, and Later as Missionary Bishop Mlitf) a Preface bp TBiflbop vere gone. Passing over the road along which they went, a couple of days later, a terrible stench was present. In explanation, some of my men said this was the woods where they carry small-pox patients to die, and there 187 Fifty-five Years of Active Life was one dead baby there. Evidently one of the babies belong- ing to the slave party had been restless and annoyed the slave driver, and he cut its head off and put its body among the small-pox dead. While at Shenge I followed a funeral procession to a bury- ing ground. Reaching an open place in the woods, they went a few rods from the path leading to another village, and put down the corpse, and then dug a grave. With cutlasses they loosed the ground, and with their hands they scraped it to one side, until a place was made large enough to put the corpse in. The corpse was rolled in a country cloth, bark being used to keep the cloth around it. The loose earth was then put on the body, which was barely covered. I saw while there the foot of another corpse, which had been buried shortly before, that had not been covered with earth. All was quiet till the burial was completed, when they set up a terrible howl and kept it up by fits and starts for an hour. Then they danced and were giddy awhile, and then they howled again. Once in a rowboat, passing to a town not far from Bonthe, I requested my men to land the boat at a big tree. They looked frightened and pulled to within about one hundred feet of the tree, when one said, “Massa, big, big devil live at that tree, and if we go there he come and kill us all.” Xot being able to get them to go near the tree, we landed a few hundred feet below. I then walked to the tree, struck it with a stick, and dared the devil to come out and hurt me. The roots extended out of the ground and I sat on different ones, but could not get one of my men near. They said, “Ah, white man sabbe, know more than devil, but black man don’t.” Some of the roots extended into the water, and the current being strong there, a ripple was caused in the water, which they supposed the devil made. 188 CHAPTER XXXY111. 18SS-8!) — Appreciation of .T. (iomer — Thirty-two Years of Service — Division in the Church — Signed the Proclamation. My work in the years of ’88 and ’89 was closely related to an epoch in my life which well nigh separated me from the foreign mission field for a time. These years of my minis- terial life will be largely represented bv what others said of me and what I wrote during that period. The following is copied from the minutes of the annual meeting of the Board of Missions, which met May 7, 1889, two days before the General Conference: “M hereas, Rev. «T. Gomer and wife have returned in safety to America, after an absence of seven years, spent in earnest missionary labors, in western Africa, " Resolved , 1. That we hereby express to them our hearty thanks for their earnest and successful labors, and our will- ingness to continue them in their service, for time to come. “2. That this Board hereby expresses its confidence in the work of Rev. J. A. Evans of Mendi mission, and Rev. D. F. Wilberforee, principal of the Clark theological training-school, and prays the blessing of God upon them and their work in the years to come. “3. That the thanks of this Board are due, and hereby are tendered Bishop Flickinger for his diligence and faith- fulness in superintending our foreign missions during the last quadrennium ; and, whereas, he and others report that industrial schools for the training of boys and girls in Africa, are an important factor in lifting up the people from the state of barbarism to that of Christian civilization, therefore, Re- solved, That we look with favor on the plan of establishing such schools in Africa in the near future.” 189 Fifty-five Years of Active Life Dr. J. W. Hott, who was then editor of the Religious Tele- scope, and before that time had been the treasurer of the mis- sionary society, and hence was well acquainted with its work and workers for twenty years, was present at that annual meeting, and wrote the following respecting Mr. Gomer and myself : “That veteran missionary of Africa, Eev. Joseph Gomer, just home from that far off land, was present. He comes like a battle-scarred soldier of Jesus. On the first of December, 1870, he and his faithful wife went to Africa. He at once inaugurated the system of itinerating in Africa. Since that time they have only visited our country twice, in 1876, and again in 1882. For seven years he has labored incessantly in that terrible climate. He is now here for a session of rest. He will soon be fifty-five years old. God has wonderfully spared and blessed his life. Bishop Flick- inger is also fresh from Germany and Africa, and though just home from his eleventh visit to Africa, he is fresh and vigor- ous as in the years gone by. He has crossed the Atlantic Ocean twenty-two times, but often by the long route of Eng- land, making an equivalent of not less than thirty crossings of the ocean. He has stood in the front of our mission work as a Church for thirty-two years, for it is now thirty-two years since he was first chosen secretary of the missionary society. Two years before his entering upon the secretary- ship, he had gone to Africa as one of the first company of missionaries our Church ever sent abroad. Eternity alone will unfold the wonderful results of his toil. The Church will warmly welcome him home again.” The part I took to prevent the unfortunate division which took place at the General Conference of 1889, deserves men- tion here. I wrote to Bishop Castle, February, 1887, enclosing a letter from Dr. C. H. Kiracofe, as follows: “Dear Bishop Castle : Just before the enclosed from C. H. Kiracofe was published in the Telescope, I had jotted some things in the same train of thought to publish. Tt con- taining substantially what I wrote, I did not send mine to the 190 In the Gospel Ministry Telescope. I write you to ask what objection there is to pur- suing the course he advises. I have not so much objection to the Commission paper, as I have to the how, and when, and where of it. Xow if the vote to be taken in 1888 is a two- thirds majority, then let that be the request for a change of Constitution, and let the General Conference of 1889 formu- late a paper to send down to the people. If the paper thus sent down be substantially what the present Commission is, and if it gets a two-thirds vote, all will be right. In that case Doctor Davis, Bishops Wright and Dickson, Revs. Dillon and Miller of Auglaize, Bamaby and Titus of Michigan, Floyd and Ivirac-ofe of White River conferences, and a number of other first-class men, could not complain, and their power would largeW be broken, so that they would not have half the following that they will have -under the present Commis- sion paper. As a matter of course, some of the Commission leaders will cry out against any compromise, and insist that it must go through as now. I will join with you, Bishop Dickson, and Bishop Wright in advocating before the next General Conference some measure to give the Church a chance to vote for a new Constitution, and do it so that it cannot be said it was done in violation of our present Constitution. If you think there is enough in it to write Bishops D. and W., do so. While I can live under our present Constitution, I believe there is a change needed. I only wish that which is for the best.” Bishop Castle did not think it wise to unite with me and Bishop Wright and Bishop Dickson, who was then thought to be quite radical, to bring about the end sought by me. As a matter of fact, that was a time when good men were greatly perplexed, and there was a great conflict and struggle between their convictions of right, and what best to do to save the Church from division and its consequent evils. The following reply from Bishop Castle’s last letter to me shows this : “I would be in favor of any reasonable adjustment. Peace to the Church, though it be secured at great personal cost, is 191 Fifty-five Years of Active Life a measure of great wisdom; but I see no way of securing it by any change of method that can acquire any considerable or sufficient advocacy to make it potential in that line; the danger is that of utter demoralization of methods so that there will be none to guide us.” When I reached Chambersburg to attend the annual meet- ing of the Board of Missions, Bishop Weaver presented me with a paper known as a proclamation, recorded in proceed- ings of the General Conference of 1889, page 173. As I had been in the United States only for occasional visits during the quadrennium and had just reached Xew York from my district in the foreign field a few days before, I told Bishop Weaver that I could not sign the paper until I made some inquiry as to whether all the steps taken were regular and right. This was at the noon adjournment of the Board. He brought the paper again that evening, but still I was not ready to sign it, as I had had but little opportunity to make inquiries. That night I inquired of several of the members of the Board of Missions and two of the bishops, who said that they be- lieved the vote represented the honest expression of our people. Xext morning I signed the paper. It is said that a certain Dutchman had eaten something which disagreed with him, whereupon he said that he had swal- lowed that thing down, and now he wished he could swallow it up again; so we sometimes wish we could do. A half- witted genius, who once went deer-hunting with experienced hunters, was told to scare the deer out of a swamp. He in- sisted that he should be given a gun. They gave him a mus- ket heavily loaded, thinking that its kicking would satisfy him. Four deer soon came within shooting range, when he blazed away; the musket knocked him down and burnt his eye-winkers some, but he killed two deer. They ran to him, expecting him to complain of the gun being so heavily loaded, when he said, “If you had loaded that gun right, with a full load, I would have killed all four of the deer at one shot, instead of only two of them.” 192 REV. I. N. CAIN Massacred in Africa, May 3, 1898 MRS. MARY M. CAIN Massacred in Africa, May 3, 1898 CHAPTER XXXIX. 1889-90 — Reviews of Progress — Appreciation of Aid from Other Mis- sionary Associations — Men Who Did Things — Triumphant Native Christians— Tom Tucker — Christian Poisoned by Mohammedans. I wish next to refer to the progress of several projects which I had strongly advocated during the quadrennium ending May, 1889. Of the Missionary Visitor, which I had begun and edited for twenty years, the new Secretary of the Mission- ary Board said in his report : “It is not the easiest thing to give satisfaction to all in a paper designed both for Sunday schools and the Missionary Society, and yet the Missionary Visitor has held its own remarkably well with the Children’s Friend.” The Children’s Friend was in the field long before the Visitor, and was purely a Sunday-school paper. That report had this to say respecting the Church Erection Society : “In comparison with what it did in preceding quad- renniums, it did fairly well during the past four years, but in view of the vastness of the work to be done, the urgent calls for help, and the ability of the Church to render aid, our work is so little as to humble the Board and the Church. How- ever, the treasurer’s figures show that a noble work has been accomplished. In sixteen years preceding 1885, the society had collected $20,374.98, and in the last four years it has collected $12,325.39 in new funds; about two-fifths of this was in bequests. From 1869, when the society was organized, till 1885, there were seventy-five houses aided. In the four years just gone, sixty-nine houses were helped; in all 144.” Another thing which greatly cheered me was the wonderful manner in which God helped me to get money for our foreign missions in Africa and Germany. During the seven years preceding May, 1889, the American Missionary Association 13 193 Fifty- five Years of Active Life of New York City gave $39,000, including the $9,600 it fur- nished for building the steamer John Brown. In addition to this it gave us lands and buildings and other things worth thousands of dollars. The Freedman’s Missions Aid Society of London, England, gave us $13,000. Both the New York and London associations put the United Brethren Church under many obligations to them. Their help in time of great need was providential, and ought to call forth sincere grati- tude to God. Then, in addition to these large sums which had been espe- cially given to Africa by agencies outside of the Church, Mr. Bufus Clark and wife of Denver, Colorado, gave $5,000 for the training-school in Africa, and Mrs. Bischoff, the wife of our first missionary to Germany, gave $10,000 for missions in that country. Thus in ways wonderful God helped us to get about $85,000 for the foreign mission work. But for these large gifts the Board could not have done the work it did in Germany and Africa. Many heavy financial and other burdens have been borne by the men and women in the Church, which, in the present good times and with the great facilities now at hand for car- rying forward church enterprises, would not be so crushing now as then. If the scope of this book assumed to give a history of the interests to which I frequently refer, I could name many men and women who hore heavy burdens and toiled hard for the success of the Church, but since this is more largely a personal narrative, I need not attempt to name them. General Grant never surrendered, it is said, because he did not know when he was whipped. So the noble men and wo- men of our Church kept on fighting sin and church debts until they were compelled to stop, when they picked the flints of their guns, and went at it again, until what seemed like defeat was turned into victory. Thank God for such men and women, past, present, and to come. Our printing estab- lishment and Seminary at Dayton, the colleges all over this 194 In the Gospel Ministry country and in Africa, and our tnissionary, church-erection, and Sunday-school interests are sure to find the men and women, who, in the future, as now and in the past, “do things.” But not to make the material progress of the work of mis- sions the main thing, I wish to give some results of our mis- sion work in Africa, as these were manifested in the good lives and happy deaths of our converts 'there. The first churches in Africa were organized in 1876, at Bompetook and Shenge. At Bompetook there was a wo- man named Hannah, who united with the Church. Her heathen husband flogged her and in other ways cruelly treated her, yet she alwa} r s came to meeting, her face radiant with joy, such as the Holy Ghost alone can give. That being the first organization the United Brethren Church had in Africa, there was some bitter persecution in store for those who went into it, especially for Hannah, whose husband did all he could to cause his wife to go back to heathen practices. Nine months of suffering from him and faithfulness to God, and he took her to heaven. She told her husband and others who opposed her that she had forgiven them, and that she was going to a better country than Africa. There was another woman, an old slave, named Quiah Mam- mie, who was converted at Shenge, who lived a faithful Chris- tian for three years. No night was so dark, or weather so bad, as to keep her from prayer-meeting, which was held in the chapel a full half-mile from where she lived. She had been a bitter opposer of religion, and said hard things against it and its advocates, but finally she submitted to God. After that she never missed a meeting, day or night, if she could possibly be present. She always took part, praying and talk- ing in Sherbro. Three years she thus lived happy in the serv- ice of God. At noon one day word came that she was dying. Mr. Gomer and I went to see her. She was lying on the ground on a grass mat just outside of the mud hut she lived in. The mat was only half as long as her body, and she had 195 Fifty -five Years of Active Life a bunch of dirty rags for a ‘pillow. A few women sat around her. Mr. Gomer asked her if all was well; she nodded, Yes; and then we knelt and prayed, and in a few moments Quiah Mammie bade adieu to earth, and with a smile and halo of glory and victory in her countenance, visible to all, passed away. Still another case at Shenge was Na-you-kin, a one-eyed woman and a very bitter enemy of religion, who often vexed us missionaries.' She showed her contempt for missionaries and their teachings in a marked manner; but after some years of such a course she became a humble Christian, and bore privation and suffering with much resignation. The last time I saw her alive, she was reclining on the sunny side of a large cotton tree, to find warmth for the chill of death, hav- ing a coarse coffee sack wrapped about her body, but in happy prospect of heaven, to which her spirit went a few days after- ward. Bishop Hott, then editor of the Beligious Telescope, writing of the deaths of these African women, said : “They went from rags to glory.” It was indeed a great change in their case, from bondage to liberty, and from rags to glory. They were wonderful trophies of saving grace. Then there was Bev. Tom Tucker, who came to the mission an ignorant, nude, filthy youth of eighteen years of age, and begged to stay there. He was made a common laborer for one year, then headman of the mission farm, and, soon after that, captain of a mission boat. In about three years he be- came a Christian. He commenced studying, finding it hard work to learn to read, but he persevered until he could read in the New Testament fairly well. One thing he did know how to do well — to offer to God the effectual, fervent prayer, and to win the heathen around him to Christ. In due time he was licensed to preach and a large circuit was given him. Chief Neal Caulker also made him a sub-chief in the country where he labored, a district containing about thirty towns, where he preached the gospel and administered the law, doing 196 In the Gospel Ministry both in a satisfactory manner. The last time I saw him was at the annual district meeting held in the spring of 1885, when he was so filled with the light and love of God that it beamed from his countenance in a manner easily observed. That Sabbath was a most blessed day to him, and all present, when a number of white missionaries and their wives were present. Best of all, God was there to bless. Tom died sud- denly the following September, triumphantly assuring those who were with him that all was well. There was a Mohammedan who was poisoned because he became a Christian. Great emoluments had been promised him if he would return to Mohammedanism and terrible threats made if he would not, and these threats were fulfilled. He was faithful till death removed him from time to eter- nity. He was married to one of the mission girls some- time after he became a Christian, and she stood by him heroically through all his sufferings. They truly suffered for Christ, and no doubt now reign with him in heaven. Then there was Johnny Williams, who from nine or ten years of age till his death, at iourteen, lived an exemplary life and did excellent missionary work. He was a good inter- preter, led the singing well, and closed meetings with prayer when requested. He cheerfully waded swamps and endured hardships to help hold meeting. May be in this way his death was hastened, he dying from African scrofula, or “knot dis- ease,” as the Africans called it. After he could no longer go abroad he and his mother stopped half a mile from the mis- sion house near Shenge. The school children, at his request, visited him every few days to sing and pray with him after school closed in the evening. One day he sent word that they should be sure to come that evening. When they arrived he told them that he would die that night, and asked them to sing the hymns commencing, “Thou, My Everlasting Por- tion,” ‘“Nearer, My God, to Thee,” and, “I Am Sweeping Through the Gates.” They sang the first hymn and c-om- 197 Fifty -jive Years of Active Life menced the second, but before they finished it Johnny’s soul swept through the gates, and he was at rest. Another name to be considered is David Louding, of whom I need say but little, as he was spoken of in the thirtieth chap- ter of this book. Suffice it to say he was one of the first mis- sion boys we received, and he excelled in every study he under- took. He became a Christian when about thirteen or fourteen, lived an excellent life, and died a peaceful, happy death. He was anxious to live to work in Africa. 198 CHAPTER XL. 18!)0-91 — Laid Around Loose — Rev. C. Bischoff, Rev. J. K. Billheimer, and other workers in Africa. As I laid around loose more than usual this year, having no regular employment most of the time, for the first time in forty years I had time to do some much-needed work on my home in Willoughby, and to visit relatives and friends, something I had not done for about a score of years. In this way, and by preaching and lecturing on Africa, I spent this year, except about four months, in which time I solicited money for Union Biblical Seminary for a few weeks, and served a charge left vacant in the Miami Conference. I re- ceived calls from two colleges of the Church to become a soliciting agent for them. The manager of Union Biblical Seminary had me see certain persons whom he regarded as likely to give large donations to that institution, but I learned that they never had any such intention. It will be remembered that I was told the first year I trav- eled, in 1850, that if any man could preach on the circuit I was sent to for one year, his hide would last him forty years. As I was in fair health, and had no good reason for retiring from the work of the ministry and the Church, whose educational, missionary, and publishing interests I had been active in pro- moting, I felt like the boy who was running with all his might to reach a Sunday school in time, because he was “part of the concern.” Feeling I was part of the United Brethren Church made me note all its movements in Africa and America. As there is nothing in this year’s work that needs to be considered further, I will mention some of the prominent workers in Africa and Germany, most of whom I had had an 199 Fifty-five Years of Active Life active part in procuring for these missions during the twenty- eight years I had served as secretary of the Board of Missions, and the four years I was missionary bishop of those countries. Rev. C. Bischoff, the founder of Germany mission, whose widow gave $10,000 to that mission, had no children, and that bequest was made by Mr. Bischoff upon my suggestion. I suggested that he divide his estate into three parts, giving his side of the house one-third, one-third to his wife’s people, and one-third to the Missionary Society. He had written his will to so dispose of his estate, hut had not signed it, when he was suddenly killed while riding in a buggy, which was over- turned by his horse shying and going down a steep place on a hillside. Mr. Bischoff was an excellent organizer and ready speaker, and managed that mission well from the time he commenced the work until within a year or two of his death, when he retired from active work in the ministry. As helpers in making that mission the success it was up to 1889, thete were the two Barkemeyers, Oehlsclrlegel, and Holeshuer, who did much hard work, while others did well, also. In Africa there were a number of noble workers deserving high honor; Rev. J. K. Billheimer and wife, Dr. Witt, Rev. 0. Hadley and wife, and Mr. Williams, the faithful native missionary who alone held the fort for several years, and at a smaller salary than he had been getting as a clerk in a store in Freetowm ; Rev. J. Gomer and wife, who did more than any others to make Sherbro mission a success, and did it for many years, in the face of great discouragements; Rev. C. A. Evans and wife, Mrs. Mair, Rev. R. FT. West and wife. Rev. D. F. Wilberforce and wife, Rev. J. M. Lesher and wife, Rev. W. S. Sage and wife, and others. Rev. J. K. Billheimer did valuable service, especially in building houses, furnishing the heathen good rules to live bv, and living a good life among them. Mr. Hadley and wife gave the heathen a good insight into true piety, illustrating the excellences of the Christian religion. Mr. Gomer and wife stayed with them longer than any others, and thus not only 200 In the Gospel Ministry made their work permanent, but continually progressive. He was an excellent manager of the native headmen, and people generally. His method was to go to the common people in their rice fields and mud huts, showing them sympathy and giving religious instruction. Mrs. Gomer made an excellent home for missionaries, and did her part in going to meeting and doing her duty when there. She also taught many useful lessons to girls and boys. Mr. Evans was a systematic preacher and bookkeeper, and his wife an excellent teacher of naked children. Mrs. Mair, with her good heart, ready wit, and good sense, could manage the natives well. She exerted a great influence over the natives, and could rebuke them for wrongs and retain their good will. Being in charge at Roti- funk, she greatly reformed Sourie Ivessabe, the headman there, getting him to put away all his wives but two, keeping his first wife because she was the first, and another who could talk English. When she told him it was bad to drink whisky, he said it was good, for it was white men who made it and sent it to Africa, and hence it must be good. Then much credit is due R. N. West and D. F. Wilberforce for preparing a course of study and shaping an educational system. They did much to impress the natives that they needed education, and that they could get it if they would apply themselves. They had great influence over the people, both in and out of the pulpit, but more especially in the schoolroom, and did much good as missionaries. It is but right to mention also Messrs. Lesher and Sage, and their wives, all of whom faith- fully labored for the good of Africa. Especially should Mr. Lesher be remembered for his efficient work in superintend- ing the erection of the Rufus Clark and wife training and theological school. Such a building could never have been erected but for the oversight of a mechanic such as he was, he having been a carpenter before h‘e became a preacher. He was also a good bookkeeper, and rendered valuable service in that respect. 201 Fifty-five Years of Active Life There were heroic, faithful workers there in the years pre- ceding 1889, as there have been since. Tn Africa, in dealing with native children for doing wrong, we took a piece of pasteboard or a card about six inches square, arid put a string in two corners long enough to reach around the neck, with the card hanging over the breast. On that we wrote the kind of wrong they were guilty of. If one had lied we wrote in large letters,, “I am a liar”; if it were stealing, we wrote, “I am a thief”; when given to quarreling, we wrote, “I am quarrelsome”; or, “I am lazy,” etc. They dreaded that way of being punished more than to be flogged, and not unfrequently begged to have the card taken off and to be flogged instead. 202 CHAPTERS XLI AND XLII. 1891-92-93 — A United Brethren Pastor — Preaching for Congregation- alists — The Proprieties — Some Experiences — Fell Asleep at Prayer — Among the Unfortunates of London. I once had a school teacher who had an excellent faculty of making comparisons. He showed the class in geography the trinity of oceans hy saying that the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian oceans were one and yet three. A theological writer used the same illustration to explain the trinity of the God- head. Some families are three or more, and yet one. 1 call to mind a family of three who were one in every respect. There were the father, the mother, and their only son, none of whom could be induced, under any circumstances, to differ from the others respecting dress, work, or church operations. What was the mind of one the other two agreed to. As I was a United Brethren pastor part of the time, and a Congregational pastor most of the fortieth, forty-first, and forty-second years of my ministerial life, and without regular work a few months of eiich of these years, I will make this chapter a trinity in the sense of saying something of the work I did in each. After the division of the Church, in 1889, owing to certain things which had occurred, I did not feel at home in the Church, and hence spent most of these three years preaching for Congregationalists, though I never withdrew from our Church. Thinking that I would get over that feeling, I did commence my forty-first year by taking charge of a United Brethren mission station in my own conference. I spent three months of the previous year as a supply in a large town on a new mission, which had been commenced hut a short time previously, the meetings being held in a small hall. There I 203 Fifty-five Years of Active Life preached every morning and night, and went one mile into the country to preach in the afternoon. The country appoint- ment had a membership scattered over considerable territory, which caused me to walk a good deal. From the beginning I resolved to buy a lot for' a church in the town, which I did at a cost of $1,000, and secured subscriptions for most of the money, going to seyeral other places to get some of it. The lot was bought, and upon it there was built a substantial church, which is now self-supporting and doing well. The quarter spent there' was an unusually busy one. Not having been in the regular work as pastor for thirty-five years, being- secretary of the Board of Missions and missionary to Africa, I had to learn many things anew. The methods of work had changed, and new measures had been instituted, so that it was like commencing anew in the ministry. All went well enough for several months on the charge last given me, when my wife was stricken with paralysis, and was entirely helpless for several weeks. Because of my being abroad so much for sev- eral years, I had moved my family to my wife’s native home, in Willoughby, Ohio, about twenty years before, having bought a good home there. I offered my resignation, but the official board declined to accept it, and provided a supply for a time. After about six months I returned, but had not been there long when the word came that my wife was in such a condition that it was necessary for me to be at home, when I resigned the charge. I had not been at home more than a few weeks until I was offered a pastorate by the Congregationalists, at a point so near my home that I could be there whenever necessary. I was employed for one year, and went to work. The methods were so different from ours, that I had to learn how to be pastor in a Congregational church. I pleased the people about as well as they pleased me, and that was only tolerably well. Going there in mid-winter, and finding the majority of the leading members of the church living from one to three miles from the village, I had some long, muddy walks. I have 204 In the Gospel Ministry a very distinct recollection of pulling through the mud afoot, when it was well nigh impossible to do so. The people were always cordial in receiving me at their homes, and much interested in my welfare. Being few in number, and scattered so widely in a country with muddy roads, made it impossible to have week-night prayer-meetings, so we had week-day prayer-meetings at two in the afternoon. There were three deacons, one of whom was not active on account of old age, but one of the best men I ever knew. I often saw him, though he lived two miles from the village. He had a happy faculty of talking religion, and he loved it. He never got to hear me preach except once. I preached his funeral. The other two deacons were good men, but one never prayed in public, al- though he stood very high in the community. The other deacon prayed and spoke in public. I received seven new members into the church while there, and all of them picked fruit, and good. I once proposed a protracted meeting, but it was not heartily seconded, the leading members declaring that picked fruit was preferable, by which was meant that I should go to people and by personal persuasion induce them to be Christians. So I did. The communion was observed every two months, at which time members were received into church. The people made a great deal of propriety, and freely spoke of what was becoming and what was not. Espe- cially on funeral occasions everything was to be done to a dot and in the line of propriety. I preached six or eight funerals during the year, where my church choir furnished the music. At one place the funeral was being held in the house where the death occurred. I saw the members of the choir go out, although it was time to commence, and I went to look for them, and there behind a shed they stood, in the snow, practic- ing pieces to be sung. I always let them select the music, and on this occasion the only opportunity to practice was out of doors. A sad occasion was a double funeral, both members of the church and good people. The father, mother, and daughter, living two miles from the village, had come to 205 Fifty-five Years of Active Life church in a buggy. Returning home, while crossing the rail- road track the daughter heard the express train coming, but the horse could not be stopped and they were struck. The mother was killed instantly, and the daughter died that night. The father was made a cripple for life. With two hearses in the procession, and a long row of carriages, and with two coffins in church before me, it was an impressive occasion. Having been elected to membership on the Board of Mis- sions, I met in all its annual meetings, and while I was get- ting on well I was not doing the work I felt most interested in, nor was I working in the church I wished to work in. The following will show one of the experiences such as pioneer ministers were subjected to. Two preachers held a camp-meeting for a week, and at that early day had to do about all the preaching, exhorting, and praying that was done there. At the beginning of the meeting they had promised to visit a family a mile and a half from the camp ground. The last meeting closed at midnight, when the woman reminded them of their promise. As they had to leave for another camp meeting early next morning, worn out as they were they concluded to go there that night. They reached the cabin at one o’clock. To show her appreciation of the visit she pre- pared a good meal, after which they had family worship. The one from whom the writer got this narrative said he feared he would go to sleep, and so he said, “Brother J , you lead the worship.” They knelt, and he commenced to pray, but had not gone far before he fell asleep, and as he was going to sleep he said, “We will look to God for his blessing and be dismissed,” and then his head rested on the chair beside which he knelt, and all was silent as death for a moment. He soon waked up however, and all got off their knees, an embarrassed company. After a good laugh they made their apology, and went to bed and slept two hours. Once in London I accompanied a policeman, on a very rough night in the month of March, from midnight till daylight. The policeman’s beat that night was where vagrants and bad 20G In the Gospel Ministry men and women were found under bridges, or close to the walls of large manufacturing establishments, where the walls remained warm all night, or in market houses, or any place where poor, half-clad and hungry people could stay. We saw over one hundred of these unfortunates, English, German, Scotch, Irish, French, and two Americans. One French- man told us he had had nothing to eat for three days, and that he intended to kill himself that morning. To all these, except a few well-known criminals who had frequently been fed before, and who were known to be impostors, tickets ■were given that entitled them to breakfast at a certain hall at seven o’clock the next morning. There were one hundred and thirty-one persons in that hall for breakfast, and I became a waiter. The chapel was huilt like any other chapel, and seated one hundred and fifty. All sat while eating. The breakfast consisted of two large pieces of bread, with meat sandwiched between them, and one pint of coffee. The bread and meat were put into a paper bag, and coffee given them in a tin cup. After the breakfast was served we held religious services ; the superintendent read the Scriptures, announced a hymn, which they sang well, and prayed, after which I preached a twenty-minute sermon. After that those unem- ployed had to leave that warm room and go out — not home, for they were homeless. All who wished work were sent out of the city to stay with farmers who would give them employ- ment. Few stayed in the country. 207 CHAPTER XLIII. 1S93-94 — A Congregational Pastorate — Types of Cliureli-members — Would Not Unite — A Prohibitionist. At the annual session of the conference to which I be- longed, I asked to be left without work in 1893, on the ground that there was a full supply of laborers without me, and that I had an invitation to preach for the Congregational Church. The conference granted my request, and I at once accepted the call. There were three churches to serve on that charge. The principal one was in a town that had a Baptist, Methodist, and Disciple church, and all had resident pastors. I made that place my home, preaching every Sabbath morning, help- ing in the Sabbath school, and leading the Wednesday night prayer-meeting. On alternate Sunday afternoons I preached at country churches, one four miles from headquarters, and the other six miles away. This was a year of much valuable experience to me. I had more active workers, more men and women who would speak and pray publicly, than at any other Congregational church which I had served. I received twenty members into the church at one of my afternoon appoint- ments, but none at the other places. My pastorate there was to me and to the people entirely satisfactory, so much so to them that at the end of the year I received the vote of every member of the church to continue with them another year. As my wife was still an invalid, and could not keep house, she was taken to Indianapolis to live with a daughter. But for that I would have served the Congregationalists another year. Some types of members found on this charge may interest the reader. In the town church there was a Christian En- 208 * MISS ELLA SUHENCK Massacred in Africa, May 3, 1898 MISS MARY C. ARCHER, M.D. Massacred in Africa, May 3, 1SS»8 In the Gospel Ministry deavor society, made up of the young people of all the churches of the place, which was a real blessing to it. At one of the afternoon appointments there was also what was called a Chris- tian Endeavor society, but it was little else than a young peo- ple’s frolicking and courting school. It was in a neighborhood where all was demoralization in the church and community. A leading rich member of the church there had been offended, and he seemed to think that the church could not get on with- out him, and, indeed, it could not well, while he was staying away and keeping others away. His wife and daughter, who were excellent women, were greatly handicapped by his con- duct. The man was determined not to be reconciled. He had been offended, whether with or without cause, and he intended to remain so. I visited him several times, and finally pre- vailed upon him to hear me preach just once. He came, but went away from church highly displeased, because certain people were not invited to sing in the choir, and no persuasion or explanation could be made to satisfy him. He was like the man who came home drunk and put his old hat in the middle of the floor, and then told his wife that if she picked it up he would flog her, and if she let it lie there he would flog her. There was another family that was as peculiar as he, but in a different respect. The man was also a rich farmer, and his wife a good woman. They lived in good style, and were highly respected. Neither of them would unite with any church, and yet they attended church regularly. She sang in the choir, and he was one of its best financial supports, but unlike the cranky, complaining man just described, they would do nothing in the way of managing church affairs, though always ready to take hold and carry out the plans and arrangements made by others. The one would be bell-sheep or nothing, while the others would never be bell-sheep, but always were willing to follow and carry out the arrangements made by the pastor and official members of the church. They did much to build up Congregationalism, though not members 14 209 Fifty -five Years of Active Life of the church, while the other man, who was a member, did more to pull down than to build up. There was another man who had been a great help to the church, but had withheld his support from it for the reason that all the members of the congregation were not out and out prohibitionists. He came to hear me several times, and it so happened that I preached a temperance sermon, emphasiz- ing strongly the duty of Christians to taste not, handle not, and swallow not the accursed thing that makes drunk. He was highly pleased with that sermon, but found out that I did not always vot? the Prohibition ticket, and that spoiled all. I visited him before and after that sermon, to get him to work with us, but he would not, though a member of the church. The people really relished plain gospel preaching, and complimented me several times for hitting them hard, saying that they deserved all they got. Twice I was asked to unite with that church and become fully one of them, but I declined. I once stayed all night with an old chief in Africa, who was telling of the bad conduct of some of his wives who had run away. Asking his son, who seemed to be second headman of the town, how many wives his father had, he said he did not know, but that he had commenced getting wives when he was a young man, and he had kept on getting wives ever since ; pointing to a young girl about twelve years of age, he said she was one of his wives which he got the previous week. That old chief was not less than seventy or seventy-five years old then. Visiting the headman at sea-bar once, and seeing a beauti- ful witch greegree, I asked him to sell it to me. That man, with his eyes flashing anger, said, “What, you go take my witch medicine from me, so witch come and kill me one time !” He meant that if he did not keep the greegree a witch would kill him at once. 210 CHAPTER XLIV. 1894-95 — Serving a Mission Church — “Pioneer Sermon” — The Many Lives of a Debt — Hard Work and Worry — Too late for the Funeral. Several months before closing my work as pastor of the Congregational church, I was invited to accept a mission station in the White River Conference by one of the presiding elders of that body. I consented to do so, owing to the com tinued illness of my wife and the necessity of her removal to Indianapolis to live with our daughter there. I attended Miami Annual Conference, where I was a member, and there learned I was appointed to Columbus, Indiana, which is but forty miles south of Indianapolis. At that session of the Miami Conference it became my duty to preach what was known as a “pioneer sermon/’ that plan having been com- menced the year before, when Rev. W. J. Shuey preached the first pioneer sermon, he being the oldest member of that body, and I next oldest. The following quotations from that sermon show what United Brethren pioneers were and did: “The key-note of their lives, both in the laity and ministry, was to be saved from sin, and know it, and to convince the irreligious that they were in danger of being lost without this knowledge. Not to know that one was saved was, in their estimation, equivalent to not being saved. Like a man who was the legal heir to a large estate, but living and dying without that knowl- edge, it would do him no good. They certainly had some strong proof -texts in the New Testament supporting their views upon this subject, such as St. Paul’s words: ‘For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dis- solved, we have a building of God, ‘a house not t made with hands, eternal in the heavens.’ The following, from St. 211 Fifty-five Years of Active Life John’s epistle, is also to the point: ‘We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.’ Like these in- spired writers, the pioneer ministers of the United Brethren Church in Miami Conference knew that they were saved, and could tell others how it was done. This they did with so much unction as to make the word of God ‘quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joint's and marrow, and a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.’ Like Apollos, they were mighty in the Scriptures, and being fervent in the Spirit, they spoke and taught diligently the things of the Lord. As a matter of course, then as now, some did not magnify their office, but these were the excep- tions, and not the rule. Teaching religion, not philosophy, or geology, or astronomy, or science of any kind, but that, ‘deny- ing ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and Godly in this present world,’ was the great aim of their discourses. They gave great prominence to the ‘three R’s’ namely, ruin by the fall, redemption through Christ, and regeneration by the Holy Spirit. To make the unsaved realize that they were sinners before God, that Christ had redeemed them by giving his life for them, and that with- out a personal interest in his blood they would lie separated from the presence of God and the glory of his power forever, were the truths which they pressed home upon the consciences of men.” As the White River Conference had met a week earlier than Miami, I left on Saturday morning and reached Columbus that night, commencing my work there the next day. The day was hot and the audience small. The church had just been built, and was not dedicated yet. It was one mile from the center of the city, and quite a distance from any other church. About four, miles away in the country, was another good church-house, but with only a few scattered members. These two points constituted the field of labor given me. The 212 In the Gospel Ministry division outlie church in 1889 had badly disrupted the society, and several of its most influential members had left and gone to the Radicals. Some had removed from that neighborhood, and altogether that point was badly demoralized. The society in town was also weak, so that there was not a very hopeful outlook. In the name of the Lord I set up my banner, preaching in the city morning and night, and in the country in the afternoon. I attended Sabbath schools at both places, and the prai'er-meeting in the city, and tried to increase the attendance at all these meetings. It was hard work to keep any of them going profitably. There were a few faithful workers at both places, but so few as to discourage us all at times. A few months later, at my request, the church in Columbus was dedicated by Bishop Kephart, and the small debt was fully provided for by subscriptions, mostly obtained by myself before the day of dedication; but alas! like some other sub- scriptions, all were not paid, nor was the debt on that house. That church debt had as many lives as a cat. It was like a church debt in Dayton, Ohio, that I helped to pay at three different times. It was not because any money had been mis- appropriated, but because some had failed to pay what they had subscribed; some because they were not able, others not willing, and some died before their subscriptions became due. Church debts should not be made without the best of reasons, and then they should not run for years, to the detri- ment of God’s cause and the reproach of Christians. I have known local church debts to keep societies for years from contributing to the general interests of the Church. There are cases where the people would neither pay the church debt, nor give money to missions, education, or any church enter- prise, though abundantly able to do so. It looked a little as if they kept the local debts unpaid as an excuse for not pay- ing to any general church interest. Some people seem to love to tell of their poor health and inability to be useful. Some churches boast of their refusal to pay money to God’s cause, 213 Fifty-five Years of Active Life and their ability to turn down solicitors for religious and benevolent purposes. To enlist the services of some people who lived near our church in Columbus, but who were members of other churches, one of them' was made superintendent of our Sunday school. He brought into the school a few others, who helped some, and all went well for a while ; but alas ! a Christmas entertainment one Saturday night resulted disastrously. The entertainment was all right, and the house was filled, but I felt bad, and left before the exercises closed. That so offended the superin- tendent that the next day neither he nor those he could influ- ence came to the Sunday school or the preaching. After he was visited and explanations made, they were induced to return, but it was clearly seen that they were not trying to build up our church. The worry and hard work seriously af- fected my health, and I resigned the charge after serving it about seven months. My pastorate there was largely a fail- ure, and those that followed me found it hard rowing for years afterward. I knew a minister who was a man of more than ordinary natural gifts, and a classical graduate, who failed largely in what he undertook because he was wanting in promptness to fill his engagements. Once he was to conduct the service at the funeral of the grandson of one of our ministers. He was told to be on hand promptly at two o’clock, as the burial was to be some miles away. To be sure and get him there, his wife was told to see to it that he got started in time, which she did, but he got into a debate with a neighbor on the street, and kept at it until half an hour after the time. The grandfather conducted the funeral service, and the people left the house ere the pastor got there. It was not the result of “malice aforethought,” as the coroner’s jury declared to be the cause of the death of Sally Pitt, who had committed sui- cide. While in Columbus I attended a number of cottage holiness prayer-meetings, and heard some wonderful experiences re- 214 In the Gospel Ministry specting the “second work,” as it was called. Being asked to speak, I said that they were on the right line to insist on living a life of holiness, which I was striving to do. I said, “Friends, let us obtain this higher life and stay there. Get it by the second work route, or otherwise, but reach it and retain it. Better not insist so much that it must be just after a cer- tain way, but insist on having and living it. A woman in one of those meetings said she had not sinned for three years, and she did not need to seek Christ’s presence in prayer, for he was with her all the time. A few months after this she left her husband and children, and went off with another man. “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall.” 215 CHAPTER XLV. 1895-90 — Soliciting — Thrown Over an Embankment and Injured — “Our God Has Saved Us.” After leaving Columbus, Indiana, I spent five months in Indianapolis, and attended the United Brethren Church when able to go out, I had said, upon first seeing the house they worshiped in, that the congregation there would never have much success until it got out of the dark, dingy building, into a more suitable place for a church. The pastor and people realized the truth of my statement, but, in view of their poverty, they felt unable to remove into a more desirable part of the city and a better house. I kept the matter before them, and finally helped them to subscribe money to remove. In this it was apparent that their zeal had gone beyond their abil- ity to pay. I proposed to spend a year getting subscriptions by going throughout the conference and soliciting for a> new church. My proposition to work for six hundred dollars a year, and give two hundred dollars of that sum toward the enterprise, was accepted. With the very generous subscription of the congregation I succeeded reasonably well in obtaining help, but mostly in sums of only five dollars and ten dollars. I thus spent most of the winter, often remaining from three to four days in one neighborhood, assisting in protracted meetings. I did considerable hard work for eight months, when an accident befell me which utterly disabled me, and came near ending my life. My deliverance from death was so remarkable as to deserve a description of it here. The pastor of the Pendleton Circuit had me preach at a point one mile from Pendleton one Sabbath night. A heavy shower of rain and hail commenced falling as he and I were 216 In the Gospel Ministry getting into the buggy to drive to Pendleton after the ser- vice. The man with whom we were to stay was afoot, and soon after starting he called to us and asked to get into the buggy with us, as it was so dark he could not see the road. The pastor said to him, “I can’t see it either.” As we halted the horse, being struck in the face by the falling hail, backed a little, and then there came a crash such as I never exper- ienced. The buggy and its occupants, with the horse, went over an embankment into a gravel-pit, the horse over the buggy, and the buggy over us, I being on the under side as it capsized. For a moment the pressure was so great that I felt it would crush my life out, but the combination kept rolling on, until we landed twenty-five feet from where we started. Eight feet of that bank, next to the road, was almost perpen- dicular, and then it sloped, at an angle of about forty-five degrees, for fifteen feet more, to the bottom of the gravel-pit, where we landed in mud and water. A lantern was soon brought, and there stood the buggy right side up, with nearly all the spokes broken out of one wheel, the top torn into frag- ments, and shafts broken off and lying under the buggy, the harness all off of the horse, which stood near by trembling. We went to a house near there and stayed all night. My chest was sore, several ribs being fractured, and I slept none that night. Xeither the pastor who was with me, nor the horse were hurt, except a few slight bruises. A number of people came the next morning to see the dis- tance we rolled from the top of the bank to the bottom of the gravel-pit, and among them was an infidel editor of a paper, who said that the devil had nearly killed us that time. “It may be that Satan had a hand in that tumble,” said the pastor, “but our God has saved us,” and truly that was the case. In all my ocean traveling (having then made eleven round trips to Africa, and having been shipwrecked twice), in the thou- sands of miles I had gone on railroads, in the many narrow escapes from drowning when in rowboats in Africa, and in numerous other hairbreadth escapes by land and sea, none 217 Fifty-five Years of Active Life came so near causing my death as that tumble in a buggy. My chest became very sore, and it continued so about six months, when it left me suddenly and I had my usual health. About a month after that accident I felt my limbs were losing their strength, and walking became difficult. I resolved to remedy that if possible, and did so by walking half a mile at a time, repeating the effort after a short rest. I did this several times daily, and kept increasing the distance until I could walk two miles. Had I given up and not forced myself to exercise my limbs, as too many old people do, I probably soon could not have walked any. Having a little strength left, I used that, and have kept at it, so that now, in my eighty-third year, I can walk a couple of miles. At the close of this year I attended my conference, which met in Dayton, Ohio, and when my name was called, I said to the conference that on my way there I had visited several cemeteries with a view to selecting a final resting-place for my body, feeling that, with my soul’s salvation secured through Christ, all I had to do now was to await the summons from earth to heaven. As we were then to live with our daughter in Columbus, Ohio, instead of with the one in Indianapolis, Indiana, my wife had gone on before to Columbus. I went there from Dayton, and was arranging to kill time and do nothing hut eat, drink, and behave the balance of my life. So ended this forty-fifth year of my ministerial life, and also my life’s work, as I then thought, but the Lord had arranged it quite differently. 21S CHAPTER XLYI. 1896-97 — An Eventful Year — A Letter — To Africa for the Radicals — A Remarkable Meeting — Meeting the Head Man. Of all the fifty-five years of my ministerial life, the forty- sixth was the most remarkable. My health coming back to me suddenly and unexpectedly after that fearful buggy wreck. I regarded as providential. The good voyage I had to Africa and back, and the successful work done, under God, by Mr. Wilberforce and myself, opening several mission stations and holding a revival meeting which continued only eight days and resulted in organizing a church of fifty members, made this indeed an extraordinary year in the history of my life. All this being done when nearly seventy-one years old, and after arranging to retire from active work because of my age and infirmities, and with what I have done since that time, makes the impression deep in my mind that God led and kept me. While, with the psalmist, I can say, “Goodness and mercy have followed me all the days of my life,” truly good- ness and mercy followed me in a marked manner during this year. I will here quote a paragraph from a letter of explanation which appeared in the Religions Telescope: “During August, September, and October, 1890, five years previous to my last trip to Africa, I received letters from Revs. J. Gomer and D. F. Wilberforce, saying that for want of money four mission stations were without laborers, and that others would be if financial help did not reach them soon. They urged me to collect money and send it. I wrote them that for me to do so would be misunderstood, and bring me into conflict with the officers of the Missionary Society, 219 Fifty- five Years of Active Life and urged them to do the best they could with the money they had. I received two letters in one week, imploring me to send money at once. I replied to each without delay, and as I was returning from the post-office, after mailing the last letter, thinking how disappointed and sad they would be at my in- ability to help them, it came to me forcibly that if I could not assist them through the Liberal United Brethren Church, I might, perhaps, through the Badicals. In a week or two, and in a manner wholly unexpected, the way was opened for me to go to Africa, on certain conditions, for the Badical United Brethren Church. It is not necessary now to relate how I consulted with my friends in the Church, and how they sought to dissuade me from going, predicting unfortunate results to the missions if I gave my services to the Badicals. I went to Africa for the twelfth time, and witnessed some wonderful manifestations of God’s power. In the fifty-five years of my ministry I have seen and heard many remarkable things in connection with the services in God’s house, but March 1, 1896, surpassed all others in that respect. During the previous week meetings had been held every night. The congregations were large, and deeply inter- ested in the services, and about thirty persons for three suc- cessive nights arose, asking the prayers of Christians, and fifty gave their names as candidates for membership. Mr. Wilber- force had some time before taken a list of twelve names, six of whom were still seekers. These twelve, added to the thirty- eight new converts, made fifty, of whom sixteen were full members and thirty-four were seekers. Then there were forty- seven persons baptized, about twenty-four of whom were adults, thirteen mission hoys and girls, and ten infants. Our mud chapel was so packed that we could scarcely find room for all to stand. -An old heathen woman came forward* and insisted on being baptized, and as she had been coming to our meetings all week, and was an honorable heathen woman, I felt it right to gratify her wishes. Three children 220 In the Gospel Ministry were brought to be baptized, whom I was asked to name. Two mothers with infants lashed to their backs came to have them baptized, standing sidewise so I could reach the heads of their children. As I was giving the right hand of fellowship, an elderly man with only a country cloth on, screamed with pain. He had a very sore finger, of which I did not know, and grasp- ing his hand I hurt it. These and other ludicrous things oc- curred, and yet such was the seriousness of the people that there was no foolish laughing or unbecoming conduct. The meeting throughout was very orderly, and the people showed that God had touched their hearts. A man less than thirty years old, after having asked prayers for three successive nights, said his heart was bad and it kept him from doing right, and then he broke out in the following prayer : “0 God, thou seest my heart is bad, and do, Lord, give me better heart. Lord, you make my heart, and I bring it to thee to fix em, for if you can’t fix em, then no one can help me.” A real work of opening the eyes of the blind, and turning men from darkness to light, had been accomplished by the Holy Spirit in his case and others, at that meeting. I must not omit my introduction to the head man and the people on this trip. All met in the country chapel, and it was quite a crowd. Mr. Wilberforce told them he was named after me, and that I had secured his education in America, and was his “daddy,” and had come there to do him and them good. Then he called on me for some remarks. I said I remembered the time when Mr. Wilberforce was born and named after me, and that I was glad to find the head man and all so friendly to the missions, and hoped the head man would give ground for it, and help all he could. The head man said he was very glad to see me, and as I bad come far to see them, I must be “plenty hungry,” and they had brought me rice, — about four bushels, — and a sheep, which was tied in sight, and that I must full myself good, and then they would do as I told them, adding that Mr. Wilberforce was their “daddy,” and as I was his “daddy,” he must tell them 221 Fifty-five Years of Active Life what I wanted them to do, and they would do it. I thanked him for his good words and present, and in return I made him a present, and we parted good friends. 222 CHAPTER XL VII. 1897-98 — Holding Missionary Meetings — Joint Missionary Magazine — Letter to Miami Conference. Immediately after my return from Africa in April, 1896, I visited many places, lecturing on Africa and preaching mis- sionary sermons. I also attended the annual meetings of the parent Board of Missions, and of the Woman’s Missionary Association of the Radical United Brethren Church. A quota- tion from an article I wrote in their church organ will show how I found things, and what I did during part of the forty- seventh year of my ministerial life. Late in June, 1896, I wrote as follows : “While there was much that suited me at the missionary meetings held last month at Charlotte, Mich- igan, and Leaf River, Illinois, nothing pleased me more than the hearty approval of both boards to publish a joint mission- ary magazine. Xo one tried to show how such a magazine could not be published without loss. Formerly nothing was more distasteful to me than for prominent members of mis- sion hoards to show how things could not be done. It may be that class of people have all gone to heaven ; T sincerely hope so, for this world, and especially mission hoards, do not need such, but do greatly need wide-awake, heroic, self-sacrificing people to show how things can be done, and then go right along and do them. The two boards are to be equal parties in this magazine, each occupying half the space and sharing half the profits. There were no arrangements made for any losses, nor need there be. It is to cost fifty cents a year, and the publisher is to publish it on a paying basis.” I wish here to insert my letter, written to the secretary of the Miami Annual Conference, telling of mv withdrawal from 223 Fifty-five Years of Active Life the conference and the Church. It was addressed to Rev. C. J. Burkert, secretary of the conference, from Greensburg, Indiana, August 25, 1896 : “‘As you, and most of the Miami Conference know, I became a member of the Radical United Brethren Church last Decem- ber, and have been doing missionary work in said church ever since. When my name is called next week at your annual meeting, you will please give notice of my withdrawal from the Miami Conference, and the Liberal United Brethren Church. By the time you are through with the examination of character in Lewisburg next week I will be at the fourth annual conference this year already. But for this kind of work now pressing me, I should be at Lewisburg with you. With best wishes for your welfare, and the members of Miami Conference, I am sincerely yours.” 224 MISS MARIETTA HATFIELD, M.D. Massacred in Africa, May 3, 1898 REV. AND MRS. L. A. McGREW Massacred in Africa, May 9, 1898 CHAPTER XLVIII. 1898-!)9 — Elected Missionary Secretary — At Huntington. Ind. — An Absent-Minded Minister. A few months before this year’s work was commenced, I was elected corresponding secretary of the Domestic, Frontier, and Foreign Missionary Society of the Radical United Breth- ren Church. I soon entered upon the duties of that office, which position was easily filled by me, having spent nearly twenty-eight years in that capacity. By virtue of that position I became editor of the first eight pages of the Missionary Monthly. Thus by the use of the pen, and by public addresses and otherwise, I labored to promote missions. Two pages of the eight I filled with editorial matter, and sought to impress the importance of laboring zealously for the enlightenment and salvation of all who were without Christ. During this year the Radical Church moved its headquarters from Dayton, Ohio, to Huntington, Indiana, making it necessary for me to go to Huntington, where 1 continued to work up till June 1, 1905. Being among the people a good deal, during this and some succeeding years, to hold missionary meetings and attend annual conferences, I learned much of human nature. The bitterness and unreasonableness of some people made me wish sometimes that I was as absent minded as two men I knew well, one a minister and the other a layman. I really should have been glad to have forgotten as easily as the lay- man referred to could forget things. I was called to preach the funeral of a grandson of this man. After the burial we went back to the house for dinner, and as we sat at the table I remarked to the grandfather that the funeral had been largely attended. The old gentleman replied, “I do not know; I was ]5 225 Fifty-jive Years of Active Life not there.” He had ridden two miles on horseback to the church, and sat on the front seat close to the coffin while I preached, and yet he had forgotten all about it in a few hours. A short time before this he had written a letter to his daughter in Indiana, and after all this was done he went from his room to the kitchen to ask what his own name was, and when about half way there he suddenly stopped and said, “Why, my name is Philip Pry.” He frequently forgot the names of members of the family. An absent-minded minister lived in Dayton for years, and edited a religious paper. I have known him to start from his office for dinner, come down two flights of stairs and get half across the street, when the cold on his bald head would re- mind him of his hat, which he had left in his office. Once he overslept, and told his wife to hurry the preparation of break- fast, while he went to bring a loaf of bread from the bakery two squares away. He walked right past the bakery and went to his office, half a mile away, and worked till after ten o’clock, when, feeling hungry, it came to him that he had forgotten to return with bread, so he started back to get the bread, and again walked right by the bakery home without if, when his wife sharply reminded him of leaving her without bread. Bread was finally procured and a meal eaten, which that day was both breakfast and dinner. He and I lived near each other, and we were to go to a dedication service one Saturday, leaving on the one o’clock train. All was ready, except that my friend could not find his Sunday coat. Finally he remem- bered that he had left it at a tailor’s shop to be repaired, and he secured it just in time to catch the train. Once he went on horseback to a meeting and walked home with a brother for dinner, leaving his horse hitched near the church. In some African villages, adjacent to mission stations where the people wished to observe Sabbath, they would cut seven niches, or put seven holes in a piece of wood, and call the top one Sunday. They sometimes got things sadly mixed, for I occasionally foomd them keeping Thursday or some other day 226 In the Gospel Ministry for Sunday. Their simple way of telling when Sunday would come was all right, provided the peg for the holes or string for the niche was moved every day. 227 CHAPTER XLIX. 1898-99 — Uprising in Africa — D. F. Wilberforce Escapes — “Boofima" — The Rufus Clark School — Naming Children. There was a terrible uprising of the natives in that part of Africa occupied by the United Brethren missionaries, the last day of April, 1898. An organized effort was made by the natives to massacre all missionaries and traders who were favorable to civilized life. The people saw that Christianity was undermining their heathenish barbarities, and hence all missionaries, traders, and business men, white and black, favorable to Christianity, were to be killed. Buildings and all things which might enable these classes to resume business were to be demolished, and heathenism was to be made su- preme. Missions of the United Brethren Church were much injured by this uprising. Seven capable American mission- aries and many natives were killed, and thousands of dollars worth of property was destroyed. Only one of the missionaries of the Radical United Breth- ren Church was killed, Mr. Clemens, a colored man. The escape of Rev. D. F. Wilberforce and Miss Mary Mullen, the only white person there, was miraculous. Mr. Clemens was employed in March, 1896, but did not enter upon the work until nearly a year afterward. He was a native of Africa, and had spent several years in this country getting an educa- tion and learning a trade. He was a tinner, and possessed some mechanical genius, and was a good man. He rendered valuable service as teacher and preacher, and his untimely and barbarous death was greatly lamented. He was cut to pieces and thrown into a hole at Bangbiah. 228 In the Gospel Ministry On June 27 a cablegram reached me saying, “Wilberforce and family safe in Bonthe. The months of suspense in re- spect to his fate were terrible ones. This will be more fully understood when it is known what he had done, and was do- ing, and the estimation in which he was held by his Church. The Missionary Board passed the following resolution : ‘•While we hope almost against fate that the lives of several missionaries have been providentially spared, we solemnly pledge our hearts and hands for manly effort, with the Lord’s help, to raise up Africa redeemed, as a monument to the memory of our crucified Lord, and his crucified missionaries. “Whether living or dead, we will tenderly cherish and ever honor the memory of D. F. Wilberforce, our great African missionary, and that of Mrs. Elizabeth Wilberforce, his not less worthy wife, and that of their family and other laborers. Their pious useful lives will long live in the hearts and annals of Imperri. “Resolved, 1. That, if in the gracious providence of God the life of Rev. D. F. Wilberforce is still spared, he be recog- nized, as heretofore, as being superintendent of Imperri mission. 2. That Sunday, the twenty-fourth of J lily, be recognized as memorial day, and that our pastors throughout the Church are hereby earnestly requested to hold memorial services in their several churches, and take up by subscription and other- wise, in behalf of our treasury, a memorial fund to aid our missionary work in Africa, and that our bishops and general officers be requested to give all the aid within their power to make this effort successful.” From reports made just before the uprising; some idea of the prosperity of the missions may be gathered. At a meet- ing held by Mr. Wilberforce and J. B. Brainard, at Gangal- loh, nine persons gave their names, expressing their wish to be on the Lord’s side. More could have been secured, but it was thought Lest not to receive them until thev were further taught with regard to the requirements of Christianity. 229 Fifty-five Years of Active Life At a meeting held at- Mr. Wilberforce’s home, between Christmas and New Years, nine adults and some children gave evidence of coming to Christ, and among them Chief Fornee, the man who gave me such a hearty welcome to that country two years before. He spoke feelingly of God’s good- ness and the benefits of the mission to him. The missionaries in the Imperri country were now going into over fifty towns, about twenty more than a year previously. The advanced pupils in the schools were rendering good service as mission- aries. I wish to give some extracts from a letter by Bishop Mills, who visited Africa about this time, and had good opportuni- ties to learn and know the facts. He says : “A sample of native fetish is one called Boofima. This I met in the Imperri country, where it was introduced some years ago. There was war between Taiama and Paramas. The latter sent their war boys to make an ambush in the intermediate country, and the Imperri people delivered these war boys to the enemy. In revenge the Paramas sent fetish Boofima into the Imperri country. Its worship was connected with a secret society known as the Leopards. Boofima is a roll of rags, annointed formerly with animal blood and grease, and is about five inches long and two or three inches thick. When it was sent into the Imperri country the natives were taught that to en- joy the benefits of this powerful fetish they must anoint it with human blood and with grease from certain parts of the human body. Thus the Paramas hoped to get the people of Imperri to exterminate themselves in the making and wor- ship of Boofima. “The Leopard Society became cannibals, eating the victims slain to make Boofima. When they wished to catch a victim, some of the men clothed in leopard skins, with sharp, crooked knife blades fastened to their fingers, and extending through the leopard skin where the claws once were, stole up near the man and pounced upon him, seizing him by the throat after the manner of the leopard. The man usually died in the at- 230 In the Gospel Ministry tack, and part of the body was eaten and more Boofima was made; but if he escaped death, the assailant was thought to be a real leopard, which he much resembled in his cry, appear- ance, and the wounds he made. “Only two years ago last summer three men from the Imperri country were tried in Freetown for murder in con- nection with this Boofima. . They were convicted and hung. It is now believed that the Leopard Society is entirely broken up. This particular fetish is losing its influence, and soon will be dead, for fetish subjects are deemed dead, and the people lose confidence in them when the spirit is supposed to leave them. For the destruction of this society one of our missionaries, Bev. D. F. Wilberforce, must receive the credit. In the face of threatened death he fought the order, with the aid of British law, till it has well nigh disappeared from Imperri. The number of fetish objects is unknown; as the old ones fall into disfavor, new ones are taken up. They even now linger in Christian lands, as lucky stones, or unlucky days, or the number thirteen, etc., and all the light of the nineteenth century cannot banish them from our land/’ When Bishop Mills was in Africa the second time, in 1904, he bore the following testimony respecting the usefulness of the Rufus Clark school which the writer was criticised for building at Shenge : “I spent the Sunday following at Shenge, with Alfred Sumner. He has done faithful work through the year. He is honored as postmaster for the town. Our inability to re- store all of our buildings here, and no one coming out this fall to increase our force at this point, and some other things, have conspired to discourage the people. “The Rufus Clark and Wife Training-School, the church, and the small wooden building occupied by Alfred Sumner, and a clay building for boys, and a few small buildings,- are all we have been able to restore of the once magnificent plant. The church-house and the school-building are in fine condi- tion, and if Brother and Sister Clark could only see them, 231 Fifty-five Years of Active Life and the work being done here, they would surely leave a noble part of their princely fortune to carry on the work in West Africa till it is converted to God, and the Redeemer comes to receive his kingdom.” The Africans have a peculiar system of naming their children. The first boy born to African parents has a certain name, so of the second, and on to about a half dozen. The girls are named in a similar manner. This rule holds good, even wdiere several wive§ have children by the same husband, only in that case the name of the mother is added to that of the boys or girls, to distinguish them from the first wife’s children. The people in Africa show taste and love for things which are beautiful and impressive. Chief George Caulker inter- preted for me at the dedication of two chapels, at which times I read a part of Solomon’s prayer at the dedication of the tem- ple. He was so impressed with the beauty and appropriate- ness of that prayer, that he frequently spoke of it to me. Chief George Caulker had been educated in England, but lived after the heathen style when he returned to Africa. Soon after starting on a two-day trip from Shenge onc-e, a boatman named Toby begged me to give him a case-knife, I having two in my canteen. He was given the knife for the trip, with instructions that when we got back to Shenge the knife was to be polished as bright as when he received it. As we arrived in sight of Shenge on the return, I reminded him of his promise. He had used the knife to cut oranges, and the acid and dampness of the air made it black and rusty. To clean it he simply turned up the bottom of his bare foot, and rubbed it, as would be done on a board with brick dust, and soon it was as bright as one could desire. He then took his woolen shirt, which he had*worn for two days, and rubbed it, saying, “Massa, that knife very clean now.” The natives go barefoot always, and the skin on the bottom of the feet gets very thick and rough, and enough sand adheres to them to make them as good as a scouring brick for polishing metal. 232 CHAPTER L. 1809-1900 — The Madness of Heathenism — Mr. Wilberforce Paramount Chief — Still Pleading for Africa. Owing to the uprising in Africa, the fiftieth year was one full of labor and care to me. In June, 1899, Mrs. Wilber- force and her four children reached Dayton, Ohio. Mr. Wil- berforce and his family had many hairbreadth escapes in Africa during May, 1898. The insurgents who killed so many missionaries, government officials, traders, white and black, were kept from destroying them. Mr. Wilberforce was now the paramount chief of the Imperri district, and had estab- lished his headquarters at Victoria. He had rendered val- uable services to the colony of Sierra Leone, before the up- rising and after, in ferreting out and bringing to justice some of the leaders of the war against the Colonial government. He had for several years spent considerable time in an effort at exterminating cannibalism and other great evils in that country. His course in these respects did much to incense Mohammedans, members of poro societies, and cannibals, and to cause them to conspire together to destroy Christian- ity. In their madness, and instigated by Satan, they de- stroyed the lives of many noble people and much valuable property. Being chief, it was impossible for him to leave that country without great loss to the Colonial government and the mis- sion, so he remained while his wife and their four children came to the United States. It devolved upon me to secure proper quarters for the family, and to see that these four children received schooling. This I did, and all were kept in school until the fall of 1901, when the mother, the two daughters and their father returned to Africa. The two sons were students in college till June, 1904. 233 Fifty-five Years of Active Life Mr. Wilberforce came to America in May, 1901, and re- mained until the autumn of that year. During this time he visited a number of conferences and other places, preach- ing, lecturing, and raising money. The following was published in the London Times early in the year 1899, and is inserted here to show how a great newspaper in London, England, looked at things. The characterization of things is about right, but it does not tell that United Brethren missions did much to bring about the changed condition of things in the colony of Sierra Leone. The Times says : “In Sierra Leone almost all the rebellious chiefs have been apprehended or have surrendered them- selves, and confidence is almost entirely restored. Every- where the natives are readily paying the hut tax. The prospects of Sierra Leone have nev.er been so bright and promising as now. With a railway running through the fertile district, an abundant revenue with a considerable sur- plus, lessened import duties, cheaper markets, and a firm and settled policy, the colony has a future before it such as was not dreamed of a few years ago.” During this j r ear I received a number of letters from high officials and influential men not to press the African collec- tions so hard. Hints were given me, even before I was elected secretary in 1897, not to plead too earnestly for Africa, say- ing that home missions must be cared for, and hence Africa must not come to the front so much. As a matter of course I was influenced by these things, and did not push the financial claims of Africa as hard as I might have done, feeling that there was some reason for making other interests important. At the Board meeting in 1899, however, I gave notice that it was my intention to disobey orders the following year, and open a way to secure funds for Africa on the annuity plan. This I did, and when I closed my work as secretary there was in the treasury $19,465, mostly cash, as annuity money. Not a few were favorable to abandoning work in Africa. In 1899 I wrote as follows: “The thought of abandoning Africa be- 234 In the Gospel Ministry cause of the great slaughter of missionaries there found no response upon my part; on the other hand, I felt that must not be, even if I must go once more to the dark continent my : self. After hearing some say that they had no more money for Africa, and that it was wrong to send missionaries there to be massacred, my reply was that I was ashamed of such United Brethren. Such people surely do not comprehend the situation. They generally are converted from the error of their way as soon as proper explanation is made to them. In Mr. Wilberforee we had more than an ordinary mis- sionary. Being an educated native, with years of experience as teacher, preacher, diplomat, and general superintendent of missions, loving his people, he was a host within himself. Bishop Hott, in 1898, wrote the following respecting him : “Wilberforee belongs to us all, this by his conversion and edu- cation in America, but mostly by his broad mind and great heart, and great hope for fruitage of the work of all the mis- sionaries. The last time I saw him, he and Mrs. Wilberforee sat with me in his own room in Africa till two hours past midnight, talking of the great work to be done for Africa, of plans for the future good of all our work, and God’s love to us all. He had forgotten none of the kindness shown him by our people in America.” Bishop Kephart the same year wrote as follows : “I shall never forget the kindness of Brother Wilberforee and family during my two visits to that dark land. A truer and nobler Christian man never set foot in Africa than D. F. Wilber- force.” This is high praise, coming from two bishops who knew Mr. Wilberforee for many years, and were with him in Africa. I have known Mr. Wilberforee from his infancy, was intimately connected with him during the seven years he attended school in Dayton, Ohio, and know fully his manner of life, and the great work he has done in Africa, and I am quite sure that Bishops Hott and Kephart did not overesti- mate the Christian character and worth to the cause of Christ of Daniel Flickinger Wilberforee at that time. 235 CHAPTER LI. 1900-01 — Radical United Brethren Missionary Work — After Fifty- one Years — Reason for Selecting Africa. Some facts about the missionary enterprises of the Board which I was serving during several years may be of interest. In October, 1899, Rev. R. A. Morrison was sent to Africa to superintend the erection of a boys’ home, and the Jacob Phillips and Wife Chapel. That chapel was built at a cost of about five hundred dollars, which sum was furnished by Brother and Sister Phillips. Mr. Morrison succeeded well in that work until disabled by sickness in the month of May, 1900, when, upon the advice of his physician, he returned to America in July. During Mr. Morrison’s visit there he met with Messers Wilberforce, Thomas, and Brainard, and held a mission district conference. Two small schools were kept, and considerable itinerating done, but as the war had killed and scattered over sixty members, no reorganization of the church had been attempted since. On the last day of September, 1900, Rev. B. O. Hazzard and wife sailed from New York for Africa, and reached Dan- ville, November 14. He went as acting superintendent of Imperri mission, .with instructions to erect the girls’ home for the Woman’s Missionary Association; his wife to gather up the school children and care for them. Mrs. Hazzard soon became incapacitated by sickness, and had to go to England for treatment, and then came to the United States. Mr. Hazzard stayed there, and died in July, 1902. Mr. Hazzard did well in managing business matters, and in holding meet- ings and getting the people aroused to a sense of duty. Some were converted and brought into the service of the Master through his labors. 236 In the Gospel Ministry Mr. Wilberforce becoming paramount chief, his duties were such as to prevent him from doing much for missions; this was a great drawback to the work there. Suggestions appearing that the Board had better quit Africa and commence missions in Cuba, led me to protest as follows: “It is all right to go to other places, if men and women are available for such undertakings, but to cease in Africa would be like leaving a man with both limbs and arms broken unhelped, for the sake of helping a man with only one arm broken. “The United Brethren Church fifty-one years ago attacked heathenism in one of its strongholds, and by God’s help has had success, as the good work done at Shenge, Rotifunk, Bonthe, Avery, Bompetook, Koolong, Mambo, Manoh, Dan- ville, and other places in Africa attest. Thousands have been enlightened, hundreds saved, and scores have gone to heaven as a result of our mission work there. It did much toward making Bonthe a city of eight thousand people, and Freetown a city of forty thousand people, and to increase the commerce of the country in which it labors two hundred per cent, above what it was fifty-one years ago, requiring the building of a railroad from Freetown in a southeasterly direction through Rotifunk and Moyamba, and other mission stations on its line. Shall we quit Africa now, after doing so much hard Avork and making so many sacrifices, and leave it for others to gather the glorious harvest of souls which is sure to be gathered there soon bv those who cultivate that field? ‘Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Askelon, lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph.’ “ ‘Slow as the work of Christianizing the people of Africa has been, it is more rapid,’ says Mr. Green, an accredited English historian, ‘than it was to bring Great Britain under the influence of Christianity,’ so that we ought not be discour- aged on that account. The meeting at whieh it was decided what heathen country avc should first commence mission work 237 Fifty-five Years of Active Life in, was held in the autumn of 1853. Bishops Glossbrenner, Edwards, and Davis, and Bev. J. C. Bright, the secretary of the Board of Missions then, were the leading spirits of that meeting. After these men considered the question carefully. Bishop Edwards moved that Africa be chosen as our foreign mission field. His reasons were that it was more available to us than any other, and that being an anti-slavery Church, we should do what we could to break the chains by which negroes are made slaves in Africa and also in America. Not only the three bishops and the secretary of the Board, but all the voters of that meeting unanimously agreed to make Africa our mission field. Quit Africa now, and impeach the wisdom of this trio of bishops who chose Africa as our field — these men who never had their superiors in this or any other church as wise masterbuilders, able expounders of God’s Word, and zeal for God’s glory in the salvation of mankind? We quit Africa? ‘Let my right hand forget her cunning, and my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth,’ if I vote to do such an unscriptural and foolish thing as that.” 238 CHAPTER LII. 1901-02 — Division — A Plea for Different Methods — "Feel Bad Too Much.” Two things gave me much anxiety and real grief at times during this year. The one was the controversy and division among the members of the Publishing House Board of the Church of which I was a member. Being in Huntington, where the Board and its committee had its meetings, I was counseled a good deal, and knowing the great distance that one side was from the other, and the bitterness existing, it caused me real sorrow. Church quarrels alienate lifelong friends and destroy confidence among the most intimate. They are earthly, sensual, devilish. To my certain knowledge this quarrel kept the Missionary Society from getting five thousand dollars, and kept Central College from having a chair endowed. The other cause of anxiety and grief was the want of suc- cess in the frontier department of mission work. In my re- port to the Board of Missions at its annual meeting in June, 1903, I pointed out the losses in membership in the Western conferences from 1899 to 1903. A comparison of the figures of the self-supporting conferences showed that in the first two years of the quadrennium the losses had been heavy, probably resulting from inaccuracies in the Year Book; but neverthe- less there was a considerable decrease in membership. I had for years opposed the action of the Board in doling out small appropriations to many places, which caused me to say in my report : “Ever since my connection with this Board of Missions I have grieved at our want of success in our frontier missions, and have stoutly protested against the pol- 239 Fifty-five Years of Active Life icy of dribbling out appropriations to unsuccessful missions. Far better let them be without appropriations, and give others enough to employ efficient laborers and keep them until suc- cess is assured. If the objection is urged that to wholly neglect such will eventuate in their death, the answer is, they are dying with the little they now receive. Better support half of our missions in a way to make them self-support- ing, than to keep all so feebly that they are constantly decreasing, many of them to die in the near future, if we may judge the future from the past. Had we abandoned about half a dozen of these unsuccessful mission fields six years ago, and operated missions in such places as Oklahoma, Man- itoba, and Alberta, where many of our people have gone and are going, we would no doubt be rejoicing over our success in these places, instead of lamenting our failures where we have been working.” The death of Mr. Hazzard in July, 1902, made it im- portant to send some white missionaries to Africa, and I spent some time writing and visiting persons whom it was thought might go. In March, 1903, Bev. A. F. Stoltz, of Ontario, and his wife, were appointed by the joint action of both the parent Board’s executive committee and the Woman’s Missionary Association, he to be the superintendent of the Board’s mis- sions, and she to work for the Woman’s Missionary Associa- tion. Mr. Wilberforce had looked after businesss matters somewhat, and had done some repairing on Phillips Chapel, but his chieftaincy had kept him so busy that he could not do all that was necessary. One of our boatmen in Africa, by the name of Alfred, a conscientious, honest heathen, after he had professed religion for some time once came to me to confess that he had done wrong, saying : “Massa, I feel bad for that ting I do,” telling of a blunder he had made. “I feel bad too much. I feel all the same like one big, big cockroach run up my back.” Cock- roaches are numerous there, and often run over one when asleep, and to naked negroes their running up the back pro- 240 MARTYR MEMORIAL CHURCH FLICKINdER CHAPEL, SHENGE, AFRICA In the Gospel Ministry duces very unpleasant sensations. This same Alfred, just after we had landed one evening, after a hard day’s rowing, in answer to my saying to the boatmen, “You did well, boys,’” replied, “Yes, Massa, we tried hard to please you, but we ought to ' you come far, and you give money, and you sick plenty for we people, to tell us of God and heaven, and we ought to be good.” In less than a year after that he died, and no doubt went to the saints’ rest in heaven. 16 241 CHAPTER LIII. 1902-03 — Gave a Bible to a Mohammedan — A Rooster for Missions — A Native’s Contribution — Neither Poverty nor Riches. As nothing of a special character occurred in this year, I wish here to relate several incidents which have come under my observation, and which contain good suggestions. The first is fhe conduct of a Mohammedan head man who visited Shenge occasionally, and with whom Mr. Gomer and I had pleasant and profitable interviews. The last time I saw him was on the veranda of the mission house at Shenge, when Mr. Gomer gave him an Arabic Bible. The American Bible Society had made us a grant of Bibles and Testaments, and among them were a few Arabic Bibles, for distribution among the Mohammedans. This man was cleanly dressed in Mohammedan costume, and had the reputation of keeping the town over which he presided the cleanest of any in that country. He was much inclined to learn the real object of our mission, and had asked for a Bible that he could read. When he received that Bible he arose and put a cloth he had on the floor, and the Bible on it; then he reverently kneeled down and opened the book, having first wiped his fingers clean so that the perspiration on them would not soil its leaves. He then said that he would now have to keep himself clean and not lust after women or do anything bad when he read that book. In the meantime he lifted his eyes to heaven in a devotional manner, after which he arose from his knees, wrapped up the book carefully in the cloth he had put under it, bade us good-by, and left highly pleased to get a Bible, which no doubt he read carefully. A rather amusing, and in a way impressive affair, occurred at a conference held in Illinois some years ago. A preacher 242 In the Gospel Ministry had found it difficult to get his full assessment of money for missions, and finally told the people he would take produce, or any thing they could give, if they had not the money. They being farmers, some gave farm products, which he sold, putting the money into this fund. On his way to conference he stopped with a family w'ho told him they had no money, or anything else that they could spare except a rooster. He accepted that gift, and brought the rooster to the con- ference, and when called on to make his report, said that he had collected so much money for missions, and had a rooster to turn over to the missionary treasurer. He was then told by the bishop to sell the fowl and give the money; so he an- nounced that when conference adjourned at noon he would auction off that chicken to the highest bidder. This he did, and secured a good price for it, adding the money to his re- port. Soon after the organization of our first church at Shenge, in Africa, we concluded to hold a missionary meeting to enlist as many as possible in the missionary enterprise. We appointed the meeting for Saturday evening, and told the people that they should come prepared to give what they could. Among the donors was a very poor woman, who at noon on that day came to the mission house bringing a nice young rooster, which she said was all she had, and asked us to buy it and give her the money. We gave her twenty-five cents, about five cents more than the fowl was worth, and she went away happy. She was at the meeting that night looking pleased, and when the collection was taken put in all she got for her fowl. I know people who do deny themselves of some things, such as coffee, tea, sugar, and other gratifications, to be able to give to God’s cause, especially to missions. I could tell of men and women who had old clothes made over and mended to save the money that new clothes would have cost, that they might give to missions. Put these things beside the Savior’s words to Peter, when he said to him, “Lo, we have left all and followed thee,” or when he said, “Verily, I 243 Fifty- five Years of Active Life say unto you, there is no man hath left houses, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God’s sake, who will not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting.” Giving up this world for Christ’s sake is, after all, the certain way to possess and enjoy it. Mark the words, “They shall receive manifold more in this present time,” that is, get back in blessings from God more than they gave. “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Having a native carpenter in Africa to do some work, he walked a quarter of a mile to tell me he wished one of the laborers to bring him a board which was a quarter of a mile from where he worked in the other direction. He was told to go and get it himself, when he replied that that was common laborers’ work. As the same man had been employed as a laborer before, he was at once dismissed as carpenter and hired as laborer, whereupon he brought the board. Then he was made carpenter again to go on and finish the work he had commenced. Twice in my life I have declined opportunities for becom- ing rich because the good Spirit impressed me that it would interfere with my work of going to Africa, and might not be a blessing to me. I was offered a farm, now a part of West Dayton, by its owners, and urged to buy it. Another man bought it, and it made him quite rich. At another time I was offered, and seriously thought of buying, twenty acres of land now in Dayton at $200 an acre, which was made to net $1,000 an acre soon after. The consideration of this opportunity caused me a sleepless night, when it was deeply impressed on me that I ought not make such a purchase. God in his gopd- ness and wisdom has given me neither riches nor poverty. I have had and still have a competency which was best for me, my family, and God’s cause. 244 CHAPTER LIY. 1903-04 — Trouble and Sickness — African Incidents — The Converted Deck-hand — Won the Debate. This year was one of great mental and physical suffering at times, and of great enjoyment at other times. The corn tention between the majority and minority members of the Publishing House Board caused me deep solicitude, and gave me some extra and unpleasant work. This quarrel affected the whole Church and militated against its success. But for tlie fact that that church is made up mostly of substantial Christians who greatly love her principles and are willing to suffer much for them, this controversy would have torn it to pieces. My physical suffering was caused by an attack of sickness during the month of March, 1904, which at times seemed to threaten my life. In contrast to these sufferings were months of remark- ably good health, when it was a delight to work. Then the more than usual prosperity of the African missions, as car- ried on by the United Brethren churches was a source of re- joicing. United Brethren missions in Africa have landed many scores of souls in heaven, and helped hundreds to a better life on earth. Because of these things we have cause to rejoice, thank God, and take courage. Among the most successful missionaries we ever employed in Africa was a colored layman, Mr. Gomer. Before he "be- came a Christian he was a wicked, ignorant sailor, on Lake Michigan. One night passing a church in Chicago, he heard beautiful music and was led to enter. ’While there the Spirit of God opened his blind eyes, and helped him submit to 245 Fifty-jive Years of Active Life Christ. He said, when examined as to his fitness for mission work, “I believe that I can make the heathen in Africa see how I was saved, and thereby lead them to accept Christ.” He was sent to Africa and made his statements true. For twenty years he did successfully lead many to Christ by his life and teachings. A native of Africa was coming to the United States as a sailor on a sailing vessel. When off of Cape Hatteras in April we experienced a snow squall, and the large flakes of snow bit his fingers a good deal with cold while he was at work. He rubbed his hands briskly, and said, “Dem big, white mos- quito; he bite too much.” Mr. Wilberforce had a servant boy who was a little dull and did not like to wash in the morning. He was on a row- boat with us, going up a river in Africa, when we anchored during the night for sleep. At dawn of day we aroused our boatmen, and they all washed except the boy. He was quite at the end of the boat, which the boatmen tipped suddenly, and pitched the lad into the water. Then they all laughed heartily and said, “Ah, Mr. Wilberforce’s boy get one good wash that time.” Children in Africa are much averse to wearing clothes, having gone naked always. We could not allow them to at- tend school in a nude state, and hence we furnished gowns to those who came to both day and Sunday schools. They would throw them away as soon as school was out, and come naked next time, so we adopted the plan of keeping a box of clothes at the school, and would put clothes on them while they were there, then take them off and send them away naked, thus keeping their clothes for the next time. One of the natives, describing the order of creation said, “God made white man early in the morning, which give him plenty time to teach him many things,” which accounted for his knowing so much. “Next day he make Mohammedan, and told him a good many things ; last he made the Sherbro man, and then sun go down and he could only take time to 246 In the Gospel Ministry show him a few things, such as to make salt, country cloth, and a few other things.” That was the reason they knew so little. I went to hold a meeting in a new country place in the Miami Conference over thirty years ago, the pastor being called away. The pastor had written to me to stop with a certain brother living near the church, which I did, getting there Saturday evening. The small house was nicely white- washed, the yard clean, and all looked neat and comfortable. Next morning at breakfast my host, a man of about sixty, said he must hurry off to sweep the church and get ready for Sunday school at nine o’clock. I went later, and found that the man was superintendent of the school and class-leader, and was indeed the foremost member of that church. I went to another place for dinner, and there the following was told me respecting this gentleman. He had been very wicked up to about forty years of age, when he became a Christian. He had been a deckhand on a steamboat on the Ohio River, and would come home drunk and abuse his wife so that at times she had to flee to the neighbors for protection. An infidel moved into that neighborhood, and had challenged every preacher that had come there to debate with him on the sub- ject of Christianity. This brother finally got tired hearing these challenges to debate the question as to whether there was a reality in the religion of Christ, and told the infidel that he would debate with him. To this the infidel agreed. The Christian was to make the first address, and he would reply. They met on a week night in the church; the house was packed. The infidel brought books, and paper and pencil to take notes. The old Christian took his place in front of the pulpit and said, “Friends and neighbors, you have known me for twenty years; ten of these I was a drunkard, and fought and swore, and as you know, abused my family, and was a terror to all the neighborhood at times. Then, at a meeting held in this house, I bowed at this altar and God saved me. I at once left my wicked associates, quit getting 247 Fifty-five Years of Active Life drunk, ceased to swear and fight, and I have lived differently ever since. I then lived in a tumble-down cabin that was not my own, and poorly provided for my family. I. now own and have paid for forty acres of ground, we have a comfortable home, and wife and I live happily, and all this because I be- came a Christian; and now I leave you to judge whether there is any reality in the religion of Christ.” After making these statements, which occupied twenty minutes, he sat down. The infidel sat there with pencil and paper in his hands, and eyes and ears wide open, but not a word had he written. The old brother quitting so unexpectedly almost took his breath, but he arose after a little while, and clearing his throat said he had come there to debate, and to show that there was nothing in what people called religion, but his opponent had said nothing he *could reply to. Then he again cleared his throat and stood awhile, not knowing what to do, when one of the wickedest men in the house called out, “Hurrah for Father \Y.” Others joined him in cheering the old saint, and the whole congregation left the house in a titter. That old man’s argument was of the unanswerable kind. His changed life showed that religion is good. Holy living is an argument that infidelity can’t gainsay ; has never yet been able to meet, and never will. The world needs good living quite as much as it needs good preaching. Living epistles, known and read of all men, often are more effective than the printed Bible. 24S CHAPTER LY. 1904-05 — Grieved — Saddening Events — Retires from the Missionary Secretaryship — Reunites with Miami Conference. As I entered itpon my fifty-fifth year of ministerial work, there were circumstances existing that were perplexing. I will quote from a letter published in November, 1904: “I came from the Liberal to the Radical United Brethren Church in good faith, expecting to work for its success as long as I had strength. In the providence of God a place has been given me which has enabled me to pursue the line of work to which I had consecrated my life, and in filling the place given me I have been happy, and measurably suc- cessful. My relations to the ministry and laity of the church have been pleasant, except the little friction with a few growing out of the disagreement of the Publishing Board. For a time I tried hard to be neutral on that matter, but, being right here in the printing establishment, and both sides coming to my office for counsel. I was reluctantly drawn ipto taking sides, sometimes with the one, and at times with the other side. The methods pursued were not as I felt they should have been, which made me oppose them. The matter lias gone on from bad to worse, until the contention between the parties has become a disgrace to Christianity. More than the death of near and dear friends, this church trouble has been to me the most grievous burden of my life. Three times, once in Africa, another time in Germany, and at one time in the mission room here in Huntington, I felt so heartbroken over mishaps which had befallen our Zion that I feared they would kill me; and I still believe they would, had not my kind Father in heaven removed these burdens in answer to prayer.” 249 Fifty-five Years of Active Life Another sad and discouraging occurrence that took place this year was the discreditable reports concerning the atti- tude of Mr. Wilberforce. Rumors had reached the Mission Board that Rev. D. F. Wilberforce had been guilty of prac- tices not in accord with Christianity. It was sad to think that Mr. Wilberforce, after acquitting himself so nobly for about thirty years, as a student, a teacher, a preacher, a diplomat, a missionary, and an African chief, should bring dishonor upon the cause of Christ. Subsequent developments in the case of Mr. Wilberforce fully exonerated him from the charge that he had become a cannibal. After a most de- termined effort to convict him of that crime before the high- est court in Sierra Leone, the jury that sat in the case unani- mously acquitted him. He had adhered to and advocated Christianity all the time. His becoming a chief may have led him to do some questionable things, and the combined pow- ers of Mohammedanism, poroism, and heathenism, inspired by Satan, put forth their best efforts to destroy him and Christianity in that part of Africa. It is not too much to hope that Jesus Christ, who forgave St. Peter, and afterward helped him to preach such a wonderful sermon that three thousand were added to the church in one day, may yet use Mr. Wilberforce to lead thousands from heathenism to Chris- tianity. Aside from these saddening experiences, my work during this last year of my active labors, was pleasant, and reason- ably successful. My relation to the Board of Missions of the Radical United Brethren Church ceased the first of June, 1905. In my valedictory, in the Missionary Monthly, I said: “We have edited the first eight pages of this magazine since July, 1897. The secretary of the Woman’s Missionary Asso- ciation has edited the other eight pages. The Parent Board and the Woman’s Missionary Association, in publishing this paper, and working conjointly in Africa, have achieved success in these departments of labor which otherwise could not have been accomplished. 250 In the Gospel Ministry “During the eight years we have served as secretary of the Parent Board our relations to the officers and employees of the printing establishment have been agreeable, and we retire from our work with the kindest of feelings toward all, leav- ing the Missionary Society which we have served in good con- dition financially. “We take pleasure in introducing to our readers Rev. J. Howe, our successor, and bespeak for him the hearty cooperation of all the friends of missions. Mr. Howe, no doubt, will ably edit his part of this magazine, and faithfully do the work to which he is called as secretary. “When, in December, 1895, we withdrew from the Liberal and joined the Radical wing of the United Brethren Church, we felt that to be the right thing for us to do, for various reasons, especially as that opened the way to continue to la- bor for the cause of missions in Africa, to which work we had given a large portion of forty years before. Fifty years ago we were in Africa, and in thought and sympathy we have been there ever since, and there in person at twelve different times. “In view of the bitter controversy among the leaders of our church, and the seeming impossibility of their being recon- ciled, we now feel it will be right, and it may become our duty, to withdraw from it, etc.” The following resolution was adopted by a rising vote by the Board of Missions in 1905: “In consideration of the fact that the infirmities of old age compel Dr. D. K. Flickinger to retire from active service with our missionary work, we wish hereby to express our apprecia- tion of his valuable labors in the past, and we shall also pray that he. may yet live to give us his counsel, and that a kind providence may give him a happy and peaceful old age, and a triumphant entrance into everlasting life.” I close with the statement that during the time I was a member of the Radical United Brethren Church my member- ship was in the Scioto Annual Conference. In October, 1904, 251 Fifty-five Years of Active Life I took a transfer and letter from the class to which I belonged in that conference, and in December, 1905, I joined the First United Brethren Church in Indianapolis, Ind. In August, 1906, I was received into the Miami Annual Conference, to which I had belonged for years. During the last two years I have had no regular work, but have preached and lectured on missions about once a month. Old age and new infirmities give me good reasons for not attempting much public speak- ing, though I love it dearly. I have spent much time in read- ing the Bible and meditating upon its wonderful teachings. Truly, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” 252 CHAPTER LVI. 1905-07 — Reflex Influence of Foreign Missions — A Difficult Field — Results — A Glorious Future. Many thousands have been saved to Christ and our Church in the United States because of missions, during the last fifty years. Money has never been more wisely expended than it has been in this work, nor can it be. Our missionaries in this country have received as many into the Church as our entire membership is now, I believe. The self-supporting churches have also increased much in numbers and efficiency because of the missionary spirit awakened among them dur- ing the last half century. Our magnificent printing estab- lishment in Dayton, Ohio, Union Biblical Seminary, our colleges. Sabbath schools, and other departments of the Church, have been greatly helped by these missions. In Porto Rico, China, Japan, and Africa, abundant suc- cess has been achieved in proportion to the labor and money expended. I am certain that our success in the part of Africa we are in is greater than that of any other church there, in proportion to the money expended and labor done. There is good reason for believing the same is true of most of our other foreign missions, but not being acquainted with them as I am with the African mission, I cannot speak of them so posi- tively. Western Africa, especially Sierra Leone and the country adjacent to it, because of the unhealthfulness of its climate and the deep degradation of its people, has been one of the most difficult mission fields in the world. The Church of England, in a book entitled, “Missionary Records,” and the Wesleyans of Great Britain, in Fox’s history of their missions, show that scores of lives were sacrificed, and multiplied thou- 253 Fifty-five Years of Active Life sands of dollars expended, just to commence their missions in Africa. Mendi mission also buried a number of its mission- aries and spent over half a million of dollars, before that mission was given to us. Our sacrifices of life and money are very small, even counting the sad loss of the eight white missionaries who were cruelly massacred in 1898, in com- parison with what other churches have endured. And now what have the churches of Great Britain and the United States to show for the hundreds of lives and millions of dollars given to Christianize Africa ? If those who doubt the wisdom of sending missionaries to heathen lands could see that part of Africa in which our missions are located, and ride on the railroad one hundred and fifty miles inland from Freetown, through half a dozen towns in which we have mission stations, and note what has been done in these and more than a score of other places where missionaries teach school and preach the gospel, they would forever dismiss all doubts as to whether missionaries ought to go there. That country, so cursed with cannibalism, polygamy, witchcraft, and devil worship, has changed much for the better in fifty years. All honor to the noble men and women now there doing much to pull down the strongholds of Satan and build up the kingdom of God ! Greater victories ought and will be achieved in the future than in the past, in the department of mission work at home and abroad, by us as a church, if we do our duty. The Captain of our salvation “must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet.” He said, when upon earth, “He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall ye do also ; and greater works than these shall he do, because I go unto my Father.” Greater works were done on the day of Pentecost, and by the apostles afterward, in inducing the unsaved to accept Christ as their Savior, than he did while he tabernacled in the flesh. Apostolic zeal for God’s cause, and willingness to spend and be spent in winning this world to Christ, will enable the Church of to-day to do greater work than he did in inducing 254 In the Gospel Ministry men to accept that salvation proffered in the gospel. How willingly, cheerfully, and hopefully Christians ought to heed the call : Stand up, stand up for Jesus, Ye soldiers of the cross j Lift high his royal banner. It must not suffer loss; From victory unto victory His army he shall lead. Till every foe is vanquished And Christ is Lord indeed. 255 CHAPTER LVII. Random Recollections — Numerous Observations — Bits of Experience — Interesting Events — Amusing Incidents. Many years ago, in company with Bishop Edwards, I was waiting in the Indianapolis depot for a train, when a drunken man began to make himself a little too conspicuous. A police- man took hold of him, and pushed him along to the other end of the depot to put him out. He evidently hurried him more than was agreeable, and just as the policeman got him to where he was to step out of the depot, he suddenly turned and said, “Say, mister, is this your drunk or is it mine?” The Africans said of me that I was a little man with a big heart, and that I had eyes on both sides of my head, and could see both ways at the same time. An African in Freetown with monkeys to sell was asked the price of one. He said his first price was three shillings, but his second price was two shillings. When asked what the third price was, he replied he had not fixed that yet, but would if he could not get either of the others. I came from Freetown to New York on a sail vessel. The voyage had been rough and tedious, and while at the table taking our last dinner together, being inside of Sandy Hook, and all feeling glad, the captain told us this incident. On a large ship with a crew of twenty, upon which he was once a sailor, the cook died. That is a great calamity at sea, as it is very difficult to make a cook out of an ordinary sailor. The captain of the ship selected a man who he thought would do, and to make it easy on him, ordered that the first man who complained of the cooking would have to take his place. 256 In the Gospel Ministry The cook became very tired of his work in a couple of days, and as no one had complained, he resolved he would give them something to complain of, so he put a quantity of red pepper into the biscuits he made. When the men came to eat, one of them broke open a biscuit, put butter on it, and took a large mouthful, which he rolled about in his mouth a moment and then cried out, “0 cook, what did you put in these biscuits ?” Just then he remembered the captain’s orders, and he added quickly, “But they are good; very good.” He swallowed the hot dose with tears in his eyes, glad that he bethought himself just in time to save himself from being made a cook. At a steamboat landing on the Ohio River in 1842, on a trip between Pittsburg and Cincinnati, I saw, close to the wharf, a sick woman on a straw tick; three children were with her. The passengers all looked at the sad spectacle, and quite a number said, “What a pity”; but none offered help. Presently a quiet young man came to the scene. After look- ing at the woman and children a moment, without saying a word he pressed his way through the crowd and put a silver dollar into her hand, not so much as waiting to receive her thanks for the gift. The act led others to give her money, and in all she received about ten dollars, which acted like medicine upon her, and she was soon removed to a house near by and properly cared for. Actions speak louder than words. Once when in Brown, Shipley & Company’s bank, in New York City, I had to write my name three times to get a letter of credit which enabled me to draw money in England, Ger- many and Africa. I was very tired, on account of a long walk, and writing my name with a stub pen, my heavy handwriting looked blacker than usual. The cashier looked at my writing a moment and then remarked, “That will do to worship, for there is nothing like it on earth or in heaven.” I spent a night with a German in 1852, who at the break- fast table said to his sons, “Poys, we must begin to fix to pre- pare to get ready to commence to butcher our hogs.” 257 Fifty-five Years of Active Life I was on a jury about sixty years ago, hearing a case in court. We were put into the jury room at five o’clock in the evening, and by six eleven of us had agreed as to what the verdict ought to be, but the twelfth man kept us there till six the next morning, when he agreed to the verdict. It ’s awful when eleven contrary men hold out against one man a whole night, and finally persuade him to agree with them. It is a very common thing in Africa for laborers, when leaving an employer, to ask for a recommendation. A man who worked for one of our missionaries left without any, but in a few days asked for one. Being unworthy, he was told by the missionary that he did not wish to give one. The native persisted, and the missionary wrote as follows : “This man worked for me, and was dismissed for laziness, stealing, and lying.” ' When in Oregon I met a group of school children in a lonely woods, clapping their hands and singing. On inquir- ing as to the meaning of their conduct, the man with me said that in so large a forest there were cougers, a species of pan- thers, which sometimes would steal upon persons and attack them. Making a noise kept them away, and children were safe when singing and clapping their hands. During the temperance praying crusade my mother, all alone, visited the only saloonkeeper in the village near which she lived, and told him it was wrong to be making drunkards. The only reason she did not pray was that the crowd she found there all left, leaving the proprietor alone, and she felt that prayer had better be omitted. I once overtook a crowd of girls on their way to church barefooted. Just before reaching the church they put on their shoes, which they had carried. On coming out after the meeting they took off their shoes and walked home bare- foot to save sole leather, and probably for comfort. This was not in Africa. 258 In the Gospel Ministry Years ago I heard a devout Christian read part of a chap- ter of the Bible at family worship, which he called, “The first chapter of the Gentiles.” On another similar occasion he read what he called “the fifth chapter of Paul's Epistle to the Acts of the Apostles.” Once at the close of an annual conference one Sunday night in August, when everybody was tired and sleepy, the bishop spoke a few parting words, and then said : “Brother Iv — will sing the benediction, and Brother B will pro- nounce the doxology.” He wondered why the people laughed, and never realized the mistake he had made until told of it after the dismissal. A German who was warm in his first love for his church, told a neighbor, “We are going to have a great meeting at our church. The bisehoff, siding alder, circus preacher, and ex- hausters are all to be there, and we will have a powerful time.” His words were as badly mixed as those of another German whom I visited over sixty years ago to buy hogs from. In re- ply to my inquiry he said : “I did talk of selling them, but I have not very much hogs, and many corns to feed them with, and I changed my tick-tacks, and now I can’t sell hogs unless my corns go with them. They must all go together, or stay together, and this is my last delision on that matter. Once I went to Kent, twenty miles from Shenge, to get carpenters to help build the mission residence at Botifunk. While waiting for a man to come home, I happened to look at the ceiling of the house. The joists of the second floor were about a foot wide and quite smooth. On one was writ- ten the date of marriage, on another dates of birth of several children, on another the time of the death of a child. The marking was nicely done with paint and a complete family record was kept on the sides of three joists. A diminutive and much hunch-backed man called at the ticket-office in Dayton, Ohio, and asked the agent, “Can you 259 Fifty-five Years of Active Life send me straight through to Indianapolis ?” The agent looked at him a moment and said, “I will sell you a ticket that will be sure to take you to Indianapolis, but I can’t promise you that you will be any straighter then than now/' It was a timely rebuke, for he had strutted about quite lordly, and it took a ton of conceit out of him. Coming from Africa once on a sail vessel, I saw a fine ex- hibition of earnestness, On board were a number of mon- keys, and among them a large dog monkey, which was fas- tened with a chain about four feet long, which he rattled while taking exercise. The cook had given him his dinner, and a couple of small monkeys were trying to steal it from him, one finally getting a piece of it beyond his reach. Just then the long tail of the other small monkey swung around within reach of the dog monkey, and he grabbed it and drew that little fellow up to him. Seizing him with both his paws he threw him at the other small monkey, about eight feet away, eating what he had stolen, and knocked him topsy- turvey, hurting both of them so as to make them cry. They never again attempted to steal from that dog monkey, nor did they play with him any more, as they had done before. On another occasion, and also on a sailing vessel, there was a monkey. The captain was shaving one morning, and while his face was all lathered over he was called out of his room by the mate. Thereupon the monkey seized the brush and lathered his face completely, and took the razor to proceed to scrape it, as he had seen the captain do. But he cut both his nose and hand, and came out of the cabin on three feet, holding the bleeding hand to his nose and crying most pit- eously. Crossing over from Liverpool to New York on a steamer, as I promenaded for exercise I observed an Irishman sitting on the deck for second-class passengers several hours every day peeling potatoes. As I desired a little fun I asked him what he thought of the doctrine that we would follow the 260 In the Gospel Ministry same business in heaven that we did on earth. He promptly replied, “If the good Mon in heaven wonts me to pale potatoes, all he has to do is to furnish them, an’ I will pale them.” Leaving him I met two of the stewardesses, and asked them the same question. They replied that no ocean steward would ever get to heaven. They said: “We were just now consult- ing how to get through another night with a woman who kept us awake all last night, and we had to say cuss words to her, and now she is carrying on in such a way that we will have to act real wicked to get her to be quiet. We will never get to heaven, and if we did, we would not want to be stewards there, for we are only stewards here because we have no better way of making a living ; but how wicked we are getting !” I told them they ought not to be wicked, but they said that they had such hysterical and foolish women to wait on that they must say cuss words to quiet them sometimes.