^m OF Pfi/*^ 
 
 DEC 5 1921 
 
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 Divisiott 
 
 BV 3625 7k7 M6 
 
 Vinson, Thomas Chalmers, 
 
 1887- 
 William McCutchan Morrison 
 
— 1- 
 
DR. MORRISON 
 

 DEC r, 1921 
 
 Willtam iirQIutrljait iMnrnfinn 
 ©tuf ntQ If^ara in Ol^tttral Afrtra 
 
 By 
 
 Rev. T. C. Vinson 
 
 1921 
 
 PUBLISHED BY 
 
 PRESBYTERIAN COMMITTEE OF PUBLICATION 
 Richmond Va— Texarkana, Ark., Tex, 
 
CORYRIGHT 1921, BY 
 
 PRESBYTERIAN COMMITTEE OF PUBLICATION 
 Richmond, Va, 
 
To 
 
 the Men's Club of the First Presbyterian Church 
 
 in Chattanooga, Tennessee 
 
 whose liberality has made possible my work in Africa 
 
 and whose fellowship in the Gospel has ever 
 
 been an inspiration to me 
 
 this book is ajfectionately dedicated 
 
3lnbrx 
 
 Acquittal of Urs. Morrison and Sheppard 104 
 
 Articles on Congo Reforms 52, 155, 156, 159 
 
 Bakuba Dialect . 35, 161 
 
 Bakuba Tribe 27, 29, 33, 84, 180, 181 
 
 Baluba Dialect 35, 59 
 
 Baluba Tribe I 33, 113, 116, 126, 127 
 
 Caravans 23-24, 133 
 
 Commission Appointed by Leopold 54 
 
 Conference of Congo Missionaries 141-148 
 
 Congo Free State 46-56,167,179 
 
 Congo Reform Associations 55-56 
 
 Congo Reforms 45-56, 75-87, 156-159 
 
 Congo Reforms, Report of British Consul 84-87 
 
 Congo Reforms, Speech of Dr. Morrison before Boston 
 
 Peace Conference 179-191 
 
 Congo River 20-21 
 
 Correspondent for Missions 159 
 
 Daily Program of Dr. and Mrs. Morrison 73 
 
 Death of Mrs. Morrison 119 
 
 Death of Dr. Morrison 149 
 
 Dialects, Native 59-60 
 
 Diary of Dr. Morr'son 14-15 
 
 Dictionary, Baluba _ _ : 45, 63-64, 153-154 
 
 Duties of Missionaries 37 
 
 Education of Dr. Morrison 11-12 
 
 Fevers, African 25 
 
 Funerals, Native 31-33, 118, 123 
 
 Furloughs 45, 127-129 
 
 Genealogy of Dr. Morrison _ 9-10 
 
 Grammar, Native 45, 57-64, 153 
 
 "Herald, Kasa" 41, 78-80, 193-194 
 
 Ibanche 27-29, 33-34, 72 
 
 Ivory Industry 23 
 
 "Kasa Herald" 41, 78-80, 193-194 
 
 Lapsley, S. N. 25,194 
 
6 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 Lapsley, The 71-72 
 
 Lambuth, Bishop 133, 141, 172-173 
 
 Leopold, King 24, 46, 48-51, 54,72, 75,180-184 
 
 Leopold, Letter to 50-51 
 
 Leopoldville _i 24-25, 94 
 
 Luebo 26-27, 35-36, 58, 113, 187-190 
 
 Lukenga 33, 38-40 
 
 Lusambo 117 
 
 Mark Twain, "Leopold's Soliloquy" 159 
 
 Marriage of Dr. and Mrs. 'Morrison 69-70 
 
 Mission Policy 134-140 
 
 Morrison, Mrs 69-75, 116-124 
 
 Nicknames, African 28-29 
 
 Palavers 126, 138-139 
 
 Prayers of Dr. Morrison 164-109 
 
 Railroad, Congo 21-23,71 
 
 Rubber Compa,nies 23, 76-83 
 
 Sankuru River 36, 38, 40 
 
 Sheppard, Dr. W. H 27, 36, 76-84, 108 
 
 Slavery 33 
 
 Speeches on Congo Reform, Dr. Morri on — 
 
 In Boston 52 
 
 In London 47 
 
 Stannard Case 97 
 
 State Department 96-98, 197-201 
 
 Stead, W. T., Article on Congo Reforms 48 
 
 Students, Native 41-43 
 
 Training of Natives 31, 41-43, 74, 165 (Footnote) 
 
 Translations 30, 57-68, 104-105, 113, 124, 127, 128, 153 
 
 Treaty of Berlin 34, 179, 181 
 
 Trial of Drs. Morrison and Sheppard 89, 105, 108-111 
 
 Tribunal, Belgian 45-46, 103-104 
 
 Vandervelde, Emil 49, 98-99, 102-105, 109 
 
 Voyages to Africa 14-17, 70-71, 127 
 
 Zappo-Zapps 45, 189 
 
fr^far* 
 
 This book has been prepared at the johit request of the 
 American Presbyterian Congo Mission (A. P. C. M.) and 
 of the Executive Committee of Foreign Missions of the 
 Presbyterian Church in the United States. Its purpose is 
 to make the world, and especially our own church, better 
 acquainted with the character and the work of Dr. Mor- 
 rison. No attempt has been made to eulogize the man, but 
 rather to give a simple account of what he did. We have 
 felt that an honest and unadorned statement of the truth 
 regarding him would be a higher encomium than any ideal 
 picture that could be drawn. 
 
 The writer has had access to Dr. Morrison's personal 
 papers and to the documents on file in the offices of the Mis- 
 sion at Luebo and of the Executive Committee in Nashville. 
 It was also his high privilege to be intimately associated 
 with Dr. Morrison's work for six years. 
 
 In the writing of this story it has been necessary to refer 
 to the mal-administration of the Belgian Congo under the 
 past and present regimes. In doing this the writer has not 
 attempted to make any attack on that nation, so recently 
 allied with our own country in the World War. No judg- 
 ment is pronounced upon Belgium for the wrongs com- 
 mitted in its Congo administration. We have described 
 those conditions simply because they form the background 
 to the picture of Dr. Morrison which we have attempted 
 to draw. The part that he played in endeavoring to alle- 
 viate the sufferings of the oppressed formed the most 
 dramatic episode of his life and made him an international 
 figure. We could not do Dr. Morrison justice without pic- 
 
8 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 turing as vividly as possible the conditions under which he 
 labored. 
 
 The writer is indebted to his colleagues in the field for 
 their valuable assistance in the preparation of this book; 
 to Rev. R. D. Bedinger for the loan of a rather complete 
 file of the "Missionary Survey" ; to Rev. Joseph Savels for 
 the translation of certain French documents relative to the 
 trial of Dr. Morrison at Leopoldville; and to Rev. C. L. 
 Crane for reviewing the manuscript and offering helpful 
 suggestions. He is further indebted to Dr. J. O. Reavis, 
 Rev. L. H. Wharton, Dr. R. E. Vinson, Dr. S. H. Chester 
 and Dr. T. A. Wharton for valuable assistance in revising 
 the manuscript. He is especially grateful to the Executive 
 Committee of Foreign Missions for the publication of this 
 book and to their Educational Secretary who has kindly 
 agreed to superintend its printing in order that the writer 
 may return to his work in the field. 
 
 We thank the relatives of Dr. Morrison, especially his 
 cousin, Mrs. R. D. Campbell, who has given many interest- 
 ing facts regarding his early life, and his aunt, Mrs. Vir- 
 ginia Gunn, who has furnished the data concerning his 
 ancestry. 
 
 With so much material on hand it would have been easier 
 to write a larger volume ; but for obvious reasons it has been 
 deemed advisable to restrict it to its present limits. 
 
 T. C. V. 
 
CHAPTER T 
 lEarly iCtfp 
 
 Ancestry — Birth — "First Impression of Africa" — Life on the Farm 
 — Early Training — Preparing for the Law at the University — 
 Teaching School — The Great Decision — At the Theological Semi- 
 nary — Appointed to Africa — Departure and Dedicatory Prayer. 
 
 A GREAT man, as has been often said, begins with his 
 grandparents. And certainly Dr. Morrison was blessed 
 with a long line of godly ancestors. His paternal ancestor, 
 Samuel Morrison, moved early in the eighteenth century 
 from Scotland to Londonderry, Ireland, on account of his 
 religious beliefs. There were three sons in the family, 
 Robert, William and Samuel, all of whom emigrated to 
 America and settled in Philadelphia about the year 1750. 
 William and Samuel were linen merchants and came over 
 in their own private sailing vessel. Robert, the great- 
 grandfather of the subject of this book, was a school 
 teacher and pursued his profession in Philadelphia for a 
 number of years. He was a veritable giant, about six feet 
 four inches high and broad in proportion. 
 
 He married Miss Susan Murek, who was reared in Ger- 
 many and educated at the University of Heidleburg. Her 
 ancestors also were teachers and there were five Presbyte- 
 rian preachers in her immediate family. Shortly after their 
 marriage they moved to Staunton, Va., and later to Lexing- 
 ton, Va., where they settled on a farm. This union was 
 blessed with five children. 
 
 The youngest son, Robert, was noted for his piety and 
 the high qualities of his character. He was an elder in the 
 Monmouth Presbyterian church, the "right arm of the 
 church" and a power for righteousness in the commu- 
 nity. He was the father of three sons, Luther. Rufifner and 
 
lo Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 Culton. The eldest son, Luther, inherited the farm near 
 Lexington and was an elder in the Monmouth church. 
 He married Miss Mary Agnes McCutchan, of Bath County, 
 Va., a woman beyond praise. There were eight children of 
 this union, of whom William McCutchan was the oldest, 
 born on November lo, 1867. 
 
 His mother was especially noted for her piety and it is 
 said that her pastor often sought her advice in his pastoral 
 work. Three of William's first cousins on his mother's 
 side were missionaries to China. William was consecrated 
 to the gospel ministry from his birth and all of his early 
 training was directed with this end in view. Another factor 
 in his early training was a very godly aunt on his father's 
 side, Mrs. Susan Crawford, who lived in the family. She 
 took a special interest in him from his birth and taught him 
 as few children are taught. 
 
 There is one instance in his early life that Dr. Morrison 
 loved to tell. When he was a very small boy he was one 
 day watching an old colored man cutting wood on his fa- 
 ther's place. He began to amuse himself by throwing chips 
 at the old darkey's head, and was rebuked again and again 
 in no uncertain terms. The impatience of the old "uncle" 
 merely added to the enjoyment of the situation, and the 
 bombardment was continued with renewed zeal. But the 
 old fellow's patience was soon exhausted, with the result 
 that the small boy was turned over his knee and given a 
 good sound spanking. The humiliation of this treatment 
 hurt him a great deal more than the blows that had been 
 administered, and William ran immediately to tell his 
 mother. He thought that she would mete out just punish- 
 ment to the offender. But his mother had been sitting just 
 inside the window and had witnessed the entire perform- 
 ance with the result that William was given a stern repri- 
 
William McCutciian Morrison ii 
 
 mand, together with the promise that a severer punishment 
 would be given him in case he should be so thoughtless 
 again. "And thus," Dr. Morrison would add with a merry 
 laugh, "Africa made quite a lasting impression on me the 
 first time we came into personal contact." 
 
 Here we may remark, as Dr. Morrison so often did, that 
 Lexington is noted for the good feeling that exists between 
 the white and colored people of the community, a feeling 
 promoted by the two great Southern leaders, Robert E. Lee 
 and Stonewall Jackson, It was in such an atmosphere as 
 this that Dr. Morrison grew up, and learned to deal with 
 colored people. This experience enabled him to adapt him- 
 self readily to the customs and characteristics of the natives 
 in the Congo. 
 
 William grew to manhood in the quiet retreat of his 
 father's plantation and received his training along those 
 practical lines that became invaluable to him in later life. 
 He learned to use his hands and was not at a loss when 
 called upon to build a house and do the scores of other 
 things demanded of the missionary to Africa. He was a 
 hard worker and outdoor exercise developed a strong body, 
 with broad shoulders and splendid chest. Thus he laid the 
 foundation for that remarkable strength and endurance that 
 served him so well during twenty years of arduous and ex- 
 acting labors in a tropical climate. 
 
 He received his early training in the home and in the 
 common schools of the community. He was largely re- 
 sponsible for the organization of a "debating club" and 
 "singing class" in the little country school, where he learned 
 the art of public speaking and also how to "raise a tune." 
 These things may have seemed unimportant at the time, 
 and yet they were a part of his unconscious training for his 
 future work in life. 
 
12 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 When he was sixteen years of age he entered Washington 
 and Lee University. As his home was three miles in the 
 country he walked in to his classes and home again in the 
 afternoon. This kept him out of many of the activities of 
 university life, but he always came back on Saturday night 
 to attend the meetings of the Washington Literary Society 
 of which he was a member. During his second year in 
 college he won the orators' medal in an inter-society contest. 
 
 We are told by one of his fellow-students in the Univer- 
 sity that there was nothing especially outstanding in his 
 life to indicate his future greatness, except the fact that he 
 was a good student and was a regular and punctual attend- 
 ant on all his classes. However, the man was being formed. 
 "He was always loyal to truth and conscience. Give him 
 his work to do and you need not worry about it further; 
 he would do his job. He was full of common sense; he 
 was always jovial and happy in his work and in his play." 
 
 His parents had consecrated him to the gospel ministry 
 and had directed all his early training with that end in view, 
 yet young Morrison had a will of his own. He had chosen 
 law as his profession and looked forward to this through- 
 out his university career. This doubtless was the reason 
 why he devoted himself to the training in public speaking 
 which the literary society offered. In fact, he did not even 
 unite with the church until his university days were nearly 
 complete. He was about nineteen years of age when his 
 father died, and his death seems to have been the turning 
 point in William's career. When his father was on his 
 death-bed someone asked him what he was going to do 
 about William since he had consecrated him to the gospel 
 ministry and he was not yet even converted. The father 
 replied with that unfaltering faith that had characterized 
 his life, "I consecrated William to God and have never 
 
William McCutchan Morrison 13 
 
 taken him back and in God's own good time all will be 
 well." 
 
 It was then that William surrendered completely to God. 
 He had been fighting the call to the ministry throughout his 
 early life, for he had said, "for me to preach is for me to 
 be a missionary and I don't want to be a missionary." But 
 the prayers of godly parents had prevailed and William 
 finally consecrated his entire life to God. 
 
 Immediately upon his graduation from the University, 
 at the early age of twenty years, young Morrison, for finan- 
 cial reasons, began the life of a school teacher. He followed 
 this profession for six years in Searcy, Ark., where he 
 endeared himself to all those who resided in this little city. 
 Those who knew him there still speak of him in the most 
 afifectionate terms. This training in pedagogy was another 
 part of his unconscious preparation for his work in the 
 mission field, and it was along this line that he did his most 
 effective and enduring work in Africa. At this time he 
 had not yet given vnp the hope that he might salve his con- 
 science and resist the call to the ministry and pursue his 
 chosen profession of the law. We do not know the cir- 
 cumstances that finally led to his decision to study for the 
 ministry. We do know, however, that there was no "burn- 
 ing bush" or audible voice or Damascus vision that came 
 into his experience, but only the assured conviction tliat lie 
 was fighting against God. 
 
 Having made the surrender he entered the Presbyterian 
 Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., where he dis- 
 tinguished himself as a faithful and conscientious student. 
 During his seminary course he was facing the problem of 
 the investment of his life. Just prior to his graduation 
 he read an article in the "Missionary," written by one of 
 the missionaries at Luebo, Africa, calling the attention of 
 
14 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 the church to the needs and opportunities of that great 
 field. This appeal went straight home to his heart; it came 
 to him directly as a call from God. When he announced 
 his decision to the congregation in Louisville, where he 
 was accustomed to worship, he learned that a teacher of 
 little girls in the Sunday School had read this same article 
 to her class and they had joined in prayer that he might 
 be led to answer this call. 
 
 Immediately after his graduation from the Seminary Mr. 
 Morrison applied to the Executive Committee of Foreign 
 Missions and was appointed a missionary to Africa. He 
 was licensed and ordained by the Presbytery of Arkansas, 
 under whose care he had pursued his training in the 
 Seminary. 
 
 The next few months were spent in deputation work, 
 visiting different churches and presenting the claims of the 
 mission field. 
 
 • He left his home in Lexington on November 5, 1896, for 
 Philadelphia, visiting friends and relatives en route. 
 
 The secret of the success of Dr. Morrison as a missionary 
 leader is found in the opening words of his diary wherein 
 he dedicated himself in prayer to God. This remarkably 
 simple and earnest prayer is quoted in full as it will give 
 the reader an insight into his devotional life. H we bear 
 the several petitions constantly in mind, we shall see how 
 they were fulfilled and answered in his daily life. 
 
 "This day I leave home and mother, brothers and sisters, 
 and many hallowed memories of home and native land and 
 go far hence to the Gentiles in obedience to the command 
 of my Master. 'Go ye into all the world and preach the 
 Gospel to every creature.' This desire came to me, through 
 the peculiar dispensation of God's providence, about 
 eighteen months ago. I have every reason to believe that 
 
William McCutchan Morrison 15 
 
 it was in answer to the prayers of some little children in 
 Louisville, Ky. As I enter upon this great and trying work 
 my prayer is— O God, I beseech thee to give me an abun- 
 dant outpouring of the Holy Spirit, making my own life an 
 open gospel, an epistle known and read of all men. I pray 
 for Thy richest blessing to rest upon the people to whom 
 I shall preach the unsearchable riches of Christ; open their 
 darkened understandings, may Thy truth have free course 
 and may many be brought into the fold of Christ through 
 the gospel that I may be instrumental in preaching. O God, 
 pour out Thy Spirit upon Darkest Africa, and may the 
 long night be broken and may the brightness of the Sun 
 of Righteousness soon illuminate that benighted land. 
 
 "Bless the laborers in the field and richly reward their 
 service for Thee. 
 
 "Give me, O God, health of body, vigor of mind and 
 above all purity of heart. Help me to bear the burdens, 
 keep me ever humble, enable me to love all men, give unto 
 me wisdom and discretion— Thou hast promised that those 
 
 who ask Thee for wisdom Thou wilt give liberally— verify 
 
 this promise unto me. 
 
 "Keep me during the perils of the voyage, deliver me 
 
 from dangers seen and unseen, and may I arrive at my 
 
 destination sound in body and in every way fitted for the 
 
 preaching of the Gospel. 
 
 "O Lord, help me to overcome the sins of my life— the 
 
 besetting sins — may I be able to mortify the deeds of the 
 
 flesh and to grow more and more in all the Christian graces. 
 
 O, for a purer, holier, nobler, loftier, more Christlike life! 
 "Bless in an especial manner my mother — comfort her 
 
 heart, give her the consolations of the Gospel and may she 
 
 experience a rich out-pouring of Thy Spirit in her heart. 
 
 Give special blessings at this time to all my brothers and 
 
i6 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 sisters and may their lives be given fully to Thee. I thank 
 Thee that they have all confessed Thee as their Saviour. 
 
 "O Lord, I pray for the church universal and I pray for 
 the world universal. Open Thy truth to all and enable me 
 to behold wondrous things out of Thy law- -help me to 
 search the Scriptures and give me ah understanding heart. 
 I ask these things not for my own sake but solely for 
 Christ's sake, whose atoning blood has washed away my 
 stain and renders it possible for me to approach unto the 
 throne of grace and ask these blessings. Amen." 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 Sails from Philadelphia— The Voyage to Liverpool— In London— 
 To Antwerp— The Voyage to Matadi— At the Canary Islands- 
 First Glimpse of the Dark Continent— At the Swedish Mission 
 at Matadi. 
 
 The first stage of the voyage to the Congo was begun on 
 November the 7th, when Morrison sailed from Philadelphia. 
 His companion m travel was Mr. J. C. Crowley, who had 
 just received his appointment and was going out as the 
 business manager of the African Mission. From November 
 the 9th on to the end of the voyage Mr. Morrison's diary 
 is dotted with such exclamations as these, "Sick! Awful 
 sick!" which form a familiar part of every untried seaman's 
 vocabulary. 
 
 He recovered sufficiently, however, during the voyage to 
 act as chairman of the committee on arrangements for the 
 concert given on board the ship for the benefit of the Sea- 
 men's Orphans' Home. 
 
 The last day of the voyage is described as the "most 
 beautiful of all with a sea as smooth as glass." They landed 
 at Liverpool on November the 14th and proceeded thence 
 by train to London where they were met by Mr. Robert 
 Whyte, the agent for the Mission. 
 
 It must be remembered that Mr. Morrison v/as going to 
 a country in which there were no stores of any kind and 
 he was to be absolutely cut off from all the conveniences 
 of modern civilization. This is true to-day to a very great 
 extent and the missionary must still look after his own 
 personal supplies. 
 
 Mr. Morrison spent several days purchasing an outfit and 
 securing supplies sufficient to last him for two or three 
 
i8 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 years. When this task was completed the few days left 
 at his disposal were spent in visiting some of the places of 
 historic interest in wonderful old London. 
 
 On the evening prior to his departure for the Congo he 
 went to the East London Institute, a missionary training 
 school, to a farewell meeting in honor of Mr. Armstrong, 
 who was also leaving for Africa, and they became com- 
 panions in travel. They departed that night for Harwich, 
 crossing the English Channel on a "choppy sea" and reach- 
 ing Antwerp the next morning. They had secured passage 
 on the "Edward Bohlen," but had great difficulty in get- 
 ing on board on account of a throng of some ten thousand 
 people, who had assembled to see the boat off, and were 
 "rushing and crushing, pushing, chattering and gesticulat- 
 ing in the usual excitable French fashion." Mr. Morrison, 
 after this struggle, expressed the conviction that these peo- 
 ple could get up more excitement over the departure of a 
 single vessel, that was none too large for sea-going pur- 
 poses, than Americans or English could possibly muster 
 over the departure of an entire fleet. 
 
 "A rough sea, the stuffy and musty cabins and the abomi- 
 nable German cooking, with eight courses of meat swim- 
 ming in grease" together with a very severe storm, added 
 nothing to the pleasure of the voyage. Another vessel 
 sailing on the same day went down in this storm off the 
 coast of Cape Finisterre, but theirs was providentially 
 spared. Morrison took all these unpleasant experiences in 
 his usual good tempered fashion and we read in his diary, 
 "You will notice that there is a hiatus of several days in 
 my diary; yes and there is a hiatus somewhere else, too." 
 
 They reached the Canary Islands, where they stopped 
 to coal, after a two weeks' voyage. The passengers were 
 given the opportunity of going on shore to refresh them- 
 
William McCutciian Morrison 19 
 
 selves on the beautiful island and to secure a good whole- 
 some meal at an English hotel. 
 
 Again referring to his diary we read these words, "When 
 I reached the ship, which lay at anchor in the harbor, I 
 looked back upon the view, which lay before me, and it 
 was one of the most enchanting sights I have ever seen; 
 a beautiful land-locked harbor, crescent shaped, teeming 
 with ships of every nation, small steam craft and canoes; 
 the shore skirted with white buildings with the main part 
 of the town far off to the left and arranged in tiers up the 
 mountain side ; then in the background a magniticent spec- 
 tacle of mountain upon mountain and peak upon peak 
 towering six thousand feet into the air. Surely I have 
 never before beheld such a strange, fascinating view. As 
 the sun was setting beyond the distant mountain ranges, 
 as the fleecy clouds stretched their blankets upon the peak 
 tops or dipped into the dark shadows of the valleys, and 
 showed their edges fringed with gold and silver and ame- 
 thyst — it was indeed a view long to be remembered. 
 • "After reaching the ship, we were informed by an 
 Englishman, who lives in the town, that it was well that 
 we made no display of being Americans, for the Spaniards 
 are now in a veritable frenzy against the United States on 
 account of the Cuban trouble. I can only say that if Las 
 Palmas is a type of Spanish civilization, then the sooner 
 Cuba is freed from the thraldom of such a power the better 
 — though I doubt if they would be able to govern themselves 
 with much success." 
 
 After this most pleasant and refreshing day spent on the 
 island they weighed anchor and were off on the last stage 
 of the long voyage. On the night of December the i8th 
 three light houses were sighted on Cape Verde, the first 
 glimpse of the Dark Continent. The little group of Chris- 
 
20 
 
 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 tians on board met in Mr. Morrison's cabin and he con- 
 ducted a service of thanksgiving for God's protecting care 
 over them. 
 
 The Remainder of the voyage on the southern seas was 
 quiet and uneventful. They landed at Boma. the Capital 
 of the Congo Independent State, on December the 31st. 
 In those early days the ocean going vessels did not attempt 
 to ascend the Congo to Matadi, on account of the gigantic 
 "Devil's Caldron," which is formed where the entire volume 
 of this mighty river is forced into a very narrow passage 
 between two perpendicular cliffs. Passengers disembarked 
 at Boma and awaited a smaller vessel from Matadi, and 
 several days later they arrived at the "Gateway of Central 
 Africa." 
 
 There were no hotels at that time worthy of the name, 
 so Dr. Morrison and his companions were entertained at 
 the Swedish Mission for a few days while making the final 
 preparations for the long journey into the heart of Africa. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 ©lie 3lounipy to IGufbo 
 
 On the Congo Railroad — Scenery along the Way — Traveling by 
 Caravan — In the Midst of Sickness and Death at Leopoldville — 
 On the River Steamer for Luebo — Thanksgiving at the End of 
 the Voyage. 
 
 By a peculiar freak of nature the mighty Congo River 
 is blocked to traffic for two hundred and fifty miles above 
 Matadi. The river, in seeking an outlet to the sea, plunges 
 down steep declines and through narrow gorges forming a 
 series of cataracts beautiful to behold but creating an im- 
 passable barrier to navigation. To overcome this natural 
 barrier and to tap the resources of the interior, a narrow 
 guage railroad was projected from Matadi to the upper 
 stretches of the river. This railroad, when Mr. Morrison 
 arrived in the country, was still under construction, less 
 than one half of it being completed and under operation. 
 
 On the morning of January the 13th we find him buying 
 a ticket to Tumba, a distance of about one hundred miles, 
 for the "snug little sum of forty-five dollars," or eleven 
 dollars more than the passage from Philadelphia to Liver- 
 pool. This railroad was and still is, the only one in this 
 part of Africa and therefore they regulate their own rates 
 without fear of competition. The rates have been slightly 
 reduced since that time but they are still exorbitantly high 
 and continue to be a drain on the finances of the Mission. 
 
 The accommodations were practically nil, each passenger 
 having to furnish his own meals, drinking water and all 
 other necessities of life. 
 
 Mr. Morrison describes the scenery along the way as 
 follows : 
 
22 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 "The train is booked to leave at 6:30 a.m. but catching 
 the spirit of Congo Hfe it is an hour late in starting. 
 Finally the whistle of the little engine blows a shrill note, 
 I bid my Swedish friends good-bye and am off into the 
 heart of Africa. The train is composed of a small engine, 
 said to be American make, a 'luggage van' with a tarpaulin 
 cover, and a passenger coach with seats for nine. The road 
 is narrow gauge, exceedingly narrow, but well ballasted and 
 having iron ties on account of the destructive white ants. 
 
 "We have now passed the limits of the town and are in 
 the midst of some of the most rugged mountain scenery 
 I have ever beheld. For five miles, perhaps, we skirt the 
 Congo River, clinging to the sides of the overhanging cliffs. 
 A magnificent view, the boiling, foaming, rushing torrent 
 of the mighty Congo, penned in between two mountains and 
 restless for freedom. The opposite shore and tableland 
 are covered with green grass, with the blue mountains 
 rising hundreds of feet into the air, far in the dim distance. 
 Yonder in the distance towers a giant monolith, resembling 
 the pictures of the Matterhorn — certainly the grandest 
 mountain scenery I have ever beheld. 
 
 "It was no small engineering feat to put this road 
 through, some of the grades being at an angle of at least 
 twenty degrees. 
 
 "This in an interesting region from a geological stand- 
 point. This region was doubtless once a sea beach and 
 afterwards pushed up through internal contraction of the 
 earth. Nature has indeed a wonderland here ; the interior 
 earth has pushed up a mass of mountains, running water 
 has chiselled it into myriad forms, the rains and dew have 
 painted it a rich green, while the sunbeams have mosaiced 
 the whole with red tinted flowers. 
 
William McCutciian Morrison 23 
 
 "As we near Tumba, great masses of weather-beaten 
 granite are seen scattered over the plains. 
 
 "Having no 'tender' to carry water we have to stop every 
 three-quarters of an hour during the whole distance for 
 watering. I have not seen a living thing during the whole 
 day save the men about the little railroad stations which 
 we passed. There are no depots, only a rude hut where the 
 native agent lives. 
 
 "Now we are at Tumba at 7:30 p.m., twelve hours mak- 
 ing one hundred miles. Here I am met by Phipps, a colored 
 missionary, who was occupying our small transport station. 
 I am taken to his quarters, consisting of a small house 
 8 by 10 feet made of tin or rather imported iron. After 
 supper we chat awhile and then go to bed. I occupy 
 Phipps' bed and he sleeps on the floor— certainly all social 
 and color distinctions are gone now." 
 
 Many days were spent at Tumba in securing a sufficient 
 number of men to make up a caravan, "the necessity and 
 despair of every African traveller." Finally they succeeded 
 in getting together eighteen men and Mr. Morrison h^d 
 his first introduction to travel in the primitive African 
 style in a hammock carried on the heads or shoulders of 
 native men. This trip was made along the regular route 
 established by the government of the Congo Independent 
 State. While on the journey he got his first glimpse of 
 the State's inhuman methods of dealing with the native 
 people. He passed many caravans composed of men and 
 even little boys, heavily laden and groaning under burdens 
 of rubber and ivory, on their way to enrich the coffers of 
 the cruel master of the Congo. Quite frequently human 
 skeletons were .seen lying unburied by the road side, and 
 now and then foul odors attracted his attention, testifying 
 to the horrible fact that another human victim had been 
 
24 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 heartlessly sacrificed to the god of gold set up by Leopold, 
 king of Belgium, before whom the native must bow down 
 or die. 
 
 In marked contrast to this repulsive condition was the 
 little caravan with which Mr. Morrison was travelling. 
 Most of them were Christians, and he became very fond 
 of them. "It was almost worth a trip to Africa to see these 
 half naked boys of the forest, but lately heathen, now sing- 
 ing praise to God and pleading with their brethren to accept 
 the Saviour they had found. I believe that some of the 
 men in the caravan had never heard of Christ. They lis- 
 tened as if it were a new story to them. I did so long to 
 speak to them, but my tongue was tied by a language that 
 I did not know. I tried, however, to make my poor, im- 
 perfect life speak for Christ-— it was all I could do." 
 
 The overland journey was not accomplished without 
 hardships and vexations. They were travelling in the midst 
 of the rainy season and were frequently drenched. They 
 had to swim many heavily swollen streams infested with 
 crocodiles. Time was and still is no object to the African. 
 Quite frequently the men of the caravan would deposit 
 their burdens in the middle of the road and go ofif to some 
 village two or three miles in the distance to a native market. 
 The result was that it took twelve days to make the journey 
 to Leopoldville, a distance of about one hundred and fifty 
 miles, reaching there just too late to catch the steamer for 
 Luebo. This was a great trial and disappointment to Mr. 
 Morrison, as it meant many long weeks of weary waiting 
 for the next boat. He was anxous to press on as quickly 
 as possible and settle down to his work. 
 
 He describes his stay at Leopoldville in his first letter 
 written to the "Missionary'" as follows : "Here, with Dr. 
 Sims, I have been in the midst of sickness and death, five 
 
William McCutciian Morrison 25 
 
 white men having died in as man)' weeks. How sad to see 
 these poor men die here in a far-away land, with no loved 
 one to shed a tear at their departure ! In the state cemetery 
 there is a grave at the head of which stands a board bearing 
 simply the words, 'May vSnyder, 1896.' But no eulogy or 
 epitaph is needed. Standing over the last resting place of 
 this sainted heroine, I thought of her self-sacrificing life, 
 of her consecration and devotion to duty, of her willingness 
 to stay at her post at Luebo till the last hope of relief had 
 gone, of her heroism that is worthy to place her name high 
 among the list of missionary martyrs; then I thought of 
 the boys and girls at Luebo whom she had, by her life of 
 purity and holiness, pointed to the Saviour, and I knew 
 more fully the meaning of the words, 'He that loseth his 
 life for my sake shall find it.' Our church is now more 
 closely than ever knit to Africa, for in her soil now lie 
 Lapsley, Mrs. Adamson and Mrs. Snyder. Precious seed ! 
 May it bear an abundant harvest in this dark, dark land ! 
 But we sorely need more harvesters. Who will come over 
 and help us? And who, 'while tarrying with the stuff,' 
 will send?" 
 
 Here Mr. Morrison sufifered his first attack of African 
 fever, brought on by exposure during the overland journey. 
 Food of any kind was very scarce and delicacies suitable 
 for the sick were practically unknown. The fever contin- 
 ued at 105 degrees for many days and they despaired of 
 his life. But finally some one brought him a cup of fresh 
 cow's milk, and on drinking this he began to mend and 
 rapidly recovered his former health. Thus God put His 
 seal of approval upon the conviction that He had called 
 him to labor in this portion of His vineyard and assured 
 him of the fact that "Man is immortal till his work is done." 
 
 At last the long expected steamer arrived, and Mr. Mor- 
 
26 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 lison, together with Phipps, secured passage to Luebo. 
 Mr. Crowley was left behind at Tumba to assume the duties 
 of business manager of the Mission and look after the 
 transportation of the supplies. The journey of some nine 
 hundred miles on the waters of the Congo, Kasai and Lulua 
 Rivers, amid the varied beauty of the tropical scenery, was 
 accomplished in a few weeks' time. They arrived at their 
 destination on May the 7th, 1897, having been on the way 
 six months. 
 
 Mr. Morrison again writes: "Luebo, hallelujah! All 
 well and all here. They report the work in a most flourish- 
 ing condition, with five hundred at church last Sunday. 
 Oh, for a full demonstration of the Spirit's power! I am 
 delighted with the surroundings, though I have only seen 
 the place by twilight. Praise the Lord for bringing me here 
 in peace and safety." 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 Haborfi at 3battri|f 
 
 (June, 1897— April, 1898) 
 
 Picture of Luebo at the Time of His Arrival— Established at 
 Ibanche— A New Name— Mastering the Language— Difficulties to 
 Be Faced in Bible Translation— Studying the Customs of the Peo- 
 ple—Burial of a Chief— Forced to Abandon Ibanche — Hostile 
 Attitude of the State toward Protestant Missions. 
 
 When Mr. Morrison reached Luebo, the Mission con- 
 sisted of one station, occupied by eight missionaries, three 
 of whom were white; one Sabbath School, with an enroll- 
 ment of fifty; one day school with an average attendance 
 of forty-six and one organized church of forty-eight com- 
 municant members. The equipment consisted of four or 
 five small missionary residences made of mud and sticks, 
 a small church shed which also served as a school building, 
 a general store in which the barter goods and other neces- 
 sary articles were kept and a few other minor buildings. 
 These were all built in the midst of the primeval forest, 
 as the station compound had not yet been cleared. 
 
 Prior to the arrival of Mr. Morrison in the field, the 
 Mission had secured the temporary right to open a new 
 station at Ibanche, some forty miles to the north of Luebo 
 and within the confines of the Bakuba kingdom. This 
 station was first occupied by Rev. W. H. Sheppard and 
 wife and Rev. Joshua Phipps. Early in 1897 the Sheppards 
 left for America on furlough, Phipps was returned to 
 Luebo and Mr. Morrison was assigned to Ibanche. He set 
 to work with a vim, clearing oflf the station and erecting 
 temporary quarters for himself. The Bakuba people about 
 the station were not over industrious, and Morrison had 
 to build his house of sticks and grass with his own hands. 
 
28 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 It was a small structure, 12x15 feet; "pretty close quar- 
 ters," he writes, "but more than my Master had." 
 
 One of the first thuigs demanded of the missionary to 
 Africa is the adoption of a new name, since it is quite im- 
 possible for the natives to pronounce our English names. 
 In the giving of names the natives of central Africa are 
 not unlike the ancient Hebrews, in that a person may re- 
 ceive his title from some characteristic which he possesses. 
 The people are also great on namesakes, and quite frequent- 
 ly the missionary may be named for some prominent chief 
 or other distinguished personage in the realm. In this 
 respect the native logic is very peculiar, especially when 
 applied to the missionary. If he is named for some great 
 man in the realm he must show his appreciation of the 
 fact by presenting a gift to the man for whom he is named. 
 Also, when the missionary has gained enough distinction 
 among the people to have some newly born babe named for 
 him, he must manifest his appreciation of this honor by 
 presenting his namesake with a gift. Mr. Morrison was 
 fortunate enough to be named according to the first method, 
 but his financial obligations were increased by a multitude 
 of namesakes. 
 
 Shortly after his arrival at Ibanche he returned to Luebo 
 on business. During his absence war broke out between 
 two of the tribes to the north of Luebo. These tribes lived 
 on the main highway between Ibanche and Luebo and 
 communication between the two places was cut off. /his 
 condition of affairs resulted in considerable financial foss 
 to the people in the region of Ibanche, for Luebo was a 
 great commercial center and traders from all sections were 
 gathered there at the market on Saturdays. 
 
 When the conflict had quieted down Mr. Morrison very 
 cautiously returned to Ibanche. While en route he called 
 
William McCutciian Morrison 29 
 
 ill the contending parties and succeeded in making peace 
 between them. When he reached Ibanche the good news 
 had spread far and wide, and people came in from all sec- 
 tions to congratulate him and to thank him for opening the 
 path to traffic. And as they were leaving they said to him, 
 "kuonyi nshila," or "Don't let the path get closed again"; 
 thus Dr. Morrison received this expression as his native 
 name. Time proved him to be not only a true peace-maker, 
 but also one who opened up new paths for them. 
 
 The Mission, at this stage of its history, had no definite 
 policy of working among tribes of a common language. 
 The burdens of the new missionary w^ere manifestly in- 
 creased in an effort to acquire a smattering of two or three 
 dialects. No one had done any systematic work on any 
 particular language, and the only literature Morrison had 
 at his disposal was a small dictionary of a few hundred 
 words. Now the Mission was beginning to set its face 
 toward the great Bakuba Kingdom, with the hope of ulti- 
 mately concentrating all its efforts upon that tribe. In 
 accordance with this plan, Morrison began a systematic 
 study of that language. He faithfully applied his great 
 intellect and natural linguistic gifts to this task. He was 
 a methodical student and kept a careful record of all his 
 findings. The result was that within a very few months 
 after his arrival he was able to preach in the Bakuba lan- 
 guage and experienced great joy when the people began to 
 ask intelligent questions concerning his discourses. He 
 organized classes for those who expressed a desire to be- 
 come Christians. This daily contact with the people was 
 mutually beneficial, in that he was able to teach them the 
 truths of the gospel and at the same time study their lan- 
 guage and obtain some insight into their characters and 
 modes of thought. 
 
30 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 He was ever looking forward to Bible translation, know- 
 ing that the "sword of the Spirit" is the only effective 
 weapon the missionary has at his disposal. In beginning 
 this task he found himself face to face with almost insur- 
 mountable difficulties. He refers to these in his diary : "I 
 am almost oppressed with discouragement when I think of 
 Bible translation. Three great monsters arise before me 
 in the darkness : first of all, my work is with the very 
 bottom of humanity — perhaps as low as the lowest, with 
 an unbroken history of perhaps thousands of years of ig- 
 norance, superstition and spiritual darkness. Another diffi- 
 culty is the fact that all the customs, manners, pursuits and 
 minds of the people are so different from the people de- 
 scribed in Bible history. The worst of it is that these 
 people can form no conception of these strange customs and 
 circumstances. But perhaps the greatest obstacle of all 
 and the most discouraging is the fact that after I have 
 spent many weary years in translation work, not one man 
 can read a word of what I have written. In the majority 
 of mission lands, the people can read and a great w^ork can 
 be done at once in translating the Bible and in writing 
 religious tracts. But here in poor Africa that important 
 means of spreading the Truth can not be employed. In 
 fact, I have not seen a single character that seems to indi- 
 cate the most remote conception of a written language." 
 
 Dr. Morrison soon began to form his own ideas and ideals 
 as to the method best suited to the prosecution of the work 
 in Africa, and these methods gradually became the policy 
 of the Mission and continue in use until the present day. 
 He further writes in his diary : "In view of the difficulties 
 before mentioned, I am thoroughly convinced that our first 
 work should be in the school, then follow this up with cate- 
 chisms for general religious instruction of all people whom 
 
William McCutchan Morrison 31 
 
 it is possible to reach; then paraphrase the Scriptures and 
 last, but not least, the Bible." He maintained that the 
 school should be conducted with a zeal and with a fixed 
 purpose to make something out of it. He also urged that 
 special attention should be paid to those who showed apt- 
 ness to learn. The best of these were to be selected and 
 given personal attention with a view of leading them to 
 religious work and ultimately into the ministry. He real- 
 ized that the most effective method for the propagation of 
 truth was that which our Lord employed — namely, a great 
 leader coming into intimate contact with a band of chosen 
 disciples. 
 
 Mr. Morrison took advantage of every opportunity to 
 study the customs and characteristics of the people to obtain 
 a deeper insight into their lives. Soon after reaching 
 Ibanche he attended a native funeral and observed what the 
 native conduct was in the presence of death. He relates 
 his impressions as follows : "Early this morning I heard 
 the blowing of horns and other peculiar noises so went out 
 to see what it meant. I found the town all agog. Children 
 were dressed in their best, the ladies had adorned their 
 'Sunday-go-to-meetin's,' and the men, not to be behind the 
 procession, had diked themselves in their finest. Some of 
 the men were gotten up in the most outlandish and frightful 
 costumes, consisting of native cloth of various colors, 
 animal skins, feathers, charms, medicines, bells, knives, 
 spears, with cowrie shell and bead work on the ankles and 
 heads and with the face and other bare parts of the body 
 painted red, white and black. These men were rushing 
 about the streets, gesticulating wildly and wielding big cut- 
 lasses and looking the personification of satanic savagery. 
 I found upon inquiry that the people were all going to a 
 nearby village to have a big dance in honor of a dead chief. 
 —2— 
 
32 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 Though it was now about noon and intensely hot, yet 1 
 thought it my duty to be informed as far as possible con- 
 cerning the customs of the people, so I concluded to go over 
 and see the performance. Upon my arrival there I found 
 several sheds erected in the open square, with mats laid on 
 the ground for the accommodation of the spectators. In 
 one of these sheds sat the corpse on an elevated platform 
 and in an erect posture. The body was wrapped in fine 
 native cloth with bead and cowrie work in abundance. On 
 the platform lay the man's spear, bow and arrows, cutlass 
 and other trinkets. Under and about the central platform 
 the people, to the number of several hundred, were dancing 
 in that unbecoming style characteristic of the Bakuba. 
 They all seemed to be enjoying the sport immensely and, 
 I think, would be glad to have a man die every day of the 
 week for the sake of the dance. 
 
 "A number of men were sitting under the shed, near the 
 corpse and seemed to have charge of it. At their invitation 
 I sat among them, as the body had not yet begun to decom- 
 pose. I saw no evidence whatever of sorrow. I think the 
 sorrowing part takes place at night and is done by the 
 women. 
 
 "Nearly all the people who went from the village took 
 cloth, beads, etc., to put in the grave of the dead man. I 
 was told that he would not be buried for five days, so de- 
 cided not to remain. It is also reported that four Baluba 
 slaves are to be killed and buried beside him. The Bakuba 
 seem to realize that this is a hideous and revolting crime, 
 and I have not been able to get much information out of 
 them about it." 
 
 Some days later he went back to the village and found 
 that the funeral had not taken place, but "the body had 
 been put into a large neat coffin, which resembled in appear- 
 
William McCutchan Morrison 33 
 
 ance a small hut. The frame work seemed to be of bamboo, 
 while the sides and top were made of fine mats cut into 
 proper shape. Under the sheds near the coffin I found 
 groups of people to whom I tried, in my broken way, to tell 
 the Gospel story and endeavored to impress upon them 
 the need of salvation. I used the case of the dead man to 
 explain the origin of death, which to these poor people 
 is the mystery of mysteries. I also tried to show them the 
 folly of burying cowries, beads, cloth, etc., with the corpse, 
 to say nothing of killing slaves; but from all appearances 
 they preferred to believe a lie. Verily, the devil has blinded 
 their eyes and stopped their ears. 
 
 "I was told that the burial would take place in the after- 
 noon so I returned home for dinner with the hope of going 
 back immediately, but a threatening rain prevented my doing 
 so. By the time the rain was over and I had walked back 
 to the village the obsequies were finished. I was unable to 
 get at the exact facts regarding the killing of the slaves. 
 The Bakuba all deny it, while the Baluba just as strenuously 
 affirm it. It is my impression, however, that no slaves are 
 killed by anyone save Lukenga, the King of the Bakuba, 
 who demands a monopoly of the business." 
 
 A strong bond of mutual friendship sprang up between 
 Mr. Morrison and the Bakuba people. It was therefore a 
 great trial and disappointment to him when, after a few 
 months' residence among them, he received peremptory 
 notice from the State that the station at Ibanche must be 
 vacated within fifteen days. Similar orders were received 
 at the same time at a new station that had just been opened 
 at Ndombe, to the southwest of Luebo. This is one of the 
 most discouraging and unjust conditions with which the 
 Protestant Missions in the Congo have always had to deal ; 
 and this, notwithstanding the fact that absolute religious 
 
34 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 freedom is guaranteed in the "Treaty of Berlin," on which 
 the Congo Independent State was founded. We regret to 
 say that this guarantee never has been fulfilled, so far as 
 this particular Mission is concerned. To-day, after thirty 
 years of labor for the uplift of the native people, we can 
 secure the site for a mission station only after the strongest 
 protests and a prolific correspondence, often covering a 
 period of several years. The first letter that Mr. Morrison 
 wrote to a State official was a protest against the abandon- 
 ment of these two stations, and almost the last official letter 
 he wrote, twenty years later, was against a similar condition 
 in regard to one of the stations in the Baluba country. 
 
 In the case of Ibanche, the Mission only held a temporary 
 right to occupy the land, and as the State was absolute in 
 its authority there was no recourse open for Mr. Morrison 
 but to obey the order. 
 
 In regard to this situation. Dr. Chester wrote in the 
 "Missionary" as follows : "This refusal of the State to grant 
 our American Mission what is being frequently granted 
 Belgian and French Catholic Missions is a clear and open 
 violation of the Constitution of the Free State and the 
 Treaty of Berlin. This unjust and unconstitutional action 
 on the part of the State authorities is felt in England as 
 well as in this country. It looks as if the State authorities 
 were determined to so cramp our prosperous little mission 
 that we should be forced to abandon it. The prayers of 
 God's people should constantly go up to Him, that He would 
 incline the hearts of King Leopold and his advisers to do 
 that which is right." 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 iEarIg Slabora at ICurbo 
 
 Return to Luebo with Shattered Hopes— The Holy Spirit Lead- 
 ing — New Opportunities — Searching for a New Station Site — 
 Discouraging News from America — First Literary Work in the 
 Native Language — Recalled to Luebo — Manifold Duties — Ideas 
 of Mission Policy — Visit to the King of the Bakuba People — 
 Founding of the Kasai Herald— Training Native Workers. 
 
 It was with much reluctance and a heavy heart that Mr. 
 Morrison returned to Luebo. This order from the State 
 was so directly opposed to his plans at the time that he was 
 almost overcome with disappointment and grief. It proved, 
 however, to be a parallel case with that of the Apostle Paul 
 when he was minded to go into Asia, but the Spirit suffered 
 him not. One door was being closed in his face in order 
 that another leading into a larger sphere of service might 
 be opened before him. On account of their extreme con- 
 servatism, the hearts of the Bakuba people were closed to 
 the gospel, and the Holy Spirit was directing the mission- 
 ary's attention to the more receptive people of the Baluba 
 tribes. Furthermore, the Bakuba dialect was spoken by 
 only a few hundred thousand people, while there are to-day 
 nearly two million who understand the Baluba tongue. 
 
 Mr. Morrison was not long in realizing that God was 
 planning for him a larger work than he had dreamed of, 
 and he entered with zeal and enthusiasm on his new work. 
 
 Shortly after his return to Luebo we read these words 
 in his diary: "The population at Luebo is constantly in- 
 creasing so that our field of labor is widening and our op- 
 portunities are multiplying. We believe that the outlook 
 for a great work here, under the constant blessing of God, 
 was never brighter. In fact, if the State will just let us 
 
36 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 and the people alone, we doubt if there is in the whole 
 Congo a more favorable place for immediate results. 
 Though there are many difficulties and perplexities and 
 discouragements along all lines, yet I try to remember that 
 it is the Lord's work and He will bless it in His own due 
 time." 
 
 The Mission, at its regular annual meeting, decided to 
 undertake to open a new station somewhere along the 
 Sankuru River, and Mr. Morrison was unanimously chosen 
 to select the site. He was to be accompanied by Sheppard, 
 when he returned from a trip to the lower Congo. 
 
 Accordingly, Mr. Morrison set out for Bena Makima, the 
 nearest point on the Sankuru, to await the steamer from 
 the lower river and any news he might receive from Shep- 
 pard. After several days of waiting word came to him 
 that a steamer was tied up for the night a few miles away 
 and would arrive the next morning. Sunrise found him 
 packed and ready to go on board without delay. Imagine, 
 then, his disappointment when he learned that the steamer 
 was returning from the upper Sankuru and was now on its 
 way to Stanley Pool. No news as to the movements of 
 other steamers was available, and he returned to his camp 
 with a heavy heart only to wait five long, weary weeks with- 
 out any sign of a steamer. 
 
 While waiting here alone and discouraged, he was almost 
 overwhelmed with grief when he received the wildly dis- 
 torted news that the United States had declared war on 
 Spain; "our fleet had been caught napping and destroyed 
 and that Boston and New York had been bombarded and 
 were in flames." There is a tradition abroad that those who 
 drink of the waters of the Yukon can never tell the truth 
 again, but in those early days the missionaries had not yet 
 learned that this same tradition can be applied to those who 
 
'William McCutciian Morrison 37 
 
 drink of the waters of the Congo. It should, of course, be 
 understood that missionaries rarely ever imbibe deeply of 
 river water ! 
 
 This humiliating news and the disappointment over- the 
 non-arrival of the steamer, coupled with nagging fevers and 
 the scarcity of food, caused Mr. Morrison to spend many 
 weary hours under the juniper tree. But the time was not 
 passed in useless worry, for he was not the man to be over- 
 come by difificulties. A small colony of Baluba people had 
 settled near a trading post at Bena Makima, and Morrison 
 held daily services for them and rejoiced to see some fruits 
 from his labors. He began the preparation of some school 
 books and a catechism for inquirers. The latter still forms 
 the basis of instruction in all our catechumen classes. 
 
 After many weeks of waiting the prospects seemed to be 
 no brighter for the arrival of a steamer. Upon advice from 
 Luebo our missionary returned thither the latter part of 
 August. 
 
 While at Bena Makima Mr. Morrison had fully deter- 
 mined to devote the greater part of his time to systematic 
 language study when he returned to Luebo. This determi- 
 nation was sadly hindered by the multitudinous duties 
 which are the common lot of missionaries to Africa. In 
 speaking of this desire, he writes : "Unfortunately, in Africa 
 the missionary must be everything and do everything at 
 once — lexicographer, publisher, printer, bookkeeper, store- 
 keeper, trader, physician, mechanic, farmer, gardener, theo- 
 logian, teacher, singer and, if he is so unfortunate as not 
 to have a wife, he must be cook and housekeeper. And 
 all this more or less to the neglect of the duties of his high 
 ofifice, which he came to fill — that of preacher." 
 
 He was convinced that every well regulated station should 
 have at least three men : one to take the language work and 
 
38 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 devote his time to the preparation of necessary books and 
 tracts, another to act as treasurer and to manage the busi- 
 ness affairs of the Mission, and another should be free to 
 give his time to the school and the evangelistic work. 
 
 In spite of his varied duties, as indicated above, Mr. 
 Morrison, owing to his unlimited capacity for hard work, 
 found time to apply his linguistic gifts to the study and 
 reduction to writing of the Baluba language and began the 
 preparation of a grammar and dictionary. His work in this 
 department is so remarkable that an entire chapter will be 
 devoted to it. 
 
 The Mission did not abandon its idea of establishing a 
 station somewhere on the Sankuru. After Sheppard's re- 
 turn, he and Morrison began to lay their plans for a tour 
 of the Bakuba country with the definite determination of 
 selecting a site. 
 
 Lukenga, king of the Bakuba people, had been subjected 
 to a great deal of unjust treatment at the hands of State 
 officials. The result was he had become incensed against 
 all foreign residents and had closed the doors of his entire 
 kingdom against their entrance. The Mission had tried 
 to secure permission to visit his capital, but in vain. The 
 old king finally found himself in hot water, because of his 
 anti-foreign attitude. The armed forces of the State began 
 to press in on him, and in his despair he sent to the Mission 
 for advice. This seemed to be just the opportunity the 
 Mission had been waiting for, and Morrison and Sheppard 
 decided to take advantage of it. The people around Luebo 
 and Ibanche were violently opposed to this purpose and 
 vigorously protested against their going. The messenger 
 from the king even advised against it privately. Morrison, 
 however, writes, "We started off in the face of these pro- 
 tests, determined to go straight to Lukenga's village." 
 
William McCutciian Morrison 39 
 
 After they had started, two other messengers reached them, 
 bearing presents from the king, a token of the fact that they 
 would be well received. "Our hearts fairly leaped with joy 
 at this news ; but we knew that he was calling us in his 
 extermity." They continued their journey, and neared the 
 village of which Mr. Morrison writes, "Knowing that the 
 next day would bring us into the presence of the king, 
 Sheppard and I turned aside for a season of prayer, asking 
 God to keep us in safety, to give us favor with the king and 
 to open wide the long-closed door." 
 
 Immediately upon their arrival in the village the king sent 
 them a goat, thus indicating his friendship in the common 
 African style. 
 
 "The second day after arriving we were called to a con- 
 ference with the king. We were escorted into a cleared 
 space in the edge of the wood, near the chief's quarters, 
 taking our seats on mats. In a few minutes Lukenga, with 
 his bodyguard, appeared and took his seat on a large block 
 of wood beautifully carved, and we were in the presence 
 of royalty. Lukenga is perhaps over fifty years of age, 
 of large frame but not physically strong. His bearing was 
 haughty, stern, and unyielding, except now and then when 
 a genial smile would cause him to relax his severity of 
 countenance. He w'ore an expression of care and anxiety, 
 thus proving that even in Africa, 'uneasy lies the head that 
 wears a crown.' He wore a loin cloth of native manufac- 
 ture, and his face, arms and legs were covered with 'medi- 
 cine' to prevent us from doing him any harm. 
 
 "With Sheppard, who speaks the Bakuba dialect fluently, 
 acting as spokesman, we told him plainly that two years ago 
 we wished to come to see him, but he had refused ; that 
 the .State soldiers had come because he tried to keep all 
 foreigners out of his territory; that we were his friends and 
 
40 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 were advising him for his own good. We also requested 
 him to put the feather in his hair — the same as the corona- 
 tion — and send word to all his villages that the people could 
 dance and cease their mourning. 
 
 "He listened attentively, and when the interview was 
 ended we gave him a small present. We are the only for- 
 eigners who have ever seen his face; in fact, many people 
 in his own village have never seen him. 
 
 "I confess to a little squeamishness in the presence of a 
 man whose word has been the cause of the death of hun- 
 dreds, perhaps thousands, of his subjects. 
 
 "The members of the royal family visit us only at night, 
 not wishing to be seen by the common herd. Last night, 
 one of the princesses asked me where my wife was. I had 
 to reply with shamefacedness that I had none; whereupon 
 she very naively answered, 'Well, I am looking for a hus- 
 band.' It was 'so sudden,' but I managed not to faint. 
 
 "To-morrow, with guides from Lukenga, we expect to 
 start for the Sankuru River, to be gone perhaps a week. 
 
 "Instead of spending one week on the Sankuru trip, we 
 spent nearly three, returning to Luebo after an absence of 
 about six weeks. We investigated all the country from 
 Mukikamu, on the Sankuru, down to Butala, on the same 
 river, finding one point which we deemed reasonably favor- 
 able for a Mission station. The Lord blessed us and our 
 entire caravan of forty people with good health during the 
 journey — Slieppard had two small fevers and I had one. 
 Lukenga is very anxious for us to go to his village, where 
 perhaps eight thousand people live. The door is now wide 
 open, and it has been in answer to prayer. We trust the 
 State will give us no trouble in this matter." 
 
 The work of the Mission was now growing so rapidly 
 
William McCutchan Morrison 
 
 41 
 
 that the missionaries reahzed that everytliing possible 
 should be done to bring its needs and opportunities con- 
 stantly before the church at home. After long and prayer- 
 ful consideration, the Mission finally decided to launch out 
 on the publication of a paper to be circulated among our 
 Christian constituency at home. The first issue of this 
 paper, known as the "Kasai Herald," appeared early in the 
 year 1901. We mention this publication in connection with 
 the history of Dr. Morrison, because this little paper of a 
 dozen pages was destined to play a very important part in 
 the story of his life. He was chosen Editor shortly after 
 its foundation and served in that capacity, almost without 
 interruption, till the publication was discontinued some six- 
 teen years later. 
 
 DR. MORUISOIV AND NATIVE EVANGELISTS 
 
 Mr. Morrison realized that one of the most important 
 phases of missionary activity is in the training of young 
 men and women in Christian service. To accomplish this 
 end he organized Christian Endeavor bands to give them 
 some practical experience. He selected a number of attrac- 
 
42 
 
 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 tive and promising young men, gave them a special course 
 of instruction and then took them out every afternoon into 
 different sections of the village to conduct religious services. 
 From this band there have come many of the men who are 
 now the leaders in all the activities of our native church. 
 
 One of his fellow missionaries, in writing of him and of 
 his work at this time, says, "These young men, with thou- 
 sands of others here, have learned that there is no one to 
 be found anywhere more truly interested than he in their 
 material and spiritual welfare." 
 
 We can give no better account of the scope of this work 
 and its accomplishment than that which has been given by 
 Mr. Morrison himself in an article written to the "Mission- 
 ary" on the subject of "Our Congo Christian People." 
 
 After giving a most graphic description of the moral and 
 spiritual darkness that hangs like a cloud over the heathen 
 world he tells of the wonderful transformation that has 
 
 
 BICFORE THE COMING OF THE MISSIONARY 
 
William McCutciian Morrison 
 
 43 
 
 THE POAVER OF THE GOSPEL. 
 
 been brought about by the preaching of the Gospel. "When 
 we remember that the acceptance of the Christ means com- 
 plete revolution of their whole social and religious fabric; 
 when we remember the death-grip with which they are 
 bound by the old habits, customs, superstitions, which have 
 been taught them from infancy up; and when we remember 
 that for many centuries they have had a pagan ancestry, 
 that they have had no Christian training in the home, and 
 that even now the Bible is just being placed in their hands 
 — remembering all these things, I consider it one of the 
 most marvelous and miraculous works of Divine grace to 
 see scores and scores of our Christian people who have 
 either broken away entirely from the fetters that bound 
 them or are making a valiant fight against terrible odds, 
 who are unmistakably showing by their daily walk and con- 
 
44 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 versation among their own people, the power of a new life, 
 who pray regularly in public and in private, who attend 
 punctually upon the services of the sanctuary and, last but 
 not least, who are daily by word and act preaching this 
 gospel to the unsaved about them." 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 l^ia JirBt Jurloitgl|— Olottga Ifforma 
 
 Protesting Against the Intolerable Conditions in the Congo— Before 
 the Tribunal— Commissioned to Protest before the King of Bel- 
 gium—Interviewing the King's Ministers— Advocating Congo Re- 
 forms in England ; In the Leading Magazines ; Before the Houses 
 of Parliament— Great English Leaders Rally to His Support- 
 Departure for America— Before the General Assembly— The 
 Challenge of King Leopold and His Agents— The Challenge Ac- 
 cepted—Arousing Public Sentiment in Behalf of the Congo Re- 
 forms—Before the Boston Peace Congress— Great Leaders in 
 America Rally Around Him— King Leopold Appoints an Investi- 
 gating Commission— What the Congo Reform Association Accom- 
 plished. 
 
 In 1903 Mr. Morrison, after six and one-half years of 
 labor on the field, departed for America on his first and 
 well-earned furlough. He took with him the manuscripts 
 of the Baluba grammar and dictionary, which he had been 
 authorized by the Mission to publish in book form. He 
 was accompanied by a native lad, named Kachunga, who 
 was to assist him in working out the complicated details of 
 the language. 
 
 Prior to his furlough Mr. Morrison had begun to wield 
 his pen in exposing to the outside world the atrocities per- 
 petrated by the agents of Leopold of Belgium upon the 
 natives of the so-called Congo Free State. Just two years 
 after his arrival on the field he was called before the Tri- 
 bunal at Luebo to answer for some very strong articles of 
 protest against one of the raids made by the notorious 
 cannibal tribe of the Zappo Zaps, who were in the employ 
 of the agents of the State. The officials doubtless hoped, 
 by this move, to terrify him into silence, but they had mis- 
 judged the calibre of the man with whom they were dealing. 
 
46 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 Instead of retracting his charges he emphasized them and 
 ofifered to prove them before an impartial court. The 
 Tribunal realized that they could not afford to accept such 
 a challenge. They very wisely side-tracked the case and 
 nothing more was heard of it. 
 
 We have seen how it was practically impossible for our 
 Mission to obtain a tract of land on which to establish any 
 new stations. This condition was not peculiar to our Pres- 
 byterian Mission, but was true of practically all the Protes- 
 tant Missions operating in the Congo. The best they could 
 do was to secure a temporary lease of a few years with no 
 guarantee that it could be renewed at the expiration of that 
 time. The work of expansion was practically paralyzed. 
 It was not a businesslike policy to invest money in buildings 
 and equipment with the prospect of losing it all at the end 
 of a few years. 
 
 Mr. Morrison, as legal representative of the Mission, 
 was authorized to stop in Belgium on his way home and 
 make a formal protest to the king and his ministers against 
 this intolerable condition. 
 
 Just prior to his arrival in Europe the voice of the Pro- 
 testant missions throughout the Congo had made itself heard 
 in England and on the continent, and the storm clouds of 
 indignation were already gathering around the head of 
 King Leopold. The Congo Free State, created by fourteen 
 signatory powers in 1885, with King Leopold as its sov- 
 ereign head, had been organized "to seek the moral and 
 material regeneration of the Congo natives," and the Pow- 
 ers which constituted it bound themselves "to watch over 
 and care for the native tribes." Reports were now coming 
 in from all quarters to the effect that the native inhabitants 
 y-f'Te being subjected to the most inhuman treatment by 
 the officers acting directly under Leopold's order. Though 
 
William McCutciian Morrison 47 
 
 vehemently denied, these charges continued to grow in 
 volume and explicitness. 
 
 It is not surprising that those who were interested in the 
 leformation of these unspeakable conditions should value 
 the testimony of Mr. Morrison, who had just arrived from 
 the Congo and who had already denounced these agents so 
 boldly through the press. 
 
 Accordingly, Mr. Morrison endeavored to secure an 
 audience with the king to lay the whole matter before him 
 in person. He failed to obtain this audience but inter- 
 viewed some of the king's ministers without getting any 
 definite written promises from them. 
 
 He then crossed over into England and through the 
 influence of Mr. Robert Whyte St., a man of prominence 
 in political aflfairs and one of the first to be aroused against 
 the inhumanity of the Congo regime, he was introduced to 
 the great leaders in religious and political circles. 
 
 The leading newspapers and magazines of the country 
 were thrown open to him, and he contributed many impor- 
 tant and convincing articles. These articles were always 
 commented on editorially, and public sentiment began to be 
 aroused against these disgraceful conditions. 
 
 Mr. Morrison also had the honor of speaking on the sub- 
 ject of Congo reforms before a very distinguished audience 
 gathered in Whitehall, London. A few days later he had 
 the very rare privilege of addressing the Houses of Parlia- 
 ment on the same subject. As a result of these speeches 
 a warm discussion took place in the House of Commons, 
 and upon motion of Sir Herbert Samuel, "King Leopold 
 stood impeached before the bar of Christendom for his high 
 crimes and misdemeanors against humanity and more es- 
 pecially for his violation, wholesale and retail, of the 
 
48 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 provisions of the international act drawn up at Berlin in 
 the years 1884-85." 
 
 The great political leaders throughout the realm, under 
 the able leadership of Sir Edward Grey, Secretary of State 
 for Foreign Affairs, championed the cause of freedom 
 which Mr. Morrison and other missionaries had advocated. 
 Such notables as ^ir Gilbert Parker, Sir Charles Dilke, 
 Sir George White, Chairman of the Non-Conformist body 
 in the House of Commons, threw their influence on the 
 side of the missionaries. 
 
 Public sentiment soon became thoroughly aroused and 
 distinguished leaders in all walks of life began to speak 
 out boldly in their demands for the emancipation of the 
 enslaved thousands in the Congo Free State. In the realm 
 of journalism the late \V. T. Stead, one of the foremost 
 editors in England, took the lead and denounced the "auto- 
 crat of the Congo" in the most scathing terms. 
 
 In an article on this subject in the American "Review 
 of Reviews" for July, 1903, Mr. Stead says : "It is the 
 rule in these character sketches always to describe the sub- 
 ject as he appears to himself at his best, and not as he 
 appears to his enemies at his worst ; but it is impossible for 
 me, in this case, to do either. The resources of the English 
 language are inadequate to describe Emperor Leopold as 
 he appears to himself at his best moments. An artist who 
 could dip his brush in the radiance of the setting sun might, 
 possibly, portray the angelic figure of the haloed monarch 
 who conceals his wings beneath his epaulets and lingers 
 for awhile in the midst of an ungrateful world. On the 
 other hand, the blackest ink would fail to depict the same 
 man as he appears to his enemies at his worst. If we look 
 over the efforts of the mediaeval artists when they ex- 
 hausted the resources of their imagination in picturing the 
 
William McCutchan Morrison 49 
 
 enemy of mankind with horns and hoots and tail complete, 
 we can gain some far-away, faint resemblance of the mon- 
 arch who was to have made the Congo Free State a para- 
 dise and who converted it into a hell !'" 
 
 These sentiments were re-echoed in America by the late 
 "Mark Twain" in his stinging satire on the Congo situation 
 entitled. "Leopold's Soliloquy." Much of the material for 
 this remarkable book w^as obtained by correspondence and 
 by conversation with Dr. Morrison. 
 
 In the religious realm such noteworthy leaders as the 
 Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishop of Winchester, the 
 Bishop of Oxford, Rev. Thomas Law, the late Organizing 
 Secretary of the Free Church Council, the late Rev. Sil- 
 vester Home, and scores of others rallied around the 
 standard of human rights and religious freedom. 
 
 Even in Belgium itself, a small group of reformers with 
 Mr. Vandervelde at their head fought against fearful odds 
 in denouncing the diabolical practices of their own king. 
 
 Perhaps it would not be right to claim that Dr. Morrison 
 alone was responsible for the rousing of this great storm 
 of indignation in the breasts of these eminent leaders, but 
 a very large part of the honor is due him because he was 
 the first and the foremost of the Protestant missionaries to 
 bring the crimes of the Congo to the attention of the civil- 
 ized world. 
 
 Shortly after the departure of Mr. Morrison for America 
 King Leopold and his agents began to make much of the 
 fact that he did not mention the more specific charges 
 against the State in his interview with the ministers of the 
 king in April. They rather implied, from the tone of their 
 remarks, that he was either afraid to speak in regard to 
 these matters in their presence or else that he had been 
 
50 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 bribed to bear false witness against the king and his 
 government. 
 
 Mr. Morrison's reply to these insinuations is given in a 
 letter to King Leopold from Lexington, Va., under the date 
 of June 20, 1903 : 
 
 "I have the honor to write you concerning certain state- 
 ments which I have made about your administration of 
 affairs in the Congo Independent State. Some of your 
 agents in Belgium and in England have been making great 
 show of the fact that when I was in Brussels recently, 
 under the advice of the Governor-General, to consult with 
 you and the State officials regarding land concessions which 
 had been refused us, I did not make mention of the out- 
 rageous conduct of your government toward the natives. 
 My reason for not referring to this matter was because I 
 had reported several cases to you and your government, 
 and as a result of the so-called 'investigations' nothing has 
 ever been done — in fact, nothing can be done so long as 
 your present system of forced labor and military service 
 prevails. I considered the question as closed by your own 
 courts to which the cases had been referred. It would, 
 as you well see, have been simply effrontery for me to have 
 mentioned these matters in Brussels. I am sorry now, how- 
 ever, that I did not mention them, at least to enter my 
 verbal protest against such a system, since you are using 
 this to make it appear that I was not open and honest with 
 the State. It was only as a last resort, when I saw that 
 justice could not be gotten, that I made public the facts. 
 
 "In view of these things, and in view of the fact tha* 
 you seem so anxious to have these matters told to you per- 
 sonally, and in view of the fact that your agent, Sir H. 
 Gilzean Reid, seems to intimate that I was unwilling to 
 face you and other Congo officials with the charges which 
 
William McCutciian Morrison 51 
 
 I have laid before Lord Landsdowne and which I expect 
 in a few days to lay before my government at Washington, 
 I hereby state that if the Congo government will pay all 
 my legitimate expenses on railroads, steamers, at hotels, 
 etc., from here to Brussels and return, I shall gladly go and 
 tell you face to face the charges which I have laid before 
 the governments mentioned above; but I want you to dis- 
 tinctly understand that I am not willing to submit the case 
 to your Congo State courts. I only demand an impartial 
 court composed of men not interested in any way in the 
 Congo State. I am not willing that the Congo government 
 shall be the judge of its own case. 
 
 "I await your answer with interest. 
 
 "I can assure Your Majesty that nothing has ever given 
 me greater pain than to be compelled to lose confidence in 
 the government's real desire to do justice according to the 
 spirit of the Treaties of Berlin and Brussels, and it is 
 after the most careful deliberation that I have reached the 
 conclusion that our only hope lies in arousing the public 
 opinion of the world against the iniquities which you know 
 that your system must produce in Africa. I have lived 
 under that unfortunate government for over six years. I 
 have suffered myself, and I have seen the natives and 
 traders suft'er; and you treat those sufferings with disdain, 
 though all the while making protestations of philanthropy 
 and virtue. If you are really desirous of having me tell you 
 the same things which I have told in London and will tell 
 in Washington, I place myself at your disposition." 
 
 We can imagine Leopold's "soliloquy" upon the receipt 
 of such a letter, but we have no record that the challenge 
 was accepted. 
 
 Immediately upon the arrival of Mr. Morrison in Amer- 
 ica he entered the lists in an endeavor to arouse the public 
 
52 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 sentiment of our own country, as we were one of the first 
 of the world powers to recognize the flag of the Congo 
 Free State. 
 
 His efforts began to hear immediate fruit. The General 
 Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States, 
 at its meeting in Lexington, Va., in May, 1903, "recognizing 
 the crisis that is confronting our work in the Congo," 
 appointed a committee composed of Mr. Tucker, Judge 
 Livingston and Mr. Morrison to present to Mr. Hay, Sec- 
 retary of State, the condition of affairs in the Congo State. 
 This committee met in Washington in July, but failed to 
 see either the President or the Secretary of State, as both 
 were absent from the city. They, therefore, laid their re- 
 port before the State Department and made an appointment 
 for November the 3rd. 
 
 Realizing that public sentiment must be aroused before 
 our government could be induced to take a definite stand on 
 the Congo question, Mr. Morrison continued to keep the 
 subject prominently before the public through our leading 
 magazines and newspapers. The editor of the "Independ- 
 ent," in commenting on some of these articles, says, "We 
 published an article entitled, 'The Misgovernment of the 
 Congo Free State,' and since then the situation there has 
 excited the pity and indignation of the civilized world." 
 
 Mr. Morrison also addressed large audiences throughout 
 the country and plead for the emancipation of the natives 
 in the most eloquent terms. Chief among these was the 
 Boston Peace Congress assembled in that city in October, 
 1904.* He appealed to them in such a convincing manner 
 that the following resolutions were passed : 
 
 "Whereas the International Association of the Congo in 
 1884 secured from the American Government that its flag 
 *See Appendi.x. 
 
William McCutciian Morrison 53 
 
 should be recognized as that of a friendly state (which 
 recognition was subsequently indorsed by the Powers of 
 Europe at Berlin) on the ground that it was an organiza- 
 tion formed to protect the interests and welfare of the 
 natives, to promote legitimate commerce, and to preserve 
 the neutrality of the Congo Valley, over which it sought 
 to exercise authority ; 
 
 "Whereas it is alleged that the government of the Congo 
 Free State has appropriated the land of the natives and the 
 products of commercial value yielded by the land, thus lead- 
 ing to the committal of grave wrongs upon the native races 
 and to the infringement of the rights secured for interna- 
 tional commerce by the acts of the Conference at Berlin ; 
 
 "Whereas this is a question that may lead to grave inter- 
 national complications : 
 
 "This Congress, in the interests of peace, recommends 
 that the following questions should be referred, either to a 
 renewed conference of the Powers concerned in the forma- 
 tion of the Congo Free State or to a commission of inquiry 
 as provided in the Hague convention : 
 
 "i. Is the government of the Congo Free State still to be 
 regarded as trustee of the Powers which recognized the 
 flag of the International Association? 
 
 "2. If not, what is the position of the Congo Free State 
 in international law, and in what manner may the grave 
 questions concerning its alleged actions be satisfactorily and 
 competently determined?" 
 
 Through the untiring efforts of Mr. Morrison the interest 
 of many of our great political leaders was aroused and 
 Senators Morgan, DoUiver, Spooner and Lodge championed 
 the cause of our missionary in the United States Senate. 
 For their use a memorial was drawn up by forty mission- 
 aries, with Mr. Morrison as their head, setting forth the 
 
54 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 main issues of the case in the Congo. This memorial was 
 introduced into the Senate by Senator Morgan of Alabama, 
 the law partner of Judge Lapsley, the father of our pioneer 
 missionary. After many hearings, Mr. Root, as Secretary 
 of State, gave out as his opinion that "the United States 
 ought to take no steps to bring about an international in- 
 quiry as the United States was not a signatory to the Treaty 
 of Berlin, by virtue of which Leopold gained sovereignty 
 over the Congo." We must confess with shame that our 
 government, through political expediency, or what not, did 
 not take that bold and definite stand against this form of 
 oppression that Daniel Webster had taken against Austria 
 when Hungary was struggling for independence or that 
 John Hay had taken against the persecution of the Jews 
 in Roumania. 
 
 But the pressure of public sentiment in America had a 
 salutary effect in alleviating the distressing condition in the 
 Congo. 
 
 King Leopold was practically forced to appoint a com- 
 mission which, as a prominent British daily paper said, 
 "was calculated to provoke a smile." All three of the men 
 appointed were directly connected with the Congo State 
 Government. It was simply a case of the government inves- 
 tigating itself. The findings of this commission, appointed 
 under the whip of public opinion, are therefore all the more 
 remarkable and convincing, because the members that com- 
 posed it were free from prejudice against the State. y\nd 
 yet, in spite of their desire to give all possible credit to 
 their sovereign, the commissioners felt constrained to report 
 the existence of measures and practices of flagrant inhu- 
 manity. Among these measures and practices are the fol- 
 lowing: "The exaction of a labor tax so oppressive that the 
 natives on whom it falls have little, if any freedom. 
 
William McCutcuan Morrison 55 
 
 "The appropriation of the land to such an extent that 
 the natives are practically prisoners within their own ter- 
 ritory. 
 
 "The abuse of the natives by white representatives of 
 officially recognized companies. 
 
 "The binding of little children to years of labor at uncer- 
 tain wages by contracts they do not understand, and even 
 more serious maltreatment of children supposedly under the 
 immediate care of the government. 
 
 "Great injustice in the administration of the courts so 
 that the natives dread the name of Boma, the place where 
 the judicial system is centralized. 
 
 "The sending of punitive expeditions, not for the purpose 
 of establishing peace and order, but for the purpose of ter- 
 rifying natives into paying a tax, which, as administered, 
 even the commissioners regard as inhuman." 
 
 It is to be remembered that these are not charges brought 
 against the Congo Government by outsiders, but they are 
 finchngs of the Commission which was appointed by the 
 Chief Executive of this same Government to investigate 
 and report the facts. They are sufficiently clear to convince 
 anyone that Mr. Morrison was not exaggerating the existing 
 conditions and that he was justified in exposing them. 
 
 In view of these facts the government of the United 
 States certainly would have been justified in lending moral 
 support toward the correction of these abuses, since we had 
 given our moral support to the establishment of the Congo 
 I'^ree State. 
 
 It fell to the lot of the British Government to take the 
 initiative in approaching the signatory Powers of the Berlin 
 and Brussels Acts. The greatest work, however, of all was 
 done by the "Congo Reform Association," which was or- 
 ganized first in England in 1903 and a year later in the 
 
56 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 United States. This association was composed of the fore- 
 most leaders in all walks of life, including fifty peers of the 
 British realm, members of Parliament, high dignitaries in 
 the church, missionaries, philanthropists, professional and 
 literary men, who carried their indictment to the four cor- 
 ners of the earth. Every charge that this organization made 
 was proved beyond the perad venture of a doubt, and they 
 were never convicted of error of fact or exaggeration of 
 statement. They demonstrated the fact that public opinion 
 can, when the occasion arises, prove itself the most unselfish 
 and powerful force for good in international affairs. This 
 association continued to function for some ten years, or 
 nearly five years after the Congo had been annexed by 
 Belgium. 
 
 The secretary of that association, in summing up the work 
 they had to such an extent been instrumental in accomplish- 
 ing, pays the following eloquent tribute to those who had 
 labored amid discouragement in behalf of the oppressed in 
 darkest Africa and yet were undaunted. "It is true, and it 
 should be said to-day, that what all Europe should have 
 taken in hand, what it was the duty of all Europe to have 
 taken in hand, this Association, rising as a small cloud on 
 the horizon of a tyrant's will and gathering the force of a 
 tornado which swept him from his African throne, has, in 
 a large measure, been able itself to accomplish." And may 
 we not also add that this humble missionary, by his faith in 
 prayer and by his untiring devotion to the oppressed na- 
 tives, was used of God in launching some of the most bril- 
 liant flashes of lightning and some of the most terrific 
 thunderbolts which created the terror of the tornado that 
 gathered around the head of the despotic autocrat of the 
 Congo ? 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 Jorgutg a iK^y tn Kn litturUt^n ilattgita^e 
 
 Difficulty of the Task— The Baluba Language Widely Spoken- 
 Great Aid to Missionary Work of a Uniform Language— In- 
 fluence of Lucbo in Unifying the Language— How the Task Was 
 Accomplished— Publication of the Baluba Grammar and Diction- 
 ary—Preparation for Bible Translation— Insurmountable Obsta- 
 cles to Be Faced— Paraphrasing the Scriptures— Literal Transla- 
 tions. 
 
 One would naturally think that the burdens of the Congo 
 reforms were heavy enough to absgrb the entire thought 
 and attention of an ordinary man, and yet in the midst of 
 these arduous duties Mr. Morrison found time to perfect 
 the material he had gathered from the Baluba-Lulua lan- 
 guage. 
 
 This work involved the mastering of the grammatical 
 principles upon which the language was built and its reduc- 
 tion to a written form. The accomplishment of this task 
 alone is sufficient to give him a secure place among the 
 world's great linguistic scholars. 
 
 To master any foreign language, with the assistance of 
 grammars, exercise books, dictionaries and an intelligent 
 teacher is by no means an easy task, but to accomplish 
 this without any aids whatever is one that challenges the 
 keenest intellect. We have already quoted Mr. Morrison's 
 statement that when he began this work he could not find a 
 single character that indicated the existence of a written 
 language. He, therefore, began at the very foundation, 
 learning to speak the language solely by conversation 
 with the people and then searched out the principles upon 
 which the language was constructed. When studying a 
 foreign language under a competent teacher, it is possible 
 to ask the why and wherefore of the different constructions, 
 but when Mr. Morrison began this work the natives had no 
 
58 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 conception whatever of grammatical principles. They 
 could speak their own language correctly, but when asked, 
 "Why?" they could only reply, "They say it that way." 
 
 Then, too, we must remember that Mr. Morrison could 
 not devote his entire time to the study of the language. 
 There were many other tasks to be performed and a mul- 
 titude of interruptions, known only perhaps to the mis- 
 sionary, vexed and tried his patience. He often said that 
 he could sympathize with a certain missionary to India, 
 who wrote home to a friend that he had gotten a good bull 
 dog and at last was able to do some consistent missionary 
 work. Of course Mr. Morrison would not have employed 
 a bull dog for such purposes as this, for he was too 
 sympathetic with the native people and never turned one 
 away day or night without listening to what he had to 
 say. Still, their visits were at times distracting and did 
 not hasten the accomplishment of the task that lay before 
 him. Notwithstanding all these interruptions, he had ac- 
 complished wonders in this work in less than three years 
 after his arrival on the field. In fact, as early as 1900 the 
 late Dr. Snyder, one of his fellow missionaries, in writing 
 of him, says: "At this writing Mr. Morrison is at Ibanche 
 looking into the work over which he has special care. We 
 are glad that he has this opportunity of a little recreation, 
 as he has for over a year been exceedingly busy and has 
 conscientiously done, and done exceedingly well, all the 
 extra work that fell on his shoulders through the return 
 home of some of the missionaries. But, in spite of this, he 
 has succeeded in reducing to writing the Baluba and Bena 
 Lulua dialects. To him and him alone is the credit due 
 for this needed and well accomplished work. Time will 
 show, and we trust time will give the credit to the grand 
 work Mr. Morrison has done." 
 
William McCutchan Morrison 59 
 
 W'e have seen that it was through a series of providential 
 circumstances that the Mission was practically forced to 
 devote its attention to the Baluba people, who were settling 
 at its very doors and clamoring for the Gospel. It was 
 not till many years later, however, that Mr. Morrison 
 fully realized the extent of territory over wiiich this lan- 
 guage was spoken and the number of people who under- 
 stood it. He mentions these facts in the preface to his 
 dictionary : "The Baluba and Lulua people, in language 
 and race belong to the great Bantu family which, though 
 having many subdivisions occupies roughly speaking, all 
 of Africa south of the fifth parallel of North latitude, the 
 Hottentots and Bushmen in the extreme south being the 
 only exception. These Bantu languages are radically dif- 
 ferent from the distinctly negro dialects of the peoples 
 bordering them on the north. While the different Bantu 
 dialects have much in common so far as some of the gen- 
 eral characteristics are concerned, yet there are many de- 
 grees of difiference. Some are perhaps as widely apart 
 as English and Greek, while others are so near akin that 
 the differences amount to nothing more than localisms or 
 a brogue. This latter fact is true of the language spoken 
 by the Baluba and the Lulua people, who together occupy 
 a large area in Central Africa, extending, roughly speaking, 
 from the junction of the Lulua and Kasai Rivers in a gen- 
 eral southeasterly direction into Garenganze, where the 
 language is called Chiluba. They thus occupy the high and 
 comparatively healthy tablelands on the divide between 
 the headwaters of the Kasai and Congo Rivers on one side 
 and the Zambezi on the other. 
 
 "Moreover, the people are remarkably docile, peaceable, 
 industrious and eager for civilization and are, in many re- 
 spects, far superior to other African tribes. It has thus 
 
6o Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 come about that the Baluba, especially, are eagerly sought 
 after as slaves, with the result that many thousands of them 
 have been carried into captivity thus disseminating their 
 language among many foreign tribes. 
 
 "These facts, together with the area covered by these two 
 peoples, have made their language the lingua franca, or 
 trade language, of the greater part of the upper Kasai and 
 Congo basin, thus enabling those speaking it to go almost 
 anywhere in this vast region and be understood. It is 
 gratifying to note that the Baluba-Lulua language is very 
 near akin to the Lunda and Tonga, which are spoken over 
 a large area to the south. It v/oukl be useless to attempt 
 to estimate the number of people speaking with more or 
 less divergency the language, whose laws this book attempts 
 to put into tangible shape. All this is particularly fortunate, 
 in view of the fact that so many of the languages in Africa 
 are confined to very narrow geographical limits." 
 
 Thus Luebo, through the numerous immigrants from dif- 
 ferent tribes who settle there, has become a very cosmo- 
 politan place. Its reflex influence goes out to the difi:erent 
 tribes and villages which are represented. It has become a 
 sort of melting pot for the amalgamation of these closely 
 related dialects, unifying them by means of a written lan- 
 guage. And in this respect our Mission has been signally 
 blessed of God, in that we have been permitted to labor 
 among different tribes who are bound together by a com- 
 mon language. It is stated on good authority that eventual- 
 ly even the Bakuba people themselves may be reached 
 through the medium of this common language, as practic- 
 ally all the younger people of this present generation under- 
 stand it. 
 
 Mr. Morrison tells us in his own words the manner in 
 which he accomplished this great linguistic feat. "The key 
 
William McCutchan Morrison 6i 
 
 words to any language are the questions, 'What is this?' 
 and 'What did you say?' Once these are gotten, the way 
 opens up and the language begins to unlock. And these 
 phrases are best gotten by taking a seat in a group of peo- 
 ple and pulling out a pocket knife or some other article 
 with which the people are not familiar. Now, listen with 
 all ears, for some one in the crowd is almost certain to 
 utter the mystic words, 'What is that?' When it has been 
 gotten, the names of all familiar objects can be_ obtained 
 at once. By intent never-tiring listening the more common 
 verbs will begin to come, then adjectives and other parts 
 of speech, together with phrases and sentences, the meaning 
 of which is known but the grammatical construction of 
 which is still a mystery. It is unnecessary here to go into 
 all the intricacies of language study — the getting of words 
 and sentences and idioms and the working out of the laws 
 of inflection, concord, etc. To complete all this — if indeed 
 it can ever be said to be completed — is the labor of many 
 weary days and months and years. And yet this has been 
 for me a work fraught with much pleasure. Some of the 
 happiest and most exhilarating moments of my life have 
 been over the discovery of some new words for which T 
 had been searching perhaps for years, or over the solution 
 of some grammatical construction which had baffled me for 
 so long. Often have I jumped up, leaving my astonished 
 language teacher behind, and have run across the station 
 crying out, 'Eureka,' in order to announce to my colleagues 
 the discovery of such a word as 'Saviour,' or 'Redeemer,' 
 or 'Comforter.' It was more valuable than a diamond 
 dug out of the rubbish — this word that would be a gem 
 through which could flash new light and beauty into be- 
 nighted souls. 
 
 "And may I say just here, that many otherwise intelligent 
 
62 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 people in the homeland have the idea, either that we mis- 
 sionaries gave them their language or taught them ours, or 
 that the native languages of the tribes of central Africa 
 are only incoherent gibberish, more like the chatterings of 
 monkeys than the intelligent talking of human beings. All 
 of these ideas are untrue, for we not only did not give them 
 a language, but we found their language highly developed, 
 having well defined laws of grammar, rules of syntax, and 
 words with which to express all the ideas they have. Not 
 only so, but the Baluba language, with which I am best 
 acquainted and which is only one of the many distinct 
 tongues in Africa, is much more regular in its construction 
 and laws than is the English language. To such an extent 
 is this true that, though down all the ages they have had 
 no written language, yet it is preserved in wonderful purity, 
 and even small children never make mistakes in grammar. 
 In fact, I have often gotten nice grammatical constructions 
 from children, because they do not speak so rapidly as the 
 grown ups. 
 
 "And this leads me to say that, most fortunately, we 
 arrived on the scene before the natives began attempting 
 to use writing of their own manufacture. How much 
 would our Chinese or Japanese missionaries — to say nothing 
 of those in other parts of the world — give, if they could 
 only do away with the unspeakably stupid written languages 
 with which they have to contend. The result is that in 
 the writing of the Baluba language, we use our own alpha- 
 bet with all words spelled phonetically, each letter having 
 only one sound. This certainly gives us a tremendous ad- 
 vantage over the hopeless confusion in our English spelling. 
 
 "Now that we have our grammar and dictionary and 
 exercise book, and owing to the regularity of the spoken 
 language and the ease of reading the written language, we 
 
William McCutchan Morrison 63 
 
 have had the case of missionaries who preached to over 
 one thousand people in our Luebo tabernacle within eight 
 months after their arrival on the field." 
 
 As we have stated, the great fundamental principles of 
 the language had been worked out prior to Mr. Morrison's 
 return, but all this material had to be revised and typed 
 before it could be placed in the hands of the printer. 
 
 When Mr, Holman Bently, of the Baptist Missionary 
 Society of England was preparing his grammar and dic- 
 tionary of the Lower Congo dialect, he was given a two 
 years' leave of absence from the field with two or three 
 assistants and stenographers before his work was ready 
 for publication. But when Mr. Morrison was engaged in 
 a similar task he had only one native youth to assist him 
 and every word of the 417 page grammar and dictionary 
 was written with his own hands. During the months that 
 he was permitted to labor more or less uninterruptedly on 
 this task, he worked from 7 o'clock in the morning till 5 
 in the afternoon, and, after a brief season spent in recrea- 
 tion, he was back at work again after supper to work till 
 midnight. 
 
 As to the thoroughness and accuracy with which he ac- 
 complished the task we need only say that after twelve 
 years of the cumulative experience of Mr. Morrison and 
 his fellow missionaries, not one flaw or error has been 
 found in this marvelous book. It is true, of course, that 
 new words have been added to the vocabulary, but as far 
 as the grammar itself is concerned it is absolutely perfect 
 in every detail. In fact, no less eminent authority than 
 Sir Harry W. Johnston, in a letter addressed to Mr. Mor- 
 rison, acknowledging the receipt of a complimentary copy 
 of the grammar, says, "I need hardly say that in my opinion 
 —3— . ; I 
 
64 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 it is one of a very high order and worthy to rank with the 
 best classical studies of the Bantu language family." 
 
 Upon the publication of the grammar and dictionary the 
 degree of Doctor of Divinity was conferred on Mr. Mor- 
 rison by his alma mater, Washington and Lee University. 
 
 The compilation of the grammar and dictionary was a 
 great and important work; and yet, in the estimation of 
 Dr. Morrison, it was but the preparation for the greater 
 work he had in mind — namely, the translation of the Bible 
 into that language. 
 
 We can get no better conception of the intricacies of this 
 task than that which Dr. Morrison himself detailed in an 
 article written on this subject for the "Missionary Review 
 of the World" and published in that magazine in 1912. 
 "Owing to the paucity of workers and other causes, but 
 little systematic work had been done in the Baluba dialect 
 upon my arrival in the field in 1896. After some months 
 I was placed in cliarge of the language and translation 
 work, though feeling my great incompetency for such a 
 responsible task. The other missionaries who preceded me 
 to the field had gotten together a goodly number of words, 
 but the grammatical laws of concord, syntax, etc., had not 
 been worked out. After spending many months at this 
 task, all the while getting new words and idioms, I felt that 
 the time had come, as we now had a few in our schools who 
 could read a little, to try some Bible translation. Of course 
 the first thing was to be the New Testament, beginning with 
 Matthew. I got out my Greek Testament, with all the 
 other helps I could lay hands on, even down to the Twen- 
 tieth Century New Testament. My language boy was all 
 expectancy, and I had taken occasion to inform others of 
 the fact that in a few weeks or months at most the New 
 Testament would be in their hands. 
 
William McCutchan Morrison 65 
 
 "But I had not gone over half a Hne until I ran amuck 
 of the word 'generation,' and a Httle further down came the 
 long Hst of proper names, and still further down came 
 the words 'birth,' 'espoused,' 'public example,' 'virgin,' 
 etc., with many other grammatical constructions which 
 I did not know how to translate, if I conformed strictly 
 to the idiom and construction of the original. 
 
 "Then I began to do some serious thinking. First of all, 
 I was forced to the conclusion that my knowledge of the 
 language was not extensive enough to warrant me in under- 
 taking an exact translation of the Scriptures at that time. 
 Not only so, but as I thought over the matter, I became 
 more and more convinced that our people, then all of them 
 only babes in Christ, would not be able to get much out of 
 an exact translation, however perfect it might be; that the 
 whole Bible in their hands at that time would only puzzle 
 and confound rather than help them. The thought then 
 came that perhaps simple paraphrases of some of the famil- 
 iar passages we had been teaching to them verbally would 
 not only be helpful but far more profitable to them at that 
 stage of their advancement, and this I proceeded to do, 
 bringing out a small edition of some of the more important 
 parables of our Lord paraphrased. Thus this became our 
 first efifort looking to Bible translation. 
 
 "This paraphrasing work has proved of immense value, 
 and I believe it will take a permanent place in our school 
 and Bible study work. Perhaps it is for this reason that 
 it is Caedmon's 'Paraphrases of the Scriptures,' and not the 
 more ordered and exact translation, which have been pre- 
 served for us as almost the earliest literature in the Saxon 
 tongue. These paraphrases were simpler, they were put 
 into everyday language, and they laid hold on the life of 
 the people in their spiritual infancy. 
 
66 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 "Upon my return to the field in 1906, after consultation 
 with my colleagues, it was determined that I should begin 
 a book which should be called 'Lessons from the Bible.' 
 We had never seen such a book gotten up in this way, but 
 we felt that it was what we wanted for our now more 
 advanced reading classes, and especially for use in our 
 growing evangelistic and Sunday School work. The idea 
 was to translate as accurately and as exactly as could 
 be done certain selected passages, chronologically arranged, 
 corresponding roughly to those used in the International 
 Sunday School Lesson series. These passages were to be 
 printed in bold type. Then between these was to be in 
 smaller type and in paraphrase form any other matter of 
 interest, especially such things as were mentioned in both 
 Testaments. 
 
 "This book has proved of incalculable value. It has 
 given a goodly number of the most select passages in the 
 Scriptures, translated as accurately as we can do it now, 
 besides containing in the paraphrases a great amount of 
 matter which is most helpful in connecting the passages 
 translated and in clarifying references which would other- 
 wise be obscure. 
 
 "I know of one Mission on the Congo which has trans- 
 lated the New Testament, and yet has done nothing from 
 the Old Testament. One wonders how, in such circum- 
 stances, a single page in the New Testament could be under- 
 stood by a native reader without having a missionary at 
 his side. 
 
 "But now the time has come when the complete Bible 
 must be translated, for nothing else can take its place. But 
 this will of necessity be a work of several years, perhaps 
 of many years. 
 
 "It may be of interest to note some of the many problems 
 we have to deal with in Bible translation, especially into the 
 
William McCutchan Morrison 67 
 
 language of central Africa, where the people are so back- 
 ward in every way that their language must of necessity 
 be a very defective vehicle for the conveyance of the great 
 truths of the Bible. For instance, we have great difficulty 
 in finding adequate words for the expression of such ideas 
 as 'love,' 'duty,' 'purity,' 'holiness,' 'faith,' 'hope,' and many 
 others I could mention. One's soul cries out in agony for 
 these great words that mean so much to us. 
 
 "But it is not surprising that there should not be found 
 certain strictly Biblical and religious terms. For this 
 reason, we have sometimes introduced and nativized certain 
 words. Sometimes these are taken from the Hebrew and 
 Greek and sometimes from the French, since the latter is 
 the official language of the government of the Congo. And 
 this corresponds exactly to what was done for the English 
 language at the time of the introduction of Christianity in 
 the Sixth century. Such words as 'creed,' 'candle,' 'priest,' 
 'church,' etc., came in at that time. But it is a principle 
 with us not to introduce foreign words except as a neces- 
 sity. We prefer to let the native words grow up from a 
 common into a Biblical use just as the words 'Holy Ghost,' 
 'atone,' etc., have done in English. Consequently for 'to 
 thank' we use a word meaning to do obeisance to a superior 
 for a favor done ; for 'to pardon' we use a word meaning to 
 hide by covering up ; and for 'to repent' we use the phrase 
 meaning 'to turn over the liver,' which is the seat of afifec- 
 tion for the native. 
 
 "Another difficulty in translating is to steer between a 
 too free paraphrastic form and a too slavish adherence to 
 the original languages. H there is to be a fault in this mat- 
 ter, I have leaned to the paraphrastic for the sake of greater 
 simplicity. I almost wish I had done it more in some in- 
 stances, for, after all, every translation must of necessity 
 
68 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 be something of a commentary interpreting the translator's 
 idea of the meaning of the original. It is our desire to be 
 sure that the natives get the truth rather than a mere jum- 
 ble of meaningless phrases. 
 
 -'But lest my readers should get the idea that the native 
 language is incapable of being a medium for the conveyance 
 of spiritual truth, I hasten to say that it is very rich in 
 many ways. It has many strong words and apt expressions 
 which are wanting in English. In fact, we missionaries, 
 in speaking English together, so often interject these native 
 words and apt expressions that we would not be understood 
 by one who could not speak the language." 
 
 Such was the plan of Bible translation that Dr. Morrison 
 outlined, and we believe it has abundantly justified itself in 
 what has been accomplished in the training of our native 
 Christian constituency. It is the unanimous opinion of the 
 missionaries in the field to-day that the "Lessons from the 
 Bible" shall continue in use in our regular day schools. 
 This gives the people the story of the Bible in a condensed 
 form and prepares them for a study of the Bible as a whole. 
 God's revelation of himself to man was a progressive one, 
 and as man's knowledge increased he was thus prepared 
 to receive additional truth. And in dealing with a primitive 
 people it was Dr. Morrison's idea to proceed along similar 
 lines. He followed the law of growth in the material 
 world, "first the grain, then the blade, then the full corn in 
 the ear." 
 
 Having completed the work of paraphrasing the Bible, 
 Dr. Morrison had begun the literal translation of the New 
 Testament. By reason of the multitudinous duties thrust 
 upon him, he had only completed the translation of the 
 four Gospels and Acts when he was called to a higher 
 service. 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 IHarnaijf atib IRftunt to tl|p Jtf 1& 
 
 The Young People's Missionary Conference at Asheville — Selecting 
 a Mate — Character of Mrs. Morrison — The Marriage and De- 
 parture for Liverpool — Touring in England and Scotland — The 
 Journey to Luebo — The Home at Luebo — Training the Native 
 Boys. i 
 
 Dr. Morrison's labors, while at home, were by no means 
 confined to making pubHc addresses, grappling with the 
 problems of an unwritten language and compiling dic- 
 tionaries. 
 
 In the summer of 1905 he was sent to the Young People's 
 Missionary Conference at Asheville, N. C, to deliver one 
 of the principal addresses. To that Conference also came 
 a Miss Bertha Stebbins, who was sent as a delegate from 
 the Presbyterian Church of Natchez, Miss. Here they 
 met for the first time. She was on the front porch of the 
 hotel when he arrived and among the first of the new 
 friends to whom he was presented. There seems to have 
 been a mutual attraction between them from the very be- 
 ginning of their acquaintance. 
 
 A beautiful tribute to the life of Mrs. Morrison has al- 
 ready been written by her pastor, the late Rev. J. J. Chisolm, 
 D.D., under the title of "Mutoto, or the Perfume of the 
 Alabaster Box." We recommend to our readers this little 
 book which most admirably tells the story of her self- 
 sacrificing life. 
 
 We need only state that Dr. Morrison showed his wisdom 
 and soundness of judgment in the selection of his mate, 
 as her all too brief service in Africa so clearly indicates. 
 She gave her heart to God at an early age and became an 
 '.ctive Christian w'orker and a leader among the young peo- 
 ^e of her community. When she reached maturity her 
 
 »n religious conviction manifesting itself, she left the 
 
70 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 church of her parents and united with the Presbyterian 
 church. This was the first step in a series of providential 
 deahngs whereby she was led into that service to which 
 God was calling her. 
 
 She had devoted ten years of her life to teaching school 
 and had achieved the most signal success. This success 
 was due largely to the fact that she regarded each pupil as 
 a person and not merely as a unit in the class. "She made 
 an impression on her colleagues and pupils, the results of 
 which can not be measured until the final day ; she put not 
 only her intellect into her work, but also the fulness of a 
 loving heart, a sound judgment and a consecrated life." 
 
 During the four years that she spent in Natchez she was 
 closely associated with Dr. Chisolm in his church work, 
 teaching in the Sunday School and having charge of the 
 Westminister League. "It was in connection with her 
 work in these two organizations that her interest in the 
 enterprise of world-wide missions found a glad expression 
 and a steady development." 
 
 Dr. Morrison and Miss Stebbins were united in marriage 
 in the Methodist church at Gueydan, La., on June 14, 1906, 
 Dr. M. E. Melvin, of Port Gibson, Miss., a cousin of the 
 bride, officiating at the ceremony. 
 
 They spent the first month of their long wedding tour, 
 visiting friends and relatives in Mississippi, Arkansas, 
 Tennessee and Virginia, sailing for Liverpool on July 11, 
 on the "S. S. Majestic." 
 
 Shortly after their arrival in London they received word 
 that it would be impossible to launch the new "Lapsley" 
 until late in September, and that it would take at least a 
 month after the launching to get the boat in shape for a 
 voyage. They had practically completed the buying of sup- 
 plies when this news was received, so the next few weeks 
 
William McCutchan Morrison 71 
 
 were spent in visiting place of historic interest in England 
 and Scotland. 
 
 Dr. and Mrs. Morrison, with Dr. Coppedge, Mr. Roches- 
 ter and Miss Taylor, the last three new missionaries, sailed 
 for the Congo on September 20 on the "S. S. Bruxelles- 
 ville." This was a new steamer and quite palatial in com- 
 parison with the former Congo boats. The long and 
 uneventful voyage was completed some twenty-two days 
 later when they landed at Matadi. Here, as usual, several 
 days were spent in making the final preparations for an- 
 other long journey into the interior. At Matadi they 
 visited the grave of Lapsley and laid a tribute of flowers 
 on the spot sacred to all Congo missionaries. 
 
 At this time the little Congo railroad, to which reference 
 has already been made, was completed and was being oper- 
 ated in its present magnificence. As customary with all 
 European railroads, the regular first, second and third 
 class coaches were in operation. The first two classes have 
 separate seats for each passenger, while the third class 
 coach is equipped with little narrow, hard-bottom and 
 straight-backed seats, running cross-wise and facing each 
 other. The seats are so close together that the passengers 
 opposite each other have to sit with their knees interlocked. 
 If one desires to shift his position, all must shift in unison. 
 The designer of this car must have drawn his inspiration 
 from the days of the Inquisition, and he succeeded admira- 
 bly in the perfection of his art. 
 
 Into this third class car went Dr. Morrison and his bride, 
 together with the other members of the party. The jour- 
 ney to Leopoldville was accomplished in two days. 
 
 Upon their arrival at Leopoldville they found that the 
 engineers had miscalculated the speed with which they 
 hoped to complete the "Lapsley," with the result that they 
 had before them another long wait of six weeks before they 
 
72 
 
 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 were off on the last stage of their voyage. The maiden 
 trip of the "Lapsley" was accomphshed without accident or 
 mishap until they were almost in sight of Luebo, when they 
 grounded on a sandbar. The boat was stuck so fast that 
 it required two days of hard work to float her again. After 
 an hour's run they landed at the Luebo beach, just two 
 days before Christmas. Thousands of natives from all 
 sections of the country were assembled on the beach to 
 welcome the bride of "Kuonyi Nshila" and to get a glimpse 
 of the new steamer. The passengers were soon on shore 
 and were carrie'd in hammocks to the top of the long hill 
 on which the station is located amid the wildest joy the 
 natives could express. The next day was spent in public 
 exercises of welcome to the missionaries and in greeting 
 numerous friends. 
 
 THE I.APSLEY 
 
 Immediately after their arrival the Morrisons went to 
 Ibanche to attend the regular Annual Meeting of the Mis- 
 sion. After a most pleasant visit there they returned to 
 their work at Luebo. Mrs. Morrison set to work unpacking 
 
William McCutchan Morrison 73 
 
 their goods and furnishing their little home. This was a 
 small cottage, made of mud and sticks, with three rooms m 
 a row, each about seventeen by fourteen feet. The house 
 was neatly whitewashed inside and out. The ceiling was 
 made of split bamboo closely woven together, and the dirt 
 floors were covered with native matting. 
 
 The furniture, according to Mrs. Morrison's description, 
 was as follows : "Our cupboards are made of dry goods 
 boxes curtained with cretonne, green ground and cherry 
 blossoms and red fruit. Our bedroom is as dainty as can 
 be. The bed is white enamelled, trimmed with brass. The 
 washstand is made of a large box, curtained with pink 
 rose and green vine cretonne. The bureau is a chest of 
 drawers, made here, with a nice mirror on top." 
 
 As for their daily duties, she writes : "We rise at 5 145 
 A.M., and I attend to some household duties, then our morn- 
 ing prayers and breakfast at 6:30. Following this come 
 Baluba worship, when all the children and people in the 
 yard come and sit on the floor while we sing a Baluba hymn. 
 My husband reads or asks Bible questions and then a prayer 
 from one of the children, all closing with .the Lord's 
 Prayer. Then I hasten to dress sores — there are so many 
 here — until school time, when I teach a class. By the time 
 school is over it is 11 o'clock and the morning nearly gone. 
 All during the day people are crowding in for this or that, 
 until sometimes one longs for a little quiet rest. But we are 
 glad for the people to come to us instead of taking the 
 opposite course." 
 
 Dr. Morrison threw himself into his work whole-hearted- 
 ly, being assisted and supported in every way by his noble 
 wife. She soon learned the language and became a most 
 enthusiastic worker. 
 
 It has always been the policy of the Mission to lay hold 
 
74 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 on as many young people as possible in order to train them 
 in Christian service. It is not difficult to maintain this 
 policy, especially with the boys. These boys are given light 
 chores about the house in order to pay for their board and 
 clothing, but the chief end in view is not their domestic 
 service but the training of their character. 
 
 It was here that Mrs. Morrison probably did her greatest 
 and most lasting work. The same spirit that she mani- 
 fested toward her pupils in America was transferred to 
 those in Africa. Many of those young boys that were "in 
 her fence" and received their religious training in her 
 home are now holding positions of honor in the native 
 church. Through their influence scores are being born into 
 the Kingdom of Heaven, and they will all rise up in the last 
 great day to call her blessed. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 ^rtmtB iCrabittg HI)) to tt|r (^rtal at CraiiolbmUr 
 
 The Oppression of the Native People — The State and Chartered 
 Companies — Dr. Sheppard's Article in the Kasai Herald — The Di- 
 rector of the Kasai Rubber Company Challenges the Statements — 
 Dr. Morrison's Reply — The British Consul Visits the Kasai Dis- 
 trict to Investigate — His Report to His Government — the Decline 
 in the Kasai Company's Stock. 
 
 There is one scene in the book of Revelation that caused 
 the Apostle John to "wonder with great admiration," and 
 that was when the beast received the death stroke and yet 
 lived. And Dr. Morrison was destined to have a similar 
 experience in regard to the reforms in the Congo. 
 
 Notwithstanding all that the Congo Reform Association 
 in England and America had accomplished, and in spite 
 of all the fair promises that Belgium had made when the 
 Congo State was released from Leopold's personal control 
 and made a colony, Dr. Morrison soon found that these 
 reforms had not been very extensive in Africa, nor were 
 those promises being fulfilled to its native inhabitants. The 
 oppressors of the natives now adopted a new form of tac- 
 tics. These tactics are graphically described in a letter that 
 Dr. Morrison addressed to Dr. Chester a few months before 
 the Congo State became a Belgian colony : 
 
 "Regarding Congo State affairs and the present situation 
 here, I need only say that we are not now suffering from 
 the old forms of outrage so much — hand-cutting, slave- 
 raiding, murdering, etc. — but I am sorry to say that I be- 
 lieve the sum total of suffering is much more than it was 
 formerly. Now the peo'ple are thoroughly cowed ; they 
 know from bitter experience that there is no escaping from 
 the State. They, therefore, submit in stoical silence. I 
 
76 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 am almost surprised at discovering, by accident, the various 
 ways in which they are wronged. Demands are made for 
 men, and the villages send for them at once. The Rubber 
 Company demands rubber of the villages, and if it is not 
 forthcoming in what they conceive to be large enough quan- 
 tities, then the village is turned over to the State and double 
 tribute has to be paid. This subtle form of oppression is 
 not seen and observed much, but it is just as wrong as the 
 old form of outrage. I believe that henceforth we shall 
 not see so much the grosser forms of outrage, as the op- 
 pression is taking a more refined form. It is now perfectly 
 possible for a man who does not know what to look for and 
 how to look for it, especially if he does not know the 
 language, to travel from one end of the Congo to the other 
 and really see nothing of the grosser forms of outrages 
 which have been so widely published to the world. Then 
 he is apt to go away and leave the impression that all is 
 well here and the charges of oppression are unfounded. At 
 the same time, I am confident that the agitation in Europe 
 and America has done immense good here. What would 
 have been the situation if this agitation had not been made ! 
 
 "We only know that it would be immensely worse to-day. 
 But we must never rest till the whole system has been 
 rooted up, for there is every possibility that things will 
 grow worse, for Leopold is still in control — he is absolute. 
 And what else is to be expected? Moreover, we hope most 
 sincerely that an eye will be kept on the matter, if the 
 State is to be taken over by Belgium, to see to it that our 
 religious rights are preserved, for you know that Belgium 
 is one of the most bigoted Roman Catholic countries in 
 Europe." 
 
 The wholesale policy of stripping the country of its prod- 
 ucts, without attempting to develop it, was prosecuted with 
 
William McCutchan Morrison yy 
 
 renewed vigor. This policy was worked through so-called 
 "concessionaire companies," which received a charter from 
 the State, but were supposed to operate independently of 
 the government. This was a clever piece of camouflage, 
 as the State generally held the controlling interest. 
 
 Dr. Morrison described the inter-locking of these com- 
 panies with the State in a letter addressed to the Congo 
 Reform Association : "The statement that is persistently 
 put forth by the State, as an excuse for these companies, 
 is that they are 'controlled,' that the native is not allowed 
 to cut the rubber vines, that the companies are compelled 
 to plant rubber vines, etc. As an actual fact, within the 
 sound of where I am writing these words, I can hear the 
 people beating the bark of the rubber vines, which have 
 been stripped, killing the vine of course. Not only are the 
 people not forbidden to do this, but they are encouraged to 
 get rubber in any way. It can thus be seen that the only 
 desire of the so-called companies is to gather the cream 
 of the country as soon as possible, without concern for the 
 future. I say so-called companies, because, as is well 
 known, they are controlled absolutely by the .State, which 
 holds never less than one-half the stock (so far as my 
 knowledge goes). This means that the State and the com- 
 panies work hand in glove, and it would surprise the unini- 
 tiated to see with what masterly skill the whole thing has 
 been worked out. I only give one example. In some places 
 in this region the vState demands its tribute in copper 
 crosses, weighing about a pound each. It is prohibited to 
 import these ; the native copper is necessarily limited for the 
 crosses have to be made and brought from far away in the 
 Katanga district. After the native has paid his crosses to 
 the State they are turned over to the company. In a little 
 while the native \% ordered to bring in more crosses. But 
 
78 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 he can only get them from the company, and that means 
 that he must bring in rubber in order to get them — heaven 
 and earth are turned upside down in order to get rubber." 
 
 In another letter written to a personal friend at a later 
 date, he further describes these conditions : "The same old 
 regime is still in force, the same men at Brussels and out 
 here are in power — what else can be expected? If I could 
 see a change in government, with such men as Vandervelde 
 coming into power, there would be some hope again. But 
 after the dark months of waiting have passed and after 
 witnessing the almost universal opposition to the English 
 and American Protestant missionaries, who have dared to 
 face the bitterest persecution to let the world know of these 
 things which are going on here, and after finding out that 
 King Leopold seems to be voicing the sentiment of the 
 great majority of the Belgian people in his recent statement 
 that revenue must be gotten from the Congo for the enrich- 
 ment of Belgium — I say, after finding out all these things, 
 we now have very grave doubts as to whether we can ever 
 expect anything but a rule of ruin from that source." 
 
 King Leopold was not the man to accept public condem- 
 nation and denunciation without taking revenge when a 
 favorable opportunity presented itself, and Dr. Morrison 
 was soon destined to become the victim of this unprincipled 
 ruler and his agents. 
 
 This opportunity was afforded in the January, 1908, 
 number of the "Kasai Herald," when Dr. Morrison, as 
 editor, published an article written by Dr. Sheppard after 
 bis return from furlough, in which he gave a brief descrip- 
 tion of the changed conditions he found in the Bakuba 
 country. This little article is quoted here in order that the 
 reader may see just how desperate these agents were in 
 their efforts to make a "case" against the missionaries. 
 
William McCutciian Morrison 79 
 
 Dr. Sheppard says : "These great stalwart men and women, 
 who have from time immemorial been free, cultivating 
 large farms of Indian corn, peas, tobacco, potatoes, trapping 
 elephants for their ivory and leopards for their skins, who 
 have always had their own king and a government not to 
 be despised, having officers of the law established in every 
 village of the kingdom — these magnificent people, perhaps 
 about 400,000 in number, have entered a new chapter in 
 the history of their tribe. Only a few years ago, travellers 
 through this country found them living in large homes, hav- 
 ing from one to four rooms in each house, loving and living 
 happily with their wives and children, one of the most 
 prosperous and intelligent of all the African tribes, though 
 living in one of the most remote spots on the planet. One 
 seeing the happy, busy, prosperous lives which they lived 
 could not help feeling that surely the lines had fallen unto 
 this people in pleasant places. 
 
 "But within the last three years how changed they are ! 
 Their farms are growing up in weeds and jungle, their 
 king is practically a slave, their houses are now mostly only 
 half-built single rooms and are much neglected. The streets 
 of their towns are not clean and well swept, as they once 
 were. Even their children cry for bread. Why this 
 change? You have it in a few words. There are armed 
 sentries of chartered trading companies who force the men 
 and women to spend most of their days and nights in the 
 forests making rubber, and the price they receive is so 
 meager that they can not live upon it." 
 
 The "Kasai Herald" was circulated, free of charge, 
 throughout the Congo, and a copy had been sent to the 
 director of the Kasai Rubber Company at Dima. The said 
 director must have had a guilty conscience, for he took 
 exception to this article and addressed the following letter 
 
8o Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 to Dr. Morrison, claiming that the interest of the Company 
 was damaged and demanding an apology : 
 
 "The Kasai Company is trading with the Bakuba people ; 
 and, though she does not use armed sentries at all and is 
 not a chartered company, yet it can be understood that she 
 is the one referred to in Dr. Sheppard's article. Now, it 
 is possible that the author's intention was not to attack the 
 Company of the Kasai, which has always had the best and 
 most friendly relations with the A. P. C. M. and whose 
 manner of treating the natives and trading with them in 
 full liberty has more than once been approved by the 
 A. P. C. M. missionaries. You know we have no armed 
 sentries, but only traders going about with goods of ever).' 
 kind and unarmed through the villages for the purchasing 
 of rubber. We use only one single trading principle — that 
 of supply and demand. And the natives are not forced to 
 make rubber for us or to do any other work; we do not 
 have the right or the power to force them to work, and we 
 are not in charge of collecting taxes. 
 
 "We suppose that Dr. Sheppard must have been drawn 
 into this error by some wrong information ; and desiring 
 that the readers of the 'Kasai Herald' may not have a false 
 impression of the Kasai Company, whose principles have 
 always been to act in the best way possible with the natives, 
 I make an appeal to your well-known sense of justice and 
 kindness, asking you to publish these lines in your news- 
 paper." 
 
 Dr. Morrison was not to be trapped by these smooth 
 words and made the following reply : 
 
 'T have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your let- 
 ter, in which you take exception to the article of Dr. Shep- 
 pard in a recent issue of the 'Kasai Herald.' Since receiv- 
 ing your letter I have written to Dr. Sheppard, who lives 
 
William McCutciian Morrison 8i 
 
 in the Bakuba country and has known them and their coun- 
 try intimately for over fifteen years. Dr. Sheppard asserts 
 that he is prepared to prove the assertions he makes before 
 an impartial tribunal which is not itself personally inter- 
 ested in the collection of rubber and has not been appointed 
 by any one so interested. Not only Dr. Sheppard, but other 
 members of our Mission, can testify that they are satisfied 
 that varying degrees of pressure are brought to bear not 
 only upon the Bakuba people, but other tribes in this region, 
 by your Company. It is reasonable to suppose that those 
 of us living in this region know more about what is actually 
 going on here than you or others who do not live here. I 
 may say that complaints are constantly coming to us from 
 the natives to the efl:'ect that the agents of your Company 
 threaten them with punishment from the State if they do 
 not bring in the amount of rubber imposed. It is undoubt- 
 edly true that impositions are made on the villages, and 
 through fear of the State the natives make the rubber, for 
 which they are paid only a pittance. I find that in most 
 cases the natives regard the rubber they bring to your 
 agents not so much as trade, but as a tax. 
 
 "You know that yours is a monopolistic company and has 
 absolute power to set the price of rubber in this region. 
 While it may not be a chartered company, as you remind 
 us, yet it is practically so, for you well know that the State 
 would not give any independent company even the right 
 to trade in this region. 
 
 "Certainly the personal relations between the members of 
 our Mission and your Company have been pleasant, and it 
 is our desire that they continue so, but you will not expect 
 us to allow this to blind our eyes to the wrongs which we 
 see going on about us. 
 
 "It would seem that, if you had been desirous of really 
 
82 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 knowing the truth about the situation in this region, you 
 would have instituted an impartial investigation, without 
 presuming, as the tone of your letter implies, that Dr. Shep- 
 pard only ignorantly or maliciously maligned your Com- 
 pany. If you were pained and astonished that Dr. Sheppard 
 should write such things, I must say that I am equally 
 astonished and pained that you should so hastily conclude 
 that a man of Dr. Sheppard's long residence in the Congo 
 and his well-known integrity should write a serious article 
 of this kind without knowing what he was doing. It might 
 have at least raised a question in your mind and caused you 
 to institute an impartial investigation, in which both your 
 Company and Dr. Sheppard would participate. 
 
 "I sincerely regret to be compelled to write you so plainly 
 about this matter, but your letter seemed to imply that we 
 were ignorantly, or perhaps purposely, saying what was 
 not true. 
 
 "Before closing I will state that for some time we have 
 been very uneasy about the situation in the Bakuba country. 
 The chief, Lukenga, who, as you know, was only a short 
 time age in revolt and destroyed one or two of your Com- 
 pany posts and one of our Mission stations, now has several 
 scores of soldiers dressed like State soldiers and armed 
 with cap guns, and these soldiers are used by him, under 
 the authority of your Company, in terrifying the people into 
 making rubber. Just recently I have made complaint to 
 several State officials about this dangerous situation, but 
 none of them seemed to know anything about it. Lest you 
 should not believe me I send you a photograph of some of 
 these men, taken some months ago. 
 
 "Finally, I will say that we do not blame, personally, the 
 individual agents and officials of your Company, except in 
 so far as they may purposely misrepresent the facts; but 
 
William McCutchan Morrison 83 
 
 we do and must condemn this whole monopoHstic system 
 by which the country is being ruthlessly stripped of its nat- 
 ural products, with the natives getting but little return — 
 your Company, in the meanwhile, paying to its stockholders 
 enormous dividends, if the available figures are correct. 
 
 "In regard to your request that your letter denying the 
 charges of Dr. Sheppard be published in the next issue of 
 the 'Kasai Herald,' I must say that it is impossible to com- 
 ply with this request until you prove before an impartial 
 tribunal that the statements as made by Dr. Sheppard are 
 untrue ; then your letter will be published most gladly, for 
 we would not willingly do an injustice to the Kasai Com- 
 pany. 
 
 "Hoping that you may see your way clear to conserve the 
 interests not only of your Company, but also of the natives 
 and their country, I am, yours very sincerely." 
 
 Quite a voluminous correspondence passed between Dr. 
 Morrison and the director of the Company, the latter grow- 
 ing all the more haughty and insolent in his "indignant" 
 denials of the facts presented, while the former grew all the 
 more bold and fearless in the presentation of evidence gath- 
 ered from his own personal observation. 
 
 The challenge, laid down by Dr. Morrison, that an im- 
 partial commission be appointed to investigate the situation 
 on the spot, was, of course, not accepted by the Company. 
 They knew quite well what the results of such an investiga- 
 tion would reveal, and they could best deny the truth when 
 the outside world was unenlightened. 
 
 There seemed to be no one in the Congo or even in 
 Belgium itself who was interested enough in the welfare 
 of the natives to investigate these conditions, yet the appeal 
 of Dr. Morrison was not in vain. 
 
 The fact that the British Government felt itself under 
 
84 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 moral obligation to send its own consul to investigate these 
 wrongs is sufficient commentary on the sincerity of Bel- 
 gium's pledge to promote the reforms to which she had 
 committed herself. 
 
 In the month of February, 1908, the British Government 
 ordered their representative in the Congo, Consul Wilfred 
 G. Thesinger, to make an extended tour througii the country 
 to investigate the many complaints that were coming in 
 from all quarters. In the covirse of his journey he visited 
 the Kasai District, the field of operation of the Kasai Rub- 
 ber Company. As Sheppard was the only foreigner in that 
 section who knew the Bakuba language, the Consul re- 
 quested him to accompany him on his trip. Dr. Sheppard 
 readily accepted the invitation as a matter of common cour- 
 tesy and out of personal accommodation to the Consul him- 
 self. The Consul visited many native villages and after a 
 thorough personal investigation, he dispatched a carefully 
 worded report to His Majesty, the King of England. 
 
 Perhaps we might quote a few lines from this report for 
 the sake of those who may be disposed to criticise Dr. Mor- 
 rison for unwarranted interference in State affairs. It will 
 at least clear him of any charges of exaggeration in his 
 statement of the facts. 
 
 Here are some of the facts presented in this report which 
 was sent from Boma, September 9, 1908 : 
 
 "With regard to the Kasai Company, I find that in their 
 dealings with the native population they habitually disre- 
 gard the regulations for the prevention of wilful waste of 
 the rubber resources of the country and cast aside every 
 restriction imposed upon them for the purpose of safe- 
 guarding native rights. This systematic violation of the 
 Congo Free State laws can not be carried on without the 
 knowledge of the directors of the Company, and it would 
 
William McCutchan Morrison 85 
 
 be impossible but for the wilful blindness, if not actual 
 connivance, of the State officials themselves. 
 
 "I am in a position to vouch for the truth of the follow- 
 ing facts : 
 
 "i. That in all the country through which I passed, where 
 this Company has established posts, their agents have is- 
 sued orders that the vines are to be cut, and not tapped 
 as in the past, the quantity of rubber procurable from the 
 latter method not being sufficiently large to satisfy the greed 
 of the Company. There are stringent laws against this 
 cutting of rubber vines, and the State forest inspectors are 
 supposed to report to the authorities all cases which come 
 under their notice. 
 
 "The wholesale destruction of the vines now going on 
 unchecked can be imagined when I say that the thirty-one 
 villages which I visited in the Bakuba district send in 
 monthly 173,000 balls of rubber weighing on an average 
 from 22 to 28 pounds per 1,000, and that experiments show 
 that it takes from 20 to 40 feet of vine to make 10 balls. 
 From reliable evidence I hear that the same system is pur- 
 sued in other districts which I was unable to visit. 
 
 "2. That, although the Kasai Company claim that their 
 rubber is made by voluntary labor, that it is in no way a 
 tax, and that the agents have neither the right nor the 
 power to force the natives to bring it in, each village is 
 taxed so many balls a month, and any shortage is punished 
 by imprisonment, fines, or 'chicotte,'* while the amount 
 fixed is so high that the natives, especially the Bakuba, have 
 no time to cultivate their fields, repair their houses, hunt or 
 fish. 
 
 "3. That, although the Company deny the employment of 
 armed sentries, they have in every village or group of vil- 
 
 *A whip made from hippopotamus hide. 
 
86 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 lages one or more 'kapitas,' or native agents, who are, with 
 few exceptions, all armed with cap guns. The State law 
 prohibits the carrying of cap guns by the kapitas of the 
 Companies, who have to deal with the natives in commercial 
 matters. It may be mentioned that the natives have to sup- 
 ply gratis to these kapitas food, palm wine, a house, and a 
 woman. 
 
 "4. That, while no trader or commercial agent has any 
 right to punish any native by imprisonment or flogging, the 
 Kasai Company agents not only punish the natives in these 
 and other ways for any shortage in the month's supply of 
 rubber, but allow their native kapitas to usurp the same 
 powers in the fullest measure in the villages under their 
 charge. I heard of three cases in which the kapitas im- 
 prisoned women in order to bring pressure upon the men. 
 
 "5. That, while the Company deny that they make any 
 military raids to enforce the collection of rubber, they do 
 force Lukenga, king of the Bakuba, to carry out these raids 
 for them with his native soldiers, who, to the number of 
 some three hundred or more are all armed with cap guns. 
 These soldiers can be met with all over the Bakuba terri- 
 tory scouring the country for the purpose of enforcing the 
 rubber tax and collecting fines for the benefit of the Kasai 
 Company. 
 
 "With regard to the position of the government in refer- 
 ence to these abuses, they must either confess their utter 
 incompetency to enforce their own laws, so far as these 
 Companies are concerned, or confess their complicity in 
 these practices. 
 
 "Much credit is taken by the State and Company for the 
 abolition of the tax in copper crosses, but this tax has been 
 supplanted by still more unjustifiable methods of extortion, 
 and I have no hesitation in affirming that the Kasai Com- 
 
William McCutciian Morrison 87 
 
 pany, even if judged by Congo Free State law, has justly 
 forfeited every right to the privileges granted them by the 
 government in ^December, 1901, and that no method of 
 reform or change of administration will be of any real 
 benefit to the people of this district unless it includes the 
 entire abolition of this Company, which has so long been 
 held up as a model of what a concessionary company 
 should be." 
 
 This very able and statesmanlike report was submitted to 
 both Houses of Parliament in January, 1909, by special 
 command of the King. 
 
 As a result of the publication of this report and the agita- 
 tion that followed it, public indignation was aroused and 
 the stock of the Kasai Rubber Company suffered a severe 
 slump. The directors of the Company were at a loss to 
 know what to do. Their denials of the facts presented in 
 the Consul's report availed them nothing, so something 
 must be done to reestablish themselves before the world 
 and rehabilitate their declining stock. What could they do? 
 Certainly, it was beyond their power to deal with the official 
 representative of the British Government and yet something 
 must be done to replenish their treasury. After a brief 
 consultation they evidently decided upon the following 
 course : they would bring suit against those missionaries 
 who were responsible for the agitation. Having determined 
 upon this course they lost no time in putting it into execu- 
 tion, the results of which are delineated in the following 
 chapter. 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 (Ulir ©rial at ICpopolliuillp 
 
 Dr. Morrison a Marked Man — Sued for Libel by the Kasai Company 
 — The Summons of Drs. Morrison and Sheppard — Dr. Morrison 
 Notifies the Office of the Trial — Unscrupulous Methods in the 
 Trial — The Time and Place Set for the Trial — Dr. Morrison Ap- 
 peals to the American Consul — The Consul Seeks Counsel for the 
 Defendants — The Trial Postponed — Dr. Chester Appeals to the 
 Government at Washington — Influential Friends Protest in Be- 
 half of Dr. Morrison — Mr. Vandervelde Secured to Act for the 
 Defendants — The Trial — Speech of the Prosecuting Attorney — 
 Mr. Vandervelde's Able Defense — The Acquittal — Judgment 
 against the Company. 
 
 We now come to one of the most dramatic episodes in 
 the history of modern missions, the trial of Drs. Morrison 
 and Sheppard for alleged libelous charges against the Kasai 
 Rubber Company. 
 
 From the time that Dr. Morrison came into prominence 
 in the fight for Congo reforms he was a marked man in 
 the eyes of the officials of the Congo State. A mere perusal 
 of the article written by Dr. Sheppard in the "Kasai Her- 
 ald" will convince anyone that there was very little evidence 
 in it on which to base a libel suit ; how much less ground 
 then for implicating Dr. Morrison as editor of that paper. 
 
 Dr. Morrison was not the man to dodge responsibility 
 on a mere technicality, and in the true spirit of unselfishness, 
 he assumed the main responsibility from the very beginning. 
 
 He had already become a man of international reputation 
 and was the central figure in the trial. We have already 
 stated that Dr. Morrison, as legal representative and 
 spokesman for the Mission, had conducted the correspond- 
 ence with the director of the Kasai Company and, from the 
 tone of the letters he received from that gentleman, was 
 
90 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 not greatly surprised when he was notified that he was to 
 be prosecuted. 
 
 The following summons was dated February 23, 1909 : 
 
 "At the request of the Company Kasai, whose headquar- 
 ters are at Dima, proceedings are instituted by its director 
 in Africa, Mr. Louis Napoleon Chaltin, acting in virtue of 
 the power of attorney authenticated September nth, 1908, 
 and deposited at the record office at Leopoldville on Decem- 
 ber 4th, 1908; and if the need arises proceedings will be 
 instituted by Mr. Victorien Lacourt in his capacity of gen- 
 eral director of the Kasai Company. 
 
 "Whereas the person summoned under number one has 
 on the date of January ist, 1908, printed in the 'Kasai 
 Herald,' a paper published at Luebo and edited by the per- 
 son summoned under number two, circulated not only in 
 the Congo but in foreign countries, especially in America, 
 the said article containing lying affirmations and very dam- 
 aging to the plaintift, casting blame on her, tarnishing the 
 honorabilit}' of her dealings and injuring her interests. 
 
 "Whereas, after having compared the so-called prosper- 
 ity of the Bakuba people, several years ago with their pres- 
 ent fictitious misery, the first summoned dared to put in 
 print this question, 'Why this transformation?' and then 
 answered it in a few words as follows, 'There are armed 
 sentries posted by chartered companies, which compel the 
 men and women to spend the best parts of the day and even 
 the night in the making of rubber, and the price paid in 
 exchange is so small that the people can not live upon it.' 
 
 "Whereas, in using the words 'chartered companies,' 
 Dr. Sheppard certainly aims at the Company Kasai, since 
 being on the spot he knows that there is no other company 
 gathering rubber in that section, and it is impossible for 
 him to aim at another company since it has been made 
 
William McCutciian Morrison 91 
 
 known everywhere by certain articles that have been writ- 
 ten reproaching the State for having given the Kasai Com- 
 pany the monoply of the rubber trade in the Kasai District. 
 
 "Whereas the person summoned under number two is 
 the co-author, in his capacity of responsible editor of the 
 'Kasai Herald,' of the damaging facts stated by Dr. Shep- 
 pard, as above indicated. 
 
 "Whereas the summoned knew that the allegations made 
 against the plaintiff are false and having been reminded of 
 their error they have retracted nothing. 
 
 "Wherefore I, the undersigned, Emile Edgar Kocher, 
 bailiff with the Court of Justice of the First Instance sit- 
 ting at Leopoldville, resident at Luebo, hereby summon : 
 I. W. H. Sheppard, of the American Presbyterian Congo 
 Mission, resident at Ibanche, as speaking through Dr. Mor- 
 rison, legal representative of the said Mission. 
 
 "2. W. M. Morrison, a missionary of the American Pres- 
 byterian Congo Mission, responsible editor of the 'Kasai 
 Herald,' resident at Luebo, as speaking for himself, to ap- 
 pear before the Court of the First Instance, sitting at 
 Leopoldville on May 25, 1909, at 9 a.m. 
 
 "For the reasons given above they are hereby condemned 
 to pay cojointly to the plaintiff the sum of 80,000 francs 
 ($16,000) as indemnity for the damage done and to pub- 
 lish the judgment in the next issue of the 'Kasai Herald/ 
 and to bear the costs of the action. And that they may not 
 ignore this summons as given above, I have left with each 
 of them a copy of the present writ. 
 
 "The Bailiff, E. E. Kocher." 
 
 Upon the receipt of this summons Dr. Morrison ad- 
 dressed the following letter to Dr. Chester: "Well, the 
 long-threatened suit of the monopolistic company here 
 
92 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 against Sheppard and myself has at last materialized. The 
 summons came to us a few days ago. The grounds of the 
 suit are the publication in the 'Kasai Herald' of certain 
 statements, 'utterly false, which have brought great damage 
 to the Company.' I judge, however, from the way the 
 summons is worded that there will not be very much effort 
 to disprove our statements with reference to abusing the 
 natives, which is really the point at issue, but the whole 
 trial is to center around a quibble about the word 'char- 
 tered,' which occurs in the article. The Company contends 
 that it is not a chartered company. Of course what the 
 difference between a 'chartered company' and a 'conces- 
 sionary company' is may not be very plain to the average 
 man, but these people are grabbing at straws in their efforts 
 to defend themselves and the system which they have put 
 into operation, which system they mean to perpetuate 
 under the new regime here unless the powers intervene." 
 
 We can judge from Dr. Morrison's interpretation of the 
 case that the Company was aiming in the trial not so much 
 the recouping of their finances, but rather the moral effect 
 that a judgment against the missionaries would have on 
 the outside world. If they could silence the missionaries 
 they could soon reestablish their reputation before the 
 world. 
 
 We have called attention to the fact that the report of 
 Consul Thesinger was presented to the Houses of Parlia- 
 ment in the month of January, 1909, and that the slump in 
 the Company's stock took place immediately thereafter. 
 It is interesting, therefore, to note that the summons 
 of Drs. Morrison and Sheppard was dated on February 
 23, more than a year after the publication of the "lying 
 affirmations" in the "Kasai Herald." But, strange to say, 
 the "damage to the plaintiff" for some reason did not occur 
 
94 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 until after the publication of the Consul's report. There- 
 fore, we are doubtless warranted in placing the interpreta- 
 tion on the case, as indicated in the last chapter; the Com- 
 pany could not bring suit againt the Consul, so in their 
 despair they turned on the missionaries. 
 
 Their desire to secure "justice" is revealed by the 
 unscrupulous methods with which they hoped to prosecute 
 the case. Let us notice that the trial was to take place at 
 Leopoldville, which is over one thousand miles from where 
 the atrocities were being committed. This made it exceed- 
 ingly difficult to secure native witnesses, as the Bakuba 
 people are very timid and rarely ever make a journey of 
 any great distance from their homes. 
 
 Then, too, the trial was set for May 25th, after the be- 
 ginning of the dry season. This would not involve so much 
 in America, with our system of railroads where travel does 
 not entail any difficulties, but this is not the case in Africa. 
 The only means the missionaries had of reaching the scene 
 of the trial was by means of a river steamer. The dry 
 season commences about May i, at which time the smaller 
 streams, such as the Lulua, fall very rapidly, making navi- 
 gation most difficult. In those days no vessel of any de- 
 scription attempted to reach Luebo after the beginning of 
 the dry season, communication with the outside world being 
 cut off. The "L,apsley" has a very deep draught and never 
 attempts to get in or out of Luebo between May ist and 
 October ist. 
 
 Notwithstanding these difficulties, they were warned by 
 the Court that in the event they should, for any reason, 
 fail to appear at the appointed hour, the trial would pro- 
 ceed without them and the judgment would be rendered. 
 
 As soon as Dr. Morrison learned these facts he imme- 
 diately appealed to the American Consul at Boma, the Hon. 
 
William McCutchan Morrison 95 
 
 Wm. W. Handley, who lost no time in taking up the matter 
 with the legal authorities, trying to induce them to postpone 
 the trial to a later date. He pointed out the great diffi- 
 culties that would attend the journey of the missionaries 
 at the time set for the trial and asked for the postponement 
 as a matter of courtesy. At first he was unsuccessful and 
 was informed by the judge, in a very pompous manner, 
 that this was a matter for Dr. Morrison to solve for him- 
 self. 
 
 Upon the receipt of this advice Mr. Handley immediate- 
 ly dispatched a letter to Dr. Morrison informing him of 
 failure to secure a postponement of the trial and urging 
 him to put forth every effort to reach Leopoldville at the 
 appointed time. In the meantime he set to work to secure 
 counsel for the defendants, as he foresaw that the trial 
 would hinge on technicalities. The Kasai Company had 
 already secured the best lawyer they could find in Belgium 
 and had also retained the services of the only desirable 
 French lawyer at Brazzaville, just across the Congo River 
 from Leopoldville. The Consul had tried to secure the 
 services of this lawyer as well as that of several others 
 but had been unsuccessful. He, therefore, appealed to the 
 Governor-General of the Colony at Boma, asking him to 
 furnish a lawyer attached to the Court of Justice tO' act 
 for the defendants. To this request he received the follow- 
 ing reply : "It is the rule that the magistrates attached to 
 the ofifice of the Director of Justice can not be designated 
 to assist private individuals before civil tribunals. 
 
 "Another point is to be taken into consideration. You 
 know that the Reverend Drs. Morrison and Sheppard have 
 not spared the administration on the occasion of their 
 attack on the Kasai Company. A letter, which Dr. Mor- 
 rison wrote me last October, containing violent criticisms 
 —4— 
 
96 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 of the Government, is the proof. Now, there is ground to 
 consider the hypothesis, apropos of the suit at Leopold- 
 ville, in which the reverend gentlemen of the American 
 Mission would believe themselves bound to renew their 
 criticisms. It is evident that the missionaries could not 
 ask their lawyer, a colonial official, to associate himself 
 with them in their attacks against the administration; and, 
 on the other hand, it is necessary for the lawyer to have 
 entire liberty of action." 
 
 The Consul had, therefore, sought counsel at every avail- 
 able source without result. 
 
 As Dr. Morrison had foreseen, they were unable to 
 reach Leopoldville on the appointed date, so our Consul 
 appeared in Court in their behalf, stating that they had 
 been unavoidably detained ; and, as no counsel had been 
 secured for them, he requested that the trial be postponed. 
 A representative of the Kasai Company concurred in this 
 request, as their own counsel had not yet arrived from 
 Belgium, suggesting that the trial should be postponed in 
 order to allow the defendants time to secure a lawyer from 
 Europe. The judge, therefore, granted this joint request 
 and fixed the date of the trial for July 30th, which even 
 then allowed them very little time to secure a lawyer in 
 Europe and get him out to the Congo. It would take over 
 three weeks to get a letter to Europe and the same length 
 of time for the lawyer to make the voyage. 
 
 While these events were transpiring in the Congo the 
 news of the trial was just reaching the authorities at 
 Washington. Upon the receipt of the summons Dr. Mor- 
 rison immediately communicated with Dr. Chester, in 
 Nashville, who took up the matter with the Secretary of 
 State, Philander C. Knox, at Washington. From the facts 
 that had been presented to him. Dr. Chester drew up a very 
 
William McCutchan Morrison 97 
 
 able report of the whole case, which he presented to the 
 Secretary for his consideration.* This report was fol- 
 lowed by many strong and convincing letteii t'nd constant 
 pressure was brought to bear on the State Department. 
 Dr. Chester voluntarily laid aside his many pressmg duties 
 in the office at Nashville and made a number of trips to 
 Washington to interview the authorities in person. He was 
 untiring in his efforts and did not rest until the State De- 
 partment agreed to take a very decided stand in demanding 
 a just and fair trial for the American citizens. The State 
 Department was largely influenced in the position they took 
 by the famous Stannard case. Mr. Stannard, an English 
 missionary, had been arraigned before a Congo Court for 
 alleged libelous statements and appeared in Leopoldville 
 with a number of native witnesses to substantiate his 
 charges. These witnesses were seized by the State authori- 
 ties and imprisoned and so terrorized that they were afraid 
 to testify against the State. Mr. Stannard was, accord- 
 ingly, condemned to pay a very heavy fine, and the State 
 officials published their moral vindication to the world. 
 Then the British Government took a hand in the case, with 
 the result that the decision was reversed in short order ; 
 but this decision received very little, if any, publicity. 
 
 Our Government, therefore, stated most emphatically, 
 in the very beginning, that no such treatment of native 
 witnesses in this case would be tolerated. 
 
 The multitude of influential friends that Dr. Morrison 
 had made while on furlough, now came to his rescue, and 
 delegation after delegation visited Washington on his 
 behalf. 
 
 The Northern Presbyterian Church in the General As- 
 sembly, meeting at Denver, Colo., sent the following reso- 
 
 *See Appendix B. 
 
98 Twenty Years in Africa " 
 
 lution to the State Department : "Resolved, that since two 
 honored and beloved missionaries of the Presbyterian 
 Church U. S., stationed in the Kasai District of the Congo, 
 are about to be brought to trial before the Belgian Court of 
 the Congo Free State, on a charge of libeling a Belgian rub- 
 ber company; and since the Assembly of the Presbyterian 
 Church U. S., now in session, hdS appealed to President 
 Taft and the State Department in their behalf and it is re- 
 ported that our Government will be represented at the trial, 
 this Assembly hereby joins the request to our Government 
 to protect Drs. Morrison and Sheppard by seeing that they 
 have a fair trial and a just verdict." 
 
 The record of the events which we are now narrating 
 would be incomplete without reference to our agent in 
 London, Mr. Robert Whyte. We have indicated something 
 of the part he played in the Congo reforms, but he played 
 a still more important part in the trial of Dr. Morrison. 
 From the very beginning of our mission he has proved 
 himself a staunch friend, and this interest was now greatly 
 augmented by his personal admiration for Dr. Morrison 
 and his deep sympathy for the cause he advocated. As 
 soon as he learned of the trial he interviewed men high in 
 official circles in England and insisted that they take a 
 definite stand in urging that justice should prevail. But 
 the greatest service he rendered was in the securing of a 
 lawyer to act for the defendants. 
 
 We have seen that the only course open to the mission- 
 aries was to secure counsel from Europe. Mr. Whyte im- 
 mediately set to work to secure the very best lawyer that 
 Belgium could produce. He was familiar with the part 
 that the Honorable Emil Vandervelde had played in advo- 
 cating the cause of Congo reforms in the Belgian Parlia- 
 
William McCutchan Morrison 99 
 
 ment. Therefore, Mr. Whyte approached him with tlie 
 proposition of defending the missionaries. 
 
 Mr. Vandervelde welcomed this opportunity of investi- 
 gating personally the conditions in the Congo and gladly 
 laid aside his official duties to make the long journey to 
 Leopoldville in order to see that justice was meted out. 
 
 W'hen he was preparing to sail for the Congo someone 
 reproached him for leaving his official duties and going so 
 far to defend "strangers," to which he replied in words 
 worthy to be remembered, "No man is a stranger in a court 
 of justice." 
 
 The new^s that such an eminent jurist was to take part 
 in the trial came as a great relief to our missionaries, for 
 they w'ere now assured that their case w^as in the hands of a 
 man well qualified in every way to defend them. The 
 prosecutors received the new- of his coming with fear and 
 trembling and w^ould gladly have given up the case if they 
 had had the courage. 
 
 There were other delays by both parties in the case, 
 which led to its postponement until September 30th, 1909. 
 On this date Drs. Morrison and Sheppard were summoned 
 before the Court of the First Instance at Leopoldville, and 
 the trial began. It appears from the records that an error 
 occurred in the summons, which changed the whole aspect 
 of the trial. The Clerk of the Court had been directed 
 by the directors of the Kasai Company to serve two dis- 
 tinct summons : one on Dr. Morrison for charges brought 
 against them in his correspondence with the director at 
 Dima, in which damages to the amount of 50,000 francs 
 ($10,000) were sought; the other on Dr. Sheppard for his 
 article published in the "Kasai Herald," claiming 30,000 
 francs ($6,000) damages. Rut for some unknown reason 
 the two summons were combined, charging Dr. Morrison, 
 
loo Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 as responsible editor of the "Kasai Herald," and Sheppard, 
 as the author of the article, fixing the amount of damages 
 asked by the Company at 80,000 francs. No mention was 
 made of the charges of Dr. Morrison in the correspondence 
 with the director. On account of this error the attorney 
 for the prosecution stated that the action against Dr. Mor- 
 rison would be withdrawn for the present, except, of course, 
 his responsibility as editor, and the Company would reserve 
 the right to sue him at a later date. This may or may not 
 have been an intentional error, but at any rate it undoubt- 
 edly worked out to the advantage of the Company. 
 
 The trial then evolved itself into a case against the author 
 and the editor of the offending article, the amount of dam- 
 ages sought being 30,000 francs. 
 
 These preliminaries having been disposed of, the prose- 
 cuting attorney, Mr. Vandermeeren, took up the various 
 charges and spoke at great length. He declared that the 
 term "chartered company," as used in the article, could 
 only refer to the Kasai Company; that the article was 
 defamatory and damaging; that it had been written to 
 create a wrong impression and had already resulted in 
 considerable damage to the Company and that the defend- 
 ants should be compelled to pay the loss the Company had 
 sustained. He further declared that it was a part of the 
 political campaign against the Belgian Government and the 
 Roman Catholic missionaries in the Congo. He denied the 
 fact that the Company ever employed "armed sentries" and 
 affirmed that "no pressure was ever brought to bear on the 
 natives in the production of rubber." 
 
 He then qualified this astounding statement by saying 
 that "it was against the orders of the Company, but per- 
 haps a few of their buyers might possess guns." He was 
 compelled to admit this fact because Mr. Vandervelde had 
 
William McCutchan Morrison ioi 
 
 previously informed him that he had at Leopoldville twenty 
 witnesses from eleven different villages to prove the state- 
 ment and that some of these very men were, until recently, 
 armed sentries in the employment of the Company. 
 
 Mr. Vandermeeren then tried to prove that conditions in 
 the Kasai District had not changed for the worse since 
 the entrance of the Kasai Company. In order to prove this, 
 he cited letters which the Company had received from dif- 
 ferent members of the Mission in which the methods of 
 the Company's agents were praised. He failed to state, 
 however, that these letters were four or five years old and 
 that it was during this time that the change for the worse 
 had taken place. He even dared to cast reflections on the 
 name of Mrs. Morrison by reading notes that she had writ- 
 ten to different agents of the Company, inviting them to 
 dine or thanking them for courtesies she had received from 
 them. 
 
 He read from the Company's instructions in regard to 
 the prices that were to be paid for rubber. Here Mr. 
 Vandervelde challenged him to produce any evidence to 
 prove that those instructions had been carried out, which, 
 of course, he could not do. 
 
 He launched out into a wholesale criticism of Consul 
 Thesinger's report, claiming that he had visited the country 
 at the request of the missionaries; that Sheppard had only 
 taken him through the worst part of the country and that 
 his visit was too brief to ascertain the true conditions. He 
 further alleged that this was but a part of the British cam- 
 paign against the Congo and questioned the veracity of all 
 the statements contained in the report. 
 
 He asked why the other missionaries in the Congo, es- 
 pecially the Roman Catholics, had not seen any of the 
 abuses complained of by the Protestant missionaries. Here 
 
I02 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 Mr. Vandervelde again interrupted him by stating that it 
 was to the honor of the Protestant missionaries that they 
 had cried out against these abuses and to the injury of the 
 Roman Cathohcs who had remained silent. 
 
 Mr. Vandervelde then opened the case for the defense. 
 He stated that he had been severely criticised for undertak- 
 ing the defense of foreigners in the Congo against a Belgian 
 Company, but he replied that he had come in the interest 
 of the Belgians themselves as well as the Protestant mis- 
 sionaries, to fight for Belgium against the abuses that 
 meant the ruin of the Congo. He further stated that he 
 had come not only to defend the missionaries, but to plead 
 for the native people who were being deprived of all their 
 natural rights. 
 
 He stated that he regretted very much that he could not 
 take up the case of Dr. Morrison in his correspondence 
 with the director, as it would have offered an excellent 
 opportunity to bring to light the abusive system of the 
 Kasai Company. 
 
 He then confirmed in conclusive arguments, supported 
 by many documents and witnesses, the statements made by 
 Dr. Sheppard in the article and the charges brought by 
 Dr. Morrison. He justified Dr. Morrison's opinion of 
 Congo justice and stated that if he were not a lawyer he, 
 too, would have been doubtful of receiving fair treatment, 
 in view of the fact that fifty per cent of the stock in the 
 Company was owned by the Belgian Government and its 
 principal officers were appointed by the Government, as 
 was the judge before whom the case was being tried. 
 
 He produced a copy of the Company's instructions to its 
 agents, stating that the price was to be regulated by com- 
 petition. He proved that, since there was no competition 
 in the Kasai District, that prices as low as 25 centimes 
 
William McCutchan Morrison 103 
 
 per kilo (or less than two cents per pound) was the maxi- 
 mum to be allowed. He proved that the Company was a 
 monopoly and that the price had been reduced as soon as 
 they began operations. He also produced a circular letter 
 from the director to the agents, pointing out to them the 
 habitual laziness of the natives and informing them that 
 force must be used to induce them to work. 
 
 He took up the question of armed sentries used in the 
 collection of rubber by force and asked for permission to 
 present the native witnesses, who were present to substan- 
 tiate the charge. He further reminded the Court that fifty 
 legal actions were at that time pending against the agents 
 of the Company for ill-treatment of the natives. 
 
 He took up the Consul's report and showed that it was 
 this report, and not Dr. Shcppard's article, that had caused 
 the decline in the Company's stock. He further stated that 
 the prosecution must accept the report as true or else judge 
 the Consul as a man who was imposing on his country. 
 
 He sternly rebuked the prosecuting attorney for his dis- 
 courteous reference to Mrs. Morrison and told him that no 
 gentleman would have used innocent correspondence in 
 such a manner. 
 
 He declared, in conclusion, that the two main points for 
 the judge to decide were whether there was malicious intent 
 in writing the article, and the right to prove the statements 
 contained in it. 
 
 He openly challenged the prosecution to allow him to 
 present the native witnesses and prove these statements. 
 The prosecution refused to give its consent. "In that case," 
 replied Mr. Vandervelde, "you arc morally condemned, 
 whatever the decision of the court may be." 
 
 Both sides having presented their arguments, the case 
 was referred to the Tribunal for their decision. (There is 
 
104 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 no trial by jury in Belgian jurisprudence, but only before 
 a Tribunal who review the evidence in secret and render 
 their decision.) 
 
 In the face of the evidence presented, it was apparent to 
 any fair-minded man that only one just decision could be 
 given. The Tribunal announced its verdict, which was a 
 masterpiece of clearness and common sense, to the effect 
 that the "case against Dr. Morrison is ruled out of court 
 and that the Kasai Company is not justified in her pro- 
 ceedings against Dr. Sheppard and the charges against him 
 are dismissed. And furthermore, the Kasai Company is 
 condemned to pay the expenses and costs of proceedings 
 to the amount of forty-two francs." 
 
 The Kasai Company, in its usual blustering manner, had 
 threatened to appeal the case should the court render a 
 verdict unfavorable to them and that they would immedi- 
 ately continue the proceedings against Dr. Morrison. 
 
 Mr. Vandervelde then very generously offered his serv- 
 ices in the event of an appeal and especially in case of 
 further action against Dr. Morrison. 
 
 But after the trial was concluded the directors of the 
 Company were thoroughly chagrined and convinced that 
 they had no just grounds on which to base an appeal in the 
 case against Dr. Sheppard. They were likewise persuaded 
 that any further publicity as to their methods, which would 
 most certainly be brought out in a case against Dr. Mor- 
 rison, would reflect nothing to their credit and that silence 
 was the best policy for them. 
 
 Then, too, the government at Washington had taken a far 
 more active interest in the case than the directors of the 
 Company had anticipated, and they had no desire to strain 
 matters any further. 
 
 Not only so, but the coming of so eminent a man as Mr. 
 
William McCutchan Morrison 105 
 
 Vandervelde had attracted the attention of all Europe and 
 for the time being all eyes had been centered on the court 
 room at Leopoldville. The Company was forced to the con- 
 clusion that they had attempted too much and were glad 
 to back out as gracefully as possible. 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 1£rl|orH from tt|f ©rial 
 
 The Triumph of Right over Might — Rejoicing at the Mission — Dr. 
 Morrison's Letter of Appreciation — The Executive Committee 
 Thanks Mr. Vandervelde — Results of the Trial. 
 
 The announcement of the court, in acquitting our mis- 
 sionaries, was received throughout the civiHzed world with 
 general satisfaction. It was the triumph of the weak over 
 the strong and of liberty over oppression. Their vindica- 
 tion under such adverse circumstances, when all the odds 
 seemed to be against them, calls to mind the words of 
 the poet : 
 
 "Truth forever on the scaffold, 
 Wrong forever on the throne : 
 Yet that scaffold sways the future. 
 And 'behind the dim unknown 
 Standeth God within the shadow 
 Keeping watch above His own." 
 
 It demonstrated the fact that the battle is not always to 
 the strong, nor the race always to the swift. It w^as the 
 Kasai Company that was on trial before the Judge of the 
 whole earth, and He was the One who pronounced the 
 verdict. The Kasai Company would have been condemned 
 before the eyes of all just men, whatever decision the Court 
 might have rendered. 
 
 The news of the acquittal of the missionaries was re- 
 ceived at Luebo and Ibanchc with the greatest enthusiasm. 
 A holiday was declared and special services of thanksgiving 
 to God were held in the local churches. These natives 
 knew enough about Congo justice at that time to recognize 
 the fact that only God himself could so turn the hearts of 
 
io8 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 men as to make them subservient to His will. It was a 
 great practical demonstration to the native Christians, so 
 recently called out of darkness into His marvelous light, 
 that God hears and answers the prayers of His people. 
 Every day that Drs. Morrison and Sheppard were absent 
 at the trial, they had been remembered before the throne 
 of grace at the sunrise prayer meetings, as well as in the 
 private devotions of the people. Days of fasting had also 
 been observed; their deliverance had largely been brought 
 about by prayer. 
 
 When Drs. Morrison and Sheppard returned to the Mis- 
 sion a few weeks after the trial, perhaps the largest crowd 
 ever assembled at Luebo was on the beach that day to wel- 
 come them. They received this generous, whole-hearted 
 greeting with the greatest satisfaction and yet in a deep 
 spirit of humility. 
 
 Dr. Morrison, in writing to the church papers about the 
 trial, pays the following eloquent tribute to Mr. Vander- 
 velde : "We were most fortunate in having as our advocate 
 the Hon. Emil Vandervelde, the distinguished Belgian 
 statesman, who, during all these years, has so nobly fought, 
 even in Belgium, for the cause of this oppressed land. His 
 speech in our defense was a masterpiece of eloquence, in- 
 vincible logic, burning sarcasm and stinging rebuke of the 
 whole iniquitous system of forced labor, and a pathetic 
 appeal that justice be done in this case, not only for the 
 sake of the missionaries who dared to speak in defense of 
 this oppressed land, but especially in behalf of the native 
 people for whose help he had primarily come. All honor 
 is due Mr. Vandervelde, who, at such a great sacrifice, has 
 come out for us and the native people at this time. We 
 hope that some definite action will be taken by all interested 
 in this cause to show him our appreciation for all he has 
 
William McCutchan Morrison 109 
 
 done. It is true that he refused to accept any fee; he 
 wishes it to be understood that he has come out purely for 
 the natives and for the sake of right. 
 
 "We wish also to thank our fellow missionaries of other 
 Protestant Societies in England and America and Sweden, 
 who are laboring in the Congo, for all their interest and 
 sympathy at this time. At the recent Conference of the 
 Missionaries of all Societies working here, a special session 
 of prayer was held for us and for the oppressed natives in 
 this land. They attended the court in a body and in every 
 way possible have held up our hands. 
 
 "We wish to thank our government at Washington for 
 so closely following the case to see that we got justice. 
 The American Consul-General and his Vice-Consul were 
 here and also the English Consul, all of whom have taken 
 a vital, personal interest in the case." 
 
 The Executive Committee of Foreign Missions, through 
 Dr. Chester addressed the following letter to Mr. Vander- 
 velde upon the receipt of the verdict: "We have just re- 
 ceived letters telling us of the splendid defense of our 
 accused missionaries which you made before the court at 
 Leopoldville, and also of your telling appeal for the more 
 just and humane treatment of the natives in the Congo 
 State at the hands of the concessionary companies and of 
 the State authorities, by whom these companies are up- 
 held. 
 
 "I also take pleasure in stating to you that our Depart- 
 ment of State at Washington has forwarded to us the re- 
 port of the American Consul General, Mr. Handley, of the 
 proceedings of the trial, in which he speaks in the very 
 highest terms of your management of the case. 
 
 "The Executive Committee of Foreign Missions, of 
 which I am secretary, directs me to convey to you this 
 
no Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 expression of the high appreciation of your services in our 
 behalf in connection with this matter. We gratefully rec- 
 ognize the fact that the financial remuneration whi-'li we 
 have made you was merely nominal and could not have 
 even approximately reimbursed you for the labor and loss 
 of time which were involved in your visit to the Congo. 
 We, therefore, accept what you have done as a work and 
 labor of love on your part, for which your reward will be 
 that which comes to all men, in the course of Providence, 
 who render unselfish service to their fellow men." 
 
 The trial of Drs. Morrison and Sheppard seemed indeed 
 harsh and bitter, and, no doubt, many of God's people at 
 that time wondered why He permitted His servants to be 
 so unjustly treated by godless men. But now we can look 
 back and see that God, as He often does, permitted these 
 men to overstep their bounds in order that He might over- 
 rule their wicked actions and thus make the wrath of man 
 to praise Him. The Pharoah of the oppression was raised 
 up in Egypt in order that God's power might be declared 
 among the nations of the earth. It was the persecution that 
 arose after the death of Stephen that scattered the disciples 
 throughout the then known world and enabled the church 
 to fulfill, in a very large measure, the Lord's last command 
 when He said, "Go ye into all the world and preach the 
 gospel to every creature." The Apostle Paul was bound in ' 
 prison, but the Word of God was not bound, the name of 
 Christ being made known throughout the whole Praetorian 
 Guard, and many of the younger disciples became more 
 abundantly bold to speak the Word of God without fear. 
 Luther was imprisoned because he dared to defy the ec- 
 clesiastical authorities of his day, but from that prison came 
 forth the Word of God in the language of the common 
 people and the tide of Reformation swept over the world. 
 
William McCutciian Morrison hi 
 
 Out of this trial at Leopoldville there have come reforms, 
 which, though far from complete, have outreached the san- 
 guine hopes of the most optimistic and farsighted seer 
 among all the servants of God in the Congo at that time. 
 It was a great moral victory and did more to convince the 
 civilized world of the true condition in the Congo than all 
 the newspaper articles that had ever been written. 
 
 Sir Arthur Conan Doyle paid tribute to Dr. Morrison 
 when he said, in substance, that Dr. Morrison, on trial at 
 Leopoldville, stood as a nobler and more perfect represen- 
 tation of liberty than the statue by Bartholdi in the harbor 
 of New York City. 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 Jfourtiry to tl|p laluba — itatli of Mv&. Matx'xson 
 
 Great Success of the Mission — Necessity for Expansion — Dr. and 
 Mrs. Morrison on Evangelistic Tour — Her Work Along the Waj' 
 — In the Heart of the Baluba Country — Return to Luebo — Last 
 Illness of Mrs. Morrison — Her Death and Its Effect on the 
 Native People — Dr. Morrison's Courageous Spirit under Trial — 
 The Challenge of Mrs. Morrison's Death to the Home Church. 
 
 Immediately upon the return of Dr. Morrison from 
 Leopoldville, after an absence of many months, he and 
 Mrs. Morrison went to Ibanche for a short stay in order 
 that he might complete the paraphrasing of certain portions 
 of the Bible. When this was finished they returned to 
 Luebo and he placed the manuscript in the hands of the 
 native printers. 
 
 We have already indicated that the prospects for the 
 expansion of the mission work seemed to lie in the direction 
 of the Baluba country. The unparalleled success of the 
 Mission during the last few years was due to the fact that 
 many people were coming to Luebo, often from a very great 
 distance, seeking the gospel. Delegation after delegation 
 were coming in, practically every day, from regions of 
 which the missionaries had never heard, asking for teachers 
 and evangelists. Practically every Christian became a mes- 
 senger of the Cross, and wherever he went he told the won- 
 derful gospel story which he had learned from the mis- 
 sionaries at Luebo. 
 
 Dr. Morrison had long since realized that this vast, 
 untouched region beyond could not be properly reached 
 from Luebo, with our slow methods of travel. Distance 
 limited the missionary's efforts and entailed unnecessary 
 
114 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 hardship. The only wise poHcy to adopt was to estabHsh 
 a mission station nearer the center of this great population. 
 
 The progress of the Mission has always been hindered 
 by two very important factors: the refusal of the State to 
 grant additional land on which to establish stations, and 
 the failure of the church at home to provide the necessary 
 recruits with whom to man the field. But Dr. Morrison 
 was convinced that these two obstacles could and must be 
 overcome, for, if the Mission could not grow, it must soon 
 die. 
 
 The members of the Mission realized that Dr. Morrison 
 needed a change to relieve him from the great strain to 
 which he had been subjected during the last year. It was 
 unanimously decided to send him on a journey to the heart 
 of the Baluba country to select sites for at least two new 
 stations. Mrs. Morrison knew that such a long journey as 
 this, mostly on foot, would be attended with many hard- 
 ships and some risks, especially for a woman, but she in- 
 sisted on accompanying her husband. She never considered 
 herself when she thought of service to others. 
 
 They left Luebo early in August, 1910, on their way to 
 Luluaburg, making the journey by easy stages. Dr. Mor- 
 rison never believed in hurrying through a village and took 
 ample time to examine those who were applying for church 
 membership, to encourage the new converts in their Chris- 
 tian lives and to advise with the local chiefs for the making 
 of laws that would improve the moral atmosphere of the 
 communities. 
 
 Mrs. Morrison was the first white woman to travel over 
 much of this country, and naturally she was the center of 
 attraction. Her chief charm to the natives was her long 
 suit of hair; they had never seen anything like it before. 
 She was constantly called upon to place it on exhibition 
 
William McCutchan Morrison 
 
 115 
 
 and explain Just what it was. She was surrounded from 
 early morning till late at night by a great throng of curi- 
 osity-filled people, who scarcely allowed her a moment's 
 rest. She was too anxious to gain their friendship to think 
 
 MRS. MORRISON 
 
 of herself and never turned anyone away without trying 
 to please them. 
 
 She devoted a good part of her time to dressing sores 
 and ministering to the ills of the people. But her time was 
 by no means consumed in amusing the people and in min- 
 istering to their physical needs. She was a true evangelistic 
 missionary and never let an opportunity pass without speak- 
 ing to them about their spiritual welfare. She spent many 
 hours in every village talking to the women and advising 
 
ii6 Twenty Years IN Africa 
 
 them about the problems of their christian Hves. The 
 beauty and sincerity of her sweet christian character made 
 an indelible impression on those benighted women. They 
 had never met anyone who took such a personal interest in 
 their welfare and their darkened hearts were profoundly 
 touched. The "perfume of her life" yet lingers along the 
 way she passed, and when we pass along that same way 
 to-day the women still speak of "Mama Mutoto" in the 
 most affectionate terms. 
 
 The manner in which the people received the gospel was 
 an inspiration to her. In writing to a friend she says : "I 
 would like to be a converted heathen myself. To know 
 that some one loved them enough to die for them is so 
 strange and new to them. When they do believe, their faith 
 is so simple, childlike and joyous. They are not worried 
 with any 'new theology' either. To say Tt is God's Word' 
 is enough. That ends all doubt." 
 
 Luluaburg is most strategically located for a mission site. 
 It lies on the main highway about midway between Luebo 
 and Lusambo, and on one of the principal highways leading 
 into the Baluba country to the south and east. The Mis- 
 sion, recognizing this fact, had applied for a concession 
 but were refused on the ground that the Roman Catholics 
 were already settled there. The Mission was not to be 
 outwitted by such flimsy excuses. Dr. Morrison went a 
 little further to the northeast and selected a place as second 
 choice. After several years of negotiation a site in this 
 region was finally granted and named Mutoto in honor 
 of Mrs, Morrison. 
 
 They continued their journey to the Baluba coui.tr\'^, 
 passing through great villages with teeming populations. 
 Everywhere along the route they were received with the 
 greatest enthusiasm and were overwhelmed with requests 
 
William McCutchan Morrison 117 
 
 for evangelists and teachers. After a few weeks spent in 
 this region and having seen something of the unparalleled 
 opportunity that lay before him, Dr. Morrison was con- 
 vinced that the Mission should have at least three new sta- 
 tions there if we were to meet the responsibility assumed 
 by the General Assembly in 1907. 
 
 They turned back from the great village of Mutomba 
 Kachi, at that time the most powerful and influential of all 
 the Baluba chiefs, and continued their journey in the direc- 
 tion of Lusambo. The strategic importance of Lusambo, 
 with its thousands of people, appealed to Dr. Morrison in 
 a peculiar manner, and he determined to apply for a con- 
 cession there in spite of the fact that it was a Roman 
 Catholic stronghold. This petition was not granted, how- 
 ever, until several years after the Roman Catholics had 
 established themselves at Luebo, within sight of our own 
 station. 
 
 Their long journey, covering between five and six hun- 
 dred miles, was completed after an absence of nearly three 
 months. 
 
 During the last two we^ks of the journey Mrs. Morrison 
 was far from well, having suffered several attacks of fever. 
 She went to bed as soon as she reached home, although at 
 first there was nothing to indicate that her condition was 
 serious. Finally she grew worse. Dr. Coppedge, who at- 
 tended her in this her last illness, describes her symptoms 
 as follows : "An attack of bilious intermittent fever, lasting 
 about three weeks, during which time her life was despaired 
 of, seemed about to terminate favorably. Large doses of 
 quinine had been given hypodermically for ten days and the 
 fever had almost disappeared, while other distressing symp- 
 toms had abated. On November the 21st, 1910, she was 
 able, for the first time, to sit up in a half reclining position 
 
ii8 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 and had taken some nourishment. She had lain down again 
 in fine spirits, when one of the ladies attending her left the 
 room to get some milk for her. In less than a moment she 
 returned and found her patient without a sign of life. The 
 most vigorous attempts to revive her produced no results, 
 and we were soon forced to realize that our dear frierd 
 had departed this life." 
 
 Her death, occurring as it did just at the moment when 
 she seemed to be on the road to recovery, came like a thun- 
 derbolt to the little company of missionaries at Luebo and 
 Ibanche. But it came as a greater shock to the native peo- 
 ple. Death is to them the greatest of all mysteries. More- 
 over, they could not understand why so lovely a character 
 should be taken from them. Many of the unbelieving 
 natives, who had heard the missionaries speak of "eternal 
 life," now ignorantly scoffed. If this gospel, which he 
 proclaimed, could not save the missionary from the dread 
 foe of death, what hope did it hold out to them ! 
 
 It is the native custom to mourn for their dead with 
 great lamentations and wailings, but Dr. Morrison would 
 permit no such demonstration as this. A vivid picture of 
 what this "muadi" or wailing is like may be obtained by 
 a visit to the negroes in distress on any of the plantations 
 of the old South. The primitive savage still speaks through 
 them ; in their souls runs the same wild wierd wail, the 
 same haunting mourning of the native of the jungle. Take 
 grief away from this familiar scene (for there is little 
 love, as we understand it, among the natives) and add to 
 it the unspeakable heathen rites and customs, and you h.'vve 
 the most heart-breaking sight of missionary experience. 
 Having witnessed such a scene as this, we can understand 
 more clearly what the apostle means when he speaks of 
 those "who through fear of death were all their lifetime 
 
William McCutciian Morrison 119 
 
 subject to bondage." Death to them is an ogre, a super- 
 human evil spirit who has overcome the human. They 
 must seek to drive him away by every device of noise and 
 incantation. 
 
 It was here that the true greatness of Dr. Morrison and 
 his strong faith in the promises of God manifested itself. 
 Instead of thinking of his own grief and remaining in soli- 
 tude to mourn, we find him moving in and out among the 
 stricken native people, explaining to them the mystery of 
 death. 
 
 Mr. Motte Martin, in writing of him at this time, says : 
 "The moment after the gentle spirit of his wife had so 
 suddenly departed, he went out to comfort the weeping 
 native boys, whom she had gathered to train, telling them 
 not to weep, because Mama Mutoto was perfectly happy 
 now as the Father had taken her to His home above. It 
 was beautiful to see him passing through the assembled 
 thousands (who had rapidly gathered at the news of her 
 death) with perfect calm and serenity, comforting all in 
 his path. And as I led him into a secluded room in my 
 home, he was already weaving the tangled ends of events 
 into the providence and plan of the Father and saying, 'Thy 
 will, not mine, be done.' And, indeed, he has led us all 
 to see that God. by her death, has instructed the natives 
 in a way and to a degree that, humanly speaking, He could 
 not, perhaps, have done through her in years of living 
 service." 
 
 Thus Dr. Morrison, by his heroic example, became a sign 
 to these people just as the prophet Ezekiel did to the house 
 of Israel when God took away from him the desire of his 
 eyes with a stroke and forbade him to weep or mourn. The 
 prophet spoke to the people in the morning and at even his 
 wife died; and he did in the morning as he was <:ommanded. 
 
I20 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 He was compelled to teach them a great lesson by his own 
 sad experience. 
 
 Dr. Morrison attended the early morning prayer meeting 
 the day after the death of his wife and bore himself with 
 the greatest spirit of courage and fortitude. 
 
 We read in the history of Israel, when the people were in 
 dire need, occasioned by a great famine, that two women 
 came to the king with a very distressing case to settle. 
 When the king had heard the almost heartless indictment 
 from the lips of a mother he rent his clothes in anguish, 
 and as he walked upon the wall the people beheld that he 
 had "sackcloth within upon his flesh." The king him- 
 self was already bowed down with grief at the desperate 
 condition of his people, his heart was filled with inexpres- 
 sible anguish, and yet by virtue of his position he must 
 wear his sackcloth underneath his royal garments. As a 
 king and leader among the people he could not give way to 
 his feelings, he must maintain his courage and outward 
 calm at all costs in order to keep up the courage of his 
 people. Although he was a king, yet he was a sufferer; 
 a leader of the people, and one who shared their burdens. 
 
 Dr. Morrison, by virtue of his high position among these 
 people, in this, the greatest of all sorrows, wore his sack- 
 cloth within ; he maintained his outward calm and never 
 gave way to his grief in the presence of the people. 
 
 At this time he translated the words of that beautiful 
 hymn : 
 
 "Asleep in Jesus ! blessed sleep. 
 From which none ever wakes to weep. 
 A calm and undisturbed repose 
 Unbroken by the last of foes." 
 
 The funeral was conducted from the church on Novem- 
 
William McCutciian Morrison 121 
 
 ber 22nd by Rev. Motte Martin. A great throng was assem- 
 bled underneath the church shed, and his message was filled 
 with hope and comfort to all who were present. 
 
 The Covenanter boys and the girls from the Pantops 
 Home brought flowers, and a place was given to one of the 
 native evangelists who spoke in behalf of the Kasai people, 
 closing his remarks with a touching appreciation of God's 
 gifts to them in the person of Mama Mutoto, saying as he 
 closed, "She died for us." 
 
 Her class of girls then sang the last hymn she had taught 
 them, "Lead Kindly Light." 
 
 Her earthly remains were laid to rest in the Mission 
 compound at Luebo, where she had given four years of 
 faithful and devoted service in behalf of the people she had 
 learned to love so well. 
 
 Her death, indeed, came as a challenge to the church at 
 home to send out the long needed recruits. Dr. Coppedge, 
 in writing to the church papers at this time, says : "Mrs. 
 Morrison had been repeatedly urged by many members of 
 the Mission, including myself, to take her furlough; but 
 in view of the failure of reenforcements to arrive, she 
 thought it her duty to remain, fully cognizant of the risk 
 she was running. Medical opinion in the Congo is unani- 
 mously in favor of a change of climate at least every three 
 years for all persons of Caucasian blood. The failure of 
 the people at home to understand the necessity for this 
 change may yet be responsible for other deaths. Perhaps, 
 this death is necessary to arouse the church to a sense of 
 its duty to the thousands who are begging for the gospel, 
 as well as to a sense of the obligation of every church to 
 take proper care of its missionaries." 
 
 In the kingdom of God time is not necessarily a measure 
 of service. The Redeemer of the world spent only three 
 
122 , Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 years in the active ministry, but eternity itself can not 
 measure the fulness of that service. Mrs. Morrison was 
 permitted to give only four years of her life to Africa, but 
 who can measure the far-reaching results of her labors? 
 Dr. James O. Reavis says of her, "I would rather live those 
 four years in Africa that she lived and go Home with the 
 world's love and praise under my feet and heaven's bene- 
 diction on my brow, than to live fifty years as I am spend- 
 ing them." 
 
 Her pastor, Dr. Chisolm, who knew her well and loved 
 her as a father, says : "In the last analysis there are only 
 three essential elements in a true christian character : a 
 clear conception of the most worthy mission in life, a de- 
 liberate choice of the same, and a definite consecration of 
 life to that chosen cause. But the temperature of the heart 
 towards Christ is the most important factor in each of these 
 elements, because it determines the clearness of the vision, 
 the fixedness of the choice, and the depth of the devotion. 
 
 "And this little woman of God, Mutoto, possessed as 
 her greatest treasure what the apostle calls 'a burning 
 heart.' This was the secret of that life of boundless energy 
 and indomitable will which she poured out at Luebo in the 
 same loving, lavish fashion as Mary emptied her alabaster 
 box of ointment at Bethany. She had seen the Christ with 
 the eyes of that burning heart. She knew Him whom she 
 had believed, and without reserve she yielded herself to His 
 control, so that the fulness of His power flowed through 
 her life unhindered." 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 lli0itlo% CHattarg Slalatttia— i>frnnii iFurlougli ^omt 
 
 Dr. Morrison's Sorrow Intensified by Native Customs — Continues 
 His Work as Usual — Short Trip to Canary Islands — Arrival of 
 Reenforcements— Revisits the Baluba Country — Departure for 
 America — Publication of Bible Paraphrases — Death of His 
 Mother — Farewell Service in His Home Church — Returns to 
 Luebo. 
 
 After the death of Mrs. Morrison the different mission- 
 aries at Luebo threw their homes open to Dr. Morrison and 
 urged him to come and live with them. But out of consid- 
 eration for a native custom, he declined their cordial invi- 
 tations and continued to live in his own home. 
 
 When anyone dies in Africa it is the custom for the fam- 
 ily to abandon the home through fear of evil spirits. Dr. 
 Morrison was ever careful of native customs, and he real- 
 ized that if he were to leave his home at this time the na- 
 tives would interpret the move in the hght of their own 
 traditions. And in order tliat he might further be an 
 example to them he remained in his home at the sacrifice 
 of his own personal feelings. This act on his part perhaps 
 can not be fully appreciated by those who do not have a 
 proper conception of the isolation and loneliness of the 
 missionary in time of sorrow. The burden of the sorrow- 
 ing heart is made lighter when the sufferer is surrounded 
 by a multitude of friends who can understand and sympa- 
 thize. But among the natives of Africa there is very little 
 affection between husband and wife, and therefore there 
 can be no adequate conception of the sorrow of the mis- 
 sionary in such a loss. How gladly then would Dr. Mor- 
 rison have sought the constant companionship of the few 
 understanding friends with whom he was associated, but 
 
124 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 he sacrificed these desires in order that he might be an 
 example to the unbeHeving natives. 
 
 Upon the death of Mrs. Morrison the Mission again 
 urged Dr. Morrison to take his furlough, which was long 
 overdue, notwithstanding the fact that no reenforcements 
 had arrived. He refused to consider himself in the face of 
 the unprecedented needs of the field and remained at his 
 post. Finally, however, he yielded to their urgent requests 
 and agreed to take a few months rest at the Canary Islands. 
 He left the Mission early in 191 1, but soon found that he 
 was more isolated there than at Luebo. He found no 
 suitable companions among those who were absorbed only 
 in the pursuit of weath, and without his regular work to 
 occupy his mind he was more lonely than he had been 
 before. After a very few weeks he again sailed for the 
 Congo and was soon back at his regular work. 
 
 During the next few months he devoted the greater part 
 of his time to translation work. We have intimated that 
 his first work along this line was the translation of the 
 International Sunday School Lessons, covering a period 
 of three years, and the paraphrasing of the sections be- 
 tween these lessons. This gave the natives a general run- 
 ning story of the historical part of the Bible. This book 
 created a demand for more of the Scriptures, especially 
 for use in the school work and in the training of young 
 men for the gospel ministry. At the unanimous request 
 of his colleagues, Dr. Morrison undertook the paraphrasing 
 of the New Testament Epistles. This was important 
 enough to demand his entire time and attention, but the 
 constant pressure of the work, due to lack of missionaries, 
 prevented him from giving his undivided time to any one 
 task. These outside interruptions were so numerous and 
 
126 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 frequent that he was unable to complete the task before the 
 time agreed upon for his furlough. 
 
 Early in 1912 six new missionaries arrived at Luebo, and 
 with them came the news from the great Convention in 
 Chattanooga, Tenn., that a dozen or more recruits would 
 soon follow. When this first installment of missionaries 
 arrived Dr. Morrison was confined to his bed with fever, 
 and yet he was settling "palavers"* and directing a large 
 part of the evangelistic work. 
 
 At the beginning of the dry season Dr. Morrison was 
 instructed by the Mission to take his furlough, the second 
 one and also his last. Thus he served for twenty years 
 with only two regular furloughs. 
 
 The news of the coming of additional recruits seemed 
 to indicate that the time for the expansion of the Mission 
 was about to arrive. For many years the Mission had had 
 its face turned toward the great Baluba country with a 
 burning desire to enter in and take possession, but the 
 force had not been adequate to the task. The message 
 from the great Convention, together with the definite prom- 
 ise of the Executive Committee to Mr. Martin to bring the 
 mission force up to seventy-five missionaries, filled them 
 with renewed hope and vigor. 
 
 It was decided that Dr. Morrison should take another 
 trip to the Baluba country "to spy out the land" and to make 
 definite selections of new stations. Of course, the new 
 missionaries were not to occupy these stations as soon as 
 they arrived in the field. The Mission had learned, from 
 past experience, that it would probably take several years 
 to secure the right to occupy the land. It was further 
 determined that Mr. Bedinger, who had just arrived in 
 the field, should accompany him on his journey. Mr. 
 *Disputes among the natives. 
 
William McCutchan Morrison 127 
 
 Bedinger states that this was one of the most delightful 
 experiences of his life and the true greatness of the man 
 made an indelible impression upon him. They walked all 
 the way, because Dr. Morrison was a very heavy man and 
 would not allow the natives to carry him in a hammock. 
 There was always much confusion in the early morning, 
 when they were making their preparations for the day's 
 journey, so that their morning devotions were nearly al- 
 ways interrupted. But as soon as they got beyond the 
 noise and din of the village Dr. Morrison would take his 
 companion by the arm and lead him into some quiet, se- 
 cluded spot by the roadside for a season of prayer. Mr. 
 Bedinger says he never heard such soul-stirring prayers 
 as Dr. Morrison offered as he poured out his heart before 
 God. Dr. Morrison never undertook any task, great or 
 small, without prayer. 
 
 They followed practically the same route that Dr. and 
 Mrs. Morrison had taken two years before. They went 
 from Luebo directly to Luluaburg, thence south into the 
 Baluba country. They selected a site which seemed to be 
 suitable for mission purposes. We may remark in this 
 connection, that after eight years the Mission, at the pres- 
 ent writing, is still negotiating with the government for a 
 concession in this section. Several places have already 
 been refused, and the temporary site at Bibangu is under 
 dispute at this time. After spending several weeks in this 
 section they journeyed on to Lusambo and chose another 
 site. 
 
 At Lusambo Dr. Morrison secured passage to Leopold- 
 ville on his journey homeward, and Mr. Bedinger returned 
 to Luebo alone. 
 
 Dr. Morrison took with him a young man named Mata- 
 
 bisha to assist him in the completion of the Bible transla- 
 
 —5— - ^ 
 
128 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 tions he had undertaken the year before. They reached 
 London in September, where they met the new party of 
 outgoing missionaries. Several most dehghtful and profit- 
 able days were spent there with him, and they received 
 most valuable information from him as to the purchase of 
 supplies. Matabisha spent several weeks with him in Lon- 
 don, until the Bible work was completed and then returned 
 to Luebo with a later party of missionaries. Dr. Morrison 
 sailed for America and placed the mjanuscripts in the 
 hands of the American Tract Society for publication. 
 
 His time at home was spent much more quietly than on 
 his first furlough. He visited many churches throughout 
 the Assembly, and his thrilling message never failed to 
 awaken his hearers to a deeper sense of their responsibility 
 toward the benighted tribes of the Congo. 
 
 While at home his heart was burdened with the great 
 sorrow that came to him in the death of his aged mother. 
 She had lived a long and useful life; she had finished her 
 course and was prepared to receive the crown of righteous- 
 ness that was laid up for her. Her name will stand high 
 in the list of that innumerable host of godly and pious 
 mothers who have given great sons to the service of man- 
 kind. She was "twice his mother," for she gave him his 
 physical life and through her prayers and godly example 
 he was born again into the kingdom of heaven. 
 
 Shortly after the death of his mother Dr. Morrison, re- 
 turned to his work in Luebo. A farewell service was held 
 for him in the Monmouth Church, of which he was a mem- 
 ber. I was told by one present on that occasion that his 
 parting message to the congregation was one of the most 
 touching he had ever heard. In his closing remarks he 
 asked them to remember him in their prayers, stating that 
 he was now doubly in need of them, as he had been deprived 
 
William McCutchan Morrison 129 
 
 of his two most devoted companions — his wife and his 
 mother. The entire congregation was moved to tears at 
 his pathetic appeal; he alone remained calm and self- 
 possessed. Little did they dream that this was his vale- 
 dictory address to them and that they would see his face 
 no more. 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 ®1|0 iKiBBtonary g>tatfBtttatt 
 
 Characterization of Dr. Morrison as a Missionary Leader— His In- 
 fluence in Establishing Other Missions— The Protestants of Bel- 
 gium—The Mennonite Mission— The Methodist Mission— Found- 
 ing of the Methodist Mission— Dr. Morrison Sails with the Pio- 
 neer Party— Mission Policy— Relations of Missionaries to State 
 Oflicials- Relations with Roman Catholics— Relations with the 
 Native People— Relations to the Home Church— Relations with 
 Fellow Missionaries— Care of the Spiritual Life— Native Palavers 
 —Approach to the People with the Gospel— Testimony of Bishop 
 Lambuth— The Conference of Protestant Missions— Dr. Morri- 
 son's Influence in the Conference. 
 
 Dr. du Plissis, one of the great missionary leaders of 
 the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa, who has 
 journeyed twice across the continent of Africa, has paid 
 the following tribute to Dr. Morrison: "In my journeyings 
 back and forth across the continent of Africa I have en- 
 joyed the high privilege of meeting and conversing with 
 hundreds of missionaries belonging to many different so- 
 cieties and many different nationalities. Of all these there 
 was none for whose person I conceived so great an esteem 
 and whose character and influence I could so unreservedly 
 admire as Dr. Morrison. It may be that our common 
 Presbyterianism first drew us together; but I was not long 
 in discovering that he was no narrow sectarian and that 
 the little pool of his own denomination was soon submerged 
 beneath the flowing tide of his broad humanity and warm- 
 hearted Christianity. He belonged not to a church, but 
 to the church; he was a missionary not of the American 
 Presbyterian Congo Mission, but of Christ; he called no 
 man lord, but all men brothers." 
 
 These are the qualities of heart and mind, acquired 
 
132 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 through many years of experience, that characterized Dr. 
 Morrison as a great missionary statesman. 
 
 It is said that WiUiam Carey kept a map of the world 
 before him, while busy at his daily tasks, and that the con- 
 templation of the world's need led him into missionary 
 service. In the vision of this plain humble cobbler, mod- 
 ern missionary enterprise had its birth. 
 
 Dr. Morrison likewise was interested in the evangeliza- 
 tion of the whole world, but he concentrated his attention 
 especially upon the Dark Continent. He kept the map of 
 Africa constantly before his eyes. He mapped out the 
 field for which our own church had assumed the responsi- 
 bility and endeavored to select the places of strategic im- 
 portance for the location of mission stations. He studied 
 the tribes immediately contiguous to our territory and en- 
 deavored to induce other denominations to take up the task 
 of evangelization. It was his earnest desire that the dif- 
 ferent denominations should work among tribes speaking 
 different dialects. This was not a selfish desire on his part 
 to advance his particular denomination to the injury and 
 exclusion of others, but for the different denominations to 
 overlap in their efforts, when there were vast regions yet 
 unoccupied, seemed to him a selfish waste of energy and 
 contrary to the mind and will of Christ. Why build upon 
 another man's foundation when there were multitudes near- 
 by who had never heard the name of Christ? 
 
 Because of his burning desire to advance the kingdom 
 of Christ in Africa, Dr. Morrison opened correspondence 
 with the Evangelical Churches in Belgium, with a view 
 to establishing a mission in the Congo. Perhaps it was 
 largely due to his influence that the Rev. Henri Anet, head 
 of the Evangelical Churches in Belgium, made a voyage 
 to the Congo in 191 1 to select a field suitable for missionary 
 
William McCutchan Morrison 133 
 
 activity. In the course of his journey he visited Luebo, 
 and a strong bond of friendship sprang up between him 
 and Dr. Morrison. He selected a site in the unoccupied 
 region near Tshofa, to the east of our territory, and se- 
 cured a concession. Active work has not yet begun, how- 
 ever, on account of the great World War. 
 
 Later on, a deputation sent out by the Mennonite Breth- 
 ren visited Luebo to consult with Dr. Morrison, and he 
 advised them to locate near the Kasai River and work 
 toward the west among the Bachoka and other kindred 
 tribes that were yet untouched by the gospel. This mis- 
 sion is known as the Congo Inland Mission, which, at 
 present, is confining its efforts almost entirely to the 
 Baluba speaking tribes. Our Mission is cooperating heart- 
 ily and supplies practically all of its literature. 
 
 In 1910 Bishop W. R. Lambuth was sent out by the 
 Southern Methodist Church to visit central Africa and to 
 select a field of missionary operation for his church. He 
 came to Luebo to consult with Dr. Morrison. He was 
 directed to the great untouched tribe of the Batetela, to 
 the northeast of Lusambo and aided in his journey thither. 
 Our Mission furnished him with a caravan, among them 
 being a boy who could speak English as well as a dozen 
 or more African dialects. We also sent with him several 
 members of the Batetela tribe who had already settled at 
 Luebo. After a long hard journey they reached the village 
 of Wembo Niama, chief of the Batetela tribe, and received 
 an enthusiastic welcome from him. One of the members 
 of the caravan had been a boyhood friend of the chief, 
 and, while they had not met for many years, they immedi- 
 ately recognized each other. It was largely through the 
 influence of this man, who was then an elder in our church 
 at Luebo, that the chief received them so cordially. The 
 
134 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 chief declared his entire kingdom open to them and invited 
 them to establish a station in his own capital. Having 
 obtained the chief's consent, Bishop Lambuth lost no time 
 in applying for a concession and returned home to seek 
 recruits to begin the work. 
 
 This task was accomplished early in 1913, and the party 
 was ready to sail just as Dr. Morrison was returning from 
 his second furlough. He gladly joined the party and jour- 
 neyed to Luebo with them. 
 
 While on this journey Dr. Morrison met with the new 
 missionaries daily and gave them lectures on missionary 
 work taken from his own personal experience. Bishop 
 Lambuth states that the practical knowledge the new mis- 
 sionaries received from these lectures was worth more to 
 them than two years of actual experience in the field. At 
 Bishop Lambuth's urgent request, Dr. Morrison began 
 to put these lectures into book form, with the view of 
 publication under the title of "Mission Policy," but his 
 death prevented the accomplishment of this task. Many 
 of the notes that he used, however, are at hand and 
 a very brief review of this material will give the reader 
 some conception of the ideas and ideals that inspired Dr. 
 Morrison as a true missionary statesman. While the ad- 
 vice given is primarily for missionaries, yet it will give the 
 reader an insight into the missionary's life and what is 
 expected and required of him. 
 
 As Dr. Morrison has so freely expressed indignation 
 against the whole system of government as administered 
 in the Congo, we might naturally think that he also had 
 unbounded contempt for all the officials of that govern- 
 ment. But such is not the case. He always conducted 
 himself in the most courteous manner in the presence of 
 those in authority and never lost his self-control. Indeed, 
 
William McCutchan Morrison 135 
 
 a very prominent official once stated that Dr. Morrison 
 was one of the most remarkable men he had ever met, be- 
 cause he could rebuke a man in the most withering terms 
 and then make himself a most pleasant and entertaining 
 companion. He could do this because he pitied the official 
 more than he blamed him, and regarded him more as a 
 victim of the "system" in vogue rather than as one person- 
 ally responsible for his course of action. He regarded the 
 social relation of the missionary with the Government staff 
 as of prime importance. 
 
 This subject comes first on the list in his advice to the 
 new^ missionaries. He says: "The general principle to be 
 observed is that we are foreigners who wish to conform to 
 the customs of the ruling people of the Congo. The Bel- 
 gians appear to us to be eft"usive in their manner, while 
 we probably appear to them to be abrupt and uncouth. 
 Therefore, sociability and the amenities should be observed. 
 
 "When passing through or near a station, government 
 post or trading establishment, always observe the custom of 
 going in and paying your respects to the officials in charge. 
 It is the Belgian custom for the new comer to make the 
 first call. 
 
 "We should recognize at the beginning that both Pro- 
 testant and Roman Catholic missionaries are in the same 
 work of establishing the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ 
 among the Congo people. We desire to be open minded 
 and charitable toward all who come in the name of Jesus 
 Christ. The difficulties that arise between our adherents 
 and those of the Roman Catholics can usually be more 
 amicably settled by a personal visit to the priest in charge 
 than by reference to a State official. Extend to the Roman 
 Catholic missionaries the same courtesy as to other for- 
 eigners. In case of difficulties it is better to receive than 
 
136 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 to give insults. Do not let personal animosity enter into 
 the controversy at all. There are enough great essential 
 principles of doctrine and Christian living to teach without 
 wasting time and creating disturbances by emphasizing 
 denominational differences. 
 
 "The policy should be to have unity and cooperation 
 between Protestant Missions in all possible undertakings, 
 such as steamboat transportation, training schools for the 
 native helpers, printing presses, etc. The reasons for this 
 are evident in the securing of greater strength and economy. 
 This will be a saving of time, money and men for running 
 the machinery of the missions. Furthermore, in the eyes 
 of the government and of the Roman Catholics and of the 
 natives it can be seen that although the Protestants may 
 use different methods they are united in spirit and purpose. 
 The native people are saved endless confusion by coopera- 
 tion among missionaries. There should also be an agree- 
 ment among the different Protestant missions as to the 
 division of the fields of labor. 
 
 "We should remember first and last that the natives 
 should be treated as kindly and courteously as white people. 
 We should always keep in mind that we are their servants 
 and not their masters. Under their black skins they have 
 feelings and sensibilities similar to ours, which ought to 
 be respected. If we laugh at their customs, appearance 
 or fetishes, we destroy their confidence in us and repel 
 them. Greet them with a pleasant word and do not fear to 
 shake hands with them, even if they do appear somewhat 
 imtidy. 
 
 "On the other hand, you will need to maintain your dig- 
 nity and repress undue familiarity or insolence. Be kind 
 and firm but never harsh. In settling disputes between 
 them be absolutely just. If you make a mistake it is best 
 
William McCutctian Morrison 137 
 
 to confess it in their presence. Conform to the dignified 
 customs of chiefs and dignitaries where no morals are in- 
 volved. Be ready to receive the natives without becoming 
 impatient when you are busy. It is said that George Gren- 
 fell was in Africa more than twenty years and never 
 preached a sermon. His life spoke louder than any sermon 
 he could have preached. 
 
 "Be sure to write regularly to the church or person sup- 
 porting you. It is their due. Very much of the success 
 of the missionary enterprise depends upon the regular re- 
 ports from the missionaries on the field. Be prompt and 
 faithful in keeping your work before the church at home. 
 In your correspondence never pose as a martyr. The diffi- 
 culties appear greater to the people at home, and these 
 very troubles may have disappeared and be forgotten by 
 you before the letter reaches home. 
 
 "The necessity of living close together on the mission 
 stations is liable to bring difficulties. We must bear toward 
 each other all possible patience, forbearance and Christian 
 endurance. Do the work assigned to you as best you can, 
 and, at the same time, consult and have proper regard for 
 the opinion of the majority of the mission. Friction can 
 usually be avoided by having open discussions in a frank 
 and kindly spirit. Never be on the lookout for slights. 
 On the station you will want to be cordial, social and 
 brotherly, like a family. Try to get on the inside and look 
 out ; don't stand on the outside and 'knock.' Don't be too 
 sensitive ; have a saving sense of humor and try to make 
 fun even of the most unpleasant things. Have some occa- 
 sion to see each other daily, such as an afternoon tea, 
 games for social enjoyment or a gathering for prayer. 
 
 "Be cheerful. Faith in God and reliance upon Him is a 
 
138 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 physical benefit. Never tell a person that he is looking 
 unwell in the Congo. 
 
 "Be anxious about nothing. Early in the morning place 
 yourself in God's hands. 
 
 "Do not think about being sick. When you have a fever 
 do not regard it too seriously ; thousands have recovered 
 from fever. Do not try to 'hustle Africa.' The tendency 
 is to be restless and nervous. Constant straining and work- 
 ing up to the top notch will get on your nerves. When you 
 work be in earnest, but you have to take more rest in the 
 Congo than at home. Make it the rule of your life to 
 take an hour's rest at midday and some sleep. Keep this 
 hour sacred. Get plenty of sleep at night, for it is your 
 stock in trade for the next day. 
 
 "There must be some diversion in connection with your 
 daily tasks. Occasionally have a party and wear your best 
 clothes, for this will keep up the social spirit and also be 
 restful to you. 
 
 "It will cost effort to keep up your spiritual life on the 
 mission. You are constantly giving out to others, and you 
 must be vigilant to keep your spiritual life from declining. 
 There will have to be agonizing, prayerful thought during 
 one hour kept sacred each day. Do not take the rest hour 
 at midday which ought to be kept just as sacred for phys- 
 ical rest. Get the hour as early in the morning as possible, 
 for this will give you poise, repose in God and strength for 
 the work of the day. Deliberately plan for the early morn- 
 ing devotion. It is a good plan to read some devotional 
 books on prayer. The missionaries on the station should 
 meet together for prayer during the week and for preach- 
 ing in English on Sunday night. 
 
 " 'Palaver' means any kind of quarrel, dispute or conten- 
 tion. This is a very important and delicate subject and 
 
William McCutchan Morrison 139 
 
 requires the utmost patience, tact and wisdom. Palavers 
 offer us the opportunity of showing our interest in the 
 natives and of demonstrating the Bible principles of right 
 and justice. But all this has to be done cautiously. Do 
 not usurp the authority of the chief or let him get the 
 impression that you are trying to do so. This requires 
 diplomacy. You are to teach the chief as far as possible. 
 It is necessary to be cautious of the jealousy of the State 
 in your assuming the settling of palavers among the people. 
 Some of the officials resent the coming of the natives to 
 missionaries for the settling of palavers. But some of your 
 church members will come to you as their pastor and 
 helper, and it is hard to turn them away, for they will feel 
 that you have no interest in them. W'hile there are certain 
 cases that can be settled only by the State, yet there can be 
 no law against the native going to an outsider to have his 
 case arbitrated. 
 
 "The approach to the people with the gospel is a very 
 important question. There are perhaps some people, vil- 
 lages and tribes to whom we ought not to go until the Holy 
 Spirit has made them ready to hear the gospel. Some peo- 
 ple seem to be unapproachable, and therefore we should 
 follow the line of greatest cleavage, where the Holy Spirit 
 has prepared the people. This was the method of our 
 Saviour who did not wish to waste time on those who re- 
 fused to hear to the exclusion of those who were eager to 
 hear. 
 
 "In preaching to the people have respect for their feel- 
 ings and do not laugh at their fetishes or their worship. 
 Bring out God's benevolence, calling their attention to the 
 One who makes the grain to grow. If they say that they 
 can see their god but can not see ours, ask them to explain 
 the wind and call their attention to the power that is hid- 
 
I40 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 den. Tell them their god is created, but ours is a Creator. 
 This God is a person who has left laws for men to obey. 
 When you break these laws you must be punished just as 
 a chief treats his subjects when they disobey his laws. In 
 preaching try to be as vivid as possible and appeal to the 
 imagination. Use native proverbs and parables whenever 
 possible, for they are singularly rich in material with which 
 to illustrate religious truth. 'Without a parable spake He 
 not unto them.' 
 
 "Give daily instruction to those who wish to know more 
 about the plan of salvation and desire to become Christians. 
 At first teach them the simple attributes of God, the work 
 of the Holy Spirit, the fall and redemption through Christ, 
 repentance, faith, the future life and prayer. Train them 
 in worship. Sabbath observance, charity, generosity and 
 giving the gospel to others. The raw natives should be 
 trained many months before being received into the church. 
 Do not take them in before they understand or keep them 
 away too long from the training and help of the church. 
 Remember the church is a training school in which Chris- 
 tian character is developed. 
 
 "It is better, as a general rule, for the missionary not to 
 ask a native to join the church, because the native thinks 
 he is under obligation to do what the white man says. 
 Urge upon the native Christians themselves the duty of 
 personal work." 
 
 These are a few of the fundamental principles that must 
 be adhered to in the propagation of the gospel in Africa, 
 and these are the principles that Dr. Morrison followed 
 so successfully in his dealings with the native people. His 
 success as a missionary leader did not hinge on the great 
 things he did, but rather on his mastery of the fundamental 
 
William McCutchan Morrison 141 
 
 details of his daily tasks. It can be said of him, in the 
 words of Wordsworth, 
 
 "The best part of a good man's life, 
 His little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and love." 
 
 One of the most striking testimonies to the ability of 
 Dr. Morrison as a missionary statesman has been borne by 
 Bishop Lambuth. After a dozen or more native Christians 
 had gone from Luebo to Wembo Niama to be organized 
 into the first Methodist church in that part of Africa, and 
 after Dr. Lambuth, as bishop of Africa, had established 
 the new mission and was returning to his duties in Ameri- 
 ca, he appointed Dr. Morrison to act as counsellor to the 
 newly established mission. The spirit of unity and coop- 
 eration that exists betw een these two missions is due large- 
 ly to the intimate friendship that sprang up between these 
 two great missionary leaders. 
 
 The greatest testimony to his genius as a missionary 
 leader is to be found in the fact that he was twice elected 
 President of the Conference of Protestant Missions in the 
 Congo. This organization, composed of practically all the 
 Protestant Missions working in the Congo, had its origin 
 during the dark days of the old Congo Independent State 
 regime. Repeated reference has been made to the fact that 
 under this regime it was practically impossible for Protest- 
 ant Missions to carry on any aggressive work. The crafty 
 officials would play one against the other. If one society 
 complained of unjust treatment the officials would imme- 
 diately cite the example of the Mission that was enjoying 
 their favor at the time and, therefore, had nothing to com- 
 plain about. They then made it appear that this was the 
 general condition and that the accusations of the complain- 
 ing society were unfounded. In order to combat this 
 double-dealing policy of the State the Protestant Missions 
 
142 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 realized that unity and cooperation were the price of their 
 existence. At the present time the Conference is composed 
 of some fourteen societies. They meet once every four 
 years for the purpose of hearing reports on the work of the 
 different missions and for the laying of plans that will 
 promote the kingdom of Christ. The sessions of the Con- 
 ference of necessity last only a few days and then the 
 workers return to their widely scattered fields. That the 
 Conference may accomplish the purpose for which it was 
 founded it was necessary to devise some means by which 
 their plans could be carried out during the long interim 
 
 THE 191S CONFERENCE 
 
 between the meetings. To accomplish this task a Continu- 
 ation Committee, with the President of the Conference at 
 its head, was created to carry out the plans that had been 
 formulated. They, therefore, must choose the most aggres- 
 sive, broad-gauged and tactful man at their disposal. 
 
 It was the great privilege of our own Mission to enter- 
 tain this Conference in February, 1918. Dr. Morrison had 
 already been elected President, but, having been unable to 
 attend the former Conference, he had not been inducted 
 into office. He, therefore, did not assume the duties of this 
 office until the opening night of the Conference at Luebo. 
 
 In a few brief, well chosen words he welcomed the vis- 
 
William McCutchan Morrison 143 
 
 iters to Luebo and thanked them for the high honor con- 
 ferred upon him in calling him to be their President. 
 
 He took as his text for the opening sermon John xiv:i, 
 "Let not your heart be troubled," and spoke on the subject 
 of "Christ's calm for all His people." "Let not your heart 
 be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Afraid of what?" he 
 said. "U God be for us who can be against us?" His 
 hearers knew that this man had a courage born of God and 
 that he was not afraid to undertake any task in the service 
 of God. 
 
 Dr. Morrison presided over the sessions of the Confer- 
 ence in the most impartial and tactful manner. The fact 
 that he kept representatives of nine different denominations 
 at perfect peace and accord during all their deliberations 
 so that no friction of any consequence arose between them 
 is sufficient proof of his ability as a moderator. Only on 
 one occasion did the discussion begin to strike fire. Dr. 
 Morrison very calmly stopped the proceedings for a word 
 of prayer and asked the two contending brethren to lead 
 in that prayer. It was a master stroke, for a smile began 
 to break over their faces and when the prayer was ended 
 the discussion ceased. He completely won the hearts of 
 all those present at the Conference, which fact was evi- 
 denced when he was unanimously chosen to be their Presi- 
 dent during the next four years. Thus he came to be 
 recognized as the leader of all the Protestant forces work- 
 ing in the Congo and as a man worthy to be entrusted with 
 the responsibility of directing their united efforts in the 
 common cause of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 
 
 In the closing hour of the Conference, when the various 
 delegates were felicitating themselves on the vision that 
 had been brought to them of the great work of a great mis- 
 sion, one of them said : "Mr. Chairman, it is a revelation to 
 
144 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 us, this great work of yours here at Luebo, and we wonder 
 why you have not told the world more about it." 
 
 Dr. Morrison replied to this as follows : "Dear brethren, 
 it fills us with a sense of pride and yet of humility that you 
 should have gained such an impression and that you should 
 go away with this feeling toward us and this great work. 
 But I wish also to say that we feel that it is a great re- 
 sponsibility laid on us. How we tremble for these babes 
 in Christ who have been brought into the church, and how 
 we trust that you will utter a prayer that we shall be used 
 of God to train them in the nurture and admonition of the 
 Lord! 
 
 "If the work is a success it is not due to any superiority 
 of the missionaries or to our methods, but aside from the 
 Divine element which has played the most important part 
 in helping us to reach them, you must remember that the 
 Southern man knows the negro best and probably loves 
 him more deeply than you realize. May I here give testi- 
 mony to my own personal relations with them? They were 
 my boyhood playmates. In the home they were not only 
 servants but members of our household. As a babe I knew 
 my old black 'mammy' almost as I knew my mother. She 
 nursed me in my days of illness and health, and when my 
 mother was absent and I cried from hunger she even nour- 
 ished me at her own breast." 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 
 i^t EfBlB from l^ia Habora aitb ^\B Horkfi io 
 iPnllnui l^im 
 
 He Visits the Stations of Our Mission and of the Methodist Mission 
 — Wonderful Growth of the Work during His Lifetime — His Last 
 Ilhiess — His Death and Burial at Luebo. 
 
 The closing days of the life of Dr. Morrison were among 
 the btisiest in all his missionary experience. During the 
 latter months of the year 1917 he made a journey to the 
 Methodist Mission at Wembo Niama and I^ubefu. He 
 took this trip at the urgent request of Bishop Lambuth, 
 who had appointed him "bishop" and spiritual advisor of 
 this diocese. He had the pleasure of sending to the Bishop 
 a most encouraging report of the work accomplished by 
 this young Mission. 
 
 En route to Wembo Niama Dr. Morrison made a detour, 
 visiting each one of our own stations which had been estab- 
 lished since he had taken the trip with Mr. Bedinger sev- 
 eral years before. 
 
 The physical stamina of the man is evidenced by the fact 
 that the greater part of this journey of over one thousand 
 miles was made on foot. The missionaries looked for- 
 ward eagerly to his coming, always sure of his large- 
 hearted sympathy and helpful counsel. He saw the won- 
 derful success with which the work had been blessed 
 since his previous survey, and the unparalleled opportunity 
 for advance awaiting the Mission. He also studied the 
 [)roblems that confronted the missionaries in their particu- 
 lar spheres of influence. Having thus familiarized himself 
 with the actual conditions at each station, it seemed as 
 though he was better prepared than ever before to fill his 
 
146 
 
 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 high position of administrator and advisor of the two Mis- 
 sions. However, this was not the case. He, hke Moses, 
 was standing on the mountain top of privilege, but he 
 would not pass over. He was setting his house in order. 
 
 And let us take a retrospective glance over the way along 
 which God had led him. There were times when Dr. 
 Morrison had been called upon to pass through the valley 
 
 THE NATIVE CHURCH 
 
 of the shadow of death and learned to know Christ in the 
 fellowship of His sufTering. He had been called upon to 
 endure persecution and heart-breaking trials and disap- 
 pointments in his missionary labors. He knew what it was 
 to "climb the steep ascent of heaven through peril, toil and 
 pain," but at eventide there was light. 
 
 When Dr. Morrison reached Luebo in 1897 the Mission 
 consisted of one station occupied by eight missionaries, 
 only three of whom were white. At the time of his death, 
 
William McCutciian Morrison 147 
 
 in 19 18, there were six stations and more than twoscore 
 missionaries to uphold his hands. 
 
 When he reached Luebo the native converts numbered 
 less than fifty. When he laid down his work they num- 
 bered over seventeen thousand. When he reached Luebo 
 the out stations could be counted on the fingers of one hand. 
 In 1918 they numbered over four hundred and fifty. 
 
 At the time of his arrival there were no outstanding- 
 Christian leaders among the natives. There was not a pas- 
 tor, an elder, nor even a deacon to share any of the burden 
 or responsibility of the work. He lived to see hundreds of 
 well-trained evangelists in charge of all these out stations. 
 He took part in the ordination of a score or more elders 
 and deacons and delivered the charge to the first three men 
 that were ordained to the gospel ministry. He saw hun- 
 dreds of women, who had been but tiie toys and chattels 
 of men, find their liberty in Christ Jesus and become active 
 Christian workers. He went to the heart of Africa an 
 unknown man, but at his death the name of William M. 
 Morrison was known in three continents. He had stood 
 before the world as the champion of a nation that had been 
 subjected to a bondage more cruel than that of Egypt. But 
 greater yet than this, he stood at the head of the united 
 Protestant forces who were laboring for the redemption 
 of Africa. His election as President of the Conference 
 of Protestant Missions came as a fitting climax lo his mis- 
 sionary life. 
 
 He had looked forward to the coming of the Conference 
 with peculiar pleasure. During his twenty years' residence 
 at Luebo only two men from other missions had ever visited 
 our Mission. He was overjoyed at the prospect of wel- 
 coming so many at one time. He took great pleasure in 
 planning for their entertainment. 
 
148 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 He was unusually busy during the days and nights of 
 the Conference. Many of those present were anxious to 
 discuss mission problems with him outside of conference 
 hours. He got only a few hours sleep during the ten days 
 the Conference was in session. He was on the beach on 
 the morning of March the 4th to bid the visitors farewell. 
 He led in the parting prayer commending them to God and 
 the fellowship of His grace. 
 
 Immediately upon our return from the beach, the annual 
 meeting of the Mission was convened and this meant an 
 extra tax on Dr. Morrison's strength. Before the Confer- 
 ence adjourned he seemed to be unwell, but as it was not 
 his habit to complain we supposed he was merely over- 
 worked and would be himself as soon as ht could get 
 more sleep. He was staying at my home at the time, and 
 we noticed that he ate very little and at times his facial 
 expression indicated that he was suffering intense pain. 
 
 He attended the morning session of the Mission meeting. 
 At noon he summoned Dr. Stixrud and told him of his 
 condition. After a thorough examination it was discovered 
 that he had tropical dysentery in a very violent form and 
 was ordered to bed immediately. The best known modern 
 remedies were administered at once, for the doctor realized 
 the seriousness of his exhausted condition. Dr. Stixrud, 
 assisted by Dr. King and our two trained nurses, Mrs. 
 Stixrud and Miss Elda May Fair, gave their untiring, skill- 
 ful and devoted service. The other missionaries helped to 
 the best of their ability, but after the first few days his 
 condition was too serious to be entrusted to untrained 
 hands. 
 
 Constant prayer went up to God from the missionaries 
 and the natives for his recovery, if it should be in accord- 
 ance with His will. On Wednesday of the following week 
 
William McCutchan Morrison 149 
 
 the crisis was reached. All work in the Mission was 
 stopped and the entire day was devoted to prayer and 
 fasting. 
 
 But Dr. Morrison had literally worn himself out by 
 twenty years of unremitting toil and had no reserve 
 strength with which to battle against such a disease. At 
 I o'clock on the morning of March 14th, 1918, the silver cord 
 was loosed, the golden bowl was broken and his spirit re- 
 turned to God who gave it. He was unconscious when the 
 end came, recognizing no one and leaving no parting mes- 
 sage. There was no struggle; he fell quietly to sleep, 
 having just reached the summit of the great divide between 
 middle life and old age. 
 
 I arose the next morning, filled with forebodings of the 
 wailing and mourning that might be expected from his 
 countless native friends. I shall never forget the scene 
 that met my eyes when I returned to his room at the early 
 morning hour just before the sunrise prayer meeting. The 
 native elders and the pastor were seated about the earthly 
 remains of their spiritual father. There was not a sigh, nor 
 a sob, nor a tear; not a sign of rebellion arose from their 
 stricken hearts. Just then the mission bell sounded the 
 hour for prayer and we led them to the church, the church 
 where Kounyi Nshila had so often stood, and we prayed 
 with them that we might be made submissive to the Divine 
 will. 
 
 The news of his death made a profound impression on 
 the native population at I.uebo, the greater part of whom 
 were assembled on the Mission compound with the rising 
 of the sun. They were quiet and reverent in the presence 
 of his death. Remembering the native custom of mourning 
 for the dead, as previously described, nothing, to my mind, 
 could speak so powerfully of the deep impress of the teach- 
 
150 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 ings of this man on the hearts of these erstwhile savages. 
 Their silence and submission was a tribute of their respect 
 for him. Back to their minds came the lessons that Kuonyi 
 Nshila had taught them as to the meaning of death in the 
 passing of Mama Mutoto. The prayer with which he dedi- 
 cated himself to the work in Africa had been answered, his 
 life had become an "open gospel known and read of all 
 men." 
 
 At noon his body was placed in the church shed and lay 
 in state during the afternoon. Thousands of natives passed 
 by in reverent silence to take a parting look at their friend 
 and helper. 
 
 The funeral services were conducted that afternoon at 
 5 130 by the Rev. A. C. McKinnon, assisted by the writer 
 and the native pastor, Kabeya Lukenga, who spoke in be- 
 half of the Kasai people. The service was for the native 
 people and was conducted in their language. A vast throng 
 of some five thousand people was gathered in and about 
 the church and the best of order was maintained through- 
 out the entire service. The local State officials attended in 
 a body, together with all the traders and a representative 
 of the Roman Catholic Mission. 
 
 At the grave Judge Gorlia, the highest State official resi- 
 dent at Luebo, read a paper eulogizing Dr. Morrison and 
 expressing the State's appreciation of the great work he 
 had done in the uplifting of the native people. 
 
 His body was laid to rest in the little cemetery in the 
 Mission compound beside his beloved wife. And when we 
 thought of how unceasingly he had labored and how abun- 
 dantly God had blessed his work, it seemed to us that we 
 could hear the words the angel spoke to the Apostle John : 
 "Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord from henceforth : 
 
William McCutchan Morrison 151 
 
 Yea, saith the Spirit that they may rest from their labors ; 
 and their works do follow them." 
 
 "Servant of God, well done ! 
 
 Rest from thy loved employ : 
 The battle fought, the vict'ry won. 
 Enter thy Master's joy. 
 
 "The voice at midnight came ; 
 
 He started up to hear : 
 A mortal arrow pierced his frame; 
 He fell, but felt no fear. 
 
 "The pains of death are past; 
 Labor and sorrow oease ; 
 And life's long warfare closed at last. 
 His soul is found in peace. 
 
 "Soldier of Christ! Well done! 
 Praise be thy new employ ; 
 And while eternal ages run. 
 Rest in thy Saviour's joy." 
 
CHAPTER XVI 
 
 Autlinr antJ Prparl)pr 
 
 His Work as Official Correspondent and Legal Representative of the 
 Mission — Private Correspondence with Distinguished Individuals 
 — His Missionary Addresses — As a Preacher in the Native Lan- 
 guage — As a Pastor. 
 
 It is our purpose in this chapter to deal with the scope 
 of Dr. Morrison's work in the field as the Official Cor- 
 respondent for the Mission and as a preacher of the Gospel. 
 
 Strictly speaking, we can not call him an author, in the 
 sense that he devoted his life to the writing of books; yet, 
 at the same time, he was a prolific writer. He recognized 
 the necessity of keeping the church at home informed as 
 to the conditions on the field, and for this reason he was 
 a regular contributor to the "Missionary Survey" and other 
 church papers. In order to further this idea he was largely 
 instrumental in the founding of the "Kasai Herald," of 
 which he was the editor during the greater part of its 
 existence. 
 
 During the period of the agitation of the Congo reforms, 
 Dr. Morrison was a frequent contributor to the leading 
 newspapers and magazines of England and America. We 
 have already noted the influence that these efTective articles 
 had in arousing the public sentiment of the two great Eng- 
 lish-speaking countries. 
 
 We have likewise indicated his great literary work in the 
 publication of the Baluba Grammar and Dictionary, the 
 Bible paraphrases and translations as well as other forms 
 of Christian and school literature. This was the kind of 
 work he delighted to do. It was nearer to his heart than 
 anything else. And yet, in all his twenty years of service, 
 he was probably never permitted to devote as much as one 
 
154 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 uninterrupted day to his great work. The greater part of 
 his time was given over to the official correspondence of the 
 Mission. 
 
 We have made numerous references to the fact that he 
 served as Legal Representative of the Mission during his 
 entire service on the field. It is the requirement of Belgian 
 law in the Congo that every missionary society or business 
 organization must have an official representative to attend 
 to all matters arising between them and the State Govern- 
 ment. If only two men are associated in business one of 
 them must be the appointed spokesman and the other one 
 will not be recognized in official circles. The same thing is 
 true in the Mission ; the Legal Representative is the go- 
 betw^een in all matters relating to the State. No other 
 member of the Mission is recognized. 
 
 In our Mission the Legal Representative is elected at 
 the regular meeting of the Mission and the results of the 
 election must be reported to the Governor-General at 
 Boma, who makes an official record and notifies the one 
 already chosen of his election. The duties of this office 
 are multifarious and to fill it with credit requires great tact 
 and an unlimited amount of patience. The Legal- Repre- 
 sentative must receive all visitors that come to the Mission 
 and return all official calls. He must conduct all the cor- 
 respondence with the local officers at Luebo, the Governor- 
 General at Boma, the Minister of the Colony and the King 
 in Brussels, as well as the American Consul at Boma, when 
 v/e are fortunate enough to have one. 
 
 Owing to the difficulties that arise when the Mission 
 endeavors to secure a tract of land on which to establish 
 a station, it would be impossible to estimate the number of 
 letters that Dr. Morrison wrote on this subject alone. As 
 a general rule, it has taken from three to five years to 
 
William McCutchan Morrison 155 
 
 secure each one of the stations we are now occupying, and 
 each required a prolonged correspondence with the lowest 
 State official on up to the King, and, quite frequently, ended 
 in an appeal to our government at Washington. To say 
 that the duties of this office were at times exasperating 
 would be expressing it rather mildly. All sorts of flimsy 
 excuses are offered by the State officials as reasons why the 
 Mission can not obtain land. For instance, wc were given 
 the temporary right to occupy one station and began v/^ork. 
 After the houses and a church shed had been built and 
 the work was making some visible progress, one of these 
 officials suddenly discovered that some of the palm trees 
 on the concession had been planted by the grandfather of 
 one of the natives, and, notwithstanding the place had been 
 abandoned for many years, the missionaries were given 
 two weeks in which to vacate. This is merely an example 
 of the kind of problems that Dr. Morrison had to face 
 during the twenty years he served in the capacity of Legal 
 Representative. Truly, patience had ample opportunity to 
 have her perfect work with him under such trying condi- 
 tions as these. 
 
 We are now familiar with the part that Dr. Morrison 
 played in protesting against the injustice and oppression 
 of the State Government, which phase of his work alone 
 required an unlimited amount of time and a voluminous 
 correspondence. Perhaps some one will raise the question 
 as to why Dr. Morrison and other missionaries should at- 
 tempt to interfere in matters belonging purely to the State 
 Government. Why did he not devote himself exclusively 
 to the preaching of the Gospel and let the State look after 
 its own affairs? This is a fair question and one which Dr. 
 Morrison himself answered in a paper written for the Mis- 
 sion Conference which met in Leopoldville in 1907, under 
 
156 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 the title, "Under \Miat Circumstances Are We Justified in 
 Making Public the Accounts of Atrocities and Other Forms 
 of Injustice Done the Natives?" 
 
 We will cite a few of the reasons which he gave for the 
 stand he took with reference to State matters : 
 
 "The unfortunate political situation which has grown up 
 here in the Congo State as a result of the doctrine of abso- 
 lutism, which the Sovereign has arrogated to himself and 
 which has brought about one of the most iniquitous anom- 
 alies in the shape of the government which modern times 
 have witnessed, has placed the Protestant missionaries in 
 an embarrassing position. All of us — and none more 
 strenuously than the writer of this paper — hold to the gen- 
 eral principle of non-interference with political afifairs in 
 the carrying on of mission work. This principle can be 
 observed to the letter in most countries in \vhich we, as 
 foreigners, do mission work, whether the people are ruled 
 by a native or a foreign government, but here in Congo 
 the situation is unique. The government itself is a curious 
 anomaly, and there is difference of opinion even as to its 
 international status. 
 
 "In view of the fact that the government is absolute, 
 with the natives having no voice in its affairs ; in view of 
 the fact that the treaties made at the founding of the State 
 guarantee to them certain rights; in view of the fact that 
 there is no one to whom they can successfully appeal for 
 the redress of their wrongs ; and in view of the fact that 
 the government and the concessionary companies are here 
 purely for selfish purposes — in view of all these facts, the 
 Protestant missionary is left the sole sympathizer of the 
 people, the only one, who, from a sense of love and inter- 
 est, can be expected to speak and act in their behalf. I 
 purposely say Protestant missionaries, for certainly the 
 
William McCutchan Morrison 157 
 
 well-known sympathy of the Romanists with the govern- 
 ment and, in some sections, with the concessionary com- 
 panies renders them unfit, except in sporadic cases, either 
 to sympathize with the native or to protest against his 
 wrongs. 
 
 "This being the case, what are we to do about it? Under 
 what circumstances and in what way are we to make our 
 appeal and show our protest against the unjust govern- 
 mental system which we see throttling the millions of 
 natives in the Congo State, stripping their country of its 
 natural products, and making the people practically slaves 
 in their own country? 
 
 "We shall speak first of the circumstances justifying a 
 public appeal and protest. This, of course, is a very broad 
 question and one about which there is room for difference 
 of opinion in some cases ; but it seems that here, as in most 
 other questions, a conservative middle course is the one to 
 follow. On the one hand, we need not be constantly re- 
 porting minor offences against justice, nor, on the other 
 hand, are we, in view of our position as sole sympathizers 
 of the people, to let grave and systematic injustices against 
 the inalienable right of the people to life, liberty and prop- 
 erty go unnoticed. While, on the one hand, we admit the 
 abstract right of the government to tax the natives, even 
 without giving them anything in the way of schools or 
 other utilities in return for the taxes; yet, as opportunity 
 presents itself, we must not pass by unnoticed cases of 
 exorbitant taxation and of unjust methods in the collection 
 of the tax. And here I am using the word tax in a general 
 sense to describe the whole system of labor, forced military 
 service, forced making of rubber and other products, 
 together with the regular payment of food supplies, etc. 
 Some of the greatest legal minds afifirm that every man has 
 
158 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 ail inalienable right to his life, his liberty and his property. 
 This is a right which is above all government and man- 
 made decrees, and it is in defence of these primary rights 
 of the natives that we must raise our voices. 
 
 "I am convinced that owing to the futility of resistance 
 and the dread with which the very name of Bula Matadi 
 (the State) inspires the native, even under our own eyes, 
 to suffer wrongs stoically which we know not of, they 
 have come to see that we can only appeal in their behalf — 
 we can exercise no force. And this leads me to say that, 
 as a rule, we are more liable to err in keeping silent than 
 in protesting, for we may be sure that for every case which 
 comes to our attention there are thousands we know noth- 
 ing of. This being the case, I believe we should not wait 
 for the occurrence of the grosser and more shocking forms 
 of outrage, such as murder, imprisonment with all its at- 
 tendent horrors, mutilations, etc. ; but we should- follow 
 up relentlessly the slower and more refined forms of injus- 
 tice by which the life and spirit are crushed out inch by 
 inch. I believe that as the native becomes more and more 
 convinced of the futility of resistance, the grosser forms of 
 outrage will perhaps become less frequent, but the magni- 
 tude of suffering and wrong borne in silence will greatly 
 increase." 
 
 He declared to the Conference that every possible means 
 of redress should be exhausted before the matter was pub- 
 lished to the outside world. Then when it became neces- 
 sary to strike they would be prepared to strike hard. 
 
 In conclusion, he added these words by way of an appeal : 
 "We can look with some degree of complacency upon 
 Armenian atrocities and the Boxer outrages in China, be- 
 cause the governments of Turkey and China came into 
 existence without the consent of the modern Powers and 
 
William McCutchan Morrison 159 
 
 because they have made no pubHc and official protestations 
 in treaties or otherwise of justice and humanity toward 
 their subjects, but the position in the Congo State is entire- 
 ly different. Here the most sacred and formal treaties 
 were made; the Powers, with the millions of people" they 
 represent, have been openly and defiantly deceived. Are 
 we not under the same obligation to bring these facts to the 
 knowledge of the world as we would be to disclose the do- 
 ings of a common thief or thug? If a brighter day ever 
 comes to our beloved Congo, it must come through God 
 blessing our efforts." 
 
 Not only did Dr. Morrison serve as Legal Representative 
 of the Mission and conduct the correspondence with the 
 government, but for many years he was Chairman of the 
 Ad Interim Committee and Official Correspondent for the 
 Mission. This involved the correspondence between the 
 different stations and also between the Mission and the 
 Executive Committee at Nashville. This naturally con- 
 sumed a large part of his time. In fact, it was not an 
 uncommon thing for him to spend the entire night writ- 
 ing important letters to the Committee^ in order to get them 
 off on the steamer the following day. He would be about 
 his usual duties the next day, just as if he had had a good 
 night's rest. 
 
 In addition to these official duties. Dr. Morrison carried 
 on a very extensive correspondence with a great number of 
 distinguished private individuals who were interested in 
 the Congo situation. Among them we may mention Samuel 
 Clemens ("Mark Twain"), author of "Leopold's Solilo- 
 quy," Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sir Harry \\\ Johnston, 
 Hon. Emir Vandervelde, the late W. T. Stead, the late 
 J. Pierpont Morgan and scores of others equally as eminent. 
 
 As he never had a private secretary, he had to write all 
 —6— 
 
i6o Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 these letters with his own hand. The reader can jud^-e 
 for himself the tremendous amount of work he was capable 
 of doing. With all these things on his hands it is nothing 
 short of marvelous that he found any time to devote to 
 Bible translation and other work requiring concentration 
 of thought and undivided attention. 
 
 In connection with his literary work, we may very pro- 
 perly consider Dr. Morrison as a preacher and a public 
 speaker. He did not have a great many opportunities to 
 preach in English. Services are conducted in the Mission 
 stations in English on Wednesday and Sunday nights, the 
 missionaries preaching in turn, and this was practically the 
 only opportunity afforded him of preaching in his mother 
 tongue. 
 
 In spite of the little practice he had, he was an eloquent 
 speaker and always used the choicest diction. In his mis- 
 sionary addresses at home he never failed to make a pro- 
 found impression. The most striking and impressive fea- 
 ture of these addresses was his deep sincerity and the hon- 
 esty and earnestness of his faith. He put his whole intel- 
 lect into the preparation, his whole heart into the presenta- 
 tion and his whole life into the illustration of these 
 discourses; and such preaching as this can not fail to reach 
 the hearts of men. The expression of his countenance and 
 his clear, rich and resonant voice convinced his hearers that 
 every word came from the heart. Their hearts were stirred 
 by his burning words, and they returned to their homes 
 with a new zeal for God's kingdom. Words spoken out of 
 such deep earnestness and from the consecration of such 
 a life do not perish; they live on in the minds and hearts 
 of men. 
 
 The greater part of Dr. Morrison's preaching was done 
 in the Baluba language, and perhaps he shone at his best 
 
William McCutchan Morrison i6i 
 
 when speaking to the native people. He conducted the 
 sunrise prayer meetings at Luebo and sent the people to 
 their daily tasks with some fresh thought from the Word 
 of God. For a great part of the time he preached five times 
 every week and always nourished the spiritual life of the 
 [)eople. He was a born teacher, and every sermon he 
 preached was full of practical instruction for his hearers. 
 He possessed the rare faculty of being able to explain the 
 [trofoundest truths in the simplest language. From his 
 constant association with the native people he had gathered 
 a vast store of information concerning their habits and 
 customs, and he could draw the most striking illustrations 
 from things with which they were familiar. The native 
 is a past master in the art of gesticulation, and it is almost 
 possible to tell what one is saying just by studying his facial 
 expressions. Dr. Morrison possessed the dramatic art to a 
 marked degree, and he mastered these native gestures and 
 used them most effectively. One rarely sees more wonder- 
 ful eyes than he possessed. They could sparkle with wit, 
 burn with indignation, or be as soft and sympathetic as a 
 woman's. This naturally added a charm and vividness to 
 his preaching that appealed to the natives in a peculiar 
 manner. 
 
 I shall never forget his sermon on the text, 'Tt is easier 
 for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a 
 rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven." After giving 
 them the usual explanation of the needle's eye and after 
 describing in a very vivid manner the camel with a great 
 burden on his back, he proceeded to illustrate with bodily 
 contortions the inability of the camel to negotiate the small 
 opening in the city wall. The size of his figure added much 
 to the forcefulness of the scene and a broad smile covered 
 the face of every native present, but a lasting impression 
 
1 62 
 
 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 was made upon them as he drove the truth oi the parable 
 home to their individual lives. 
 
 Dr. Morrison was not only a great preacher, but he was 
 a pastor and a shepherd in every sense of the term. His 
 varied activities did not permit him, to his infinite regret, 
 to devote a great deal of his time to pastoral work, yet 
 somehow he managed to find time to visit the native Chris- 
 tians in their homes. He endeavored to set aside the clos- 
 ing hour of each day to visit them in their homes. He 
 was a personal worker, full of burning zeal for the salva- 
 tion of the lost. While he could not mingle with them as 
 much as he liked, and frequently weeks would pass before 
 he had an opportunity to get out among the people, yet 
 when anyone was in sorrow or affliction he was never too 
 busy to go to that home to speak words of comfort. One 
 night during the Conference at Luebo a severe storm came 
 up ; the lightning struck a house, killing two of the inmates. 
 It was just at the hour when. the evening session was to 
 convene, and Dr. Morrison, as President, must be on hand 
 to preside. But as soon as he learned of this double 
 tragedy, he slipped out of the house and made his way out 
 in the darkness and rain to this miserable little hut to com- 
 fort the stricken relatives. The native people ever held the 
 first place in his great loving and compassionate heart. 
 
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CHAPTER XVII 
 
 Ifootiottal ICifp 
 
 N -cessity for Living Close to God in Mission Work — His Life ot 
 Constant Prayer — Outline of His Morning Devotions — Influence 
 of Prayer in His Work. 
 
 Someone has well said, "Take care of the springs of 
 your sacred life and you need have no fear of your public 
 life." The Apostle Paul voices the same truth in his ad- 
 vice to young Timothy, "Take heed unto thyself and unto 
 the doctrine, continue in them ; for in so doing thou shalt 
 both save thyself and them that hear thee." The great 
 apostle places life above doctrine and character above 
 dogma. He was a missionary himself and spoke from his 
 own experience when he said, "Ye are living epistles known 
 and read of all men." He means that the Christian life, 
 and especially the life lived by its ministers, is an open book 
 which is constantly subject to the perusal and criticism of 
 the men of the world. If a man's life can not stand the 
 closest and the minutest examination, if flaws and defects 
 are found in it, he may be sure that the doctrine he 
 preaches will not be any more attractive than the life he 
 lives. This is especially true in Africa among the simple 
 sons of nature. Thousands of them do not yet know a let- 
 ter of the alphabet and can not read a word of their own 
 language, but they can all read the open book of human 
 character. The fundamental doctrines of Christianity are 
 so sublime and its truths so utterly foreign to anything that 
 the heathen world has ever known before, that we can not 
 expect the mere proclamation of these incomprehensible 
 truths to effect a speedy transformation in their lives. So, 
 then, the missionary must endeavor to live among them a 
 
164 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 life that will attract their attention and make them see that 
 the principles that govern and dominate Christian conduct 
 are the principles they need to transform their own lives. 
 He must make them see that there is a secre* behind th.e 
 life he lives, and that that secret is due to som.ething out- 
 side of himself. 
 
 This is undoubtedly the kind of life that Dr. Morrison 
 lived among the people with whom he came into daily con- 
 tact. He guarded the springs of his spiritual life with a 
 sacred devotion. 
 
 It was his custom to rise every morning at 4:30, spending 
 a few moments in physical exercise, and then to devote the 
 hour from 5 to 6 in studying God's word and in prayer 
 and meditation. It did not matter how late he worked at 
 night, he always kept this hour sacred. Many times, under 
 the great pressure of work, he did not close his eyes at 
 night, but he never neglected the morning watch. A very 
 distinguished minister told me that he had occasion to 
 spend the night with Dr. Morrison while at home on one 
 of his furloughs. They were in a small town in midwinter 
 and it was bitterly cold. He woke up very early the next 
 morning, before daylight, and to his surprise he found that 
 Dr. Morrison was not in bed with him. As soon as his 
 eyes became somewhat accustomed to the darkness, he saw 
 Morrison kneeling by a chair, wrapped in a blanket, pour- 
 ing out his heart in prayer to God. That scene made a 
 profound impression on this man and he resolved that he 
 would devote more of his time to private worship. 
 
 Bishop Lambuth, who traveled thousands of miles with 
 Dr. Morrison, after spending weeks in the most intimate 
 association with him, gives us the secret of his great life 
 as he saw it. He says: "The springs of that life were hid- 
 den in the depths of a conscious realization of the presence 
 
William McCutciian Morrison 165 
 
 of God. An inner light shone unmistakably as new forces 
 were released during those hours given to intercession. 
 There is a picture before me of a candle burning an hour 
 before day every morning in an humble home at Luebo. 
 Was it the lingering glow of its Ught, or the glory and illu- 
 minating power of God's \Vord, that gave Morrison's face, 
 at times, its strange attractiveness, and his life the strength 
 for the exacting duties before him Five times, at least, 
 in one day I have found him at prayer. The morning 
 watch, the sunrise prayer meeting in the great church shed, 
 the early devotions with the sons of chiefs within his fence,* 
 the prayer with the workers whom he taught in the after- 
 noon, and then at the gathering of missionaries that eve- 
 ning. He did not realize it, but he was keeping the soul of 
 religion alive in the Mission and in the native church." 
 
 In these early morning devotions Dr. Morrison made his 
 own private prayer calendar, which is reproduced herewith 
 in full, as it speaks for itself more eloquently than could 
 any words of mine. 
 
 Thought Preparation for Prayer. 
 
 1. The greatest work we do is when we pray. 
 
 2. Speak a silent word to God, Who is ever at your side, at the 
 approach of every problem, task, or temptation ; in fact, learn to 
 practice the fact of God's eternal presence. 
 
 3. Before Bible reading ask God, in Christ's name, through the 
 Holy Spirit, to give me just the word that will fit me for living and 
 serving for the day. 
 
 4. Repeat daily, "Fear not ; for I am with thee ; be not dismayed : 
 for I am thy God : I will strengthen thee ; yes, I will help thee ; yea. 
 
 ♦Children sent from Congo villages to the mission stations to 
 be educated, live in native houses "within the fence" around the 
 home of the missionary under whose personal care they are. The 
 training and welfare of these children is ever, to the missionary, a 
 matter of affectionate solicitude. — Editors. 
 
i66 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness." Isa. 
 41 : 10. 
 
 Some CoxniTioxs of Prevailing Pr.\yer. 
 
 1. In Christ's name. Jno. 14:13. 
 
 2. Under the Holy Spirit's guidance. Jude 20. 
 
 3. In faith. Matt. 31 : 22. 
 
 4. Without harboring sin. Ps. 66 : 18. 1 Pet. 3 : 7. 
 
 5. Be specific. Phil. 4 : 6. 
 
 6. Pray, then work. Ex. 14: 15. Tno. 15: 16. 
 
 7. For God's glory, not mine. Jas. 4:3. Prayer of faith always 
 answered. 
 
 8. Prayerful attitude. 1 Thess. 5 : 17. 
 
 9. With charity and forgiveness. Matt. 6:14. 15. 
 
 10. Abiding in Christ and His Words in me. Jno. 15:7. 
 
 11. \\lien to persevere and when not. Luke 11:8. 9. 2 Cor. 
 12:7-9. 
 
 12. United prayer. Matt. 18:1^. 
 
 13. We can bring t'X'i'rytbiuij to God in prayer. Phil. 4:6. 
 
 A. Praise and adoration — a vision of God. 
 
 1. That I may know Him and hear Him speak. 
 
 2. That I may listen and obey. 
 
 B. Confession and forgiveness. 
 
 1. General. 
 
 2. Particular. 
 
 C. Thanksgiving. 
 
 1. Ger.eral. Eph. 5:20. 
 
 2. Particular. (Especially for petitions answered.') 
 
 D. Bible Thoughts for the day. 
 
 1. Deeper insight. 
 
 2. MoVe joy in Bible reading and in prayer. 
 
 EL Indwelling of and surrender to the Holy Spirit. 
 F. Petitions. (^For special petitions, «ee separate hst.) 
 
 Persox.vl. 
 
 1. Peace: Peace of Jesus Christ. Jno. 14. Rolling the burdens 
 on God. Calmness under all conditions. Peace of faith ; not of 
 indifference, 
 
 2. Power : To overcome sin. To grow in grace. To be, do. 
 think, and speak the absolute right — the mind and will of Christ. 
 
William McCutchan Morrison 167 
 
 To subdue my will to God's. To accomplish my work — overcome 
 laziness. To be a comfort and blessing to others. To make prog- 
 ress with propaganda. 
 
 3. Holiness : That all the graces of the Spirit may abound in me — 
 love, joy, patience, purity, truth, hope, faith, gentleness, kindness, 
 thoughtfulncss, forbearance, humility, self-control, speaking always 
 in lov« and yet with boldness when necessary, not speaking evil or 
 misjudging, not too much levity, faithfulness (industry) in not 
 wasting time. 
 
 4. Wisdom : What to pray for. What to say, do, and think 
 to-day. In my peculiar position. In planning and managing. For 
 new and improved ideas. For quick, yet unerring decision ; not 
 wasting time here. Following God, not going before Him. 
 
 5. Holy yearning for souls: Shepherding, comforting, teaching, 
 warning believers, with special thoughtfulncss for those in trouble. 
 Seeking the unsaved. 
 
 6. Watching and praying for Christ's coming. 
 
 7. Progress and help in translation and other literary work. 
 
 8. Physical strength. 
 
 For Others. 
 
 1. The Church of Christ: Here on our Mission. In the Congo, 
 especially the Methodists. Our Southern Presbyterian Church. The 
 Church HniversaJ. 
 
 2. Heathen and unsaved everywhere (mention by name any spe- 
 cial field needing prayer). 
 
 3. Prayer calendars. Here on our Mission. From Nashville. 
 
 4. The Executive Committee and Secretaries. 
 
 5. The First Church in Little Rock, Ark. 
 
 6. Personal friends. Relatives. Friends (see special list). 
 
 7. Our agents along the way. 
 
 8. The State, the Roman Catholics, traders. 
 
 9. Our home country. The President and his Cabinet. Congress. 
 Wisdom in the Great War and in dealing with Mexico and Japan, 
 etc. 
 
 10. Our African Missions. 
 
 In addition to this he kept these special Hsts, referred to 
 above, but they were too private and sacred for publication. 
 
i68 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 One of these lists alone contained over twenty-five hundred 
 special petitions. He brought every problem of the Mis- 
 sion, the faults and failures of his friends and his hopes 
 and aspirations for the native church, daily before the 
 throne of grace. 
 
 It is no wonder, then, that the life of this man was so 
 far-reaching in its influence; he was willing" to pay the 
 price of holiness. If we marvel at that wonderful courage 
 that enabled him to stand out almost alone and protest 
 against the oppression of the native people, we find that its 
 source is his absolute faith in the promises of God, "Fear 
 not, for I am with thee." 
 
 Perhaps we should not invade the sacred domain of his 
 prayers by commenting on them, and we make a brief ref- 
 erence to them only in the deepest sense of reverence. He 
 never offered a prayer in any mere perfunctory manner. 
 Prayer- was a sacred privilege to him ; he was utterly uncon- 
 scious of his audience and offered his petitions as one 
 standing in the very presence of God. His prayers always 
 made a profound impression on us and made us feel that 
 we were drawn nearer to God. His faith in God was so 
 strong and yet so simple that he approached Him with the 
 confidence of a child coming into the presence of an earth- 
 ly father. 
 
 We can not conclude this chapter without again calling 
 attention to the great part that prayer played in the life 
 of Dr. Morrison. A few years ago President Wilson 
 touched a button in his office and a great upheaval took 
 place in the Panama Canal, the last barrier between two 
 mighty oceans was removed and their waters mingled 
 together. So prayer accomplished things in the life of 
 Dr. Morrison far beyond the reach of human eyes. Think 
 of the influences that were released when those little girls 
 
William McCutchan Morrison 169 
 
 in Louisville prayed that he might answer the call from 
 Darkest Africa. Think of the honor our Lord places upon 
 prayer and the proof that He will hear and answer it when 
 He says, "Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest that 
 He would send forth laborers into His harvest." 
 
CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 Estimate of His Character and Influence — Testimonies by Personal 
 Friends — Conclusion. 
 
 The greatest contribution that Dr. Morrison made to 
 the modern missionary enterprise was his personaHty. Mere 
 words are inadequate to portray the grandeur of his char- 
 acter. The streams of influence that issued from his Hfe 
 can not yet be fathomed, because they will flow on forever. 
 The record of his life, as portrayed in this imperfect story, 
 is the index to his character. 
 
 When Columbus and his little band of faithful followers 
 had braved the perils of the great deep and were drawing 
 nearer to the shores of an unknown land, they came one 
 day into the mouth of the Orinoco River. One of the men 
 in that little group, upon observing the fact that they were 
 saiHng in fresh water, ventured the remark that they must 
 be drawing near to an island. The great navigator, ob- 
 serving the volume of the powerful current, replied with 
 scorn, "The waters of that mighty stream drain a conti- 
 nent!" It does not take the trained eye of a Columbus to 
 observe the fact that the mighty current of Dr. Morrison's 
 life and the unfathomable depths of his influence issued 
 from a great personality lost in Christ. 
 
 There was a magnetism about him that drew men in 
 every walk of life to him. Those who knew him best, from 
 the great religious leaders on down to the humblest native, 
 bear universal and unstinted praise to the greatness of the 
 man. 
 
 Let us hear the testimony of some of these men as to the 
 impression the personality of Dr. Morrison made upon 
 them. 
 
172 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 Dr. J. du Plissis, whom we have already quoted, in re- 
 ferring to Dr. Morrison's character, remarks : "He seemed 
 to me to be one of those rare spirits, who have in their 
 moral composition the stuff that goes to the formation of 
 abiding friendships. He possessed sympathy, that choicest 
 of all virtues, that marks the Christian and the gentleman, 
 and that is the imperishable cement of all friendships 
 worthy of the name. The light of friendship beaconed in 
 his eye, partly revealing, partly concealing, the depths be- 
 neath — the calm, unhastening, unresting character, the 
 kindly yet strenuous disposition, the resolute will. In your 
 intercourse with him you were conscious of having to do 
 with a strong man, whose best qualities did not lie upon 
 the surface, but who commanded hidden resources of cour- 
 age, strength and endurance. And though this is a matter 
 on which others are much more competent to speak than 1 
 am, it would seem as though he must have been a man of 
 much prayer and habitual intercourse with heaven, for his 
 life was very evidently nourished from those hidden springs 
 which lie among remote and lonely hills." 
 
 Bishop Lambuth, than whom there is none more compe- 
 tent to speak, says of him: "The chief characteristics of 
 this great leader of the Congo Mission of the Southern 
 Presbyterian Church, were those of magnificent courage, 
 tender-heartedness, rare tact in dealing with savage tribes, 
 genuine love for the native, sound judgment, tireless ener- 
 gy, a prayer life of power and deathless devotion and 
 loyalty to Christ. Does this seem overdrawn? It is the 
 result of personal observation after traveling thousands of 
 miles with him and spending weeks in most intimate asso- 
 ciation at Luebo. 
 
 "It was said of Columbus, by one of his own country- 
 men, 'The instinct of an unknown continent burned within 
 
William McCutchan Morrison 173 
 
 him.' The pioneer spirit was largely developed in Mor- 
 rison, but it did not fall to his lot to explore the vast areas 
 about him. It was rather the less known region of the 
 African's own tropical life and thought which concerned 
 him most. Like David Livingstone, he believed in his 
 capacity for higher things. He measured the native by 
 the best that was in him, not by the worst. For the redemp- 
 tion of Africa he was willing to die. The love of the 
 unsaved, but redeemable race, fired his soul." 
 
 Rev. L. Foster Wood, of the American Baptist Foreign 
 Missionary Society, says : "Dr. Morrison brought back to 
 our minds the words of Jesus, 'The zeal of thy house hath 
 eaten me up.' He was a man who had a consuming interest 
 in God's work. Nothing that concerned the people of this 
 country^ (Africa) escaped his notice or failed to draw out 
 his interest. At the Conference at Luebo I marvelled to 
 notice that when the rest of us were tired he was still 
 engrossed by the interest of the business in hand. The 
 concern of God's kingdom and of God's little children had 
 so become a part of himself that he seemed at home, no 
 matter where the discussion might lead. 
 
 "He gave himself. His work had a strong flavor of 
 humanness and manhood about it. Here was a man seeing 
 through the accident of color and trying to help the Afri- 
 cans as fellowmen and helping thousands of them as fellow 
 Christians. There was no professionalism about him. Not 
 a teacher, not a preacher, not a missionary ; but a man 
 teaching, a man preaching, a man with a mission from God ; 
 that, I think, is the impression Dr. Morrison made and left. 
 You had the feeling that he was a manly man before it 
 occurred to you that he was teaching or preaching or dis- 
 cussing some phase of missionary work. Because of this 
 quality, it came about that he was able to reach beneath the 
 
174 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 surface and feel for and bring out the best that was in men 
 and to find in them something that was worth trusting. In 
 this way he was a teacher and preacher and a missionary 
 in the highest sense. 
 
 "When he went it seemed as if he had left a great work 
 still to do, as if he were just on the threshold of a wider 
 usefulness. As President of the General Conference it 
 appeared inevitable that the quickening impulse of his vigor 
 was to be more widely felt in Congo missions than ever be- 
 fore. He was planning to visit the various parts of the 
 whole Congo field, and many of us had the highest hopes 
 and expectations as to the results of these proposed visits 
 to the stations of other societies and the regions occupied 
 by other missions. Such a man might well have done much 
 to make and strengthen a united front for all our mission 
 work in this part of Africa. This is what we greatly need, 
 and he saw the need of the hour. Who so well as he would 
 have been able to make this high ideal a reality? He was 
 bound to be largely helpful and sitmulating because he was 
 so deeply interested and so broadly sympathetic. All this 
 work must now be taken up by others. 
 
 "But as for the worker to whom we would have been 
 so glad to entrust it, we rejoice in the great good that he 
 accomplished while he was yet with us, and we ponder the 
 meaning of such a career, 
 
 'Until we doubt not that for one so true, 
 There must be other nobler work to do.' " 
 
 Mr. Robert Whyte, who knew him intimately for over 
 twenty years, says : "Associated with him, as it was my 
 privilege to be, in his brave struggle against the tyranny 
 of King Leopold, I had a great admiration of his ability, 
 his dauntless courage, and his indomitable perseverance. 
 
William McCutchan Morrison 175 
 
 His Christian character shone through all he said and did 
 and raised it to a very high level. His name will remain 
 as that of a hero as long as the story of the Congo is told." 
 
 The members of the Methodist Mission at Wembo 
 Niama expressed their esteem and affection for him in the 
 following resolutions that were passed at the time of his 
 death : 
 
 "Whereas, in the Providence of Almighty God, Dr. W. 
 M. Morrison, our beloved brother and co-laborer in His 
 work, on March 14, 1918, departed this life for the life 
 above; and 
 
 "Whereas, Dr. Morrison, by his prayers and labors and 
 his love for Christ in the extension of His kingdom, was 
 largely instrumental in bringing about the founding of this 
 Mission; and 
 
 "Whereas, we, the members of this Mission, recognizing 
 the love he bore for this work as well as the individuals 
 themselves and deeply conscious of the great service he 
 has rendered them, desire to express in some slight manner 
 the affection in which he was held, and, at the same time, 
 to testify to the high order of devotion which he unsparing- 
 ly rendered both in the interests of his own and of this 
 Mission as well as the general cause of missions in the 
 Congo; therefore be it 
 
 "Resolved: That, bowing as we humbly do to the wisdom 
 and will of our Heavenly Father, who in His own good 
 time calls His servants home, we give this expression of 
 the sorrow we feel so keenly over the death of our friend 
 and brother; and, realizing the great loss to th A. P. C. 
 M. and the sorrow which has come into the lives of the 
 members of that Mission, we offer them our heartfelt love 
 and sympathy." 
 
 Rev. Alfred Stonelake, of the English Baptist Mission- 
 
176 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 ary Society, one of the moving spirits in the Conference, 
 says : "How grateful we are that it was our privilege to 
 see Dr. Morrison in your midst. We had met him at times 
 here at Stanley Pool and felt that he was a strong man 
 and a born leader. We knew of his fights for righteousness 
 and rejoiced that you had one so capable and willing to 
 spend and be spent, and even suffer reproach for the sake 
 of the Name. But we had to come to Luebo to see the 
 real Dr. Morrison, so loved and so lovely in his dealings 
 with one and all. Your absolute love for and devotion to 
 him was one of the sweetest memories we carried away 
 from the Conference. And as he stood before us, a peer 
 among men, we were inspired by his gracious words and 
 uplifted by his lofty ideals and led on to helpful decisions 
 by the clear vision and enthusiasm with which he was 
 endowed. Dr. Morrison has set us all an example which 
 we shall feel his death is a loud call to copy." 
 
 Rev. A. F. Hensy, of the Disciples of Christ Congo Mis- 
 sion, the retiring President of the Conference, says: "From 
 my communication with Dr. Morrison some very deep 
 impressions abide with me. Among these, two stand out 
 especially in my memory as I write this tribute to our de- 
 parted leader. 
 
 "The first of these was the calm assurance of his soul 
 that in the plan of the Father, things were going to come 
 out right. And he, in the closing days of his life, sorely 
 needed that assurance. He knew the Church of Rome and 
 sensed its soul as few of our leaders have, but of it he 
 scorned to be afraid. He was frankly anxious regarding 
 certain conditions in the Kasai region, but it was the anxie- 
 ty of the moment and not any questioning regarding the 
 long future of God's kingdom. 
 
 "The other impression was the gentleness of his soul. 
 
William McCutchan Morrison 177 
 
 He was the defender of the faith of whom the Congo 
 Church has a right to be proud, and of the poor and down- 
 trodden, a mighty friend, but he went into battle in confi- 
 dence with weapons not of this world. As one watched 
 him with his children in the gospel and realized the tender 
 love between him and them, it is easy to see how much he 
 relied on the efficacy of gentleness. 
 
 "Because of these qualities, among many others, I felt 
 that he was to be more and more a real champion of our 
 common Protestantism. In him were blended in unusual 
 measure the strength of faith and the gentleness of love." 
 
 Perhaps the most touching tribute paid to liim by the 
 native people was the silent tribute of an old woman on the 
 day of his burial. After the great throng had departed for 
 their homes and as the evening shadows were deepening 
 into night, this poor woman, whom he had doubtless be- 
 friended many times, lingered behind and creeping gently to 
 the grave on her hands and knees laid a few withered 
 flowers on his last resting place. The act of this humble 
 woman expressed the reverence and esteem in which the 
 native people held their departed friend, who had a "white 
 skin, but a native heart." 
 
 Dr. Chester, in behalf of the Executive Committee of 
 Foreign Missions, pays the following tribute to Dr. Mor- 
 rison : "We believe there would be universal agreement in 
 the statement that Dr. Morrison was the greatest of mod- 
 ern missionaries in Africa, ranking with Livingstone and 
 Mofifatt and McKay of Uganda in ability and consecration 
 and in the scope and influence of his work." 
 
 And what shall we say of him in behalf of the members 
 of the Mission? We thank God upon every remembrance 
 of him. For over twenty years he was the central figure 
 in the Mission and his was the guiding hand. He was a 
 
178 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 father to us all, one to whom we could look for comfort 
 and advice. Because of our affection for him and our con- 
 fidence in him, we could safely entrust to him the balance 
 of power in determining the policies of the Mission. The 
 great work that God has wrought in that Mission to-day 
 has been largely accomplished through his unusual talents 
 consecrated to the cause of Christ. We can not think of 
 him as dead, but as one gone on furlough and that he 
 awaits us in the Heavenly home when the time of our last 
 furlough comes. For we know that he lives — lives in the 
 hearts of thousands who cherish his memory ; lives in the 
 lives transformed by the Divine touch through his labors, 
 lives in the Living Word which he translated for more than 
 two millions of people; for him to live was Christ, the 
 power of an endless life. 
 
APPENDIX A 
 of tl|e (Eongo 3ln^^pf nJient ^tat? 
 
 Address of Dr. W. M. Morrison before the Boston Peace Congress 
 October, 1904 
 
 My reason for appearing before you to-day to address 
 you on this subject is the fact that for seven years I have 
 been a resident of the Congo State in one of the interior 
 districts and have enjoyed exceptional advantages for ob- 
 serving the operation of the Government in its policy to- 
 wards and treatment of the native people. In the name of 
 an oppressed people who cannot speak for themselves, I 
 have the honor to plead their cause before you. 
 
 It is scarcely necessary for me to narrate to you, even in 
 a brief way, the early history of the founding of the Congo 
 State by His Majesty, Leopold II, King of the Belgians, 
 and the so-called International Association, of which His 
 Majesty was the head; nor is it necessary to recount the 
 devious ways by which King Leopold finally secured, first 
 from the United States and later from other Powers, a 
 certain undefined recognition of the new Utopian State 
 which he proposed to found and operate in Africa, the 
 grounds for such recognition being based on the assertion 
 of His Majesty that the foundation stone of the new State, 
 its raison d'etre, was to be the "moral and material regen- 
 eration of the native peoples" in the great Congo Basin. 
 At the Conference in 1884, in which all the great civilized 
 nations were represented, an international status, more or 
 less undefined, was given to this new African State, and 
 the General Acts of the Conference of Berlin and the sub- 
 sequent General Act of Brussels contain certain very defi- 
 
i8o Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 nite treaty stipulations, by which the rights of natives and 
 foreigners alike were to be guarded and protected. 
 
 The Congo Free State, with King Leopold as absolute 
 sovereign, has been in operation for twenty years, and this 
 has given time to demonstrate whether or not the liberal 
 promises made by His Majesty in 1884 have been fulfilled. 
 This has also given time enough for the Powers to know 
 whether or not the stipulations of the Treaties of Berlin 
 and Brussels have been carried out. This is a question 
 which is very proper and wise to discuss before this Inter- 
 national Peace Congress— proper because the Congo State, 
 on account of its ill-defined international status and its 
 persistent violation of its promises and the treaties with 
 the various Powers, is fast becoming once more an inter- 
 national problem, which will require great tact to settle 
 amicably; and proper because the ever increasing ill-treat- 
 ment of the native people produces uprisings which bring 
 in their train cruelties and barbarities unheard of even in 
 civilized warfare. 
 
 It is with deep sadness that I, along with many others 
 who have lived in the Congo State and are acquainted with 
 its workings and have the interest of the natives and for- 
 eigners at heart, must now say that every important prom- 
 ise made and every important treaty stipulation is being 
 openly and defiantly violated by King Leopold and his so- 
 called "Congo Free State Government." 
 
 In the few minutes allotted to me it will be impossible to 
 go into the details of my personal observations, but I think 
 enough can be given to demonstrate to any unbiased mind 
 that the situation in the Congo State demands impartial, 
 international investigation, and, more than all, internatianal 
 interference. 
 
 For the sake of handling the subject we may say that 
 
William McCutchan Morrison i8i 
 
 the Conferences of Berlin and Brussels made, in the inter- 
 ests of the native peoples, the following treaty stipulations 
 with the Congo State: (i) Freedom of trade; (2) En- 
 couragement of missionary and philanthropic enterprises 
 intended for the Christianization and civilization of the 
 native people; (3) The suppression of slavery and slave 
 raiding and the guaranteeing to the natives liberty and pro- 
 tection in their rights as original owners of the land. 
 
 Let us discuss these stipulations in the order mentioned. 
 
 I. According to the General Act of Berlin, we find that 
 Freedom of Trade was guaranteed. Not only were citizens 
 of all nations granted the right to reside in the Congo State 
 and carry on commerce with the native peoples, but it 
 meant that the native peoples had the right to offer their 
 wares, the products of their land, in the free markets of 
 the world. It especially mentioned the fact that there 
 should never be any monopoly of the land or its products. 
 This is clearly the statement and the meaning of the treaty. 
 The question now is, "Has the Congo State Government, 
 or rather King Leopold, for he is the Government, fulfilled 
 and carried into execution that stipulation of the treaty?" 
 1 answer most emphatically, "No." 
 
 The gradual and often underground processes by which 
 freedom of trade has been throttled is one of the darkest 
 and most shameless pages in the Congo State's history. 
 One of the first acts of King Leopold, after his sovereignty 
 over the country had been secured by the Treaty of Berlin, 
 was to issue a decree appropriating to the so-called State 
 all the lands not actually occupied by the houses and fields 
 of the natives. Even this latter reservation meant little of 
 real value to the natives for they were given no title to their 
 fields and hence could be dispossessed at any time. Thus 
 
1 82 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 we see that at one stroke of the pen the people were de- 
 prived of their ancestral lands. 
 
 But that is not all. In the earlier years of the State, a 
 goodly number of traders, representing different nationali- 
 ties — English, French, Belgian, Dutch, Portuguese — went 
 into the country and secured from the Government small 
 concessions, or land grants, on which to build their houses 
 and shops and thus to trade with the natives, exchanging 
 manufactured goods for the raw ivory and india rubber. 
 This meant that the natives received something like the 
 true value for their products. But this freedom of trade, 
 though import and export duties were charged and enor- 
 mous sums had to be paid for trading licenses, labor, etc., 
 did not bring in sufficient revenue to satisfy King Leopold, 
 whose original philanthropy now began to be metamor- 
 phosed into avaricious commercialism. A new idea was 
 conceived. Large areas, sometimes embracing hundreds 
 of square miles, were given over to large land companies 
 for exclusive exploitation, the Government to have one-half 
 the proceeds of the said companies. As a concrete illustra- 
 tion of what this means, I can cite the situation at my own 
 place, Luebo, on the Kasai River. Up to three years ago 
 there were five separate and independent trading companies 
 at that point. Since that time the Government has organ- 
 ized in this region one of its monopolistic concessions and 
 all these old companies have been forced into the combina- 
 tion. The result is that at Luebo there is now only one 
 trading house ; the other four, being deserted, have gone 
 to ruin. Before this monopolistic company was formed 
 the price paid to the natives for rubber was about three 
 francs per kilogram. After the company was formed the 
 price dropped to fifty centimes — in other words, from 
 about thirty cents to five cents per pound. To add insult 
 
William McCutchan Morrison 183 
 
 to injury, the native is forbidden to go into the forest and 
 make rubber and sell it to any one other than the monopo- 
 listic company. If he does he is considered a thief for 
 stealing what belongs to the company. Not only are the 
 natives now deprived of the privilege of selling their wares 
 in an open market to the highest bidder, but by the Gov- 
 ernment's refusing to outside traders the right to buy land 
 and trade within the prescribed territory of the monopolis- 
 tic companies, an outrage has been committed on the citi- 
 zens of the very nations which brought the Congo State 
 into existence. I know a man who came to Luebo hoping 
 to buy a small piece of land from the Government and 
 engage in trade. This was absolutely refused and he finally 
 went away, after great loss to himself and the company 
 which he represented. 
 
 But this is not all. In some of the companies thus 
 formed the natives were a little slow about bringing in the 
 ivory and rubber at the prices fixed. Then another expe- 
 dient had to be resorted to. And just here begins that long 
 and bloody story of Congo cruelty and oppression of which 
 I shall speak later. 
 
 I have thus shown that now there is no longer any free- 
 dom of trade in the Congo State ; that the country has been 
 appropriated by the Government ; that, with the exception 
 of a small district in the extreme west, the remainder of 
 the great interior districts, with the natives and the prod- 
 ucts, has either been farmed out to monopolistic companies 
 of exploitation or is retained by King Leopold as his 
 Private Domain, and this Private Domain is being exploited 
 more mercilessly, if possible, than the territories of the 
 companies. 
 
 2. But let us notice in the next place what has become 
 of the stipulations of the Berlin Treaty regarding the en- 
 
184 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 couragement by the State of missionary and other philan- 
 thropic enterprises, having for their purpose the Christiani- 
 zation and civiHzation and education of the native people. 
 
 In the early years of the Congo Government, just as we 
 saw in the matter of freedom of trade, all went well in 
 Protestant missionary work, which was being carried on 
 by societies from England, the United States and Sweden. 
 The missionaries were permitted to buy land and establish 
 stations without hindrance. Within the past five or six 
 years, however, since the organization of the monopolistic 
 trading companies above referred to, the Government has 
 declined any longer to sell even the smallest plots of land 
 for mission purposes. This fact, combined with the state- 
 ment that the law prohibits a foreigner from residing for 
 more than fifteen days in a place without owning the land, 
 has practically brought any expansive mission work to a 
 standstill. I, myself, and other members of the mission, 
 have been ordered away from places where we had asked 
 the privilege of purchasing land. It is true that short-term 
 leases have been ofifered in some cases ; but it can be easily 
 seen that it is impossible to undertake any permanent mis- 
 sion work, establish schools, build houses, etc., with the 
 possibility of being turned out at the expiration of the lease 
 and all work gone to naught. The mission of which I am 
 a member has, within the past six years, asked for the privi- 
 lege of purchasing land and establishing stations at four 
 different places, but we have always been refused. Other 
 missions report similar difficulties. The Congo State ven- 
 tures a defense of itself on this charge by stating that there 
 are several scores of Protestant missionaries in the country, 
 together with a number of Protestant mission stations. It, 
 however, forgets to mention that these stations were all 
 secured prior to the last five or six years. Another favorite 
 
William McCutchan Morrison 185 
 
 method of interference with mission work is by annoying 
 and harassing the people in the vicinity of the missions, 
 thus causing them in some cases to flee into the forests and 
 elsewhere for safety. I have seen a mission station which 
 had near it at one time a large village of several thousand 
 people. The village was entirely deserted. The same sit- 
 uation of afifairs is being continually reported from various 
 sections of the Congo State. Recent letters from the mis- 
 sionaries on our station at Luebo bring the news that for 
 many months the people have been compelled to work in 
 the building of a new State Post — and every State Post 
 thus built means another link in the chain of slavery. On 
 account of this long continued forced service for the Gov- 
 ernment, the people have not had opportunity to cultivate 
 tlieir fields. The result is that a famine is threatened ; and 
 yet, famine or no famine, the poor natives must furnish 
 food for the great crowd of soldiers, camp followers, and, 
 last but not least, the white Government officials. 
 
 Sometimes our schools and church services at Luebo 
 have been broken up for weeks at a time, owing to the 
 people having fled to the forests by' thousands in order to 
 escape capture or other outrage at the hands of the Gov- 
 ernment soldiers. 
 
 It can thus be seen that a great wrong is being done, not 
 only to the citizens of these countries who arc willing to 
 make a great sacrifice in order to disseminate the blessings 
 of Christianity in that dark land, but a greater wrong is 
 done to the native people whom the Government seems 
 to desire to keep in deeper ignorance and darkness because 
 it puts every obstacle in the way of missionaries. The 
 Government itself sends out no teachers, it establishes no 
 schools and, to cap the climax of its shameless policy, it 
 even throws barriers in the way of the missionaries. 
 
i86 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 3. Having seen how the native has been shorn of his 
 ancestral forests and deprived of the privilege of freedom 
 of trade, and having seen how the Government, by its 
 interference with mission work, is thus endeavoring to 
 shut out from the people the light of education, Christiani- 
 zation and civilization, we shall now proceed to notice 
 whether the Government has kept that part of its promise 
 regarding the suppression of slavery and slave raiding; 
 whether or not it has secured to the native his liberty and 
 is protecting him in his rights guaranteed by the treaties. 
 I make bold to say that I believe the condition of the 
 native people, as a whole, is far worse than it was before 
 King Leopold and his gang of "moral and material" regen- 
 erators began their operations in Africa. Words fail me 
 to attempt to describe this dark, bloody and treacherous 
 page of Congo State history. The system of forced labor 
 and military service is the most heartless and iniquitous in 
 the history of modern colonization enterprises. If possible, 
 it even surpasses in cruelty and relentless heartlessness 
 that of the Spaniards in their conquest of Mexico and Peru. 
 
 I can only briefly outline this history of forced labor and 
 military service as I have seen it in operation there. Short- 
 ly after the founding of the Congo State india rubber was 
 found to exist in many parts of the country; but, as the 
 collecting of it was necessarily a slow and laborious pro- 
 cess, some means had to be devised by which to force the 
 native people to make rubber and bring it to the Govern- 
 ment posts. The Government, instead of leaving the deal- 
 ing in rubber to independent traders, now entered itself 
 into the rubber business and henceforth became nothing 
 but a great commercial, slave-driving monopoly. 
 
 King Leopold, at the Conference of Brussels, secured 
 the desired means of forcing the natives to make rubber. 
 
William McCutchan Morrison 187 
 
 This means was a native army to be recruited and armed 
 for the ostensible purpose of suppressing the Arabs, but, 
 as it turned out, for the purpose of binding into deeper 
 slavery his unfortunate African subjects. This native 
 army, now numbering upwards of 30,000 men, composed 
 of captives made among the fiercest tribes, often cannibals, 
 armed with repeating rifles and officered by Europeans — 
 this native army, I say, is the terror of the wliole Congo 
 State and is also the means which the Royal Sovereign 
 uses to compel his helpless and defenceless subjects to 
 make and bring the rubber to the Government posts. The 
 great majority of these soldiers have been captured and 
 forced into military service, or they have been furnished 
 by villages which have been levied upon. They are then 
 trained, armed with rifles, and transported to a region re- 
 mote from that in which they were born. There, being out 
 of sympathy with the people with whom they have been 
 placed, there is little danger of mutiny. They are heartless 
 in their treatment of the unfortunate people with whom 
 they come into contact. 
 
 At Luebo the great majority of the soldiers whom I saw 
 were from the Bangala tribe, far away to the north; at 
 Boma, the capital of the State, I have seen and talked with 
 soldiers belonging to the Baluba tribe. These men were 
 thus more than a thousand miles distant from their native 
 homes. This pitting of tribe against tribe, producing jeal- 
 ousy and not infrequently bloodshed, is one of the most 
 shameful features of the Congo State regime. Time and 
 again at Luebo, when it was rumored that a Government 
 official or the soldiers w^ere coming, I have seen the people, 
 filled with terror, flee into the forests for safety. I have 
 seen villages, in which officers and soldiers had quartered 
 for the night, pillaged and desecrated in the most shameless 
 
i88 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 manner, and that, too, right under the eyes of the Govern- 
 ment officials. I have seen the soldiers actually attacking 
 and plundering villages only a few hundred yards from my 
 house. These same soldiers, in attempting to capture a 
 woman who was fleeing for her life, invaded the private 
 home of two of our missionaries. 
 
 It was only after a bitter protest on my part that the 
 Government official was prevented from forcibly removing 
 from Luebo thousands of people and compelling them to 
 live at the State Post at Luluaburg. 
 
 Only a few months before starting on my furlough for 
 America a squad of soldiers came to Luebo, accompanied 
 by a white officer. They claimed to have come to recruit 
 soldiers. "Recruiting" is a Congo euphemism for slave 
 raiding. Though I had extracted from the officer the prom- 
 ise that he would take no one away by force, yet, without 
 a moment's warning, he began seizing the men. Many fled 
 into the forests, where they were pursued. Seme eighteen 
 or twenty men were thus captured, and I saw them going 
 away under guard, with ropes round their necks, in the 
 true Arab slave raiding style. A year ago I boarded the 
 railway at Leopoldville to come down to Matadi. On the 
 same train were several open cars or trucks loaded v/ith 
 Government slaves who had been captured in the district 
 east of Luebo. They were being taken they knew not 
 where. They told me that they had come to the State post 
 in their vicinity to bring their tribute of ivory and rubber. 
 Upon arriving at the post, they had been surrounded by the 
 soldiers, captured, put on a Government steamer, and when 
 I saw them on the railway they were fully a thousand miles 
 from their homes. They begged me for food, saying they 
 were nearly starved. 
 
 At Luluaburg the Government some years ago imported 
 
William McCutchan Morrison 189 
 
 and stationed several thousand Zappo Zapps, a powerful 
 cannibal tribe, with which the State had formed an alliance. 
 These Zappo Zapps, though allies of the State and though 
 under the immediate surveillance of the Government off.- 
 cials, have been for many years the recognized slave raiders 
 and slave dealers of the whole region. Many times I have 
 seen the Zappo Zapps passing by my door offering for sale 
 men, women and children whom they had captured in the 
 districts beyond Luluaburg. In tact, I can buy a slave any 
 day in Luluaburg at from eight to twelve dollars apiece, 
 sometimes even cheaper than that. 
 
 A large gang of these Zappo Zapps, under one of their 
 most prominent chiefs, was sent on a raiding expedition 
 near to one of our stations, Ibanche. For weeks we had 
 heard of the most terrible outrages going on. At last we 
 sent one of our esteemed missionaries, Rev. W. H. Shep- 
 pard, to investigate. As he came into the vicinity of the 
 disturbances he found the villages burnt and deserted. 
 Upon arriving at the camp of the Zappo Zapps, he found 
 a large stockade. Inside of this stockade, only a few days 
 before, had occurred a horrible butchery of innocent men, 
 women and children, who had been invited there apparently 
 on a friendly visit. Because they could not pay the enor- 
 mous tribute of ivory and rubber and slaves which was 
 demanded they were shot down in the stockade. Dr. Shep- 
 pard saw and counted eighty-one hands which had been 
 severed at the wrists and were slowly drying over a fife. 
 The leader of the expedition informed Dr. Sheppard that 
 he had been instructed by the Government officials at Lulua- 
 burg to bring back the hands in order to show that his work 
 had been well done. Dr. Sheppard also saw forty bodies 
 piled in a heap on the outside of the stockade. 
 
 But what is the use of going farther into th's revolt'ng 
 
190 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 narrative of bloodshed, mutilation, oppression and slavery? 
 The self-styled Sovereign of the Congo State has proved 
 recreant to the sacred trusts committed into his hands by 
 the Powers in 1884. His promised philanthropic Govern- 
 ment has been metamorphosed into a State whose real 
 motto is, "Rubber, rubber at any cost." 
 
 In other civilized countries engaged in governing subor- 
 dinate races there is a strong public protest at home against 
 any malicious ill-treatment of the natives — a healthy public 
 sentiment simply demands a reasonably just government. 
 
 One of the saddest features of this Congo situation is 
 the fact of seeming moral bankruptcy of the Belgian nation. 
 I know full well that Belgium has no official connection 
 with the Congo; yet, with the exception of a few public 
 voices raised in protest, the great body of the Belgian na- 
 tion seems not only indififerent, but actually defends the 
 policy of King Leopold in Africa. The question now is: 
 shall the jealousy and the lethargy of the Powers which 
 originally recognized the Congo State permit another Ar- 
 menia in Africa? 
 
 The Congo Government points to its prosperity, to its 
 millions of dollars worth of exports, to its railways and 
 steamboats, to its plantations and beautiful military posts 
 and monopolistic companies which are paying fabulous 
 dividends. I point to the lash and the chains and the re- 
 peating rifles and the 30,000 cannibal soldiers which have 
 made all this so-called prosperity possible— a prosperity 
 which is felt in Brussels, but not on the Congo. Instead 
 of the taxes going back for the benefit of the native people, 
 they either stop in the coffers of King Leopold and the 
 stockholders of the monopolistic companies, or they are 
 
William McCutchan Morrison 191 
 
 sent back to the Congo to build more railroads and more 
 steamboats and more State posts and to buy more rifles. 
 
 King Leopold has arrogated to himself absolute power; 
 there is no Congress or Parliament to hold any check. His 
 avarice and relentless greed can run unbridled ; the poor 
 natives are defenseless and helpless, and they are holding 
 up the chains of their slavery, their mangled bodies and 
 their impoverished fatherland to the civilized world, plead- 
 ing for relief from the Government which has been placed 
 over them as a cruel taskmaster. 
 
 Surely this International Peace Congress will not turn a 
 deaf ear to the cry of the needy and the oppressed in 
 Africa. 
 
 —7— 
 
APPENDIX B 
 
 (ill|? (Eas? of Sr. iHorrtBon avih Ir. ^l|rpparb 
 
 [Article in the "Kasai Herald" of January, 1908, a magazine pub- 
 lished by the missionaries at Luebo, on which the indictment of Dr. 
 Morrison and Dr. Sheppard was founded.] 
 
 FROiM THE BAKUBA COUNTRY. 
 
 W. n. SHEPPARD 
 
 These great stalwart men and women, who have from 
 time immemorial been free, cultivating large crops of In- 
 dian corn, tobacco, potatoes, trapping elephants for their 
 ivory tusks and leopards for their skins, who have always 
 had their own king and a government not to be despised, 
 officers of the law established in every town of the king- 
 dom — these magnificent people, perhaps about 400,000 in 
 number, have entered a new chapter in the history of their 
 tribe. Only a few years since, travelers througi^ this coun- 
 try found them living in large homes, having from one to 
 four rooms in each house, loving and living happily with 
 their wives and children, one of the most prosperous and 
 intelligent of all the African tribes, though living in one 
 of the most remote spots on the planet. One seeing the 
 happy, busy, prosperous lives which they lived could not 
 help feeling that surely the lines had fallen unto this people 
 in pleasant places. 
 
 But within these last three years how changed they are ! 
 Their farms are growing up in weeds and jimgle, their king 
 is practically a slave, their houses now are mostly only 
 half-built single rooms and are much neglected. The 
 streets of their towns are not clean and well-swept as they 
 once were. Even their children cry for bread. 
 
 Why this change? You have it in a few words. There 
 
194 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 are armed sentries of chartered* trading companies, who 
 force the men and women to spend most of their days and 
 nights in the forests making rubber, and the price they re- 
 ceive is so meager that they cannot Hve upon it. In the 
 majority of the villages these people have not time to listen 
 to the gospel story, or give an answer concerning their 
 soul's salvation. Looking upon the changed scene now, one 
 can only join with them in their groans as they must say: 
 "Our burdens are greater than we can bear." 
 
 Just near the mission station, however, it is still reason- 
 ably prosperous. The parents send their children to school 
 and to church. Many of them are in training to become 
 teachers and preachers to their own people. The industrial 
 part of the work is doing beautifully. Church services are 
 held daily in all the near villages. Sabbath schools are 
 taught by competent evangelists. The Lord is showering 
 blessings upon them, and they appreciate it and prove it 
 by their works. 
 
 In 1890 our church sent a lighted torch into Central 
 Africa, entrusting it into the hands of the immortal Samuel 
 N. Lapsley. The light has not been extinguished and shall 
 never be. It has sent forth its rays of light and life into 
 hundreds of homes, and the great highway from Central 
 Africa to Glory has been lighted up by it, and thousands 
 have been led to walk therein. May a blessing rest upon 
 all who have in any way aided in sending the light into this 
 dark land. 
 
 *NoTE. — Rev. W. M. Morrison, D.D. (co-defendant with Dr. Shep- 
 pard), writes that in the indictment much is made of the use of the 
 word "chartered" instead of the word "concessionary," in describing 
 the Company Kasai. The amount of damages named in the suit is 
 80,000 francs, $16,000. The alternative penalty is five years' impris- 
 onment. 
 
William McCutciian Morrlson 195 
 
 LETTER FROM REV. IV. M. MORRISON, D.D., TO DK 
 CHESTER, SECRETARY OF THE EXECUTIVE COM- 
 MITTEE. NASHVILLE, TENN. 
 
 LuiiBo, Congo Free State, Africa, 
 
 February 24, 1909. 
 
 My Dear Dr. Chester: Well, the long-threatened suit of 
 the monopolistic trading company here agamst Sheppard 
 and myself has at last materialized. The summons came 
 to us a day or so ago. The grounds of the suit are "the 
 publication in the 'Kasai Herald,' of January, 1908, certain 
 statements utterly false, which have brought great damage 
 to the company." I judge, however, from the way the 
 summons is worded that there will not be ver}' much efifort 
 made to disprove our statements with reference to the abus- 
 ing of the natives, which is the point really at issue; but 
 the whole trial is to center around a quibble about the word 
 'chartered,' which occurs in the article. The company con- 
 tends that it is not a chartered company. Of course, what 
 the difference between a chartered company and a "con- 
 cessionary "company is may not be very plain to the average 
 man, but these people are grabbing at straws in their effort 
 to defend themselves and the system which they have put 
 into operation, which .system they mean to perpetuate under 
 the new regime here unless the Powers interfere. 
 
 I inclose you letters which I have written to our Consul 
 at Boma. In these letters you will note that I believe this 
 trial is intended as a test case. In view of the fact that 
 it is not so much the company, as the Government itself 
 and its whole policy which is involved, I believe we cannot 
 expect an impartial trial of this case. Yon kiiozu that the 
 Govermnent, which is really Leopold and the little coterie 
 about him, owns fifty per cent of the stock in this company. 
 
196 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 Leopold appoints the judges and all of the important offi- 
 cials of the Government. Therefore, can it be expected, 
 especially considering the general character of the man, 
 that there is any idea of giving us justice? 
 
 You may remember that in the famous Stannard case 
 (an English missionary), the Government at first decided 
 against him, and he was condemned to pay or go to prison. 
 But when the injustice of the whole proceeding aroused 
 such public indignation in England, the Government re- 
 versed its own decision. This was only done, however, 
 after wide publicity had been given to the fact that Stan- 
 nard had been proved guilty. It will also be remembered 
 that Stannard's ivitnesses were put in prison and were so 
 intimidated that they testified contrary to what they knew 
 to be the facts. We have no assurance but that our native 
 witnesses will be treated in the same way. The Bakuba are 
 very timid, and I believe we shall have great difficulty in 
 getting any of them to go all the way to Leopoldville, nine 
 hundred miles away. 
 
 And just here you will note this feature of the transac- 
 tion. To begin with, zve are dragged, zvith our witnesses, 
 all the ivay to Leopoldville, nine hundred miles away, when 
 the trial, so far as ive knoiv, could have been held at Lu- 
 sambo just as well. But nothing else need be expected 
 from such a Government. 
 
 We were all hoping that with the new regime there 
 would come some manifestation of a change in spirit, but, 
 so far as I see, none whatever. You mentioned in one of 
 your recent letters to me that you thought the new Govern- 
 ment ought to remove all the old officials and start anew. 
 Not only has this not been done, but there is every sign 
 that the old ways are to be perpetuated in full force. 
 
 I am by this mail writing to our Consul at Boma. I in- 
 
William McCutchan Morrison 197 
 
 close you the letter. Also one written to the English 
 Consul. 
 
 We are looking for our steamer any day back from the 
 Pool. Then we shall see about what arrangements we can 
 make about getting down to the Pool. The chances are 
 that our steamer will have to spend the dry season at Bena 
 Makima, for I doubt if she can come up here to Luebo as 
 late as we shall have to return, for you note that the trial 
 is set for the 25th of May. Trusting that the Lord may 
 soon put down the oppressor and show his hand in behalf 
 of the poor and needy in this unfortunate land, I am, 
 Yours most cordially, 
 
 W. M. Morrison. 
 
 LETTER FROM DR. CHESTER TO HON. PHILANDER C. 
 KNOX, SECRETARY OF STATE, WASHINGTON, D. C. 
 
 Sir: In behalf of the Executive Committee of Foreign 
 Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the United States, 
 I desire to lay before you the facts and documents relating 
 to a charge of criminal libel which has been brought against 
 two of our missionaries in the Congo Independent State, 
 Africa, Rev. William M. Morrison, D.D., and Rev. W. H. 
 Sheppard, D.D., by certain officers of the Company Kasai, 
 one of the concessionary rubber companies operating in the 
 Kasai District in the same territory covered by the work of 
 our Mission. 
 
 We are informed that the charge brought against these 
 missionaries 'is founded on an article published in the 
 "Kasai Herald," a magazine published by our missionaries 
 at Luebo, dated January, 1908. A copy of this article is 
 herewith submitted. 
 
 We are constrained to ask the intervention of our De- 
 
198 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 partment of State for the protection of these missionaries 
 in their rights as American citizens, for the following 
 reasons : 
 
 1. In the year 1905 a missionary of the English Baptist 
 Church, the Rev. Edgar Stannard, was accused and tried 
 before a Court of the Congo Independent State on a similar 
 charge. A pamphlet issued by the Congo Reform Asso- 
 ciation, entitled "The Stannard Case," giving an account 
 of the proceedings had in that trial is herewith submitted, 
 together with a brief summary of the contents of the said 
 pamphlet given on a separate sheet and included in the list 
 of documents herewith submitted. 
 
 We are informed that since the trial of Mr. Stannard, 
 a new law relating to the subject of "defamation" has been 
 promulgated, making the penalty following conviction of 
 the same offiense of which Mr. Stannard was convicted "a 
 maximum of five years' imprisonment and a fine of one 
 thousand francs, or one only of these penalties." 
 
 Considering the severity of this penalty, we feel it incum- 
 bent upon us to invoke the aid of our Department of State 
 in preventing any such miscarriage of justice under the 
 forms of law as we believe the records show to have oc- 
 curred in the case of Mr. Stannard. 
 
 2. That we have just reason to fear a failure on the 
 part of the authorities of the Congo Independent State to 
 give our missionaries a fair trial according to American 
 ideas in this case seems to us evident from the manner in 
 which the case has been conducted thus far. The alleged 
 offense was committed nearly a year and a half ago. The 
 acquittal of the missionaries will depend upon their being 
 able to prove before the court the truth of tlie statements 
 made in their publication. The witnesses by which these 
 statements must be substantiated are members of the Baku- 
 
William McCutchan Morrison 199 
 
 ba tribe, which tribe is and has been terrorized by the 
 agents of the Company Kasai, and they will, for that 
 reason, be difficult to persuade to appear before the court 
 under any circumstances. A most remarkable circum- 
 stance is that the place designated for the trial is Leopold- 
 ville. which is about nine hundred miles distant from Luebo, 
 where the missionaries reside, and about a thousand miles 
 distant from the place where the Bakuba witnesses must 
 be found. Furthermore, the date of the hearing has been 
 fixed for May 25th, by which time the low water in the 
 Kasai River will, in all probability, make it impossible for 
 the steamer owned by our Mission to navigate the river 
 higher up than Bena Makima, a distance of two hundred 
 miles from Luebo. It will be necessary for our mission- 
 aries and the witnesses they must bring before the court for 
 their defense to travel this two hundred miles of the jour- 
 ney by caravan. It will also be not less than five months 
 before they will be able to return to I.uebo by steamer. 
 During these five months it will be necessary for them to 
 remain at Leopoldville with their witnesses at a very heavy 
 expense. 'Would such proceedings be tolerated in the trial 
 of an American citizen at home? If not, must we submit 
 to them in the trial of our citizens in the Congo Independ- 
 ent State? 
 
 We feel assured that the mere statement of the above 
 facts will be sufficient to show that we are justified in call- 
 ing upon our Department of State to intervene in this case. 
 
 We desire to call special attention to the article taken 
 from the "Kasai Herald," on which the charge of libel is 
 founded, and respectfully ask that a comparison be made 
 of the charges brought in that article against the Company 
 Kasai and its agents with the reports sent to the Depart- 
 ment by Consuls Smith, Slocum, Memminger and Handley, 
 
200 Twenty Years in Africa 
 
 on the conditions which they found prevaiHng in the same 
 territory. 
 
 We desire, in closing, to express our profound gratifica- 
 tion at the stand already taken by our Government, in de- 
 clining to recognize the transfer of the sovereignty of the 
 Congo Independent State from King Leopold to Belgium, 
 except upon the basis of satisfactory guarantees of the 
 abolition of forced labor and the restoration to the natives 
 of their rights in land and in the produce of the soil, of 
 which rights they have been deprived by the legislation and 
 procedure of the Congo State. This, together with our 
 whole previous experience in such cases, leads us to feel 
 the utmost confidence that nothing will be left undone that 
 can properly be done by our Department of Slate to protect 
 our missionaries from the present threatened injustice and 
 to safeguard their treaty rights. 
 
 In behalf of the Executive Committee of Foreign Mis- 
 sions. Very respectfully yours, 
 
 S. H. Chester, Secretary. 
 
 In a personal interview following the presentation of the 
 above statement, it developed that, by an act of Providence, 
 the State Department received the report of Consul-Gen- 
 eral Handley, confirming all the allegations in Dr. Shep- 
 pard's article, on which the indictment was based, on the 
 same day that the statements of Dr. Morrison as to the 
 unreasonable requirements of the Congo Government 
 reached Washington. As the result of this interview of 
 Dr. Chester's with the State Department, the American 
 Legation at Brussels was instructed to demand of the Bel- 
 gian Government a change in both the date and the place 
 of the trial, so that the accused missionaries might procure 
 
William McCutchan Morrison 201 
 
 the attendance of the witnesses needed for their defense 
 without unnecessary inconvenience and hardsliip. In re- 
 sponse to this demand the date was changed to September 
 24th, 1909. As stated in the text, Hon. Emil Vandervelde, 
 of Belgium, went to Leopoldville as attorney for the mis- 
 sionaries; and, as a result of his masterly defense, they 
 were acquitted. 
 
DATE DUE 
 
 DEMCO 38-297 
 
Princeton Theological Seminaf7-Speer Library 
 
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