FAMOUS MISSIONARIES 
 °Xjhe REFORMED CHURCH 
 
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 Good, James I. 1850-1924. 
 Famous missionaries of the 
 Reformed Church 
 

 V 
 
 Famous Missionaries of The 
 Reformed Church 
 
 REV. JAMES I. GOOD, D.D. 
 
 Professor of Dogmatics and Reformed Church History in the Ursinus 
 School of Theology 
 
 Author of "Women of the Reformed Church," "HistoriccLl Manua.1 
 
 of the Reformed Church/' "History of the Reformed 
 
 Church in the United Sta.tes," '^History of the 
 
 Reformed Church of Germany," Etc. 
 
 FIRST EDITION 
 
 Published by 
 
 THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL BOARD OF THE REFORMED CHURCH 
 
 IN THE UNITED STATES 
 
 1903 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 F. Coillard Opposite page no 
 
 D. Abeel Opposite page 222 
 
 Dr. Theodosius Vanderkemp Opposite page 51 
 
 Grave of Madame Coillard Opposite page 128 
 
 Rev. Dr. Verbeck in 1897 Opposite page 269 
 
 Rev. Benjamin Escande Opposite page 150 
 
 Rev. Dr. Benjamin Schneider Opposite page 275 
 
 Rev, Robert Junius Opposite page 37 
 
 Madame C. Coillard Opposite page 119 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 ^"I^IHE gulf stream of modern Christianity is 
 ^ I Christian missions. On and on, while the 
 
 ^'^^^J chilling winds from the desolate shores of 
 doubt vex and rock the whole sea of Christian truth, 
 this influence keeps steadily flowing towards the 
 frozen zones of heathenism. Already these Arctic 
 shores of desolation and chill begin to shoot forth 
 such verdure as grows upon the banks of the River 
 of Life. 
 
 Because of the recent revival of missionary activ- 
 ity in the Reformed Church we are in danger of for- 
 getting that this candle never went out. There were 
 times when it was burning low, but it was burning. 
 Though its shining was in one of the lower windows 
 of the temple, yet its light was none the less steady ; 
 and the highway along which it shone was so bright 
 that no man needed to stumble therein if he were 
 searching for the Light of Life. 
 
 We rejoice then that such a successful effort has 
 
vi Introduction. 
 
 been made to gather together in compact form the 
 lives and doings of the missionaries, who in those 
 days of difficult beginnings delighted to wage the 
 warfare for the conquest of the world, under the 
 Reformed banner. The reading of this volume will 
 doubtless be a surprise to many. There are, we ven- 
 ture to assert, but very few who knew that we had 
 such a respectable number of men and women who 
 will be numbered among the heroic missionaries of 
 the Church. It will be a revelation to very many 
 who should have known better. We shall wonder 
 that some former historian did not glean in such a 
 rich field. But it may possibly have been reserved 
 for such a time as this, when the missionary tide is 
 swelling with such confidence, and which will need 
 just such facts to steady it from feeling an ebb that 
 might prove disastrous and disheartening. Guided 
 by the experience and success of these consecrated 
 missionaries, we will feel ourselves safer in casting 
 into the treasury of the Lord the greater gifts that 
 will be needed; and in consecrating our sons and 
 daughters to this particular form of Christian work. 
 Though there are other branches of the Church of 
 Christ that have had a larger army in the field, yet 
 taking all the circumstances we need not be ashamed 
 
Introduction. vii 
 
 of what we have done, and at what we are doing 
 now. The experiences of the past will guide us in 
 the future. Our sails are being set with a purpose 
 of doing our share in the work of giving the Gospel 
 to those who have long stretched out their hands in 
 vain. We are catching the influence of that morn- 
 ing light which is breaking, and we are going up be- 
 cause we feel that the Lord is with us. 
 
 We rejoice that this book adds another to the 
 growing literature of the Reformed Church. It is 
 the very highest type of literature for an age that is 
 being twisted and is not always sure of its bearings. 
 From the consecration and devotion of the mission- 
 aries come the assurance that the Word and Spirit 
 have not lost their power. These missionaries have 
 gone forth in the power of the Spirit, and they have 
 not preached and labored in vain. They have not 
 been ashamed of the Gospel, and it has proved to 
 be the power and wisdom of God unto the salvation 
 of men. Some one asked a little while ago in a 
 company of ministers what kind of literature should 
 be placed into the hands of a young man who was 
 disposed to be doubting. A hymn book, said one; 
 a service book, said another ; a life of Christ, said a 
 third, like the Christ of History by John Young. We 
 
viii Introduction. 
 
 believe that nothing can be provided that will bring 
 the doubter out of the unfortunate condition into 
 which he has fallen than a faithful presentation of 
 the triumphs and sacrifices of missionaries. Here 
 is the apology that can not be answered. It presents 
 facts that throb with flesh and blood. It is a heart 
 to heart talk with one who can not help but realize 
 that there is still power with God to raise up men 
 and women who can give the Gospel to those who 
 have not heard it, and move them to renounce the 
 world and the flesh and the devil. A careful reading 
 of this book will confirm the faith of those who are 
 not aflfected by doubts and fears, and will lead the 
 wandering spirit of the doubter to the fountain of 
 everlasting life and healing. 
 
 Conrad Clever. 
 Baltimore, Md. 
 
BOOK I. 
 
Great Missionaries of the Reformed 
 Church 
 
 EARLY REFORMED MISSIONS 
 
 I 
 
 N the great work of saving the world, the 
 Reformed Church has had an honorable 
 part and it ought to be inspiration to our 
 German Reformed to learn what has already been 
 done. The name Reformed is larger than any one 
 nation or denomination. By famous missionaries 
 of the Reformed Church we mean missionaries who 
 under the Reformed name have gone forth and 
 preached the gospel to the heathen. For the Re- 
 formed, whether Dutch, German, French, Swiss or 
 American, are after all the same. The glory of one 
 is the glory of all. Accordingly this subject is one 
 of great interest to all our people. The Reformed 
 missionaries have made the Reformed name known 
 all over the world.* 
 
 *We have included in the list of missionaries some who were not 
 particularly Reformed in their confessional learnings, but who were 
 Reformed by birth or by association with some Reformed missionary 
 society. The Reformed Church should have credit for these latter, 
 in some way, as well as for the former. 
 
 5 
 
Chapter I. 
 
 THE FIRST REFORMED MISSIONARIES 
 TO BRAZIL. 
 
 The first Protestant missionaries were mission- 
 aries of the Reformed Church. Protestantism was 
 hardly born before it began to exert itself to save 
 the heathen. These missionaries were sent out one 
 year before the Lutherans sent their first foreign 
 missionaries to Lapland. 
 
 The first missionary field was this new world of 
 America. To this continent came two ministers of 
 the Reformed Church of Geneva whose names de- 
 serve to be embalmed in fame. They were Peter 
 Richer and William Chartier. Admiral Coligny, the 
 great statesman of the French Reformed, fearing 
 •tihe persecutions which afterward overtook the 
 Huguenots, with far-seeing eye looked westward 
 for an asylum across the Atlantic. Brazil was at 
 that time attracting notice and through his influ- 
 ence a colony was gathered. But though this ex- 
 pedition was announced with a flourish of trum- 
 pets, it was found that too few were ready to go; 
 so the jails of Paris were called upon to complete 
 
 7 
 
8 Great Missionaries of 
 
 the company. This motley company, some of them 
 Kuguenots, sailed from Havre in the summer of 
 1555. After a long voyage they entered the bay of 
 Rio Janeiro on the tenth of November. The leader 
 of this expedition was Villegagnon. He had been 
 Vice-Admiral of Brittany and the one who in 1548 
 had brought Mary, Queen of Scots, safely to France 
 in spite of the watchfulness of the English. He had 
 become a Protestant and now dreamt of founding 
 a great French colony in the new world. Villegag- 
 non selected an island in the bay of Rio Janeiro as 
 his headquarters. On a rock near the centre of the 
 island he built a rude home with a rough church on 
 the one side of it, and a rude building for his fol- 
 lowers on the other. He fortified the island with 
 earthworks as he feared the Portuguese who already 
 had planted colonies in Brazil. He named the is- 
 land Coligny, and the whole region Antarctic 
 France. 
 
 On the fourth of February one of his ships sailed 
 for France. With it he sent a messenger to Coligny 
 asking for more colonists and especially for Re- 
 formed ministers who should not only minister to 
 the colonists but also plant this new faith among 
 the Indians of the new world. Two ministers, Peter 
 
The Reformed Church. 9 
 
 Richer and William Chartier, were appointed by the 
 city of Geneva to go to Brazil. They were accom- 
 panied by eleven artisans from Geneva who were led 
 by DuPont. They visited Coligny on their way 
 through France where they were joined by a num- 
 ber of Huguenots, This new expedition, number- 
 ing 300, embarked November 17, 1556, in three 
 ships from Honfleur. After being almost ship- 
 wrecked off the coast of Brazil they finally arrived 
 at Rio Janeiro March 7, 1557. As they entered the 
 harbor they were full of joy at the thought of plant- 
 ing the Reformed faith on so distant a coast. First 
 of all Protestants they were to feel the peculiar joy 
 that comes when telling the story of Christ for the 
 first time to the heathen. 
 
 Villegagnon welcomed them with a salute from 
 the fort and with every demonstration of friendship. 
 They went at once to the church where they held a 
 thanksgiving service. They sang the fifth Psalm, 
 after which Richer preached on the 26th Psalm. 
 Villegagnon ordered that there should be a daily 
 service with a sermon of not over an hour and also 
 two sermons on Sunday. On the 21st of March the 
 two ministers administered the communion after the 
 Reformed mode. This was the first Protestant com- 
 
lo Great Missionaries of 
 
 munion in America, a forerunner of many rich spirit- 
 ual feasts of the thousands of Reformed in this 
 western world in later centuries. These ministers 
 soon tried to come into contact with the natives of 
 Brazil so as to bring them to Christ. Richer wrote, 
 a few weeks after his arrival in Brazil, that "they 
 proposed winning the native heathen to Christ, but 
 their barbarism, their cannibalism, their spiritual 
 dullness extinguished all these hopes." Their ignor- 
 ance of the native language also hindered their 
 work, but the natives understood enough from their 
 teachings to become greatly astonished at what they 
 heard. Some of them promised to become worship- 
 ers of the true God, but the stay of these mission- 
 aries at Rio Janeiro was too short to produce per- 
 manent results. 
 
 For soon troubles began to arise in the colony 
 which prepared for its ultimate destruction. Among 
 the first colonists who came with Villegagnon was 
 John Cointat, or Hector, a former student of the 
 Catholic Sorbonne at Paris. He claimed that he had 
 been promised episcopal jurisdiction over the colony. 
 He, however, at the first communion answered the 
 questions of the ministers ; but he resented this ex- 
 amination and soon called Villegagnon's attention 
 
The Reformed Church. ii 
 
 to certain rites in which he differed from these min- 
 isters. He also came into controversy with them on 
 such doctrinal points as, "Is it lawful to mix water 
 with wine at the Lord's Supper?" "May the sacra- 
 mental bread be made of Indian corn?" etc. He re- 
 quested that unleavened bread should be used at the 
 communion, that baptism should be administered 
 with salt and oil as well as with water, and that the 
 officiating minister should wear vestments. The min- 
 isters stoutly withstood him. As Cointat had some 
 learning and was of ready speech he soon interested 
 Villegagnon so that when Richer preached against 
 these customs Villegagnon became angry. At first 
 he forbade Richer to preach, but afterwards permit- 
 ted him, provided he would not speak on these sub- 
 jects in dispute. However, he did not allow him to 
 administer the sacraments. To heal the controversy 
 it was proposed that these questions should be sub- 
 mitted to the Reformed Church of France for a de- 
 cision and for that purpose Chartier sailed for 
 France. 
 
 Meanwhile Villegagnon from being a protector of 
 the Reformed was changing into their persecutor. 
 No sooner had the vessel sailed than he declared he 
 would submit the disputed points to no one but the 
 
12 Great Missionaries of 
 
 Catholic Sorbonne for a decision. The truth is that 
 through the influence of the Cardinal of Lorraine, 
 Villegagnon was being secretly won back to the 
 Catholic Church. The Cardinal had written him a 
 letter upbraiding him for leaving the Catholic faith. 
 He became bolder and finally openly called Calvin 
 the heretic. At last he demanded that Richer sub- 
 scribe to the mass, the purgatory and other Romish 
 doctrines. Richer refused. Villegagnon fearing 
 an insurrection ordered DuPont and the Genevan 
 party to leave the island in October 1557. He de- 
 clared he would not have the Protestants on the is- 
 land. But whither should they go? In all the new 
 world there was not a Protestant colony save their 
 own. They went across the bay to the mainland 
 where they settled. Here the inhabitants kindly 
 brought food to them and they returned the kind- 
 ness by trying to teach them the Gospel. 
 
 It, however, soon became evident that they could 
 not live there very long ; yet Villegagnon refused to 
 permit them to return to the fort. A French vessel 
 happened to come into the harbor and DuPont tried 
 to arrange that they should be taken back to France. 
 The captain, however, refused to take them on board 
 without Villegagnon's permission. This Villegag- 
 
The Reformed Church. 13 
 
 non at first refused. But when DePont declared 
 that they would go without it he reluctantly granted 
 permission on one condition, namely, that they would 
 take on board a closed chest. With a baseness sel- 
 dom paralleled he placed in this chest a paper which 
 contained certain charges against them. The chest 
 was to be presented to the first judge in France, 
 with whom they would come in contact ; and this 
 paper asked him to seize them as heretics and pun- 
 ish them with flames. Ignorant of this perfidy, 
 they sailed on January 4, 1558, after a stay in Brazil 
 of about ten months. They soon discovered that 
 they had exchanged a wretched existence on land 
 for a more wretched one on the sea. The vessel was 
 slow and old. When she was out about seven days 
 she sprang a leak. She seemed to be sinking so rap- 
 idly that it appeared as though nothing was before 
 them but a grave in the ocean. Fortunately the 
 sailors succeeded in stopping the principal leak, but 
 the carpenter stated that the vessel was so old and 
 worm-eaten as not to be fit for so long a voyage with 
 so large a cargo. The captain being afraid that 
 the crew wovild all leave him if he landed refused 
 to turn back. He, however, offered a boat to any 
 who wished to return to America then from ten to 
 
14 Great Missionaries of 
 
 twenty leagues distant. He was more willing to do 
 this as they were short of provisions. 
 
 Five of their number accepted this offer and went 
 back to Brazil to be the first Protestants to suffer 
 for their faith in foreign lands. They floated for 
 four days using their clothes for sails. A severe 
 storm threw them on the sixth day on the shore at 
 the foot of a great mountain. They then proceeded 
 to Riviere des Vases where the natives kindly cared 
 for them. After a four days' rest they travelled four 
 days and arrived at Villegagnon's settlement. They 
 begged him to receive them, notwithstanding their 
 differences of faith. At first he received them kindly, 
 but he soon became suspicious that they were spies 
 sent by DuPont, who would later return and attack 
 the settlement. He then ordered them to sign a 
 Romish confession of faith within 12 hours. This 
 they refused to do. They ordered Bortel, the older 
 and best educated among them, to draw up a confes- 
 sion of faith in reply to it, which they signed. From 
 this Villegagnon decided that they were heretics and 
 then arrested Bortel, and when he refused to recant, 
 he brutally struck him with his fist and ordered him 
 to be hurled from a high rock on the island into the 
 sea. Another, Vermiel, was led to the same rock, 
 
The Reformed Church. 15 
 
 and when he refused to recant, he, too, was thrown 
 over into the sea. Bourdon, the third, was sick in 
 bed, but Villegagnon had him bound and carried in 
 a boat to this rock of execution and from it cast into 
 the sea. "Thus," says Kalkar, the Danish Lutheran 
 historian of missions, "was the first blood shed as a 
 witness for EvangeHcal missions." The Reformed 
 Church as it had the honor of sending the first mis- 
 sionaries to the heathen, had also the honor of hav- 
 ing the first martyrs for missions. 
 
 One of the five who returned from the ship was 
 John Boles, a man of education and ability, about 
 whom the Jesuit annals themselves revealed a 
 strange tale. He was learned in both Hebrew and 
 Greek. Having escaped from Villegagnon he went 
 to St. Vincente, 300 miles southward (near the pres- 
 ent Santos), where the Jesuits were laboring 
 among the Indians. He preached to the Indians 
 with such eloquence that there was danger of their 
 becoming Protestants. The Jesuits became alarm- 
 ed and being unable to answer his arguments, had 
 him arrested together with several of his converts. 
 He was taken to Bahia where he was imprisoned for 
 eight years. When the Portuguese expelled the 
 French from Bahia in 1567, the government had 
 
i6 Great Missionaries of 
 
 Boles put to death on the site of the present Rio 
 Janeiro. The Jesuits boasted that Anchieta, their 
 great apostle in Brazil, won him back to Catholicism 
 on the eve of his execution, and then showed them 
 how to dispatch a heretic as quickly as possible by 
 having him put to death. The story of his recanta- 
 tion is very doubtful, but evidently this colony of 
 Villegagnon's left some such Protestant influence 
 behind it in South America or the Jesuit records 
 would not so strangely confess it. 
 
 In the meantime those who remained on the ves- 
 sel, which these five had left, seemed doomed to a 
 living death. A hundred times a day it seemed as 
 if the ship would be swallowed up by the waves. 
 The crew were kept at the pumps night and day 
 and still were hardly able to keep the water down. 
 One day as the carpenter was mending the ship a 
 plank gave way. In a moment the sea came rush- 
 ing in with the force of a torrent. The sailors 
 rushed to the deck crying "We are lost." The car- 
 penter, however, retained presence of mind enough 
 to thrust his coat into the hole and by treading on it 
 with all his might he resisted the force of the water. 
 He soon received help which enabled him to keep 
 the hole shut till he had prepared a board to close 
 
The Reformed Church, 17 
 
 it. At another time when the powder was drying 
 some of it caught fire. The flames quickly ran from 
 one end of the ship to the other and set the sails and 
 cordage on fire. Four men were burned before it 
 was put out, one of them dying. Then to their hor- 
 rors was added starvation. They had with them a 
 number of parrots and monkeys which they were 
 taking home as curiosities. These were soon eaten. 
 Rats and mice were hunted for and eaten. Even the 
 sweepings of the store-room, were gathered and 
 cooked into a sort of pottage and though it was 
 black and bitter they were glad to eat it. Those who 
 had bucklers made of the skin of the tapiroussa, an 
 animal of Brazil, cut the skin into pieces and de- 
 voured it. Others would chew the covers of their 
 trunks and the leather of their shoes — yes, even the 
 horns of the ship lanterns. They became so starved 
 that they would have been glad to have lived on 
 grass, like Nebuchadnezzar, had they been able to get 
 it. Finally nothing was left them but Brazil-wood, 
 said to be the dryest of all woods. One day Peter 
 Corquilleray when putting a piece of Brazil-wood 
 into his mouth said to Lery (who wrote the chron- 
 icle of this journey) "Gladly would I give the four 
 thousand louvres due me in France for a glass of 
 
1 8 Great Missionaries of 
 
 wine and a pennyworth of bread." Peter Richer 
 the Reformed minister was so prostrated by 
 hunger that he could not Hft up his head even in 
 prayer, although he was almost constantly in prayer. 
 Indeed, owing to the intensity of the sufferings it is 
 wonderful that they did not select some one to be 
 killed in order to satisfy the hunger of all. 
 
 Finally after a voyage of five months the pilot 
 declared he saw land. This was very fortunate for 
 the captain said that he had determined on the next 
 day to draw lots that one might be killed for food. 
 They finally landed on the coast of Brittany in 
 France, near L'Orient, at the mouth of the Blavet 
 river, on May 26, 1558. The inhabitants, touched 
 with the story of their sufferings, kindly gave them 
 the food and sustenance they needed. Many of the 
 sailors, however, neglected the precautions neces- 
 sary for starved men, and ate so heartily that they 
 died. Others recovered but were afflicted for a long 
 time with various diseases — blindness, swellings of 
 the body, etc. 
 
 And now appeared the providence of God. In 
 the sealed box was the order of Villegagnon to the 
 governor of the province in which they landed to 
 put them to death as heretics. The box was given 
 
The Reformed Church. 19 
 
 by them, all ignorant of its contents, to the judge of 
 that district ; but by a favoring providence they were 
 cast ashore in a part of France where the judge hap- 
 pened to be favorable to the Protestants. Instead 
 of executing the treacherous orders of Villegagnon 
 he ignored them and treated the returning colonists 
 with great kindness. Soon after, in 1560, Villegag- 
 non's colony in Brazil was captured by the Portu- 
 guese, when he returned to France where he tried 
 to clear himself of his cruelty and perfidy which 
 had now become known to all the world. A witness 
 to the existence of the colony is still found in the 
 harbor of Rio Janeiro in one of its islands which is 
 named Villegagnon after him.* 
 
 Such were the first efforts to send missionaries to 
 the heathen, but this early though ill-fated eflfort 
 proved that the Reformed were the first who had 
 the desire to send foreign missionaries and also the 
 first to have been martyrs for their faith in foreign 
 lands. They thus attempted to lay the basis of what 
 
 *Six years later Coligny tried a second colony under Ribaut who 
 aimed to found a western asylum at Charles-fort, and Carolina in 
 Florida, but this was soon destroyed by the Spaniards who then 
 founded St. Augustine. No direct missionary work, however, was 
 done among the natives. Still it is a very interesting bit of Re- 
 formed history in the new world. An interesting novel (based on 
 Parkham's histories) entitled "St. Augustine," by Musick, describes 
 this colony. 
 
 3 
 
20 Great Missionaries of 
 
 has become the greatest movement of the Protestant 
 Church — foreign missions. The bay of Rio Janeiro 
 is said to be the most beautiful in the world, 
 but is not so beautiful as the crown of immortal 
 glory that should belong to Richer and his co- 
 laborers for starting a movement which has culmi- 
 nated in the splendid foreign missionary work of the 
 Church at the present time. 
 
Chapter II. 
 
 THE DUTCH REFORMED SEMINARY UN- 
 DER WALAEUS AT LEYDEN. 
 
 The Reformed, as they were the first to attempt 
 the evangeHzation of the heathen, were also the 
 first to found a Seminary for the training of mis- 
 sionaries to the heathen. In the seventeenth century 
 the Reformed Church of the Netherlands was fore- 
 most in missions. In its day it equalled the British 
 and American Missionary Societies together as they 
 existed early in the nineteenth century, its aim being 
 to open up missionary work both in the Eastern and 
 Western hemispheres. 
 
 In 1596 the Dutch East India Company was or- 
 ganized for the purpose of carrying Dutch com- 
 merce to the East Indies. But they did not forget 
 religion. Very early in its history chaplains to the 
 Europeans were appointed, many of whom became 
 missionaries among the heathen as well as chap- 
 lains.* 
 
 •The first minister ever ordained by the Protestants especially for 
 its foreign missions was Casper Wiltens who went to Amboyna in 
 1615 laboring there till 1623. Even before him Philip Peterson had 
 gone as the first chaplain to the East Indies in 1598 with the Dutch 
 fleet. He went to Mauritius, preached Christ there, and baptized a 
 slave of Madagascar. The first minister who was pastor of a con- 
 gregation of converted Malays was Dubbeldryk, whose services in 
 Malay were begun August 3, 1620. 
 
 31 
 
22 Great Missionaries of 
 
 But where were they to get ministers who would 
 go into their far-away possessions? Who would 
 brave the awful dangers of the seas from ship- 
 wreck and pirates and the equal dangers of the land 
 from fever and savages? Feeling this want they 
 asked the classes of Holland for advice. At first 
 it seemed to them it would be sufficient were they to 
 aid some young men to enter the ministry. /In 1603 
 they determined to seek for two ministers to preach 
 in India. In 1605 they determined to pay the ex- 
 penses of four students, if they could be found, but 
 no one applied until the next year. It was very 
 evident that matters could not continue in that way 
 or they would get no ministers for their colonies. 
 Different plans were suggested to supply the need. 
 In 1610 a few capable men, pupils of Prof. Walaeus, 
 the professor of theology at Leyden, were approach- 
 ed but they were too few. Finally the classis of 
 Delft gave it as its opinion (1614) that the only way 
 to supply the need would be by founding a Mission- 
 ary Seminary for the express training of mission- 
 aries. It suggested that it be founded at Lej^den 
 at first and then transferred to the Indies — a very 
 far-sighted opinion. The first part of it was soon 
 carried out, the last part not till over three centuries 
 
The Reformed Church. 23 
 
 had elapsed when Kam founded a Seminary in Am- 
 boyna and later a seminary was founded at Depok, 
 Java, by the Rhenish Society. 
 
 But still the Dutch moved forward with their 
 proverbial slowness before doing anything. It re- 
 quired certain events to bring matters to a crisis. 
 One was that the Governor of the East Indies sent 
 home complaints of the fewness of ministers. Then 
 finally the East India Company concluded to found 
 a Missionary Seminary at Leyden and the Theolog- 
 ical Faculty at Leyden was asked to arrange for its 
 establishment. The University proposed a plan 
 drawn up by Walaeus, who all along had been the 
 moving spirit in missions. This plan gave, first, 
 the reasons for the founding of such a seminary, 
 and, second, a description of it. In the first, emphasis 
 was laid on the choice of candidates, in the second, 
 on their training. As to the first the candidate must 
 be of age, have a certificate from his classis or con- 
 sistory or from several reliable persons, and must 
 undergo a year of probation before being fully re- 
 ceived. For training he was to be placed in the 
 house of the Regent, he was to practice self-control, 
 fasting, prayer, visitation of the sick and do the 
 work of a sick-comforter, an office common in the 
 
24 Great Missionaries of 
 
 Dutch Church. All these would prepare him for 
 work among the heathen. Besides their ordinary 
 studies the students were to be careful to gain a 
 knowledge of the Jewish, Mohammedan and 
 heathen religions so as to be able to meet these 
 enemies in the colonies. They were also to study 
 the Malay language so as to be able to speak to the 
 natives. This broad, full plan satisfied the Directors 
 of the East India Company and on April i, 1622, it 
 was decided to found such a Missionary Seminary. 
 They approached Prof. Walaeus to act as Regent. 
 At the urgent request of the two curators and of 
 the theological faculty he accepted. He had hesi- 
 tated at first, because of the additional care and 
 responsibility it would place on his household to re- 
 ceive and care for so many young men. But the 
 Directors met this point by requiring the students, 
 together with an elderly woman, to take care of 
 their own rooms and laundry, thus relieving Mrs. 
 Walaeus. They were also to be supplied with a 
 nurse in case of sickness so that she would have no 
 care. To relieve Walaeus of discipline as much as 
 possible the students were admonished not to feast, 
 swear, quarrel, visit tennis courts, or hotels, etc. 
 They were also to put out the lights at 10 p. m., and 
 
The Reformed Church. 25 
 
 go to bed. If visiting friends they were to return 
 before 9 p. m. 
 
 All smoking was forbidden. This last may seem to 
 us a strange rule for a nation so given to smoking 
 as the Dutch. But it is to be remembered that to- 
 bacco smoking was brought into Europe in the 17th 
 century and had not yet become common ; indeed 
 was outlawed as yet by good Christian society which 
 then placed the debauchee, drunkard and smoker on 
 the same level, and it was tabooed by the careful 
 Dutch housewife who would not allow the "villain- 
 ous stink and brimstone" in her clean ornamental 
 dwelling. The student was also forbidden to engage 
 himself in marriage. All these things the student had 
 to bind himself to on entering the seminary. If he 
 continued in any breaches of these rules he was ex- 
 pelled. 
 
 But Walaeus was as anxious for the spiritual de- 
 velopment of the students as of the moral. They 
 were to regularly attend the church services on Sun- 
 day and on weekdays when possible. Besides pri- 
 vate devotion, they were to have a prayermeeting 
 together every morning and evening. We thus see 
 how carefully the plan of this seminary was arrang- 
 ed for the proper preparation of the students for 
 their work. 
 
26 Great Missionaries of 
 
 The Seminary was founded in 1622, the very 
 same year the Roman Catholic Church opened the 
 great missionary institution of Rome, "The Society 
 for the Propagation of Faith." How magnificent 
 and splendid that, how weak and insignificant this, 
 and yet by the twentieth century the movement set 
 on foot by the latter had outstripped the Romish 
 Propaganda, as Protestant Missions outstripped the 
 Catholic in the nineteenth century. It is true that 
 the missionary seminary at Leyden continued in ex- 
 istence but ten years, but it gave a beginning to 
 Protestant Missions and an impulse that it never 
 lost. It laid the foundation. From that time to this, 
 the Protestant Church, even in the days of the 
 greatest rationalism or deadest orthodoxy, has not 
 been without its missionary among the heathen, a 
 fact not true of Protestantism before ; for nearly 
 three quarters of a century had elapsed since the 
 first Protestant Missionaries had gone to Brazil. 
 There is an apostolic succession in foreign missions 
 more real than that which comes from the Bishop's 
 touch. From this school there came the Dutch 
 Missions of the seventeenth century, followed in the 
 eighteenth century by the Lutheran and Moravian 
 Missions, and in Britain by Angelican and Dissenter, 
 
The Reformed Church. 27 
 
 to be followed in the nineteenth century by a mag- 
 nificent advance all along the line of denominations 
 until they present a solid front of missionary ad- 
 vance in the twentieth century. Before this seminary 
 was founded there had been a breach in Protestant 
 missions among the heathen of over a half century, 
 but since its founding there has been no break. The 
 seminary lapsed but the holy fire it started is still 
 burning brighter to-day than ever and shining 
 brighter and brighter like the ascending sun, while 
 Romish Propaganda is declining like the waning 
 moon. 
 
 In ten years of its existence, this seminary sent 
 forth (as far as it is possible to gain information 
 from the meagre sources) about a dozen pupils, al- 
 though the list is not complete. Jacob Vertrecht of 
 Leyden matriculated September 22, 1625, and later 
 went to Amboyna. Nicholas Molinaeus of Leyden 
 was stationed in the Coromandel coast, India, in 
 1628. John Cavallarius, from Zeeland, one of the 
 first pupils, like Molinaeus, died soon after entering 
 upon his work in the East Indies. Michael Clarenbeek 
 and William Holtenus labored in the Banda Islands. 
 Abraham De Roy, or Roger, of Leyden, labored in 
 Paliacate, and Robert Junius at Formosa. A list 
 
28 Great Missionaries of 
 
 of other students as living in Walaeus's family is 
 given as Jacob Tollens, of Bremen, John Cauelier, 
 of Middlebush. George Candidius is also spoken of 
 by De Roy, as also one Samuel Carlier (1629) of 
 Middleburg, Anthony Van der Hagen, of Utrecht, 
 (1629), the latter laboring in the East Indies. Some 
 of these were found on the register of the Leyden 
 University, but some evidently were special stu- 
 dents under Walaeus' supervision. It is difficult to 
 get at them exactly. Of those mentioned Robert 
 Junius, the missionary to Formosa, was the most 
 prominent and also George Candidius. Of the rest 
 Molinaeus, one of the early pupils, did good work 
 on the Cormandel coast where he preached in Por- 
 tuguese and taught the Malays the fundamental 
 truths of Christianity. Jacob Vertrecht's life is per- 
 haps the fullest given. He left Holland in 1632 for 
 Amboyna. He preached to the heathen in the Malay 
 as easier for himself to speak and the natives to un- 
 derstand than the Amboyna language. In 1635 he 
 had sixty-five converts of whom two were elders 
 and two deacons. In the villages he had schools 
 with more than sixty children whom he taught the 
 Lord's Prayer, the Ten Commandments, and the 
 twelve articles of faith. Every evening in each vil- 
 
The Reformed Church. 29 
 
 lage evening-prayer was held, led by the teacher. 
 He drew up a small catechism for them. He founded 
 a school of ten boys for instruction in theology so 
 that they might be able to teach others. He preached 
 in Amboyna, Banda and Formosa. 
 
 But after being in existence for ten years this 
 Missionary School at Leyden was given up. Why? 
 The reason given by the East India Company was 
 that by that time sufficient ministers could be found 
 in Holland for their possessions and therefore such 
 a school was unnecessary. But reading between 
 the lines, there were doubtless other reasons which 
 affected the Company. Some friction developed be- 
 tween the missionaries and the Company. The mis- 
 sionaries were earnest men. Walaeus had filled them 
 with his own heart-earnestness for the salvation of 
 the heathen. When the missionaries arrived in the 
 colonies they were first of all disgusted by the im- 
 moralities of the Europeans there. When they were 
 bold in preaching against gross sins, the govern- 
 ment officials (some of them guilty) opposed them. 
 H they urged any reforms the government stood in 
 the way. As a result some of the missionaries be- 
 came angry at the opposition they experienced and 
 wanted to return home. 
 
30 Great Missionaries of 
 
 The government would also sometimes interfere 
 I with the rights of the ministers. Thus in 1632 Clar- 
 enbeek and Holtenus were laboring with much 
 success in the Banda Islands when the governor re- 
 ceived orders from his superiors always to send 
 two representatives to the church gatherings and to 
 demand that they should place in his hands all letters 
 addressed to Batavia. When the consistories ob- 
 jected to this, they were forbidden to meet. This 
 I act undermined the influence of the missionaries 
 and caused such a disturbance that they wanted to 
 return. Vertrecht also came into collision with the 
 governor who suspended him illegally (1636) but 
 the consistory of Batavia restored him. The greatest 
 ] controversy was about the independence of the con- 
 gregations, the Company assuming unwarranted au- 
 thority over them contrary to the customs of the 
 Dutch Church at home. Another difficulty was 
 caused by the Company urging laxity of discipline 
 and thus discouraging the ministers. 
 
 The truth was that this seminary of Walaeus 
 developed its pupils into a high spiritual state, far 
 above the wishes of the Company; their earnest 
 piety was too great for the worldly money-loving 
 officials of the Company. Their zeal, too, for the 
 
The Reformed Church. 31 
 
 salvation of the heathen resulted in successes more 
 than the Company had expected or desired. But 
 all this is only the greater tribute to Walaeus' piety 
 and zeal (the influence of his personal piety must 
 have been very great) and to the spiritual tone and 
 education of this seminary. When the seminary was 
 discontinued the Company gave Walaeus a gilded 
 cup as a token of their appreciation of his work, 
 but he has richer mead in the stars of his crown in 
 heaven and in the lasting impulse given to missions 
 by his seminary here. 
 
Chapter III. 
 
 THE DUTCH REFORMED MISSIONARIES 
 IN BRAZIL. 
 
 Nearly a century passed away after the French 
 Reformed mission in Brazil had been broken up by 
 the Jesuits who aimed to make America only a 
 Catholic land. In 1621 the Dutch West India Com- 
 pany was incorporated and planted a colony at Per- 
 nambuco, the most eastern point of Brazil, twelve 
 hundred miles north of Rio Janeiro. Its governor 
 was one of the greatest generals in Holland, Count 
 John Maurice, of Nassau-Siegen, "the honor of his 
 age, the ornament of his house." 
 
 He was a German by birth, but like the princes 
 of the family of Nassau, he had entered the Dutch 
 service. He was an ardent member of the Reformed 
 Church. He sailed from Holland October 25, 1636, 
 accompanied by the prayers of the Dutch Christians 
 that his company might save many from Romanism 
 and from heathenism. He landed at Pernambuco 
 January 23, 1637. As a wise governor he soon felt 
 the need of increasing religious influence. He set 
 a worthy example by regular attendance at church 
 where he enjoyed the preaching of his learned court 
 
 S3 
 
34 Great Missionaries of 
 
 preacher, Francis Plante. Still true to his Dutch 
 principles of religious liberty he did not persecute 
 the Catholics. He soon felt the need of ministers 
 and urgently requested the West India Company 
 to send more ministers from Holland who should 
 also act as missionaries to the natives. In 1637 
 eight ministers were sent. They evangelized in 
 Dutch, French, Portuguese and English. Soller and 
 Polhemius preached at Olinda ; Poelius at Tama- 
 rica ; Rathelarius (an Englishman) at Parahiba; 
 in the province of St. Augustine, Stetinus pro- 
 claimed the gospel, as did Eduardi, at Serihaen. In 
 the province of Maragnana the Gospel was also 
 preached. These missionaries seemed to have had 
 the true missionary spirit. 
 
 It is to be noticed that these men already in the 
 infancy of Protestant missions used one of its first 
 principles, namely, preaching the gospel in the na- 
 tive tongue. In their efforts to evangelize they were 
 ably supported by Count John Maurice and his 
 court preacher. They found that the Jesuits had 
 done very superficial work. The great difference 
 between the Protestants and Catholics is that the 
 Protestants give the natives the Bible while the 
 Catholics do not. All the Jesuits did was to teach 
 
The Reformed Church. 35 
 
 the natives to recite the Creed and the Lord's 
 Prayer, The Dutch ministers aimed at higher re- 
 sults. They learned their language so as to preach 
 to them. Davilus was the first to do this. Dori- 
 flarius was eloquent in both the Portuguese and 
 Brazilian, and translated the Catechism into the 
 Tapuya dialect — the first Protestant catechism in 
 the language of the Indians. 
 
 This colony was also noted for its fair dealings 
 with the Indians. Long before William Penn, 
 Count John Maurice introduced it into Brazil. He 
 placed a Dutchman in each village who protected 
 the natives so that they were not cheated by the 
 whites but were paid for their goods. The natives 
 so highly honored the Count that one of their chiefs 
 presented him with a costly dish which he later pre- 
 sented to the Reformed Church at Siegen, Germany. 
 In 1645 he returned to Holland bringing not less 
 than twenty-five tons of gold with him and was re- 
 ceived with high honors there. The Portuguese soon 
 after destroyed the Dutch colony, but the Dutch, 
 though driven out of Brazil, later acquired Dutch 
 Guiana in South America.* 
 
 Thus, although the Reformed Church was 
 
 *There are now about 7,000 Reformed in Guiana. 
 
 4 
 
36 Great Missionaries of 
 
 crushed out of Brazil, yet in these two colonies, 
 French and Dutch, she could boast the first Protes- 
 tant missionaries; the first missionary martyrs; the 
 first Indian Catechism; the first Protestant Church 
 organization in America in classis and synods and 
 the first attempt at fair dealing with the Indians. 
 
\ 'J Qeiiiiurn jr./tilce C/ormofce I 
 
 
 '"MU 
 
 
 j^*^' ^-^J; 
 
 f!5'," 
 
 REV. ROBERT JUNIUS. 
 
Chapter IV. 
 
 THE DUTCH REFORMED MISSION IN 
 FORMOSA. 
 
 THE CRUCIFIXION OF THE REFORMED. 
 
 The Reformed Church of Holland did a great work 
 for missions in the seventeenth century which is un- 
 known to English readers, yet of great interest to 
 every member of the Reformed Church. One of her 
 most successful missions was on the island of For- 
 mosa, southeast of China.* 
 
 In 1624 the Dutch East India Company began 
 trading with Formosa. The Dutch in their zeal for 
 the spread of Christ's kingdom, sent the missionary 
 along with the merchant. Two Scripture readers 
 (more literally Sick-Comforters) were first sent. 
 One of them soon returned but the other, Dirk 
 Lauwrenzoon, continued the work till May, 1626. 
 The first minister who arrived there was George 
 Candidius who landed May 4, 1627. He at once be- 
 gan very zealously to learn their language so as to 
 preach to them. In his letter written December, 
 
 *An early record of this work has come down to us written by the 
 faithful missionary, Rev. Robert Junius, which was translated into 
 English and printed in London in 1650. It was recently reprinted 
 and it is entitled "Missionary Success in Formosa," by Campbell, 
 published by Trubner, London, two volumes. 
 
 37 
 
38 Great Missionaries of 
 
 1628, he says : "I have used great diligence to learn 
 the language of the people and to instruct them in 
 the Christian faith and have succeeded so far that a 
 fortnight before Christmas of the present year there 
 were 128 persons who knew the Lord's Prayer and 
 were able to explain in the most satisfactory man- 
 ner the principal articles of the Christian faith but 
 who for certain reasons have not yet been baptized. 
 
 After Candidius had been there two years, Rev. 
 Robert Junius arrived. He preached for two years 
 in Dutch, but being moved by a great desire for the 
 conversion of the heathen, he with great difficulty, 
 learned their rude language. His success was as- 
 tonishing. Men of all ranks and conditions were 
 converted. Fifty natives were trained to teach, who 
 had six hundred scholars. Churches were planted in 
 twenty-three towns. The Dutch Missionaries took 
 pains to furnish them with suitable catechisms. 
 Scripture translations, etc. The headquarters of the 
 mission was at Sakan.* 
 
 In 163 1 Mr. Candidius was called away to go to 
 Batavia, in Java. His heart, however, was in the 
 mission work at Formosa and he returned again two 
 
 •Sakan has since developed into the large Chinese city of 
 Taiwanfoo. 
 
The Reformed Church. 39 
 
 years later. The Lord so greatly blessed the mis- 
 sionary labors for two years that by 1635 they had 
 received seven hundred adults into the Church. So 
 hopeful was the outlook that they reported to the 
 Dutch Governor in 1636 that at least fifteen addi- 
 tional ministers would be needed to take possession 
 of the fields that were opening up to them. 
 
 But in 1637 Mr. Junius was left alone as Mr. 
 Candidius returned to Holland, after having labored 
 in Formosa for ten years. Yet he writes encourag- 
 ingly in a letter dated October 23, 1640. He says: 
 "A few days ago we visited five villages, where we 
 preached and baptized many of the inhabitants, who 
 had been under instruction for some time. I found 
 them to be very zealous, coming regularly, morning 
 and evening to the house of the schoolmasters, to 
 be instructed until they were able to repeat fluently 
 the prayers, etc. The largest number of persons who 
 received baptism was at Soulang, one hundred and 
 twenty persons, among them a grown-up person 
 who had never been instructed, but who earnestly 
 begged to be baptized, saying, 'Examine me, for I 
 wish to be baptized.' He answered so well the ques- 
 tions put to him, that it delighted his hearers, and 
 the next day he was baptized. Up to the present 
 
40 Great Missionaries of 
 
 time one thousand and seventy persons have been 
 baptized at Soulang." In twenty-three villages he 
 induced the people to abandon their idols. In six 
 villages he baptized upwards of fifty-four hundred 
 persons. 
 
 In 1640 another missionary, Rev. John Bavius, 
 came, while Mr. Junius was granted a leave of ab- 
 sence after ten years' faithful service. When he 
 arrived at Batavia he was asked whether he would 
 be willing to return to Formosa or go to Holland. 
 He said he would be willing to go back to Formosa 
 provided the Dutch Governor there would be pre- 
 vented from hindering their work. The assurance 
 having been given him, he returned with two other 
 missionaries in 1641. In 1646 Rev. Mr. Bavius still 
 lived at the village of Soulang, having under his 
 direction four other villages. Mr. Van Breen was 
 laboring at Favorlang and the neighboring villages. 
 Mr. Happartius, who went out in 1644, was stationed 
 at the castle Zeelandia, the Dutch fort on the south 
 side of the island, where he conducted Dutch services 
 and also attended to the natives in the neighboring 
 villages. Mr. Olaf, a most acceptable candidate of 
 theology, labored among the southern villages, but 
 as his parish was entirely too long, extending from 
 
The Reformed Church. 41 
 
 Favorlang- to Pangsoia, he earnestly asked for an 
 assistant. In 1647 Mr. Bavius died, and Mr. Van 
 Breen returned to Holland. 
 
 But at that time God raised up another man to 
 go to Formosa in his place. Rev. Daniel Gravius, a 
 prominent minister at Batavia, a man of great talents 
 and influential with the government, felt himself 
 called upon to go. In vain did his congregation and 
 friends try to change his decision, but he would 
 not be dissuaded. He left for Formosa amid 
 the tears of his sorrowing congregation. He re- 
 mained in Formosa four years, and was of great 
 service there, because of his great linguistic abili- 
 ties, in aiding them in the language. He then re- 
 turned to Batavia to his old congregation and finally 
 to Holland. But as late as January 2, 1662, he still 
 showed great interest in the Formosan mission, for 
 he published his "Formulary of Christianity," a 
 carefully and learned work of 300 pages, in which 
 the Dutch and Formosan languages are printed in 
 parallel columns. In 1653 the Church affairs at 
 Formosa were still reported to the Dutch govern- 
 ment as being very prosperous, and a call for new 
 laborers was issued, but it seemed difficult to get 
 many to go to such a distant island. Still, some 
 were sent. 
 
42 Great Missionaries of 
 
 But in 1661 political dangers began to threaten 
 this prosperous mission. The Ming dynasty in China 
 was supplanted by the present Manchu-Tartar dy- 
 nasty in 1644. Koxinga, one of the most daring 
 spirits of that age, refused allegiance to the new dy- 
 nasty. He collected a large fleet, which swept the 
 seas, and had tens of thousands of adherents on the 
 land. But with all his bravery, he was not able to 
 stem the tide of the Tartar leaders. He was driven 
 back in China, until he was compelled to leave 
 China and seek some islands as a refuge for his 
 forces. Unfortunately, he turned his eyes toward 
 the fertile island of Formosa. With his coming the 
 sad persecutions of the Reformed missions began. 
 In 1 66 1 Koxinga landed at Formosa and summoned 
 the Dutch garrison at Zeelandia to surrender im- 
 mediately, or else they would be put to death by 
 fire and the sword. But the Dutchmen are not ac- 
 customed to surrender so quickly and they refused. 
 He then began the siege of Fort Zeelandia. It lasted 
 nine months. During this time the Dutch tried in 
 every way to strengthen their position, but the 
 enemy very vigorously blockaded them, while at 
 the same time they ravaged the country far and 
 near, cruelly inflicting terrible cruelties on the natives 
 
The Reformed Church. 43 
 
 and the Reformed missions. Especially did they 
 single out ministers and school teachers, who were 
 threatened with every sort of indignity, even death 
 itself. 
 
 The journal of John Kruyf, kept during the siege, 
 gives sketches of these sufferings. He says : "Van 
 Druyvendal and a schoolmaster named Franz Van 
 der Voorn, with three other Dutchmen, were 
 brought to Sinkang, The first two were crucified 
 at Sakam. Rev. Mr. Hambroek finally gained Kox- 
 inga's permission to offer up a prayer for them. 
 After they had hung on their crosses for three days, 
 they were carried, still alive, on the crosses to Sink- 
 ang, and here the crosses were again planted in the 
 ground until the sufferers died." The same journal 
 gives a further description of this Reformed school- 
 master. It says : "The interpreter Druyvendal and 
 a young schoolmaster had each been fastened to a 
 cross by having nails driven through their hands 
 and calves of their legs, and another nail driven 
 into their backs. In this sad condition they hung 
 for three or four days, and then died after meat and 
 drink had been withheld from them all that time." 
 These were Reformed crucifixions. These Re- 
 formed were crucified like their Saviour, who was 
 
44 Great Missionaries of 
 
 crucified for them. The Chinese, under Koxinga, 
 forced all the inhabitants who had taken Christian 
 names to take other names again, and threatened 
 severe punishment if this command was not obeyed. 
 A very touching incident is told by Neihoflf, 
 which reveals a hero in a Reformed minister, who 
 is worthy of being placed alongside of Regulus in 
 ancient Roman history. He was Rev. Mr. Ham- 
 broek, who was sent by Koxinga to the Dutch gov- 
 ernor to propose terms for the surrender of the fort, 
 and to tell the governor that in case of refusal, 
 vengeance would be taken on the Dutch captives 
 of Koxinga. Hambroek came into the Dutch 
 fort, being forced to leave his wife and children 
 behind as hostages, which sufficiently proved that if 
 he failed in his errand, he had nothing but death to 
 expect from Koxinga. Yet when he entered the 
 Dutch fort, instead of trying to urge the garrison 
 to surrender, he encouraged them to a brave defense 
 by hopes of relief, assuring them that Koxinga had 
 lost many of his best ships and soldiers, and had 
 begun to be weary of the siege. When he had ended, 
 the council of war refused to surrender, and as to 
 himself, they left it to his choice to stay with them 
 in the fort or return to Koxinga's army, where he 
 
The Reformed Church. 45 
 
 could expect nothing but present death. Every 
 one entreated him to stay. He had two daugh- 
 ters in the fort who hung on his neck, overwhelmed 
 with grief and tears at seeing their father go where 
 he knew he must be sacrificed by the merciless en- 
 emy. But he represented to them that having left his 
 wife and two other children in the camp as hostages, 
 nothing but death could attend them if he did not 
 return. So unlocking himself from his daughters' 
 arms, he returned to Koxinga's camp, telling them at 
 parting that he hoped he might prove serviceable to 
 his poor fellow-prisoners. On his return Koxinga 
 received his answer sternly, and then enraged, he 
 caused it to be rumored that the prisoners were in- 
 citing the people of Formosa to rise against him, 
 and ordered that all the Dutch male prisoners should 
 be put to death. This was done and some were be- 
 headed, others killed in a more barbarous manner. 
 Five hundred were put to death, fifty or sixty of 
 them being stripped quite naked and buried alive to- 
 gether in a hole. The women and children were not 
 spared, m.any of them being slain, though some of 
 the best were preserved as slaves. Among the slain 
 were four Reformed ministers — Hambroek, Mus, 
 Winsem and Ampzingius, and many schoolmasters. 
 
46 Grrat Missionaries of 
 
 who were beheaded, and who thus became martyrs. 
 Meanwhile the garrison in the fort were enduring 
 very great sufferings. Shut in by land and sea they 
 suft'ered great want. And with the famine came sick- 
 ness, so that they lost by disease and the sword 1600 
 men. They were finally compelled to surrender at 
 the beginning of 1662, when the enemy allowed 
 them to depart in their only remaining ship. The 
 journal thus says : "Who can without tears remem- 
 ber the unexpected destruction and ruin of so many 
 families and of nearly thirty ministers, partly in 
 their lives, partly in their fortunes ?" The next year 
 when Mr. Bert arrived with a Dutch fleet, he found 
 Koxinga's son still ruling, who said that the Rev. 
 J. de Leonardis and others were still at Sakam, and 
 that he would be willing to open the island to the 
 Dutch for trade and give them a settlement at Tam- 
 sui, if they would help him against the Tartars. But 
 nothing came of these negotiations, so the Reformed 
 who were really held as prisoners had to remain 
 there in dreary exile, withovit any communication 
 with Christian civilization and home, until Septem- 
 ber 2, 1684, twenty-three years afterwards. Then 
 some of them escaped, of whom Alexander Schrav- 
 enbroek, during his twenty-two years of imprison- 
 
The Reformed Church. 47 
 
 ment, had so fully mastered the language that the 
 government engaged him as their interpreter. 
 
 Thus this promising Reformed mission was brok- 
 en up. Valentyn gives the names of thirty-five Re- 
 formed ministers, as having labored there a longer 
 or shorter time, the most prominent of whom was 
 Robert Junius. Thus the mission, which in the 
 nearly forty years of its existence had grown to 
 6,000 members, was scattered to the winds. The 
 only thing that remained of the mission was a copy 
 of the Gospel of St. Matthew, in the Formosan dia- 
 lect, and that is to be found in the University of 
 Leyden, Holland. This was about being printed 
 for them when the Chinese invaders entered their 
 land in 1661. It was prepared by the learned 
 Gravius. 
 
 The island was closed to foreigners and Chris- 
 tians two hundred years ago, until the treaty of 
 Tien-tsin (i860) opened it again. The Presbyterian 
 Church of England began mission work again there 
 in 1865. They were followed seven years later by 
 the Presbyterian Church of Canada, of whose num- 
 ber the brave Junius finds a worthy successor in 
 Rev. Dr. Geo. L. Mackay, who has well been styled 
 "a modern apostle." There are now more than sev- 
 
48 Great Missionaries of 
 
 enty congregations on the island, some of them in 
 the villages occupied by the people whose ancestors 
 were members and office bearers in that early mar- 
 tyr Reformed Church of Formosa. Thus in the 
 village of Toasia there is a self-supporting congre- 
 gation of one hundred and sixteen members. The 
 young pastor there is a lineal descendant of the 
 chief, who brought the tribes under subjection of 
 the Chinese. Thus the martyr Reformed Church 
 of Formosa is again rising. Phoenix-like, from her 
 ashes, and that island is seeing the strange 
 sight of natives casting away their idols and coming 
 to Christ in that splendid mission of the Presby- 
 terian Church of Canada. 
 
 The Dutch Reformed also had other missions in 
 the East Indies — in Java, Amboyna, Ceylon and 
 the Molucca Islands. In 1722 there were 424,392 
 converts. But unfortunately, the work was often 
 superficially done. The number of missionaries was 
 too few, so that their work lacked depth and per- 
 manence. Still a beginning was made which came to 
 blessed fruitage in some districts in the nineteenth 
 century. 
 
BOOK II. 
 
DR. THEODOSIUS VANDERKEMP. 
 
THE REFORMED IN AFRICA. 
 
 Chapter I. 
 THEODOSIUS VANDERKEMP. 
 
 A 1 MODERN apostle was Theodosius Vander- 
 ^^L kemp — at least he has never been surpass- 
 P^^' ed since the days of the apostles in con- 
 secration and self-denial. He was a Dutchman, 
 born in 1747, at Rotterdam, where his father was 
 pastor of the Dutch Reformed Church. He took a 
 five years' course of training at the University of 
 Leyden, and became a physician. Later he exchang- 
 ed his position of physician for that of a soldier 
 under the Prince of Orange for sixteen years, where 
 he rose to be captain of the horse. Then owing to 
 a difference between the Prince of Orange and him- 
 self, he left the army and returned to the practice 
 of medicine. He went to Edinburgh where he dis- 
 tinguished himself by his knowledge of the sciences 
 and modern languages, and then settled at Rotter- 
 dam and by the practice of medicine he made a great 
 deal of money. 
 
 But a sudden event changed his life in 1791. He 
 was sailing on the river near Dort, when a violent 
 
52 Great Missionaries of 
 
 storm arose and a water-spout broke over his boat, 
 by which it was instantly upset. His wife and 
 daughter were instantly drowned before his eyes, 
 and he was brought to the point of death. Clinging 
 to the boat, he was carried down stream nearly a 
 mile, as no one dared, in so dreadful a storm, 
 to venture to his aid. A vessel then lying at the 
 port of Dort was by a mysterious providence 
 driven from her moorings and floated toward the 
 part of the river where he was just ready to sink, 
 and the sailors took him from the wreck. His proud 
 heart was completely broken by this providence. As 
 a young man he had lived a dissolute life, but since 
 his marriage he had lived an outwardly moral life. 
 Yet he had imbibed that spirit of rationalism so 
 common in his day. He did not believe in the 
 Bible, and denied the divinity of Christ, But his 
 soul, now completely broken up by the accident, 
 could not find rest till it found rest in Christ. Slowly 
 and with many struggles he fought his way back to 
 faith — a brand plucked from the burning, and des- 
 tined to become a burning and shining light for the 
 Gospel. The Book and the Saviour whom he once 
 despised, now became his hope and treasure. 
 About this time he came across the report of a 
 
The Reformed Church. 53 
 
 great London missionary meeting containing ser- 
 mons and addresses, etc., and one text, "Curse ye 
 Meroz," entered his soul. Falling on his knees, he 
 cried, "O, Lord Jesus, here am I ; Thou knowest 
 I have no will of my own since I devoted myself to 
 Thy service." He at once offered himself to the 
 London Missionary Society,* though over fifty years 
 of age. 
 
 He was appointed to South Africa, and was 
 ordained November 3, 1797. But before leav- 
 ing the Netherlands, in order that his influence 
 might remain behind him, he organized two 
 missionary societies, one at Rotterdam and the 
 other in Friesland, the former of which has 
 become the well known Netherlands Mission- 
 ary Society, which now has missions in the 
 East Indies with about 20,000 communicants. 
 In 1798 he sailed with three others, one of whom, 
 Kicherer, like himself, seems to have been a mis- 
 sionary from the Dutch Reformed Church also. 
 Vanderkemp did not wait until he arrived at Africa 
 before he began missionary work. On the vessel 
 in which they sailed, there were a number of con- 
 
 *The London Missionary Society, like all the missionary societies 
 of its day, was undenominational. 
 
54 Great Missionaries of 
 
 victs on their way to the penal colony in Australia. 
 He at once became interested in them, and address- 
 ed them with such power that there was an awaken- 
 ing in the ship, and through it many of them were 
 led to change their lives. When the time came for 
 the convicts to separate from Vanderkemp at the 
 Cape of Good Hope, nearly all of these strong, 
 wicked men shed tears. Perhaps some of them had 
 never received a word of help and kindness before. 
 He arrived at Capetown in March, 1799. 
 
 At Capetown Vanderkemp at once began work. 
 He started among the natives, the slaves, Moham- 
 medans and Hottentots, although he tried to awaken 
 a deeper interest in missions among the Europeans. 
 In May, 1799, he left Capetown for the interior with 
 Mr. Edmonds. He traveled northeastward, aim- 
 ing to work among the Caffres. These were a very 
 different race from the Hottentots. They were a 
 courageous, strong and warlike people, with high 
 foreheads and black eyes, while the Hottentots had 
 low foreheads and were menial, and seemed destined 
 to be slaves. The Caffres were cruel to their ene- 
 mies, and would wait long for vengeance. They in- 
 cluded the Bechuana, Basuto and Zulu tribes. They 
 had long and bloody wars with the natives and the 
 
The Reformed Church. 55 
 
 English. In the last war with the English, one of 
 the tribes, the Zulus, defeated the English, and 
 the Prince Imperial, the son of the Emperor Louis 
 Napoleon, lost his life. They were, therefore, very 
 brave, but dangerous to labor among. It has been 
 supposed by some that because they do not eat 
 swine's flesh, and practice circumcision, they 
 are distant descendants of the Jews who emigrated 
 from the north. Through a country full of dangers 
 he pushed and finally arrived on the border of this 
 warlike tribe. 
 
 After a month's travel he was brought before 
 their king, Geika, unarmed, and without any attend- 
 ants but a few Hottentots. The CafTres at first 
 thought he was a spy. Some slaves and criminals 
 who had fled from the colony, aroused suspicion 
 among the Caffres against him. But it happened 
 that on his way he stopped at the farm of a Dutch 
 colonist named Beer. Mr. Beer had that very day 
 buried a little girl. The arrival of the missionary was 
 a balm to his heart. "O Lord," he cried in his prayer 
 at family devotion that night, "Thou hast sent me a 
 trial, but Thou hast at the same time granted me a 
 great joy in answering my long continued prayer 
 for a missionary. Thou art faithful to Thy prom- 
 
56 Great Missionaries of 
 
 ises." It is said that through Mr. Beer's interces- 
 sion the chief gave Vanderkemp a place to live in. 
 Geika had given him permission to pitch his tent 
 but advised him to leave on account of the unsettled 
 state of the times. He was not safe from wild 
 beasts and wilder men, who at times closely watched 
 his dwelling. 
 
 Various stories are told of the way in which rene- 
 gades from the colony would stir up the chief 
 against him. One of the Dutch farmers went to the 
 Cafifre chief and made him believe that Vanderkemp 
 would try to poison him by giving him brandy with 
 water in it. The chief, taking a company of armed 
 men, went to the missionary, fully determined to 
 kill him as soon as he offered him anything to drink. 
 He seated himself near his wagon and began to talk 
 with Vanderkemp. Hours passed away, and still 
 the brandy did not appear. Tired of waiting, the 
 chief went away, but soon returned and asked, 
 "Haven't you any brandy ?" 'T have not," answered 
 the missionary, without a suspicion of the danger he 
 had passed through, "and never expect to have 
 any." "Then they have deceived me," cried the 
 chief, throwing himself at the feet of the missionary. 
 "I see that you are a good man. You do not wish 
 
The Reformed Church. ^y 
 
 to kill me." Permission having been given, he open- 
 ed a station and school. The chief, though he dis- 
 liked him, yet appealed to his aid. When the coun- 
 try was desolated by a long drought, Geika sent for 
 Vanderkemp, so as to obtain rain through him. 
 Fearing that if he did so it would be attributed to 
 magical art, like that of the professional rain-makers 
 of the heathen, Vanderkemp refused. But the chief 
 sent a second messenger, who told him the king 
 said, "It is cruel to treat the Caffres thus. You 
 know if you will only go on your knees and hide 
 your face in your hands, we will have as much rain 
 as we want." "So be it then," said Vanderkemp. 
 He remembered Elijah's prayers for rain, and he 
 began to pray. The God of Elijah answered and 
 rain came in torrents for several days. The chief 
 sent a messenger with many thanks to him, but gave 
 him a compliment that made him smile. "Another 
 time," said the chief, "be a little more moderate. 
 This time you have almost drowned us. Here, how- 
 ever, is a fat ox as the proof of my gratitude." Van- 
 derkemp peremptorily refused to receive the ox. But 
 one of the scoundrel whites who infested the coun- 
 try, conceived the idea of making a good thing at 
 Vanderkemp's expense. He met in the woods the 
 
58 Great Missionaries of 
 
 Caffre taking the ox back to the chief. "What?" 
 said he, when the native told him the story how the 
 ox was brought back to the chief. "What, one ox — 
 one single ox for such a splendid rain as that? It 
 is an insult. Let Geika at once send me six oxen 
 like this. I will take it on myself to present them 
 to the missionary. You will see that they are ac- 
 cepted." The chief forwarded the six oxen to this 
 officious middle man, and it hardly need be added 
 that neither Geika nor the missionary ever heard of 
 them again. 
 
 Vanderkemp found his life constantly in danger 
 from such men as these adventurers who accom- 
 panied the retailers of brandy, and were marauding 
 among the natives, falling on them most cruelly 
 unawares. Such men could not forgive Vander- 
 kemp for the love he had toward the Hottentots 
 and Caffres. More than once they attempted his 
 life, but God preserved him. The Caffres saw his 
 danger, and also noted his safety and came to re- 
 gard him as a sacred being, who had power with the 
 invisible God, before whom they so often saw him 
 pray. His companion, Mr. Edmonds, having left, he 
 continued alone in Cafifreland for over a year. Then 
 Geika, becoming jealous of the growing power of 
 
The Reformed Church. 59 
 
 Christianity, ordered him away. He left, followed 
 by sixty converts. Thus ended his work among the 
 Caffres, whose hearts seemed like stone, and yet it 
 did not end. He sowed good seed, for thirty years 
 afterwards an aged woman was admitted to the 
 Church who had received the Gospel from his lips. 
 But the most important result was that he, with his 
 wonderful skill at languages, prepared a dictionary 
 of the Cafifre language. The London Missionary 
 Society said that he had done more in sixteen 
 months than many missionaries did in a lifetime. He 
 only opened the door into Caffreland for mission- 
 aries younger than himself. And up to a few years 
 ago, in all regions occupied by Cafifres, the natives 
 who embraced Christianity were frequently called 
 Ma Yankana, meaning, "the men of Vanderkemp." 
 Vanderkemp, having been compelled to leave 
 Caffreland, arrived with his converts in May, 1801, 
 at Graff Reinet. He was offered the pastorate of the 
 Dutch Church there, but refused, for he felt 
 that his mission was to minister to and save 
 the poor Hottentots. He soon collected a col- 
 ony of two hundred. Buildings were erected at 
 Graff Reinet for the mission and it became a per- 
 manent station. But the whites soon became jeal- 
 
6o Great Missionaries of 
 
 ous and charged him with teaching the slaves and 
 heathen, so that they might become the equals of the 
 whites. He saw that it would be safer to have the 
 Hottentots go out from among the whites into a 
 separate colony, and after many struggles, he gained 
 permission to found another colony. The govern- 
 ment granted him land near Algoa Bay. A part of 
 his congregation occupied it early in 1802. When 
 the governor visited it that year, although it was not 
 a complete success, he was so much impressed with 
 the good it was doing, as well as the danger of the 
 location, for the wild Hottentots had repeatedly at- 
 tacked them, that he urged them to occupy Fort 
 Frederick, which had just been given up by its gar- 
 rison. So to be safe from the opposition of the col- 
 onists and from the attacks of plundering Hottentots 
 he went with three hundred Hottentots to that fort. 
 His work now became more encouraging, as several 
 Hottentots applied for baptism. He was so ill with 
 rheumatism at the time that he had to baptize them 
 as he lay on his couch. 
 
 The country then passed from the rule of the Eng- 
 lish into the hands of the Dutch. It was expected 
 that they would be prejudiced against the mission, 
 because the Boers hated the Hottentots. But the 
 
The Reformed Church. 6i 
 
 governor soon discovered how much good Vander- 
 kemp was doing, and gave him his assistance in 
 forming a new mission. He granted them a station 
 at Kooboo, where they commenced a station named 
 Bethelsdorp (seven miles north of the bay), which 
 was founded in June, 1803. This place had little to 
 favor it. The soil was poor, and there was hardly 
 enough water for domestic purposes. They could 
 not irrigate, and so they could only farm with diffi- 
 culty. Five years after, they wrote to the directors 
 of the Mission that they had been without bread for 
 a long time, and did not expect to procure any for 
 three or four months, nor had they any vegetables. 
 And yet they took this desert place, and under the 
 blessing of God, after a long time, made it blossom 
 like the rose. 
 
 The Hottentots at once began to gather round 
 Vanderkemp, when they found that they had a 
 friend and a sympathizer in him. The progress of 
 his scholars there was astonishing; and, above all, 
 their faculty in acquiring religious knowledge, when 
 one considers their native stupidity, was wonderful. 
 In the first year twenty-two were baptized. From 
 this time on till the reoccupation by the British, the 
 work was carried on with great vigor by Vander- 
 
62 Great Missionaries of 
 
 kemp. In 1807 great religious interest was mani- 
 fested and an out-station at Steurmanns Krall es- 
 tablished. By 1810 the population of Bethelsdorp 
 was 1,000, so rapidly did the mission grow. Thus 
 his work prospered. 
 
 Some very beautiful stories are told of his work. 
 Cupido, a Hottentot, was remarkable for swearing, 
 lying, fighting and drunkenness, which often laid 
 him on a sick bed. At such times he would resolve 
 on reformation, but when he became well again, he 
 would forget all his vows. He was sometimes 
 afraid of God, though he knew little of Him, He 
 was providentially led to Graff Reinet, where he 
 heard Vanderkemp declare that Jesus Christ, the 
 Son of God, could save sinners from their sins. He 
 said within himself, "That is what I want. That is 
 what I want." He went to the missionary and asked 
 that he might become acquainted with this Jesus. He 
 then told all that he had found One who could save 
 him from his sins. He not only became a believer, but 
 through a sermon of Vanderkemp, also a devoted 
 and successful missionary. Another interesting case 
 was that of Lentze, a Caffre woman. She was a con- 
 vert, and was remarkable for her integrity of life 
 and her constancy and fervor in prayer. In her 
 
The Reformed Church. 63 
 
 last illness she spent almost day and night in com- 
 munion with Christ. One morning she sent for 
 Vanderkemp, requesting him to give her farewell 
 to all the people of God, and then desired to be 
 placed in the open air. When he and his servant 
 had carried her out of doors, she said, "Now I will 
 go to my Lord," and expired. 
 
 Dr. Vanderkemp had his peculiarities and eccen- 
 tricities ; and yet they reveal his wonderfully con- 
 secrated spirit. He was a man of great frugality, 
 and carried the carelessness of his person to the ex- 
 tremest lin^ts. He never wore a hat in South Africa. 
 On one occasion, when some new trick that his 
 enemies played on his Hottentots, compelled him to 
 go up to Cape Town to appeal to the authorities, he 
 had to buy a hat. But even then he did not use it 
 as a head-covering, but held it in his hands behind 
 his back. The street boys took advantage of his 
 forgetfulness, and amused themselves from behind 
 by filling it with gravel. The doctor soon dis- 
 covered by its weight that it was no longer empty, 
 and simply emptied it. But even then he did not 
 put it on his head, but bareheaded went on his walk. 
 He held rigid views about a missionary's life. His 
 maxim was that a missionary should own only the 
 
64 Great Missionaries of 
 
 clothes he had on, and that he should conform him- 
 self to the food of the natives. He insisted that the 
 London Society ought to allow only $150 a year to 
 its workers. He did not do this merely from a no- 
 tion of economy, but he held that if you would raise 
 the natives up to your level, you must go down to 
 theirs in everything that was not wrong. This prin- 
 ciple has since been proved a false one, yet it revealed 
 his consecration and self-denial for God. It meant 
 the giving up of civilization in order to save the 
 blacks. It is said that on one occasion an English 
 diplomatic officer visited him in CafTreland and 
 found him brick-making without a hat, and in a 
 costume as light as that of the natives. In his devo- 
 tion to his principles he went so far as to redeem a 
 black slave girl and then marry her, so that he might 
 gain the entire sympathy of the blacks, and thus 
 bring them to Christ. She was a converted Hotten- 
 tot, who remained to the end uneducated, so differ- 
 ent from himself that it caused him a great deal of 
 trouble. So great was his love for the poor Hotten- 
 tots that he said : "I should not fear to oflfer my life 
 for the last child among them." 
 
 Still, with all his eccentricities, he was a wonder- 
 fully consecrated man. He was a close student of 
 
The Reformed Church. 65 
 
 God's Word. The Hottentots preserve many stories 
 of his studies. They would say that in his 
 travels when at evening they would unyoke the 
 oxen and were preparing the doctor's meal he 
 would go and seat himself some distance among the 
 bushes with paper and pencil in hand. There he 
 gave himself to prayer and meditation. They used 
 to hear him say sometimes, "Lord, I do not under- 
 stand this point, this word." A moment afterwards 
 he would say, 'T see it a little better now, but not 
 enough. Enlighten me." And then often, after a 
 moment of silence he cried, "Oh, now I understand ; 
 thanks, thanks, Lord." Then, in spite of the dark- 
 ness he would begin to write, and his pencil would 
 fly over the paper. He was prayful, and yet he did 
 not believe in being always on his knees. Prayer 
 without ceasing meant prayer in the spirit, rather 
 than prayer in the act. One day while he was trav- 
 ersing a forest in Caffraria with a young missionary 
 suddenly a band of warriors appeared in full armor, 
 making motions in an alarming manner. The new 
 missionary, whose carriage was following his, got 
 out and ran to him, begging him to stop and ask 
 God's protection. But Vanderkemp said, "My 
 friend, didn't you pray this morning? Let us go 
 on. 
 
66 Great Missionaries of 
 
 The cruelties which the poor Hottentots suffered 
 from the whites caused feehngs of deepest pity in 
 his heart. It is said that within three years he had 
 paid no less than $5,000 to redeem slaves. Through 
 him and the other missionaries the Hottentots were 
 finally delivered from their oppressions. When 
 Cape Colony was under control of the Dutch, it is 
 said the Boers earnestly requested General Janssen, 
 the governor, to expel Vanderkemp and the other 
 missionaries, because they were trying to civilize 
 and Christianize the Hottentots. The governor in- 
 dignantly refused, and even went so far as to try 
 to have justice done to the Hottentots on the fron- 
 tiers, because he had confidence in the missionaries. 
 This fact ought to be mentioned, for it has been 
 generally supposed that the Dutch were against the 
 missionaries, but here their governor protected 
 them. Vanderkemp was called on again and again 
 to defend these persecuted Hottentots. For the Hot- 
 tentots were very cruelly treated along the frontier. 
 Rev. Mr. Read asserted to the directors of the Lon- 
 don Missionary Society that 100 murders were 
 brought to the knowledge of Vanderkemp and him- 
 self, and yet there was no redress. Dr. Vander- 
 kemp became thus the great champion of the black 
 
The Reformed Church. 6'/ 
 
 race in South Africa, the Wilberforce of South Af- 
 rica. Twice he had to go personally all the way to 
 Cape Town to testify for them. Almost his last ser- 
 vice was to go and testify in the courts at Cape 
 Town against their wrongs. 
 
 He was under appointment of the London Mis- 
 sionary Society to go to Madagascar, and start a 
 new mission there, when he suddenly died at Cape 
 Town, December 15, 181 1. His last words were: 
 "It is all good." Thus, after 13 years of mission- 
 ary work, he went to his rest. The Lord had pre- 
 pared for him a better country than Madagascar. 
 But his station at Bethelsdorp continued to pros- 
 per until it had, in 1889, raised up more than a hun- 
 dred native preachers and brought 6,ocx) souls into 
 the church and won by its instruction 30,000 ad- 
 herents. The traveler who now visits it will find 
 instead of Hottentot hovels, well built houses, a 
 church, a school, a printing press and all kinds of 
 mechanics. The ignorant Hottentots, under the in- 
 fluence of Christianity, have developed into noble 
 men and women. In 1842, poor as they were, they 
 gathered together as much as $480.00 for mis- 
 sions. After such a change one can well say, "If 
 any man is in Christ, he is a new creature." The 
 
68 Great Missionaries of 
 
 Hottentots, almost the lowest of humanity, were by 
 Vanderkemp's labors and through Christianity de- 
 veloped into equals of any. 
 
 Such was Vanderkemp — a most consecrated man. 
 The Reformed Church — indeed, any other Church — 
 has never raised up a more spiritually-minded, self- 
 denying, consecrated missionary than he. One who 
 was well acquainted with his work pays the follow- 
 ing eloquent tribute to his life. He says that "for 
 combining natural talents, extensive learning, ele- 
 vated piety, ardent zeal, disinterested benevolence, 
 unshaken perseverance and unfeigned hurriility he 
 has not been equalled since the days of the apostles." 
 No less an authority than the Rev. Dr. Moffat, the 
 famous missionary to South Africa, the father-in- 
 law of Livingston, says of him : "He came from the 
 university to teach the alphabet to the poor, naked 
 Hottentot and Caffre; from the society of nobles 
 to associate with beings of the lowest grade of hu- 
 manity; from stately mansions to the filthy hovel 
 of the greasy African ; from the army to instruct the 
 fierce savage in the tactics of a heavenly warfare 
 under the banner of the Prince of Peace ; from the 
 study of medicine to become a guide to the Balm of 
 Gilead and the physician there; and finally from a 
 life of earthly honor and ease to be exposed to perils 
 
The Reformed Church. 69 
 
 of waters, of robbers, of his own countrymen, of the 
 heathen, in the city, in the wilderness." He was a 
 faint type and eloquent copy of his Master, who, 
 though He was rich, for our sake became poor, who 
 gave up the happiness and blessed society of heaven 
 to come down to earth and live among sinful men, 
 in order to save them. He, with Schmidt of the 
 Moravians, was one of the first laborers for the re- 
 generation of Africa. He was the forerunner of 
 Moffat and Livingston, and prepared the way for 
 their later triumphs. Thus his prayer when he 
 built the first hut in Caflfreland that "From under 
 his roof the seed of the Gospel might spread 
 through all Africa," was fulfilled. For all the 
 wonderful changes that are taking place in the Dark 
 Continent of Africa today may have said to have 
 Vanderkemp as one of their starting points. He 
 being dead, yet speaketh. And as thousands of these 
 black Hottentots, washed white in the blood of the 
 Lamb, shall take their place around God's throne in 
 heaven, they will come as the trophies of the man, 
 who, like his Master, gave up all in order to win 
 them to Christ. "They that be wise, shall shine 
 as the brightest of the firmament, and they that turn 
 many to righteousness, as the stars forever and 
 ever." 
 
Chapter II. 
 
 EUGENE CASALIS. 
 One of the most consecrated of missionaries was 
 Eugene Casalis, the French missionary to South 
 Africa. On November 21, 1812, he was born of 
 Huguenot parents at Orthez in southwestern France, 
 where Viret, the Reformer of the sixteenth century, 
 had taught theology. More than once had his ances- 
 tors suffered for their Reformed faith, for they 
 belonged to the persecuted Church of the Desert. 
 Indeed, the house of his grandfather had been one 
 of the retreats of the Huguenot pastors, in those 
 times of danger. There a window five feet from 
 the ground opened into a vineyard, which opened 
 into a woods beyond, thus providing a way of es- 
 cape. Young Eugene used to rejoice to hear his 
 grandmother tell how she had on one occasion aided 
 a Reformed pastor to escape. He was conferring 
 with her husband, when suddenly a breathless mes- 
 senger burst in on them, telling them that the dra- 
 goons were on hand. The pastor quietly retired 
 through the window to the woods, while she shut 
 the door and began to wind thread. The dragoons 
 soon arrived and demanded admission. She bravely 
 
 71 
 
^2 Great Missionaries of 
 
 replied : "Sir, I shall not open the door until you 
 have shown me your orders." Fortunately the cap- 
 tain had forgotten them. So all that he could do 
 was to stamp and storm outside. By and by when 
 she felt that the pastor had gotten to a safe distance, 
 she opened the door, saying : "Sir, my door is closed 
 against everybody who endeavors to force it, unless 
 authorized by the king; but it is opened to those, 
 who, like you, have need of refreshment and re- 
 pose." The dragoons immediately searched the 
 house from cellar to garret, and found, not the 
 fugitive pastor, but on their return a delicious re- 
 past prepared for them with true French hospitality. 
 Heir to such blood and such memories, Eugene 
 easily became a hero. To his grandmother who told 
 the story, he owed his first drawings to religion. 
 As early as his ninth year his friends had marked 
 him out for the ministry. But the missionary spirit 
 was already beginning to work within the boy, for 
 he relates how he wept over the story of two little 
 Africans. His impressions were deepened by the 
 earnest ministry of Rev. Mr. Pyt, one of the most 
 godly and zealous of the French pastors, who 
 preached at Bayonne, where Casalis lived. One 
 day Mr. Pyt said to him: "Eugene, you are fifteen 
 
The Reformed Church. 73 
 
 years old. It is time we know what you are going 
 to be." He immediately replied : "I shall not tell 
 you what I wish to be, but what I shall be, — a mis- 
 sionary." His pastor's heart greatly rejoiced at the 
 decision ; and so Eugene was sent to the Mission 
 House at Paris. 
 
 One of the brightest jewels in the coronet of mis- 
 sions is the French mission in Southern Africa. The 
 Paris Missionary Society was organized in Novem- 
 ber, 1822. France was entering upon a new era 
 after Napoleon's defeat; and already less than ten 
 years after his overthrow this society was formed. 
 It was organized on an undenominational basis, but 
 as most of the French Protestants were Reformed, 
 it was of a prevailingly Reformed consciousness. 
 Kalkar, in his excellent "History of Missions," calls 
 it the French Reformed Missionary Society. It is 
 now more prevailingly Reformed than at its begin- 
 ning, for most of the Lutherans of France were 
 lost to that country by the loss of Alsace and Lor- 
 raine; and now almost all its supporters and mis- 
 sionaries are from the old Huguenot Church. In 
 1828 Dr. Philip, that burning missionary herald of 
 the Gospel in South Africa, happened to visit Paris, 
 and urged them to choose South Africa as their mis- 
 
74 Great Missionaries of 
 
 sion field. They acted on his advice, sending out, in 
 1829, three missionaries — RoUand, Lemue and Bis- 
 seaux. This was the first time that the French 
 Protestant Church had seen the spectacle of an ap- 
 pointment of missionaries for about 270 years, when 
 Coligny sent two missionaries to Brazil. 
 
 The students of the Mission House were prepared 
 for the foreign work by doing home missionary work 
 in that great city. They had a chapel in a wretched 
 quarter of the city where Casalis served his appren- 
 ticeship for his life-work among the savages. It 
 happened that about this time cholera broke out. And 
 one morning at the mission service as Casalis was 
 oflfering prayer that God might guard them from the 
 plague, but especially prepare them to die, suddenly 
 a man fell over in the congregation. Casalis rushed 
 from the pulpit and held the man in his arms while 
 he writhed in the agonies of cholera. Two hours 
 later the man died, and Casalis buried him the next 
 day. Such labors, however, were only preparing 
 him for his future work in South Africa. 
 
 It was expected that he would be sent to Algiers, 
 which the French government had lately acquired, 
 but it was soon decided that he should go to South 
 Africa. So he went among his friends, bidding 
 
The Reformed Church. 75 
 
 them good bye. Many of them, expecting never to 
 see him again, lifted their finger to heaven as they 
 said : "Adieu till we meet in heaven." His father 
 clasped him to his bosom, saying: "I will never see 
 you again," a prophecy which, alas, was fulfilled, 
 for his father died soon after. Having been ordained 
 at Paris, October 18, 1832, he finally, after a long 
 and eventful voyage, arrived at Cape Colony, in 
 South Africa. 
 
 When the first missionaries of this society had 
 arrived in South Africa, they were joyfully received 
 by the French who had settled there after the Revo- 
 cation of the Edict of Nantes had driven them out 
 of France, and they insisted that one of these French 
 missionaries should remain and evangelize among 
 them. Mr. Bisseaux was therefore left among them. 
 He settled in Wagonmaker's Valley, forty miles 
 northeast of the Cape Town, and began preaching 
 the gospel to the Hottentots who were slaves of the 
 farmers. So great was his success that within a year 
 and a half ten were baptized. His work was trans- 
 ferred to Wellington and in 1875 there was a church 
 there of 350 members and 200 children. Thus even 
 before they had started a mission to the heathen in 
 the interior, the missionaries were permitted to plant 
 
'jd Great Missionaries of 
 
 one centre of light right in the midst of the colony. 
 
 But the other two missionaries pressed on to the 
 northeast to preach the gospel to the heathen. They 
 then found themselves in the land of a cruel chief, 
 Moselekatsi. They had hardly begun to collect mate- 
 rials to build, when war-like messengers appeared, 
 commanding them to appear before the chief. As it 
 was not prudent that all should go, for fear 
 that none might return, Pelissier went alone, his 
 servants declaring that he would never return. But 
 though guarded with spears all the way, he received 
 a more cordial welcome from the chief than he ex- 
 pected, and in a few days was permitted to return. 
 But he had hardly returned before all the mission- 
 aries were ordered to appear before the chief. Word 
 came to them from friends that they must not go, 
 as the chief had decided on their ruin. They de- 
 cided on flight. 
 
 So when Casalis arrived in Africa he was aston- 
 ished to find that the mission already established by 
 their society had been broken up, but Providence was 
 opening up another and far better field for them. 
 Here he and his two fellow-missionaries, Arbous- 
 set and Gosellin, were gladly received, especially by 
 the Huguenots whose ancestors had emigrated there 
 
The Reformed Church. TJ 
 
 during the previous century. But his work was 
 not among them, but in the "regions beyond." 
 
 How wonderfully God prepares the field for the 
 workers as well as the workers for the field. For it 
 happened that just before the time that these mis- 
 sionaries arrived at the Cape, the chief of the Basu- 
 tos heard from a Hottentot of the Christian reli- 
 gion. And having grown tired of war, he sent a 
 deputation to the great chief of the whites with a 
 present of two hundred oxen, praying him to send 
 him back, in exchange for the cattle, men capable of 
 teaching the blacks. And although this embassy 
 was attacked and his oxen taken, still he sent an- 
 other messenger to the colony for a man of prayer. 
 Here is the Providence. When Casalis was starting 
 from France, God put it into the heart of this 
 heathen chief to send for a teacher. The messenger 
 of the chief and the messenger of God, Casalis, met 
 at Cape Town. So Casalis with his companions ac- 
 cepted the call and set out on a journey of twelve 
 hundred miles northeast until at last they arrived at 
 Thaba Bosiou, the capital of Basutoland. On the 
 way, Casalis, who had the misfortune to be very 
 near-sighted, had his spectacles ground to pieces in 
 his pocket. He was in consternation. All he could 
 
78 Great Missionaries of 
 
 do was to go back and buy others, for the wilds to 
 which he was going would not produce them. So 
 back to the town of Graff Reinet he went, but no 
 spectacles were to be found there ; none could be had 
 nearer than Cape Town and it would take three 
 months to get them to him in the wilderness. So he 
 set out again to catch up to his caravan. He was 
 riding along on the high road when suddenly what 
 seemed a lion's head was put over the hedge along 
 the road ; at first he thought it was a dog, then he was 
 sure it was a lion. Greatly frightened, he determined 
 to go back, but what surprised him was that his 
 horse did not seem to be frightened. After the first 
 fright was over, as he wiped his brow of the per- 
 spiration that the lion had caused, he said to him- 
 self, "I have had the honor of exchanging looks 
 with a lion in full daylight and in his own domin- 
 ions." But his adventures were not over. Soon 
 after he saw six more lions as large as the first. He 
 passed them and to his surprise lived. By evening 
 he had caught up to his company and was seated be- 
 fore a great fire eating his supper. He told them he 
 had seen seven lions which greatly surprised them 
 as they had seen none. The next day as their wag- 
 ons were rolling on suddenly he saw one of the 
 
The Reformed Church, 79 
 
 lions and he grasped another missionary's arm say- 
 ing, "There are the Hons ; now you will believe the 
 country is full of them." His companion, roaring 
 with laughter, said : "Those are not lions. They are 
 gnus, a kind of inoffensive antelope, whose head 
 appears at a distance like that of a lion's." His near- 
 sighted eyes had been at fault. How many lions 
 in the way do we imagine we see, which after all 
 are chained like Bunyan's in Pilgrims Progress, or 
 are unreal as in Casalis' case? How many lions in 
 the way have appeared before us in our missionary 
 work but who turned out to be only phantoms? 
 At Thaba Bosiou they met Moshesh, the most en- 
 lightened and upright chief in South Africa, who 
 had sent for them and who lived in a mountain for- 
 tress and gladly welcomed them, by placing the 
 whole country at their disposal. But they did not 
 settle on his mountain capital, as they wanted to 
 locate near a stream, so that they might introduce 
 farming. They therefore chose one of the most 
 beautiful valleys twenty miles south of Thaba 
 Bosiou and called it Moriah. Here Casalis found as 
 his best helper Gosselin, who was a practical me- 
 chanic. When Gosselin had heard in France that a 
 layman was wanted by the Missionary Society, he 
 
8o Great Missionaries of 
 
 cried right out in the meeting: "That means me, I 
 am the man ;" and in three days he was ready to go. 
 Mainly through GosseHn's efforts a Httle hut was 
 erected for the missionaries, and Casalis went back to 
 the Cape to get the furniture and herds for the settle- 
 ment. On his return occurred an illustration of the 
 dangers that gathered around them. One evening 
 at ten o'clock, as the little company was gathered 
 around the main fire for worship, they heard the 
 convulsive hiccough that a lion makes when about to 
 spring on his prey. Instinctively he started the 
 hymn, the Hottentots, who are great singers, joining 
 in with great earnestness and volume. Their sing- 
 ing must have frightened the lion, for the next day 
 they saw his tracks and realized that God had saved 
 them through a hymn. 
 
 Casalis and his companions soon began to give 
 religious instruction, but the work was very slow. 
 The first difficulty was the language, which, as there 
 was no grammar, they had to pick up word by word. 
 They had at first as an interpreter a native who 
 knew a little Dutch, but knew nothing about religion. 
 He had only one word for religion, namely prayer. 
 So when the missionaries urged believing or repent- 
 ing, he always interpreted it praying. Some of his 
 
The Reformed Church. 8i 
 
 blunders were even laughable. Thus he confounded 
 the Dutch word Zaligmaker (Saviour) with Zedal- 
 maker (saddle-maker), and so told the Basutos that 
 Jesus was the great saddle-maker. His whole man- 
 ner left the impression that he did not believe a word 
 that he was translating. He suggested to the mis- 
 sionaries that the best way to convert the Basutos 
 was to thrash them well. And he went so far as to 
 offer his services, saying: "I will help you, and you 
 will see how well I can handle the whip." By and 
 by as the missionaries learned more of the language, 
 they detected his tricks, and soon sent him off. 
 
 The missionaries began their religious services by 
 reciting stories from the Bible, and finally composed 
 several hymns. This captivated the Basutos, for sing- 
 ing was a new art to them, and they joined in it 
 with great gusto. The only difficulty the mission- 
 aries had was in keeping them from beating time 
 with their feet with all their might, and thus making 
 more noise than music. However a more serious 
 difficulty arose when the missionaries began prayer. 
 For as long as the natives saw that the missionary 
 was speaking to them, they would keep quiet ; but 
 when he was no longer speaking to them, they felt 
 under no obligation to listen. Some would look one 
 
82 Great Missionaries of 
 
 way and others another. Some would gape and 
 others begin talking. At length the missionaries hit 
 on the plan of having them say the petitions after 
 them. This the natives liked, as they were fond of 
 hearing their own voices. 
 
 Casalis and his companions having started this 
 little settlement, determined that they would make 
 another visit to Thaba Bosiou to the chief. "Now," 
 he said, "you will indeed be my missionary. Every 
 time you come, I will be there to get my people to 
 listen to you." The king kept his word. Every time 
 the missionary arrived, the public crier mounted the 
 platform near the king's house, where the gatherings 
 of the tribe were held, and cried with all his power : 
 "To prayer, everybody, women and children as 
 well." This command caused great commotion and 
 merriment at first ; for an audience to which women 
 were admitted was unknown. Especially the young 
 men watched to see what the matrons and maidens 
 would do. The women first sent their children, 
 hoping that would suffice. But Moshesh was inex- 
 orable. "The women, where are they?" he asked. 
 Finally they came ; dazed, yet curious. But they 
 stayed at the entrance of the enclosure as far from 
 the speaker as possible, where they squatted and 
 
The Reformed Church. 83 
 
 squeezed together like a flock of sheep, taking care 
 to turn their backs to the meeting. The missionaries 
 thus found not only a field of labor, but also a church 
 building (of its kind) at their disposal, and a chief 
 to aid them by his example and influence. 
 
 The conversations between the missionary and 
 the chief are among the most interesting things 
 which M. Casalis has placed on record, and gives us 
 a pleasing expression of the intellectual strength, 
 penetration, simplicity and candor of this remark- 
 able man. We quote two instances which remind 
 us of Paul's description of some among the heathen 
 in his days, as "feeling after God if happily they 
 might find him." 
 
 "You believe then," said the king one evening to 
 the missionary, pointing to the stars, "that in the 
 midst and beyond all these there is an all-powerful 
 Master, who has created all, and is our Father ? Our 
 ancestors used, in fact, to speak of a Lord of 
 Heaven, and we still call these great shining spots 
 (the Milky Way), you see above you, the way of 
 the gods ; but it seemed to us that the world must 
 have existed forever, except, however, men and 
 animals, who, according to us, have had a beginning 
 — animals having come first and men afterwards. 
 
 7 
 
84 Great Missionaries of 
 
 But we did not know who gave them existence. We 
 adored the spirits of our ancestors, and we asked of 
 them rain, abundant harvests, good health, and a 
 good reception amongst them after death." 
 
 "You were in darkness," was the answer, "and 
 we have brought you the Hght. All these visible 
 things, and a multitude of others which we cannot 
 see, have been created and are preserved by a Being, 
 all-wise and all-good, who is God of us all, and who 
 has made us to be born of one blood." 
 
 Moshesh was greatly struck when he heard the 
 missionaries enumerate the commandments of the 
 Decalogue. "That," said he, "is written in all our 
 hearts. We did not know the God you announced 
 to us, and we had no idea of the Sabbath ; but in all 
 the rest of your law we find nothing new. We 
 knew it was very wicked to be ungrateful and diso- 
 bedient to parents, to rob, to kill, to commit adultery, 
 to covet the property of another, and to bear false 
 witness." 
 
 For five years the missionaries labored at Moriah 
 without gaining a convert. The Basutos were 
 friendly, but not willing to take the decisive step. 
 But on the evening of January 9, 1836, they heard a 
 sound near their hut at Moriah. Going out they dis- 
 
The Reformed Church. 85 
 
 covered one of their young men, Sekhesa, praying. 
 As they listened to the young man's prayer of con- 
 secration, they fell on their knees and burst into 
 tears of joy at his conversion. Sekhesa remained 
 faithful till his death in 1881. Some weeks after 
 his first prayer Arbousset read a hymn on the second 
 coming of Christ. The poor negro with beaming 
 countenance ejaculated : "Blessed be His name." 
 Hundreds of Basutos afterward acknowledged that 
 their first religious impressions came to them at the 
 time when Sekhesa asked the Lord to make him 
 His child. 
 
 The missionaries finally decided that so important 
 a point as Thaba Bosiou, the capital, ought not to 
 be without a missionary. So Casalis was appointed 
 to locate there. He did not, however, set up his 
 house on the top of the hill on which the town was 
 built, but at its base; so that he might farm the 
 land around his hut. Becoming lonely, he set out 
 for Cape Town in search of a wife. When he ar- 
 rived there, he felt very awkward, for he had been so 
 long in the wilderness that he had forgotten what 
 civilization was, and felt like fleeing and hiding him- 
 self. 
 
 When Casalis returned to his first station, Moriah, 
 
86 Great Missionaries of 
 
 he found that the presence of his wife created quite 
 a sensation. The Basutos had never seen a white 
 woman before. At first they hesitated somewhat to 
 come near, but soon curiosity got the better of them, 
 and they approached her. They indulged in all man- 
 ner of remarks about her. They analyzed her fea- 
 tures — admired specially the smallness of her mouth 
 and the whiteness of her skin. Every act of hers 
 was noted. When she ate, they said she eats like a 
 bird. They were very much surprised that she did 
 not go out with her husband into the field and dig 
 as they did. But they thus learned that Christians 
 cared for their wives, and did not make slaves of 
 them as the heathen did. The effect of this mar- 
 riage was that the female part of the population at 
 once recognized in her a missionary to themselves, 
 and came to her with their troubles and cares. They 
 began to flock to church. For since Casalis' wife 
 went to church, it was clear to them that a woman 
 had a soul to save. 
 
 Casalis and his wife then went to Thaba Bosiou, 
 June, 1838. The appearance of Mrs. Casalis at the 
 capital created the same sensation that it had done 
 at Moriah. The church service began to be more 
 largely attended, increasing from two hundred to 
 
The Reformed Church. 87 
 
 four hundred. A Sabbath at Thaba Bosiou was a 
 very interesting day. At ten in the morning Mos- 
 hesh, the chief, would come down from his moun- 
 tain capital with his followers to service. As it 
 would have been wearisome to go up the steep moun- 
 tain and return again to the second service, they re- 
 mained on the plain, spending the day around the 
 missionaries' house. The men and women, old and 
 young, tried to read the spelling book and the little 
 catechism. At first they protested that the black 
 man never could make paper speak. Moshesh's 
 father was a superstitious old heathen, and ridiculed 
 the fact that they could learn to read. "Lies, lies," 
 he said. "I will never believe that a word can be- 
 come visible." One day there was a tremendous 
 discovery made by ten or twelve of them. They sud- 
 denly discovered that they could, without any help, 
 make out the meaning of several phrases they had 
 never read before. And Moshesh's skeptical father 
 was stupefied with wonder. When once the Basutos 
 had begun to learn to read, the knowledge of the 
 Bible spread rapidly. During the revival that fol- 
 lowed in all the mission stations, twenty-seven con- 
 verts were baptized, and forty-two other adults soon 
 followed them. 
 
88 Great Missionaries of 
 
 A most significant conversion was that of Libe, 
 the uncle of Moshesh. When the missionaries first 
 came, although he was a man of eighty, and hover- 
 ing over the grave, he urged that they be driven 
 away. Indeed he left Thaba Bosiou partly because 
 he wanted to get away from the influence of the mis- 
 sionaries. But, although he forsook them, they did 
 not forsake him. When they visited him, he said: 
 "Depart from me, I will have nothing to do with 
 you and your God." Sometime after that, when 
 Casalis was officiating at the funeral of one of Libe's 
 daughters (whose husband happened to be a Chris- 
 tain), Libe rushed at Casalis in rage. Casalis ex- 
 pected nothing else but that he would have to de- 
 fend himself. Fortunately Libe's sons rushed to 
 him, imploring him to stop. Libe refused. And 
 his own children were under the sad necessity of 
 forcing him to the ground and holding him there 
 during the entire service. Finally when Casalis 
 again passed him, Libe, in his rage and helplessness, 
 knocked his head on the ground again and again. 
 But God can save to the uttermost. And one day, af- 
 ter the missionaries had discontinued their visits, be- 
 cause they felt that they only angered him, they were 
 surprised to receive an invitation to go and see him. 
 
The Reformed Church. 89 
 
 The messenger who brought it said, with his face 
 radiant with joy: "Libe prays. Yesterday Libe sent 
 to my hut and asked : 'Can you pray ? Kneel down 
 with me and pray God to have mercy on the greatest 
 of sinners. Who will deliver me from the fire that 
 will never be quenched? Do you think God will 
 pardon me? I refused to go and hear His word 
 when still able to walk. Now I am blind and almost 
 deaf ; how can I serve Jehovah ?' " "Here," said the 
 messenger, Libe stopped and asked me, "have you 
 your book (the Bible) with you?" The messenger 
 said he had. "Well," said Libe, "open it and place 
 my finger on the name of God. The messenger said 
 he had done so. "It is there," cried Libe, "the 
 beautiful name of God. Now place my finger on 
 that of Jesus, my Saviour." Casalis having heard 
 this from the messenger, hastened to Libe. He 
 found him penitent. And as Casalis repeated his 
 visits, grace made him as docile as a little child. In 
 his anxiety to be saved, Libe generally took Casalis' 
 hands in his, and putting his ear close to Casalis' 
 lips, repeated the words Casalis uttered, begging 
 him meanwhile to correct him, if in his deafness he 
 made a mistake. A more touching sight can hardly 
 be imagined than this blind, deaf heathen thus re- 
 
90 Great Missionaries of 
 
 penting of his past sins, and seeking Christ and 
 heaven. How Libe's anxiety to be saved rebukes 
 many careless ones in this Christian land. Libe's 
 baptism attracted a large crowd. Five aged mem- 
 bers of the church carried him on a couch, for he 
 was too feeble to move alone. Very soon after his 
 baptism he died. His grandson asked him whether 
 he knew it was the Lord's day. He replied, "I know 
 it, I am with my Lord." And in a few moments he 
 fell asleep, to be with his Lord forever. 
 
 But the most important conversion in the mission 
 was that of Moshesh, the chief. He was a most re- 
 markable, far-seeing man — "the most original, able 
 and upright barbarous chief South Africa has ever 
 had," says Orpen, a British magistrate. The great- 
 ness of his character is shown by an illustration. In 
 1852 he was attacked by the British. Compelled to 
 defend themselves, the Basutos drove the British 
 back. They planned a night attack when the worn- 
 out British soldiers would probably have been over- 
 come, but suddenly an order came from Moshesh 
 stopping the fight. The next morning Moshesh sent 
 a messenger to the English commander (Would any 
 conqueror of Europe have treated an enemy so?) 
 saying: "Oh, my master, I am still your man, I am 
 
The Reformed Church. 91 
 
 still a child of the Queen. Sometimes a man beats 
 a dog and the dog puts his teeth in his hand and 
 gives him a bite, nevertheless, the dog loves the 
 master and the master loves the dog and will not 
 kill it. I am ashamed of what happened yester- 
 day. Let it be forgotten." The British could not re- 
 fuse such magnanimity. They at once made peace, 
 but how noble was Moshesh in being the first to ask 
 for peace. 
 
 Moshesh welcomed the missionaries from the very 
 beginning, and would come, Nicodemus-like, to visit 
 Casalis by night and talk about this new religion. 
 But, like Nicodemus, he postponed decision. He 
 however paid great attention to the preaching, and 
 would often repeat the whole sermon and explain it 
 point by point to the people who did not understand 
 it. But year after year he postponed decision. In 
 1869, as he was getting old, Casalis went to him and 
 urged him to prepare for the judgment. He wept 
 and prayed, but like so many, could not make up his 
 mind. However in 1870, after thirty-seven years 
 of prayer by the missionaries, a messenger called the 
 missionaries to him, for he was ready. His descrip- 
 tion of his conversion was given in a very simple- 
 hearted way, just as the heathen would express 
 
92 Great Missionaries of 
 
 themselves. Seeing one of the missionaries, he said 
 to him, "How old is your baby?" "Three months," 
 replied the missionary. "Then," said the chief, re- 
 ferring to his new-birth, "he is just my age. I have 
 only just been born. It is only now that I begin to 
 be a man." He asked to be allowed to see this child. 
 His eyes filled with tears, as he said : "My child, you 
 are my thaka (one of the same age) ; you have 
 shown me the way I shall get to Jesus." 
 
 The day before his death he sent the missionaries 
 the message : "Tell them they will be too late." And 
 so it was, for he was to have been baptized on Sun- 
 day, but died on Friday. His last instructions were : 
 "Let the missionaries not be weary to teach my 
 people, and especially my sons." His mind seemed 
 to go again to his thaka (the missionary's child), as 
 he said : "Kiss also that child, Thaka Moshesh. May 
 he grow up to be a great blessing to my people." 
 He died with the filial cry : "Let me go to my 
 Father ; I am already very near Him. Hold me up 
 that I may fly," and his spirit went up to its God. 
 Thus died in Christian hope the noblest chieftain 
 in South Africa. 
 
 What trophies of redeeming grace have been won 
 there for Christ! The hope is that through the 
 
The Reformed Church. 93 
 
 French missionaries, the rich temperament and ca- 
 pacity which distinguishes the Basutos may cause 
 them to be an influential factor in making- the Dark 
 Continent gain Hght under the rays of the Sun of 
 Righteousness. 
 
 Casahs, to the sorrow of the mission, was recalled 
 to France in 1856, where he became director of the 
 Paris Missionary Society, and head of its training 
 institute for missionaries. He lived at Paris for 
 many years, enthusing the home church, and by his 
 knowledge of the foreign field, aiding the Board of 
 the Mission Society. The French government finally 
 came to see the greatness of his work and honored 
 him with the title of "Knight of the Legion of 
 Honor." He died in 1893.* 
 
 *"My Life in Basutoland," by Casalis, published by the Religious 
 Tract Society, London, ought to be in all our Sunday-school li- 
 braries. 
 
Chapter III. 
 ADOLPH MABILLE. 
 Another great missionary of the French Re- 
 formed Church in Africa was the Rev. Adolph 
 Mabille. He was the heart and centre of a great 
 work which Robert Moffat pronounced the most 
 successful of all missions. 
 
 He was born June 12, 1836, at Baulmes, near 
 Yverdon, in the canton of Vaud, Switzerland. He 
 was a precocious boy. Educated at Yverdon and 
 later at Basle, he was ready to enter the Theological 
 School at Lausanne before he was old enough to be 
 admitted. He therefore traveled in Holland and 
 England, and in 1854 accepted the position of teacher 
 of French in a Quaker school at Kendal, England. 
 It was while there that his religious experience was 
 greatly deepened and that the missionary call came 
 to him. One day an agent of the British Bible 
 Society arrived at Kendal, who made his acquaint- 
 ance. Seeing the rich promise in the young man he 
 approached him on the subject of missions. Striking 
 him on the shoulder, he asked him the simple but 
 pointed question : "Young man, have you ever 
 thought of the millions of Chinese who die without 
 
 95 
 
96 Great Missionaries of 
 
 a knowledge of the Saviour ?" The question went to 
 his heart Hke an arrow. He said : "Behold ! I come, 
 Lord, to do Thy will." 
 
 He applied to the Paris Missionary Society and 
 entered their mission house at Paris to prepare him- 
 self for foreign mission work under the care of 
 Casalis. His desire was to go to China, to which 
 his attention had been called. His thoughts and 
 prayers were continually for that country. The 
 committee of the Missionary Society was at that 
 time disposed to send missionaries to China, and 
 Mabille would have been sent, being well fitted by 
 his ability and experience in teaching. But as he 
 heard Casalis speak so often and lovingly of his Ba- 
 sutos, and fell in love with Adele, the daughter of 
 Casalis whom he afterwards married, his mind was 
 turned to Africa. They were married May 17, 1859. 
 On the third of July, 1859, amid the salvos of ar- 
 tillery which announced in Paris the victory of the 
 French over the Austrians at Solferino, he and 
 another missionary, Germond, were ordained in the 
 Church of the Oratoire at Paris. The young mis- 
 sionary couple afterwards visited Yverdon and Gen- 
 eva. At Geneva his visit led to the formation of a 
 missionary society which aided him to found his 
 
The Reformed Church. 97 
 
 Bible school for the training of evangeUsts, at 
 Moriah, in South Africa. 
 
 Together with Mr. and Mrs. Germond they sailed 
 from England in July, 1859, ^"^ landed at Cape 
 Town October 30, where he was met by Rev. Mr. 
 Bisseaux. After resting, they started forward on 
 their long journey to their mission station, Betheu- 
 lia, where they arrived January 12, i860. One of 
 his first impressions was that of astonishment that 
 the missionaries had not yet translated or printed 
 the Bible in the language of the Basutos. He at 
 once set 'himself about doing so. He did not under- 
 stand the language, but Dyke dictated to him and 
 he wrote it down. They began with the book of 
 Joshua. He afterward made a tour of the various 
 stations of the mission. He attended in April the 
 Synod of the mission and was then appointed as mis- 
 sionary to Moriah, the oldest station. He and his 
 wife arrived there June 7, i860. The station had been 
 greatly devastated by the Boers in the war of 1858. 
 The parsonage had been burned and he had to suffer 
 great inconvenience. Besides, the membership of the 
 mission had become scattered. His progress in their 
 language had by this time become so great that on 
 the Sunday after his installation he attempted to 
 
98 Great Missionaries of 
 
 preach and succeeded fairly well, his great linguis- 
 tic powers aiding him. 
 
 His marriage with the daughter of the former 
 missionary, Casalis, gave him great influence over 
 the Basutos who loved her for her father's sake. 
 They used to say of her: "She is our mother. 
 She was born in our land, and she is one 
 of us, and what she says is good." She was 
 worthy of this confidence ; for she was a re- 
 markable woman. He founded a normal school at 
 Moriah to train teachers. While its organization 
 was being considered, who should arrive at the mis- 
 sion but the Rev. Alexander Dutf, the great Scotch 
 missionary to India, and the originator of the sys- 
 tem of educational missions, to counsel them. This 
 school was originally begun in time of war. As 
 he came back to look after his people at Moriah he 
 was detained there, and while the war cloud hung 
 heavily around them he gathered a few young men 
 and taught them to teach others. He had twenty 
 students at first. From this normal school a sys- 
 tem of schools spread all through the Basuto tribe. 
 
 But he was a pastor as well as a teacher. He had 
 twenty stations in connection with his mission at 
 Moriah. Twice a year their members came to 
 
The Reformed Church. 99 
 
 Moriah for the Lord's Supper. These were scenes 
 never to be forgotten, when hundreds of the Lord's 
 followers gathered on the green hillside under the 
 shadow of the great mountains around and sur- 
 rounded the Lord's table to show forth his death 
 till he come. His membership arose from 234 in 
 1 86 1 to 1692 in 1894. His scholars arose from 160 
 in i860 to 1306 in 1890, and 906 in 1894. He also 
 installed a press at Moriah. In 1880 he re-visited 
 France, so as to publish the Bible in their language, 
 and returned with a new printing press. On it he 
 published a number of books, as the Chants of Zion, 
 a book of sacred song, for he was a fine musician 
 and splendid singer. He also published a pastoral 
 theology, Sessouto Dictionary, a Biblical Dictionary 
 and other books. This printing press was impor- 
 tant because by it 250,000 of the Basutos were 
 reached. A Bible for the Basutos was finally pub- 
 lished in 1882 as the result of his work. 
 
 The normal school grew into a school of evan- 
 gelists in 1876. The first student soon grew into 
 five students. In two years he had twenty. Many 
 of them were from other districts in South Africa, 
 as the Transvaal. Thus in 1878 ten were from the 
 Transvaal and two from Orange Free State, five 
 
 8 
 
loo Great Missionaries of 
 
 belonged to the Dutch Reformed Church,* four to 
 the Swiss mission and one to the BerHn mission — 
 more strangers than from the Basutos. This 
 showed the popularity of his school and the ex- 
 cellence of its course of study. His labors were in- 
 cessant, as he began teaching at 6 a. m. He 
 thoroughly believed in educational missions. He 
 said : "Our native Christians can help their own 
 people better than we missionaries can." 
 
 He was also an explorer in regions beyond, open- 
 ing up the district afterwards taken by the French 
 Reformed Mission of Switzerland. He prepared for 
 the later mission of Coillard to the Zambesi in the 
 north. Together with Coillard he went to Europe 
 and pled for the opening of a new mission on the 
 Zambesi. His parish would frequently be swept 
 with wave after wave of God's Spirit, when 
 he dealt very wisely with those under conviction of 
 sin, and led them to Christ. He was very earnest 
 in his piety, becoming somewhat inclined to the 
 higher life theory. The visit of Major Malan 
 strengthened this in him for a time. And he went 
 with Coillard to King Williamstown in Cape Colony 
 
 •The Boer5 have not been considered favorable to missions, but 
 this church has had a successful mission at Zoutpantburg, for many 
 years, Rev. S. Hofmeyer being the missionary. 
 
The Reformed Church. loi 
 
 in 1875, to attend sanctification meetings for total 
 deliverance from sin. The writings of Rev. Andrew 
 Murray, the Nestor of the Dutch Reformed Church 
 of South Africa, strengthened him in these mild 
 perfectionist views. 
 
 In secular affairs he was much tried. The mis- 
 sionaries of the Paris Society were placed in very 
 difficult positions often, because, though French, 
 they labored in British territory. They, therefore, 
 tried to avoid all political complications, but oc- 
 casionally they were compelled to take part in them, 
 although they did so with great reluctance. Owing 
 to his close proximity to the chief, Letsie, Mabille 
 was forced to occupy himself somewhat with secular 
 affairs. He and his colleagues took an honorable 
 part in the establishment of the British protectorate 
 over the Basutos, which saved them from entire 
 destruction at the hands of the Boers. But during 
 the war of 1 880-1 881 the Cape government de- 
 cided that it was wise to make all the blacks give up 
 their arms into the hands of the British govern- 
 ment. This act would have left the Basutos utterly 
 defenseless and at the mercy of hostile whites. Ma- 
 bille openly took sides against this order in the in- 
 terest of the mission. He wrote about it to a lead- 
 
I02 Great Missionaries of 
 
 ing citizen of Cape Colony, to the prime minister, to 
 the governor. Had his counsel been followed the 
 colony would have been saved a war and the cost of 
 at least $15,000,000. But while he took this 
 ground in writing to the English, among the 
 Basutos he preached peace, condemning the re- 
 course to arms as unjustifiable. Providentially he 
 was in Europe when the war broke out. His efforts 
 led him to be severely criticized, but also gained him 
 the greatest popularity among the Basutos. 
 
 In all this he reveals his intense activity. One of 
 his fellow missionaries said of him : "It is no use 
 to relieve Mabille in his work, for as soon as he is 
 relieved in one thing he finds something else to do." 
 His severe labors finally broke down his health. 
 His work as pastor, teacher, preacher, publisher, 
 explorer, proved too much for him. Still he kept 
 on. The Paris Society wanted one of its mission- 
 aries to go with Coillard to Bechuanaland ; Mabille 
 and his wife went. At first he seemed benefited by 
 this journey. He attended the Basuto conference 
 in April, 1894, though he only when lying on a 
 couch could be present at the meetings. Then he 
 went to Leribe where his son was stationed as evan- 
 gelist. He returned to Moriah May 10. Although 
 
The Reformed Church. 103 
 
 in great pain, he proceeded with the examination of 
 candidates for admission to his Bible school. 
 
 On May 15 a physician arrived and examined 
 him, saying : "It is grave, very grave." Mabille ex- 
 pressed a great desire to live so that he might revise 
 the Basuto Bible. He had just finished an English- 
 Basuto Dictionary, the work of 20 years. When 
 they hesitated to tell him his condition he insisted. 
 When told, he prayed long. Then he said : "Lord, 
 O place my work low ; I have endeavored to labor, 
 but how many times I have transgressed. But I 
 shall not want, thou knowest it." On May 17 he 
 bade farewell to his friends. On the 19th he ad- 
 mitted to his dying bed the chief of the Lessouto, to 
 whom he addressed pressing appeals for his con- 
 version and for temperance. 
 
 Sunday, May 20, 1894, was a glorious day, full of 
 the very atmosphere of heaven. The early hours of 
 the day he spent in praying for each of his catechists, 
 schoolmasters, elders in his district, about 150 in 
 number, and for the students of the Bible school, 
 who were that day at religious work. When those 
 about him wondered that he could remember names 
 so well he said : "O, you know I have prayed for 
 them so often by name." When he heard the church 
 
104 Great Missionaries of 
 
 bells ring, he exclaimed : "Glory, glory in the high- 
 est heaven !" and then said : "Jesus, I am also one 
 of the worshippers." A young man wanted to see 
 him. "Yes," he said, "let him in. I have a lovely 
 message for him." After talking earnestly with 
 him, he said : "I wish I could impress on your heart 
 the invitation that Christ -is your Saviour." After- 
 wards he clapped his hands joyfully, exclaiming: 
 "Bravo ! they are going to reach the Zambezi," show- 
 ing that his thoughts were with Coillard and his 
 distant mission. At 7.30 p. m. he passed to rest. 
 "At eventide it shall be light," — his labors of thirty- 
 four years were over, and he had gone to his reward. 
 
 His funeral was very large. Everywhere it was 
 felt : "Knowest thou not that a great man has fallen 
 in Israel ?" In the cemetery at Moriah is a plain stone 
 with a marble slab on which are the words : "Adolph 
 Mabille, 1836-94." His blessing remained in his 
 family. All of the children became Christians and 
 two of the sons and two of the daughters became 
 missionaries. But the larger blessing remained with 
 the mission, whose success was so largely due to the 
 foundations he laid. 
 
 Before leaving this splendid mission of the Paris 
 Society among the Basutos we will briefly describe 
 
The Reformed Church. 105 
 
 their work. A most fortunate circumstance for the 
 mission was the fact that there were no wars in Ba- 
 sutoland for fifteen years up to 1848. This period 
 of peace was very favorable to the mission. The 
 year 1848 was, however, a very trying one. On ac- 
 count of the revolution in France, the Mission So- 
 ciety became so impoverished that it had to close 
 its mission house at Paris, and the missionaries be- 
 gan to suffer. But in its need, friends in the colony 
 in Africa who had seen its glorious work, nobly 
 came to its relief. Indeed, money was sent unex- 
 pectedly from distant lands, as Holland and India, 
 to help them tide over their difficulties, the whole 
 amount being $10,000. The next year Casalis went 
 back to France and stirred the churches most won- 
 derfully with his tales of South Africa and of the 
 wonders of mission work. Meanwhile bitter wars 
 were carried on between the Boers and the English 
 in South Africa. The British, by giving up Basuto- 
 land in 1855, left it at the mercy of the Boers. In 
 two of the wars Moshesh, the Basuto chief, lost 
 part of his territory, so that four of the mission sta- 
 tions had to be given up. And yet there was a bless- 
 ing in it all. How often afflictions are blessings. As 
 in Madagascar, so in Basutoland ; when the mission- 
 
io6 Great Missionaries of 
 
 aries were driven out and war and famine prevailed, 
 then the Church was revived. The season from 
 1865 to 1868 was a time of wonderful revival. The 
 result was that by the end of the war all the 
 congregations were largely increased. 
 
 During that war the Christians of Moriah, like 
 those referred to in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews 
 fled to the caves and dens in the mountain above 
 their home. There, for three years, more than 300 
 Christians were preserved. Morning and evening 
 they prayed and sang praises. Their enemies heard 
 them, but no cannon ball could reach them. Phile- 
 mon, the schoolmaster of Moriah, was raised up of 
 God to be their pastor in the caves. For three 
 years he watched over this large congregation, num- 
 bering about 800 souls. As they had not much to 
 do, much time was spent in preaching and prayer. 
 At the close of the war Philemon brought 100 
 converts for baptism. In all there were 436 candi- 
 dates for admission at Moriah after the war. 
 Philemon was a true apostle, putting many lazy 
 Christians in Christian lands to shame. After the 
 war, famine and then typhus fever came. Phile- 
 mon was devoted in attending to the sick, until he 
 finally caught the disease. His dying was beautiful. 
 
The Reformed Church. 107 
 
 He was asked whether he would like to go to his 
 Lord. He replied : "Yes, very much." When asked 
 if he would like to remain and work for the Lord, 
 he replied : "Yes, very much." Living or dying, he 
 wished to be the Lord's. And just before he 
 breathed his last, what did he do but give a sign for 
 the whistle, with which for three years he had called 
 the churches in the dens to prayer and praise. He 
 put it to his mouth and tried to sound it once more 
 before he died. A faithful watchman he was to the 
 very last. 
 
 The results of this mission have been most grati- 
 fying. From a temporal point of view the arrival of 
 the missionaries proved to be the salvation of the 
 Basutos. The country in 18 13 was almost uninhab- 
 ited, but it is now covered with hamlets surrounded 
 by fields in a high state of cultivation. Had the Ba- 
 sutos remained heathen, they would have been cut 
 off by the wars or have killed each other off. Now 
 they have peace and civilization. But the results 
 spiritually have been even greater. Although the 
 wars compelled the society to give up five stations, 
 and to centre their efforts on Basutoland, they still 
 have thirteen principal stations and 129 out-stations, 
 with day schools scattered all through the country. 
 
io8 Great Missionaries of 
 
 having 8,000 children in them. In 1888, out of a 
 population of 200,000, 25,000 were adherents of the 
 mission and 35,000 were under Christian influences. 
 At present there are 12,676 communicants, and 
 11,626 pupils in the schools. Their worship is the 
 same as in the French Protestant Churches, which 
 are prevailingly Reformed. 
 
 This Paris Society also opened other mission sta- 
 tions. When the French gained the Society Is- 
 lands in the South Pacific, where the London Mis- 
 sionary Society had had a successful mission, the 
 latter turned its mission over to the Paris Society, 
 and there are now about 4,000 members and 1,800 
 scholars. And in 1887 the American Presbyterian 
 mission turned over its missions on the Gaboon and 
 Ogove rivers to them, because they were in French 
 territory. Still the Basuto mission has always re- 
 mained the most important. Many are its trophies. 
 One was Makoniane, Moshesh's Marshal Ney. He 
 who planned the Basuto empire now sits at the feet 
 of Jesus, confessing Him. But the most important 
 was the conversion of Moshesh, the Basuto chief, 
 over whose tomb should be inscribed : "Thy gentle- 
 ness made thee great." The society has pushed out 
 northward on the Zambesi where, after years of 
 discouragement, they gained their first convert in 
 
The Reformed Church. 109 
 
 1892, and now the king Lewanika begins to show in- 
 terest in Christianity. 
 
 The importance of the work done by this French 
 mission cannot be over-estimated. Why was the 
 Gospel more successful among the Basutos than 
 among the Zulu tribes of South Africa? Because, 
 as Malan says, the Gospel was preached to them be- 
 fore the white man had entered their territory even 
 for trade. But it was preached to the Zulus after 
 they had been at war with the Dutch settlers. The 
 Basutos knew nothing of the evils accompanying 
 European occupation. The chief of the Basutos did 
 everything to encourage the Gospel but the chief 
 of the Zulus did everything for a long time to hin- 
 der it. Another reason for its spread was the fact 
 that the Basutos are a gentle race compared with 
 the Zulus. 
 
 For they have evangelized the most hopeful of 
 the South African tribes, the Basutos, whose rich 
 capacity for improvement will make them a power 
 for evangelizing the dark continent. France is now 
 one of the largest land-owners in Africa, especially in 
 the north, although she has possessions in the south. 
 In view of this, the importance of the FreiK:h mis- 
 sion becomes much greater. She is the crown jewel 
 in the old Huguenot Church. 
 
f - '--'''^^^c^ 
 
Chapter IV. 
 
 FRANCIS AND CHRISTINA COILLARD 
 The greatest living missionary of the French Re- 
 formed Church is Francis Coillard. He was born 
 July 17, 1834, at Asnieres des Bourges, France. 
 After suffering various hardships in his early life, 
 he at last attained his long desire to be a missionary 
 and was admitted to the Mission House at 
 Paris. After pursuing the usual course there he 
 was ordained May 24, 1857. After laboring in the 
 Basuto mission for several years, he was married 
 in 1861 to Miss Christina Mcintosh. As she is 
 one of the most distinguished missionary heroines 
 of the nineteenth century, we will pause on her life. 
 She was the daughter of a Scotch clergyman, 
 having been born at Greenock, Scotland, November 
 29, 1829. When a girl she had great love for mis- 
 sions, as she had subscribed out of her pocket 
 money to a missionary paper, and her heart beat 
 with indignation at seeing Sarah Roby, a poor child 
 who had been buried alive by her heathen parents, 
 but fortunately rescued by a missionary and who 
 was taken all over the British Isles as a proof 
 of the pagan horrors. In 1855 Miss Mcintosh 
 
112 Great Missionaries of 
 
 gave lessons in Paris, where she met Mr. 
 Coillard while studying at the Mission House. Four 
 years after his departure for Africa she followed 
 him thither. She was a spiritually minded woman 
 and a great aid to her husband. "Never," she said, 
 "never will you find me between you and duty. 
 Wherever you have to go, be it to the end of the 
 world, T shall follow you." How wonderfully and 
 nobly she carried this out. 
 
 At first they were located at Leribe among the 
 Basutos where, after a year's work, they rejoiced 
 over two converts. But their work had its diffi- 
 culties. One of the chiefs, Molapo, the son of 
 Moshesh the king, had backslidden from Christian- 
 ity and greatly oppressed the Christians. Yet 
 Coillard would talk to him faithfully about his 
 soul. Even when living in sin (for he became a po- 
 lygamist), it is said he never would retire at night 
 without reading his Bible and praying. At times 
 his spiritual struggles were so great as to almost 
 destroy his reason, when he would flee to the moun- 
 tains and hide in a cave. 
 
 One day Coillard tried to rouse his memory by 
 asking : "Tell me, what did you feel when you were 
 converted." "My pastor," he said, "it was not an 
 
The Reformed Church. 113 
 
 illusion of the imagination. There was a fire that 
 devoured me. I could not hold it in ; but now," he 
 added in a tone of bitte^^ sadness, "it has all gone 
 out — there is nothing left but a heap of ashes." He 
 died as he had lived — away from God, although his 
 last act at dying was to ask that the missionaries be 
 sent for. But they came too late. 
 
 War also came and devastated their district. In 
 1865 he was driven out by the Boer war. So hasty 
 was their departure that Mrs. Coillard did not have 
 time to take the bread that she was baking oirt of the 
 oven. Their church bell, packed carelessly in a wagon 
 in their haste, sounded a funeral knell all along the 
 road. They were told they would never be allowed 
 to return, but they did return after the three years' 
 war was over. They then found their church build- 
 ing in ruins. But most remarkable, they found that 
 the congregation had grown in their absence and in 
 spite of the war to fifty, due to the evangelist who 
 remained. Their membership continued to grow 
 so that when in 1876 the Basuto synod met at 
 Leribe, the attendance was so great that some of 
 them had to sleep in the caves of the surrounding 
 mountains. 
 
 But Providence was preparing Coillard for a 
 
114 Great Missionaries of 
 
 greater mission than among the Basutos. The Ba- 
 sutos learned that a large tribe up the Zambezi 
 river speaking their language was destitute of the 
 Gospel. They determined to send it to them. In 
 1874 one of the evangelists, Asher, was ordered 
 to visit the Banyai tribe farther north. He came 
 back with a most eloquent plea for missionaries for 
 them. He said: "Ah, why could I not cut off my 
 arms and legs and make every limb of mine a mis- 
 sionary to the Banyai?" He reported that three of 
 the chiefs had already offered sites for mission sta- 
 tions. 
 
 His address was electric in its effect. At one 
 memorial meeting an old man rose and said, "We've 
 had enough of talking. Let us do something," and 
 going to the communion table he laid upon it half a 
 crown. The whole congregation followed his ex- 
 ample and the movement spread to other stations. 
 After the custom of the French churches to give 
 some offering on Communion Sunday, they came 
 one communion day, — men, women and children, 
 and even babes at their mother's breasts, were gath- 
 ered at the sacred table to lay upon it their offer- 
 ings for this new mission. In a short time $2,500 
 was raised, not counting, cattle large and small, that 
 
The Reformed Church. 115 
 
 were offered. The Missionary Conference could no 
 longer hesitate. They chose four men to go. This 
 was a beautiful illustration of converted heathen 
 sending the Gospel to convert the heathen. 
 
 It happened that just at that time Major Malan, 
 a grandson of the famous Rev. C?esar Malan, of 
 Geneva, who had resigned his commission in the 
 British army to do soldier work for the Captain of 
 our salvation, visited these French missions of 
 South Africa. This visit led to a wonderful spiritual 
 uplift in the mission. One day in crossing the river 
 Kei, when they had climbed up its slope, overcome 
 with an irresistible impulse, Malan says : "We all 
 sprang from our horses, knelt in the shadow of the 
 bush — I still see it before me — then taking ourselves 
 as witnesses we offered ourselves individually to the 
 new mission, an act of deep solemnity which made 
 us all brothers in arms." Immediately we remounted, 
 Major Malan spurred his horse, galloped up the hill, 
 and called out : "Three soldiers ready to conquer 
 Africa." This was the true beginning of the Barotsi 
 mission on the Zambesi. 
 
 A newly arrived missionary, Dieterlen, was sent 
 to the new field in 1875, only to be arrested and im- 
 prisoned by the Boers and the expedition broken 
 9 
 
ii6 Great Missionaries of 
 
 up. But Coillard rose above the danger, "Even if 
 their missionary had been imprisoned," he said, 
 "the Gospel entered Europe by a prison. Forward ! 
 Forward!" As a result just at the time when he 
 and his wife were preparing to take a much needed 
 rest in France, after ten years' absence, the mis- 
 sionary conference asked him to go on an explor- 
 ing expedition to the Banyai. Hard as it was to 
 give up their long-cherished plans, they started 
 April, 1877, accompanied by several native evangel- 
 ists. They soon found themselves in most perilous 
 situations. Soon after they came to a border chief 
 of the Banyai named Masonda. At his invitation 
 they visited his capital where they found themselves 
 surrounded by threatening blacks and unable to 
 escape. A plot was laid to kill them. Coillard 
 and his wife were being led by some of these na- 
 tives, one of them taking Mrs. Coillard's arm, along 
 slippery rocks, when one of the evangelists said, 
 "Where are they leading our mother?" Coillard 
 looked up and saw before them an abyss. He 
 seized his wife and tore her from the hands of the 
 savages and then succeeded in making their way 
 back to the camp. But they learned later that the 
 chief had planned to throw them all over the preci- 
 
The Reformed Church. 117 
 
 pice. With great difficulty, though surrounded by 
 armed savages for several days, they at last suc- 
 ceeded ill escaping from this chief. At one time as 
 the savages pressed so closely on the caravan, Coil- 
 lard could, with difficulty, prevent his company 
 from shooting, which would only have resulted in 
 a massacre of them all. At another time another 
 chief, Chibi, would have murdered him, if his faith- 
 ful evangelist had not thrown himself between Coil- 
 lard and the knife. 
 
 A few weeks after leaving the treacherous Mas- 
 onda, they were seized by an armed caravan and 
 carried to Lobengula, the king of the Matabele 
 tribe, who kept them prisoners for four months. He 
 treated them with kindness, but was angered that 
 they had entered his territory without his knowl- 
 edge. He finally refused to allow them to settle in 
 his land, and sent them out of it. Thus their mis- 
 sion to the Banyai had been refused. Discouraged 
 and driven out, they went to the Barotsi tribe 
 who spoke the same language as the Basutos. There 
 they were gladly received by the border-clans of the 
 tribe. Livingston had been among them and had 
 left the name of missionary in good odor. Coillard 
 said he felt not a little humiliated at being continu- 
 
Ii8 Great Missionaries of 
 
 ally called by them "Doctor," as they had done to 
 Livingston. He says : "Thus it is that the first mis- 
 sionary that comes along is invested with the boots 
 of this giant." 
 
 At Shesheke he evangelized with success among 
 them as he could speak their language and they 
 were cjuite receptive to the Gospel. But one after 
 another his evangelists died. "Their tombs," he 
 said, "shall be the finger-posts to point the way for 
 the new missions." While staying there Major 
 Serpo Pinto, the Portuguese explorer, sent by Por- 
 tugal to ofTset the increasing power of England in 
 Africa, came to them in utter destitution and sick 
 with the fever. Mrs. Coillard nursed him to health 
 and the explorer pays a fine tribute to them and 
 their work in his book. During this expedition the 
 caravan was attacked by lions. Water was scarce, 
 and Mr. Coillard suffered much from fever, and 
 both himself and his wife were greatly worn out 
 when they at last returned to the Basutos. They 
 had reached in two years the Barotsi tribe on the 
 Upper Zambesi river, a journey of i,ooo miles 
 through the dense, wild wilderness. He had pene- 
 trated as far as the north bank of the Zambesi, but 
 the rainy season prevented further progress, although 
 
AFADAMI-: C. COILLARD. 
 
The Reformed Church. 119 
 
 the king of the Barotsi had invited them. Consider- 
 ing her sex, Mrs. Coillard's journey was as great as 
 any of Stanley's in Africa. 
 
 But although their journey seemed fruitless, yet 
 it gave the inspiration for the founding of a new 
 mission. They brought the news to the Basutos that 
 away up north, on the north side of the Zambesi 
 river, was a tribe that spoke their language. Were 
 they not therefore responsible to carry the gospel 
 to them, especially as they had so cordially received 
 the missionaries? But the Reformed Church of 
 France was at that time too weak to undertake the 
 great work of founding a new mission. For this 
 reason Coillard did what he had hoped to do two 
 years before. He and his wife went home to France 
 January, 1880, after an absence of 22 years, having 
 labored at Leribe 20 years. They spent two years 
 in Europe travelling everywhere in the interest of 
 the new mission. With great eloquence, but with 
 great humbleness, he plead for this new work. The 
 fragility of his body, which the Zambesi fever had al- 
 most burned up, gave increased power to his words. 
 He traveled through France, Switzerland, Holland, 
 Belgium, everywhere, at mission meetings and con- 
 ferences, presenting his cause. His wife was also 
 
120 Great Missionaries of 
 
 indefatigable in aiding him, and merited more than 
 ever the beautiful pronoun "we," which he was 
 wont to use of her in his letters. 
 
 In August, 1882, they returned to Leribe in Af- 
 rica, alas, to find the church devastated and scattered 
 by war. Six months were required to bring order 
 out of chaos. 
 
 Finally on January 2, 1884, they started for the 
 new field on the Zambesi, with six wagons drawn 
 by oxen. What faith it required to make so long a 
 journey into the wilderness ! There were wild 
 beasts to be feared and sickness far from help, and 
 wilder men, worse than beasts. Though near the 
 tropics it became so cold at night that one of them 
 said humorously : "There aren't any tropics ; I don't 
 believe in them," as he muffled himself in his cloak. 
 And Coillard says: "Every one laughed and that 
 warmed them up." He found that the Jesuits had 
 already established themselves in that country, but 
 in the providence of God they were soon compelled 
 to leave. The farther he traveled, the darker, mor- 
 ally, Africa seemed. He says : "A historian speaking 
 of George IV. has said that if he had been stripped 
 of all his waistcoats in which he had a mania for 
 muffling himself, you might have searched in vain 
 
The Reformed Church. 121 
 
 for a man. I can say the same of the Zambesians. 
 I beheve that under the pile of all that is hideous 
 in paganism we shall find men, and men whom we 
 can love." 
 
 By October 17 he had come to Leshoma, south 
 of the Zambesi, where Mrs. Coillard remained while 
 he went ahead to explore. His photographs created 
 quite an excitement. He had to show them his sun 
 (his watch), and then a mirror, which the young 
 women never forget. He says : "An old woman, 
 who could not believe that his whole body was as 
 white as his face, on seeing his bare arm, cried out 
 in a tone of compassion that quite touched me : 'It is 
 possible ! He is like a new born child.' " 
 
 He appeared before the court at Lealuyi and was 
 cordially welcomed, though the prime minister, 
 Gambella, said: "We have yellow hearts (of envy), 
 and our country is full of blood," which indeed 
 proved only too true. Because Coillard and his 
 evangelist, Aaron, spoke the Sessuto language, the 
 language of the Basutos and also of this tribe, it 
 gave them great popularity. He returned to Lesh- 
 oma where his wife had meanwhile, in the face of 
 sickness labored hard in forming a school. He said 
 of her : "Are there many women who would thus 
 
122 Great Missionaries of 
 
 deprive themselves of the aid and advice of their 
 husbands in such isolations and under such burdens 
 of responsibilities ?" 
 
 On August 14, 1885, the party left Leshoma and 
 crossed the Zambesi to Shesheke where they arrived 
 December 12, after a journey of 1,000 miles from 
 Basutoland. There for a time they established 
 their mission. Coillard then started for the capital, 
 Lealuyi, where he held the first service. 
 
 The king Lewanika, received him kindly, but be- 
 gan to reveal his selfish nature. The king said he 
 wanted to ask him for all sorts of things — candles, 
 coffee, medicine. Coillard replied that he was not 
 a trader. The king said: "And if I want shirts, a 
 hat and shoes, you will have to get them for me." 
 Coillard replied that he could not. And the king 
 was very much astonished, for all the white men he 
 had seen before were traders and he had fleeced 
 them at his pleasure. The king, however, permitted 
 him to hold service in his capital and attended it. 
 Coillard then went back and brought his wife and 
 caravan, January 10, 1887, to Sefula, 300 miles fur- 
 ther, in the heart of the Barotsi country and not 
 very far from Lealuyi, where he permanently lo- 
 cated the mission. When they arrived there was 
 
The Reformed Church. 123 
 
 great excitement at Sefula. Men wrapped in long 
 strips of calico bound round the waist by bands of 
 serpent skins and with white and down rabbit tails in 
 their hair, women in still larger numbers, with their 
 short petticoats of antelope hides and copper and 
 ivory bracelets dangling on their wrists and knees, all 
 were hastening to see that extraordinary phenom- 
 enon — a white lady. The air resounded with clap- 
 ping of hands and shouts of " Hail, hail, lord, good 
 day, O our mother!" 
 
 At the end of a ten years' wandering he at last 
 founded his new mission. He at once began ser- 
 vices in the open air which he thus describes : "Yes- 
 terday (February 27), we had 150 auditors. But it 
 is difficult in the open air to hold these restless 
 spirits captive. It may be the wind, the rain or the 
 sun. It may be a bird flying past, a fowl cackling, 
 or dogs barking or fighting. The people greet each 
 other during the service, they chat, laugh, take 
 snuff, come and go. Still, sometimes they listen. 
 Yesterday I riveted their attention by the story of 
 the deluge, and closed by describing the deluge of 
 fire, prophesied by Peter, and appealed to the audi- 
 ence: "Where will you flee from the wrath of 
 God?" Some of them good-naturedly called out to 
 him, "To thee, O missionary, our father." 
 
124 Great Missionaries of 
 
 They opened a school March 4, holding it under 
 the trees, the lessons in writing being given on the 
 sand. It began with 20 scholars, the king sending 
 two of his sons and five of his nephews. The 
 pupils lived at the expense of the public, and Coil- 
 lard had stolen by them some of his valuable ba- 
 rometers as well as his poultry and sheep. But he 
 had to bear it without complaint. Finally the school 
 broke up (February, 1888), because the novelty 
 was over and the boys had to go on fighting expe- 
 ditions. He was, however, surprised to learn that 
 the king, heathen that he was, ordered Sunday 
 to be observed while on these expeditions, for 
 the king had been a regular attendant at his ser- 
 vices. But, sad to say, the king, in order to do this, 
 had forced away from Coillard two of his best 
 young men who were inquirers after religion, but 
 who then fell away from him under the king's influ- 
 ence. The king made these two teach him to read 
 and even made them hold public services by pray- 
 ing, singing and preaching. Yet their immoral life 
 made it only a scandal. On November 14, 1887, 
 Coillard had begun his class of catechumens, two in 
 number, one a boy of great promise, Nguana- 
 Ngombe, whom he found praying in the thickets. 
 
The Reformed Church. 125 
 
 and asking : "What must I do to be saved ?" He later 
 became the first baptized convert, May 25, 1890. 
 
 In October, 1888, the school began again with 
 48 pupils of whom Litia, the king's son, was the 
 leader. Coillard also approached the king on his 
 return from his expeditions : "When will you be- 
 come a believer?" "When I know how to read," 
 was his reply. "Why should you wait? Has not 
 your conscience told you you have done much 
 evil ?" The king hung his head. "Ah," he sighed, 
 "it is a terrible thing to be a king." Coillard then 
 prayed with him. But still he was obdurate. He, 
 however, became a total abstainer, and of his own 
 accord forbade the manufacture, sale and drinking 
 of beer in his kingdom — a lesson for Christian coun- 
 tries. He later tried to stop slavery also. Coillard 
 was more hopeful of the king's son, Litia, who was 
 hungry for learning and had considerable ability. 
 Litia's faith gradually was undermined in the 
 heathen superstitions. When one of the princes was 
 ill and the mother ordered him to sacrifice at the an- 
 cestors' tombs for his recovery, Litia replied : "I am 
 no longer in darkness, I no longer pray to the dead." 
 Coillard frequently would say: "I do not see why 
 Litia does not become an open Christian, for God's 
 grace is evidently working in his heart." 
 
126 Great Missionaries of 
 
 The king in 1891 sent Litia to Basutoland to the 
 French school there at Moriah, but he soon came 
 suddenly back and startled Coillard by saying : "My 
 father, I am no longer the old Litia. I am 
 converted and have found Christ." It seems that 
 Litia had come under the influence of a Christian 
 chief, Khama, in that southern land and came home 
 wanting to be like him. 
 
 Litia's conversion proved a great comfort to Mrs. 
 Coillard. Ever since she had come to the land of 
 the Barotsis her health had been failing. When the 
 girls' school was started in addition to the boys' 
 school, the king placed so many daughters and their 
 servants in it that her private life was much inter- 
 fered with. She said: "What a task to teach these 
 filthy savages cleanliness, self-respect and mor- 
 ality !" And though the boys became impressed with 
 Christianity, none of the girls did. Some of them she 
 had to turn away for their immorality. In the midst 
 of such surroundings she labored, and her health 
 finally gave entirely away. A vacation was sug- 
 gested to her after her break-down, but she heroic- 
 ally said : "Life is too short to abandon God's work 
 for any such reason." On the Sunday before her 
 death although weak, she went out into the field 
 
The Reformed Church. 127 
 
 and was attacked by a vulture which she was al- 
 most too weak to resist. Help came, but she was 
 brought into the village in a famting condition. Still 
 she recovered enough to attend both services. That 
 evening she was filled with unspeakable joy as Litia 
 made his public profession of Christ. And while 
 he was speaking Mokomba, another young man of 
 the royal family broke out into sobs. She said : 
 "A Barotsi weeping, and weeping about his sins. I 
 thought they had no tears to shed. Why, it is a 
 sight I would have travelled 300 miles to see. It 
 was the most beautiful meeting I have ever attended 
 among the Zambesis." 
 
 It was to be her last. On Thursday they played 
 and sang together "The Golden Gate :" as her hus- 
 band afterwards said, " She had already sighted it." 
 Then came the fever, making terrible progress. 
 Her eyes filled with tears as she thought of leaving 
 him alone among the savages. But before she died, 
 on the eve of her death, she said to him : "Death is 
 not as difficult as we thought and I feared. It is 
 not painful, and then it is such a short passage when 
 underneath are everlasting arms." She died Octo- 
 ber 28, 1891, gazing into the sky, as if she had a 
 vision, and saying, "How very beautiful," and then 
 
128 Great Missionaries of 
 
 saying, as they laid her on the bed, "I have at last 
 arrived." 
 
 Great was the mourning in the mission and the 
 villages as they laid her to rest. Her husband bears 
 this testimony of her : "Much is said of the courage, 
 activity and work of the missionary, but men ig- 
 nore the fact that as a rule the missionary is a mis- 
 sionary only in proportion as his wife is one and as- 
 sisting him." She was to him not only a wife, but a 
 nurse, teacher, and really a martyr in her spirit. 
 Writing to a friend about her death, he beautifully 
 says "sursum corda" : (Death is not a parting, but 
 a reunion). 
 
 After her death came dark days. Litia soon went 
 back to heathenish polygamy. The king, while he 
 wanted the missionary to stay with him, yet hard- 
 ened himself against religious influences. Coillard 
 once said he knew the reality of martyrdom without 
 its joys. Lewanika, the king, was a despot and in- 
 sisted on forcing on the missionaries all sorts of 
 exorbitant bargains. "What have I to do," he once 
 said, "with a gospel that gives me neither guns, nor 
 powder, nor coffee, nor tea, nor sugar, nor artisans 
 to work for me?" Coillard says he was a weather- 
 cock; now favorable, now an enemy. He even 
 

 
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 -^ :■■ ■'■ fe ■ ft f • 
 
 
 
 
 1 4^#^ 
 
The Reformed Church. 129 
 
 proclaimed a blockade of the mission and threatened 
 to strangle any one who served the missionary. The 
 moral condition of the people oppressed Coillard. 
 Once he wrote : "Heathen Africa can find no parallel 
 to their state. The whole land is a Sodom and the 
 benighted people whose conscience is dead, glory in 
 their shame." The king finally inveigled the first 
 convert, Nguana-Ngombe to his court and back to 
 heathenism. 
 
 But in spite of all these difficulties the work grew. 
 Some of the royal family becam.e converted. On 
 March 11, 1894, the church was dedicated and Litia 
 began showing more interest. He came to the mis- 
 sionary, saying : 'T want to be a child of God and I 
 pray him to give me strength to be true to Him. 
 Pray for me." Litia surprised them on Sunday, 
 October 7, 1894, by rising in the large audience and 
 saying: "Henceforth I have broken the bonds of 
 Satan to become a child of God. I have sent away 
 my second wife so as to obey God. Make haste and 
 be converted to him." This act led to 120 conver- 
 sions, among them several chiefs. Litia afterwards 
 remained faithful to the church. In 1895 there was 
 quite a revival, resulting in a number of converts. 
 
 In 1902 Coillard reported that "the chapel is often 
 
130 Great Missionaries of 
 
 quite full. Slaves carry in chairs for the chiet, 
 Litia, and his wife, and for the princess Akenangi- 
 sod and her husband. Before the service the con- 
 gregation is squatting outside of the chapel. When 
 Litia passes, all kneel and clap their hands. He 
 never replies to their salutations ; for this would not 
 be royal. He enters majestically following the mis- 
 sionary. Behind him comes a long procession of 
 men who seat themselves on their mats, the young 
 lads come in chattering and squat on the ground 
 before the pulpit. Then, always late, comes the two 
 princesses with their long train of women. The 
 men are very attentive. To look at their faces you 
 would say that they understood everything. They 
 sing well, Litia especially. He also prays some- 
 times. He is very well mannered, has brilliant eyes 
 and a pleasing smile. He is always well-dressed 
 with a stiflf collar, starched cuflFs, dazzling shirt- 
 front, black coat and polished shoes." 
 
 Perhaps one of the most touching stories of 
 this mission is that told by a poor black 
 woman at a prayer meeting, whose subject was 
 "Lot's wife." She said she had just come up from 
 the bottom of the valley. On her way she found 
 people working in the fields on Sunday. She ac- 
 
The Reformed Church. 131 
 
 costed them, and invited them to come and hear the 
 word of God. They replied with contempt: "It is 
 no longer the missionary who comes and reminds us 
 that it is the Lord's day. Now it is these fag-ends 
 of women folks. Begone ! Be off to play the be- 
 liever, if you imagine the missionaries are going to 
 give you cloths and beads." "O, my masters," re- 
 plied the poor thing, "1 am nothing but a poor 
 slave to be sure, I am nothing, but I feel the need of 
 learning the things of God. Oh, no, it is not cloth 
 or beads that I am looking for. What could I do 
 with them? I have never worn anything but this 
 bodice of skin. But I am a great sinner and what I 
 seek is the pardon of my sins." 
 
 But the missionary's health began to break down. 
 The Paris Society wanted him to come home on 
 furlough, but he did not wish to do so, as he feared 
 he might never return to the mission, as he was 60 
 years old. His reply to their request was : "Send 
 us first ten workers and I will come and help you 
 find ten others." But he was finally compelled by 
 his health to take a vacation in 1896. When he left 
 there were five stations in the Zambezi mission with 
 a number of converts and a school of evangelists 
 
 with 10 pupils. Before he left he was frequently 
 10 
 
132 Great Missionaries of 
 
 visited by the king and others in his sickness. When 
 Coillard said to the king that he mourned that he 
 did not come out publicly as a Christain, the king 
 replied : "That I am not a Christian is not your fault 
 for you have given me no rest daily." Coillard ar- 
 rived at Paris on June 18, 1896. 
 
 In 1899 he was again in Europe and when he left 
 for the Zambesi (December 10, 1899), the Oratoire 
 Church at Paris was crowded. The Rev. Theodore 
 Monod said there that he would use of him the 
 words engraven on the tomb of Charles Kingsley, 
 "We have loved, we love, we will love," He had 
 succeeded in raising nearly $30,000 in Europe for 
 his mission and had gained a re-enforcement of 
 fifteen missionaries. He is still hard at work in his 
 field of the Zambesis. 
 
 At the recent coronation of King Edward VH of 
 England, one of the foreign kings, whose visit 
 awakened great interest, was King Lewanika, of 
 Barotsiland. Though not a professing Christian, 
 he is deeply concerned for the moral condition of 
 his family, and is so favorable to them that he wrote 
 to the Paris Mission Society from Edinburgh tha* 
 he desired that country to be covered with a net- 
 work of mission stations. He has succeeded in 
 
The Reformed Church. 133 
 
 stamping out intemperance, the slave trade, and in- 
 fanticide, and greatly raised the standard of civil- 
 ization. Lewanika recently, on his return from the 
 coronation of King Edward VII, at London, though 
 still not a Christian, yet bore most remarkable testi- 
 mpny to it. In his address he said : "I have two 
 words to say. Here is the first : 'Praise God, bless 
 him.' For the second word I say, 'The Gospel — it is 
 all.' " We trust he is not far from the kingdom of 
 God. 
 
 Of his mission Rev. Dr. J. Johnson, of England, 
 a competent authority says : "It is the most beauti- 
 ful mission I have seen in Africa." Mr. Coillard 
 tells a story that on one occasion when a pastor in 
 Basutoland, a black minister, invited him to Kim- 
 berley, he went and greatly enjoyed the festival at 
 the church. When he was about leaving the minis- 
 ter put into his hand a number of small diamonds. 
 "These represent a day's work of my men. Choose 
 which you like." Coillard says : "I took a long time 
 to look over them. There were yellow, black and 
 white. At last I chose a black one." "But that 
 is the least valuable," said the minister. "Perhaps 
 so," said Coillard, but I like black diamonds ; they 
 are the jewels I am seeking myself for the Saviour's 
 
134 Great Missionaries of 
 
 crown." He will wear many black diamonds in 
 his crown of rejoicing in heaven as the witness of 
 his work. 
 
Chapter V. 
 PAUL BERTHOUD AND ERNEST CREUX. 
 Sometimes missionaries go in pairs and become 
 twins in the work — true yoke-fellows in Christ, The 
 southwestern part of Switzerland is French and the 
 Free Churches of the three French cantons, of 
 Neuchatel, Vaud and Geneva, have united to form 
 a Missionary Society, which they called the Ro- 
 mande Society. The beginnings of their organiza- 
 tion came about in this way. In May, 1869, the Synod 
 of the Free Church of the canton of Vaud, at its 
 session at Lausanne, was taken by surprise at re- 
 ceiving a challenge from two of the students of 
 their Theological Seminary at Lausanne, Paul Ber- 
 thoud and Ernst Creux, in which they offered 
 themselves as foreign missionaries. (Neither of the 
 French-Swiss churches had as yet its own mission, 
 although they had raised some money which they 
 paid into the treasury of the Mission Society at 
 Paris). The letter was a fine specimen of youthful 
 earnestness for the salvation of the heathen. "To 
 whom shall we go," said the letter, "rather than to 
 the church to which we belong? We will go where- 
 ever you wish us — to the tropics in the south, or to 
 
 135 
 
136 Great Missionaries of 
 
 the regions of ice in the north. Speak, command, 
 send, and we will obey." 
 
 The synod was deeply moved by this earnest ap- 
 peal, but felt itself too small a body to undertake 
 so great a work as to start a missionary society of 
 its own and send these young men. The deliberate- 
 ness of older heads halted the effort to advance. But 
 the next synod at St. Croix (held the same year), 
 appointed a committee of five to aid the young men 
 in carrying out their desire and immediately money 
 began to flow in for the work. 
 
 While the Vaud Church was deliberating and the 
 young men were waiting, the Paris Missionary So- 
 ciety sent word to them : "Why do you hold back 
 the young men so long? Send them to us. We can 
 use them." So finally in 1872, three years after 
 their first appeal, the two young men, Berthoud 
 and Creux, went to South Africa to engage in ser- 
 vice for the Paris Society. But they were not to re- 
 main in its service long, for Rev. Mr. Mabille, one 
 of the Paris Society's missionaries, had gone on an 
 exploring tour northward to a new district called 
 the Ma-Gwamba. He brought this district to the 
 notice of the Paris Society, but it found itself too 
 weak to undertake this new work, and it appealed 
 
The Reformed Church. 137 
 
 to the Free Church of Vaud to take it as its mis- 
 sion. So finally on April 28, 1874, the Synod of 
 that church decided to form a missionary society 
 of its own and to appoint Berthoud and Creux as its 
 missionaries and send them to the Ma-Gwamba. The 
 missionaries at once set out for this country located 
 in the northeastern part of the Transvaal, and on 
 July 9, 1875, they arrived at Spelonken and began 
 living among the savages. They at once found that 
 the first necessity was the learning of a new lan- 
 guage, the Ma-Gwamba, which they soon reduced 
 to writing. They called the mission Valdezia, nam- 
 ing it after their canton of Vaud. 
 
 They found the natives willing to learn. In 
 studying the language they found that the blacks 
 had traditions of the flood which had come down 
 to them. Beginning with this trace of Bible story 
 they tried to lead the poor savages up to the Bible 
 and to Jesus. A great hindrance, however, was the 
 immoral character of the blacks. They were given 
 to stealing, lying and immorality. They were also 
 superstitious and much under control of their medi- 
 cine men, who, of course, bitterly opposed the mis- 
 sionaries. But the missionaries bravely continued 
 to visit the villages and to hold service, and in 
 
138 Great Missionaries of 
 
 course of time one-fortieth of the people attended 
 worship and some became catechumens, Creux took 
 charge of the school and Berthoud of the cate- 
 chumens and the sick, as he had some knowledge of 
 medicine. 
 
 Then another difficulty appeared. The Transvaal 
 government in June, 1876, forbade them to preach 
 to the natives without its express permission. They 
 declared this impossible, for it was for that pur- 
 pose that they had come to Africa. They would 
 rather obey the voice of God than of man. Finally 
 they were arrested for their refusal to obey the 
 government and were sent to prison, August i, at 
 Marastabad. Their arrest was so sudden that they 
 were compelled to leave their wives and children be- 
 hind them in the wilderness at the mission station. 
 Unfortunately just at that time war broke out near 
 Spelonken and their families were left without any 
 defense. From the mission station their wives were 
 so close to hostilities that they could see the burning 
 of villages and the battles, and also the processions 
 of fugitives, near enough to hear the fusillade of the 
 battle and the cries of the wounded. Great was 
 their anxiety, but their covenant-God took care of 
 them. The missionaries themselves were treated 
 
The Reformed Church. 139 
 
 kindly in their prison, more as guests than as pris- 
 oners, and were allowed to preach to the blacks 
 where they were imprisoned. Finally on September 
 6, 1876, after a little over a month's imprisonment, 
 they were set free and allowed to return to 
 Spelonken. 
 
 As soon as they had returned evidences of the 
 presence of God's Spirit began to show themselves. 
 Three weeks later, on October i, they had their 
 first baptism which took place a little over a year 
 after their arrival at the mission. Their first con- 
 vert was a poor black woman named Sehlumula. 
 She had been maltreated by her husband and had 
 been driven away from home by him in scorn. She 
 had seen all her children die. She had been at the 
 mercy of a cruel and violent brother, who intended 
 to sell her as a slave so as to make some money oflf 
 of her. In all her troubles she at last found com- 
 fort in Jesus. At her baptism she told the story of 
 her conversion which produced a great effect on her 
 hearers. She received the name of Lydia, because 
 like Lydia in Paul's time, she was their first con- 
 vert in the new continent. On July 8, 1877, seven 
 more were received into the church and by the end of 
 1878 there were 40 baptized Christians. In 1878 a 
 
I40 Great Missionaries of 
 
 new station named Elim was founded, and in 1879 
 Creux took charge of it. 
 
 But the mission still suflfered afflictions. Sickness 
 and even death came into their midst. Mrs. Ber- 
 thoud was called away by death and also some of 
 the missionaries' children. But while Providence 
 was decreasing their number by death, it was in- 
 creasing it by sending out new missionaries. Who 
 should be sent out from Switzerland but the brother 
 of Bethoud, Henry. Finally in 1883 the Free 
 Churches of the other French cantons, (Neuchatel 
 and Geneva), united with this society of the Canton 
 Vaud in forming a united society, which they called 
 the Romande Society. This gave it a much larger 
 constituency at home and the work in Africa was 
 correspondingly enlarged. New missionaries were 
 sent and the work rapidly grew in prosperity and in- 
 fluence. 
 
 But the most successful field of this Missionary 
 Society was at Delagoa Bay on the east coast of 
 Africa. As early as 1880 one of the new converts 
 named Joseph happened to go to Delagoa Bay in 
 search of his sisters whom he had not seen for 25 
 years, until they succeeded in escaping from slavery 
 together with their mother. He returned to the Ma- 
 
The Reformed Church. 14T 
 
 Gwamba, but in 1881 he was again sent to Delagoa 
 Bay by Creux to sound the chief there and find out 
 whether he could be favorable to the starting of a 
 new mission. Joseph came back with bright news, 
 saying that the field was full of promise. The mis- 
 sionaries decided to send him there as an evangelist. 
 On April 23 he was ordained at Spelonken when 
 the converted heathen raised money to start this 
 new mission station. They called the new mission 
 Antioch, because like Antioch in Scripture, it was 
 the first attempt of the converted to establish a mis- 
 sion elsewhere. About the same time that Antioch 
 was founded, a brother-in-law of Joseph, named 
 Eliaschib, founded another station south of Antioch 
 at Rikatla. 
 
 This whole district has been called a white man's 
 grave on account of the awful mortality there to the 
 whites. Nevertheless in 1887 Paul Berthoud visited 
 the field. As he neared the coast he was surprised 
 to hear singing in the language of the Ma-Gwamba. 
 It was the people of Rikatla, 130 in number, who, 
 under Joseph's leadership, had come out to meet 
 him. He was greatly moved by this kind recep- 
 tion and much encouraged in view of the dangers 
 to him there. He finally, in the face of the African 
 
142 Great Missionaries of 
 
 fever so prevalent, settled right there. But a kind 
 Providence watched over him and the fever did not 
 touch him. Soon a most remarkable religious move- 
 ment began in the Delagoa Bay region. At Tempe, 
 the farthest point from the mission, there was a 
 man named Jim Boy. He had been baptized, but 
 had fallen from grace, being a polygamist and slave- 
 trader. Still the influence of Christianity remained 
 with him, for he would preach, and the natives un- 
 der him were so much moved that great weeping 
 occurred at his services. He returned to the church 
 afterwards. 
 
 At Rikatla also very remarkable scenes took place. 
 Eliaschib's house was the meeting-place for worship. 
 When a man was met on the way to it and was ask- 
 ed, "Where are you going," his reply would be, 
 "To the spring." And when asked "Why?" he 
 would answer, "Because I am thirsty." Having ar- 
 rived at Eliaschib's house he would seat himself 
 among the people and say, "I am hungry." Then 
 the Bible would be brought out and explained, and 
 his hunger appeased. How simple-hearted the 
 piety of these blacks. What an example to many 
 in our Christian lands, who, in spite of all their 
 Christian privileges, hunger and thirst so little for 
 
The Reformed Church. 143 
 
 the privileges of worship. These converts called 
 themselves "The Children of the Lord," "Children 
 of the Father," and "God's Beloved Ones." A 
 great revival followed in which, it is true, there 
 were some extravagences, for some became inspira- 
 tionists and declared that they saw visions. All 
 through the movement it required the most careful 
 guidance, which Berthoud was able to give it. But 
 the result of it was that in 1888 300 united with 
 the church. In 1889 Berthoud founded another 
 mission at Lorenzo Marque, the seaport of Delagoa 
 Bay. 
 
 But dangers threatened the whole mission. War 
 broke out in 1894 between the Portuguese and the 
 blacks. Many of their out-stations were destroyed. 
 Some of the Christians were killed, among them an 
 evangelist, Galasa, who was speared while kneeling 
 in prayer. But after the war it continued to pros- 
 per. In 1898 it had 8 stations, 12 married mis- 
 sionaries with 8 other missionaries. Its member- 
 ship had risen to 1,800, of whom 1,000 were at Lo- 
 renzo Marque. The Missionary Society at home 
 raised that year $30,000, of which $5,000 were 
 given for the famine then raging in South Africa. 
 Of this the mission itself raised $1,275. For the 
 
144 Great Missionaries of 
 
 natives were very liberal, considering their poverty. 
 Thus on one occasion, after Creux had preached, a 
 young man stepped up and gave him $80, saying it 
 was part of the money he had once received for a 
 stolen diamond. He said : "I can no longer endure 
 the guilt of it. Here is the money, and the remain- 
 ing $20 I will bring as soon as I am able." So 
 great a reputation did these black Christians gain 
 for honesty that the European merchants would 
 ask the missionaries for men to whom they could 
 entrust money to buy cattle in the interior. There 
 are now over 2,000 members in the mission, of 
 whom the greater part are in the region of Delagoa 
 Bay. 
 
 "Great," says Rev. Mr. Grandjean, one of the 
 missionaries who has been recalled from Africa to 
 become the home secretary of the Society in Swit- 
 zerland, "great have been the changes. Among the 
 sheaves were some very remarkable ones. At the 
 Littoral we see a number of women whom we love 
 to call mothers in Israel, a Lois, who, for example, 
 has been the living centre of those at Rikatla, 
 and at Lorenzo Marque, a Sarah, whose house had 
 formerly been a house of infamy, but now the first 
 place of worship. We have seen a great number 
 
The Reformed Church. 145 
 
 of men change their Hves from laziness to activity 
 and regularity. We have seen heathen chiefs aban- 
 doning their pagan lives of voluptuousness and be- 
 coming Christians at the risk of losing their prestige 
 and position, as Jim at Tempe, Mohlaba at Schlou- 
 vane, and Ndjakandjaka at Spelonken. We have 
 seen a large number of young men drawn from a 
 pagan life to become evangelists after seven years 
 of study in two strange languages, the Sessouto 
 and the English. We have seen transformations 
 in the individual, in society, in the relations between 
 the tribes, and in the attitude of the government." 
 
Chapter VI. 
 ESCANDE AND MINAULT. 
 
 THE REFORMED MARTYRS OF THE IQTH CENTURY. 
 
 Madagascar has been the scene of wonderful suc- 
 cess, of terrible persecutions and magnificent mar- 
 tyrdoms — "a. nation born in a day," as her people 
 so wonderfully welcomed Christianity. Then came 
 the awful persecutions, 1835-61, especially on March 
 28, 1849, when 14 native Christians bound with 
 ropes were thrown over the "Stone of Hurling," 
 a precipice 100 feet high, at the capital, Antanan- 
 arivo. But the blood of the martyrs is the seed of 
 the church, and when the missionaries returned in 
 1861 they found the number of Christians had 
 greatly increased in their absence, as in the capital 
 they had risen from 200 in 1835 to 700 in 1861. The 
 London Society had a few years ago 60,000 com- 
 municants and 300,000 adherents in Madagascar, 
 and there are other societies also laboring there, as 
 the Friends and Norwegians. 
 
 But for the last few years, evil times have fallen 
 on that island. France for nearly a century has had 
 her eye on this rich island and sought every oppor- 
 tunity to gain influence there. In 1883 she attacked 
 
 147 
 
 II 
 
148 Great Missionaries of 
 
 her but gained nothing except a resident general 
 at the capital with a few French troops as a guard 
 of honor. Finally in 1895 France sent an army of 
 15,000 to subjugate the island. They landed and 
 marched to the capital 300 miles inland. They met 
 with practically no opposition, losing far more by 
 sickness than by war. Fears were early entertained 
 that if France gained control the fine work of 
 the London Missionary Society would be interfered 
 with and perhaps stopped. And so it came to pass. 
 Although the French government did not forbid 
 Protestant missions in its colonies as it had done 
 in the early part of the nineteenth century (for 
 Frances' influence has always been with Catholi- 
 cism), yet the Catholics at once saw their oppor- 
 tunity in Madagascar. And with the French army 
 came the Catholic priests, especially the Jesuits. 
 However, fortunately for the Protestants, the first 
 French Governor-General there happened to be a 
 Protestant, Mr. Laroche. For this the Romanists 
 cursed the home government because it interfered 
 with their unlimited control. Still in certain dis- 
 tricts there was much oppression — the Catholic 
 worship introduced and the Protestant forced out. 
 The Protestant evangelists were driven out and 
 
The Reformed Church. 149 
 
 missionaries evicted from their parsonaj^^es. The 
 Cathohcs especially fostered the idea that the mis- 
 sionaries of the London Missionary Society, being 
 foreigners and EngHshmen, were disloyal to the 
 new French government. Gallieni, the French gen- 
 eral said : "All Protestants are Englishmen and 
 ought to be shot." 
 
 But at that juncture of affairs the London Society 
 proposed to turn over its work to the Paris Society, 
 as it was French, so that the splendid Protestant 
 movement might not be checked. It was too large 
 a field for the latter society. Nevertheless they rose 
 to the opportunity at once as far as they were able. 
 Some missions were transferred, enough to show 
 the government that the London Society had no sel- 
 fish aims or wished to be disloyal to France. The 
 Paris Society, as soon as the island came under the 
 power of France, sent two French pastors thither, 
 Lauga and Kruger, who began holding French Prot- 
 estant services there. Their presence was a great 
 gain ; for the Jesuits had gone about saying : "All 
 Protestants are Englishmen and are to be shot and 
 all Catholics are Frenchmen and are to be saved 
 or promoted." Their presence proved to the na- 
 tives that there were Protestants among the French. 
 
150 Great Missionaries of 
 
 However under General Gallieni the native Protes- 
 tants suffered considerable oppression. From the 
 beginning Protestant churches there were used 
 by the soldiers as barracks, but none of the Catholic 
 churches. Then the government proceeded farther 
 — to take other mission buildings for state use. In 
 Betsileo province the people were terrorized shame- 
 lessly by the agents of the Jesuits. The mission- 
 aries of the London Missionary Society were ban- 
 ished on the plea that they were Hovas (natives of 
 Madagascar). The twelve leading men of one 
 church were banished because suspicion was raised 
 against them that they were friendly to the English. 
 The Paris Missionary Society at once proceeded 
 to send missionaries there, who took charge of the 
 Protestant primary schools of the London Society, 
 for which there were 500 with more than 30,000 
 scholars. Their missionaries had not been long 
 there when two of them won the crown of martyr- 
 dom, Mr. Escande and Mr. Minault, who were 
 cruelly massacred on the road from the capital to 
 Fianarantsoa, where the latter was about to oc- 
 cupy the mission station in the disturbed district 
 of Betsileo. 
 
 Rev. Benjamin Escande was one of the best mis- 
 
REW BENJAMIN ESCANDE. 
 
The Reformed Church. 151 
 
 sionaries of the Paris Society. He had been mis- 
 sionary for a number of years in the French colony 
 of the Senegal in West Africa. He was born at 
 Mazainet, France, December 6, 1864. At a very 
 early age he manifested a love for spiritual things. 
 "Mamma," he said, when eight years old, "I would 
 like to be a deacon." God made him more than 
 that — a missionary. But this showed his early de- 
 sire for religious work. It was however the visit 
 of the famous missionary Coillard to France in 
 1 88 1 that led him definitely to determine to become 
 a missionary. His parents did not for a moment op- 
 pose his choice but said : "Our Benjamin has been 
 consecrated to Jesus since his birth. Let Him do 
 with him as seemeth best." After preparatory 
 studies in his home in France he was ordained at 
 Paris November 27, 1888, at the Church of the 
 Oratoire in Paris. He settled at St. Louis, in Sen- 
 gal, Africa, where he labored faithfully and suc- 
 cessfully about eight years. 
 
 In 1896, during a furlough in Europe, the Paris 
 Missionary Society appealed for volunteers for 
 Madagascar who would defend religious liberty 
 there and protect the Protestant church then men- 
 aced by the Jesuits. They desired some one to go, 
 
152 Great Missionaries of 
 
 as Messrs. Kruger and Lauga were about to re- 
 turn home. Not finding any person for such an 
 urgent and delicate mission, the Committee of the 
 Paris Missionary Society appealed to Escande to 
 go. Although at home in order to recruit his 
 health, he at once responded to their request by the 
 telegram, "I am at the disposition of the Commit- 
 tee. As God directs you." He sailed from Mar- 
 seilles August 26, 1896, and arrived at Antananarivo 
 September 26, 1896. He was kept very busy trying 
 to regain the churches of which the Protestants had 
 been dispossessed and to make the government re- 
 spect the liberty of conscience of the Protestants. 
 In this he showed great tact, courage and perse- 
 verance. In every way he tried to bring to naught 
 the designs of the Jesuits. He labored at Antanan- 
 arivo as French pastor and preacher, and besides 
 had also a large correspondence with the mission 
 churches at the home Society in France. Paul 
 Minault, who was a new missionary, a young man, 
 said of him one day: "He is a hero. I am filled 
 beyond bounds with admiration for him." The new 
 missionaries he awaited with great joy. They ar- 
 rived at Antananarivo April 26, 1897 — five of them : 
 Minault, Delord, Moudain, Meyer and Ducommun. 
 
The Reformed Church. 153 
 
 A few days after this the missionaries held their 
 conference, at which Minault was appointed to 
 Finanarantsoa, the capital of Betsileo province 
 where the Protestant work was dying through the 
 intrigues of t^e Jesuits. Escande accompanied him 
 in his journey because the young man's health had 
 been weakened by violent attacks of fever. They 
 left Antananarivo May 17, 1897. On May 21 after 
 dinner they arrived in the gorges of Anharatra, 
 nearly thirty miles from the capital. After a halt 
 of two hours for dinner they continued their jour- 
 ney. But when they had gone about a mile, their 
 convoy was suddenly assailed by thirty armed ban- 
 dits from an ambuscade. Their men at once threw 
 down their loads and escaped in every direction. 
 The two missionaries, accompanied by the faithful 
 boy of Mr. Escande, Rainimanga, tried in vain to 
 escape the assassins. Escande was ahead riding. 
 Minault, weakened by the fever and the too heavy 
 clothing, was unable to escape by running. He fell 
 without a word when the fatal shot struck him. 
 Escande, who had dismounted from his horse to 
 aid his companion when he saw him fall, tried to 
 remount to escape but was not able. He took sev- 
 eral steps when in turning he fell, struck by a ball. 
 
154 Great Missionaries of 
 
 The boy, happily, recovered the horse of Mr. Es- 
 cande and brought the sad news to Ramainandro 
 where there was a French mihtary post. The 
 bodies were found with many spear wounds upon 
 them, where they had been speared after they had 
 been shot. They were buried there and their col- 
 leagues placed the inscription on their tomb, "To 
 our Friends B. Escande and P. Minault, assassin- 
 ated May 21, 1897. 'I have fought the good fight.' " 
 The French government later placed a monument 
 to them. 
 
 Their loss turned out to be a blessing in disguise. 
 The French government learned to respect the 
 Protestants. And it was a bugle-blast to the 
 French Reformed at home. Their old Huguenot 
 blood rose within them. The Church rose from its 
 stupor and rallied with far greater energy to the 
 support of this mission. At once many volunteers 
 in France offered to take their places. The mission 
 in Madagascar will ever be dear to French Protest- 
 ants because baptized with blood. The Paris So- 
 ciety now has a very successful mission in Mada- 
 gascar to which the French government has been 
 making amends and French newspapers have paid 
 a tribute that their schools there were better than 
 
The Reformed Church. 155 
 
 those of the Romanists. The result has been that 
 the success of the Catholics has been checked. In 
 one district where there had been six Cath- 
 olic churches and one of the London Mission, now 
 the Catholic churches have been closed and the 
 London Society has six churches. Thus the 
 French Reformed saved the Protestant church of 
 Madagascar and enriched it with the blood of the 
 martyrs. 
 
BOOK III. 
 
THE REFORMED IN ASIA. 
 A.— India. 
 
 Chapter I. 
 
 ALPHONSE F. LACROIX. 
 
 N unknown and forgotten Reformed mis- 
 sionary is Lacroix, — unknown, because he 
 lived so far away and so long ago ; forgot- 
 ten, because his name is dimmed by the lustre 
 of great missionaries so much better known 
 to us. /And yet what Judson was to America, what 
 Carey was to England, Lacroix was to the French- 
 speaking Reformed churches of Switzerland — the 
 John the Baptist to awaken them to their responsi- 
 bility/ to save the heathen. He was a great mis- 
 sionary, and if the Reformed Church forgets to 
 honor him, she is the loser by it. He was a native 
 of French Switzerland, born near the scene of the 
 labors of Farel, that Elijah of the Alps in Refor- 
 mation days. What Farel did three hundred years 
 before in stirring up that region to a new life in the 
 gospel, that Lacroix did there in the last century, 
 stirring it to new life for foreign missions. He is in- 
 teresting to English readers, and especially to those 
 interested in woman's work, because /he is the fath- 
 
i6o Great Missionaries of 
 
 er_pf Mrs-JVIulleiis, who is reputed to have been 
 the founder of mission work among the Zenanas of 
 India, where so many thousands of women are im- 
 prisoned without hope or love. The story is this,* 
 — that Mrs. Mullens sat one day in her parlor em- 
 broidering a pair of slippers for her husband. A 
 Brahmin gentleman greatly admired them. Mrs. 
 Mullens asked him if he would not like to have his 
 wife taught to make them. He answered, "Yes." 
 So she went to his wife and began to teach her the 
 embroidering of slippers, but with it she inter- 
 twined the teaching of God's Word and of Jesus' 
 love. As some one says : "A needle opened the way 
 to reach the millions of India." Other Brahmin 
 women wanted to learn to embroider slippers, so 
 her opportunities increased. Other Zenanas were 
 opened until now there are a number of Zenana 
 societies with scores of missionaries who are visit- 
 ing and brightening up those Eastern prisons with 
 the tidings of Christ's love. 
 
 Alphonse Francis Lacroix was born May lo, 
 1799, at Lignieres, in the canton of Neuchatel, 
 
 *This origin of Zenana work has been denied, and the denial of 
 it is probably so far true that she was not the originator of work 
 for women in India as others urged it before her. Still the story 
 is very beautiful. 
 
The Reformed Church. i6i 
 
 Switzerland. As his father died soon after his 
 birth, his uncle took charge of him. His uncle had 
 charge of a boarding school in the suburbs of Neu- 
 chatel, and was one of the few godly men in that 
 age of unbelief who was not afraid to confess 
 Christ. His school, therefore, had an atmosphere 
 of piety about it that did not fail to tell on his 
 nephew. Indeed, the Christian influence of this 
 uncle was the original cause in preparing him ulti- 
 mately to become a missionary. There by the stone 
 of Serricres where Farel stood when he first 
 preached the doctrines of the reformation in that 
 canton, he learned the earnest truths of that gospel, 
 so as to preach them to the heathen. His uncle, 
 anxious to have him learn German, sent him to 
 Zurich, where he lived in the family of one of the 
 pastors. He learned German, but the spiritual in- 
 fluence of that home was not what his uncle's 
 school was. For alas ! the Church of Zwingli had 
 become cold through rationalistic influences in the 
 early part of this century. He returned to Neu- 
 chatel when twelve years of age. 
 
 Here the boy was father of the man, and early 
 revealed his future characteristics. He possessed 
 immense energy and incessant activity, and his tall, 
 
1 62 Great Missionaries of 
 
 stout, well-knit form seemed capable of doing end- 
 less work and bearing great fatigue. Many deeds 
 of daring are told of him. On one occasion he was 
 almost drowned. He lost his senses in the water, 
 and afterwards described how in a moment of time 
 the whole of his past life passed before him. He 
 was, however, saved for great purposes, like Wes- 
 ley. War had a great fascination for him. He 
 longed to become a soldier. The bravery of Arnold 
 Winkelried at Sempach, where he fell pierced by 
 the Austrian spears a martyr-hero for Switzerland, 
 enthused him. In this there was danger that he 
 would be drawn off from what was to become his 
 life work afterwards as a missionary. Yet it is not 
 wonderful that he was inclined that way. For his 
 boyhood took place during the stirring scenes of the 
 wars of Napoleon. Even down to his old age he 
 never forgot an old general of eighty years of age 
 reviewing a body of troops. His uncle, however, 
 was averse to soldier life, and wanted him to enter 
 the ministry. For that purpose he placed him at 
 one of the colleges in Neuchatel. 
 y/^And now occurs a crisis in his history. The mil- 
 itary fever ran so high that when fourteen years of 
 age he resolved to join a Swiss regiment in the 
 
The Reformed Church. 163 
 
 French army. He, however, Hke a dutiful boy, 
 went to his uncle to get his permission before he 
 went. The uncle refused for a while, but finally 
 reluctantly gave his consent. Lacroix started with 
 his knapsack to go to Berne, thirty miles away, to 
 enlist. Meanwhile his uncle, who believed that the 
 effectual, fervent prayer of the rightous availeth 
 much, went to praying. As the young recruit 
 neared Berne, and was almost within sight of the 
 city, a sudden change came over him. It seemed 
 to him as if a hand were laid on his shoulder, and 
 a voice rang in his heart, as came to Elijah : "What 
 dost thou here? Return!" He paused, obeyed and 
 turned back. When he came home, he flung him- 
 self into the arms of his uncle, saying: "Ah, dear 
 uncle, you have been praying for me. I know you 
 have been calling me back. Here I am." He was 
 not to be a soldier of Napoleon, but a soldier of a 
 greater than Napoleon, who conquers not by the 
 sword, but by the sword of the Spirit. This inci- 
 dent made a marked change in his character. His 
 religious life deepened. He became more spiritual- 
 ly minded. He was especially helped just at that 
 time by Jung Stilling's book, "Scenes in the King- 
 dom of Spirits," and ever after that great German 
 
 writer remained a favorite of his. ^ 
 12 X 
 
164 Great Missionaries of 
 
 Two years later another incident occurred in his 
 life that was another link in forging the chain to 
 lead him into the mission field. He was called 
 away from Switzerland to be tutor in a private 
 family at Amsterdam, where he lived for three 
 years. There was great interest in Holland at that 
 time in missions. Here it was that he was brought 
 into contact directly with foreign missions ; for mis- 
 sionary prayer meetings were held there under the 
 influence of the Netherlands Missionary Society. 
 It was while attending a prayer meeting, where the 
 overthrow of idolatry in the Sandwich Islands was 
 described, that he first felt the desire to become a 
 missionary. For six months he prayed over this, 
 before he breathed it to others. Then it became so 
 great a burden to him that he wrote to his uncle for 
 advice. The uncle was only too glad to approve of 
 hi§^ entrance into such religious work. 
 y The Netherlands Society had sent out a call for 
 three missionaries. He applied, was accepted and 
 then enrolled as a student for a year and a half at 
 their Mission House at Berkel, in Holland. When 
 he was about to enter the mission field it happened 
 that a pious physician. Dr. Vos, had come from 
 India to Holland and asked that a missionary be 
 
The Reformed Church. 165 
 
 sent to the few towns in India still remaining un- 
 der the control of the Dutch, So he was ordered to 
 go to Chinsurah in India. On August 11, 1820, he 
 was ordained a minister of the Dutch Reformed 
 Church at the Hague, and on August 25 a farewell 
 service was held in the French Reformed church at 
 Rotterdam, where Rev. Van Oordt solemnly pre- 
 sented the missionary with a Bible and urged him 
 to preach its solemn truths. He sailed from Eng- 
 land for India October i, 1820, and landed at Chin- 
 surah March 2, 1821. / 
 
 The town of Chinsurah was an old Dutch town 
 with about one hundred Dutch houses, the rest be- 
 ing native and Oriental. There was little religious 
 influence there. Three missionaries of the London 
 Missionary Society were already laboring there ; 
 but of the foreigners some were infidels and many 
 of them immoral. The Dutch governor gave him 
 quarters at the Government House. He began to 
 study the language very assiduously, and joined 
 himself very closely to Rev. Mr. Townley, one of 
 the London Society's missionaries, going with him 
 on his missionary tours. Almost the first sight he 
 saw was a suttee, or the burning of a widow. Mr. 
 Townley expostulated with the family although 
 
i66 Great Missionaries of 
 
 there was a large crowd present, but it had no ef- 
 fect. The widow was burned before their eyes. 
 The impression of this horror of the Hindoo sys- 
 tem Lacroix never forgot during all his life. /On 
 another occasion he saw a man drowning, and he 
 called to a boat to pick him up, but they refused for 
 fear they would break their caste by touching him, 
 and so he drowned. /No wonder he despised and 
 exposed a religion that sanctioned that. 
 
 He soon began to teach in one of the Dutch pub- 
 lic schools at Chinsurah, taking charge of the 
 school. Although his instructions were in secular 
 studies, yet he did not forget to train his pupils in 
 that wisdom that cometh from above. /Indeed a 
 beautiful illustration is told that thirty years after 
 when he was preaching in a Presbyterian church at 
 Agra, at the close of the service a gentleman, em- 
 ployed in one of the government offices, came up to 
 him, his eyes streaming with tears, to present his 
 thanks for all the kind care received from him in 
 that school so many years before, and to express 
 his intense delight at so unexpectedly seeing his 
 face and hearing his voice once more. He was an 
 elder in that church, and attributed all the religious 
 impressions that led him to Christ to the instruction 
 
The Reformed Church. 167 
 
 of Lacroix in his school. Lacroix thanked God and 
 took courage, remembering the promise, "Cast thy 
 bread upon the waters, and it shall return after 
 many days."^/^ 
 
 Another prominent line of work at Chinsurah 
 was preaching to the natives. This the missionaries 
 of the London Society had been doing, and in two 
 years he was able to join them in this and preach 
 too. They preached in the school houses, especially 
 about the hour of sunset. They would preach the 
 simple gospel, but would often be interrupted by 
 opponents. 
 
 On one of these occasions Lacroix witnessed an 
 amusing incident. Mr. Mundy had been preaching 
 to a large crowd under the branches of a spreading 
 tree, when an old Brahmin, who did not like to see 
 the people so attentive to the Christian preacher, 
 asked in a faultfinding tone : "What was the use of 
 talking to all these people? They were poor, and 
 why did not the preacher do something more sensi- 
 ble by relieving their bodily wants, than by preach- 
 ing?" "Very true," said Mr. Mundy, "it is right to 
 assist the destitute, and as you Brahmin have no 
 hat — here, take mine." And, suiting the action to the 
 word, without giving him time to object, Mr. 
 
i68 Great Missionaries of 
 
 Mundy put his old hat on the Brahmin's head and 
 pressed it down. The latter was horrified at this, 
 for by it he broke caste by touching what belonged 
 to a Christian. Discomfited he hastened ofif, amid 
 the laughter of the people, who were greatly de- 
 lighted at the joke. On another occasion, after La- 
 croix had preached, Mr. Mundy was about to dis- 
 tribute tracts, when, as the people pressed him so 
 closely, he climbed into a tree that he might give 
 them singly and more conveniently. When to 
 the delight of the people, the bottom of the basket 
 came out, the tracts fell with it, and after a violent 
 scramble among the people, they were carried off 
 in triumph. 
 
 Another sphere of labor for Lacroix was among 
 the foreigners at Chinsurah, who were dependent 
 on missionaries for preaching. The missionaries 
 preached in English and Lacroix in Dutch every 
 Sunday. He found, however, considerable difficulty 
 in doing this at first, because the Holland language 
 was not his mother-tongue. On one occasion he 
 began preaching and announced that he would 
 divide his sermon into four heads. But, alas, as he 
 proceeded he forgot what was the last head, and 
 had to finish the sermon abruptly. He was the 
 
The Reformed Church. 169 
 
 more discouraged by this, because Dr. Vos, one of 
 the directors of his Missionary Society, happened to 
 be present. But to his astonishment, Dr. Vos said 
 to him the next evening that it was a good sermon 
 and that the illustrations were particularly full and 
 striking. 
 
 But the time came when his sphere was to be 
 changed. The few Dutch colonies in India came 
 under the control of the English government in 
 1825. The Netherlands Missionary Society felt that 
 it should not do missionary work in English terri- 
 tory, when it had such wide fields in Java and the 
 East Indies, which were under its own government. 
 Besides, that excellent and venerable society began, 
 alas, to feel the effects of rationalism that denied 
 Christ's divinity and man's depravity, and which 
 was coming into Holland. This was cutting the 
 nerve of the missionary zeal, and the Society was 
 beginning, therefore, to lose its first love. For if the 
 Church at home does not believe in total depravity, 
 then it does not believe the heathen are depraved 
 enough to have missionaries sent to them. And if it 
 does not believe in the divinity of Christ, He is not 
 good enough to be offered to them. The Nether- 
 lands Society therefore discontinued its missions in 
 
170 Great Missionaries of 
 
 India, and gave Lacroix the choice of going to 
 Java or of entering some other society, if he wished 
 to stay in India. He chose the latter alternative, 
 retired from the Society and joined the London 
 Missionary Society in 1827, with whose mission- 
 aries he had all along been so intimately associated 
 in India. He was, therefore, for six years a mis- 
 sionary of the Dutch Reformed Society. But al- 
 though no longer a missionary of the Reformed 
 Church, yet his influence in the Reformed Church 
 of the continent, especially in his native land, was 
 so great that we will continue his life. 
 
 In 1829 he removed from Chinsurah to Calcutta. 
 He there engaged extensively in preaching and in 
 itinerating. For his great knowledge of the Ben- 
 gali language made him one of the most eloquent 
 and effective preachers in India. He could always 
 gain a large audience by the charm of his voice, by 
 his beautiful use of their language and the beauti- 
 ful imagery in which he clothed his ideas. He also 
 superintended several congregations south of Cal- 
 cutta at Rammakalchoke and Gungree, eight and 
 twelve miles from Calcutta. He labored in them 
 twelve years, going to them in heat and cold, in 
 storm and pleasant weather. 
 
The Reformed Church. 171 
 
 Many were his discouragements. In May, 1833, 
 one of the most awful hurricanes that was ever 
 known burst over Bengal. A series of terrible 
 waves, ten feet high, burst into the land, sweeping 
 everything for more than fifty miles inland. Twen- 
 ty thousand persons were drowned. The rich har- 
 vest was lost, and so famine and pestilence followed 
 the hurricane. For several weeks long rows of 
 starving people were fed daily at his garden. Wher- 
 ever he went out among the villages, he carried 
 bags of pica (an Indian cent) to distribute among 
 the crowds. And yet in the midst of all the dis- 
 couragements the mission had a steady growth. 
 During the twelve years from 1829-1841 one hun- 
 dred and twenty members were added, and the 
 Christian community rose from fifty to four hun- 
 dred. In January, 1837, he moved to Blowanpore, 
 the southern suburb of Calcutta, so as to found 
 there a missionary station with a school for the sons 
 of his converts. He was too wise a man not to see 
 that the subtle Indian mind must be met by educa- 
 tion as well as evangelization. This school proved 
 so successful that the London Society made it their 
 principal mission in Calcutta. Here the boys were 
 trained to become preachers of the gospel. His 
 
172 Great Missionaries of 
 
 wife also started a school for the poor Hindu girls, 
 which was also a wonderful success in numbers, 
 reaching to five hundred. But as the girls were 
 not allowed to stay longer than when ten years of 
 age, it was given up, because it could bring few 
 returns. 
 
 But Mr. Lacroix, although a diligent teacher, was 
 most of all a preacher of the gospel. His tall, com- 
 manding presence and his powerful voice always 
 made a deep impression on the simple people to 
 whom he preached. To these were added a clear 
 pronunciation of the Bengali language. His style 
 of sermon was Scriptural, powerful, personal. A 
 servant once told his mistress that whenever Mr. 
 Lacroix preached, every Bengali's heart trembled. 
 For nearly thirty years he was considered the most 
 elegant preacher in Bengali that the country con- 
 tained. Indeed, so great was his eloquence that ef- 
 forts were made to set him free from any particular 
 mission, so that he might devote his time entirely to 
 preaching and evangelizing am.ong the villages. 
 This was done during the years 1836-1837, and he 
 greatly enjoyed it. 
 
 Their method of holding services would seem 
 odd and strange to us. Thus he would go into one 
 
The Reformed Church. 173 
 
 of the bazaar chapels and begin reading from a desk 
 a selection from the Bible. This he explains. Dur- 
 ing his explanation perhaps ten or fifteen persons 
 come in. He then begins to preach. He takes no 
 text, but describes some story from the Bible. He 
 expounds it, illustrates it by incidents, argues and 
 enforces it. The hearers listen with attention. 
 Sometimes one will object, and he must be an- 
 swered at once, or the preacher will not carry his 
 audience with him. If they are interested, they re- 
 main, and at a striking argument, or a pointed story 
 or a good humored exposure of their gods, will 
 laugh or cry out "capital." If not interested, they 
 go out, but others come in to take their places, and 
 so there is a perpetual coming and going during the 
 service. The preacher must be careful to repeat his 
 theme a number of times, so that the late ones may 
 know what he is talking about. Lacroix usually 
 preaches about three-quarters of an hour. After 
 the sermon he offers a short prayer, and the people 
 gather to receive tracts and gospels. Thus he scat- 
 ters the seeds. A few remain as inquirers, or show 
 their interest by coming again and again. These 
 are followed up, and by and by perhaps are gath- 
 ered into the Church. 
 
174 Great Missionaries of 
 
 On one occasion, at the Simlia chapel, he had 
 been arguing with a man who was a Pantheist. 
 For the Hindus believe in Pantheism, namely, that 
 all things are God. The man was very stubborn 
 and would receive nothing advanced against his/ 
 views. Mr. Lacroix therefore said he would no 
 more argue, and, before the whole congregation 
 suddenly seizing the man's umbrella, began walk- 
 ing out of the chapel. The man called after him 
 and said, "That is my umbrella." "Your umbrella, 
 did you say? Have you not declared that Brahma 
 is everything, that he is you and I and all the peo- 
 ple? How then can there be such a thing as mine 
 and yours? The umbrella is mine as much as it is 
 yours on your own showing." The people laughed 
 at this clever argument, and the man was silenced 
 and left the place without a word. The discussion 
 was conducted in good temper, for the purpose of 
 showing the real errors of the Hindu creed. Often 
 he touched his audience very sharply. On one oc- 
 casion he was preaching a sermon on lying, on the 
 story of Ananias and Sapphira ; as he pressed home 
 the illustrations of judgment given in God's Word, 
 the people were spell-bound and a profound impres- 
 sion was produced on them. And when he finished 
 
The Reformed Church. 175 
 
 with a brief closing prayer, a stranger, who had 
 never entered the bazaar chapel before, rose up with 
 a deep sigh, which said as plainly as words could 
 express it: "Well, that is the finest thing I ever 
 heard in my life." 
 
 Lacroix was generally very gladly heard by 
 the natives, but only on one occasion was in- 
 jury offered to him, which but for the pro- 
 tection of his Master might have been severe. 
 He was preaching one evening in the chapel in 
 Pontonia in Calcutta, when, without any reason 
 furnished by himself, a Hindu fanatic came quietly 
 behind him and with a big stick aimed a blow at his 
 head, so that he would knock him down. Provi- 
 dentially at that moment Lacroix turned, and the 
 blow fell on his shoulder. The people jumped up in 
 a minute and seized the man, calling aloud for a 
 police. But Lacroix stopped them, and then, plac- 
 ing the man in front of the crowd, without a par- 
 ticle of anger in his voice or manner, he thus ad- 
 dressed him : "You have endeavored to do me a 
 severe injury, and I might justly complain against 
 you and have you punished. But the religion I 
 preach teaches me to forgive those who do me 
 harm. For the sake of that religion, therefore, I 
 
176 Great Missionaries of 
 
 forgive you and will let you go away." This simple 
 incident produced a far deeper impression and 
 called forth a louder demonstration than any ser- 
 mon he had ever preached. Struck with the ex- 
 ceeding kindness of his act, the audience in the 
 chapel, Hindus though they were, at once burst into 
 a loud shout: "Victory! victory, through Jesus 
 Christ!" "Greater is he that ruleth his spirit than he 
 that taketh a city." 
 
 Lacroix seems to have been a fearless man, for 
 he would often meet large cobras lying in the sun. 
 He had no fear of them, when he had a stick in his 
 hand and boots on his feet. On one occasion, when 
 he stayed in the chapel over night, a snake was 
 crawling along the floor and approaching the table. 
 He put his arm out of the mosquito curtain and seiz- 
 ed his boot to throw at the visitor. But just at that 
 moment the hght went out, and he was compelled 
 to leave him alone. Not being at all nervous, he 
 tucked the curtains in carefully and fearlessly fell 
 asleep. 
 
 After having been in India for nearly twenty 
 years, he was at length compelled to return to 
 Europe. Though his strong, robust frame seemed 
 to be able to bear any great labor and fatigue, yet 
 
The Reformed Church. 177 
 
 the intense heat of India, which afifects especially 
 the nervous system, began to tell on his health. In 
 these days the missionary societies have retreats in 
 the Himalaya mountains, to which their worn out 
 missionaries can go, but in those days they knew 
 nothing of such things. The sick, worn out mis- 
 sionaries had to return home. Lacroix therefore 
 sailed from India and arrived in England in April, 
 1842. But he found himself a stranger there, as he 
 had never met any of the Board of his Missionary 
 Society. For he had gone out under another So- 
 ciety, the Netherlands, and now for the first time 
 he met the directors of his own Society, the Lon- 
 don Missionary Society. They treated him very 
 kindly, but his sympathies were on the continent 
 v/here his friends and relatives lived. With all the 
 home-sickness of the Swiss he longed to see his 
 native Alps again, and he soon traveled up the 
 Rhine to the land of his birth. He found that the 
 Swiss Churches had been very little interested in 
 missions, except at Basle, where almost the first mis- 
 sionary society on the continent had been formed in 
 the latter part of the last century. Especially were the 
 French or southern cantons of Switzerland igno- 
 rant on the subject of missions. Only at Geneva, 
 
178 Great Missionaries of 
 
 where a few earnest Christians had formed a sort 
 of auxihary to the Basle missionary society, was 
 there any interest taken. This had been somewhat 
 deepened by the visit of Gobat, the missionary to 
 Abyssinia. 
 
 It remained for Lacroix to stir up the interest and 
 produce a wonderful missionary revival in French 
 Switzerland. He came to Geneva just as the inter- 
 est in missions seemed to be deepening. In June 
 he visited the old home of his boyhood in Neu- 
 chatel. What tender memories gathered around his 
 uncle's school and the old Reformed church there, 
 which he had joined. He then returned to Basle, 
 to assist in the ordination of five missionaries, and 
 his address on that occasion made a deep impres- 
 sion. But the Committee of the Basle Society, that 
 had its headquarters at Geneva, asked him to de- 
 liver a course of lectures on missions. They ar- 
 ranged to have them in a small church holding 
 about two hundred persons. But the interest of the 
 people in missions was greater than the faith of 
 those who projected the course of lectures. For 
 half an hour before the first lecture began, the 
 church was packed and as many more were waiting 
 outside of the church for admission. They there- 
 
The Reformed Church. 179 
 
 fore adjourned to a neighboring hall, where four 
 hundred listened to his account of the strange faith 
 of the Hindus. Lacroix described this with all his 
 popular eloquence, which swayed his audience be- 
 fore him. His remarks made such an impression 
 that at the second lecture the audience had doubled, 
 and when he delivered the third lecture, a thousand 
 persons were present, including the leading minis- 
 ters of Geneva. And they hung breathless on his 
 eloquence as he described the progress made by the 
 leading Indian missionaries. Now the audience 
 was moved to laughter, now to tears, by his apt 
 words and bright illustrations. The attendance 
 kept on increasing at each lecture, until at the fifth 
 lecture not only was the hall filled, but the stairs 
 and lobbies, and people stood where they could hear 
 his voice even if they could not see him. 
 
 These were wonderful experiences for Geneva, 
 that city which had been so injured by rationalism 
 at the close of the last and the beginning of this 
 century. And it was strange that such a rational- 
 istic, worldly city could be stirred in this way, 
 especially on missions, at which so many had 
 doubted, yes, sneered. They were the talk of the 
 city and of the whole neighborhood. Never before 
 
 13 
 
i8o Great Missionaries of 
 
 had Geneva been so stirred on the subject of mis- 
 sions. It was a sort of resurrection of Calvin's 
 interest ; for he, centuries before, had sent out two 
 Reformed ministers from Geneva as the first For- 
 eign Missionaries to Brazil. The missionary com- 
 mittee who had charge of these lectures felt that 
 they had gained so much influence that they made 
 bold to ask for one of the largest churches in the 
 city for the closing lecture. This was rather a pre- 
 sumptuous undertaking, for the State Church had 
 been honeycombed with rationalism, and many of 
 its ministers had looked down on Foreign Mis- 
 sions as the dream of the enthusiast. 
 
 But, strange to say, the Venerable Company of 
 Pastors, which controlled all the state churches, 
 granted the request and placed the Madeline church 
 at the disposal of the committee. This was a church 
 which had rung with the eloquence of Farel, the 
 Elijah of the Alps, in the days of the Reformation. 
 When Sunday, October 28, 1842, came, that church 
 was filled in every part, so that seats had to be car- 
 ried into the aisles, and the stairways and door were 
 thronged with people. It is believed that there were 
 not less than 3,000 persons present. Never since 
 the days of Farel had that church been so thronged. 
 
The Reformed Church. i8i 
 
 On the large platform around the pulpit sat the min- 
 isters of both the Free and the State Church. This 
 in itself was a most remarkable thing, for the State 
 Church had before refused to fraternize with the 
 Free Church. But all had come to listen to a new 
 Farel of this nineteenth century. As Farel roused 
 that city by his eloquence to become Protestant in 
 the days of the Reformation, so Lacroix roused them 
 to become missionaries in spirit by his eloquence, 
 and a new era began to dawn on the churches of the 
 French cantons. With all the eloquence which had 
 made him in India the best preacher in Bengali, 
 he now pleads with his Swiss friends to interest 
 themselves in missions. And at the close of his lec- 
 ture, with a voice broken with deep emotion, he bade 
 them farewell. The collection for Foreign Missions 
 that day in the boxes at the door of the church 
 amounted to one hundred and sixty dollars, an 
 amount unheard of before. 
 
 Nor did the influence of these lectures end then. 
 For the next day, as he was making a farewell call 
 at Professor Munier's, a lady had a chance meeting 
 with him, which had a marked influence on his after 
 life. She had been deeply impressed with his lec- 
 ture of the day before, so that she said at the close 
 
1 82 Great Missionaries of 
 
 of his lecture: "Now we must do something." At 
 Professor Munier's house she offered to give four 
 hundred dollars, a very large sum then, and she 
 started a movement that raised five thousand dollars 
 for his work before he died, through the societies 
 which she organized. All these results came from 
 her words : "We must do something." His eloquent 
 lectures on missions Lacroix repeated at Lausanne 
 and at Neuchatel, and later at Brussels and Paris. 
 Everywhere they were heard with profound atten- 
 tion and deep interest. The Paris Missionary So- 
 ciety was so pleased with them that they sent in a 
 request to the London Missionary Society to allow 
 Mr. Lacroix to remain in Europe for another year, 
 so as to lecture throughout France and rouse inter- 
 est in missions. The London Society, however, felt 
 itself compelled to refuse the request, as he was 
 greatly needed in India. His missionary work in 
 Switzerland was, however, only second to his mis- 
 sionary work in India in importance. It disarmed 
 prejudice and awakened interest. It started an in- 
 fluence which led, many years later, to the founding, 
 in 1874, of the Foreign Missionary Society of the 
 French churches of Switzerland, which is now doing 
 such an admirable work in Southern Africa. 
 
The Reformed Church. 183 
 
 He returned to India in 1844, to take up the work 
 he so much loved. But he did not find his work as 
 hopeful as it had been during the years before. The 
 first love and zeal in many of his converts had 
 passed away. In 1854 there was a relapse. On one 
 occasion he suspended the communion at Ramma- 
 kalchoke for a whole year, while the Gungree 
 church was entirely broken up. Still from these 
 churches more than two hundred in thirty years at 
 last found their home in heaven. In spite of these 
 difficulties he labored on. He retained his deep in- 
 terest in the missionary societies at home, and when 
 the Revolution of 1848 bankrupted the Paris Mis- 
 sionary Society, he so plead for their successful mis- 
 sion among the Basutos that he was able to secure 
 four thousand dollars for them in India. This aid, 
 with the money raised for them in southern Africa, 
 enabled that society to continue its work, until in a 
 year or two it was able to recover itself. 
 
 He thus describes an impressive scene in his tours : 
 "In the afternoon we proceeded to the village of the 
 Kamarjani Proper, in doing which we had to cross 
 a small but rapid river. The weekly market was 
 just being held, and the crowd of buyers and sellers 
 was most dense, not less than three thousand per- 
 
184 Great Missionaries of 
 
 sons being present. We found it very difficult to 
 make our way through the mass of human beings, 
 and having at last reached a spot a little clearer than 
 the rest, we made a halt. Mr. Hill then read part of 
 a tract, at which we were surrounded by many hun- 
 dreds and so hemmed in that we had scarcely elbow 
 room. Then I made an address, and it required the 
 highest power of my voice to make myself heard by 
 all. I told them that this was a happy day for their 
 village, for I had come to announce to them the true 
 incarnation, the incarnation of mercy, that Jesus 
 Christ had come into the world to save men from 
 sin and hell, and to open the gates of heaven to all 
 who repent and believe on Him. The attention was 
 intense, and repeated exclamations of surprise and 
 wonder were uttered at this news, which for the first 
 time came to their ears. The people never having 
 seen Christian missionaries, gave vent to various 
 surmises as to who we might be. The prevailing 
 opinion was that we were of the oldest and more 
 reverend Brahminical race in the northwest of India. 
 'Look at them!' says one. "How resplendent their 
 countenances are and what fire proceeds from their 
 mouths when they speak, the very marks of the real 
 original Brahminical race.' 
 
The Reformed Church. 185 
 
 "The sermon was followed by an unusual demand 
 for tracts and books, which it was difficult to sup- 
 ply. Finding it was impossible to speak any longer, 
 I told the assembled crowd that we were servants of 
 Jesus Christ, of whom they had just heard, and that 
 we brought books with us, which would explain 
 more fully all that had been done for the salvation 
 of men. On this the rush was so general that we 
 dared not attempt distribution, and walked to a more 
 distant spot. But being followed by the whole of our 
 audience, we were equally unsuccessful. In four 
 different places we tried to persuade them to sit 
 down, so that we might distribute the books with 
 some regularity, but it was in vain. For the outer 
 rows, fearing the books would be expended before 
 their turn came, rose and came falling upon those 
 before them, until the confusion became so great 
 that a lad was thrown down by the crowd, and 
 would have been trampled to death, if Mr. Hill had 
 not seized him by the hair and extricated him from 
 his perilous position. We therefore went to a place 
 near by, a mile from the market, when we found the 
 number of our applicants reduced about one hun- 
 dred, where we distributed the books. Never else- 
 where in India did I see such eagerness to obtain 
 books as was displayed on this occasion." 
 
i86 Great Missionaries of 
 
 For seven years after his return from Europe he 
 acted as pastor, but after 185 1 he was set free from 
 pastoral work, so that he might spend his whole 
 time in preaching. In 1851 the school, which he 
 had so successfully started in Calcutta, was en- 
 larged, and exerted a wide influence among the 
 Hindus. Thus in preaching, pastoral work and edu- 
 cation, nearly forty years passed away in India. His 
 strong form gradually became weakened by age and 
 enfeebled by disease. He was temporarily supplying 
 the English chapel, when on May 19, 1859, he was 
 suddenly taken ill with his old affection of the liver. 
 In India diseases are few, but when they come, they 
 are deadly and quick. His Christian friends soon 
 became alarmed about his condition, and a daily 
 prayer meeting was held to pray for him. One min- 
 ister in them, referring to him, said, "Who ever 
 thinks of Mr, Lacroix as belonging to the London 
 Missionary Society? He belongs to us all." La- 
 croix's prayer in the midst of his great suffering 
 was : "O Lord, counterbalance by Thy presence the 
 pain which I now feel." He dwelt continually in his 
 thoughts on God's presence. One day a member of 
 the family was about to repeat some amusing re- 
 mark just made by one of his grandchildren, when he 
 
The Reformed Church. 187 
 
 said : "No ; don't tell me. Speak to me only of heav- 
 enly things." Two weeks of suffering passed away, 
 when, July 2, he suddenly grew worse. His nephew, 
 Dr. Vos, felt it right to inform him that his end was 
 approaching. "So much the better," he replied. 
 Often his mind wandered through the disease, but 
 his friends had only to speak the name of Jesus, and 
 at once a heavenly smile broke over his wasted face. 
 "His interviews in his sickness with missionaries of 
 all denominations," says one, "were most affecting; 
 and his love to them and theirs for him is best illus- 
 trated by Paul's farewell at Miletus." He fell 
 asleep in Jesus on the eighth of July, 1859. -^ great 
 company followed him to his grave, including the 
 Episcopal Bishop of Calcutta. The native Chris- 
 tians carried the coffin from the hearse to the grave. 
 And a few days after. Rev. Dr. Duff preached to one 
 of the largest congregations ever gathered in Cal- 
 cutta on such an occasion, on "Know ye not that 
 there is a prince and a great man fallen this day in 
 Israel?" 
 
 Lacroix was a remarkable man in many ways. In 
 addition to his remarkable ability as a preacher, he 
 excelled as a linguist. He could preach well in five 
 languages before he was twenty-six years of age. 
 
i88 Great Missionaries of 
 
 The distinguishing characteristics of his disposition 
 were his exceeding amiabiHty and sound sense. 
 I Next to William Carey, says Smith the historian 
 of India missions, was Lacroix as a preacher to the 
 Bengali in their native tongue. The epitaph on his 
 tomb is : "As a preacher to the heathen he excelled, 
 as a pastor he was greatly beloved, as a man of un- 
 doubted integrity, wisdom and benevolence he was 
 implicitly trusted, as a Christian he was universally 
 honored." 
 
Chapter II. 
 JOHN SCUDDER. 
 
 One of the saints among modern missionaries was 
 Rev. John Scudder, for thirty-six years missionary 
 to India. The universal respect in which he was 
 held by all with whom he came in contact, reveals 
 his high spiritual power as a missionary. Rev. J. L. 
 Phillips, secretary of the Sunday-school work in 
 India, says of him : "He was one of the most godly 
 men I ever met." He was also a surgeon — like 
 Luke, a beloved physician — but also like Paul, an 
 evangelistic missionary. 
 
 He was born at Freehold, New Jersey, on Sep- 
 tember 3, 1793. He very early showed traits of mis- 
 sionary activity. Some missionaries are born, others 
 are made — made so by the grace of God. He w as a 
 born rnissionary; for frorn^his early_childhooii lie 
 showed the mijisionary spirityOne day he was found 
 drawing a very heavy rail, and was asked what he 
 expected to do with it. His reply was : "I am taking 
 it to Miss Becky, who has no fire." Indeed, he was 
 accustomed to gather sticks, in order to kindle the 
 fires of the destitute. There was a neighbor, a 
 drunkard, who abused his wife, even driving her 
 
 189 
 
190 Great Missionaries of 
 
 from home at midnight, so that she had to seek 
 shelter in her father's house. One day John, who 
 frequently went to him, said to him : "Why do they 
 call you 'Devil John?'" The man's wife was very 
 much frightened, as she was afraid her husband 
 would hurt John for asking such a question. Then 
 John asked him: "If you will throw away your 
 bottle, I will keep Lent with your wife" (for she 
 was an Episcopalian). Strange to say, the man as- 
 sented. John's words were a message of God to him. 
 The man then became an abstainer, and joined the 
 church. And long after, when John was a missionary 
 in India, he sent a message to the old man : "I charge 
 you to meet me in heaven," which very much af- 
 fected him. / 
 
 He then attended Princeton College, but, unlike 
 some students, he did not forget his Christian char- 
 acter while there. The direct opposite was true, for 
 he was always on the lookout for souls. Although 
 infidelity ruled the colleges in his day, and _onb^ 
 three out of the one hundred ^nd twenty students at 
 Princet on were jrofessingiChristiana, yet he labored 
 as a Christian among the students. He was rated 
 by others as "so religious that they dared hardly 
 laugh in his presence." But that very remark led 
 
The Reformed Church. 191 
 
 another student to seek his companionship, whom 
 he soon after brought to the Saviour. For when 
 Scudder found he was serious, he took him on a 
 walk to the woods, and there led him to give himself 
 up to Christ in prayer. Having graduated, 181 1, he 
 studied medicine at the College of Physicians and 
 Surgeons in New York City, and then located there. 
 As yet missions were little known, or this born 
 missionary would have naturally gravitated toward 
 them. But he became a missionary physician, often 
 leading his patients to a greater Physician than him- 
 self. He early so iTght a church home, and found it 
 in^the Refoj med, Dutch- churchy on Franklin street, 
 of which Re v. M r. Bork was pastor. (Mr. Bork 
 had been a Hessian soldier from Germany, and had 
 been converted in this country through Rev. Dr. 
 Livingston's preaching in a barn.) Dr. Scudder did 
 not rest until in the family where he boarded, the 
 mother, two daughters and one son were brought 
 into the Church. But sometimes his experiences 
 were sad as well as glad. He was called one day to 
 see a sick girl in one of the tenements. He took a 
 friend along, who tells the story. The young girl 
 was beautiful with the paleness of death. And yet 
 she groaned — and such a groan. The doctor spoke 
 
192 Great Missionaries of 
 
 to her tenderly about Jesus. But her look showed 
 that to her that name was agony. She cried out : 
 "Pray for me — I am lost." They knelt and prayed, 
 weeping as they did so. She would break out, while 
 they prayed, with exclamations, "Pray on ; don't 
 stop ; O I am lost !" Soon her spasms stopped their 
 prayers, and with an awful groan she passed away. 
 We now come to his call to become a missionary. 
 How strangely God calls the attention of men to the 
 mission field. How often a book does it. 'IBrainr 
 erd's Diary" led Carey to go to India. And the 
 "Star of th e East /' by Buchanan, Jed_Judson to 
 Burmah. So, too, one day when Scuddei^was visit- 
 ing a Christian patient, he found o n ji table in her^ 
 room ajaook, whose title at once attracted his at- 
 tention, "The_C^iversion of the World, or the 
 Claims of Six Hundred Millions." He borrowed 
 the book, read it, and reread it. It was a Macedo- 
 nian cry to him. He fell on his knees, asking, like 
 Paul : "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do ?" God 
 answered in calling him to a foreign land. He then 
 anxiously and prayerfully announced to his wife his 
 decision. Nobly she answered like Ruth : "Whither 
 thou goest, I will go." But many of his associates 
 thought otherwise, some even, like Festus with Paul, 
 
The Reformed Church. 193 
 
 thinking that he was mad for giving up his fine 
 practice and throwing himself away on the heathen. 
 But his decision being once made, he never flinched. 
 He appHed to the American Board to know 
 whether they would send a physician. How won- 
 derful are the cross purposes of Providence, A call 
 comes from one end of the earth, and at the same 
 time its answer from the other. It happened that 
 just as he offered himself the American Board was 
 asked for a physician in India who could practice 
 medicine as well as preach. They gladly accepted 
 his offer, and arrangements were made for him to 
 sail from Boston. Now the sailing of a missionary 
 in those days, being much less common than today, 
 was a remarkable event. On June 8, 1819, a large 
 company gathered to see him off. Some looked 
 upon him as going to bury himself alive. Yet his face 
 shone so radiant with hope that [t left a deep impres- 
 sion on all who were presents/Among those present 
 was James Brainerd Taylor, who from that moment 
 devoted himself to Christ. Taylor said : "What is it 
 that lifts this missionary into the precincts of heav- 
 en ? Surely he is possessed with the spirit and tem- 
 per of his Master." Young Taylor went to his 
 home so deeply impressed that he could not return 
 
194 Great Missionaries of 
 
 to business. He retired into prayer, and soon after 
 left business for Christian work ; and after most re- 
 markable labors for Christ, went home to his reward 
 at the age of twenty^^/' 
 
 Dr. Scudder was now on board the brig "Indus," 
 bound for Calcutta. He had as companions three 
 other missionaries. It was a long journey of many 
 months. He did not wait until he arrived in India 
 before he began his missionary work. As he had 
 been a missionary at home, he now became a mis- 
 siona£y_on_shipboard. He began distributing Bibles 
 and tracts among the sailors. It soon became evi- 
 dent that some of them, in the loneliness of the voy- 
 age, were reading them. About two weeks after 
 they sailed, one of the sailors fell overboard and 
 came very near losing his life. That evening Dr. 
 Scudder, with two of the other missionaries, went 
 forward among them and impressed on them the im- 
 portance of preparing for death. 
 
 Soon the fruits began to appear. Strange to say, 
 the first was one of the most hardened, as he had 
 ridiculed religion when he came on board. But on 
 the evening when the missionaries spoke to them 
 about the sailor who fell overboard, this man be- 
 came impressed and determined to break off from 
 
The Reformed Church. 195 
 
 his sins. But as he was an infidel, and had sneered 
 at the "holy brotherhood," as he called the mission- 
 aries when they came aboard, he now had to pass 
 through the deepest struggles of conviction before 
 he found Christ. The next to submit was a young 
 man who, too, had ridiculed the missionaries. He 
 began reading a Bible they gave him, but finding its 
 way of salvation too hard, he gave up reading it and 
 took up "Baxter's Saints' Rest," hoping to find in 
 it an easier way to heaven. He soon found, how- 
 ever, that it taught just what the Bible did. He was 
 finally brought to Christ through reading the "Life 
 of John Newton." These two were the first fruits — 
 the harbingers of greater blessings yet to come. 
 
 Suddenly, when they had been out at sea three 
 months, the Spirit of God came down upon them 
 like a wind, and within a week there was not a 
 thoughtless sinner aboard. This was one of the 
 most remarkable awakenings ever known on ship- 
 board. There was no excitement connected with it. 
 It did not come as the result of a series of meetings, 
 for five of those convicted of sin were alone when 
 convicted. The very silence of the movement made 
 it the more impressive. The first mate, who had 
 ridiculed religion and was a Universalist, while in 
 
 14 
 
196 Great Missionaries of 
 
 the act of having the harpoon raised to strike a fish, 
 was struck with the arrow of conviction. He be- 
 came so humbled with his guilt that "he felt," he 
 said, "below the dog they had on board." Then it 
 was the second mate's turn. (It looked as if God 
 was calling the ship's roll for converts.) While up 
 in the rigging, the Spirit of God, stronger than the 
 wind then blowing, convicted him, and after a ter- 
 rible struggle with darling sins, he soon rejoiced in 
 Christ, and even longed to be ridiculed for Christ, 
 as he had once ridiculed Christians. 
 
 Perhaps the most remarkable trophy was the 
 cook, one of the most profane men aboard. He hap- 
 pened to overhear two of the sailors talking about 
 the Holy Spirit's work, and said in fun, "May God 
 grant that the Spirit of God may light on every soul 
 on board." That night what he said in fun came to 
 him in awful earnest. The Holy Spirit terribly con- 
 victed him of sin, and soon, from being a cross, 
 morose man, he became pleasant and obliging, be- 
 cause Christ had found him. A man by the name of 
 Parker, who was so profane that, as he said, he 
 "blasphemed enough to damn a thousand souls," 
 swore at the captain for urging them to become bet- 
 ter. But the blasphemer, too, became a follower of 
 
The Reformed Church. 197 
 
 Christ. Thus the Spirit went from man to man, 
 converting the steward, the carpenter and others by 
 His power. It was a modern Pentecost — a foretaste 
 of heaven. At length, after this blessed season of 
 grace, they at last arrived at Calcutta. 
 
 When Mr. Scudder arrived in India, he located in 
 that paradise of earth, Ceylon, whose spicy breezes 
 are fragrant many miles out at sea, where 
 
 "Kvery prospect pleases 
 And only man is vile." 
 
 He located at Panditeripo, in July, 1820. Here 
 he began his work as a preacher and a physician. 
 Many came to him for medicine, and as he healed 
 their bodies, Christ through him healed their souls. 
 In 182 1 he was ordained there to the ministry. There 
 were also missionary schools for boys and girls at 
 Panditeripo and in the neighborhood. These Mrs. 
 Scudder took charge of, while he went out to hos- 
 pital practice or else on preaching tours through the 
 villages. God's Spirit soon showed Himself, espe- 
 cially in the schools, as now and then a boy or girl 
 united with the Church. These, however, were only 
 the first-fruits, the harbingers of the coming har- 
 vest. For after he had been at work there for four 
 years, a modern Pentecost took place. We will let 
 
198 Great Missionaries of 
 
 his wife describe it, by giving extracts from her 
 letters. 
 
 She says: "The evening of February 12, 1824, 
 will ever be a memorable night to us. On that day 
 we went to Baticalo in the afternoon to converse 
 with the boys in that school. A meeting was held 
 with our boys in the evening before we went. After 
 the meeting, it being moonlight, many of the boys 
 were engaged in playing. They left their play and 
 began spreading their mats upon which they sleep. 
 Amy (the servant) told Whelpley to go to the chil- 
 dren and talk to them about their souls. He ac- 
 cordingly went to them, spoke a few words and then 
 left them. Very soon the voice of prayer was heard 
 in the garden. This increased until from every 
 part of the garden was heard the cry : 'What shall I 
 do to be saved?' When we returned home from 
 Baticalo, the doors and windows were all open, 
 the moon shining brightly, and our servant was 
 weeping on the veranda. The heart-rending cry 
 was heard from every part of the garden : 'To whom 
 shall I go?' 'Have mercy on me, Lord Jesus.' 'O give 
 me Thy Holy Spirit.' 'I have been a great sinner,' 
 and many more expressions of great earnestness, 
 which seemed to proceed from broken hearts of sin. 
 
The Reformed Church. 199 
 
 "After learning that they had been in this affect- 
 ing way, crying for mercy more than an hour, the 
 Doctor thought it prudent to ring the bell and call 
 them to the house. They came with tears stream- 
 ing down their cheeks. Upon looking round upon 
 the precious flock, we found them to be twenty-nine 
 in number — all in the school except four. We con- 
 versed and prayed with them. In the afternoon of 
 that day the Doctor had sent word to the boys for 
 those who were willing to forsake all for Christ to 
 come to him. Sixteen came. One proud boy said 
 he would not give up all for Christ ; but in the even- 
 ing it would have melted a heart of stone to have 
 seen that boy bowed down like a bulrush and 
 scarcely able to speak for sobs and tears. As a re- 
 sult of this remarkable awakening in the mission 
 station, forty-one were admitted to the Church ; and 
 although thirty of the scholars desired to join the 
 Church, only half were admitted because of the vio- 
 lent opposition they would have to suffer from 
 the heathen around." 
 
 After this glorious awakening Dr. Scudder con- 
 tinued in Ceylon till 1836, when it was deemed wise 
 that he should change his residence to Madras in 
 India. In this large city he labored, as he had done 
 
200 Great Missionaries of 
 
 in Ceylon, with great faithfulness and success. He 
 sometimes suffered insult in his missionary jour- 
 neys. Several^ Jimies^hejwas stoned. His journey 
 through the jungle in 1841 was a record of danger 
 and sacrifice. But God protected him from wild 
 beasts and wild men, until jungle fever laid him 
 low. When he had recovered, 1842, he was ordered 
 back to America to recuperate. He spent about 
 three years in his native land. When asked in 
 America what were the discouragements of mission- 
 ary work, he replied : "I do not know the word. I 
 long ago erased it from my vocabulary." He was 
 greater than Napoleon who ruled the word "impos- 
 sible" out of his dictionary, saying it was the lan- 
 guage of fools. Dr. Scudder's "discouragements" 
 were only encouragements to greater work. But al- 
 though in a Christian land, he did the work of a 
 missionary. He went about everywhere, stirring up 
 the churches to missionary activity. During that 
 time he traveled from Maine to Georgia, and ad- 
 dressed, it is said, 100,000 children and youth upon 
 the subject of missions. 
 
 His success among the children was very remark- 
 able. The diaries of many of them related that "Dr. 
 Scudder of India asked me this day if I would not 
 
The Reformed Church. 201 
 
 give my heart to Jesus, and if I grew up I would be 
 a missionary and come to India." And many years 
 after, when these children had grown up, the secre- 
 tary of the Mission Board bore testimony to the re- 
 sults of his tour — that the applicants for missionary 
 work, when asked what led them to think of mis- 
 sions, would often reply: "Dr. Scudder's addresses 
 and appeals to me when I was a child." His minis- 
 try at home was therefore as successful as his min- 
 istry among the heathen. But he was glad to return 
 to India, for he said : "There is no place like India ; 
 I it is nearer heaven than America." 
 
 He returned in 1846 to do a good work at Madura 
 and then at Madras. On one of his tours an im- 
 mense crowd collected together. A band of fierce 
 Musselmen demanded books of his helper, who car- 
 ried the tracts. When he refused, one of them ad- 
 vanced, brandishing a club, with which he, sup- 
 ported by his angry companions, would no doubt 
 have killed him and Dr. Scudder ; but the latter, with 
 admirable self-possession, ran up to the enemy, and 
 stroking his beard, exclaimed: "My brother, my 
 brother!" This token of Oriental obeisance ap- 
 peased him, and the missionary's life was spared. 
 Dr. Scudder confessed afterward that he felt the 
 
202 Great Missionaries of 
 
 danger so imminent that the saliva dried up in his 
 mouth as if parched by long thirst. But his exces- 
 sive labors, aided by bereavements, again broke him 
 down, and he went to the Cape of Good Hope in 
 South Africa to recuperate. Here, worn out as he 
 was, he again began a campaign for missions, such 
 as had been so successful in America. But just be- 
 fore a public meeting he laid down to rest and sud- 
 denly fell asleep in Jesus JarmaixJ^i 1855. Thus 
 ended a life of remarkable success. Dr. Scudder 
 was one of the first medical missionaries and one of 
 the ablest. He was a man of rare tact and noble 
 courage./ But above all shone the rare spirituality 
 of his character and his devotion to Christ. Two 
 and a half hours of every day were set apart for 
 meditation and prayer. Every Friday till midday 
 was spent in fasting and prayer. He walked con- 
 stantly with God, and like Enoch, he was not, for 
 God took him. / 
 
 "No stronger, more versatile or more successful 
 missionary pioneer ever evangelized a people as 
 healer, preacher, teacher and translator," says Smith 
 the historian of Indian Missions. He lived in pray- 
 ing and working till, although he knew it not, he 
 realized his ambition in this world, "to be one of the 
 
The Reformed Church. 203 
 
 inner circle around Jesus." His descendants to the 
 fourth generation became missionaries. Of his son 
 Silas he said, "Make him a Christian," and "Make 
 him a missionary." But the son resisted, deter- 
 mined to make a fortune as a physician in New 
 York City where he founded a woman's hospital. 
 But he was powerless against his father's prayers, 
 and went as a medical missionary to Arcot, India, 
 where his institution was the admiration of the gov- 
 ernor of Madras and English noblemen. /The Scud- 
 der family has given thirty persons to the cause of 
 missions, and up to 1896 their united labors repre- 
 sented 529 years for India. There was not a town 
 in southeast India that had not heard the gospel 
 from his lips, not a villa g e that his JEamil publica- 
 tions did not penetrate. 
 
Chapter III. 
 JACOB CHAMBERLAIN. 
 
 One of the greatest living missionaries is Rev. 
 Jacob Chamberlain, of Southern India. He was 
 born at Sharon, Connecticut, April i8, 1835. He 
 graduated at Western Reserve College in 1856, and 
 at the New Brunswick Theological Seminary in 
 1859. In that year he sailed for India under the ap- 
 pointment of the Dutch Board, having taken a 
 course in medicine at the College of Physicians and 
 Surgeons at New York City, and also at the Cleve- 
 land Medical College. He was one of the early 
 medical missionaries, but found it an exceedingly 
 great help to him in his evangelistic tours. When 
 he entered the Arcot mission in India, 1859, he 
 learned the Tamil language as he expected to labor 
 among the Tamils. But he was transferred (1863) 
 to a district which spoke the Telugu language. So 
 his life has been spent in working among them since 
 1863, making his centre at Mardanapalle, one hun- 
 dred and fifty miles inland from Madras. There he 
 did a large work in a large field, his territory being 
 as large as the whole of the State of Connecticut. 
 For many years he was the only physician in that 
 
2o6 Great Missionaries of 
 
 area. Before he returned home in 1874, that is in 
 fifteen years, he had personally treated 30,000 
 patients. 
 
 His literary labors are shown by the fact that he 
 was chairman of a committee of all the missions 
 who labored among the Telugus, and who aimed to 
 produce a translation of the Bible in that language 
 which is spoken by eighteen millions. In 1863 he 
 made an extended missionary tour of four months, 
 going northward through the countries of the 
 Nizam of Hyderabad and of the Ghronis and Kios 
 who had never seen a missionary. He thus de- 
 scribes some of the scenes : 
 
 "On a certain occasion I went into a native city in 
 India, where the name of Jesus had never been 
 heard, to preach for them Jesus and his salvation 
 and to scatter among them His Word. As an in- 
 troduction we had assembled an audience in the 
 street. I asked my native assistant to read the first 
 chapter of Romans — that chapter which those (in 
 Christian lands) who call themselves too liberal- 
 minded, tell us is too black to be true — a libel on 
 human nature. That chapter was read. The most 
 intelligent man in the audience, a Brahmin, stepped 
 forward and said to me : 'Sir, that chapter must have 
 
The Reformed Church. 207 
 
 been written for us Hindus. It describes us ex- 
 actly.' What a proof that Scripture was written 
 by the Holy Spirit who searcheth the hearts of men 
 just as he does the deep things of God." 
 
 "On another occasion I went into a city where 
 Jesus had never been proclaimed. As we passed up 
 the street I noticed a small Hindoo temple built upon 
 the side of the busiest street with its doors open and 
 idols at the farther end so that passers-by could 
 worship as they went. At the side of the door sat a 
 Brahmin priest to receive the worship and gifts of 
 the people passing by. Going up the street and find- 
 ing no better place I returned to this temple and 
 asked permission to speak from its steps. The 
 Brahmin gave it politely. Singing a song to bring 
 the people together, we soon had the street packed. 
 I took for my theme the character of the Being 
 whom an intelligent person would like to worship as 
 God. I attempted to show that he must be stronger 
 than ourselves; omnipotent (that we can trust him) 
 omniscient, omnipresent, a God of love, justice, etc. 
 I painted the picture of our God without telling them 
 where He could be found. The intelligent men 
 said : 'Yes ; my picture was true.' I then asked : 'Who 
 is God and where is He ? The Brahmin priest, sus- 
 
2o8 Great Missionaries of 
 
 pecting my object was to undermine his faith, tried 
 to divert the people. He straightened himself up 
 and drew his finger across his stomach saying : 'Sir, 
 this is my god; when this is full my god is propi- 
 tious ; when this is empty my god is angry. Only give 
 me enough to eat and drink and that is all the god 
 I want.' I turned and reminded the bystanders of 
 the pure God I had been describing and then by way 
 of contrast, I pointed them to his god. He slank 
 away amid their sneers and vanished down a side 
 street. How the audience listened when I described 
 our God incarnate in Jesus." 
 
 He passed through many perils which he most 
 vividly describes and applies in his tracts and his 
 two books "In the Tiger Jungle" and "The Cobra's 
 Den." He is an inimitable story teller, bringing 
 home the religious application with telling power. 
 He thus describes a hair-breadth escape on this tour : 
 
 "I wish you could have witnessed a scene in the 
 kingdom of Hyderabad. There, in a city— a walled 
 town, of about 18,000 inhabitants, the people had 
 arisen to drive us out, because we tried to speak of 
 another God than theirs. We had gone into the 
 market place, and I had endeavored to preach to 
 them of Christ and His salvation but they would 
 
The Reformed Church. 209 
 
 not hear. They ordered us to leave the city at once, 
 but I had declined to leave until I had delivered to 
 them my message. The throng was filling the 
 streets. They told me if I tried to utter another 
 word I should be killed. There was no rescue. They 
 would have the city gates closed and there would 
 never any news go forth of what was done. I must 
 leave that city at once or I would not leave it alive. 
 I had seen them tear up the paving stones and fill 
 their arms with them so as to be ready. And one 
 of them was saying to another : 'You throw the first 
 stone and I will throw the next.' By an artifice I 
 need not stop to detail I succeeded in getting per-* 
 mission to tell them a story before they stoned me 
 and then they might stone me if they wished. I told 
 them the story of all stories — of the love of the 
 Divine Father that had made us all of one blood, 
 who so loved the world that he gave His only begot- 
 ten Son. I told the story of that birth in the manger 
 at Bethlehem, of that wonderful childhood, of that 
 marvelous life, of those miraculous deeds, of the 
 gracious words He spoke. I told them the story of 
 the cross and pictured in graphic words, that the 
 Master gave me that day, the story of the Saviour 
 nailed upon the cross for them, for me, for all the 
 
2IO Great Missionaries of 
 
 world, when he cried out in agony: 'My God, my 
 God, why hast thou forsaken me.' When I told 
 them that, I saw the men go and throw their stones 
 into the gutter and come back, and down the cheeks 
 of the very men that had been clamoring the loudest 
 for my blood I saw the tears running and dropping 
 on the pavement they had torn up. And then I 
 told them how he had been laid in the grave and how 
 after three days He had come forth triumphant and 
 had ascended again to heaven and that there He 
 ever lives to make intercession for us, for them, for 
 all the world, and that through His words every 
 one of them might receive remission of sins and 
 eternal life. I told them I had finished my story and 
 they might stone me now. But no, they did not 
 want to stone me now. They did not know what a 
 wonderful story I had come to tell them. They 
 came forward and bought Scriptures and Gospels 
 and tracts and paid money for them, for they want- 
 ed to know more of that wonderful Saviour of whom 
 I had told them." He then adds one of his apt ap- 
 plications : "Brother minister, we can not find any- 
 thing better than the old, old story to proclaim. Let 
 us do our work under the original commission of 
 Christ — 'Preach the gospel to every creature.' Then 
 we shall succeed." 
 
The Reformed Church. 211 
 
 Another very remarkable story in his Hfe was his 
 escape in answer to prayer. On this tour he found 
 himself overtaken by the rainy season and on the 
 outskirts of the jungle, where the ground was cov- 
 ered with water and where lurked fever and man- 
 eating tigers. He applied to the governor for forty 
 coolies or bearers. And the governor furnished a 
 guard over them so that they would not run away. 
 But alas, they had not gone far before both coolies 
 and guard vanished rather than face the terrors of 
 the jungle at that season. He proceeded as best he 
 could to the next station where he demanded assist- 
 ance. The governor said : "No." But Dr. Chamber- 
 lain produced the firman of the government com- 
 pelling every one, under severe penalties if he re- 
 fused, to assist him. The governor secured forty 
 coolies and Dr. Chamberlain paid them in advance 
 so as to insure their staying and watched them so 
 that they did not desert. His objective point was a 
 cataract sixty miles away where they expected to 
 find a boat on which they could float down the river. 
 Above the cataract a boat could not be found and the 
 river had overflowed its banks. All day they waded 
 in the jungle under the alternations of heavy show- 
 ers and boiling, sickening sun. Toward evening 
 15 
 
212 Great Missionaries of 
 
 they met two hunters returning and running if pos- 
 sible to reach the highlands before dark, as they 
 were afraid of the wild beasts of the jungle at night. 
 They told Dr. Chamberlain that there was not a hill 
 or a hillock where he could pitch a tent for the night, 
 nothing but water endlessly stretched out like what 
 they had been splashing through all day. Must he 
 and his band perish ? He said that in his extremity 
 he prayed while on horseback to his covenant God : 
 "O Lord, I am helpless to extricate myself from 
 this dangerous situation. Yet I am thy servant and 
 in obedience to the command of the Lord Jesus have 
 come to India to preach the gospel to the heathen. 
 In His service I have been brought into this diffi- 
 culty and peril. Be pleased to show me where I 
 can go." Immediately an answer came as distinctly 
 pronounced in his ear as ever words were spoken in 
 the ears of anybody : "Turn to the left, go down the 
 river and you will find what you need." Immedi- 
 ately he conferred with his guides who assured him 
 of the folly of proceeding in that direction. Then 
 came the voice again repeating the direction first 
 given. Consulting with his guides again he was 
 told that the river had overflowed its banks and it 
 was impossible that a rescue could come from that 
 
The Reformed Church. 213 
 
 direction. For the third time the voice came, "Turn 
 to the left, proceed to the river and you will finiT 
 what you want." Then as master of the company 
 he gave the order to turn to the left and coming to 
 the river — what did he see? The very thing he 
 needed most, a large flat boat and in it two boatmen. 
 They, mistaking him for an English officer, began 
 to apologize for the boat's appearance at so strange 
 a spot. They said the flood in the river had loos- 
 ened the boat from its moorings, and that "the devil 
 himself seemed to be in that boat," for despite all 
 their efforts to the contrary it persisted in floating 
 to the spot where it was found by Dr. Chamber- 
 lain. Armed as he was with the authority of the 
 British government, he took possession of it, and 
 found it just broad enough to allow the spreading of 
 his tent, under which he slept undisturbed by the 
 hungry tigers whom he heard howling in the jungle. 
 It was not the devil that was in that boat as they 
 blasphemously declared, but the Lord was in it, caus- 
 ing it to come to the rescue of his missionary. 
 
 The next morning they continued floating down 
 the river until they came to the next cataract where 
 he found another boat and relief from all anxiety. 
 This was a most remarkable answer to prayer. 
 
214 Great Missionaries of 
 
 Nowhere is he more happy than in his tracts based 
 on some incident in his life or in India. His most 
 famous tract has been the one entitled ''Winding up 
 a Horse." Its influence has been so great that it has 
 brought, it is said, $30,000 into the treasury of the 
 Dutch Reformed Foreign Board. He says: 
 
 "Nineteen years ago (i860) I bought in Madras a 
 peculiar kind of horse. He had to be wound up to 
 make him go. 
 
 It was not a machine, but a veritable live horse. 
 When breaking him to go in the carriage he had 
 been injured. An accident occurred in starting him 
 the first time, and he was thrown and hurt and 
 frightened. It made him timid; afraid to start. 
 After he had once started he would not balk, until 
 taken out of the carriage. He would start and stop 
 and go on as many times as you pleased, but it was 
 very difficult to get him started at first each time 
 he was harnessed to the carriage. 
 
 He was all right under the saddle, an excellent 
 riding horse, and would carry me long distances int 
 my district work, so that I did not wish to dispose 
 of him, but I could not afford to keep two. What- 
 ever I had must go in carriage as well as ride, and I 
 determined that I would conquer. 
 
The Reformed Church. 215 
 
 How I have worked over that horse ! At first it 
 sometimes took me an hour to get him started from 
 my door. At last, after trying everything I had ever 
 heard of, I hit upon an expedient that worked. 
 
 I took a strong bamboo stick two feet long and 
 over an inch thick. A stout cord loop was passed 
 through a hole two inches from its end. This loop 
 we would slip over his left ear down to the roots, 
 and turn the stick 'round and 'round and twist it up. 
 
 It is said that a horse can retain but one idea at 
 a time in its small brain. Soon the twisting would 
 begin to hurt. His attention would be attracted to 
 the pain in his ear. He would forget all about a 
 carriage being hitched to him, bend down his head 
 and walk off as quiet as a lamb. When he had gone 
 a rod the horse boy would begin to untwist ; soon off 
 would come the cord, and the horse would be all 
 right for the day. The remedy never failed. 
 
 After having it on two or three times, he objected 
 to the operation, and would spring about and rear 
 and twitch and back, anything but start ahead, to 
 keep it from being applied. We would have two of 
 us, to begin to pat and rub about his neck and head. 
 He would not know which had the key. All at once 
 it would be on his ear and winding up. The mo- 
 
2i6 Great Missionaries of 
 
 ment it began to tighten he would be quiet, stand 
 and bear it as long as he could, and then off he 
 would go. 
 
 It never took thirty seconds to get him off with 
 the key. It would take an hour without. After a 
 little he ceased objecting to have it put on. He 
 seemed to say to himself : "I have got to give in and 
 may as well do it at once," but he would not start 
 v/ithout the key. In a few months he got so that, as 
 soon as we got into the carriage, he would bend 
 down his head to have the key put on, and one or 
 two turns of the key would be enough. 
 
 Then the key became unnecessary. He would 
 bend down his head, tipping his left ear to the horse 
 boy, who would take it in his hand and twist it and 
 off he would go. 
 
 My native neighbors said, "That horse must be 
 wound up or he cannot run." And it seemed to 
 be so. 
 
 When he got so that the "winding up" was 
 nothing but a form, I tried to break him of that, but 
 could not succeed. I would pat him and talk to 
 him and give him a little salt or sugar or bread, and 
 then step quietly into the carriage and tell him to 
 go. "No." Coax him. "No." Whip him. "No." 
 
The Reformed Church. 217 
 
 Legs braced, every muscle tense for resistence. A 
 genuine balk. Stop and keep quiet for an instant, 
 and he would hold down his head, bend over his 
 ear and look around for the horse boy appealingly, 
 saying very earnestly by his actions : "Do please 
 wind me up. I can't go without, but I'll gladly if 
 you will." The moment his ear was touched and 
 one twist given, off he would go as happy and con- 
 tented as ever horse could be. 
 
 Many hearty laughs have we and our friends had 
 over the winding up of that horse. If I were out on 
 a tour for a month or two, and he was not hitched 
 to the carriage, or if he stood in the stable with no 
 work for a week or two during the monsoon, a real 
 winding up had to take place the first time he was 
 put in. We kept him six years. The last week I 
 owned him I had to wind him up. I sold the patent 
 with the horse, and learned from the man that 
 bought him that he had to use it as long as the horse 
 lived. 
 
 I was thinking about that horse the other night 
 when it was too hot to sleep, and I suddenly burst 
 into a laugh as I said to myself : 'T have again and 
 again, in the membership of our churches at home, 
 seen the horse that had to be wound up, in all mat- 
 ters of benevolence." 
 
2i8 Great Missionaries of 
 
 Another very popular tract of Dr. Chamberlain is 
 entitled "Break Cocoanuts over the Wheels." He 
 says: 
 
 "It was twenty years ago. We had recently lo- 
 cated in the heathen town of Madanapalle, India, to 
 commence missionary work there. 
 
 The time for the annual drawing of the great 
 idol car through the streets of the town and by the 
 banks of the river had come. Multitudes of votaries 
 from all the villages around, as well as from every 
 street of the town, had assembled before the car. 
 Great rope cables were attached. Hundreds caught 
 hold of the ropes. Up went the shout : "Hari ! Hari ! 
 Hayi ! Jayam !" "Vishnu ! Vishnu ! Joy and Vic- 
 tory!" "Now pull," shouted the priests, and off 
 went the three-storied car majestically through the 
 streets, amid the joyous shouts of the thousands of 
 spectators. On they followed it to the river bank. 
 Libations were brought and poured over the car, 
 and the multitudinous ceremonies performed. 
 
 Again, with similar shouts, they began the pro- 
 gress around by different streets, back to the great 
 temple before which the car always reposed for the 
 year. Half way back and the car came to a stand. 
 "Pull," shouted the priests. Pull they did. The 
 
The Reformed Church. 219 
 
 ropes snapped with the strain. All the wheels were 
 examined ; no stones were in the way ; everything 
 seemed right. The ropes were tied and new ones 
 added. More votaries caught the ropes. "All pull," 
 shouted the priests. All bent to the effort. It would 
 not move. 
 
 A pallor came over the crowd. "The god is an- 
 gry and will not let his chariot move," was whis- 
 pered along the streets. A feeling of dread shivered 
 through the multitude. "Yes," shouted the chief 
 priest from the car, "the god is angry. He will not 
 move unless you propitiate him. Run all of you 
 and bring cocoanuts and break over the wheels, and 
 as the fragrant cocoanut milk runs down over the 
 wheels the god will accept the libation and gracious- 
 ly allow his chariot to move on again. Run, and 
 each bring a cocoanut ! Run !" 
 
 Men and boys ran for the cocoanuts ; the residents 
 to their houses, the villagers to the bazaars to buy 
 or to their friends' houses to borrow. Each came 
 back with his cocoanut, and broke it over one of the 
 wheels. The cocoanut milk ran along the streets. 
 "Hayi! Jayam," shouted the priests. "The god is 
 now propitious." "Hayi ! Jayam !" "Joy ! Vic- 
 tory!" shouted the multitude. "Now pull all!" 
 
220 Great Missionaries of 
 
 shouted the priests. The people took heart; dread 
 passed away ; confidence came. They seized the 
 ropes and, with a shout that resounded in the hills 
 a mile away, they gave a pull. Off went the car, 
 and soon, with singing and dancing, they had it 
 back in its wonted place. And as the crowd scat- 
 tered to their village homes, the news ran through 
 the country: "The car got set; they could not move 
 it a finger breadth ; but each man brought a cocoanut 
 and broke it over the wheels, and then on it went 
 with a rush to the temple." 
 
 This scene flashes upon my memory as I read the 
 appeals of all the missions for enlargement answered 
 by the "empty treasuries" of the Missionary Boards. 
 
 God's chariot is delayed. His Chariot of Salva- 
 tion had started in its course in towns in India and 
 China and Japan through the agency of the Re- 
 formed Church. Have the people lost heart that it 
 stands still? Has discouragement come upon us? 
 
 "Run for cocoanuts." Let each man and boy, let 
 each woman and each child bring what would be to 
 them the equivalent in value of a cocoanut to the 
 poor Hindu, as an offering to the Lord, and the 
 chariot will move joyously on." 
 
 Others of his inimitable tracts might be given but 
 
The Reformed Church. 221 
 
 space forbids. The reader is referred to his books, 
 "The Tiger Jungle" and "In tlie Cobra's Den," for 
 other stories equally good. These books ought to 
 be in every Sunday-school library. 
 
 Dr. Chamberlain still continues his work in south- 
 ern India. He was one of the most prominent mis- 
 sionaries at the Ecumenical Conference of Missions 
 at New York City in 1900. Although his health has 
 failed him, yet he still delights to tell the sweet story 
 of Jesus, and to preach the precious doctrines of our 
 Heidelberg Catechism. 
 
 The Arcot Mission of the Dutch Reformed 
 Church in India, has been greatly blessed. It re- 
 ports in 1 90 1, 2,442 communicants in 24 churches, 
 and 157 outstations; 167 Sunday-schools with 5,406 
 scholars. 
 
B— China. 
 
 Chapter IV. 
 DAVID ABEEL. 
 Rev. David Abeel was one of the pioneer mission- 
 aries of the Dutch Reformed Church of America. He 
 was born June 12, 1804, at New Brunswick, New 
 Jersey, of parents who emigrated to America from 
 Amsterdam. When fifteen years of age, he made ap- 
 plication to the West Point MiHtary Academy, but 
 owing to the great number of appHcants, he was in- 
 duced to withdraw his request. Providence had, un- 
 known to himself, determined that he should be a sol- 
 dier in a higher service than that of the United 
 States. He then turned his attention to med- 
 icine, and while engaged in its study, came 
 under deep religious conviction. Many weary 
 days and sleepless nights were his, as he strug- 
 gled on to the light. Finally, under the wise 
 counsels of Rev. Dr. Livingston, he found Christ, 
 and then the great question of his life be- 
 came: "How can I do the most for the Master?" 
 In 1823 he entered the theological seminary at New 
 Brunswick, remaining there three years. During 
 that time he was busy in mission work. While in 
 
 »»3 
 
224 Great Missionaries of 
 
 seminary he wrote down the following resolution: 
 "Conscious of the importance of making an unre- 
 served surrender of myself to the service of Him 
 under whose banner I have enlisted, I would 
 solemnly determine, by the restraining influence of 
 the Spirit of God, on this, the 15th of September, 
 1825, to renounce every known sin, though it cost 
 me the pain of plucking out an eye or cutting off a 
 hand, and of living as far as possible a life consistent 
 with my high vocation." On April 20, 1826, he was 
 licensed to preach, at which time he wrote: "I feel 
 impressed with the view of the solemnity and deep 
 responsibility of my office. My life, my health, my 
 time, my talents, all that I have, I sincerely desire 
 to consecrate to his service. And now would I come 
 to the determination in my Father's strength to live 
 a life of faith and holiness — to keep myself unspot- 
 ted from the world — to live in the habitual commis- 
 sion of no sin — to mortify the old man with his af- 
 fections and lusts. Oh, how shall I preach to others 
 that which I practice not myself? O Thou, great 
 God, I have no strength of my own ; I look to Thee 
 lor Thy grace." 
 
 He was called that year as pastor of the Reformed 
 church at Athens, New York. He describes the 
 
The Reformed Church. 225 
 
 place as being in morals very much like its name- 
 sake in the old world. But he bravely began his 
 work, at first in a school house, as the congregation 
 had no church of their own. Earnestly he prayed 
 for the outpouring of God's Spirit, and the Lord 
 blessed his two and a half years' ministry there to 
 the salvation of many souls. His incessant labors, 
 however, broke down a frame never very strong, 
 and he was forced to leave. Meanwhile he had 
 been reading missionary works, as the lives of 
 Brainerd and Martyn. These prepared him to make 
 his ultimr^e choice for missions. Two main diffi- 
 culties lay in his way. One was his own feeble 
 health, the other was the fact that he was the only 
 son of his parents, and they were slow to give their 
 consent. Just then, however. Providence opened the 
 way, for the Seaman's Friend Society wanted some 
 one to go to Canton, in China, to preach to the sail- 
 ors there, and the American Board wanted him to 
 prepare to preach to the Chinese. Hoping that a 
 sea voyage would build up his health, and that he 
 would get an opportunity to preach the gospel to the 
 heathen, he sailed, October 14, 1829, and reached 
 Canton February 25, 1830. 
 
 He at once began to work very faithfully among 
 
226 Great Missionaries of 
 
 the seamen, but after laboring thus for the Seaman's 
 Friend Society for nearly a year, he was transferred 
 to the American Board for whose work he had been 
 preparing by spending much time in learning the 
 Chinese language. Yet it was dangerous to study 
 Chinese. When the Chinese teacher was instructing 
 him, he kept his door locked. When the officers 
 came to see what the foreigners were doing, the 
 teacher put the books in a box and material for mak- 
 ing shoes on the top, as he feared he might lose his 
 head if it were found out that he taught the for- 
 eigners Chinese. As Abeel could do nothing in China 
 because foreigners were not allowed to teach 
 Christianity, the American Board ordered him to 
 make a tour of the islands of the Archipelago and 
 visit Java, Borneo, Siam and the Dutch missions 
 there that he might labor among the Chinese scat- 
 tered in those islands. 
 
 During these voyages he distributed Christian 
 books, held religious conversation with the sailors 
 and with the Chinese. While at Batavia, he stayed 
 with the earnest missionary, Mr. Medhurst, and en- 
 gaged with him in mission work, and also in the 
 study of the Chinese language. 
 
 His health failing, in 1833 he was compelled to 
 
The Reformed Church. 227 
 
 come to America. During the voyage his health 
 greatly improved. He landed in 1833 first in Eng- 
 land, where his physicians urged him not to sail to 
 America during the winter. He then went to Paris, 
 where he stirred up interest in missions by holding 
 missionary meetings. When he returned to Eng- 
 land July 25, 1834, he described the degradations of 
 the women of the East. He showed that missionaries' 
 wives who had always done what they could, were 
 unable on account of family duties to do all that was 
 necessary. He presented an appeal to the Christian 
 women to go as missionaries to their sex. This re- 
 sulted in the formation of a Woman's Missionary 
 Society. It aimed at the education of the women of 
 China and the East. Other societies were soon form- 
 ed — as in Scotland in 1837. The Reformed have 
 therefore the honor of suggesting the organization 
 of the first of the Woman's Missionary Societies, 
 which have done so much for the cause of missions. 
 
 He then sailed for America, and on account of his 
 health spent the next winter in the South. But every- 
 where he spoke on missions. Much of his time was 
 taken up in visiting colleges and theological semi- 
 naries. On his return from the South, he visited 
 the churches of the Dutch Reformed denomina- 
 
 16 
 
228 Great Missionaries of 
 
 tion, producing a deep impression for missions. He 
 also endeavored to organize the first Woman's Mis- 
 sionary Society in the United States, at the house of 
 Mrs. Bethune, the mother of Rev. Dr. Bethune. 
 Rev. Dr. Anderson, the secretary of the American 
 Board, was present, but wished them to defer their 
 organization. Mrs. Bethune answered him : "What ! 
 Are the American Board afraid that the ladies will 
 get ahead of them?" Owing to Dr. Anderson's 
 wish, there was a division among those present. 
 Some were in favor of going on ; others, out of re- 
 spect for Dr. Anderson, were anxious to wait. Then 
 Dr. Abeel, with tears rolling down his face, ap- 
 pealed to them to organize, saying : "What is to be- 
 come of the souls of those who are ignorant of the 
 offers of mercy and of the Bible?"' Although no 
 Woman's Society was organized then, yet his effort 
 brought forth fruit later in the organization of the 
 Union ^lissionary Society at New York in 1861, 
 under I^Irs. Doremus. 
 
 But he was again laid aside by sickness. He at- 
 tempted to sail for China in October, 1836, but was 
 prevented by a sudden attack of sickness. He was 
 then sent to the West Indies to recuperate. Wliile 
 at St. Thomas, the physician discovered that he was 
 
The Reformed Church. 229 
 
 suffering from an organic disease of the heart — an 
 enlargement which interfered with the action of the 
 kings and might prove fatal at any moment. But 
 being resigned either to live or die, he permitted 
 nothing to interfere with his favorite work, and 
 went on in his labors for the Lord. Just then, when 
 his chances of returning to China seemed destroyed 
 by ill health, he met the celebrated Dr. Griffin. After 
 they had conversed together about the spiritual 
 needs of Eastern Asia, Dr. Griffin prophetically 
 said : "My son, your work is not yet done in China 
 — the Lord has yet much for you to accomplish in 
 that place for His glory." Finally, after spending 
 his time as his health would permit in speaking in 
 churches, colleges and seminaries about missions, 
 he was able to sail, October 17, 1838. 
 
 He arrived at Canton on February 2, 1839, 
 anxious to work for the Master. But again Provi- 
 dence hindered him, for the opium war broke out 
 between England and China. He was therefore 
 compelled to leave Canton for Macao, and then or- 
 dered to visit the different Dutch Reformed mis- 
 sions in Borneo. This war, in the providence of 
 God, was the means of opening up China to mis- 
 sions. The Chinese wall of separation fell down 
 
230 Great Missionaries of 
 
 like the walls of Jericho, and the set time to favor 
 Sinim (China) had come. The prospect of having 
 access to four hundred millions of souls was very 
 exhilarating to him. He returned to China and 
 landed at Amoy in 1842, ready to begin permanent 
 mission work among the Chinese. He settled at the 
 island of Kolongsou, about half a mile from Amoy, 
 where he could live under British protection. And 
 now began his real work among the Chinese. For 
 twelve years he had been, like the Apostle Paul in 
 Adria, driven up and down on the coast of China, 
 without being able to find entrance. Now, however, 
 he began laying the foundations of the successful 
 Reformed mission at Amoy. 
 
 He was surprised at the beginning of his work to 
 receive social visits from high Chinese officials. 
 Evidently China was opening up to the Gospel. His 
 audiences also increased. After having lived in 
 these regions for so many years, fettered and 
 tongue-tied, such liberty and receptivity on the part 
 of the Chinese was delightful. In 1843 ^^ ^^" 
 tempted a tour inland, but found it very dangerous, 
 as the inland Chinese were still bitter against for- 
 eigners. Still he scattered religious books and held 
 personal conversation with many of the natives. In 
 
The Reformed Church. 231 
 
 June, 1844, he was very glad to welcome his fellow 
 missionaries and successors, Doty and Pohlman. 
 Nor did they come too soon, for two months later 
 Dr. Abeel was compelled to leave his post on ac- 
 count of ill health. 
 
 He sailed for Hong- Kong, and also visited the 
 island of Quemoy, near Amoy. Here he greatly de- 
 sired to settle, because of its delightful climate, but 
 alas, he was not permitted to stay. He tried to 
 preach in Chinese, but on account of his weakness 
 and the irritation of his lungs, he was compelled to 
 stop. His last sermon was on the text: "Come unto 
 me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will 
 give you rest," a very fitting topic with which such a 
 sick man as he was should close his mission to the 
 heathen. Worn out in body, he was compelled to 
 return to America, April 3, 1845. To avoid the next 
 cold winter, he went to Georgia, and then returned 
 for the summer. Finally, on September 4, 1846, he 
 fell asleep in Jesus at Albany, New York. Twelve 
 days before he died he wrote : "Wonderfully pre- 
 served ! With the kind and degree of disease which 
 generally has a speedy issue, I live on. All things 
 are mine. God sustains me through wearisome days 
 and tedious, painful nights. When I embarked for 
 
232 Great Missionaries of 
 
 home, the latter part of the fifth chapter of Hebrews 
 was blessed to the production of the assurance of 
 hope. I have not lost it. Death has no sting. Oh, 
 may the Conqueror continue with me till the close 
 and then !" 
 
 His life was an illustration, like Henry Martyn's, 
 of how weakness of body can yet be used for great 
 labors for God. No Foreign Mission Board today 
 would think of sending out any one as sickly as Dr. 
 Abeel, yet what a wonderful work he did. He was 
 a man of no peculiar gifts of genius, but of great 
 solidity and strength of character. His was rather 
 the genius of spirituality, which elevated and made 
 brilliant his powers. Rev. Dr. Anderson says of 
 him: "Our brother was not a Paul, nor was he a 
 Peter; he more resembled the beloved John. He 
 was fitted to conciliate, to win. He was a good pio- 
 neer in a mission. It was a good thing for the 
 Amoy mission that he was the one who commenced 
 it. And to this, among other favoring Providences, 
 we owe much of the peculiarly tolerant spirit among 
 the leading Chinese of that place." 
 
 God has greatly blessed the mission which he was 
 permitted to found. The Amoy mission, after more 
 than fifty years of work, had 1,008 communicants. 
 
The Reformed Church. 233 
 
 In connection with the Eng^lish Presbyterian mis- 
 sion there, it is doing a valuable work. That mis- 
 sion field will ever remain a living monument to 
 perpetuate the memory of Abeel more grandly than 
 does St. Paul's cathedral at London perpetuate the 
 memory of Sir Christopher Wren. "Behold, these 
 shall come from far, and lo, these from the north 
 and from the west and these from the land of 
 Sinim." Isa. 49: 12. 
 
Chapter V. 
 JOHN VAN NEST TALMAGE. 
 
 He belonged to the famous Talmage family, Rev. 
 T. DeWitt Talmage, D.D., being a brother. He was 
 born at Bound Brook, New Jersey, August i8, 1819. 
 The home of his boyhood was a deeply religious one 
 as is shown by the fact that four brothers from it 
 entered the ministry. He graduated at Rutgers 
 College in 1842, and from the Theological Seminary 
 at New Brunswick in 1845. Missions early claimed 
 his attention as a boy. Unknown to him his mother 
 had devoted him to the work of missions. It was, 
 however, an address by Rev. Mr. Doty, one of the 
 missionaries of the Dutch Reformed Church, at 
 Amoy, China, that finally led him to a decision. 
 When he told his mother of his decision, "Oh, 
 John," she exclaimed, "maternal love has its desire. 
 I prayed God for this, and He has answered. How 
 can I object?" 
 
 At seminary he showed such proficiency in the 
 Greek and Hebrew that his name was later men- 
 tioned for that chair, but it was felt that he could 
 not be spared from China. He was ordained at 
 Millstone, New Jersey, August 26, 1846. The 
 
 236 
 
236 . Great Missionaries of 
 
 charge to him was given by Rev. Mr. Doty, the mis- 
 sionary. In the audience was a boy of eleven years 
 of age who was so impressed by that service, that he 
 later became a missionary to China, Rev. S. L. Bald- 
 win, D.D., later Secretary of the Methodist Episco- 
 pal Missionary Society of the United States. As the 
 Dutch Foreign Mission Board was not able to send 
 him immediately because of lack of funds he tempo- 
 rarily became assistant to the Rev. Dr. Brodhead, of 
 the Dutch Reformed church of Brooklyn, and might 
 have become his successor had he desired, but his 
 heart was set on China. When the Board was ready 
 to send him they found him ready and waiting to go. 
 He sailed from New York April 15, 1847, and on 
 August 19 he arrived at Amoy. He aimed to spend 
 the first few years in learning the Chinese, but an 
 unexpected event led to his return to America. Rev. 
 Mr. Pohlman had been shipwrecked off the coast of 
 China, an event which so unsettled the mind of his 
 sister that it was deemed best to send her home, and 
 Mr. Talmage was appointed to accompany her. He 
 arrived at New York August 23, 1849. He then 
 made an extensive tour through the churches of his 
 denomination and re-embarked for China on March 
 16, 1850, arriving at Amoy July 16. 
 
The Reformed Church. 237 
 
 He was then placed in charge of a new enterprise 
 in the northern part of Amoy, known as "At the 
 Bamboos," where his chapel was opened December 
 23, 1850. There he preached, prayed and worked 
 for nearly twenty years. By the following April he 
 had thirteen converts. He thus tells the story of one 
 of his early converts. The man gained a mere liv- 
 ing by the profits of a small shop in which he sold 
 paper candles to be used in their idolatrous worship. 
 As he came under the influence of Christianity he 
 found that his business was opposed to its doctrines. 
 He had a hard struggle, but Christ conquered. He 
 gave up the only prospect of making a livelihood, 
 with no prospect before him and his family of any- 
 thing but starvation. 
 
 A mason named Khi was led to become a Chris- 
 tian and then refused to work on Sunday. His em- 
 ployer told him he would discharge him if he did 
 not work. But he still refused and was therefore 
 discharged. After trying for some time to get work 
 and failing, Dr. Talmage recommended him to a 
 mason who was doing some work at the mission, 
 and the latter gave him work. But his companions 
 did not like his religion and soon had him dis- 
 charged. As Dr. Talmage had an empty room on 
 
238 Great Missionaries of 
 
 the first floor of his house, he let Khi stay there. Khi 
 put together some empty boxes and laid some straw 
 and a straw mat on them for his bed. He now tried 
 to make a living by carrying potatoes about the 
 street for sale, his profits being two to four cents a 
 day. But in all his poverty he made no complaints. 
 Winter came but he had no means to buy clothing or 
 better food. Dr. Talmage said : "His room was right 
 under my study. Almost every night I would hear 
 his voice engaged in prayer before retiring to his 
 straw. Sometimes he would pray a long, long time. 
 The first thing in the morning I would hear would 
 be his voice in prayer. I knew he was destitute, but 
 did not dare aid him lest it might lead others to be- 
 come Christians from unworthy motives." The 
 poor man never complained. One day his voice was 
 heard in prayer earlier than usual and soon after 
 word came up to Dr. Talmage that Khi was sick. 
 He went down and found him in the greatest desti- 
 tution. He gave him medicine and good food and 
 had his room made warm. The next day the mis- 
 sionary called him to his study to give him a little 
 money with which to buy food and clothing, but 
 had the greatest difficulty in making him take it. He 
 had to call one of the natives to intercede with Khi 
 
The Reformed Church. 239 
 
 to take the money, for the latter said that his suffer- 
 ings were only for a short time, that they were much 
 less than he deserved and were sent to teach him 
 not to love the world. 
 
 Dr. Talmage early began literary work. Five 
 years after his arrival he issued a primer which was 
 followed by a translation of Pilgrim's Progress and 
 parts of the New Testament. His most important 
 literary w^ork was in aiding to get the colloquial 
 Chinese printed in the letters of our alphabet instead 
 of in the difficult characters of the Chinese. His 
 crowning work was his Amoy Colloquial Diction- 
 ary which brought light and knowledge to thous- 
 ands who never could have gained it by reading with 
 the harder Chinese characters. 
 
 In 1853 he passed through the "Little Knife" re- 
 bellion of China, which was led by the "Heaven and 
 Earth Society," and which aimed to overthrow the 
 Tartar dynasty from the throne of China. Amoy 
 was attacked in May, 1853, and the rebels gained 
 control of the city. He and his members held a 
 quiet prayer meeting that Sunday, as they knew not 
 what dangers were abroad. An evangelist in a 
 neighboring town was beheaded. When the rebels 
 gained control of the town the missionaries were 
 
240 Great Missionaries of 
 
 fearful, as they did not know how they would feel 
 toward foreigners. But as time wore on, they be- 
 came somewhat used to the war scenes, and he hu- 
 morously describes the results of a battle between 
 the ^Chinese fleet and the rebels thus: "Killed none, 
 wounded none, prisoners none." But it became 
 more serious by and by, for his house was struck by 
 a cannon ball. The shot struck a pillar and, if it 
 had gone either side of it, it would have come into 
 a room where many Chinese were gathered. When 
 the army of the Chinese government again gained 
 possession there was much shooting, but the for- 
 eigners were not hurt. 
 
 But the work of the Lord went on in spite of war. 
 When he went to Amoy in 1847, the entire church 
 membership of the mission was three. In 1850 it 
 was five, by the end of 185 1 it was nineteen. In 
 1854- 1855 there was a great revival. His congre- 
 gation rejoiced at receiving twenty-eight in 1854. 
 He tells an interesting story of one of them, a widow 
 who lived about fifteen miles from Amoy. Once 
 "when she came to town she determined to enter 
 the missionary's house to see how foreigners lived. 
 As she entered she was jnet by the person who had 
 charge of the chapel. He asked her business. She 
 
The Reformed Church. 241 
 
 replied she had only come for amusement. He re- 
 plied, 'This is no place of amusement but to hear the 
 doctrine.' 'Well/ she said, 'then I will hear the doc- 
 trine.' He explained to her some of the truths of 
 Christianity. He told her that after breakfast I 
 would be in the chapel for worship. She went to a 
 neighbor to get her breakfast. But the new doc- 
 trine of which she had heard took such a hold on 
 her mind that she desired no breakfast for herself. 
 As she listened to the missionary with wonder, she 
 said : 'This doctrine cannot be of man. It must be 
 the great power of God.' From that time she was 
 almost always present, coming from her home al- 
 most every week to hear the gospel. She brought 
 her two sons with her, desiring that they should be- 
 come Christians, and also brought some of her 
 neighbors. She met with much persecution but bore 
 it all patiently. After her baptism she rented a 
 room at Amoy. When the missionary asked her 
 how she expected to maintain herself at Amoy, she 
 replied: 'If she could not get as good food as others 
 she would eat coarser bread.' " How great is the self- 
 denial of the heathen convert ! Among the inquirers 
 were two lads who were severely beaten by their 
 parents for their determination to follow Christ. 
 
242 Great Missionaries of 
 
 Dr, Talmage says : "The elder of them was scourged 
 yesterday. This morning he is again tied up in a 
 very painful manner and beaten by his father. He 
 carried the marks on his arms which were visible, 
 and had others on his body. We trust they are the 
 marks of the Lord Jesus." 
 
 When the negotiations for the union of denomi- 
 nations on the mission field were begun with the 
 Presbyterian church of England, he heartily favored 
 the union. When, in 1863, the General Synod of the 
 Dutch Reformed Church refused to allow their mis- 
 sion to join with these English Presbyterians in 
 China, Dr. Talmage stood his ground on the floor of 
 the General Synod. Though defeated that year, yet 
 the next year his arguments prevailed and the Gen- 
 eral Synod reconsidered its action and ordered the 
 union of those two denominations which has been 
 so richly blessed of God. The years 1 870-1 871 were 
 years of trial to him on account of the anti-mission- 
 ary agitation. In Canton vile stories were concocted, 
 i. e., that the foreigners distributed poisonous pills, 
 etc. The ferment soon reached Amoy. Inflamma- 
 tory placards were posted up even with the support 
 of the Chinese officials. Foreigners were called "little 
 demons," and were charged with poisoning the 
 
The Reformed Church. 243 
 
 wells. Native Christians had to suffer much perse- 
 cution. Fortunately the war cloud blew over and 
 the opposition ceased. 
 
 In 1889 Dr. Talmage returned to America ex- 
 pecting to go back again to China. But God de- 
 creed it otherwise. Forty-two years of active ser- 
 vice had so overworked him that he died at the home 
 of his boyhood, Bound Brook, N. J., August 19, 
 1892, aged 73 years. Says Rev, Dr. E. T. Corwin: 
 "He stood in the front rank of missionaries. He 
 spoke the Chinese language like themselves, beauti- 
 fully and idiomatically. For ability, for fidelity, for 
 usefulness he had few equals." This Amoy mission 
 of the Dutch Reformed Church reported in 1901, 
 1,392 communicants. 
 
 17 
 
Chapter VI. 
 
 WILLIAM E. HOY AND THE NEW MISSION 
 
 OF THE REFORMED CHURCH IN THE 
 
 UNITED STATES. 
 
 In 1899 the General Synod of the Reformed 
 Church in the United States decided to open a new 
 mission in China. The Board, therefore, ordered 
 Rev. W. E. Hoy, one of its missionaries to Japan, 
 to go to China as the Japanese climate did not at all 
 agree with his health. He had previously visited 
 China, seeking relief, and was, therefore, familiar 
 with it. His letters and appeals to the home 
 church, made after the Japan-Chinese war, had been 
 the main instrument in leading the church to take 
 up this new mission, and it was, therefore, very fit- 
 ting that he should be appointed to it. He at once 
 went to China and after canvassing the situation, 
 selected the newly opened province of Hunan, in 
 Central China, as the location of the mission. This 
 province had, a few years before, most bitterly op- 
 posed Christianity, all sorts of scandalous circulars 
 and tales having been circulated about it. But since 
 that time even the ringleader in that movement had 
 become an inquirer into Christianity. So great a 
 
 245 
 
246 Great Missionaries of 
 
 change had come over it that even in the Boxer re- 
 bellion the province was little affected against 
 foreigners. 
 
 Mr. Hoy had been a pioneer already in the mis- 
 sion in Japan, He had been one of the very first to 
 go to Sendai to open the new mission there. With 
 Rev. Mr. Oshikawa he had been instrumental in 
 opening a boys' school there which afterward grew 
 into a College and Theological Seminary. When 
 he was about starting it, a poor widow came to him, 
 bringing twelve pieces of silver which she had col- 
 lected to defray her funeral expenses and offered it 
 toward the founding of a school to educate evangel- 
 ists. Thus encouraged, he started with six young 
 men, supporting them the first years himself. A 
 pioneer in Japan, he was fitted to be a pioneer in 
 Central China, too. He chose Yochou, near Han- 
 kow, in Central China, as the seat of the new mis- 
 sion. In 1902 the Board purchased the mission 
 property of the London Missionary Society at that 
 place, which at once gave the mission a starting 
 point and center. The mission has since been 
 strengthened by the sending out of the first medical 
 missionary. Dr. Albert Beam and his wife, who is 
 also a physician, together with Rev. W. A. Reimert 
 
The Reformed Church. 247 
 
 and Miss Emma Ziemer, who goes as a teacher. 
 Already the nucleus of a school has been formed. 
 A hospital and dispensary will be opened and the 
 work will spread in influence and increase in its re- 
 sults and will doubtless be a factor in the regenera- 
 tion of the land of Sinim (China). 
 
C— Japan. 
 
 Chapter VII. 
 GUIDO F. VERBECK. 
 
 One of the greatest of modern missionaries of the 
 nineteenth century was Rev. Dr. Verbeck. Few 
 men have been accorded such great opportunities for 
 poHtical as well as rehgious influence. "Verbeck of 
 Japan the greatest under God ot the makers of the 
 new nation that is coming, and even now is," is the 
 description by his biographer about his work in Ja- 
 pan. He stood as one of the sponsors at the found- 
 ing of the new Japan, poHtically. He was also the 
 one Vv'ho baptized the first Protestant convert in Ja- 
 pan. He was a many-sided man, first an engineer, 
 then a preacher, then a teacher and translator. 
 
 He was born at Zeist in Holland, January 23, 
 1830, his father having been a German Moravian 
 pastor there. He there joined the Moravian church 
 and attended their school. From the Moravians he 
 received some of his missionary inspiration and a 
 visit to Zeist by Gutzlaff, the great Chinese mis- 
 sionary, he never forgot. At this Moravian school 
 he became master of four languages: Dutch, Ger- 
 man, English and French, and thus began his re- 
 markable linguistic preparation for his great future. 
 
 249 
 
250 Great Missionaries of 
 
 As he was born in the year that railways were in- 
 troduced into Holland, his parents thought he must 
 become an engineer. He, therefore, went to the 
 Polytechnic school at Utrecht. Through the invita- 
 tion of his brother-in-law. Rev. Mr. Van Deurs, he 
 was led to come to this new world in 1852, and lo- 
 cated at Green Bay, Wisconsin, where he had charge 
 of a foundry. He tried to revolutionize himself into 
 an Americanized Dutchman, for he says : "I am de- 
 termined to become a good Yankee." From Green 
 Bay he was led to take a position at Helena, Arkan- 
 sas, as draftsman and engineer. It was while 
 here that he was prostrated by a severe illness which 
 led him to more serious reflection, and he cove- 
 nanted with God that if He would spare his life he 
 would consecrate his life to Him as a missionary. 
 He returned to Green Bay in 1854. In the autumn 
 of 1855 his brother-in-law, Rev. Mr. Van Deurs, 
 influenced him to go to the Theological Seminary 
 at Auburn, New York. There he revealed fine abili- 
 ties as a student and as a singer, preaching also to a 
 German congregation in Auburn. 
 
 Meanwhile great changes were taking place on 
 the other side of the globe preparing for his future 
 work. Ray Palmer said more than fifty years ago : 
 
The Reformed Church. 251 
 
 "I fancy I am coming back to the world five hun- 
 dred years from now and I shall see Japan opened 
 to the Gospel." He did not need to wait twenty-five 
 years. Commodore Perry had conquered Japan 
 without firing a gun, and that hitherto hermit land 
 was thrown open to the gospel. The Dutch Re- 
 formed Board had decided to locate a mission there 
 and was looking around for an Americanized Dutch- 
 man to go there as missionary. It was believed that, 
 as the only Protestant nation with whom Japan had 
 had any business relations hitherto was Holland, a 
 Dutchman would probably have peculiar influence, 
 especially as that language had hitherto been Ja- 
 pan's only medium of intercourse with the west. So 
 he was appointed by the Board February 16, 1859. 
 He was ordained by the Presbytery of Cayuga March 
 22, and received by the Reformed Classis of Cayuga 
 the next day. Before going to Japan he deemed it 
 wise to take out papers of American citizenship but 
 found he was unable to comply with the laws on 
 the subject. He had no claim to citizenship in Hol- 
 land as his father had been a German and not a' 
 Dutchman. He could not become an American citi- 
 zen. He therefore lived "a man without a country," 
 although a resident of three lands, Holland, the 
 
252 Great Missionaries of 
 
 United States and Japan. But he did not need it. 
 God protected him ; his citizenship was on high. He 
 sailed from New York May 7, 1859, and reached 
 Nagasaki, Japan, on November 7, 1859, after a voy- 
 age of about six months. 
 
 His Hfe in Japan can be divided into three periods 
 of about ten years each ; the first as a missionary at 
 Nagasaki, the second as an educator at Tokio, the 
 third as a translator and evangelist. He first began 
 to learn the language which he, with his fine lin- 
 guistic powers, so mastered that the Japanese said 
 he was the only foreigner who could speak their 
 language without his foreign nationality being 
 known, so correct was his pronunciation and idiom. 
 His early life at Nagasaki was in the time of dan- 
 ger. When he arrived there, Japan was still unset- 
 tled about its reception of foreigners and foreign 
 ideas. Some of the foreigners were assassinated by 
 the reactionaries. But quietly through all the 
 changes Verbeck went on with his work. When he 
 arrived at Japan the edict-boards, threatening death 
 to any one who was a Christian, were still seen 
 along the roads. 
 
 He found he could do little more than study the 
 language and make friends with the people. He 
 
The Reformed Church. 253 
 
 however had a class of two young men whom he 
 instructed in the Bible as well as in English. 
 These young men were twice promoted and to show 
 their gratitude to Dr. Verbeck they presented him 
 with two black sucking pigs, which, humorously 
 says Grififis, his biographer, "showed that their idea 
 of foreigners was that they were fond of pork." 
 The governor of Nagasaki found the two Japanese 
 students of Verbeck so useful that while Ver- 
 beck left the country, 1863-4, because of the politi- 
 cal upheavals there, he conceived the idea of a train- 
 ing school for interpreters and asked Dr. Verbeck to 
 act as principal in 1866. (From that time till 1878 
 he was self-supporting because in government em- 
 ploy.) His school soon had over one hundred 
 pupils. It brought him into contact with the brightest 
 minds of the young men of Japan. Into this school 
 came prominent young men, as the two sons of the 
 prime minister Iwakura and others, who were des- 
 tined to occupy high office in the Japan that was to 
 come. By June 10, 1866, he had the joy of seeing two 
 of his pupils, the nephews of Yokoi Heishiro, start 
 for America, the first of a procession of five hundred 
 or more who were aided by the Dutch Reformed 
 Church of America. 
 
254 Great Missionaries of 
 
 He then had the honor of baptizing the first Jap- 
 anese Christian. Murata, the lord of Wakasa and 
 commander of the army of his province, had been 
 guarding the harbor of Nagasaki against foreigners 
 in 1855. There he came into contact with the few 
 Dutchmen who had been allowed to trade with Ja- 
 pan. One of them gave him a picture of the seige 
 of Sebastopol in the Crimean War, which greatly 
 impressed him. He sought to learn the secret of the 
 power of Christian nations. He frequently went out 
 at night in a boat to inspect his guard. On one of 
 these occasions he saw floating on the water a little 
 book, different in language, type and binding from 
 anything he had yet seen. He became interested in 
 it, after finding an interpreter who could read it, for 
 it was a Dutch Bible. It told him about the Creator 
 of the universe and about Jesus. The more he 
 heard, the more he wanted to hear. He sent one of 
 his men to Nagasaki ostensibly to study medicine, 
 but really to find out from the Dutch more about 
 this book. When he heard there was a Chinese 
 translation of it, he secretly sent to China and got it. 
 His home was at Saga where he secretly began the 
 study of the New Testament. 
 
 God was arranging to bring Murata and Verbeck 
 
The Reformed Church. 255 
 
 together. One of the two young men who first be- 
 gan to study EngHsh with Verbeck was Ayabe, Mu- 
 rata's younger brother. Ayabe went to Nagasaki 
 in 1862 in order to gain an understanding of the 
 Bible. There he met Dr. Verbeck who answered his 
 questions about the meanings of the various pas- 
 sages of Scripture. Afterward he sent his relative 
 Montono to Nagasaki to study English and the 
 Bible. Dr. Verbeck taught Wakasa through this 
 channel, Montono serving faithfully as a messenger 
 between them carrying questions and answers back 
 and forth, for nearly three years. 
 
 Finally, on May 14, 1866, Murata with Ayabe 
 and Motono visited Verbeck. The conversation 
 lasted for hours. Murata said: "Sir, I cannot 
 tell you my feelings when I first read the 
 account of Jesus' character. I had never heard of 
 such a person. I was filled with admiration, over- 
 whelmed with emotion and taken captive by His 
 nature and life." Then Murata asked for baptism 
 for himself and his younger brother. Verbeck 
 warned them that there was no magic in baptism to 
 save them and also warned them of the danger in 
 which they would place themselves in Japan if they 
 became Christians. But they were willing to suffer 
 
256 Great Missionaries of 
 
 all if necessary. So on the next Sunday (May 20, 
 1866) the three men, Murata, Ayabe and Motono, 
 were baptized in Dr. Verbeck's parlor at Nagasaki, 
 and they there joyfully joined together in celebrating 
 the Lord's Supper. The matter was kept somewhat 
 quiet. Murata reported it, but the prince seeing his 
 firmness left them alone. The Japanese government 
 ordered Murata's punishment, but all that was done 
 was to burn some of his books. He lived a Chris- 
 tian life and died in 1874. 
 
 The revolution of 1868 was essentially a students' 
 revolution, and when it was successful the young 
 men in Tokio felt the need of wise counsel. Instinc- 
 tively they turned to their old teacher, Verbeck, of 
 Nagasaki. They invited him to Tokio to lay the foun- 
 dations of the Imperial University. Although these 
 men were not Christians neither did they desire a 
 Christian government, yet they felt that in Verbeck 
 they had a man upon whose judgment they could 
 rely, and on whose integrity they could rest. 
 "Nowhere," says Bliss, "in the annals of history 
 has there a grander opportunity come to any 
 man, and nowhere has the opportunity been more 
 nobly used." 
 
 He went to Tokio in 1870, and through his in- 
 
The Reformed Church. 257 
 
 fluence two very important political movements were 
 begun. He organized the Imperial University, ap- 
 pointing teachers and attending to its many details. 
 He was authorized by the government to call teach- 
 ers from America to aid in the new education of 
 Japan. By 1873 the school had five hundred stu- 
 dents, and eighteen teachers of four nationalities. 
 
 The other important movement was his proposi- 
 tion of an embassy from Japan to the United States 
 to study its institutions. This embassy came here in 
 1872. The whole arrangement of it — its plan, per- 
 sonnel, etc. — was entrusted to him. He was sur- 
 prised to find that half of the embassy had been 
 pupils of his. His statesmanship was so highly ap- 
 preciated that Iwakura, the prime minister, fre- 
 quently consulted him on the gravest afiFairs of the 
 State. Griffis, his biographer who taught in Japan 
 in 1870, says : "I saw a prime minister of the empire, 
 heads of departments and officers of various ranks 
 come to him for information and advice. Today it 
 might be a plan of national education, tomorrow 
 the dispatch of an envoy to Europe, the choice of a 
 language best suited to medical science, how to act 
 about neutrality between France and Germany, how 
 to learn the truth about some foreign diplomat or 
 
258 Great Missionaries of 
 
 concerning the persecutions of Christians or some 
 serious measure of home policy." All this showed 
 the great confidence of the government in his judg- 
 ment and wisdom. 
 
 In 1874 a change began to come over the Jap- 
 anese. Opposition to Christianity began to lift its 
 head. One of its first signs was an attempt to 
 abolish Sunday as a day of rest. But Verbeck re- 
 fused to submit. With the other English-speaking 
 teachers, both American and British, he protested 
 against it as a breach of the contract made with them 
 by the Japanese government. He then sent a note 
 to Mr. Iwakura who speedily settled the matter to 
 his satisfaction. In 1873 he was transferred to the 
 service of the senate. Here his main duty was 
 translator of legal books and documents. He aided 
 them in the formation of a national constitution of 
 1889 and the treaties of 1898 by which Japan took 
 her place among the civilized nations of the world. 
 He thus became not only the founder of the Impe- 
 rial University, but a maker of the great Japan of 
 the future. In 1877, when he resigned from his po- 
 sition, the emperor, to show his appreciation of 
 his work, bestowed on him, although a foreigner, 
 the third class order of the Rising Sun. Its insignia 
 
The Reformed Church. 259 
 
 was a central circle containing a fine large ruby. 
 The circle is surrounded by pointed rays in gold, 
 filled in with white enamel, the colors being those of 
 Japan, and the symbol that of the sun shining in its 
 strength. Above the symbol is the three-leaved 
 blossom of the kiri tree (the Paulonia Imperialis), 
 the three flowers surmounting the leaves all in gold, 
 the leaves being in green and the flowers in purple 
 enamel. The Paulonia flower is the Emperor's fam- 
 ily crest. Of it Verbeck wrote: "This is the first 
 piece of jewelry I ever owned and also indirectly a 
 tribute to the cause of missions." This decoration 
 was not only an honor but was also of value to him 
 at times. Thus on one occasion when, owing to a fire, 
 he could not get through the streets of Tokio to an 
 important engagement, he simply showed this deco- 
 ration on the lapel of his coat to a policeman and 
 immediately the way was made for him. While thus 
 attending to State and school engagements he was 
 also active in the Reformed church at the capital, 
 the Kojimachi church. 
 
 The last period of his life (1877-98) was one of 
 evangelism and translation. He went everywhere 
 through the empire preaching with wonderful pow- 
 er. He had been teaching in the Nobles School, but 
 18 
 
26o Great Missionaries of 
 
 now gave himself especially to spiritual work. 
 Great crowds attended his preaching tours. 
 
 In 1889 he returned to America visiting his birth- 
 place, Zeist, in Holland, on the way. He also 
 awakened great missionary interest in Holland by 
 his addresses. In 1891 he returned to Japan where 
 he was busy lecturing in the Nobles School and in 
 the theological seminary and in preaching. He 
 was also busy in translating the Bible which he 
 had begun in 1881, and whose completion he lived to 
 see. The translation was so good that the Psalms 
 were compared in beauty and majesty to the famous 
 Japanese mountain Fujiyama. One of his last 
 works was the preparation of an address to be pre- 
 sented to the Emperor of Japan on the occasion of 
 the presentation of the Japanese Bible to him. His 
 great activity continued until 1897, when his physi- 
 cian forbade his evangelistic tours. He died sud- 
 denly on March 10, 1898, while sitting in his study- 
 chair just after he had taken his noon meal. 
 
 Some of the highest officers and noblemen of the 
 empire attended his funeral, the Emperor sending 
 $250 to pay the expenses and ordered two companies 
 of soldiers to attend the body to the grave, the burial 
 lot being deeded by the city government. Thus, al- 
 
The Reformed Church. 261 
 
 t1iough he was a citizen of no country, Japan tried 
 to show its appreciation of his great services to her 
 in education, statesmanship and religion. So lived 
 and so died the man who fashioned the young men 
 who made Japan. Probably no missionary in the 
 nineteenth century, except Livingston, exerted so 
 far-reaching and so lasting a political influence for 
 Christianity. In moulding the Sunrise Kingdom, 
 he moulded the Orient of the twentieth century. 
 The two greatest missionaries of the nineteenth cen- 
 tury, in their political influence as well as religious, 
 have been David Livingston, who opened up Africa, 
 and Guido F. Verbeck, who laid the foundations of 
 Japan. The first was the greatest missionary to the 
 continent of Africa, the other the greatest missionary 
 to the continent of Asia. The first was laid away in 
 Westminster Abbey amid all the honors of England, 
 the last buried at Tokio amid all the honors of 
 Japan. 
 
Chapter VIII. 
 
 THE MISSION OF THE REFORMED 
 CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 This Church having supported Rev. Benjamin 
 Schneider, D.D., in Turkey for twenty-five years, 
 and after that Rev. Oscar Lohr in India for a num- 
 ber of years, finally determined in 1878 at its General 
 Synod, to have a mission of its own. Its Board 
 chose Japan as its field, and on September 30, 1878, 
 it appointed its first missionary thither. Rev. Am- 
 brose D. Gring. He sailed May, 1879, arriving at 
 Yokohama, Japan, June i, 1879, thus making June 
 I, 1904, the quarter-century anniversary of the es- 
 tablishment of the Japan mission. The Board on 
 April 26, 1880, chose Tokio, the capital of Japan, as 
 its centre, and to it the missionary removed in June, 
 1880. Mr. Gring was reinforced by Rev. J. B. 
 Moore on October i, 1883, and the first congrega- 
 tion was organized May 11, 1884, at Nihon Bashi, 
 Tokio, by these two missionaries. Mr. Gring re- 
 turned to this country in 1887 ^"^ resigned from 
 the service of the Board in 1889. Mr. Moore mean- 
 while continued the work with gratifying success 
 as the Japanese at that time were very cordial to- 
 
 a63 
 
264 Great Missionaries of 
 
 ward foreigners, especially for the sake of learning 
 English. The influence of the mission began to 
 show itself in many ways even among the upper 
 classes through the labors of Mr. Moore and his 
 wife. Mrs. Moore, in the spring of 1886, had 
 formed a class of ladies belonging rather to the up- 
 per class for the study of English and the reading 
 of the Bible, the explanations being interpreted by 
 an assistant. In this class was a Mrs. Nakajima, 
 who soon gave proof that she cared more for the 
 study of the Bible than merely for the study of Eng- 
 lish. She requested by and by that her husband 
 might be allowed to accompany her. Mr. Moore 
 had learned that both had been reading the Bible at 
 home, so he felt no hesitation at inviting Mr. Naka- 
 jima to become a member of his Wednesday evening 
 Bible class, conducted in English and interpreted by 
 his personal teacher. Both became regular attend- 
 ants of the Bible class and also of the Sunday after- 
 noon services, held in the dining room of his house. 
 On the i8th of July, 1886, these two, with four 
 others, were baptized in the parlor of the mission- 
 ary's house at Bancho, Tokio. Mr. Nakajima had 
 already been a man of prominence in political af- 
 fairs, having served as a member of the senate and 
 
The Reformed Church. 265 
 
 governor of the province in which Yokohama is lo- 
 cated. On the 25th of November, 1890, when Japan 
 had become a constitutional monarchy, he was 
 elected president of the lower House of Japan, hav- 
 ing the highest number of votes and being one of 
 three candidates submitted to the Emperor for ap- 
 pointment. The Emperor appointed him. He has 
 since been Minister of Japan to Italy. His wife has 
 been a poet and the authoress of several popular 
 novels. 
 
 But Providence was preparing the mission for a 
 new centre of operations. Mr. Moore was called 
 from the service of the mission to become a teacher 
 at Yamagata in northern Japan. He accepted the 
 position on condition that he would be allowed to 
 speak of Christ, although a government teacher. As 
 a result a Y. M. C. A. sprang up there, and a small 
 congregation which is now under the care of Rev. 
 H. Miller. He afterward became a teacher in the 
 government school at Sendai. 
 
 Meanwhile the Lord was preparing Sendai, in 
 northern Japan, to become the centre of our opera- 
 tions. Christian preaching had been started at 
 Niigata by a medical missionary. Dr. Palm, and he 
 sent to Tokio for some one to act as pastor. The 
 
266 Great Missionaries of 
 
 pastor of the Dutch Reformed Church at Tokio 
 made the appeal for a missionary known to his con- 
 gregation. Now there was in his congregation an 
 elder named Masayoshi Oshikawa. He was born 
 December i6, 1850. When nineteen years of age he 
 was selected, with several other young men, by their 
 feudal lord to be sent to the Imperial English Col- 
 lege at Tokio so as to be fitted for prominent posi- 
 tions in the government service. In order to learn 
 English, although bitterly opposed to Christianity, 
 he yet became a pupil of one of the Dutch Reformed 
 missionaries, Rev. James Ballagh, D.D. But the 
 text-book used in the teaching of English was the 
 Bible. And the more he read it in English the more 
 he read it into his own heart. One day after he had 
 been studying it for nine months, Mr. Ballagh held 
 a prayer meeting, and at its close he said: "If any 
 one of you desires to be a Christian, let him place a 
 card with his name on my table." To his surprise 
 he found the next morning the names of nine stu- 
 dents, one of them Oshikawa's. 
 
 He had hardly confessed Christ than he was called 
 to his home five hundred miles away. There he suf- 
 fered severe persecutions for having become a Chris- 
 tian, his father threatening to take his life if he did 
 
The Reformed Church. 2C7 
 
 not return to heathenism. He afterwards learned 
 that it was only through the interposition of his 
 mother that his life was spared, although she had 
 often appealed to him most tenderly for her sake to 
 return to heathenism. But he stood firm. None of 
 these things moved him, neither tears nor threats. 
 He was finally bidden to leave home and went to 
 Tokio, where he arrived penniless. He then studied 
 theology for four years under Rev. S. R. Brown, 
 D.D., of the Dutch Reformed Church, the son of 
 the authoress of that beautiful hymn "I love to 
 steal awhile away." While doing this he became an 
 elder in the Dutch Reformed church. Then came 
 the call of Dr. Palm. 
 
 It was on a Week of Prayer at the beginning of 
 the year that this call came from Dr. Palm for a 
 missionary to live among them. There was no 
 money to send any one, nor did any one seem ready 
 to go. But the members of the church took the mat- 
 ter to God in prayer. Finally Oshikawa rose at the 
 end of the meeting and said : "I must and will go." 
 His friends recounted to him the difficulties, but he 
 simply replied: "I must and will go." So he was, 
 after prayer, consecrated to the work. As he was 
 very poor. Dr. Brown gave him three of his own 
 
268 Great Missionaries of 
 
 suits, fur gloves and boots. Unfortunately the coats 
 were much too large and the boots too small, but fit 
 or no fit, he would go. It was a long journey over 
 the mountains to Niigata from whence the call came. 
 He lost his way, was weary and hungry and was 
 about to lie down in the snow and die. But just 
 then there rang out in the air the sound of an ax. 
 He made his way a little farther on and found eleven 
 woodcutters who took him to their cave and gave 
 him a cupful of cold and dirty rice. He fell asleep. 
 On waking the first words he heard were "J<^su 
 Kirisuto," the Japanese for "Jesus Christ." These 
 men were reading a copy of the New Testament that 
 they had received from a missionary the previous 
 summer. They could not understand what they 
 read. They had, however, formed a temperance so- 
 ciety, taking the Ten Commandments as their con- 
 stitution. Finding he was a Christian they asked 
 him to stay a week. He stayed three days, preaching 
 and teaching. The next summer they were all bap- 
 tized, and some of them became preachers of the 
 gospel. 
 
 He then went on his way and soon arrived at the 
 Niigata. But this town was a stronghold of the 
 Buddhist religion, and great was the opposition. 
 
RKV. DR. VERBECK IN 1897. 
 
The Reformed Church. 269 
 
 He was stoned, beaten, spat upon. Women poured 
 dish water and boiling water on him as he passed 
 through the streets. The mob determined to put 
 him to death. 
 
 The mayor of the city resembled him in appear- 
 ance. One morning as that official was on his way 
 to his office, some members of the mob saw him in 
 the distance and raised the cry: "Here comes that 
 Jesus-man. Come, let's kill him." A large crowd 
 gathered and gave chase. The mayor ran into the 
 police sentry box on the corner of two streets and 
 locked the door after him. The mob rushed up, 
 tore off the roof, and lifted the man out bodily and 
 violently put him to death. Oshikawa was very 
 much affected by this. He said : "Two persons have 
 died for me, Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of the living 
 God has died for me. And now the faithful mayor 
 of this city has died in my stead." Still God pro- 
 tected his life as he preached, and he reported four- 
 teen converts. 
 
 But a fire broke out in Niigata burning 9,000 
 houses, and there was no place where they could 
 hold service. So Dr. Palm and Mr. Oshikawa left 
 and went to Sendai where the people seemed to be 
 more friendly and because it was a more important 
 
270 Great Missionaries of 
 
 place than Niigata. His audiences soon became 
 large and interesting. In 1887 they purchased an 
 old Buddhist temple as a place of worship which 
 seated five hundred. Two years previously (1885) 
 Mr, Oshikawa and his congregation made applica- 
 tion to be received into the United Church of Japan 
 which is composed of the Presbyterian and Re- 
 formed churches in that land. He, however, stipu- 
 lated two conditions: i. The establishing of a Boys' 
 and Girls' School. 2. The supply of money for 
 evangelistic purposes. Just about this time the mis- 
 sion of our church was received into the United 
 Church of Japan. And in its division of Japan 
 among the different denominations composing that 
 church, our church was given northern Japan. This 
 new church at Sendai therefore came into our dis- 
 trict and we received without any effort or expense 
 to ourselves the largest church north of Tokio into 
 our mission, a church of three congregations and 
 two hundred members. 
 
 In 1886 W. E. Hoy, the third missionary sent by 
 our church, located at Sendai. He, with Mr. Oshi- 
 kawa, started the Boys' School which has since 
 grown into a College and Theological Seminary, of 
 which the president at present is Rev. D. B. Schne- 
 
The Reformed Church. 271 
 
 der, D.D. These have done a most excellent work 
 in training up especially ministers and evangelists 
 for our mission. 
 
 A very interesting story of this Boys' School is 
 that of one of its students, Dengoro Takahashi. He 
 was born June 15, 1871. He had gone to Tokio 
 and taken an examination in the Military School, for 
 he was zealous for the military glory of his country, 
 but failed. He bitterly hated Christianity. But as 
 he could not study at Tokio, he left and finally was 
 led to go to Sendai where, in his thirst for an edu- 
 cation, he entered the Industrial School of our mis- 
 sion. He also began searching the truths of Chris- 
 tianity and was finally baptized. His next step was 
 to become a student for the ministry in the Theo- 
 logical School. He became very active in religious 
 work at Sendai. 
 
 It happened that the Japanese were at that time 
 very anxious to enlarge their borders and colonize. 
 No place seemed open to them but the islands of the 
 Pacific. Lieutenant Gunji, therefore, organized a 
 colonization society to colonize the Kurile islands, 
 and on his way thither, in the fall of 1893, he called 
 to see Mr. Oshikawa. The latter urged the lieu- 
 tenant to take some one along to look after the re- 
 
272 Great Missionaries of 
 
 Hgious interests of the colonists. The lieutenant 
 finally yielded and said, "Have you any students 
 who would be willing to go?" "Yes, we have 
 many," replied Oshikawa, and Takahashi, who was 
 standing by, said : "Here am I. I will go." Although 
 he expected to face death in this expedition, he 
 feared nothing. At the farewell meeting in the Sen- 
 dai church he said he "hoped to make his bones the 
 pillars of a church and his flesh its walls." His go- 
 ing caused a sensation in Japan, for by it the Chris- 
 tians were doing more than the native religions of 
 Japan by sending a missionary to look after the re- 
 ligious welfare of the colonists. 
 
 When they arrived in the Kurile islands he, with 
 eight others, were left on one of them. When one 
 of the Japanese men-of-war went there later, they 
 found him with the others dead, suflfocated probably 
 by the charcoal fumes of their fire, about the nth 
 of December, 1893. The news of it came to Japan 
 when the Synod of the United Church of Japan was 
 holding its session, and at once there was weeping 
 and great sorrow. But he "being dead yet speak- 
 e'th," like Abel. The sacrifice of his young life in 
 missionary work for Christ proved an inspiration to 
 the native church; and gave to the heathen a won- 
 
The Reformed Church. 273 
 
 derful example of Christian bravery and testimony. 
 
 A Girls' School was also started by Miss Lizzie 
 R. Poorbaugh and Miss Mary B. Ault in 1886. 
 The ground for it was purchased by Rev. J. I. 
 Swander, D.D., and wife, of Tiffin, Ohio, and a 
 school building built upon it. The school flourished 
 and outgrew its quarters until in the spring of 1902 
 it was burned down. Both these institutions have 
 been greatly blessed, and have exerted a blessed in- 
 fluence in northern Japan. 
 
 The following is a list of the missionaries not yet 
 mentioned, but who have been in connection with 
 the mission : Rev. S. S. Snyder, Rev. C. Noss, Paul 
 L. Gerhard, Rev. H. H. Cook and Rev. J. M. Stick ; 
 and as teachers in the Girls' School, Miss Emma F. 
 Poorbaugh, Lena Zurfluh, Mary C. Hallowell, L. 
 M. Rohrbaugh, Sadie L. Weidner, Lucy M. Powell 
 and Catharine B. Peiffer. 
 
 The last report of the mission for 1902 showed it 
 had 2,142 communicants, of whom 335 were added 
 in 1901. There are 56 stations and outstations, and 
 three schools with 269 scholars. 
 
REV. DR. BENJAMIN SCHNEIDER. 
 
D.— Mohammedan Lands. 
 Chapter IX. 
 
 BENJAMIN C. SCHNEIDER. 
 
 This earnest minister was the pioneer missionary 
 of the Reformed Church in the United States to the 
 heathen. He was their missionary so long ago that 
 we fear many in the Church have forgotten him. 
 But he needs to be remembered as the forerunner 
 of our Foreign Mission work in Japan. Dr. Schnei- 
 der sowed the seed and interested the Church in the 
 salvation of the heathen ; and we in our day are 
 reaping the results in a heathen land far distant 
 from the one in which he labored. The younger 
 generation who have come up since his labors should 
 be instructed in them so that this honored mission- 
 ary may receive the honor due to him. 
 
 Benjamin C. Schneider was born at New Haven, 
 Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, January i8, 
 1807. He was the son of an elder in our Church in 
 Montgomery county. His early studies were at 
 Norristown Academy at which place he united with 
 the Presbyterian Church. He attended Amherst 
 College, graduating 1830, and graduated from An- 
 dover Theological Seminary in 1833. The same 
 
 «75 
 19 
 
276 Great Missionaries of 
 
 year he sailed for Turkey as a foreign missionary. 
 At that time most of the denominations in America 
 did their foreign mission work through the Ameri- 
 can Board of Foreign Missions. Our Church had 
 as yet no Board of its own. 
 
 That Board gave our Church a representative in 
 their Executive Committee by electing Rev. Prof. 
 J. W. Nevin, D.D., of the Theological Seminary at 
 Mercersburg, a member, and he served as a mem- 
 ber of the American Board for twenty-five years, 
 1 840- 1 865. Our Church was therefore united with 
 that Board during that time, and contributed during 
 these years nearly $28,000 for his support. And as 
 Mr. Schneider was by birth a member of the Re- 
 formed Church, though educated in the Presby- 
 terian, he returned to her and became a member of 
 one of her Classes, the Maryland Classis, with which 
 he remained connected till his death in 1877. 
 
 He thus became the representative of our Church, 
 and his work in Turkey was looked upon as our 
 work. When he arrived in Turkey, he settled at 
 Broosa — famous for its Turkish silks. Here he 
 studied the Turkish language and revealed his fine 
 linguistic abilities. For he was able to speak in 
 three languages besides his own — Turkish, German 
 
The Reformed Church. 277 
 
 and Greek, as easily as English. After he had mas- 
 tered the Turkish, he preached the first evangelical 
 sermon there ever preached in that language. He 
 became so proficient in it that the Turks often won- 
 dered at his marvelous flow of thought expressed 
 in their peculiar idioms and phrases. We are sure 
 that in his preaching at Broosa he offered them a 
 robe more precious than all Oriental silks, the robe 
 of Christ's righteousness. 
 
 But his main field of operations was at Aintab, 
 whither he removed in 1849, ^"<^ remained for about 
 twenty years. There like the Apostle Paul, he was 
 more abundant in labors. The work of the Ameri- 
 can Board there was among the Armenian Chris- 
 tians, whose service is very much like that of the 
 Romish Church. They had been unaccustomed to 
 hearing the gospel in their own language. The ori- 
 gin of this church at Aintab is quite interesting. 
 First, some copies of the New Testament happened 
 to be sold there. A few of the people who were able 
 to read, bought them. By and by a company of 
 Scripture-readers was formed, who asked for fur- 
 ther instruction, and missionaries and colporteurs 
 began to visit the town. There was great opposi- 
 tion at first, and in 1847, two years before Dr. 
 
278 Great Missionaries of 
 
 Schneider went there, Rev. T. C. Johnston was or- 
 dered to leave, and was stoned when he left. His 
 meekness under such an insult, so impressed one of 
 the young men who helped in the stoning, that he 
 soon became a convert, and has been for many years 
 a deacon in the church. Then cholera came with its 
 awful ravages, and a skilful Protestant physician 
 went there, Dr. Azariah Smith. He organized a 
 church of eight members, in January, 1848. To this 
 charge Dr. Schneider came in 1849. He had spent 
 the previous summer there, and the following spring 
 he brought his family there to remain permanently. 
 He laid the foundations of two large and influential 
 churches, which have since increased into a third. 
 He greatly loved to preach the gospel, and the ef- 
 fect of his preaching was great. A native physician 
 who was converted through his instrumentality, 
 says : "The Holy Spirit seemed always to be present 
 when Dr. Schneider was preaching. I still remem- 
 ber distinctly, sermons preached by him thirty years 
 ago — not the text only, but the heads and the illus- 
 trations, and the fervent appeals which were irre- 
 sistible." He would often walk the floor after 
 preaching to those large audiences in Aintab, in an 
 ecstasy of delight, saying: "I would rather preach 
 
The Reformed Church. 279 
 
 the gospel to this people, than be a king on any 
 throne." His works remain behind him. Three of 
 the professors in the college at Aintab, are sons of 
 his first converts. A wealthy merchant who has just 
 erected a splendid Y. M. C. A. building, was his 
 pupil, one of his first converts. We feel like giving 
 part of a letter written to Mrs. Schneider, by one 
 who knew and loved him at Aintab. It reads thus : 
 "Our third congregation at Aintab has outgrown its 
 accommodations, and a few days since I went with 
 those who have the work in charge to see the larger 
 rooms they propose to rent for a chapel. My heart 
 was full, for these were the rooms occupied for so 
 many years by Rev. Dr. Schneider and his goodly 
 wife, whose grave is among the people she loved. 
 We looked into the good man's study — into the sit- 
 ting room and the bed rooms; discussed removing 
 this and that wall, so as to accommodate three hun- 
 dred people — my thoughts meanwhile dwelling on 
 those early days, when these very walls witnessed 
 the prayers and the tears of that devoted missionary 
 and his wife, as they sowed the seed that has borne, 
 so rich a harvest. Returning home, we found our 
 weekly mail with the tidings that this servant of 
 God h^d passed to his rest — his reward. The first 
 
28o Great Missionaries of 
 
 emotion that swept over me, was of joyful congrat- 
 ulation for him, the second of deep and tearful grat- 
 itude that God gave me such a friend and father, 
 when He called me to this blessed work many years 
 ago. Battel Bey (a very wicked Turkish governor) 
 told his physician that his friend, Schneider, was a 
 wonderfully holy man — so holy, that if he would 
 accept the prophet (Mohammed) he would be re- 
 ceived to heaven without passing the judgment, and 
 with no questions asked — that few, very few, are 
 found who work with such simplicity and singleness 
 of purpose, as he did. For this reason he had great 
 influence over those men who were considered hard 
 to approach, and that, also in regard to those sub- 
 jects in which they are least approachable, as per- 
 sonal religion, and liberality of giving for the cause 
 of Christ. When he was preaching in a temporary 
 chapel, soon after his coming to Aintab, four young 
 men, gay and irreligious, went to hear what this 
 'setter forth of strange doctrines' had to say. Not 
 wishing to attract notice, they went up to the flat 
 earthen roof, and sat down beside a large hole which 
 had been opened for ventilation, where they could 
 look down upon the preacher, and hear his words 
 very distinctly, being themselves, as they thought, 
 
The Reformed Church. 281 
 
 secure from observation. After the opening exer- 
 cises. Dr. Schneider arose, adjusted his spectacles, 
 gave the group on the roof one full look, and an- 
 nounced his text, John 15:5 and 6, 'I am the vine, 
 ye are the branches,' etc. You know the spirit that 
 always seemed to be speaking through Dr. Schnei- 
 der. Our attention was riveted, and ever and anon, 
 the preacher would fix his eyes upon us, and ask 
 some pointed question, so that we trembled and wept 
 as we sat there, and afterwards went home together 
 for a season of prayer for mercy, for we felt we 
 were indeed only withered branches fit to be burned. 
 All four of these young men soon became Chris- 
 tians, and continue steadfast. One is an evangelist, 
 one, the narrator, is a deacon of the church, and a 
 prominent physician. He is still able to report with 
 minuteness, many of the sermons which he heard 
 thirty years ago." 
 
 The recent kidnapping of Miss Stone in Bulgaria 
 reminds us of a similar scene in the life of Dr. 
 Schneider, in November, 1853. His wife graphical- 
 ly tells the story in a letter to one of her daughters 
 in this country. She says : 
 
 "I was expecting your father home this afternoon, 
 as he had important reasons for wishing to get home 
 
282 Great Missionaries of 
 
 as rapidly as possible. Dinner was waiting till 
 nearly night, yet he did not come, when a messen- 
 ger arrived, bringing the news of their having fallen 
 in with robbers. They had nearly reached the place 
 where they were to spend the night, when three men 
 who had been walking either before or behind for 
 nearly two hours, and armed with swords, pistols, 
 habergeons and clubs, rushed out from among the 
 bushes, each one grasping a bridle of the three 
 mules — that is of father, of the native brother, and 
 of the guide. Mrs. Pratt, seeing the blows they in- 
 flicted and fearing they would be murdered, whip- 
 ped up her horse and tried to flee. They struck 
 poor father many times violently, pulled him off of 
 his horse, threw him on the ground, took his money, 
 his watch, his fez, and thought of taking his fur- 
 garment and horse ; but fearing they would be de- 
 tected by the last named, left them. They threat- 
 ened him several times with instant death. He re- 
 ceived a blow upon his head, and a profusion of 
 blood was the consequence. His arm also received a 
 blow ; his side a kick, which caused him much pain. 
 At the time one villain stood over him with a drawn 
 sword saying, 'I will kill you this instant.' Mrs. 
 Pratt was brought back by one of them who ran 
 
The Reformed Church. 283 
 
 after her. She supposed she was to be murdered, 
 as she supposed the others had been, for the native 
 brother was thrown, bound and blinded, upon the 
 ground and father, too, was in the same condition, 
 with a garment thrown over him. On Mrs. Pratt's 
 arrival he moved one of his limbs, and because of 
 this, as if intending to rise and deliver himself, one 
 of the villains rushed upon him with a drawn sword 
 threatening him with instant death if he spoke a 
 word. Poor Mrs. Pratt, who had displayed such 
 fortitude, seeing him about to inflict a deadly 
 wound, raised both her hands towards heaven and 
 cried, 'Oh dear, oh dear, he is a missionary,' as if 
 such a fact would restrain him. She, too, was rob- 
 bed of all the money she had with her, about $20. 
 They escaped and came back tonight, in the most 
 painful condition. I have dressed father's wounds, 
 which, though not deadly, give him most excruciat- 
 ing pain. He speaks only of God's mercy." 
 
 Dr. Schneider adds that when the robber had 
 raised his hand to kill him, that he thought his last 
 hour had come, and expected every moment to feel 
 the deadly weapon on some part of his body. 
 Nothing but an Almighty arm restrained the ruffian. 
 He says that they were kept in that condition about 
 
284 Great Missionaries of 
 
 three quarters of an hour, when the robbers, having 
 rifled everything in their baggage, as well as on 
 themselves, fled. He said, that up to that time, that 
 part of the road had not been considered dangerous, 
 or they would have taken guards. 
 
 Turkey does not seem to have improved much in 
 fifty years as far as safety is concerned. But such 
 events impress upon us the great importance of 
 prayer for our missionaries far away in heathen 
 lands, that their lives and health may be spared. 
 
 In 1856, after his first wife died (who had been a 
 Miss Eliza C. Abbott, of Framingham, Mass.), he 
 returned to this country, and spent about two years 
 here. Part of his time was spent in visiting the Re- 
 formed churches, and stirring them up to greater 
 interest and zeal for the salvation of the heathen. 
 Everywhere he carried the missionary spirit into the 
 churches and the homes. One of the clearest boyish 
 recollections of the writer was when Dr. Schneider 
 visited the home of his father, and laid his hand on 
 his head (he was about seven years of age) and 
 asked him whether he would become a missionary, 
 and he promised. Thus Dr. Schneider labored 
 everywhere for missions, both at home and abroad. 
 Before he returned to Turkey he married the sister 
 
The Reformed Church. 285 
 
 of his first wife, Miss Susan M. Abbott (who sur- 
 vived his death and lived after it at Boston, Mass.). 
 At Aintab, his work in the girls' school, was a pow- 
 erful agency for good. One hundred and sixty girls 
 have graduated there, and as teachers, Bible women 
 and heads of families, exert a wide influence for 
 Christianity. We can only properly measure the 
 greatness of this work, when it is remembered that 
 when he went to Aintab, there was only one woman 
 who could read. 
 
 In 1868, he left Aintab, to live at Broosa, and in 
 1872, he returned to the United States in feeble 
 health. But although in America, his heart was in 
 Turkey, and although not vigorous in body, he re- 
 turned in 1874 to Turkey in order to meet a call for 
 a professor of Turkish and Greek in the Theological 
 Seminary at Marsovan, where he arrived March, 
 1874. One of his fellow teachers there said of him : 
 "I had never seen him before, but he made the sam# 
 impression on me, that I suppose he made on every 
 one — first, last and ahvays — that of a man, good, 
 kind, wise — a man who had seen work, and was 
 ready for more. He was venerable in appearance, a 
 special requisite in the East. And while the great 
 
286 Great Missionaries of 
 
 congregations sat on the floor with face upturned 
 toward the desk, 
 
 How sweetly flowed the gospel sound 
 From lips of gentleness and grace. 
 
 But Dr. Schneider was then beginning to fail in 
 health. There was one year more of soldiering for 
 him to do in Turkish soil." In the summer of 1875, 
 he was compelled by nervous prostration, to leave 
 Turkey, and go to Switzerland, and finally, to re- 
 turn to America, where he died on September 14, 
 
 1877. 
 
 He was a man of prayer. "His prayers," said his 
 associate. Rev. Dr. Crane, "breathed the spirit of one 
 accustomed to commune with God. Those prayers 
 that he used to utter in that booth-like structure 
 where hundreds gathered in the early days of his 
 missionary labors at Aintab, still ring in the ear of 
 memory — so urgent, so comprehensive, so full of 
 trust in the promises, and so sympathetic in their tone 
 to all. The same was true of his private devotions. 
 He had his times of prayer and they were sacred. 
 If by any means they were broken in upon, he would 
 at his earliest opportunity return to them even 
 though he was on horseback or in his walks. Often 
 in his travels the time he rode was spent in prayer. 
 
The Reformed Church. 287 
 
 Few missionaries in any field have been permitted 
 to labor longer, and few have left behind them, 
 among those for whose spiritual welfare they have 
 toiled and labored, more of grateful remembrance, 
 than he. For more than forty years he was privi- 
 leged to be connected with the work so dear to his 
 heart, laboring in season and out of season, in every 
 department of missionary service ; in preaching, 
 which was his delight ; and in teaching young men, 
 and preparing them for the ministry in their own 
 land. Few have traveled more extensively than he 
 as pioneer ; few have labored in more places in Tur- 
 key ; few certainly have been more willing to spend 
 and be spent wherever they could serve their Master 
 most acceptably ; few have more cheerfully endured 
 privations of the service, than Dr. Schneider. Wher- 
 ever, at home or abroad, he was personally known, 
 he was revered ; and as long as the missions of the 
 American Board in the Turkish Empire are cher- 
 ished by American churches, so long will the name 
 of Benjamin Schneider be honored as one of the 
 earliest and most devoted missionaries. President 
 Fuller, of the Aintab College, thus bears testimony 
 to him : "His forty years of labor in the Turkish 
 Empire, whether we consider the faith, courage, 
 
288 Great Missionaries of 
 
 wisdom and heroic endurance displayed, or the 
 grand results attained in the establishment of a new 
 order of faith and living, are of monumental im- 
 portance. The Protestant churches of Turkey, and 
 especially those of the Central Turkey Mission, 
 where so large a part of his missionary life was 
 spent, have a deep and filial love for the memory of 
 the man who so zealously taught, and wisely led 
 them in the days of their early trials." 
 
Chapter X. 
 
 SAMUEL M. ZWEMER. 
 
 Arabia, too, has been receiving the gospel at the 
 hands of the Reformed, — Arabia which gave the law 
 of Moses and the prophet Mohammed to the world, 
 has now heard the gospel of Jesus Christ. The 
 Theological Seminary of the Dvitch Reformed 
 Church at New Brunswick, New Jersey, had as one 
 of its professors in the eighth decade of the nine- 
 teenth century Rev. John G. Lansing, a son of the 
 honored r^issionary of the United Presbyterian 
 Church in Egypt, Rev. Julian Lansing, D.D. The 
 latter had been praying for many years for Arabia, 
 and his enthusiasm for the regeneration of that land 
 by the gospel finally brought forth its fruit in his 
 son. Throuo^h the influence of the latter, three 
 students of that Theological school decided to go to 
 Arabia, Samuel M. Zwemer, James Cantine and 
 Philip T. Phelps. 
 
 They made application to the Board of Foreign 
 
 Missions of the Reformed Dutch Church under 
 
 whose auspices they had been educated. But that 
 
 Board felt itself at the time too heavily burdened by 
 
 a debt of $35,000 to enter on work in a new field of 
 
 389 
 
290 Great Missionaries of 
 
 missions. However the attention of that church had 
 been called to this movement and contributions be- 
 gan to come in. The young men, too, determined 
 to go, without the support of their Foreign Board, 
 relying on private subscriptions and prayer. An 
 undenominational missionary society was organized 
 "^August I, 1889. 
 
 A few days later Dr. Lansing composed the Ara- 
 bian Mission hymn which has been a great inspira- 
 tion to these workers in Arabia. 
 
 "There is a land long since neglected, 
 There is a people still rejected, 
 But of truth and grace elected, 
 In his love for them. 
 
 Softer than their night winds fleeting. 
 Richer than their starry tenting. 
 Stronger than their sands protecting, 
 Is his love for them. 
 
 To the host of Islam leading. 
 To the slave in bondage bleeding. 
 To the desert-dweller pleading, 
 Bring his love to them. 
 
 Through the promise on God's pages. 
 Through his work in history's stages. 
 Through the cross that crowns the ages. 
 Show his love to them. 
 
 With the prayer that still availeth. 
 With the power that prevaileth. 
 With the love that never faileth. 
 Tell his love to them. 
 
 Till the desert sons now aliens. 
 Till its tribes and their dominions, 
 Till Arabia's raptured millions, 
 Praise this love of them. 
 
The Reformed Church. 291 
 
 Rev. James Cantine sailed October 16, i809, and 
 Rev. Mr. Zwemer on June 18, 1890. They met at 
 Aden, Mr. Cantine going to Muscat, to the Persian 
 gulf and Bagdad, while Mr. Zwemer went south 
 along the coast, accompanied by Kamil, and landed 
 at Busrah. 
 
 The story of Kamil is of fascinating interest and 
 
 reveals a life entirely surrendered to Christ, even to 
 
 death. On the morning of February 10, 1890, a 
 
 young Syrian called on Rev. Dr. Jessup, the well 
 
 known Presbyterian missionary at Beirout. He told 
 
 the story that he had met a Maronite priest near 
 
 Beirout who advised him to go to the Jesuit college, 
 
 which he did. One of them gave him an Arabic 
 
 Testament. But his father caught him reading it 
 
 and burned it in the kitchen fire. The next day one 
 
 of the Jesuits gave him another New Testament 
 
 and suggested he adopt a false subterfuge to his 
 
 father so as to be able to retain it, — that he tell his 
 
 father that he had bought it in order to write a tract 
 
 against it, which was a clear untruth. It was the 
 
 old Jesuit policy that the end justifies the means, 
 
 however wicked the latter might be. But the mind 
 
 of the pure-minded Syrian revolted against such 
 
 sinful trickery and replied : "What ! advise me to lie 
 20 
 
292 Great Missionaries of 
 
 to my father ! Never !" He laid down his book and 
 came away. The Jesuits had proposed to send him 
 to Alexandria, Egypt, for education, but his family 
 protested. 
 
 So he left the Jesuits disgusted, after being with 
 them a month, and came to Dr. Jessup, saying: "I 
 am not at rest, I find nothing in the Koran to show 
 one how God can be just and yet pardon a sinner." 
 Dr. Jessup allowed him to come and read the Bible 
 at his house. He seemed instinctively to learn the 
 way to Christ, so quickly he grasped it and was soon 
 rejoicing in the felt forgiveness of his sins. He 
 proved to be a true Nathaniel without guile. He 
 entered the mission school at Suk in Syria to prepare 
 himself for work among the Arabs. Being afraid 
 for his life if he returned to Beirout, he spent the 
 summer of 1890 in evangelistic work among the Be- 
 douin. After having been a Christian only seven 
 months he was found trying to convert no less a man 
 than the Greek bishop, who so admired his abilities 
 and zeal that he offered him a fine position. After 
 this Kamil was baptized January 15, 1891. 
 
 It happened that Messrs. Cantine and Zwemer, of 
 the new Arabian Mission, were spending some time 
 at Beirout when his baptism took place. They re- 
 
The Reformed Church. 293 
 
 quested the services of Kamil, which was the more 
 willingly granted because, as he was a convert from 
 Mohammedanism, his life was to some extent al- 
 ways in jeopardy in that region. He arrived at 
 Aden February 7, 1891. He at once set to work 
 among the Mohammedan merchant caravans that 
 passed through Aden. His knowledge of Moham- 
 medanism enabled him to interest and answer his 
 listeners. He was so successful that he frequently 
 had fifty to one hundred seated around him listening 
 to the Bible. 
 
 He then accompanied Mr. Zwemer along the 
 coast of the Red Sea southward. At Mejada they 
 ran their boat ashore owing to the storm. When 
 they had drawn the boat up on the beech and were 
 preparing some food, an armed Bedouin came up 
 with a long spear and warned them against being 
 robbed or killed. They said they feared nothing as 
 God was with them. But in five minutes another 
 Bedouin rode up and demanded coffee and finally 
 money, which was refused. Then a crowd of Be- 
 douin women and children came down upon them. 
 It was difficult to protect their goods. Sometimes a 
 child seized one thing and a woman another and four 
 or 'five at once reached out their hands. They seized 
 
294 Great Missionaries of 
 
 the boat and refused to let them launch again. The 
 missionaries then demanded their help and all laid 
 hold and drew the boat to the water. Mr. Zwemer 
 then went up to the chief robber and cut off a little 
 bead hanging from his neck as a keepsake. The 
 latter never uttered a word. He then gave him a 
 cup as a keepsake, and gave them all medicine for 
 their ailments. The missionaries then took their 
 spears and stuck their shafts into the ground. He 
 then offered prayer, praying for half an hour and 
 exhorted them, closing the prayer in the name of 
 Jesus, to which all the company responded "Amen! 
 and Amen !" And they exclaimed : "Never in all our 
 lives will we cut off the roads, rob them on the high- 
 way again, or speak harshly to a stranger." And on 
 parting they said : "Go in peace." 
 
 Kamil continued preaching to the sailors of boats 
 at Aden and in the bazaars there. He wrote ear- 
 nestly to his father, trying to open his eyes to the 
 truth in Christ. The father replied and the corres- 
 pondence resulted in a bitter controversy. Kamil 
 also itinerated in the neighborhood of Mecca, the 
 centre of Mohammedanism of the world. He went 
 from Aden to Busrah in January, 1892, with the 
 mission. His last letter is dated April 22, 1892, 
 
The Reformed Church. 295 
 
 where he says Mr. Zwemer had urged him to go 
 boldly into the Mohammedan coffeehouses and 
 preach Christ, but he felt it would be unwise as 
 there was no religious liberty there as at Aden 
 where they were under the British flag. 
 
 But he busied himself, although sick, with per- 
 sonal conversations and with Bible distribution. 
 On May 22 he had visits from twenty-three Moham- 
 medans, five Christians and one Jew, and sold two 
 
 /Bibles. He died suddenly June 24, 1892, probably 
 >J < of poisoning. The Mohammedans sealed the house 
 
 / where he stayed, thus preventing any investigations. 
 They buried him with Mohammedan burial in spite 
 of the protests of Mr. Zwemer that he was a Chris- 
 tian, which made it suspicious that they had led to 
 his poisoning; for his rapid burial was contrary to 
 their long drawn out rites of burial. Even the place 
 
 js, of his burial was sealed. So died a bright spirit 
 
 1 after a two years' ministry for Christ. But we doubt 
 not that the results of his ministry will remain. If 
 Henry Martyn's brief stay in Persia nearly a hun- 
 dred years before, led to results which appeared a 
 half century later, we believe Kamil's testimony will 
 yet reveal similar results. 
 
 But difficulties arose to the mission. Besides the 
 
296 Great Missionaries of 
 
 poisoning of Kamil, another of the converts was ar- 
 rested. The money received by the Home Commit- 
 tee lessened on account of the illness of Rev. Prof. 
 Lansing, at New Brunswick, who had been the god- 
 father of the mission. Cholera came and interfered 
 with their work in Arabia. Still there was also en- 
 couragement ; for new missionaries were sent out, as 
 -^Peter J. Zwemer and James T. Wycoff, M. D., but 
 the latter, though the third of the medical mission- 
 aries sent out, was soon compelled to return by ill 
 health. 
 
 Still results began to show themselves although 
 the field was very hard. After laboring from 1892- 
 99, during which time their Scriptures sales arose 
 from 1,620 in 1892 to 2,464 in 1899, they at last 
 gained their first convert. A soldier at Amara ac- 
 cepted Christ and came to Busrah for instruction. 
 He had suffered the loss of all things, but witnessed 
 a good confession wherever he had been dragged 
 as an exile or driven as an apostate. Another con- 
 vert was a middle-aged Persian, who was deeply 
 convicted of sin by reading a copy of Luke's gospel 
 in the dispensary at Busrah. 
 
 Perhaps the most interesting feature of their work 
 was the school opened at Muscat by Peter J. 
 
The Reformed Church. 297 
 
 Zwemer for eighteen orphan slave boys who had 
 been rescued from slavery in Africa and were 
 handed over to the mission. The medical work also 
 began to tell, as among the Mohammedans there are 
 no doctors. Mr. Peter J. Zwemer died October 18, 
 1898, after heroically fighting with repeated attacks 
 of fever there, until driven home to die. But in 
 dying his heart was still in Arabia, for his last letter 
 to his parents said he had just secured $100 for a 
 Muscat touring boat. Thus the Lord has already 
 blessed this new mission with martyrs. They will 
 be the seed of the Arabian Church, the forerunners 
 of many saved. 
 
 Mr. Samuel M. Zwemer is still laboring for the 
 salvation of Arabia and greatly instructing and in- 
 fluencing the churches at home by his books "Ara- 
 bia" and "Raymund Lull," who was the first great 
 missionary to the Mohammedans, preaching to them 
 during the Middle Ages. 
 
iy 
 
BOOK IV. 
 
THE REFORMED IN THE EAST INDIES 
 Chapter I. 
 
 JAN KAM, THE APOSTLE OF THE 
 MOLUCCAS. 
 
 HE East Indies had Protestant missions 
 early. The Dutch East India Society sent 
 the gospel to these heathen lands very 
 early, so that by 1772, it is said, there were 100,000 
 converts on the island of Java, and by the end of 
 the seventeenth century, 40,000 in Amboyna. But 
 the work was very superficially done, and many of 
 the converts secretly clung to their old heathenish 
 superstitions and were only Christians in name. It 
 was left for this century to really begin the mission 
 work of the East Indies on a new basis and with a 
 true missionary method, so that it is now done more 
 thoroughly. It was the subject of this sketch who 
 gave the great impulse to this forward movement, 
 especially on the Molucca or Spice Islands. This 
 group of islands is named thus because of its beau- 
 tiful nutmeg tree with its deep green, glossy leaves 
 and evergreen aromatic flower buds called cloves. 
 
 The Molucca Islands were first captured by the 
 Portuguese, but taken from them by the Dutch in 
 
 301 
 
302 Great Missionaries of 
 
 1580. The Dutch cruelly oppressed the people, or- 
 dering all the spice trees to be cut down on all the 
 islands, except Amboyna. 
 
 The first attempt in the nineteenth century to re- 
 vive the mission work in Amboyna was by Jabez 
 Carey, a son of William Carey, the great missionary 
 to India. Amboyna was captured from the Dutch 
 by the English. William Carey issued an appeal 
 for the island, which for ten years had had no mis- 
 sionary, although twenty thousand of its forty-five 
 thousand inhabitants were already nominal Chris- 
 tians. And the first one to respond to this call was 
 his own son. This son had been a source of special 
 anxiety to his father. The remarkable story is told 
 that at an annual meeting in London the Baptist 
 minister, Dr. Ryland, preached in the Dutch church. 
 He praised the good fortune of William Carey, who 
 had two sons in the missionary field. "But," he con- 
 tinued, "there is a third son who gives him great 
 concern in that he has not yet found the Lord." 
 Then, after a long pause, during which many tears 
 came to his eyes, he lifted his voice, saying : "Breth- 
 ren, let us send up to God a united and earnest 
 prayer for the conversion of the third son, Jabez." 
 For two minutes the great assembly of two thous- 
 
The Reformed Church. 303 
 
 and persons, was in silent prayer. In one of the first 
 letters received by them, Jabez's conversion was an- 
 nounced at almost the very time when the great as- 
 sembly was praying- for him. He then went to Am- 
 boyna in 18 14. He wrote that there were many vil- 
 lages nominally Christian, each village having its 
 church with a school and schoolmaster, and a place 
 for a minister. He found on closer examination 
 that the churches were largely attended. He tried 
 to improve the schools and get the natives to give 
 up idolatry. Carey's activity gave hope of great 
 results. But when the islands were given back to 
 Holland in 18 15, he was compelled to leave, as the 
 Dutch government would not allow any foreign mis- 
 sionary of another nation there. 
 
 In his place, however, came a man who possessed 
 all his spirit — yes, the missionary spirit of his great- 
 er father, William Carey — Jan Kam. For the Neth- 
 erlands Missionary Society which had been organ- 
 ized in Holland, after doing some work in South Af- 
 rica, now listened to the calls from the Dutch pro- 
 vinces in the East Indies and sent a number of ex- 
 cellent missionaries. Among these was the pious 
 and devoted Jan Kam. He was born at Herzogen- 
 bosch in 1770. His love for missions was awakened 
 
304 Great Missionaries of 
 
 by his contact with the pious Moravians at Zeist. 
 In 1811 he gave up his position as court messenger 
 of justice, so as to go to Rotterdam and prepare 
 himself to become a missionary. His preparation as 
 a missionary was made partly at Rotterdam, partly 
 at Zeist. He was sent out by the London Missionary 
 Society in 181 2, arriving at Surabeya May, 1814, 
 where he spent seven months. Later he became a 
 Dutch chaplain at Amboyna. 
 
 When he arrived at Amboyna (1815), he was 
 gladly received, and preached his first sermon 
 (March 5th) on John 17:3, "And this is life eternal, 
 that they might know thee, the only true God, and 
 Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." He came truly 
 to bring eternal life to many on these islands. Al- 
 though the regularly appointed Dutch minister at 
 Amboyna, his heart was in missionary work. When 
 he preached in Dutch, his congregation numbered 
 one thousand, and when he preached in Malay, it 
 numbered six hundred. His congregations soon 
 doubled. But his heart went out for the heathen 
 around, and especially for the natives, who had been 
 nominally converted to Christianity, and who were 
 scattered as sheep that have no shepherd. He fouhxi 
 them very low' In piety. Their condition can be 
 
The Reformed Church. 305 
 
 inferred when we remember that a Bible was so rare 
 that one sold for forty-eight dollars. So sad was 
 their condition that he said there are thousands here 
 who would g^ve all their property for a Malay Bible. 
 
 Kam also began devotional meetings in his house 
 (which held from three to four hundred persons), 
 so as to prepare them for the communion. He then 
 traveled everywhere, baptizing the people, who had 
 so long been without a minister. He says that from 
 March to May he baptized three thousand children 
 of ten years old and under, because there had been 
 no Dutch minister to do this for so many years, and 
 the children had grown up without baptism, al- 
 though waiting to be baptized. He began devotion- 
 al meetings in twenty-seven villages for the heathen, 
 which were largely attended. 
 
 His services were soon interrupted by an earth- 
 quake. One Sunday morning in April, at five a. m., 
 there was a very severe earthquake. "My house," 
 he says, "was so shaken that my books were thrown 
 on the floor from their case. Many people fled with 
 nothing but their night garments, out into the open 
 fields for safety. This shock was soon followed by 
 a second. This continued untn the island was 
 shaken for six days. Twice during church service 
 
3o6 Great Missionaries of 
 
 was the church shaken, and this caused not a little 
 alarm among the congregation. But I took my 
 refuge in prayer to God, and speaking on Psalm 46, 
 'God is our refuge,' etc., I improved the occasion by 
 reminding them of the vanity of riches and the un- 
 certainty of life." Before the end of the month he 
 learned that in some of the other islands the churches 
 had fallen in on the people, so that they had to be 
 pulled out of the rubbish. He said : "How fortunate 
 we were." On the second Sunday in May he began 
 mission meetings, the Dutch governor being present 
 to show his sympathy. Kam urged upon them very 
 earnestly the need of a Bible Society, so as to dis- 
 tribute Bibles, and one was organized June 5. This 
 Society soon raised 4,000 thalers and scattered 4,000 
 Malay Bibles. 
 
 He not only preached the gospel in Amboyna, but 
 he showed his wonderful activity by preaching on 
 the other islands. Being the only minister at that 
 time in the Moluccas he, every year, visited the con- 
 gregations in the neighboring islands. During the 
 summer of 181 5 he made a journey to the neighbor- 
 ing islands of Haruko, Sapama and Ceram. Haruko 
 had 6,000 Christians and Sapama 9,000. He found in 
 Haruko that many of the villages had sunk back into 
 
The Reformed Church. 307 
 
 idolatry. But the earthquake had been to them a loud 
 call of God to bring them back to repentance ; and 
 they had everywhere been burning their idols, and 
 were only waiting for some Christian minister to 
 come and preach the gospel to them. He, therefore, 
 found a field prepared for the harvest. His services 
 were attended by great crowds. He baptized many 
 children, and received many adults into the Church, 
 after they had confessed their penitence and made a 
 profession of faith. He stayed with them eight 
 days, preaching every evening, and was visited by 
 multitudes seeking Christ. He then celebrated the 
 Lord's Supper amid the tears of the communicants. 
 On October 16 he left that island and came to Ceram, 
 where a great crowd of men awaited his coming. 
 And when he landed, they all cried out : "Welcome 
 to our villages. Praise to God, who visits us with His 
 salvation." Twenty years had passed since a Chris- 
 tian minister had been seen among them. He found, 
 however, that unlike the inhabitants of Haruko, 
 these had not lapsed back into idolatry, but had re- 
 mained firm, and were waiting for a minister to 
 come and baptize and administer communion. He, 
 therefore, spent much time in baptizing their chil- 
 dren and in preparing adults, who had grown up 
 
3o8 Great Missionaries of 
 
 without baptism, for baptism. Here he found the 
 Alvure tribe, who were of the same race as the Hot- 
 tentots in Africa, and who, in their low, sunken con- 
 dition, offered a wide field for missions. He 
 preached in twelve villages of the island. When the 
 communion came, he had to use ship crackers, as 
 there was no bread, for they use sago and fruits, 
 not bread, for food. 
 
 In one of the villages his life was endangered. 
 For only two hours after his departure it was at- 
 tacked by the cruel Alvures and some of the villag- 
 ers killed. Then he went to the island Sapama, 
 which had twenty-two Christian villages and a 
 Christian population of ii,ooo. There he stayed 
 three weeks. On this island he found more educa- 
 tion and culture. He found in many places an 
 awakening among the Christians. Although the 
 heat had become stifling, yet his labors were un- 
 broken and his strength was continued. The inter- 
 est of the natives in his journeys was so intense that 
 many followed him from one village to another, and 
 even from one island to another. He returned to 
 Amboyna, December 4, 181 5. His report was that 
 he had baptized 2,919 children at Amboyna, 1,290 
 at Haruko, 2,538 in Sepama, 650 adults in Ceram, 
 
The Reformed Church. 309 
 
 and 156 adult heathen, making a total of 7,553, to 
 which must be added 1837 baptized heathen in Am- 
 boyna and other islands, a total of 9,490. Few mis- 
 sionaries ever had the opportunity or the honor of 
 doing so great a work for the Church. 
 
 Nor did he rest long. Like the Apostle Paul, he 
 was instant in season and out of season. His active, 
 consecrated spirit could not rest when there was so 
 much work to be done. Being the only minister, his 
 work in reviving these churches was very laborious. 
 By March, 1816, he was again on his travels. This 
 time he visited other islands — Buno and Manieke. 
 On the former island there had been no minister for 
 thirty years, so that the membership of the congre- 
 gation had almost died out and was limited to six old 
 persons. There were great crowds who attended his 
 services, who, it is true, had heard the Christian re- 
 ligion from the schoolmasters stationed on the 
 island, but they had never been baptized or even seen 
 a baptism. He there baptized 200 adults and 3,000 
 children under twelve years. His services were 
 greatly crowded, but there was a great scarcity of 
 Bibles and Church books. Many could read, having 
 been taught reading in the schools. And they con- 
 sidered themselves happy, if they could by chance 
 
310 Great Missionaries of 
 
 get hold of only one page of the Bible. On his re- 
 turn he was very nearly shipwrecked, as the storm 
 drove them toward the rocks, but a kind Providence 
 made him escape in safety. In the fall of that year 
 he again visited Haruko, where he was glad to no- 
 tice an evident progress in the spiritual things. Many 
 whom he had baptized, had become communicants. 
 He also visited Ceram, where a man came to him 
 from Nulalliwu, a village whose inhabitants had 
 gone back to idolatry, and had burned their church 
 and their Bibles. He came to ask Kam to come and 
 preach the Gospel among them again. Kam went 
 to them and stayed with them three days. But even 
 before his coming they had gathered together their 
 idols and burned them, and they had also burned 
 the houses dedicated to the worship of devils. The 
 idols they burned were worth two hundred and fifty 
 thalers. Amid the tears of the congregation he 
 preached to them of Christ; and after he was 
 through many came forward and promised that here- 
 after they would never go back to idolatry again, 
 but would remain true to God and His Word. 
 
 In the autumn of 1817 he sailed for the island of 
 Celebes, where he found a large field among the 
 nominal Christians, and also among the Chinese. He 
 
The Reformed Church. 311 
 
 had hardly landed, when an Alvure chief came to 
 him and asked him earnestly for a teacher for his 
 village. Kam asked him why he wanted to be a 
 Christian. "Because," he replied, "I know that the 
 Christian religion is the best." Kam promised him 
 a teacher, and the chief's heart was greatly stirred as 
 he attended service in the house of the governor, 
 where a number of adults and three Chinese, who 
 desired to profess their faith in Christ, were bap- 
 tized. He then visited the Sangir islands, where the 
 king attended the service with his whole family, as 
 did a great crowd of people. He then visited the 
 island Dschian, where he found the king a very 
 pious man. The king read the Bible daily, and re- 
 joiced greatly to hear him preach and converse with 
 him. He urged Kam to baptize a large number of 
 slaves who had been instructed by a pious school- 
 master. Kam then went again to the Sangir islands, 
 where he found the people in a still sadder condition 
 than on the other islands. Even the school teacher 
 had only scattered leaves of the Bible with which to 
 teach. Instead of paper they had to use pieces of 
 white wood on which to write. In some villages 
 there were no schoolmasters, and the little boys read 
 to the older persons in the churches. The poor peo- 
 
312 Great Missionaries of 
 
 pie received him joyfully, and he had to split up his 
 New Testament, leaving a gospel or an epistle to 
 each church. "But what was that," he says, "among 
 a people who needed 3,000 Bibles?" Everywhere, 
 by the king and the people, he found a joyful hear- 
 ing. On this journey he stayed so long that his 
 friends at home gave him up as lost. When he re- 
 turned to Amboyna, they streamed in crowds to his 
 house, singing psalms of thanksgiving that his life 
 had been spared. At which his captain wondered 
 and said to the physician : "See how those sheep love 
 their shepherd." In 1818 he made another trip to 
 Haruko, Sapama and Ceram. While at Rasalout, 
 robbers appeared in the night, for the islands were 
 infested with pirates, but he was saved by the Dutch 
 resident sending troops. 
 
 Kam was not only active in travelling and preach- 
 ing the Gospel to the poor heathen, but also in 
 writing home, telling the news and the needs of the 
 mission field. His letters about his travels and his 
 appeals to the home Church led the Netherlands 
 Missionary Society to send out, in 1818, three more 
 missionaries — Finn, Yung-Michael and LeBrun. 
 The first was to remain with Kam and aid him in his 
 twenty-eight congregations in Amboyna and the 
 
The Reformed Church. 313 
 
 sixty on the neighboring islands, making eighty in 
 all, while LeBrun went to the southern island of 
 Timor, and Yung-Michael went to the twenty-two 
 congregations at Ternati, from which he visited 
 Celebes and the Sangir islands. The Missionary So- 
 ciety in Holland also sent him a printing press, so 
 that he was now able to print Bibles and other devo- 
 tional books for the people. 
 
 In 1819 Kam undertook a journey to the eastern 
 and northeastern parts of Amboyna. Everywhere he 
 was received with gladness, and even with the shoot- 
 ing of guns, so as to show their joy. The first 
 villages had, he knew, relics of idolatry. He, there- 
 fore, hunted for the idols. And as the top of the 
 hill, on v^hich they were, was dangerous, he sent his 
 companion up, who in a moment threw all the par- 
 aphernalia of idolatry over the precipice, so that the 
 idols were broken to pieces before his eyes. Only 
 one beautiful earthen vessel, decked with garlands 
 of flowers, which held an offering, his companion did 
 not want to destroy, and brought it down with him. 
 Kam paid him for its full value, and then had it 
 broken to pieces. He aimed to show to the congre- 
 gation how wrong it was to retain any of these 
 things. This act of his made a deep impression on 
 
314 Great Missionaries of 
 
 all the neighboring villages, who hastened to put 
 away idolatry. He rejoiced to scatter 4,000 Bibles, 
 but soon found that they were not enough. They, 
 however, awakened a great interest. Indeed, some- 
 times the desire to possess a Bible was so great that 
 he could not forbear cutting up copies of the New 
 Testament and scattering them in parts among the 
 hungry people. In the near village of Liliboi, he 
 says, he knew there was a chest of idols, decked in 
 costly gilt clothes. He did not publicly speak of his 
 desire to destroy them, but preached very earnestly 
 on Colossians 3:1, "Ye are raised up with Christ." 
 The next day the elders came and asked him if he 
 did not think anything more about the idols. He 
 said: "Bring them all to me." They were all 
 brought to the school, packed into a sack and cast 
 into the sea, while the people sang psalms. In 1820 
 he had 3,000 copies of a small catechism printed to 
 satisfy the longings of the people for the Word. 
 
 Thus Kam, with wonderful wisdom, activity and 
 consecration, watched over and guided the evangeli- 
 zation of these islands. Year after year he visited 
 the islands, evangelizing or sending them mission- 
 aries, who were sent out from Holland. Good re- 
 ports came from the mission stations to him as the 
 
The Reformed Church. 315 
 
 results of his work. Thus, in 182 1, a teacher on the 
 island Haruko reported that the inhabitants of a 
 village, of their own accord, cast away their idols, 
 burning them and casting their ashes into the sea. 
 In 1823 he visited the southwesterly islands, after he 
 had received a hundred souls into his own congre- 
 gation at Amboyna. In 1825 he visited the large 
 island of Timor, with its more than 20,000 nominal 
 Christian inhabitants. In 1827 he again went on his 
 journeys to Buno and Sapama, baptizing and add- 
 ing to the Church. On this trip he added 600 to 
 the Qiurch and administered the communion to 
 4,000. He founded a seminary at Amboyna, where 
 school teachers were to be trained. In it, by 1828, 
 he had trained 28 school teachers and sent them to 
 the neighboring islands. This seminary became a 
 power for the Church in later years. 
 
 But his large field proved too much for his 
 strength. In his own charge at Amboyna he had 80 
 churches and 50,000 Christians, and 100 schools to 
 superintend. The largeness of his field prevented 
 him from doing as thorough work as he wished. 
 But there is no question about his faithfulness and 
 consecration. He and Vanderkemp of South Africa 
 are the two jewels in the crown of the Reformed 
 
3i6 Great Missionaries of 
 
 missions of Holland. He went thus up and down, 
 from island to island, and from church to church, la- 
 boring in God's vineyard until he wore his life out; 
 and in July, 1833, he died of overwork. But he had 
 become the father of those island churches, and was 
 looked up to by the native Christians as a father in 
 Israel. He had well earned his title — the Apostle 
 of the Moluccas. 
 
 His death caused great weeping and mourning 
 throughout all those islands. He was greatly 
 missed by the missionaries, but his labors of nearly 
 twenty years laid the foundations of the East Indies 
 missions again. Wherever he would go, he was 
 looked on by the simple-hearted natives as an angel 
 from heathen. He was, indeed, an earthly angel — 
 a messenger to bring the Gospel to them. He was 
 truly an Apostle Paul of the nineteenth century, "in 
 journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of 
 robbers, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the 
 wilderness, in perils in the sea, in weariness and 
 painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, 
 in" fastings often, in cold and nakedness." His labors 
 among those Spice islands made them come up be- 
 fore God as a sweet smelling savor; and the fra- 
 grance of his life, greater than the scent of the 
 islands, has gone out into the ends of the earth. 
 
Chapter II. 
 
 EMDE THE WATCHMAKER OF SURABEYA 
 
 The Island of Java — the pearl of the Dutch East 
 Indies, — with its population of twenty-two mil- 
 lions, mostly Buddhists (though with some Mo- 
 hammedans), has made little progress in mis- 
 sions. Missions were planted there very early in 
 the 17th century, Justus Heurnius being one of the 
 first and greatest of these early Dutch missionaries. 
 A graduate in medicine and theology at Leyden, he 
 wrote a book to interest his countrymen in missions 
 in 16 1 8, which caused a great stir, and in 1624 the 
 East India Company sent him to Batavia, where he 
 at once began laboring among the Malays and 
 Chinese. His earnest evangelistic spirit led him to 
 preach a sermon on the 826. to the 85th answers of 
 the Heidelberg Catechism, in which he urged that the 
 church there should become independent of the 
 State. This brought him into collision (1632) with 
 the governor of the East India Company, who ar- 
 rested and imprisoned him. When released he left 
 Java, in 1633, for the island of Amboyna, where he 
 labored most earnestly among the natives. The Mo- 
 hammedans were also active in missionary work 
 
 17 
 
3i8 Great Missionaries of 
 
 there at that time, and they poisoned his food. 
 Though he did not die yet it so weakened his system 
 that he was finally compelled, 1638, to return to Hol- 
 land. But he still labored hard to interest his coun- 
 trymen in missions and before he died he had done 
 considerable translation of the parts of the Bible into 
 Malay. The Dutch by 1758 had the whole Bible 
 translated into Malay. But though it is said there 
 were 100,000 converts in Java by the end of the 
 17th century, yet the work had been so superficially 
 done that little remained of the early mission, and in 
 the 19th century Christian work in Java has been 
 exceedingly hard, there being now, it is said, only 
 about 12,000 converts. 
 
 But in spite of this darkness, three points of light 
 appear in missionary work in that beautiful island, 
 the Christian colony at Depok, the life and work of 
 the Dutch Reformed missionary Jellesma, and the 
 remarkable work of the layman Emde. 
 
 Depok is a town seven miles south of Batavia, 
 which a pious merchant named Chastelein founded 
 with his slaves in 171 5. He ofifered to give them their 
 freedom and the land they occupied, if they would 
 become Christians. They did so and were baptized. 
 A clean, beautiful village sprang up there, 
 
The Reformed Church. 319 
 
 quite in contrast with the filthy heathen vil- 
 lages around. It was a little land of Goshen in the 
 midst of the darkness of Egypt — an oasis in the 
 desert. The Rhenish Missionary Society in 1878 es- 
 tablished a training school for evangelists in this vil- 
 lage. When Rev. Dr. Jessup visited it in 1893 he 
 found a strong native church there and a theological 
 seminary with thirty students from different parts 
 of the East Indies, — the sons of cruel head-hunters 
 of Borneo, of the fierce islanders of Celebes, of can- 
 nibals of Sumatra as well as of Java. 
 
 Jellesma was sent out by the Netherlands Mis- 
 sionary Society and labored first at Surabeya, 1848, 
 where the government forbade him to labor outside 
 of the town, as it did not want him to convert the 
 heathen. As soon as permission was given him, in 
 185 1, he laid the foundation of a seminary at Morjo- 
 Warno (1852). By the time of his death, in 1858, in 
 seventeen villages there were 200 Christians. On 
 his tombstone is the inscription, "The Apostle to the 
 Javanese." There are now 4,200 Christians in that 
 district. 
 
 At Aroldsen, in the county of Waldeck, Germany, 
 there was a child born in 1774, named Emde. He 
 went to school in a neighboring village, where the 
 
320 Great Missionaries of 
 
 schoolmaster made such a deep impression on him 
 by his teachings, that whenever Emde would speak 
 of him, even sixty years after in distant Java, he 
 would take off his hat. His father taught him the 
 trade of miller, but the family was so large that 
 young Emde often suffered from want, so when he 
 was sixteen years old, he left home, and, like the 
 German apprentices, he travelled around through 
 Hesse, Thuringia and Hanover, and finally West- 
 phalia. But he did not like the Westphalian mills, 
 and so returned home again. In 1801 a younger 
 brother went to Holland as a soldier, and he went 
 after him to hunt him up. But when he came to the 
 Dutch border, his papers were found to be im- 
 properly made out, and he was ordered to return. 
 As he was standing there, a Dutch courier, who had 
 lost a servant, came down the street. Emde offered 
 to be his servant, and was accepted. So he was al- 
 lowed to remain in Holland. He continued seeking 
 his brother, but failed to find out anything about 
 him. 
 
 At last he became tired of Holland and felt like 
 going to his home again. Just then, when he was 
 dissatisfied, he happened to meet a number of sailors. 
 They told him of a land where sugar and coffee 
 
The Reformed Church. 321 
 
 grew, and where there was no winter, but an unend- 
 ing summer. He believed them when they told him 
 about the sugar and the coffee; but to his simple 
 mind the last statement was contrary to the Bible, 
 and therefore could not be true, for Genesis 8:22 
 said summer and winter should not cease. And 
 so he said he would not believe them. But although 
 he did not believe them, the news disquieted him. 
 He kept on thinking about this land of perpetual' 
 summer. His curiosity was aroused. 
 
 Finally, as he was tired of the flat lowlands of Hol- 
 land and its windmills, he determined he would go to 
 Java and see for himself whether there was a land 
 there where there was no winter. He took a situa- 
 tion as a sailor on a vessel bound for Batavia. Al- 
 though his pay was small, he consoled himself that 
 that would enable him to see this strange land of 
 summer, and he would still have thirty-six dollars in 
 addition in his pocket. When he came to Batavia, 
 he found that the sailors were right — that sugar 
 and coffee grew in that paradise of earth, the island 
 of Java ; and he also found that there was no winter, 
 only summer. How he ever harmonized it with the 
 Bible, we do not know, but at any rate it never led 
 him to lose faith in his Bible. Afterwards he would 
 
322 Great Missionaries of 
 
 have liked to have returned to Europe and see again 
 a real winter, even if it froze him blue, yet he was 
 prevented by providential circumstances from ever 
 seeing a snowflake again. For such a strong, 
 healthy laborer, as he was, was just the kind that 
 the Dutch government wanted for its navy, as the 
 climate in the East Indies carried off those who were 
 sickly or weak. The government therefore com- 
 pelled him to enter its service, and packed him off to 
 Borneo on a man-of-war to suppress the pirates. 
 Here he continued so long that he would often call 
 its inhabitants his countrymen. 
 
 Now ship-life was profligate, and with profanity 
 and obscenity they woke up in the morning and went 
 to bed at night. But the greater the danger, the 
 greater was revealed Emde's nobleness. For he did 
 not forget what the old schoolmaster said : "Call on 
 the Lord in thy need." When his comrades saw 
 that he prayed, they swore at him, but he kept on 
 praying, until they nicknamed him "the praying 
 brother." Emde was one of those who, when op- 
 posed, became only the more determined. Often he 
 rebuked them for their sins with the natives, and 
 when they mocked him, he only prayed the more. 
 Thus he spent six years. 
 
The Reformed Church. 323 
 
 One day his vessel was anchored in the Rhede be- 
 fore Banjarmassing. The Dutch Resident wanted 
 to go to Tabenio, so they sailed that night, but came 
 to Tabenio in a thick fog. The sea was very shallow 
 there, and it was low tide. When the fog lifted, the 
 shore was filled with pirates, who had many boats. 
 In these they rapidly approached the bessel, which 
 had become becalmed in a fog. They came toward 
 her on the side where there were no cannons. When 
 Emde saw the great danger, he cried unto his God 
 for help, and he had great peace of soul. But the 
 Dutch Resident on board gave up hope, and ordered 
 the vessel to be blown up. Emde thought, however, 
 it would be plenty of time to do that when the en- 
 emy had come on deck. He, therefore, gathered his 
 comrades around him, and prepared to fight with 
 the pirates. The balls flew thick. Many of his com- 
 rades fell on his right and his left. Nearer and 
 nearer came the boats of pirates, until they were 
 within two rudders' lengths of the ship. Suddenly, 
 as if by accident — no, it was in answer to Emde's 
 prayers ! — a wind sprang up and filled the sails. The 
 steersman quickly turned the ship, so that the side 
 that had cannons was turned toward the pirates. 
 The sailors fired a broadside, and the waves were 
 
324 Great Missionaries of 
 
 immediately filled with overturned boats and dying 
 pirates. For this deliverance his impious comrades 
 considered him for a time a brave man, but they 
 soon forgot it again. His vessel then went to Sura- 
 baya, and, as he was sick, he received permission to 
 stay there for a while, although not allowed to leave 
 the Dutch service. When the English conquered 
 Java in 181 1 he became free from the government's 
 employ and located at Surabaya. 
 
 Surabaya was, next to Batavia, the largest com- 
 mercial town on the island. It is beautifully situated 
 along the river Kalimas, which divides it into two 
 parts. On the one side of the river was the native 
 town, where the Chinese lived in stone houses and 
 the Japanese in bamboo huts. A large bridge across 
 the river joined that part of the city with the Dutch 
 town. Emde soon found a German from West- 
 phalia who formed a strong attachment for him, as 
 they camiC from the same country. This German 
 taught him to repair watches. Emde was glad to 
 learn this trade, for in Java there were no mills, and 
 his trade as miller was useless to him. These two 
 Germans lived together for a while, and at last mar- 
 ried two sisters, who were in reality Javanese 
 princesses. For the old Javanese nobles had become 
 
The Reformed Church. 325 
 
 very poor, and were glad to marry their children to 
 the Dutch. These wives were, however, both Mo- 
 hammedans, for European women were scarce 
 there. 
 
 But they had many privations. Emde had no 
 church to attend. No man cared for the souls that 
 were there. The Dutch were largely rationalists or 
 gross sinners, and the poor natives were left to die in 
 dark heathenism. It was not till 1814 that Jan 
 Kam arrived, to his great joy. As Kam was de- 
 tained there by being unable to sail, Emde and some 
 others came to him, asking him to hold a religious 
 service. Thus Emde started a fire that never went 
 out. When Kam had to go away, he appointed 
 Emde to continue the services. Right faithfully did 
 this simple watchmaker perform his duty. He 
 would gather the few who would come every even- 
 ing. They would sing a hymn and Emde would 
 pray, read a selection of Scripture, and explain it as 
 well as he could. As long as only a few attended, 
 the services met no opposition. But when they be- 
 gan to increase in size and influence, then they 
 aroused opposition. The Dutch residents mocked 
 at him, and even threw stones at him in the street, 
 and posted up scandalous pictures of his meetings. 
 
326 Great Missionaries of 
 
 But he bravely kept on with his work, and God rich- 
 ly blessed and rewarded him. For when by and by 
 a missionary passed through the town again, Emde 
 had the great joy of having his wife baptized, as did 
 his German friend also. 
 
 Finally in 1820 a Dutch minister was placed at 
 Surabaya. But, alas, he was a rationalist, like so 
 many in Holland then, and preached not the Gospel, 
 but only morality. Still Emde and his friends puno 
 tually attended church, although the minister fed 
 them on husks. Yes, sometimes Emde and his band 
 were the only ones who were there. And after ser- 
 vice they would go to some one of their houses, and 
 kneel down and pray God's blessing of the word 
 preached. On Sunday afternoons Emde would 
 teach his own family about the Bible. But all these 
 things were not viewed with favor by the minister, 
 who looked on Emde as a Methodist. And, al- 
 though Emde was his best friend and most faithful 
 attendant, he caused him to be arrested as a dan- 
 gerous man, and brought him before the magistrates. 
 There Emde bravely convicted the minister, showing 
 that he really shut out the people by his miserable 
 sermons, and yet persecuted those who wanted to 
 go to church. For his boldness, Emde was put in 
 
The Reformed Church. 327 
 
 prison for a number of weeks. But though they 
 could lock the door on him, nevertheless they could 
 not shut his mouth. He began preaching, like Paul, 
 to the prisoners about the love and peace of God, and 
 so powerful was his preaching that the magistrates 
 were afraid that what they called Methodism would 
 break out in prison, and they were glad to let him 
 out again. His enemies even brought complaint 
 against him to the governor general at Batavia, but 
 nothing more was done against him. Still all these 
 persecutions only advertised his efforts, and his 
 prayer meetings had unheard-of-success. 
 
 Emde owed his awakening to a missionary (Jan 
 Kam), and as a result all missionaries were welcome 
 to his house as they passed through, whether they 
 were Dutch, German, American or English. He 
 kept a small suit of rooms in his house as the pro- 
 phets' chamber. Owing to his association with 
 them, he did not find it hard to organize a missionary 
 society at Surabaya. The society was not large, but 
 did a great amount of good. Emde was the soul 
 of the society. It interested itself mainly in the mis- 
 sion stations of missionaries who had stopped at 
 Surabaya. They raised funds, and gave bells to the 
 mission stations and other gifts. 
 
328 Great Missionaries of 
 
 Emde was an earnest soul-winner. If any one 
 came into his jewelry shop, it was not long before 
 he would turn the conversation to the subject of re- 
 ligion. And he understood how to do this in a 
 masterly way. Thus, once a high officer of the 
 Dutch service came to him, saying of his watch 
 somewhat profanely : "This watch is devilishly 
 dirty." "I will clean it," said Emde, "but it is a 
 question which is the dirtier, your watch or your 
 heart." And very soon he showed to the officer 
 from the Bible that God alone could cleanse the 
 heart, or it, uncleansed, would go to the devil. On 
 another occasion a gentleman of rank came and 
 wanted something repaired. Emde took the watch, 
 when the officer happened to look up at a remem- 
 brancer on the wall. Emde quick as a flash saw his 
 opportunity. "Do you understand what you read?" 
 asked Emde of him. The gentleman looked at him 
 from tip to toe, and asked suspiciously: "Do you 
 think that I am a child that I can't read?" "Yes, 
 truly," was Emde's reply, "I thought so, for of such 
 is the kingdom of heaven." The gentleman left as 
 soon as possible in a thoughtful mood. 
 
 Emde's heart went out for the Javanese natives at 
 Surabaya. He especially began to labor among the 
 
The Reformed Church. 329 
 
 Lipplapen, who were the children of Dutch fathers 
 and native mothers. These spoke the Malay lan- 
 guage. There were some tracts in Malay, but in 
 such a learned dialect that the ordinary man could 
 not understand them. Emde and his friends felt 
 their need. So they began to translate the New 
 Testament into Malay and use it at their prayer 
 meetings. They labored at this translation for ten 
 years. Emde prayed and the people gave, and when 
 the translation was finished the people had gathered 
 sufficient money for its publication. But Emde was 
 not satisfied with caring for children of mixed mar- 
 riages. He longed to save the native Javanese too. 
 For he had married a Javanese wife, and that race 
 were really his relatives. The Javanese were Mo- 
 hammedans, but really heathen. But how could he 
 get the gospel to them? for he could not understand 
 or speak their language, and he felt he was too old 
 and too little of a linguist to learn the language. 
 
 But still he labored at it. By the aid of his wife 
 and daughter he had tracts translated in Javanese, 
 and also Scripture texts, which he would post up on 
 the markets for the natives to read. At last the 
 New Testament had been translated into Javanese 
 by Bruckner; he greatly rejoiced. At his meetings 
 
330 Great Missionaries of 
 
 his wife and friend, who understood Javanese, would 
 speak to the Javanese present in their own language. 
 But for a long time the seed sown fell on stony 
 ground. True, the father and sister of his wife were 
 baptized, but the Mohammedans were hard to reach. 
 Nevertheless Emde should have the credit of being 
 one of the first heroes of the faith to stand on the 
 walls of the proud fort of the false prophet. 
 
 About 1840 one day an old Javanese came to his 
 shop from a neighboring village, Wioong. He had 
 been a priest there for twenty- four years. Emde had 
 given him a tract some time before. Emde could 
 not talk with him, and so had to call his wife. 
 Through her the priest told him how he had read 
 the tract and been deeply affected by it, and that he 
 was willing to give up the religion of the false 
 prophet and believe on Christ. But he desired more 
 instruction. He was gladly instructed, and went 
 away. When he got home, he gathered his people 
 together at Wioong and read them the tract. His 
 act produced a great sensation in the whole neigh- 
 borhood. That a Mohammedan should become a 
 Christian was surprising. The Javanese came in 
 crowds to hear this converted priest. And when 
 they asked him for further instruction, he could only 
 
The Reformed Church. 331 
 
 send them to Emde. Emde suddenly found his 
 house full of Javanese, who came some of them two 
 and three days' journey. Often more than a hun- 
 dred at a time would be present. This was the be- 
 ginning of a great movement, which down to this 
 day has not ended. 
 
 But difficulties arose. Those who had been awak- 
 ened, desired Christian baptism. Emde could not 
 legally baptize them, so he went to the rationalistic 
 minister at Surabeya. But the latter only put diffi- 
 culties in the way. The government said it sus- 
 pected these Javanese of sordid motives, as of get- 
 ting gain or position or money by becoming Chris- 
 tians. It also declared that it was afraid to baptize 
 them, lest it would make the Mohammedans angry 
 and there would be an uprising among the natives 
 against the Dutch government. So they were re- 
 fused baptism. For about five years twenty of them 
 held together. They would come together every 
 evening, and pray, and sing, and read the New Tes- 
 tament, which Emde had given them, and they would 
 attend Emde's meetings. But their desire for the 
 sacrament became stronger and stronger, and at last 
 they came to the magistrates for baptism. The 
 magistrates severely questioned them, hoping to 
 
332 Great Missionaries of 
 
 turn them aside from their purpose. But finding 
 they were not able to do this, they at last granted 
 them permission. It was indeed a great and happy 
 day for Emde, when on December 12, 1843, eighteen 
 men, twelve women and five children of the Javanese 
 were baptized. After that many more were baptized, 
 until six years after they had 347 communicants 
 and 183 baptized children. 
 
 Emde's motto of life and his chosen text was 
 Ezekiel 36:19-38. He labored for fifty years at 
 Surabaya (1809-1859). As he became older, his 
 Javanese looked up to him more and more as their 
 spiritual father. They were willing to do anything 
 for him. Thus when some years before his death 
 the river tore its way before his house, and the gov- 
 ernment ordered him to repair the damages, the Jav- 
 anese came in crowds and did all the work for him. 
 The early ridicule by the people had long since giv- 
 en way to honor. 
 
 After his death his daughter Wilhelmine contin- 
 ued his work, until Jellesma was sent out in 1848. 
 Emde is an illustration of what a poor but earnest 
 layman in God's Church can do, if he will. What 
 a rebuke he is to so many laymen in our churches at 
 home, who will not do or say anything for Christ. 
 
The Reformed Church. 333 
 
 And how Avonderfully God blessed him and honored 
 his feeble efforts in the salvation of souls. Emde 
 will have a higher crown in heaven than many kings, 
 for he was a true Christian nobleman, and his crown 
 will shine forever with many stars. 
 
Chapter III. 
 
 JOHN F. RIEDEL. 
 
 Minahassa is the pearl of Dutch missions and 
 the crown of missions in the East Indies. Mina- 
 hassa is a promontory at the extreme north- 
 eastern end of the island of Celebes, which 
 lies east of the island of Borneo. The work 
 of missions in Celebes was begun early by the 
 Dutch. When the Spanish were driven out by 
 the Dutch in 1661 a Christian congregation was 
 founded. At the beginning of the eighteenth cen- 
 tury there were 5,400 adherents to Christianity in 
 Minahassa, but after the missionary fashion of that 
 day, the work was very superficially done, as only 
 a few of them were communicants. Then years often 
 passed without a visit from any missionary to them. 
 Their low condition may be imagined when one re- 
 members that twenty-eight years elapsed without 
 their seeing a missionary, till Rev. Mr. Kam came 
 in 1817. It was not, therefore, till 1822 that the real 
 work of evangelizing this peninsula began. The 
 Netherlands Missionary Society then sent its mis- 
 sionaries, Lammers and Muller, to the island. But, 
 alas ! the first died two years after he arrived, and 
 
 W5 
 
336 Great Missionanes of 
 
 the second two years after him. Their place was, 
 however, taken by the pious Hellendoorn, called by 
 the people "The Pious Peter." Born at Amsterdam 
 1793, he had been educated at the Mission Seminary 
 at Berkel, 1816-1819. When he arrived there, he 
 found only three communicants. He, however, la- 
 bored hard at Menado, the principal city, scattering 
 the seed ; and by prayer and preaching and opening 
 schools, his work prospered, until when he died in 
 1839 he had baptized 250 adults and 1,550 children, 
 and received 115 into Church membership. 
 
 But it was the coming of the next two mission- 
 aries, Riedel and Schwartz, which led to the quiet 
 but complete conversion of this part of the island of 
 Celebes, so that where there were three in Hellen- 
 doorn's time, there are now more than a hundred 
 thousand Christian adherents. The method which 
 they pursued to produce such great results was not 
 street preaching, such as is practiced so successfully 
 in India, but they did it by personal conversation. 
 It happened that there were watchhouses every- 
 where, and in the leading cities there were a great 
 many watchmen, who were called from various dis- 
 tricts to serve in them. Thesa watchhouses the mis- 
 sionaries visited very carefully, not to preach, but 
 
The Reformed Church. 337 
 
 to talk with the men. Street preaching was not car- 
 ried on at all by the Netherlands Missionary So- 
 ciety to which they belonged. This method of 
 reaching them was better than to visit them in their 
 homes, for there the missionary would have been 
 subject to a number of hindrances, especially as the 
 farmers were rarely at home, and in the rice season 
 they were very busy in the field. Another great aid 
 to the mission were the schools, which were fostered 
 by the missionaries. When the missionaries first 
 arrived, not an Alikure, it is said, could read, write 
 or calculate. But the schools enabled them to get 
 hold of the children, who, as they grew up, became 
 the nucleus around which the mission formed. And 
 wherever a school was founded in a village, it was 
 not long before the parents would also come into 
 closer contact with the mission by coming to see and 
 hear what their own children were doing. And as 
 the missionaries taught the children the story of 
 the Bible, their young hearts were prepared to re- 
 ceive Christ as their Saviour. The missionaries, 
 however, were very careful about receiving persons 
 into church membership. In this they were different 
 from the early Dutch missionaries of the previous 
 centuries, who received them only too quickly into 
 
338 Great Missionaries of 
 
 membership. Now the candidates for baptism had 
 to go into training for two or three years. Then, in 
 order to become full communicants, they were placed 
 on probation for a while, until they revealed a proper 
 understanding of Christian truth, and also showed a 
 character suited to a Christian life. Undoubtedly 
 this great care aided greatly in making the founda- 
 tions of the mission permanent, and prepared for 
 the astonishing results that followed. 
 
 On Sunday the missionary usually preached in 
 two or three of the congregations ; in the others the 
 services were held by an evangelist or school teacher. 
 In the afternoon catechization was held in many con- 
 gregations, and also Bible readings. During the 
 week on two or three evenings meetings for instruc- 
 tion would be held. On the first Monday evening of 
 each month a mission meeting was held in most of 
 the congregations and a missionary collection taken. 
 The celebration of the Lord's Supper was usually 
 two or three times a year. 
 
 Schwartz preached and labored very faithfully at 
 Langov/an, preaching and founding schools. He 
 had to labor for twelve years with little success. It 
 seemed as if no converts appeared. But in 1843 
 God's Spirit was poured out on his district, until 
 
The Reformed Church. 339 
 
 fifteen congreg-ations were founded, and he baptized 
 13,068 and received into communion 1,278 before 
 he died in 1859. 
 
 But the most influential of the three was the sub- 
 ject of this sketch, John F. Riedel, Schwartz's com- 
 panion. He was born at Erfurt in Germany, in 
 1798. There, where Luther found a Bible in a con- 
 vent, he also found the truth in the Scriptures. For 
 his father died when he was only three years old. 
 But his grandfather, over his father's coffin, desired 
 him to be a Christian. And his mother watched over 
 him very carefully. Every morning and evening 
 the Bible was read in the family, and every Sunday 
 the children were in their place in church. A severe 
 sickness brought him under deep conviction of sin 
 and led him to find full forgiveness in Christ. The 
 wish of his grandfather, when his father died, that 
 he might become a good Christian, was fulfilled. 
 He felt continually reminded of this, and would of- 
 ten go and stand before his grandfather's picture 
 and say to himself: "Such a pious man you shall 
 become." Although confirmed by a rationalistic 
 preacher, yet his heart clung to the old faith, and 
 finally this completed itself by his going to Janicke's 
 mission school in Berlin in 1822. In 1827 Riedel, 
 
 23 
 
340 Great Missionaries of 
 
 with Schwartz, left BerHn to go to Holland, and 
 then to the East Indies, for the Netherlands Society- 
 then appointed Germans to its missions. They sailed 
 from Holland October 30, 1829, and on July 10, 
 1830, they visited Emde, the pious watchmaker of 
 Surabaya, Java. Riedel then went to Amboyna. 
 
 He continued the study of the Malay language, 
 which he had begun during his stay in Java. In 
 May, 1831, he sailed for Menado in Celebes, the 
 capital of the promontory of Minahassa, to begin 
 his life-work. Kam, the apostle of the East Indies, 
 had now his desire fulfilled. He had long wanted 
 to have a missionary at Celebes. The Lord granted 
 him, as to Simeon, this desire before he died, for his 
 death came three years later. As Riedel came in 
 sight of the island, he said to his soul, "This is the 
 land where I will spend my life, and, if necessary, 
 sufifer there for God's glory." When he arrived at 
 Menado, he was received with great joy by the mis- 
 sionary there, Hellendoorn. He soon started for his 
 station, Tondano, situated inland near a lake. On 
 his way he spent a night at Tomohon. As he sat 
 that evening on the veranda, a number of the na- 
 tives gathered around his interpreter. The old 
 schoolmaster, who had once been a soldier, came to 
 
The Reformed Church. 341 
 
 him, saying : "Sir, I know that you have a book, out 
 of which you have gained all your knowledge — or 
 is it two books? The New Testament I have once 
 seen, and read in it. But the Old Testament must 
 be much more important, for I have heard that in 
 it was written how the world was made. Since I 
 have been at Java, I no longer believe in heathenism. 
 But I would like to know how the earth and man 
 came into being." His inquiry was a type of the 
 seeking minds of the natives around. There was 
 great ignorance, but at the same time great readiness 
 to be taught. Riedel went to the house and took a 
 Malay Bible, out of which he read the story of the 
 creation. The old soldier greatly rejoiced to be giv- 
 en the Bible. Such was the ignorance of the people, 
 and yet such was their desire for the truth. But if 
 the schoolmaster was so ignorant, what must have 
 been the condition of his scholars? He stands out 
 as a type of the spiritual destitution, so common 
 there. Of Bibles there were none, and books were 
 so rare that the schoolmaster often saved up with 
 great care scraps of paper, on which there was 
 printing, so as to be able to have something with 
 which to teach the children. 
 
 Riedel arrived at Tondano October 14, 1831. On 
 
342 Great Missionaries of 
 
 the first Sunday he was prepared to preach a mem- 
 orized sermon to them about Christ. Alas, when 
 Sunday came, the natives went to work in the fields 
 as usual, and he was horrified by the Sabbath- 
 breaking. Finally he called to one who had been 
 baptized, and asked him : "Can you go to work on 
 Sunday?" "Yes," he replied, "if we do not have 
 an evil sign given us." Riedel expostulated with 
 him. The man tried to evade his warnings by say- 
 ing that he thought the day before had been Sunday, 
 and he must go this Sunday, as his servants would 
 be in the field, waiting for him. Riedel then ap- 
 pealed to him, "You want to be a Christian, and yet 
 work on Sunday. These two do not agree. Turn 
 around and come to church." Riedel said this with 
 such decision of voice that the man did really turn 
 around and come to church. Riedel began his ser- 
 vice in the little wooden chapel. Not one-tenth of 
 the few baptized members came to the service. The 
 sermon was listened to rather out of curiosity. When 
 he asked why so few came, he was answered that 
 they did not know Sunday from any other day. 
 Many lived in the fields, and were then gathering 
 in their rice harvest. 
 
 Such was the unpropitious beginning of Riedel's 
 
The Reformed Church. 343 
 
 work there. The conditions of the AHkures were 
 very low morally. They had a bad reputation for 
 drunkenness, and especially for thieving, while im- 
 morality and superstition prevailed. The school- 
 master there had not learned the Alikure language, 
 and the natives had not learned the Malay language 
 which he spoke, so there was little teaching in the 
 school. Riedel at once began learning the native 
 language so as to use it. In the schools he saw that 
 the children learned the Bible stories and also learn- 
 ed to sing psalms, while his wife began to gather 
 the women and teach them on Sunday afternoon. 
 But no sooner did results begin to show themselves 
 than opposition arose. The devil was not going to 
 surrender his control over the people without a 
 struggle. The native priests made fun of those who 
 attended her class. The sewing school for girls, 
 however, proved so helpful that it disarmed opposi- 
 tion. Thus quietly the seed of the Gospel was being 
 scattered. As the natives were afraid to visit him, 
 he and his wife made it a point to visit them and get 
 at their hearts by sympathy. Soon, too, some of the 
 baptized began to become more intimate with him 
 and his family. But heathenism still retained its 
 power. At the heathen feasts great crowds would 
 
344 Great Missionaries of 
 
 gather, while the little wooden church would remaui 
 comparatively empty. 
 
 Riedel was often greatly discouraged. Often he 
 asked himself the question, "How can I reach these 
 people?" Finally Christmas came. Then a bright 
 thought came to him in answer to oft repeated 
 prayer, and he said to his wife : "Christmas is com- 
 ing, you must bake many cakes — the German cakes." 
 But his good wife, although always obedient to him, 
 declared that that would be impossible, for there was 
 not enough flour in all Tondano. "That will not in- 
 terfere," he replied, "bake rice cakes." On the day 
 before Christmas he went to the school and invited 
 the scholars. He made them learn Christmas hymns, 
 so that they might sing on the occasion. The news 
 of this soon spread abroad in the village. While his 
 wife baked, Riedel prayed and prepared his sermon. 
 In the evening the children came. They stood in a 
 half-circle around Riedel. Outside of this were a 
 great many of the natives. Riedel began to cate- 
 chise the children and had them sing. The parents 
 were surprised at the knowledge of the children. He 
 then explained the meaning of Christmas to the 
 people. The next day, for the first time, the little 
 church was full, but still greater was the crowd in 
 
The Reformed Church. 345 
 
 the afternoon at his house. His Christmas cakes 
 were hardly enough, so greatly were they enjoyed. 
 This giving of cakes made a sensation among the 
 natives. It was the first act by which he began to 
 gain their hearts, so as to win them to Christ. The 
 next day he celebrated communion in the church, 
 but small was the company — only his family and that 
 of the Dutch resident, seven in all. He says : "The 
 table was small, but all of us felt that the Lord was 
 there." Many others were present, many of whom 
 had never seen a Lord's Supper celebrated before. 
 On New Year's Day the church was again pretty 
 well filled. Riedel now began to take courage in his 
 work; but, alas, his hopes were soon dashed to the 
 ground. The ignorant people thought that Christ 
 died on Christmas and rose again on New Year. 
 They utilized New Year, not for religion, but for 
 drunkenness. So the little church at Tondano re- 
 mained empty as usual, only ten or twenty adult 
 baptized Christians, in addition to the children of 
 the school, coming to service. 
 
 Gradually Riedel's work began to tell, but very 
 slowly at first. He had some medical knowledge, 
 so that his visits to the sick gave him greater influ- 
 ence. Even though the church attendants were few, 
 
346 Great Missionaries of 
 
 yet these few became regular, thus showing that they 
 were being prepared by God's Spirit to make a pub- 
 He profession of Christ. After he had been there 
 three years, he wrote somewhat more hopefully to 
 the Netherlands Missionary Society : "Men whom I 
 have had to speak to against superstition three years 
 ago, now desire baptism. Those who lived in im- 
 morality, have now married. Four adult children 
 of two of the most prominent heathen priests in this 
 district have asked to be received into the church. 
 An old priest, who for thirty or forty years has prac- 
 ticed his nefarious trade and made much money by 
 it, has come to me and with tears in his eyes begged 
 me not to refuse him baptism, as through it he hoped 
 to find rest to his soul." 
 
 Riedel also began making journeys to neighboring 
 towns, looking up the schools. In 1835 there were 
 in these 240 boys and 20 girls. Thus Christianity 
 began gaining power. When Christmas, 1834, 
 came, his church was again so full that many had to 
 stand outside. It is true that many came from curi- 
 osity or because some had the idea that, in order to 
 be a Christian, one had to go to church on Christ- 
 mas and New Year, but the rest of the year could 
 live like a heathen. Yet in the midst of these some 
 
The Reformed Church. 347 
 
 in the large congregation had been awakened and 
 were truly seekers. It was not, however, till 1836 
 that the church attendance began greatly to increase. 
 Before that time it had been only eighty or ninety. 
 This year it rose from 200 to 300, so that many 
 often had to stand outside. His house, too, became 
 too small for the afternoon gatherings for prayer. 
 The Sunday afternoon meetings were full of bless- 
 ing. There he spoke the Alikure language, which 
 the people understood. There he questioned the peo- 
 ple on the sermon of the morning and added explan- 
 ations. The people listened with hungry hearts, and 
 great results began to show themselves. But as 
 these meetings had become so large, he did not 
 know what to do. He longed to enlarge his house, 
 so as to have room for the meeting, but he did not 
 have the means. Suddenly a gift of five hundred 
 florins came from Rotterdam, and he was able to 
 do so. 
 
 In 1837, in ^ letter, he speaks of his eight catechu- 
 mens, among whom was the oldest and most famous 
 of the heathen priests who had been led by sickness 
 to feel the need of a Saviour. When Riedel was first 
 sent for by him, he found the house full of heathen 
 priests. But the old man declared before them all 
 
348 Great Missionaries of 
 
 that he had cast aside his heathenism and would be 
 a Christian. Soon the news spread abroad that the 
 chief of the AHkures of that village had become a 
 Christian. The natives gathered with drums, wish- 
 ing him all sorts of ill luck for this act. In spite of 
 all their efforts he remained firm. When he was 
 baptized, it was a day long to be remembered in the 
 mission's history. The streets were filled with na- 
 tives, and so was the church. When the priest and 
 the other catechumens knelt to be baptized, there 
 was weeping all over the church. God's Spirit was 
 evidently moving on the hearts of the people. The 
 old man died three weeks later, bearing a beautiful 
 Christian testimony. He called his family around 
 him, many of whom were still heathen, and said: 
 "You see how good it is to have the Lord Jesus. I 
 am sick, yet my pains are softened. My sins are for- 
 given, and I look with joy at death. Yet I shall not 
 die, for my soul will go to God." Such words his 
 family had never heard before, for among the AH- 
 kures they never speak of death or of the grave. And 
 when one of his family asked him what he meant by 
 the resurrection of the dead, he referred him to the 
 parable of the sheep and the goats in Scripture. 
 Another influence that began to aid Riedel was a 
 
The Reformed Church. 349 
 
 printing press, which, in 1837, was placed at Tomo- 
 hon, not very far away. Often his heart had been 
 pained by the remarks of the scholars : "You teach 
 us to read, but of what use is it, because we have 
 nothing to read." A large number of Bibles also 
 came to hand. Great was the joy of the people at 
 this. To buy them, some came with money, here 
 one came with a sack of rice, there a girl with eggs, 
 here a woman with chickens. He was compelled to 
 build a larger church, seating eight hundred per- 
 sons. Indeed the whole town began to wear a 
 changed appearance. On Sunday none of the bap- 
 tized went to work in the fields with the heathen. 
 On the contrary, even in the season of rice harvest 
 the baptized Christians would come up out of the 
 rice fields in large numbers to attend the services. 
 The day was now spent in quietness, even the stamp- 
 ing of rice ceasing in the early morning. "How en- 
 tirely different it used to be in Tondano," said the 
 older natives. 
 
 The harvest now began coming in. In 1841 he 
 reports that in that year he had baptized 136 adults, 
 children of heathen 195, and of Christians 63 — total 
 394. In 1845 ^ severe earthquake produced great 
 seriousness among the people, wnich led many to 
 
350 Great Missionaries of 
 
 come into the church. In 1847 ^^ received 200 new 
 members into the church, so that his communicants 
 now numbered 500; and owing to his slowness and 
 care in receiving them, and his careful instruction of 
 them, in fifteen years only five went astray. His 
 work, however, began growing beyond his strength, 
 and in 1845 ^^ sent a request to the Netherlands 
 Missionary Society for a helper, who, however, was 
 not sent till five years later. The number of his 
 hearers gradually rose until 2,000 could be counted, 
 and in 185 1 even 2,500. The little church had given 
 place to an edifice seating 2,000 people, the largest 
 church on the island. But as his work became more 
 severe, he began failing under it. In i860 his end 
 approached. Twenty-nine years he had labored 
 there; g^eat had been his influence, but now his 
 work was done. As he opened his eyes on his death- 
 bed, he saw some of his members standing there. 
 To them he bore his parting testimony for Christ 
 as he said, "It is all of grace." He died October 
 12, i860. 
 
 Thus passed away a most active laborer of Christ. 
 His church register revealed that he had baptized 
 9,341 persons, and that he had received not less than 
 3,851 persons as communicants. About one-third 
 
The Reformed Church. 351 
 
 of the Christians of Minahassa were the results of 
 his labors. His work is only a type and picture of 
 the work done in this whole peninsula. Thus in 
 1857-8 a great awakening occurred in the district 
 Ajermadidi, by which more than 12,000 came for- 
 ward for baptism. Schwartz, Riedel's companion in 
 mission work, baptized 13,068, but admitted to the 
 Lord's Supper, 1,278. Wilken, the successor of 
 Schwartz at Tomohon, baptized in twenty years 
 7,000 persons. In 1873 of the 110,000 Alikures in 
 Minahassa 80,000 were Christians and 14,000 com- 
 municants. They then had twelve missionaries and 
 one hundred and forty congregations. In 1876 the 
 report showed that they had 5,000 baptisms every 
 year, so that of the more than 100,000 inhabitants of 
 that part of the Celebes only a small fraction were 
 still heathen. In the forty years between 1840 to 
 1880, 77,571 Alikures were baptized. The zeal and 
 consecration of these Christians is shown by the 
 fact that in 1865 they raised $1,974, besides 
 thousands of guldens for church bells, etc. No book 
 is given away to them, all buy their Bibles and re- 
 ligious works. For their schools they raised $1,400 
 a year, and they even raise money now to 
 send the Gospel to heathen around them. The 117 
 
352 Great Missionaries of 
 
 schools of the mission have outgrown the twenty 
 public schools of the government, and had 10,000 
 scholars in 1880. In 1893 there were 200 congrega- 
 tions and 125 schools. In 1868 a school was opened 
 at Tomohon for the training of assistants to the mis- 
 sionaries, which has done valuable service. The 
 whole peninsula is changed, transformed by Christi- 
 anity. The natives, who used to be described as 
 "bold, rough, drunken, given to praying to the 
 devil," have been radically changed. This is the 
 testimony of scientists, as well as of missionaries. 
 Just as Charles Darwin was compelled to bear wit- 
 ness to the blessed results of missions by what he 
 saw in Patagonia, so his companion in science, Wal- 
 lace, bears testimony to the work of these mission- 
 aries in Minahassa. He says : "The missionaries 
 have a right to be proud of this place. Forty years 
 ago the land was a wilderness, the people a multi- 
 tude of naked barbarians who decorated their rough- 
 ly-made huts with human skulls. Out of this condi- 
 tion of barbarism they have risen in a short time to 
 a certain measure of culture through the efforts of 
 the Dutch authorities. The land is now a 'garden,' 
 worthy of its beautiful name, Minahassa, the villages 
 are now almost all model villages, and the huts have 
 
The Reformed Church. 353 
 
 the appearance as if on exhibition. The streets are 
 covered with beautiful strips of green sward and 
 bordered by ever-blooming hedges of roses. In each 
 village there are very beautifully laid out coflFee 
 gardens, while the inhabitants take care of acres of 
 fields of rice. In each village there is a school, in 
 the larger ones also a church. The people are all 
 neatly dressed, and the leading men and school 
 teachers can vie with well-dressed English people. 
 No one can see these men and hear their previous 
 condition, and can doubt that they are morally and 
 physically higher than before." Another scientist, 
 Dr. Bleekcn, says: "The Christians have become 
 new men. They live better, eat better and are clothed 
 better. The cutting ofif of heads is done away with. 
 Thousands read, write and can calculate. The pro- 
 gress of the upper classes of the schools is good. 
 Crimes are few. They obey their superiors, labor 
 diligently and are happy. So Christianity and civili- 
 zation have gone hand in hand." This island, there- 
 fore, is an answer to the critics who have declared 
 that Dutch and East India missions are a failure. 
 In this pearl of missions they have been a wonderful 
 success, and are worthy to be rated with Madagas- 
 car and the Hawaiian Islands among the modern 
 miracles of a "nation born in a day." 
 
BOOK V. 
 
 24 
 
w 
 
 THE REFORMED IN AMERICA. 
 Chapter I. 
 
 JOHN MEGAPOLENSIS. 
 
 E have already noticed the early effort made 
 by the Dutch Reformed to do missionary 
 work in South America in the seventeenth 
 
 century ; we now turn to the work of the Reformed 
 in North America among the Indians, 
 
 Popular opinion makes John Eliot the first For- 
 eign Missionary in North America to the Indians. 
 But popular opinion is sometimes wrong. For Meg- 
 apolensis preached to the Indians three or four years 
 before Eliot preached his first sermon to the Indians 
 in 1648 near Newton. But by that year Megapo- 
 lensis' labors among them at Albany were almost 
 over. The Reformed Church can therefore boast 
 with a just pride not only of having had the first 
 Protestant Foreign Missionary, but that they also 
 had the first Foreign Missionary to the Indians in 
 North America as well as in South America. 
 John Eliot, the apostle to the Indians, was 
 the greatest, but not the first missionary to 
 them. In this blessed work he was outstripped 
 
358 Great Missionaries of 
 
 by the Reformed. John Megapolensis was born at 
 Koedyk, in Holland, in 1601. The original name of 
 the family was Van Mecklenburg, for his father had 
 come from Mecklenburg to Holland. But it was 
 the fashion in those days to change the names into 
 Latin, especially when persons entered a profession. 
 So his name Van Mecklenburg was changed into 
 Megapolensis. 
 
 The Dutch had already discovered the Hudson 
 river, and planted their colony there, called New 
 Amsterdam, and had sold the land to patroons, 
 a sort of American nobility. The patroon of Rens- 
 selaerswyck, who owned the land around Albany, 
 as he wanted a minister, engaged Megapolensis to 
 come to America for six years at a salary of $400 
 and his expenses. The Classis of Amsterdam 
 approved the call, and he came to America, the 
 second Reformed minister to the Dutch. He was 
 about forty years of age when he left Holland for 
 New Amsterdam (New York) in June, 1642, and 
 arrived at Fort Orange (Albany) in 1643. This 
 was then nothing but a trading village, especially 
 for furs, but the fur trade built up the Dutch com- 
 merce. Fort Orange was a wretched little fort of 
 logs, defended by four or five pieces of cannon. 
 Around it was the little village of Beavcrswyk be- 
 
The 'Reformed Church. 359 
 
 longing to the patroon, consisting of thirty or forty 
 wooden houses with thatched roofs and about a 
 hundred inhabitants. The patroon or his agent Hved 
 in the principal house, and here a room was set aside 
 for religious service. Here the colonists used to 
 meet for worship, which was conducted by one of 
 their number who offered prayer and read a sermon. 
 However their number had so increased that they 
 wanted a minister, and therefore their patroon had 
 sent to Holland and gotten Megapolensis. They 
 soon built a small church, nineteen feet wide by 
 thirty-four long. It had a canopied pulpit, with pews 
 for the magistrates and deacons, and nine benches 
 for the people, and cost thirty-two dollars. 
 
 It was a day of small things, the church was small 
 and the membership only a handful, but, says Schuy- 
 ler quaintly : "Whatever the edifice lacked in size and 
 dignity, the minister furnished in piety and ability." 
 That was no vain compliment, for Megapolensis 
 showed himself a man of thorough scholarship, en- 
 ergetic character and decided piety. His preaching 
 soon began to exert an influence on the rough man- 
 ners of the frontiersmen, and acted as a restraint on 
 the immoralities of frontier life. He was the means 
 of saving the life of one of the most devoted Jesuit 
 
360 Great Missionaries of 
 
 missionaries, Father Joques, who had been cap- 
 tured by the Indians while ascending the St. 
 Lawrence river. The Dutch at once sought to ran- 
 som him, but the Indians refused. The Indians at 
 first despised his gospel, but at last began to listen, 
 and by and by some were baptized. They then took 
 him with them to Fort Orange. Megapolensis was 
 the means of saving him from torture and probably 
 death. And he also subsequently saved two other 
 Jesuits from the same fate. Joques remained at the 
 fort, where Megapolensis was his constant friend, 
 who never ceased his kindness until he saw him safe 
 on his way to New Amsterdam. 
 
 But Megapolensis did more than save lives; he 
 aimed to save souls. And he early became deeply 
 interested in the Mohawk Indians, who came to the 
 fort to trade in furs. In order to be able to speak to 
 them about Christianity and Christ, he studied their 
 language. This was a very difficult task, for he 
 could find no one to help him, not even the agent of 
 the Dutch West India Company, who had lived there 
 twenty years, so he had to make a grammar of the 
 language himself. He wrote a book on the Mo- 
 hawks, which was published at Amsterdam in 165 1. 
 In this he describes his difficulties in getting their 
 
The Reformed Church. 361 
 
 language. He says: "This nation (the Mohawks) 
 has a very heavy language, and I find great difficulty 
 in learning it, so as to speak and preach to them 
 fluently. There are no Christians who understand 
 the language thoroughly. Those who have lived 
 here long can hold a kind of conversation just suf- 
 ficiently to carry on trade, but they do not under- 
 stand the idiom of the language. I am making a 
 vocabulary of the language, and when I am among 
 them, I ask how things are called. Then, as they 
 are very dumb, I sometimes cannot get an explana- 
 tion of what I want. Besides what I have just men- 
 tioned, one will tell me a word in the infinitive, an- 
 other in the indicative mood ; one in the first person, 
 another in the second person ; one in the present, an- 
 other in the perfect tense. So I stand sometimes 
 and look, and do not know how to put it down. And 
 as they have their declensions and conjugations, so 
 they have their increases like the Greeks. I am 
 sometimes as if distracted, and can not tell what to 
 do, and there is no person to set me right. I must 
 do all myself in order to become an Indian gram- 
 marian. When I first observed that they pronounced 
 their words so differently, I asked the commissary 
 of the Company what it meant, and he told me he 
 
362 Great Missionaries of 
 
 did not know, but imagined they changed their 
 language every two or three years. I told him it 
 could never be that a whole nation should so gener- 
 ally change their language, and though he had been 
 connected with them these twenty years, he can give 
 me no assistance," 
 
 In the same book he also described the religious 
 beliefs of the Indians in a very quaint way : "They 
 are entire strangers to all religion, but they have a 
 genius which they put in the place of God, but they 
 do not worship or present offerings to him. They 
 worship and present offerings to the devil. If they 
 are unsuccessful in war, they catch a bear, which 
 they cut in pieces, then roast and offer to the devil. 
 Also when the weather is very hot and there comes 
 a cooling breeze, they cry out directly, 'I thank thee, 
 devil.' If they are sick or have a pain or soreness 
 anywhere in their limbs, and I ask them what ails 
 them, they say the devil sits in their body and bites 
 them there, and they also ascribe to the devil the 
 accidents that befall them. They have otherwise no 
 religion. When we pray, they laugh at us. Some 
 of them despise it thoroughly, and some, when we 
 tell them what we do when we pray, stand aston- 
 ished." 
 
The Reformed Church. 363 
 
 This being their belief, his heart went out for 
 them, so that he might tell them of Jesus, who saved 
 from the power of the devil. He learned their lan- 
 guage, so as to be able to preach it thoroughly. But 
 it was a day of small beginnings. He was glad 
 when only a few of them came to service. He says 
 in his book : "When we have a sermon, sometimes 
 ten or twelve of them, more or less, will attend, each 
 having in his mouth a long tobacco pipe made by 
 himself, and will stand awhile and afterwards ask 
 what I am doing, and what I wanted that I stood 
 there alone and made so many words, and none of 
 the rest might speak. I tell them that I admonished 
 the Christians that they must not steal, or drink, or 
 love lewdness, or murder, and they too ought not to 
 do these things, and that I intended afterwhile to 
 come and preach to them in their country and cas- 
 tles, when I am acquainted with their language. 
 They say I do well in training the Christians, but 
 immediately add, 'Why do so many Christians do 
 those things?" He was able to fulfill his desire, for 
 on several occasions he visited their settlements for 
 the sake of preaching to them. He was greatly 
 respected by them and a number of them united with 
 his church at Albany. He also interested himself in 
 
364 Great Missionaries of 
 
 them afterwards while pastor at New Amsterdam 
 (New York), and a number of them united with 
 his church there. 
 
 Thus was he the first Protestant missionary in 
 North America and the first to the Indians. Of his 
 later Hfe time fails to speak. Nor is it necessary, for 
 we are especially interested in him as a missionary. 
 At the end of his six years' engagement by the pa- 
 troon, he started to go back to Holland. But Peter 
 Stuyvesant, the governor of the colony, prevailed 
 on him to stay, as the only other minister in the col- 
 ony had just gone back to Europe. He therefore 
 remained, and died at New Amsterdam in 1670, 
 having been one of the most trusted consellors of 
 the governor. 
 
 A half century passed away and these Indian 
 tribes returned the kindness to the Reformed. In 
 1708, when the Reformed of the Palatinate had fled 
 to London by the thousands, and were encamped 
 there at Black Heath, where they lived in tents 
 loaned by the British government, it happened that 
 at that time some Mohawk chiefs had been taken to 
 England, so that they might be impressed with the 
 greatness and glory of the English kingdom and its 
 ruler, Queen Ann. In being shown the sights of the 
 
The Reformed Church. 365 
 
 city, they were taken to see these Palatines. The 
 hearts of these Indians were so moved by the pitiful 
 tale of the poor Palatines that they offered them land 
 in their Mohawk Valley. Indeed it is said that they 
 gave them a title to land there. These colonists after- 
 ward settled on the land so kindly given by the In- 
 dians. Thus in the providence of God the Indians by 
 their kindness returned the kindness of the Re- 
 formed. This was the first effort of the Reformed to 
 do missionary work in North America. It started the 
 great movement of saving the Indians by missionary 
 work which John Eliot followed with his grand 
 labors. But the missionary societies of this century 
 have capped the climax, as hundreds of Christian 
 laborers are at work among the Indians, and the 
 Christian converts number many thousands. 
 
Chapter II. 
 
 GEORGE M. WEISS. 
 Rev. George M. Weiss, one of the earliest 
 ministers of our Church, and the organizer of 
 the First Reformed Church of Philadelphia, like 
 Megapolensis, showed interest in the poor In- 
 dians, but, being unsupported by any Society, he 
 was not able to do much. In his writings, however, 
 he showed repeatedly his interest in their salvation. 
 Thus the first report ever published of the condition 
 of the German Reformed in Pennsylvania (1731), 
 was a report which was made to the Dutch Synod of 
 1730, and based on information given the Synod by 
 Weiss, who had recently arrived in Holland from 
 Pennsylvania. In it he says : "Above all things a 
 way is opened to make known the gospel of Jesus 
 Christ to the heathen who as yet have not heard of 
 it. A ground of hope is observed as to the nature 
 and disposition of the aborigines of the land. They 
 are upright in their conduct, faithful in their word, 
 and particularly friendly to the Palatine Germans. 
 The latter, having themselves been subjected to 
 oppression, they are familiar with them and 
 friendly, allowing them to lodge in their barns 
 at night, finding them protection from the cold 
 
368 Great Missionaries of 
 
 and rain by their firesides, granting them the 
 privilege of sowing their grain within their 
 boundaries, thus freeing them from the wild 
 horses which otherwise consume the grain. The 
 Palatines in this way have gained the goodwill 
 and confidence of the Indians, so that they can travel 
 freely and without hinderance throughout the whole 
 land and be conducted and escorted by Indians and 
 furnished by them with food, and if payment is of- 
 fered them for it they feel hurt. What may not be 
 hoped for when a regular ministry shall be insti- 
 tuted among them and the gospel preached to them.* 
 Rev. Mr. Weiss, after having been pastor of the 
 First Reformed Church of Philadelphia, was called 
 to New York State, and, after doing pastoral work 
 along the Hudson, was called to be pastor of a Ger- 
 man Reformed Church on the borders, up the Mo- 
 hawk river, at Burnetsfield, near Herkimer, N. Y. 
 That was a new trading station between Oswego, in 
 the northwest and Albany. In 1723 the Indians 
 passed through there in fifty-seven canoes, loaded 
 with 738 packs of beaver and deer skins. The first 
 
 *Rev. Mr. Schlatter also makes an appeal for the Indian Missions 
 in his appeal to the Dutch and German Churches in 1752, referring 
 especially to the work of John Eliot among the Indians and his won- 
 derful success. But Schlatter had no opportunity to do work among 
 the' Indians directly as he was not stationed near them. 
 
The Reformed Church. 369 
 
 German Palatines settled there in 1723, thirty fam- 
 ilies. The centre of this Burnetsfield patent was 
 Fort Herkimer, which was located south of the 
 Mohawk, just opposite where the Canada Creek 
 flows into the Mohawk from the north. Near this 
 point the pious Germans built a school-house of logs 
 as a place of worship. This log school-house was 
 the church where Weiss preached when pastor of 
 this church in the wilderness. His most prominent 
 parishioner was the father of General Nicolas Herk- 
 imer, and the General when a young man was an 
 attendant. Weiss was pastor there from 1736 to 
 1742. On May 10, 1741, he writes to the Classis of 
 Amsterdam in Holland, saying that he will give to 
 them a faithful description of the Indian in North 
 America, which he had composed from his own ex- 
 perience with them and also a painting of an Indian 
 man and woman, so as to give them a better idea of 
 the Indians. On July 4, 1741, he wrote another 
 letter, saying: "I take the liberty to report to you, 
 in the most obedient manner, that I have had suf- 
 ficient opportunity to observe the ways of the In- 
 dians, also that I have, as much as I could, inter- 
 ested myself in them. And, since the Indian lan- 
 guage is unknown to me, I have employed an inter- 
 
370 Great Missionaries of 
 
 preter on several occasions and caused the most es- 
 sential parts of our Christian religion to be spoken 
 to them and have in consequence baptized several of 
 them at their own desire. It is to be wondered at 
 that in this country people do not insist on the con- 
 version of the Indians. I know of only one English 
 preacher who has interested himself to a partial de- 
 gree in the Indians and urges their conversion with 
 all earnestness. (The most of the Indians are al- 
 lowed to run along without instruction, like ani- 
 mals.) The French of Canada are of quite a differ- 
 ent feeling and erect churches and schoolhouses for 
 their conversion. They thus win the affection of 
 the Indian, which serves as a means in time of war 
 of doing great injury to the English, From this 
 much difficulty is to be apprehended at the present 
 time." 
 
 The Classis of Amsterdam states at its meeting 
 of September lo, 1742, that it had received the 
 package containing Weiss' book and paintings. And 
 they give in their minutes the name of his work in 
 full, "A description of the Wild Men in North 
 America, as to their persons, properties, nations, 
 languages, names, houses, dress, household imple- 
 ments, housekeeping, hunting, fishing, fighting, su- 
 
The Reformed Church. 371 
 
 perstitions, political government, besides other re- 
 markable matters composed from personal exper- 
 ience by George Michael Weiss, V. D. M. It con- 
 tained ninety-six pages, with a preface, and was 
 signed by him at Burnsetfield October 4, 1741. He 
 later returned to Pennsylvania and was not able to 
 continue his work among the Indians. 
 
 25 
 
Chapter III. 
 THE MISSION TO THE WINNEBAGOES. 
 
 The Sheboygan Classis of the Synod of the 
 Northwest has for years been carrying on a mis- 
 sion among the Winnebagoes of the State of Wis- 
 consin. This tribe had been placed by the United 
 States Government on a reservation in Nebraska. 
 But, becoming dissatisfied, they returned without 
 the Government's permission, to their old home and 
 they settled at Battle Creek Falls, Wis. As a result 
 they became extremely poor. The Government^ be- 
 cause of their disobedience, deprived them of am- 
 munition. As they were dependent on game, this 
 reduced them to such poverty that some of them had 
 to subsist on roots, while others begged of the 
 whites, a few being able to find work at saw-mills. 
 When they were in this condition, they were visited 
 by Rev. Jacob Hauser, one of the German minis- 
 ters. He had visited the Oneidas, but found they 
 had a Protestant missionary, and also the Menomo- 
 nees, who had a Catholic priest, but when he came 
 to the Winnebagoes, he found they had neither. 
 
 In the cabin of Black Hawk a council was held, at 
 which, beside Black Hawk and Winnoshick, who 
 
374 Great Missionaries of 
 
 were chiefs, twelve others were present. The for- 
 mer said, through an interpreter, that the Indians 
 desired a school and would be glad for a missionary 
 to teach them the word of the Great Spirit. So the 
 Sheboygan Classis appointed a Committee on this 
 Mission, and Rev. Jacob Hauser was chosen as the 
 missionary. On December 30, 1878, he established 
 the mission by opening a day school. It was held 
 in an old log hut built by the Indians long before 
 any missionaries were sent to them. There the in- 
 terpreter, a half breed, had taught school, but had 
 been compelled to give it up on account of lack of 
 funds. The missionary at first lived at Black River 
 Falls and walked four miles four days a week in 
 order to teach them. A year after Black Hawk took 
 pity on him and loaned him a pony, so that he could 
 ride. He preached his first sermon to the Indians 
 January 5, 1879. His text was John i :29, "Behold 
 the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the 
 world." He preached it in English and it was inter- 
 preted by the interpreter. But, after preaching thus 
 for some time through an interpreter, he gave it up, 
 especially as the interpreter demanded too much 
 money, and because he discovered, as he was now 
 rapidly learning the language, that the interpreter, 
 
The Reformed Church. 375 
 
 who was a Catholic, was putting the CathoHc inter- 
 interpretation on some doctrines. So he concluded 
 to stop preaching until he was able to preach himself 
 in their language. Still this was a difficult task, as 
 the language had to be learned by hearing, having 
 never been written. He, therefore, limited himself 
 to the study of the language, to teaching and visit- 
 ing the Indians in their homes. In 1880 a dwelling 
 house was erected in the mission by the missionary 
 committee, the county donating the ground. As the 
 old schoolhouse was now so dilapidated as to be an 
 insufficient protection against rain and cold, a chapel 
 was built two years later, which could also be used 
 for a school house. About that time Congress 
 again granted these Indians their annuities and they 
 had frame houses erected for themselves. Before that 
 they had lived in wigwams. Now some live in wig- 
 wams and some in houses. Of the forty acres be- 
 longing to the mission, seven are cleared and culti- 
 vated, so that the Indians may be encouraged to go 
 into farming, and thus support themselves. 
 
 In 1884 Rev. Mr. Hauser resigned and Rev. J. 
 Stucki, who had been his assistant, was chosen as 
 his successor. For fifteen years he labored without 
 any conversions. During that time church services 
 
376 Great Missionaries of 
 
 were regularly held and attended by the Indians* 
 The school was regularly taught, and finally thq 
 good seed brought forth fruit, — John Stacy was 
 baptized (1898) and became assistant to Mr. Stucki, 
 On May 21, Mr. Stucki baptized George Low, his 
 wife and five children. Five days later one of the 
 girls of the family, a consumptive, died, and was 
 laid to rest. The poor family were not only bowed 
 by grief, but despised by their relatives. The child 
 had scarcely been buried before the grandmother 
 began to wail and mourn that the father was to 
 blame for her death, which was caused by his be- 
 coming a Christian. This George Low had been a 
 medicine man of the tribe and his conversion caused 
 a sensation. It was his child's sickness that finally 
 brought him to a decision, although his wife had 
 been wanting to become a Christian for some time. 
 There are now six communicants, in all there being 
 fifteen baptized. The outlook is not very hopeful 
 at present, as the Government school has been at- 
 tracting the children from the Mission school, 
 which had at one time ninety-three pupils. 
 
 jjf f*r^< 
 
Chapter IV. 
 
 THE INDIAN MISSION IN OKLAHOMA. 
 
 This has been the work of the gradual leadings of 
 God's Providence. In 1895 Rev. Frank H. Wright 
 first visited the Apache Indians of this territory. 
 This tribe, after rebelling in 1885 under Geronimo, 
 finally surrendered (1887) to General Miles. They 
 were first located at Fort Sill in 1894 in twelve small 
 villages, numbering about 260. For five years the 
 children were sent to the Catholic boarding school 
 Anadarko. The young men and women who de- 
 sired an education were sent East, but on their re- 
 turn they fell back to their old life, as they had no 
 one to help them to better ways. Rev. Mr. Wright 
 tried to aid them, but at first failed to get the gov- 
 ernment to do so. The Government, however, in 
 1895 gave the land for the erection of a church and 
 other necessary buildings and the Colombian Me- 
 morial Church was dedicated November 15, 1896, 
 the congregation being organized that day with 22 
 members and the Sunday-school beginning with 
 over 100. 
 
 In 1899 t^*^ Dutch Reformed Church formally 
 
 377 
 
378 Great Missionaries of 
 
 organized the work under its Home Mission Board 
 At Fort Sill it has a school of thirty-three children, 
 and fifty-nine of the Indians have been received into 
 the church, the Sunday-school having an average 
 attendance of fifty. One class is composed of the 
 Comanche Indians and is taught by Tocsi, a girl of 
 the school, who interprets to them. Besides Mr. 
 Wright, there are four lady teachers. An orphanage 
 was opened at Fort Sill October 22, 1902, with six- 
 teen children, of whom two were Comanches, the 
 rest being Apaches. 
 
 At Colony Rev. Walter C. Roe and Mrs. Roe are 
 missionaries and Miss Jensen matron of the Mohonk 
 Lodge, who labor among the 125 children in the 
 Government school, who had received no religious 
 instruction until this mission was established. These 
 Indians are the Arapahoes and Cheyennes. Mohonk 
 Lodge is a shelter for the sick. Twenty-seven In- 
 dians here, including two chiefs, have become Chris- 
 tians and 119 have been received into membership. 
 There are 130 in the Sunday-school. 
 
 This work among the Indians led to work among 
 the whites, because they were so destitute of re- 
 ligious privileges. In 1900 four theological stu- 
 dents went to Oklahoma to do mission work. They 
 
The Reformed Church. 379 
 
 lived in tents, travelling in w^agons, holding ser- 
 vices by singing and preaching the gospel. This 
 movement became so important that they agreed to 
 return the second summer. There are now four or- 
 ganized churches for the whites — at Liberty, Cor- 
 dell, Harrison, and Arapahoe, and six commissioned 
 missionaries. 
 
 L 
 
BOOK VI. 
 
THE REFORMED AMONG THE JEWS. 
 
 Chapter I, 
 
 The Wonderful Mission at Buda-Pesth. 
 my| ISSIONARY work among the Jews has been 
 g,_i lamentably neglected by the Christian 
 ^^9 Church. Yet to the Jews we owe our 
 Saviour, and one of the signs of our Lord's return to 
 earth is the conversion of the Jews. The Reformed 
 Church has shared with other denominations in this 
 neglect. And yet she has not been entirely forgetful 
 of her duty — indeed she has done more than has 
 generally been supposed. She has repeatedly been 
 an important link in some of the most important 
 movements to save the Jews. In this article we pro- 
 pose to give an interesting chapter of this. 
 
 In 1838 the Presbyterian Church of Scotland sent 
 a committee of ministers to Palestine to inquire into 
 starting a mission there among the Jews. They 
 did not know, what missionaries now know, that 
 there is no harder mission field in the world than 
 Palestine. A providence turned their attention to a 
 much more promising district in Hungary, where 
 there are many Jews. Small events make great 
 providences. One of the Scotch committee, Rev. 
 
 3«3 
 
384 Great Missionaries of 
 
 Dr. Black, fell off his camel. Rev. Dr. Bonar after- 
 wards jocosely asked Rev. Dr. Guthrie, who was 
 one of the committee : "What kind of an impres- 
 sion did Dr. Black make on the sand when he fell?" 
 As to his mark on the sand we know nothing, but 
 that fall left its impression on distant Hungary in a 
 wonderful movement among the Jews. For the 
 effect of that fall proved so serious to Dr. Black 
 that the Scotch committee returned home. On their 
 way they stopped at Pesth, the capital of Hungary, 
 where one of them. Rev. Dr. Keith, was taken so 
 sick that it was thought he would die. 
 
 And now appears another strange coincidence of 
 providence. The first providence had beer the fall 
 from a camel, the second was the waking dream of 
 a woman, like Pilate's wife. The wife of the 
 Viceroy of Hungary happened at that time to be a 
 Protestant, although he was a Catholic. The death 
 of her dear son had led her to the Bible, and "in 
 the Bible she met with Jesus." She then became 
 deeply anxious for the spiritual welfare of her land. 
 She felt in that Catholic land as if she were alone as 
 a witness for God — "a sp?.rrow on the housetop." 
 From her palace she looked down on the city of 
 Pesth below her, with its 100,000 population, and 
 
The Reformed Church. 385 
 
 for seven years she prayed, sometimes in an agony 
 of the spirit. Strange to say, for two weeks before 
 Dr. Keith arrived, she invariably awoke every night 
 (except once) at midnight, with the strong convic- 
 tion that something was about to happen to her. 
 Then she heard that a Protestant minister was dying 
 at a hotel in Pesth. "This is what was to happen 
 to me," she said. She sought him out and min- 
 istered to him as tenderly, as if he belonged to her 
 own family. He finally recovered, and during his 
 convalescence she made known to him the condition 
 of the many Jews in her land. She begged him to 
 get his Church to send a missionary to them, and 
 gave her promise that she would protect the mission 
 to the extent of her power. So the Scotch Presby- 
 terian Church, in 1841, sent Rev. Dr. Duncan, a 
 learned minister, and later Professor of Hebrew, as 
 its first missionary to Pesth. This mission has had 
 a wonderful history. It has led to prominent con- 
 versions, as Saphir (the elder) and Lichtenstein. It 
 brought to Christ some who afterwards became 
 prominent, as Edersheim. It has had a wonderful 
 effect on the old Reformed Church of Hungary in 
 strengthening the evangelical party in that Church. 
 Soon after the mission was opened, it was noticed 
 
386 Great Missionaries of 
 
 that Adolph Saphir, the most learned Jew in Hun- 
 gary, a bosom friend of the chief rabbi, and a man 
 of undoubted integrity — a modern Gamahel — was 
 attending the service. He came in order to learn 
 English, but soon he learned something better — 
 Jesus Christ. With him and led by him came his 
 little son Adolph, an exceedingly precocious boy of 
 about eleven years of age. One day, after they to- 
 gether had attended the service for some time, 
 young Adolph, who had become seriously impressed 
 by Christianity, asked permission to be allowed to 
 say grace at the meal. Great was the consternation 
 in the family and in the Jewish settlement, when he 
 oflfered the prayer in the name of Jesus. Nor did he 
 stop there. He was soon explaining the Scriptures 
 in the Jewish quarter. Before another year had 
 passed, he had publicly professed Christ, and was 
 followed by his father. The conversion of so promi- 
 nent a man as the father could not fail to make an 
 impression. The Jews became very angry and com- 
 pelled him to resign as director of the Jewish Semi- 
 nary, and expelled him from the synagogue. His 
 high character silenced many opponents, but still he 
 suffered much persecution. Very soon after, the 
 mother was convinced that Jesus was the Messiah, 
 
The Reformed Church. 387 
 
 although she was perplexed for a while by fear of 
 temporal losses if she became a Christian. The 
 father delayed baptism quite a while after he found 
 Christ, waiting and hoping that his whole family 
 would follow him into the Church. 
 
 Finally they were ready to unite with the Church, 
 but how could it be done ? They were converted by 
 the Presbyterian missionaries, but the Presbyterian 
 Church was not recognized by the laws of Hungary, 
 and no one could join it. What was to be done? 
 Then it was that the Reformed Church stood in the 
 breach, and opened the way by which some of the 
 most prominent men were received from Judaism 
 into Christianity. For the Hungarian Reformed 
 Church was recognized by law. It numbers now two 
 millions, but it has been hampered by the oppressing 
 influences of Romanism, and in some parts honey- 
 combed by the blighting influences of Rationalism. 
 But it had as one of its superintendents and pastors 
 Rev. Paul Torok, who was evangelical and a very 
 warm friend of the missionary work among the 
 Jews. The Presbyterian missionaries felt in very 
 close and warm sympathy with the Reformed, and 
 so, when their converts could not legally join the 
 Presbyterian Church, they urged them to join the 
 
 26 
 
388 Great Missionaries of 
 
 Reformed. Rev. Mr. Torok gladly agreed to this. 
 On April 4th he baptized Philip Saphir, young 
 Adolph's brother, and on June 7, 1843, ^^ 
 baptized the Saphir family, father, mother, son 
 (Adolph), and three daughters, in the Re- 
 formed church at Pesth. Before the bap- 
 tism the father delivered an address, in which he 
 described his conversion through the Holy Spirit 
 to Christ. He bore his testimony to the change that 
 had been effected in his wife and children, 
 such a testimony as had not been borne in Pesth 
 since the Reformation. The large Reformed 
 church contained an attentive audience, and 
 many, both Jews and Christians, were moved 
 to tears by the address. Then, when the family were 
 baptized by Rev. Mr. Torok, a holy awe fell on the 
 assembly. 
 
 The Reformed Qiurch continued for a long time 
 to be the nurse and protector of this mission to the 
 Jews. Many were the Jews baptized in her, for 
 within a year thirty-five Jews were baptized there. 
 And for her fostering care she has been richly re- 
 paid. The influence of this mission was rapidly felt 
 in this church. The evangelical party in it rapidly in- 
 creased. In helping to save the Jews, they saved 
 
The Reformed Church. 389 
 
 themselves. Among the many notable converts from 
 Judaism who were baptized by Pastor Torok, there 
 were three to whom we will especially refer. The 
 first is the little boy Adolph Saphir. He soon be- 
 came a boy missionary — a fit example for every Re- 
 formed boy. Soon after his conversion he visited a 
 Jewess, who was a neighbor. He spoke to her about 
 her soul. He told her how happy his father's family 
 was in having accepted Jesus. And then he finished 
 his conversation by kneeling in prayer for her. It 
 was felt that young Adolph was fitted to become an 
 evangelist. And although his father looked on him 
 as his Benjamin — the pet son of his old age, yet he 
 willingly gave him up in early boyhood to be trained 
 for the work of the ministry. He was, therefore, 
 sent in the autumn of 1843 to Edinburgh. The next 
 year he went to Berlin, where he lived with his 
 brother-in-law. Rev. Charles Schwartz, who was a 
 missionary to the Jews. In 1848 he returned to 
 Scotland, where he completed his education, and 
 was ordained at Belfast in 1854 as a missionary to 
 the Jews. He began his work at Hamburg, but after 
 laboring among the Jews there for a year, he re- 
 signed, because he disagreed with the society who 
 employied him as to the method of work. He returned 
 
390 Great Missionaries of 
 
 to Scotland, preached to the Germans at Glasgow, 
 and then became pastor of the Presbyterian Church 
 of South Shields, Greenwich, and afterward at Lon- 
 don, where, after a useful and successful ministry, 
 he died 1891. He was a prince of preachers, a mod- 
 ern Apollos, mighty in the Scriptures. His books, 
 among them "The Divine Unity of Scripture," re- 
 veal his depth of thought and range of learning. 
 
 A convert better known to us in America was Al- 
 fred Edersheim. He was attending the University 
 of Pesth in 1847. He had been reared luxuriantly 
 in Vienna, and was a leader of fashion. He was 
 highly educated, speaking seven languages. When 
 the head of the bar of France, Cremeaux, visited Vi- 
 enna, the synagogue presented him with an address, 
 and young Edersheim was appointed to deliver it. 
 Cremeaux was so pleased with his eloquence that 
 he offered his father to take the son to Paris and 
 provide for him, but his parents would not consent. 
 While Alfred was at Pesth, his tutor, who spoke 
 English, introduced him to the Presbyterian mission- 
 aries. And when the tutor left for a six months' 
 course in an Italian university, what did he do but 
 bring Alfred to Mr. Wingate, one of the mission- 
 aries, saying: "I give you charge of Alfred, take 
 
The Reformed Church. 391 
 
 care of him." "How can you, a Jew," said Mr. 
 Wingate, "give your pupil to me ? You know I can 
 only pray that he may become a true Christian." 
 "Never mind," was the reply, "I know no one who 
 will so conscientiously care for him." Before the 
 six months were over, young Edersheim, under the 
 influence of the missionaries, had come under con- 
 viction by the Holy Spirit and was led to see the 
 divinity of Christ. He believed on Christ as his 
 sacrifice for sin. He at once opened a class to teach 
 English to the Jews, on the condition, however, that 
 the Bible should be the text book. He was baptized 
 in the Reformed Church of Pesth. Dr. Duncan 
 says of him and of his companion convert Tomory 
 that in the freshness of their first love to Christ, they 
 used to read day after day the epistles of Paul, as if 
 they had been letters that had come by that morn- 
 ing's mail. Edersheim went to Edinburgh to com- 
 plete his theological studies. He then became a mis- 
 sionary to the Jews in Roumania, and then pastor at 
 Aberdeen, Scotland. His health failing, he went to 
 Torquay. He went to the best hotel, but finding it 
 beyond his means, he called the landlord and asked 
 for his bill. The landlord, who was an earnest 
 Christian, told him to leave that with him. .Mean- 
 
392 Great Missionaries of 
 
 while it became known that he was at the hotel, and 
 a deputation came and asked that he might preach 
 in a room in the hotel. Here a beautiful church was 
 built for him, and his ministry was blessed to the 
 salvation of many. He then entered the Episcopa- 
 lian Church of England, where his fame as a 
 preacher gave him signal opportunities. He was 
 probably the only Hebrew-Christian clergyman ever 
 invited by Dean Stanley to preach in Westminster 
 Abbey. He died in 1889. It was his "Life of Jesus 
 the Messiah" that has made him famous — the most 
 scholarly life of Christ that has yet appeared by an 
 English writer. And yet, with all its scholarship, it 
 is filled with peculiar unction. A Jew himself, he 
 threw all the intensity of his nature and race into it, 
 as a tribute from a Jew to the Jew of Nazareth. In 
 it with a master hand he depicts Jesus as the divine 
 Jew and the Saviour of mankind. 
 
 Less well known, but more tenderly interesting, 
 was the life of Philip, Adolph Saphir's brother. His 
 was one of the most saintly young lives that the 
 Reformed Church has ever revealed. Philip was 
 older than Adolph and had tasted the sinful pleas- 
 ures of a wild and careless life before Christianity 
 came to him. He, however, tried through the power 
 
The Reformed Church. 393 
 
 of dead, formal Judaism to reform, but he felt that 
 his religion was hypocritical. In 1842 Rev. C. 
 Schwartz visited Pesth and preached to the Jews 
 with great impressiveness. Among his listeners was 
 Phillip, then 19 years of age. He was deeply im- 
 pressed and became a changed young man. On 
 Tuesday, April 4, 1843, he was baptized by Pastor 
 Torok in the Pesth Reformed Church. He was the 
 first of the converts to be baptized, as he was going 
 away to school, and his baptism was desired before 
 his departure. His father and brother Adolph had 
 already become Christians, but the father, as we 
 have seen, delayed baptism, hoping to bring his 
 whole family with him into the Church. So Philip 
 was baptized alone, and two days after he wrote to 
 Rev. Mr. Schwartz: "Tuesday was the most im- 
 portant day of my life. I was admitted into the 
 Church of Christ. I can not describe my feel- 
 ings to you. Ah, the infinite love of God ! He has 
 given me much peace. Nothing will deprive me of 
 it. I praise Christ every hour. I regard my life 
 only as a single point, and have death continually in 
 view ; therefore I lay myself into Christ's arms every 
 evening, so that if it should be my last sleep, I may 
 fall asleep in the Lord." Such consecration was 
 
394 Great Missionaries of 
 
 the key to his Hfe. He went to Carlsruhe in Ger- 
 many to be trained as a teacher, but became sick and 
 returned to Pesth two years later. But in spite of 
 his sickness, he would not cease laboring for Christ. 
 He organized what might be called a Young Men's 
 Christian Association. This prospered greatly, held 
 Bible meetings Sundays and Thursdays, and raised 
 during the first year one hundred dollars. He also 
 began gathering the children around his sickbed, 
 for he could not be idle. First one boy came, and in 
 fourteen days the number increased to twenty-three, 
 most of them Jews. His school became so large 
 that he had to seek for larger quarters. Though 
 sick, he performed a herculean task. His school 
 grew until it had fifty children, most of them Jews. 
 He taught them Christ. The Jews roused opposi- 
 tion against him and took their children away, but 
 the children persisted in coming. And when a Jew 
 told one of the little girls that Jesus was not God, 
 she began to cry and accused him to her mother as 
 an unbeliever. In 1847 ^^ was compelled to go to 
 Pressburg for his health, but there he preachea 
 Christ to the Jews. He returned to Pesth to un- 
 dergo a terrible operation in his legs. But he bore 
 it with patience, and from his sickbed still kept on 
 
The Reformed Church. 395 
 
 teaching the boys, until his school had grown to 120 
 children. His sufferings increased, yet he said : 
 "My body is decaying, but my inner man lives and 
 grows." God called the sufferer home, September 
 2y, 1849. His life had been a wonderful witness for 
 Christ in the midst of pain. And though dead, his 
 influence remained. The school he founded has be- 
 come, forty-six years after, a large institute, and had 
 a few years ago over five hundred pupils. 
 
 But the influence of these Jewish converts, who 
 joined the Reformed Church of Pesth, has not yet 
 ended. One of the sisters of Philip and Adolph 
 Saphir married Rev. C. H. Shonberger. He, too, 
 had been converted at Pesth and had joined the Re- 
 formed Church. He became a missionary to the 
 Jews at Prague in 1871. One of his converts was 
 Rev. A. Venetianer, who became a Reformed min- 
 ister. And now comes the strangest coincidence, 
 and with it we close this remarkable story of the 
 Reformed and the Jews. A number of years ago a 
 Jewish rabbi in southern Russia, named Rabbino- 
 witz, became a believer in Jesus, and startled his 
 synagogue by preaching the Gospel of "Brother 
 Jesus." His synagogue followed him into Chris- 
 tianity. But who was to baptize his people with 
 
396 Great Missionaries of 
 
 Christian baptism? The writer remembers about 
 the year 1884 seeing an advertisement in the Re- 
 formed Kirchenzeitung of Germany by the Httle Re- 
 formed congregation at Rohrbach, near Odessa, in 
 Russia, asking for a pastor. For a time this call 
 from this distant Reformed Church seemed to get 
 no response. Then in the providence of God it was 
 accepted by the Reformed pastor of Trieste, Aus- 
 tria, Rev. Mr. Venetianer, the convert of Schon- 
 berger. And now notice the coincidence of provi- 
 dence. Venetianer went there as pastor. And as he 
 was a Jewish convert, he was called in by Rabbino- 
 witz to baptize in his congregation, which Vane- 
 tianer began by baptizing the first convert October 
 2, 1887, and he wrote later that he baptized three 
 children of Rabbinowitz. What will be the future 
 influence of that Jewish movement in southern Rus- 
 sia under Rabbinowitz no one can measure, but it 
 will be great. Here again we see the Reformed 
 were a link to aid the Jews into the Church. And 
 Pastor Venetianer was doing what Pastor Torc4c 
 had done at Pesth many years before. 
 
 Such has been the influence of the work among 
 the Jews at Pesth, in which the Reformed Church 
 was active in aiding the Presbyterians. It brought 
 
The Reformed Church. 397 
 
 very prominent Jews into the Christian Church, as 
 the Saphirs and Edersheim. It led to the founding 
 of a most successful and active German Reformed 
 Church at Pesth, now numbering more than 1,500 
 members. It has led to a revival and strengthening 
 of the evangelical party in the Hungarian Reformed 
 Church until it is now in the ascendency in that 
 Church, led by such men as Professor Balogh, of the 
 University of Debrezin, and Professor Szabo, of the 
 University at Buda-Pesth. 
 
Chapter II. 
 
 FERDINAND W. BECKER. 
 
 Another witness for the Reformed Church among 
 the Jews was Rev. Ferdinand WilHam Becker, "a 
 hero of Jewish work," as his biographer calls him. 
 He was of Reformed birth, having been born in the 
 Reformed county of Wittgenstein in Germany, 
 March 27, 1797, and baptized by Rev. J. D. Otter- 
 bein, of the Otterbein family, famous in the Re- 
 formed Church of Germany in the Nineteenth cen- 
 tury. His father died when he was three years old, 
 leaving his mother with six small children. He was 
 often, therefore, in needy circumstances and when 
 young was put out to work at the joiner's bench 
 and behind the counter. 
 
 In 1816 he went to Elberfeld, where under its 
 earnest religious life he was converted, when G. D. 
 Krummacher (the revival Boanerges of the Re- 
 formed there), and Doring of the Lutheran Church, 
 had brought religion to a high state of activity. It 
 was Doring's question, "Do you love Jesus?" that 
 led to his conversion in his room September 13, 
 18 16. He at once showed great inclination for re- 
 ligious work and as Doring thought he was too old 
 
400 Great Missionaries of 
 
 to begin to study for the ministry he suggested that 
 he become a missionary. He was introduced to the 
 Missionary Society at Elberfeld and accepted by 
 them June 2, 1817. 
 
 On June 20 of that year he entered the Mission 
 House of Janicke in Berlin, remaining there for 
 three years. Then he went to England to continue 
 his studies. At Cambridge he came under the in- 
 fluence of Joseph Wolff, the famous converted Jew, 
 and missionary, and also of the sainted Rev, Charles 
 Simeon. He attended the newly-erected seminary 
 for the training of missionaries to the Jews, and 
 completed his studies. He was appointed by the 
 London Missionary Society for the Jews a mission- 
 ary to the Jews at Warsaw, Poland, where there 
 were forty thousand Jews. 
 
 Together with a young Englishman, McCaull, he 
 arrived there on Christmas, 1821. But in February, 
 1822, the Russian government forced him to leave 
 Warsaw. He made every effort to be allowed to 
 return, even to going to St. Petersburg to lay the 
 matter before the Russian court. Meanwhile he re- 
 turned to England and received ordination and then 
 was permitted to return to Warsaw. 
 
 It happened that there was a small Polish Re- 
 
The Reformed Church. 401 
 
 formed congregation there, a relic of the work of 
 John A'Lasco, the PoHsh Reformer, and of the 
 time when most of Poland had been Reformed only 
 to be destroyed by the Jesuits later. Becker and 
 McCaull, with their two assistants, used the little 
 Reformed church for the worship of their mission. 
 They were very fortunate in thus finding a place o^ 
 w^orship. He began his work with great earnest- 
 ness, but met with great opposition. 
 
 It seemed impossible to gain at first any converts. 
 But in 1828 he baptized a Jew named Rosenfeld, 
 who became a very zealous evangelist, bringing 
 many from the synagogue to the church. In the 
 same year a prominent Jewish Rabbi named 
 Schwarzenberg became a Christian and preached 
 Christ among the Jews, often in great danger from 
 their fanaticism. A home for Jewish converts was 
 founded, together with a printing establishment and 
 bookbindery connected with it, where they could 
 support themselves and where every Saturday a con- 
 ference in the German- Jewish language was held 
 with the Jews. In 1828 two schools for Jewish 
 children were begun. In 1830 McCaull left to take 
 charge of a Jewish Mission in London and Becker 
 \V35 made superintendent of the mission at Warsaw. 
 
402 Great Missionaries of 
 
 During the stormy political times of 1831 and 
 through an epidemic of cholera he safely guided the 
 mission work. The mission work was greatly inter- 
 fered with, but soon revived. In 1833 he baptized 
 an aged Jew named Grafstein for whom the sponsor 
 at baptism was no less a person than the prominent 
 citizen Count Paskiewitsch, 
 
 In 1837 two very interesting conversions took 
 place of two young men, Henry Israelski and Sig- 
 mund Hauptman, who were students at the Jewish 
 School for Rabbis there. They were, with most of 
 the students, unbelieving, but came to the mission 
 for Bibles. As they found no salvation in Judaism, 
 they threw it overboard entirely and received Chris- 
 tian instruction. They were soon led to see how 
 Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament to the salvation of 
 their souls. They then began to speak of Christian- 
 ity among their fellow students in the Jewish school. 
 The professors prepared to force them out of the 
 school. Meanwhile their parents began to oppress 
 them. But they were finally baptized May 19, 1837. 
 This caused a great sensation and great suffering to 
 them. Hauptman's parents and some of the Jewish 
 teachers of the Rabbi's school came to the mission 
 house. .... 
 
The Reformed Church. 403 
 
 Hauptman was compelled to go home with 
 his mother and Israelski, with the teachers where 
 they disputed long with them. Israelski, after being 
 asked whether he became a Christian because of 
 worldly inducements, and he replied, "No," was 
 permitted to go, and went to the house of a friend 
 of the mission. The next day, attended by some 
 Jews and their pupils, his father came to town to the 
 mission to claim his son. They preached Christ to 
 the father and some of the scholars took Christian 
 books, but the father refused to listen. The father 
 then went to the house where the son was staying. 
 There the son confessed to his father his Christian 
 belief. He wanted his son to go into the street, so 
 that he might converse with him alone. But he re- 
 fused. Then he seized his son by the throat and held 
 him so tight that the brethren were afraid the young 
 man would be choked, but they got him loose and 
 talked with the father. As the father was inexorable, 
 they took the son away into another room. The fath- 
 er became so wild that the police had to be sent for. 
 Israelski afterward became a Christian minister. 
 
 In 1838 Becker stated in a sermon preached in his 
 native city of Berleburg that in sixteen years 120 
 Jews had been converted. On Easter Monday (1842) 
 
 27 
 
404 Great Missionaries of 
 
 the mission had the great joy of seeing five Jews bap- 
 tized, one of whom underwent great persecutions. 
 He worked for his brother as a painter, but began 
 coming to the mission, from which he could not 
 stay away because of the hold the truth had gained 
 on him. He determined, therefore, in February to 
 leave his brothers' house and come to the mission. 
 He decided to do this on a Saturday evening, 
 when he could get away, but he was urged to wait, 
 as the mission house was full. But the next Satur- 
 day, in spite of the watchfulness of his brother, he 
 came to the mission house. However already in the 
 afternoon some of his brothers came expecting to see 
 him at the public service. As he was not there, they 
 asked the missionaries if he was with the mission- 
 aries. The next morning his mother appeared just 
 at the hour of the family worship of the mission 
 house and demanded her son with the greatest vehe- 
 mence. In the afternoon other members of the fam- 
 ily appeared. On Monday a severe storm broke out. 
 The mother, four grown up brothers and a sister 
 appeared, forced themselves into the mission house 
 and especially the mother demanded to speak with 
 the son. But the son was not inclined to do so, 
 knowing the impetuous nature of his mother. Their 
 
The Reformed Church. 405 
 
 rage then knew no bounds. The sons, especially 
 one that was dumb, resorted to force. The coat of 
 the missionary was torn from top to bottom. The 
 missionary as well as two others of the mission 
 house, who ran to his assistance received severe 
 blows on the breast while the women raised a terrible 
 outcry and several persons tried to break open the 
 door of the young man's place of concealment. The 
 young man crept away into the room of the mis- 
 sionary's wife, but the Jews forced themselves to 
 it. Finally police help having been called the tumult 
 was stilled. This caused great excitement and other 
 Jews came which only gave the missionaries addi- 
 tional opportunities to preach Christ to them. To 
 his relatives he boldly declared, 'T seek nothing but 
 Christianity." He then confessed Christ at baptism. 
 On the mission house there was a window on 
 which there were, in Hebrew, the words of Isaiah, 
 fifty-fifth chapter, "Ho, every one that thirsteth," 
 etc. The Jews passing by would often stop, read it, 
 and inquire the meaning of those words on that 
 house, then come in and allow themselves to be ad- 
 dressed by the missionary. Often there would be 
 quite a gathering of them in the street before this 
 Scripture sign whom the missionary would address. 
 
4o6 Great Missionaries of 
 
 In 1 84 1 Becker celebrated at Elberfeld the twenty- 
 fifth anniversary of his ordination, and also at Lon- 
 don where he addressed various religious gather- 
 ings. 
 
 In 1855 the mission at Warsaw had to be discon- 
 tinued. On December 22 all the missionaries were 
 required to bring their official documents before the 
 Lutheran Ministerium and it was made known to 
 them that it was the Czar's will that they should 
 leave. This came like a thunderclap and was the re- 
 sult of the Crimean war, where England had joined 
 her forces with Turkey and France against Russia. 
 But it was not supposed that the Jewish Mission at 
 Warsaw, although under the English Society, would 
 be endangered, especially as Becker was a German 
 and not an Englishman. On February 8, 1855, 
 Becker and West, the two missionaries, were com- 
 pelled to leave Warsaw. But at the railroad station 
 people of all classes, Protestants, Catholics, Greeks, 
 Jews, proselytes, gathered in their honor to bid a 
 sad farewell to them. The railroad station was so 
 crowded that it was hardly large enough to accom- 
 modate the throng. This mission was not resumed 
 by the Society until 1876. 
 
 Becker then proceeded to a new field of labor at 
 
The Reformed Church. 407 
 
 Hamburg. Here he found the work much more dif- 
 ficult than at Warsaw. In the French Reformed 
 church there he began holding his services in Ger- 
 man July I, 1855, for Jews and Christians. He 
 often preached in the German and English Re- 
 formed churches in Hamburg and Altona, as also in 
 the Reformed church of the neighboring city of Lu- 
 beck. His work was much more scattered than in 
 Poland, stretching out into the neighboring districts 
 of Mecklenburg, etc., and he was often away from 
 home by the week. Yet he found the field ripe for 
 harvest. On the fiftieth anniversary of the London 
 Society for the Jews, 1858, he returned to London, 
 where he preached the festival sermon. In it he 
 gives the statistics of the work in Poland. "Poland 
 was our Palestine. More than 100 proselytes were 
 trained in the mission institute, 5,000 Polish New 
 Testaments and 125,000 tracts were published, and 
 360 persons were converted through the mission. 
 So that his work there was not fruitless. 
 
 Later, when Rev. Mr. Harms, pastor at Hermans- 
 burg, who had founded a famous foreign mission 
 supported by his congregation alone, attacked mis- 
 sions among the Jews as useless, Becker replied in 
 a. ^pamphlet. In it he argued strongly from Scrip- 
 
4o8 Great Missionaries of 
 
 tures on the importance of work among the Jews. 
 In 1856 he preached in the synagogue at Berleburg, 
 his birthplace, on Hosea 3 4, 5. When the Jewish 
 worship had ended he asked permission to speak. 
 In it he claimed that this chapter had been darkened 
 by the Rabbis because they did not refer it to a Mes- 
 siah. He asked his countrymen to think over these 
 things and to believe on Christ. Most of the men re- 
 mained in the synagogue, about thirty, and many wo- 
 men. But opposition began to show itself there. One 
 said that the synagogue was not the place for such 
 exhortations. So he left the synagogue but later he 
 heard them discussing the sermon on the streets. He 
 took advantage of it to scatter tracts. In the after- 
 noon of that day he found a number of Jews in the 
 Berleburg park and spoke to them on Zechariah 3 :i4, 
 and soon a dozen of them gathered around him. 
 His address and efforts made a deep impression on 
 some of their minds. 
 
 In April, 1862, he caught a severe cold in holding 
 a service of the Jews in a subterranean clothes depot. 
 He preached for the last time June 3, 1862; but, 
 though unable to preach after that, he still labored 
 among them as he could in his house. He said : "O 
 if I could only each day say to some Jew, Christ 
 
The Reformed Church. 409 
 
 stretches out his arms to him." But soon even this 
 was forbidden on account of his health. At Christ- 
 mas time his sickness greatly increased and by Jan- 
 uary 5 his sufferings became so great that he ear- 
 nestly prayed the Lord not to lay his hand too heav- 
 ily on him. His last day was a Sabbath. "Help, 
 Lord, help ; O come, my Saviour," he cried. His 
 last word was "Jesus." On his tomb in the German 
 Reformed churchyard are Romans 14:8 and Phil- 
 ippians 1:21, on the first of which Dilthey preached 
 his funeral sermon. 
 
 He was a very devoted missionary to God's an- 
 cient people. For Biblical controversy he had re- 
 markable gifts, especially on the Old Testament 
 prophecies of Christ. He was very tactful to turn 
 everything so that he might speak to the Jews about 
 Christ. "Have you a new Testament," was asked a 
 Jewish keeper of a bookstore. As he showed him a 
 Bible he asked him if he had read the second part. 
 He replied that he had read the Book of Revelation. 
 Becker called his attention to the New Jerusalem 
 of that book and then passed on to Isaiah fifty-third 
 chapter, pointing him to Christ. "But," replied the 
 Jew, "I will have sins again." Becker replied, "In 
 Christ is justification and strength." Finding some 
 
4IO Great Missonaries of 
 
 young Jews talking in a park about a lottery, Beck- 
 er took the part of one of them who opposed lot- 
 tery. Two of them said that lotteries were necessary 
 so as to get enough to eat and live. Becker called 
 their attention to Matthew 6:33, "Give us this day 
 our daily bread." He thus introduced Christianity 
 to them and urged it upon them. To a dealer in 
 clothing he spoke the clothing of salvation which 
 Christ has prepared. A woman once complained of 
 her sore eyes. "Our Messiah," he replied, "opened 
 the eyes of the blind and is the physician for the 
 body and soul." Thus he preached Christ, using 
 every opportunity to win God's Israel back to Jesus. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Introduction. 
 
 Book I. Early Reformed Missions. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 The First Reformed Missionaries to Brazil 7 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 The Dutch Reformed Seminary under Walaeus at 
 
 Leyden 21 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 The Dutch Reformed Missionaries in Brazil 33 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 The Dutch Reformed Mission in Formosa — the Cru- 
 cifixion of the Reformed 37 
 
 Book II. The Reformed in Africa. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Theodosius Vanderkemp 51 
 
 chapter II. 
 Eugene Casalis 71 
 
 chapter III. 
 Adolphe Mabille 94 
 
j PAOE 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Francis and Christian Coillard no 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Paul Berthoud and Ernest Creux 13S 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Escande and Minault — the Reformed Martyrs 147 
 
 Book III. The Reformed in Asia. 
 
 A. — India. 
 
 chapter I. 
 
 Alphonse F. Lacroix IS7 
 
 chapter II. 
 John Scudder 189 
 
 chapter hl 
 Jacob Chamberlain 205 
 
 B. — China. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 David Abeel 222 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 John Van Nest Talmadge 235 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 William E. Hoy and the New Mission of the Re- 
 formed Church in the United States 245 
 
PAGE 
 
 C. — Japan. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Guido F. Verbeck 249 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 The Mission of the Reformed Church in the United 
 States 262 
 
 D. — Mohammedan Lands. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Benjamin C. Schneider 275 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Samuel M. Zwemer 289 
 
 Book IV. The Reformed in the East Indies. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Jan Kam, the Apostle to the Moluccas 301 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Emde, the Watchmaker of Surabaya 317 
 
 CHAPTER IIL 
 
 John F. Riedel 335 
 
 Book V. The Reformed in America. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 John Megapolensis 357 
 
PAGE 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 George M. Weiss 367 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 The Mission to the Winnebagoes 373 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 The Indian Mission in Oklahoma 377 
 
 Book VI. The Reformed Among the Jews. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 The Wonderful Mission at Buda-Pesth 383 
 
 CHAPTER II, 
 
 Ferdinand W. Becker 399 
 
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