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No. 80.— New Series.] AUGUST, 1898. [Price One Penny.
THE MISSIONARY MOTIVE. |
By Mi8s Buuden, of Almoba. TT seems to me there cannot be a (juestion for us Christians as to the duty of carrying on mission work in the world as long as Christ's command and example are believed in, and as long as the world is in such a sad state of sin and suffering. It is contrary to the whole spiiit of Christianity that we, who have known and tasted that Christ is precious and saves from sin, should be content to keep the knowledge to ourselves and not strive to let others share it. If Christ thought the salvation of the world worth coming down from heaven, for, surely it is worth some self-sacrifice and self-denial on our part. The need for improvement is undeniable, surely, and we know that the only thing that can really and lastingly improve the world is faith in Christ and the influence it bears on our lives and characters.
One can see all around the havoc sin has made in the world, the misery and ruin attending it, and one does not need to work long among the heathen to see the wonderful change produced in the happiness and comfort of those who accept Christ from what they were before "as j heathen. Take, for instance, the poor women who come into our Women's Home — come to find refuge from the
world, which has been so cruel to them — young widows or deserted wives, often with wee babies and full of disease, with no one to look to for food or protection ; ruined and deserted, belonging to no one, not wanted by anyone — except Christ and His followers. And after a time the change in their faces, their hopes, their desires, some self-respect developed, and the feeling that they, too, have a place in God's world and God's heart.
Then as a plea for the education and training of our native Christians — when we believe, as I do, that all the training here is only preparatory and helpful for the training in Eternity, and nothing will be lost, we cannot but feel that any amount of labour and effort is not mis- spent in trying to improve some of God's creatures, and help them to realise what He has created them for.
I know all these arguments apply just as forcibly to work at home as abroad, but I do not think there is a different motive for the two, and both are equally important — only some are called to one and some to the other. The motive is the same, the love of Christ con- straining us. The whole world is Christ's and must be j won for Him ; as long as one spot remains not His, we must strive, and give, and pray for it, or we are not His followers, nor obey His teaching.
182
NOTES FROM HEADQUARTERS.
August, 11898.
I believe no accounts of tales of horrors in any country, or any religion, will make us have the true desire to help to save them — nothing but the loyal love to Christ and the Spirit which influenced Him, coming into our hearts ; and when that comes nothing will stop us, no difficulty, or hardship, or scorn.
Dear friends, as long as the world is what it is, work for others will be needed both at home and abroad ; when Christ comes and reigns, then mission work may stop.
»«H)Mllui
NOTES FROM HEADQUARTERS.
FROM THE FOREIGN SECRETARY. A N important Special Committee has been sittinj? during the ■i-*- past month to consider the vacancies in the ranks of our workers which require to be filled up, and also to advise the Board upon the present additional needs of the missions. The results of its inquiries have been only further confirmation of the oft-rei)cated experience, that there can be no finality in Christian service until the service comes to an end, and that the needs of a society are like the needs of a family of g'rowintr children, necessarily more serious and more exigent year by year. It is frequently said that the period of immaturity in the human species is longer than in any other form of animated life ; but, as a rule, parents have good reason to hope that by the time their sons arrive at man's estate they will be earning their own living, or rapidly approaching such a position of independence. Un- fortunately, in mission work among the heathen the period of maturity and independence is not so early attained, so that, not- withstanding all the Society's eiforts to encourage its older missions to undertake as early as possible, and as fully as pos- sible, the responsibility of managing their own affairs, the time of entire independence does not seem to have come yet even in the most advanced and promising cases. This involves a con- stant burden, with ever new features of responsibility. The aggressive work of the Society is also necessarily always de- pendent upon supplies from headquarters, and necessarily also makes larger demands in proportion to its success. The com- bined operation of these two lines of responsibility lead to a constant sense of need at the Mission House. The churches may expect in the autumn to have a statement by the Directors illustrating and enforcing these facts, and giving reasons for further appeal, which will, probably, be found to be irresistibly strong. In the meantime, our friends, while enjoying their summer holidays, will, we hope, pray that the Directors may be definitely and clearly guided in dealing with anxious questions of policy, aud that the constituency of the Society may be pre- pared to recognise afresh its responsibility for the work of God.
R. Wakdlaw Tiiomi>son.
FROM THE HOME SECRETARY.
In the Home Office we are looking ahead just now with considerable concern to the autumn and winter campaign. The deputation arrangements are becoming increasingly difficult, owing to the growing determination of so many churches to crowd their anniversary meetings into October and November. In addition to this, I cannot forget that the many openings abroad, which present themselves through God's blessing upon past labours, lay the heavy burden upon all our advocates of making our present position clear, and of pressing upon the churches their increased responsibility.
I TRUST that those who arrange these meetings will see their way to act upon the following resolution of the Directors : — " That, in order to extend missionary information and to enlist the sympathy of a larger proportion of the members of the churches, the Board is of opinion that local secretaries and others responsible for the arrangements of anniversary meetings should endeavour to secure, in addition to the missionary depu- tation, some home speaker who will not only bring before the meeting the wide range and great diversity of the Society's operations, its present opportunities and urgent needs, but will impress upon all present the obligation which lies upon every believer in Christ to make the good news of His Kingdom known in every part of the world."
Some churches make excessive requests for visits from mis- sionaries, and actually expect three services on a Sunday and speeches on a week-night from one or two missionaries. I plead with them for moderation. In many cases our cause suffers because its advocacy is left almost, if not entirely, to the men actually engaged in the field. We are not always the most ■effective pleaders for our own work, and many an excellent description of missionary service fails in its effect for want of some clear enforcement of the duty of enlarged support and more prayerful interest which the returned missionary ought not to be expected to give. As one of our warm friends has said : " The missionary tells us of the fruits of missionary enterprise ; it is the special business of the Christian teacher at home to speak continually of its roots,"
May I make a further request ? Will ministers and others who in their holidays are laying plans for the coming winter's work help us by seeing that due prominence is given to foreign missions in the coming months in their regular ministrations and in the programmes of the various societies of the church and school .' We are hampered to-day by lack of knowledge of missionary history and present opportunity.
The extract from a letter from Yorkshire which was printed last month has induced a Suffolk Sunday-school superintendent to write to me upon the same subject as follows : —
" For many years we had a missionary box for each class, raising an average of about £(! per annum in that way. In the early part of 1807 we decided to dispense with the boxes, and I was asked to go round to each class, morning and afternoon, to collect the money for the missionary cause, keeping, of course, a separate account of each class, and reading the totals collected by each class at the end of every three months, the result being — first quarter, ii2 15s.; second, £2 18s.; third, X.2 12s.; fourth, £-1 OS. od. ; thus making a total of £12 10s. 5d. for the year, more than double the amount we formerly collected. The quarter just ended has produced £3 1.5s., so that looks as if we intended to keep the improvement up. The alteration has created a friendly rivalry amongst our classes, and, what is better still, more interest in the missionai'y cause. I am glad to say that our New Year's offerings were not adversely affected by this new system, for they were quite up to the average (over £10) ; 80 our total contributions for the year exceeded C23. Ours is not a rich nor a large school, so it shows what may be done if the officers and teachers will only interest themselves and their scholars in the missionary cause."
Some friends who look forward will be glad to note that the Annual Valedictory Meeting will be held in Halifax during the meetings of the Congregational Union of England, on Wednesday, October 12th, at which Rev. Arnold Thomas, M.A., will speak ; and that a meeting of the Watchers' Band (Dr. Horton presiding) will be held in the same town on Tuesday afternoon, October 11th ; while London friends may be glad to know that Sunday, May 1 1th, 1899, is the date of the London Anniversary.
Arthur N. Johnson.
August, 1898.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE BOARD.
183
PROCEEDINGS OF THE BOARD.
Board Mntinq, June 27fh, 7S9a\— Jlr. F. H. HAWKINS, LL.B., in the Chair. Number of Directors present, 66.
The Foreign Secretary introduced Mb s Heydenreich, of the Ger- man Protestant Missionary Society, of Berlin, at present studying English missionary methods preparatory to taking up mission work at Tokio, Japan ; the Rev. J. Hadfield, of Lifu, Loyalty Islands, who had come home to carry through the Press his translation of the Scriptures into Uvean ; the Rev. T. Rowlands, of Madagascar ; the Rev. H. M. Dauncey, of New G-uinea ; Miss Hewlett, of Mirzapur, North India ; and Mr. A. J. Wyrill, who has been appointed chief officer of the s.s. John WilUamn. Mr. Thompson remarked that owing to the tact, patience and conciliatory attitude of Mr. Hadfield, the Mission had enjoyed quietness in the Loyalty Islands. He also mentioned the interesting fact that Mr. Hadfield had made a valuable contribution to science by sending to the Manchester Museum a collection of marine shells known as the Hadfield collection, many of the shells being entirely new to the scientific world. Referring to Mr. Rowlands' work at Ambohimandroso since 1S79, Mr. Thompson said that no mission station in Madagascar could show such a remarkable result of missionary labour, being now one of the brightest and most vigorous missions in the island. The special deputation were impressed very much with the earnestness, enthusiasm, and determination of the people in their religious life and their resolve to maintain their religious freedom and to learn the lessons of the troubles of the past, and become stronger Christians in the future. In its human side that work was due to the initiation of Mr. Rowlands, and the strong support of his colleague Mr. Rees. Miss Hewlett was the worthy daughter of a great father (the Rev. J. Hewlett), and her name had appeared in the Governmental report on account of valuable service rendered in ministering to the poor during the last famine. Mr. Dauncey was a man with hands as well as a head. By his skill in the use of tools he had formed a station at Delena, which would be a credit to any man. He was missionary as Well as carpenter, and doctor as well as missionary, and had been blessed and honoured in the district in his varied labours. He had known much of the trial of New Guinea life, and deserved the special sympathy of the Board because his father had been struck down by paralysis a week before his arrival home. — Mr. Hadfield, in acknowledging the Chairman's welcome, remarked that the last six years had been more crowded with valuable work, and more greatly blessed than any preceding years. The more opposition they encountered from the Roman Catholic priests the more did the Mission seem to increase in spiritual vigour, culminating in what appeared to be a perfectly spontaneous revival, which spread over the three islands of the group, and increased the church membership by about 2,500 souls. The Christian Endeavour Society had proved of increasing service and value. For some time past the French Government had ac- knowledged that the Protestants were its most loyal and faithful subjects. They were now allowed by the French Government to work in the large adjacent island of New Caledonia, where a new enterprise had been undertaken by a self-supporting missionary society established in the Loyalty Islands, with a staff of fourteen native pastors and five young men connected with the
Christian Eadeavour Society. — Mr. Rowlands and Mr. Dauncey also briefly addressed the Board, and the missionaries were then commended to God in prayer by the Rev. T. Townsend, of Shrewsbury.
The Board accepted with much regret the resignation by the Rev. J. Richardson of his position as a missionary of the Society, sympathising with him and Mrs. Richardson in the circumstances which led to their retirement from Madagascar, and heartily commending Mr. Richardson to the churches in England as an earnest and able worker in the cause of Christ.
The Mark Clark and Hannah Phipps Tyler prizes were pre- sented to the successful scholars from the schools for the sons and daughters of missionaries. The full list of prize-winners is given elsewhere.
Board Meeting, July 12th, 1898.~Mt. F. H. Hawkins, LL.B., in the Chair. Number of Directors present, 63.
The Foreign Secretary introduced the Rev. E. Pryce Jones, who had done faithful work and met with a considerable measure of success during his five years' residence at Farafan- gana ; Miss Webster, who had been compelled to return home from Calcutta in consequence of failure of health, which, how- ever, had much improved since she had been at home ; and Mr. and Mrs. A. E. Jennings, who were about to sail for Barkly West, South Africa, to take up the work so long and so well done by the late Rev. W. Ashton, during the long period of fifty-four years. Mr. Thompson explained that Mr. Jones would still have been work- ing in Madagascar but for the fact that his station had been practically wrecked and given up, in consequence of the changed political condition of the country. — The Chairman addressed a few cordial words to the missionaries, and Mr. Jones, in reply, said they had left for the Norwegian missionaries, who had taken up the work at Farafangana, a nucleus of Protestant Christians who would remain true to the Cross, whatever might befall them. He (Mr. Jones) had seen something of what the Holy Spirit could do in the hearts of poor, degraded black people. — Mr. Jennings and Miss Webster also briefly addressed the Board, and the Rev. A. F. Joscelyne, B.A., commended the missionaries to God in prayer.
The following appointments were made : — Mr. Henry Fowler to Hiau Kan, Central China (subject to passing his final medical examination) ; Mr. A. E. Jennings, of New College, to Barkly West, South Africa ; Mr. C. D. Cousins, of New College (son of the Editorial Secretary), to Hong Kpng ; Mr. J. H. Jensen, of Nottingham Institution, to Kachhwa ; Mr. J. J. Macnair, of Edinburgh Theological Hall, to the Telugu Mission, South India ; Mr. C. Robertson, of Edinburgh Theological Hall, to Wuchang Central China; Mr. J, D. Liddell, of Edinburgh Theological Hall, to Mongolia ; Miss Grierson, to succeed Miss German at Coimbatoor ; and Miss Harre, to succeed Miss Roberts at Chi Chou. Offers of service were accepted from Mr. J. A. Rees, of Western College (brother of Rev. W. H. Rees, of Chi Chou) ; Mr. S. H. Morris (son of Rev. W. E. Morris, of Market Harborough), as a medical missionary ; Mr. 0. F. Tomkins, of Harley House, Bow ; and Miss E, E. Shilston, of Newcastle-on-Tyne (subject to her passing the usual examination).
184
FROM THE SECRETARY OF THE WATCHERS' BAND.
August, 1898.
The resignation of the Rev. J. W. Gillies, of Qailon, Tra van- core, was accepted.
Mr. J. B. Grant, of the North China Mission, who has been during the pa3t five years under eugagement as a lay evaagelist, was accepted oa the permanent staff as a missionary of the Society ; and the Board sanctioned his marriage to Miss Roberts, of Chi Chou.
aaaiTtag
FROM THE SECRETARY OF THE WATCHERS' BAND.
"ITHE Secretary of the Watchers' Band enters upon her work *- with a deep sense of her need of Divine help and of the sympathetic co-operation of her fellow-members. She has not sought the post, and has only undertaken to attempt to fill it because she believes God has called her in this new sphere to help on the Society's work, not so much by appealing to man but to God ; not in asking directly for money or workers, but in aiding others to join in the prayer that the Lord of the harvest would provide both in abundance. The latter method is the method of the Master, and those who follow His example may be sure of rich reward.
• o o
All Watcheis are requested to note that letters on any matter afEecting the interests and progress of the Band will be welcomed by the Secretary, who is anxious to become acquainted as early as possible with all her colleagues. It has been very pleasant to receive from many Branch secretaries and other Watchers kindly letters of welcome and goodwill. They have been very encouraging, as they show that there is a wide- spread and prayerful determination to be up and doing, which makes the Secretary confident that an even greater advance will be made in the future than has been seen in the past. The foundations have been well laid, and the super structure com- menced, but much remains to be done. There are not yet 700 branches formed in Great Britain and there are more than 3,000 Congregational churches. If each individual Watcher would only make it a matter of earnest prayer and -real effort, what additional strength and force might be forthcoming during the next year I
» * *
The weekly prayer-meeting at the Mission House will be resumed on September Ist. Might it not be specially taken up by London members of the Band and be made a centre where members and other friends of the Society could meet Mean- while this suggestion might be considered, and at the Con- ference of Watchers' Band secretaries on September 1 ,">th a resolu- tion on the subject might perhaps be adopted. Particulars of
this Conference will be given in the next Chkonicle.
• • »
The following corrections should be made in the list of missionaries ; —
Page 2. — Miss Webster of Calcutta, at home.
Pagi- 3. — Mrs. Lewis of Bellary, died on May 20th. Miss Darnton, resigned. Rev. G. C. Marshall of Tripatoor, at home.
Pdfjr 4. — Rev. J. W. and Mrs. Gillies of Quilon, resigned. Miss Barclay has married Rev. J. H, Walton of Bangalore. Mrs. Brough is at Coimbatoor. Mrs. Ward of Sladras, at home.
Page 0. — Miss Rowe of Poklo, resigned. Miss Benham's name to be added to the Amoy list. Dr. E, F. Wills of Hankow, gone to Hiau Kan.
Page 6. — Dr. and Mrs. Walton of Hiau Kan, resigned. Miss Smith, wrongly stated to be at Chi Chou, is in the Peking Mission. Rev. J. and Mrs. Parker of Mongolia, coming home.
Pagu 1. — Rev. A. E. and Mrs. Jennings, appointed to Barkly West. Rev. Roger and Mrs. Price, at home. Rev. A. J. and Mrs. Wookey, gone to Molepolole. Rev. H. and Mrs. Williams, gone to Phalapye. Rev. W. C. Willoughby, coming home. Rev. Bowen and Mrs. Rees, returned to Inyati. Mr. W. Draper of Urambo, coming home.
Puijc A'. — Kev. J. and Mrs. Richardson of Antananarivo resigned. Mr. Stowell Ashwell, returned to Antananarivo. Mrs. Baron of Amparibe, died on July 4th. Rev. C. Jukes of Anka- dibevava, at home. Rev. J. Wills of Faravohitra, died on May 30 th.
I'agv 9. — Rev. T. and Mrs. Rowlands of Ambohimandroso, at home. Rev. E. P. and Mrs. Jones of Farafangana, at home.
Page 10. — Miss Schultze of Upolb, at home. Rev. J. and Mrs. Hadfield of Lifu, at home. Rev. H. M. Dauncey of Delena, at home. Rev. C. J. Cribb of Port Moresby, still recruiting at Brisbane.
Branch. Kentish Town Manchester ... Leeds
Nkw Bands.
Church. ... St. Paul's ... ... Greenheys ... ... Harehills ...
Cirencester Dyer Street
Hemsby ... ... —
Sceritarij. Miss F. Downing. Miss E. Crossfield. Mrs. German. Mr. P. F. Wakefield. Mrs. L. Winn.
PRIZE-WINNERS IN THE MISSION SCHOOLS.
WALTMAMSTOW MALL, SEYENOAKS.
THE Hannah Phipps Tyler Prizes are given to the first and second girls in the Senior Cambridge Examination, the first and second among the Juniors, the first and second among the Preliminary Candidates, and the first gi^l in the Third Form : — First Prize : Dora Price (Baptist). Second Prize : Louie Brown (L.M.S.). Third Prize : Constance Cousins (L.M.S.). Fourth Prize : Jean Heberlet (Baptist). Fifth Prize : Ada Brown (L.M.S.). Sixth Prize : Dora Houlder (L.M.S.). Seventh Prize : Margaret Thomas (L.M.S.).
SCHOOL FOR SONS OF MISSIONARIES, BLACKHEATH.
The Mark Clark Memorial Prizes are awarded to all boys who took at least a First Division in the London University Matricu- lation Examination, or who took honours in the Cambridge University Junior or Preliminary Local Examinations during the past year. In the London Matriculation one boy passed in the Second Division, but no one (lualifled for a prize. In the Cambridge Junior Local Examination (for boys under sixteen years of age) five boys obtained second-class honours — viz. : — J. M. Marriott (L.M.S.). R. Knowles (L.M.S.), T. C. Brown, son of Rev. John Brown, of Taung (L.M.S.), E. Rowlands (L.M.S.), L. J. Williamson (B.M.S.). In the same examination three boys obtained third-class honours — viz : — J. A. Hadfield (L.M.S.), A. C. Bryson (L.M.S.), R. R. Summers (B.M.S.). In the Cambridge Preliminary Local (for boys under fourteen years of age) four boys obtained first-class honours — viz. : — A. B. Griffiths, with distinction in Latin, Euclid, and English (Welsh Calvinistic Methodist Society), G. B. Elliston, with distinction in Euclid and Geography (China Inland Mission), E. L. Rowlands (L.M.S.), R. E. F. Peill (L.M.S.). In the same examination two boya obtained second-class honours — viz. : — G. G. James (B.M.S.), W. F. Rowlands (L.M.S ).
August, 1898.
IN MEMORIAM.
185
3n flDemoriam.
MRS. BARON.
OXCE more we have sorrowfully to record the death of a missionary's wife, Mrs. Baron, of Madagascar, hav- ing succumbed to the disease from which she has long suffered. This gentle- spirited lady, whose maiden name was Pumphrey, went out to Madagascar in the year 1879, as a missionary of the Friends' Foreign Mission Association. She was placed in charge of the large and influential Girls' School belonging to that mission, in the district of the capital called Faravohitra. By her quiet yet firm and capable management she quickly gained influence over both teachers and scholars, and among her colleagues and the missionaries of other societies was from the first a favourite. Her simple Christian character, amiability and missionary zeal and enthusiasm, won all hearts. In 1882, after between two and three years' faithful service as a single woman, she married the Rev. Richard Baron, of the London Missionary Society, and formed a fresh bond of union between the two societies. First at a country station, and subsequently at Amparibe — a large and important station lying at the foot of the north-western side of Antananarivo — she joyfully aided her husband in his work, and, as a missionary's wife, manifested the same consistent, earnest and winsome dis- position that had gained the affection of her old pupils. The women and girls at Ambohidatrimo and Amparibe greatly appreciated the privilege they enjoyed in having her as their friend and helper. Her kindly ways, ready sympathy and gentleness, gave her great power over theni. Her women's classes, too, were much prized. Always some- what frail, she was often laid aside, and more than once the weak state of her health awakened grave anxiety. But her recuperative energy was wonderful, and she regained com- parative strength. On the eve of the French invasion she re- turned home, and began gradually, though with remarkable rallies, to fade away. Residence in the South of France, a voyage and short stay in Australia and other remedies, failed to secure any real improvement. On her return from Adelaide a few weeks since, it was clear to all that she was much weaker than she had been, and that the end was drawing nigh. She had been borne up by the thought of seeing her two girls who had been placed at Waltham- stow Hall, Sevenoaks, and, to be near them, was aLmost immediately moved to that charming Kent town. Linger- ing but a short time, she sank to rest on Monday, July 4th, and was buried in Sevenoaks Cemetery on Thursday, July 7th, the Rev. C. Lankester, B.A., the Rev. R. Wardlaw Thompson, and others taking part in the funeral.
AGNES STUART MACFARLANE.
In the Chronicle for June there appeared a short note intimating the death of Mrs. Macfarlane, of Cuddapah, South India.
Mrs. Macfarlane's married life and work in the Cuddapah
district were so short (all too short to our human thinking) that her friends in England and Scotland will,, perhaps, more often think of her by her maiden name — Agm s Stuart Cuthbert.
She was bom at Arbroath, Scotland, on the 8th October, 18G2, but spent the most of her early years at Braco, a small village in Perthshire (not far from the glen of Drum- tochty, which Ian Maclaren has made famous), where her father, James Cuthbert, now retired from service, was village schoolmaster for twenty-five years. Having been trained for educational work in the Church of Scotland Training College, Edinburgh, she served as a teacher for some years in Bradford and was a worker in the Presby- terian Church there, where she made many friends.
In connection with the Church of Scotland Women's Association for Foreign Missions, she entered upon work in Madras in the end of 1887.
In 1892 her health gave way, and she returned to Scot- land for rest and change. As soon, however, as she felt somewhat stronger she was desirous of resuming work abroad, and accordingly offered her services to the London Missionary Society. Her offer was accepted; she was appointed to Coimbatoor, and sailed again for India at the end of 1893.
In Coimbatoor, with Miss Bounsall as senior colleague, she again had charge of several mission schools, and besides taking an interest in the Young Women's Christian Asso- ciation and other good works, foimd time to study for and pass with distinction the Society's customary final exami- nation in the Tamil language.
On becoming engaged to Mr. Macfarlane, she immediately began to learn Telugu, and soon made such good progress in it that when she came to Cuddapah in May, 1895, she was soon able to take an active part in her husband's work, assisting him when on tour by examining the village schools, and maintaining a Bible-class and Dorcas meeting for the Christian women at headquarters.
Although the climate of Cuddapah is proverbially trying, and Mrs. Macfarlane suffered a good deal from malaria, no one dreamed that the end of all her earnest work was so near at hand.
Early in April last she went for a rest during the hot weather to the Pulnai Hills. The rest and change she sought there were indeed granted ; but the call to her was to an everlasting rest, and, after a few days' suffering and weariness, she peacefiilly passed away on Thursday, April 7th.
The illness was so short that her husband was unable to reach her side in time, and the news of her death came with a fearful shock to those left behind. On the Easter Sim- day following, when a simple memorial service was held in the Telugu Church, Cuddapah, there were many sad faces and tearful eyes. She was buried in the quiet little grave- yard of the American Madura Mission at Kodaikanal, where " For a space the tired body
Waits in peace the morning dawn,
When there breaks the last and brightest Easter dawn."
A. T .S.
186 WORK AMONG WOMEN— ITINERATING EXPERIENCES IN NGAMILAND. August, 1898.
ITINERATING EXPERIENCES IN NGAMILAND.
By Mrs. "Wookey, of Lake Ngami.
OOME of the most important work at the Lake was ^ itinerating. Occasionally my husband went without us, either on horseback or with a cart and four oxen. At other times we all went in our waggon.
The capital of Ngamiland is called Naka-la-Cwe, which means the horn of a water buck, and was some distance from us. The first calling-place would be Matlotleng, on the Botletle river, near the Lake. This first stage of the journey was generally done at night, as it was long and without water. We usually stayed here a day or two to see the people and have services with them. They are Makoba, Makalaka and people of other tribes, and are all subject to the Bataoana, who are Bechuanas, that subdued the Lake country many years ago.
We found many of these people anxious to learn. To get to some of the villages we had to cross the river. This we did in canoes, which are trunks of trees shaped a little at the ends and hollowed out, and requiring some skill in management. For safety we sat in the bottom of the canoe whilst the owner paddled us along. We wondered some- times if a crocodile was in the deep water below hoping that we might be tipped into the water.
The girls and women of these villages wear but little clothing ; but what they do wear is usually very much ornamented with beads, as also their persons. They specially ornament the short apron, which is their " dress," and consists of a sheep or antelope's skin without the hair. One day a man came to beg some beads for his wife. He wanted several strings of a large size and fashionable colour. He said they must be blue, and enough to cover the whole of her throat afid neck, so that when she ate people should not
see her swallow. He exidently wished to help her to retain or recover her youthful looks.
Sometimes the villagers brought fish to exchange for beads, handkerchiefs, or other things. The men are clever fishermen. They make capital nets from the fibre of the baobab tree. They also fish with lines, and were glad to get hooks of English make. The numerous crocodiles and otters, however, often destroy their lines by taking the fish when caught. They catch fish, too, with traps. We one day saw fishing with baskets, as we happened to be staying for a few hours near a large, shallow pool of water — an overflow from the river itself. This pool was the com- mon property of several small villages, and fifty or sixty men and boys came down to gather its hardest of fish. Some had spears, the rest had wicker baskets, the shape of large extinguishers. They spread in a line across the pool at one end and drove the fish along^Those who had baskets dubbed them down into the muddy water over the fish and I)ulled them out through a hole in the side. They just killed them by giving them a bite at the back of the head, and then they strung them on to a long rush dragging from their waists through the water. Others cleverly caught the fish on the point of their spears. In the course of a couple of hours they had cleared the pool, taking a large (juantity. The fish not eaten fresh would be dried over wood fires to preserve them a little longer. There were also large quantities of wild duck and geese at the same place, and a good number of these were bagged while the fishing was going on. This made great rejoicing in our camp.
One Sunday at Matlotleng, at the time for our afternoon service, we were surjirised by a man coming to our waggon, followed by a number of children, all singing in Sechuana, " Low in the grave He lay," a hymn which they had been taught at the services in the villages. They sang it very prettily as they emerged from the trees through which their
AuuosT, 1898. WORK AMUNO WOMEN— ITINERATING EXPERIENCES IN NOAMILAND. 187
path lay to our camp. We saw there large numbers of crocodiles, some of them huge fellows. As it was the cold season they would come out of the deep pools and lie basking in the sun.
At mid-day, when it was hot, they would go fast asleep, and you could go close to them. Sometimes even the firing of a gun would not wake them. My husband shot several, for which the people were glad, as they are very des- tructive ; they kill dogs, sheep, goats, calves, and larger animals which venture to the water, as well as human beings. We went to see one after it was shot and opened its mouth and looked at its teeth. One large fellow when shot fell into the water, and the smell was so strong that we could not stay at the place.
The road to the Bataoana town was through a stiflF piece of country ; the forest and the bush were thick and thorny, the sand in some places very heavy, and the water often very scarce. Again and again in the forest and deep sand the waggon would be brought to a standstill by the wheel coming against a tree, or the waggon tent being caught by a thick branch overhead, and the tree would have to be chopped down or the branch cleared away with axe and saw to make a way. One peculiarity about much of the country is that you cannot find a stone anywhere — it is all sand.
On the occasion of one visit we spent a month at the capital. We made our camp under the trees by the house of the native teacher, and about a mile from the town. For sanitary reasons we could not go nearer ; we also wished to be as near as possible to our water supply. Distance in these cases from their towns seems to be a matter of in- difference to Bechuanas. Wc found the time of year uncomfortable owing to the prevailing whirlwinds and dust- storms, as numbers of these whirlwinds would drive at the same time across the plain and blacken everything vsdth the fine dust like soot.
Cooking on the ground under such circumstances was any- thing but easy, and our own general appearance was often that of sweeps.
In spite of the inconveniences we spent a very happy month. The large hut-church was crowded at our Sunday services. The children had to turn out and have a service of their own under a tree, conducted by Tsapo, the school- master. He was an energetic old man, and kept the attention of the children by his attractive manner. He Speaks of himself as having been very zealous in heathenism before his conversion. He is now a shining light, and has proved himself to be both a trustworthy and helpful Christian.
We found the day-school fairly well attended, the chief being one of the most regular scholars.
I found, too, some very good women amongst the mem- bers of the church at the Lake town. The best of them all, perhaps, was Ma Makaba, the wife of a former chief. She and her sister, when girls, had been taken captive by the Matebele, but had escaped across country to the Lake.
She told mo about the Helmore children who came there with Mr. Price after the death of their parents in Mako- lololand. She took special interest in our o\vn two little girls, because years before she had tended and cared for those little orphans.
Seane, the wife of the evangelist Khukwi, kept a nice pleasant home, and her infiuence among the women was very good. She was, when a girl, in Miss Moffat's school at Kurumau. She helped many of the women at the Lake town to cut out and make dresses as well as teaching them to read.
Long lines of women passed our camp daily in the morning, returning later in the day with large pots of water on their heads, or heavy bundles of reeds for building or repairing their houses, or perhaps with heavy bundles of firewood from the forest. They were mostly servants, and looked hard-worked and badly fed. The Bataoana proper think work beneath them, and their serfs have to do it all. Many of these serfs have been taken from distant villages and made slaves.
We visited a pretty cluld belonging to the chief's family very ill with pneumonia. A number of women sat round, looking helplessly on. The surroundings were very uncom- fortable. She was too ill to recover and soon died.
We extended our visit to a Makoba village, twenty-five miles further north, on the Okovango River. Here Shomo- lekae, one of the three evangelists, had been placed. An arm of the river kept our waggon from going quite close to the village, and so to visit the people we had to cross by canoe.
The district is marshy and malarious. We found the teacher and his wife doing good work. They had built a good-sized hut for church and school, and we thought the singing especially good. We have recently heard from the three evangelists, and there seems to be oijposition on the part of the Bataoana to their serfs being taught and civilised. The salaries of these teachers — Khukwi, Peter, and Shomo- lekae — are being paid at present by a kind friend in England, who spent some years in South Africa.
Shomolekae reported that some of the people were great thieves, and one of the famUy had always to remain at home to guard the bit of property in their waggon and the new hut which they were building; but he also reported that the people of the villages hidden away in the reeds and marsles further north were anxious to be visited and taught.
There are said to be as many as 15,000,000 of the Hausas, and they have several great cities in which an active trade is carried on. Hitherto it has been difficult to gain access to the country, but now the battle of Bida has opened it up, and the Church Missionary Society has already entered it with the Gospel. The Hausas are described as excelling in physique and intellect, and I as having a literature of their own. They are under British j protection, and have made by far the best soldiers employed in ) African wars.
188
WORK AMONG WOMEN— FIRST DAYS AT J I AG AN J.
August, 1898.
L.M.S. TRAINING HOME FOR COUNTRY WOMEN, HANKOW.
THIS is a photograph of a small house ia Hankow, much like an English cottage, where women converts from the country can be received, two or three at a time, to get further teaching, and, when possible, to be trained as teachers or Bible-women.
On the right of the doorway is Mrs. GiUison who started the home a year^ago ; on the left Mrs. Jones (C.I.M.) who greatly assists in the teaching of the pupils.
The two women stand- ing in the doorway are pupils living in the home.
The decrepit - looking old woman to Mrs. Gilli- son's left is the present caretaker of the home. The photograph does not do her justice. Her work is to cook food and keep the house clean.
The big girl (aged twenty) playing the baby organ was last year a pupil in the home, but is now one of the two being trained as nurses in the Margaret Hospital. The other nurse (aged eigh- teen) is standing near, dressed in light clothes. Both are clever, bright girls, and enjoy the hos- pital work.
The nine girls present in the photograph all belong to a working party for making hos- pital garments which is held weekly in the front room of the home, super- intended by Mrs. Jones. Music and singing lessons are another while the work is
teacher of the girls' school, which is close by the home. She was the first woman to be baptized in Hankow, over thirty years ago.
About half the women and girls in the photograph have unbound their feet.
A
TR-VIIilNO HOME FOR COUNTKY WOMEX.
to one girl after The photograph
given going on, represents a working-party afternoon.
The two women to the left of Mrs. Jones are Christians who live near and who are often present when teaching is going on in the home. The old lady sitting apart on the left of the picture is the
FIRST DAYS AT JIAGANJ.
1^ FTER many delays and disappoiutments, after much deferring of many hopes and perhaps some consequent
heart-sickness, our Jia- ganj Mission House was at last built and ready for occupation in March, 1898. The first few weeks in the new house were naturally not very settled ones, and it was some little time before one began to feel really at home in Jiaganj. One had so often come to camp here and do a few days' work among the women in the town, that it seemed strange to realise that here was at last one's home and jalace of permanent work. The Mission Compound is a fine, large, open one, and when the fertile rainy season has repaired the desolation to nature caused by the long building process, I think everyone will say on see- ing it that it is a pretty place. A year or so ago it was a mass of thick and noisome jungle. Now that has all been cleared, and a large unwholesome tank that lay in front of the house has been filled in, so that a nice wide expanse of what, we hope, will one day be green grass stretches before us, while the monotony is broken by some clumps of the graceful bamboo and the notched stems and tassels of leaves of some typical Indian Missionary palm trees. The house is a three-roomed one, with a verandah running roimd it ; it is all raised on a four-foot plinth, so that it forms a highly sanitary as well as a comfortable and welcome home, and one feels it a good thing to be here. At
August, 1898.
WORK AMONG WOMEN— FIRST DAYS AT JIAGANJ.
189
a little distance from the north-east comer of the house lies the site of the dispensarj-. The foundations of this building are already dug, and the plinth is being constructed, and the completed building is promised by the end of November next. In the meantime, until the building is finished and ready for use, I have had a thatched bamboo shed built under the trees at the back of the house to serve as a temporary dispensary. Even for this I have had to wait several weeks, as April was the great month this year for Mohammedan marriages, and all the thatchers were busy with domestic concerns ; the statistics of these would prove interesting, as, in one village alone, there were twenty-five marriages in one week. Now the shed is ready, and it forms a shady and convenient retreat. It is divided into two parts, the smaller and inner division serves as my consulting room and medicine shop ; the larger room serves as a waiting-room for the patients, also as our church on Sundays, in preference to the building used by the Hindu Girls' School in the town, our only alternative. Hitherto I have had few patients beyond some of the servants and the Christians in our little community here. There is a great fear abroad in the town that I am sent here by Government as a Plague Inspector, and lately, owing to the plague and inoculation scare in Calcutta, this fear has greatly increased. Still, I hope one by one to win the con- fidence of the people, especially the women. I can get men and boy patients readily enough among the masons and boys at work on the new building ; but, although I am willing to help these when I know they have no other means, it is the women I want to befriend, because it is they who here need a friend most sorely.
My Bible-women moved over from Berhampur in April, and now live in a little house adjoining the one built and occupied by our ordained native missionary. Rev. Paul Biswas, and bis family. As his compound lies on the opposite side of the road to the mission-house, our workers are conveniently near at hand. Every morning during the last month my two Bible-women and I have gone out to survey the town 6«id district for our Bible work. Now we are in a better position to calculate the prospects of the work we shall plan out regular visits to regular districts in turn. I intend holding the dispensary for out-patients for three days a week, so on those mornings my Bible- women will go out alone, and I will join them at aU other times when practicable. There is so much Bible and zenana work to be done that I must forego keeping my women to speak to the patients as they sit in the waiting-room. I must try and speak the word in season to each and all myself, and perhaps sometimes Mrs. Biswas may be able to come in and help me. On the days when I have no out- patients nor visits to pay to sick people in their own homes, I shall endeavour to join my women in Bible work in the town and surrounding villages. Hitherto we have met with a very ready and cordial reception from all, and
during this month's "prospecting" we have often been gladdened by meeting with those whom we had talked to before in our former visits, and who have kept the words in their heart until now. There is a large Jain community both in Jiaganj and in Azimganj across the river and we are very anxious to get an entrance into the homes of these Jain women. Until quite lately their doors have been shut to us, but in the last few weeks we have been much encouraged by finding not a few of the houses open to us. It is quite true that a first visit is in many cases welcomed because of cmiosity on the part of these secluded women, and a second visit in some instances has been declined ; but still we are encouraged to visit other houses regularly, and in one or two we have been promised regidar pupils.
I am always glad that while I was on sick leave at Almora I was able to learn a little Hindi, and this I have tried to follow up by daily study since, in which I am helped by my workers, who both speak Hindi, as well as Bengali and English. The Jain women speak and under- stand nothing but Hindi, and the few among them who can read can only do so in the Nagari character, so our Hindi "bhajans" and talking are warmly welcomed. In the bazaar and the villages Bengali is current, so I feel it is a very fortunate thing that my helpers are such clever linguists.
On Friday afternoon we have a Christian Endeavour meeting for our Christian women here, and our little society already numbers eight active members. This is an hour to which we all look forward ; we have many topics and objects of interest to occupy us. Our special collections at present are to go towards providing a little communion service for our Jiaganj church.
I am looking forward keenly to the time when the new dispensary will be ready and in working order, although I cannot anticipate any great amount of medical work without feeling more and more conscious of the need of a medical colleague. If the Jiaganj dispensary and hospital work is ever to be on a level with the work in other places it is useless to think that this can be accomplished single- handed, more especially in a place like Jiaganj, where there are no European doctors, and where purdah rights and restrictions are recognised and maintained most rigidly. Brojasundaree, a former inmate in the Converts' Training Home at Berhampore, has been training for the last two years as a nuxse in the B.Z.M. Hospital at Benares, and I shall welcome her with much joy as my nurse and helper on the completion of her training next December. Besides this, I am teaching compounding to one of my Bible-women, so that in busy days to come she may be able to help me iu prepar- ing the medicines. But good and useful as this help will be, it does not lessen the need for an English colleague, and to the coming of such an one I am looking forward as soon as the Directors can see their way to appoint another worker here. When that time comes one may hope to go in for
190
IN SEASON AND
OUT OF SEASON.
August, 1898.
more aggressive medical work, and to attempt more serious cures and means than would be justifiable now. But till then one must go on in faith and love and patience, trying to do all the good one can to the bodies and souls of the many women around, who, sick with disease and sick with sin, as yet know nothing of the Great Physician Who is willing and mighty to save. Edith Luct Joyce.
IN SEASON AND OUT Of SEASON-
By Dr. Chalmers, of Hong Kong.
LEUNG A T'O, or Leung Chii Shan, was a faithful evangelist and helper in mission work for over forty years. In 1852 he was in an advanced class in the Anglo- Chinese College in Hong Kong. But he was not considered a bright scholar; and, while several othtrs were expected to become in due time fully trained preachers, A T'o was sent into the printing office to learn the work of a compositor. This, of course, involved a fair amount of knowledge of the characters, and he proved an efficient workman. But he was not content with being merely a printer of Christian tracts. In those days I used to see him in the early morn- ing, before the office was open, setting out with a bundle of Chinese pamphlets in his hand, evidently intent on dis- tributing and explaining them. I am sorry to say the divinity students were not generally a success. Some ob- tained lucrative positions as clerks, interpreters, merchants, and the like. A few remained faithful to their profession of Christianity. I know one or two who are so to this day ; but not one became an active evangelist. The one redeeming feature which distinguished them all was respect for their teacher. Dr. Legge, and this respect was freely ex- tended to their fellow-student, Leung Chii Shiin, who chose the better part. In 1856 began the great war of England, iiltimately allied with France, against China. In those years the opening of gold fields, first in California, and then in Australia, induced many Chinese to emigrate ; and the Tai- p'ing rebellion, as well as the foreign war, roused many of the younger generation to leave their troubled country and pursue their fortime abroad. Not a few connected with the Anglo-Chinese CoUege and the native church went away to the "gold hills." Leung Chii Shan also managed to get a passage to Australia, where he devoted himself to teaching his countrymen at the gold diggings, and collecting them for public worship. We soon heard of him, from Ballarat, I believe, where he had been cheered by considerable success, and was getting money to build a chapel. Early in the sixties he returned to Canton, his native place, and I sought to retain his services in the city, where I was then stationed. But his purpose was to return, having come home probably to get married, according to arrangements made by his jjarents. So, by-and-by, he went back to Australia, where he worked in connection with Mr. W. Young, formerly of the L. M. S., Amoy. First and last Leung was mainly in-
strumental in procuring funds to build two chapels in Australia for Chinese emigrants.
After two or three years he returned to Canton, and accepted the appointment offered him of assistant in our mission there. In that position, I think I may say, he was an entire success, commanding the respect of all missionaries and native converts in Canton, always ready in season and out of season to speak for Christ, devising means for the furtherance of the work in Canton and Fat-shan, and for extending it into the country, watching over the converts, exhorting and rebuking and teaching them. He was always successful in collecting money for chapels or schools or hosi^itals, proving that he retained the respect of his former school-fellows, and won general esteem, not in Canton and Hong Kong only, but in the northern ports.
Leung was not much of a literary man, but he was a diligent reader of Christian and general literature, and knew how to turn the information he gathered to practical account in his preaching, always deploring the backwardness of his countrymen to avaU themselves of Christian teaching and civilisation. One work he undertook in his leisure time was a striking success. His large wall maps of the two hemi- spheres— of the Empire of China and of Canton Province, covered with geographical information in Chinese — have had a wide sale, and are still in demand.
On the 8th of February Mrs. Pearce wrote to me from Hong Kong :- -" You will sorrow with us over the death of the faithful Leung A T'o. This good man passed away peacefully to his rest last Saturday week, when the Chinese year was only eight days old. Mr. Stevens sent a telegram, which reached us on Sunday, and the message was succeeded by a second wire, informing us that the funeral would take place on Friday. Mr. Pearce went to Canton on Thursday night to pay his last respects to Leung's character and services. There was a representative gathering of mission- aries, preachers and converts in the Kukfau Hospital Chapel. A large assembly testified to the esteem in which Leung was held by those who knew him best. Mr. Pearce and Pastor Wong gave addresses. The interment was, unfortunately, delayed, and the Hong Kong visitors who attended could not return to the Colony imtil the next morning. A great number of people went to the hills (the cemetery). It was a lovely afternoon ; the breath of spring was in the air, suggesting life from the dead."
Yes, there have been true Chinese converts ; some are gone, and many follow after. Thanks bo to God.
Mr. Charles Eason, sen., of Dublin, has handed a large number of valuable books to Mr. Farquhar, for the library of the Institution, Bhowanipur, Calcutta, and has arranged to pay £12 per annum for the support of a Christian student in the same Institution. Mr. Eason sends several magazines regularly for the use of the Mission circle, a kindness which is much appreciated.
August, 1898.
THE CENTRAL CHINA MISSION.
191
THE CENTRAL CHINA IMISSION.
THIS Mission, commenced in 1861, grows stronger year by year, and its work develops and gains a more prominent place in the thought and sympathy of the home churches. Its position in the future bids fair to be one of great importance, and the Society will have a heavy responsibility in dealing with it. The gradual awakening of the Chinese people, recent declarations of British policy in the great Yang-tse valley, added to the successful progress of the Mission itself, all point unmistak- ably in one direction.
A map recently drafted by the Rev. C. G. Spar- ham, of Hankow, enables readers of the Cheonicle to realise the extensive district in which the Society is working, and the necessity there is for further advance.
Hankow is the natural centre of operations. Situated on the Yang-tse, some 700 miles from the sea, at the mouth of the river Han, this enter- prising, thriving business city, which is in touch with the whole empire, is a place of wide- reaching influence. Its population is about 800,000. Here the Society has a strong staff of five missionaries and two lady missionaries, with Dr. Griffith John as their senior. Two of these are medical mission- aries and a third doctor is to join them this autumn in
order to make it possible to train more efficiently and in larger numbers Chinese medical evangelists for work in the out-stations.
Wuchang, the provincial capital of Hupeh, and one of
FROM A DRAWING BY THE REV. 0. G. SPABHAM, OF HANKOW.
the most famous seats of Chinese learning, stands on the opposite bank of the Yang-tse, facing Hankow. It has a population of 200,000. During recent years the
192
THE CENTRAL CHINA MISSION.
August, 1898.
Mission has been strengthened by the establishment of a medical mission, the erection of a hospital, and the increase of the staff to three missionaries. The request to hand from the Hankow (really the Central China) District Committee, referred to hereafter, contemplates farther development by the establishment of a Boarding School for Girls in Wuchang and the appointment of a lady
Eiavrlcan is a country station situated on a tributary of the river Han at a distance of about forty miles. It stands in the midst of a densely-populated district, and has an active native church. Started as an out-station in 1880, it was in 1891 made a head-station with a resident missionary. A doctor was quickly added, and last year a third man ; while, until a move can be made
A BIT or WUCHANG, SHOWING THE NEW L.M.8. CHAPEL.
[Pictures from Wuchang so rarely reach the Mission House thatjwe are^happy for once to be in a position to insert some. — Ed.]
missionary to superintend it. A new chapel, built last year, to which a guest hall has been recently added — that is, a small hall in which people may congregate before serv'ice, watches and clocks being possessed by but few Chinese — has given fresh impetus to the work in the quiet, dull prefectural and university city.
and a further settlement be made in King-shan, the two additional missionaries sent out for that new station also reside at Hiau-kan, so that the number of missionaries there just now is proportionately large.
Two provinces, originally one, but subsequently divided, Hupeh and Hunan (North of the Lake and South of the
August, 1898.
THE CENTRAL CHINA MISSION.
193^];
Lake), are both within reach from Hankow, but Hunan has until recently been closed against the foreigner, and missionary operations limited to Hupeh. Its people are prosperous and well-to-do, but they are " Chinese of the Chinese," opposed to change, anti-foreign to a degree. It was from Chang-sha, the provincial capital of Hunan, that the obscene and blasphemous anti-foreign literature emanated a few years ago which led to so much rioting
MR. WAXG.
Mission. In March and April Dr. John and Mr.
Sparham visited that province, their main purpose in going being to visit some converts at Heng-chow, and, if possible, establish a missionary sttition in that important city. They found Heng-chow in a state of great excite- ment, due to the recent visit of Dr. "Wolfe, the well- known German traveller, and the missionaries were com- pelled to beat an ignominious retreat. They were attacked
MR. LI. SIB. TEX.
REV. A. D. COUSIXS. ME. CHAXG.
THE WUCHAXG S
and murder. Stirred and excited by this literature and placards, the ignorant masses, encouraged by the officials of the empire, looted foreign property, killed unoffending missionaries and gravely imperilled the lives of all Europeans living in Central China.
The extension of the work into Hunan, therefore, will make 1S97 a "memorable one in the history of the
MR. PAO. DR. DAVEXPOKT.
FF OF WORKERS.
furiously by the mob, and actually driven away by a perfect storm of stones ; but they were greatly encouraged by what they saw of the converts, who clung to them and evinced the utmost cojrage throughout.
A most interesting service was held on board the boat in which Dr. John and Mr. Sparham travelled, when thirteen of the converts were baptized, and
194
THE CENTRAL CHINA MISSION.
August, 1898.
the missionirie? say they will never forget that little meeting,
" If there ever has been a Bethel on earth," writes Dr. John, " our boat was a Bethel that evening. I felt sure that most of the thirteen would stand fire well, and that the little church planted at Heng-chow on that stormy day would strike root and grow. And such has been the case. Though we were driven away, our native helpers were allowed to remain, and the work has been going on steadily ever since."
Immediately after the baptism of these converts Mr. Pen Lanij-Seng, the native evangelist, was sent to Heng- chow to take charge of the little flock, and to propagate the Gospel in the surrounding districts, and under his faithful labours substantial progress has been made. Indeed, the Society has now obtained a footing in the province, and the journey of the two missionaries, disas- trous as it seemed, was not in vain, and even their repulse at Heng-chow has turned out for the furtherance of the Gospel. Four stations are now occupied. Moreover, at last Hunan is about to be opened to foreign commerce and to the Christian missionary.
In view of this prospective opening of the province, the Directors in May last issued an appeal forwarded by the missionaries, and backed it up with a resolution pledging the Society to send two missionaries to Hunan without delay, one of them to be a medical man, provided guarantees of support sufficient to cover the estimated expenditure of not less than the first five years be received. Happily, and greatly to the Board's encourage- ment, the money asked for (£3,100) has been more than provided, and one of the two missionaries has been secured. The second, the medical man, is still wanting, but the Board trusts that God will soon graciously supply this need also, and lead the right man to volunteer for the post. He must be willing to go out for two or three years as an unmarried man. Will not our readers join the Directors in prayer that such a man may offer ?
Returning from the special case of Hunan to the more general question of the Central China Mission as a whole, there is much to cheer the heart. The statistics show that last year G13 received baptism, of whom 485 were adults, a most encouraging evidence of progress, the more so in the light of the fact that for each one baptized several were examined and for varying reasons kept back for a time. Greater care has to be exercised now than a
few years ago, when persecution operated as a healthy check. Unworthy motives often prompt the candidate, and careful scrutiny therefore becomes requisite. On the other hand, many are from the first strikingly clear in their simple-hearted acceptance of the Gospel ; and other?, whose motives are at first mixed, on further acquaintance with the word of life are led to sincere conviction and consecration.
The progress of last year, as compared with previous years, is thus spoken of by Dr. John : —
" Now let us compare this with past years. I began -".vork in Central China in 1861. At the close of the first year there had been eleven baptisms ; at the close of 1870, nine years later, there had been 295 baptisms ; and at the close of 1880, nineteen years later, there had been 1,101 baptisms. Thus, this year has given us more than twice as many baptisms as the first nine gave us, and these two years have given us nearly as many as the first nineteen gave us. The Wesleyan Mission and the American Mission also had a prosperous year. To all the missions in Hupeh the year 1897 has been an exceptionally good year. The acces- sions for the past year must be considerably above 1,000, probably nearer 1,500. Surely this is something to thank God for. There has been much sowing in this province during the past thirty- six years. The reaping time is come."
This progress strikingly shows the folly of judging of a great spiritual work, such as is there carried on, by early appearances. People are too eager for quick returns, and if these are not forthcoming lose heart and begin to complain and even sneer. On this point another ([nota- tion from the veteran leader of the Mission is strikingly apposite : —
" A flippant critic, writing of the missionary work in India not many years since, said : ' A great deal is being said by the missionaries about unseen influences, leaven, seed-sowing, and what not. For myself I want crops.' Now that seems very smart. ' For myself I want crops.' Wonderful I I should like to know who does not want crops. We all want crops. But the husbandman sows the seed, and then ' waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.' The husbandman wants crops, but he does not expect to sow and reap on the same day. Though there were not a single convert in China, I should still go on ploughing and sowing ; for well I know that they who ' sow in tears ' shall, sooner or later, ' reap in joy.' But, thank God, it is not all sowing with us in Central China now. We are beginning to reap a goodly harvest. Still the reaping of the present is in- separably connected with the sowing of the past, and the one is not a whit more real or more divine than the other."
The reaping is already much more extensive than even the warm supporters of the Mission are aware, as the subjoined extract, from a letter written by the Rev. A.
August, 1898.
THE CENTRAL CHINA MISSION.
195
Bonsey, of Hankow, and dated May 24th of the present year, clearly shows. Mr. Bonsey writes : —
" Someone started the idea of taking- the census of attendances at mission services on the first Sunday in Slay, the results to be published in the Chinese Recorder. Instead of taking: a census, we reckoned the average number of individuals attending our services as being a fairer guide. The figures are very impressive, especially when one remembers that in ISCl there was not a single Protestant Christian in Central China.
with a weekly attendance of 200. The proportion of men attending services is large as compared with the women.
I think it would somewhat under-state the case to say that individual attendances at the services of the London, Wesleyan, Swedish, Presbyterian, American Episcopalian, Baptist, Alliance, and other missions aggregate not less than 5,000 every Sunday, and most of those who attend are converts."
As the work extends, naturally evangelistic itineration and the settlement of teachers are increasinsr. Five
XriSSION HOUSE, WUCILSlXG.
[Deep verandaha are a necessity in Central China, where the heat in stunmer is dreadfully oppressive. — Ed.]
•' Our regular Sunday services are scattered over an area as extensive as the whole of the South of England. They are held in thirty-six different places, in ten counties, or hsien, and are attended by not less than 2,000 adults and 3(iii children. I am speaking now simply of the Province of Hupeh. but in the great Province of Hunan, which is still closed to the foreign mis- sionary, we have regular services, conducted by our native preacher and other helpers, in four county towns, or hsien cities.
important missionary journeys were made last year. Others are being made this year, among them one to the south of "Wuchang, where the work has yet to be opened up. Speaking of this last, the Rev. A. D. Cousins writes : —
" The first two days of the trip were spent in a Chinese river-
196
THE CENTRAL CHINA MISSION.
August, 1898.
boat. The craft itself was exceptionally clean, and was just big enough to enable us to stand in the cabin. In all we were eight on board — the captain, his two helpers, Mr. Wang, the cook, two coolies, and myself. . . . We reached the end of our boat journey on the evening of the 15th of the first Chinese month — a feast day. I soon realised that we were not fortunate in arriving on this day, but we determined that the people of Ting Shih Chiao should know that we had arrived. At about five we went on to the streets for an hour's book-selling. Many bought books, and not a few were decidedly friendly, but unfortunately we were to meet with opposition later. I stood at the door of a ' bean curd shop ' (these shops are considered about the lowest of any), and exhorted the occupant to buy one of our books. Much to my surprise, and in the twinkle of an eye, he had snatched ofiF my spectacles and flung them on to the counter before me. I immediately readjusted them, and appealed to the crowd before the door to witness the rude and crude behaviour of one of their townsfolk. In a moment two or three of the better dressed and one scholar came forward and asssured me that the man did not know anything — in fact, he was the ' very scum of the earth.' We then pressed on, and sold a few more books. When we turned to come back, a man came from the bean curd shop and handed four cash to Mr. Wang, saying he wished to buy a book. Thus we gained a victory, though I personally was somewhat humbled. . . . Tsung Yang was reached safely by the evening of the Monday, and I found public feeling and opinion ripe for our coming. There is a readiness to talk about and discuss Christianity, many seemingly really interested in our object and anxious to know the truths we teach and believe. Our quarters at Tsung Yang were all that could be desired. My chief object was to establish Mr. Teng in this city, and this we were able to do. Though we did not succeed in renting a whole house, yet a room was rented at a nominal monthly rent. There is a house which seems very suitable. It has three stories, and could be fitted up for a foreigner with but little expense, but they wanted <(0,000 cash per annum. We spent three whole days in Tsung Yang, and sold a large number of books and tracts. We enjoyed also many opportunities of preaching to the people. May some good come of our effort. We were greatly cheered and helped to discover a Christian of our own Church in the city. There are now two. Many others will, no doubt, be coming forward in due time. What a joy it is to think of Teng as actually there I We are praying for him and his companion. May fiod help them to bear a good witness for Him in that distant city."
In addition to this expanding country work and settle- ment of evangelists in country stations, the leaders of the Central China ]\Iission are just now impressed with two great needs : (1) with the need of much more efficient elementary education on definite Christian lines ; and (2) with the need of training native workers. With mach careful and prayerful thought they have worked out a scheiue and submitted the same to the Directors. They wish to organise their primary or elementary schools both for boys and girls ; to start a high
school for boys with accommodation for boarders, and a boarding school for girls; and lastly to found a college with a theological and a medical branch, in which native preachers, teachers, and pastors on the one hand, medical assistants, dressers, and medical evangelists on the other, may receive adequate training. With such proposals the Directors cannot but be in sympathy, and most sincerely do they hope that the auxiliaries through- out the country, to whom they are appealing, will furnish adequate funds for carrying them into effect. The call to go forward, to seize the grand opportunity that presents itself, to enter the open door, is so clear that they cannot resist the conviction that the churches generally will hear it and loyally respond.
When Mr. and Mrs. Samuel D. Wills were recently in Trevandnim, the capital of Travancore, they were the recipients of several addresses of welcome from various Chr'stian commumties, but what was i)erhaps most gratify- ing was the request that they would receive an address from the non-Christian Hindu community — sucli a request could not i)08sibly have been made a few years ago, owing to caste and religious prejudices. At the meeting, which was well attended, were about fifteen graduates of the University of Madras. The Western Star of February !tth gives the text of the address as follows: — "To Samuel D. Wills, Esq., J. P., Bristol. Sill, — It is with feelings of great jjleasure that we welcome Mrs. Wills and yourself in our midst. We, the Hindu inhabitants of Travancore, are quite conscious of the good work done by the missionary societies in our midst, especially in the spread of education among the lower classes of the jjeojile, and in their noble endeavours to raise the material and moral condition of the lowest classes of the people in Travancore. We accord, therefore, a hearty wel- come to a person who has given, not only wealth in this g^eat cause, but has devoted his dear children to this noble work in this far away land. In this connection we cannot omit to express the high regard and resjject we entertain towards Mr. Harold T. Wills, whose kind and genial manners, enthusiasm, skill, and fairness in religious dis- cussion, are thoroughly appreciated by us. We take this opi)Ortunity of expressing our feelings of gratitude to the philanthroi)ic gentlemen in England who have spent, out of Christian charity, so much money for imj^roving the condi- tion of the people of our country, and for bringing before them a high and noble ideal of life. Once more expressing our feelings of joy at your presence in our midst, we remain. Sir, your most obedient servants, the Hindu In- habitants OF Travancore."
August, 1898.
197
AT the request of the Committee of the Metropolitan Auxiliary Council, the Board of Directors have set apart the Rev. C. Jukes, of Madagascar, to succeed the Rev. I. H. Hacker, of Travancore, in special deputation service amongst the churches and Sunday-schools of the Metropolitan Auxiliary. Mr. Jukes has lately returned from the island, and has a thrilling story to tell of the sufferings and fidelity of native pastors and congregations during the recent troubles and per- secutions ; and it is hoped that his visit to the London churches — especially to those which Mr. Hacker had not time to visit — wUl deepen and extend interest in the Society's work.
Ox July 5th a garden party was held, by the kind invitation of Mr. and Mrs. E. Rider Cook, at Woodford House, Woodford, to which all the East District ministers and delegates, with their wives, were invited, and seventy-eight attended. After duly inspecting the beautiful gardens, tea was served in a tent, and at six o'clock an open-air meeting was held, presided over by Mr. E. Rider Cook, who called upon the oldest minister present to offer prayer (the Rev. G. Wilkinson). Then Rev. G. Cousins spoke on the better times now come in Madagascar, and men- tioned that, since I he had been in the garden, a friend had told him of a gentleman who was willing to give £10, if nine others would do the same, for the Hunan Mission ; but, as that money had all come in, Mr. Cousins pleaded that this amount should be given to Central China. Rev. A. E. Hunt was the next speaker, and he gave three missionary stories. Firstly, the great work accomplished in the Island of Mare by a native Christian named Matika. Secondly, the landing at Murray Island of two boats containing the survivors of a wrecked Norwegian boat, who feared whether they would be killed and eaten, but were re- ceived and cared for by a people who were considered to be the most savage race on the earth. Thirdly, he told the story of the three heathen chiefs who called on him, and seemed so friyrhtened as to what would happen next, but were quite reassured when they found themselves heaped with presents and shown that God was good, just, and true, and that His Son had died for them. Ultimately they became faithful disciples, and now they are fast friends of the L.M.S., and have adopted Christianity. Mr. Hunt stated that his own people had sub- scribed £29 for the L.M.S,, and, when they heard of the short- ness of supply, they raised £30 more. The Rev. G. H. Sandwell closed the meeting with prayer.
Some young ladies in a large village in Suffolk, where there was but little missionary interest, set m work in rather a novel way. They left a copy of the little book entitled " Grannie's Golden Gift " at each of the cottages, saying they would call
again later on and s if the readers would like to give anything to foreign missions (stimulated by Grannie's example). The result was some pounds to the missionary cause. Miss Ruther- ford has lately written another little book, entitled " This Shall be Told." It is an exquisite little story of real life, and the proceeds of its sale go to support an -orphan child in South India.
A POWERFUL PLEA FOR MEDICAL MISSIOMS.
By theSjpeciql Correspondent of the "Daily Telegraph." "
T HAVE always acted on the theory that the persons who know most of the social condition of any people are the doctors and the clergy. The one class see the shadier and the other the brighter side of humanity, but both go down to the depths. If that is so in other lands, especially is it true in this (China), where superstition, race- jealousy, estrange- ment of sex, and rigorous etiquette form so many barriers. And above all is it the case where you have medico and parson combined. Dr. Morrison, " the Australian in China " — not a missionary, but an entertaining traveller — reports that in one year 3,717 Chinese converts cost about £350,000 — rather less than £100 apiece ; and he seems to think them dear at the price. I take a different view. If the mission- aries made no converts for ten years I should consider the two or three thousand of them scattered over this vast empire to be doing work well worth the paltry cost. So long as they remain the sole agents of civilisation to be- friend the poor and the sick, standing by them in times of epidemic, flood, drought, and famine, and putting to shame their horrible superstitions, the money is well spent. It is not a matter of creeds merely, but of human lives. Nothing is more cruel than spectral fear. To their sick and dying the Chinese often behave witB revolting barbarity, not from want of natural feeling, but through fear of demons. In Yimnan a form of fever, attended with great pain and delirium, prevails ; it is probably malarious, and iji nine cases out of ten is fatal. A person who is attacked is deserted like a leper, the utmost done even for a parent being to place him in a solitary chamber with a vessel of water by his side. The affrighted relatives never venture nearer than to prod the victim with a pole to discover whether any life is left. All parts of the room, they say, are full of devils, and even the tables and mattresses writhe about and utter voices. Into such places it is only the medical missionary or Sister of Charity that enters, taking precautions, possibly, against infection, but utterly regardless of the multitudinous devils, writhing mattresses, and audible voices. Single-handed in many cases they face the risk of contagion. The treatment of moribund children is even more unnatural, and that, too, here in North China, where infanticide is not practised. When death is apparently near,
* From the Daily Telegraph of Saturday, June 25th.
198
A POWERFUL FLEA FOR MEDICAL MISS WHS.
AUGTTST, 1898.
the infant is stripped naked and placed on the floor of brick or earth, just within the outer door of the room. There the parents leave it and watch the issue. If it survives it is their true chUd ; if not, it never was their own flesh and blood, but a fiend sent to vex them. The Rev. G. Owen tells me that two or three days ago he heard a woman here in Pekin trying to console another in this fashion : " Don't cry, dear ; you know it was not really your child, but an evil spirit." In this case the infant had expired in its mother's arms, and the consolation had no eft'ect. In some places, when the child is dead, the horrible custom exists of crushing the remains into an indistinguishable mass, to prevent the "devil" from returning to molest the family; in others, a stranger is paid to carry away the body, so that the spirit may not know the way back to the house. More often, in this city, it is picked up by the dead-cart, "the Land-ships of Merc y," as the Buddhists call it. Sometimes a missionary'
llR. ELIOT CUltWKX.
wife or a Sister of Mercy hears what is transpiring in time to rescue the poor wait. She does not neglect to tell the parents — not heartless, but demon-ridden — that a religion which permits atrocities like these cannot be true. I call this fighting superstition at close quarters.
During the last two or three days I have been visiting the Pekin Hospital in connection with the London Missionary Society— not only the first of its kind, but the first of any kind, ever established in this city. The Chinese showed their superiority by getting along without hospitals. In a dingy, densely-peopled thoroughfare stands the " Shih i Yuan," literally "Bestowing Healing Compound" (or enclosure). Fronting the street is a building of the mission- room type at home. Behind are a row of one storey waiting rooms, wards, operating rooms, residences, and a good, sub- stantial church. In the mission building eighty or a hundred men are waiting their turn to see the doctor, and to
improve the time a native teacher talks and lectures, or a blind assistant reads to the audience. How the blind man can read by raised letters is a ceaseless wonder to the Chinese. In the courtyard I found Dr. Eliot Curwen engaged with a bad case of peritonitis. A young woman, about twenty years old, had been brought on a litter. When the Chinese quacks, and they rank with the worst order extant, examine a female patient, they defer to etiquette, and the woman exhibits her hand and wrist from behind a curtain. By the mere feel of the pulse your native Galen can diagnose over 300 diseases. Our medical men stand no such nonsense. Be it Empress-Dowager or Ah Sin's wife they insist upon a proper examination, and it is well they do so. Every opportimity should be taken to break down the wretched formalism. Experience shows it to be the merest sham. Reports before me state that the sweeping assertions with regard to the great difficulty of access to Chinese women by male physicians have not been found to hold good. While the doctor examined his patient I had an object-lesson in Chinese characteristics. "How long has your daughter been suffering ? " he asked. " Four months," "Two years," promptly replied the trusty parents with customary accuracy in regard to time. To the inquiry, What was the cause ? you rarely get an intelligent answer. The Chinaman has no idea of causation. In a whole row of cases, " Oh, it came of itself," was the explanation.
A pleasanter thing to notice was the evidence of low susceptibility. While the surgeon probed a wound in a maimer to make me cringe, the patient looked on rather as an interested spectator. The same thing one saw again and again. With terrible sores and wounds, with symptoms which the kindly doctor intimated to me, but not to the sufi^erer, must be fatal, they came up smiling. Unless in the case of a mother now and then — " a woman naturally born to fears " — I do not think I saw one anxious face. Under the knife they h'ardly winced. One strong-looking fellow had a bad compound fracture of the left leg, with two [ inches of bone protruding, fracture of the right leg, the left humerus (upper arm) and three ribs broken, and his skull cracked, as the result of a pit accident. What to us Westerns would have been torture he had borne for a fortnight before coming to the hospital, and here underwent difficult and painful operations with what George Eliot has called " clear- eyed endurance." The Rev. A. H. Smith, who believes in Chinese absence of nerves, says: " It is common, or rather, almost universal, for the patients to bear without flinching a degree of pain from which the stoutest of us would shrink in terror." Dr. Eliot Curwen's experience confirms this cheerful dictum. He holds strongly that capacity for pleasure and pain go together; we enjoy more and we suffer more than these Orientals. It is a belief to thank Heaven for, robbing the dark past of much of its horror. As I stood by the side of this brave fellow I could not help asking what would have happened without the Shih i Yuan ?
August. 1898.
A POWERFUL PLEA FOR MEDICAL MISSIONS.
100
What does happen where there are no missionaries, and, therefore, uo hospitals : Of the 104 patients on the first day I was there, and 143 the day before — including eunuchs of the Paljice, the son of an otticial, a few smaU traders, and the rest mostly of the very poor — the great bulk must have gone unrelieved. In many of the cases of cancer, tumours, dropsy, malignant sores, wounds, fractures, troubles of the eye, the issues would have been lingering pain, loss of sight, useless limbs, death, spite of that marvellous vitality of the Chinese, which must contribute to the great success of these institutions. A less pleasing circumstance was that nearly all the patients were dirty. Every bared leg, arm, and bresist was coated with the dust of Pekin. " We cannot get them to wash," said the doctor. It is a libel, however, to say that the Celestials never wash. Ablutions are universal at their New Year, and I know personally several who wash even oftener than that. It was most agreeable at Sunday's services to see some hundreds of people with clean faces. There, at least, was one advantage derived from Christianity. Not the least of the cheering features of the place was the skill of the native assistants. One of these actually carried on the work during the illness of his chief. This gentleman bears the poetic name Li Hsiao Chiian — the pear-tree by the flowing stream. Another of the practi- tioner's boys was To Foh — budding happiness or felicity. It sounded rather odd to hear the master call, "Budding felicity, brush my shoes."
Far higher than the physical effects of this work I rate the moral and intellectual. The magic of Western surgery is possibly doing more for China than all the preaching. You must see the actual working to realise it. An elderly man came to the hospital with a large growth on the tongue. The doctor told his assistant to prepare the electric battery. " Now," said he to the old fellow, " close your eyes and put out your tongue." The cautery was applied. " That will do ; open your eyes." There was the excresence on the palm of the doctor's hand. The amazement of that son of Han was a thing to see. Confucius never dreamt of ansesthetics and disinfectants, and the bigoted and pedantic literati find it a hard fight with chloroform and carbolic acid. "Will it hurt much?" asked a poor fellow whose foot, crushed on the railway, had to come off. ' ' Not a great deal," replied the doctor. " I will give you a whiff of this stuff." So the man inhaled a good dose of chloroform, and toward the end of the operation ether also was applied. In a few seconds he came round, and, unlike his countrymen generally, was still a little anxious about the pain. Imagine his wonderment when the surgeon said : " Is it the foot you are asking about ? Why, it's off, my dear fellow I " I fear that few of those benefited rise to the conception of the disinterested benevolence involved. Advice, medicine and operations are without money and without price, those applicants alone excepted who come with diseases they ought not to have. The opium-smoker, for instance, must pay for
his fourteen days' detention and food. There may be better ways of promoting humanity and civilisation ; if so, one would like to see them at work. Secular-minded persons might prefer to eliminate the religious element. So be it ; they can have two or three hundred millions of men, women and children unspoilt by theological bias. It is not the fault of the Episcopal, Methodist, Baptist, Congregational, and Catholic Churches that they occupy the field alone. At their spiritual work I have not glanced. To many the magnificent Eoman Catholic ritual in their fine cathedral, or the noble prayers of the Church of England from hundreds of Chinese lips would not appeal. They might not have been moved to hear, as I did yesterday (Sunday) morning, "O God, our help in ages past," to the old tune, but to words that Confucius would have understood. If I am not mistaken, the contributors to these missions would have felt some emotion. In the afternoon I heard six or eight hundred children and a couple of hundred men and women join in that most widely diffused of all hymns, the simple air "There is a happy land." This was at the American Methodist Episcopal Mission School, of which the Rev. Dr. Lowry, President of the Pekin University, is the super- intendent, while his son, a member of the United States Legation, conducts the music. It may be allowed to count in our estimate that once a week a few hundred thousands of these ])eople are withdrawn from Sunday-less, unresting toil, that they are taught a higher morality and a nobler theology, that a ray of biightness now and then is thrown over their lot, and lives, no longer demon-haunted, are made happier. At any rate, it is safe to say that without the Christian Missions there would not exist one single hospital throughout the length and breadth of China. That, at least, may pass for something.
THE LABOURERS ARE FEW.
"UiTHEN Stanley made his journey of 999 days across the
' Continent of Africa, in the course of 7,000 miles, he never saw the face of a Christian, nor of a man who had had an opportunity to become one. — Tlie Student Volunteer.
Of the 9+2 great Fu cities in ten of the provinces of China, 908 are without a missionary. — Itegions Beyond, 1896, jj. 15.
For the 8,000,000 people of Kiang-si there are only seven missionaries. — Missionary Ecview, 1890, p. 117.
The great Honan Plain, in China, with its 8,000,000 people and 02 chief cities, is unreached by the Gospel. — Missionary Review, IS'M>, p. 222.
Of the 290,000,000 people in India, 207,000,000 are Hindus, and 58,000,000 Mohammedans.
In the Bara Bazar division of Calcutta there are nearly 100,000 natives, for evangelising whom there is not one ordained mis- sionary. There is not a single Protestant church in the district, and only one small preaching room, which is capable of seating 30 people ! — C.M.S. Annual Letters, 1896, p. 91.
200
THE WORLD-WIDE FIELD.
August, 1898.
A GERMAN pastor in America writes concerning the recent International Students' Missionary Convention in Cleveland, Ohio : As regards the special character of these missionary assemblies, I must say that I vyas most agreeably disillusioned as they went on. I confess that I entered the first meeting with a certain amount of prejudice. I had fancied that they aimed at excitement and at an unnatural kind of forcing. But in fact they were just the opposite of all this. There was no trace of any method used for the purpose of exciting and forcing weak minds. There was not even any applause allowed. In a word, the spirit which ruled these meetings was in every respect a good spirit. It was the Holy Spirit who manifested Himself in the singing, in the prayers, and in the reading. And, therefore, such meetings must be of lasting blessing. — Allgcmeine Musions- zeitschrift.
You cannot detect the leaven in the flour until it has shown itself by fermentation, and in the same way Christianity is often a hidden force, which nevertheless acts persistently and pro- gressively. This is what the church of Thaba-Bossion has been reaching to us during the year which has just ended. The meetings for humiliation, which were called at the time of the disasters which came upon the tribe, were quickly changed into meetings of thanksgiving. The harvest of souls surpassed all expectation. The chapel was crowded, and the young people were praying to God for their own conversion and that of their parents. The chief Senei publicly humbled himself for having been the cause of scandal by permitting brandy-drinking in his village. — Journal des Missions Evangeliques.
A msTOKY of bells would be very interesting from a mission- ary point of view ; the church of Bethesda could furnish a pretty instance. A heathen feast of circumcision was taking place at Moroboug, and groups of heathen from all the villages round were flocking to the ceremony. One of the most eager was a man of middle age, in one of these companies. Suddenly the tinkling of a bell strikes his ear. " It is not Sunday," he says to himself ; " we are in the middle of the week". Ah ! it is the evangelist calling his class ! " A vague trouble enters his heart, and he hastens his steps. The bell continues to send its shrill sounds through the air ; his uneasiness increases ; the pleasures which he promised himself at the feast lose their powerful attraction. Ding, dong ! He cannot hold out any more ; it is God who is calling him. He leaves his companions, and rushing to the evangelist's house, cries, " I also wish to be taught." In a few moments the door opens again, and a woman slips in by his side. It is his wife ; she also has heard the bell, and has left one of the heathen companies. Unwittingly, husband and wife met in the house of the evangelist, with the same end in view. Thanks to the bell, the way of darkness had become to both of them like Paul's road to Damascus. — Journal dfs Missions Evaiigiliques.
From the religious point of view, the past year has been a good one for my church, writes M. Vollet, from the Lessonto. The services have never been better attended since I came to Likhoele. In the midst of their anxieties, their sufferings, and their losses, our Christians have never ceased to show that trustful submission to the will of God which is the touchstone of religious conviction. Conversions have been more numerous than in the preceding years, and our numbers have been increased by sixty-eight. But what has given me much more joy than this numerical progress is the religious worth of some of these conversions. I have seen with my own eyes the marvellous transformations which are wrought in certain privileged natures by the action of the Spirit of God. I have seen some women, who had passed the greater part of their life in ignorance, suddenly transformed by the touch of Christ, and becoming truly new creatures, centres of warmth and light, not only for the heathen in the midst of whom they had been living almost exclusively, but for the Christians of long standing, and — why should I not say it ? — for their missionary himself. — Journal des Missions Ecdiigeliq ttes.
The Scandinavian Alliance Mission has its centre of activity in Siugan, the former capital of China, where its missionaries established themselves in a very remarkable manner. The man- darins and officials of this town were at first extremely hostile to missionaries, and drove them unceremoniously away. The Scan- dinavians tried to avert this in a very original way. They were good performers on the guitar, and had some beautiful voices amongst them, so they went before the high oflScials with their instruments, and performed the most beautiful music. They did the same in the streets and squares before the people. And as the walls of Jericho fell down at the sound of the Israelitish trumpets, so the Mongolian hearts of Singan were overcome by the sweet tones of the guitar and the voice, and the mandarins became so well disposed to the Scandinavians that they not only allowed them to remain, but helped them to begin missionary work in other towns. — Evangrlischis Missionsmagazin.
The same society has missions in Bhutan, on the northern border of India ; but we regret to learn that (according to the Ecaiigelischc" Mixxiotix-nuigazin) they have been greatly hindered in their work by the English lieutenant who commands a hand- ful of troops in Baksa Duar, and who will not allow them to penetrate into the independent part of Bhutan, because the English Government is so unaccountably weak and complaisant as to assist the little Prince of Bhutan in carrying out his desire of excluding all foreigners from his dominions. In the same way (continues the Magazin) the Engli.sh Government helps to maintain the exclusion of foreigners from Tibet. But why should England any longer assist in upholding this absurd regu- lation ? Either Tibet belongs to China or it does not. If it does, it ought to be as free to any European as China is ; if it does not, any European ought to be as free to enter it as any other Asiatic country. Why should further support be given to the corrupt Lama government in Lassa by this careful watching of the frontier in Sikkim .'
August, 1898.
NEWS FROM OUR STATIONS.
201
The Allgi-meinr MMonxzritschrift is now publishing some Sketches of Eogliah Missionary Society," by Julius Richter, in which the plain-speaking characteristic of that journal is combined with a sympathetic tolerance for other points of view than its own. We extract the following from a most interesting account of Pastor Richter's visit to Mr. Hudson Taylor at the China Inland Mission House : — " Hudson Taylor makes extra- ordinarily ample use of the services of unmarried ladies : whole districts of the Chinese mission-tield are exclusively under the management of mission-sisters. I took the liberty of suggesting how unbecoming and repellant to our German ideas was this free employment of single mission-sisters in the midst of entirely heathen districts. Taylor replied : You look at the matter with your German or European eyes : but our experience shows ns that the situation in China is quite different to what you think. We never allow a mission-sister to go alone, but we always send a married Chinese catechist with her. You will say, perhaps, this Chinaman cannot protect the white missionary lady / But the Chinese judge otherwise, and in their eyes the Chinese married pair are an entirely sufficient protection for the honour and the good name of the European lady. And what advantages there are for us in this use of the mission -sisters I The native catechist never comes to true inward independence at a station where he works under a European missionary ; he feels himself to be only the dependent journeyman of the other, and is hardly noticed by the Chinese in presence of the overwhelming superiority of the European. It is quite otherwise when he is associated with a missionary sister ; then the whole work of teaching and preaching and representing the mission to out- siders devolves upon him ; he counts as the head of the mission, and must act independently. But at the same time he is under the control of the mission-sister, who is with him to advise and instruct him, and to report about him. The sister herself has a sufficient sphere of activity in the female part of the heathen population and the Christian Church, and if sometimes men also listen to her Bible-lessons, no offence is given. Of course, a great deal of tact is necessary for the sister and the catechist to maintain their mutual position."
The Foreign Secretary, Rev. R. Wardlaw Thompson, has returned home laden with spoils." A room in H, Blomfield Street is temporarily filled with the offerings of the South Sea Islanders and Xew Guinea natives. Dozens of fibre mats of all sizes, scores of spears, clubs, bows and other weapons, coral and shells, baskets, hats and fans of many shapes, native garments, necklaces and armlets, household utensils, models and curios ancient and modern. These are some of the tokens of love and gratitude made to the representative of the old Society from those who have benefited by its work. As Mr. Thompson cannot possibly house a tenth part of the collection, duplicates will be offered for sale to the Directors and friends of the Society on September 12th, 13th, and 11th. Full particulars will be given next month.
It is stated that only one quarter per cent, of the Japanese are Christians. This calculation includes Greek and Roman Catholic, as well as Protestant Christians. — MUsionary Review, 1896, p. 221.
Notice to the Chronicle's " Own Correspondents." — The Editor wishes hereby to thank Missionary Correspon- dents for facts sent for this column of the Chronicle. Perhaps no part of the magazine has proved more useful and stimulating to members of the Watchers' Band and C.E. Societies. Will all missionaries kindly keep this column in mind, and jot down and send to the Editor post- card and other notes of current events in their work t By so doing they will help many.
Intelligence should be posted so as to reach the Editor hy the \Qth of the month preceding the n«w issue..
INDIA.
A FEW weeks ago a chapel in one of our A CHAPEL outlying villages was burnt to the ground BURNT. by some hostile neighbour. The people, being exceedingly poor, are unable to re- place it, and, having no other place for public worship, are in deep distress. If some sympathetic reader of the Chronicle coidd meet this lamentable need, £10 would be sufl&cient for the purpose. T. W. Bach.
Trevandrum.
On May 23rd the Rev. H. H. Theobald MANGARI baptized four of the women (and three MOVING ON. children) who are inmates of Miss Theobald's Women's Home. Six of the women have now received baptism, and others will soon follow. The change in these women, who for the most part when they were first taken in were very rough speci- mens, is delightful to see. Some of them are manifestly now sincere Christians, and prove it by their whole life. On May 29th Mr. Theobald also baptized four youths who have been for some time under Christian instruction. One of these, the youngest of the four — a lad of about twelve — when he first came to the mission, was beaten and in other ways punished by his mother and his uncle, and they several times took him back home, but each time he returned, and at length they left him alone. He attends the mission school half the day, and does field and coolie work the other half. He is a bright lad, and is making good progress in every way. Such young converts often become the strength and backbone of a mission. Mangari is moving on.
MADAGASCAE. At a meeting of the Committee of the ENDURINQ Congregational Union we had an interest- hardship. ing interview with an evangelist and his wife just returned from the north-west of
202
NEWS FROM OUR STATIONS.
August, 1898.
the island. For months we had received no tidings of these friends, and we began to fear they must have fallen victims to the rebels. They told us that the town where they were stationed was attacked and burned. They lost all their property, but escaped with their lives and a Bible and a few sermons. For five months they were in biding, chiefly in the woods, where they subsisted on berries and leaves. Much of their food consisted of the fruit of a species of arum, common in all marshy districts. They brought us some specimens of this food. There were two children, one a baby in arms. For this little one they were able at times to get wild honey, which they mixed with water and gave the chUd. At times, when it was dark, a few of their Christian friends would come stealthily and join in reading and prayer. After months of this wander- ing life, they at last got to a French port at Analalava. The commandant was very kind to them. Almost all the Hovas of the district (some 2,000 of tbem) had taken refuge at this place. Our friends sent us letters which never reached us. They had no money, and could not undertake the long journey back without it. At last, someone lent them enough, and they started. The husband walked, and the wife was at times carried by two men in a kind of sling. One of the children was put into an open wicker-basket such as turkeys are carried in, and slung on one end of a pole, the pots and pans being at the other end. After six or eight weeks our friends reached Antananarivo in safety ; and at the very meeting in which they told us the story of their escape and wanderings, they volunteered for fresh service, so that hardships have not quenched their missionary spirit. W. E. C.
Mrs. a. S. Huckett writes from Fian- "WoRK AMONG arantsoa concerning her work among LEPERS. lepers: — "It was very cheering to receive such a practical proof of the Directors' appreciation of oxir work at Ambohimandroso, and I write to thank them heartily for their sympathy, as shown by their voluntary grant of £10 per annum towards its support. We were not expecting it, but it was none the less welcome. It was a great pleasure to us that the deputation saw this branch of our work in its normal condition. Through all the adverse circumstances of the past, the leper settlement has been unmolested, and the work has gone on most encouragingly. It has been our joy to comfort many poor lepers who felt themselves ' outcasts ' of God and man, they having been ignored alike by friend and foe, and left to die by the wayside, or eke out a miserable existence by begging of the passers-by. No words can portray the abject condition of some on coming to us, and it would be difficult for anyone to imagine it who saw them now. Home, food, clothing, and medicine work wonders on their poor afflicted bodies, and are no mean agents in enabling us to reach their souls."
Mb3. Huckett continues: — "The dis- SHALL WE EX- interested loving care of strangers for TEND THE them is a mystery to many of these poor WORK ? sufferers ; and as they are taught to look to God as the author of it, no wonder their loving gratitude is excited, and thus they are led to yield themselves to Him. During the past year two who had learnt to know and love Jesus as their Saviour during their residence with us exchanged their life of sufiPering for one of rest and peace, making three who have passed through our leper homes to the home above rejoicing in the healing power of the Great Physician. We have thirty-six lepers under our care at the present time, which are all we have room for, one of the houses being set apart for the rse of the caretaker and his wife, who are not included in the thirty-six. Other applicants have sought admission lately, but we have been obliged to refuse them. Only two days ago a poor woman pleaded with us to take in her husband and son ; and we found it hard to say it was ' impossible,' but we have to guard against overcrowding. We are asking ourselves, ' Shall we extend the work ? ' There seems to be a demand for it ; yet, everything has so changed in Mada- gascar during the last year or two that we hesitate. Labour has become so expensive that to build now would cost at least three or four times the price we paid formerly. Food, too, is very dear. For several weeks recently we paid nine shillings for a measure of rice which could be bought for a shilling a few years ago 1 AH these considerations make us halt, although there are times when we almost hear the reproachful ' O ye of little faith.' Hitherto we have been very clearly guided in this work. It is wonderful how its needs have been met, and this spontaneous advance of the Directors we take as another proof of God's approval of it. So we await further indication of His will in this matter."
AFEICA.
Since his return to Kuruman from the AWAKENED last District Committee meeting, the Rev. INTEREST AT J. T. Brown has had much to cheer him in KURUMAN. his work. " Our services are being much better attended, and by a number of people who wete not in the habit of coming to church. At the Thursday afternoon Bible-reading — a service which I commenced about a month ago — the attendance has been as good as we often used to get on a Sunday. A number of Dutch-speaking natives have been living here for some time, and we have begun a separate series of services for them. This meant the loss of from thirty to forty at our usual service. Nevertheless, the Bechuana congregation has grown from Sunday to Sunday, and at our service yesterday morning (May 15th) we had 170 adults."
August, 1898.
NEWS FROM OUR STATIONS.
203
" Centenary " Statiou, which is one of FOUNDATION- the direct outcomes of the Centenary Fund STONE LAYING AT movement, is situated six miles west of Fig " CENTENARY." Tree, and thirty miles south-west of Bulawnyo, and is off the main road from Mafekiug, and away from all white civilisation. The district is Umycgwane, called after a very high kopje of that name, which forms one of the beacons marking out the Mission estate of (i.OOO acres granted to the L.M.S. by the Government. The new station is on high ground, being about 4,400 feet above sea level, and overlooks a wide and picturesque valley, through which the Gululu River passes to join the Uwai, an important tributary of the Zambesi. There are a dozen native villages on the Mission lands, and within half a day's journey some fifty or sixty villages can be reached. The local chief is Mazwi, who was loyal to the British in the recent rebellion, and he rules over 2,000 people. This chief is very anxious to move his town on to the Mission lands, as he and his people are desirous to secure the benefits of the Mission, and the removal will take place soon. On arriving at the Mission the writer found the Rev. Mr. Carnegie making a sledge on which to carry stone for the Mission buildings, and some twenty young native men were busily engaged making bricks at the rate of 4,000 a day. A mason was at work at the foundation. At present the Mission is housed in native huts. At the request of Mr. and Mrs. Carnegie the foundation-stone of the Mission chm-ch was laid by Mr. R. X. Hall, of Bulawayo. The ceremony took place on the Queen's birthday in the presence of a small company of white people, and was unique and historical, as this was the first foundation-stone laid in West Matabeleland. Under the stone were placed the L.M.S. Chronicle for April and a recent copy of the Christian World. The church will, for the present, be built with poles, each native being asked to bring at least one pole of a certain length. Mr. Carnegie states that the spirit of the people is excellent, that they are glad to have the Mission, and that the prospects are very encouraging. His great lack is of native teachers — each of whom costs £35 a year— for with two or three of these the amoimt of work accomplished in the schools and by industrial training could be immensely extended.
SOUTH SEAS. The Samoan District Committee of TWENTY-FIFTH Missionaries held their twenty- fifth annual AmruAL meeting with the native delegates, pastors, MEETING OF and deacons from all the districts of Samoa SAMOAN in May. There were present 190 pastors PASTORS, &c. and 187 deacons and other representatives, making a total of 377. The meetings commenced on Monday evening. May 9th, with sectional devotional meetings, to implore the Divine blessing on the assembly. The united assembly opened on Tuesday morning
with the communion service, when the Chairman (the Rev. J. Marriott) and the Rev. W. E. Goward gave addresses. The afternoon session was devoted to the reading of a pajier by the Rev. E. V. Cooper on "Mormonism: its doctrines not in harmony with the Word of God." The paper was an exhaustive exposure of the heresies of Mormonism, especially as regards the doctrine of God. Many of the native pastors and deacons took part in the discussion which ensued, which toak the form of (juestions to Mr. Cooper on the subject of the paper. A most interesting and inspiring ordination service was held in the evening. The service was very well attended. Ten young men, who had all had several years' trial in village charges, were ordained. These were — from Falealili three (one of whom is appointed to New Guinea), from Tutuila two, from Apia one, from the Itu-o-Tane two, from Malua district one, and from Aana one. Each of the candidates made a brief statement of his religious experience and the faith of his heart. Many of these statements were most touching and inspiring. The committee especially commend Kuresa, of the Malua District, and Siaosi, of the Aana district, not only for these public utterances, but for the very full and intelligent answers given in writing previous to ordination. It was a cause of much thankfulness to the assembly that the committee were able to announce, in response to the appeal from New Guinea for eleven teachers from Samoa, that they had already been able to appoint eight, of whom three were students from the Ell ice Group who are now completing their course at Malua. The ordination of men in the assembly was a new departure which, for all reasons, is a more excellent way than the practice of ordaining men in the villages, and will advance the policy of the committee to ccntraHse the work of the Mission, especially in the registration of pastors without charges, who may be available for work in weak districts or foreign service. Mr. Marriott presided at the ordination service, Mr. Cooper offered the ordination prayer, and Mr. Newell gave the charge to the new pastors. Wednesday and Thursday were largely occupied in the discussion of resolutions proposed by the committee to the assembly. One on cruelty to animals led to a lively discussion, and the subsequent decision to appoint Saaga (assistant tutor at Malua) to read a paper on the subject at the next annual meeting. Many of the resolutions took the form of recommendations and exhortations to the churches, in this respect contrasting with the legislation attempted by the annual assembly until recent years. The ever-recurring and difficult question of marriage registration and marriage reform was again a subject of discussion.
" He who soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly ; and he who Boweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. . . . For Grcd loveth a cheerful giver." — 2 Cor. ix. C, 7,
204
ANNOUNCEMENTS.
August, 1898.
CHIN" A. — The Rev. J. Parker, of Mongolia, is coming- home for rest and change, much needed after the many trying expe- riences and hardships through which he has passed during his connection with that isolated Mission. He was to leave China on .July Ist.
Madagascar. — Much to the regret of their colleagues in Betsileo, the Rev. J. and Mrs. Pearse have left Fianarantsoa, and bravely volunteered to visit the Antsihanaka country, with which they were years ago so honourably connected, and help to re-establish that Mission if it was found desirable to do so. On the eve of their departure, their colleagues, assembled in com- mittee, passed a resolution of absolute confidence in them and the nature of the work they have so efficiently accomplished at Fianarantsoa. On April 7th, at the close of a devotional service, an address, signed by all the members of the Mission, was read by Mr. A. S. Huckett, and a testimonial presented to Mr. and Mrs. Pearse, as an expression of the very high esteem and affec- tion in which they are held.
Africa. — Mr. Walter Draper, who has bravely held on in charge of Urambo Mission Station, Central Africa, since Mr. Shaw's return, and whose service in that country has extended over close on ten years, expected to leave for well-deserved rest in this country at the beginning of May. He had handed over charge of the Mission to the Moravian missionaries, and the latter were making a good start.
South Skas. — The Rev. S. M. Creagh, in his seventy-second year, has once again gone to Lifu to look after the interests of the Loyalty Islands during the absence of the Rev. J. HadJield. Mr. Creagh wrote from Noumea ini, route : — " We (Mr. and Mrs. Creagh) hear that the people of Marc are to give us a hearty reception. Noumea contains a population of about 4,000 ; a large proportion of these are Loyalty Islanders. I can never go outside the door without running up against Mare, or Lifu, or Cuvean men, all of whom rush up to me to shake hands and say a few hearty words. I feel proud to be so respected and esteemed by these dusky and warm-hearted people. Not only this, but the good people of the Homebush Church (Sydney), with which Mrs. Creagh and I and family have been connected, and of which I was a deacon and the treasurer, and Mrs. Creagh was a deaconess for many years, gave us a very cordial send-off and God-speed, and manifested their esteem in a substantial way by presenting me with a handsome gold watch, and Mrs. Creagh with a diamond brooch. All this came upon us as a great sur- prise, but was no less appreciated by us. We feel almost over- whelmed by their expressions of love and esteem, and praise God for it all." — News has reached Sydney, we learn from the
Sydney Morning Herald, of an alarming outbreak of sickness in the Loyalty Islands, brought to Lifu, it is believed, by a schooner from the nickel port of Tchio, on the New Caledonian coast. On April 26th, the death-roll at Lifu was seventy-five, and the epidemic was spreading. At first it was thought that the natives were suffering from simple cholera, but. now it is believed to be either the black plague or Asiatic cholera. Dr. Hebrard con- siders it to be a species of sickness not previously known on the islands.
WATCHERS' BAND.
THE special attention of Branch Secretaries of the Watchers' Band is called to the meeting to be held at the Mission House on Thursday afternoon, September 1.5th, at three o'clock. From three to four there will be the usual weekly prayer meeting, at four o'clock a cup of tea and an opportunity of shaking hands with the new Secretary, at 4.20 a conference on the best means of extending the operations of the Band. It is hoped that all secretaries will endeavour to be present. If any cannot come they are requested to arrange, if possible, for some other member to represent their branch. Hospitality will be arranged for all representatives coming from a distance who communicate with the General Secretary on or before September 1st. Any suggestions sent in writing by friends unable to be present will be carefully considered.
ANNOUNCEMENTS.
arrtvaxs.
Rev. T. Eowlaxds, Mus. Howi.ands, and child, from Ambohimandboso, MjiuAiiAsi AU, vid Marseilles, June 16th.
Dr. G. S. 'Waltox and Miis. Wat.tox, from HiAU Kan, Central China, per steamer Home, J\me 21st.
Kkv. J. 1 ADKiEi.n and Mrs. Hadkikld, from Lifu, Loyaltv Islands, South rA< ifk:, per steamer Oratavo, .June 26th.
Kev. E. Pbvce Jones, Mrs. Jovks, and three children, from Farakaxoana, Madagascar, per steamer Aroya, July 10th.
DEPARTURE.
Rkv. a. W. Wilsox and Mrs. Wilson, transferred to British Guiana, embarked at Southampton, i)er steamer Medwoy, March 23rd (omitted from earlier Curoxiolk).
MARRIAGE.
Jkxninos — Crumi'.— On Wednesday, Jxily (ith, at New Court Chapel, ToUington Park, by the Kev. W. Pierce, of West Hampstcad, the Rev. Albert E. Jennings, missionary designate to Barkly West, Houth jSfnca., to Miss Mabel Cnunp, fourth daughter of Mr. K. H. Cnuup, of Finsbury Park.
DEATHS.
Paine.— On Saturday, June 18tli, at Kentisli Town, Sarah Elizabeth, the widow of the late Bennington U. Paine, of Bellary, South India, and daughter of the late licv. A. dos Ciranges, of South India, one of the founders of the Telugu Mission, aged 89 yeai-s.
Baron.— On Monday, July 4th, at Sevenoaks, Anne, wife of the Kev. R. Baron, of Madagascar, aged 40 years.
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