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 Smith, Samuel Francis, 1808 
 
 1895, 
 Missionary sketches 
 
Missionary Sketches : 
 
 A CONCISE HISTORY 
 
 OF THE WORK OF THE 
 
 American Baptist Missionary Union. 
 
 S. F>^MITH, D.D. 
 
 " And they went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with 
 them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen." — Mark 
 xvL 20. 
 
 MISSION ROOMS, BOSTON: 
 
 W. G. CORTHELL, PUBLISHER. 
 
 1879. 
 
Copyright, 1879, 
 By W. G. CORTHELL. 
 
 Franklin Press: 
 
 Stereotyped and Printed by 
 
 Rand, Avery, &> Co., 
 
 Boston. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 These sketches were suggested by my friend Rev, 
 Dr. Bright, of New York, and appeared in successive 
 months in "The Examiner and Chronicle." They 
 were received with much favor, and I have been re- 
 quested by many whose judgment I respect, to gather 
 them together into their present form. Each chapter is 
 of proper length to be read at one sitting, or at a mis- 
 sionary concert ; and each gives a concise view of a 
 single mission. Within so narrow a compass, it was 
 impossible to embrace every name, or interesting inci- 
 dent, or succession of events, or important detail. 
 The work aims to be only what its title implies. I 
 have revised the Sketches, and continued them to the 
 present date. I lay the little volume on the altar of 
 missions, and dedicate it to Him, to whom, in due 
 time, " every knee shall bow." S. F. S. 
 
"For from the rising of the sun even unto the 
 going down of the same, my name shall be great 
 
 AMONG THE GeNTILES ; AND IN EVERY PLACE INCENSE 
 SHALL BE OFFERED UNTO MY NAME, AND A PURE OFFER- 
 ING ; FOR MY NAME SHALL BE GREAT AMONG THE HEATHEN, 
 
 SAiTH THE Lord of hosts." — Mai, i. ii. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Page. 
 
 I. Mission to Rangoon 7 
 
 II. Mission to Maulmain 23 
 
 III. Mission to Tavoy 38 
 
 IV. Mission in Arracan 52 
 
 V. Mission to Prome 65 
 
 VI. Mission to Toungoo 78 
 
 VII. Mission in Henthada 93 
 
 VIII. Bassein Mission 108 
 
 IX. Shwaygyeen Mission 123 
 
 X. Mission to the Shans 138 
 
 XI. Mission to Assam 154 
 
 XII. Mission in Siam 173 
 
 XIII. Mission to the Teloogoos 189 
 
 XIV. Southern China Mission 218 
 
 XV. Eastern China or Ningpo Mission . . . 238 
 
 XVI. Mission to Japan 256 
 
 XVII. Mission to Africa 270 
 
 XVIII. Mission to France . . . . . . 286 
 
 XIX. The German Mission 304 
 
 XX. Mission to Sweden 327 
 
 XXI. Mission to Greece 345 
 
 XXII. Mission to Spain 353 
 
 5 
 
/pElHCBTOH 
 
 
 MISSIONARY SKETCHES. 
 
 No. I. 
 
 MISSION TO RANGOON. 
 
 About Rangoon. — How the Mission began in Rangoon. — The Pros- 
 pect and Ground of Success. — Additional Missionaries. — The 
 First Convert, — Seeking Toleration. — The First Burmese War. 
 — A Splendid Gift. — After the War. — The Work among the 
 Karens. — Present Condition. — A Bible given to the King. — 
 The Karen Theological Seminary. — The Atlantic Cable used to 
 Rangoon. — College at Rangoon. — A Bible for the Queen. — 
 Victoria's Autograph. — Death of Dr. Binney* 
 
 IN the history of the Burman mission, the 
 name of Rangoon meets us first ; and around 
 it have clustered, during the last sixty-five years, 
 circumstances of ever new and varying interest. 
 Rangoon is situated on the eastern side of the 
 Bay of Bengal, on the Rangoon River, nearly 
 midway between Maulmain on the east and Bas- 
 sein on the west. It is reached by a regular 
 mail steamer from Calcutta, the voyage occupy- 
 ing about a week. Steamers of the ** Anchor 
 Line " leave New York at regular intervals for 
 Glasgow ; and once a month a steamer of the 
 same line leaves Glasgow direct for Rangoon, 
 vid the Straits of Gibraltar and the Suez Canal 
 
8 MISSION TO RANGOON. 
 
 The distance from New York to Rangoon is 
 about seven weeks. 
 
 The inhabitants of Rangoon are mainly Bur- 
 mese, with a mixed population of other Eastern 
 peoples. Rangoon being a central seat of the 
 British power in Burmah, a regiment of British 
 troops is always quartered there. The climate 
 is favorable to health. There is daily a refresh- 
 ing sea-breeze, and the music of the military 
 band every evening is peculiarly charming. 
 
 On the 6th of February, 1812, now sixty-seven 
 years ago, five young men were ordained to the 
 work of the ministry at the Tabernacle Church 
 in Salem, Mass. These were the first mission- 
 aries from America to the heathen, — the seed 
 of those countless blessings which have enriched 
 both earth and heaven. On the 19th of Feb- 
 ruary two of the number, with their wives, 
 sailed from Salem, then an important East India 
 port, for Calcutta. One of these brethren, to 
 use his own words, took the back streets and 
 lanes on his way to the ship, in the gray of the 
 February morning, to avoid the gibes and jests 
 of those who made\fun of the Quixotic under- 
 taking. The three remaining missionaries, with 
 the wife of one of them, sailed on the i8th from 
 Philadelphia. On the vessel from Salem were 
 Mr. and Mrs. Judson ; and on that from Phila- 
 delphia was Mr. Rice. 
 
 While these missionaries in their separate 
 vessels were crossing the great waters, one of 
 the brethren in each of the two ships was led 
 providentially to the thought that on reaching 
 India they would naturally be led to consult 
 
HOW THE MISSION BEGAN jN RANGOON 9 
 
 with the English missionaries who had been 
 laboring there since 1789, in regard to their 
 future field and work. The experience of such 
 a man as Carey could not fail to be important to 
 them. " But," they very naturally said to them- 
 selves, "these brethren are Baptists; and, if 
 they should chance to touch upon our Pedobap- 
 tist principles, how should we defend them .? '* 
 This thought sent them to their Greek Testa- 
 ments and to the Holy Spirit, the divine 
 Teacher ; and with no other books treating on 
 this subject, and under such a teacher, they 
 wrought out the argument which made them 
 Baptists ; and, on arriving in Calcutta, they were 
 baptized by Rev. Mr. Ward. The baptistery in 
 which the solemn ordinance was administered 
 stands as on the day when they thus acknowl- 
 edged publicly their acceptance of ** one Lord, 
 one faith, one baptism." 
 
 A son of Dr. Carey, Mr. Felix Carey, had 
 begun a mission-work in Rangoon, but was 
 ■about to abandon it for a government appoint- 
 ment at the capital. Dr. Carey used to say, 
 " My son began as a minister of Christ ; but, 
 alas ! he has dwindled down into a civil ambas- 
 sador." Messrs. Judson and Rice, and Mrs. 
 Judson, after various and trying adventures and 
 discouragements, sailed from Madras in an old 
 and unseaworthy vessel, and were in imminent 
 danger of shipwreck ; but. Divinely guarded, 
 they reached Rangoon safely in July, 18 13. 
 
 They had been driven from the British pos- 
 sessions in India by the intolerance of the Eng- 
 lish East India Company. Rangoon was at that 
 
lO MISSION TO RANGOON. 
 
 time beyond the reach of that company, under 
 the dominion of its Burman rulers. One of 
 the laws of the Burmese empire made it a capi- 
 tal crime for a native of the country to forsake 
 his ancestral religion. Yet here these pioneers 
 of the gospel pitched their tent, and planted 
 the standard of the Lord of hosts. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Judson — they two ^ celebrated their first 
 communion together in Rangoon on Sabbath, 
 Sept. 19, 1 81 3. 
 
 After three years of apparently fruitless toil, 
 Mr. Judson wrote thus of his prospects, to his 
 fellow-laborer, Mr. Rice : — 
 
 " If any ask what success I meet with among the na- 
 tives, tell them to look at Otaheite, where the mission- 
 aries labored nearly twenty years, and, not meeting with 
 the slightest success, began to be neglected by all the 
 Christian world, and the very name of Otaheite was con- 
 sidered a shame to the cause of missions ; but now the 
 blessing begins to descend. Tell them to look at Bengal 
 also, where Dr. Thomas had been laboring seventeen 
 years, that is from 1783 to 1800, before the first convert, 
 Krishnoo, was baptized. When a few converts are once 
 made, things move on. But it requires a much longer 
 time than I have been here to make a first impression on 
 a heathen people. If they ask again, What prospect of 
 ultimate success is there 1 tell them, as much as there is 
 that there is an almighty and faithful God, who will per- 
 form his promises — and no more. If this does not sat- 
 isfy them, beg them to let me stay and make the attempt, 
 and let you come, and give us our bread. Or, if they are 
 unwilling to risk their bread on such a forlorn hope as 
 has nothing but the word of God to sustain it, beg of 
 them at least not to prevent others from giving us bread. 
 And, if we live some twenty or thirty years, they may 
 hear from us again." 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Hough joined the mission in 
 
THE FIRST CONVERT. ii 
 
 October, 1816; and Messrs. Wheelock and Col- 
 man, with their wives, Sept. 19, 181 8. A zayat, 
 or open shed, was erected in Rangoon for the 
 purpose of preaching the gospel, and labor was 
 commenced in it in April, 18 19. Much had 
 been already done to communicate the truths of 
 Christianity in a private way ; but this was the 
 first formal attempt to have public worship. 
 The first congregation numbered fifteen, besides 
 children, and was disorderly and inattentive. 
 The second Sabbath the assembly increased to 
 twenty-five or thirty, and tracts were given 
 them at the close. Besides the Sabbath work, 
 Mr. Judson sat on the floor in an open room of 
 the zayat from morning till night every day in 
 the week, ready to instruct all who might chance 
 to call, in the way that leads to heaven. The 
 first convert, Moung Nau, after the patient 
 waiting and toil of six years, made his first 
 visit to the zayat April 30, 18 19, and repeated 
 his visit for several successive days. On the 
 5th of May Mr. Judson wrote thus in his 
 journal : — 
 
 " Moung Nau has been with me several hours. I 
 begin to think that the grace of God has reached his 
 heart. He expresses sentiments of repentance for his 
 sins, and faith in the Saviour. The substance of his pro- 
 fession is, that from all the darkness and uncleanness 
 and sins of his whole life, he has found no other Saviour 
 but Jesus Christ ; nowhere else can he look for salva- 
 tion ; and therefore he proposes to adhere to Christ, and 
 worship him all his life long. 
 
 " It seems almost too much to believe, that God has 
 begun to manifest his grace to the Burmans ; but this 
 day I could not resist the delightful conviction that this 
 is really the case. Praise and glory be to his 
 
 NAME FOREVERMORE! AmEN." 
 
12 MISSION TO RANGOON. 
 
 On the 9th of May, Moung Nau declared 
 himself a disciple of Christ, in the presence of 
 several of his countrymen. Another seemed 
 inclined the same way, and two or three more 
 seemed to feel that the Buddhist religion had no 
 foundation. On the 6th of June, Moung Nau, 
 in a most interesting and appropriate letter 
 addressed to the missionary brethren, asked for 
 baptism. The request was granted ; and on the 
 27th of June, 1 8 19, the first baptism occurred in 
 the Burman empire. 
 
 On the 7th of November the second and 
 third candidates were baptized; and a week 
 afterwards the three converts repaired to the 
 zayat, and held a prayer-meeting of their own 
 accord. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Hough were now for a sea- 
 son in Bengal. Mr. Wheelock had finished his 
 course, and entered into his rest. It could not 
 long be concealed from a jealous government, 
 that some of its subjects had been guilty of the 
 heinous crime of forsaking Gaudama, and be- 
 lieving in Jesus. Judson and Colman at Ran- 
 goon determined that the state of the cause 
 demanded that an effort should be made to pro- 
 cure toleration for the converts to the Christian 
 religion. Accordingly on the 22d of Decem- 
 ber, 1 8 19, leaving their families in Rangoon, 
 they embarked in a river-boat, rowed by ten 
 men, on the Irrawaddy, on their way to Amera- 
 pura, the capital, five hundred miles above Ran- 
 goon, to visit the king, " the lord of life and 
 death." They took with them the Bible in six 
 volumes, covered with gold-leaf, and each vol- 
 
SEEKING TOLERATION. 13 
 
 ume enclosed in a rich wrapper, as a present to 
 the king, and several other gifts for the mem- 
 bers of the royal government. They arrived 
 Jan. 25, and two days afterwards came the 
 important interview. The petition of the mis- 
 sionaries in writing was presented to the king, 
 which was first read before him, and then he 
 took it in his hand, and read it deliberately 
 through, after which he handed it back, not 
 saying a single word. A tract containing a 
 brief summary of Christianity was then offered 
 him. He read two sentences, which assert that 
 there is one eternal God, independent of the 
 incidents of mortality, and that besides him 
 there is no God ; and then, " with an air of in- 
 difference, perhaps disdain, he dashed it to the 
 ground." An attempt was made to soothe his 
 angry passion by unfolding one of the volumes 
 of the Bible, and displaying its beauty ; but his 
 Majesty took no notice. In a few moments an 
 attendant thus interpreted his royal master's 
 will: "In regard to the objects of your peti- 
 tion, his Majesty gives no order. In regard to 
 your sacred books, his Majesty has no use for 
 them: take them away." (These volumes — 
 Scott's Commentary on the Bible, in six vol- 
 umes — were afterwards returned to this coun- 
 try, and are now in the Mission Library in 
 Boston.) The effort had proved a failure ; and 
 the laws forbidding a native to change his reli- 
 gion on pain of death remained on the statute- 
 book of the empire, unrepealed. 
 
 When the result of the visit to the king was 
 communicated to the converts at Rangoon, it 
 
14 MISSION TO RANGOON, 
 
 was a joyful surprise that they all remained 
 steadfast to their profession. They begged the 
 missionaries in no case to desert the station, at 
 least not till there should be eight or ten disci- 
 ples ; and they affirmed that several even now 
 were examining the new religion. They be- 
 lieved that one of their number might be 
 appointed a teacher of the rest, and that, with 
 such a nucleus, the new religion would spread 
 of itself. 
 
 It was finally resolved that Mr. Colman 
 should seek a spot in British India, to which, 
 if persecution should be aroused, the mission- 
 aries and converts might retire, and be secure. 
 He went to Chittagong, where he found a 
 population protected by English laws, and for 
 whom he could labor in the gospel. But his 
 service was soon ended. He died July 4, 1822. 
 
 During the next three or four years Mrs. 
 Judson had visited Calcutta, England, Scotland, 
 and her native land, and done a noble work for 
 the cause of missions. Mr. and Mrs. Hough 
 had returned from Bengal to Rangoon ; Dr. 
 Price had joined the mission, and by command 
 of the king, who hoped to reap benefit from 
 his medical skill, had stationed himself at the 
 capital. Mr. and Mrs. Wade accompanied Mrs. 
 Judson on her return from this country, and 
 arrived in Rangoon Dec. 5, 1823. The same 
 year the translation of the New Testament by 
 Dr. Judson was completed, together with an 
 epitome of the Old. The day of prosperity 
 seemed to have dawned. 
 
 But God's ways are unsearchable. The set 
 
THE FIRST BURMESE WAR. 15 
 
 time had not yet come. Various difficulties of 
 long standing, and new complications perpetu- 
 ally adding fuel to the flame, at last culminated 
 in the declaration of war, — that first Burmese 
 war, with its thrilling scenes of terror, suffer- 
 ing, and heroism, during which for nearly three 
 3^ears all mission work was suspended, and the 
 gravest apprehensions were felt for the lives of 
 the brethren. The missionaries were arrested 
 and imprisoned, the Burmans not distinguishing 
 between British and Americans, but classing 
 every person who wore a hat under one nation- 
 ality. When the British barges ascended the 
 river, an executioner was placed over two of 
 them, who knelt with bent heads and bared 
 necks, waiting to receive the fatal blow ; for 
 the order was, to strike off their heads the in- 
 stant a British shot was fired into the city of 
 Rangoon. The shot was fired ; but the execu- 
 tioner fled in terror, leaving the order unful- 
 filled, and the brethren escaped. After this, 
 Mr. Judson was kept for two years and three 
 months in various prisons and in fetters, sub- 
 jected to many indignities, and the victim of 
 agonizing sufferings, while his heroic wife fol- 
 lowed him from prison to prison, ministering to 
 his wants, striving to soften his hard-hearted 
 keepers and to mitigate his woes, and inter- 
 ceding with the high officers for his deliver- 
 ance. In the mean time the precious manu- 
 script translation of the New Testament, a 
 portion of which only had been printed, was 
 for a season buried in the earth under a floor, 
 and afterwards sewed up in a pillow, which 
 
1 6 MISSION TO RANGOON. 
 
 was bandied about from hand to hand till the 
 close of the war, so hard and unattractive as 
 not to tempt the avarice of the poorest Bur- 
 man, or to suggest the idea that it was even 
 worthy to be destroyed. 
 
 At last the war came to an end. In the final 
 arrangement Dr. Judson was employed by the 
 Government as interpreter in negotiating the 
 treaty of peace between the British and Bur- 
 mese. And it was now that he made to the 
 missionary treasury the splendid donation of 
 about ten thousand dollars, including the re- 
 ward received for his services in this business, 
 together with his personal property, which he 
 thus gave in perpetual consecration to God, — 
 making himself poor that he might make many 
 rich; an example to Christians of every land, 
 giving to the cause his property and his life, 
 — all that he had. 
 
 During the war, and for a considerable time 
 afterwards, there was no resident missionary in 
 Rangoon. The converts were scattered, but 
 the good seed was not lost. Ko-Thaha, one of 
 the number, remained and preached, and many 
 were converted through his ministry. Jan. 4, 
 1829, he was ordained, the first Burman pastor, 
 and suffered at various times imprisonment, 
 and scourging, and the stocks, for the name 
 of Christ ; and to a good old age witnessed a 
 good confession. In a short time the Burman 
 church again numbered more than twenty mem- 
 bers, nearly all. baptized by his hands. Several 
 native preachers were raised up. Many of the 
 Karens in the vicinity of Rangoon received Jhe 
 
WORK AMONG THE KARENS, 17 
 
 gospel. The Christians were aggressive in 
 their efforts. Most of them endured more or 
 less persecution ; but the word of God prevailed 
 over all the opposition of men. Kincaid, Jones, 
 Mason, Bennett, Webb, Vinton, Abbott, and 
 others entered into the work ; and grace and 
 peace were multiplied. 
 
 The thrilling story of the first baptism of 
 Karen disciples — the dying missionary Board- 
 man looking on from his couch, and, as it were, 
 waiting to carry the tidings to heaven — belongs 
 to the narrative of the mission to Tavoy, which 
 will be given hereafter. Never was there a 
 more impressive scene in the history of Chris- 
 tianity ; never a picture more worthy of the 
 imagination of the poet, or the pencil of the 
 painter. The new missionary. Mason, perform- 
 ing his first official act ; the simple converts 
 *' buried with Christ in baptism;" the devoted 
 wife directly to become a widow; the loving 
 attendants ; the dying missionary, — his emaci- 
 ated face lighted up with a glow of enthusiasm 
 as he witnessed this glorious harvest-home, — 
 the rocks, the mountains, the purling stream, 
 the fresh foUage, and the blue expanse encir- 
 cling all, — with the thought that this was, to 
 Boardman, "the last of earth," — must have 
 invested the whole scene with a moral sublimity 
 not only touching, but overpowering. 
 
 In January, 1835, there were three churches in 
 Rangoon, — Burman, Karen, and English. In 
 March of that year three aged Karens came to 
 Rangoon, five days' journey, to inquire concern- 
 ing the way of life. They had never seen a 
 
1 8 MISSION TO RANGOON. 
 
 Christian, or a Christian book, but were directed 
 to the mission by Burman believers. In 1837 
 a tract had found its way to every family in 
 Rangoon and vicinity, and to nearly every in- 
 dividual who could read ; and hundreds called 
 daily to hear the preaching of the word. In 
 the beginning of 1839 several hundreds in this 
 region were awaiting baptism; and in 1842 the 
 members connected with the mission in Ran- 
 goon numbered 774. 
 
 In 1852 war was again declared by the Brit- 
 ish Government. The result of this war was 
 the cession to the English nation of Rangoon 
 and all Southern Burmah. This placed the 
 missionaries and converts under the protection 
 of a Christian government, and was the signal 
 for enlarged operations and wider success. 
 Henceforth persecution was no more. 
 
 Rangoon, the first station occupied, is again 
 the central point, in many respects, of the mis- 
 sion in Burmah. Here are collected, besides 
 churches and preachers and missionaries, 
 schools, the printing department, the Karen 
 College, and the Theological Seminary. The 
 latter, established under Dr. Binney in 1859, 
 has become one of the regularly organized the- 
 ological schools, known and acknowledged in 
 all the world. The young men here manifest 
 all the clearness and keenness of young men in 
 America in similar studies. Messrs. Carpenter 
 and D. A. W. Smith were associated with Dr. 
 Binney in the work of instruction in 1863-66; 
 and when the failing health of Dr. Binney com- 
 pelled him to resign his honored, influential, and 
 
A BIBLE GIVEN TO THE KING. 19 
 
 most useful office as the head of the institution 
 in 1875, Rev. D. A. W. Smith was appointed 
 his successor. 
 
 An interesting incident occurred in the year 
 1866, which is worthy of record here. An 
 Armenian convert in Rangoon, going to Man- 
 delay, the capital, partly on private business 
 and partly to preach the gospel, sought to be 
 introduced to the king, who had formerly 
 known him, and to take to him as a present a 
 quarto Burmese Bible. His friends sought to 
 dissuade him ; but he insisted, nevertheless, 
 adding a box of candles to the Bible, fit, as he 
 said, "to be an accompaniment, as both are to 
 give light." 
 
 The king received him very kindly, and not 
 only took the Bible, but at once opened it in 
 the beginning, and began to read and to con- 
 verse upon it familiarly with one of the min- 
 isters, who himself was evidently somewhat 
 familiar with it. After the interview, which 
 lasted about an hour, the king rose to retire, 
 and was about to take up the Bible, when his 
 nephew moved forward to take it for him. 
 "Well," said he, "you take and read it, and 
 read it also to me." All present were greatly 
 surprised that the king regarded the Scriptures 
 so favorably, and it became the signal for many 
 to make application for them. Thus many 
 portions of the Word were distributed in the 
 palace. Thus the Bible was in the hands of 
 the late king, and some of its divine words met 
 his eye ; and, through his favorable reception 
 of it, many took it to their homes, where with 
 
20 MISSION TO RANGOON. 
 
 God's blessing it may prove the power that 
 can save through Jesus Christ, a living light 
 shining in a dark place. 
 
 Dr. Binney, long connected with the Theo- 
 logical Seminary in Rangoon, retired from that 
 office on account of the feeble health of Mrs. 
 Binney, but was re-appointed to the work, and 
 sailed for Burmah again Oct. 13, 1866; and on 
 his arrival Mr. Smith retired to Henthada, to 
 fill the place formerly occupied by Mr. Thomas. 
 This year there were fifty-three pupils in the 
 school. 
 
 In 1867 several improvements were made in 
 the buildings and other conveniences of the 
 Seminary, at an expense of six thousand dol- 
 lars, given for this purpose by the late Profes- 
 sor Ruggles, who cherished a lively interest in 
 the institution. The same liberal friend of mis- 
 sions placed in the treasury four thousand dol- 
 lars, to be held in perpetual trust, the avails to 
 be expended in publishing text-books for the 
 Seminary. 
 
 Early in 1868 Mrs. Ingalls re-commenced the 
 work at Thongzai, which has made the place 
 and her name familiar wherever the mission- 
 work is known and loved. Miss Adams also 
 joined her in her work. 
 
 In 1868 the Atlantic cable was first used in 
 the interest of missions. An emergency in the 
 work arose, in which an immediate communica- 
 tion with Rangoon seemed to be necessary. 
 On the twenty-sixth day of October, the mes- 
 sage was flashed under the ocean, " Carpenter 
 transferred to Bassein, and Smith to Rangoon.'' 
 
A BIBLE FOR THE QUEEN. 21 
 
 The message reached Rangoon the third day 
 from Boston, and was sent immediately to Bas- 
 sein, where the brethren in Convention were 
 discussing the very subject to which it referred. 
 It ministered instant relief, and brought diverse 
 opinions into harmony. All said it was of the 
 Lord. The cost of the message was about 
 sixty dollars. A few days afterwards, a Chris- 
 tian brother called at the Rooms, and cheerfully 
 paid the amount. 
 
 In the autumn of 1870 a proposal was first 
 made to estabhsh a Karen institution for gen- 
 eral education at Rangoon, to be called the 
 Rangoon Baptist College. It was opened for 
 instruction May 28, 1872, with seventeen pupils. 
 
 In the course of th*e year 1871 Dr. Shaw 
 Loo, a Burman convert, who received his lite- 
 rary and medical education in the United 
 States, entered on missionary work among his 
 countrymen, declining to accept a government 
 offer, that he might more effectually serve the 
 cause of Christ. 
 
 In the year 1872 Mrs. Ingalls, of Thongzai, 
 in company with several assistants, visited 
 Mandelay, and spent several weeks in Christian 
 labor among the people. While last in Eng- 
 land, Mrs. Ingalls obtained a Bible with the 
 autograph of Queen Victoria, designed for the 
 queen of Burmah. She was permitted to visit 
 the palace twice, and to . converse with the 
 queen and the ladies of the royal household ; 
 and the fact that she had been favored to see 
 " the golden face " gave her more effective ac- 
 cess to the people. Church-members this year 
 at Thongzai, 183. 
 
22 MISSION TO RANGOON, 
 
 In 1874 Rev. W. H. Sloan went to Rangoon 
 as assistant superintendent of the Press. 
 
 In 1877 Dr. Stevens conducted a preachers' 
 class for Burmese young men for five months, — 
 a kind of embryo theological seminary. 
 
 Nov. 26, 1877, Rev. Dr. Binney died on 
 board ship ; and his body was committed to the 
 Indian Ocean about three days' sail west of 
 Ceylon. He was one of the oldest missionaries 
 of the Union ; arrived for the first time in 
 Maulmain in 1844, returned to this country in 
 1850, sailed again in 1858, and from May, 1859, 
 till November, 1875, gave all his strength to the 
 preparation of teachers and preachers for the 
 Karens. Partially paralyzed, he returned home 
 in 1876; but the next year, anxious to finish 
 certain works which he had begun, he em- 
 barked again for Burmah in the fall of 1877. 
 And "he was not, for God took him." 
 
 Mah Menla, the first female convert in Bur- 
 mah, was baptized by torchlight on the night of 
 July 18, 1820. Now, in the broad light of day, 
 they are baptized, " both men and women," — 
 "all one in Christ." 
 
 In connection with the Rangoon mission 
 there are at present 21 missionaries, male and 
 female, '^^ native preachers, 89 churches, 4,090 
 members ; and, in all Burmah, 'j^ missionaries, 
 430 native preachers, 438 churches, and 20,723 
 members. When we survey this broad and in- 
 teresting field of Christian effort, recalling and 
 comparing its feeble beginnings and its present 
 propitious condition, we are moved to exclaim, 
 " What hath God wrought ! " 
 
No. II. 
 
 MISSION TO MAULMAIN. 
 
 Amherst. — Death of Mrs. Ann H. Judson. — Maulmain as a Mission- 
 ary Station. — " This Jesus Christ's Money." — The Whole Bible 
 translated. — Missionary Progress. — The Press in Maulmain. — 
 Missionary Efforts of Native Converts. — The Maulmain Mission 
 a Success. — Further Progress. — Death of Dr. Judson. — The 
 Maulmain Convention. — Benefit of Schools. — Miss Haswell's 
 School. — Death of Dr. Haswell. — Present State. 
 
 MAULMAIN was the second centre of the 
 missions in Burmah. After the Bur- 
 mese war, it was proposed by the British Gov- 
 ernment and East India Company to open up 
 a new military station and capital of the con- 
 quered province at Amherst, so called in honor 
 of the Governor-General of India. And with 
 due ceremony the new post was inaugurated at 
 the mouth of the Salwen ; Dr. Judson was in- 
 vited to offer prayer, and read the sixtieth chap- 
 ter of Isaiah, and the British flag was flung to 
 the breeze. Thither the mission was removed 
 from Rangoon ; and here that incomparable 
 woman, Mrs. Judson, died and was buried. 
 Her husband was away, aiding the Government 
 in arranging the conditions of peace between 
 the two powers. Surrounded only by stran 
 
 23 
 
24 MISSION TO MAUL MA IN, 
 
 gers, whom she charged to tell the teacher, '* so 
 long in coming," all that happened, she lay 
 with her head resting on her arm for many- 
 hours, then uttered a momentary cry of distress 
 in the Burman language, and departed, Oct. 24, 
 1826. The crown was ready, and she hastened, 
 at the early age of thirty-seven, to put it on. 
 The good fight was fought, the heroic struggle 
 ended ; and a name " not born to die " was 
 sealed for immortality. After a few months 
 Amherst, the new station, was found to be in- 
 eligible for a British capital, and the station 
 was removed to Maulmain. But Amherst is 
 forever consecrated in the estimation of the 
 friends of missions by the precious dust of Ann 
 H. Judson. 
 
 Maulmain lies a hundred miles east of Ran- 
 goon, and is on the river Salwen, a broad 
 stream, at this point a mile wide. It is twenty- 
 seven miles from the mouth of the river, and 
 opposite to it is Balu Island. The scenery is 
 rendered romantic and peculiar by hills, rising 
 abruptly from the level fields, to the height of 
 four or five hundred feet, the base being 
 scarcely larger than the summit. In most 
 parts, trees and shrubs cling to the sides. 
 Occasionally are seen nearly perpendicular 
 rocks, on which Buddhist zeal has erected, in 
 almost inaccessible places, many white pago- 
 das. Sir Archibald Campbell offered the mis- 
 sion as much land as they desired, and a spot 
 was selected about a mile south of the military 
 cantonments. A bamboo house was erected at 
 a cost of about one hundred and seventy -five 
 
MAULMAIN AS A MISSION STATION. 25 
 
 dollars, and the work of the mission begun. 
 The station was commenced by Mr. and Mrs. 
 Boardman in April, 1827. Mr. Judson and Mr. 
 and Mrs. Wade joined them in November fol- 
 lowing, with a number of native converts and 
 eleven female scholars. Public worship was 
 commenced, and zayats opened at several points 
 for preaching, reading the Scriptures, and con- 
 versation with inquirers. Two native assist- 
 ants were engaged to help in the work. A 
 Divine blessing attended the enterprise ; and 
 between January and September, 1828, twenty- 
 one persons were baptized. A church was or- 
 ganized, numbering thirty native converts. 
 
 The place, when adopted as a missionary 
 station, consisted of only a single street, stretch- 
 ing along the river for two and a half miles, 
 and contained from eighteen thousand to twenty 
 thousand inhabitants. Most of the native pop- 
 ulation removed thither from Amherst, thus 
 rendering it a more fitting place for missionary 
 work. Being under British rule, the persecut- 
 ing laws of the Burman empire could not inter- 
 fere with the native Christians ; and the history 
 of the mission for fifty years has shown the 
 wisdom of the transfer. 
 
 There were, from a very early period in the 
 mission, three or four important out-stations in 
 connection with it, at various distances. The 
 most interesting of these, in some respects, was 
 Chummerah, where Dr. Judson resided for a 
 season, and where that brave woman. Miss 
 Cummings, fixed her home alone among the 
 heathen, to live and labor till death for their 
 
26 MISSION TO MAULMAIN. 
 
 conversion, and where she wore the armor, at 
 a period when unmarried females shrank from 
 such exposure, till she exchanged the armor 
 for a crown. Another of these out-stations 
 was Ko Chetthingsville, so named by the mis- 
 sionaries for the pastor, Ko Chetthing, who la- 
 bored here, valiant for the truth. In 1837 he 
 had a native church of sixty members. This 
 man, it will be remembered by many, visited the 
 United States in 1832, in company with Mr. 
 and Mrs. Wade and a Burman disciple. This 
 was -the man of whom this interesting item 
 is worthy to be recorded. When he was in 
 America, small sums of money were given him 
 by various individuals, as tokens of friendship 
 and memorials of Christian love. At a fare- 
 well meeting in Boston, just previous to his 
 return to Burmah, being called upon to speak, 
 he said to the congregation in his broken Eng- 
 lish, as he held up the little bag of silver above 
 his head, "This no me money, this Jesus 
 Christ's money," — ''This no me money, this 
 Jesus Christ's money" — repeating the sen- 
 tence, as if to intensify the dedication of it, 
 and proceeding thence to urge upon Christians 
 the duty of holding all for Christ. As he made 
 this munificent offering to the Lord Jesus, con- 
 secrating to his service the whole amount which 
 had been contributed for his own private use, 
 there were few dry eyes in that vast assembly, 
 and the thought went up from many a heart, 
 *' Oh that the Christians of happy America had 
 learned so effectually the lesson of devoting 
 all to Christ ! " It seems that after his return 
 
THE WHOLE BIBLE TRANSLATED. 27 
 
 to Burmah he actually gave the whole sum to 
 defray the expense of building a little school- 
 house, where his wife set herself to teaching 
 the children of idolaters the way to heaven. 
 
 It was in Maulmain that Dr. Judson com- 
 pleted the revision of the New Testament in 
 Burman, after a year's laborious and careful 
 work, in 1828 ; and here, too, he finished trans- 
 lating the whole Bible into the language of the 
 people, in 1834. The moral heroism of the man 
 who ventured to undertake, and succeeded in 
 achieving, such a task, is grand beyond expres- 
 sion. What King James's forty-seven trans- 
 lators did, he performed alone, taking the grave 
 responsibility of determining the meaning of 
 the Holy Spirit in every word of Holy Writ, 
 and presenting the mind of the Spirit, as he 
 understood it, in every passage ; settling, alone, 
 questions of natural science, philology, lan- 
 guage, interpretation, theology, in succession, 
 and expressing the meaning of the Holy Ghost 
 in a language not his own, and, owing to its 
 heathen associations, ill adapted to the pure 
 utterances of a Christian theology ; making 
 himself, as it were, the internuncius between 
 God and the people of the Burman race for all 
 time to come. It is no wonder that with inex- 
 pressible gratitude he took the last leaf of the 
 completed Bible, and on his knees presented it, 
 a sublime offering, to its great Author. If the 
 one pen with which Cotton Mather says John 
 Eliot wrote out the whole translation of his 
 Indian Bible was a most precious relic, is not 
 also the table on which Dr. Judson wrote his 
 
28 MISSION TO MAUL AM IN 
 
 translation, and which is now preserved in the 
 rooms of the Bible Society in New York ? 
 
 Under date of Maulmain, Jan. 31, 1834, Dr. 
 Judson wrote as follows : — 
 
 " Thanks be to God, I can now say, I have attained. I 
 have knelt before him with the last leaf in my hand, and, 
 imploring his forgiveness for all the sins which have pol- 
 luted my labors in this department, and his aid in future 
 efforts to remove the errors and imperfections which ne- 
 cessarily cleave to the work, I have commended it to his 
 mercy and grace ; I have dedicated it to his glory. May 
 he make his own inspired word, now complete in the Bur- 
 man tongue, the grand instrument of filling all Burmah 
 with songs of praise to our great God and Saviour Jesus 
 Christ ! Amen." 
 
 In the notable year when this record was 
 made, the whole number of baptized converts 
 in Burmah was five hundred and ninety-two, 
 and more than half this number in connection 
 with the mission in Maulmain. This year, 
 seventy-six were baptized in all Burmah, and 
 forty-four of them in Maulmain. 
 
 Under date of Aug. 3, 18 16, Dr. Judson had 
 written to Mr. Rice as above quoted : — 
 
 " If they [American Christians] are unwilling to risk 
 their bread on such a forlorn .hope as has nothing but the 
 word of God to sustain it, beg of them, at least, not to 
 prevent others from giving us bread ; and, if we live twen- 
 ty or thirty years, they may hear from us again." 
 
 The twenty years had not yet expired, and 
 this body of converts attests the power and 
 grace of the gospel of God. If we omit the 
 years of the war, when nothing was effected in 
 the wg.y of mission-work, and say nothing of 
 
THE PRESS IN MAULMAIN. 29 
 
 those who died, from the beginning of the mis- 
 sion, in holy peace, there remains a record of 
 forty every year, on an average, born unto God. 
 How much, from how Uttle ! 
 
 It was in 1830 'that the Mission Press at 
 Maulmain commenced operations. And here, 
 for many years, a great work was carried on in 
 printing the Scriptures, tracts, and school-books, 
 for the use of the mission. Mr. Bennett took 
 with him to this station the first press sent from 
 the United States. A second followed in 1832, 
 the gift of the Oliver-street Baptist Church, 
 New York ; and towards the close of the same 
 year, two others, one presented by the Rev. 
 Ebenezcr Loomis of New-York City, the other 
 by Jonathan Carleton of Boston. In 1862 
 Rangoon, then and since the most commanding 
 social and commercial position in Burmah, was 
 selected as the most eligible point for this de- 
 partment ; and to this place all the printing 
 operations of the mission were transferred. As 
 Cambridge, Mass., is forever celebrated as the 
 place where Eliot's Indian Bible was printed, so 
 Maulmain has acquired imperishable renown as 
 the spot where Judson's Burman Bible was 
 printed, and given to a new nation of idolaters. 
 
 In 1836 there were five or six native preach- 
 ers in Maulmain ; and through the zeal and 
 energy of that wise and good missionary, Mr. 
 Osgood, in that year one hundred and seventeen 
 thousand tracts and portions of Scripture were 
 printed and put in circulation, — the aim being 
 to place a copy in every family in the place 
 which would accept one ; and for this purpose 
 
30 MISSION TO MAULMAIN. 
 
 the whole city was traversed twice, and part of 
 it a third time. 
 
 It was three years earlier, in 1833, that the 
 Christians of Maulmain, like the woman of 
 Samaria, began to be anxious to send the glad 
 tidings of the gospel to others who sat in dark- 
 ness, and formed a Missionary Society, designed 
 to support a missionary in Ava. Still earlier, 
 at Amherst, Moung Ing, a native preacher, self- 
 moved, or moved by the Holy Ghost, had pro- 
 posed of his own accord to commence a mission 
 to Tavoy and Mergui. Dr. Judson hailed the 
 omen with joy. Christianity, in this subject, 
 brought forth its legitimate fruit. Moung Ing 
 was immediately ordained and sent forth, that 
 he might " make known among the heathen the 
 unsearchable riches of Christ." This was the 
 grain of mustard-seed, from which sprang the 
 work among the Karens of Tavoy, — initiated 
 by the suggestion of Moung Ing, prompted 
 by the Holy Spirit; the heathen converted 
 through the planning of one once a heathen 
 himself ; grandly brought out into prominence 
 in the baptismal scene near Tavoy, which Board- 
 man witnessed from his dying couch, and then 
 ascended to his crown ; and since carried for- 
 ward to a strength, stability, and extent which 
 has filled Christendom with wonder and grati- 
 tude, and heaven with praise. 
 
 The seal of Divine approval has evidently 
 rested on the mission at Maulmain from the 
 beginning. In 1829 twenty-five native believ- 
 ers, and ten English soldiers connected with 
 the British army, were added to the church by 
 
EFFORTS OF NATIVE CONVERTS. 31 
 
 baptism. Up to the close of 1830, fifty-six na- 
 tive Christians had been baptized. In 183 1 a 
 new EngHsh chapel was built at the expense of 
 British soldiers, and a revival of religion fol- 
 lowed. In 1833 forty-four were baptized, of 
 whom two, English soldiers, were brought to 
 Christ as a result of impressions received 
 through the reading of the Memoir of Mrs. 
 Judson. As a rose distils fragrance after its 
 decay, so the life of that loving and holy woman, 
 even after her death, continued and continues to 
 be a benediction. Up to the close of the year 
 1834, seven hundred and ninety-one of Burmah's 
 dark idolaters had put on Christ by an open pro- 
 fession, and were walking in newness of life. 
 
 In 1836 four presses and a power-press were 
 at work in Maulmain, producing religious read- 
 ing ; and still additional presses were forwarded 
 in 1837. Mr. Osgood had a Sabbath school, 
 numbering from forty to sixty pupils. In 1837 
 the Burman boarding-school was re-organized, 
 under the care of Mr. Howard. In 1838 the 
 first books were prepared for the Pwo Karens. 
 The same year the Karen Christians at Maul- 
 main began to make regular contributions for 
 missions, commencing with a collection of 
 thirty-five dollars. In 1839 there were eight 
 preaching-places in and around Maulmain, and 
 audiences which numbered two hundred and 
 eighty. 
 
 In 1842 the Maulmain Burman Missionary 
 Society supported ten assistants, who went 
 everywhere among their countrymen, carrying 
 the word of life. In 1844 the Rev. Dr. Binney, 
 
32 MISSION TO MAULMAIN, 
 
 who had filled important posts of honor and 
 influence in this country, arrived in Maulmain, 
 and re-opened the Theological Seminary, which 
 had been previously organized, but suspended 
 operations. Now, by the grace of God, there 
 were six Burman students and twenty-five Ka- 
 rens, all looking forward to the ministry of the 
 Word. The institution there begun, but since 
 removed to Rangoon, of which Dr. Binney was 
 for many years the beloved and honored head, 
 during all its blessed career has sent forth, year 
 by year, from that day to this, its annual instal- 
 ment of Christ's ascension-gifts, " some apostles, 
 some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors 
 and teachers." 
 
 In August, 1847, from the press at Maulmain 
 issued the complete Peguan New Testament by 
 Dr. Haswcll and his assistants, and portions of 
 the New Testament in Two Karen. 
 
 In 1850 Dr. Judson suspended his work at 
 Maulmain, enfeebled in health, and sought to 
 invigorate his constitution, wasted prematurely 
 by hardship, toil, and self-denial, by a voyage at 
 sea. But he returned no more. " He was not, 
 for God took him." He died April 12, 1850, 
 on the passage from Maulmain to the Isle of 
 France, and was buried in the ocean. 
 
 Thus ended thirty-seven years of labor for 
 Christ. We are prompted here to look back to 
 "that country inn, where all night the powers 
 of light and darkness struggled for the direction 
 of his soul ; then, looking at Burmah to-day 
 with its translated Bible, its more than three 
 hundred churches, its twenty thousand Chris- 
 
FURTHER PROGRESS. 33 
 
 tians, its ripened fruit gathered into the heav- 
 enly garner, and then thinking what would have 
 been the result of that life if the decision of 
 that night had been for infidelity, we tremble, 
 and thank God." 
 
 In 1852 the Burmese and English JDiction- 
 ary, in four hundred and nine pages quarto, was 
 issued at Maulmain ; and the year following was 
 held at Maulmain "the Maulmain Convention," 
 at which were gathered all the missionaries in 
 Burmah, save three, and also Dr. Dean from 
 China, and Dr. Brown from Assam. And here 
 for six weeks they prayed, and debated, and 
 communed together on the methods of mission- 
 ary work, — a rare assembly of Christian breth- 
 ren, engaged in one service, aiming at one end, 
 moved by one Spirit, commissioned by one 
 Head. 
 
 The spirit of persecution in Burmah had not 
 wholly died out. In 1850 there were several 
 Christian Karens holding minor offices under 
 the Burman government, who were driven from 
 their places because they were Christians. The 
 same year the good Chetthing was imprisoned 
 for ten months because he was a servant of the 
 living God. " But the word of God is not 
 bound." The work went forward, goes for- 
 ward. It has taken root. In 1855 it was re- 
 ported that the Burman church in Maulmain 
 had become substantially self-supporting. 
 
 A circumstance is related in the correspond- 
 ence of 1866, showing the value of teaching in 
 missionary schools. A stranger came into the 
 chapel one day, and seemed to join heartily in 
 
34 MISSION TO MAUL MAIN. 
 
 the worship. On inquiry, it was found that 
 when a boy he had attended one of the station- 
 schools. He had grown up, and been married, 
 and lost his wife ; but he had never worshipped 
 idols since he attended the school ; and now he 
 had come, desiring to be baptized. He appeared 
 to be a sincere believer in Christ. 
 
 In 1868 Dr. Haswell and his wife, on account 
 of his failing health, were obliged to return to 
 the United States. His absence from Burmah 
 was a calamity to the mission ; but as he stood 
 up before immense congregations to plead for 
 the heathen, with his poor, palsied arm trem- 
 bling uncontrollably and hopelessly, the seal of 
 his over-work and over-weariness for the souls 
 of his fellow-men, many a tearful eye and throb- 
 bing heart indicated that Christians in America 
 were learning, through him, lessons of self-denial 
 and sacrifice for a perishing world. Who that 
 saw him stand up before those great assem- 
 blies, after having labored in his work till his 
 palsied arm refused to obey his will, and his 
 enervated frame had become too weak to bear 
 the activity of the burning soul, its inhabitant, 
 but was thrilled with his speech, and reminded 
 of Christ's words, '' The zeal of thine house 
 hath eaten me up " } If he is suchj with his 
 feebleness, what ought we to be } And at last 
 Maulmain became to him, as it had before to 
 many others, a gateway into heaven. His last 
 work and his farewell words have been en- 
 shrined in the annual circular to the churches 
 of the Maulmain Association, under the title, 
 **An Address to Christrans," urging upon the 
 
DEATH OF DR. HAS WELL. 35 
 
 native disciples the duty of proclaiming the gos- 
 pel by word and life to their heathen country- 
 men. 
 
 Miss S. E. Haswell's school for girls in Maul- 
 main was commenced in November, 1867, with 
 ten pupils, the course of study being planned 
 for three years. Within a few months five of 
 the first pupils were hopefully converted. In 
 1869 Mr. and Mrs. Haswell returned to Bur- 
 mah. Mr. S. B. Rand also joined the mission. 
 
 In 1872 Miss Haswell's school entered the 
 new and commodious brick building erected for 
 the purpose by the Woman's Baptist Missionary 
 Society, at an expense of seventy-five hundred 
 dollars. The number of pupils was one hun- 
 dred and three. 
 
 Rev. Dr. J. M. Haswell died Sept. 13, 1876, 
 after thirty-six years of active missionary ser- 
 vice. During the earlier part of his course, he 
 devoted himself to labor for the Peguans or 
 Talaings, and translated the New Testament 
 into their language ; and the last work performed 
 by his trembling hand was the revision and 
 preparation of tracts in the Peguan dialect. He 
 was industrious and able ; and few knew better 
 than he the languages he employed, and the 
 people among whom his lot was cast. 
 
 An English Baptist church was established at 
 Maulmain as well as at Rangoon, where many 
 soldiers of the British regiments found Christian 
 watch-care. In seven years the native people 
 raised over five thousand dollars in gold, for the 
 support of the gospel and mission-schools, and 
 over a hundred and fifty converts were baptized. 
 
36 MISSION TO MAUL MA IN. 
 
 The mission at Maulmain,' Burman and Ka- 
 ren, has proceeded from year to year with in- 
 creasing momentum, with fresh laborers and 
 fresh appliances. We have not space to follow 
 it in all its details. Rangoon has returned, in 
 some sense, to its early position of superiority 
 and importance in the missionary field. There 
 is the Mission Press. There is the Karen 
 Theological Seminary. There are more than 
 twenty missionaries, male and female. And at 
 Maulmain also are i6 missionaries, male and 
 female, i8 churches, 1,135 members, 23 native 
 preachers, 20 schools, and 780 pupils. Miss 
 Haswell has a most successful institution, with 
 all the modern improvements, and, best of all, 
 from time to time the evident presence of the 
 converting grace of God. In 1876 nineteen 
 pupils from the boarding-school were baptized, 
 and others gave evidence of genuine conversion. 
 The conversions in the school have been distin- 
 guished by strongly marked experiences. Es- 
 pecially in the case of older pupils, there has 
 been deep conviction and distress for sin, and 
 corresponding joy and peace when brought to 
 believe in the Saviour. Such spiritual exercises 
 have been rarely manifested by native converts, 
 and this is doubtless one result of the education 
 and development of their characters in the 
 school. 
 
 The review of the progress and results of the 
 work at this second centre of the Burman mis- 
 sion is suited to fill the Christian heart with 
 gratitude and glad surprise. From so feeble be- 
 ginnings, what fruits have been reaped ! From 
 
PRESENT STATE. 
 
 37 
 
 so scant a sowing, what abundant harvests ! 
 The stability of the work is doubtless insured 
 for all coming time. He that hath begun will 
 finish. Should the missionaries leave the field, 
 after all these manifestations of the Spirit in 
 converted souls, in a translated Bible and reli- 
 gious books, with scholars, and teachers, and 
 apparatus, and native preachers, the work would 
 still live and thrive, as it did in Madagascar 
 during the years of persecution, while not a 
 missionary was on the field. What hath God 
 wrought! And, if such is the earnest, what 
 will the complete fruition be } 
 
No. III. 
 
 MISSION TO TAVOY. 
 
 Origin of the Tavoy Station. — Description of Tavoy. — Early Labors. 
 
 ' — The Karen People. — The Mysterious Deposit. — Ko Thahbyu, 
 the First Convert, Baptized. — An Interested Assembly. — Ko 
 Thahbyu's Missionary Spirit. — Aged Converts. — A Touching 
 Scene. — Historical Notes. — Later Condition. — Tavoy Mission 
 Re-opened. — Death of Mrs. Wade. 
 
 THE commencement of the mission station 
 in Tavoy is due, primarily, to the sugges- 
 tion of a Burman convert, Moung Ing. At one 
 of the stated evening meetings in Maulmain, at 
 the very beginning of the year 1827, as Dr. Jud- 
 son relates, Moung Ing voluntarily expressed his 
 desire to undertake a missionary excursion to 
 Tavoy and Mergui ; and, in accordance with his 
 request, he was subsequently set apart to the 
 work, and embarked for Tavoy in a native boat. 
 Of his labors in Tavoy we have no definite ac- 
 count. But when we contemplate the connec- 
 tion of that suggestion of the Burman convert 
 with the great work among the Karen people, 
 which began, substantially, at Tavoy, we cannot 
 fail to admire the wonderful workings of Divine 
 grace. We hail this event — having its incep- 
 tion in the mind of a native convert — as pro- 
 38 
 
DESCRIPTION OF TAVOY. 39 
 
 phetic of the arrangement which, we believe, is 
 to be consummated in the future, — that the 
 heathen are to be converted mainly through the 
 Divine blessing on the labors of their own coun- 
 trymen. 
 
 The station at Tavoy was commenced as a 
 third missionary centre in Burmah, — Rangoon 
 and Maulmain being the first and second, — by 
 the Rev. George Dana Boardman, who arrived 
 there from Ma.ulmain, April 9, 1828. Tavoy was 
 the capital of the province of the same name, 
 an old Burman walled town on the Tavoy River, 
 thirty-five miles from the sea. Large vessels 
 ascend the river as far as a point twenty-one 
 miles lower down. Tavoy is nearly two hun- 
 dred miles from Maulmain, and stands on a 
 plain. The population, at the commencement 
 of the mission, was about six thousand, of whom 
 two-thirds were Burmans. It is a part of Brit- 
 ish Burmah, and a stronghold of idolatry. It is 
 said to contain a thousand pagodas, and two 
 hundred monasteries of Buddhist priests. The 
 largest of these pagodas is a hundred and fifty 
 feet in height. The hilltops and eminences in 
 all the surrounding country are crowned with 
 these emblems of idolatry. Every object which 
 the eye rests upon is fitted to remind the ob- 
 server that here Satan's seat is. 
 
 On his arrival in Tavoy, Mr. Boardman was 
 kindly received by Major Burney, the Civil 
 Commissioner ; and in ten days afterwards he 
 had commenced housekeeping in the city, and 
 begun to receive visits from the inhabitants. 
 Early in July a zayat was completed, and the 
 
40 MISSION TO TAVOY. 
 
 first steps were taken towards a vigorous as- 
 sault upon the powers of darkness. And here 
 and thus this herald of the cross stood, single- 
 handed, before the mighty array of error and su- 
 perstition which had been accumulating strength 
 for ages. Gazing upon the strange magnificence 
 of the shrines of idolatry which appeared on 
 every side around him, he began his work, as- 
 sured that, in due time, the empty adoration of 
 Gaudama would give place to the worship of the 
 true and living God. 
 
 Notwithstanding the opposition of the priests, 
 the labors of Mr. Boardman secured the atten- 
 tion and excited the interest of the people. 
 Many came daily to listen to his words, and to 
 tell of their craving for a more satisfactory faith 
 than they found in Buddhism. Two persons 
 very soon avowed their adoption of Christianity, 
 and, during the first year of Mr. Boardman's 
 residence in Tavoy, were baptized, and consti- 
 tuted the germ of a new Christian church, — the 
 beginning of results of such unspeakable mag- 
 nitude. 
 
 When Mr. Boardman removed from Maul- 
 main to Tavoy, he was accompanied thither by 
 a man of middle age, formerly a slave, but 
 whose emancipation had been procured by the 
 missionaries. When this man left Maulmain, 
 he was already a convert to Christianity, and 
 was baptized soon after he came to Tavoy. He 
 was a Karen. His name was Ko Thahbyu ; 
 and afterwards, for many years, he preached the 
 gospel with remarkable zeal and success to his 
 own people. His conversion and baptism drew 
 
THE MYSTERIOUS DEPOSIT. 41 
 
 the attention of the missionaries to the race tc 
 which he belonged, and led to the founding oi 
 the mission to the Karens, which, in point of 
 interest and success, has been scarcely equalled 
 by any other mission of modern times, — cer- 
 tainly by none, if we except the Kohls of India, 
 and the Teloogoos of Ongole. The Karens are 
 the mountain-tribes of Burmah, and are regarded 
 by the Burmans as an inferior race. As they 
 were first known to the missionaries, they were 
 without any form of religion or priesthood, or. 
 any superstitious rites ; but lately Buddhism has 
 been making many conquests among them. 
 They believed in the existence of one God, and 
 in a future state of rewards and punishments. 
 They had many traditions strikingly similar to 
 the truths of the Bible, and prophecies pointing 
 to the future elevation of their people through 
 the agency of white foreigners from beyond the 
 seas, who should come and teach them the word 
 of God. At an early period of his residence 
 among them. Dr. Mason was of opinion that 
 many things in their character and traditions 
 pointed them out as the lost ten tribes of Israel. 
 The peculiar interest awakened in regard to 
 the Karens was intensified by a singular ac- 
 count, related by Mr. Boardman, in relation to a 
 book which had been left in one of their villages 
 twelve years before by a traveller, who informed 
 them that it was sacred, and enjoined upon them 
 to worship it. It was delivered to one of the 
 people, — a man who, though ignorant of its 
 contents, carefully wrapped it in muslin, and 
 enclosed it in a basket made. of reeds, covered 
 
42 MISSION TO TAVOY. 
 
 over with pitch. It was henceforth a deified 
 book, and an object of veneration. The keeper 
 of it became a kind of sorcerer ; " and he and 
 all the people of his village firmly believed that 
 a teacher would at length come, and explain the 
 contents of the mysterious volume." 
 
 Mr. Boardman's account is as follows : — 
 
 " When the arrival of Mr. Boardman was reported in 
 the village, the guardian of the deified book came with 
 a chief of the tribe to the mission-house, to obtain his 
 opinion respecting its character. The missionary, after 
 hearing their story, and speaking to them of the nature 
 of Christianity, proposed that they should return to their 
 village, and bring him the book, that he might judge of 
 its contents. Accordingly, after several days, the sor- 
 cerer returned, attended by a numerous train, and bring- 
 ing with him the venerated volume. 
 
 " All seemed to anticipate Mr. Boardman's opinion as 
 decisive of its character, and were wrought to a high 
 pitch of excitement in the expectation of its announce- 
 ment. The sorcerer, at his request, stood before him, 
 with the basket containing the mysterious treasure at his 
 feet. He carefully unrolled the muslin, and took from 
 its folds ' an old, tattered, worn-out volume,' which, creep- 
 ing forward, he reverently presented to the missionary. 
 It proved to be the 'Book of Common Prayer and the 
 Psalms,' of an edition printed in Oxford. ' It is a good 
 Book,' said Mr. Boardman: 'it teaches that there is a 
 God in heaven, whom alone we should worship. You 
 have been ignorantly worshipping this book. That is not 
 good. I will teach you to worship the God whom the 
 book reveals.' 
 
 " Every Karen countenance was alternately lighted 
 up with smiles of joy, and cast down with inward convic- 
 tions of having erred in worshipping a book instead of 
 the God whom it reveals. I took the Book of Psalms in 
 Burman, and read such passages as seemed appropriate, 
 and, having given a brief and easy explanation, engaged 
 in prayer. They staid two days, and manifested consid- 
 erable interest in the instructions given them. 
 
KO THAHBYU. 43 
 
 " The aged sorcerer, on hearing Mr. Boardman's de- 
 cision respecting the book, seemed readily to perceive 
 that his office was at an end ; and, at the suggestion of 
 one of the native Christians, he disrobed himself of the 
 fantastical dress which he had been accustomed to wear, 
 and gave up the heavy cudgel or wand, which for twelve 
 years he had borne as the badge of his spiritual author- 
 ity." 
 
 Ko Thahbyu, the first Karen convert, who 
 accompanied Mr. Boardman from Maulmain, 
 forms a conspicuous element in the early his- 
 tory of the Tavoy Mission. He had been ac- 
 cepted as a candidate for baptism at Maulmain ; 
 and in August, 1828, the first baptism occurred 
 in Tavoy, — the subjects being a Chinese, a 
 Burman, and this Karen, Ko Thahbyu. Two 
 months later, in October, the church in Tavoy 
 numbered six members. 
 
 The spirit of Ko Thahbyu was eminently a 
 missionary spirit. His inclination led him, as 
 a pioneer, to push out continually into the 
 regions beyond. It was thus that he carried 
 the gospel from village to village with a never- 
 tiring ardor, the Lord working with him ; and 
 almost from the commencement of the mission, 
 converts began to come in from places two or 
 three days' journey distant. The three Karen 
 villagers from the village where the mysterious 
 book was kept were present at the first bap- 
 tism, and engaged Ko Thahbyu to return with 
 them to their home, and make known to their 
 people the way of life. They promised also to 
 erect a large zayat, and to invite the Karens 
 from all quarters to come together to hear the 
 words of truth from the foreign teacher. 
 
44 MISSION TO TAVOY, 
 
 Very interesting is the account of Mr. Board- 
 man's first missionary tour to the Karen vil- 
 lages around Tavoy. It was in February, 1829. 
 The course was east from Tavoy, and the re- 
 motest point was the residence of a convert 
 already baptized. A zayat was found, erected 
 for his accommodation, and large enough to 
 hold the whole village of sixty or seventy per- 
 sons. The people brought presents of every 
 thing which their village could furnish. Their 
 faces beamed with joy as they said, "Ah, you 
 have come at last ! We have long been wish- 
 ing to see you." They listened attentively to 
 the gospel ; and many of them remained in the 
 zayat all day and all night, to hear of the love 
 of God, and the way for a sinner to be saved. 
 Ko Thahbyu, who understood Burman, inter- 
 preted into Karen, so that the women and 
 children also heard in their own tongue the 
 wonderful works of God. Early in the morn- 
 ing about fifty more heathen people came, 
 bringing presents ; and Ko Thahbyu, as before, 
 interpreted in Karen. Mr. Boardman, fatigued 
 with the labors of the Sabbath (for he had 
 preached in the early morning and again at 
 noon), at evening was preparing for rest. But 
 just then five persons came forward, and de- 
 clared their faith in Christ, and their desire to 
 be baptized. One of the number was the old 
 sorcerer, the custodian of the mysterious book. 
 After a night's consideration, it was determined 
 to defer the ordinance. But the interest of 
 the people seemed unabated. And nearly half 
 the congregation remained in the zayat all 
 
KO THAHBYU'S MISSIONARY SPIRIT, 45 
 
 night, that they might take leave of. the mis- 
 sionary in the morning. 
 
 Shortly afterwards Ko Thahbyu undertook a 
 missionary tour of several weeks. Mr. Board- 
 man remarked of him that he was naturally 
 weak, and not remarkable for intellectual en- 
 dowment or human learning, but constantly 
 devising plans for doing good. He said one 
 day, " There are the districts of Pai and Palan, 
 and several other places near the mouth of the 
 river, where there are many Karen settlements 
 which I wish to visit. There are also many 
 Karens in the province of Mergui. I wish to 
 declare the gospel to them all. And before 
 long I want to go across, and visit the Karens 
 in Siam, and afterwards to visit Bassein, my 
 native place, near Rangoon. Many Karens 
 live there." 
 
 Perhaps herein we find a germ of the won- 
 derful work of grace in the district of Bassein, 
 now numboring more than seven thousand one 
 hundred church-members, — a native Christian 
 again, under God, the incipient human cause of 
 a wide work of almighty power ; an apostle of 
 salvation raised up from among the heathen, to 
 bring deliverance to his own land and people. 
 
 On account of a brief revolt of the people of 
 Tavoy from their British masters, Mr. Board- 
 man retired for a season in 1829 to Maulmain. 
 On his return many of the people hastened 
 from their jungles to present their congratula- 
 tions ; and three of them, in advanced life, 
 came for the purpose of asking baptism. After 
 describing the baptism, — a season of unusual 
 
46 MISSION TO TAVOY. 
 
 beauty, impressiveness, and solemnity, — Mr. 
 Boardman says : — 
 
 " In the evening we had, as is usual with us, a confer- 
 ence or covenant meeting. On this occasion one of the 
 persons just baptized seemed to rejoice abundantly. ' I 
 feel,' said he, 'as if I had almost arrived at the feet of 
 Jesus.' — 'Are you so near,' I inquired, 'that you do not 
 wish to approach nearer ? ' — ' No,' he replied : ' I wish 
 to get nearer still.' I inquired if he would not ere long 
 grow weary, and wish to depart from the Saviour's feet. 
 
 ' No, I wish to abide there forever,' was his answer." 
 
 In December, of this year, Ko Thahbyu, 
 having long wished to cross the mountains, 
 and visit the Karens in Siam, was sent forth 
 for this purpose, with the approbation of the 
 church, accompanied by two other Karens who 
 volunteered to go with him. But the time had 
 not yet come. Reaching the borders, they were 
 compelled by adversaries to return, their work 
 but partially accomplished. 
 
 The closing event of Mr. Boardnjan's life is 
 one of the most touching scenes in missionary 
 history. It was in February, 1831. Mr. Board- 
 man had declined in health under that dread 
 disease, consumption, and for at least five 
 months had looked death steadily in the face. 
 He watched the symptoms of decay, and was 
 perfectly sure that there was no hope of recov- 
 ery. At the rnoment when he was past labor, 
 and when he stood at the gate of the Celestial 
 City, Mr. Mason arrived in Burmah. His arrival 
 was most timely. The Karens had built a zayat 
 at the foot of the mountain which Mr. Board- 
 man had crossed two years before, and were 
 
HISTORICAL NOTES. 47 
 
 coming to convey him thither, — to do his las.t 
 work as an ambassador of Christ. A crowd of 
 candidates were to be examined and baptized. 
 He was carried to the place on his cot : by a 
 whole day's diligence the examinations were 
 completed, and the baptism was appointed for 
 the evening. Mr. Mason writes : — 
 
 " A little before sunset, he was carried out in his bed to 
 the water-side, where, lifting his languid head to gaze on 
 the gratifying scene, I had the pleasure of baptizing in 
 his presence thirty-four individuals, who gave satisfactory 
 evidence to all that they had passed from death unto life. 
 After this he seemed to feel that his work was done. 
 He had said in the course of the day, that, if he could 
 live to see this ingathering, he could in special mercy say, 
 ' Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for 
 mine eyes have seen thy salvation.' " 
 
 On the way back to the mission-house his 
 companions looked around on the precious bur- 
 den they bore, to see if he needed any thing. 
 But " he was not, for God took him." His 
 stricken wife was a widow. 
 
 In an early period of the history of the Tavoy 
 Mission, two native converts went from village 
 to village, reading the Bible, and preaching. In 
 a space of six weeks twenty-three Karens ap- 
 plied for baptism ; and messengers came from 
 remote villages, asking for Christian teaching. 
 Every Burman family in Tavoy was supplied 
 with tracts. At the close of 1833 one hundred 
 and ninety-four had been baptized, of whom 
 one hundred and eighty-seven were Karens. In 
 1834 the church at Tavoy formed a Missionary 
 society, and resolved to support two native 
 preachers, and the following year, four. Dr. 
 
48 MISSION TO TAVOY, 
 
 Wade and family arrived in Tavoy in 1835, ^.nd 
 Dr. Wade reduced the Karen language to writ- 
 ing. For, before the establishment of the 
 mission, there was no literature, no books. A 
 Christian village called Mata was formed in 
 1834, numbering about two hundred Christians. 
 But in process of time this village declined. 
 The Divine policy is not to gather Christians 
 together by themselves for devotion and spirit- 
 ual growth ; but to scatter them in the world, 
 that men may take knowledge of them, as dis- 
 ciples of Christ. 
 
 A printing-press was established in Tavoy in 
 March, 1837; and the same year a theological 
 school was begun, numbering seventeen stu- 
 dents, afterwards transferred to Maulmain, and 
 finally to Rangoon. Mata, the largest church, 
 had a sewing-society ; and at the annual meet- 
 ing a hundred and fifty garments were exhib- 
 ited, the work of the members. " The Morning 
 Star," a Karen newspaper, was commenced in 
 Tavoy in September, 1841, and has been con 
 tinned, though not in Tavoy, until the present 
 time, — a fountain of religious instruction and 
 intellectual culture for the people. The whole 
 New Testament in Karen, translated by Dr. 
 Mason, was issued in Tavoy, Nov. i, 1843. 
 
 Mr. Ranney, printer,' arrived in Tavoy in Jan- 
 uary, 1844. The same year there was a re- 
 markable revival of religion at one of the out- 
 stations, and a meeting was held continuously 
 for three weeks. In 1845 Mr. Cross joined the 
 mission, and in 1846 Sau Quala and another 
 native preacher were ordained. Mr. Benjamin 
 
LATER CONDITION. 49 
 
 devoted much attention to the Salongs, of whom 
 about forty were gathered into a church ; but 
 on the death of Mr. Benjamin the people were 
 found to be few, and this department was aban- 
 doned. Mr. Thomas, the eminent Karen mis- 
 sionary, arrived in Tavoy in May, 185 1, wrought 
 gloriously for his Master here and in Hcnthada 
 for a few years, returned home broken down in 
 health, and died immediately after he had greet- 
 ed the shores of America. His remains now 
 sleep in the missionary lot in the cemetery at 
 Newton, Mass. His widow, after remaining 
 several years in this country, has returned to 
 Henthada to finish the work which he so well 
 began. The first form of the Bible in Karen 
 was printed in 185 1, and the whole completed 
 in 1853, after which the printing-press was 
 removed from Tavoy. 
 
 After 1854 the mission in Tavoy, by the 
 transferral of missionaries to other stations, and 
 for other causes, became much enfeebled. The 
 Burman department was less prosperous than 
 the Karen, and, being without a missionary, de- 
 clined. In connection with the Tavoy Associ- 
 ation in 1858, there were twenty-one churches, 
 and, in 1859, 1,080 Karen members. From this 
 last date, there have been resident missionaries 
 in Tavoy from time to time, but the churches 
 have been very much left to themselves and to 
 the native preachers. The result proves that 
 they were too feeble and inexperienced to be 
 left alone, in favor of more needy or more prom- 
 ising labor. 
 
 Rev. I. D. Colburn, who went to Burmah in 
 
50 MISSION TO TAVOY. 
 
 1863, was subsequently designated to the Karen 
 department of the Tavoy Mission, and went to 
 Tavoy in company* with Dr. and Mrs. Wade, 
 who had formerly labored there. The latter met 
 such a cordial greeting, both from Christians 
 and heathen, that they deemed it a duty to 
 recommence labor there for the Burmans, and 
 opened again a mission-school, and resumed the 
 preaching of the gospel. A schism which oc- 
 curred about this time among the Buddhists 
 was favorable to the work. The churches in 
 the district were visited, the people, long cold 
 and indifferent, showed signs of life and vigor, 
 and the mission was practically taken up again. 
 In 1866 a Burman priest procured a Bible, and 
 began to read it through in course, and mani- 
 fested much desire to know the truth. There 
 was also a revival in the Karen boys' school. 
 Eleven requested baptism ; the Spirit came 
 down, and a subdued feeling seemed to perme- 
 ate every breast. The following year sixty 
 were baptized, and the churches in the whole 
 district now numbered eight hundred and thirty- 
 three members. 
 
 In 1868, Oct. 5, Mrs. Wade died, and was 
 buried at Tavoy. Her last days were full of the 
 peace and joy of heaven. On account of declin- 
 ing health, Mr. Colburn removed to Toungoo. 
 Rev. Mr. Morrow, in 1876, was sent to take 
 charge of the Karen work. 
 
 Still the work is not forsaken. God will not 
 cast off his people whom he foreknew. A tem- 
 porary decline will not be permanent. In 1877 
 there was one resident missionary for Karens ; 
 
LATER CONDITION. 5 1 
 
 one native Burman preacher ordained, and one 
 imordained ; one church of eight members, and 
 one school ; twenty-one Karen churches in the 
 Tavoy district, with 880 members ; twelve Karen 
 preachers unordained, and five ordained ; and 
 nine schools. 
 
 Two heathen villages have built chapels, and 
 teachers have been sent to them. In one of 
 them, five have been baptized, and others are 
 candidates. Twenty members of the school 
 were sent out to teach and to preach during 
 vacation, — many of them to heathen villages 
 ten or twelve days distant. 
 
 At the last meeting of the Tavoy Association, 
 there were 294 delegates in attendance ; and, as 
 many came from a long distance, they remained 
 together five or six days engaged in religious 
 service. More than fifty heathens were pres- 
 ent, some of them being a deputation from the 
 village of Pau, stating that they had built a 
 chapel, and earnestly desired a Christian teacher. 
 A man was selected and sent. Fourteen men 
 and two women volunteered to work among the 
 heathen ; and it was voted to send the pastors of 
 the churches from one to three months on this 
 service, the churches meantime continuing their 
 support. 
 
No. IV. 
 
 MISSION IN ARRACAN. 
 
 Geography of Arracan. — Missionaries in Arracan. — Early Mission 
 in Arracan. — The American Mission commenced. — New Mis- 
 sionaries. — A Short Service. — Church Organized. — Departure 
 and Return. — Karen Work. — Gathering Converts. — Chetza, the 
 Kemee Chief. — Converts Multiplied. — Doing it for Him. — A 
 Growing Work. 
 
 THE name of Arracan has disappeared from 
 our missionary journals. But there was a 
 period of nearly eighteen years, during which 
 it drew to itself the attention of the whole 
 Christian world. The work begun there has 
 not perished. The thirteen valuable missiona- 
 ries and their wives, who labored in that prov- 
 ince, most of whom have rested from their 
 labors, did not labor in vain. The work has 
 been transferred and extended, not abandoned 
 nor lost. 
 
 Arracan is a territory lying on the eastern 
 coast of the Bay of Bengal. A range of moun- 
 tains divides it from Burmah. In the policy of 
 Great Britain, which aims to absorb the entire 
 commerce of India, Arracan was first joined to 
 British India, then Tenasserim, and finally Pegu, 
 — leaving Burmah Proper an interior country, 
 
THE AMERICAN MISSION COMMENCED. 53 
 
 and giving to England the command of all the 
 river-mouths of the kingdom, so that not a 
 pound of rice can be exported from Burmah 
 without paying duty at an English custom-house. 
 
 Arracan consists of four districts, — Akyab, 
 Ramree, Sandoway, and Aeng. The population 
 is about 250,ocx>. The language is a corrupt 
 Burman. Kyouk Phyoo, at the northern ex- 
 tremity of Ramree Island, is the British mili- 
 tary station. The chief article of export is 
 rice. Akyab, at the season when vessels are 
 loading, is said to be full of life and bustle, and 
 full of population ; but the rest of the year it 
 is quiet and lonely. 
 
 The places referred to in this article lie along 
 the Bay of Bengal in the following order, begin- 
 ning at the north : Akyab, Kyouk Phyoo, Ram- 
 ree, Cheduba Island, Sandoway, Bassein. 
 
 The following missionaries were at different 
 periods connected with the Arracan Mission, 
 and commenced their labors at the dates sub- 
 joined to their names respectively : — 
 
 Rev. Grover S. Comstock and wife, 1835 ; 
 Rev. Levi Hall and wife, 1837; Rev. E. Kin- 
 caid and wife, 1840; Rev. Elisha L. Abbott and 
 wife, 1840; Rev. Lyman Stilson and wife, 1842; 
 Rev. Lovell Ingalls and wife, 1846; Rev. J. S. 
 Beecher and wife, 1847; Rev. C. C. Moore and 
 wife, 1848 ; Rev. Harvey M. Campbell and wife, 
 1850; Rev. Harvey E. Knapp and wife, 1850; 
 Rev. A. T. Rose and wife, 1853; Rev. A. B. 
 Satterlee and wife, 1855 ; Rev. H. L. Van 
 Meter and wife, 1855. 
 
 Rev. J. C. Fink, of the Serampore Mission- 
 
54 MISSION IN ARRACAN. 
 
 ary Society, labored in Akyab and Ramree for 
 a season, before the foundation of the Ameri- 
 can mission, and enjoyed some success; for in 
 1840 Messrs. Kincaid and Abbott found a native 
 church at Akyab of thirteen members, of whom 
 all but one, it is recorded, had been baptized 
 twenty-five years previously. But he relin- 
 quished the station in 1837, leaving the field to 
 the American Baptist Missionary Union. 
 
 In 1835 Mr. and Mrs. Comstock were in- 
 structed by the Board to commence a mission 
 at some suitable place on the coast of Arracan. 
 Kyouk Phyoo was selected, on Ramree Island, 
 the principal British military station, — a place 
 having a native population of two thousand 
 souls. The mission family arrived March 4, 
 1835 \ 3-i^d Mr. Comstock at once commenced 
 work, preaching, and distributing tracts. Dur- 
 ing the rainy season, which was then just com- 
 mencing, he put in circulation twenty-five thou- 
 sand tracts, and received visitors from Ramree 
 and other districts. The next year he visited 
 the neighboring islands and the district of Aeng, 
 distributing tracts, and preaching to thousands. 
 This year he also found access to the Khyens, 
 a branch of the Karen people, living like the 
 latter in the mountainous districts, and ready 
 like them to welcome the good news of the 
 gospel. A school was also commenced, to give 
 instruction in Burman and English. 
 
 May 8, 1837, two fellow-laborers joined the 
 mission, — Rev. Levi and Mrs. Hall. Mr. Hall 
 was a native of Stafford, Conn., and Mrs. Hall 
 of Southbridge, Mass. They sailed from Bos- 
 
CHURCH ORGANIZED, 55 
 
 ton Oct. 17, 1836, and arrived in Kyouk Phyoo 
 April 25, 1837. They were young and vigorous, 
 girded and prepared for the work, and laid them- 
 selves with willing hearts on the altar of mis- 
 sions. But, alas ! how mysterious are the meth- 
 ► ods of Divine Providence ! Instead of a long 
 life of usefulness, God gave them early dismissal 
 and a crown of glory almost before their work 
 was begun. Mrs. Hall died in two months, and 
 Mr. Hall in four months, after their arrival on 
 their chosen field. Her age was twenty-eight, 
 and his thirty-two. Like Harriet Newell, the 
 proto-martyr of American missions, it was ac- 
 cepted of them that it was in their hearts to 
 give themselves to the salvation of the heathen. 
 How eventful was this brief period of their 
 lives ! In less than a year they passed through 
 the parting scene with home and friends, em- 
 barked, crossed seas and oceans to India, settled 
 in their heathen abode, and were welcomed to 
 heaven. The Lord of infinite resources could 
 dispense with their service on earth. He had 
 higher service for them in heaven. 
 
 A church was formed in Kyouk Phyoo, May 
 21, 1837; 3.nd the first assistant was engaged at 
 Akyab. He was a native of Arracan, a man 
 fifty years of age, and he had been a Christian 
 twelve or fifteen years. Another assistant, a 
 young Burman preacher, was sent to the field 
 by Dr. Judson. It was well that one of these 
 assistants was a man of mature years, of sound 
 judgment, and respected for his age and experi- 
 ence, while the other was filled with the vigor 
 and enthusiasm of youth, and eager to rnake 
 
56 MISSION IN ARRACAN. 
 
 known to others the gospel which had proved a 
 blessing to his own soul. Like Peter and John, 
 one was the complement of the other. 
 
 In November, 1837, Mr. and Mrs. Comstock 
 were compelled by the failure of their health 
 to retire for a season to Maulmain in Burmah. 
 About the same time Mr. Fink, the English 
 minister, left Akyab ; and evangelical labor, thus 
 suspended for a season, seemed at an end. But 
 the seed sown in Arracan was not wasted. The 
 faithful labors at Kyouk Phyoo, the church of 
 thirty or forty members at Akyab, with three or 
 four native assistants, the house-to-house preach- 
 ing, the thousands of tracts distributed, the 
 precious memory of young Hall and his wife, 
 early ripe, early garnered, the many prayers, 
 the promises of an unchanging God, were a 
 pledge of good things to come. In 1839 ^^• 
 Comstock, accompanied by Mr. Stilson, returned 
 and established themselves in Ramree, in the 
 midst of a population of ten thousand natives, 
 among whom they distributed twelve or fifteen 
 thousand tracts. A church was organized in 
 May, 1839, embracing seven natives. Mrs. 
 Comstock commenced a school, and was soon 
 surrounded by twelve or fifteen pupils. In 1840 
 there were three missionaries and their wives in 
 Arracan. 
 
 In Burmah Proper persecution arose which 
 closed that country, substantially, to direct mis- 
 sionary effort ; in consequence of which Messrs. 
 Kincaid and Abbott determined to remove 
 across the mountains to Arracan, that they 
 might be under British protection, and in due 
 
GATHERING CONVERTS. 57 
 
 season enter Burmah, God willing, on that side. 
 The former established himself temporarily at 
 Akyab, and the latter at Sandoway, where he 
 devoted his labors chiefly to the Karens, who 
 came to him in large numbers from the Burman 
 side, beyond the hills. 
 
 There were now six native assistants. A 
 visit was made to Cheduba Island ; thousands 
 heard the gospel from the lips of the missionary, 
 and forty thousand tracts were put in circulation 
 in the island in the space of fifteen days. In 
 May, 1840, three converts were baptized at 
 Akyab, and many began to inquire the way of 
 life. Among the latter was a man ninety years 
 of age, a pillar of heathenism, who had grown 
 gray in the service of Satan. The king of Bur- 
 mah had sent him to Arracan from Ava, to ex- 
 plain the sacred books. But a higher than the 
 king of Burmah frustrated the design of that 
 monarch ; and the old expounder of heathenism 
 sat at the feet of Jesus, an advocate of the 
 faith which he came to destroy. In August, 
 1840, about thirty professed to believe the gos- 
 pel. Mrs. Abbott had a school for Burmese 
 females. In 1841 Arracan had three missionary 
 stations, — Akyab, Ramree, and Sandoway, — 
 with four missionaries and twenty-seven native 
 assistants. Mr. Abbott reported one hundred 
 and ninety-three baptisms at Sandoway. Many 
 Karen converts of Burmah, persecuted and for- 
 bidden to follow their Lord's example in their 
 own country, crossed the mountains, and were 
 baptized in Arracan, on British territory; and 
 then crossed back into Burmah, to spread the 
 
58 MISSION IN ARRACAN. 
 
 glad news of salvation. This year three addi- 
 tional churches were organized, t\i^o of them 
 south of Sandoway, and one near Akyab ; and 
 Mr. Abbott had two schools for native assist- 
 ants. A building for a chapel and school was 
 placed at the service of the mission by the Brit- 
 ish commissioner. At Kyouk Phyoo, a native 
 teacher taught fifteen pupils the way of life. 
 From this period, for a few years, Arracan was 
 a central point of interest in the Eastern mis- 
 sions, clustering around itself the most stirring 
 events, and furnishing the most effective con- 
 tributions to the missionary periodicals. 
 
 This year a most interesting event occurred 
 in the history of the mission. A mountain chief 
 of the Kemees, Chetza by name, whose tribe 
 lived one hundred and fifty miles north of Ak- 
 yab, sent a memorial to the missionaries, signed 
 by himself and thirteen subordinate chiefs, rep- 
 resenting that they were . ** anxious to know 
 God, and to be taught in the true Book." The 
 letter gave the names of two hundred and 
 seventy-three children whom they wished to 
 place in school, if a missionary would come to 
 their mountains. Seven months later, a second 
 petition of the same tenor followed. The chief 
 had built a large zayat for meetings, and ex- 
 pressed the wish to build a spacious house for 
 the accommodation of the missionaries. A visit 
 was made to this promising locality by Mr. Kin- 
 caid in 1841, and by Mr. Stilson in 1842. The 
 latter spent three months with them, reduced 
 their language to writing, and wrote out about 
 one-third of the words in use among them. He 
 
CHETZA, THE KEMEE CHIEF. 59 
 
 also reduced to writing the language of the 
 Khyens, whose villages extended two hundred 
 miles south of the Kemees. But did the Kemee 
 mountain chief and his people ever have a per- 
 manent and resident missionary to teach them 
 the way of life, and a school for their two hun- 
 dred and seventy-three children ? We remem- 
 ber the document of the chief, with its signa- 
 tures, as it was once exhibited in this country at 
 a missionary concert by the Rev. Dr. Pattison. 
 We remember the interest and emotion which 
 it awakened. But funds were wanting. Men 
 were wanting. Chetza and his fellow-chiefs 
 longed for the gospel for themselves and for the 
 people. But the beautiful feet of the messen- 
 gers of peace never trod upon the mountains, 
 except in those brief visits of Kincaid and Stil- 
 son, and a short residence of Mr. Knapp in 
 1852. Not a Gospel of the New Testament 
 found its way into their tongue. A catechism, 
 a spelling-book, and a few reading-lessons were 
 their whole Christian literature. A school was 
 commenced among them in 1852, but soon scat- 
 tered ; and the name of the Kemees soon disap- 
 peared from our missionary history. 
 
 The fruits of the gospel now began to multi- 
 ply in Arracan, Mr. Comstock baptized the first 
 convert in Ramree, a Mussulman, in 1842. All 
 the churches that had been founded received 
 additions. Megezzin reported 137 members; 
 Baumee, 74; Ongkyoung, 39; Surmah, 21 ; Buf- 
 falo, 75 : total in Arracan, 346. In the region 
 of Bassein, also, south of Sandoway, and closely 
 connected with it, though in Burmah proper, 
 
6o MISSION IN ARE AC AN. 
 
 a wonderful revival of religion prevailed. The 
 converts were said to number two thousand. 
 During the first two months of 1842, Mr. Ab- 
 bott baptized 259 ; and, in a journey of thirty- 
 one days, 275 more. The Board at home had 
 set their hearts upon Arracan. But the finger 
 of God pointed to Burmah. 
 
 In 1843 the cholera prevailed in Arracan. 
 Several villages and towns were nearly depopu- 
 lated, and among them Megezzin, Baumee, and 
 Ongkyoung, where churches had been organized 
 and built up, and the gospel faithfully preached. 
 They had had their day of visitation. Grace 
 had been offered to the people, and the day was 
 now past. The offer, at least for that genera- 
 tion, returned no more. 
 
 This year Mrs. Comstock died, aged thirty ; 
 and the next year, 1844, Mr. Comstock, aged 
 thirty-five, — both of them in the noontide of 
 vigor, usefulness, and hope. Mrs. Comstock, 
 before her marriage, was Miss Sarah Davis, of 
 Brookline, Mass. From this same church went 
 forth, earlier, the first Mrs. Mason, to the mis- 
 sion in Burmah ; and the missionary spirit of 
 these beloved and honored members still lin- 
 gers where their lives were at first consecrated 
 to God and the salvation of the heathen. An 
 incident in the life of Mrs. Comstock, of touch- 
 ing interest and full of instruction, has often 
 been quoted. When the time arrived at which 
 it seemed necessary to send her children to 
 America to be educated, the claims of the mis- 
 sionary work did not permit the parents to 
 leave Arracan. A missionary associate was 
 
A GROWING WORK. 6l 
 
 about to return home, and the children were to 
 be committed to his charge. The weeping 
 mother accompanied the little ones to the ship 
 on which they were to embark, and where she 
 was to take a final leave of them. She fully 
 realized the situation. All the mother glowed 
 in her heart, and swelled in her eyes. As she 
 handed the little ones over the rail of the ves- 
 sel which was to bear them away forever from 
 her sight, — with an agony which words could 
 not express, and a Christian heroism worthy of 
 a martyr, she looked up to heaven with stream- 
 ing eyes, and exclaimed, " O Jesus, I do this for 
 thee ! " and parted from them, and went back 
 to her work. Sublime scene ! What a testi- 
 mony to the power of religion, which could 
 bear up the soul of a tender woman under such 
 circumstances ! She triumphed in the trial for 
 the sake of Christ, and left the wonderful ex- 
 ample of her self-denial and Christian trust, — 
 one of the precious and shining gems of mis- 
 sionary history. What equal self-denials has 
 the reader endured, saying, " O Jesus, I do this 
 for thee " .? 
 
 Through the labors of Mr. Abbott and his 
 assistants, and the blessing of God, the work of 
 the gospel went forward, both in Arracan and 
 in Burmah Proper beyond the mountains, but 
 under the shadow of the influences which dwelt 
 in Arracan. In 1844 a mission chapel was 
 completed in Akyab. During that year, 1,550 
 Karens were baptized in four months in Pan- 
 tanau district in Burmah, by two native preach- 
 ers. Most of the candidates had been believers 
 
62 MISSION IN AREA CAN. 
 
 one, two, or three years. During the same 
 year, 489 were baptized in Arracan. Total 
 baptized in 1844, 2,039.^ ^^ the school at San- 
 doway, during the rains, there were fourteen 
 native preachers. 
 
 In 1845, 60^ Karens were baptized. In 1846 
 Mr. Stilson removed to Maulmain, and Mr. 
 Ingalls arrived in Akyab. At the close of this 
 year, there were 29 out-stations, and 3,240 mem- 
 bers : two native preachers baptized 812; and 
 1,427 were reported as waiting for admission to 
 the churches. 
 
 In 1847 Mr. Abbott returned to Sandoway, 
 after a year's visit in the United States. Dur- 
 ing his absence, 1,150 were baptized in Burmah 
 Proper, and 1,200 more were ready to receive 
 the ordinance. This year five Kemees were 
 baptized at Akyab, the first-fruits of the tribe ; 
 and Rev. J. S. Beecher joined the mission. In 
 1848 the number baptized from the beginning, 
 in connection with this mission, was said to 
 be more than 5,500; and 5,124 more Chris- 
 tians were reported still unbaptized. This year 
 Christians, or men of Christian preferences, 
 were substituted for heathen as head men. 
 
 In 1849 Rev. C. C. Moore and wife arrived 
 in Akyab, having been designated to the station 
 at Ramree. Mrs. Moore died in just eight 
 months after their arrival — another early death 
 in connection with this mission. Messrs. Knapp 
 and Campbell arrived in 1850; the latter being 
 appointed to labor among the Kemees, of whom, 
 up to this date, only ten had been baptized. 
 Mr. Campbell removed to the old station of 
 
A GROWING WORK, 67, 
 
 Kyouk Phyoo, but died of cholera in 1852, 
 aged twenty-nine. A zayat was built here in 
 185 1, and Mr. Campbell preached from house 
 to house. This year the members of the church 
 at Akyab had become scattered in various towns. 
 Mr. Knapp made a tour of three months in the 
 Kemee jungle, but the hand of disease was 
 upon him. He attempted to return to the 
 United States, but died of consumption on the 
 passage, aged thirty-three. On the death of 
 Mr. Knapp, the Kemee department was left 
 vacant, and has never been resumed. Mr. Stil- 
 son removed the same year to Maulmain. Mr. 
 Rose arrived in Akyab in 1853 ; Mrs. Rose died 
 five months afterwards, and Mr. Rose left Arra- 
 can the following year. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Satterlee joined the mission in 
 1855, in the hope and full expectation of a 
 long life of useful labor ; but before the close 
 of 1856 they had both finished their course, and 
 received their reward, — Mr. Satterlee being 
 thirty-two years old, and Mrs. Satterlee twenty- 
 eight. 
 
 The Karen department of the Arracan mis- 
 sion was constituted in 1849 the Sandoway 
 mission, and under that name its progress was 
 detailed for several years in the annual reports. 
 In 1852 there were eight churches in Arracan, 
 and thirty-six in Burmah, all connected with the 
 Sandoway mission. The second Burmese war, 
 after which Pegu was surrendered to Great 
 Britain, put an end to the persecution of native 
 Christians in that region, and opened the way 
 for the unobstructed labors of missionaries in 
 
64 MISSION IN ARRACAN. 
 
 what had been a part of Burmah Proper, but 
 was now under the protection of a Christian 
 government. Sandoway station, whose real 
 centre had long been Bassein, became hence- 
 forward the Bassein mission ; and the great 
 number of Karen converts formerly reported 
 in connection with Arracan, from this time are 
 reported in connection with the Bassein mis- 
 sion. 
 
 Arracan has now no missionary. Its few 
 converts, if any remain, are left to the tender 
 mercy of Him who cares for his own, and who 
 permits no work undertaken for his name's 
 sake to be in vain. The labors performed and 
 the lives sacrificed in Arracan are all registered 
 on high ; and in the grand consummation we 
 shall hear of them again. 
 
No. V. 
 
 MISSION TO PROME. 
 
 Geography of Prome. — Dr. Judson in Prome. — Beginning of the 
 Mission. — Seed springing up. — Trials and Mercies. — The 
 Power of Prayer. — Removal of One Missionary, and Coming of 
 Another. — Seed not Lost. — Entertaining an Association. — Ac- 
 cession and Death of Miss Simons. — Revival. — Death of Mr. 
 Simons. — Conclusion. 
 
 PROME is situated on the Irrawaddy River, 
 about one hundred and seventy miles north 
 of Rangoon, one hundred miles distant from 
 Henthada, and two hundred miles from Ava. 
 The city is said to have been founded four hun- 
 dred and forty-four years before the Christian 
 era. A vast pagoda, surrounded by several 
 smaller ones, marks it as a *' city wholly given 
 to idolatry." The pagoda is called Shway San- 
 dau, and is the same to Prome as Shway Da- 
 gong to Rangoon, and Kyaik Thaulau to Maul- 
 main. For several miles below, the villages 
 are nearly contiguous, some of them very large. 
 Population 22,000, and, with the vicinity, 120,- 
 000 to 150,000. 
 
 In 1830 Dr. Judson spent three and a half 
 months in Prome, living in a dilapidated zayat 
 which had been granted him by the Burmese 
 
 65 
 
66 MISSION TO PRO ME. 
 
 authorities, and situated on consecrated ground 
 During his stay, he distributed numerous tracts, 
 besides other labors. He was accompanied by 
 three or four native assistants, who aided him 
 much in making known the gospel to the peo- 
 ple. For a few days he had many visitors, who 
 came to inquire about the new religion, and 
 who heard with some attention. At one period 
 the whole town seemed roused to listen to the 
 news of an eternal God, and salvation through 
 a crucified Saviour. A few seemed to have 
 attained a little grace ; but opposition and per- 
 secution, like an untimely frost, nipped the 
 buds of promise. The ''time of love," for 
 Prome, "was not yet." Notwithstanding, in 
 September, 1830, just as Mr. Judson was leav- 
 ing the place, one native, a government writer, 
 sitting on the river-bank and lamenting his 
 departure, said, " Mark me as your disciple. 
 I pray to God every day. Do you also pray 
 for me. As soon as I can get free from my 
 present engagements, I intend to come down 
 to Rangoon." 
 
 As he sailed down the Irrawaddy, returning 
 to Rangoon, Mr. Judson wrote thus in his jour- 
 nal: — 
 
 " Afloat on my own little boat, manned by none other 
 than my three disciples, I take leave of Prome and her 
 towering god, Shway Sandau, at whose base I have been 
 laboring, with not the kindest intentions, for the last 
 three months and a half. Too firmly founded art thou, 
 old pile, to be overthrown just at present ; but the chil- 
 dren of those who now plaster thee with gold will yet 
 pull thee down, nor leave one brick upon another. . . . 
 Farewell to thee, Prome ! Willingly would I have spent 
 
DR. yUDSON IN PROME. 67 
 
 my last breath in thee and for thee. But thy sons ask 
 me not to stay ; and I must preach the gospel to other 
 cities also, for therefore am I sent. Read the five hun- 
 dred tracts that I have left with thee. Pray to the God 
 and Saviour that I have told thee of. And if hereafter 
 thou call me, though in the lowest whisper, and it reach 
 me in the very extremities of the empire, I will joyfully 
 listen, and come back to thee." 
 
 For twenty-four years no missionary returned 
 to Prome to care for the good seed which had 
 been sown, or to watch for the coming harvest. 
 If those who had been aroused by the truth 
 were brought to the knowledge of Christ, and 
 found their way to heaven, it was the work of 
 the Divine Spirit. No human agency watched 
 or helped the process, or witnessed and rejoiced 
 in the glorious result. 
 
 After the annexation of Pegu to the British 
 possessions in India, subsequent to the second 
 Burmese war, in the reconstruction of missions 
 Prome was adopted as one of the new stations. 
 Rev. Eugenio Kincaid, then of Rangoon, and 
 Rev. Thomas Simons of Maulmain, were des- 
 ignated to begin the mission. The former ar- 
 rived in Prome Jan. 19, 1854, and the latter a 
 month later. A Burman Christian had pre- 
 ceded them, and prepared their way by gather- 
 ing some of the people nightly to his house, 
 and making known to them the gospel. The 
 first Burman service held by Mr. Kincaid was 
 on Jan. 22, 1854. At the first baptism, Feb. 22, 
 1854, just a month later, three converts, in the 
 presence of their idolatrous countrymen, put on 
 Christ, — these the first-fruits: hundreds were 
 to follow them. The word of God was not 
 
6S MISSION TO PROME. 
 
 bound. Who can tell but the seed, sown years 
 before, now and thus came to maturity, and was 
 ripe for the harvest ? Within five months the 
 number baptized had reached thirty-eight. At 
 the beginning of 1855, less than one year from 
 the commencement, there were three out-sta- 
 tions, two native assistants, four churches, and 
 the near promise of a fifth. Of these four 
 churches, two were composed of converted Ka- 
 rens, — these simple-hearted people, as else- 
 where, accepting Christ, and pressing into the 
 kingdom, although the main purpose and expec- 
 tation of the mission was to open the door of 
 hope to the Burman population. The number 
 of Christians had increased to eighty, residing 
 in twelve localities, some of which were from 
 twelve to ninety miles distant from, Prome. A 
 large number of gifted men and women were 
 among the converts, and one of the two Karen 
 churches had a native pastor. 
 
 In the early days of the mission, Prome was 
 rich in Burmese converts. As early as July, 
 1856, out of one hundred and sixteen baptized, 
 one hundred were Burmans. A chapel was 
 built at Thayet, an out-station, at the expense 
 of the Christian officers of the British army, 
 who also supported the native assistant laboring 
 there. Two Karen preachers were ordained 
 this year. Aid arose from unexpected quarters. 
 Some who had been idolaters became helpers of 
 those who sought to destroy idolatry. A Bur- 
 man Christian official assumed the support of a 
 native preacher. Truly, God's word did not 
 return unto him void. 
 
SEED SPRINGING UP. 69 
 
 But prosperity was not unmingled. In 1856, 
 and again in 1857, the mission zayat was con- 
 sumed by fire. At the former date, nearly all 
 the city was destroyed. But, though the regu- 
 lar place for preaching was gone, the good news 
 of salvation was brought within the reach of 
 another class of hearers. The services were 
 held at the city jail, and thus the gospel pro- 
 claimed spiritually the opening of the prison to 
 them that were bound. At the close of 1856, 
 there were five out-stations and ten native as- 
 sistants, of whom six were ordained evangelists 
 and ministers of the Word. 
 
 The tracts and portions of Scripture, which 
 had been freely distributed more than twenty- 
 two years before, were not lost. How wonder- 
 fully God provides for the keeping of his truth, 
 and for the manifestation of its power in the 
 appointed time! In 1857 the head man of a 
 Burman village came to the knowledge of the 
 missionaries, of whom it is stated that the study 
 of the tracts and Scriptures, received so long 
 ago, had been blessed to him and his people, 
 and the whole village had been led, in conse- 
 quence, to forsake idolatry. 
 
 Not only the common people, but some in 
 high stations, were in due time brought under 
 the influence of the gospel. In 1858 a young 
 priest was baptized, putting off the yellow robe 
 of his order, and putting on the livery of 
 Christ. A new tribe, called the Khyens, closely 
 resembling the Karens, were brought to feel 
 the influence of the gospel. Many of them 
 came as inquirers, and six or seven were bap- 
 
70 MISSION TO PROME. 
 
 tized. Six years later one of their number, a 
 gifted convert, undertook to reduce their lan- 
 guage to writing. Up to the close of 1858, two 
 hundred and sixteen in all had been baptized in 
 connection with the mission, and thirty-three 
 had joined the church of the glorified in heaven. 
 Even Prome, from which Dr. Judson parted so 
 sadly in 1830, had begun to gather its redeemed 
 ones before the throne, and hundreds of its 
 people were in training to sing the new song, 
 ** Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from 
 our sins in his own blood, be glory and honor, 
 dominion and power, both now and forever." 
 In 1863, at the service held at the jail, it was 
 estimated that full one thousand persons heard 
 the gospel within the year. The missionary 
 spirit characterized the young converts. They 
 manifested that truest fruit of the Spirit, a de- 
 sire to tell to others '' what a dear Saviour they 
 had found." A Khyen assistant, a man of the 
 new tribe, not content to have his zeal bounded 
 by geographical limitations, travelled over the 
 Arracan mountains to the sea, a hundred and 
 thirty miles, across pathless deserts, exposed to 
 wild beasts and deadly malaria, and scorning 
 the hardships of the way, that he might make 
 known the gospel for the first time to numbers 
 of the people of his own race. Thus the work 
 was not confined to narrow boundaries. Not 
 only the native assistants, but Mr. Kincaid also, 
 undertook long- tours for the sake of making 
 known to distant idolaters the way of salvation. 
 Mr. Kincaid travelled two hundred and fifty 
 miles north-east of Prome. Encouraging open- 
 
TRIALS AND MERCIES. 71 
 
 ings were also found to the south-east. The out- 
 stations flourished like the garden of the Lord, 
 and converts were multiplied. 
 
 On the 5th of October, 1861, a new chapel, 
 built of teak-wood, was opened in Prome. 
 But, as if God would try the faith of his ser- 
 vants, in about five months this also was de- 
 stroyed by the devouring element, which at the 
 same time consumed about five thousand build- 
 ings, — the light, dry thatch of the native dwell- 
 ings melting away like wax before the flame. 
 But judgment was not unmingled with mercy; 
 for the same year an inquirer, of a new race, 
 afterwards to be made the object of distinct 
 missionary effort, appeared at the mission, and 
 asked for baptism ; and another of the same 
 race, of ripe age and experience, a man of sev- 
 enty-two years, the first of his tribe, put on 
 Christ by an open profession. Thus to the 
 Shans also was opened the way of life. 
 
 In this, as in most other missions, the power 
 of prayer has often been experienced and 
 manifested. In January, 1863, the mission 
 kept the annual day of prayer, in concert with 
 Christians in all lands. Within four months 
 afterwards, twenty-five were baptized in Prome. 
 The destruction of the chapel by fire opened 
 the way for another display of Christian liber- 
 ality. For a native convert, one of the wealth- 
 iest citizens of Prome, when he built for him- 
 self a new house, finished a room in it expressly 
 for the preaching of the gospel. And shortly 
 afterwards the first donation towards a new 
 chapel, in place of the one which had been con 
 
72 MISSION TO PRO ME. 
 
 sumed, was given by a retired medical officer, 
 once a resident of Burmah ; but, having settled 
 in Scotland, he was desirous of aiding in the 
 evangelizing work in the land of his former 
 abode, which had been cursed by the debasing 
 influences of idolatry. It was resolved to build 
 the new chapel of brick. One of the American 
 laborers assumed the task of raising the neces- 
 sary funds among the friends of missions in 
 India, without drawing upon the treasury at 
 home. But the work was a tedious one, and 
 the burden too onerous for one already pressed 
 by the spiritual work of employing every con- 
 secrated energy to promote the salvation of the 
 dying heathen ; and it was not until after the 
 lapse of several years that the undertaking was 
 finished. 
 
 In 1865 Mr. Kincaid was compelled, on ac- 
 count of the illness of his wife, to withdraw 
 from the mission ; and he never returned to 
 Burmah again. Near the close of the same 
 year (Nov. 25) Rev. Edward O. Stevens, son of 
 the veteran missionary Rev. Edward A. Ste- 
 vens of Rangoon, joined the mission, and found 
 an open door, which he at once entered with 
 resolute purpose. Mr. Stevens so far retained 
 the knowledge of the Burman language, which 
 he had spoken in his childhood, that, on his first 
 Sunday in Burmah as a missionary, he was 
 able to read the Scriptures before a congrega- 
 tion of Burman Christians. The labors of Mr. 
 Stevens at once began to be extended over a 
 wide space. Accompanied by a native preacher 
 of each of the thre€ races, Burman, Karen, and 
 
SEED NOT LOST. 73 
 
 Khyen, he moved from place to place, each 
 preaching in his own language to those who 
 could understand him, and all seeking to bring 
 the heathen to Christ. 
 
 At this time (1867), after thirteen years of 
 labor in Prome, the city and district, it was 
 found from accurate statistics that four hundred 
 and one converts had been baptized in connec- 
 tion with the mission. Of ' these, three hun- 
 dred and forty-eight were Asiatics of different 
 races and tribes, and forty-eight Europeans, all 
 English. Thus the early triumphs of the gos- 
 pel, which were so often among military men in 
 the days of Christ and the apostles, were re- 
 peated among the soldiers of the British army ; 
 those who had rejected the gospel among the 
 privileges of Britain, finding the pearl of great 
 price after they had taken up their abode among 
 idolaters. Divine Providence, leading the blind 
 by a way which they know not, sent them to 
 India because the instrumentality was there by 
 which God had appointed to save them ; and 
 thus three-quarters of the globe, Europe, Asia, 
 and America, were employed in preparing voices 
 to swell the heavenly hallelujahs which shall be 
 sung by men out of every nation, and kindred, 
 and tongue, and people. The church of Chris- 
 tian soldiers belonging to the British army in 
 Rangoon, in Maulmain, and in Prome, has ever 
 been one of the precious fields cultivated by 
 our missionaries. 
 
 After the departure of Mr. Kincaid, the care 
 of the church devolved largely on Mr. Simons. 
 But Mr. Stevens having arrived, in the vigor 
 
74 MISSION TO PROME. 
 
 of his youth and zeal, to fill the vacancy, Mr. 
 Simons devoted himself mainly, till the close of 
 his life, to the promotion of education. In 1865 
 the scholars enrolled in Prome and the out- 
 stations numbered two hundred and five, with 
 an average attendance of one hundred and 
 forty-eight. All of them were under a good 
 religious influence, the missionary superintend- 
 ing this department never forgetting that the 
 object of his being a laborer in Burmah was 
 that he might lead souls to Christ. At this 
 period, in reviewing his labors as a pastor, Mr. 
 Simons refers in an interesting manner to the 
 harvest reaped from seed sown long years pre- 
 viously and now forgotten, but recalled to his 
 memory by letters from persons whose history 
 had faded from his recollection, and whom he 
 had from time to time, in the course of the last 
 thirty-five years, introduced into the church. 
 
 The progress of the work in the next few 
 years was very encouraging. The churches 
 connected with the mission made laudable 
 progress in self-support. In 1871 the Associa- 
 tion held its annual session in Prome. Was it 
 an expense and burden to the church in Prome .-* 
 No, for the burden was borne chiefly by a sin- 
 gle member of the congregation. But did the 
 church-members enrich themselves by this sav- 
 ing of the expense of hospitality .? No ; for 
 they appropriated the sum which would have 
 been otherwise laid out in hospitality — had it 
 not been for this liberal giver — to aid the 
 feeble churches of the Association ; and thus 
 nearly one hundred dollars were designated by 
 
REVIVAL. 75 
 
 them to aid in the building and furnishing of 
 chapels at two of the out-stations. Besides 
 this, the church in Prome contributed a consid- 
 erable portion of the salary of their own pastor. 
 Several of the Burman disciples conscientiously 
 devoted one-tenth of their income to the Lord, 
 and their example exerted a most wholesome 
 influence on others. The whole field this year 
 showed the most promising signs of growth 
 and hopefulness. 
 
 In 1873 Miss Simons, the daughter of Rev. 
 Thomas Simons, paid her own passage from 
 this country to Burmah, and went thither that 
 she might make herself useful in Burman 
 schools, in connection with her father's work. 
 But her health soon failed, and she shortly after 
 passed away. 
 
 In 1874 a remarkable work of grace sprang 
 up at an out-station of Prome, west of the Irra- 
 waddy River, in connection with the labors of a 
 Shan man who spoke Burman, and was baptized 
 in Bassein in 1854. After a period of darkness 
 and backsliding, he was revived and restored in 
 1872, and at once began to labor for the souls 
 of his fellow-men, telling his neighbors and 
 friends all he knew about the religion of Christ. 
 He knew little of the gospel, except that Christ 
 died to save sinners, and that men must believe 
 in him for salvation ; but he had experienced 
 this, and succeeded in making others receive it. 
 A radical change followed in many, which was 
 attended by their observance of the Sabbath, 
 their practice of Christian worship under great 
 disadvantages, and their willing sacrifices in 
 behalf of their new faith. 
 
76 MISSION TO PROME. 
 
 In 1875 Mr. Stevens, on account of impaired 
 health, returned for a season to the United 
 States, and remained at home till October, 1877. 
 During his absence the work of evangelization 
 was prosecuted, mainly through the native 
 assistants, with much vigor and earnestness. 
 Two of the preachers went, like city mission- 
 aries, from house to house, preaching the gospel, 
 and giving tracts to the people passing to and 
 from the city. A Bible-woman did a similar 
 work for the good of her own sex. There were 
 three principal out-stations, and twelve baptisms 
 were reported during the year, and a total of 
 two hundred and seventeen members. 
 
 Mr. Simons, the veteran missionary of Prome, 
 died at that place Feb. 19, 1876, aged seventy- 
 five. He was a native of Wales, Great Britain, 
 and first sailed from Boston to join the Burman 
 mission, June 29, 1832. He desired that his 
 house and compound at Prome should be se- 
 cured to the Missionary Union for the use of 
 the mission ; thus giving himself to the ser- 
 vice of the mission while he lived, and contrib- 
 uting all that he left behind to the same blessed 
 work. 
 
 The present number of members connected 
 with the churches in the Prome mission is two 
 hundred and fifty-one. 
 
 The connection of Dr. Judson with the 
 Prome mission at the outset, in 1830, gives it a 
 special interest and significance. We recur 
 with a feeling of lively sympathy to the days of 
 darkness and discouragement, when he planted 
 himself in Prome, eager to make known the 
 
CONCLUSION. 77 
 
 way of salvation to its idolatrous inhabitants. 
 We go out with him in imagination, as he leaves 
 the city, after his brief sojourn, and returns to 
 Rangoon, not knowing what God would do for 
 Prome, nor when, in his Divine purposes, he 
 would arise for the deliverance of its people. 
 And with joy we see the work, recommenced 
 only four years after his death, advancing on 
 every side, and crowned, in so brief a period, 
 with hundreds of converted souls. 
 
No. VI. 
 
 MISSION TO TOUNGOO. 
 
 Geography of Toungoo. — The Mission begun. — The Mission in 
 Charge of Sau Quala. — Burman Department. — New Tribes. — 
 Two Associations. — Prosperity of the Mission. — Karen Associa- 
 tions. — Relations of Dr. Mason. — Death of Dr. Mason. — Active 
 Labor and Results. — Conclusion. 
 
 TOUNGOO is a walled city, on the Sitang 
 River, a hundred miles above Shwaygyeen. 
 Three rivers, whose main course is towards 
 the south, water the kingdom of Burmah, — the 
 Irrawaddy, the Salwen, and the Sitang. The 
 smallest of the three, the Sitang, has its course 
 about midway between the two others. It is 
 remarkable for an immense bore^ or rushing 
 tide, which renders the ascent of the river by 
 boat extremely difficult and perilous. Dr. Ma- 
 son, in his journal describing his first ascent of 
 the river, gives a thrilling description of the 
 scene. Toungoo has a very numerous Burman 
 population, and there are two cities north of it 
 having a large number of inhabitants. Toung- 
 oo is regarded by the British government as a 
 place of much importance, being a great entre- 
 pot of trade for Northern Burmah and the 
 78 
 
THE MISSION BEGUN. 79 
 
 Shans, and the terminus to which caravans 
 bring their commodities from Bhamo and West- 
 ern China. It is connected with Rangoon by- 
 steam navigation, by means of a canal opened 
 by the government across the great Pegu plain. 
 The first steamer by this route arrived in 
 Toungoo July 19, 1866. The steamer was com- 
 manded by Capt. Greenwood, an American, 
 formerly of Maryland. 
 
 The mission in Toungoo was organized near 
 the close of 1853. Two or three years before, 
 a man from Toungoo had visited a Christian 
 village in Tavoy district, where he was met by 
 the grace of God, and hopefully converted. He 
 returned to his home, and gave a glowing ac- 
 count of what he had witnessed and of what 
 he had felt, like the woman of Samaria tell- 
 ing how great things Jesus had done for him, 
 and calling the men of the city to come and 
 see if this were not the Christ. His narra- 
 tive awakened the zeal of Sau Quala, a native 
 Karen preacher, who had been converted by 
 the first sermon of Ko Thahbyu, the teacher 
 with whom Dr. Mason began the study of 
 Karen. 
 
 When the war was concluded. Dr. Mason 
 asked leave to establish a mission in Toungoo. 
 It was characteristic of him, from the begin- 
 ning of his missionary career, to be always 
 planning for new conquests. The apostle's ex- 
 pression, — "the regions beyond," — indicative 
 of his true missionary spirit, often occurs in his 
 official journals and his friendly correspondence. 
 Being encouraged to go forward, he arrived in 
 
8o MISSION TO TOUNGOO. 
 
 Toungoo Oct. 22, 1853, with two or three na- 
 tive associates. The way was evidently pre- 
 pared. The second day after his arrival he was 
 visited by as many as a hundred callers, chiefly 
 Burmans, although the mission was mainly de- 
 signed, in the outset, as a mission for Karens, 
 and the Burmese department for many years 
 was but imperfectly provided for. In a few 
 weeks three persons declared that they had re- 
 nounced idolatry, and two or three seemed to 
 be sincere disciples. The Karens also visited 
 Dr. Mason in large numbers, and many ap- 
 peared to receive the truth of the gospel as 
 soon as it was announced to them. Sau Quala 
 and two associates arrived in. the following 
 December. The first baptism was adminis- 
 tered Jan. 16, 1854, to two pupils of the school 
 which had been established ; and the Lord's 
 Supper was first celebrated in Toungoo the 
 same day. And thus was a new centre estab- 
 lished in the interior of Burmah, from which 
 the gospel might go forth, east and west and 
 north and south, conquering and to conquer. 
 
 Almost immediately after the mission was 
 set in operation. Dr. Mason's impaired health, 
 after a service of nearly twenty-four years in 
 the missionary field, compelled him to leave 
 Burmah for a temporary visit to the United 
 States. Accordingly he sailed Jan\ 18, 1854, 
 leaving the new mission in Toungoo in the 
 charge of the native helper, Sau Quala. The 
 face of this man is familiar to many in the 
 United States, through a photograph of native 
 preachers which has found its way to many of 
 
MISSION IN CHARGE OF SAU QUA LA. 8i 
 
 the friends of missions. His appearance of 
 intelligence, dignity, seriousness, and earnest- 
 ness, seemed a guaranty of his sincerity ; and 
 his name was known and honored in this as 
 in his own country, as a man of apostolic zeal, 
 whom God owned by granting him apostolic 
 success. Born in poverty, and nurtured, through 
 the condition of his early days, to endure hard- 
 ness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ, he was 
 peculiarly fitted for the service to which he 
 was called. Devout, zealous, faithful, self-deny- 
 ing, humble, he labored without stint and al- 
 most without cessation, in season and out of 
 season, day and night. With never-wearying 
 activity, he was everywhere in his field, plan- 
 ning wisely, superintending efficiently, and com- 
 mending himself to all " by pureness, by knowl- 
 edge, by long-suffering, by kindness, by a holy 
 spirit, by love unfeigned." All felt that he was 
 truly a good minister of Jesus Christ. God 
 kept him during all the period of Dr. Mason's 
 absence, and for years afterwards, a strength 
 and support, through Divine grace, for the nu- 
 merous converts and the infant churches. The 
 mission grew apace under his ministrations, 
 and multitudes were added unto the Lord. It 
 was a long season of the Pentecostal effusion of 
 the Holy Spirit. Immediately after Dr. Mason 
 left for America, four native preachers were put 
 in charge of four native tribes, to make known 
 to them the way of salvation by the blood of 
 Christ. The first year of the mission, 741 con- 
 verts were baptized. Within a year and nine 
 months, Sau Quala had baptized 1,860 disciples, 
 
S2 MISSION TO TOUNGOO. 
 
 and organized twenty-eight churches, and hun- 
 dreds more were anxious to be baptized in the 
 name of the Lord Jesus. The missionary was 
 absent, but the God of missions remained ; and 
 He who left with his apostles the farewell prom- 
 ise, " Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the 
 end of the world," carried forward the work 
 gloriously, giving it broad foundations and won- 
 derful expansion. In all the Karen wilderness, 
 the desert rejoiced and blossomed like the rose. 
 
 But Satan loves a shining mark, and some- 
 times aims to strike a conspicuous blow. If he 
 cannot stop the work of God, he seeks to mar 
 and blur it. After laboring for more than 
 twelve years with apostolic zeal and devotion, 
 and perhaps with more than apostolic success, 
 in an evil hour Sau Quala was tempted and fell. 
 An act of open sin clouded his brilliant career, 
 and he was lost to the ministry. With a peni- 
 tence like that of Peter, "he "wept bitterly" 
 over his fall, and at once retired from the 
 public ministration of the Word ; and his name 
 disappears. His course ever afterwards was a 
 most humble and penitent one ; and he showed 
 by years of upright and virtuous living that his 
 penitence was genuine, and that he had been 
 restored to the fellowship of a forgiving God. 
 
 Although the mission, as originally planted, 
 was specifically a mission to the Karens, in 
 July, 1856, a mission for the Burmans of 
 Toungoo was commenced, under the charge of 
 a native pastor. It was reported that year that 
 zayats for the worship of God and the instruc- 
 tion of the people had been erected in forty 
 
NEW TRIBES. 83 
 
 villages, in all of which the inhabitants pro- 
 fessed to have renounced idolatry, and adopted 
 the service of the true God. 
 
 In December of this year, ten young men, 
 who had been students in Dr. Wade's Theologi- 
 cal Seminary in Maulmain, were added to the la- 
 borers in Toungoo district. So large a harvest 
 demanded new reapers ; and, with the laborers, 
 there were opened new sources of supply. The 
 support of these new laborers was assumed by 
 the Maulmain Missionary Society. Burmah 
 was beginning by men and means to provide 
 for its own evangelization. 
 
 In January, 1857, Dr. Mason, with invigor- 
 ated health, returned to his field. In that 
 month Mr. Whitaker, before referred to, in 
 a tour among the Karen villages, baptized two 
 hundred and thirty-three converts. He reaped 
 largely, for his career was to be short. The 
 churches had now become numerous and widely 
 diffused. The first Association, after an exist- 
 ence of a little more than three years, was 
 divided into two harmonious bands. Self-sup- 
 port began to be a distinguishing feature of the 
 churches. Various tribes of Karens had come 
 to the knowledge of the brethren, differing 
 more or less in language, manners, and dress, 
 as well as in extent, but all accessible to the 
 gospel. Of these tribes, the most important 
 and extensive were the Bghais (pronounced 
 Bwai) and Pakus-; and these tribes, at a later 
 period, gave their names to the two Associations 
 of churches. The first book in the Bghai dia- 
 lect was a translation, by the native preacher 
 
S4 MISSION TO TO UN GOO. 
 
 Shapau, of the Burman catechism, giving a 
 summary of the Christian religion. It was 
 pubHshed in 1857. The first work in that lan- 
 guage published by Dr. Mason was the Ser- 
 mon on the Mount. He had already translated 
 the Gospel of Matthew, besides an arithmetic 
 and about fifty hymns. At the beginning of 
 1858, twenty-seven Bghai villages had nominally 
 embraced Christianity, received teachers, built 
 chapels, and established schools ; and a National 
 Education Society had been formed, embracing 
 among its members eighty-two chiefs. In De- 
 cember of this year Dr. Mason visited a new 
 tribe, the Red Karens, a people living twenty 
 days distant from Toungoo, and left among 
 them three teachers, to whom the chief of the 
 tribe gave a dwelling-house, and promised to 
 build for them a zayat and to establish schools. 
 Of the stations already occupied, fifty-two be- 
 longed to the Pakus, and forty-nine to the 
 Bghais. Then came an era of disaster. 
 
 After several years, in which the mission had 
 languished, and converts were persecuted, Dr. 
 Cross had a school of over eighty native assist- 
 ants, and the Bible formed the basis of all the 
 instruction given. An entire chapter from the 
 word of God was recited by one of the stu- 
 dents every morning. Two Associations of 
 churches were maintained. A new interest 
 was awakened in the Scriptures, and there 
 was an increased demand for Bibles and tracts. 
 Ministers' meetings were largely attended ; and 
 topics were discussed by the young pastors, in 
 presence of the missionary, having reference to 
 
PROSPERITY OF THE MISSION. 85 
 
 the polity, the spiritual life, and the advance- 
 ment of the churches. A quarterly magazine 
 in the Karen language was commenced in 1868. 
 All parts of the field were thoroughly visited 
 by travelling preachers. Destitute churches 
 were reported as asking for preachers, and hea- 
 then villages as desiring to be taught the word 
 of life. This year the way seemed to be open- 
 ing into the Red Karen country. The petty 
 wars between these tribes seemed nearly at an 
 end, and the missionaries sent home word that 
 two men were needed at once to occupy these 
 fields for Christ. Many of the churches were 
 still without teachers, and most of the teachers 
 were sadly deficient in zeal and education. But 
 in 1869 there were two Associations, embracing 
 seventy-two churches, more than twenty-one 
 hundred members, and sixty-two preachers, of 
 whom seven were ordained, and competent to 
 be intrusted with the office of administering 
 the ordinances and expounding the doctrines 
 of Christ. 
 
 With health impaired by his labors, Dr. Cross 
 in 1869 made a brief visit to the United States, 
 and returned to his station in Toungoo in 1870. 
 The time for the conversion of the Red Karens 
 seemed to be approaching. A tour was made 
 among them by Mr. Vinton, accompanied by 
 native preachers ; and the Holy Spirit seemed 
 to have prepared the way. At the solicitation 
 of the chief of the tribe, two native preachers 
 were located at his village in Western Karen- 
 nee, and the chief offered to give them all the 
 assistance in his power. The first convert of 
 
S6 MISSION TO TO UNO 00. 
 
 this tribe was baptized in 1870, and soon after- 
 wards his wife and two or three more of the 
 same race. Notwithstanding the troubles that 
 had divided and rent the mission, the number 
 of churches had risen to sixty-nine, with nearly 
 three thousand members, and five hundred and 
 seventy-two pupils in the different schools. 
 
 This year a marked feature of the Association 
 was the number of heathen people in attend- 
 ance. Three heathen villages were represented 
 by large delegations of both men and women — 
 two of them from a new branch called the 
 Geckhos. Many churches were evidently re- 
 turning from their backslidings, and forsaking 
 their false doctrine, and there was encouraging 
 promise that the divisions were to come to an 
 end. Dr. Mason, who had joined hitherto with 
 his wife, now disgusted by her extravagant 
 teachings, found his eyes at last opened, and 
 used his influence to heal the wounds which 
 the body of Christ had so long suffered. An 
 Anglo-Burman school was commenced at Toung- 
 00, with forty-five scholars, of whom two-thirds 
 paid their tuition monthly. In this school the 
 design to make the gospel prominent was ever 
 kept in view. Much religious instruction was 
 given, and not without beneficial effect. The 
 father of one of the pupils became a hopeful 
 inquirer, and professed to have abandoned the 
 worship of idols for the worship of the . true 
 God. The word of God was made the founda- 
 tion of all instruction, and the students com- 
 mitted to memory much of the Bible as a part 
 of their daily work. The school was supported 
 
RELATIONS OF DR. MASON. 87 
 
 partly by the fees for tuition paid by the pupils, 
 and partly by the Burmah Baptist Missionary 
 Convention. A Burman native preacher was 
 stationed at Toungoo in 1872, and there was 
 one open inquirer. 
 
 The Associations and quarterly meetings of 
 the Karens are their great feast-days, and draw 
 together the people from a wide region of coun- 
 try. Even the Burman s who, are still heathen 
 are curious to attend them. At a Karen quar- 
 terly meeting in 1873, many Burmans were 
 present, and anxiously asked that there might 
 be Burman preaching. Several of them staid 
 all day, and many came the day following. 
 Eighteen or twenty Karen preachers made ef- 
 fective addresses, or read essays which showed 
 a high degree of intellect and care. At this 
 meeting it was manifest that the work of recon- 
 ciliation and restoration was gradually but sure- 
 ly going on. At the close, work was assigned 
 to twenty of the pupils of the school as assist- 
 ants at various points, and fifteen others were 
 sent to different villages as teachers and leaders 
 of the worship. And this was not all. In 
 1872 Dr. Mason, whose connection with the 
 Missionary Union as its missionary had been 
 suspended, was re-appointed by the Executive 
 Committee. Many of the Karens, by a sponta- 
 neous movement, came forward at a public 
 gathering to meet those from whom they had 
 been separated so long in feeling and spirit, 
 manifesting great joy and brotherly love, and a 
 desire to be engaged in the work of saving their 
 countrymen. A thousand members who had 
 
88 MISSION TO TOUNGOO. 
 
 Stood aloof, it was announced, would doubtless 
 return. The Paku Association in 1872 had a 
 native moderator. Among the items of busi- 
 ness were several of a truly missionary char- 
 acter. Four native preachers offered their 
 services to carry the message of the gospel in 
 one direction, six in another, and four or five to 
 visit the churches that had been led astray, in 
 the great division, by false doctrine and en- 
 deavor to restore them. 
 
 About that time Mr. Eveleth, a new mission- 
 ary, took charge of the Burman department of 
 the work, and there was a large number of in- 
 quirers. A government official, of much influ- 
 ence, was baptized. The history of his conver- 
 sion is interesting. He had received a Christian 
 tract thirteen years previously from a Karen 
 preacher, by which he was deeply impressed. 
 He met with stern opposition from his family, 
 but at last he came out boldly on the side of 
 Christ. Again an Anglo-Burman school was 
 commenced under Mr. McColeman, a Christian 
 East Indian of good education, which brought 
 several young men under the influence of the 
 gospel. 
 
 The year 1874 was marked by the lamented 
 death of Dr. Mason, who had been so promi- 
 nent a member, and so great an honor and 
 strength to the mission. He was a native of 
 Yorkshire in England, came to America, a me- 
 chanic, a bootmaker, and labored at his trade in 
 Canton, Mass., where he was baptized by Rev. 
 Samuel Adlam. In his early handicraft he fol- 
 lowed in the footsteps of the celebrated Dr. 
 
DEATH OF DR. MASON. 89 
 
 Carey, whom in his subsequent and brilliant 
 career he so much resembled. He was ordained 
 in Boston, May, 1830, sailed May 25, 1830, la- 
 bored twenty-two years with marked success in 
 Tavoy, and about the same length of time in 
 Toungoo ; and died March 3, 1874, aged seventy- 
 four years, eleven months. The opening of his 
 missionary career in Burmah was in connec- 
 tion with the Karens. That wonderful scene 
 will never be forgotten, where, in the presence 
 of the dying missionary Boardman, he com- 
 menced his work by baptizing thirty-four Karen 
 disciples, the first fruits to Christ of that inter- 
 esting people, — thus putting on the harness 
 just as his predecessor, still in his youth, was 
 putting on his crown. Dr. Mason translated 
 the whole Bible into the Sgau Karen dialect, 
 wrote and translated many works by which he 
 laid the foundation of a literature theological, 
 educational, and scientific, for the Karens, and, 
 like Dr. Carey, studied for his recreation the 
 geography and natural history of Burmah, and 
 issued from the press volumes of a scientific 
 character which are an honor to the scholarship 
 of the American church. He was a man of 
 high purpose, untiring diligence, and scholarly 
 tastes, and as a preacher, translator, and author, 
 performed most honorable service for the church 
 and the world. Ill health diminished his ac- 
 tivity, but in no degree abridged his enthusiasm, 
 or his love of Christian labor. 
 
 In the year 1875 two Shan preachers, speak- 
 ing the Burman language, visited among the 
 villages of Toungoo district. In one place the 
 
90 MISSION TO TOUNGOO. 
 
 chief called his people to come to the zayat, 
 and hear the way explained of salvation through 
 the Lord Jesus Christ. For a long time the 
 zayat was full of people, interested to hear the 
 new doctrine. In the Karen department every 
 available man and woman was set to work to 
 make known the gospel, and more were called 
 for. A revision of the Bible in the Paku dia- 
 lect was nearly ready for the press. The field 
 among the Red Karens began to yield fruit, and 
 eleven converts from that people were baptized. 
 
 In 1876, in the Burman department, one hun- 
 dred and forty villages were visited. Among 
 twenty villages only one kyoung or priests* 
 house was found, and the people were con- 
 vinced that Gaudama could do nothing for 
 them. Few attended the idolatrous feasts. 
 From one village messengers came several 
 times to the missionaries, anxious to have a 
 chapel built, and to have religious worship 
 among them as often as possible. 
 
 In 1876 Mr. Crumb was added to the labor- 
 ers in the Karen department. Helpers from 
 the Woman's Missionary Society strengthened 
 the schools. Nearly every family in a goodly 
 number of villages was visited. The Paku As- 
 sociation met in a village a hundred miles from 
 Toungoo, and was a meeting of great interest. 
 Sixty churches were represented. Of the pas- 
 tors, thirty-five in number, five were ordained. 
 Members, 1,843 > pupils in school, 378. Many 
 of the old churches which had swerved from 
 the faith came back into line. Through the 
 influence of Mr. Bunker, the lists of members 
 
CONCLUSION. 91 
 
 were revised, church discipline was set on a 
 Scriptural foundation, and church-books of about 
 forty of the churches were prepared, compris- 
 ing the catalogue of members, covenant, preach- 
 ers, and history from the beginning. The 
 churches showed a total of 2,068 members. At 
 the last Association over 800 were present, 
 sharing in the interesting occasion, and receiv- 
 ing the spiritual benefits of communion with 
 saints. It was the best meeting they had ever 
 held. A missionary to the Red Karens was 
 ordained. The work of evangelization, under 
 most favorable auspices, was placed on firmer 
 foundations, and set forward under renewed 
 and the most propitious impulses. 
 
 The labors of Messrs. Bixby and Gushing at 
 Toungoo belong specifically to the history of 
 the mission to the Shans. Their efforts, how- 
 ever, especially in the earlier residence of Mr. 
 Bixby, were highly useful in the work. 
 
 The narrative of the Toungoo mission is full 
 of interest and instruction. It shows that the 
 work of missions is the work of God, and, 
 though it may for a season be under a cloud, 
 he has power to bring light out of darkness 
 and order out of confusion. The history shows 
 how delicate and responsible is the task of 
 selecting the right men and women to labor, 
 and how great evil may be wrought by " a sin- 
 gle opinionated, incompetent, and wrong-headed 
 missionary," male or female. The early suc- 
 cess of the gospel among the Karens of Toung- 
 oo, a people hitherto unenlightened, and who 
 had had no contact with Ghristianity, proves 
 
92 MISSION TO TOUNGOO. 
 
 that the work is by the power of God. And 
 the extent to which native agency has been 
 effective in organizing and building up these 
 churches confirms the principle, that, while mis- 
 sionaries from a Christian country are a neces- 
 sity in the commencement, the heathen are to 
 be brought to Christ mainly through a native 
 ministry. And hence, how important is the 
 work of the seminaries at Rangoon, Toungoo, 
 Bassein, and elsewhere, in which young men 
 are trained for the work of preaching the gos- 
 pel to their own countrymen ! 
 
No. VII. 
 
 MISSION IN HENTHADA. 
 
 Geography. — Beginning of the Mission. — The Way prepared. — How 
 the Work grew. — The First Karen Church of Henthada. — The 
 Communion of Saints. — Thoughts of a Karen Preacher on Mis- 
 sions. — How they prayed. — Trials and Progress. — Death of Mr. 
 Thomas. — Place of Mr. Thomas supplied. — Karen Churches 
 helping themselves. — Karen Liberality. — The Barman Work in 
 Henthada. — Death of Mr. Douglass. — Female Helpers. — Native 
 Efforts. — Death of Mr. Crawley. — Return of Mrs. Thomas to 
 Burmah. — Vacation Employments. — Conclusion. 
 
 HENTHADA is a large town on the Irra- 
 waddy, about a hundred miles above 
 Rangoon, Burmah, and, at the commencement 
 of missionary operations there, had a population 
 of twenty or thirty thousand Burmans and Ka- 
 rens. 
 
 After the second Burmese war. Southern Bur- 
 mah was annexed to the British dominions. 
 Henthada, lying within that district, was very 
 soon adopted as a missionary station ; and mis- 
 sionaries arrived there in October, 1853. The 
 first missionaries were Rev. B. C. Thomas for 
 the Karen department, and Rev. A. R. R. Craw- 
 ley for the Burman, — fit men for such an en- 
 terprise : the first, thoroughly consecrated to 
 Christ and to his work, like a flame of fire in the 
 
 93 
 
94 MISSION IN HENTIIADA. 
 
 service of his Master, ardent, impulsive, and at 
 the same time patient, determined, persevering, 
 and full of love ; the second, decided, brave, 
 devout, tender, never flinching from danger, 
 persistent, willing to endure self-denial, and 
 sternly pursuing the path of duty. 
 
 There were a few Christians in the southern 
 part of the field, at that time and for years 
 afterwards, connected with the missions in Ran- 
 goon and Bassein. Mr. Crawley, the missionary 
 in the Burmese department, had been in the 
 country but five months, and possessed, of course, 
 but the most limited acquaintance with the lan- 
 guage. There was not a Burman Christian in 
 Henthada, nor in any part of the district. The 
 missionary to the Karens was aided only by 
 three young and inexperienced Karens from 
 Tavoy and Mergui ; but they had commenced 
 a work for Christ and their fellow-men, and they 
 were not to be intimidated. 
 
 On his first arrival in Henthada Mr. Thomas 
 was thronged by visitors from all parts of the 
 district, who seemed to be sincere inquirers for 
 the way of life ; but in the end it appeared that 
 they were only moved by curiosity, or the hope 
 of worldly advantage. From the beginning, 
 however, there were a few humble Karens whose 
 hearts the Lord touched, and at the close of the 
 first year there were about twenty baptized dis- 
 ciples in different parts of the field. They were 
 mostly the poor of this world, and taken from 
 obscure regions. In his first tour of observa- 
 tion through the district, Mr. Thomas reports 
 that " one Burman Christian crept into our tent, 
 
HOW THE WORK GREW. 95 
 
 and told us tremblingly and in a whisper, for 
 fear of his countrymen, that he was a Christian, 
 and had been one for thirty years." 
 
 In the Burman department there were no na- 
 tive Christians who could be spared from the 
 stations already established ; and, with the im- 
 perfect knowledge of the language which Mr. 
 Crawley possessed, for the first three months 
 little missionary work could be accomplished. 
 At the end of that time, an appeal to Prome 
 brought a native Burman preacher, who was 
 afterwards pastor of the Prome church. 
 
 The work of the mission, thus begun, was 
 destined to be an onward work. A true con- 
 vert is not born to be silent : the first impulse 
 is to "go and tell how great things Jesus has 
 done for him." The spirit of missions may be 
 marred by misconceptions, checked by selfish- 
 ness, crushed by evil example or the want of 
 help, but it is nevertheless the first breath of 
 life of every true believer. Taking advantage 
 of this principle of the renewed heart, and of 
 the Divine plan for the diffusion of Christianity, 
 the missionaries encouraged two of the first 
 converts to go from house to house, and tell 
 what they knew of the way of life, and give 
 tracts to such as were willing to receive them. 
 In some places they were met by refusal ; in 
 others, by scorn and reproach ; but being reviled 
 they reviled not again, and thus gave the hea- 
 then of Henthada a practical exemplification of 
 the spirit of the gospel which they had embraced. 
 At the end of ten years, the mission was able to 
 report seventy-five Burmans baptized from the 
 
96 MISSION IN HENTHADA. 
 
 beginning of the mission, with one ordained 
 pastor and four Hcensed preachers of the gospel. 
 God had not left himself without witness : his 
 word had not returned unto him void. 
 
 In the Karen department of the mission, 
 besides preaching the gospel as extensively as 
 possible in the entire district, a normal school 
 was organized at the station at the beginning, 
 and continued every rainy season. From this 
 school have gone forth nearly all the pastors 
 and teachers who have been the principal agents 
 in carrying forward the work of evangelization 
 in the district of Henthada. Help has been 
 raised up from time to time for the support of 
 this school, indicating the most striking interpo- 
 sition of Providence. A Karen church was or- 
 ganized in December, 1854, twenty miles south 
 of Henthada, three of the members of which 
 had been baptized ten years before ; and through 
 their instrumentality eight others had been 
 brought to Christ. The first church in the 
 town of Henthada was organized in April, 1855, 
 consisting of nine members ; the third church 
 in the mission was formed about seven miles 
 distant, the same month, numbering thirteen 
 members ; and from that period, year after year, 
 the churches have been steadily multiplying, — 
 streams in the wilderness, fountains in the 
 desert, making the waste places to blossom as 
 the garden of the Lord. The first female bap- 
 tized in the mission died in the faith in i860. 
 For seventeen years they have been gathering 
 in the throng of the glorified, and their revered 
 and beloved pastor among them. The first na- 
 
THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS. 97 
 
 tive Karen preacher was ordained in Henthada 
 in April, 1855, and stationed in a neighboring 
 village. In the early stages of the mission Mr. 
 Thomas had a school of twenty native Karen 
 assistants, which was very successful, and con- 
 tinued from year to year every rainy season. In 
 this school the missionary became, for the time 
 being, a theological professor : he mingled in 
 intimate' social intercourse with his helpers, 
 solved their difficult questions, taught them 
 how to interpret the word of God, and to rebut 
 the arguments of the abettors of idolatry. At 
 the end of the first year the Henthada mission 
 included eight churches and one hundred and 
 fifty members. 
 
 The people have been accustomed to make 
 great account of the annual meetings of the 
 Association. In 1859 the Association with 
 which the churches of Henthada district are 
 connected held a session of four days and a 
 half, devoting all that period to religious ser- 
 vices and the business of the Association. The 
 members lived in more than thirty different 
 places ; and such a season of religious worship 
 and Christian communion must have had the 
 happiest influence in binding together the hearts 
 of the disciples, and stimulating them to Chris- 
 tian activity. 
 
 The last meeting of the Henthada Associa- 
 tion which Mr. Thomas attended while he re- 
 sided at Henthada is worthy of notice. It was 
 in some respects an occasion of rare interest. 
 Four or five nationalities were present ; and 
 religious services were conducted in three 
 
98 MISSION IN HE NTH A DA. 
 
 languages. During the session of three days, 
 upwards of sixty letters were read from the 
 churches and new fields ; and there were at 
 least six sermons, besides devotional meetings. 
 Subjects of interest to the people were dis- 
 cussed, and plans formed for future labor. The 
 circular letter, written by one of the native 
 preachers, was one of the features of the occa- 
 sion. It breathed an ardent missionary spirit, 
 and showed how well the writer had learned to 
 catch the ideas and to adopt the sentiments and 
 character of the devout teacher to whom he 
 owed all that he knew of Christ and the gospel. 
 The letter was all his own, the missionary 
 merely calling his attention to the subject. In 
 the spirit of Carey's inquiry in England when 
 the missionary flame was first lighted, and of 
 Judson and Samuel J. Mills in America when 
 the first trumpet-call was sent forth, arousing 
 the churches to their duty to a perishing world, 
 this Christian pastor, but just emerged from 
 the midnight of pagan gloom, proposed in his 
 letter to discuss the question. What can we do 
 now for the conversion of the heathen t The 
 following heads of thought were suggested : — 
 
 1. We ought to present a holy example before 
 the heathen. 
 
 2. We should love each other. 
 
 3. We should put forth efforts for the conver- 
 sion of the heathen. 
 
 4. We should earnestly pray for their conver- 
 sion. 
 
 At the close of the meetings, — a season of 
 special solemnity, — before action on the letter 
 
TRIALS AND PROGRESS. 99 
 
 was taken, Mr. Thomas remarked on the one- 
 ness of God's people, and how, on this theme, a 
 document just issued in America had advo- 
 cated the same ideas ; as if the Holy Spirit had 
 taken in charge the minds of Christians on 
 opposite sides of the globe, and was leading 
 them alike to conclusions involving an early and 
 grand advance against the powers of darkness, 
 and in favor of the kingdom of Christ. At the 
 close of his remarks, the whole assembly bowed 
 down their heads, — the Karens bowing down 
 theirs to the very ground, — and prayed together 
 that God would revive his work. That was a 
 scene for angels to admire, and fit to move the 
 heart of every Christian. Would that all the 
 supporters and friends of missions living on this 
 side of the ocean could have witnessed it ! A 
 revival followed, in answer to that prayer, in 
 the place where the Association met, and in six 
 or eight other places besides. Converts were 
 afterwards multiplied in many directions ; and 
 Mr. Thomas reported that an extended tour 
 which he made among the people, a few months 
 later, was one of the most interesting and pros- 
 perous he had enjoyed since his connection 
 with the mission. 
 
 In December, i860, a great fire occurred in 
 Henthada, and the Burman mission-house and 
 chapel were consumed. All the members of 
 the church save one, and she a poor widow, lost 
 their houses and nearly all their property. 
 Thus judgment was mingled with mercy, and 
 the brethren were taught the necessity of stay- 
 ing themselves upon God. 
 
lOO MISSION- IN HENTHADA. 
 
 For twelve or thirteen years Mr. Thomas was 
 the efficient and energetic head of the Karen 
 department of the Henthada mission. Under 
 his labors and those of his associates, it had 
 been built up from its feeble commencement 
 till it had gained ability, numbers, and strength. 
 The churches were about sixty in number, and 
 the communicants not much less than two thou--- 
 sand, with a native pastor over every church, 
 supported in great part by their own members. 
 A primary school in every village trained the 
 younger children of all the disciples in the ele- 
 mentary principles of knowledge and religion. 
 The normal school gave instruction to ad- 
 vanced pupils, and prepared teachers for the 
 village schools, and educated a small band of 
 Christian young women to be fitting wives for 
 the young preachers, and enlightened and pious 
 mothers for the coming generation. The school 
 for native assistants in the rains did noble ser- 
 vice as a kind of local theological seminary, aid- 
 ing the pastors to be more efficient in their 
 work, and more wise as winners of souls. . 
 
 The first ten years of a new missionary cen- 
 tre are of unspeakable importance in determin- 
 ing the future methods and completion of the 
 work ; and it was for this period that Mr. 
 Thomas was everywhere with his active spirit, 
 shaping wisely the whole plan of the mission. 
 But just then his health, which had become 
 broken by the continuous toil of sixteen years 
 in a tropical climate, seemed imperiously to 
 demand a change. Much was to be hoped for 
 from a visit to his native land. But could he be 
 
DEATH OF MR, THOMAS. loi 
 
 spared from Henthada ? Could he be spared 
 from Burmah ? Just then an important emer- 
 gency arose in the churches of Bassein district. 
 A missionary of experience, knowledge, and effi- 
 ciency was needed to fill a vacancy there ; and 
 it was proposed that Mr. Thomas should an- 
 swer the call. Possibly a removal to a point 
 nearer the sea might bring him, in his enfeebled 
 state, new vigor. Broken as he was by disease 
 and excessive labor, he went, took up the work, 
 and carried it forward. But soon he was com- 
 pelled to flee to this country. He hoped to 
 reach land, and to tread again his native soil ; 
 and he experienced a momentary exhilaration 
 in the prospect. But as the vessel neared the 
 shores of New York he faltered, and then rap- 
 idly declined. He had scarcely breathed again 
 his native air, when the weary frame, prema- 
 turely worn out by exhausting labor, gave way, 
 and he was translated into heaven. His re- 
 mains were taken to Boston ; funeral services 
 were performed over them in the church where 
 he was ordained and set apart to his work, years 
 before ; and then devout men carried him to his 
 burial. His mortal part rests in the missionary 
 lot of the Missionary Union in Newton, Mass. 
 He was a most devoted and earnest missionary, 
 never sparing himself, if he might only labor for 
 the heathen. He was emphatically the father 
 of the Karen department of the Henthada mis- 
 sion, and the people looked up to him with filial 
 reverence and affection. He travelled exten- 
 sively in his wide field, baptized many hun- 
 dreds, and seemed to live in an almost perpet- 
 
I02 MISSION IN HENTHADA. 
 
 ual revival. Surely he must have been received 
 into heaven with the plaudit, " Well done, good 
 and faithful servant : enter thou into the joy of 
 thy Lord." 
 
 Mr. Thomas's place in the Henthada mission 
 was at once assigned to Rev. D. A. W. Smith, 
 who carried forward the work for the next seven 
 years with like zeal and devotion. Mr. Smith 
 had spent some time in Rangoon, in the absence 
 of Dr. Binney, as an instructor in the Karen 
 Theological Seminary. Here he had met many 
 young preachers from the Henthada and other 
 districts, and learned to appreciate the feelings 
 and the necessities of the pastors, and, through 
 them, of the churches. Hence in this new ser- 
 vice he was eminently fitted to visit and con- 
 firm the churches in the dry season, and to give 
 instruction to the Karen pastors in the rains. 
 He entered upon the work with natural gifts 
 and attainments qualifying him for its peculiar 
 duties, and gained the confidence and esteem of 
 the pastors and churches. 
 
 In the year 1869 every chapel and every 
 native assistant connected with Henthada was 
 supplied gratuitously with a copy of the entire 
 Scriptures in Karen. In 1870 the missionary 
 in charge, ever anxious to extend the work and 
 to develop in the disciples self-reliance, proposed 
 to them to form a Home Mission Society, to 
 look after the general interests of the entire 
 field. On making the suggestion, it was found 
 that several of the pastors were already con- 
 templating the importance of such a movement. 
 The suggestion was therefore carried into effect. 
 
THE BURMAN WORK IN HENTHADA. 103 
 
 and the measure was fraught with blessing to 
 the church and people. 
 
 In the year 1871 Mr. Smith made special 
 efforts to stimulate the Karens to increased 
 liberality, and enjoyed therein a measure of 
 success. The people themselves seconded his 
 efforts. Mr. Smith writes : — 
 
 "At our last Association the proposition, originating 
 with the Karens themselves, was made, to make weekly 
 pice collections. It was concluded that if every disciple 
 — man, woman, and child — should give one pice each, 
 every Sunday, it would amount at the end of the year to 
 Rs. I, GOO, and more. It was also suggested that they 
 ought not to diminish their ordinary contributions, inas- 
 much as a pice a week was by itself too small a sum to 
 keep account of. The annual tithe-collections ought still 
 to prove as large as ever. I have great hopes for this 
 weekly pice movement. The moral effect of opening the 
 heart a little every week cannot fail to be a blessing. 
 There is no creaking to the door which is in constant 
 use, nor will there be any croaking among those who 
 habitually give. 
 
 " The Home Mission Society connected with the mis- 
 sion, at their meeting in May last, resolved to build a 
 large dormitory for the town normal school, to cost 
 upwards of Rs. 3,000. The building is to be erected by 
 degrees, according to the funds in hand. Last July, 
 money enough had come to buy the posts, which were to 
 be brought from forests fifty miles from Henthada." 
 
 After trying this method one year, it proved 
 so successful and so popular that at the next 
 Association it was resolved unanimously to 
 make it a custom in the Henthada field. 
 
 Returning to the Burman work in Henthada 
 district, we find that in 1867 Mr. Crawley re- 
 moved to Bassein on account of the impaired 
 health of his wife, and Mr. Douglass took his 
 
I04 MISSION IN HE NTH AD A 
 
 place and work in Henthada. A plan of the 
 employments of a Sabbath in midsummer (July 
 15) at Henthada shows that the delicacy of the 
 home land is scarcely yet developed among the 
 Christians of the tropics : — 
 
 " The Sunday service of that date consisted of a sun- 
 rise prayer-meeting for the male members in the school- 
 room, for the females in the missionary's house. As a 
 rule, every member of the church is present, and all take 
 part. At ten o'clock Sunday school, at eleven preach- 
 ing; preaching again at five, usually followed by confer- 
 ence and prayer. ' For any person who is a professor of 
 religion, to be unable or unwilling to lead in prayer, would 
 be to a Burman incomprehensible.' On every evening 
 of the week there was a meeting for prayer or preaching 
 in some part of the town, at some of which meetings 
 recently large numbers of the heathen were present, 
 listening with respectful attention." 
 
 After a year, Mr. Crawley felt compelled to 
 revisit America, and Mr. Douglass returned to 
 his old field in Bassein, leaving the Burman 
 work to such aid and counsel as could be 
 afforded by the Karen missionary in Henthada. 
 But the work of Mr. Douglass was of brief du- 
 ration. He died in July, 1869. His character 
 was approved by many years of laborious and 
 fruitful service. His genial spirit endeared him 
 to his associates, and his Christian integrity 
 commended him to their confidence. He gave 
 himself and his substance to the cause of mis- 
 sions. His memory will long be fragrant among 
 his fellow-laborers and among the heathen. 
 
 Mr. George, sent out by the Christians of the 
 British Provinces in America, joined the station 
 at Henthada in 1871. As Mrs. Thomas and 
 
DEATH OF MR. CRAWLEY. 105 
 
 Miss De Wolfe gave efficient aid in the Karen 
 department, so Miss Adams, like a true mission- 
 ary, entered into the work in the Burmese de- 
 partment, teaching with vigor, intelligence, and 
 enthusiasm. Later, Misses Watson and Payne 
 entered into the same work. 
 
 In 1 87 1 the native preachers undertook a new 
 effort to carry the gospel to every part of the 
 town. The city was divided into six districts, 
 one of which was allotted to each preacher, as 
 the field to which he was to devote his special 
 efforts ; and at evening a meeting was held to 
 report the labors of the day, and for special 
 prayer for all cases of marked interest. The 
 result of these efforts was very happy. 
 
 The year 1872 was one of unusual prosperity 
 and of severe trial. More baptisms occurred 
 in this department than in any preceding year. 
 During a most interesting preaching-tour to a 
 place remote from Henthada, six thousand tracts 
 were given away, and ten thousand at least heard 
 the gospel, many of whom doubtless received a 
 distinct impression of the way of salvation. A 
 few seemed earnest and thoughtful. Some pro- 
 fessed to believe in Christ. None of the audi- 
 tors can probably again plaice unshaken confi- 
 dence in Buddhism. 
 
 Shortly after occurred the death of Mr. Craw- 
 ley. He was the founder of the Burman Mis- 
 sion in Henthada. He revisited this country 
 twice, — first on account of his family, and again 
 on account of the disease which finally termi- 
 nated his life. He was a most unsparing and 
 effective worker among the heathen, judicious, 
 
Io6 MISSION IN HENTHADA, 
 
 earnest, persevering, and faithful. He built wise- 
 ly, and attained marked success. He was in 
 the field twenty-one years, and his labors pro- 
 duced larger numerical results than those of any 
 other person devoted to Burman evangelization. 
 He died in the vigor of his usefulness, at the 
 early age of forty-five. 
 
 In 1874 Mrs. C. B. Thomas returned to Bur- 
 mah to resume the work interrupted by the 
 death of her lamented husband. Soon after her 
 return, a native Christian one day said to her, 
 *' Why do the missionaries spend so much time 
 on us Christians } We have been receiving 
 instruction these many years. We have the 
 Bible, and many of us can read it. But in many 
 districts there are multitudes of heathen who 
 know nothing of the truth. They need to be 
 preached to a great deal more than we do. 
 Now, I think the missionaries had better leave 
 us alone a little while, and see what they can do 
 for the heathen." Mrs. Thomas was impressed 
 by these words. She gathered the thirty-nine 
 preachers of her district together. She told 
 them of the fifty-six thousand heathen of the dis- 
 trict, who were utterly ignorant of the gospel. 
 She planned to have each pastor take with him 
 at least one helper, and so have the entire district 
 visited and exhorted. The plan was adopted, 
 and a large number of the preachers agreed to 
 devote three months to this evangelistic work. 
 
 Mr. Smith and nineteen Karen young men, of 
 the higher classes in the theological school at 
 Rangoon, devoted part of their vacation to trav- 
 elling and preaching in the north-western por- 
 
CONCLUSION. 107 
 
 tion of the district, in January, 1877, offering 
 the refreshing waters of the gospel among the 
 heathen villages and hamlets. 
 
 The latest report showed 50 churches ; 1,790 
 members; ordained preachers, 12; unordained, 
 40 ; pupils in schools, 436. All these are Ka- 
 rens. Members of the Burman churches, 254. 
 Two new Karen churches were formed last 
 year, one three and the other four days journey 
 from the nearest of the older churches ; and 
 two native pastors were ordained. 
 
 The Henthada Mission has been one of the 
 most interesting and fruitful of all the fields in 
 Burmah. Whether we contemplate the char- 
 acter and efforts of the laborers, the number of 
 converts, the successful training of the churches, 
 the blessing of God which has attended the 
 work, or the promise of a useful and vigorous 
 future, we see cause for congratulation and 
 hope. Such a history is a renewed exemplifica- 
 tion of the statement of the Evangelist Mark, 
 *' And they went forth, and preached everywhere, 
 the Lord working with them, and confirming the 
 word with signs following." 
 
No. VIII. 
 
 BASSEIN MISSION. 
 
 Geography of Bassein. — The Mission begun. — The First Telegram. 
 — Grown out of the Arracan Mission. — Early Days of the Mis- 
 sion. — Woman's Work in Missions. — Progress of the Mission. — 
 First Burman Church in Bassein. — The Way prepared. — An 
 Interesting Couple. — The Work done. — The Karen Work in 
 Bassein. — Part-Singing by the Christians. — How to support 
 Pastors of Weak Churches. — Benevolent Giving. — Education in 
 Bassein. — The Work advancing. — Ko Thahbyu Memorial Hall. 
 
 I 
 
 BASSEIN is the name both of a town or 
 central point and of a district. The town 
 lies about as far to the west of Rangoon as 
 Maulmain to the east of it. The Bassein dis- 
 trict is 8,900 square miles in area, — consid- 
 erably larger than the State of Massachusetts. 
 The population of the district is about 275,000; 
 of whom about 177,000 are Burmans, and about 
 84,000 Karens. In the town of Bassein there 
 are not less than 35,000 Burmans. The Karens 
 are the mountain tribes, and fill with their lit- 
 tle villages all the surrounding hills. 
 
 Mr. Beecher began his labors among the 
 Karens in this district in 1846, Messrs. Abbott 
 and Van Meter in 1848, and Mr. Douglass in 
 1854. Messrs. Beecher and Abbott devoted 
 
 themselves to the Sgau Karens, Mr. Van Metei 
 108 
 
GROWN OUT OF THE ARRACAN MISSION. 109 
 
 to the Pwo Karens, and Mr. Douglass to the 
 Burmans. These early missionaries to Bassein 
 have all finished their labors, and passed on to 
 their reward. In succeeding years the follow- 
 ing missionaries have been connected with the 
 station at Bassein, besides several female mis- 
 sionaries : Rev. Benjamin C. Thomas, * 1867 ; 
 Rev. A. R. R. Crawley, 1867, both since de- 
 ceased ; Rev. C. H. Carpenter, 1868 ; Rev. Mel- 
 vin Jameson, 1870; Rev. H. M. Hopkinson, 
 1871 ; Rev. S. T. Goodell, 1873. In connection 
 with the designation of Mr. Carpenter to Bas- 
 sein, it is interesting to note that his location 
 in that field was directed by the Executive Com- 
 mittee through a despatch sent by the Atlantic 
 cable, — the first telegram ever sent to any of 
 our Asiatic missions, but the exigency of the 
 case seemed to justify the expense. The de- 
 spatch consisted of eight words, and cost about 
 sixty dollars. It reached Rangoon the third day 
 from Boston, and was at once sent to Bassein, 
 where the Burmah Baptist Missionary Conven- 
 tion was earnestly discussing the very subject 
 to which it related. It ministered instant relief, 
 and brought diverse opinions into harmony. All 
 said it was of the Lord. A friend of missions 
 called shortly afterwards at the Rooms in Bos- 
 ton, and, learning the exigency which induced 
 the Committee to incur the charge of sending, 
 the despatch, at once paid the expense from 
 his own pocket, as stated in a previous history. 
 The Bassein Mission has its roots in the 
 mission to Arracan. From the day when Mrs. 
 Comstock said, with streaming eyes, as she 
 
no BASSE IN MISSION. 
 
 contemplated her great sacrifice, " O Jesus, I 
 do this for thee," the self-sacrifice bore fruit, 
 — what abundant fruit, let the Bassein Mission 
 testify. The Bassein Mission began in the con- 
 version of the Karens who crossed the moun- 
 tains from Burmah into the English province of 
 Arracan, where they found protection, and from 
 which, having been baptized, they recrossed to 
 their native hills, carrying with them the gospel 
 of Christ. First Sandoway, and then Bassein, 
 became their spiritual centre. The Lord Jesus 
 never allows a sacrifice for him and his cause 
 to be without its fruits. 
 
 When the mission in Arracan took the name 
 of the Sandoway Mission, in 1849, there were 
 four missionaries — three for the Sgau Karens, 
 and one for the Pwos — and forty-four native 
 assistants. More than five thousand Karens 
 had been baptized, and seven or eight hundred 
 had passed on to join the midtitudes of the 
 saved out of every nation in their songs of 
 praise to God and the Lamb. There were 
 twelve chapels, each capable of accommodating 
 several hundred hearers, and nearly twenty of 
 an inferior order. Forty native assistants were 
 receiving instruction from Mr. Abbott. Day- 
 schools had been established in nearly every 
 village ; and a rare spirit of liberality prevailed 
 in the native churches, — some of them sup- 
 porting their pastors without assistance from 
 abroad. These Karen churches were the first 
 to develop the principle of self-support. 
 
 In 1850 Mr. Abbott made two attempts to 
 enter Burmah Proper, which were frustrated by 
 
W03IAN'S WORK IN MISSIONS. iii 
 
 the influence of governors on the route. The 
 time had not yet come, but it was drawing 
 near. Large numbers of young; men crossed 
 the mountains, seeking instruction. The Bur- 
 mese war of 1852 opened the way for new 
 changes, both in the poUtical and rehgious con- 
 dition of Burmah. Bassein was occupied by 
 the Enghsh ; another portion of Burmah was 
 ceded to Great Britain ; and the missionaries, 
 Messrs. Abbott and Van Meter, who had been 
 long watching and waiting for the opportunity, 
 entered Bassein in July, 1852, taking possession 
 in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. The 
 seat and the name of the Sandoway Mission 
 were changed, and the Bassein Mission became 
 known thenceforward as the centre of the most 
 extensive evangelizing work among the Karens 
 in all Burmah. At the commencement, some 
 Burman kyoungs, or priests' residences, were 
 fitted up for a chapel, school, and mission- 
 house ; and thus the institutions of the heathen 
 were made subsidiary to the work of overthrow- 
 ing the superstitions which they had helped to 
 sustain. 
 
 It is worthy of remark that the first disciple 
 baptized in Sandoway, in 1843, was converted 
 through the instrumentality of Mrs. Abbott. In 
 the whole history of missions, woman's work has 
 held a place of distinguished honor. Women 
 have often been the pioneers both in propa- 
 gating and accepting the gospel. It has been 
 so from the beginning. The station at Chum- 
 merah, once the seat of a flourishing church of 
 ninety-one members in the days of Dr. Judson, 
 
1 1 2 BASSE IN MISSION 
 
 never had a male missionary. A brave sister, 
 Miss Cummings, lived and labored there alone, 
 and gathered jewels for Christ's crown, and 
 died ; and, though the church was afterwards 
 scattered by the removal of its members, the 
 record of her work is in the history of mis- 
 sions, and is registered on high. The Burman 
 catechism, prepared by Mrs. Judson, and trans- 
 lated into Siamese, was the beginning of the 
 work in Siam. The first convert baptized in 
 Amherst, consecrated as the scene of the death 
 of Mrs. Judson, was a Burman female, in April, 
 1827. The first baptism in connection with the 
 Shan Mission was of a Burman woman. So it 
 was in the early days of Christianity. The 
 church in Samaria grew, under God, out of the 
 warm-hearted zeal of the woman at the well of 
 Sychar. The church in Philippi, the first on 
 the Continent of Europe, counted Lydia of 
 Thyatira as its first member. 
 
 Since its foundation in 1852, the mission in 
 Bassein has continued to be an honor to the 
 cause of Christ axnong the heathen, growing 
 constantly in extent and influence. Mr. Doug- 
 lass joined the station in June, 1854, and, with 
 the exception of an interval when his health re- 
 quired his return to his native land, did faithful 
 and efficient service for the mission till his 
 death, which occurred in July, 1869. His first 
 baptism administered in Burmah, and the first 
 ever witnessed in the city of Bassein, was of a 
 convert from Ramree, a fruit of the labors of 
 Mr. Comstock. That missionary left behind 
 him a tract entitled " The Way to Heaven.'* 
 
THE WAY PREPARED. 113 
 
 His work was done, but its influence lingered 
 among the living. The little tract fell in the 
 way of this Burman idolater, and awakened 
 his interest and curiosity, and led him to Christ. 
 Hearing that a Burman missionary had arrived 
 in Bassein, he crossed the mountains, and trav- 
 elled on foot a journey of three hundred miles 
 to be baptized. Soon afterwards he began to 
 preach, and continued in the work till his death, 
 — a period of more than ten years. 
 
 When Mr. Douglass first arrived in Bassein, 
 so far as is known, not a single Burman Chris- 
 tian offered prayer to the living God in all the 
 province. During the first five years, more 
 than one-half of his missionary work was 
 among the Karens, sixty-seven of whom he 
 baptized. But he also baptized nineteen Bur- 
 mans. In July, 1859, a little Burman church 
 of nine members was organized in Bassein, — a 
 spark amid the waters ; but a beginning, fol- 
 lowed afterwards by three or four others at 
 various points within the district, from which, 
 as centres, the missionary could work outwards, 
 his influence radiating from these points of 
 light into all the surrounding darkness. Mr. 
 Douglass travelled abroad from his different 
 centres, constantly enlarging the sphere of his 
 labors, 
 
 Mr. Douglass found the way in some sense 
 prepared before him. Most of the Burman 
 men were able to read and write. Few of the 
 people seemed to have any love or deep venera- 
 tion for the religious system in which they were 
 brought up. A few in almost every town and 
 
114 BASSE IN MISSION. 
 
 village, burdened by a sense of sin and dread of 
 its consequences, eagerly received tracts, and 
 expressed their purpose to investigate the 
 truth. The first Burman known to have been 
 converted in Bassein was an aged man who was 
 baptized in August, 1859. Five months after- 
 wards the Burman church numbered twelve, 
 and under other laborers in succession it has 
 gradually advanced. In 1866 there were in 
 three chinrches in the district "jZ members ; 
 in 1869, loi, with six native preachers ; in 1874, 
 109; in 1877, the church-list having been re- 
 vised, and several missing or removed members 
 being dropped, j6. 
 
 Mr. Jameson tells of the conversion of a 
 man and his wife, the only converts in a Bur- 
 man village visited by him in a jungle-tour in 
 1873. This couple, at the close of the rice- 
 harvest, came to Bassein to worship at the 
 great pagoda. As a thank-offering, the man 
 gave a rupee (fifty cents) for the gilding of the 
 pagoda, this being an act of merit. Returning 
 to his boat, he found moored beside it the boat 
 of a Burman Christian, who was at Bassein for 
 the purpose of attending the Burman Associ- 
 ation. The man was persuaded, with his wife, 
 to attend the meetings, conversed with the 
 missionaries and the native brethren, and, as it 
 seemed, then and there accepted the Lord 
 Jesus Christ by a living faith. A week later, 
 the missionary visited them in their village, 
 and gave them religious instruction, which they 
 received gladly. One of the neighbors reported 
 that the man had been preaching ever since he 
 
THE WORK DONE, 115 
 
 came home. They visited the missionary again 
 and again, always confirming the evidence of 
 their conversion, and at length they asked to be 
 baptized. They were encouraged. But their 
 own village was the proper place. It was fitting 
 that they should renounce the devil and all his 
 works, and put on Christ, in the presence of 
 those who knew them. When Mr. Jameson 
 visited their village to inquire concerning them, 
 the evidence was more satisfactory than ever. 
 The man had been reading the Scriptures, and 
 showed that he was becoming familiar with 
 them. The wife listened to her husband, and 
 gave evidence that she shared the same faith. 
 The missionary asked, ** Does the village know 
 that this man is a disciple.'' " The answer was, 
 *'The whole township know it." There were 
 indications that the neighbors had been in- 
 structed, if not convinced, by the preaching of 
 this disciple ; and it was a glad day when he and 
 his believing wife were baptized into Christ. 
 By preaching, by keeping the Sabbath, by read- 
 ing the Bible, and by Christian living, they will 
 undoubtedly lead many others to the sinner's 
 Refuge. 
 
 The amount of time devoted to the Burman 
 work in the district of Bassein, and the earnest 
 and faithful labors of the missionaries and 
 native assistants, is astonishing. In two or 
 three villages, in the year 1872, a native 
 preacher, supported almost wholly by native 
 contributions, visited or revisited 540 houses, 
 conversed religiously with 1,397 individuals, 
 and distributed 600 or 700 tracts. In the city 
 
Ii6 BASSEIN MISSION. 
 
 of Bassein, the same year, two native preachers 
 spent most of their time in going among the 
 heathen with the message of the gospel, and 
 made report of their work every week to the 
 missionary. From this report, it appears that 
 they spent 283 days in preaching the gospel 
 from house to house, visited 959 houses, and 
 had 2,977 listeners, of whom 661 received tracts, 
 and 375 refused to do so. In addition to the 
 labors of the missionary and native assistants 
 is the work of the Bible-women, and the female 
 missionaries sent out by the Woman's Mission- 
 ary Societies of the United States. From such 
 diligent seed-sowing, how can there fail to be a 
 glorious harvest t 
 
 The work among the Karen people of Bas- 
 sein, however, is the main feature of the mis- 
 sion in this district. The early successes of 
 the gospel here, the efficient training of the 
 disciples, and the numerous converts, — consti- 
 tuting a wide-spread Christian community, — 
 the assembling at this point of so many neces- 
 sary agencies for a vigorous prosecution of the 
 missionary work — all contribute to give special 
 interest to the Karen Mission of Bassein. In 
 the year 1848, there were more than four thou- 
 sand baptized believers, and as many more 
 nominal Christians, in connection with the 
 Sandoway, and its successor, the Bassein Mis- 
 sion, with thirty-six churches, forty-four native 
 preachers, and more than four hundred pupils 
 in schools. Day-schools existed in nearly every 
 village, and the native Christians were greatly 
 interested to sustain the institutions of the gos- 
 
THE KAREN WORK IN BASSEIN. 1 1 7 
 
 pel in their own neighborhoods. Forty native 
 preachers were supported at an expense of only- 
 three hundred dollars to the Missionary Union. 
 In 1853 four native preachers were ordained. 
 During the Burmese war of 1852, the work was 
 much retarded ; but after a year or two, the 
 missionaries reported sixty-three Karen preach- 
 ers and assistants, and at a meeting of forty 
 preachers it was voted " to expend no more 
 money of the American brethren." There 
 were schools in forty-three villages, and 913 
 pupils were reported. So much had the native 
 preachers grown in efficiency and power, as 
 well as knowledge, that in 1856 the Association 
 had a native moderator. 
 
 This year was, however, a year of calamity. 
 A fire destroyed the mission-houses, March 16, 
 by which Messrs. Douglass and Van Meter lost 
 every thing. Mr. Beecher left the mission for 
 a season, and the Sgau Karen department was 
 left without an American head. But the gospel 
 had taken too deep root, and its power was too 
 widely diffused, to permit any disaster to have 
 more than a temporary influence upon its pros- 
 perity. In the first half of the year 1857, two 
 hundred and twelve converts had been baptized, 
 and the native Home Missionary Society sup- 
 ported from six to twelve home missionaries ; 
 and, moved with a desire to carry the gospel to 
 **the regions beyond," three native preachers 
 were sent by them on a journey of exploration 
 among the Karens to the north of Ava. In 
 November, 1859, ^ semi-annual meeting of the 
 Association was attended by six hundred com« 
 
Il8 BASSE IN MISSION. 
 
 municants, forty pastors, and twenty other 
 preachers ; and twelve were appointed to carry 
 the message of salvation to other fields. In 
 1862 the system of monthly contributions was 
 adopted by the churches of Bassein. The new 
 worshippers reported were double the number 
 reported the preceding year, and the total of 
 church-members reached the grand sum of 
 5,793. In 1866 there were among the Pwc 
 Karens of Bassein district, upwards of forty 
 Christian villages, with a population of eleven 
 hundred avowed Christians, of whom six hun- 
 dred had been baptized. The pastors are said 
 to have manifested an encouraging advance- 
 ment from year to year, and a growing famil- 
 iarity with the forms and usages of ecclesias- 
 tical life. "The greater part of their church 
 letters," says a missionary, "would have done 
 credit to an Association in any State in our 
 land. At the Association in 1868, the attend- 
 ance was nearly or quite one thousand, and 
 there was no flagging of interest during the 
 session. The report of the amount of work 
 done for the heathen by the preachers and 
 others was surprising and encouraging. So 
 many were the places visited, and the interest- 
 ing facts related, that two evening sessions, con- 
 tinued till a late hour, were not sufficient to hear 
 all the reports." 
 
 In 1870 Mr. Carpenter, having entered upon 
 his work in Bassein, found much to correct and 
 improve, and some things to be commenced for 
 the welfare, of the churches. Among other 
 things he introduced part-singing, of which the 
 
BENEVOLENT GIVING. 119 
 
 Karens proved to be very fond, and which was 
 of essential use in aiding to substitute Christian 
 entertainments and recreations for heathen fes- 
 tivities. Mr. Carpenter is an excellent musician, 
 and by a little instruction in the principles of 
 music he was able to render the Karen disciples 
 very creditable and independent singers : many 
 of the Karens have very sweet voices. Many 
 friends of missions will recollect the beauty 
 of the hymn " Rock of Ages," rendered into 
 Karen, as sung in several of the American 
 churches by Mr. Vinton and his Karen convert, 
 Kone Louk. 
 
 The friendly spirit with which the Karens of 
 Bassein- district support their pastors is worthy 
 of all praise. During a season of pressure in 
 i860, it was announced at the Association that 
 the treasury at home was crippled, and the Karen 
 pastors could not expect, for the present, any 
 aid. One of the pastors said it was no matter; 
 the Lord would provide. Another said, — 
 
 " I was very anxious, and went home much cast down. 
 Pretty soon one of the church-members was looking 
 around in my house, and saw that the salt-jar was nearly 
 empty ; next day he came, and filled it. Not long after 
 one of the sisters observed that the mats were getting 
 old and ragged, and said the teacher must certainly have 
 some new mats ; and the mats came. And so it was : 
 there was no. lack; paddy, fish, clothes, and every thing 
 that we really needed, were supplied as abundantly as 
 before. And how was it about the preaching ? Before, 
 we were not dependent on the churches ; we were sent 
 and paid by the missionary. We felt our importance, and 
 put on airs ; but after this we could not help loving our 
 people, and working for their souls." 
 
I20 BASSE FN mission: 
 
 This was a pastor's reasoning on benevolent 
 giving, when the question of supporting Karen 
 schools was discussed : — 
 
 " If we think, in the season of cultivating our crops, 
 that we will not throw our one basket of rice away by 
 casting it into the water and mud, we shall keep our one 
 basket, but it will not increase' any. But if we trust God, 
 and sow it, it will increase twenty or forty fold. So, too, 
 with what it costs to educate our children. Let us not 
 withhold it : it gives a better crop than does our paddy 
 field. I know, my brethren, many of you are very poor. 
 I know just how you feel as the mamma and others are 
 urging you to do more for your schools. When we Sgaus 
 were first thinking of our English school, many of us 
 thought it could not be done. For a long time I was one 
 of those who thought it would not do to take away the 
 milk from the goat. But we attempted it. We tried, and 
 see what God has wrought for us." 
 
 The work of education has been urged for- 
 ward with great vigor in Bassein, and the im- 
 portance and value of intellectual training have 
 been steadily kept before the minds of the native 
 Christians. A large number of the young men 
 who study for the ministry in the theological 
 seminary at Rangoon go from the Bassein 
 churches. The Normal and Industrial Insti- 
 tute, the Female Seminary, the village schools, 
 and the instruction imparted to the native 
 preachers who do not go for an education to 
 Rangoon, — all of them looking to the higher 
 cultivation of the people, — do much to lift the 
 veil of ignorance from the public mind, and to 
 prepare the way for the grander triumphs of the 
 gospel of Christ. Napoleon once remarked, 
 "France needs mothers more than any thing 
 
THE WORK ADVANCING. 121 
 
 else." In the schools of Bassein, under so effi 
 cient teachers as Mrs. Carpenter and her coad- 
 jutors, undoubtedly Burmah will find, trained up 
 for her need. Christian mothers, whose teaching, 
 transmitted through their offspring, will be a 
 mine of treasure and a crown of glory to the 
 Burman empire. 
 
 And the demand for the further diffusion of 
 truth through the Christian teacher is still heard. 
 A missionary says, — 
 
 " From every part of the district comes up the call of 
 those who wish to learn of Jesus. We are sending out 
 our young students during their vacations, and longing 
 for the day when, their work of preparation finished, 
 they shall give their time unreservedly to answer these 
 many calls. One of the most experienced pastors said 
 to me a few days since, ' I think tlie Lord's time to bless 
 the Pwo Karens has come, — the season for which we 
 have been praying ever since we knew about Jesus, when 
 everywhere our brethren and relatives are asking to know 
 about our religion.' " 
 
 The latest statistics give the following view 
 of the present condition of the Bassein Mission : 
 Missionaries, 9 ; churches, 85 ; native preachers, 
 143; church-members, 7,418; pupils in schools, 
 1,743 ; Pwo Karens, present number, 908. 
 
 In 1876 the Karen Home Mission Society of 
 Bassein supported nineteen evangelists among 
 the heathen during the greater part of the trav- 
 elling season, — a larger number than for many 
 years previous. Fourteen men were employed 
 to travel and preach among the hills around 
 Bassein. Four or five communities asked for 
 Christian teachers. 
 
 Three Karen preachers were ordained in i Zyj. 
 
122 BASSEIN MISSION. 
 
 Twenty missionaries were on the roll of the 
 Home Mission Society, of whom two were sent 
 to labor among the heathen Karens of Prome 
 district. 
 
 A foreign mission was commenced from 
 Bassein among the Ka-Khyens, a people a thou- 
 sand miles distant. Two volunteers were sent 
 out, engaged for two years' service. 
 
 On the i6th of May, 1878, the "Ko Thahbyu 
 Memorial Hall " was dedicated to the purposes 
 of advanced education among the Karen Chris- 
 tians. The dedication was on the fiftieth anni- 
 versary of the baptism by the sainted Board- 
 man of Ko Thahbyu, whose aged widow and 
 surviving son were present on the festive occa- 
 sion. 
 
 As a fitting close to these notices, we take 
 the following from a recent annual report : — 
 
 " The larger proportion of the churches are a source 
 of rejoicing to all who love the cause of missions. The 
 pastors settled over the churches are doing their work, 
 for the most part, with intelligence, zeal for the truth, and 
 loving fidelity towards the people. The churches and 
 pastors of this district furnish a signal example of what 
 the gospel can do among a poor, debased, and ignorant 
 race. Witness only the stated and orderly religious ser- 
 vices, the neat chapels erected by the people, the school- 
 houses built, the pastors and teachers supported, the 
 books purchased, the civil order and personal thrift of 
 the numerous villages, and the general prosperity of the 
 populations among whom these institutions are planted, 
 and you will have a striking proof of what the gospel 
 effects, when once it gets a firm hold of an ignorant and 
 helpless people." 
 
No. IX. 
 
 SHWAYGYEEN MISSION. 
 
 Geography of Shwaygyeen. — Beginning of the Mission. — Early 
 Successes. — Reinforcement. — Without a Missionary. — **0 that 
 the Missionary would return ! " — Mr. Harris re-appointed. — How 
 they received him. — Vicissitudes in Missions. — Death of Native 
 Preachers. — Native Benevolence, — Native Christians in Death. — 
 New Helpers. — Burman Department begun. — The Latest Intel- 
 ligence. — Conclusion. 
 
 SHWAYGYEEN is at the junction of the 
 Shwaygyeen River with the Sitang. It is 
 south of Toungoo, and north-east of Rangoon. 
 An English steamer runs between Rangoon 
 and Toungoo, passing Shwaygyeen, and bring- 
 ing it into connection with places above and 
 below on the river. By Burman boat, the old 
 method of transition, three or four days were 
 consumed in the journey. 
 
 Shwaygyeen was first mentioned in mission- 
 ary journals Feb. 5, 1833, more than twenty 
 years before it was adopted as a missionary sta- 
 tion. Two men from that place visited the 
 mission at Maulmain, and asked for tracts. 
 How they learned that there was a mission, or 
 tracts, or that the star of Bethlehem had arisen 
 in the east, we are not informed. Divine Provi- 
 dence has its own ways of working, and, when 
 
 123 
 
1 24 SIIJVA YG YE EN MISSION: 
 
 the set time is come, finds no difficulty in 
 accomplishing the grandest results. 
 
 The mission here was commenced in Septem- 
 ber, 1853, by Rev. Norman Harris, who had 
 labored as a missionary among the Karens in 
 and around Maulmain and the vicinity since his 
 arrival in Burmah, about the beginning of the 
 year 1847. The Karen church was formed, 
 and the first baptism occurred in November, 
 1853, — seven Karens and one Shan, the first- 
 fruits of his tribe, putting on Christ by an open 
 profession, and becoming the nucleus of a great 
 body of believers to be afterwards gathered in. 
 But the work commenced in trial, and the soil 
 of Shwaygyeen was very early made the sacred 
 deposit of missionary dust. In ten days after 
 these eight converts had been planted together 
 in the likeness of Christ's death, Mrs. Harris 
 finished her course, and received her crown. 
 But Shwaygyeen was taken possession of for 
 Christ. 
 
 And the work went on. During the first six 
 months after the mission was commenced, fifty- 
 one were baptized, and, during the first year, 
 five hundred and seventy-seven — of whom more 
 than five hundred received the ordinance at the 
 hands of one ordained native preacher. In the 
 same year six Karen churches were formed, 
 which were organized Jan. 20, 1855, as the 
 "Great Stone Association." These churches 
 were trained from the beginning to the duty of 
 self-support ; and five of them at this time sus- 
 tained their own pastors. 
 
 Mr. Harris thus far had labored alone, aided 
 
WITHOUT A MISSIONARY. 125 
 
 only by the native assistants who had accom- 
 panied him from Maulmain. But in Octobei, 
 1855, Rev. George P. Watrous joined the sta- 
 tion. His missionary life was of short dura- 
 tion. His health soon failed; and in i860 — 
 scarcely five years after he began his work — he 
 was compelled to flee, and returned to this 
 country. The mission, at the outset, had been 
 mainly intended for the spiritual welfare of the 
 Sgau Karens. But there were many Burmans 
 who needed equally the message of eternal life, 
 and Mr. Watrous was directed in 1858 to com- 
 mence a Burman department. Mr. Harris re- 
 signed his ofifice as a missionary of the Union 
 that same year, and Mr. Watrous was requested 
 also to superintend the Karen department. 
 About a year after Mr. Watrous joined the 
 mission, another affliction fell upon it. The 
 second Mrs. Harris, formerly Miss Miranda 
 Vinton, was suddenly stricken down by fever, 
 and died at Shwaygyeen, Sept. 9, 1856, aged 
 forty-seven years. She was appointed a mis- 
 sionary in June, 1841, and had proved herself a 
 most efflcient worker till her death. 
 
 The mission was now left for a season with- 
 out an American head, and almost wholly in 
 the charge of Karen assistants. Dr. Mason of 
 Toungoo, however, was requested to exercise 
 such watch-care over the churches as his distant 
 residence and the necessary demands of his 
 own work would allow, Mr. Harris also made 
 occasional visits to his old field until 1862, 
 when he returned to the United States. In 
 July, 1 86 1, a native preacher was sent to 
 
126 SII WA YG YE EN MISSION. 
 
 Shwaygyeen from Maulmain ; and in 1863 a 
 French brother, Mr. Simon La Chapelle, who 
 had entered the service of the mission, was sta- 
 tioned as an assistant in the Karen work at 
 Shwaygyeen. 
 
 During this interval the work of the mission 
 was still growing. In January, 1865, the num- 
 ber of persons reported baptized the previous 
 year was 19; churches, 18, with one new church 
 added the previous year ; whole number of 
 members, 946 ; pupils in schools, 62. And 
 among the contributions for specific purposes 
 was a donation of nearly one hundred dollars, 
 to aid in paying the expenses of Mr. Harris's 
 return to his field. The members were pain- 
 fully alive to their forsaken condition, and ear- 
 nestly desired the return of Mr. Harris, who had 
 promised to go back, if God should favor his 
 plahs. The Karens remembered his promise, 
 and, by frequent letters, reminded him of the 
 hope so long deferred. 
 
 The following letter, from the pen of one of 
 the native pastors, is a touching testimony to 
 the feelings of the Christians of Shwaygyeen ; — 
 
 " Beloved Brethren of Other Countries and Cities, in 
 Every Place. 
 
 " I desire to write you a few words about the disciples 
 of Christ in Shwaygyeen. To every one who may see 
 this letter we would say, Bear with us, and pray to God 
 our Lord for us ; for we here in Shwaygyeen have no 
 missionary teacher to instruct, encourage, or help us, as 
 they have in other places. 
 
 " We are like orphans, bereft of father and mother, 
 left desolate, sleepy, and hungry. In other words, we 
 are like the wounded and fallen, without a physician. 
 
MR. HARRIS RE-APPOTNTED. 127 
 
 The reason of sorrow is this : During the year, some 
 have apostatized from the truth of the living God, and 
 returned to the customs of their forefathers. Some 
 have become unstable, ard are ^vavering and restless, 
 like the waves of the sea. Therefore, beloved brethren, 
 in every place, bear with us, and help us by your prayers. 
 Teacher Cross, of Toungoo, does all he can for us, and 
 through him (or by his favor) we receive New Testa- 
 ments and hymn-books. 
 
 " During the year 1865, we have been consulting how to 
 get back our beloved teacher Harris from America. We, 
 the disciples of Shwaygyeen, have collected two hundred 
 rupees towards paying the passage of teacher Harris. 
 Therefore, dear brethren and sisters in every place, 
 great and small, male and female, have pity upon us, pray 
 for us, and assist us to get back our teacher. 
 
 (Signed) Teacher Pah Moo." 
 
 In July, 1865, Mr. Harris was re-appointed 
 by the Executive Committee to labor at Shway- 
 gyeen. He had labored there for many years. 
 He justly regarded many of the converts as his 
 children in the common faith ; and they in turn 
 regarded him as their spiritual father. 
 
 In October, 1865, Mr. Cross, of the Toungoo 
 Mission, on his way to attend the Convention 
 in Rangoon, spent a Sabbath at Shwaygyeen. 
 He found a good congregation. All who at- 
 tended seemed interested ; and it was said, that, 
 notwithstanding they had been so long without 
 adequate pastoral supervision, there were no 
 irregularities in the church at Shwaygyeen, and 
 the churches in the district around were in a 
 good and wholesome condition. 
 
 It was on the 7th of March, 1866, that Mr. 
 Harris, after several years' absence, returned to 
 his station, and was warmly welcomed by the 
 
1 28 SHWA YG YE EN MISSION 
 
 people. They had not heard of his arrival in 
 Rangoon, and his coming to Shwaygyeen was a 
 genuine surprise. ^ At the Ministerial Confer- 
 ence, held a week afterwards, he had the privi- 
 lege of meeting the four ordained pastors, be- 
 sides others connected with the station at 
 Shwaygyeen. They met him as children meet 
 a father who has been long away. They told 
 him of the trials and the joys of their work, the 
 clouds and the sunshine that had been over 
 their path. He found that no new churches 
 had been organized during his absence ; but in 
 some places the work was full of promise, and 
 the fields white to the harvest. At the meet- 
 ing of the pastors, the opinion was expressed 
 by some one, that two assistants, each with an 
 associate, going " two and two," ought to itine- 
 rate among the heathen, making known the way 
 of salvation through a crucified Saviour. In- 
 stantly the purpose was formed. Two were 
 chosen. They obtained travelling associates, 
 and went forth among their heathen country- 
 men ; and the means for their support were 
 contributed by the churches. Then the neces- 
 sity of a school was spoken of. The mission- 
 ary told them that the Karens in Maulmain, 
 Rangoon, Prome, Henthada, and Toungoo, re- 
 ceived aid for their schools from the govern- 
 ment. What did the brethren think of asking 
 the aid of the governmei^t 1 One of the or- 
 dained pastors replied that he did not want to 
 ask aid of the government. " If," he said, " we 
 eat our own rice, we shall relish it the better, 
 and have no one to complain of us." Encour- 
 
VICISSITUDES IN MISSIONS. 129 
 
 aged by this sturdy expression of independence, 
 Mr. Harris commenced at once to make prepa- 
 ration for a mission-school. Nine days after- 
 wards he received a letter from a Karen in a 
 place a hundred miles east of Shwaygyeen, say- 
 ing, "I send Rs. 108-14. Twenty-seven Karens 
 contributed Rs. 71-8 ; thirty-four Shans contrib- 
 uted Rs. 27-2 ; seven Burmans contributed Rs. 
 10-4: total, Rs. 108-14." Mr. Harris had never 
 been to the place from which this letter came. 
 When he went home to America, there were 
 a few Christians there. "The Burmans and 
 Shans," he says, "are strangers to me, and I 
 wonder that these Buddhists should contribute 
 so liberally to aid me in my mission-work." 
 
 Mr. Harris was gratified to find, on his return 
 from America, that the churches connected with 
 this mission had all, to use his own expression, 
 "righted up." They were in peril for a season 
 from surrounding influences ; " but now, to a 
 man, they take the Bible as the word of God." 
 Fifty-seven were baptized during the year. In 
 the normal school, held during the rains, eight, 
 of the pupils were baptized ; and several others 
 had been baptized before they became mem- 
 bers of the school. The school was supported 
 mainly by the natives. 
 
 The work of missions is not uniformly pro- 
 gressive in any one place. Just as in the 
 churches at home, there are seasons of spiritual 
 refreshing, and seasons of comparative stagna- 
 tion. Sometimes in a single year the work in a 
 given place makes marked advancement, some- 
 times it scarcely holds its own. The causes for 
 
1 30 S//WA YG YE EN MISSION: 
 
 these variations at home are clearly understood ; 
 similar causes naturally produce the same effect 
 in the churches that have been raised up in 
 heathen lands. 
 
 The only record of the year 1868 is that the 
 churches were generally in a hopeful state, and 
 that one of the pastors spent nearly all the 
 rainy season in a place marked by a newly- 
 awakened interest, where it was hoped some 
 fruit would be gathered unto everlasting life. 
 The number of native preachers had increased 
 to twelve, and thirty-nine were baptized. The 
 total number of church-members, which at one 
 time had reached to nearly 950, from year to 
 year declined (in 1868 it was 872), notwith- 
 standing there were constant additions by bap- 
 tism. This was the result of various causes, 
 such as, I. The want of pastoral supervision. 
 2. The nomadic habits of the Karens, who, after 
 wearing out a field by exhaustive tillage, re- 
 move to another, sometimes a distant one, in 
 pursuit of a richer soil. 3. The possible mis- 
 takes made in the reception of members, who, 
 in their unenlightened "condition, seem to be 
 renewed in a time of religious excitement, but 
 afterwards fall away. These and other causes, 
 especially when discipline is faithfully admin- 
 istered and the church lists rigidly cared for, 
 may produce large diminutions in the catalogue 
 of members, while the strength of the church is 
 by no means abridged. Many, too, of those 
 whose names fall out of the lists may still be 
 of the Lord's little ones, and may be finally 
 saved with an everlasting: salvation. 
 
NATIVE BENEVOLENCE. 131 
 
 The glad tidings of the gospel were carried, 
 the following year, by the missionary and na- 
 tive preachers among the heathen population ; 
 and a few converts were reported in places 
 where no church organization existed. An un- 
 usually large number of the heathen visited the 
 missionary at his home, and some seemed al- 
 most persuaded to be Christians. Two native 
 preachers died, universally lamented. One of 
 them had a son who received his education in 
 America, and who, it is hoped, will take his 
 father's place as a preacher of the gospel to his 
 countrymen. The Christians contributed up- 
 wards of one hundred and fifty-six dollars to 
 various objects of benevolence, besides what 
 they gave for the support of their own pastors. 
 
 In the year 1870 the mission was again pain- 
 fully bereaved in the loss of three more native 
 preachers. One of these was Sau Dumoo, the 
 pastor by whom five hundred converts were 
 baptized in the first year of the mission. He 
 was honored, perhaps, more than any other 
 native preacher in bringing souls to Christ, 
 excepting the renowned Sau Quala, who did a 
 still more successful work at Toungoo. His 
 ministerial life was without a stain, and his 
 name will long be held in affectionate remem- 
 brance among the converts of Shwaygyeen. 
 
 The churches in this mission seem to have 
 been specially susceptible to the claims of 
 Christian benevolence, and their influence has 
 been felt in all the field around them. In this 
 same year the pastors and churches raised a 
 fund of more than five hundred dollars, — three 
 
132 SHWAYGYEEN MISSION. 
 
 or four of the pastors contributing twenty-five 
 dollars each, — " to be used for the cause of 
 Christianity." The fund was placed in charge 
 of a disbursing committee, who were to distrib- 
 ute its avails, and also the contributions of the 
 churches, being responsible to the Association. 
 This fund was raised over and above the ordi- 
 nary contributions. The brethren wished to 
 live, as far as possible, independent of foreign 
 aid ; and the missionary wrote *' that the Ex- 
 ecutive Committee might feel released of the 
 responsibility of making any appropriations, 
 either for the native preachers or the schools of 
 this mission." The raising of this fund origi- 
 nated with the pastors. 
 
 In the year 1871, still another native preach- 
 er, one of the most promising, was removed by 
 death. His end was peace. A few hours be- 
 fore he died, he said, *' I covet earth no more. 
 I will go and be with God." 
 
 This year Mr. Harris records an instance 
 which illustrates the power of the gospel, and 
 shows how it operated on a Karen disciple, 
 making all things new. The case was that of 
 an aged man, who lived on the mountains, sur- 
 rounded by idolatry. A few years previously 
 he heard the gospel from the lips of a native 
 preacher. The seed took root in his heart. 
 Some time afterwards he went to the mission- 
 ary, and said he had no faith in the religious 
 worship of the heathen, and desired to live with 
 the Christians. It was not that he wanted the 
 loaves and fishes, for he was able to support 
 himself and family. But his desire was for the 
 
NEW HELPERS. 1 33 
 
 influence and the society of those who fear God. 
 From the beginning, he seemed to have strong 
 faith in God. He readily received the gospel, 
 and delighted to make it known to others ; and 
 he grew rapidly in the graces of the Spirit. 
 When his wife was ill of small-pox, instead of 
 abandoning her as the heathen do, he staid by 
 her, and took care of her. He took the disease 
 himself, and during his sickness his daughter 
 died. But his faith was still strong in God, as 
 the Being who does all things well. He recov- 
 ered from the disease so as to be able to visit 
 the house of God. But in a few days after- 
 wards "he was not, for God took him." The 
 missionary says, " Seldom have we seen one 
 who seemed to receive the truth so readily, so 
 intelligently, and to ripen so fast for heaven, as 
 he." This year forty-three were reported bap- 
 tized. Total number of members, 854. 
 
 The year 1872 witnessed an advancement in 
 the work at Shwaygyeen. A new laborer was 
 added to the working force, in the person of a 
 Karen young man who had been educated in 
 this country, a graduate of Madison University ; 
 and whose natural abilities, culture, and consist- 
 ent Christian life inspired strong confidence in 
 him as one who would be an able and success- 
 ful preacher of the gospel to his countrymen. 
 Many among the heathen, living near the mis- 
 sion, were found to have lost their faith in 
 heathen ceremonies and idolatries, though they 
 had not courage and decision to come out open- 
 ly on the side of Christianity. Among the Bur- 
 mans of Shwaygyeen were also many inquirers, 
 
134 SHWAYGYEEN MISSION. 
 
 and many who, though not inquirers, were deep- 
 ly interested, and eager to obtain Christian 
 books. 
 
 The importance of Shwaygyeen as a mission- 
 ary centre has not been over-estimated. It is 
 an important field, both for Burman and Karen 
 work. Most of the Karen churches are in the 
 north-eastern part of the field, while the Karens 
 in the east and south-east remain to be reached. 
 Mr. Benjamin P. Cross, son of the missionary, 
 Dr. Cross, of Toungoo, was designated the pre- 
 ceding year to this field, to take the place of 
 Mr. Harris, who was obliged to be absent again 
 for a season from the mission. The feeling that 
 a Burman department was a necessity in Shway- 
 gyeen had become deep and abiding ; and the 
 prospect of meeting this demand was evidently 
 ripening, both in the field and with the Com- 
 mittee at home. At the Association held in the 
 beginning of the year 1874, the Karen young 
 man before mentioned, graduate of Madison, 
 was ordained to the work of the ministry, giv- 
 ing the churches great comfort and hope. A 
 good teak-wood chapel was built this year, with 
 a vestry ; and nearly the entire expense was 
 paid by the Karens and Mr. Harris. In De- 
 cember, 1874, Rev. Henry Ware Hale and wife, 
 both regular graduates of the Newton Theolo- 
 gical Institution, arrived in Shwaygyeen, and 
 commenced the Burman department of the mis- 
 sion. They were accompanied from Rangoon 
 by a native preacher and a teacher, and began 
 their work by distributing tracts to the boatmen 
 on their passage. The head boatman often vis- 
 
THE LATEST INTELLIGENCE. 135 
 
 ited them afterwards, at their home, and asked 
 to be baptized. Six or eight other Burmans 
 were reported as "■ believing a little," and ear- 
 nestly considering "whether these things were 
 so." Mr. Cross found that the language, which 
 in his childhood he spoke as a vernacular, came 
 back to him with great readiness, so that he was 
 able to begin work in the Karen field at once. 
 The work of the gospel was reported as slowly, 
 but surely, spreading ; a new chapel was erected 
 in one village, and a young man from the Ran- 
 goon Theological Seminary was elected pastor. 
 Another village also began to build, and still 
 another graduate from Rangoon was secured as 
 pastor. A general spirit of religious enterprise 
 was manifest. 
 
 In 1875 Mr. Cross left the station, to join his 
 father and aid him in the work at Toungoo. 
 Mr. Harris also was obliged to return to this 
 country, leaving only Mr. and Mrs. Hale to care 
 for both departments of the mission, aided by 
 native assistants. There were 35 baptisms this 
 year ; total number of members, 804. 
 
 From the latest accounts, it appears that Mr. 
 La Chapelle had resumed work at Shwaygyeen, 
 and Mr. Hale had found a promising helper in 
 a young man baptized a year or more ago in 
 Rangoon, who is apparently a true disciple, and 
 eager to know more of the Scriptures. Some 
 others give evidence of a sincere desire to 
 understand the gospel, and there were four pro- 
 fessed inquirers. The native Karen preachers 
 are faithful laborers, doing diligently the work 
 of God. Mr. Hale has lately sent to this coun- 
 
1 3 6 SHWA YG YE EN MISS /ON. 
 
 try an interesting account of the last meeting 
 of the Association, which met in the jungle, — 
 07ze family taking the responsibility of the hos- 
 pitality to be shown to all the guests. About 
 two hundred men, women, and children were 
 present. Some of them came two or three 
 days' journey on foot, in order to enjoy the 
 meetings, which were conducted entirely by 
 Karens, and well conducted too. Three or four 
 villages made request for teachers, who were 
 sent to them by the Associational Committee. 
 The one man who had invited the guests, having 
 been burned out most unfortunately just before 
 the meetings, did not feel able to provide for 
 their stay over the Sabbath ; and it was therefore 
 proposed to shorten the session. When the 
 heathen people in the vicinity heard of it, they 
 brought in food in abundance, that the meetings 
 might be continued ; and thus nearly all the peo- 
 ple remained till Monday, enjoying a three-days' 
 service of prayer, and preaching, and singing, 
 and drawing near to God. An increased num- 
 ber of members was reported ; baptisms for the 
 year, 57; whole number of members, 816. 
 
 According to the latest statistics, there are 
 5,641 Karens in the Shwaygyeen district, of 
 whom 816 are church-members. The pupils 
 who attend school at the station sometimes 
 come on foot a journey of three or four days, 
 over hills that are not safe to be traversed, on 
 account of tigers and other wild beasts. It is 
 therefore not strange that the schools are less 
 fully attended than at other stations in Burmah. 
 
 But who can estimate the good which may 
 
CONCLUSION. 137 
 
 result from the seed which has been sown in this 
 field ? And who can contemplate this body of 
 eight hundred believers from among the heathen 
 — a permanent influence for good among their 
 countrymen, year after year — without feeling 
 that the work is full of promise, and calculated 
 to inspire the highest hope ? Surely God will 
 not suffer it to be in vain. For nearly a quarter 
 of a century Christ has been faithfully preached 
 among this people, in human weakness, but with 
 the power of the Spirit. For that period souls 
 have been gathered, year by year, into the 
 churches on earth, and passing one by one into 
 the church in heaven. And there they are, 
 singing and shining, the fruit of the mission. 
 Such a work is worthy to be continued and sup- 
 ported ; and it will be sustained by those who 
 pray, "Thy kingdom come." 
 
No. X. 
 
 MISSION TO THE SHANS. 
 
 Locality of the Shans. — The Mission commenced. — The First Bap- 
 tism. — Pestilence. — Church formed. — Shans baptized. — The 
 Mission reinforced. — The Work making Progress. — Mr. Bixby 
 leaves the Mission. — Mrs. Cushing's Work. — The Divine Seal, — 
 The Mission removed to Rangoon. — The Mission in Toungoo 
 again. — Early Death of Mr. Kelley. — Shan Caravans. — Self- 
 Support. — Hinderances in the Way. — The Work in a New Centre. 
 — Concluding Thoughts. 
 
 THE Shans are first mentioned in missionary- 
 history in a letter dated Ava, Feb. 15, 
 1834. It was said that a missionary would find 
 a wide field of labor among them.' Their loca- 
 tion is in north-eastern Burmah, in Toungoo 
 district and beyond, in a region named by the 
 missionaries Shanland, bordering on Western 
 China. 
 
 The Shan territory is said by Dr. Malcom to 
 be about nine hundred miles in length, and its 
 greatest breadth is about four hundred. The 
 population is about seven millions. The people 
 are composed of several tribes, and their lan- 
 guage is naturally variant. Many of the people 
 are travelling merchants ; and, as they bring 
 their wares into the larger cities of Burmah, so 
 they carry back not only the commodities which 
 138 
 
THE MISSION COMMENCED. 139 
 
 they have need of, but also more or less of the 
 manners, the literature, and the religion, of the 
 people. They are mostly Buddhists, A recent 
 missionary explorer says they have long pos- 
 sessed a literature of their own. Their books 
 are numerous, not only in the kyoungs, but also 
 among the more intelligent class of the people ; 
 and the majority of the men are able to read. 
 
 Rev. Moses H. Bixby was the first missionary 
 designated to the Shans. He had formerly been 
 a missionary to the Burmans and Talaings. He 
 was appointed in 185 1, sailed from Boston in 
 January, 1853, returned to the United States on 
 account of the failure of Mrs. Bixby's health, 
 resigned his connection with the Missionary 
 Union, and was settled in the ministry at Provi- 
 dence, R.I. He was re-appointed a missionary 
 in i860, and designated to the Shan Mission; 
 arrived in Rangoon, March, 1861, and proceeded 
 at once to Toungoo. Just before Mr. Bixby's 
 arrival, some warlike disturbance occurred in 
 the Shan country, and ten thousand Shans 
 came in a body to the vicinity of Toungoo. 
 The British commissioner gave them lands, and 
 invited them to settle, seven miles away from 
 Toungoo, on the site of an old town which had 
 chiefly disappeared. Thus the people were 
 brought to the missionary : the missionary was 
 spared the necessity of going in search of the 
 people. More than this : instead of being com- 
 pelled to pass through the territory of hostile 
 tribes to his work, and at last sitting down to 
 his toil among cruel men, deprived of the pro- 
 tection of a Christian government, he was per- 
 
I40 MISSION TO THE SIIANS, 
 
 mitted to begin his proclamation of the gospel 
 under British guardianship and on British terri- 
 tory. 
 
 The first baptism was not of a Shan, but of 
 a Burman woman ; again, as in the church at 
 PhiHppi, the first lodging-place of the gospel 
 in Europe, a woman the first-fruits. This bap- 
 tism occurred in August, 1861 : the second was 
 of a Burmese man, November, 1861 — as if the 
 missionary and the Committee meant one race, 
 but God meant another. This man traced his 
 conversion, under God, to a tract written by 
 Mr. Ingalls of the Burman Mission ; and he had 
 enjoyed in former years the instructions of Mr. 
 Comstock, Mr. Stilson, and other Burman mis- 
 sionaries long since fallen asleep. They sowed 
 the seed ; and God took care that it should ger- 
 minate, and grow, and ripen in his own good 
 time. 
 
 Before the work of the mission was thoroughly 
 begun, the people were visited with judgment. 
 Between Nov. 5, 1861, and Jan. 7, 1872, — a 
 period of only two months, — five hundred Shans 
 died of small-pox ; a sovereign God interposing 
 at the outset, and, as it were, arousing the atten- 
 tion of the people by this terrible mortality to 
 the warnings of the missionary addressed to the 
 nation to flee from the wrath to come. 
 
 In May, 1862, four months after this visitation, 
 regular worship was commenced, and a Sabbath 
 school opened. The first Shan convert was the 
 son of a chief. He was baptized in September, 
 1862; and on the 25th of this month the first 
 Shan and Burmese church was organized, con- 
 
SHANS BAPTIZED. 141 
 
 sisting of nine members, of whom three were 
 Shans. A Shan chapel was opened at a place 
 called Laukoketaya, Jan. 18, 1863; and the same 
 month two Shan females — the first female con- 
 verts of their race — were baptized. In Toungoo 
 on the first week of the new year seven converts 
 had been baptized, of whom five were Shans. 
 Other additions were made, ** the Lord working 
 with them," according to his promise. In 
 March, 1863, the church numbered thirty mem- 
 bers, partly Burmans and partly Shans. Up to 
 the close of 1863, there had been forty-four bap- 
 tisms in connection with the mission, and at 
 that date there were forty-one communicants. 
 There were also four assistants, and two schools 
 with sixty pupils ; a mission-house had been 
 erected, a spelling-book and vocabulary was 
 ready for printing, and four Christian tracts 
 had been translated. 
 
 Two years later there were three churches 
 and a hundred and two members, ten chapels 
 and ten assistants, ten primary schools and two 
 hundred pupils, and a training-school for native 
 teachers and preachers. Most of this work was 
 among the wild mountaineers, the Karens, and 
 the Burmans ; but the missionary and his as- 
 sistants had preached the gospel extensively to 
 the Burmans and Shans, made explorations, and 
 sowed the seed of Divine truth in many new and 
 hitherto unknown fields. At the same time it 
 was the constant desire and effort of Mr. Bixby 
 as speedily as possible to press through these 
 mountain tribes to the interior of Shanland and 
 to the borders of Western China, — the distance 
 
142 HUSSION TO THE SHANS. 
 
 to the latter being only about three hundred 
 miles, of which more than one-third had already- 
 been traversed. 
 
 Early in 1867 Mr. and Mrs. J. N. Gushing 
 and Miss Gage joined the. mission. During the 
 preceding year Mr. Bixby had made two touis 
 of exploration among a savage tribe called the 
 Saukoos, where a wide door of labor was opened 
 to him. These people had their residence near 
 one tribe of the Shans, and access to the one 
 with successful effort implied equal access and 
 successful effort among the other. While mov- 
 ing among these people Mr. Bixby fell in with 
 hundreds of Shans, and had opportunities of 
 preaching to them. In many instances he and 
 his assistants stopped in dense jungles, and 
 made known to multitudes of people the way of 
 life. As a help to his work, Mr. Bixby obtained 
 from the kings of Burmah and Siam passes to 
 travel through their territories respectively in 
 Shanland. These passes were signed with the 
 royal signatures, and sealed with the royal seals ; 
 and they contained all that could be asked for in 
 the way of protection and help. 
 
 In the middle of the year 1866, Sau Ouala, 
 the Karen preacher, baptized at Toungoo — 
 which Mr. Bixby was constrained to make the 
 headquarters of his mission — six converts, of 
 whom three were Shans. Two of these were 
 orphan girls, belonging to a family which came 
 some years before from a distant place because 
 they had heard that their friends had found the 
 way to heaven, and were happy. The gospel 
 has an attractive power ; and now in one way, 
 
THE WORK MAKING PROGRESS. 143 
 
 now in another, the Lord Jesus fulfils his prom- 
 ise, "I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will 
 draw all men unto me." 
 
 In the year 1867 it was said that as many as 
 thirty Shans had been baptized, of whom two 
 were preachers, going everywhere among their 
 countrymen, and carrying the word of life." In 
 September of that year Mr. Bixby reported that 
 he had baptized several more converts, — Euro- 
 peans, Burmans, and people of the wild tribes 
 in the north-east. In a company of thirteen 
 baptized on one occasion, two were men of mark, 
 ^-the chief of the district and the chief of the 
 village. A marauding chief of one of the tribes 
 whom Mr. Bixby had visited nine months before 
 dreamed that the teacher had come, and started 
 from his home under the impression of this 
 dream, and travelled a full day's journey to 
 meet him. A treaty of peace and friendship 
 was formed between this chief and several 
 neighboring tribes, the effect of which would 
 be to open up the way to the home of the 
 Shans. Assistants were" laboring among all 
 these tribes, most of them speaking not only 
 the Burman, but also several dialects of the 
 Shan language ; and thus entrance was prepared 
 for the gospel through the medium of their own 
 tongue in which they were born. Mr. Bixby 
 wrote at this time, *' I have never wavered in 
 my belief that it is God's purpose to introduce 
 the gospel to the Shan tribes through these 
 mountaineers. Every year the word advances, 
 and bids fair to gain a foothold in Shan terri- 
 tory." 
 
144 MISSION TO THE SHAN'S, 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Gushing determined to study 
 at once the Shan language, without the inter- 
 vening study of the Burman ; and this occupied 
 most of their energies for the first year of their 
 residence in Toungoo. In November, 1867, 
 Mr. Gushing varied this monotonous labor by 
 undertaking, in company with Mr. Rose, a tour 
 of exploration to the north, intending to pro- 
 ceed by the most feasible route into the heart 
 of the Shan country. 
 
 In May, 1868, Mr. Bixby was compelled by 
 the state of his health to abandon his work in 
 Burmah, and return to this country, where he 
 has since resided, a faithful and successful pas- 
 tor a second time in Providence, R.I. ; testing 
 the method of labor to which he had been 
 accustomed among the Karens in its adaptation 
 to congregations in Ghristian America, and find- 
 ing to his joy that human nature is essentially 
 the same in every nation, and that faith and 
 prayer, in connection with the preaching of the 
 word, in every clime alike, are God's appointed 
 means to bring men to Ghrist. 
 
 Mrs. Bixby remained for a time in Toungoo, 
 and, in connection with Miss Gage, carried for- 
 ward the work at the station, as far as possible 
 in the way in which it had been conducted 
 hitherto by Mr. Bixby. Miss Gage maintained 
 a school with four Shan assistants, two male 
 and two female. The pupils numbered fifty-six ; 
 and a part of the school building was devoted 
 to strangers, who in passing that way often 
 went in for a few moments, and heard the word 
 of God. 
 
THE DIVINE SEAL, 145 
 
 In March, 1867, Mrs. Gushing gathered a 
 school of nine Shan boys, all from heathen fami- 
 lies, who learned under her instruction much 
 of Christ and salvation. She had been accus- 
 tomed to similar work in the ** Home for Little 
 Wanderers," in Boston, before her marriage. 
 She loved the work, and was successful in it ; 
 but owing to the failure of her health, always 
 precarious, in the exhausting climate of Bur- 
 mah, in a few months the school was necessa- 
 rily suspended. A Shan assistant visited re- 
 peatedly many of the Shan villages, talking to 
 the people, and distributing tracts. His visits 
 awakened a spirit of inquiry, and a few persons 
 came to the missionary to seek further instruc- 
 tion concerning the way of salvation. A few 
 tracts were printed this year in Shan, and put 
 in circulation. One man gave up offering to 
 the priests and worshipping at pagodas, and for 
 six months was a constant attendant on reli- 
 gious worship, and deeply interested in studying 
 the Scriptures. At length he declared that he 
 believed in Christ as the true Saviour, who 
 alone can forgive sin. He often spoke of his 
 faith, and boldly proclaimed it to his heathen 
 friends. 
 
 Such instances, occasionally occurring, were 
 the Divine seal to the work undertaken, and 
 proved that it was not unnoticed by Him who 
 commissioned his apostles to preach the gospel 
 to every creature. How refreshing they must 
 have been to the hearts of those who had given 
 up every thing for the work of missions, and to 
 whom souls renewed were the sweetest reward ! 
 
146 MISSION TO THE SHANS, 
 
 In 1868-69, Mr. Bixby's health being still so 
 much impaired as to render his return to Bur- 
 mah for the present unlikely, Mrs. Bixby joined 
 him in this country. Miss Gage, feeling inade- 
 quate to sustain the duties of the station alone, 
 withdrew to Rangoon, and afterwards joined 
 the Burman Mission in Bassein. The whole 
 number of churches connected with the Shan 
 Mission in Toungoo, including Burmans, Shans, 
 and the tribes of Northern Karens, was five ; 
 members, one hundred and thirty-four ; assist- 
 ants, eleven. The same year Mr. and Mrs. 
 Gushing made two missionary tours into the 
 Shan states, the extreme limit of their journeys 
 being Monai Gity, an important Shan centre. 
 "Wherever they went, the people gathered 
 around them, and many listened attentively to 
 the story of the cross. Several thousand tracts 
 were distributed, and seed sown which, it is 
 hoped, may bear fruit in due time." Two na- 
 tive assistants showed an excellent spirit, and 
 seemed to have at heart the enlightenmerit and 
 salvation of their countrymen. 
 
 In March, 1869, Mr. Gushing removed to 
 Rangoon, establishing that city, instead of 
 Toungoo, as the headquarters of his work, till 
 the way into the Shan country should be fully 
 opened. Large numbers of Shans are found 
 in the vicinity of Rangoon, their villages being 
 scattered here and there within a circuit of sev- 
 eral miles ; and the Shan element in that region 
 of country is increasing. Mr. Gushing visited 
 several of these villages with his native assist- 
 ants, and some interesting cases of inquiry 
 
THE MISSION IN TOUNGOO AGAIN. 147 
 
 occurred. Two were baptized, and two pupils 
 in the school gave evidence of a saving change. 
 In November of this year Mr. Gushing under- 
 took another tour among the Shans residing far 
 to the east of the Salwen River, into regions 
 and among people never before visited by the 
 living missionary. A church was organized for 
 the first time in Rangoon, in connection with 
 the Shan Mission, and the number of members 
 reported was five, — truly, " the day of small 
 things." 
 
 In 1870, as a measure of health Mr. Gushing 
 removed again to Toungoo, that he might enjoy 
 the benefits of an elevated country and a cooler 
 and purer atmosphere. This year he devoted 
 himself partly to the work of compiling a Shan 
 dictionary, — a ^necessary work, as a help to the 
 efficiency of future missionaries, — and partly to 
 tours among the people. Mrs. Gushing also 
 commenced a school again with a small num- 
 ber of Shan pupils, besides visiting the people 
 extensively, and distributing tracts. 
 
 In the year 1871 the prospects of the mission 
 improved. A new missionary and wife, Mr. 
 and Mrs. E. D. Kelley, joined the mission. In 
 July a Shan was baptized who gave promise 
 of great usefulness, — a highly intelligent young 
 man, who came out from his heathen associa- 
 tions from deliberate convictions of the truth 
 of Ghristianity, and the necessity of receiving 
 the pardon of sin through the Lord Jesus 
 Ghrist. He recognized the certainty of perse- 
 cution ; but his heart seemed to be fixed, trust- 
 ing in God. He was made the teacher of the 
 Shan school. 
 
148 MISSION TO THE SHANS, 
 
 The Gospel of Matthew was printed this year, 
 thus giving the Shans in their own tongue a 
 record of the history of the Lord Jesus Christ 
 as the Friend of sinners. The Shan church, 
 organized at first in Toungoo, had become the 
 victim of many irregularities. Some of the 
 members had gone back to idolatry ; others to 
 the Romanists ; and others were living in per- 
 sistent neglect of their covenant obligations. 
 The hand of discipline was called for, and 
 seven were excluded. Many villages were vis- 
 ited during the year, and regular worship in the 
 Shan dialect maintained every Sabbath, besides 
 a weekly prayer-meeting, and a preachers' Bible- 
 class part of the year. There was also an in- 
 crease of prayerfulness and of Christian activity 
 generally. Candid listeners seemed to be giv- 
 ing the truth a careful consideration. 
 
 All this looked encouraging. Had the set 
 time to favor this mission come } Was the 
 Lord's hand at last stretched out to help and 
 to save 1 Yes, as God sees, — but not as man 
 sees. Mr. Kelley, who joined the mission in 
 February, 1872, young, vigorous, and conse- 
 crated, had hoped for a long life of usefulness. 
 He had already obtained such mastery of the 
 language that he could speak to the people, and 
 work effectively in the school. On the 8th of 
 December he started on an exploring tour 
 with Mr. Gushing through Shanland. On New 
 Year's morning, Jan. i, 1873, in an effort to 
 secure a water-fowl which he had shot for their 
 breakfast, he was accidentally drowned, and 
 another human life, in which such hopes had 
 
SHAN CARAVANS. — SELF-SUPPORT. 149 
 
 centred, and which was so full of promise, was 
 blotted out. But He who sees the end from the 
 beginning understands it all. " Not a sparrow 
 falleth to the ground without your Father." 
 He is able, while he buries his workmen, to 
 carry on his work. The young missionary wore 
 his crown less than a year after he had put on 
 the harness, and left the honor of the work to 
 others. 
 
 This year the tidings came, not only that 
 tracts had been printed, but a grammar also. 
 Two of the Gospels were translated, and a large 
 dictionary compiled, which was receiving daily 
 additions as new words were learned in inter- 
 course with the people. These were all means 
 for facilitating the labors of all future mission- 
 aries to the people. Many caravans of Shans 
 came from their own States to Toungoo for 
 purposes of trade. These caravans were con- 
 stantly visited by native preachers, who left 
 among them a hundred and fifty copies of the 
 Gospel of Matthew and numerous tracts. A 
 house was opened in one of the Shan villages, 
 adjacent to six or seven others, and at a great 
 camping-place of the Shan caravans, where a 
 Shan preacher was stationed, and stated meet- 
 ings were held. Some heard with attention, 
 and showed themselves kindly disposed. The 
 church, small and feeble as it was, began 
 to comprehend the duty of self-support ; and, 
 though numbering only fourteen members, con- 
 tributed this year fifty-two dollars for the work 
 of evangelization, — only a little less than four 
 dollars per member, — "out of their penury." 
 
150 MISSION TO THE SHANS, 
 
 The clouds, however, were not wholly with- 
 drawn. The next year (1874) trials and inter- 
 ruptions interfered with the work. The Shan 
 people were restless and uneasy, burdened by 
 taxation, wasted by robbers, and moving from 
 place to place. Besides this, the missionaries 
 of a ritualistic Society made open efforts to 
 draw away the disciples and teachers, and, by 
 employing unworthy persons, to bring the whole 
 work into disrepute. But amid the whole the 
 Shan school, with its twenty-eight pupils, was 
 the most successful school the mission had ever 
 sustained ; and the native Christians, unlike 
 most of their countrymen, showed a strong 
 interest in it. Miss Elizabeth Lawrence, of 
 the Woman's Missionary Society, was added 
 to the working force ; and her Society assumed 
 the support of the school. Three were baptized 
 this year, and the Shan church at Toungoo num- 
 bered twenty. 
 
 The next year (1875) Mr. Gushing and wife 
 returned to the United States on account of 
 their impaired health ; and except for the school 
 of Miss Lawrence, which showed no great 
 vigor, the work of the mission was suspended. 
 In the absence of Mr. and Mrs. Gushing, 
 preaching was kept up in the Shan chapel, and 
 a prayer-meeting at the out-station. Several 
 villages were visited by a Shan preacher. Five 
 Shan girls were taught in connection with the 
 Burman school, and three Shan converts were 
 baptized. 
 
 In November, 1876, Mr. and Mrs. Gushing 
 aofain returned to Burmah to resume their 
 
THE WORK IN A NEW CENTRE. 151 
 
 work, and immediately made preparations to 
 ascend the river to Bhamo, an important cen- 
 tre, having monthly steam communication with 
 Rangoon. They remained at Mandelay three 
 weeks, awaiting the royal order, without which 
 they would not be permitted to reside in Upper 
 Burmah. The object of this journey was to 
 learn whether Bhamo would be. a favorable 
 point for the establishment of the headquarters 
 of the Shan Mission. 
 
 After the necessary investigations, it became 
 evident that Bhamo would doubtless be a most 
 eligible centre for this purpose. Mrs. Gushing 
 returned to Toungoo to look after the interests 
 of the work there, and Mr. Gushing remained 
 in Bhamo to lay the foundations of the new 
 station. Mr. Gushing also reports five points 
 of importance to this mission, all of which he 
 had visited ; and he expresses the opinion that 
 ** the Shan work, once taken hold of vigorously, 
 will yield a grand return. Is it too much to 
 plan for that during the next ten years } All 
 these places should be occupied by men not 
 afraid of trusting in God and going forward 
 discreetly. Just as soon as the New Testament 
 is done, and a good slice of the Old Testament, 
 I am ready to go anywhere into the interior. I 
 would go anywhere now, were it not that I am 
 convinced that it would be a sin to delay the 
 translation of the Holy Scriptures longer. In 
 naming over these places, I ' have only one de- 
 sire ; and that is that you will study the Shan 
 field, and co-operate in bringing about its occu- 
 pation as speedily as possible. I have no doubt 
 
152 MISSION TO THE SHANS. 
 
 that with the death of the king, now sixty-three 
 years of age, the last hinderance to evangehstic 
 labors in Upper Burmah will be swept away by 
 the English government. Let us be in occupa- 
 tion of the field, as far as possible, and ready 
 for any change in affairs to take advantage of 
 them." 
 
 Messrs. Albert J. Lyon and Jacob A. Freiday 
 sailed from this country in 1877, for the pur- 
 pose of founding a new station for the Ka- 
 Khyens at Bhamo, in Burmah Proper. They 
 arrived in Rangoon Dec. 27, and reached their 
 field of labor in February, 1878. On the pas- 
 sage from Rangoon to Bhamo, Mr. Lyon 
 caught a heavy cold ; and in one month from 
 his arrival he died, "a costly sacrifice," the 
 first-fruits unto Christ of the mission in that 
 new field. Mrs. Lyon soon returned to Amer- 
 ica. The king of Burmah died early in 1879, 
 leaving the government to a despotic son. 
 
 A careful perusal of the history of the mis- 
 sion to the Shans impresses us with the thought 
 that if it has yielded little fruit, and in this re- 
 spect comes behind other stations and missions 
 in interest, this failure is not without cause. 
 The work has never been prosecuted with 
 adequate. vigor. Helpers in sufficient numbers 
 have been wanting from the beginning. Men 
 and means corresponding to the exigency have 
 at no time been furnished. While other and 
 more prosperous fields have called for aid, and 
 been re-enforced, the mission to the Shans has 
 been allowed to faint, and falter, and wait for 
 the supply of its wants even until now. The 
 
CONCLUDING THOUGHTS. 153 
 
 history of missions has shown that a vigorous 
 onset at the beginning has generally been fol- 
 lowed by early success. Let the American 
 mission at the Sandwich Islands and the Brit- 
 ish missions to others of the South Sea groups 
 bear witness. The Divine principle holds good 
 in missions as in benevolence, " He that sow- 
 eth sparingly shall reap also sparingly." We 
 have seen it in the various missions of our 
 Union. It has been almost the invariable rule 
 in missions of all Societies in every part of the 
 earth. 
 
 But lack of prosperity in the beginning of a 
 mission is no indication that the project does 
 not enjoy the Divine approval. It is no proof 
 that God has not great things in store for his 
 people. A slender present is sometimes the 
 antecedent of a grand future. So it was in the 
 Greenland mission of the Moravians. So it 
 was in the commencement of the Burman mis- 
 sion. So it was in the American Baptist mis- 
 sion to the Teloogoos. The Shans are among 
 the heathen nations to whom the gospel is to be 
 preached, and among whom the gospel is yet to 
 win its trophies. A good work of preparation 
 has been done ; and in due time, here as else- 
 where, the promise of God will surely be ful- 
 filled, " I the Lord will hasten it in his time." 
 
No. XL 
 
 MISSION TO ASSAM. 
 
 Geography of Assam. — The First Missionaries. — Work of the Press. 
 
 — Removal. — A Native Insurrection, — The Hill Tribes. — The 
 First Convert. — Three Stations established. — Brighter Days. — 
 The Pastor of Gowahati. — Missionaries called to Higher Service. 
 
 — The New Testament in Assamese. — Another Revival of Reli- 
 gion, — Discouragements. — "The Morning Light is Breaking." 
 
 — The Tract swept out, and what came of it. — The Native Mis- 
 sionaries. — As Doves to their Windows. — The Mission Field 
 brought near, — A Missionary honored. — An Onward Work. — 
 Another Tribe brought in. — Work among the Garos. — Latest 
 Intelligence, — Conclusion. 
 
 ASSAM lies north and north-west of Burmah, 
 . bordering on China on the north-east. It 
 is from seventy to a hundred miles in breadth, 
 and drained by the Brahmaputra River, which 
 flows westwardly through its centre, and then 
 turns southerly towards Calcutta. It is inhab- 
 ited by various tribes besides the Assamese, of 
 which the most important in our history are the 
 Garos, the "Nagas, the Mikirs, and the Bengalis. 
 The people were at first taken to be Shyans, 
 or Shans, or branches of the Shans. They were 
 found to be Brahminists, not Buddhists, and 
 maintained the system of caste, that mighty 
 engine of Satan to obstruct the influence of the 
 gospel. 
 
 IS4 
 
THE FIRST MISSIONARIES. 155 
 
 The stations of the missions, earlier and later, 
 stand in the following order, proceeding from 
 the easternmost : Sadiya, Jaipur, Sibsagor, Jor- 
 hat, Nowgong, Tezpur, Gowahati, Gowalpara, 
 Tura near Gowalpara, and Haimoung in the 
 Naga Hills. They are all on the southern side 
 of the Brahmaputra except Tezpur, which is on 
 the north, opposite Nowgong. The geographies 
 call Nowgong the capital of Upper Assam, and 
 Gowahati the capital of Lower Assam. The 
 country, previously independent, was added to 
 the Burman Empire in 1822, and since 1826 it 
 has been wholly under English rule. The sta- 
 tions are now reached by British steamers, 
 which ply regularly between Calcutta and the 
 upper waters of the Brahmaputra. Sadiya, the 
 first station adopted, is two miles from the great 
 river. 
 
 The first missionaries were Messrs. Nathan 
 Brown, since a missionary in Japan, and O. T. 
 Cutter, the latter a printer. Mr. Brown is the 
 author of the impressive and well-known mis-' 
 sionary hymn beginning, '* My soul is not at 
 rest." These brethren had been for three years 
 missionaries in Burmah. The Board having 
 determined to open this new mission, these 
 brethren, after a passage of four months on the 
 Brahmaputra, from Calcutta to their appointed 
 station, planted themselves at Sadiya, March 23, 
 1836. Sadiya is the name both of a district, 
 and of its principal village, situated four hun- 
 dred miles north of Ava, and about two hundred 
 miles from Yunnan, a large mart of trade within 
 the boundaries of China. They designed at the 
 
T56 MISSION TO ASSAM. 
 
 outset to labor among the Khamtis, who had 
 been represented as the most interesting portion 
 of the population. But they soon found that the 
 great body of this people lived farther east, and 
 therefore turned their efforts to the mixed popu- 
 lation of Sadiya, of whom the Assamese formed 
 a portion. Mr. Bronson arrived in 1837. 
 
 The first book printed by Mr. Cutter was a 
 spelling-book in English, Assamese, and Shyan ; 
 then a tract containing the parables of Christ 
 in Assamese, also a Shyan version of the Ser- 
 mon on the Mount. From August, 1836, Mrs. 
 Cutter had a school of thirty or forty pupils at 
 Sadiya. Mr. Brown commenced the translation 
 of Matthew into Assamese Jan. i, 1838. A 
 Khamti catechism and an Assamese primer 
 followed, and a Khamti dictionary by Mr. 
 Brown was in progress. Worship in Assamese 
 was commenced near the close of 1837. In 
 1838 two zayats were built near the town, which 
 were occupied every Sunday by Messrs. Brown 
 and Cutter ; and the latter superintended a 
 school of fifty boys. The labors of Mr. Brown 
 were to be devoted specially to the Assamese 
 and Khamtis, of Mr. Bronson to the Singphos, 
 and Mr. Cutter had charge of the printing de- 
 partment and the superintendence of the schools. 
 
 Late in 1836 Rev. Jacob Thomas left this 
 country to join the mission. But He who seeth 
 not as man seeth had planned otherwise. Mr. 
 Thomas arrived safely in Calcutta, and, sailing 
 up the Brahmaputra in July, 1837, was already 
 within sight of his future home, Sadiya, when 
 a tree upon the banks, which had been loosened 
 
THE HILL TRIBES. 157 
 
 from its hold by the rains, fell across the boat 
 which conveyed him, and he was instantly 
 killed. Thus the bright hopes of the young 
 missionary were cut off in their very morning ; 
 and the friends of missions were left to wonder 
 at the inscrutable methods of Him, who, in his 
 abundant resources, knows how to dispense with 
 the services of his servants, but at the same 
 time successfully to carry on his work. 
 
 In May, 1838, Mr. Bronson removed to Jai- 
 pur, one of the principal posts of the East India 
 Company, three or four days' journey south-west 
 of Sadiya, that he might be nearer the Sing- 
 phos, to whom he had been specially designated. 
 A year later, in May, 1839, ^ disturbance arose, 
 in which several Khamti chiefs were slain, and 
 the Khamtis entirely dispersed. There were 
 three schools in Sadiya until the station was 
 discontinued. Sadiya continued for a season in 
 a state of agitation, and at length it was deemed 
 best to remove the entire mission. In a few 
 months the military and civil officers followed 
 the missionaries to Jaipur ; and Sadiya, deserted 
 by its inhabitants, was left to the tigers and 
 jackals. 
 
 Mr. Bronson, at the time of the outbreak, 
 was visiting the Nagas on the hills, making 
 observations preparatory to the establishment 
 of a mission for their benefit. While the work 
 was partially suspended, the missionaries turned 
 their attention to the acquisition of the lan- 
 guages of the people around them, and the prep- 
 aration of books for the press. In January, 
 1840, Mr. Bronson again visited the Nagas 
 
158 MISSION TO ASSAM. 
 
 among the hills, found them eager for insti na- 
 tion, and resolved to establish a mission among 
 them. On the 14th of May, 1840, Mr. and Mrs. 
 Barker and the sister of Mr. Bronson joined 
 the mission. The latter was to be associated 
 with her brother among the Nagas. But the 
 Lord accepted her willingness to serve him, and 
 in seven months took her to himself. Mr. 
 Barker established a new station under promis- 
 ing circumstances at Sibsagor, in May, 1841, 
 three days' journey below Jaipur ; and the lat- 
 ter station, not meeting the expectation of the 
 missionaries, was gradually abandoned. Sibsa- 
 gor had a population of eight thousand, and its 
 many advantages commended it as the most suit- 
 able place that could be selected for labors among 
 the Assamese. Mr. Bronson was driven by the 
 insalubrity of the climate from the hills, and 
 removed in October, 1841, to Nowgong, in Cen- 
 tral Assam. There were many Nagas here from 
 the hills, but the labors of the mission were 
 bestowed mainly on the Assamese. 
 
 Nidhiram, the first Assamese convert, was 
 baptized by Mr. Bronson June 13, 1841. He 
 was an apprentice in the printing-office, and on 
 becoming a Christian, dropped the name Ram, 
 which belonged to a pagan deity, and substi- 
 tuted the name of Levi Farwell. He was ever 
 afterwards called Nidhi Levi. A school was 
 opened at Nowgong in April, 1842, with eighty 
 pupils. To this was added, the next year, the 
 Nowgong Orphan Institution, which for several 
 years was an important part of the mission 
 work, and in which souls were trained up for 
 
BRIGHTER DAYS. 1 59 
 
 usefulness and for heaven. Six months after 
 the baptism of Nidhi Levi, another vi^as baptized, 
 who had been awakened by reading a tract. 
 
 Mr. Cutter had remained with his press at 
 Jaipur; but on account of the disturbed con- 
 dition of the country, and the insecurity of the 
 mission property, in November, 1843, he re- 
 moved to Sibsagor. Mr. Barker removed first 
 to Tezpur, and finally to Gowahati, the most 
 important town in the province, and established 
 a third station to take the place of Jaipur. At 
 each of the three stations, Nowgong, Sibsagor, 
 and Gowahati, a church was soon constituted ; 
 and these churches were gradually strengthened 
 by occasional accessions. The institution at 
 Nowgong, commenced with twelve pupils, con- 
 tinued to grow, being filled up with orphans 
 from every part at Assam. Some of these 
 orphans, in process of time, moved away ; some 
 went, happy and thankful, to heaven. The in- 
 stitution was given up in 1856, after twelve 
 years ; but from these dispersed orphans more 
 Christian helpers were raised up than from any 
 other single instrumentality. At the outset, six 
 hundred dollars were contributed for the erection 
 of the necessary buildings, and the number of 
 inmates increased from twelve to upwards of 
 fifty. Much of the expense was defrayed with- 
 out cost to the mission. 
 
 In November, 1844, three converts were bap- 
 tized at Nowgong : two of them were females. 
 
 It was in the year 1846, after nearly ten years 
 of toil, that the seed sown began to appear in a 
 joyful harvest. The elder pupils of the Orphan 
 
l6o MISSION TO ASSAM. 
 
 Institution at Nowgong first felt the influence 
 of this awakening ; and during this year seven 
 of them were baptized, besides others at the 
 same station. In the course of the year, each 
 of the three churches received a blessing. At 
 the end of two years from its organization, the 
 church of Gowahati numbered 27 members. In 
 1847 there were 14 schools and 381 pupils. At 
 Gowahati a young girl, the first-fruits of the 
 Kacharis, was baptized, and one of the Mussul- 
 man population forsook Mohammed for Christ. 
 Eighteen were baptized this year at Gowahati, 
 and in the three stations a total of thirty. The 
 wide field needed more laborers, and earnest 
 applications were sent home for re-enforcements. 
 The health of the missionaries was enfeebled, 
 and some of them were obliged to retire tempo- 
 rarily from the field. 
 
 How shall Gowahati find a pastor.? was the 
 question, after Mr. Whiting was forced to re- 
 turn to America. Let us see. In 1849 M^r. 
 Stoddard baptized a native called Kandura, a 
 boy of twelve years, from the Orphan Institu- 
 tion. He grew up a good scholar and a busi- 
 ness man, and held an office under government 
 which yielded him twenty dollars per month at 
 Gowahati. But he voluntarily relinquished his 
 office, and accepted the pastorship of the church, 
 receiving seven dollars and fifty cents per month. 
 *' Can you hold out till some one arrives .? " asked 
 Mr. Bronson. " My wish is to hold on till 
 death," was Kandura's reply. 
 
 After eight years, during which not a helper 
 had gone to their aid, Messrs. Danforth and 
 
THE NEW TESTAMENT IN ASSAMESE. i6l 
 
 Stoddard joined the mission in 185 1, with their 
 wives, the former destined to Gowahati, and the 
 latter to Nowgong. The same year the second 
 edition of the New Testament, translated by- 
 Mr. Brown, was printed, and baptisms occurred 
 at all the stations, including two at Gowalpara, 
 a new name in the history of the mission to 
 Assam, but one destined to be a joy and re- 
 joicing in the years to come. 
 
 In 1849 t^^ Nowgong Institution numbered 
 forty pupils. Two buildings were erected for 
 its accommodation. In a place thirty miles 
 from Gowahati, eighty young people formed 
 themselves into a school, and sent thirty of 
 their number to Gowahati to beg for books and 
 a teacher. In January, 1850, Mr. Barker, dis- 
 abled and returning home in search of health, 
 died at sea, and was buried under the waves in 
 Mozambique Channel. His missionary life ex- 
 tended to a period of less than ten years ; but 
 he laid good foundations, on which others have 
 built. Thus God took one to himself, but he 
 provided another to take his place. Mr. Daii- 
 ble, a German missionary, of the Basle Mission- 
 ary Society, was baptized a few days later at 
 Tezpur, and was appointed a missionary at 
 Nowgong. After three years of intensely ear- 
 nest labor in the school, the street, and the jun- 
 gle, he ended his work, and died March 23, 1853. 
 
 Messrs. Ward and Whiting joined the mis- 
 sion about the close of 1850. The leaven was 
 evidently working in Assam. People came 
 sometimes twenty or thirty miles to Gowahati, 
 to obtain books and tracts. In 185 1 there were 
 
1 62 MISSION TO ASSAM. 
 
 five native assistants, two of whom had visited 
 the United States, and implored the churches 
 for help. Mr. Danforth this year gave a reli- 
 gious book or tract to 4,238 persons in and near 
 Gowahati, committing the seed to the Infinite 
 Husbandman, whose it is to give the increase. 
 At a meeting in October, 185 1, seven native 
 assistants were set apart to missionary labor, 
 and an Association was formed. 
 
 In 1853 Mr. Cutter's connection with the mis- 
 sion was closed ; and the care of the printing- 
 office fell upon Dr. Brown, who, devoting him- 
 self to the work of translation, had put the New 
 Testament into Assamese, and subjected it to 
 repeated revisions, besides translating Genesis 
 and other most important portions of the Old 
 Testament. But the labor was too much for 
 him; and in 1855 he returned to America in 
 search of health, after a service of twenty years 
 amid the desolations of heathenism. 
 
 The year 1852 witnessed a revival of religion 
 in Sibsagor and Nowgong, especially in the Or- 
 phan School. Two of the oldest members of 
 Mrs. Brown's school in Sibsagor were awakened 
 and converted. Their joy was the means of 
 awakening the four next younger ; and for a 
 while there was little study in the school. Mrs. 
 Brown found that if she left them they would 
 separate, each to find some, spot where she 
 might pray alone. The next year brought more 
 fruit, including a young heathen girl and her 
 mother. A few years later there was again a 
 revival in the school, in which ten were hope- 
 fully converted. Mrs. Brown had the joy of 
 
DISCOURAGEMENTS. 1 63 
 
 knowing, before she died, that all who had been 
 under her care in the school had become Chris- 
 tians. There were like scenes in the Orphan 
 School in Nowgong, and in 1853 a revival in 
 the school in Gowahati. 
 
 The triumphant Christian death of Batiram, 
 about this time, led to the conversion of his 
 mother. She had been a rigid Hindoo ; but by 
 the rod of affliction the Lord knew how to sub- 
 due her. It was a long conflict ; but when, in 
 a female prayer-meeting, she knelt and cried for 
 mercy, tears choked her utterance, and there 
 was not a dry eye in the room. She gave up 
 all, though it was with a severe struggle, and 
 took her place joyfully among the disciples of 
 Christ. 
 
 After this, for a season, the enterprise seemed 
 destined to failure. The missionaries were driv- 
 en by sickness to return home, one by one, till 
 for a whole year Mr. Whiting was left the only 
 missionary in the field. Then came the fearful 
 Indian mutiny of 1857 and 1858. It is true, 
 not a hair of the head of any of the brethren 
 in Assam was touched ; but they dreaded with 
 good reason lest the terrible scenes of Delhi 
 and Cawnpore might be repeated also in their 
 .province. For six months Mr. Danforth might 
 have been seen drilling in sight of enraged and 
 hostile sepoys, that he might be the better able 
 to protect his family and the property of the 
 mission in the event of an attack. After this 
 Mr. C. F. Tolman joined the mission ; but in two 
 years, with broken health, he was forced to flee 
 from the field. In 1864 Mr. and Mrs. Scott 
 
1 64 MISSION TO ASSAM. 
 
 tried the climate, but in two years they also 
 were driven back to America. Had God for- 
 gotten his promise ? and must the mission prove 
 a failure ? Not at all. He who cannot lie had 
 pledged his word to his faithful servants, and 
 was already moving for their deliverance. 
 
 In 1856 Mr. Bion, an English Baptist mis- 
 sionary, made a tour into Assam, touched at 
 Gowalpara, preached, distributed tracts, and 
 returned, and reported a wide door open for 
 effort. But none heard. The tracts were torn 
 in pieces, or swept out into the mud, or sold for 
 waste paper. Who would imagine that this 
 was the opening sentence of one of the most 
 thrilling histories of modern evangelization } 
 But so it is. The hour of greatest darkness 
 precedes the day. The time of desertion is 
 often the breaking-forth of Jehovah's glory. 
 
 Who has not heard of the Garos, — the wild- 
 est race on the hills of Assam, whom English 
 cunning and strategy had never been able to 
 subdue } They were without images or tem- 
 ples, and knew no God but the demons of the 
 hills, whom they sought to propitiate by bloody 
 sacrifices. Here and there one of them be- 
 came sufficiently tamed to enter a government 
 school at Gowalpara. Some of them were found 
 among the sepoys, — native soldiers joined with 
 the British army. When Mr. Bion visited Gow- 
 alpara, ten Garos were in the government school, 
 and some of them had learned to read Bengali. 
 One of them, by name Omed, received a tract 
 and a coj^y of the Psalms. After a while he en- 
 listed as a sepoy, and was set to keep guard 
 
THE TRACT SWEPT OUT. 165 
 
 before a forsaken mission-house which had been 
 rented to a British officer. His task was not an 
 arduous one, and left him plenty of leisure. In 
 cleaning the house for the new tenant, some 
 torn leaves of paper were swept out. One of 
 them this curious sepoy picked up, and, to fill 
 up an idle hour, began to read. He felt the 
 conviction that the leaf contained truth, and 
 soon went to the native Christians for more 
 books and instruction. He communicated his 
 treasures to two others, who were likewise con- 
 vinced and awakened. Finally Omed, the first 
 of the Garo tribe, and Ramkhe, were baptized 
 by Mr. Bronson, in February, 1863. Seven 
 months later the first Mikir convert was bap- 
 tized at Nowgong. 
 
 Omed's first question was, " Is there not a 
 missionary for my people } " But there was 
 none. He so longed for the salvation of his 
 race, that he would willingly have gone to them 
 with the message of salvation. But, conscious 
 of his ignorance and unfitness, he concluded to 
 remain as he was, gradually gaining instruction 
 from the Sabbath labors of the native pastor, 
 Kandura. He had a good government situation ; 
 but after a year or more he, with Ramkhe, re- 
 signed, and went forth as missionaries. 
 
 In 1866 a third Garo was baptized. About 
 the same time eight Garos, awakened by the 
 ministry of Omed and Ramkhe, appealed to the 
 mission for help. Opposition was aroused, and 
 the new converts and inquirers were called to 
 endure suffering for Christ. Upon this Omed, 
 leaving the hill country, removed to the valley, 
 
l66 MISSION TO ASSAM, 
 
 built a hut of grass, and lived in it for a year, 
 preaching to the Garos who passed on their way 
 to market, and occasionally visiting his old ac- 
 quaintances on the hills. Other families joined 
 him. The settlement became a village, called 
 Rajamala. It was a city of refuge for perse- 
 cuted Christians. In 1867 Mr. Bronson visited 
 them ; and a church was organized consisting of 
 forty members, including the native assistants. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Scott, designated to the Mikirs, 
 had arrived in Nowgong in November, 1863. 
 In view of this remarkable opening among the 
 Garos, Mr. Stoddard, with his family, removed 
 to Gowalpara, to the charge of the new station. 
 In March, 1868, he reported a tour among the 
 Garo people, and witnessed wonderful triumphs 
 of Divine grace. In a beautiful grove a man 
 had erected temporary buildings for the con- 
 venience of the missionary, where the gospel 
 might be preached to his townspeople ; and 
 here thirteen more Garos confessed Christ. A 
 few days later on his journey, tarrying and 
 preaching for a week, Mr. Stoddard baptized 
 twenty-five more. The number was now eighty- 
 one, wearing the Christian livery ; and the work 
 extended to the right hand and the left. In 
 June twelve more joined the company of dis- 
 ciples. One of them, a woman, came eight 
 miles, bringing a large infant on her back, 
 sometimes fording streams up to her armpits, 
 that she might have the privilege of confessing 
 Christ. In 1869 the mission reported a hun- 
 dred and forty Christians, five churches, and 
 eight or ten native preachers of this tribe, and 
 
THE NATIVE MISSIONARIES. 167 
 
 the field perpetually widening and growing in 
 interest. Even the temporal affairs of the peo- 
 ple were improved. The wealth of one village 
 was said to have quadrupled during the two 
 years since they consecrated themselves to the 
 service of Christ. A normal school at one of 
 the stations, having twenty-eight pupils, young 
 men, reported twenty-five of them as baptized. 
 All who went out from the school to teach were 
 expected also to read, explain, and preach the 
 Word. 
 
 In 1866 Mr. Bronson's English and Assam- 
 ese Dictionary was put to press. Mr. Milton B. 
 Comfort was added to the working force of the 
 mission in 1867, and, together with Mr. Stod- 
 dard, stationed at Gowahati ; the latter having 
 already spent ten years in this field. The tele- 
 graph-wires now joined Gowahati with Boston, 
 and a railroad from Calcutta towards the station 
 had shortened the distance from that city in 
 time about one-half. A railroad-route had also 
 been surveyed along the valley, running through 
 the stations of the Union. In 1869 Miss Maria 
 Bronson Cotes joined the mission, to aid her 
 father in his work ; but in 1874 she was swept 
 off by the cholera in Gowahati ; another young 
 life offered up to God and the cause of mis- 
 sions, though painful to us, doubtless acceptable 
 in his sight. We shall know more in the fu- 
 ture. In May, 1869, Mr. Scott died in Now- 
 gong. Mrs. Scott remained for a season, bravely 
 carrying forward the work which her husband 
 had left. Two years later she had the superin- 
 tendence of eleven schools. Mr. Ward also 
 
1 68 MISSION TO ASSAM. 
 
 was compelled by declining health to leave the 
 field for a season. This year there were two 
 schools on the Mikir hills. Rev. R. E. Neigh- 
 bor and wife joined the mission in January, 
 1870. 
 
 In 1 87 1 Mr. Clark, with a native helper, made 
 a tour to the Naga Hills. At first the people, 
 supposing him to be a government spy, would 
 have nothing to do with him. But, when they 
 learned his true character as a messenger of the 
 glad tidings of the gospel, they bestowed on 
 him every possible mark of honor. The women 
 and children wept at his departure, and two of 
 their chief men accompanied him as a body- 
 guard till he reached his home. 
 
 In June, 1872, Mr. Stoddard was joined by a 
 new missionary. Rev. T. J. Keith. Other mis- 
 sionaries had visited and aided him in his work 
 the preceding year. In one place a chief, after 
 listening several days to the gospel, stood up in 
 a crowded assembly of his people, and said, " I 
 am on the Lord's side. I sacrifice no more to 
 demons from this hour." 
 
 Early in 1873, an outrage committed by some 
 independent Garos on a village under English 
 protection led to an action of the English 
 authorities in which seventy or eighty villages 
 were reduced to submission, opening the way 
 for the missionary to go everywhere unmo- 
 lested. The report of that year said, *' The 
 hills around Sibsagor are full of inquirers ; and 
 Gowahati begins to vie with Gowalpara, as a cen- 
 tre for Kosari and Garo disciples. Wherever 
 the gospel has been preached, especially where 
 
ANOTHER TRIBE BROUGHT IN, 169 
 
 a Christian school has been started, there are 
 converts waiting for the coming of the mission- 
 ary, to be baptized and gathered into churches. 
 A school for girls was commenced at Gowalpara, 
 under Mrs. Keith; and ten Garo girls were un- 
 der its influence. At the close of 1874, the 
 number of Garo church-members was reported 
 about four hundred ; the Gospel of Matthew 
 had been translated and printed for them ; 
 three primary reading-books had been prepared ; 
 and a dictionary, containing four thousand words 
 in common use in this dialect, A^hich six or 
 seven years before had no written character, 
 had been printed at government expense. 
 
 Messrs. M. C. Mason and E. G. Phillips, with 
 their wives, joined the mission with reference to 
 one or two new stations, but settled down tem- 
 porarily at Gowalpara. In 1875 the accessions 
 indicated a healthy advancement of Divine truth 
 among the people. During that year one hun- 
 dred and four were baptized, and the Associa- 
 tion, previously formed, held its second annual 
 meeting. A spirit of Christian benevolence be- 
 gan to develop itself among the people. 
 
 Two new stations were now formed for the 
 Garo work, — the first at Tura, Mr. Phillips 
 resident missionary ; the second at Haimoung, 
 Rev. E. W. Clark missionary. The former sta- 
 tion is a hundred miles into the hills, in the 
 heart of the Garo country, and the chief town 
 of the tribe. The other station is between 
 Assam and Burmah, in the Naga Hills. The 
 people are a hardy and savage race, but they 
 gave Mr. Clark a cordial welcome. At the 
 
I70 MISSION TO ASSAM. 
 
 Garo Association in January, 1876, one hundred 
 and fifty Garo Christians were present. A new 
 church was organized in an out-station, with a 
 native pastor ; and a second church at Damra, 
 the site of the normal school. Garo members 
 reported, 488. 
 
 The work of the mission at all points was 
 one of growing interest. New fields constant- 
 ly opened. New converts came from distant 
 places to learn of Christ and salvation, and to 
 take upon them the livery of Christ's disciples. 
 Interesting "incidents continually occurred, and 
 the white waving fields invited the sickle of the 
 reaper. The single phrase, ''an ever onward 
 work," describes the whole. 
 
 In the midst of this wonderful advancement, 
 and the need of more laborers. Dr. Ward was 
 stiddenly called away, August, 1873, by con- 
 sumption, — an efficient worker, taken to his re- 
 ward in the vigor of his age and usefulness, 
 and universally lamented. The Kohls, or Chota 
 Nagpores, — a tribe attracted from Central India 
 to the Assamese tea-gardens, who had heard of 
 Christ through German missionaries in their 
 native wilds, — began about this time to yield 
 fruit in baptized converts. In 1875 Rev. A. K. 
 Gurney joined the mission at Sibsagor. 
 
 From October, 1874, to April, 1876, 104 
 Garos were baptized, and added to the different 
 churches. At the second annual meeting of 
 the Garo Association, in 1875, two hundred dele- 
 gates were present, " The Four Gospels had been 
 rendered by Mr. Keith into the Garo language. 
 Many of the people from distant villages sent 
 
LA TES T INTELLIGENCE. 1 7 1 
 
 to the missionaries, asking for some one to teach 
 them the way of life. 
 
 Tura, the residence of Mr. Phillips, is, for 
 various reasons, a station of considerable im- 
 portance. The station was begun in Novem- 
 ber, 1876. A native convert proposed, after the 
 labors of the day were over, to gather the people 
 at one of their houses every evening to worship 
 God. During the year 1876, thirty-eight were 
 baptized at Gowahati ; several were candidates 
 for the ordinance on the Garo Hills, and twenty 
 in the out-stations. The Kohl work near Sibsa- 
 gor was very encouraging : the church at that 
 station numbered seventy-four gf this tribe. A 
 church was formed at Tura in 1877, and in the 
 Garo Association there was a total of 617 mem- 
 bers. The spirit of Christian sympathy towards 
 their fellow-Christians, the Teloogoos, dying by 
 famine, prompted them to make a collection for 
 their wants, as did the churches of Macedonia.for 
 the poor at Jerusalem. Another native Garo, 
 formerly a priest, was ordained, in connection 
 with the Association. The same day six candi- 
 dates were baptized, — one of them a woman, 
 who had been a believer several years, but sub- 
 ject to persecution from her husband. She now 
 asked for baptism, notwithstanding his threat to 
 cast her off. Her love to her husband, mani- 
 fested by her desire for his conversion, was very 
 impressive ; but her love to Christ was greater. 
 There are eight ordained Garo preachers and 
 two Kohl preachers. A monthly periodical, the 
 **Orunodoi" (The Rising Day), has been pub- 
 lished since 1846 by the missionaries. A new 
 
172 MISSION TO ASSAM. 
 
 station has been opened at Dibrugor, and Dr. 
 Bronson has removed thither. 
 
 The latest intelligence gives seven stations in 
 the mission to Assam, where American mis- 
 sionaries reside ; 13 churches; 1,058 members ; 
 10 ordained and 31 unordained native preachers ; 
 442 pupils in schools. Baptized last year in con- 
 nection with Gowalpara, 132; Tura, 6; Gowa- 
 hati, 93; Nowgong, 8; Sibsagor, 11 : total, 250. 
 
 The mission in Assam has been sustained 
 forty-three years, — a little more than a genera- 
 tion of men. It has conveyed the gospel to 
 tribe after tribe in the hills and on the plains 
 adjoining the Brahmaputra. The lives of valued 
 men and women have been sacrificed in the 
 enterprise, and the work is still unfinished. But 
 who can contemplate what has been accom- 
 plished in the history of "souls renewed and 
 sins forgiven," in disciples partly living, and 
 partly gone home to heaven, renovated, elevated, 
 instructed, comforted, sanctified, saved, and in 
 the revenues of glory brought to the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, and not say, " The work, with its results, 
 is worth all it has cost " ? 
 
No. XII. 
 
 MISSION IN SIAM. 
 
 The First Missionary in Siam. — Geography of Bangkok. — The 
 First Baptism. — The Chinese Work in Bangkok. — Dr. Dean and 
 other Re-enforcements. — The' First Church Organized. — Death 
 of Mr. Slafter. — Progress and Mystery. — The New Testament in 
 Siamese. — Arrival of Mr. Ashmore. — Death of Dr. Jones. — 
 Tokens of Growth. — Another Early Summons. — A Year of Re- 
 freshing, — The Siamese Work Suspended. — Changes in the Mis- 
 sion. — Remarkable Ingathering. — Latest Intelligence. — Review. 
 
 THE first mission in Asia undertaken by 
 the American Baptists, after the mission 
 in Burmah, was the mission in Siam. The first 
 missionary of the Baptist General Convention 
 to Siam was Rev. John Taylor Jones. He was 
 originally designated to Burmah, and arrived in 
 Maulmain in February, 1831 ; and had already 
 made such attainments in the language of Bur- 
 mah, that he was able to preach to the people in 
 their own tongue. But he was set apart by the 
 choice of his brethren to commence a mission 
 in Siam ; and, taking passage for that country 
 by way of Penang and Singapore, he arrived in 
 Bangkok March 25, 1833. 
 
 Bangkok is the capital of Siam, but only a 
 small portion of the population is composed of 
 
 ^73 
 
174 MISSION IN SI AM, 
 
 Siamese people. The principal races in the city, 
 besides the Siamese, are the Chinese and Bur- 
 mans. The city is twenty-five miles from the 
 sea, on the river Meinam, "mother of waters." 
 The river is two miles wide at its mouth, but less 
 than half a mile wide at Bangkok, which covers 
 an island in the river, and extends along both 
 shores, several miles, above and below. The 
 population of the city is variously estimated. 
 Dr. Malcom set it down at about 100,000; Gutz- 
 laff at 410,000; Tomlin estimated the Siamese 
 population at 8,000 ; Abeel thought the priests 
 alone numbered 10,000. Of the entire popula- 
 tion of the city, Gutzlaff' estimated the Chinese 
 
 at 350.000- 
 
 The religion of Siam is Buddhism. In this 
 respect, the different races are on the same foot- 
 ing. They all have the same idolatry, and are 
 alike ignorant of the true God. The previous 
 residence of Mr. and Mrs. Jones in Burmah 
 prepared them to be useful at once to the Bur- 
 mese people in the city ; and they embraced 
 every opportunity to tell them of the way of 
 salvation. During the period after they left 
 Maul main, and before they reached Bangkok, 
 they had become somewhat acquainted with the 
 Siamese language, having studied it, with the 
 aid of such teachers as they could find, much of 
 the time for a period of six months. 
 
 Mr. Jones sat down to his solitary work of 
 perfecting his knowledge of the language of the 
 Siamese, at the same time making known the 
 gospel message to other races also, as he had 
 opportunity, and to the Chinese through the 
 
ARRIVAL OF DR. DEAN. 175 
 
 Siamese. He did not labor lone: without seeino: 
 some fruit. The Lord's Supper was adminis- 
 tered for the first time in Bangkok, Dec. i, 1833 J 
 Mr. Jones and his wife being the only communi- 
 cants. A week later, Dec. 8, the first baptism 
 was administered. The candidates were three 
 in number, all Chinese, and all men. 
 
 At so early a period in the work, considerable 
 progress had been already made in the prepara- 
 tion of a Siamese dictionary, as a help to future 
 missionaries. In this work Mrs. Jones was an 
 important helper, devoting much time for a 
 whole year in arranging and copying the mate- 
 rials. The Chinese work seemed to be thrust 
 upon the mission from the beginning. But Mr. 
 Jones steadily devoted himself to laboring for 
 the Siamese. Notwithstanding, a little assem- 
 bly of a dozen Chinese was accustomed to meet 
 at his house for worship, led by Bunti, one of 
 the Chinese converts baptized. They had the 
 Bible in Chinese, and several tracts, which were 
 freely distributed. Mr. Jones had completed in 
 September, 1833, a catechism on geography and 
 astronomy in Siamese, besides translating into 
 that language a small Burman tract containing 
 a summary of Christian doctrines. 
 
 In 1834 Rev. William Dean and wife joined 
 the mission. This was the commencement of 
 the Chinese department ; and Mr. Dean was the 
 first foreigner who ever studied the Tie Chiu 
 dialect, which is the dialect chiefly spoken by 
 the Chinese of Bangkok. He first preached in 
 that language in August, 1835, to an audience 
 of thirty-four. In two months the congregation 
 
1 76 MISSION IN SI AM. 
 
 increased to fifty. Three more Chinese con- 
 verts were baptized in December, 1835 ; and one 
 of those baptized at the first time of the admin- 
 istration of the ordinance died in Christian 
 triumph in March, 1836, — the first-fruits of the 
 Chinese in Bangkok to Christ. In the mean 
 time, Messrs. Alanson Reed and J. L. Shuck 
 had been appointed missionaries to the Chinese 
 of Siam, and sailed from Boston in September, 
 1835, reaching Bangkok July i, 1836. Mr. 
 Reed in March, 1837, took a floating house on 
 the river, and established a new centre foi 
 Christian worship two miles above Bangkok, 
 from which many excursions were made, and 
 many tracts distributed. But his labors were of 
 brief duration. On the 29tlT of August, only 
 five months after the commencement of this 
 enterprise, he was called to put off the harness 
 and to wear the celestial crown. He died at 
 Bangkok at the early age of thirty years. The 
 same month Mr. Shuck was transferred to the 
 empire of China, and commenced a mission in 
 Macao, which, in March, 1842, was transferred 
 to Hong Kong. 
 
 Mr. Davenport, a preacher and printer, ar- 
 rived in Bangkok in July, 1836, to join the 
 mission, bringing with him presses and types 
 in both Siamese and Chinese. He labored in 
 Siam about nine years, and then returned to this 
 country on account of impaired health ; and died 
 of disease contracted during his mission life, 
 Nov. 24, 1848, aged thirty-nine years. 
 
 By March, 1837, Mr. Jones had made some 
 progress in translating the New Testament into 
 
DEATH OF MR. SLAFTER. 177 
 
 Siamese, portions of which were printed and in 
 circulation. A sheet tract containing the Ten 
 Commandments was printed, to be pasted on 
 the walls of the houses of the people, after the 
 national custom. On the ist of July, 1837, 
 during the visit of Rev. Mr. Malcom, the first 
 church was formed in Bangkok. The occasion 
 was one of rare interest. The actors, the cir- 
 cumstances, the surroundings, the memories 
 and associations of the past, the hopes and 
 promises and at the same time the uncertainty 
 of the future, made the scene one never to be 
 forgotten. 
 
 In the year 1839 Rev. Josiah Goddard was 
 added to the Chinese department of the mis- 
 sion, and Rev. C. H. Slafter to the Siamese. 
 A chapel was built, and three Chinese were 
 added to the church by baptism. The attend- 
 ance on Chinese worship was about twenty, and 
 on the Siamese, from thirty to fifty. Mr. Slafter 
 carried with him to Siam a second printing- 
 press. Up to this date more than forty thou- 
 sand copies of different works had been printed, 
 embracing nearly a million pages. An English 
 and Siamese school was taught by Mrs. Daven- 
 port ; and a small Chinese school by Mrs. Dean, 
 Mrs. Reed, and others. 
 
 Mr. Slafter's missionary life was soon ended. 
 He reached Bangkok Aug. 22, 1839; and died 
 April 7, 1840, aged twenty-nine. His widow, 
 after an intervening marriage, became the wife 
 of Dr. Dean, and still lives, a loving and effi- 
 cient worker in the cause of missions. The 
 brief service which Mr. Slafter was permitted 
 
1 78 MISSION IN SIAM. 
 
 to render to the missionary enterprise is one of 
 the mysteries of Divine Providence, concerning 
 which we are compelled to say, " We know not 
 now, but we shall know hereafter." 
 
 In October, 1839, three more Chinese con- 
 verts were baptized, making the native members 
 nine, and the whole church, including mission- 
 aries, seventeen. The New Testament in Si- 
 amese was completed, except Hebrews and 
 Revelation, in December of this year; and in 
 1840 fifty -eight thousand copies were dis- 
 tributed. 
 
 In 1 841 another step was taken in advance. 
 Besides the baptism of six Chinese and one 
 Siamese, a class in theology was formed by Dr. 
 Dean ; and thus a beginning was made of train- 
 ing native Chinese preachers to aid in the work 
 of preaching the gospel to their countrymen. 
 But in February, 1842, — so precarious are the 
 plans of men under the mysterious operations 
 of Divine Providence, — on account of impaired 
 health Dr. Dean removed to Hong Kong ; and, 
 except for a brief visit in aid of Dr. Jones in 
 1850, he returned no more as a Christian laborer 
 to Bangkok till 1864. 
 
 Near the close of 1843, Mr. J. H. Chandler, 
 a printer and machinist, joined the missionary 
 force, after a short residence in Maulmain, and 
 served the Union thirteen years. He was a 
 deacon of the Chinese church, and a man of great 
 mechanical genius. Though not a preacher, his 
 influence in Siam was very important. Siam 
 at that time had a king and princes of intelli- 
 gence and culture, who understood the advan- 
 
THE NEW TESTAMENT IN SIAMESE, 179 
 
 tages of modern improvements, and desired 
 their introduction into the kingdom. One of 
 the princes was in constant intercourse with 
 Mr. Chandler; and the latter both instructed 
 him, and aided him in carrying out his projected 
 improvements. A printing-office on his prem- 
 ises and a steamboat in the river Meinam were 
 among the fruits of this enlightened spirit in 
 the palace. Mr. Chandler was able by his 
 mechanical skill to give a stimulus to the nation 
 in a new direction, which in the end will un- 
 doubtedly help the cause of Christianity. 
 
 In 1844 the missionaries travelled several 
 miles into the interior to distribute tracts. They 
 made arrangements to commence an out-station 
 some miles away from Bangkok. About this 
 time a house and land were purchased in Bang- 
 kok for aged, poor, and sick members of the 
 church. Thus religion bore its legitimate fruit. 
 The same year the New Testament in Siamese, 
 by Dr. Jones, was finished and published. But 
 the next year mission-work in the Siamese 
 department was suspended, on account of the 
 absence of Dr. Jones, who found it necessary 
 to revisit his native land. Mr. and Mrs. Daven- 
 port, also in impaired health, were obliged to 
 relinquish the mission. Mr. and Mrs. Jencks 
 joined the mission Dec. 14, 1846, but made 
 only a brief stay on account of the feebleness 
 of Mrs. Jencks, who died a year afterwards on 
 the passage home. Some attention was given 
 to compiling a Tie Chiu dictionary for the bene- 
 fit of present and future missionaries. Calls for 
 religious tracts became more numerous, an un- 
 
l8o MISSION IN SI AM, 
 
 usual number of which went into the families 
 of princes and nobles. About seventy copies 
 found their way into the family of one of the 
 highest princes, who sent his servant every 
 Sabbath for a long time to obtain them. The 
 Chinese hearers at the chapel now numbered 
 from thirty to forty-five. 
 
 In March, 1848, Mr. Goddard removed to 
 Ningpo, in China, and commenced a mission 
 there, which still lives, — the son now having in 
 efficient charge the work which his father effi- 
 ciently began. Mr, Goddard was a missionary 
 in Bangkok eight years, and in Ningpo six, — a 
 man of good report, and still spoken of in China 
 with honor. 
 
 Miss Harriet H. Morse, who had been pre- 
 viously connected with an Indian mission near 
 Lake Superior, joined the mission Feb. 18, 
 1848, specially to labor in the Siamese depart- 
 ment. She did excellent service till January, 
 1855, when failing health compelled her to 
 return to America. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Ashmore joined the mission in 
 April, 185 1, and remained in connection with 
 it nearly seven years. Mr. Ashmore has since 
 been a most efficient and trusted missionary at 
 Swatow, in China. The native church now 
 began to understand and practise the grace of 
 liberality. In 1848-49 they supported the prin- 
 cipal native assistant entirely for the year, be- 
 sides sustaining two schools, in part, more than 
 six months. In 1850 the assistant died, and 
 Dr. Dean returned for a few months from 
 Hong Kong to Bangkok. The church num- 
 
DEATH OF DR. JONES. i8l 
 
 bered thirty-five members, of whom thirty were 
 native believers. 
 
 A great calamity now befell the mission. 
 Jan. 4, 185 1, the buildings and property of the 
 mission were entirely destroyed by fire, involv- 
 ing a loss of from ten to fifteen thousand dol- 
 lars. And still another disaster : in September 
 of this year Dr. Jones died, the father of the 
 mission. He was an excellent and highly hon- 
 ored missionary, and won the respect and es- 
 teem of the Siamese court. His knowledge of 
 the language is said to have been wonderfully 
 extensive and accurate, and the testimony of 
 some of the best-educated of the people was 
 that in this respect few natives could equal him. 
 
 This year a decree was issued, tolerating 
 Christian worship and missionary itineracy. 
 By invitation of the king, the female members 
 of the mission visited the palace daily, to in- 
 struct the ladies of the court in English. The 
 contributions of the church were equal to one 
 dollar per member. 
 
 In 1853 eight Siamese converts were bap- 
 tized. In 1854 Mr. Chandler, who had been 
 temporarily in America, returned to the mis- 
 sion, and Rev. Robert Telford was added to the 
 laborers. He did faithful service for ten years, 
 and returned to the United States in 1864, on 
 account of the failure of Mrs. Telford's health. 
 After the death of Dr. Jones, Rev. S. J. Smith, 
 born in Hindostan, and who had been associ- 
 ated with Dr. Jones for several years, having 
 been appointed a missionary in 1848, married 
 the widow of Dr. Jones, and has ever since 
 
1 82 MISSION IN SI AM, 
 
 been helpful in the Siamese work. Mrs. Smith, 
 being familiar with the language, taught a 
 boarding-school of forty-two pupils in 1857 at 
 private charges. The next year her pupils 
 numbered sixty-six ; the Bible and religious 
 works were the principal text-books. Mr. 
 Smith, as interpreter for the Siamese govern- 
 ment, and owning an extensive printing-estab- 
 lishment, bears his own expenses, and labors as 
 he has opportunity in the gospel, without being 
 any longer dependent on the funds of the Union. 
 
 A second place of public worship was opened 
 in 1859, and in i860 there was a period of 
 special religious interest. The native members 
 formed a " Society for the Diffusion of the 
 Religion of Jesus," which supported one col- 
 porter. 
 
 In 1 86 1 a new chapel was erected, and more 
 than two thousand dollars were subscribed to- 
 wards the building by the first and second 
 kings, nobles, princes, &g. In 1863 the Chi- 
 nese church, by the departure of Mr. Telford, 
 was left without a missionary. The Chinese 
 church then numbered thirteen, and the Siamese 
 twenty-eight. Since that time, no missionary 
 has been sent from this country to labor in the 
 Siamese department. 
 
 In August, 1864, Rev. Cyrus A. Chilcott 
 sailed from New York to join the Chinese mis- 
 sion in Bangkok. High hopes were centred in 
 his coming. Young, ardent, gifted, it was easy 
 to anticipate for him many years of usefulness. 
 But God seeth not as man seeth. In just one 
 year and five days his labors on earth were 
 
A YEAR OF REFRESHING. 183 
 
 ended, and he was called to higher service. 
 Miss Fielde, his betrothed, left this country to 
 join him, eleven days before his death. No tele- 
 gram could reach her in mid-ocean, and she 
 learned her loss only on her arrival in China. 
 But she remained a faithful and devoted mis- 
 sionary for several years in Bangkok, and since 
 that time in connection with the mission at 
 Swatow, in China. Dr. Dean returned, after 
 several years' absence, to Bangkok, and Miss 
 Fielde labored under his direction. 
 
 In the report of 1867 is a mingled wail of 
 sadness and song of hope. The work, though 
 feeble, was, in the judgment of Dr. Dean, wor- 
 thy to be cherished and carried forward. Since 
 the church was organized, in 1837, fifty-one 
 Chinese had been baptized. Much preparatory 
 work had been done, and there was sufficient 
 ground to labor on in hope. God "himself 
 knew what he would do" — as the sequel will 
 prove. 
 
 Rev. William M. Lisle and wife joined the 
 mission, full of hope, in January, 1868 ; but he 
 was almost immediately prostrated by disease, 
 and compelled to flee for his life to his native 
 land. The next year, 1869, the mission was 
 re-enforced by Rev. S. B. and Mrs. Partridge.- 
 Mr. Partridge had been a signal-officer of great 
 bravery during the war of the Rebellion, and 
 was fitted to do valiant service for Christ. He 
 came at the right time. The year preceding 
 had been a year of precious ingathering, such 
 as the mission had never seen, and forty-five 
 Chinese converts were baptized, — a number 
 
1 84 MISSION IN SI AM. 
 
 equal to all that had been baptized during the 
 preceding thirty years of the mission. Many 
 of these conv^erts resided at the out-stations, 
 and they were the garnered fruit of the labors 
 of many missionaries now departed or fallen 
 asleep. The year 1868 was also a year of rich 
 blessing. Two chapels were dedicated, and two 
 churches organized at the out-stations. 
 
 In 1869 the work for the specific benefit of 
 the Siamese was suspended, for the reasons 
 that no very satisfactory results of labor had 
 been reported for several years, the work for 
 the Chinese in Bangkok was far more encoura- 
 ging, and other fields of more promise claimed 
 all the funds that were at the command of the 
 Committee. Notwithstanding, through the pres- 
 ent Mrs. Dean and Mr. and Mrs. S. J. Smith, 
 all of whom understand the Siamese language, 
 seed has continued to be sown among the people 
 of that race, in the hope that it may be watched 
 over by the Divine Spirit, and by and by bring 
 forth fruit unto eternal life. 
 
 In 1 871 Miss Fielde was transferred to the 
 station at Swatow. In 1872 the question was 
 suggested by the Executive Committee, whether 
 it was expedient to maintain a mission for the 
 Chinese at Bangkok, instead of concentrating 
 the efforts of the brethren on some spot in the 
 great empire of China itself. Dr. Dean, with 
 his knowledge and wide and long experience, 
 favored the continuance of the work in Bang- 
 kok. Mr. Partridge, however, was transferred 
 to Swatow four years from the time he began 
 his work ; and Dr. Dean was left alone, with 
 
REMARKABLE INGATHERING. 185 
 
 his family, in Bangkok, in charge of the Chi- 
 nese department. Mrs. Dean, who learned the 
 Siamese language in the earlier period of her 
 residence in Siam, continued to teach the 
 women and children of that race; and in 1872 
 two of the former were baptized. The number 
 of members on the roll of the three churches 
 was seventy-eight ; but the lamp burned some- 
 what dimly. However, in the year 1873, thirty 
 were baptized, and three or four young men 
 were instructed in a theological class, with ref- 
 erence to future usefulness as preachers of the 
 gospel. 
 
 The year 1874 was the most remarkable in 
 the entire history of the mission. All the out- 
 stations received large additions by baptism, as 
 well as Bangkok ; two new churches were con- 
 stituted, two chapels were finished, and a 
 pastor ordained. The spirit of inquiry was 
 awakened among the Siamese : the women, and 
 even Buddhist priests, came to Mrs. Dean for 
 instruction. Many others abandoned idolatry, 
 and asked for baptism, professing their purpose 
 to lead Christian lives. When we hear of 
 eleven baptized at one station, seventeen at 
 another, twenty-five at a third, and eighty-four 
 at a fourth, we cannot forbear to exclaim, "What 
 hath God wrought ! " The additions by baptism 
 to all the churches were one hundred and forty. 
 The pastor's heart was made glad, like Simeon's 
 in the temple. The work continued into the 
 next year, and ninety more were baptized, mak- 
 ing the whole number three hundred and seven- 
 teen. The following is a summary of Dr 
 
1 86 MISSION IN SI AM. 
 
 Dean's labors up Fo the year 1876. In his 
 forty years of service, Dr. Dean has gathered 
 six Chinese churches, superintended the build- 
 ing of four Chinese chapels, ordained three 
 Chinese pastors, besides training two who were 
 ordained by others, and baptized three hundred 
 and thirty-nine Chinese disciples, of whom 
 twelve became preachers of the gospel. 
 
 The year 1876 indicated a natural re-action 
 after so great a blessing. This year also Dr. 
 Dean made another brief visit to his native 
 land ; and his absence was evidently felt by the 
 people, who, notwithstanding the presence of 
 their native pastors, were as sheep without a 
 shepherd. 
 
 In 1877 we find a report of six churches, 418 
 members, and 61 baptized during the year. At 
 one of the out-stations 24 were baptized, and 80 
 sat down together at the Lord's Supper. Every 
 one of the newly baptized gave his contribution 
 towards a new chapel about to be built. At 
 another out-station, seven were baptized, and 
 another chapel in the place of one that had 
 been burned was projected. The pastor was 
 a Chinese convert, the first baptized at that 
 point. A very effective force of native preach- 
 ers is being raised up ; one of the native preach- 
 ers is supported by the church, another by 
 Dr. Dean. There are seven chapels, two or- 
 dained and six unordained native preachers, six 
 churches, and five out-stations. The Chinese 
 work in Bangkok is apparently crystallizing into 
 permanent form, and with an increase of labor- 
 ers it would be even more fruitful. 
 
REVIEW. 187 
 
 Singularly enough the Government of Siam 
 has arrayed itself in favor of the religion of 
 Christ. A proclamation was issued in October, 
 1878, of which the following is an extract : — 
 
 "Whoever is of the opinion that any particular reli- 
 gion is correct, let him hold to it as he pleases : the right 
 or wrong will be to the person who holds to it. In the 
 treaties and in the customs of the kingdom of Siam, 
 there is no prohibition against persons who shall hold 
 to any particular religion. If any one is of the opinion 
 that the religion of the Lord Jesus is good, let him hold 
 to it freely. 
 
 " Whenever there is government work, persons who 
 hold to the religion of the Lord Jesus must perform it. 
 No religion is henceforth allowed to interfere in govern- 
 ment work. Whoever shall hold to any system of reli- 
 gion, let him do so freely. Let no Phraya Lao, Taosaan, 
 or common person, being a relative or a master of a per- 
 son holding to the religion of the Lord Jesus, interfere in 
 any affair which that religion does not permit or allow 
 to be done, as worshipping spirits, feasting spirits, and 
 various employments on Sunday. Let there be no com- 
 pulsion or constraint to practise or to do any thing of the 
 kind : it is absolutely forbidden. Only war and business 
 of absolute importance are excepted. At such times they 
 must serve on Sunday, but let there be no impositions." 
 
 The mission to the people of Bangkok has 
 been full of vicissitudes ; and the residence of 
 the missionaries there has been, generally, of 
 brief duration. Dr. Jones, the first resident at 
 the station, was there eighteen years ; Dr. Dean 
 has labored there twenty-two years ; Mr. Daven- 
 port and Mr. Telford, nine years each ; Mr. God- 
 dard, seven and a half ; Dr. Ashmore and Miss 
 Morse, seven years each ; Miss Ficldc, six years ; 
 Mr. Partridge, four years ; Mr. Chilcott, one 
 
1 88 MISSION IN SI AM. 
 
 year ; Mr. Slafter, less than eight months ; Mr. 
 Reed, five months ; and Mr. Lisle was forced to 
 return home immediately after his arrival. Dr. 
 Jones, Messrs. Davenport, Goddard, Chilcott, 
 Slafter, and Reed, are dead ; Dr. Ashmore, Mr. 
 Partridge and wife, and Miss Fielde, were trans- 
 ferred to China. 
 
 The history of this mission illustrates the na- 
 ture of the pilgrim-life of missionaries, moving 
 hither and thither like shepherds* tents ; the 
 long and discouraging labors which often seem 
 of little avail ; and the manner in which, at his 
 *' set time," God interposes, and the seed, long 
 buried, springs to life, and brings forth fruit. 
 
 Dr. Dean wrote, some time since, in this 
 strain : " The cause is the Lord's, and his work 
 is soon to prevail, however much may be the 
 trial to our faith and patience. The everlasting 
 God, Jehovah, fainteth not, neither is weary: 
 therefore we need not faint.'* 
 
No. XIII. 
 
 MISSION TO THE TELOOGOOS. 
 
 Geography. — Preparatory Work. — The Mission begun. — The 
 Work in Madras. — The Station at Nellore. — Re-enforcement. — 
 Church constituted. — The Missionaries return Home. — Shall the 
 Mission be relinquished ? — Mr. Jewett joins the Mission. — " The 
 Lone Star." — Re-enforcement. — The Lonely Prayer-Meetinj. — 
 Revival. — The Young Surveyor. — The Missionary at Ongole. — 
 A Vigorous Advance. — New Churches and Helpers. — " Four Men 
 for the Teloogoos." — On a New Key. — Theological Seminary. — 
 Church at Alloor. — New Blessings. — Days of Darkness. — Faith's 
 Predictions. — The Famine. — The New Pentecost. — Present 
 State of the Mission. — Faith's Victory. 
 
 THE Teloogoos number about eighteen mil- 
 lions, and are found in a territory extend- 
 ing along the western coast of the Bay of Bengal, 
 six or seven hundred miles in length from north 
 to south, and reaching from the coast inland a 
 distance of three or four hundred miles from 
 east to west. The places most frequently men- 
 tioned in this sketch are Nellore, one hundred 
 and ten miles north of Madras, and one thou- 
 sand miles from Calcutta ; Ongole, seventy-three 
 miles north of Nellore ; Ramapatam, forty-five 
 miles from Nellore, and intermediate between 
 the two former, and all three on the coast or 
 within a few miles of it ; Masulipatam, Cocona- 
 da, and Vizigapatam, north-east of Ongole, and 
 
 189 
 
190 MISSION TO THE TELOOGOOS. 
 
 in the order in which they are here written. 
 Secunderabad is north-west of Nellore, being in 
 the interior of India, and two hundred and sev- 
 enty miles from Ongole. 
 
 The Teloogoos, though a distinct people, yet, 
 like the Jews, are a nation without a country, 
 having no territory which they can call their 
 own. Besides the densely -peopled regions 
 where they chiefly dwell, they are found in con. 
 siderable numbers in all the towns and cities of 
 Southern India, and many individuals push their 
 way across the Bay of Bengal into Burmah and 
 other kingdoms. From one-sixth to one-half of 
 the people of Madras are said to be Teloogoos. 
 Several of them are found in Burmah, and some 
 of them have embraced the gospel in Rangoon, 
 Their language, though difficult of acquisition, 
 is wonderfully smooth and sweet, so that it is 
 often called the Italian of India. 
 
 The largest city of the Teloogoos is Masuli- 
 patam, which has a population of eighty thou- 
 sand. The other leading cities are Nellore, 
 Guntoor, Vizigapatam, Chicacole, Berhampore, 
 and Ganjam, numbering from twelve thousand 
 to twenty thousand each. 
 
 Their religion is Brahminism. Caste prevails 
 among the Teloogoos, which puts impassable 
 barriers between the different classes of society, 
 and is a serious hinderance to the progress of 
 Christianity. 
 
 The attention of American Baptists was first 
 directed to the Teloogoos in 1835, by the Rev. 
 Amos Sutton, a missionary in Orissa, a province 
 which lies north of Madras. Mr. Sutton had 
 
THE MISSION BEGUN. 191 
 
 married Mrs. Colman, widow of Rev. James 
 Colman, one of our earliest missionaries to Bur« 
 mah, and who had remained in India after the 
 death of her husband. Thus an indirect rela- 
 tion seemed to subsist between the earliest 
 work of American Baptists in Burmah, and the 
 mission to the Teloogoos. 
 
 The London Missionary Society sent mission- 
 aries in 1805 to the Teloogoos, — the earliest 
 mission of that Society in India ; but the enter- 
 prise was attended with little or no success, and 
 was practically abandoned. A . grammar and 
 dictionary of the language, however, were pre- 
 pared, and the Serampore missionaries trans- 
 lated the entire Bible into Teloogoo : the New 
 Testament and portions of the Old were printed 
 between 181 7 and 1821. Teloogoo hymns and 
 a translation of " Pilgrim's Progress " were 
 printed later. 
 
 At the triennial meeting of the Baptist Gen- 
 eral Convention in Richmond, in April, 1835, 
 the Board were authorized to '' establish new mis- 
 sions in every unoccupied field where there was 
 a reasonable prospect of success." Encour- 
 aged by this direction, the Board decided to 
 comply with the recommendation of Mr. Sut- 
 ton, and to establish a mission among the 
 Teloogoos. 
 
 It was on the 20th of September, 1835, that 
 Rev. Samuel S. Day and wife, and Rev. Elisha 
 L. Abbott, received their public instructions as 
 missionaries to the Teloogoos ; and two days 
 afterwards they sailed from Boston in company 
 with Rev. Dr. Malcom and a large number of 
 
192 MISSION TO THE TELOOGOOS, 
 
 missionaries to the East, among whom was Rev. 
 Amos Sutton. On their arrival in Calcutta in 
 February, 1836, it was decided that Mr. Abbott 
 should join the Karen Mission in British Bur- 
 mah, whither he went immediately, and left Mr. 
 •Day to commence the Teloogoo Mission. 
 
 Mr. Day took up his residence at Vizagapa- 
 tam, one of the principal cities of the Teloogoo 
 people, engaged a Brahmin for his teacher, and 
 commenced the study of the language ; but in 
 August, 1836, he removed to Chicacole, and 
 there began direct efforts for the evangelization 
 of the people. Schools were established ; and 
 strangers came from a distance of thirty or 
 forty miles, to inquire about the new religion. 
 In a tour of one hundred and twenty miles into 
 the interior, Mr. Day visited forty towns and 
 villages, and found many of them inviting fields 
 of labor, though in several of them a missionary, 
 or even a native Christian, had never been seen 
 before. 
 
 In the following March, 1837, Madras was 
 fixed upon as the seat of the mission. Three 
 schools were established ; a native preacher from 
 Berhampore, who accompanied Mr. Day, main- 
 tained public worship in Teloogoo ; and Mr. 
 Day preached to the British residents in Eng- 
 lish. Many tracts and portions of Scripture 
 were distributed among the native population 
 of the higher and middle classes ; and it was 
 found that a large portion of the people, espe- 
 cially the males, were able to read. A church 
 was organized, consisting of sixteen members, 
 English, Eurasians, Hindoos, and Burmans, with 
 
THE STATION AT NELLORE. 193 
 
 a branch at Bellary, where there was a branch 
 of the Maulmain English Church, composed of 
 soldiers of the regiment stationed there. 
 
 But Mr. Day felt the importance of having a 
 location where he could exert a more direct 
 influence on the Teloogoos. Notwithstanding 
 all his efforts and all his success hitherto, not a 
 Teloogoo had yet embraced Christ. Congrega- 
 tions of from twenty-five to a hundred gathered 
 around him in the street ; but they met the 
 preaching of the gospel with the same objec- 
 tions which Carey had encountered nearly half 
 a century before. They circulated evil and 
 false reports, hoping to abridge or destroy his 
 influence. Once, while he was preaching at a 
 festival, blows were used : he was severely 
 beaten, driven back through a narrow street, 
 and barely escaped being trampled to death. 
 
 Just at this time a native assistant, a Tamil 
 man from Nellore, a place inhabited wholly 
 by Teloogoos, called the attention of Mr. Day 
 to this inviting field ; and in 1840 Mr. Day re- 
 moved thither with his family. Shortly after- 
 wards, Rev. Stephen Van Husen and wife 
 joined the mission ; and on the 27th of Sep- 
 tember, 1840, Mr. Day baptized the first Chris- 
 tian convert from among the Teloogoos. A 
 compound of eight acres was obtained, and a 
 mission-house and zayat were built. The church 
 at Madras, left without a leader, in due time 
 ceased to exist ; but some of its members joined 
 a church a few miles distant from the city. 
 
 In 1842 two assistants were under instruc- 
 tion, and several natives gave evidence of 
 
194 MISSION TO Tim TELOOGOOS. 
 
 conversion. In 1843 three more were bap- 
 tized, one a Teloogoo woman, and another of 
 Teloogoo extraction. Oct. 12, 1844, a church 
 was constituted in Nellore, of eight members, 
 including the missionaries and their wives. 
 The schools of the mission were prosperous ; 
 and many parents were willing to have their 
 children attend, who would not admit a niis- 
 sionary into their houses. In the mean time, 
 much preaching was done in the highways and 
 at the corners of the streets. The parents 
 visited the schools, where they heard more or 
 less of gospel truth. The seed was sown 
 among the people ; and, though there was no 
 marked attention, the servants of God had 
 learned to labor and wait in patience and hope. 
 But, in the year 1845, both the missionaries 
 were compelled by failing health to retire from 
 the mission ; and it was left without any Ameri- 
 can head for more than three years. Mr. Van 
 Husen reached this country in October, and 
 never resumed the mission-work in India. He 
 died in Brattleborough, Vt., in December, 1854, 
 aged forty-two. The same month that Mr. Van 
 Husen arrived in the United States, Mr. Day 
 was completely prostrated, and arrived home in 
 June, 1846. So sudden and severe was the sick- 
 ness of Mr. Day, that he was unable to make any 
 provision for the continuance of the work at 
 Nellore. The mission property, the schools 
 and the little church, embracing only two Teloo- 
 goo converts, were taken in charge by a Eura- 
 sian preacher, aided by two native Christians. 
 It was a time for unbelief to triumph, and to 
 
SHALL THE MISSION BE RELINQUISHED? 195 
 
 cry, " Ten years of missionary labor, and this is 
 all the fruit ! " 
 
 At the annual meeting of the Union the ques- 
 tion came up for debate, " Shall the Teloogoo 
 Mission be abandoned, or shall it be continued 
 and re-enforced ? " Many lacked faith and cour- 
 age, and were inclined to abandon it, and ex- 
 pend the funds of the churches on more promis- 
 ing fields. And perhaps it was only the melting 
 eloquence of Dr. Judson, who was providentially 
 present, during his visit to this country, that 
 saved it. God had honored him already. He 
 honored him now again, as the sequel will 
 show. When he stood up before that vast 
 audience, scarcely able to utter a word so as to 
 be heard, but with his pleading countenance 
 interceded for the mission, saying, '* I would 
 cheerfully, at my age, cross the Bay of Bengal, 
 and learn a new language, rather than lift up 
 my hand for the abandonment of this work," — 
 it was a scene and a plea not to be resisted. 
 Many a tearful eye looked up to heaven with 
 new faith and consecration, and many a throb- 
 bing heart felt a new pulsation of missionary 
 zeal. Mr. Day also strenuously urged that the 
 mission should be continued and re-enforced. 
 Mr. Sutton, of Orissa, bearing'his last testimony 
 before the churches of America, and about to 
 return to his chosen field to labor and to die, 
 lifted up his voice in behalf of " the little one," 
 in confident faith that God would yet make it 
 "a strong nation." The pleas were successful, 
 for the time. It was determined, for the pres- 
 ent at least, not to advise the dissolution of the 
 
196 MISSION TO THE TE LOO GO OS. 
 
 mission, but wait for further indications of 
 Providence, leaving events to decide the policy 
 to be pursued. 
 
 In 1848 the annual meeting was held at Troy, 
 N.Y. Many still looked on the continuance of 
 the mission with doubt. Its fate trembled in 
 the balance. Shall the little one live, and be a 
 blessing to the heathen, an honor to faith, and 
 a glory to the God of missions .? Or shall its 
 untimely abandonment bring discouragement 
 to the church of Christ, a death-blow to the 
 work at Nellore, and a stain on the faith of 
 God's people ? Shall these years of labor and 
 hardship be thrown away, and the seed sown 
 never yield any fruit } Or has God better 
 things in store .'* The Committee discussed the 
 subject, and threw the responsibility on the 
 Board. The Board discussed the subject, and 
 threw the responsibility on the Union. What 
 was to be the final result } 
 
 Just then Mr. Day had so far recovered his 
 health, that he felt able to go back to his work. 
 A new missionary, Rev. Lyman Jewett, a man 
 of rare faith in God, and devotion to his service, 
 was ready and anxious to accompany Mr. Day 
 to the Teloogoo field. And the resolution was 
 passed to re-open" the mission by sending out 
 Mr. Day, and Mr. and Mrs. Jewett. They 
 sailed from Boston Oct. 10, 1848, and arrived 
 in Nellore April 16, 1849. There were soon 
 two hundred and fifty children in mission- 
 schools, and a Sabbath school of two hundred. 
 Mr. Jewett preached his first Teloogoo sermon 
 in the chapel, Dec. 3, 1849, only eight months 
 
" THE LONE star:' 197 
 
 after his arrival. The brethren visited three 
 heathen festivals that year, where from thirty- 
 thousand to forty thousand were gathered, 
 many of whom heard the word of life. The 
 next year there was daily preaching in the 
 streets, and full fifty thousand must have had 
 set before them the way of salvation. Tracts 
 were eagerly received, and very few were de- 
 stroyed, and two females were converted. The 
 audiences in the chapel numbered, in 185 1, from 
 forty to one hundred and fifty. There were 
 three native assistants, and thousands of copies 
 of portions of the Scriptures were given away. 
 One only was baptized, but there were some 
 inquirers. 
 
 In 1853 Mr. Day, again disabled, returned 
 to this country, leaving Mr. Jewett the only 
 laborer. At the anniversary meeting that year 
 in Albany, the old question of abandonment 
 came up anew. The brethren seemed to have 
 a chronic propensity to fall upon this theme. 
 Five more years had passed away, filled with 
 exhausting toil, and there was very little to 
 reward the hope of the sower. It was recom- 
 mended in the report of the two brethren who 
 had visited the mission the preceding January, 
 that the mission should be either re-enforced or 
 relinquished. The question was. Which } An 
 entire evening was devoted to the discussion. 
 "The Lone Star Mission," as it was denomi- 
 nated by one of the speakers, as being the only 
 mission of the Union on the west side of the 
 Bay of Bengal, again trembled in the balance. 
 But words of courage and faith were suoken. 
 
198 MISSION TO THE TELOOGOOS. 
 
 The writer of these " Sketches " was present, 
 and, impressed by the scenes of the evening, 
 before retiring to rest, wrote the following stan- 
 zas, on 
 
 "THE LONE STAR." 
 
 Shine on, " Lone Star ! " thy radiance bright 
 Shall spread o'er all the eastern sky; 
 
 Morn breaks apace from gloom and night; 
 Shine on, and bless the pilgrim's eye. 
 
 Shine on, " Lone Star!" I would not dim 
 The light that gleams with dubious ray : 
 
 The lonely star of Bethlehem 
 Led on a bright and glorious day. 
 
 Shine on, " Lone Star ! " in grief and tears 
 
 And sad reverses oft baptized ; 
 Shine on amid thy sister spheres : 
 
 Lone stars in heaven are not despised. 
 
 Shine on, " Lone Star ! " who lifts his hand 
 
 To dash to earth so bright a gem, 
 A new " lost pleiad " from the band 
 
 That sparkles in night's diadem ? 
 
 Shine on, " Lone Star ! " the day draws near 
 When none sliall shine more fair than thou : 
 
 Thou, born and nursed in doubt and fear, 
 Wilt glitter on Immanuel's brow. 
 
 Shine on, " Lone Star ! " till earth, redeemed, 
 
 In dust shall bid its idols fall; 
 And thousands, where thy radiance beamed. 
 
 Shall " crown the Saviour Lord of all." 
 
 The little poem, which has since been hon- 
 ored with the title of ** prophetic," was read the 
 next morning at the breakfast-table of Judge 
 
THE L ONEL V PR A YER-MEE TING. 1 9 9 
 
 Harris, the chairman of the meeting of the 
 evening before, and struck chords that vibrated 
 responsively. The conclusion had already been 
 reached. Before the meeting broke up, the 
 Board were directed " suitably to re-enforce the 
 Teloogoo Mission, provided that it can be done 
 consistently with the claims of Southern Bur- 
 mah." 
 
 That same year, 1853, Mr. Day was compelled 
 by the failure of his health again to relinquish 
 the mission ; and he returned to it again no 
 more. Mr. Jewett was left alone ; but early in 
 1855 Rev. F. A. Douglass joined the mission. 
 Efficient work was done ; and a few souls were 
 converted, and added to the church. It was in 
 1853 that Mr. and Mrs. Jewett first visited On- 
 gole, containing a population of about six thou- 
 sand, all Teloogoos. They were accompanied by 
 one of the native Christians, to aid them in mak- 
 ing known the glad tidings of the grace of God. 
 In the daytime they preached the gospel in the 
 thoroughfares of the city, where they were re- 
 viled and stoned. The work of the day having 
 been done, seemingly in vain, the three as- 
 cended a hill overlooking the town ; and there, 
 having sung a hymn, they prayed God to send 
 a missionary to Ongole. 
 
 The years roll away, with labors incessant 
 and often discouraging. A few were converted 
 and baptized. The tract ''Come to Jesus" was 
 printed, and 10,000 copies were scattered broad- 
 cast. A company of farmers in one instance 
 came from UUoor, twenty miles distant, to 
 inquire after the way of life. In 1857 came 
 
200 MISSION TO THE TELOOGOOS, 
 
 the Indian mutiny. Mr. Douglass had already 
 gone to Madras on account of the health of his 
 family, and was absent a year. On account of 
 the perilous state of the country, Mr. Jewett 
 was constrained to follow him. Two native 
 helpers died. But discouragement was not 
 alone. In the boarding-school, numbering 
 forty-five pupils, there was a Society for the pro- 
 motion of Christian education, which raised in 
 nine months, with the aid of European resi- 
 dents, one hundred and fifty dollars. A revival 
 of religion added thirteen to the church by bap- 
 tism in 1858, and five in 1859. The revival in 
 1858 was very remarkable. It was evidently 
 God's work. First, two women applied for ad- 
 mission to the church. " I felt the power of 
 the Holy Spirit coming down upon us," said 
 one of the members. " I trembled exceeding- 
 ly," said another, not a Christian. Soon after- 
 wards six converts were baptized. One of 
 them, this woman who ** trembled exceedingly," 
 said, *'My heart overflows with joy." "They 
 will soon come in crowds," said the father of 
 one of the candidates ; and soon after he came 
 himself. One morning at breakfast a woman in 
 Mr. Douglass's family began to tremble and 
 weep profusely. "No one," she said, "knows 
 the cause of my grief." Late in the night she 
 came to beg for prayers. But prayer was 
 changed to praise. There was no more sleep ; 
 and for the next ten days she went from room 
 to room, telling all she met of the preciousness 
 of Christ. In a few days her joyful experience 
 bore fruit in the conversion of two others. The 
 
REVIVAL. 20 1 
 
 next year a promising pupil in the school died 
 in Christian triumph, another Divine seal in ap- 
 proval of the labors of the mission, and a proof 
 that with such efforts God is well pleased. 
 
 Near the close of 1861, Mr. Jewett, disabled 
 by his labors and the climate, was compelled to 
 flee. First he visited Madras, then returned to 
 Nellore, then again to Ongole, and back again 
 to Madras, from which he sailed on his way 
 home in March, 1862. Before he left, Kona- 
 kiah received ordination, the first of his race to 
 be invested with this honorable trust. 
 
 At the anniversary in Providence in 1862, 
 the abandonment of the mission was again dis- 
 cussed ; by some, it was earnestly urged. But, 
 "Wait," said the secretary, ''wait, brethren. 
 Ye know not what ye are doing. Wait : let us 
 hear what brother Jewett, who is now on his 
 journey home, has to say on this question." 
 And Mr. Jewett never relaxed his confidence 
 in the God of missions. "The Lone Star 
 Mission " was precious to him beyond expres- 
 sion. With the vision of faith he beheld a day 
 breaking for the millions of that benighted 
 people. 
 
 On his arrival home Mr. Jewett was consulted. 
 He expressed his purpose, in most emphatic 
 terms, never to give up the Teloogoo Mission, 
 "Well, brother," said the secretary, "if you are 
 so resolved to return, we must send somebody 
 with you to bury you. You certainly ought to 
 have a Christian burial in that heathen land." 
 
 In the oak-openings and untilled forests of 
 Iowa, a young engineer was about this time 
 
202 MISSION TO THE TELOOGOOS. 
 
 surveying lands in the service of the United 
 States, thinking only of devoting his life to this 
 employment. But he received the anointing of 
 the Holy Ghost. God wanted him to survey 
 unknown lands for the kingdom of Jesus Christ. 
 He went to study for a season in the Burlington 
 University, Iowa, and then sailed for the land 
 of the Teloogoos. This was the Rev. John E. 
 Clough. The prayer on "prayer-meeting hill," 
 overlooking Ongole, twelve years before, was 
 answered ; and this was the missionary for On- 
 gole. 
 
 Mr. Clough remained at Nellore a short time, 
 but soon began to labor directly for the Teloo- 
 goos. Nov. 5, 1865, he baptized four converts, 
 and wrote thus hopefully of the future : " God 
 is sending us his elect, a great multitude of 
 whom we expect to see here among the Teloo- 
 goos ere many years, who shall come out from 
 heathenism." Mr. Jewett had at that time a 
 class in theology, showing that the work of 
 training native preachers was begun. As soon 
 as Messrs. Jewett and Clough arrived, Mr. 
 Douglass, whose health and that of his family 
 had for some time been precarious, left the 
 mission, and returned home. His last work 
 was to baptize five converts, who, with six 
 others baptized by Mr. Jewett, made an addi- 
 tion of eleven to the church in the course of 
 the year. Several others gave evidence of 
 conversion, and there were some hopeful in- 
 quirers. 
 
 It was early in the year 1866 that Mr. Clough 
 made his first visit to Ongole. Before his 
 
THE MISSIONARY AT ONGOLE. 203 
 
 tongue was wholly loosed, he wrote and put in 
 circulation a tract entitled, "Where are you 
 going?" showing the folly of heathenism, and 
 how to worship God acceptably. 
 
 A mission-house was made ready, bought 
 with funds provided for the purpose by a former 
 schoolmate of Mr. Jewett, living west of the 
 Mississippi, who has made many generous offer- 
 ings to the mission. On the first day of Jan- 
 uary, 1867, the church of Ongole was formed 
 with eight members. In seven years the eight 
 had become thirty-three hundred — perhaps the 
 largest Baptist church in the world. The work 
 now strode forward with marvellous vigor. The 
 whole region seemed moved by the mighty 
 power of God. A Divine influence overshad- 
 owed the towns and villages and deserts. At 
 the close of the week of prayer in 1867, the 
 missionaries pitched their tents three days* 
 journey west of Ongole, in a tamarind-grove, 
 in the vicinity of villages where the native 
 helpers had reported that the blessing of God 
 was descending in a remarkable manner on the 
 people. The next day the natives began to 
 appear in considerable numbers before the tent, 
 both men and women, having with them pro- 
 visions for four or five days, and change of 
 apparel to put on when they were baptized. 
 For, they said, they had come to learn more 
 about Jesus ; but they believed already, and 
 wanted to be baptized. Those five days spent 
 in preaching, prayer, reading the Scriptures, 
 and inquiry, the missionaries will never forget. 
 At the close of the fifth day, twenty-eight were 
 
204 MISSION TO THE TELOOGOOS, 
 
 baptized by Mr. Clough. It was like a new 
 Pentecost. ''Their faith is simple," said a 
 missionary, "but O, how strong!" The bap- 
 tized lived in villages from twenty-five to fifty- 
 five miles distant from Ongole. Their ages 
 were from fifteen to seventy, but the larger 
 part were young men and women from twenty 
 to thirty. The missionaries began to cry for 
 help for this new, this wide-spread field, for 
 Ramapatam, for AUoor, for all the stations. 
 Mr. Jewett wrote, " If we move forward, and 
 you send us the men, earnest men, the time is 
 near when thousands of the Teloogoos will be 
 given to Christ." 
 
 The next year Rev. A. V. Timpany and wife 
 left this country to join the mission, and aid in 
 gathering these bountiful harvests. It was felt, 
 that, notwithstanding early discouragements, 
 this region was fast becoming one of the most 
 inviting and important fields cultivated by the 
 Union. Ten native preachers and colporters 
 were among the laborers ; and four out-stations 
 were the centres of a wide space of country on 
 which God had poured out his Spirit. As in 
 revivals at home, feeble means were the source 
 of wonderful effects. The tent of a colporter, 
 seen at a distance of three miles, became a sign 
 which led a heathen man to Christ. In March, 
 1868, ten more were baptized in Nellore, — this 
 tent-disciple being one of the number ; in 
 November, ten more ; in December, eight 
 more. Every department of missionary labor 
 was carried forward with vigor, and the seed 
 yielded affluent harvests. New out-stations 
 
NEW CHURCHES AND HELPERS. 205 
 
 were opened, and the people from villages near 
 and remote came, and begged for teachers. 
 This year twenty-three were baptized in con- 
 nection with Nellore, and sixty-eight in con- 
 nection with Ongole. A chapel was erected at 
 the latter station, built of stone laid in lime, 
 at a cost of eleven hundred and seventy dollars, 
 the whole except one hundred and twenty-five 
 dollars being collected in the country. Mr. 
 Clough wrote that within a year the people 
 in more than eight hundred villages, within a 
 circuit of forty miles around Ongole, had heard 
 the gospel, had had the Scriptures offered them, 
 and been entreated to repent, believe, and be 
 saved. 
 
 The following years were years of similar 
 encouragement. The word of God had free 
 course. The converts were multiplied. Knowl- 
 edge ran to and fro, from village to village. In 
 a thousand villages Christ was preached, and 
 converts, more and more, were added to the 
 Lord. 
 
 At the beginning of 1870 Mr. and Mrs. 
 McLaurin were added to the staff of laborers. 
 Land and buildings had been bought at Rama- 
 patam, and Mr. Timpany was designated to 
 occupy them in the work of the mission. A 
 new out-station, Alloor, was added, and a native 
 preacher stationed there. The baptized con- 
 verts in Alloor numbered thirty-eight, twenty- 
 five of whom had put on Christ within the 
 year. In the monthly covenant-meetings of 
 the church at Nellore, each member, instead 
 of relating the exercises of his own mind, was 
 
2o6 MISSION TO THE TELOOGOOS, 
 
 expected to tell what he had attempted to do 
 for the conversion of souls. In connection with 
 Ongole, the report of 1870 states that in one 
 month 324 were baptized, and hundreds more 
 asked for the ordinance. The whole number 
 of members baptized this year at all the stations 
 was 628. Whole number of members, 835. 
 
 In November, 1870, Rev. Edwin Bullard, son 
 of a former missionary in Burmah, joined the 
 mission. One of the most pressing wants was 
 more native preachers ; and yet Mr. Jewett had 
 under his charge fifteen, Mr. Clough seventeen, 
 and Mr. Timpany seven or eight. In March, 
 1870, a church was organized at Ramapatam, 
 composed of thirty-five members ; and seventy 
 were added to it by baptism during the year. 
 In 1872 Mr. Clough was compelled by the fail- 
 ure of his health to make a journey home. But 
 before coming he sent an interesting account 
 jof a priest, who had heard of the religion of 
 Jesus in his distant mountain home, one hun- 
 dred and eighty-five miles west of Ongole, 
 nearly half way across the peninsula of Hin- 
 dostan, and, believing, came across the moun- 
 tains and deserts full of tigers to learn more 
 of Christ, and to be baptized. Mr. Clough 
 said, "I see that God intends our mission to 
 jump over the Eastern Ghauts." 
 
 About the same time the first Association of 
 churches was formed, seven native preachers 
 ordained, and a building for a theological sem- 
 inary was completed. Total number of bap- 
 tisms in the year, 915. 
 
 When Mr. Clough left India, the brethren 
 
ON A NEW KEY. 207 
 
 charged him to bring back on his return, if 
 possible, four additional laborers to reap the 
 whitening harvests, and also to secure the dona- 
 tion of fifty thousand dollars as an endowment 
 for the theological seminary. Both these ob- 
 jects he attained. The first six years of his 
 mission life had been one protracted Pentecost. 
 During his absence, in a single year Mr. McLau- 
 rin baptized over seven hundred converts. 
 
 In 1873 the annual meeting was again held in 
 Albany ; but, instead of debating the question 
 whether the light of the " Lone Star " should 
 be extinguished, the brethren held this lan- 
 guage : " Over the whole field covered by our 
 work among the Teloogoos, the smile of Divine 
 approbation is resting. The spirit of inquiry 
 is on the increase ; and a hungering for the 
 Word of God brings together large companies of 
 listeners wherever the missionary makes his 
 appearance, who linger often for hours, eager- 
 ly receiving the message, and beseeching the 
 preacher to return. In many instances the 
 seed is scarcely sown till the reaper is needed 
 to gather in the harvest ; and in several cases 
 the news comes of hundreds who have believed, 
 and are anxious to confess Christ by baptism ; 
 but the brethren are so pressed with equally 
 important labors in other directions, that they 
 cannot respond to their call. Obstacles in the 
 way of the proclamation of the truth have 
 nearly disappeared. All the gateways seem 
 to be thrown open ; and the' Spirit of the Lord 
 seems to have gone before, and cast up a high- 
 way for a triumphant advance. . . . There is 
 
2o8 MISSION TO THE TELOOGOOS. 
 
 enough work to occupy several new missionaries 
 for months, simply in going to the towns and 
 villages, and examining and baptizing the hun- 
 dreds of candidates who are now waiting, and 
 have been for months, standing firm in their 
 adherence to Christ, without ordinances, or 
 churches, or pastors. 
 
 The theological seminary for training native 
 pastors was opened under Mr. Timpany, in 
 April, 1872, in Ramapatam, with eighteen stu- 
 dents. Buildings were afterwards erected to 
 accommodate a hundred. Oct. 24 a church 
 was organized at Alloor, numbering forty-four 
 members. In two months it had grown to fifty- 
 four, with a native pastor, a native evangelist, 
 two schools, and three students for the ministry. 
 Three head men from one village and four from 
 another were baptized, and it seemed as if their 
 villages would soon follow. The happy death 
 of a Christian boy became precious seed, and 
 sprung into a bountiful harvest. 
 
 Rev. David Downie and wife joined the mis- 
 sion in December, 1873. The same year Mr. 
 McLaurin founded a new station at Coconada, 
 under the patronage of the Canadian Baptists, 
 to which he was transferred from the Union. 
 Mr. Clough returned to Ongole, January, 1874, 
 accompanied by a new missionary family. Rev. 
 W. W. Campbell and wife. Miss Peabody had 
 previously joined Mr. Timpany's station at 
 Ramapatam. 
 
 The year opened, to use the language of one 
 of the missionaries, "with a burst of blessing 
 in the north which nearly surprised us, used as 
 
DAYS OF DARKNESS. 209 
 
 we are to great things from the Lord." During 
 a tour of less than a month, two hundred and 
 seventy-seven were baptized. Thousands of 
 people in India expect some mighty moral revo- 
 lution. Brahmins, Mohammedans, and people 
 of all castes, frequently tell the preachers, 
 " Your religion is the only true religion. We 
 know it must prevail. We all must come, too, 
 some day." High native officials urge the vil- 
 lage officials not to molest the Christians, be- 
 cause they say, " We, too, must become Chris- 
 tians soon." 
 
 Similar accounts came from every part of the 
 field. The King in Zion had girded his sword 
 upon his thigh, and rode forth in regal pomp, 
 conquering and to conquer. The members re- 
 ported at the several stations were, Nellore, 336; 
 Ongole, 2,761 ; Ramapatam, 675 ; Alloor, 60: 
 total, 3,832. 
 
 Rev. R. R. Williams took charge of the theo- 
 logical seminary in 1873. The seminary grounds 
 comprise about fifty acres, nearly in a square, 
 with the Bay of Bengal three-quarters of a mile 
 to the east, a large tank in the centre, and the 
 mission-compound, the school-building, and the 
 students* houses in various parts of the enclos- 
 ure. 
 
 But, while so great a spiritual blessing came 
 upon the people, the day of trial was near. 
 The harvest completely failed ; and a terrible 
 famme followed, some eating only once in three 
 days for months at a time. The enemies of 
 religion embraced the opportunity to taunt the 
 Christians. They refused to sell them food on 
 
2IO MISSION TO THE TELOOGOOS. 
 
 trust, though they sold it to others. They said, 
 "Go to your God: he will feed you." But al- 
 most without an exception the Christians stood 
 firmly. They could bear the pangs of hunger, 
 and die if need be ; but they could not deny 
 Christ. And they went to God in their trouble ; 
 and he did feed them, and, in answer to prayer, 
 removed the famine. After the famine came a 
 flood upon Nellore, desolating many of the vil- 
 lages ; and after the flood, cholera ; and after the 
 cholera, famine again, of greater severity and 
 far wider extent and longer duration than be- 
 fore. Meanwhile the work of the mission went 
 on. In 1874 a small printing-press was set up, 
 to print for the mission. 
 
 In 1875 Miss M. A. Wood, and Rev. D. H. 
 Drake and wife, were added to the working 
 force of the mission. The seminary had forty- 
 six students, of whom seventeen were married, 
 their wives as far as possible taking part in the 
 studies of the Institution. 
 
 The report of 1876 records the addition of 
 Rev. A. Loughridge and wife to the Ongole 
 station, and Rev. A. A. Newhall to Ramapatam, 
 and two new stations opened, Secunderabad and 
 Kurnool. The church in the former was organ- 
 ized Nov. 14, 1875, with fourteen members. 
 The whole number baptized in the Teloogoo 
 mission up to Dec. 31, 1876, was 4,394. 
 
 In 1876 Mr. Timpany returned to America 
 for a season, and in October severed his con- 
 nection with the Union with a view to joining 
 the Canadian mission in Coconada. Miss Mary 
 M. Day, the daughter of Rev. Samuel S. Day, 
 
FAITH'S PREDICTIONS. 2H 
 
 the founder of the mission to the Teloogoos, 
 was appointed to join the mission, and help to 
 reap the harvests from the seed which her par- 
 ents had sown. Nellore and Alloor, being only 
 eighteen miles apart, were re-united as one sta- 
 tion. The missionaries cherished a remarkable 
 spirit of expectation. As if coming events cast 
 their shadow before, they looked through the 
 gloom to the coming brightness. One said, 
 as tiie famine grew more severe : " God only can 
 see the end ; but we intend to fight on and pray 
 on as long as there is any thing left of us ; and 
 the result will honor Christ. I fully believe that 
 when the famine is over, if not before, there will 
 be such a turning to him, such a casting-away of 
 idols and Brahminism, as India has never before 
 seen." Another wrote : **We look for great in- 
 gatherings into our churches soon, such as have 
 not been known in the history of modern mis- 
 sions. If I am not utterly mistaken, God by 
 his Spirit is moving on the hearts of thousands 
 and thousands of these Teloogoo people. The 
 students, who are out from Saturday morning 
 till Sunday evening every week, tell me that 
 whole villages are ready to become Christian. 
 I believe that God is. about to fulfil his promise 
 to his Son regarding these people. It looks as 
 though a nation is to be born in a day." 
 
 But how often is the pathway " through night 
 to light!" — first the evening, then the morn- 
 ing, as on the days of creation. 
 
 Mrs. Williams at Ramapatam died June 3, 
 1876, in the full flush of life and hope, at the 
 early age of thirty-one, and after a residence in 
 
2T2 MISSION TO THE TELOOGOOS. 
 
 India of only two and a half years, — another 
 precious offering on the altar of- missions, con- 
 sumed, as to us, like the Jewish burnt sacrifices, 
 but a sweet savor, accepted before God. She 
 had been a happy worker and an efficient help- 
 er in the seminary. 
 
 Mr. Clough had baptized in 1876, 656 con- 
 verts ; and the whole number baptized during 
 the year in connection with all the stations was 
 724. 
 
 Then came the dark days of the famine, in 
 the course of which nearly four hundred Teloo- 
 goo Christians died. The missionary work, in 
 some of its departments, was suspended ; and 
 the efforts of the brethren were turned as far as 
 possible to the saving of life. They were made 
 the almoners of the government ; and in super- 
 intending public works, undertaken to give em- 
 ployment to the starving people, they gained 
 new access to many hundreds of minds, and in- 
 fluence over them. It was thought best for a 
 time to use the greatest caution in giving en- 
 couragement, under such circumstances, to those 
 who professed conversion and requested bap- 
 tism, lest they should seek to be recognized 
 among the disciples for mercenary motives. 
 Hence for a number of months none were re- 
 ceived to the church. 
 
 But in June, 1878, the doors for admission 
 to the church were again opened, and the new 
 Pentecost began to be developed with wonder- 
 ful power. Under date of Sept. 17, 1878, Mr. 
 Clough wrote as follows : — 
 
THE NEW PENTECOST. 213 
 
 " Twelve years ago this morning we arrived in Ongole. 
 The outlook was then dreary enough. Twelve years oi 
 hard work, of joys and sorrows, have passed. We look 
 around us, we think of the past, and can but exclaim, 
 * What hath God v/rought ! ' We can now see that God 
 intends to do great things for the Teloogoos. Past bless- 
 ings are but an earnest of greater ones just before us, if 
 we are faithful over the few things already given. 
 
 "The total number baptized up to date, since June 15, 
 is 9,147. Is this too large a blessing.? Is it not what 
 you have been praying for.? Are the converts unaccepta- 
 ble, because so many .? Are we not after all the Teloo- 
 goos.? We — my native preachers and myself — beheve 
 in the Lord Jesus Christ, and in preaching the gospel. 
 We baptize those only whom we have reason to believe 
 he has regenerated. How can we do otherwise? The 
 converts are not the rich, high-caste Hindoos, but are 
 weavers, cobblers, tanners, farm-laborers, &c. : and are 
 mostly of the Madaga and Mala castes. Only a few can 
 read. About two thousand are small farmers, and own 
 about six acres of land each, on an average. With com- 
 mon elementary education for the mass of converts, added 
 to their Christianity, they will be, in a few years, largel) 
 the bone anrl sinew of this part of the Teloogoo country 
 They cannot help us much now, but will generally do ah 
 they can. The clamor for teachers and preachers for 
 the four hundred villages is excruciating. The twenty- 
 two preachers of last year are at work. The graduates 
 from the seminary are at work. The old village schools 
 are all revived, and are flourishing. Several lay preach- 
 ers, or 'lights of the jungle' as I call them, have been 
 set to work to help us hold the position, and press out 
 our pickets. These are now out one hundred miles to 
 the west, and seventy miles north. 
 
 " Our old normal school is again in full operation, with 
 forty-seven men and large youth, fifty women and girls. 
 Four competent teachers are pushing them as fast as 
 possible. Besides these we have a few boys and girls 
 in Mr. Loughridge's school ; and seventy-three men and 
 fifty-four women (under God our hope) in the theological 
 seminary at Ramapatam." . . . 
 
214 MISSION TO THE TELOOGOOS, 
 
 Mr. Williams went to Ongole on the I2th of 
 that month to aid Mr. Clough. On the 31st of 
 July he wrote as follows : — 
 
 " Brother Clough and his helpers were literally crowd- 
 ed upon by the people who were pressing into the king- 
 dom of God. I saw what few missionaries have seen. 
 More than a thousand people from one of the Ongole 
 Pallems came into the compound, and gave up their 
 idols. Great as this ingathering is, it is not beyond 
 my anticipations. When we think how many earnest 
 men are at work on the field, who go day after day tell- 
 ing the simple story of the cross, and pleading with their 
 fellow-men to turn unto God, and remember what God 
 has promised, who could look for less t " 
 
 On the 5th of August Mr. Clough, after re- 
 ferring to the help he had received from Mr. 
 Williams, says : — 
 
 " I cannot write in detail. God was with us, and glori- 
 fied himself. A multitude were baptized, — 3,262 in all. 
 These make, with those already reported, 8,691 baptized 
 from June 16 to July 31, inclusive. To God be all the 
 praise now and tJu'otigh all eternity / Unless I err great- 
 ly, if my life and health and my native preachers are 
 spared, before Jan. i, 1879, five thousand more will be 
 baptized by us ; and then, D.V.,. the work will go on and 
 on, until the little flame kindled here becomes a mighty 
 fire, sweeping every thing before it." 
 
 Mr. McLaurin writes in respect to this great 
 work : — 
 
 "Do I believe in the genuineness of this revival? I 
 do believe in it heartily, joyously, and hopefully, for these 
 reasons: i. I believe in the power of th^ gospel to effect 
 such a work as this. 2. I believe the Teloogoos are a 
 prepared people, made ready by the Spirit for such a 
 movement. 3. I know each square mile of the field em- 
 braced, thoroughly, by personal contact. 4. I know each 
 
PRESENT STATE OF THE MISSION. 215 
 
 preacher, teacher, and colporter intimately; I know his 
 spirit, motives, and modes of work. 5. There is not a 
 village on the whole field in which the gospel has not 
 been faithfully preached many times a year, for the last 
 half-dozen years or more. 6. In this way the whole field 
 has been saturated with the knowledge of Jesus Christ 
 and the way of salvation. The people have heard all this 
 for years with indifference, though in one sense believing 
 it all the while. The famine came, and death stared 
 them in the face. They were stirred out of their indiffer- 
 ence, were made to think, and had Christianity presented 
 to them in one of its most blessed aspects. The Holy 
 Spirit worked by these means on the people, and we have 
 the result before us." 
 
 There are how six principal mission-stations 
 of the Missionary Union among the Teloogoos ; 
 — namely, Nellore, Ongole, Ramapatam, Kur- 
 nool, Secunderabad, and Madras, — with eleven 
 missionaries, including their wives and one 
 single lady, nineteen in all. One of the num- 
 ber, Rev. E. Bullard, is at present in this coun- 
 try ; and four. Rev. S. W. Nichols and wife, 
 Rev; W. B. Boggs and wife, are on the way out 
 to join the mission. The force at work on the 
 field to-day numbers eight ; with the females, 
 fourteen. 
 
 A review of the history of the Teloogoo Mis- 
 sion is full of interest and instruction. " God 
 moves in a mysterious way ; " but he is a God 
 who fulfils his promises, and whose purposes 
 are hastened in their time. And God's time is 
 the best time, — best for his own glory, best for 
 the faith of his people, best for the building-up 
 of his Church on earth, best for the salvation 
 of souls, best for the immortal joy of the re- 
 deemed. 
 
2i6 MISSION TO THE TELOOGOOS. 
 
 FAITH'S VICTORY. 
 
 Weary and wan, his furrows long 
 
 The patient ploughman trod, 
 Turning with endless care and pains 
 
 The sluggish, barren sod ; 
 And morning came, and daylight went, 
 
 And strength and hope were gone, 
 And tearful eyes grew dim, — and still 
 
 The wearying toil went on. 
 
 Smitten beneath the burning sun, 
 
 The fainting workman cries, 
 "Master, how long this iron earth? 
 
 How long these brazen skies ? " 
 " Ploughman, toil on in loving trust; 
 
 Yield thee to my sweet will. 
 Faith wins its victories, weary soul: 
 
 Believe, and labor still." 
 
 And tears and love and faith prepared 
 
 The deeply furrowed field 
 To hide and keep the precious grain, ^ 
 
 Seed of a bounteous yield ; 
 And dew and rain and sunny skies 
 
 Enriched each seed that fell. 
 Lost to the eye of man, but God 
 
 Knew how to guard it well. 
 
 Oh, long and sad the sower's care. 
 
 As seasons went and came ! 
 And God forgot the toiler's lot, 
 
 And put his hope to shame. 
 "Vain work," a timid faith proclaimed; 
 
 "Poor toilers, faint and few! 
 Bury and hide your useless seed ; 
 
 Bury the sowers too." 
 
 But God's great mystery of grace 
 
 Its mighty pathway holds. 
 And, like the budding rose of June, 
 
 In beauteous life unfolds. 
 
FAITH'S VICTORY. 21 7 
 
 The bursting germ, the verdant leaf, 
 
 Break forth from hidden graves ; 
 And far o'er all the swelling hills 
 
 The joyful harvest waves. 
 
 Whence are these myriad forms that bow 
 
 Before Messiah's throne ? 
 Whence the grand chorus that uplifts 
 
 Thy name, O Christ ! alone ? 
 Whence are the clustering crowds that seek 
 
 The same celestial goal ? 
 And one new song holds every lip, 
 
 One pulse-beat every soul. 
 
 These are the ploughman's garnered wealth, 
 
 Born of his toil and pain ; 
 These are the sower's faith and tears, 
 
 Transformed to golden grain. 
 God watched the toilers at their work ; 
 
 And, when his wisdom willed, 
 The pledge his loving heart had made 
 
 His loving hand fulfilled. 
 
 Then hail, Lone Star ! of all the wreath 
 
 Thou art the brightest gem, 
 As once, o'er fair Judea's plains, 
 
 The star of Bethlehem. 
 Shine on ! We learn to pray and wait. 
 
 To toil and trust, through thee, 
 A star of triumph on Christ's brow, 
 
 And Faith's high victory. 
 
No. XIV. 
 
 SOUTHERN CHINA MISSION. 
 
 Its Various Names. — The Earliest Missionaries. — Dr. Dean's Field 
 of Labor. — Preliminary Efforts. — Geographical and Political. — 
 The First Baptism. — Early History. — Revival of Religion. — 
 The Work Prospering. — Visit to Cochin China. — School for 
 Girls. — China and California. — " Went everywhere preaching 
 the Word." — Persecution. — Removal to Swatow. — The Station 
 at Swatow. — Inquirers and Converts. — Progress and Opposition. 
 — Steadfastness under Persecution. — Ordination of Chinese 
 Preachers. — The Theological Class. — The Chinese and their 
 Home Missions. — Death of the First Ordained Chinese. — Death 
 of Mr. Johnson. — Work of Female Missionaries. — Teaching. — 
 Summing up. — Present State. 
 
 THE mission of the American Baptist Mis- 
 sionary Union to the Chinese was pro- 
 jected at an early day ; and considerable time 
 elapsed between the planning of the enterprise 
 and its actual realization in the planting of 
 a mission in that great empire. The mission has 
 been named, at different periods, the Hongkong, 
 the Tie Chiu, the Swatow, and the Southern 
 China Mission ; the first and third in reference 
 to its principal stations, the second in reference 
 to the dialect used by the missionaries, and the 
 last in reference to the geographical location of 
 the mission in the empire. 
 
 Rev. William Dean was appointed the first 
 218 
 
DR. DEAN'S FIELD OF LABOR. 219 
 
 missionary Sept. 17, 1832, and arrived in Bang- 
 kok July 18, 1835, expecting to labor for the 
 Chinese residing in Siam. On account of ill 
 health, he went to China in February, 1842, and 
 was in Macao in 1846. Rev. J. L. Shuck of 
 Alexandria, D.C., sailed from this country Sept. 
 20, 1835, and arrived in Macao Sept. 17, 1836; 
 removed to Hongkong in March, 1842, and Can- 
 ton April 3, 1844. Dr. T. T. Devan sailed 
 from this country June 11, 1844; arrived at 
 Victoria, on Hongkong Island, Oct. 22, 1844; 
 and left the mission in September, 1847. -^^ 
 these were identified with the Hongkong mis- 
 sion. Mr. Goddard, who sailed in 1838, and re- 
 mained for a season in Bangkok ; Mr. Lord, who 
 sailed in 1847; and Dr. Macgowan, in 1842, — 
 were all connected ultimately with the Ningpo 
 mission. These were the earliest missionaries 
 of the Union to the Chinese people. 
 
 Many of the Chinese flock together in Bang- 
 kok, Siam, for purposes of trade, designing to 
 return ultimately to their own country. Among 
 these people Dr. Dean has labored judiciously 
 and successfully till the present time. The 
 account of his labors is found in the sketch of 
 the mission in Siam. Other missionaries have 
 been joined with Dr. Dean from time to time, 
 and Dr. Dean has also labored some years 
 among the population speaking the same dialect 
 in Hongkong and vicinity. But the principal 
 labors of his long and useful life have been 
 devoted to the Chinese of Bangkok and vicinity 
 in Siam. 
 
 The missions in the empire of China are the 
 
220 SOUTHERN CHINA MISSION 
 
 Southern China or Hongkong Mission, and the 
 Eastern China or Ningpo Mission. The present 
 sketch is devoted to the former. 
 
 Bangkok, in Siam, and Macao, the stations 
 where labor for the religious welfare of the 
 Chinese was first undertaken, were designed to 
 be points of approach to the empire of China. 
 Here were large bodies of Chinese gathered 
 together. Here agents of commerce and teach- 
 ers of religion, who were alike studiously ex- 
 cluded from the empire, it was thought might 
 find fewer prejudices to be overcome, and at the 
 same time facilities for labor whose results 
 might in due time be extended to the countless 
 multitudes whom they were forbidden directly 
 to approach. Some seeds, thus deposited out- 
 side of the great field, might perhaps be wafted 
 to the shores and into the interior of China, and 
 the fruit wave on the hills of that dark land of 
 heathenism. 
 
 Hongkong is a hilly island at the mouth of 
 Canton River, twelve hours' sail from Macao, 
 twenty-four from Canton, and three or four days 
 from Amoy. It was occupied by the English 
 in 1 84 1, after the opium war. By the terms of 
 the treaty signed August, 1842, Hongkong was 
 ceded to the Queen of England and her succes- 
 sors forever, and the five ports. Canton, Amoy, 
 Fuchau, Ningpo, and Shanghai, were opened to 
 British commerce, and the residence of British 
 officers and merchants. The English people 
 began at once to occupy the ports which were 
 opened for their residence. The American mis- 
 sionaries to the Chinese, who had been stationed 
 
PRELIMINARY EFFORTS. 221 
 
 at Bangkok and Macao, determined to remove 
 to China, and establish their missions at such of 
 the free ports as seemed the most advantageous 
 and inviting as fields of labor. 
 
 While the m.ission was in Macao, a place 
 under Portuguese jurisdiction, Mr. Shuck had 
 baptized, Jan. 31, 1837, the first Chinese con- 
 vert, his teacher, who accompanied him from 
 Singapore ; and a school for children had been 
 commenced by Mrs. Shuck. Mr. Shuck began 
 to preach in Macao near the close of February, 
 1839; in January, 1840, he preached in several 
 houses, in the streets, and in an idol-temple, 
 and many received tracts. 
 
 In the year 1841, Rev. I. J. Roberts joined 
 the station at Macao. This year one Chinese 
 gave evidence of faith, and an American sea- 
 captain was baptized Jan. 5, 1842. Immediately 
 afterwards the mission was transferred to Hong- 
 kong island. Mr. Shuck commenced his resi- 
 dence at the city of Hongkong, afterwards 
 known as Victoria, in March, 1842, and Mr. 
 Roberts at Chekchu, on the southern side of 
 the island. The island settlements grew rapidly 
 under the auspices of the British government. 
 When it was occupied by the English in 1841, 
 the population was .seven thousand ; and in two 
 years it quadrupled. A lot of land was granted 
 to the mission by the government at Victoria, on 
 which a mission-house was erected, and two com- 
 modious chapels were built, to be used alike for 
 public worship and for schools, — the expense 
 being principally defrayed by English gentlemen 
 residing at Hongkong and Macao. 
 
222 SOUTHERN CHINA MISSION. 
 
 A church was organized in May, 1842, em- 
 bracing five names besides those of the mission- 
 aries. A chapel was also erected at Chekchu, 
 where Mr. Roberts preached in English and 
 Chinese, and superintended a school taught by 
 a Chinese convert who had come from Bangkok. 
 In the beginning of 1843, Mr. Roberts removed 
 from Chekchu to Victoria; and in January, 1846, 
 his connection with the mission was closed. 
 Very interesting is the narrative of the first 
 Chinese convert baptized at Hongkong, May 28, 
 1843. He was first met with a hundred coolies 
 under him, employed on a government contract, 
 making roads in Hongkong, and soon marched 
 his troop of men on the Sabbath to the chapel 
 to hear the gospel, though this cost him the 
 food and time of a hundred men for the day. 
 He has since been employed in leading his 
 countrymen to Christ, sometimes in pay of the 
 mission, but for several years at his own expense. 
 This church, when left without the watch-care 
 and support of the Union, maintained its onward 
 way, and from year to year received members 
 into its communion. He was ordained pastor 
 of the church ; and he and his wife, his son and 
 his son's wife, and his daughter are all members. 
 
 Dr. Dean settled with his family at Hongkong 
 Oct. 24, 1842 ; and the following year a second 
 church was organized, called the Tie Chiu church 
 of Hongkong. Thirty-three services in Chinese 
 were held every week ; two native converts 
 were baptized, besides six foreigners, and thou- 
 sands of tracts were distributed. But the mis- 
 sion began with trial. The gold must be refined 
 
THE WORK PROSPERING. 223 
 
 by fire. In March, 1843, Mrs. Dean was called 
 to higher service, and rested from her labors, — 
 the first laborer in the American mission to be 
 gathered, as " seed sown of God, to ripen for the 
 harvest." She was of English birth, a woman 
 of superior culture and piety, and one who 
 promised distinguished usefulness. 
 
 The work at the new station prospered. The 
 hearers at public worship soon increased from 
 seven to forty. Dr. and Mrs. T. T. Devan 
 joined the mission Oct. 24, 1844. A revival of 
 religion sprang up in Mr. Shuck's congregation, 
 and nineteen were baptized. One of the mis- 
 sionaries spent six months in Canton, convers- 
 ing on religion and distributing tracts, and thus 
 opening new doors for the entrance of the 
 gospel. There were soon at Hongkong six 
 assistants, two schools embracing fifty pupils, 
 and a theological class ; and a place on the 
 mainland was added as a medical station, which 
 the missionaries visited every week. 
 
 A treaty of corhmerce had already been 
 formed between the United States and China, 
 which was signed July 3, 1844, providing -for the 
 erection of chapels and hospitals at each of the 
 five open ports, besides other commercial advan- 
 tages ; and the missions from this country were 
 distinctly recognized as among the interests that 
 were to enjoy the protection of the government. 
 
 But, notwithstanding many changes, the work 
 prospered, and the number of converts increased. 
 In 1847 the church numbered sixteen, and there 
 were several applicants for baptism. Two Chi- 
 nese women were baptized, the first in con- 
 
2 24 SOUTHERN CHINA MISSION. 
 
 nection with the mission. There were three 
 out-stations, and five native preachers and assist- 
 ants. In 1848 Rev. J. W. Johnson and wife 
 were added to the missionary force, and the mis- 
 sion took an honorable place among the evangel- 
 izing agencies in China, — an empire embra- 
 cing at least one-quarter, perhaps one-third, of 
 the world's population. This year twenty thou- 
 sand copies of different tracts were printed by 
 native workmen. The Union never had a press 
 in China : all the printing has been done on 
 blocks by hand, which is found in that country 
 to be the cheapest method. Dr. Dean also pre- 
 pared for the press a volume containing Notes 
 on the Gospel of Matthew. 
 
 In 1850 Dr. Dean spent twenty days in 
 Cochin China, kindling the light of the gospel 
 in new realms of darkness. This year he also 
 prepared Notes on Genesis and the Acts. A 
 chapel was erected on an island near Hong- 
 kong, called Long Island, where forty boys were 
 gathered into missionary schools. But, as the 
 population of this island could be easily reached 
 from Hongkong, this new out-station was soon 
 suspended. 
 
 In 1851-52 the truth was communicated more 
 widely than in any year preceding. The church 
 numbered twenty-five ; there was a school at 
 each of the four out-staljions, and sixty pupils. 
 Several were baptized, and one convert, unbap- 
 tized, died, — the first-fruits in heaven of the 
 mission in China. A new enterprise was also 
 undertaken, — a school for girls, by the wife of 
 Ko Abak. This was an important step forward 
 
CHINA AND CALIFORNIA. 225 
 
 in a country where infanticide prevailed at that 
 time, and where, such was the drift of public 
 opinion, it was deemed a misfortune to be born 
 a woman, or to be the parents of a female child. 
 
 At this period the mission in China began to 
 re-act upon this country. The Chinese emigra- 
 tion to California had already begun ; the emi- 
 grants were placed in a new attitude in respect 
 to the gospel ; and it was important to put the 
 leaven of Divine truth at the earliest possible 
 moment into the transplanted mass of heathen- 
 ism, which might hereafter exert an important 
 influence on the politics and destiny of the 
 United States. Many books and tracts were 
 given to the emigrants, and others were sent 
 to be distributed among the people already 
 settled in California. Thus the darkness of 
 idolatry, poured upon our shores, found itself 
 at the outset confronted by the light of Chris- 
 tianity, and the dialect of heathenism had here 
 become a dialect for the gospel. 
 
 Christianity began also to exercise its influ- 
 ence in behalf of the children of China. In 
 1853 two girls from the boarding-school, aged 
 respectively thirteen and fourteen years, were 
 baptized, besides twenty other converts. The 
 infant church, early instructed in the impor- 
 tance of active efforts to do good, contributed 
 to missionary objects a sum exceeding one dol- 
 lar per member, "their deep poverty abounding 
 unto the riches of their liberality." In 1854, 
 owing to various circumstances, the working 
 force was reduced to a single missionary ; but 
 the native element was beginning to be a use- 
 
2 26 SOUTHERN CHINA MISSION. 
 
 fill auxiliary. A native assistant, captured by 
 pirates, was carried to a distant place on the 
 coast, where he preached from village to village, 
 and from house to house, to thousands of peo- 
 ple, during the three weeks of his detention, 
 sowing broadcast seed which the Infinite Hus- 
 bandman will not suffer to be scattered in vain. 
 
 The mission and its converts were visited at 
 an early period by persecution. The disciples 
 learned that they had embraced a religion which 
 was not free from self-denial and suffering. Two 
 assistants in 1856, engaged in a missionary tour, 
 were arrested, imprisoned, and treated with 
 much severity, until, after the expiration of 
 about four months, they were allowed to go free. 
 The next year the operations of the mission 
 were interrupted by the hostilities between the 
 British authorities and the people of Canton ; 
 and the work of the brethren was confined 
 almost exclusively to the island of Hongkong. 
 When the political skies grew clearer, it was 
 proposed to move the mission to Swatow on the 
 mainland, a place which promised better access 
 to the Tie Chiu population. Mr. Ashmore re 
 moved from Bangkok, Siam, in 1858, to Hong 
 kong, and afterwards to Swatow. Mr. Sawtelle 
 joined the mission in 1859, and the Swatow Mis- 
 sion was established on the continent, the mis- 
 sionaries fixing their residence on Double Island, 
 distant only five minutes' sail. 
 
 Swatow became an open port in 1861. Here 
 and at Tathaupo, five miles distant, now occu- 
 pied as an out-station, surrounded by a popula- 
 tion of thirty thousand Chin-ese, the best point 
 
INQUIRERS AND CONVERTS. 227 
 
 of approach to the Tie Chiu people seemed to 
 the missionaries to have been reached. Mrs. 
 Johnson recommenced, and continued with in- 
 defatigable perseverance, a school for girls, and 
 another for boys ; and two converts were bap- 
 tized. 
 
 The work at Hongkong was not encouraging. 
 The resident members were reduced to eight or 
 nine ; the chapel at Chekchu was crumbling to 
 the ground, and the people speaking the Tie 
 Chiu dialect had nearly all removed elsewhere. 
 The property of the Missionary Union at Hong- 
 kong was sold on favorable terms, and Hongkong 
 became an out-station of Swatow. Mr. Saw- 
 telle's health failed, and he removed to Cali- 
 fornia, and closed his connection with the Union. 
 
 But the work was not dead : iti 1862 inquirers 
 came from different and distant places to be 
 instructed in regard to the way of salvation. 
 In the month of May six were baptized at one 
 time by Mr. Johnson, of whom three were per- 
 sons of more than common literary attainments 
 — one of them a military mandarin. The next 
 year seventeen came as inquirers from another 
 locality, afterwards adopted as an out-station. 
 Four of them were females, and applied for bap- 
 tism. The work was everywhere making prog- 
 ress, and becoming known more widely. Mr. 
 Telford, formerly a missionary in Bangkok, this 
 year removed temporarily to Swatow ; but in 
 1864 he returned to the United States. In 
 1863 there were thirty church-members, of whom 
 more than half had been baptized since the 
 removal of the mission to Swatow. Six of the 
 
2 28 SOUTHERN CHINA MISSION. 
 
 number were pupils in Mrs. Johnson's school 
 for girls. 
 
 In 1865 the residence of the missionaries was 
 removed from Double Island to Kakchie, oppo- 
 site Swatow ; the officials of the English and 
 American governments having planted them- 
 selves at this point, and their presence being a 
 protection to the property of the Union. Not- 
 withstanding opposition and persecution, the 
 gospel made progress, and the missionaries felt 
 called upon to "lengthen their cords, and 
 strengthen their stakes." Between October, 
 1864, and October, 1865, twenty-four were re- 
 ceived to the church by baptism, — nineteen at 
 Swatow and five at Hongkong. At one of the 
 out-stations the power cf the gospel was admi- 
 rably manifested. A bold effort was made by 
 the heathen people to drive away the assistants, 
 and to 'demolish the chapol. This opposition 
 had been provoked by the conversion of two 
 aged persons, one of them a devout Buddhist 
 well known in the city, and the other a widow 
 woman, who was also an earnest idolater. The 
 mob openly attacked the house, and threatened 
 violence to those within. The converts remained 
 firm through all the persecution, and were both 
 baptized soon afterwards. A literary graduate, 
 at first seeking Jesus secretly by night, like 
 Nicodemus, at length came out boldly, in the 
 face of opposition and persecution, and declared 
 himself a believer in Christ, and a fearless 
 confessor. 
 
 At another out-station six were baptized. 
 Here, in the absence of a chapel, the meetings 
 
STEADFASTNESS UNDER PERSECUTION. 229 
 
 were held in the house of a widow woman, one. 
 of the first-fruits of the mission, and the guide 
 and helper of many in the way of life. Her 
 house was, however, too small to accommodate 
 all who came. They filled her humble room, 
 and then gathered in crowds around the door, 
 " in nothing terrified by the adversaries." At 
 other places, a few hours distant from Swatow, 
 in different directions, promising openings ap- 
 peared, inviting the labors of the brethren and 
 the native helpers. 
 
 In 1867 the missionaries reported eight or 
 nine out-stations and as many native preachers, 
 and a promising work everywhere. Three of 
 the native Christians died, who had been an 
 honor to their profession, and whose loss was 
 painfully felt. One of them made a will two 
 years before his death, expressly forbidding any 
 idolatrous ceremonies at his burial. 
 
 An interesting account is given, showing the 
 steadfastness of the native Christians in resist- 
 ing every thing bearing the semblance of an 
 encouragement to idolatry. A native preach- 
 er and assistant at a wayside chapel was sur- 
 rounded by a tumultuous crowd, demanding of 
 him a contribution to an idolatrous festival. 
 They were armed with clubs and knives, and 
 declared that every one was taxed for the pur- 
 pose, and the disciples of Christ should not 
 escape. The brethren refused, saying that they 
 could not uphold idolatry, directly or indirectly. 
 But the crowd, including some of the leading 
 men of the place, pressed upon them, and shook 
 their fists in their faces, and brandished their 
 
230 SOUTHERN CHINA MISSION. 
 
 knives. Finding that they were prisoners, and 
 that mischief was intended, they consented to 
 pay what was demanded, but under protest, 
 declaring that it was robbery, and that they 
 had no sympathy with its destined use. But 
 the event turned out to the furtherance of the 
 cause. The whole country around heard of the 
 gospel in consequence of these proceedings ; 
 the matter was noised abroad and talked over 
 everywhere ; and more was accomplished in 
 giving publicity to Christianity in two or three 
 days, than the efforts of the missionaries or the 
 native preachers could have effected in as many 
 months. 
 
 In 1867 another advance was made in mis- 
 sion work. Two Chinese preachers were set 
 apart by ordination to the Christian ministry. 
 Two new churches were also organized, over 
 which they were stationed as pastors. A few 
 years previously, these two brethren had been 
 imprisoned and cruelly beaten for the name of 
 Christ, in the same city in which they were now 
 ordained. In seven years the baptized be- 
 lievers had increased to eighty-four in number, 
 and seventy-two were present at the com- 
 munion held in connection with the ordination. 
 The preachers made frequent excursions into 
 the neighboring country, and one of them found 
 an efficient helper in the woman before spoken 
 of, in whose house and around whose door the 
 crowds used to assemble to hear the word, and 
 to whose faithful efforts a large portion of the 
 members of the church traced their first reli- 
 gious impressions. 
 
THE THEOLOGICAL CLASS. 231 
 
 In 1868 thirteen were baptized, of whom 
 one was an American sea-captain, two seamen 
 from an English vessel, and a colored man, 
 formerly a Wesleyan, who had once labored as 
 a missionary along; the wharves in London. 
 Many of the members of the church were 
 females, several of them widows and persons 
 advanced in life. But it was testified that they 
 were a power in the community, and in all the 
 region round about the report of their faith was 
 spread abroad. The church of Tangleng, an 
 out-station, beginning with twenty-eight mem- 
 bers, had increased to forty ; and the members 
 contributed liberally in proportion to their 
 means towards the chapel expenses. The total 
 number of members in all the churches connect- 
 ed with this station and out-station was one 
 hundred and seven. 
 
 In 1869 Mr. and Mrs. Johnson withdrew from 
 Swatow in consequence of impaired health, and 
 labored for a time in connection with a church 
 in California, with signal evidences of the 
 Divine approval. During the year, thirty-five 
 were baptized in connection with the Southern 
 China Mission, including two or three each at 
 several of the out-stations. An effort was also 
 undertaken anew to train a class of native 
 preachers, in order to increase their efficiency 
 as ministers of the gospel. The Lord's Supper 
 was administered at the station once in two 
 months ; and on those occasions the preachers 
 came together and spent several days with the 
 missionaries, reciting lessons previously given 
 out, listening to instruction, and receiving hints 
 
232 SOUTHERN CHINA MISSION 
 
 for future studies. These labors were deemed 
 of great importance. 
 
 In 1870 Mr .Ashmore endeavored to engage 
 the native Christians in the work of evangeliz- 
 ing their own countrymen, by assuming the 
 responsibility of the direction of two or more 
 Chinese missionaries, to be supported by funds 
 raised in the church. They entered heartily 
 into the work, selecting the station, hiring the 
 house, and paying most of the expenses. As 
 a means of self-education in Christian activity 
 and liberality, this was thought to be an im- 
 portant movement among the Chinese people. 
 
 In 1 87 1 Mr. Johnson returned to his work in 
 China, after an absence of two years ; and Miss 
 Fielde, formerly in Bangkok, an earnest and 
 indefatigable laborer, was transferred to the 
 station at Swatow. But at the same time with 
 this addition of help, the brethren were called 
 to mourn the death of the first ordained Chinese 
 preacher, who had been baptized twenty-eight 
 years before by Dr. Dean, and had been from 
 the beginning a most faithful assistant. He 
 lived an exemplary life, and enjoyed the confi- 
 dence of all who knew him. The production of 
 one such character is a testimony to the power 
 of Christianity which the world cannot gainsay. 
 This year two of the out-stations, with their 
 evangelists, were supported and directed in 
 their work by the native church the whole year, 
 and a third a part of the year ; forty-one were 
 baptized, and three hundred and thirty-one dol- 
 lars collected for evangelizing purposes. 
 
 In 1872 the mission was afflicted by the death 
 
WORK OF FEMALE MISSIONARIES. 233 
 
 of Mr. Johnson, after twenty-five years of faith- 
 ful service. He opened the station at Swatovv, 
 and was connected with it at the time of his 
 death. Mr. and Mrs. Partridge, formerly of 
 Bangkok, were transferred to Swatow, and ar- 
 rived in March. Mrs. Johnson continued to 
 labor with much success ; out of fifteen girls 
 under her charge, six were baptized. She also 
 had the direction of the labors of several Bible- 
 women. The Chinese preachers exhibited both 
 propriety and power in making known the gos- 
 pel, and the fruit garnered numbered twenty- 
 two baptisms. In a summary of the mission at 
 this date, it was recorded that in twelve years 
 the number baptized in the mission was two 
 hundred and forty-six, of whom seven were 
 foreigners, twenty had died, eleven were exclud- 
 ed, and the names of two hundred and eight 
 remained, of whom perhaps there were twenty 
 whose residence and circumstances were un- 
 known. 
 
 In 187.3 two or three cottages were erected 
 by Miss Fielde to accommodate about thirty 
 Bible-women in as many different towns and 
 cities, where they could have shelter while 
 engaged in their work, and as a home for her- 
 self in her visits of superintendence. A house 
 was also built for theological students, contain- 
 ing ten rooms. Messrs. Ashmore and Partridge 
 divided between them during a part of the year 
 the work of theological instruction, as in similar 
 institutions at home. Miss Fielde prepared a 
 synopsis of the Gospels in the simplest terms 
 of the Dopular language, for distribution by her 
 
234 SOUTHERN CHINA MISSION. 
 
 Bible-women among the women and children. 
 Mrs. Partridge commenced a school for girls on 
 the plan of that of Mrs. Johnson, who retired 
 from the field where she had labored so long 
 and so efficiently. An encouraging circum- 
 stance, indicating progress, was the establish- 
 ment of a Chinese school in Swatow by some 
 of the members of the church, for the benefit 
 of their own children. A young man lately 
 baptized, and by profession a teacher, was put 
 in charge of it ; and eighteen or twenty schol- 
 ars, enough to remunerate the teacher, at once 
 entered. This year forty-seven were baptized, 
 and another preacher ordained. 
 
 Another laborer, Rev. Mr. McKibben, with 
 his wife, joined the mission in November, 1875. 
 In 1876 several instances of persecution oc- 
 cuired at some of the out-stations, because the 
 Christians refused to give money to support 
 the heathen festivals. But the gospel contin- 
 ued to advance ; forty-nine were baptized, and 
 urgent requests for chapels and teachers were 
 sent from districts beyond. The spirit of in- 
 quiry increased. In 1876 the mission reported 
 two stations, fifteen out-stations, and 354 mem- 
 bers. Misses Thompson and Norwood were 
 added to the laborers. At that date there were 
 seventeen out-stations, fourteen native preach- 
 ers, and twenty Bible-women. For the last 
 eight years, only three or four of the bi-monthly 
 communion seasons have passed without bap- 
 tisms. 
 
 The year 1877 was one of special ingathering, 
 169 being baptized, making the number of mem- 
 
SUMMING UP, 235 
 
 bers 512. One of the missionaries, in review- 
 ing the year, writes as follows : — 
 
 " One hundred and nine men and sixty women have 
 renounced idolatry, have given evidence of faith in 
 Christ, and have been .baptized into his name. None 
 of all these have thus far given us reason to regret that 
 we admitted them into the church. Fifteen of the num- 
 ber were seventy years old and upwards, the oldest being 
 eighty-four years of age. These 169 persons represent 
 nearly seventy towns and villages in the six districts in 
 which we have stations, showing that the truth is being 
 more and more widely disseminated, although it has as 
 yet reached but few of the hundreds of villages in our 
 field. 
 
 " Besides those received, a large number have been 
 examined, who have been advised to wait until they 
 should obtain more definite knowledge of the truth, or 
 until there was more satisfactory proof of a change of 
 heart. 
 
 " We have good reason to believe that the number of 
 believers in Christ here in Tie Chiu is not hmited to the 
 number of names on our church-rolls. I have learned 
 of nine persons, not church-members, who have died in 
 the faith, and have been buried with Christian rites, 
 during the past year. The evidence of faith in Jesus 
 which was given by some of these was eminently satis- 
 factory." 
 
 In Mrs. Partridge's school for girls, number- 
 ing sixteen pupils, a year previously only one 
 of the number was a Christian ; but six more 
 have since been baptized. Two new chapels 
 were fitted up or built in that year at out-sta- 
 tions ; one of them was erected on land given 
 for the purpose by a native member. The 
 native Christians contributed one hundred and 
 forty dollars towards the work in one case, 
 and seventy-seven dollars in the other. 
 
236 SOUTHERN CHINA MISSION 
 
 The missionaries, and date of their connection 
 with the mission, are as follows : Rev. W. and 
 Mrs. Ashmore, 1863 ; Miss A. M. Fielde, 1873 ; 
 Rev. S. B. and Mrs. Partridge, 1873 ; Rev. W. 
 K. and Mrs. McKibben, 1875 ; Miss M. E. 
 Thompson, 1876; Miss A. S. Norwood, 1877; 
 Miss C. H. Daniells, M.D., 1878. 
 
 There are in all twenty-five stations where 
 preaching is maintained, and fifteen native 
 evangelists, of whom four are ordained. There 
 are also fifteen Bible-students, looking forward 
 to the ministry, and twenty-one Bible-women. 
 
 These women receive a careful and effective 
 training, and are sent out two and two to the 
 villages where there are stations, or to such other 
 places as may offer encouragement. In Mr. Ash- 
 more's district, two new chapels were built dur- 
 ing 1878. In Mr. McKibben's district three 
 new preaching stations were secured. One hun- 
 dred and thirteen were baptized, and thirteen 
 died in the faith. The present number, accord- 
 ing to the list, is 617. 
 
 Contributions for schools and mission work, 
 ;^42i. This does not include any of the con- 
 tributions of the missionaries, which were reck- 
 oned separately. 
 
 Early in the year two ordained preachers 
 were taken away by death, and four others 
 ordained. 
 
 There has been inaugurated, at some of the 
 larger stations, a subsidiary training-class, under 
 the direction of the preacher in charge : they 
 have an exercise each Sunday evening. It is 
 desired that every preacher should assist in 
 
SUMMING UP. 237 
 
 raising up his own helpers, and consider it an 
 essential part of his work to prepare faithful 
 men to whom he may commit the things he 
 has heard among many witnesses. It is hoped, 
 also, that it may prove a source of supply to 
 the theological class. 
 
 The things named are among tangible results. 
 Much other work has been done which cannot 
 as yet be embodied in statistics. A vast amount 
 of seed has been sown. Many hundreds of 
 towns and villages have been visited, and the 
 way prepared. In November and December 
 the number of villages visited by the Bible- 
 women was reported as ninety-eight. The 
 young men are doing a great work in the same 
 way. All around the missionary foci the light 
 is shining out into the dense darkness. From 
 thousands and thousands of minds the gross 
 ignorance as to what Christianity is, is becom- 
 ing dissipated. In many thousands of minds 
 there is being formed some outline conception 
 of the great truths which the missionaries teach 
 concerning a living God, an all-sufficient Re- 
 deemer, resurrection from the dead, and eternal 
 judgment. 
 
 The mission in Southern China is, like all 
 missions, a work of faith, and makes large de- 
 mands on the faith and prayers of all Chris- 
 tians. But it has for its laborers a noble and 
 efficient band of men and women; and He whose 
 work it is has given them their wages hitherto, 
 and will never suffer them to toil in vain. 
 
No. XV. 
 
 EASTERN CHINA OR NINGPO MISSION. 
 
 Geography of Ningpo. — The Missionaries at Ningpo. — Hospital at 
 Ningpo. — Church organized. — First Baptism. — The Scriptures 
 in Chinese. — Out-station at Suchau. — Death of Mr. and Mrs. 
 Goddard. — The Progress of the Work in Ningpo. — The Island 
 of Chusan visited. — Retrenchment. — Church organized on Chu- 
 san. — Literary Men called. — Chinese Females baptized. — Years 
 of Progress. — The Opening at Hangchow. — The Name changed. 
 
 — " Instead of the Fathers, the Children." — History and Death 
 of Mrs. Goddard. — Church at Hangchow — Station at Zaohying. 
 
 — Church at Sangbah. — Grace triumphing in Death. — A Stanch 
 Disciple of Jesus. — Baptist Association formed. ■ — Death of Dr. 
 Knowlton. — The Medical Work renewed. — Present State. — Con- 
 cluding Thought. 
 
 NINGPO is one of the five ports in China 
 opened to foreign commerce, and the resi- 
 dence of British and other foreigners, by the 
 treaty of August, 1842. The other free ports 
 were Hongkong, Fuchau, Amoy, and Shanghai. 
 Ningpo is in latitude 30°, situated near the 
 mouth of the river of the same name. The 
 population is 250,000. The island of Chusan 
 lies about thirty miles east of Ningpo, and 
 has a population of from 50,000 to 100,000. 
 Durinsf the war of the Chinese rebellion under 
 Taeping Wang in 1861, Ningpo was subdued 
 and sacked by the insurgents. The mission 
 238 
 
HOSPITAL AT NINGPO. 239 
 
 property, however, was unharmed, and the rebels 
 were driven out May 10, 1862. 
 
 Besides Ningpo, which at first gave name to 
 this mission, are Suchau, Hangchow, Zaohying, 
 and several other populous places, in which out- 
 stations have been established, churches organ- 
 ized, and many converts have from time to time 
 been gathered into them. 
 
 The missionaries who have labored in this 
 field are Messrs. D. J. Macgowan, M.D., who 
 arrived in 1843 ; E. C. Lord, 1847; Josiah God- 
 dard, 1848; M. J. Knowlton, 1854; Horace Jen- 
 kins, i860; Carl T. Kreyer, 1866; Josiah R. 
 Goddard, 1868; M. A. Churchill, 1875; Rev. 
 S. R Barchet, M.D., 1875. Of these Dr. Mac- 
 gowan's connection with the mission was closed 
 by his resignation in October, 1863, and Mr. 
 Kreyer's in 1870, he having accepted a position 
 as teacher in the 'Chinese college at Shanghai. 
 Rev. Mr. Goddard, sen., died Sept. 4, 1854, at 
 Ningpo, and Mr. Knowlton, Sept. 10, 1874. 
 
 The medical hospital established by Dr. Mac- 
 gowan in 1843 was designed to be an effective 
 means of attracting those who were suffering 
 under maladies of the body to an institution 
 where they might find healing for the graver 
 maladies of the soul. And, as the Lord Jesus 
 began his ministry by cleansing the leper of 
 Matt, viii., so this mission made its first ap- 
 peal to the people by offering to heal the soul 
 through the helping of the body. In eight 
 months of the year 1844, 2,139 cases of disease 
 were treated in Dr. Macgowan's hospital, of 
 which 1,739 were males, and 240 females and 
 
240 EASTERN CHINA OR NINGPO MISSION, 
 
 children. In 1849, 12,956 patients were pre- 
 scribed for by Dr. Macgowan and a native 
 physician; in 185 1, on the island of Chusan, 
 2,000; in 1853, 11,031; and in 1854, 11,000. 
 And during all this period of ceaseless activity, 
 every opportunity was embraced to lead those 
 who came for bodily healing to seek of the Great 
 Physician healing for the soul. 
 
 A chapel was opened in the centre of'Ningpo 
 in January, 1846. Dr. Macgowan and two na- 
 tive assistants, besides other laborers, preached 
 every Sabbath to a congregation of from eighty 
 to a hundred hearers, and were encouraged by 
 a few applicants for baptism. When Mr. and 
 Mrs. Lord arrived in 1847, the hearers were 
 from one hundred to three hundred in number, 
 of whom twenty-five or thirty were females. A 
 church was organized at Ningpo, Oct. 31, 1.847, 
 and in 1848 a Bible-class and a day school. In 
 1849 religious services were first held on the 
 island of Chusan, and the church of Ningpo 
 sustained an out-station fifteen miles distant, up 
 the Ningpo River. The contributions of the 
 church to benevolent objects this year were 
 eighty-four dollars, the number of church-mem- 
 bers being only eight ; equal to ten dollars and 
 a half per member. In May, 1849, ^^ aged man 
 was baptized, the first-fruits of the mission in 
 Ningpo. He adorned his profession by a Chris- 
 tian life of only four months, and in September 
 of the same year died in the faith of the gospel. 
 
 In 1 85 1 the church numbered nine, of whom 
 only three were Chinese. From the organiza- 
 tion of the church in 1847, four native converts 
 
DEATH OF MR. AND MRS. GODDARD. 241 
 
 had been baptized ; two or three conversions 
 were reported on the island of Chusan ; the 
 book of Exodus was translated, and three thou- 
 sand copies printed. The Bible had already- 
 been translated in .two different versions, one by 
 Dr. Marshman, the other by Dr. Morrison ; and 
 a plan was formed to secure a still more satis- 
 factory translation by the united labors of a 
 committee of the missionaries of all the denomi- 
 nations in China. It was to participate in this 
 work that Mr. Goddard had been 'summoned 
 from his post in Bangkok. It was found bet- 
 ter, however, by the missionaries of the Baptist 
 denomination, for obvious reasons, to make an 
 independent version ; and Mr. Goddard engaged 
 in this work, completing the New Testament by 
 the close of 1853, — the monument of his life, 
 — and proceeding in the Old Testament as far 
 as the end of Leviticus. His death in 1854 put 
 a period, for the time, to this important work. 
 
 In 1852 Dr. Macgowan made a tour into the 
 interior, and visited the city of Suchau, where 
 a church edifice of brick was built, and dedi- 
 cated Sept. 26. Three baptisms were reported. 
 The interesting fact is stated that in 1853 all 
 the members of the church were accustomed to 
 attend the monthly concert, and the contribu- 
 tions amounted to more than four dollars per 
 member. Of what church in any Christian 
 country could so much as this be said "i This 
 year more than twelve thousand portions of 
 Scripture were distributed among the people, 
 and upwards of thirty thousand tracts. 
 
 Three years later Mrs. Goddard died in Provi- 
 
242 EASTERN CHINA OR NINGPO MISSION. 
 
 dence, R.I., having returned to this country soon 
 after the death of her husband. Thus, husband 
 and wife, in a period of less than fifteen years, 
 partly spent in Siam and partly in China, had 
 finished their missionary career nobly and use- 
 fully, and received the Master's "Well done!" 
 The circumstances of the history of Mr. God- 
 dard, this valued missionary, are deeply interest- 
 ing, as an illustration of the methods of Divine 
 providence and grace, and of the results of 
 Christian faithfulness. An obscure young wo- 
 man in Boston, the first convert baptized by 
 Dr. Baldwin in the great revival of 1803-7, soon 
 after her baptism wrote a letter to her female 
 friend in Worcester County, Mass., adding in a 
 postscript a single sentence to the husband of 
 the latter, then an unconverted man. That sen- 
 tence was the means of his conversion. That 
 man was David Goddard, who afterwards became 
 a revered minister of the gospel, and an inter- 
 ested participant in the early missionary efforts 
 of the Baptist denomination. His son of many 
 prayers became Josiah Goddard, the missionary 
 and translator of the New Testament, and his 
 grandson is the present Josiah R. Goddard, who 
 is so nobly continuing the work which his father 
 nobly began. And so the postscript of the 
 young woman's letter in Boston, dictated in 
 Christian faithfulness, after the lapse of nearly 
 fourscore years is still doing service for Christ 
 on the hills and in the valleys and among the 
 islands of China. 
 
 After the death of Mr. Goddard, Messrs. 
 Lord and Knowlton took charge of the work in 
 
THE ISLAND OF CHUSAN VISITED. 243 
 
 Ningpo. Eighteen meetings for the exposition 
 of the gospel to the Chinese in Ningpo were 
 held every week, and at these meetings perhaps 
 twelve hundred in all heard the way of salvation. 
 A thousand New. Testaments in Chinese were 
 sent to California ; and thus the work of mis- 
 sions among the heathen came to be helpful in 
 the home-mission work among one of the impor- 
 tant immigrant populations of the Pacific slope 
 of America. Dr. Macgowan also published a 
 Chinese newspaper at private expense, carrying 
 forty-eight thousand pages of religious and other 
 reading into the families of China during the 
 year. An unsuccessful attempt was made this 
 year by two native Christians to penetrate to 
 Nanking, and put the New Testament into the 
 hands of the insurgent chief, Taeping Wang. 
 They distributed many tracts on their way. 
 One of them was arrested and placed in con- 
 finement, and a ransom was demanded for his 
 deliverance. The time for the display of God's 
 saving power here was not yet come ; but the 
 word of God was not bound. 
 
 In the year 1855 an assistant preached twice 
 on the Sabbath and twice every week on the 
 island of Chusan. Two schools were maintained, 
 one on Chusan, and one at Ningpo, with fifty 
 pupils. Two assistants visited Hangchow, the 
 capital of the province, at the literary examina- 
 tion, to distribute Scriptures and tracts. Mr. 
 Knowlton visited several parts of the island of 
 Chusan, and was cordially received everywhere. 
 At one place, the capital of the island, a room 
 for meetings was hired, and an assistant sta- 
 
244 EASTERN CHINA OR NTNGPO MISSION. 
 
 tioned there. The Spirit was manifestly present, 
 and converts came to Christ. Three former 
 leaders of the Catholic church in Chusan be- 
 came hopefully the subjects of Divine grace. 
 Two of them were baptized, and the third 
 applied for the ordinance. During the year 
 thirteen were baptized, one of them a Chinese 
 woman. 
 
 In the year 1856 the funds of the treasury at 
 home were deficient, and the work of retrench- 
 ment became necessary. The places for preach- 
 ing in Ningpo were reduced from three to one, 
 and the schools were dismissed. Notwithstand- 
 ing, a hymn-book was prepared this year by Mr, 
 Lord, and many thousands of Scriptures and 
 tracts were put in circulation. On the island 
 of Chusan a literary man, twenty-seven years of 
 age, travelled two hundred and fifty miles — 
 twelve days' journey — to learn about the doc- 
 trine of Christ. In a tour outside of Ningpo, 
 Mr. Knowlton preached on one occasion in an 
 ancestral temple to two hundred hearers, many 
 of whom were females. 
 
 The work gradually advanced. In 1857 the 
 church numbered nineteen. A visit was made 
 this year to Kinghwa, a town two hundred miles 
 south-west of Ningpo, having a population of 
 from fifty thousand to seventy-five thousand 
 souls. This place was afterwards an out-sta- 
 tion, and for a season a field of much promise. 
 Another church, of seven members, was organ- 
 ized in the year 1858, and an unusual spirit of 
 inquiry was manifest, both there and in Ningpo. 
 In the latter place seven were baptized. A 
 
CHINESE FEMALES BAPTIZED. 245 
 
 gentle shower of Divine influence seems to have 
 descended on the mission at Ningpo from the 
 beginning. With no large ingathering, as in 
 other countries, the work has made a steady 
 advancement, and polished stones have been 
 added, one by one, year after year, to the spirit- 
 ual building which God is erecting on the ruins 
 of idolatry. 
 
 In March, 1859, Mr. Jenkins joined the mis- 
 sion. This year nineteen were baptized, nearly 
 doubling the churches. At the same time an 
 assistant was stationed at Kinghwa, from which 
 place four were baptized and received into the 
 church at Ningpo. Three of them were literary 
 men. Two others, one of them a literary man, 
 were baptized later, in 1861, and Kinghwa was 
 adopted as an out-station. Thus the gospel not 
 only reached the poor and degraded, but also 
 found converts among the intellectual. Another 
 out-station was commenced in the country, 
 twenty miles distant from Ningpo ; and at still 
 another, which has since borne good fruit, a 
 church of five members was organized Sept. 8, 
 1861. 
 
 There were now three missionaries and their 
 wives, four native assistants, and four out-sta- 
 tions. Mrs. Lord superintended a boarding and 
 a day school. An unusual number of Chinese 
 females were baptized in 1861 ; nine of them 
 put on Christ by an open profession that 
 year, the eldest being sixty years of age. This 
 was a triumph of the gospel in a country where, 
 under the influence of idolatry, the female sex 
 is oppressed and degraded for the most part, 
 
246 EASTERN CHINA OR NINGPO MISSION. 
 
 and deemed unworthy to share, as in Christian 
 countries, in the privileges, the enjoyments, and 
 the hopes of men. At Ningpo and one of the 
 out-stations the baptisms numbered seventeen, 
 and the total of members had increased to forty- 
 one. The work also made constant progress in 
 Chusan, and the members on the island had 
 increased to twenty-four. The next year, so 
 abundantly was the Spirit poured out that the 
 number of native Christians at all the stations 
 had risen to be not far from one hundred in 
 number. Of six assistants, four were formed 
 into a theological class, who studied during the 
 week, and preached every Sabbath. Thus a 
 nucleus was formed of an educated and efficient 
 native ministry. Eleven were admitted by bap- 
 tism to the church at Ningpo, and fifteen on 
 the island of Chusan. The people at a town 
 on the north side of the island, having heard of 
 the wonderful news of salvation by the death of 
 Christ, requested that a native preacher might 
 be sent to them to teach them concerning the 
 way of life. Thus new openings for the gospel 
 invited the sickle of the reaper faster than it 
 was possible to answer the demand. 
 
 In 1863 forty-one converts were baptized, — 
 more than in any previous year since the mis- 
 sion began ; thirteen of the number were women 
 of Ningpo. A new out-station was also adopted. 
 But this year two native assistants died, and the 
 labors of Dr. Macgowan and Mr. Lord were 
 withdrawn from the mission, — the former per- 
 manently, and the latter only for a season. 
 
 The year 1865 was one of marked progress 
 
THE OPENING AT HANGCHOW. 247 
 
 in every department of the mission. Two 
 native Christian women, able to read, — an ac- 
 complishment not common among the females 
 of China, — were employed as Bible-readers ; 
 and the fruit of their labors was seen in the 
 fact that this year the Ningpo church numbered 
 forty females among its members. This year, 
 also, the members of the native church con- 
 tributed a sum of money nearly sufficient to 
 sustain their native pastor, some of them giv- 
 ing more than a dollar per month. Ningpo 
 church this year numbered* sixty members, of 
 whom twenty were males, and forty females, — 
 the female portion of this Chinese church, as 
 in most parts of the earth, becoming the pre- 
 ponderating element. Five young men were 
 attending to studies adapted to make them use- 
 ful in the ministry, and the Executive Commit- 
 tee recommended to the brethren to call to 
 ordination one or more of the native assistants. 
 In that dark land the number of members of 
 the churches of all the stations connected with 
 Ningpo was now 141. 
 
 In 1867 Mr. Kreyer commcHced a work at 
 Hangchow, the metropolis of the province, a 
 city of four hundred thousand inhabitants, and 
 the centre of a number of populous towns and 
 villages. His chapel, formerly a jeweller's shop, 
 was named "the Jesus-doctrine-meeting-hall;" 
 and its aim changed from preparing jewels to 
 shine on earth, to the preparing of nobler jewels 
 to shine in the diadem of Christ for ever and 
 ever. 
 
 This year the disciples on Chusan addressed 
 
248 EASTERN CHINA OR NINGPO MISSION. 
 
 a letter to the Baptists in America, requesting 
 that a missionary might be designated especially 
 to them. Ningpo, the central station, was fifty 
 miles away, and it was difficult for some of 
 the members, especially the women, to walk ten 
 miles over the hills to the nearest point where 
 the gospel was regularly preached, and the ordi- 
 nances of the New Testament administered. 
 On the Chusan group of islands there were two 
 hundred thousand people, double the number 
 on the Sandwich Islands ; and the work was 
 languishing for want of a more vigorous prose- 
 cution. 
 
 In 1868 the title of the Ningpo Mission was 
 changed to the Eastern China Mission, to ex- 
 press more distinctly the wide-spreading work 
 which was now breaking forth on every side, 
 and reaching more than a hundred miles away 
 to new and important centres. Mr. Goddard, 
 the son of the lamented missionary of the same 
 name, also joined the mission about this time — 
 a new and efficient laborer. He found that the 
 language of China, which had been the dialect 
 of his boyhooc>, after having been disused for 
 many years, readily came back to him when he 
 began to mingle once more with the people ; so 
 that he was prepared for effective labor almost 
 from the day. of his arrival. 
 
 But how little can we foresee or interpret the 
 ways of Providence ! Mr. Goddard had scarce- 
 ly commenced his work, when his young and 
 earnest wife was taken from him by death, after 
 only three months of missionary service. One 
 chapter in her history is a most interesting one. 
 
CHURCH AT HANGCHOW. 249 
 
 Mrs. Goddard before her marriage, as a young 
 woman of slender means, labored for a season 
 in a cotton-factory near Boston. A fellow- 
 Christian in the same mill, who made herself 
 poor that she might make many rich, perceiv- 
 ing that her youthful friend had talent and a 
 missionary spirit, — out of her feeble earnings 
 and through great self-denial, depriving herself 
 even of necessary food and clothing, — paid 
 the expenses of the education of her younger 
 Christian sister at the best schools, and lived 
 long enough to know that she was prepared to 
 do effective work for Christ in China. And 
 thus the poor spinner, whose heart burned with 
 love to the Lord Jesus, though she was perhaps 
 never ten miles from home, gave this young 
 missionary to a life of toil for the heathen on 
 the other side of the globe. They both met 
 long since before the throne in heaven — the 
 sower and the reaper rejoicing together. Mrs. 
 Goddard's term of service was brief, but none 
 the less accepted by Him who seeth not as man 
 seeth. 
 
 The work at Hangchow took form and con- 
 sistency. In September a church was organ- 
 ized in the city, and a young man baptized. 
 His employers at once dismissed him for keep- 
 ing the Sabbath ; but another door was opened 
 for his support. A new out-station was also 
 commenced at Sangbah, in connection with 
 Hangchow. Several here were said to be Sab- 
 bath-keepers, and three were baptized. All the 
 churches of the mission — five in number, 
 with one hundred and seventy-eight members — 
 
25 O EASTERN CHINA OR NINGPO MISSION. 
 
 showed increasing strength and efficiency, and 
 a disposition to provide themselves v^ith chapels 
 and other conveniences for the worship of God. 
 The mission reported twelve stations and out- 
 stations, twelve preaching-places, eleven native 
 assistants, five Bible-women, and thirty converts 
 baptized. 
 
 The station at Kinghwa, encompassed by 
 difficulties, opposition, and persecution, was 
 suspended in 1868 or 1869, and another, nearer 
 Ningpo, substituted for it. This new station, 
 Shouhing or Zaohying, is larger in extent than 
 Ningpo, situated in a vast plain full of villages, 
 intersected by canals in every direction, afford- 
 ing access to a great population. A native 
 preacher was stationed here, and Mr. Jenkins 
 made occasional visits as he found opportunity. 
 About this time one of the most powerful men 
 in the empire memorialized the emperor to 
 tolerate alike Protestantism, Romanism, and 
 Buddhism, calculating, in his godless indiffer- 
 ence, that they, would work destruction to one 
 another, and thus an end would come to all 
 religion. He had not learned that Messiah's 
 throne will stand after all 6ther kingdoms are 
 overthrown. 
 
 The openings were large^ and the promise 
 auspicious. Mr. Knowlton wrote, " If we had a 
 sufficient number of native preachers, we might 
 soon have chapels and native churches scat- 
 tered throughout the Ningpo plain, with its 
 three thousand villages and over one million 
 inhabitants." 
 ' At the out-station of Sangbah a triumph over 
 
CHURCH AT SANGBAH. 251 
 
 opposition was obtained about this time, the 
 magistrates openly declaring that the teachers 
 of Christianity cannot be disturbed. At Zao- 
 hying baptism was administered for the first 
 time, a mother and her son being the subjects. 
 Scores of people witnessed the solemn scene. 
 This furnished occasion for the organization of 
 a church. At the Lord's Supper, ten converts 
 celebrated together the death of Christ. The 
 Eastern China Mission now presented a total of 
 209 members, sixteen preaching stations and 
 seventeen native helpers, including Bible-read- 
 ers, preachers, colporters, &c. 
 
 The mission began to be crippled for want of 
 laborers. Mr. and Mrs. Knowlton in impaired 
 health returned for a season to their native 
 land ; Mr. Kreyer accepted a literary position 
 under government, which prevented him from 
 yielding direct service any longer to the mission. 
 This left the station at Ningpo, with its out- 
 stations, to the sole care of Mr. Goddard. Mr. 
 Jenkins removed to Hangchow, and Zaohying 
 was left for a season in charge of native assist- 
 ants. In November, 1870, Mr. Goddard was 
 married to Miss F. A. Dean, daughter of the 
 now venerable Dr. Dean, of Bangkok, which 
 brought another and well-qualified laborer into 
 the field. 
 
 But there was light in darkness. At King- 
 hwa, where the opposers had demolished the 
 chapel in order to drive away the missionary, 
 the chief magistrate invited Mr. Jenkins to 
 return, promising indemnity for damages, and 
 posted proclamations through the city, warning 
 
252 EASTERN CHINA OR NINGPO MISSION. 
 
 the people against molesting the missionaries, 
 and calling upon the citizens to aid Mr. Jenkins 
 in securing a site for his chapel and a house for 
 the assistant. A new church was constituted 
 this year at Siwu, with ten members. 
 
 The next year saw the removal of several of 
 the Chinese members by death, some of them 
 the oldest of the native Christians. They illus- 
 trated in their death the power of the gospel. 
 One interesting case occurred of an aged man 
 who died at a new out-station, where a chapel 
 had been opened, and this old man received the 
 gospel with joy. But about three months after 
 he first heard the word of God, and before he 
 had an opportunity to make an open profession, 
 he was called to higher scenes ; and calm and 
 joyful, even in his last moments, he declared 
 before his friends and neighbors his faith in 
 Christ and his hope of heaven. 
 
 A noble assistant, an aged man, is spoken of 
 as sustaining the chapel at Kinghwa. He ex- 
 perienced many petty annoyances and persecu- 
 tions at the hands of his heathen neighbors, 
 but continued to sow the good seed of the king- 
 dom. He was known as *'the stanch disciple 
 of Jesus," and received calls from men far and 
 near, to whom he told the story of Christ, 
 giving them a Testament or a few tracts. 
 " Neither threatening magistrates nor a sneering 
 people were able to quench the fire of his zeal. 
 Hedged about by trials, he stood firm, an honor 
 to the cause, and a light shining clearly amid 
 the warring elements. His calls for help were 
 full of feeling." 
 
DEATH OF DR. KNOWLTON. 253 
 
 In December, 1872, the Chek-kiang Baptist 
 Association, consisting of six churches, was 
 formed at Ningpo, the first Baptist Association 
 in China. Twenty-three delegates were present, 
 most of whom were laborers in the mission. 
 The session continued two days and a half, and 
 was deeply interesting. The delegates made 
 many important inquiries relative to their mis- 
 sion-work and church polity. It was believed 
 that this new step in advance would be pro- 
 ductive of great good. Total church-members 
 at this date, 219 ; students for the ministry, six ; 
 Bible-women, four ; preachers, fifteen. 
 
 On the lOth of September, 1874, Dr. Knowl- 
 ton died, universally lamented. He was a 
 choice missionary, an indefatigable worker, 
 having his whole soul set on the conversion of 
 the heathen ; and he had the rare ability of 
 making others work. Mr. and Mrs. Churchill 
 joined the mission about this date, putting on 
 the harness as Dr. Knowlton was putting it off. 
 
 Mr. Jenkins revisited this country in 1873, 
 and returned to his station in 1875. Mrs. 
 Churchill died in December, 1875, after only a 
 little more than a year of missionary life. Much 
 attention was paid to the instruction of the 
 native preachers, and a reference Testament 
 prepared by Mr. Jenkins was published, a use- 
 ful help towards making their addresses more 
 scriptural. At the meeting of the Association, 
 the discussion of the question of wine-drinking 
 by Christians was very prominent, and a resolu- 
 tion was passed recommending the members to 
 abstain from it. 
 
254 EASTERN CHINA OR NINGPO MISSION. 
 
 The report of 1877 tells both of hope a:id 
 discouragement. Many of the disciples were 
 living epistles, the joy and crown of those who 
 watched for their souls. The extent of the 
 work, and the fewness of the laborers, were a 
 source of perpetual anxiety. Under Dr. Bar- 
 chet, the medical work, begun so vigorously by 
 Dr. Macgowan in 1843, again assumed impor- 
 tance ; and there is reason to hope that it may 
 once more prove an entering wedge for the gos- 
 pel. Sometimes as many as sixty cases were 
 treated in a single forenoon. Patients came 
 from many parts of the province, and, healed in 
 body, carried home with them the words of eter- 
 nal life. Mr. Churchill established himself in 
 Hangchow in January, 1877; but after a few 
 months he was prostrated by sickness, and 
 compelled to return to Ningpo, and finally to 
 the United States. 
 
 An interesting notice is given of a native 
 school in Ningpo, taught by a native teacher. 
 Most of the pupils have good abilities, and 
 some make astonishing progress. They are all 
 able to repeat the whole of Genesis, and the 
 whole Gospel of Matthew. This is in harmony 
 with the method of teaching in China, in the 
 schools of the country, in which the most cov- 
 eted attainment is to be able to recite from 
 memory page after page of the writings of the 
 Chinese classics. The teacher, who is a Chris- 
 tian, also earnestly sets the truth before his pu- 
 pils, and exhorts them to act according to its 
 teachings. 
 
 The followin'g is the present state of the mis- 
 
CONCLUDING THOUGHT, 255 
 
 sion : missionaries, eight, five male and three 
 female; churches, nine ; chapels, 23 ; preachers, 
 one ordained, 20 unordained ; church-members, 
 307 ; boys in four schools, 58 ; girls in one 
 school, 18; one medical dispensary, at which 
 last year 7,500 cases were prescribed for. 
 
 The history of this mission gives an impres- 
 sive view of the extent of the work to be done, 
 and the inadequacy of the force hitherto em- 
 ployed to do it. The work is mighty, but 
 mighty is He to whom it belongs, and who is 
 pledged to its final success. Years may pass 
 away, and still the enemy may scoff at our puny 
 efforts ; but, when the set time is come, He 
 whose right it is will reign supreme. And of 
 that result, we have all the assurance that can 
 be given by the word of Him who cannot lie. 
 
No. XVI, 
 
 MISSION TO JAPAN. 
 
 Origin of the Mission. — Geography and History of Japan. — Begin- 
 ning of the Work, — The Mission re-enforced. — The Work advan- 
 cing. — Prosperity and Trial. — Female Helpers. — Interesting Can- 
 didates. — Death of Mr. Arthur. — The Work accomplished. — 
 Present State of the Mission. 
 
 THE organization called "The American 
 Baptist Free Mission Society," moved by 
 a desire to embrace the auspicious opening for 
 evangelization in Japan, established the earliest 
 Baptist missionary station in that country. 
 After the abolition of slavery in the United 
 States, finding no occasion for maintaining 
 separate efforts in the field of Christian activity, 
 the members of that Society offered the mission 
 they had commenced to the American Baptist 
 Missionary Union, at the annual meeting held 
 in New York in May, 1872. At that meeting 
 Mr. Goble, who had labored in the mission, gave 
 an account of the favorable prospects for the 
 propagation of the gospel in that remarkable 
 empire. Dr. Nathan Brown, formerly a useful 
 missionary of the Union in Assam, who after 
 several years' residence in America was now 
 under appointment by the Free Mission Society 
 
 2i;6 
 
GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY OF JAPAN. 257 
 
 as a missionary to Japan, was cordially wel- 
 comed to co-operation with the Missionary 
 Union, and spoke words of rejoicing over the 
 fact that the land which for three centuries had 
 trampled on the cross was now open to the gos- 
 pel. A resolution' was passed, pledging the 
 support of the Union, should the Board of Man- 
 agers deem it advisable to accept the mission to 
 Japan and to re-enforce it with additional labor- 
 ers. In accordance with this resolution the 
 Board voted, May 23, 1872, to accept and re- 
 enforce the mission to Japan. 
 
 The mission in Japan is the latest enterprise 
 undertaken by the Missionary Union on the 
 continent of Asia. Japan is a kingdom of 
 islands, numbering in all nearly four thousand. 
 Four of them are much larger than the rest, 
 and are supposed by many to contain as large 
 a population as the United States of America. 
 The islands are situated east of the northern 
 half of China, and extend from 30° to 50° north 
 latitude. The country is hilly, but not moun- 
 tainous, and abounds in fertile valleys and mag- 
 nificent harbors. The history of the govern- 
 ment goes back to a period six hundred years 
 before the Christian era : its founder lived in 
 the days of Nebuchadnezzar. Roman-Catholi- 
 cism was introduced into the empire in 1549, 
 but was afterwards suppressed ; and for three 
 centuries the government resisted the approach 
 of all foreigners. So great was the national 
 hatred of the Christian religion as represented 
 by the Catholics, that for man} years the 
 figure of a cross was laid down upon the shore, 
 
2S8 MISSION TO JAPAN. 
 
 and every person landing was compelled to 
 trample underfoot this symbol of Christianity. 
 In 1853 an American fleet entered the har- 
 bor of Yeddo, a treaty of peace and commerce 
 was agreed upon between the United States 
 and Japan, and treaties were made also with 
 various other powers. 
 
 Since this change, a flood of Hght has been 
 pouring upon Japan, which the intelligent 
 people seem inclined, in all secular matters, 
 to make the most of. Railroads have been 
 constructed ; and light-houses, custom-houses, 
 banks, and schoolhouses have been erected in 
 great numbers. An army and navy have been 
 organized, and a postal system established 
 much like our own ; also a graded school-sys- 
 tem inaugurated, from universities to primary 
 schools, with some of the most accomplished 
 literary men of Europe for professors. They 
 have a native press, translating our best books ; 
 and newspapers are circulating freely through 
 the country. 
 
 Dr. Nathan Brown and wife and Rev. Jona- 
 than Goble and wife arrived in Yokohama in 
 February, 1873. Hitherto, notwithstanding the 
 previous labors of Mr. Goble, there were no dis- 
 ciples, no chapels, and no residences for mis- 
 sionaries, so that the work of the Union was 
 substantially the establishment of a new mis- 
 sion. Dr. Brown, in his first letter from the 
 country, wrote thus : — 
 
 "The edict against Christianity was formally abro- 
 gated a few days ago by imperial proclamation. The cal- 
 endar has been changed to correspond with European 
 
THE MISSION RE-ENFORCED. 259 
 
 reckoning, beginning the year with January. The old 
 holidays are set aside, and Sunday established as the 
 legal holiday, under the title ' Day of Light ' or ' Sun's 
 Day ; ' while the other days bear the names of the sev- 
 eral planets, as ours do. Christmas is made a holiday. 
 . . . The wheel of God's providence is thus rolling 
 on with a power never seen in any other country ; and it 
 becomes us to seize the opportunity for enlarging our 
 missionary operations, before it passes away forever." 
 
 In 1873 the connection of Mr. Goble with 
 the Union as a missionary was closed. Rev. 
 James H. and Mrs. Arthur joined the mission 
 in October, 1873. Mr. Arthur found numbers 
 of young natives who could read and understand 
 English ; and, while pursuing the study of the 
 language, he gathered a class of these students 
 of English, who were a help to him in one lan- 
 guage, while he was a help to them in the other. 
 The New Testament was the basis of instruc- 
 tion, and the young men of ingenuous minds 
 seemed to appreciate and delight in the instruc- 
 tions received. They had abandoned the gods 
 of their fathers, and were willing to listen to 
 the truths of the gospel. Dr. Brown had 
 already commenced a preaching-service at his 
 house on the Sabbath, and Mrs. Brown opened 
 a school for native young women with encour- 
 aging prospects. 
 
 Another missionary was added in 1873 to the 
 working forces. Mr. James T. Doyen went to 
 China in 1859 with an Episcopal clergyman, 
 and took charge of a boys* school in Shanghai. 
 Two years afterwards the school was discon- 
 tinued ; but he was still employed in teaching in 
 China and Japan, independent of any mission- 
 
26o MISSION TO JAPAN. 
 
 ary Board. He joined the Baptist church in 
 Yokohama, then just organized, and was or- 
 dained to the work of the ministry by our own 
 missionaries Sept. 7, 1873, and the following 
 month appointed a missionary of the Union. 
 He took up his fesidence with a Japanese 
 family, where he had opportunity to tell the 
 story of the cross, and his labor was apparently 
 not in vain. His aim was as soon as possible 
 to reach the capital, now Tokio, to preach the 
 gospel in high places as well as among the 
 lowly. He reported that the missionaries were 
 permitted to preach at the open ports, but not 
 to penetrate into the interior. 
 
 The mission church at Yokohama was organ- 
 ized in 1873, consisting of eight members, five 
 of whom belonged to the mission families. The 
 following year, the government granted per- 
 mission to the Japanese people to hire foreign 
 teachers. It was understood that this measure 
 would secure to missionaries the privilege, both 
 in the cities and in the country, of living out- 
 side of the treaty limits. Hence the mission- 
 aries in Japan began at once to prepare for the 
 enlargement of their operations. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Arthur set themselves to look for a home in the 
 midst of the native population. The late repre- 
 sentative of Japan at Washington invited them 
 to take up their residence at Tokio, which from 
 that time (June, 1874) they made their. home, 
 giving to the work the freshness and strength 
 of their labors, their interest, and their prayers ; 
 and here they set themselves to the task of pre- 
 paring jewels for the crown of Immanuel. At 
 
THE WORK ADVANCING. 26 1 
 
 the same date Mr. Doyen removed to Tokio, at 
 the suggestion of several Buddhist priests, who 
 offered him quarters in one of their temples, 
 and expressed their wish to hear about Chris- 
 tianity. He was accompanied by a recent con- 
 vert to the gospel, who understood English and 
 Chinese, and acted as interpreter. The im- 
 pression evidently was gaining ground in Japan, 
 that Christianity would ere long become the 
 religion of the people. The preceding year, the 
 officer at the head of the educational depart- 
 ment was a violent opposer of missionaries, and 
 gave orders that no clergyman should be em- 
 ployed in any government school or college. 
 The next year he was set aside, and his place 
 filled by a Christian, a young student who had 
 been hopefully converted in America. This 
 was a decided triumph in favor of the gospel. 
 
 Mr. Doyen remained at his post in one of the 
 great religious centres of the city, and one of 
 the best locations for a mission-station, until 
 near the close of the year, when the failure of 
 his sight compelled him to relinquish his work. 
 Mr. Arthur was able to rent a new building in 
 a part of Tokio which was accessible to large 
 numbers of the people, centrally located, and 
 well adapted to the purposes of the mission. 
 Thus a foothold was gained at the capital, and 
 the work was auspiciously begun. With the 
 blessing of God, there was reason to anticipate 
 that the seed sown would from this time bring 
 forth fruit unto eternal life. 
 
 At the 'other and older station, Yokohama, 
 a chapel was completed, a congregation of about 
 
262 MISSION TO JAPAN. 
 
 thirty hearers was gathered, and a school 
 opened with encouraging prospects. Surely 
 the God of missions will guard the feeble be- 
 ginnings of the work, and protect the house set 
 apart for the honor of his name, and where 
 souls are to be directed to him ! But God seeth 
 not as man seeth. In February, 1875, the 
 chapel was burned to the ground. But the 
 spiritual results, it is hoped, are such as no 
 flames can consume, nor the floods drown. Two 
 converted natives were added to the church, one 
 of them the interpreter before spoken of. A 
 Scripture Manual for the use of schools was 
 prepared in Japanese by Dr. Brown, and high- 
 ly commended by those competent to judge. 
 The Parables of Christ, in Japanese, were also 
 put in circulation. 
 
 Later in 1875, Misses Clara A. Sands and A. 
 H. Kidder joined the mission, the former going 
 to Yokohama, and the latter to Tokio. The 
 progress of the work was highly encouraging. 
 The truth took hold of the minds of the people ; 
 and one by one they came to submit themselves 
 to Christ, trusting in him as the only deliverer. 
 In Yokohama the preaching-service in the 
 chapel on the Sabbath was attended by about 
 thirty hearers ; and seven were baptized during 
 the year, of whom five were Japanese and two 
 foreigners. Dr. Brown, the laborious and skil- 
 ful translator, had made much progress in pre- 
 paring Christian literature in the language of 
 the people. Matthew and Mark were in circu- 
 lation ; Luke was ready for the press ; the Par- 
 ables, the Sermon on the Mount, the Scripture 
 
PROSPERITY AND TRIAL. 263 
 
 Manual, and History of Creation, had also been 
 issued from the press, beside hymns. Sabbath- 
 school cards, &c. In Tokio the first baptism 
 was administered in October, 1875 ; the candi- 
 date being a woman, who was received after 
 careful examination, and gave good evidence 
 that she was a new creature in Christ. 
 
 The next year Rev. Frank S. Dobbins and 
 wife joined the mission, and were stationed at 
 Yokohama. But, on account of the illness of 
 the latter, they were soon obliged to return to 
 the United States ; and, there being no pros- 
 pect of her being able to live in Japan, after a 
 little more than one year their connection with 
 the mission was closed. Thus the bright pros- 
 pects with which they entered on the work were 
 so soon overclouded ; and the Lord, having ac- 
 cepted the service they designed to render to 
 him among the heathen, appointed them to 
 other spheres of usefulness. 
 
 This year there were more accessions to the 
 church of Yokohama than in any previous one. 
 A native preacher was an efficient helper. A 
 daily Bible-class of seven members, and a Sab- 
 bath school with an average attendance of fif- 
 teen scholars, were among the instrumentalities 
 employed ; the issues from the press, including 
 Scripture portions, amounted to nearly half a 
 million pages. Eight were baptized, and the 
 church had a total of twenty-two members. 
 The church at Tokio numbered twenty mem- 
 bers, and in 1876 sixteen were baptized. Four 
 of them, all women, were gathered into the 
 church in November. Until within a very 
 
264 MISSION TO JAPAN. 
 
 short time, they had been devout worshippers 
 of idols. One of them, a woman of strong, 
 rugged character, brought to the mission- house, 
 the evening before her baptism, a great armful 
 of all sorts of idols, as a proof of her sincerity. 
 When she told her experience to the church, 
 she said she had worshipped the fox, the snake, 
 and the badger, as well as the idols ; and when 
 she went to her house, and saw the things she 
 had worshipped, she was so ashamed, even if no 
 one was present, that she hardly knew what to 
 do. She had torn down the " god-shelf," which 
 is in every Japanese house, had torn to pieces 
 or otherwise destroyed many of her idols, and 
 brousfht the rest to those who had led her to 
 Christ. 
 
 Another of the candidates was an aged woman 
 of eighty years, — a lifelong idolater, — but at 
 her great age strong and well, and rejoicing in 
 'the privilege of putting on Christ by baptism 
 in the presence of many witnesses. A third, a 
 servant woman of middle age, also brought her 
 idols to the mission-house before her baptism, 
 as a testimony that she should no more trust in 
 them. 
 
 The experience of the fourth was very inter- 
 esting. Her husband, who is also ,a disciple, 
 had occasion to go to a distant province on 
 business, and bought up all the Christian books 
 within his reach to take with him. After his 
 departure, his.wife, who had hitherto worshipped 
 idols, began to study the Bible, and to attend 
 the preaching of the Word. A Bible-woman 
 frequently visited and conversed with her. At 
 
DEATH OF MR. ARTHUR, 265 
 
 length, one day she said, "Although at first I 
 neither bcHeved nor understood the gospel, the 
 wonderful story of the cross at last reached my 
 heart, and I believed, and have put my idols 
 into the fire." A missionary writes, in view of 
 such cases : " One by one the weary and heavy- 
 laden ones of Japan are coming to Christ, and 
 finding rest." 
 
 But with progress and prosperity came also 
 trial. The young and energetic missionary, Mr. 
 Arthur, was compelled by declining health to 
 leave his post, and return to this country. He 
 reached California, where he lingered for a little 
 while; and on the 9th of December, 1877, at 
 Oakland, Cal., he passed to his reward in the 
 prime of life, at the age of thirty-five, just four 
 years from the date of his leaving his native 
 country. He was a man of deep earnestness of 
 spirit, full of missionary zeal, industrious and 
 faithful ; and, had his life been spared, he bade 
 fair to accomplish, with the Divine blessing, a 
 large work in the Japanese Mission. He left 
 the church at Tokio with twenty members, and 
 with manifest indications of larger success. 
 On a lovely day in the early spring of 1878 his 
 remains, brought back to sleep among his kin- 
 dred, were laid to their last repose in the ceme- 
 tery of Newton, Mass., where he had pursued 
 his theological studies, not far from the spot 
 where the beloved missionary to the Karens, 
 Mr. Thomas, also rests in hope. They will rise 
 within sight of each other on the resurrection 
 morning, — one rejoicing over the converts 
 gathered by years of labor; the other having 
 
266 MISSION TO JAPAN. 
 
 been called to put off the harness almost as 
 soon as he had girded it on. But the work of 
 the one, and the willingness of the other, will 
 be alike acknowledged and accepted by the 
 Master. 
 
 Miss Kidder was left at Tokio with a native 
 preacher, to whom was committed the task of 
 caring for the church thus bereft of its mission- 
 ary. At the last accounts there were several 
 candidates for baptism ; and all that seemed 
 needed, besides the blessing of the Divine Spirit, 
 was more laborers fitted to carry on the work 
 so auspiciously begun. Days of darkness and 
 trial, persecution, opposition, and bereavement, 
 have often marked the early period of mission- 
 ary enterprise. Perhaps it is the order of God's 
 providence, that success must come through 
 suffering. Two young men were baptized by 
 Dr. Brown at Tokio on the 9th of December ; 
 by a striking coincidence, the very day that Mr. 
 Arthur passed through the dark river to *' the 
 bright beyond," — a new sheaf gathered the 
 same day into the church on earth, bereft of its 
 pastor, and a new sheaf, glorified, into the gar- 
 ner in heaven. Others desired baptism on the 
 same occasion, but the ordinance was delayed. 
 
 Within three years the Japanese Mission 
 printed more than a million pages of Scripture, 
 including the first three Gospels, and portions 
 of the Old Testament. The first Gospel ever 
 printed in Japan was issued by the Baptist 
 Mission. Thirteen of the Epistles of Paul and 
 the General Epistles have also been translated 
 by our own missionaries in advance of other 
 
THE WORK ACCOMPLISHED. 267 
 
 translators. A church catechism of forty-eight 
 pages, by the late Mr. Arthur, of which one 
 thousand copies were printed, remains, a memo- 
 rial of that lamented missionary ; and by it he, 
 being dead, yet speaketh. 
 
 Twenty-eight w-ere baptized at Tokio and 
 Yokohama during the year 1878. An appoint- 
 ment was made at Tokio to baptize six candi- 
 dates, five of them females, and three married 
 women, on the i6th of June last. The day 
 proved to be very rainy, and the place of bap- 
 tism was two miles distant ; but such was the 
 zeal of the converts, that they were unwilling to 
 defer the ordinance, and it was accordingly 
 performed. The church at Yokohama have 
 received a handsome communion-service, the 
 gift of the Shawmut-avenue church in Boston. 
 Dr. Brown is pressing forward his translation 
 of the New Testament in Japanese. 
 
 The last convert baptized at Yokohama was 
 a man of wealth and influence, belonging to 
 the province of Shin Shu. Some two years 
 ago he heard that the Christian religion was 
 being preached at Niigata by a Dr. Palm, and 
 started off to learn what it was. On his way 
 he fell in with a relative, who told him it was 
 nothing but the old Catholic religion formerly 
 preached at Nagasaki. Discouraged at this, he 
 turned about, and went home. This year he 
 was taken sick, and came to Yokohama to put 
 himself in charge of an old friend, a physician, 
 who, he was surprised to find, had become a 
 member of the church. His interest was now 
 excited anew ; and during the time he staid 
 
268 MISSION TO JAPAN, 
 
 here, several months, he applied himself unre- 
 mittingly to the study of the Scriptures. The 
 physician was as earnest in his labors for his 
 soul as for his body, and with one or two other 
 members spent much time with him in prayer, 
 on one occasion going out with him into the 
 country, and spending the whole day in prayer 
 for his conversion. He was at length brought 
 fully into the light, and now considers that his 
 sickness and coming to Yokohama were spe- 
 cially ordered by Providence for the purpose of 
 bringing him within the sound of the gospel. 
 He has now returned to his country, taking 
 with him a large quantity of Scriptures for dis- 
 tribution. 
 
 One missionary. Dr. Brown, with his wife and 
 Miss Sands, are at Yokohama, and Mr. and 
 Mrs. Rhees and Miss Kidder at Tokio. There 
 is a church and a school at each of the stations, 
 and three unordained native preachers. The 
 church at Yokohama numbers thirty members, 
 and that at Tokio thirty-seven. Last year four 
 were baptized at the former, and five at the 
 latter. Two young girls in Miss Kidder's 
 school became Christians last year, one of 
 whom was baptized. A heathen woman near 
 the city opens her house for meetings in the 
 suburbs of the capital two Sabbath evenings in 
 the month, and there are some attentive listen- 
 ers. Her reason for her course is that she 
 wants to know what this new religion is. A 
 baptism occurred at Tokio each communion 
 Sabbath for three months last spring, and the 
 disciples are evidently growing in grace. The 
 
CONCLUDING THOUGHTS. 269 
 
 attendance on the services of the Sabbath re- 
 cently has increased to such an extent that it 
 was necessary to enlarge the chapel by taking 
 in the veranda ; and again it overflows. A 
 native assistant some months since made a 
 preaching-tour among the villages near Tokio ; 
 and he received a letter recently from the gov- 
 ernor of one town, asking him to come again, 
 and " tell the people more about Jesus' religion." 
 The remarkable change that has taken place 
 in Japan, the sudden stir of life that seems to 
 have pervaded the entire nation, is full of prom- 
 ise. If the people of God understand the signs 
 of the times, and enter with vigor into this 
 broad harvest-field, there is hope that their new 
 civilization will be a Christian civilization, and 
 that they will be a people consecrated to Christ, 
 dedicating their new-born energies to the salva- 
 of the world. How great the responsibility of 
 such a period ! May the churches of these 
 United States prove themselves, through grace, 
 equal to the emergency. 
 
 \ 
 
No. XVII. 
 
 MISSION TO AFRICA. 
 
 First Efforts in West Africa. — The First Church in Africa. — The 
 First Missionary. — Death of Mr. Holton. — Death of Lott Gary. 
 
 — Mr. Skinner joins the Mission, and dies. — The Mission re- 
 enforced. — Station at Bassa Cove. — Reflections suggested. — The 
 Bassa Language reduced to Writing. — Progress. — Re-enforce- 
 ment. — Death. — Return and Death of Mr. Crocker. — New 
 Station at Bexley. — Death of Mr. Clarke. — Re-enforcements. — 
 The Mission suspended. — After the War. — The Work resumed. 
 
 — Visit of Robert Hill. — His Death. — A New Mode of Proced- 
 ure. — School of Preachers. — Working in Uncertamty. — Favor- 
 able Omens. — Conversion of Bassas. — Uncertainty and Prog- 
 ress. — Interruption. — Death of Mr. Vonbrun. — Concluding 
 Thoughts. 
 
 COON after the organization of the Baptist 
 *^ General Convention in 1814, the colored 
 people of Richmond, being naturally interested 
 in sending the gospel to people of their own 
 race, formed an "African Baptist Missionary- 
 Society." An article in their Constitution re- 
 stricted the appropriation of their funds to mis- 
 sions in Africa. Their gatherings in five years 
 reached the sum of seven hundred dollars. 
 Two members of the First Baptist church in 
 Richmond, Lott Cary, a faithful and trusted 
 assistant in the business of a large warehouse 
 in that city, and Colin Teague, — both colored 
 men, — determined to go to Africa; and the 
 270 
 
THE FIRST MISSIONARY. 271 
 
 whole of the funds were appropriated to their 
 use. They received their appointment from the 
 American Colonization Society, and were en- 
 joined to promote the missionary work in Africa, 
 without pay, as far as their other engagements 
 would permit. 
 
 In 1820 they were recognized by the Board 
 of the Baptist General Convention as their 
 missionaries, and three hundred dollars appro- 
 priated to their use. No other appropriation 
 was made to the mission in Africa beyond that 
 which was supplied by the Society in Richmond, 
 until November, 1825, when the committee in 
 Boston appropriated two hundred dollars to 
 the Rev. Calvin Holton. The station at Cape 
 Mesurado was established in 1821, under the 
 auspices of the American Colonization Society ; 
 and Messrs. Cary and Teague were at the sta- 
 tion from its commencement. 
 
 The first Baptist church in Africa connected 
 with the mission was organized in Richmond in 
 1 82 1, composed of seven members; and Lott 
 Cary was appointed pastor. The church en- 
 joyed a revival of religion, and in 1826 num- 
 bered from sixty to eighty members. 
 
 In 1825 Rev. Calvin Holton, a native of Bev- 
 erly, Mass., and graduate of Waterville College, 
 offered his services to the Colonization Society, 
 to be employed as a missionary in Liberia. The 
 Baptist Board took measures to secure a portion 
 of his time as their missionary. He was or- 
 dained at Beverly, Nov. 30, 1825, and sailed 
 from Boston Feb. 4, 1826. He was instructed 
 to ascertain the condition of the natives in the 
 
2 72 MISSION TO AFRICA. 
 
 vicinity of the colony, with the view of estab- 
 lishing a permanent missionary station. The 
 vessel in which he sailed carried out forty col- 
 ored persons to re-enforce the colony of Liberia. 
 Edina was selected as the station. A meeting- 
 house had been dedicated in October, 1825, four 
 weeks from the time it was raised. A Sabbath 
 school had existed for some time ; and a day- 
 school was begun April 18, 1825, with twenty- 
 one scholars. 
 
 But the labors of Mr. Holton were of brief 
 duration. He was quickly seized with the terri- 
 ble African fever, and died July 23, 1826, — the 
 first sacrifice to the missionary cause on the 
 continent of Africa in the employ of the Mis- 
 sionary Union, — after a service of about three 
 months and a half. 
 
 In 1828 the school at Cape Mount was discon- 
 tinued, and a school was established at Monro- 
 via, four miles distant, in its stead. About this 
 time the colonists organized a Missionary Socie- 
 ty, and contributed fifty dollars for missionary 
 work. The colonists of Liberia were more or 
 less active in efforts to put an end to the slave- 
 trade, and to prevent slave-ships of different 
 nations from visiting the waters of Western 
 Africa. Sometimes they were involved in sharp 
 and dangerous engagements, requiring no little 
 bravery and military skill. In one of those en- 
 gagements, in 1829, Mr. Lott Gary was slain 
 while defending a fort. He had been pastor at 
 Monrovia about five years, and his death was a 
 severe blow to the little band. 
 
 The mission now numbered two ordained 
 
THE MISSION RE-ENFORCED, 273 
 
 preachers, besides exhorters, and about one hun- 
 dred church-members. In 1830 there were one 
 hundred and fifty members, scattered- in four or 
 more different towns, — one of them, Carytown, 
 being a settlement of recaptured Africans. 
 
 About this time .another missionary was sent 
 from this country, — Mr. Benjamin Rush Skin- 
 nci", born at KilHngworth, Conn. He studied 
 at Hamilton Literary and Theological Institu- 
 tion, now Madison University, — that mother 
 of missionaries, — was ordained Nov. 19, 1827, 
 sailed from Norfolk, Va., Oct. 12, 1830, and ar- 
 rived in Monrovia Dec. 4. In three months he 
 was no more. Compelled to flee from the deadly 
 climate, he embarked for home ; but quickly 
 after died, and was buried at sea, March 5, 1831. 
 His young wife preceded him by about six 
 weeks, and her remains rest in Monrovia, — two 
 more freewill offerings to African evangeliza- 
 tion. God undoubtedly accepted their service, 
 because it was in their hearts to build up his 
 kingdom among the heathen. 
 
 A church edifice was built at Carytown in 
 1831, and in Monrovia in 1832. In 1834 
 churches were organized in Millsburg and Edi- 
 na, and another colored man, Hilary Teague, 
 was ordained to the ministry. 
 
 In 1835 two more missionaries were sent to 
 the work, — Rev. William Mylne, born in Scot- 
 land, appointed Dec. 15, 1834; and Rev. William 
 G. Crocker, born in Newburyport, Mass., a 
 graduate of Newton Theological Institution. 
 Mr. Mylne was compelled to return home in 
 broken health in about three years, and resigned 
 
2 74 MISSION TO AFRICA. 
 
 his office as a missionary. Mrs. Mylne died of 
 fever in Liberia, a few days after reaching the 
 shores of Africa, — another young Hfe sacrificed 
 on the altar of missions. 
 
 In 1835 ^ ^^w station was commenced at 
 Bassa Cove. Rev. A. W. Anderson, formerly 
 missionary of the Liberia Missionary Society, 
 was ordained Aug. i, 1835, and entered the ser- 
 vice of the Union the same year ; but after two 
 years resigned. He was stationed at Caldwell, 
 where Mrs. Anderson died in December of the 
 same year. A church was formed there, and 
 the first African Association was organized in 
 1835, numbering five churches. A meeting- 
 house was dedicated in Bassa Cove, July 3, 1836. 
 
 The mission had now existed about sixteen 
 years, and had made very little, if any, impres- 
 sion on the native population. The Christians 
 connected with the several churches were main- 
 ly emigrants from the United States, who had 
 enjoyed more or less of the privileges of the 
 gospel in the days of their bondage. There is 
 no record thus far of the conversion of a single 
 idolater. Valuable lives had been sacrificed to 
 the deadly climate, and very little seemed to 
 have been accomplished. Human reason might 
 well inquire, "To what purpose is this waste.-*" 
 The only question settled at such expense was, 
 Can Western Africa be evangelized by white 
 missionaries } and the question was painfully, 
 but emphatically, answered in the negative. 
 
 Still the Missionary Board labored on. Mr. 
 Crocker reduced the Bassa language to writ- 
 ing, that the people might read in their own 
 
PROGRESS. — RE-ENFORCEMENT, 2 75 
 
 tongue the wonderful works of God. He pre- 
 pared a Bassa vocabulary and spelling-book 
 The gospel under his efforts began to take 
 effect. In 1836 sixteen were baptized at Bassa 
 Cove. In 1837 a mission-house was erected at 
 Edina. The same year Rev. Ivory Clarke, a 
 native of Maine, and graduate of Waterville 
 College and Newton Theological Institution, 
 joined the mission. He was a man of great 
 humility and fervent piety, gifted neither with 
 commanding presence nor brilliant intellectual 
 powers ; but devout, patient, self-forgetting 
 and self-distrusting, persevering, decided. He 
 had the qualities which God often makes mighty 
 by the power of the Holy Ghost. And it was 
 his lot to labor longer in this forbidding field 
 than any other either before or after him. A 
 new station was now opened, called Madebli. 
 The church of Edina in 1839 had forty-four 
 members and a colored pastor, Mr. Day, who 
 removed in 1840 to Bexley. 
 
 The work was now pushed forward with more 
 vigor. A printing-press was sent from this 
 country to Liberia, in August, 1840; and a 
 printer, J. C. Minor, commenced operations in 
 June, 1842. Two more missionaries, Messrs. 
 Fielding and Constantine, with the wife of the 
 latter, arrived in Edina, and set out for the in- 
 terior in December, 1840, hoping to avoid the 
 fatal fever of the coast, and to find a more salu- 
 brious climate where they could make known 
 to the native idolaters the way of life. The 
 Bassa spelling-book and ten hymns in Bassa 
 were ready to be printed. But sickness and 
 
276 MISSION TO AFRICA. 
 
 death still kept on the track of these servants 
 of God. The first Mrs. Crocker, formerly Mrs. 
 Rizpah Warren, of Boston, died in August 
 1840, after a service of just one year. Mr. 
 Crocker returned to the United States, disabled, 
 in July, 1842, apparently without any prospect 
 of return, — a shattered remnant of a man. Mr. 
 Fielding, a native of Nottingham, England, 
 ordained at Philadelphia in 1840, died at Edina 
 in seven weeks from the time of his arrival 
 there. Mr. and Mrs. Constantine returned 
 home disabled, in less than two years, and re- 
 signed in August, 1842. 
 
 About this time the Edina Missionary Society 
 undertook the support of some of the pupils of 
 the mission-school in Edina, where sixty-five 
 were gathered together to learn the rudiments 
 of knowledge and of the gospel. The press, 
 having commenced operations, gave the people 
 in successive months, in the Bassa language, a 
 Book of Easy Lessons, a' Reader, Matthew, 
 John, Acts, and a hymn-book. 
 
 After a protracted visit at home, during most 
 of which he seemed to be lying at the grave's 
 mouth, the brave missionary, Mr. Crocker, hav- 
 ing almost miraculously recovered, chose to go 
 forth a second time, and sailed for Edina, Jan. 
 I, 1844. He arrived at Monrovia Feb. 23, and 
 died the next day, Feb. 24, of hemorrhage. 
 Having reached his Pisgah, the Lord buried 
 him. 
 
 The second Mrs. Crocker returned to Mon- 
 rovia, where she labored a few years, and died 
 there Nov. 23, 1853, in the prime of her life 
 and usefulness, at the age of thirty-six. 
 
THE MISSION SUSPENDED. 277 
 
 Early in 1845 the station was removed from 
 Edina to Bexley, and the missionary premises 
 at Edina were sold. 
 
 Mr. Clarke, who providentially endured the 
 climate better than any of his brethren, finished 
 in 1846 a dictionary of the Bassa language, an 
 invaluable help to future missionaries. But he 
 too, after a service of about ten years, was 
 obliged to succumb. He undertook to return 
 to the United States to recuperate his wasted 
 energies. But it was too late. He died at sea 
 April 6, 1848, and his tomb is in the great 
 waters. There was none left to fill his place, 
 and the mission remained in charge of the 
 Bassa converts nearly two years. 
 
 But the work he did had not been in vain. 
 Nine Bassa youths were hopefully converted 
 this year. Besides, one of the natives, a young 
 man of promise, who was sent to this country 
 to learn the printer's trade, became hopefully 
 pious during his apprenticeship in Boston, and 
 returned to his people in June, 1848. 
 
 Messrs. J. S. Goodman and H. B. Shermer, 
 with their wives, joined the mission in January, 
 1853; but as other missionaries, so these, had 
 but a short service in the field. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Goodman returned within two years, and Mr. 
 Shermer, broken down, in one. Mrs. Shermer 
 died within ten months. A native preacher and 
 two native assistants remained at Bexley, and 
 another native assistant was at Little Bassa. 
 In 1856, by vote of the Board, the mission to 
 Africa was temporarily suspended. 
 
 In the new state of things consequent on the 
 
278 MISSION TO AFRICA. 
 
 close of the war of the Rebellion, 1861-65, a 
 strong desire was expressed by many for the 
 re-opening of the mission in Africa. It was 
 judged that many of the colored people would 
 desire to improve their condition by emigration 
 to the land of their fathers, and in sufficient 
 numbers to insure Liberia as a base of opera- 
 tions, from which the work might be vigorous- 
 ly pushed into the interior. The Committee 
 expressed their deep interest in the enterprise, 
 their conviction that the chief dependence for 
 laborers must be on the colored men, and their 
 purpose to stand ready to enter the first opening 
 that should appear to recommence the work. 
 
 At the annual meeting in 1867, a memorial 
 was received from many ministers, deacons, and 
 laymen of the Baptist denomination in Liberia, 
 asking aid for missionaries and churches already 
 planted in Africa. This memorial was enter- 
 tained favorably ; and in May, 1868, a committee 
 of the Union earnestly recommended that meas- 
 ures be taken as soon as practicable to resume 
 missionary operations in West Africa. The 
 Executive Committee recorded their conviction 
 that the time had come for this undertaking, 
 and that it should be the aim of the Union 
 to promote the evangelization and general im- 
 provement, both of colonists and the natives 
 of the country, both within and beyond the 
 territorial limits of the Republic. 
 
 The Rev. Robert Hill, a colored preacher, 
 who had been a missionary in Africa eighteen 
 years, was present at the annual meeting, and 
 by his remarks made a very happy impression. 
 
ROBER T HILL. — HIS DEA TH. 2 79 
 
 advocating the claims of the African race upon 
 America for missionary labor. In the discus- 
 sions on this subject, it was shown that the 
 population included in the Republic of Liberia, 
 colonists and natives, amounted to 625,000, of 
 whom about 25,000 were colonists. The natives 
 and colonists mingled together in social life 
 and business, and gradually learned one an- 
 other's language. Several worthy men were 
 already prepared to preach to the Bassas, Veys, 
 and other tribes. 
 
 Mr. Hill was evidently the proper person to 
 recommence the work in Africa. His presence 
 and words at the meeting made a most favor- 
 able impression. He seemed pre-eminently 
 fitted by nature and education to act a promi- 
 nent part in reviving the African Mission. 
 
 But before leaving this country his journey 
 was arrested, and a few days of conflict and 
 suffering ended his mortal life. It was among 
 his last requests that his remains might find a 
 resting-place in the bosom of his beloved Africa 
 — a suggestion which was heeded by the Execu- 
 tive Committee. 
 
 The Committee appointed a committee of 
 superintendence in Africa, and four mission- 
 aries, men of color, and of tried character, 
 already on the ground. One of this number 
 was Mr. Jacob Vonbrun, already known to the 
 mission at an earlier period, a man of princely 
 blood, and an humble and devout Christian. A 
 blessing attended the new enterprise. A re- 
 markable attention to religion followed the 
 labors of the missionaries. A considerable 
 
28o MISSION TO AFRICA. 
 
 number of native Africans became the hopeful 
 subjects of renewing grace, not in one but in 
 many localities, including in some instances the 
 head men of villages, who begged to have mis- 
 sionaries and teachers stationed among them. 
 Hundreds were reported as converted in various 
 parts of the field, among whom were several 
 promising young men, desirous of entering the 
 ministry. Many natives were awakened to 
 serious reflection, and, laying aside their idols, 
 became interested to inquire the way to heaven, 
 and asked that teachers and preachers might be 
 sent to them. In one place 35 were baptized, 
 in another 33, in another 62, in another 18, in 
 another 29, — many of these being Congoes. 
 In a single year 153 were reported baptized, 
 and 218 converts. 
 
 The following year an appropriation was 
 made for the support of preachers in various 
 parts of Liberia. Many of them labored on the 
 borders of, the territory, in the vicinity of large 
 native tribes, from which not a few converts 
 were gathered. On Sabbath morning, June 8, 
 1 87 1, at one station, forty were baptized into 
 the name of Christ. 
 
 A commencement was made of efforts for the 
 establishment of a training-school for young 
 preachers, at a station called Virginia. A 
 growing desire was manifest for instruction, 
 and even the surrounding heathen perceived 
 that an education such as Christians enjoy 
 would be a blessing to their people. The Rev. 
 Mr. Vonbrun about this time visited the United 
 States to raise funds to build a chapel and 
 
WORICIMG IN UNCERTAINTY. 281 
 
 schoolhouse. He related the story of the prog- 
 ress of the gospel among his own tribe, the 
 Bassas. He told how, at one native town re- 
 cently, large congregations of natives came 
 from every direction to hear the word of God. 
 At another town, the chief and his people 
 gathered at a moment's call to hear the gospel, 
 and after the preaching the chief addressed his 
 people, saying, "The word of God should be 
 our daily song." He said, "The word of God 
 is very sweet : therefore I like to hear it 
 always." Everywhere the natives are ceaseless 
 in their invitations to the gospel teachers to 
 come among them, and teach them the truth. 
 
 In February, 1 871, a brick chapel was fin- 
 ished and dedicated at Congo-town, and four 
 natives were baptized, two of whom were so 
 promising that they were immediately taken 
 into the school to study with reference to the 
 ministry. Two churches were organized, one 
 at Millsburg, the other at Arthington. 
 
 The efforts of the Union, in this period of 
 the re-occupation of Africa as a field for mis- 
 sions, were chiefly tentative," — the work among 
 the colonists being regarded as only a stepping- 
 stone to a more extended and efficient work in 
 behalf of the unevangelized native population. 
 The Committee in this country labored under 
 the difficulty of an imperfect knowledge of the 
 field to be cultivated, and felt the need of hav- 
 ing an intelligent and judicious agent to explore 
 the entire field, and communicate the results of 
 personal observation. But no such exploration 
 had hitherto been possible. Mr. Vonbrun was 
 
282 MISSION TO AFRICA, 
 
 the only preacher of the gospel in Africa living 
 among the Bassas, and able to speak their lan- 
 guage ; and the Executive Committee deter- 
 mined to afford him increased aid, in the hope 
 that more of the native population might be 
 reached through him, and brought under the 
 civilizing and saving influences of the gospel of 
 Christ. 
 
 A son of Mr. Vonbrun in 1872 opened a 
 mission-school in the village where his father 
 labored as a preacher ; and the undertaking 
 among the Bassa people seemed very encour- 
 aging. 
 
 The Congoes, also, manifested a desire to 
 hear the word, and were very attentive when- 
 ever the opportunity was afforded them. The 
 chief of one of the native tribes, and three of 
 his leading men, sent a written petition to the 
 nearest missionary, begging for a preacher and 
 schools, and pledging themselves, if their peti- 
 tion was favorably received, to build a school- 
 house and chapel, and a comfortable residence 
 for the missionary. 
 
 The next year, 1873, the Report speaks of 
 the successes of the Word at nearly all the sta- 
 tions sustained or partly sustained by the Union. 
 Mr. Vonbrun sent an account of a most interest- 
 ing baptismal occasion July 4, 1873, when he 
 gathered into the church the largest number he 
 had ever had the privilege of baptizing at one 
 time. People came in great numbers to witness 
 the ceremony ; and seven males and twelve fe- 
 males, nineteen in all, and all native Bassas 
 except one little boy, put off their idolatry, and 
 put on Christ by an open profession. 
 
UNCERTAINTY AND PROGRESS. 283 
 
 But the policy of the work still seemed uncer- 
 tain. In 1874 appropriations were made to the 
 African Mission on a reduced scale, the largest 
 sums being given to the stations where the peo- 
 ple were chiefly natives. Mr. Vonbrun's work 
 among the Bassas continued to prosper. But 
 L. Kong Crocker, an educated Bassa, who was 
 expected to be very useful to his people, was re- 
 moved by an early death. Other tribes, as the 
 Mandingoes, began to feel the influence of the 
 gospel. The baptisms reported in the mission 
 during the year 1873 were 118, which was proba- 
 bly only a part of the whole number. Churches 
 aided, 10; preachers, 10; members of the church 
 in the stations aided, 525. Fifty converted 
 Bassas were members of the church at Von- 
 brunsville. In 1875 a Congo young man com- 
 pleted a four years' course of study, and was 
 sent forth to labor among his people. The stu- 
 dents in the school resolved themselves into an 
 *' African Mite Society," and pledged them- 
 selves to furnish part of the means of his sup- 
 port as a missionary. 
 
 In 1875 war was undertaken by some of the 
 hostile tribes against the Republic of Liberia; 
 and many of the brethren were called off from 
 the work to engage in the defence of their land. 
 The whole country was disturbed, and every 
 interest suffered by this irruption of barbarism. 
 There was also some perplexity in regard to re- 
 mittances ; and the amount appropriated to the 
 mission was again reduced because the Commit- 
 tee were not satisfied with the work they were 
 doing in Africa. It was not sufficiently the dis- 
 
284 MISSION TO AFRICA. 
 
 tinctive work proposed by the Missicnary Union, 
 -r the evangelization of the heathen. The Re- 
 port of 1876 announced that in their last sched- 
 ule of appropriations the Committee had as- 
 signed no money, except for the support of Mr. 
 Vonbrun at Vonbrunsville, in the Bassa coun- 
 try. But Mr. Vonbrun died soon after, in 1876, 
 which seemed to indicate that the time had 
 come for another suspension of the work. If 
 the workmen were taken away, who should sow 
 the seed, or put in the sickle and reap } A na- 
 tive preacher, however, became the minister of 
 the Bassa church, several conversions after- 
 wards occurred, and the natives were interested 
 to hear the gospel. The school and the Sabbath 
 school were also continued and in a hopeful 
 state. 
 
 A review of the history of the mission of the 
 Union in West Africa, the dark continent, leaves 
 upon the mind a painful impression of mystery. 
 The question forces itself upon us. What is the 
 interpretation of such a history.? What does 
 Providence design to teach } We survey with 
 sadness the protracted period, almost barren of 
 fruit, since the work began, — now nearly sixty 
 years ; the precious lives sacrificed, often in the 
 briefest period, — Gary, Holton, Crocker, Skin- 
 ner, Anderson, Fielding, Constantine, Clarke, 
 falling in succession in the beginning of the 
 fight ; the feeble impression, comparatively, made 
 upon the heathenism of the continent by all our 
 efforts, and at such expense ; the repeated sus- 
 pension of the work, and its resumption again, 
 only to be interrupted anew ; and finally, our 
 
CONCLUDING THOUGHTS, 285 
 
 substantial withdrawal from the field, at least 
 for a season. Were the Christians of America 
 in error, in supposing that God would have us 
 preach the gospel in Africa? Has God's set 
 time not come ? Shall Africa ever be evangel- 
 ized ? 
 
 We are taught only with reverent awe to obey 
 the injunction of the Psalmist, — "Be still, and 
 know that I am God." God will interpret these 
 things in due time. Africa, we believe, is not 
 shut out from his tender mercies. That com- 
 passionate heart, to which is given *' all power 
 in heaven and in earth," has not shut even Africa 
 out of its regards. Messiah's throne shall yet 
 be established over all the earth. Europe and 
 Asia, Africa, and America, and the islands of 
 the sea, shall yet own his sway. 
 
No. XVIII. 
 
 MISSION TO FRANCE. 
 
 Missions in Europe. — Baptists in Northern France. — A C hurch 
 organized. — Additional Missionaries, — Removal to Douai. — Prog- 
 ress of the Work. — Various Changes. — Year of Prosperity. — 
 Persecutions by the Police. — Fines paid by New-York Brethren. — 
 Death of Mrs. Willard. — The Question of Continuance. — Impris- 
 onment of French Pastors. — The Mission re-enforced. — The Mis- 
 sion divided. — The Churches in the North. — The Church in Paris. 
 — South-eastern France. — No American Missionaries left. — Sta- 
 tistical Table. — Gradual Progress. — The Mission during the War. 
 — Further Progress. — Concluding Thoughts. 
 
 AT the annual meeting in 1832, the Con- 
 vention authorized the Board to take the 
 requisite steps to ascertain the expediency of 
 enlarging the scope of foreign missions, so as 
 to include France, Germany, and Greece. Rev. 
 Irah Chase, Professor in the Newton Theologi- 
 cal Institution, sailed from this country for 
 Havre in October, 1832, purposing to remain 
 in France during the winter, and make the ne- 
 cessary investigations. He was accompanied by 
 Mr. J. C. Rostan, an educated Frenchman, who 
 was appointed to make continued inquiries, with 
 the understanding that if the result were favor- 
 able, the field was to be occupied by the Union. 
 Mr. Rostan's service proved to be a brief one, as 
 he died of cholera in December, 1833. During 
 286 
 
BAPTISTS IN NORTHERN FRANCE. 287 
 
 the preceding winter, however, a small chapel 
 had been hired in Paris, in which religious ser- 
 vices were performed on the Sabbath and on 
 other occasions. In conjunction with an Eng- 
 lish Baptist missionary, Mr. Rostan, in the win- 
 ter and spring of .1832-3, conducted a system 
 of preaching and lecturing, joined with pastoral 
 visiting among the people who attended the 
 chapel. Mr. Rostan also aimed to commend 
 the cause in which he was engaged to the con- 
 sideration of persons of liberal views. He had 
 several interviews for this purpose with Gen. 
 Lafayette and members of the Chamber of 
 Deputies, and explained to them the object of 
 his mission. He was treated with much con- 
 sideration, and invited to serve as lecturer on 
 Christianity before the " Society for Promoting 
 Civilization ; " but his plans were broken off by 
 his lamented death. 
 
 Professor Chase found, especially in Northern 
 France, several Christian churches holding the 
 principles of the Baptists, though often in a 
 corrupted and defective state. And on his re- 
 turn to the United States, he made so encour- 
 aging a report to the Board, that it was deter- 
 mined to commence a work in this new field. 
 Another French Baptist preacher was appoint- 
 ed to carry forward the investigations com- 
 menced by Mr. Rostan. Mr. Isaac Willmarth, 
 then of the Newton Theological Institution, 
 was designated to begin the mission in Paris ; 
 and he arrived in that city in June, 1834. The 
 audience in the little chapel hitherto had num- 
 bered from fifteen to thirty. 
 
288 MISSION TO FRANCE. 
 
 May lo, 1835, a church was organized, con- 
 sisting of six members. Two days afterwards 
 four more were baptized. Early in the same 
 year, two theological students were received to 
 the church, who placed themselves under in- 
 struction. Thus a part of the work committed 
 to Mr. Willmarth's charge was successfully 
 begun. 
 
 Soon after, in July, 1835, additional preach- 
 ers were employed in Paris and in the prov- 
 inces, and Mr. Willmarth undertook a tour into 
 Northern France, to visit the Baptist churches 
 said to exist in that region. Many of the peo- 
 ple seemed not to be aware that there were 
 others in the world who held views of Christian 
 doctrine and ecclesiastical order similar to their 
 own, and earnestly begged that their brethren 
 on this side of the Atlantic would not neglect 
 them. 
 
 Rev. Erastus Willard, a graduate of Water- 
 ville College, and Rev. David N. Sheldon, a 
 graduate of Williams College, and both of the 
 Newton Theological Institution, joined the mis- 
 sion Nov. 24, 1835, — the latter to remain in. 
 Paris ; the former to proceed to the North, and 
 open a mission-school, with a department for 
 the instruction of approved candidates for the 
 ministry. They spent the ensuing winter in 
 Paris, aiding Mr. Willmarth in preaching in 
 English, distributing religious tracts and books, 
 writing for the press, and at the same time 
 studying the language. Mr. Sheldon first 
 preached in French in November, 1836, — just 
 a year after his arrival. He also published a 
 
PROGRESS OF THE WORK. 289 
 
 tract, exhibiting the religious belief of the Bap- 
 tists. 
 
 In April, 1836, these brethren made another 
 tour through the North, visiting the Baptist 
 churches. On their journey they aided in or- 
 daining a Baptist pastor, Rev. Joseph Thieffry, 
 over a little French Baptist church. He is still 
 living, at an advanced age, having pursued a 
 useful and honored career. In June following, 
 Messrs. Willmarth and Willard removed to 
 Douai, a large town in the extreme north of 
 France, bordering on Belgium — a town having 
 a population of about twenty thousand — and 
 selected as a locality for the school a small town 
 called Nomain, twelve miles distant. This town 
 was chosen because it was the seat of a small 
 Baptist church. This and three other churches 
 were adopted by the mission, and pastors were 
 ordained and set over them. On account of 
 subsequent inauspicious events, the plan of the 
 school was never carried out. Mr. Willard, 
 however, instructed several young men in stud- 
 ies preparatory to the ministry. 
 
 At Douai religious services were sustained 
 by an assistant, and in Paris by Mr. Sheldon. 
 From the places already adopted as centres, 
 the missionaries and their assistants went out 
 through the surrounding country, and subordi- 
 nate stations were established in other villages, 
 and provided with the regular preaching of the 
 gospel. Several other persons were employed 
 to distribute Bibles and tracts, and to call the 
 attention of the people, by conversation or 
 otherwise, to the truths of Christianity. In 
 
290 MISSION TO FRANCE. 
 
 July, and again in August, a new church was 
 organized, — the latter in Genlis ; and Mr. Cre- 
 tin, formerly a student at Douai, and so long 
 known as a devoted and efficient laborer in the 
 mission, was ordained pastor. 
 
 In 1837, on account of the failing health ot 
 Mr. Willmarth, he returned to the United 
 States, and was never able to resume the work. 
 A church was organized at Douai, Sept. i, 
 1838, of five members; and in April, 1839, Mr. 
 Sheldon removed thither from Paris, to assist 
 Mr. Willard. The chapel which had been first 
 occupied in Paris was so inconveniently situ- 
 ated that i1^ was relinquished, and the public 
 services were held alternately at the house of 
 Mr. Sheldon or Mrs. Rostan, or at the homes 
 of some of the members ; and the labors of the 
 mission were chiefly of a retired and private 
 character, and devoted to the dissemination of 
 the gospel by other methods than preaching. 
 
 Mr. Sheldon at Douai immediately took 
 charge of the theological pupils, and conducted 
 services on the Sabbath in the English chapel. 
 But owing to his conviction that the mission 
 thus far had not proved a success, and that the 
 promise of the future was not auspicious, he 
 relinquished the work, and returned to the 
 United States. 
 
 At this period there were seven churches 
 connected with the mission, and one hundred 
 and forty-two members. In the year 1839 thir- 
 teen were added by baptism. There were also 
 six ordained ministers and five assistants, who 
 preached or performed other duties at seven 
 stations and five out-stations. 
 
PERSECUTIONS BY THE POLICE, 29 T 
 
 The mission was now entirely dependent on 
 Mr. Willard, who was left the only foreign 
 laborer in the work. In 1840 four French 
 assistants retired from the service ; but two 
 others were employed, and two preachers were 
 ordained. The following year was a year of 
 prosperity : forty-six were baptized in all the 
 churches, most of them being recent converts 
 from Romanism, and the total number of mem- 
 bers increased to two hundred. 
 
 One of the greatest obstacles to the prosper- 
 ity of the mission was the opposition of the 
 government. The French Code, which grew 
 out of the Revolution of July, 1830, contained 
 a distinct provision for freedom of worship for 
 all religious denominations. But, notwithstand- 
 ing this provision of the constitution, the legis- 
 lature enacted laws directly opposed to this 
 fundamental principle. One of these laws pro- 
 hibited the meeting together of an association 
 of more than twenty persons for any purpose, 
 without the express permission of the magis- 
 trates. Another made any person opening his 
 house for public worship liable to a fine of from 
 sixteen to two hundred francs. The execution 
 of these laws was committed to the mayors of 
 the communes, who were generally Roman 
 Catholics, and under the control of the priests ; 
 and they used their power in all ordinary cases 
 for the suppression of all religious services of 
 Protestant believers. It was under such a sys- 
 tem that the opening of the chapel at Genlis 
 was prohibited for eleven years ; and, when the 
 members met at their own houses, they were 
 
292 MISSION TO FRANCE, 
 
 often interrupted by the police or the National 
 Guard. There and elsewhere the meetings were 
 broken up, the persons at whose houses they 
 were held were fined or imprisoned, the preach- 
 ers were arrested and punished by the muni- 
 cipal officers, and sometimes drawn before the 
 higher courts. 
 
 For several years a preacher or colporter 
 was liable to be seized and fined whenever he 
 preached the glorious gospel of the Son of God. 
 The magistrates seemed to take pleasure in 
 these prosecutions. For a time wealthy Bap- 
 tist brethren, silk-merchants in New York, paid 
 the fines of these persecuted laborers, that they 
 might go forth again from prison on their mis- 
 sion of mercy. The magistrates, having dis- 
 covered this fact, redoubled their prosecutions, 
 and even sought in our *' Missionary Magazine," 
 which they obtained, names and places, that 
 they might more adroitly pursue their persecut- 
 ing work. After this became known in this 
 country, the journals of the French Mission 
 were printed with blank spaces for places and 
 names, that they might not supply materials for 
 the use of the French police. 
 
 Such was the state of things from 1840 to 
 1848, when the Revolution led to the proclama- 
 tion of unrestrained religious freedom through- 
 out France, — that is, in form, but not in fact. 
 France does not yet enjoy religious freedom to 
 the full. Mr. Cretin told the writer in Lyons, 
 in 1876, that he could not give away a religious 
 tract in that city without danger of arrest. 
 Many petitions for religious liberty were pre- 
 
IMPRISONMENT OF FRENCH PASTORS, 293 
 
 sented to the government by the Baptists ; one 
 of them, a few years later, to the emperor him- 
 self. The response was that he desired that all 
 his subjects might enjoy perfect religious toler- 
 ation. But the priests, and the magistrates 
 who were managed by them, succeeded in 
 maintaining the reign of intolerance and opr 
 pression. 
 
 Mrs. Willard died at Douai, Oct. 4, 1844; and 
 Mr. Willard and family returned to the United 
 States, leaving the converts discouraged by per- 
 secution and without a single American leader 
 on whom they could lean. 
 
 In 1845 the question was seriously debated, 
 whether Mr. Willard should be "authorized to 
 return to France, and resume the mission, or 
 whether the work should be suspended. At 
 last it was determined to proceed ; and Mr. 
 Willard, with his family, renewed his efforts in 
 May, 1846. In that year, as if the God of mis- 
 sions would strengthen the faith and reward the 
 courage of his people, a blessing was enjoyed 
 at almost every station, and fourteen were bap- 
 tized. There were reported thirty-three out- 
 stations and ten French preachers and assist- 
 ants. 
 
 But the same year two of the assistants, 
 Messrs. Lepoids and Foulon, were arrested and 
 thrown into prison for alleged violations of the 
 law relating to associations. The former of 
 these brethren was particularly distinguished 
 for his ability and fidelity, and has been for sev- 
 eral years the honored pastor of the Baptist 
 church in Paris. They were brought to trial 
 
294 MISSION TO FRANCE. 
 
 first before an inferior court, and fined three 
 hundred francs. The case was carried to a 
 higher court, by which the judgment was some- 
 what modified, and the fine reduced to fifty 
 francs. After this, appeal was made to the 
 highest court in the Empire. But, before the 
 final trial, the Revolution of February, 1848, 
 overthrew the throne, and religious liberty 
 without restriction was proclaimed throughout 
 France. It was then that the chapel at Genlis 
 was opened, March 26, 1848, after being unoc- 
 cupied eleven years ; and the scattered disciples 
 came together, and celebrated the triumph of 
 the great principle of religious freedom. 
 
 Dr. T. T. Devan, formerly a missionary in 
 Canton, China, having been compelled by fail- 
 ure of his health to retire from the work in 
 Asia, was transferred to the French Mission, 
 and arrived in Paris March 8, 1848. Mr. Wil- 
 lard had given much instruction to the French 
 preachers at Douai, and endeavored to make the 
 church there a model of good order and dis- 
 cipline. The mission now numbered fifteen 
 churches and branches, about two hundred 
 members, and ten native preachers and assist- 
 ants. Dr. Devan soon went to Douai to consult 
 with Mr. Willard, and on his return to Paris 
 made it his first business to ascertain the oppor- 
 tunities for recommencing the missionary labors 
 which had been discontinued since the depart- 
 ure of Mr. Sheldon. In these nine years the 
 church had become scattered, and not one of 
 its original members could be found. But the 
 nucleus of a congregation was gathered foi 
 
THE CHURCHES IN THE NORTH, 295 
 
 worship, a chapel opened Aug. 6, 1848, and a 
 Sabbath school in January, 1849; ^.nd in this 
 year forty-five baptisms were reported. In but 
 one previous year in the history of the mission 
 had there been so many. Dr. Devan had been 
 associated with the mission in Paris only thirteen 
 months, when the chapel was given up, and the 
 preaching again suspended, and Dr. Devan re- 
 moved to South-eastern France. A French Bap- 
 tist Association was formed June 6, 1849. Mr. 
 Foulon, before alluded to, was ordained at Gen- 
 lis ; but after a few years he removed to the 
 State of Illinois, and became pastor in a French 
 colony, some of whom emigrated with him. 
 
 In 1849 it was deemed expedient to divide the 
 mission into the Nort^iern and South-eastern 
 departments. In the South-eastern department 
 were Lyons and St. Etienne, with the fields 
 within a convenient distance. All the other 
 churches were in the North-east of France, and 
 near the eastern border of the Great Northern 
 Railway. 
 
 In July, 185 1, the churches in North-eastern 
 France were visited by the Foreign Secretary ; 
 and in 1867 Professor Howard Osgood visited 
 all the churches in both departments, and pre- 
 sented to the Board, on his return, a valuable 
 report, containing suggestions of great impor- 
 tance. 
 
 In the North-east of France the first of the 
 churches is in Denain, a town one hundred and 
 fifty miles from Paris, near a place of twelve 
 thousand inhabitants, built up by a vast coal and 
 iron interest. Most of the members were la- 
 
296 MISSION TO FRANCE. 
 
 borers in the mines, and all very poor. There 
 are numerous out-stations. The first pastor, Mr. 
 Cretin, one of the first students at Douai, is a 
 modest man, but energetic and persevering/ He 
 has written more than any other of the French 
 brethren on Baptist principles. Most of the 
 pastors, evangelists, and colporters, in the em- 
 ploy of the mission, have been brought to the 
 knowledge of the truth by the blessing of God 
 on his labors. He was everywhere denounced 
 by the priests, but honored and loved by the 
 people. 
 
 South-west of this place, seventy-five miles, 
 are two others, where churches have been 
 established, — Chauny and Laf^re. In the 
 former are nine thousand inhabitants : several 
 thousands of them are employed in the glass- 
 works. A chapel was built in 1854, but was 
 kept closed by the police twelve years, being 
 opened in 1866. Mr. Lepoids, now pastor in 
 Paris, was pastor here twenty years. There 
 are out-stations in about twenty different vil- 
 lages. The present pastor performs all his 
 journeys on foot, that he may have more to 
 give away. Sometimes he makes a journey of 
 fifteen miles on foot in the interest of the mis- 
 sion, and returns in the same way the same day. 
 
 In Laf^re, six miles away, the members are 
 all peasants, laboring on the lands of proprie- 
 tors, and walking on the Sabbath from six to 
 twelve miles, to be present in their modest 
 place of worship. One sister, whose poverty 
 is startling, used to walk nine miles regularly 
 to the meeting on the Sabbath. The room used 
 
THE CHURCH IN PARIS. 297 
 
 for worship is the ground-floor of a barn, nicely 
 fitted up. 
 
 About fifty miles distant is another church 
 composed of members living in villages widely 
 scattered from one another, in a farming terri- 
 tory. Their houses were, in succession, the 
 places for prayer-meetings, and the only chapel 
 a room in the house of the pastor. All through 
 the fall and winter no storm or inclement 
 weather prevented the pastor from being pres- 
 ent at the prayer-meetings in the several dis- 
 tricts. At another church fifteen miles distant, 
 an aged sister used to go from house to house, 
 when the minister had appointed to preach, and 
 invite all to come to hear the gospel. The con- 
 sequence was that the room was filled to over- 
 flowing ; even the Roman Catholics, moved by 
 her earnestness and interest, acceded to her 
 request. 
 
 The Baptist church in Paris was reconstituted 
 in 1850, with four members. The first pastor 
 was Mr. Dez, who is still a worthy and efficient 
 laborer.' The room hired for worship was small, 
 dark, and inconvenient, and used for a school 
 during the week. Here the church worshipped 
 for thirteen years, and grew to number eighty- 
 four members, when another and better room 
 was obtained in the same vicinity, and occupied 
 till the erection of the present marble-front 
 chapel. So straitened were their accommoda- 
 tions before the erection of the chapel, that 
 for years the only accommodation for a baptis- 
 tery enjoyed by the church was no better than 
 a large bathing-tub ; the administrator standing 
 
298 MISSION TO FRANCE. 
 
 on the outside, and the candidate in a sitting 
 posture in the tub being submerged in the 
 water. There was no "going down into the 
 water, nor coming up out of the water;" no 
 chance for a crowd of interested spectators ; no 
 opportunity for a solemn impression to be made 
 upon the wondering witnesses of the ceremony, 
 which was performed in a chamber adjoining that 
 in which the congregation was assembled, and 
 was too small to admit others than the immediate 
 actors. 
 
 In Lyons, in the South-eastern department, 
 when Dr. Devan left the work, the church num- 
 bered one hundred and six. Afterwards the 
 chapel was closed, the church scattered, and 
 only twenty members remained faithful. In 
 1868, according to the report of Dr. Osgood, 
 they were accustomed to meet in a private 
 room, to read the Scriptures, and sing and pray, 
 and exhort one another. Seven years later 
 many of the members were poor weavers, 
 manufacturing elegant silks in their humble 
 attics to clothe the rich and fashionable of this 
 world, and wearing, in their poverty, the gar- 
 ment of Christ's righteousness for their own 
 adornment in this world and the world to come. 
 With their devoted pastor, Mr. Cretin, we visited 
 and talked with several of them. 
 
 Sixty miles from Lyons is another church, 
 located in St. Etienne, the centre of a large 
 collection of ribbon and cutlery manufactories. 
 It was organized April 8, 1849, "^^^^^ six mem- 
 bers, and has never had a regular pastor. The 
 members are all poor, and hire for their chapel 
 
NO AMERICAN MISSIONARIES LEFT. 299 
 
 an attic room, where they hold their meetings 
 on the Sabbath and during the week. A man 
 and woman between sixty and seventy years of 
 age were accustomed to walk a distance of ten 
 miles, to attend the public service in this poor 
 upper room. The Baptist members in France 
 are said to observe the Sabbath with puritanical 
 strictness, and they are noted for their pious 
 lives. 
 
 Instruction continued to be given to young 
 ministers at Douai till 1853, when Mr. Willard 
 removed to Paris, and the church at Douai was 
 dissolved. The church at Paris, in 1856, num- 
 bered thirty-five members, and the congregation 
 seventy or eighty. In 1877 the number of 
 members was one hundred and ten. Sometimes 
 for months in succession police-agents attended 
 the services as spies, but offered no interruption. 
 
 Dr. Devan removed to Lyons in March, 1850. 
 A place of worship was opened, and a church 
 organized with four members. Violent oppo- 
 sition was experienced, but the church con- 
 tinued to grow. In 1877 the number was 
 increased to thirty-one. In 1853 Dr. Devan 
 withdrew from the mission, and the work in 
 the South-eastern department was temporarily 
 suspended. In 1856 Mr. Willard left the mis- 
 sion, and returned to the United States. Since 
 that date, the work has been carried forward 
 only by French brethren, no missionary from 
 America being in the field. 
 
 The following table shows the progress of the 
 mission for several years. 
 
300 MISSION TO FRANCE. 
 
 TOTAL 
 
 YEAR. • BAPTIZED. OF MEMBERS. 
 
 1856 II 281 
 
 1857 17 286 
 
 1859 14 '^'^^ 
 
 i860 20 304 
 
 I86I 23 319 
 
 1862 44 328 
 
 1863 25 352 
 
 1865 31 351 
 
 1866 ...... 16 358 
 
 1867 25 373 
 
 1868 41 438 
 
 1869 23 445 
 
 1870 23 460 
 
 1871 21 574 
 
 1873 46 563 
 
 1874 42 548' 
 
 1877 61 S99 
 
 The mission now for some years held on the 
 even tenor of its way, gradually extending its 
 influence, calling in new hearers and new con- 
 verts, mostly from the ranks of Romanism. In 
 1869 a member of the church in Paris donated 
 to the mission a chapel in one of the quarters 
 of the city, where meetings were held three 
 times weekly. Bibles and Testaments in consid- 
 erable numbers were sold, and the truth circu- 
 lated among the people. This year Mr. Lepoids 
 became the regular pastor of the church in Paris, 
 and the members began to lay aside their offer- 
 ings the first day of the week regularly for the 
 poor and for missions. 
 
 During the Franco-Prussian war most of the 
 male members of the churches were called into 
 the field ; but the meetings were continued in 
 Paris throughout the siege, and here and there 
 
FURTHER PROGRESS. 30 1 
 
 one was converted and baptized. Through the 
 gifts of brethren in London previously sent, 
 sufficient provision was made, so that none of 
 the members suffered for food, according to the 
 Divine promise, " Bread shall be given him, his 
 water shall be sure." All the stations of the 
 mission suffered more or less ; but of the thirty 
 or forty young soldiers belonging to the Baptist 
 churches, who were in every battle, only one 
 was killed so far as known. In the cities bom- 
 barded by the Prussians, where there were 
 Christian families, not one received the slight- 
 est scratch, though the bombs fell on and in 
 their houses. Not one had his house burned, 
 or his cattle carried away by the soldiers or 
 smitten by the cattle-disease. 
 
 In 1872 a chapel was commenced for the 
 church in Paris, and dedicated Sept. 14, 1873. 
 More than seven thousand dollars of the expense 
 was paid by the contributions of friends in Eng- 
 land. A new station was opened, and a church 
 organized in a place from which more than 
 twenty towns and villages could be reached, and 
 in many of which there was much encourage- 
 ment. In 1874 new chapels were opened at two 
 of the stations, both of them in the midst of 
 Catholic populations. One of the members, a 
 young man, wishing to consecrate himself to the 
 service of God in the work of the ministry, 
 bought himself off from a year's service as a 
 soldier, by paying three hundred dollars to the 
 government. This was plainly a work of self- 
 denial for Christ's sake. In the following years, 
 the spirit of liberality was gradually developed 
 
302 MISSION TO FRANCE. 
 
 more and more in the churches, every one of 
 them giving Hberally, considering the poverty 
 of most of the members, for the support of the 
 work. In 1877 the chapel at Chauny, which at 
 an earUer period had been closed by the govern- 
 ment for full twelve years, was enlarged, — the 
 growing inclination of the people to attend Prot- 
 estant worship j ustifying the measure. A chapel 
 was built and dedicated at Montbelliard, costing 
 about sixty-five hundred dollars, of which more 
 than five thousand dollars were collected in 
 France and England. Thirty were added to the 
 church by baptism during the year, so that, while 
 the visible temple was going forward, lively 
 stones were also brought for the spiritual house, 
 the temple of the Holy Ghost. Three of the 
 converts were from a town across the borders, in 
 Switzerland. 
 
 The mission to France has now existed nearly 
 half a century, and has made a slow, but, on 
 the whole, a solid, growth. He who reads the 
 journals of the mission, detailing alternately 
 hope and discouragement, activity and suspen- 
 sion, advance and recession, sees in them a 
 mirror of the character of the French people. 
 The native brethren employed in the mission 
 have been devoted and faithful Christian men ; 
 but thus far a man of aggressive ability, having 
 the qualifications of an organizer and a leader, 
 such as we have in the German and Swedish 
 Missions, has been wanting. France must be 
 evangelized, like every other country, substan- 
 tially, under God, by her own sons. And, when 
 the appointed time arrives, the work will go on 
 
CONCLUDING THOUGHTS. 303 
 
 with quickened imp.ulse. God will provide for 
 himself a leader. Romanism is, if possible, a 
 greater obstacle to the gospel than paganism 
 itself ; and France is fearfully over-ridden by that 
 ruinous and fatal delusion. But "the Man of 
 Sin " is not " stronger than the Strong Man 
 armed , ' and in God's good time the land once 
 crimsoned by the blood of martyrs, and that 
 echoed to their hymns of triumph, will again bow 
 to the sway of Immanuel. 
 
No. XIX. 
 
 THE GERMAN MISSION. 
 
 Boundaries of the Work. — Beginning of the Work. — Baptism of 
 Mr. Oncken. — Engaged as a Missionary. — Early Labors. — New 
 Hall. — Church in Berlin. — Progress of the Work. — Persecu- 
 tion begun. — Mrs. Judson's Memoir in Germany. — Beginning 
 in Denmark. — Mr. Oncken's Repeated Imprisonments. — The 
 Work Onward. — Efforts to secure Toleration. — Religious Peri- 
 odical Literature. — The Gospel in Austria and Hungary. — As- 
 sociations and Triennial Conference. — School for Preachers. — 
 Russia added to the Field. — Mr. Oncken's Visit to America. — 
 Swedish Christians baptized in Germany. — Want of Chapels. — 
 In the Regions beyond. — Hamburg's Twenty-Fifth Anniversary. 
 — Relying on Themselves. — Dedication in Berlin. — The King 
 invited to be Present. — Movement for South Africa. — Turkey. — 
 New Chapel in Hamburg. — Bulgaria. — Mission from Hamburg 
 to China. — The Work in Austria. — How it began in Turkey. — 
 In Four Quarters of the Globe. — A Te Deum, — The Prussian 
 Parliament. — Baptists in Russia. — The Work in Tifiis. — Moixnt 
 Ararat. — Conclusion. 
 
 THE mission in Germany embraces the 
 work aided by the Missionary Union, not 
 only in the German States, but also in Holland, 
 Denmark, Hungary, Russia, Poland, and Tur- 
 key. This work was not sought by the Union 
 as an enterprise planned by human foresight. 
 It was providentially thrust upon the hands of 
 American Baptists, like the Burman Mission in 
 1 8 14. Without seeking it, they were made the 
 leaders of one of the most brilliant and effec- 
 
 304 
 
BAPTISM OF MR. ONCKEN. 305 
 
 tive missionary undertakings of this or any 
 other age. The work was God's, and it was 
 God^s set time. 
 
 The work had its commencement in the per- 
 son of Rev. John Gerard Oncken, who was 
 born in the town of Varel, in the Grand Duchy 
 of Oldenburg, Jan. 26, 1800. Having become 
 a Christian in early life, he was commissioned 
 i)y the British Continental Society in 1823 to 
 preach the gospel as he had opportunity along 
 the shores of the German Ocean, in Hamburg, 
 Bremen, and East Friesland. He served as a 
 missionary of this Society till 1828, and then 
 became agent of the Edinburgh Bible Society, 
 in whose service he labored on the Continent 
 till he received the appointment of the Mission- 
 ary Union. Doors were thrown open to him 
 everywhere, and many were converted. 
 
 Influenced solely by a faithful study of the 
 New Testament, Mr. Oncken was led to the 
 conviction that the principles of the Baptist 
 churches are the principles taught in the word 
 of God. Soon after he had reached this con- 
 viction. Professor Barnas Sears, then of the 
 Hamilton Literary and Theological Institution, 
 visited Europe for the purpose of study at the 
 German universities. He became acquainted 
 providentially with a little company of believers 
 in the city of Hamburg, who held the same 
 views with Mr. Oncken. On the night of 
 April 22, 1834, these seven believers were bap- 
 tized in the waters of the Elbe at Altona, near 
 Hamburg, in the kingdom of Hanover. The 
 spirit of intolerance did not permit the ordi- 
 
3o6 THE GERMAN MISSION. 
 
 nance to be administered at Hamburg, or under 
 the light of day. On the following day these 
 Christians were organized into a church, and 
 shortly afterwards Mr. Oncken was ordained 
 their pastor. 
 
 Mr. Oncken entered on the service of the 
 Missionary Union Sept. 25, 1834. He enjoyed 
 the confidence of distinguished individuals of 
 the Evangelical party, and his baptism caused a 
 great sensation wherever his name was known. 
 The church was noted for Christian activity 
 from the beginning ; and the male members 
 were in the habit of visiting the different dis- 
 tricts of the city and the shipping in the har- 
 bor, for the purpose of distributing Bibles and 
 tracts. 
 
 The first German assistant was Mr. C. F. 
 Lange, the fruit of Mr. Oncken's missionary 
 labors ten years previously. He engaged at 
 first in the work of a colporter. A small room 
 was hired in Hamburg, in which public worship 
 was conducted Sunday, and meetings for prayer 
 and instruction in the Bible were held on other 
 days of the week. The church increased with 
 a rapidity which surpassed the hopes of the 
 laborers. In 1836 fourteen were baptized, in- 
 cluding two persons of the Jewish faith, one of 
 whom, Mr. Koebner, has for many years filled 
 an important place in the operations of the 
 mission, and still lives, the talented and useful 
 pastor of the church in Copenhagen. Much 
 good was effected by the system of loan-tract 
 distribution, in which sixteen male and several 
 female members of the church were engaged. 
 
PROGRESS OF THE WORK. 307 
 
 A tract loaned to an individual or a family im- 
 plied a second visit, and opened the way for 
 religious conversation with the receiver. 
 
 This year a hall for worship was secured, 
 capable of holding three hundred hearers. In 
 1837 there were several converts in Oldenburg. 
 In April Mr. Oncken visited Berlin, and con- 
 ducted worship for several weeks. On the 13th 
 of May he baptized Mr. George W. Lehmann, 
 with his wife and four others, and organized the 
 church in Berlin, of which Mr. Lehmann was 
 ordained pastor, and has continued in that office 
 more than forty years. This has proved to be 
 one of the largest, strongest, and most impor- 
 tant Baptist churches in Germany. A church 
 was also organized in Oldenburg, Sept. 10, 1838, 
 with thirteen members and a pastor; and in 
 October, one in Stuttgart, with twenty-three 
 members. 
 
 Thus within a little more than four years 
 from the commencement of the mission, there 
 were four churches and one hundred and twen- 
 ty-one members. During the year 1838, twenty- 
 five were baptized in connection with the church 
 in Hamburg, raising the original seven to sev- 
 enty-five. The ordinance, on account of govern- 
 ment restrictions, was administered on Hanove- 
 rian territory. Several had also been baptized 
 at Marburg, in Hesse, and at Jever. In a sin- 
 gle visit Mr. Oncken baptized twenty-three at 
 Stuttgart, in Wurtemburg, a place to which he 
 had been specially invited by an intelligent and 
 educated gentleman, who had heard of the 
 character of the mission, and sympathized with 
 
3o8 THE GERMAN MISSION. 
 
 its objects. Each of the churches thus far 
 forward found a pastor among its own mem 
 bers, generally a person of some intelligence 
 and education, whom they elected to be or- 
 dained and set over them in the ministry of the 
 gospel. 
 
 The rise of a new body of Christians, united 
 in a solemn and earnest protest against some 
 of the practices of the National Church, at- 
 tracted at once the official notice of the leading 
 Lutherans, and of the magistrates who were 
 bound to see that the national religion was de- 
 fended from any opposition. The earliest open 
 attempt to restrict the labors of Mr. Oncken 
 and his associates was in September, 1837. 
 Eight persons had just been baptized, and ad- 
 mitted to the church in Hamburg. Complaint 
 was made to the head of the Lutheran clergy 
 in the city, by whom the police were directed 
 to prevent any further proceedings on the part 
 of the Baptist brethren. Orders to the same 
 effect were issued by the Senate of Hamburg, 
 and Mr. Oncken and several of his brethren 
 were summoned before the magistrates, and 
 questioned carefully concerning their proceed- 
 ings and their faith, especially regarding bap- 
 tism ; but no final order was taken against 
 them, and their meetings were continued with 
 a fuller attendance and greater interest than 
 before. A larger place of worship was obtained, 
 and the police offered few interruptions. But 
 in April, 1839, the Senate again undertook to 
 suppress these evangelical labors, and issued a 
 decree summoning Mr. Oncken and his asso- 
 
rERSECUTION BEGUN. 
 
 309 
 
 ciates before the tribunal, and commanding the 
 chief of police " to inform the said Oncken that 
 the Senate neither acknowledges the society 
 which he denominates the Baptist church, nor 
 himself as its preacher ; that, on the contrary, 
 the Senate can only view it as a criminal 
 schism, of which he is the sole author." The 
 magistrate was further directed "to prohibit 
 him from all further exercise of his unauthor- 
 ized and unrecognized ministerial functions," 
 and also to prohibit his associates "from ^11 
 further participation in the same culpable and 
 unlawful proceedings." But the members of the 
 church immediately sent a petition and remon- 
 strance to the Senate, which was seconded by 
 an address from the members of the Board and 
 other persons in the United States, praying that 
 Mr. Oncken and his associates might be allowed 
 the exercise of freedom of faith and of worship. 
 The Senate had issued its decree ; but the 
 church continued to hold meetings unmolested 
 for several months. At length, however, in 
 May, 1840, Mr. Oncken was arrested and cast 
 into prison, charged with having " continued to 
 preach, baptize, and administer the Lord's Sup- 
 per, according to his own confession, notwith- 
 standing the prohibition of the authorities." 
 One of the members of the church was im- 
 prisoned for allowing a meeting at his house; 
 and one of his assistants was arrested while 
 preaching, and the police dispersed the congre- 
 gation. Mr. Oncken'simprisonm ent continued 
 for four weeks in circumstances. of great suffer- 
 ing and privation, and on his being set free his 
 
3IO THE GERMAN MISSION. 
 
 furniture was sold by the police in order to 
 defray the charges of his arrest and his keeping 
 while in prison. Besides forbidding Mr. Oncken 
 to adminster baptism and the Lord's Supper, a 
 decree was passed forbidding any one to attend 
 his family worship excepting his own household. 
 
 Memorials were addressed to the Senate of 
 Hamburg by the Board, and by various bodies 
 of distinguished individuals in the United 
 States and England, one of the latter bearing 
 five thousand signatures, in behalf of the Ger- 
 man Baptist brethren. The president of the 
 United States also, through the American con- 
 sul, caused representations to be made, which 
 resulted in great advantage to the persecuted 
 missionaries and their people, so that the mem- 
 bers of the church in Hamburg have enjoyed 
 from that time freedom from official annoyance. 
 
 Persecution was not confined to the church 
 in Hamburg, but extended to almost every 
 place where the word was preached by the Bap- 
 tists, and the ordinances administered after the 
 pattern of the New Testament. In Oldenburg, 
 Berlin, Stuttgart, Bavaria, Pomerania, and the 
 kingdom of Hanover, the brethren had trials 
 of cruel mockings, and of bonds and imprison- 
 ment. The ministers were thrown into jails, 
 and fined. The assemblies were scattered by 
 the police. The members were compelled to 
 bring their children for baptism to the priests 
 of the National Church, and were punished for 
 their participation in the so-called heresies of 
 the ministers who in obedience to Divine com- 
 mand had forsaken the National Church, and 
 
BEGINNING IN DENMARK. 311 
 
 made conscience of worshipping God according 
 to their own convictions of New Testament 
 teaching. In Berlin baptisms in the open air 
 were prohibited. In portions of Hanover some 
 were imprisoned ; the property of others was 
 confiscated. At Marburg, in Hesse, the disci- 
 ples were fined and banished. In Bavaria they 
 were forced to meet in great secrecy. 
 
 But in the mean time the word of God grew 
 and multiplied. The memoir of the first Mrs. 
 Judson was translated into German ; and through 
 the liberality of friends in America an edition 
 of five thousand was put in circulation, — the 
 mission in one quarter of the globe thus help- 
 ing and blessing the mission in another quarter. 
 Mr. Koebner visited Denmark and Holstein, 
 and began a work which soon bore fruit in the 
 formation of a church. More than eighty vil- 
 lages were visited in Mecklenburg. Several 
 places in Bavaria heard the Word in its purity 
 and power. One of the brethren found his way 
 with the Divine message to various parts of 
 Prussia, Hanover, and Saxony : he was twice 
 imprisoned in his tour, and compelled at last to 
 return to his native town. 
 
 A church was organized in Copenhagen in 
 1839, and stated meetings held in other places 
 in Denmark. But the hand of persecution was 
 stretched out over this kingdom, as it had been 
 over Hamburg and Prussia. Rev. Peter Moen- 
 ster, the pastor, was sentenced to ten weeks' 
 imprisonment for preaching, and administering 
 baptism, and then banished. But while he was 
 in prison the meetings were still held in his 
 
312 THE GERMAN MISSION. 
 
 house, and two or three hundred attended. The 
 same servant of God, with his brother, Rev. 
 Adolph Moenster, was afterwards confined in 
 prison for an entire year. 
 
 In 1840 there had been organized in four of 
 the German States, and Denmark, six churches, 
 numbering about two hundred members. In 
 1 84 1 the number of churches had risen to four- 
 teen, with three hundred and fifty members. 
 Mr. Oncken was first imprisoned May 13, 1839; 
 immediately after he was set free, he preached 
 in his own house to large collections of people. 
 In 1 841 he was arrested a second time while he 
 was preaching in Altona, but was shortly after- 
 wards set at liberty. In May, 1843, he was 
 again imprisoned for administering the ordi- 
 nances, but was released after four days, on 
 application made to the Senate. In 1851 he 
 was expelled from Berlin, after having labored 
 but a single Sabbath. 
 
 But the policy of intolerance gradually gave 
 way, and a better spirit prevailed. The powers 
 of this world learned to look more graciously 
 upon men and women of pure life, whose only 
 fault was that they desired to conform their 
 practice, according to their own convictions, to 
 the revealed will of God. Still, as the thunder 
 continues to roll in the distant horizon, and the 
 lightning to glitter, after the fury of the storm 
 is passed, so the spirit of persecution continued 
 for many years to mutter in various places in 
 Germany, and even yet, in some remote portions 
 of the field, is not wholly stilled. 
 
 In 1842 fifty were baptized in Hamburg, and 
 
RELIGIOUS PERIODICAL LITERATURE. 313 
 
 the number of church-members increased to 
 160. The members in Denmark numbered 179, 
 of whom 1 19 were in Copenhagen. In August 
 of this year, Rev. Professors Hackett and Co- 
 nant, residing temporarily in Europe for the 
 purpose of study, arrived in Copenhagen as a 
 deputation from the Board, and met and con- 
 sulted with several government officers and per- 
 sons of influence in respect to toleration ; and 
 valuable concessions were obtained. Mr. Onck- 
 en visited England for the purpose of making 
 known the condition of the persecuted brethren ; 
 and a deputation from the English Baptists in 
 return visited the King of Denmark to present 
 still further memorials in their behalf. Similar 
 certificates were sent from the United States. 
 The gentlemen composing the deputation were 
 introduced to the Court by the British plenipo- 
 tentiary ; and they were aided in their efforts to 
 secure religious freedom by Joseph John Gur- 
 ney and his sister, Mrs. Elizabeth Fry, two phil- 
 anthropic and distinguished members of the 
 Society of Friends. At last an act of amnesty 
 was granted, apparently as a concession, but it 
 was practically of little value. 
 
 In January, 1844 2. missionary periodical in 
 pamphlet form, called the " Missionsblatt " ('' Mis- 
 sionary Paper "), was commenced at Hamburg, 
 and has been continued till the beginning of the 
 year 1879. At its commencement the laws re- 
 quired that it should contain only communica- 
 tions relating to missions in foreign countries. 
 In 1864 it was enlarged from sixteen to thirty- 
 two pages. It was under the editorial care of 
 
314 THE GERMAN MISSION, 
 
 Mr. Oiicken and his fellow-laborers until 1867, 
 when Mr. Joseph Lehmann assumed the charge. 
 Another paper, the " Zionsbote" (" Zion's Mes- 
 senger"), was commenced in Hamburg in the 
 year 1865, by Mr. William Oncken. The two 
 were merged in January, 1879, i^to a new paper, 
 *' Der Wahrheitszeuge " (''The Witness to the 
 Truth"), to be edited by Mr. P. W. Bickel, for- 
 merly editor of the '* Sendbote," in Cleveland, 
 O. A third paper, " Der Pilger " ('The Pil- 
 grim"), has been published several years in the 
 interest of the Middle and South German Asso- 
 ciation. 
 
 In 1 844 Mr. Koebner received ordination. In 
 the beginning of 1845 there were 17 preachers 
 and assistants, 26 churches, and nearly i,5CXD 
 members. Mr. Oncken visited Holland and 
 East Friesland, baptizing in various places. 
 Churches were organized in Bremen, Stettin, 
 and Baden, and three others in Holland. Great 
 alleviation, and in some instances cessation of 
 persecution, was enjoyed. In 1846 many tracts 
 were published and put in circulation in the 
 German, Dutch, Danish, and Polish languages. 
 A hall for worship was completed in Hamburg 
 in 1847, capable of accommodating six hundred 
 hearers. This year the church at its own ex- 
 pense sent two brethren into Hungary and Aus- 
 tria to carry the word of life, and converts were 
 baptized at Pesth and Vienna. Two churches 
 were formed in Switzerland. The Revolution in 
 France of 1848 tended to promote freedom and 
 religious toleration in Germany also ; and thus 
 the political events of the times were favorable 
 to the advancement of the kingdom of God. 
 
RUSSIA ADDED TO THE FIELD. 315 
 
 At first the converts in Germany were num- 
 bered by units ; then by tens ; then by scores. 
 By and by the members were formed into 
 churches, and before 1849 the churches were 
 combined into Associations. The Associations, 
 the North-western, the Prussian, the Middle and 
 Southern, to which the Danish was added later, 
 in January, 1849, were formed into the Triennial 
 Conference, the first meeting of which was held 
 in Hamburg, Jan. 17-26. The sessions since 
 have all been in Hamburg. 
 
 The Prussian Association at its organization 
 consisted of delegates from seven churches, and 
 commenced its active existence by supporting a 
 missionary to Silesia. About this time, in con- 
 sequence of the political revolution in Prussia, 
 all religious sects secured perfect equality, and 
 missionaries were able to travel everywhere un- 
 molested. The baptisms of this year were 453, 
 and the whole number of members, 2,800. 
 Chapels were erected in four important centres 
 in Prussia. Mr. Oncken visited Scotland to 
 obtain aid in paying the debt on various chapels, 
 and secured about four thousand dollars. 
 
 In 185 1 there were thirty-two churches in 
 Germany, including fourteen in Prussia, five in 
 Denmark, and two in Switzerland. A school 
 for the instruction of preachers had been main- 
 tained in Hamburg three years, being in session 
 from May to November, chiefly under the in- 
 struction of Mr. Koebner. 
 
 This year, for the first time, the work of the 
 mission extended into Russia, Lithuania, and 
 among the Silesian Mountains. During the 
 
31 6 THE GERMAN MISSION. 
 
 first seventeen years of the mission, 410,036 
 copies of the Scriptures were distributed by 
 the members, and 6,237,951 tracts, of which 
 record had been kept, besides probably number- 
 less others of which no account was taken. 
 Who can calculate the broad harvest from so 
 broad a seed-sowing ? 
 
 In May, 1853, by invitation of the Committee, 
 Mr. Oncken visited the United States, and re- 
 mained fifteen months. He travelled exten- 
 sively in the North-western States among his 
 fellow-countrymen and others, besides forming 
 acquaintance with the friends of missions in the 
 older States. It was on that memorable journey 
 that the famous Norwalk accident in Connecti- 
 cut occurred, and Mr. Oncken was on the rail- 
 road-train which plunged from the open draw 
 of the bridge, into the river below. Many were 
 seriously injured, and several killed ; but Mr. 
 Oncken's precious life was preserved. He re- 
 ceived, however, an injury to his foot and ankle, 
 which disabled him for many weeks. He was 
 the guest of the Hon. Ira Harris during the 
 meetings of the Union this year, and was able 
 to attend a portion of the sessions. It was at 
 that time the important discussion occurred in 
 reference to the Teloogoo Mission, then and 
 there first called " The Lone Star Mission ; " 
 and doubtless as a member of the Union his 
 was among the votes that determined its con- 
 tinuance. 
 
 The appeals of Mr. Oncken for the German 
 Mission were so urgent, and the necessities so 
 pressing in this wide field, ripe for the harvest, 
 
SWEDISH CHRISTIANS BAPTIZED, 317 
 
 that the Committee voted to aid the mission in 
 erecting chapels to the extent of eight thousand 
 dollars a year for five years. 
 
 In 1854 two brethren from Sweden visited 
 Hamburg, asking to be baptized, and empow- 
 ered to administer the ordinance to others. So 
 the mission to Germany became in an impor- 
 tant sense the mother of a new mission, and one 
 of the most effective and prosperous in Europe. 
 The number of baptisms reported this year was 
 693, and the total of members, 5,049. In 1855, 
 in a revival-season in Berlin, many children were 
 hopefully converted. The church in Memel, the 
 extreme eastern point of Prussia, had grown 
 strong enough to entertain the Prussian Asso- 
 ciation at its annual meeting, when a resolution 
 was passed to aid the Missionary Union in its 
 work among the heathen, to the amount of at 
 least one hundred Prussian dollars. This year 
 the Lord's Supper was first administered to the 
 Lithuanians in their own language ; thirteen 
 converts were baptized, from fifteen to twenty- 
 seven years of age, and Mr. Albrecht was or- 
 dained their minister. Several Missionary So- 
 cieties were organized. 
 
 But, notwithstanding the increase of num-- 
 bers, the churches, gathered mainly from the 
 poor of this world, were compelled to hold their 
 meetings in private rooms or in halls, often 
 small and inconvenient. Of seventy churches 
 in 1856, only eight had regular chapels: the 
 residue had fitted up houses, shops, warehouses, 
 or the homes of some of the members. Several 
 new churches were constituted in the course of 
 
3l8 THE GERMAN MISSION. 
 
 the year, one of them in Varel, Mr. Oncken's 
 native town. A church constituted in 1837, on 
 the shore of the German Ocean, in these twenty- 
 years had sent out four colonies. Two chapels 
 were dedicated, and tracts were carried into 
 Bohemia. 
 
 The year 1857 was marked by still further 
 advancement. Mr. Oncken visited England to 
 make collections for missionary work and the 
 building of chapels. An awakening commenced 
 on the Polish frontiers, the fruit of tract-distri- 
 bution. There was also a revival at Templin, 
 and during the year one hundred and forty-three 
 were baptized. Several new tracts were trans- 
 lated into Lithuanian. The church at Memel, 
 recognizing the obligation of Christians to work 
 for others as well as for themselves, supported, 
 besides their pastor, two missionaries, to carry 
 the gospel to those who were calling, "Come 
 over and help us." 
 
 In 1858 there were numerous awakenings in 
 Poland, on the border of Russia, the beginning 
 of that great work which has since resulted in 
 the baptism of thousands. The church in Ham- 
 burg was recognized by the Senate of that city 
 as a religious corporation, and Denmark had 
 enjoyed religious liberty since 1850. 
 
 On the 23d of April, 1859, ^^^ church in 
 Hamburg celebrated the twenty-fifth anniver- 
 sary of its existence. It was a rare occasion, 
 well fitted to call forth the exclamation, "What 
 hath God wrought ! " The original seven had 
 grown to seven thousand, and stretched across 
 the German States from the North Sea to Rus- 
 
WANT OF CHAPELS. 319 
 
 sia, from the Baltic well-nigh to Italy. The 
 days of persecution were substantially ended, 
 and the gospel "free as air" was permitted to 
 be carried to every part of the German States. 
 And, through the messengers of God's truth, in 
 all Germany the gospel had been preached 
 everywhere, '* the Lord working with them, and 
 confirming the word with signs following." 
 
 The church in Hamburg received additions 
 by baptism every year for the first twenty-six 
 years: the smallest, five, in 1835; the largest, 
 121, in 1850: total, 1,317; average, between 
 50 and 51, or nearly one for every Sunday dur- 
 ing all that period. 
 
 The Committee now proposed to withdraw 
 from Germany, leaving the cause to the care of 
 the brethren and of God ; but, on account of 
 the earnest representations of the German pas- 
 tors, this decision was (Relayed. The German 
 Committee now determined to collect funds to 
 build twenty-one chapels at the most necessary 
 points, and Mr. Lehmann collected in England 
 about five thousand dollars for this purpose. 
 Eighteen young men were instructed in theol- 
 ogy seven months in Hamburg, with a view to 
 the ministry; and twelve of them were or- 
 dained on Lord's Day, Sept. 12, an answer to 
 the prayer, ** Send forth laborers into the har- 
 vest." At Memel twenty-two Lithuanians were 
 baptized. So highly did these people prize 
 the privileges of worship, that some of their 
 women were in the habit of travelling twelve 
 miles every Sunday to be present in the house 
 of prayer. The work made progress in Russia. 
 
320 THE GERMAN MISSION. 
 
 Fifty-three Poles were baptized. Five Hunga- 
 rians, baptized at Hamburg in 1845, formed a 
 Tract Society, and printed three thousand tracts 
 for distribution. 
 
 The churches had increased in i860 to 66 in 
 number, the out-stations and preaching-places 
 to 855, and the members to 8,935. The Danish 
 churches enjoyed entire religious liberty. The 
 gospel this year gained its first triumphs among 
 the Lettish people in Kurland, Russia; and thus 
 another tribe learned in their own tongue the 
 wonderful works of God. 
 
 On the loth of November, 1861, the present 
 chapel in Berlin was dedicated. In contrast to 
 the days of persecution, — when worship must 
 be held in secret, and baptisms could be admin- 
 istered only under cover of the night, for fear of 
 the magistrates, — to this ceremony the King 
 and Queen, the Prince and Princess Royal, 
 were expressly invited, and a deputation was 
 present from the city council, clad in their offi- 
 cial insignia. The Lord God had blessed his 
 people with peace. Two churches were organ- 
 ized in Poland, and the registry of baptisms in 
 all the field for the year 1861 was 1,877. 
 
 The church in Berlin celebrated its twenty- 
 fifth anniversary May 15, 1862, in connection 
 with the annual meeting of the Prussian As- 
 sociation. A second Lithuanian church was 
 formed June 24. In 1863 the gospel penetrat- 
 ed into Wallachia ; 240 were baptized in Russia, 
 and 400 in Poland. There was much persecu- 
 tion in Russia ; and Mr. Alf, the Polish mission- 
 ary, again suffered imprisonment. 
 
IN THE REGIONS BEYOND. 321 
 
 In 1865 it was proposed by the brethren in 
 Germany to send a missionary to a body of 
 German colonists in South Africa, in British 
 Caffraria, — a movement crowned with such 
 success that in five years the number of church- 
 members in that country had reached four hun- 
 dred, with sixteen stations and out-stations. 
 This year twenty-six young men studied for 
 the ministry at Hamburg, and fourteen of them 
 were ordained the last Sunday in July, and sent 
 forth to their work. This year also the Danish 
 Association was formed. In every part of the 
 field it was a year of great enlargement. Some 
 of the brethren, exiled from Russia by the hand 
 of persecution, took refuge in Turkey, where 
 several believers, as if by a Divine admonition, 
 became enlightened on the subject of baptism, 
 though they knew nothing of the existence of 
 Baptists in Germany, and were almost ready to 
 believe there was not a Baptist in the world ex- 
 cept Mr. Spurgeon. In the mountains of Bul- 
 garia twenty-two converts were baptized by 
 pioneer missionaries sent out from Hamburg. 
 
 The war in 1866 interrupted the regular work 
 of the mission ; but the armies opened a new 
 field for Christian activity. In fields of peace- 
 ful labor, Mr. Oncken wrote that the general 
 aspect of the mission was never before so en- 
 couraging. A new chapel was commenced in 
 Hamburg, which was dedicated Aug. 11, 1867. 
 The church in Memel celebrated its twenty-fifth 
 anniversary, Oct. 7-9 ; at the Lord's Supper at 
 the close, prayer was offered in three languages, 
 — German, Lettish, and Lithuanian, — and the 
 
322 THE GERMAN MISSION. 
 
 three-days* festival had for its crowning service 
 the ordination of a minister for Russia. In 
 Middle Russia three churches were reported, 
 numbering 857 members. The gospel is more 
 than a form among these converts. It was said 
 by a missionary in Bulgaria, that in one village 
 a person passing along the streets at any time 
 could hear the sound of prayer. The church- 
 members in Turkey had increased to one hun- 
 dred. 
 
 In the year i ZGy two young brethren received 
 the approbation of the Triennial Conference as 
 missionaries, — one for China, the other for 
 South Africa. The missionary to China reached 
 his field early in 1870; but in 1875, on account 
 of the failure of his health, he returned to Ger- 
 many, and the funds designated for China were 
 transferred to the work in Russia. 
 
 The largest church in connection with the 
 German Mission was at Memel, numbering 
 1,524 members, many of them residing in Rus- 
 sia. The hand of persecution in Poland was 
 still stretched out to vex the brethren. In 1868 
 the work extended to Tifiis, in Caucasia, where 
 several were baptized. The ordinance was 
 administered three times during the year in 
 Bulgaria, and once in Bosnia, The novel cere- 
 mony was witnessed in the former instances by 
 Turks, Russians, and other spectators. In 
 Middle Russia baptism was administered at 
 noonday in the presence of hundreds, without 
 molestation. In four months more than three 
 hundred were admitted to the churches, "so 
 mightily grew the word of the Lord, and pre- 
 
THE WORK IN TURKEY. 323 
 
 vailed." The meetings were so full that no 
 building could contain them, and of necessity- 
 resort was had to the open air. 
 
 The first church in the Netherlands was or- 
 ganized in Haarlem, Sept. 5, 1869. In Austria 
 a Bible colporter found in one place sixteen 
 persons who, though surrounded by Catholics, 
 maintained an evangelical faith. So highly did 
 they prize the Bible, that a copy of it was divid- 
 ed into several parts, and a few leaves given 
 to each. Some of the children walked on Sun- 
 day a distance of three or four hours to learn 
 to read them. No Protestant had ever visited 
 them before. This year a union was proposed 
 of the three churches in Southern Russia into 
 a Russian Association. Whole number in the 
 three churches, 535. Many new converts were 
 reported in Russia, both German emigrants and 
 native Russians. In the autumn Mr. Oncken 
 visited Russia, Turkey, Roumania, Austria, 
 Transylvania, and Hungary. 
 
 The story of the introduction of the gospel 
 into Turkey is interesting. In the years 1865, '6, 
 ten families residing in Russia were banished 
 from the country, and others left it of their own 
 accord, because it was impossible for them to 
 live as believers in Russia. They crossed 
 the boundary into Turkey. A revival followed 
 through the efforts of these emigrants ; infant- 
 baptism was no more mentioned ; the German 
 Lutheran chapels fell into the hands of the 
 Baptists, and the church-bell is now rung to 
 call the whole population to Divine service. 
 
 At the eighth Triennial Conference, held 
 
324 THE GERMAN MISSION, 
 
 July 6-14, 1870, attended by more than one 
 hundred and twenty delegates, the German 
 Baptists were reported to have entered all the 
 quarters of the globe. The tidings from Rus- 
 sia were particularly interesting, leading the 
 whole assembly to break forth in one Te Deiim 
 together, the Gerrrian and English brethren 
 singing together in one harmonious melody 
 known to both nations. During the three years 
 1867-69, the number of baptisms was 5,346. 
 The Danish Hymn-Book was completed and 
 published this year, including, besides many 
 hymns previously in use, one hundred and 
 twelve by Mr. Koebner, the editor of the book, 
 and pastor at Copenhagen. The Franco-Prus- 
 sian war interrupted the mission-work, but much 
 labor was performed in the army. More than 
 two million copies of Scriptures, tracts, and 
 religious books in French and German, were 
 circulated among the soldiers, — seed for a 
 future harvest. 
 
 In 1872 the first Baptist house of worship 
 was erected in Russia, where a Russian brother, 
 full of talent and zeal, was laboring for Christ. 
 Several churches in Prussia enjoyed revivals, by 
 which the young especially were brought in. 
 New doors were opened in Denmark. 
 
 The Prussian Parliament in 1875 passed an 
 act legally recognizing the rights of Baptist 
 churches, permitting them to organize, and in- 
 corporating them under certain special condi- 
 tions. This step indicated the liberal tendency 
 of the government ; but, on account of the ex- 
 planations of sc^me r^fficials, the act was of no 
 
THE WORK IN TIFLIS. 325 
 
 special value. A church was organized this 
 year in St. Petersburg. In connection with one 
 Russian church, three hundred and thirty-one 
 were baptized. There were several Baptists in 
 Russian Caucasia. In the period of the Russo- 
 Turkish war, several members of the Baptist 
 community in Tiflis offered their services as 
 nurses in the army. The document in which 
 they made this offer was published in the papers 
 by order of the governor, so that the existence 
 of the Baptist church in Tiflis was officially 
 recognized. 
 
 A long-standing division in the German 
 Union was now healed, and harmony restored. 
 A church in Altona, a colony in 1871 from that 
 in Hamburg, in six years increased to 377 mem- 
 bers, of whom 42 were active as colporters. 
 
 The church in Tiflis originated in the efforts 
 of a German brother and his wife, who settled 
 there, and began to preach Christ to the people. 
 Soon, through their labors, there were seventy 
 disciples in the city and surrounding district. 
 A young man from among them after his 
 baptism visited Hamburg that he might receive 
 further insjtruction, and,- having been ordained, 
 returned to his native land, where he engaged 
 in preaching the gospel, and many believed, of 
 whom several were baptized, and his own father 
 among them. At the latest accounts he had 
 undertaken a tour east of Tiflis in the region of 
 Mount Ararat and the Caspian Sea. 
 
 At the close of 1877, there were in Germany 
 15,287 members; in Austria, 81 ; in Denmark, 
 2,114; in Holland, 109; in Switzerland, 403; 
 
326 THE GERMAN MISSION. 
 
 in Poland, 1,747; '^^^ Russia, 3,686; in Turkey, 
 159; in South Africa, 447: total, 24,033. 
 Churches at the same date, 121 ; preaching- 
 stations, 1,371. The largest church is Memel in 
 Prussia, numbering 1,623 members. Berlin 
 numbers 709; Rummy, 655; Templin, 518; 
 Kicin, in Poland, 738; Neudorff, in Russia, 
 1,027. During the year 1877, the churches in 
 Europe lost 1,358 members by emigration. 
 Added by baptism, in 1877, 1,479. Twelve of 
 the churches failed to send in their reports. 
 
 Every year but four, since the first church 
 was formed in Hamburg, has witnessed the 
 organization of one or more new churches. A 
 large number of the churches are self-support- 
 ing, and many of the evangelists are sustained 
 by funds independent of the Union or any 
 Society. The work, commencing with the bap- 
 tism of seven persons in the Elbe, has become 
 one of magnificent proportions, '' a crown of 
 glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal dia- 
 dem in the hand of our God." The marvellous 
 progress of the enterprise, in the face of difficul- 
 ties and opposition, seals it as the work of Him 
 who has said, " I will work, and who shall let 
 it?" 
 
No. XX. 
 
 MISSION TO SWEDEN. 
 
 Germany Breaks Ground in Sweden. — A Reminiscence of 1817. — 
 Providential Preparations, — Baptism of a Swede in New York. — 
 F. O. Nilsson's Baptism and Labors. — Banished from Sweden. — 
 Swedish Church coming to America. — Mr. Wiberg a Lutheran 
 Minister. — Introduced to Mr. Oncken in Hamburg. — Mr. Wi- 
 berg baptized. — Return to Sweden. — Another Laborer. — Places 
 of Worship. — The Religious Press. — Missionaries supported. — 
 School for Preachers. — Persecution for Christ's Sake. — Swedish 
 Conference, — New Helpers. — New Chapel needed. — Messrs. 
 Broady and Edgren. — The Chapel at Stockholm. — The Mission 
 Transferred to the Missionary Union. — The Chapel dedicated. — 
 Swedish Bethel Seminary. — Church in Norway. — The Work 
 commenced in Finland. — Baptisms within the Arctic Circle. — 
 Baptisms. — The Laplanders. — The Latest Statistics. — Conclu- 
 sion. 
 
 THE Swedish Mission was born in the bosom 
 of the mission to Germany. As early 
 as 1842 the brethren in Germany reported a 
 colporter laboring in Norway, and in 185 1 a 
 church in Sweden with fifty-eight members. In 
 1852 the one church had multiplied itself, and 
 become four. In 1854 two brethren from Swe- 
 den came to Hamburg, requesting to be baptized, 
 and empowered to administer baptism to others. 
 In 1855 two Baptist churches, each numbering 
 eighty members, were constituted in the eastern 
 part of Sweden. In 1856 it was stated that the 
 
328 MISSION TO SWEDEN. 
 
 Baptists in Sweden had nearly doubled in num* 
 bers, amounting to upwards of a thousand, and 
 that seven churches had been formed, and eight 
 ministers ordained. 
 
 It is a pleasant recollection that the gospel, in 
 the hands of the American Baptists, touched the 
 people of Sweden at the very beginning of our 
 missionary efforts, — an earnest of the work 
 and the blessings which were to follow. On 
 board the vessel which carried two of our earli- 
 est missionaries, Colman and Wheelock, to the 
 heathen, in November, 181 7, five or six of the 
 seamen were hopefully converted. Among them 
 were two Swedish sailors, who, on their return 
 to this country, delighted many a little company 
 of praying Christians with the simple tale of 
 their conversion, and their faith in Christ. The 
 house still stands (1879) i^^ the northerly part of 
 the city of Boston, in whose parlor these joyful 
 disciples told in broken speech, evening after 
 evening, to a wondering and grateful assem- 
 bly,- 
 
 " What a dear Saviour they had found." 
 
 The national religion is I utheranism, which 
 was virtually established throughout the coun- 
 try in 1547. The Bible was translated into 
 Swedish, and published in 1540; but vital reli- 
 gion was little known until the last century, 
 when German pietism, and, still later, Mora- 
 vianism, began to stir the dry bones of the val- 
 ley of vision. An earnest religious movement 
 followed in the train of the labors of George 
 Scott, an English missionary, between 1830 and 
 
F. O. NILSSON'S BAPTISM AND LABORS. 329 
 
 1842. In connection with this movement, a 
 spirit of true religion penetrated among all 
 classes of society, rich and poor, and prepared 
 the way for the work which has since thrilled 
 Sweden in its whole extent with a new religious 
 life and fervor. 
 
 As the mission to Germany commenced in 
 the person of Mr. Oncken, so the mission in 
 Sweden, properly speaking, began in the person 
 of Mr. Andreas Wiberg. But events going 
 before prepared the way. One Sunday morn- 
 ing a young Swedish sailor, Gustaf W. Schroe- 
 der, recently converted on the sea during a 
 voyage to the United States, was led to the 
 Mariners' Church in New-York City. On this 
 occasion two sailors were baptized. Mr. Schroe- 
 der had never before witnessed the ordinance. 
 It made a deep impression on his mind, and in 
 a few weeks he was baptized himself. 
 
 Another Swedish sailor, Frederick O. Nilsson, 
 a man of great simplicity of character, and full 
 of religious fervor, was converted in New York 
 about the year 1834. After various voyages and 
 adventures, he returned to Sweden in 1839. 
 Through his unwearied efforts, several of the 
 seamen on the vessel which bore him were hope- 
 fully brought to Christ. In 1842 he was ap- 
 pointed by the American Seamen's Friend Soci- 
 ety to labor as a colporter among seamen in 
 the port of Gothenburg. It was his method to 
 labor among the sailors during the summer, 
 while the harbors were open ; and in winter, 
 when they were closed by ice, to visit from 
 house to house among the families, and tell the 
 
330 MISSION- TO SWEDEN. 
 
 people, in his simple and inimitable way, the 
 story of Christ and him crucified. After Mr. 
 Schroeder's return to Sweden he fell in with 
 Nilsson ; and, in consequence of a remark 
 recorded by Schroeder in a letter from Hamburg, 
 Nilsson was led to inquire on the subject of 
 baptism. AfLer much study and investigation, 
 mental conflict and prayer, he was led by the 
 Spirit into the way of obedience to the Lord's 
 command. He sought in vain for one to admin- 
 ister the ordinance in Sweden ; but in July, 
 1847, finding his way to Hamburg for this pur- 
 pose, he was baptized by Mr. Oncken. This 
 brought the brethren in Germany and Sweden 
 into contact. On the 21st of September, 1848, 
 Mr. Nilsson's wife and four others were baptized 
 in Cattegat, near Gothenburg, by a Baptist mis- 
 sionary sent for this purpose by the church in 
 Hamburg ; and the same evening the first Bap- 
 tist church in Sweden was organized, number- 
 ing six members. This transaction occurred 
 in the house of B. N. Nilsson, in the parish of 
 Landa, a district of Halland. Mr. Nilsson (F. 
 O.) was ordained in Hamburg in 1849, ^-nd trav- 
 elled around, preaching and baptizing those who 
 believed in Christ, till the little band numbered 
 fifty-two. 
 
 But the Lutheran magistrates, acting under 
 the laws of Sweden and the instigation of the 
 Lutheran priests, objected to the administration 
 of the ordinances of the New Testament by a 
 person whose ordination they did not recognize. 
 Accordingly Nilsson was arrested July 4, 1849, 
 tried, condemned, and publicly admonished to 
 
BANISHED FROM SWEDEN. 331 
 
 spcpic no more in this name. Jan. i, 185 1, he 
 was again arrested, and kept in close confine- 
 ment foi six days ; after which he was trans- 
 ferred to another prison forty miles distant, and 
 finally released through the entreaties of his 
 wife. A month later, Feb. 15, he was arrested 
 a third time, appeared twice before the High 
 Court, and during the ten days of his detention 
 made the most of his time in preaching the 
 gospel as he found opportunity. His trial ex- 
 cited great interest in the city ; and the minutes 
 of it were printed in pamphlet form, and scat- 
 tered by thousands throughout the land. Mr. 
 Nilsson said, " Thus my appearance before the 
 High Court was the public introduction of Bap- 
 tist principles in Sweden. Let now the poor 
 sailor be banished from the realm. What mat- 
 ters that } The truths which by his trial have 
 been disseminated in Sweden can never be ban- 
 ished." He was permitted to appeal to the 
 King, with whom he had an interview ; and dur- 
 ing his stay in Stockholm he became acquainted 
 with several pious believers, who were the nu- 
 cleus of the church in that city. At length his 
 last appeal proved abortive. His last petition 
 was rejected. He was banished from the coun- 
 try, and took his leave of his weeping friends 
 July 4, 185 1, being counted worthy to suffer 
 exile for Christ's sake. But he left behind him 
 in Sweden fifty-six believers scattered in. differ- 
 ent directions. 
 
 In Copenhagen, to which he directed his 
 course, he remained nearly two years, the last 
 year filling the office of pastor. In the spring 
 
332 MISSION TO SWEDEN. 
 
 of 1853, a company of twenty or thirty Swedish 
 Christians resolved to seek in the New World 
 the privilege denied them in their own country, 
 — freedom to worship God. By their request, 
 Mr. Nilsson accompanied them as their pastor ; 
 and in June, 1853, the little flock landed in New 
 York, and proceeded to one of the Western 
 States, where they settled. 
 
 While the government was striving to quench 
 the fire that had been kindled in the southern 
 part of Sweden, a new ray of light began to 
 glimmer in the north and east. A few Chris- 
 tians in Stockholm had begun to question the 
 Scrij3turalness of infant-baptism. About this 
 time Mr. Wiberg was providentially led to 
 Stockholm. He had been educated for the min- 
 istry in the Lutheran Church, was hopefully 
 converted in 1842, ordained as a Lutheran min- 
 ister at Upsala in 1843, and officiated in the 
 State Church till 1849. He preached not only 
 in the regular places of public worship, but also 
 in the villages and farmhouses ; and his preach- 
 ing was blessed to the conversion of sinners. 
 But the Divine Spirit, who had another destiny 
 for him to fulfil, so ordered that he was never 
 at ease in his connection with the State Church ; 
 and in 1849 he became convinced that he could 
 no longer conscientiously remain in it. His 
 chief trouble arose from the necessity of ^admin- 
 istering the Lord's Supper, as a Lutheran min- 
 ister, to all persons indiscriminately. He found 
 no Scriptural recognition of an unconverted 
 church-membership. 
 
 In 1850 Mr. Wiberg visited Stockholm, 
 
MR. WIBERG BAPTIZED. 333 
 
 where he met with brethren who were exer- 
 cised on the subject of baptism. The follow- 
 ing year he went to Hamburg, and was intro- 
 duced to Mr. Oncken and his fellow-laborer, Mr. 
 Koebner, with whom he earnestly discussed the 
 subject, still retaining his early prejudices in 
 favor of infant-baptism. Returning thence to 
 Stockholm, he re-examined the whole subject in 
 the licfht of the New Testament, and became 
 convinced of the truth as he found it recorded 
 in the Holy Word. In 1852 he published a 
 volume on Baptism, an octavo of three hundred 
 and twenty pages, unfolding the conclusions to 
 which he had been brought, and the reasoms of 
 them. 
 
 Attacked about this time by hemorrhage of 
 the lungs, a sea-voyage and rest were recom- 
 mended to him ; and he embarked for the Unit- 
 ed States in a sailing-vessel, July 17, 1852. The 
 vessel providentially made a tarry near Copen- 
 hagen ; and there, at eleven o'clock in the night 
 of July 23, 1852, he was baptized by Mr. F. O. 
 Nilsson. There was at that time no Baptist in 
 Sweden to baptize him ; and he embraced this, 
 the first opportunity which offered. The Scrip- 
 ture found a new fulfilment, "He must increase, 
 but I must decrease." Nilsson was banished, 
 but Wiberg was raised up more effectually to 
 fill his place. The voyage being completed with 
 favorable effects, Mr. Wiberg arrived in New 
 York in September, 1852, and was employed 
 several months as a colporter by the American 
 Baptist Publication Society in behalf of sea- 
 men, in connection with the Mariners' Church. 
 
334 MISSION- TO SWEDEN. 
 
 After this, he spent two years more in the 
 United States, attending to the translation and 
 stereotyping of tracts in Swedish for circulation 
 among his countrymen. He also wrote two 
 more books on Baptism. 
 
 In August, 1855, Mr. Wiberg received ap- 
 pointment by the American Baptist Publication 
 Society to labor as superintendent of colportage 
 in Sweden ; and arrived in Stockholm Oct. 7. 
 During his absence of three years the work had 
 made considerable advancement : many, in the 
 mean time, had become convinced of the truth, 
 and were desirous of being baptized. As there 
 was no administrator in the country, one of the 
 brethren, otherwise qualified, went to Hamburg 
 in the spring of 1854, and was baptized and 
 ordained by Mr. Oncken, — the work in Sweden 
 thus again interlinking itself with the German 
 Mission. This was Mr. P. F. Hejdenberg. On 
 his return he baptized numbers of believers on 
 profession of their faith, both in Stockholm and 
 in other important places ; so that, at the close 
 of the year, there were about two hundred bap- 
 tized believers in the realm. In 1855 there was 
 a still larger accession ; so that, by the close of 
 December, the number had increased to about 
 five hundred. 
 
 In November, 1855, a larger room for worship 
 was opened in the southern suburb of Stock- 
 holm, capable of holding three hundred hearers. 
 In this room the first Sunday school was organ- 
 ized with twenty-two scholars, which soon in- 
 creased to a hundred and fifty. Still later, the 
 situation being found too remote, a larger room 
 
MISSIONARIES SUPPORTED. 335 
 
 was obtained in the centre of Stockholm, capa- 
 ble of seating five hundred hearers. This room 
 was opened in May, 1856 : here many souls were 
 converted, and here the church continued to 
 worship for ten years. In 1866 they removed 
 to the new chapel in the northern part of the 
 city. 
 
 A religious journal was commenced by Mr. 
 Wiberg Jan. i, 1856, called "The Evangelist." 
 It was issued as a semi-monthly, with six hun- 
 dred subscribers at the outset. It was a favora- 
 ble circumstance, that, when the ministry was 
 muzzled in Sweden, the press was always free ; 
 so that, when the brethren were not allowed to 
 speak to the ears of the people, they could 
 speak to them through the eyes. Early this 
 same year four brethren were ordained, and 
 appointed to labor in the service of the Ameri- 
 can Baptist Publication Society, preaching in 
 the provincial villages and farmhouses, circulat- 
 ing Bibles and tracts, and baptizing those who 
 believed. 
 
 An association called the Missionary Union 
 of Stockholm was also formed in March, 1856, 
 for the purpose of sending out missionaries, and 
 publishing and circulating books and tracts. 
 Much good was the result : several home mis- 
 sionaries were thus supported every year, and 
 in course of time several similar Unions were 
 formed in other places. During a period of 
 eighteen years, ninety-nine laborers were sup- 
 ported in whole or part, . and more than two 
 million books and tracts were put in circulation. 
 In 1856 a school was also opened to train young 
 
336 MISSION TO SWEDEN. 
 
 men for the ministry. Mr. K. Edvall, a gradu- 
 ate of the University of Upsala, and a Baptist, 
 had charge of the school the jirst year. At the 
 close of 1856, there were 21 churches, 24 min- 
 isters, and 961 members ; 492 had been bap- 
 tized during the year. There were eight Sun- 
 day schools, and about four hundred scholars. 
 
 As in other Lutheran countries, the magis- 
 trates did not fail to endeavor to crush the 
 rising cause by persecution. Mr. Hejdenberg, 
 the preacher ordained by Mr. Oncken, was sum- 
 moned before the tribunals sixteen times for 
 having held meetings contrary to the laws, and 
 was imprisoned in six different places, from two 
 to fourteen days each. Another of the preach- 
 ers was fined one hundred crowns for preaching 
 the gospel, and five crowns additional for vio- 
 lating the Sabbath in preaching. A third was 
 sentenced to pay a hundred crowns for reading 
 a chapter in the Bible in public ; and afterwards 
 he was arrested on a missionary tour, and con- 
 veyed back as a prisoner to his home. A fourth 
 brother was imprisoned several weeks, and kept 
 on bread and water, because he had allowed a 
 preacher to read the Bible in hi^ cottage. In 
 1857 six brethren were confined in cells, and 
 some of them were treated very harshly. One 
 of them, a blind colporter, was imprisoned 
 eight days for distributing tracts : afterwards, 
 with an iron chain attached to one of his ankles, 
 he was transferred to another prison, where new 
 irons were placed upon him ; and, finally, he 
 was compelled to pay a considerable sum to the 
 authorities for their trouble. Still another was 
 
SWEDISH CONFERENCE. 337 
 
 seized on a cold winter day, severely buffeted, 
 sponged all over with cold water, his hair cut 
 close to his head, and then, in thin prison cloth- 
 ing, he was thrown into a damp and chilly cell. 
 Yet another wrote that he could not leave his 
 village without danger of being seized and im- 
 prisoned. God be thanked that such things are 
 in the past ! 
 
 The first Conference of the Swedish Baptist 
 churches was held at Stockholm, June 13-16, 
 1857, when an executive committee was chosen 
 to superintend the general interests of the de- 
 nomination in Sweden. One of the objects of 
 the committee was to devise means for the edu- 
 cation of brethren who might seem to be called 
 to preach the gospel. Rev. G. Palmquist was 
 added to the working staff of the mission, which 
 seemed to create a new impulse. He had been 
 in the United States for six years, a missionary 
 among the Swedes in Illinois and Iowa. Dur- 
 ing this year, 1,292 were added to the churches 
 by baptism ; and at the close of the year there 
 were 44 pastors, 45 churches, and 2,105 mem- 
 bers. Two brothers of Mr. Palmquist, Peter 
 and John, became active helpers in the work. 
 
 The year 1858 was signalized by the acces- 
 sion of another useful laborer in the mission, 
 Mr. Adolph Drake, a nobleman by birth, and 
 whc had studied for the ministry in the Univer- 
 sity of Upsala, but from conscientious convic- 
 tions could not become a Lutheran pastor. He 
 was baptized at Stockholm, and has proved to 
 be a faithful helper. For several years he 
 *<lited a weekly paper (** Wecko-Posten " — " The 
 
33S * MISSION TO SWEDEN. 
 
 Weekly Post "), and became afterwards a teach- 
 er in the school for training young preachers. 
 
 In 1859 Mr. Wiberg visited England to solicit 
 funds to aid in building a chapel in Stockholm, 
 the hall in which the public worship was held 
 being altogether insufficient to contain all who 
 came to the meetings. He collected about 
 ;^5;500. But this sum being inadequate to the 
 exigency, he returned in 1863 to America, to 
 prosecute this important object. This visit of 
 two years proved a blessing to the mission in 
 still another respect, as it was instrumental in 
 giving two more efficient laborers to the work 
 in Sweden, — Col. Knut Oscar Broady, and 
 Capt. John A. Edgren. The former had been 
 an officer in the army, the colonel of a regi- 
 ment, and the latter in the navy, captain of a 
 gunboat, during the war of the Rebellion. They 
 were both brave men and noble workers, valiant 
 soldiers in the cause of their adopted country, 
 and equally valiant soldiers for Christ. They 
 were both Swedes by birth, and had enjoyed 
 the benefits of study at the Hamilton Theo- 
 logical Seminary, that nurse of missionaries. 
 While under appointment, previous to their 
 departure, immense audiences were thrilled by 
 their addresses, and a wide and deep enthu- 
 siasm was created among American Baptists for 
 the mission in Sweden. 
 
 Between 1863 and 1866, the date of Mr. Wi- 
 berg's return with these new helpers, the new 
 chapel had been finished and entered : the, ex- 
 pense, including land, was nearly 1^35,000. And, 
 though it was expected to seat i,20Q hearers. 
 
THE MISSION TRANSFERRED. 339 
 
 such was the interest of the people in the city, 
 attracted to hear the gospel in the new edifice, 
 that it was soon filled to overflowing. 
 . Up to this period the Swedish Mission had 
 been aided and directed by the Board of the 
 American Baptist Publication Society ; but it 
 had grown to such proportions that its work 
 seemed no longer to come within the appropri- 
 ate sphere of that Society, and an offer was 
 made in October, 1865, to transfer the enter- 
 prise to the Missionary Union. Accordingly a 
 special meeting of the Board of Managers was 
 called in December, 1865, in the city of New 
 York, at which the Executive Committee were 
 instructed to accept the proffer, and assume 
 henceforth, in behalf of the Union, the-care and 
 support of the Swedish Mission. The transfer 
 took effect March i, 1866; and Messrs. Wiberg 
 and Broady were appointed missionaries of the 
 Union, to labor in their native country. April 
 5, John Alexis Edgren was also appointed a 
 missionary. Mr. Wiberg was designated to 
 give his strength to the preparation of an evan- 
 gelical Baptist literature ; and Messrs. Broady 
 and Edgren, while preaching in the city of 
 Stockholm and vicinity on Sunday, to com- 
 mence and take charge of a literary and theo- 
 logical school for the training of an able and 
 efficient ministry. 
 
 Here, again, two missions of the Union were 
 brought into contact, the Swedish and the Bur- 
 man ; for .the wife of Mr. Edgren, who accom- 
 panied him to Sweden, was the daughter of 
 Rev. N. Harris, missionary, in Shwaygyeen, 
 Burm^ah. 
 
340 MISSION TO SWEDEN. 
 
 At the close of the year 1866, there were 
 in Sweden nine Associations, one hundred and 
 seventy-six churches, and 6,606 members. In 
 two years emigrations to the United States 
 decimated many of the churches ; but the sta- 
 tistics show, notwithstanding, a constant in- 
 crease. " The little one " had become thou- 
 sands, "and the small one a strong nation." 
 
 Soon after the arrival of Messrs. Wiberg, 
 Broady, and Edgren in Sweden, Aug. 25, the 
 Triennial Conference met in Stockholm. The 
 next day the chapel, which had been entered 
 for preaching, but not for the administration 
 of the ordinances, was formally dedicated, the 
 service including the celebration of the Lord's 
 Supper, and " the whole audience-room was en- 
 tirely filled with communicants." The chapel 
 was built of stone, and of dimensions sufficient 
 to accommodate a thousand hearers. 
 
 The theological school was at once com- 
 menced, under the name of the Swedish Bethel 
 Seminary. The school was opened for pupils 
 Oct. I, 1866, with seven scholars, to be thence- 
 forward a permanent and well-regulated insti- 
 tution, sending out its regular graduates year 
 by year to be a blessing to the churches, and 
 to enter in and reap in the wide, white harvest- 
 field of the northern nations. Another mis- 
 sionary, Mr. J. E. Nystrom, a graduate of the 
 University of Upsala, was appointed in 1866 
 as a preacher, and also professor in the Bethel 
 Seminary. His service continued till 1872. 
 
 There were now four places of worship sus- 
 tained by the Baptists in the city of Stockholm. 
 
CHURCH IN NORWAY. • 341 
 
 In February, 1867, a church was organized in 
 a town near the southern point of Norway. 
 Remarkable revivals were reported in many 
 towns and cities in various parts of Sweden. 
 The whole history of the mission has been an 
 almost unbroken history of revivals. In 1868 
 there were five brethren in Stockholm drawing 
 a support from the Missionary Union, besides 
 twelve preachers in other parts of the kingdom. 
 
 In 1868 Mr. Theodore Truve was appointed 
 to join the mission, to be stationed at Gothen- 
 burg. Mr. Edgren was transferred from the 
 Seminary to take the pastoral charge of the 
 church in Upsala, which, as the university town, 
 was a sphere of much importance. 
 
 This year the work crossed the Baltic Sea, 
 and entered Finland. Two persons, a brother 
 and sister, the latter, Miss Anna Heikel, teacher 
 in a national institution for the deaf and dumb, 
 were baptized in Sweden. Returning to their 
 own kingdom with hearts warmed by the love 
 of Christ, they labored with great zeal for the 
 souls of their countrymen, and their labors were 
 crowned with a wonderful blessing. The first 
 baptism in Finland was administered July 14, 
 1868, on the shore of the Baltic. 
 
 The history of Mr. and Miss Heikel, the first 
 converts from Finland, is very interesting. Im- 
 pressions had been made on their minds in 
 favor of the Baptists twelve years before, when 
 they were children, through some poor and 
 persecuted Baptists from the island of Aland, 
 who visited the city of Abo, and were arrested 
 and examined before the consistory of that city 
 
342 MISSION TO SWEDEN. 
 
 concerning their faith in Christ and their pur- 
 pose to walk in his footsteps. The father of 
 the children, Professor Heikel, of the Univer- 
 sity of Abo, received these Baptists into his 
 house, and treated them with kindness. The 
 impressions received in connection with the 
 visit of these people were never effaced ; and, 
 having been baptized, they were now the lead- 
 ers of this little flock of believers. 
 
 The churches in Norway were now six or 
 seven in number, with about two hundred 
 members. In the autumn of this year, four 
 believers were baptized at Tromsoe and vicin- 
 ity, north of the Arctic Circle, about seventy 
 degrees north latitude. A Swedish brother, a 
 basket-maker by trade, visited the place in 1869, 
 and was permitted to preach in the meeting- 
 house. His preaching was blessed to the con- 
 version of souls ; and soon after Christmas six- 
 teen were baptized, and shortly after twelve 
 more. On the last day of December a church 
 was organized, the most northern Baptist church 
 in the world, consisting of fifty members. In 
 January eleven more were baptized, and two 
 in February. No difficulty was experienced 
 in administering the ordinance in the heart of 
 the winter, m this extreme northern latitude. 
 •A willing and obedient heart will find it easy to 
 follow the footsteps of Christ. "I will find a 
 way," said the Roman soldier, " or I will make 
 one." In 187 1 the members reported were 
 one hundred. 
 
 In 1872 John Hymander, a venerable pas- 
 tor for forty years of a Lutheran church in Fin- 
 
THE LATEST STATISTICS. 343 
 
 land, on the borders of Russia, was baptized; 
 also another Lutheran pastor at Gothenburg, 
 a man of ability and culture. This year the 
 Stockholm Missionary Union aided thirty-eight, 
 preachers, of whom eighteen received from 
 that Society their whole support. The Swedish 
 Conference resolved to organize a Foreign Mis- 
 sionary Society, to aid in sending the gospel to 
 the heathen. A brother who had long had this, 
 work on his heart gave four hundred dollars to 
 begin the necessary funds, and obtained three 
 hundred dollars more from persons in his 
 employ. An interest was also awakened for 
 the conversion of the Laplanders. A con- 
 verted Laplander was reported among the 
 preachers connected with the mission in 1874. 
 Mr. Truve, at Gothenburg, edited at this date 
 two Sunday-school papers and an illustrated 
 religious paper for older persons. At the close 
 of 1874 there were ten Associations, 228 
 churches, 10,075 members, and 6'i meeting- 
 houses. 
 
 In the last annual report it was stated that 
 Sweden had never enjoyed such a year of bless- 
 ing as the preceding. The baptisms were three 
 times as numerous as the average of former 
 years. The history of the mission in Sweden, 
 notwithstanding hinderances, has been a record 
 of triumphs, — he who is the Most Mighty gird- 
 ing his sword upon his thigh, and going forth, 
 conquering and to conquer. According to the 
 latest statistics, there were in connection with 
 the mission 253 churches, 13,695 members, and 
 95 houses of worship. Baptized in 1877, 2,360. 
 
344 MISSION TO SWEDEN. 
 
 The seventeen Missionary Societies in different 
 parts of the country supported, in whole or in 
 part, about ninety preachers, at a cost of about 
 ^5)33^; and the Sunday schools contribute for 
 the spread of the gospel among the heathen. 
 Thousands have probably been converted 
 through Baptist instrumentality, who remain 
 connected with the State churches ; and thou- 
 sands of converts besides have emigrated to 
 America. Of the twenty-four provinces in 
 Sweden, there is not one which does not con- 
 tain a Baptist church. In Norway there are 
 seventeen churches and about four hundred 
 members. 
 
 The Baptists are still subject to certain civil 
 disabilities, which cause them inconvenience 
 and trial, and which the diffusion of light will 
 remedy in due time. But the wonderful prog- 
 ress of the work during the brief period re- 
 viewed in this sketch shows it to be a work 
 which God approves ; and we cannot do other- 
 wise than exclaim concerning it, "This is the 
 Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes." 
 
No. XXI. 
 
 MISSION TO GREECE. 
 
 Btginning of the Mission. — Re-enforcements. — The First Baptism. 
 
 — Greek School. — Persecution. — Translation. — Government 
 Opposition. — Shall the Mission be continued ? — The Church. 
 
 — *' Pilgrim's Progress " in Greek. — The Mission suspended. — 
 The Work resumed. — The Station at Athens. — Baptism. — 
 Prosperity and Disappointment. — Government Opposition. — 
 The Consummation delayed. 
 
 IN conformity with the resolution passed at 
 the meeting of the Triennial Convention in 
 Richmond in 1835, authorizing the Board to 
 establish missions in all fields presenting a 
 favorable opening, a mission was commenced in 
 1836 in the kingdom of Greece. Horace T. 
 Love and Cephas Pasco were ordained in Provi- 
 dence, Sept. 8, 1836, and set apart to this work; 
 and arrived at Patras, on the northern border of 
 Peloponnesus, Dec. 9, 1836. Soon after their 
 arrival, they applied to the government for per- 
 mission to distribute the Scriptures and to en- 
 gage in teaching. Their request was granted, 
 and after some delay a school was opened with 
 sixteen scholars. Numerous applications were 
 made for admission by others seeking instruc- 
 tion. In June, 1837, a Sunday school was com- 
 
 345 
 
346 MISSION TO GREECE. 
 
 menced with from ten to twenty pupils, who 
 committed from five to fifty verses each weekly. 
 An aged teacher from Missolonghi made an 
 earnest application for a school there. In Sep- 
 tember, 1838, it was proposed to establish a 
 second station on the island of Zante, to be 
 under the care of Mr. Love. But, before the 
 mission was well founded, it began to experi- 
 ence reverses. Mr. Pasco, on account of fail- 
 ing health, was compelled to leave the mission ; 
 and returned to the United States in the fall of 
 1839, after a service of less than three years. 
 
 In 1839 Mrs. Harriet E. Dickson, born in 
 England, was appointed a member of the mis- 
 sion. She had previously been a teacher in a 
 government school in Corfu. In September of 
 this year Sunday services in Greek were com- 
 menced by Mr. Love ; and the report came, that 
 three Greeks manifested an interest, and had 
 begun to pray. In 1840 the mission was re- 
 moved to Corfu ; and Aug. 1 2 of that year the 
 first convert, bearing the name of Apostolos 
 (missionary), was baptized by Mr. Love, and 
 employed as an assistant. Twelve or fifteen 
 others began to investigate the truth as 
 preached by the missionary. Rev. R. F. Buel 
 and Mrs. Buel joined the mission June 18, 1841. 
 In December, 1842, on account of the failure of 
 his health, Mr. Love left Corfu, and returned to 
 the United States ; but before his departure he 
 baptized two more Greeks. 
 
 In 1 84 1 religious services were held every 
 evening for about six weeks in Potamo, a vil- 
 lage adjoining Corfu. Who can tell where and 
 how the seed thus sown shall spring up } 
 
GOVERNMENT OPPOSITION. 347 
 
 In 1842 Mrs. Dickson's school numbered 
 forty pupils. The native helper was perse- 
 cuted, and, agreeably to the command of Christ, 
 — " When they persecute you in this city, flee 
 ye to another," — retired to Athens. Thus a 
 way began to be prepared for the subsequent 
 opening of a station in that city. A prayer- 
 meeting was .held by seven Greeks in Patras, 
 and a Sunday school numbered from fifty to 
 sixty pupils. Several of the people seemed 
 interested. 
 
 In February, 1844, Rev. Albert N. and Mrs. 
 Arnold and Miss S. E. Waldo arrived in Corfu. 
 Apostolos left the service of the mission. Mr. 
 Buel removed to Piraeus, and revised for the 
 press a translation into Greek of Wayland's 
 Moral Science. The interest in religion was 
 encouraging, and Mr. Buel had an average of 
 fifty hearers at worship. In 1845 Mr. Arnold 
 commenced preaching *in Greek in Corfu, as 
 a regularly established service. Miss Waldo's 
 mission-school at Piraeus was closed by order 
 of the government in 1847 \ ^'^^ about the same 
 time an end was put to preaching in Mr. Buel's 
 house, and he himself was arrested, and con- 
 demned to ten days* imprisonment for violating 
 the penal code. In 1849 Miss Waldo became 
 the wife of a native Greek, and her connection 
 with the mission closed. 
 
 At this time there was a church of five mem- 
 bers, besides those in the mission family — two 
 in Corfu, and three in Zante; two were loni- 
 ans, one English, and one Anglo-Ionian. In 
 Zante fifteen Greeks attended the regular 
 
348 MISSION TO GREECE. 
 
 prayer-meeting, and four young men undertook 
 studies with reference to being useful in the 
 ministry. The influence of the government 
 stood in the way of the progress of the work. 
 One young man, a school-teacher, asked for 
 baptism ; but, in consequence of this request, he 
 was dismissed from his office, and lost the pros- 
 pect of obtaining orders in the Greek Church. 
 
 Two young men were baptized in Corfu by 
 Mr. Arnold, July 4, 1849, one of whom had 
 been a candidate two years, and was engaged 
 in studies preparatory to usefulness among his 
 countrymen. 
 
 The mission, after a continuance of fourteen 
 years, had borne little fruit ; and the obstacles 
 to its success were so great that the question 
 arose, whether it was wise to labor longer at 
 this point, when other and more prosperous 
 fields were calling loudly for help. It seemed 
 as if God's time was not^et. 
 
 In 185 1 opposition sprang up at Zante, and 
 an assistant was thrown into prison. The 
 preaching at Corfu was discontinued, and Mr. 
 Arnold removed to Athens. Sixty priests of 
 the Greek Church addressed a petition to the 
 bishop of Zante, complaining that their reli- 
 gion had been assailed, and demanded the ban- 
 ishment of the two Greek assistants from the 
 island. One of them was kept in prison eleven 
 days to protect him from the fury of the people, 
 and then released on his promise to leave the 
 island. 
 
 In 1852 the church had come to number thir- 
 teen. Five of the number were missionaries, 
 
THE MISSION SUSPENDED. 349 
 
 one of English parentage, and seven were 
 Greeks, — all men, from twenty years old to 
 forty. But the audiences were small. An 
 earnest inquirer or two cheered the hopes of 
 the laborers, but the mission was evidently 
 under a cloud. The man of Macedonia had not 
 called, '* Come over and help us." 
 
 In 1854 "Pilgrim's Progress" was issued in 
 modern Greek. It was translated by one of 
 the converts, Pelecassis, under the supervision 
 of Mr. Buel, who had now removed to Piraeus. 
 There were applicants for baptism, but their ex- 
 periences lacked the manifest depth and power 
 which are born of the Spirit. At length the 
 cholera prevailed fearfully at Athens and Pi- 
 raeus, quenching the zeal of the few attendants 
 on the Word. Mr. Arnold preached in his own 
 house to a small assembly, chiefly of young men 
 from the university, who came not so much 
 because they were attracted by the gospel as 
 because they were drawn by Mr. Arnold's ele- 
 gance in the use of the Greek language. 
 
 Mr. Arnold resigned his office as a missionary 
 in Greece, and returned to the United States in 
 August, 1855, and Mr. Buel in the following 
 November. The converts, with one or two ex- 
 ceptions, had not fulfilled the expectation cher- 
 ished concerning them. The mission was closed 
 in the year 1855. Demetrius Sakellarios, the 
 remaining assistant, continued his labors till 
 April I, 1856. 
 
 For fifteen years the work was suspended. 
 But numbers of Christian persons in this coun- 
 try at length earnestly desired its resumption. 
 
350 MISSION TO GREECE. 
 
 Two ministering brethren, Messrs. Gardner and 
 Faunce, visited Athens in 1871, and after dili- 
 gent inquiries came to the conclusion that it 
 would be wise to nndertake the enterprise 
 afresh. They ordained the former assistant, 
 Demetrius Z. Sakellarios, a printer by trade, 
 who, since the suspension of the mission in 
 1855, had visited this country, and pursued 
 studies at the Newton Theological Institution, 
 and encouraged him to expect assistance in his 
 evangelical labors. The Executive Committee, 
 after careful consideration, finally decided in 
 the year 1871 to recommence the work in 
 Greece, and appointed Mr. Sakellarios their 
 missionary. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Sakellarios (formerly Miss Ed- 
 mands, of Charlestown, Mass.) established them- 
 selves at Athens, and were abundant in labors. 
 Besides the preaching on Sunday, some meet- 
 ing to interest the people was held nearly every 
 evening in the week, and two Sunday schools 
 were opened. The laborers had to contend 
 against much opposition and ignorance, but 
 their work was not wholly in vain. A nephew 
 of Mr. Sakellarios was baptized, and made an 
 extensive tour as a colporter, visiting the prin- 
 cipal islands of the Cyclades, conversing on 
 religion with the people, and selling Bibles and 
 religious books. By some he was strenuously 
 opposed, but others favored and protected him. 
 He afterwards entered the university, in the 
 hope of being more useful, in the mean time 
 devoting his attention to the work of colportage. 
 In the year 1873 a Greek woman became a 
 
 I 
 
GO VERNMENT RES TRICTION. 35 1 
 
 hopeful convert, and gave continuous evidence 
 of Christian character and growth in grace. 
 
 An interesting incident occurred in 1874. A 
 man who was a regular attendant on the meet- 
 ings professed conversion, and asked for bap- 
 tism. About eighteen years previously he had 
 received a Bible and a copy of a tract. At that 
 time the reading made no impression on his 
 mind ; but later, on hearing them read and com- 
 mented on, he seemed to enter into the experi- 
 ence of faith, love, and joy, which the Spirit of 
 God begets. 
 
 This was cheering and encouraging; but 
 God seeth not as man seeth. Great hopes had 
 been cherished of the future usefulness of the 
 young colporter, Milo Sakellarios, zealous, in- 
 dustrious, and faithful. The expectation was 
 that in him the mission would have an educated 
 and able minister of the New Testament. But 
 God called him to higher service in his heaven- 
 ly kingdom, and the mission was left bereaved. 
 
 In August, 1875, the church received a new 
 member by baptism, and there were two hopeful 
 inquirers, one of whom did some service as a 
 colporter. But the mission was fettered by 
 new restrictions on the part of the government ; 
 and the school, which had been very prosperous, 
 was closed by the police, and a promise not to 
 teach evangelical religion was demanded as the 
 condition of being allowed to re-open it. The 
 Greek government sternly opposes any thing 
 bearing the aspect of proselytism. 
 
 One conversion was reported in the year 
 1876. The same year Mr. and Mrs. Sakellarios 
 
352 MISSION TO GREECE. 
 
 visited England, Scotland, and France, and re- 
 ceived some contributions with reference to a 
 chapel which they desired to erect in Athens. 
 A place was secured for a school, also a teacher ; 
 but the government opposed, except under con- 
 ditions which the missionaries were unwilling 
 to fulfil. The work of the church, as such, met 
 no opposition from the authorities ; but the peo- 
 ple showed no disposition to hear and heed the 
 truth as it is in Jesus. 
 
 It seems as if the time for the successful 
 evangelization of Greece had not yet come ; but 
 the gospel that has been preached there, and 
 the Scriptures and religious books that have 
 been put in circulation, are a precious seed 
 which will not perish. The land on whose soil 
 the gospel first entered Europe, where the Lord 
 opened the heart of Lydia, and brought salva- 
 tion to the household of the prison-keeper of 
 Philippi, — where the disciples were first called 
 Christians, and where the word of God " grew 
 mightily and prevailed," — will not be incurably 
 given over to superstition and formalism. The 
 soil trodden by the feet of the great apostle is 
 consecrated to ''the Apostle and High Priest of 
 our profession ; " and in due time he will vindi- 
 cate his right to reign over it in glory. The 
 land of the Parthenon is part of the inheritance 
 of Jesus Christ ; and the spot on which stood 
 the altar " to the Unknown God " will become 
 the shrine of willing worshippers, knowing 
 Christ and known of him, who, forsaking their 
 idolatries, will fall at his feet to love and serve 
 and adore ; ** for the mouth of the Lord hath 
 spoken it." 
 
No. XXII. 
 
 MISSION TO SPAIN. 
 
 Localities of the Mission. — Beginning of the Mission. — Churches 
 constituted. — Native Pastors. — Investigation followed by Convic- 
 tion. — New Chapel at Madrid. —A Portuguese Hymn. — A Re- 
 markable Field. — Results. — Darker Days. — Mr. Knapp's Res- 
 ignation. — New Station. — Concluding Words. 
 
 THE mission to Spain commenced in the 
 year 1870, in connection with the labors 
 of Professor W. I. Knapp, has had its princi- 
 pal centres at Madrid, Barcelona, Alicante, La 
 Scala, Valencia, Linares, and Alcoy. Madrid 
 is near the centre of Spain ; Barcelona, Valen- 
 cia, and Alicante are in the eastern part, border- 
 ing on the Mediterranean Sea. Rev. John W. 
 Terry, appointed a missionary in the fall of 1870, 
 arrived in Madrid in January, 1871 ; but, under 
 the conviction that the interests of the mission 
 did not demand the presence of more than 
 one agent from America, after three months 
 he returned to the United States. 
 
 Previous to November, 1 869, Professor W. I. 
 Knapp, formerly of the Hamilton Institution, 
 had established himself as an independent mis- 
 sionary in Madrid, and asked of the Missionary 
 Union assistance in his evangelizing work. 
 
 353 
 
354 MISSION TO SPAIN. 
 
 Having a desire to take part in forming an 
 incipient mission in tliat historical country, 
 which was represented to be a field of much 
 promise, the Committee joined with several 
 friends in sending two brethren to Spain to 
 ascertain the state of the field, and the pros- 
 pect of opening a successful mission in the city 
 of Madrid. The investigation proved favorable, 
 and led to further inquiries. In August, 1870, 
 Mr. Knapp announced by letter that six of his 
 hearers desired to be baptized. The next intel 
 ligence was that eighteen had already been bap- 
 tized ; and others soon followed. 
 
 Aug. 10, 1870, the first Baptist church in 
 Madrid was regularly constituted, with thirty- 
 three members. The Committee immediately 
 adopted the mission, and appointed Professor 
 Knapp their missionary. A church was also 
 gathered in Alicante, and one of the converts, 
 Mr. J. M. Calleja, a native Spaniard, called to 
 be the pastor. Mr. Martin Ruiz was ordained 
 pastor of the church of Madrid, which left Mr. 
 Knapp free to give his attention to the educa- 
 tion and training of evangelists. 
 
 In August, 1 87 1, two persons were baptized 
 in Madrid, — one a woman forty or fifty years 
 of age ; the other a man who had taken a promi- 
 nent part in the political revolutions of Spain, 
 and enjoyed considerable reputation as a public 
 speaker. The latter was Rev. G. S. Benoliel, 
 who afterwards officiated as pastor at Madrid ; 
 and large numbers were attracted to the chapel 
 by his eloquence. 
 
 A former colporter of the British and For- 
 
NEW CHAPEL AT MADRID. 355 
 
 eign Bible Society, who had gathered a society 
 at La Scala, in the vicinity of Valladolid, had 
 relinquished the service of the former Society 
 that he might preach the gospel to the people 
 of that village. The people had fitted up a 
 chapel, and provided their pastor with the 
 necessaries of life, and manifested a remarkable 
 interest in . the regular services. After some 
 time a tract on Baptism, issued by Professor 
 Knapp, fell into the hands of this man, which, 
 after thorough investigation, led him to the 
 conviction that he had something yet to do, if 
 he would follow Christ fully. Accordingly he 
 hastened to Madrid to find Professor Knapp, 
 and to ask that he might " thus fulfil all right- 
 eousness." He was baptized the next day, and, 
 being already the pastor of a church, he was 
 also ordained. This led to the organization of 
 a Baptist church in La Scala. 
 
 During the year 187 1 a church was formed 
 at Valencia. Mr. Ruiz became pastor at Ali- 
 cante. In 1872 a new place of worship was 
 procured at Madrid, and a convert of much 
 promise became pastor. Several were baptized, 
 and Mr. Knapp visited the United States for a 
 few weeks. The unsettled state of the country 
 was an obstacle to evangelical work. However, 
 in Alicante there were several conversions, and 
 accessions to the church by baptism. The 
 whole number of members in Spain was re- 
 ported to be about two hundred. 
 
 In 1873 Mr. Benoliel, who was able to speak 
 Portuguese, was ambitious to preach the gospel 
 in Lisbon, and left the Spanish work temporarily 
 
356 MISSION TO SPAIN. 
 
 for that purpose. He found some Baptists in 
 that city, and had a congregation of fifty hearers. 
 The Portuguese Christians have the well-known 
 hymn, " The morning light is breaking," trans- 
 lated into their language very literally, and in 
 the same metre as in English ; and not only in 
 Portugal, but in all the hills and valleys of 
 Brazil where there are Protestant believers, it 
 is heard nearly every Sunday, echoing from 
 chapel to chapel, and from mountain to moun- 
 tain ; and from numerous Christian homes the 
 sweet cadence of the tune so familiar to our 
 ears, though coupled with a strange speech, 
 floats on the air, and is wafted towards heaven. 
 
 In Linares, a remarkable field one hundred 
 and twenty miles south of Madrid, forty-one 
 were baptized during the year 1873, and others 
 awaited the. return of their absent pastor to re- 
 ceive the ordinance. One room after another, 
 which had been taken for preaching the gospel, 
 in a little time could not hold the people, and 
 many were obliged to go away who could not 
 gain admittance. At a place where the native 
 preacher undertook to preach in the open air, 
 the authorities having heard of it, he was in- 
 vited to stay and preach two weeks in the public 
 hall, the city paying for the lights and current 
 expenses. There were reported in 1874, four 
 churches, four native pastors and evangelists, 
 sixty-two baptized, and a total of two hundred 
 and forty-four. 
 
 The next year the disorders connected with 
 war and change of government seriously inter- 
 fered with evangelical labor. The utmost cir- 
 
MR. KNAPP'S RESIGNATION. 357 
 
 cumspection was necessary in holding meetings 
 and in baptizing converts. The pubHc mind 
 was keenly sensitive, and terribly suspicious of 
 any gathering which, in the judgment of the 
 police, might suggest or grow into a political 
 cabal or junto. At Linares, that promising sta- 
 tion, the work was wholly broken up, and the 
 pastor banished. But the darkness and dis- 
 couragement were not unmingled : at Alicante 
 twenty-five were baptized. 
 
 The year 1875 was marked by the adoption 
 of a new station, and the appointment of Rev. 
 Ricardo P. Cifre, a native Spaniard who had 
 been a student at the Newton Theological In- 
 stitution, to be missionary there. Mr. Benoliel 
 had also returned from Portugal, and again 
 taken up the work at Alicante. Two very 
 interesting cases of conversion and baptism 
 occurred. 
 
 In November, 1876, Mr. Knapp resigned his 
 connection with the Union, and returned to this 
 country. He had labored to plant missions at 
 important centres, whence the light might radi- 
 ate in all directions ; and he believed he might 
 now safely leave the work with native evangel- 
 ists. The church in Alicante passed through 
 heavy trials : the pastor left it in charge of an 
 evangelist, and in 1877 formed a new station in 
 Alcoy, a town of twenty thousand inhabitants. 
 The chapel was formally opened on Lord's-day 
 evening, June 10, and twelve were baptized. But 
 persecution was aroused, and the pastor was 
 arrested and put under bonds to the amount of 
 five hundred dollars. Mr. Cifre with much diffi- 
 
358 MISSION TO SPAIN. 
 
 culty procured a place of worship at Barcelona, 
 not in the city, but three miles out from the 
 centre. The United States consul was at the 
 opening service. At the latest accounts it was 
 reported that the congregation had gradually 
 increased, and a little company were ready to 
 confess Christ before men. 
 
 So dense is the night of ignorance and super- 
 stition that prevails in Spain, that only a Divine 
 Power can disperse it. But in the progress of 
 events, in due time, doubtless, the morning will 
 dawn, and the darkness flee away. It is some- 
 thing to have won, through grace, two hundred 
 and fifty converts from the dominion of the Man 
 of Sin. The beginning may be small and dis- 
 couraging. But, when God arises in his strength, 
 the little one will become a thousand, and the 
 small one a strong nation. For ** the mouth of 
 the Lord hath spoken it." 
 
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