£\hvwy of Che t:heolo0(cal ^tminaxy
PRINCETON • NEW JERSEY PRESENTED BY
Hamlll Missionary Fund
~BV~3265 7h65 1901
Holcomb, Helen H. b. 1836. Men of might in India missions
MEN OF MIGHT
IN
INDIA MISSIONS
MEN OF MIGHT
IN
INDIA MISSIONS
The Leaders and Their Epochs 1706-1899
By HELEN H. HOLCOMB
AUTHOR OF
^^ Mabel's Summers in the Himalayas " ^'•Bits About India " FULLY ILLUSTRATED
NEW YORK CHICAGO TORONTO
FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY 1901
Copyright 1901
by
FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY
(September)
DEDICATION
To the young men and maidens whose hearts God has touched, and who in life's fair morning, looking out over the world's great harvest-Held, are asking, " Lord, zvhat wilt thou have me to do?" this volume is dedicated with the prayer that some of those who read these pages, hearing the voice of the Lord saying as He did to His prophet Isaiah, " Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" may answer as did the prophet, " Here am I; send me."
Among the books which have been consulted and from which aid has been received, are the following:
Fenger's History of the Tranquebar Mission ; The Land of the Tamulians and its Missions, by the Rev. E. R. Baierlein; Letters of Ziegenbalg and Pliitschau; Pearson's Life of Schwartz; Life and Times of Carey, Marsh- man and Ward, by John Clark Marshman ; Christianity in India, by the Rev. J. Hough; Life of William Carey, Life of Alexander Duff, Life of John Wilson, Life of Henry Martyn, by George Smith, CLE., LL.D. ; Memoir of Henry Martyn, by the Rev. John Sargent; Life of Gordon Hall, by the Rev. Horatio Bardwell ; Life of Charles T. E. Rhenius, by his son; The Tinnevelly Mission, by the Rev. G. Pettitt; Life of the Rev. John Scudder, by the Rev. J. B. Waterbury, D.D. ; True Yoke-Fellows in the Mission Field: being the Life and Labours of the Rev. John Anderson and the Rev. Robert Johnston, by the Rev. J. Braidwood ; Memoir of the Rev. R. T. Noble, by has brother, the Rev. John Noble. To the very interesting sketch by the Rev. S. A. Gayley, the writer is indebted for the facts connected with the early years of the Rev. Isidor Loewenthal, and of his life in America after his arrival in that country. From the reports sent by Mr. Loewenthal to the Mission Board in America, have been gleaned all that relates to his life and work as a missionary in India.
CONTENTS
PAGI
I. Bartholomew Ziegenbalg. 1706-1719. . . 13 •II. Christian Frederick Schwartz. 1750-1798 . 39 ill. William Carey, Joshua Marshman and Will- iam Ward. 1 793-1 837 65
IV.#Henry Martyn. 1 806-1 81 2 97
V. Jjordon Hall. 1812-1826. . . . .125
VI. Charles T. E. Rhenius. 1814-1838. . . 150
VII. John Scudder. 1819-1855 167
VIII. John Wilson. 1829-1875 190
;, IX, Alexander Duff. 1830-1863 213
X. John Anderson. 1837-1855. . , . 240
XI. Robert T. Noble. 1841-1865 267
XII. Isidor Loewenthal. 1855- 1864. . . . 292
XIII. Samuel H. Kellogg. 1864- 1899. . . .320
ILLUSTRATIONS
FACING PAGE
The Pioneers Frontispiece
Fortress at Tranquebar . . . . . .26
Rock at Trichinopoly 46
Christ Church, Tan j ore . . . r . . 62 Serampore College . . . . . . .88
A Group of Veterans 106
John 3 : 16 in India Languages 138
Village Temple 158
Carrying Grain to Market 176
Malabar Hill 208
Duff College 229
A Busy Village Street 248
Anderson Hall 264
Noble Memorial 288
Fort Jumrood 302
Dr. Kellogg and his Pundit 338
INTRODUCTION
Those lives which have been distinguished for eminent usefulness in connection with Missions in any part of the world, when truly sketched, are, aside from the history with which they are associated, highly entertaining and edifying. The interest we feel in such biographies is, however, greatly enhanced when the influence which they individually exerted upon other workers is clearly traced, and when the links connecting their indi- vidual services are shown. Especially interesting and instructive, in this point of view, is the earlier history of missionary work in India. To trace these historical connections from the beginning to the times of the great Serampore men, and of that other distinguished trio — Wilson, Duff and Anderson — at Bombay, Calcutta and Madras re- spectively, has been one object of this book.
Grand as that beginning was which Bartholo- mew Ziegenbalg, aided by his devoted coadjutor, John Ernest Grundler, made at Tranquebar, in spite of difficulties which to men of another mould than his would doubtless have appeared insur- mountable, the results of the efforts which he put forth so strenuously during the twelve and a half years of missionary service which brought his life 7
3 Introduction
to a close, might as to fruits which should follow them, have counted for nothing, and might soon have passed into oblivion, had not the God of Mis- sions raised up other men of like devotion to per- petuate the work so well begun by him, and had not his influence upon others been such as to in- cline them zealously to follow in his steps.
Truly the way in which India's evangelisation under Protestant auspices commenced showed clearly that God intended India to be evangelised.
The next epoch-making missionary sent out from Halle to the Danish Mission at Tranquebar was Christian Frederick Schwartz. Although not born until seven years after Ziegenbalg's death, the influence of Ziegenbalg still survived to incline him to dedicate his life to the missionary work. The link connecting Ziegenbalg and Schwartz was Schultz, selected by Grundler, whose mission- ary career, like that of Ziegenbalg, was early closed, and who survived his fellow-labourer but little more than a year. Schultz took up the work of translating the Scriptures where Ziegenbalg had left it, and returning to Europe to Halle to superintend the printing of a new edition of the Bible in Tamil, became acquainted with young Schwartz, a student living in Professor Francke's orphan house, where the returned missionary had found a lodging. His unusual aptitude for lin- guistic studies, attracted the attention of Schultz, who easily persuaded him to acquire a sufficient knowledge of Tamil to qualify him to render some
Introduction 9
needed assistance in correcting the printing of the Bible for India, and when Francke made inquiries for new men for India, Schwartz was easily per- suaded to go.
We must now note the connection between the Tranquebar Mission and the work of Carey and his coadjutors. But for the work inaugurated at Tranquebar by the Danish King, Frederick the Fourth, Carey would not have been able to obtain any foothold in Bengal. Never was dynamiter more closely w^atched than was the first English missionary by the English East India Company. But God's purpose could not be thwarted. He had prepared beforehand a refuge for His servant, and so when he was forced to flee from the threats of his own countrymen who refused to give him any sort of shelter under the British flag, he found sympathy and success at the Danish settlement of Serampore, sixteen miles by river from Calcutta, where the Danish governor Col. Bie, assured him of his friendship and the protection of his Gov- ernment. Following upon this reception and a correspondence with the Court of Copenhagen, came a stringent command to Col. Bie. Thus were Carey, Marshman and Ward led to settle at Serampore, which on account of what these " men of might " accomplished there will ever be regarded by those interested in missions as one of the most sacred spots in India.
But why was Col. Bie so deeply interested in these servants of God? During the earlier years
lo Introduction
of his service — perhaps at old Tranquebar — ^he had come under Schwartz's influence, had received great good through him, and ever after had counted it one of the great privileges of his life to have enjoyed the delightfully evangelical min- istrations of this good and great man. Thus the seed sown in that early Tamil Mission bore fruit for the Serampore work.
So too who that has eyes to see can fail to ob-. serve the wonder-working providence of God in bringing together at Serampore five such men as William Carey, Joshua Marshman, William Ward, Henry Martyn and David Brown? Eccle- siastically two of them were widely separated from the other three ! Yet united in heart, all alike were consumed with zeal for the evangelisation of the people of India, how they prayed together, and how they worked! With what devoted energy they gave themselves unitedly to the gigantic work of preparing translations of the Word of God in the various vernaculars of the people among whom their lot was cast, and versions for the heathen of other lands besides! How vast their designs, how amazing their endeavours, and how wonderful their accomplishments! With such men, and others in whole-hearted sympathy with them, like the godly Danish governor of Serampore, Dr. Claudius Buchanan across the river at Barrackpore, Wilberforce and the Grants — father and son — in the British Parliament, all uniting in prayer with many in Britain to en-
Introduction ii
sure the removal from the British nation of a great reproach, is it surprising that the year 1 813, when the charter of the East India Company was again renewed, should be made forever memor- able in the annals of Protestant missions for the emancipation of British India, by the withdrawal of the prohibition to give the Gospel of Jesus Christ to its perishing millions? Truly the men of that time were epoch-making men.
That same momentous decision which removed the bands from the Serampore company opened the doors of Bombay and West India to Gordon Hall, the worthy leader of the great body of American Missionaries in that land. It also made South India accessible to Charles E. T. Rhenius and John Scudder, the one preserving the con- tinuity of the labours of Ziegenbalg and Schwartz while the other and his seven missionary sons performed a service not measured only by the foreign field where they laboured.
Following close upon these came those human exemplars of what educational work as an evan- gelising agency can do for India — John Wilson, Alexander Duff, John Anderson and Robert T. Noble. No better missionary work has ever been done in India than these men did, and great was their reward.
Says Dr. W. Fleming Stevenson, in his little book, '' The Dawn of the Modern Mission," '' The distinguished biographer of Dr. Duff has linked the first Protestant Mission in India with our
12 Introduction
own time, for he tells us that it was only six years after Ziegenbalg sailed for India that Kier- nander was born, and when he was eighty-three, he received a visit from Carey, who records the fresh ardour he derived from the still burning fire of the aged saint, as he waited quietly by the Ganges for the summons of his Lord, and how three years before Carey died, a young High- lander sprang out of his boat at Serampore, and turning into the study of the mission house, saw what seemed to be a little, shrivelled old man in a white jacket, who, when he heard the name, rose from his book, tottered to meet his visitor, and stretching out his arms, solemnly blessed him."
It derogates nought from the meed which Alex- ander Duff's name deserves, to say that not less significant of a splendid missionary career would that benediction in after years appear to have been, if it had been bestowed upon either of those con- temporaries of Duff — John Wilson, John Ander- son, or Robert Turlington Noble.
No sketches of lives devoted to God's work in India are more worthy to be included in this volume than those of Isidor Loewenthal and Samuel Henry Kellogg, for they were distinct- ively " men of might " as missionaries. Dis- tinguished for talents of the highest order, their great abilities were put to highest use for the ad- vancement of that cause to which their lives had been consecrated.
James Foote Holcomb.
I
BARTHOLOMEW ZIEGENBALG
THE BEGINNING OF PROTESTANT MISSIONS IN INDIA
I706-I719
Not far from the city of Dresden is the little town of Pulsnitz. It lies in a valley surrounded by green meadows, and is hemmed round by thick forests. On the 24th of June, 1683, in one of the most quiet homes in this green valley, a son was born. The parents, Bartholomew and Catherine Ziegenbalg, were plain people, grave and upright. The boy, to whom was given his father's name, was left an orphan at the age of six. The circumstances connected with the death of his mother were graven indelibly on his memory,
' Around the bedside in the darkened room were gathered the weeping children. Raising herself by a great effort, the mother in a feeble voice said, " My dear children, I am leaving to you a great treasure, a very great treasure." ? The eldest daughter, bending over the mother, said in tones of surprise, " A treasure ! dear mother. Where is that treasure ? "
" Seek it in the Bible," the dying mother re- 13
14 Men of Might in India Missions
; plied. " I have watered every page with my j tears."
The boy left an orphan at so early an age, was tenderly cared for by his elder sister, who lavished upon the delicate child almost the affec- tion of a mother.
As the schools in his native town were poor, Bartholomew was early sent to a gram.mar school in a neighbouring town. At fourteen years of age, he entered the high school of Gorlitz. Pas- sionately fond of music, he naturally sought the companionship of those possessed of a kindred taste. At a musical class, he one day met a student older than himself who spoke eloquently of " the harmonies of spiritual life and of the harmony between God and man which had been lost by the fall and restored by Christ. Only those who understand this," said he, " know what music really is."
This apparently accidental meeting was the beginning of a friendship greatly blessed to Zie- genbalg. Every day the two friends met to- gether to read the Scriptures and to pray. Now for the first time the young man felt that he fully understood the words of his dying mother. The Bible had become in his own experience a very great treasure.
After much prayerful consideration, the young student resolved to devote his life to the Gospel ministry. To help in fitting him for his chosen work, after visiting several universities, he de-
Bartholomew Ziegenbalg 15
cided to prosecute his studies at the University of Halle, in order to be under the instruction of Professor August Hermann Francke. He en- tered this University in 1703 and was delighted to find himself in the society of congenial spirits. At the end of the session, the health of the enthu- siastic student gave way, and with a decline of physical strength, the thought took possession of him that he had chosen a profession for which he did not possess the necessary gifts.
In his perplexity, feeling the need of counsel, he carried his trouble to his instructors. Asso- ciated with Prof. Francke in the University was Dr. Breithaupt, a man of great wisdom.
Ziegenbalg, advised to weigh well the question of a vocation in life, suggested " Perhaps some modest place might be found for me where fewer gifts would be required than in the Gospel min- istry."
" Requests for teachers are sent to Halle from all parts," answered Dr. Breithaupt, " and we can scarcely supply the demand, but to lead one soul from among the heathen to God, is as much, as if in Europe, one brought a hundred, for here, the means and opportunities abound and there they have none."
This remark made a deep impression at the time and was never forgotten.
Before going to Halle, Ziegenbalg had spent two months in Berlin with great advantage and the inspiration of Lange's ripe scholarship and
1 6 Men of Might in India Missions
rare gift of teaching told upon him for life. One session only was spent at Halle, as the state of his health forbade a return to university life. After leaving Halle he accepted a position as tutor in the town of Merseburg, and though his stay in this place was short, he ever remembered with gratitude the time spent there. We shall hear of one of his pupils again.
To Erfurt he went from Merseburg and here a wide field of usefulness seemed opening before him, when he was laid aside by illness. The in- valid now found, as he had on previous occasions, an asylum in the hospitable home of his elder sister, where a year was spent. On his recovery, Ziegenbalg was invited to go to Werder, twenty miles from Berlin, to take charge of a parish for two months during the absence of the pastor. Gladly he accepted the invitation and while in temporary charge of this field, there came to him the Master's call to enter upon the supreme work of his life.
In the year 1612 the Danes had established at Copenhagen, a company with a view to embark in commerce with India. The first vessel arrived on the Coromandel coast in 161 6 and was soon followed by others. In the year 1621 a treaty was concluded with the Rajah of Tan j ore by which a tract of country five miles long by three miles broad on the Eastern coast, was ceded to the Danes. At Tranquebar, the fort named Dansborg was built, and above this floated
Bartholomew Ziegenbalg 17 .
the Danish flag. At the time when the building of the fort began, the foundation of a church was laid and the fortress and the Christian sanctuary rose side by side. The new settlement rapidly increased in prosperity, and the harbour was crowded with shipping.
Chaplains were sent out to minister to the Danes and the Germans in the employment of the Company. But the propagation of Christianity among the people of India formed no part of the design of the first Danish settlers. The Danes had been in possession of Tranquebar more than eighty years before they gave themselves any con- cern about the souls of the people around them.
When King Frederick IV. ascended the throne^ of Denmark, he found the treasury exhausted and the affairs of the Kingdom in a very un- settled condition; but when quiet was restored to his dominions at home, he turned his thoughts to his Eastern possessions and was prepared to lend a willing ear when Dr. Liitkens, one of the court chaplains, set before his Majesty the duty of providing means whereby his Indian subjects could be made acquainted with the Gospel.
When the King began to make inquiries for , men willing to undertake a mission to India, Dr. Liitkens offered himself for this service.
" No,'* said the King, " I cannot send that hoary head to encounter the dangers of the voyage and the devouring heat of the Indian climate. Seek younger men. It is a work for them."
1 8 Men of Might in India Missions
Gladly Dr. Liitkens entered upon such a quest, but in the Church in Denmark he found not one willing and fitted for such a work.
When this report was made to the King, he ex- claimed, '' I am grieved not a little. What ! Not one such instrument ready for the Master's use in all my kingdom ! Seek for men in Germany."
Ziegenbalg was at this time throwing all his soul into the pastoral work in Werder. His de- votion to duty, his diligence, his habits of self- denial and his acquirements had won for him favourable recognition, and his name was pro- posed to Dr. Liitkens as a man eminently fitted for the proposed undertaking. Dr. Francke of Halle gave to the selection his hearty approval, and proposed as his companion in labour, Henry Pliitschau, a man of like mind.
The two young men, after prayerfully consider- ing the matter, decided to accept the call, regard- ing it as God's appointment for them.
Speedily settling their private affairs, on the 8th of October, 1705, according to the directions received, they proceeded to Copenhagen to be ex- amined for ordination. The King and his chap- lains received the two candidates with great kindness, but no one besides, not even the Bishop, felt much interest in the proposed mission. The young men were not on this account discouraged, and on the 24th of November, 1705, they em- barked for India.
The voyage, impeded by frequent storms, lasted
Bartholomew Ziegcnbalg 19
eight months. Much of the time spent on the sea was occupied in the study of Portuguese, as a knowledge of this language would enable them to enter upon work immediately on their arrival, as it was spoken by a large numiber of the people on the eastern coast of India.
On the 9th of July, 1706, the ship in which the two pioneer missionaries had made the voy- age, anchored in the harbour of Tranquebar. Presently boats pushed out from the shore, and the passengers, the ship's officers and the freight were all landed, but the missionaries, greatly to their surprise and disappointment, were left on the ship. A day passed, and yet another, and still they waited. At length the captain of a ship at anchor near their own, filled with compassion for the patient strangers, brought them to his own vessel and had them rowed to the shore. As they approached the land, native boatmen rushed out to pull them through the surf; but an effort was made to prevent this.
No voice in this strange land, bade them wel- come. Instead, they were ordered to remain out- side the gate until the Governor had leisure to attend to them. It was a long anxious day, for the Governor with his Council did not arrive until four o'clock in the afternoon. What had brought them to the country, the Governor curtly asked. When they had made known their mis- sion and presented their credentials signed by the King's own hand and bearing the royal seal, the
20 Men of Might in India Missions
Governor replied, that he could do nothing for them, and advised them to return without delay to their own country. Then turning his back upon the missionaries he was followed by his suite as he returned to his mansion and the strangers were once more left alone. While they waited in the gathering darkness, one of the Governor's suite, more humane than his chief, offered to conduct the missionaries to the house of his father-in-law, where they would find a tem- porary asylum.
The Danish East India Company had no sym- pathy with the desire of the King to evangelize the heathen in his Eastern dominions, and secret instructions had been despatched to the Governor in Tranquebar, authorizing him to offer every op- position, and on no account to further the enter- prise.
A few days after their arrival, the missionaries were permitted to occupy a house close to the heathen and Portuguese quarter. Ziegenbalg began at once to acquaint himself with the rudi- ments of the Tamil language, though prosecut- ing the study under great difficulties, without books and without a teacher. A Malabar school- master was at length persuaded to bring his pupils to the house occupied by the missionaries, who were allowed to becomje learners. And so we have the picture of these two pioneer mis- sionaries, sitting day after day, cross-legged on the floor, by the side of the Malabarian children,
Bartholomew Ziegenbalg 21
and gravely making letters in the sand, as did they ; and at the same time learning the sound of the letters.
By constant intercourse with the people, Zie- genbalg became, before many months, familiar with the colloquial Tamil, and eight months after his arrival, preached his first extempore sermon. He very early began to make a collection of such books as would give him some knowledge of the native mind. This unique library was composed of strips of the palmyra palm leaf, punctured with a stylus and then fastened together.
" I chose such books," wrote Ziegenbalg, " as I should wish to imitate, both in speaking and writing and had such authors read to me a hun- dred times, that there might not be a word or expression which I did not know, or could not imitate."
It was customary at that time for natives in times of scarcity to sell themselves for food and raiment, and great numbers of the people had thus come into the possession of the Danes and the Germans. The condition of this wretched class excited the deepest pity in the hearts of the missionaries. They, accordingly sent a memorial to the Governor begging him to in- struct the Protestant owners of these slaves to send them two hours a day to the mission house for instruction. The Governor promised compli- ance, the more readily as he had a short time before received instructions from the King to
r
22 Men of Might in India Missions
forward to the utmost, the work in which the missionaries were engaged.
On the 1 2th of May, 1707, ten months after the arrival of Ziegenbalg and his companion, the rite of Christian baptism was, for the first time administered, five of the slaves who had been under Christian instruction, receiving the ordi- nance, after having been publicly examined in the Danish Church.
The missionaries now began to feel the need of a house of worship in which to hold Tamil services. The Governor opposed the project and threw every obstacle possible in the way of ob- taining a site for the proposed building. A suit- able site was however secured on the road near the sea-shore and in the midst of the Tamil population. In great poverty, but in strong faith, the work was begun. The foundation-stone was laid on the 14th of June, 1707, and two months later, on the 14th of August, the new sanctuary was dedicated to the worship of God, in the pres- ence of a large company. To the church was given the name of " Jerusalem."
From the beginning, much attention was be- stowed by the missionaries upon the Christian in- struction of the young. ' '' It is a thing known to all persons of understanding," wrote Ziegen- balg, " that the general good of any country or nation depends upon a Christian and careful training of children in schools, due care and dili- gence in this matter, producing wise governors in
Bartholomew Ziegenbalg 23
the State, faithful ministers of the Gospel in the Church and good members of the Commonwealth \ in families." The schools into which the chil- \ dren of this infant mission were gathered, were indeed nurseries of piety.
Ziegenbalg's knowledge of the language and literature of the country, made him a skillful de- bater and his fame extended beyond Danish ter- ritory. His first tour outside the Danish domin- ions, was made in the spring of 1708, to a town in the kingdom of Tan j ore, where he had a con- ference with the Brahmins and left with them messages from the Gospel written on strips of the palmyra leaf.
In July of this same year, he visited by invita- tion, the Dutch settlement of Negapatam. On his arrival, one of the magistrates invited the Brah- mins and other learned men to meet for a con- ference on religious subjects. A great concourse of people assembled to hear the discussion, which lasted five hours.
The evangelistic tours undertaken by this zeal- ous missionary were not unattended with danger. At a great heathen festival near Madras, he laboured incessantly for five days, proclaiming to the crowds which gathered around him, the way of salvation through Christ. Overcome by fa- tigue, he sought a quiet place in which to rest. His movements were watched by an angry priest, who whispered that he would soon silence that ready tongue. A lad from one of the schools
24 Men of Might in India Missions
heard the threat and roused the sleeping mis- sionary just as the blow was about to fall.
• In the midsummer of 1708, a ship arrived from Denmark bringing for the work of the mission $1,000, half the expected amount. The other half, with letters for the missionaries, had been put on board another ship which had been wrecked. This was a sore disappointment, but a greater was in store for them. In landing the cargo, the package containing the money for the mission, fell into the sea and was never re- covered. And now their enemies said derisively, "did we not tell you that heaven is very high above our heads and Copenhagen very far off ? " But in this time of trial, when their funds were exhausted, the missionaries found that they had friends as well as enemies. One after another came forward, begging their acceptance of such sums as they required, the amount to be repaid, when funds should arrive from Europe. r In October, 1708, Ziegenbalg began a transh- ip tion of the New Testament Scriptures into Tamil. Great difficulties attended such an undertaking, as the native teachers could give little efficient help. The Greek text was closely followed, and the Latin, German, Dutch, Portuguese and Dan- ish versions were consulted, together with the best commentaries at command. To this impor- tant work Ziegenbalg devoted himself with great diligence, rightly declaring that great progress in
Bartholomew Ziegenbalg 25
Christianity could not be expected until the peo- ple possessed the word of God in their own language. — y
While engaged in translating the word of God and at the same time busily carrying forward various kinds of missionary work, hindrances be- gan to increase. Ziegenbalg wrote thus of the situation. '' God gave His rich blessing to all that we tried to do in His name and yet we had a determined opposition. The Commandant and the whole Privy Council, tried in every way to impede the holy vv^ork, so that at last it seemed as if they wished to exterminate both us and our congregations." And this was indeed their aim.
Pliitschau was charged with rebellion against authority, arrested and publicly dragged through the streets. Ziegenbalg's turn soon came. ' An official appeared one day before the entrance to the mission-house with a mandate for the imme- diate arrest of Ziegenbalg who was dragged away, the native inhabitants looking on in speech- less amazement. On reaching the fortress, he was thrust into an inner prison, a mere cell, where the heat was so great that life- could hardly be endured and here he was allowed to languish for four months./ He was guarded by soldiers and his friends were not permitted to visit him.
When he had spent a month in his cell, he was one night awakened by his guard, and writing materials, which had been denied him, were
26 Men of Might in India Missions
passed into his cell, with a whispered message that all the inhabitants of the town, Christians and heathens, felt sincere sympathy for him.
The Governor had not expected that the man, hitherto so full of fiery zeal, would manifest so brave and patient a spirit, and fearing longer to keep an innocent man in confinement, requested his prisoner to write a letter, asking for his re- lease. This Ziegenbalg consented to do, moved by pity for his congregation, v/hose condition sorely grieved him/.
When he, who had suffered so unjustly, once more appeared among his people, every hand was stretched out to grasp his and the Malabarian congregation, gathering about him, wept tears of joy.
The summer of 1709 brought not only relief from many trials, but ushered in a season of greater prosperity than the mission had hitherto enjoyed. Financial help came both from Den- mark and Germany ; and, greatest joy of all, three additional labourers arrived from Europe. The enemies of the mission were confounded. They had hoped that the trials through which the mis- sionaries had been called to pass, would lead them to decide to abandon the work and return to their own country. Instead, they were extending their borders and new labourers had been added to their number. To add to their discomfiture, the same ship which had brought reinforcements for the mission and means with which to carry on
Bartholomew Ziegenbalg 27
and extend the work, brought also from the King of Denmark, to the Governor of Tranquebar, ex- plicit commands to render to the missionaries whatever assistance or protection they might need.
One of the new missionaries, Johann Ernst Griindler, became a tower of strength to the mission. Out of the money at this time received from Europe $1,000 was expended in the pur- chase of a dwelling-house for the now large mis- sion family. The new home was consecrated with a service of prayer and praise.
During this memorable year, new friends were raised up for the infant mission. The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, established in the year 1701 and having for its sole object the supplying of the British Colonies with clergymen, in token of the interest felt in the work of the Danish Mission in India, voted a present of £20; and this gift, it is believed, rep- resents the first English offering upon the mis- sion altar. A small sum, this gift appears in this age, but it was no inconsiderable amount at that time. With this gift of money was also sent a present of valuable books. Ziegenbalg went himself to Madras to receive those gifts. The distance from Tranquebar was thirty-six German miles and was performed partly in palanquin and partly on horseback. Before leaving Tranquebar, the missionary obtained permission from the Rajah of Tan j ore, to travel through his domin-
28 Men of Might in India Missions
ions and to preach the Gospel wherever he found the people willing to receive the message.
A month was spent in Madras, a time of great refreshment, both of mind and body, and new friends were raised up for the mission.
War was at this time going on between Swe- den and Denmark and when, in 1710, the Danes met with reverses, many persons prominent in the affairs of State, expressed great unwillingness to send money abroad to promote an object of such remote interest, when funds were urgently needed to provide ships and soldiers for the de- fence of the Kingdom; and, in consequence, the mission cause in Tranquebar suffered for lack of financial aid. To add to the pecuniary embarrass- ment, during the same year, the city was visited by a disastrous flood in which much of the property belonging to the mission was in- jured or destroyed. And now another friend was found for the struggling mission, in the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, which had been established in London in 1699, having for its object the promoting of religion in the British Colonies. It was at this time proposed, in view of the need of funds for carrying on the work of the Danish Mission in Tranquebar, to raise a special fund for this object. An appeal to British Christians, met with a prompt and generous response. Means were thus provided for the purchase of a printing-press, a long desired and much-needed acquisition, as books had been
Bartholomew Ziegenbalg 29
multiplied only by employing native copyists, a tedious and expensive process, since the work was all done on strips of the palmyra leaf, every letter punctured by an iron stylus.
On the 31st of May, 171 1, the Tamil transla^, tion of the New Testament was completed by Ziegenbalg. The day was celebrated by a service of praise. Of the completion of this work Zie- genbalg wrote, " This is a treasure in India which surpasses all other Indian treasures." This great work accomplished, the ever zealous missionary made an evangelistic tour, proceeding northward as far as Madras. Soon after his return from this tour, he was called to part with his fellow- worker, Pliitschau, the health of whose family made a return to Europe necessary.
The printing-press sent out from Europe, reached India in August, 1712. The services of a soldier in the Danish army, who had learned the art of printing, were secured, and the work of issuing books in the Portuguese language, was at once begun. The German friends of the mission sent out a second press and a font of Tamil type, made at home under very interesting circumstances. A young man of great mechani- cal genius, who had learned the art of printing by studying carefully the structure of the Tamil letters, with infinite patience, had produced a font of Tamil type. His interest grew with the prosecution of the work and in December, 1712, both he and a younger brother offered themselves
30 Men of Might In India Missions
and their art for the service of the mission. The young men were accepted and a free passage secured for them in one of the vessels of the Company's fleet. On their arrival in Tranque- bar, in June, 17 13, the printing of the New Testa- ment in Tamil was begun.
Ziegenbalg's declining health, made a change to his native land imperative, and the work of putting the Tamil New Testament through the press devolved upon Grundler. Upon him also rested the responsibilities of the congregations and the schools, all of which were in a prosper- ous condition.
On the last day of October, 17 14, Ziegenbalg embarked on the Danish ship Frederick IV for Europe. He was accompanied to the ship by great numbers of the Tamil Christians, who be- sought him with tears not to leave them; and many from among the heathen begged him to hasten his return, as they " liked to have those in their midst who stood near to God and by whose presence both they and their country profited."
Ziegenbalg had begun the work of translating the Scriptures of the Old Testament into Tamil as soon as he had completed the translation of the New. During the voyage to Europe, he occupied himself with the translation of the book of Joshua and this he had completed when the ship reached the Cape of Good Hope. During the remainder
Bartholomew Ziegenbalg 31
of the voyage, he was employed upon his Tamil dictionary and upon a Tamil-Latin grammar.
The ship reached its destination, Bergen, Nor- way, on the first of June. The King of Den- mark was at this time engaged in the siege of Stralsund. The country around was one vast en- campment. To the royal camp Ziegenbalg hur- ried with all speed, for he desired greatly to see the King. He was at once admitted into the presence of his Majesty, though he came unan- nounced. The interview lasted five hours, the King, for a time, throwing off the cares of State and lending an interested ear to the story of the mission, its trials and its triumphs. He promised not only to continue to give pecuniary aid to the mission, but, as far as possible, to re- move obstacles to the successful accomplishment of the work. Ziegenbalg was informed that he had been made Superintendent of the Mission and his commission forwarded to India.
During this interview between the King and the missionary, there was much excitement among the Danish troops, for it had been voiced abroad that a distinguished stranger had arrived and it was supposed that he had come to communicate matters of importance.
When the stranger came forth from the pres- ence of the King, the interested spectators saw "a man of commanding presence, of great dig- nity, with a flashing eye, resolute and calm in
32 Men of Might in India Missions
his demeanour, a bronzed face, seamed with deep hnes of care." He was invited to preach the word of God to the assembled troops and his message found deeply interested listeners.
From the Royal family in Copenhagen, Zie- genbalg received a cordial welcome. While tarry- ing in the Capital City he prepared his grammar and a large part of his dictionary for the press, and these were printed at Halle before his return to India. From Copenhagen, he proceeded to Germany to revisit the scenes and renew the friendships of his youth. He was everywhere received with marked respect and vast audiences filled the churches, when he preached.
A visit was also paid to Merseburg, where he had for a short time been tutor, before going to India. One of his pupils was Dorothea Saltz- mann, daughter of one of the Secretaries to Gov- ernment. She was now grown to womanhood, of ardent piety, great strength of character and with a well-cultivated intellect. Before his re- turn to India, Ziegenbalg was united in marriage to Miss Saltzmann, who proved in every respect a help-meet to her husband.
With health renewed, Ziegenbalg joyfully pre- pared for his return to India. The Directors of the Danish East India Co. gave a free passage to the mission party on one of their ships leaving Europe for the East, on the 4th of March, 17 16, and Madras was reached on the 9th of August.
Bartholomew Ziegenbalg ^3
There was great rejoicing when Ziegenbalg and his bride reached Tranquebar.
The work during the absence of the senior missionary, had been carried on by Griindler with unflagging zeal. Governor Hassius had been recalled and a friend of missions appointed in his place. Soon after the return of Ziegenbalg, j with the co-operation of Griindler, a seminary I was established in which the most promising • pupils from the various schools could receive ' such Biblical instruction as would fit them for the work of catechists and teachers in the mission.
The church built in 1707 had for several years been too small for the growing congregation and it was resolved to provide a more spacious edifice. On the 9th of February, 1717, the foundation stone of a new and commodious house of wor- ship was laid by the new Governor in the pres- ence of a large assembly. The completed build- ing was dedicated to the worship of God, before the end of the year and named " New Jerusalem."
After the completion of the new sanctuary, in the beginning of 171 8, Ziegenbalg made an ex- tensive evangelistic tour. At the close of this tour, he prepared for the press the third collec- tion of his conversations with both Hindus and Mohammedans, setting forth in a concise and lucid manner, the truths of Christianity, and re- futing the objections most frequently urged by these classes against the truths taught in the
34 Men of Might In India Missions
Sacred Scriptures. This was the last work he sent to the press, for at the end of this year his health began seriously to' decline. *' It was sorrow of heart rather than multiplicity of labours," which had laid low this man of iron will. The Mission Board which had been founded in Copenhagen, had for its secretary a man who was incapable of comprehending Ziegenbalg's bold ideas, and his earnest desire to take advan- tage of the openings of Providence. The letters sent from the secretary to the missionaries had been not only lacking in sympathy, but cruelly unjust and Ziegenbalg, enfeebled as he was by unremitting labour and hard self-denial in an ex- hausting climate, received a blow from which he never recovered.
In October, 1718, he took to his bed, but near the end of the year he rallied and on Christmas day he preached in the new church. He preached again on the first day of the year and this was his last public service. On the loth of February he made over to his beloved colleague Griindler, the superintendence of the mission. The 23rd of February was his last day on earth. He rose early and as was his custom, joined with his wife in prayer. Soon after, great suffering came on. To those gathered about him, he said, " I shall endure in this conflict." A little later a look of infinite peace stole over his face. At his request, a favourite hymn was sung. Then suddenly raising his hand to his eyes, he said,
Bartholomew Ziegenbalg 35
"How is it so light? It seems as if the sun were shining in my eyes." Soon after, he calmly fell asleep in Jesus.
Thus passed away in his early manhood, for he was not yet thirty-six years of age, one of whom it has justly been said, that to him, more than to any other man. belongs the title of the Apostle of India. '
The death of Ziegenbalg caused universal sor- row. On the day following his decease, his re- mains were deposited in a vault in the New Jerusalem church, amid the tears of his European friends and his native flock.
Upon Griindler now rested the burden of the responsibility of the mission; and while bowed beneath a weight of care and sorrow, another letter arrived from the mission secretary at home, full of condemnation of the conduct of the mis- sion. Ziegenbalg had sent a reply to the first of these letters, received some time before his death. To this last, Griindler penned an answer. These letters from Ziegenbalg and Griindler are still regarded as among '' the most brilliant of missionary apologetics."
The friends of Griindler noted with deepest sorrow, his rapidly failing strength; and he too felt that his time of labour would soon be over. On one occasion, in the presence of the congre- gation, he prayed with tears that the Lord, in love and mercy, would spare him until the arrival of the missionaries then on their way to India.
36 Men of Might in India Missions
His prayer was answered. One day on his way to church, letters from Europe were put into his hands. The first one opened was from Dr. Francke and was full of cheer and tenderest sym- pathy, which seemed as cordial to the sorely wounded heart of the missionary.
These letters had been brought from Europe by the new missionaries, who had forwarded them to Tranquebar from Madras. In Septem- ber, 1719, the three missionaries arrived and on one of these, Benjamin Schultze, Griindler's mantle fell, when a few months later, the brave warrior laid down his armour. Early in 1720, Grundler transferred to Schultze, the charge of the mission. On the 15th of March, with totter- ing steps and bowed frame, he made his way to the church. His colleagues w^ere alarmed at his appearance, for the seal of death was even then on that calm brow. *' I wish once more to read the liturgy from the altar," said Griindler, in an- swer to the startled looks bent upon him, " and once more to pronounce the benediction over the congregation I am soon to leave." C On the 19th of March he gave his last instruc- tions to Schultze concerning the work of the mis- sion, and prayed that God's richest blessing might rest upon him. A portion of Scripture, at his request, was read to him, his lips moved as if in prayer, — on his face was a look of infinite peace, and thus he fell asleep.
Bartholomew Ziegenbalg 37
The following day he was laid to rest near Ziegenbalg, in the New Jerusalem church.
" Who can feel greater grief than I ? " said Schuhze, '' for the mission has been deprived both of its founder and of his efficient and faith- ful successor." Schultze was spared to labour in India with great zeal, for nearly a quarter of a century.
As soon as he felt himself in a measure quali-' fied for the work, he took up the translation of the Old Testament Scriptures into Tamil, commenc- , ing with the book of Ruth, where the death of Ziegenbalg had interrupted the work. The trans- lation was completed in 1725 and two years later, after careful revision, the whole Bible was ready to put into the hands of the Tamil Christians.
The first church built by Ziegenbalg, near the sea-shore, with the cemetery adjoining it, has long since been swallowed up by the sea, but the house in which the great missionary lived and from whence his spirit took its flight, still stands, a modest dwelling, hallowed by precious associa- tions.
The New Jerusalem church, in the form of a Greek cross, is in a perfect state of preservation and is still the mission church of Tranquebar. High up on its face is the date 17 18, and above this glitters a golden crown and the letters F. R. — Frederic Rex.
Looking upon the congregation worshipping in
38 Men of Might in India Missions
this historic church, visiting the schools where the children and youth are gathered for instruction, and the seminary where young men are being trained to preach the Gospel to their fellowmen, and knowing how through the length and breadth of India, such congregations, such schools and such seminaries have multiplied since the days of Ziegenbalg, the Christian visitor to Tranque- bar, notes with gratitude that the grain of mus- tard-seed planted in this idolatrous land by the first Protestant missionaries has indeed become a great tree.
II.
CHRISTIAN FREDERICK SCHWARTZ. 1750-1798
Christian Frederick Schwartz was born^ in Sonenburg, Prussia, on the 8th of October, 1726. Like Ziegenbalg, he was left without a mother at a very early age. His mother was a woman of ardent piety and her son Christian had been dedicated to the Lord from his birth. When she felt that death was near, the mother called to her bedside her husband and the pastor of the parish church and charged them to train up this child in the remembrance that he had been dedi- cated to God's service, and she entreated the father, should the son, when arrived at years of discretion, express a desire to devote himself to the Gospel ministry, to encourage and promote that desire to the utmost.
At eight years of age the boy entered the gram- mar-school of his native town. When fourteen years old he was " confirmed," according to the practice of the Lutheran Church. In his sixteenth year, when he had acquired as much Latin and Greek as could be learned in the schools of Sonen- 39
40 Men of Might in India Missions
burg, together with the rudiments of Hebrew, his father placed him in an academy in the neigh- bouring town of Custrim. The journey was made on foot, by both father and son and there was much profitable discourse by the way, for the father was not only a man of fervent piety, but of vigourous intellect.
At Custrim young Schwartz was beset with temptations to which he had hitherto been a stranger, and without steadfast faith in God, he found it difficult to maintain his integrity. "At this critical time a friend was raised up for him in the daughter of one of the syndics, who gave him much wise counsel.
The father of this young lady had been edu- cated at Halle and retained an affectionate remem- brance of, and a profound respect for the pro- fessors of this celebrated university. His inter- esting reminiscences of life at Halle kindled in the breast of Schwartz a desire to complete his course of study at this seat of learning. This proved the turning point in the life of the young student. He entered the University of Halle when twenty years of age, and there, three years were most profitably spent in study, in the midst of associations the most favourable for the devel- opment of spiritual graces.
A short time before Schwartz entered the uni- versity, the veteran missionary, Schultze, had returned invalided to Europe from India. He made Halle his place of residence and thus the
Christian Frederick Schwartz 41
young student came under his influence. ^ Mr. Schultze was greatly drawn to the young man, who, in his turn listened with a strange fascina- tion to a recital of the labours and experiences of the missionary from the distant East.
It was at this time in contemplation to print at Halle a new edition of the Tamil Scriptures, under the superintendence of Schultze, and at his suggestion, Schwartz began the study of Tamil in order to give assistance in the work of cor- recting the proofs. Thus were the thoughts of the ardent young student, turned to the great mis- sion field of India.
Professor Francke had been instructed by the Danish College of Missions at Copenhagen to select suitable men for reinforcing the Tranque- bar mission and, as forty years before he had counselled with Ziegenbalg, so now his thoughts turned to Mr. Schwartz as a man eminently fitted to engage in such a work ; and in this opin- ion Mr. Schultze cordially concurred.
Mr. Schwartz had before this time resolved to devote his life to the Gospel ministry, and when asked by those whose opinion he valued if he would prayerfully consider the matter of serving the Lord as a missionary in India, he declared himself ready to follow the leadings of the Master. But before making a final decision he felt that he must consult his father. A visit to Sonenburg was accordingly made and the father was asked to consider the question of resigning
42 Men of Might in India Missions
this beloved son to the work of a missionary abroad. The father repHed that so important a matter required serious consideration and he could not at once announce his decision.
Who can doubt that this Christian father spent much of the time before making known his de- cision, in earnest prayer for guidance, and at such a time there would come vividly to his re- membrance the death-bed scene of the mother, and her dying charge in reference to this son.
When the father came forth from his chamber, there was on his face a radiant look as though in a mighty conflict he had come off conqueror. Approaching his son who had risen to meet him, he laid his hands in blessing upon his bowed head, and in a voice tremulous with emotion, bade him go forth on his Christ-like errand, for- getting his country and his father's house.
The desired permission having been obtained Schwartz hastened the preparations for his de- parture, generously resigning his patrimony to his brothers and sisters, and at once returned to Halle.
After completing his course at the university, Mr. Schwartz, accompanied by two other young men under orders for India, set out for Copen- hagen, where they were ordained by the Danish Bishop, on the 6th of September, 1749. Before sailing for India, some time was spent in Eng- land, in order that the young nien might gain some acquaintance with the English language.
J Christian Frederick Schwartz 43
During the time spent in London they received great kindness from the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, and were thereby greatly comforted and encouraged. /7-53
On the first of February,-^g^ the mission- aries embarked at Deal, the Directors of the East India Company, at the request of the Christian Knowledge Society, having kindly granted the party a free passage on board one of their out- ward-bound ships.
At nine o'clock on the morning of the 13th of July, Ceylon came into view and great was the joy of all. On the following morning Cudda- lore was reached. The Rev. Mr. Kiernander, missionary of the Society for Promoting Chris- tian Knowledge, at Cuddalore, received and hos- pitably entertained the missionaries until one of the brethren from Tranquebar, arrived to con- duct the party thither.
The young missionaries began at once to apply themselves with diligence to the study of the language. Mr. Schwartz now found to his great joy that the time spent in the study of Tamil under Mr. Schultze at Halle had by no means been lost time, as in four months after his arrival, he preached his first sermon in the vernacular. He soon had such a command of the language as enabled him to engage in a daily catechetical ex- ercise with the " youngest lambs " in the Tamil schools, though to use his own words, " it was with a faltering tongue."
44 Men of Might in India Missions
Two afternoons each week, in company with some of his missionary associates, he visited the Christians in the villages and tried to tell to the heathen gathered about him, the story of the cross. ' He found the people shrewd, ready to argue and to defend their ancestral faith.
"How shall I be maintained?" said one, "if I become a Christian." Another said, " if I ac- cept Christianity, I shall be called an apostle and shall lose the regard of my countrymen." /T'^^i''''
Then as now, the ungodly lives led by some of those who bore the Christian name, were made a reason for the non-acceptance of Christianity. One day, meeting a Hindu dancing-master and his female pupil, Mr. Schwartz, after some con- versation, told them that the entrance to heaven was barred against all unholy persons. " Alas ! sir," quickly retorted the girl, " in that case how few Europeans will be found there."
Mr. Schwartz early arrived at the conclusion that in order to refute successfully the sophistries of this people, so wise in their own conceit, it would be necessary to become acquainted with their sacred books, and irksome in some respects as he found this study, yet he felt that the knowl- edge thus acquired, was a potent factor in his work as a missionary.
The missionary associates of Mr. Schwartz were not slow in discovering that his abilities were of a superior order and important trusts were committed to him. He had a remarkable
)>
Christian Frederick Schwartz 45
facility in acquiring languages, was ready at all times to endure hardness and was possessed of consummate tact which paved the way for his ready admission either to a hunt or a palace.
The Dutch missionaries in Ceylon had received from the missionaries in Tranquebar, copies of the Tamil Bible for use among the Tamil speak- ing people of the island and in 1760 some of the Tamil Christians sent a request for one of the Tranquebar missionaries to pay them a visit and to labour for a time among them. Mr. Schwartz being deputed by his colleagues to comply with this request, he reached Jaffna on the last day of April and immediately began his labours. He was absent from Tranquebar five months, and his visit was long remembered in Ceylon and his name loved and honoured alike by Europeans and natives.
Useful as was Mr. Schwartz in the work in Tranquebar and on his missionary tours, a wider field was about to open before him. In May, 1762, accompanied by a brother missionary, he paid a visit to the cities of Tanjore and Trichi- nopoly, according to his custom, making known the Gospel wherever he could find listeners to his message. At Tanjore he preached the Gospel not only in the city, but in the palace of the Rajah, who, concealed by a screen, heard without being seen.
Trichinopoly was then visited and here he was received with great kindness by the English
46 Men of Might in India Missions
officers and civilians. In September, he returned to Tranquebar, which continued for some tim^ longer to be nominally his home ; but from the time of this visit, Tanjore and Trichinopoly oc- cupied his thoughts more and more, and became eventually the scene of his truly apostolic labours.
In 1766, the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, decided to occupy Trichinopoly permanently as a mission station and Mr. Schwartz was asked to take charge of the new station as a missionary of that society. The invitation was approved by the Danish College of Missions at Copenhagen and by the mission- ary brethren in Tranquebar, and after more than sixteen years in India and at the age of forty he entered upon his really distinctive and independent work as a missionary.
Trichinopoly at this time contained a popula- tion of from twenty to thirty thousand inhabi- tants, was noted for its fine mosques and in a large palace, in the midst of beautiful gardens, dwelt Mohamed Ali, the Nawab of the Carnatic. Here Mr. Schwartz made the acquaintance of William Chambers, Esq. brother of the Chief Justice of Bengal and an accomplished Oriental scholar. This gentleman soon learned to feel a high regard for the missionary and from this new acquaintance, we have a pen-picture of Mr. Schwartz as he appeared at that time. " I had expected," said Mr. Chambers, " to find the fa- mous missionary a very austere and strict person,
Christian Frederick Schwartz 47
whereas the first sight of the man made a com- plete revohition on this point. His garb, indeed, which was pretty well worn, seemed foreign and old-fashioned, but in every other respect, his ap- pearance was the reverse of all that could be called forbidding or morose. Figure to yourself a stout, well-made man, somewhat above the middle size, erect in his carriage and address, with a complexion rather dark, though healthy, black curled hair, and a manly, engaging counte- nance, expressive of unaffected candour, ingenu- ousness and benevolence, and you will have an idea of what Mr. Schwartz appeared to be at first sight."
His entire income at this time was ten pagodas a month, or about £48 per annum. Through the military oi^cer in charge of the garrison, he se- cured a room with barely space for his bed and himself. In food and clothing he was most frugal. The little brass lamp which had served him in the university at Halle, accompanied him to India, and was used to the end of his Hfe.
Mr. Schwartz sought to do faithfully the work of an evangelist, preaching not only in the city of Trichinopoly, but in the surrounding villages, and soon a congregation of converts was formed. Among these were found some capable of in- structing others, and these were employed as catechists. The large English garrison had neither church nor chaplain, and without neglect- ing his work for the people of the land, he
/
48 Men of Might in India Missions
sought to be of service to these sheep without a shepherd. He persuaded the soldiers to meet in a room in an old building, but so popular did these services become, that it was resolved, if possible to raise funds for the building of a church edifice. The sum contributed for this purpose was not large, but in the hands of Mr. Schwartz was so wisely used that a building capable of accommodating an audience of 1,500 or 2,000 was provided. The new sanctuary was solemnly dedicated to the worship of God on the i8th of May, 1766, and called Christ Church. On the Sabbath, services were held in this church from morning until evening, in English, in Tamil and in Portuguese.
The Madras Government, without solicitation, granted Mr. Schwartz iioo per annum as chap- lain of the garrison. This money he used in the first instance in the building of a mission-house and school-room adjoining. This work com- pleted, he accepted one half the amount, nominally for his own personal use, though it was chiefly distributed in charity. The remaining half he spent on his native congregation.
In 1767, the country in the vicinity of Trichi- nopoly became the seat of active military opera- tions, and Mr. Schwartz had many opportunities of exercising the duties of his office, in attending upon the sick and wounded from the English camp. A treaty of peace between the combatants, was concluded in April, 1769 and he felt that the
Christian Frederick Schwartz 49
way was open to pay a long contemplated visit to Tanjore, where he spent three weeks, preach- ing daily, and examining the schools which had, been established. One important result of this visit to Tanjore, was the introduction of the mis- sionary to the Rajah Tuljajee, who had expressed a desire to make his acquaintance and with whom he was henceforth to be so closely associated.
" He is a priest," remarked the Rajah to one of his suite, and the conversation turned at once, upon the truths of the Gospel. According to custom, a tray of sweetmeats was presented at the close of the interview. The missionary ac- cepting a portion, said, '* we Christians, Before partaking of food, are accustomed to implore grace to use the gift to the glory of God." He was then desired by the Rajah to offer up such a prayer.
" Oh ! that the King would accept this relig- ion," said an interested listener, when Schwartz was on one occasion proclaiming the Gospel message, *' then all in his kingdom would forsake heathenism."
From time to time Mr. Schwartz continued to visit Tanjore accompanied by one or more of his faithful catechists, but he felt very forcibly, that for so important a field, the occasional visits which he was able to pay were insufficient if permanent good was to be exoected. In the year 1773 a catechist from Trichinopoly was stationed permanently in Tanjore and a small building was
5© Men of Might in India Missions
erected in the fort in which those who desired to receive Christian instruction could assemble.
The close of this year brought disaster to the Rajah and to his people. The Nawab of Arcot on the ostensible pretext of the non-payment of tribute due to the Nawab from the Rajah, sent an army from Trichinopoly, to enforce his de- mand. The Rajah and his family were taken prisoners and the Nawab took forcible possession of his Kingdom and his treasure.
The effect of this change of government was seriously to impede missionary operations in Tan- jore. The building erected in the fort, for Chris- tian worship was destroyed, and many thousands of the inhabitants left the country for want of food and employment.
Mr. Schwartz was allowed a brief interview with the Captive Rajah. An officer of the Rajah who shared his confinement, said with deep emo- tion, " we remember what you said to us, though we did not follow your advice." On being asked, " do your Gods help you now ? " they frankly admitted, " They are all naught."
In the city of Tan j ore, desolation reigned ; but this state of things was not to continue. The act of the Madras Government in giving assistance to the Nawab of Arcot, against the Rajah of Tan j ore, met with the emphatic disapproval of the Court of Directors in England. An order was therefore issued by that body, demanding the immediate restoration to his Kingdom, of the
Christian Frederick Schwartz 51
deposed Rajah. This was an act of justice in which the missionary greatly rejoiced, but he noted with sincere sorrow that the Rajah had learned no salutary lessons from his misfortunes.
The missionary brethren in Tranquebar at length decided to send to the assistance of Mr. Schwartz, the Rev. Christian Pohle in order that the senior missionary might be able to devote more of his time to work in Tanjore. Possessed of great zeal, practical wisdom, and unusual apti- tude in acquiring languages, Mr. Pohle was soon able to take an active part in the varied duties of the mission.
Feeling assured that the work in Trichinopoly would not now be left to suffer, Mr. Schwartz turned his attention more and more to Tanjore. His Success in reaching the hearts of those to whom he addressed the messages of salvation was evidenced by the rapid increase of the Christian community. The church building in the fort, which had been destroyed after the deposition of the Rajah, was replaced by a temporary struc- ture through the liberality of a pious English officer; but as this furnished insufficient accom- modation, Schwartz began to think of erecting a permanent and more spacious edifice.
On the loth of March, 1797, General Munro, an earnest Christian, and a warm friend of the Mission, laid the foundation stone of a new house of prayer. In recognition of the services which the missionary had rendered as chaplain, and also
52 Men of Might in India Missions
as translator for the Government in important cases, General Munro requested the representa- tives of the Government in Madras to make Mr. Schwartz a suitable recompense.
On becoming acquainted with the kind inten- tions of General Munro, Schwartz immediately wrote, declining any present for himself, but said that if the Government desired to do him a favor he would forward a request for material toward the erection of the contemplated church building.
After some time had elapsed, Mr. Schwartz received a letter from General Munro, desiring him to come without delay to Madras, as the Governor, Sir Thomas Rumbold, had matters of importance to communicate to him. On his ar- rival, the missionary was asked if he would undertake a confidential mission to Hyder Ali, at Seringapatam, in order to ascertain his actual disposition with respect to the English. " There is reason to believe," said the Governor, " that he has hostile designs, and we wish to assure him of the pacific intentions of the Madras Govern- ment. We have fixed upon you to undertake this important and difficult mission, not only be- cause of your intimate knowledge of Hindustani, making the services of an interpreter unneces- sary, but we are convinced that you would act in a wholly disinterested manner, and that no one can approach you with a bribe."
Mr. Schwartz consented to undertake this mis- sion, because persuaded that it was in the inter-
Christian Frederick Schwartz 53
ests of peace, and because it would open new doors for the publication of the Gospel message. He returned at once to Tan j ore, leaving direc- tions with the native helpers for guidance during his absence. He also visited Trichinopoly, and left instructions for the conduct of the work in that station.
On the first of July, 1779, accompanied by Satthianadhan, one of his faithful catechists, he set out on the important mission which had been intrusted to him. After a palanquin journey of six days, the travellers reached Caroor, the fron- tier fort of Hyder Ali, where they were detained a month, waiting for permission to proceed. This interval was fully occupied in preaching the Gospel, and sometimes the streets were thronged with listeners. The required permission to ad- vance, having at length been received, the jour- ney was continued, and on the 24th of August, the fort of Mysore was reached. From this point the travellers had a view of Seringapatam, the goal of their journey.
The conferences with the Prince were usually held in a spacious hall supported by marble col- umns, and looking out upon a fine garden. Hyder Ali received the missionary seated on the floor on a rich carpet, and gave him a place by his side. He desired, he said, to keep peace with the English, but he was not convinced that the Eng- lish entertained really friendly views toward him. " You," he said, addressing Schwartz,
54 Men of Might in India Missions
" are made an instrument to cover intentions and views very different from those which actuate your own mind. You are welcome to remain in Seringapatam, as long as it pleases you to do so, and you have also my permission to try to con- vert my subjects to the Christian religion, as I feel confident that you will say nothing improper to them, or that will tend to injure my authority."
Having received a letter which he was to de- liver to the Governor of Madras, Mr. Schwartz took leave of the Sovereign of Mysore. On en- tering his palanquin he found a bag of three hundred rupees which Hyder AH had ordered to be presented to him with which to defray the ex- penses of the journey. This money Mr. Schwartz wished at once to return, but being in- formed that such an act would be regarded as discourteous, on his arrival in Madras, he de- livered the bag of rupees to the Government officials, who, of course, declined to receive it. Mr. Schwartz then asked permission to appro- priate the sum to the beginning of a fund for a school for English orphan children in Tanjore. Such a school was at once established and proved a great blessing.
When Mr. Schwartz learned that the Governor of Madras intended presenting him with a sum of money in recognition of the service he had ren- dered, he begged to be allowed to decline the gift but signified that it would gratify him if the
Christian Frederick Schwartz 55
Board would allow to Mr. Pohle, his colleague in Trichinopoly, the sum of iioo per annum, the same amount which he himself received, since he knew that, as in his own case, the money would be employed for the benefit of the mission. This request was granted, and Mr. Schwartz then wrote, " we are now able to maintain in both Trichinopoly and Tan j ore, catechists and school- masters."
The Government also ordered that the mission- ary should be supplied with bricks and lime to- ward the building of the church in Tan j ore. This w^ork was therefore pushed rapidly forward and the completed building was consecrated to the worship of God, in April, 1780. As the situation of this church was convenient for the garrison, but inconvenient for the Tamil congregation, a second church was provided for them, the Rajah contributing the site and English friends the larger share of the funds required for the erec- tion. On the ground given by the Rajah for the church, Mr. Schwartz eventually built a mission- house, houses for the catechists and a school, and here he lived like a father in the midst of his family.
Notwithstanding the assurances made by the Sovereign of Mysore that he was anxious for the preservation of peace, in June, 1780, he com- menced hostilities, invading the Carnatic with an army of nearly 100,000. His cavalry overran the
56 Men of Might in India Missions
country leaving ruin and desolation behind them, and for three years, war, famine and desolation reigned in that section and the South of India. When Mr. Schwartz returned from Seringapa- tam, being persuaded that war was imminent, he purchased and carefully stored, 12,000 bushels of rice while it was abundant and therefore cheap, and when the time of distress came, he had food for all who were dependent on him. The Euro- peans who knew and trusted the ** good mission- ary," sent him large sums monthly with which to purchase food to distribute among the starving, and great numbers were thus saved from death. In 1 78 1 the city of Tan j ore was crowded with starving people, and the food supply was ex- hausted. There was grain in the country, but no bullocks could be obtained to bring it into the fortress, as the people refused to trust either the Rajah or his officials. At length the Rajah said to his ministers, " we all, you and I, have lost our credit. Let us try whether the inhabitants will trust the missionary." He accordingly sent to Mr. Schwartz a communication giving him full authority to make his own terms with the people. Within two days 1,000 bullocks were placed at the disposal of the missionary, who had engaged to pay the people with his own hands, and soon and the fortress was thereby saved from starva- tion.
* Maund=a weight of almost 80 jx^unds.
Christian Frederick Schwartz 57
The following year the city of Tan j ore was re- duced to a like extremity, and again the " good missionary " was asked to come to the help of the perishing. Placing implicit confidence in the promise of Mr. Schwartz, that prompt and ample remuneration would be given, the people came with their cattle, and accompanied by the Chris- tian helpers of the mission, brought from the coun- try an ample supply of grain. The Christian mis- sionary had won the esteem and confidence of all. Hyder AH was so deeply impressed by the nobility and uprightness of his character that he gave orders to his officers to permit the '' venerable padre " to pass unmolested and to show him re- spect and kindness.
In the third year of the war Hyder Ali died and was succeeded by his son, known later as * Tippoo Sultan." Becoming convinced that his cause could not succeed, Tippoo was anxious for a cessation of hostilities. A treaty of peace was at length concluded, and the army of the Sultan was withdrawn. The misery of the Tan j ore King- dom was, however, little abated, for the Rajah, afflicted with an incurable disease had left the affairs of his Kingdom to a cruel and unscrupulous minister and because of intolerable oppression, 65,000 of the best inhabitants left the Kingdom. The Rajah was at length prevailed upon to recall the inhabitants, making many fair promises as to the future administration of justice. But the people, having been often deceived, refused to re-
58 Men of Might in India Missions
turn. The Rajah then asked Mr. Schwartz to use his influence to his end, and such was the confidence of the people in the integrity of the missionary that 7,000 returned in a single day.
Mr. Schwartz had a heart full of love for chil- dren and some of the most beautiful letters from his pen which have been preserved, are letters to the children of some of his friends. For several years he had acted the part of a father to the eldest son of his friend, the Rev. John KolhofiE of Tranquebar. The boy became a member of Mr. Schwartz's household when eight years of age and received from his foster-father the most tender care. He was carefully educated and pre- pared to take part in the work of evangelization, for, to the joy of his foster-father, young KolhoflF desired to consecrate his life to this service.
In the year 1786, Mr. Schwartz desired the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge to place the name of his foster son on the list of their missionaries, and asked also that he might be made his successor in the Tanjore mission. The young man was ordained to the work of the Gospel ministry in the New Jerusalem Church of Tranquebar in the presence of a large European and native congregation.
While Mr. Schwartz was in Tranquebar in at- tendance upon the ordination services, an incident occurred at the court of Tanjore which called the missionary to take a prominent part in the affairs of the Kingdom. The Rajah, having no heir to
Christian Frederick Schwartz 59
succeed him, adopted the child of a cousin, a boy ten years of age, as his heir. He gave him the name of Serfojee, asked the EngUsh Govern- ment to extend to this son of his adoption, the favour and protection which he had enjoyed, and when Mr. Schv*^artz returned from Tranquebar, the Rajah sent for him and requested him to be- come the guardian of the boy.
The missionary, however, felt that he could not undertake so responsible a charge, because of complications that would inevitably arise, and he advised the Rajah to intrust the child to his half- brother Ameer Singh. This was accordingly done and Ameer Singh was also appointed Regent dur- ing the minority of his ward. Two days after these arrangements had been made the Rajah died and Ameer Singh was formally inducted into the duties of his new office. He was not long con- tent, however to act merely as Regent. He wished to be placed on the throne as Rajah, and in order to reach the coveted position the claims of Ser- fojee, must be set aside. This was finally accom- plished and Ameer Singh installed as Rajah.
Under the new rule the Kingdom did not pros- per, and the Court of Directors in England urged Mr. Schwartz to see that plans of reform which he himself had suggested were carried out. He was now sixty-five years of age and shrank from undertaking such heavy responsibilities, but felt that he could not conscientiously decline, especially as this new sphere of usefulness would furnish
6o Men of Might in India Missions
new and wider opportunities for making Christ known.
Mr. Schwartz, when declining to take the sole guardianship of Serfojee, had promised the Rajah to promote his welfare by every means in his power. When, therefore, he ascertained that Ameer Singh was treating his ward as a prisoner and wholly neglecting his education he felt con- strained to appeal to the British authorities, who enjoined him, in conjunction with the English Resident, to make suitable provision for the young Prince. He was eventually removed to Madras where his safety and comfort would be assured. Mr. Schwartz accompanied his royal charge to the Capital, and remained with him several months. During this period, he had an oppor- tunity to give wise counsel and faithful Christian instruction to Serfojee. '* Be not ashamed to ask the help of God," he said to the Prince on one occasion, " for He alone can do all for you." On his return to Tan j ore, he left as the Christian instructor and chief adviser of Serfojee the Rev. Christian William Gericke; but he kept himself well informed in regard to all that concerned the young Prince.
Mr. Schwartz rejoiced that he was able now to occupy himself wholly with the duties of his sacred office and in his varied labours, he found a faithful coadjutor in his foster-son, the Rev. Caspar Kolhoff .
Toward the close of 1797, a serious illness came
Christian Frederick Schwartz 6i
upon him, advancing years however began to tell and when it became evident to his friends that the end was not far distant, being himself aware of his critical condition, Mr. Schwartz expressed a desire to see Serfojee once more. The young Prince made haste to obey the summons. On his arrival, the dying saint, with great tenderness and impressiveness, gave his last advice to the weeping Prince. He charged him to govern his life according to the precepts which he had on previous occasions made known to him. He urged him, when he should come into possession of his Kingdom, to abstain from extravagant and sen- sual indulgences, and to walk in humility, as this would be pleasing to God. He charged him to seek in every laudable way to promote the pros- perity of his subjects. He asked that the Chris- tian community be protected against oppression, and left undisturbed in the free exercise of their religious rights. Then raising his hands toward heaven, as if in prayer, he said, " My last and most earnest wish is that God in His infinite mercy, may graciously regard you and lead your heart and soul to Christ that I may meet you again, as His true disciple before His throne." This interview with the Prince took place on the 23rd of November. The aged sufferer rallied for a time and on Christm:as day was able to at- tend church. On the 2nd of February his dear friend Gericke arrived from Madras and the two friends took sweet counsel together.
//T^,^
62 Men of Might in India Missions
On the 13th of February, feeling that the end was near, the aged pilgrim called to his bedside, Mr. Kolhofif, and with great tenderness and solemnity, gave him his paternal blessing and of- fered a brief and touching prayer. He exhorted his missionary brethren who were gathered around him to make the duties of their office their chief care and concern, joined his voice with theirs in singing a hymn, and calmly entered into rest.
All the following night the sound of weeping was heard from the Christian villages in the vicinity. On the afternoon of the day succeeding his death, the mortal remains were carried to the chapel near the mission dwelling and laid in a grave before the altar. Serfojee came to look once more upon the beloved face, before the grave hid it from view. He shed many tears and covered the casket with a rich, gold cloth. Mr. Gericke conducted the funeral service and the Prince re- mained to the close.
On the stone above the resting-place of the revered missionary is the following inscription :
Sacred to the Memory of The Rev. Christian Frederic Schwartz,
Missionary to the Honorable
Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge,
in London ;
Who departed this life on the
13th of February, 1798,
Aged seventy-one years and four months.
Christian Frederick Schwartz 6^
To this inscription, Serfojee caused the follow- ing lines of his own composition, to be added :
Firm wast thou, humble and wise, Honest, pure, free from disguise, Father of orphans, the widow's support. Comfort in sorrow of every sort. To the benighted, dispenser of light, Doing, and pointing to that which is right. Blessing to princes, to people, to me ; May I, my father, be worthy of thee ! Wisheth and prayeth thy Sarabojee.
In the month of June following the death of Mr. Schwartz, Ameer Singh was formally de- posed and the young prince, Serfojee proclaimed Rajah. Placed in a position of authority and re- sponsibility, he showed that he had not been un- mindful of the instructions and admonitions of his friend and adviser; but he did not relinquish idolatry.
Three years after the death of the venerable missionary, the Rajah sent a letter written with his own hand to the Society for Promoting Chris- tian Knowledge, requesting the Society to arrange at his expense for a monument of marble " to per- petuate the memory of the late Father Schwartz and to manifest the great esteem felt for that great and good man and the gratitude due to him. I wish the monument to be erected," wrote the Prince, " in the church which is in my capital and residency."
64 Men of Might in India Missions
In accordance with the wishes of the Rajah, a beautiful monument was prepared by Flaxman, representing in basso-reHevo, the death-bed scene of the departing missionary. For some time after its arrival, the Rajah kept the monument in his palace, but it was eventually removed to the church in the fort, the Western end of which it still adorns. For many years the Rajah paid a daily visit to the fort to gaze upon this monu- ment, recalling, as it did, his last interview with one to whom he felt that he was deeply indebted.
The Rajah Serfojee rejoiced in being the first to do honour to the memory of Mr. Schwartz, by giving orders for the erection of a monument. The Directors of the East India Company were equally anxious to mark the high sense they en- tertained of his public and private worth, by send- ing out to Madras a beautiful monument to be erected in the church in the fort of St. George in that city. But the missions founded by Mr. Schwartz and the congregations gathered through his zealous labours, were nobler monuments to his memory than the most costly memorials of marble.
Ill
WILLIAM CAREY, JOSHUA MARSHMAN AND WILLIAM WARD,
THE SERAMPORE MISSIONARIES I793-1837
On the right bank of the river Hugli, sixteen miles above Calcutta, is the town of Serampore. Here the Danes for trading purposes, acquired by purchase from the native owners, twenty acres of land, and on the 8th of October, 1755, Danish officers bearing a commission from Tranquebar, raised the Danish flag over the newly acquired possession, and there for ninety years it con- tinued to float. One of the early governors of this new settlement was Colonel Bie, who while an official of the Danish Government at Tranque- bar, had enjoyed the ministry of Christian Frede- rick Schwartz, and had imbibed so much of the missionary spirit that when the British East India Company absolutely refused to permit missionary work in their domains he did not hesitate to re- ceive under his protection the men whom during those very years God had been raising up to do valiant service for Him in India. Thus the work of that early Danish Tamil mission furnished the 65
66 Men of Might in India Missions
basis for the commencement of what are often known as Modern Missions in the East. To Ziegenbalg and Schwartz, Carey, Marshman and Ward owed their home at Serampore.
While these preparations were being made in India, God was raising up in three rural homes in England the men whose names have been asso- ciated with Serampore. William Carey, Joshua Marshman and William Ward were born in the same decade that placed Colonel Bie as governor of Serampore.
William Carey, who was both the oldest in years and the first to enter the field, was born on the 17th of August, 1761, in the village of Pury, or Pauberspury, in Northamptonshire, where his father was parish clerk and village school-master; and the boy, who at a very early age evinced a taste for learning, was a diligent pupil in his father's school. The family was poor and at the age of fourteen, William, who was the eldest of five children, was apprenticed to a shoemaker in the neighbouring village of Hackle- ton./ He was delighted to find in the shop of his master, a small collection of books, among which was a commentary on the New Testament interspersed with Greek words. These the young apprentice copied out with great care and when- ever he paid a visit to his father, carried the list to a journeyman weaver, living in the vicinity, who had received a classical education, and from him learned the letters of the Greek alphabet and
Carey, Marshman and Ward 67
the translation of the words. In the same way he began the study of Latin ; while from a neigh- bouring parish minister he took his first lessons in Hebrew.
Two years after the beginning of young Carey's apprenticeship, his master died and he then en- gaged himself as a journeyman shoemaker to a Mr. Old. As son of the parish clerk, he was brought up as a Churchman and was in due time confirmed but through the teaching of a pious fellow-workman, he was led to feel that he had not been converted, and began to study the Scrip- tures diligently and to pray for a new heart. When filled himself with joy and peace in believ- ing, he desired to be used in bringing others to a knowledge of the Saviour, and to help in prepara- tion for such a work, he began a systematic read- ing of the Bible in Greek, Hebrew and Latin as well as English.
At eighteen years of age, Mr. Carey made his first appearance in the pulpit, although, as he afterwards acknowledged, he felt himself '* very poorly furnished for such a service." On the death of Mr. Old, he succeeded to the business and married the sister of his former master before he was twenty years of age. The marriage was an uncongenial one as Mrs. Carey had no sym- pathy with the aspirations of her husband. Soon after his marriage, Mr. Carey was invited to preach regularly to a small congregation at EarFs; Barton, and in this place, for three and a half
68 Men of Might in India Missions
years he preached on the Sabbath and worked dihgently at his cobbler's stall during the week. At the same time he neglected no opportunity for the improvement of his mind. At the age of twenty-four he accepted the ministerial charge of a small Baptist church at Moulton. The salary promised was quite insufficient for the support of his family, but he hoped to supplement this by teaching a small school. The school, however did not prove a success and he was obliged to return to " his last and his leather."
Cook's " Voyages Around the World," about this time came into the possession of the young minister and possessed for him a marvellous fas- cination. He learned to dwell more and more on the spiritual degradation of a large part of the world's inhabitants. The Rev. Andrew Fuller, destined to be closely associated with Mr. Carey in the cause of missions, has related that on one occasion, entering the Httle shop, he saw, hanging on the wall, a large map composed of several sheets pasted together, on which Mr. Carey had written against each country whatever informa- tion he had been able to collect in reference to the population, religion and government.
To his disappointment he found few ready to share his convictions that it was the duty of Chris- tians to send the Gospel to the unevangelised. At a ministerial meeting in Northampton, Mr. Ryland, senior, invited the young men in the audi- ence to propose some subject for discussion. Mr.
Carey, Marshman and Ward 69
Carey rose and proposed, " the duty of Christians to attempt the spread of the Gospel among heathen nations."
As soon as he had sufficiently recovered from his astonishment, Mr. Ryland rose and in an agitated voice said, " young man, sit down. When God pleases to convert the heathen He will do it without your aid or mine.''
When twenty-eight years of age Mr. Carey removed to Leicester, to take charge of a small church in that place. While in Leicester he pre- pared a treatise entitled " An Inquiry on Mis- sions." A friend contributed £10 for the printing of this paper which still holds a high rank as a missionary treatise.
On the 31st of May, 1792, at a minister's meet- ing in Nottingham, Mr. Carey preached a ser- mon which doubtless laid the foundation of the Baptist Mission in India. Announcing Isaiah 54: 2, 3, as his text he drew from this portion of Scripture these two great lessons, which have since become missionary maxims : *' Expect GreatW Things from God. Attempt Great Things fori GodJ At the close of this very impressive serv--^ ice, as Mr. Carey saw the audience about to \ disperse, he grasped the hand of ]Mr. Fuller and j in a tone of great concern, asked if they ** were again going away without doing anything."
The result of this anxious appeal was the fol- lowing resolution : " That a plan be proposed against the next ijiinister's meeting in Kettering
70 Men of Might in India Missions
for the estabhshment of a society for propagat- ing the Gospel among the heathen." The meet- ing at Kettering was held on the 2nd of October, 1792. At its close a committee of five was ap- pointed, of which Mr. Carey was one. The Rev. Andrew Fuller was appointed Secretary. The collection taken up on this occasion in aid of the cause of Foreign Missions amounted to £13. 2s. and 6d. Mr. Carey at once offered to go at the earliest opportunity to any country designated by the committee.
Outside the infant society, the project, with few exceptions was treated with contempt. Referring to the feeling manifested at this period. Arch- deacon Farrar in an address on the subject of Missions in Westminster Abbey, in March, 1B87, said, ** those who in that day, sneered that Eng- land had sent a cobbler to convert the world, were the direct lineal descendants of those who sneered in Palestine, 2,000 years ago, * is not this the carpenter ? ' "
The minds of the committee were turned to India by the return to England of Mr. John Thomas, who had gone out to Calcutta several years before as a surgeon. Being a good man, his heart had been stirred within him when he saw the land wholly given to idolatry, and he had tried to make Christ known. The infant society decided to invite Mr. Thomas to unite with them and if possible, to procure a companion in labour to accompany him to India. Mr. Carey at once
Carey, Marshman and Ward 71
offered himself as a fellow-worker. ** We saw," said Mr. Fuller, " that there was a gold mine in India, but it was deep as the centre of the earth. Who will venture to explore it?" ''I will ven- ture to go down," said Mr. Carey, " but remem- ber that you," turning to Air. Fuller and other members of the committee, '' must hold the ropes."
On the loth of January, 1793, Messrs. Carey 1 and Thomas were appointed missionaries to the^ East Indies. Mrs. Carey declined to accompany her husband, but unwilling to relinquish the project, Mr. Carey resolved to take with him one of their sons and to return for his family as soon as the mission was established. While waiting to complete necessary arrangements, Mr. Carey met at Hull, Mr. William Ward, printer and news- paper editor. *' If the Lord bless us," Mr. Carey said to his new acquaintance, '' we shall want a person of your business, to enable us to print the Scriptures. I hope you will come after us."
At this time all Europeans not in public serv- ice were forbidden to set foot in the Company's territories in India without special license ; but a ship's captain with whom Mr. Thomas had twice sailed as surgeon, offered to take the party with- out license. The passage money had been paid and the two missionaries were actually on board when the captain received a letter warning him against taking out passengers without the required permission. With eyes filled with tears Mr. Carey
72 Men of Might in India Missions
saw the Indian fleet sail away without him. But feeling a strong confidence that the Lord would yet open the way for the departure of His serv- ants, he left his luggage at Portsmouth, and ac- companied Mr. Thomas to London. Going into a coffee-house for some needed refreshments, one of the waiters put into the hands of Mr. Thomas, a card bearing the announcement that a Danish East Indiaman was about to sail for India. Has- tening at once to the office they learned that the terms were £icx) for each adult and £50 for each child.
Another attempt was now made to persuade Mrs. Carey to accompany her husband. This she finally consented to do, but stipulated that her sister, Miss Old should accompany her. The party would therefore consist of four adults and five children. The captain, on being made ac- quainted with the circumstances, agreed to re- ceive the entire party for £300.
They embarked on the 13th of June, 1793, and the voyage lasted five months. On their arrival in Calcutta a house was secured and Mr. Carey at once began the study of the language. But ere long, it was decided that he with his family should move to the Sunderbunds, the name given to the marshy jungles facing the Bay of Bengal, and there cultivate a tract of land which he could obtain free of rent. Mr. Carey hoped thus to pro- vide for his family while pursuing his studies. The place selected for the new home was on the
Carey, Marshman and Ward 73
river Hugli, about forty miles from Calcutta. A hospitable English gentleman in charge of the Government salt manufactory in this wild spot, received the entire party into his own bungalow, until the bamboo structure which Mr. Carey at once commenced to build was ready for occu- pancy. Their kind host was a deist and professed to feel no sympathy with Mr. Carey in his desire to give religious instruction to the people. He, however, eventually renounced his infidel views, embraced Christianity and married Miss Old.
Mr. Carey was not long in learning that the place he had selected was not favourable for mis- sionary enterprise. Relief came to him from an unexpected quarter in the midst of great per- plexity. Mr. George Udney, a man of decided ^ Christian character offered Mr. Carey the super- intendence of his indigo factory at Mudnabutty. The superintendence of a second factory was of- ^ fered to Mr. Thomas, each to receive a salary of 1 £250 a year. The proposal was gratefully ac- ^ cepted. Mr. Carey reached his new field of labour on the 15th of June, 1794, and remained there a little more than five years.
About ninety native workmen were employed in the factory, to whom he gave Christian instruc- tion. Mr. Udney fully understood that Mr. Carey was before all a Christian missionary, and was himself deeply interested in the prosecution of this work. From the factory, about two hundred villages could be reached, and Mr. Carey went
74 Men of Might in India Missions
from village to village preaching the Gospel, re- cru ting his Sabbath congregations from them.
"-'he situation of the factory proved unhealthy and the family suffered much from sickness. One of the sons died of fever. Grief at her loss un- balanced the mind of the mother and from this time until her death in December, 1807, it was necessary to keep her under restraint. In the midst of circumstances so afflictive, Mr. Carey continued his labours. Side by side with his public ministrations and private instruction, in conjunc- tion with his oversight of the indigo factory, the work of translating the Scriptures into Bengali, was carried on. When it was so far advanced that printing could be commenced he made a visit to Calcutta to obtain estimates for printing, and learned that a wooden printing-press was for sale. He decided to purchase it, but Mr. Udney asked to be allowed to pay for it, and presented it to the mission. When it was set up in one of the rooms of the factory at Mudnabutty, the natives declared that this must be the idol of the Europeans.
It was in March, 1799, as Mr. Carey was re- vi, turning from Calcutta, that he saw for the first . time, a widow burned alive with the dead body of her husband, and from this time, he ceased not to use every possible influence, by appeals in India and in England, until the horrid rite was abolished by law.
Near the end of 1799, Mr. Udney was forced to abandon the manufacture of indigo, as the
Carey, Marshman and Ward 75
enterprise had proved financially a failure and Mr. Carey was therefore obliged to seek another resi- dence and occupation. Perhaps the pre .pect, momentarily seemed dark, but succour was near, In quick succession, four young men in England had offered themselves to the Baptist Missionary Society, to go out to India. They were William Ward, whom Carey himself had called, Joshua Marshman and Messrs. Brunsdon and Grant.
William Ward was born in Derby on the 20th of October, 1769. He was early left without a father, and on his mother, a woman of rare in- telligence and ardent piety, devolved the care and education of the boy. He was thoughtful beyond his years and no opportunity for mental improve- ment was neglected. On leaving school he was apprenticed to a Mr. Drury who was at the head of a large printing establishment. William began now to write as well as read and soon acquired great facility of expression. At the close of his apprenticeship, on behalf of Mr. Drury, he edited the " Derby Mercury" so successfully that this journal soon became one of the most influential papers in the county, and six years were spent in the keenest editorial excitement. In 1797, Mr. Ward laid aside journalism and began to make diligent preparation for the work of making known the Gospel to his fellowmen. The follow- ing year a member of the Baptist Missionary So- ciety visited Ewood Hall, where he was pursuing his studies, in search of labourers to join Mr. Carey
76 Men of Might in India Missions
in India. Mr. Ward offered himself to the society in the hope that he might be employed in print- ing the Scriptures and was at once accepted.
Joshua Marshman was born in Westbury Leigh, in Williston, on the 2Qth of April, 1768. His father, John Marshman, was a weaver, a man of fervent piety and his mother was a woman of superior mental gifts, as well as of deep spirituality. When fifteen years old, a bookseller in Holborn, who had formerly resided in West- bury Leigh, proposed to Mr. Marshman that his son should come to the metropolis and help in his shop. Joshua, who was passionately fond of reading was now in a congenial atmosphere, but he soon found that his duties left him little leisure. The drudgery of walking the streets sev- eral hours each day, carrying heavy packages of books soon became intolerable. On one occasion, Weary and discouraged, as he reached Westminster Abbey, he laid down his load, buried his face in his hands and burst into passionate weeping, as he thought that perhaps there was before him, no brighter future than that of a bookseller's appren- tice. Then raising his tear-stained face, he saw within the portals of the venerable pile, the monu- ments rising in solemn beauty there and he said to himself '* the men who have found a resting-place here, fought bravely the battle of life and won, and so will I." He then took up the burden he had laid down with so heavy a heart and walked on with new courage. At the end of five months
Carey, Marshman and Ward 77
he returned to his rural home and took his place at his father's loom. He had now leisure for reading and before he was eighteen years of age, he had read more than five hundred books. Among his acquaintances he found little sym- pathy with his aspirations after knowledge. When he sought admission to the church he was met with the objection that he had too much head- knowledge of religion to have much heart-knowl- edge of its truths.
In the year 1791, Mr. Marshman was married to Hannah Shephard, a lady who possessed in an eminent degree those qualities of heart and mind which fitted her to be a help-meet to her husband. Three years after his marriage, he accepted the position of master of a school in Broadmead, Bris- tol, and here he laboured successfully for five years. Reading with ever-increasing interest the accounts of the mission work in India and the spiritual needs of that vast field, he resolved to offer his services to the Baptist Society. He was accepted and made hasty preparations to join the party about to sail for India, Messrs. Ward, Grant and Brunsdon. After a voyage of five months, the vessel came to anchor on the 5th of October, 1799. Captain Wickes sent the mission party in his boats to Serampore. Two members of this party, Messrs. Grant and Brunsdon, men of great zeal and much promise, were early removed by death.
On their arrival the Danish Governor, Colonel Bie, gave to the strangers all the help in his power
78 Men of Might in India Missions
and gladly consented to the establishment of a mission in the settlement of Serampore. It was accordingly decided that Mr. Ward with a Dan- ish passport should visit Mr. Carey at Mudnabutty and confer with him upon the subject of his re- moval to Serampore and the establishment of a mission there embracing various departments of work. The proposal met with Mr. Carey's ap- proval; on the loth of January, 1800, he took up his residence in Serampore, and the work of Ziegenbalg and Schwartz received a new im- pulse.
The missionaries determined to form a common stock and to dine at a common table. A house was purchased near the river side with a plot of ground walled around. In the centre of the house was a spacious hall which was devoted to public worship, while a large storehouse within the in- closure was fitted up for a printing-office, and the wooden press brought from Mudnabutty was set up. With the exception of two books of the Old Testament Mr. Carey had completed the trans- lation of the entire Bible in Bengali, and it was resolved to begin with the printing of the New (Testament. The 24th of April was appointed as a day of thanksgiving for the establishment of the mission under circumstances so favourable. On the same day a church was organised. In May Mr. and Mrs. Marshman opened two boarding- schools, having in view not only the education of the children and youth around them, but the earn-
Carey, Marshman and Ward 79
ing of means to assist in the support of the mis- sion. These schools soon became the most popu- lar and remunerative establishments of the kind in the Presidency. Mrs. Marshman, who has been called " the first woman missionary to India," gave not only invaluable aid in the schools, in the home and among the little band of Chris- tians, but exerted an influence for good in non- Christian circles also.
During a visit made by Mr. Thomas to Seram^ IV pore, a carpenter belonging to the town was Of^ brought to the mission-house with a dislocated arm. After the physical suffering had ^ been re- lieved by Mr. Thomas, the ever zealous physician began to discourse on the way of life through Christ. The man appeared much interested and came again and again for instruction and eventu- ally with his brother and two of the women of the household, renounced Hinduism and embraced Christianity. Mr. Thomas was so overjoyed, that for a time his mind lost its balance and it became necessary to confine him. The native mob mani- fested violent opposition when it became known that some members of the Hindu community had embraced Christianity, and on this account the brother of Krishna and the two women decided to postpone, for a time, a public profession of their faith in Christ.
On Sunday, the 28th of December, 1800, Mr. Carey walked down to the river that flowed past the mission-house, his son Felix on one side and
l^
8o Men of Might in India Missions
Krishna on the other, prepared to administer the rite of baptism to the two candidates. At the steps leading down to the water, Governor Bie waited with several other Europeans. A dense crowd of Hindus and Mohammedans, were as- sembled, but there was no disorder. A feeling of deep solemnity seemed to pervade the whole assembly and Governor Bie shed tears.
On the 7th of February, 1801, the last sheet of the Bengali New Testament issued from the press. The type of the greater part of the sacred volume had been set up by Mr. Ward and the work had been completed within a year, though prosecuted under great difficulties. As soon as the first copy was bound, it was placed on the communion-table in the chapel and a meeting was held which was attended by the entire mission family and the recently baptized converts, to give thanks to God for the completion of so important a work.
Lord Wellesley, Governor-General of India, having made arrangements for the establishment of a college at Fort William, Calcutta, for the training of young English civilians in a knowl- edge of the vernaculars of the country, its laws and its customs, invited Mr. Carey to accept the post of teacher of Bengali in the new institution. With the approval of his colleagues, he assented, but stipulated that he should be left entirely free to discharge his duties as a Christian missionary. He entered upon his new post in May, 1801, re-
Carey, Marshman and Ward 8i
ceiving for his service, a salary of 500 rupees a month. In a letter to the Rev. Andrew Fuller, he said, " our school has increased, and together with my allowance from the college, will, we trust, sup- port us without further help from England." In October of this year Mr. Thomas died and there remained now of the mission band, only the three with whose names the Christian world has long since grown familiar.
With the appointment of Mr. Carey to the col- lege, began the publication of books in the Bengali language for use in the classes. The compilation of a Bengali grammar was at once undertaken and other books rapidly followed. When Mr. Carey was appointed a teacher of Sanskrit in the college, he immediately began the compilation of a Sanskrit grammar for use in his classes.
After a residence of two years in Serampore the missionaries began to make tours in the sur- rounding country, and Krishna, the first convert, who had proved himself admirably fitted for such work, accompanied the missionaries on these evan- gelistic tours. One of the first tracts issued by the Serampore press fell into the hands of Per- tumber Singh, a man of the writer caste. This man eventually embraced Christianity, and fur- nished just what was required, a superior school- master for the vernacular schools which had been established. He afterwards became a most accept- able and useful preacher of the Gospel The first Brahmin convert came from the Sunderbunds,
82 Men of Might in India Missions
where Mr. Carey began Hfe as a missionary farmer.
In April, 1803, the first Christian marriage among the converts was solemnized, the bride being the daughter of Krishna, the carpenter, and the bridegroom the son of the first Brahmin con- vert. In October of this year, the missionaries purchased an acre of ground where they might bury their dead. Four days after this purchase the first death in the Christian community oc- curred. Mr. Marshman was at the time alone in Serampore and he determined to improve 'the op- portunity to help in loosening the bonds of caste. A plain coffin was made and covered with white muslin. When all was in readiness, Mr. Marsh- man, Felix Carey, a Christian who before his conversion had been a Brahmin and a Christian who had come from the ranks of the Mohamme- dans, lifted the coffin and bore it to the cemetery. The deceased, before his conversion, had been a man of low caste and to see him thus honoured in his burial, was a lesson not readily forgotten.
The appointment of Mr. Carey to the College of Fort William, opened the way for securing the assistance required for the translation of the Scrip- tures into a large number of the languages of the East, as there were associated with him in the college a great number of accomplished Oriental scholars. In the beginning of 1804, and three months before the establishment of the Bible Society in England, the Serampore missionaries
Carey, Marshman and Ward 83
sent home a plan which they had arranged for the translation of the Scriptures, or portions of them, into seven of the languages of the East, explaining that Mr. Carey's connection with the college w^ould enable them to avail themselves of the services of learned men from various parts of India. A valuable library of critical works had been collected, and they had in Serampore a large printing establishment capable of expansion.
Mr. Fuller was deeply interested in these plans and succeeded in raising for the proposed object £1300 ($6,500). From America iyoo ($3,500) were sent. It was even proposed that a transla- tion of the Bible into the Chinese language be added to the translations attempted and that with this object in view, Mr. Marshman should enter upon the study of this language. For fifteen years he devoted to the furtherance of this object all the time that could be secured from other oc- cupations and actually carried through the press' the first Chinese translation of the Scriptures. The work was necessarily very imperfect, but was " a monument of diligence and perseverance al- most without a parallel."
In May, 1805, Colonel Bie who had filled the office of Governor for forty years with conspicu- ous ability was removed by death, a great loss not only to the Danish settlement of Serampore, but to the cause of missions. Lord Wellesley, the Governor-General, who had aided the mission- aries by every means in his power, retired from
84 Men of Might in India Missions
office in the summer of the same year. Before his retirement the first official communication on the subject of female immolation was placed on the records of Government. This paper had been most carefully prepared by the Serampore mis- sionaries, but on the eve of retirement of the Gov- ernor-General a subject involving great questions of public policy could not receive proper consid- eration.
Lord Wellesley was succeeded in office by Lord Cornwallis who died only two months after his arrival in Calcutta, and he by Sir John Barlow. During his eight years' tenure of office, the mis- sionaries encountered more or less opposition. / In May, 1806 the first sheet of the Sanskrit New Testament was printed at Serampore. Little aggressive missionary work could be done among non-Christians, as stringent orders had been issued prohibiting the doing of anything whatever that might be regarded as interference with the re- ligious prejudices of the people. The mission- aries therefore improved the time by keeping the presses in Serampore fully occupied. The Mara- thi, the Ooriya, the Persian and the Hindustani versions of the New Testament were put to press. The completed Sanskrit Grammar was also pub- lished. Mr. Ward, during this time of enforced inactivity in evangelistic labours outside of the Danish settlement, published the first volume of his work on " The Habits, Manners and Religion
Carey, Marshman and Ward 85
of the Hindus," for which he had for many years been collecting and arranging the material.
When by changes in the College of Fort Wil- liam, Mr. Carey was made a full professor and his salary increased from 500 to 1,000 rupees per month, he wrote to Mr. Fuller in England, ** this will be a great help to the mission."
In March, 1807, Mr. Carey received the honor- ary title of Doctor of Divinity from Brown Uni- versity, U. S. A., an illustration of the interest just awakening among the Baptists of America even before the establishment of a regular mis- sionary society.
Not long after the establishment of the mission A at Serampore, Lady Rumohr, only child of Chev- \ alier de Rumohr, a woman of wealth and educa- ! tion came to India in the hope that the climate would give relief after years of invalidism. The Danish ship in which she sailed brought her to Serampore and there she decided to remain. She built a house near the mission families and soon became deeply interested in their work. In the^^ summer of 1808 she became the wife of Dr. Carey 1 and until her death, thirteen years later, he had ' a true home and a congenial companion. •'
In July, 1807, Lord Minto succeeded Sir George Barlow as Governor-General. He was at first inclined to follow the anti-missionary policy of his predecessor, but on personal acquaintance with the missionaries he treated them with both
86 Men of Might in India Missions
consideration and esteem and before he left India in 1813 paid a generous and public tribute to their personal worth and exalted labours.
Not long after the establishment of the mission in Serampore, through the efforts of the European residents, a church was erected in which to hold English services. The missionaries were invited to hold divine service in it and here for more than forty years, Dr. Carey, his colleagues and their successors preached the Gospel '' without fee or reward."
In June, 181 1, Brown University followed its compliment to Dr. Carey by conferring upon Mr. Marshman the honorary degree of Doctor of Di- vinity. The cold season of this year was sadly memorable, for death entered the home of each of the mission families. In March, 1812, the printing house was destroyed by fire. The fire was discovered at six o'clock in the evening, before Mr. Ward had left the office, and every effort was made to check the progress of the flames, but at midnight the roof fell in. The value of the property destroyed was. estimated at £7,000, but the loss of the great number of copies of the Scriptures and of valuable manuscripts far out- weighed the monetary loss. Early on the morn- ing following the fire, Dr. Marshman went to Cal- cutta to break to Dr. Carey as gently as he could, the news of the great disaster. When the two returned to Serampore on the evening of the same day, they were rejoiced to learn from Mr. Ward
Carey, Marshman and Ward 87
that the printing-press had been saved and that the punches and matrices were uninjured ; and this discovery led the undaunted missionaries to attempt an early renewal of their labours in this department.
A building on the premises more spacious than the one that had been destroyed had just been vacated and this they resolved to occupy as their printing-house. The melted lead gathered from the ruins was turned over to the type-casters who worked in relays night and day, and at the end of thirty days, two editions of the New Testa- ment wxre put to press. At the end of a year the printing establishment was in a more efficient state than at any former period. Christian friends in India manifested their sympathy by prompt and generous contributions, and when the news of the disaster reached England, so generous was the response that the entire monetary loss was made up in sixty days.
In May, 181 5, the cause of missions sustained a great loss in the death of the Rev. Andrew Fuller, Secretary of the Baptist Missionary So- ciety in England. To the Serampore band his loss seemed irreparable, but its full significance ap- peared later in the train of circumstances that eventually resulted in their entire separation from the Society.
In the summer of 18 18 an English monthly periodical was begun by Dr. Marshman, to which he gave the name of the ** Friend of India." The
88 Men of Might in India Missions
very first issue of this new periodical contained an essay on the burning of widows, and it was urgent for every reform. ' No class of sufferers ^ appealed more to Dr. Carey's sympathies than the lepers. In 1812 he had witnessed at Cutwa, the burning alive of one of these unfortunates. His soul was filled with horror, and he did not rest until through his influence and exertions a leper hospital had been established in Calcutta. ,
For many years the missionaries had felt the need of an institution in which a higher and more complete education could be given to the native students, and in July, 1818, they issued the pros- I pectus of a college " for the instruction of Asiatic ' Christians and other youth, in Eastern literature and European science." A suitable edifice was to be erected and properly equipped, the three mis- ; sionaries offering to subscribe from their own re- v^jources the sum of £2,500 for the purpose. The college eventually cost a much larger sum but the whole expense was borne by the three mis- sionaries. The same year Mr. Ward paid a visit to England because of seriously impaired health, but as soon as he was able to labour, his services were in requisition on the platform and in the pulpit, and he succeeded in raising in England and Scotland, £3,000 ($15,000), for the support of the college. This was followed by a visit to America where $10,000 more were raised for the same purpose.
In the beginning of 1820, Mrs. Marshman,
Carey, Marshman and Ward 89
much shattered in health, was obliged to return to England. For twenty years she had toiled in- cessantly, allowing herself no respite from exact- ing cares and duties. In one of the letters sent to Mrs. Marshman while in England, Dr. Marsh- man wrote, " in a recent examination of our af- fairs, we found that we had been able to con^ tribute more than £40,000 (nearly $200,000), to the work of the Serampore mission, besides sup^ porting our families. This filled me with joy."
While at home, Mr. Ward secured as professor for the Serampore College, Mr. John Mack, a graduate of the University of Edinburgh, a man of earnest piety, brilliant in intellect and distiur guished for his eloquence. In 1821, Mr. Ward, Mrs. Marshman and Mr. Mack returned to India to find on their arrival, that Dr. Carey had been deprived by death of his second wife.
Meanwhile, the college, a fine edifice in the Grecian style of architecture, had been completed, and Mr. Mack entered with great enthusiasm on the discharge of his duties in connection with it and soon became a brother beloved. Mr. Ward assumed charge of the printing establishment, and the business department of the mission, but gave his chief attention to the training for missionary duties, of the advanced youth in the college.
Not long after Mr. Ward's return from Eng- land, Serfojee, the Rajah of Tan j ore, paid a visit to Serampore. He was received on his arrival by Dr. Carey and Dr. Marshman and conducted
90 Men of Might in India Missions
through the college and the printing-establish- ment. The Prince, still a young man, manifested much interest in all departments of labour. With his hand in the hand of Dr. Carey, Serfojee talked with reverent enthusiasm of the work and virtues of the great missionary Schwartz to whom he felt that he was deeply indebted.
In March, 1823, sixteen months after his re- turn to India, Mr. Ward was stricken with chol- era and died after an illness of thirty-six hours. After his death Dr. Marshman wrote, " This is to me, a most awful and tremendous stroke and I have no way left but that of looking upward for help. I feel the loss of Mr. Ward as a counsellor beyond everything."
In 1823, Dr. Carey accepted the post of trans- lator to Government, in the Bengali language, . because of the increased means which he would I thus be able to devote to the carrying on of the mission work in Serampore and its out-stations. During this year the river Damooda overflowed its embankments and the whole country between it and the Hugh was inundated. The embank- ment in front of the mission premises gave way and the river came in like a flood. Dr. Carey was ill at the time. He was removed from his dwelling-house and carried to one of the houses on the college premises just before his own house was swept away.
In the beginning of 1826, Dr. Marshman made
Carey, Marshman and Ward 91
his first and only visit to England. He reached his native village on the morning of the Sabbath and made his way at once to the old meeting- house, feeling almost a boy again when he heard himself addressed as Joshua. The anniversary of the Baptist Missionary Society was held in Lon- don not long after his arrival. This was the first meeting of the kind which he had ever attended and he mentally compared the great gathering on this occasion with the very humble beginnings of this Society. In the interests of the Mission cause, Dr. Marshman visited the principal cities of Eng- land and Scotland and was everywhere cordially received; but he was homesick for India and re- joiced when his health was in such a measure restored as to permit him to return. He em- barked for India on the 19th of February, 1829, and reached Serampore on the 19th of May, taking three months for a journey now made in a few weeks.
The year 1829 is a memorable one in India as) it marked the abolition of suttee, or widow-j burning in Bengal. The subject had for the first time been brought officially to the notice of Gov- ernment at the close of Lord Wellesley's adminis- tration, but Lord Amherst before his retirement from office put on record " That while the dimi- nution of the rite was desirable, to prohibit it en- tirely, was inexpedient at the time." He was suc- ceeded in office by Lord William Bentinck, who,
92 Men of Might in India Missions
twenty years before, had been Governor of Madras, and was therefore not a novice in In- dian affairs. He brought with him to his exalted office a firm determination that this horrid rite should cease absolutely and immediately. The regulation prohibiting suttee in the Bengal Presi- dency, was passed on the 4th of December, 1829. The Secretary to Government sent the order to Dr. Carey at Serampore on the afternoon of Saturday. The paper came into his hands on the morning of the Sabbath. Knowing that every day's delay might cost the lives of two or three victims, he sent at once for his pundit and com- pleted the translation before the sun went down. The year 1830 brought heavy financial troubles to the missionaries. Great commercial firms failed for large amounts, and as the support of many of the children in the schools conducted by Dr. and Mrs. Marshman, was derived from funds deposited with these firms, the schools suffered in consequence. It was about this time proposed in the interests of economy, to abolish the pro- fessorships in the college of Fort William, and to appoint examiners on a reduced salary. Dr. Carey received in consequence, 500 instead of 1000 rupees per month. The office of Government translator was also abolished, thus further reduc- ing his income. This he regretted only because he was deprived of the privilege of contributing to the mission cause as before. The number of
Carey, Marshman and Ward 93
outstations had increased to thirteen, and Euro- pean, Eurasian and Hindustani labourers to the number of thirty-two, looked to the missionaries for support. There were widows and orphans connected with the mission for whose support they had made themselves responsible, and they had found it necessary to aid in the support of the college. An appeal was sent to Christian friends in England, and this met with a cheerful and liberal response. " No succour was ever more seasonable," wrote the missionaries in response. The eighth edition of the Bengali New Testa- ment appeared in 1832. As Dr. Carey corrected the last sheet of this edition, he said : '' My work is done. I have nothing more to do but to wait the will of God." The Old Testament in Bengali had passed through the fifth edition, each edition of which Dr. Carey had himself revised. When in the summer of 1832 he presided at the ordina- tion of Mr. Mack, as co-pastor with Dr. Marsh- man and himself over the Bengali congregation in Serampore, he took with him into the pulpit the first copy of the sacred volume which came from the hands of the printer, and addressed the converts and their children from the words of Simeon:** Lord, now lettest thou Thy servant de- part in peace, — for mine eyes have seen Thy salva- tion." The veteran saint did not, however, relin- quish the labours until compelled to take to his couch. During the months of gradually failing
94 Men of Might in India Missions
strength, many distinguished visitors sought the chamber of the dying missionary. The Bishop of Calcutta paid him several visits, and on one of his last visits craved his benediction. Alexander Duff, recently arrived in India, found his way to the chamber where the good and great man was spending his last earthly days, and received from him much wise counsel.
On the morning of the 9th of June, 1834, the aged saintrentered into rest. On the morning of the following day, he was carried to his burial. Rain was falling heavily, and this intensified the general gloom. The Danish Governor and his wife, and the members of the Council joined the long procession of mourners, and the Danish flag hung at half mast, as on the occasion of the death of a Governor. The road was lined with poor Hindus and Mohammedans who felt that they had lost a true friend. When the cemetery was reached, and a halt was made at the open grave, the sun burst forth in splendour. A resurrection hymn was sung and the mortal remains were laid to rest.
Dr. Carey died possessed of little worldly wealth, but he had contributed to the work of evangelisation and civilisation in India, £46,000. The three mission families from their earnings had contributed the munificent sum of £90,000. His valuable museum was bequeathed to the col- lege, together with his collection of Bibles, and
Carey, Marshman and Ward 95
he directed that his only memorial should be the following inscription, cut on the stone above the grave of his second wife:
William Carey,
Born August 17, 1761 ;
Died — June 9, 1834.
A wretched, poor, and helpless worm,
On Thy kind arms I fall.
The death of his beloved colleague was a heavy blow to Dr. Marshman, who about this time was visited with another heavy afflic- tion. His youngest daughter had married Lieu- tenant Havelock, who became afterwards the well-known Sir Henry Havelock. Mrs. Have- lock was with her children in the hill-station of Landour, when the bungalow she occupied took fire in the night. Mrs. Havelock and her two older children were with difficulty rescued, from the burning building, but the youngest perished in the flames. For a few days little hope was entertained that Mrs. Havelock would survive the shock. The news of the awful disaster, so af- fected Dr. Marshman in his enfeebled condition, that he was seldom afterward seen to smile and his feebleness from this time continued to in- crease.
A few days before his death he requested his bearers to carry him in his chair to the chapel, at the hour of the weekly prayer-meeting and to place him in the midst of the congregation. He
96 Men of Might in India Missions
then gave out in a firm voice the hymn that had often been used by his colleagues and himself in seasons of trial and difficulty.
O! Lord our God, arise;
The cause of truth maintain, And wide o'er all the peopled world.
Extend Thy blessed reign.
Dr. Marshman passed away on the morning of the fifth of December, 1837, and nine years later Mr. Mack's career was suddenly cut short by cholera after twenty-three years of splendid serv- ice. Another year and Mrs. Marshman was removed by death in March, 1847, at the ad- vanced age of eighty. The first in the army of noble women who have consecrated their lives to the work of the Lord in India, she has perhaps had no superior and few equals. Both were buried in that consecrated acre in Serampore which en- closes the mortal remains of that devoted band who have made that Station famous in the an- nals of Missions. It is said that on one occasion one of the dignitaries of the Church of England remarked that there had been but few men at Serampore but they were all giants.
IV
HENRY MARTYN
1806-1812
A CENTURY or two ago, Cornwall, the Land's End of England, was, we are told, sometimes called " West Barbary," because of the rude manners of its inhabitants. But through the blessing of the Lord upon the Gospel message, carried to this region, in a measure shut out from civilising influences, by such notable preachers as Whitefield and Wesley, the morals and manners of the inhabitants had greatly improved before the end of the eighteenth century.
This wild region was the birthplace of not a few, who, in manhood became famous, but rtb one of these is held in more reverent memory than Henry Martyn, who was born in Truro, the me- tropolis of Cornwall, on the i8th of February, ■ 1781. He was descended, so runs the record, from an ancient, humble family of skilled miners. His father, when quite a young man was made accountant in Wheal Virgin Mine and eventu- ally rose to the position of cashier. Of the mother little is known, save that she was of a consump- 97
98 Men of Might in India Missions
tive habit and transmitted this disease to her children.
Henry was the third child, and was left moth- erless when very young. Self-trained and self- educated, the father valued education as did few men of his rank, and he determined that Henry, who, at a very early age, evinced a taste for learning should have such educational advantages as would fit him for a high station in life. When seven years old the boy was placed in the ex- cellent grammar-school of Truro. Delicate in constitution, very reserved and at the same time passionate, he received rough treatment from the older boys. Dr. Cardew, the head-master, com- mitted the shy, new pupil to the guardianship of one of the older scholars, a chivalrous youth named Kempthorpe. He remained in Dr. Car- dew's school in Truro until sixteen years of age when he entered St. John's College, Cambridge. Kempthorpe, the champion of his early school- days, had just graduated senior wrangler from the college, and proved just such a friend as the young student needed in the beginning of his university career, for Henry still manifested a tendency to be governed by impulse rather than duty and as in his boyish days, indulged in bursts of passion. On one occasion when roused to vio- lent anger, he hurled an open knife at the offender who just escaped the weapon which was left quivering in the wall.
At the close of 1799, Henry came out first in
Henry Martyn 99
his examinations to the great delight of his father. Though he had sprung from " a family of calculators," and though the father was in- debted to his mathematical ability for his rise in life, yet until his entrance upon his university career the son had developed little taste for this department of learning, and it is said that he began his mathematical studies by attempting to commit to memory the propositions of Euclid. ^
'In January, 1800, Henry Martyn received tid- ing of the sudden death of his father. His friend Kempthorpe urged him in this time of sorrow to turn his thoughts to the consideration of Divine things. He began now to read the Bible with an interest never before felt. In attendance upon the college chapel service, while thus awakened, " I saw," wrote Martyn, '' with surprise at my former inattention, that in the Magnificat, there was a great degree of joy expressed at the com- ing of Christ." i The opening of the new century had opened to him a new world.
The Rev. Charles Simeon from the pulpit of Trinity Church, as well as by his personal influ- ence, had been quietly transforming university life; and chiefly through his efforts and influence the society now known as the Church Mission- ary Society was founded in April, 1799.
Mr. Martyn had expected to devote himself to the legal profession, because " he could not consent to be poor for Christ's sake." Now, how- ever, he was willing to be used as seemed good
lOO Men of Might in India Missions
to his Heavenly Master. Impelled by a new and holy motive he worked so incessantly that the student who had been an idler in the Truro grammar school, now became known as the man who never lost an hour.
At the time to which he had so long looked forward, when he entered the Senate house in company with his competitors, there came vividly to his mind this passage from God's Holy Word : " And seekest thou great things for thyself ? Seek them not." This he felt was God's mes- sage to him for the hour, and his mind was immediately at rest.
r'*^At the close of the contest, to Mr. Martyn was
^awarded the highest honour which the university
J could bestow, that of senior wrangler of his year.
" I obtained my highest wishes," he said, referring
to this event, " but was surprised to find that I
Ijiad grasped a shadow." The following year he was made Fellow of his college and won the first university prize for a Latin essay.
Not long after his decision to devote himself to the Gospel ministry, he heard Mr. Simeon speak in glowing terms of Dr. Carey and the
. life of self-denial he was leading, in connection with the work of making Christ known in idola-
Vtrous India. The life of David Brainerd about this time came into his hands, and the burning zeal of this servant of the Lord made a powerful
j impression on his mind. With the promptness ' which was a distinguishing characteristic, he at
Henry Martyn loi
once offered himself to the missionary society i which had recently come into existence. /
On the 22nd of October, 1803, Mr. Martyn was ordained a deacon of the Church of Eng- land and soon after entered upon his duties as curate to Mr. Simeon in Trinity Church, Cam- bridge. He was also made classical examiner of his college.
In the beginning of 1804 a disaster in Corn- wall deprived Mr. Martyn and his sisters of the patrimony which had accrued to them on the death of their father, making it necessary that he should provide for the maintenance of an un- married sister. This was a blow to the young curate, as he felt that the position in which he was now placed would materially interfere with his cherished plan of devoting his life to mission- service in a foreign field. Friends in London whose advice he sought in this emergency, pro- posed that he should accept a chaplaincy abroad. The pecuniary advantages of such a position would enable him to provide for his sister, and would at the same time afford excellent oppor- tunities for missionary work among the unevan- gelised.
Through Mr. Simeon, Mr. Martyn was intro- duced to William Wilberforce and Charles Grant, both members of the House of Commons. Mr. Grant also belonged to the Board of Directors of the East India Company. These gentlemen at once interested themselves on Mr. Martyn's be-
I02 Men of Might in India Missions
half. Chaplains to the British troops and their civil servants in India, were, they felt, a necessity and Mr. Grant was authorised to bestow upon Mr. Martyn such an appointment. He was at this time under twenty-four years of age, and could not legally receive full ordination in the Church of England. After his return to Cam- bridge, he resumed his duties as curate to Mr. Simeon.
On the i8th of February, 1805, Mr. Martyn completed his twenty-fourth year, and in the fol- lowing March, in the Chapel Royal of St. James, London, he received ordination as a clergyman of the Church of England, after which the de- gree of B.D., was conferred upon him. He de- livered his farewell discourse in Trinity Church on the second of April and on the following day left Cambridge for London to prepare for his embarkation.
Though never for a moment regretting the choice he had made, Mr. Martyn's sensitive and affectionate nature made the trial of leaving his native land, his relatives and his many friends, very great. He had also become deeply attached to a young lady in Cornwall, Miss Lydia Gren- fell. After paying a farewell visit to this lady, he wrote in his journal, " Parted with Lydia for- ever in this life, with a sort of uncertain pain which I knew would increase to violence."!
Passage had been arranged for the young chap- lain in the '* Union," one of the ships of a large
Henry Marty n 103
fleet which sailed from Portsmouth on the 17th of July. After two days a casualty occurred which made it necessary that the whole fleet should put into Falmouth, where it remained for three weeks, and Mr. Martyn had an opportunity to visit again the friends from whom he thought that he had parted forever. On the loth of August the signal was given for the ships to sail, but two days after weighing anchor, the '' Union " still lingered on the coast. While Cornwall was in sight, with his glass in his hand and often with eyes dimmed by tears, he gazed upon the beloved scenes slowly fading from his view.
The captain of the '' Union " gave an unwill- ing consent to the holding of one religious serv- ice on the Sabbath. During the week, between the decks, Mr. Martyn gathered about him all who were willing thus to assemble and held an informal service; but he was pained and dis- mayed not only at the inattention but at the open hostility manifested from time to time, although he tried to gain the good will of the cadets by offering to assist them in their mathematical studies.
The Sabbath service was regarded as an in- fliction by the majority of the passengers, who resented the chaplain's faithful presentation of the truth, and he was warned to desist from such plain speaking. His answer to this was a dis- course on the text : " The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God."
I04 Men of Might in India Missions
Such was the solemnity, the earnestness and the tenderness with which the message was deHvered that some of the young cadets were moved to tears.
A pleasant month was spent in Cape Town, for here, the lonely young chaplain found some congenial friends among the Cape clergy. On the 19th of April, nine months after the fleet had sailed from Portsmouth, Ceylon came into view, and two days later he obtained his first sight of the mainland of India at the Danish settlement of Tranquebar. At sunrise on April 22nd the vessel anchored at Madras Roads.
*' There is everything here to depress the spirits," wrote Mr. Martyn in his journal. ** What surprises me is my change of views. In Eng- land, my heart expanded with hope and joy at the prospect of the speedy conversion of the heathen; but here the apparent impossibility of this requires a strong faith to support the spirits." Many a modem missionary has passed through a like experience.
After a detention of a fortnight off Madras, the '* Union " once more set sail and reached Cal- cutta on the morning of May i6th. Mr. Mar- tyn went ashore at daybreak, sought out Dr. Carey, then in Calcutta in connection with the work of the College of Fort William, breakfasted with him and joined him in worship.
A little band of those whose hearts the Lord had touched had been accustomed to meet once
Henry Martyn 105
a week in Calcutta to pray the Lord of the har- vest to send to India a man filled with the spirit of Christ and with a desire to make Him known to those who were perishing around them. It was felt by the members of this praying band that Mr. Martyn had been sent in answer to their petitions.
Dr. Carey wrote, '' A chaplain has recently come to Calcutta, Mr. Martyn, who seems to pos- sess a truly missionary spirit."
One of the first to welcome to his heart and his home the youthful chaplain, was the Rev. David Brown, Provost of the College of Fort William. Mr. Brown lived at Aldeen House, Serampore, and but a short distance from the residence of the missionaries. Three days after his arrival, Mr. Martyn wrote, " In the cool of the evening we walked to the mission house, a few hundred yards off, and I at last saw the place about which I have so long read with pleasure."
On the bank of the river Hugli and near Mr. Brown's own residence was an ancient pagoda from which the idol had been removed because of the encroachments of the river. This, by Mr. Brown's directions, underwent such repairs and alterations as made it not unsuitable for a resi- dence, and here Mr. Martyn took up his abode, rejoicing " that the place where once devils were worshipped, was now become a Christian ora- tory." Of his unique home, he wrote, " I like
io6 Men of Might in India Missions
my dwelling much. It is retired and free from noise and has so many recesses and cells that I can hardly find my way in or out."
During the five months spent in this pagoda home, Mr. Martyn held much pleasant inter- course with the missionaries who formed the famous " Serampore Brotherhood.'' A strong bond of sympathy drew him into close fellowship wath Dr. Marshman and they were often seen walking arm in arm for hours together between Aldeen House and the mission-house.
Mr. Martyn had been commissioned to go out to India to preach to the English people resident there but, to have been prevented from making Christ known to the heathen would, to use his own language, " have broken his heart." " Now let me burn out for God," he had written two days after his arrival in Calcutta, and with this spirit of entire consecration, he began his work for the Master in the new field to which he had been called.
The office of chaplain \vhich he held placed him under the control of the military authorities, and while waiting at Aldeen for his appointment to 5 military station, he preached every Sabbath in Calcutta, and with such acceptance that he was urged to become the minister of the mission, or " old church," with a chaplain's salary.
The 13th of the September following his ar- rival brought to Mr. Martyn the tidings of his appointment to Dinapore, and of the arrival at
A GROUP OF VETERAN'S
Isidor Lowenthai Major Conran Henry Martyn
John Wilson John Scudder
Henry Martyn 107
Madras as military chaplains of Messrs. Corrie and Parsons, his well beloved friends. On the loth of October, preparations for his departure having been completed, a party of friends, in- cluding the Serampore missionaries, met to com- mit him and the work he was about to enter, to God for His blessing. When he left Aldeen,he was accompanied to the buderon, or house-boat, in which he was to make the passage up the river, by his friends Messrs. Corrie, Parsons and Brown. As the boat passed the Serampore mis- sion-house. Dr. Marshman joined the party and after a season of prayer, returned to Serampore. The other friends remained until the following day. After spending the entire morning in read- ing the Scriptures, in prayer and in singing the praises of Zion, the three friends stepped into the boat which was to convey them back to Seram- pore, and Mr. Martyn was left alone for the first time with none but natives of the country. The six weeks occupied in this journey to Dinapore were spent in the study of Hindustani and Sanskrit, and in the reading of the Holy Scriptures in Greek and Hebrew as well as Eng- lish. Morning and evening as the boat ap- proached the shore, and in the bazaars of the towns where a halt was made, the young chap- lain tried to make Christ known to the crowds which gathered about him, and he often left behind copies of the New Testament to be read at leisure.
io8 Men of Might in India Missions
On the 26th of November, Dinapore was reached. Patna, the Mohammedan city, Banki- pore, the British civil station and Dinapore, the British mihtary station, stretch along the right bank of the Ganges for a distance of fourteen miles. The chaplain's work was primarily the spiritual care of the two European regiments stationed at Dinapore, but he felt that it was also his duty to do all in his power for the spiritual enlightenment of the Hindustani population. Accordingly he opened schools for the children and held earnest conversations with the learned men on religious topics whenever opportunity of- fered.
There was no church edifice in Dinapore, and the chaplain at first read prayers to the soldiers at the barracks from the drum-head, and as no seats were provided, he was requested to omit the sermon. A room was at length secured and properly seated, but his audience, composed both of civilians and soldiers, objected to extempore preaching, and to evangelistic work among the native inhabitants. *' I stand alone," he wrote to the friends at Aldeen, " not one voice is heard saying * I wish you success in the name of the Lord.' " In one of his letters to England Mr. Martyn wrote, " I fag as hard here as ever we did for our degrees at Cambridge. The heat is terrible, often at 98°, the nights insupportable."
The opening of the year 1807 was a time of renewed consecration. Mr. Martyn was engaged
Henry Martyn 109
in the work of translating the Scriptures of the New Testament into Hindustani, and he was at the same time preparing a book on the Parables of our Lord, and a translation of the Book of Com- mon Prayer. He held almost daily discussions with Hindus and Mohammedans, and gave such attention as he could to the vernacular schools he had organised, and which were supported from his own purse. In addition to these duties, his special duties as chaplain to the English troops and the civilians, were faithfully performed.
Not long after his arrival in India, Mr. Mar- tyn wrote to Miss Grenfell urging her to join him, as the salary which he received as chaplain was, he felt, sufficiently liberal to justify him in such a request.
In October, 1807, he received from Miss Gren- fell a letter, written the previous July, in which she declined to come to India, because her mother withheld her consent. Referring to this decision, Mr. Martyn wrote to his friends in Aldeen, '* my new house and pleasant garden without the per- son I expected to share them with me, excite disgust." Henceforth he lived solely for the work to which all his powers were consecrated. He began now to devote himself to the study of Arabic and Persian, as well as Hindustani and Sanskrit.
It had been arranged with the Serampore mis- sionaries that the Persian translation of the New Testament should be committed to Mr. Martyn,
no Men of Might in India Missions
and to assist him in this work, Sabat, an Arab, who had been baptised in Madras and who had been employed by the Serampore missionaries in the work of Scripture translation, was sent to Dinapore. He remained with Mr. Martyn for several years, but was so haughty and passionate as to be a severe trial. On one occasion Mr. Martyn wrote, " Sabat has been tolerably quiet this week, but think of the keeper of a lunatic asylum and you see me."
Without congenial Christian companionship at Dinapore, Mr. Martyn received with peculiar pleasure a letter from his friend, Mr. Parsons, chaplain at Berhampore, introducing to him Mr. and Mrs. Sherwood. When the regiment to which Mr. Sherwood was attached as pay- master, was ordered to Cawnpore, on its way up the Ganges, it halted at Dinapore and Mr. Mar- tyn extended to Mr. and Mrs. Sherwood a cordial invitation to spend the time of their sojourn in Dinapore, at his bungalow, an invitation which they gladly accepted. This was the beginning of a friendship which added much brightness to his life during the remainder of his residence in India.
In March, 1808, the Hindustani translation of the New Testament was completed. While carry- ing on this work, Mr. Martyn had diligently studied Arabic, that he might be prepared to work with Sabat on a version of the New Testa- ment in that language. He was also engaged with
Henry Martyn iii
Sabat in the Persian translation of the New Tes- tament. In connection with his duties as chap- lain, he was deeply interested in the provision of a suitable place of worship. On the 12th of March, the new edifice which had for some time been under construction, was opened for Divine service; but the faithful chaplain was not long left to enjoy that for which he had so earnestly laboured, for a month later, he was commissioned to leave Dinapore to take the chaplaincy of the troops at Cawnpore.
The journey thither during the hottest season of the year was hazardous, but feeling that duty called, Mr. Martyn made no delay. After his arrival in Cawnpore he wrote to the friends in Aldeen, '' I transported myself with such rapidity to this place, that I nearly translated myself out of the world. From Allahabad to Cawnpore, how shall I describe what 1 suffered? Two days and two nights was I travelling without intermis- sion, the wind blowing flames. Thus I lay in my palanquin more dead than alive."
Mr. Martyn was received on his arrival by Mr. and Mrs. Sherwood. Of his arrival Mrs. Sherwood wrote, *' The desert winds were blow- ing like fire without, when we heard the steps of many bearers. Mr. Sherwood ran out and the next moment led in Mr. Martyn, who, a moment after fell down in a fainting-fit. He was very ill for a day or two, unable to lift his head from the couch."
112 Men of Might in India Missions '
As soon as able in any degree to exert him- self, he gladly made the acquaintance of some of the Christian soldiers of the regiment and with the consent of his host, invited them to meet in his own apartment for religious instruction. The house which was afterwards purchased by him for his residence, still stands. Of his absorbing devotion to his work, Mrs. Sherwood wrote, " Little was spoken of at Mr. Martyn's table but various plans for advancing the triumphs of Christianity."
In Cawnpore, as in Dinapore, Mr. Martyn established schools for children from the lower castes, though his duties as chaplain were oner- ous. In Cawnpore, as in his former field of labour he found no church edifice in which to hold religious services.
The rainy season proved peculiarly trying. " My strength for public preaching is almost gone," he wrote during this season, " but to translate the word of God is a work of more last- ing benefit than my preaching would be." In the cool season, as his strength somewhat re- vived, Mr. Martyn began in front of his bunga- low, his first public ministrations in the vernacu- lar, his congregation consisting of a crowd of mendicants, the blind, the maimed, the halt, the diseased, the impostor and the really needy. To such an audience he tried to tell the story of the Gospel in such simple language that all could understand; and at the close of the service he
Henry Martyn 113
assisted in the distribution of alms. For eighteen months, and until his departure from Cawnpore, Mr. Martyn continued this Sabbath service to the beggars, though there was little outward encour- agement. Yet seed was then sown which bore fruit unto life eternal. On the wall which inclosed his compound, was a kiosk from which some Mussulman idlers used to look down, often with scorn for the preacher, his message and his audience. But one of this number, ere long, ceased to scoff. Without the knowledge of Mr. Martyn, this young man had been employed by Sabat to copy for him the Persian manuscript of the New Testament. As he read, he became con- vinced that Jesus was truly the Son of God and the only Saviour for sinful men. When Mr. Martyn left Cawnpore for Calcutta, this man ac- companied him and was baptised by the Rev. David Brown, who gave him the name of Abdul Masih, servant of Christ. After spending some time in Calcutta, he was sent to Meerut, a city in the Punjab and was instrumental in leading to Christ the chief physician of the Rajah of Bhurt- pore. Others, through his labours and the ex- ample of his holy life, were led to accept Christ as their Saviour ; and these in their turn, became ** fishers of men." This earnest disciple received ordination at the hands of Bishop Heber in the Cathedral at Calcutta. He was faithful unto death.
Chaplain Corrie, Mr. Martyn's friend, having
114 Men of Might in India Missions
been transferred from Chunar to Agra, was di- rected to tarry in Cawnpore, on his journey to his new station and assist Mr. Martyn. This visit was a great refreshment to the invalid, but as his strength continued to decline, a sea-voyage was proposed, or a return for a short time to England. The choice was decided by informa- tion received from Calcutta, concerning the Persian version of the New Testament. By those who were regarded as competent judges, the language used was thought to be above the com- prehension of the mass of the people. It also contained a large proportion of Arabic idioms. After committing the matter to the Lord in prayer, and conferring with friends, Mr. Mar- tyn decided to make his way into Arabia and Persia, that by intercourse with learned natives of those countries, he might be better fitted to revise the Persian version, and, to carry forward to a successful completion, the Arabic version upon which he was then engaged.
On the last Sabbath of September, 1810, Mr. Martyn took leave of his European congregation in Cawnpore. It was a day both of sorrow and of joy. He felt sincere regret in taking leave of the members of his flock, and he rejoiced that he was leaving to his successor a suitable house of worship which was dedicated to the worship of God on that very day. The church edifice at this time opened for Divine service, continued to be
Henry Martyn 115
the Military Church of Cawnpore until 1857 when it was destroyed by the mutineers.
On the day following, Mr. Martyn embarked on the Ganges for Calcutta, and a month later received a joyful welcome to the hospitable Al- deen home. Four years have elapsed since his departure and his friends were shocked and grieved to find him so enfeebled. He remained at Aldeen until the beginning of January, and during this period, with one exception, he preached every Sabbath in Calcutta.
Mr. Martyn left Calcutta to begin his long journey, in great physical weakness and without even an attendant. The captain of the vessel in which he embarked had been a former pupil of Schwartz, and from him Mr. Martyn learned much of interest, relating to the life and labours of the great missionary. On the i8th of Febru- ary, he wrote from Bombay, " Thus far I have been brought in safety. This day I finished the thirtieth year of my unprofitable life, the age at which David Brainerd finished his course."
Calling on the Governor on the following day, he was kindly received and invited to remain as guest at Government House, while he tarried in Bombay. Sir John Malcolm, also a guest at Government House, had recently returned from his second mission to Persia and with him Mr. Martyn held much pleasant and profitable inter- course. Having completed his preparations, he
Ii6 Men of Might in India Missions
left Bombay on the 25th of March. On the 4th of April the Persian coast came into view and on the 2 1 St the ship anchored at Muscat. Bushire was reached on May 22nd, when the heat was at its height. He had been furnished by Sir John Malcolm with an introduction to the Governor, and this insured for him some kind attentions. On the Sabbath Mr. Martyn conducted a religious service for the Europeans, at the Residency. On the 30th of May, the lonely traveller began his journey to Shiraz, mounted on a pony and fol- lowed by an Armenian servant on a mule. An English officer on his way to the camp of the British Ambassador at Shiraz, joined the party. As the travellers advanced, the heat continued to increase, until the mercury reached 126° in the tent and such was Mr. Martyn's dis- tress that he felt he could not survive.
As far as possible, the marches were taken at night, and long halts made in the day. Mr. Mar- tyn suffered much from fever which greatly re- duced his strength. When a higher altitude was reached above the arid region, the weary travel- lers were refreshed by the sight of clear streams, green valleys and purer air. Still ascending, the air at night was sometimes so piercing that the travellers could not sufficiently protect themselves against it.
On the morning of the 9th of June, the plain of Shiraz was reached. Mr. Martyn was kindly received by Jaffir Ali Khan, a Persian gentleman..
Henry Martyn 117
to whom he had brought letters of introduction. He Hved sometimes in the house of his host, and sometimes in a summer-liouse in a garden outside the city.
On the 17th of June, he entered with enthusi- asm upon the work which had brought him to that remote land. In this important work, he found an able and willing assistant in Mirza Said Ali Khan, the brother-in-law of his host. The work was not, however, allowed to proceed with- out many interruptions. Mullahs and students sought interviews with Mr. Martyn in order to reason and to discuss. Visitors came, at length in such numbers that Mr. Martyn was obliged to decline to receive them, or relinquish his work of Scripture translation. So universal a spirit of inquiry had been awakened, that the Preceptor of all the Mullahs manifested no little uneasiness and to counteract the growing interest in the subject of research into the Christian religion, he prepared a defence of the Mohammedan faith. To this work, Mr. Martyn sent forth an able refutation. His intercourse with the people deep- ened his conviction that the Bible in the language of the people was the weapon which would most effectually reach the heart.
In the beginning of January, 18 12, Mr. Mar- tyn wrote, '' Spared by mercy to see the opening of another year. To all appearance, the present year will be more perilous than any I have seen, but if I live to complete the Persian New Testa-
Ii8 Men of Might in India Missions
ment, my life, after that, will be of less impor- tance/' This important work was completed the following February. It had been carried on amidst public disputations and private confer- ences,— in great loneliness also, and while his in- herited disease, pulmonary consumption, was sapping the springs of life. On February i8th, 1812, he made this record in his journal, " This is my birthday, on which I complete my thirty- fjrst year. The Persian New Testament has been begun, I may say, finished, in it, as only the last eight chapters of the Revelation remains. Such a painful year I have never passed, owing to the privations I have been called to, on the one hand, and the spectacle before me of human depravity on the other."
A week later in great physical weakness, Mr. Martyn corrected the last page of the New Testa- ment in Persian. Three months longer were spent in Shiraz in the preparation of two copies of the New Testament, one intended for presen- tation to the Shah of Persia and the other to his son Prince Abbas Mirza. These copies were beautifully transcribed and afterward carefully corrected by Mr. Martyn's own hand. He was at the same time engaged in a work in which he took great delight, a version of the Psalms of David into Persian, from the original Hebrew.
Desiring to present in person the copies of the New Testament which had been transcribed
Henry Martyn 119
for the Shah and the Prince, on the nth of May, eleven months after his arrival in Shiraz, Mr. Martyn left the city for Tabriz. This journey occupied about two months, and proved one of great hardship. On the 8th of June, Teheran, where the Shah was encamped, was reached. Four days later, Mr. Martyn attended the Vizier's levee, and two Mullahs, very bold and discourte- ous, pressed forward to argue with him, trying only to entangle him. '' What have I done? " he wrote in his journal after retiring to his tent, " to merit all this scorru"
On the evening of this day, Mr. Martyn learned that an interview with the Shah could only be arranged through the English ambassador. He therefore determined to leave Teheran without further delay. The journey to Tabriz, the resi- dence of the Ambassador, was a very painful one, as Mr. Martyn was so ill that he could with diffi- culty keep his seat in the saddle. On his arrival, the invalid received from Sir Gore and Lady Ouseley, such kindness and care as his enfeebled condition demanded.
As soon as sufficiently recovered to travel, he decided to try to make his way to Constantinople, and from thence, if possible, to England. The manuscript copy of the Persian New Testament, designed for the Shah, Mr. Martyn left with the British Ambassador, to be by him presented to his Persian majesty in the name of the British
I20 Men of Might in India Missions
and Foreign Bible Society. He also directed that a manuscript copy of his translation of the Persian New Testament be sent to Calcutta.
Mr. Martyn left Tabriz for Constantinople on the evening of September 2nd. Sir Gore Ouseley had provided him with letters to the Governors of Erivan, Kars and Erzroum and for the Am- bassador at Constantinople. Two Armenian serv- ants accompanied him. For forty-five days of untold suffering, the unconquerable spirit sustained the frail body. The first stations or stages of the journey were from twenty to twen- ty-five miles apart, the horses furnished were usually indifferent, the heat during the day fre- quently oppressive, and the place of rest at night was sometimes a stable.
On the 2 1 St of September, Kars was reached. The Governor, on receipt of the letter from Sir Gore Ouseley, directed that lodgings should be assigned to the traveller, and furnished a guard of ten men for the forward journey. One only was provided, " the merciless Hassan," who was not disposed to allow any loitering, and in conse- quence, Mr. Martyn, with scarcely strength to sit up, was often compelled to keep the saddle from seven o'clock in the morning until eight o'clock at night. It has been said that since Chrysos- tom's journey over the same region, the Church of Christ has seen no torture of a saint like this.
As Mr. Martyn continued his journey he learned with dismay that the plague was raging
Henry Martyn lai
in Constantinople, and that the inhabitants of Tocat were flying from that city to escape the dreaded pestilence. The sorely-tried saint made at this time the following entry in his journal: " Thus I am inevitably passing into immediate danger. O Lord ! Thy will be done. Living or dying, remember me."
October 5th he wrote, " Preserving Mercy made me see the light of another morning. Sleep had refreshed me, but I was feeble and shaken, yet the merciless Hassan hurried me off."
The last record from Mr. Martyn's pen bears the date of October 6th. '' No horses being to be had, I had an unexpected repose. I sat in the orchard and thought with sweet comfort and peace of my God, in solitude my Company, my Friend and Comforter. Oh! when shall time give place to eternity! When shall appear that new heaven and new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness ! There, there shall in no wise enter in anything that defileth : none of that wickedness which has made men worse than wild beasts, none of those corruptions which add still more to the miseries of mortality, shall be seen or heard of any more."
What happened when the pen fell from the grasp of the dying saint, will never be known, nor how he reached Tocat. Here he died on the 1 6th of October, 1812. His two Armenian serv- ants were with him to minister to his wants. His body was laid to rest in the Armenian ceme-
122 Men of Might in India Missions
tery, and a report is current that he was carried to the grave with the honours of an Armenian Archbishop. The grave was made at the foot of slaty rocks down whose sides washed the snows of winter and the rains of summer. James Clau- dius Rich, Esq., English Resident at Bagdad, visiting the place several years after the death of Mr. Martyn, placed above the grave a limestone slab on which he caused an appropriate inscrip- tion to be engraved in Latin. In 1830 two mis- sionaries of the American Board, the Rev. Messrs. Eli Smith and H. G. O. Dwight, visited Tocat and sought out the sacred spot. In 1844 another missionary of the same society, the Rev. Henry Van Lennep, D.D., had great difficulty in identifying the grave. Two years later this gen- tleman was again in Tocat. Soon after his ar- rival, with a little company of friends, he visited the Armenian cemetery, and guided by recollec- tion and a drawing made on the spot during his previous visit, the place was soon found. Two feet below the surface the slab bearing the in- scription was reached. The grave was put in order, but the following spring the spot was again covered as before, with the soil washed down from the sides of the mountain.
Through correspondence with interested friends in London a grant was made by the late East India Company's Board of Directors for the purpose of erecting a suitable monument to the memory of Henry Martyn, to be placed with the
Henry Martyn 123
remains in the burying-ground of the recently estabhshed American Mission.
The monument was cut out of the native marble and prepared by native workmen in Tocat. The remains were removed under the direction of the missionary physician and placed in the mission cemetery, the first grave there made and over the grave the monument was erected. It stands on a broad, high terrace overlooking the city.
In the mission church in Calcutta, where Henry Martyn so faithfully preached the Gospel, a memorial tablet has been placed which bears the following inscription:
To the Memory of the
Rev. Henry Martyn,
Chaplain of the Bengal Establishment.
He was a burning and a shining light.
He died at Tocat, in Armenia, on the i6th of
October, 1812.
Aged only thirty-two.
In the market-place, Cambridge, near the church in which for so long a period, the Rev. Charles Simeon ministered, has been erected the Henry Martyn Memorial Hall, which was dedi- cated on the 1 8th of October, 1887. Here the university prayer-meeting is held and here from time to time meet the members of the various Religious Societies. In the Cathedral Church of the county in which Henry Martyn was born, the life and work of her gifted son, held now in
124 M^^ o^ Might in India Missions
reverent memory, are made the subject of yearly mention and yearly meditation.
When the news of the death of Henry Martyn reached England, " Parliament was discussing the missionary clauses of the East India Company's Charter and the tidings became the means of opening to India an unrestricted preaching of the Gospel."
i The seed planted by Henry Martyn on heathen soil has borne a rich harvest. " Where he pointed the way, the great missionary societies df the United States of America and of England and the Free Church of Scotland have sent their noblest men and women.".
V
GORDON HALL
1812-1826
" There are no contrasts like those of Chris- tianity," said Dr. Mark Hopkins in the opening of his discourse on the occasion of the celebra- tion of the completion of the first half century of the existence of the A. B. C. F. M. This meet- ing was held in Tremont Temple, Boston, and as the speaker looked upon his audience numbering between three and four thousand, eager, expec- tant and enthusiastic, he thought of the five young men from the two lower classes of an infant col- lege, who were accustomed to meet at stated times to pray for the unevangelised in heathen lands.
These young men were Samuel J. Mills, Jr., James Richards, Francis L. Robbins, Harvey Loomis, and Byron Green. ''On one occasion, driven by an approaching thunder-storm from the grove where the meeting had usually been held, the young men took shelter behind a neigh- bouring haystack, and there, in the language of one who was present, " Mills proposed we should 125
126 Men of Might in India Missions
send the Gospel to heathen India and said we could do it, if we would." After the discussion, as the storm was passing away. Mills said, " Let us make it a subject of prayer under this hay- stack, while the dark clouds are going by and the clear sky is coming."
At Williamstown, Mass., on the spot where now stands the famous Haystack Monument, these young men consecrated themselves to the work of Foreign Missions. In 1806, in conjunc- tion with a few others of like mind, they formed themselves into a society '' to effect in the person of its members, a mission, or missions to the heathen." When they left Williams College to enter Andover Theological Seminary these ar- dent young disciples continued the society formed at college. To this society the names of Adoni- ram Judson, Samuel Newell and Samuel Nott were ere long added. Judson was a graduate of Brown University, Nott of Union College, Newell of Harvard and Mills of Williams.
For a time the young men kept their society a secret, under the apprehension that the idea of a foreign mission would be unpopular in the churches. But the time came when they felt that they must make known their desire and their purpose. This they did in a memorial which led to the formation of the American Board. The names appended to this important memorial were : Adoniram Judson, Samuel Nott, Samuel J. Mills, Jr., Samuel Newell, James Richards and Luther
Gordon Hall 127
Rice. The two latter names were, however struck off before the presentation of the memorial, lest the Association should be alarmed at the number.
Gordon Hall, the pioneer of American Protes- tant missions on the Western coast of India, was born in the town of Tolland, formerly Granville, Mass., April 8th, 1784. His parents, Nathan and Elizabeth Hall were natives of Ellington, Conn. They were among the first settlers in the little town of Tolland and were held in high esteem. The boy Gordon very early manifested traits of character which made him a great favourite among his young companions. His versatility of genius was remarkable. He gave loyal assistance to his father in the labours of the farm and in his times of relaxation found recre- ation in mechanical pursuits. When fourteen years of age reading a description of a balloon, he forthwith proceeded to fashion one. He was passionately fond of reading and very early evinced a talent for putting his thoughts into vigourous prose. He had ready wit and could be keenly sarcastic.
Mr. Harrison, the village pastor, occupied a part of Mr. Hall's dwelling-house and became deeply interested in young Gordon, whose love of learning increased with his years. When the youth was nineteen years of age Mr. Harrison one day in a conversation with the father said, " your son Gordon should have the benefit of a college education.'*
128 Men of Might in India Missions
" His assistance on the farm is so vakiable, that 1 cannot well spare him," replied the father ; but finding that the course suggested by Mr. Harrison was greatly desired by his son, Mr. Hall at length gave his consent and Mr. Harri- son kindly agreed to assist the youth in his prepa- ration for entering college, which he did in 1805 at the age of twenty-one.
At the close of the examination of Mr. Hall before the faculty of Williams College, the Presi- dent said, '* That young man has not studied the languages like a parrot, but has got hold of their very radix." This element of thoroughness char- ■ acterised Mr. Hall not only through his college course, but was a prominent trait through life.
During his first year at college, Gordon Hall openly espoused the cause of his Master, and from this time began his fellowship with Samuel J. Mills, who soon communicated to Mr. Hall his purpose to devote his life to missionary work in some foreign land. Young Hall's whole soul was soon enlisted in this cause. So zealous did he become in the cause of missions, that Mr. Mills declared that " Hall was evidently ordained and stamped a missionary by the sovereign hand of God."
Mr. Hall left Williams College in 1808, and began the study of Theology under the direction of the Rev. Dr. Porter, of Andover. In the autumn of 1809, he was licensed to preach, and received immediately after licensure, a pressing
Gordon Hall 129
invitation to minister to the Congregational Church, of Woodbury, Conn. This invitation he consented to accept, on the condition that such acceptance impHed no obHgation on his part to remain with the congregation ; for with the other members of the praying band in WilUams College, he had pledged himself not to enter into any engagement which might prove a hindrance to his going abroad as a missionary.
Mr. Hall remained at Woodbury until June, 1810, and soon after entered the Theological Seminary at Andover. It was during the sum- mer of this year that the young men with whom he had been associated in Williams College, to- gether with Adoniram Judson, Samuel Nott and Samuel Newell, resolved to make known to the General Association of Massachusetts, their pur- pose to labour in heathen lands, and to ask the aid of the Association in this momentous enter- prise. The memorial was drawn up by Mr. Judson. Mr. Hall, though among the first to consecrate himself to the work of missions, did not enter the Seminary in time to take part in these preliminary measures, but he was soon recognised as among the leaders.
One of the venerable men present at the semi- centennial held in Boston, in October, i860, the Rev. John Keep, related before the vast assembly there congregated, his recollections of the meet- ing which led to the formation of the A. B. C. F. M. He was on his wav to a meetinsr of the
130 Men of Might in India Missions
General Association in Bradford, in June, 1810, when in Andover he met a former classmate, Jeremiah Evarts, who invited him to be present at a gathering in the house of Professor Stuart, for a conference with the young men who had set their hearts upon a foreign mission, and whose memorial on the subject was to be offered for the consideration and decision of the Association.
The result of this meeting was the appointment of a Board of Commissioners for Foreign Mis- sions. The young men were advised to put them- selves under the direction of this Board and to pursue their studies until the means for embark- ing on such an enterprise were provided.
Eager to enter upon a work whose claims pressed more and more upon their hearts, these zealous young men at length decided that Mr. Judson should pay a visit to England to ascertain if the Directors of the London Missionary Society would lend their aid. This society expressed a willingness to take the missionaries under its exclusive direction, but wisely decided that two controlling powers so widely separated, could not act, with unity and decision. ' About this time the congregation in Woodbury, Conn., to which Mr. Hall had for a few months ministered, extended to him a call to become its pastor. This flattering call, Mr. Hall promptly declined.
** No," was his answer. " I must not settle in any parish in Christendom. Others will be
Gordon Hall 131
left whose health, or engagements require them / to stay at home, but I can sleep on the ground, I can endure hunger and hardship; God calls me/ to the heathen ; woe to me if I preach not the/ Gospel to the heathen, whose destitute stat( presses more and more on my mind." /
In the autumn of 181 1, Messrs. Hall and Newell went to Philadelphia for the purpose of pursuing medical studies for a time, believing that even a moderate degree of medical knowledge, would be useful.
In January, 1812, it was decided to send abroad the young men who had volunteered for work among the heathen, as soon as a suitable oppor- tunity offered. Circulars and appeals for funds in aid of the enterprise were immediately sent out to different parts of New England and to these appeals there was a prompt and generous re- sponse. At this time the first subscription paper circulated among the women friends of missions in America was sent forth. At the head of the list of contributors was the name of Elizabeth Bart- lett, with a donation of $100. The whole amount subscribed by the Christian women of Salem, Mass., was $271.25. A legacy of $30,000 had been bequeathed to the infant society by Mrs. Mary Norris, but no part of this was available until four years later. It is pleasant to be able to record that in the very infancy of American missions, woman's heart was responsive and her purse open to further the sacred cause.
132 Men of Might in India Missions
On the 6th of February, 1812, Gordon Hall, Adoniram Judson, Samuel Newell, Samuel Nott and Luther Rice, were ordained as foreign mis- sionaries in the Tabernacle Church, Salem, Mass. Within three weeks after this important event, the contributions in aid of the mission cause ex- ceeded the sum of $6,000.
On the 19th of February, 1812, Messrs. Judson and Newell with their wives, embarked from Salem, in the big " Caravan " for India. Messrs. Hall and Rice and Mr. and Mrs. Nott set sail from Philadelphia in the ship " Harmony " on the 28th of February for the same destination, the churches of " the City of Brotherly Love," contributing nearly $1,000 in aid of the enter- prise. Two of the young men who at this time went forth to spend their lives in heathen lands, had graduated from college with the highest honours, Gordon Hall from Williams College and Adoniram Judson from Brown Uni- versity.
Messrs. Newell and Judson arrived in Calcutta on the 1 8th of June, and Messrs. Hall, Nott and Rice, on the 8th of August. Christians of differ- ent denominations gave to the newly arrived mis- sionaries a kind and courteous reception. The Rev. Drs. Carey and Marshman and the Rev. Wm. Ward, '' the triumvirate of heroes," wel- comed them to Serampore and for a time this Danish town was a haven of refuge for the strangers. Twenty years before, the House of
Gordon Hall 133
Commons had empowered the East India Court of Directors to close India against the Gospel and in consequence, in the territory over which the Directors claimed jurisdiction, the missionaries were not allowed to settle. The first party on ar- rival, were ordered to return by the '* Caravan,'' which had brought them to India ; but this order was afterward so modified that permission was granted them to seek a place of residence outside the jurisdiction of the Company.
Learning that the Governor of the Isle of France was desirous of having missionaries settle in his dominions, they resolved to sail for the Mauritius at the first opportunity. On the 4th of August, Mr. and Mrs. Newell embarked for the Isle of France in a vessel that afforded ac- commodation for only two passengers. Four days after their departure the ** Harmony " arrived bringing Messrs. Hall, Nott and Rice. As had been the case with their brethren who had pre- ceded them, they met with a hostile reception from Government and took refuge for a time under the Danish flag at Serampore.
On the voyage from America to India, the views of Mr. and Mrs. Judson on the subject of baptism had changed and on communicating this change in their views to the missionaries at Ser- ampore, at their own request they were baptised by immersion. Mr. Rice, not long after his ar- rival made a like request and received baptism by immersion.
134 Men of Might in India Missions
After an unavoidable and most vexatious delay, Mr. and Mrs. Judson and Mr. Rice set sail for the Isle of France. They arrived at Port Louis on the 17th of January and learned with deep sorrow that Mrs. Newell had been removed by death on the 30th of November.
A month after the arrival of the party, Mr. Newell embarked for Ceylon. While at the Isle of France, it was decided that Mr. Rice should return to the United States to try to enlist the interest of the Baptist Churches of America in the cause of foreign missions. Mr. and Mrs. Judson took passage in a ship sailing to Madras and from thence made their way to Rangoon where they became the founders of the Burmah mis- sion.
Messrs. Hall and Nott applied to Government for leave to go to Ceylon, but their application was not favourably received. Learning that a new Governor, Sir Evan Nepean had arrived in Bombay, and being further informed that he was one of the Vice-presidents of the British and Foreign Bible Society and entertained friendly sentiments in reference to the establishment of Christian missions in India, they decided, after prayerful deliberation to make an attempt to reach Bombay, hoping there to establish a mission.
The way to the accomplishment of this desire seemed opening before them, when they were ordered to take passage in one of the ships of
Gordon Hall 13 J
the fleet about to proceed to England. To do so, they felt, would close the door against mission work in India for a long time to come. As a last resort, they appealed to the captain of the " Commerce " bound for Bombay, for permission to go on board his ship and await results. This was granted and though the Captain reported them as passengers, they were not disturbed ; and great was their joy when they saw the homeward bound fleet weigh anchor and put to sea.
Mr. Hall and Mr. and Mrs. Nott reached Bom- bay on the nth of February, 1813, after a passage of eleven weeks. Before the arrival of the mis- sionaries, news had reached Bombay that war had been declared between the United States and Great Britain greatly increasing the embarrass- ment of the situation. Sir Evan Nepean had re- ceived intimation that it was the will of the Su- preme Government that the missionaries should be returned to England, but receiving from them the assurance that their sole object in coming to India was the promotion of Christian knowledge, he was reluctant to enforce the order of Govern- ment and therefore sanctioned a delay.
In September the missionaries received a letter from Mr. Newell, who had settled in Ceylon after the death of Mrs. Newell in the Isle of France, urging them to join him. This they made an attempt to do, but were compelled by an order from the Governor to return to Bombay. On the 1 6th of December the much-tried missionaries re-
136 Men of Might in India Missions
ceived official intimation from Sir Evan Nepean that he was under positive orders to return them to England, and on the 20th, they were notified that passages had been provided for them on a vessel which was to sail two days later. The mis- sionaries felt that this was a most critical time and, after earnest prayer for help and guidance a final appeal was made to the Governor, not in his official capacity only, but to him as a man and a Christian. In impassioned language they entreated him not to send away those commis- sioned by the Church in the name of the Lord to preach the Gospel among the heathen.
The reply to this appeal was an official notifica- tion from Sir Evan, that he would await further instructions from Calcutta. The Governor, in the meanwhile was making earnest efforts on behalf of the missionaries. When finally, official notice was received from the Court of Directors, that the missionaries would be allowed to remain, should the Governor so approve, he lost no time in communicating this decision to those who had so long waited and prayed for an open door for the entrance of the Gospel. To the official noti- fication. Sir Evan added, " and I heartily wish you success in your work." This favourable decision had been brought about through the efforts of the venerable Charles Grant, Chairman of the Court of Directors, who had prepared an able defence of the conduct of the missionaries.
Nearly two years had elapsed since the arrival
Gordon Hall 137
of the missionaries and they now for the first time had a feeling of permanence. The time, however, had not been lost. Mr. Hall had ap- plied himself with great diligence to the study of the language and had made such progress that soon after formal sanction to remain had been granted, he began a translation of the Gospel of Matthew into Marathi, the vernacular of that part of India, and also a Harmony of the Gospels into the same language. Of these early attempts at translation Mr. Hall wrote, " We know that they are very imperfect, but they are prepared for daily use in instructing the people. We hand the translations round in manuscript and read them to the people in our excursions and in this way we are able to detect errors and to ascertain whether or not our version is intelligible and idiomatic." Mr. Hall was soon able to speak to the people in their own vernacular, though, of course, with a stammering tongue. With his fellow-labourer, Mr. Nott, he sought the people as they resorted to their temples, in the market-places, in the vil- lages, and wherever hearers could be found. Near the close of his second year in Bombay, Mr. Hall wrote in his diary, " I have spoken in six different places and to more than one hundred persons to- day " ; and again ; " in the course of the past week have spoken to more than eight hundred persons. Some listened attentively, some mocked, and tried to divert attention from the preacher, or else to make his message contemptible to those assem-
138 Men of Might in India Missions
bled." But the heroic toiler was never moved from his steadfast purpose to make Christ known, whether men would hear, or whether they would forbear. " It is a part of a missionary's trials," he wrote, *' rightly to bear the impatience and contradictions, insolence and reproaches of men who are sunk to the lowest degradation both nien- tal and moral."
Not long after formal sanction had been given to the missionaries to remain in India, Mr. Nott's health became so seriously impaired that his phy- sicians advised an early return to America, as the only hope of restoration. This decision was a sore trial not only to Mr. and Mrs. Nott, but to Mr. Hall also. He was not, however, left alone after the departure of Mr. Nott, as Mr. Newell joined him from Ceylon.
To assist the missionaries in their work, a pass was obtained from Calcutta and this was made available by the arrival in Bombay in November, 1816, of the Rev. Horatio Bardwell from America, who had a practical knowledge of printing. In any work undertaken, Mr. Hall manifested that spirit of perseverance and determination which is so essential to the successful conduct of every im- portant enterprise. When the printing-press ar- rived from Calcutta, several parts were wanting, others were untrimmed and alterations were found necessary ; but all difficulties were at length over- come. Of this Mr. Hall wrote, " After so many discouragements as our mission has experienced,
^11 1 'l<Eli
^ : g -a
® 3 -c
i ^ ? 1 &■•
^ ^ 1 S 'lev
- t f- © cJ
^■3 3«9 3
1 K^ i i
I iff!
^1 ^ eg & ^
ctr.Z^'^
• •if
• O '5 O
to'-g
^1^^ «^l
I ^-f?J
n
^■^m
< ^
If ^ ^
I ^ ^
Gordon Hall 139
you will, no doubt rejoice with us in our being able, through Divine Goodness, to commence the deHghtful work of printing the Word of God in the language of a numerous people."
The Gospel of Matthew was at once put to press. In 1817, besides a Harmony of the Gos- pels, the missionaries had translated the Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, and several of the Epis- tles. They had also prepared several tracts and as soon as possible, these were printed.
In December, 1816, Mr. Hall was united iuj marriage to Miss Margaret Lewis, an English] lady who had spent several years in Bombay and was familiar with the language of the people. He now had a help-meet in the work which daily grew in extent and importance. Besides preach- ing to the heathen wherever and whenever oppor- tunity offered, the missionaries did not neglect to minister to those who though not ranking as heathen were yet sadly in need of Christian in- struction. On the morning of each Sabbath a religious service was held for poor Europeans and half-castes. They held also at their own dwelling a service in English on the Sabbath and once a month the Lord's Supper was administered.
Realising the great importance of bringing under wholesome influences, the youth around them, as soon as they felt secure in their position, the missionaries established schools. At the close of 1816 they had under their care an English school of about forty pupils, and in their vernac-
140 Men of Might in India Missions
ular schools about three hundred children were gathered. In one of these schools there were more than twenty Jewish children. In these chil- dren the missionaries felt a deep interest and as there was in Bombay a colony of Jews, they re- solved to establish a separate school for Jewish children. A Jew well acquainted with the Marathi language was secured, and the pupils were taught to read and write both Hebrew and Marathi. The portions of Old Testament history contained in the school-books which had been prepared by the missionaries were full of interest to both teacher and pupils as they related to the history of their own people, to the patriarchs and prophets held in veneration by the whole Jewish people.
The schools established by the mission eventu- ally extended in a line about sixty miles along the coast. Each school-room was in eflfect a chapel where the missionaries preached the Gos- pel to the whole neighbourhood, as the people usually assembled whenever the missionaries visited the schools. The parents manifested a warm interest in the schools in which their chil- dren received instruction and thus the mission ac- quired an influence which could in no other way have been secured.
Mr. Bardwell who had rendered valuable assis- tance in connection with the establishment of the printing-press suffered so seriously from the cli- mate that in 1821, by the advice of his physicians,
Gordon Hall 141
he returned to America, greatly to the regret of his missionary associates.
Soon after the departure of Mr. and Mrs. Bard- well for America, Mr. Garrett, a practical printer, was transferred from Ceylon to Bombay and the work of the press was not, therefore, long sus- pended. This same year brought a great sorrow to the mission in the death from cholera of the beloved Mr. Newell. He was held in the highest esteem and his death was regarded as a public loss.
In 1822 a house for public worship was erected in the city of Bombay for the use of the mission. This building consisted of two stories, the upper one being used as a chapel and the lower one for the press, while the verandas were utilised for schools.
The translation of the whole New Testament into Marathi had now been completed, the print- ing establishment had been enriched with new and improved type and the British and Foreign Bible Society had presented one hundred reams of paper to the mission to be used in printing the Marathi edition of the New Testament. To improve the service of song in Divine worship the missionaries had adapted the most appropriate native tunes to hymns in the vernacular which they had themselves prepared.
In November, 1824, Mr. Hall undertook a fatiguing tour to the highlands East of Bombay,
142 Men of Might in India Missions
for the double purpose of preaching the Gospel and ascertaining if a place might not be found on the mountains to be used as a convalescent station for disabled missionaries and their families. The place he had in view was Mahabaleshwar, on the Ghauts, 4,500 feet above the sea and distant from Bombay about one hundred and forty miles; and at this place he found excellent water and a fine climate. Thirty years after this preliminary visit of Mr. Hall, the mission made Mahabaleshwar a sanitary station and the place is now a favourite retreat for the European residents of Bombay in the hot weather and after the rains.
In July, 1825, Mr. Hall felt constrained for reasons of health to send Mrs. Hall and their two boys to America. Passages were engaged for the party on the brig " Ann." The day before she expected to sail, Mrs. Hall wrote, " I entreated my dear husband to accompany us. His reply together with the affectionate and solemn expres- sion of his countenance I can never forget. My dear Margaret, he said, do you know what you ask? I am in good health. I am able to preach Christ to the perishing souls around me. Do you think I should leave my Master's work and go with you to America ? Go, then, with our sick boys. I will remain and pray for you all and here labour in my Master's cause."
Mrs. Hall embarked with her children on the 31st of July, 1825. Mr. Hall accompanied them out of the harbour and returned in the pilot boat.
Gordon Hall 143
Two months after the departure of Mrs. Hall, a meeting was held composed of delegates from the following missions, named in the order in which they were established : of the American Board in Bombay, of the London Society in Surat, of the Church Missionary Society in Bom- bay, of the London Society in Belgaum, and of the Scottish Missionary Society in the Southern Konkan. This meeting was held for the pur- pose of forming a missionary Union. Mr. Hall delivered the opening sermon from Romans i. 16. The sessions were held in the American Mission chapel. " What a contrast," wrote Mr. Hall, " was this glad occasion to my situation in 1813-14 when I was practically a prisoner and under sen- tence of transportation from the land, when not a single mission in this part of India had been established. I was now a patriarch among the missionary brotherhood, none so old in years and missionary labours."
Mrs. Hall and her youngest son arrived in Salem, Mass., on the i8th of November; but the mother was sad of heart for on the 25th of Oc- tober the body of the elder son had been com- mitted to the deep. The heavy tidings of the death of this beloved child did not reach the father to cause grief to his already over-burdened heart, for before letters arrived from America bearing the sorrowful news, Mr. Hall had been laid in his grave.
In 1823, the Rev. Edmond and Mrs. Frost sailed
144 Men of Might in India Missions
from America to join the missionary workers in Bombay. The brethren felt that Mr. Frost was indeed a man sent from God and they trusted that when fully equipped for work he would be a tower of strength; but in two years after his ar- rival, he was removed by death. In a letter to Mrs. Hall, referring to this event, Mr. Hall wrote, " I never before was permitted to witness so much of the support of religion and the preciousness of a Saviour to a dying Christian." Again he wrote, " Since the death of brother Frost our mission engagements have pressed upon me with uncommon severity and all are suffering more or less for want of more help."
On the 1st of February, 1826, Mr. Hall pre- pared a circular letter which was printed at the mission press, to be forwarded to Christian friends in various parts of America, and which reached his native land with the tidings of his death. It was an impassioned plea for more labourers. After speaking of the needs of the great peninsula of India, he pleaded eloquently and forcibly for the 12,000,000 souls, around them. ** It is enough," he said, '* to know that they are your brethren, that they are idolaters and in ignorance of their Maker and Redeemer, and that you can, if you will, send them the Gospel. * * What will you do ? I will endeavour as God shall enable me, so to labour here on the spot, that the blood of these souls shall not be found in my skirts. * * I will endeavour as a watchman at my post,
Gordon Hall 145
faithfully to report what I see. Woe Is me if I proclaim not the wants of this people."
A month after this appeal was written, Mr. Hall entered upon his last missionary tour. He was anxious at this time to visit two populous and important cities a hundred miles or more from Bombay, Treembukeshwar and Nasick.
Two Christian lads who had for some time lived in the mission famiHes in Bombay, accom- panied Mr. Hall. On the tenth day after leaving Bombay, Treembukeshwar was reached ; Mr. Hall found the people in great consternation on ac- count of the appearance of cholera in their midst. He remained three or four days with the terror- stricken people administering medicines to the sick, distributing books and preaching the Gospel wherever he could find any willing to listen to his message. He then went on to Nasick and here too he found the cholera raging, more than two hundred dying on the day following his arrival. Among the distressed inhabitants, the patient, sympathetic missionary moved like an angel of mercy until he had nearly exhausted his supply of medicines, his books and his strength for preaching the Gospel. On the morning of the 8th of March, weary and sore of heart, Mr. Hall turned his face toward Bombay. About 10 o'clock in the evening he reached Doorlee-D'hapoon, thirty miles from Nasick. There was no hos- pitably open door to receive the weary traveller and no friendly voice to welcome him, but he was
146 Men of Might in India Missions
glad to reach a place where he might rest. He spread his mat in the veranda of a heathen temple by the wayside and covering himself with a blanket tried to sleep. Chilled by the wind, he rose and sought a less exposed resting-place. In this he succeeded, but as the place was occupied by two sick men, one of whom soon died, Mr. Hall returned to the temple veranda.
About four o'clock on the following morning, unrefreshed, Mr. Hall roused the two lads who had been his companions and began making ar- rangements for continuing the journey, when he was seized with cholera. So sudden and so vio- lent were the spasms that the stricken man fell helpless to the ground. The terrified lads laid their loved friend and teacher on his mat. Mr. Hall then prepared and attempted to swallow a small quantity of medicine which he had put aside in case of need, but this was immediately rejected. He then told his attendants that he should not recover and with surprising calmness proceeded to give directions to the lads concern- ing his watch and other things in his possession and also as to the disposition of his body. He assured the weeping lads that he should soon be with Christ. He exhorted the heathen who had gathered about him to forsake the idols in which they trusted and to put all their trust, in Jesus, the only Saviour. He then prayed very fervently for the dear absent ones of his own household, for his missionary associates and for the heathen
Gordon Hall 147
around him. This prayer ended, the sufferer thrice repeated " Glory to Thee, O God ! " and yielded up his spirit.
His illness had lasted only eight hours. The lads at once began to carry out the instructions they had received concerning the burial. With much difficulty they procured a place for a grave. Into this, when prepared, wrapped in his blanket and coffinless, with blinding tears and trembling hands the boys lowered the body. The grave was then filled and in his lonely resting-place, the loved teacher was left.
" Strange olive brows with tears were wet.
As a lone grave was made And there, 'mid Asia's arid sands,
Salvation's herald laid. — But bright that shroudless clay shall burst
From its uncoffined bed, When the Archangel's awful trump
Convokes the righteous dead." *
Though so early taken, for at the time of his death Mr. Hall was but forty-two years of age, he had done a great work, since to him more than to any other one individual, was due the establish- ment of the first Protestant mission on the western coast of India. For such a work he was eminently fitted. A combination of good qualities made him a superior man. His piety was fervid and burned with a steady flame. He had persevering indus-
* L. H. Sigourney.
r
148 Men of Might in India Missions
try, sobriety of judgment and great decision of character.
As we see from the earnest and eloquent appeal to Christians in America on behalf of the un- evangelised in heathen lands which Mr. Hall wrote but a short time before his death, in the infancy of missions as now| the Christian people at home expected of their representatives abroad a degree of self-sacrificing devotion which they • were unwilling to apply to themselves. From this \ appeal the following is quoted : *' The churches \ now as in all former ages, deem it right and highly commendable for some of Christ's disciples to renounce all prospects of worldly emolument and ease, to commit themselves and their families i if they have any, under Providence, into the hands { of charity, — to forego the comforts and endear- I ments of civilised society and Christian friends, I to brave every danger, whether from the raging I billows of the ocean, the sickly climate, or the I sanguinary barbarian and to meet death in what- I ever time, place or form it may be allotted them, I — and all this for the sake of preaching Christ to \ the heathen, ;if By approving and, as is the fact, requiring tlii^ of their missionaries, they do virtu- ally bind themselves to make corresponding sacri- fices and exertions to the same end. I am not pleading that missionaries should be eased of their burdens or alleviated in their sacrifices. No, I plead with Christians that they would act con- sistently. I entreat them to behold in what they
Gordon Hall 149
require of their missionaries, the measure of their own duty to Christ and to the heathen. Until a principle of action more commensurate with other duty enjoined, is adopted and the work of evan- gelising the heathen is more equally shared among Christians generally, as was the fact in the first ages of the church, we have no good reason to expect that the world will be con- verted."
In reference to the powerful appeals sent to Christian lands by Mr. Hall and his colleagues, an English writer says, '' They served to keep alive and extend in America and even in England, the principle and spirit of missions to the heathen, which led in a few years to the diffusion of the Gospel from the Western world to all parts of the globe and gave promise of abounding more and more until the whole world shall be full of the knowledge and glory of the Lord. Through these eloquent and forcible appeals, those early labourers though dead, yet speak to us. The manifold blessings from above which rested on the several branches of their operations, tended to en- courage others to enter upon the same field of labour and in some measure prepared their way."
VI
CHARLES T. E. RHENIUS 1814-1838
Outside of India the name of Rhenius is not widely known, yet he was a missionary of great eminence. Of him, the late Bishop Caldwell, him- self in the front rank of modern missionaries, wrote, '' He occupied the foremost position among missionaries, not only in Tinnevelly where he laboured from 1820 to 1838, but in Southern India during the whole of his Indian life, and the ques- tion is, whether his name is not entitled to oc- cupy the principal place in the list of the various Societies since the time of Schwartz ; that is, dur- ing the whole of the present century/ He was one of the ablest, most clear-sighted, practical and zealous missionaries that India has ever seen. He was a man of great administrative power, fer- vent missionary zeal, an excellent preacher and speaker in the vernacular, as well as a writer of unusual merit, and one of the hardest and most continuous workers with which India has been blest."/
ISO
Charles T. E. Rhenius 151
Charles Theophilus Ewald Rhenius was born j on the 5th of November, 1790, at the fortress Graudens, in the province of West Prussia. His father, an officer in the Prussian army, died when this son was six years old. Until his fourteenth year, Charles remained at home in the care of his mother. Three years were then spent in the office of an uncle who held a civil appointment under Government. When seventeen years of age, the youth went to reside with a childless uncle. " I was received with the love of a father and enjoyed the rights of a son," wrote the young man of his reception and residence with this relative. The year in which Charles entered the home of this uncle was memorable as being that in which he was directed to a knowledge of divine things. From this time, it became his earnest desire to follow the leadings of the Master.
The perusal of missionary publications turned \ his thoughts to the work of a missionary abroad, I and in his uncle he found a sympathetic friend and a wise counsellor. In 1810, Mr. Rhenius en- tered a seminary in Berlin which had but a short time before been established for preparing young men for entering upon missionary work. Paying a visit to his mother on his way to Berlin, he told her that he was going to study theology, but said nothing of his desire to become a foreign mission- ary. The mother-heart, however, took alarm for when the time for parting came, she said with tears, ** Charles, only do not go over the sea."
152 Men of Might in India Missions
" But what, dear mother, am I to do, should the Lord so order it," was his reply.
His course of preparatory study completed, Mr. Rhenius was ordained at Berlin as a minister of the Established Church of Prussia, the Lutheran Church, on August 12th, 1812. More than a year was then spent in England, a part of this time under the roof of the Rev. Thomas Scott, a further preparation for the work upon which he expected to enter.
On the 4th of February, 1814, in company with Mr. Schnarre, also under appointment as a mis- sionary, Mr. Rhenius left London for Portsmouth en route for India. Madras was reached on the fourth of the following July. On the 20th of the same month the two missionaries left Madras for Tranquebar. Here Mr. Rhenius remained until January of the following year, engaged in the study of the language. He then returned to Madras, as the Church Missionary Society, under whose auspices he was labouring, desired to estab- lish a mission at the Capital of Southern India.
On his settlement in Madras, Mr. Rhenius be- gan to make use of the knowledge he had acquired in the vernacular, while at the same time con- tinuing his studies. He found his first field of labour in the garden in which his dwelling-house was situated, as within the inclosure was a place of heathen worship, to which persons in the vicinity resorted. He soon opened a school for boys, as he regarded the instruction of the young
Charles T. E. Rhenius 153
as a very important department of missionary- work. He introduced portions of Scripture as reading-lessons, and required the pupils to com- mit to memory the ten commandments.
When Mr. Rhenius had been less than two years , in the country, he was asked to undertake the re- ; vision of the Tamil Scriptures. Though evincing! great talent in the acquisition of the language, he was by no means fully equipped for such a work,, and it was twelve years before his version of the New Testament, which was in reality a new trans- lation, rather than a revision, issued from the; press. At his death, after a residence of twenty- i four years in India, the Old Testament was left unfinished.
In 1817 a church was organised. The number of schools had increased, and from the pupils in these schools, the most promising were selected and received special training, with the view of fitting them to become teachers. Mr. Rhenius in the first instance prepared his Tamil grammar for use in these normal schools.
In the summer of 1817, Government sanctioned the erection of a church in the city of Madras for the worship of the Tamil congregation, but some of the more bigoted Hindus, alarmed at the progress Christianity was making, presented a petition, praying the Government to withdraw the permission granted for the building of a church in the city. Fearing the consequences of a conflict with the people, the English authorities
154 Men of Might in India Missions
returned a favourable answer to this petition. Though greatly disappointed, Mr. Rhenius was not cast down by the turn affairs had taken, and continued to labour with his accustomed zeal. To his other engagements he added touring in the district, in order to reach those who might not otherwise be made acquainted with the Gospel message, and also to visit the schools which had been established among the rural population. He began also a regular system of instruction for the teachers, assigning to each a portion of Scripture which he was expected to study and upon which he was required to pass an examination.
In the autumn of 1818 a society was organised by Mr. Rhenius, comprising Christians of all classes, Europeans and natives of the country, and called the Religious Tract Society of Madras. This was the beginning of a very important en- terprise, the usefulness of which has increased from year to year.
The Roman Catholic missionaries of South India claimed a large number of adherents, and these were not required to renounce caste. The first Protestant missionaries to India did not toler- ate caste, but their successors in the Danish Tran- quebar Mission, while protesting against caste as an unhallowed institution and opposed to the spirit of Christianity, did not require their converts at once and utterly to renounce caste, trusting that when imbued with the spirit of the Gospel they
Charles T. E. Rhenius 155
would voluntarily relinquish it. But unhappily these hopes had not been realised. Mr. Rhenius resolved therefore in the beginning of his career as a missionary to set his face steadfastly against this giant foe to the advancement of the Re- deemer's kingdom.
During the year 1 8 19, he and his fellow-labour- ers had much cause for gratitude in the fact that the hostile feeling in the minds of some of the influential natives of Madras had so far abated that the objections hitherto raised against the erection of a Christian church in the city, were withdrawn, and on the 30th of June the corner- stone of the house of prayer was publicly laid, and the work went forward unopposed.
After six fruitful years spent in Madras, Mr. Rhenius was appointed to a new field, the province of Tinnevelly, four hundred miles south of Madras, and here he was to do a great work for India.
Palamcotta, the headquarters of the Govern- ment of this province, had been visited by Mr. Schwartz in 1778, and he had baptised the widow of a Brahmin, who had been one of the servants of the Rajah of Tan j ore. This woman had applied for baptism while living in Tanjore, but on ac- count of her manner of life at the time, the mis- sionary felt that he could not administer the rite. Now she seemed a true disciple of the Lord. This woman's subsequent life adorned her profession,
156 Men of Might in India Missions
and of her own means she contributed largely toward the erection of the first Christian church in Palamcotta. Two years after this visit of Mr. Schwartz, a church of forty members was organ- ised. Schwartz paid a second visit to Palamcotta in 1785, remaining several weeks and preaching twice and sometimes thrice daily. When he re- turned to his labours in Tanjore he left to shep- herd the church, then numbering eighty persons, his faithful catechist Satthianadhan. European missionaries were sent to Tinnevelly from time to time, but none remained for a very long period. In 18 16 there was sent to Palamcotta as garri- son chaplain to the European troops, the Rev. James Hough, a man " who like Henry Martyn, united to the official duties of a chaplain, a volun- tary devotion to the duties of a missionary." Mr. Hough found at this time in the province of Tin- nevelly over three thousand persons bearing the Christian name. These Christians had been under the superintendence of the missionaries in Tan- jore, and were connected with the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. When Mr. Rhenius was transferred from Madras to Tinnevelly, he was requested by the missionaries of Tanjore, to undertake the superintendence of these sheep without a shepherd, in connection with his work for his own society. The new mission soon out- stripped the old, and at the close of his connec- tion with the Church Missionary Society, after sixteen years of labour, the number of those gath-
Charles T. E. Rhenius 157
ered out from the heathen and enrolled under his pastoral care was above 10,000.
He reached the field where he was to labour with such signal success, on the 7th of July, 1820, and in the October following he was joined by his friend and co-labourer in Madras, the Rev. B. Schmid. The two ardent missionaries, full of faith, entered upon a most energetic crusade against the powers of evil. To the heathen the Gospel was preached, not only in the large towns of Tinnevelly and Palamcotta, but in the sur- rounding villages ; and schools were established.
Though engaged in a multiplicity of labours, Mr. Rhenius continued the work of translating the Scriptures into Tamil. He also prepared a Harmony of the Gospels, a work which has been extensively used in South India. Mrs. Sher- wood's " Indian Pilgrim," which had been trans- lated from English into Tamil was carefully re- vised by Mr. Rhenius. He found time, in the midst of an exceptionally busy life, to prepare several tracts, in English and in the vernaculars. A training school was established for the more thorough education of those who gave promise of being useful among their fellow-countrymen as teachers or catechists. As converts multiplied from among the heathen and congregations were formed, all, even those receiving the smallest in- come were taught to contribute toward the build- ing and the repairs of the house of worship, oil for the lamps and other congregational expenses.
158 Men of Might in India Missions
At Tinnevelly, as in Madras, a Religious Tract Association was formed, and the results were highly encouraging.
During the Christmas season of 1823, one hun- dred and forty persons arrived in Palamcotta from out-lying villages, some of them distant twenty- five or thirty miles from the central station, ap- parently with the single desire to hear the Word of the Lord, having brought with them a four days' supply of food, that they might be charge- able to no one.
X During the tour undertaken early in the year 1825, Mr. Rhenius baptised twenty persons in one village who had previously been under instruc- tion. In an adjoining village visited on the same day in which these baptisms had taken place, al- most all the inhabitants of the village were found assembled before the village temple. They ex- pressed a desire to place themselves under Chris- tian instruction, and in proof of their sincerity agreed to break down the wall in the middle of their temple and provide the room thus enlarged with windows, to serve as a place for Christian worship. Nor was this an isolated instance.
During the summer of this year Mr. Rhenius made a list of the villages in which there were Christians. In ninety villages there were 838 families under Christian instruction, comprising more than 3,000 souls. Of the responsibility en- tailed by such an ingathering, he wrote, " The instruction of these souls is of paramount im-
Charles T. E. Rhenius 159
portance. Those who have embraced Christianity have received no favour, unless it be a favour to be regarded and protected as well as the heathen community."
On the 3rd of January, 1826, the foundation- stone of a house of worship was laid in Palam- cotta. The work was rapidly pushed forward and on the 26th of the following June, the completed edifice was solemnly dedicated to the worship of God. The work in the district continued to grow, and at the end of 1829 there were more than 6,000 under Christian instruction. The number of schools had increased to 43. With the opening of each year a dedicatory service was held when the people from the villages, near and remote, as- sembled at Palamcotta. The mercies of the year just closed were gratefully acknowledged, and fervent prayers were offered for a continuance of these mercies for the coming year.
There was thus maintained a bond of union between the parent church and the converts from the out-lying villages. Differences were adjusted on these occasions, the timid were encouraged and the perverse and the careless were, in many instances, led to turn from the error of their ways and to walk in newness of life.
The year 1832 was one long remembered in Tinnevelly because of the severe drought' and consequent famine, as well as for the ravages of cholera To foster the spirit of self-help, a poor fund had been established, in connection with the
i6o Men of Might in India Missions
Christian congregations. In this time of distress the amount raised for this fund, by the people of the country, was augmented by liberal gifts from the European residents of Palamcotta. Among the famine and cholera stricken people, Mr. Rhenius moved like an angel of mercy. We find him in the midst of his trying labours at this time preparing a tract on cholera. " The heathen in this awful time are mad with their idols," wrote Mr. Rhenius. Accordingly a tract on idolatry which had just come from the press was widely circulated both in Tinnevelly and in the district.
In the year 1833, the Rev. Joseph Wolff, the celebrated missionary to the Jews, visited Palam- cotta, and in his volume entitled *' Researches and Missionary Labours,'' thus alludes to this visit: The congregation from among the heathen at Tinnevelly, amounted to 10,694 souls, comprised in 3,075 families, living in 238 villages and in- structed in the Word of God by 109 catechists. Of this number, 2,086 are baptised, the rest are candidates for baptism. There are iii schools. In these schools all the pupils receive Christian instruction.
Of Mr. Rhenius, Mr. Wolff says, " The great- est missionary, I believe, who has ever appeared since the times of the Apostles, more enterpris- ing, more bold and more talented than even Schwartz himself."
The majority of the people in the rural dis- tricts, on becoming Christians, remained in the
Charles T. E. Rhenius i6i
same villages where they had lived as heathens; but when the band was small or at so remote a distance from the central station, that it was difficult properly to instruct the converts, or to exercise Christian discipline, separate Christian communities were formed in more convenient lo- calities. For this purpose land was purchased, generally at a very trifling cost, and those who forsook idolatry, were formed into a Christian community, a catechist was appointed, a school opened and a little chapel or house of prayer erected, usually jointly by the people and the society. At an early hour in the morning, the villagers were assembled for prayer, after which they went forth to their daily labour. In the evening they again assembled for instruction. Prayer was offered, a hymn of praise sung, and they then returned to their homes.
As the number of Christian villages increased, an Association was formed under the title of the Native Philanthropic Society, having for its ob- ject primarily the rendering of assistance to the poorer Christian natives in their temporal affairs, such as the acquisition of land, the building of school and prayer-houses, and thus reHeving the foreign missionary from such cares.
A Friend-in-Need Society was established and each district was expected to care for its own poor. There was also a Widows' Fund Society, for relieving needy widows of catechists and school-masters.
1 62 Men of Might in India Missions
In 1835 a Native Missionary Society was or- ganised for the maintenance of catechists who might be sent outside the bounds of the province. The missionary prayer-meeting was full of life and interest. In these meetings not only the work in which the people themselves were engaged, was remembered, but prayer was offered for Christian work in all lands, and with the aid of a map before the audience, a definite idea was given of the work in progress throughout the world, as well as of the regions yet untouched by the Gospel. *' Almost every social meeting, " wrote Mr. Rhenius, ** becomes a missionary meeting, when missionary matters are communicated, dis- cussed and consulted about."
The great activity of Mr. Rhenius, inspired by an ardent love for souls and zeal for the Master's service, accompanied by a marvellous power of influencing others, together with the self-denying labours of several like-minded coadjutors, had been greatly blessed of God. Great numbers of the people of the country, through these labours, had been led to embrace Christianity. A large body of native teachers, chiefly trained by Mr. Rhenius and labouring under the direction and control of himself and his brother missiona;-ies, were helping forward the work. Several of the catechists, in the judgment of the missionaries, were worthy of ordination. Though labouring in connection with the Church Missionary Society, Mr. Rhenius, as a Lutheran clergyman, naturally
Charles T. E. Rhenius 163
desired to ordain the men he had trained accord- ing to the order of the Lutheran Church, plead- ing as a precedent the practice of the missionaries working under the auspices of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Tan j ore, who had themselves ordained native catechists. But to such a course the Church Missionary Society declined to give consent, calling attention to the fact that the ordinations which had been sanc- tioned in connection with the work in Tan j ore, had taken place before the establishment of the Episcopate in India, while there was at this time a Bishop of their own church in the country.
In consequence of these diflferences, in May, 1835, Mr. Rhenius decided, for the sake of peace to leave the field where his labours had been so greatly blessed, and establish an independent mis- sion elsewhere. With a heavy heart he left his beloved Tinnevelly. But he was not long in de- ciding that he had acted unadvisedly in withdraw- ing, and at the earnest solicitation of many who had been led to Christ through his instrumentality, he decided to return. The property which had been acquired, he felt belonged properly to the Church Missionary Society, but the people gath- ered from among the heathen through the bless- ing of the Lord upon his labours, and the labours of his missionary associates, had, he was con- vinced, a peculiar claim upon him.
When he decided to leave Tinnevelly, his mis- sionary colleagues, sympathizing with his views
164 Men of Might in India Missions
also severed their connection with the Society. On the return of their leader to his former field, these brethren rallied around him, and a large company of those who had been led to Christ through their instrumentality, threw in their lot with their beloved spiritual fathers. A separate mission was then formed, known as the German Evangelical Mission.
The new Society provided for their use other places of worship, and so great was the personal influence of Mr. Rhenius, and so highly was he held in esteem as a man of God and a labourer of almost unexampled zeal and devotion, that he was able to carry on every department of the mis- sion, involving the pecuniary support of his three European colleagues, as well as his own, as con- tributions flowed into the treasury from European friends in every part of India, and from various parts of the world, America not excepted.
During this period, which was in some respects, exceedingly trying, he continued his literary la- bours finding peculiar pleasure in the translation of the Sacred Scriptures into Tamil. His Tamil grammar, a work upon which he had long been engaged, was also completed and put to press. In his evangelistic labours, as hitherto, the Lord greatly blessed him causing his heart to rejoice as multitudes *' turned from the worship of dumb idols, to serve the living God."
But the man hitherto so strong to labour began now to manifest unmistakable signs of physical
Charles T. E. Rhenius 165
weakness. His cares during the whole of his missionary career had been heavy and his labours unremitting. Since he entered India as a mis- sionary, in the summer of 1814, he had not left the country even for a day, nor had he taken ad- vantage of a change to the cooler and more salu- brious climate of the mountains, doubtless a mis- take, as with some degree of relaxation his valu- able life might probably have been much pro- longed.
On the 9th of May, 1838, he wrote in his journal, "This evening had the Lord's Supper. 1 am not well. The heat is very great." This was the last entry made. A letter to a friend in Europe was begun three days later, but was left unfinished. His active work for the Master was ended, and on the 5th of June, he passed away. His sun went down while it was yet day, for at the time of his death he had not completed his forty-eighth year. Twenty-four years of his life had been spent in India. He was carried to his grave amid great lamentation. His body rests in a quiet spot not far from the church which he built in Palamcotta and in which a large Chris- tian congregation still meets on each Lord's day for divine worship. '' He rests from his labours, but his works do follow him." His Tamil writ- ings may be looked upon as a legacy of no mean value, to the Christian Church of South India.
In no part of the great Indian peninsula, is missionary work in a more advanced state than
1 66 Men of Might in India Missions
in Tinnevelly, and the work in this most interest- ing field is still carried on, on the lines laid down by Mr. Rhenius, more than half a century ago. The Tinnevelly missions are in a great measure indebted to this wise master-builder for the pro- gressive element apparent in their history. ^"^ The practice he introduced, of assembling the people of every Christian village morning and evening for united prayer, in the church or prayer-house, a practice which prevails to this day throughout the missionary congregations of the Church of England in Tinnevelly and which has gradually extended to other missions in South India, and the various societies which he organised which still continue to bind together the congregations and to lead them to care for the needy and to labour for the extension of the Redeemer's King- dom, are memorials of his wise policy and saga- cious forethought.
VII
JOHN SCUDDER
1819-1855
A CENTURY ago a small boy, destined in after life to become famous in the annals of missions in India, might frequently have been seen run- ning along the streets of Freehold, New Jersey, a look of great seriousness on his baby face, as he was bent on some errand of mercy. From a merry game he would turn with alacrity to help any one in distress. The little fellow was one day seen drawing a heavy rail along the street. " John what are you going to do with that ? " asked a gentleman who knew the boy.
" I am taking it to Miss Becky, who has no fire," answered the child, as he hurried forward on his benevolent errand. The boy who thus early manifested an interest in the welfare of the needy and distressed, was John Scudder. He was born in Freehold, New Jersey, on the 3rd of September, 1793, and by his pious parents was dedicated to God at his birth. The boy was amiable and obedient, and had a conscientious re- gard for truth.
167
1 68 Men of Might in India Missions
" John seemed always possessed of a Christian temper," said his mother, when reference was made to the beginning of his Christian hfe.
DiHgent in study, the youth was early prepared to enter college. Princeton was the choice made for him by his parents, and he entered with zest upon his college work. Among the students he found few who sympathized with him in his re- ligious aspirations, but this only served to make him more faithful in trying to lead his fellow- students to Christ.
A young man who entered Princeton college but four months before young Scudder's gradua- tion, in a letter to Mr. Scudder's father, gave this account of his first interview with his son. He was sitting one evening, soon after he entered the college, in a room with some of his classmates, when a young man called who was introduced to him as Mr. Scudder. He tarried only a moment, but before leaving turned to the stranger, and in a most cordial manner, said, " V\\ be happy to see you at No. 47."
Returning to his lonely room the young stran- ger thought of Mr. Scudder's hearty invitation, and with the conviction that the companionship of such a man would be a benediction, he turned his steps at once toward No. 47. Pie found Mr. Scudder surrounded by his books, and at once frankly told him why he had so promptly ac- cepted his invitation. He was not religious, he said, but he desired to form the acquaintance of
John Scudder 169
those who were professedly so. Instantly Mr. Scudder arose, his fine face aglow, and grasping the hand of his visitor said, " That's right. Stand by that and you will never regret it." This was the beginning of a warm friendship, through which the young student was led to decide for Christ.
At the completion of his college course, Mr. Scudder's thoughts were turned toward the sacred ministry ; but finding that his father did not cor- dially acquiesce in this choice, he relinquished his desire in favour of the profession of medicine, feeling that, as a Christian physician, he could serve his Master not less truly, than as a minister of the Gospel.
He graduated at the Medical College in New York in May, 181 5. Being prepared now to enter upon the practice of his profession, he made his location a subject of earnest prayer. The Eastern section of the city was suggested to him as a suitable field, by a friend in whom he had confidence, and this same friend kindly offered to introduce him to a family in which he would find not only an agreeable circle, but a comfortable home.
The ardent young physician, watching for op- portunities of usefulness, was soon well and favourably known. The family which had received Dr. Scudder, consisted of a widow with two un- married daughters and two sons at home. It was a cultured and refined household, but not a
lyo Men of Might in India Missions
professedly religious one. During the first year of his residence in this family there was much religious interest in the church which they at- tended, and all came under its influence. The elder son, about this time was drowned at sea, and the hearts of the remaining members of the family were solemnized and softened. Ere long the mother, the two daughters and the son ac- knowledged themselves as on the Lord's side. The elder of the two daughters, lovely in person and gentle in spirit, afterward became the wife of Dr. Scudder, and proved a noble help-meet in a most self-sacrificing life.
T" When Dr. Scudder decided to devote his life /to the profession of medicine, he resolved, by the I help of God, to be, not only a physician to the j bodies, but a minister, as far as possible, to the souls of his patients, and this end he kept con- stantly in view.
He prospered greatly in his profession, but while his prospects of worldly advancement were daily brightening, an incident occurred which changed the whole current of his life. When visiting a patient, he took up from a table in the ante-room a tract entitled " The Claims of Six Hundred Millions, and the Ability and Duty of the Churches Respecting Them."
Struck by the title he asked to be allowed to take the little book home with him. He read and re-read it with an ever-deepening conviction that this was the call of God to him. In this
John Scudder 171
momentous crisis of his life he besought Heavenly- guidance. Soon he was ready for himself to say, "Jesus, I go in obedience to Thy last command to preach the Gospel to those who have it not."
When Miss Waterbury consented to become the wife of Dr. Scudder, it was with no thought that she would be asked to leave her friends, and her native land, for a life of self-denial among the heathen. How now would she regard such a step, the husband asked himself again and again. Could he ask her to take their fair and frail little daughter, two years of age, to a dis- tant heathen land ? After importunate prayer, he laid the whole matter before Mrs. Scudder, tell- ing her that God had made him not only willing but anxious to serve Him as a missionary abroad ; but he added that if her heart was not in sym- pathy with his heart in this matter, his duty for the present, at least, was at home.
With a consecration as whole-hearted as his own, Mrs. Scudder decided for the life of a mis- sionary, and from this decision she never wavered.
' When Dr. Scudder made public the change in his life-plans, he was called to encounter strenu- ous opposition, even from his Christian friends. " Why," they asked, " should a man with such brilliant prospects at home, go among the heathen? Others less useful might properly en- gage in such a service," — 'a sentim.ent that even in these days finds frequent expression^
172 Men of Might in India Missions
Dr. Scudder was a member of the Dutch Re- formed Church, but in connection with this church of his choice there seemed no immediate prospect of being sent abroad as a missionary. While waiting for the Lord to lead him, he saw in one of the religious papers of the city, a notice that a Christian physician was needed, to go to India in connection with the American Board of Missions, at Boston, and he at once offered him- self for the post, expressing his readiness to go at once, should this be desired. His offer was promptly accepted, and with all the expedition possible he prepared to leave New York for Bos- ton, from whence, with his family, he would em- bark for India.
On the day of their departure, Fulton street dock was a scene of unusual excitement. Dr. Scudder moved among the friends assembled to bid them God-speed, with kindling eye and radi- ant countenance. " Only give us your prayers — that is all I ask," he left as his parting message, when the vessel swung loose from her moorings.
Dr. and Mrs. Scudder sailed from Boston in the brig " Indus," on the 8th of June, 1819, with a party sent out by the American Board, consist- ing of the Rev. Messrs. Winslow, Spaulding, Woodward and their wives. The Captain of the " Indus " was a Christian, and in full sympathy with the missionaries. Not only did he seek by every means in his power to promote their phy- sical comfort, but put the whole ship at their dis-
John Scudder 173
posal as a " floating Bethel." Religious services were held both in the cabin and the forecastle, resulting in a remarkable spiritual awakening, embracing the greater part of the ship's crew.
Calcutta was reached after a voyage of four months. After a short interval, Messrs. Winslow and Spaulding, with their wives, took passage for Ceylon. Mr. and Mrs. Woodward were de- tained by illness, and Dr. and Mrs. Scudder re- mained with them. While they tarried in Cal- cutta, the missionary party received much kind- ness from Dr. Carey and his colleagues at Ser- ampore, a kindness greatly appreciated, as at this time there came to Dr. and Mrs. Scudder their first great sorrow. Their little Maria, after an illness of only three days, went home to her Saviour. Three months after the death of their beloved first-born, a second child was given them, who, " after breathing the tainted air for one week, closed her eyes forever and took her flight to join her baby sister." But though so sorely stricken, the bereaved parents did not entertain even a momentary regret at the decision they had made.
Dr. Scudder was assigned to the Jaffna Dis- trict, in the northern part of the island of Ceylon. He had applied himself most assiduously to the study of the language from the time of his ar- rival in India, and with such good result that on the 9th of July, he recorded in his journal the fact that he had that day preached for the first
1 74 Men of Might in India Missions
time in his new station. A month later, ''after having undergone such examinations upon the- ology as the brethren thought proper," he was licensed to preach the Gospel.
Every morning at an early hour, he prescribed for the sick who came to him, first praying with and for them, and giving them such Christian instruction as his limited knowledge of the lan- guage permitted. A hospital was soon opened, which attracted large numbers. But he did not al- low his medical work to prevent him from labour- ing among the people as an ambassador for Christ. We find him not only lifting up his voice in the sanctuary and among his patients in the hospital, but in the highways, in the villages, and wherever he could find listeners. Schools were established, both day-schools and a boarding- school. In the beginning of his missionary career, he commenced the distribution of portions of the Sacred Scriptures, and of religious tracts. These he could send when he might not go, and the printed page would be pondered, while the spoken word might be forgotten.
As his work increased in interest and magni- tude, the enthusiastic missionary sent to Chris- tian friends in America impassioned appeals for funds to aid the work in which he and his asso- ciates were engaged.
Mrs. Scudder proved a most efficient help-meet on the mission field. She had charge of the " domestic concerns " of the boarding-school.
John Scudder 175
taught classes in the same school, had charge of a sewing-class for women, supervised the day- schools when Dr. Scudder was absent from the station, and at the same time looked well to the ways of her own household.
As soon as his knowledge of the language en- abled him to do so, Dr. Scudder began the prep- aration of tracts in the vernacular. But his manifold labours, which made constant and ex- cessive drafts upon both his physical and mental energies, proved at length a burden too heavy to be borne. His missionary brethren decided that rest and change were imperatively demanded, and it was accordingly arranged that he should leave Ceylon for a time and go first to Madras, and from thence to Bangalore. This change was of essential benefit to Dr. Scudder's health, and also served another important purpose in opening the way for the establishment of an American mis- sion in Madras. In the year 1836, after commu- nicating with the Board at home, Dr. Scudder and the Rev. Myron Winslow were appointed to Madras. This transfer to a wider field was very acceptable to a man of such intense mental ac- tivity. He at once began to make plans for the establishment of a printing-press. This depart- ment of labour was to be placed, by mutual ar- rangement, under the superintendence of Mr. Winslow, leaving Dr. Scudder free to go among the teeming population of the surrounding coun- try to proclaim the Gospel, and to leave with all
176 Men of Might in India Missions
who could read, portions of Scripture and tracts in the vernaculars of the people. On these tours he was sometimes absent for several consecutive months. Occasionally he had no other shelter than the palanquin in which he was carried, but he usually occupied native rest-houses. Very comfortless were these shelters, but the disciple remembered the low estate of his Master and was content. Sometimes he was able to avail himself of more comfortable government bunga- lows provided for travellers, and there he could find refuge, when the work of the morning was over, from the consuming heat, which sorely tried him. Dr. Scudder tells us in his journal how unremitting were sometimes his labours.
At Vellore, on one occasion, he took up a posi- tion in a public place, at seven o'clock in the morning, and did not leave it until six o'clock in the evening, not pausing in his work even to eat. When exhausted, coffee was brought him. It had become known that books would be distributed, and through the entire day the throng pressed upon him. His helpers tried to ascertain who among the great numbers clamouring for books and tracts could read, and to such tickets were given, and each possessor of a ticket, received from the hand of Dr. Scudder a portion of Scrip- Nture, or a tract.
While absent on his tours into the interior. Dr. Scudder was frequently beyond the reach of postal facihties, in which case, the wife at home.
John Scudder 177
bravely bearing the double burden of caring for her own family and doing all in her power to forward the interests of the mission, was often much concerned lest her husband should fall a victim to his zeal. In one^ of his letters to his wife, Dr. Scudder wroteC *' I am doing a most blessed work, and shall be back just when the Lord sees best. For your comfort and joy think of the number of precious souls who will prob- ably hear of Jesus from my mouth while absent from you. Put yourself, my love, in their places. Suppose you had never heard His name, would you not wish some husband to leave his wife and come and tell you of Him and put in your hands His word ? 'V
" I must travel as comfortably as possible," he wrote in another letter. '* I could go in a com- mon cart, but it is too hard for my head." Re- ferring to his suffering from violent sick-head- aches caused by fatigue and exposure to the sun, he wrote : *' It was such exposure, together with the fatigue accompanying it, which shat- tered my constitution in 182 1. I shall never look back upon that long tour I took on foot, without regret." From such experiences in the early years of his missionary life, he had learned as he afterwards said, that- Health is too important to be sacrificed for a few rupees ; " a lesson which many a modern missionary learns too late, j
With deep solicitude, Mrs:-Sxiudder noted the increasing weariness induced by her husband's
lyS Men of Might in India Missions
trying exposures and unremitting labours, and begged him to desist ; urging that the tours made into the interior when he was frequently long ab- sent from home with insufficient provision for his comfort, were wearing him out and herself as well. In response to this he wrote. " We must not think of wearing out this thirty years while so much land remains to be possessed."
On one of his tours he paid a visit to Tranque- bar. On the Sabbath spent in this historic place he preached to the native congregation in the fine church built by Ziegenbalg. He also preached in English in the same church to an interested au- dience.
Congenial in some respects as was this itiner- ant life to Dr. Scudder, yet he would not have chosen to spend so large a portion of his time in this manner, had he not felt in a measure im- pelled to such a course. " I find no one," he wrote on one occasion, " who is willing to en- gage in this great work of the general distribu- tion of the Scriptures and tracts. The conse- quence is that much falls on me. Winslow pre- pares. I distribute."
On one of his tours he crossed the Peninsula of India from Eastern coast to Western. He was on this occasion exposed in an unusual de- gree to the malaria which hangs like a death-pall over some parts of the country. On his return journey he was seized with jungle fever. Prov- identially he was at this time within reach of
John Scudder 179
medical aid. Little hope was entertained of his recovery, and with all possible speed a messenger was sent with the sad tidings to Mrs. Scudder. When the tidings reached her, she at once pre- pared to go to her husband. A kind friend pro- vided her with a small tent and arranged for a palanquin and bearers as well as a necessary supply of food. Then this heroic woman accom- panied only by her little son, set out on her mournful journey. When in the heart of the jungle and just as darkness was coming on, the palanquin bearers hearing the roar of wild beasts dropped their burden and fled, leaving Mrs. Scudder and her child with no earthly protection. Clasping her boy in her arms, the anxious mother spent the long night in prayer. She heard the tread of wild elephants and the awful roar of the tiger. Sometimes they seemed approaching, then with speechless gratitude she heard the sound of their retreating footsteps. In the early dawn the bearers returned, and lifting up the palan- quin continued their journey. y Mrs. Scudder found her husband convalescing, but months elapsed before he was restored to health, and the shock to his constitution was felt to the end of his life. The exacting and unre- mitting labours of this man of God at length broke down a constitution almost herculean. In season and out of season, amid drenching rains and torrid suns he continued the work to which he felt especially called. His appetite failed, one
i8o Men of Might in India Missions
arm became partially paralysed, and he was forced at last to admit that he must have a season of relaxation or die. " My doctor," he wrote in one of his letters, " has ordered me to sea, and ad- vises a visit to America, but still I am somewhat strong to labourjlLl
When Dr. Scudder left America in 1820, he expected not only to labour in India, but to die there, and the thought of turning his back upon his adopted country seemed in some sense like a retreat before the enemy. Yet there were strong ties drawing him to America. Many of the friends he had known and loved in his young manhood still survived. Above all, the sons who had been sent to the home land to be educated, longed once more to behold the faces of their beloved parents.
Still Dr. Scudder lingered in India, loath to leave its shores ; but as he did not rally he was impelled to accept the verdict of his physician and friends that the only hope of restoration to health lay in a return to his native land.
On the voyage, the invalid began to improve and before he reached America, he had partially regained the use of the arm which had so long hung helpless by his side. Notwithstanding this improvement in his physical condition, his friends were deeply concerned to note the changes that disease and toil had wrought.
Dr. Scudder had no thought of resting, though
John Scudder i8i
so far from robust. His soul yearned over the millions of idolaters in India, and failing to arouse in adult Christians a sense of the respon- sibility resting upon them to give the Gospel to the unevangelised, he turned to the children, trusting that with the blessing of God, a genera- tion might be raised up to feel as their fathers did not, a desire to consecrate themselves, and the means given them by God to the blessed work of making Christ known. For three years this consecrated man, with the burden of souls ever resting upon him, traversed the American conti- nent from Georgia to Maine, and from East to West, until he had addressed over a hundred thou- sand children and youth. Everywhere he was joyfully received, fascinating all with whom he came in contact by the charm of his manner, and everywhere finding his way to the heart by his tender appeals. " Jesus loves you,*' he would say, " and He loves the heathen also, for He tasted de^th for every man."
-Dr. Scudder came to be regarded as pre- eminently the friend of the children, and very touching were many of the letters addressed to him. Some conveyed gifts of money, hoarded stores which were now gladly relinquished to aid in sending the Gospel to India. Not a few of the children and youth who listened to his impas- sioned appeals assured him that if spared to be- come men and women, they hoped that God
1 82 Men of Might in India Missions
would call diem to India. Missionary Societies were organised, and wherever he went, a bless- ing attended the labours of this zealous servant.
The impression made by Dr. Scudder's appeals to the children and youth were in many cases permanent. One of the secretaries of the Board of Missions in Boston afterwards said that when candidates for missionary appointment had been asked what first turned their thoughts to the sub- ject of missions among the heathen, the reply in some instances had been, '' Dr. Scudder^s ad- dresses and appeals heard when a child." Among the missionaries of marked devotion now labour- ing in India, is one, who, when a child listened to the fervid appeals of Dr. Scudder, and then formed the determination, which never faltered, to give herself to missionary work among the people of India.
While Dr. and Mrs. Scudder were in America they had the joy of seeing Henry, their eldest son ordained to the work of the Gospel ministry. Soon after his ordination the young man left America to engage in missionary work in India. Born in Ceylon, and having spoken the Tamil language in his boyhood, on his return it came back to him like a forgotten dream, and in five months after his arrival he was able to use the language with surprising fluency in preaching to the people.
In the autumn of 1846, Dr. and Mrs. Scudder prepared to return to India. During his sojourn
John Scudder 183
in the home land he had often said, " There is no place like India. It is nearer heaven than Amer- ica." Yet there was much sorrow in the leave- taking, for all felt that this was a final farewell. On their arrival in India in March, 1847, Dr. Scudder entered upon his labours with renewed interest and zeal. In addition to the work in which he had formerly been engaged, in order to keep alive the interest in missions which his visit had awakened, he sent as frequently as was consistent with the discharge of his more pressing duties, contributions to religious papers in America, and at the same time he maintained an extensive correspondence with Christian friends in his native land.
Not long after his return, it was thought ex- pedient that he should for a time take up his residence in Madura, in order that the younger brethren there might have the benefit, not only of his rich and ripe experience as a missionary, but of his eminent skill as a physician. After his temporary transfer to Madura, Dr. Scudder be- gan in his new field the work to which he had hitherto devoted so much time and strength, — that of touring through the district for the double purpose of preaching the Gospel and distribut- ing portions of Scripture and tracts. Wherever he went, as soon as it became known that a for- eign doctor had arrived, crowds followed him as they did the Saviour when He was upon the earth, the halt, the maimed, the leper and the
184 Men of Might in India Missions
blind. Many successful surgical operations were performed. By the removal of cataract, eyesight was in many cases restored and in his treatment of cholera Dr. Scudder was eminently success- ful. So many persons flocked to him for treat- ment and went away benefited that the native doctors of Madura took alarm, crying out that the hope of their gains was gone. They finally resolved to resort to witchcraft to try to rid themselves of their hated rival; but failing in their object decided that a white skin must be impervious to witchcraft.
Early in the year 1849 he returned with his family to Madras. At once he opened a medical department in connection with the more direct work of preaching the Gospel, and in the medical work as well as in the evangelistic, he received most valuable assistance from his son Henry.
In the midst of his manifold labours as a phy- sician to both the body and the soul, he prepared tracts and booklets which were issued by the American Tract Society. Among these may be mentioned " The Redeemer's Last Command," " An Address to Christian Mothers," and " Tales About the Heathen." At length his eyesight began to fail, and total blindness was feared. Yet even in the anticipation of so great an affliction he sought to find some ray of comfort. " My voice is good," he said, '' and should my eyesight fail, I could still preach the everlasting Gospel."
A stalwart man both physically and intellectu-
John Scudder 185
ally, Dr. Scudder had, however, next to his God, turned to his devoted wife for help and comfort in times of anxiety and sorrow. He "should be the first to pass over Jordan, he had always felt. But when such a blow was least expected, Mrs. Scudder was stricken down and in a few short hours was brought face to face with death. She was taken ill on Thursday and passed away on the night of the following Monday. To one whose life had been spent for Christ, death had no terrors. It had been Mrs. Scudder's custom to devote the birthday of each of her children to special prayer for that child. On the birthday of her son Silas, the mother had sent him a letter breathing the tenderest love and deepest solici- tude for his spiritual welfare. When giving her dying messages to the children gathered around her bedside and for the absent children, she said, " Tell Silas that I have written to him in my last letter all that I should wish to say to him. I spent half of his last birthday in prayer for him." When asked if she wished all her sons to become missionaries, she replied, " Yes, it has been my constant prayer that they might all come to this land to preach the Gospel. I do not desire that they should come unless they are pre- pared, but I wish them to be fitted for this work."
Just before the end came, she opened her eyes, and with peculiar energy, exclaimed, " Glorious salvation ! Glorious heaven ! "
*' We shall not long be separated," Dr. Scudder
1 86 Men of Might in India Missions
had said to his wife just before her departure. Thirty years had these two walked side by side in Hfe's pathway, and to the survivor, lonely seemed the way leading onward to the end. An- other blow was soon, alas ! to fall upon the stricken mourner. His son Samuel, a young man of bril- liant intellect, after graduating with the highest honours of his class, entered the Theological Sem- inary in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and hoped at the end of his course to join his father and brothers in India. In a letter to a friend an- nouncing his decision to go out to India as a missionary, he said, *' I hear the voices of my father and my brothers calling me from my native land, * Come over and help us ' and I must hasten to obey." He was stricken with mortal sickness and was called home three days before his mother passed into the skies.
On a heart so sensitive as was Dr. Scudder's, these terrible blows fell with almost crushing power. But though from this time his physical strength steadily waned, his zeal for souls was unquenched, and each new morning found him ready to do battle against the great enemy of souls. Unable because of physical infirmity to make tours in the interior, he usually preached twice daily in the city of Madras. When he learned that his son Samuel, to whose return he had looked forward with delightful anticipations, had been called to his heavenly home, he resolved to help in making up this loss on the mission
John Scudder 187
field by extra work on his own part; and he ac- cordingly began to preach thrice daily. But he was not long able to endure his excessive labours. As the conviction was forced upon him that he must soon be laid aside, his heart was filled with rejoicing that all his sons had decided not only to give themselves to the Gospel ministry, but to return to their native land as missionaries. " They have been prayed into the Kingdom by their mother," said Dr. Scudder on one occasion.
Feeling that rest and change might prolong the precious life, the friends of the veteran mis- sionary urged him to take a sea-voyage. " 1 wish to die in India and to be laid by the side of my beloved wife," was his invariable answer to these appeals. He would not go again to America, but in the summer of 1854 he was pre- vailed upon to try the effect of a voyage to the Cape of Good Hope. His son Joseph, who had joined his father and brothers in missionary work in India, accompanied him.
From the beginning of his Christian life Dr. Scudder had been a diligent student of the Bible. This Holy Book had been his guide, his counsel- lor, his staff on which he leaned, and more to him than his daily food. His zeal was caught from the Bible, and this too was the source of steadfast cheerfulness which was so marked a trait of his character. iWith his mind stayed on the promises of God, he was never cast down. When asked in America what were the discour-
1 88 Men of Might in India Missions
agements in the missionary work, he answered, " I do not know the word. I long ago erased it _from my vocabulary."
The quiet days of this voyage to the Cape fur- nished a delightful opportunity for digging deep into the inexhaustible mine of Scripture ; and when the " desired haven " was reached Dr. Scud- der was not only greatly refreshed in body, but his mind and heart seemed strong to labour. With the zeal which had characterised his more vigour- ous days, he began at once a service in English for the residents ; and not for adults only but for the children also. Crowds flocked to hear the eloquent preacher. Two and sometimes three services were held on the Sabbath. The soul of the veteran warrior seemed on fire, and he re- joiced that the Lord was once more using him in so blessed a service.
After two months spent at the Cape, feeling that he was ready for duty in India, he engaged' his return passage, but his earthly voyages were over. A church service had been announced for him, and in order that he might be the better fitted for his duties, he laid himself down for a brief rest. Soon he fell into a deep sleep. From that sleep he passed into the presence of his Maker. Thus ended a life which had been un- reservedly consecrated to the Master's service. He passed away on the 13th of January, 1855, in the sixty-second year of his age, and the thirty- sixth year of his missionary life.
John Scudder 1S9
After the death of the veteran missionary the young people and children in America who had listened to his fervid appeals, in grateful remem- brance of his labours among them, contributed the means for the erection of the beautiful marble monument which stands in the grounds of the Theological Seminary of the Dutch Reformed Church in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
We cannot more appropriately close this sketch of the life of a good and a great man than by quot- ing the words of his son the Rev. Henry Martyn Scudder, D.D., now himself passed into the skies ; *' He is gone, but he will never be forgotten. On the records of our Indian Zion his name stands registered as a faithful evangelist, an energetic pioneer. In the sky of India's night I see his name shining forth like a lustrous star, not lone and solitary, but associated with kindred lumin- aries, such as Ziegenbalg, Schwartz, Rhenius and Poor. He has left behind him a memory more precious than thousands of gold and silver. He was a great man and a good man. May our gracious Lord raise up many like him in faith and zeal and labours until every stronghold of Satan in this land shall be laid low in the dust and the temple of Emmanuel shall be erected in such spacious proportions and attractive glory that the tribes of India shall be gathered as de- vout and happy worshippers within its solemn aisles."
VIII
JOHN WILSON
1829-1875
In a farm-house in Lauder, Berwickshire, Scotland, on the nth of December, 1804, was born to Andrew and Janet Wilson a son, who as soon as his infant feet could carry him stepped out from the sphere of life into which he was born. He was the eldest of four sons and though his associations were all connected with rural life, yet he very early developed a bent of mind opposed to all his ancestral traditions. At four years of age he was sent to school, and at five his progress in knowledge was regarded as re- markable. He was from the first a diligent stu- dent, was never in a quarrel, and was noted for his absolute truthfulness.
In his fourteenth year the precocious boy en- tered the Edinburgh University and began a course of linguistic, philosophical and theological training. At the close of the first session he found employment as a teacher, thus not only earning the means with which to help in providing 190
John Wilson 191
the education which he was determined to secure, but laying the foundation for that educational experience which fitted him for the place he was afterwards to occupy as vernacular missionary. Principal of an English College and Vice-Chan- cellor of the University of Bombay.
At the end of the second session at the Uni- versity, the young student entered into an en- gagement as tutor to the sons and nephews of the Rev. Dr. Cormack of Stow. To his residence of four years as tutor, in the family of Dr. Cor- mack may be traced the determination early formed by Mr. Wilson of devoting his life to the peoples of India.
The nephews of Dr. Cormack, resident at this time in his household, were the sons of Colonel Rose, an officer on duty in India, who had sent his children to the home land to be educated. When he began his duties in the manse at Stow at the age of sixteen, one of the first surprises of the young tutor was caused by hearing the Hindustani spoken by the children from India. From this time he was more or less in an Indian atmosphere.
From General Walker, a retired officer living near Stow, Mr. Wilson caught the inspiration which in later years enabled him to labour so effectively in the suppression of female infanti- cide, as this officer while in India had been in political charge of the great native State of Ba- roda, and had been distinguished for the active
192 Men of Might in India Missions
part he had taken in the suppression of female infanticide among the Jadeja Rajpoots.
On his twenty-first birthday Mr. Wilson wrote, " This day I have completed my twentieth year. The Lord teach me to improve the fleeting mo- ments of my existence. The Memoirs of David Brainerd and Henry Martyn give me peculiar pleasure."
Two months later when paying a visit to his friends at Lauder, he made known to them his purpose of offering himself as a missionary can- didate to the Scottish Missionary Society, and was much grieved to find that his mother felt she could not bear the separation which the choice of such a life would involve. His father said little, but to him also the announcement of his son's decision came as a heavy stroke. Mr. Wil- son comforted his parents by assuring them that he would not leave them unless the Lord should make the path of duty very plain.
Not long after this interview with his parents, Mr. Wilson being fully persuaded that he was following the leadings of the Master, offered him- self to the Scottish Missionary Society and was accepted. He was then received into the family of the Secretary of the society, the Rev. W. Brown, M.D., where he spent the three succeed- ing years before his departure for India.
Himself full of zeal in respect to the cause of missions, Mr. Wilson sought to inspire others with this spirit. He was the chief agent in found-
John Wilson 193
ing the Edinburgh Association of Theological Students in aid of the Diffusion of Christian Knowledge. Of this society he was made the Secretary. He collected a library and began a correspondence with the great missionary societies then in existence, in order that the students might have the latest missionary intelligence.
When in the university, Mr. Wilson had taken a high place in the classes of physical and natural science, and in order that he might be more use- ful in the mission field, he passed through classes of anatomy, surgery and the practice of physic.
The summer of 1828 was a memorable one to the missionary-elect, for on the 24th of June he was ordained to the office of the Gospel min- istry, and on the i8th of August was married to Miss Margaret Bayne of Greenock, a daughter of the manse, a lady not only highly accomplished and of rare intellectual attainments, but with a zeal for souls equal to his own.
On the 30th of August Mr. and Mrs. Wilson began the long voyage to India. Cape Comorin, the Land's End of India, was sighted on the first of the following February, and Bombay was reached on the 14th. This great Western sea- port at that time contained only 250,000 inhabi- tants, but before the death of the distinguished missionary, its population had increased to 650,000.
Soon after his arrival, in a letter to his parents Mr. Wilson said, " Figure to yourselves a clear
194 Men of Might in India Missions
sky, a burning sun, a parched soil, gigantic shrubs, numerous palm trees, a populous city with inhabitants belonging to every country under heaven, crowded, dirty streets, thousands of Hindus, Mohammedans, Parsis, Buddhists, Jews and Portuguese; perpetual marriage processions, barbarous music, etc. etc. ; and you will have some idea of what I observe at present."
Before the end of a month Mr. and Mrs. Wil- son left Bombay for a rural town, that they might in the midst of the people lay the foundation for a thorough knowledge of the Marathi, the lan- guage of Western India. Mr. Wilson made com- mendable progress, preaching to edification in the vernacular seven months after his arrival.
The Jewish population of Bombay had from the first a peculiar interest for the young mis- sionary, and though he brought with him to India a knowledge of Hebrew superior to that of the ordinary student, to the study of the Indian ver- naculars he soon began to add an hour's daily study of the Hebrew, in order that by greater familiarity with this language he might be more useful to the Jewish population.
From the first, as a missionary, Mr. Wilson had claimed for himself independence of judg- ment and of action, and at the end of the first year we find him drawing up a " plan of opera- tions which I intend to pursue in the island of Bombay," accompanying it with detailed regula- tions for the pupil teachers, the masters and the
John Wilson 195
Christian inspectors of the schools which had been established. He had at this time a weekly serv- ice with the Beni-lsrael. He preached in the Marathi language, and occasionally in English in the Scotch Church in Bombay. As soon as able to speak with some degree of fluency he began a service for beggars. A small portion of rice was given to each, and the Word of God was pro- claimed.
In March, 1832, the school which eventually became the General Assembly's Institution, was established in connection with the Scottish Mis- sion. This school was under his immediate superintendence. It might have been said of him, as of Henry Martyn at Cambridge, that he was a man who never lost an hour; and if his power of application was marvellous, no less so were the results of his severe application. He not only rapidly acquired a knowledge of the Marathi, but also of Gujarati and to these, he soon added Hindustani and Persian.
Ere long he began the preparation of a Hebrew and Marathi grammar for the Jews. As soon as his schools, his preaching and translation work were well organised, the zealous missionary be- gan a series of discussions, in the first instance with leading Hindus who had asked for such dis- cussion, hoping thereby to strengthen their cause, — then with the Mohammedans, and last with representatives of the Parsi community. The dis- cussion with the Hindus was oral and with the
196 Men of Might in India Missions
two last named classes through the vernacular newspapers. When Christianity and Hinduism were contrasted great crowds assembled day after day. Among the opponents and the listeners were many learned Brahmins, and those were the first to ask for quarter. Two editions of the re- port were quickly exhausted, and a spirit of in- quiry was awakened. When his opponents felt that they were being worsted in the contest they proposed asking Government to silence their powerful antagonist. One of the results of this discussion was the preparation and publication by Mr. Wilson of his first '' Exposure of the Hindu Religion,'* quickly followed by his ** Second Ex- posure." After his discussion with the Moham- medans he published a " Refutation of Mohamme- danism." One of the stoutest of his opponents during the Mohammedan controversy afterward accepted Christianity and received baptism at the hands of the missionary.
** The business of the missionary is with' men," was a saying of Dr. Chambers, which Mr. Wilson was fond of quoting and he made this the key- note of his missionary life. Next to making him- self familiar with the vernaculars of the people, it was his object to mingle in a friendly way with the people who spoke them. He was therefore found in the market-place, the narrow street, the garden, the village and on the country roads.
He made his first extensive tour in the cold season of 1831, going as far as Nasik, 250 miles
John Wilson 197
from Bombay. Wherever he went he not only preached the Gospel, but gathered rich stores of information, and made collections of objects of natural history, archeology and sometimes of valuable oriental manuscripts. On this tour to Nasik he met for the first time people belonging to those aboriginal tribes of the jungle, in whose elevation and evangelisation he was permitted to bear so distinguished a part.
In 1843 he paid a visit to Mahabeleshwar, in the mountains. This place had been visited by Gordon Hall ten years before with the express object of ascertaining if it would be a suitable place for a sanitarium for Europeans on the Western coast of India. In 1829 a tract of land including this spot had been ceded to the British Government by the Rajah of Satara in exchange for other lands. Some time after Mr. Wilson's first visit, one of his friends in Bombay presented him with a cottage in Mahabeleshwar, and there, when more advanced in years he used to recruit his exhausted energies during the college vaca- tion in the great heat of May and June. But he was not idle even then. As the place began to be frequented by native gentlemen, he delivered lectures, preached in the vernaculars, examined schools, engaged in literary work and prosecuted his evangelistic work among the hill tribes as far as Poona.
In the cold season of 1834, Mr. Wilson made an extensive tour into Kathiawar and Cutch.
198 Men of Might in India Missions
Now for the first time he came face to face with female infanticide, and he began at once to wage war against the monstrous practice. As he jour- neyed, the ever active missionary preached both morning and evening in the streets and bazaars of the cities visited, as well as to groups by the wayside. He was ever ready to receive visitors, and was diligent in putting into circulation books and tracts in the vernacular.
On his return to Bombay after an absence of more than three months, Mr. Wilson found Mrs. Wilson in declining health, and on the 19th of the following April she passed away. Though she had spent but six years in India, she left an abiding impression for good, for to her is due, in a large measure, the rapid spread of female education in Bombay. Early in 1836 Mr. Wilson sent to Scotland an earnest request to the two sisters of Mrs. Wilson, the Misses Anna and Hay Bayne to come out to India and take up as a sacred inheritance the work which Mrs. Wil- son had laid down. The following year the two sisters arrived and without charge to the mission or society, began to labour among the women and children of Bombay.
In May, 1836, the honourary degree of Doctor of Divinity was conferred upon Mr. Wilson, an honour most worthily bestowed.
The Parsis resident in Bombay, at that time as now, though numerically a small part of the community, were yet an influential body, noted
John Wilson 199
for their intelligence and honesty. The name they bear is given to a remnant of the followers of the ancient Persian religion as reformed by Zerdusht, or Zoroaster. The Zoroastrian creed flourished at the time of Alexander the Great. After his death it gradually lost ground, and rapidly declined under his successors. It was afterward resuscitated and flourished until 651 A. D., when the Persian army at the great battle of Nehavend was routed by the Calif Omar. Many of the people preferring exile to a Hfe on the ancient soil of their race, subject to the end- less annoyances and exactions imposed upon them by the conquering race, found a haven on the Western coast of India, chiefly at Turat, Bom- bay and Ahmedabad. When Bombay came under the dominion of the British, the Parsis were the first of all the communities of Western India to place themselves under the protection of the new Government. A third of all the Parsis under British rule are found in Bombay.
From the first Dr. Wilson had felt a deep in- terest in the Parsi community. In 183 1, in a letter sent to Scotland he wrote, *' I intend, God will- ing, to comply with the wishes of my friends, by preparing a work embracing an analysis of all the sacred books of the Parsis, a particular view of their religious history, so far as it can be as- certained, and a description of their manners and customs." When compelled by illness to return to Scotland at the close of 1842, he left completed
200 Men of Might in India Missions
his greatest work, '* The Parsi ReHgion as con- tained in the Zend-Avesta, and propounded and defended by the Zoroastrians of India and Persia, unfolded, Refuted and Contrasted with Christi- anity."
With regard to the conversion of a Parsi to Christianity it had been said, " you cannot even dream of such an event because even a Parsi babe crying in the cradle is firmly confident in the venerable Zerdusht;" but in 1839 three Parsi students of the college who had received religious instruction from Dr. Wilson, renounced their an- cestral faith and accepted Christianity. These young men belonged to the most influential fami- lies in the Parsi community, and were among the most intelligent students in the college. Their conversion to Christianity created a great panic among the Parsi inhabitants, and for a time the lives of the converts were in danger. The num- bers in attendance at the college greatly dimin- ished and for a long time after this event the Parsis continued to hold aloof.
Near the end of 1838 Dr. Wilson's heart was gladdened by the arrival of the Rev. Murray Mitchell (the well-known scholar and educator), who was to be his colleague in Bombay. Two years after his arrival Mr. Mitchell ac- companied Dr. Wilson on a tour into Rajpu- tana. The distance traversed was over 1,500 miles and the missionaries did not return to Bom- bay until the middle of June. This long, and
John Wilson aoi
in some respects trying tour bore fruit later in the establishment, in this hitherto unevangelised part of India, of a flourishing mission.
The first of Dr. Wilson's tours to pave the way for the opening of a region of country to missionary labour by a missionary body other than his own, was his exploration of Gujrat and Kathiawar in 1835. The interest awakened by this tour, in conjunction with the eloquence of Dr. Duff, led the three hundred Presbyterian congregations of the Synod of Ulster to establish a mission in India. Near the close of February, 1 84 1, two missionaries sent out by the Synod of Ulster to begin work in this new field arrived in Bombay. The cool season was nearly over, but Dr. Wilson resolved to accompany the two breth- ren to their proposed field of labour. . One of these missionaries was soon cut down by jungle fever, and Dr. Wilson was also prostrated by the same disease. On his return to Bombay with greatly shattered health his friends urged upon him the duty of taking furlough to Scotland after so long a period of ceaseless activity in the ex- hausting climate of India. Though at this time less than forty years of age, the work he had ac- complished had made him the most prominent public man in Western India. He had set in motion spiritual forces whose influences could not be measured. He had grappled with Brahmin- ism, Mohammedanism and Parsiism, on their own ground, had prepared the means of evangelising
202 Men of Might in India Missions
the Jews, and the Arabs, the Armenians and the Nestorians and other races round the Arabian Sea. Now, for this man of affairs, rest was imperative.
He left India on his first furlough, on the 20th of January, 1845. He had arranged on his jour- ney to Scotland to visit Egypt, Syria and Eastern Europe, not merely for the purpose of biblical research, but to report to the Church on the con- dition of the Jews, the Samaritans and the East- ern Christians. The expedition undertaken and planned by Dr. Wilson and his companions was intended by his Church to complete the inquiry inaugurated a few years before by the Rev. Messrs. Keith and Black, Bonar and McCheyne.
London was reached on the 23rd of September, and Edinburgh on the 4th of November. For more than two months Dr. Wilson had been with- out tidings from the home land. " Any news about the Church of Scotland?" had been his first question to the boatman who rowed him ashore at Dover. " They're all out, sir," was the reply. He had anticipated this separation, and in July had written to Scotland intimating his with- drawal as a minister and missionary of the Estab- lished Church, and his decision in favour of the Free Church. In this decision every missionary of the Church of Scotland in Madras, Calcutta and Bombay united.
The English school which Dr. Wilson had established in Bombay had developed into a col-
John Wilson 203
lege. The premises until this time occupied, had not only been unsuitable, but furnished inade- quate accommodation. Funds for a new college building had been raised, chiefly by friends in India. The building was ready for occupancy at the time of the Disruption, but this fine edifice, with its valuable library, mathematical, astro- nomical and other apparatus passed into the hands of the Established Church.
On his return to his native land, Dr. Wilson was soon absorbed in preaching and in address- ing large and deeply interested audiences, his fre- quent theme being the claims of India upon the people of Britain. In his tour through Egypt and the Holy Land, he had taken copious notes and while at home, he devoted every hour which he could spare from the engagements which pressed upon him, to the preparation of an elaborate work to which was given the title of *' The Lands of the Bible." The reputation which he had achieved among the learned men of Europe by his erudite work on the Parsi Religion was enhanced when his '* Lands of the Bible " ap- peared.
In September, 1846, he was married to Isa- bella, second d'aughter of James and Mary Den- niston. She proved not only a devoted wife, but a most efficient and self-sacrificing missionary. One year after their marriage, Dr. and Mrs. Wil- son left Scotland for India.
During the absence of the veteran missionary
204 Men of Might in India Missions
from the country, the Province of Sindh had been added to the possessions of the EngHsh in India, as the result of the Afghan campaign. Dr. Wil- son had not been long in Bombay before he turned his eyes northward to the new province, in the hope of taking possession of it for Christ. A tour was soon planned with Sindh as the ob- jective point, and to this zealous missionary was given the privilege of being the first to deliver the Divine message in the newly acquired province. Two native converts accompanied him, and at Karachi, en route to Sindh, they were pleased and encouraged to find converts and students from the Christian College of Dr. Duff in Cal- cutta occupying the highest positions and influ- encing all around them for good. The word preached at this time in Sindh bore fruit in the conversion to Christianity of a young Beluchi who afterward received baptism.
After his return from furlough with Mrs. Wilson, when the college and schools had been reorganised, Dr. Wilson, ably seconded by his accomplished wife, gave much labour to the work of Oriental research. For the Asiatic Society and the Government he prepared, '' A Memoir on the Cave temples and Monasteries and other Bud- dhist, Brahminical and Jain remains in Western India." This was followed in 1852 by a '* Second Memoir," recording new discoveries.
Year by year, the work of the missionary and his able colleagues expanded. In 1853 the schools
John Wilson 405
in connection with the Free Church in Western India embraced 2,159 students. Not until 1855, twelve years after they had buih the first college only to hand it over to others before occupying it, were they able to take possession of the present noble buildings erected to accommodate eight hundred students. In the work of bringing out a revision of the Gujarati New Testament, Dr. Wilson received efficient aid from his two scholarly Parsi converts, with whom he felt it a joy to work.
During the year 1853 the railway system was introduced into India and of this important event he wrote, "It is certainly calculated to promote the interests of civilisation, but its desecration of the Sabbath is a sad drawback."
*' The History of the Suppression of Infanti- cide in Western India under the Government of Bombay, including Notices of the Provinces and Tribes in which the Practice has prevailed," was published early in 1855, and obtained a wide cir- culation. From the beginning of his life as a mis- sionary. Dr. Wilson had been confronted with that foe not only to Christianity, but to all prog- ress, moral, social and material — caste, — and he had early set himself to the mastery of its origin, and the secret of its power, and an elaborate work on this subject was contemplated. In 1857 he put to press the fi'rst volume, but to his regret, he found that he could not command the leisure to carry out his original design.
2o6 Men of Might In India Missions
In 1857 the political and military unrest which culminated in the mutiny, swept over a large part of India, but it left the Western Province peace- able and loyal. " Incipient mutiny," wrote Dr. Wilson of the condition of affairs in the province, at this critical time, " was early discovered and readily crushed."
On the 1 8th of July, 1857, the darkest time in this sadly memorable year, the University of Bombay received its charter and Dr. Wilson was appointed Vice-Chancellor by the Government.
In October, 1859, ^he Rev. Messrs. Schoolbred and Steel, sent out by the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland for work in Rajputana, ar- rived in Bombay. They had been commended to Dr. Wilson for advice and help, and he decided to accompany the two brethren to their new field. Mrs. Wilson also accompanied the party. There were no railroads in the region to be traversed, and the long journey from Surat to Beawar in Rajputana, a distance of seven hundred miles, was made partly on horseback, and partly by bul- lock-cart. Aside from its physical discomforts, the journey had its sad and depressing experi- ences. Mr. Steel fell ill, and though all was done for him that could be done, the new field, as in not a few other instances was taken possession of by a grave. Dr. and Mrs. Wilson did not leave Mr. Schoolbred until mission work in Beawar had been inaugurated. By this time the cool season was over, and during the return journey
John Wilson doy
the heat was very trying, the mercury during the day rising to 95° and even 104° with a high, scorching wind, blowing up the dust in thick clouds, and '* making us as black as sweeps," wrote Mrs. Wilson. Under such circumstances was begun a mission which to-day is one of the most efficient in India.
In May, i860, Bombay lost the services of its excellent Governor, Lord Elphinstone. In refer- ence to his relations with Dr. Wilson, the Gov- ernor said that '' To no other man was he so in- debted personally, for public and private services, but he could not prevail on him to accept so much as the value of a shoe latchet."
One of Dr. Wilson's Indian friends who had risen to a position of influence, thus wrote of the veteran missionary : " Since his arrival in India, no less than eighteen Governors have ruled over the Western Presidency, but Dr. Wilson did more for the Presidency of Bombay in the way of educating the people, composing books suited to their wants in the various languages, inducing them to be loyal subjects of the British Crown, collecting ancient manuscripts and histories of the country, etc. etc., than all the eighteen Governors together."
Narain Sheshadri, afterward the Rev. Narain Sheshadri, honoured alike in India, England and America, was the first educated Brahmin baptised in Bombay and was the direct fruit of the higher Christian education. On the 30th anniversary
2oS Men of Might in India Missions
of the landing of Dr. Wilson in India, the Chris- tian community of Bombay presented him with an appreciative address and a copy of the Hexa- pla. The address was signed in their name by the representative Parsi and Brahmin, both then ordained ministers of the Gospel, the Rev. Dhan- jeebhoy Nourajee and the Rev. Narain Sheshadri. For the first thirty years of his residence in Bombay, Dr. Wilson had occupied a rented house in close proximity to the native population, that he might be easily accessible to the people among whom he delighted to labour. After the meeting the rise in prices led to a large increase in the rent of the '' Ambrolie " house ; and greatly to his regret. Dr. Wilson was forced to leave this residence and from this time " The Cliff " on Malabar Hill, the most desirable residence part of Bombay, became his home. This pleasant cot- tage had been presented to him several years be- fore by one of his devoted English friends, but he had occupied it only when the state of his health made a change to a region of purer air necessary. To this cottage was now added a guest chamber, and open house was kept at The Cliff as at Ambrolie for European and Indian friends. After the meeting, Bombay became the port of arrival and departure for Anglo-Indians, and the flow of guests through The Cliff steadily in- creased ; for the hospitable owner was in great request, as " guide, philosopher and friend." Here
John Wilson aop
in June, 1864, came Dr. Livingstone, the distin- guished missionary and explorer. " No one knew I he was coming," wrote Miss Taylor, Dr. Wilson's I niece. " He landed with no one to meet him and / found his way in a deluge of rain in an old shi- I gram to Dr. Wilson's." During the last seven f years of Dr. Livingstone's Hfe he wrote to no? one so frequently as to Dr. Wilson. *
In September, 1867, for the second time the shadows of heavy bereavement fell across the life of the veteran missionary. Isabella Wilson, who for twenty years had shared the trials and the triumphs of her distinguished husband, was called home. She was missed not only in the home which her presence had brightened and adorned, but by all sections of the community. Hence- forth, to the end of his earthly pilgrimage, he was cared for by his niece, Miss Taylor.
In February, 1869, the leaders of the various communities in Bombay, European and Asiatic, made arrangements to celebrate in an appropriate manner the fortieth anniversary of the arrival of Dr. Wilson in Bombay. The long roll included the signatures in many languages of the repre- sentatives of all ranks, races and creeds. On a beautiful silver salver, wrought by native artists, and bearing a suitable inscription in Sanskrit, the sum of i2,iio was presented to the man they delighted to honour. He consented to use the interest of this handsome sum to aid in his
aio Men of Might in India Missions
philanthropic and literary labours, and expressed his desire that the principal should be used to aid the youth of Bombay in the prosecution of the higher branches of education, and in a form which would be agreeable alike to European and native friends.
In 1870 Dr. Wilson was summoned to his native land to fill the highest office which his church could bestow, that of Moderator of the General Assembly. In obedience to this call, the veteran missionary made his second and last visit to Scotland. During the meeting of the Assembly when the report on Foreign Missions was read, he left the Moderator's chair and told the story of his life-work In words which concluded with the declaration that notwithstanding the forty years already spent in India, If he lived to the age of Methuselah, he should esteem it a high privilege to devote his fife to the regeneration of the peoples of this great Eastern Empire. The year spent In Scotland was a season of constant activity. On the 4th of October, 1871, he took a final leave of the beloved friends at Lauder and once more turned his face toward the Orient. Bombay was reached on the 9th of December.
*' Mission objects are pressing upon me the more that the enterprise expands," he wrote after his return. But his powers of endurance had be- gun to fall. Repeated attacks of fever culminated in the autumn of 1875 In alarming weakness of
John Wilson 211
the heart. At a farewell meeting held by the be- loved evangelist, the late Dr. Somervillc of Scot- land, in April, 1875, ^^' Wilson appeared among the non-Christian natives of Bombay for the last time. He gathered his children in the faith about him for the last time on the i8th of the following August, when he opened the " Day-school for Indian and other Asiatic females " which he had erected in memory of Isabella Wilson, " from a bequest by herself for any one evangelistic object of his choice.'*
On the evening of the first of December, 1875, the man greatly beloved entered into rest. When he was carried to his grave, his bier was fol- lowed by men of all ranks and creeds, and from the highest to the lowest, each felt that he had lost a personal friend.
Major-General and Mrs. Ballard were long Dr. Wilson's neighbours on Malabar Hill. Mrs. Bal- lard writes thus beautifully of a visit paid to The Cliff, where the body of the great missionary lay before being conveyed to its last resting-place.
** I stole into the silent bungalow to lay a wreath on his coffin. The sun was rising over the distant hills and tinging the bay with gold. No sound broke the stillness but the rustle of the wind in the dry palm leaves and the dash of the distant wave, until I entered the little study. There a voice of bitter weeping met my ear in the verandah — the native Christians sorrowing
212 Men of Might in India Missions
most of all that they should see his face no more. ' We are so glad,' said a native Christian once to me, ' that Dr. Wilson will never go home. You all go and leave us ; we know you are always looking longingly to England; but Dr. Wilson will never go home.' Ah ! he had gone home now."
IX
ALEXANDER DUFF 1830- 1863
Sometime during the year 1796, the Rev. Charles Simeon, the eminent evangeHcal preacher of Cambridge, made his first tour through Scot- land. At Dunkeld his horses were at the door to take him to the Pass of Killiecrankie. From thence he intended to turn back and hurry on to Glasgow, but feeling " poorly " the horses were sent back and the excursion was made on the fol- lowing day. At Moulin, a village four miles from the Pass, Mr. Simeon made a call on the parish minister, a Mr. Stewart, who said to his visitor during the interview, " why not return to the manse on Saturday evening, spend the Sab- bath and assist in the services " ; to which pro- posal Mr. Simeon gave ready assent. Suffering somewhat from physical indisposition, he preached what, at the time, he regarded as a barren and dull sermon ; but God abundantly blessed the mes- sage.
Among the listeners in the rural congregation on that day, were James Duff and Jean Rattray, 213
214 Men of Might in India Missions
both under seventeen years of age. The truth reached their hearts and that day was to both of them the beginning of a new Hfe. Mr. Stewart too was deeply impressed and from that time he preached a new Gospel, or the old Gospel with new power. In due time James Duff married Jean Rattray and took her to the farm of Auch- nahyle. There Alexander Duff was born on the 25th of April, 1806. Later on, the family re- moved to a home nearer Moulin, and in a pic- turesque cottage on the estate of Balnakeilly the boy's childhood and early youth were sj)ent.
The father of Alexander was truly a man of God. In prayer he was mighty, and his zeal for souls was unresting. '* His Catholic spirit re- joiced in tracing the triumphs of the Gospel in different lands and in connection with the differ- ent branches of the Christian Church."
At the age of eight Alexander was sent from home that he might have such educational advan- tages as could not be secured in the locality in which he lived. He made rapid progress and after three years was placed in a more advanced school. His 14th year was spent in Perth Gram- mar School which he left a year later, the dux of the school. When he entered the University of St. Andrew's, his father presented him with i20, and no further aid was received to the close of his university career. In the spring of 1823 Dr. Chalmers was elected to the chair of Moral Philosophy in St. Andrew's and Alexander Duff
Alexander Duff 215
was one of the students who sat at the feet of this distinguished professor.
There had followed Duff to St. Andrew's a school-fellow from Perth, John Urquhart. The two were of like spirit and shared the same lodg- ings. Urquhart had made the acquaintance of the great missionary, Dr. Morrison of China, One day, on his return from London, wherie he^ had gone to pay a visit to this missionary, he startled his companions by announcing that he had resolved to devote his Hfe to missionary work abroad. His friend Duff was profoundly impressed by this announcement. As from time to time he returned to his home in the Grampians, young Duff was wont to rehearse to his parents his university experiences and in these John Ur- quhart was always intimately associated. Coming home at the end of the session in the year 1827, his parents noted with surprise that no mention was made of his loved companion.
" But what of your friend Urquhart? " at last exclaimed his father.
" Urquhart is no more," was the answer given with great effort at self-control : then after a mo- ment of impressive silence, he said, " What if your son should take up his cloak? You approved the motive that directed the choice of Urquhart, — you commended his high purpose, — the cloak is taken up." Thus did he make known to his par- ents his decision to be a missionary.
In the spring of 1829, Mr. Duff was licensed to
2i6 Men of Might in India Missions
preach the Gospel by the Presbytery of St. An- drews, and soon after he was asked to go out to Calcutta as a missionary of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. He received ordina- tion on the 1 2th of August in St. George's; Dr. Chalmers taking a leading part in the impressive services. The occasion was peculiarly interest- ing from the circumstance that immediately pre- ceding the ordination, Dr. Chalmers united the young candidate in marriage to Anne Scott Drys- dale.
Two months after his ordination and marriage, Mr. Duff with his wife left London for Ports- mouth, where they embarked on the " Lady Hol- land " for India. When the island of Madeira was reached early in November, Mr. and Mrs. Duff went on shore, as it was expected that the ship would remain a week in port. Westerly gales sprang up and the " Lady Holland " with many other vessels was driven out to sea and she did not leave Madeira until the 3rd of December. The captain had arranged to call at the Cape of Good Hope and as the ship neared the coast there was much excitement on board because of the antici- pated break in the long and tempestuous voyage, but at ten o'clock on the night of the 13th of February the ship struck on a reef over which the waves broke with great violence, and at once her back was broken. After midnight the wind began to abate and at daylight a landing was ef- fected, not a life being lost. The island on which
Alexander DufF a 17
the shipwrecked party had been cast was unin- habited, but the myriads of penguins found there had attracted two Dutchmen from. Cape Town who were at this time engaged in collecting the eggs of these birds.
Not long after the landing of the rescued party, a sailor walking along the beach, noticed a small object which had been cast ashore. This proved to be a copy of a Bagster's Bible and a Scotch psalm-book. Mr. Duff's name was written in both the books which were carefully wrapped in chamois skin, and the sailor carried them at once to the owner. These two volumes were the only things saved from the wreck. Led by Mr. Duff, the pasengers reverently knelt while he poured out his heart in a prayer of thanksgiving that not only had the lives of all been preserved, but that God's own precious word had been returned to them by the sea.
Dassen Island, on whose inhospitable shores they had been cast, was only ten miles from the mainland of Africa, and forty miles N. N. W. of Cape Town. The Dutchmen's skiff was placed at their disposal in which to cross the strait, the ship's surgeon setting out alone. Four days after his departure the whole party was rescued by a brig of war sent by the Governor for the purpose. They were most hospitably received on their ar- rival at Cape Town, where they were sometime detained. Mr. and Mrs. Duff secured passage in the '' Moira," the last ship of the season. For
\
21 8 Men of Might in India Missions
several weeks strong westerly winds were en^ countered, culminating at length in a hurricane in which the vessel barely escaped foundering. It was near the end of May before the sorely-r tried voyagers approached the shores of India. The vessel had just been brought to her moorings off Saugor Island, when a cyclone burst upon them, and in spite of three anchors thrown out, the " Moira " was lifted by the wind and the storm-wave and cast on the shore. The passen- gers were landed up to the waist in water. None of the villagers would receive them and they were compelled to seek refuge in a temple, where they remained for twenty-four hours before boats ar- rived to convey them to Calcutta, which place they reached on the 27th of May.
When the Calcutta papers rehearsed the story of these repeated shipwrecks some of the natives said, " Surely this man is' a favourite of the gods who must have some notable work for him to do in India."
The letters of introduction with which friends had provided Mr. Duff, and which he had pre- served on his person through two shipwrecks, he presented soon after his arrival. He was at this time twenty-four years of age, of commanding presence and the very personification of boundless energy. When the young missionary accepted his commission to go out to India, he expressly stipu- lated that he was not to be hampered by condi- tions. He was therefore sent out with the single
Alexander DufF 219
instruction that the Institution which the Society proposed to found and place under his care, was not to be established in Calcutta. After an ex- amination of the schools already established, in- cluding the College at Serampore, and Bishop Middleton's College, far down the right bank of the Hugh, Mr. Duff was convinced that if he would lay wise foundations for the work upon which he was about to enter, he must begin his career by disregarding the one injunction he had received. In reference to his decision that Cal- cutta must be the scene of his principal efforts, and that the English language must be the me- dium through which all higher instructions should be conveyed, he found one only who sympathised with his views. This was the aged Carey, then nearing the close of his unique career. Mr. Duff reached Serampore and Dr. Carey's study one sweltering July day. When his visitor was an- nounced the venerable missionary tottered up to him with outstretched hands and solemnly blessed him ; and he left the presence of Dr. Carey carry- ing with him his warm approval of his proposed scheme for a College, both as to location and the manner in which he designed to conduct it.
There was then living in Calcutta, Rajah Rammohun Roy, a man of great influence. The study of the English language had introduced him to the English Bible, and in order the more fully to understand the Christian Veda, he began the study of both Hebrew and Greek. Mr. Duff was
220 Men of Might in India Missions
advised by one of the gentlemen to whom he had brought letters of introduction, to make the ac- quaintance of the Rajah, feeling assured that he would take the deepest interest in his educational schemes. After having listened to Mr. Duff's statement of his objects and plans, Rammohun expressed approval. '* The Bible as a book of religious and moral instruction stands un- equalled," said the Rajah ; and added, that '' hav- ing studied the Vedas, the Koran and the Tripita- kas of the Buddhists, he nowhere found a prayer so brief and all-comprehensive as that which the Christians called the Lord's Prayer." The advice and sympathy of so intelligent a native greatly cheered the young missionary, and he at once made an effort to secure a suitable hall in a central location for his proposed enterprise. His new friend helped in obtaining what was desired, and also used his influence in securing pupils. The school was formally opened on the 13th of July, 1830, Rammohun Roy being present. Mr. Duif, who had begun the study of the language soon after his arrival, and had made commendable progress, repeated the Lord's Prayer in Bengal*. He then put into the hands of each pupil who could read, a copy of the Gospels. One of the number, a leader among his fellows, said, ** This is the Christian Master. We are not Christians. How then can we read it?" "Christians have read the Hindu Shasters," said Rammohun Roy, stepping forward, " And have not become Hindus.
Alexander DufF 221
I have read the Koran again and again and that has not made me a Mohammedan. I have studied the whole Bible, and you know that I am not a Christian. Read the book and judge for your- selves."
Daily for nearly a month did the Hindu re- former continue to visit the school for the morn- ing Bible lesson, and frequently thereafter until he left for England, after which his eldest son continued for some time to visit the school, thus encouraging both the teacher and his pupils.
Mr. Duff had passed out of St. Andrews' Uni- versity as its first scholar and most brilliant es- sayist, but now with the assistance of only an un- trained Eurasian lad, this man of splendid mental gifts spent willingly, six hours daily in teaching Bengali youths the English alphabet; and when the duties of the day were over, he often worked far into the night in the preparation of a series of graduated school-books. The school soon be- came so popular that increased accommodation was found to be absolutely essential. It w'as at length announced that none would be permitted to learn English who did not read with ease their own vernacular. Thus a purely Bengali depart- ment was created.
At the end of the first twelve months a public examination was held, and the pupils acquitted themselves most creditably. The favourable im- pression produced at this time so influenced the leaders of the native community, that in the
Q.22 Men of Might in India Missions
second year hundreds were refused admittance for lack of accommodation. Mr. DufT was at this time asked by an influential family to open a simi- lar school in a town forty miles from Calcutta. This was done, and a vigourous mission school was established outside the capital. An hour a day was devoted to Bible study, and still the Institu- tion in Calcutta grew in popularity, for not a few had learned to recognise in the teaching of the Sacred Scriptures an up-lifting influence which their own Shasters did not possess. ** Love your enemies ; bless them that curse you. How beauti- ful ! how divine ! Surely those Scriptures contain the truth," exclaimed one of the students one morning during the Bible hour. As such expres- sions began more frequently to be heard, the cry was raised that " Hinduism was in danger,'' and one morning, out of the three hundred students enrolled, only half a dozen appeared. Mr. Duff, however, went calmly on and ere long the classes were more crowded than ever. He then deter- mined to take a step in advance. Having secured the co-operation of three friends in sympathy with the movement, he arranged for a course of lec- tures to educated Bengali gentlemen on the sub- ject of natural and revealed religion. A room in his own house was fitted up for the lectures, as the location was a central one.
At the introductory lecture twenty students, all young men of influence, were present. Next morning the whole city was in a state of excite-
Alexander Duff 223
ment, and the college again almost emptied of students. After conference with some of the leaders of the community, interested in the wel- fare of the college, it was decided, for the present to discontinue the lectures. A spirit of inquiry had, however, been aroused, and after a time, at the request of the more influential among the stu- dents, the lectures were resumed, and some of those in attendance, became sincere seekers after truth. One such sent his own brother to Mr. Duff with the message, " If you can make a Christian of him, you will have a valuable one." The man who thus commended his brother to Mr. Duff, himself received Christian baptism not long after. Krishna Mohun Banner] ee, who af- terward became the Rev. K. M. Bannerjee, LL.D., was the next to declare himself on the Lord's side, and he received the ordinance of baptism in Mr. Duff's house in the presence of some of his Hindu associates.
At the same place, two months later, Gopi Nath Nundi renounced Hinduism and embraced Chris- tianity. He afterwards was ordained to the Gos- pel ministry in connection with the American Presbyterian Mission. He was stationed at Fa- tehpore during the mutiny of 1857, and showed a martyr's faith and courage, declaring himself ready to face death rather than deny his Lord.
The fourth among the students who openly re- nounced his ancestral faith in favour of Christian- ity was the youth whose heart had been touched
224 Men of Might in India Missions
by the subHme teaching of the Sermon on the Mount. He belonged to a wealthy and influential family, and his public profession of faith in Christ produced a profound impression. For these young disciples and others who wished to receive instruc- tion, Mr. Duff opened a week-day class for the study of the Scriptures. He erected a bamboo chapel for vernacular preaching and held an Eng- lish service every Sabbath evening. He carried on a course of lectures largely attended, in which Christianity was contrasted with Hinduism and Mohammedanism.
Thus four years passed in which the unresting toiler continued his labours for the Master. Dur- ing the cold season of 1833-34, being anxious to inspect a branch-school at Takee, seventy miles east of Calcutta, he engaged a native boat, and with his family set off on this undertaking. The forests were clothed with a wealth of luxurious foliage, but the air was charged with poisonous malaria ; and soon after his return to Calcutta he was prostrated with jungle fever. A short sea- trip sufficiently restored him to enable him once more to engage in his duties, but in the following April the fever again returned. Recovering from this attack he paid a visit to Takee to inspect the work there. On his arrival, the physician, alarmed at his appearance, ordered his immediate return. Dysentery followed fever, and the four physicians in attendance unani-
Alexander Duff 225
mously agreed that his only hope of restoration lay in an immediate return to his native land.
His situation was still critical when in great feebleness he was carried on shipboard, but though the voyage was tempestuous he soon began to rally. The ship entered the Firth of Clyde on Christmas day. The first personal friend on whom Mr. Duff called, was Dr. Chalmers, from whom he received an enthusiastic welcome.
One of Mr. Duff's friends who had watched his career in India with the keenest interest, in- vited him to make an address on behalf of Bengal Missions, in Falkirk. The ardent missionary pleaded so eloquently for the cause so dear to his own heart, that the whole community was aroused. He then addressed a drawing-room audience at Carbrook, awakening a profound interest in his subject. The Foreign Missions Committee soon after those meetings communicated to Mr. Duff their formal desire that he should work entirely under their direction, the more especially as '* the times were unsettled ; " but to this he would not consent, stipulating that as an ordained minister of the Gospel he must be left free to work as the Master might indicate, if he retained his connec- tion with the Society. Such an issue had not been anticipated, and the Committee wisely decided to leave their " agent " untrammelled by official in- structions. From this time the resolute mission- ary was actively engaged in presenting the cause
226 Men of Might in India Missions
of missions, and under the magic of his burning eloquence, his auditors sat spellbound.
Early in 1835, Mr. Duff was again prostrated by malarial fever, but as soon as able to travel, in- sisted upon going up to Edinburgh for the Gen- eral Assembly. Monday, the 25th of May, was the date assigned for the presentation of the re- port of the Bengal Mission. When Mr. Duff came forward enfeebled and emaciated, many in the audience feared that he would fall to the floor, but, absorbed in his subject, he soon lost all sense of physical weakness and poured out " his elo- quent peroration with an almost superhuman ef- fect, and subsided drenched with perspiration, as if he had been dragged through the Atlantic." Under his burning words, many of his audience, men unused to weep, were bathed in tears. The young missionary was in constant demand, almost every parish sending in a request for a visit from him. Nor were his services in request only by the churches of his own denomination, but he received what at that time had never before been extended, an invitation from the directors of the Church Missionary Society to address its annual meeting in May. This meeting was held in London, and on the platform Mr. Duff found himself between the Bishops of Chester and Winchester. At the conclusion of the address delivered on this occa- sion, the speaker sat down amid a tempest of ap- plause.
Alexander DufF 2(27
He received, at this time an invitation to visit the University of Cambridge, which he gladly ac- cepted. One interesting feature connected with this visit was the meeting for the first and last time of the aged Charles Simeon, and the young missionary, whose parents had been led to Christ through the words spoken by Mr. Simeon, on that memorable Sabbath spent in Moulin.
In the autumn of 1835, Marischal College, Aberdeen, " honoured itself and surprised the young divine, still under thirty, by presenting him with the diploma of Doctor of Divinity."
During the two and a half years after his re- turn to Scotland, Dr. Duff, notwithstanding fre- quent attacks of malarial fever, visited and ad- dressed seventy-one Presbyteries and Synods, and hundreds of congregations all over Scotland, and at that time " the canal boat, the stage-coach and the post-carriage were the most rapid means of conveyance." The most fruitful result of the interest aroused by his burning words was in lead- ing men to desire to devote themselves to Mission work in India. Among those whose hearts were thus enlisted, though he was not permitted to en- gage in this work, was the saintly McCheyne. After his acquaintance with Dr. Duff, he wrote in his journal, " I am now made willing, should God open the way, to go to India." In May, 1837, Dr. Duff went to London to take part in the an- niversary of the Church of Scotland's Foreign
aa8 Men of Might in India Missions
Missions, held in Exeter Hall, and on this occa- sion delivered what critics have pronounced by far the most eloquent of all his addresses.
He was forbidden by his physicians to attend the General Assembly of 1838, and a lengthened period of perfect rest was enjoined. During this time of enforced inaction, he exchanged his voice for the pen. His lectures on India and India Mis- sions, which he at this time prepared, would be ready, he rejoiced to think, to do this work at home, when he returned to India.
In the autumn of 1839 Dr. and Mrs. Duff a second time set sail for India. After an over- land journey of much interest, early in February, 1846, the Suez steamer, in which they had taken passage, entered the harbour of Bombay, and the travellers found Dr. John Wilson waiting to wel- come them. Thus the two great educational mis- sionaries of Eastern and Western India met for the first time.
The only communication at this time between Calcutta and Bombay was by sailing vessel around the Peninsula. On this voyage between the two capitals, Dr. and Mrs. Duff were the only pas- sengers. Five days were spent in Madras. The Rev. Messrs. Anderson and Johnson, fruit of his address before the General Assembly of 1835, had opened a school which became later, the great Christian College of South India. With the work so auspiciously begun, he was profoundly im- pressed.
Alexander DufF 229
On his arrival in Calcutta, Dr. Duff was amazed at the evidences of progress on every side. He saw signs bearing Hindu names as surgeons and druggists, where less than six years before, it had been asserted that no Hindu could be found to study the healing art through anatomy. A handsome Christian church had been erected for the Bengali congregation and near it was a pleas- ant manse. The pastor of the congregation was the Rev. Krishna Mohun Bannerjee, one of the first converts of the Scotch Mission. A new col- lege building had been erected as well as a mis- sion house. For this fine college building Dr. Duff had been instrumental in raising the funds while at home, and he had himself contributed toward this object a handsome sum which had been presented to him as a personal gift for his family. The colleagues in charge of the work during the absence of the founder of the mission, had laboured with great zeal and efficiency, and Dr. Duff was rejoiced to find six or seven hun- dred students waiting to welcome him on his arrival.
With his accustomed zeal he entered at once upon the discharge of his responsible duties in connection with the college. A Sabbath class was begun by him, for the study of the Scriptures by thoughtful Bengalis who, during the week were occupied in offices and thus without leisure. For another class a weekly lecture was held in Dr. Duff's own house. And for older men who de-
ajo Men of Might in India Missions
sired to renew their investigations an evening lecture was begun in one of the rooms of the col- lege. The number of college students continued to increase and converts were gathered who be- came a help and a joy.
But a time of trial was near. In May, 1843, Dr. Duff wrote, " We are now laid under the necessity openly to avow our sentiments. There is high probability, or rather moral certainty that separation from the Establishment must be fol- lowed by the evacuation of the present missionary premises, but there is no hesitation whatever as to the course to be pursued." On the loth of Au- gust, the five Bengal missionaries of the Church of Scotland united in a despatch in which they set forth their reasons for casting in their lot with the Free Church. They soon learned that they did not stand alone. On the 24th of August, when a public meeting was called, it was found that nearly the whole of the elders and a majority of the members of St. Andrew's Kirk had thrown in their lot with the houseless missionaries. The society thus separated, began at once to collect funds for the erection of a house of worship, but when the building was ready for occupancy, it suddenly collapsed. With a zeal undaunted by this catastrophe, means were collected with which to erect a second edifice ; and the congregation of the " Free Church " in Calcutta still worships in the building then erected.
Dr. Duff had proposed to the committee of the
Alexander Duff 231
Established Church that the missionaries in India be peiTnitted to purchase at a fair equivalent the , whole of the buildings which they had erected, ' but this proposal did not meet with a favourable response. The college vacation of this memorable year was therefore spent in anxious search through the native city for a temporary home. A house sufficiently commodious for the use of the college was found at a moderate rental, and was first occupied on the 4th of March, 1844. There were the same missionaries, the same staff of teachers, and more than one thousand students. During this year, spontaneous gifts, amounting to more than £3,400, were received, and the mission- aries were greatly encouraged. " With his college established, Dr. Duff's next care was for the branch schools in the rural dis- tricts, since he regarded those as a very impor- tant evangelising agency. His heart was soon rejoiced by the conversion and baptism of several young men of ability and high social position. Baptisms followed in such rapid succession that the Brahminical community of Calcutta became alarmed. When at length four Kulin Brahmins received the ordinance of baptism, the more bigoted and vicious among the Hindu community resolved to try to get rid of Dr. Duff, the cause, they asserted, of all this unrest. He was warned that violence to his person was intended, but, ap- parently unmoved, he went quietly on wath his duties. As the converts increased it became neces-
232 Men of Might in India Missions
sary to make some provision for those who were cast out by their friends. In 1846 the resident converts had increased to thirteen and two of this number were married.
In July, 1847, news reached India of the death of Dr. Chalmers, and Dr. Duff was urged to come home as his successor. To this appeal he sent a negative reply. He must remain in India, he said, — must die as he had lived, — the missionary. When his decision was communicated to the Gen- eral Assembly, that body urged his temporary re- turn, that he might do for the Free Church, what he had done for the missionary organisation be- fore the Disruption, during his visit to Scotland. To this call from home, his medical advisers urged him to respond, as his incessant labours since his return to India had left him with little physical strength to resist disease. When this necessity was urged he yielded, but stipulated that before returning to Scotland time should be given him in which to visit the mission fields of Ceylon as well as those of North and South India, since his knowledge of mission work and methods would thereby be greatly enhanced.
In April, 1850, Dr. and Mrs. Duff left Calcutta for Scotland. They reached Edinburgh near the end of May, and Dr. Duff hurried on to the Gen- eral Assembly and delivered five addresses before that body. The years succeeding this Assembly, until the beginning of 1854, were spent by him in going from Synod to Synod. He tried
Alexander DufF 223
to reach every congregation however small, or difficult of access. Ireland, England and Wales were visited, as well as Scotland. He was en- gaged not only in addressing congregations, but in seeking and sending out new missionaries, in lecturing to young men, and in helping to ad- vance the cause of the British and Foreign Bible Society.
In 1 85 1 he was made Moderator of the Free Church Assembly. He was chosen by acclama- tion, and discharged his high duties with his wonted tact and fervour. Among the American visitors present at this Assembly was George H. Stuart, Esq., of Philadelphia. The eloquent en- thusiasm of the missionary-moderator had pro- foundly interested him, and he determined to in- vite him to pay a visit to America. This he urged with great earnestness, but Dr. Duff felt that he was first pledged to his own people. Mr. Stuart was glad to receive an assurance that the proposition would receive consideration should the invitation in the future be renewed. Mr. Stuart kept the matter in mind and wrote again and again, and not a few ecclesiastical bodies did the same. A formal request for a visit came also from Canada. At the beginning of 1854, Dr. Duff felt that the time had come when he could visit the churches of the Western world. He em- barked from Liverpool on Saturday, the 28th of January, and after a very stormy passage reached New York on the 15th of February. A period of
234 Men of Might In India Missions
most engrossing labour now began. Breakfasts were given at which the distinguished visitor was expected to make speeches, evening receptions were tendered after days of uninterrupted visits and addresses, with the result that the much-feted man sometimes did not find his way to his room until one o'clock in the morning.
At the first meeting in Philadelphia, held in the largest hall in the city, between three and four thousand persons were in attendance, while thousands were turned away after the hall was filled to overflowing. When Dr. Duff was intro- duced, rounds of applause, repeated again and again, greeted him. *' The kindness of the people here is absolutely oppressive," he wrote, '' and their importunity for addresses so autocratic, that I am driven in spite of myself to do more than I am physically able to do." His chief strength was spent in New York and Philadelphia, but he also paid a visit to Washington, and to some of the cities of the West, on his way to Canada, where he was also most enthusiastically received.
He left New York for Liverpool on the morn- ing of the 13th of May. Both the wharf and the steamer on which he had taken passage were crowded with clergymen and others who had come to bid him farewell. " No such man has visited America since the days of Whitefield," was fre- quently said. He had nowhere plead for money, but when his friends bade him good bye on leav- ing New York a letter containing £3,000 was
Alexander DufF 235
put into his hands. Canada also made a contri- bution to forward his work, and during his ab- sence, Glasgow had raised a generous sum. Thus were the means provided for a new college build- ing in Calcutta.
He reached Edinburgh in time to be present at the General Assembly of his own Church and to give some account of his experiences in the United States and in Canada.
With his heart still in India, he had hoped to return to the land of his adoption in the autumn of 1854, but the labours and excitement of his tour on the Western Continent, had left him in such a state of mental prostration that his phy- sicians insisted on a lengthened period of absolute rest in the South of Europe.
On the 13th of October, 1855, Dr. and Mrs. Duff for the third time left Scotland for India. Calcutta was reached in February. His first serv- ice after his arrival was preaching on the Sab- bath in the Free Church, " amid a mighty rush and conflict of emotions to an overflowing audi- ence."
On the last day of February, 1856, Lord Can- ning, the recently inducted Governor-General took the oaths of office, little dreaming how fierce a storm would in a few months sweep over the Empire. It was the eve of the terrible mutiny, the darkest time in the whole history of India under British rule. Calcutta was exempt from actual outbreak, but there was constant alarm
2^6 Men of Might in India Missions
and panic. Sometime during the summer of this sadly memorable year, Dr. Duff wrote, '* I have a confident persuasion that our work in India is not accomplished, and that until it be accomp- lished, our tenure of Empire is secure."
The work in Calcutta under his superintendence had never been so prosperous as during this year of trial. The new college building was now ready for occupancy, and there were 1,200 students in attendance.
In July, 1863, Dr. Duff's old enemy, dysentery again laid him low. To save his life, the phy- sicians in attendance, hurried him away on a sea- voyage to China. Not rallying as he had hoped to do, on his return to Calcutta, he began prepara- tions for taking a final leave of India. When his decision became known, all classes of the com- munity united to do him honour. Scholarships bearing his name were endowed in the university. The Bethune Society and the Doveton College, both of which institutions had been greatly bene- fited by his labours, procured oil paintings of their benefactor. His own students, Christian and non-Christian, placed his marble bust in the Hall, where so many young men had sat at his feet. Some of the Scottish merchants of India, Singa- pore and China, presented him with the sum of ii,ioo. He consented to accept the interest of this amount. The capital he desired should be used to aid in the support of the invalided mis- sionaries of his own church.
Alexander Duff 237
On Saturday, the 20th of December, 1863, at- tended by a great company of sorrowing friends the invalid missionary embarked on the " Hot- spur," for his native land. Though never again robust in health, he was spared for fourteen years to labour and to pray for the cause to which he had devoted his life. A fund of iio,ooo was raised with which to endow a Missionary Pro- fessorship and to this chair Dr. Duff was unani- mously called by his Church. Not only did he prepare lectures, but delivered these every winter in the Colleges of Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glas- gow. He refused all emoluments connected with this professorship, as well as any income from his office as Convener of the Foreign Missions' Committee, contenting himself with the interest of the Duff Missionary Fund ; and no small pro- portion of this was spent in systematic bene- ficence. When Mr. Duff declined to accept more than the interest of the handsome sum offered him by private friends, and this only in lieu of any remuneration connected with the offices he held, these same friends purchased and presented him with a house in Edinburgh, and this house, after his return to Scotland, became his home. The light and joy of this home was the devoted wife, who, during all the years of his missionary life in India, had been his comfort and his in- spiration. In the beginning of 1865 this dear companion was removed by death. Though to the end of his pilgrimage cared for with filial devo-
1238 Men of Might in India Missions
tion and friendly affection, Dr. Duff from this time felt in a peculiar sense alone. He neglected none of his duties, but he spent much time in the study of God's Word, finding there the truest solace for a wounded heart.
In 1873, the veteran missionary was a second time made Moderator of the General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland. He had now completed his seventieth year and his physical strength had begun visibly to abate, but he con- tinued his preparations for trying once more, dur- ing the sessions of the General Assembly to arouse the church to its duty in respect to Foreign Mis- sions.
A year later his feebleness had so increased that he was unable to be present at the sessions of the General Assembly, but he continued to use his pen with all his former power. In 1878 he wrote letters resigning all the offices he held, in order that he might devote all his remaining powers to a renewed advocacy of the duty of the church more faithfully to carry out the last com- mand of the world's Redeemer.
As alarming symptoms increased, the invalid's second son was summoned from Calcutta and reached Scotland just a month before his father passed away. The aged sufferer said to his son on his arrival, '* I am in God's hands to go or stay. If He has need for me. He will raise me up; if otherwise, it is far better." A few days
Alexander Duff 239
/later, he said, "I am very low, and cannot say /much, but I am living daily, habitually in Hirnil ~ When his daughter repeated to him the first line of John Newton's beautiful hymn,
" How sweet the name of Jesus sounds,"
he responded with peculiar emphasis, "unspeak- able/' I
He lingered until th^ 12th of February, 1878,/ when in perfect peace he passed away. His re- mains were conveyed from Sidmouth, where he died, to Edinburgh, and around his bier Chris- tians of all confessions met. The professors and students of the universities with which he had been associated, joined the great procession. Peer and citizen, missionary and minister bore the pall and laid the precious dust in the grave. The great missionary societies were all represented.
*' His coffin should be covered with palm- branches/' said one. " His work on earth was crowned with the blessing of the Master, and in His presence, as one who turned many to righte- ousness, he shall shine as the stars forever and ever."
X
JOHN ANDERSON 1837-1855
At the close of the address made by Dr. Duff before the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in May, 1835, the venerable Dr. Stewart of Erskine rose and said, '' It has been my privi- lege to hear both Mr. Fox and Mr. Pitt in the House of Commons when in the zenith of their glory as statesmen and orators, but the speech to which we have just listened excels in its lofty tone, its close argumentative force, its transcen- dent eloquence and overpowering impressiveness, anything which I ever heard from their Hps."
Reports of that marvellous address were sent through the length and breadth of Scotland. An abridged report came into the hands of a young man temporarily laid aside by illness in a quiet retreat on the banks of the Nith, near Dumfries. " It kindled a spirit," wrote this young man, '* that raised us up from our bed and pointed as with the finger of God to India as the field of our future labours, should it please God to open the way."
That young man was John Anderson, born in Galloway in the parish of Kilpatrick-Durham, on 240
John Anderson 241
the 23rd of May, 1805. The eldest son of a family of nine children, and with a totally blind father, who was the possessor of little worldly wealth, the boy was made to bear the yoke in his youth. His mother was a woman marvellously brave of spirit, as well as very tender of heart, so there was much sunshine mingled with -the dark mists and rough winds that swept around and into this humble Scottish home. As might be expected from one reared amid rugged hills, the boy was bold and adventurous. He was also fond of reading and showed a decided preference for works of history. An aged woman in the neigh- bourhood of his home had a little library, from whose shelves John was permitted to carry home for his hours of leisure such books as pleased his fancy.
'" You have now read all my books but one," said this kind friend as John was one day turn- ing over the volumes. " That book is the Bible."
" But I cannot read that," replied the youth with some impatience.
" Why not, John ? " was quietly asked.
" It is the corrupt nature that will not let me. I like history and such books," was the frank answer.
The elements of learning were acquired at the parish school, and the study of Latin was com- menced with Mr. Stevenson, a gentleman who felt a deep interest in the lad because convinced that he possessed a mind well worth cultivatincr.
2^2 Men of Might in India Missions
Mr. Anderson entered the Edinburgh University in his twenty-second year. So well had he im- proved his opportunities under Mr. Stevenson's tuition that he took high rank in the university as a Latin scholar, and at the end of the first session won a prize for a Latin poem and a second prize for diligence in private study. The follow- ing winter Mr. Anderson joined the senior class in Latin, and received a beautiful copy of the whole of Cicero's works for a spirited poem on Hannibal's march against Rome. The next ses- sion he gained a prize as a student of moral phi- losophy. The fourth session completed his course at the university, his vigourous intellect and in- tense application having won for him the high regard of his instructors.
We are told that Mr. Anderson's blind father could repeat from memory almost the entire Bible, but the boy's religious impressions were received, as he himself testifies, in the Rev. Mr. McWhirr's Sabbath School. Having resolved to devote himself to the Gospel ministry, Mr. Ander- son entered the Divinity Hall of Edinburgh in the winter of 1 830-1 and enjoyed the inestimable advantage of sitting at the feet of Drs. Chalmers and Welsh, the professors of Theology and Church History. Four years were spent in theo- logical study; and only a man possessed of ster- ling elements of character would so cheerfully have overcome all obstacles in order to prosecute his studies. After his classes in the university were
John Anderson 243
over Mr. Anderson would walk two or three miles in storm as well as sunshine to teach in the Mar- iner's School, returning to Edinburgh at eight or nine o'clock in the evening, and then by rush- light he would prepare his lessons for the follow- ing morning.
No wonder that toward the close of his course in Divinity, his naturally fine constitution showed signs of giving way. For nearly two years he was laid aside, and it was not until the early part of 1835 that his health began to improve. He was in a very despondent frame of mind when in June of this year fragments of the address de- livered by Dr. Duff before the General Assembly in May, found their way to his quiet retreat, and through the stirring words of the great mission- ary his spirit received an irresistible touch which decided his future course," To India he would go, should the Lord open the way.
In so important a matter Mr. Anderson re- solved to consult Dr. Gordon, from whom he had received much kindness and who had given him much excellent counsel when he had made known to him his desire to become a minister of the Gospel. After an interview with Dr. Gordon, several months passed before the subject was again introduced. On the 29th of April, 1836, Dr. Gordon wrote to Mr. Anderson, saying, " Tell me, by return of post, how your health is, when you can be licensed and whether you have the same desire as before to go to India."
244 Men of Might in India Missions
Mr. Anderson replied at once and favourably. On the 3rd of the following May he was licensed to preach the Gospel by the Presbytery of Dum- fries and a few days later was summoned to Edinburgh to meet the Committee on Foreign Missions. On the 28th of June he received his appointment to Madras as a missionary of the Church of Scotland. His ordination took place in St. George's Church, Edinburgh, on the 13th of July. During the following week Mr. Ander- son bade adieu to his relatives ; among whom was his aged and blind father, and the parting was a sore trial to both father and son.
Paying a visit to London, the missionary-elect made the acquaintance of Dr. Duff, from whom he received much kindness and encouragement. On the 13th of August Mr. Anderson left Ports- mouth in the " Scotia." The voyage around the Cape to Calcutta was tedious, but the young mis- sionary made many friends among his fellow- voyagers, who in token of their appreciation of his efforts for their spiritual good, presented him at parting with a handsome Bible.
The Missionary Committee had deemed it ad- visable that Mr. Anderson before proceeding to Madras should visit the Missionary Institution at Calcutta, which during the absence in Scotland of Dr. Duff, the founder, was ably superintended by the Rev. Messrs. Mackay and Ewart.
The '' Scotia " reached Calcutta a day or two earlier than she was expected, and in consequence
John Anderson 245
on his arrival on the 12th of December, Mr. An- derson found no one to meet him. He, however made his way at once to the mission-house ; and, Mr. Ewart wrote, ** We seemed to get acquainted with our new colleague almost immediately."
Full of zeal, the new missionary was anxious without delay to continue his journey to Madras, but no vessel was available until the beginning of February. Madras was reached on the 22nd of the same month. His health had been materially benefited by the long sea-voyage, and his spirit had been refreshed and his faith strengthened by what he had seen and heard in Calcutta in con- nection with the mission work in progress there. " I feel as if I were a new man," he wrote to a friend soon after his arrival in Madras.
Two years before Mr. Anderson's arrival, two Scotch chaplains had opened the *' St. Andrew's School," and after collecting funds in India for this object, had applied to the Church of Scotland for a missionary, with a view to the establish- ment of an institution like that founded in Cal- cutta by Dr. Dufif. This school was made over to Mr. Anderson. A suitable building was rented in a central location, and on the 3rd of April, 1837, the school was formally opened with fifty- nine Hindu boys and young men. In the pros- pectus sent out before entering upon his educa- tional work in Madras, Mr. Anderson frankly an- nounced that ** the ultimate object was a normal seminary in which native teachers and preachers
1246 Men of Might in India Missions
may be trained up to convey to their benighted countrymen the benefit of a sound education and the blessings of the Gospel of Christ." In two and a half months the number of pupils had in- creased to 180.
In communicating religious truth, Mr. Ander- son " had the rare sagacity," wrote one of his pupils in later years, '' to know how far to go, and when to stop without sacrificing principle, or wounding unnecessarily the feelings of others, while his happy mixture of firmness and kindness won the affections of his pupils."
The first public examination took place nine months after the opening of the school. The occasion brought together not only many promi- nent European citizens, but a large company of influential natives, and all carried away most favourable impressions of the results achieved.
Special instruction was given by Mr. Ander- son to a class of monitors, and these in their turn communicated to the junior classes the knowl- edge they had acquired. By this method a class of teachers was trained whose services became most valuable. " The pupils are taught," wrote the missionary to a friend, " every truth I would teach in my native land. The school ought to be our desk, our pulpit and our professor's chair."
As the work mcreased Mr. Anderson felt the need of an associate, and he was consequently de- lighted when the tidings reached him from home that the man whom before all others he himself
John Anderson 247
would have chosen, his dearest friend, the Rev. Robert Johnson, would soon be sent to his as- sistance. The school which Mr. Anderson had founded was intended primarily for children and youths from the higher castes. The admission of low-caste pupils, he felt convinced would frustrate his great aim, " the Christianising of the un- touched masses of the caste-bound population ; " but on the 19th of October, 1838, three pariah boys found admission into the school under false colours, having on their foreheads the usual idol- atrous marks of caste. As soon as their true status in the Hindu community was discovered, there was much excitement and indignant feeling in the school, and the missionary was asked to expel the intruders. This he firmly declined to do. He had not introduced these pupils. They had applied for admission and had been received. To expel them would be to countenance caste. Such a step he could not therefore take. Another school in the city opened its doors to receive such students as were unwilling to be associated with boys of a low caste, and one hundred pupils at once left the school. This was a sore trial to Mr. Anderson.
The opportune arrival of his new colleague, the Rev. Robert Johnson on the morning of January 24th, 1839, imparted new strength and courage to the solitary worker in this time of perplexity, and the two friends were soon wholly absorbed in the work of " making Christ known to some,
1248 Men of Might in India Missions
that these might become the instruments of mak- ing Him known to many." Mr. Anderson wisely reasoned that if the Gospel were first preached in the great cities, from these centres the light would be carried to the villages and hamlets. From the first he had entertained the idea of expansion in the direction of branch schools. The arrival of Mr. Johnson made such an advance possible. The first branch school was opened at Conjeveram, forty-iive miles from Madras. This city is re- garded by the Hindus in South India as ranking first in antiquity and sacredness. Its temples are magnificent, and at the great annual festival in May, 100,000 worshippers assemble from all parts of India.
Leaving the school in Madras for a time in Mr. Johnson's charge, Mr. Anderson himself went to Conjeveram to begin a school there taking with him four of his trained monitors. The school was opened on the 29th of May in the midst of the great Hindu festival, and during the hottest sea- son of the year, when the hot winds were like a blast from a furnace. There was much to dis- courage in the outset, but the school proved eventually a most successful enterprise. Three other important branch schools were ere long opened, and each one became a centre of light intellectually and spiritually.
On the 20th of April, 1840, Dr. and Mrs. Duff arrived from Bombay en route to Calcutta. They remained five days in Madras, and brought much
John Anderson 249
refreshment to all. On the day of his arrival, Dr. Duff spent several hours in the institution, '' setting the pupils on fire by the truths he pre- sented in his own inimitable way."
Early in 1841 the Rev. John Braid wood and Mrs. Braidwood arrived in Madras. Referring to this reinforcement to the mission, Mr. Anderson said, " It is hardly four years since I crossed the surf from Calcutta alone, with no one on the shore to bid me welcome:, now I have many friends and tokens manifold of God's goodness to me."
In 1838 the Rev. Robert Caldwell, afterward Bishop of Tinnevelly, arrived in Madras, where he spent two years chiefly in the study of the Tamil language. In his " Reminiscences," in the chapter devoted to the men whose acquaintance he made in Madras during his residence there, he thus speaks of Mr. Anderson, " One of the most prominent figures in the missionary world of Madras at that time was that of Mr. Anderson, best known as John Anderson, of the Scotch Presbyterian Mission, the Dr. Duff of Madras, by whom the first great English school for Hindu youths was established, and the first systematic effort made to use English education as a means of spreading Christianity among the higher classes and castes. John Anderson was my greatest friend in Madras at that time. He was one of the ablest and most zealous and devoted missionaries I have ever met, and was certainly the most en-
1250 Men of Might in India Missions
thusiastic. Enthusiasm, however, was one of the most marked characteristics of his nature, and showed itself, not only in his missionary work, but in everything he did and said. He was one of the mightiest talkers I have ever met. I have often stood listening to him at night in the streets for hours after we had been supposed to bid one another good-bye, and one night we never slept at all, but sat, or lay awake the whole night, I listening, and he pouring out upon me the floods of his fluent, enthusiastic talk. One of his chief characteristics was his almost womanly tender- ness and affection towards his students, which was one of the things that conduced to the great number of conversions of educated young men with which his work was marked. Throughout the Presidency of Madras for many years the name of John Anderson, and the fame and influ- ence of what was called Anderson's School — now developed into the Christian College — were like household words."
One of the ends which Mr. Anderson kept con- stantly in view, the training of teachers from among the students, was producing most satis- factory results. Within four years after the be- ginning of his work in Madras eighteen students had received so thorough a training as to make them well fitted to impart secular instruction, and all were saturated with the truths of the Bible. y' Our greatest trial now is," wrote Mr. Anderson, * " that we do not see the souls over whom we
John Anderson 251
yearn converted to God. Our hearts begin to yearn for the first ripe fruits." /
At length some hearts were stirred. On Satur- day of each week all the pupils under instruction were arranged, in three divisions, each in charge of a missionary, and four or five hours were spent in repeating the portions of Scripture learned during the week, and in careful Biblical instruc- tion. It was one of the passages of Scripture thus learned that proved the Sword of the Spirit to one of the pupils. This youth with another from the highest class, both lads of superior in- telligence, renounced Hinduism in favour of Christianity, and on Sabbath evening, June 20th, 1841, received the ordinance of baptism. Cast out by their friends because of the step they had taken, they were received into the home of the missionaries. This event made no small stir among the caste people of the city and reduced the number of students in attendance from four hundred to seventy. The friends of the young men after doing all in their power to induce the converts to renounce the faith they had espoused made an appeal to the magistrate, who after an examination in the presence of witnesses, ruled that the young men were of full age and capable of deciding for themselves in matters religious. They were therefore, in accordance with their ex- pressed wish, returned to the care of the mission- aries.
On the bench with the European Magistrate
2^2 Men of Might in India Missions
was a sagacious Brahmin. The father of one of the youths bitterly upbraided him for acquiescing in the decision of the EngHsh Magistrate. His reply was significant. " Mr. Anderson is an hon- est man. He told you from the beginning that conversion was his object, and I warned you, but you did not listen to me, and placed your sons under his instruction."
A few weeks later there was another baptism from among the students, but the event passed without tumult and without legal proceedings, though the feeling roused by the two first baptisms had in no degree abated, and the institution con- tinued to be shunned like a hospital filled with plague-stricken patients.
At this time when there was much to discour- age, a beginning was made in a very important work. Mr. and Mrs. Braidwood removed from the building which until then had been the home of the entire mission household, to another resi- dence. Here Mrs. Braidwood opened a school for girls. A Tamil teacher was found who was willing to give Mrs. Braidwood instruction in the language, and at the same time to teach his own sister and a few other little girls whom he brought daily to the mission house. In this small beginning of a very interesting and most impor- tant work, Mrs. Braidwood took the deepest in- terest.
Mr. Anderson, ever ready to seize or to make an opportunity for helping forward the work of
John Anderson 253
evangelisation, conceived the plan of beginning a periodical in English in order to reach and benefit the youths who had formerly been under his in- struction, but were now widely scattered because of the baptisms which had taken place in con- nection with the institution. The first number of the " Native Herald " appeared on the 2nd of October, 1841, and the subscription list soon num- bered over two hundred.
At the sixth annual examination of Mr. Ander- son's School the Marquis of Tweeddale, Gover- nor of Madras, presided, and his words of warm commendation encouraged the hearts of all. Dur- ing the six years since the opening of the parent in- stitution and the subsequent opening of the branch schools, nearly two thousand pupils had received instruction and all had learned much Bible truth. The three students who had received baptism and who had remained steadfast, showed not only great aptitude for teaching, but an earnest desire to be trained for the work of making Chris( known to their fellow-men.
It was not until the beginning of July, 1843, that it was certainly known in Madras that the Disruption of the Church of Scotland had become an accomplished fact in the previous May. The missionaries did not hesitate to cast in their lot with the Protesting party, and their decision was promptly communicated to Dr. Brunton, the Mis- sion Convener. Occupying united premises both for the collecre and the residence of the mission-
254 Men of Might in India Missions
aries, when the Disruption came there were no buildings to lose fn Madras. In the straitened condition of the finances caused by the Disrup- tion it was decided to make an appeal for funds to such of their friends in India as were in sym- pathy with the work they were trying to do and with the step they had taken in separating them- selves from the Established Church. This appeal was sent out by Mr. Anderson as senior mission- ary and Secretary, and in a few days brought more than nine thousand rupees into the mission treasury.
During the year following the Disruptfon the confidence reposed in the missionaries, and the high regard in which their work was held, were manifested in a very practical manner, as during the year the contributions made in India for the work of the mission reached the sum of 17,370 rupees.
The school had in a measure recovered from the panic and consequent desertions occasioned by the first baptisms among the students, when a Brahmin youth, nineteen years of age proclaimed himself a Christian and received the rite of bap- tism. Before taking this decisive step he was visited by his father who tried by persuasion and threats to dissuade him from his purpose, but the youth remained firm. On the morning of his baptism his mother, accompanied by other female relatives arrived, but the young man declined to see them. " I have told my father all," he said.
John Anderson 255
" My feelings are unchanged." He was baptised in the Hall of the institution in the presence of his fellow-students. On the following day more than three hundred pupils absented themselves from the classes; and when the news reached the branch schools the numbers there were also greatly diminished. After several months the younger pupils began to return, but the older pupils were not again permitted to place them- selves under the instruction of the missionaries.
The first examination of the girls in the caste- schools which had been established was private. The second examination of these schools was held in the Hall of the institution and was public. Over four hundred girls were present, all of whom had received careful religious instruction.
After the Disruption, a Free Church Presby- tery was formed in Madras, and in March, 1846, the first three converts who had been under in- struction from the time of their baptism were licensed to preach the Gospel by this Presbytery, the services were conducted with great solemnity and impressiveness, in the presence of a large assembly of Europeans and the people of the land.
To give the element of stability to the mission, a permanent location seemed desirable, and it was at length decided to try to raise in India a sum for the purchase of premises for the institution. The amount asked for in the circular issued was 25,000 rupees, and in a few weeks over twenty
2^6 Men of Might in India Missions
thousand rupees had been subscribed. A large house admirably suited for their purposes was at this time offered for sale for the sum of 25,000 rupees, and this was at once secured. The school was transferred to the new premises in Decem- ber, 1846.
On the 29th of January, 1847, ^^r. Anderson was united in marriage to Miss Margaret Locher, of Zurich, Switzerland, who had come to Madras two years before to engage in work among the women. Miss Locher was a lady of devoted piety, generous impulses and full of zeal for the work of the Lord. Not long after Mr. Ander- son's marriage five girls from the first class in the caste-school in Madras made known their desire to become Christians. These girls had all reached the age of discretion and could not there- fore be forcibly removed by their friends. After they had placed themselves under the care of the missionaries, the parents of the other girls in the school took alarm and in two or three days the entire school was swept away. The branch schools also suffered. Three other girls ere long joined the first five girls who had renounced Hinduism, and all these became the special care of Mrs. An- derson.
At the time of Mr. Anderson's marriage, ten young men who had been the joint care of the two senior missionaries since their baptism, were placed under the special care of Mr. Johnson, and with him occupied rooms at one end of the insti-
John Anderson 257
tutlon, while Mr. and Mrs. Anderson and the girls in their care had rooms at the opposite end of the building.
When the premises purchased for the institu- tion were occupied, it was with the expectation that it would ere long be possible to make much needed enlargements and improvements ; but as funds were not forthcoming for this purpose from Scotland and as the money raised in India was required to maintain the work, nothing could be done; while the mission family was increased from time to time by the addition of converts cast off by their friends. *' My colleagues and my- self," wrote Mr. Anderson to the committee at home, " have special cause for gratitude that we have been so long spared to labour together in this work without being obliged to have any change for the benefit of our health. It is my duty however to tell you that I am considerably broken, and neither of my colleagues has any strength to spare. I hope, therefore, that you will be able without delay to send us some money for the enlargement of our mission premises, as confined air is dangerous to the health and life of a missionary."
Still the help did not come. Mr. Anderson's physician at length declared that for him to re- main any longer in the premises in their con- gested condition, would not only be highly im- prudent, but criminal. A house in the suburbs was accordingly rented, a part being occupied by
258 Men of Might in India Missions
Mr. and Mrs. Anderson and the female converts, and the other part by Mr. Johnson and the young men in his care. This change was beneficial to all and prevented Mr. Anderson from altogether breaking down. In the meantime, ladies in Scot- land interested in the work in Madras raised the sum of iioo for enlarging the mission premises, and friends in India contributed £300 for the same purpose.
The first day of 1849 was marked by many tokens of the Lord's goodness. Among these was a gift of 1,000 rupees sent as a thank-offer- ing to the mission by one who had received spiritual benefit from the ministrations of the two senior missionaries. On the evening of the first Sabbath of this new year three native women, who had for some time been under instruction, received the ordinance of baptism. The new year brought its trials as well as its joys. The health of Mr. Anderson continued to decline, and early in February the three missionaries waited on a physician of experience, for medical advice. Looking in turn at each of the worn toilers, the physician declared that while all needed a change, for Mr. Anderson this was imperative. It was accordingly arranged that he should leave India by the first steamer in April. In order that the work might suffer little as possible, Mrs. Ander- son decided to remain behind to care for the female converts, and the girls in the boarding-
John Anderson 259
school, while Rajahgopaul, one of the first con- verts, should accompany Mr. Anderson.
Before his departure a deputation of the teach- ers, converts and pupils of the institution and branch schools waited upon him and presented him with an address and a sum of nearly 1,000 rupees raised chiefly among themselves to pro- cure his portrait for the Hall of the institution. Very early on the morning of the 15th of April Dr. Duff arrived from Calcutta, and never was friend more cordially welcomed. At four o'clock in the afternoon of the same day Mr. Anderson left Madras for Scotland, and the presence of Dr. Duff at this time imparted courage and comfort to all.
Edinburgh was reached on the 2nd of June, and both the missionary and his companion were most hospitably received. " Tell Mrs. Anderson," wrote Rajahgopaul, '* that Dr. Foulis and Lady Foulis are watching over Mr. Anderson as if he were their own son."
In India, Mr. Johnson toiled on with uncom- plaining fortitude, though his physical strength continued to wane, while the work at the same time increased in magnitude and responsibility.
As soon as Mr. Anderson had sufficiently re- covered to be able to present the cause of mis- sions, he told the people of his church for their encouragement what were some of the visible results of the labours of the missionaries they
!26o Men of Might in India Missions
had sent to Madras: fifty superior teachers had been trained for the work, 7,000 Hindus and a large number of Mohammedans had been in- structed in the truths of the Bible, and 1,000 girls had been gathered into their schools. There had been thirty-six converts from heathenism, and from among these, three had been licensed to preach the Gospel, while five other students were pursuing their studies with the Christian ministry in view. While devoting their strength primarily to the people of the land, they had, as opportunity offered, preached the Gospel to their own country- men, and over one hundred of these had borne testimony to the fact that the missionaries were the instruments used by God in bringing them to the Saviour. The prompt liberality with which the people in India had responded to the appeals made on behalf of the mission was also cause for encouragement. To carry on the work in Madras since the Disruption, £1,200 had been contributed in India, and for the purchase of premises for the mission British residents in India had given i3,ooo.
Mr. Anderson's labours in Scotland contributed greatly toward deepening interest in the work in India, while Rajahgopaul everywhere made a favourable impression by his gentleness, his hu- mility and his manly Christian bearing.
On December i, 1850, the vessel bearing back to India Mr. Anderson and his faithful com- panion, and bringing for the first time Miss Eliza
John Anderson 261
Lecher, Mrs. Anderson's sister, for work among the women, arrived at Madras. In the midst of a raging surf and a drenching rain the party reached the shore. The voice of joy and thanks- giving was everywhere heard, but with this was mingled a note of sadness, caused by the seriously impaired health of Mr. Johnson.
" My son Rajah and myself have arrived at a critical time," wrote Mr. Anderson. " Mr. John- son is quite broken down and laid aside, and Mr. Braidwood's health is giving way, while the work has gone on increasing." Three months after the arrival of Mr. Anderson, Mr. Johnson who had toiled without intermission for over twelve years, left for England, being carried in a state of ex- treme feebleness on board the steamer ** Devon- shire." He was a man greatly beloved, and his departure under circumstances so afflictive caused much sorrow. There was no time for a farewell address, but his pupils, present and former, col- lected a sum for his portrait for the Institution.
Another blow was about to fall on the mission. On the night of the 5th of April Miss Locher was taken seriously ill and on the morning of the 7th she passed away. During the short time in which she had been a member of the mission family she had won the esteem and the love of all.
Mr. Johnson reached England early in June, and not long after his arrival he was received into the hospitable home of Dr. and Lady Foulis, where everything possible was done for his com-
262 Men of Might in India Missions
fort and his restoration to health. News received from India from time to time interested him deeply. On the 26th of November, the three first converts were ordained to the Gospel ministry in the presence of a large company of Christians, Hindus and Mohammedans. There was an im- mense throng of spectators at the fifteenth annual examination of the institution and the branch schools. The whole number under instruction at this time was 2,245, ^"d the one hundred and twenty teachers employed had all been trained by the mission.
The work was steadily growing, but the lack of labourers was depressing. Mr. Braidwood with his family left Madras for Scotland early in 1852, ordered thence by his physicians, and Mr. Ander- son was left with no European colleague. The church at home had not anticipated such a crisis, and an earnest effort was made to secure both men and money. Mr. Johnson in a letter to the young men who had been ordained to the work of the ministry, charged them to do all in their power to relieve Mr. Anderson, their spiritual father.
Two missionaries sent out by the Church of Scotland for work in Madras, the Rev. Messrs. Blyth and Campbell, arrived near the end of No- vember, 1852, and their coming brought hope and comfort to the care-burdened father of the mis- sion ; but Mr. Johnson, though receiving the most skilful medical attention and the most tender care,
John Anderson 26^
continued to fail and on the 22nd of March, 1853, he passed away. To Mr. Anderson the blow was a very heavy one. When no longer able to en- tertain any hope of the recovery of his " true yoke-fellow," he had prayed daily that he might be prepared for the tidings of his translation.
" 1 am fading," wrote Mr. Anderson in the be- ginning of the June following the death of Mr. Johnson, and he longed for the return of Mr. and Mrs. Braidwood, as the newly arrived mis- sionaries could not be charged with heavy re- sponsibilities. In a letter to Mr. Braidwood, he said : " Your letter telling me that the state of your health would detain you sometime longer in Scotland, gives me, and I may add to the mission also, a sharp and heavy blow, and sore discourage- ment. The cares of the mission are doubled since you left. My strength is failing, but I will not leave the helm unless forced from it."
After the public examination of the students of the Institution in Madras, in the cold season of 1855, Mr. Anderson set out, accompanied by sev- eral of his faithful helpers to visit the branch schools. This was the last tour he ever made. At the anniversary of the Bible Society, held after his return to Madras from this visitation, he made his last public address, commending the word of God with a fervour and power that touched the hearts of his auditors. Two days later he v/as taken ill. but insisted upon being present at the evening service on the Sabbath
264 Men of Might in India Missions
when the Rev. Rajahgopaul preached and ad- ministered the rite of baptism to seven persons. This was the last time he appeared in the Lord's house.
Dr. Lorrimer, one of the physicians in attend- ance, conveyed to the friends in Scotland the tidings of his serious illness, and a fortnight later a letter from the same hand carried the sorrowful tidings that the sickness had been unto death.
When convinced that recovery was hopeless the physician felt it his duty to acquaint the sufferer with his condition. Mr. Anderson's reply was, " The Lord's will be done : If to live longer and work for Christ, I am wilHng; if not. His holy will be done."
Messages of love were sent by the dying mis- sionary to all his children in the faith, charging them to be faithful. When the end was near, John Newton's hymn, " How sweet the name of Jesus sounds," was sung, and the dying saint joined his feeble voice with the voices of the watchers beside his couch. He fell asleep in Jesus on Sabbath morning the 25th of March, 1855. His mortal remains were laid to rest on the even- ing of the same day. Never before in Madras had so vast a concourse of people assembled on a funeral occasion.
" I have never before witnessed such a death as his," said one of the physicians in attendance: Said another, " His constitution should have borne other twenty years of labour, but he was
John Anderson 265
broken with the weight of heavy responsibilities and exhausting toil without respite, while practis- ing the most rigid self-denial, that in every way the work might be advanced."
The Rev. Stephen Hislop of the Free Church Mission, Nagpur Central Provinces, said of the work and the workers of the Free Church Mis- sion in Madras : " No other mission in Madras was so much blessed as that for which John An- derson and Robert Johnson sacrificed their lives and Braidwood shattered his constitution."
To perpetuate the memory of Mr. Anderson a fine hall was built in Madras, bearing his name ; but his truest memorial is found in the multitudes of those who, from his lips learned of a Saviour, and through his labours were led to ** turn from idols to serve the living God."
XI
ROBERT T. NOBLE 1841-1865
In the middle of the last century an annual gathering for athletic sports was held on the borders of the three northern counties of England — Cumberland, Westmoreland and Lancaster. Among the deeply interested spectators at one of these contests was John Noble, a student of St. Bees from County Cumberland. With him were several of his fellow-students and the second master of the school.
To the spectators it soon became evident that the Cumberland contestants were not likely to win. Unwilling that the victory should be wrested from them, a party from Cumberland urged John Noble to enter the arena and secure for them the victory. It was contrary to the rules of the school for the students to take part in these exhibitions, but urged by his companions and encouraged by the second master, John Noble yielded and carried off the prize. This brief tri- umph had for the young student unexpected con- sequences. He was expelled from the college and 266
Robert T. Noble 267
only permitted to return a year later by making a solemn promise never again to violate the known rules of the school.
His parents too were highly displeased, and in consequence young Noble decided to leave home for a time and seek employment as a teacher. While thus engaged he lived with a farmer, a pious Quaker, who not only formed a warm friendship for the young man, but also felt the deepest interest in his spiritual welfare.
Learning that Mr. Noble's parents expected him on the completion of his studies to enter upon the work of the ministry, his new friend frankly told him that if he would become a true and efficient minister of the Gospel, he must himself be made a partaker of Divine grace. The teach- ing of this faithful friend was blessed, and John Noble became indeed a new creature, with a new and holy purpose in life. When his years of preparation were over, and he entered upon the work of the ministry, he proved a faithful shep- herd, watching unceasingly for souls.
It was perhaps a happy circumstance that the wife of his choice was in many respects the re- verse of her husband. She was an earnest Chris- tian, full of energy and versatility and looked well to the ways of her household. Persevering and undaunted by adverse circumstances, she made the modest stipend received by her husband do wonders.
Such were the parents of Robert Turlington
26S Men of Might in India Missions
Noble, who was born early in the year 1809. He was the fourth and youngest son. Two sisters blessed this home. It was the desire of the mother that her children should receive the best possible educational advantages. She urged them forward in the race of honour, averring that religion taught those who embraced it to excel in every- thing. In her laudable efforts on behalf of her sons the mother was ably seconded by the elder daughter, who, as soon as prepared for such a work, opened a school in her father's house which proved so successful financially that she aided in sending two of her brothers to the uni- versity.
To this sister Robert gratefully acknowledged that he owed in a large measure the preparation he received for his usefulness in Hfe. After he had chosen the life of a missionary, this sister, with the cordial co-operation of her husband, for twenty-four years helped her brother in his work with a liberality both constant and generous.
To his second sister Anne, Mr. Noble was not less deeply indebted, though her life was cut short in her early womanhood. Anne Noble was married in 1822, at the age of nineteen to the Rev. H. Palmer and with him went to Sierra Leone to labour among the " poor Africans." Robert was at the time of his sister's marriage in school at Oakham. Passing through this town on her journey to her distant field of labour, Mrs. Palmer felt that she must once more look upon
Robert T. Noble 269
the face of her brother. The coach in which she and her husband were travelling reached Oak- ham at an early hour in the morning and only a few moments could be spared for the interview. Obtaining permission to enter her brother's room, she urged him in most affectionate terms to de- cide at once to accept Christ. She won from him a promise to read his Bible daily, and ex- pressed a hope that he might one day follow her into the mission field. This was a turning-point in his life, and the words so impressively spoken by this beloved sister received added weight and sacredness from the melancholy tidings which so soon followed the departure of these consecrated workers. They reached their destination in March, 1823, and shortly after their arrival Mr. Palmer was stricken with African fever to which he succumbed on the 8th of May, and on the first of June Mrs. Palmer followed him to the grave.
" May I be prepared to follow in the footsteps of this beloved sister," was the prayer of Robert Noble from this time. He remained five years in the grammar-school at Oakham, and was most industrious as a student, yet he was fond of cricket, football and all manly and athletic games. Among the students, he was noted for his critical knowledge of the Greek text of the New Testa- ment. When asked by what means he had at- tained such proficiency, he replied that he not only read his Greek Testament regularly, but
ayo Men of Might in India Missions
that a part of each Sabbath was usually spent in translating portions of the English version into Greek.
Mr. Noble was advised by his friends to enter Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, where it was believed that he would have a comparatively easy task in winning the college prizes and obtaining a fellowship. The young student girded himself for the race with all the enthusiasm and self- denial which had marked his school career. On account of his incessant application and the neglect of the physical exercise to which he had been accustomed, his health altogether gave way during his last term. Just as worldly honour seemed within his grasp, he left the university in a state of utter prostration both of mind and body. His private tutor had expressed the opinion that he would not be lower than third in the classical tripos. The disappointment was borne with true Christian fortitude.
It was only at the end of two years that Mr. Noble was so far recovered as to be again capable of such mental and physical activity as had for- merly characterised him. In the course of his reading during this time of enforced inaction he had noted the fact that some good men both in the early days of Christianity as well as in more re- cent times had held the opinion that as our Lord and John the Baptist did not enter upon their public ministry until thirty years of age, an ex- ample had been left that might wisely be followed.
Robert T. Noble 271
His exalted ideas of the duties and the difficul- ties of the calHng of an ambassador for Christ, together with a deep sense of his own unworthi- ness, led him to feel that he required a degree of preparation which he could not attain before he had reached his thirtieth year.
He accordingly began with zeal a course of reading and study having special reference to the work upon which in due time he hoped to enter. His eldest brother had chosen the medical pro- fession and Robert spent several months under his tuition in order to learn the use of drugs for cases of ordinary sickness that he might be more useful as a missionary.
In the year 1833 he was providentially guided into the family of a Christian Baronet, Sir T. Bloomfield of Brighton, under whose roof as pri- vate tutor to his sons, for six years he enjoyed a friendship and society entirely congenial. Of his life at this time he said in a letter to a friend " No Fellow of any College is half so well off as 1 — in the healthiest climate in all England and in the midst of outward advantages which neither Oxford nor Cambridge could afford. Who ever had such dear, such constant, such pious and in- structive friends? " It was during the latter part of his residence at Brighton that the neglected state, as regards Christian education and enlight- enment, of the population of the foreign country in South India was brought to his notice. But his time to enter upon the work of a missionary
27'^ Men of Might in India Missions
abroad, he felt had not yet come. His father was in his eightieth year, and was in a state of ex- treme bodily weakness ; and implored Robert, the Benjamin of his household, not to leave him.
It was accordingly decided that Mr. Noble should take a curacy at home for a time, and a field of labour was found within a few miles of the home of his parents. The young curate threw his whole soul into his new duties. After having made the acquaintance and won the re- spect and affection of some of the people of his parish who lived three miles from the church, he began a Sabbath evening service in one of the farm houses in that neighbourhood.
The room was soon crowded and many were obliged to stand. The result of this small begin- ning was that a few years later there was in this isolated neighbourhood a neat chapel and an at- tentive congregation with a stated minister. An interest in mission work had also been awakened and the people though poor, contributed in sup- port of this cause more than £20 a year. Mr. Noble entered upon his duties as curate of Old Dalby, in the autumn of 1839 ; and his aged father passed away in August of the following year.
He received ordination as a clergyman of the Church of England soon after the death of his father, and early in 1841 took his final leave of his native land.
After he had fully decided to go to India as a missionary, should the Lord open the way, the
Robert T. Noble 273
question whether he should go out unmarried was presented to his mind. He resolved to con- sult the Rev. Charles Simeon of Cambridge on this subject. He had not married, and Mr. Noble ventured to ask him if he regretted his decision. '' As a Fellow of King's College," said Mr. Simeon, " my Divine Master has made me useful in the university to an extent I miglit not per- haps have attained in any other position. Had I married I must have resigned my Fellowship and with it probably my usefulness. I remained there- fore unmarried for the sake of my Lord's work. I have felt it a great sacrifice, but I have never regretted it."
The Rev. T. Jones of Creaton was an aged bachelor for whom Mr. Noble entertained feel- ings of profound respect and he resolved to ask him how now he regarded the decision made in his younger days. His reply was not anticipated. f"lt is true I never married, from peculiar cir- cumstances, but 1 say that the man who can get a good wife and does not avail himself of the privilege is a most unwise man/l,i Mr. Noble, however, decided to go out to India unmarried and he never regretted it.
The Rev. W. H. Fox, a man of consecrated spirit and in every respect congenial as a com- panion, had been appointed by the Church Mis- sionary Society to accompany Mr. Noble to In- dia. The field to which they had been assigned v/as the Telugu country. The region thus desig-
ii74 Men of Might in India Missions
nated stretched along the eastern side of the Madras Presidency for nearly seven hundred miles and contained twelve millions of people.
On the 8th of March, 1841, in the ship " Ro- barts," bound for Madras, in company with the Rev. W. H. and Mrs. Fox, Mr. Noble left Eng- land. During the voyage of four months the missionaries were treated with the greatest kind- ness and consideration by the captain and officers of the ship, who gave them every facility for hold- ing religious services both among the passengers and the crew. They reached their destination on July 4th and received from the Madras mission- aries a most cordial reception.
Mr. Noble remained in Madras two months and during this time learned much which he felt would be helpful to him in inaugurating work in Masulipatam. His first work he rightly judged would be the learning of the language, and immediately on his arrival in Madras he en- gaged a competent teacher and began the study of the Telugu language. He reached his new field of labour near the end of October. Masulipatam, the chief city of the District, had at that time a population of 50,000 or 60,000. The town is situated about two miles from the sea-coast, and there being no harbour, ships stood out in the open roadstead as now, communication being car- ried on with the shore by boats. The country is a dead level for many miles and the soil soft and sandy.
Robert T. Noble 275
The country had for more than two generations been under the EngHsh Government, but up to that time Httle had been done for the spiritual or intellectual uplifting of these millions. Godly men both in the civil and military service in India had begun to feel in some degree their individual responsibility for the spiritual welfare of these unevangelised multitudes and a fund of nearly £2,000 had been subscribed to support an educa- tional institution in Masulipatam, and every en- couragement was offered to anyone duly qualified who would undertake so important and promising a mission. These friends had appealed to the Committee of the Church Missionary Society to take charge of this field ; but the Committee hav- ing regard to the deficiency both in men and means at that time existing and shall we say with too little faith in the Divine power to supply those needs, felt constrained to decline to enter upon the proposed field. But Christian friends deeply interested in the movement determined to go for- ward. Mr. Noble was asked to take the presi- dency of the proposed Institution in Masulipa- tam with a salary of iSoo per annum. The propo- sition was favourably received. Just at this time the Rev. John Tucker returned from India where he had been labouring as a missionary, and with great earnestness urged the Committee to recon- sider their former decision and assume the re- sponsibility of the new mission. The financial outlook had brightened and the Committee re-
276 Men of Might in India Missions
sponded favourably. Mr. Noble and Mr. Fox were then invited to transfer their services to the Church Missionary Society. To this they readily consented, though in the case of Mr. Noble this meant a very material decrease of salary.
Among the officers of the English garrison Mr. Noble was delighted to find some earnest Chris- tians and the small European community, both civil and military manifested their interest in the mission about to be established, by contributing toward its support £22. monthly. The missionaries did not suffer themselves to be drawn into much work among the English population, feeling that their special mission was to the people of the land, and their first duty to prepare themselves for their appointed work, but an informal meet- ing for prayer and study of the Scriptures was held on Friday evening of each week. The larger part of each day was spent in the study of the language. The heat of the summer they found peculiarly trying. Of his experience in this re- ^^pect, Mr. Noble wrote to one of his brothers: ' " It is like the heat around the mouths of the glass furnaces at Burslem. It is like creeping flames. The mind grows dull. The body all en- feebled seems to be a dead weight on the mind; the spirit droops; prayer, how hard! exertion, how wearying ! "
The health of Mr. Fox gave way, and he was obliged to retreat to the Neilgherry mountains where the climate was cool and bracing. Fear-
Robert T. Noble 277
ing the enervating effect of the climate and the consequent indisposition to mental exertion, as a stimulus to diligence the missionaries had asked for themselves a public examination by the Madras Committee, and on the first of July, 1843, two years after their arrival, Mr. Noble began the journey to Madras, a distance of 322 miles on horseback. Mr. Fox was unable to take the journey because of continued ill health. The ex- amination to which Mr. Noble had so long looked forward, took place soon after his arrival in Ma- dras, and the result filled him with profound gratitude. He was pronounced an excellent Telugu scholar and well qualified to begin mis- sionary work.
To assist him in his labours, Mr. Noble secured while in Madras the services of Mr. Sharkey who had been brought up in the country and who was an earnest Christian and a fine Telugu scholar. On his return to Masulipatam Mr. Noble gave public notice that he expected to open a school for the education of the upper classes, and un- folded the plan to be pursued. Christianity would be taught, but no sinister arts would be employed to induce the students to embrace it.
The school was opened on the 21st of Novem- ber. Writing to a friend on the previous day, he said, " To-morrow morning we begin to drop into the ground the little mustard seed." How his heart would have rejoiced could his eye have penetrated the future and could he have seen into
2jS Men of Might in India Missions
how great and beautiful a tree this seed planted in faith and prayer was destined to grow ! When the day so long anticipated arrived, two pupils only presented themselves, but the missionary was not discouraged. The school soon grew in favour. Many of the students were twenty years of age, and a few were thirty. " They are very inquisitive and full of objections," wrote Mr. Noble. " I see now," he wrote in another letter, " why I was led to read my Bible so much in England. My class appears quite to enjoy their Scripture lesson which they commit to memory. We have a great many Brahmins and they are very diligent. I avoid assailing their religion, desiring first to let them see what ours is. I have fully and repeatedly told them, however, my object, vis.: to make known our religion to them as the only plan of salvation."
After Mr. Noble had so successfully passed his first examination, he wrote to one of his home friends, " We hope at the end of two years more to pass a further examination in Sanskrit and Telugu and in our acquaintance with the religion of the people. Thus you see we have no leisure now, nor any in prospect, till we reach the rest above."
How full were the days of this earnest mis- sionary we learn from this account given by one who was for many years associated with him: " Mr. Noble generally rose at four o'clock in the morning, partook of a little refreshment, tea and
Robert T. Noble 1279
toast at 5 130 ; commenced school at 6 o'clock, or 6 130, according to the season of the year ; re- turned home at 10 o'clock, or 10:30; breakfasted at 1 1 ; prayers with his servants at 11:30; received native visitors, and sometimes Europeans, from 12 to I o'clock ; dinner at i or i :30 ; school again from 2 :30 to 6 :30, making eight hours a day in school in the trying climate of India ; then a constitutional ride or walk of two or three miles, or instead, paying visits in the town to the parents or friends of the students for an hour ; tea at 7:30; prayers and instruction to his serv- ants or converts until 9 130.'*
For twenty-two years did Mr. Noble labour thus unceasingly. His work was varied at times, but was never less arduous. Of his school he said, " It will, I hope, prove a training seminary for school-masters, catechists and ministers of the Gospel. I think there is a good work going on among the sixty boys in our school, and some have expressed a desire for baptism." As there was no reason to doubt the sincerity of the youths who had expressed a desire openly to acknowl- edge themselves Christians, the rite of baptism was administered. The parents of the students in attendance on the school took alarm, and about half of the pupils were removed. This was a grief to the teachers, but they did not regret the step taken, as it was with the express object of trying to win the students under their care to accept Christ as tlieir Saviour, that the school
a8o Men of Might in India Missions
existed. Some of the students returned to the school when the excitement had in a measure abated and new pupils continued to present them- selves. One hour daily was allotted to the Scrip- ture lesson, but this was made so full of interest by the earnest and enthusiastic missionary, that not infrequently, at the request of the pupils, more than two hours were spent on the lesson itself, or questions suggested by it.
When Mr. Noble left England in 1841 he re- joiced greatly that so congenial a co-labourer as Mr. Fox was to accompany him to India. But his health began to decline soon after his arrival. He was obliged to return to England, and in October, 1848, he was removed by death, — a heavy loss to the mission and a great personal bereavement to Mr. Noble.
Mr. Sharkey who had proved his fitness for mission service was ordained to the work of the Gospel ministry, and Mr. Noble found him a worthy co-adjutor. Mrs. Sharkey entered heartily into the work of the mission and made herself greatly useful in establishing and teaching a school for girls. A boarding-school under Mrs. Sharkey's superintendence was eventually estab- lished. Of work among the sisters of the stu- dents in his school Mr. Noble wrote, '' We sadly want some ladies of piety and education from England for this interesting work." To his sister he said, '' You tell me to let you know before you send another box what I want. I
Robert T. Noble 281
want Lettie and Ellen (the eldest daughters of the families of his brother and sister.") What do you say to that? We have nobody to speak of Jesus to the nice young Hindu girls who grow up in the midst of utter ignorance and supersti- tion."
In the beginning of 1849 ^ school for the chil- dren of the lower castes was opened and this speedily became popular, its teachers being drawn from the parent school. The High School con- tinued to grow in favour and the public examin- ations were honoured by the presence of the prin- cipal European residents of the station, as well as by a large number of influential native gentle- men. On these occasions, the Scripture examina- tions always proved an interesting feature.
Converts having increased, a church was or- ganized in Masulipatam and an encouraging evangelistic work was begun in the surrounding villages. In July, 1852, two high caste youths nineteen years of age, from the High School, where for five years they had been under instruc- tion, came to Mr. Noble declaring their earnest wish to be enrolled as Christians. They had for- saken the idolatrous faith in which they had been reared. Persecution they felt assured would follow a public avowal of their faith in Christ, and they craved the protection of the missionary. The baptism of these two young men caused great excitement throughout the city. The par- ents and friends tried to remove them by force.
282 Men of Might in India Missions
The matter was at length brought before the magistrate, who after an examination gave this decision : '' The young men are of full age, are in their right minds, and voluntary agents. They must therefore be left to choose not only their religious faith but their guardians." Knowing well that with their friends there was no safety, the young men placed themselves under Mr. Noble's care. It was for him a time of great anxiety, and fearing violence, for nine nights his clothes were not removed. In consequence of these baptisms the numbers in the school were reduced to thirteen. The two young men con- tinued to reside with Mr. Noble and remained steadfast. Both became ordained ministers of the Gospel and were faithful and diligent in the discharge of their duties.
In March, 1855, two intelligent young Brah- mins and a young Mohammedan, students from the High School, received Christian baptism. There was at this time less general excitement than on the occasion previousl}^ mentioned, but there was not less mourning on the part of the relatives. The grief of the aged mother of one of the converts was touching in the extreme, and no less so, the sorrow of the father bowed down with the weight of more than eighty years. *' I felt ill for several hours after the interview of the young man with his parents," wrote Mr. Noble. Three more were by these baptisms added to the household of the missionary, as their rela-
Robert T. Noble 283
tives refused to receive them. One of these three converts became a distinguished scholar and as- sisted Mr. Noble in the High School.
When the mission had been strengthened by two European missionaries from home, Mr. Noble's friends urged his return to his native land for a season, but to all such appeals he returned the same answer — he would remain at his post until he could see the mission and schools well supplied with educated teachers of humble, earn- est piety, then he would come home, or die in India, whichever the Lord should please.
The work in the schools of Masulipatam had a good report in all the region round about. Sir Charles Trevelyan, when Governor of Madras, in a minute dated October, 1859, said, *' I had not been on shore a day at Masulipatam before 1 became sensible of the great benefits which Mr. Noble, the manager of the Church Mission schools, has conferred upon the Northern Circars by preparing so many intelligent and well- educated natives for the public service. Masulip- atam bids fair to become to the Northern Circars more than Oxford and Cambridge have been to the United Kingdom." In an address before the pupils of the High School, the Governor con- gratulated the students on the advantages they enjoyed in being under the tuition of a man of such character and attainments as Mr. Noble whose influence on the rising generation he began to feel as soon as he landed at Coconada.
a84 Men of Might in India Missions
While labouring for the spiritual up-lifting of the higher classes, Mr. Noble desired to do all in his power to lift to a higher plane, socially, morally and spiritually, the depressed classes. ** Our young Brahmins," he wrote, " after they have embraced Christianity observe no caste, and caste is not observed in our Christian community."
In September, i860, two young Brahmins, among the most intelligent and promising pupils in the school, renounced Hinduism and embraced Christianity. Two others joined these and were baptised. In consequence the numbers in atten- dance on the High School were greatly reduced. Steadily the number of those claiming Mr. Noble's care and protection increased. In a letter to one of his brothers, he said, " I should like to show you my sons. Two are preparing for ordination in February. These aid in our schools. Four more are diligent students. You would like to have taken a peep at us on Saturday evening. They, their wives and their children all take their evening meal with me. One of our first converts has had lately the happiness of welcoming his widowed mother and his uncle into the fold of the Good Shepherd."
In 1863 Mr. Noble wrote to a friend, " For twenty-two years I have longed in vain to see a Zenana Mission commenced for the sisters and relatives of our boys. Perhaps I am not wrong in saying that the heart of Satan's influence and power is in the bosom of the Hindu family."
THE PIONEERS William Carey Christian F. Schwartz
Auguste Francke
Bartholomew Ziegenbalg
h
Robert T. Noble 285
On the night of November ist, 1864, the city of MasuHpatam and the adjacent country were visited by a terrible hurricane. The sea rose and swept more than twelve feet deep over the high- est springtide. Between 35,000 and 40,000 perished during the awful visitation, and cattle and other living creatures innumerable were de- stroyed. In MasuHpatam alone 15,000 people perished, while four-fifths of the houses in the city were swept away. The day from the early morning had been windy, and before five o'clock in the afternoon, as it was too dark to continue the lessons, the teachers and pupils of the mission schools returned to their homes. The wind con- tinued to increase in violence as the darkness deepened, and the rain descended in torrents. About eleven o'clock at night the terrible truth was forced upon the terror-stricken inhabitants that the sea was rushing upon them. Mr. Noble in his house, surrounded by his sons in the faith and their families, did all in his power to reassure them, but when there seemed little hope that they could be saved, as the water within the house rose rapidly, though all the outer doors had been secured by bolts and bars, he offered a short prayer, shook hands with all and calmly awaited the result. After midnight the water began to recede. The dawn revealed a scene of almost unparalleled desolation not only as regarded property but human life. From Mrs. Sharkey's boarding-school, thirty-three children were miss-
286 Men of Might in India Missions
ing. As they were swept away by the in-rushing sea which had burst open doors and windows, their voices were heard in prayer. There was scarcely a Christian family that was not mourn- ing die loss of those carried away by the sea on that awful night. Except a spot here and there, all the country was under water. The hurricane had spread its ravages over sixty miles of open country and left ruin and desolation in its track. The missionaries escaped with their lives, but the pecuniary losses vv'ere great, and the school-build- ing was a wreck.
From the shock of this terrible visitation the veteran missionary never recovered. On the 13th of the following December he wrote to one of his colleagues, " We reopen, please God, our school to-morrow. I am not strong enough to be there. Jesus will. I have greatly enjoyed being laid aside for a few days. How good it is to be laid aside ! How good it is to be separated from our ordinary work and duty! How sweet God's Word ! "
During this interval when unable to be en- gaged in his accustomed duties, he decided " to take a holiday " — not from the place, but only that he might review and assort his papers which had accumulated for years. Perhaps he had even then heard the voice of his Master calling him away. Masulipatam had by this time become very unhealthy. " No spot in the town is free from infected air and scarcely any house from sick-
Robert T. Noble 287
ness," wrote one of the pupils of the High School. " Dear Mr. Noble's health, I am afraid, is very much shattered, but the good old father of the mission never thinks of going away for a change."
One of Mr. Noble's European friends hearing of his enfeebled condition wrote urging him to come up to the Neilgherry hills where the air was delightfully cool and salubrious, but he declined the tempting invitation. *' The natives are very full of fears," he wrote. " A good deal of sick- ness has prevailed in the town, and as my dear young native converts, forsaking home and friends have come to me, I feel I cannot desert them in this time of fear and danger and perplexity."
A letter was sent to one of his brothers four months after the cyclone giving further particu- lars of the great disaster. One other letter fol- lowed this, and it was perhaps the last he ever wrote. It related chiefly to work among the women of Masulipatam. " More than twenty- four years have now passed," he wrote, " with- out anything being done in this department, yet, dearest brother, I hope you will use your utmost exertions to have agents sent."
This last appeal was followed in October by a cablegram from India, *' Noble is dead." A letter from Mr. Sharkey, who had laboured with Mr. Noble from the beginning, written on the i8th of October, 1865, the day following his decease, said, " Our medium of union is gone. The mis-
288 Men of Might in India Missions
sion has lost, as it were, its crown, its man of prayer, of faith and patience. The father of the mission has gone."
The funeral was attended by all the European residents of the place and by thousands of natives, for all mourned the loss of the excellent mission- ary. The heathen regarded him as a man of great sanctity, and he was held in the highest esteem by his own countrymen.
The native gentlemen of Masulipatam called a meeting to raise a memorial to their departed friend. This was attended by a large number and the addresses made were eloquent with the praises of the man whose memory they wished to honour. " His name," said one, " was significant. He was Noble by name, noble in mind, noble in action, noble in purpose, endowed with noble faculties — he was altogether noble. This man gave himself body and soul to the people among whom he had come to live and to labour. He has left behind him a glorious name and an imperish- able fame ; and if you seek for a monument look around. There are living monuments, the re- sults of his labour." It was proposed to perpetu- ate his memory by founding scholarships called after his name, and at this meeting 1,290 rupees were subscribed toward this object.
Though Mr. Noble felt that he was commis- sioned especially to make known the Gospel to the unevangelised in India, he was ready to do good to all as he had opportunity. One single instance
Robert T. Noble 289
may suffice. On his first journey from Madras to Masulipatam, he fell in with a native who was very ill and he felt that it was his duty to act the part of the good Samaritan to his suffering brother. He accordingly made a halt in his jour- ney to administer medicine and to watch its ef- fects. This delay made a change in his plans necessary. He had intended to spend the Sab- bath with Christian friends in Ongole, but was obliged instead to spend it in the jungle, and this was a great disappointment. On arrival at the little rest-house provided for travellers he learned from the man in charge that a young European officer was expected and the thought at once came to him, that the Lord had work for him to do there in the wilderness; and so it proved. The young man was the son of godly parents, but in a heathen land he had wandered far from the right way. During the hours of that quiet Sabbath Mr. Noble won the confidence of the young officer and before the sun went down he had resolved, with the help of God, to begin a new life. Before they parted on the following morning, Mr. Noble again urged the young man to follow Christ fully. This was the beginning of a new career for the repentant prodigal who from this time set his face heavenward. To Mr. Noble this was cause for unspeakable thankful- ness, the more especially as while still a very young man this officer was stricken with cholera while on a tour and died after an illness of only
290 Men of Might in India Missions
six hours. To a Christian friend, who was with him he said, '' All is well. In health I gave my heart to Christ." Of his interest in his young countrymen, exposed to peculiar temptations in India, Mr. Noble said at one time, " I can hardly look upon a young man without tears."
Stimulated by the movement among the native gentlemen of Masulipatam and in accordance with the wishes of many Europeans, the Correspond- ing Committee of the Church Missionary Society at Madras issued an appeal on behalf of a memorial to the man whose loss all so deeply de- plored. It was felt that as a missionary, Mr. Noble stood in the foremost rank. Before he began his great work, there was scarcely a well- educated native in the Masulipatam District. When he passed away there were hundreds, and Government officials of high rank bore testimony to the character for truthfulness and courtesy and the high tone of morality which characterised the subordinate officials of Government who had re- ceived their education in this school. The Insti- tution at Masulipatam had not inappropriately been called '* the Cambridge of South India." Through the instrumentality of this school Chris- tian school-masters had been raised up and a body of native clergymen sent forth to preach the Gospel.
It had been Mr. Noble's desire to erect a more commodious and more suitable building for his school, and with this object in view he had begun
Robert T. Noble 291
to collect materials, but these were all swept away by the cyclone. It was proposed in the appeal sent forth by the European friends of Mr. Noble to raise funds for the erection of a fine building to be called the Noble College, and to found in connection with it two Noble masterships, and also to build a house for the accommodation of such converts to Christianity from the College as should be thrust out from their homes by their relatives.
Among those missionaries in India w^ho have left behind them noble records because of the work they have done in the cause of Christian education, Alexander Duff, of Calcutta, John Wilson, of Bombay, and John Anderson, of Madras, stand pre-eminent. Beside these master- workmen Robert Noble, of Masulipatam, may fittingly find a place.
XII
ISIDOR LOEWENTHAL
1855-1864
Late in the afternoon of a November day in 1846, when rain was falHng drearily, a stranger came to the house of the late Rev. S. M. Gayley, living near Wilmington, Delaware. He was a young man of diminutive stature and carried on one arm a basket con- taining thread, needles and other small articles which he offered for sale. Very forlorn he looked, drenched with rain, insufficiently clad and shivering with cold. To help one who seemed in dire need, a part of his small stock was pur- chased. Then silently the young man covered the remaining articles to shield them from injury by the storm and turned slowly toward the door. But he had come to a household where hearts beat kindly. Mr. Gayley entered the room just as the stranger was about to pass out. and gave him a cordial invitation to spend the night under his roof, an invitation which was most gratefully accepted.
Engaging his guest in conversation during the
292
Isldor Loewenthal 293
evening, Mr. Gayley found that he possessed more than ordinary abihty and was an accom- plished Hnguist, that he had not only a good knowledge of Hebrew, but was acquainted with several of the modem languages. It was cer- tainly a pity, he reflected, that a man of such at- tainments, should be engaged as a peddler. He accordingly invited him to remain for a time in his house, while he would try to secure for him a position as a teacher.
The young man who had been brought provi- dentially to this Christian home was Isidor Loew- enthal, the son of Jewish parents, and born in the city of Posen, in Prussian Poland, in the year 1827. He was the eldest of a family of eight children. While the father had little regard for Judaism, though observing its principal rites and ceremonies, his mother adhered strictly to the traditions of the Rabbis, and instructed her children carefully in the tenets of the Jewish faith.
At a very early age Isidor was placed in a Jewish school, where he acquired the rudiments of science, learned to read the Hebrew text, and to repeat prayers which he did not understand. The boy made rapid strides in learning and gave evidence of the possession of unusual mental gifts. While still very young he entered the Gymnasium of his native city, where he studied the ancient classics, natural science, metaphysics, mathematics, music, Hebrew, and several of the
294 Men of Might in India Missions
modern languages. At the age of seventeen Isi- dor had passed successfully through the entire course of study usually taught at such institu- tions.
His father felt that having bestowed upon his son a liberal education he should now put to practical use the knowledge he had acquired, and accordingly made arrangements to place him as a clerk in a mercantile house in Posen. But the young man showed little aptitude for business, much to the disappointment of his father. All his leisure hours were devoted to his favourite studies. He greatly desired to enter one of the German universities and arrangements for this were completed when an event occurred which changed the whole course of his life and made him henceforth an exile from his native land.
He had found associations with educated young men who had imbibed liberal political sentiments. Young Loewenthal was in full sympathy with such views and was not careful to conceal his opinions. An original poem containing senti- ments adverse to Government appeared in one of the public journals. It was traced to Loewenthal, with the result that he was brought under the notice of the police. Finding that he was in danger of arrest he fled from home and with difficulty escaped to Hamburg, from whence he took passage on board an English ship for New York, where he arrived in the autumn of 1846. He was now safe from pursuit, but he was alone
Isidor Loewenthal 295
in a strange land, almost destitute of means, and ignorant of the English language.
He tried to find employment in New York, but not meeting with success he went to Philadelphia, but here, too, he found every door closed against him. If there was no employment for him in the cities, surely he could find work in the country, he reasoned. From one farm-house to another he wearily made his way, offering his services for such wages as the farmers might choose to give him. Looking at his small stature, and find- ing that he was quite unacquainted with farm- work, no one was willing even to give him a trial.
His purse was now very light and his heart very heavy. As a last resort he invested his little all in a small stock of thread, needles, buttons, etc., and with his basket on his arm set out as a pedlar. Happily his experience in this field was brief and a brighter career opened before the deso- late stranger. Mr. Gayley was able to secure for him the position of teacher of French and German in Lafayette College. Mr. Loewenthal entered upon his congenial duties in the begin- ning of 1847. He had by this time acquired some knowledge of the English language, but not content with his attainments, with untiring industry, he addressed himself to study, and at the close of the session could both speak and write English with classical purity, and in a short time he had acquired a considerable knowl-
2g6 Men of Might in India Missions
edge of English literature. Not only were his hours of leisure from college duty devoted to study, but long hours of the night and sometimes whole nights were spent over his books. One of Mr. Loewenthal's characteristics was an iron will which enabled him to bend all his energies to the accomplishment of whatever he undertook. An- other distinguishing feature of his strongly marked character was a marvellously retentive memory which held for practical use whatever knowledge he in any way acquired.
When he began life in a strange land Mr. Loewenthal resolved not to disclose his lineage. Accordingly during the time spent in Mr. Gay- ley's home that gentleman received no intimation that the stranger under his roof was a son of Abraham. This fact he first learned through a letter from Mr. Loewenthal some time afterward. To Mr. Gayley he owed more than a home when he was homeless, and kindly interest when he had not a friend in the new world. Under his roof he received his first religious impressions and became convinced of the truth of Christianity. This good news he communicated to his bene- factor in a letter written in July, 1847. In that letter he told him how as his guest he had felt that he could not without rudeness absent him- self from the morning and evening devotions of the family; how the word of God read on these occasions and the earnest supplications offered
Isidor Loewenthal 297
led him to feel that he had an immortal soul, a soul in danger ; how, although he did not then disclose his feelings to his host, he began to read his Bible and to pray; how finally, God had re- moved the evil from his heart and had revealed to him Jesus as his Saviour.
In the autumn of 1847, while on a visit to Mr. Gayley, during a vacation in the College, Mr. Loewenthal made a public profession of his faith in Christ as the true Messiah, was baptised and received into the Rockland Presbyterian Church to which Mr. Gayley then ministered. Soon after this event he entered the senior class of Lafay- ette College and graduated with honour. He then acted for some time as tutor in the College and later as teacher of languages at Mount Holly, devoting his leisure hours to philological studies in which he made notable progress. In the au- tumn of 1852 he resigned his situation at Mount Holly and entered Princeton Theological Semi- nary. In theological study he took the keenest interest, but while maintaining a high rank in this department, he still pursued his philological studies, and as he wielded a facile and powerful pen, was a valued contributor to the " Biblical Repertor>^"
The Society of Inquiry in the Seminary elected him as their essayist at the commencement exer- cises of the class in which he graduated. He chose for his subject ** India as a Field of Labour."
298 Men of Might in India Missions
It was a masterly production, evincing great ability and a comprehensive knowledge of the subject.
Having completed his course at the seminary, Mr. Loewenthal acted for a time as tutor in Princeton College and filled his position with marked ability. But his heart was set on India as the field of his future labours. He was licensed to preach the Gospel in 1855 by the Presbytery of New York, and in August of that year sailed for India, where he arrived in the following No- vember.
When, in 1834, Mission work was begun in India by the Presbyterian Church of America, work among the Afghans was contemplated, but as both the men and the money sent out from America were required for the evangelisation of more accessible parts of the country no attempt was then made to reach the Afghan population Not long before Mr. Loewenthal's appointment to India, the Executive Committee in America had been led to consider the subject of beginning work among the Afghans by the offer of $7,500 from a Christian military officer, Captain H. Conran, whose duties in Attock, Peshawar and other far northern cities had led him to feel a deep interest in the spiritual welfare of the Af- ghans. For the contemplated Mission it was felt that Mr. Loewenthal's linguistic talents especially fitted him. Although missionaries would not be
Isidor Loewenthal 299
allowed to reside in Afghanistan, yet as many of the people came down from this northern country to Peshawar, num.bers could thus be reached with the Gospel, their language learned and the Scriptures translated, so that when a door should be opened into this closed land, there might be a readiness to enter.
Mr. Loewenthal's first year in India was spent in Rawal Pindi, a city two hundred miles north of Lahore. The year was devoted to the study of the language and rapid progress was made. Near the end of 1856, the annual meeting of the mis- sion was held in the station of Dehra. At its close Mr. Loewenthal wrote to the Executive Committee in New York : '' The Mission have sent me to Peshawar, with a view of penetrating, as soon as ever I can, and in whatever way pos- sible, into closed up Afghanistan. I go with great diffidence and tremblingly hope for the manifest aid of the Lord."
Peshawar is a city on the borders of Afghan- istan. The people of this city were at that time, as they are still, the most turbulent, fanatical and bigoted of all the peoples who are under Britain's rule in India. English officials, both civil and militar}% had therefore felt that it would be exceedingly imprudent to permit any Christian teaching among the Afghans. A Commissioner stationed at Peshawar, said, when consulted on the subject of allowing a missionary to reside in
300 Men of Might in India Missions
the city, that no missionary should cross the Indus river while he was Commissioner of Peshawar.
One afternoon, not many months after he had made this emphatic declaration, the Commis- sioner was sitting in the verandah of his bungalow when a tall Afghan appeared and salaaming pro- foundly presented a petition. The Commissioner took it and began the reading. The next mo- ment the Afghan's knife was plunged into the heart of his unsuspecting victim. His successor in office was Sir Herbert Edwardes, a man who feared God and who felt that to permit the Gospel to shed its rays in the dark places of the earth would bring blessing and not disaster. / A meet- ing had been appointed for the 19th of December, 1853, to consider the subject of a Christian Mis- sion to Peshawar. It was the day of the Races, and it was suggested that on this account the meeting should be deferred. *' Put off the work of God for a steeple-chase ! " exclaimed the godly Commissioner. ''Never!" The meeting was therefore held on the appointed day. The num- ber in attendance was not large, but God was present by His Spirit. Sir Herbert Edwardes took the chair and spoke as one inspired, for he had just come from his closet, where he had held intercourse with the King of Kings.
It was decided at this meeting to ask the Church Missionary Society to begin work in Peshawar and an encouraging amount for the purpose was
Isidor Loewenthal 301
at this time subscribed. One English officer, sym- pathising with the murdered Commissioner rather than with his successor, when the paper asking for subscriptions for the proposed Mission reached him, wrote : *' One rupee towards a Deane and Adams revolver for the first mission- ary." The missionary, he felt, would need fire- arms for his protection, and he said that mission- aries coming to Peshawar could not exist without the protection of his sepoys. This officer was transferred to Meerut before the outbreak of the mutiny there, and together with his wife was cut down by his own sepoys at the very beginning of the mutiny.
The first missionaries sent to Peshawar were the Rev. C. G.^Pfander^ the Rev. Robert Clark, and a devoted layman. Major Martin, who had resigned his commission in the army to enter upon the work of a missionary. All belonged to the Church Missionary Society. They reached Peshawar in January, 1855. Mr. Pfander began at once to teach and to preach. A school for boys was opened in May, and of this Mr. Clark had charge. In addition to his other duties, Major Martin organised the secular work of the Mission, kept the Mission accounts, carried on a large part of the correspondence and gave gen- erous financial help to the infant enterprise,
Mr. Loewenthal therefore found Christian workers in Peshawar on his arrival. Here he was to pitch his tent, and be ready to move into
302 Men of Might in India Missions
the regions beyond as soon as the Lord should open the way. Meanwhile he would be occupied in study, in preaching to the people as soon as able to use the language, and above all In pre- paring a translation of the Holy Scriptures into Pushtu, the language of the Afghans. The languages spoken in Peshawar were the Hin- dustani, Persian and Pushtu. The Hindustani was spoken in the city and in the cantonments, and was the official language of the Government. The Persian was spoken by the higher and more- educated classes, while the Pushtu was the lan- guage spoken in the villages and by all the sur- rounding tribes. A knowledge of Arabic was also necessary, the better to secure attention in argument as the population was almost exclu- sively Mohammedan.
" Peshawar," wrote Mr. Loewenthal after he had become somewhat acquainted with the city, " is interesting as a sort of Alsace, a borderland be- tween countries — the Gibraltar of the East, where Jew and Gentile, exiled Europeans and refugee Asiatics, Bengalis and cut-throat Afghans meet and jostle each other. One sees ambassadors from Yarkand, silk-dealers from Bokhara, long- haired Belooches, close-shaven Moguls, adven- turers from Herat, and scholars from Kanda- har." The streets of the native city are irregular and the houses are chiefly of mud, low and flat- roofed Around the city runs a low mud v/all intended as a protection against robbers. A
Isidor Loewenthal 303
quadrilateral fortress, whose walls rise to a great height, dominates the city.
The European quarter is in striking contrast to the native city, with its pleasant bungalows, set in the midst of spacious compounds, gay with flowering shrubs. The surrounding scenery is full of grandeur. The valley is sixty miles in length, bounded on the east by the Indus and girt on every side by hills, some of which are bare and rocky and others are clothed with vege- tation. Rising above all, two hundred miles to the south-west is the snow-capped peak of Takht-i-Sulelman, or " Solomon's Throne.''
But other thoughts than of the grandeur of the scenery filled the heart of the missionary as he looked out over the enchanting prospect. " Standing," he wrote, " before the wild range of the Suleiman mountains, gazing evening after evening as the sun is setting behind it, on the line of savage, habitationless, precipitous crags, stand- ing so distinct against the brilliant sky, following morning after morning the strong sunlight of these latitudes as it penetrates one by one the rugged passes and the jagged clefts — forbidden by man and nature to cross beyond, and knowing that once beyond he might pass through this vast cradle of nations, from the Khyber to the great commercial entrepot of Yezd in one direction and beyond the Oxus as far as Orenburg in the other, and be everywhere almost the first to announce the glad tidings of salvation through
304 Men of Might in India Missions
Jesus Christ, the missionary is apt to fancy these mountains more and more insurmountable bar- riers; sickness and exhaustion cause him to feel his own weakness and littleness daily more keenly, and he would be tempted to despair were there not a voice crying in the wilderness, ' Prepare ye the way of the Lord.' "
Of the inhabitants, Mr. Loewenthal wrote, " The Afghan is fierce and bloodthirst}' and is never without weapons. There is hardly a man whose hands are not stained with blood. They are faithless to public engagements, unless the keeping of a promise would further their own interests. Like all Mohammedans, they are ex- cessively sensual. They are very avaricious and this passion is the safeguard which the ruling powers have against their religious frenzy and uncontrollable ferocity; and yet the surface of all Mussulman life is thoroughly religious. God, if not in all their thoughts, is certainly in all their words." The missionary, before he learned that their words were by no means an index to their thoughts, felt reproved when he observed how constant was their verbal recognition of God in all they did, and how continual the avowal of their dependence on Him in all the common affairs of life. The Afghan's morning salutation is, " Peace to you." If you ask after his welfare, he answers " Thanks to God." If you say a storm is rising, he replies " God is great."
On the night of the nth of May, but a few
Isidor Loewenthal 305
months after Mr. Loewenthal's arrival, news reached the officials in Pashawar of the mutiny of the native troops in Meerut. Five days later Sir Herbert Edwardes was summoned to Rawal Pindi to attend a Council. Returning to Peshawar on the 2 1 St he found a crisis impending, as during his absence a succession of plots had been dis- covered. Letters had been intercepted from Mo- hammedan fanatics, exhorting the sepoys of the disaffected regiments of Peshawar to follow the example of the troops in Meerut. There were in the valley two European regiments and six or seven regiments of Sepoys; of the latter the majority were disaffected. It was decided to dis- arm a large proportion of these troops, and some were sent out of the valley.
One Sikh Sirdar, on being asked why he always inquired so anxiously about the safety of Peshawar, replied by rolling up the end of his scarf and saying, "If Peshawar goes, the whole Punjab will be rolled up in rebellion Hke this." But Peshawar was saved. The summer, however, was one of painful anxiety. Mr. Loewenthal wrote at this time, *' Things outwardly seem to go on as usual, but everyone is aware that he is standing on a mine, and that the train is laid. I am, however, perfectly calm, without fear, and feel content and happy."
Through all the uncertainties and trials of his first year in this frontier city, Mr. Loewenthal had diligently improved his time in the study of
3o6 Men of Might in India Missions
the languages, and could say that he had in some small measure succeeded in acquiring the collo- quial use of the Persian language, but had failed as yet in making himself master of the Pushtu." The inherent difficulties of the language, the want of proper helps, the difficulty of access to the people speaking it, and the excessive heat which had prevailed for several months of the year are some of the reasons given why his progress in the Pushtu had been less rapid than he desired.
Unable to penetrate into the Afghan country beyond Peshawar, Mr. Loewenthal kept con- tinually in mind the thought of evangelising the people of this closed land through the press, es- pecially through the Word of God translated into Pushtu, which is spoken from the Indus in the East, to Herat in the West, and from the Hindu Kush in the North, to the deserts of Beluchistan in the South, an extent of country larger than the whole of France.
In the beginning of the nineteenth century, Dr. Leyden, the professor of Hindustani in the Col- lege of Fort William, Calcutta, made the first attempt to produce a Pushtu translation of the Scriptures. In 1811 a translation of the Gospels of Matthew and Mark into this language was completed. At Dr. Leyden's death, the year following, the translation was continued under the superintendence of the Serampore mission- aries, by the scribe previously employed by Dr. Leyden. An edition of the entire New Testa-
Isidor Loewenthal 307
ment, in this language, was printed at Seram- pore in 18 18. A few copies of this edition found their way into European Hbraries, and some, doubtless reached Afghanistan through Afghan merchants who carried the fruits of Kabul as far as Calcutta. When Lieutenant (afterwards Sir Herbert Edwardes) was sent by the Government to the Bannu District, in the year 1848, he found a copy of the New Testament in Pushtu .in the hands of an Afghan. It had been given him at Hardwar, when as a boy he had accompanied his relatives to the great fair held at this place, with the injunction to take care of the Book and neither fling it into the river or the fire, but pre- serve it until the day when the British should be rulers of his country. The man had kept the Book wrapped carefully in many folds of cloth, and perhaps had never read a page of the Sacred Volume, or allowed any one else to do so.
When Missionary work was begun in Lodiana by the Presbyterian Church of America in 1834 copies of the Serampore Pushtu version of the New Testament were given to the Afghans found there, many of whom had accompanied their exiled King, Shah Shujah, to this place. At the time of Mr. Loewenthal's residence in Peshawar, very few copies of this edition ex- isted. After careful examination it was decided not to print this version, but instead, to prepare a new translation.
In the year 1821 the Serampore missionaries
3o8 Men of Might in India Missions
had issued an edition of the Pentateuch in Push- tu, and in 1832 the historical books of the Old Testament in the same language had also been issued, but of these portions of the Old Testament Mr. Loewenthal was unable to procure even a single copy.
As soon as he felt himself sufficiently familiar with the language he began a translation of the New Testament Scriptures into Pushtu. Prog- ress was necessarily slow in the beginning of such an enterprise, but the diligent missionary was not discouraged. Nor was he faint of heart because there seemed no immediate prospect of penetrating into Afghanistan. In reference to this he said : ^' Though at this moment, Afghan- ...istan seems closed, events which may take the most sagacious statesmen and diplomatists by surprise may furnish the key and suddenly the gates may burst open. At that moment let the Church be ready to go in and possess. Though like Achaean warriors we may have been lying ;ten years before the impregnable city, every mo- i ment of that time may have been needed to fit us
I for the final conquest. The representatives of the world, the merchant and the soldier, will be ready for the juncture ; the philanthropist and the political economist will offer to this people their
; civilisation. But what is civilisation without the
' Gospel?"
Life on the borders of a wild countr}^ like Afghanistan, even in peaceful times, was not
Isidor Loewenthal 309
without its excitement. Writing to his friends in America in February, 1858, Mr. Loewenthal said : *' After my recovery from a severe attack of fever, I had planned an expedition into the Yusufzoy country when a sudden attack of the Afghans upon an Assistant Commissioner's camp, in which his tents were burned, five of his serv- ants killed, some horses of his escort carried away and he himself narrowly escaped with his life, warned me that the time was not yet. Rob- beries, many connected with murders, are of nightly occurrence in the city. Some thieves, about three weeks ago, dug into my house, ran- sacked it and came to the bed where I enjoyed a very sound sleep, but did no harm beyond car- rying off what clothes they could find and some cooking furniture. They also took out a large and costly Persian manuscript, but not being of a literary turn, they left it outside, where I found it in the morning, together with the trunks they had emptied. They might have done much more mischief, and it is hard to tell why they did not. The Lord is very good."
The year 1859 passed tranquilly. Mr. Loew- enthal was occupied in preaching and in trans- lating the Scriptures into Pushtu. This latter branch of labour was most congenial to him, and as he gained in experience, his conviction of the supreme importance of his work, deepened. A Pushtu translation of the Holy Scriptures would reach a larger proportion of the Afghans than
3IO Men of Might in India Missions
would a translation of the Scriptures into the Persian language, as only the more highly edu- cated among them were acquainted with the Per- sian. '' It is rare," observes Mr. Loewenthal, " to receive much assistance from the Afghan writers in the investigation of truth. There is no cultivation of their language and literature going on at this time, and the epoch seems propitious for the creation of a new, a Christian litera- ture. Reading is very much left to the women now ; a state of things which can hardly be true of any other part of India. The women can tell you in rhyme and metre what twenty-five things make a prayer nugatory, or what is meant by saying that God has neither quiddity nor quan- tity, etc."
' " Free-spoken are these Afghans," he wrote on another occasion. " You priests read," they say sometimes, " because you are paid for it. Pay us, and we will read, too, even your Holy Book, if you will. Nobody reads to be instructed. Why should we read ? " Mr. Loewenthal found in his intercourse with these stalwart men of the North what the missionary finds in other parts of India, the lamentable absence of a sense of sin and of the necessity of a Saviour, the only basis of real religion. '* Where is the standing-ground then to be found ? " asks Mr. Loewenthal in one of his letters, " from which to work the lever of con- version? Theoretically and speculatively the an- swer may be difficult; practically, it is not; men
Isidor Loewenthal 311
have been converted; this one fact outweighs all theories and calculations to the contrary, and the most satisfying consideration is that conver- sion is not man's work; the missionary is sent simply to preach the Gospel, and no nation, as- suredly, even in a mere moral and political point of view needs the Gospel more than the Af- ghans."
Mr. Loewenthal preached in the city in Pushtu when his audience consisted chiefly of people drawn from the villages, but Persian was the lan- guage usually employed. Frequent visits were made to the villages in the vicinity of Peshawar. The discussions and conversations in the bazaars of the city and in the villages procured for the missionary frequent visits from so-called learned men who came rather to air their erudition and to confound the missionary than to seek instruction. With the desire of the missionary to be courteous to all there was a jealousy of the precious hours that he feared were but wasted in fruitless discus- sions. " The Afghans are the greatest idlers imag- inable," he wrote, " and waste many a day for the missionary." Discussions were occasionally held in the vicinity of some city mosque, but from those encounters he usually returned burdened with the conviction, that no real good had been accom- pHshed.
From time to time professed inquirers after the truth presented themselves, but when put to the test of sincerity which the missionary thought
312 Men of Might in India Missions
it right and wise to apply, and which consisted in a willingness to work for their bread, they were frequently found wanting.
Mr. Loewenthal mentions in one of his letters how and why an inquirer came to him to be in- structed. The man had fallen into perils among his own countrymen. He had been persecuted and oppressed, and to crown all, his wife had been carried away while he was absent from home and the offender refused to restore her. Beside himself with sorrow and anger the man ran through the streets and bazaars of Kabul crying out that religion and truth, morality and faith had departed from Islam, that the religion of the Mohammedans was cruelty, oppression and wrong, and that he was going to Peshawar, where the English ruled, and would there become a Christian. He did not find it so easy a matter as he had thought, to change his faith. When he made inquiries on the subject, of either Hindu or Mohammedan, he was told that every one must remain in the faith in which he was born. One day a Jew passed the shop in which the much- perplexed man was working as a cobbler, and this man was pointed out to Mushki, the Kabuli, as one who had become a Christian. Accosting the Jewish stranger he asked him who had made him a Christian; and he was at once conducted to Mr. Loewenthal. " A wonderful specimen of humanity he was," said Mr. Loewenthal. " His language was neither Persian nor Pushtu. He
Isldor Loewenthal 313
called it Kabuli, and after a good deal of close attention I found that it was a curiously dipped kind of Persian. But one's tongue gets to be very loose in this Asiatic Babel, and in a few days I could talk as bad Persian as any Kabul cockney. The entire extent of Mushki's religious knowl- edge consisted in this — there is one God and Mo- hammed is his prophet. His memory was mar- vellous. To read to Mushki the Lord's Prayer three times was sufficient to enable him to repeat it accurately. Doctrines until then quite new to him, presented to him clearly once, thenceforth became his property for aye. He was ready to confess himself a sinner, but had no conception of guilt. That he was inquiring concerning the Christian religion, gave him, he maintained, a sufficient claim to support, and he refused to engage in any employment." Mr. Loewenthal was eventually obliged to withdraw his support. The man then began to wander about the country, calling himself a Christian.
Although Mr. Loewenthal's chief employment was the translation of the Scriptures into Pushtu, yet he did not neglect the work of preaching. Very frequently he preached to great crowds of " vociferous, fanatical, gainsaying people," some of whom came to his house for more quiet dis- cussions.
In the summer of 1862, Mr. Loewenthal made a tour into Kashmir. " The climate is wonder- ful," he wrote to his friends in America, '' and the
314 Men of Might in India Missions
beauty of the valley such as to sustain the de- scriptions of the travellers and even of poets. Man alone, and his works are here, too, in grating harmony with the loveliness of God's crea- tion. I have tried to preach, but with little suc- cess or satisfaction. Kashmiris understand only Kashmiri, which I do not know yet. I have found people who know Persian, but these belong to the respectable classes who do not form the crowds the missionary usually has to address in bazaar preaching. Some of the latter, however, both Hindus and Mohammedans, have been vis- iting me in Srinagar, and thus the Gospel has been preached to a few."
Of the hindrances to work, either in the bazaars of the city, or in the surrounding villages during the hot season, Mr. Loewenthal's experi- ences coincide with the experiences of probably every missionary on the plains of India. He says, " I find it almost impossible to get back from the preaching in the villages, without being ex- posed to the sun later than I can bear it, and the result is prostration. It is not the pain so much which I regret, as the absolute loss of so much time.
In the evening there is a steaming crowd in a close bazaar with the thermometer near a hun- dred, and not a breath of air, and loud clamour- ing until the voice absolutely seems to refuse to sound." But the discomfort of such experiences,
Isidor Loewenthal 315
aside from the apparent unfruitfulness, was less trying than the conviction that he was thereby in a great measure unfitting himself for the hterary work which " the greatest variety of men, in unconscious concert persisted in thrusting upon him," so that he was often perplexed as to the line he ought to pursue.
Mr. Loewenthal took great delight in cold weather itinerations. On one occasion he was travelling with the officer in charge of the Dis- trict of Yusufoy, who moved about with a large escort of foot and horse. He was asked by his host not to preach in the frontier villages and not to create any excitement. In regard to these restrictions, he said, *' They are woful dogs, but limping is better than not to be able to walk at all," well knowing that only when under the protection of so powerful an escort, would it be possible in outlying districts, to preach the Gospel at all. On this tour he preached in some villages to large and attentive crowds, and in places where he was not allowed to go to the people the people came to him. " I am pretty well known," he wrote, '' to many of the better classes, so as soon as my presence was known, respectable Khans, learned Mullahs, zealous Imams and other clean- ly-dressed, large-turbaned Afghans crowded into my little tent, and we had disputations all day long. I distributed some few of the Gospels in Pushtu and made the truth known to many."
3i6 Men of Might in India Missions
During this tour he spent the time at his com- mand in revising and correcting his Pushtu translation of the New Testament.
In the summer of 1862 he wrote to the Execu- tive Committee in New York, " I hope you will receive early next year three copies of the Push- tu New Testament, one, as you requested, for your Library in the Mission House, one for the Library of Princeton Seminary, and one for the American Oriental Society."
In the autumn of 1863 Mr. Loewenthal was again at the front, '' accompanying a considerable military force which it was thought would only have a march through a hitherto unknown part of the Afghan country and no fighting. These circumstances Mr. Loewenthal thought favourable to his becoming acquainted with tribes to whom he might have access in more peaceful times, and as a large part of the force was to consist of fron- tier regiments, he would always have in camp a congregation of Afghans. " I have two or three services on Sunday in English," he wrote, ** and have also had opportunities of preaching to the Afghans, and have even distributed some Pushtu Gospels. I am not usually exposed to fire; attending the wounded is one of my most arduous duties."
Letters received in New York from India dated the 31st of March, 1864, conveyed the tidings of the death of the Rev. Levi Janvier, D.D., at the hands of a Sikh fanatic. Mr. Lowenthal, after
Isidor Loewenthal 317
hearing of the death of Dr. Janvier, wrote to his friend in England, Major H. Conran, whose gen- erous gift had opened the way for the beginning by the Presbyterian Church of America of a Mission to the Afghans, *' Strange it is that such an eminent and useful man should have been cut off in his prime. Why was not I taken and he spared ? " But the end of life for him also was nearer than he dreamed. Dr. Janvier met his death on the 24th of March. On the night of the 27th of the following April Mr. Loewenthal was in his library deeply engrossed in study. The hour of midnight came, but it passed unheeded. An hour or two longer his fascinating studies held him, then pushing aside his books, he walked out into the cool night air, as was his custom before seeking his couch. He was in his own garden, with no thought of danger. There was the sharp report of a pistol, and Mr. Loewenthal dropped to the ground, the ball having pene- trated his forehead. He had been shot by his own watchman, who, it was said, took his master for a robber. Thus passed away one of the most remarkable men that India has ever l<Tiown. He had spent only seven years in Peshawar, yet in that brief period he had made himself acquainted with the Pushtu, and had translated into this difficult language the whole of the New Testa- ment, and put the same through the press. He had also nearly completed a Pushtu dictionary. He could preach with facility in the Pushtu, Per-
3i8 Men of Might in India Missions
sian, Hindustani and Arabic languages. It has been said that probably no other foreigner at that time in India, had so thorough a knowledge of Asiatic literature and so intimate an acquaintance with the manners and customs of the people of the land and with Oriental politics as he. He had a thorough knowledge of the religious system of the people, and as a disputant with Mohammedans and other religionists he was a master. His library, which filled the four sides of his study, the higher shelves reached by a ladder, contained the rarest books and most ancient manuscripts to be found in any private library in India.
He enjoyed the friendship of men of the high- est rank in both the civil and the military service in India. He possessed genius in the truest sense. His versatility was marvellous, he having what is exceedingly rare, a seemingly equal apti- tude for all branches of study, excelling in what- ever he undertook. He was an accomplished mu- sician, mathematician, metaphysician, and pre- eminently a linguist. As a philologist he stood in the front rank. He conducted a large corres- pondence and was a valued contributor to British and American quarterlies. He had fine conver- sational powers, and in the social circle was a de- lightful companion. As a Christian he was sin- cere, humble, devout and zealous.
After the death of Mr. Loewenthal, Major Conran did not lose interest in his " pet project " of opening the way for a mission into Afghanis-
Isidor Loewenthal 319
tan. He put aside a sum of money for this pur- pose and corresponded with the Mission Commit- tee in New York in reference to supplying the place of the fallen missionary. The way to this did not seem plain. " Feeling my strength fail- ing," wrote Major Conran to a friend in India, " as I knew not the day of my death, I felt the re- sponsibility of keeping the Lord's money idle, perhaps to fall into unworthy hands, and made it over to another society."
Afghanistan still remains a closed land, but the wild inhabitants of the regions beyond Peshawar have now the Gospel in their own language and one day the missionary will enter in " to plant the Cross and teach the Book."
Standing beside the grave in the beautiful Eng- lish cemetery in Peshawar where rest the remains of Isidor Loewenthal, and looking out over the hills surrounding the valley and beyond which he so longed to penetrate, we have thought that per- haps God has now revealed to him the reason why he was held back from entering Afghanistan with the Gospel.
While not yielding to a feeling of impatience because there are yet lands closed to the heralds of the Cross, let us unite in the prayer contained in the old Church litany of the Moravians, — " Keep our doors open among the heathen, and open those that are shut."
XIII
SAMUEL HENRY KELLOGG
1 864- 1 899
Samuel Henry Kellogg was a child of the manse, a son of the Rev. Samuel Kellogg, a Presbyterian minister. His mother's maiden name was Mary P. Henry. He was born at Quiogue, Suffolk Co., Long Island, September 6th, 1839. At a very early age the boy evinced surprising mental activity. A veritable interrogation point, the precocious child asked questions which it was difficult to answer. No priggish boy was he, but remarkable for docility and studiousness, and at the same time full of active interest in all the amusements and sports for which wide-awake boyhood is distinguished.
When quite young, he had a dangerous illness. All hope of recovery had been relinquished, and around the couch on which the unconscious boy was lying, the sorrowing friends were gathered in anticipation of the end. A devout woman, a mem- ber of his father's congregation, gave herself to prayer for the recovery of the child. " God has 320
Samuel Henry Kellogg 321
granted my petition," she said at length. " The boy will live, and will yet preach the Gospel."
He was prepared for college chiefly by his par- ents, his mother, energetic and efficient, taking no small part in guiding and aiding her apt scholar in his home studies. This son when grown to manhood told with affectionate pride of the les- sons in Latin given him by his mother as she went about her household avocations, while he followed her book in hand.
In 1856 he became a student of Williams Col- lege, but ill health compelled him to leave college after spending one session there. Two years later he entered Princeton College and graduated with honours in 1861.
One of his classmates, the Rev. W. J. P. Mor- rison, a missionary at Dehra, India, in an address delivered at the Memorial Service held in Lan- dour, August i8th, 1899, said, " Of the one hun- dred members of the class of 1861 in Princeton College, there were two young men who, by the award of the Professors, and the judgment of the students, took easily the first rank among us in scholarship, mental power and character. * * * Though they were rivals for college honours, yet theirs was an honourable rivalry, which rather cemented than interfered with the intimacy of their friendships. These were Samuel H. Kellogg and Samuel S. Mitchell."
When he entered Princeton College his sim- plicity in dress, his unassuming manners, retiring
322 Men of Might in India Missions
disposition, and deeply religious character, ex- cited the ridicule of some of his fellow-students ; but as he without ostentation, by unremitting diligence and vigour of intellect, made his way to the head of his classes, and carried off the prizes, he commanded the respect, and won the admiration of all.
The year of his graduation was the year of his mother's death, and her loss was deeply felt by this affectionate son.
He pursued his theological studies in Princeton, completing his course in 1864. Two years before, he had been appointed tutor of mathematics in the college, " and had he not sacrificed brilliant prospects at home in order that he might give his life to India, he would no doubt have soon been called to a Professor's chair."
From his childhood he had been a diligent stu- dent of the Scriptures, nor were these studies in- terrupted by his engrossing college duties. While a student he pubHshed a tract entitled " A Living Christ." This expressed what Christ was to him then and all through his life.
In the quiet manse where his boyhood was spent he became familiar with the missionary publications of his own and other Churches. His thoughts were turned definitely to missionary work as a vocation, and to India as a field of labour, through a sermon preached in the First Presbyterian Church of Princeton, by the Rev. Henry M. Scudder, D.D., on the eve of his re-
Samuel Henry Kellogg 2^^^
turn to India. Could the brilliant young phy- sician, Dr. John Scudder, the father of Dr. Henry M. Scudder, when in 1819 he reliquished pros- pects in all respects the most flattering, for a mis- sionary career in India, have looked forward to that day when a sermon from his own dis- tinguished missionary son would be used by God in calling to India a man chosen of the Lord to do a great work for Him, how would his heart have been rejoiced !
On the 20th of April, 1864, Mr. Kellogg was ordained a missionary to India by the Presbytery of Hudson. Before leaving America he was united in marriage to Miss Antoinette W. Hart- well, of Montrose, Pa. In company with several other missionaries the young couple sailed from Boston on the 20th of the following December, in a merchant vessel bearing a cargo of ice to Ceylon. On the third day out they were struck by a cyclone, in which their Christian captain was washed overboard, and the ship barely escaped foundering. The loss of the captain placed an officer in command who was soon found to be en- tirely unfitted for such a charge. On account of his ignorance of the art of seamanship, and his brutality, a plot was laid by the crew to rid themselves of him as a commander. Happily this was discovered and suppressed. As a last resort in a dire extremity, the new commander, having accidentally discovered that Mr. Kellogg had studied navigation to some purpose, asked
324 Men of Might in India Missions
him to take the daily observations, doubtless feel- ing that the vessel would be safer in the hands of the young missionary than in his own. Thus in less than a week after leaving Boston Mr. Kel- logg found himself in charge of the nautical li- brary and instruments of the late captain. He took the necessary daily observations, and acted as navigator until they reached Ceylon, not in one hundred days as they had hoped to do on leav- ing Boston but in one hundred and forty-five days. They had made the Cape of Good Hope in fifty days, but the nominal commander, in opposition to the urgent representations of Mr. Kellogg, as to the course which ought to be taken, took a course which greatly lengthened the voyage.
They reached Calcutta in May, one of the hot- test months of the year in India, and the journey to their field of labour in the Northwest Provinces was, in consequence, most trying. On their ar- rival in Barhpur,* a station of the Furrukhabad Mission, to which they had been appointed, Mr. Kellogg gave himself with all the ardour of his nature to those studies which would fit him for the work awaiting him.
Because of the paucity of labourers, he was soon left in sole charge of the work, assisted by a small staflf of Hindustani helpers. " It was hard at first,'' he wrote, " but had the good result of
* Barhpur is situated one mile from the city of Furruk- habad, and three miles from the military cantonment of Fatehgarh.
Samuel Henry Kellogg 325
bringing me on in the language much faster than I should otherwise have learned it."
After a residence of six months in India, Mr. Kellogg began to take his turn regularly in con- ducting the vernacular church services on the Sabbath. Work for his active brain and hand he found on every side, and unflinchingly he tried to grapple with it. Greatly interested in the youths of India, he found a congenial field in the Anglo- vernacular school in the city of Furrukhabad. He was much interested also in evangelistic work, as carried on in the city and surrounding villages. During that first year he began to make notes on the language he was studying, which rapidly grew into an important work hereafter to be men- tioned.
The writer first met the subject of this sketch in the cold season of 1870-71, when in company with her husband, she paid a visit to Fatehgarh, and then began that acquaintance which after- w^ard ripened into one of the warmest friendships of our Indian life. An interesting reminiscence of that visit is in connection with a typical inci- dent, showing Mr. Kellogg's alertness of mind, and his habit of painstaking in turning to account every particle of knowledge which came in his way. In the course of a drive with him through the city he halted to speak to a native gentleman of his acquaintance. When the interview was over, Mr. Kellogg took from a side-pocket of his coat a book and pencil, and quickly jotted down
2^6 Men of Might in India Missions
something which he wished to remember, then looking up with a radiant face, he said, " 1 have got a new word."
So zealous and unremitting were Mr. Kellogg's labours, that early in 1871 his health failed, and heeding the advice of his physician he returned to America for a season of rest and recuperation. After a year and a half spent in the United States, with his family and a party of missionaries, he left New York on his return to India. This sec- ond journey, by the "overland route," was in pleasant and striking contrast with his memor- able first voyage in a sailing vessel, " where pas- sengers were of less consequence than freight."
The party reached Allahabad in time to be pres- ent at the General Missionary Conference held in that city in December. The one hundred and sixty missionaries present on this occasion, some of whom had come from the remotest parts of India, represented nineteen missionary Societies. Noble veterans from these Societies were pres- ent, including among others Dr. John Wilson of Bombay. " We thought," wrote Mr. Kellogg, *' as we looked over that unique assembly of for- eign missionaries, native evangelists, pastors and laymen, of Carey, Marshman and Ward, and of Judson, forbidden by a Christian Government to enter India. We looked on the dark faces of the twenty-one native clergymen present, and thought of Henry Martyn, who had worked in this very part of India, and who had said that if he could
Samuel Henry Kellogg 327
see a Brahman converted, he would regard it as the greatest miracle of which he could con- ceive; and here were once proud Brahmans preaching the faith which once they destroyed."
Soon after the close of this Conference, Mr. Kellogg in company with the oldest member of the Mission, the Rev. J. F. Ullmann, made a long preaching tour, the remotest place reached being the city of Jhansi, which these brethren had been asked to visit, with the object of reporting upon the advisabiHty, or otherwise, of its being occupied by the mission as one of its stations. The report of the visitors was favourable, but it was not until thirteen years later that Jhansi be- came one of the stations of the Furrukhabad Mission, and a missionary was sent there to re- side. To the close of his life, Mr. Kellogg felt a very deep interest in this new field, watching with ever increasing satisfaction its growth and prosperity.
Mr. Kellogg after his return to India was sta- tioned at Allahabad, where the American Pres- byterian Synod of India had recently established a Theological School, he having been appointed an instructor, along with his fellow missionaries, the Rev. A. Brodhead, D.D., and the Rev. T. S. Wynkoop. His labour in connection with this institution was, however, but a part of his work. He engaged as he had opportunity in evangelistic work in the city and adjacent villages, in preach- ing in the vernacular to the native Christian con-
3^8 Men of Might in India Missions
gregations, and in occasional English preaching. His pen too was busy. It was the careful hus- banding of the odd moments of his every day life, combined with the ability to concentrate his pow- ers upon any subject that was occupying his mind, that enabled him to accomplish such a vast amount of literary work in the midst of other multitudinous and pressing duties.
The year 1876 brought to Mr. Kellogg a heavy domestic affliction. In March of this year after a very brief illness Mrs. Kellogg was taken away by death. She had been a true helpmeet to her husband during the years he had spent in mis- sionary work, and her sudden removal was to him a very heavy stroke. Four children, two sons and two daughters were bereft of a mother's care, and this, in his case, necessitated the break- ing up of his home in India and the relinquish- ment for a time of his chosen work. Hurried preparations were made for the sad home-coming, and with heavy hearts we saw the father with his motherless little ones turn away from India. Very painful on account of the work laid aside, as well as on account of personal associations with beloved fellow workers was the void in the mis- sion circle which this bereavement and this part- ing occasioned.
Before Mr. Kellogg took his departure from India, he saw the completion of his great work, — his Grammar of the Hindi Language, a portly octavo volume published by Triibner & Co., of
Samuel Henry Kellogg 329
London. That this work might be finished be- fore he left India, he was obliged to put forth strenuous effort at a time when his energies in many directions were pressingly demanded. Hindi is the language spoken by more than one-fourth of the people of India, and the need of a scholarly and comprehensive grammar of this language was great. The work at once received the highest encomiums from scholars, who pronounced it a " masterly performance." The reputation which this work and others which followed it secured for the author gave him an honoured place in the Eighth International Congress of Orientalists, held in Stockholm in 1889, under the Presidency of King Oscar II. This Hindi Grammar on be- coming known to the Government of India, and to the Council of the British Government's Secre- tary of State for India, was prescribed as an au- thority to be studied by all such candidates for the India Civil Service as were required to pass examinations in the Hindi language.
It was during this year that his Alma Mater conferred on him the honourary degree of Doctor of Divinity.
The story of the next fifteen years might well be told in fuller detail than is possible or per- haps appropriate in this volume. It was a story of pastoral work in two large churches; the Third Presbyterian Church in Pittsburg, and the St. James Square Presbyterian Church in Toronto, separated by a service of peculiar value to the
2^0 Men of Might in India Missions
Church at large as Professor of Systematic Theol- ogy in the Presbyterian Theological Seminary at Allegheny, Pa. This was a somewhat trying position, following as it did the peculiarly suc- cessful work of the Rev. A. A. Hodge, D.D., who had been called to Princeton Theological Semi- nary. Dr. Kellogg however took the place by storm and soon sat on the Professorial chair as on a throne.
His breadth and accuracy of scholarship, his philosophical insight into the Scriptures, and readiness in quoting passages to prove his points, his aptness in asking questions and his cleverness in answering them, his patience and sympathy and tact in preaching, his missionary zeal, his loyalty and beautiful spirit, and his ardent devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ, quickly won his way into the minds and hearts of his students, and made him master of the situation. He had in a rare degree that highest gift of a teacher, contagion. His spirit was catching, subtle emanations radi- ated from him that no student could escape. Simply to be in his class-room was to be immersed in an intellectual bath. At the same time his faith was the central fire glowing in his heart, lighting up his face and shining through the whole man. Hundreds of ministers are preaching the Gospel all over the world to-day who look back to those years under his influence as a very pre- cious and fruitful part of this preparation. With all this too, there was a geniality and perfect
Samuel Henry Kellogg 331
naturalness that at times manifested itself in what some of his associates felt to be a lack of dignity. He was young in spirit, and it was this fact that lent to his manners a special charm and gave him so powerful an influence over all classes of peo- ple, young and old.
While disassociated formally from the Board of Missions by a resignation which was inevitable under the circumstances, Dr. Kellogg never lost in the slightest, his intense missionary spirit, and both in his preaching, public speaking and writ- ing identified hmself with the great work to which he had consecrated his life. He was a member, during his residence in Toronto, of the Canadian Presbyterian Assembly's Foreign Mission Com- mittee and Convener of the Committee on the Palestinian Mission.
He kept up his scholarship in Oriental lan- guages and it was during this period that he at- tended, as an honoured member the Eighth In- ternational Congress of Orientalists at Stockholm, one of the largest and most influential meetings of that body and saw the revised edition of his Hindi Grammar through the press.
He was always very much interested in work among the Jews and published a book, " The Jews, or Prediction and Fulfilment, an Argument for the Times '' which gained most favourable notice. Another work, " The Light of Asia and the Light of the World " appeared in 1885 and was pronounced " critical, scholarly and brilliant."
22"^ Men of Might in India Missions
A competent critic said of it that there v/as no other book in the English language which filled exactly its place as a thoroughly comprehensive and clearly discriminating comparison of the legend, doctrines and ethics of Buddha and of Christ.
His service in the Theological Seminary in Allegheny, closed in 1885, the immediate occasion being a feeling on the part of some of the Direc- tors that his pronounced pre^millennial views were not in harmony with the general teachings of the Institution. There was a most cordial feeling toward Dr. Kellogg personally, and his resigna- tion was in no sense pressed upon him but was offered as on the whole the best way to avoid any possibility of clashing. His interest in edu- cation was continued after his removal to Toronto, by his membership in The Senate and Examin- ing Committee of Knox Divinity College.
From year to year it seemed as if his duties increased. He prepared the Stone lectures for Princeton Theological Seminary, was prominent in the General Assembly's work of the Presby- terian Church of Canada, and at the same time published largely. All this was made possible by the happy home which had been reestablished by his marriage in 1879 ^^ Miss Sara Constance Macrum, of Pittsburg. The deep sorrow over the loss of his son Alfred, did not prevent his work, but rather sanctified it.
In the midst of his multitudinous activities Dr.
Samuel Henry Kellogg 233
Kellogg received a call to return to India to assist in the revision, or rather retranslation, of the Hindi Scriptures of the Old Testament. He was asked to engage in this work as a representative of the various Presbyterian Societies, British and American, working in India. In this invitation the North India Bible Society with headquarters at Allahabad, and the British and Foreign Bible Society, London, as well as his own mission in India, and the Mission Board of his own Church in New York, united. It was felt that he had special qualifications for this work, as he was uni- versally recognised as an expert in Hindi, and was besides an accomplished Hebrew scholar.
Correspondence and negotiations in reference to this matter extended over a period of fifteen months. This call was one that required earnest consideration. There was on the one hand, his work in Toronto. It would be a severe wrench to leave his congregation composed of people who were devotedly attached to him ; but the work to which he was called across the seas was in every way attractive and congenial, and when, as he had often said while labouring at home, his heart was in India, is it any wonder that his heart went out again towards a work which was his first love? The call he felt was the call of God, and when the path of duty was made clear, there was no hesitation as to the course of action.
In May, 1892, he announced to his congrega- tion his decision to resign the pastorate of the
334 Men of Might in India Missions
St. James Square Church to accept the call that had come to him from India. The congregation regretfully united with the Presbytery in asking for a dissolution of the pastoral relation. On Sabbath evening, September 13th, Dr. Kellogg preached his farewell sermon before a very large audience, including many representatives from sister congregations in the city. " Thou shalt re- member all the way which the Lord thy God led thee," Deut. 8 : 2, was the text of his discourse. The Tuesday evening following, there was a largely attended farewell meeting in the church, to testify to the high appreciation in which the retiring pastor was held. There were present on this occasion not only his own people, but many others from evangelical denominations through- out the city. Addresses were presented on be- half of the congregation, the Sunday school and the Society of Christian Endeavour. Practical interest and appreciation were manifested by the presentation of a substantial purse. On the fol- lowing evening Dr. Kellogg took a final farewell of his people, and soon thereafter left Toronto.
Before leaving for India Dr. Kellogg paid a visit to Pittsburg, where he was warmly welcomed by the many friends who held him in affectionate remembrance. He preached a farewell sermon in the First Presbyterian Church, the congrega- tions of the East Liberty, and the Third Presby- terian Churches uniting in this service. ^).^ On the 5th of October, Dr. and Mrs. Kellogg
Samuel Henry Kellogg 23S
and their four younger children left New York for India. Bombay was reached about the middle of December. A part of the cold season after his arrival was spent by Dr. Kellogg, accompanied by his family, in evangelistic work in the district of Allahabad. Early in the spring he removed with his family to Landour, in the northern Hima- layas, and there with his associates, the Rev. W. Hooper, D.D., of the Church Missionary Society, and the Rev. J. A. Lambert of the London Mis- sionary Society, he began the work for which he had been called to India. A station in the moun- tains had been selected for residence during the summer, because the work of translation could be more successfully prosecuted in the salubrious air of the hills, than in the great heat of the plains, and as it was expected that the work would extend over a period of several years, a house on Landour Hill, Mussoorie, called " The Firs " was purchased by the Mission Board in New York for the use of Dr. Kellogg and his family, and here several of the happiest and most useful years of Dr. Kellogg's life were spent. Seven or eight months of each year were passed in Landour, and during the remaining months the home of the family was in Dehra Doon, a beautiful town at the foot of the mountains.
As respite from his special work could be gained in the cold season, the opportunity was eagerly seized by Dr. Kellogg to visit cities on the plains for the purpose of delivering lectures
2^6 Men of Might In India Missions
to students in theological schools, or to educated non-Christian natives ; or to engage, as of old, in evangelising the simple villagers, in some one of the districts. In evangelistic work of this latter description, a month was once spent most hap- pily by Dr. Kellogg in the Jhansi district; and during the same visit, the English speaking gentlemen of the Hindu community in Jhansi were privileged to listen to a number of highly instructive lectures on religio-scientific subjects. As a preacher, either in English or in Hindus- tani, Dr. Kellogg was Hstened to with delight wherever he went. During the six hot seasons which he spent on the hills, his voice was fre- quently heard from the pulpits of Landour and Mussoorie, and during the successive intervals when he resided at Dehra Doon, the English and Hindustani churches of the mission were privi- leged to enjoy occasionally his ministrations. When Dr. Kellogg's rare power of elucidating the more difficult subjects connected with the study of the Bible became known, exceptional oppor- tunities were afforded him for reaching and in- fluencing for good many in the English commu- nity who would never be seen at ordinary prayer meetings or Bible readings. At large drawing- room gatherings Dr. Kellogg discussed many sub- jects connected with Apologetics, which were, says the Rev. W. J. P. Morrison, of Dehra Doon, " calculated to be helpful to those who have in- tellectual difficulties through the scientific and
Samuel Henry Kellogg 337
agnostic objections raised against our Christian faith. While holding firmly himself to the veri- ties of revelation, he had patience and sympathy to the uttermost with the doubting, and, granting to the full all their reasonable positions, from their own standpoint endeavoured to lead their minds on to the firmer ground of assured belief." Eschatological themes had a great attraction for Dr. Kellogg's mind, and upon these he was often asked to discourse. Of such discourses, fre- quently listened to at Mussoorie and Dehra Doon, Mr. Morrison thus speaks : " Is it not his dis- course, his theme that will account for Dr. Kel- logg's uplifting, helpful influence in those com- munities? So anxious were people to hear him on these themes, that he several times expressed to me a regret that they pressed him to take up such subjects so often, lest it might give a one- sidedness to his ministry, and lest they should be regarded as a hobby with him. It was these themes especially that made his ministry such a rare one amongst us."
Dr. Kellogg had felt that when the special work for which he had been called to India should be finished he must return to America to make ar- rangements for the completion of the education of his children, but as the time for leaving the mission field drew nearer and nearer, his heart more and more clung to India. In his last letter to one of the Secretaries at the Mission House in New York, he wrote : '' There is no shadow
22^ Men of Might in India Missions
on our horizon except the prospect of having to return to America as soon as this Bible work is done. My wife no less than myself has taken root in India, and we shall go home, wishing from our hearts, so far as it is right to wish for any- thing which God's Providence makes impossible, that our life-work might indeed be here. * * * You will have heard that I have promised the Princeton faculty to deliver the annual course of lectures on Missions, the first season after my return. I am as yet only incubating my lectures, but think of taking some such general subject as Hinduism in relation to Christian thought, with special reference to the more recent developments, such as the Arya Samaj and Brahmoism in its various schools, dwelling more in contrast with my little book ("A Hand-book of Comparative Religion "), on the points of contact, than of con- trast. In connection with the work of revising the Hindi translation of the Old Testament Scrip- tures, I am writing a small book in Urdu for the help of our theological students, and our native pastors, on the Typology of the Mosaic Law as setting forth various aspects of our Lord's re- demption work."
Near the end of March, 1899, Dr. Kellogg was our guest while in attendance on a meeting of Presbytery, held in Jhansi. " I had not thought to come to this meeting," he said, " but reflecting on the few opportunities that remain to me for meeting my missionary brethren, both American
Samuel Henry Kellogg 339
and Hindustani, before going home, I resolved to make an effort to be present." At this meet- ing one of his former students in Allahabad re- ceived ordination at the hands of the Presbytery, an event in which he felt a deep interest and much satisfaction. Never had we seen Dr. Kel- logg in a happier mood than on this occasion. He had a short time before received a copy of his latest published work, " A Hand-book of Com- parative Religion," and in his leisure moments he turned the pages of this book, pencil in hand, noting changes to be made in a future edition.
Dr. Kellogg had anticipated that his Bible translation work would be finished in the sum- mer of 1899, and that the work of final revision would be completed in the following cold season ; and with this consummation so near at hand, he was arranging to return to America with his family in the spring of 1900. But God in His unerring wisdom had other plans for His servant. On Sabbath evening, April 30, the last Sabbath of his earthly life. Dr. Kellogg preached by in- vitation in the Methodist church of Mussoorie, a sermon from the words, " Neither shall they die any more." Said one of his auditors on this oc- casion, " It was the most glorious sermon on death and eternal life to which I ever listened. The speaker looked like one speaking from the eternities."
For many years at the house of the Rev. Dr. Valentine in Landour, a weekly Bible-reading
340 Men of Might in India Missions
has been held during the summer, when visitors flock to this station. Dr. Kellogg was asked to give the Bible-reading on the afternoon of Wed- nesday, May third. He replied that it would be impossible for him to be present on that day, but if the meeting could be held on Tuesday after- noon instead, he would be glad to come. Tues- day was accordingly fixed upon. A large and expectant audience greeted Dr. Kellogg when he appeared at the appointed hour. He had selected for his theme, " The mysteries and glories of the end of time, and the great hereafter." His hearers sat spellbound, for he spoke as if for him the heavens had already been opened, and he caught glimpses of the glories beyond. On the conclusion of the discourse, all present seemed awed, and at the request of Dr. Kellogg, the hymn with which the meeting ended was, " Jeru- salem the golden."
Before leaving the house, Dr. Kellogg, with two or three of the company, retired to Dr. Valen- tine's study for a short season of prayer. As they were about to separate some one remarked that Mr. Lambert, one of Dr. Kellogg's associates in the work of Bible revision was that night quite ill. " Then I will call and see him on my way home," was the reply of Dr. Kellogg. He made a brief call, and then hurried on to his own home, that dear home which was to be his for only one more night, — a night, and then for him the morn- ing of a glorious eternity was to dawn.
Samuel Henry Kellogg 341
Dr. Kellogg enjoyed bicycling, and he was an expert rider. His physician had recommended this exercise, and he had found it beneficial. A terrace on which the house he occupied in Lan- dour is built afforded room for a short course, and here he used frequently to take exercise from which he came in refreshed and ready for his literary work. He had risen early on this last morning of his earthly Hfe, and after taking his usual refection of toast and coffee, mounted his wheel for a little exercise before beginning the heavy work of the day. He had gone but a few rods, when the wheel swerved, where there is an unguarded fall of about twelve feet— and he was not, for God took him. How the accident oc- curred will never be known. No one saw that fatal fall. The servants heard the sound and rushed to his assistance, but life had departed.
The news of his tragic death sent a shock through the entire community, and a message which that day flashed over North India, and under the seas to a distant land, carried sorrow to many hearts. A large company of friends as- sembled at '' The Firs " on the afternoon of the following day for a brief service, and then joined the sorrowful procession to the beautiful ceme- tery on the mountain side not far distant, where the mortal remains were laid to rest, " Until the day break, and the shadows flee away."
As the company with heavy hearts turned away from that new made grave, one of the num-
342 Men of Might in India Missions
ber said to a companion, '' Dr. Kellogg knew his Bible well." " Dr. Kellogg knew everything well," was the rejoinder of one of Dr. Kellogg's English friends.
One of his fellow missionaries, the Rev. C. A. R. Janvier, of Allahabad, wrote thus of Dr. Kel- logg in the '' Indian Standard." '* The first thing, perhaps, that would strike one about Dr. Kellogg was the versatility of his genius: he could turn his hand successfully to almost any- thing— could preach a sermon or take a photo- graph, deliver a lecture or prescribe a potion, teach theology or steer a ship ! He was informed on almost every conceivable subject, and could talk intelligently on the most technical topics. It was this in part that made him so brilliant a con- versationalist, and secured the wonderful richness of illustration which was so marked a feature of his sermons. But unlike most versatile men, he was as thorough and accurate as he was versa- tile. He was never superficial. What he did, he did well. What he knew, he knew thoroughly. His careful observation, quick apprehension, and remarkable memory, combined to make him al- most a specialist in every department of work or of recreation upon which he entered.
" Another striking feature of Dr. Kellogg*s character was the clearness of his mental vision, and his ability to pass on to others what he him- self clearly perceived. He saw to the centre of things, and he reproduced what he saw with a
Samuel Henry Kellogg 343
directness and incisiveness not often surpassed. He was as simple as he was incisive. He was simple in his language, even when the profound subjects he often presented seemed to forbid sim- plicity. He was simple and unpretentious in his personal character. He was never over-bearing, rarely sarcastic, never ostentatious. No one would ever have guessed his extraordinary abili- ties from anything in his general bearing. He was a devoted husband, a loving father, and a faithful friend.
" The greatest thing about Dr. Kellogg undoubt- edly was his wonderful knowledge of, and love for his Bible. He was a man of the Book. His insight into its meaning was phenomenal, and his ability to present its truths to others was such as few men attain. He mastered principles and de- tails alike in his Bible study. And it was not sim- ply an intellectual mastery : he was clearly taught of the Holy Spirit. He was not naturally an emotional man, but God's truth and God's Spirit stirred his deepest emotions; and many a heart has thrilled, as he set forth in his simple, quiet way the deep things of God. Any reference to his study of the Bible would be wholly incom- plete without an allusion to his intense convic- tions on the subject of the second coming of our Lord. He was a consistent Premillenarian, con- fidently expecting the personal reign of Christ on earth, though deprecating all attempts to fix the time of the advent.'*
344 Men of Might in India Missions
In the church of St. James Square, Toronto, where for six years Dr. Kellogg had been pastor, when the news of his death reached the congre- gation, they set aside a popular children's service, for which elaborate preparations had been made, draped the church in mourning, and held a me- morial service instead. In resolutions passed by the session of this church they say of Dr. Kellogg, " Although only a little more than six years a resident of Toronto, he speedily secured for him- self a position of unusual influence throughout Ontario, and far beyond it, as the result of his wide and varied scholarship, and by means of his numerous and valuable contributions to theologi- cal literature. It is not to be wondered at that during his ministry in St. James Square Church the membership increased from 503 to 704, and that all departments of the congregation's activity enjoyed abundant prosperity."
From Resolutions passed in reference to his death by the Foreign Missions Committee of the Presbyterian Church in Canada, the following is taken : " Affable in manner, ripe in scholarship, distinguished as an author, self forgetting in serv- ice, and unwearied in diligence, Dr. Kellogg will always be remembered with affection by those who were his colleagues and co-workers in the Foreign Missions Committee of the Presbyterian Church in Canada."
The Board of Foreign Missions of his own Church in America, as well as his own Mission
Samuel Henry Kellogg 345
in India passed Resolutions expressive of the high estimation in which he had been held, and of the irreparable loss sustained by his death.
Dr. Kellogg was the recipient of well-deserved, but unsought honours. Wooster University con- ferred on him the honourary degree of Doctor of Laws. He was corresponding member of the American Society of Orientalists. He was made a member of the International Congress of Orientalists, and of the Victoria Institute of England.
When Dr. Kellogg was removed by death the question arose, How now shall the work be con- tinued? Can the two remaining members of the committee complete the work, or shall a third member be elected ? To introduce a new element at this stage of the work did not seem advisable, and it was finally decided that Dr. Hooper and Mr. Lambert would be competent to carry on the work more satisfactorily than if a third member should be added to the Committee, especially as it was found that Dr. Kellogg had left very full notes. In reference to the course decided upon, it was afterwards said : " Day by day we are more and more thankful that such a decision was reached. As things now are, Dr. Kellogg is, so to speak, present with us all through our meet- ings. We can truly say that he being dead yet speaketh. On almost every question which arises we are pretty sure what his view would be. When we differ between ourselves, and we recall
34^ Men of Might in India Missions
n what would have been Dr. Kellogg's view, the one whose opinion differs from this gives way at once. In this manner his influence in our Com- mittee survives."
Dr. Kellogg was taken away when his life was at its zenith. Counted by years, his was not a long life, yet marvellously fruitful had that life been. Though his missionary work in India was interrupted for a number of years, yet his work as a missionary did not cease during that en- forced sojourn in the United States and Canada, for then, while occupying high places in the Church he exerted a powerful influence in promot- ing the cause of foreign missions. As a theologi- cal teacher, besides performing an important part in equipping many young men for the home pul- pits and the home mission work, he shared, it is said, in the training of no less than thirty-six missionaries for the foreign field. How many through the influence of his life and words were led to accept Christ as their Saviour, and to de- vote themselves to the service of their Lord in various walks of life, eternity 'alone will reveal.
INDEX
A. B. C. F. M., founding Bombay, University of, 206
of, 130 Abdul, Masih, 113 Abolition of Suttee, 91 Afghans, The, 303 Allahabad, School at, 327 Anderson, John,
British and Foreign Bible
Society, 134 Braidwood, Rev. John, 249,
262 Braidwood, Mrs., 249,
her schools. 252 birth, 240; early home Broadhead. Rev. A., 327 life, 241 ; studies, 242 ; Brown, Rev. David, 105 consults Dr. Gordon, 243 ; Breithaupt, Dr., 15 licensed to preach, 244;
influenced by Dr. Duff, Caldwell, Rev. Robert, 243; appointed to Mad- quoted, 249 ras, 244; sails on the Campbell and Blyth, " Scotia ", 244 ; St. An- Messrs., 262 drew's School, 245 ; train- Carey, William, ing Hindu boys, 246 ; vis- birthplace, 66 ; appren
ited by Dr. Duff, 248; yearning for souls, 250, 251 ; discouragements, 251 ; gleams of hope, 252; marriage, 256 ; visits Scotland, 259 ; returns to India, 260; breaking up, 263; death, 264; tes- timonies to his worth, 264-265 See also : 291
Banner] ee. Rev. Krishna
M., 229 Bardwell, Rev. H., 138,
140 Bengali New Testament,
80 Bethune Society, The, 236 Bie, Col., 65, 83 Bloomfield, Sir T., 271
ticed to shoemaker, 66; early studies, 66; first sermon. 67; marriage, 67; treatise on missions, 69; sermon at Notting- ham, 69; sails for India, 72; works in indigo fac- tory, 'J2, ; saw widow burn- ed alive. 74; translates New Testament, 80; ap- pointed to College at Fort William, 82; Paper on Female Immolation, 84 ;_ made Doctor of Di- vinity, 85; second mar- riage, 85; translator to government, 90 ; death, 94
See also: 104, 105, 132, i73» 219, 326 Chalmers, Dr., 216, 232
347
348
Index
Church Missionary Society, 152, 156, 163, 226, 289, 300, 301 Conjeveram, school at, 248 Corrie, Chaplain, 113
Danish settlement in In- dia, 17, 18, 20, 104
" Disruption ", The, 253,
^254
Doveton College, 236
Duff, Alexander, birth, 214; parents, 214; education, 215; licensed to preach, 216; ordained 216; marriage, 216; goes to India, 216; ship- wrecked, 216; in a cy- clone, 218; settles at Calcutta, 219; visits Dr. Carey, 219; school work, 220; reverses, 223; con- verts, 223; jungle fever, 224; visits ^ Scotland, 225 ; his missionary ad- dresses, 226; return to India, 228; joins Free Church, 230 ; beginning over again, 231 ; returns to Scotland to succeed Dr. Chalmers, 232 ; Moderator of Free Church Assembly, 233 ; visits America, 233 ; final return to India, 235; return to Scotland, 237; last illness and death, 239
See also: 94, 201, 240, 243, 248, 259, 291
Edwardes, Sir Herbert,
300 Elphinstone, Lord, 207
Educators, Famous, 22, 78,
79, 80, 81, 84, 89, 140,
154, 159, 174, 175, 200,
204, 205, 211, 219, 221,
228, 231, 236, 245, 247,
252, 253, 256, 277, 279,
281, 283, 285, 301, 313,
Fox, Rev. W. H., 274. 277,
280 Frost, Rev. E., 143 Fuller, Rev. Andrew, dT, 68,
70, 87
German Evangelical Mis- sion, The, 164
Gordon, Dr., 243
Green, Byron, 125
Grundler, Johann Ernst, 27;
succeeds Ziegenbalg, 35; death of, 36
Hall, Gordon, birth, 127; early traits, 127; education, 128; at Hanover, 128; pastor at Woodbury, Conn., 129 ; studies medicine, 131 ; or- dained a missionary, 132; sails for India, 132; preaching in Bombay, 137; translating gospels, 139; marriage, 139; work among the Jews, 140; evangelistic tour, 141 ; sends family to America, 142 ; last missionary tour, 145; dies of chol- era, 146 See also: 125, 197
Hall, Newell and, 131, 133, 135, 137, 144
Havelock, Sir Henry, 95
Index
349
Haystack Meeting, The,
125 Haystack Monument, 126 Hooper, Rev. W., 335 Hough, Rev. J.. 156 Hurricane, A fatal, 285
India, Danish Settlement in, 17
Janvier, Dr. Levi, assassi- nated, 316
Jerusalem Church, The, 22
Johnson, Rev. Robt., 247, 263
Judson, Adonirani, 126, 132, 326
Kellogg, Samuel Henry, birth, 320 ; precocious- ness, 320; student life, 321 ; ordination, 323 ; marriage, 323 ; voyage to India, 323; arrival at Bahrpur, 324 ; visits America, 326; at Allaha- bad, 327; wife's death, 328; publishes "Hindi Grammar ", 328 ; pastor- ates in America, 329; at Toronto, 331 ; lectures at Princeton, 332 ; returns to India, 3: ;. ; at Landour, 335 ; more new books, 338; hi:: tragic death, 341 ; testimonials of friends, 3/?; "Resolu- tions", 344; other hon- ors, 345 ; influence, 346
Ketterin^^-, famous meeting at, 69, 70
Lambert, Rev. J. A., 335 Leper Hospital at Calcutta,
88 Leyden, Dr., 306
Locher, Miss, 261
Lodiana, mission at, 307
Loewenthal. Isidor,
early poverty, 292, 293; education, 293; business life, 294; a political ref- ugee, 294 ; teaching in Philadelphia, 295 ; Mr. Gayley's aid, 296 ; conver- sion, 297; goes to India, 298; at Peshawar, 299; long illness, 309; preach- ing at Pushtu 311; trans- lating the Scriptures, 313; services in English, 316; shot by his own watchman, 317
Loomis, Harvey, 125
Mack, Mr. John, 89, 96
Mahabeleshwar, mission at, 142, 197
Malcolm, Sir. John, 115
Marshman, Joshua, birthplace. 66, 76; early employment, 'j(\ ; mar- riage, Tj; goes to India, ']'J ; opens boarding- schools, 78 ; translates Scriptures into Chinese, 83 ; publishes " Friend oi India", 87; visits Eng- land, 91 ; death, 96 See also : 132, 326
Masulipatam, mission at, 274
Martyn, Henry, birthplace, 97 ; _ education, 98; ^ conversion, 99; "senior wrangler", 100; made army chaplain, 102; ordained, 102; sails for India, 103; arrives at Calcutta, 104; visits Dr. Carey, 104; appointed to Dinapore, 106; translat-
350
Index
ing the Scriptures, 109; Palamcotta, mission at, 302
at Cawnpore, iii; returns Palmer, Rev. H., 268
to Calcutta, 115; visits Peshawar, mission at, 302
Bombay, 115; visits Per- Plutschau, Henry, 18, 25
sia, 116; completes Per- Pohle, Rev. Christian, 51 sian New Testament,
118; at Constantinople, Rammohun, Roy, 219, 220
120 ; death, 121 ; monu- Rhenius, Rev. C. T. E., ment, 123 birth, 151; studies, 151;
See also: 195, 326 goes to India, 152; settle-
Martyn Memorial Hall, 123 ment in Madras, 152 ; re- Mills, Samuel J., 125 vising Tamil Scriptures, Mitchell, Rev. M., 200 153 ; removes to Tinnevel- Mitchell, Samuel S., 321 ly, 156; care of the poor, Morrison, Rev. W. J. P., 160; death, 165
321, 336 See also: 189, 192
Munro, Gen., 52 Richards, James, 125
Meeting at Meerut, The, Robbins, Francis L., 125
305
Schultze, Benjamin, 36
Nepean, Sir Evan, 135, 136 Schwartz, Christian Fred-
Newell, Samuel, 126, 135, erick,
138. 141 birth, 39; early education, Newell and Hall, Messrs., 40; visits England, 42; 131, 133, 135, I37» 144 sails for India, 43; evan- New Jerusalem Church, gelistic tours, 45; new The, 33, 37 mission at Trichinopoly, Noble, Robert T., 46; preaches to English parents, 266, 267; early soldiers, 48; mission to influences, 267; birth, Hyder AH, 52; as a re- 268; at Cambridge, 270; former, 59; serious ill- early work as curate, 272 ; ness, 60 ; interview with ordained, 272; goes to Prince Serfogee, 61; India, 274; joins Church death, 62; monument, 64 Missionary Society, 276; See also: 66, 78, 150, 155, goes to the mountains, 156, 160, 189 276; a working day, 279; Schools for Jewish chil- the " High School ", 281, dren, 140 ^ 282; a fatal hurricane, Scottish Missionary Soci- 285 ; last years and death, ety, 192 287; memorials, 288 Scriptures, Famous trans- Noble College, 291 lators of, 24, 29, 30, 4i» Nott, Samuel, 126 78, 80, 83, 93, 109, 118,
137, 141, IS3, 164, 304
Ouseley, Sir Gore, 119 308, 333
Index
3JI
Scudder, Henry M., 322
Scudder, John, birth, 167; at Princeton, 168; work among stu- dents, 169 ; practices medicine, 169; marriage, 171; sails for India, 172; assigned to Ceylon, 173; removed to Madras, 175; gospel tours, 176; his he- roic wife, 179; visit to America, 180 ; missionary addresses. 181 ; returns to India, 183; tracts and booklets, 184; visits Cape of Good Hope, 187; his death, 188; his influence, 189 See also: 323
" Serampore Brother-
hood ", The, 106
Serampore Missionaries, The, 65, 66, 78, 81, 82, 96, 106, 133, 219, 307
Serfogee, Prince, 61, 63
Sharkev. Rev. and Mrs., 280
Simeon, Rev. C, 99, loi, 213, 214, 227, 273
Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 28, 46, 63
Stewart, Dr., quoted, 240
Tanjore, famine at. 56, 57 Thomas, Mr. J., 71, 79, 81 Translators of Scriptures,
24, 29, 30, 41, 78, 80, 83,
93, 109. 118, 137, 141, 153,
164, 306. 308, 333 Trevelyan, Sir Chas., 283 Trichinopoly, Mission at,
46 Tullar, Rev. A., 68, 70, 87 Tweedale, Marquis of, 253
Ullman. Rev. J. R, 204 University of Bombay, 206 Urquhart, John, 215
Valentine, Rev. Dr., 339
Ward. William,
birthplace, 75 ; edits " Derby Mercury ", 75 ; becomes a missionary, 76 ; book on " Religion of the Hindus", 84; visits England, 88; death, 90 See also: 132, 326
Wilson, John, birth, 190 ; education, 191 ; ordination, 193 ; marriage, 193 : voyage to India, 193 ; work at Bom- bay, 194; as an author, 196 ; missionary tours, 197; Mrs. Wilson's death, 198; "The Parsi Relig- ion ", 200 ; visits Scot- land, 202 ; " Lands of the Bible ", 203 ; second mar- riage, 203; return to In- dia, 203 ; reorganizing schools, 204; "The Sup- pression of Infanticide ", 205; University of Bom- bay. 206; visited by Dr. Livingstone, 209 ; loses second wife, 209; revisits Scotland, 210; last re- turn to India, 211; death, 211 See also: 228, 291, 326
Wynkoop, Rev. T. S., 327
Winslow, Rev. Myron, 175
Wolff, Rev. J., 160
Zenana Mission, A.. 284 Ziegenbalg. Bartholemew. birth, 13; studies, 16;
352 Index
first voyage to India, i8; interview with King, 31;
early difficulties, 20; visits preaches to Danish
Tanjore and Negapatam, troops, 32; returns to In-
23 ; translates , Scriptures dia, 32 ; evangelistic
into Tamil, 24; arrested, tours, 33, 34; illness and
25; visits Madras, 28; re- death, 34
turns to Denmark, 30; See also: 78, 178, 189
Date Due