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Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre filmds d des taux de reduction diff6rents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul clich6, il est film6 d partir de I'angle supdrieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images n^cessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mdthode. 22X 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 Z- ( l^.'i'"^^ \A H ■A^/vA^jiQ^ ». C/9 ^cTiT In Ceylon. MISSIONARY SKETCHES. SECOND SERIES. An Ambassador is sent unto the heatli en."— Jkr. xlix. 14. TORONTO: Published at the Methodist Mission Rooms. 1883. ar to of ar in it an qi] Mi 891538 PREFACE rpHE Sketches in the present Series are from a volume entitled " Modern Missions : Their Trials and Triumphs," by Robert Young, Assistant Secretary to the Foreign Missions Committee of the Free Church of Scotland. They present in a form at once brief and comprehensive the progress of Christian Missions in some of the most important fields yet opened ; and it is hoped their perusal will tend to increase the faith and zeal of the church in regard to the spiritual con- quest of the world. Methodist Mission Rooms, Toronto, Feb. 15th, 1883, CONTENTS. India — paqb. I. Progress in India since 1813 II. Work Among the Women eo Tjie Karens 77 China— I. Closed 92 II. 0])ening of the Treaty Ports HI. The Light Breaking Centeal Polynesia — I. Missions to the Cannibals of Fiji II. Paganism Abandoned-Christianity Embraced . . . . . , . igg Melanesia — Missions to the New Hebrides j-g MISSIONARY SKETCHES. INDIA. \ I. PROGRESS IN INDIA SINCE 1813. TTNTIL 1813, Christianity in India was regarded by ^ the Government of the day as a contraband article and its introduction by missionary societies forbidden under pains and penalties. Accordingly for a period of twenty years it had in a manner to be smuggled into the country. In such circumstances, little progress could be expected. But when at length the unhallowed restrictions were removed, and mis- sionaries were free to enter and prosecute their labors without the risk of deportation, there was a marked change in the course of events. Churches and societies, awake in some right measure, to a sense of their responsibility, one after another entered the field > I M 10 MISSIONARY SKETCHES. SO that now there is no portion of that vast continent which is not to a greater or less extent occupied. True, the occupation is for the most part still lament- ably defective. Nevertheless the contrast between the former and the present state of things is highly en- couraging. Where the field, as in India, is so vast, and the churches and ■ societies engaged in it are so numerous, it is impossible, within the limits of this volume, to do more than present the barest outline of the work carried on at the more important centres since 1813. Starting with Calcutta, the metropolis of the empire, we note that the London Missionary Society's mission was commenced in 1816. By 1821 missionary opera- tions were being carried on at twenty-one stations in and around Calcutta. The city of Berhampore was occupied five years later. An institution for higher education, established at Bhowanipore in 1837, has been afiiliated with the Calcutta University. Among the many distinguished men who have labored in this city, the name of Alphonse Lacroix holds a conspicu- ous place. By birth a Swiss, he was appointed to Chinsurah in 1821 by the Netherlands Missionary Society, but joined the London Missionary Society six years afterwards, removing in 1829 to Cal- -4 PROGRESS IN INDIA SINCE 1813. 11 cutta. In the departments of vernacular preaching and itinerancy, to which his energies were mainly de- voted up to the time of his death in 1859, he had few, if any, equals. The Church Misionary /Society began its labors in the suburbs of Calcutta also in 1816,'the headquarters of the mission being, five years later, removed to the city proper, where there are now four or five congregations, and a Cathedral Mission College, established in 1865, besides other important agencies! The society has also a most interesting rural mission at Krishnagar, embracing 6,000 native Christians, the fruit to a large extent, of a remarkable awakening in 1838. ^ The Society f^r the Propagation of the Gotpel, in addition to a large organization in Calcutta, has now under its care the flourishing mission in Chota- Nagpore, with a Christian community of 11,212, of whom 4,569 are communicants. It has enjoyed the services of some eminent men, among whom may be singled out the name of Dr. John Wenger. He died at Calcutta in August, 1880, after forty-one years- service, cpent chiefly in the revision and translation of the Scriptures into Bengalee and Sanscrit. In 1829,memorable as the year in which the fires of suttee were extinguished, the C/mrc^. of Scot/and, then gradually awakening from its deep lethargy, sent its firstmissionary to India in the person of Alex'anderDuft; 12 MISSIONARY SKETCHES. There are, in our estimation, four missionaries whose commanding talents and consecration to the cause of India's evangelization, and the influence which in various ways they wielded, mark them out from all others as pre-eminently the benefactors of that country — viz., Frederick Schwartz, William Cprey, John Wilson, and Alexander Duff". In the commission given to Dr. Duff, the utmost liberty was freely granted as regards both the particular field of labor and the mode of operations. Having satisfied him- self that the vernaculars of India "could not possibly supply the medium for all the requisite instruc- tion," he, in pursuance of one of the objects of the mission, with five pupils, opened in May, 1830, in Calcutta, an institution in which instruction was communicated at once in the elements and in the highest branches of knowledge, through the medium of the English language, and in which the Bible held a chief place. The policy thus adopted, which had a most important bearing on the ultimate evangelization of India, was condemned alike by missionaries, learned Orientalists, and the Govern- ment. But ere long a marked change in public sentiment appeared, and the views so ably advocated by the in- trepid young missionary came to be generally accepted, not only by the Government, but bythe leading mission- PROGRESS IN INDIA SINCE 1813. 13 laries whose ,he cause of ;e which in ut from all )rs of that Ham Cpiey, ' commission was freely eld of labor itisfied him- not possibly site instruc- 3 objects of L May, 1830, truction was i and in the the medium 1 the Bible opted, which he ultimate 3d alike by the Govern- ic sentiment ;d by the in- ally accepted, ding mission- ^ ary societies, who in course of time established institu- tions after the model of Dr. Duff's. The success attend- ing his efforts in this direction was quite remarkable— the attendance of pupils in the institution being soon increased to a thousand and upwards, a number which it has maintained ever since. The results of the system, in the elevation and enlightenment of the native com- munity during half a century, it is simply impossible to over-estimate. Many years ago. Lord William Bentinck, perhaps the ablest and most enlightened Governor- General that India ever possessed, publicly declared them to be " unparalleled." Nor was the in- stitution wanting in fruit of the highest kind. Even in the earlier jeu s of the mission several remarkable conversions occurred. Notably, Krishna Mohan Banerji, a Brahman of high social position, and editor of a newspaper, afterwards a minister of the English Church, and now a distinguished professor in Bishop s College, Calcutta ; also, Gopi Nath Nundi, a most de- voted missionary in the N. W. Provinces, in connec- tion with the American Presbyterians, who at the time of the mutiny nobly testified for Christ in the midst of the greatest suffering and danger. In the earlier years of the mission. Dr. Duff was aided by a noble band of coadjutors— William Sinclair Mackay, David Ewart, John Macdonald, and Thomas Smith, all of whom, with the exception of the last nam.ed, finished their course before him. 14 MISSIONARY SKETCHES The mission of the Free Church, like those of the other churches, has a number of out-stations in Bengal. One of the most interesting is the Rural Mission in the extensive district of MahanatI, which is ably superin- tended by the Rev. Jagadishwar Bhattacharjya, an ordained missionary and a convert of the mission. His intimate acquaintance and hearty sympathy with the oppressed peasantry of Bengal have secured for him a large measure of confidence and respect on the part alike of the native community and of Government oflUcials. Another, and no less interesting, and em- bracing also a medical department, was established in 1870 among the Santals, an aboriginal tribe in Upper Bengal, numbering about two millions. The principal station is at Pachumba. The Church Missionaiy Society carries on similar operations in different parts of the same field. In another portion of it, Mr. Hans Peter Boerresen, a Dane, and Mr. Lars. O. Skrefsrud, a Norwegian, both of the Indian Home Mission, have been laboring indefatigably since 18G7. The mission of the American Free Baptist Churches has also done good service s,mcng this interesting race. All these agencies have met with a large measure of success- The Earl of North brook, a recent Governor-General, and Sir William Muir, have testified in strong terms to the hopeful character of the field ; and there is no doubt that a remarkable opening exists at the present i* I PROGRESS IN INDIA SINCE 1813. u lose of the i in Bengal, ssion in the ly superin- harjya, an ission. His y with the ;1 for him a )n the part overnment ?, and eni- ablished in e in Upper le principal Missionary erent parts , Mr. Hans Skrefsrud, Ission, have 'he mission s also done All these of success. or-General, roD^ terms here is no ihe present f time. The Santals, like other aboriginal tribes, have no definite system of belief. Their religion is a rude demonology, or dread of spirits, who are generally be- lieved to be malevolent. Having no ca&te they are more accessible than the Hindoos. On the occasion of Dr. Duff's enforced retirement from the mission field, in 1864, most emphatic testi- mony was borne by all classes of the Indian com- munity—native and European— Christian and non- Christian — to the invaluable services rendered by him to that country during a period of nearly thirty-five years. From the time of liis return till his lamented death at Sidmouth, in Devonshire, on 12th February, 1878, this intrepid and true-hearted missionary em- ployed his matchless eloquence in seeking to rouse the churches in this country to a more adequate sense of their responsibility in relation to the vast world of heathenism. The subject engrossed his thoughts, not certainly to the exclusion of other matters of great importance, for he was characteris- tically large-minded in his views, and large-hearted in his sympathies ; but he felt and spoke on it with an intensity of conviction and an enthusiasm which only those who came ' in frequent contact with him can fully appreciate.* For fourteen years he * The British Slandard described him as "an incarnation of the spirit of miggioni?." ff MISSIONARY SKETCHES ccupied with distinction the position of convener of the Foreign Missions Committee of the Church, and for eleven years that of professor of Evangelistic Theology in its colleges. As is well known all the Church of Scotland's mis- sionaries in India cast in their lot with the Free Church at the Disruption in 1843. Since then, opera- tions have been carried on by the Ustablishtd Church of Scotland at Calcutta, Bombay, Madras, &c. The institution building, vacated by Dr. Duff" and his col- leagues, was opened in 1846 by Dr. James Ogilvie, who continued successfully to superintend it until cut off" by fever at Penang in the beginning of 1871. It had last year on its roll 409 pupils in the College depart- ment, and 725 in the School department, and is in a high state of efficiency. Let us glance now at the Province of Orissa. It consists of a long narrow strip of swampy land extend- ing from the shores of the Bay of Bengal on the east, to the vast mountain ranges on the wesl./uiaerabraces a population, speaking the Oriya lar.^-vj vf, , " about eight millions. The stations formed there by theSeram- pore missionaries were actually abandoned in favor of other societies, the General Baptist Missionary Society* leading the way. Cuttack, the capital of Oiissa was c Mupie I oy that society in 1822 ; and in the following " TL^ Rev. J. V Pike was the founder and for more thirty yearc the much- valued Secretary of the Society. U masi^ PROGRESS FN INDIA SINCE 1813. 17 convener of Church, and Evangelistic •tland's mis- ;h the Free then, opera- ahi^d Church s, &e. The and his col- Ogilvie, who ntil cut off 171. It had ege depart- and is in a Orissa. It and extend- on the east, Old c: I braces :y> < about ^theSeram- in favor of ry Society* Orissa was e following more thirty year Pooree, in the neighborhood of the famous temple of Juggernaut. Pooree is described as a " city wholly given to idolatry," to die within ten miles radiu's of which is regarded as a sure passport to eternal bliss. Hence, myriads of pilgrims from the remotest parts .f India annually flock to the shrine, thousands of th - weaker females especially limping "piteously along with bleeding feet in silence," and large numbers dying upon the road. There, if anywhere in India, the people are literally mad upon their idols, many of the blinded devotees, in former days, voluntarily immo- lating themselves beneath the ponderous wheels of Juggernaut's car, of which there are sixteen, the car itself being forty-three feet high. The sight of the " abominable idolatries," with their sickening accom- paniments of cruelty, and misery, and infernal revelry, must have been revolting in the extreme. There was not one redeeming feature in the dark picture. In view of the debasing scenes constantly witnessed at Pooree, need we wonder that the moral character of the people should be of the very lowest type. One of their own poets describes in the following lines the impression produced on his mind after a visit to Juggernaut : — "The children are robbers, the old men are robbers, The Jogeys imd Goorooa, they are all of them robbers ; They are robbers in the village, and robbers in the town, And non* bc«ide robbers oi women are born." 18 MISSIONARY SKETCHES. Throughout the province also, in the early history of the mission, the inhuman Meriah sacrifices were of frequent occurrence. Large numbers of children were stolen, and nourished up with a view to their beino- slaughtered, and offered to a Hindoo goddess-usually the goddess Kali, who is represented as delighting in human blood. Upon this unpromising field much labor has been expended, and with no inconsiderable results. When on 5th November, 1826, the first Protestant place of worship in Orissa was opened, the services on the occa- sion were conducted in English by Messrs. Lacey and Sutton, there heing then no native Christian in the province. Now, in the six churches and ten chapels under the care of the General Baptist Missionary Society, ih^m was last year an aggregate of about 1,000 in full communion, with a native Christian community of 2,704. The total number received into the Church on a profession of faith by baptism since the commencement of the mission is stated to be about 1,700. At Cuttack, a mission press, started in 1838 has sent forth an edition of the Old Testament, several editions of the New Testament, a number of separate portions of Scripture, numerous tracts, and other miscellaneous productions. A mission college, estab- lished in 184G, has had since then betv/een forty I i PROGRESS IN INDIA SINCE 1813. 19 jarly history fices were of hildren were ) their being ess — usually s delighting )or has been J Its. When, ant place of 5 on the ocea- s. Lacey and 'stian in the ten chapels ! Missionary e of about e Christian eceived into by baptism stated to be ti 1838, has ent, several of separate and other lege, estab- T/een forty H# and fifty under training. At the present time there are twenty-two native ministers in active service. Re- cently, there has been opened a Zayat or Christian Book-Room— a board on the gate, in Oriya and Bengalee, announcing that it is a " Building for Books relating to the religion of Christ." One half of it is devoted to the sale of books, and the other half to readinof. Again, when, in 1836, the missionaries of the Amerimn Free-WiU Baptist Mission entered Northern Orissa, the district was one unbroken expanse of Hin- dooism. The Divine blessing has so rested on their labors that on the return to America, in 1879, of the Rev.^ Jeremiah Phillips, one of the founders of the mission, there were five congregations with 478 com-' municants, 453 pupils under Christian instruction, and a Biblical school at Midnapore, the headquarters of the mission,containing 17 young men,of Hindoo parentage as candidates for the ministry. General Sir Arthtr Cotton, K.C.B.,who was fifty-eight years in the Indian army, has given his emphatic testimony to the work accomplished in Orissa. Stretching along the north-eastern frontier of Bengal, and forming a part of the province of Assam, IS a lofty range of mountains. On two of the hill«— Khasia and Jaintia-the Welsh Calvinistic Methodist Church commenced operations in June.. 1841. the laro-e 20 MISSIONARY SKETCHES. t ! Village Cherrapoonjee on the Khasia hills being the first station occupied. At that time the ignorance and superstition and degradation of the people were extreme. There was not one ray of light. The first missionary (Rev. T. Jones) a few months after his arrival, stated that " it was impossible to find a field more full of misery ;" nor one. he added, " more full of promise." The hope thus indulged has been realized There are now on these hills twenty-four Christian churches, with upwards of 1,400 communicants or candidates for baptism connected with them, and a total of nearly 3,000 who have abandoned heathen practices, keep the Sabbath, and attend the means of grace. Many, by their consistent Christian lives and their triumphant testimony in a dying hour, have given evidence of the reality of the chpnge which they had undergone. There are eighty schools, containing about 8,000 pupils, of whom 650 are girls. At the outset of the work there was not even a written language. Since then there have been pub- lished from time to time, by the mission, or under the superintendence of its agents, besides elementary school books and tracts, two or more editions of the following :— " New Testament," « Pilgrim's Progress," " Hymn Book," " Confession of Faith." " Dr. Watts' New Testament History," " Collection of Prayers " and " Anglo-Khasia Dictionary." The translation ij. PROGRESS IN INDIA SINCK lfil3. 21 lis being the ^norance and people were t. The first ths after his ) find a field ' more full of een realized. at Christian [lunicants or them, and a ned heathen he means of an lives and hour, have e which they i, containing not even a e been pub- )r under the elementary tions of the s Progress," ' Dr. Watts' f Prayers," translation of the Old Testament is at present being proceeded with. The Berlin Evangelical Society better known as Pastor r^ss7ier's Society, early in 1846 planted a mission in Chota-Nagpore, an immense tract of country, partly mountainous, lying to the west of Bengal. It i.s inhab- ited by hill tribes, divided into Khols, Urans, Mundas, and Santals. The principal station i.s at Ranchee, the capital, lying in a north-westerly direction, about ;350 miles from Calcutta. The first-fruits of the mission were reaped in 1850, when four Urans were baptized at once. From that time the number of enquirers and converts continued steadily to increase ; and by the beginning of 1857, 400 had been baptised after lengthened instruction, whilst upwards of 1,000 had as.sociated themselves with the Christian community. These were scattered over some fifty villages, showing the wide-spread interest that had been awakened. The infant church was subjected to bitter persecu- tion of various kinds, but notwithstanding it grew and multiplied. When, in July, 1857, the mutiny of the Ramghore battalion at Ranchee and Hazaribagh broke out, the European civil and military oflScials had to flee for their lives. The missionaries were reluctantly compelled to adopt the same course. For three months the territory was in the hands of the rebels. During that time persecution reached its m ll 22 MISSIONARY SKETCHES. height, the Zemindars or land-owners being the most active in their efforts to stamp out Christianity. Many of the Christians," it is said, •' escaped into the jungles, where they were compelled to live during the most trying period of the year, and some perished there. Some were taken and tortured, and bound hand and foot, and lay for days in the rain on tlie wet ground. They were tauntingly asked, ' Where is your Father now ? Where is Jesus ? Why does He not help you ? ' And with fists and feet, and iron-bound sticks their persecutors smote them, saying, ' Now sino- us something— one of your sweet hymns.' Yet was there no denial of their Lord. The Christian village Prab- husharan was levelled to the ground. A reward of 2,000 rupees (£200) was offered for the head of the church elder. Wives, mothers, and daughters were bound, and so cruelly beaten that their lives were despaired of. 640 Christians were plundered of all that they had. A friendly Zemindar told the missionraies afterwards that if the return of the English force had been delayed twenty days longer, a general slaughter would have begun. When the missionaries reached Ranchee m October, they found the station a perfect desolation. The Christians were mostly still in hiding in the jungles; but gradually, when order was restored, they gathered again around their beloved teachers Before their flight there were Christians ■3 =1 1 1 I- ! I I Jing the most Christianity, escaped into iolive duriner ome perished 1 bound hand 1 on tlie wet ^here is your He not help bound sticks Now sing us et was there ullage Prab- A. reward of head of the ghters were lives were d of all that tnissionraies sh force had al slaughter 'ies reached :>n a perfect ill in hiding order was eir beloved 3 Christians PROGRESS IN INDIA SINCE 1813. £3 in about sixty villages: in September, 1858, there were 130 from which people had joined the Christian church." In 18C3, the communicants numbered 790 • baptized Christians, 3,401. ' In consequence of changes in the mode of conduct- ing the mission, introduced by the younger men who had been sent out after the restoration of peace and order, and sanctioned by the Directors in Berlin the older missionaries feeling aggrieved by the action referred to,* resigned their connection with the Society, the great bulk of the members of the native churches adhering to them. They were taken over by the Bishop of Calcutta in 1869, and the operations with which these older missionaries were identified have since been carried on in connection with the Pro- pagation Society. That Society reports that in October, 1880, the whole number of Christians was 11,212, of whom 4,569 were communicants. North India, stretching over more than 1,200 miles of territory, and inhabited by stalwart and vigorous races, presents a noble field for missionary effort Among the earlier places occupied may be mentioned =^= Colonel Da.ton, the Chief Commissioner, and all the European residents at Ranchee, are understood to have disap- P oved of the action of the younger missionaries, and of the Di tors, in connection with the unfortunate proceedings in At :^ 24 MISSIONARY SKETCHES. iiiii Agra, m which, in 1811, two of the Serampore mis- sionaries were permitted to settle, and where, in 1813, Henry Martyn's solitary convert from Mohammed- anism was stationed as the first agent of the Church Missionary Society: Allahabad, important as the seat of Government in the N. W. Provinces, regarded as a place of the greatest sanctity by the Hindoos from its being situated at the junction of the Ganges, Jumna, and Saraswatee.and where the Baptist Society planted a mission in 1816 ; Benares, the Athens of India and chief stronghold of Hindooism, containing some eighty Sanskrit colleges and about a thousand heathen temples, held in the highest veneration, and resorted to by immense numbers of pilgrims,— in that city in the same year (1816) the Baptist Missionary Society settled the Rev. W. Smith, who was followed shortly afterwards by missionaries of the Church and London Missionary Societies. It is important to note, with respect to the last-named sacred city, in view of the immense influence which it exerts upon Hindoos and Hindooism in general, that, as stated by Sherring in his valuable History, native society there, especially among the better classes, is hardly the same thing that it was a few years ago. " The religion of idolatry, of sculptures, of sacred wells and rivers of gross fetichism, of mythological representations,' of many-handed or many-bodied deities, is losing in PROGRESS IN INDIA SINCE 1813. 25 rampore mis- here, in 1813, Mohammed- )f the Church as the seat of •egarded as a doos from its nges, Jumna, ciety planted of India and some eighty md heathen md resorted I that city in mary Society wed shortly and London ) note, with view of the Hindoos and Sh erring in e, especially same thing religion of id rivers, of ntations, of s losing, in their eyes, its religious romance. They yearn after a religion purer and better. ... A new era of intellec- tual freedom and religious life has already com- menced." At the same time, there is no expectation of the early downfall of Hindooism— a system which, by means of caste, binds together in an impenetrable' mass the entire social fabric. Among the many who have labored in this extensive field, we trust it will not be considered invidious if we select for special notice the name of Dr. Robert Cotton Mather, who more than fortyyears ago founded theLondonSociety's mission at Mirzapore, and who during his long and successful missionary career has rendered most valua- ble service in connection with the translation of the Bible into Hindustani, and by the production of many books of a Christian and educational character. The Society for the Propagation of theGospel carries on operations in the Lahore diocese, with stations at Cawnpore, Roorkee, and Delhi ; has an aggregate membership of 272; and sixteen schools, with about 0,000 scholars. One of the most interesting stations is that of Feshawur, the great military outpost of the British possessions in India, lying beyond the Indus. Mis- sionary work was commenced there among the Affghans in 1855 by the Rev. Joseph Wolff, of the Church Missionary Society, a converted Jew from •lyrf ■I 26 MISSIONARY SKETCHES. Armenia, who, notwithstanding certain eccentricities boldly and in truly apostolic spirit preached Christ as he travelled through extensive reg'ons of Central Asia. Moravian Missionaries, true to their history, coveted the distant snow-clad regions of Thibet and Mongolia as their fields of labor, and in 1853 proceeded to take possession of them for Christ. Their purpose was de- feated by Chinese exclusiveness, which prevented them from getting beyond the frontier. They next endeav- ored to obtain a footing in Ladak, an old Thibetan province, but were denied it by the Maharajah of Cashmere, to whose rule that territory is subject At length, in 1856, they settled at Kyelang, in the pro- vince of Lahoul, and in 1865 missionary operations were extended to Poo, in the province of Kunawar- Lahoul consists of three valleys, that of the Chandra being described as the " Valley of Glaciers." The lowest elevation in these valleys is 10,000 feet above sea-level, and they are shut in on all sides by bleak and barren mountains, towering up to 20,000 feet, and covered with perpetual snow. Some idea may be formed of the isolation of these missionary brethren from the fact that as stated by Mr. E. Pagell, the missionary at Poo, the only' European besides themselves in that district and their nearest neighbor is the Church Missionary at Kotghur 4 '>! PROGRESS IN INDIA SINCE 1813. 27 eccentricities, sached Christ »s of Central story, coveted md Mongolia eded to take 'pose was de- Bvented them next endeav- )ld Thibetan [aharajah of subject. At I, in the pro- y operations 3f Kunawar- the Chandra siers." The 10,000 feet all sides by p to 20,000 Some idea missionary by Mr. E. / European leir nearest i Kotghur, ■fe .1 where the post-office is situated, and it is distant thirteen days' journey ! The want of Christian in- tercourse is much felt. In these fields, where Buddhism chiefly prevails, the work has been peculiarly difficult and discourag- ing. As the fruit of frequent journeys into Ladak and elsewhere, in the course of which the mission- aries have been generally received, some fifteen souls have been gathered into the Church ^t Kyelang. But so utterly barren had it been in Lahoul, that when the General Synod of the Moravian Church met at Herrnhut in 1870, the question as to the continuance of the Mission was discussed. While the brethren were thus engag^, the cheering tidings reached them of the baptism, on 11th April, of De- masang, the first Lahoulese convert. This they re- garded as a sufficient indication that the Mission ought still to be carried on. And yet there has not been a single convert at Poo. But, " blessed be God," writes Mr. Pagell, " our own faith has not yet failed, nor the hope that our feeble efforts will, in the long run, not prove in vain." Let the reader pause for a moment, and try to realize what is implied m such a statement. Negotiations with the Government authorities in India have been for a considerable time in progress with the view of securing from the Maharajah for the lip ^' 28 MISSIONARY SKETCHES. ii missionaries permission to settle permanently in the territory of Ladak. As soon as the desired sanction IS granted-and it is only a question of time-opera- tions will forthwith be commenced at Leh, the capital and the principal meeting place for the merchants from Lhassa, Yarkand, Cashmere, and ilindostan. Meanwhile every preparation is being made ; the whole of the New and a large part of the Old Testa- ment have been translated into the Thibetan language and a pretty voluminous Christian literature has been created." In this connection it is proper to state that it was the same "inexorable" Maharajah who refused to allow Dr. W. Jackson Elmslie to remain in Srinagar during the winter months of 1872-3. The exposure of the long and fatiguing journey over elevated and dangerous mountain passes to which he wao in conse- quence subjected, aggravated the malady and hastened the death of that devoted missionary. The sad event occurred on the 18th November, 1872, not far from Bhimbar, and within about thirty miles of Goozerat The mssionary Society of the Method kt Episcopal Church of America commenced missionary work in North India in 1856. It has important stations in the Rohilcund, Oudh, and Kumaon districts. In addi- tion to the ordinary educational and evangelistic agencies, there is a Theological School at Bareilly if •J' J, I A i nently in the ired sanction time — opera- h, tlie capital, e merchants 1 Hiiidostan. : made; the Old Testa- an language, ure has been that it was • refused to in Srinagar he exposure elevated and r^ao in eonse- nd hastened le sad event ot far from f Goozerat. 'it Episcopal ry work in stations in 5. In addi- evangelistic it Bareilly^ I I'lil-KiHtSS IN INDIA SINCK iBlii. 29 With 21 students ; an Industrial Institution at Shah- jehanpore, in wl.id, 30 are ioaming tailorincf, 24 car- pen ry, 20 .„»t and shoo making, lu weavi^i;, and 6 sna h,„g. „tl,er.s, who are .sutiiciently advanced for it workm e fieM,, and garden,; and the Christian villages ot Panahpore an.l Ghurwal,where the villa..ers are employed in agricultural work Success in a marked degree has been vouchsafed to he m.s,on Thus the missionary in the Moradabad crcu, wr,tes m ] 8S0 :-« After thirteen years absence from this lield, I return to tind things I lad earn! tlv prayed for and hoped to see more thL realised There are now hundreds of converted men and women in the ti'dt ;f "%*'"" °""°"'" '"^ '"^ -°- - J'^d" p! bv Z ' •• ■/'^'"^•''S" I "-'od to ^f^nd upon a well crowd '"T'-,'" "'/ """"^^'^ ''*==''^-' *" '-ng up a crowd. If only a few boys came at first and the crowd was sow to o-athpr th^ ii ,_, ""i-. ana the What Will you C.0 wtrthetvXtlrlri :Z ZT ''V"'' ' ' "'^" resordToTd ow then to their work in the shop and the field B,,T thank God, the novelty has not worn off an . ■ f ^' of having to follow fhem. theylnow us tto tb Chr.t,an^emple, which many^f th^Ve at •Over t J :t:~::r'^°"'^'' ^"^° -"'-- -^ "^""^ y^^^^ %'« we met in a prayer •fr* 30 MISSIONARY SKETCHES meeting held in a small building, once used as a sheep- house, in Nynee Tal, two native Christians ; one was borrowed from another mission, the other was a con- vert from Brahmanism. Those were the only two native brethren in our mission. A few days ago we were privileged to attend a mela, held in a large grove of mango-trees near Shahjehanpore, and there we saw over 830 native Christians as representatives from our mission in Oudh and Rohilcund, collected for the purpose of praying to and worshipping God, and of being lifted into a higher, and happier, and more use- ful life." Nynee Tal, one of the stations in the Kumaon dis- trict, was the scene of the terrible landslip from the mountain side on 18th September, 1880, resulting in the complete destruction of the Royal Victoria Hotel, the Reading and Assembly Rooms, Hindoo temples, and other valuable property, and in the loss of about 200 liv^es— Europeans and natives. The mission premises, including parsonage and chapel, were also seriously damaged, and had to be abandoned ; and as further slips are expected in the future, it was not considered proper to re-occupy them. A new church for which 15,000 rupees (£1500) had been subscribed,' is being erected on what has been pronounced an absolutely safe site. The state of the mission in 1880, in so far as it can PR0GRES8 IN INDIA SINCE 1813. 31 id as a sheep- ms ; one was 3r was a con- she only two clays ago we a large grove there we saw tatives from ected for the God, and of md more use- Kumaon dis- ilip from the resulting in ctoria Hotel, idoo temples, loss of about rhe mission i\, were also ned ; and as , it was not new church, 1 subscribed, nounced an far as it can be tabulated, was as follows :— 20 foreign ordained missionaries, 19 assistant missionaries, 21) European and Eurasian assistants, 12 native ordained, 67 unor- dained, and 11 local preachers, 337 native' teachers, and 43 other helpers; 1666 church members, 1128 catechumens. 8281 day scholars; $21,403 contributed for self-support, and $1298 for other religious and benevolent objects. The Presbyterian Church of America {North) entered this field in 1834, the first station occupied bemg Lodiana, near the river Sutlej. Since then, it has extended its labors to a number of important places in the north-west from Allahabad, at the junc- tion of the Ganges and the Jumna in the south, to Rawal Pindee in the Punjaub— a distance of nearly 900 miles. The missioii has an aggregate of about 900 communicants and 7430 day scholars, and com- prises 25 American and 14 native ordained ministers 44 American female and 143 native lav missionaries! Much, attention is devoted to the education of the females by means of schools and Zenana agency. A great impulse was given to missionary work in India by the Sepoy mutiny of 1857, with its accom- panying atrocities. It revealed to the eyes of Christ- endom, in a peculiarly affecting manner, the deep need m which the heathen and Mohammedan natives of 32 MISSIONARY SKETCHES. !l 1'^ Ifn m, III' |!l,hl India stood of the gospel. And with the revelation came the call. That call was heard and promptly and heartily responded to, among others, by the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland. A proposal to establish a mission in India was adopted by the Synod at its meeting in 1858. In a few days a guar- antee fund, amounting to £7455, was raised, the late John Henderson, Esq., of Park, with his usual gener- osity, leading the way. And after careful inquiry, Rajpootana, an extensive region in the north-west,' with a population estimated at that time at about 17,000,000, was fixed on as a suitable field of labor. Ajmere, the principal town of the district of that name> and Beawr, in the Mairwara district, were first occu- pied. The Rev. Williamson (now Dr.) Shoolbred, accom- panied by the Rev. John Blair Steele, who died soon after, commenced operations at Beawr on 3rd March, 1860. At the outset. Dr. Shoolbred had the invaluable assistance of Dr. Wilson, of Bombay. It was a.Jiappy circumstance too that a Brahman, named Chintoo Ram, who had come to Bombay after the mutiny broke out had attended one of the institutions there, and was well known to Dr. Wilson, expressed a wish to accom- pany the missionaries on their journey to Beawr, in order that he might visit his friends in the Punjaub. The result was a request for baptism. After due I 1 71 !i I PROGRESS IN INDIA SINCE 1813. 33 ie revelation promptly and 7 the United proposal to pted by the days a guar- sed, the late usual gener- iful inquiry, north-west, ne at about Id of labor. )f that name> fe lirst occu- )red, accom- 10 died soon I 3rd March, 3 invaluable vas ajiappy hintoo Bam, y broke out e, and was h to accom- Beawr, in le Punjaub. After due examination, the rite was administered by Dr. Wil- son, and he immediately commenced to communicate religious instruction to others. The following are the returns for 1880 :— 9 stations (4 of which have a medical department, in connection with which no fewer than 85,253 patients were treated during the year), 13 European missionaries and 3 other European agents, 36 native agents, a Christian community numbering 601, of whom 360 are com- municants, 83 schools with 3375 scholars, 174 being girls. • In 1866, a missionary from the Society of Friends entered upon missionary work at Benares. The mis- sion was afterwards transferred to Jubbalpore, and from thence to Hoshungabad on the Nerbudda. Two remarks may be made before leaving this part of the subject : first, one result of the terrible mutiny of 1857 is, that among the inhabitants of the N. W. Provinces generally there is observable a greater deference to the Christian religion, and an awakened spirit of enquiry unknown before ; second, much sym- pathy and material support have been given to the work by men holding high official positions. It is enough to mention the names of Lord Lawrence, Sir Herbert Edwardes, Sir Robert Montgomery, Sir Henry Havelock, Sir William Muir, and Sir Donald i 34 MISSIONARY SKETCHES. Macleod. In this respect what a change from former days ! * We pass on to the Bombay presidency. Of the city of Bombay, with a population of 644,000 souls, more than of London in the eye of the poet Cowper, it has been said : . " Oh, thou resort, and mart of all the earth, Chequered with all complexions of mankind ! " It is even so. Faces are seen there of every variety of hue from that of the fair northern European to that of the tropical African. Sir John Malcolm said that in the whole course of his inquiries in regard to the state of the different provinces of Persia, Arabia Affghanistan, Tartary, and even China, he had always been able to find a person in that city who was either a native of or had visited the country regarding which he desired information. Hence the importance of Bombay as a field of missionary labor, and as a centre whence diffusive influences may radiate in all directions. The first missionaries in this presidency, as already * The testimony borne by such men to mission work is parti- cuariy valuable. The following may be given by way of example : - Missionaries have done more to benefit India than all other Ww" n r ' ^"^"^ ''*^^^"^^>- " ^"^^y ('^^ missionaries have worked changes more extraordinary far in India than any^ thing witneesed in Modem Europe " (Sir Bartle Frere). n if iii: PROGRESS IM INDIA SINCE 1813. 35 :e from former ^ Of the city 00 souls, more it Cowper, it kind ! " every variety European to Malcolm said i in regard to ersia, Arabia, ke had always ho was either Eirding which nportance of >r, and as a radiate in all y, as already work is parti- ay of example : than all other e missionaries) tidia than any- rere). mentioned, were Messrs. Gordon Hall and Samuel Nott from the American Board, whose arrival from Calcutta on 11th February, 1813, in the circumstances described, was followed by a peremptor}'^ order of the Governor, Sir Evan, Nepean for their immediate deportation. Through the earnest and faithful re- monstrances to the Governor's conscience, contained in memorials addressed to him by Mr. Hall, they were happily allowed to remain. Gordon Hall possessed the true missionary spirit in an eminent degree. So strong was the desire to engage in the work that, while still pursuing his theological studies at Andover, he is said to have declared that " in case all other means of getting to the heathen in Asia should fail, he was ready to work his passage to India, and then throw himself, under Providence, upon his own re- sources." He labored there with untiring zeal until he was cut off by cholera on 20th M^rch, 1826, at Dhoorle-D'hapoor, 100 miles east of Bombay, whither he had gone on an itinerating tour. Within five years after Hall and Notts arrival, 25 schools, containing 1400 children of both sexes, had been opened in Bom- bay and at two other stations, and a considerable number of Christian works had oeen issued from the press. The Bombay Bible Society had also been formed in 1813, and through its instrumentality the Scriptures in various languages have been largely m tffT ■utrr" 36 MISSIONARY SKETCHES. droalated over the presidency and along the Malabar isfs' f"'^' ««^'°» in Bombay was founded in rV' u , , ; ' "Pei^ations were extended to Nasik a stronghold of Brahmanical supe^tition, and the nberl^'^r ^'""*^^'°"^'^ "Nasik boys" and other duXt P, ' ^^"^ '■•'''''^d- At a later date an in- dustrial Clmstian colony was established at Sharan- pore. near Nas.k. Kurrachee, Hyderabad. Aurunga- bad, ice were successively occupied. The Robert ^^^ i ^^un^ wuijv. wnen it became known to f.liP Tad a;;\l;?\''t'^»P''"' "»" M. Venkalalm Ih house irLr ? "■"■ "^'^ """'' *° ">» ^'-'»''- tor them t!°' ^° ^""'^ "«'='• *^''' utmost persuasion tor them to return home. Mr. Anderson said "their appeals to the youths and to him were more'tryinl to flesh and blood than anything he had ev r bXe wHnessed. and their look of desp'air and thcir^^:: when the young men remained, as they did firm mght have moved a heart of stone to pity therT"' After seventeen years of successful service^ur „gThe grea er n„„b „f ^^j^^ ^^ ^^^ « "gthe two like-minded colleagues. Robert Johnston and Jo^n Braidwood the honored founder was taken home to his rest and reward on 2oth March, 1854 Miller, the Institution has attained to a high state of PROGRESS IN INDIA SINCE 1813. 49 efficiency, and through his indefatigable exertions, and with the active co-operation and pecuniary assistance of the Church and Wesleyan Missionary Societies, it was in 1877 constituted into a regular Christian Col- lege for Southern India. It commands the confidence, and in one Way or another has the support of, all the Protestant churches at work in South India. The students on the roll in 1880 numbered 233. The spiritual aim of the College is thus described : — " To make Ci/i^ie revelation in its real sense and living power take hold upon the awakened and dis'ciplined intelligence of a people,— to change the current of their thought so that Christ shall be no longer misunder- stood, and therefore hated, but regarded as one to be listened to, honored, loved, yes, and lived and died for, by thoughtful and inquiring men And it is something that the tokens should be many, and in- creasing year by year, that the truth taught and the efibrts used meet some response in those for whose good we labor." Though this noble effort is believed to be fraught with most blessed consequences, the churches at home must learn to exercise patience in waiting for them in any large measure. The remark of Archbishop Whately may appropriately be quoted in this connection—" The man that is in a hurry to see the full eflfects of his own tillage must cultivate annuals and not forest trees." ! ii !:i .. ri 'm 50 MISSIONARY SKETCHES. The Medical Mission founded by the late Dr T. w Paterson, son of The Missionary ot^ant^ k^' Bupermtonded by Dr. William elffcr" ^^ adherents and «r. v.. ■ "leraDers, and eighty '"?. "ina an Hurasian conffreratinn ,.,;*], xt^- / members and 130 adherents hntf ll J "'"''y quarter, have grown ouTof it ^^Wooram in I': xZ^'itk W ™'' r ""'""^ '"^"' <" N«"- around Ch"nd nuf ^ T."''^.'" ""= "<"«>; at and ^eat ; and afcon W ^'""' '^'"^ *° *''^ """tt- Benares of S 1""^". *-» " -'^d as the Sid^r "^' " -" WLrrLd-rji i!f: 'e/tLiro:::;^iiVe:i7ee" inr 'v^^'^- a 4e::d":tat' fnoTrirthe^' rv^*" •'^^" CO— ty throuWrrh^rrin-dt du ™t Dr. D. H. ', now ably an impor- 3h Mission, lek Town, itients, of 0' has been ^ so that nd eighty ith thirty ^apooram •t Nellore ' ; at and he south - eput dis- l as the e of the and is a ock from n India, nference held at lad been hristian ing the PROGRESS IN INDIA SINCE 1813. 51 prev'ods twenty years. Thus, the 95,000 Protestant Christians of 1857 had grown in 1861 to 125,000; in 1871 to 192,000 ; arid in 1878 to 328,000. It is added: " Special causes, such as the late famine, tend greatly to enlarge the accessions, but additions are constantly being made through influences that are always oper- ative." Bishop Sargent, at the same conference, after men- tioning that there are fifty-eight native clergymen in connection with the Church Missionary Society in Tin- nevelly, and that he had made it a rule to have every one of them supping with him once every six months, when a few short speeches are made by such of them as have anything to say, stated that he was greatly touched by the remarks of the first who spoke. The substance of what the native clergyman referred to said was this : " I see in the event of this evening a most powerful argument in favor of our holy religion and of what it has done for us. Here are about fifty men of various castes sitting down together in peace. Fifty years ago you might as well have expected to see fifty royal tigers sitting down in peace at the same meal as to see such a sight as this." The progress of Christianity in India during the last three decades will be seen at a glance from the following statistics, collected by the Rev. B. H. Badley, iti "i 'l/ III!! if i If Hi 52 MISSIONARY SKETCHES Of LucknoTir, for his Indian Mission 1881 :— Foreign Missionaries, Urdamed Native do Native Christians, Native Communicants, ary Directory for 1851. 339 21 91,092 14,661 1881. 68^ 389 340,623 102,444 if' Ill rectory for 1881. 689 1 389 340,623 102,444 11. WORK AMONG THE WOMEN. pHRISTIANITY is the only religion that gives to VJ woman her rightful place. In every heathen land she is degraded from it. The degradation may in some respects be deeper in Africa, and in the South Sea Islands, than it is in India. The seclusion and inaccessibility, too, which so universally prevail in the case of Indian females, is also to be found in a greater or less degree in other lands— notably in Mohamme- dan countries. But the lot of women in India is so exceptional, so peculiarly hard, so inexpressibly sad, that a separate chapter may well be devoted to the subject. Consider THEIR CONDITION. Mentally, it is low. The merest trifles engage their attention. They are taken up with their bodily orna- ments and household articles. Of intellectual amuse- iil.i. , ! a ! I'l ill 54 MISSIONARY SKETCHES. A Hindu Woman. WORK AMONG THE WOMEN. 00 ments they know absolutely notl: mg. The only re- creations in which they indulge, are quarrelling, gam- ing, or idle conversation on low and degrading topics. They are incapacitated from acquiring knowledo-e ; and there is observable in them in a marked deo-ree the absence of that sharpness, amounting in the case of many to acuteness, found in the other sex. Nor need this be matter of surprise. Their minds are a blank. Of education in even the narrowest sense of the term, they have received none. Though not ex- pressly forbidden in the Shas+ras, and though at one time enjoyed, to some extent at least, it came to be entirely neglected and discountenanced. It is re- garded as unnecessary and even hurtful to women, who are looked upon and treated as inferior beings. The popular sentiment among Hindus is, that educa- tion may be an accomplishment for " dancing girls," but not for any who were expected to maintain any respectability of character,— that ignorance and seclu- sion are essential to the honor of the family. Hence it is extremely difficult to secure the attention of the women upon any but the most commonplace topics. Their intelligence, in point of fact, is confined to the material things to be found with the walls of the Zenana. The depression of.ages has told upon them ; and it will take generations of Christian training ere the effect of this depression is removed. ym it! 'Ill ■I 56 MISSIONAHY SKETCHES. ;i, i" '; -n Their condition is also low, morally— lowev even than that of the male sex. According to the Hindu Shastras, " falsehood, cruelty, bewitching folly, covet- ousness, impurity, and unmercifulness, are woman's inseparable faults." She "can never act on her own responsibility." Her " sin is greater than that of man, and cannot be removed by the atonements which destroy his." Such are women, morally, as described m the Hindu books; and the description is realized m actual fact. Her condition, in short, is one of moral insensibility. But let us consider how woman is treated in India Female children are hated from their very birth That event is not hailed by the father as it usually is m Christian lands. On the contrary, he is ashamed to own the fact. Alas ! for the unhappy mother who has given birth to a large family of daughters. She never fails in such a case to become an object of aversion to her husband. He takes no interest what- ever m the future welfare of the female children His sole concern is with his sons, whom he regards as the props of his old age, and as the ornaments and lights of the family. Then comes the Hindu girl's marriage, usually between her seventh and tenth year, though in many cases m.uch earlier. Henceforth her liberty (in Bengal, at lea^t) is practically at an end She muat confine herself to the precincts of the Zenana WORK AMONG THE WOMEN. 67 It is a virtual imprisonment for the rest of her life So late as 1857, the fact of a native gentleman having taken a lady of his own family a drive on the Maidan, or course, near the city, was spoken of as a marvel, and brought down upon the bold reformer no small amount of ridicule. Nor is there much to solace and cheer her within the narrow limits of the Zenana. The celebration of the nuptials is the only occasion when the wife is allowed to eat with her husband. It is enjoined, too, in the Shastras, that women are not to be much loved : " let them," it is said, " have only that degree of affection which is necessary ; let the fulness of affection be reserved for brothers and other similar connections." The wife " is to live for her husband, to work for him, to suffer for him, and to die with him. By all means," it is added, " if she survive him, she must remain a widow." This en- forced widowhood is the bitterest ingredient in the cup of sorrow, which woman in India is called to drink. By surrendering herself to be burned on the funeral pile along with her husband, the highest merit was acquired. This cannot now be secured. Instead, she has to submit to a worse fate, even to a living death in the recesses of the Zenana. Widowhood is regarded as a condition of reproach and disgrace, and therefore it is one of the greatest calamities that can befall her. The life of a Hindu widow, especially if, 4 !MI 1 ! 1 r* 58 MISf ^NARY SKETCHES. ! jjj 1^ III? m 1!. as happens in the case of many of them, she falls into the state while still young, is one of extreme wretch- edness. She is the domestic drudge. Not unfrequently does she in substance pray. " O gods and goddesses, let me die; I choose rather to die than to live." Her woes, it has been said, never have been, nev r can be fully told. Her sad thought is well expressed in the lollowing lines : — " And death and life she hated equally And nothing saw, for her despair But dreadful time, dreadful eternity, No comfort anywhere." « It has been estimated, that of the hundred millions or thereby of females in India, more than two millions are widows ! There is thus in the case of the females, a continuity of misery extending from the cradle to the grave As strikingly put by another, they are " unwelcormd at their birth, untaught in childhood, enslaved when married, accursed as widoivs, unlamented when they die." Consider now the EFFORTS FOR THEIR ENLIGHTENMENT. The earliest effort on behalf of the females of Bengal originated with some ladies of East Indian extraction who attended the seminary of Miss Lawson and Mrs' WORK AMONG THE WOMEN. 59 Pearce, the wives of the Baptist missionaries in Cal- cutta. In an address circulated in April, 1819, araonff the friends of the Baptist Mission, the formation of a school for the education of ITindt. o females was pro- posed. Nothing of the ki id then existed. As the result, the " Calcutta Fema'e-'uveni'e Society for the Education of Native Female? " >i^9 drawn from the poorer castes. Mil 111 f ft ii ■M ■ is I % 70 i sr"? MISSIONARY SKETCHES. It may be added here, a^ showing the extent to which the cause had takx h.,a ol" the public mind that the natives of Madras took up tlie work In this respect they were in advance of their brethren in iiengal. There were in 1855 six native female schools m .dadrasand its neighborhood, originated, conducted and supported by HinduH. Similar schools existed at Bangalore, Cuddalore, and elsewhere in the same Presidency. These schools were, of course, very de- tective, especially as regards their Tion- Christian character. But their establishment was a step ir he right direction, and, therefore, to be joyfully hailed In 1840, the Rev. Thomas (now Dr.) Smith, of the ^ree Church mission, wrote an article in the Calcutta Christian Observer, in which a plan was sketched for the domestic education of the females of the upper classes. In its main feature H was a very simple one Finding that ^he claM of c^ .Idren referred to could not be drawn oat to the school, he proposed that teachers should go to them. The proposal was appar- ently regarded ;.s premature at ail events, it met with no practical response at the time. At length m the beginning of 1855, Mr. Su- I^h having " obtained the consent of several h ,ly ntelligent B^boos to admit a governess, and , y I her services, on the clear understanding that s!ie would be free to mpart religious instruction," the arrangement was carried to i ; WORK AMONG THE WOMEN. 71 a practical issue through the indefatigable exertions of the Rev. John Fordyce, who, with his wife, had been, in 1852, appointed to the superintendence of the boarding-school connected with the Free Church Mission. This appears to have been the first success- ful attempt, by the employmi ,i of a regular Zenana agency, to give systematic direction to the incipient effoits of Miss Mary Bird, who from 1823 to 1833 was the first to find her way into the Zenanas of Calcutta. The late Mrs. Mullens afterwards rendered important 5 rvice in this same field. '"he work of instruction in the Zenana was uphill at txie outset, owing to the extreme ignorance of the womr • on every subject except the commonest house- hold matte s. The important thing was to secure their confi* ce and affection. Besides the gospels, the books read to them are such as the following : " The Peep of Day," " Line upon Line," " Pilgrim's Progress," " Barth's Bible Stories," " The Young Cot- tager," " The Dairyman's Daughter," " ^sop's Fab' ,,' " Peter Parley's Universal History," &c. This agency is now extensively employed, and has already proved a great blessing to many Indian homes. Its tentative character, however, must not be lost sight of. For the present it is a necessity, and its value cannot be over-estimated. But the object contem- .Ml ' -S r plated will be best fulfill-d- only indeed be 72 MISSIONARY SKETCHES. attained— when the barriersof ages have been entirely broken down, and the daughters of India have unre- stricted liberty to attend the various day schools of the country. The Education Dispatch of 1854 by the Court of Directors introduced a new era for the enlightenment of the females. It opened still wider the door. Hitherto the work had been promoted by private benevolence. Henceforth it was to be aided from the National exchequer. The following are the important paragraphs of the Dispatch in this relation :— " Our views apply alike to all schools and institutions, whether male or female, Anglo-vernacular, or verna-' ^"^^^ The importance of female education in India cannot be overrated ; and we have observed with pleasure the evidence which is now afforded of an increased desire on the part of many of the natives of India to give a good education to their daughters. By this means a far greater proportional impulse is imparted to the educational and moral tone of the people than by the education of men. We have already observed that schools for females are included among those to which grants-in-aid may be given ; and we cannot refrain from expressing our cordial sympathy with the efforts which are being made in this direction. Our Governor-General in Council has declared, in a communication to the Government of WORK AMONO THE WOMEN. 78 Bengal, that the Government ought to give to native female education its cordial support. In this we heartily concur." A further advance was made when, in May, 1857, Dr. Duff opened his school for high caste girls. It was at first held in the house of a Brahmin, kindly given for the purpose — a proceeding that brought down upon him no small amount of persecution on the part of his more bigoted co-religionists. Convey- ances had, of course, to be provided for the girls. The movement was a great success. At the first examina- tion, sixty-two were reported as on the roll. On the second occasion. Colonel (afterwards Sir Henry) Durand presided. Sir Bartle Frere also giving an encouraging address. The first convert from the school was baptized in 1864, Mrs. Chatterjya, her instructress, and now for many years the superinten- dent, being herself the first female convert of the mission. During 1880, the average monthly number on the roll was 103, the fees amounting to 409 rupees. No less remarkable has been the success attending what is known as the Chetty Girls' School in Madras. The Chetties are a caste by themselves, living in Chetty Street, and belong to the better class of society. They are stronglj wedded to their super- stitions, and from the first have given the mission uncompromising opposition, Mr= Braidwood made the 5 'll 74 MISSIONARY SKETCHES. first attempt to let the light in among them by the estabhshment of a school, but it failed • through the virulent hostility called forth. It was renewed in 1870 by Mr. Rajahgopaul, who hired a room, and started with nine pupils. Happily, the persistent efforts of the more bigoted Chetties to ruin the school proved unsuccessful. The number of girls attending It steadily increased ; and in April, 1876, it was trans- terred lo a handsome and commodious building which had been erected in Chetty Street at a cost of fl.SOO tlie Governor of Madras presiding on the occasion! The school IS now firmly established, and had an attendance last year of 105 girls, the fees paid amount- ing to 190 rupees. Among the various agencies at work throughout India for the enlightenment of the females! the ^ocieiyfor Promoting Female Education in the East holds the foremost place. It wa. formed in 1834 after an appeal from the Rev. David Abeel, a dis- tinguished American missionary in China. It deserves to be noted also that the Society for Promoting the Christian Education of the Females of India, in con- nection with the Church of Scotland- which in 1843 split into two-was formed in 1837, chiefly through the active exertions of Captain Jameson from Bom- bay. The Indian Female Normal School Instruction Society, having chiefly in view the raising up of qual- WORK AMONG THE WOMEN. 75 ified native female teachers and Zenana agents, was established in 1850. Important service, too, has been rendered to the cause of female education by the Christian Vernacular Education Society for India. It was instituted in 1858, as a memorial of the Mutiny. Its main desigil is that "of establishing in India Christian Vernacular Training Institutions for School- masters and Schoolmistresses, and of supplying school- books and other educational works, prepared on Christian principles." Within the last few months the Mission Board of the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland have made a new departure by the forma- tion of a Ladies' Auxiliary for the vigorous prosecution of Zenana work. Nor must the eminent services rendered by the Woman's Boards of Missions in the United States of America be unacknowledged. The work in their hands has developed to a wonderful uxtent, and is being carried forward with a zeal and energy that are worthy of all praise. "Oh ! Britain's favored isle ! what honor thine, O'er thee, in one full blaze, those glories shine ; Loud rings the vales along,— thy coasts around. The trumpet of the gospel's joyful sound. To thee this parting message comes, — ' Transfuse In every land— in every clime — the news Of full and free salvation ; till one song Of heavenly praise bunsts from the world's vast throng,' 76 MISSIONARY SKETCHES. Behold ! before the throne who glittering stand- Tuning their harps with glad and loud acclaim isingmg the glories of tiieir 'Saviour's name ? 'Tis India's daugliters ! a rejoicing band, Led by your means, to rest in that bright land Of heavenly peace and sinless joy." ' I ifi ill '1 M, THE KARENS. THE Karens, estimated at not less than 5,000,000, are divided into three great classes, each class embracing many clans or sub-clans. The wildest and most warlike of these are the Bghais ; and the reports regarding this tribe were so unfavorable, that much anxiety was felt as to who should venture to introduce Christianity among them. A perpetual struggle was maintained between the Burmans and the Karens. The former sought by every means in their power, to bind upon the latter the fetters of slavery: while they, on the other hand, fought for independence, taking refuge from their oppressors, like our own Highlanders of a former day, in inaccessible glens and mountain fastnesses in the interior. The Karens are described as " a rude, wandering race, drawing their principal support from the streams that flow through the valleys, and from the natural products of their native mountains." They had many singular traditions relating to the origin of the human -1 '!Wi I . 78 MISSIONARY SKETCHES. race, he fall, the flood, etc. There, many believe, must have been received from the Jews; which seem^ pro- bab e enough, masnmch as the Jews are said to have made their way to China several centuries before the Christian era. Dr. M'Gowan, in a paper read before the British Association, in 1860, stated that he found evidence of the existence of a numerous colony of Jews in the city of Chintu about a century before the birth of Christ, and that in all probability some of them made their way to the mountainous regions lying between China and Burmah. He is also of opinion that they were either the progenitors, or that through them the Karens derived their Old Testament tradi- tions, buch a supposition is more likely when it is remembered that it was said to Israel, " The Lord shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other " (Deut. xxviii. 64) The existence of such traditions is important, as explain- ing the readiness with which this singular people welcomed the Gospel message. Soon after Judson's arrival in Rangoon,his attention was arrested by small parties of strange, wild-looking men, who trom time to time passed his residence He was told they were Karens, and that " they were as untameable as the wild cow of the mountains " The growing interest which he felt in them was communi- cated to the Burmese converts, one of whom finding THE KARENS. 79 !ve, must (ms pro- to have fore the d before le found >lony of fore the jome of ns lying opinion through t tradi- m it is rd shall : of the )• 'Tiie xplain- people tention ooking e. He verc as ' The imuni- Liiding, during the war (1824-26), a poor Karen debtor-slave in Rangoon, paid his debt, and thus became, according to the custom of the country, his temporary master. This was no other than Ko Thah-byu, " the ignorant Karen" who afterwards came to be known as " the Karen apostle." Passion and rudeness, as well as ignorance, at that time characterized him in an extraordinary degree ; but the light gradually dawned on his dark mind, and the power of the Holy Spirit in subduing his ungovernable temper was per- ceptible. In him emphatically were the words ful- filled, " If any man be in Christ he is a new creature" (2 Cor. V. 17), and through him access was gained to the Karen race. In connection with the first attempt to introduce Christianity among them, Mr. Wade mentions that when Judson and he, along with several Burman con- verts, arrived at a Karen village, about twenty miles north of Maulmein, every man, woman, and child deserted their dwellings ard hid themselves in the jungle. After a time a few of the men ventured out to ascertain their object. On learning that it was to tell them about the true God and the way of salvation, they replied, " Oh, ip that your object ? We thought you were Governmnjt "- ""'"" '""""■"^ ''" ™--' weal tor the book m their own language; and on Mr Wade prom,s,ng that he would wrfte hon.e for a wr.tmg. and translate God's word for them, one old man ot about threescore and ten. on being tdd tl^ In could be accomplished in ten years, Exclaimed The work was accordingly "at once" begun, and in due fme completed. The task was one of no o dinarv clm.culty The Karens had not even a written alphl^ bet Ere long, however, Mr. Wade, aided by Dr. Mason and others, reduced their language to writing. And wh. e the translation of the Scriptures into Bur"-' mc e had previously (1834) been accomplished by the bono % '"" ,""^''''-"- J«'' -med belongs the honor of giving the Karens the Bible in their own tongue^ Great was the joy of the Karens. •• They felt the,ns,lve,. trom being tribes of crushed, down trodden s aves, suddenly elevated into a nation with every facility for possessing a national literature" ad God s ley care- heii, as a without it appea] on Mr. e for a uce it to one old old that lairned : >u must >egin at , and in rdi nary- alpha- by Dr. ^ritinfr. 'O Bur- ed by •elonors ir own ey felt down- , vvith THE KARENS. 81 It was necessary for some time to hold communica- tion with these Karens through an interpreter, — always an unsatisfactory mode of reaching the hearts and consciences of a heathen people. Notwithstand- ing, the truth made rapid progress. It received a great impetus when the first reading-books, which were detached portions of the Gospels, were circulated. To these the Holy Spirit gave regenerating power. The result was, that all through the mountain fast- nesses, where the foreign foot had never trod, churches sprang up. While Judson and Wade were thus enrrao-ed in Maulmein and in the neighboring Karen villages, Boardman and Ko Thah-byu were indefatigable in their efforts to spread the truth among the Karens in the Province of Tavoy. Two of the most intelligent of the converts, of whom there were a larrre number, were sent to the school in Maulmein established by Judson for the Karens, in order to acquire their own language, both having previously learned to read Bur- man. One of these was afterwards ordained pastor of one of the largest churches in Tavoy ; the other was San Quala,the well-known Karen preacher to Toungoo, who, as the child of Karen parents, born and brought up in a wild m.ountain glen, was the first to receive the Gospel message when proclaimed in his father's house by the^faithf ul Ko Thah-byu. He was baptized in Tavoy in December, 1830. 82 MISSIONARY SKETCHES. Ko Thah-byu was animated by an intense hatred , .■""latfy, and by an unconquerable desire to pro- ckim the gospel to his fellow-men. It was as a fire ^i" 7 I" : T'- ^"'' ^''"'' ''«' "«'=" """tinned his speech not only till midnight, but even till break of ,hf ' /; r' '°'='=''"»""y ™™Pied, and seemed incap- able of fatigue. And he wrought to good purpose mountains of Tavoy, through his self-denying labors came flocking to learn the truth from his ifps. Board-' man was in consequence much encouraged ; and in writing to his mother at this time says: " If you a.,k whether I regret having come to Burmah, I promptly ^,r\ °- V • • ^° ^P^^''^ "-^ gospel 'through Burmah IS worth a thousand lives " In December, 1830, Mrs. Boardman writes : « God IS displaying His power and grace among the Karens in a wonderful manner. Since our return from Maut lZ:r ^T' "* ''™™' ™"'P'">'^^ ""' t» hear the gospel. At one time upwards of forty came and stayed four days, listening to the doctrines of the cros., with an attention and solemnity that would have done credit to a Christian congregation." She then refers to a chieftain, named Moung So, who, after his conversion went from house to house, and from vil! lage to village, giving away portions of Scripture and expounding the word. This was no uncommon pr". \w THE KARENS. 83 B hatred ! to pro- as a fire mtinued break of d incap- purpose, distant f labors, Board - and in 7on ask omptly hrough : " God Karens I Maul- ar the e and of the d have 3 then ter his m vil- fe and n pro- ceeding; on the contrary, it is one of the marked features of the work, and largely accounts for its great success. On 1st January, 1831, Boardman records in his journal : " I am travelling with hasty steps to my long home." At the end of the same month, Mr. Mason, who had been designated by the Board in America to assist him, arrived just in time to witness his trium- phant death. Being anxious once more, before he died, to visit the Karens in their jungle homes, he was carried to a sv/eet solitude on the banks of a beautiful stream, at the foot of a mountain range, where the people had just finished a zayat, and where many Karens were assembled, of whom about fifty were waiting to bo baptized. The ceremony was- witnessed by Boardman, but it was almost too much for his exhausted strength. Early the following morning, the mission band set out on their return journey ; but Boardman's gentle spirit fled as he was being carried to the boat. Mason entered heart and soul into Boardman's labors, and henceforward the work made amazing progress. One evening, on returning from a preach- ing excursion, his attention was arrested by the fine form of a Sgau chief, sitting at Mrs. Mason's feet, and earnestly imploring her to visit him and his tribe in their jungle homes. His wish was acceded to ; but 84 MIS.-ilONARV SKETCHES. five long years passed before this chief was able fully o renounce heathenism and to declare himself a fol lower of Christ. But no sooner had he taken up a deeded position, and, like the other chief, already li.tn w ZT',^ fellow.Iaborer in diifusing the l.Jtht he himself had received, than not only the mem- bers of h,s family, but all under his influence felt t^e power of the new faith. e„.ilrri ""'."' ^"""'"^ "'is'^ionaries to Burmah, Kin- caid holds a deservedly high place. While laboring successfully in Eangoon, it was often said to him Why do you not go to Ava and to all the great cities pamed bj , ,. w,fe and sister, and three native assistants, with large supplies of tracts and Scr.ptule portions Au first they were refused even ..h! Iter aYd : TT "' '.'^ ^""^"^ ^«''^^"' -"^ '" ^r writW Th """"'^'t'y 'h^'-^'^fter we find Kincaid writ ng . The very thing that ought to rejoice mv heart often troubles me ; it is the numbers fhat Tre flocking to the verandah to read and hear the word ot Ood . .Sometimes forty or fifty come inata time" The interest excited among all classes was very remarkable. " It seemed like the waking „p of he popular mind to the light of Christian ^truV he commencement of a mighty and speedy revolution in the country." Among other. bapLed'was a pri^" rf THE KARENS. 85 considerable learning, and a popular expounder of Booddhism. Let us now see how the converts bore t^ mselves under trial. In 1835 a violent persecution jke out. The first victim of it was Ko Salone, one of the three evangelists who accompanied Kincaid to Ava, and who on his return to Rangoon boldly lifted up his voice in favor of the true religion "beneath the frowning despotism of a Burman court." He was thrown into prison, beaten and loaded with chains ; but his faith never wavered. " Wliether efore the tribunal of Burman magistrates, or under the lashes of the perse- cutors, or in the loathsome dungeon, he bore all with the meek and holy fortitude of the Christian martyr. Though repeatedly threatened with death unless he would abjure the faith and worship Guadama, ho trusted unwaveringly in God, and exhibited a noble p fctern of the Christian character. After a time he was released from prison." But soon thereafter his spirit took its flight to the mansions above. The persecutioi 'xtended to the Karens in the dis- trict of Maubee, where, through Ko Thah-byu's unwearied labors, multitudes of men, women, and children were anxiously enquiring about the religion of Jesus, earnestly desiring schools, and offering to build zayats for preaching. They were subjected by their Burman oppressors to heav-- fines and taxation, for refusing to worship the false gods of the country. '■ tk %^ #. *r-^ & .0^'^ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET {MT-3) ^ '^ 1.0 I.I 11.25 2.5 2.2 2.0 18 LA. 11 1.6 V] ^ //, / ^.^> W/j. W Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 m \ S> I' I ii 86 MISSIONARY SKETCHES. Some of them had to fly to distant regions to escape from the fury of the storm. Followt d by the faithful Ko Thah-byu, the gospel thus came to be published in districts previously unvisited. This tirst Karen convert and honored preacher died in 1840. " No mound marks his grave, no storied urn his resting- place ; but the eternal -nountains are his monument and the Christian villages that clothe their sides are his epitaph." The fiftieth anniversary of the baptism of this tirst convert was held at Bassein on the lf3th May, 1878, when a large memorial hall, bearing his name, was dedicated for Christian worship, and a school for 300 boys, Ko Thah-byu's widow, the first Karen female ever baptised, was present on the occasion. During the cold season of 1842-43, in consequence of a royal order to exterminate the white people and the religion of the foreigner, the persecutions were renewed. Whole families were seized and often cruelly beaten. Mothers were separated from their children, and were driven like sheep to prison. Writ- ing of these Karen Christians, Mr. Abbot says : " The noble, fearless testimony which these prisoners bear to the faith, has given to the cause notoriety and character. Hundreds left the fields they could no longer cultivate, and fled . across the mountains into Arracan, where, under British protection, the v enjoyed at least the privilege of freedom to worship God." THE KARENS. 87 to escape le faithful published rst Karen <0. " No s resting- lonnment ' sides are e baptism the 16th taring his ip, and a , the first I on the isequence eople and ons were tid often ■om their 1. Writ- ya : " The ners bear riety and could no ains into T^ enjoyed Glod." The later years of Judson's life were largely devoted to the preparation of a dictionary in English and Burman, a work which had been often urged upon him, but to which he had a strong aversion. Begun in 1841, it was not completed in 1849, when, towards the end of it, he was seized with a violent cold. He gradually declined, and was at last recommended to take a sea voyage, as holding out the only hope of recovery. He was carried on board ; but little more than a week elapsed when he breathed his last. His remains were committed to an ocean grave. This was on the 12th April, 1850. Thus passed avv^ay Adoniram Judson, one of the heroes of modern missions — one who " was always true to his own noble nature, com- bining the warm affections of a man with the strength, simplicity, and directness of an apostle of the living God." Toungoo is the ancient capital of the kingdom. It lies nearly midway between Rangoon and Ava, being about 240 miles north of the one place and 200 south of the other. It is the sanitarium of Burmah. The province of the same name having been annexed to our empire in 1852, Dr. and Mrs. Mason, whose na.-nes and abundant labors are inseparably associated with this mission field, started on their first visit in Novem- ber, 1853. They were the first Christian missionaries who had ever entered that territory. At the end uf a I i t i ft 88 MISSIONARY SKETCHES, week, Mason gave a Karen tract to one, telling him to show it to all upon the mountains who woui^ listen. " Three weeks after, a chief, with about forty followers, presented himself. Being seated, he care- fully unrolled some plantain leaves which he had in his hand. Leaf after leaf was laid aside, until at last the little tract appeared, which he reverently pre- sented to Mrs. Mason, begging her to explain its con- tents." This was done. A Karen teacher was settled among them. Demon-worship was abandoned. The chief and many of his tribe embraced Christianity. And several flourishing churches were established. On a later occasion, the visit of another chief, a tall, finely-formed man, carrying a long bamboo spear, and accompanied by a party of strange-looking Karens, led to the commencement . irk among the Taubeagh tribe, whose dwellings v.ore among the lofty mountains to the east of Toungoo. Previous to leaving Toungoo, Mason was anxious to find a man who would be willing to go to the wild Bghais, a tribe which had never yet been visited. Shupau, a boatman, wa,', asked whether he would go to the Bghais for four rupees a month. " No, teacher," he replied, "I could not go for four rupees a month, but I could do it for Christ."' He was accordingly ordained, went as a missionary to that singular people, was much blessed, and after having baptized 1.000 of V:\ THE KARENS. 89 illing him 10 WOUi^ >out forty he care- be had in til at last ntly pre- 1 its con- as settled ed. The istianity. ished. : chief, a •00 spear, 5-looking long the ong the anxious the wild visited, vould go :eacher," . month, ordingly r people, 1,000 of them, and established some forty churches, went on a mission to the Shans or Red Karens, who are spoken of as the merchant princes of Burmah, and for whom till then little or nothing had been done. San Quala, after being well instructed by Dr. Mason, was ordained on the 28th April, 1844. He was the first Karen missionary to Toungoo, which he reached in December, 1853. The first baptism took place in the following month. Before ^the close of the year, 741 had been baptized ; and at the end of 1856, on Mason's return from America, tue church members had increased to 2640. San Quala's success as a Karen preacher was only equalled by that of Ko Thah-byu. The Karen Education Society was formed in 1857 and embracos boarding-schools, the National Female Institute, and a Young Men's Normal School. No fewer than eighty-six chiefs became members of this Society. In more recent years, the Propagation Society has established missions in this field, among other towns, at Rangoon, Maulmein, Toungoo, and Mandalay, at which last-named place a church, munificently built and presented to the mission by the King of Burmah, was consecrated in 1873. In the same year. Dr. Mason had resolved upon a mission to the Shans, an aborig- inal race at Bhanio, on the upper waters of the Irra- 6 ! ; I ' m 90 MISSIONARY SKETCHES. waddy; but his death, which occurred soon after, interfered with the carrying out of the project. It was resumed in 1877; written permission for the erection of the necessary buildings was obtained from the king ; and a large reinforcement was sent out by the Society in America to carry forward the work, not only at Bhamo, but also at the older stations. The last returns of the mission of the American Baptist Missionary Union show that there are laboring in connection with that Board throughout the provinces of British Burmah, and the kingdom of Burmah, still under native rule, 92 ordained missionaries, and 447 native preachers ; that there are 432 churches, with a membership of 21,968. The pupils under instruction number about 6,500. There is a College at Rangoon, and a Theological Seminary for the Karens. The mission press at Rangoon is a most valuable auxiliary, no fewer than 154,000 pages of Scripture portions, tracts, and school books having been issued during the year ending with September, 1880. As there are still large regions of unleavened hea- thenism in this field to be evangelised, the Union is resolved not to rest " until the Sal wen and the Irra- waddy and the Brahmapootra are as truly Christian streams as are the Hudson and the Ohio and the Mississippi." il' THE KARENS. 91 The Romish Church, ever on the alert, has also planted missions at important centres, among others, Toungoo, where, on different parts of the neighboring mountains, prieats have been settled. III i i'i t '■ 4 CHINA. ' 11*'^ 1 I.— CLOSED. THE Chinese Empire, with a population variously estimated at from 300,000,000 to 400,000,000, is about eighteen times larger than Great Britain, exceeds in extent the continent of Europe, and comprises one- tenth of the habitable globe. Well might Mr. Spur- geon exclaim, " How vast the area ; how profound the need ; how urgent the claims of that vast Empire ! " For forty centuries it has enjoyed a certain measure of civilization. Paper, for example, was first made about A.D. 150, and the art of printing was discovered in the tenth century. The oldest existing record of antiquity, graven on the rocks of Hung-Shan about 250 years before the call of Abraham, commemorates some great engineering works; while one of their classical writings was composed by the Emperor Wun- Wang, about a century previous to the rei^n of Da\'id. CHINA — CLOSED. 93 The great wall of China, a stupendous work extending over 1,500 miles of country, crossing hills and rivers, was erected about 200 years before the Christian era. Considerable attainments had also been made in astro- nomical science. But Chinese civilization is stereotyped. It has made no progress for many centuries; and withal they are a heathen people, manifesting those features of heathenism which, in their broad outlines, are to be found elsewhere — superstitious, idolatrous, debasing, cruel. These various considerations consti- tute a very strong argument in favor of the adoption of this va.?t empire as a field of missionary labor. In the latter end of 1804, the London Missiovary Society resolved to send a mission to China. The Directors were encouraged in this by an offer of ser- vice previously made Jby Robert Morrison, a man admirably qualified to lead the van in such a hr-'a.rd- ous enterprise. At that time China was all buu i er- metically sealed, against the introduction not only of missionaries, but even of foreigners, as such. But this only intensified Morrison's desire to go. His expressed hope was, " tha<^ God would station him in that part of the mission field where the difficulties were the greatest, and to all human appearance the most insurmountable." Having spent two years in acquiring the language, and in other special prepara- tory studies, in which he made great progress, he set ! t i ! i> i i i 1 / 94 MISSIONARY SKETCHES. mh sail on the 31st January, 1807, for Canton, which was reached on the 7th September. Canton was then the only port where a sort of restricted commerce, for the sake of foreign supplies for the teeming millions of " the Celestial Empire," was allowed. On his arrival Morrison obtained accommodation in the basement storey of an American factory, which was used as a warehouse room. Here he remained for several months, assiduously devoting himself to study, in which he received most valuable assistance from a Roman Catholic Chinaman from Peking, whose services Sir George Staunton had secured for him. His residence there, however, was far from comfortable or free from embarrassment. His friends were in constant fear of the political consequences that might ensue. After a time he renjoved to the French fac- tory, which was more comfortable, besides being more conveniently situated. He adopted at the outset the habits and dress of the natives, with whom he almost exclusively associated. Under bis incessant labors and the observance of a too rigid economy, his health became seriously impaired, and a change to Macao was accordingly recommended. He proceeded there on the 1st June, 1808, in a depressed state of mind, accompanied by his Chinese assistants. In restored health he returned to Canton about the end of August. But difficulties immediately afterwards arose between CHINA — CLOSED. 95 the Chinese Government and the British Government in India, which caused much anxiety, and resulted in the removal of all Englishmen from Canton. This necessitated a second visit to Macao. It was on this occasion that Morrison's marriage to Miss Morton, the eldest daughter of the family with whom he tempor- arily resided, was consummated. Such, however, was the difficulty of retaining his position at Macao, that he had actually made preparations to leave for Penang, in the hope of there continuing the study of the lan- guage, when on the very day of his marriage, by an unexpected interposition of divine providence, the offer to act as Chinese translator to the East India Company's factory was made to him, and accepted. " Upon this incident the great usefulness of Morrison's life turned ; and by this, we may believe, the immortal interests of millions were decided." Both events hap- pened on the 20th February, 1808. This official connection with the factory secured his residence in China, relieved hh rom all pecuniary anxiety, and enabled him more effectually to devote himself to his studies. Already a Chinese vocabulary had been prepared, and considerable progress made with a grammar and dictionary. The translation of the New Testament was also so far advanced that Morrison resolved to test the practicability (of which he was doubtful) of i t i : i 1 i 11 i il \ I r::»«»i •. "^':^^^|^^^ t> iili;F« ^^* CHINA — CLOSED. 97 ^^ 1 (i_. •< Y. Miit' W4 1- d 7, '/lv*"i*i ^^ iwi!;'i M Hji t ' s Ki' o El, ' H Mlk s- Hjv. pa Hl /' •«! ^ri PQ s < m V passinj,' the Acts of the Apostles through the press. The attempt happily succeeded. Other portions of Scripture soon followed ; and about the same time a catechism, along with several tracts, were issued. The grammar was printed at Seramporo in 1815, at the expense of the East India Company. Events now occurred which threatened seriously to arrest Morrison's missionary labors, and tried his fait/h in no small degree. An edict i.ssued by order of the Emperor made the printing of books on the Chris- tian religion in Chinese a capital crime. The authorities in England were beginning to frown upon Morrison's missionary pursuits. Some of their representatives in China viewed them as inimical to the commercial interests of the Company, and we are therefore not surprised to learn that the Directors terminated his official connection with the Company's establisliiHont. But although ceasing to be a regular servant of tlie Company, his services were too important to be alto- gether dispensed with, and on all occasions of difficulty or danger they were called into requisition. Other discouragements resulting from the edict were met with, not the least being the seizure by the Chinese Government of the type-cutter.s who were employed in cutting the type for the dictionary ; the destruction by the cutters, through fear of the consequences, o£ the blocks for the duodecimo edition of the New Tes- m 98 MISSIONARY SKETCHES. tament ; and the loss of all the copies of the Scriptures that had been printed. A timely grant of £1,000 from the British and Foreign Bible Society enabled him to proceed with a second edition of the New Testament. The translation of the entire Bible in Chi- nese, completed by Morrison and Milne in 1818, was carried through the press in 1821. While Morrison w^s stationed at Macao, he was joined by Mr. (afterwards Dr.) and Mrs. Milne. But so intense was the feeling of hostility, that Milne, at the instigation of the Romish clergy, was peremptorily ordered off in eight days. He accordingly went to Canton, and was followed by Morrison, who for nearly four months aided him in the study of the language. His longe r continuance at Canton becoming increas- ingly hazardous, it was deemed expedient that he should make a tour of the chief Chinese settlements in the Malay Archipelago. Among other objects accomplished by this tour, the most important, per- haps, was the establishment of a mission at Malacca, where he labored with much success until 1822, when he was removed by death. In the hope of recruiting his health, which was much impaired by incessant sedentary labor, and of awakening an interest in the mission, Morrison deter- mined towards the close of 1823, though with exceed- ing reluctance, to pay a visit to his native land. No CHINA — CLOSED. 99 criptures f £1,000 enabled the New !e in Chi- 818, was he was le. But Milne, at smptorily went to or nearly anguage. increas- that he itlements r objects ant, per- Malacca, 22, when bich was r, and of on deter- 1 exceed- ad. No missionary having yet arrived to aid him and supply his place during his absence, he, in the circumstances, set apart to the office of evangelist Leang Afa, of whose qualifications for the work he had had eight years' experience. The confidence thus reposed in him was not misplaced. He proved a faithful and valuable laborer. (The first convert, Tsai A-Ko, had been bap- tized in 1814.) Morrison's great reputation had preceded his arrival in this country, and secured for him a cordial reception from all ranks .in the community. He had an audi- ence of King George IV., to whom " he presented a copy of the Sacred Scriptures in Chinese, and a map of Pekin, which His Majesty accepted in a manner highly flattering to the feelings of the giver." The Court of Directors also expressed the sense they enter- tained of his important services. Returning to China in 1826, Morrison devoted himself, as before, to the instruction of the natives by means of the press, the pagan despotism under which he lived all but entirely precluding any attempt at oral instruction. He used also every practicable means for the distribution of the Scriptures and religious tracts throughout Corea, Cochin China, Siam, the Loochoo Islands, and even of sending them into the very heart of the empire by means of the numerous traders who annually resorted to Cantons He was Ml ■ 1 1 ilK ^^1 m^ m lir'l ^'. 1 ' ' ■ 1 1 I'- {■ '■|;I* ; ■ A ■ 100 MISSIONARY SKETCHES. greatly cheered by the arrival, early in 1830, of Elijah C. Bridgman and David Abeel, the former the first missionary from the American Board, and the latter, belonging to the Reformed Dutch Church, from the American Seaman's Friend Society, with the view of laboring among the seamen in Canton and vicinity. After a few months, Aboel transferred his services to the Board, as a missionary to tjhe Chinese, agreeably to an understanding come to previous to his departure. About the same time, Morrison, Bridgman, Abeel, and a few pious Englishmen and Americans formed the " Christian Union " at Canton, the object of which was to insure united action in the diffusion of Chris- tian truth. A printing-press having arrived from New York, a monthly magazine called the Chinese Repository was commenced in 1832, Bridgman acting as editor. The mission was reinforced the following year by two additional missionaries from the Board. Leang Afa, of whom mention has already been made, was indefatigable in the preparation and distri- bution of religious tracts. On one occasion, when 24,000 literary graduates were assembled at a public examination at Canton, he distributed among them 2,500 copies, one in particular prepared by himself, entitled " Good Words to admonish the Age." Morri- son's eflforts in the same direction were for a time interrupted, in consequence of offence taken by the CHINA — CLOSED. 101 of Elijah the first le latter, rom the view of vicinity, •vices to 3eably to jparture. 3eel, and tned the f which >f Chris- 3d from Chinese n acting )llowing Board, ly been d distri- i, when I public ig them himself, Morri- a time by the Roman Catholic Vicar-General and his clergj' at the title Evangelist, given to a periodical which he had started, and which resulted in the issuing of an order for the immediate cessation of all publications from Morrison's press. Morrison was at Macao when Lord Napier, who had been appointed British Consul in China, arrived. He was informed the same day of the king's commission attaching him to the governmental establishment as Chinese secretary and interpreter, on a salary of £1,300 a year. In consequence of this appointment he accompanied Lord Napier to Canton ; but the ex- posure to the heat, and a storm of rain in an open boat during the night, accelerated an event of the approach of which there had been for some time premonitions In a few days he was taken alarmingly ill. Medicines proved unavailing ; he sank rapidly, and on the 1st August, 1834, two days after being seized, he expired. Dr. Morrison will continue to be remembered in the churches of Christendom as the first Protestant mis- sionary to China, and as the founder of the Anglo- Chinese College at Malacca. In addition, he " has left to us, in his dictionary, the results of many years of toil, and to the Chinese a more imperishable memorial in the version of the Holy Scriptures." At the same time the event just narrated occurred, there was a great outcry against the " traitorous :!( iiil > it > I 102 MISSIONARY SKETCHES. natives " who taught the foreigners the Chinese lan- guage ; and notwithstanding that Lord Napier pub- lished a statement of facts in Chinese, a proclamation was issued the same day against those who " make the evil and obscene books of the outside barbarians (every publication, however moral, that differs from the Confucian or orthodox school being so designated by the Chinese), and under the false pretence of ' ad- monishing the age,V print and distribute them, com- manding that they should be seized and punished with the utmost rigor of the law," and all their books and printing apparatus destroyed. Leang Afa secured his rfafety by flight, first to Macao, whither he was followed by Chinese officials, and afterwards to Singapore, where he labored among the Chinese emigrants with- out fear of persecution. Bridgman writes on this occasion : " Had Afa fallen into the hands of his pur- suers, his life, for aught we can see, would have been taken away." In closing an account of the whole affair, Afa himself says : " I call to mind that all who preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus must suffer perse- cution ; and though I cannot equal the patience of Paul or Job, I desire to imitate the ancient saints, and keep my heart in peace." Some of Afa's assistants were seized and punished. A quantity of type for printing the Scriptures in Chinese, along with valuable blocks, were destroyed. Bridgman's school of seven Chinese CHINA — CLOSED. 103 nese Ian- pier pub- lamation make the irbarians fers from jsignated e of ' ad- em, com- bed with )ok8 and cured his followed ingapore, its with- on this his pur- ave been e whole i all who er perse- e of Paul tnd keep its were printing 3 blocks, Chinese boys was br^\en up, and the little flock, which at the time of these disturbances numbered fourteen con- verts, was scattered as sheep without a shepherd. The first attempt to penetrate into the interior of China was made by Charles Gutzlaft', a German mis- sionary, sent out by the Netherlands Missionary So- ciety. After laboring for two years in Siam, he took a passage in a native vessel, in 1831, for Tien-Tsin, within two days' journey of Pekin, taking with him a large quantity of Christian books and a stock of medi- cines. Clad occasionally in a Chinese dress, and adopt- ing a name of one of the native class, he was announced as " a son of the Western Ocean," who had been subjected to the civilising influence of the Celestials, and had come to benefit them in return by his knowledge of medicine. After spending nearly a month at Tien-^sin, and a similar period in Chinese Tartary, being often in imminent danger from the jealousy and treachery of the natives, he returned to Macao. Other voyages along the whole coast of China were undertaken in successive years by this enterpris- ino- missionary, large numbers of Christian books being on each occasion distributed. In 1835, accom- panied by the Rev. Edwin Stevens, who had joined the mission of the American Board, and an English gentleman, he ascended the Min river, intending to proceed, if possible, as far as the Bohea hills. On the j i ■ ; I 1 ,■( 1 i 1 f].,.M. ■ 104 MISSIONARY SKETCHES. fifth day, at a distance of seventy miles, they were fired upon from opposite sides of the river. In the circumstances, it was judged wiser not to prosecute the journey farther inland, and they accordingly re- turned. As China was generally supposed by people in this country to be hermetically closed against the entrance of Christian missionaries, the published accounts of Gutzlaff"s voyages caused no small astonishment. To many it seemed incredible that he could have " main- tained an extensive intercourse with the people ;" that he " had resided, for months together, in their cities and provinces ; had met the far-famed and much dreaded mandarins, and, instead of being arrested, imprisoned, and sent back in a cage to CantQn, had been in every instance treated with civi'ity and some- times with respect. With the view of satisfying the public mind in regard to the truth of these statements, and ascertaining whether China was to any extent open to the propagation of the Gospel, the directors of the London Missionary Society requested the Kev. W. H. Medhurst to undertake a voyage along the coast. He had been in 1816 designated to China, but.after residing for several years at Malacca and Penang, had settled in Batavia, where he had collected a conjrregation. On arriving in Canton ^n the summer of 1835, Medhurst, after much difficulty and delay, succeeded in charter- CH INA — CLOSED. 105 ing a vessel ; and, having stowed away in the hold about twenty boxes containing 6,000 volumes of por- tions of Scripture, and a large quantity of books and tracts, he, accompanied by Stephens, set sail on 26th August. They weighed anchor at the harbor of Wei- hae and Ke-san-So, and continued their voyage as far as the promontory of Shan-Tung. At these several places they remained for a longer or shorter time, visit- ing most of the numerous villages in the neighborhood, addressing and conversing with the people, and freely distributing their books. On returning, they found their way omong other places to Shanghai, one of the great commercial emporiums of China, where Medhurst made a most determined stand against a persistent attempt on the part of the chief magistrate of the city and his inferior officers to exact from him an obsequi- ous and humiliating compliance with the imperial regu- lations as to ceremonies. Canton was reached at the end of October. The experiment was, on the whole, most encouraging. About 18,000 volumes had been distributed in various parts of four provinces. The people were everywhere very friendly, almost the only opposition met with cominr from the mandarins, who, at each place visited, endeavored to prevent the missionaries from getting access to the people, informing them that "the ground on which they trod was the Celestial Empire, and that 7 106 MISSIONARY SKETCHES. the emperor, who commanded all under heaven, had given strict orders that no foreigners should be allowed to go a single step into the interior." Notwithstanding, many short inland excursions were made into these maritime districts. These voyages, especially that up the Min, and the distribution of foreign books and tracts, called forth another edict, expressing the high displeasure of the emperor of " the flowery nation," ordering the arrest of " traitorous natives," and forbidding foreigners to sail about " in this disorderly manner." In spite of the threats by which the proclamation was accom- panied, " the barbarians " continued to sail along the coast and to distribute their books. In these voyages, Gutzlatf especially was indefatigable, often penetrating a considerable distance inland, and meeting with so much encouragement as to convince him that "the prospect of establishing a mission in China is not Utopian." But while not dismayed by the threats of the "Son of Heaven," it was judged expedient, in order to avoid as far as possible further embarass- ment, to transfer the whole printing establishment to Singapore. The only means now available for making known the truth was a dispensary, which was opened in Canton by the Rev. Dr. Parker, an American mission- ary and physician, in November, ] 835, in which during CHINA — CLOSED. 107 the two following years, no fewer than 3,000 patients were relieved, one of them hav4ng had his arm suc- cessfully amputated at the shoulder-joint. It was the first instance in Canton of a native voluntarily sub- mitting to the removal of a limb. A number of suc- cessful attempts to restore sight to the blind had also been made, and in Consequence the dispensary rapidly rose in the esteem of the natives. In 1838, Parker had three or four Chinese students in medicine and surgery, one of whom became an expert operator. By and by a house capable of accommodating 150 patients was purchased at Macao. By means of this medical mis- sion it was hoped that a correct knowledge and prac- tice of 1 xcdicine and surgery in China would be pro- moted ; many lives would be saved, and much suffer- ing prevented; the suspicion and contempt with which foreigners were regaided would be overcome, and favorable opportunities for introducing the Gospel into the empire would be afforded. The iniquitous opium trade carried on by the East India Company, and forced upon the Chinese against all remonstrance, brought on a crisis. It is a dark chapter in Britain's history, and we blush for our country to think that the iniquity continues to be per- petrated on a more gigantic scale. The most stringent measures to put a stop to the traffic were adopted by the Imperial Commissioner. Upwards of 20,000 chests 108 MISSIONARY SKETCHES. of opium, valued at more than two millions of pounds sterling, were seized and destroyed. A decree was published by which the life and property of any foreigner introducing the drug into the country was forfeited. War followed in 1840. The immediate result, as might be expected, was the temporary cessa- tion of all attempts to introduce the Gospel into China. But the event, greatly to be regretted on account of the bloodshed and misery it entailed, as well as of the cause by which it was brought about, was overruled for the temporal and eternal interests of the teeming millions of that great empire. Dr. Fleming Stevenson, in his report of the mission of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, states that Dr. Hunter, their missionary at New Chwang, " laments the rapid growth of the use of opium, and feels keenly the dishonor that the ravages of this debasing vice casts upon the Christian name of Britain. Now it is a mandarin who comes, clad in brilliant silks, but far gone in consumption, opium the ruin of his soul and body ; he and his wife con- sume together more than eight shillings worth daily. A wealthy pawnbroker follows him, to be followed by a horse-dealer, and each of them smokes every day about three ounces of commercial opium. The next is the wife of a storekeeper ; the next a hope- less bankrupt, to whom years ago Dr. Hunter had CHINA — CLOSED. 109 been attracted as a nice boy, and now houses, lands, business, have all passed away, and out of the wreck the elder brotlier keeps an opium den. And 80 the dismal procession wends its constant way to the doctor's door, and the drug mars every good work." Sir Thomas Wade, the British Ambassador in China, thus describes the baneful effects of opium : — " It is vain for me to think otherwise of the use of the drug in China than as of a habit many times more per- nicious, nationally speaking, than the gin and whisky drinking which we deplore at home. It takes posses- sion insidiously, and keeps its hold to the full as tenaciously." Such being the character of this poisonous drug, we are prepared to accept the fact that missionaries of all churches as with one voice unite in testifying that no greater obstacle to the progress of the Gospel exists in China. How long is the British Government to turn a deaf ear to the oft- repeated remonstrance made against the continuance of this " greatest of modern abominations," as Lord Shaftesbury has well described it ? Is there no Wilberf orce among our statesmen who will take up the matter and never rest until the moral wrong has been redressed ? II. OPENING OF THE TREATY PORTS. THE war of 1840-42, brought about by our Govern- ment in the unjustitiable circumstances briefly described in a previous chapter, was, nevertheless, fraught with mobt important results. By the treaty of Nankin which followed, the five ports of Canton, Amoy, Foochow, Ningpo, and Shanghai were thrown open. Hong-Kong was at the same time ceded to Britain. By the treaty of Tien-T.sin, agreed to in 1858, other ports were opened, the right also being conceded to British subjects of travelling under passport through the interior. In 1860, by the treaty of Peking, the right of residence in, and free into t con ise with the in- habitants of, the interior, was granted vio the subj ^?.U of Western nations generally, no u: J^ption being made in the case of missionaries. The various churches were not long in entering the doors thus providentially opened. In order, however, to appreciate the progress si ice made, it may be w^ell, before proceeding further, to notice some of the more peculiar obstacles which OPENING OF THE TREATY PORTS. Ill missionaries, on their arrival in China, have to en- counter. These may be ranged under four divisions — 1. Religious System.— There i.s Confucianism, \/ith its system of philosophy and secularism, embracing the more intelligent and literary classes, who are charac- terized by scepticism and self-complaceny, and out of whose ranks the high offices of the Empire are filled ; Taouism, spoken of as "the indigenous religion of China," with its gross polytheism, "encouraging the appetite for the marvellous and the mysterious and Buddhism, with its doctrine of annihilation, but " rife too with superstition of every form," and, by " adapting itself, with its ritual performances, etc., to the popular tendency of the lower and uneducated classes in particular, becoming the favorite religion iu the Empire," so that, after " having been decried by the learned, and laughed at by the profligate, it is nevertheless followed by all." 2. Superstitions. — The system of ancestral worship, consisting in the worship of, and the presentation of offerings to, the tombs or tablets of deceased ancestors, is one very marked feature of Chinese superstition. The Chinese believe in "a perfect correspondence between the world of light and that of darkness — there being similar needs, similar institutions, a similar gov- ernment, similar rewards and punishments, hereafter jly, the people compound through _ I- - " as iiCic. Accordinffl 112 MISSIONARY SKETCHES. 11 fi the shopkeepers with the king of the beggars for a certain yearly payment, in consideration of which all who make such provision are guaranteed against hav- ing their peace and quiet disturbed by the unnumbered crowds of imaginary wandering beggar ghosts. So tremendous is the power of this superstitious fear over the minds and pockets of the Chinese, that whilst real and present beggars are put off with the smallest possible sum, it is calculated that about thirty millions sterling are spent annually on this provision for the invisible host of imaginary mendicants. There is the belief in the case of the prisoner who has made himself amenable to the capital sentence that the spirit, immediately after being released from the body, is arrested by the police of the spirit world, in consequence of which every effort is made by a money bribe— in some cases a large one— to induce his captors to connive at his escape. Failing this, the surviving relatives set themselves to provide for the wants of the departed spirit, and enable him even to corrupt his captors and defeat the ends of justice in the courts below. There is the belief in and dread of witches, which powerfully operates against the progress of Christian- ity, inasmuch as all interest in it may be destroyed in inquiring minds by the lying stories of these impostors respecting the alleged sad fate in the spirit world of some one who had died in the .aith of Christ. OPENING OF THE TREATY PORTS. 11.3 There is the practice of fung-shuy, or oreomancy, indulged in by a class of so-called scholars, who make exorcism, divination, fortune-telling, and the deter- mination of good or evil, their study and profession. Each village has its fung-shuy ; and as it is believed to extend in its operations to the dead — the ancestors of the family — and through them to react on the living branches of it, in the way of causing or preventing sickness, disease, or death, one can easily understand how mischievous the belief in it must be. Connected with this feature of Chinese superstition is the belief in what are called lucky and unlucky in- fluences. And this belief, it is to be noted, comes into collision with commerce and science, as well as with Christianity. For example, a man died a few years ago near one of the telegraph posts erected by an English Engineer, and intended to connect the port of Shanghai with the anchorage at Woonsung. Immedi- ately thereafter the posts were pulled down by the villagers. They were erected a second time, with the same result. The magistrate was appealed to, but he declined to interfere, as, in his opinion, the assertion of the villagers that the death of the man referred to was caused by the erection '^f the posts, which had destroyed the luck of the village, was by no means improbable. In consequence their re-erection was not proceeded with. Other projects of a siruilar nature 114 MISSIONARY SKETCHES. have had to be abandoned or delayed from the same cause, owing to the inveterate opposition of the Chi- nese to such innovations, which they think may prove fatal^ to the repose of the dead and the prosperity of the living, and excite rebellion in the world of dark- ness against the world of light. " A man came one day to the hospital at Shanghai, and begged to have his finger cut off. There was nothing whatever the matter with it, so he was asked what he meant. He replied, ' I must lose this finger. If I burn it off with a candle, it will be far more painful than if you cut it off skilfully with your knife ! ' 'But why do you want it cut off ? ' ' Oh ! I have been a great sinner, and I must atone for my sins in this way.' He afterwards explained what his sins were. It seems he had been connected with a foreigner at Ningpo in making a road, which necessitated the removal of a grave. This is an awful desecration in Chinese eyes, and he had been troubled ever since by the sense of his sin, and the fear of punishment. He said the foreigner had been punished severely, for, some time after, he was riding over a small stone bridge, and the stone gave way, so that he and his horses were pitched below, and he was killed. All the natives agreed this was the vengeance of the unseen world on his crime." 3. The Language.—Inste&d of an alphabet of twenty-six letters, as with us, the Chinese alphabet OPENING OF THE TREATY POKTS. 115 a the same )f the Chi- may prove •sperity of d of dark- came one ed to have itever the ;ant. He it off with you cut it 1 you want aer, and I ifterwards had been making a tve. This 2 had been 1, and the had been vsis riding 'e way, so nd he was vengeance habet of alphabet (if we may so term it) is composed of tens of thousands of letters or characters, each of which is a word, cor- rect spelling consisting " not in the right selection and order of the letters in the word, but in the right sequence of the strokes and dots (which are the only substitute to an alphabet) in the letter." Again, the language is twofold in its nature, or has two distinct branches — namely, that of books and that of conver- sation. The Chinese written lanffuajje — the languajje of books — being uniform, is readily understood alike by natives and by foreigners in the most widely separ- ated provinces of that vast empire. Yet " this univer- sal written language is pronounced differently, when read aloud, in different parts of China ; so that, while as written it is one, as soon as it is pronounced it splits into several languages." As regards the epoken lan- guage, there are more than 200 dialects, varying in many cases so widely as to be unintelligible even to Chinamen. Thus, the Rev. W. Urwin, in his interest- ing papers in the Sunday at Home entitled, " Incidents of a Journey Round the World," mentions that the City of Peking, in which he sailed from San Francisco, had on board 600 Chinamen, and that, although there were in the same vessel three missionaries who had previously labored in China, not one of them could converse with any of the 600 Chinamen, nor could any one of them understand the other two. In this ! 116 MISSIONARY SKETCHES. connection also we find the Rev. William C. Burns (to whom we shall again l?ave occasion to refer) alluding to his efforts " to acquire as far as possible the ri^rht mode of intonating each word," adding that "this is a point of the greatest importance in order to effective speaking, and one of the greatest difficulty." To mention only one other peculiarity of the lan- guage—it has practically no affinity or relationship with any other language. It has been enlarged and unproved ; but no f adical change in its character or constituent elements has taken place since the days of Abraham. It is, in a word, thoroughly isolated. 4. Other Obstacles.— These have arisen from the peculiarly conservative character of the Chinese especially the more educated among them ; from the general dislike to foreigners, intensified as this has been by the action of our government in the matter of the opium traffic ; from the widespread and unreason- able belief that we are conspiring against the ancient institutions and most cherished customs of the empire from the contempt and opposition manifested by the Mandarins and other influential Chinese officials ; and from the prejudice and distrust excited by Jesuitical intrigues of the missionaries of the Romish Church. Conflicting statements have been made in regard to the prevalence of infanticide. It is difficult, in conse- quence, to ascertain the truth. A recent number of OPENING OF THE TREATY PORTS. 117 Burns (to alluding the right b " this is effective the lan- itionship i-ged and :'acter or ! days of sd. fom the Chinese rom the this has latter of nreason- ancient empire by the ds ; and jsuitical lurch. igard to I conse- Qber of the China Visitor, in dealing with the question, states that of 160 women who had been eonsiilted on the subject, it appeared that 158 of their daughters had been destroyed — one woman confessing to having destroyed eleven — but that none of them had ever killed a son. And in the Missionary Herald of the American Board for March, 1879, it is stated that " in the great city of Foochow, more than half of the fami- lies have destroyed one or more of their daughters." To mere human reason, these varied obstacles, in their combined operation, were certainly fitted to deter from the attempt to rescue from the spiritual darkness and moral degradation of centuries a people numbering three or four hundred millions. But, faith " Laughs at impossibilities, And says, it shall be done." Yes, the gospel of God's grace is the one and only effectual remedy for the evils which prevail in China. For ages Chinese exclusiveness had interposed to pre- vent its purifying and healing waters from flowing through the land. Now at length that has been broken up by the ploughshare of war. The time to favor China had come. Chinese hearts were to be made glad by the reception of God's unspeakable gift, and Chinese homes were to resound with the melody of praise. We shall note briefly the introduction of ■I? 118 MISSIONARY SKETCHES. this new element into the turbid stream of the domestic and social life of this great empire. Morrison. Milne, Medhurst. and other pioneers, ren- dered invaluable service in connection with the evan- gelization of China, especially by the transition and publication, and to some extent the diffusion, in the Chinese language, of the Holy Scriptures and other important works. The first-named wrote, seventy years ago, to the Christians of England from his place ot study and concealment in Canton :-'• Your mission ary sits here to-day, on the confines of the empire learning the language of the heathen ; and would so onward, believing that it is the cause of Him who can and will overturn every mountain difficulty that may oppose the progress of the glorious gospel." The labors of these men, however, as we have seen, were of a preparatory character. The number of converts was infinitesimally small. Nor need there be any surprise that such should have been the result, in view of the restrictions under which their operations were carried oa But what we desire to emphasize is the fact that the actual work of preaching and teaching did not really commence until 1842, and that even then the facilities for engaging in it were limited to the island of Hong-Kong and the five ports thrown open by the treaty of Nankin. At the outset especially the utmcst caution and cir- OPENING OF THE TREATY PORTS. 119 cumspection were necessary in order to avoid, if possi- ble, all occasion of collision with the prejudices of the natives. The mode of procedure usually adopted by all the great societies is well described in the follow- ing sentences, extracted from a valuable article on China in the Church Missionary Intelligencer for December, 1869 : — " There has been," says the writer, " no startling invasion of the interior, no sudden erup- tion of a strong body of Europeans into the midst of a heathen city with which they have no previous acquaintance, and in the direction of which they have not first felt their way. Usually a new place has been visited — in the first instance, by an itinerating missionary, accompanied by one or two native Chris- tians. After a short stay the missionary leaves, repeating his visit after a time, and prolonging it as the disposition of the people seems favourable to his doing so. After a tentative process of this kind, a room is hired, a native catechist is placed there, and the work of instruction commences. Knov/ing the dislike which the Chinese entertain towards the foreigners, we have toned down the European agency to the lowest standard consistent with effective- ness." Hong-Kong having been ceded to Britain by the Treaty of Nankin, which closed the first Chinese war, became forthwith one of the chief centres whence the mim 120 MISSIONARY SKETCHES. light of Gospel truth has been extensively diffused among the Chinese. Dr. Gutzlaff, whose indefatigable labors along the coast of the empire were referred to in a previous chapter, was the fir-t to unfurl the ban- ner of the Cross in this field. Appointed in 1843 to the post of secretary to the Hong-Kong government, he, after attending to his official duties, devoted his ener- gies day by day to the work of preaching, the conduct- ing of Bible-classes, and the sending forth of a large body of native colporteurs for the distribution of the word of God. These agents were organized by him into what came to be known as the The Chinese Union. But the scheme, although worked with great energy by its promoter, proved in the last degree disappoint- ing, and, after a few years, entirely collapsed, owing to the hypocrisy and imposition of the agents, and the well-meant but injudicious zeal of the worthy mis- sionary. Notwithstanding, Gutzlaff will continue to be regarded as one of China's benefactors. To him belongs the honor of having originated the various German missions now in operation in South China. He died in 1851. The Basle Mission carries on the work commenced by him in Hong-Kong. Among the many distinguished missionaries sent to China by the London Missionary Society, none deserve more honorable mention than Dr.Legge. After laboring for several years in the Anglo-Chinese college at Mai- OPENING OF THE TREATY PORTS. 121 le various acca, he was transferred in 1843 to Hong-Kong, where he proved himself a most patient.steady.and successful worker. Not to refer to other fruits of his labors, it maybe mentioned that, "out of his preaching in Chinese chapels— two of which were built by native subscrip- tions, and in which he was effectually supported by a native pastor of his own training, whose preaching powers he often likened to Spurgeon's— out of his preaching in those chapels gradually arose a native church, which is not only self -supporting, but supports by its own contributions another native church which its pastor founded in the interior." In the report of the society for the year ending May, 1877, we read, in reference to the mission at Hong-Kong, that " the past year has been marked by a greater measure of success than any previous year," and that "the church, which is avowedly striving to obtain a native pastor of their own, and eventually to dispense with all pecuniary aid and superintendence by the London Mission, will ever look back, to the past year with pride, as the time when it formally discarded the leading-strings of the foreign missionaries, and having, so to say, come of age at last, assumed the toga virilis, and deliberately constituted itself as the Independent Native Church of Hong-Kong." The great Ohiirch Missionary Society, which has ever been forward to respond to providential calls for the 8 122 MISSIONARY SKETCHES. evangelization of heathen nations, has carried on opera- tions in this island since 1862. Among its various agencies is a Training College, which, however, has not hitherto been attended with the success which was anticipated by the excellent bishop by whom it was established. Connected with the several missions laboring in Hong-Kong, and including out-stations on the main- land, there were at the close of 1875 no less than 2,200 native Christians, of whom 1,400 were communi- cants. The five ports opened by the Treaty of Nankin have all formed important centres of missionary effort. 1. Canton {Kuang-Tung Province).— There are here the missions of the London and Wesleyan Societies ; missions of three American churches, viz., the Presby- terian {North), the United Presbyterian, and the Baptist (South) ; also the Rhenish Mission. A mission in con- nection wit^ the American Board existed in Canton for some years, but the absence of visible results led to its abandonment. The Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church had but thirty-three converts after twenty-five years' patient labor, but during the next seven years the converts increased sixfold. 2. NiNGPO (CAeA-ZTtaw^ Province). —The churches or societies laboring here are the American Presbyterian OPENING OF THE TREATY PORTS. 123 d on opera- its various ''er, has not which was lom it was aboring in the main- less than communi- •f Nankin fnissionary re are here Societies ; he Preshy- he Baptist >n in con- n Canton ults led to fissions of J converts luring the old. burches or 'esbyterian (North) the American Baptist Missionary Union, the Church Missionary Society, and the United Methodist Free Church. Connected with the Church Mission, which has been in operation since 1848, there are no fewer than fifteen out-stations, at distances varying from ten to thirty miles. It employs, along with the bishop, three European missionaries and four native pastors. The year 1878 witnessed the ordination of three natives to the diaconate, and one to the priest- hood. 3. Foo-Chow (Fuh-Kien Province).— The Church Missionary Society, the American Board, and the Methodist Episcopal Church of America occupy this city. The British and Foreign Bible Society, and The Society for the Promotion of Female Education have also agents at work. With reference to the Church Mis- sion, commenced in 1850, it appears that eleven years passed without a single convert. Out of five mission- aries, two had died in the interval, two had retired, and the fifth died soon after reaping the first-fruits of his labors. In, 1864 several other large cities were occupied as ou .-stations by native evangelists. '■ In 1866 the first two or three converts from these were baptized. Now, after ten years' further labor, we find 1,500 adult converts in more than fifty towns and villages, of whom one-half are communicants; five native clertrv. eighty catechists. about 100 v lergy ni do with I in their and dis- re highly THE LIGHT BREAKING. 145 of our religion." A missionary of the American Board writes : " I have seen no such field for work as this in China There— in Shan-Tung— I felt that the wall of antagonism had been broken down, only the wall of ignorance remaining." No less cheer- ing and hopeful are the remarks of Mr. Grifiith John of the London Society's mission at Hankow. He writes : " Looking at the Empire generally, it may be safely said that the missionaries are taking possession of the land as they never did before, and that Christian work is carried on with an energy and on a scale which completely dwarfs the attempts of earlier days." In taking leave of this vast field, we ask the special attention of the rising ministry belonging to the various Protestant churches, to the following pertinent remarks by a missionary who had penetrated to a city situated 140 miles to the north-west of Peking. Standing just within the great wall which forms the boundary between China and Mongolia, he thus ex- presses himself : — " Oh, that the young men in the churches at home, who remain there because they do not feel that they have ever been called to preach Christ among the heathen, had stood by my side upon the wall of that heathen city, and looked over the sea of human habi- tations which lay beneath my eye, at the same time 11 1.1: 5' 146 MISSIONARY SKETCHES. remenbering, that of the myriads who dwell in them hardly one has ever listened to the truths of the glorious Gospel of salvation in their purity, and per- haps comparatively few even in the corrupt form of Romanism, and I am sure they would have heard a call as much louder than any church or parish at home ever sent, as the salvation of a hundred thou- sand souls surpasses in importanc e that of a single thousand!" i Let the churches o* Christ ponder well this fact that there are in th.j vast empire five provinces, with an aggregate population of not less than 65,000,- 000, without one single resident protestant Missionary! I i ? 11 in them hs of the ', and per- pt form of B heard a parish at Ired thou- f a single this fact provinces, n 65,000,- :OTESTANT CENTEAL POLYNESIA. I. MISSIONS TO THE CANNIBALS OF FIJI. THE Fiji Islands, first discovered by Tasman, a Dutch navigator, in 1643, embrace some 225 in the entire group. Of these, 80 are inhabited. Geo- graphically and ethnologically, they form a connecting link between the Malayan and Papuan races whicji inhabit the wide expanse of Polynesia. The princi- pal island of the group are Mbau, the seat of the chief political power of Fiji ; SoMOSOMO, the residence of the ruling chiefs, and described as " covered with luxury, beyond the conception of the most glowing imagina- tion," possessing as it does every characteristic of Fijian scenery ; Vanua Levu (Great Land), more than 100 miles long, with an average breadth of 25 miles ; Na Vita Levu (the Great Fiji), measuring 90 miles ; 8, ij Hjsathen Priest and Waeeiob, Fiji r if MISSIONS TO THE CANNIBALS OF FIJI. 149 from east to west, and 50 from north to south ; and Lakemba, the largest of the eastern islands. Like the other groups is the Southern Pacific, they are singularly varied and beautiful in their outward aspect Like them, too, they were, previous to the introduc- tion of Christianity, sunk in the most debasing super- stition, and addicted to revolting cruelties and name- less abominations. The distinguishing feature in the wicked customs of these islanders, and that which gave them an unenvi- able pre-eminence, was their cannibalism. In other groups this inhuman practice, it is true, was not uncommon. But among the Fijians it was interwoven with the whole framework of society, so much so, that not only in the case of prisoners taken in war, but on the most ordinary occasions — such as the building of a house, the launching of a canoe, and the like— the offering and the eating of a human sacrifice was con- sidered indispensable. Cannibalism was one of the most important parts of the training of the young Fijian. Mothers have been known to rub a piece of human flesh over the lips of their children in order to imbue them early with a taste for blood ; while in one of the favorite games of the children, the whole pro- cess of a cannibal feast was by imitation gone through. To such an extent was this crime indulged in, that death by natural means was of somewhat rare Qccur- 160 MISSIONARY SKETCHES. rence, and for the same cause an old man was seldom seen on the islan'ls. One missionary estimated that within four years 500 persons were sacrificed and eaten within twenty miles of Viwa. And the Rev. Robert Young, who visited Fiji in 1853 as a deputy from the Wesleyan Missionary Society, writes thus: -"After visiting Lakemba and Viwa, I proceeded to Mbau, the capital of the country, and doubtless the deepest'hell upon earth. Here 1 was shown six hovels, in which eighteen human beings had recently been cooked, in order to provide a feast for some distinguished stranger ; and the remains of that horrid repast were still to be seen. I next went to one of the temples, at the door of which was a large stone, against which the heads of the victims had been dashed, and that stone still bore the marks of blood. I saw— but I pause. There are scenes of wickedness, forms of cannibalism and depravity in that country, that cannot be told." The religion of the Fijians. such as it was, corre- sponded to their deep moral degradation. The gods worshipped were endowed by them with their own worst qualities. And, as might have been expected, the priests wrought upon the superstitions of the people, over whom, in concert with the chiefs they exercised absolute control. It is a dark picture; let our readers try to imagine such a state of society among ourselves. MISSIONS TO THE CANNIBALS OF FIJI. 151 Such, briefly, were the people among whom Messrs. Wm. Cross and David Cargill, Wesleyan missionaries from the Friendly Islands— about 300 miles distant — landed on the 12th October, 1853. We may well believe that only love to Christ, and an intense desire for the spiritual and eternal welfare of the nations, could have induced them to venture on these inhospi- table and treacherous shores. The guiding and over- ruling providence of God may be distinctly marked in the carrying out of the undertaking. King George of Tonga, who favored it, sent an influential person with a message, accompanied by a present to the King of Lakemba, to which island there had been a large im- migration of Tongans, representing the benefits he and his people had derived from the teaching of the mis- sionaries, and urging them to give them a favorable reception. They were accordingly received in a friendly spirit. He promised them land for mission premises, and undertook to build temporary dwellings for them as soon as possible. They and their families spent the first night on shore in a large canoe house, open at both ends, the chief inconvenience being that innumerable and unusually lar^e mosquitoes and numbers of pigs disputed with them the right of occupancy. The house-building was commenced on the 14th, and on the evening of tho 17th the mission families took possession of their new home. 152 MISSIONARY SKETCHES. The missionaries opened their commission by preach- ing twice on the following Sabbath. About 150 Tongans and Fijians attended, the king being, by invi- tation, present at the morning service. Although able from the outset to preach in T( agan, they made it one of their chief concerns to acquire as speedily as possible a knowledge of the Fiji language. By the close of the first year, 79 adults and 17 children, chiefly Tongans, had been received into the Christian Church by baptism. During that and the following year, a considerable number of these Tongan converts removed at different times to their own land. Others, however, remained in the land of their adop- tion, and were most zealous and successful in diffusing the blessings of the Gospel. As teachers, class- leaders, and exhorters, their services were invaluable, while as pioneers, they did much to spread a know- ledge of Christianity throughout the adjacent tributary islands. At Lakemba itself, the good behaviour of the Christians, under most trying circumstances, favor- ably impressed the heathen. In consequence, an increasing number attended the services ; and many began to question the claims of the priests. These indications of progress only intensified the opposition of the priests and of others in authority. Threats were repeatedly resorted to by them. Happily, except in one instance, they were restrained from carrying MISSIONS TO THE CANNIBALS OF FIJI. 169 >y preach - .bout 150 y, by invi- Although !y made it Deedily as s and 17 into the t and the ie Tongan Dwn land, leir adop- diffusing rs, elass- ivaluable, a know- tributary xir of the ss, favor- lence, an nd many s. These pposition Threats y, except carrying them into execution by the circumstances that an in- fluential Tongan chief, whose followers in Lakemba were strong enough *. ., ;ure that island against subjection to its more powerli)' neighbors, had cast in his lot with the Chri ti. is i is aid stood the Chris- tians in good stead in tl ■" iimc referred to. Messrs. Cross and Cai ^^ili longed to carry the Gospel to the most important islands of the Fijian group. The opportunity of doing so was ere long presented to them. Tui Nayau, King of Lakemba, was often urged to embrace Christianity, but excused hir^.self for fear of the consequences. He suggested that one of them should go and live with the King of Mbau or of So- mosomo, and persuade him to take the lead in becom- ing a Christian. Acting on this suggestion,- Cross, with his family, left Lakemba at the close of 1837 for Mbau. On his arrival he witnessed the closing scenes connected with a seven years' civil war, which re- sulted in the return of Tanoa, the old king of the island, who had boen long exiled. The rebels, many of whom were chiefs of rank, were delivered up to their former master, whose return was celebrated by a feast for which th( bodies of the prisoners furnished the material. Two of them were in the ovens when Cross arrived. Thakombau, the king's son, a blood- thirsty savage, seemed favorably disposed; but the missionary judged it better to place himself nndp.r fh« 10 154 MISSIONARY SKETCHES. E '' protection of the king of the neighboring island of Rewa, whose dispositions towards Christianity were more friendly. Thither accordingly he, with his family, removed after a few weeks. Unfortunately, the room set apart for them was so low and damp that the health of the missionary was in the utmost danger. Intermittent fever followed by cholera, and then by typhus fever, thoroughly prostrated him. It was a trying dispensation, but he was in due time mercifully restored. Soon after, a leading chief and his wife became Christians, and opened their house for worship. Till then, the services had been held in the open air. A school was commenced about the same time. But these hopeful symptoms of progress stirred up the ac- tive hostilities of the heathen, from whose violence the missionary was saved only by the king's interposition. About the close of 1838, Viwa, an island north of Mbau, was occupied. The movement in this instance originated with the chief Na-mosi-malua, a ferocious savage, who, in 1834, had captured the French brig L'aimahle Josephine, and killed the captain and most of the crew. A request for a teacher from sfich a quarter was justly regarded with great suspicion. Nevertheless, on the advice of the old king, Tanoa, it was acceded to. Namosi built a large chapel, and, along with many of his people worshipped in its walls! The work thus begun in faith, and in the midst of ![' island of lity were with his fcunately, amp that it danger, then by It was a lercifully his wife worship, open air. ne. But p the ac- lence the •position, north of instance ferocious nch brig md most Q s'lch a uspicion. Fanoa, it pel, and, its walls, midst of MISSIONS TO THE CANNIBALS OF FIJI. 155 almost overwhelming discouragements, was now to receive a great impulse. The missionaries in the Friendly Islands, from whose ranks the mission in Fiji had been founded, felt that a reinforcement of the little band there was urgently called for, and, accord- ingly, sjnt home an earnest appeal, w' ich was exten- sively circulated. It resulted in the appointment of three additional missionaries, who, along with their wives, reached Lakemba in December, 1838. About the same time, two of the missionaries in the Friendly Islands were transferred to Fiji, thus increasing the staff in the latter group to seven. Of the three who came from England, one was the Rev. James Calvert, who labored for seventeen years, in Fiji, and from whose valuable "Mission History" we have drawn the greater portion of the information here presented to our readers. Another was the Rev. John Hunt, than whom it would be difficult to find a finer specimen of the true missionary, and the memoir of whose life, it has always appeared to us, well deserves to be read and pondered by all aspirants to the Christian min- istry. The characteristic devotion and unselfishness of the man were discovered at the very commence- ment of his missionary career. For, as Mr. Cross had got permission to proceed to Australia to recruit his shattered health, Mr. Hunt nobly consented to go to Rewa and relieve him, notwithstanding his inexperi- 156 MISSIONARY SKETCHES. ence and ignorance of the language. Happily the health of Mr. Cross considerably improved, and, en- couraged by the presence of Mr. Hunt, he resolved to remain and afford him all the help in his power. Thus reinforced, the mission progressed rapidly. Temples, gods, and priests were abandoned by many of the natives, who betook themselves to earnest prayer and other religious duties. At Rewa and Viwa, 140 professed their faith in Christ. Rewa was frequently visited by inquiring natives from Mbau ; while Viwa was visited once a-fortnight by the mis- sionaries, who called on the way, when possible, on King Tenoa and the Mbau chiefs. The darkness was still intense, but a light had been kindled in Fiji, which was destined never to go out, but to spread and illume the gems of the Pacific. In view of the arrival of Mr. Lyth from Tonga, the missionaries were led to consider in what way the staff could be most effectively distributed. As the result of a conference at Rewa, it was resoived that that island should henceforth be the central station, that *he printing press be removed thither, and that two new stations be occupied. One of these stations was Somosomo, from which an urgent request for a missionary had been received. To this island Messrs Hunt and Lyth removed in July 1839. It was a place, as they soon discovered, of "dreadful cannibalism." MISSIONS TO THE CANNIBALS OF FIJI. 157 with all the other " horrors of Fijian life in an un- mixed and unmodified form." The old king had ingeniously pleaded for missionaries. On their arrival he gave up a house for their use. But beyond this, their position was painfully discouraging. The moral heroism and martyr-like faith displayed by these missionaries and their wives alone relieves one of the darkest pictures ever furnished by the heathen world. Let us note a few of the scenes through which they passed. At the time of their landing on Somosomo it was reported that the king's youngest son, who had gone to the Windward Islands in a fleet of canoes, had been wrecked near the island of Ngau, where he was captured and eaten by the natives. As usual on such occasions, several women were at once set apart to be strangled in honor of the young chief. Through the interposition of the missionaries the sad fate of these wretched victims was delayed once and again to afford time to search for the missing chief. The nimours having been confirmed, the king indignantly refused o listen to further remonstrance, and vras not satisfied until sixteen women had. been strangled. The bodies of the principal women were buried within a few yards of the missionaries' house. Scene No. 2.— The natives of Lanthala had killed a man. In revenge, a large number— about thirty ac- cording to some, and between two and three hundred if 158 MISSIONAllY SKETCHES. according to others— were put to death. Of the dead bodies brought to Somosomo, eleven were laid on the ground in front of the missionaries' house, for the purpose of being divided among, and eaten by, the chiefs, priests, and people. Among the victims was the principal chief, regarding whom Mr. Hunt says, " I saw him after he was cut up and laid on the fire (the ovens were very near his dwelling), to be cooked for the cannibal god of Somosomo ! " Scene No. 3. — The missionaries were plainly told that a similar fate awaited them. " One night there was every reason to believe that the murderous purpose of the savages was to be carried into effect. The natives had been growing bolder in their thefts and insults and defiance, and now the end seemed at hand. A strange and memorable night was that, in the great, gloomy house where they lived. Those devoted men and women looked at one another and at their little ones, and felt as those only can feel who believe that their hours are numbered. Then they went, all together, for help to Him who ever shelters those who trust in Him. They betook themselves to prayer. Surrounded by native mosquito curtains hung up to hide them from any who might be peeping through the frail reed walls of theh".^;'- this band of faithful ones, one after another, ^alicd ipon God through the long hours of that terrible night, resolved MISSIONS TO THE CANNIBALS OF FIJI. 159 the dead id on the , for the 1 by, the biras was unt says, L the fire ), to be inly told fht there urderous to effect, ir thefts iemed at i that, in . Those bher and feel who len they shelters selves to curtains peeping lis band )on God resolved that their murderers should find them at prayer. . . .' At length, " each pleading \ oice was hushed, and each head bowed lower, as the stillness outside was sud- denly broken by a wild and ringing shout. But the purpose of the people was changed, and that cry was but to call out the women to da- ce ; and thus the night passed safely." Commodore Wilkes, with two ships of the United States' Exploring Expedition, visited Somosomo early in 1840. He expressed great sympathy with the missionaries in their trials, and offered to remove them and their goods to any other part of Fiji. But they had counted the cost, and were resolved not to abandon the work, in the firm belief that in due time God would own it. The Commodore thus alludes to them in his narrative :- Nothing but a deep sense of duty, and a strong determmation to perform it, could induce civilised persons to subject themselves to the sight of such horrid scenes as they are called upon almost daily to witness. I know of no situation so trying as this for ladies to live in, particularly when pleasing and well-informed, as we found these at , imosomo." Death and the ovens were threatened by the chiefs as the punishment for embracing Christianity. But He who has the hearts of all in His Leads, and can turn them whithersoever He will, as the rivers of waters, so ordered events that the first to renounce it. mi Sl'MiJI -TT- 1 i '^^IJ 160 MISSIONARY SKETCHES. heathenism, ami publicly io worship the true God, was the king's brother, a great ch7.:f. / ud the stop' was taken not only with the king? full concurrence, but even on his recommendation. He \\as folUivved a few days afterwards by another chief of rank ^^ad influence. And ivhile the motive in both cases was not certainly sit.'^b as might have been desired, their action removed a. i'^^rmidable barrier in the way of any movement in the same direction oh the part of tlse people generally. Accordingly, the missionaries were able to report soon after that there were twenty-one profe^jsing Christians at Somosomo, of whom one was a poor girl whom they had rescued from the murderous hands of a chief, who was about to strangle her simply because she was ill. Other women were, on their intercession, saved from strangulation in the following year (1841).' " The lives of war-captives were also spared in several instances ; and even on the occasion of large canoes being launched, and making the first voyage, no human victims were killed— a neglect which at that time was unprecedented in Fiji. But perhaps the most important advantage of the Somosomo Mission at this stage was in the prevention of persecution elsewhe e," through the powerful influence of the chiefs. Notwithstanding these favorable circumstances, the work of the mission was prosecute r/nid.so much disheartening opposition, that at th isi.rict meeting MISSIONS TO THE CANNIBALS OF FIJI. 161 I God, was stop t/vas rence, bnt ved a few influence, certainly . removed ement in Generally, port soon /hristians rl whom nds of a because jrcession, ir (1841). a several e canoes o human lat time he most n at this Bwht a," ices, the 10 much mefit.iTior a in 1847 the missionaries resolved to abandon, for a time at least, a field so unpromising, and to concen- trate their efforts on other and more hopeful islands. The king having been informed of their resolution, it was quietly carried into effect in September of the same year. Yet their labors on Somosomo were not altogether fruitless. Even had there been no other result, " the discipline of suffering and patience which their residence at this place of horror brought upon them," nerved them for service elsewhere. We turn now to Ono, the principal of a small cluster of islands in the extreme south of Fiji, and distant from Lakemba about 150 miles. During 1835, the' year in which the missionaries first landed in Fiji, this island was visited with an epidemic, which cut off^ many of the people. The gods of Ono were pro- pitiated, but without avail. It so happened that Wai, one of the chiefs, who, with some companions, had gone to Lakemba with the customary tribute, met there a Fijian Christian chief who had visited Sydney, Tahiti, and the Friendly Islands. From him Wai first heard of the true God. That seed he carried back to Ono. Soon after the fruit appeared. Being convinced that the gods of Ono could not bring them out of their present trouble, Wai and his companions resolved to forsake them, and pray oijly to Jehovah. Follovv'ing the practice of the Christians at Lakemba, 162 ii MISSIONARY SKETCHES. they also set apart a portion of every seventh day for the worship of God. The difficulty as to the eon- ducting of the service was so far got over by a heathen priest consenting to undertake the duty. It was truly the case of men who had begun to " seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after Him, and find Him." Then followed the desire for some one to teach them the way of the Lord more perfectly. Two messengers were despatched to Tonga for teachers ; but it was not until the beginning of 1838 that the appeal was responded to. And, singularly enough the preacher sent— Isaac Ravuata by name— a native of Ono.who as a wild youth had wandered as fai as Tonga, and having afterwards removed to Lakemba. became there a subject of the converting grace of God. On Isaac's arrival he found that 120 aclTilts had cast off idolatry, and were worshipping the true God. He received from them a cordial welcome. Previous to his coming, they had been ministered to for eighteen months by a Christian Tonga, who had been quite providentially guided thither. Having set out with other Christians from Lakemba for Tonga, their canoe drifted by contrary winds to an island about fifty miles from Ono, from which, on hearing of the desire that had sprung up there for a teacher, he hastened to give them, such temporary help as lay in his power Such were the feeble beginnings of the work at MISSIONS TO THE CANNIBALS OF FIJI. 163 venth day 3 the con- )ver by a duty. It to "seek :ter Him, for some i perfectly, ["onga for g of 1838 singularly J name — a Bred as fai Lakemba* ice of God. had cast God. He revious to : eighteen •een quite out with heir canoe )out fifty ihe desire hastened ds power work at Ono. A visit by Mr. Calvert at the commencement of 1840, at great personal sacrifice, resulted in the baptism of 233 persons, and in the marriage, according to the Christian form, of 66 couples. Among the converts at Ono was a daughter of a chief of the highest rank, who had been betrothed in infancy, according to custom, to the old heathen King of Lakemba. She was remarkably intelligent, and un- wearied in her efforts to do good. But Mr. Calvert declined to baptize her until she had expressed her firm determination to die rather than become one of the thirty wives of Tui Nayau. She was then received into the Christian Church, being known henceforth under the name of Jemima. This step, and the resolution of her father and all the Christians in Ono to suff'er anything rather than give her up to Tui Nayau, led to a lengthened and bitter persecution, and to more than one warlike expedition by the king and his heathen chiefs, with the view of carrying her off" by force to Lakemba. Having failed in their efforts, Jemima continued to reside at Ono, though unable to be married, as the king had never formally relinquished his claim, notwithstanding that he had promised to do so, and had even received and retained the usual gift of property as a compensation. In spite of persecutions and wars and other dis- couragiii; circumstances — rather may we not say as ^1 1*. if 1 WMM HMl 164 MISSIONARY SKETCHES. the blessed fruio of these— the work continued to advance, so that when the Rev. Thomas Williams visited the island in 1842, only three of the in- habitants remained heathen, and even these were numbered among the Christians before he left. ill ■if 11. PAGANISM ABANDONED— CHRISTIANITY EMBRACED. RESULTS similar to those narrated in the previous chapter followed soon after in the more impor- tant islands of the group. There was to be in these a j ful reaping of seed sown in tears. Those espei lly around Lakemba, as also the island of Oneata, lying about forty miles to the S.E., abandoned Paganism and embraced Christianity. This happy result at the last-mentioned island, was brought about chiefly through the labors of native agents. Amottg these, the principal chief, Josiah Tumbola, was noted for his intelligence, simplicity of character, and piety, as also for his efforts as a class-leader and local preacher. The inhabitants of this island, excep- tionally industrious anl enterprising, were able, in consequence, to hold their own against- the chiefs of j^_..— -.— .. ..,.„...„>, j.t^^ix^'u, v-\ff uii )L»c«omXiiy ^ !l 0i m fi Christian Chief, Fiji. ti! PAGANISM ABANDONED, ETC. 167 ^ ^1 Christians, they were able to do much for the diffusion of the gospel, when voyaging from place to place. So with respect to other islands, the leaven of the gospel was gradually making its all-powerful and peruasive influence felt in spite of all the efforts of the heathen to arrest its progress. It required no ordinary courage on the part of the converts to hold fast the profession of their faith. There was much in the new circumstances to cause anxiety and to test their sincerity. Thus, the island to which reference has just been made being tributary to Somosomo, was to be visited by Tuikilakila. the cannibal king, who was justly regarded with the greatest dread, he having threatened to kill and eat any who should lotu. The Christians betook them- selves to prayer, and their fears, happily, were qot realized. Another trial followed with the same result. The presentation of tribute was fixed to take place on the Sunday. It was a great event. The Christiana declined to take any part m the proceedings, after having failed to get the day altered. They did so, well knowing the terrible risk they ran. Having! however, presented their offerings on the following day, the king's wrath v.as appeased; and the affair produced a deep impression in favor of Christianity. A variety of circumstances occurred from time to time, all tending to increase the interest already 168 MISSIONARY SKETCHES. mh awakened. We read, for instance, that " a Lomaloma priest sailed in company with several Christian canoes and was wrecked. All on board escaped on the outrigger which had broken loose. The Christians heard of the disaster, and went down to the shore, and found the priest's canoe had drifted in. They took out the mats and other property, dried them, and returned them to the owner, who refused for a time to receive them, saying it was so contrary to Fijian custom. Two heathens who had got hold of some of the mats, acted in the old style and kept them. The priest was astonished, and wherever he went after- wards told of the wonderful effects of the lotu" In like manner, the conduct of the Christians in connection with the frequent wars that were waged with bloodthirsty cruelty between different districts or islands, exercised a potent influence. The leading meu of Yandrana, the most populous town on Lakemba, stated to Mr. Calvert, who had walked a distance of twelve miles during the night in order to arr-est the progress of a serious collision with the king's town, that as they would always be fighting so long as they continued heathen, they had resolved to em- brace Christianity, that they might remain in their land and live peaceably. Some of these became decided Christians. Twelve years passed. Mr. Calvert Again visited Yandrana. He found the chief in a t rAGANIs:,! ABANDONED, ETC. 160 dying state. The latter thus addressed him :— " I am very glad to see you once again before I die. My body is weak ; but I trust in Jesus Christ who saves me. I think I shall not live long ; but I do not trouble about that. I leave all to the Lord, contented to die and go and live with Jesus." With a view to the efficiency of the Wesleyan Missions in the South Seas, the Rev. John Waterhouse was in 1839 appointed general superintendent ; and to enable him to visit the various stations and to lessen the risk of the missionaries being left without the necessary supplies, the missionary ship Triton was provided. Most nobly did this devoted man pursue his arduous work until his lamented death in 1842, when he went to his rest exclaiming, " Mission- aries ! Missionaiies!" His name is still held in loving remembrance by thousands. Two sons who entered into his labors in the same field did much to perpetuate its fragrance. Waterhouse was succeeded by the Rev. Walter Lawry, and in 1846 the Triton was superseded by a larger vessel named the John Wesley.'* In 1853, the Rev. Robert Young visited the Austral- asian colonies, and also the Friendly and Fiji Islands, in order to arrange for the Polynesian missions being * The John Wesley was wrecked on 18th Nov. 1865, and a new vessel of the same name sailed from flravesend on 18th May 1866. 11 ^" t* m : 170 MISSIONARY SKETCHES. committed to the management and support of the Wesleyan Methodist Societies in Australia. This object was successfully accomplished, the said societies being formally constituted a New Conference. The first meeting was held in Sydney in 1855, under the presidency of the Kev. W. B. Boyce, who was also appointed General Superintendent of the Missions in New Zealand and Polynesia. The great Fijiaii war, which was protracted over many years, proved a serious hindrance to the work of the missions. On its conclusion, however, in 1855, a remarkable outpouring of the Holy Spirit was re- ported from Rewa. Thousands were anxious to be taught the way of salvation. Doors were opened on every hand. Earnest appeals were made for teachers. In many households family prayer was established. And by October of the following year there were 21,000 professing Christians. A reinforcement of the staff followed. Besid^;s the Old and New Testaments in the Fijian language, there issued from the printing press at Viwa from time to time, dictionaries, vocabularies, grammars, reading books, catechisms, &c. This de- partment of mission work proved a most valuable auxiliary, exciting the curiosity and interest of all classes of the people. In its prosecution, the Revs. John Hunt, David Ha?elwood, R. B. Lvth, David PAGANISM ABANDONED, ETC. 171 Cargill, and James Calvert rendered signal service. Hunt died 4th October, 1848, and Hazelwood on 30th October, 1855, both having reached only their thirty- sixth year. Like our own M'Cheyne, it is said of them, '"Their lives were short, but crowded with earnest work, which shall last in its greatness of blessing as long as Fiji remains." In January, 1357, Thakombau, the great chief of Mbau. the Africaner of Fiji, after having dismissed his many wives, was publicly married in Christian form to his chief queen. They were both admitted into the membership of the Christian Church by bap- tism, the king taking the name Ebenezer, and the queen that of Lydia. By request, the former addressed the assembly. The missionary thus describes the scene : " What a congregation he had ! Husbands whose wives he had dishonored ! widows, whose hus- bands had been strangled by his orders I relatives whose friends he had eaten ! and children, the descend^ ants of those he had murdered, and who had vowed to avenge the wrongs inflicted on their fathers ' A thousand strong hearts heaved with fear and astonish- ment." Before the close of 1858, cannibalism had ceased to exist in some of the islands. Polygamy and infanti- cide were also gradually passing away. Crimes for- merly committed without the Jeast restraint were now 172 MISSIONARY SKETCHES. punished as in other civilized countries. The people were learning to place a higher estimate on the value of human life ; while in their general conduct regard was being more and more had to the Word of God. A great work, in short, had already been accomplis ed. The greatness of it, however, can only be appreciated when the condition of the people previous to the introduction of Christianity is kept in view. Much, undoubtedly, remained to be done. This is forcibly stated by Calvert in the closing paragraphs of his "History," published in the same year, where we find him saying: "Every Sabbath many thousands meet in Fiji to ' hear without a preacher.' ... The wail of suffering and the savage yells of crime still mingle with the 'new song' which has begun to rise from Fiji. Is the sound of joy to prevail ? Is the reproach of Fiji to be taken away ? And shall the Gospel, which has already cleansed so many of her stains, complete the work ? . . . " The appeal thus addressed to British Christians was heartily responded to ; for in 1859 the Directors re- ported that twelve additional missionaries had been appointed to these islands. The missionaries, however, rejoiced over the progress above indicated with trembling. They had before them the stern fact mentioned by Colonel Smythe, in his Report to the Secretary of State for the Colonies PAGANISM ABANDONED, ETC. 173 m 1861, thit "of the native population less than one- third pr .fess the Christian religion," while " among the remaind. r, cannibalism, strangulation of widows, infanticide, and other enormities prevail to a frightful extent." Three years later, there were 100,000 still beyond the pale of even nominal Christianity. The danger to which the missionaries were personally exposed from the continued existence of such a state of things received a melancholy illustration when, in 1867, the Rev. Thomas Baker and six native assistants were barbarously murdered while exploring in the interior of Na Viti Levu. Four or five years later, an effort was made to unite all the leading chiefs of Fiji under King Thakombau. About the same time, the tribes on the island where Baker and the others were murdered, threw open their towns for the reception of Christian teachers. Another cause of anxiety arose from the large and increasing European immigration to the shores of Fiji, with its usual accompaniment of European vices. In 1865 there were 3000 white inhabitants. Now, many thousands of Europeans and other foreignci.i scattered over a number of islands, are engaged in sugar and cotton planting, sheep farming, and other pursuits. The sove.xigr.tj of Fiji, offered in 1859 to the Brit- ish GoverniJicnt by Thakombau. was declined, to the 174 MISSIONARY SKETCHES. regret of the missionaries. In October. 1874, it was ormally ceded to Great Britain, with the happiest results The peopJo were forthwith freed from enforced servitude. Heavy burdens of taxation were lightened And many other hindrances to progress were removed. iNo better illustration can be given of the onward progress of the work than what is afforded bv the extension of the mission to heathen islands beyond the Fijian group. This was undertaken in 1875 by t" JVP- ^''''^°' ^''''^^^ ^y *«° «^ti^e agents from Fiji and ^amoa. This heroic little band was reinforced in the fo lowing year by one native minister and seven teachers from Fiji. Of the entire number, four were stationed on the Duke of York group, four on New Ireland, and the remainder on New Britain. These natives were well received on the various islands, the inhabitants of which showed their friendly disposition by the erection of six chapels, and other- wise. It has not been practicable to obtain the separate returns of the Wesleyan Missions in Fiji. Those for the South Sea Islands generally, including Fiji; are as follows :-Chapels, 968; other preaching^laces, 459; finghsh missionaries, 16; native ministers, upwards of ^850, Sabbath-school teachers, 3,191 ; attendants on public worship, 129,000, of whom 33,033 are fully i PAGANFSM ARANnONED, ETC. 175 In the large number who are in the habit of attend- ing more or less regularly on the means of grace, there 1^ hope tor the progress of the work in Fiji. For as Mr. Calvert has pointed out, there is all the difference between the Fijian bowing the knee and his heathen neighbor. The emphatic testimony of Miss Gordon Gumming to the transforming influence of Christianity upon the Fyians will be a fitting close to this chapter. In her J^irst Impressions in Fiji," she thus writes :- " Strange, indeed, is the change that has come over these isles since first Messrs. Cargill and Cross, Wes- leyan missionaries, landed here in the year 1835 resolved, at the hazard of their lives, to bring the light of Christianity to these ferocious cannibals. Picture It m your own mind. Two white men, without any visible protection, landing in the midst of these blood- thirsty hordes, whose unknown language they had in the first place to master. Slow and disheartening was their labor for years, yet so well has that little leaven worked, that the eighty inhabited isles have all abjured cannibalism and other frightful customs, have lotued, ^.6., become Christians, and are now. to all appearance, as gentle and kindly a race as any in the world. ..." *^ MELANESIA. MISSIONS TO THE NEW HEBRIDES. mHE New Hebrides group, embracing thirty inhab- J- ited islands, and extending over 400 miles, lie about 1200 miles N. by W. from Auckland, and 1,000 miles from Sydney. The nearest land on the east is Fiji, distant 600 miles. The following are the prin- cipal islands, beginning with the most southerly: Aneityum, 40 miles in circumference ; Tanna, about 30 miles long, the average breadth being about 10 ; Eromanga, with a circumference of 75 miles ; Fate. about the same size ; Malikolo, 60 miles long, and 150 in circumference ; Api, between 50 and 60 in cir- cumference ; Aurora, 30 miles long ; and Espiritu Santa, the most northerly as well as the largest of the group, 70 miles long by 40 broad, Pedro Fernandez de Quiros, a native of Portugal, discovered Espiritu Santa in 1606. On it he laid the MISSIONS TO THE NEW HERRinES. I77 foundations of a town, which he named the New Jerusalem. In 17C8, Bougainville, a French officer discovered several more of the northern islands. The' ZVL Tu^'''^\^''' ^^^«<^^«red by Captain Cook N. tt\ -1 '"x''^ ^'°"P ""^^ "^"^«d by him the loO,000, which, from various causes, is decreasing. The natives are Papuan-not so fair, tall, or intel- ligent as the Malays, nor so black and degraded as the itants of the Banks and Solomon islands, are Mela- nes.an or Black Islanders. They are des;endants of Ham ; those in the Polynesian groups being the olive colored descendants of Shem. The Rev. Joseph Copeland has described their do- mestic and social condition as one of poverty, discom- A n^' iT' '"f ' '"''^^^' ^S^^'^^ce, and helplessness. And the extent to which they are under the influence ot superstition may be seen from the following state- ment by the same missionary : " They are polygamists and polyandrists. and infants are betrothed ar^ul cision IS practised at the age of seven or eight, and they are inveterate cannibals. Chiefs often declare tabu, ^.e., certain places, fruit-tree, kinds of fish and tood, are pronounced tabu, or forbidden, to certain par les for so many months. If you give a native food, he will not touch it, wJfl, i.,-. i.. %, 12 "iigcrs — a 178 MISSIONARY SKETCHES. ii? piece of paper or a leaf must interpose between his fingers and it. There are sacred men who, by their incantations, make rain, wind, death, and all other calamities. Hence the natives are careful to pick up all scraps of food, and even hair, lest some wizard find them and evolve evil from them. They have feasts, at which large collections of food, animal and vege- table, are made. Dancing, singing, and beating of hollow trees are practised at night at full moon. Thev beheve in the existence of gods ov spirits-superior beings, who have made, and who govern the world ■ hero are priests who make offerings of iuod and c rmk to these spirits. They have traditions about Xhv creation, but none as to whence their ancestors caiue Their religion consists in a belief in magical incantations and .spirits, and in the practice of unmean- ing rites and ceremonies." The first attempt to .evangelise these islands was made m 1839 by the devoted Williams, though the project had lain on his heart from the year 1824 On the 4th of November, 1839, accompanied by a Mr James Harris, who was on his way to England with tiie view of becoming a missionary to the Marquesas, he commenced what he designated " his great voyage " On the previous day-his last Sabbath on Samoa-he preached at Upuio a farewell discourse from Acts xx. db-d8, dwelling more particularly on the words • « And * i MISSIONS TO THE NEW HERIIIDES. 179 they all wept sore, and fell upon Paul's neck and fciaaed fmn ; sorrotving most of aV the words which he spake, that they should see his face no more " The srene ls described as deeply affecting. Mrs. Williams having apparently some presentiment that the text was to receive an early fulfilment, is said to have remonstrated with her husband on parting against landing on Eromanga. On the 16th (Saturday) he writes to a friend : "... I have just heard dear Cap- tain Morgan say thuo we are sixty miles off the Heb- rides, so that we shall be there early to-morrow morn- ing. This evening we are to have a special praver meeting. Oh ! how much depends on the efforts" of to-morrow. Will the savages receive us or not ? Per- haps at this moment you or some other kind friend may be wrestling with God for us. I am all anxiety • but desire prudence and faithfulness in the manarre- ment oi the attempt to impart the gospel to these benighted people, and leave the event with God I brought twelve missionaries with me ; two have set- tled at oeautiful island called Rotuma ; the ten I ha e are for the New Hebridas and New Caledonia. 1 he approaching week is t. me the most important of my hte." Early on Sabbath morning the island of Futuna was reached Two cano. . approached, one of them con- taining four men, whose 'omplexion, Williams wrote IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) // C^/ c^ A {/. 1.0 I.I 1^12.8 ■ 50 "'^ 2.5 2.2 L25 1 1.4 2.0 1.6 Hiotographic Sdences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. M580 (716) 872-4503 r<\^ ^\ % ^\ '^A c.\ :^ ^ t/j ^^ 180 MISSIONARY SKETCHES. ?"F " is not black like that of the negro, neither brown like that of the other south sea islanders, but of a sooty color. Their faces were thickly smeared with a red pigment, and a long white feather was stuck in the back of the head," &c. As none of them could be .persuaded to come on board the mission ship, the boat was lowered, aid on approaching the shore, a nati.e sprung into it from his canoe, stating that he was an Ariki, or Chief, and wished to go on board. He remained there until the evening, having been for the greater portion of the day helpless through sea-sick- ness, "that annihilator of human distinctions," as Williams playfully expressed it. Being an intelligent, communicative man, a considerable amount of infor- mation was obtained from him. On preparing to return, he received a number of presents which he showed with great delight to his friends on the shore. They behaved with great civility to Williams and his companious, but none of them could be induced to accompany the mission party to Tanna. Williams summed up the result by recording his " conviction that such a friendly feeling has been excited as will enable us to settle teachers as soon as we can possibly spare them." "This is a memorable day, a day which will be transmitted to posterity, and the record of the events which have this day transpired will exist after those MISSIONS TO THE NEW HEBRIDES. 181 who have taken an active part in them have retired into the shades of oblivion, and the results of this day will be " ^ These were probably the last words penned by Wil- hams. They were entered in his journal, it is believed on he Monday night. " The history of the unfinished sentence cannot now be recovered." In explanation ot Its somewhat remarkable phraseology, his bio- grapher states that "although not free from apprehen- sion, he was filled with the hope of shortly realising the visions, and accomplishing the desires, of many previous years. ^ On reaching Dillon's Bay, on the south side of the island, the whale boat was lowered, when Captain Morgan took m Williams, Harris, a Mr. Cunningham and four natives. Some natives in a canoe that was' paddling about along the shore were spoken to and in- vited to come into the boat. The invitation was de- clmed. notwithstanding that presents were made to them Beads afterwards thrown to natives on the beach were eagerly picked up. Other presents fol- lowed. Harris inquired of Williams if he had any objection to his going on shore. His reply was, " No not any " He accordingly waded in, and after a little was followed by Williams and Cunningham. The course adopted was by no means clear. Captain Morgan especially had his misgivings, arising from the !'! m 182 MISSIONARY SKETCHES. absence of the women, it being customary to send them out of the way when mischief is resolved upon. In order, however, still further to win their confidence, Williams sat down and divided some cloth among them. The sequel will be best told in Captain Morgan's own words in his letter to the Rev. Wm. Ellis, then the honored secretary of the London Missionary Society. " All three," Captain Morgan writes, " walked up the beach, Mr. Harris first ; Mr. Williams and Mr. Cun- ningham followed. After they had walked about a hundred yards, they turned to the right, alongside of the bush, and I lost sight of them. Mr. Harris was the farthest off". I then went on shore, supposing we had found favor in the eyes of the people. I stopped to see the boat anchored safely, and then walked up the beach towards the spot where the others had pro- ceeded ; but before I had gone a hundred yards, the boat's crew called out to me to run to the boat. I looked round, and saw Mr. Williams and Mr. Cun- ningham running ; Mr. Cunningham towards the boa^., and Mr. Williams straight for the sea, with one native close behind him. I got into the boat, and by this time two natives were close behind me, though I did not see them at the moment. By this time Mr. Wil- liams br.d got to the water, but, the beach being stony and steep, he fell backward, and the native struck him 1 1 r 1 1 "V t t d Si H MISSIONS TO THE NEW HEBRIDES. 183 with a club, and often repeated the blow. A short time aft -, another native came up and struck him, and very soon another came up and pierced several arrows into his body. My heart was deeply wounded. • ... I pulled alongside the brig and made all sail, perceiving with the glass that the natives had left the body on the beach. I also ordered a gun to be fired, fcaded with powder only, thinking to frighten the natives, so that I might get the body. The na- tives, however, made their appearance and dragged the body out of sight. Thus died," Captain Morgan wrote, " a great and good man, like a soldier standing to his post." A similar fate befel Harris. Intelligence of the sad event was conveyed by the Camden to Sydney. At the request of the Missionary Auxihaiy, Sir G. Gipps, the Governor, after satisfying himself that it v:-as prompted by no revengeful feel- ings, despatched H.M.S. Favorite, to recover, if possi- blfc, the remains of the martyred missionaries. It reached Eromanga on the 27th February, 1840. At its approach, the natives flew in all directions. " At length, however, communications were cpened, and the wretched creatures confessed that they had devoured the bodies, and that nothing remained but some of the bones. These, including the skulls, were, after hours' delay, brought to the boat; and having satisfied him- self that he now possessed all the mutilated relics of 184 MISSIONARY SKEfCHES. the murdered missionaries which could be recovered, Captain Croker hastened from these horrid shores." The London Missionary Society, too, followed up the intelligence of Williams' death by sending out in the year just mentioned Messrs. Turner and Nisbet to the island of Tanna, which was accordingly reached in June, 1842. Their anticipations as to the savage char- acter of the people were fully realised. In Tain they and their noble wives endeavored to conciliate them. They were in the midst of demons, who could be sub- dued only by a power that was divine. For seven months they courageously held the fort. But it could be held no longer. An epidemic having broken out, the missionaries were blamed for it. Their position was now one of extremest peril. Flight seemed the only alternative. At dead of night, therefore, they tied in two open boats ; but returning next day, they were conveyed to Samoa in a vessel which oppor- tunely appeared on the scene. The enemy was thus once more left in full possession of the field. Few names occupy a more distinguished place in the annals of missionary enterprise than those of the apostolic Dr. G. A. Selwyn, the first Bishop of New Zealand, afterwards Bishop of Lichfield. Having been joined by the Rev. John Coleridge Patteson in 1855, the islands of the New Hebrides were more regularly visited. This ardent and accomplished MISSIONS TO THE NEW HEBRIDES. 185 young missionary was consecrated Bishop of Melanesia in 1861, when the entire work in that mission-field so lar as the Church of England is concerned, was placed under hissuperintendence. As the southern islandswere being occupied by Presbyterian missionaries, this good Bishop, with every desire to respect such occupation- a principle uniformly acted on also by Dr. Selwyn— confined his labors, after a time, to the more north- erly of the group. Latterly, while these continued to be regularly visited, the Banks', the Solomon, the Santa Cruz, and the Swallow groups were the princi- pal scene of his efforts, Norfolk Island, midway be- tween New Zealand and New Caledonia, being selected as the head-quarters of the mission. His successful career was in 1871 brought to an unex- pected and distressing termination. The facts are briefly these : — On Bishop Patceson's return from Aukland in 1870 whither he had gone to recruit his shattered health' he made a tour of the islands. When drawing near banta Cruz, on which for many years an opening had been sought, we find him writing : « It is very difficult to know what to do-how to try to make a beginnincr. God will open a door in His own good time. Yet To see and seize the opportunity when given is difficult " Ihe last voyage commenced on 27th April, 1871. At Whitsuntide Island he was told that a "thief" ship 186 MISSIONARY SKETCHES. had carried off some of the people. Starr Island was found nearly depopulated. On 16th May he landed at Mota, while the Southern Cross went on with Mr. Brooke, a fellow-laborer, to Florida, where he was informed that the " snatch-snatch " vessel had carried off fifty men. The extent to which unsuspecting natives were being deported is described as « start- ling." The practice was to decoy them on board, thrust them under the hatches, and convey them to Queensland, Fiji,* and elsewhere, in order to be em- ployed in forced labor on the plantations. On the morning of 20th September the island of Nukapu, in the Swallow group, was reached. The bishop, after furnishing himself with presents, went ashore alone, not, however, without misgivings in the minds of some of the party. His lifeless body was found in the afternoon in a canoe. Club and arrow had done their deadly work.* " The next morning, St. Matthew's day, the body of John Coleridge' Patteson was committed to the waters of the Pacific, his son after the faith, Joseph Atkin, reading the burial service." The first to obtain a permanent footing in the New Hebrides was the Rev. Dr. John Geddie, who was sent out by the Presbyterian Phurch of Nova Scotia in * A few years later, Commodore Goodenough was murdered in another of the bays of the same island. MISSIONS TO THE NEW HEBRIDES. 187 1848. Having on his way consulted with the mission- ary brethren in Samoa as to the most suitable sphere of labor, the island of Aneityum was fixed upon. Thither accordingly he was conveyed in the vessel belonging to the London Missionary Society, accom- panied by a missionary from Samoa, who remained for a year, and rendered him invaluable service in beginning the work. After twenty-four years of faithful labor, during which he suffered many hard- ships. Dr. Geddie was seized with paralysis while attending the Mission Synod in 1872. Having been conveyed to Geelong, he there finished his Earthly course on the loth December in that year. A mem- orial tablet in the church at his station on Aneityura, contains the following sentence :— " When He Land- ed, IN 1848, There Were No Christians Here, And When He Left, in 1872, There Were No Heathens." The Rev. John Inglis, after eight years' service as a missionary of the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Scotland among the Maories in New Zealand, was, at his own request, transferred to Aneityum. He reached the island on 1st July, 1852, having been conveyed thither in the most generous manner by Dr. Selwyn. He was settled at Aname, on the north side of the island. Dr. Geddie's sphere of labor being at Anel- cauhat, on the south side. After a laborious and 188 MISSIONARY SKETCHES. successful missionary career, extending over a period of thirty-three years, Mr. Inglis returned to his native land in 1877, where he continues to further the interests of these Missions. Of all the islands, Eromanga holds a sad pre-emin- ence among these "habitations of cruelty." From time to time, after the murder of Williams and Harris, m 1839, native teachers were left on the island. Once and again, however, they had to be removed, as their lives were in imminent peril. The Rev. G. N. Gordon arrived from Nova Scotia on 17th June, 1857, and for four years prosecuted the work with untiring zeal and energy. A destructive hurricane, followed by measles, carried off hundreds of the natives. According to Mr! Inglis, the general belief is, that "neither death, disease, nor any calamity is occasioned by natural causes ; they are all produced by sorcery and witch- craft." Their sacred men are all disease-makers. The missionaries are all sacred men— they administer medicines, and profess to cure diseases; and the natural inference is, that if they can cure, they can also cause disease. The missionary and his wife were the victims of this superstitious belief. While en- gaged in building operations, the former was attacked by a band of eight or ten assassins, one of whom aimed a blow at him with his tomahawk. This he warded off, as he did also a second blow; but though a power- MISSIONS TO THE NEW HEBRIDRS. 180 fully built man, considerably over six feet, he was in a few moments laid low. Mrs. Gordon, hearing the yells of the savages, rushed to the door, and asked a native, who was approaching, what was the matter " Noting," he said, "it is only the boys playin^r " " Where are the boys ? " she enquired, and, turnin- round to look, was struck on the shoulder with his tomahawk. Another blow nearly severed her head from her body. " A faithful band gathered the mangled remains of their revered teachers, and laid them in a grave on the bank of the river. Shortly afterwards, seventeen of those who attached themselves to the missionary fled in a vessel to Aneityum to tell the tragic story and secure their safety. A few, however, remained' and were bold enough to ring the bell on Sabbath morning, and meet together for worship. Bishop Patteson was the first to visit the island P^orthesad event. He felt the bereavement keenly, i or beloved the Gordons." Mr. J. D. Gordon, a brother of the missionary whose lamented death has just been described, resolved to raise anew the banner of the Cross on these blood- stained shores. A noble resolve ! which only strong faith in God, and intense love to the Saviour and the souls of the perishing, could have prompted. On the completion of his theological studies at Halifax, in 100 MISSTONAUY SKETCHES. a m Nova Scotia, he proceeded in 1864 to Eromanga, and at once entered on his arduous and trying work. He continued to labor there for the most part, not without tokens of success, until 1872. During the summer of that year much sickness and death prevailed. Mr. Gordon was blamed for it. In particular, he had ad- ministered medicine to two children, both of whom died. The father, along with another man, called upon Mr. Gordon on a professedly friendly errand. In the course of conversation in the verandah, he watched his opportunity and struck him a fatal blow on the head with a tomahawk. Mr. Gordon dashed through a window with the weapon sticking in his skull ! The native followed, and having secured his tomahawk, he made his escape. In a few minutes the missionary was lying lifeless on the floor. The sorrowful news was communicated by Soso, a faithful native assistant, who was in the house at the time of the murder. The fallen standard was, during the same year, raised by the Rev. Hugh A. Robertson, from the Synod of the Maritime Provinces of British North America* He deliberately selected this stronghold of heathenism as his sphere of labor, and has been permitted to re- main at his post to the present time, and to reap the fruit of the martyr blood there^sown. In 1878 there * Since incorporated as the result of Union negotiations in the large and influential Presbyterian Church of Canada. MISSIONS TO THE NEW liEBUIDK.S. 191 were forty-three communicants and ten candidates for baptism, while the number attending Christian ordi- nances more or less regularly was estimated at six hundred. A stone church has been erected at Portinia Bay, and a grass church at Cook's Bay. Upwards of twenty native Christian teachers are employed in the work of instruction. But great as this achievement is, it is after all only an instalment of what has yet to be accomplished inasmuch as "there is no New Hebrides dialect. Every island has its own language, and on several there are two dialects." The variety of dialects is such as to have called forth the remark that " the people must have come .straight from the Tower of Babel, and gone on dividing their speech ever since." Bibles in no fewer than twenty languages will be re- quired ere the natives generally can read the Word of God in their own tongue. Six translations are, at the present time, being proceeded with. The Mission Vessel, the Day8pring*a, three-masted schooner of 160 tons, is an indispensable necessity. Her yearly expenses are about £1900, and are met by the children of the various churches interested in the • There are also plying among the islands of the Southern Pacific : —The Southent Cross in connection with the Propagation Society ; the John Williams and the Elkngowan with tlie London Missionary Society ; the John Wesley with the Wesleyan Missionary Society : the Morning Star with the American Board, 192 MISSIONARY SKETCHES. missions. Her work is thus described by Mr Codb- land: — '' ' '^ " The Daysprimj goes to the Christianised islands tor native teachers, and settles them wherever there may be an opening on the heathen islands : Takes to the missionaries end teachers supplies of food, cloth- ing, and medicine ; letters, magazines, and newspapers ; house material, and boats ; as also all other materials n ^ rif ,°^" comfort and the progress of the work of God. Takes missionaries who are in danger to a place ot safety ; thqse requiring a change to a colder cli- mate ; new missionaries, or those who may have been recruiting, from the colonies to the islands ; and the children to a Christian land, to be educated. Enables the missionaries, teachers, and native Christians on one island to write to and visit the missionaries, teachers and native Christians of other islands, and all the mis- sionaries to meet in Synod. Takes heathen natives to Christian islands, that they may see the effects of the gospel, and have their prejudices against it and against the missionaries and teachers somewhat removed Re- turns strayed natives to their own island. Carries the Word of God from the press to the several islan