THE ROMANCE

OF

MODERN MISSIONS

BY
REV. JOSEPH RITSON

LONDON
W. A. HAMMOND
HOLBORN HALL, CLERKENWELL ROAD, E.C.

BOOKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR
Uniform with the present Volume.

THE ROMANCE OF NONCONFORMITY. 2s. 6d.
Dr. John Clifford says: — "'The Romance of
Nonconformity ' is admirably told — told in a
catholic spirit and with a richness of colour,
fulness of detail, and glow of enthusiasm that
make the story effective. The book will advance
tlie Kingdom of God. All our young people
should read it."
THE ROMANCE OF PRIMITIVE METHODISM:
The Hartley Lecture for 1909. Sixth Edition. is.
HUGH MORRIQILL : The Story of a Street Arab.
2s. 6d.
LOST AND WON: A Story of Two Conflicts.
25. 6d.

PREFACE.
The plan of this work differs from that adopted by
the author in ' The Romance of Primitive
Methodism, ' and ' The Romance of Noncon
formity.' The ground to be surveyed is too vast
for the more detailed treatment given in these
previous works. All that can be attempted here
is a glimpse of the more romantic incidents in
the story of the great British Missionary Societies.
The missionary work of the Moravian Church has
been only partially British, but modern Missions
are so remarkably indebted to that Church that it
was necessary to include its story in the present
volume. Adequately to treat the whole subject
would require a separate volume for each Mis
sionary Society. The present volume is designed
to furnish a brief survey of the origin and early
work of the Moravian Missions, the Baptist Mis
sionary Society, the London Missionary Society,
the three leading Methodist Missionary Societies,
the Church Missionary Society, and the United
Free Church Missionary Society. A brief chapter
has been devoted to the China Inland Mission, the
Students' Missionary movement, the Laymen's

preface
League, and the World Missionary Conference.
These have powerfully influenced missionary pro
paganda throughout the world. The exigencies of
space have not permitted the inclusion of such
valuable Protestant missionary organisations as the
American Board of Missions, the Paris Mis
sionary Society, and the Friends' Missionary
Society. The statistics are for 1911 or 1912.
Many who desire a brief outline of what, hitherto,
has only been obtainable by consulting the exten
sive missionary literature published by the various
Societies, may find the present volume useful.
The general reader has neither time nor oppor
tunity to consult the excellent histories of our great
Missionary Societies; and yet he desires to know
something of their origin and achievements. It
is hoped the present work may meet this desire
and awaken a hunger for fuller information. Statis
tics will also be found as to the present position of
the various Societies in their respective fields of
labour. The apathy of which many complain on the part
of Christians generally in regard to missionary
work is largely due to ignorance. If only they
could know something of the actual condition of
the heathen world, of what has been accomplished,
and of what might be done with more adequate
resources, a new interest would be awakened, and

preface
larger contributions made. The study of the sub
ject necessitated by the preparation of the volume
has given the writer a new conception of the
achievements of modern missions, and he would
fain help others to a wider knowledge of the sub
ject. To have aided even, in this humble way, the
triumph of the Redeemer's kingdom will far more
than repay the writer for the labour of love in
volved in writing, amid the many occupations of
a minister's life, this ' Romance of Modern
Missions.'
The Author.

CONTENTS.

Book I.
OF THE MORAVIAN CHURCH.
PAGE
Chap. I. — In Greenland i
Chap. II. — In Labrador - 13
Chap. III. — In Four Continents :
North America - - 30
Central America 32
South Africa - 39
Australia 43
Asia - 44
Book II.
OF THE BAPTIST MISSIONARY SOCIETY.
Chap I. — In India - 55
Chap. II. — In China - 76
Chap. III.— In Africa 86
Chap. IV. — In the West Indies and Orissa - 100
Book III.
OF THE LONDON MISSIONARY SOCIETY.
Chap. I. — In the South Seas - 107
Chap. II. — In South Africa and Madagascar - 125
Chap. III. — In India, China, Guiana and New Guinea 143
Book IV.
OF THE METHODIST MISSIONARY SOCIETIES.
Chap. I. — Wesleyan Methodist 159
In the West Indies - - 162
In Ceylon 166

Contents

FACE

In India 172
In China 178
In West Africa 184
In South Africa 186
In the South Sea Islands - igo
Chap. II. — Primitive Methodist ig2
In Fernando Po 193
In Southern Nigeria - - 200
In South Africa 207
In Central Africa - 217
Chap. III. — United Methodist ... 225
(1) Methodist New Connexion - 225
(2) Bible Christian - 230
(3) United Methodist Free Churches 239
Book V.
OF THE CHURCH MISSIONARY SOCIETY.
Chap. I. — In West Africa and New Zealand - 248
Chap. II. — In India, Uganda and other Fields - 258
Book VI.
OF THE PRESBYTERIAN MISSIONS.
Chap. I. — In the West Indies and South Africa - 274
Chap. II. — In India, West Africa, Manchuria and
the New Hebrides 284
Chap. III. — In Livingstonia 294
Book VII.
OF SOME MODERN DEVELOPMENTS.
The China Inland Mission - 300
The Student Volunteer Missionary Union 304
The Laymen's Missionary League 312
The World Missionary Conference at Edinburgh 312

BOOK I.
<W tbe flftovavian Gburcb.

CHAPTER I

IN GREENLAND

Not 'so many years ago Romance was asso
ciated with the sentimental and the unreal; in
these later days it represents the poetic aspects
of fact and reality. It stands not merely for
the wonderful, the extraordinary, but the sense
of mystery with which everything in the world is
shot through and though. For him who has in
sight there is romance in the most ordinary life,
something more than meets the eye in the most
prosaic fact. Life is a perpetual marvel, and no
life is drab save to the blind. It has been said
that the ministry of poetry is the ministry of sug
gestion ; that the poet is the interpreter of his age.
Certain it is that he who can discern the romance
of an age will also be, to some extent, its inter
preter. He discerns beneath the surface of events
their significance, and relates them to the larger
purpose that shapes them to some definite end.

2 JLbc "Romance of /IDooern /BMsstons
It may be objected that it is impossible to write
of the romance of Missions because Christian Mis
sions constitute one prolonged miracle. It is
romance however presented. But all Missionaries
know that there are periods when the ordinary,
the prosaic, seems to be predominant. It may not
be so in reality, but the record of these times would
furnish nothing arresting for the ordinary reader;
nor would it help him to any clear vision of the
wonder and the mystery which yet underlie the
whole. The trader or the casual visitor will often
see no romance in the work of the Missionary.
Hence he is apt to scoff. He has no vision of the
larger purpose that informs the dull routine of daily
toil. He knows nothing of the ' vision and the
faculty divine,' and is incapable of understanding
what he sees.
The story of Missions is full of romantic elements.
The true Missionary sees so much of which other
people are largely unconscious. The motives which
influence him, the spirit which sustains him, the
objects for which he labours, are all unintelligible
to the man of the world. Associated with his work,
however, are elements which even the most prosaic
materialist can discern as more or less romantic.
To endure hardship, to face danger, to have hair
breadth escapes, and to achieve wonderful results —
all these are suggestive of romance to the dullest
mind. Then the Missionary usually has to travel
in strange countries and mingle with savage and
unfamiliar peoples; he sees daily sights which
would fill his countrymen at home with wonder

3\\ ©reenlano 3
and surprise. He becomes familiar with ways of
life, manners and customs, as well as religious
faiths and superstitions, which seem extraordinary
to all who have not grown accustomed to them.
Finally he has often been privileged to witness
transformations of life and character, and even
of national and racial characteristics, which savour
of the miraculous. All this presents the most extra
ordinary wealth of romantic suggestion which,
rightly ordered, may not only furnish a romance
of thrilling interest, but an interpretation of the
most marvellous chapter of the history of the
Church of the later Christian centuries.
This is a most difficult task. The field is so vast,
the agents so numerous, the events so wonderful,
that the work of selection must necessarily be
arduous. Many things of deep interest will have
to be passed over, but the reader who desires an
acquaintance with these will find them in the
various histories and records which have been com
piled during the last century. This is not a history
of Missions, but it is hoped that the reader who
has perused these pages will lay down the book
with a fairly comprehensive and vivid conception of
the origin, the progress and the marvellous achieve
ments of modern Christian Missions.
Modern Missions are generally regarded as
dating from the formation of the Particular Baptist
Missionary Society, in 1792, through the efforts of
William Carey. In a sense, no doubt, William
Carey is to be regarded as the ' Father and Founder
of Modern Missions ' ; but for not a little of the

4 XTbe Romance of xTDooern iHMsstons
inspiration which impelled him forward in his great
work we must go further back. He, in common
with nearly all the leaders of the early movement
in the various Churches of England, sought to
give force and emphasis to his advocacy by point
ing to what the Moravians had done in the way of
sending the Gospel to the heathen. Indeed the
Moravian Church is still par excellence the Mis
sionary Church of Christendom. No Church in
proportion to its size has achieved so much, and it
stands alone in this, that its heathen converts far
outnumber its home membership. In point of time
it preceded the Missionary movement in this coun
try by more than half a century. Its first mission
to the heathen was started in 1732, and soon after
wards stations were established in North and South
America, Greenland, Labrador, South Africa and
other parts of the world. For a work devoted to
the Romance of Modern Missions to omit any
detailed mention of the Missions of the Moravian
Church would be to ignore the most romantic of
them all.
The Moravian, or Church of the United Brethren,
claims to be the modern representative of a little
Protestant community which, in 1467, sought to
make permanent the work of John Hus in Bohemia.
There is an intimate connection between that
Church of the fifteenth century and a similar move
ment in this country. Copies of John Wycliffe's
books found their way to Bohemia through the
agency of a few Bohemian scholars who came to
study at Oxford. The result was a religious revival

3n ©reenlano 5
of world-wide importance. It is said that for one
person that Wycliffe stirred in England, he stirred
hundreds in Bohemia. It is difficult clearly to
trace the influence of the ' Morning Star of the
Reformation ' in England owing to the merciless
measures of repression employed against the Lol
lards, as Wycliffe's followers came to be called;
in Bohemia there is no such difficulty, because his
followers became a great national force, and pre
pared the way for the foundation of a Church that
continues to this day.
There are few more romantic stories than that
which centres in the person of Count Zinzendorf,
around whom gathered at Herrnhut the little set
tlement of Protestant Christians which gave to the
world the more modern form of the Moravian
Church. Count Zinzendorf was a most extra
ordinary man. Notwithstanding his extravagances
and aberrations he was a great man and a great
saint. He was as original, as imperious, and,
for that age, as ubiquitous as General Booth, of
whom in many ways he constantly reminds us. He
lacked William Booth's strong common sense and
constant adherence to the practical ; but he had all
his spiritual vision and consecrated audacity. The
story of the Count's life and work will be found
in great detail in the official history of the Moravian
Church.1 Here our concern is only with Count
Zinzendorf as he is connected with the Missionary
movement of the Moravian Church.
1 " A History of the Moravian Church," by J. E. Hutton. M.A.,
32, Fetter Lane.

6 xrbe "Romance of /iBooern ilDtsstons
As early as 1728, if not still earlier, Count Zin
zendorf's mind had been occupied with the idea of
Foreign Missions. To the little settlement of the
United Brethren on his estate at Herrnhut — a
wonderful socialistic colony — he had suggested
foreign work, and a band of single brethren had
made a covenant with each other on February nth,
1728, to respond to the first clear call to such work.
That call came in a curious way. In 1731 Count
Zinzendorf was on a visit to the court of Christian
VI, at Denmark. There he met Antony Ulrich,
a West Indian negro slave, who poured into his
ear a most heartrending tale of the benighted con
dition of the slaves on the Danish island of St.
Thomas. He pictured vividly the yearning of his
sister and his brother for the Gospel, and the warm
welcome missionaries would receive. The effect
on Zinzendorf was electric. Here was an open door
to the heathen. Surely the golden day had dawned.
The touching tale of the negro was told to the
brethren at Herrnhut on the Count's return, and
produced a deep impression. Was this not the
expected call ? Forthwith the men gave themselves
to the study of medicine, geography, and languages.
To one man the call came with especial clearness.
Leonard Dober, destined to be the first modern mis
sionary to the heathen, could think of nothing else.
All through that summer night he tossed to and
fro on his bed, thinking of the poor negroes of
St. Thomas. A voice urged him to go to their
help. Was it a Divine voice or his own ? Next
morning he opened eagerly the daily text-book, or

3n ©reenlano 7
Watch- Word, in the hope of finding there some
guidance. The passage for the day read, ' It is
not a vain thing in you, because it is your life;
and through this thing ye shall prolong your days.'
That settled the matter : he would go.
The heroic self-sacrifice involved in this resolve
is immeasurably heightened when we learn that
Antony Ulrich came to Herrnhut and told the
people that no one could be a missionary in St.
Thomas without first becoming a slave. It was a
mistake, but the self-designated missionaries were
willing to become even slaves in order to preach the
Gospel to the slaves of St. Thomas. On August
2 1 st, 1732, Leonard Dober and David Nitschmann,
a carpenter, whom he had chosen for companion,
stood waiting at three o'clock in the morning in
front of Count Zinzendorf's house. The whole
night the Count had spent in prayer. In his car
riage he drove them as far as Bautzen. All three
alighted outside the little town, and kneeling down
on the quiet roadside prayed together. The two
missionaries received the Count's blessing by im
position of hands, and then, bidding him farewell,
set forth on their momentous journey. In their
brown coats and quaint three-cornered hats, with
bundles on their backs and but thirty shillings in
their pockets, none who beheld them dreamed that
they were the pioneers of the great modern mis
sionary movement. They had no ' Society ' behind
them, and little knowledge of what lay in front of
them; but they had heard the call, and that was
enough. We cannot linger over the journey to

8 TEbe Romance of fl&ooern fl&tesions
Copenhagen or the missionaries' adventures there.
At last they reached the harbour of St. Thomas,
and their eyes fell on the silver beach, the yellow
ing rocks, the soft green hills limned against the
azure sky. Here was the favoured isle, the ' First
Love of Moravian Missions,' the first dim dawn
of the greatest day in the history of modern
Christianity. There is so much to tell of other fields that we
cannot linger here. Suffice it to say that the
Moravian Brethren laboured for fifty years in the
West Indies without any aid from any other reli
gious denomination. Churches were established in
St. Thomas, in St. Croix, in St. John's, in
Jamaica, in Antigua, in Barbadoes, and in St.
Kitts; and before a missionary from any other
Church arrived on the scene there were 13,000 bap
tised converts.
Let it not be supposed it was all plain sailing.
When Count Zinzendorf visited St. Thomas, in
1739, he found all the missionaries in prison, where
they had lain for three months. When he inquired
what the negroes had been doing in the meantime
he was told that a great revival was in progress,
and that the very imprisonment of the teachers had
turned out for the furtherance of the Gospel. Soon
the Count had the prisoners released, and he
quickly discovered that the work at St. Thomas was
a greater marvel than that at Herrnhut itself. The
Count organised the work on the Herrnhut plan,
appointed Chief Elders of the Brethren and Sisters,
and then moved on to other fields.

3n (Breenlano 9
The Mission to the West Indies was not the only
result of Count Zinzendorf's visit to Copenhagen.
He saw two little Greenland boys who had been
baptised by the Danish missionary, Hans Egede;
and the story the Count had to tell, on his return
home, of the patient labours of this man, touched
the heart and fired the imagination of the after
wards famous Christian David and one Matthew
Stach. In Greenland Egede had failed. Unde
terred by this failure and the rigours of the climate,
the two men above named set forth on its con
quest, some five months after the departure of the
two missionaries for the West Indies. A barren
and unfruitful country, a people repulsive and
savagely barbaric, a language extremely difficult,
and a terrible climate, to say nothing of the failure
of a devoted missionary, might have served to
deter men less heroically determined. But directly
the Church sanctioned the project the men were
ready to start. The spirit of the little Church may
be gathered from an incident that occurred a few
years later. ' Are you ready,' said Zinzendorf one
day to John Soerensen, ' to serve the Saviour in
Greenland ? ' The man had never thought of such
a thing, but his response came without a moment's
hesitation, ' Here am I, send me.' ' But the mat
ter is pressing,' said the Count, 'we want someone
to go at once.' ' Well, that is no difficulty,' was
the reply ; ' if you will only get me a pair of
new boots I will set off this very day. My old
ones are quite worn out, and I have not another

50

Gbe "Romance of /IDoOern /BMastone

pair to call my own.' And the next day the man
was off, and served forty-six years in Greenland.
To return to the story of the Greenland Mission
and the enterprise of Matthew Stach1 and Christian
David. The day before they departed a friend
had sent a donation to Herrnhut from Venice.
, The two missionaries received part of this
for their journey, and set off joyfully for Copen
hagen. Seven weeks after leaving Copenhagen
they reached the coast of Greenland. With a sod-
hut for dwelling and no knowledge of the lan
guage they began their work. The Eskimoes hin
dered rather than helped, and were thievish into
the bargain. Mr. Egede, the Danish missionary,
rendered such help as he could ; but as his language
was Scandinavian and that of the Brethren Ger
man, while their theological views differed, real
co-operation was not possible. Then the small-pox
broke out among the Eskimoes, and the kindly
ministry of the missionaries touched the people's
hearts. The missionaries escaped the small-pox
but suffered later from scurvy. The settlement,
which had been called New Herrnhut, was deserted
as an accursed place of pestilence, and it was not
till 1735 that the people began to return. Mean
while Christian David had returned home and was
replaced by John Beck and Frederick Bohnisch.
Famine soon stared them in the face. Shell-fish
and raw seaweed were often for days their only
food. But a kind-hearted heathen Greenlander,
Ippegau by name, travelled forty leagues that he
1 " Moravian Church," page 239.

5n ©reenlano n
might share with them all he took on the chase.
So a heathen preserved the lives of the mis
sionaries. Five years of hard but seemingly fruitless toil
followed. Pathetic indeed were the letters of the
missionaries, but with never a hint of any wish to
withdraw. Mourning over their own failure they
yet rejoiced over the success of their brethren in
St. Thomas. Then on June 2nd, 1738, came the
first gleam of success. The plan hitherto pursued
of expounding to the folk the whole scheme of dog
matic theology had proved a dismal failure ; but on
this memorable day it suddenly flashed on the mind
of John Beck to read to the Eskimos an extract from
a translation of the Gospels he was preparing.
Seizing the manuscript he read, ' And being in an
agony He prayed more earnestly, and his sweat
was as it were great drops of blood falling to the
ground.' Kajarnack, the brightest of the group,
sprang forward to the table and exclaimed, ' How
was that? Tell me that again, for I, too, would be
saved.' The first Eskimo had been touched by the
simple story of the Cross. From that hour the mis
sionaries changed the style of their preaching, and
instead of expounding theology told the people the
old, old story of a suffering, dying Saviour, with
His crown of thorns and His wounded side. Bril
liant and bewildering success followed. Later a
large church had to be built, and in this work
Christian David assisted. It was opened in 1747,
when the number of baptized people had reached
134, of whom several could be employed as helpers.

12 Ube IRomance of /IfooDern /SMsstons
Three additional stations were subsequently estab
lished, and by 1782 the number of converts had
grown to 1,222. In 1823 the work of translation,
which had been going on for years, reached its
triumph in the publication by the British and
Foreign Bible Society of the New Testament in
Eskimo. This gave a great impetus to the work.
Schools with Eskimo teachers and two training in
stitutions were established. Other stations were
founded, and heathenism from this part of Green
land practically disappeared. The country in fact
has become so Christianised that the Moravians
have been able to withdraw their agents. The two
stations still carried on among heathen Eskimos
are in charge of the Danish Church.

CHAPTER II

IN LABRADOR

Three books, outside the ordinary literature of Mis
sions, have recently called the attention of the world
to the work of the Moravian Church in Labrador
— ' Grenfell of Labrador ' (Partridge), Hesketh
Prichard's fascinating story of travel, ' Through
Trackless Labrador ' (Heinemann), and Hutton 's
' Among the Eskimoes of Labrador ' (Seeley,
Service). All bear emphatic and evidently
unbiassed testimony to the splendid work ac
complished in this desolate region by the
Moravian missionaries. These books are full
of fascination, not a little of which is due to the
romantic glimpses we get of the work of the
Moravians. Hesketh Prichard declares Labrador to
be ' the most God-fearing land ' he has ever visited.
' This is due to the Moravian Missions.' It would
be easy to occupy all the space at our disposal with
this marvellous work, but a mere outline is all that
can be attempted. Here is romance indeed : of
climate, of people, of desolation, of triumph over
enormous difficulties. Everything here is extra
ordinary. It is impossible to convey any adequate idea to
the reader of the iron rigour of the climate of that

14 XTbe Romance of /fcooern flDtsstons
rock-bound coast. For the greater part of the year
the whole region is wrapped in ice and snow. Arctic
gales of unimaginable fury dash themselves on the
coastline of frowning cliffs of 1,000 to 4,000 feet in
elevation. The Arctic desolation of the scene is
beyond description, so wild, so bleak, so awful is
it. Over this wilderness starvation broods, and at
the period when the Moravians began their work
all except the coast-line was one vast solitude
wrapped in the shadow of mystery. The people
were sunk in poverty, wretchedness, degradation.
Absolutely Pagan, it was difficult with all their
superstition to get a religious idea into their minds.
Was heaven described as a city of golden streets
and jasper walls and gates of pearl ? The glowing
description left them cold, for they had no idea of
a city. But hell, as a great big fire struck their
imagination at once, and they exclaimed, ' We
would like to go there.'
Cleanliness has never been one of the virtues of
the people. Water is very scarce, and is only
obtained by melting snow and ice over stone lamps.
Obtained by so slow and difficult a process, it is
too precious to be used in cleansing either body or
clothes. Think of the condition of their huts !
What must it have been for the early missionaries
to be compelled sometimes to spend days and
nights in huts full of Eskimos and their dogs.
Putrid meat and fish-scraps, allowed to lie about
and decay, fill the huts with a stench intolerable
to any but an Eskimo. The people were described
in 1764 as 'treacherous, murderous savages,' and

5n Xabraoor 15
this rendered the planting of the Moravian Mission
a matter of extreme difficulty and danger.
It was John Christian Erhardt, a sailor, converted
in 1741, when on a visit to St. Thomas, who first
entreated the Brethren at Herrnhut to send the
Gospel to Labrador. When in Greenland he had
heard of the Eskimos of the western shores of
Davis' Straits. In 1752 Erhardt, with four com
panions, sailed with a trading vessel for Labrador
to make inquiries with a view to the opening of a
Mission. Having selected a suitable spot he had
a wooden hut put up and called the station Hope-
dale. Continuing his journey up the coast, Erhardt
with the captain and five of the crew were treacher
ously murdered by the natives, and the other
missionaries had to help to work the ship on her
homeward voyage. Undaunted by this tragic
beginning, Jens Haven, a carpenter, took up
Erhardt's work. ' The blood of the martyrs is the
seed of the Church.' Jens Haven was on a visit
to Herrnhut in 1752 and heard of the death of
Erhardt. He was seized with a strong desire to
carry the Gospel to the murderers. For six years
he cherished the desire. Then a call came to Green
land. He had an interview with Count Zinzendorf
and gladly accepted the call. In Greenland he
found a congenial sphere, and thought of settling
down there, but a dream showed him that he was
to ' preach the Gospel to a nation that had heard
nothing of its Saviour.' Thrice the dream repeated
the call. Returning to Europe on furlough, he
desired the question of his return to Greenland to

1 6 ijbe "Romance of /ifcooem /HMssions
be decided by lot, a very usual method at that
period among the Brethren. The lot negatived his
return to Greenland, and he then told the story of
his dreams. On February 2nd, 1764, Haven set out
on foot from Herrnhut to Holland, and thence pro
ceeded to London. He knew no English, but
secured the help of Sir Hugh Palliser, Governor
of Newfoundland. The Governor's subsequent
Proclamation is regarded as the foundation of all
the liberty and protection which the missionaries
have ever since enjoyed under the British Govern
ment. It runs thus : ' Hitherto the Esquimaux
have been considered in no other light than as
thieves and murderers, but as Mr. Haven has
formed the laudable plan, not only of uniting these
people with the English nation, but of instructing
them in the Christian religion, I require, by virtue
of the powers delegated to me, that all men, whom
soever it may concern, lend him all the assistance
in their power,' etc.1
It was in the spring of 1764 that Jens Haven
sailed with the British fleet to St. John's. From
there he secured a passage in a small coasting
schooner to Labrador, where the boatmen landed
him late in August. They pulled hurriedly away
and waited anxiously to see what would happen.
The natives swarmed round him, and when they
heard him speak in their own tongue, which Haven
found was the same as that of the Greenlanders,
of whom, however, the people knew nothing, they
1 Davey's " The Fall of Torngak " (Partridge & Co.)

3n Xabraoor 17
welcomed him with every sign of pleasure. Hail
ing him as their countryman, they listened to his
message and begged him to return. When they
saw him read from the Governor's proclamation
they thought it to be alive and refused to take
possession of it. When he spoke to them of God
as their Creator and Redeemer they asked if God
lived in the sun, and whether belief in him would
bring them prosperity in fishing and hunting.
Haven replied that the Christian religion was in
tended to make them happier in this life and to
give them eternal life in the next world. Then to
express their joy one of the men brought a drum
and danced and sang. In reply Haven sang a
hymn in the Eskimo tongue, at which they were
greatly delighted. The missionary promised to
return the next year. Thus it was that the term
in Greenland proved for Jens Haven the key of
success in Labrador.
The next year Jens Haven and other three mis
sionaries were sent out. Their names were
Christian Schloezer, John Hill and Laurence
Drachardt. Advanced in years, Drachardt was yet
an enthusiast in missions. Lord Hillsborough, to
whom he was introduced, expressed his surprise
that so old a man should be sent among savages.
When assured that the man went at his own earnest
desire he expressed his admiration. But Drachardt
had been a clergyman in connection with the
Danish Mission in Greenland, where he had dis
played great tact in the management of the natives.
The Admiralty provided the passage of the mis-

18 Hbe IRomance of /IDooern flDisslons
sionaries both there and back. This was to be a
visit of exploration. The result was favourable to
the opening of a Mission. At Pitt's Harbour some
hundreds of natives met the missionaries in the
most friendly spirit, and were quite attentive to the
words of Haven and Drachardt.
Returning to London in September, to make final
preparations, an unexpected difficulty was encoun
tered which delayed the opening of the Mission for
four years. The Government demurred to the re
quest for a grant of 100,000 acres of land.1 If the
people were to be preserved from the contaminating
influence of the traders the missionaries must have
control of all the land around any settlement, so
as to give them large power of exclusion. During
the interval of waiting a serious conflict occurred
in Labrador between the Eskimos and some
Europeans. The Eskimos seem to have been the
original aggressors, and in the conflict which fol
lowed twenty savages were left dead on the field.
Among the prisoners was a woman named Mikak,
who proved to be a person of superior understand
ing. She was brought to this country, presented
to some of the nobility and also to the Court, where
she made a favourable impression. She made a
pathetic appeal on behalf of her people, and when
she returned to her own land carried with her an
immense impression of the might and majesty of
Britain. This woman later proved of great service
to the Mission. 1 " Fall of Torngak, " page 99.

Jn ULabraoor 19
At last the land difficulties were overcome, and
on May 17th, 1770, a party of three missionaries,
including Haven and Drachardt, with seven other
persons, sailed by the ' Jersey Packet '* for the pur
pose of fixing the site of the proposed Mission.
The party was fitted out chiefly by the S.F.G.
(' The Brethren's Society for the Furtherance of
the Gospel among the Heathen '), also called the
'Ship's Company,' though the latter consisted
principally of the former. The Eskimoes welcomed
the party when they discovered that ' Little Jens,'
as they always called Jens Haven because of his
small stature, was there. Learning that Mikak's
statement that the missionaries were coming to
settle was true, one of the natives took a leather
thong and bound it round Drachardt's arm, say
ing, ' We love thee.' Then, laying his right hand
on the missionary's breast, he said, ' This bandage
with which I have bound thy arm shall from this
time be a token that our love shall never cease.'
Presently Mikak, who in the interval had married,
arrived with her husband. She was arrayed in the
splendid Eskimo costume presented to her by the
Princess Dowager of Wales, which she had kept
wonderfully clean, and she still retained a smatter
ing of English, such as ' How do you do, sir ? '
' I thank you, sir.' Haven and Drachardt took
every opportunity of telling the story of the Cross,
and the people listened with rapt attention. A site
was chosen for the Mission, and the grant of land
1 " Third Jubilee Moravian Missions," page 38.

20 xrbe "Romance of /Hbooern /HMsstons
by the Government duly and formally ratified by
the people. The missionaries arrived in the Thames
on November 16th, and at once began making
arrangement for the settlement of a party in
Labrador. A party of fourteen was sent out in the ' Amity '
in 1771. Three married couples were included.
This meant a tremendous effort on the part of the
infant Society, but then such efforts were their
' life.'1 Seldom in the annals of Missions has a
mission been more carefully and systematically
gone about than this to Labrador, the preliminary
explorations and negotiations extending over years.
Haven and Drachardt were the leaders of the party,
which after a long and trying voyage arrived at
Eskimo Bay, afterwards to be known as Unity Har
bour. The site previously chosen was approved.
Drachardt in prayer dedicated the place to God,
giving it the name of Nain (N. lat. 560 55 ' W.
long. 620). The station was duly fenced with a
pallisade, the chief difficulty being the gnats or
mosquitoes, which swarmed around in millions.
It was very much like working with a sword in one
hand and a tool in the other. ' We could not keep
our hands from our faces for a second, which hin
dered us much.' A house was built and the 'Amity'
sailed away September 24th.
And now we must imagine the missionaries
facing their first winter in these vast solitudes. The
natives occasionally visited them. Among the rest
1 Deuteronomy xxxii. 47.

$n Xabraoor 21
came Mikak and her husband. Arrayed in her
splendid gold-embroidered robe, the Eskimo woman
scarcely harmonised with her surroundings, but her
influence was used in favour of the missionaries,
and that was the main thing. And the people were
decidedly friendly. Drachardt recalled with grati.
tude the fact that, whereas on bis first visit thej?
were eager to snatch the clothes from his back, now
they were ready to listen to his message. They
would show him that they had no knives concealed
in their sleeves or under their jackets. It is true
all were not favourably disposed to the Gospel mes
sage; many were wild and light-minded. Occa
sionally the people gave trouble; but the mis
sionaries had learned in Greenland the need for
patience and tact. It was a varied ministry that was
exercised, for some of the party were there for the
express purpose of teaching the Eskimoes useful
arts, such as boat-building, so that they might no
longer be tempted to steal boats further south.
A Government report in 1773 gives a most inter
esting account of the progress of the Mission. We
read of a sawmill, worked by a small stream ; a
store-house, and another building for the use of the
Eskimoes, who when they go hunting or fishing
leave their effects in charge of the missionaries; a
small sandy garden where salads are raised in toler
able perfection. Wonderful progress in civilising
the Eskimoes has been made. No longer are the
people a herd of brutal savages full of ferocity and
distrust, but marked by gentleness and civility.
They are learning every day from the teaching and

22 xcbe "Romance of flbooern flMsstons
example of the missionaries, whose success in no
small measure is attributed to the facility with which
they speak the language. Doomed to the ' most
miserable climate on the globe, the missionaries are
cheerful and contented,' never idle, and ready to
devote anything they acquire to the support of the
Mission. Within the year there were three converts ready
for baptism, and gradually other five stations were
established : Okak, Hopedale, Hebron, Zoar and
Ramah, with hundreds of communicants and
adherents. The annual visits of the trading vessel
sent by the S.F.G. was of immense service to the
people, as well as to the missionaries. This work
of extension was not carried out without much
hardship and even loss. In connection with the first
expedition sent northwards for establishing the new
station at Okak two missionaries were drowned,
through the little vessel striking a rock, and the
captain and crew and the other missionaries nar
rowly escaped.
We read of thrilling adventures and hairbreadth
escapes, albeit the life ordinarily was monotonous
enough in winter. A party on one occasion set off
in two sledges from Nain to Okak, a distance of
150 miles. The route lay over the ice-covered sea.
After a time the party became conscious of a sus
picious, hollow, grating noise, penetrating through
the eleven or twelve feet of ice, suggestive of a
heavy ground swell driven by the North- West
wind. Soon yawning crevices began to appear in
the ice. Towards sunset a storm arose, and the

3n labraoor 23
entire track began to assume the appearance of a
switchback. The whole field of ice began to heave
and fall. Far away, but coming ever nearer, was
heard the booming as of some heavy gun, as the
struggling elements beneath burst asunder the mas
sive crystal barrier that fettered them. Making for
the coast the travellers found, to their dismay, that
the ice had broken from the rocks, and the mighty
mass, like some huge battering ram, was forging
up and down and scattering a thousand glittering
fragments all around. There was only one chance
of escape, and that was to make the shore at any
risk and run the sledge upon the rocks at the
moment when the glassy billows rose. Amid thtv
gathering darkness and with the dogs getting un
nerved, the attempt was made with success. As the
party turned to look at the scene they had just left
the whole mass of ice, as far as they could see,
burst up and plunged piecemeal into the ocean
depths. The broken masses rose and fell, crashing
into each other with terrific force, driven into fury
by the rising gale, so that the whole was one
raging, grinding, seething turmoil. It was an
astonishing escape, even the Eskimos joining in
expressions of gratitude to God for so miraculous a
deliverance. Success was not won in a day in this difficult field
of toil. To get religious ideas into the mind of a
people like the Eskimos was no easy matter. A
single illustration of this here will suffice. In trans
lating the Old Testament the Moravians were faced
with the fact that horses, cattle and sheep do not

24 TTbe Romance of flDooern flDissions
exist in Labrador. How then was the wealth of the
patriarchs to be expressed ? The missionaries were
actually driven to describe the herds of Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob under the guise of seals and fish,
thus expressing the riches of the earth by the riches
of the sea. In 1810 portions of the Old and New
Testaments were issued by the British and Foreign
Bible Society and greatly aided the work of the
missionaries. There were seasons of depression
and decline, when it seemed as if the work must
slip back altogether, chiefly through the evil in
fluence of traders who introduced intoxicants, and
of the Southlanders who injured the trading of the
S.F.G. vessel, on which the work has been so
largely dependent. But the missionaries held on
their way, and after thirty-three years of persistent
toil a gracious revival came which completely trans
formed the whole of the stations.
In later years the work has been splendidly sup
plemented by Dr. Grenfell's medical mission, as
told in ' Grenfell of Labrador ' (Partridge) and, as
already intimated, the latest traveller in the region,
Hesketh Prichard, has borne eloquent testimony to
the marvellous work the Moravians have done in
Christianising this once degraded and murderous
people. His delightful book, ' Through Trackless
Labrador ' (Heinemann) is not only a deeply inter
esting account of the Labrador, as he tells us it
should be termed, but a generous and inspiring
description of the work of the Moravian Brethren.
His chapter, ' Heroes of the Labrador,' reviews the
history of the Mission from the beginning, and

Jn Xabraoor 25
affords vivid and delightful glimpses of the work
as it is carried on to-day. In his company we sail
on the mission ship, ' Harmony,' and get our first
glimpse of the coast of the Labrador. ' By the
afternoon the mist had lightened a little, and a
flagstaff on a rock came into view, beyond it the
station of Makkovik, standing, as all the Moravian
missions stand, on the margin of the tide and under
the shadow of sombre hills. . . .' We see the white
mission house, with its pretty church and few scat
tered huts, richly green with moss and woodland,
a pleasant surprise after the bare islands hitherto
seen. ' In front of the Mission House, inside the
white pallisade, the garden beds were bright with
hardy flowers, mostly pansies, and from the green
house, where roses were blooming, they cut lettuce
that tasted doubly delicious after our long voyage.'
We see the people, and attend the services. We
visit the various stations, Hopedale, Nain, Kil-
linek, further north. We meet the House-father
at each station with his wife and young children,
possibly an ordained assistant, and a store-keeper,
a layman who attends to the store. The trade car
ried on by the store is of immense value to the
people, while bringing no gain to the missionaries
but only many an anxious hour. The mission-store
is an absolute necessity in such a country. We
inspect the varied work of the mission, which in
volves teaching in useful handicrafts as well as
preaching and teaching, and have no difficulty in
understanding how the mission has become largely
self-supporting. We see the brief summer of

26 TEbe "Romance of rtfcooern flMsstons
a few weeks, and the long winter. It seems
strange that many prefer the latter. The
reason is simple. In summer millions of voracious
mosquitoes and black flies, the curse of Labra
dor, awaken to the most incredible activity. They
will bite and sting through two thicknesses of cloth
and find seams with diabolical ingenuity.
There is one point mentioned by Mr. Prichard to
which I had not intended to refer; for on it the
modern Moravians are a little sensitive, owing to
gross misrepresentations that have been made. But
my first hearing of Moravian Missions was thirty-
seven or eight years ago, when at a missionary
meeting at Shankhouse, in Northumberland, my
colleague, Rev. Walter Howchin, F.G.S., now in
Australia, told the story of the Moravians, and
mentioned this particular point. His account of
how single missionaries had their wives chosen for
them at home and sent out to them, appealed to my
sense of romance, and is the one part of the speech
I have never forgotten. In a modified sense it
seems this was so. A missionary wishing to marry
wrote home to that effect, and his letter was read
aloud in the Moravian Church of the locality where
he had been brought up, and where, therefore, not
only was he well known, but he himself was
acquainted with most of the girl members of the
congregation. The ridiculous stories that have
been told on this head have only a slender basis of
fact. It ought to be said that the marriages thus
made turned out on the average quite as happy as,
and perhaps a little happier than, those made in

3n Xabraoor 27
the ordinary way. Young men now come home
and choose for themselves.
This reference to Hesketh Prichard's able and
interesting book may fitly close with another brief
excerpt, which sums up the work of the missionaries
and the life they live in the Labrador. ' To live
among savage rocks, enduring bitter winter cold,
the long bleakness of spring, the pest of mosquitoes
and flies which destroy the pleasure of summer; to
remain cut off from the world for the greater part
of the year, visited, as in Killinek, by but one ship
annually ; to give of strength and time generously
to the ignorant and the ailing; to remain far from
home and children for intervals of ten to fifteen
years until the memory of the fatherlands must
surely be as a dream ; to meet with ingratitude and
— still worse — with misrepresentation ; such are
heavy crosses. But all these things count as noth
ing, all are included in the splendid self-sacrifice of
the missionary life. Can any other show a finer
record ? '
An Eskimo village is no longer composed of huts
that are mere dens suitable for foxes or wolves, and
abodes of filth and squalor, but comfortable little
log houses, roofed with wood or turf, and lighted
with seal bladder or glass even. At one end, pos
sibly screened off, is a raised platform covered with
deer-skins, which serves as bedstead or a seat. In
one corner is the stove; in another the hollowed
stone lamp and the household china. Carefully
preserved in a box is the family library — an Eskimo
Bible, a hymn-book and liturgy-book. The walls

28 ftbe "Romance of /fcooern /BMssions
will be ornamented by pictures from the Graphic
or some similar paper. Sometimes may be found a
clock, a mirror, a bird-cage, a sewing machine, and
even, perhaps, an ancient piano. There is not only
an abiding odour of train-oil and fish, but much
Christian life in these queer homes; for the Light
of the World is found shining there.
Would you see a modern winter Sunday at Nain ?
All work is laid aside. At nine o'clock the little
chapel bell summons the people to worship. This
Labrador church is a simple wooden structure.
Neatly boarded walls painted white meet the eye as
we enter. On one side is a table draped in green,
raised only by a step, and surmounted by a read
ing desk. Opposite the table is a harmonium, also
slightly raised, and surrounded by music stands,
etc. Nathaniel, the schoolmaster, is now seated at
the harmonium and proceeds to play a voluntary,
which may easily be, ' Now the day is over,' if that
happens to be a favourite melody with him. The
chapel servants are seated on either side, and one
of them having rung the bell the doors are opened
and the people enter, headed by the children. But
these are not the grimy, filthy Eskimos of the
early days of Moravian mission toil. They look
quite clean in their white sillapaks relieved by black
or red braiding; the hair of the women neatly
arranged, the faces of the children fresh and clean,
with rare exceptions. The doors having been closed
the missionary enters; the voluntary ceases, and a
hymn is announced, when the rafters ring with the
voice of praise. The hymn ended the congregation

3n Xabraoor 2g
rises and the missionary offers a short prayer.
Then the text is announced and the sermon
delivered. The speaker may sometimes blunder by
misplacing some of the numerous verbal affixes,
and even say the exact opposite of what he means;
but the people sense it readily and do not even
smile, although the statement may be ridiculous.
The sermon will last twenty minutes, and much
of it will be remembered and quoted verbatim.
Then the Lord's Prayer, the benediction, and a
hymn will bring the service to a close.
For more than 120 years this wonderful Mission
has been linked to Europe by the Society's ship,
called by various names, but most frequently the
Harmony. The present vessel can both steam and
sail, and is able to travel in all varieties of weather.
She leaves London in the end of June, returning
towards the close of December, and her annual visit
is the one great event of the year in Labrador. The
story of these vessels is full of romance. What
hairbreadth escapes and wonderful deliverances are
recorded ! Storms and icefloes and ice have threat
ened the life of the messenger of Peace, and not
always has she won through. Three vessels, the
Cordelia, an auxiliary cargo schooner, the Meta, a
coasting vessel,1 and the Dottie were lost, and
yet the record is a wonderful one. Let it not be
forgotten that the children of the missionaries have
to be sent to Europe to be educated, and are often
never seen by the parents again. This is part of
the price these devoted men and women agree to
pay. 1 " Fall of Torngak," page 266.

CHAPTER III.
in four continents.
North America.
As might be expected, the Moravian Missions
among the North American Indians readily lend
themselves to romance. All good Methodists are
familiar with the part played by the Moravians in
the conversion of John Wesley. The famous Peter
Bohler was pastor of the little colony of Moravians
near Savannah, and subsequently missions were
commenced among the Red Men. First, there was
the mission on an island in the river Ogeechee ; then
another among the Creeks; and later a third at
Bethlehem, in Pennsylvania. When Count
Zinzendorf visited Bethlehem in 1742, he was filled
with astonishment at the success of the work.
Under the devoted labours of Christian Henry
Rauch, thirty-one converts had been baptised, and
degraded savages had been transformed into devout
Christians. Among the Six Nations there was the
marvellous work of David Zeisberger, who toiled
among the Red Men for sixty years, and died at
eighty-seven, blind and wasted, but with a heart

3n ffour Continents 31
glowing to the last with an intense love to the
Indians. Disaster came upon all these and other
missions that had been established, through the
hostility of the whites or the wars between Ameri
cans and English. Time after time the mission
was destroyed and the people scattered, and again
and again the converts flocked to the side of the
missionary. The last devastation was caused by
the civil war, the Cherokee mission, from its geo
graphical position, being involved in the struggle.
The missionaries throughout these perilous times
were often in danger, and some of them were mur
dered. No adequate record has ever been made
of their toils and sufferings. The Mohicans, the
Delawares, the Iroquois, the Chippeways, the
Cherokees and other tribes heard the Gospel from
the lips of these devoted men, and many converts
were made ; but with the steady wasting of the
Indians the missions were bound to dwindle, and
the transfer of the Missions to the Canadian Metho
dist Episcopal Church, at the beginning of the
present century, severed the last link of this devoted
Church with the Red Men of the North American
continent. But the record of the brave men who
counted not their lives dear unto them, and amid
hardship and suffering and peril bore the message
of salvation to these degraded Indian tribes, and
then finally saw their converts scattered and their
work apparently undone, is on high, and not a
few will be the crown of their rejoicing in the day
of the Lord.

32 XTbe "Romance of /fcooern /iDisslons
Central America.
Not less remarkable have been the missions of
the Moravians in Central America, begun in that
famous year, 1735. Surinam has long been a well-
known name in the annals of the Church's mis
sions. The place is situated in Dutch Guiana.
The first mission to Berbice was maintained for ten
years, but ultimately proved abortive. Three years
after the opening of this mission another was
opened at Pilgerhut, on the banks of the Wironje.
The missionaries, Giittner and Dahne, supported
themselves, and so could only give part of their
time to visiting and preaching and learning the
language of the Arawack Indians. In 1748 the first
convert was baptised. A remarkable missionary
arrived on the scene in the person of Solomon
Schumann, whose energy and linguistic gifts
enabled him within a few months to preach in the
Arawack tongue, and soon there were between two
and three hundred Christians. By 1753 there were
several Indian assistants able to preach, and a mem
bership of 260. But infectious diseases and un
favourable agricultural conditions scattered the
flock. By 1757 famine and pestilence and an in
cursion of Bush-Negroes completed the ruin of the
station. In that year Sharon was commenced in
Surinam, and a tribe of the Caribs was showing
considerable receptivity for the Gospel when an
attack of Bush-Negroes in 1761 ended in the
destruction of the village, the burning of the
mission-house and the dispersal of the inhabitants.

5n Jour Continents 33
An attempt was made to revive the mission, but in
1779 it had to be abandoned.
The story of the founding of Ephrem is full of
romance. It was commenced by Dahne, who took
with him a few Christian Indians to assist in build
ing the hunt. When that work was completed
they all deserted him and he was left alone in the
dense forest. There for two years he lived alone
surrounded by savage Indians and wild beasts.
But he was marvellously preserved, and preaching
when opportunity offered, he had the joy, in 1759,
of seeing several Indian families build huts near
his solitary abode, and thus was enabled to found
a mission. What a journal he could have written
of the experiences of those two solitary years ! In
1763 the mission was destroyed by the Bush-
Negroes, and the remnant of the congregation
transferred to Hoop, two years later. After varying
fortunes, due to the turbulence of the people and
the physical break-down of the missionaries, the
premises were destroyed by fire in 1808, and reluc
tantly this mission among the Indians of South
America was abandoned. All that remain of the
once thriving station are the graves of the faithful,
and some faint traces of the mission gardens; but
who shall say the work was in vain ? In any case
no more romantic or heroic enterprise can be found
in the annals of Christian missions. It was through
three hundred miles of jungle and swamp these
brave men had to force their way that they might
minister to the degraded Indian tribes. And they
found a sphere among the neediest of the human c

34 XEbe Romance of dDooern /BMssions
race : among the Accawois, who were little better
than professional assassins; among the Warrows,
who wallowed in marshes as well as in evil ; among
the Caribs, with whom wizardry and familiar spirits
had their home. What perils were encountered,
what strange deliverances were experienced !
There is the story of Christopher Dahne, whose
two years in a lonely hut has been referred to.
One evening a snake suddenly glided down from
the roof of his hut, and having bit him twice or
thrice coiled itself round his body. What was the
thought of that brave herald of the Cross at that
moment ? Not of himself but of the people he had
come to save. What if he died? It would be
rumoured that the natives had killed him. Seizing
a piece of chalk he wrote on the table, ' A serpent
has killed me.' Then there flashed into his mind
the words, 'They shall take up serpents; and if
they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them.'
Seizing the serpent, he flung it from him, and then
lay down to sleep in perfect peace. Next morning
he awoke feeling quite well, and went about his
work as usual. For twenty-s6ven years Dahne
laboured among the Arawack Indians.
The mission on the Moskito Coast, Central
America, dates only from 1848, so it lacks the
special interest attaching to those missions that
belong to the period before the great missionary
movement of the other Churches. Two of the mis
sionaries of Jamaica undertook a voyage of ex
ploration to the Moskito coast in 1847, a°d as the
result of their inquiries it was decided the follow-

5n Jfour Continents 35
ing year to commence a mission. The missionaries
reached Blewfields in 1849, and on a plot of ground
given by the king a missionary residence and
church were erected. A day school was opened and
soon had over seventy pupils, among whom one
of the Indian king's sisters acted as monitor, while
the king and his three sisters all became pupils of
the missionaries. The first baptism of a negro
woman took place in October of the same year. It
was chiefly for the Indians that the mission had
been commenced, and work was begun ere long
among those who settled near Blewfields. But it
was not easy to influence a race whose wants were
limited to a bow and arrows, or a gun, a canoe,
an axe, a pot, a plate or two, a hammock, with a
wrapper round the loins as the sole garment; and
who objected to work for what they did not actually
require. But the work was never lost sight of, and
with the opening of a larger church at Blewfields,
in 1853, the first fruits were gathered in the baptism
of the Princess Matilda, half-sister of the king.
By 1857 tbe missionaries began to preach in the
Indian language, and a school-house for Indian
boys was built.
With a view to learning more about the in
habitants along the coast a small schooner, The
Messenger of Peace, was built at Blewfields, at the
expense of friends at Zeyst in Holland, and proved
of much service. The Indians were found in small
and scattered communities, some rearing horses and
cattle on the wide savannahs, all of them heathen
of a very low and degraded type. In the meantime

36 "Cbe "Romance of flbooern /IDissions
two new stations had been opened — Magdala, on
Pearl Key Lagoon, twenty miles from Blewfields,
and Ramah, on Ramah Key, fifteen miles south of
Blewfields, and Indian converts began to be made.
At Ramah a set of drunken savages were trans
formed into decent, sober people, nearly all of
whom had been admitted to the Church by baptism.
A new station called Ephrata was opened a few
miles south of Cape Gracios a Dios, among the
drunken, lazy, degraded Indians. We read of con
versions by 1862, and of numbers of villages round
Ephrata being brought within the range of Chris
tian influence. The missionaries travelled to and
fro on horseback, on foot, or by canoe, through
rivers, swamps, creeks, dense forests and wide
savannahs, generally under a burning sun, and
occasionally under a tropical rainfall. The Train
ing Institution was transferred from Blewfields
to Magdala, and preaching and translation work
went steadily on. A new Messenger of Peace, the
gift of friends in England, took the place of the
schooner of that name in 1863, and rendered splen
did service in the development and extension of the
work. Another station, Bethany, was opened
several miles from Magdala. There were now six
stations, seven missionaries and their wives, and
six hundred persons attached to the church.
On the night of October 18th, 1865, a terrific
hurricane swept over the country, wrecking prac
tically the whole of the house property, including
nearly all the mission premises. Soon the lagoon
was breeding a pestilence with its dead fish ;

5n ifour Continents 37
jaguars, peccaries, and other wild animals came
close to human abodes in search of food, and but
for the timely arrival of a schooner, driven to Blew
fields by contrary winds, famine would have swept
most of the population away. By degrees the mis
sion premises were restored, and gracious revivals
among the Indians were experienced. If the com
plete history of this mission on the Moskito coast
could be told, it would furnish one of the most
thrilling and wonderful narratives of missionary toil
and trial and triumph on record.
Paramaribo, the capital of Surinam, and of
Dutch Guiana, is a town of broad, tree shaded
streets and wooden houses, with an atmosphere like
that of a hothouse and vapour-bath combined. In
1884 it had a population of 24,536, and Chambers'
Encyclopaedia tells us that ' the Herrnhuters or
Moravian Brethren are a strong body in the town.'
But what a story of toil and suffering lies behind
that statement. When the Moravians began their
work in 1735 the population was not more than
12,000. The missionaries worked at their trades.
In 1776 the first negro convert was baptised, and
the interval was a period of foundation work. Two
years later, when a Church was built, fifty-two
negroes and mulattoes were under the care of the
mission, of whom eighteen were baptised. The
work steadily grew and found favour with the
Governor, who occasionally attended the services;
but not a few proprietors punished their slaves for
entering the church.
In 1779 Mr. Palmer, proprietor of the Fairfield

38 Gbe "Romance of /iDooern ilbissions
Estate, requested the missionaries to supply his
negroes with the Gospel, which was the beginning
of a work destined to assume large proportions.
From 1793 onwards the S.F.G. supported the mis
sion liberally, and by the year 1800 there were
315 converts at Paramaribo, and 90 on the Fairfield
and adjoining estates. The publication, in 1821, of
the Four Gospels in Negro-English greatly helped
the work of the missionaries, and of still greater
service was the publication, in 1831, by the British
and Foreign Bible Society, of the New Testament
in Negro-English. A seminary for schoolmasters
was opened in 1851, by which time there were
17,000 converts, scattered over a large district, and
a congregation of 5,000 in the town itself. There
were 27,000 persons in Church-connection, in 1862,
when the emancipation of the slaves took place.
Under the changed conditions involved in the
liberation of the slaves there was considerable un-
settlement for a time; but the crisis was safely
passed and the work has been carried on ever since.
Some allusion has already been made to the
bush-negroes. In 1712, when an invasion was
threatened by a French fleet, the Dutch proprietors
removed their slaves up the country to be out of
reach of the enemy. When the danger was past
the slaves refused to return to bondage, and, after
vain efforts to re-conquer them, they were allowed
to retain their independence. Christopher Dahne
and two other missionaries were commissioned to
open a mission among these people in 1765. The
deadly climate, the opposition of priests and sor-

3n jfour Continents 39
cerers, and the darkest heathenism, made the mis
sion one of unusual difficulty. The first convert,
a chief called Arabi, was won in 1771, and by slow
degrees a little congregation was gathered. The
mission, which was located at Bambey, on the
Suriname, underwent various vicissitudes, and was
sometimes almost extinct; but it often revived in
the most remarkable way, and has been carried
on to this day. There are four stations, and Koffy-
camp, Gansee, Geojaba, and Maripastoon are
familiar names to the readers of the ' Periodical
Accounts,' which narrate the doings of Moravian
missionaries. South Africa.
Not less remarkable is the story of Moravian mis
sions in South Africa. The work began at the
Cape of Good Hope in 1737, when George Schmidt
arrived as the first representative of his Church
in the Colony. The Dutch Boer treated the Hot
tentots and Bushmen with contempt and cruelty.
Christianity was for white people and not ' black
cattle.' The moral and physical degradation of the
natives can scarcely be imagined. George Schmidt
was a remarkable man. He was only twenty-seven,
but had already spent six years in chains in a
Bohemian prison ' for the sake of the Gospel.' He
was poor and uneducated, but full of zeal for the
Gospel. How in the face of the derision and oppo
sition of the Boers he commenced his mission is a
deeply interesting story. Hostile farmers soon got

4o ttbe "Romance of flbobern /Ibissions
him transferred to Bavinskloof, or Ape Valley,
where they thought they had got rid of him. Little
did they dream of the part Bavinskloof was to play
in the coming time. Schmidt built himself a hut
and laid out a garden, to the wonder of the Hotten
tots. He won their confidence and liking. A
school was commenced and the first convert bap
tised in 1742. Others followed, and the news pro
duced a commotion at Cape Town. The chaplain
of the fort summoned the converts before him for
examination, and, finding they could intelligently
answer his questions, reported favourably of them ;
but the Governor was induced to forbid Schmidt
to baptise. The story of the following years can
only be summarised : how opposition compelled
Schmidt to return to Europe in 1744 in the hope
of getting redress; how, failing, he returned to his
humble occupation of a day-labourer and died in
1785 still full of faith and hope for his beloved
Hottentots, for whom he had never ceased to pray ;
how, after the lapse of half a century, opinion in
Holland and at the Cape becoming more favour
able, other missionaries were sent to Bavinskloof,
where they found only one pear-tree remaining, but
now grown to noble dimensions, and under whose
spreading and fruitful branches all gatherings for
church work were held for the next five years until
a Church was built ; and once more the work went
forward. The mission with its trees, its gardens,
its water-course, its workshops, astonished and de
lighted all who visited Bavinskloof, and in 1793
several new converts were baptised.

3n jfour Continents 41
Then once more troubles threatened the mission,
but at the darkest hour deliverance came. The
Colony was taken possession of by the English, and
the lowering heavens became radiant with light.
In 1800 a Church was opened large enough to ac
commodate all the inhabitants of the station, which
now numbered 1,200 persons. From 1802-6 the
Dutch again held the Colony, but did not interfere
with the mission. From that time onward it has
been held by the English, and a new era dawned
for the Moravians in South Africa. Bavinskloof
became Genadendal, or Grace Vale, and a second
station was founded, forty miles north of Cape
Town, and subsequently known as Mamre. A third
station was formed on the White River in 1818,
and in 1823 a missionary was appointed at the re
quest of the Governor for the leper hospital at
Hemel-en-Aarde, in which connection devoted and
successful service has been rendered. Elim, forty
miles south-east of Genandendal, was founded in
1824, and ultimately far exceeded the other churches
in the strength and beauty of its material building.
It is significant that the work was done entirely by
Hottentots. A Training School for teachers was
added at Genadendal in 1838, the year in which the
slaves were emancipated, a change which for a time
meant unrest and difficulty. Another station at
Berea was formed in 1865, along with other exten
sions to relieve overgrown existing stations. By
the aid of industrial branches worked at the stations
the South African mission-field has for some years
paid its own expenses.

42 ftbe "Romance of flbooern flbtsstons
As early as 1828 a mission was commenced
among the Kaffirs, 120 miles north-east of Port
Elizabeth. The romance of difficulty is to be met
with abundantly in connection with this mission,
for the thievish Fetkannas and the stolid mendicity
of the Tambookies did not prove fruitful soil.
Shiloh, as the mission was called, had its share of
danger from the fierce Bowana and his son Mapasa ;
but the interpreter, Wilhelmina, was a source of
protection and blessing to the mission. On a
memorable occasion she faced the fierce and cruel
chiefs, and with scathing eloquence upbraided them
for their abominable treachery and wicked designs.
But success came, and by 1835 Missionary Bonatz
preaches, in Kaffir; the story of our Lord's Passion
and death have been translated ; a Tambookie uses
a plough, and another assists at the funeral of a
Hottentot. At the station were 340 Tambookies
and 162 Hottentots, quite as many as could be
accommodated at the new church, which was con
secrated the following year. The erection of a
corn-mill by Bonatz was as great a delight as it was
a convenience to the natives. The Kaffir wars of
1846 and 1850 were disastrous to the mission, and
Shiloh was destroyed early in 185 1. By the month
of April the place was, however, re-occupied, and
with the death of Mapasa, the same year, the
greatest enemy of Shiloh was removed. From this
time the mission continued its work. New stations
were opened, some of which, however, were
destroyed during the Basuto war of 1880, and by
1882 the Moravians had in South Africa 14 stations,

5n Jour Continents 43
ir>705 persons in Church connection, of whom
2,749 were communicant members.
Australia.
Few less promising fields of labour could be
imagined than that among the aborigines of Austra
lia. Socially, morally, physically they are among
the lowest races of humanity. The ' noble savage '
certainly was never found in Australia. This is so
well known that we need not enlarge on it ; nor
yet on the long and tragic warfare between the
white and the blacks. There have been outrages
on both sides, and their contact with civilisation has
rendered the last state of the aborigines worse than
the first. In 185 1 a mission was opened on the
shores of Lake Boga, two hundred miles from
Melbourne. The lake, which is nine miles long,
furnished the natives with abundance of fish, and
the emu and the opossum were to be found in the
neighbourhood. The soil proved productive, and
here, as in nearly every quarter of the globe, the
Moravian missionaries made the desert to rejoice
and blossom as the rose. Before any spiritual fruits
could be reaped difficulties occurred with gold dig
gers who passed the station. Station fences were
repeatedly destroyed, and failing to obtain redress,
the missionaries in 1856 withdrew without waiting
for authority from headquarters. For this rash step
they were severly censured. In 1858 the Moravian
missionaries were again in Melbourne and the mis
sion station was transferred to the banks of the

44 Cbe "Romance of flbooern jUMssions
Wimmera, where difficulties with white men were
not likely to occur. In 1859 the mission was opened
and has progressed with varying fortunes ever
since. Subsequently another station was opened,
and by 1881 there were 118 native converts, of
whom 23 were communicants. Asia.
Count Zinzendorf was like John Wesley, he
counted the world his parish. Very early in the
great missionary movement of the Moravian
Church he looked with a longing eye on the con
tinent of Asia. In 1735 a brother was sent to
St. Petersburg to spy out the lands to the east of
Russia, and to ascertain whether China could be
reached by the caravans. Evidently his report was
favourable, for the next year saw three brethren
start for Siberia, to preach the Gospel to the heathen
on the shores of the Arctic Ocean. But they were
sent back after suffering a term of imprisonment.
What a romance of peril and suffering must lie
behind that simple statement. But this was only
the beginning. Six years later a missionary was
sent out for China, accompanied by other two whose
mission was to the Calmucks. None of the three
ever arrived, and that is all we know. After a
long period of suffering, Dr. Kreigelstein died in
a Russian prison at Kasan ; and yet another,
Ruffer, encountered such hardships on his return
from Ispahan that he, too, died. Two missionaries,
Neitz and Hamel, were sent in 1764 to open a mis-

3n jfour Continents 45
sion among the Calmuck Mongols in the Steppes
at the confluence of the Sarpa with the Wolga,
where a Moravian settlement was formed called
Sarepta. They lived in native fashion among the
horde of a Calmuck prince, moving from place to
place with their felt tent. But, like James Gilmour
long afterwards, they found these Calmuck
Buddhists inaccessible to the Gospel. If these two
men could have written a full account of their ex
periences it would probably have rivalled ' Among
the Mongols.' But like so many of these Moravian
missionaries, they could toil and suffer and die,
but not tell the world in any adequate fashion their
wonderful story.
But in 1823 Messrs. Schill and Hubner renewed
the attempt. They carried with them copies of the
Calmuck New Testament, and after some years of
arduous toil twenty-three converts were gathered.
Two Mongolian noblemen, while translating the
Gospels into Mongolian under the superintendence
of missionary Schmidt, were brought to the light,
and the letter they sent to the missionaries, when
communicated to the Calmucks, produced a deep
impression. But the priests stirred up persecution
against them, and suddenly in 1822 a Government
edict commanded the brethren to hand over their
converts to the Greek Church and retire. Brethren
from the settlement at Sarepta from time to time
have visited the wandering hordes in order to make
known to them the Gospel, but nothing further was
done until 1850, when a visit to Herrnhut by the
Chinese missionary, Dr. Gutzlaff, led the Board

46 "Cbe Romance of flbooem Amissions
to attempt to open a mission among the Mongols
of North China.
After some study of Mongolian, and of medicine
and surgery, Messrs. J. E. Pagell and A. W.
Heyde set forth on their long journey, August ist,
1853. The necessary passports for travelling
through Russian territory to Mongolia were re
fused, so they had to take another route. By April
of the following year they reached Kotghur, a
week's journey north-east of Simla, where the mis
sionary of the Church Missionary Society welcomed
them and rendered every assistance in his power.
Hindostani, English, and Mongolian, all had to be
acquired, or perfected, and in the last-named lan
guage a Tibetan Lama was of great service. By
March, 1855, they felt themselves sufficiently
equipped for their work. Very fascinating must
have been the story of their journey over the
Rotang Pass, 13,600 feet high, and thence by
perilous paths to Leh, where they found not a single
Mongolian among its four thousand people. Cross
ing the Kailas range (18,000 feet), and skirting
the Pangong Lake, they reached the borders of the
Chinese province of Ruduk. All attempts to pro
ceed further were frustrated, and they were com
pelled to return to Kotghur, after a seven months'
fruitless journey. Nay, not fruitless, for much
valuable information was obtained, which after
wards proved useful.
As the Moravian Mission among the Mongols
could not be established, the two brethren ulti
mately settled at Kyelang, in the province of

3n your Continents 47
Lahoul, British India, only 150 miles distant from
Leh and Simla, but quite a fortnight's journey
owing to the lofty mountain ranges. Lying on the
great north road the place affords opportunity for
intercourse with a great variety of peoples. Can
the reader imagine the building of the mission pre
mises ? It was slow and costly, for all the material
had to be carried on men's heads from a distance.
Curiously enough some lamas assisted in the work.
The winter of 1856 was again spent at Kotghur in
linguistic study and in gaining such practical skill
as experience had shown to be needed. A very
remarkable missionary joined them in the follow
ing March, a philosophical and linguistic genius.
H. A. Jaeschke, in addition, united the quiet dig
nity of a philosopher with the simplicity and
humility of a true Christian. Next summer while
his Colleagues were completing the house this man
took up his abode with a Tibetan farmer, near Leh,
where he learned the language. At the end of a
year he addressed himself to translation, and a
printing press was set up in the winter of 1859.
Now we follow with keen interest the progress
of this remarkable Himalayan mission, 10,000 feet
above the level of the sea. We watch the mis
sionaries visiting the surrounding villages, preach
ing from flat roofs to willing hearers, making ex
tensive tours lasting for weeks, partly on foot, with
supplies of tracts carried on the backs of yaks;
we note how monks and merchants, villagers and
townspeople, in tents and bazaars, in monasteries
and by the wayside, hear the Gospel message — the

48 Woe Romance of tf&obern flbissions
ecclesiastics sometimes trying an argument with
the missionaries, the common people describing
themselves as stupid as beasts and unable to under
stand. Gradually the missionaries gained an ex
tensive knowledge of the religious system with
which they had to deal, and so secured increased
fitness for their work. It was a varied ministry that
they exercised, preaching, circulating the Scrip
tures, healing and teaching the young, to say noth
ing of the daily living the Gospel.
By slow degrees the stolid indifference of the
people gave way, and inquirers began to seek to
know more of the way. Then opposition was
stirred up, and a lama who had showed signs of
conversion was murdered. After eleven years of
toil the first convert was baptised. A second station
was opened at Poo, nearer the Chinese frontier of
Tibet, and here the first baptism took place in 1868.
A notable event was the conversion of the son of a
high lama of Lhassa. This man came to Poo in
search of the peace his soul craved ; heard the
Gospel ; studied the Scriptures, and became a sin
cere Christian. Subsequently at Kyelang he ren
dered great service in translating in Tibetan, and
took every opportunity of preaching to his coun
trymen. It was not till 1879 that the first conver
sion of a native of Lahoul occurred. By 1882
thirty-four converts in all had been received in this
Himalayan mission.
We have only sketched the story of these early
Moravian missions, and given more space to the
Tecord than we could well afford on account of the

3n jfour Continents 49
bearing this work has, direct and indirect, on the
great modern Missionary movement dating from
the closing years of the eighteenth century. We
have wished again and again that space would have
allowed us to tell the whole story, so full of
romance and thrilling adventure, of dauntless
heroism and marvellous patience. Mighty indeed
must have been the spiritual impulse that within
a few years sent forth missionaries to nearly every
quarter of the globe. Greenland's icy mountains
and Labrador's rock-bound coast; the isles of
romance in the West and the ancient lands of
mystery in the East ; the vast prairies of the North
American continent, the fever swamps and savan
nahs of Central America; the steppes of Siberia,
the plains of Mongolia, the wilds of Tibet, the
South African veldt and the Australian bush alike
beckoned these brave and devoted missionaries of
the Cross. Sometimes they reached their objective
and succeeded, and at other times failed. Here the
tyrannous hand of Russia arrested their steps, and
there the guarded frontiers of China turned them
back. The Dutch Boer in South Africa and the
gold-seeker in Australia for a time hindered their
work ; but nothing could quench their ardour, and
no barriers of race or colour could limit their benefi
cent ministries.
Within twenty-five years more than a hundred
single men had been sent forth as messengers to
the heathen. The first Jubilee saw 165 brethren
and sisters labouring on twenty-seven mission
stations. At the Centenary there were forty-one n

50 Wot Romance of fl&ooern /Missions
stations, and 209 agents had the care of 40,000
souls; while by the third Jubilee these had grown
to 115 centres, 312 missionaries, having under their
care 76,646 souls. All this was not done without
cost. No fewer than 160 missionaries gave their
lives for this work in the West Indies during the
first fifty years ;and in the same period nearly every
convert that died in the faith in Surinam was at
the cost of a missionary's life. But never through
the years was there any lack of labourers ready to
volunteer for the front. The churches at home and
the missionaries abroad alike had to bear the chas
tening of disappointment. Decimating epidemics,
devastating hurricanes and earthquakes swept over
the missions, destroying the property or scatter
ing the converts ; the flames of war have written
many blood-stained pages in this wonderful history,
and the folly and sin of a few agents have stained
the record here and there; but the patience and
faith of the Moravian saints never failed. New
stations rose on the ruins of the old; the scattered
converts were gathered together in fresh centres;
the lean years were followed by those of glorious
revival and astonishing progress, and still the work
has swept onward.
Pioneers have ever to pay a high premium for
their experience, as the story unfolded in the fore
going pages has shown. When the great mission
ary movement began in the other Churches it was
no small advantage to be able to fall back on the
experience of the Moravians. Very simple and in
expensive were the first missions. Once arrived at

3n jfour Continents 51
their fields of labour the missionaries sustained
themselves by the labour of their own hands. As
the work grew the Church recognised the duty of
supporting it. But the industrial side of the work
has been a feature all along. Axe and plough and
plane and trowel, with the saw and the mill-wheel,
have been used as well as the Bible. Thus every
station has become a centre of civilisation.
What of the whole field to-day? Let the
eloquent historian of the Moravian Church answer.
' There are now fourteen Provinces in the Mission
field, and attractive is the scene that lies before us.
We sail on the Harmony to Labrador, and see
the neatly built settlements, the missionary in his
dog-drawn sledge, the sturdy Eskimos, the squat
little children at the village schools, the fathers and
mothers at worship in the pointed church, the
patients waiting their turn in the surgery in the
hospital at Okak. We pass on to Alaska, and
steam with the Brethren up the Kuskokwim River.
We visit the islands in the West Indies, where
Froude, the historian, admired the Moravian
schools, and where his only complaint about these
schools was that there were not enough of them.
We pass on to California, where the Brethren have
a modern Mission among the Red Indians; to the
Moskito Coast, once the scene of a wonderful re
vival ; to Paramaribo, in Surinam, the city where
the proportion of Christians is probably greater
than in any other city in the world; to South
Africa, where it is commonly reported that a Hot
tentot or a Kaffir Moravian convert can always be

52 Zbc "Romance of /IDooern /HMssions
trusted to be honest ; to German East Africa, where
the Brethren took over the work at Urambo at the
request of the London Missionary Society ; to North
Queensland, where the natives were once so de
graded that Anthony Trollope declared that the
"game was not worth the candle," where Moravians
now supply the men and Presbyterians the money,
and where the visitor gazes in amazement at the
" Miracle Mapoon " ; and last to British India, near
Tibet, where, perched among the Himalayan moun
tains, the Brethren in the city of Leh have the
highest missionary station in the world.'
Before we pass on to the great Missionary move
ment which began with William Carey it is only
fitting that the influence of the Moravians on that
movement should be clearly indicated. It has been
shown that William Carey was not the first foreign
missionary of modern times. Nor was he the first
Englishman to go out in that capacity. English
Moravian Brethren had laboured as foreign mis
sionaries in Antigua, in Jamaica, in St. Kitts, in
Barbadoes, in Labrador, long before William Carey
was heard of. And Carey himself owed his in
spiration partly to them. In his immortal pam
phlet, ' An Enquiry into the Obligations of Chris
tians to use Means for the Conversion of the
Heathen,' reference is made to their work; and
throwing down on the table, in the ever-memorable
meeting at Kettering, some numbers of the
' Periodical Accounts,' the missionary magazine of
the Moravian Church, he exclaimed : ' See what the
Moravians have done ! Can we not follow their

3n jfour Continents 53
example, and in obedience to our Heavenly Master
go out into the world and preach the Gospel to
the heathen ? ' ' Thank you ! Moravians, ' said
Marshman, one of Carey's companions to India,
' You have done me good. If I am ever a mis
sionary worth a straw I shall, under our Saviour,
owe it to you.'
One of the founders of the London Missionary
Society, Rowland Hill, corresponded with one of
the Moravian missionaries in Antigua; and at all
the meetings of the founders quotations from the
' Periodical Accounts ' were given to enforce the
arguments advanced. Finally, the founders ad
dressed a series of eleven questions to La Trobe,
the Moravian editor; and the first missionaries of
the L.M.S. went out with Moravian instructions in
their pockets. It was the exploits of the Moravians,
told him by his mother, that first awakened Mis
sionary zeal in Robert Moffatt. These are only a
few of the evidences of the part played by the
Moravians in starting the great modern missionary
movement of the Church, and the author rejoices
to be able to bring before his readers some account
of their marvellous achievements.
Methodists especially will be particularly glad to
read these pages. Humanly speaking the great
Methodist Church and the Evangelical Revival
would have been impossible had it not been for
the influence of Peter Bbhler and the Moravians on
John Wesley. From them Wesley learned the way
of salvation by faith, and found that assurance
which gave him the dynamic for his great work of

54 Woe "Romance of /Hbooern /Missions
evangelism. Who has not read the story of the
storm during Wesley's voyage to America, and his
astonishment at the calmness, and the utter absence
of fear, on the part of the Moravians on board.
How memorable are the conversations with Peter
Bohler in London on Scripture, experience, and
faith, issuing finally in that never-to-be-forgotten
evening on the 24th May, 1738, in Aldersgate
Street, when, a quarter before nine, Wesley's heart
was strangely warmed.
To this people, therefore, the world is largely in
debted not merely for the great missionary move
ment which has done so much for modern Christen
dom as well as heathenism, but also for that great
Evangelical revival without which no such mis
sionary movement would have been possible. Let
it never be forgotten, either, that Wesley himself
visited Herrnhut, where he gained such a quicken
ing of the life of God in his spirit as made him
a new man, and that he saw among them principles
and details of organisation which he afterwards
used. There, too, he met Christian David, the
humble Moravian carpenter and missionary, ' who
was as an angel of God to him,' and with
out the memory of whom, perhaps, Wesley
might not so readily have seen his way to
the employment of preachers who had never
been Episcopally ordained. And so from this
link connecting the Evangelical revival and the
modern missionary movement with the Reforma
tion, we pass to the great movement itself, and all
the glorious fruits it was destined to bear.

BOOK II.

Of tbe Baptist Missionary
Society

CHAPTER I.
IN INDIA.
While to one man the credit is mainly due of
having forced on an unwilling Church the question
of Missions to the heathen, thereby awakening the
whole of Christendom to the duty that had been so
long neglected, it should never be forgotten that
the Spirit of God was at work at this period in
many hearts. The work of William Carey was so
memorable and epoch-making that he will ever be
regarded as the ' Father and Founder of Modern
Missions,' but still he was not first in the field.
It is true that he was chiefly instrumental in form
ing that first Missionary Society which became the
ideal and inspiration of those which ere long fol
lowed; but as early as 1736 'The Society for the
Propagation of the Gospel ' sent John Wesley as a
missionary to Georgia. Then we read of ' A Plan
of the Society for the Establishment of Missions
among the Heathen,' signed by Thomas Coke and

56 Woe "Romance of fltooern Missions
Thomas Parker, with a first list of subscriptions,
dated 1784. Prior to 1786 Dr. Coke was agitating
for a mission to India. But no such mission was
commenced until 1813, when Dr. Coke and his com
panions sailed for Ceylon. But from 1784 Dr. Coke
had been flashing to and fro across the Atlantic,
prosecuting with flaming enthusiasm his missions
among the West Indian Islands. Then the rapidity
with which the formation of the Baptist Missionary
Society, in 1792, was followed by that of the Lon
don Missionary Society, in 1795, and the Church
Missionary Society, in 1796, serves to show how
widely the Spirit of God had been at work. This
does not, however, rob William Carey of the signal
honour of having applied the match to the spiritual
tinder thus prepared. Nay, we should be disposed
to say that, under God, he had much to do with
the preparation of the tinder itself.
It is wonderful that William Carey should have
risen to such eminence in character, attainments,
and service, from such lowly beginnings ; he never
theless revealed from his earliest years some at
least of the qualities which made him great. His
tenacity of purpose, his determination to master
anything he undertook, his love of botany and
natural history, all revealed themselves in his early
years. Born at Paulerspury, a village three miles
from Towcester, in Northamptonshire, August
17th, 1 761, William Carey had few early advan
tages. His father was a ' tammy ' weaver when
William was born, but six years later became parish
clerk and schoolmaster. From his father the boy

3n Jnola 57
learned the elements of reading, writing, etc., and
soon revealed an unusual thirst for knowledge. An
uncle taught him how to cultivate flowers and plant
trees, little dreaming the boy would come to
eminence in horticulture on the continent of Asia.
At fourteen the youth was sent to earn his living
in the fields, but a skin affection compelled him to
find other employment, and he was apprenticed to
a shoemaker at Hackleton, nine miles distant. The
Greek characters in a commentary owned by his
master led him to begin that study of the classical
languages which was to go on till he became the
greatest Oriental scholar of his age. After the
death of his master Carey became a journeyman
shoemaker, and we have informing glimpses of his
propensity for lying; of his dialectic encounters
with a fellow workman, the son of a Dissenter; of
the influence of this youth in leading him to greater
seriousness of mind ; and of his efforts, like Bunyan
in like circumstances, to establish his own right
eousness. Of this he was cured by a conversation
with a follower of William Law, which discovered
to him his own helplessness and the Omnipotent
grace of the Saviour.
We can only summarise the things that in the
Providence of God continued his development : the
occasional ministry of Thomas Scott, the com
mentator ; the formation of a little Christian church
at Hackleton which called into exercise his gifts of
speech; the influence of the little book, Hall's
' Help to Zion's Travellers ' ; his marriage which,
though unfortunate, must be reckoned among the

58 "Cbe Romance of flbooern Missions
' all things ' ; and his domestic and business trou
bles. We reach another stage and a new set of
influences when Carey meets Andrew Fuller for the
first time at a Baptist Association ; to attend which
he went without his dinner, being too poor to buy
one. That day led him more constantly to exercise
his gifts as a preacher, and this issued in his call
to the pastorate of the little church at Earl's Barton,
in 1785. A larger sphere opened to him at Moul
ton, four miles from Northampton. But a salary of
;£io a year had to be supplemented by teaching,
and that failing, by shoemaking.
Now it was that the great conception which was
to dominate his life dawned upon him. Cook's
voyages, perhaps, first originated the passion.
Then Andrew Fuller's work, ' The Gospel Worthy
of all Acceptation,' set Carey reasoning. If it was
the duty of all men, where the Gospel came, to
believe unto salvation, then it must be the duty of
those who are entrusted with the Gospel to endea
vour to make it known among all nations for the
obedience of faith. It became more and more
evident that Christians were under a solemn respon
sibility to send forth a knowledge of the glad
tidings. Andrew Fuller found Carey with a large
map in front of him in his cobbler's shop. Several
sheets of paper had been pasted together, and on
this was a map of the world, with the facts as to
the people, the population, religion, etc., written
in the area of each country. At meetings of the
Association Carey became known to Andrew Fuller
and others. At one of these meetings, in 1786,

3n Snota 59
while desultory conversation was going on, Mr.
Ryland asked the two junior ministers, Mr. Carey
and Mr. Morris, to propose a question for general
discussion. Carey being pressed, replied by sug
gesting, ' Whether the command given to the
Apostles to " teach all nations," was not obligatory
on all succeeding ministers to the end of the world,
seeing that the accompanying promise was of equal
extent ? ' Mr. Ryland promptly replied that noth
ing could be done before another Pentecost, when
an effusion of miraculous gifts, including the gift
of tongues, would give effect to the commission of
Christ as at first. Some accounts state that Carey
was further snubbed by being told that he was a
' miserable enthusiast for asking such a question ' ;
others that he was told to sit down, for ' when God
pleases to convert the heathen He will do it with
out your aid or mine.' In any case Carey telt
both abashed and mortified.
In 1789 Carey accepted a call to Leicester. All
rebuffs notwithstanding, he continued to ponder the
subject of missions and, in 1791, urged his brethren
at the Association meetings no longer to delay in
the matter of the evangelisation of the heathen. At
the next meeting Carey was one of the preachers,
and delivered his famous sermon on Isaiah liv, 2, 3,
with the memorable divisions, ' Expect great
things from God,' ' Attempt great things for God.'
This produced a deep impression and it was decided
that at the next meeting at Kettering a definite plan
should be considered, for the formation of a society
for propagating the Gospel among the heathen.

60 Woe Romance of /foooern /Missions
Andrew Fuller, who all through warmly sym
pathised with Carey's views, had the honour of
proposing this resolution. On October 2nd, 1792,
twelve or thirteen men met in a Mrs. Wallis's back
parlour after the public services of the day were
ended, and with earnest prayers and solemn vows
took the memorable step of launching the first Mis
sionary Society. The collection amounted to
£13 2s. 6d., and Andrew Fuller was appointed
secretary and Mr. Reynold Hogg treasurer. It was
decided to print the pamphlet Carey had written
while at Moulton, ' An Inquiry into the obligation
of Christians to use means for the Conversion of
the Heathen, in which the religious state of the
different nations of the world, the success of former
undertakings, and the praticability of further under
takings, are considered.' It is a wonderful produc
tion. The extent of its information, the culture and
polish of its style, the wide survey of the world,
' continent by continent, island by island, race by
race, faith by faith, kingdom by kingdom,' would
have done credit to a man of University training;
yet was produced by a humble shoemaker-preacher
in an obscure village, far from libraries, and amid
incessant and exhausting toil. But God had made
this man a prophet of his age, and fired him with
a passionate enthusiasm destined never to wane so
long as life lasted. Amid prejudice and opposi
tion, often on the part of good men, Carey and
his infant Society went forward, and the work thus
begun was destined to grow and spread in the most
astonishing way. Official histories record the

3n 3nota 61
names of the committee and the various steps taken
to carry on the work; but the central figure must
ever be that of the humble Northampton shoemaker,
who dreamed this splendid dream, and led the
Church of God into this world-wide conquest. If
ever the world has witnessed a thrilling romance
it was when it beheld this David of the Churches
standing forth as the champion against the Goliath
of superstititon and idolatry dominating the vast
heathen world.
It is not necessary here to tell the story of how
the infant Society found itself with a small fund,
which seemed to warrant the sending of a mis
sionary to some heathen land. When the hour
came the men were ready. God had been moving
the heart of a Mr. Thomas, a ship surgeon in the
service of the East India Company, with pity for
the people of Bengal. It was decided to employ
Thomas and to find a companion for him. Carey
at once volunteered. ' There is a gold mine in
India,' said Andrew Fuller, after Thomas's account
of the Hindoos had been read, but it seems almost
as deep as the centre of the earth. Who will ven
ture to explore it? ' 'I will venture to go down,
but remember that you must hold the ropes,' was
Carey's instant reply. Presently Mr. Thomas him
self arrived at the meeting at which this talk had
occurred, and Carey rising to his feet the two men
fell on each other's neck and wept.
But now as ever difficulties arose. What seas
of difficulty the Pilgrim Fathers had to encounter
before they were permitted to sail for the new land

62 cbe "Romance of fliooern /Missions
in the West. And these pioneer missionaries had
similar experiences. The East India Company
refused the necessary license. Well, then, the mis
sionaries must go without one ; they must obey God
rather than man. The missionary party embarked
on the Oxford, which was to sail April 3rd, 1793.
But the vessel was delayed for weeks off the Isle
of Wight ; and finally, the captain having received
a communication stating that it was known that a
person was sailing in his ship who had not received
a license from the Directors, the missionary party
were summarily ejected from the ship. Back to
London Carey made his way, cast down but not
destroyed. There information was received of a
Danish East Indiaman about to sail for India, on
which they might obtain a passage. How the
money was found for this new venture is a romance
on which we cannot dwell. Suffice it to say that
on June 13th, 1793, the missionary party, now in
creased by the presence of Mrs. Carey, sailed on
the Kron Princess Maria for the land of their adop
tion. After a stormy passage, in this particular
again resembling the Men of the Mayflower, the
party reached Calcutta on the 9th November.
During the long voyage Carey occupied himself
in learning from Mr. Thomas the Bengalee lan
guage, and this was the beginning of a long series
of brilliant achievements in the languages of the
East. The position of the East India Company is
not so surprising when we remember that of many
people to-day. ' The age was too enlightened for
attempts to make proselytes,' they argued, ' and the

5n Jnbia 63
conversion of fifty or a hundred thousand natives of
any degree of character would be the most serious
disaster that could happen, and they thanked God
that it was impracticable.' What would happen to
the missionaries on landing ? The Danish captain
assured them that if any difficulty arose they would
find sanctuary at the Danish port of Serampore;
and at Serampore they ultimately established them
selves. But not at first. They were permitted to
land at Calcutta, which, however, they found too
expensive, and they moved on to Bendel, a village
close to the town of Hooghly. Pioneers always
have difficulties, and it goes without joying that
the pioneers of the great modern missionary move
ment had their full share. Bendel was found un
suitable and the party returned to Calcutta. This
time of unsettlement was diligently used by Carey
for the study of the language. But he was anxious
to get to work and presently set forth with his
family in a boat, not knowing whither he went,
save that there was some land in the Soonderbuns
which might be obtained rent free for three years.
Eastward they sailed under the guidance of Ram
Bosoo, Carey's linguistic teacher, and after a voy
age of forty miles, a piece of land was selected, and
cleared of jungle. Soon a hut was in course of
erection in a country largely deserted because it was
infested with tigers and other beasts of prey. Cul
tivating the farm and procuring provisions occu
pied much more of Carey's time than he liked to
give to such an occupation, and he yearned for
more leisure for missionary work proper.

64 Woe Romance of /fcooern /Missions
But the abode in the jungle was not to be the
abiding place of the mission. For the necessary
preparatory work another way was opened. A
friend of Mr. Thomas, a Mr. Udny, was an indigo
manufacturer, and offered both the missionaries
posts in his factory at Mudnabatty which would
enable them to support themselves and allow the
greater part of the year to be devoted to the work
of the mission. Soon Carey was able to preach
intelligibly in Bengalee. He commenced a school
and vigorously prosecuted the work of translation,
and the preparation of a grammar and a vocabulary.
Trials came in the form of a spell of fever and then
in the loss of his little boy. No one would make
the coffin, and no Mussulman would dig a grave.
Four at length undertook the work so that they
might share the shame among them, and it was
with the greatest difficulty anyone could be got to
carry the body to the grave.
In 1799, owing to a series of bad seasons and
other disasters, the factory could not be continued,
and Carey suggested to the Society that the plan
adopted by the Moravians should be tried, by which
several missionaries and their wives should live
together on the communal principle. He had now
gained large experience as to the cheapest ways of
living, and would thus be able to adopt the most
economical methods. This plan was approved and
led to the transfer of the Mission to Serampore, a
little Danish settlement on the right bank of the
Hooghly, fifteen miles from Calcutta.
But it may be demanded what had been accom-

311 Jnota 65
#
plished up to this point to encourage the Society
to embark on this larger scheme. The people
who measure things by a material standard would
have found very little. The missionary assets con
sisted of a school for boys who paid no fees and
had to be fed ; but not a single native convert, and
only a few Bengali translations which would cost
a great deal to print. Yet in reality this beginning
was a great thing. Among its later fruits must be
reckoned the prospect to-day of extending
elementary education to the millions of India. One
man had made the literary language of Bengali,
and already translated the Bible into that tongue.
Here was the first Protestant Mission in India,
destined to bear fruit all over the world. The
mere attempt had thrilled many hearts and led one
man to sell all that he had and devote .£35,000 to
the work of Missions ; and the great movement was
started which was in a few years to waken a slum
bering Church to the task she had so long neg
lected. It was a gracious Providence that closed the door
at Mudnabatty and opened one at Serampore.
Necessity it was that drove the missionaries to the
latter place, where their success was to astonish the
world. The story cannot here be told of the steps
which led to the removal to Serampore, but the
hand of Providence is easily seen in them all now —
in the hostility of the East India Company ; in the
American vessel, the Criterion, being placed at the
disposal of the second mission party ; in the abso
lute refusal to allow the party to settle in British

66 Woe "Romance of /Booern /Missions
territory, and the permission to do so at Serampore.
Behold the three missionaries, Carey, Marshman
and Ward, with their wives, established in Seram
pore in accordance with the plan Carey had
sketched ! A spacious house and grounds were
bought for ;£8oo, and here a work was done which
made Serampore a household word for ever
throughout the Christion world. Carey, as we
know, was a linguistic genius. Marshman had
abilities in the same direction which surprised even
Carey. Ward had been a printer and a successful
journalist, and had left a lucrative position to be
come a student for the ministry. One table, one
purse had these missionaries after the manner of
the Moravians, a self-denying, holy, laborious
unity. Marshman and his wife opened a school
which soon brought a revenue of ,£1,000 a year.
The three missionaries made a splendid trio, and
dovetailed into each other in their gifts and services
remarkably. Translation, preaching, printing,
teaching, went on with the utmost regularity
among this Christian brotherhood. For ' they were
of one heart and one soul ; neither said any of them
that ought of the things which he possessed was
his own; but they had all things common.' Dis
interestedness, humility, affectionate esteem, and
whole-hearted consecration, characterised that
Serampore home.
How was it done ? Well, there was a set of rules
for the government of the family. All preached
and prayed in turn; one superintended the affairs
of the family for a month, and then another ; Carey

Jn 3nota 67
was treasurer, and had charge of the medicine
chest; another was librarian. Saturday evening
was devoted to adjusting differences, a hint that
even in this home human nature occasionally
asserted itself. But Saturday evening was devoted
also to mutual pledges to love one another. No
one was to engage in private trade, and all was to
be done for the benefit of the Mission. Here is a
typical day. All rose at 6 and went to work —
Carey to the garden, Marshman to the school, the
rest to the printing office. Family worship at 8,
then breakfast. Afterwards Carey went to transla
tion, Marshman to school, the rest to printing.
Luncheon at 12, the interval till dinner at 3 being
occupied with shaving, bathing, and sleep. After
dinner ' we deliver our thoughts on a text or ques
tion.' There may be talking in Bengali with a
Brahmin ; also Bengali preaching once or twice a
week. Tea would be drunk about 7. There were
others associated in the work of the mission with
these three leaders who rendered valuable service.
The first native convert of North India was partly
the fruit of what we now call medical missions. A
carpenter, Krishnu Pal, had dislocated his arm, and
after Thomas had set it he began to talk with his
accustomed fervour about the folly of idolatry, and
the great truths of Christianity. The man sought
regular instruction, and soon, with another convert,
deliberately broke taste and asked for baptism.
The thing spread abroad, and a mob of two thou
sand people repaired to his house, and dragged him
before the magistrate. The magistrate did what not

68 Cbe Romance of /lDobern /Missions
every English magistrate would have done in simi
lar circumstances, he dispersed the crowd, com
mended the man for obeying his conscience, and
set a sepoy to guard his house. Indeed, many years
later, under British jurisdiction, native Christians
were publicly beaten with canes for refusing to drag
an idol's car. Here it may be observed that the
missionaries owed much to the Danish Government,
and to the King and Queen of Denmark, who were
the friends and protectors of these workers in
Serampore. The baptism of that first convert was
an occasion of great joy, though shadowed by the
insanity of Mr. Thomas and of Mrs. Carey. Hence
with the Divine joy of that day there mingled one
of the greatest human sorrows. The beginning
thus made in the breaking of caste was soon fol
lowed by other cases. Converts from the highest
caste Brahmans were baptised.
Two months later the great work of printing the
Bengali New Testament was completed. The first
copy was placed on the communion table in the
chapel, and a special meeting of the entire mission
was held to give thanks to God. Within three
months of this memorable event Lord Wellesley
appointed Carey teacher of Bengali, then of San
scrit, in the College of Fort William in Calcutta.
The salary, at first ^700, rose with the full profes
sorship finally to j£i,8oo. It was characteristic of
the missionary brotherhood that they should at once
relinquish the occasional pecuniary aid from Eng
land, and increase their princely contributions to
the mission. In the autumn Mr. Thomas passed

3n Jnoia 69
away, though happily not before full mental restora
tion. He was a tireless evangelist, a beloved
physician, with Christ and India ever in his heart;
unselfish, brave, but hasty and imprudent.
The work of the missionaries was soon defined
before them, as it has ever been since — preaching,
teaching and translation, with a specialist in addi
tion whose work combined healing with all three.
But the medical missionary was not at once recog
nised as peculiarly fitted for opening the way for
the Gospel, although it was a medical missionary,
gifted also with a fine vernacular power of popular
preaching, who led the way to India and won the
first convert there. In the work of translation Carey
and his associates achieved marvels. As early as
1804, and before the British and Foreign Bible
Society was founded, it was decided by the mis
sionaries to print the New Testament in seven lan
guages of India by means of their own press.
Verily these pioneers attempted great things for
God! But it must not be supposed there was no oppo
sition. The missionaries had to encounter it in the
bitterest form. This, however, need not surprise
us when we remember that there is opposition still.
And many of the arguments used to-day were used
then. Hinduism ought not to be interfered with
because of its blameless and beautiful character.
Between 1805 and 1813 the opposition was at its
worst. The ' parochial minds of certain vestrymen
who posed as statesmen ' were obsessed with fears
of disaster as the result of the preaching of Chris-

to Ube "Romance of flDooern Amissions
tianity to the natives. First the missionaries were
forbidden to preach in Calcutta, then they were
allowed to do so, but only in private houses; next
they were allowed to preach in chapels; and yet
again all attempts to convert the natives by voice
or pen were to be suppressed. There were no limits
to the abuse rained upon this ' nest of consecrated
cobblers,' Methodist tub preachers and 'apostates
from the anvil and the loom.'
How petty it all looks now in the light of the
splendid results achieved ! Already ' there was
abundant preaching in the Indian vernaculars ' ;
large portions of the Scriptures had been translated
into several of the languages of India; there was
a native church composed of men of the highest as
well as of the lowest caaste, sending out native
evangelists ; the three leaders supported themselves
and jointly contributed thousands a year to the work
of the mission, caring for the ignorant and gather
ing the outcasts into shelter. Most remarkable of
all, Carey was a Professor paid by a hostile Govern
ment, and was complimented by Lord Wellesley in
the presence of the most brilliant assembly in India,
for his proficiency in the languages of the East.
Amid the storm of opposition the work went on.
It was a period of immense literary activity. Carey
was busy with various translations of the Scrip
tures ; Marshman toiled, in addition to all his other
work, at a translation of the Bible into Chinese;
and Ward, while working daily at the press, wrote,
' A View of the History, Literature and Mytho
logy of the Hindoos.' Then the Bengali Bible

3n Jnbta 71
was published. At the end of ten short years all
this had been achieved, and in spite of the opposi
tion of Government, four mission stations had been
established in Bengal, a missionary sent to Patna,
to Rangoon and the confines of Orissa. In Seram
pore there were two hundred members in Church
fellowship, and in Calcutta itself a large church
and congregation, European and native, had been
established. We cannot tell in detail the story of the next
few years : of the fire which destroyed the Seram
pore press and the fruit of twelve laborious years;
of the immediate resumption of the work of trans
lation and printing, and the subscription at home
in fifty days of all the money needed to repair the
loss; of the erection of the handsome buildings
known as Serampore College, costing ,£20,000, of
which sum the missionaries contributed over
;£i5,ooo; of the revision by Parliament of the
Company's charter which opened India to mis
sions, when Wilberforce's praise of Carey rivalled
that of Lord Wellesley, who said as early as 1804,
' I esteem such a testimony from such a man a
greater honour than the applause of Courts and
Parliaments.' Nor would we linger on what is
known as the Serampore controversy, in which a
jealous committee considered the control of the
three missionaries over the mission property too
absolute. They lost sight of the fact that these
men had lived frugally and given of their own
means lavishly to the tune of not less than
£100,000. We hasten to tell of the great work of

72 Woe Romance of flDooern /flMssions
translation that Carey accomplished. The Divine
hand which guided him in youth to acquire a
knowledge of Latin, Greek, Hebrew, French,
Italian and Dutch, was preparing him all uncon
sciously for the great work of his life.
But what a herculean task awaited him in India.
The Bengali translation of the Bible was made
in the jungles of Mudnabatty, and then afterwards
perfected by indefatigable industry. The achieve
ments which followed were prodigious. It is im
possible to convey any idea of the work involved
in the various translations made. It was Carey's
custom to read a portion of Scripture to several
hundreds of the natives, so as to ascertain how
much of it could be understand. Then the people
of India had not one language but many, or at
least the dialects are so diverse that separate trans
lations are required. In the great work all the mis
sionaries had a share, but the larger part was
accomplished by Carey ; and the extent of this work
can only be faintly realised when it is stated that
the Bible, or portions of it, were translated in forty
dialects and languages of the East. The prepara
tion of the various founts of type required for this
work must have involved enormous labour, and the
entire achievement fills the mind with amazement.
But this gigantic task was not enough for the
missionaries. They did so much besides. The
work of teaching and preaching and organisation
would have sufficed for most men ; but they must
launch out into all kinds of other work. Carey was
a philanthropist, who helped to effect the prohibi-

3n Jnbia 73
tion of the sacrifice of children at the great annual
festival. He lent his powerful aid to the abolition
of Suttee : the immolation of widows on the burn
ing pile of their dead husbands, and founded the
Benevolent Institution for Instructing the Children
of Indigent Parents, which continues to this day.
Then Carey was a distinguished naturalist. His
own little room at Paulerspury was converted into
a museum of natural objects, and in this the boy
was father of the man. He delighted in botany
and agriculture, and his practical interest in these
subjects has been of great service to India. At
Serampore he brought a large piece of land into
such excellence of cultivation as to compare favour
ably with the Company's botanical garden at Cal
cutta. Indeed, it is said to have contained the
best and rarest collection of plants in the East.
How one longs to tell of his success in improving
the culture of native plants, and fruits, as well as
in growing fruits and flowers and vegetables im
ported from England. Amongst them came by
chance the seed of an English daisy, of which
James Montgomery wrote : —
Thrice welcome, little English flower,
My mother-country's white and red,
In rose or lily, till this hour,
Never to me such beauty spread ;
Transplanted from thine island bed,
A treasure in a grain of earth,
Strange as a spirit from the dead.
Thine embryo sprang to earth.
Carey's garden was arranged on the Linnasan
system, and the umbrageous avenue he planted is

74 Cbe Romance of /ibooern /Ibisstons
still known as Carey's walk. From his mind sprang
not only the Baptist Missionary Society, but the
Agricultural and Horticultural Society of India,
which to-day has a large membership. In the
Metcalf Hall of that Society there is a marble bust
of Carey as the Founder. Of the three missionaries
who did such marvellous pioneer work, Ward died
of cholera in 1823. Dr. Carey survived till 1834,
and completed forty-one years' magnificent service.
He worked on almost to the end, correcting proof-
sheets when compelled to keep his couch. His in
terest in his garden remained to the end, and
as long as strength permitted he would be drawn
in his chair to his beloved resort. Was it depres
sion, or was it a touch of sardonic humour that led
him to say one day, ' When I am gone, Brother
Marshman will turn the cows into the garden ' ?
Needless to say, Marshman assured him that the
preservation of the garden would be a sacred duty.
His last days were days of extreme weakness, of
quiet trust and deep humility ; and on the 9th June,
1834, in the seventy-third year of his age, his great
spirit passed to the higher service. Marshman
survived till December 5th, 1837. A wonderful
trio these men formed, whose united strength
enabled them to lay broad and deep the founda
tions of Christian Missions in the East. Long
before the close of the nineteenth century the
Baptist Missionary Society had 152 stations in
India, 54 missionaries, 100 native evangelists, a
membership of 4,081, with a Christian community
of over 10,000 persons; nearly 4,000 week-day, and

3n 3uoia 75
over 2,000 Sunday, scholars. The story of Orissa
is told in Chapter IV.
A new India has been coming to birth during the
last few years, and the political changes which
mark the advance of the people have been due in
no small measure to the work set on foot by Carey
and his associates. Many of the cruel evils which
existed a hundred years ago have vanished, and
sati and thuggee seem to belong to some distant
age. Boat-loads of children, stolen, or bought for
a little rice, are no longer brought to Calcutta for
open sale. Infanticide is fast dying out, and the
number of girls to be found in even the smallest
villages is about forty per cent. The New India
has twice the population of Carey's day, and a
transformation has been effected in every direc
tion which promises great things in the future. To
the brave men and women who did this great thing
much of the toil required was homely enough ; to us
it is invested with the afterglow of romance such
as all high and noble deeds acquire, and its splen
dour will never die. As the age of William Carey
recedes into the distance his work will be seen in
truer perspective, and the heroic proportions of the
man will fill the new generations with wonder and
admiration to the end of time.

CHAPTER II.

IN CHINA.

While the name of Dr. Morrison will always be
associated with the cause of Chinese missions, it is
remarkable that, though working on the spot, his
was not the first translation of the Bible into
Chinese. Two years before Morrison completed
his work a version of the whole Scriptures into
Chinese had been made by Dr. Carey's colleague,
Dr. Marshman. When the vast work in which
Dr. Marshman was engaged in India is remembered
it is nothing short of wonderful that he should
have found time to produce a Chinese version of
the Bible. He had never been in China, and there
fore laboured under serious disadvantages. And
yet good judges have bee^h astonished at the ex
cellence of the translation. Probably Dr. Marsh
man and Dr. Morrison were both indebted to the
Catholic translation which existed in the British
Museum in manuscript form. In any case the
achievement was a remarkable one, and formed an
excellent foundation for the commencement of a
mission in China.
The treaties of 1843 and i860 opened China to
missionary enterprise; the former opened five, the
latter twenty-two ports to foreigners, and promised

3n Cbina 77
protection to missionaries and converts. The latter
treaty also gave permission to travel in the interior
under certain conditions.
The Baptist Missionary Society commenced their
work in China with the advantage of having two
missionaries already in possession of the language.
Mr. Kloekers had been employed in China in con
nection with the American Southern Baptists, and
Mr. Hall had belonged to the Chinese Evangelisa
tion Society. These two men were sent out in 1859,
and in 1863 Messrs. Laughton, McMechan and
Kingdon went out to join them. Unfortunately the
Chinese Empire was in the throes of the Tai-ping
Rebellion, which, owing its force mainly to Chris
tianity, aimed at the extirpation of idolatry and the
establishment of a corrupt form of the Christian
religion. The rebel leader was represented as the
brother of Jesus Christ and an object of equal rever
ence. The movement became increasingly corrupt
and cruel, and in the end was crushed by General
Gordon. Mr. Kloekers began work at Shanghai
among the rebels, and was at first warmly wel
comed, but the leaders soon discovered that the
sort of Christianity he taught would not forward
their plans, and demanded its modification. This
being impossible, the work was suspended. By the
time the additional missionaries arrived in China,
Mr. Kloekers had moved on to join Mr. Hall at
Chefoo, only to see him fall a victim to cholera,
as Mrs. Kloekers had done some time before. In
much loneliness he set to work until he was joined
by the three new missionaries. By 1870 three

78 Cbe Romance of /ibooern fl&tssions
additional agents had arrived on the scene, Messrs.
Richard, Beaschlin and Dr. Brown.
The climate and sanitary conditions tried the mis
sionaries terribly. Extreme heat in summer and
extreme cold in winter, with sewers, lacking any
gradient, in the middle of the street, the reeking
filth filling the air with an overpowering stench.
The word should be in the plural, for Chefoo was
like Coleridge's Cologne with —
" Two-and-twenty stenches,
All well denned, and several stinks."
Here Mr. Hall and his child died, and severe
illnesses drove home Kloekers and McMechan
within five years. Mr. Laughton died in 1870, and
deep depression fell upon the Home Committee.
The massacre of Tien-tsin and a wave of anti-
foreign excitement still more deeply depressed the
Chefoo Mission, where death was expected from
hour to hour. In 1875 Chefoo, an unfavourable
position for a mission from every point of view,
was abandoned wisely enough for an inland dis
trict. By this time only one of the original band of
eight remained. Death and discouragement had
weeded out the weak and unfit, leaving, however,
a born missionary in the person of Mr. Richard,
whose marvellous energy was displayed in success
ful and well-directed labour. His long journeys
into the interior, his indefatigable labours, by which
every village within a radius of sixty miles had some
one in it that had heard the Gospel, bore fruit in
many wonderful ways. Native agents of great

3n Cbina 79
value were obtained; dispensary and hospital work
was started; and all things considered, remarkable
success was attained.
This, like many other similar missions, brought
some singular inquirers. In consequence of a
dream of his aged father, one man travelled about
three hundred miles to hear the Gospel. Another
was found to have worshipped the King of Hell
for ten years to obtain some mitigation of his
penalty. In spite of many discouragements the
toil of these twelve years proved the omnipotence
of the Gospel even in China.
In 1874 Mr. Richard removed to Tsing Chow
Foo and commenced work there. The situation had
been carefully chosen, after many extensive jour
neys, as a suitable base, being of moderate size,
with its population of thirty thousand. Its antiquity
may be gathered from the fact that here two thou
sand years ago Mencius, the most famous com
mentator of Confucius, discoursed on social pro
blems with Prince Loo. Built of sun-dried brick,
however, the most perishable of all materials, the
place had the appearance of having been built only
a generation ago. Mr. Richard lived in an inn till
the next year, when he obtained a house. Soon
there was strong opposition to his living there. An
Englishman belonged to a race who were ' rebels '
against China, so officials and people were opposed
to Mr. Richard's settlement. Two things saved
the situation : an appeal to the Treaty, and a
demand, based on the terms of that Treaty, for
protection ; and remarkable success in treating the

80 cbe "Romance of flbobern Missions
people for an epidemic which broke out in the
place. So Mr. Richard was allowed to remain, and
with the tactful, assiduous work which had won him
success elsewhere he soon made a hopeful begin
ning. Translator, physician, evangelist were all
combined in him. Mr. Jones joined him late in
1876. Shantung has an area a little larger than Eng
land and Wales with about the same population.
It is famous as the birthplace of Confucius, and as
the residence of the seventy-sixth generation of his
clan. The province has taken the lead in literature
all down the history of China. It forms part of
the Great Plain of China, which having been laid
by the Yan Tse Kiang and Yellow Rivers, is in
many parts below their level and therefore subject
to disastrous floods. The extreme fertility of the
plain has attracted an immense population, which
is nearly equal to two-thirds of that of Europe, and
far in excess of what can properly be supported by
it. China is said to double her population about
every forty years, and it is variously estimated at
from 350 to 434 millions. Shan-tung has a popula
tion of 683 per square mile. Small wonder that
poverty everywhere prevails in China and that
everything seems falling into decay. Temples,
palaces, houses all seem alike in this respect.
Famine and pestilence and war have swept away
scores of millions of the people. Buddhism is the
prevailing religion. Mohammedanism is professed
by some thirty millions, but is regarded as an alien
creed. But ancestor worship everywhere holds the

3n Cbina 81
field, and has dominated the country for four mil
lenniums. It is the great enemy of Christianity,
and will remain such till the Fatherhood of God
drives out the fear of the dead. Confucianism
ranks highly theoretically, but is mainly regarded
as a system of political ethics. To-day, in the
twenty-two provinces of China, the population per
missionary ranges from 38,000 to 214,000.
It was very different when Mr. Richard began
his work. Much has been accomplished in the
interval, and with the Revolution enormous
changes have taken place apart altogether from the
progress of Christianity. Although when it is
remembered that Sun Yat Sen, who engineered the
Revolution, is a Christian, it must be conceded that
missionary work has done great things for China.
From the very outset the mission in Shan-tung
began to succeed. There were immense difficulties,
and not least among them our share in the opium
traffic. Catholic rites and doctrines had awakened
many prejudices, and nowhere is the fancied
superiority of the Chinese to the rest of mankind
more prominent than in Shan-tung. But in two
years the two missionaries dispelled a great deal of
the prejudice and won the admiration of the people.
Much of this success was due to the splendid ser
vices they had rendered during the great famine
that set in soon after their arrival. By the autumn
of 1877 Mr. Jones reported about three hundred
inquirers, all of whom revealed much earnestness
in seeking acquaintance with the truth. They
walked long distances to worship, and observed

82 Woe Romance of /IDobern /Ibisstons
more or less the Lord's Day. Among them
nearly all classes were represented — small farmers,
tradesmen, literati, rich and poor, old and young.
Thirty-four were baptised that year, in addition to
ten baptised by Mr. Richard the previous year.
Mr. Jones made rapid progress in the language,
and became one of the few men in China who
might be mistaken for a Chinaman in speaking.
The principle of organisation adopted is worth
noting. Directly three or four in any place became
interested in the truth, the most spiritual and in
tellectual of the group was made the ' Leader.'
Chosen by his fellows, this man was virtually the
pastor of the little church. So in a land without
Sabbaths these groups met for worship and for
committing to memory Scripture, hymns, prayers,
etc. It was a rule that whatever the people could
do for themselves should not be done for them. No
expenditure was incurred in buildings, and the
people met in humble barns with clay floors, and
the rudest accommodation for sitting. It was an
enormous task to deal with the errors, the super
stitions, the thousand and one questions, raised by
the inquirers. Every missionary knows something
of the difficulty of conveying to the mind the mean
ing of that which seems to stand in no relation to
existing ideas; and this problem is particularly
embarrassing in the case of the Chinese.
Mr. Richard appealed for reinforcements, and,
in 1879, Mr. Kitts was sent out, being followed by
Mr. Whitewright, Mrs. Francis James, Mr.
Sowerby and his sister within the next four years.

Jn Cbina 83
The extension of the work brought opposition and
persecution. Mr. Kitts found the cottage occupied
by Mr. Jones at Tsing Chow Foo with the door
frames smashed and the thatch ploughed up by
the stone throwing of the mob. They poisoned his
well, built up his door, and did everything to annoy
him, and sometimes the bombardment of his cottage
made him think of a warship in action. Of course
the converts had to suffer as well. Patiently the
storm was borne, and the chaff was winnowed from
the grain. It speaks well for the fortitude of the
converts that 130 of them should, in these circum
stances come out for immersion. Mr. Jones
visited this country in 1883, and Mr. Richard in
1885, which led to an increase in the staff. In spite
of persecution the work advanced and overflowed
into the provinces of Kiangsu and Honan. Long
before the close of the century there were over a
thousand baptised members, organised in groups,
each with its 'leader,' deacon, and a teacher of
the young. With the exception of Pastor Cheng,
who had the oversight of the whole Church or
combination of groups, no ' leader ' received any
payment. Eventually six pastors were set aside
who were to be paid a small salary by the church.
Only twice a year could a missionary visit the
widely scattered groups, so that the work of propa
ganda fell almost entirely on the people themselves.
A sense of sin was not the beginning of conver
sion but its result, and this lack of any sense of
personal responsibility to a personal moral ruler is
one of the difficulties of dealing with the Chinese.

84 Woe "Romance of /toobern /DMssions
The preacher has no fulcrum for his lever. A
Chinaman is impressed first by the glory of the
Lord; then by His great goodness; then by the
love of Christ in His redeeming work ; then his fit
ness to be their guide ; and finally by the mystery
of the Cross, telling of the evil of sin, the need of
pardon, and the possibility of reconciliation with
God. Deliverance from the fear of spirits is the
great emancipation for a Chinaman.
Needless to say the converts do not become per
fect saints. Many of the faults of their race per
sist more or less — disregard of truth, and the love
of money. But their prayers reveal much sim
plicity, fervour, and spirituality ; they are steadfast
in face of persecution, and despite the immorality
around them they seldom fall in this respect. In
seventy-nine different towns little groups of Chris
tians had been planted, each shedding abroad the
light Divine, and bearing witness for the Redeemer
of the world.
We cannot dwell at length on the education work
carried on in Shantung, save to name the interest
ing and significant fact that after conversion, men
and women learn to read the New Testament and
the hymn-book. Nor yet can we tell of the work
of the Boarding School, where the pupils are in
structed in elementary science, geometry and alge
bra. The establishment of an institution for the
training of pastors and teachers was undertaken in
the late 'eighties, where one hundred of the
' Leaders ' would be in training for six weeks at a
time. These men would pay their own travelling

3n Cbina 85
expenses, and cost the mission nothing except for
food. A sovereign a day for one hundred men can
hardly be deemed excessive.
Medical mission work has played a great part in
opening the way for the Gospel. Mr. Jones ren
dered fine service in this way, and Dr. Russell
Watson and Mrs. Watson followed on similar lines,
seeing 1,400 patients per month. In the hospital
240 cases were dealt with in a year, with a success
which powerfully aided the work of the mission.
The absolute ruler of over three millions of people
was smitten with apoplexy. After the failure of
fourteen native physicians to cure him, Dr. Watson
happily restored him to health. An ornate tablet,
expressing the gratitude of the ruler, was carried
in public through the street, presented to Dr.
Watson, and then placed over the entrance of his
dispensary. The effect on the progress of the work
may be imagined.
Fain would we tell of the work in other centres —
Tsi-nan-foo and Shansi — but space forbids. Other
glimpses of missionary work in China will be
afforded when we come to deal with other Societies.
Enough has been told to show the worthy part
played by the premier Missionary Society in this
gigantic work. Mr. Richard suffered greatly from
malaria and famine fever, both in 1877 and 1888.
On his recovery he was designated for the duty of
assisting in literary work in connection with the
Society for the Diffusion of Christian literature.
The printed message must play a great part in the
evangelisation of China, as we shall see later on.

CHAPTER III.
IN AFRICA.
The African Missions of the Baptist Missionary
Society date from 1843. During the previous year
a voyage of inquiry had been undertaken by Rev.
John Clarke, a missionary in Jamaica, and Dr.
Prince, a medical man practising in the island, with
the view to a mission being opened on the West
Coast of Africa. They directed their investigations
to the coast in the neighbourhood of the Niger, and
finally chose the island of Fernando Po, as suitable
for a mission. It was thought likely to serve as a
base for future operations on the mainland.
Situated in the Bight of Biafra, opposite the mouth
of the Cameroons River, it is within easy reach of
the mainland. A considerable body of liberated
slaves were resident at Clarence, the chief place in
the island, but inland there was dense and degraded
heathenism. It seemed desirable to begin opera
tions where there would be the advantage of a set
tled government, and so gain experience in com
parative safety.
We get a glimpse of the changed conditions of
ocean travel to-day in the statement that the two
scouts on their return voyage to England were car
ried by adverse winds to Jamaica. This, however,

3n Hfrica 87
turned out for the furtherance of the Gospel ; for the
story the voyagers had to tell roused the enthu
siasm of the people, and many offered themselves
for service in Africa. In due course the brethren
returned to this country, and among those who lis
tened to their story were Alfred Saker and his wife.
Born in Kent, 1814, Alfred Saker was during his
youth unconsciously preparing himself for his great
life work. It was not, however, till one Sunday
afternoon that the Divine touch came that was to
utilise the unconscious equipment of youth. Strol
ling through the village of Sevenoaks, he
was arrested by the singing in a little Bap
tist chapel. Entering the place, he heard from
an obscure and unknown preacher a message that
changed his whole life. He yielded himself to God,
and joining the Church in his native village he soon
began to teach and preach. It was while he was
occupied in the engineering department of a
Government Dockyard at Devonport that he heard
Messrs. Clarke and Prince tell of the opening at
Fernando Po. He and his wife offered themselves
for the work, and in due course were accepted.
Sailing in 1843 via Jamaica, they arrived at their
destination in 1844, and threw themselves heart and
soul into the work of the mission. At once Mr.
Saker's skill as handicraftsman and engineer was
utilised. He set up later a printing press, himself
casting the fittings. But the usual difficulties and
disasters were not wanting. Every pioneer mis
sionary must pay a heavy price for his experience.
Mr. Saker found the ant destroyed his stock of

88 cbe Romance of /BJobern Missions
clothing; a tornado ripped the roof from his hut;
and as others labouring more recently in the same
field have found, fever prostrated him again and
again. But he held on and began to look further
afield. As early as 1845 he opened a mission at
King A'Kwa's town, about twenty miles from the
sea coast on the south bank of the Cameroons
River. The need of the people here was great. They
were terribly degraded, idle, and drunken. The
witch-doctor or rain-maker held undisputed sway,
and ever and anon under his influence the native
would indulge in the most frightful cruelty. In his
wars he would torture and mutilate his enemies,
ruthlessly slaughter women and children, and then
fall back into his usual apathy. Amongst these
people Saker settled down. He devoted himself to
the study of the language, and slowly gathered a
vocabulary. A printing press was put together, a
small house built, and a store-house for goods.
Some knowledge of medicine possessed by the mis
sionary was of great service, and his skill in handi
craft helped to win the confidence of the people.
But there were times of severe discouragement
when it seemed as if all the work must prove in
vain. Mr. Saker was threatened, laughed at, and
anon neglected. But his patience, his courage, his
perseverance never failed, and his readiness to help
in sickness began to make an impression. Here,
too, was a man who never lied, never cheated, who
kept his promises, and, above all, who did not want
to make money out of the people around him. Four

3n Hfrica 89
years of incessant toil brought its reward in the
baptism of the first convert, and the joy of the
occasion may faintly be imagined. One heart amid
a people ignorant, gross, cruel, and consecrated to
violence and lust, had been found ready to receive
the message of Divine love.
But now the climate began to tell on all the
workers. Saker and his wife were compelled to
return to England on furlough, leaving Mr. New-
bigin in charge. Before they reached England
Newbigin was dead. It is not surprising that the
hearts of the people at home grew faint. But Saker
was equal to the occasion, and addressed a letter
to the Committee which made them ashamed of the
thought of withdrawal. In 185 1 Mr. and Mrs.
Saker returned to the Cameroons, and found that
the cause had made delightful progress during
their absence. Crowds were accustomed to listen to
the Word, five persons had been baptised. The
work at Clarence meanwhile had also prospered,
and even at Bimbia, which in point of climate and
human savagery was worse even than the
Cameroons, the workers made some progress.
It is worthy of note that Mr. Saker kept indus
trialism to the front. Brick-making, carpentry,
metal-working, and garden-work, went on along
with translation and printing. Persecution was not
wanting, but the missionaries met it with courage
and tact. There were times when it seemed as if
disaster could not be avoided, and yet suddenly the
storm subsided and the work went forward. By
1858 a native church had been built up at Clarence,

90 Woe "Romance of flbobern /BMssions
in Fernando Po, there was a small mission at
Bimbia maintained with difficulty, and south of the
Cameroons a chapel, a school, a mission-house had
been erected, and the mission well established.
Chiefs and people were yielding to the influence
of the missionaries, and manifesting a trust in them
full of promise for the future.
And now a blow fell upon the Fernandian Mis
sion which for some years was to deprive the island
of Protestant Christian missionaries. The island
belonged to Spain, and in 1848 the religious liberty
which had hitherto been enjoyed was withdrawn.
All other than Roman Catholic religious worship
was strictly forbidden. This meant to the little
Baptist church either apostacy or banishment.
They chose the latter. At a church meeting at
which Mr. Saker presided, it was decided to seek a
home elsewhere. Mr. Saker explored the country
north of Bimbia for a suitable location for the little
Fernandian Church, and after some difficulty and
danger lighted upon a little land-locked bay, with a
soft sandy shore, protected from the force of the
Atlantic by three islands, and with a delightful
background of rising ground, topped by the
Cameroons Mountains. A stream of fresh water,
descending from the uplands to the sea at this
point, added to the suitability of the site. Here
land was secured, the ground cleared, and chapel
and school erected. In due course the people were
moved from Fernando Po, and the colony named
Victoria in honour of the Queen. We shall find
later that the mission at Fernando Po was re-opened

3n Hfrica 91
by the Primitive Methodists who have ever since,
in spite of many restrictions imposed by Spain, car
ried on the work with considerable success.
Meanwhile the work was continued by Mr.
Saker and his associates at Cameroons. Bimbia was
abandoned as unhealthy, but A'qua, Hickory, Bell
Town and Bethel continued to progress. In 1862
the translation of the New Testament into Dualla
was completed, and the Book of Psalms was issued
from the mission press. Rev. George Grenfell
joined the staff in 1874 and Mr. Saker was com
pelled by failing strength to return home. His
eyes had ever been turned towards the larger work
on the Congo, and he lived to aid in its initiation.
For six years he continued to help by his know
ledge and experience, and then in 1880 passed to
his everlasting rest. Alfred Saker, missionary to
Africa, was a brave, heroic, devoted servant of
Jesus Christ, and rendered valiant service in the
early stages of the great work that has since been
so vastly extended.
With the cession of the Cameroons to the Ger
mans in 1884 the situation of the mission became
delicate and difficult. Disputes arose between a sec
tion of the people and the Germans, with the result
that German sailors were landed, and in the
struggle that followed the mission buildings at BelJ
Town and Mortonville were destroyed. Finally
Victoria came under German rule, and an edict pro
hibited the teaching of any language but German.
After prolonged negotiations the whole of the mis
sions were transferred to a German Missionary

92 Woe Romance of dDobern Missions
Society, which had done excellent work up the
coast. Complete religious liberty and equality were
guaranteed to the people, and the native churches
have ever since maintained a vigorous life.
The pioneers of the West African Mission had
never lost sight of the original project of making
the coast the base from which to reach the people
further inland. Unexpected difficulties, however,
were encountered. Between the coast and the in
terior were tribes who conceived that the profits
they made as middlemen would be endangered by
the missionaries, and naturally they did their
utmost to prevent any approach to the interior.
But Thomas Comber and George Grenfell were not
thus to be thwarted. Both set themselves the task
of securing the necessary physical equipment for
the arduous task of pioneering and exploring. They
prayed and worked and waited, and not in vain.
Mr. Robert Arthington, of Leeds, offered the Com
mittee, in 1877, .£1,000 towards the establishment
of a mission in the Congo country. The two men
at the Cameroons joyfully accepted the duty of ex
ploring the country. Of the great work afterwards
to be associated with the name of Arthington they
did not dream. Friendly relations were established
with the Dutch trading company at Banana, and a
letter despatched to Dom Pedro, King of Congo, at
San Salvador. In June of the same year they
sailed south once more with various helpers and
two native preachers, and in due course reached
San Salvador in safety. The king welcomed them
warmly, and gave them full permission to build

3n Bfrica 93
house and schools and to teach and preach Jesus.
Thus began the wonderful work which was
destined to have such remarkable results. In
George Grenfell the Baptist Missionary Society had
one of the most remarkable missionaries ever given
to the Church of God. He was a pioneer worthy
to rank with Livingstone himself. His was the
large view, the wide outlook of the Statesman . He
planned his work on a spacious scale. He had at
the same time the most astonishing faculty for
detail. His researches, photographs, notes and
references provided material which Sir Harry
Johnstone afterwards used in the compilation of the
two large volumes, " George Grenfell and the
Congo " (Hutchinson and Co.), constituting one of
the most remarkable missionary works ever given
to the world. Its list of over a thousand illustra
tions covers more than twenty closely printed pages,
and the work furnishes a record of missionary toil,
of exploration, and study of a vast country, with
its varied races, languages, manners, customs, and
superstitions, together with its natural history, of
the most astonishing kind.
Grenfell explored and evangelised in Central
Africa after the fashion of Dr. Livingstone. He
brought many tribes of the Upper Congo into con
tact with the white man who before this had been
unknown. He came as a man of peace, won the
confidence of the savage natives by his patience,
tact, and cleverness. For twenty-eight years he
fulfilled his mission as a pioneer with as much
humanity as success. At the beginning he dedi-

94 Woe Romance of /ibobern Missions
cated his life once for all to Africa, cherishing no
dreams of leisure, or of spending his declining
years in England. His dream was to carry a chain
of British mission stations right across Africa, from
the mouth of the Congo to the Indian Ocean. In
this ambition he was baulked by dying at the age
of fifty-seven. This distinguished missionary was
only five feet seven inches in height, but lithe and
athletic of build, except towards his later years,
when repeated fevers had aged him prematurely.
For the preparation of the book on Grenfell, Sir
Harry Johnstone had to examine carefully about a
hundred notebooks or survey sheets, many of
which had to be read with a magnifying glass, a
large mass of letters, documents, reports, together
with communications to the Royal Geographical
Society. Written in a beautifully small hand,
Grenfell's notes might well require a magnifying
glass. This much it seemed necessary to say at this
point so that the reader might have some adequate
idea of the extent and variety of the work done by
Mr. Grenfell in connection with the Congo Mission.
Our concern, however, is not with Sir Harry
Johnstone's great work, for although its records
show what an immense amount of good has been
done by missionary enterprise from a purely ethical
standpoint, and the gigantic contributions thus
made to the store of the world's knowledge in
philosophy, in folk-lore, in first-hand studies of
primitive peoples, in contributions to botany, zoo
logy, geography and map-making, the book does

3-n Hfrtca 95
not concern itself with the distinctively religious
work of the missionary. We must now sketch
briefly, and in outline merely, the history of this
Congo Mission. A glance at the map of Africa
will reveal the large space occupied by the River
Congo, running in a vast scimitar-like curve across
the western part of the continent, till it almost
reaches the region of the eastern lakes. The river
is navigable for large shipping for a hundred miles
from its mouth. A succession of rapids bar the
way to Stanley Pool, and then from that point for
a thousand miles moderate sized craft may ply its
waters till the Stanley Falls are reached. Various
native tribes are to be found on the banks, and
the people may be divided into four classes : the
negrito or pigmy, the oldest indiginous race in the
country, some of whom spring from branch to
branch of the trees like the chimpanzi ; the bush-
man ; the forest negro ; and the nilotic. The chief
tribes are known as the Babwende, the Bateke, the
Babangi, the Babang, the Batende and the people
of Ngombe. There are five main linguistic divi
sions. The Congo has some very large tributaries,
and the entire basin covers an area of more than
a million and a quarter square miles. In the
northern part the country is French ; in the southern
it is known as the Congo Free State, of unenviable
notoriety in connection with the rubber crimes. But
a relatively small section south of the river from
Stanley Pool to the Alantic is under Portuguese
influence. Grenfell and Comber first set themselves to reach

96 Xlbe "Romance of Mobern Missions
Makuta, a town on the road to Stanley Pool. At
San Salvador all was smooth sailing, but that place
was only intended as a base of operations. But
Makuta proved hostile. Mr. Comber returned to
England for conference and help, and by April,
1879, was back at San Salvador with his young
wife. Within a month she died, the first of a long
series of losses sustained by the mission. When
at length Makuta was reached again the party was
set upon by a furious crowd variously armed. For
five miles they were pursued, and Mr. Comber was
wounded in the back, but by a miracle the party got
back to San Salvador. In 1881 another attempt
to reach Makuta by Comber and Hartland failed
through the desertion of the carriers; but an ex
pedition under Crudger and Bentley got through in
twenty-one days to Stanley Pool, and after crossing
the western end they arrived at Mr. Stanley's camp.
The famous traveller showed them much kindness
and had them conveyed down the river. Subse
quently they arrived back in safety. It was ulti
mately decided to locate a series of stations on the
south bank of the river, and by 1882 four stations
had been established. These were not merely
centres of missionary work, but links in a series
intended to reach right into the heart of Africa.
It soon became evident that a steamer would be
necessary. Mr. Arthington offered ,£1,000 towards
the cost and an endowment fund of ,£3,000. Mr.
Grenfell came home to superintend the construction
of the vessel, and in due course the Peace was com
pleted, then taken to pieces and sent out by steamer

Jn Bfrica 97
from Liverpool. A Regent's Park College student,
Mr. W. H. Doke, who had a special knowledge of
the machinery, accompanied Mr. Grenfell back; but
had scarcely landed and put his hand to the unlad
ing of the sections of the Peace, when he was
smitten down with fever and in three weeks was
dead. Mr. Hartland and Mr. Butcher soon after
wards died. Then Mr. Hartley and two mechanics
were sent out to assist Mr. Grenfell in reconstruct
ing the Peace, but soon after their arrival all three
were dead. Once more the initial trials and disas
ters which so often attend great enterprises were
the lot of this great mission ; but the brave men
at home and in the field did not falter. Mr.
Grenfell trained natives to help him in putting the
Peace together, and at last the vessel was complete
and slid from her cradle into the Congo.
And now began the great work of exploration
and missionary enterprise destined to give the
Baptist Missionary Society imperishable renown.
The stations were located with a view to their strate
gic value, as well as for their immediate usefulness
as centres of evangelism. Grenfell explored the
Congo and some of its great tributaries, slowly yet
surely adding to his great chain of stations, and to
that vast store of knowledge of the peoples of the
interior which won for him his splendid reputation
as a distinguished ' explorer and an earnest, large-
minded Christian missionary.' In the autumn of
1886 a disastrous fire at Arthington, one of the
stations, destroyed ^"3,000 worth of goods, in
stantly made good by the liberality of the home

98 Woe Romance of Mobern Missions
churches, and more substantial buildings took the
place of the flimsy structures destroyed.
Within twelve years eight centres of Christian
influence were established. Valuable translation
work was accomplished, in addition to all the usual
work of the missionary. The Four Gospels, some
of the Epistles, and portions of the Psalms passed
through the press. The first convert was baptised
in 1886, his name being William Mantu Parkinson.
At the end of that year a great spiritual awakening
took place at San Salvador, and two hundred per
sons gave reliable evidence of conversion. Bap
tisms occurred at some of the other stations, and
this line of stations of a thousand miles gave splen
did promise for the future.
But it must not be forgotten at what enormous
cost all this was done. Between 1879 and 1907
thirty-five missionaries and eleven women, or thirty-
three per cent, of the entire staff, died. And what
dangers were encountered ! What hairbreadth
escapes the missionaries often had ! And what suf
fering had to be encountered by all. Crocodiles
would rush at the mission canoe with undisguised
ferocity, only to be warded off at the very last
moment by a bullet through the skull. Hippos
charged the boat relentlessly and were more dan
gerous than crocodiles. There were risks from
snakes, elephants, leopards and buffalo. But the
most terrible and dangerous of all were the insect
pests incident to Congo life. Blood-sucking gnats,
including the malaria-transmitting Anophelines,
were omnipresent at certain seasons. The terrible

5n Hfrica 99
tsetse-fly, the cause of sleeping sickness; sand flies
or midges, sweeping in clouds through the mos
quito curtain and leaving the wretched sleeper
tingling all over, face and arms blotched and swol
len as after some eruptive feyer; the stunted little
flies with short, black bodies, about an eighth of an
inch long, that leave beads of blood at every with
drawal of the sharp proboscis and set up smarting
and irritation ; the hippo flies with green eyes and
tawny bodies that drive through clothes and skin a
veritable stiletto ; other flies that deposit eggs in the
wound they make, which grow into grubs and pro
duce abscesses; house flies in myriads; jiggers or
burrowing flies ; blood-thirsty driver ants ; stinking
ants; cockroaches, two inches long; wasps with
almost deadly sting — but why go on ? the reader is
convinced that life on the Congo, apart from all
rubber horrors, must involve the endurance of a
veritable purgatory. And yet we are told the mis
sionaries were happy and cheerful, absorbed in their
work and delighted with every little success.

CHAPTER IV.
IN THE WEST INDIES AND ORISSA.
The Isles of Romance have been peculiarly
favoured by the friends of missions. We have
seen how the Moravians began their wonderful
work there; and presently we shall have to refer to
the early work of the followers of Wesley in the
same quarter. As early as 1814 the Baptist Mis
sionary Society sent John Rowe as its first mis
sionary to Jamaica, and though death terminated
his earthly service two years later, he laid the foun
dations of a Church at Falmouth, which afterwards
proved the most prosperous in the island. A suc
cession of godly men followed, and by 1827 there
were in the island eight churches and 5,246 mem
bers. The conflict over slavery was soon upon the
churches, and because they were haters of slavery
and the friends of the slave the missions were soon
feared and detested by the oppressor. Persecution
followed, and terrible stories of suffering are on
record. Yet by 1832 the membership had more than
doubled. Then came the rebellion of the slaves, and
although the missionaries were the last to hear of
the rising the planters regarded them as its authors.
Every effort was made to implicate them. Con-

3n tbe West Jnbies anb ©rtssa 101
demned rebels on the scaffold were promised re
prieve if they would bear testimony against the
detested missionaries. But not a tittle of evidence
could be obtained. On the contrary it was declared
that if the advice of the missionaries had been fol
lowed there would have been no rebellion. But
William Knibb and others were dragged before
tribunals, only to be honourably acquitted. Mr.
Burchell was threatened with assassination and had
to flee to America for his life. Next the notorious
Church Union was formed, the object of which was
to destroy the chapels and drive the missionaries
from the island. A dozen mission chapels and pro
perty worth £14,000 was destroyed. Memorials
to the Governor proved vain, and it was decided
that Messrs. Knibb and Burchell should proceed to
England and lay the case before the Christian
public there. The campaign of James M. Phillipo,
William Knibb and Thomas Burchell will ever be
memorable in the annals of freedom. At the
Annual Meeting of the Baptist Missionary Society
in London, Mr. Phillipo opened with an impressive
address on the missionary aspects of the work.
William Knibb followed in a speech of scathing
denunciation and burning indignation that thrilled
the audience. His harrowing description of
slavery and his impassioned appeals roused the
most intense excitement. Into his final appeal he
wove incident after incident of outrage and cruelty,
piling up Pelion on Ossa. The Committee he had
found in favour of a prudent policy, and his reply
will ever be memorable : ' Myself, my wife, my

102 Woe "Romance of Mobern Missions
children are entirely dependent on the Baptist Mis
sion; we have landed without a shilling and may
at once be reduced to penury. But if it be neces
sary, I will take them by the hand and walk bare
foot through the kingdom, but I will make known
to the Christians of England what their brethren in
Jamaica are suffering.' His closing words at the
Annual Meeting were, if possible, in a loftier strain
of impassioned eloquence : ' I call upon you all by
the sympathies of Jesus. If I fail in arousing your
sympathies I will retire from this meeting, and call
upon Him who hath made of one blood all nations
upon the face of the earth. And if I die without
beholding the emancipation of my brethren and
sisters in Christ, then, if prayer is permitted in
heaven, I will fall at the feet of the Eternal, crying,
" Lord, open the eyes of the Christians of England
to see the evil of slavery arid to banish it from the
earth." ' That meeting lighted a flame that never
waned until the Imperial Parliament manumitted
the slaves at a cost of ,£20,000,000 of money. In
addition the House of Commons voted ,£6,195 to
rebuild the mission property, and to this the sum of
£13,000 was quickly added by voluntary offerings.
Having won the battle of freedom, Knibb and
Burchell returned in triumph to Jamaica to carry
forward under new auspices the work among the
now liberated slaves.
Space will not permit the full story of subsequent
years to be told : of years of marvellous advance in
conversions and chapel building; of the Jubilee
celebrations in 1842, when ten thousand people

$n tbe Meat Rubies anb ©rissa 103
assembled, and four thousand of the emancipated
children of Africa sat down together at the table of
the Lord; of the difficulties and cruelties of the
apprenticeship system, under which 60,000 appren
tices received in two years 250,000 lashes ; of how in
1838 the last vestiges of slavery were swept away,
and 800,000 slaves at last breathed the sw'eet air
of liberty ; of how malignant fever carried off
William Knibb and many other of the missionaries,
followed later by a visitation of Asiatic cholera, and
floods and cyclones, which, but for the generous
help of British Christians must have destroyed the
Mission ; and finally how, out of this furnace of
affliction, there came a great revival in 1859 which
added many thousands to the membership of the
Churches. Time would fail to tell of the rebellion
in the time of Governor Eyre, and how out of this
time of travail there came lasting good ; of the For
ward Movement of a later period ; of the establish
ment of Calabar College for the training of a native
ministry, and of all the progress in subsequent
years, so that before the close of the century there
were some 35,000 members in Church fellowship.
Nor can more than a passing reference be made to
Baptist missions in the other islands — the Bahamas,
Hayti, Honduras and Trinidad, in all of which the
Gospel has won splendid triumphs.
Dr. John Clifford has eloquently told the story
of the Orissa Mission, situated partly in Bengal,
and partly in Madras and the Central Provinces.
Rev. J. G. Pike was mainly instrumental in found
ing the mission. By his zeal and enthusiasm and

104 Woe Romance of Mobern Missions
courage he stirred up the home churches at a time
when the long wars of Napoleon had drained the
country of its resources. He organised missionary
associations, monthly prayer meetings, and valu
able penny-a-week associations, and distributed
literature; and when Mr. and Mrs. Bampton and
Mr. and Mrs. Peggs offered for the work Pike was
ready, like Fuller of an earlier time, to hold the
ropes. In 1821 the missionaries reached Seram
pore, and Orissa was ultimately chosen as their
field of toil. Already Carey had translated the
Bible into the Orissa tongue, and the Serampore
press had produced the work in five volumes with
other translations small and great.
Orissa is the focus of Hindu orthodoxy, the Holy
Land of the Hindu religion, and the dwelling-place
of Jaganath, while Poorce is the Mecca and Jerusa
lem of India. The workaday Hinduism of Orissa
cut the very sinews of moral life, paralysed the
conscience, enervated the will and encouraged
duplicity and licentiousness. Cruel, obscene, de
basing, corrupting, it lit the fires of Suttee, gave
the sanction of religion to the grossest impurities,
and converted worship into a ministry of vice.1 In
addition to the oppression of Hinduism the people
suffered from the most intolerable poverty, so that
a hungry man would pray for tigers, because they
would not completely devour their victims, and he
might from what they left appease his hunger. It
was to this place, where Satan had his seat, that
1 Clifford's Orissa Mission.

3n tbe TKHest Jnbies anb ©rissa 105
these brave missionaries went, and poured out their
lives in the missionary cause. Reinforcements
came to their aid in 1823 and 1824 in the persons
of Mr. and Mrs. C. Lacey and Mr. and Mrs. Amos
Sutton. Lacey became able to ' talk Oriya like a
native, and speak in figures like a son of the East.'
He translated Bunyan's ' Holy War,' and created a
succession of Oriya preachers. He became the first
great Apostle of Orissa. Sutton became eminent
as a grammarian in the Oriya tongue, and as a
translator of the Scriptures. He originated or
phanages and a College for native students for the
ministry, and himself became the first tutor. He
was the author of the hymn, ' Hail sweetest, dearest
tie that binds.'
It was not till the sixth year of his toil that
Bampton was able to rejoice over the first Hindu
convert, although thousands had heard from him
in his own house in a single year something of the
Gospel ; and it is computed that into his nine years
of labour he crowded the work of twenty years.
Wonderful indeed are the stories told of the Spirit's
working in the minds of some of the early converts.
There is the case of Guru, a martial man who
battled for the chiefs of the hills, yet was meditative
and inquiring withal. Recognising the shame and
evils of idolatry he became a Hindu reformer, and
drew round him five hundred disciples. Into his
school came the Serampore tracts. Fascinated by
the truth and beauty of the ' Ten Commandments,'
he promulgated them as law. Then he went to the
missionary to learn more. That visit of the Brah-

106 Woe "Romance of Mobern Missions
min and his disciples was a red-letter day in the
history of the mission. If the Brahmin teacher
was unwilling himself to surrender his authority
to the Christ one of his followers, Gunga Dhor,
was led to make 'the great refusal of Hinduism,'
and was followed by Rama Chundra, a man of
wealth, who at the bidding of Guru, had given
most of his goods to feed the poor. These were
followed by others, and the hearts of the mission
aries were filled with joy. We cannot tell of the
native preachers gradually raised up ; of the Mis
sion College at Cuttack; of the terrific sacrifices
demanded of the man who broke caste, to whom
the barest means of living were denied, from whom
everything was taken, so that he had to begin life
anew; of the orphanages; of the native women
evangelists, and the work of education and the
press. The Lord did great things for Orissa, and
hundreds of members were gathered into Church
fellowship. This is only the barest sketch of the work done
by the Baptist Missionary Society, which to-day
has in various parts of the field 259 missionary
agents with 644 evangelists, 21,199 members, and
is carrying on the work begun by William Care)'
with ever-increasing zeal and success.

BOOK III.
©f tbe Xonbon fllMsstonat\>
Society.

CHAPTER I.
IN THE SOUTH SEAS.
If George Stephenson did more than any other man
to facilitate the spread of Christian Missions, Cap
tain Cook must have the honour of being uncon
sciously the instrument of originating in the minds
of quite a number of men a feeling of compassion
for the heathen. William Carey himself was thus
indebted to the famous voyager. Similarly Dr.
Haweis, in reading the fascinating story of Cook's
voyages, heard a call from Macedonia for help and
light. Dr. T. Haweis, rector of Aldwinkle, in
Northamptonshire, was chaplain to the Countess of
Huntingdon. Five years before the foundation of
the Baptist Missionary Society, Dr. Haweis as
sumed the responsibility for sending out two young
men who, by consent of the Countess of Hunting-

108 Woe "Romance of Mobern Missions
don, were to proceed from her College in Wales to
the South Seas. But neither the Bishop of Lon
don nor the Archbishop of Canterbury would
ordain the young men, and the scheme thus failed.
A similar scheme fell through in 1791 . Next year
came the formation of the Baptist Missionary
Society, an event which stirred the hearts of many
beyond the bounds of that communion.
A number of men must be associated with the
work of founding the London Missionary Society,
and Rev. John Eyre and Rev. Matthew Wilks for
their share in founding the ' Evangelical Magazine '
must not be forgotten, for that organ became a
medium for the expression of the views of those
who yearned for the evangelisation of the heathen.
The writings of the Rev. Melville Home, who had
been chaplain to the colony of Sierra Leone, had
their share in awakening interest in the same work.
The dominant idea in the minds of these and others
was, that in this work Evangelical Christians of
various denominations ought to co-operate. A
practical offer was made through the pages of the
' Evangelical Magazine ' by Dr. Haweis of .£500
towards the equipment of missionaries; and Dr.
Bogue, of Gosport, pleaded for a seminary for the
training of missionaries, in which he was ahead of
his time.
A definite movement towards an undenomina
tional Missionary Society was made on November
4th, 1794, when a meeting of eight ministers of
various denominations was held at Baker's Coffee
House, Change Alley, Cornhill. This led to fre-

5n tbe Soutb Seas 109
quent meetings on a larger scale for prayer and
counsel. Rev. John Love was appointed Secretary,
and Rev. George Burder drew up an address,
15,000 copies of which were distributed throughout
the country. Finally a declaration, signed by
thirty-four ministers and laymen, representing dif
ferent denominations, setting forth the objects
aimed at, was prepared, and a general conference
was summoned for September 22nd and following
days, 1795. At a preliminary conference on the
morning of the 21st September, ,£740 was collected.
It was resolved at this famous series of meetings,
with unanimity and with tears of joy, to ' establish
a Society for sending missionaries to the heathen.'
The organisation of the Society was settled, and it
was decided to send missionaries to the South Seas.
Sermons were preached in connection with the meet
ings by Dr. Haweis, Rev. G. Burder, Mr.
Greathead and Rowland Hill. Mr. Joseph
Hardcastle was appointed Treasurer, and it was
decided to attempt missions in the Pelew Islands,
Sumatra, the Coromandel Coast, and Surat, in
India, Tartary, and the West Coast of Africa. Mr.
Hardcastle's appointment was in every respect
happy, and had a fortunate influence on the future
of the Society.
Within three months £3,000 had been promised,
and Rev. John Love with Mr. William Shrubsole,
had been appointed Secretaries. The departure of
the first band of missionaries, May, 1796, was to
be preceded by the general meeting. It is signi
ficant of much that the Annual Sermon, if we mav

no Woe Romance of Mobem Missions
so call it, was preached by Rev. Thomas Penty-
cross, Vicar of St. Mary's, Wallingford, at Surrey
Chapel, no Bishop forbidding him. There surely
has been a retrograde movement since these days.
Such things could not be done to-day. But when
the London Missionary Society was founded this
was an outward and visible sign of a spiritual unity
which could make it a fundamental principle of the
Missionary Society, ' not to send Presbyterianism,
Independency or Episcopacy to the heathen, but the
glorious Gospel of the blessed God.' In later
years, owing to a variety of causes, the constituency
of the London Missionary Society has become
largely Congregational, but room is left on the
Directorate for others who may not be Congrega
tionalists, and during its splendid history both
Presbyterians and Independents have gone forth as
the representatives of the Society.
The ship Duff was purchased as a missionary
ship for ;£4,8oo, and on August ioth, 1796, hoisted
the mission flag, three white doves with olive
branches on a purple field, and sailed for the South
Seas. Of less than 300 tons burthen, she was yet
much larger than the famous Mayflower. She
carried a godly captain and a godly crew. Captain
James Wilson was a remarkable man, and had
been wonderfully trained of God for this distin
guished mission. We get a glimpse of the times
in the statement that the little vessel was detained
waiting for the English frigate that was to convoy
her and others as far south as Gibraltar. After a
prosperous voyage of 208 days the Duff anchored

5n tbe Soutb Seas m
in Matavi Bay, Tahiti. The beautiful island, with
its lofty mountains and lovely valleys, its luxuriant
tropical vegetation, its wonderful fern trees, cocoa-
nut forests, its aloes, orange trees, and bread-fruit
trees, made the prospect pleasing indeed. Only
man was vile, how vile did not at first appear; but
murder, theft, licentiousness and hideous cruelty
abounded. The building of house or temple de
manded human sacrifices so that the pillars might
rest on human bodies offered in sacrifice to the gods.
Among a people devoid of shame and dwelling in
wretched huts the missionaries began their work.
Captain Cook's famous King Pomare was still
alive, but his son Otu reigned in his stead. The
old man welcomed the missionaries and gave them
protection as long as he lived. A large bamboo
house was placed at the disposal of the missionaries,
and seventeen out of the party of thirty were settled
in this dwelling. The Duff then proceeded to
Tonga, one of the Friendly Islands, twelve hundred
miles distant, and landed there nine missionaries.
A solitary missionary was landed at Santa Chris
tina, one of the Marquesas Islands, and then, after
visiting Tahita, Captain Wilson returned home,
arriving in July, 1798.
And now began a time of suffering and peril and
disaster for the Tonga missionaries. The island
was over-run by released convicts from New
South Wales, who sowed suspicion against the mis
sionaries. When war broke out between the tribes,
the chiefs withdrew their protection and the hapless
missionaries were exposed to attacks from both

"a Cbe "Romance of Mobern Missions
sides. Five fled to the shore, where they were
seized, stripped of clothing but their lives spared.
The savages attacked the mission house, and when
the missionaries came forward in a peaceable way
to meet them they were struck down and their brains
dashed out with clubs. The island became the
scene of cannibalism and savagery. The five sur
vivors escaped by means of a passing vessel and
Tonga was abandoned. The missionary at Santa
Christina was more kindly treated, but he, too,
was compelled in the end to abandon the work.
The Duff, during her second voyage with reinforce
ments, was captured by a French frigate and car
ried off as a prize, and the missionaries, after many
perils and hardships, got back to London.
Two things at the outset favoured the mission at
Tahita. The skill of the artisans awakened admira
tion, and two Swedish sailors, long resident on the
island, acted as interpreters. Progress was being
made with the language when the visit of a foreign
vessel upset everything. Several sailors deserted,
and when the missionaries tried to secure them the
natives interfered and assaulted the missionaries.
A panic ensued and eleven of the missionaries
sailed away to New South Wales. Seven men and
one brave woman, Mrs. Eyre, remained. Through
failure and desertion or ill-health the band was
reduced, by 1800, still further. After another year
of fruitless toil nine new missionaries arrived, and
the aspect of the mission brightened. Five years
of toil had not been in vain, for the senior mis
sionaries now became able to preach to the people

5n tbe Soutb Seas "3
in their own tongue, and were able to help the new
arrivals with the language.
But still no results were visible among the people,
and the time that followed was one of severe trial.
Household stores and clothing were exhausted,
and the missionaries had to do without boots. The
year 1802 was one of war and peril, and when
old Pomare died the following year the prospect
was black indeed, for his son, the new Pomare,
had seemed hitherto vicious and unfriendly. But
he began to be interested in what seemed to him
a most astonishing thing, the art of writing, and
came to receive instruction. A school was started,
a dictionary compiled, and evangelistic tours
undertaken among the neighbouring islands.
Still no conversions; and Mr. Jefferson, who
through ten terrible years of discouragement had
never wavered, passed peacefully away. Then
came gleams of dawn . Some of the natives seemed
feeling after God, and the workers were filled with
hope. Alas, war broke out. The king informed
the missionaries he could no longer be sure of pro
tecting them. Nine of them fled to the Society
Islands, the king was defeated, and the rebels over
ran the land. The mission premises were burnt to
the ground, and the four remaining missionaries
retired to the neighbouring islands of Huahine and
Simeo. And so the twelve years of toil ended in
blank defeat and failure.
In this darkest hour the Directors at home medi
tated abandoning the mission, but, happily, Dr.
Haweis and others supported its continuance, and

in Cbe Romance of Mobem Missions
made generous gifts, when it was decided to re
sume the work. A prayer meeting was held to
pray for the conversion of the young Pomare, and
at that very time he came to the missionaries in a
neighbouring island asking for Christian baptism.
This was the dawn of a new day.
Themissionaries returned from New South Wales
to Eimeo. In 1812 Pomare was invited back to Tahiti
by a part of his subjects, and returned, although
the rebels held the greater part of the island.
The following year Mr. Scott and Mr. Hayward
returned to Tahiti, and a wonderful and auspicious
thing happened next morning. At daybreak Mr.
Scott heard a native praying to God. Years before
this man had been impressed by the words of the
missionaries, and the message lingered in his mind.
A few words from Pomare had deepened the im
pression . Secretly he sought out one who had been
a servant of the missionaries, and found that he,
too, was seeking the light. Together they re
solved to renounce idols, to observe the Sabbath,
and pray to God — all without the presence or help
of any missionary.
From this time events moved rapidly, but we
can only summarise them. Space will not allow
us to tell how, in 1815, in Huahine, a priest, Patii,
in the presence of an assembly of natives, cast one
after another the old idols into the flames, and
the power of idolatry was broken for ever; of how
in Tahiti the old idol party, rebels against Pomare,
persecuted the native Christians, who bravely met
their death; of the plot to kill every Christian in

5n tbe Soutb Seas "5
the island, a plot happily revealed in time to enable
the Christians to flee to Eimeo; of the plan for
an overwhelming attack on the Christians later,
when Pomare had once more been tempted back
by promises of peace; of how the attack was re
pelled and the enemy utterly routed, while the
image of the god Oro was captured, and after
being used in the king's kitchen to hang baskets
on, was finally committed to the flames. In the
island of Raiatea the king Tamatoa, having come
under missionary influence when assisting Pomare
against the rebels, ordered the idols and their
temples to be destroyed. This incensed the priests
and two-thirds of the people sided with them. A
battle followed in which the idolaters were de
feated. The chief of Taha, a prime mover in the
rebellion, was led into Tamatoa's presence, ask
ing in abject fear, ' Am I dead ? ' No, my
brother,' was the reply, 'you are saved by Jesus.'
Tamatoa was afterwards the friend of John
Williams. It is a noteworthy fact that until the people be
came religiously influenced they showed no dis
position to build for themselves better houses, or
to cultivate gardens; but with their conversion a
change took place. Neat cottages began to rise,
and orchards to be planted. The whole standard
of life was raised, and the natives set themselves
to acquire useful arts. In a word civilisation fol
lowed the Christianisation of the people. And so
after twenty years of toil and suffering and peril
Christianity triumphed.

n6 Cbe iRomance of Mobem Missions
When it was suggested to King Pomare that
the people should be asked to help the mission
funds he warmly approved, and a novel collection
was taken, consisting of pigs, oil, arrowroot, and
cotton. Huahine and Raiatea followed the example
of Tahiti, and the offerings when sold in London
realised ^"1,700. Pomare erected a huge church
to accommodate seven thousand people, but the up
keep proved too expensive. With many defects
of character, King Pomare manifested a real desire
to live a Christian life and was in due course bap
tised. With the help of the missionaries he pro
mulgated a code of laws, which were introduced
into many of the other islands.
And now we must briefly tell the story of the
famous missionary, John Williams, who was
born the same year as the L.M.S. and was destined
to become the apostle of the South Seas. His life
illustrates that unconscious preparation for the
work of life so often seen in missionaries. To him
it might be said, ' I girded thee though thou hast
not known me.' An ironmonger's apprentice, he
delighted to practise the manufacture of all kinds
of ironwork, not dreaming of what immense ser
vice this and other mechanical arts would be to
him in after years. Waiting at a street corner
one Sunday night for a companion, a Christian
lady invited him to accompany her to chapel. He
consented, was arrested by the Word, and con
verted. He was then eighteen years of age, and
in 1 816 sailed as a missionary for the South Seas.
He was accompanied by Mr. William Ellis, who

Un tbe Soutb Seas 117
took out a printing press, which was duly installed
at Tahiti, King Pomare setting up the first types
and printing the first sheets. The anxiety of the
natives to possess the printed books resulted in a
great mortality among the cats of the island, since
skins were needed for binding purposes.
In 1818 John Williams and Mr. Thelkeld settled
in Raiatea under the chief Tamatoa. They were
enthusiastically welcomed and a great work began
which was destined to spread the Gospel far and
wide. John Williams was a missionary statesman,
a born manager of men, and full of intiative and
resource. He got the native settlement moved to
a healthier situation, where good houses were built,
wells sunk, gardens laid out — the whole a monu
ment of one man's genius and industry. In 1821
a large canoe from Rurutu visited the island, and
the chief began to learn to read and write. In three
months he returned home in company with two
native teachers. Within a month idolatry was
overthrown, and the change proved permanent.
This incident suggested the policy of employing
native missionaries for the conversion of other
islands, and among these Papeiha held a prom
inent place by reason of his devotion and success.
Landed at Aitutaki, one of the Hervey Islands, he
and a companion had an unfavourable reception,
but after a year of peril and difficulty every temple
and altar in the island was demolished, and a Chris
tian church erected. Next we find Papeiha landing
among the savage Mangaians with spelling-book
and New Testament. The mission for the time

118 Cbe TRomance of Mobern Missions
proved a failure by reason of one of those sudden
tempests of passion to which these South Sea
islanders are subject; but later two other native
teachers were allowed to settle, and won the island
for Christ.
The island of Raratonga, where dwelt the most
ferocious of all the Polynesians, now became the
object of Mr. Williams' quest. A voyage of five
days brought the party to the island, and two
natives were landed. They were subjected to name
less insults and persecutions, and next day returned
to the vessel. Papeiha offered to stay in the island
alone if a companion were sent later. And so he
began single-handed the task of Christianising
Raratonga. In twelve months idolatry was at an
end, and the people were building a Christian
temple. When on a visit to Raratonga John Williams
found himself cut off from communication with the
sister islands, and resolved with his own hands,
assisted by the natives, to build a missionary ship.
Of all his exploits none perhaps touched the
imagination of this country more than the building
of The Messenger of Peace. How Mr. Williams
thrilled and delighted vast audiences in this coun
try afterwards by the story ! He made bellows
of goat-skins and the rats ate them ; he constructed
another pair of wood and the suction of the fire
threatened them. He made charcoal of cocoa-nut
trees, welded and wrought iron, split trees with
wedges, and fastened planks with wooden pins in
default of nails. Splendidly indeed did the expert-

5n tbe Soutb Seas "9
ences of apprentice days serve for the furtherance
of the Gospel. Necessity was the mother of inven
tion. Cocoanut husk was made to serve for oakum,
the bark of the hibiscus for ropes, and native mats
for sails. In fifteen weeks the vessel, sixty feet
long by eighteen feet broad, was complete ; and in
her John Williams sailed thousands of miles to
carry the Gospel among the fair islands of the South
Seas. Fiji was visited and native teachers planted
in the Samoas, where phenomenal success was
realised. By 1838 50,000 out of the 60,000 inhabit
ants were under Christian instruction. This among
a people who had been noted for their infamous
savagery. A striking evidence of what the Gospel
does for commerce was furnished here in the fact
that within twenty-eight years' time, the islands
which had hitherto been shunned even by traders,
were importing goods to the value of £35,000 an
nually. Even from the point of view of trade it is
evident Christian Missions pay.
Space will not permit more than a summary of
the next few years. Fain would we tell of many
deeply interesting events : how a native boat, driven
2,000 miles away by a storm, carried the Gospel to
a heathen island, where a wonderful work was done
and idolatry ultimately abandoned; how traders
wickedly introduced ardent spirits with the most
disastrous results ; how stringent laws were enacted
against the importation of drink, and temperance
societies were formed to counteract the evil, so
that once more the work went forward; how the
Bible was published in Tahitian, and Mr. Williams

120 Woe Romance of Mobern Missions
gave his ' Missionary Enterprises ' to the world,
with phenomenal success; how his visit to London
created extraordinary excitement, and thousands
assembled to see him sail again for the South Seas ;
how the great missionary settled in Samoa, and
made his home among a conquered and despised
tribe, where his name became like a talisman.
But still he heard the cry of the perishing be
yond, and once more he sailed away to carry the
good news to other islands. He preached to his
flock before departing from the words, strangely
prophetic, ' Sorrowing most of all that they should
see His face no more.' In the new vessel, the
Camden, bought by the generous sums given in
response to his appeals when in England, he sailed
for the New Hebrides. On November 20th, 1839,
the vessel anchored off Erromanga. Mr. Williams
and two other missionaries went on shore, and their
kindness and presents seemed to have allayed the
fears of the people. Suddenly they were attacked
by the natives, and Mr. Williams and Mr. Harris
were killed, their bodies dragged into the bush,
where a cannibal feast was held. Indescribable was
the grief of the bereaved wife and children, and
of the people over all the islands where the name of
Williams was revered.
Christian evangelists from Samoa were settled in
Erromanga within a few months of this tragedy.
After being imprisoned for months in a hut, where
their only food was what was lowered to them
through the thatch by their one friend in the island,
they were rescued by Mr. Murray in an utterly

Jn tbe Soutb Seas 121
prostrate condition. Many unsuccessful efforts
were made to re-open the mission. In 1852 Samoan
teachers were admitted. In 1857 came the two
Gordon brothers and Mrs. Gordon from Nova
Scotia. All three were murdered by the treacherous
savages. Two months later Rev. H. A. Robertson
and his wife, representatives of the Presbyterians,
commenced work at Erromanga, and have carried
it on ever since with wonderful success. Although
the story does not belong to the present section of
this work, for the sake of completeness we may add
the striking testimony of Douglas Rannie in his
book, ' My Adventures among South Sea Canni
bals ' (Seeley, Service & Co., 191 2). Rev. H. A.
Robertson can make ' the proud and not idle boast
that there is not among all the natives one single
heathen.' 'The people among whom they settled
were steeped in ignorance, sin, and superstition ;
now they are a law-abiding, enlightened, and God
fearing community. People who were murderous
savages, indulging in the vilest of heathen rites
and customs, are leading upright Christian lives.'
The missionary has translated the Scriptures into
the language of Erromanga, and the people them
selves paid for the publication out of the money
they earned in making arrowroot, the staple indus
try of the island.
Within two months of the death of John Williams
three thousand copies of the Bible arrived and
proved an excellent preparation for the testing time
that now came to the people of Tahiti. Roman
Catholic missionaries landed, and began an attempt

122 Cbe Romance of Mobern Missions
at proselytism which has been condemned by the
whole civilised world. By Papal decrees the isles
of the Pacific were to be reduced to obedience to
Rome. When the emissaries of the Pope were
expelled from Taiarabu it was represented at Paris
and Rome as an outrage on French citizens. In
August, 1838, a French frigate appeared off
Papeete, demanding an apology from the Queen,
and a fine of 2,000 dollars within twenty-four hours.
The Queen was required also to sign a convention
promising to receive and protect all Frenchmen
who desired to live among her people. The sequel
may be guessed. On one pretext or another aggres
sion followed aggression till the sovereignty of the
Queen and the authority of her Government were
at an end. The writer remembers a little magazine
picture that strangely moved him when he was a
boy. It represented Queen Pomare watching the
landing of the French forces, and the sadness of
her mien was pathetic. That landing sounded the
death-knell of freeedom and of the L.M.S. in
Tahiti. It was not, however, till 1886, when it was
decreed that all teaching should be in French, that
the work was handed over to the Paris Missionary
Society. The story of Tanna will be told in another con
nection, but here it may be recorded that the last
act of John Williams was to land teachers there,
who were subsequently reinforced by two others
from Samoa. The people were cruel cannibals, but
for a time the mission seemed hopeful. Then two
of the teachers died, which was interpreted as a

5n tbe Soutb Seas 123
sign of the anger of the island deity. Two L.M.S.
missionaries, Messrs. Turner and Nisbet, came to
Tanna to settle, but the priests rose against them,
and the missionaries had to flee for their lives.
Taking to an open boat, they were picked up by
a ship and carried to Samoa. Into their six months
in Tanna they crowded the suffering and suspense
of a lifetime.
Yet the seed had not been all lost. A few had
been influenced, and after the departure of the mis
sionaries these met on Sunday for prayer and re
ligious conversation. Calamities befell the others
and were attributed to the expulsion of the mis
sionaries. When Mr. Turner returned in 1845 he
was cordially welcomed, and left three Raratongan
and four Samoan teachers. But in less than a year
one of the teachers was murdered and the rest
escaped only by reason of the timely visit of a
vessel. A fresh attempt was made in 1847, and met
with some success till small-pox carried off three
of the native teachers. One manfully continued the
work till four women of the native Christian party
were murdered, and rather than expose others to
the same fate he withdrew. Some natives of Tanna
visited Aneityum in 1854, ana* were so amazed at
the marvellous change wrought by Christianity that
they begged to have teachers sent back with them.
Two were sent and the work was carried on till the
arrival of John G. Paton in 1858, which is another
story. As seed scattered abroad by the wind, so native
teachers were sent to island after island. Aneityum

124 Cbe Romance of Mobem Missions
was thus favoured in 1841, and held bravely for six
years till a missionary from Nova Scotia arrived.
Of Fatuna in the New Hebrides and Sandwich
Island similar stories are told. The native teachers
evidenced the most marvellous heroism and con
stancy. Year after year, amid persecution and suf
fering, they would stick to their posts. Many were
brutally murdered. Nearly every island missioned
had its martyrs, and often work which seemed to
be in vain ultimately bore astonishing fruit. In
the Sandwich Island the teachers saw a captain and
his crew murdered and eaten, and were themselves
in constant peril, so that the mission had to be
abandoned ; in Lolopa the teachers were massacred
and eaten within nineteen days of their arrival.
Yet in neither of these cases was the sacrifice in
vain. At the Isle of Pines two teachers were mur
dered, and the chief again and again plotted the
destruction of the teachers at New Caledonia
Island. The missionary ship, Camden, was replaced by
the John Williams, the cost of ,£6,237 being pro
vided by the children. In six years she sailed
200,000 miles, and in 1864 at the end of twenty
years, was wrecked. A second ship of the same
name was similarly provided, and was wrecked a
year later. A third John Williams was provided
and splendidly served her purpose for twenty-five
years, when she gave place to a fourth John
Williams, a steamship. Time would fail to tell of
the Raratonga Institute; of the translation of the
Scriptures, and of the triumphs of the Gospel in
Samoa.

CHAPTER II.
IN SOUTH AFRICA AND MADAGASCAR.
An earlier chapter has recorded the work of the
Moravians in South Africa, and how, after being
dominated by the Dutch for 150 years, the coun
try came into the hands of the English. It will
be remembered that the Dutch bitterly opposed
missionary work among the Hottentots. A similar
story has to be told in connection with the work
of L.M.S. When the L.M.S. began its work
the Hottentots had been enslaved and hunted like
vermin. Naturally such treatment developed cun
ning, ferocity and insensibility, in what had origin
ally been a friendly and inoffensive race. If they
became addicted to theft and murder these were
only regarded as in retaliation for the abominable
wrong they had suffered. In 1774 a policy of utter
servitude or extirpation was resolved upon . Armed
bands of colonists went forth to kill and enslave.
' Give a dog a bad name and hang him ' is a
true proverb, and the Hottentots became very
much like the wild beasts they were sup
posed to be.
Yet the great difficulty of the early missionaries
was not with the Hottentots but the colonists, who
hated the Hottentots or Bushmen with the most

126 cbe Romance of Mobern Missions
rancorous hatred and opposed all efforts to help
them. The wonderful story of the first missionary,
John Schmidt, will be found in an earlier chapter
on the Moravians. In 1798 the London Mis
sionary Society sent out Dr. John Vanderkemp, a
student of Leyden University and a graduate of
Edinburgh. The loss by drowning before his eyes
of wife and child had led to his conversion, and he
volunteered for work among the Hottentots. At
every step he was opposed by the Dutch farmers,
who repeatedly attempted to shoot the missionary.
He won the confidence of the Hottentots, and even
of the Kaffirs. A band of marauding Hottentots
on one occasion attacked the missionary institution
at Botha's Plain and then fled into Kaffreland.
Learning what the men had done the Kaffirs put
three of them to death.
The story of this remarkable man's work is one
long romance. A great linguist with a knowledge
of Greek, Hebrew, Armenian, Arabic, Persian, and
Syriac, he drew up in a few months a rough sketch
of the Kaffir language. A keen metaphysician, an
enthusiastic scientist, at home in chemistry, natural
history, anatomy and botany, he gave himself body
and soul to the service of the despised Hottentots,
whom he saved literally from extirpation. His
memorable words deserve to be here placed on
record : ' I should not fear to offer my life for the
least child among them ' ; and his figure, dressed
in a threadbare black coat, waistcoat and breeches,
without shirt, neckcloth or stockings, and with
leather sandals bound under his feet, will ever re-

5n Soutb Bfrica anb Mabagascar 127
main one of the most heroic in missionary annals.
At Bethelsdorp, a bare, barren spot assigned him
by the Dutch Governor, he championed the cause
of the oppressed. Summoned with other mission
aries to answer various charges brought against
them by the colonists, he was kept nine months in
suspense, and just when in the depths of despair
the English fleet arrived and the colony passed
under English rule. Persecution of missionary and
people still continued, and just when an official
investigation was to begin Dr. Vanderkemp died.
His final testimony was, 'All is well,' and that it
was light with him.
Before we pass from the work of this heroic mis
sionary a word may be said as to the after history
of Bethelsdorp. That brilliant missionary, Dr.
Philip came upon the scene, and his practical eye
perceived that the Hottentots needed an incentive
to work. He got a store opened where the people
could buy useful things, and soon they began to
see a purpose in cultivating the land and grow
ing fruit. They were led to buy better clothes ; then
they wanted houses of stone or wood instead of
mud huts. Gradually the whole appearance of the
colony was transformed, and in a few years Bethels
dorp was paying £500 a year in taxes and buying
,£5,000 worth of British goods. Better still the
people became noted for their honesty, truthfulness
and industry, as well as zeal for the worship of
God. Similarly Rev. Charles Pacalt made Pacatsdorp,
situated half-way between the Cape and Bethels-

128 woe Romance of Mobem Missions
dorp. Mr. Pacalt went to live among a wretched,
degraded people, built a house, sketched a village,
and induced the people to build houses and plant
gardens. A place as bare as the palm of the
hand was transformed into beautiful gardens and
fruitful cornfields, with a church and school and a
prosperous people.
And now the romance of South African missions
gathers round two famous names, which are inti
mately associated with the early memories of the
writer — Robert Moffatt and Africaner. Africaner
was a wild marauder and the terror of South Africa.
An exile from the home of his forefathers, this man
was reduced to serve a Dutch farmer. A chief
though he was, he bore the wrongs inflicted on him
and his people for long; but one night a crisis came
which broke down his endurance. A plot to
destroy the whole clan came to Africaner's ears.
Summoned to the master's door to answer for re
fusing the performance of some duty, Africaner was
felled to the ground. His brother Titus shot down
the farmer on the spot. The wife was spared on
her surrendering the arms and ammunition in the
house, and the whole tribe fled across the Orange
River. There they became the terror of the
country. Into that region two missionaries penetrated as
pioneers — Abraham and Christian Albrecht, and
settled at Warm Bath, a hundred miles from the
notorious freebooter, Africaner. He was favour
ably disposed towards them, however, because thev
were English, and sent some of his children to be

5n Soutb Hfrica anb Mabagascar 129
taught at the mission. Then Abraham Albrecht
died, and his brother having married a Christian
lady from Rotterdam, was settling down to work,
when a dispute between Africaner and a man named
Hans threw the colony into terror and confusion.
Rumours reached Africaner that the missionaries
were aiding his enemies, and he vowed vengeance.
The situation was critical. Hourly the mission
aries expected to be massacred. One whole week
was spent in holes dug in the ground as a pro
tection against rifle balls. Deliverance came from
a chief who got them to a place of safety. But the
terrible experience proved too much for both hus
band and wife, who died soon afterwards.
It was in 1817 that Robert Moffat landed at
Cape Town and set out for the lion's den,
Africaner's kraal. He heard many cheerful pre
dictions on the way as to the fate that awaited him.
But already a missionary was there in the person of
Mr. Ebner, whose success, however, was of a
dubious kind. He was bitterly disliked by both
Africaner and his men. Moffat's house was built
on his arrival by native women in half an hour.
Mr. Ebner retired after a violent dispute with
Africaner, and Moffat was left in charge. Soon the
most wonderful change took place in the character
of Africaner and his brother, Titus. Africaner
especially was filled with sorrow for his past life,
and would converse for hours about the Bible. He
nursed Moffat through an illness with the tender
ness of a woman. He was induced to visit Cape
Town with Mr. Moffat, and produced an immense 1

i3o Cbe "Romance of Mobern Missions
impression on the Governor. This was in 1818.
The following year Mr. Moffat married Miss Mary
Smith, and in 1820 they were transferred to
Bechuanaland. Africaner died in 1823, testifying
to his love of God and exhorting his people to live
as Christian men of peace. That signal triumph
in Africaner's kraal was for Robert Moffat the be
ginning of a wonderful missionary career.
A more unpromising field than that presented by
the people of Bechuanaland could not have been
found. The story has often been told of their im
placable hostility; how they disturbed the worship
by shouting, singing, snoring. They would rob,
lie, exchange wives, with impunity. To succeed in
anything bad was to be happy; failure alone gave
them concern . They had no religious beliefs except
faith in spirits operating through sorcery and witch
craft. They would listen to the missionaries only if
paid for it in tobacco. Once Moffat was ordered
to leave, the order being accompanied with uplifted
spears. Mrs. Moffat stood by her husband with
her baby in her arms. ' If you are resolved to get
rid of us,' was the missionary's reply, ' you must
resort to stronger measures, for our hearts are with
you.' ' These men must have ten lives when they
are so fearless of death ; there must be something
in immortality,' was the remark of one of the men,
and the mission was allowed to continue.
The story of the mission from this date is full
of romance — of wars and rumours of war; of attacks
by the Mantatees, who were defeated and driven
off largely through the missionary's advice; of the

3n Soutb Hfrfca anb Madagascar 131
threatened return of the enemy and Moffat's flight
to Griqua Town ; of his return and the removal of
the mission station to the river Kuruman ; of the
failure and discomfiture of the rainmaker, and
Moffat's success in bringing ' rain ' by means of a
canal ; of how the people would sometimes crowd
into the mission house, polluting everything they
touched, talking, sleeping, pilfering, and when they
departed leaving ten times their number behind
them ; of how the nobility would amuse themselves
at worship by removing from their ornaments cer
tain nameless insects and letting them run about
the form close to the missionary's wife ; of how they
would pilfer from the mission house when the mis
sionaries were absent at service, and leave a stone
in the pot in place of the meat they found there.
But the darkest hour was followed by the most
wonderful romance of all. Suddenly the chapel
became too small, and the whole demeanour of the
people changed ; strong men wept like children. A
new chapel had to be built, and baptisms took
place in May, 1829. The predominant sounds of
the village became singing and prayer, and the
mission entered on a period of the most astonish
ing prosperity. After the revival came an abund
ance of rain, and plenty filled the land. Moffat
having translated the Gospel of Luke into Bechuana
went to Cape Town to get it printed. Compositors
were scarce, so he learned printing himself, and
returned to the Kuruman not only with the Gospel
of Luke and a hymn-book in the native tongue, but
a printing press, etc., that had been sent out from

132 cbe Romance of Mobern Missions
England. What stories Moffat had to tell of his
work after this — of the abandonment of polygamy,
one man who had ten wives giving up nine; of
pioneering visits to distant places where the people
listened greedily to the Gospel ; of lessons given in
reading by moonlight; of learning the people to
sing Auld Lang Syne pitched to A. B.C. until two
o'clock in the morning ; so that next day every part
of the village rang with the old tune, the maids
singing it as they milked the cows and the boys as
they tended the calves ; and finally of how the work
was extended till stations to the number of forty-
one ran northwards for six hundred miles; so that
there are to-day in Bechuanaland about 200 mis
sionaries native and European, nearly 5,000 church
members, and 13,000 adherents.
And now let us link the work of Moffat to the
name of an even more famous missionary, David
Livingstone. When on a visit to this country, in
1840, a young medical man, in training for mis
sionary work, interviewed Moffat as to whether
Africa would be a suitable sphere for a medical
missionary. Moffat's reply was in the affirmative,
providing the unoccupied country to the north were
chosen : ' I have seen the smoke of a thousand vil
lages,' said he, ' and no missionary has been there.'
How little the two men dreamed of all this was to
mean in after days to Africa and the world. In the
humble home at Blantyre, and the little Independ
ent chapel there, the foundations of the future mis
sionary and explorer's life-work had been laid.
But the signs of this were few. The youth had

3n Soutb Hfrica anb Mabagascar 133
broken down in trying to preach his first sermon,
and revealed little facility in prayer. But there
were the makings of a great man in him, and he
was destined to wield a magic influence over the
people of Africa that would be remembered by
some of them a generation later; and the day was
to come when the whole world should wait for
news of him, finally to learn that he had died on
his knees in the centre of the Dark Continent.
The story of Livingstone's work is so well-known
it need not be re-told here in detail. Indeed, only
a part of it belongs to the L.M.S. But it is a
very significant part. The Directors had left this
raw recruit a free hand, so from Kuruman he
struck northwards among the Bakwains and other
tribes. His medical skill soon made a deep im
pression ; but his policy was 'thorough,' so he
adopted Moffat's plan, and immured himself with
the natives for half a year, living with them, and
studying their language and customs. He was
soon able to translate hymns into the ' Sechuana
rhyme,' which were afterwards sung by the people.
The geniality and kindness of the man, his won
derful personal magnetism, his strong common
sense, soon enabled him to exert a commanding
influence over the people. Asked to 'make rain,'
he taught the natives the art of irrigation with
admirable results.
But Livingstone's heart was set on the move
northward. Reminded of the risk involved from
proximity to the dreaded dospot, Mosilikatse, he
replied: 'If we wait until we run no risk, the

134 Woe "Romance of Mobern Missions
Gospel will never be introduced into the interior.'
The Directors gave way, notwithstanding the fact
that Dr. Philip thought the young man too ambi
tious; and full of enthusiasm and whole-hearted
consecration, David Livingstone went forward.
Those who think of him as an explorer rather than
a missionary know little of the man. Neither the
doctor nor the explorer could be other than lost
in the missionary ; and valuable as he deemed the
work of the medical missionary, he begrudged time
spent on ' mere temporal amelioration.'
Wonderful indeed is the story of the following
years. In 1843 Livingstone settled among the
Bakatlas at Mabotsa, building his house with his
own hands. It was there that he narrowly escaped
death from a lion. He had accompanied the
Bakatlas in an expedition against a troop of lions
that had been making serious depredations. A
wounded lion sprang at Livingstone, seized him by
the shoulder, and shook him as a terrier does a
rat. The bone was crunched to splinters and
eleven of the animal's teeth penetrated the upper
part of the arm. Had not the lion's attention
been diverted to another man, Livingstone's career
would have ended. It was with a maimed arm,
which could not be lifted above the level of the
shoulder without pain, that the great achievements
of subsequent years had to be carried through.
And thirty years later that same arm served to
identify the remains that his faithful followers had
borne on their shoulders to Zanzibar, whence they
were shipped to England.

3n Soutb Hfrica anb Mabagascar 135
Marrying, in 1844, Mary, the daughter of Robert
Moffat, Livingstone secured a brave, devoted,
clever helper in his great work, who as a ' maid-
of-all-work ' within supplemented her ' Jack-of-all-
trades ' husband without. In 1846 they moved
north to Chonuana, where the famous Sechele was
chief. This man with a rhinoceros hide offered to
whip all his people into the faith together.
Secehele proved an apt scholar and gave that
crowning proof of sincerity, the abandonment of
polygamy. Drought drove Livingstone and his
people northward to the Kolobeng River, and then
across the Kalahari desert to reach the country of
Sebituane, King of the Makololo. This first great
journey of exploration resulted in the discovery of
Lake Ngami. A second attempt brought Living
stone to Sebituane, one of the very finest Africans
he ever met. With him he might have settled
down, but the king died. Livingstone soon started
again on the work of exploration, and reached the
Zambesi. Then, taking his wife and children to
Cape Town, whence he sent them to England, he
prepared for his great plunge into the interior.
The story of that great journey has often been
told : of the preliminary arrangements ; of the fur
ther spell of missionary work among the Makololo,
whose devotion to him proved so wonderful; of
his conviction that the horrible slave-trade could
only be ended by opening up the interior to
Christian and civilising influences; of his starting
to find a route to the West Coast, an unparalleled
journey for which the simplest preparations were

136 Cbe "Romance of Mobern Missions
made; of the repeated attacks of fever, from which
Livingstone suffered almost from the first; of the
line of march to, and then along, the Zftmbesi to
the ' court ' of Shinte, the mighty chief of the
Balonda, who was immensely delighted with the
magic lantern; of the dangers among the
Chiboques, and the perils and sufferings of the
way, so that Livingstone was reduced to a skele
ton; of the wonderful devotion of his people in
spite of everything; and of the arrival at Loanda
on the west coast, where at sight of the sea the
Makololo could only express their feelings by say
ing, ' All at once the world said to us, "I am
finished; there is no more of me." '
Fain would his friends have persuaded Living
stone to go to England and recruit his health, but
the Forerunner was allowed to sail without him
and was lost with all hands, Livingstone's precious
maps, letters, and diaries going down with her.
The march back took nearly a year, but the problem
of the great river systems that take their rise in
Central Africa was solved, and at last the mis
sionary and his ' braves ' were welcomed back
among the Makololo with exuberant manifestations
of delight.
In eight weeks Livingstone was off again to fol
low the Zambesi to its mouth. He pronounced the
Zambesi falls, 'the smoke that sounds,' as prob
ably the most marvellous in the world. Called by
the natives Mozi-oa-tunia, but named by Living
stone the Victoria Falls, this natural wonder need
not be described here, save to say that the Zambesi,

5n Soutb Hfrica anb Mabagascar 137
a river a mile wide, contracting to 15 or 20 yards,
rushes over a huge precipice in three grand falls,
varying in height from 262 feet to 393 feet. This
enormous gulf would have been chosen in Biblical
times, to quote the words of Major Serpa Pinto, as
an image of the infernal regions, a hell of water
and darkness, more terrible perhaps than the hell
of fire and light.
What dangers threatened the traveller on this
memorable journey from savage tribes ! It seemed
at one point that disaster was inevitable, or that
retreat and discomfiture must be chosen as the alter
native. ' But Jesus came and said, " All power is
given unto Me in heaven and in earth. Go ye,
therefore and teach all nations. . . . And, lo, I am
with you alway, even unto the end of the world."
It is the word of a gentleman of the most sacred
and strictest honour, and there is an end on't.'
Livingstone went calmly forward, and from that
point encountered no further difficulty, arriving
safely at Quilimane, and was the first European to
cross the Continent. Promising his followers that
nothing but death should prevent his return, he
set out for England, taking with him only the faith
ful Sekweba. The tremendous experience upset the
poor fellow's mental balance, and he leaped over
board and was drowned.
From this point Livingstone's connection with
the L.M.S. ceased, and we can only in a sentence
or two indicate his subsequent achievements : his
discovery of the Shire and its two great lakes, the
Shirwa and the Nyassa, the latter 200 miles bv

138 Woe "Romance of Mobern Missions
60, with dark blue water, like the sea; his seven
years' march from Zanzibar, across the Chahbeze,
the head water of the great Congo, to Ujijji, on
Lake Tanganyika, meeting with Stanley at the
same place when face to face with famine and disas
ter through the plundering of his stores by the un
speakable Arabs, October 24th, 1871. Stanley re
turned to Zanzibar, sending Livingstone fresh men
and supplies, and on August 25th, 1872, the great
explorer set out on his last fatal journey. Constant
rain and exposure brought on fever and dysentery,
and one morning he was found on his knees by his
bedside, dressed and dead, as he had knelt for his
last prayer the night before. His faithful Chuma
and Susi embalmed his body, and bore it to Zanzi
bar, thence it came to its last resting place in West
minster Abbey. That journey by these devoted
Africans of a thousand miles from Ilala to Zanzi
bar, through difficult and desolate country and hos
tile tribes, will be remembered as long as the
granite slab under which rests that embalmed body,
and until its glorious inscription : ' Other sheep I
have which are not of this fold,' and 'All I can
add in my solitude is, May Heaven's rich blessing
come down on every one, American, English, or
Turk, who will help to heal this open sore of the
world,' has crumbled into dust.
Fain would we tell of the subsequent work of
Moffat and others among the Matabele and the
Makololo ; of the planting of new stations north
ward to Rhodesia; of the trials and ultimate

5n Soutb Bfcica anb Mabagascar 139
triumph of the work among the Matabele; of the
founding of the Central African Mission as the
result of the enthusiasm created by the funeral of
Livingstone ; of the help of ^5,000 by Mr. Robert
Arthington, of Leeds; of the terrible mortality
among the missionaries, eleven dying and eleven
being compelled to retire; of the launching of the
Morning Star, and subsequently the Good News,
on Lake Tanganyika, and the steady prosecution
of the work around its shores. But a few words
must be added in relation to Robert Moffat's later
work in this connection. Single-handed he accom
plished the gigantic task of giving his beloved
Bechuanas the complete Bible in the Bechuana
tongue. This was completed in 1857, the New
Testament having been published on the occasion
of his visit to this country in 1840. He toiled on
till 1870, and then insomnia compelled him to visit
this country after more than half a century's work
among the rude races of South Africa. He was
never permitted to return to Africa, but, as he once
declared in Exeter Hall : ' Scotland is not my home
— Africa is my home — my treasure and my heart
are there.' He was made a D.D. by Edinburgh
University in 1873, and a testimonial of £5,800
was presented to him. The last work on which he
was engaged was a translation of the ' Pilgrim's
Progress ' into Becuana, and on 9th August, 1883,
he passed away at the ripe age of 88 years. Very
finely do the lines he once inscribed in an album
express the very spirit of his life : —

140 Woe Romance of Mobem Missions
" My album is the savage breast,
Where tempests brood and darkness rest,
Without one ray of light ;
To write the name of J«sus there,
And point to worlds all bright and fair,
And see the savage bow in prayer,
Is my supreme delight."
Mention only can be made of King Khama and
his enlightened rule and all it did for his people
and the cause of missions; of the Kuruman Insti
tute, for which ,£10,000 was subscribed in this
country to commemorate Moffat's historic work in
South Africa, and the great work it has subse
quently accomplished. Robert Moffat's labours
have borne fruit all over the vast region in which
he toiled so heroically ; and the new era which has
there dawned owes him a debt that no words can
ever describe.
The story of Christian missions in the island of
Madagascar is one of the most wonderful in
the annals of Christianity. It is a record of
singular triumphs, and of extraordinary constancy
and faithfulness on the part of the people. The
island is 900 miles long by 300 broad, and has a
population of over five millions. Although the
great source of supply for the slave trade at the
beginning of the last century, the people were
higher in the scale of civilisation than the rest of
Africa. Cotton and silk were grown and made into
clothing. The people were decently, sometimes
gorgeously, clad. Iron working was carried on
in a rough and simple way. Spades were used for
tilling the ground. Houses of wood and stone were

¦Jn Soutb Hfrica anb Mabagascar 141
commonly built. The government was a pure
despotism, and the morality of the people not only
low but growing worse. If a servant of the king
broke a dish, or a woman spilled a little water on
the queen's dress, the offender would be taken out
to die. Ordeal by poison was so common that one
in every ten had to face it, and one half the victims
died. The people were purely heathen, practised
infanticide, had no written language and very little
regard for moral purity. The first L.M.S. mis
sionaries visited the island in 1818, when Radama,
an enlightened and humane ruler, was on the
throne. The site chosen for the first mission was un
healthy, and five of the six missionaries were swept
away by fever. Other missionaries arrived the
next year and moved to the capital, Antananarivo,
where they were welcomed by the king. Schools
were started, and skilled artisans taught the people
to work in wood, stone, iron, leather ; to build, make
tiles, soap, etc. For sixteen years the missionaries
laboured, learning the language, translating and
printing the Scriptures. Then the king died, and
there was a struggle for the throne. Ultimately
by bribery and the savage extermination of her
rivals, Ranavalona, one of the wives of the late
king, secured the throne for herself. Idolatry in
its worst forms was restored, and the missionaries
were banished from the island. For the next
twenty-five years the Malagasy Christians were sub
jected to the most cruel and relentless persecution.
They were burnt alive, rolled in native mats and

142 Woe "Romance of Mobern Missions
dragged through the streets to be hurled over a
precipice, stoned to death, speared, put in irons,
poisoned, sold into slavery, fined or banished.
Wonderful indeed was their constancy, for they
chose death rather than take the heathen oath,
which meant a denial of their Lord.
In 1868 Ranavalona II. came to the throne.
Idolatry was once more abolished, and Chris
tianity became popular and fashionable. Chris
tians were soon counted by tens of thousands, and
chapels rose in every town and village in
Imerina. Then came the French conquest, when
hundreds of chapels were destroyed. After the
war came a famine. When this scourge passed
the people returned, rebuilt the chapels and
resumed their work. The French proved unfavour
able to the missionary work, and ultimately half
the mission districts were handed over to the care
of the French Protestant Mission. To-day the
L.M.S. has twenty-four missionaries, over 3,000
native agents of various grades, nearly 30,000
church members, and about 130,000 adherents, or
nearly as many as in the whole of India and China
combined. There is a Theological College, com
bining the original L.M.S. and the Friends' Col
leges, and some forty students. It is interesting
to learn that a committee of ladies considers the
stability of all the wives of the candidates as well
as the engagements of the unmarried students. We
much regret not to be able to include in this volume
any account of the fine work done in Madagascar by
the Society of Friends.

CHAPTER III.
IN INDIA AND CHINA, GUIANA AND NEW GUINEA.
With all the vastness and variety India presents,
certain of its features, religious and otherwise, make
one mission a good deal like another. Having
devoted considerable space to the pioneer work of
Carey, Marshman and Ward, it will not be neces
sary in subsequent accounts to do more than sketch
the work in outline. The London Missionary
Society followed hard on the heels of Carey in
India, Nathaniel Forsyth landing as its first mis
sionary in 1798, and while as yet Carey stood alone,
his famous companions, Marshman and Ward, not
joining him till twelve months later. Finding that
he would not be allowed to work under the British
Government, Forsyth made his way to the Dutch
settlement of Chinsurah, and for fourteen years
toiled single-handed with great faithfulness and
devotion, maintaining himself by his own property.
In 1804 a party of six missionaries was sent out.
Of these Lovelace went to Madras, Des Granges to
Vizagapatam, and Ringeltaube to Travancore. In
the last named we come upon a man of romantic
character and deeds. In a singular way there came
to him a call to carry the Gospel among the pariahs
of India — a caste beneath all caste, the outcasts of

i+4 Woe Romance of Mobern Missions
the land. One of these, Maha Rasan, could find
no peace in the religions of his people. Making a
pilgrimage eastward he found a small mission
church in Trajore, where he listened eagerly to the
message and obtained some Christian books. Re
turning to his village, he erected a hut for the wor
ship of the true God. This event fired Mr.
Ringeltaube with enthusiasm, and sent him forth
on an evangelistic tour of a thousand miles. He
passed through regions where the tiger and the
elephant had their home, and poisonous snakes
abounded. What a mission to the pariahs meant
may be gathered from the fact that they are for
bidden to approach within ninety paces of a
Brahmin, and anything they touch is defiled.
Everything in theory belongs to the Brahminical
priestly order, and the miracle is that the pariah
can even breathe without permission. Even a mis
sionary in those days, on meeting a Brahmin, was
expected to leave him the road and go into the
ditch. As no settlement could be made at Travancore,
Mr. Ringeltaube made his headquarters at Palam-
cotta; and at Meilady, from which Maha Rasan
had made his pilgrimage, a station was established
and forty persons ere long baptised, of whom Maha
Rasan was the first. This man's grandson was
ordained to the native ministry in 1866 and be
came an efficient pastor; but Maha Rasan for a
time was subjected to severe persecution, and had
to flee to the hills. Let the reader picture the
dauntless missionary, Mr. Ringeltaube, at Meilady,

5n 3nbia anb Cbina, ©uiana anb IRew (Buinea H5
living in a native hut, the furniture of which con
sisted of a rude table, two stools and a cot. By
1810 six stations were established, and 200 people
had been baptised. The large and well-organised
church at Travancore to-day is the result of Mr.
Ringeltaube's work. There are sixteen mis
sionaries, over 800 native agents of various grades,
over 11,000 members and over 70,000 adherents,
with numerous Sunday Schools and Day Schools,
as the outcome of Mr. Ringeltaube's humble be
ginning. Reinforcements arrived in 1820-4 and
opened new stations in both North and South India,
and another movement took place among the
pariahs in 1824 near Calcutta. The poor had the
Gospel preached to them. A College for the
Bengal Mission, at which, in 1851, the first
Brahmin and high caste converts were baptised,
was opened, and divinity classes, boarding schools
for Christian girls, Zenana missions, medical mis
sions and hospitals have sprung up as the work
advanced. Striking mass movements among the
pariahs have occurred, and a great work has been
done in various places. In North India there are
48 missionaries, 239 native agents, 916 members,
and 2,691 adherents, with Sunday and Day Schools.
In South India the missionaries number 50 and
the native agents of various grades 800, Church
members some 2,400, and adherents about 30,000,
with thousands of scholars in the schools.
Among the Brahmin converts the case of
Anandarayer, at Vizagapatam, was specially re
markable. Thirty years old, he was conscious of
K

H6 Woe Romance of Mobern Missions
deep spiritual need. Told to repeat a certain
prayer 400,000 times he accomplished the task, with
no result. He came into contact with some Roman
Catholic priests, and breaking caste, a crowning
evidence of sincerity, was baptised. But even yet
he was not satisfied, and would argue with the
priests about their use of images. Hearing of the
L.M.S. missionaries at Vizagapatam, he came to
them and there found peace and service. This mis
sion was under Mr. Des Granges, and when he died
the Brahmin convert pledged himself not to leave
Vizagapatam, but to go on translating the Old and
New Testaments.
Another significant story is that of a young
Hindu who found a mutilated Bible under a tree
at Matne. The reading of the Gospels awakened
a desire to know more. At Seringapatam — for he
was servant to a travelling European gentleman —
he received from the Catholics a few books and
tracts. He became a Christian and a missionary,
and at every place where he settled he made con
verts and formed a band of Christians. At Mysore
he for the first time saw a complete copy of the
Scriptures; but when he formed a little Christian
society there he was attacked by the Catholics.
From the Bellary Mission of the L.M.S. he re
ceived further help and continued his work. So
the Gospel spread by the Word of God. From
Travancore to Calcutta, as well as along the coast,
and into the interior, the agents of the L.M.S. made
their way. Large native Christian communities
have been gathered, the Scriptures translated into

5n Jnbia anb Cbina, ©uiana anb IRew ©uinea 147
several languages and thousands of children
brought under Christian influence.
Mention has already been made of the fact that
Robert Morrison was the first Protestant missionary
in China. He led the way in that great movement
that has indirectly, as well as directly, accomplished
such great things. Robert Morrison was born at
Buller's Green, near Morpeth, Northumberland.
His youth was spent at Newcastle-on-Tyne, and
there he was employed in manual labour in his
father's business from twelve to fourteen hours a
day. Yet he found time for reading and medita
tion. Even when at work he had his Bible or some
other book open before him. His father, who was
an elder in the Scotch Church, did not look with
favour on the youth's desire to become a minister,
still less a missionary. But the way opened and in
1807 Morrison sailed for China.
Before leaving London he had learned something
of Chinese from a Chinaman whom he induced to
share his lodgings. But on arriving in China he
found the language was not the only difficulty. The
country was rigidly closed to missionaries, and the
penalty of teaching a foreigner Chinese was death.
How Morrison overcame these and other difficulties
is a story full of romance. Finding that Americans
were less disliked than Englishmen, he associated
himself with an American factory. Exorbitant sums
were demanded for lessons in Chinese. As
Morrison said : ' To acquire the Chinese is a work
for men with bodies of brass, lungs of steel, eyes
of eagles, and lives of Methuselah,' but he toiled

148 Ube "Romance of Mobern Missions
heroically at his task. We see him in a city full
of idolatries, occupying one room and oppressed
with loneliness, living and dressing as a Chinaman.
Political difficulties arose, and he and some English
families had to flee for their lives to Macao. There
Morrison lived in a garret at an exorbitant rent till
the roof fell in. He toiled at his dictionary, pray
ing even in Chinese. The whole success of his mis
sion hung by a thread, and this made him timid.
He tried to teach a few Chinese lads, who slit his
coat and used him so abominably that he had to
run for assistance. The English scholar was no
match for the Chinese hooligan. His marriage to
Miss Morton, the daughter of an English resident
at Macao, and his engagement by the East India
Company as Chinese translator at a salary of ,£500
a year, gave him happier conditions, and his work
proceeded more rapidly. But still he had difficul
ties : perils by sea and perils by land ; the serious
illness of his wife, and the loneliness of their posi
tion ; the death of their first child whom no Chinese
would bury, and the imperfect appreciation by the
authorities at home of his dry-as-dust work. Yet
to-day his grammar and dictionary lie at the foun
dation of all missionary work in China.
The grammar was finished in 181 2, but the print
ing, which was done in Bengal, occupied three
years. The Acts of the Apostles and the Gospel of
Luke were next translated and printed. This last
the Romish bishop at Macao ordered to be burnt
as heretical. Then an edict was issued making the
publication of Christian books in Chinese a capital

5n Snbia anb Cbina, (Buiana anb flew (Buinea 149
crime; yet the translation of the New Testament
went steadily forward. In 1813 Robert Milne and
his wife joined Morrison, and by the end of that
year the entire New Testament was translated and
printed. In the following year the first Christian
convert was baptised ; and so was begun the great
work that has gone forward ever since. Malacca
became a new centre of work, and there Milne car
ried on his college for years. We cannot tell the
long story in detail — of the frightful mistake of
England by which the ports of China were opened
first to opium, and second to Christianity; of the
visit of Morrison to England; of the changes
gradually brought about, so that by 1832 Chinese
scholars, missionary students, English presses, and
Chinese Scriptures became common ; and of the
final passing of this great missionary to his rest
July 31st, 1834. Nor can we tell of the opening
of mission work in Hong Kong and Shanghai in
1843, one of the most famous workers being the
scholarly Dr. Legge, afterwards Professor of
Chinese at Oxford; of the opening of the Canton
hospital in 1848; of the mission in Amoy, and
later at Chiengchow; of the opening of inland
China at Hankow by the now famous Griffith John,
under whose intrepid leadership stations were estab
lished north and south of the Yangtse, and whose
fifty years of brilliant service have been graphically
described by Mr. Wardlaw Thompson ; of the open
ing of Tientsin by Mr. Edkins in 1861 ; of the estab
lishment of a medical mission by Dr. Lockhart in
Pekin, where now stand the Lockhart Memorial

150 Woe "Romance of Mobern Missions
Hospital and Union Medical College. Suffice it
to say that in 191 1 the L.M.S. had in China 95
missionaries, 493 native agents, 15*215 Church
members, and nearly 8,000 adherents, besides many
Day and Sunday Schools.
Who has not heard of the heroic labours of James
Gilmour. But few know anything of that vast
stretch of country known as Mongolia, 2,000 miles
from east to west and 900 from north to south, with
its nomadic peoples living in tents, ever on the
move with their flocks and herds ; its intense winter
cold, its dust storms and rain storms. And not
many know anything of the details of Gilmour's
work : how he acquired the language by living in
the tent of a lama or priest, ever on the alert with
note-book and pencil to catch new words and
phrases; how wretched were the conditions of life
that prevailed ; how he visited Lake Baikal, near
which was the scene of a mission of the L.M.S.
established in 1817, and finally broken up in 1841
by the Emperor Nicholas, on various flimsy pre
texts; how Gilmour travelled about the country
with his translations of Gospel tracts and the Gospel
of St. Matthew ; how he made intimate acquaintance
with the tenets and rites of Buddhism; how in 1874
he proposed by letter to Miss Prankard, a lady he
had never seen, and who on coming out to marry
him found him clad in an old overcoat which had
seen much service in Siberia, and a comforter
making more for comfort than appearance, but who
made him a splendid wife, companion and helper,
sharing his privations and dangers on the plain ;

5n3nbta anb Cbina, (Buiana anb mew (Buinea 151
how her health necessitated a visit to this country
in 1882, when England first heard of ' Gilmour of
Mongolia ' ; how he laid his spell at the fag-end of
a long meeting, the spell of a master of assem
blies, on the great assembly at Exeter Hall ; how
the two went back to their toil in Mongolia; how
Mrs. Gilmour died in 1885, to her husband's un
speakable grief ; how her last words were, ' Jamie,
I'm going I suppose; I'll soon see you there; I
think I'll sit at the gate and look out for you
coming ' ; and how six years later she no doubt wel
comed him to the home on high. But this brief
record can give no idea of the beauty of this man's
character and life, or of the devotion with which he
toiled, amid hardship and discouragement, on the
hardest mission field in the world. But though
when he visited this country he could not tell of a
single convert, when he died his beloved Mon
golians sobbed like children, and far and wide he
was known as ' Our Gilmour.' In igoi the Mon
golian Mission was handed over to the Irish Presby
terian Church ; but we may be assured that the
seed so faithfully sown by James Gilmour will yet
bring forth a glorious harvest.
We wish we could tell the story of the Mission
in British Guiana, begun about 1808, and prose
cuted with vigour and success; but the work so
much resembles other missions in that region
already referred to, that only a brief reference can
be made to it here. It was a mission among slaves,
and there were the objections always urged by the
authorities against making slaves Christians. Rev.

i52 Woe "Romance of Mobern Missions
John Wray was a splendid pioneer missionary, and
did a marvellous work. Drunkards and fighters
were changed into sober and peaceable people, and
endeavoured to please those who were set over them.
Sometimes the work was delightfully seconded by
the masters; at other times bitterly opposed. It
goes without saying that the conditions of slavery
varied greatly. Some masters sustained paternal
relations with their slaves ; others reproduced more
or less faithfully the horrors of ' Uncle Tom's
Cabin.' There were terrible whippings at the cart-
tail, and the penalty for striking a white servant
was to have a hand cut off. Leprosy and infectious
diseases were common, and the grossest immorality
was encouraged and practised by the whites. The
licentiousness prevailing would not bear descrip
tion. Mr. Wray persevered in spite of opposition. He
learned Creole, and translated a catechism and other
books into that language. A school was established
which prospered greatly. But it was a terrible
conflict with fever and the malignant opposition
of the planters. Horrible cruelties were practised,
and as no justice could be obtained on the spot Mr.
Wray carried one case to England and obtained
the punishment of the offender. The moral effect
was enormous. Mr. Wray was joined in 1817 by
Rev. John Smith, a statesman missionary, who
rendered splendid service. Delightful results were
witnessed in the improved condition of the slaves,
and even some of the planters bore witness to this
fact. Mr. Smith's accounts of the slave system as

3n Jnbia anb Cbina, (Buiana anb mew (Buinea 153
a ' foul blot on the British character, which every
lover of his country should dedicate his whole life
to efface,' produced a deep impression at home. A
revolt of the slaves in 1823 was put down with
merciless severity, and Mr. and Mrs. Smith were
imprisoned because the former had refused to take
arms in defence of the planters. On one estate
200 negroes were shot. Yet it was proved that
the slaves had not contemplated taking life, as
their pastors had taught them not to take what
they could not give. In the teeth of overwhelm
ing evidence the court martial condemned Mr.
Smith to death. For seven weejss he was confined
in a room under the boards of which was putrid,
stagnant water. This brought on a serious illness,
from which he died February 6th, 1824. The
decision of the Home Government to have him re
moved to this country came too late. Determined
efforts were now made to rid the colony of the mis
sionaries, which for a time were successful. But
the work was resumed later, and by 1834, when
the Emancipation Act took effect, the L.M.S. had
five flourishing stations. The Indian tribes of
Essequibo were not forgotten, and by 1835 there
were fifty native Indian communicants. The work
of the L.M.S. was also extended to Jamaica, and
by 1867 the work there and in British Guiana had
become sufficiently self-sustaining to admit of the
Churches being granted independence.
From the West we turn to the East, and in New
Guinea, the largect island in the world next to Aus
tralia which is a continent. The romance of this

154 Cbe "Romance of Mobern Missions
land of forests and mountains and rivers, of cedar
and gold, of cruelty and cannibalism, is largely the
romance of one man, James Chalmers. The first
attempt of a South Sea islander to pronounce the
name Chalmers gave Tamate as the equivalent, and
Tamate he remained to the people to the end. Many
who saw him on the occasion of his last visit to
this country will recall him as a volcano of a man.
His powerfully built figure was compact of energy,
audacity, courage and the loftiest enthusiasm. His
broad, deep chest, his massive head, his square fore
head, and his wonderful eyes which burned with
magnetism and seemed now blue and now black
in colour, gave the impression of extraordinary
power and singular virility. His immense energy
and endurance and his extraordinary activity gave
him a unique equipment for the work he was called
to perform as a pioneer missionary. Add to this
the outlook of the statesman, a mind ever on the
stretch, teeming with new projects, and forecast
ing possibilities and probabilities, and you have a
personality that would have done big things any
where. His was the frame of a giant and the heart
of a little child. He was full of fun and joviliality
to the last, and would tramp fifty miles, or voyage
ioo in an open boat without a thought. His
modesty was as conspicuous as his lion-like cour
age; but the real driving force of his wonderful
personality was his deep spiritual joy and love
springing from his abiding sense of the love of
Jesus Christ.
Born at Ardrishaig of humble parentage, in 1841,

3n 3nbta anb Cbina, (Buiana anb mew (Buinea 155
he was as a boy full of frolic and adventure. He
listened one Sunday to a missionary address in the
Sunday School at Inverary ; the speaker wondered
if any boy present would become a missionary.
Young Chalmers on his way home knelt behind a
wall and consecrated his life to the service of
Christ, a vow never forgotten though for years
ignored. He was converted in the great revival of
1859-60, although he had gone to the services to
disturb them. He became a city missionary in
Glasgow, and a meeting with a missionary from
Samoa revived his early wish to be a missionary.
The L.M.S. sent him for two years to Cheshunt
College, and while there he walked fourteen miles
each way every Sunday to take charge of a mission.
His first sphere was Raratonga. On the way he
was shipwrecked and lost all except the clothes he
stood in ; he sailed for the rest of the voyage with
the famous pirate, Bully Hayes, and after a voyage
of seventeen months reached Raratonga, May 20th,
1867. There he did great exploits, witnessed in
1872 a wonderful revival, and within two years it
was arranged that all the churches should pay their
own pastors. Next he went for new territory, and
in ten years reorganised the whole work and
government of the island. Then after these years
of preparation the call came to his life work in New
Guinea. This vast island, 1,400 miles from east to west
and about 500 from north to south, had already
come within the influence of the L.M.S., but little
had as yet been done. Yet the missioning of

156 Woe Romance of Mobern Missions
Papua had deeply stirred the May meetings on the
island of Lifu in 1871, and a native Christian orator
had exclaimed, ' Satauro ni je ! Satauro ni je ! ' —
' Crucify me ! crucify me ! ' — as he appealed to the
audience on behalf of Papua. A year before Rev.
S. Macfarlane had been designated as pioneer mis
sionary for New Guinea by the Directors, and on
April 30th, 1871, he sailed for New Guinea with
the eight teachers and their wives who had been
consecrated to the work at the extraordinary meet
ing above referred to. He adopted the policy of
occupying some of the numerous islands to the
south-east of New Guinea, as strategic points. The
adventures and narrow escapes, the heroic endur
ance and marvellous success of the native teachers
would occupy all the space we have at our dis
posal, and we must hasten to the year 1877, when
James Gilmore came upon the scene. As a result
of the visit of Mr. Macfarlane to this country the
Ellangowan, a small steamer of 36 tons, given by
Miss Baxter, of Dundee, had been placed at the
service of the mission, and under Rev. W. G.
Laws, a new start had been made. Port Moresby
proved deadly to the native teachers, and within
two years there were eighteen graves, and Mr.
Lawes retired to Cape York. Chalmers and Mr.
Lawes worked admirably together, the latter taking
charge of the mission, mainly, the former engaging
in pioneer work. And now the task of compressing
the wonderful story of the next thirty years into the
brief space available is difficult indeed. Chalmers
determined never to use firearms, and carried

5n Snbia anb Cbina, (Buiana anb mew (Buinea 157
merely a short hazel stick, which he used simply
in walking. Once when death threatened and some
counselled flight Mrs. Chalmers opposed, saying
God would protect them ; and by friendly diplomacy
and courageous indifference the storm was
weathered. What daring expeditions Chalmers
made among the cannibals, witnessing on one occa
sion a cannibal feast ! With an umbrella, a few
beads, a looking glass, a Jew's harp and a box
of matches he accomplished miracles of concilia
tion. Taking off his shoe a crowd would gather
to gaze open-mouthed at his white foot. The tick
ing of his watch would cause unbounded delight.
His tact and diplomatic skill achieved wonders.
Ultimately Chalmers adopted Port Moresby as
his headquarters, and from there made excursions
to distant places, now preparing the way by a dip
lomatic visit, now following this up and leaving a
native teacher to begin work. In his longer jour
neys inland he required carriers, and had the usual
difficulties with them. Sometimes they would travel
for eighteen miles, and then lay down their burdens
and return home. The people had not even reached
the tribal stage, and the natives went always in
fear. His many journeys and his thousand and one
adventures may all be read in his biography.
Chalmers played a prominent and valuable part,
in 1884 in bringing the southern half of the island
under the protection of the British Government,
and the authorities bore ungrudging testimony to
his vigour, his cheeriness, his tact, his resource,
and his influence with the natives. His visit to

158 Cbe Romance of Mobern Missions
this country in 1886 produced a great effect and
greatly stimulated missionary enthusiasm. He re
turned to New Guinea in 1887, and was joyfully
welcomed by his people.
In April, 1900, Chalmers made an expedition to
a cannibal district called Aird Run. Many canoes
visited the vessel, and examined everything with
evident curiosity. Friendly relations seemed to
have been established and the people wished the
party to go ashore. They preferred to spend the
night afloat, but promised to visit the village next
day. The visit was paid, and the crew never saw
either the two missionaries or the twelve native
Christians again. A month later the Lieutenant
Governor visited the place with a punitive expedi
tion, and learned from a captured prisoner that the
whole party had been massacred, their heads cut
off, and the bodies distributed and eaten.
Wonderful indeed were his achievements. There
are more than 130 missionary stations on the island,
with 33 missionaries, nearly 1,000 native agents,
hundreds of schools and thousands of scholars, and
about 70,000 members and adherents. On the first
Sabbath of the month thousands of men and women
gather round the Lord's table. It is a punishable
offence to supply intoxicants to the natives, and
drunkenness is practically unknown. There is a
Training College, through which scores of young
men have passed. Much translation work has been
done, and a valuable industrial work is carried on.
What hath God wrought !

BOOK IV.
©f tbe flfcetbobist fllMssionang
Societies.

CHAPTER I.

WESLEYAN METHODIST.

Dealing with all the sections into which Methodism
in this country is divided, this book naturally begins
with Wesleyan Methodism. Methodism and mis
sions are inseparable. 'The world is my parish,'
said John Wesley. Wesley came of a missionary
ancestry. His grandfather, the first John Wesley,
would fain have gone as a missionary, first to
Surinam and later to Maryland. Samuel Wesley,
John Wesley's father, conceived a scheme of mis
sionary service in India, China, and Abyssinia, and
towards the close of his life regretted he was not
young enough to go to Georgia. The mother of
Methodism, Susannah Wesley, was fired with mis
sionary ardour by reading an account of missionary

160 cbe "Romance of Mobern Missions
work by a young Dane in Malabar, and was led
to make a beginning with her own children.
John Wesley himself was sent to Georgia by the
' Society for the Propagation of the Gospel.'
This Society has been styled ' the oldest English
Missionary Society,' but though founded in 1701 its
object was mainly to provide for the spiritual wants
of the American colonies, and its first missionary to
India was not sent out till 1818. The missionary
work of Methodism was originated by John Wesley,
in 1758, by a sermon at Wandsworth in the house
of Nathaniel Gilbert, Speaker of the House of
Assembly in Antigua, under which two negro ser
vants of Gilbert were awakened and were subse
quently baptised. On his return to Antigua Mr.,
Gilbert, failing to obtain other help, became the
first Methodist missionary to the negroes, and at
his death, in 1774, there were 200 Methodists in
Antigua. In 1768 Wesley sent the first Methodist
missionaries to America. From this date the name
of Dr. Coke fills the missionary horizon of
Methodism for many years.
In a very true sense Thomas Coke was the foun
der of Methodist missions. His was the big heart,
the wide vision. Almost more than Wesley, he
demanded the world for his parish. Great dreams
came to him of the spread of the Gospel, and with
restless eagerness and quenchless enthusiasm he
sought their realisation. Eighteen times he crossed
the Atlantic in an age when the voyage was long
and perilous; and the fact that this man of vast
dreams of spiritual conquest and incessant activity

TKHeslesan Metbobist 161
found these long voyages seasons of special enjoy
ment, because they were so favourable to medita
tion and study, speaks volumes for the depth and
reality of his spirituality.
It was Welsh Methodism that gave the Church
of God this great missionary statesman. Thomas
Coke entered life with the heritage of a good name,
a good ancestry, and a good atmosphere. His
father was the beloved physician and honoured
patriarch of Brecon. Born in 1747 Thomas Coke
was sent early to Oxford, where he took his Bache
lor's degree in 1768, and Doctor of Civil Laws in
1775. Three years before this he had been ordained
to the priesthood. He became curate of South
Petherton, in Cornwall, and soon afterwards met
Thomas Maxfield, the first lay preacher of Metho
dism. Through him and Wesley and other Metho
dists, Coke entered into a new experience, and
began to preach with a fervour that soon made his
curacy too hot for him. He was summarily dis
missed, and the church bells were rung to celebrate
his departure. After an interval devoted to serious
consideration of his future he, in 1778, joined
Wesley, and soon became a power in Methodism.
In London thousands flocked to hear him, and
Wesley encouraged his passion for a world-wide
evangel by saying, ' Brother, go out, go out, and
preach the Gospel to all the world.' In 1784 we
find his signature to a document entitled, ' A Plan
of a Society for the establishment of Missions
among the Heathen,' with a list of subscriptions
amounting to ,£66 3s. In the September of that

1 62 cbe Romance of Mobern Missions
year Coke was ordained by Wesley as Superin
tendent of American Methodism, with the famous
Francis Asbury as his colleague. We cannot fol
low in detail his journeys, his incessant labours,
his voyages. IN THE WEST INDIES.
He was soon seized with a passion for evange
lising the negroes, and as early as 1786 we find
him administering the Lord's Supper in the Metho
dist Church at Antigua, where he found a Society
of two thousand members. Visiting the other
islands he settled missionaries in St. Vincent's and
St. Christopher's. Dr. Coke arrived at St. Eusta-
tius on the very day that Black Harry had been
silenced by the planters. This converted negro
from the United States by his preaching had been
the means of a remarkable awakening. Large con
gregations assembled. The strange physical mani
festations seen in some parts of England appeared
here. Sometimes as many as sixteen persons fell
to the ground and lay unconscious for hours. Dr.
Coke formed the people into classes and gave them
such advice as the circumstances demanded. Later,
Black Harry ventured to pray in public with the
people, and for this he was publicly whipped, im
prisoned and banished from the island. Barbadoes,
Dominica, Nevis, Tortola, Jamaica and other
islands were soon occupied.
At Wesley's death there were 5,645 members in
society. It will be remembered that Wesley's last

3n tbe Mest Jnbies 163
letter was to Wilberforce, denouncing slavery as the
' sum of human villainies.' The planters instinc
tively recognised the danger of Christianity to their
system, and began a policy of opposition and per
secution. They enacted a law prohibiting a mis
sionary from preaching without a license, which a
magistrate might give or refuse as he pleased. The
missionaries were assaulted and imprisoned, and
sometimes well-nigh killed; chapels were demo
lished or closed. Yet under the baptism of fire the
Church grew and prospered, and by 1838 there were
42,928 members. The baselessness of the charges
against the missionaries may be inferred from the
fact that not one single Methodist slave was ever
proved guilty of incendiarism or rebellion. Eman
cipation Eve, July 31st, 1834, was a memorable
occasion. The slaves crowded the chapels, and as
the clock struck twelve, over the bowed hosts there
passed a thrill the world had never known before.
Eight hundred thousand slaves were free, and from
the exulting multitudes the grand old doxology,
' Praise God from whom all blessings flow,' pealed
forth like the sound of many waters, and as the
voice of mighty thunders.
The romance of West Indian Methodism will
never be told — the thrilling incidents, the pathos,
the humour, the tragedy, the comedy that crowded
the experiences of the early days, defy description.
The little chapels with their mud walls and palm-
thatched roofs, their rough cedar joists, their posts
out of plumb, their sills out of level, were humble
enough ; but then they were the people's own. The

164 "Cbe "Romance of Mobern Missions
people cut down the timber, collected the stone,
burnt the lime, and built the whole with their own
hands. Slaves would thank God for their slavery
because it had brought them within sound of the
Gospel. And the results achieved, all things considered,
have been marvellous from the first. The mis-
misionaries, be it remembered, were of the same
race and colour as the savage and often immoral
oppressors of the missioned, and the negroes re
tained the dark superstitions handed down for
generations. And yet the Gospel redeemed them,
though it did not make them perfect. It does not
always do that with people who have centuries of
civilisation and Christianity behind them. But the
patience, the simplicity, the fidelity and genuine
piety it developed were often delightful. It is said
that when God made the negro He put a big
laugh in the centre of his heart; and considering
the misery and anguish to which the race have
been subjected the provision was a merciful one.
Humour is one of God's most precious gifts and it
often served the West Indian slave in good stead.
He would easily explode with laughter even after a
flogging. Stories abound of the simple consistency of the
people. A widow gained her living by selling the
milk of her cow ; but she would not sell it on Sun
day, giving it away on that day. She gave a shil
ling a week for her class-money, besides paying for
some of her poorer neighbours.

5n tbe Mest Jnbies 165
It is interesting to note that the negroes to-day
are neither half-timers nor week-enders. They
would consider it a degradation to depend on hymn-
books provided by someone else. They use them
at home, and so bring their own. The week-night
service is hearty and well attended. The question
of the class-meeting as a test of membership has
not yet arisen in the West Indies, and is not likely
to arise in this generation. The class-meeting ex
periences are very quaint. ' Me do lub Jesus,' says
one; ' He so sweet; He sweeter than any sugar
cane.' ' O minista,' says another, ' de debil bin
trouble me too bad dis week; he bin tempt me
just like jigger in me toe.' To-day there are in
the West Indies 91 circuits, 482 chapels, 31 mis
sionaries, 600 paid native agents, and 51,000
members. Their present operations in the Western
Hemisphere not only include most of the West
Indian islands of the Bahamas but also give them a
footing in four of the Republics of Central America
and in British Guiana.
Dr. Coke's work has surely borne splendid fruit.
Fain would we tell more of his flaming zeal, his
heroic labours, his munificent gifts, his amazing
success in collecting missionary money, his mar
riage at fifty-eight years of age, and his love of the
West Indies. Once he declared that if he were dis
posed to turn hermit he could fix his observatory on
one of its island peaks and spend his time in com
munion with God, and in the study of astronomy
and botany.

1 66 Woe Romance of Mobern Missions
CEYLON.
Dr. Coke had long dreamed of a mission to India,
but the East India Company stood in the way.
Ultimately it was decided to send a mission party
to Ceylon, although there was great opposition,
which almost broke Dr. Coke's heart ; but his thrill
ing speech and his offer of ,£6,000 broke down all
opposition, and on the 30th December, 1813, he
with other six missionaries sailed for Ceylon. Eager
and enthusiastic as ever, Coke employed his time
in study, reading and writing Portuguese — since
the Portuguese still held the island of Ceylon —
giving readings from his Commentary by request,
no sermon being allowed. On the evening of the
22nd of May he sang —
" To me remains nor place nor time,
My country is in every clime ;
I can be calm and free from care
On any shore since God is there."
Next morning he was found lifeless on the floor of
his cabin, and the desolate company committed the
body of the great missionary bishop to the mighty
deep. Dr. Coke died for India, and left the East as
his legacy to his companions and his Church.
' Death ' ! he had said in a sermon on the eve of his
departure, ' death ! what is it to the Christian ?
Why it is only stepping out of time into eternity.'
Probably his death achieved more for the cause he
loved than would his life ; for it led the way to the
formation of the Wesleyan Missionary Society, so

Ceglon 167
that following the example of the Moravians,
foreign missionary work was henceforth regarded as
an essential part of the duty of the Methodist
Church, the denominational Society representing
the whole of the local Societies formed on the initia
tive of Leeds. By 1816 the income had reached
£18,000, and there were in missionaries, mostly,
however, in the West Indies and the Colonies.
Chalmers in 1821 declared that Methodists deserved
as much credit for their missions as the Moravians.
In his last sermon Dr. Coke said, ' It is of little
consequence whether we take our flight to glory
from the land of our nativity, from the trackless
ocean, or the shores of Ceylon.' It mattered a good
deal to the bereaved missionaries who, unable to
claim the .£400 in the hands of Dr. Coke, had not
enough money to pay for their first meal on landing
in Ceylon. The Governor befriended them, and
they had altogether an auspicious beginning.
Roughly, Ceylon is an island 250 miles long by
150 wide in its broadest part. Here every prospect
pleases. Kandy is one of the show places of the
world, the gem of a district of surpassing loveliness,
with its mountains and valleys, its river and lake,
its planted land and its three hundred miles of
evergreen forest. There are harbours where the
' glories of the Eastern Sea are kissed by overhang
ing trees, jewelled with islets, and garlanded by low
and lovely hills.' Hinduism, Buddhism, and
Mohammedanism are the chief religions. The Por
tuguese introduced Romanism by military methods
four hundred years ago. Francis Xavier preached

168 Woe Romance of Mobern Missions
it with apostolic ardour, and by mixed marriages,
ritualism, force and spiritual power it gained con
siderable sway among the people. The Dutch
attempted to teach Reformed doctrines in 1602, but
repression and self-interest were still more relied on,
and when the rule of Holland ceased in 1796 the
converts lapsed by tens of thousands.
The missionaries decided on opening five
stations. To Jaffna in the North went Messrs.
Lynch and Squance ; to Batticalad in the East was
assigned Mr. Ault; to Matara in the South-East,
Mr. Erskine; to Galle, a little to the South- West,
Mr. Clough. Mannar, the other proposed station,
was not occupied. In Colombo was a Government
schoolmaster, Andrew Armour by name, who had
long prayed for the coming of the Methodists.
Converted through Methodism in Ireland, he had
been a soldier class-leader in Gibraltar. He could
preach in Tamil, Dutch and Portuguese. The
value of the help of such a man may be imagined.
Soon mission work was begun in a score of villages
round Colombo, and Dr. Coke's printing press was
set to work. The missionaries had adventurous
journeys to their appointed stations — Lynch and
Squance through 250 miles of jungle ; Ault 200
miles by sea, a voyage in which all his goods were
ruined and his books spoiled. His was a brief
but brilliant career at Batticaloa. He learnt Tamil,
visited incessantly, preached whenever possible,
established eight schools, and gathered a church
of 20 and a congregation of 150. But his health was
shattered, and in less than eight months he who

Ceglon 169
had been the first to join Dr. Coke's band was the
first Methodist preacher to die on the soil of Asia.
On the ground where he lies buried there stands
to-day a William Ault Memorial Hall. From his
brief but faithful toil have sprung two self-support
ing churches and many mission centres, with a
Christian community of 2,000, and with over 5,000
children in the schools. On Commemoration Day,
June 29th, the hymn he wrote just before he died
is sometimes sung : —
" Asia salutes the rising day,
And glad to own Messiah's sway,
Spreads forth her hands to God."
All the stations prospered. The sub-collector of
the Northern Province joined the Jaffna Society. In
Colombo two of the most learned and famous
Buddhist priests were baptised. A New Testament
was largely influential in the conversion of one ; and
attending a Buddhist festival he was called upon to
discourse on the excellencies of Buddha. Instead
he read and expounded to his fellow priests the
Gospel of Matthew. Mr. Clough's arguments also
helped him to decision. Here we must summarise.
Within three years the Sinhalese New Testament
was issued. Sinhalese assistants were trained, and
by 1823 there was regular preaching in all the lan
guages of the island — and they were many. The
Portuguese New Testament was published in 1819,
and the Sinhalese Bible in 1824. The first Metho
dist Chapel in Asia had been built at Pettah, in
1816, and an Academy was opened in Colombo in
1827, with all its teaching in English.

170 Cbe Romance of Mobern Missions
Wonderful transformations were witnessed in
some places. At Kurana for example, the people
were gamblers, drunkards, thieves, highwaymen,
cattle-stealers, idle, uncleanly, worshippers of
demons. Under the influence of the Gospel the
place became cleanly, industrious, honest and or
derly. Four chapels were built, the people doing
the work themselves by relays of workers. At
Moratuwa the work for long seemed hopeless.
Worker after worker failed. Then came Peter G.
de Silva, a Sinhalese minister. In spite of the most
formidable obstacles, his consecration, faithfulness
and personal influence secured success. He was
often ill, and all kinds of hindrances were placed in
his way ; but he built up a beautiful spiritual temple,
and after twenty-four years toil he left three chapels,
312 church members and large congregations.
Thousands of the brightest youths of Ceylon
came under the influence of Andrew Kessen, the
head of the Government normal Central College.
Ceylon Methodism has had some notable men :
Daniel J. Gogerly for his unrivalled knowledge of
Buddhism, who for forty years was Chairman of
South Ceylon District, and commanding profound
respect far and wide for his vast acquirements and
unwearied service, did much for the overthrow of
Buddhism ; Robert Spence Hardy, who came to
the same District as Chairman at a critical time,
when the Buddhists were attacking Christianity
both in the press and at public meetings, and by his
Oriental knowledge, tact, and discipline saved the

Ceylon 171
situation and consolidated the work ' ; and Rev.
John Scott, a man of fine spirit and great capacity.
Native preachers and laymen became increasingly
useful as time went on, and trained officials were
developed. Among the men who have laboured successfully
in Ceylon one of the best known to English
Methodism was John Kilner, a fine statesman mis
sionary and an eloquent platform advocate of mis
sions. He trained the people in self-dependence,
and insisted that Tamils must be reached by
Tamils. How he trained his men, and how splen
didly he succeeded ! When he assumed the Chair
manship there were but two Tamil ministers. More
than a dozens names of his sons in the Gospel who
have rendered valuable service might be given.
Peter Percival, another famous minister, has also
translated the Scriptures into Tamil. Kilner's
work was splendidly carried on by his successor,
Edmund Rigg, who gave twenty-six years of
memorable service to the island. John Walton,
the only Ceylon preacher who became President of
the conference, was a great Tamil preacher. To
day Ceylon is the most prosperous Methodist Mis
sion in Asia. Batticalao and Point Pedro are
strong, healthy central churches, surrounded by
numerous out-stations full of vigour. They have a
good native ministry and many reliable laymen.
Ceylon has 64 circuits, 25 missionaries, 1,134 native

1 Hardy's books on Buddhism are still standard works.

172 Woe Romance of Mobern Missions
paid agents of various grades, 16,964 members and
adherents, and 30,900 scholars.
IN INDIA.
In India Wesleyan Methodism gained a footing
in 181 7, although as early as 1785 Dr. Coke turned
wistful eyes in that direction. James Lynch was
sent there in response to a request from some Eng
lish Methodists in Madras. He had already mas
tered Tamil in Ceylon, and he soon made a deep
impression. He was joined by Elijah Hoole in
1820. By this time the doors and windows of the
chapel at the services would be filled with Hindus,
eager to hear the message, but unwilling to enter
the chapel. By his excursions into the Tamil
country and his translation of Methodist hymns into
the language, Mr. Hoole rendered fine service here.
By 1825 hundreds of the heathen of all classes
were listening to the Word of God in Black Town,
where a bungalow had been secured. Caste proved
the great difficulty. From the first the Methodists
absolutely refused to regard it in any way as con
sistent with Christianity.
Caste dogs the native of India from the cradle
to the grave. It touches everything in his life — his
food, his marriage, and all that he does. If a
stranger, an outcast, merely looks on the food pre
pared for the high-caste family, the food must be
thrown away as unclean. If an outcast touches a
Brahmin, the latter becomes unclean and must go
through a performance of purification. If a man

3n 5nbia 173
or woman of caste becomes a Christian, it means
separation from the family. Pitiable indeed is the
position of those who become Christians ; and where
the step is only contemplated everything will be
done to prevent it. A girl may be married, or
drugged, or imprisoned or done to death. The
only way is to fly to the missionary, and even then,
if she cannot prove her age of responsibility before a
magistrate, she will be taken home and never seen
again. So with a young man. To escape from
home in order to become a Christian is to become
an outcast whom no one will employ. If he is
persuaded to go home he is poisoned. Yet in spite
of all this many Brahmins have accepted Chris
tianity. Mr. Hoole devoted himself largely to two forms
of work, evangelism in the villages of the Tamil
country around Madras, and translation work,
especially of Methodist hymns into Tamil. It was
a great joy to him to hear natives sing the familiar
English tunes. At the same time the work was
for a good while largely confined to the English
residents. But with the development of educational
work among the caste Hindus signs of success
began to appear. The greatest success, however,
has been among the Pariahs, and whole families,
even whole villages, have been won for Christ. The
work to-day is prosecuted by a four-fold propa
ganda — evangelistic, educational, medical, philan
thropic. There is a Wesleyan College in Madras
itself. This institution was founded by Dr.
Jenkins, in 185 1, to give a liberal education on

i74 Cbe Romance of Mobern Missions
Christian lines. Of its 700 pupils as many as 20
per cent., in 1909, were Christians. A hostel for
Christian students has accommodation for seventy
boys. The Kellett Institute seeks by interviews,
correspondence and discussion, to get into touch
with the most thoughtful of India's young men.
Rev. T. H. Squance began work at Negapatam,
in 182 1. He soon gathered a good English con
gregation, and held Portuguese services as well.
Negapatam is now a District stretching inland to
the great plain, which is 150 miles from the sea.
Its educational institutions are, Findlay College,
named after its first Principal, Rev. W. H.
Findlay, M.A., and the Industrial School, Kanir.
The difficulties of the work maay be inferred from
the fact that on the baptism of a Brahmin student
nearly half the boys were taken away by their
parents, lest they also should become Christians.
If the Wesleyan Missions of India had done noth
ing more than win to Christianity the late Hon.
Dewan Bahadur N. Subrahmaniam, its existence
would be amply justified. As a youth of thirteen
Subrahmaniam came to the Mission School, Nega
patam, and became convinced that the truth was
with the Bible. By stealth he began to attend the
services. His father and mother on discovering
this pleaded with him with tears not to renounce
their faith. In spite of all he did so and walked
two hundred miles to find an asylum with Dr.
Jenkins at Madras. After he was baptised his poor
mother fell weeping on his neck, over what seemed
his utter degradation, for the family were of the

5n Jnbia 175
highest caste. ' Will God ever bless you,' said his
father, ' when you have thus broken your mothers
heart?' 'Don't curse him!' said the mother
through her tears. ' If he cannot come with us
let him at least be happy here.'
He became B.A. of Madras University; taught
in the Mission High School; and found his way
to London, where he was admitted to the Bar. In
India he built up a legal practice, and became
recognised as the leading Indian Christian of the
Presidency ; was appointed a Judge, and afterwards
Administrator-General of the Presidency. He was
elected a Fellow of Madras University, and under
Lord Morley's India Bill was the first representative
of the Indian Christian community of the Southern
Presidency on the enlarged Legislative Council.
He had a most beautiful home, and made it a ren
dezvous for missionary and Hindu students. He
was a generous donor to Protestant Christianity.
His devotion to his mother was delightful. His
first big fee was poured into her lap, more rupees
than she had ever seen in her life together. An
Indian widow can only wear as ornament a rosary
or necklace, as a token of her entire devotion to a
religious life. But the coarse beads may be set in
metal ; and this widow's Christian son took care that
the metal should be of gold.
Subrahmaniam remained a loyal follower of Jesus
Christ, his last gift being the Kalyani Hospital for
women and children. Presented to the Wesleyan
Methodist Missionary Society, it is the greatest gift
ever made by an Indian Christian for the benefit

176 Woe Romance of Mobern Missions
of his fellows, and ' a gracious monument of his
conversion to Christ.'
Elijah Hoole, with Mr. and Mrs. Mowat, opened
the mission at Bangalore, in what is now the
Mysore District, in 1821. Heathen horrors
abounded. Fanatics had iron or wooden spikes
bored through their cheeks and tongues, carried
lighted fires on their heads, and spikes thickly set
on the soles of their sandals to tear their feet.
Seringapatam, of Tipoo Shib fame, was visited by
Titus Close in 182 1. A little chapel had been built
by some native Christians. The missionaries were
called to Madras and Negapatam to supply vacan
cies, and it was not till 1826 that John F. England
wasstationed at Bangalore. There is now a Training
Institution at Mysore for evangelists and teachers,
and an Orphanage and Industrial School at Tum-
kur. At the Bangalore High School, founded by
Hudson in 1836, many of the chief officers of the
State were educated. The training of a native
ministry is recognised as indispensable.
The same features more or less may be said to
characterise the story of all the Wesleyan missions
in India, and we can only here indicate the extent
of the work. The Madras District has now 37
churches and 95 other preaching places, 19 English
and 12 Indian ministers, 49 catechists, 407 day
school teachers, 54 local preachers, and over 8,000
baptised members and adherents. Nagapatam Dis
trict had 11 churches, 45 other preaching places, 12
English and 7 native ministers, 41 catechists, 218
day school teachers, 55 local preachers, and 1,859

3n 3nbia 177
baptised members and adherents. The Hyderabad
District has over 14,000 baptised members and
adherents, the Mysore District 5,765, the Bengal
District 3,167, the Lucknow District 1,977, the
Bombay District 737, and Burma District 713. The
proportion of churches and missionaries, etc., is
pretty much the same everywhere. There are two
Provincial Synods, one for the North, the other for
the South of India. Above these is an Indian
Synod, the germ of the Indian Conference of some
future day. The work begun through Dr. Coke
has marvellously grown, and Wesleyan Methodism
is taking a worthy part in the great task of Chris
tianising India.
We cannot close this section without a passing
reference to some of the noble and heroic men
Wesleyan Methodism has given to India. Dr.
E. E. Jenkins threw himself with all his culture and
ability into the extension of its educational work ;
W. O. Simpson gave to it his magnificent energy
and magnetic eloquence ; John Shaw Banks devoted
to it for some years his fine intellect and did rare
evangelistic work; and Daniel Pearson won many
by his able preaching. Time would fail to tell of
Arminius Burgess, of F. W. Kellett, of Thomas
Hodson, the Nestor of Wesleyan Missions in the
East, of Josiah Hudson, and Henry Haigh, and
G. W. Sawday, and Padre Elliot, and G. W.
Redfern, and G. W. Olver, and W. R. Winston,
who have so nobly carried forward the work of the
pioneers. For fifty years the Women's Auxiliary
have rendered brilliant service for India and has
M

178 Woe "Romance of Mobern Missions
now 94 English workers and 303 Bible women.
Its income in 1911-12 was over ,£23,000.
IN CHINA.
The Wesleyan missions in China belong to the
latter half of the nineteenth century. George
Piercy went to Hong Kong in 1855 on his own
charge. The little band of Methodist soldiers he
had expected to find were all scattered or dead.
Soon he formed a society of twenty soldiers and
their wives, and by their offerings and what was
sent by friends from England, he was able to give
his whole time to mission work. Later he moved
to Canton and was ultimately accepted by the Mis
sionary Society as a probationer. In 1853 Josiah
Cox, William R. Beach and Miss Wannop were
sent to join him. A school had been opened in
Canton by Mr. Piercy, and services were held in
English and Chinese. Three additional mission
aries were sent out in 1855. Growing interest was
felt in China at home, and during the Crimean War
£20 was subscribed by Methodist soldiers at Bala
clava. By 1 86 1 there were fifteen members and five
on trial. Extension work was made possible by a
legacy of £10,000 by Mr. Pooll, of Somerset.
Josiah Cox was the pioneer of the Methodist mis
sion in Central China. Looking down one day
from an eminence on the city of Hanyang, just re
covering from the ruin of the Tai Ping rebellion,
and on the distant walls of Wuchang, and on
Hankow, the great trading centre with its 600,000

5n Cbina 179
inhabitants, the thought of the spiritual darkness
of these multitudes moved him to prayer. That
prayer was the commencement of the mission in
Central China. Josiah Cox purchased a piece of
land in Hankow, and proceeded to build a chapel.
Griffith John gave him Chu Shao Ngan as helper,
interpreter and evangelist, a gift of priceless worth.
Dr. Porter Smith arrived as Mr. Cox's colleague in
1864, and a little dispensary was opened on the main
street of Hankow, with brilliant results. When Dr.
Smith returned in 1870, handing over the work to
Dr. E. P. Hardey, the fame of his work had con
vinced the most bigoted Chinese of its value. Dr.
Hardey was succeeded in 1887 by Dr. Hodge, who
placed the work on a sound basis, and for twenty
years devoted himself to its advancement.
Now we must return to the main current of pro
gress. In 1865 David Hill and William Scar
borough joined Mr. Cox, the former to occupy
Wuchang, the latter Hankow. In 1867 a little
house was taken in Wuchang. It was of wood, and
inconvenient, but for some years it served as mis
sion house, chapel and dispensary. Two months
later the first convert was baptised, and Mr. Hill's
Chinese pundit or teacher, Lo, applied to be placed
on trial. Thereby hangs a tale. This man, Lo,
had been invited to become tutor to a well-to-do
family in Shansi. Before accepting he went into a
temple to seek guidance of the idol. He drew a
slip on which were four lines of rhyme telling him
he must wait for a time, and then he would hear of
the great Creator and find peace. He applied to

180 ^be "Romance of Mobern Missions
the missionary for the post of pundit, and in read
ing the Scriptures found they contained the revela
tion of the true Creator. He advanced step by step
till he entered the full light of Jesus Christ.
One day when David Hill was at Hankow the
powder magazine at Wuchang exploded. Shot and
shell whistled through the air and many were killed.
One fragment fell into Mr. Hill's room, at the
exact spot where he usually sat studying. We can
not tell in detail the wonderful story of David Hill's
work in Wuchang — of how the way opened to the
surrounding country; of how he itinerated over a
wide area, preaching, bookselling, disputing with
scholars, distributing charity, so that even to this
day, thirty years after his death, his name, Li Hsiu
Shan, is respected on all hands; of how several
farmers expressed a wish to become Christians, but
when they could get no help in their law case all
of the seventy, save two or three, went back; of
how one who remained, Liu, became a true Chris
tian, and for years preached the Gospel, sold books,
swept the chapel, and all without fee or reward ; of
how the work spread in the face of opposition and
often of mob violence ; of how the work grew in the
Lake District, and spread up the Han river ; of how
the city Tehngan became a storm centre, where in
1886 a man was baptised who was to become a great
power for good, and lead the way into that pro
mised land of Hunan on which David's Hill's heart
was now, and on till the end, set. This man's name
was Tsang Yih-tse, or Chang Yi Chih, and of his

3n Cbina 181
conversion we must now tell. But first a few words
about the province of Hunan.
The provinces of Hupeh and Hunan are so named
because the one is on the north and the other on
the south of the Tung Ting Lake. The northern
province, Hupeh, was the scene of the earlier work
of the Wesleyan missionaries. David Hill spent
five years at Wuchang, and altogether the Society
had been at work thirty years before any serious
attempt was made to touch Hunan to the south. This
was partly due to the fact that the province was
strictly closed against missionaries. It was a strong
hold of heathenism, and its gates were barred and
its borders guarded against foreigners when all
other provinces admitted them. Western innova
tions were contemptuously spurned, and the people
considered themselves the elite of creation. Hunan
is a land of well-wooded hills and fertile plains, rich
in minerals and agricultural produce. How was
this citadel to be taken ?
Attempts were made of a tentative kind from the
Wuchang District in 1893, and much prayer was
offered for Hunan. Ultimately Rev. William Scar
borough, visiting the village of Liang Ho Kou, was
allowed to preach in the shop of one Chang Yi
Chih, to whom he gave a copy of the Gospels. In
1884 Chang picked up a tract by Dr. Griffith
John, 'The Gate of Wisdom and Virtue,' which
led to his awakening. An interview with David
Hill, at Hankow, deepened the impression, and
Chang was baptised by that saintly man in 1886.
Chang grew in grace and knowledge and became a

1 82 Woe Romance of Mobern Missions
devoted Christian worker. This man and a friend,
Li, went to Hunan as missionaries. They com
menced their work at Shiang Tan, a great com
mercial centre. Strangely enough they encountered
little opposition. Most of the people listened
eagerly to the Word, and only here and there was
a tract refused or torn up. After a fortnight's book
selling and preaching they returned, and only once
when at Yo Chou Fu, at the entrance of Hunan,
did they have an unpleasant reception. Another
expedition was made in 1894, and this time Mr.
Chang was accompanied by his nephew. The work
of the first visit was followed up, and a successful
six weeks' mission was safely carried through.
It was by the native Church, therefore, that
Hunan was at length entered. Mr. Chang con
tinued his visits to Hunan till domestic troubles
made it his duty to remain at home, and throw him
self into the work of developing the Church in his
own neighbourhood. This was in 1896, and in the
same year David Hill was called home. He had
seen the promised land but was not permitted to
enter it. Another attempt was made by Mr. C. S.
Champness, of Wuchang, to open Hunan in 1897.
He adopted the Chinese dress, but little was accom
plished beyond spying out the land.
In 1898 Hunan was placed under the care of Rev.
W. H. Watson, his circuit, Wusueh, being placed
under the charge of Rev. C. W. Allan. Mr.
Watson began by renting a shop on the main street
of Chung Yang, and soon a little church was
formed of a few men who had already been in-

3n Cbina 183
fluenced by the Gospel. The way these men came
to be impressed is typical. One read first of all
Dr. Griffith John's tract, ' The Gate of Wisdon and
Virtue ' ; another had heard the Gospel thirty years
before from the lips of Dr. John, in Hankow;
while a third, having long sought the truth, ac
cepted it as soon as he heard it, and became a great
influence for good. The work was gradually ex
tended, and in 1906 Hunan was made a separate
District, with 16 missionaries, 22 churches, 23 paid
catechists, 20 local preachers, and over 980 mem
bers. The South China District, which is chiefly
in the province of Qwantung, has 40 churches and
over 5,448 members and baptised adherents; and
Wuchang District, which as we have seen was the
jumping off ground for Hunan, has 51 churches
and over 2,828 members.
Among the educational institutions in China are
the Theological Institution, Canton, the Theo
logical and Normal Institutions, Wuchang, Wesley
College and High School, Wuchang, the David
Hill Blind School, Hankow, the Theological In
stitution, Changsha, the Boys' Boarding Schools,
in Hunan District, with numerous hospitals and
dispensaries, staffed by eleven English and two
native missionaries.
The call of China has been heard by some of the
finest men in Wesleyan Methodism : T. G. Selby,
Dr. Wenyon, G. Hargreaves, Dr. Macdonald, one
of the writer's old Grove pupils, who was assas
sinated by Chinese pirates, Dr. Morley, G. Warren
and Dr. Barber. If the foreign field sometimes

184 Cbe "Romance of Mobem Missions
uses up its servants lavishly it also makes men of
noble character and heroic mould. Among them
all in the Chinese field the name of David Hill will
ever have a fragrance of its own.
Our readers may have observed the large propor
tion of local preachers possessed by the Wesleyans
in China. They will also have noted the remark
able part played by a layman in opening up Hunan
in the first instance. David Hill was greatly im
pressed with this aspect of the work, and the part
lay agency must play if the 400 millions of China
are to be evangelised. Thomas Champness and
his Joyful Mission workers have done much in this
direction. In China, as in Africa the experience
of Methodism must be repeated. In no other way
can the Gospel be preached to every creature.
IN WEST AFRICA.
We must now hark back to Dr. Coke as the
originator of Wesleyan missions in West Africa.
Negro converts from Nova Scotia introduced
Methodism to Sierra Leone in 1792 and built a
chapel. Dr. Coke sent an Industrial mission in
1796, which failed through the unsuitability of the
agents. In 181 1 a party of missionaries was sent
out, and received a great welcome from the people ;
but Mr. Warren, the leader, died within eight
months of malignant fever. He was the first
martyr to the deadly climate of West Africa, but,
alas ! not the last. Out of the 300 missionaries
sent out about 100 have died on the field. They

3n West Hfrica 185
have been mown down by death one after another,
as many as six missionaries and their wives dying
sometimes within six months. But volunteers have
been always ready to fill the gaps. Is it partly here
that we find the explanation of the phenomenal
success that has been achieved? During the last
few years more results have been witnessed here
than in all the other fields put together. The in
crease in full members in the African Districts, in
1910 was 3,700, and no fewer than 3,500 adult con
verts were baptised. More than half this increase
was on the West Coast. Wonderful transforma
tions have been witnessed. The story of ' John
Martin, Pioneer Missionary, Hero and Saint,' em
bodies in brief the more romantic elements of West
African missionary work — the degraded condition
of the natives ; journeys of exploration, with nights
spent in the grim primeval forests amid wild beasts
and wild men; the routine of ordinary mission
work such as preaching, visiting, training students,
and the general administration of an important mis
sion station ; the regular work on Sundays, begin
ning with divine service at 7 a.m. in Fantee, often
followed by classes and Sunday School work, an
English service at 10.30, one in the vernacular at
2.30, a prayer meeting at night, and preaching at
an open-air service between afternoon and evening ;
with frequent conversions and many signs of real
piety. Sierra Leone and Gambia District has two High
Schools for boys, one for girls and an Industrial
School, with 54 churches, 54 other preaching places,

1 86 Cbe "Romance of Mobem Missions
8 European and 22 native ministers, 206 local
preachers, over 10,000 adult, and 4,000 junior, mem
bers. The Gold Coast includes Ashanti, where a
church occupies the very site where human sacri
fices were once regularly offered. There is a Boys'
High School at Cape Coast Castle and a similar
school for girls, also a Girls' Boarding School at
Accra; and the District contains 154 churches, 489
other preaching places, 11 English, and 24 African,
ministers, with 400 paid catechists and lay school
teachers, 757 local preachers, and 61,481 members.
In Lagos District John Martin did much of his
grand work. There is a Training Institution at
Ibadan, Boys' and Girls' High Schools at Lagos
and a Dispensary at Igbora, with a total of 81
churches, 93 other preaching places, 5 English and
17 African ministers, 130 paid catechists and day
school teachers, and over 5,600 members. Alto
gether' the noble army of martyrs in West Africa
have not laid down their lives in vain. A rich har
vest has been reaped, and the fields are full of
promise. IN SOUTH AFRICA.
At the close of 1814 there landed at Cape Town
John McKenny, one of Dr. Coke's missionaries,
who at the last moment had been hindered from
accompanying the Ceylon party ; but the Governor
would not allow him to preach. Two years later
Barnabas Shaw arrived, and failing to obtain the
Governor's permission to preach, he proceeded to

3n Soutb Bfrica 187
do so without it. A few months later he made his
way to Namaqualand, and at Khamiesberg opened
the first Methodist Mission in South Africa. Algoa
Bay was opened by William Shaw in 1820, Cape
Town and Salem the same year, Grahamstown in
1822, Tembuland in 1829, Port Elizabeth in 1840.
The Bechuana Mission began in 1821, the Kaffir
Mission in 1823. Natal was opened in 1842 and the
Transvaal in 1872.
A brief glance only is possible at the early days
of the more important stations. Barnabas Shaw,
on his way to Little Namaqualand, was met by a
chief, who conducted him to Lilyfontein. This
chief was actually in quest of a teacher. Mr. Shaw
and his wife lived in a beehive native hut, covered
with rush mats. The early preaching was done
through an interpreter. When the people saw that
a plough could do more than ten wives they could
appreciate that at any rate. Later a chapel and
mission house were built, Mr. Shaw was joined by
Rev. E. Edwards, and this gave him the oppor
tunity of visiting the Bushmen with a view to ex
tending the mission. In 1825 his young colleague,
Mr. Threlfall, and two native teachers, were mur
dered by Bushmen, who killed them as they slept.
In 1832 Great Namaqualand, from which the
L.M.S. had been compelled to retire, was occupied.
William Shaw, the Apostle of the Kaffirs, began
work in Algoa Bay in 1820, built a chapel at
Grahamstown in 1822, and the following year
began work among the Kaffirs. He founded four
important stations, links in the chain by which he

188 Woe Romance of Mobern Missions
designed to connect Cape Colony and Natal. Mr.
Shaw became one of the chief authorities on
African affairs; his colleague, William Shepstone,
translated the Scriptures, and spent half a century
at Kamestone. The first Kaffir grammar was com
piled by William B. Boyce, and laid the founda
tion for later grammarians and writers. The work
was frequently disturbed by native wars. With
varying success the missionaries laboured on till
1866 when a great revival broke out and thousands
of natives were brought to Christ.
When Rev. W- C. Holden went to Durban, in
1847, it was only a cluster of thatched cottages sur
rounded by grass and thickets. Mr. Holden was
very successful among the Kaffirs of the district.
From here the work extended to Ladysmith, which
became the head of a circuit in 1866. And so on
into the Transvaal. The Apostle of Methodism
beyond the Vaal was David Magata, an unlettered
native. He was originally a Matabele slave and
was flogged and expelled for preaching, but re
ceived a written permit to return from Paul
Kruger, then a young commandant. With the
rush of gold-seekers to Johannesburg, in 1866, there
went a colonial local preacher, and as the place
grew minister after minister was sent to labour
among the people. In 1891 Cecil Rhodes, on
behalf of the British South Africa Company, offered
the Missionary Society .£100 towards the expense
of a mission station in their area. Isaac Shimmin
and Owen Watkins visited Fort Salisbury, now the
capital of Rhodesia, and selected land for a mission

3n Soutb Sfrica 189
station and a mission farm. The following year a
chapel was opened at Fort Salisbury, the first place
of worship in Mashonaland. Soon three chapels
were built, and Rev. G. H. Eva and eight native
teachers from the Transvaal took charge. Mr.
Shimmin secured a fine site in Buluwayo, Loben-
gula's ancient capital, in 1895, and built on it the
first Wesleyan chapel in Matabeleland. The Mata
bele war in 1893 and the Mashona rebellion in 1896
closed the mission in each region for a time; but
ultimately the old stations were resumed and the
work continued. Since then the mission from
these centres has been gradually extended. There
are now in the Transvaal 64 churches, 41 English
missionaries, and over 20,000 members. Among
the natives there are 331 churches, 605 other
preaching places, 11 English missionaries, 34
African ministers, 49 catechists, 119 day school
teachers, 1,544 local preachers, and about 65,000
members. The Rhodesia District has 54 churches,
245 other preaching places, 11 English and 13
native ministers, 137 local preachers, 37 catechists,
25 day school teachers, and some 3,586 members of
all grades. The South African Conference was
formed in 1883, but the work north of the Vaal
is still carried on by the Home Society. Among
the Institutions may be named the Kilnerton Train
ing Institution at Pretoria, which has a department
for training evangelists, a normal school, and an
industrial section; and the Nengubo Training In
stitution.

1 90 cbe "Romance of Mobern Missions
IN THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS.
The wonderful success of Wesleyan missions in
the South Seas deserves more space than we can
afford, although the islands are now under the
Methodist Church of Australia. The success of
Christianity in Polynesia has, under the Wes
leyans, been dramatic in the extreme. The mis
sions began in the Friendly Islands in 1822, when
Walter Lawry landed at Tongatubu. Messrs.
Thomas and Hutchinson followed in 1826, and later
came Messrs. Turner and Cross. In Tonga, where
a chapel had been built by Tahitian teachers, the
Chief, Tubou, was on the side of the missionaries
from the first. Within eighteen months Nukualafu
renounced idolatry and polygamy, and family
prayers became general in the island.
But the most wonderful triumphs were won in
Fiji, where Messrs. Cross and Cargill landed In
1832. They began in Lakemba, and in loneliness
and peril had strange experiences. Calvert, and
the famous saint and missionary, John Hunt, ar
rived in 1838. It was no unusual thing for the
missionaries to hear the cries of victims of canni
balism who were being clubbed and strangled, and
sometimes, they stood unflinching as savages
whirled their weapons around them. Hunt mas
tered the language of Bau, made it the classical
language of Fiji, and into it he translated the Scrip
tures. In the prime of his manhood Hunt passed
away, in 1848, with prayers for Fiji on his lips.
Still the people clung to heathenism. Once Mrs.

3n tbe Soutb Sea Jslanbs 191
Calvert and Mrs. Lyth, in the absence of their
husbands, faced the King of Bau in the height of
his heathen orgies and rescued several women from
being slain and eaten. As late as 1853 the mis
sionary had to look on at a huge cannibal feast,
and 84 cooked limbs were rescued and buried. In
the early part of 1854 three men were killed and
eaten in Bau ; yet within ten days heathenism was
renounced, and from that time the progress has
been amazing. To quote the words of Miss Gordon-
Cumming, descriptive of the triumph of Methodism
over the cannibals of Fiji, ' Every family in the
length and breadth of the eighty inhabited islands
begins and ends each day with the singing of
Christian hymns, reading the Scriptures in their
own tongue, and devout prayer offered by the head
of each household.
One of the most fascinating stories of missionary
work and adventure is that of ' George Brown,
D.D., Pioneer-Missionary and Explorer ' (Hodder
& Stoughton). His work in Samoa and New
Britain is a story of thrilling adventure and heroic
service, and we are not surprised that Robert Louis
Stevenson was anxious to write this great mis
sionary's life. What a book it would have been !
Dr. Brown saw a wonderful transformation in the
moral and material condition of the islands.
The Wesleyans have done fine missionary work
in France and Italy, in Spain and Portugal, but
as these are Christian countries it does not fall
within the scope of this work to deal with this
branch of missionary enterprise.

CHAPTER II.
PRIMITIVE METHODISM.
The story of the origin of Primitive Methodist
Foreign Missions has some curious features. It
will seem surprising that a people so evangelistic
and religiously aggressive should have been so slow
to engage in distinctively Foreign Missionary work.
Originating in 1810, the denomination did not
begin Foreign Missionary work till 1870. The ex
planation is to be found partly in the fact that the
work of Home and Colonial Missions so absorbed
the energies of the people during the first half cen
tury of their existence as a Church that they seemed
to have no resources for anything beyond. The
opening of new missions at home and in the colonies
of Australia, New Zealand and Canada always
demanded more money than could be found.
But as early as 1837 we find the passion for
Foreign Missionary work stirring in a few elect
souls. Joseph Diboll, a local preacher of Yar
mouth, offered himself for this work in Africa. As
the door did not open he offered himself to the
Baptist Missionary Society, and was appointed to
Sierra Leone. Singularly enough he was at Port
Clarence, now known as Santa Isabel, in Fernando
Po, when the Jesuits arrived with that intolerant

5n jfernanbo po 193
edict which ended the Baptist Mission on the island,
as referred to in the section on Baptist Missions.
He little dreamed that years afterwards that mis
sion was to be re-opened by his own people, the
Primitive Methodists. IN FERNANDO PO.
The efforts of the Yarmouth Circuit and of Rev.
Thomas Lowe and Mr. James Fuller, of Swaffham,
failed to move the Conference to decisive action.
Thomas Lowe, brilliant, rhetorical, eloquent, but a
little erratic, was for years an enthusiastic advocate
of African Missions, and did not a little to awaken
the missionary spirit in the Connexion ; and to him
was owing in no small measure the inspiration that
made at least two of the African missionaries, W.
B. Luddington and T. Stones. Mr. Fuller was
equally ardent and ready to give to his utmost for
this work. The first African Missionary meeting
was held at Swaffham. At the District Meeting of
1852 an ordinary missionary meeting was suddenly
turned into an African one, and ,£40 given or pro
mised towards a mission. The Conference, how
ever, did not approve, regarding the proposed mis
sion at Port Natal as premature. It was not,
indeed, till the Jubilee Conference of i860 that the
Conference committed itself to the African Mission.
The Conference decision was followed by an extra
ordinary manifestation of divine influence. But
for various reasons it was not till 1870 that the mis
sion was begun; and instead of at Port Natal, it
N

i94 Cbe Romance of Mobern Missions
was planted in the island of Fernando Po. Captain
W. Robinson and ship-carpenter James Hands, of
the Elgiva, in August, 1869, called at Santa Isabel,
formerly called Clarence. They were Primitive
Methodists, members of the Liverpool II. Circuit.
Finding a few faithful souls, left behind by the
Baptists the year before, the two men sang and
prayed and preached to the people and won their
hearts. This led to a letter being forwarded to
James Hands's class-leader in Liverpool, asking
that a missionary might be sent. The result was
that on January 25th, 1870, Revs. R. W. Burnett
and Henry Roe sailed as pioneer missionaries to
Africa, and landed at Santa Isabel on
February 21st.
Fernando Po is an island some forty-five miles
in length and twenty-five in breadth, situated in the
Gulf of Biafra, which is part of the Gulf of Guinea.
The island is oblong in shape, with steep rocky
coasts, the northern half being entirely occupied by
Mount Clarence, a volcanic peak 10,000 feet above
the sea. Bubis, a Bantu tribe, to the number of
from 10,000 to 20,000 with a few coloured people or
Fernandians, form the population. Owing to the
nature of the island much of it has never been ex
plored, the ravines being deep and the bush dense.
Santa Isabel is peopled chiefly by Fernandians from
the mainland, who know something of civilisation.
The real natives are the Bubis. The Fernandians
are as a rule well and neatly dressed ; they are scru
pulously clean, and give particular attention to
their teeth. They despise tooth brushes, however,

5n jferuanbo ipo 195
regarding them as very inferior to their own bent
aromatic wood. They are a kind and sympathetic
people, and industrious as well, excelling as
farmers, carpenters, shoemakers, dressmakers, etc.,
and are born traders.
The Bubis on the other hand are low in the scale
of civilisation, and indescribably filthy. Washing
is entirely neglected and despised, and the person is
besmeared from head to foot with a decoction of palm
oil, coloured chalks, clays and leaf juice. Nature
seeks relief from the closed pores by numerous
sores. Detesting clothing, the Bubis adorn their
persons with beads, shells, charms, and a hat made
of grass, or the inner fibres of the cocoanut leaf.
Their filthy and uncomfortable huts are frail and
rudely constructed. The Bubi leaves work to his
women, and contents himself with a little hunting
or fishing. His religious beliefs are similar to those
of the negro race. Here, as everywhere on the
West Coast of Africa, trade rum and gin are a
fearful curse. The Bubis have several kings, each
king having under him a number of chiefs. Owing
to the influence of the mission the Bubis are less
filthy than formerly, wear more clothing and are
less indisposed to industry.
The missionaries were welcomed by the Fernan
dians of Santa Isabel, and a service was held the
same day in the house of ' Mamma ' Job, the first
hymn sung being, ' There is a fountain filled with
blood.' The hearers loudly thanked God, the mis
sionaries, and the good people of England. The
first class-meeting was formed on February 28th,

196 XTbe IRomance of Mobern Missions
and consisted of eleven persons, representing
various African tribes. Some were redeemed slaves,
like Mamma Job ; others the descendants of slaves.
Several of the early members were the fruits of the
Baptist Mission. The first conversion took place
on March 6th. By April there were 45 African
members. A base of operations was thus being
formed, and tentative efforts were made to reach
the Bubis in the interior. A Sunday School and
a Day School were opened, and a notable convert
was made in the person of W. N. Barleycorn, after
wards to be thoroughly trained, to become the
first native minister of the mission and to render
long and valuable service.
Among those who signed the requisition asking
the Primitive Methodists to send missionaries were
Mr. J. B. Davies and Mr. T. R. Prince, both
Fernandians. The latter remained through all the
following years a staunch and loyal supporter of
the cause, and survived to a good old age. He
was a fine specimen of the converted African, in
telligent, humble and devoted. For some time he
had acted as schoolmaster in connection with the
Baptist Mission, and had among his pupils W. N.
Barleycorn .
The mission has been beset with difficulties all
along. The climate necessitates a return to this
country, usually at the end of two years, to recruit.
This has involved great expense and inconvenience.
Of between twenty-five and thirty missionaries who
have laboured on the field since 1870, R. W.
Burnett, one of the pioneers, returned four times to

3n jfernanbo po 197
the island, W. Holland four times, W. B.
Luddingon thrice, R. Fairley five times, N.
Boocock five times, and Jabez Bell six times.
Two missionaries died there, R. S. Blackburn
and M. H. Barron; also Mrs. Maylott and
Mrs. Boocock; and Mrs. Buckenham died at
Cameroons after a brief voyage of a few hours.
In recent years the trade in rum and gin has been
an ever-growing curse, rendering the work doubly
difficult and producing deadly havoc among the
people. Then the island belongs to Spain, and the Jesuits
have done their utmost to hamper and destroy the
Protestant Mission. But their machinations have
been held in check by the influence of our Foreign
Office and the courage and tenacity of our mis
sionaries. Happily the Jesuit pressure has not
been steadily maintained, or, like the Baptists, we
should have been banished long ago. Much has
depended on the character of the Spanish Governor
for the time being. Rev. W. Holland was once
banished; but our Foreign Office immediately
checkmated Governor Salgado, who soon found
himself recalled. Rev. W. Welford was im
prisoned for a month on a Spanish pontoon and
subjected to insult and indignity from day to day.
He was released on the representations of the com
mander of one of H.M. gunboats, and banished
from the island. Even now no regular educational
work is allowed.
Since the loss of their American colonies there
has been a large influx of Spaniards and a spurious

198 Woe Romance of Mobern Missions
civilisation ' like a deadly cancer is spreading on
the island.' This renders the work of the mission
increasingly difficult. But in spite of everything
considerable success has been realised, and the
Santa Isabel Church has raised more money for the
African Fund than any Church in Primitive
Methodism. In consequence of these and other
difficulties the original intention of covering the
island with mission stations has not been carried
out; but missions at Banni on the north-east, San
Carlos on the west, Bottler Point on the north
west, and an out-station of the latter at Bati-
copo have been vigorously worked. At these Bubi
missions both English and Bubi hymns are sung,
prayers are offered in both languages, and the ser
mon in English is translated into Bubi. This is
owing to the fact that there are present some who
understand English only, and others who know
only Bubi. The interpreter at San Carlos, John
Petty Sogo, will listen to a sermon for a quarter of
an hour and then accurately translate it into Bubi.
This is done even in the case of Mr. Barleycorn,
whose interpreter is L. G. Inta, who can
speak Bubi fluently, the reason being that
Mr. Inta can render the sermon into better and
more idiomatic Bubi than the preacher himself.
With many dialects the Bubi language has a poor
vocabulary; and the brief period a missionary can
stay on the island renders the complete mastery of
the language difficult. In connection with the Bubi
stations, there are 200 acres of cocoa farms, which
have been an important connecting link between

5n jfemanbo po 199
the churches and the heathen Bubi. Small towns
built on land belonging to the mission afford the
heathen an opportunity of residing near the station,
and they are gradually weaned from their bush
life. Grants of land are then obtained for them,
and while they are developing their farm and work
ing on the mission farm to earn food, they come
under Christian influences. But the growth of
cocoa-farming and the introduction by Spanish and
English farmers of vile concoctions of rum and gin
has interfered with this form of work.
Jabez Bell has been one of the most famous and
successful missionaries among the Bubis. He
greatly developed the mission founded by Revs.
Luddington, Holland and others at Banni,
and started the industrial work there. With
a courage, a persistence and self-sacrifice seldom
equalled and never surpassed he at last succeeded.
Later he devoted himself to the industrial mission
at Bottler Point (started by Rev. N. Boocock,
and at which Rev. G. E. Wiles did fine work),
and his success here has not been one whit
behind that of his earlier period. There are to-day
at Santa Isabel 84 members, at San Carlos 68, at
Banni 44, at Bottler Point 38, and at Baticopo 2.
Some work has been done towards a grammar and
vocabulary by Revs. W. B. Luddington and T.
Parr, M.A., assisted by Mr. Barleycorn and others;
but it will be seen that under existing educational
conditions little can be done in this direction. Space
forbids more than a mere mention of the valuable

200 woe Romance of Mobem Missions
work done by Revs. J. Burkett, T. C. Showell,
R. Banham, H. M. Cook and others.
IN SOUTHERN NIGERIA,
From the first the island of Fernando Po was in
tended to form the base from which the work might
be extended to the mainland; but it was not till
the Missionary Jubilee in 1893 that the necessary
impulse and funds were forthcoming. At the re
quest of the Missionary Committee Rev. R. Fairley
made a prospecting visit to the West Coast; and
after consultation with Archdeacon Crowther, of
the Church Missionary Society, and the Presby
terian missionaries of Old Calabar and others, it
was decided to begin operations in a part of the
Oil Rivers Protectorate one hundred miles distant
from Calabar. Services were conducted in Issan-
gelli Oron, by the invitation of King Otukro, a
site selected for the mission, and a native carpenter
engaged to erect temporary buildings. Rev. R.
Fairley was assisted in the following June by Rev.
F. Pickering, of San Carlos, who spent a week at
Archibongville. Meanwhile the site of our pro
posed mission had become German territory, and
Mr. Fairley, a few weeks later, visited the German
Governor of the Cameroon district in regard to the
intended mission. Land was also secured from
Prince Archibong and the mission house at his
town commenced.
In October Rev. J. Marcus Brown was sent out
to take charge of the new mission, under the direc-

3n Soutbern mtgerta 201
tion of Mr. Fairlay. Learning from the German
Governor that only German speaking missionaries
would be allowed to work in German territory, it
was decided to make Archibongville on the Aqua
Effy, and in the English Protectorate, the head
quarters of the mission. A mud hut had been
partly built, and within a week it was ready for
occupation. The first services were conducted on
December 17th in the Palavar House by Mr.
Fairley and Mr. Brown. On December 23rd, 1893,
Mr. Fairley returned to Fernando Po, and Mr.
Brown was left alone to proceed with the work
of founding the mission. From the first the work
was wonderfully successful. Effa Ekpe Esuk, a
fruit of Presbyterian mission work at Calabar, was
at this time conducting a day-school for the sons
of Prince Archibong and his chiefs. Early in the
next year he was engaged as a native teacher, and
for many years rendered most valuable help. The
church was opened September 30th, 1894. It was
built by the help of Prince Archibong and his
people. Several out-stations were established the
same year, and regularly supplied till they were in
cluded in German territory, and so had to be
abandoned. At the following Conference Archibongville was
made a separate station with Mr. Brown as super
intendent. The first communion was celebrated
December 30th, 1894. Seven persons were present,
four of whom had been credentialed from the Pres
byterians. The first baptism of native converts took
place the following June, and others followed a

202 Cbe Romance of Mobern Missions
week later. When repeated attacks of fever com
pelled Mr. Brown to return to this country in July,
1895, he left a Day School with sixty pupils, a
Sabbath School with ninety scholars, a Church with
a congregation of between 170 and 200 people, and
a membership of ten. Thus was begun a mission,
which, as we shall presently see, has steadily grown
until it has become one of the most vigorous and
promising possessed by the denomination.
From the beginning made at Archibongville the
work was gradually extended to Jamestown, Oron
and Urua Eye. Urua Eye was founded by Rev. G.
H. Hanney. The need for a training Institute
soon became apparent, and an appeal was made by
Rev. George Bennett in 1905 to the Christian
Endeavour Societies of the denomination for the
money, and with the gratifying result that over
,£1,000 was thus subscribed. Under Rev. W. J.
Ward, Rev. T. W. Hancox and Rev. C.
P. Groves, B.D., excellent work has been
done. Several of the pupils have already en
tered upon work as teachers and evangelists. It is
particularly gratifying to find that students have
refused splendid financial inducements to desert the
religious work for which they have been trained.
For some time the need for a Girls' Institute had
been making itself felt. The young men trained
at Oron need wives who also have had some train
ing, and women workers are needed in the field.
The London Women's Missionary Society con
tinued to press the importance of this on the
authorities, and inasmuch as the organisation raised

3n Soutbern mtgeria 203
annually a large sum for missionary work their
representations could not be long set aside. A
Girls' Institute was erected in 1909 at Jamestown,
and Miss Richardson, Miss Fisher, Miss Dodds,
who died at her post, and Miss Elkins have there
done splendid work.
The mission at Oron is acquiring every year
greater importance from the fact that the place is
becoming an important trading centre. To lessen
the difficulty of communication between the mis
sions a motor launch, The Centenary, was pro
vided, and has proved of great service. All these
stations have many out-stations, the difficulty being
to meet the demands of the people for schools and
teachers. The veteran missionary, Rev. N. Boocock,
has rendered great service both in Fernando
Po and on the West Coast. He founded the Oron
Mission. He tells us that the work among the
Efiks is of a totally different character from that
carried on among the people of Fernando Po. The
people have a superior and more musical language,
but have made no serious effort to learn English.
The missionary must therefore either preach in
Efik or speak through an interpreter. At first the
latter method is necessary, especially as it takes
some time before the European can preach in the
language without making ridiculous blunders. But
the missionary will acquire the language as soon
as possible. In one important respect Primitive
Methodist missionaries have entered into the
labours of the Presbyterians, who have not only re
duced Efik to grammatical form, but translated the

204 Woe Romance of Mobern Missions
Bible into the language. The missionaries have,
however, translated a number of their own popular
hymns, which are used with fine effect.
From the principal stations a great deal of valu
able mission work is carried on. The Sunday
mornings are chiefly devoted to missioning the sur
rounding towns. The members and children are
divided into bands, which are taken charge of by a
missionary or a teacher, and the towns, which are
usually from one to five miles apart, are visited.
The towns are often divided into sections,
each requiring a separate service. The restric
tions which prevent out-door work in Fernando
Po do not obtain in Southern Nigeria under British
rule. Spain forbids Protestant day schools in Fer
nando Po ; the British Government allows and en
courages them in Nigeria.
The work done is of a sound character. Every
member is a total abstainer and pledged not to
trade in intoxicants. He is pledged also to attend
all the services, Sunday and week-night ; to give all
he can, work all he can, and do his best to win
others to Christ. These promises are made prior
to baptism in the presence of a large congregation.
Following this the baptised join the church in pro
cessioning the town, singing in their own tongue
the hymn, ' O happy day that fixed my choice ' :
" Unsen orii otim of on
Am' nyakd' idem mi no
Abdng
Am' ndareset eti-eti
Korii Abong- amade mi
Edifon, edifon
Abong ama anyana mi."
or some other hymn.

5n Soutbern migeria 205
Mr. Boocock tells us that members have been
known to travel fifty miles to attend a sacramental
service, and that the baptismal promises are won
derfully well kept. In view of such strict condi
tions of membership the fact that at Jamestown and
Urua Eye the membership is 119, at Oron 120, at
Oron Institute 18, and at Jamestown Institute 3,
speaks volumes for the success of the missions.
There are now eleven native evangelists at Oron
and seven at Jamestown and Urua Eye. Among
the fruits of the African missions John Enang Gill
and Ben T. Showell are in the ministry, giving
promise of remarkable culture and devotion, and
have already rendered service of the most remark
able kind.
One of the most remarkable missionaries on the
West Coast is Rev. William Christie. He is an
ideal missionary, of passionate enthusiasm, large
initiative, dauntless courage, and tireless in his
efforts to spread the Kingdom of God. Joyfully he
has endured hardships for the sake of his Lord.
After rendering splendid service on the existing
field he suggested to the Committee the idea of a
bold extension into the Nsit country. Lying near
the Oron district this region offered an immense
field of missionary work. After laying his views
before the October Committee, 1908, when on fur
lough in this country, Mr. Christie was appointed
as pioneer missionary to this new region, where
there is a very large population, and entered the
country in 1909. In a very true sense it may be
said that the missionary came and saw and con-

206 Woe Romance of MoDeru Missions
quered. Station after station was opened, chiefs
and people welcoming the missionary, and erecting
for him mission premises often at their own cost.
At Adadia in the Nsit country, at Ikot Ekpene
among the Ibibios, and at Bende in the Ibo region
stations were established, and missionaries or
native teachers placed in charge. Already a mem
bership is reported of 56 at these stations, which
may be expected to serve as strategic centres for
further extensions as soon as the necessary funds
are forthcoming. The natives are a sturdy race, and
everywhere they reveal the utmost eagerness to
hear the Word of Life. For the sake of complete
ness we have dealt with all the missions on the West
Coast of Africa, although others belong to an earlier
period than those on the mainland, and to them
we must now turn. It is impossible to name all
the devoted men who have toiled in this arduous
field unless this work is to consist largely of strings
of names, but in addition to those already men
tioned in connection with Fernando Po, the names
of David T. Maylott and William Holland will long
be remembered by the people among whom they
laboured with such devotion and success.
Other missionaries who have laboured success
fully on the West Coast are Revs. G. H. Hanney,
W. J. Ward, C. F. Gill, T. Stones, W. Glover,
R. Banham, F. W. Dodds, W. Norcross and E. E.
Pritchard. Since the above statistics were pub
lished there has been a large increase of members
on this field.
The deputation, consisting of Rev. James Pickett

Jn Soutb atrica 207
and Alderman F. C. Linfield, who visited the West
African Missions in 1906, was impressed with the
valuable work that had been done, and gained in
formation which has since been turned to splendid
account in the extension of the missions on the
mainland. IN SOUTH AFRICA.
In the same year in which the mission in Fer
nando Po was opened by Messrs. Burnett and Roe
a missionary was sent to South Africa. It was
through Mr. John D. Lindsay, of Aliwal North,
that the call came to this field of missionary enter
prise. In September, 1869, Mr. Lindsay addressed
a letter to the Primitive Methodist Conference, set
ting forth at length the need for missionary work,
and offering, if a young man were sent out, to board
and lodge him in his own house for the first three
years. He closed his letter with the expression of
a conviction that the work once commenced would,
with the blessing of God, make rapid progress, and
a fire be kindled which would ' set the country in
a blaze.' Anyone who considers the story of the
mission commenced in response to Mr. Lindsay's
offer, will admit that his prediction has been liter
ally fulfilled. For many years Aliwal North has
been the largest and most flourishing mission
station possessed by the Primitive Methodists.
The Conference decided to accede to Mr.
Lindsay's request, and a young minister, Rev.
Henry Buckenham, was sent out, October 5th, 1870.

208 xr.be "Romance of Mobem Missions
Aliwal North is situated on the south bank of the
Orange River, the boundary between Cape Colony
and what was then the Orange Free State. It has
a fine climate and some hot springs that pour forth
waters of medicinal value at the rate of a million
and a half gallons every twenty-four hours. In
winter the climate is cold and frosty in the morn
ings and evenings, but warm during the day.
Malaria and fogs are alike unknown. All around
is the wide, rolling, treeless veldt, with its number
less ant-hills, and, after the rains, giving food for
immense flocks of sheep and herds of cattle. The
illimitable veldt, the transparent atmosphere, the
clear, blue sky and brilliant sunshine, all give a
sensation of glorious freedom and exhilaration. The
terminus of a branch line of the South-Eastern
Colonial system, the town at that date was con
nected with the three ports of the Colony — Cape
Town, 728 miles distant; Port Elizabeth, 306; and
East London, 280 miles. The town is embowered
in trees, rows of which, with streams of water, flow
ing underneath, border the sides of the wide streets.
An auction market is held every morning and the
farmers' waggons from the surrounding district fill
the market place.
Henry Buckenham, the first Primitive Methodist
missionary to South Africa, was destined afterwards
to lead the first missionary party to South Central
Africa, and to serve a term in Fernando Po. He
was a true missionary, full of quiet enthusiasm and
heroic resolve. His patience and courage in the
face of enormous difficulties, the determination with

3n Soutb africa 209
which he prosecuted his mission, undertaking ex
tensive building work with his own hands when no
other way seemed open, studying the Dutch lan
guage the while and carrying on a ministry which
is still remembered and spoken of with respect,
deserve the warmest praise. And when his term
ended and he handed over his work to another, he
returned to England still full of missionary zeal,
and ready to undertake service in a yet more dan
gerous field.
The population of Aliwal North at this time can
not have been more than about a thousand; it was
only about 1 ,200 five years later. Many African races
were represented in addition to the Boers — Bush
men, Fingoes, Kaffirs, and that forlorn people,
the Half-castes. There were also Englishmen,
Irishmen, Scotchmen, Welshmen, Frenchmen, Ger
mans, and Jews of various nationalities. Although
there had been in Mr. Lindsay's mind an idea that
Mr. Buckenham should after all go to the Diamond
Fields at Kimberley, recently opened, or to Aas-
Vogel-Kop, where in the meantime he had taken
up his abode, it was ultimately decided that Aliwal
North should be the place of the mission ; and there
the missionary began his work on the 16th Decem
ber, 1870. Services were held at first in a Dutch
Church, till a room was fitted up. In a month a
Sunday School was opened, and six months later
an evening school for coloured people. A day
school was opened soon afterwards. A congrega
tion was gathered, and Mr. Lindsay had to lay

210 Woe Romance of Mobern Missions
down only ten pounds to make up the deficit on the
first year's working.
On the 20th August, 1871, Mr. Lindsay con
ducted the first Primitive Methodist service among
the natives of South Africa, and in the afternoon
opened a Sunday School for coloured children.
Next day a day school for native children was
opened, with Apollos, a Mosuto, as teacher.
Apollos was to have thirty shillings a month and
to occupy his spare time in making Veldt-Schoenen,
as boots worn on the veldt are called. An applica
tion was made to the Cape authorities for a grant
of land on which to erect a church, but it was not
till the 9th April, 1874, that the site was deeded
to Henry Buckenham and others, as trustees. Con
tinuous efforts had been proceeding with a view to
raise funds for the church, and by 1873 the sum of
,£304 was in hand. In the autumn of 1872 Miss
Maria Martin, of East Dereham, sailed to join Mr.
Buckenham, and they were married on the 5th of
December. She won the esteem of the people of
Aliwal North during her stay among them. After
wards she served with her husband in Fernando
Po, where she fell a victim to the deadly climate,
and was buried at Cameroons.
Soon after the land was obtained the work of
building a church was set about. Tenders were so
large that Mr. Buckenham decided to be his own
contractor, and at great cost brought workmen from
Port Elizabeth to assist him. In the mad rush for
Kimberley the men deserted him, and the mis-

5n Soutb africa 211
sionary had to do much of the work himself. Often
the heat was so great that when handling the iron
on the roof his hands would be blistered. The
serious difficulties of this time might in one sense
be romantic reading, but painful. Afterwards the
parsonage was built, the missionary making the
bricks himself, with only the assistance of unskilled
labour. Both church and parsonage stand in the
main street, the former on a corner site and the lat
ter next it, the two forming a block 200 feet by 300
feet. The church is Gothic and built of stone. Im
provements have been made in it, but it is essen
tially the structure erected by Mr. Buckenham. In
spite of the terrible and heart-breaking difficulties
and disappointments our pioneer missionary saw
the erection of church and parsonage during his
term, and gathered a membership of fifteen.
In response to Mr. Buckenham's repeated re
quests for a colleague the missionary Committee
sent out Rev. John Smith, of Great Yarmouth. The
Yarmouth Circuit raised no less than ;£i5o towards
his expenses, the sum being increased by the Nor
wich District to over .£200. Mr. Smith had already
won his missionary spurs, so to speak, by his
eloquent advocacy of missions and his success in
raising missionary money. In fifteen months his
Circuit revenue for this purpose amounted to .£360,
not including the £150 just referred to. He had
not yet attained the full meridian of his life and
ministry, but was a preacher of great ability and
power, and a platform speaker who had few equals.
The enthusiasm he had awakened for missions may

212 Woe Romance of Mobern Missions
be gathered from the fact that one of his men, Mr.
J. Riches, took a pint of beans and grew them for
three years for missions, the proceeds amounting
to no less than .£110. Mr. Smith's journey of
seven weeks to Aliwal ended on 19th June, 1874.
The church was then up to the roof and the par
sonage one storey high. And now began a period
which, if still beset with difficulties, was yet one of
great progress. The diamond fever had somewhat
abated, and the population was increasing; but
war clouds threatened, and unsettled the native
peoples. Aliwal North soon began to grow under
Mr. Smith's ministry alike in congregations and
income, but from the first his heart was set on
work among the natives. In this he was success
ful; but at first it must have seemed to him that
success would never come. Among primitive
peoples the work at first is always slow; and for
this reason : their confidence must be won, and that
takes time. Only the Christ-life lived right before
their eyes will accomplish this. The joint ministries
of Mr. Buckenham and Mr. Smith by and bye bore
fruit. A building was urgently needed for the
native work, the old place in use having become
frightfully crowded and unhealthy. The money
was the difficulty. The Committee at home had
been involved in more outlay with church and par
sonage than they ever dreamed of, and they had
no money just then for further extension. But
John Smith was never a man to be easily turned
aside from the course he had marked out for him
self. The building was sorely needed and must

5n Soutb atrica 213
be got; so at last, wearied out with delay, he took
the bull by the horns and built the place himself,
'supplying,' to quote the words of Mr. Butt, one
of his most distinguished successors, ' not only the
brain and energy to originate, shape, and direct the
work, but collecting and giving the required cash.
With his own hands much of the carpentry was
done.' It took people's breath away sometimes to
see him working on the roof, and standing in places
of danger where no one else would venture. This
bold action saved the situation, and at a critical
juncture set in progress a work that has gone on
ever since. The new building seated 300 people,
and was the best native school-room and chapel in
the eastern province of the Colony. At a critical
juncture, a little later, Mr. Smith secured Mr.
Msikinya and his wife who had been trained under
Dr. Stewart at Lovedale, to assist as certificated
teachers. At Jamestown, 36 miles away, Mr.
Buckenham and Mr. Smith attended the first sale
of building sites in 1874, and selected two for the
mission, which were given by the original pro
prietors of the land. The mission owes much to
Mr. J. A. Kidwell, merchant, law agent, special
J. P. and a fine Christian, in whose dining-room
the services were held till the church was built.
The sum of £250 was raised for the new building,
which cost £400, and Mr. Kidwell and Mr. Smith
became responsible for the balance. Monthly visits
were paid by Mr. Smith and Mr. Bulmer, for
some time his native school teacher and assistant,
the intervening Sundays being filled up by Mr.

214 Woe Romance of Mobern Missions
Kidwell. At the close of Mr. Smith's first term
there were 4 lay preachers, 10 European members,
126 native members, no Sunday, and 70 day,
scholars, and the amount raised in his last year
was ,£408.
And now we must reluctantly summarise. Fain
would we dwell on the able and fruitful ministry
of Rev. John Watson, afterwards President of the
Conference, D.D., and Principal of the Manchester
College, a ministry which witnessed an increase of
forty to the membership of the European Church,
a record never broken; the opening of Rouxville,
21 miles from Aliwal, where a native church of
58 members was formed ; the valuable work done as
pastor, schoolmaster and missionary by Mr.
Watson's assistant, Rev. John Bradley, and the
growth of the work at Jamestown. Mr. Watson left
a membership of 279, an increase of 143, while the
European Church more than raised his salary.
Similarly we must merely glance at Rev. J. Smith's
second term, when, coming to the work with the
advantage of his previous experience, he carried the
mission through a great crisis for both it and South
Africa, due to the rise and development of Johan
nesburg. This second term witnessed the erection
of Rouxville Church, the foundation stone of which
was laid by Mr. T. H. Knight, a never-failing
friend of our work; the employment there of Mr.
W. N. Somngesi, who was to render such long and
faithful service; the advent of Rev. G. H. Butt as
teacher of the mission school at Aliwal and general
assistant. Mr. Smith piloted the mission through

5n Soutb africa 215
a time of serious crisis and left an increase of 31
members at the end of his five years.
It is cruel to have to give a mere birds' eye view
of the brilliant term of Rev. George E. Butt, which
lasted for seventeen years; but considerations of
space and the method hitherto followed of only
giving the initiatory stages of a mission in detail
leave no choice. It was a period of the most won
derful development, and of some striking new de
partures. Others had felt the need of a Training
College, but though it was in their hearts to begin
one, circumstancs forbade. Happily Mr. Butt
found himself in a position to open the College in
a modest way, the plan adopted being that of turn
ing out teaching-evangelists . Beginning with four
pupils, the work grew till there were over 20 pupils.
A thoroughly good elementary education was
given, qualifying for the Teachers' Government
examinations, with a careful training in the Bible
and general religious knowledge, and practical in
struction in building, joinery, etc. Often four-
fifths of the candidates passed the Government
examinations, and the story of the Industrial Sec
tion is one long romance. How the College was
built, the workshop erected, the latter partly from
old oil-cases, replaced at a later period by one of
brick ; how cleverly Mr. Butt trained his pupils, so
that with their aid he built ten churches, one school
room, one parsonage, a dormitory, besides many
enlargements and renovations, doing the brick-
making, much of the masonry, and the whole of

216 cbe iRomance of Mobern Missions
the carpentry and finishing, is a story on which we
would fain linger. It must never be forgotten that
the wonderful growth of Aliwal station began from
the time of the establishment of the Training
School. That growth can only be indicated here. The
existing centres were wonderfully developed and
around them were opened a number of out-stations,
so that the whole native life of the district was
touched. Aliwal, Jamestown, Rouxville thus be
came each the head of what in England would be
called a circuit, albeit all were part of Aliwal Cir
cuit. Zastron became a similar centre later, and
has more out-stations than any other centre.
Wepener was the most distant place, ninety miles
away, where Mr. Walter Hogg rendered such fine
service preparatory to his going as a missionary
to the Zambesi. The war was a very trying ex
perience, but did not permanently injure our work.
When Rev. G. E. Butt returned to this country,
in 1905, the Conference elected him to the Presi
dency in recognition of his long and distinguished
services in Africa. He left behind him a member
ship of 1,608, four ministers, ten teaching evange
lists, seventy local preachers, and over fifty class
leaders. The circuit is the largest in Primitive
Methodism. Space, as well as the scope of this
book, forbids detailed reference to the work of Rev.
F. Pickering, and of the present missionary, Rev.
G. Ayre, under whom wonderful progress has been
made, and a mission established at Johannesburg.

Jn Central africa 217
IN CENTRAL AFRICA.
There is a sense in which the Primitive Methodist
missions in Central Africa are theoutcomeof those of
the Paris Evangelical Missionary Society. During
his second term in Aliwal North Rev. John Smith
realised that the sphere was necessarily limited, and
that the time had arrived for launching out into
some larger field. From time to time the French
missionaries were guests at the Aliwal parsonage,
and so, somehow, the idea came to Mr. Smith that
the new sphere ought to be beyand the Zambesi.
Through correspondence with M. Coillard this idea
took definite shape. Francis Coillard was one of
the most remarkable missionaries God ever gave
to His Church, as those will know who have read
his great book, ' On the Threshold of Central
Africa : A Record of Twenty Years Pioneering
among the Banyai and Barotsi,' or ' Coillard of
the Zambesi,' by C. W. Mackintosh, or even that
older, yet deeply interesting work of travel, ' How
I Crossed Africa,' by Major Serpa Pinto. His
great ability, his fine character, his singular fear
lessness and courage — he would travel through the
most trackless region of Africa with nothing in
his hand but a slender stick — his patience, his vast
knowledge of African peoples, and his life-long
devotion to missionary work, have won for him an
imperishable name in the annals of pioneer mis
sionary enterprise. So much we must say, while
regretting that the present work is necessarily con
fined to British missions.

218 Cbe "Romance of Mobern Missions
It was through communications with this great
missionary that Mr. Smith was led to suggest to the
Conference the desirability of sending a mission
party to the great tract of country east of the
Barotse, inhabited by the Batoka and the Mashu-
kulumbwe. The Conferences of 1886, 1887, and
1888 had the question under consideration, and
ultimately it was decided to send out Rev. H.
Buckenham and Mrs. Buckenham, Rev. Arthur
Baldwin, and Mr. Fred Ward, artisan missionary,
to Mashukulumbweland. The most careful pre
parations were made by the Secretary, Rev. John
Atkinson and the members of the party, and on
their arrival at Aliwal North, Rev. G. E. Butt,
who had succeeded Mr. Smith by that time, ren
dered valuable assistance. When the party finally
started on the long journey from Kimberley, the
list of goods, etc., had been so carefully revised
that nothing important was found afterwards to
have been omitted. The journey from Kimberley
to the Zambesi occupied from March 29th to Sep
tember ist, 1890, or about five months, a journey
which can now be done by a train-de-luxe in as
many days. At first it seemed like a picnic, but
long and irregular hours, hard and continuous
work, and innumerable difficulties soon changed
the aspect of affairs. Only a few of the more
striking incidents of the long journey can here be
mentioned. Much night travelling had to be done
so as to give the oxen opportunity for grazing
during the day.
The heavily laden waggons were constantly get-

5n Central africa 219
ting stuck in the mud, and it often took forty-six
oxen to extricate them. Maf eking was reached
April 19th, and here 2,500 lbs. weight of goods was
handed over to a trader to be forwarded later by
transport. The track from here proved worse than
ever. On June 24th the Zambesi boys left without
any explanation, so that only one leader was left.
The missionaries had now to undertake this work
themselves. Worse still, three waggon drivers
deserted on July 17th. This was after leaving
Khama's Town, where the Christian drivers had
to be left behind. It was in the midst of the Kala
hari Desert that the new drivers deserted, and from
that point the missionaries had to drive their own
waggons. Happily three fresh Zambesians had
been obtained as leaders. So the days passed in
ploughing through deep sand and anon repairing
waggon wheels. The arrival of a letter from M.
Coillard, announcing that he would be glad to
meet Mr. Buckenham at Kazungula on the Zam
besi, where he was to attend a Missionary Confer
ence, led Mr. Buckenham to hurry forward with a
lightened waggon, so that he might accompany
M. Coillard back to the Barotse Valley and be in
troduced to King Lewanika. Mr. Baldwin and Mr.
Ward were thus left alone. After a very trying
journey Mr. and Mrs. Buckenham met M. Coillard,
and together the missionaries started for the Barotsi
Valley. This involved a journey by canoe of 900
miles, and a separation from Mrs. Buckenham and
her child of seven weeks. The rest of the party
managed to complete the journey in safety and

220 Woe Romance ot Mobern Missions
struck the Zambesi opposite Kazungula, where the
waggons were taken to pieces and floated over the
river, the goods carried over in native canoes, while
the oxen swam across one by one, the whole pro
cess occupying six days.
As has so often happened in the history of mis
sions, this pioneer enterprise was called to encoun
ter the most heart-breaking difficulties and
delays. At Kazungula Mr. Baldwin waited for
Mr. Buckenham's return till the 18th October; then
only to learn that Lewanika had changed his mind,
and would not allow the party to proceed to Mashu-
kulumbweland. It must first proceed to the capital,
Lialui, which meant a journey of 600 miles added
to the original programme. Indeed, at Kazungula
the expedition was within 200 miles of Mashulu-
lumbweland. Into the journey to the capital, with
all its vicissitudes and adventures, and the long
delay on arrival, we cannot enter. The king's mind
had been poisoned against the mission by evil
advisers; and it was not till July ioth, 1893, that
the missionaries got permission to proceed to the
Mashukulumbwe country. In the course of the
journey seventeen rivers had to be crossed, and one
of them five times, and all the waggons had to be
off-loaded six times in this connection. Nearly
every waggon wheel in the course of the entire
journey was taken to pieces for some kind of re
pair. To cut wood from the forest, plane and
square it, and so make spokes or nave, and finally
fit on the tyre, all without vice or bench and many
of a wheelwright's tools, was no small task. More

3n Central africa 221
than once the disselboom or waggon-pole broke in
the middle of a river, and a new one had to be cut
in the forest, and fixed before the waggon could
proceed. The whole story has been told by Mr.
Baldwin in the pages of the Aldersgate Primitive
Methodist Magazine for 1909. The forests passed
through were gloomy and stifling — a positive night
mare. A dozen miles would occupy nearly as many
days to travel. An additional danger arose from
the fact that the Matabele had made one of their
raids into Batokaland, and terrorised the whole
country. It was with the utmost difficulty that the
envoy sent by the king to escort the party to their
new sphere and introduce them to the people, was
persuaded to go forward ; and if he had left all the
boys would have deserted as well. On December
2 ist they entered the Mashukulumbwe country and
came into contact with the people, a people who
had never seen a white man before. On the 26th
there was an interview with the chiefs, and Nkala
was finally chosen as the site of the new mission.
So ended a journey that lasted four years.
Although it was to Mashukulumbweland that the
mission was sent, it was afterwards found that the
true name of the people is the Baila. The former
name, however, has been widely used and was that
employed by Dr. Livingstone. The country was
not as beautiful as was expected, and although it
abounded in meat and honey the rinderpest, in
1895, well nigh destroyed the vast herds of game.
Population, too, was much smaller than had been
anticipated, for it had been decimated by slave-

222 Woe "Romance of Moberti Missions
raiders, who also carried off vast quantities of ivory.
There are some 50,000 people speaking the Ila lan
guage. Added to all this was the fact that the
country was unhealthy, and that the people were
among the most savage of darkest Africa. Two
expeditions, one by Dr. Holub and the other by
Mr. F. Selous, as recently as 1886 and 1888, nar
rowly escaped with their lives. Lewanika's envoy
did much by his representations to secure the safety
of the missionaries, as men of peace who would
neither steal men nor cattle, and give calico, etc., in
return for labour and produce.
Nkala Station, twelves miles south of the Kafue
River, was a wild and rough spur of land jutting
out into the plain, overgrown with long grass and
bushes; in front the great open plain with the Nkala
flowing through it; behind, the forest with its
splendid coveT for lions and leopards. The natives
proved incorrigibly lazy and the erection of the first
huts was a weary business. The story of the early
days at Nkala is of a cantankerous, cross-grained
people. It was a case of beginning at the very
beginning with everything. A school of twenty-five
children was got together by April, 1895, and
clothed, Mrs. Buckenham having a busy time sew
ing for them. Eye lotion was in great demand,
even among the men whose eyes ailed nothing. It
was found that this lotion was believed to be the
cause of the straight shooting of the missionaries.
Hence the demand for it.
Very vivid is the account of the first attack of
locusts, which nothing could stop in their march,

Jn Central africa 223
and of the devastation they left behind ; of the first
Sunday's service; of how the people might turn
up on Monday for worship if they happened to be
busy on Sunday; of adventures with voracious
insects, deadly snakes, wild beasts and savage
people; and of the gradual influence of the mission.
We can only out-line its subsequent history. Mr.
Buckenham in 1895 asked for reinforcements, as
his health warned him it was time to return home.
Rev. F. and Mrs. Pickering and Rev. W.
Chapman were sent out. The story of their jour
ney and settlement is graphically told in Mr.
Chapman's fine book, ' A Pathfinder in South
Central Africa.' On their arrival Mr. Buckenham's
health had improved and he decided to stay a little
longer. Of the opening of a new station at Nan-
zela, sixteen miles south-east of Nkala, and 150
miles north of the Victoria Falls at the east end
of a piece of elevated forest land, and four hundred
yards from the Nanzela River; of the worries of
building and settlement; and of the serious
illness and departure of Mr. Buckenham we
cannot write. He died at Kazungula July nth,
1896, after a journey of heart-breaking delays,
owing to the country having been denuded of cattle
and the cruel dilatoriness of the native carriers.
Mrs. Buckenham was thus left alone, having buried
husband and child within five months. ' I cannot
see you,' said her husband as he turned his face
towards her on entering the dark valley, and then
he passed into the light of everlasting day. It was
a tremendous task Henry Buckenham essayed in

224 Cbe "Romance of Mobern Missions
leading that pioneer mission into the wilds of
Africa. Yet he never faltered, but with undaunted
courage and infinite patience pressed forward with
his work. Mr. and Mrs. Pickering were left in
charge of Nkala — as Mr. Baldwin had to go to the
help of Mrs. Buckenham — and Mr. Chapman of
Nanzela. The story of their toils and triumphs is
a fascinating one. Mrs. Pickering died and her
sorrowing husband had himself to perform the last
sad obsequies, Mr. Chapman not being able to
arrive in time. Mr. Chapman's record of the pro
gress of the mission will rank with the finest of the
kind in existence. Rev. E. W. Smith and Mrs.
Smith came later, and Mr. Smith achieved the great
work of producing a ' Handbook of the Ila Lan
guage,' and subsequently of translating the New
Testament into the Ila language, in which his col
leagues took some considerable share. Other new
stations have been founded, notably that at
Kasenga by Rev. E. W. Smith, who, it should be
observed, is the son of Rev. John Smith, of the
Aliwal North Mission. In addition to the three
stations already named there is one at Kanchindu
and Kampilu, the former having taken the place of
a mission at Sijoba founded by Mr. and Mrs.
Walter Hogg. There is now a total membership of
nearly fifty. Fine work has been done by Revs. J.
W. Price, J. A. Kerswell and J. R. Fell on this dis
tant field.

CHAPTER III.
UNITED METHODIST.
The United Methodist Church was formed by the
union, in 1907, of the Methodist New Connexion,
the Bible Christian and the United Methodist Free
Churches. Each of these Methodist Churches had
its own Foreign Missions, and it will be more con
venient to deal with them separately. Indeed that
is the only method possible in harmony with the
plan hitherto pursued. Dating from 1797 the
Methodist New Connexion first claims attention.
(i) METHODIST NEW CONNEXION.
In regard to foreign missions the year 1859 is the
most memorable in the history of this Church; for
it was in that year, after long and prayerful con
sideration, that two missionaries were sent on a
strictly foreign mission. The ministers chosen were
Rev. John Innocent and Rev. William N. Hall,
both hailing originally from Scotland Street
Church, Sheffield. It was a singularly wise
choice, for the two men were complementary to each
other : the one a model of sanctified sagacity, the
other of consecrated enthusiasm. For nineteen
years they worked together, laying broad and deep

226 Cbe "Romance of Mobern Missions
the foundations of a living and aggressive church.
The missionaries sailed on Friday, October 21st,
1859, and after a weary voyage of five months
landed at Shanghai. China was at that time dis
tracted with the great Taiping Rebellion. Tientsin,
with its population of a million souls, was ulti
mately chosen for the mission, as the most northern
port open at that time to trade, and the gateway
of Pekin. Strategically and otherwise it was a wise
choice. Although missionary work there was pecu
liarly difficult, for the city has ever been the citadel
of the enemy and famed for its rowdyism, yet stand
ing in the centre of great lines of communication
radiating over a wide field, it has formed a con
venient base of operations, and is still the head of
the missionary work of the denomination in that
region. While learning the language the mis
sionaries gave themselves to the service of such of
their own countrymen as were at hand. Many jour
neys were made into the interior, and valuable infor
mation obtained. In May, 1862, largely by subscrip
tions on the spot, the first Protestant Church was
opened. A system of daily preaching to outsiders
was organised, which continues to this day. In
1861 four applicants for baptism were received, and
the next year ten baptised adherents were reported,
and the first native evangelists were employed. By
1864 fifty-five persons were under regular Christian
instruction. We get a glimpse of the kind of work
carried on in the following incident : — ' Sunday,
May 9th.— I went out to try to speak this morn
ing, and distribute a number of books. I made a

Metbobist mew Connexion 227
beginning at speaking, but was nonplussed by a
man, who seemed very attentive, suddenly asking
me what kind of cloth my vest was made of. This
agitated and confused me so that I gave up. I
did wrong in not proceeding. If ever I am to do
anything here I must rise above this extreme sen
sitiveness.' Mr. Innocent did rise above that kind
of thing as his knowledge of the language im
proved. Visiting sick soldiers in the military hos
pital, he often found a young captain reading aloud
to the sufferers. This was Captain, afterwards
General, Gordon.
We must hasten to give a brief account of the
wonderful work that took place in 1866 and fol
lowing years, a work that completely transformed
the outlook of the mission. One afternoon, while
Mr. Hall was preaching in Kung Pei Chapel an
aged stranger took his place among the hearers. He
had come from a village 130 miles distant, in Shan
tung. A wonderful dream twice repeated had im
pelled him to make the journey. In his dream he
saw an immense and beautiful place guarded by,
and filled with, beings of surpassing loveliness. On
a throne was seated a being whose glory resembled
the brightness of the sun. The dreamer was not
allowed to enter because he had not the ' requisite
attire.' He must go back to earth and be taught
how to gain admission. The Roman Catholics
were in the village, and under their guidance he
embraced Christianity. Dissatisfied with their con
duct, he had come to Tientsin to see the heads of
the Church. By mistake he had been directed to

228 Cbe Romance of Mobern Missions
the Methodist chapel. Listening to the sermon be
found the solution of his dream. Chu Tien Chiian,
for such was his name, carried back to his village
of Chu Chia Tsai a valuable package of books, and
returned a month later asking for a teacher to help
him and his friends in studying the Bible. A
teacher, Mr. Yu, was sent and was lodged by ' the
old Dreamer.' Other workers followed, including
Mrs. Hu for service among the women. Next Mr.
Hall was sent to the new field, so full of promise
was it. He reported such an awakening that Mr.
Innocent was led to join him. One of the most
wonderful works of grace ever experienced in the
East followed — a ' veritable conflagration of spon
taneous acceptance of the Gospel.'1 In this bap
tism of fire Mr. Hall revelled ' like a salamander.'
' Transfigured, spell-bound, he saw a land of pro
mise far and wide, and he would not have ex
changed his lot for that of any other person in the
whole world. All around him he saw a manifest
religious upheaval ; the entire village, men, women
and children, seemed to be coming into the Church.
Daily meetings for prayer and Scripture reading be
came the rule, and idols were broken, burnt, or
given to the missionary as curios. People came
long distances seeking teachers. This was especi
ally important because Chua Chia, while only a
village of 2,000 people, stands in the midst of a
cluster of villages with seven cities within easy
reach. This was the beginning of a great work,
1 " John Innocent," by G. T. Candlin, U.M. Publishing House.

Metbobist mew Connexion 229
the effects of which were felt far and wide. From
24 Chinese members, in 1866, there were in Shan
tung alone, in 1877, 18 stations, 8 schools, 14
Chinese preachers, 636 members and 425 proba
tioners, all as a result of an old man's dreams.
The complete story of the years that followed
cannot be told here : of times of persecution and
peril ; of Mr. Innocent's furlough in this country
and the welcome he received; of the Tientsin mas
sacre; of Mr. Hall's visit to England and his return
to China; of a terrible famine and the death of Mr.
Hall, the victim of an epidemic of typhus; of the
founding and development of the Training Institu
tion ; of the founding of Medical Missions in the
interior and of a Girls' School and women's
work ; right on through the Chino-Japanese war,
the Boxer riots, the return of John Innocent to this
country, with his election to the Presidency of the
Conference in his native town of Sheffield, in 1897,
and his death towards the close of 1904. In the
Tientsin District to-day the United Methodist
Church has 184 chapels, 10 missionaries, 79 native
Workers, 93 local preachers, and 4,426 members, in
clusive of probationers.
In a previous chapter the story has been told of
Robert Morrison's struggles with the Chinese lan
guage. The missionary to-day has enormous
advantages, but even so learning Chinese is no
child's play. Here is an account of how you begin.
Pointing to the characters your grave and reverend
teacher says, ' Yi ke jen ' (J has here the sound of
R, but without the trill), and you glance at the

230 XEbe "Romance of Mobern Missions
English meaning alongside, and mentally repeat,
* One person.' You worry at that for a few minutes
and then pass on to No. 2 : ' Liang ke nan jen '
(i.e., two men); then on to No. 3, ' San kg nii jen '
(three women), and so on through the lesson. Then
you pause to look back over the way you have trod,
and the probability is that you will wonder what
ever possessed you to leave the land of your birth,
where good English served all your purposes. Cer
tainly you will not feel that you will master Chinese
in a month.'1 But all this is nothing to what lies
ahead of the hapless scholar.
(II.) BIBLE CHRISTIANS.
The early missions of the Bible Christians were
in the Colonies, and it was not till 1884, by a visit
of Hudson Taylor to the Conference, that the de
nomination was stirred to action in the foreign field.
At the Conference of 1885 ,£700 was subscribed in a
few minutes, and in the following year T. G.
Vanstone and S. T. Thorne were sent to China.
They had a voyage of twelve hundred miles up the
Yangtsze and were wrecked at one of the most dan
gerous rapids they had to pass. After leaving the
river a journey of seven hundred miles brought
them to Yunnan, the scene of their mission. The
young missionaries learned the language at the
Training College of the China Inland Mission, on

1 " Our Mission in North China," by Rev. J. Hedley, George
Burroughs.

3Bible Christians 231
the Yangstze, before proceeding to their destina
tion. A year later Chaotong was occupied, and
Tongchuan in 1894. The story of the early years
is the usual one of hard toil and slow progress.
Both the pioneers died after rendering devoted
service. For the most graphic accounts of the mission in
these Chinese uplands, 7,000 feet above the level
of the sea, we are indebted to the racy and inter
esting records of Rev. S. Pollard, in the United
Methodist Magazine, and to his book, ' Tight Cor
ners in China.' Yunnan, in West China, is
described as 'the Roof the World,' and Mr.
Pollard writes glowingly of the brilliant sunshine
and the wonderful exhilaration of the mountain
scenery and the pure air. This is the land of the
aborigines of China, the great Miao and Nosu
peoples — the Cornish and Welsh of China. The
Miaos are a landless people, and practically serfs
under a feudal system. Their subject condition
may be gathered from the fact that they have no
word in their language for kingdom, which con
stituted one of many difficulties, at a later period,
in translating the New Testament. The people
fortunately know something of Chinese, but the
missionaries at the outset did not know Biao. To
this strange and despised people there came one of
the most wonderful revivals in history, illustrating
once more the words of the Apostle, ' God hath
chosen the weak things of the world.' As the
result of seventeen years of work in Chaotong a
few churches had been formed, evangelistic,

232 Woe "Romance of Mobern Missions
scholastic and medical work carried on, and then
suddenly a change came and a call to a new people.
On July 1 2th, 1904, four strangers arrived at the
mission, dressed as Chinese, and carrying bags of
oatmeal across their shoulders. These men had
travelled a long journey of 200 miles to the city of
Anshuen, to learn about Jesus. The China Inland
missionary there, Mr. J. R. Adam, was an old
friend of Mr. Pollard and directed his visitors to
Chaotong, which was only two days' journey from
the home of these Miao seekers for truth. The Bible
Christian missionaries kindly entertained them,
and sent them home with some literature. Five
more came in a few days on the same errand, and
thirteen more the day following. The thirteen
stated they were scouts, and that thousands were
anxious to come from the hills north and east to
see the missionary and hear about Ie-su. This was,
in part, an oriental exaggeration born of an in
ability to estimate numbers. After counting up to
thirty these people go astray. Anyway the mis
sionaries welcomed the ' scouts,' and set to work to
teach them.
Within a month eighty of these people had
visited the missionaries. Gradually much was
learned of this strange people. They differ in
many things from the Chinese, who despise them.
Foot-binding is not practised, and infanticide and
beggars are unknown. Opium has been shunned.
The people have no history, no temples, no graven
images, but wizards or medicine men exercise great
influence. A more hopeless, helpless, degraded

Bible Christians 233
people could scarcely be imagined. Their houses
were poorly built, and drunkenness and immorality
prevailed almost beyond belief. Yet God chose this
people in all their dirt and ignorance and degrada
tion. A few of them had met Mr. Adam, the mis
sionary, at Anshuen. His kindly treatment began a
great and wonderful movement. Soon hundreds of
villages were moved by a new word, Iesu (pro
nounced Yea-soo). Nobody could tell what it
meant, but its effects were marvellous. A strange
unrest and longing took possession of the people.
Where could this Iesu be found ? Village councils
were held, and two men were sent forth on the great
quest of the Holy Grail. With bags of oatmeal on
their backs they travelled fifty miles a day, oatmeal
and cold water their food ; and at last found what
they sought.
But the coming and going of so many people
soon awakened suspicion. The unrest was inter
preted politically. Rebellion was meditated; the
foreigners were supplying the Miaos with bags of
poison to be thrown into the wells, so that the
Chinese and Nosu might be killed off and the coun
try handed over to the Christians. The land was
threatened with rebellion, poison, massacre. To
avert the danger thus involved, Mr. Pollard decided
on the bold policy of facing the music. With one
or two native companions he visited the danger
zone, carrying with him a proclamation from the
Mandarin commanding the foreign men to be pro
tected ; he was also accompanied by two official mes
sengers. Passing from village to village and

234 Cbe "Romance of Mobern Missions
delivering lengthy speeches, the people were
quieted and the danger averted.
And now the deluge set in. The mission station
was literally rushed, well nigh overwhelmed, with
the stream of enquirers. From east and west, from
north and south, these mountain men with bags of
oatmeal on their shoulders, a few ' cash ' in their
girdles, a felt cloak on their backs, straw sandals
on their feet, and a strange unrest in their hearts,
made their way to the mission. They came in tens
and twenties; then in sixties and seventies; then a
hundred, two hundred, three hundred, four hun-
dread, and once a thousand. On one night six
hundred stayed at the mission house. All the mis
sion provided was water, fire and a roof. For
breakfast, lunch and supper the visitors had oat
meal and water. The people of the North of Eng
land used to be familiar with ' crowdy, ' made with
fine oatmeal and boiling water stirred together.
These men had simply oatmeal and cold water
stirred together. And they asked a blessing over it,
the first Christian thing they had learned.
The great demand was for books telling of Iesu,
and only Chinese books were available. Think of
them spelling out Mark's Gospel in Chinese, a
foreign language largely to them : ' The beginning
of the Gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God ' ;
only beginning it in the twentieth century. Can
the reader imagine what it would be for a Ber-
mondsey docker to learn Christianity through
Syriac? And the students followed the Chinese
method of learning, which is to shout out the words

Bible Christians 235
aloud. The reading would begin at 5 a.m. and
finish at 2 a.m. What a humming bee-hive the mis
sion must have been. There is an amusing story
of how the missionary's wife, fearing her husband
must break down for want of rest, got him off up
stairs to bed one day. After a while she thought
she heard a curious noise proceeding from the bed
room. Entering she found the missionary sitting
up in bed with a dozen Miao round him getting a
lesson all to themselves. They had got there by
swarming up the balcony outside. Can the
imagination picture what all this was like, or the
dangers involved in this great invasion of the un
washed — of typhus, diphtheria, small-pox, leprosy.
A great revival always breaks all records as to its
form. Surely this was the strangest ever witnessed
in all the Christian centuries !
The missionaries did not content themselves
merely with dealing with the Miaos at the mission
station ; they travelled about among the villages,
preaching, teaching, guiding the movement. The
Chinese colleague of Mr. Pollard, Stephen Lee,
was of immense service, especially in the work of
translation, and in the examination of candidates
for baptism.
At the first great baptism, although the weather
was terrible with rain and snow, and many of the
people 'had a three days' journey in it, 2,000 per
sons were present. The greatest care was taken in
examining all candidates. Eleven elders had been
chosen first, and then the others were baptised in
batches of ten, the total at the morning service

236 Woe Romance of Mobern Missions
being 102. To deal with such a movement re
quired almost superhuman wisdom and endurance.
We read of forty-eight villages full of Christians.
New centres had to be opened and new chapels
built. The people built the chapels themselves,
rude structures, but their own ; and to be replaced
by better ones as time and means would allow.
They employed a Chinese contractor at Rice
Ear Valley, who did his work so badly that five
times over the " tired ' building ' sat down,' and
had to be rebuilt. Then the contractor gave it up
and ran away. An old Miao next took the work in
hand and completed it.
There is a delightful picture of a communion ser
vice, the converts one after another taking the little
piece of buckwheat bread and drinking the tiny
cups of tea, with shut eyes, breathing the while a
little prayer of humility and love to the wonderful
Iesu. The service lasted five hours, and at night
the only light in the chapel came from two candles
hung in Chinese lanterns. The roof was not quite
complete, and through the opening the stars could
be seen. The last thing before the service closed a
penitent witch came seeking Jesus.
But the most fascinating work was among the
children, with their delightful names, such as
Wheat Flowers, Azalea Flowers, Camellia Flowers.
They flocked to the missionary in crowds, filling
the room where he stayed to the doors. Once he
threatened to broom them out, which suited them
exactly. The boys and girls are living the new life

Bible Christians 237
in which Jesus centres, and on the hillsides they
may be heard singing the songs which for ages
have filled the hearts of millions in Christendom
with gladness and joy. Among the Miaos ' There
is a fountain filled with blood ' is the greatest
favourite. The converts have had to endure persecution, and
the missionaries have had all sorts of difficult pro
blems to solve — questions such as payment for
wives at marriage, and offering gifts of wine to
the landlord at the New Year. The purchase of
wives was discontinued by the decision of the
people themselves; and forty-five out of fifty vil
lages brought no wine and worshipped no idols.
Considering the immense field white unto harvest
and the fewness of the labourers, the results
achieved are marvellous. In an area of ten thou
sand square miles there are 200 villages in which
there are Christians for whom the missionaries are
responsible. The Gospel stories come with abso
lute freshness to these people, and they will laugh
again and again at such incidents as the blind man
confuting the Pharisees. The Miao had no writ
ten language and it has had to be reduced to
writing. As in Chinese tones stand for a great
deal. Portions of the New Testament have been
published with the help of the British and Foreign
Bible Society, and the whole New Testament, we
believe, has now been issued. In Yunnan District
the United Methodist Church has to-day 10 mis
sionaries, 9 native workers, 8 local preachers, 21
chapels, 3,118 members, and 1,183 probationers.

238 Woe Romance of Mobern Missions
But these figures give only a very imperfect con
ception of the work that has been done.
Rev. S. Pollard, Rev. F. Dymond and others
can tell many exciting stories of their experiences
in this remote corner of the world — of rescue from
murder, from drowning; of fighting the flames,
fighting a mad Miao woman ; of escapes from kid
napping; of conflicts with disease, as when Mr.
Pollard nursed his colleague, Mr. Dymond,
through the small-pox; of the rescue of a brave
girl convert from her raging and murderous
mother; of adventures with suicides, with black
bears, with assassins ; and finally of being captured
at midnight. This is how the last incident closes :
' As I was lying broken and helpless, expecting
every minute to be my last, there came a change,
dramatic and sudden. From the ranks of the men
surrounding me there stepped out a man clad in a
white sheepskin jacket. What was he going to
do ? He stepped to my side, knelt down by me,
and with his arms folded around me he lay on me
as I lay there. He interposed his body between me
and the blows. This sudden movement took the
men aback, and for a moment they hesitated. He
backed up his movement by shouting, " No more
beating! no more beating!" To this unknown
man in the sheepskin jacket I owed my life. Be
cause he risked himself I am living to-day. I
never found out who the man was. To me he is
still the unknown saviour. Some people say the
Chinese are not worth saving. I can never say
that, for more than once my life has been saved by

XHntteb Metbobtst ftee Cburcbes 239
the Chinese. I owe myself to them, and am glad
to serve them with what strength I have. How,
after I was rescued from the river, I was dragged
to a walnut tree and tried by torchlight, how God
again delivered me, how I was picked up by some
Miao and carried back to the hut once more, how
Dr. Savin came on the third day with a rescue
party and took me to his hospital, how he and
others skilfully won me back to strength and health
again — all this is too long to tell you this time.'1
(ill.) UNITED METHODIST FREE CHURCHES.
The oldest missions of the United Methodist
Free Churches were in Jamaica, and were inherited
from the Wesleyan Methodist Association. The story
of these missions does not differ materially from
that of others in the same quarter already described.
There is a membership of 3,770, with 394 on trial,
7 missionaries, 98 local preachers, and 44 churches
and preaching rooms. Some work has also been
done on the mainland at Costa Rica.
In 1859 a mission was commenced in Sierra
Leone by taking over the care of 2,300 members
not in association with the Wesleyans there. The
deadly climate has hampered the work, and there
have been many deaths and breakdowns. Fresh
volunteers have always been found to take the
places rendered vacant by death or disease. The
peninsula of Sierra Leone is twenty-five miles long
1 "Tight Corners in China," by S. Pollard.

240 Cbe IRomance of Mobern Missions
by twelve broad. Viewed from the sea, it' looks
like an island forming one magnificent chain of
mountains, clad in every shade of living green.
Quaint native towns and villages, nestling at the
base of the mountains look perfectly delightful.
Freetown has a population of 30,000 with but few
whites among them. The streets are covered with
grass and herbage, and lined with beautiful tropical
trees. Bananas, oranges, etc., grow in rich clus
ters by the wayside. Rev. Thomas Truscott has
told of exciting adventures with boa-constrictors,
scorpions, tornadoes, and snakes of various kinds.
He has also given an amusing account of a love-
feast in the Old Samaria Chapel. ' Bless de Lord,
O my soul ! ' exclaimed one negro, ' and all dat
is within me bless His holy Name ! De prophet
of Nazareth done meet me in my own heathen land,
and He bring me to dis Gospel country, and he
done pardon my sins. I will praise His dear Name
for ever.' Full of fervour, quaintness and sim
plicity were the experiences. ' Glory ! glory !
glory ! ' shouted one ebony sister. ' All me bones
in me skin say, "Glory! " All de hairs of me
head say "Glory!" All de nails on me
fingers say "Glory!" One "Glory" to de
Fadder, one "Glory" to de Son, and one "Glory"
to de Holy Ghost ! Glory, honour, praise and
power be unto de Lamb for ever ! '
New stations were opened in Mendiland by
William Vivian in 1892. Success was followed by
a rebellion of the natives, ostensibly against an
obnoxious hut-tax, but really in opposition to the

XKniteb Metbobist free Cburcbes 241
advance of Christianity. Trading factories were
destroyed and white people killed. In May, 1898,
the storm burst on the mission station at Tikonkoh.
Though armed, Rev. C. H. Goodman refused to
use his weapons, lest the memory of his act should
damage the mission in coming years. Along with
Mr. Campbell, Mr. Johnson and several native
workers, he fled to the bush. All the others were
slain, and Mr. Goodman, after thrilling adventures,
was taken prisoner, almost entirely stripped of his
clothing, and compelled to march hatless under a
burning sun to Bumpe\ With a look of savage
hatred one native, drawing his finger across his own
throat, closing his eyes, and stiffening his figure,
shouted, ' To-day you die ! ' Seated on a log of
wood in front of the chief, Mr. Goodman prayed
silently for deliverance as his trial proceeded. An
old man stood up and put in a plea in the mis
sionary's behalf, amid encouraging murmurs from
the audience. Then a woman threw herself at the
feet of the king, and pleaded with deep emotion
that the prisoner's life might be spared. The king
decided that as Mr. Goodman was not a govern
ment man, and did not fight, but taught the chil
dren, mended the sick, and was kind to all women,
he should not die. The news of Mr. Goodman's
escape reached England during the meetings of
the Annual Assembly of that year. The reading
of the telegram of two words, ' Goodman alive,'
filled the Assembly with joy and gratitude. All
the property of the mission in that part of the coun
try was destroyed, but the waste places have since Q

242 Woe Romance of Mobern Missions
been restored, and the opening of the Government
railway, which runs 200 miles inland from Free
town, has brought the places making up a dozen
circuits within easy reach. One very useful native
minister is the product of the mission.
Among the names of missionaries held dear by
the coloured people, as well as among the Churches
at home, are those of Joseph New, John S. Potts,
and William and Mrs. Micklethwaite. Negroes
still mention Joseph New in their lovefeast ex
periences, although he only survived the deadly
climate between two and three years. John S.
Potts only lived five months in Africa, but left
behind him the memory of a beautiful character
and a deathless devotion. Mrs. Micklethwaite, a
true friend of the Africans, also sleeps, after spend
ing three terms in Africa, in the beautiful God's
Acre at Freetown. There are now in West Africa
42 chapels and other preaching places, 8 mis
sionaries, 116 local preachers, 209 leaders, 2,536
members, with 441 on trial.
Largely through the representations of Dr. Lewis
Krapf, of Stuttgart, a mission was opened in East
Africa. The veteran missionary gave such a
graphic picture of the need and the opportunity
that the Assembly of 1861 designated Thomas
Wakefield and James Woolner, with two young
Germans, to accompany Krapf to Mombasa (' His
tory of Methodism,' says Swiss). The vessel in
which the party sailed from Aden was chased by
pirates, but reached Zanzibar in safety. The Ger
mans almost immediately returned to Europe. Mr.

TKntteb Metbobist jfree Cburcbes 243
Woolner was prostrated with fever, and so terribly
reduced that he took ship for Bombay and Eng
land. Dr. Krapf, owing to ill-health, also re
turned to Europe, and thus Thomas Wakefield was
left alone in October, 1862. He himself had just
recovered from a severe attack of fever, and was
oppressed with a sense of his responsibility. A
station had been chosen at Rib6, in a beautiful
park-like country. There was a house of corru
gated iron, containing a bedroom and sitting-room.
Before the erection of this house the missionary
had lived in a wretched grass hut, hired from the
native Wanika, a small, unhealthy abode, from the
roof of which snakes occasionally fell upon the
missionary as he lay in bed. Rev. Charles New
joined Mr. Wakefield in 1863 and Rev. E.
Butterworth in 1864. This gave the lonely worker
new hope, but clouds soon gathered once more.
In six weeks all three missionaries were attacked
by fever and Mr. Butterworth died. The sur
vivors gave themselves sadly yet resolutely to the
work of preaching and teaching among the heathen.
A year later we find Mr. Wakefield travelling
on foot 150 miles to the country of the Southern
Gallas. He was more than once in peril of his
life, hostile messages being sent ahead of him,
declaring that if allowed to set foot in the country
he would curse the land with drought and blight.
' If he comes, kill him, for if you even see the
white man you will die in consequence,' ran the
message. Curiosity was too much for one man,
and when he found that no harm came to him after

244 Woe "Romance! of Mobern Missions
seeing the white man he logically decided the
stories were all lies.
The Gallas were greatly astonished by the sight
of this first white man they had ever beheld. They
wanted to know if his mother had pinched his nose
when he was a baby, if he had five toes on each
foot, and why he put his feet in a bag. Once the
Gallas resolved to spear the white man to death.
Forming a circle, each man with his spear in his
hand, they invited the missionary to enter the circle.
He did so, and his fearless mien led the chief to
order the spears to be lowered ; whereupon they all
sat down for a palaver which ended peaceably.
Once a poisoned cake was offered him, but he had
been warned and refused to touch it. A new station
was established in the Gallas country, on the Tana
river. Here a terrible tragedy occurred in 1886,
when owing to an incursion of the dreaded Masai,
two missionaries, John and Annie Houghton, with
several native Christians, were speared to death.
More than once Mr. Wakefield visited this country,
and in 1888 was elected President of the Con
ference. Mr. New died in 1875, and a succession
of colleagues, including Rev. W. Yates, came to
his help. The heroic pioneer passed away Decem
ber 15th, 1901. The United Methodist Church has
now in East Africa 4 missionaries, 15 chapels, 6
other preaching places, 24 local preachers, and a
total membership of 616. The expenditure of life
has been great, but the opening of the Uganda
railway and the lessons of experience inspire the
hope of less cost and greater proportionate results

TBniteb Metbobist jfree Cburcbes 245
in future. A sanitorium, a good training institu
tion for native ministers, and the employment of a
trained missionary agriculturist for providing cot
ton growing as a staple industry, promise im
portant developments in the near future.
Perhaps the most important missionary enter
prise of the United Free Churches was Ningpo,
in the most easterly part of the mainland of China,
and about 150 miles from Shanghai. The coun
try is noted for its natural beauty of hills and
valleys and streams, its abundant supplies of food,
and the comparative wealth of the people. Hudson
Taylor was the means of bringing the needs of the
region before the Annual Assembly, and in 1864
Rev. W. R. Fuller was sent to Ningpo. The city
had been largely destroyed by the rebellion, and
the people were busy re-building their houses,
shops, and temples. A year later Mr. and Mrs.
Mara were sent to co-operate with Mr. Fuller.
Breakdown in health ultimately compelled Mr. and
Mrs. Fuller to retire in 1868, and Mr. and Mrs.
Mara retired for the same reason a year later.
Already Rev. Frederick Galpin had taken charge
of the work, and he was joined in 1874 by Rev.
Robert Swallow. Happily these two men were able
to give thirty years to the work in China, and
Rev. W. E. Soothill fifteen years. Rev. R. I.
Exley died at his post early, leaving behind him a
fine record for enthusiasm and devotion. His
young bride had just arrived expecting her imme
diate marriage, but fatal illness befell Mr. Exley,

246 Woe Romance of Mobern Missions
and he passed triumphantly home with the words :
' Into His presence.'
The work carried on has been evangelistic, educa
tional, medical, and Church organisation. In rela
tion to evangelistic work, the great difficulty then
was to secure any kind of preaching room. The
one desire of the people was to keep the ' foreign
devils ' at a distance. Landlords would rather keep
a building empty than let it to a missionary. To
day buildings are pressed on the missionary, and
he is unable to occupy all the openings offered him.
In spite of this early difficulty interesting services
have been carried on in Ningpo and other towns
and villages from the beginning of the mission.
In regard to the educational work hundreds of boys
have passed through the day schools which have
been taught for more than thirty years, and some
old scholars are now members of the Church and
some are preachers or teachers. To save the
Chinese youth from a godless education is the aim
of this part of the mission work. Valuable medical
work has also been done. The prejudice at the
outset was incredible. The missionary's pills were
declared to be compounded of murdered Chinamen.
There are now two hospitals doing a great work
of healing. The task of building up a native
church is always a slow and difficult one. But
some remarkable results have been achieved in
Ningpo. The conversion of the evangelist Tsiang
O-pong, deserves to rank with those in Begbie's
' Broken Earthenware.' A man of violent wicked
ness and a great gambler and opium smoker, he

Tllniteb Metbobist ffree Cburcbes 247
had well nigh squandered his immense energy in
sin. Converted while under treatment in a hospital
for opium smoking, he soon became as famous for
downright goodness as he had formerly been for
wickedness. The tremendous energy he had pre
viously thrown into wicked courses was now em
ployed in preaching the Gospel.
A new mission was opened in Wenchow, a port
between Ningpo and Foochow, where between one
and two millions of people speak a dialect of their
own. Owing to the war with France a riot in 1884
wrecked the mission premises, and endangered the
missionary's life. Into the dialect of the Wenchow
district Mr. Soothill has translated the New Testa
ment, and there is now a considerable Christian
literature. Ningpo District has now 22 rented
chapels, 24 not rented, 6 missionaries, 38 male
and female native helpers, 55 local preachers,
and 1,920 native members. Wenchow District has
20 chapels built by the Mission, 4 purchased by the
Mission, and 16 rented, with 168 other preaching
places, 27 native workers, 237 local preachers, 3
Bible women, 201 organised churches, 2,760 adult
members, and 5,356 enquirers.
It will be seen from all this that the United
Methodist Church has a large and important mis
sion field under its care, and it may be assumed
that with unity and concentration the great work
inaugurated by the three Churches which are now
one, will gain yet more glorious success.

BOOK V.

Of tbe Cbutcb flIMssionars
Society.

CHAPTER I.
IN WEST AFRICA AND NEW ZEALAND.
While the earlier work of the Church of England
does not fall within the scope of this volume, some
mention must be made at least of the organisations
known as the S.P.C.K. and the S.P.G. The
Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge was
founded in 1698, and sought to provide Christian
education and Christian literature. The Society
for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts
was founded in 1701 and was designed to send
clergymen to the colonies and dependencies of
Great Britain. The settlers were to be ministered
to first and then the conversion of the heathen
within British possessions. In the actual work of
these two Societies, however, there was a good
deal of overlapping. For example, the Danish
and German missionaries sent to South India were

5n TKHest africa anb mew Zealanb 249
supported and directed by the S.P.C.K., and it
was not till a century later that this work came into
the hands of the S.P.G. The latter did a noble
work among the Indians and negroes of the
American colonies. John Wesley was sent out to
Georgia under its auspices. It also sent a mis
sionary to South Africa.
During the eighteenth century, when there was
a general decay of religion, these two Societies
languished and almost died. Tt was the age of the
hunting, drinking, pluralist and non-resident
clergy; of empty churches; of parishes without a
single Bible in them ; and of Sunday observed only
as a day of sports of the most brutal kind. Dr.
Johnson told Boswell he had never met a religious
clergyman. The Evangelical Revival under the
Wesleys and Whitefield changed all this. But for
long Church-Methodism was counted a disease to
be extirpated; something to be hated and despised.
But the leaven was at work, and when we reach
that annus mirabilis, 1786, it has accomplished so
much that in many minds the idea of missions to
the heathen is stirring. The discussions of the
Eclectic Society on this subject were little more
than academic, but two men were destined power
fully to influence others in this direction. These
were Charles Simeon and Thomas Scott. Charles
Simeon was a young Fellow of King's College,
Cambridge, and Incumbent of Trinity Church in
that town. His earnest preaching met with bitter
opposition. While the parishioners locked their
pews and stayed away, the aisles were thronged

250 Woe "Romance of Mobern Missions
with casual hearers. Thomas Scott, curate of Olney
and the famous commentator, did much for William
Carey. ' If I know anything of the work of God in
my soul,' said Carey, ' I owe it to the preaching of
Mr. Scott.' These men with Wilberforce, Basil
Woodd and John Venn, were set thinking earnestly
by the action of Carey; and on April 12th,, 1799,
the Church Missionary Society was founded in the
Castle and Falcon Hotel, Aldersgate Street,
London .
Funds came in this case long before men. Two
donations were announced of .£100 each, one from
Mr. Ambrose Martin, the other from Mr. Wolff,
the Danish Consul-General . The first two years
produced .£912. Appeals for missionaries brought
no response. The annual sermons were great occa
sions, nevertheless. Thomas Scott was the first
preacher, Charles Simeon the second; Richard
Cecil the third, Biddulph, of Bristol, the fourth ;
John Venn the fifth. Curiously enough the Lord's
great commission finds very little mention in these
sermons. At last two Germans and one brilliant
Englishman offered their services as missionaries.
Henry Martyn, Senior Wrangler and Fellow of
Cambridge, was accepted and sent out to India, not
in the capacity of missionary, for that the East
India Company would not allow, but as a Com
pany's chaplain. He sailed in 1805, and entered
upon his work in the hope that it would afford some
opportunity of prosecuting the mission he had at
heart and open the way to devoting himself entirely
to the heathen. Though technically never a mis-

3n iKflest atrica anb mew Ztealanb 251
sionary, he will always be regarded as the first
agent of the Church Missionary Society in India.
He was stationed successively near Serampore, at
Dinapore, and at Cawnpore. He gave himself to
the study of the native languages with a zeal that
surmounted all difficulties, even that of his broken
health. He translated the whole New Testament
into Hindustani, Hindi, and Persian ; the Prayer
Book into Hindustani, and the Psalms into Per
sian. All this in the brief space of six years ! Then
he sailed to Bushire, travelled to Shiraz, Tabriz,
Erivan, Kars, Erzeroum, and Tokat, where he died
of fever October 6th, 181 2. So ended the life of
this brave and devoted man at the early ageof thirty-
two. His flaming zeal for Christ and missions, and
his unreserved devotion to the cause will ever make
his name dear to the Church of God; and his in
fluence still abides.
The two Germans, Renner and Hartwig, were
sent to West Africa to open a mission among the
Susoo tribes. So that at the end of five years the
Church Missionary Society had two agents at work
in the mission field. Three additional men were
sent to West Africa in 1806. These were from
Berlin. Still no Englishman, apart from Martyn,
had volunteered. Of the five one died, one was
dismissed, and the other three served respectively
seventeeen, nineteen, and eleven years, and all with
their wives died at their posts. The usual diffi
culties attended the opening of this, the first mis
sion of the Society. If Henry Martyn's appoint
ment were regarded as the first mission it would still

252 Woe "Romance of Mobern Missions
form no exception to the rule, as he was not allowed
to enter India as a missionary. Few vessels traded
to West Africa in those days. Slave ships refused
a passage to the missionaries. A trading ship
under convoy was the only resource, and the voyage
occupied fifty-seven days. The voyage of the
second party of three was strangely delayed. After
waiting five weeks at Liverpool, they set sail, only
to be stranded on the Irish coast, and were delayed
seven weeks in Ireland. When at length they
sailed again from Bristol the vessel put into Fal
mouth till a convoy arrived. The missionaries
went ashore and the vessel sailed without them. A
gale drove her back and then they got on board.
Losing the convoy the vessel was nearly captured
by a French privateer. At Maideira the captain
died after a heavy bout of drinking, and the vessel
was delayed three months waiting for orders.
Sierra Leone was reached at the end of seven
months, a voyage which cost the infant society
£534- The first five missionaries were trained at
Berlin. After this candidates were sent to Thomas
Scott for a period of instruction. To equip him
self for this work Mr. Scott, when over sixty, set
himself to learn Arabic and Susoo. It is worthy of
note that the first Englishman to be accepted for
training as a missionary was a shoemaker like
Carey. But the Sierra Leone mission accomplished
little for some years. The men were zealous and
self-denying, but the difficulties were great. Rev.
E. Bickersteth, the assistant secretary, visited West
Africa in 1816, to the great advantage of the work,

5n "flOlest africa anb mew Zealanb 253
and arranged to concentrate on the liberated slaves
of the colony. On Easter Day he admitted the
first six African converts to the Lord's Supper.
Two additional German missionaries were sent
out at this time, William Johnson and Henry
During. They were stationed by Bickersteth at
Regent and Gloucester, and at the former place
under Johnson a great revival took place. Hun
dreds were converted, and a marvellous transfor
mation took place in the people and the district.
But Sierra Leone was the 'white man's grave,'
and the losses by death were heavy. In seventeen
years twenty-six missionaries and wives died. Of
twelve persons sent out in 1823 six died within the
year, and four more within eighteen months.
Johnson died on his way to England, and During
sailed for home when only just alive, and the vessel
was never heard of again.
All this forced on the attention of the Committee
the necessity of a native agency, and an institu
tion was founded at Fourah Bay, near Freetown,
for the training of promising African lads. The
first name on the roll was destined to become
famous, that of Samuel Crowther. We cannot tell
in detail the story of how this converted negro be
came a teacher, accompanied the Niger Expedition
in 1841, was sent to Islington College, England,
and ordained by the Bishop of London in 1843, the
first negro clergyman of the century; how he re
turned to Africa amid the enthusiastic welcome of
hundreds who, like himself, had been slaves ; how he
went with Henry Townsend to open a new mission

254 Che Romance of MoDern Missions
in the Yoruba country, which prospered from the
first, six converts being baptised within a year and
a half, one of them being Crowther's own mother,
from whom he had been torn away twenty-seven
years before ; how after eleven years he founded
another mission on the Niger, was made a Bishop
in 1864, and for the next quarter of a century con
ducted the affairs of his great diocese with unfiag-
ing industry and practical good sense, dying in
1891 full of years and honours, universally beloved
and lamented. When the Jubilee of the Society
came the Sierra Leone Mission had 10,000 people,
once degraded beyond conception, in regular
attendance at public worship ; and to-day in this
oldest mission of the Society there are, inclusive
of Western Equatorial Africa, 377 stations, 76
European agents, 88 native clergy, 345 lay native
agents, 120 female native agents, over 17,000 com
municants, a total of over 53,000 native adherents,
and 289 Training Institutions, Colleges and
Schools. The first two Englishmen sent out by the
Society went not to West Africa but to the Maoris
of New Zealand. Samuel Marsden, the New South
Wales chaplain, when in this country appealed
for two or three mechanics to go out to New Zealand
on behalf of the Society, to live among the Maoris
and by teaching them the simpler arts of life pre
pare then for the Gospel. Two men, William Hall
and John King, a joiner and a shoemaker, were
sent out with Marsden in 1809, as ' lay-settlers.'
For five years they got no further than Sydney.

5n West atrica anb mew Zealanb 255
Owing to a British ship having been wrecked off
the coast of New Zealand and the crew killed and
eaten, no ship would venture thither.
At length Marsden himself purchased a brig of
no tons, and sailed with his lay-settlers and their
families and a few others to the north end of New
Zealand, where was a friendly chief, Ruatara. He
found Ruatara's tribe and another at war. In spite
of Ruatara's warning Marsden landed unarmed,
and only accompanied by one Sydney man and an
interpreter, made direct for the hostile party. That
night he slept under the canopy of heaven, and
next morning persuaded the hostile tribe to make
peace. Full of joy and hope, he went with his
whole party to Ruatara's tribe. The natives had
never seen an animal larger than a pig, and the
horse, the bull and the cows Marsden had brought
with him filled the people with astonishment.
Christmas Day, 1814, was a memorable day for
New Zealand and for the British Empire. Ruatara
gathered his chiefs and people together, and amid
a solemn silence Mr. Marsden rose and announced
the One Hundredth Psalm, his soul full of pity for
his strange congregation. The service was read,
and a sermon preached from the text, ' Behold I
bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be
to all people.' The mission thus inaugurated was
destined to tame the Maories and prepare the way
for the coming of the colonists. Two months later
Marsden returned to Australia, leaving his lay set
tlers among the Maories. Amid the cannibalisms
and barbarities of the people the little Colony toiled

256 XTbe "Romance of Mobern Missions
on, creating a civilisation. Again and again
Marsden crossed the thousand miles of stormy sea
to visit the settlement. He saw the development
of fields of wheat, orchards, blacksmiths' shops,
saw mills, rope walks. In 1821 it seemed to him
that fit workers should now enter the field, and in
response to an appeal Henry and William Williams
were sent out with their wives. The two brothers
became the evangelists of the Maori race and the
makers of the colony of New Zealand. They found
not a single convert, but lived to see the whole
Maori people brought under the sound of the
Gospel, while thousands were converted and hun
dreds died in the faith of Christ. In 1892 Mrs.
William Williams, when over 90 years of age, re
ceived a deputation of the Church Missionary
Society. The two first missionaries lived to see a
great British colony established in one of the finest
climates in the world.
The first convert, Chief Rangi, was baptised on
his deathbed in 1825. In 1829 a ferocious chief,
Taiwhanga, desired his four children to be received
into the Church, and along with the infant son of
William Williams they were baptised. Sixty-six
years later that infant son of the missionary be
came the third Bishop of Waipu. In 1830 the first
baptismal service for adults was held, and among
the candidates was chief Taiwhanga himself. Fol
lowing this event came a remarkable outpouring
of the Holy Spirit; classes and prayer meetings
were arranged; hundreds learned to read, and the
work extended over the whole country. When

5n West atrtca anb mew ^ealanb 257
Darwin visited New Zealand, in 1835, during his
famous voyage in the Beagle, he wrote, ' The lesson
of the missionary is the enchanter's wand.' In
1837 Samuel Marsden paid his seventh and last
visit to New Zealand. Seventy-two years of age
and bowed with infirmities, he was carried in a lit
ter from station to station. Crowds of Maories
assembled to bid farewell to the benefactor of their
race. He died at Sydney May 12th, 1838.
New Zealand became a colony in 1840, and
George Augustus Selwyn was made first Bishop of
the newly-created Bishopric. Consecrated in the
autumn of 1841, he landed the following year and
threw himself with boundless energy into his work,
journeying all over the country on foot and every
where witnessing scenes that filled him with won
der and delight. It is recorded of him that he
grappled boldly and successfully with the problems
that confronted him, though not always in ways
that the C.M.S. liked. We cannot dwell on the
war which for the time upset everything; nor on the
Hau-hau apostacy and the murder of the mis
sionary Volkner. The majority of the Christians re
mained faithful. Many striking illustrations were
given during the war of the change wrought by
Christianity, the Maories chiefs manifesting the
most remarkable chivalry on many occasions. The
mission was finally absorbed in the Church of the
Colony, so that it no longer figures in the Annual
Report of the Society. But it should never be for
gotten that this great Colony-owes its existence to
the C.M.S.

CHAPTER II.
IN INDIA, UGANDA AND OTHER FIELDS.
We must now return to India. Henry Martyn and
other East India chaplains did a noble work for the
spread of the Gospel in India. Henry Martyn's
work has already been named. Claudius Buchanan,
by his eloquence and his literary works, did more
than any other man to create the public opinion
which eventually opened India. The revision of
the East India Company's Charter in 1813, which
was due to a movement headed by Wilberforce,
opened India to missionary work. A clause in the
Bill established a bishopric at Calcutta, and Dr.
Middleton was consecrated in 1814. But work had
already been begun in India by employing one of
Henry Martyn's converts from Mohammedanism,
who had been baptised in 181 1 by the name of
Abdul Masih. This man was years afterwards
ordained by Bishop Heber. The blessing follow
ing his labours was a source of great encourage
ment to the Society for years. Four missionaries
were commissioned for India in 1814, one of them
being Thomas Norton, who, like Carey, when a
shoemaker had taught himself Greek. Within the
next five years eleven more men were sent to India
and four to Ceylon.

5n 3nbfa, TOganba anb ©tber jftelbs 25g
When Reginald Heber became Bishop of Cal
cutta he brought to the work a new enthusiasm and
a new spirit, putting the evangelisation of the
heathen in the forefront of the Church's duty, and
ordaining native Christians. His death in 1826 was
a heavy blow. He was a man of great gifts, and
his hymns, ' Holy, holy, holy, Lord God
Almighty, ' ' The Son of God goes forth to war, '
and 'From Greenland's icy mountains,' will keep
his memory green for generations to come. He
was an ardent missionary and initiated a policy
greatly to the advantage of the spread of the
Gospel among the heathen. Abdul Masih was not
only a devoteed missionary but the first C.M.S.
medical missionary. In two months he treated one
hundred cases, spent a large part of his stipend in
the purchase of medicines, and was known far and
wide as the Christian hakim. A College was
erected on the banks of the Hooghley for the educa
tion of native Christians, towards which the C.M.S.
contributed ; but for many year's therewas nota suffi
cient number of suitable converts belonging to the
Church of England. After a struggle of half a cen
tury the buildings were sold to the Government,
and the institution is now carried on in the heart
of the city on a more modest scale.
Of the twenty-six men sent to India between 1814
and 1823, fourteen were stationed in the north,
eleven in the south, and one in Bombay. Of the
number thirteen were English clergymen, eleven
Germans in Lutheran orders ; of the other two, one
was a schoolmaster the other a printer. The policy

260 Cbe Romance of Mobern Missions
of the Society in North India was to use three
agencies, the press, schools, and missionary
stations. At Calcutta, Allahabad, Lucknow,
Benares, Delhi and five other places schools were
opened and native agents engaged. Converts were
few and far between, the most notable being two
Brahmans at Meerut, one of whom became Rev.
Anund Masih. In 1822 Miss M. A. Cooke was
employed to teach Hindu girls. When visiting a
boys' school, as the agent of an independent com
mittee, for the purpose of catching the pronuncia
tion of Bengali, a little girl begged her to be
allowed to come in. This led Miss Cooke to begin
a girls' school next day. Out of that little inci
dent have come the varied and fruitful agencies
for the women of India; and to-day may be found
accomplished Christian Indian ladies who are
graduates of Universities.
In 1820 two missionaries, Lutherans, were sent
to Tinnevelly, and opened what proved to be a most
successful mission. It was not virgin soil, how
ever, for Lutheran missionaries of the S.P.C.K.
had visited it long before from Tanjore. In 1802
over 5,000 natives were baptised; but till 1816 no
missionaries visited the place. When Chaplain
James Hough was appointed in that year to Palam-
cotta, he made diligent inquiries throughout the
province and discovered some 3,000 Christians
scattered among sixty villages without either
school or Tamil Testaments. After applying in
vain to the S.P.C.K. he turned to the C.M.S. Of
the two Lutherans sent out, one of them, Rhenius,

3n Jnbia, raganba anb ®tber jfielbs 261
has received special mention for his work, not only
in reviving the old S.P.C.K. congregations but in
opening up the work in villages which had not been
hitherto visited. In 1829 he grouped his 5,000 con
verts into congregations with Palmacotta as head
quarters, where, three years before, he had built
Trinity Church, the scene of many inspiring ser
vices in subsequent years.
Bishop Heber s two successors died within three
years, and when Daniel Wilson went out, in 1832,
his diocese comprised all India, Ceylon, the Straits
Settlements and Australia. Parliament divided this
huge diocese, and in 1832 Carrie became Bishop of
Bombay two years later, and Australia had a
Bishop of its own. With a stroke of the pen Lord
William Bentinck, the Governor-General, abolished
Suttee (widow-burning), child murder, human
sacrifices and hook-swinging torture. It was not
till 1837 that military salutes in honour of idols
were abolished, when Sir P. Maitland, Com
mander-in-Chief, resigned his office rather than
sign an order involving respect to an idol, a brave
act which ended the abuse.
The terrible famine in that year threw many
orphans on the hands of the missionaries in North
India, which led to the opening of the Secundra
Orphanage, for which the Government gave the
Society the building containing the tomb of the
traditional Christian wife of the Mogul Emperor,
Akbar, who flourished in the time of Queen Eliza
beth. In 1838 a wonderful movement swept five

262 Woe "Romance of Mobern Missions
hundred natives into the Church in Rural Bengal,
and in the next year the number of adherents rose
to 3,000. It is scarcely surprising that this sudden
movement in after years disappointed expectation.
Still Krishnagar has to this day the largest Chris
tian community in Bengal. By 1835 Tinnevelly,
in the far South, had 10,000 adherents under the
devoted labours of Rhenius and his brethren. Un
fortunately over a question of ordaining some of
the chief catechists as ' country priests,' Rhenius
became disaffected. This was partly due to the
influence of a Plymouth Brother, a Mr. Groves,
and the result was that Rhenius was severed from
the mission. A secession took place, which, how
ever, on the death of Rhenius, in 1838, was soon
healed. By the Jubilee year, 1848, India had, in addi
tion to Tinnevelly and Krishnagar, stations at
Travancore, Calcutta, Benares, Agra, Bombay and
Madras. Among the more important developments
that followed the Jubilee, the founding of St. John's
College at Agra by French and Stuart requires
special mention. It is still the most important in
stitution of the kind possessed by the Society in
India. The C.M.S. at Agra had by this time been
greatly strengthened by the accession of Pfander,
the greatest of all missionaries to the Moham
medans. Dr. Pfander was of immense service in
connection with the dialectical conflicts which took
place at this time with leading Mohammedans. For
twelve years he had travelled and laboured in Persia
under the Basle Missionary Society. He had an

3n Snbia, "JUganba anb ©tber jfielbs 263
extraordinary gift for languages and soon mastered
Persian, Armenian and Tartar-Turkish. He was
often cursed, stoned, and spat upon, but maintained
a faithful witness. His famous book in defence of
Christianity against Mohammedan objections, 'The
Balance of Truth,' or ' Mizan-al-Haqq,' though
written originally in German, was subsequently
translated into Persian, English, Hindustani,
Marathi, Turkish, and Arabic. This book is still
the classic work on the subject, and has been of
immense service in dealing with Mohammedans.
Pfander's original idea was that one of his seniors
should undertake the work, but nothing was done.
He then set himself the task of writing out his ideas
as suggestions for the help of another. But it was
felt that the author of ihe suggestions was the man
to carry out the work. Everting after evening his
pen ran on, and as he proceeded his heart warmed
and the task gave the writer great enjoyment and
blessing. Chapter after chapter was laid before
the other missionaries and approved. So the great
work was completed, and thoroughly revised with
the help of a Persian Munshi, and a learned ortho
dox mullah, who only discovered too late the real
bearing of the book on the Koran. When the
Russians conquered the section of Persia where the
Basle missionaries laboured the latter were expelled.
Dr. Pfander subsequently joined the C.M.S., and
his ' Mizan-al-Haqq ' and other works, combined
with his personal inflence, led to many important
conversions from Islam.
This wonderful man had a burly Saxon figure, a

264 Woe "Romance of Mobern Missions
genial, open face, expressive of intellect, simplicity
and benevolence. A large heart, a powerful mind,
high courage, and indomitable good humour sin
gularly fitted him for his work. His vast learn
ing, his practical wisdom, his knowledge of Asia
tics and especially of Mohammedans, his mastery
of all the intricacies of Mohammedan controversy
and of Oriental forms of thought and expression,
enabled him to treat the questions at issue from
the Asiatic point of view. His books ' might have
been written by a mullah ; and yet mullahs found
that they set up the Cross, and threw the Crescent
into eclipse.' In 1856 Pfander was chosen for the
Constantinople Mission, in connection with which
he rendered distinguished service, and his ' Mizan-
al-Haqq ' was sold in the neighbourhood of the
Mosquie of St. Sophia.
In no small degree the opening of the Punjab
mission was due to the encouragement and help of
Henry and John Lawrence. They, with their fol
lowers, formed a Church Missionary Association in
February, 1852, raised £3,000 among themselves,
and fixed upon Amritsar as the headquarters of
the mission. How a mission was opened at
Peshawar, the most fanatical and dangerous city
on the Afghan frontier, is a thrilling story. The
first Commissioner to whom Captain Martin, the
treasurer of the Society, applied for permission to
send a missionary, demanded if it was desired that
they should all be killed. He was himself killed
a few months later as he sat in his verandah. The
next Commissioner applied to, Herbert Edwardes,

Sn 3nbia, "Qlaauba anb ©tber jfielbs 265
replied, ' Yes, certainly ; call a meeting and I will
preside myself.' So a missionary meeting was held
in that dangerous city, attended by military and
civil officers and their families, with the Com
missioner in the chair. His words have become
memorable, and deserve quoting here. ' It is not
the duty of the Government, as a Government,' he
said, ' to proselytise India. The duty of evan
gelising India lies at the door of private Christians.
Every Englishman and Englishwoman in India —
everyone now in this room — is answerable to do
what he can towards fulfilling it. We may be
quite sure that we are much safer if we do our duty
than if we neglect it ; and that He who has brought
us here with His own right arm will shield and
bless us, if, in sinple reliance upon Him, we try
to do His will.' In brief, what followed was this:
£3,000 was subscribed on the spot. Dr. Pfander
was sent from Agra, and Clark from Amritsar.
Martin, the treasurer, resigned his commission and
joined as an honorary missionary. Converts, if for
a time few, were men of mark — Mohammedans,
Brahmans, Sikhs, and Dilawar Khan, the fierce
border brigand.
In South India converts began to be won by
Robert Noble in 1852, and the excitement of their
baptism was tremendous ; others soon followed, and
the work steadily went forward. At Tinnevelly
there were, by 1855 375 village congregations, with
27,000 adherents, of whom two-thirds were baptised
and 4,000 communicants. Tamil clergy were
gradually trained and ordained, and one of them,

266 Woe iRomance of Mobern Missions
Paul Daniel, became, perhaps, the most powerful
preacher India ever produced. It is said his ser
mons would have crowded any London church to
overflowing. After a wonderful ministry of four
years he died of cholera. We cannot follow the
spread of the work in India in all its ramifications
— in Ceylon and elsewhere. It is interesting to note
that by the Jubilee India had furnished 72 native
missionaries. The Indian Mutiny arrested the
work for a time, but it soon recovered, and has
progressed in the most wonderful way from that day
to this. As Mr. Eugene Stock eloquently puts it,
' We are met at every place we visit, from the
Himalayas to Cape Comorin, by bands of native
Christians, headed by their own clergy ; we wor
ship with them in their own churches, we kneel
with them at the Lord's Table, we join with them
in their simple prayer-meetings. We may spend
months in the one district of Tinnevelly, and travel
ling each night across the plain by bullock-cart,
worship every morning in a different village, yet
in a church with its full congregation — the fruit of
either C.M.S. or S.P.G. work. If we go over all
India, and are privileged to address the Christians
everywhere, we must be interpreted, at C.M.S.
stations alone, in sixteen different languages.'
To sum up the position to-day, the C.M.S. has
in India 229 stations, 2,158 out-stations, 154 clergy,
or including all European workers 432, 201 native
clergy, 2,839 lay native male workers, 835 female,
over 51,000 native communicants, and over 198,000
native adherents. Ceylon has over 12,000 native

5n Jnbia, iftganba anb ©tber jfielbs 267
adherents, and Mauritius, 1,652. From this very
brief and fragmentary account, it will be seen that
the work which Henry Martyn may be said to have
inaugurated has borne a rich and wonderful harvest.
There were some romantic missions begun in the
early days of the C.M.S. which cannot be dealt
with here. These missions were none the less ro
mantic because ultimately abortive. They were the
occasion of wonderful heroism and great suffering ;
but space forbids our lingering over them. Zulu-
land was the scene of one of them and Abyssinia of
another. The latter is chiefly remarkable as the
mission in connection with which Dr. Krapf began
his remarkable life-work. He has already been
mentioned in connection with the missions of the
United Methodist Church. Ludwig Krapf was
driven out of Abyssinia by the intrigues of the
French priests, in 1843. He started in an open
Arab vessel, and sailed down the East Coast of
Africa. Driven from one mission he went in quest
of another. He entered the harbour of Mombassa
on January 3rd, 1844, and, after some prospecting,
settled there with his young wife in the following
May. So began a work that was to render Ludwig
Krapf famous. It may be said to have been begun,
however, by the digging of a grave, that of his
young wife, Rosina Krapf, within two months of
settling in the Arab town. Cast down, but undis
mayed, the brave young missionary sent home to
the Society the never-to-be-forgotten message :
' Tell our friends that there is now on the East
African coast a lonely missionary grave; and as

268 Cbe "Romance of Mobern Missions
the victories of the Church are always gained by
stepping over the graves of her members, you may
be the more convinced that you are summoned to
the conversion of Africa from its eastern shore.'
Close, to that first grave there stands to-day Frere-
town, and a famous missionary settlement.
The message was not without effect. John
Rebmann was sent out to join Krapf, and to quote
the words of Mr. Eugene Stock, ' the two began
the geographical and linguistic studies which have,
as a matter of fact, led directly to the great Central
African explorations of modern times.' In 1848
Rebmann discovered the now famous Kiliman
jaro. The dream came to Krapf of crossing the
continent and forming a chain of stations from
Mombassa to Yoruba. He came to Europe and
laid his plans before the Society. They were
approved and a party of six organised to accom
pany him. But the party collapsed. Undaunted,
Krapf started alone with only native porters. The
porters deserted him, and he was lost when some
200 miles inland. Weary, wounded, and in rags,
he found his way back to Mombassa. He be
queathed his great idea to every missionary that
might come to Africa. He still continued his
studies and short journeys, and constructed a map
of Africa showing a great inland sea. This map
sent out Burton and Speke, who found that the
great inland sea was the three great lakes, the Vic
toria Nyanza, Tanganyika and Nyassa. Speke
sighted the last named in 1858 and heard of a coun
try called Uganda.

3n Jnbia, xaganba anb ©tber fie lbs 269
Livingstone's great achievements came later, and
his death in some respects did as much as his life
for the great cause he had at heart. It brought
home the claims of Africa to the people of this
country, and the C.M.S. sent out W. S. Price with
a party to East Africa in 1874. A settlement was
opened opposite Mombasa and called Frere Town.
It was near the grave of Mrs. Krapf, and this ful
filled the prediction of the young missionary already
quoted. In September of the folowing year the
British cruisers landed 271 wretched slaves, and
the missionaries found abundant work ready to their
hands, thus beginning a work destined to spread
into the interior of the Dark Continent. In East
Africa the Society has to-day in all 30 stations, 65
European agents, 1 1 1 native agents, of whom 3 are
ordained clergy and 96 lay agents, over 1,000 com
municants, and nearly 4,000 adherents, with two
Training Institutions.
It was in 1858 that Captain Speke sighted the first
of the three great lakes of Central Africa and heard
of a country called Uganda. It was in 1875 that
Stanley's famous letter, written from King Mtesa's
capital, challenged Christendom to send a mission
to Uganda. Within three days of the appearance
of the letter in the Daily Telegraph £5,000 was
offered anonymously if the C.M.S. would accept
the challenge. A party was sent out under the
leadership of George Shergold Smith, consisting of
T. O'Neill, Rev. C. T. Wilson, Dr. John Smith,
and last but not least, Alexander Mackay. The
story of their journey from Zanzibar, where they

270 Woe "Romance of Mobern Missions
landed within six months of the appearance of the
famous challenge, is full of romance.
Mackay had to be left at the coast sick, but with
characteristic energy he organised a base of supply.
Dr. Smith died of fever and the first missionary
grave had to be dug on the shore of Nyanza. The
little Daisy, which had been carried all the way
in pieces slung on poles, was put together, but in
Mackay's absence and with some pieces of
machinery lacking, she could only be made into a
sailing boat. A letter from King Mtesa invited the
party to go forward. The little sailing boat did
what has never been done since, she crossed the
Victoria Nzanza in thirty hours. From a small
island the natives threw stones and shot poisoned
arrows. A stone struck Shergold Smith, and carry
ing the glass of his blue spectacles into his best
eye destroyed the sight of it. Mr. Wilson's shoul
der was pierced by a poisoned arrow. But Smith,
blinded as he was, and with blood streaming down
his face, sucked the wound and saved his comrade's
life. Uganda was reached on June 30th, 1877.
Subsequently both Shergold Smith and O'Neill
were killed while protecting an Arab trader from
an attack by natives, and for a whole year Rev.
C. T. Wilson was alone in the heart of Africa.
Ludwig Krapf wrote in relation to this disaster,
'Though many missionaries may fall in the fight,
yet the survivors will pass over the slain in the
trenches, and take this great African fortress for
the Lord.'
Crossing the lake Wilson met Mackay, and to-

5n Jnbia, "dganba anb ©tber ffielbs 271
gether they started for Uganda. They were
wrecked on the way and did not reach Uganda till
November, 1878. So began the great work of
Alexander Mackay. Three months later three new
men arrived via the Nile, and the work of the mis
sion went forward. Then came a couple of French
priests to plant a Roman mission, deeming it more
important to thwart a Protestant mission than to
go to the vast virgin soil as yet untouched. From
the first these men set themselves to undermine
the influence of Wilson and Mackay. And now
began a period of trial from three sources — the
caprice of Mtesa, the rivalry of the French priests,
and the bitter hostility of the Arab traders. Mackay
was left alone, his companions having to be sent
elsewhere or on missions to England. By his study
of the language, his printing press* and his
assiduous teaching, he carried forward the work
which was afterwards to bear such splendid fruit.
The first five converts were baptised in 1882, and
in the following year twenty-one converts received
the Lord's Supper for the first time.
We can only summarise events since that time.
A volume would be required to tell of Bishop
Hannington's murder, in 1885, by order of the
new king, Mwanga, and the ruthless persecution of
the Christian converts among his own people, some
being roasted alive while others were slaughtered.
Of the revolutions which ended in the flight of
Mwanga, and the expulsion of all missionaries by
the Mohammedan party, we cannot tell. The
Uganda mission ceased to exist. In 1889 the

272 "Cbe "Romance of Mobern Missions
Moslem party was defeated and Mwanga restored
to the throne. The missionaries were invited
back and the work again begun, which has
continued to this day. The C.M.S. has to
day in Uganda 47 stations, more than 1,000 out-
stations, 39 clergy, 75 other workers, 38 native
clergy, 2,300 other native workers, about 20,000
communicants, and in all some 74,000 adherents.
Of the later C.M.S. missions we can only speak
in brief. The Chinese missions began in 1844 when
one Elachistoteros, ' Less than the Least,' gave
^6,000 for the purpose. From this beginning the
work has spread and now the C.M.S. has in China
56 stations and over 8,400 communicants.
Fain would we tell of the work in Japan where
there are 30 stations and 2,500 native communi
cants ; of the heroic labours and wonderful achieve
ments in the frozen regions of North- West Canada
where are 27 stations, 52 out-stations and 2,766
native communicants; of a similar work in British
Columbia, where are 7 stations and 375 native com
municants, and where Bishops rule vast regions and
travel over ice and snow to visit their people; nor
can we tell of work carried on in Egypt and the
Sudan, in Palestine, Turkish Arabia and Persia.
Suffice it to say that the C.M.S. has in various
parts of the world 4,600 stations and out-stations,
over 1,300 European agents, over 9,000 native
agents, 110,220 native communicants, and a total
of 389,069 native adherents.

BOOK VI.
<W tbe [presb^tenan flIMssions,

CHAPTER I.
IN THE WEST INDIES AND SOUTH AFRICA.
In the main our survey of the Presbyterian mis
sions will have to be confined to those of the United
Free Church. But this will include the work of
the Church of Scotland up to the year 1843. The
Disruption of that year is full of romance, and
nothing in connection with it is more so than the
action of the missionaries. Although they were far
from the centre of the conflict which issued in the
Disruption and the formation of the Free Church
of Scotland, their grasp of the great principles in
volved was firm and their vision of duty clear. It
is one of the most wonderful things in the history
of that great struggle that every missionary in the
foreign field, without exception, renounced the
Establishment and threw in his lot with the Free
Church. This decision must have involved greater
risk of loss and disaster than in the case of the s

274 Woe Romance of Mobern Missions
ministers at home; yet unsustained by the presence
and inspiration of others the missionaries, with un
swerving faithfulness to what they believed to be
the call of duty, left the Establishment. In the
course of the story we shall see how much this in
volved to many of these brave men.
The missionary work of the United Free Church
of Scotland had a two-fold origin, and we shall
have to assume some little knowledge on the part
of the reader of the earlier divisions of the Presby
terian Churches of Scotland. The parentage of the
missions under review is to be found in the Scottish
Missionary Society and the mission of the Seces
sion Church. These together and their successors
have contributed one of the most brilliant chapters
to the history of modern missions. That a coun
try, whose total population is not as large as that
of London by a long way, should have accom
plished so much in missionary propaganda speaks
volumes for the spiritual vitality of Presby
terianism. IN THE WEST INDIES.
Carey's departure for India had its results in
Scotland and gave birth to missionary societies in
Edinburgh and Glasgow. The latter took the name
of the Scottish Missionary Society, and, after the
model of the London Missionary Society, was un-
sectarian in its character. It sent out a missionary
to the West Indies as early as 1800. The mis
sionary soon died of fever, and the opposition of

3n South africa 275
the planters for some years hindered progress. But
in 1823 certain owner, who had inherited their
slaves and land, offered to bear half the expense of
sending missionaries to their estates. In this way
Rev. George Blyth was sent out, and landed in
February, 1824. From this time missions began
to be established in various parts of Jamaica. In
1 83 1 the Secession Church decided to begin foreign
mission work, and there was hearty co-operation
henceforth between its agents and those of the Scot
tish Missionary Society in the West Indies. The
story of the slave rising and subsequent emancipa
tion need not here be told again. Suffice it to say
that on the estates where the Presbyterian missions
were established there was no rising. In 1847 the
Secession and Relief Churches united to form the
United Presbyterian Church, and one of the first
results was the taking over by the United Church
of the missions of the Scottish Missionary Society.
The pioneer, Rev. G. Blyth, after twenty-seven
years labour in Jamaica, resigned his charge and
returned to this country, where he died in 1866.
To-day the United Free Church has in Jamaica and
Trinidad 17 Scotch missionaries, 19 native ordained
pastors, 37 evangelists, and over 13,000 com
municants, with a college and various other educa
tional institutions. IN SOUTH AFRICA.
The Glasgow Missionary Society, also founded
on undenominational lines, was formed in 1796,

276 Woe "Romance of Mobern Missions
and did some valuable pioneer work in South
Africa. Dr. John T. Vanderkemp, the first mis
sionary to the Kaffirs, not only left behind him,
when he died in 1811, a deep impression on the
mind of the natives, but challenged the Protestant
Churches to continue his work. Joseph Williams
followed, and within two years was laid in a lonely
grave. But he had not toiled in vain, for he it was
who kindled the light of truth in the heart of
Ntsikana, who became the author of the majestic
chant in praise of the Creator and Redeemer, which
still stirs a Kaffir congregation as nothing else is
able to do.
Kreli, chief of the Gaikas, invited the Presby
terian Churches to send him a missionary, and Rev.
John Brownlee entered Kafirland in 1818, armed
with special permission from the Government to
work among the Gaikas. For his station he chose
a site some nine miles from where Lovedale now
stands. Here he built up a busy centre of evan
gelistic and educational work, although of the
buildings only a few crumbling ruins now remain.
In 1823 Brownlee began a new mission on the
Buffalo River, subsequently known as King
William's Town. Brownlee Station and the
Brownlee Bursary Fund for the support of native
students for the ministry at Lovedale, still keep
green the missionary's memory. King William's
Town became a centre of missionary work, a place
for holding missionary conferences and for the
meeting of the Kaffir Bible Translation Board.
Rev. W. R. Thomson and Mr. John Rennie

3n Soutb africa 277
were sent out in 1821, and worked with Brownlee
till he passed into the work of the London Mis
sionary Society and commenced his mission on the
Buffalo River. Two years later Thomson and
Bennie were joined by the Rev. John Ross, who
brought with him a small printing press, by which
Kaffir hymns, etc., were printed. The missionaries
organised themselves into a Presbytery, in 1824, and
in the same year planted a new station, which they
called Lovedale, after Rev. John Love, D.D., the
Secretary of the Glasgow Missionary Society.
During the Hintsa war, in 1835, the station was
destroyed, and to secure a better water supply it
was transferred to the present site of Lovedale.
Mr. W. Chambers and two evangelist mechanics,
Messrs. James Weir and Alexander M'Diarmid,
joined the missionaries, in 1827, and Mr. Thomson
having become the minister of the Dutch Reformed
Church at Balfour, the five missionaries continued
their work, and opened the Pirie Mission on the
eastern slopes of the Amatole hills and twelve miles
from King William's Town. Here was a large
Kaffir population, and a year later the mission was
joined by Mr. John Ross, who laboured here till
his death in 1878. His noble work was continued
by his son, Rev. Dr. Bryce Ross, till his death in
1897. Ln l&3o Burnshill mission was founded on
the banks of the Keiskama. Its important position
near the military station of Fort Cox and close to
the kraals of the two chiefs, Sutu and Sandile,
early gave it an influence which it has maintained
throughout its history. Each station had its vii-

278 Woe "Romance of Mobern Missions
lage school, and senior lads were set to teach the
little they had learned to others. One school was
known for long as ' Struthers,' because Dr.
Struthers' congregation in Glasgow contributed
annually ;£io towards the mission. Among the
pupils was Tiyo Soga, who afterwards became the
first ordained Kaffir minister.
All through its early history this mission suf
fered from the frequent Kaffir wars. In 1835, the
war compelled the missionaries to retreat to the
Colony, and on their return at the end of the year
they found that Lovedale and Pirie had both been
destroyed. It was then, as already indicated, that
Lovedale was transferred to its present site.
Of the two races, the Kaffirs and Fingoes, the lat
ter showed themselves more amenable to mis
sionary influence. The Fingoes were the slaves of
the Kaffirs, and as they obtained their freedom
through European influence, they were favourably
disposed to European customs. Their period of
slavery had destroyed many of the usages of
heathenism, and they were the more ready to take
on a new civilisation and a new religion. In con
sequence they made remarkable progress in
material prosperity, education, and Christianity.
This is not to say that slavery did not leave its evil
mark upon them. The more conservative Kaffir
possesses some finer qualities than the Fingoe.
Rev. J. Laing and Rev. R. Niven joined the
mission in 1836. The latter, before sailing, visited
Holland and acquired Dutch, so that on his first
Sunday at Tyumie he was able to preach in Dutch.

3n Soutb africa 279
The sermon was interpreted into Kaffir by
Dukwana. Mr. Niven next set himself to master
Kaffir, and for this purpose lived among the Kaffir
people at Igquibigha. In two years, while attend-
ting to the multifarious duties of his new station,
he mastered the language and compiled a dictionary
and grammar, both of which unfortunately were
lost in the burning of the mission house during the
war of 1850. Ten of Niven's hymns are in use to
day, and some of them are special favourites
throughout the native church. The Bantus are
fond of music, and not only read readily in sol-fa,
but, given an air, will harmonise it almost in
stinctively. They could sing hymns long before
they could read the Gospel. More than fifty of
Rev. John Bennie's hymns are in constant use,
and Rev. J. J. A. Chalmers and Tiyo Soga, the
latter a ripe theologian and a brilliant and success
ful evangelist, have both enriched the Kaffir
hymnology. At the Disruption, in 1843, the
Glasgow Missionary Society handed over their mis
sions and agents in South Africa to the Free Church
of Scotland. There were three at Lovedale 's
Seminary, three at Lovedale Mission, five at Burns-
hill and four at Pirie. At the union of the Relief
and Secession Churches, by which the United
Presbyterian Church was formed in 1847, the Relief
Church had Revs. W. Chalmers, R. Niven and
J. F. Cumming as missionaries in South Africa.
The conditions amid which the missionaries
began their work in South Africa resembled those
already described in connection with other Societies.

280 Woe Romance of Mobern Missions
In opening a mission in any location it was neces
sary to obtain the consent of the local chief or head
man. With the idea that the school would give
prestige to the village, consent would often be
readily, given; but sometimes it required some
astute palaver before it could be obtained. In the
Qora Valley Motama, the right-hand son of Kreli,
demurred to allowing a school in his village. Mr.
Girdwood asked the name of the little germ in a
grain of maize which is often eaten by a weevil.
' Isibibdi,' was the reply. Asked if they would pick
out the weevily grains to sow in their garden, they
at once said, ' No, they would not grow.' ' Well,
then,' said the missionary, 'the house of God is
the isibindi in a location. God wants locations with
germs of growth and progress in them, but the
people without the isibindi shall rot.' That simple
illustration won consent and a school was soon
opened. Here it may be observed that the Bantu people
were splendidly generous and helpful in providing
school buildings. The sod-walls would be built
by the men, the women would plaster the walls,
make the floor of ant-heap, and cut the grass for
the thatch. On the opening day the collection
would be characteristically native-brass and copper
bracelets, snuff-boxes, necklets of bead-work, grass
mats and brushes, clay pots and cups. They would
also give sheep, goats, fowls, ducks, pigs, peas,
beans, and Kaffir corn. The whole debt would be
thus cleared, and something left for the cost of fur
niture for church and school. As the work pro-

5n Soutb afrtca 281
gressed the sod-walled building would give place
to one of brick or stone. No less liberal are the
Fingoes, who on three separate occasions contri
buted sums amounting in all to £4,600 towards the
erection of Blythswood Institution. At Lovedale
the amount now paid by natives for board and
education averages £5,000 a year, while the congre
gations connected with the Synod of Kafraria con
tribute £1,000 per annum in support of their own
native pastors, missionaries and evangelists.
The missionaries often have long journeys in
visiting their out-stations, and carry on their work
often under curious conditions. At the mid-day
outspan, the herd-boys plaiting grass-hats will
gather round for an impromptu Sunday school.
Sometimes the missionary will find from a score to
a couple of hundred men and women beer-drinking,
and if they do not appear too drunk to listen he
will preach to them. The Bantus are a superior
race, shrewd, skilful in the use of their highly
developed language, and fond of parable, poetry and
song; their physical vitality enables them to hold
their own in face of European civilisation. The
greatest obstacle to their Christianisation is not
drink, nor polygamy, nor sensuality, but witch
craft. The hold that this superstition has on the
native is shown by the fact that in times of sickness
and difficulty even the converted will hark back to
the old beliefs and practices.
For a quarterly communion service the people
will come in from the out-stations to the central
church, often a distance of twenty miles. After a

282 "Che "Romance of Mobern Missions
sermon suited to the occasion, those who are to be
baptised on profession of their faith are called on
to stand. Old men, on whom the light has dawned
late in life, and young men and women in the full
vigour of youth, will rise. Amid perfect silence
the missionary explains the step which is being
taken by those who thus publicly renounce
heathenism, and then administers the rite of bap
tism. The simple and beautiful Kaffir Communion
hymns are sung with heart-stirring effect, and the
bread and wine are distributed amid solemn silence.
A great educational work has been carried on in
the Kafrarian missions from the beginning. There
are now 70 village schools, 200 in the Transkei, and
42 in Natal. There are Training Institutions at
Lovedale, Blythswood, Emgwali, Pirie, Impolweni
and the Gordon Memorial, chiefly for training
students to become teachers. Lovedale and
Blythswood teach industries, and literary and high-
school courses, and there are theological depart
ments at Lovedale and Impolweni. In 1910 there
were 533 native teachers employed in the mission
schools, with 16,709 pupils in the elementary
schools, and 891 pupils in the Institutions, a total
of 17,600 under instruction. In Kafraria are 16
stations, with 120 out-stations, and including wives
of missionaries (27), 81 Scots agents, 4 ordained
native pastors, 24 evangelists, 4,495 communicants,
with a total Christian community of 9,500. In the
Transkei there are 454 Scots agents, including 16
missionaries' wives, 6 ordained native pastors and
65 evangelists ; 19 stations with 294 out-stations,

5n South africa 283
8,216 communicants, and a total Christian com
munity of 17,712. The Natal mission has 18 Scots
agents, including 7 missionaries' wives, 1 ordained
native pastor, 17 evangelists, 5 main stations, 117
out-stations, 4,590 xommunicants, and a total
Christian community of 10,985.

CHAPTER II.
IN INDIA, WEST AFRICA, MANCHURIA AND THE
NEW HEBRIDES.
In the annals of missions few more brilliant stories
are to be found than that of the Presbyterian
Church in India, and the hero of that story, in the
early days at any rate, is Alexander Duff. That
this remarkable man became a missionary was due
to the influence, first, of his godly parents, and
second, to that of Dr. Chalmers. The parents in
turn owed their conversion to a visit to Moulin,
near Dunkeld, the home of the Duffs, of the saintly
Charles Simeon, of Cambridge. Alexander Duff
left Scotland in 1829, and was twice shipwrecked on
his way to India. Carey had been at work in India
since 1793, and Duff was commissioned to found
an educational institute for the training of Hindoo
youth. He had stipulated for a free hand, and with
one exception this was granted. He was not to
settle in Calcutta. After carefully examining the
situation he determined to disregard this instruc
tion. Calcutta, with its 900,000 souls seemed the
very place to make a beginning, especially as it
was the centre of the whole political system. There
the missionary could strike at Hindooism at the
head. Here was an opportunity of reaching the

5n 3nbia, XPOlest africa, &c. 285
Brahminical sections of middle-class Hindu society,
then practically closed against the Gospel. Duff
determined to embrace it, and did so with brilliant
results. He would mine Hinduism by Christian
education. He aimed at combining an excellent
education with earnest Bible teaching, so as to
benefit the rising generation both intellectually and
morally. He mastered Bengali and it afterwards
became as familiar to him as Gaelic. But he was
mainly instrumental in making English the one
medium of education. We may picture to ourselves
this master of languages and philosophy teaching
Hindu boys the alphabet, but he was laying foun
dations on which a great work was afterwards to
be reared. He found a wise helper and counsellor
in Ram Mohun Roy, a Brahmin of strong mono-
thetistic convictions, who was seeking to reform
Hinduism in the direction of Theism. This man
gave the young Scottish enthusiast his first pupils
and his first schoolhouse, where, on the 13th July,
1830, he began his work. Afterwards he visited
England, the first Brahmin to cross the ocean, and
died at Bristol in 1833.
Very soon Duff had 300 pupils, and with amazing
energy and enthusiasm he threw himself into his
work, training teachers and meeting current objec
tions to Christianity by sermons and lectures.
Orthodox Hindus soon took alarm, and boycotted
the school. One day only six pupils appeared, but
gradually the alarm subsided and the pupils came
back. As early as 1832 there were baptisms. That
of Krishna Mohun Banerjea, the most scholarl)'

286 Woe "Romance of Mobern Missions
of all the converts of Bengal, made a great impres
sion. Afterwards as pastor, professor, and theo
logical writer in the English Church, he rendered
valuable service to Christianity, and, in 1876, the
University of Calcutta conferred upon him the rare
distinction of its D.L. degree.
It is heart-breaking to have to summarise merely
the marvellous work of Alexander Duff. Fain
would we tell how his school was accepted as a
model by Europeans and Hindus; how his in
fluence contributed to the issuing of Macaulay's
famous Minute, which began that educational
assimilation of West and East that has so trans
formed the Hindus of Indian cities; how in 1834
he was driven to England by dysentery, and
devoted five years to building up the home or
ganisation for the support of the Indian Mission of
the Church, his school in his absence being
managed by Mr. Mackay, one of the most
scholarly men that ever went to the mission field;
how the mission was joined by Ewart, Macdonald,
and Smith, the pupils rising to 600 and then to 900,
baptisms regularly occurring, among them men
who were to become famous as missionaries in
Bengal ; how he rose from his bed in 1835 to address
the Assembly, and seemed as if he could not get
beyond a few sentences, but in a few minutes for
got his weakness, and after three hours' pleading
for India, finished with so splendid and impas
sioned a peroration that the grave and dignified
audience was fairly carried by storm ; how at the
Disruption the missionaries abandoned the Estab-

5n 3nbia, Mest atrica, &c. 287
lishment and their property, taking refuge in good
temporary premises till 1857, when at a cost of
£15,000, subscribed in equal proportions by Scot
land, England, and the United States, the second
school was built and soon had a thousand pupils;
of the alarm among the Hindus and the temporary
withdrawal of 300 pupils, who, however, soon came
back; how Duff built up a Christian community,
with hostel, church and manse; how he became
easily the first citizen of Calcutta, equally at home
with the highest and the humblest, his marvellous
orations carrying people literally off their feet ; how
he returned again to this country to appeal and
organise on behalf of India, becoming Moderator
of the General Assembly at the early age of forty-
five, and electrifying a vast audience in Exeter Hall
with his splendid eloquence ; how he gave evidence
before the Parliamentary Committee on Indian
Education, from which sprang the famous Despatch
of 1854 and the University system which has done
so much for India; how he visited America, and
finally returned to India to witness the splendid
loyalty of his converts during the Indian Mutiny;
then worn down by his vast labours, returning to
Scotland for the last time, where he toiled on till
1878 and then passed away. Dr. Alexander Duff
was a missionary and more ; he was a greater power
in India than any statesman. A Viceroy rules for
five or six years ; Dr. Duff was a mighty and con
tinuous force for over thirty years. The results
of his work remain to this day, and when that
glorious consummation is witnessed of which he

288 "Che "Romance of Mobern Missions
spoke with such thrilling eloquence on many a plat
form, when India is won for Christ, it will be
recognised that next to Carey the highest name in
the long roll of the benefactors of India will be that
of Alexander Duff.
We cannot follow the story of the United Free
Church's missions in Bengal, in Santalia, in Bom
bay, in Rajputana, in Madras, nor the great work
carried on among the women of India. The extent
of that work may be gathered from the fact that
the Church has in India 59 ordained and medical
missionaries, 1 1 lay missionaries, 73 women mis
sionaries apart from wives of missionaries, or a
total of 191 all told; a native staff of 281 paid, and
219 unpaid, native agents; 37 organised congrega
tions, 127 out-stations, 4,277 communicants, over
6,000 baptised adherents; 4 colleges, 275 day
schools, 694 native teachers, and nearly 13,000
pupils — a vast work which represents enormous toil
and sacrifice on the part of the Church and her
agents. The work carried on by the Women's
Foreign Mission is beyond all praise.
IN WEST AFRICA.
The Calabar Mission was commenced in 1846 by
Rev. Hope Waddell and Mr. Egerton. They
established a station at Duke Town, the chief town
of the Eastern Province, Southern Nigeria, and
situated on the principal delta of the Calabar River.
The climate was at first very fatal, but, happily,
missionaries have now learned to preserve their

$n Manchuria 289
health. From this beginning the work has
gradually extended. An Industrial Training
Institution was established in 1893, and has now
9 European, 3 Jamaican, and 11 native teachers,
with 327 pupils and 22 industrial apprentices.
Calabar has now 8 ordained Scots ministers, 9 lay
missionaries, 12 unmarried women missionaries.
The native staff consists of 4 ordained native pas
tors, 1 licentiate, 7 evangelists and colporteurs, 4
other native agents, with 16 organised churches, 40
out-stations, and 2,513 communicants.
IN MANCHURIA.
Manchuria is among the more recent missions
of the United Free Church, but may be con
veniently referred to here. Work was begun in
this country, in 1868, by Rev. William C. Burns,
and Rev. John Ross was the first missionary sent
out by the United Free Church. This was in 1872.
The work has wonderfully grown, and received a
great impetus from the marvellous revival, in 1908.
That revival has been described in a series of letters
published under the title of ' Times of Blessing in
Manchuria,' and multitudes have had their hearts
stirred by this account of one of the most remark
able revivals ever witnessed in the entire mission
field of the world. How the work began, under
Mr. Goforth, in quiet prayer and a general deepen
ing of the spiritual life of the Church; how it re
vealed itself in a voluntary movement of confession
and consecration ; how the keynote of everything T

290 Woe Romance of Mobern Missions
was ' It is not by might nor by power but by My
Spirit, saith the Lord ' ; and how the tide of
spiritual quickening rose until it swept through the
land and carried multitudes into the fellowship of
the Church, is a story to thrill the heart and fill
the mouth with songs of gladness.
In Manchuria there are now 20 ordained and
medical missionaries, 15 unmarried, and 13 mar
ried, missionaries, 1 1 ordained native pastors, 138
evangelists and colporteurs, 114 other paid agents,
4,277 communicants, and a total Christian com
munity of over 11,000. In addition there are two
colleges, 29 theological students, 34 other students,
94 college and day school native teachers, and 1,726
pupils. Here, as everywhere in China, immense
changes are in progress. The door for a great mis
sionary advance is wide open, and in a very real
sense a nation has been born in a day.
IN THE NEW HEBRIDES.
Few missions have been more associated with
romance in the popular mind than those in the
New Hebrides, and in that mind there is one name
as the centre of the whole wonderful work, that of
John G. Paton. But Dr. Paton was not the first
missionary sent out there by the Reformed Presby
terian Church. Dr. John Inglis went out in 1852.
It was in 1858 that Paton sailed for the New
Hebrides, and landed with his young wife on the
island of Tanna. The story of how he began to
learn the language by hearing a native ask in

5n tbe mew toebribes 291
regard to an article at the mission house, ' Nunski
nari enu,' which he rightly concluded meant,
'What is it?' has often been told. This
phrase and ' Se Nangin ? ' ' What is his
name?' gave the missionary an open Sesami
for the names of persons and things. The
story of the young wife's death five months after
landing; of the cannibalism and hostility of the
natives; of Paton's flight from the island, and after
many hairbreadth escapes, his arrived at Aneityum,
with the loss of all his property worth £600, is a
thrilling one. The missionaries there sent him to
Australia to collect funds for the mission, and on
his return he commenced work on the island of
Aniwa, where his toils and triumphs made his name
famous over all the world. In the early days he
was often face to face with death. His refuge was
to first pray to Jesus and then throw his arms round
his assailant, so that the native could neither strike
nor shoot. When the savage's wrath cooled down
the missionary would slip away.
The story of how he secured a faithful servant in
the person of Nelwang, by helping him to secure
a certain widow, Yakin, for his wife, is full of
humour and romance. By and bye the man and
his wife professed conversion, and signalised the
event by appearing at the church service in Euro
pean clothing. Yakin donned every article of
European clothing she could lay hands on — a drab
coat, over that a vest, and over all a pair of trousers,
the body being drawn over the head and a leg
dangling over each shoulder. In addition, to one

292 Woe "Romance of Mobern Missions
shoulder was fastened a red shirt, and a striped one
over the other, while a red shirt had been wound
round the head as a turban. Small wonder the
missionary made the service the shortest he ever
conducted. It was digging a well that won the people. There
was often a serious lack of rain on the island, and it
occurred to Paton to dig a well. The chief thought
he had lost his reason, for did not rain come from
the sky? The idea that Jehovah would give rain
from that quarter was absurd. When, however, at
a depth of thirty feet, a good spring was found the
general astonishment was boundless. The chief
summoned the people to church next Sunday and
delivered an address, telling them that the Missi
God was the stronger, and enjoining all who agreed
with him to bring their idols and cast them at the
missionary's feet. This was done and large num
bers professed Christianity. Soon the Sabbath was
observed, and the practice of worship adopted
morning and evening. By degrees the island was
covered with schools, and the whole population
brought under Christian influence. Aniwa is no
longer the scene of cannibalism and murder,
degradation and misery, but is from end to end a
happy, peaceful, and well ordered community of
Christian people. Verily the man who was the
means of adding this glorious chapter to the Acts
of the Apostles will rank in the coming time as
one of the grandest saints and apostles ever given
to the Church of God.
At Tangoa Henry Drummond, when he visited

3n tbe mew ibebribes 293
the New Hebrides in order to see the effect of
Christian missions upon a savage people, heard
evening song going up from hut after hut on this
side and on that. Less than four years before
the missionary had seen from the same spot the
smoke ascending from roasting human flesh. The
island of Futuna, which not many years ago was
one of the black spots of the New Hebrides, is now
nominally Christian. Dr. Gunn has done some
fine work on this island and on Aneityum. The
story of the printing of the Bible in Aniwan by
Dr. Paton, and of the astonishment of the chief
when he found it could speak ; of how the chief was
subsequently furnished with a pair of spectacles,
which to him was the giving of sight to the blind ;
and of how later the old man learned to read the
book for himself, is only the beginning of a work
which is still going on. French influence and the
hostility of French traders have made against the
work of the missionaries, and there is much in the
later history of the islands in consequence that is
saddening. The work is now concentrated on
Aneityum, Futuna, and Santo, the other islands
having been handed over to the Australian Mission,
which is shortly to take charge of the whole of the
U.F.C. missions in the New Hebrides.

CHAPTER III.

IN LIVINGSTONIA.

Perhaps no event in modern times has had so
powerful an influence in directing attention to the
need in Africa for missionary work and in inspiring
men with the missionary spirit, as the finding of
Dr. Livingstone on his knees, dead, in the little hut
at Ilala. Men of the same spiritual lineage as the
great African missionary and explorer were every
where moved to the depths by that story, which
served as a challenge to the whole of Christendom.
The Scottish nation in particular was deeply moved,
and at a public meeting held in Glasgow, in 1874,
over which Mr. James White, of Overtoun, pre
sided, the project which issued in the Livingstonia
Mission had its birth. The Free Church of Scot
land led the way, and was enthusiastically sup
ported by the Reformed Presbyterian, the Estab
lished, and the United Presbyterian Churches, the
last-named furnishing the now famous Dr. Laws,
of Livingstonia, as the leader of the crusade.
Having qualified both in Arts and Medicine,
Robert Laws went through the Theological Hall of
the United Presbyterian Church, and at 24 accepted
the task of leading the pioneer party which was sent
out, in 1875, to found the Livingstonia Mission. It

3n XivinQstonia 295
is interesting to note that Dr. Duff took part in the
ordination service. ' The son of a man of prayer,
who was one of the lowliest and wisest of saints,
Robert Laws laboured along with his revered
father by the carpenter's bench, even after he was
well on in his University career. From his youth
he had linked great ideals with humble daily
tasks,' and it is not surprising that in Livingstonia
he laid the foundations of far-reaching schemes
while plodding at the routine of common toil. He
entered on his great work with as complete an
equipment as could well be imagined. The trained
mechanic, who can turn his hand to anything, has
an enormous advantage as a pioneer missionary. A
canny Scot and a typical Aberdonian, of keen per
ception, shrewd judgment, immense faculty for
detail, quiet enthusiasm, the vision of the states
man and the dogged perseverance that never knows
when it is beaten, he developed the Livingstonia
Mission from small beginnings till it attained its
present vast proportions.
Lake Nyassa is the southernmost of the equatorial
great lakes of East Central Africa, and is 400 miles
inland from the east coast, and 260 miles south-east
of Tanganyika. The lake lies in a hollow of the
surrounding tableland, and is 1,520 feet above sea
level; it measures 350 miles from north to south,
and has an average breadth of from 16 to 60 miles.
Its waters, of the loveliest blue in the centre, are
singularly transparent and sweet, and contain an
abundance of edible fish. Its banks show an ever-
changing outline of bare rock, charming bays,

296 Xtbe Romance of Mobern Missions
forest-clad hillsides and grassy plains. Among the
tribes with which the Livingstonia Mission came
into contact, directly or indirectly, the Makololo,
the Tonga, and the fierce 'Ngoni, a wonderful and
romantic work has been done. It was in 1859 that
Livingstone for the first time located the exact
sphere of Lake Nyassa, and partly navigated it.
This was during his second eventful journey.
The conquest of Nyassaland was begun at Cape
Maclear, some thirty miles from the south end of
the lake. A well protected bay, a peninsula over
which blew refreshing breezes, and immediate con
tact with the lake, gave many advantages, while the
fertile soil of the shoreland yielded abundant rice,
maize and other products. It was indeed a fas
cinating prospect that greeted the pioneer mis
sionaries^ — a beach white and sandy, water clear as
crystal, a lake whose clear depths showed numbers
of coloured fishes gliding about the rocks and
pebbles like goldfish in a glass globe ; while moun
tain ranges on either hand, with peaks rising to
from 8,000 to 12,000 feet, populous villages of from
6,000 to 10,000 inhabitants scattered along the
shore, with smaller villages on the hills, making
altogether fifteen tribes or nations — all in total
ignorance of the Gospel. But beneath the fair
prospect were all the miseries and horrors of African
savagery — slavery, murder, poison ordeals, war and
superstition. Happily Mponda and the lesser chiefs
welcomed the mission.
It was as a city of refuge that the mission began
its work. The population in the immediate neigh-

3n Xivingstonia 297
bourhood largely consisted of escaped slaves, and
to them the Gospel was preached. The site chosen
for the station was a rising ground with the lake
in front and forest clad mountains to the rear. If
some of the natives pilfered, others helped to gather
wood for the buildings. All who so helped were
paid wages. Gradually a little village forming
three sides of a square rose, the fourth side being
the beach. But there was hatred of the mission
as a harbour for runaways, and raiders would make
captures of children returning from the missionary
school. Amid African savagery and Arab marau
ders the Livingstonia Mission began its work.
From the beginning the observance of the Sabbath
made a deep impression, and in less than a year a
hundred natives were in attendance at the services.
What wonderful voyages of discovery were made
on the great lake of 350 miles long by the S.S. Ilala,
and it may be imagined what an object of terror
and mystery the little vessel was to the people. And
so the first-fruits of the harvest were sown and
reaped. In 1876 Lieut. Young, R.N., returned to
England, and the work he had accomplished was
described by Mr. Duff as ' without a rival or
parallel in the history of missions.' Dr. Stewart
reached Nyassa the same year with a second .party,
which included Dr. W. Black; John Gunn, an
agriculturist; R. S. Ross, an engineer and black
smith; Archibald Miller, a weaver; four Kaffir
evangelists and James Stewart, C.E., who threw
up a lucrative post in India for the work, and ren
dered splendid service. The mission had to pay

298 Cbe Romance of Mobern Missions
a heavy toll in sickness and death. Dr. Black, John
Gunn and one of the Kaffir evangelists were among
the losses. It became evident that Cape Maclear
was impossible as the headquarters of the mission,
and in its place Bandawe was chosen.
The second settlement was planned under diffi
culty and even peril of life. The natives around
were found to be the slaves of the famous Zulu
tribe of the 'Ngoni ; but the work was accomplished,
and the mission house was reared amid picturesque
surroundings, in that mountainous land with its
luxurious tropical vegetation — but withal well
suited to white men. Scattered over the rich plains,
which stretched away north and south and west,
were hundreds of villages, with populations vary
ing from 200 to 2,000. The reclamation of the
people around the mission makes a fascinating
story of romance, which may be read in the pages
of ' Dr. Laws of Livingstonia,' albeit that fine
volume fails to give more than glimpses of the
great work, so vast, so manifold has it been.
The Mission has to-day a total of 43 Scottish
agents, of whom 17 are the wives of missionaries;
a native staff of 2 licentiates, 40 evangelists and col
porteurs, 11 other paid agents; 8 organised
churches, 576 out-stations, with 6,898 communi
cants; 1 College, 718 day schools, and 50,000 pupils.
In the brilliant ability of its missionaries, as well
as in their heroic service and splendid achieve
ments, the missions of the United Free Church will
compare with any in the world.

BOOK VII.

©f some flfcofcevn
^Developments.

THE CHINA INLAND MISSION.
The story of modern missions within the limits of
the great missionary societies is, as we have seen,
full of romance. But that of several missions out
side any definite religious communion, or of an un
denominational character, is in some respects even
more so. The man who goes forth to carry the
Gospel to savage heathen peoples with a great mis
sionary organisation behind him, has the conscious
ness of something at his back calculated to give him
confidence. Whatever difficulties and dangers he
may have to encounter he is assured of mainten
ance and, within certain limits, of protection. The
case of a missionary with no such organisation is
widely different. He has no human power or re
sources behind him. He goes in the name of God,
and wholly in dependence on Him. Both methods

300 Cbe Romance of Mobern Missions
have been signally owned of God, and we believe
both are needed.
Nothing more romantic can be found in the story
of modern missions than the history of the China
Inland Mission. It is one long record of marvel :
of answers to prayer ; of Providential guidance and
deliverance; and of amazing success. The early
story of the China Inland Mission is the story of
the early life and missionary work of Dr. Hudson
Taylor. But this romance begins some generations
earlier in the conversion of the future missionary's
great-grandfather. On the morning of his wedding
day James Taylor, a thoughtless, irreligious young
man, was soundly converted. Suddenly there came
to him a vivid sense of eternal things, and kneel
ing alone among the straw in the barn he fought
out the great question between himself and God,
and found the pearl of great price. His bride was
horrified to learn her newly-wedded husband had
become ' one of those Methodists ! ' And so at
Staincross Ridge, Brierly Common, Yorkshire,
there began the spiritual movement that rather
more than a hundred years later was to issue in the
China Inland Mission. James Hudson Taylor was
born in 1832. His father, a chemist and devoted
Methodist local preacher in Barnsley, dedicated his
child before birth to his high mission. Having
been unable himself to go abroad as a missionary,
he prayed that, if God gave him a son he might be
led to devote his life to the evangelisation of China.
Conversion in the son was followed by the awaken
ing of a strong desire to be a missionary. In ' The

"Che China Jnlanb Mission 301
Growth of a Soul ' has been told the fascinating
and moving story of how the youth was led step by
step to consecrate his life to China. The problem
was how to find his work there. Resolutely he set
himself to the task of acquiring the necessary fitness
for the work. Medhurst's China led him to see
the value of medical missions, and a deep convic
tion that he was called of God to this form of ser
vice led him to seek the necessary qualifications.
In Hull and in London he pursued his medical
studies, and then the special truth he was to em
phasise so wonderfully in his life work came to him
through some remarkable personal experiences.
That truth was the place and the power of prayer,
and the life of faith as a life of real dependence on
the personal guidance and personal provision of
God. There we have the key to the China Inland
Mission. Hudson Taylor went out to China in 1854 as the
first representative of the China Evangelisation
Society. His work under the auspices of this
Society was sufficiently remarkable, but is chiefly
of interest as a preparation for the real work of his
life. It was the dim vision of this that led him to
sever his connection with his society, and cast him
self entirely upon the care of God. In i860 his
health compelled a return to England, but the five
years at home enabled him to prepare for the press
an edition of the New Testament in the romanised
colloquial of Ningpo, a task which did as much for
him as for the Chinese, for ' without those months
of feeding and feasting on the Word of God I

302 cbe "Romance of Mobern Missions
should have been quite unprepared to form on its
present basis a mission such as the China Inland
Mission.' That study taught him that not elaborate
appeals for help, but first, earnest prayer to God
to thrust forth labourers, and secondly, the deepen
ing of the spiritual life of the Church, so that
men would be unable to stay at home, were the
essentials in order to secure successful workers.
The Apostolic plan was not to be concerned about
ways and means but to go and do the work.
The constitution of the China Inland Mission in
volved three main principles : a broadly catholic
basis irrespective of denominational distinctions,
the supreme importance of spiritual qualifications
in the workers, and the absolute avoidance of debt.
The first principle saved the Society from drawing
upon the resources of any one special body of
Christians, and the movement in time became in
ternational as well as undenominational. The
second principle secured the right type of men for
the work, with the result that the agents of the
missions have shown conspicuous courage and
devotion, penetrating into the remotest parts of
China, so that every one of the eighteen provinces
of China has missionaries. The third principle
meant that no regular salaries could be promised
to the workers. The funds received would be used
as they were needed, but beyond this not one penny
more. It is not without significance that the Mis
sion has from the first employed women with mar
vellous success. Sometimes a woman has been the
only missionary resident at a station. In some

Woe Stubent IDoluntarg Missionary "anion 303
provinces they have been the pioneers. Most mis
sionary societies would have hesitated to send
women to the inland provinces at all, but would
never have dreamed of sending them alone. The
experiment, so far as the China Inland Mission
is concerned, has been a triumphant success.
When we read of all that has been achieved by
the China Inland Mission we are amazed. Over a
million sterling has been its income from the begin
ning up to 1907. For over forty years, and with
more than nine hundred missionaries, the mission
has been sustained ' without any public collection
or solicitation of funds, but solely through the faith
fulness of God, to whom all needs have been made
known through prayer.' And at no period since
the mission was founded have the missionaries not
had sufficient for comfortable living. This is all
the more marvellous when it is remembered that
the missionaries for whom the China Inland Mis
sion is responsible are scattered in all parts of
inland China, many at a distance of three months'
journey from the coast. Verily we have here, as
Dr. Meyer has well said, ' one of the mightiest facts
of the religious world to-day.'
THE STUDENT VOLUNTARY MISSIONARY UNION.
Among modern missionary movements one of the
most romantic is the Student Volunteer Missionary
Union. No man can trace its ramifications during
the last twenty-eight years, but its influence on the
entire missionary propaganda has been enormous.

304 Cbe "Romance of Mobern Missions
In nothing has it been more romantic than in its
sanctified audacity. From first to last it has de
pended on prayer. Its problems have been solved
by prayer ; its campaigns have been conceived, car
ried forward, and completed, in prayer. In brief
the aim of the movement has been to win students
to become disciples of Christ, to encourage right
habits of prayer and Bible study, to create and
stimulate the Christian atmosphere in the colleges.
Its great Conferences have served to focus atten
tion not only on the movement itself but on its
great watchword, ' The Evangelisation of the
World in this Generation.' Its publications cover
six closely printed pages ; and working directly
among the most cultured and impressionable of our
youth, its influence must have been very great. Its
history is ' the story of an ever-deepening and
widening revival of missionary interest among
students during the last twenty years, and its in
fluence, though quietly exercised, may be recog
nised not only in the foreign mission field but in the
whole of the British student world, in foreign
universities, and in the Churches at home.
Like other missionary movements this began with
the spiritual quickening of one or two men. Mr.
C. T. Studd and Mr. Stanley Smith, at Cambridge,
moved by the claims of the heathen, announced
their intention of devoting their lives to the cause
of Christ in the non-Christian world. They were
leading athletes of the university, so that there
could be no suspicion of any lack of robustness
about their piety. Others joined them, and the

Woe Stubent lDolnntar\? Missionary Wnion 3°5
' Cambridge seven ' began a work which was
destined to have world-wide influence. At none of
the other universities visited by Mr. Studd and
Mr. Smith was the result so important as at Edin
burgh, where Professor Drummond was inspired
to begin that work among students which directly
or indirectly led so many to devote their lives to
foreign missionary work. The ' Student Foreign
Missionary Union ' was formed in London in 1889
under the leadership of Dr. Howard Taylor. Later
the work languished, but a remarkable quickening
came through the visit of Mr. Wilder, of the Ameri
can Student Volunteer Movement, which led first,
to the formation of the Cambridge Volunteer
Union, and then to the conference of students at
Edinburgh in 1892, at which the Cambridge Volun
teer Union and the Student Foreign Missionary
Union united as the Student Volunteer Union.
Membership ultimately was conditioned on signing
a declaration, ' It is my purpose, if God permit, to
become a foreign missionary,' which remains the
basis of the S.V.M.U. Within the next four years
a thousand volunteers had been enrolled. It has
three main departments, of which the S.V.M.U. is
one, the others being the General College, and the
Theological College Departments. Each Depart
ment has its own Executive and Travelling Secre
taries, the General Committee of the Movement con
sisting of representatives for the departmental
committees. There are now 190 affiliated Christian
Unions, including 45 Unions in theological
colleges.

306 Cbe "Romance ot Mobern Missions
Many will remember the first International Con
ference of the Union held in Liverpool in 1896,
which was attended by over 700 students. It made
a great impression both in Liverpool and in the
country, bringing the movement before the
Churches in a very striking way. Its influence
spread to the Continent, where an awakening
among the students led to the formation of Student
Volunteer Movements in France, Scandinavia and
Germany. From this time the watchword was
adopted, ' The Evangelisation of the World in this
Generation.' The second International Conference
was held in London in 1900, and a third in Edin
burgh in 1904. Each Conference was followed by
a marked quickening of the movement. The fourth
conference was held in Liverpool in 1908, and was
attended by 1,163 students, together with represen
tatives from the British missionary societies, and
145 foreign and colonial delegates from 20 nations.
At this conference the new situation created by the
marvellous Asiatic Renaissance was faced, and a
strong appeal went forth for an adequate response
to this great call of the East.
During the thirteen years since its formation
the S.V.M.U. has enrolled 3,410 volunteers, over
1,000 of them being women students. Of the total,
some 1,397 have sailed to the foreign field, 32 have
died before sailing, nearly 700 are still in college,
400 have left college and are in further preparation
for the work abroad, while 400 have been tem
porarily or permanently hindered by ill-health or
home ties. But these figures convey only a very

Cbe Xagmen's Missionary XeaQue 307
imperfect idea of the work done. No statistics
could tabulate the influence of such a work. The
aim of the Union is to send every Christian student
out from college with an intelligent recognition and
acceptance of his responsibility towards the unevan-
gelised world. That is the ideal, and though far
from complete realisation it is a noble aim. From
first to last the movement has proceeded in the
atmosphere of prayer, and no more valuable con
tribution could have been made to the missionary
forces of the Church than the raising up of men and
women who, from their own personal experience,
know the meaning and power of prayer.
THE LAYMEN'S MISSIONARY LEAGUE.
It is not a little remarkable that out of the
S.V.M.U. has grown another movement with even
greater possibilities in it for the future of the mis
sionary cause. It was while in attendance at the
Student Volunteer Convention in Nashville, Ten
nessee, in the year 1906, that there was born in
the mind of a young business man of the city of
Washington, the idea out of which has grown the
Laymen's Missionary League. The thought came
to him that if the business men of the country could
only catch the vision of the world's need, and
realise that the students were prepared to meet this
need, the money would be given. Hence it seemed
to him that ' the greatest need in the missionary
propaganda was to arouse the men of the Church
to a consciousness of their privilege and respon-

308 cbe IRomance of Mobern Missions
sibility in leadership in the work of world-wide
evangelisation.' To this one man, as ever, the
vision came, and he forthwith set about communi
cating it to others. His suggestions led to the
holding of a meeting in New York on the 15th
November, 1906, which resulted in the formation
of the Laymen's League. How one movement is
in the Providence of God linked on to another,
is seen in the fact that this meeting took place in
connection with the commemoration of the cen
tennial of the famous Haystack Prayer Meeting*
which led to the formation of the American Board
of Missions.
It was a committee of laymen that issued the
invitation in the form of a ' Call to Prayer,' that
resulted in the Laymen's League. They prayed to
some purpose. A series of resolutions was drawn
up and a committee of representative laymen ap
pointed, which held its first meeting in New York
on the 13th December, 1906. To quote the aims
and methods of the League, as formulated on the
occasion, would occupy too much of our space. In
brief the new movement is an inspiration rather
than an organisation. It neither collects nor ad
ministers funds, nor does it raise up or send out
missionaries. It aims at enlisting all men of all
branches of the Church in cordial and active sup
port of the mission work of their own missionary
organisation. It further seeks to ' broaden the basis
of support of these organisations and to augment
their income by inspiring every member of the
Church to be a contributor to missions, on a scale

Cbe Xagmen's Missionary league 309
adequate to enable the Church to carry out her
Lord's commission to make disciples of all nations.'
This object is sought by Conventions and by the
circulation of literature, by personal canvass, by
encouraging laymen of suitable position and stand
ing to visit foreign mission fields, so as to be the
better able to advocate the cause among their fel
lows, and by a variety of other methods to empha
sise the fact that mission work is the supreme
business of the Church.
The results of this movement have been remark
able. It led to a great national missionary cam
paign in Canada, and meetings were held in all the
most important centres from the Atlantic to the
Pacific. A great National Missionary Congress
was held in Toronto in 1909, when over 4,000 com
missioners, representing all the Protestant
Churches of Canada, met to consider the missionary
problem. The influence of these commissioners,
on returning to their own Churches, must have been
immense, and most of them were laymen. A
similar Missionary Campaign was carried out in the
United States. In attendance at the various Con
ventions were no fewer than 71,000 delegates,
representing 5,000,000 communicant members.
The principles and methods of the movement re
ceived, both in Canada and the United States,
cordial endorsement, and the organisation strength-
enend and developed. A great Congress was held
in Chicago, at which over 4,000 delegates were
present, representing all the branches of the Pro
testant Christian Churches in the United States.

310 Woe IRomance of Mobern Missions
The movement has spread among the Churches of
England and Scotland and Australia. As a result
the attitude of thousands of laymen towards foreign
missions has been completely changed. Apathy
and criticism have been replaced by interest and
enthusiastic support. A new vision of life and its
opportunities has come to thousands of business
men, who were in danger of losing their hold upon
the great spiritual realities. The attitude of the
secular press towards foreign missions has been
changed. The prayer forces of the Church have
been released, and in multitudes of cases prayer
has become a new reality. And not the least
valuable of the results has been the new spirit of
unity and co-operation that has been produced
among the Churches.
But many will desire to know what have been
the practical and tangible results of the movement.
In Canada the revenue of the Missionary Societies
has increased in two years by over ^2 Per cent. An
even larger increase has been gained in many of
the Churches of the United States. The average
contributions of twenty-three representative Presby
terian Churches were nearly trebled. This is not
all due to the Laymen's League, but a fair pro
portion of it must be credited to that organisation.
The Movement sows the seed, the Missionary
Societies gather in the harvest. Ignorance is
largely the cause of the apathy of the Churches.
The Laymen's League manages to dispel some of
that ignorance and a new Missionary spirit is the
result.

Che TOorlb Missionary Conference, 1910 3"
THE WORLD MISSIONARY CONFERENCE, igiO.
Perhaps of all modern missionary movements
none will have such widespread and permanent
results as the World Missionary Conference of
1910. It produced the profoundest impression on
all who attended it, and its echo has been rever
berating through the world ever since. Not only
did it focus the thought, the knowledge and experi
ence of the entire missionary world, but it served
to reveal in the most impressive manner the most
serious problem which confronts the Christian
Church in our time. An enormous amount of in
formation was furnished to the Conference from
the entire mission field, and this information,
gathered into nine closely printed volumes, will be
of immense value in the immediate future. Every
aspect of the great work was surveyed : the Home
Base and the spread of missionary intelligence, as
well as the enlistment of an adequate force of mis
sionaries ; the preparation of missionaries ; the mis
sionary message; missions and the Governments;
carrying the Gospel to the non-Christian world ;
co-operation and unity; and the story of the Con
ference and its records. In two special directions the
Conference will be of incalculable value. It has
revealed a problem and supplied an impulse. It
does not fall within the scope of this volume to
set forth the tremendous problem furnished by the
awakening of China and Japan on the one hand,
and the rapid increase of the negro race and its
growing solidarity and power on the other. We

312 cbe "Romance of Mobern Missions
hear much of the Yellow peril ; in coming days we
shall hear more of the Black peril. In the pos
sible conflict between East and West, it is more
than probable that should such a conflict come, the
decision will rest with Africa, and that side will
triumph to which the Black Man will give the
advantage of his strength, his prowess and his
numbers. It may be that the future of the world will
depend on whether Islam or Christianity dominates
the Dark Continent within the next generation. Not
the least service of the Edinburgh Conference is
that it helped to focus attention on this fact as well
as on the new awakening in China and Japan and
its bearing on missionary propaganda. Behind all
this is the new missionary impulse communicated
to the entire Christian Church. ' The World for
Christ within the Lifetime of this Generation ' has
become the inspiring motto of missionaries and
missionary societies throughout the world.
This ' Romance of Modern Missions ' must now
close. Its brevity has been almost heart-breaking
to the writer, so many things of deep interest have
had to be excluded; but if the work is to be got
into the hands of the rank and file of the Churches,
it must be brief and cheap. The book is sent forth
with a deep sense of its imperfections, but with the
earnest prayer that it may be used of God to awaken
in multitudes a new missionary impulse, and inspire
them with a new vision of the greatness and
grandeur of World Evangelism.

INDEX.

PAGE
Africaner  12S
Aliwal North  208
Albrecht, A  128
Aneityum  123
Arthington, R  92
Atkinson, J  218
Bavins Kloof  40
Barleycorn, W. N  196
Bengali, N. T  68
Bechuanas  130
Bell, Jabez  197, 199
Bennett, G  202
Black Harry  162
Blyth, G  275
Bohler, P  30
Bowana  42
Bonatz  42
Boyce, W. B  188
Boocock, N  197, 203
Bradley, J  214
Brown, J. M  200
Brown, Dr  191
Brownlie, J  276
Bubis  195
Burder, G  109
Burns, W. C  280
Buckenham, H. 207, 218, 223
Butt, G. H  214
Butt, G. E  215
Calvert, Mr  190
Cape of Good Hope  39
Carey, W. 3, 55, 56, 58, 59, 60
Carey's Great Sermon ... 59
Carey's Great Work ... 72, 73
Carey's Death  74
Ceylon Methodism  168
China described  80
Chalmers, Jas  154, 158

PAGE
Chang, Mr  ig2
Champness, T  184
Chapman, W  223
Chinese language  229
China and Moravians ... 44
Chinese Revival, A  234
Christie, W  205
Clarke, J  86
Clifford, Dr  103
Coillard, M  217
Coke, Dr  56, 160
Cook, Miss M. A  260
Comber, T  92
Cox, J  178
Dahne  32, 33, 34, 38
Daniel, P  266
Darwin  257
David, C  54
De Silva  170
Diboll, J  192
Dober, L  6
Dom Pedro  92
Doke, W. H  97
Drachardt, L  17
Dubb, Dr. A  284
Drummond, Prof  306
Dymond, F  238
Edwardes, H  264
Erhardt, C  15
Erromanga  120
Erromanga Christianised 121
Eskimos  14
Eyre, Mrs  112
Fairley, R  200
Fernando Po ... 86, 194, 90, 91
Figi  119

3*4

3nbe$.

Findlay, W. H.
Fisher, Miss 
Forsyth, N 
Fuller, A 
Fuller, W. R. ..

Gilbert, G 
Gilmour, J  45,
Goforth, Mr 
Gogerly, D. J 
Gordon, Gen 
Goodman, C. H 
Griffith, John 
Greenland 
Grenfell, Dr 
Grenfell, G  91,
Gutzlaff, Dr 

Hall, Mr 
Hanney, G. H.
Hardy, R. S. .
Hardcastle, J. .
Harmony

Haven, Jens 
Haweis, Dr 
Heber 
Herrnhut 
Hill, D 
Hill, Rowland  53,
Hoole, E 
Hopedale 
Holden, W. C 
Holland, W 
Hupeh 
Hus, J 

Innocent, Rev. J.

Jefferson, Mr. 
Jenkins, Dr 
John Williams, The Ship
Johnstone, Sir H 
Jones, Mr 

Kaffirs 
Kajarnack 
Kellett Institute
Kidwell, J. A. ...

PAGE 174203 143 58
245 160150289 170227241 181 9
2493 45 i
227
202 !
170 |
109 25 I
15 !
107 i
259 j
6
179 109 172 25
188197 j
181 4 :
225 |
113 '<
173 j
124 94 8142 11
174
213

PAGE
Kilner, J  171
King Khama  140
Kloekers, Mr  77
Knibb, W  101
Knight, F. H  214
Krapf, Dr  242, 267
Krapf, Rosina  267
Krishnu Pal  67
Krishnagar  262
Laughton, Mr  78
Labrador  13, 20
Lacey, C  105
Laws, Dr  294
Lindsay, J. D  207
Livingstone, D  132
Lo  179
Lovedale  277
Lovelace, Mr  143
Lowe, T  193
Luddington, W. B  193
Lynch, J  172
Macfarlane, Rev. S  156
Mackay, Dr  269
Madagascar  140
Maha Rasan  144
Mamma Job  195
Marshman  66
Martin, J  185
Martyn, H  250
Marsden, S  254
Maylott, D. T  206
Meyer, Dr  304
Mikak  18
Moffatt, R  128, 129
Moravian Church  4
Moravian Mission Ships... 29
Moravians and Mongolia 46
Moravians and Methodism 53
Moravian work sum
marised  49, 52
Morrison, R  147
Moskito Coast  34
Mtesa, King  270
Mudnabatty  64
Nain  28

3nbej.

315

PAGE
Nelwang  291
New, J  242
New Zealand  257
Niven, R  278
Nkala  222
Nsit  206
Orissa  104
Oron  202
Pacalt, C  127
Paton, J. G  290
Palliser, Sir H  16
Paramaribo  37
Pfander, Dr  262
Philip, Dr  127
Pickering, F  223
Piercy, G  178
Pollard, S  231
Pooll, Mr  178
Price, W. S  269
Prichard, H  12
Raratonga  118
Rhodes, C  188
Richard, Mr  78
Ringletaube, Mr  144
Robertson, H. A  121
Rowe, J  100
Rouxville  214
Ryland, Mr  59
Saker, A  87
Scarborough. W  181
Schmidt, G  39
Scott, T  249
Schumann, S  32
Selous, F  222
Serampore  64
Serampore College  71
Shaw, W  187
Shaw, B  187
Simeon, C  249
Smith, E. W  224
Smith, J  211
Smith, Dr. P  179
Sogo, J. P  198
Soothill, W. E  245

PAGE
Speke, Capt  269
Squance, T. H  174
Stones, T  193
Stephenson, G  107
Somngesi, W. N  214
Subrahmaniam  174
Surinam  32
Sun Yat Sen  81
Tahiti  Ill
Tai-ping  77
Tamatoa, King  115
Tambookies  42
Tanna  122
Taylor, Dr. Hudson  301
Thomas, Mr  61
Threlfall, Mr  187
Thompson, Wardlaw  149
Thorne, S. T  230
Tinnevelly  260
Tiyo Soga  278
Tonga  Ill
Travancore  145
Truscott, T  240
Tsiang O-pong  246
Udny, Mr  64
Ulrich, A  6
Urua Eye  202
Vanderkemp, Dr. ... 126, 276
Wakefield, T  143
Ward, Mr  66
Ward, W. J  202
Watson, Dr  85, 214
Welford, W  197
Wellesley, Lord  68
Wesley, S  159
Wilberforce  71
Williams, J.  116, 120
Wilson, Capt. J  110
Wray, J  152
Yates, W  244
Young, Lieut  297
Zeisberger, D  30
Zinzendorf  5, 8, 30, 44

6054

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