■wnw wtww l5^-^f * • * • » • » » »»>,• ■»», NEW YORK The Board of Publication Of the Reformed Church in America 25 East 22d Street Copyright, 1894, by Anson D. F. Randolph & Co. (Inc .) • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • * • • • « • • • • • * • • • c t e •< c c • •, < <• cc a yl • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • c • « • • •• • INTRODUCTION. BY REV. T. DE WITT TALMAGE, D.D. Too near was I to the subject of this biography to write an impartial introduction. When John Van Nest Talmage went, my last brother went. Stunned until I staggered through the corridors of the hotel in London, England, when the news came that John was dead. If I should say all that I felt I would declare that since Paul the great apostle to the Gentiles, a more faithful or consecrated man has not lifted his voice in the dark places of hea- thenism. I said it while he was alive, and might as well say it now that he is dead. " He was the hero of our family." He did not go to a far-off land to preach because people in America did not want to hear him preach. At the time of his first going to China he had a call to succeed Rev. Dr. Brod- head, of Brooklyn, the Chrysostom of the American pulpit, a call with a large salary, and there would not have been anything impossible to him in the matters of religious work or Christian achievement had he tarried in his native land. But nothing (3) M128572 Introduction. could detain him from the work to which God called him years before he became a Christian. My reason for writing that anomalous statement is that when a boy in Sabbath-school at Boundbrook, New Jersey, he read a Library book, entitled " The Life of Henry Martyn, the Missionary," and he said to our mother, " Mother ! when I grow up I am going to be a missionary ! " The remark made no especial impression at the time. Years passed on before his conversion. But when the grace of God appeared to him, and he had begun his study for the ministry, he said one day, " Mother ! Do you remember that many years ago I said, ' I am going to be a missionary ' ? " She replied, *' Yes ! I re- member you said so." ** Well," said he, ^* I am going to keep my promise." And how well he kept it millions of souls on earth and in heaven have long since heard. But his chief work is yet to come. We get our chronology so twisted that we come to believe that the white marble of the tomb is the mile-stone at which a good man stops, when it is only a mile-stone on a journey, the most of the miles of which are yet to be travelled. The Dictionary which my brother prepared with more than two decades of study, the religious liter- ature he transferred from English into Chinese, the hymns he wrote for others to sing, although him- Introduction, self could not sing at all, (he and I monopolizing the musical incapacity of a family in which all the rest could sing well), the missionary stations he planted, the life he lived, will widen out, and deepen and intensify through all time and all eternity. I am glad that those competent to tell of his magnificent work have undertaken it. You could get nothing about it from him at all. Ask him a question trying to evoke what he had done for God and the church, and his lips were as tightly shut as though they had never been opened. He was animated enough when drawn out in discussion religious, educational, or political, but he had great powers of silence. I once took him to see General Grant, our reticent President. On that occasion they both seemed to do their best in the art of quietude. The great military President with his closed lips on one side of me, and my brother with his closed lips on the other side of me, I felt there was more silence in the room than I ever before knew to be crowded into the same space. It was the same kind of reticence that always came upon John when you asked him about his work. But the story has been gloriously told in the heavens by those who through his instrumentality have al- ready reached the City of Raptures. When the roll of martyrs is called before the Throne of God, Introduction. the name of John Van Nest Talmage will be called. He worked himself to death in the cause of the world's evangelization. His heart, his brain, his lungs, his hands, his muscles, his nerves, all wrought for others until heart and brain, and lungs and hands, and muscles and nerves could do no more. He sleeps in the cemetery near Somerville, New Jersey, so near father and mother that he will face them when he rises in the Resurrection of the Just, and amid a crowd of kindred now slumbering on the right of him, and on the left of him, he will feel the thrill of the Trumpet that wakes the dead. Allelujah ! Amen ! Brooklyn, June, 1894. PREFACE. The accompanying resolution of the Board of Foreign Missions of the Reformed Church in America, November i6, 1892, explains the origin of this volume : ** Resolved, That the Board of Foreign Missions, being firmly convinced that a biography of the late John V. N. Talmage, D.D., for over forty years identified with the Mission at Amoy, would be of great service to the cause of Missions, heartily recommend to the family of Dr. Talmage the selec- tion of an appropriate person to prepare such a memoir, and in case this is done, promise to render all the aid in their power in furnishing whatever facts or records may be of service to the author of the book," The writer raised his pen to this task with hesi- tancy. He had known Dr. Talmage only little more than a year ; long enough, indeed, to revere and love him, but not long enough to tell the story of so rich and fruitful a life. (7) 8 Preface, Dr. Talmage was a man of unconscious greatness. If he could have been consulted it is doubtful whether a public record of him would have ever seen the light. His life to him would have seemed too commonplace and unworthy. He was exceed- ingly careful in the use of language. He could not endure exaggeration. Nothing so commanded his admiration as honesty and accuracy of statement. That ought to be sufificient to guard any one who speaks of such a man against indiscriminate eulogy. We have endeavored as far as possible to make this memoir an autobiography. To carry out this purpose has not been without difficulties. Dr. Talmage did not keep a continuous diary. He did not preserve complete files of his corre- spondence as if anticipating the needs of some possible biographer. The author's enforced retirement from the mis- sion field in the midst of collecting and sifting material, has been no small drawback. It is hoped, however, that enough has been gleaned to justify publication. Sincerest thanks are due to those brethren who contributed to the concluding chapter, ''In Memoriam." If these pages may more fully acquaint the Church of Christ with a name which it should Preface, not willingly let die, and deepen interest in and hasten by the least hair-breadth the redemption of " China's Millions," the author will feel abun- dantly rewarded. John G. Fagg. Arlington, New Jersey, October i, 1894. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE Rev. John Van Nest Talmage, D.D. {Frontispiece). \ p._ — Chinese Clan-House, 26 Buddhist Temple, Amoy, 64 Pagoda near Lam-sin, 90 Chinese Bride and Groom, no Traveling Equipment in South China, . . 136 Pastor Iap and Family, 152 The Sio ke Valley, . . . . ! . .182 Glimpse of the Sio-ke River, . . . 206 Scene in the Hakka Region, . . . .232 Girls' School; the Talmage Manse; Woman's School (Kolongsu, opposite Amoy), . . . 250 Pastor Tap, 276 (.0) CONTENTS. I.- -The Ancestral Home, . FAGE II.- —Call to China and Voyage Hence, . 43 IIL- —The City of the "Elegant Gate," • 59 Description of Amoy and Amoy Island, Ancestral Worship, Infanticide, . 61 . 64 . 66 Is China to be won, and how? . . 70 IV.- Worship of the Emperor, —Light and Shade, .... . . 75 . 81 The Chiang-chiu Valley, . Breaking and Burning of Idols, The Chinese Boat Race and its Origin, The Chinese Beggar System, . Two Noble Men Summoned Hence, . 81 . . 83 . . 84 . . 85 . 87 V.- -At the Foot of the Bamboos, . . lOI Opium, Romanized Colloquial, . Chinese Sense of Sin, . 104 . 106 . 108 Primitive Lamps, .... Zealous Converts, .... . no . 112 The Term Question, What it Costs a Chinese to become a ( . 112 I!hris- tian, . 116 Persecuted for Christ's sake, . . 118 " He is only a Beggar," . Printing under Difficulties, Carrier Pigeons, . 122 . 125 . 127 (II) 12 Conte7its. VI.— The "Little Knife" Insurrection, How ihe Chinese Fight, . VII. — The Blossoming Desert, Si-boo's Zeal, . An Appeal for a Missionary, VIIL— Church Union, The Memorial of the Amoy Mission, IX. — Church Union (continued), X.— The Anti-Missionary Agitation, XI.— The Last Two Decades, Forty continuous Years in Heathenism, Chinese Grandiloquence, XII.— In Memoriam, Dr. Talmage — The Man and the Missionary. By Rev. W. S. Swanson, D.D., . Venerable Teacher Talmage. By Pastor lap Han Chiong, Rev. John Van Mest Talmage, D.D. By Rev. S. L. Baldwin, D.D., .... The Rev. J. V. N. Talmage, D.D. By Rev. Talbot W. Chambers, D.D., LL.D., . Rev. John Van Nest Talmage, D.D. By Rev. John M. Ferris, D.D., Appendix, 131 140 149 160 164 171 185 19c 227 243 243 250 261 261 277 279 282 289 295 THE ANCESTRAL HOME„ (13) > > » J > J » > > > 1 J » 9 > ) ) 1 > ' > > » > I. THE ANCESTRAL HOME. John Van Nest Talmage was born at Somer- ville, New Jersey, August i8, 1819. He was the fourth son in a family of seven brothers and five sisters. The roots of the Talmage genealogical tree may be traced back to the year 1630, when Enos and Thomas Talmage, the progenitors of the Talmage family in North America, landed at Charlestown, Massachusetts, and afterwards settled at East Hampton, Long Island. Dr. Lyman Beecher represents the first settlers of East Hampton as " men resolute, enterprising, acquainted with human nature, accustomed to do business, well qualified by education, circumspect, careful in dealing, friends of civil liberty, jealous of their rights, vigilant to discover, and firm to resist encroachments ; eminently pious." In 1725 we find Daniel Talmage at Elizabeth- town, New Jersey. Daniel's grandson, Thomas, during the years between 1775 and 1834 shifts his (15) 1 6 The Ancestral Home, tent to Piscataway, New Jersey, thence to New Brunswick, thence to Somerville, where the stakes are driven firmly on a farm " beautiful for situa- tion." Thomas Talmage was a builder by trade, and erected some of the most important court- houses and public edifices in Somerset and Mid- dlesex Counties, He was active in the Revolu- tionary war, holding the rank of major. It was said of hiisi, ^* His name will be held in everlasting remembrance in the churches." He was the father of seven sons and six daughters. The third son, David T., the father of John Van Nest Talmage, was born at Piscataway, April 21, 1783. He was married to Catharine Van Nest, Dec. 19, 1803. David T. Talmage was rather migratory in his instincts. The smoke of the Tal- mage home now curled out from a house at Mill- stone, now from a homestead near Somerville, then from Gateville ; then the family ark rested for many years on the outskirts of Somerville and finally it brought up at Boundbrook, New Jersey. Though the family tent was folded several times, it was not folded for more than a day's wagon- journey before it was pitched again. The places designated are all within the range of a single New Jersey county. In 1836 David T. Talmage was elected a mem- The A^icestral Home, 17 ber of the State Legislature and was returned three successive terms. In 184T, he was chosen high sheriff of Somerset County. Four of his sons en- tered the Christian ministry, James R., John Van Nest, Goyn, and Thomas De Witt. James R., the senior brother, rendered efficient service in pastorates at Pompton Plains and Blawenburgh, New Jersey, and in Brooklyn, Greenbush, and Chit^ tenango, New York. He received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from Rutgers College, New Jersey, in 1864. John Van Nest gave his life to China. Goyn, a most winsome man and eloquent preacher, ministered with marked success to the churches of Niskayuna, Greenpoint, Rhinebeck, and Port Jervis, New York, and Paramus, New Jersey. He was for five years the Corresponding Secretary of the Board of Domestic Missions of the Reformed Church. Rutgers College honored herself and him by giving him the degree of Doctor of Divinity in 1876. Thomas De Witt, the youngest son, still minis- ters to the largest church in Protestant Christen- dom. What a river of blessing has flowed from that humble, cottage well-spring. The wilderness and the parched land have been made glad by it. The desert has been made to rejoice and blossom as the rose. The courses thereof have gone out 1 8 The Ancestral Home. into all the earth, and the tossing of its waves have been heard to the end of the world. In November, 1865, Dr. T. De Witt Talmage preached a sermon on '' The Beauty of Old Age " "^ from the words in Eccles. xii. 5, ** The Almond Tree shall flourish." It w^as commemorative of his father, David T. Talmage. He says : " I have stood, for the last few days, as under the power of an en- chantment. Last Friday-a-week, at eighty-three years of age, my father exchanged earth for heaven. The wheat was ripe, and it has been harvested. No painter's pencil or poet's rhythm could describe that magnificent sunsetting. It was no hurricane blast let loose ; but a gale from heaven, that drove into the dust the blossoms of that almond tree. " There are lessons for me to learn, and also for you, for many of you knew him. The child of his old age, I come to-night to pay an humble tribute to him, who, in the hour of my birth, took me into his watchful care, and whose parental faithfulness, combined with that of my mother, was the means of bringing my erring feet to the cross, and kind- ling in my soul anticipations of immortal blessed- * This sermon gives so graphic and tender a portrayal of the father of one of America's most distinguished minis- terial families, that the author feels justified in making so lengthy an extract. The Ancestral Home, 19 ness. If I failed to speak, methinks the old family Bible, that I brought home with me, would rebuke my silence, and the very walls of my youthful home would tell the story of my ingratitude. I must speak, though it be with broken utterance, and in terms which seem too strong for those of you who never had an opportunity of gathering the fruit of this luxuriant almond tree. " First, In my father*s old age was to be seen the beauty of a cheerful spirit, I never remember to have heard him make a gloomy expression. This was not because he had no conception of the pollutions of society. He abhorred everything like impurity, or fraud, or double-dealing. He never failed to lift up his voice against sin, when he saw it. He was terrible in his indignation against wrong, and had an iron grip for the throat of him who trampled on the helpless. Better meet a lion robbed of her whelps than him, if you had been stealing the bread from the mouth of the fatherless. It required all the placidity of my mother's voice to calm him when once the mountain storm of his righteous wrath was in full blast ; while as for him- self, he would submit to more imposition, and say nothing, than any man I ever knew. " But while sensitive to the evils of society, he felt confident that all would be righted. When he 20 The Ancestral Home. prayed, you could hear in the very tones of his voice the expectation that Christ Jesus would ut- terly demolish all iniquity, and fill the earth with His glory. This Christian man was not a misan- thrope, did not think that everything was going to ruin, considered the world a very good place to live in. He never sat moping or despondent, but took things as they were, knowing that God could and would make them better. When the heaviest surge of calamity came upon him, he met it with as cheerful a countenance as ever a bather at the beach met the incoming Atlantic, rising up on the other side of the wave stronger than when it smote him. Without ever being charged with frivolity, he sang, and whistled, and laughed. He knew about all the cheerful tunes that were ever printed in old * New Brunswick Collection,' and the * Shum- way,' and the sweetest melodies that Thomas Hastings ever composed. I think that every pillar in the Somerville and Boundbrook churches knew his happy voice. He took the pitch of sacred song on Sabbath morning, and lost it not through all the week. I have heard him sing plowing amid the aggravations of a ' new ground,' serving writs, examining deeds, going to arrest criminals, in the house and by the way, at the barn and in the street. When the church choir would break down, The Ancestral Home. 21 everybody looked around to see if he were not ready with Woodstock, Mount Pisgah, or Uxb ridge. And when all his familiar tunes failed to express the joy of his soul, he would take up his own pen, draw five long lines across the sheet, put in the notes, and then to the tune that he called ' Bound- brook * begin to sing: *As when the weary trav'ler gains The height of some o'erlooking hill, His heart revives if, 'cross the plains, He eyes his home, tho' distant still : *Thus, when the Christian pilgrim views, By faith, his mansion in the skies ; The sight his fainting strength renews, And wings his speed to reach the prize. " 'Tis there," he says, " I am to dwell With Jesus in the realms of day : There I shall bid my cares farewell. And he will wipe my tears away." ' " But few families fell heir to so large a pile of well-studied note-books. He was ready, at proper times, for all kinds of innocent amusement. He often felt a merriment that not only touched the lips, but played upon every fibre of the body, and rolled down into the very depths of his soul, with long reverberations. No one that I ever knew 22 The Ancestral Home. understood more fully the science of a good laugh. He was not only quick to recognize hilarity when created by others, but was always ready to do his share toward making it. Before extreme old age, he could outrun and outleap any of his children. He did not hide his satisfaction at having out- walked some one who boasted of his pedestrianism, or at having been able to swing the scythe after all the rest of the harvesters had dropped from ex- haustion, or at having, in legislative hall, tripped up some villanous scheme for robbing the public treasury. We never had our ears boxed, as some children I wot of, for the sin of being happy. In long winter nights it was hard to tell who enjoyed sportfulness the better, the children who romped the floor, or the parents who, with lighted coun- tenance, looked at them. Great indulgence and leniency characterized his family rule, but the re- membrance of at least one correction more em- phatic than pleasing proves that he was not like Eli of old, who had wayward sons and restrained them not. In the multitude of his witticisms there were no flings at religion, no caricatures of good men, no trifling with things of eternity. His laughter was not the * crackling of thorns under a pot,' but the merry heart that doeth good like a medicine. For this all the children of the com- The Ancestral Home, 23 munity knew him ; and to the last day of his walk- ing out, when they saw him coming down the lane, shouted, 'Here comes grandfather ! ' No gall, no acerbity, no hypercriticism. If there was a bright side to anything, he always saw it, and his name, in all the places where he dwelt, will long be a synonym for exhilaration of spirit. " But whence this cheerfulness ? Some might ascribe it all to natural disposition. No doubt there is such a thing as sunshine of temperament. God gives more brightness to the almond tree than to the cypress. While the pool putrefies under the summer sun, God slips the rill off of the rocks with a frolicsomeness that fills the mountain with echo. No doubt constitutional structure had much to do with this cheerfulness. He had, by a life of sobriety, preserved his freshness and vigor. You know that good habits are better than speaking tubes to the ear ; better than a staff to the hand ; better than lozenges to the throat ; better than warm baths to the feet ; better than bitters for the stomach. His lips had not been polluted, nor his brain befogged, by the fumes of the noxious weed that has sapped the life of whole generations, send- ing even ministers of the Gospel to untimely graves, over which the tombstone declared, * Sac- rificed by overwork in the Lord's vineyard,' when 24 The Ancestral Home. if the marble had not lied, it would have said, ' Killed by villanous tobacco ! ' He abhorred any- thing that could intoxicate, being among the first in this country to join the crusade against alcoholic beverages. When urged, during a severe sickness, to take some stimulus, he said, * No! If I am to die, let me die sober ! ' The swill of the brewery had never been poured around the roots of this thrifty almond. To the last week of his life his ear could catch a child's whisper, and at fourscore years his eyes refused spectacles, although he would sometimes have to hold the book off on the other side of the light, as octogenarians are wont to do. No trembling of the hands, no rheum in the eyes, no knocking together of the knees, no hobbling on crutches with what polite society terms rheumatism in the feet, but what everybody knows is nothing but gout. Death came, not to fell the gnarled trunk of a tree worm-eaten and lightning-blasted, but to hew down a Lebanon cedar, whose fall made the mountains tremble and the heavens ring. But physical health could not account for half of this sunshine. Sixty-four years ago a coal from the heavenly altar had kindled a light that shone brighter and brighter to the perfect day. Let Almighty grace for nearly three-quarters of a cen- tury triumph in a man's soul, and do you wonder that The Ancestral Home. 25 he is happy? For twice the length of your Hfe and mine he had sat in the bower of the promises, plucking the round, ripe clusters of Eshcol. While others bit their tongues for thirst, he stood at the wells of salvation, and put his lips to the bucket that came up dripping with the fresh, cool, spark- ling waters of eternal life. This joy was not that which breaks in the bursting bubble of the cham- pagne glass, or that which is thrown out with the orange-peelings of a midnight bacchanalia, but the joy which, planted by a Saviour's pardoning grace, mounts up higher and higher, till it breaks forth in the acclaim of the hundred and forty and four thousand who have broken their last chain and wept their last sorrow. Oh ! mighty God ! How deep, how wide, how high the joy Thou kindlest in the heart of the believer ! '* Again : We behold in our father the beauty of a Christian faith. *' Let not the account of this cheerfulness give you the idea that he never had any trouble. But few men have so serious and overwhelming a life- struggle. He went out into the world without means, and with no educational opportunity, save that which was afforded him in the winter months, in an old, dilapidated school-house, from instructors whose chief work was to collect their own salary. 26 The Ancestral Home, Instead of postponing the marriage relation, as modern society compels a young man to postpone it, until he can earn a fortune, and be able, at com- mencement cf the conjugal relation, to keep a com- panion like the lilies of the field, that toil not nor spin, though Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these — he chose an early alliance with one, who v/ould not only be able to enjoy the success of his life, but who would with her ov/n willing hands help achieve it. And so while father plowed the fields, and threshed the wheat, and broke the flax, and husked the corn, my mother stood for Solomon's portraiture, when he said, * She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household. She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff. She is not afraid of the snow for her household, for all her household are clothed with scarlet. Her chil- dren arise up and call her blessed, her husband also, and he praiseth her. Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all.' So that the limited estate of the New Jersey farmer never foundered on millinery establishments and confectionery shops. And though we were some years of age before we heard the trill of a piano, we knew well about the song of * The Spinning-wheel.' There were no lords, or baronets, or princes in our c c c • c c c c ic c c c ,c c c c The Ancestral Home. 27 ancestral line. None wore stars, cockade, or crest. There was once a family coat of arms, but we were none of us wise enough to tell its meaning. Do our best, we cannot find anything about our fore- runners, except that they behaved well, came over from Wales or Holland a good while ago, and died when their time came. Some of them may have had fine equipage and caparisoned postilion, but the most of them were sure only of footmen. My father started m life belonging to the aristocracy of hard knuckles and homespun, but had this high honor that no one could despise. He was the son of a father who loved God, and kept His command- ments. What is the House of Hapsburg or Stuarts, compared with being the son of the Lord God Almighty? Two eyes, two hands, and two feet, were the capital my father started with. For fifteen years an invalid, he had a fearful struggle to support his large family. Nothing but faith in God upheld him. His recital of help afforded, and deliverances wrought, was more like a romance than a reality. He walked through many a desert, but every morning had its manna, and every night its pillar of fire, and every hard rock a rod that could shatter it into crystal fountains at his feet. More than once he came to his last dollar; but right behind that last dollar he found Him who 28 The Aficestral Home. owns the cattle on a thousand hills, and out of the palm of whose hand all the fowls of heaven peck their food, and who hath given to each one of His disciples a warrantable deed for the whole universe in the words, 'All are yours.' *' The path that led him through financial straits, prepared him also for sore bereavements. The in- fant of days was smitten, and he laid it into the river of death with as much confidence as infant Moses was laid into the Ark of the Nile, knowing that soon from the royal palace a shining One would come to fetch it. " In an island of the sea, among strangers, almost unattended, death came to a beloved son ; and though I remember the darkness that dropped on the household when the black-sealed letter was opened, I remember also the utterances of Christian submission. "Another bearing his own name, just on the threshold of manhood, his heart beating high with hope, falls into the dust ; but above the cries of early widowhood and the desolation of that dark day, 1 hear the patriarch's prayer, commending children, and children's children, to the Divine sympathy. " But a deeper shadow fell across the old home- stead. The 'Golden Wedding' had been cele- The Ancestral Home, 29 brated nine years before. My mother looked up, pushed back her spectacles, and said, ' Just think of it, father! We have been together fifty-nine years ! * The twain stood together like two trees of the forest with interlocked branches. Their affections had taken deep root together in many a kindred grave. Side by side in life's great battle, they had fought the good fight and won the day. But death comes to unjoint this alliance. God will not any longer let her suffer mortal ailments. The reward of righteousness is ready, and it must be paid. But what tearing apart ! What rending up ! What will the aged man do without this other to lean on? Who can so well understand how to sympathize and counsel ? What voice so cheering as hers, to conduct him down the steep of old age? *Oh,' said she in her last moments, * father, if you and I could only go together, how pleasant it would be ! ' But the hush of death came down one autumnal afternoon, and for the first time in all my life, on my arrival at home, I received no mater- nal greeting, no answer of the lips, no pressure of the hand. God had taken her. " In this overwhelming shock the patriarch stood confident, reciting the promises and attesting the Divine goodness. O, sirs, that was idi\th, faith, faith / * Thanks be unto God who giveth us the victory ! ' 30 The Ancestral Home, " Finally, I noticed that in my father's old age was to be seen the beauty of Christian activity. He had not retired from the field. He had been busy so long you could not expect him idle now. The faith I have described was not an idle expecta- tion that sits with its hands in its pockets idly wait- ing, but a feeling which gathers up all the resources of the soul, and hurls them upon one grand design. He was among the first who toiled in Sabbath- schools, and never failed to speak the praise of these institutions. No storm or darkness ever kept him away from prayer- meeting. In the neighborhood where he lived for years he held a devotional meeting. Oftentimes the only praying man present, before a handful of attendants, he would give out the hymn, read the lines, conduct the music, and pray. Then read the Scriptures and pray again. Then lead forth in the Doxology with an enthusiasm as if there were a thousand peo- ple present, and all the church members had been doing their duty. He went forth visiting the sick, burying the dead, collecting alms for the poor, in- viting the ministers of religion to his household, in which there was, as in the house of Shunem, a lit- tle room over the wall, with bed and candlestick for any passing Elisha. He never shuddered at the sight of a subscription paper, and not a single The Ancestral Home. 31 great cause of benevolence has arisen within the last half century which he did not bless with his beneficence. Oh, this was not a barren almond tree that blossomed. His charity was not like the bursting of the bud of a famous tree in the South that fills the whole forest with its racket ; nor was it a clumsy thing like the fruit, m some tropical clime, that crashes down, almost knocking the life out of those who gather it ; for in his case the right hand knew not what the left hand did. The churches of God in whose service he toiled, have arisen as one man to declare his faithfulness and to mourn their loss. He stood in the front of the holy war, and the courage which never trembled or winced in the presence of temporal danger induced him to dare all things for God. In church matters he was not afraid to be shot at. Ordained, not by the laying on of human hands, but by the imposi- tion of a Saviour's love, he preached by his life, in official position, and legislative hall, and commer- cial circles, a practical Christianity. He showed that there was such a thing as honesty in politics. He slandered no party, stuffed no ballot-box, forged no naturalization papers, intoxicated no voters, told no lies, surrendered no principle, countenanced no demagogism. He called things by their right names ; and what others styled prevarication, ex- 2,2 The Ancestral Home. aggeration, misstatement, or hyperbole, he called a lie. Though he was far from being undecided in his views, and never professed neutrality, or had any consort with those miserable men who boast how well they can walk on both sides of a dividing line and be on neither, yet even in the excitements of election canvass, when his name was hotly dis- cussed in public journals, I do not think his in- tegrity was ever assaulted. Starting every morn- ing with a chapter of the Bible, and his whole family around him on their knees, he forgot not, in the excitements of the world, that he had a God to serve and a heaven to win. The morning prayer came up on one side of the day, and the evening prayer on the other side, and joined each other in an arch above his head, under the shadow of which he walked all the day. The Sabbath worship ex- tended into Monday's conversation, and Tuesday's bargain, and Wednesday's mirthfulness, and Thurs- day's controversy, and Friday's sociality, and Sat- urday's calculation. " Through how many thrilling scenes had he passed ! He stood, at Morristown, in the choir that chanted when George Washington was buried ; talked with young men whose grandfathers he had held on his knee ; watched the progress of John Adams' administration ; denounced, at the time, The Ancestral Home, 33 Aaron Burr's infamy ; heard the guns that cele- brated the New Orleans victory ; voted against Jackson, but lived long enough to wish we had one just like him ; remembered when the first steamer struck the North River with its wheel buckets ; flushed with excitement in the time of national banks and sub-treasury ; was startled at the birth of telegraphy ; saw the United States grow from a speck on the world's map till all nations dip their flag at our passing merchantmen, and our ' national airs ' have been heard on the steeps of the Hima- layas ; was born while the Revolutionary cannon were coming home from Yorktown, and lived to hear the tramp of troops returning from the war of the great Rebellion ; lived to speak the names of eighty children, grandchildren, and great-grand- children. Nearly all his cotemporaries gone ! Aged Wilberforce said that sailors drink to ' friends astern ' until half way over the sea, and then drink to friends ahead.' With him it had for a long tiir.e been' ' friends ahead.' So, also, with my father. Long and varied pilgrimage! Nothing but sovereign grace could have kept him true, earnest, useful, and Christian through so many exciting scenes. " He worked unweariedly from the sunrise of youth, to the sunset of old age, and then in the 34 The Ancestral Home, sweet nightfall of death, lighted by the starry promises, went home, taking his sheaves with him. Mounting from earthly to heavenly service, I doubt not there were a great multitude that thronged heaven's gate to hail him into the skies, — those whose sorrows he had appeased, whose burdens he had lifted, whose guilty souls he had pointed to a pardoning God, whose dyi'ng moments he had cheered, whose ascending spirits he had helped up on the wings of sacred music. I should like to have heard that long, loud, triumphant shout of heaven's welcome. I think that the harps throb- bed with another thrill, and the hills quaked with a mightier hallelujah. Hail ! ransomed soul ! Thy race run, — thy toil ended ! Hail to the corona- tion ! " At the death of David T. Talmage the Christiajt Intelligencer of October 25, 1865, contained the fol- lowing contribution from the pen of Dr. T. W. Chambers, for many years pastor of the Second Reformed Church, Somerville, New Jersey, now one of the pastors of the Collegiate Church, New York: *' In the latter part of the last century, Thomas Talmage, Sr., a plain but intelligent farmer, moved into the neighborhood of Somerville, N. J., and settled upon a fertile tract of land, very favorably The Ancestral Home. 35 situated, and commanding a view of the country for miles around. Here he spent the remainder of a long, godly, and useful life, and reared a large family of children, twelve of whom were spared to reach adult years, and to make and adorn the same Christian profession of which their father was a shining light. Two of these became ministers of the Gospel, of whom one, Jehiel, fell asleep several years since, while the other, the distinguished Samuel K. Talmage, D.D., President of Ogle- thorpe University, Georgia, entered into his rest only a few weeks since. Another son, Thomas, was for an entire generation the strongest pillar in the Second Church of Somerville. *' One of the oldest of the twelve was the sub- ject of this notice ; a man whose educational ad- vantages were limited to the local schools of the neighborhood, but whose excellent natural abilities, sharpened by contact with the world, gave him a weight in the community which richer and more cultivated men might have envied. In the prime of his years he was often called to serve his fellow- citizens in civil trusts. He spent some years in the popular branch of the Legislature, and was after- wards high sheriff of the County of Somerset for the usual period. In both cases he fulfilled the ex- pectations of his friends, and rendered faithful ser- 36 The Ancestral Home. vice. The sterling integrity of his character man- ifested itself in every situation ; and even in the turmoil of politics, at a time of much excitement, he maintained a stainless name, and defied the tongue of calumny. But it was chiefly in the sphere of private and social relations that his work was done and his influence exerted. His father's piety was reproduced in him at an early period, and soon assumed a marked type of thoroughness, activity, and decision, which it bore even to the end. His long life was one of unblemished Chris- tian consistency, which' in no small measure was due to the influence of his excellent wife, Catherine Van Nest, a niece of the late Abraham Van Nest, of New York City, who a few years preceded him into glory. She was the most godly woman the writer ever knew, a wonder unto many for the strength of her faith, the profoundness of her Christian experience, and the uniform spirituality of her mind. The ebb and flow common to most believers did not appear in her ; but her course was like a river fed by constant streams, and running on wider and deeper till it reaches the sea. It might be said of this pair, as truly as of the parents of John the Baptist, 'And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the command- ments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.' ^ The Ancestral Home, 37 Hand in hand they pursued their pilgrimage through this world, presenting an example of in- telligent piety such as is not often seen. ' Lovely and pleasant in their lives., in their death they were not (long) divided.' Exactly three years from the day of Mrs. Talmage's death her husband received the summons to rejoin her on high. *' These parents were unusually careful and dili- gent in discharging, their Christian obligations to their children. The promise of the covenant was importunately implored in their behalf from the moment of birth, its seal was early applied, and the whole training was after the pattern of Abraham. The Divine faithfulness was equally manifest, for the whole eleven were i. due time brought to the Saviour, and introduced into the full communion of the Church. Years ago two of them were removed by death. Of the rest, four, James, John, Goyn, and Thomas De Witt, are ministers of the Gospel, and one is the wife of a minister (the Rev. S. L. Mershon, of East Hampton, L. I.). Without en- tering into details respecting these brethren, it is sufficient to say that, with the exception of the late Dr. John Scudder's, no other single family has been the means of making such a valuable con- tribution to the sons of Levi in the Dutch Church. 38 The Ancestral Home. " Mr. Talmage was not only exemplary in the ordinary duties of a Christian, but excellent as a church officer. Shrewd, patient, kind, generous according to his means, and full of quiet zeal, he was ready for every good work ; one of those men — the delight of a pastor's heart — who can always be relied upon to do their share, if not a little more, and that in things both temporal and spiritual. He was a wise counsellor, a true friend, a self-sacrificing laborer for the Master." We find the following allusion to the life and death of his mother, in a sermon by Dr. T. De Witt Talmage : ** In these remarks upon maternal faithfulness, I have found myself unconsciously using as a model the character of one, who, last Wednesday, we put away for the resurrection. About sixty years ago, just before the day of their marriage, my father and mother stood up in the old meeting-house, at Somerville, to take the vows of a Christian. Through a long life of vicissitude she lived blame- lessly and usefully, and came to her end in peace. No child of want ever came to her door, and was turned away. No stricken soul ever appealed to her and was not comforted. No sinner ever asked her the way to be saved, and was not pointed to Christ. The Ancestral Home. 39 " When the Angel of Life came to a neighbor's dwelling, she was there to rejoice at the incarna- tion ; and when the Angel of Death came, she was there to robe the departed one for burial. We had often heard her, while kneeling among her children at family prayers, when father was absent, say : * I ask not for my children wealth, or honor ; but I do ask that they may all become the subjects of Thy converting grace.' She had seen all her eleven children gathered into the Church, and she had but one more wish, and that was that she might again see her missionary son. And when the ship from China anchored in New York harbor, and the long absent one crossed the threshold of his paternal home, she said, * Now, Lord, lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation.' *' We were gathered from afar to see only the house from which the soul had fled forever. How calm she looked ! Her folded hands appeared just as when they were employed in kindnesses for her children. And we could not help but say, as we stood and looked at her, ' Doesn't she look beauti- ful ! ' It was a cloudless day when, with heavy hearts, we carried her out to the last resting-place. The withered leaves crumbled under wheel and hoof as we passed, and the setting sun shone upon the 40 The Ancestral Home. river until it looked like fire. But more calm and bright was the setting sun of this aged pilgrim's life. No more toil. No more tears. No more iickness. No more death. Dear mother ! Beautiful mother ! ** ' Sweet is the slumber beneath the sod. While the pure soul is resting with God.' " CALL TO CHINA AND VOYAGE HENCE, (41) 11. CALL TO CHINA AND VOYAGE HENCE. The known facts in regard to John Talmage^s boyhood and youthful days are few. Of the known facts some perhaps are too trivial, others too sacred to bear mention. The sapling grew. Of the inner and outer circles of growth there is but brief record. He spent his boyhood at a quiet country hamlet, Gateville, New Jersey. On the ridge swung the toll-gate, and a little beyond might be heard the hum and rattle of the grist-mill. His father kept the toll-gate. John was a fine horseman, and found great sport in jumping on his horse and chasing the people who had " cheated the gate " by not paying their toll. John knew the law and was not afraid to go for them. He went to a private school under the care of a Mr. Morton at the village of Boundbrook, two miles from home, and generally stood at the head of his class. He early became the judge and counsellor among his brothers and sisters. In any little dispute which (43) 44 Call to China and Voyage Hence. arose, John's verdict was- usually accepted as cor- rect and final. During all his missionary career in China, he was an adviser and arbitrator whom foreigners and Chinese alike sought and from whose advice they were not quick to turn away. In the midst of the tumult among the men of Medina when they met to elect a chief to take the place of Mohammed, who had passed away, the voice of Hobab was heard crying out, ''Attend to me, attend to me, for I am the well-rubbed Palm- stem." The figure Hobab used represented a palm- trunk left for beasts to come and rub themselves upon. It was a metaphor for a person much re- sorted to for counsel. John Talmage never called attention to himself, but the Arab chief must have counselled many, and well, to have taken a higher place than did this messenger of Christ at Amoy. By the time John Talmage's school days at Boundbrook were completed he had determined to prepare for college. Preparatory schools then were few and far away. They were expensive. John made an arrangement with his senior brother, Rev. James R. Talmage, then pastor at Blawen- burgh. New Jersey, to put him through the required course. Here he joined the Church at the age of seventeen. From Blawenburgh his brother Goyn Call to China and Voyage Hence, 45 and he went to New Brunswick, New Jersey, join- ing the Sophomore .class in Rutgers College. John and Goyn roomed together, swept and gar- nished their own quarters and did'their own cook- ing. Father Talmage would come down every week or two with provisions from the farm, to re- plenish the ever-recipient larder. Both John and Goyn were diligent students and graduated with honorable recognition from Rutgers College in 1842, and from New Brunswick Theological Semi- nary in 1845. John Talmage had made such substantial attain- ments in Hebrew and Greek, that when some years afterward the distinguished Dr. McClelland re- signed as professor of these languages in the Theo- logical Seminary at New Brunswick, he was talked of as Dr. McClelland's successor, and but for the conviction that he ought not to be removed from the Amoy Mission, his appointment would have been earnestly advocated in the General Synod. John Talmage had read missionary biographies when a boy in the Sunday-school at Boundbrook. He had been specially touched by the life of Henry Martyn. While at college he kept himself sup- plied with missionary literature. His parents were already interested in foreign missions. In secret before God his mother had devoted John to this 46 Call to China and Voyage Hence, very work. John did not know it. The deter- mining word for him was that spoken in a mission- ary address, by Rev. Elihu Doty, one of the pio- neers of the Amoy Mission. It was plain that he must go to the "" regions beyond." He must break the news to his mother. John's love of mis- sionary literature and his eager attendance upon missionary meetings had filled the family with a secret fear that he thought of going. One day he invited his younger sister, Catharine, to take a walk with him across the fields. He began to talk about missions to foreign lands. Finally he said, " Cath- arine, you must help me prepare the way to tell mother that I want to go to China." Too over- come with emotion was the sister to reply. They walked home in silence. John sought opportunity when he could quietly tell his mother. Said he, " Mother, I am going to China." In the intensity of a mother's love she replied, '' Oh, John, it will kill me." But the grace of God triumphed and again she said, " I prayed to God for this, how can I object?" In October, 1845, he applied to the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, through Dr. Thomas De Witt, the Secretary for the Reformed Church. The letter is still in possession. An extract from it reads : Call to China and Voyage He^ice. 47 "" 1 was twenty-five years of age last August, re- side at Somerville, New Jersey, have been blessed with Christian parents and enjoyed an early relig- ious education. By the assistance of friends and the Church, I have been enabled to pursue the usual course of study preparatory in our Church to entering upon the duties of the Gospel ministry. I graduated at Rutgers College in the summer of 1842, pursued my theological studies in our semina- ry at New Brunswick, and received from the Classis of Philadelphia, July last, ' license ' to preach the Gospel. " Owing doubtless in great measure to the relig- ious advantages I have enjoyed, my mind has been more or less under religious impressions from my earliest recollection. About eight years ago I united on confession of faith with the Church (Reformed Dutch) at Blawenburgh, New Jersey, of which my brother, Rev. James R. Talmage, was then and still is pastor. Was living in his family at the time, and studying with him preparatory to entering college. I am unable to decide when I met with a change of heart. My reason for believing that I have experienced such a change are the evi- dences within me that I love my Saviour, love His cause, and love the souls of men. " My reason for desiring the missionary work is 48 Call to China and Voyage Hence, a desire for the salvation of the heathen. My mind has been directed to the subject for a longtime, yet I have not felt at liberty to decide the question where duty called me to labor until the last month. In accordance with this decision I now offer my services to the Board to labor in my Master's ser- vice among the heathen. As a field of labor I pre- fer China." Owing to deficiency in funds the Board could not send him that year. He accepted an invita- tion to assist Dr. Brodhead, then pastor of the Central Reformed Church of Brooklyn. Dr. Brod- head was one of the great preachers of his day. In Philadelphia, an earlier pastorate, " he preached to great congregations of eager listeners, and with a success unparalleled in the history of that city and rare in modern times." John Van Nest Talmage might have been his successor. But no sooner was the Board ready to send him than he was prepared to go. The day for leaving home came. Father Talmage and the older brothers accompanied John. They left the house in three carriages. A younger sister (Mrs. Cone) recently said : *' When we saw the three carriages driving down the lane it seemed more like a funeral than anything else." Silent were those who drove away. Silent, silent as they could constrain themselves to be, were mother and Call to China and Voyage Hence, 49 sisters as they stood by the windows and got their last look of the procession as it wound down the road. To go to a foreign land in those days signified to those who went, lifelong exile, — to those who tarried, lifelong separation. The only highways to the far East were by way of the Cape of Good Hope or Cape Horn. The voyages were always long and often perilous. When on board the ship Roman, bound for Can- ton, David Abeel wrote : " To the missionaiy per- haps exclusively, is the separation from friends like the farewell of death. Though ignorant of the future he expects no further intercourse on earth. To him the next meeting is generally be- yond the grave." The hour of departure was not only saddened by parting from parents and brothers and sisters, but the young woman in Elizabethtown, New Jersey, to whom he had given his affection, could not join him. Once it had been decided that they were to go together, but during the last days the enfeebled widowed mother's courage failed her. She could not relinquish her daughter to what seemed to her separation for life. Mr. Talmage had to choose between the call of duty to China and going alone, or tarrying at home and realizing his heart's hopes. He went to China. By a special Providence it was 50 Call to China and Voyage Hence, not much more than two years after he set sail that he was again in the United States. The mother of Miss Abby Woodruff had died, and the union was consummated. Mr. Talmage kept a diary of the voyage. A few extracts will prove interesting. "Left Somerville April lo, 1847, via New York to Boston. Sailed from Boston in ship Heber, April 15th. Farewell services on board conducted by Bishop Janes, of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The Heber is a ship of 436 tons, 136 feet long, 27 wide. Among the passengers are Rev. E. Doty and wife, and Rev. Moses C. White and wife, and Rev. I. D. Collins. The three latter are Method- ist missionaries bound for Foochow (China)." They were the pioneers of Methodist missions in China. On Thursday evening, the day of sailing, he writes : " I am now upon the bosom of the mighty deep. But I cannot as yet feel any fear. I am in the hands of the Being ' whose I am and whom I serve.* In His hands there is safety. I will not fear though the earth be removed. Besides, there are Christian friends praying for me. Oh, the con- solation in the assurance that at the throne of grace I am remembered by near and dear friends ! Will not their prayers be heard? They will. I know they will. The effectual fervent prayer of Call to China and Voyage Hence, 51 the righteous man availeth much ! When I took leave of my friends, one, and another, and another, assured me that they would remember me in their prayers. Yes, and I will remember them." April 17th. Speaking of Mr. Collins, he says: ** I think we shall much enjoy ourselves. We shall study, read, sing, and pray together, talk and walk together. From present appearances we shall feel towards each other as David and Jonathan did." Mr. Collins was a man of intense missionary con- victions, who declared if there were no means to send him to China he would find his way before the mast, and work his way there. " April 22. We have now been one week on our voyage. We commenced our studies to-day. Mr. Doty, Collins, and myself have organized ourselves into a Hebrew class. We expect to have a daily recitation in Hebrew, another in Greek, and an- other in Chinese." " May 8th. Saturday evening. We have been out 23 days. We have had our worship as usual in the cabin. Since then we have spent some time in singing hymns. Have been led to think of home. Wonder where and how my many friends are? Are they happy? Are they well? Are they all alive? Is it strange that sadness some- times steals over my mind, when I think of those 52 Call to China and Voyage Hence. whom I love, and remember their weeping eyes and sorrowful countenances at the time of bidding them farewell, perhaps never again to see them in this world." He had decided to take a text of Scripture for daily meditation, following the order in a little book published by the American Tract Society en- titled " Dew Drops." "The text for to-day is i Pet. ii. 21. 'Christ suffered for us, leaving us an example, that we should follow his steps.* " Why should the Christian tremble at the pros- pect of suffering, or be impatient under its exist- ence ? ' The servant is not greater than his Lord.' The ' King of Glory' suffered, and shall a sinful man complain ? Besides, the Christian should be willing to suffer for the welfare of others. If he can benefit his fellow-men by denying himself, shall he hesitate? If he can save the souls of his fellow-men by running the risk of losing his own life, shall he hesitate to run that risk ? " " May II. Since Sunday noon have made little progress." On examining the record of the voyage which Mr. Talmage kept faithfully every day, we find that the ship had made only twenty-seven knots in two days. Call to China and Voyage Hence, 53 " June 18. For the last month we have not made rapid progress. We have experienced much de- tention from head-winds and calms. About a week ago we were put on an allowance of water, one gallon a day to each one on board. This includes all that is used for cooking, drinking, and washing." " Have had quite a severe storm this afternoon and evening. The waves have been very high, and the wind — severe almost as a hurricane. This even- ing about 8 o'clock, after a very severe blow and heavy dash of rain, * fire-balls,' as the sailors termed them, were seen upon the tops of the masts, and also on the ends of the spars, which cross the masts. They presented a very beautiful appearance. " Brother Collins and myself have this week com- menced the study of Pitman's System of Phonog- raphy." That Mr. Talmage became proficient in the use of it is evident from the fact that much of his journal was written in shorthand. *' On the Sabbath Brother Collins and myself spend two hours in the forecastle instructing the sailors. Many of them seem perfectly willing, some of them anxious to receive instruction." **July 17. Saturday evening. To-day passed to the eastward of Christmas Island (an island in the Indian Ocean). It is a small island about ten 54 Call to China and Voyage Hence. miles square. This is the first land seen since we left Boston. Of course, we gazed with much in- terest." "July 22. About nine o'clock Tuesday evening we anchored off Angier. This is a village off the island of Java, bordering on the Straits of Sunda. Remained at Angier until Wednesday afternoon. Capt. Patterson laid in a good supply of pigs, geese, ducks, chickens, yams, turtles, water, two goats, and fruits of various kinds in abundance.'* "Aug. 6. Friday. Wednesday evening ar- rived at Macao. This morning set sail for Wham- poa, twelve miles below Canton." After a few days at Canton and Hongkong, Mr. and Mrs. Doty and Mr. Talmage embarked for Amoy on the schooner Caroline, " Aug. 21. The Caroline is a small vessel of about one hundred and fifty tons burthen. She was built, I suppose, for the opium trade. Our passage from Hongkong was not very pleasant. Our quarters were close and our captain was far from being an agreeable companion. He drank freely and was very profane." " We left Brother Collins and Brother White and wife at Hongkong. We had been so long in com- pany with these brethren, that it was trying to part with them. On Thursday, the day before yesterday, Call to China and Voyage Hence, 55 we arrived safely at Amoy. The brethren gave us a very hearty welcome. The missionary company at this place consists of Brother Pohlman, of the A. B. C. F. M. ; Mr. Alexander Stronach and wife, of the London Missionary Society ; Brothers Lloyd and Brown, of the Presbyterian Board. Mr. John Stronach also belongs to this station. He is at present at Shanghai.' THE CITY OF THE "ELEGANT GATE." (57) III. THE CITY OF THE "ELEGANT GATE."* In a letter to the Sabbath-school of the Central Reformed Church, Brooklyn, Mr. Talmage thus de- scribes the southern emporium of the province of Fukien : "Amoy is situated on an island of the same name. The city proper or citadel is about one mile in circumference. Its form is nearly that of a rhomboid or diamond. It is surrounded by a wall about twenty feet in height, and eight or ten feet in thickness, built of large blocks of coarse granite. It has four gates. The outer city, or city outside of the walls, is much more extensive. Its circum- ference, I suppose, is about six miles. " The streets are not so wide as the sidewalks in Brooklyn. Some of them are so narrow that, when two persons, walking in opposite directions, meet each other, it is necessary for the one to stop, in * The meaning of the two Chinese characters composing the name Amoy. V59) 6o The City of the '' Elegant Gate'' order that the other may pass on. The most of the streets are paved with coarse granite blocks, yet on account of the narrowness of the streets, and the want of cleanliness by the great mass of the inhabitants, the streets are usually very filthy. " This part of Amoy island is rugged and moun- tainous, and interspersed with large granite rocks. Some of them are of immense size. It is in such a place that the city has been built. Many of these rocks are left in their natural position, and over- hang the houses which have been built among them. The ground has not been leveled as in Brooklyn, consequently the greater part of the streets are uneven. Some of them are conducted over the hills by stone steps. Near our residences, one of the public streets ascends a hill by a flight of thirty-six steps. On account of this unevenness of the streets as well as their narrowness a carriage cannot pass through the city of Amoy. Instead of carriages the more wealthy inhabitants use sedan- chairs, which are usually borne by two bearers. The higher officers of government, called ' Man- darins,' have four bearers to carry them. The greater part of the inhabitants always travel on foot. The place of carts is supplied by men called * coolies,' whose employment is to carry burdens. The houses, except along the wharves and a few The City of the ''Elegant Gate!' 6i pawn - shops farther up in the city, are one story. " There are no churches here, but there are far more temples for the worship of false gods, and the souls of deceased ancestors, than there are churches in Brooklyn. " Besides these, almost every family has its shrine and idols and ancestral tablets, which last are wor- shipped with more devotion than the idols. In con- sequence of their religion the people are degraded and immoral. One-third of all the female children born in the city of Amo)^ are slain. In the vil- lages throughout this whole region, it is supposed that about one-half are destroyed. They do not exhibit sympathy for each other and for those in distress, which is enjoined by the Bible, and which, notwithstanding all its defects, is the glory of Christian communities. I have seen a man dying on the pavement on a street, almost as densely thronged as Broadway, New York, and no one of the passers-by, or of the inhabitants of that part of the street, seemed to notice him or care for him more than if he had been a dog." DESCRIPTION OF AMOY AND AMOY ISLAND. Another letter to the same congregation a few months later reads : * ^ 62 The City of the ** Elegant Gate!' *' The first impression on the mind of an indi- vidual in approaching the shores of China from the south, and sailing along the coast, as far north as Amoy, is anything but favorable. So great is the contrast between the lovely scenery and dense vege- tation of many of the islands of the Indian Archi- pelago, and the barren and worn-out hills which line the southern part of the coast of China, that in the whole range of human language it would seem scarcely possible to find a more inappropriate term than the term ' Celestial' whereby to desig- nate this great empire. Neither is this unfavorable opinion removed immediately on landing. The style of building is so inferior, the streets are so narrow and filthy, the countenances of the great mass of the people, at least to a newcomer, are so destitute of intelligent expression, and the bodies and clothing, and habits of the multitudes are so uncleanly, that one is compelled to exclaim in sur- prise, * Are these the people who stand at the top of pagan civilization, and who look upon all men as barbarous, except themselves?' Besides, every- thing looks old. Buildings, temples, even the rocks and the hills have a peculiar appearance of age and seem to be falling into decay. I am happy to say, however, that as we become better acquainted with the country and the people, many of these unfavor- The City of the ''Elegant Gate!' 63 able impressions are removed. After passing a lit- tle to the north of Amoy, the appearance of the coast entirely changes. Even in this mountainous region we have valleys and plains, which would suffer but little by comparison with any other country for beauty and fertility. I also love the scenery around the city of Amoy very much. The city is situated on the western side of an island of the same name. This part of the island in its general appearance is very similar to the coast of which I have spoken. It is rocky and mountainous and barren. There are, however, among these bar- ren hills many small fertile spots, situated in the ravines and along the watercourses, which on account of their high state of cultivation form a lovely contrast with the surrounding barrenness. Wherever the Chinese, at least in this part of the Empire, can find a watercourse, by cultivation they will turn the most barren soil into a garden. The sides of the ravines are leveled by digging down, and walling up if necessary, forming terraces or small fields, the one above the other. These small fields are surrounded by a border of impervious clay. The water is conducted into the higher of these terraces, and from them conducted into those* which are lower, as the state of the crops may de- mand. Often a field of paddy may be seen inun- 64 The City of the '' Elegant Gate'' dated, while the next field below, in which perhaps the sweet potato is growing, is kept perfectly dry. Among the hills there is much of picturesque scenery, and some that is truly sublime. The Buddhists have exhibited an exquisite taste for natural scenery, in selecting such places for the situation of many of their temples." ANCESTRAL WORSHIP. "Their respect for ancestors is very great, so much so that the species of idolatry which has by far the strongest hold upon their minds is ancestral worship. This is the stronghold by which Satan maintains his supremacy over the mind^ of the people, and this we may expect will be the last to give way to the power of the Gospel of Christ. One may hold up their gods to ridicule and they will laugh at his remarks, but they do not love to hear the worship of their ancestors spoken against. This worship, after the period of mourning is over, consists chiefly in offering at stated times various articles of food to the spirits of the deceased, and in burning various kinds of paper, as a substitute for money, by which these spirits are supplied with 'that most convenient article. Natural affection and selfishness unite to strengthen their attach- ment to this worship. It is as necessary for the 5 J 3 3 J J ■ 1 '^IJ^^ '\«;,«f^ ■P c c c c c c The City of the ''Elegant Gate'' 65 happiness of the souls of the dead, in the opinion of the Chinese, as is the saying of mass in the opinion of a Roman Catholic. Without these attentions the souls of the deceased are in a sort of purga- tory ; wandering about in want and wretchedness. But if the desire of rendering their ancestors happy be not sufficient to secure attention to these rites, a still more powerful motive addresses itself to their minds. These wandering spirits are sup- posed capable of bringing misfortune and inflicting injuries on their ungrateful and impious descend- ants. Thus if a family meet with reverses, the cause is often attributed to the want of attention to the souls of the deceased ancestors, or to the fact that the sites of their graves have not been judiciously selected, and the dissatisfied spirits are taking vengeance for these neglects or mistakes. Another consideration which seems to exert much influence, is that if they neglect the spirits of their ancestors, their descendants may neglect them. *'For the present life they can think of no higher happiness than success in acquiring wealth, and the highest happiness after death consists in having sons to supply the wants of their spirits. These are the two objects that engross the highest aspirations of a Chinaman." 66 The City of the " Elegant Gate!' INFANTICIDE. " This will account in part for the barbarous custom of infanticide which prevails to so lament- able an extent among these heathen. Only female infants are destroyed. While the parents are living the son may be of pecuniary advantage to them, and after their death, he can attend to the rites of their souls, and even after his death, through him the parents may have descendants to perform the ancestral rites. A daughter on the contrary, it is supposed, will only prove a burden in a pecuniary point of view, and after she is married she is reck- oned to the family of her husband. Her children, also, except her husband otherwise order, are only expected to attend to the spirits of /^^2>/^/^r«^/ ancestors.'* " Some have denied the existence of the practice of infanticide among the Chinese, or, they have asserted that if it does exist, the practice of it is very unusual. Every village which we visit in this region gives evidence that such persons are not acquainted with this part of the empire. A few days ago a company of us visited the village of Kokia. It is situated on the northern ex- tremity of Amoy Island, and contains, perhaps, two thousand inhabitants. After walking through The City of the ''Elegant Gate'' 67 the village we sat down for a short time under the shade of a large banyan tree. A large con- course of people soon gathered around us to see the foreigners and hear what they had to say. In this crowd we found by counting nearly a hundred boys, and but two or three girls. Also when walking through the village very few girls were to be seen. The custom of binding the feet of the girls, which greatly affects their power of locomotion, would account for more boys being seen than girls, but will not account for the dis- parity noticed. We therefore inquired the cause of this disparity. They answered with laughter that female children are killed. The same ques- tion has been asked again and again at the various villages we have visited and the same answer ob- tained. This answer is given freely and apparently without any idea that the practice is wicked,until they are so taught by us. The result of this one practice on the morals of the people may readily be imagined. It accustoms the mind to acts of cruelty and it pre- pares the way for impurity and wickedness in forms that are never dreamed of in Christian countries.'* In this connection an extract from Dr. David Abeel's* diary may be of value. * David Abeel was the founder of the American Reformed Mission at Amoy in 1842. 63 The City of the ''Elegant Gate,'' "To-day had a conversation with one of the merchants who come to Kolongsu for trade, on the subject of female infanticide. Assuming a coun- tenance of as much indifference as possible, I asked him how many of his own children he had de- stroyed ; he instantly replied, ' Two.* I asked him whether he had spared any. He said, * One I have saved.' I then inquired how many brothers he had. * Eight,' was the answer. I asked him how many children his eldest brother had destroyed. * Five or six.' I inquired of the second, third and all the rest ; some had killed four or five, some two or three, and others had none to destroy. I then asked how many girls were left among them all. * Three,' was the answer. And how many do you think have been strangled at birth ? * Probably from twelve to seventeen.' I wished to know the standing and employment of his brothers. One, he said, had attained a literary degree at the public examinations; the second was a teacher; one was a sailor ; and the rest were petty mer- chants like himself. Thus, it was evidently not necessity but a cold inhuman calculation of the gains and losses of keeping them, which must have led these men to take the lives of their own off- spring. " Mr. Boone's teacher's sister with her own hand The City of the " Elegant Gate'' 69 destroyed her first three children successively. The fourth was also a girl, but the mother was afraid to lay violent hands on it, believing it to be one of the previous ones reappearing in a new body." '' The names of the five districts in the Chin- chew prefecture are Tong-an, An-khoe, Chin-kiang, Hui-an and Lam-an. Amoy is situated in the Chin-chew /r^^^/. '* From a comparison with many other parts of the country, there is reason to believe that a greater number of children are destroyed at birth in the Tong-an district than in any other of this department, probably more than in any other part of the province of equal extent and populousness. In the Tong-an district I have inquired of persons from forty different towns and villages. The number destroyed varies exceedingly in different places, the extremes extending from seventy and eighty per cent, to ten per cent. The average proportion destroyed in all these places amounting to nearly four-tenths or exactly thirty-nine per cent. "• In seventeen of these forty towns and villages, my informants declare that one-half or more are deprived of existence at birth. " From the inhabitants of six places in Chin- 70 The City of the " Elegant Gate'' kiang, and of four places in Hui-an, if I am cor- rectly informed, the victims of infanticide do not exceed sixteen per cent. " In the seven districts of the Chiang-chiu pre- fecture the number is rather more than one-fourth or less than three-tenths. ** There is reason to fear that scarcely less than twenty-five per cent, are suffocated almost at the first breath." It is altogether probable that this vice is just as prevalent now. The scarcity of girls in nearly all the towns and villages and the exorbitant rates de- manded for marriageable daughters in some districts, only render sad confirmation to what Drs. Abeel and Talmage wrote two score and more years ago. IS CHINA TO BE WON, AND HOW? Mr. Talmage continues : " I cannot close this letter without saying a word in reference to our prospects of success. The moral condition of this people, their spiritual apathy, their attachment to the superstitious rites of their ancestors, together with the natural de- pravity of the human heart, and at the same time their language being one of the most difficult, per- haps the most difficult of acquisition of any spoken language, all combine to forbid, it would seem, all 1 he City of the ''Elegant GateT Ji hope of ever Christianizing this empire. But that which is impossible with men is possible with God. He who has commanded us to preach the Gospel to every creature, has connected with it a promise that He will be always with us to the end of the world. The stone cut out without hands, we are told by the prophet, became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. The kingdom which the God of heaven has set up * shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms and it shall stand for ever.' Thus, whatever may be the prospect bfefore us, according to human reasoning, we have *a more sure word of prophecy.' Resting upon this we can have no doubt in reference to the complete triumph of the cause of Christ, even over the land of Sinim. In connection with such prophecies and promises we have many facts to encourage us. The people are accessible and friendly, and willing to listen to our doctrines. The superiority of Christianity to their systems of religion, sometimes from conviction and sometimes perhaps only from politeness, they often admit. " Already a few converts have been gathered into the visible Church, and there are others who are seeking to know the way of life more perfectly. Those v/ho have been received into the Church are letting their light shine. The conduct of some who 72 The City of the ''Elegant Gate!' have heard the truth, reminds us forcibly of the conduct of the woman at the well of Samaria, and of the conduct of Andrew and Philip when they first found the Messias. " It is thus that this empire and most other heathen countries must be evangelized. The work must be done by the natives. The Church in Christian lands, by her missionaries, can only lay the foundation and render some little assistance in rearing the superstructure. She can never carry forward the work to completion. She can never furnish the heathen nations with missionaries of the cross in sufficient numbers to supply them with pastors, neither is it necessary that she should. The Christian is a light shining in a dark place. Especially is it true among the heathen, that every disciple of Christ is as * a city set on a hill which cannot be hid.' His neighbors and acquaintances must observe the change in his conduct. He no longer worships their gods. He no longer ob- serves any of their superstitious rites. He is no longer a slave to their immoralities. His example must tell. But many of the converts will have gifts to make known the Gospel, and will eagerly embrace these gifts in order to rescue their dying countrymen. Already have we examples of this. Such converts, also, in some respects, may be more 'The City of the ''Elegant Gate!' 73 efficient than the missionary. They can go where we cannot, and reach those who are entirely beyond our influence. They are better acquainted with the language. They understand the customs of the people more thoroughly. They remember what were the greatest difficulties and objections which proved the greatest obstacles to their reception of the Gospel, and they know how these difficulties were removed and these objections answered. Be- sides, they have all the advantages which a native must be expected to possess over a foreigner aris- ing from the prejudices of the people. "■ Perhaps it may be necessary to guard against a wrong inference, which might be hastily deduced from the facts just stated. The fact that the na- tives are to be the principal laborers in evangeliz- ing this empire, does not in the least remove the obligation of the Church to quicken and redouble all her efforts, or supersede the necessity for such efforts. It will be many years before this necessity will cease to exist. The churches in Christian lands, in resolving to undertake the evangelization of this empire, have engaged in a great work. In obedience to the command of their Master they have undertaken to rear a vast superstructure, the foundation of which is to be laid entirely by them- selves, and on the erection of which they must be- 74 The City of the ''Elegant Gate'' stow their care and assistance. This work has been commenced under favorable auspices, but the foun- dation cannot yet be said to be laid. More laborers must be sent forth. They should be sent out in multitudes if they can be found. They must ac- quire the language so that they can communicate freely with the people. They must proclaim the message of the Gospel from house to house, in the highways and market-places, wherever they can find an audience, — until converts are multiplied. Schools must be established, and the doctrines of the Gospel be instilled into the minds of the children and youth. We must have a native min- istry instructed and trained up from their child- hood according to the doctrines of the Gospel be- fore they will be capable of taking the sole charge of this work. Until all this has taken place the churches may not slacken any of their efforts ; nay, to accomplish this there must be an increase of effort beyond all that the churches have ever yet put forth." During the year 1848 he sent a letter to the So- ciety of Inquiry of the Theological Seminary, New Brunswick, New Jersey. " It is yet a ' day of small things ' with us. Our work thus far has been chiefly of a preparatory nature. This will probably be the case for some The City of the ''Elegant Gate'' 75 time to come. There have been just enough con- versions to teach us that God is with us and will own the instrumentahty which He Himself has ap- pointed for the salvation of men, and to encourage us not to faint in our work. We have a vast amount of prejudice and superstition to remove — prejudice and superstition which has been growing and consolidating for forty centuries, and has be- come an essential ingredient in the character of the people and part of almost every emotion and conception of their minds. At present both officials and people are very friendly, and we are permitted to preach the Gospel without hindrance. But we cannot tell how long this state of things will continue. When the operation of the leaven has become manifest, we must expect opposition. We cannot expect that the great adversary of God and men will relinquish this the strongest hold of his empire on earth, without a mighty struggle. We must yet contend with ' principalities and powers and spiritual wickedness in high places.' WORSHIP OF THE EMPEROR. ** The system of idolatry is as closely connected with the civil government of China, I suppose, as ever it was with ancient Rome. The emperor may be called the great High-priest of the nation. He "j^ The City of the '' Elegant Gate'' and he only is permitted to offer sacrifice and direct worship to the Supreme Being. The descrip- tion which Paul has given of the * man of sin,' with but little variation may be applied to him. " ' He exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped, so that he as God, sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.' He has arrogated to himself the title which ex- presses the highest thought of divinity known to the conceptions of the Chinese mind. He is superior to all gods, except the great Supreme. All others he appoints, designates their business and dethrones them at his pleasure. In the city of Amoy is a temple dedicated to the worship of the emperor and containing a tablet as representative of his person. On certain days of the year the officers of government are required to repair to this temple, and offer that religious homage which is due to God alone. Now to remove these preju- dices and superstitions and to carry to the final triumph this warfare, which w^e must wage with those in * high places,' will not be the work of a few years. We might well despair of ever possess- ing the land, where such * sons of Anak ' dwell, were it not that the ark of God is with us and His command has been given, * Go up and possess it.' But we look to you, my brethren, for assistance The City of the ''Elegant GateT yj and reinforcement in this the cause of our common Lord, not only to fill the places of those who fall at their post or are disabled in the conflict, but also that we may extend our lines and conduct the siege with more effect. If you desire a field where you may find scope and employment for every variety of talent, and where you may prove your- selves faithful soldiers of Jesus Christ, I know of no place whence can come to you a more urgent call than from this vast empire." LIGHT AND SHADE. 179) IV. LIGHT AND SHADE. THE CHIANG-CHIU VALLEY. Among the jottings in Mr. Talmage's diary for 1 847-1 848 we find mention of a tour to Chiang- chiu on Septenaber 23, 1847, ^^ company with Messrs. Pohlman, Doty and Lloyd. Chiang-chiu is a large city of 200,000 inhabit- ants, situated on a wide river, 30 miles west of Amoy. He writes : ^' Wherever we went we were accompanied by an immense throng of people. The most of them I suppose had never seen a white face. But few Europeans have visited the city. The city has an extensive wall, wider and I think more cleanly streets, and is larger than Amoy. In the rear of the city there are three watch towers. They are situated on very elevated ground. From these we had a very delightful view of the city and surrounding country. The scenery, it seemed to me, was the most beautiful I had ever witnessed. Within the circle of our vision lay that immense city with its extensive walls, its temples and (81) 82 Light and Shade. pagoda, its river, bridges and boats, its gardens, its trees and shrubbery, and its densely-crowded streets. Surrounding the city was spread out an extensive valley of some ten or fifteen miles in width and some twenty or twenty-five in length, covered with luxuriant vegetation. Through the midst of the valley might be marked the meander- ing track of the Chiang-chiu river, the whole region beautifully variegated with fruit trees, shade trees, and villages. Still further on, in every direction, our view was bounded by lofty hills whose cloud- capped tops seemed as pillars on which the heavens rested. Nature had done her best to make this region a terrestrial paradise." On a subsequent trip to Chiang-chiu, Mr. Tal- mage writes : " The valley of the Chiang-chiu river is one of the most beautiful regions I ever saw. It is densely populated. In every direction are vil- lages, I might almost say without number, ren- dered most beautiful by their plentiful supply of large banyans and various other trees of luxuriant foliage. The intermediate spaces between the vil- lages are fields covered with vegetation most dense and beautiful. Through the centre of this scene may be traced the course of the river with its numberless canals, like the Nile of Egypt, giving fertility wher- ever nature or the art of man conducts its waters." Light and Shade, 2>2y BREAKING AND BURNING OF IDOLS. "Feb. 27, 1848. To-day an old lady and her two sons declared themselves to be worshippers of Jesus by presenting their idols to Bro. Pohlman. On the evening of the last day of their last year they had burnt their ancestral tablets. It was an interesting sight, said Bro. Pohlman, to see the old lady, supported by one of her sons, breaking her idols and making a voluntary and public surrender of them at the chapel. "March ist. When the old lady returned from the chapel on Sunday evening she was full of zeal, and began preaching to her neighbors on the folly of idolatry. She was so successful that another old lady living in the same house with her has made a bonfire and burned all her idols except one. This, being made of clay, was not combustible. This she presented to Pohlman to-day. He asked her whether she gave it up willingly. She said she rejoiced to do it. She said she had not yet de- stroyed her ancestral tablets. Pohlman told her he did not wish her to do it rashly. She must re- flect on the subject, and when she became con- vinced that the worship of them was a sin against God she must give them up immediately. " March 29th. This afternoon Bro. Hickok and 84 Light and Shade. wife and Bro. Maclay arrived at Amoy on their way to Foochow. They had a long passage from Hong kong, having been out twenty-nine days." The dis- tance from Hongkong to Amoy is less than three hundred miles, and is made in twenty-four hours by an ordinary coast steamer. THE CHINESE BOAT RACE AND ITS ORIGIN. '^ June 5th. Monday. To-day being the fifth day of the fifth month (Chinese), was the festival of dragon boat-racing. Several dragon boats filled with rowers, rather paddlers, were contesting this afternoon in the harbor. The water was thronged with boats filled with Chinese to see the sport. Many of these boats, and almost all the junks in the neighborhood, were decked with green branches, also with streamers flying. The origin of this fes- tival is said to be as follows : In very ancient times one of the first officers, perhaps Prime Minister of government, gave offence to the emperor. The emperor banished him. He was so downcast on account of the emperor's displeasure that he went and drowned himself. The emperor afterwards re- pented of his act, and on inquiry after the man learned that he had drowned himself. He sent out boats in every direction to search for his body, and also to make offerings to his spirit. His body was Light and Shade, 85 not found. But from that time to this his body is thus searched for every year and his spirit thus appeased. This celebration is universal through- out the empire and wherever there are colonies of Chinese, throughout the islands of the (East In- dian) Archipelago. *' The same good feeling continues to exist at Amoy as formerly. We are on the best of terms, so far as we can judge, with all classes, the officials and people. The mandarins receive our calls and return their cards. All of them but one have vis- ited us at our houses. Some of them call on us quite frequently. This places us on a high vantage ground. The people will not fear to listen to us, attend our meetings, and visit us at our houses, as they would if the mandarins kept aloof from us. The same good feeling towards foreigners seems to extend far into the interior. At least we go from village to village wherever we please without hin- drance, and are always treated with kindness." THE CHINESE BEGGAR SYSTEM. " I have to-day been making some inquiries of my teacher concerning the system by which the beggars of Amoy are governed. The truth seems as follows : There are very many beggars in the city. In each ward there is a head-man or chief 86 Light and Shade, called * Chief of the Beggars.* He derives his office from the * Hai-hong^ or the superior local magistrate. Sometimes the office is conferred as an act of benevolence on an individual, who from sickness or other causes has met with reverses of fortune. Sometimes it is purchased. There being eighteen wards in the city of Amoy, of course there are eighteen such head-men. Their office is not honorable, but there is considerable profit con- nected with it. The head-men hold their office for life, or until removed for bad behavior. They get certificates of office from the ' Hai-hong^ and on the change of that functionary it is necessary to get the stamp of his successor attached to their certificates. Their income is derived from various sources. Monthly they call on the merchants and shop- keepers, who by paying down a sufficient amount are freed from the annoyance of beggars during the month. If a beggar enters one of these estab- lishments he is pointed to a card which is posted up in some conspicuous place, and is a certificate from the ' chief of the beggars ' of that ward that a sufficient amount of beggar money has been paid down for the month. The * chiefs of the beggars * also receive money from a man or his family when he is about to marry, also from the family of the bride. They also receive money after the death Light and Shade, Z^j and burial of the parents or any old member of a family; also from men who are advanced to literary honors, or who receive official promotion. In any of the above cases, if any individual fail to agree with the ' chief of the beggars ' of his ward and pay what is considered a sufficient amount of money (the amount varies with the importance of the oc- casion and the wealth of the parties), he may expect a visit from a posse of beggars, who will give him much annoyance by their continual demands. The * chiefs of the beggars ' give a part of the money which they receive to the beggars under them. My teacher thinks there are about two thousand beggars in the city of Amoy. There is a small dis- trict belonging to the city of Amoy called ' The Beg- gars' Camp.' The most of the inhabitants of this place are beggars. These beggars go about the city seeking a living, clothed in rags and covered with filth and sores, the most disgusting and pitia- ble objects I ever saw. " TWO NOBLE MEN SUMMONED HENCE. On the 6th of December Rev. John Lloyd, of the American Presbyterian mission, died of typhus fever after an illness of two weeks. Mr. Talmage makes this record of him : " Dec. 8, 1848. Rev. John Lloyd was born in 88 Light and Shade. the State of Pennsylvania on the first of Oct., 1813, which made him thirty-five years, two months, and five days at the time of his death. He was a man of fine abilities. His mind was well stored with useful knowledge and was well discipUned. He was most laborious in study, very careful to improve his time. He was mastering the language with rapidity. His vocabulary was not so large as that of some of the other brethren, but he had a very large number of words and phrases at his command, and was pronounced by the Chinese to speak the language more accurately than any other foreigner in the place. They even said of him that it could not be inferred simply from his voice, unless his face was seen, that he was a foreigner. He was a man of warm heart, very strong in his friendship, very kind in his disposition, and a universal favor- ite among the Chinese. I never knew a man that improved more by close intimacy. His modesty, which may be called his great fault, was such that it was necessary to become well acquainted with him before he could be properly appreciated. But it has pleased the Master of the harvest to call him from the field just as he became fully qualified to be an efficient laborer. What a lesson this, that we must not overestimate our importance in the work to which God has called us. He can do with- Light and Shade, 89 out us. It seems necessary that He should give the Church lesson upon lesson that she may not forget her dependence upon Him." Early in 1849 the brethren were called to mourn the loss of one of the most devoted pioneers of the Amoy mission, the Rev. William J. Pohlman. Mr. Talmage writes : "■ Feb. 8th. On Monday night at twelve o'clock I was called up to receive the sad intelligence that our worst fears in refer- ence to Pohlman were confirmed. He perished on the morning of the 5th or 6th ult. He embarked on the 2d ult. from Hongkong in the schooner Omega. On the morning of probably the 5th, at about two o'clock, she struck near Breaker Point, one hundred and twenty miles from Hongkong. A strong wind was blowing at the time, so that every effort to get the ship off was unavailing. She was driven farther on the sand, and fell over on her side. Her long boat and one quarter boat were carried away, and her cabin filled with water. The men on board clung to the vessel until morn- ing. The remaining boat was then lowered. Those of the crew who were able to swim were directed to swim to the shore. The captain, first and second officers, and Pohlman entered the boat and those of the crew who could not swim also received per- mission to enter. But a general rush was made for QO Light and Shade. the boat, by which it was overturned, and those who could not swim, Pohlman among the number, perished. The captain attempted to reach the shore by swimming, and would have succeeded, but was met by the natives. They were eager for plun- der, and seized the captain to plunder him of his clothes. While they were stripping him of his clothes they dragged him through the water with his head under, by which he was drowned. About twenty-five of the crew succeeded in reaching the shore in safety. After being stripped of their clothes, they were permitted to escape. Afterwards, on arriving at a village they were furnished with some rags. After suffering much from fatigue and hunger they arrived at Canton, overland, on the 17th ult. This event has cast gloom again over our small circle. But one month previous to his death, Pohlman with myself had closed the eyes of dear Lloyd. Oh, how deeply we do feel, and shall for a long time feel this loss." ** Feb. nth. On Sunday afternoon our new church was consecrated to the worship of the only true God, the first building built for this purpose in Amoy. Mr. Young preached the sermon. It was also a funeral sermon for Mr. Pohlman. The house was crowded with people. Very many could not get into the building. There was some noise and ^ b s XJ\ '- men, of every variety of style and workmanship, some plain and cheap, and some of the most elab- orate and costly description. Had Si-boo been of the spirit of Demetrius, he would have opposed and persecuted Mr. Bums for bringing his craft into danger. But instead of that, he manifested a spirit of earnest, truthful inquiry'-, although that in- quiry was one in which all the prepossessions, and prejudices, and passions of mind and heart were against the truth — an inquiry in which all the influence of friends, and all his prospects in life, were cast into the wrong balance. By the grace of God he made that solemn inquiry with such sim- plicity and sincerity, that it soon led to an entire conviction of the truth of our religion, and that to a decided profession of faith at all hazards ; and these hazards, in such a place as Pechuia, were neither few nor small — far greater than at Amoy, where the presence of a large body of converts, and 1 62 The Blosso77iing Desert. a considerable English community, and a British flag, might seem to hold out a prospect of both protection and support in time of need, though such protection and temporal aid have never been relied on by even our Amoy converts, still less en- couraged. "- One of the first sacrifices to which Si-boo was called was a great one. His trade of idol-carver must be given up, and with that his only means of support ; and that means both respectable and lucrative to a skillful hand like his. But to his credit he did not hesitate. He at once threw it up and cast himself on the providence of God, and neither asked nor received any assistance from the missionary, but at once set himself to turn his skill as a carver in a new and legitimate direction. He became a carver of beads for bracelets and other ornaments, and was soon able to support himself and assist his mother in this way. One advantage of this new trade was, that it was portable. With a few small knives, and a handful of olive-stones, he could prosecute his work wherever he liked to take his seat, and he frequently took advantage of this to prosecute his Master's work, while he was diligent in his own. Sometimes he would take his seat on the * Gospel Boat * when away on some evangelistic enterprise ; and Vv^hile we were slowly The Blossoming Desert. 163 rowing up some river or creek, or scudding away before a favorable wind to some distant port, Si- boo would be busy at work on his beads ; but as soon as we reached our destination, the beads and tools were thrust into his pouch, and with his Bible and a few tracts in his hand, he was off to read or talk to the people, and leave his silent messengers behind him." During the same year (1854), Mr. Doty wrote a letter to Mr. Burns while in Scotland, in regard to the awakening at Chioh-be, a large town of 30,000 inhabitants, eight miles northwest of Peh-chui-ia. An extract reads as follows : " But what shall I tell you of the Lord's visita- tion of mercy at Chioh-be ? Again, truly, are we as those that dream. The general features of the work are very similar to what you witnessed at Pechui-ia. The instrumentality has been native brethren almost entirely. Attention was first awakened in one or two by I-ju and Tick-jam, who went to Chioh-be together. " This was two or three months ago. This was followed up by repeated visits of other brethren from Pechui-ia and Amoy. Shortly the desire to hear the Word was so intense, that there would be scarcely any stop day or night ; the brethren in turns going, and breaking down from much speak- 164 The Blossoming Desert. ing in the course of three or four days, and coming back to us almost voiceless." AN APPEAL FOR A MISSIONARY. On the 30th of August, 1854, Mr. Talmage wrote, enclosing the subjoined appeal of the church at Peh-chui-ia for a missionary. It is addressed to the American Board, which these brethren call **the Public Society." A duplicate letter was sent at the same time to Mr. Burns to be presented to the Board of Foreign Missions of the English Presbyterian Church. ** They tell us," says Mr. Talmage, " that every sentence has been prayed over. According to their own statement, they would write a sentence, and then pray, and then write another sentence, and then pray again." " By the mercy and grace of God, called to be little children of the Saviour Jesus, we send this letter to the Public Society, desiring that God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ, may bestow grace and peace on all the saints connected with the Public Society. We desire you to know the boundless grace and favor of God towards us, and in behalf of us, little children, heartily to thank God because that the announcement of God's grace has been conveyed by your nation to our nation, and to our province, even to Amoy, and to our The Blossomz7tg Desert. 165 market-town Peh-chui-ia. We desire the Public Society to be thoroughly informed, so that they may very heartily thank God and the Lord Jesus Christ; for we at Peh-chui ia originally dwelt in the region of death and gloomy darkness, a place under the curse of God, and were exposed to God's righteous punishment. But many thanks to God's compassion and mercy, the Holy Spirit influenced the pastors of your nation to send holy brethren (Amoy native Christians), in company with the English pastor, the teacher, William Burns, unto our market-town, to unfold the holy announcement of grace, and preach the Gospel. Many thanks to God, whose grace called several brethren, by day and by night, to listen to the preaching of the Gospel, for the space of four months. Many thanks to the Holy Spirit, who opened our dark- ened hearts, and led us unto the Saviour Jesus, whose precious blood delivers from sin. By the grace of God five persons were received into the Church and baptized. Again, two months after- wards four persons were received into the Church and baptized. There are still some ten persons and more, from different quarters, not yet baptized, who have been operated on, so that they listen to the preaching with gladness of heart. " By the will of God, the English pastor has 1 66 The Blossoming Desert, been called to return to his own nation. Our place is distant from Amoy by water, several tens of * lis/ ^ so that it is difficult to come and go. The two pastors of your nation at Amoy (Messrs. Doty and Talmage) have not a moment to spare from labor, for the holy brethren there are many ; and it is difficult for them to leave home. " We, the brethren of the church at our market- town, with united heart pray, earnestly beseeching God again graciously to compassionate us, and send a pastor from the Public Society of your nation, that he may quickly come, and instruct us plainly in the Gospel. ^' It is to be deplored — the brethren having heard the teacher William Burns preach the Word for a few months, their spiritual nature only just born again, not yet having obtained firmness in the faith, that just at this time, in the seventh month, the pastor should be separated from us. '' Day and night our tears flow ; and with united heart we pray, earnestly beseeching God graciously to grant that of the disciples of the Lord Jesus a pastor hastily come, and preach to us the Gospel, this food of grace with its savoriness of grace, in order to strengthen the faith of us, little children. Moreover, we pray God to influence the saints of * One li is about one-third of a mile. The Blossoming Desert. 167 your nation that they may always keep us little children in remembrance. Therefore, on the 28th day of the seventh month (August 21, 1854) the brethren with united heart have prayed earnestly beseeching God that this our general letter may be conveyed to the great Public Society, that you may certainly know these our affairs, and pray God, in behalf of us, that this our request may be granted. Please give our salutation to the breth- ren. KONG-BIAU, Tek-iam, Tek-lian, U-ju, Sl-BU, JiT-SOM, Kl-AN, Lam-San, KiM-KOA, " The disciples of Jesus at Peh-chui4a. " Presented to the Public Society that all the disciples may read it." Mr. Talmage concludes a letter speaking of the " times of refreshing " in these words : " This remarkable work may well fill our hearts with gratitude and encouragement. Heretofore, we have always been obliged to wait a long time 1 68 The Blosscming Desert, before we were permitted to see much fruit of our labor ; and we were almost led to the conclusion that such must always be the case, in carrying the Gospel to a heathen people. Now we see that such need not be the course of events. We should preach the Gospel with larger expectations, and in the hope of more immediate fruit. He who com- manded the light to shine out of darkness, can shine into the darkest minds, * to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus ' on the first announcement of the truth as it is in Jesus. When the proper time comes, and His Church is made ready for the great accession, it will be an easy thing for Him to ac- complish the expectation that a nation shall be born at once." CHURCH UNION. (169) VIII. CHURCH UNION. Missionary work in its initial stage has only to do with first principles. Given shelter, food, power of utterance in a foreign tongue, a preaching spot, a company of hearers, and you have bounded the horizon for the present. No sooner, however, is a goodly company of believers gathered, but problems, numerous and weighty, confront the missionary. How shall the company of believers be organized and governed ? Shall it be exactly on the model of the church which the missionary represents ? If not, what modifications shall be made ? Shall the seedling ten thousand miles away be roped to the mother tree or shall it be encouraged to stand alone? What advantages in independence? What perils? What shall be the status of the foreign missionary before the native church just organ- izing? What relation shall he sustain to the home church ? (171) 172 Church Union. The answers to these questions have been as various as the denominations represented in Ori- ental lands. The answers of missionaries repre- senting the same denomination have not even tallied. After the gracious awakening and ingathering at Amoy and in the region about, had taken place, the question of church organization became fore- most. The missionaries gave the subject earnest thought. Men like Elihu Doty and John Van Nest Talmage and Carstairs Douglas, were not likely to come to conclusions hastily. But they were born pioneers. Conservative enough never to lose their equilibrium, they had adaptability to new circumstances. Quite willing to follow the beaten path so long as there was promise of harvest returns, they were prepared nevertheless to blaze a new road into the trackless forest if they were sure some of God's treasure-trove could be brought back on it. There was no divergence of view as to what the founda- tion of the new church-structure must be. * For other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.' So long, however, as the general proportions were the same, there was no fear that the new edifice would topple over if it did not conform exactly in height and length Church Union, 1 73 and breadth, in column and pilaster and fagade, to the venerated model in the mother countries. The brethren expressed their views to the churches in the home-land. They did more. They plead their cause and hoped for endorsement. The fol- lowing is part of a lengthy but very interesting communication written by Mr. Talmage and sent to the Synod of the Reformed Church in 1856: " Amoy, China, Sept. 17, 1856. " To the General Synod of the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church, '* Fathers and Brethren : We your mission- aries at Amoy, China, have, by the blessing of the Head of the Church on our labors, arrived at a stage of progress in our work which imposes on us weighty responsibilities, and we feel the need of counsel and advice. It will be proper for us to give a brief account of our Mission, of our work, of the blessing of God on our labors, of our pecul- iar circumstances, and of the principles on which we have acted hitherto, and which we think should still guide us in our efforts to establish the King- dom of Christ in this land, that you may praise God in our behalf and in behalf of this people, and assist us by your sympathies, prayers, and counsels. Our Mission was commenced at Amoy by the late Rev. David Abeel, D.D. Mr. Abeel 174 Church Union. arrived at Amoy in company with the Rev. (now Bishop) Boone, on the 24th of February, 1842. On the 22d of June, 1844, Rev. E. Doty and Rev. Wm. J. Pohlman arrived at Amoy from Borneo. In Dec, 1844, Mr. Abeel in consequence of con- tinued and increasing ill health left Amoy on his return to the United States. Mrs. Pohlman and Mrs. Doty having been removed by death, Mr. Doty left Amoy for the United States, Nov. 12, 1845, with his own and Mr. Pohlman's children. Rev. J. V. N. Talmage accompanied Mr. Doty on his return to Amoy, arriving Aug. 19, 1847. Mr. Pohlman was lost at sea Jan. 5, or 6, 1849. M^- Talmage was away from Amoy from March 24, 1849 to J^ly ^^» 1850. Rev. J. Joralmon arrived at Amoy, April 21, 1856. " Mr. Boone, of the Episcopal Church of the United States, was at Amoy but a short time. After him there have been no missionaries of that church at Amoy. The mission of the American Presbyterian Board at Amoy was commenced by the arrival of Rev. T. L. McBryde, in June, 1842. He left Amoy in January, 1843. James C. Hep- burn, M.D., arrived in 1843, and retired in 1845. Rev. John Lloyd arrived in Dec, 1844. Rev. H. A. Brown arrived in 1845 and left Amoy for the United States in Dec, 1847. M^- Lloyd died in Dec, 1848. Church Union, 175 Since then that mission has not been continued at Amoy. " W. H. Gumming, M.D., a medical missionary, but not connected with any missionary society, ar- rived at Amoy, June, 1842, and left Amoy in the early part of 1847. The London Missionary Society's Mission at Amoy was commenced by the arrival of Rev. Messrs. J. Stronach and William Young, in July, 1844. Since then other agents of that society have arrived, some of whom have again left and some still remain. They now num- ber three ministers of the Gospel and one physician. "The Mission of the English Presbyterian Ghurch at Amoy was commenced by the arrival of James H. Young, M.D., in May, 1850. Rev. W. G. Burns arrived in July, 1851. Rev. James Johnston arrived in Dec, 1853. Dr. Young and Mr. Burns left Amoy in August, 1854. Mr. Johnston left Amoy in May, 1855. Rev. G. Douglas arrived at Amoy in July, 1855. He is now the only member of that Mission at Amoy. All the members of this Mission, although sent out by the English Presby- terian Ghurch, were originally members of the Free Ghurch of Scotland. "The present missionary force at Amoy are three ministers and one physician of the London Missionary Society (in their ecclesiastical relations 1 76 Church Union, they are Independents), one minister of the English Presbyterian Church, and ourselves, three ministers of the Dutch Reformed Church. " The first converts received into the Christian Church at Amoy were two old men, baptized by Mr. Pohlman in April, 1846. The next converts received were two men baptized by Mr. A. Stron- ach, of the London Missionary Society, in March, 1848. A few months later Mr. Stronach baptized one more. Since then every year has witnessed additions to the church. We received into our church by baptism in 1849 three persons ; in 1850, five; in 185 1, eight; in 1852, two; in 1853, six; in 1854, including those baptized at Peh-chui-ia, fifty- three; in 1855, including Peh-chui-ia and Chioh-be, seventy-two ; during the present year thus far, also including Peh-chui-ia and Chioh-be, fifty. The whole number now connected with our church at Amoy is one hundred and twenty-one. The num- ber at Peh-chui-ia is forty-two. The number at Chioh-be is thirty-one. In all, the number is one hundred and ninety-four. The London Mission has also been greatly blessed. They now have in connection with their church at Amoy and in vicinity one hundred and fifty-one members. After acquiring the language of this people, we have felt that our great work is to preach the Gospel. Church Union. 177 Every other department of labor must be entirely secondary to this. The Scriptures are clearly in favor of these views, and our own experience has confirmed these views until they have become very decided. We have already mentioned the name of Mr. Burns as uniting in labors with our church members. The brethren of the English Presby- terian Church, in the providence of God, have been brought very near to us. We have rendered each other much assistance and often have labored to- gether almost as one Mission. " When Mr. Burns arrived at Amoy, providen- tially he found and secured a room not far from our church edifice, and near to the residences of several of our church members. As soon as he was able to use the dialect of Amoy, many of our church members and inquirers were glad of the privilege of meeting with him daily for the study of the Scriptures and for prayer. Mr. Burns came to Amoy for the simple purpose of preaching the Gospel. He did not wish to take the responsibil- ity of organizing a separate church. He was ready to co-operate with us or with the London breth- ren. He often rendered them assistance likewise. When he became able to use the language with freedom, he often preached in our church. When he went out for street-preaching, or went out to 178 Church Union. visit the towns and villages around, he always took with him native Christians, usually the members of our church, having been providentially placed among them. Early in the year 1854, Mr. Burns with some of our church members visited the re- gion of Peh-chui-ia. Much interest was awakened in that region in the subject of Christianity. A goodly number, we trust, were born of the Spirit. Mr. Burns did not wish to take the responsibihty • of a pastor, desiring to keep himself free for evan- gelistic labors wherever a door might be opened before him. He requested us to examine the can- didates for baptism and receive those whom we deemed worthy, and take the pastoral care of them. We yielded to the desires of Mr. Burns and took charge of Peh-chui-ia. " Mr. Burns continued to spend much of his time in that place and vicinity until he was called to leave Amoy. Shortly after the departure of Mr. Burns, learning that the English Presbyterians would have been glad to retain Peh-chui-ia, and Mr. Johnston (E. P.) being willing to take charge there as far as he was able, we very willingly relin- quished it to them. He was still unable to use the language with freedom, so we continued to visit the place as often as we could. Before Mr. John- stones knowledge was sufHcient to relieve us of the Church Union, 1 79 pastoral care of that interesting church, his ill-health compelled him to return to his native land. His place was soon supplied by the arrival of Mr. Doug- las. We have continued the same pastoral care of that church. Lately our visits to the place have become less frequent, as Mr. Douglas has become better acquainted with the language. - *^ In the latter half of the year 1854, some of the Christians from Peh-chui-ia went to the large town of Chioh-be on business and preached the Gospel as they had opportunity. They found a few persons who listened to their message with interest and mani- fested a desire to hear more. When this fact, on their return, was reported to the churches of Peh-chui-ia and Amoy, other Christians went to Chioh-be. A great interest was awakened. A small house was rented for a chapel. This house was thronged every day throughout the day and evening. Soon as we had opportunity we visited the place to converse with inquirers and examine candidates for baptism. In January, 1855, the first converts at that place were baptized. The interest continued to increase. We found the premises we had rented entirely too small. As soon as a larger and more suitabl:^ place could be found it was secured. Soon after this a violent persecution broke out. The imme- diate effect was greatly to hinder the work. Only i8o Church Union, those who were sufficiently interested in the Gos- pel to raise them above the fear of man dared at- tend the place of worship. Still there has been constant progress. " If the churches gathered by us are to be organ- ized simply with respect to the glory of God and their own welfare, there is a fact in our circum- stances which should have great weight in forming this organization. This fact is the intimate rela- tion and hitherto oneness of the churches under our care and under the care of the missionaries of the English Presbyterian Church. In the forego- ing short history of our work it will be seen that we have been and are closely connected with the missionaries of that Church. From the first we have had the pastoral care of their church gathered at Peh-chui-ia and in the surrounding region. They have not attempted the organization of any church at Amoy. By far the greater proportion of their influence and labors at Amoy has been in the direction of assisting us in our work. They have acted as though they thought it was of no import- ance whatever whether converts were received into church fellowship by us or them. Doubtless the church members, although perfectly aware that we and our English Presbyterian brethren are of differ- ent Churches and different countries, suppose that Church Union. i8i they form but one Church. When the time had arrived for a regular organization of our church in Amoy, the question presented itself : Shall we in- vite Mr. Douglas, then and still the only English Presbyterian missionary at Amoy, to unite with us in our deliberations ? By the providence of God our missions had been brought closely together. We had been laboring together in the work of the Lord, were one in sympathy, held the same views in the- ology, and did not differ in regard to church polity. But one answer could be given to this" question. We cordially invited him. He as cordially accepted of our invitation, and heartily engaged with us in our church meetings, held in reference to the elec- tion of church officers. He voted with us and our church members. He united with us in setting apart the officers-elect to their respective offices, and since then has usually united with us in our deliberations in our consistorial meetings. Surel}^ in this matter we have acted according to the lead- ings of Providence and the spirit and instructions of the Gospel of Christ ; for in Christ Jesus there is no distinction of nationalities. Our labors having thus, far been so intermingled and our churches so intimately related and united to- gether, we can see no sufficient reason for separa- tion. If there be any advantage in the association 1 8 2 Chu rch Un ion, of churches by the organization of Classes or Pres- byteries, why should we deprive these churches in their infancy and weakness of this advantage ? We have always taught our people to study the Word of God and make it their rule. Can we give them a sufficient reason for such separation ? Doubtless if we were to tell them, that the churches by which we are sent out and sustained desire separate or- ganizations, and therefore should recommend such organizations to them, they would acquiesce. They know that they cannot stand alone. Grati- tude, also, and ardent affection for those churches by whose liberality they have been made acquainted with the Gospel, would lead them to do all in their power to please those churches. We can hardly suppose, however, that such separation would ac- cord with their judgment, or with those Christian feelings which they have always exercised towards each other as members of the same Church. But we do not suppose that either our Church or the English Presbyterian Church will recommend such a separation. The Dutch Church in North Amer- ica has always manifested an enlarged Christian spirit, and therefore we cannot doubt but that she will approve of an organization by which the churches here, which are one in doctrine and one in spirit, may also be one in ecclesiastical matters. ^tti 111- «4^''^^' nn i< -1^- 1^1 I'-'- ^^^- S t C t C f t { c c t < c c c t c t c c c c c c c t c c c c o « Church Union, i8 3 Neither do we doubt but that the EngHsh Presby- terian Church will also approve of the same course. We do not know as much of that Church as we hope to know in the future. Yet we know enough of her already to love her. But if separa- tion must come, let not our Church bear the responsibility. " Another question of importance may arise. What shall be our relation as individuals to the Dutch Church in America ? We see no reason and desire not to change the relation we have always sustained. We were set apart by that Church to do the work of evangelists. This is the work in which we still wish to be engaged. We must preach the Gospel. As God gives success to our labors we must organize churches, and take over- sight of them as long as they need that oversight. When we find suitable men, we must ^ ordain elders in every city.* Such is the commission we hold from our Church, and from the great Head of the Church. Theoretically, difficulties may be sug- gested. Practically, with the principles on which we have thus far acted, we see no serious difficulties in our way. We must seek for Divine guidance, take the Scriptures for our rule, and fojlow the leadings of Providence. We are all liable to err. But with these principles, assisted by your coun- 1 84 Church Union, sels, and especially by your prayers, we have reason to believe, and do believe, that the Spirit of truth will guide us in the way of truth." Dr. Talmage also sent a communication to Dr. Thomas De Witt, then Corresponding Secretary for the Reformed Church in co-operation with the American Board. It reads : "Oct. I, 1856. There are some other facts aris- ing out of the circumstances of this people, and of the nature of the Chinese language, which have a certain importance and perhaps should be laid be- fore the Church. No part of the name of our Church, peculiar to our denomination, can be trans- lated and applied to the church in Chinese without inconvenience or great detriment. The words, Protestant and Reformed, would be to the Chinese unintelligible, consequently inconvenient. The only translation we can give to the name Dutch Church, would be Church of Holland. This, besides conveying in part an incorrect idea, would be very detrimental to the interests of the Church among the Chinese. The Chinese know but little of foreign nations and have for ages looked upon them all as barbarians. Of course the views of the native Christians are entirely changed on this subject. But our great work is to gather converts from the heathen. We should be very careful not to use Church Union. 185 any terms by which they would be unnecessarily prejudiced against the Gospel. It is constantly charged upon the native Christians, both as a re- proach and as an objection to Christianity, that they are following foreigners or have become foreigners. The reproach is not a light one, but the objection is easily answered. The answer would not be so easy if we were to fasten on the Christians a foreign name." At the meeting of the General Synod, held in the village of Ithaca, New York, June, 1857, the following resolutions recommended by the Com- mittee on Foreign Missions, Talbot W. Chambers, D.D., Chairman, were adopted : THE MEMORIAL OF THE AMOY MISSION. " Among the papers submitted to the Synod is an elaborate document from the brethren at Amoy, giving the history of their work there, of its gradual progress, of their intimate connection with mis- sionaries from other bodies, of the formation of the Church now existing there, and expressing their views as to the propriety and feasibility of forming a Classis at that station. In reply to so much of this paper as respects the establishment of indi- vidual churches, we must say that while we appre- ciate the peculiar circumstances of our brethren, t86 Church Union. and sympathize with their perplexities, yet it has always been considered a matter of course that ministers, receiving their commission through our Church, and sent forth under the auspices of our Board, would, when they formed converts from the heathen in an ecclesiastical body, mould the or- ganization into a form approaching, as nearly as possible, that of the Reformed Protestant Dutch Churches in our own land. Seeing that the con- verted heathen, when associated together, must have some form of government, and seeing that our form is, in our view, entirely consistent with, if not required by the Scriptures, we expect that it will in all cases be adopted by our missionaries, sub- ject, of course, to such modifications as their peculiar circumstances may for the time render necessary. The converts at Amoy, as at Arcot and elsewhere, are to be regarded as ' an integral part of our Church,* and as such are entitled to all the rights and privileges which we possess. And so in regard to the formation of a Classis. The Church at home will undoubtedly expect the brethren to associate themselves into a regular ecclesiastical or- ganization, just as soon as enough materials are obtained to warrant such measure, with the hope that it will be permanent. We do not desire churches to be prematurely formed in order to get Church Union. 187 materials for a Classis, nor any other exercise of violent haste, but we equally deprecate unnecessary delay, believing that a regular organization will be alike useful to our brethren themselves and to those who, under them, are in training for the first office-bearers in the Christian Church on heathen ground. As to the difficulties suggested in the memorial, respecting the different Particular Synods to which the brethren belong, and the de- lays of carrying out a system of appellate juris- diction covering America and China, it is enough to say : " I. That the Presbyterian Church (Old School) finds no insuperable difficulties in carrying into operation her system, which comprehends Presby- teries and Synods in India as well as here; and, 2. That whatever hindrances may at any time arise, this body will, in humble reliance upon the Divine aid and blessing, undertake to meet and remove them as far as possible. The Church at home as- sumes the entire responsibility of this matter, and only ask the brethren abroad to carry out the policy held steadily in view from the first moment when our Missions began. " The following resolutions are recommended : ^^ Resolved, i. That the Synod view with great pleasure the formation of churches among the Ch u rch Un ion. converts from heathenism, organized according to the established usages of our branch of Zion. *' 2. That the brethren at Amoy be directed to apply to the Particular Synod of Albany to or- ganize them into a Classis, so soon as they shall have formed churches enough to render the per- manency of such organization reasonably certain." CHURCH UNION (CONTINUED). (189) IX. CHURCH UNION (CONTINUED). This utterance of the General Synod, while made with the best intentions, fell with exceedingly painful echo on the ears of the missionaries at Amoy. Was the flock they had gathered with so much prayer and effort, and reared with such sedu- lous care, to be thus summarily divided and per- haps in consequence scattered ? The missionaries felt persuaded that their brethren in the United States could not fully appreciate the situation or there would be no such action. Mr. Talmage again took up his pen in behalf of his Chinese flock. If it had been dipped in his own blood his utterances could not have been more forceful — could not have palpitated with a heartier affection for his Chinese brethren's sake. On Dec. 23, 1857, he wrote to Dr. Isaac Ferris, who, since the separation from the A. B. C. F. M. at the last Synod, had become the Corresponding Secretary for the Board of Foreign Missions of the Reformed Church. (19J) 192 Church Union. " So far as we can judge from the report of the proceedings of General bynod as given in the Christian Intelligencer^ one of the most important considerations, perhaps altogether the most im- portant mentioned, why the church gathered by us here should not be an integral part of the Church in America, was entirely overlooked. That consideration relates to the unity of Christ's Church. Will our Church require of us, will she desire that those here who are altogether one^ — one in doctrine, one in their views of church order, and one in mutual love, — be violently separated into two denominations? We cannot believe it. Suppose the case of two churches originally distinct, by coming into contact and becoming better ac- quainted with each other, they find that they hold to the same doctrinal standards, and the)' explain them in the same manner; they have the same form of church government and their officers are chosen and set apart in the same way ; they have the same order of worship and of administering the sacraments ; all tTieir customs, civil, social, and re- ligious, are precisely alike, and they love each other dearly ; should not such churches unite and form but one denomination? Yet such a supposition does not and cannot represent the circumstances of the churches gathered by us and by our Scotch Church Union. 19, brethren of the EngHsh Presbyterian Church. Our churches originally were one, and still are one, and the question is not whether those churches shall be united, but shall they be separated? Possibly the question will be asked, why were these churches allowed originally to become one? We answer, God made them so, and that without any plan or forethought on our part, and now we thank Him for His blessing that He has made them one, and that He has blessed them because they are one. ''Our position is a somewhat painful one. We desire to give offence to no one, and we do not wish to appear before the Church as disputants. We have no controversy with any one. We have nei- ther the time nor inclination for controversy. We are * doing a great work,* and cannot * come down.* Yet our duty to these churches here and to the Church at home and to our Master demands of us imperatively that we state fully and frankly our views. We have the utmost confidence in our church. We have proved this by endeavoring to get our views fully known.*' The subject did not come up again for discussion before the General Synod until 1863. Meanwhile the churches grew and multiplied. The Amoy church, which in 1856 had been organ- ized by ** the setting apart of elders and deacons,'* 194 Church Union, was separated into two organizations in i860, "preparatory to the calling of pastors." Two men were chosen by the churches in 1861. In 1862 an organization was formed called the " Tai-hoey," or " Great Elders' Meeting," consist- ing of the missionaries of both the English Presby- terian and Reformed Churches and the delegated elders from all the organized congregations under their united oversight. The two men chosen as pastors were examined, ordained, and installed by this body. During that year Mr. Talmage was called to stand by the *' first gash life had cut in the church- yard turf" for him. His beloved wife, Mrs. Abby Woodruff Talmage, was called to her reward, leav- ing Mr. Talmage with four motherless little ones. He was compelled to go to the United States to secure proper care for his children. He came in time to attend the General Synod of 1863. There he advocated most earnestly the course which the brethren at Amoy had taken. Dr. Isaac Ferris brought the subject before the Synod in these words : *' In 1857 the Synod met at Ithaca, and a most remarkable Synod it was. According to the testi- mony of all who were present the Spirit of God un- usually manifested His gracious presence. A ven- Church Union, 195 erable minister on his return remarked, * It was like heaven upon earth.' That Synod, under this ex- traordinary sense of the Divine presence and unc- tion, judged that the time had arrived for the Church to take the responsibility of supporting its foreign missionary work upon itself, and, accord- ingly, in very proper resolutions, asked of the American Board to have the compact which had been in operation since 1832 revoked, and the Mis- sion transferred to our Foreign Board. ** It was at that meeting that a memorial of our brethren at Amoy on the subject of organization, very ably drawn, and presenting fully their views and reasonings, was read and deliberated on. Their work had been wonderfully blessed, and the whole Church was called to thanksgiving, and the time seemed at hand to realize the expectations of years. The brethren asked advice, and the Sy^iod adopted the carefully-drawn report of a committee of which the President was chairman, advising the organization of a Classis at as early a day as was practicable. Our brethren at Amoy were not satis- fied with this advice, and considered the subject as not having had a sufficient hearing. " In the progress of their work they have deemed it proper to form a different organization from what the Synod advised, and which was in harmony with 196 Church Union. the constant aim of our Church on the subject. The Board of Foreign Missions, when the matter came before them, could only kindly protest and urge upon the brethren the action of the Synod of 1857. Not having ecclesiastical power, they could only argue and advise. They would have it re- membered that all has been done in the kindest spirit. They have differed in judgment from the Mission, but not a ripple of unkind feeling has arisen. " The question now before the Synod is, whether this body will recede from the whole policy of the Church and its action in 1857 c>r reaffirm the same. This Synod, in its action on this case, will decide for all its missions, and in all time, on what princi- ples their missionaries shall act, and hence this be- comes probably the most important question of this session. It is in the highest degree desirable that the Synod should give the subject the fullest the most patient and impartial examination, and that our brother, who represents the Amoy Mis- sion, be fully heard." Mr. Talmage next addressed the Synod and offered the following resolution : ^^ Resolved, That the Synod hear with gratitude to God of the great progress of the work of the Lord at Amoy, and in the region around, so that Ch u rch Union, 197 already we hear of six organized churches with their Consistories, and others growing up not yet organized, two native pastors who were to have been ordained on the 29th of March last, and the whole under the care of a Classis composed of the missionaries of our Church and of the English Presbyterian Church, the native pastors, and rep- resentative elders of the several churches. It calls for our hearty gratitude to the great Head of the Church that the missionaries of different Churches and different countries have been enabled, through Divine grace, to work together in such harmony. It is also gratifying to us that these churches and this Classis have been organized according to the polity of our Church, inasmuch as the Synod of the English Presbyterian Church has approved of the course of their missionaries in uniting for the or- ganizing of a church after our order; therefore, this Synod would direct its Board of Foreign Missions to allow our missionaries to continue their present relations with the missionaries of the English Pres- byterian Church, so long as the present harmony shall continue, and no departure shall be made from the doctrines and essential policy of our Church, or until the Synod shall otherwise direct.*' There were speeches for and against, by distin- guished men in the Church. Dr. T. W. Chambers, 98 Church Union. President of the Synod, made the concluding ad- dress, as follows : " If there be any one here who has a deep and tender sympathy with our brother Talmage and his senior missionary colleague (Mr. Doty), I claim to be the man. ** Mr. Doty was my first room-mate at college thirty-one years ago, and ever since we have been fast friends. As to the other, his parents — them- selves among the most eminent and devoted Chris- tians ever known — were long members of the church in New Jersey, of which I was formerly in charge. For several years I was his pastor. I signed the testimonials of character required by the American Board before they commissioned him. I pronounced the farewell address when he left this country in 1850. I have watched with intense in- terest his entire career since, and no one welcomed him more warmly when he returned last year, bear- ing in his face and form the scars which time and toil had wrought upon his constitution. It is need- less to say, then, that I love him dearly for his own sake, for his parents' sake, for his numerous friends' sake, but, more than all, for that Master's sake whom he has so successfully served. Nor is there any- thing within reason which I would not have the Church do for him. He shall have our money, our Church Union, 199 sympathy, our prayers, our confidence — the largest h'berty in shaping the operations of the Mission he belongs to. " But when we come to the matter now at issue, I pause. Much as I love our brother, I love Christ more. Nor can I surrender, out of deference to our missionaries, the constitution, the policy, the interests of our Church, — all of which are involved in this matter. Nay, even their own welfare, and that of the mission they are so tenderly attached to, demand that w^e should deny their request. What is this request? That we should allow our brethren at Amoy, together with the English Pres- byterian missionaries there, to form with the native pastors and the delegates from the native churches, an independent Classis or Presbytery, over whose proceedings this body should have no control what- ever, by v/ay of appeal, or review, or in any other form. Now, the first objection to this is, that it is flatly in the face of our constitution and order. A * self-regulating Classis' is a thing which has never been heard of in the Dutch Church since that Church had a beginning. It is against every law, principle, canon, example, and precedent in our books. Perhaps the most marked feature of our polity is the subordination of all parts of our body, large or small, to the review and control of the 200 Church Union, whole as expressed in the decisions of its highest ecclesiastical assembly. I submit that this Synod has no right to form or to authorize any such self- regulating ecclesiastical body, or to consent that any ministers of our Church should hold seats in such a body. If we do it, we transcend the most liberal construction which has ever been known to be given to the powers of General Synod. How, then, can we do this thing? Whatever our sympa- thies, how can we violate our own order, our funda- mental principles, the polity to which we are bound by our profession, by our subscription, by every tie which can bind religious and honorable men ? ^' Moreover, the thing we are asked to do contra- venes our missionary policy from the beginning. As far back as 1832, when we made a compact with the American Board, one essential feature of the plan was that we should have ' an ecclesiastical organization ' of our own. Without this feature that plan would never have been adopted ; and the apprehension that there might be some inter- ference with this cherished principle was at least one of the reasons why the plan, after working success- fully for a quarter of a century^ was at length ab- rogated. And so when, in 1857, we instituted a missionary board of our own, this view was dis- tinctly announced. Church Union, 201 " It was my privilege to draw up the report on the subject which has been so often referred to. That report did not express merely my view, or that of the committee, but the view of the entire Synod. Nor from that day to this has there been heard anywhere within our bounds even a whisper of objection from minister, elder, or layman in re- gard to the positions then taken. It is our settled, irreversible policy. Deep down in the heart of the Church lies the conviction that our missionaries, who carry to the heathen the doctrine of Christ as we have received it, must also carry the order of Christ as we have received it. Certain unessential peculiarities may, from the force of circumstances, be left in abeyance for a time, or even permanently, but the dominant features must be retained. It is not enough to have genuine Consistories, we must have genuine Classes. And, under whatever modi- fications, the substantive elements of our polity must be reproduced in the mission churches estab- lished by the blessing of God upon the men and means furnished by our Zion. *' Further, Mr. President, it is to be remembered that we are acting for all time. It is not this one case that is before us. We are settling a precedent which is to last for generations. Relax your con- stitutions and laws for this irregularity and you 202 Church Union, open a gap through which a coach and four may be driven. Every other mission, under the least pretext, will come and claim the same or a similar modification in their case, and you cannot consist- ently deny them. The result will be an ecclesiasti- cal chaos throughout our entire missionary field. Let us begin as we mean to hold out. Let us set- tle this question now and settle it aright. We di- rect our missionaries what Gospel to preach, what sacraments to administer, what internal organiza- tion to give to single churches. Let us, in the same manner and for the same reasons, say what sort of bonds shall unite these churches to each other and govern their mutual relations and com- mon interests. ^' I know we are told that the hybrid organiza- tion which now exists is every way sufficient and satisfactory ; that it is the fruit of Christian love, and that to disturb it would be rending the body of Christ. Here one might ask how it came to ex- ist at all, seeing that this Synod spoke so plainly and unambiguously in 1857. And I for one cor- dially concur in the remark of the Elder Schieffelin, that the brethren there '■ deserve censure.' We do not censure them, nor do we propose to do so, but that they deserve it is undeniable. But the point is, how can our disapproval of the mongrel Classis Church Union, 203 mar the peace of the Amoy brethren ? There is already a division among their churches. Some are supported by our funds, others by the funds of the English Presbyterians. Would it alter matters much to say, and to make it a fact, that some of those churches belong to a Classis and others to a Presbytery? Some have an American connection and others an English. But this would break Christian unity! Would it, indeed? You ob- served, Mr. President, the affectionate confidence, blended with reverence, with which I addressed from the chair the venerable Dr. Skinner. The reason was that we both belong to an association of ministers in New York which meets weekly for mutual fellowship, enjoyment, and edification in all things bearing on ministerial character and duties. Ecclesiastically we have no connection whatever. I never saw his Presbytery in session, and I doubt if he ever saw our Classis ; yet our brotherly, Chris- tian, and even ministerial communion is as tender, and sacred, and profitable as if we had been co- presbyters for twenty years. Now, who dare say that this shall not exist at Amoy? Our brethren there can maintain precisely the same love, and confidence, and co-operation as they do now, in all respects save the one of regular, formal, ecclesi- astical organization. 204 Church Union. " But I will not detain the Synod longer. I would not have left the chair to speak, but for the over- whelming importance of the subject. It is painful to deny the eager and earnest wishes of our mis- sionary brethren, but I believe we are doing them a real kindness by this course. Union churches here have always in the end worked disunion, confusion, and every evil work. There is no reason to believe that the result would be at all different abroad. A division would necessarily come at some period, and the longer it was delayed, the more trying and sor- rowful it would be. I am opposed, therefore, to the substitute pffered by Brother Chapman, and also to that of Brother Talmage, and trust that the original resolutions, with the report, will be adopted. That report contains not a single harsh or unpleasant word. It treats the whole case with the greatest delicacy as well as thoroughness, but it reaffirms the action of 1857 i^ ^ way not to be mistaken. And that is the ground on which the Church will take its stand. Whatever time, indul- gence, or forbearance can be allowed to our brethren, will cheerfully be granted. Only let them set their faces in the direction of a distinct organization, classical as well as consistorial, and we shall be satisfied. Only let them recognize the principle and the details shall be left to Church Union, 205 themselves, under the leadings of God's gracious providence." The report of the Committee on Foreign Mis- sions, E. S. Porter, D.D., chairman, was adopted. Part of it reads as follows: ** The missionaries there have endeared their names to the whole Christian world, and especially to that household of faith of which they are loved and honored members." ....*' No words at our command can tell what fond and flaming sympathies have overleaped broad oceans, and bound them and us together. " * Words, like nature, half reveal, And half conceal the soul within.' ....*' Your committee are unable to see how it will be possible to carry the sympathies and the liberalities of the Church with an increasing tide of love and sacrifice in support of our mis- sionary work, if it once be admitted as a precedent, or established as a rule, that our missionaries may be allowed to form abroad whatever combinations they may choose, and aid in creating ecclesiastical authorities, which supersede the authorities which commissioned them and now sustain them." ** The committee are not prepared to recommend that any violent and coercive resolutions should be 2o6 Church Union, adopted for the purpose of constraining our breth- ren in Amoy to a course of procedure which would rudely sunder the brotherly ties that unite them with the missionaries of the English Presbyterian Church. But a Christian discretion will enable them, on the receipt of the decision of the present Synod, in this matter now under consideration, to take such initial steps as are necessary to the speedy formation of a Classis. " Much must be left to their discretion, prudence and judgment. But of the wish and expectation of this Synod to have their action conform as soon as may be to the resolutions of 1857, your com- mittee think the brethren at Amoy should be dis- tinctly informed. They therefore offer the following : *' * I. Resolved, That the General Synod, having adopted and tested its plan of conducting foreign missions, can see no reason for abolishing it ; but, on the contrary, believe it to be adapted to the promotion of the best interests of foreign mission- ary churches, and of the denomination supporting them. ** * II. That the Board of Foreign Missions be, and hereby is, instructed to send to our missionaries at Amoy a copy or copies of this report, as contain- ing the well-considered deliverance of the Synod respecting their present relations and future duty. feet c C C c c c c c c c < c c c c c '^' c c c c c o c c c c C C f » Church Union, 207 " * III. That the Secretary of the Foreign Board be, and hereby is, directed to send to the Rev. Dr. Hamilton, of London, Convener of the Presbyterian Committee, a copy of this report, with a copy of the action of 1857, and that he inform him by let- ter of the wishes and expectations of the Synod respecting the ecclesiastical relations which this body desires its churches in Amoy to sustain to it. In the report of the Foreign Committee of the English Presbyterian Church for 1863, the following language is used in reference to the Union Chinese Church of Amoy : " We are hopeful, however, that on further con- sideration our brethren in America may allow their missionaries in China to continue the present ar- rangement, at least until such time as it is found that actual difficulties arise in the way of carrying it out. * Behold, how good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity,' and there are few brethren towards whom we feel closer affinity than the members of that Church, which was rep- resented of old by Gomarus and Witsius, by Voet and Marck, and Bernard de Moore, and whose Synod of Dort preceded in time and pioneered in doctrine our own Westminster Assembly. Like them, we love that Presbyterianism and that Cal- 2o8 Church Union, vinism which we hold in common, and we wish to carry them wherever we go ; but we fear that it would not be doing justice to either, and that it might compromise that name which is above every other, if, on the shores of China, we were to unfurl a separate standard. We would, therefore, not only respectfully recommend to the Synod to allow its missionaries to unite presbyterially as well as prac- tically with the brethren of the Reformed Dutch Church ; but we would express the earnest hope that the Synod of the sister Church in America may find itself at liberty to extend to its mission- aries a similar freedom." These sentiments were unanimously adopted by the Synod of the English Presbyterian Church. The cause which Mr. Talmage was advocating was too near his heart, and his convictions were too strong to permit silence. He prepared a pamphlet, setting forth more clearly the position of the Mis- sion at Amoy, as well as answering objections made to it.*^ A few quotations read : " In reference to it, i. e., the report of the Com- mittee on Foreign Missions, we would make three remarks: (i) It (Resolution III.) seems rather a * The exact standing of missionaries in the Union Chinese Church of Amoy was also explained by Dr. Talmage in a later pamphlet, for the contents of which see Appendix. Church Union, 209 cavalier answer to the fraternal wish of the Synod of the English Presbyterian Church, as expressed in their action. (2) The action of Synod is made to rest (Res. I.) on the fact that Synod had ' tested * this ^ plan of conducting foreign missions.' If this be so, and the plan had been found by experiment unobjectionable, the argument is not without force. But how and where has this test been applied and found so satisfactory? Our Church has three Mis- sions among the heathen — one in India, one in China, and one in Japan. Has it been tested in Japan ? No. They have not yet a single native church. Has it been tested in China ? If so, the mis- sionaries were not aware of it. The test applied there has been of an opposite character and has been wonderfully successful. The test has only been applied in India, and has only begun to be applied even there. There, as yet, there is but one native pastor. Their Classis is more American than In- dian. We must wait until they have a native Classis before the test can be pronounced at all satisfac- tory. (3) No consideration is had for the feelings, wishes or opinions of the native churches. The inalienable rights of the native churches, their rela- tion to each other, their absolute unity — things of the utmost consequence — are not at all regarded, are entirely ignored." 2IO Church Union. In reply to the advantages claimed to flow from the plan advocated by General Synod, Mr. Talmage says: " I. The most important advantage is, or is sup- posed to be, that there will thus be higher courts of jurisdiction to which appeals may be made, and by which orthodoxy and good order may be the better secured to the Church at Amoy. '* Such advantages, if they can be thus secured, we would by no means underrate. There some- times are cases of appeal for which we need the highest court practicable — the collective wisdom of the Church, so far as it can be obtained ; and the preservation of orthodoxy and good order is of the first importance. Now, let us see whether the plan proposed will secure these advantages. Let us suppose that one of the brethren feels himself ag- grieved by the decision of the Classis of Amoy and appeals to the Particular Synod of Albany, and thence to General Synod. He will not be denied the right to such appeal. But, in order that the appeal may be properly prosecuted and disposed of, the appellant and the representative of Classis should be present in these higher courts. Can this be secured ? Is the waste of time, of a year or more, nothing? And where shall the thousands of dollars of necessary expense come from ? Now, sup- Church Union. 2 1 1 pose this appellant to be a Chinese brother. He, also, has rights ; but how, on this plan, can he pos- sibly obtain them ? Suppose that the money be raised for him and he is permitted to stand on the floor of Synod. He cannot speak, read, or write a word of English. Not a member of Synod can speak, read, or write a word of his language, except it be the brother prosecuting him. I ask, is it pos- sible for him thus to obtain justice? But, waiving all these disadvantages, the only point on which there is the least probability that an appeal of a Chinese brother would come up before the higher courts, are points on which these higher courts would not be qualified to decide. They would doubtless grow out of the peculiar customs and laws of the Chinese, points on which the missionary, after he has been on the ground a dozen years, often feels unwilling to decide, and takes the opin- ion of the native elders in preference to his own. Is it right to impose a yoke like this on that little Church which God is gathering, by your instru- mentality, in that far-off land of China? But it is said that these cases of appeal will very rarely or never happen. Be it so ; then this supposed ad- vantage will seldom or never occur, and, if it should occur, it would prove a disadvantage." In regard to keeping the Church pure in doctrine : 2 1 2 Church Union, " Sure I am that the Church in China cannot be kept pure by legislation on this, the opposite side of the globe. But we expect Christ to reign over and the Holy Spirit to be given to the Churches, and the proper ecclesiastical bodies formed of them in China, as well as in this land. Why not? Such are the promises of God. The way to secure these things is by prayer and the preaching of the pure Gospel, not by legislation. Let the Church be careful in her selection of missionaries. Send only such as she has confidence in — men of God, sound in faith, apt to teach— and then trust them, or recall them. Don't attempt to control them contrary to their judgment. Strange if this, which is so much in- sisted on as the policy of our Church, be right, that she cannot get a single man, of all she sends out to China, to think so. Can it be that the missionary work is so subversive of right reason, or of correct judgment, or of conscientiousness, that all become perverted by engaging in it ? " 2. Another supposed advantage is the effect it will have in enlisting the sympathies of the Church in behalf of the Mission at Amoy. Our people do not first ask whether it be building ourselves up, before they sympathize with a benevolent object. We believe the contrary is the exact truth. It re- quires a liberal policy to call forth liberal views and Church Union, 213 actions. As regards the enlisting of men, look at the facts. Every man who has gone out from among you to engage in this missionary work begs of you not to adopt a narrow policy. So in regard to obtaining of funds. Usually the men who are most liberal in giving are most liberal in feeling. .... " However powerful the motive ad- dressed to the desire to build up our own Church, there are motives infinitely more powerful. Such are the motives to be depended upon in endeavor- ing to elevate the standard of liberality among our people. If our people have not yet learned, they should be taught to engage in the work of evangel- izing the world, not for the sake of our Church in America, but for the sake of Christ and His Church, and when the Church thus built up is like our own they should be fully satisfied. We believe they will be satisfied with this. " Now let us consider the real or supposed evils of carrying out the decision of Synod. "I. It will not be for the credit of our Church. She now has a name, with other Churches, for put- ting forth efforts to evangelize the world. Shall she mar this good name and acquire one for secta- rianism, by putting forth efforts to extend herself ^ not her doctrines and order — they are not sectarian, and her missionaries esteem them as highly as do 2 14 Church Union. their brethren at home — but herself, even at the cost of dividing churches which the grace of God has made one? The decision of the last Synod may not be the result of sectarianism among the people of our Church. We do not think it is. But it will be difficult to convince our Presbyterian brethren and others that it is not so. By way of illustration I will suppose a case. A. is engaged in a very excellent work. B. comes to him, and the following dialogue ensues : " B. 'Friend A., I am glad to see you engaged in so excellent a work. I also have concluded to engage in it. I should be glad to work with you. You know the proverbs, ' Union is strength,' and ' Two are better than one,' "A. 'Yes, yes, friend B., I know these proverbs and believe them as thoroughly as you do. But I have a few peculiarities about my way of working. They are not many, and they are not essential, but I think they are very useful, and wish to work ac- cording to them. Therefore, I prefer working alone.' " B. ' Yes, friend A., we all have our peculiarities, and, if they be not carried too far, they may all be made useful. I have been making inquiries about yours, and I am glad to find they are not nearly so many, or so different from mine, as you suppose, Church Union, 2 1 5 and as I once supposed. The fact is, I rather like some of them, and though I may not esteem them all as highly as you do, still I am willing to conform to them ; for I am fully persuaded that, in work of this kind, two working together can do vastly more than two working separately, and the work will be much better done. Besides this, the social inter- course will be delightful.' "A. * I appreciate, friend B., your politeness, and am well aware that all you say about the greater efficiency and excellence of united work and the delights of social intercourse is perfectly true. But — but — well, I prefer to work alone.* " 2. It will injure the efficiency of the Church at Amoy. Besides the objection furnished by the in- crease of denominations, which the heathen will thus, as readily as the irreligious in this country, be able to urge against Christianity, it will deprive the churches of the benefit of the united wisdom and strength of the whole of them for self-cultiva- tion and for Christian enterprise, and will introduce a spirit of jealous rivalry among them. We know it is said that there need be no such result, and that the native churches may remain just as united in spirit after the organization of two denominations as be- fore. Such a sentiment takes for granted, either that ecclesiastical organization has in fact no effi- 2i6 Church Union, ciency, or that the Chinese churches have arrived at a far higher state of sanctification than the churches have attained to in this land. Do not different denominations exhibit jealous rivalry in this land ? Is Chinese human nature different from American? " In consequence of such division the native Churches will not be so able to support the Gospel among themselves. Look at the condition of our Western towns in this respect. Why strive to en- tail like evils on our missionary churches? .... " But may not the Church change or improve her decisions? Here is one of the good things we hope to see come out of this mistake of the Church. Jesus rules, and He is ordering all things for the welfare of His Church and the advancement of His cause. Sometimes, the better to accomplish this end. He permits the Church to make mistakes. When we failed in former days to get our views made public, it gave us no anxiety, for we believed the doctrine that Jesus reigns. So we now feel, notwithstanding this mistake. The Master will overrule it for good. We do not certainly know how, but we can imagine one way. By means of this mistake the matter may be brought before our Church, and before other Churches, more clearly than it would otherwise have been for many years Church Union, 217 to come, and in consequence of this we expect, in due time, that our Church, instead of coming up merely to the standard of liberality for which we have been contending, will rise far above anything we have asked for or even imagined, and other Churches will also raise their standard higher. Hereafter we expect to contend for still higher principles. This is the doctrine. Let all the branches of the great Presbyterian family in the same region in any heathen country, which are sound in the faith, organize themselves, if conven- ient, into one organic whole, allowing liberty to the different parts in things non-essential. Let those who adopt Dutch customs, as at Amoy, con- tinue, if they see fit, their peculiarities, and those who adopt other Presbyterian customs, as at Ningpo and other places, continue their peculiari- ties, and yet all unite as one Church. This sub- ject does not relate simply to the interests of the Church at Amoy. It relates to the interests of all the missionary work of all the churches of the Presbyterian order in all parts of the world. Oh, that our Church might take the lead in this catho- licity of spirit, instead of falling back in the oppo- site direction — that no one may take her crown ! But if she do not, then we trust some other of the sacramental hosts will take the lead and receive, 2i8 Church Union, too, the honor, for it is for the glory of the great Captain of our salvation and for the interests of His kingdom. We need the united strength of all these branches of Zion for the great work which the Master has set before us in calling on us to evangelize the World. In expecting to ob- tain this union, will it be said that we are looking for a chimera? It ought to be so, ought it not? Then it is no chimera. It may take time for the Churches to come up to this standard, but within a few years we have seen tendencies to union among different branches of the Presbyterian fam- ily in Australia, in Canada, in our own country, and in England and Scotland. In many places these tendencies are stronger now than they have ever before been since the days of the Reforma- tion. " True, human nature is still compassed with in- firmities even in the Church of Christ. But the day of the world's regeneration is approaching, and as it approaches nearer to us, doubtless the differ- ent branches of the Presbyterian family will ap- proach still nearer to each other. God hasten the time, and keep us also from doing anything to re- tard, but everything to help it forward, and to His name be the praise forever. Amen." So strong was the feeling of the entire Amoy Church Union, 219 Mission, that in September, 1863, the following communication was sent to the Board of Foreign Missions : " Dear Brethren : We received from you on the 22d ultimo the action taken by the General Synod at its recent session at Newburgh with re- gard to the proposed organization of a Classis at Amoy. Did we view this step in the light in which Synod appears to have regarded it, we should need in this communication to do no more than signify our intention to carry out promptly the requirements of Synod ; but we regret to say that such is not the case, and that Synod, in requiring this of us, has asked us to do that which we cannot perform. We feel that Synod must have mistaken our position on this question. It is not that we re- gard the proposed action as merely inexpedient and unwise ; if this were all, we would gladly carry out the commands of Synod, transferring to it the re- sponsibility which it offers to assume. But the light in which we regard it admits of no transfer of responsibility. It is not a matter of judgment only, but also of conscience. " We conscientiously feel that in confirming such an organization we should be doing a positive in- jury and wrong to the churches of Christ estab- lished at Amoy, and that our duty to the Master 2 20 Church Union. and His people here forbids this. Therefore, our answer to the action of General S}^nod must be and is that we cannot be made the instruments of carrying out the wishes of Synod in this report ; and further, if Synod is determined that such an organization must be effected, we can see no other way than to recall us and send hither men who see clearly their way to do that which to us seems wrong. " We regret the reasons which have led us to this conclusion. We have thought it best that each member of the Mission should forward to you his individual views on this subject, rather than embody them in the present communication. *' We accordingly refer you to these separate statements which will be sent to you as soon as prepared. " Commending you, dear brethren, to our com- mon Lord, whose servants we all are, and praying that He will guide us into all truth, we are as ever, ** Your brethren in Christ E. Doty, A. OSTROM, D. Rapalje, Leonard W. Kip, Aug. Blauvelt. "Amoy, Sept. i6, 1863." Church Union. 221 The last action taken by the General Synod was in June, 1864, and reads as follows : " Resolved, That while the General Synod does not deem it necessary or proper to change the mis- sionary policy defined and adopted in 1857, yet, in consideration of the peculiar circumstances of the Mission of Amoy, the brethren there are allowed to defer the formation of a Classis of Amoy until, in their judgment, such a measure is required by the wants and desires of the Churches gathered by them from among the heathen. '* At the Centenary Conference on the Protestant Missions of the World, held in Exeter Hall, Lon- don, 1888, Rev. W. J. R. Taylor, D.D., for many years a most efficient member of the Board of For- eign Missions of the Reformed Church in America, read a paper on " Union and Co-operation in For- eign Missions," in which he said : "Actual union has been happily maintained at Amoy, China, for more than a quarter of a century between the missionaries of the Reformed (Dutch) Church in America and those of the Presbyterian Church of England. Having labored together in the faith of the Gospel, gathering converts into the fold of Christ, and founding native churches, these brethren could not and would not spoil the unity of those infant churches by making two denomi- 2 22 Church Union, nations out of one company of believers nor would they sow in that virgin soil the seeds of sectarian divisions which have long sundered the Protestant Churches in Europe and America. The result was the organization of the Tai-Hoey, or Great Coun- cil of Elders, which is neither an English Presby- tery nor a Reformed Church Classis, but is like them both. It is not an appendage of either of these foreign Churches, but is a genuine independ- ent Chinese Christian Church holding the stand- ards and governed by the polity of the twin-sister Churches that sent them the Gospel by their own messengers. The missionaries retain their relations with their own home Churches and act under com- missions of their own Church Board of Missions. They are not settled pastors, but are more like the Apostolic Evangelists of New Testament times, — preachers, teachers, founders of Churches, educa- tors of the native ministry, and superintendents of the general work of evangelization. " This Tai-Hoey is a child of God, which was * born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.' It is believed to be the first ecclesiastical organization for actual union and co-operation in mission lands by the representatives of churches holding the Reformed faith and Presbyterial polity. Its history has al- Church Union. ready been long enough to give the greatest value to its experience." For seven years, by tongue and pen, Mr. Tal- mage advocated the establishment of an independ- ent Chinese Union Church of the Presbyterian order. Even then the Reformed Church was not fully persuaded and did not give her hearty assent. The resolution of 1864 was only tentative. It was a plea for toleration. This was not strange. It was one of the earliest efforts, if not the earliest, for church union and separate autonomy on hea- then soil. It was a new departure. But the battle was really won. The question was never broached again. The strongest opponents then are the warm- est friends of union and autonomy now. Thirty years of happiest experience, of hearty endorse- ment by native pastors and foreign missionaries are sufficient testimony to the wisdom of the steps then taken. In November, 1864, Mr. Talmage married Miss Mary E. Van Deventer, and forthwith proceeded to China, where he arrived early in 1865. In 1867, Rutgers College, New Jersey, recognized Mr. Talmage's successful and scholarly labors in China for a period of full twenty years, by giving him the degree of Doctor of Divinity.. THE ANTI-MISSIONARY AGITATION. (225) X. THE ANTI-MISSIONARY AGITATION. Prince Kung, at Sir Rutherford Alcock's part- ing interview with him in 1869, said: " Yes, we have had a great many discussions, but we know that you have always endeavored to do justice, and if you could only reHeve us of missionaries and opium, there need be no more trouble in China." He spoke the mind of the ofificials, literati, and the great masses of the people. Heathenism is in- carnate selfishness. How can a Chinese understand that men will turn their backs on the ancestral home, travel ten thousand miles with no other ob- ject but to do his countrymen good ? The natural Chinaman cannot receive it. He suspects us. And he has enough to pillow his suspicion on. Let him turn the points of the compass. He sees the great North-land in the hands of Russia. He sees the Spaniard tyrannizing over the Philippine Islanders. He sees Holland dominating the East Indies. He sees India's millions at the feet of the British lion. "What are these benevolent-looking barbarians (227) 2 28 The A nti- Missionary Agitation. tramping up and down the country for? Why are they establishing churches and schools and hos- pitals ? They are trying to buy our hearts by their feigned kindness, and hand us over to some West- ern monarch ere long." So reasons our unsophis- ticated Chinese. He is heartily satisfied with his own religion or utterly indifferent to any religion. He has no ear for any new doctrine except as a curiosity, to give momentary amusement, and then to be thrown to the ground like a child's toy. The missionary appears on the scene in dead earnest. " Agitation is our profession." We are among those " who are trying to turn the world upside down." The Spirit of God touches and dissolves the apathy, melts the ice, breaks the stone, and we see men alive unto God ; ** old things are passed away, behold all things are become new." What a change in the recipient of God's grace. A change, too, takes place in him who resists. Icy apathy becomes burning, bitter hatred. The whole enginery of iniquity is set in motion to sweep off this strange foreign propaganda. Malicious pla- cards are posted before every yamen and temple. Basest stories are retailed. " The barbarians dig out men's eyes and cut out men's hearts to make medicine of thenj." The thirst for revenge is en- The A'7itt- Missionary Agitation. 229 gendered, until, like an unleashed tiger, the, mob springs upon the missionary's home, and returns not till its thirst has been slaked with the blood of the righteous. That is the dark shadow hanging over missionary life in nearly every part of the Chinese Empire. We have had no name to add to the foreign mis- sionary martyr list, from the region of Amoy. Chinese martyrs there may have been. Men who have endured the lifelong laceration of taunt and sneer and suffered the loss of well-nigh all things, there have been not a few. Though the fires of persecution have burned with fiercer intensity in other parts of China, yet we have not escaped hav- ing our garments singed in some of their folds. Perhaps the most widespread anti-missionary up- rising in China occurred during the years 1870 and 1871. It was during the summer of 1870 that Dr. Tal- mage was compelled to go to Chefoo, North China, for much-needed rest and change. On August 8th he wrote to Dr. J. M. Ferris : " The next day after my arrival at Chefoo the news was received of the terrible massacre at Tient- sin on June 21st. (Tientsin is the port of Peking, and has a population of upwards of one million.) Nine Sisters of Charity, one foreign priest, the 230 The Anti-Missionary Agitation, French consul and other French officials and sub- jects, and three Russians — in all, twenty-one Euro- peans — were massacred. Many of them were hor- ribly mutilated. Especially is this true of all the Sisters. Their private residences and public estab- lishments, as well as all the Protestant chapels within the city, were destroyed." Not long after, the American Presbyterian Mis- sion at Tung-chow, Shantung Province, North China, was broken up, for fear of an intended mas- sacre. The missionaries were helped to Chefoo by two vessels sent by the British Admiral, Sir Henry Kellet. At Canton, vile stories about foreigners distribu- ting poisonous pills were gotten up, and such was the seriousness of the crisis that two German mis- sionaries had to flee for their lives, one having his mission premises utterly destroyed. A people whose credulity is most amazingly developed by feeding on fairy tales and demon adventures from their childhood, are prepared to believe anything about the " ocean barbarians " whose name is never spoken without mingled fear and hatred and sus- picion. The ferment, started at Canton, spread along the coast. The people of Amoy were inoculated with the virus. The Anti-Missiona7y Agitation, 231 On the 22d of September, 1871, Dr. Talmage ad- dressed a letter to General Le Gendre, U. S. Con- sul at Amoy, informing him of the state of affairs in and about Amoy. The missionary knowing the language and having constant dealings with the people would be more likely to know the extent and gravity of any conspiracy against foreigners than the Consul. A part of the letter reads : " In July Jast inflammatory placards were exten- sively posted throughout the region about Canton, stating that foreigners had imported a large quan- tity of poison and had hired vagabond Chinese to distribute it among the people ; that only foreigners had the antidote to this poison and that they re- fused to administer it, except for large sums of money or to such persons as embraced the foreign- er's religion. In the latter part of July some of these placards and letters accompanying them were received by Chinese at Amoy from their Canton friends. They were copied, with changes to suit this region, and extensively circulated. The man who seems to have been most active in their circu- lation was the Cham-hu, the highest military official at Amoy under the Admiral. He united with the Hai-hong, a high civil official, in issuing a procla- mation, warning the people to be on their guard against poison, which wicked people were circulat- 232 The Anti-Missionary Agitation. ing. This proclamation was not only circulated in the city of Amoy, but also in the country around. " It did not mention foreigners, but the people by some other means were made to understand that foreigners were meant. The district Magis- trate of the city of Chiang-chiu issued a proclama- tion informing the people of the danger of poison, especially against poison in their wells. Two days later he issued another proclamation, reiterating his warnings, and informing the people that he had arrested and examined a man who confessed that he, with three others, had been employed by foreign- ers to engage in this work of poisoning the people. " Their especial business was to poison all the wells. This so-called criminal was speedily exe- cuted. "A few days afterwards a military official at Chiang-chiu also issued a proclamation to warn the people against poison, and giving the confession of the above-mentioned criminal with great particu- larity. The criminal is made to say that a few months ago he had been decoyed and sold to for- eigners. In company with more than fifty others he was conveyed by ship to Macao. There they were distributed among the foreign hongs, one to each hong. (Hong is pigeon English for business house.) * ^ * > 1 » y » » * o o w > P^ o < < u H ( t C ( ( C « I The Anti-Missionary Agzlatiofi. 233 " That afterwards he with three others was sent home, being furnished with poison for distribution, and with special direction to poison all the wells on their way. They were to refer all those on whom the poison took effect to a certain individual at Amoy, who would heal them gratuitously, only re- quiring of them their names. This, doubtless, is an allusion to the hospital for the Chinese at Amoy, where the names of the patients are of course re- corded and they receive medicine and medical at- tendance gratuitously. ** In this confession foreigners are designated by the opprobrious epithet of * little ' — that is, con- temptible — ' demons.' This, by the v/ay, is a phrase never used to designate foreigners in this region except by those in the mandarin offices. Besides the absurdity of charging foreigners with distribu- ting poison, the whole confession bears the evidence not only of falsehood, but, if ever made, of having been put into the man's mouth by those inside the mandarin offices and forced from him by torture, for the express purpose of exciting the intensest hatred against foreigners. " In consequence, excitement and terror and hatred to foreigners, and consequently to native Christians, became most intense, and extended from the cities far into the country around. Wells 234 The Anti-Missionary Agitation. were fenced in and put under lock and cover. Peo- ple were called together by the beating of gongs to draw water. The buckets were covered in carrying water to guard against the throwing in of poison along the streets. At the entrances of some vil- lages notices were posted warning strangers not to enter lest they be arrested as poisoners. In various places men were arrested and severely beaten on suspicion, merely because they were strangers. The native Christians everywhere were subjected to much obloquy and sometimes to imminent danger, charged with being under the influence of foreign- ers and employed by them to distribute poison. *■'■ Even at the Amoy hospital, which has been in existence nearly thirty years, the number of pa- tients greatly decreased ; some days there were al- most none." In the large cities of Tong-an and Chinchew placards were posted in great numbers. They averred that black and red pills were being sold by the agents of foreigners under pretence of curing disease and saving the world. Instead they were causes of terrible diseases which none but the foreign dogs or their agents could cure. And to get cured, one must join the foreign religion or else give great sums. It was asserted that all this poison emanated from the The A nti- Missionary Agitation. 235 foreign chapels, was often thrown into wells, and secretly put into fish or other food in the markets. A preacher, sixty miles from Foochow, one hun- dred and fifty miles north of Amoy, barely escaped with his life. He was pounded with stones while the bystanders called out, "- Kill the poisoner, the foreign devils' poisoner ! " The whole object of this diabolical calumniat- ing was to kindle the people into a frenzy against foreigners, especially missionaries, and to make for- eign powers believe that the people are so anti-for- eign that the authorities cannot secure a foreigner's safety outside of the treaty ports. Even when these reports were travelling like wildfire there were those among the Chinese who knew better, and it was often said, " It cannot be the missionaries and native Christians, for have they not been going in and out among us all these years and they never did us any harm ? " Speaking of the ** Political State of the Coun- try," Dr.Talmage says: " With the atrocities committed at Tientsin the world is acquainted, though many seem still to be under the grievous error that these atrocities were designed only against Romanism and the French nation. 236 The A nti- Missionary Agitation, " If this were the fact, it would be no justifica- tion. Others are under an error equally grievous, that the Chinese Government has given reasonable redress. It has given no proper redress at all. In- stead of reprobating the massacre, it has almost, and doubtless to the ideas of the Chinese, /////y sanctioned it. The leaders in the massacre have not been brought to justice. The Government has readily given life for life — a very easy matter in China — but it has so highly rewarded the families of the victims thus sacrificed to placate the barba- rians, and put so much honor on the corpses of these martyrs to foreign demands, that it has en- couraged similar atrocities whenever a suitable time shall arrive for their perpetration. The Im- perial proclamation stating even this unsatisfactory redress, which the Government solemnly promised should be published throughout the land, has not been published except in a few instances where foreigners have compelled it. The massacre at Tientsin is known throughout the empire, but it is not known generally that any redress at all has been given. " Instead of the publication of this proclamation the vilest calumnies — too vile to be even men- tioned in Christian ears — have been circulated se- cretly, but widely throughout the land. Through- The Anti- Missionary Agitation. 237 out the coast provinces of this southern half of the empire the people have been warned of a grand poisoning scheme gotten up by foreigners for the destruction of the Chinese. " Because the foreign residents in China report the truth in regard to the feeling of hatred to for- eigners, and warn the nations of the West of the coming war and designed extirpation of all foreign- ers, for which China is assuredly preparing with all its might, we are charged as being desirous of bringing on war. We know that the Church will not impute such motives to her missionaries. But the testi- mony of missionaries agrees in this respect with that of other foreign residents. We see the evi- dence, as we walk the streets, in the countenances and demeanor of the literati and ofificials, and somewhat in the countenances and demeanor of the masses. " We see it in the changed policy of the local magistrates toward the Christians; we learn it from rumors which are circulated from time to time among the people ; we see it in the activity manifested in forming a proper navy and in prepar- ing the army. *' We learn it from the secret communications, some of which have reached the light, passing to and fro between the Imperial Government and the 2 7,8 The A ntt- Missionary Agitation, higher local authorities, and we fear that we have another proof in the barbarous treatment of a ship- wrecked crew some two weeks ago along the coast a little to the north of Amoy. " A British mercantile steamer ran ashore in a fog. She was unarmed. The natives soon gathered in force and attacked the vessel. The people on board attempted to escape in their boats. These boats were afterwards attacked by a large fleet of fishing-boats and separated. " One boat's company were taken ashore, stripped naked, wounded, and robbed of everything. They finally made their way overland to Amoy. The other three boats, after the crew and passengers had been stripped and robbed, were let go to sea. They providentially fell in with a steamer which took them to Foochow. Such atrocities were once common here. " We do not believe that any large proportion of the foreign residents in China wish war. We do wish, however, the rights secured to us by treaty. These, with a proper policy, can be secured with- out war. We wish most heartily to avoid war. Besides all its other evils it would be a sad thing for our work and our churches. We still hope that God in His providence will ward it off. He will do it in answer to our prayers if so it be best for The A nti- Missionary Agitation, 239 His cause. This is our only hope, and it is suffi- cient." The threatening war-cloud did blow over, and a restraint, at least temporary, was laid upon the officials and the people in their treatment of foreigners. THE LAST TWO DECADES. (241) XL THE LAST TWO DECADES. Dr. Talmage was a man of strong convictions, at the same time possessed of a spirit of genuine catholicity. The brethren connected with the London and English Presbyterian Missions recog- nized him as a true friend. In his later years he became the Nestor of the three Missions, the ven- erated patriarch, the trusted counsellor. It will not be inappropriate to give two letters expressive of his good-will toward his fellow-labor- ers. The one was written on the occasion of Rev. John Stronach's return to England : FORTY CONTINUOUS YEARS IN HEATHENISM. *' March i6, 1876. To-day we said farewell to the veteran missionary, Rev. John Stronach. " He has been laboring many years at this place in connection v/ith the London Missionary Society. This morning he left us for his native land by a new route. " Each of the three Missions has one or more (243) 244 ^-^^ Last Two Decades, boats employed exclusively in carrying missionaries and native preachers on their trips to and from the various outstations accessible by water. These boats are called by the native Christians ' hok-im- chun,' which means * Gospel boat.' Mr. Stronach embarked on one of these * Gospel boats.' He ex- pected to land at one of the Mission stations on the mainland northeast from Amoy, and then travel overland on foot or by sedan-chair to Foochow. He will spend the remaining nights of this week and the Sabbath at various stations under the care of the Missions at Amoy, and say some parting words to the native Christians. " He expects early next week to meet one of the Methodist missionaries of Foochow, and in com- pany with him to pass on to that city, spending the nights at stations under the care of the Foochow Missions. We may now travel overland from Amoy to Foochow (a distance of one hundred and fifty miles) and spend every night, sometimes take our noonday meals, at a Christian chapel. Does this look as if missions were a failure in this region ? At Foochow Mr. Stronach will take steamer for Shanghai, thence to Yokohama and San Francisco. " All the missionaries of Amoy and many Chi- nese Christians accompanied Mr. Stronach to the boac. It is very sad to say farewell to those with The Last Two Decades, 245 whom we have been long and pleasantly associ- ated. " Mr. Stronach left England in 1837, thirty-nine years ago, to labor as a missionary in the East Indies. " He came to Amoy in 1844, shortly after this port was opened to foreign commerce and mission- ary labor. He was soon sent to Shanghai as one of the Committee of Delegates on the translation of the Scriptures into the Chinese language. If he had done nothing more for China than his share in this great work, the benefit would have been incal- culable. After the completion of this work in 1853, he returned to Amoy, where he has labored continuously, with the exception of a short visit a few years ago to Hongkong and Canton, and a shorter one last year to Foochow. Very rarely has he been interrupted in his work by illness. In the history of modern missions few instances can be found of missionaries who have been permitted to labor uninterruptedly for nearly forty years, not even taking one furlough home. " In the case of Mr. Stronach the language con- cerning Moses may be literally applied, * His eye is not dim, nor his natural force abated.' He does not yet have occasion to use spectacles, and the route he has taken proves him still full of mental 246 The Last Two Decades. and physical vigor. Think of the discoveries and inventions during the last forty years ! Will Mr. Stronach recognize his native land? The good hand of the Lord be with him and make his re- maining years as happy as his past ones have been useful." The other letter, to Rev. John M. Ferris, D.D., was written on the occasion of the death of the Rev. Carstairs Douglas, LL.D., one of the most accomplished and scholarly men ever sent to any mission field : "August 8, 1877. " By this mail we have sad news to send. It re- lates to the death of Rev. Carstairs Douglas, LL.D., of the English Presbyterian Mission at Amoy. He was the senior member of that Mission, having ar- rived at Amoy, July, 1855, twenty-two years ago. " Dr. Douglas, two weeks ago to-day, was in apparent good health. On that day he made calls on several members of the foreign com- munity. To some of them he remarked, con- cerning his health, that he had never felt better. That evening he was in his usual place in our weekly prayer-meeting. The next morning at four o'clock he began to feel unwell, but did not wish to disturb others, so called no one until about half- past six. Then some medicine was given him and The Last Two Decades, 247 he sat down at his study-table for the morning reading of his Hebrew Bible. About an hour after this he became much worse and the doctor was sent for. On his arrival the physician pronounced his disease to be cholera of the most virulent type, and the case to be almost without hope of recovery. " In consequence of our long and close intimacy word was soon sent to me. I hastened to see him. He was already very weak and could not converse without great effort. Everything was done for him that could be done. But he continued failing until about a quarter before six in the afternoon, July 26th, when he breathed his last. He knew what his disease was and what would probably be its termi- nation, but evidently the King of Terrors had no terror for him. His end was peace. He retained his consciousness nearly to the last. *' He was to have preached in our English chapel to the foreign community on the following Sabbath morning. He told us his text was Romans vi. 23, *The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.' The text was so suitable to the occasion that I took it, and in his place on the next Sabbath morning preached his funeral sermon from his own text. ** By overwork he had worn himself out. and 248 The Last Two Decades, made himself an old man while he was yet compara- tively young in years. He came to China quite young, and at the time of his death was only about forty-six years of age, and yet men who had recently become acquainted with him thought him over sixty. Is any one inclined to blame him too much for this, as though he wore himself out and sacrificed his life before the time? If so, he did it in a good cause and for a good Master. Besides this, he did more work during the twenty-two years of his mis- sionary life than the most of men accomplish in twice that time. And then, he reminds us of One, who when only a little over thirty years of age, from similar causes, seems to have acquired the appearance of nearly fifty (John viii. 57). ** Recently, especially during the last year, it was manifest, at least to others, that his physical strength was fast giving way. Yet he could not be prevailed upon to leave his field for a season for temporary rest, or even to lessen the amount of his work. " I never knew a more incessant worker. He was a man of most extensive general information. I think I have never met with his equal in this re- spect. He w^as acquainted with several modern European languages and was a thorough student of the original languages of Holy Scripture, as wit- The Last J wo Decades. 249 ness the fact of his study of the Hebrew Bible, even after his last sickness had commenced. As regards the Chinese language, he was already taking his place among the first sinologues of the land. We were indebted more to him, perhaps, than to any other one man for the success of the recent General Missionary Conference (at Shanghai). [At this first General Conference of the Protest- ant missionaries of China, held at Shanghai in May, 1877, Dr. Talmage preached the opening sermon and read a paper, the title of which was, " Should the native churches in China be united ecclesi- astically and independent of foreign churches and societies?"] ** As a member of the Committee of Arrange- ments he labored indefatigably by writing letters and in other ways to make it a success, and though comparatively so young, he well deserved the honor bestowed on him in making him one of the presidents of that body. ' Know ye not that there is a prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel?' " This is a great blow to the English Presbyterian Mission in this place. It is also, because of the in- timate relations of the two missions and the one- ness of the churches under our care, a great blow to us. It is a gjreat blow to the whole mission 250 The Last Two Decades. work in China — greater, perhaps, than the loss of any other man. You will not wonder that I, from my long intimacy with him, feel the loss deeply, more and more deeply every day and week, as the days and weeks pass away without him." CHINESE GRANDILOQUENCE. An episode in connection with the visit to China in 1878 of Dr. Jacob Chamberlain, of the Arcot Mission, is described in a letter to Dr. Goyn Tal- mage, as follows : "Dear Goyn: I suppose I told you about the pleasant visit we had from Dr. Chamberlain and family. The Doctor went with me to Chiang-chiu. While there his carpet-bag was stolen out of the boat. We reported the case to a military officer, and told him that we wanted the bag very much, and if he could get it for us, we should make no trouble about having the thief punished. In a few days after our return to Amoy the bag was sent to us with all its contents complete. We bought an umbrella— a nice silk one — and sent it up to the officer as a present. Perhaps you would like to see a translation of the letter he sent in reply. It will illustrate Chinese politeness. The letter reads as follows : " ' When the flocks of wild geese make their or- ■ • • • ► • •• • . •. • • • • • • c c c c c c c t c c « c c c c c c c c c The Last Two Decades, 251 derly flight, — the glorious autumnal season deserv- ing of laudation, — my thoughts wander far away to you, Teacher Talmage, whose noble presence is wor- thy to be saluted with bow profound, and whose dignified manners invite to close intimacy. Alas, that our acquaintance should have been formed at this late day ! — and that, too, when, by wafting and by the plying of oars, having arrived at ' the stream of the fragrant grain fields ' (poetic name for the region of Chiang-chiu), you met with the mishap of doggish thieves taking advantage of your want of watchfulness ! Truly, the blame of this rests on me. How, then, can I have the hardihood to re- ceive from you a present of value ! A reward of demerit, how can I endure it ! During the three stages of life, (youth, middle age, and old age,) I shall not be able to repay. It is only by inheritance (not by my own merit) that I obtained the imperial favor of office. Thus, my deficiency in the knowledge of official laws and governmental regulations has subjected you to fear arid anxiety. Shame on me in the extreme ! shame in the extreme ! Only by the greatest stretch could I hope to meet with forbearance, how then could you take trouble and manifest kindness by sending a present. Writing cannot exhaust my words, and words can not exhaust my meaning. It will be necessary to 252 The Last Two Decades, come and express my thanks in person. Such are my supplications and such is my sense of obh'gation. May there be golden peace to you, Teacher Talmage, and will your excellency please bestow your brilliant glance on what I have written ! ' "" Is not that a specimen of humility? The steal- ing was because of his neglect of duty, and his neg- lect of duty was because of inability, having ob- tained his office through the merit of his father or grandfather. Of course he kept the um- brella." August 18, 1887, marked the fortieth anniversary of Dr. Talmage's arrival in China. He said so lit- tle about it, however, that it was not known by the friends of the other missions until the very day dawned. The members of the English Presbyterian Mis- sion — ladies and gentlemen — immediately con- cluded to secure some suitable memento expressive of their regard for Dr. Talmage and his work. A set of Macaulay's History of England, bound in tree calf, and a finely bound copy of the latest edi- tion of the Royal Atlas, were sent for. In connec- tion with the presentation the following letter from Rev. W. McGregor was read : The Last Two Decades. 253 "Amoy, April 3, 1888. ''Dear Dr. Talmage: "When on the i8th of last August we learned that that day was the fortieth anniversary of your arrival in China, the news came upon us unexpect- edly. We wished we had had more forethought and kept better count of the years, so that we might have made more of the occasion. Each of us felt a desire *to present you with some token of our regard, and it seemed to us for many reasons best that we should do so unitedly as members of the English Presbyterian Mission in Amoy. We had at the time nothing suitable to offer you, but we agreed on certain books to be sent for, — not as having any special relations to the work in which you have been engaged, but as being each a stand- ard work of its kind. The books have now arrived, and I have much pleasure in sending them to you as something that may be kept in your family as a memorial of the day, and a small token of our high esteem for yourself personally and of the great value we attach to the work you have done in the service of our common Lord. " I am, yours truly, '' Wm. McGregor. " On behalf of the members of the English Pres> byterian Mission, Amoy." 254 The Last Two Decades, Dr. Talmage was blessed with a most vigorous physical constitution, but years of struggle with one of the complaints peculiar to the tropics, finally compelled his retirement from the Mission field. In the summer of 1889, Dr. and Mrs. Talmage embarked on the steamship Arabia for the United States. Dr. Talmage turned his face to the old home-village, Boundbrook, New Jersey, all the time cherishing the hope of one more return to China and his laying down the shepherd's crook and robe among the flock he had gathered from among the heathen. That hope was not to be realized. Though he had left Amoy, yet he ceased not to do what he could for the work there. Thqugh com- pelled to lie on his back much of the time, making writing difficult, he sent letters to the Chinese Monthly Magazine and to not a few of the pastors, encouraging them in their labors. Chiefly did he devote himself to the completion of a Character- Colloquial Dictionary in the Amoy language, in- tended to be of special service to the Chinese Chris- tian Church. It was intended to facilitate the study of the Chinese Character, especially those Characters used in the Chinese Bible. It was also calculated to promote the study of the Romanized Colloquial Version of the Scriptures as well as other Romanized Colloquial literature. The Last Two Decades. 255 In the midst of multiplied duties and many dis- tractions he had wrought on it for upwards of a score of years. He was eager to make it thorough- ly reliable. He spared no pains to that end. He always felt very much out of patience with any one who would give to the public an inaccurate book ; and it was the desire to make his dictionary as ac- curate as possible that kept him from having it published some years since. He consulted Chinese literary men. He pored over Chinese dictionaries. He brought it home with him, requiring, as he thought, still further re- vision, and his last labors were the completion of it with the valued assistance of the Rev. Daniel Ra- palje, of the Amoy Mission. It is nov/ going through the press and will soon be at the service of missionaries and native brethren who have eager- ly awaited its appearance for many years. His strength gradually failed and on August 19, 1892, in his seventy-third year, he quietly breathed his last at Boundbrook, New Jersey. The mortal tent loosened down and folded was laid away in the family plot near Somerville, New Jersey. Most of his living, working years he had spent far away from the ancestral home. It was God's will that his dust should find a place next to the kindred dust of father and mother, sister and 256 The Last Two Decades, brother, in the peaceful God's acre but a few miles from the old homestead. Dr. Talmage left a wife, two daughters and three sons, and a goodly circle of relatives and friends to mourn his departure. Mrs. Talmage has since re- turned to the Talmage Manse at Amoy and taken up afresh her chosen work in educating the ill-privi- leged and ignorant women of China. The two daughters, Miss Katharine and Miss Mary, are ren- dering most faithful and efificient service, too, among China's mothers and daughters. Rev. Da- vid M. Talmage fills a pastorate with the Reformed Church of Westwood, New Jersey. Mr. John Tal- mage is a rice merchant at New Orleans, Louisiana. Rev. George E. Talmage ministers to the Lord's people at Mott Haven, New York. When the sun of Dr. Talmage's life set, it was to the Chinese brethren at Amoy, like the setting of a great hope. The venerable teacher had left them two years before, but he had not spoken a final farewell. They and he looked for one more meeting on earth. He was known to the whole Chinese Church in and about Amoy for a circuit of a hundred miles. He sat at its cradle. He watched its growth until within two years of the day when it went forth two bands united in one Synod with twenty organized, self-supporting churches, nine- The Last Two Decades, 257 teen native pastors, upwards of two thousand com- municants and six thousand adherents. In the many breaks that occur in the missionary constituency, his Hfe was the one chain of continuity. The Churches had come to feel that whoever failed them, they had Teacher Talmage still. His de- parture was like the falling down of a venerable cathedral, leaving the broken and bleeding ivy among the dust and debris. The Chinese Chris- tians had leaned hard upon him. They loved and revered him as a father. Since he passed away his name has seldom been mentioned "in any public as- sembly of the Church by any of the Chinese breth- ren without the broken and trembling utterance that has called forth from a listening congregation the silent, sympathetic tear. Great and good man, fervent preacher, inspiring teacher, wise and sympathetic counselor, generous friend, affectionate father, — farewell, till the morn- ing breaks and we meet in the City of Light. ".And behold these shall come from far, and lo, these from the north, and from the west, and these from the land of Sinim/' " Oh then what raptured greetings, What knitting severed friendships up. Where partings are no more." IN MEMORIAM. (259) XII. IN MEMORIAM. DR. TALMAGE — THE MAN. BY REV. W. S. SWANSON, D.D * My first meeting with Dr. Talmage took place in the early days of July, i860, and from that day till the day of his death he was regarded as not only one of the best and most valued friends, but I looked up to him as a father beloved and respected. One cannot help recalling now the impressions of those early days. There was a marked individ- uality about this man that made you regard him whether you would or not. You felt that he was a man bound to lead and to take the foremost place amongst his brethren and all with whom he came in * Dr. Swanson was for twenty years a valued member of the English Presbyterian Mission at Amoy, and subse- quently Secretary of the Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church of England until his death, November 24, 1893. (261) 262 In Memoriain. touch. There was a firmness of tread, and the brave courage of conviction, united with a womanly tenderness, that were unmistakable. You saw he had made up his mind before he spoke, and that when he did speak he spoke with a fulness of knowledge that few men possessed. He was every inch of him a man. And what touched us very much, who were young men, was the tender forbearance with which he always treated us. We saw this more clearly as the years passed on, and learned how much, per- haps, he had to bear from some of us whose assert- iveness in some matters was in the inverse ratio of our knowledge. The reference here is to matters and methods regarding our work as missionaries to the Chinese. He bore with us, and knew well the day w^ould come when, with increasing knowledge, there would come increasing hesitation in pro- nouncing too hastily on the problems we had to face ; and he knew well that day would come if there was anything in us at all. In my own study of the Chinese language he and another who also has gone to the " better land " — the Rev. Dr. Douglas — assisted in every possible way ; and to both in this line am I indebted for what was the most important furnishing in the first instance for every missionary to China. I can well In Memoriam, 263 remember the plane upon which Dr. Talmage placed this study of the language. It was our work for Christ, at this stage a far more important one than any other. He encour- aged us to use whatever vocables we had got, no matter whether we were met with the wondering smile of the Chinaman in his vain endeavor to understand us, or to keep from misunderstanding us. '' Use whatever you have got, be glad when you are corrected, but use your wonds." To some of us the advice was invaluable. And in other ways the same spirit was manifest. He did all he could to get us to attend every Chris- tian gathering, to sit and listen to the business of the Sessions, and to show the Chinese as soon as possible that we were one with them, and he suc- ceeded. There was an enthusiasm and warmth distinguishing these early days of the Amoy church that were formative in a very high degree, and that are now a precious memory. Then Dr. Talmage was a scholar, with a very wide range of scholarship. We looked up to him and we respected him, with an esteem few men have ever won. And in conjunction with his scholarly furnishing there was an absorbing, con- suming zeal for Christ and His kingdom, and an 264 In Memoriam, intense love fqr the Chinese people. If he had not this latter, he could not have been the unmistak- ably influential and successful missionary he was. These, coupled with a Christian walk and devotion, formed the furnishing of this man of God. He was also a true gentleman, a Christian gentle- man in every sense of the word. The best proof of this was that we loved him, and if the foreign ladies in Amoy who knew him were asked what they thought of him — many of them have gone to rest — they would hardly get words to tell out all their respect and love for him. His visits in our houses were most welcome, and when he spent an evening with us there was always sunshine where he was. He was essentially a happy man, and nothing pleased him more than to see all happy around him. There is still one point to which reference must here be made. Missionaries were not the only for- eign residents in Amoy. There was also a con- siderable number of American and European mer- chants. Unfortunately the missionaries and the merchants did not always see eye to eye. Dr. Tal- mage was a favorite with every one of them. They esteemed him, they would have done anything to serve him ; and at no cost of principle or testimony he won this place with them. In Memoriam. 265 And to those who know the conditions of life in China, it will be at once understood what a man he must have been to win such a position. It may not be generally known that in Amoy we have a ** Union English Church," with regular Sab- bath services in English. These services were con- ducted by the missionaries in turn. And we fear it may also not be known what Dr. Talmage's powers as a preacher were. He was a very prince among English preachers ; and if he had remained in America this would very soon have been acknowl- edged. There were no tricks or devices of manner or words employed by him for winning the popular ear. He never seemed to forget the solemnity and responsibility of his position in the pulpit. He hesitated not " to declare the whole counsel of God." He stands before me now as I listen with bated breath to the fire of his eloquence, denounc- ing where denunciation was needed, contending with a burning earnestness that never failed to carry us with him, for " the faith once delivered to the saints," and then with exquisite tenderness seeking to draw his hearers to Him who is Saviour and Brother. He never failed to think and speak as much about temptation as about sin. It was a real feast to attend the English service when it was conducted by him. And during all my time in 266 In Mentor iam. Amoy there was always a large congregation when Dr. Talmage was the preacher. He was not all tenderness. He would only have been a one-sided man if this were all. He was as strong as he was tender ; a keen and pow- erful opponent in discussion. And we often had very warm and keen discussions ; keener and warmer than I had ever seen before I went to Amoy, or have ever seen since. We had to dis- cuss principles and methods of translation, hymn- ology. Church work, Church discipline, and many other subjects. And there was no mincing of mat- ters at these discussions. Foremost amongst us was Dr. Talmage, tenaciously and persistently ad- vocating the view he happened to have taken on any question. There were men of very strong in- dividuality among us, and these gave as good as they got. I can recall these scenes, but I cannot recall a single word he said that involved a per- sonal wound or left a barb. When it was all over he was the same loving brother, and not an atom of bitterness was left behind. By us, the brethren of the English Presbyterian Mission, he was looked up to as a revered father, just as much as he was by the brethren of his own Mission. This will be seen more fully further on, and a simple statement of the fact is all that is necessary here. In Memoriam, 267 There is another and most sacred relation — his position as the head of a family, — the veil of which it seems almost sacrilege to uplift. But it must be said, and it is only a well-known fact, that few hap- pier homes exist than his home was. He was there what he was elsewhere, the man of God. Dr. Talmage was not perfect. He was essen- tially a humble man, and he would be the first to tell us that of every sinner saved by grace, he was the most unworthy. And when he said it, he felt it. And he had not the very most distant idea how great a man he was. Sometimes one fears that this very modesty pushed to an extreme prevented others who did not know his life and his work from accurately gauging his real work. Better perhaps, he would say, that it should be so ; better to think of the work than of the workers. To hold up Christ and to be hidden behind Him is the highest privi- lege of those engaged in the service of this King. And this, his uniform bearing, made him all the greater. \ DR. TALMAGE — THE MISSIONARY. It would be useless speculation to lay down here what should be the special qualifications of a mis- sionary to the Chinese. The better way is to find them in the concrete, so far as you can do so in an 268 In Memortam. individual, and set him forth as an example for oth- ers. The friend of whom we write v/ould deprecate this, but it is the only way in which we can see him as he was and account for the singularly prominent place he occupied amongst us. I do not need to say here that he was a man of faith and prayer, earnest and zealous for the spread of Christ's Kingdom ; in the face of difficulties and dangers, of disappointments and failure:, maintain- ing an unwavering faith that the Kingdom must come and would yet rule over all. He had both an intense love for his work and enthusiasm in carrying it on. He came with a defi- nite message to the people to whom the Master had sent him. There was no apologizing for it, no watering it down, no uncertain sound about it with him. Christ and Christ alone can meet the wants and woes of humanity, — Chinese or American or British. He had no doubt about it whatever; and hereby some of us learned that if we had not this message it would have been far better for us to have stayed at home. And this feature marked him all over his course. You felt as you listened to his pleadings that sin and salvation were terms brimful of meaning to him. He had travelled this road, and all his pleadings seemed to be summed up in the one yearning cry, " Come with us and we In Memoriam, 269 will do thee good." " This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." And he would have gone to the end, *' of whom I am chief," Then he had a great love for the people. He made himself acquainted with the family and social conditions of the people. He had not come to Americanize but to Christianize the Chinese. And for this he equipped himself. I never saw him so happy as when he was surrounded by them. He was then in his real element, answering their ques- tions, solving their difficulties, opening up to them the Scriptures, and meeting them wherever he thought they needed to be met. And go to his study when you liked, you almost always found some Chinese Christians there. He was the great referee, to whom they carried home difficulties and family trials, assured that his sympathy and advice would never be denied them. This endeared him to them in an extraordinary manner. We never on such occasions found a trace of impatience with him. What would have annoyed others did not seem to annoy him, and the consequence was that the whole church loved him. There was an inex- haustible well of tenderness in the man's nature, and it was sweetened by the grace of God in his heart. 270 In Memoriam, We sometimes thought he erred by excess in this particular. He was unwilling to think anything but good of them, and was thus apt to be influ- enced too much by designing and astute Chinamen. Often we have heard it said, " Well, if you won't listen to us, Dr. Talmage will." But, looking back to-day over it all, if it was a fault, it was one that leant to virtue's side. He was wonderfully unsus- picious ; and so far as his fellow-men were con- cerned, Chinese or Westerns, the mental process which he almost invariably employed was to try to find out what good there was in a man. And now one loves him all the more for such a Christ- like spirit. Dr. Talmage was thoroughly acquainted with the spoken language of Amoy. Few men, if any, had a more extensive knowledge of its vocables. He spoke idiomatically and beautifully as the Chinese themselves spoke, and not as he thought they should speak. There was no slipshod work with him in this particular. Here was the indis- pensable furnishing and he must get it. And he did get it in no average measure. This was the prime requisite, and through no other avenue could he get really and honestly to work. There is. no royal road to the acquisition of the Chinese lan- guage. It is only by dint of hard, plodding, and In Memoriam, 271 persevering study one can acquire an adequate acquaintance with it. And till the last he never gave up his study of it. He was not satisfied, and no true missionary ever will be satisfied with such a smattering of knowledge as may enable him to proclaim a few Christian doctrines. Such superficiality was not his aim or end. And when he first acquired Chi- nese, it was more difficult to do so. There were no aids in the way of dictionaries or vocabularies. It may be his knowledge of the language was all the more accurate on this account. He got it from the fountain-head, and not through foreign sources. He was thus qualified to take a prominent place in all the varied work of a mission — in translation, in revision, and in hymnology — departments as import- ant and as influential for attaining the end in view as any other possible department in the Mission. As a preacher to the Chinese he was unrivalled. The people hung on his lips and never seemed to lose a word. He was in this respect a model to every one of us younger men. The ideal of the church in China which he had set before him, the goal he desired to reach, was a native, self-governing, self-supporting, and self-propagating church. This is now axiomatic. It was not so in those early days. The men in 272 In Memoriam. Amoy then were men for whom we have to thank God — men ahead of their time, with generous and far-reaching ideas ; not working only for their own present, but laying the foundation for a great fu- ture. Side by side with him were the brethren of the English Presbyterian Mission, with whom he had the fullest sympathy, and they had the fullest sympathy with him. It is difficult to say who were foremost in pressing the idea of an organized native church. All were equally convinced and strove to- gether for the one great end. After many years of waiting the church grew. Congregations were formed and organized with their own elders and deacons, and in this he took the first steps. He was a born organizer. And then came the next great step, the creation of a Presbytery and the ordination in an orderly manner of native pastors. Some congregations were ready to call and support such pastors, and the men were there, for the care- ful training of native agents had always been a marked feature of the Amoy Mission. But how was it to be done? Common sense led to only one conclusion. This church must not be an exotic ; it must be native, independent of the home churches. And there must be kept in view what was a fact al- ready — the union between the Missions of the " Re- formed Church " and of the '' English Presbyterian In Memoriam. 273 Church." It must be done, and done in this way, and so it was done. The Presbytery was created with no native pas- tor in the first instance, but with native elders and the missionaries of both Missions. Then came a struggle that would have tried the stoutest hearts. The *' Reformed Church " in America declined to recognize this newly-created Presbytery. Dr. Talmage went home and fought the battle and won the day. To its great honor be it said, the General Synod of the " Reformed Church " rescinded its resolution of the previous year, and allowed their honored brethren, the missionaries, to take their own way. So convinced were the missionaries of the wisdom, yea, the necessity, of the course they had taken, that they were prepared to resign rather than retrace their steps. But that painful step was not necessary. The Synod of the English Presbyterian Church gave their missionaries a free hand. There is this, how- ever, to be said for the General Synod of the ** Re- formed Church." It was only love for their agents and deep interest in this Mission that prompted their original action. They feared that by the cre- ation of this native and independent church court, the tie that bound them to the men and the work 2 74 ^^ Memoriam, might be loosened ; and when they saw there was no risk of that, they at once acquiesced. But it was Dr. Talmage's irresistible pleadings that won their hearts. The native church has grown. About twenty native pastors have been ordained, settled, and en- tirely supported by their own congregations. The Presbytery has grown so large that it has to be di- vided into two presbyteries ; and these, with the Presbytery of Swatow, where brethren of the " Eng- lish Presbyterian Church " are working, will form the Synod of the native Presbyterian Church in those regions of China. In connection with all this we must mention an- other name — the name of one very dear to Dr. Tal- mage, and of one to whom he was very dear. They were one in heart and soul about this. We refer to the Rev. Dr. Douglas, of the English Presby- terian Mission. They stood side by side during all their work in Amoy. Dr. Talmage was by a good many years the pred- ecessor in the field. They were both great men, men of very different temperament, and yet united. Not on this point, but on many another, they failed to see eye to eye, but they were always united in heart and aim. True and lasting union can only exist where free play is given to distinct individualities. In Memoriam, 275 And so it has always been with this union, the first, I believe, between Presbyterian Churches in any mission field. And when the history of the Amoy Mission comes to be written, these two men will have a leading place in it ; for to them more than to any others do we owe almost all that is distinctive there in union and in methods of work. And when our beloved father Talmage passed from earth to heaven, what thankfulness must have filled his heart. In the night of his first years in China there were labor and toil, but there was no fruit for him. The dawn came and the first con- verts of his own Mission were gathered in. When he went to rest, there was a native church ; there were native pastors ; orderly church courts ; a well- equipped theological college, the common property of the two Missions ; successful medical missionary work, woman's work in all its branches, and a na- tive church covering a more extensive region than he had in the early days dreamt of. And there was another honored Mission in Amoy — that of the London Missionary Society, whose operations have been followed by abundant and singular success. To this Mission he was warmly attached ; and he never, so far as we can remember, ceased to show the deepest interest in its work, and the heartiest rejoicing at its success. 276 In Memoriam. And now he has gone, the last, we may say, of the men who began the work of the Presbyterian Mission of Christ in China; but ere he passed away, he knew that men of God were still there with the old enthusiasm and the old appetite for solid and substantial work. We cannot part with him now without one fond and lingering look behind. Burns, Sandeman, Doty, Douglas, and Talmage ; what a galaxy these early pioneers in Amoy were. Few churches have had such gifts from God, few fields more devoted, whole-hearted missionaries. It was a privilege to know them, to work with them, to learn at their feet, unworthy though some of us may be as their successors. May the Lord of the Harvest rouse His own Church by their memories to greater energy and self-denial in the spread of His Kingdom. Their memories will never die in China. Those who have lately visited Amoy tell us that they who knew them among the Chinese Christians speak lovingly and fondly of those early heroes. And they will tell their children what they were and what they did, and so generation after generation will hear the story, and find how true it is that workers die, but their work never dies. ** Their works do follow them." ^ -l^J - c c c c In Memoriam. 277 VENERABLE TEACHER TALMAGE. TRIBUTE OF PASTOR lAP HAN CHIONG* Teacher Talmage was very gentle. He wished ever to be at peace with men. If he saw a man in error he used words of meekness in convincing and converting the man from his error. Whether he exhorted, encouraged or instructed, his words were words of prudence, seasoned with salt, so that men were glad to receive and obey. Teacher Talmage was a lover of men. When he saw a man in distress and it was right for him to help, he helped. In peril, he exerted himself to deliver the man ; in weakness, in danger of falling, he tried to uphold ; suffering oppression, he arose to the defense, fearing no power, but contending earnestly for the right. Teacher Talmage was very gracious in receiving men, whether men of position or the common people. He treated all alike. If they wished to discuss any matter with him and get his advice, he would patiently listen to their tale. If he had any counsel to give, he gave it. If he felt he could not * Pastor lap was the first pastor of the Chinese Church at Amoy. He has adorned his calling with the abundant and fruitful labors of upwards of thirty years. 278 In Menioriani. conscientiously have anything to do with the affair, he told the men forthwith. He could pierce through wordc, and see through men's countenances and judge what the man was, who was addressing him. Teacher Talmage had great eloquence and pos- sessed great intelligence. His utterance was clear, his voice powerful, his exposition of doctrine very thorough. Men listened and the truth entered their ears and their hearts understood. Teacher Talmage was grave in manner. He commanded the respect and praise of men. His was a truly ministerial bearing. Men within and without the Church venerated him. Sometimes differences between brethren arose. Teacher Talmage earnestly exhorted to harmony. Even serious differences, which looked beyond heal- ing, were removed, because men felt constrained to listen to his counsel. Teacher Talmage was exceedingly diligent. When not otherwise engaged, morning and after- noon found him in his study reading, writing, pre- paring sermons, translating books. He preached every Sabbath. He conducted classes of catechumens. He founded the Girls' School at the Church " Under the Bamboos." He founded the Theological Seminary. Others taught In Memoriam, 279 with him, but he was the master spirit. He was ten points careful that everything relating to the organization and administration of the Church should be in accordance with the Holy Book. Only at the urgent request of two physicians did he finally leave China. He was prepared to die and to be buried at Amoy. And this was not be- cause he was not honored in his ancestral country, or could find no home. No, he had sons, he had a brother, he had nephews and nieces, he had many relatives and friends who greatly reverenced and loved him. But Teacher Talmage could not bear to be sepa- rated from the Church in China. Surely this was imitating the heart of Christ. Surely this was lov- ing the people of China to the utmost. REV. JOHN VAN NEST TALMAGE, D.D. BY REV. S. L. BALDWIN, D.D., Recording Secretary of the Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church. My memory of Dr. Talmage dates back to the year 1846. I was then but eleven years old, but I remember distinctly the earnestness of his manner, as he preached early in that year in the Second Re- 2 8o In Memoriam, formed Church of Somerville, New Jersey. His missionary zeal was of the most intense character. I was present at the Missionary Convention, at Millstone, New Jersey, August 26, 1846, and saw him ordained. The Rev. Gabriel Ludlow preached from 2 Timothy ii. i, and the charge to the candi- date was given by the Rev. Elihu Doty, of Amoy. Mr. Doty, at a children's meeting in the afternoon, asked us whether we would come to help in the missionary work, and asked us to write down the question and think and pray about it, and when we had made up our minds to write an answer under- neath the question. I did " think and pray about it," and some weeks afterward, under a sense of duty, wrote "Yes" under it. From that time on, it was not a strange thought to me, to go to China as a missionary ; and when the call came in 1858, I was ready. In i860, on my first visit to Amoy, I renewed old acquaintanceship, and during my twen- ty-two years in China was several times a guest in Dr. Talmage's family. He was in the very front rank of missionaries. For ability, for fidelity, for usefulness, he had few equals. As a preacher, he was clear, forceful, fear- less. As a translator, his work was marked by care- fulness and accuracy. In social life, old-fashioned hospitality made every one feel at home, and one In Memoriam. 281 would have to travel far to find a more animated and interesting conversationalist. He held his con- victions with great tenacity, and was a powerful debater, but always courteous to his opponents. Many missionaries fell by his side, or were obliged to leave the field ; and in the providence of God he remained until he was the oldest of all the Ameri- can missionaries in China. His was a most pure and honorable record, and his death was universal- ly lamented. From little beginnings, he was privi- leged to see one of the most flourishing of the native communions of China arise and attain large num- bers and great influence among the Christian churches of the empire. Such a history and such a record are to be covet- ed. May the Head of the Church raise up many worthy successors to this true and noble man ! THE REV. J. V. N. TALMAGE, D.D. BY REV. TALBOT W. CHAMBERS, D.D., LL.D., Pastor of the Collegiate Reformed Church, New York City. My acquaintance with Dr. Talmage began at a very early period. During the years 1842-5 his father was Sheriff of Somerset Co., N. J., and re- sided at Somerville. While there he and his wife were members in communion of the Second Re- formed Dutch Church, of which I wps pastor; and from them I heard frequently of their son John, who was then a student in New Brunswick. He prosecuted his studies in the College and Theological Seminary with zeal and success, and was duly licensed, and then, while awaiting the arrival of the period when he would be sent to join the mission in China, he accepted the position of assistant to the Rev. Dr. Brodhead, who at that time was minister of the Central Church of Brook- lyn. Here his services were very acceptable, and the training under such an experienced man of God was of great value to him. His course was what might have been expected of one reared in a (282) In Memorzam. 283 peculiarly pious household. His father was a cheerful and exemplary Christian, and his mother was the godliest woman I ever knew. Her religion pervaded her whole being, and seemed to govern every thought, word, and deed, yet never was mor- bid or overstrained. The robust common sense which characterized her and her husband descended in full measure upon their son John. His conse- cration to the mission work was complete, and his interest in the cause was very deep, but it never manifested itself in unseemly or extravagant ways. So far as I can recall, there was nothing partic- ularly brilliant or original in the early sermons or addresses of the young missionary — nothing of those wondrous displays of word-painting, imagina- tion, and dramatic power which have made his brother, Dr. T. De Witt Talmage, famous. But there was a mental grasp, a force and a fire which often induced the remark that he was too good to be sent to the heathen, there being many at that time who labored under the mistake that a mis- sionar}^ did not require to be a man of unusual ability, that gifts and acquirements were thrown away on a life spent among idolaters. Still, while this was the case, none of his friends expected that he would develop such marked and varied power as was seen in his entire course at Amoy. I re- 284 In Memoriam. member the surprise with which I heard the late Dr. Swanson, of London, say from his own obser- vation during ten years of the closest intercourse at Amoy, that Dr. Talmage was equally distin- guished and efficient in every part of the mission- ary's work, whether in preaching the Word, or translating the Scriptures, or creating a Chris- tian literature, or training native workers. Noth- ing seemed to come amiss to him ; everywhere he was facile princeps. I suppose that the ex- planation is found in his thorough and unre- served consecration. He was given heart and soul to the work. Whatever he did was done with his whole mind. There was no vacillation or indeci- sion, but a deliberate concentration of all his facul- ties upon the task set before him. Nor did he work by spurts or through temporary enthusiasm, but with a steady, unyielding determination. So he went on through life without haste and without rest, doing his best at all times and in every species of service, and thus earning the brilliant reputation he acquired. The same qualities rendered him as wise in counsel as he was efficient in working. He was able to look on both sides of a given problem, was not inclined to snap judgments, but preferred to discriminate, to weigh, and, if need be, to wait. Yet, when the time came, the decision was ready. In Memoriam, ^ 285 He perceived earlier than his brethren at home the true policy as to churches in heathen lands, that is, that they should not be mere continuations of the denomination whose missionaries had been the means of founding them, but should have an independent existence and grow upon the soil where they were planted, taking such form and order as Providence might suggest. When the proposal was made in accordance with these views to build up a native Chinese Church strictly auton- omous, there was an immediate revulsion. The General Synod in 1863 emphatically declined to consent, not, however, from denominational bigotry, but on the ground that the new converts must have some standards of faith and order, and, if so, why not ours, which had been tested by centuries? And, moreover, if they were to be regarded as an integral part of the Church at home, that fact would prove to be a powerful incitement to prayer and liberality on the part of our people. But the rebuff did not dishearten Dr. Talmage. He re- newed the appeal the next year, and had the satis faction of seeing it succeed. Full consent was given to the aim to build up a strong, self-governing, and, as soon as might be, self-supporting body of native churches in China, who should leave behind the prejudices of the past, and form themselves under 2 86 In Memoriam. the teaching of God's Spirit and Providence in such way as would best meet the demands of the time and be most efficient in advancing the King- dom of God upon the earth. The consequences have been most happy. The missionaries of the Presbyterian Church have cordially co-operated in renouncing all denominational interests and giving all diligence to the forming of what might be called a Chinese Christian Church, freed from any exter- nal bond and at liberty to shape its own character and course under the guidance of the Divine Spirit. The experiment has been entirely successful, and stands conspicuous as a testimony to the true policy of carrying on missionary work in countries where there is already an antique civilization and certain social habits which need to be taken account of. Dr. Talmage always kept himself in touch with the Church at home by correspondence or by per- sonal intercourse. His visits to America were in every case utilized to the fullest extent, save when hindered by impaired health. It is matter of joyful congratulation that he was permitted to finish the usual term of man's years in the missionary field. Others of our eminent men, such as Abeel, Thompson, Doty, and Pohl- man, were cut off in the midst of their days. But In Mentor zam. 287 he spent a full lifetime, dying not by violence or accident, but only when the bodily frame had been worn out in the natural course of events. Our Church has been signally favored of God in the gifts and character and work of the men she has sent into the foreign field — and this not merely in the partial judgment of their denominational brethren, but in the deliberate opinion of such competent and experienced observers as the late Dr. Anderson, of the American Board, and the late S. Wells Williams, the famous Chinese scholar ; * but I think that none of them, neither Abeel nor Thompson, surpassed Dr. Talmage in any of the qualities, natural or acquired, which go to make an accomplished missionary of the cross. I enjoyed the personal acquaintance of them all, having been familiar with the progress of the work from the time when (October, 1832) our Board of Foreign Missions was established, and therefore am able to form an intelligent opinion. Our departed brother can no more raise his voice, either at home or abroad, but his work remains, and his memory will never die. For long years to come his name will * One remark of Dr. S. Wells Williams is worth reproduc- ing: "I think, myself, after more than forty years' per- sonal acquaintance with hundreds of missionaries in China, that David Abeel '^2isfactie prznceps among them all." — Presb. Review, II. 49. 288 In Memoriam. be fragrant in the hearts of our people ; and his lifelong consecration to the enterprise of the world's conversion will prove an example and a stimulus to this and the coming generation. The equipoise of his mind, the solidity of his character, the strength of his faith, the brightness of his hope, the simple, steadfast fidelity of his devotion to the Master, will speak trumpet-tongued to multitudes who never saw his face in the flesh. The unadorned story of his life, what he was and what he did by the grace of God, will cheer the hearts of all the friends of foreign missions, and win others to a just esteem of the cause which could attract such a man to its service and animate him to such a con- spicuous and blessed career. REV. JOHN VAN NEST TALMAGE, D.D. BY REV. JOHN M. FERRIS, D.D., Editor of the " Chrzstia7i Intelligencer " a7id ex-Secretary of the Board of Foreign Missions of the A7ner£ca7i Re- forTned Church. Circumstances which tested character, ability, and attainments brought me into intimate rela- tions with Rev. Dr. John V. N. Talmage. The impressions I received are these: He was emi- nently of a sunny disposition. A smile was on his face and laughter in his eyes almost all day long. He was conspicuously cheerful and hopeful. The strength of his character was unusual and would bear victoriously very severe tests. Mental and moral ability of a very high order marked his participation in public exercises and his demeanor in social life. It seemed to me that in mind and heart there were in him the elements of greatness. Greatness he never sought, but avoided. Still, from the time succeeding the opening years of his ministry, he was a leader among men until (289) 290 In Memoriam. seized with the long illness which terminated his useful life. Those who knew him appointed him one of their chief counsellors and guides, and in any assembly where he was comparatively unknown he was accepted as a leading mind as soon as he had taken part in its discussions. A wide range of knowledge was his. It was surprising how he had maintained an acquaintance with the research and discovery of his day while secluded in China from the life of the Western nations. With all this his intercourse with men was marked by modesty and the absence of ostentatious display. The defer- ence with which he treated the opinions of others and of his manner in presenting his knowledge and convictions to an audience was extraordinary. He was courteously inquisitive, seeking from others what they knew and thought, and this oftentimes, perhaps habitually, with men much his inferiors. Such a man would be expected to be tolerant of the opinions of others, and this he was eminently, although his own convictions were clear, strongly held, earnestly presented and advocated. How often we heard him say, " So I think," or " So it seems to me, but I may be wrong." Accuracy in statement was sought for by him constantly, sometimes to the detriment of his pub- lic addresses. When we who were familiar with In Memoriam, 291 him were humorous at his expense, it was almost invariably in relation to this constant endeavor to be accurate, which led now and then to qualifica- tions of his words that were decidedly amusing. He was animated, earnest, and strong in public ad- dresses. His mind was active ; apt to take an independent, original view, and vigorous. His sermons were often very impressive and powerful. Few who heard in whole or in part his discourse on the words, '■' The world by wisdom knew not God" — an extemporaneous sermon — will forget the terse, vigorous sentences which came from his lips. It was, I believe, the last sermon he pre- pared in outline to be delivered to our churches in this country. It was full of power and life. Dr. Talmage was a Christian and a Christian gen- tleman everywhere and always. It seemed as nat- ural to him to be a Christian as to breathe. Con- scientious piety marked his daily life. He was a delightful companion through his gen- tleness, sympathy, wide range of knowledge, cheer- fulness, animated and earnest speech, vigor of thought and expression, deference for the opin- ions and rights of others, and unselfishness. He asked nothing, demanded nothing for himself, but was alert to contribute to the enjoyment of those around him. The work of his life was of inestima- 292 In Memoriam, ble value. He was abundant in labors. Only the life to conne will reveal how much he accom- plished which in the highest sense was worthy of accomplishment. Those who knew him best, es- teemed, loved, and trusted him the most. APPENDIX. (293) APPENDIX. Ecclesiastical Relations of Presbyterian Missionaries, specially of the Presbyterian Missionaries at Amoy, China. BY REV. J. V. N. TALMAGE, D.D. We have recently received letters making inquiries concern- ing the Relations of the Missionaries of the English Presby- terian Church, and of the American Reformed Church to the Tai-hoey [Presbytery, or Classis,] of Amoy ; stating views on certain points connected with the general subject of the organ- ization of ecclesiastical Judicatories on Mission ground ; and asking our views on the same. We have thought it best to state our answer so as to cover the whole subject of these several suggestions and inquiries, as (though they are from different sources) ihey form but one subject. Our views are not hasty. They are the result of much thought, experience and observation. But we are now com- pelled to throw them together in much more haste than we could wish, for which, we trust, allowance will be made. As preliminary we remark that we have actual and practical relations both to the home churches, and to the churches gathered here, and our Ecclesiastical relations should corre- spond thereto. I . Our Relatio7i to the Home Churches. We are their agents, sent by them to do a certain work, and supported by them in the doing of that work. Therefore so long as this relation con- tinues, in all matters affecting our qualifications for that work, — of course including " matters affecting ministerial charac- ter," — ^we should remain subject to their jurisdiction. In ac- (295) 296 Appendix, cordance with this we retain our connection with our respect- ive home Presbyteries or Classes. 2. Our Relation to the Church here. We are the actual pastors of the churches growing up under our care, until they are far enough advanced to have native pastors set over them. The first native pastors here were ordained by the missionaries to the office of " Minister of the Word," the same office that we ourselves hold. In all subsequent ordinations, and other ecclesiastical matters, the native pastors have been associated with the missionaries. The Tai-hoey at Amoy, in this man- ner, gradually grew up with perfect parity between the native and foreign members. With these preliminary statements we proceed to notice the suggestions made and questions propounded. " To extend to the native churches on mission ground the lines of separation which exist among Presbyterian bodies " in home lands is ac- knowledged to be a great evil. To avoid this evil, and to " bring all the native Presbyterians," in the same locality, " in- to one organization," two plans are suggested to us. The first plan suggested (perhaps we should say mentzoned, for it is not advocated), we take to be that the missionaries become not only members of the ecclesiastical judicatories formed on mission ground, but also amenable to those judica- tories in the same way, and zn every respect, as their native members, their ecclesiastical relation to their home churches being entirely severed. This plan ignores the actual relation of missionaries to their home churches, as spoken of above. Surely the home churches cannot afford this. Perhaps we should notice another plan sometimes acted on, but not mentioned in the letters we have now received. It is that the missionaries become members of the Mission Church Judicatories as above ; but that these Judicatories be organ- ized as parts of the home churches, so that the missionaries will still be under the jurisdiction of the home churches through the subjection of the Mission Judicatories to the higher at home. This plan can only work during the infancy of the mission churches, while the Mission Church Judicatories are Appendix, 297 still essentially foreign in their constituents. Soon the juris- diction will be very imperfect. This imperfection will increase as fast as the mission churches increase. Moreover this plan will extend to the native churches the evil deprecated above. The second plan suggested we take to be that the mission- aries, while they remain the agents of the home churches, should retain their relation respectively to their home churches, and have only an advisory relation to the Presbytery on mis- sion ground. This is greatly to be preferred to the first plan suggested. It corresponds to the relation of missionaries to their respective home churches. It takes into consideration also, but does not fully correspond to the relation of the mis- sionaries to the churches on mission ground, at least does not fully correspond to the relation of the missionaries to the na- tive churches at Amoy. Our actual relation to these churches seems to us to demand that as yet we take part with the native pastors in their government. The peculiar relationship of the missionaries to Tai-hoey, viz., having full membership, without being subject to disci- pline by that body, — is temporary, arising from the circum- stances of this infant church, and rests on the will of Tai-hoey. This relationship has never been discussed, or even suggested for discussion in that body, so that our view of what is, or would be, the opinion of Tai-hoey on the subject we gather from the whole character of the working of that body from its first formation, and from the whole spirit manifested by the native members. Never till last year has there been a case of discipline even of a native member of Tai-hoey. We do not know that the thought that occasion may also arise for the discipline of missionaries, has ever suggested itself to any of the native members. If it has, we have no doubt they have taken for granted that the discipline of missionaries belongs to the churches which have sent them here. But we also have no doubt that Tai-hoey would exercise the right of refusing membership to any missionary if necessary. It is suggested as an objection to the plan that has been adopted by the missionaries at Amoy, that *' where two Pres- 298 Appendix. byteries have jurisdiction over one man, it may not be always easy to define the line where the jurisdiction of the one ends and the other begms ; and for the foreign Presbyter to have a control over the native Presbyter which the native cannot re- ciprocate, would be anomalous, and contrary to that view of the parity of Presbyters which the Scriptures present." From our last paragraph above it will be seen that the " line " of demarcation alluded to in the first half of the above objection has certainly never yet been defined by Tai-hoey, but it will be seen likewise that we have no apprehension of any practical difficulty in the matter. The last half of the ob- jection looks more serious, for if our plan really involves a vio- lation of the doctrine of the parity of the ministry, this is a very serious objection — fatal, indeed, unless perhaps the tem- porary character of the arrangement might give some suffer- ance to it in a developing church. It does not, however in our opinion, involve any such doctrine. It does not touch that doctrine at all. The reason why Tai-hoey does not claim the right of disci- pline over the missionaries is not because these are of a higher order than the other members, but because the missionaries have a most important relation to the home churches which the other members have not. The Tai-hoey respects the rights of those churches which have sent and are still sending the Gospel here, and has fullest confidence that they will ex- ercise proper discipHne over their missionaries. Whether they do this or not, the power of the Tai-hoey to cut off from its membership, or refuse to admit thereto, any missionary who might prove himself unworthy, gives ample security to that body and secures likewise the benefits of discipline. If time allowed us to give a full description of our Church work here, it would be seen that the doctrine of the parity of all who hold the ministerial office so thoroughly permeates the whole, that it would seem impossible for mistake to arise on that point. In connection with this subject it is also remarked " that where two races are combined in a Presbytery, there is a tend- ency to divide on questions according to the line of race." Appendix, 299 With gratitude to God we are able to bear testimony that at Amoy we have not as yet seen the first sign of such tend- ency. We have heard of such tendency in some other mission fields. Possibly it may yet be manifested here. This, how- ever, does not now seem probable. The native members of Tai-Jioey, almost from the first, have outnumbered the for- eign. The disproportion now is as three or four to one, and must continue to increase. It would seem, therefore, that there will now be no occasion for jealousy of the missionaries' influence to grow up on the part of the native members. But, it may be asked, if the native members so far outnum- ber the foreign, of what avail is it that missionaries be more than advisory members.? We answer: If we are in Tai-hoey as a foreign party, in opposition to the native members, even advisory membership will be of no avail. But if we are there in our true character, as we always have been, viz., as Pres- byters and acting pastors of churches, part and parcel of the church Judicatories, on perfect equaUty and in full sympathy with the native Presbyters, our membership may be of much benefit to Tai-hoey. It must be of benefit if our theory of Church Government be correct. Of the benefit of such membership we give one illustration, equally applicable also to other forms of government. It will be remembered that assemblies conducted on parliamentary principles were unknown in China. By our full and equal membership of Tai-hoey^ being associated with the native members in the various offices, and in all kinds of committees, the native members have been more efficiently instructed in the manner of conducting business in such assemblies, than they could have been if we had only given them advice. At the first, almost the whole business was necessarily managed by the missionaries. Not so now. The missionaries still take an active part even in the routine of business, not so much to guard against error or mistake, as for the purpose of saving time and inculcating the importance of regularity and prompti- tude. Even the earnestness with which the missionaries dif- fer from each other, so contrary to the duphcity supposed nee- o oo Appendix. essary by the rules of Chinese politeness, has not been without great benefit to the native members. Instead of there being any jealousy of the position occupied by the missionaries on the part of the native members, the missionaries withdraw themselves from prominent positions, and throw the responsi- bility on the native members, as fast as duty to Tai-hoey seems to allow, faster than the native members wish. We now proceed to give answers to the definite questions propounded to us, though answers to some of them have been implied in the preceding remarks. We combine the questions from different sources, and slightly change the wording of them to suit the form of this paper, and for convenience we number them, 1. "Are the missionaries members of Tai-hoey in full, and on a perfect equality with the native members ? " Answer. Yes ; with the exception (if it be an exception) implied in the answer to the next question. 2. "Are missionaries subject to discipline by the Tai- hoey ? " Ans7ver. No ; except that their relation to Tai-hoey may be severed by that body. 3. " Is it not likely that the sooner the native churches be- come self-governing, the sooner they will be self-supporting and self-propagating ? " Answer. Yes. It would be a great misfortune for the na- tive churches to be governed by the missionaries, or by the home churches. We think also it would be a great misfortune for the missionary to refuse all connection with the govern- ment of the mission churches while they are in whole or in part dependent on him for instruction, administration of the ordinances, and pastoral oversight. Self-support, self-gov- ernment, and self-propagation are intimately related, acting and reacting on each other, and the native Church should be trained in them from the beginning of its existence. 4. " Is it the opinion of missionaries at Amoy that the na- tive Presbyters are competent to manage the affairs of Presby- tery, and could they safely be left to do so } " Appendix, 30 1 Answer, Yes ; the native Presbyters seem to us to be fully competent to manage the affairs of Presbytery, and we sup- pose It would be sate to leave them to do this entirely by themselves, if the providence of God should so direct. We think it much better, however, unless the providence of God direct otherwise, that the missionaries continue their present relation to the Tai-hoey until the native Church is farther developed. 5. " Is it likely that there can be but one Presbyterian Church in China .^ or are differences of dialect, etc., such as to make different organizations necessary and inevitable ? " Answer. All Presbyterians in China, as far as circum- stances will allow, should unite in one Church organization. By all means avoid a plurality of Presbyterian denominations in the same locality. But differences of dialect and distance of separation seem at present to forbid the formation of one Pres- byterian organization for the whole of China. Even though in process ot time these difficulties be greatly overcome, it would seem that the vast number of the people will continue to render such formation impracticable, except on some such principle as that on which is formed the Pan-Presbyterian Council. One Presbyterian Church for China would be very much (not entirely) like one Presbyterian Church for Europe. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY BERKELEY Return to desk from which borrowed. This book is BUE on the last date stamped below. 'i,W' ^?N^ qhSf> ^j'b^^ m STftCKS LD 21-100m-ll,'49(B7146sl6)476 VB 33754 M1285?2 T28rF3 THE UNIVERSITY OF CAUFORNIA-UBRARY i Wi nin Jii'Wiii