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BV  2500  .A3  S8   V.l 
Stock,  Eugene,  1836-1928 
The  history  of  tne  Cnurch 
Missionary  Society 


The  Right  Hon.  the  EARL   OF  CHICHESTER. 

President  of  tuf^  Church  Mission.uy  Society,  1834-18S0, 


HISTOEY 

OK    TIIK 

CllUriCII  MISSIONARY  SOCIETY 

n^S   ENVIRONMENT,   ITS  MEN 
AND    ITS    irORK 


EUGENE     STOCK 

EDITORIAL  SKCRETAUY 

IX    TIIllKl':    VULIMES 
VOL.    I. 


"Thou'^h  thy  beginning  was  small,  yet  tliy  latter  end  sliould  greatly 
ineroase.  For  enciuirc,  I  pray  thee,  of  the  former  age,  and  prepare  thyself  to 
the  scari-h  of  thy  fathers.  .  .  .  Sliall  not  they  teach  tlieo,  and  tell  thee,  and 
utter  words  out  of  their  heart  ?  "—Job  viii.  7,  8,  10. 

"That  they  might  set  their  liope  in  God,  and  not  forget  tlie  works  of  t!od, 
but  keep  His  comniaudniouts." — P.s.  Ixxviii.  7. 


I'O  UK  Til   TlIO  USA  .\  n 

LONDON 

CHURCH    MISSIONARY    SOCIETY 

S.VLISBURY    S(jrAi{i'.    l-C. 

1899 

\_AU  r'ujhla  rcH-rvp<V^ 


I.OXDON  : 

I'l.'lNTED  BT  GILBERT  AND   niVINGTON,   tV., 

ST.   JOHX'S   HOUSE,   CLEEKKSWELL,   E.C. 


THE  MOST  REVERP:NI) 

FREDERICK 

J.OUl)  ARCHBISHOP  OF  CANTERBURY 

PRIMATE  OF   AT.L   ENGLAND 
AND   METROPOLITAN 

Tins    WOIiK    IS,    BY    HIS    GRACE'S    PERMISSION, 

RESPECTFULLY    DEDICATED 


I 


PllEFACE    BY    THE    PllKSIDENT    OF    THE 
SOCIETY. 


"SIy  friciiil  and  iVllnw-workLT  gives  mo  1  lie  })rivileL;'o  of  writing 
ii  lew  words  of  preface  for  liis  interesting  and  valnable  coutribu- 
tioii  to  the  due  celebration  of  our  Centenary,  of  wliicli  I  gladly 
avail  myselt. 

If,  as  we  earnestly  hope,  the  completion  of  one  hundred 
years  of  effort  and  of  blessing  is  but  tlie  introduction  to  and 
the  starting-point  of  the  greater  efforts  and  fuller  blessings 
which  our  Heavenly  Father  has  in  store  for  us,  it  is  surely 
right  that  we  should  be  reminded  of  the  faith  and  perseverance 
of  the  early  founders  of  our  Society,  which  enabled  them  to 
surmount  obstacles  from  which  our  path  is  free,  and  overcome 
dilhculties  of  which  we  have  little  conception. 

The  expansion  of  England,  the  stages  of  its  development 
from  tlie  little;  kingdom  of  Alfrtul  to  the;  l^hnpire  within  whose 
bounds  nearly  a  third  of  the  human  race  own  allegiance  to 
Queen  Victoria,  has  for  us  all  an  absorbing  interest.  Little 
less  marvellous,  even  more  absorbing,  is  the  record  of  the  steps 
by  which  God  has  led  us  on  our  way.  What  joy  it  is  to  tell 
how  tiiere  has  been  given  to  us  day  by  day  and  year  by  year 
that  of  which  we  have  liatl  need  :  how  door  after  door  has 
been  opened,  and  one  after  anotlier  has  been  raised  u})  to  enter 
in  or  to  go  out  and  take  up  the  work  that  lay  to  our  hand  to  do. 

Side  by  side  witli  the  story  of  the  C.]\[.S.,  nay,  closely  inter- 
woven with  it  throughout,  is  the  story  of  the  awakening  of  the 
Church  of  England  from  a  state  of  torpor  and  deadness  to  an 
increasing  sense  of  its  high  vocation,  its  great  responsibility.  We 
read  of  the  efforts  made  to  remedy  the  results  of  past  neglect, 
and  to  seize  the  glorious  and  ever-widening  opportunities  of  to- 
day. Light  will  be  thrown  by  these  pages  on  the  methods  of  the 
revival,  and  on  the  men  who  were  the  chief  actors  in  it.      I  do 


vi  Preface 

not  think  that  more  honour  has  been  given  to  the  Evangelicals 
than  may  be  fairly  claimed  for  them  ;  nor  has  it  been  sought 
to  depreciate  the  efforts  of  those  vs^ho  in  all  loyalty  have 
sought  to  bring  into  greater  prominence  the  teaching  of  the 
Prayer-book  and  to  add  beauty  and  dignity  to  the  worship  of 
Almighty  God. 

It  is  often  assumed  that  the  Evangelical  movement  has  spent 
its  forcOj  and  that  it  is  no  longer  to  be  accounted  as  a  power  in 
the  Church.  To  statements  of  this  character  the  history  as 
recorded  here,  not  of  thirty  or  forty,  but  of  a  hundred  years  of 
missionary  work  conducted  on  Evangelical  lines,  affords  a  full 
and  adequate  answer. 

From  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  the  period  under  review, 
and  even  to  this  hour,  we  may  claim  for  it  an  inspiring  and 
continuing  power  which  has  made  and  is  making  its  influence 
felt  far  outside  the  limits  of  its  own  party,  and  indeed  of  any 
particular  school  of  religious  thought.  That  this  influence  may 
be  continued  and  extended  to  the  end,  even  through  the  perilous 
times  of  the  latter  days  upon  which  even  now  we  may  be  entering, 
should  be  our  earnest  prayer. 

May  it  be  that  when  we  shall  have  passed  away,  and  the 
history  of  our  time  comes  to  be  written,  it  shall  be  possible 
to  say  of  us  that  we  have  not  been  unworthy  of  the  great  men 
who  have  gone  before  us,  nor  unfaithful  to  the  great  principles 
which  they  handed  down  to  us.  May  ours  be  the  honour  to 
strive  to  keep  alight  the  missionary  torch  which  they  placed  in 
our  hands — nay,  more,  so  to  feed  and  fan  the  flame  that  the 
dark  places  of  the  earth  may  be  illuminated  with  increasing- 
force  and  v/ith  brighter  and  clearer  light. 

John  H.  Kennaway. 

EscoT,  Januarij,  1899. 


AUTHOR'S    PREFACE. 


I. 

The  History  ol'  tlie  ('liurcli  ]\[issionary  Society  was  first  planned, 
ill  view  of  the  coming  ('entenary,  in  1891.  The  work  was 
t'litrustod  to  the  llev.  Cliarles  Hole,  Lecturer  on  Ecclesiastical 
History  at  King's  College,  London.  Mr.  Hole's  intimate  know- 
ledge of  the  Church  history  of  the  century,  and  particularly  of 
the  period  at  which  the  Society  was  founded,  marked  him  out 
as  pre-eminently  the  man  for  such  a  task.  The  plan  was  that 
he  should  compile  what  might  be  called  the  Library  History 
of  the  Society,  probably  in  four  or  five  substantial  volumes. 
Hut  the  thoroughness  with  which  he  executed  the  earlier  part 
of  his  work  became  an  insuperable  obstacle  to  the  accomplish- 
ment of  this  scheme.  The  time  available  was  nearly  half  gone 
before  he  could  complete  the  first  volume,  and  that  volume 
only  brought  the  narrative  to  the  year  1814.  ]\[oreover  Mr. 
Hole's  other  engagements  stood  in  the  way  of  his  continuing  so 
large  a  work.  What  he  had  actually  done  was  therefore  pub- 
lished under  the  title  of  TJie  Earhj  Rixtonj  of  the  Church 
M't.^.sionnrii  Socicfij  ;  and  that  book  remains  a  monument  of 
industrious  research  and  skilful  arrangement  of  materials,  and 
must  always  be  of  the  deepest  interest  to  students  of  the  period 
covered,  as  well  as  to  all  who  love  to  trace  out  the  providence 
of  God  in  the  beginnings  of  great  enterprises. 

It  was  then  proposed  to  continue  the  History  in  much  the  same 
form,  though  on  a  smaller  scale ;  and  for  this  purpose  the  Com- 
mittee engaged  Dr.  W.  P.  IMears,  late  of  the  South  China  Mission. 
He  began  admirably ;  but  he  was  presently  compelled  by  the 
state  of  his  health  to  abandon  the  task. 

Then  it  was  found  necessary  to  commit  the  work  to  me,  and, 
for  that  purpose,  to  relieve  me  of  my  ordinary  editorial  duties. 
The  time  still  available,  however,  did  not  allow  of  a  compilation 
being  prepared  which  should  be  a  continuation  of  i\[r.  Hole's 
book,  upon  the  same  scale.  A  new  History,  therefore,  had  to 
be  written  independently  from  the  beginning  ;  although  it  could 
not  but  be  largely  indebted — as  it  is — to  Mr.  Hole's  able  and 
comprehensive  account  of  the  Society's  earlier  years. 


viii  ALrTfmii's  Preface 

The  candid  critic  willpi-obably  complain  of  tlic  size  of  the  work. 
It  may  perhaps  be  pleaded  that  if  biographies  of  individual  men 
of  the  century  required  three  and  four  volumes — -Bishop  Wilber- 
force  three,  Lord  SIniftesbury  three,  Dr.  Pusey  four, — a  History 
which  contains  in  a  condensed  form  materials  for  a  hundred 
individual  biographies  is  not  unduly  exacting  iu  demanding 
three. 

This  consideration  may  be  more  fully  appreciated  if  the  scope 
and  design  of  the  History  are  explained.  Let  it  be  noticed  that 
they  are  expressed  in  its  title.  The  History  of  the  C.M.S.  : 
Its  J^Lwikonment,  Its  IMen,  and  Its  Work.  I  have  de- 
liberately set  myself  to  try  and  describe  the  Society's  Envinm- 
ment  at  home  and  abroad  ;  and  a  very  large  part  oi'  the  book  is 
devoted  to  that  attempt. 

II. 

There  are  the  Environment  abroad  and  the  Ihiviron.iicnt  at 
home.  Tlie  treatment  of  the  former  has  involved  the  inclusion 
of  much  collateral  matter.  Men  are  necessarily,  and  naturallv, 
introduced  who  were  not  C.M.S.  workers,  and  events  that  belong 
rather  to  general  than  to  missiomxry  history.  For  instance. 
Bishop  Selwyn  is  a  i)rominent  character  in  some  chapters ;  and 
both  his  struggle  for  what  he  regarded  as  the  liberties  of  the 
Colonial  Cliurches,  aiul  the  sad  story  of  the  Maori  war,  are 
noticed  more  fully  than  the  mere  history  of  the  New  Zealand 
Mission  would  itself  require.  Again,  the  West  Indies  IMission 
was  but  short-lived;  but  the  painful  narrative  of  the  oppression 
of  the  slaves  is  not  omitted,  nor  the  strenuous  labours  of  Fowell 
Buxton  in  obtaining  their  freedom.  Again,  a  good  deal  more  is 
told  of  the  origin  and  extension  of  the  Colonial  and  Missionary 
Episcopate  than  is  absolutely  necessary  to  the  story  of  the 
C.M.S.  Missions.  In  the  Africa  chapters,  also,  and  in  those 
on  China  and  North-West  Canada,  there  is  a  good  deal  that 
is  collateral.  But  naturally  this  feature  of  the  work  is  most 
conspicuous  in  the  India  chapters.  Eulers  like  Bentinck, 
Dalhousie,  Canning,  the  Lawrences,  Montgomery,  Frere,  and 
many  others,  are  prominent  figures.  So  are  Bishops  Heber, 
Wilson,  Cotton,  ]\[ilman,  Dealtry,  Cell,  &c.  The  reforms  under 
Bentinck,  the  developments  under  Dalhousie,  the  struggle  with 
Caste,  the  Sepoy  Mutiny,  the  Neutrality  Controversy,  the  bold 
Christian  Policy  of  the  Punjab  men,  the  Brahmo  Samaj  and 
similar  movements,  i)ass  before  us  iu  succession. 

On  the  same  principle,  the  operations  of  other  Societies,  both 
within  and  without  the  Church  of  England,  are  frequently 
noticed.     It    has    been  my  special  desire  to  do  justice  to  the 


Author^ s  Preface  ix 

Society  for  tlie  Propagation  of  the  Gospel, — the  ehler  sister 
of  the  C.M.S.,  as  the  founders  and  early  leaders  of  the  C.M.S. 
always  called  it,  A  careful  study,  indeed,  of  the  missionary 
history  of  the  century  shows  how  much  the  C.M.S.  owes  to  other 
organizations,  of  which  its  supporters  are  for  the  most  part 
unconscious, — while  on  the  other  hand  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  others  are  more  indebted  to  the  C.M.S.  than  is  commonly 
acknowledged.  What  do  nut  all  Missions  in  India  owe  to  the 
educational  worlc  of  Duff  and  other  missionaries  of  the  Presby- 
terian CUiurches  of  Scotland  ?  What  do  not  Missions  in  China 
owe  to  the  China  Inland  Mission?  What  do  not  Missions  in 
East  Africa  owe  to  the  influence  of  Livingstone  and  to  the 
linguistic  labours  of  Bishop  Steere  ? 

Roman  Catholic  Missions  also  find  frequent  mention ;  gene- 
rally, it  is  to  be  regretted,  in  regard  to  their  aggressions  on  the 
work  of  Protestant  Societies,  of  the  S.P.G.  and  others  as  well 
as  of  the  C.M.S.  ;  particularly  in  India  and  New  Zealand,  and 
more  recently  in  Uganda. 

III. 

The  treatment  of  the  Environment  at  home  involves  the  study 
of  the  history  of  the  Evangelical  School  or  Party  (or  whatever 
it  may  be  called)  in  the  Church  of  England.  It  is  usually 
said  that  the  Church  Missionary-  Society  is  the  most  impor- 
tant Evangelical  achievement.  I  do  not  at  all  agree  with  this 
common  opinion ;  but  the  fact  that  it  prevails  certainly  shows 
that  the  Society's  position  at  home,  and  its  relations  with  the 
Church  and  with  other  Church  organizations,  call  for  special 
attention  in  such  a  book  as  the  present.  In  short,  the  history 
of  the  Society  is  quite  a  different  thing  from  the  history  of  the 
Society's  Missions.  Accepting  this  fact  as  a  guiding  principle, 
I  have  devoted  probably  one-third  of  the  whole  work  to  the 
affairs  of  the  Church  and  the  Society  at  home. 

But  I  have  had  another  motive  in  doing  this.  The  Evan- 
gelical body  in  the  Chui-ch  of  England  is  constantly  spoken  of 
as  dying  or  dead  ;  and  this  view  is  fostered  by  the  Church 
Histories  of  the  period.  They  unanimously  praise  the  men  of 
the  Evangelical  Revival  at  the  end  of  the  last  century — the  men 
who  in  their  own  day  were  utterly  despised,  and  altogether 
excluded  from  the  counsels  of  the  Church ;  and  they  affirm, 
with  the  most  extraordinary  inaccuracy,  that  the  Evangelical 
School  was  dominant  in  the  Church  during  the  first  forty 
years  of  the  nineteenth  century.  But  then  they  absolutely 
ignore  all  it  has  done  in  the  past  half-century — with  possibly  a 
passing  acknowledgment  that  the    C.M.S.,   after  all,  is   alive. 


X  Author\s  Preface 

and  doing  something.  In  fact,  they  treat  the  Evangelicals,  in 
regard  to  the  practical  work  of  the  Church,  as  "  a  negligeable 
quantity."  My  hope  is  that  this  History  may  do  something  to 
correct  this  curious  misconception. 

The  chapters  now  referred  to  are,  however,  not  merely  a  sketcli 
of  the  history  of  the  Evangelical  School.  They  aim  at  being  a 
sketch — very  inadequate  and  imperfect,  indeed,  but  still  a  sketch 
— of  the  history  of  the  Church  of  England  as  a  whole,  from  the 
Evangelical  point  of  vieM%  The  growth  of  what  may  be  called 
"  Church  feeling,"  as  witnessed  by  the  revival  of  Convocation, 
the  establishment  of  the  Church  Congress,  Diocesan  Conferences, 
the  Lambeth  Conference,  &c.,  &c.,  and  the  extension  of  the 
S.P.Gr.,  is  traced  out — and  traced  out,  it  is  hoped,  in  an 
appreciative  spirit. 

In  these  chapters,  I  have  not  attempted  to  conceal  what  seem 
to  me  to  have  been  the  mistakes  and  the  weaknesses  of  the 
Evangelical  body.  Although  a  writer  who  essays  to  be  a  his- 
torian cannot  be  neutral,  he  ought  to  strive  to  be  fair  and 
honest.  That  has  been  my  unreserved  desire  and  aim ;  and 
honesty  and  fairness  arc  never  manifested  where  a  writer  has 
only  good  words  for  his  own  "  party,"  and  only  hard  words 
for  other  "  parties."  But  whatever  mistakes  may  be  admitted, 
it  is  nevertheless  true  that  a  large  part  of  the  immense 
development  of  the  Church's  practical  work  is  due  to  Evan- 
gelical Churchmen.  This,  of  course,  is  not  the  common 
opinion  ;  but  I  think  I  have  presented  a  good  deal  of  in- 
disputable evidence  that  it  is  the  correct  one.  The  general 
failure  to  perceive  the  fact  is  probably  owing  in  part  to  tlie 
circumstance  that  some  of  the  movements  and  agencies  which 
have  given  warmer  life  to  the  Church  of  England  during  the 
last  forty  years  have  had  a  " non-denominationar'  origin; 
and  it  is  true  that  a  considerable  section  of  the  Evangelical 
clergy  have  held  aloof  from  them  on  that  account.  But 
their  influence  has  been  great  nevertheless  :  great  for  Evan- 
gelical religion ;  great  for  the  progress  of  spiritual  life  in 
the  Church  of  England.  They  have,  in  fact,  corresponded  in 
many  respects  to  the  revival  movements  of  the  eighteenth 
century  :  mainly,  as  then,  carried  on  by  Churchmen ;  though 
mainly,  as  then,  not  definitely  "  on  Church  lines."  It  is  not 
wise  to  prophesy ;  but  my  expectation  is  that,  although  so 
ignored  now,  they  will  be  recognized  fifty  years  hence,  just  as 
the  revival  movements  of  the  eighteenth  century,  not  less 
ignored  at  the  time,  came  to  be  recognized  long  afterwards. 

For  these  reasons,  the  Home  Chapters  are  not  limited  to  an 
account  of  C. M.S.  i^cYf^owiel  and  of  the  growth  of  its  organiza- 


Author'' s  Preface  xi 

tion.  Among  prominent  cliaracters  in  these  pages  appear  sncli 
personages  as  Bisliops  Blomfielcl  and  S.  Wilberforce  and  Arcli- 
bisliops  Tait  and  Benson,  as  well  as  Canon  Hoare,  Mr.  Penne- 
father,  and  Sir  Arthur  Blackwood— to  say  nothing  of  living  men. 
But  of  course  the  oihcers  of  the  Society  naturally  occupy 
the  most  conspicuous  place.  Henry  Venn  is  without  doubt  the 
leadino-  figure  in  the  whole  book.  Josiah  Pratt  and  Edward 
Bickersteth  are  also  in  the  front,  and  Henry  Wright  and 
F.  E.  Wi'oram;  and  Lord  Chichester,  the  President  for  more 
than  half li  century;  and  Principals  Childe  and  Green;  and 
the  editors  of  the  Intelligencer,  Eidgeway  and  Knox.  Kidgo- 
way's  utterances  on  important  questions  are  more  often  quoted 
than  those  of  any  other  person  except  Venn  and  Pratt. 

IV. 

But  undoubtedly  the  larger  part  of  the  work  consists  of  the 
history  of  the  Missions ;  and  the  student  will  be  able  to  trace 
out  the  story  of  any  particular  Mission  in  which  he  is  interested. 
Sierra  Leone,  for  instance,  or  New  Zealand,  or  Tinnevelly,  or 
the  Punjab,  or  China,  or  North-AVest  Canada,  or  Uganda,  can 
be  studied  period  by  period. 

The  missionaries"  themselves  are  naturally  among  the  most 
important  characters;  and  it  is  hoped  that  speakers  at  mis- 
sionary meetings,  and  others,  will  find  abundant  materuil  for 
sketches  of  the  lives  of  men  like  W.  A.  B.  Johnson,  W.  Jowett, 
S  Gobat,  Henry  and  William  Williams,  H.  W.  Fox  and 
R  Noble,  T.  G.  Ragland,  J.  Thomas,  J.  Peet,  C.  G.  Pfander, 
C.  B.  Leupolt,  E.  Sargent,  G.  M.  Gordon,  H.  Townsend,  Krapf 
and  Rebmann,  Bishop  Horden,  Bishops  G.  Smith  and  Russell, 
Bishop  French  and  J.  W.  Knott,  Bishop  Hannington  and 
Alexander  Mackay.  Or  of  living  men  like  Robert  Clark  and 
W.  S.  Price,  Bishop  Moule  and  J.  R.  Wolfe,  Bishop  Ridley  and 
Bishop  Tucker.  Or  of  Native  clergymen  and  other  converts, 
such  as  Abdul  Masih,  John  Devasagayam,  Paul  Daniel,  _W.  T. 
Satthianadhan,  V.  Sandosham,  Nehemiah  Goreh,  Jam  Alli, 
Lnad-ud-din  and  Safdar  Ali,  Dilawar  Khan  and  Fazl-i-Haqq, 
Manchala  Ratnam  and  Ainala  Bhushanam,  Samuel  Crowther 
and  other  Africans,  Legale  the  Tsimsheau,  Dzing  Ts-smg, 
Tamihana  Te  Rauparaha  and  John  Williams  Hipango. 

Many  great  questions  of  missionary  policy  are  touched  upon 
in  these  pages,  not,  indeed,  in  the  way  of  formal  discussion,  but 
rather  of  historical  record.  The  relations  of  a  voluntary  society 
of  Churchmen  to  the  official  authorities  of  the  Church  come 
into  view  in  many  chapters ;  and  so  do  its  relations  to  the 
bishops  of  the  dioceses  in  which  it  works,  particularly  m  con- 


xii  Author's  Preface 

nexiou  with  Bishops  Wilson,  Selwyn,  Alford,  and  Copleston.^ 
The  great  problem  of  Church  organization  in  the  Mission-field 
has  two  chapters  to  itself,  one  on  Colonial  Churches  ~  and  one 
on  Native  Churches.-'  The  varied  methods  in  Missions,  evan- 
gelistic, pastoral,  educational,  literary,  medical,  industrial,  all 
receive  more  or  less  notice  in  various  parts  of  the  work.  The 
political  relations  of  Missions  present  important  questions  which 
are  illustrated  in  many  of  the  episodes  recorded  :  particularly 
in  India,'^'  but  also  in  Turkey,'"'  in  China,"  in  New  Zealand,'  in 
the  West  Indies,''^  and  in  the  Yoruba  JMission.'^  The  duty  of 
missionaries  in  times  of  danger  is  a  question  that  may  arise 
suddenly  at  any  moment ;  and  the  utterances  on  it  of  Henry 
Venn  in  the  name  of  the  Society^"  deserve  special  attention. 
In  the  home  organization  and  conduct  of  societies,  the  CM. 8. 
has  initiated  most  of  the  methods  which  have  come  to  be 
generally  adopted,  such  as  Public  Meetings,  Provincial  Asso- 
ciations, Association  Secretaries,  Unions  of  different  kinds, 
Missionary  Boxes  and  Sunday-school  Collections,  Sales  of 
Work  and  Exhibitions,  Missionary  Training  Colleges,  Finance 
Committees,  a  Working  Capital,  &c.,  &c.,  the  origin  and  growth 
of  which  appear  in  these  pages. ^^  Some  developments  supposed 
to  be  quite  modern  are  found  to  have  been  thought  of,  and  some 
of  them  acted  on,  in  bygone  days.  The  plan  of  a  family  or  a 
parish  supporting  its  "  own  missionary  ''  turns  out  to  have 
been  formulated  in  Annual  Sermons  preached  sixty  years  ago.^- 
What  is  now  called  the  Policy  of  Faith — the  sending  out 
of  all  missionaries  who  appear  to  be  chosen  of  God  for  the 
work  in  faith  that  He  will  also  supply  the  means  necessary — 
is  found  solemnly  set  forth  by  the  C.M.S.  Committee  in  1853  ;  ^' 
while  evidence  is  afforded  by  the  experience  of  the  years 
]  865-72^^  that  if  the  contrary  })rinciple  of  lletrenchment  is 
acted  upon,  and  men  are  kept  bade,  the  result  may  only  be 
heavier  deficits  than  before,  while  tlic  total  number  of  labourers 
actuallv  shows  retrooression. 

V. 

The  history  contained  in  these  volumes  cannot  be  regarded 
merely  as  the  history  of  a  Society,  or  of  a  School  of  Pteligious 
Thought,  or  of  a  Church  ;  nor  does  it  merely  illustrate  lines  of 
policy,  methods  of  work,  systems  of  organization  ;  nor  does  it 

^  Chaps.  VII.,   X.,  XI.,  XXV].,  xxvii.,  xxxiii.,  xxxviii.,   lxiv.,  lxix.,   lxxx., 

LXXXIV.,  liXXXVII.,  &C. 

^   XXXVIII.  •*   LV.  "*   XLIV.,  XLV.,  XLVI.,  LIX.,  &C. 

^    XLI.,  LXXV.  ^   XLIX.,   LXIV.,   LXXXI.  '    XXVIII.,   LXVII. 

^  XXIII.  "  LVi.  '"  XLV.,  LVi.,  ;  see  also  xvi. 

11    X.,  XI.,  XIX.,   XXXI.,  XXXV.,   LIII.,   LIV.,  LXXI..   LXXII.,  LXXXV.,  LXXXVI.,  &C. 
'■'   XIX.  '•'   XXXV.  '^    LI.,   LII.,  LIII.,   LIV.,  LXXI. 


Author's  Preface  xiii 

merely  commemorate  the  lives  of  men,  however  good  ami  noble. 
It  is  coucerned  with  something  much  greater  and  higher  than 
these.  The  trne  idea  of  Missions  is  not  grasped  unless  we 
have  eyes  to  see,  on  the  one  hand,  a  human  race  needing  a 
Saviour;  on  the  other  hand,  a  Divine  Saviour  for  all;  and, 
between  the  two,  the  men  who  know  Him,  commissioned  by 
Him  to  proclaim  His  Message  to  those  who  know  Him  not._  The 
history  of  a  missionary  society  is  the  history  of  an  association 
of  some  of  His  servants  for  the  purpose  of  fulfilling  that  Com- 
mission ;  which  Commission,  therefore,  is  the  subject  of  the 
First  Chapter  of  the  present  work.  Realizing  this,  we  areat 
once  lifted  on  to  a  level  far  higher  than  that  of  a  rallying-point 
for  a  religious  party,  or  of  an  instrument  for  the  propagation  of 
particular  views.  It  is  right  and  wise,  indeed,  remembering 
the  wide  diversity  of  opinion  among  Christian  men  upon  all 
sorts  of  theological  and  ecclesiastical  questions,  for  those  who 
are  substantially  of  one  mind  upon  these  questions  to  combine 
and  work  together.  In  so  imperfect  a  state  as  the  present,  this 
method  of  doing  God's  work  is  the  most  practically  successful. 
But  while  each  association  may  rightly  claim  this  liberty,  and 
allow  it  to  others,  let  its  members  rise  in  motive  and  aim  to  the 
height  of  their  calling.  If  they  are  Churchmen,  indeed,  let  them 
say  so,  and  not  be  ashamed  of  it.  If  they  are  Evangelical  Church- 
men, let  them  say  so,  and  not  be  ashamed  of  it.  But  let  them, 
first  of  all  and  above  all,  be  Christians,  humbly  rejoicing  that 
they  know  Christ  as  their  God  and  King,  and  working  their 
association,  consciously  and  purposely,  for  no  object  whatever — 
however  good  in  itself — lower  than  the  object  of  bringing  their 
fellow-men  to  the  knowledge  of  the  same  Christ. 

The  history  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  then,  is  the 
history  of  an  attempt,  through  the  medium  of  such  an  associa- 
tion, to  take  a  definite  part  in  the  work  of  God  in  the  word, 
the  work  of  calling  men  back  to  their  allegiance  to  their  One 
Ptightful  Sovereign,  and  of  proclaiming  His  gracious  offer  of 
pardon  and  restoration,  through  His  Incarnate,  Crucified,  and 
Exalted  Son,  for  all  who  return  to  Him. 

This  is  the  greatest  of  all  "  the  principles  of  the  Society." 
Three  others  naturally  follow.  The  first  is  that  those  only  are 
qualified  to  call  men  back  to  God's  allegiance  who  are  His  true 
servants  themselves.  Perhaps  we  are  too  ready  to  boast  of 
what  is  called  "  the  C.M.S.  principle.  Spiritual  men  for  spiritual 
work,"  considering  our  own  spiritual  failures  and  unworthiness ; 
but  the  principle,  nevertheless,  is  obviously  and  indisputably 
right.  The  second  is  that  we  are  to  be  content,  in  actual 
missionary  work,  with  nothing  short  of  the  real  return  to  God 
of  those  who  by  nature  are  alienated  from  Him,  that  is,  their 


xiv  AUTHOR'S  Preface 

real  conversion  in  heart  and  life.  Tlie  third  is  that  the 
qualifying  of  men  for  such  a  service,  and  the  success  of  their 
efforts^  are  the  work  of  the  Holy  Ghost  alone. 

The  indirect  and  collateral  influence  of  Missions  is  not  to 
be  despised,  and  is  now  generally  acknowledged.  They  have 
promoted  civilization  ;  they  have  facilitated  colonization ;  they 
have  furthered  geographical  discovery  ;  they  have  opened  doors 
for  commerce ;  they  have  done  service  to  science ;  they  have 
corrected  national  and  social  evils  ;  they  have  sweetened  family 
life.  Many  Christian  communities  in  the  Mission- ficdd  are  very 
imperfect ;  but  at  least  they  are  better  than  the  Heathen.  The 
shipwrecked  sailor  loses  his  fear  of  being  robbed  and  murdered 
when  he  spies  a  Bible  in  a  native  hut.  The  Bible  may  belong 
to  one  who  never  reads  it,  and  by  whom  its  precepts  are 
neglected ;  but  its  very  presence  is  an  indication  of  better 
things.  Nevertheless,  all  these  indirect  and  collateral  results 
are  not  the  primary  aim  of  a  Christian  missionary  society.  Tliat 
aim  is  the  salvation  of  men. 

There  are  also  results  of  missionary  work  which,  unlike  those 
of  a  scientific  or  material  character,  cannot  be  called  indirect. 
]\rissions  extend  the  visible  and  organized  Christian  Church,  or 
Churches ;  and,  in  due  time,  they  make  Christian  nations. 
Such  results  as  these  are  to  be  aimed  at,  and  prayed  for. 
Viewed,  however,  in  the  light  of  eternity,  they  are  not  the  end, 
but  the  means  to  an  end  ;  they  are  chiefly  valuable  in  so  far  as 
they  promote  the  salvation  of  men.  The  grand  aim  of  Missions 
is  (1)  to  fulfil  the  Lord's  command  to  preach  the  Gospel  as 
a  witness  to  all  nations,  which  affects  eternity  because  His 
Coming  depends  upon  it  •,  and  (2)  to  gather  out  of  the  world 
the  spiritual  Church  which  is  the  true  Body  of  Christ,  and 
which  will  live  on  into  a  future  when  all  earthly  Church 
organization  is  forgotten. 

While,  therefore,  the  pages  of  this  History  which  deal  with 
ecclesiastical  controversies,  problems  of  organization,  social 
reforms,  and  the  like,  may  seem  to  be  specially  important,  the 
reader  who  thinks  of  the  salvation  of  men  will  turn  with  even 
more  interest  to  those  which  sketch  the  story  of  the  individual 
servant  of  the  Lord  who  goes  forth  in  His  Name,  or  of  the 
convert  whose  life  and  whose  death  illustrate  the  power  of 
Divine  Grace.  Many  pages  that  are  thus  occupied  will,  it  is 
hoped,  evoke  songs  of  praise  and  thanksgiving,  deepen  the 
reader's  faith  in  his  Saviour  and  Lord,  and  send  him  to  his 
knees  in  fresh  and  humble  dedication  of  himself  to  the  pro- 
motion of  a  cause  so  sacred,  so  blessed,  so  certain  of  ultimate 
triumph.  He  will  learn  that  missionary  advance  abroad 
depends  upon  spiritual  advance  at  home ;  that  the  increase  of 


Author's  Preface  xv 

men  and  the  increase  of  means  follow  upon  seasons  of  revival, 
of  the  reading  of  the  Word  of  Grod,  of  united  and  believing 
prayer,  of  personal  consecration  to  the  Lord's  service.  He  will 
— G-od  grant  it! — yield  himself  more  wholly  to  his  "glorious 
Victor,"  his  "  Prince  Divine,"  and  realize  that  even  he,  sinful 
and  unworthy  as  he  is,  may,  through  the  gracious  condescension 
of  his  Heavenly  Master,  have  a  small  share  in  the  work  of 
"bringing  the  King  back." 

VI. 

It  is  right  to  say  something  touching  the  sources  of  tliis 
History.  For  the  first  fifteen  years  of  the  Society's  existence, 
I  am  chiefly  indebted  to  Mr.  Hole's  previous  researches,  em- 
bodied in  the  important  volume  before  mentioned.  The 
Eleventh  Chapter  in  particular,  on  the  first  Associations  and 
Deputations,  is  almost  entirely  based  upon  his  work.  The 
Society's  Reports  from  the  first,  and  its  principal  Periodicals, 
have  of  course  been  studied  page  by  page.  The  forty-two 
volumes  of  the  old  3Iistiionary  L'egister,  1813  to  1854,  are  of 
extraordinary  value  to  the  student  of  the  period,  as  containing 
the  current  history,  not  of  the  C.M.S.  only,  but  of  every  other 
Society.  I  have  described  that  wonderful  periodical  at  the 
end  of  my  Tenth  Chapter.  For  the  second  half-century,  the 
Church  Missionary  Intelliyencnr  is  the  best  source  of  informa- 
tion on  C.M.S.  affairs;  but  the  Missionary  h'egister  has  had  no 
successor,  and  my  notices  of  the  work  of  other  Societies  become 
fewer  and  fewer  in  later  years,  because  an  examination  of  their 
several  Reports  would  have  been  an  utter  impossibility  in  the 
time  at  my  disposal.  I  have,  however,  made  frequent  use  of  the 
valuable  S.P.G.  Digi'sf,  and  of  several  books  of  recent  date 
describing  the  work  of  the  London  Missionary  Society,  the  Uni- 
versities' Mission,  the  China  Inland  Mission,  &c.  The  Minute 
Books  of  the  C.M.S.  have  of  course  been  carefully  examined, 
and  also  a  host  of  documents,  written  and  printed,  on  all  sorts 
of  subjects  ;  but  I  have  not  followed  Mr.  Hole's  good  example 
of  industry  in  reading  the  thousands  and  thousands  of  MS. 
letters  among  the  Society's  archives.  He  did  search  out  those 
of  the  first  fifteen  years.  To  do  so  for  a  hundred  years  would 
be  a  task  quite  beyond  my  power  consistently  with  other  duties. 
Mr.  Venn's  Private  Journals,  and  many  of  his  letters,  however, 
have  been  kindly  placed  at  my  disposal  by  his  son  and  daughter, 
and  have  naturally  supplied  important  information.  The  cream 
of  them,  however,  had  already  been  published  in  Mr.  Knight's 
J3iography,  which  book  has  in  other  ways  also  been  a  help  to  me. 

Biographies,  in  fact,  have  been  my  best  and  most  interesting 
authorities  next  to  the  current  Reports  and  Magazines.     They 


xvi  Author'' s  Preface 

have  continually  thrown  side-lights  on  the  history,  and  furnish 
the  personal  touches  which,  it  is  hoped,  Avill  be  found  to  add 
much  to  its  interest.  No  historian  of  a  century  could  in  two 
years  examine  the  letters,  &c.,  of  a  host  of  the  leading  men  of 
the  century,  even  if  they  were  accessible  to  him  ;  but  wdien  this 
has  been  done  by  their  biographers  severally,  and  the  results 
published,  the  historian  may  rightly  make  good  use  of  them, 
and  is  wise  to  do  so.  I  certainly  owe  much  to  biographies 
such  as  those  of  Wilberforce  and  Buxton,  Scott  and  Pratt  and 
Bickersteth  and  Simeon,  Martyn  and  Heber  and  Daniel  Wilson, 
Marsden  and  Henry  Williams  and  Selwyn,  Carey  and  Duff  and 
John  Wilson,  Cotton  and  Milman  and  French,  the  Lawrences 
and  Herbert  Edwardes  and  Bartle  Frere,  Fox  and^  Noble  and 
Eagland,  Gobat  and  Bowen,  G-.  M.  Gordon  and  Hannington  and 
Mackay — to  name  only  a  few  of  the  more  prominent.  Upon 
Church  affairs  at  home,  besides  some  of  those  just  mentioned, 
there  have  been  the  Lives  of  Bishops  Blomfield  and  S.  Wilber- 
force, Archbishop  Tait  and  Lord  Shaftesbury  and  Dr.  Pusey, 
and  many  others. 

A  host  of  miscellaneous  books  might  be  mentioned,  particu- 
larly those  on  Indian  aftairs  by  Sir  John  Kaye,  Sir  B.  Temple, 
Dr.  G.  Smith,  &c.  ;  but  a  complete  bibliography  would  occupy 
many  pages,  and  most  of  the  books  are  tolerably  well  known 
and  easily  accessible.  I  ought,  however,  to  refer  to  the  value  of 
the  old  volumes  of  the  Christian  Ohserver,  a  leading  Evangelical 
organ  for  more  than  seventy  years.  Nowhere  else  can  one  gather 
a  more  accurate  impression  of  the  actual  contemporary  opinions  of 
Evano-elical  Churchmen.  Through  the  kindness  of  the  Editors 
ofthe^Becord  and  the  Guardian,  I  have  also  been  able  to  examine 
all  the  files  of  the  former  paper,  and  many  of  those  of  the  latter, 
for  the  past  half-century.  Of  the  llecord,  I  have  turned  over 
every  single  page  for  the  past  twenty  years,  and  made  careful 
notes,  before  writing  the  brief  chapters  on  recent  Church  history. 

Eeferences  are  everywhere  given  at  the  foot  of  the  page  to 
the  various  collateral  sources  of  information.  But  I  have  not 
ordinarily  given  references  to  the  Society's  Eeports  and  Maga- 
zines, except  in  some  specially  important  and  interesting  cases. 
They  are  more  frequently  given  in  Vol.  III.,  because  the  history 
of  later  years,  especially  of  older  fields  like  India,  is  so  con- 
densed that  the  reader-  is  necessarily  referred  to  the  Eeports, 
&c.,  and  these  later  Eeports  are  generally  accessible.  It  should 
be  explained  that  the  Annual  Eeport  is  always  referred  to  by 
the  year  of  its  issue;  thus  "  Eeport  of  1895  "  means  the  Eeport 
for  i894-95.  It  should  also  be  mentioned  that  the  3Iemoir  of 
'Henry  Venn  used  is  the  "revised  and  compressed  edition"  of  1882. 


Author's  Preface  xvii 

Here  and  there  I  have  not  hesitated  to  insert,  without  definite 
indication  of  the  fact,  particularly  in  two  or  three  (jf  the 
earlier  chapters  on  Africa  and  Japan,  extracts  from  my  own 
writings  in  the  CM.  Intelligencer,  the  CM.  Atlax,  and  else- 
where. The  whole  amount  of  matter  thus  borrowed  is  probably 
less  than  half  a  dozen  pages  ;  but  it  is  right  to  acknowledge  the 
fact.  It  must  be  further  explained  that  in  the  small  book 
entitled  One  Hundred  Yearf^  of  the  G.M.t<.,  which  was  written 
after  the  first  two  volumes  of  the  History,  but  before  the  third 
volume,  paragraphs  and  sentences  are  freijuently  taken  from  the 
present  work. 

b*>  I  have  nut  thought  it  well  to  interrupt  the  narrative  with 
the  insertion  of  ohicial  documents  and  tables  of  statistics. 
There  ought  properly  to  be  a  fourth  volume,  for  appendices 
containing  lists  of  missionaries,  of  institutions,  of  Bible  trans- 
lations ;  important  Minutes  of  the  Committee  and  other  docu- 
ments;  comparative  statistical  tables,  &c.  To  prepare  this, 
however,  for  the  Centenary  Year,  has  been  impossible.  But 
many  extracts  from  official  statements  and  reports  occur  in 
these  pages,  when  they  are  necessary  to  make  the  story  com- 
plete and  are  in  themselves  interesting. 

No  attempt  has  been  made  to  secure  scientific  correctness,  or 
even  absolute  uniformity,  in  tbe  spelling  of  foreign  names. 
The  orthography  usually  to  be  found  in  the  C.M.S.  publications 
of  recent  years  has  been  adopted.  Fur  example,  the  sacred  book 
of  Islam  is  written  Koran,  nut,  with  sume  high  authorities, 
Coran  or  Quran.  The  Province  of  the  Five  Rivers  is  called  the 
Furijah,  not  Fnnjauh  as  formerly  or  FanjAh  as  more  scientifi- 
cally curreet.  When,  of  two  missionaries  who  know  a  certain 
town  in  China  well,  one  spells  it  Z-l-i/'i  and  the  utlier  Tal-chee, 
an  Englishman  unlearned  in  the  Chinese  language  nifiy  be 
pardoned  for  abandoning  the  attempt  to  make  his  spelling  of 
foreign  names  acceptable  to  all  experts  alike. 

This  History  is  not,  in  the  ordinary  sense  of  the  word, 
"  illustrated."  But  portraits  are  given  of  many  of  the  leading 
men  wdio  appear  in  its  pages  ;  and  a  very  few  small  illustrations 
are  placed  at  the  end  of  certain  chapters.  There  are  also  repro- 
ductions of  three  old  maps  of  special  interest  :  one,  from  the 
Mi.'isionarn  L'egi.ster  of  1816,  showing  the  mission  stations  of  the 
world  at  that  time  ;  the  second,  from  the  CM.  Intelligencer  of 
1850,  Eebmann's  first  attempt  at  delineating  East  Africa  ;  and 
the  third,  also  from  the  IntelUgenor,  Erhardt's  famous  map  of 
1850,  showing  the  "  monster  slug  "  (as  it  was  called),  the  sup- 

a 


xviii  Author\^  Preface 

posed  vast  inland  sea,  which  led  to  the  first  exploring  journey 
of  Burton  and  Speke.  Many  modern  maps  would  be  needed  to 
make  the  work  complete ;  but  it  is  hoped  that  every  reader  will 
have  the  Church  Missioiiarij  Atlas  open  at  his  side,  That 
Atlas  contains  maps  of  all  the  Society's  Mission-fields,  and 
information  concerning  the  countries  and  the  people  which  may 
be  regarded  as  preliminary  to  the  study  of  the  History. 

I  have,  in  conclusion,  to  thank  very  warmly  several  friends 
who  have  most  kindly  read  the  proofs  of  the  work.  In  the 
earlier  chapters,  the  Eev.  C.  Hole  made  important  suggestions. 
The  Kev.  H.  E.  Perkins  has  done  so  throughout,  particularly  in 
the  India  chapters.  The  China  chapters  have  been  read  by 
Archdeacon  A.  E.  Moule  ;  the  New  Zealand  cha^Tters  by  the 
Bishop  of  Waiapu ;  the  North-West  Canada  chapters  by  the 
Archbishop  of  Eupert's  Land.  A  large  part  of  the  work  has 
been  read  by  the  Rev.  Henry  Venn  (son  of  the  Hon.  Secretary) 
and  the  Bev.  John  Barton  ;  some  chapters  by  Archdeacon  Long, 
who  was  a  co-secretary  with  Mr.  Venn ;  and  others  by  the  Rev. 
T.  W.  Drury  and  the  Rev.  I)r,  S.  Dyson,  Principal  and  Vice- 
Principal  of  Islington  College.  The  chapters  on  the  Church 
history  at  home  of  the  last  forty  years  have  been  read  by  the 
Rev.  Prebendary  Barlow,  the  Rev.  Prebendary  Webb-Peploe, 
and  the  Rev.  Dr.  Moule.  Although  none  of  these  friends,  nor 
my  fellow-secretaries  who  have  also  read  the  proofs,  nor  the 
C.M.S.  Committee  as  a  body,  are  to  be  held  responsible  for 
the  views  here  and  there  expressed  in  these  pages,  it  will  be 
acknowledged  that  I  have  taken  the  best  pains  to  secure  the 
general  approval  of  the  most  competent  judges,  as  well  as  the 
substantial  correctness  of  my  statements.  I  must  also  thank  the 
members  of  the  staff  of  the  Editorial  Department  in  the  Church 
Missionary  House  for  important  help  cheerfully  rendered 
in  various  ways ;  and,  in  particular,  Mr.  John  Alt  Porter,  for 
many  valuable  corrections  and  emendations,  and  for  the  very 
complete  Index  at  the  end  of  the  Third  Volume. 

I  respectfully  thank  his  Grace  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury 
■ — to  whose  ardent  advocacy  the  cause  of  the  Evangelization  of 
the  World  is  so  deeply  indebted — for  permission,  cordially 
given,  to  dedicate  the  work  to  him ;  and  also  the  President  of 
the  Society,  Sir  John  H.  Kennaway,  Bart.,  M.P.,  for  the  Preface 
he  has  kindly  written. 

Finally,  I  commit  the  book  to  Him  who  alone  can  make  it 
helpful  and  useful  in  the  promotion  of  His  holy  cause. 

E.  S. 

Chukch  Missionary  House, 
February  1st,  1899. 


OUTLINE   OF   THE   WORK. 


Thk  History  is  di\iilo;l  into  Tuii  P.irts.  Five  of  tliusu  are  in  Vol.  I., 
tvv(j  in  Vol.  II.,  and  three  in  Vol.  III.  The  Nine  Parts  after  the  first 
eover  Nine  Periods  of  unetjual  length.  In  each  Part  after  the  first  three, 
the  Society's  environment  and  history  at  home  are  reviewed  in  the 
earlier  chapters,  and  then  the  Mission-fields  in  turn,  concluding  in  some 
cases  with  a  winding-up  chaptei'. 

VOL.   I. 

Part  I.  is  preliminary.  First,  the  Lord's  Great  Commission  to  His 
Church  is  recalled.  Then  in  Chaps,  ii.  and  iii.  a  rapid  sketch  is  given 
of  the  work  of  the  Church  in  executing  that  Commission  during  eighteen 
centuries.  Primitive  Missions,  Medieeval  Missions,  Roman  Missions, 
and  Modern  Protestant  Missions,  are  glanced  at.  In  particular,  the 
establishment  and  early  enterprises  of  the  S.P.C.K.  and  S.P.G.  are 
briefly  noticed.  We  are  thus  brought  on  towards  the  close  of  the 
Eighteenth  Century,  the  period  which  saw  the  foundation  of  the  C.M.S. 
and  several  other  missionary  organizations. 

Part  II.  is  entitled  "One  Hundred  Years  Ago";  but  it  looks  back 
over  sixty  years  of  the  Eighteenth  Century,  and  brings  us  down  to  the 
thirteenth  year  of  the  Nineteenth  Century.  It  is  essential  to  a  right  under- 
standing of  the  origin  and  early  years  of  the  Church  Missionar}'  Society 
that  the  condition  of  the  Church  of  England  in  the  Eighteenth  Centurj' 
should  be  realized.  Chap,  iv.,  therefore,  sketches  its  leading  features, 
and  notices  both  the  earlier  Methodist  Revival  and  the  later  Evangelical 
Circle  within  the  Church ;  distinguishing,  as  it  is  important  to  do,  the 
first  generation  of  Evangelicals,  among  whom  Henry  Venn  of  Hudders- 
tield  was  a  leading  figure,  and  the  second  generation  of  Evangelicals,  of 
whom  his  son  John  Venn  of  Clapham  was  a  leader.  Then  in  Chap.  v. 
we  turn  aside  to  view  the  condition  of  "  Africa  and  the  East "  when  the 
Society  was  founded,  bringing  the  narrative  of  Wilberforcc's  efforts 
down  to  the  year  1800.  Chap.  vi.  concentrates  our  attention  on  the 
events,  especially  in  1786,  which  led  to  the  Missionary  Awakening,  and 
introduces  us  to  the  Eclectic  Society  and  its  discussions.  Chaps,  vii. 
and  VIII.  tell  the  story  of  the  actual  establishment  of  the  Society  and 
the  going  forth  of  the  first  missionaries.  In  Chap.  ix.  we  resume  the 
review  of  African  and  Indian  affairs,  and  rejoice  with  Wilberforce  over 
both  the  Abolition  of  the  Slave  Trade  and  the  Opening  of  India  to  the 
Gospel  mider  the  Charter  of  I8I0. 

a  2 


XX  Outline  of  the   Work 

Part  III.  is  entitled  "A  Period  of  Development."  The  Society  emerges 
from  its  feeble  infancy  and  moves  forward  with  the  vigour  of  youth. 
Chap.  X.  describes  a  host  of  "forward  steps"  that  mai-ked  the  years 
1812-18.  Chap.  XI.  tells  the  story  of  the  first  Provincial  Associations 
and  Deputations.  In  Chap.  xii.  we  turn  aside  to  notice  other  Societies, 
both  their  work  and  progress  and  their  relations  with  the  C.M.S.  In 
particular  we  see  the  very  curious  circumstances  of  the  revival  and 
expansion  of  the  S.P.G.  in  1818.  The  next  five  chapters  take  us  into 
the  Mission-field,  and  we  read  of  the  early  trials  and  successes  in  West 
Africa  (xiii.),  the  deaths  of  faithful  labourers  there  (xiii.,  xiv.) ;  the 
commencement  of  work  in  North  and  South  India  (xv.),  and  in  New 
Zealand,  Ceylon,  &c.  (xvi.) ;  the  Society's  plans  and  eflorts  for  the 
revival  of  the  ancient  Eastern  Churches  (xvii.),  both  ia  the  Turkish 
Empire  (as  it  was  then)  and  in  Travancore.  Chap,  xviii.,  from  the 
standpoint  of  1824,  the  date  of  Josiah  Pratfs  retirement  from  the 
Secretaryship,  surveys  the  position  and  prosj)ects  of  the  work  at  home 
and  abroad,  and  shows  how  hard  experience  had  moderated  the  sanguine 
expectations  of  the  early  leaders  of  Missions. 

Part  IV.  only  contains  six  chapters,  but  they  are  long  and  important 
ones.  The  first  two  are  devoted  to  home  aftairs.  Chap.  xix.  introduces 
to  us  the  Personnel  of  the  Society,  the  Secretaries  and  Committee-men, 
the  Preachers  and  Speakers  at  the  Anniversaries,  the  Candidates  and 
Missionaries,  and  those  friends  and  fellow-workers  who  died  in  the 
period.  Chap.  xx.  shows  us  the  Society's  Environment  during  the 
Period,  particularly  dwelling  on  the  state  and  progress  of  the  Church 
of  England,  with  especial  reference  to  the  relations  of  the  Evangelical 
school  or  party  to  other  schools  and  parties.  In  this  chapter  we  see 
something  of  the  condition  of  England  when  Queen  Victoria  ascended 
the  throne,  the  great  improvements  within  the  Church,  certain  internal 
differences  among  Evangelicals,  and  the  rise  of  the  Tractarian  or  Oxford 
Movement.  The  other  four  chapters  take  us  again  to  the  Mission-field. 
India  absorbs  two  of  them.  Chap.  xxi.  is  an  important  chapter,  parallel 
to  the  "  Environment "  chapters  at  home.  It  notices  the  changes  and 
development  i  in  India  in  the  pei-iod  of  the  'thirties,  particularly  the 
reforms  of  Lord  W.  Bentinck  ;  also  the  episcopate  of  Daniel  Wilson, 
and  his  struggle  with  Caste  ;  also  the  advent  of  Alexander  Dufl'  and 
the  commencement  of  Educational  Missions  under  his  auspices.  Then 
Chap.  XXII.  turns  our  attention  to  the  C.M.S.  Missions,  and  takes  a 
survey  of  them  all  round  India,  with  a  glance  at  the  work  of  other 
Societies,  and  at  Ceylon.  Chap,  xxiii.  carries  us  back  to  Sierra  Leone, 
and  then  across  the  Atlantic  to  the  West  Indies,  telling  the  painful 
story  of  Slavery  there  and  of  Buxton's  successful  attack  upon  it.  All 
the  other  Missions  are  grouped  together  in  Cha]).  xxiv., — Mediterranean, 
New  Zealand,  and  Rupert's  Land,  and  the  short-lived  attempts  at  work 
in  Abyssinia,  and  in  Zululand,  and  among  the  Australian  Blacks. 

Part  V.  is  the  shortest  in  regard  to  the  length  of  time  covered, 
comprising  barely  eight  years,  from  the  spring  of  18-41  to  the  Jubilee 
Commemoration,  November,  1848,  though  in  one    or  two  chapters  the 


OuTLr.YE    OF    TflF.     WoRK 


XXI 


narrative  is  necessarily  continued  a  little  beyond  that  epoch.  The  first 
chapter,  xxv.,  conilnnes  the  Porsonnel  and  the  Environment,  introducinp- 
us  to  the  new  Secretary,  Henry  Venn,  and  his  fellow-workers,  and  also 
noticing  various  controversies  at  home,  and  Missions,  Protestant  and 
Roman,  abroad.  It  is  supplemented  by  two  chapters  which  take  up  definite 
sn})jects,  and  in  doing  so  show  us  more  of  both  the  lWso7incl  and  the 
Environment.  Chap.  xxvi.  describes  the  relations  at  the  time  between 
the  C.M.S.  and  the  Chui'ch,  and  relates  the  adluision  to  the  Society  of 
the  Archbishops  and  Bishops,  the  attitude  towards  it  of  men  like  Blom- 
field  and  S.  Wilberforco,  and  its  attitude  towards  the  rising  Tractariauism. 
Chap,  xxvii.  tells  the  story  of  the  Colonial  and  Missionary  Episcopate, 
and,  in  particular,  of  the  establishment  of  the  Colonial  Bishoprics  Fund, 
of  the  New  Zealand  Bishopric,  and  of  the  Anglican  Bishopric  in  Jeru- 
salem ;  also  of  the  Society's  controversy  with  Bishop  D.  Wilson.  Then 
follow  three  chapters  on  the  Missions.  Inilia  is  omitted  in  this  Part,  the 
history  of  the  work  tliei*e  in  the  'forties  having  been  practically  covered 
in  the  preceding  Part.  Chap,  xxviii.  gives  a  full  narrative  of  the  events 
and  controversies  of  the  period  in  New  Zealand,  with  special  reference  to 
Bishop  Selwyn  and  Sir  G.  Grey.  Chap.  xxix.  comprises  several  interest- 
ing episodes  in  the  history  of  Missions  in  Africa,  the  story  of  Crowther, 
the  first  Niger  Expedition,  the  origin  of  the  Yoruba  Mission,  and  Krapfs 
commencement  on  the  East  Coast.  Chap.  xxx.  takes  us  for  the  first  time 
to  China,  and  sunmiarizes  the  events  before  and  after  the  first  Chinese 
War.  The  last  two  chapters  are  special  ones.  Chap.  xxxr.  reviews  the 
Finances  of  the  Society,  the  Contributions  and  the  Expenditure,  during 
the  half-century.     Chap,  xxxii.  describes  the  Jubilee  Commemoration. 


VOL.  II. 

The  two  Parts  comprised  in  Vol.  II.  cover  twenty-four  years,  1840  to 
1872.  It  would  have  been  better  to  divide  this  period  into  three  Parts, 
of  about  eight  years  each.  As  it  is,  the  Parts  are  too  long  and  full,  and 
the  chapters  overlap  more  than  is  desirable.  For  example,  the  reader 
will  find  himself  in  the  Revival  period  of  18G0  at  home  before  he  comes 
to  events  abroad  ten  years  older;  and  Dr.  Pfander's  later  work  at 
Constantinople  has  to  be  taken  before  his  earlier  work  in  India.  But 
there  need  be  no  confusion  if  the  dates  are  carefull}'  noted. 

The  first  two  chapters  of  Part  VI.  deal  with  the  Environment.  Many 
of  the  events  recorded  in  Chap,  xxxiii.,  the  Gorham  Judgment,  the 
Revival  of  Convocation,  itc.,  are  the  commonplaces  of  modern  Church 
Histories ;  but  those  of  Chap,  xxxiv.,  the  new  Evangelical  Movements 
and  their  effect  upon  the  Church,  although  equally  important,  are 
generally  ignored.  Chap.  xxxv.  introduces  the  Personnel,  as  in  previous 
Parts.  Chaps,  xxxvi.  and  xxxvii.  also  introduce  persons — the  candidates 
from  the  Universities,  and  the  Islington  men — with  many  biographical 
details.  Then,  in  turning  to  the  Missions,  we  take  New  Zealand  first 
(xxxYiii.),  because  we  have  to  review  Bishop  Selwyn's  plans  for  Church 


xxii  Outline  of  the   Work 

organization  and  the  resulting  controversies,  thus  continuing  certain 
discussions  in  Chap,  xxxiii.,  the  first  in  this  Part. 

The  rest  of  the  Part,  comprising  twelve  chapters,  is  devoted  to  the 
Mission-field.  Chap,  xxxix.,  on  West  Africa,  touches  such  matters  as 
the  interest  taken  by  the  Queen  and  Lord  Palmerston  in  African  affairs, 
the  eftbrts  of  H.  Venn  to  promote  industry  and  commerce,  and  the  brief 
episcopates  and  deaths  of  the  first  three  Bishops  of  Sierra  Leone. 
Chap.  XL.  introduces  the  story  of  East  African  exploration ;  and 
Chap.  XLi.  the  "  proselytism  "  controversy  regarding  Bishop  Gobat,  and 
the  British  relations  with  Turkey  after  the  Crimean  War.  Chap.  xlix. 
also  touches  political  matters,  in  reference  to  China,  the  T'aip'ing 
Rebellion,  and  the  Opium  Controversy ;  but  Chaps,  xlviii.  and  l.,  on 
Ceylon  and  North-West  America,  are  purely  missionary. 

But  the  six  chapters  on  India,  taken  together,  form  one  of  the  most 
important  sections  of  the  whole  History,  including  the  great  epoch  of 
Dalhousie's  Govei'nor-Generalship  (xlii.),  the  conquest  of  the  Punjab 
(xLiv.),  the  Mutiny  (xlv.),  the  Neutrality  Controversy  in  both  India 
and  England  (xlv.,  xlvi.)  ;  with  the  remarkable  development  of  INlissions 
during  the  period,  both  in  the  North  and  in  the  South,  especially  in 
Tinnevelly  and  Travancore  (xLiii.) ;  the  work  of  Pfander  and  French  at 
Agra  (xLii.),  of  Noble  at  Masulipatam  (xLiii.),  of  Leupolt  and  Long  in 
the  North  (xlvii.)  ;  and  above  all,  the  thrilling  story  of  the  commence- 
ment in  the  Punjab  and  on  the  Afghan  Frontier  (xliv.)  under  the  auspices 
of  the  Lawrences,  Edwardes,  Montgomery,  and  others. 

Part  VII.,  like  Part  VI.,  would  have  been  better  if  a  somewhat  shorter 
period  had  been  included  in  it.  The  fact,  little  known  but  very  im- 
portant, that  the  years  1865-72  were  a  time,  not  oidy  of  depression,  but 
actually  of  retrogression,  would  have  come  out  more  clearly.  Let  it  be 
emphasized  here,  however,  that  in  1872  the  Society  had  actually  twelve 
men  /cs.s  on  the  roll  than  in  180''3.  The  careful  reader  will  find  why  it 
was  so. 

The  first  two  chapters  of  this  Part  also  are  devoted  to  the  Environ- 
ment. The  "  High  "  and  "  Low  "  movements  are  not  taken  separately, 
however,  as  they  were  in  Part  VI.  One  chapter  is  occupied  with  the 
controversies  of  the  period,  and  the  other  with  Church  affairs  and  some 
Home  Mission  developments.  Then  Chaps.  Liii.  and  Liv.  give  us,  as  ni 
previous  parts,  the  ^jf'/'.sowMc/ and  inner  history  of  the  Society;  the  account 
of  the  candidates  in  Chap.  liv.  leading  up  to  the  establishment  of  the 
Day  of  Intercession. 

Chap.  LV.,  on  Native  Church  Organization,  is  complementary  to 
Chap,  xxxviii.  in  the  preceding  Part.  The  next  twelve  chapters  again 
take  lis  round  the  Mission-field.  First,  West  Africa,  telling,  on  the  one 
hand,  of  the  discouragements  and  repulses  everywhere  (lvi.),  and,  on 
the  other  hand,  of  Bishop  Crowther's  work  on  the  Niger  (lvii.)  ;  then 
Mamitius,  and  the  short-lived  Mission  in  Madagascar  (lviii.)  ;  then 
five  chapters  on  India.  Of  these  five,  four  are  arranged  neither  geo- 
graphically nor  chronologically,  but  topically,  introducing  us  to  the  great 
Anglo-Indians  of  the  period  (lix.),  to  the   Brahmo  Samaj   and  similar 


OCTLINE    OF    THE     WORK  Xxiii 

movements  (ta.),  to  tlio  varied  missioiiaiy  methods  and  agencies  (lAi.), 
and  commcmoratinfit  the  noble  missionaries  who  died  in  the  period 
(r,xii.):  while  the  fifth  (lxiii.),  on  tlie  Punjab,  is  notable  for  its  narra- 
tives of  converts  from  Islam.  Advances  and  trials  in  China  (lxiv.),  the 
opening  of  Japan  (lxv.),  the  establishment  of  Metlakahtla  fLXVi.),  follow 
in  succession;  and,  lastly,  comes  a  full  account  (lxvii.)  of  the  dark 
period  of  war  in  New  Zealand. 

The  last  chapter  of  the  Part,  Lxviii.,  winds  np  the  history  of  the 
period  with  a  sketch  of  Henry  Venn's  latter  days,  closing  with  his  death. 

VOL.  TTT. 

Part  VIII.  covers  the  eight  years  of  Henry  Wright's  Secretaryship,  bnt 
carries  on  the  history  two  years  after  his  death,  partly  that  the  great 
epoch  of  change  in  Salisbury  Square,  18l~!0-82,  may  clearly  ajipear,  and 
partly  to  mark  the  epoch  in  Engli.sh  (-hin-ch  history  of  Archbishop  Tait's 
death  at  the  end  of  1882. 

We  begin,  as  before,  by  snrveying  the  Environment,  first  the  Church 
Movements  and  leading  men  of  the  period  (lxix.),  and  then  (lxx.) 
the  Evangelistic  and  Spiritual  Movements  associated  with  the  names  of 
Aitken,  Moody,  Pennefather,  Battersby,  &c.  Then  we  come  to  the 
Society  itself,  and  note  the  men  and  work  of  these  energetic  years 
(lxxi.)  ;  stopping,  however,  just  before  Mr.  Wright's  death,  and 
leaving  that  event  and  its  issues  to  come  at  the  end  of  the  Part.  A 
supplementary  chapter  (lxxii.)  describes  the  Society's  home  organiza- 
tion. 

The  chapters  on  the  Missions  are  eleven  in  mnnber.  First  Ave  see 
the  revival  of  vigorous  efforts  in  and  for  Africa  (lxx in.),  mostly  con- 
sequent on  the  death  of  Livingstone;  and,  in  particular  (lxxiv.),  the 
commencement  in  Uganda.  Then  we  take  np  Missions  to  Moham- 
medans (lxxv.)  in  Palestine,  Persia,  &c.  India  absoibs  four  chapters 
this  time,  three  of  them  reviewing  the  work  by  dioceses.  First,  Calcutta 
and  Bombay  (lxxvi.),  inti'oducing  the  Prince  of  Wales's  visit,  Vaughan's 
struggle  with  Caste  in  Krishnagar,  and  some  educational  questions  : 
then  Lahore  (lxxvii.),  and  the  work  of  French,  Clark,  Bateman,  and 
Gordon  ;  and  then  Madras  (lxxviii.),  with  Bishops  Sargent  and  Cald- 
well in  Tinnevelly,  the  Great  Famine,  the  Travancore  Revival  and 
Schism,  itc.  The  fourth  Indian  chapter  (lxxix.)  naiTates  the  efforts  to 
influence  the  non-Aryan  Hill  Tribes,  Santals,  Gonds,  &c.  Chap,  i.xxx. 
discusses  the  ecclesiastical  questions  that  arose  in  both  India  and  Cejdon 
at  this  time,  and,  in  particidar,  tells  the  story  of  the  famous  Ceylon  Con- 
troversy. The  China  chapter  (lxxxi.)  tells  of  development  and  advance 
amid  many  difficnlties ;  and  a  short  section  at  the  end  of  it  summai'izes 
the  few  yet  important  incidents  of  the  period  in  Japan.  Chap.  Lxxxii. 
takes  us  back  to  North  America,  reviews  the  work  by  dioceses,  and,  at 
the  end,  begins  the  story  of  Bishop  Ridley's  episcopate  on  the  North 
Pacific  coast. 

The  closing  chapter  of  the  Part  (i.xxxiii.),  as  above  indicated,  relates 


xxiv  Outline  of  the   Work 

the  important  events  of  1880-82,  Mr.  Wright's  death,  the  changes  in  the 
Church  Missionary  House  that  followed,  and  the  emergence  of  the 
Society  from  the  Period  of  Ketrenchment  into  the  Peiiod  of  Expansion. 

Part  IX.  is  devoted  to  the  period  of  Mr.  Wigram's  Secretaryship, 
except  that  the  events  of  his  first  two  years,  1881-2,  have  been  mostly 
included  in  Part  VIII.  The  Home  Chapters  are  relatively  fuller  in  this 
Part  than  in  any  other,  the  Period  having  been  marked  by  so  many  new 
developments.  Commencing  with  the  Environment  as  usual.  Chapter 
Lxxxiv.  introduces  us  to  Archbishop  Benson's  Primacy  and  many  of 
the  events  that  occurred  in  its  earlier  years;  also  to  the  rise  of  the 
modern  missionary  movements  at  Cambridge  and  in  connexion  with  the 
Keswick  Convention.  In  Chap,  lxxxv.  the  Fersonneloi  the  Society  during 
the  period  is  described,  and  the  incidents  are  noticed  which  made  1883-4 
the  commencement  of  a  new  era  of  progress.  Chap.  lxxXVi.  is  entirely 
devoted  to  the  "  three  memorable  years  "  that  followed,  1 885-7,  dwelling 
on  their  encouraging  features,  while  Chap,  lxxxvii.  notices  various 
internal  controversies  of  the  period,  touching  the  Jerusalem  bishopric, 
&c.,  and  also  the  attacks  of  Canon  Isaac  Taylor  and  others.  In  Cliap. 
Lxxxviii.  the  numerous  missionary  recruits  of  the  period  are  introduced. 

Then,  turning  to  the  foreign  field,  we  have  three  long  and  full  chapters 
on  African  aftairs.  The  first  two  are  entitled  "  High  Hopes  and  Sore 
Sorrows " :  Chap,  lxxxix.  relating  the  developments,  difllculties,  and 
deaths  in  the  West  Africa  Missions,  particularly  on  the  Niger  ;  and 
Chap.  xc.  the  advances  and  the  trials  of  the  period  in  East  Africa  and 
Uganda.  Chap.  xci.  continues  the  latter  story,  with  especial  reference 
to  the  steps  which  led  to  the  establishment  of  the  Uganda  Protectorate. 
The  following  seven  chapters,  xcii.  to  xcviii.,  take  us  in  succession  to 
India,  Ceylon,  Mauritius,  and  New  Zealand ;  to  Persia,  Palestine,  and 
Egypt ;  to  China  and  Japan  ;  and  to  the  Dominion  of  Canada. 

Finally,  Chaps,  xcix.  and  c.  resume  the  Home  narrative,  reviewing 
the  proceedings  of  various  Conferences  and  Congresses  held  during  the 
period,  and  the  incidents  of  seven  years,  1888-94,  showing  the  results  of 
the  Policy  of  Faith. 

Part  X.,  in  six  closing  chapters,  reviews  the  events  of  the  past  four 
years,  and  seeks  to  draw  from  the  whole  history  lessons  for  our  guidance 
and  encouragement  in  the  time  to  come.  Chaps,  ci.  and  cii.  are  devoted 
to  Home  affairs ;  Chaps,  cm.  and  civ.  to  Africa  and  Asia  respectively ; 
Chap.  cv.  to  brief  obituary  notices ;  and  Chap.  cvi.  looks  back,  around, 
and  forward,  in  final  and  farewell  survey. 


CONTENTS   OF   VOL.    I. 

PAGE 

Outline  of  the  Wouk xix 

PRELIMINARY  CHAPTERS. 

CHAPTER  I. 

The  Great  Com;\iissiox 3 

CHAPTER  II. 

Missions  before  the  Reformation. 

The  Apostolic  As^o — Conversion  of  the  Roinaii  Empire — of  the 
Northern  Nations — Patrick,  Anschar,  Rayimnid  Lnll,  i^-c. — 
Nestorian  Missions  in  Asia — Mohammedanism  .         .         .         .         (i 

CHAPTER  III. 

Missions  after  the  Reformation. 

Roman  Missions — Francis  Xavier — Early  Protestant  Efforts — Eliot 
and  the  Red  Indians — Cromwell,  Robert  Boyle,  Dr.  liray — 
S.P.C.K.  and  S.P.G.  —  Bishop  Berkeley  —  Ziegenbali;'  and 
Schwartz — Hans  Egede — The  Moravians — Brainerd  .         .         .       IG 


3Part  M. 
ONE    HUNDRED  YEARS   AGO. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

The  Eighteenth  Century  and  the  Evangelical  Revival. 

The  Chnrch  nnder  the  Georges  —  Butler  and  Wesley  —  The 
Methodist  Movement — Wesleyans,  Calvinists,  Evangelicals — 
The  Last  Decade — Second  Generation  of  Evangelicals — The 
Clapham  Sect       . ol 

CHAPTER  V. 

Africa  and  the  East — Waiting. 

The  Dark  Continent — England  and  the  Slave  Trade — Granville 
Sharp,  Clarkson,  Wilberforce — 'l"he  Struggle  for  Abolition — 
The  East  India  Company — Religion  in  British  India  in  the 
Eighteenth  Century — Chai-les  C!rant  and  Wilberforce — The 
Dark  Period  in  India — Other  Eastern  Lands,  Waiting      .         .       45 


XX  vi  Contents 

CHAPTER  VI. 

The  Missionary  Awakening. 
The  Twelve  Events  of  ]  786  —  Charles  Simeon  —  Carey — The 
Baptist  and  London  Missionary  Societies — The  Eclectic  Dis- 
cussions— Botany  Bay — Simeon  in  earnest — Josiah  Pratt  and 
John  Venn — Why  form  a  new  Society  ?  — L  M.S.  not  desirable, 
S.P.G.  not  possible 


CHAPTER  VTI. 

The  New  Society  and  its  Early  Struggles. 
April    12th,    1799— The    Men    and   their   Plans— Waiting   for   the 
Archbishop — Men,  Money,  and  Openings  wanted — The  First 
Five  Sermons — Thomas  Scott  and  Josiah  Pratt  ...       68 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

The  First  Missionaries. 
Henry  Martyn's   Offer— The   Men  from   Berlin— Their  Training— 
The  First  Valedictory  Meetings— The  First  Voyages  Out— the 
First  Englishmen  accepted — Ordination  Difficulties  .         .         .81 

CHAPTER  IX. 
Africa  and  India:  Struggle  and  Victory. 
Renewed  Anti-Slave-Trade  Campaign — Wilberforce's  Triumph — 
Sierra  Leone — India  in  the  Dark  Peidod — Carey  and  Seram- 
pore — Claudius  Buchanan — The  Vellore  Mutiny — Controversy 
at  Home — The  Charter  Debates — Another  Victory — India 
Open     ............       U:3 


A   PERIOD   OF   DEVELOPMENT:     1812—1824. 

CHAPTER  X. 

Forward  Steps. 
Signs  and  Causes  of  Coming  Developriient — The  President — New 
Rules— Salisbury  Square — Ainiual  Meetings  and  Sermons — 
Valedictory  Meetings — Public  Affairs:  Fall  of  Napoleon: 
State  of  the  Country — More  Openings  for  Work — Transla- 
tional  Undertakings — Samuel  Lee — Offers  of  Service — Special 
Funds — The  Missionary  Register  .         .         .     •     .         .         .     107 

CHAPTER  XL 

Rousing  the  Country  :  the  Associations. 
Growing  Needs — Plans  for  Associations  — The  Start  at  Bristol — 
Basil  Woodd's  Yorkshire  Journey — Featiu-es  of  the  Campaign  : , 
Obstacles,  Opposition  within  and  without  the    Chiu-ch,    Suc- 
cesses,    Spiritual     Influence,    Hymns — Norwich,    Cambridge, 
Liverpool,  Ireland- -Grandfathers  of  the  Present  Generation    .     129 

CHAPTER  XII. 

C.M.S.  and  Other  Societies. 
The  S.P.C.K.  and  S.P.G.  at  this  Period— The  Archdeacon  of  Bath's 
Attack  on   C.M.S. — Awakening  in    S.P.G. :    the  Royal  Letter 
• — Pratt's  Propayanda — Heber  proposes  union  of  S.P.G.  and 


CoXTFXrS  XX  vu 


I'AOK 


C.M.S.— The  Bible  Society.  Jews'  Society,  Prayer  Bix.k  and 
Homily  Society,  Religious  Tract  Society,  Nonconformist 
Missionary  Societies — Fomulation  <>f  tlif  American  Churcli 
Missions  .         .         •         •  •         •  .14* 

CHAPTER  XITT. 

SiETiRA  Leone  :  The  White  Mans  Urave;  The  Black  Mans  Like. 

Earlv  Efforts— The  Snsn  Mission— Edward  Bickersteth's  Visit— 
Work  amonu  the  Liberated  Slaves— "W.  A.  B.  Johnstm  and 
H.  Diirino— The  Revival  at  Regent— The  Fever  and  its  Victims 
—West  Africa  not  a  Debtor  but  a  Creditor         ....     l-"<i 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
The  Finlshed  Course. 

Miss  Childe's  Book— Some  Martyrs  for  Christ  in  AVest  Africa- 
Rev.  W.  Garnon— Cates— A  Negro's  Wail— Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Palmer— C.  Knight  and  H.  Brooks  Xyliiiulers  Daughters  - 
Kissy  Churcliyard 1 '  •"' 

CHAPTER  XV. 

India  :  Entering  the  Opened  Door. 
C.M.S.  Work  begun  before  the  Opening -The  Calcutta  Corre- 
sponding Committee— Corrie  and  Abdul  Masih— The  First 
Missionaries— The  Bishopric  of  Calcutta— liishop  Middleton 
— Bishop's  College — Bishop  Helper— Burdwan  and  its  Schools 
—Miss  Cooke's  Girls'  School— Benares,  Agra,  Meirnt— The 
Sepoy  Convert— Madras  and  Tinnevelly— Hough  and  Rhenius     182 

CHAPTER  XVI. 
Insular  Missions  :  New  Zealand,  Ceylon,  West  Indies.  Malta. 
Samuel  Marsden  and  the  Maoris— The  New  Zealand  Mission— 
Chri.stmas  Day,  IS  14— The  Lay  Settlers— Trials  and  Di.s- 
appointments— Henry  and  William  Williams  -The  Openings 
in  Ceylon  and  the  First  Missicmaries — Antigun,  Barbadops. 
Honduras— Malta  as  a  Centre  of  Influence         ....     20-3 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

Tni:  EAsTi;r>x  Churches:  Efforts  for  their  Revival. 

The  Connuittee's  Eyes  upon  the  East— An  Appeal  from  Malta — 
William  Jowett— C.M.S.  Policy  with  the  Eastern  Churches— 
The  Bible  for  the  Eastern  Churches— Promising  Beginnings 
— Tiukish  Atiocities— The  Syrian  Church  of  Travancore — 
Buchanan  and  Colonel  Mimro"  C.M.S.  Designs— Fenn,  Bailey, 
Baker --1 

CHAPTER  XVTTI. 
The  Outlook  after  Twenty-five  Years. 
Josiah  Pratt  retires— Sombi-e  Tone  of  his  Last  Rei)ort— Cunning- 
ham on  the  Great  Enemy— Discoiuagement  and  Repulse  in 
the  Mission  Field— Deaths— New  Friends— The  Anniversaries 
—Men  and  Means-  Ordinations -New  N.-W.  America  Mission 
—  The  S.V.:M.U.  Motto  anticipated-  The  One  Hoi)e.  an  Out- 
pouring of  the  Spirit --j^j 


xxviii  Contents 

FROM   PRATT'S   RETIREMENT  TO  VENN'S  ACCESSION: 

1824— 1841. 
CHAPTER  XIX. 

The  Personnel  of  the  Period.  page 

Dandeson  Coates — Edward  Bickersteth — The  Committee — Lord 
Chichester  President  —  Tlie  two  Bishops  Smiiner  —  The 
Preachers  and  Speakers — B.  Noel  and  Dale  suggest  "  Own 
Missionaries" — The  Missionaries — The  CM.  College — Deaths 
— Simeon  and  Wilberforce 2-">l 

CHAPTER  XX. 

The  Environment  of  the  Period. 

Pulilic  Affairs — The  Reform  Bill  and  the  Bishops — Accession  of 
Queen  Victoria — Church  Reform — Evangelical  Improvements 
—The  C.P.A.S.— Growth  of  S.P.G.— Bishop  Blomfield— Open- 
ing of  Exeter  Hall — Bible  Society  Controversies — Prayer  at 
Public  Meetings — Calvinistic  Disputes — Edward  Irving — 
Plymouth  Brethren  —  Prophetical  Studies  —  Pratt  warns 
against  Disunion — The  Tractarian  Movement :  Keble  and 
Newniian — Attitude  of  the  Evangelicals  ;  and  of  C.M.S.     .         .     270 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

India  :   Changes  and  Developments. 

The  Bishops — Daniel  Wilson — Lord  W.  Bentinck — Social  Reforms 
— Abolition  of  Suttee — Government  Patronage  of  Idolatry — 
Charles  Grant  the  Younger  and  the  Company — Resignation 
of  Sir  P.  Maitland— Work  and  Influence  of  R.  M.  Bird- 
Steam  Communication — New  Bishoprics — Bishop  Corrie — 
Bishop  W^ilson  and  the  Caste  Question — Education — Alexander 
Dufl";  his  Father  and  C.  Simeon — Duft"s  Plan — Ram  Mohun 
Roy — Duff's  College— The  Early  Converts — Duff  and  Macaulay 
— The  Friend  of  India  and  Calcutta  lieview — Duff  at  home — 
His  C.M.S.  Speech        .         .         .         .- 290 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

India  :  Progress  of  the  Missions. 

The  North  India  Stations — The  Awakening  in  Krishnagar — Bishop 
Wilson's  Hopes — Why  they  failed — Bishop  Wilson  declines 
Ladies  —  Mrs.  Wilson  —  Bombay — Tinnevelly  —  Rhenius  :  his 
Work,  his  Disconnexion — Progress  under  Pettitt — The  Tinne- 
velly Christians  :  Nominal  Christianity  ;  Persecution  ;  C.M.S. 
and  S.P.G. — Travancore :  Syrians  and  Heathen ;  Changed 
Policy  of  the  Mission — Madras  Seminary — Telugu  Mission  : 
Fox  and  Noble — John  Tucker — Controversies  with  the  Corre- 
sponding Committees — Bishop's  College — Other  Missions  in 
India— Ceylon      . 312 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

The  Negro  on  Both  Sides  the  Atlantic,  Enslaved  and  Free. 

Continued  Slave  Trade  in  West  Africa — Sickness  and  Sorrow  at 
Sierra  Leone — Progress  notwithstanding — Can  the  Negro  be 


Contents  xxix 

PAGE 

elevated  ?— West  Indian  Slavery — Wilberforce  and  Buxton — 
The  Parliamentary  Campaign — West  Indian  Cruelties— Perse- 
cution of  Missionaries — Trial  and  Death  of  John  Smith — 
Oppression  of  Negroes  in  Jamaiea — An  Amendment  at 
Exeter  Hall—Abolition  of  Slavery — Death  of  AVilberforce — 
•'  Compensation  for  the  Slave  "—The  Day  of  Emaneipation — 
iSIissionary  Plans  for  the  Negroes — C.M.S.  in  Jamaiea — 
British  Guiana  Mission — Zachary  Macaulay       ....     333 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

Greek,  Copt,  Abyssinian,  Zulu,  Maori,  Australian,  Cree. 
Malta,  Syra,  Smyrna— Egypt  and  Abyssinia  :  S.  Gobat ;  Lieder ; 
Isenberg  and  Krapf — The  Zulu  Mission  :  Franeis  Owen — New 
Zealand:  First  Baptisms;  New  Missionaries;  Extension; 
Charles  Darwin ;  Bishop  Broughton ;  Marsden's  Last  Visit 
and  Death — New  Holland  Mission  :  the  Australian  lilacks — 
Rupert's  Land :  the  Cree  and  the  Soto  ;  Cockran  and  Cowley  ; 
Bishop  Mountain's  Visit 349 


FROM  VENN'S  ACCESSION  TO  THE   JUBILEE:    184 1— 1848. 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

Henry  Venn  ;  and  Survey  of  Men  and  Things. 

The  Year  1841  an  Epoch  in  Church,  in  State,  in  C. M.S.— Henry 
Yeiiii— Deaths  of  Pratt  and  Coates — The  Committee,  Vice- 
Presidents,  Preachers  and  Speakers— C.M.S.  Missions  and 
Missionaries — Missions  of  Other  Societies— Roman  Missions 
—Controversies  at  Home :  Maynooth,  Irish  Church  Missions, 
Evangelical  Alliance— Scotch  Disruption— C.M.S.  and  Scotch 
Episcopal  Church 367 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 

The  Society  and  the  Church. 
Improved  Condition  of  the  Church — Church  Unions— H.  Venn's 
Defence  of  C.M.S.— "  Sanction  of  Convocation  "—F.  Close's 
Sermon — Bishop  Blomtield's  Proposals  for  C.M.S.  and  S.P.G. 
— F.  Close  and  Lord  Chichester  on  the  Proposals — Revision 
of  C.M.S.  Laws— Archbislu.ps  and  Bisho^is  join  C.M.S.— Hugh 
Stowell's  Sermon,  and  Bishop  Blomtield's— Results,  Ex2)ected 
and  Actual — S.P.G.  and  C.M.S. — Samuel  Wilberforce,  Bishop 
of  Oxford:  his  Career  and  Intiuence — J.  B.  Sumner,  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury — Tractarian  Controversies  and  Seces- 
sions— Attitude  of  C.M.S 382 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 
The  Colonial  and  Missionary  Episcopate. 
S.P.G.  Appeals  in  Eighteenth  Century — First  Bishops  for  America 
and  Canada — The  Colonial  Episcopate  at  Queen  Victoria's 
Accession— Growth  of  S.P.G. — The  Colonial  Church  Society — 
The  Colonial  Bishoprics  Fund,  1841 — Attitude  of  C.M.S. — 
New  Zealand  Bishopric— C.M.S.  Relation  thereto— Bishop 
Selwyn— Stowell's  Sermon— Other  new  Bishoprics— Jerusalem 


XXX  Contents 

PAGE 

Bishopric — Bunsun,  Lord  Ashley,  Gladstone — The  first  Bishop 
consecrated — C.M.S.  Controversy  with  Bishop  Daniel  Wilson 
—The  Concordat  and  H.  Venn — Case  of  Mr.  Humphrey — 
Bishop  D.  Wilson's  Visit  to  England -His  C.M.S.  Sermon        .     401 

CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

New  Zealand:  the  Bishop,  the  Colonv,  and  the  Mission. 
Advent  of  Colonists — Annexation  of  New  Zealand — Arrival  of 
Bishop  Selvvyn :  his  Testimony,  Travels,  and  Trials — His 
Difficulties  with  C.M.S. — His  Tardy  Ordinations — Colonial 
Encroachment  and  Maori  Discontent — Governors  Fitzroy  and 
Grey — The  Missionary  Lands  Question — Grey's  Secret  Des- 
patch— Archdeacon  H.  Williams  disconnected  and  reinstated 
— The  Maori  Bible — Romanist  Mission — Extension  and  Suc- 
cesses of  C.M.S.  Mission — Sir  G.  Grey's  Testimony — The 
Melanesian  Mission      .......       ^.         .     4i'7 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 

New  Enteki'uises  in  Africa  :   Niger   Expedition,   Yoruba  Mission 

East  Coast. 

Story  of  Adjai  the  Slave-hoy — Powell  Buxton's  New  Plans — The 
River  Niger — Prince  Albert's  First  Speech — The  Expedition 
of  1841  —  Its  Failure  and  Fruits  —  Buxton's  Death  —  The 
returning  Egba  Exiles — S.  Crowther's  Ordination — 'i'ownsend 
and  Crowther  to  Abeokuta — Krapf  in  Shoa — His  Voyage 
to  Zanzibar — Mombasa — Death  of  Mrs.  Krapf — The  Appeal 
of  her  Grave  ..........     449 

CHAPTER  XXX. 

The  Opening  of  China. 
Nestorian  and  Roman  Missions  in  China — China  in  the  First 
Report  of  C.M.S.— Morrison,  Milne,  Gutzlaff— E.  B.  Squire's 
Attempt — The  Chinese  War — Lord  Ashley  and  the  Opium 
Trade— New  Moves  Forward— Vincent  Stanton— The  C.M.S. 
Mission — The  First  Missionaries — Bishop  George  Smith  .         .     463 

CHAPTER  XXXI. 

The  Society's  Finances. 
Earliest  Contributions — The  Associations  in  1820 — London  and 
the  Provinces  in  1848— Comparison  with  the  Present  Time — 
A  Missionary-box  at  Sea — The  Expenditure  of  the  Half- 
Century-  The  Financial  Crisis  of  1841 — Plans  of  the  Special 
Committee — What  are  the  "  Talents "  given  to  a  Society  ? 
— An  Income  Tax  for  C.M.S. — An  Appeal  on  Protestant 
Principles — Its  Results        .         .         .         .         ,         .         .         .47-5 

CHAPTER  XXXII. 

The  Jubilee. 
Europe  and  England  in  1848 — Survey  of  the  Half-Century's 
Work — Jubilee  Tracts — Jubilee  Services  and  Gatherings  — 
The  Great  Meeting :  Lord  Chichester,  Sir  R.  Inglis,  Bishop 
Wilberforce,  Cunningham,  Bickersteth,  Hoare — Observances 
in  the  Provinces  and  in  the  Mission  Field — Death  of  H.  W. 
Fox — The  Fox  Sermon  at  Rugby — The  Jubilee  Fund — The 
Queen  becomes  a  Life  Governor — Fox's  Jubilee  Hymn      .         .     480 


PAGE 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


VOL.   T. 

PoUTKAlTS  : — 

Tlio  Ri^lit  HdimuiaMu  tlio  VauI  of  Cliielu'stur       .  .      I')-()//lisj)iece 

Thomas  Clarksou,  Zacliury  Maeaulay,  "NVilliain  'Willji-r- 

foi'ce,  John  Bacon,  Homy  Tliointon        .  .  .      Facini/     31 

The  Revs.  John  Veiui,  Thomas  Scott,  Charles  Simeon, 

John  Newton,  Richard  Cecil   .....  „  57 

Cliarles  Grant,  the  Revs.  Heniy  Martyn,  Abdul  Masih, 

Claudius  Buchanan,  Daniel  Corrie  ...  „  02 

Lord  Gambier,  the  Revs.  Basil  Woodd,  Josiah  Pratt, 

William  Goode,  T.  T.  Biddulph       ....  ,,107 

he  Revs.  John  AV.  Cmniingham,  AVilliani  Jowelt, 
and  Kdward  ]iick(!rsteth  ;  Bishop  Ryder ;  Sir  T. 
Fowell  Buxton         .......  „        2ol 

Bishop  Heber,  Dr.  Alexander  Dull,  Bishop  Daniel 
Wilson,  Bishop  Cotton,  the  Revs.  J.  J.  Weitbrecht 
and  Benjamin  Bailey       ......  „         290 

The  Revs.  Hugh  McNeile  and  Hugh  Stowell,  Arch- 
bishop Sumner,  Dean  Close,  Bishop  Samuel  Wil- 
berforce   .........  „        382 

Archdeacon  Hemy  Williams,  the  Rev.  Sanuiel 
Marsden,  Bishop  G.  A.  Selwyn,  Bishop  W. 
Williams,  Mrs.  W.  Williams „        -J27 


Behaim's  Globe,  1492 28 

The  Study  in  St  Anne's  Rectory,  in  which  the  lirst  Com- 
mittee Meetings  were  held      ......  80 

Facsimile  of  Map  and  accompanying  Notes  as  inserted  in 

the  Missivnary  lic(/isier  for  1810     .....  „         128 

The  First  Picture  in  a  Missionary  Magazine,  the  Missionari/ 
J^cc/ktcr  of  April,  181(i,  representing  a  Scene  in  West 
Afl-ica '      .         .         .         .  128 


Waiiv  of  tlio  portraits  in  the  History  are  from  oil-paintings  or  enjiravings 
presented  to  tlic  Society  ;  others  from  photographs  or  prints  kindly  lent 
by  friends,  for  which  the  Author  here  makes  grateful  acknowledgment. 


PBELTMTNAEY    CHAPTERS. 


VOL.    I. 


NOTE   ON   PART   I. 


The  Three  Chapters  in  this  Part  are  preliminary.  First,  the  Lord's 
Grtat  Commission  to  His  Church  is  recalled.  Then  in  Chaps.  IT.  and  III. 
a  rapid  sketch  is  given  of  the  work  of  the  Chmx-h  in  executing  that 
Commission  during  eighteen  centuries.  Primitive  Missions,  Medireval 
Missions,  Roman  Missions,  and  Modern  Protestant  Missions,  are  glanced 
at.  In  particular,  the  establishment  and  early  enterprises  of  the  S.P.C.K. 
and  S.P.G.  are  briefly  noticed.  We  are  thus  brought  on  towards  the 
close  of  the  Eighteenth  Century,  the  period  which  saw  the  foundation 
of  the  C.M.S.  and  several  other  missionary  organizations. 


CHAPTER  I. 

The  Great  Commission. 

"  Remember  the  tcords  of  the  Lord  Jesus." — Acts  xx.  35. 

HE  History  of  Missions  begins  with  the  Day  of  Pente-    Part  I. 
cost.     Our  familiar  Creed,  after  affirming  the  facts  of  Chap.  1. 
the  Incarnation,  Sufferings,  Death,  Burial,  and  Resur- 
rection  of  the   Son  of  God,  continues,  "  He  ascended  The  Voice 
into  heaven  ;  And  sitteth  on  the  right  hand  of  God  c^reed. 
the  Father  Almighty :  From  thence  He  shall  come  to  judge  the 
quick  and  the  dead."     The  Past — "He  ascended   into  heaven." 
The  Future— "  From  thence  He  shall  come."     Between  the  Past 
and  the  Future  is  the  Present—"  He  sitteth  at  the  right  hand  of 
God."     But  what  of  the  Present  on  earth  ?     The  Creed  goes  on, 
"I    believe   in   the    Holy    Ghost,  the    Holy    Cathohc    Church." 
While  the  Son  of  God  is  sitting  on  the  Father's  right  hand,  it  is 
the  dispensation  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  and  the  work  He  is  doing  is 
the  calling  out  of  the    Ecclesia,  the    "Holy    Catholic    Church." 
That  is  the  purpose  of  Missions  ;  and  so  the  History  of  Missions 
begins  with  the  Day  of  Pentecost. 

One  of  the  first  parts  of  the  work  of  the  Holy  Ghost  was  to  The  Voice 
inspire  the  writers  of  the  New  Testament.  The  Four  Evangelists  Tel'JImenT. 
were  guided  by  Him  to  write  their  records  of  the  Life  of  the  Son 
of  God  on  earth.  When  we  examine  these  precious  records, 
nothing  is  more  significant  than  the  brevity  of  the  accounts  of 
His  visits  to  His  disciples  after  the  Resurrection.  The  narratives 
of  the  Sufterings  and  Death  are  full  and  detailed.  The  narratives 
of  the  Resurrection  and  the  Forty  Days  are  short  and  slight.  St. 
Luke  tells  us  in  his  second  work,  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  that 
Christ,  during  those  Forty  Days,  "  gave  commandments  unto  the 
apostles  whom  He  had  chosen,"  and  that  He  spoke  to  them  "  of 
the  things  pertaining  to  the  Kingdom  of  God."  The  same  evange- 
list, in  his  Gospel,  shows  us  the  Lord  expounding  to  them  the 
ancient  Scriptures,  the  things  "  written  in  the  Law  of  Moses,  and 
in  the  Prophets,  and  in  the  Psalms."  Now  the  interesting 
question  is.  Out  of  all  these  instructions  and  exhortations  and 
expositions,  what  were  the  Evangelists  guided  by  the  Holy  Ghost 
to  record?     The  answer  is  most  significant. 

St.  Matthew  gives  us    only  one  fragment.     It    is    this: — "  All  in  st. 
power  is  given  unto  Me  in  heaven  and  in  earth.     Go  ye  therefore,  '^''"h^^- 

B  2 


4  The  Great  Commission 

Part  I.    and  teach  [disciple]   all  nations,  baptizing  them  in  the   name  of 

Chap.  1.  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost :  teaching 
them  to  observe  all  things  whatsoever  I  have  commanded  you  : 
and  lo,  I  am  v^ith  you  alway,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world." 

St.  Mark.  St.  Mark — i.e.  the  postscript  to  His  Gospel :  into  the  textual 
question  we  need  not  enter — gives  us  only  one  fragment.  It  is 
this  : — "  Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the  Gospel  to  every 
creature,"  with  the  appended  promise  to  him  that  believes  and 
warning  to  him  that  believes  not,  and  the  reiterated  insistence 
upon  baptism  as  the  public  confession  of  Christ*  and  sign  of 
separation  unto  Him. 

St.  Luke.  St.  Luke  gives  us  the  episode  of  the  Walk  to  Emmaus ;  but  in 
the  narrative  of  the  Lord's  intei'view  with  His  disciples  as  a  body, 
there  is  again  only  one  fragment  of  His  instructions.  In  that 
fragment  He  lays  definite  stress  upon  three  things.  "  Thus  it  is 
written,  and  thus  it  behoved  Christ  to  suffer,  and  to  rise  from  the 
dead  the  third  day,  and  that  repentance  and  remission  of  sins 
should  be  preached  in  His  name  among  all  nations,  beginning  at 
Jerusalem."  Three  things  put  on  a  level,  as  apparently  of  equal 
importance  in  the  work  of  redemption,  viz.,  (1)  the  Death  of 
Christ,  (2)  His  Eesurrection,  (3)  the  preaching  of  repentance  and 
remission  of  sins  among  all  nations. 

St.  John.  gt  John  records  the  Lord's  first  appearance  to  the  disciples  on 
that  first  Easter-Day  evening,  when,  after  the  word  of  salutation, 
"Peace,"  He  instantly  gives  them,  as  the  one  thing  of  transcen- 
dent importance,  their  commission,  "  As  My  Father  hath  sent  Me, 
even  so  send  I  you."  It  is  interesting  to  notice  further  that,  in 
the  last  and  supplementary  chapter  of  the  Gospel,  we  have  their 
work  represented  under  two  figures.  First,  we  see  them  as 
fishers  :  "  Cast  the  net  on  the  right  side  of  the  ship,  and  ye  shall 
find."  Secondly,  as  shepherds  (for  the  injunctions  to  Peter 
cannot  be  regarded  as  merely  personal  to  himself):  "Feed  My 
lambs,"  "Tend  My  sheep,"  "Feed  My  sheep."  Here  we  have 
the  two  grand  divisions  of  all  work  for  Christ,  at  home  and  abroad, 
(1)  the  evangelistic,  (2)  the  pastoral. 

So  we  find  that  whatever  the  instructions  and  exhortations  and 
expositions  of  those  Forty  Days  were,  and  however  numerous, 
the  Evangelists  were  divinely  inspired  to  record  only  one  Great 
Commission,  and  that  this  is  recorded  by  them  all.  There  are 
but  few  things  in  the  life  and  teaching  of  Christ  that  have  a  four- 
fold record.  We  have  it  of  His  Sufferings  and  Death  ;  we  have  it 
of  His  Resurrection ;  we  have  it  of  one  Miracle,  and  one  only,  the 
Feeding  of  the  Five  Thousand.  We  have  it  not  of  His  Birth,  nor 
of  His  Circumcision,  nor  of  His  Baptism,  nor  of  His  Temptation, 
nor  of  His  Transfiguration,  nor  of  His  Ascension.  The  Great 
Commission,  therefore,  occupies  an  exceptional  position  in  having 
a  fourfold  record. 

And  not  an  exceptional  position  merely.  Its  position  is  i;nique. 
For  it  actuallv  has  a  fivefold  record.     We  turn  to  the  first  chapter  of 


The  Great  Commission  5 

the  Acts.     We  are  there  back  again  in  the  Forty  Days.     But  there,    Part  I. 
too,  only  one  thing  is  definitely  mentioned.     The  disciples  come   Chap.  l. 
to  the  Lord  with  a  speculative  question.     Instantly,  "It  is  not  for  thc Acts, 
you  to  know  .  .  .  but — "     But  what?     He  would  not  give  them 
the  knowledge  they  asked  for,  but  He  would  give  them  power. 
Power  for  what  ?     "  Ye  shall  receive  power,  after  that  the  Holy 
GTiost  is  come  upon  you  ;  and  ye  shall  be  witnesses  unto  INIe  .   .   . 
unto  the  uttermost  part   of   the    earth."     "And    when    He    liad 
spoken    these  things,   as   they  beheld,  He  was   taken  up,  and  a 
cloud  received  Him  out  of  their  sight."     The  very  last  words  of 
Jesus  :  "  uttermost  part  of  the  earth  "  ! 

How  could  the  Holy  Ghost  have  emphasized  more  strongly 
what  work  was  to  be  done  upon  earth  during  the  period  between 
the  Ascension  and  the  Second  Advent,  while  the  Son  of  God 
"  sitteth  on  the  right  hand  of  God  the  Father  Almighty  "  '? 

In  a  word,  that  work  is  the  Evangelization  of  the  World.  The  The  World 
Evangelization — whatever  that  word  may  include  ;  not  necessarily  geiized. 
the  Conversion.  Without  entering  into  the  difficult  questions 
clustering  round  the  Promise  of  the  Second  Coming,  there  seem 
to  be  two  passages  in  tlie  New  Testament  which  indicate  the  two 
purposes  of  the  present  work  of  Evangelization.  The  first  is 
Matt.  xxiv.  14,  "  This  Gospel  of  the  kingdom  shall  be  preached 
in  all  the  world  for  a  witness  unto  all  nations ;  and  then  shall  the 
end  come."  The  second  is  Acts  xv.  14,  "  God  did  visit  the 
Gentiles,  to  take  out  of  them  a  people  for  His  name."  The  first 
announces  the  imiversal  proclamation  of  the  Gospel ;  the  second 
announces  the  gathering  out  of  the  Ecclesia,  "  the  Holy  Catholic 
Church." 

It  is  the  Divine  plan  that  the  Church  is  to  do  this  work,  guided,  5^  ^^f 
administered,  empowered,  l)y  the  Holy  Ghost.     The  Churcli  is  to 
evangelize  the  World.     The  Chm-ch  is  to  gather  out  the  Church. 
She  is  to  be  self-extending,  self-propagating. 

It  is  a  humiliating  thought  that  this  one  great  Commission 
which  the  Church's  Eisen  Lord  gave  her  to  execute  is  the  very 
thing  she  has  not  done.  She  has  accomplished  magnificent  work. 
She  has  covered  Christendom  with  splendid  l)uildings  for  the 
worship  of  God.  She  has  cared  for  the  poor,  the  sick,  the  in- 
firm, the  aged,  the  yoimg.  Slie  has  taught  the  world  to  build 
hospitals  and  schools.  But  her  Lord's  one  grand  Commission 
she  has  almost  entirely  neglected.  It  should  have  had  the  first 
place  in  her  thoughts,  sympathies,  and  prayers.  It  has  had  the 
last  place,  if  indeed  it  can  be  said  to  have  had  a  place  at  all.  And 
all  the  while,  her  Lord  and  Saviour  "  sitteth  on  the  right  hand  of 
God  the  Father  Almighty,"  "  exjjectinq,"  as  the  Epistle  to  the 
Hebrews  expresses  it. 

But  a  few  of  the  Church's  members,  sometimes  as  individuals, 
sometimes  in  bands  and  associal  .ons,  have  remembered  their 
Lord's  command  and  tried  to  do  scncthuKj.  The  story  of  one  of 
these  associations  is  the  subject  of  the  present  work. 


CHAPTER  II. 

Missions  before  the  Reformation. 


Part  I. 
Chap.  2. 
30-1534. 


The  Acts 
a  book  on 
Missions. 


Work  of 
the  first 
Christians, 


The  Apostolic  Age— Conversion  of  the  Roman  Empire— Of  the  Northern 
Nations  —  Patrick  —  lona  —  Augustin  of  Canterbury  —  Boniface  — 
Anschar —  Dark  Ages  —  Crusades  —  Raymund  Lull  —  Nestorian 
Missions  in   Asia — Islam  and  Christianity. 

"  Ye  did  run  well ;  ivho  did  hinder  you  ?" — Gal.  v.  7. 

EFORE  inquiring  into  the  origin  of  the  Society  whose 
story  this  book  is  to  tell,  and  into  the  circumstances 
amid  which  it  was  established,  let  us  take  a  brief 
survey  of  the  Church's  evangelistic  work  during  the 
preceding  eighteen  centuries. 
The  Acts  of  the  Apostles  is  the  Book  of  Evangelization.  There 
we  see  the  Church  commencing  the  work  given  her  to  do,  directed 
at  every  step  by  the  Divine  Administrator  of  her  Missions,  the 
Holy  Ghost.  That  book  is  but  a  fragment.  It  gives  us  only  a 
few  illustrations  of  what  the  Apostles  and  their  companions  and 
followers  did  towards  executing  the  great  Commission.  Yet  its 
value  is  supreme,  and  its  teachings  regarding  the  conduct  of 
Missions  are  most  important.  Into  these  we  cannot  now  enter  ; 
but  there  is  one  fact  revealed  to  us  in  the  Acts  which  throws 
much  light  upon  the  history  of  the  Church  ever  since. 

It  is  this.  From  the  very  beginning,  the  work  of  evangelization 
was  but  partially — we  might  say  feebly — taken  up  by  the  Church 
as  a  whole.  The  pictures  sometimes  drawn  of  the  early  Christians 
going  forth  by  thousands  in  all  directions  as  missionaries  are 
entirely  imaginary.  Only  once  in  the  Acts  is  there  anything  in 
the  least  like  this.  They  that  were  "scattered  abroad"  by  the 
persecution  which  arose  at  Jerusalem  after  the  murder  of  Stephen, 
and  in  which  Saul  of  Tai'sus  took  so  leading  a  part,  "  went  every- 
where preaching  the  word."  But  they  were  fugitives,  not  mis- 
sionaries. They  were  "all"  scattered,  ■  men  and  women  and 
children  ;  the  scattering  was,  for  the  most  part,  "  throughout  the 
regions  of  Judaea  and  Sani.aria,"  not  even  so  far  as  Galilee;  and 
apparently  the  majority  returned  to  the  capital  when  the  perse- 
cution M-as  over,  and  formed  ft  large  part  of  the  "  thousands  of 
Jews  that  believed"  w^hom  A^e  meet  with  later,  and  of  "the 
poor  saints  which  were  at  Jerusalem."     There  were  some,  how- 


JfnSlONS    BEFORE    THE    R E FOh\^r AT/OX  7 

ever,  who  went  further,  who  "  travelled  as  far  as  Phenice  and     Part  T. 
Cyprus  and  Antioch  "  ;    hut    they  also   were    fugitives,    and    not    £!^^?„f" 

missionaries,  and   the  Church  of  Antioch  is  the  great  typical  ex-    '  ^J_ 

ample  of  God's  l)lessing  upon  the  personal  and  unofficial  efforts  of 
private  Christians. 

When  the  Church  of  Antioch  itself,  under  the  direction  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  sent  forth  a  Mission  to  the  Heathen,  it  consisted  of 
two  missionaries  and  one  "  minister"  or  assistant ;  and  the  latter 
soon  returned  home.  As  this  is  the  only  recorded  case,  we  have 
no  other  direct  evidence ;  but  to  all  appearance  the  Gospel  was 
carried  to  Rome  by  converted  Jews  having  business  or  other  con- 
nexions there,  of  the  type  of  Aquila  and  Priscilla.  Of  the  foreign 
missionary  work  of  the  original  Apostles  no  account  is  given. 
We  may  accept  the  traditions  that  they  went  in  different  directions 
preaching  Christ ;  but  of  extensive  evangelization  by  members  of 
the  Church  generally  there  is  little  or  no  trace. 

St.  Paul's  words  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Colossians,  "The  gospel  its  results, 
which  ye  have  heard,  and  which  was  preached  to  every  creature  "ver*"  ^^ 
which  is  under  heaven  "  (eV  ttuo-?/  ti]  KTiVet  ttJ  vtto  toi/  ovpavuv),  have  stated, 
been  much  misunderstood.  It  is  obvious  that  they  cannot,  as  they 
stand  in  our  Authorized  Version,  be  taken  literally.  No  one 
supposes  that,  at  the  time  of  St.  Paul's  first  imprisonment  at 
Rome,  every  Pict  and  Scot  in  North  Britain,  every  Teuton  in  the 
German  forests,  every  Scythian  and  Parthian  and  Chinaman,  had 
heard  the  Gospel.  The  Revised  Version  is,  "Preached  in  all 
creation  under  heaven";  and  Bishop  Barry,  in  his  note  on  the 
passage,'''  well  says,  "  In  idea  and  capacity  the  Gospel  is  universal ; 
although  in  actual  reality  such  universality  can  only  be  claimed 
by  a  natural  hyperbole."  If  we  put  aside  the  literal  English  ex- 
pression, "every  creatiu-e,"  there  is  no  difficulty  in  understanding 
the  passage.  Christian  writers  in  all  ages  have  quite  rightly 
pointed  to  the  rapid  spread  of  Christianity  in  the  first  century  as 
one  of  the  evidences  of  its  truth  and  power ;  but  the  tendency  of 
the  ordinary  reader  has  been  to  over-estimate  the  results.  Bishop 
Lightfoot,  in  his  admirable  survey  of  the  question,!  shows  that 
the  evidence  of  the  early  Christian  Fathers  testifies  "  rather  to  the 
wide  diffusion  than  to  the  overflowing  munbers  of  the  Christians." 
His  conclusion  is  that  two  centuries  after  Christ  they  were 
probably  one-twentietli  of  the  subjects  of  the  Roman  Empire,  and 
one  hundred  and  fiftieth  of  the  whole  human  race.  That  they 
were  mainly  confined  to  the  towns  is  evident  from  the  curious 
fact  that  the  \novA  pcujani,  villagers,  became  a  synonym  for  non- 
Christians,  and  is  preserved  to  us  in  our  familiar  "  Pagans." 

But  while  we  guard  ourselves  against  an  exaggerated  view  of  Norunder- 
the  missionary  zeal  of  the  early  Church,  we  must  not  ignore  what  ^***^^- 
was  actually  done.     Antioch  sent  out  other  missionaries  besides 
St.  Barnabas  and  St.  Paul ;  and  to  this  day  the  ancient  Syrian 

*  EUicott's  Commentary,  in  loco. 

t   Coinparutive  Prvjrenn  of  Avfienf  and  Moihv  ti  Missions.     S.P.G. 


8 


Missions  before  the  Reformation 


Part  I. 
Chap.  2. 
30-1534. 


Church  of  Southern  India  looks  to  Antioch  as  its  ecclesiastical 
centre.  In  Alexandria,  Pantaenus  presided  over  what  we  may  call 
the  first  Missionary  College,  and  then  went  forth  himself  to 
"India,"  though  it  has  been  doubted  by  some  whether  Ethiopia 
or  Arabia  is  not  really  meant  by  the  term  in  this  case.  The 
British  Church  of  that  day  was  in  itself  a  brilliant  result  of  mis- 
sionary enterprise.  An  excellent  summary  of  early  Missions 
occurs  in  a  remarkable  Essay  on  the  Progress  of  the  Gospel, 
written  by  the  Rev.  Hugh  Pearson  (afterwards  Dean  of  Salisbury) 
in  1812,  to  which  was  adjudged  by  the  University  of  Oxford  the 
Buchanan  Prize  of  £500.  An  article  by  him,  embodying  much 
of  the  Essay,  was  printed  in  the  second  and  third  numbers  of 
the  first  English  missionary  periodical,  the  Missionary  Begister.'-'' 
It  pointedly  refers  to  Justin  Martyr's  well-known  statement  f 
that  (about  the  middle  of  the  second  century)  "there  was  not  a 
nation,  either  of  Greek  or  Barbarian  or  any  other  name,  even 
of  those  who  wander  in  tribes  or  live  in  tents,  amongst  whom 
prayers  and  thanksgivings  were  not  offered  to  the  Father  and 
Creator  of  the  Universe  l)y  the  name  of  the  crucified  Jesus"; 
but  Pearson  remarks,  "  These  expressions  may  be  admitted  to  be 
somewhat  general  and  declamatory." 

The  great  external  triumph  of  Christianity  came  when  Con- 
stantine,  in  a.d.  312,  accepted  the  message,  In  hoc  signo  vinces,  and 
established  the  new  religion  upon  the  ruins  of  the  old.  Paganism 
died  hard ;  if  indeed  it  can  truly  be  said  to  have  died  at  all.  Is 
not  the  ancient  bronze  image  of  Jupiter  in  St.  Peter's  at  Rome, 
which  for  centuries,  as  the  supposed  statue  of  the  apostle,  has 
been  adored  by  countless  multitudes  until  their  kisses  have  worn 
away  the  foot,  a  sign  and  token  of  the  practical  paganization  of 
a  large  part  of  Christendom  ?  And  the  establishment  of  Chris- 
tianity under  Constantine  and  Theodosius  was  by  no  means  of 
unmixed  benefit  to  the  cause  of  true  religion.  Prosperity  and 
pomp  succeeded  to  crucifixion  and  the  lions  ;  and  Dr.  George 
Smith  scarcely  uses  too  strong  language  when  he  says,:[  "  From  a 
purely  missionary  point  of  view,  it  began  the  system  of  com- 
promise with  error,  of  nationalism  instead  of  individualism  in 
conversion,  which  in  the  East  made  tlie  Church  an  easy  prey  to 
Mohammedanism,  and  in  the  West  produced  Jesuit  Missions." 
Nevertheless  the  fact  remains,  and  it  is  a  great  and  glorious  fact, 
that  for  many  centuries  there  has  not  been  a  nation — perhaps 
not  one  single  person — on  the  face  of  the  earth  worshipping  the 
gods  of  Greece  and  Rome.  Jupiter  and  Juno,  Mars  and  Minerva, 
Venus  and  Apollo,  are  names  familiar  to  every  schoolboy  ;  but  they 
are  gods  no  longer.     The  Jericho  of  classic  Paganism  reared  its 


*  The  first  number  of  the  Missionary  Register,  edited  by  the  Rev.  Josiah 
Piatt,  then  Secretary  of  C.M.S.,  was  published  in  January,  1813.  (See  p.  126.) 
Mr.  Pearson's  article  appears  in  the  February  and  March  numbers. 

t  Dial,  cum  Triiph.,  117 fin. 

X  Short  History  of  Chri.'^tian  Missions,  chap.  v. 


Missions  before  the  Reformation  9 

mighty  walls  before  the  apostolic  Israel ;  yet,  like  Joshua  eighteen    Part  I. 
centuries  before,  the  despised  little  Christian  army  "  took  the  city ."    Chap.  2. 

Then  came  the  overthrow  of  the  Koman  Empire  by  the  Northern 
Barbarians ;  but  this  did  not  involve  the  overthrow  of  the  Church,  conversion 
Some  of  the  Gothic  tribes  already  professed  Christianity.  In  their  °nd°*^^ 
earliest  raids,  they  had  carried  off  many  Christian  captives,  particu-  Vandais. 
larly  from  Cappadocia ;  and  these  captives  proved  true  mission- 
aries of  the  cross,  winning  their  savage  masters  to  Christ,  and 
then  sending  for  more  teachers  to  carry  on  the  work.  Ullilas,  the 
Apostle  of  the  Goths,  was  the  chief  instrument  in  the  enterprise ; 
and  his  name  will  always  be  honoured  as  the  translator  of  the 
Bible  into  the  Gothic  tongue  ;  an  achievement  of  which  Professor 
Max  Miiller  thus  speaks  : — "  At  this  time  there  existed  in  Europe 
but  two  languages  \vhich  a  Christian  bishop  would  have  thought 
himself  justified  in  employing — Greek  and  Latin.  All  other 
tongues  were  considered  barbarous.  It  required  a  prophetic 
sight,  and  a  faith  in  the  destinies  of  those  half-savage  tribes,  and 
a  conviction  also  of  the  effeteness  of  the  Eoman  and  Byzantine 
empires,  before  a  bishop  could  have  brought  himself  to  translate 
the  Bible  into  the  vulgar  dialect  of  his  barbarous  countrymen."  '^^ 
Others  of  the  invaders  of  the  Empire,  though  they  came  in  as 
Pagans,  quickly  embraced  the  religion  of  the  conquered  peoples ; 
and  Jerome  wrote  from  his  cell  at  Bethlehem,  "  Lo,  the  x\rmenian 
lays  down  his  quiver ;  the  Huns  are  learning  the  Psalter ;  the 
frosts  of  Scythia  glow  with  the  warmth  of  faith  ;  the  ruddy  armies 
of  the  Goths  bear  about  with  them  the  tabernacles  of  the  Church  ; 
and  therefore,  perhaps,  do  they  fight  with  eqvial  fortune  against  us, 
because  they  trust  in  the  religion  of  Christ  equally  with  us."  f 

The  history,  however,  is  a  sadly  chequered  one.  Gothic  Chris- 
tianity was  x\rian,  and  the  heresies  which  the  Council  of  Nicaea 
had  condemned  again  overspread  Europe  and  North  Africa. 
Eeligious  wars  ensued,  and  the  "Christian"  Vandals  persecuted 
the  orthodox  believers  as  cruelly  as  Pagan  Eome  had  done.  But 
they  destroyed  the  old  heathen  temples  with  still  greater  ferocity ; 
and  it  cannot  be  denied  that  in  the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries  the 
religion  of  the  Prince  of  Peace,  like  the  religion  of  the  False 
Prophet  afterwards,  was  propagated  by  the  swoi'd.  In  the  sack 
of  Eome  by  Alaric,  the  churches  were  spared  while  the  temples 
were  razed  to  the  ground  ;  but  there  was  little  of  the  spirit  of  the 
Gospel  in  the  Christendom  of  the  Dark  Ages  that  followed. 

Except  in  oiu'  own  country.     While  Arians  and  Pelagians  waged  British  • 
war  against  the  truth  in  East  and  West,  while  ecclesiastical  pomp  purest, 
and  pride  were  superseding  the  simplicity  and  devotion   of  earlier 
centuries,  while  the  bishops  of  Eome  were  laying  the  foundations 
of  Papal  supremacy,  England,  Ireland,  and  Scotland  presented 
scenes  and  illustrations  of  true  missionary  enterprise.     Patrick,  Patrick, 
the  Apostle  of   Ireland,   deserves   to   rank   with   the  greatest  of 

*  Lectures  on  the  Science  0}'  Longuage,  Eihi.  1861,  p.  175. 
t  Ejpist.  107,  2. 


lona. 


lo  Missions  before  the  Reformation 

Part  I.  missionaries.  In  his  preaching  from  the  Scriptures,  in  his  schools 
Chap.  2.  for  the  children,  in  his  training  of  evangelists,  in  his  employment 
30-lo34.   q£  women,  he  anticipated  our  modern  methods  ;  while  his  spirit  is 

revealed  Ijy  his  celehrated  hymn,  one  verse  of  which,  translated 

from  the  Keltic,  runs  thus  :  — 

Christ,  as  a  light, 

Illumine  and  gaicle  me  ! 
Christ,  as  a  shield,  o'ershadow  and  cover  me  ! 
Christ,  he  under  me  !     Christ,  be  over  me  ! 

Christ,  be  beside  me 

On  left  hand  and  right ! 
Christ,  be  before  me,  behicd  me,  about  m^e  ! 
Christ,  this  day,  be  within  and  -without  me  ! 

The  result  of  his  labours  was  wonderful.  Ireland  became  known 
as  "the  Island  of  Saints,"  and  the  European  scholars  who  fled 
from  the  turmoil  and  bloodshed  of  the  Continent  to  its  peaceful 
shores  called  it  "  the  University  of  the  West."  Then,  as  Scotland 
had  in  the  fifth  century  sent  Patrick  to  Ireland,  so  Ireland  in  the 
sixth  sent  Columba  to  Scotland ;  and  on  the  little  island  of  lona 
arose  the  abbey  and  monastery  whence  missionaries  evangelized 
all  North  Britain,  and  afterwards  spread  themselves  over  Europe. 
From  Lindisfarne  in  Northumberland  to  Bobbio  in  the  Appenines 
missionary  centres  were  established  ;  and  a  purer  Gospel  was 
diffused  from  them  by  Aidan  and  Cuthbert  and  Columbanus  and 
Gallus  and  Fridolin  and  Willibrord  than  was  by  that  time  preached 
at  Alexandria  or  at  Eome.  "  The  libraries  of  Milan  preserve  to  this 
day  the  copies  of  Holy  Scripture  which  belonged  to  those  early 
evangelists,  and  which  bear  witness  to  their  love  of  Scripture  study 
by  the  numerous  interlineations  and  comments  which  they  exhibit 
in  the  Irish  tongue."  '■^'- 
Augustin.  Meanwhile  Augustin  the  monk  had  been  sent  by  Gregory  the 
Great  to  transform  the  Augli  into  angcli.  The  ancient  British 
Church  had  been  overwhelmed  by  the  Saxons,  and  survived  only 
in  Wales  and  Cornwall,  as  well  as  in  Scotland  and  Ireland  ;  and 
while  the  evangelists  of  lona  brought  the  Gospel  from  the  North 
into  what  had  become  a  heathen  country,  Augustin  from  the 
Soutli  introduced  the  Papal  system,  so  far  as  it  had  then  been 
developed,  and,  with  it,  concessions  to  heathen  customs  which 
marred  not  a  little  the  purity  of  the  faith.  The  mission  of 
Augustin  was  a  great  event  in  the  ecclesiastical  history  of  England, 
and  its  thirteenth  centenary  was  rightly  celebrated  in  1897  by 
the  gathering  of  Anglican  Ijishops  at  Canterbury  from  all  parts 
of  the  world  ;  but  the  purer  British  Christianity  of  the  North  and 
the  West,  which  prevailed  before  Augustin  came,  must  never  be 
forgotten.  The  Anglo-Eoman  Church  thus  founded  also  sent 
forth  its  missionaries  to  the  Continent,  who  not  only  planted  the 
Church  among  many  of  the  Teutonic  tribes,  but  were  the  chief 
promoters  of  civilization,  by  means  of  the  industrial  and  agricul- 

*   Bp.  Fakenham  Walsh,  Heroes  of  the  Mi-^sion  Field,  chap.  iii. 


Miss  WAS  before  the  Reformation  ii 

tural  settlements    that    sprang  up  around    the  mission  stations ;     Part  I. 
while  the  monasteries,  then  in  the  earlier  and  purer  stage  of  their    Chap.  2. 
history,  were  the  centres  of  Scripture  study  and  teaching.     Of  the    ^^^^^*- 
agents  of  this  important  work,  Boniface,  the  Apostle  of  Germany,  „  ^.^  ^^ 
was  the  greatest ;  but  although  he  was  in   some  respects  a  true 
missionary,  he  was  undoubtedly  the  chief  instrument  of  bringing 
German  Christianity  into  union  with  the  Papacy.     Neander  thus 
sums  up  the  character  and  results  of  the  rival  Missions: — "The 
British  and    Irish    missionaries    certainly   surpassed  Boniface  in 
freedom  of  spirit  and  purity  of  Christian  knowledge  ;  luit  Eome, 
by  its  superior  organization,  triumphed  in  the  end,  and  though  it 
introduced   new    and  unscriptural  elements  into  the    Church,  it 
helped  at  the  same    time  to  consolidate  its  outward  framework 
against  the  assaults  of  Paganism." 

The  epoch  of  Charlemagne  was  an  epoch  of  progress,  but  of 
progress  achieved  mainly  by  the  sword.  The  great  emperor 
imposed  the  profession  of  Christianity  upon  the  nations  he 
subdued,  despite  the  protests  of  his  learned  English  friend  Alcuin, 
who,  trained  in  the  purer  religion  of  Northumljria,  urged  that  the 
baptism  of  pagans  was  useless  without  faith,  and  that  faith  came, 
not  by  compulsion,  but  by  the  grace  of  God.  Our  own  King 
Alfred  was  the  one  example  of  a  monarch  in  those  ages  who  seems 
to  have  understood  spiritual  religion. 

The  next  great  missionary  was  Anschar,  the  Apostle  of  the  Anschar. 
North.  His  whole  history  is  deeply  interesting.  Neander  com- 
pares Boniface  to  St.  Peter  and  Anschar  to  St.  John.  From  a 
child  he  was  the  subject  of  divine  grace.  While  still  a  boy  he, 
in  a  dream,  saw  the  Saviour  in  His  glory,  fell,  like  John  in 
Patmos,  "at  his  feet  as  dead,"  and  received  His  forgiveness, — 
awaking  from  the  dream  with  an  assurance  of  salvation  that 
lasted  all  his  life.  He  became  the  evangelist  of  Denmark  and 
Sweden,  and  did  a  mighty  work  amid  perils  and  persecutions  as 
great  as  have  been  encountered  by  any  missionary  in  any  age.  If 
his  divinity  school  in  Schleswig  does  not  entitle  him  to  be  called 
tlie  first  educational  missionary,  seeing  that  the  training  of  native 
teachers  was  an  accepted  metliod  before  his  time,  it  may  be  truly 
said  that  he  was  the  first  medical  missionary,  the  cures  wrought 
at  his  hospital  at  Bremen  giving  rise  to  a  belief  among  the  ignorant 
people  that  he  wrought  miracles — a  power  which  he  always  dis- 
claimed. It  is  noteworthy  also  that  he  anticipated  Wilberforce  by 
nearly  ten  centuries  in  his  denunciation  of  the  slave  trade.  For 
thirty-four  years  he  laboured  among  the  very  Norsemen  who  were 
about  to  descend  upon  Europe  ;  and  it  has  been  wxll  observed 
that  the  harvest  from  the  seed  he  sowed  appeared  long  after,  when 
the  Dane  Canute,  having  become  King  of  England,  suppressed  the 
remnants  of  heathenism  and  sent  missionaries  back  to  the  North 
to  complete  the  evangelization  of  Scandinavia." 

*  Dr.  G.  Smith,  Ghort  History  of  Christian  Missions,  chap.  viii. 


12  Missions  before  the  Reformation 

Part  I.  Goths  and  Vandals,  Huns  and  Franks,  Celts  and  Saxons  and 
Chap.  2.  Norsemen  had  now  been  brought  within  the  pale  of  Christendom. 
In  Europe  there  still  remained  the  Slavs.  Cyril  and  Methodius, 
Cyril  and  Greeks  of  Thessalonica,  did  a  noble  work  in  the  ninth  century  by 
Methodius,  translating  portions  of  Scripture  into  the  old  Sclavonic  tongue  ; 
Adalbert  of  Prague  preached  the  Gospel  in  Bohemia  and  Eastern 
Prussia ;  and  the  baptism  of  Vladimir  established  Christianity  in 
Kussia,  as  that  of  Clovis  had  established  it  in  France. 
The  Dark  One  thousaud  years  of  the  Christian  era  had  now  run  their 
^^^^'  course,  and  Christendom,  in  respect  of  spiritual  tone  and  practical 
morality,  was  at  the  lowest  point  it  has  ever  touched.  Ignorance 
and  superstition  everywhere  prevailed,  and  it  might  be  said  of 
Cliristian  Europe  what  has  often  l^een  said  of  Heathen  Asia  and 
Africa,  that  "  the  dark  places  of  the  earth  were  full  of  the  habita- 
tions of  cruelty."  Keliance  on  the  virtue  of  supposed  relics  of 
saints  had  practically  superseded  the  believer's  humble  access  to 
the  Father  through  the  Son.  The  clergy,  debased  as  a  body 
as  they  have  never  been  before  or  since,  traded  upon  all  kinds 
of  imposture,  and  descended  to  "unspeakable  abominations."* 
Eome  was  governed  by  abandoned  women,  who  put  their  lovers  in 
the  papal  chair ;  and  the  principal  dignitaries  of  the  Church, 
being  "  past  feeling,"  had  "given  themselves  over  unto  lascivious- 
ness,  to  work  all  uncleanness  with  greediness."  Suddenly,  in  the 
year  1000  a.d.,  a  cry  arose  that  the  end  of  the  world  was  at  hand,  the 
"  thousand  years  "  of  Kevelation  being  completed  ;  and  an  extra- 
ordinary account  of  the  panic  that  ensued  is  given  by  Mosheim, 
the  ecclesiastical  historian.  But,  like  other  panics,  it  soon  sub- 
sided, and  Christian  Europe  went  upon  its  wicked  way. 

No  wonder  that  the  Lord's  great  Command  was  forgotten,  and 
that  even  when  Missions  were  carried  on,  they  bore  little  re- 
semblance indeed  to  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles.  Meanwhile,  the 
Mohammedan  power  had  for  four  centuries  wrought  havoc  in  the 
lands  of  the  Bible  and  of  the  Early  Church.  It  had  robbed  the 
Eastern  Empire  and  Church  of  some  of  its  fairest  domains  ;  it 
had  overrun  a  great  part  of  Western  Asia  ;  it  had  totally  destroyed 
the  North  African  Church  ;  it  reigned  supreme  in  Spain.  Chris- 
tendom in  its  decadence  stood  face  to  face  with  the  Saracen  and 
The  the  Moor  in  the  fulness  of  their  vigour.     Then  arose  Peter  the 

Hermit;  and  the  cry  "  Dieu  le  veut,"  rang  through  Europe, 
summoning  Christians  to  a  holy  war.  But  the  weapons  of  this 
warfare  were  carnal,  and  the  purpose  of  the  Crusades  was  not  the 
evangelization  of  the  Mohammedans,  but  their  expulsion  from  the 
Holy  Land.  The  purpose  was  not  fulfilled  ;  the  Holy  Sepulchre, 
rescued  for  a  time,  once  more  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Saracens  ; 
and  in  Moslem  hands  it  has  remained  ever  since.  But  just  as 
the  Crusades  were  coming  to  a  disastrous  close,  there  was  born  in 
the  island  of  Majorca,  in   1236,  the  man  who  was  to  proclaim  a 

*  Canon  George  Trevor's  Rome,  (1868),  p.  159.     Canon  Ti-evor  was  in  his 
day  a  prominent  High  Chiu'chman. 


Missions  before  the  Reformation  13 

truer  method  of  warring  the  Lord's  war,  and  to  become  the  first,    Part  I. 
and  perhaps  the  greatest,  missionary  to  Mohammedans.  Chap.  2, 

There  is  no  more  heroic  figure  in  the  history  of  Christendom  ^^^^^^' 
than  that  of  Eaymund  Lull.  Though  much  less  generally  known,  j^^  mund 
he  deserves  to  be  ranked  with  Francis  of  Assisi,  who  preceded  LuII. 
him  by  a  few  years,  who  anticipated  him  in  his  desire  to  preach 
Christ  to  the  Moslems,  but  who,  in  view  of  the  revival  work  done 
in  Europe  by  hi«  preaching  friars,  may  rather  be  regarded  as  the 
father  of  itinerant  home  missions.  Raymund  Lull,  like  St. 
Augustine,  spent  his  earlier  years  in  a  life  of  sensuality,  and  like 
St.  Augustine  in  his  Confessions,  recorded  his  spiritual  experiences 
in  a  book.  On  Divine  Contemplation.  Converted  to  Christ  at 
the  age  of  thirty,  the  young  noble  thenceforward  gave  himself 
and  all  he  possessed  to  the  service  of  His  Saviour.  He  soon  saw 
what  a  true  crusade  ought  to  be.  "The  Holy  Land,"  he  said, 
"  can  be  won  in  no  other  way  than  as  Thou,  O  Lord  Christ,  and 
Thy  Apostles  w^on  it,  by  love,  by  prayer,  by  shedding  of  tears  and 
blood."  He  began,  however,  by  writing  a  philosophical  book, 
which  was  to  convince  all  men,  the  Moors  included,  that  Chris- 
tianity was  the  only  true  religion  ;  and  then  he  persuaded  the 
Council  of  Vienne  to  order  the  establishment  of  professorships  of 
Arabic  and  other  Oriental  languages  at  the  universities,  Oxford 
included.  Europe  admired  his  philosophy,  and  the  "  Lullian 
Art"  was  famous  for  two  centuries;  but  his  appeals  for  missions 
and  missionaries  fell  unheeded.  At  last,  having  learned  Arabic 
from  a  IMoorish  slave,  he  resolved  to  go  forth  himself ;  and  in 
North  Africa,  and  Cyprus,  and  even  Armenia,  he  patiently  toiled 
among  the  Mohammedans.  Thus  he  himself  reviews  his  life  : —  His  seif- 
"  Once  I  was  rich  ;  I  had  a  wife  and  children  ;  I  led  a  worldly  life,  denial. 
All  these  I  cheerfully  resigned  for  the  sake  of  promoting  the 
conmion  good  and  diffusing  al^road  the  holy  faith.  I  learned 
Arabic  ;  I  have  gone  abroad  several  times  to  preach  the  Gospel  to 
the  Saracens  ;  I  have,  for  the  sake  of  the  faith,  been  cast  into 
prison  ;  I  have  been  scourged  ;  I  have  laboured  during  forty-five 
years  to  win  over  the  shepherds  of  the  Church  and  the  princes  of 
Europe  to  the  common  good  of  Christendom.  Now  I  am  old  and 
poor  ;  but  still  I  am  intent  on  the  same  object,  and  I  wall  perse- 
vere in  it  until  death,  if  the  Lord  permit."  Persevere  he  did, 
"  until  death."  When  nearly  eighty  years  old,  he  once  more 
crossed  the  Mediterranean  and  ministered  to  a  little  flock  of 
converts.  Then,  in  his  unconquerable  courage,  he  stood  forth 
and  called  on  the  Moors  who  had  imprisoned  and  banished  him 
before  to  embrace  the  Gospel.  Their  response  was  to  di'ag  him 
out  of  the  city  and  stone  him  to  death.  The  motto  of  his  great  tyrd^."^" 
book,  despite  its  elaborate  system  of  philosophy,  was  "  He  who 
loves  not  lives  not ;  he  who  lives  by  the  Life  cannot  die."  Ray- 
mund Lull  loved,  and  lived  ;  and  while  he  now  lives  for  ever  in 
the  presence  of  the  Lord  he  loved,  his  example  lives  on  earth  for 
missionaries  in  every  age. 


14  Missions  before  the  Reformation 

Part  I.        All    through   the    centuries   comprised  in    this  brief    sketch  of 
Chap.  2.    Missions  in  Europe,  the  Churches  of  the  East  were  also   at  work 

^  ■   in  Asia.     Corrupt  as  they  became,  and  sorely  as  they   afterwards 

Missions  Suffered  from  Mohammedan  oppression,  the  evangelization  of  the 
in  Asia.  Heathen  was  not  wholly  forgotten.  Persia  received  the  Gospel  as 
early  as  the  second  century,  and  the  terrible  persecutions  endured 
by  the  Church  there  under  the  Sassanian  kings  furnishes  one  of 
the  most  appalling  chapters  of  Christian  martyrology.  The 
tradition  that  the  Syrian  Church  of  Malabar,  in  South  India, — 
whose  members  call  themselves  "Christians  of  St.  Thomas," — 
was  founded  by  the  Apostle  Thomas  himself  is  not* accepted  by 
the  best  authorities  ;  and  it  is  more  likely  that  the  saint  buried  at 
the  now  familiar  "  St.  Thomas's  Mount,"  near  Madras,  was  a 
monk  of  the  eighth  century.  But  it  is  certain  that  this  interesting 
Church  is  very  ancient.  At  the  Council  of  Nicaea,  a.d.  325,  one  of 
the  assembled  bishops  was  "  Johannes,  Metropolitan  of  Persia  and 
the  Great  India."  Two  hundred  years  later,  Cosmas,  a  merchant 
of  Alexandria,  who  had  made  several  voyages  to  the  Far  East, 
published  a  book  called  Tlie  Christian  Topograyhy  of  the  Whole 
World,  to  prove  from  his  travels  that  the  earth  was  flat  and  not 
globular.  This  work  Dr.  G.  Smith  calls  the  first  Indian  Missionary 
Eeport,  and  he  quotes  an  interesting  passage  from  it."  "  Even 
in  Taprobane "  [Ceylon],  says  Cosmas,  "there  is  a  Church  of 
Christians  with  clergy  and  a  congregation  of  believers.  ...  So 
likewise  among  the  Bactrians,  and  Hutas,  and  Persians,  and  the 
rest  of  the  Indians.  .  .  .  there  is  an  infinite  number  of  churches 
with  bishops  and  a  vast  multitude  of  Christian  people.  ...  So 
also  in  Ethiopia.  .  .  .  and  all  through  Arabia." 
Nestorian  The  Ncstoriaii  Church  is  honourably  distinguished  by  its 
Missions.  ii-,issionary  zeal  in  Asia.  At  the  very  time  that  Mohammedanism 
was  beginning  its  destructive  course  in  Western  Asia,  Nestorian 
Christianity  was  spreading  even  to  China  and  Tartary  ;  and  while 
Europe  was  in  its  darkest  period  of  superstition,  the  tenth  and 
eleventh  centuries,  Christian  bishops  were  presiding  over  dioceses 
in  Turkestan,  Kashgar,  and  other  parts  of  Central  Asia  wdiere 
now,  and  for  long  ages  past,  Islam  and  Buddhism  have  divided 
the  land.  Although  Zingis  Khan,  the  Mongol  conqueror  and 
scourge  of  Asia,  persecuted  the  Christians,  his  grandson  Kublai 
Khan,  in  the  thirteenth  century,  favoured  them,  and  Marco  Polo 
the  Venetian  traveller  gives  a  deeply  interesting  account  of 
Asiatic  Christendom  under  his  tolerant  sway.  By  this  time 
Rome  was  competing  with  the  Nestorians  for  the  spiritual 
dominion  of  Asia,  and  Kublai  Khan  sent  from  Peking  to  the  Pope 
for  wise  and  earnest  Christian  teachers  to  be  posted  all  over  the 
A  lost  empire.  The  Church  failed  to  respond,  and  to  this  day  has  never 
oppor-         ]-,g^jJ   j^    second    chance    of    evangelizing    Central  Asia.f     In  the 

tunity.  °  " 

*   Conversion  of  India,  p.  29. 

t  Dr.  G.  Smith  mentions  as  a  sad  ilhistration  the  Island  of  Socotra,  whose 
rocky  eminence  is  now  familiar  to  thousands  of  English  travelleis  across  the 


MiSSlOA'S   BEFORE    THE    ReFOHMAT/OX  I  5 

fouiteentli    centuiy,    the    Turks    and    the    Tartars  destroyed  the    Part  I. 
churches  and  put  thousands  of  Christians  to  death  with   horrible    Chap.  2. 

tortures,  while  many  others   saved  theii'  lives  by   apostasy.     The       ^_   ' 

only  remaining  evidence  to-day  of  the  great  Nestoi'ian  Missions  is 
the  celebrated  monument  at  Si-ngan-fu  in  North-Western  China, 
which  records  the  fact  that  in  the  seventh  century  "  the  illustrious 
religion  had  spread  itself  in  every  direction,  and  (Christian  temples 
were  in  a  hundred  cities."  '■' 

Thus  in  the  fifteenth  century  the  tide  of  evangelization  had  christi- 
actually  ebbed,  and  Christendom  occupied  a  smaller  area  than  it  fe^puTsed 
had  done  two  centuries  l)efore.  In  the  eloquent  words  of  Dr. 
Fleming  Stevenson, — "  Christianity  had  ovei'run  Europe,  but  it 
had  almost  disappeared  from  Asia,  where  it  was  born.  The  very 
Palestine  of  Christ  was  in  possession  of  the  infidel.  Antioch, 
that  had  stretclied  its  patriarchate  ovei'  the  East,  and  fostered 
churches  as  far  as  the  wall  of  China,  was  trodden  by  the  feet  of 
Moslem  conquerors.  The  schools  of  Alexandria  were  silenced  by 
ilie  sword  of  Mohammed.  Every  sacred  spot  of  the  African 
Church,  the  memories  of  Augustine,  of  Alypius,  of  Cyprian  and 
Tertullian,  of  Moni(;a  and  Perpotua,  tlie  regions  that  had  been 
liallowod  by  innumerable  maityrs,  were  all  overrun  l)y  Moham- 
medanism. Cin-istianity  was  assailed  even  in  Europe  itself.  The 
cry  of  the  muezzin  was  heard  from  a  liundred  minarets  in  the 
city  where  Cln'ysostom  preached  to  Christian  emperors.  The 
fierce,  sti-ong  faith  of  the  Arab  not  only  held  Constantinople  but 
almost  reached  to  Rome.  Nothing  but  the  narrow  waters  of  the 
Adriatic  lay  between  the  centre  of  Latin  Christendom  and  the 
eager  outposts  of  the  Turk.  Hundreds  of  years  before  this,  there 
had  been  a  chain  of  mission  churches  from  the  Caspian  almost  to 
the  Yellow  Sea ;  the  little  Christian  Kingdom  of  the  Tartars, 
I'uled  by  its  Prester  Johns,  may  not  have  stood  alone  ;  but  now, 
tlie  Nestorian  occupation  of  Western  China  had  shrunk  down  to 
a  tal)let  with  an  inscription,  and  Tamerlane  had  swept  every 
trace  of  Christianity  oft"  the  face  of  Central  Asia.  Ground  had 
been  lost,  century  by  century ;  and  for  half  a  millenniinn  no 
ground  had  been  won."  f 

Indian  Ocean.  So  far  back  as  the  second  century,  Panticnas  found  Christians 
there.  Marco  Polo  tells  of  bishop,  clergy,  and  people.  In  the  seventeenth 
century  tlie  inhabitants  called  themselves  Chri.stiins,  but  niinglt>d  Moslem 
and  Paj^an  rites  with  their  corrupt  worship.  Now  Islam  reijj^iis  there 
undisturbed  Socotra,  he  observes,  is  "a  living  example  of  tin-  failure  of  a 
false  or  imperfect  Christianity  to  regenerate  a  people." 

*  A  picture  and  full  account  of  this  remarkable  monument  are  given  in 
Dr.  G.  Smith's  Conversion  of  India,  p.  20. 

t  Daicn  of  the  Modern  Mission,  p.  6.     Edinburgh.  1887. 


CHAPTER  III. 

Missions  after  the  EeformatioTi. 


Part  I. 

Chap.  3. 

irj3-t-1786. 

Why  were 
post-Re- 
formation 
Missions 
Roman 
and  not 
Pro- 
testant ? 


Roman  Missions — Xavier — Erasmus — Early  Protestant  Efforts — Eliot 
and  the  Red  Indians — Cromwell,  Boyle,  Dr.  Bray — S.P.C.K.  and 
S.P.G. — Bishop  Berkeley — Lutheran  Mission  in  India  :  Ziegenbalg 
and  Schwartz — Hans  Egede — Moravians — Brainerd. 

"  Hoiu  long  are  ye  sJacl-  to  go  to  possess  the  land?" — Josh,  xviii.  3. 
"  While  inen  slept,  his  enemy  came  avd  snn-ed  tares." — Matt.  xiii.  25. 

T  is  a  remarkable  and  a  humbling  thing  that  the  great 
movement  which  delivered  Northern  Europe  from  the 
Papacy,  and  restored  to  the  individual  Christian  the 
freedom  of  direct  access  to  God  through  Christ,  did 
little  or  nothing  for  the  evangelization  of  the  world. 
It  did  lead  to  Foreign  Missions  on  a  more  extensive  scale  than 
the  world  had  yet  seen ;  but  these  Missions  were  organized,  not 
by  the  Churches  that  were  rejoicing  in  their  light  and  liberty,  but 
by  the  old  corrupt  Church  whose  yoke  they  had  shaken  off. 
Rome  lost  the  nations  that  were  destined  to  be  in  the  van  of 
progress  in  the  following  centuries  ;  but  she  responded  by  sending 
her  emissaries  to  the  newly  discovered  America,  and  the  East  and 
West  Coasts  of  Africa,  and  by  the  new  sea-route  to  the  mysterious 
East  of  Asia.  To  use  Canning's  famous  phrase,  she  called  a  new 
world  into  existence  to  redress  the  balance  of  the  old. 

The  question  may  fairly  be  asked,  How  came  it  that  the 
Reformed  Churches  were  so  slack  while  the  unreformed  Church 
was  so  vigorous  ?  Various  answers  have  been  suggested  to  this 
question :  for  example,  that  the  Reformers  w^ere  too  much  occu- 
pied in  making  good  their  position  at  home  to  think  of  the 
Heathen  abroad,"  or  that  the  Erastianism  which  subjected  them 
to  the  secular  power  dulled  their  zeal.  It  does  not,  however, 
seem  necessary  to  find  reasons  of  this  kind.  A  simple  and  sufifi- 
cient  cause  is  supplied  by  the  fact  that  the  navigating  and 
exploring  nations  of  the  day  were  Spain  and  Portugal.  As  a 
Spanish  Admiral  (though  himself  a  Genoese),  Columbus  discovered 
America  ;  the  Portuguese  Vasco  da  Gama  circumnavigated  Africa 

*  "  A  victim  escaping  from  the  folds  of  a  boa-constrictor  is  presumably 
not  in  the  condition  of  a  vigorous  athlete."  Dr.  A.  C.  Thompson,  Protestant 
Missions  :   Their  Rise  and  Earlij  Progress,  New  York,  1894. 


M/ssroys  after  the  Reformation  17 

and  opened  up  the  now  route  to  India  and  China.     It  was  natural    Part  1. 
that   the   first  missionaries   to   the  vast  territories  thus  rendered  ^l^^^;^ 
accessible  should  ])e  Spaniards  and  Portuguese  ;  and  being  so,  they    ^    " 
were  of  course  Romanists.     It  is  the  same  principle  that  was  em- 
bodied long  afterwards  in  Livingstone's  pregnant  words,  "The  end  of 
the  geographical  feat  is  the  beginning  of  the  missionary  enterprise." 

Still,  if  the  opportunity  was  to  be  used,  the  agent  was  required. 
The  hour  had  come  for  the  extension  of  Roman  Christianity  ;  but 
with  the  hour  there  must  be  the  man.  In  this  case  there  were 
two  men,  Ignatius  Loyola  and  Francis  Xavier.  Loj^ola  founded 
the  Order  of  the  Jesuits,  the  most  potent  instrument  Rome  has 
had  for  extending  her  influence.  Xavier  was  one  of  the  seven  Francis 
men  who,  in  the  crypt  of  St.  Denis  on  the  heights  of  Mont-  ^*'"^'■■ 
martre,  banded  themselves  together  to  form  that  Order,  in 
the  very  year,  1534,  in  which  the  Act  of  Supremacy  severed 
England  from  the  Papacy  ;  and  he  became  the  one  missionary  of 
the  Roman  Church  whom  all  Christendom  honours.  He  led  the 
way  to  India  and  to  Japan,  and  he  died  in  the  attempt  to  knock  at 
the  closed  door  of  China.  But  much  undeserved  glamour  attaches 
to  Xavier's  work.  The  marvellous  results  attributed  to  his  labours 
exist  only  in  the  imagination  of  those  whom  a  Roman  Catholic 
historian,  Mr.  Stewart  Rose,  calls  his  "unwise  biographers." 
He  never  learned  an  Oriental  language.  Although  he  "  made 
Christians  "  {feci  Christianos  is  his  expression)  rapidly  in  India 
by  baptizing  Heathen  infants  and  the  most  ignorant  of  the  Tamil 
fishermen,  yet  the  Abbe  Dubois,  a  Jesuit  w-riter,  says  of  him  that 
he  was  "entirely  disheartened  by  the  invincible  obstacles  he 
everywhere  met,"  and  ultimately  "left  India  in  disgust";  and 
this  is  confirmed  by  his  own  letters  to  Loyola.  Indeed,  so  hope- 
less did  he  regard  any  attempt  to  win  the  Heathen  by  preaching, 
that  he  called  on  King  John  of  Portugal  to  lay  upon  the  governors 
of  his  possessions  in  India  the  duty  of  forcing  the  Church  upon 
the  Natives,  and  to  punish  severely  any  governor  whose  "  con- 
verts "  w^ere  few\  Bishop  Cotton,  most  tolerant  of  Anglican  pre- 
lates, considered  Xavier's  methods  "  utterly  wrong,  and  the  results 
in  India  and  Ceylon  most  deplorable."  Nevertheless,  his  zeal  and 
devotion  call  for  unstinted  admiration.  He  did  love  his  Divine 
Master  ;  he  did  love  the  souls  for  whom  his  Master  died.  His  toils 
and  privations  were  heroically  borne,  and  he  never  descended 
to  the  fraud  and  falsehood  by  w-hich  some  of  his  successors 
sought  to  spread  the  religion  of  Christ  as  they  understood  it.  Some 
great  men  are  patterns  ;  some  are  beacons.     Xavier  was  both.* 

But  most  of  his  comrades  and  successors  were  beacons,  and 
not   patterns.     The   history  of  Jesuit  Missions,  as   told   by  the  .jesmt^^^ 
Jesuits  themselves,  is  one  of  the  saddest  portions  of  the  Chiu'ch's     '^^'°  ^' 
annals.      Their   identification   with   the   aggi'andizement   of    the 

*  The  most  instructive,  and  perfectly  fair,  Life  of  Xavier,  is  that  by  Henry 
Venn,  Hon.  Sec.  of  the  C.M.S.     (London,  1S62.)     See  Chapter  LXVIII. 
VOL.  I.  C 


1 8  Missions  after  the  Reformation 

Part  I.  nations  that  sent  them  forth,  then'  use  of  the  secular  arm,  their 
Chap^3.  estabhshment  of  the  Inquisition  in  Malabar,  in  Japan,  in  the 
lo34-l786.  Philippine  Islands,  in  Mexico  and  South  America  ;  the  frightful 
tortures  inflicted  by  them  on  both  Heathen  and  heretics  (e.g.  the 
burning  alive  at  Goa  of  the  Metropolitan  of  the  Syrian  Church  in 
1654);  their  "unholy  accommodation  of  Christian  truth  and 
observances  to  heathenish  superstitions  and  customs,"  as  Mr. 
Rowley  of  the  S.P.G.  expresses  it ;  the  impostures  practised  by 
Robert  de  Nobili  in  the  hope  by  their  means  of  winning  the 
Brahmans  ; — these  are  only  some  of  their  principal  features.  And 
what  were  the  results  ?  On  both  sides  of  Africar  on  the  Congo 
and  in  Mozambique,  countries  once  nominally  Christian  are  now 
Heathen,  though  some  of  the  cities  (like  San  Salvador)  still  bear 
Christian  names.  The  really  shocking  story  of  the  Congo  Mission 
is  told  by  a  sympathizer,  the  Italian  Pigafetta,  Chamberlain  to 
Pope  Innocent  IX.  In  India  the  adherents  of  Rome  are  numerous, 
but  Bishop  Caldwell  of  Tinnevelly  was  only  one  of  the  many 
witnesses  to  the  same  fact  when  he  wrote,  "  The  Roman  Catholic 
Hindus,  in  intellect,  habits,  and  morals,  do  not  differ  from  the 
Heathen  in  the  smallest  degree."  ='■  Similar  testimony  comes  from 
China.! 
Men  While,  therefore,  we  are  bound  to  acknowledge  the  self-denial 

methods  ^^^^  devotion  of  many  of  the  Roman  missionaries,  and  not  to 
wrong.  doubt  that  there  have  been  among  them  not  a  few  who,  knowing 
Christ  as  their  own  Saviour,  have  earnestly  preached  Him  to  the 
Heathen,  it  is  impossible  to  shut  our  eyes  to  the  plain  facts  of 
history  as  recorded  by  themselves  ;  and  these  facts  of  history 
exhibit  a  work  which,  upon  the  whole,  however  zealously  done,  no 
well-instructed  Christian  can  suppose  to  have  commanded  the 
Divine  blessing.  The  methods  of  the  Jesuit  missionaries,  indeed, 
were  repeatedly  condemned  by  the  Popes  themselves  ;  and  it  is 
right  to  say  that  the  Dominicans  and  Franciscans  have  been  less 
open  to  the  same  censure.  The  societies,  orders,  and  other  mis- 
sionary bodies  within  the  Roman  Church  are  almost  as  numerous 
as  those  of  Reformed  Christendom,  although  to  some  extent  they 
have  been  generally  supervised  by  the  College  De  Propaganda 
Fide,  established  at  Rome  in  1622. 

We  now  turn  to  the  beginnings  of  Protestant  Missions.     In  the 

Erasmus     very  year  in  which  the  Jesuit  Order  was  founded,  Erasmus  wrote 

Missions,    his    famous    Treatise  on  Preaching.     He  was  only  in   a  partial 

sense  a  Reformer,  but  his  brilliant  mind  reahzed,  as  neither  Luther 

nor  Calvin  nor  Cranmer  did,  the  duty  of  the  Church  to  evangelize 

tHe  world. 

"  Everlasting  God !  "  he  wrote ;  "  how  much  ground  there  is  in  the 
world  where  the  seed  of  the  Gospel  has  never  yet  been  sown,  or  where 
there  is  a  greater  crop  of  tares  than  of  wheat !     Europe  is  the  smallest 

*  S.P.G.  Digest,  p.  541. 

t  Fui'ther  evidence  is  given  in  a  paper  read  by  the  Autiior  of  this  History 
at  the  Anglican  I.Iissionary  Conference  of  1894.     Report,  p.  171. 


Missions  after   the  Reformation  19 

quarter  of  the  globe.  .  .  .  What,  I  ask,  do  we  now  possess  in  Asia,  1'art  I. 
which  is  the  largest  continent?  In  Africa  what  have  we'?  There  are  Cliap^:?. 
surely  in  these  vast  tracts  barbarous  and  simple  tribes  who  ct)uld  easily  1534- 1786 ■ 
be  attracted  to  Christ  if  we  sent  men  among  them  to  sow  the  gocKl  seed. 
Regions  hitherto  unknown  are  being  daily  discovered,  and  more  there 
are^  as  we  are  told,  into  which  the  Gospel  has  never  yet  been  carried. 
Travellers  bring  home  from  distant  lands  gold  and  gems  ;  but  it  is 
worthier  to  carry  hence  the  wisdom  of  Christ,  more  preci(nis  than  gold, 
and  the  pearl  of  the  Gospel,  w^hich  would  put  to  shame  all  earthly  riches. 
Christ  orders  us  to  pray  the  Lord  of  the  harvest  to  send  forth  labourers, 
be<!ause  the  harvest  is  ]>lcnteous  and  the  labourers  are  few.  Must  we 
not  then  pray  God  to  thrust  forth  labourers  into  such  vast  tracts?  .  .  . 
Bestir  yourselves,  then,  ye  heroic  and  illustrious  leaders  of  the  army  of 
Christ.  .  .  .  Address  yourselves  with  fearless  minds  to  such  a  glorious 
work.  ...  It  is  a  hard  work  I  call  you  to.  but  it  is  the  noblest  and 
highest  of  all.  Would  that  God  had  accounted  me  worthy  to  die  in  so 
holy  a  work  !  "  * 

But  the  Kefoi-med  Clmrches  ^ve^e  slow  to  respond  to  this  stirring 
appeal.  For  a  century  and  a  half  Missions  were  mainly  the  work 
of  isolated  individuals.  x\pparently  the  very  first  attempt  was  Fj.^^'^t^^^^^^ 
that  of  the  noble  Huguenot,  Admiral  Cohgny,  in  1556.  He  a^empfs"* 
obtained  a  band  of  men  from  Calvin  at  Geneva  and  sent  them  to 
Brazil,  in  connexion  with  a  projected  French  colony  there  ;  but 
they  were  cruelly  treated,  and  some  of  them  killed,  by  a  treacherous 
governor ;  and  the  enterprise  came  to  naught.  The  second 
Protestant  Mission  was  sent  from  Sweden  to  the  Laplanders,  Swedish, 
under  the  patronage  of  Gustavus  Vasa,  in  1559.  Early  in  the 
next  century,  the  Dutch,  now  freed  from  the  tyranny  of  Spain,  Dutch. 
began  to  engage  in  colonial  enterprise,  and,  as  in  the  case  of 
Spain  and  Portugal,  this  led  to  Missions  being  planned  also.  In 
1612,  ten  years  before  the  establishment  of  the  Propaganda  at 
Rome,  a  missionary  college  was  founded  at  Leyden  by  Anthony 
WalfBUS.  Men  were  sent  to  the  new  colonies  in  the  East  Indies  ; 
and  Grotius  wrote  for  their  use  his  great  work  on  the  Truth  of 
Christianity.  But  the  methods  adopted  cannot  be  commended. 
What  Xavier  had  asked  the  King  of  Portugal  to  do,  the  Dutch 
governors  did.  They  made  the  profession  of  Christianity  a  con- 
dition of  civil  rights,  and  the  Natives  were  baptized  by  the  thousand 
with  the  smallest  modicum  of  instruction.  The  immediate  external 
success,  of  course,  was  immense  ;  but  it  did  not  last.  AVherever 
the  Dutch  rule  ceased,  by  British  conquest  or  otherwise,  these 
multitudes  of  nominal  Christians  reverted  to  Heathenism. 

It  was  in  Germany  that  the  truer  missionaiy  spirit  began  to  German, 
show  itself  here  and'  there.  Peter  Heyling  of  Lubeck  went  to 
Abyssinia  in  1632,  and  there  translated  the  New  Testament  into 
Amharic.  Von  Welz,  an  Austrian  baron,  appealed  to  the  German 
nobihty  in  1664  to  send  the  Gospel  to  the  Heathen,  and  projected 
for  the  purpose  a  Society  of  the  Love  of  Jesus  ;  but  Lutheranism 

*  The   Avhole  passage,  a   lone  and  most  eloquent  one,  is  given  by  Dr.  G. 
Smith,  6h,;-t  History  oj  Christian  ilis^iors,  chap.  x. 

c  2 


20  Missions  after  the  /^efor^uation 

Part  I.    had  then  become  ahnost  dead  and  cold,  and   a  leading  theological 
Cliap^:s.   professor  protested  against  casting  such  pearls  as  "  the  holy  things 

1534-1786.  q£  Qq^  "  i-,efoj;e  "dogs  and  swine  "  like  Tartars  and  Greenlanders. 
"  As  for  the  Society  of  the  Love  of  Jesus,"  he  added,  "  God  save 
us  from  it !  "  But  the  Pietist  movement  was  commencing,  which 
was  destined  to  be  in  Germany  what  the  Methodist  movement 
was  in  England  ;  and  under  devoted  leaders  like  Francke  at  Halle 
and  Spener  at  Berlin,  the  evangelistic  spirit  gradually  spread 
which  afterwards  provided  the  English  Church  Societies  with 
many  of  their  earhest  missionaries.  This,  however,  would  bring 
us  into  the  eighteenth  and  nineteenth  centuries.  Before  leaving 
the  seventeenth,  we  must  come  to  England  and  x\merica. 

English.  English  Missions  also  grew  out  of  colonial  enterprise.     The  very 

first  missionary  contribution  in  England  was  Sir  Walter  Ealeigh's 
gift  of  £100  to  the  company  which  founded  the  Elizabethan  colony 
of  Virginia,  "  for  the  propagation  of  the  Christian  religion  in  that 
settlement."  In  the  charter  given  by  James  I.  to  the  same  com- 
pany, it  was  provided  that  "  the  word  and  service  of  God  be 
preached,  planted,  and  used,  not  only  in  the  said  colony,  but,  as 
much  as  may  be,  among  the  savages  bordering  among  them"; 
and  on  November  13th,  1622,  Dr.  John  Donne,  Dean  of  St.  Paul's, 
delivered  before  this  company  what  may  fairly  be  regarded  as  the 
first  missionary  sermon  preached  in  England.  But  the  Pilgrim 
Fathers  who  colonized  New  England  were  the  first  to  produce  a 

John  Eliot,  genuine  missionary,  in  the  person  of  John  Ehot.  He  was  for 
sixty  years  the  minister  of  the  village  of  Eoxbury,  now  a  suburb 
of  Boston  ;  but  the  Eed  men  familiarized  to  a  later  generation  by 
the  picturesque  tales  of  Fenimore  Cooper  then  peopled  the  forests 
covering  what  is  now  the  prosperous  state  of  Massachusetts  ;  and 
among  them  Eliot  laboured  with  a  devotion  and  success  that 
earned  for  him  the  title  of  Apostle  of  the  Indians.  Inspired  l)y 
his  own  motto,  "Prayer  and  pains,  through  faith  in  Jesus  Christ, 
will  do  anything,"  he  mastered  and  reduced  to  writing  the  Mohican 
language,*  and  translated  into  it  the  whole  Bible  ;  which  transla- 
tion is  still  extant  as  a  curiosity,  though  not  available  for  practical 
use.t  Many  of  the  Red  Indian  tribes  utterly  disappeared  before 
the  advance  of  the  white  settler.  All  the  more  must  we  honour 
the  man  who  "served  his  owm  generation  by  the  will  of  God" 
and  evangelized  them  while  there  was  time. 

But  who  paid  for  the  printing  of  the  book,  and  otherwise  sup- 
ported Eliot's  work  ?  Shortly  after  he  began  his  labours,  England 
as  a  nation  very  nearly  became  a  great  missionary  society.  The 
House  of  Commons,  under  Cromw-ell's  auspices,  took  up  the  ques- 

*  What  the  task  was  may  be  guessed  if  we  print  here  one  word,  simply 
meaning  "  catechism  "  : — Kiimmogol-donattoottammoctiteaovganniwyioyiatih. 

I  In  the  first  edition  of  this  work  it  was  stated,  as  has  often  been  stated 
else-.v'here,  that  there  is  no  one  now  who  can  read  Eliot's  Bible.  Bishop 
Whipple  of  Minnesota,  however,  has  sent  interesting  evidence  that  this  is 
incorrect. 


Miss /am  after  the  Reformatios-  21 

tion.  iLs  journals  record  that,  in  1G48,  "  the  Commons  of  Enghind  Part  I 
assembled'  in  Parliament,  having  received  intelhgence  that  tlie  ^^^l\^- 
heathens  in  New  England  are  beginning  to  call  upon  the  name  ot  — 
the  Lord,  feel  bound  to  assist  in  the  work."  A  "  Society  for  the  cromweii 
Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  New  England  "  was  established,  the  foun,ds^ 
first  of  three  distinct  organizations  which  have  borne  the  initials  ..  s.p.c- 
S.P.G.  A  collection  was  made  for  it  throughout  England,  which, 
invested  in  land,  produced  an  income  of  £600  a  year ;  and  from 
this  fund  grants  were  made  to  John  Eliot.  Cromwell  had  also  a 
project  for  converting  the  old  Chelsea  College  into  a  great  mis- 
sionary institution,  dividing  the  world  into  four  great  Mission- 
fields,  and  directing  the  work  in  them  by  four  secretaries  paid  by 
the  State ;  but  his  death,  and  the  Eestoration,  put  an  end  to  these 
plans.  Under  Charles  II.  the  Society  was  reorganized  by  the 
energy  of  the  Hon.  Eobert  Boyle,  and  may  be  said  to  have  become 
a  second  S.P.G.  It  still  exists  under  the  name  of^  the  New  |econd 
England  Companv,  and  disl)urses  its  funds  in  Nova  Scotia  and 
New  Brunswick.  •'  Eobert  Boyle  was  a  man  of  true  missionary 
ardour.  The  Lectureship  he  endowed,  and  which  bears  his  name, 
was  designed  for  missionary  appeals.  He  paid  for  a  translation 
into  Arabic  of  the  treatise  by  Grotius  before  mentioned,  and  also 
for  a  translation  of  part  of  the  New  Testament  into  Malay, 
evidently  for  the  use  of  the  Dutch  missionaries.  He  bequeathed 
a  large  sum  to  found  a  "Christian  Faith  Society"  for  the 
evangelization  of  Virginia  ;  which  society  also  still  exists,  apply- 
ing its  funds,  since  the  secession  of  the  United  States,  to  the 
benefit  of  the  British  West  Indies  and  Mauritius.  About  the 
same  time.  Dean  Prideaux  set  forth  a  scheme  for  Missions  m 
India  ;  the  result  of  which  was  that  at  the  next  revision  of  the 
East  India  Company's  charter,  in  1698,  Parliament  enacted  that 
the  ministers  sent  to  India  for  the  Enghsh  traders  "  should  apply 
themselves  to  learn  the  language  of  the  country,  the  better  to 
enable  them  to  instruct  the  Gentoos  [Gentiles  or  Heathen]  who 
should  be  the  servants  of  the  Company  in  the  Protestant  religion." 
This  enactment,  however,  was  not  obeyed  until  the  days  of  Henry 
Martyn,  more  than  a  century  afterwards. 

We  now  come  to  a  great  epoch  in  the  history  of  English  Mis- 
sions. The  Society  for  Promoting  Christian  Knowledge  was  foumled  Th^  ^  ^ 
in  1698,  and  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  m  1701.  and's.p.b. 

These  two  great  societies  owed  their  origin  to  the  zeal  and  energy  ^^'"'^■ 
of  one  man.  Dr.  Thomas  Brav,  Eector  of  Sheldon,  Warwickshire.  Dr.  Brays 
lie  was  one  of  a  little  group  of  men  to  whom  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land at  that  day  owed  much.    The  most  striking  figure  among  them 
was  that  of  Eobert  Nelson,  tlie  typical   High  Cliurch  layman,  as 
the    term    "High   Church"   was  then  understood.!      The  group 

*  See  CM.  Iiitrlli.jcii,;',;  May,  1886. 

t  See  the  cvtretnelv  interesting  essay  by  C.  J.  Abhov,  m  Abbey  aiul 
nvertou'a  English  Cliu'rrh  in  tlw  Kijhteentit  Centunj,  ..ii  "  H..l.erL  Nel.sou  uiul 
his  Friends." 


efforts. 


22 


M/SS ION'S    AFTER    THE    REFORMATION 


Part  I. 

Chap.  3. 

1534-1786. 


Third 
S.P.G. 


Its  con- 
stitution. 


included  both  Jurors  and  Non-jurors,  that  is,  those  who  did  and 
those  who  did  not  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  William  III. 
Dr.  Bray  was  a  supporter  of  the  new  regime  ;  Nelson  was  not ; 
bu1}  they  worked  together  with  exemplary  cordiality  in  various 
schemes  of  moral  and  social  reform.  Bray's  thoughtful  energy 
took  tw^o  directions  :  he  devised  plans  for  establishing  libraries  for 
poor  clergy  at  home  and  abroad,  and  his  interest  in  the  Colonies 
took  him  across  the  Atlantic  to  Maryland  under  a  special  commis- 
sion from  the  Bishop  of  London.  In  these  two  enterprises  we  see 
the  germs  of  the  S.P.C.K.  and  S.P.G.  respectively.. 

The  S.P.C.K.  was  founded  in  1698,  as  a  voluntary  aiid,  onemay 
almost  say,  private  society,  by  Dr.  Bray  and  four  lay  friends,  who 
signed  their  names  to  the  following  statement  : — "  Whereas  the 
growth  of  vice  and  immorality  is  greatly  owing  to  gross  ignorance 
of  the  principles  of  the  Christian  religion,  we  whose  names  are 
underwritten  do  agree  to  meet  together  as  often  as  we  can  con- 
veniently, to  consult  (under  the  conduct  of  the  Divine  Providence 
and  assistance)  how  we  may  be  al)le  by  due  and  lawful  methods  to 
promote  Christian  knowledge."  But  I)r.  Bray  wanted  more  than 
this.  The  new  society  was  to  provide  schools  and  literature,  and 
to  subsidize  other  institutions  with  the  same  object.  It  was  not 
proposed  to  employ  living  agents,  and  it  was  living  agents  that  the 
Colonies  required.  The  good  doctor  therefore  planned  another 
organization  for  that  purpose,  and  drew  up  a  petition  to  the  King 
for  the  incorporation  of  a  new  societ)^  which  was  backed  by  the 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury.  Simultaneously  with  this,  the  atten- 
tion of  Convocation  was  called  to  the  needs  of  the  Colonies,  and  a 
Conmiittee  was  appointed  to  consider  them.  The  two  movements 
appear  to  have  been  quite  independent,  and  possi1)ly  both  may 
have  had  influence ;  but  the  charter  granted  by  the  Crown  was 
certainly  in  response  to  Dr.  Bray's  petition."-''  The  name  of  the 
new  body  thus  established  was  The  Society  for  the  Propagation  of 
the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts,  the  same  title  as  had  been  borne  by 
the  two  associations  before  mentioned,  but  with  the  words  "  in 
Foreign  Parts"  added.  This  was  therefore  the  third  "  S.P.G.," 
and  the  permanent  one. 

The  S.P.C.K.  and  the  S.P.G.  differed,  not  only  in  object,  but 
also  in  constitution.  The  former  w^as  a  private  society,  to  the 
membership  of  which,  at  first,  even  bishops  were  only  elected 
"  after  inquiries  "  ;  and  for  many  years  it  published  no  historical 
account  of  itself  and  held  no  anniversary.  The  S.P.G.,  though 
also  a  voluntary  society,  in  that  it  was  not  established  by  the 
Church  as  such,  and  even  the  President  w^as  not  the  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury  ex  officio,  but  was  elected  annually ,t  yet  was  a 
great  public  organization,  wdth  eleven  bishops  among  its  incor- 

*  See  S.P.G.  Digest,  pp.  4-7  ;  also  Hole,  Early  Histnri/  of  C.M.S.,  p.  xxvii. 

t  This  continned  to  be  the  case  until  recently,  under  the  original  Charter. 
The  new  Charter,  granted  in  1882,  provides  that  the  Archbishop  of  Canteu- 
bury  for  the  time  being  shall  be  President. 


M/SS/OA\'^   AFTER    THE   REFORMATION  23 

ponited    members,   an  anniversavy  sermon    and  meeting,    and  a    Part  1. 
printed  annual  report.  /-"'IT^tk"- 

By  "  Foreign  Parts"  in  the  title  of  S.P.G.  was  understood  the  ^'^•^'*2_^'- 
colonies  and  dependencies  of  Great  Britain  ;  and  the  purpose  of  its  s^ope. 
the  society,  as  defined  in  the  charter,  was  the  spiritual  benefit  of 
"  our  loving  subjects  "  who  were  in  danger  of  falling  into  "  atheism, 
infidelity,  popish  superstition,  and  idolatry."  In  the  very  first 
annual  sermon,  however.  Dr.  Willis,  Dean  of  Lincoln,  announced 
that  the  design  was  "  first,  to  settle  the  state  of  rehgion,  as  well  as 
may  be,  among  our  own  people  there,  .  .  .  and  then  to  proceed  in 
the  best  methods  .  .  .  toward  the  conversion  of  the  Natives"; 
and,  from  the  first,  the  Society  took  measures  to  reach  both  the 
Eed  Indians  and  the  Negro  slaves  in  the  American  Colonies.  But 
Heathen  and  Mohammedan  nations  outside  the  limits  of  the 
British  Empire  were  not  included  in  the  range  of  the  Society's 
direct  work  until  it  had  been  in  existence  a  century  and  a  half. 
It  was  owing  to  this  limitation  that  the  Danish  Mission  to  India, 
presently  to  be  noticed,  was  not  taken  up  by  the  S.P.G.,  but  by  the 
S.P.C.K.  ;  for  it  was  in  territory  not  then  belonging  to  England. 
The  S.P.G.  did  indeed,  when  only  eight  years  old,  show  its 
sympathy  with  that  Mission  by  a  gift  of  £20  from  some  of  its 
members ;  a  gift  memorable  as  the  first  English  contribution  to  the 
evangelization  of  India.  But  after  that,  for  a  whole  century,  the  s.p.c.k. 
India  Mission  was  supported  in  England  only  by  the  S.P.C.K. ; 
and  not  only  supported,  but  ^drtually  directed.  The  missionaries 
were  all  Germans  or  Danes,  of  the  Lutheran  Church,  trained  in 
their  own  country  and  ordained  according  to  their  own  rite. 
But  they  came  to  England  for  instructions  before  sailing ;  and 
excellent  "Charges"  were  delivered  to  them  by  clergymen 
of  reputation. '•■  It  is  interesting  to  notice  that  when  the  most 
eminent  of  them,  Schwartz,  ordained,  according  to  the  Lutheran 
use,  a  catechist  named  Satyanadhan,  to  be  what  was  called  a 
"  country  priest,"  the  S.P.C.K.  recorded  this  ordination,  not  by 
a  bishop,  but  by  a  Lutheran  minister,  with  special  pleasure.  "  If 
we  wish,"  said  the  venerable  Society  in  its  next  Eeport,  "  to 
estabhsh  the  Gospel  in  India,  we  ought  in  time  to  give  the 
Natives  a  Church  of  their  own,  independent  of  our  support  .  .  . 
and  secure  a  regular  succession  of  truly  apostolical  pastors,  even 
if  all  communication  with  their  parent  Church  should  be  annihi- 
lated." The  Mission  was  transferred  to  the  S.P.G.  in  1824,  after 
just  one  hundred  years'  labour. 

The  most  important  British  Colonies  being  those  on  the 
American  Continent,  viz.,  what  are  now  the  United  States,  the 

*  A  volume  of  these  "Charges"  was  published  by  the  S.P.C.K.  in  1822. 
One,  by  Archdeacon  Middleton,  afterwards  first  Bishop  of  Calcutta,  delivered 
to  a  German  missionary,  Jacobi,  in  1813,  is  very  able  and  interesting,  and  is 
particularly  notable  for  its  fearless  condemnatiou  of  Roman  Missions,  and 
its  warm  recognition  of  the  work  of  the  Lutherans  and  of  tlie  Natives  they 
had  ordained. 


in  India. 


24  Missions  after  titf.  J^efcirmatioa 

Part  1.    West  Indies,  and  also  Canada  after  its  conquest  from  the  French, 
Chap.  3.   the  S.P.G.  operations  were  for  a  lonjj  period  chiefly  concentrated 
there  ;  and  a  noble  work  was  done,  both  among  the  settlers  and 
S.P.G.  in    among  the  Indians  and  Negroes.     It  is  a  memorable  fact  that 
an'd^Afrfca  "^^'^^^^^  Jolin  Wesley  went  to  Georgia  in  1736,  it  was  as  an  S.P.G. 
clergyman.     The  most   interesting   of  the  Society's  other  enter- 
prises in  the  eighteenth  century  was  in  West  Africa.     One  of  its 
clergy  in  America,  a  Fellow  of  Christ's  College,  Cambridge,  the 
Eev.  T.  Thompson,  offered  to  go  to  the  Gold  Coast,  and  actually 
laboured  there  for  three  or  four  years  from  1753-.     An  African 
l)oy  whom  he   sent  to  England  to  be  educated,  Philip  Quaque, 
was  ultimately  ordained  as  his  successor,    "  the  first  of  any  non- 
European  race  since  the  Eeformation  to  receive  Anglican  orders,"  ■■'■ 
and  for  fifty  years  laboured  amid  painfully  difficult  surroundings. 
One  other  Church  movement  in  this  century  must  be  noticed. 
Bishop        In  1725,  Bishop  Berkeley,  Bishop  of  Cloyne  in  Ireland,  set  forth 
^^  ^  ^^'    a  proposal  for  establishing  a  college  at  Bermuda,  and  making  that 
island  a  modern  lona,  as  a  base  for  Missions  to  the   Eed   Indians 
and    the  Negro  slaves.     Having,  l)y  dint  of   indomitable   perse- 
verance, obtained  a  royal   charter  and  a  parliamentary  grant   of 
£20,000  for  the  endowment  of  the  college,  he  actually  himself 
sailed  for  America,  intending  to  purchase  land    as  an  investment 
for  its  support.     But  every  obstacle  was  thrown  in  his  way  by 
the  Colonial  Office  ;  the   money  promised  was  never  paid  ;    and 
Berkeley  had  ultimately  to  abandon  the  scheme. i      "A   glaring 
instance,"   says    Dr.    Overton,    "  of    the   blighting  effects  of    the 
W^ilpole  Ministry  upon  the  Church. "|      "Betrayed  by  Walpole," 
is  the  comment  of  Dr.  G.  Smith.  § 

We  now  revert  to  the  Pietist  movement  in  Germany,  to  find 
the  origin  of  that  India  Mission  which  the  S.P.C.K.  adopted. 
True  missionary  zeal  is  ever  preceded  by  a  quickening  of  spiritual 
lite  ;  and  it  was  the  revival  of  spiritual  religion  in  the  midst  of  the 
cold  latitudinarianism  into  which  the  Lutheran  Church  had  fallen 
that  led  to  the  most  effective  missionary  work  of  the  eighteenth 
Danish  century.  But  it  was  a  king  of  Denmark  (Frederick  IV.)  to  whom 
t^'fndia.  God's  message  first  came  in  1705,  through  a  petition  from  a  poor 
widow  whose  husband  had  been  murdered  by  natives  in  the 
Danish  settlement  at  Tranquebar,  on  the  south-east  coast  of 
India.  The  king  reflected  that  "  for  ninety  years  there  had  been 
a  Danish  East  India  Company  ;  for  ninety  years  Danish  ships  had 
sailed  to  Tranquebar  ;  Danish  merchants  had  traded  and  grown 
rich  in  the  settlement,  Danish  governors  had  ruled  it,  Danish 
soldiers  had  protected  it ;  but  no  ship  had  ever  carried  a  Danish 
missionary  to  preach  the  Gospel." |j     He  appealed  to  his  chaplain 

*  S.P.G.  BigeAt,  p.  256. 

t  Bishop  S.  Wilberforce,  Hi.'ifonj  of  the  American  Cliiirch,  p.  155. 

+  English  Chuirh  in  the  Eighteentti  Century,  chap.  viii. 

§    Ijife  of  Bi>iliop  Heher,  p.  .'>. 

II    W.  Fleming  Stevenson,  Vaicn.  of  the  Modern  Mi^.-^iun,  p.  Sfi. 


.Missions  after  the  Reformation  25 

for  men  ;  the  chaplain  wrote  to  the  Pietist  leaders,  Francke  and  Part  I. 
Lange  ;  they  sent  him  a  young  Saxon,  Bartholomew  Ziegenhalg,  j^g^^^^^gg 
and  a  fellow-student  of  his,  Henry  Plutscho  ;  and  these  two  were  °  ^ 
sent  to  India  at  the  king's  own  expense.  The  story  of  the  arrival 
and  landing  of  these  two  pioneers,  of  the  opposition  of  the  Danish 
governor  and  their  consequent  trials,  of  their  extraordinary  industry 
and  patience  and  devotion,  is  one  of  the  most  thrilling  in  the  whole 
history  of  Missions/'^  No  truer  missionary  than  Ziegenhalg  ever 
went  to  Heathendom.  His  greatest  work  was  the  translation  of 
tlie  New  Testament  and  part  of  the  Old  into  Tamil,  the  first 
Indian  version  of  the  Scriptures.  He  visited  Europe  in  1715,  and 
came  to  England ;  and  here  he  was  warmly  received  by  King 
George  I.  and  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury.  Eeturning  to  India, 
he  died  in  1719  at  the  age  of  thirty-six,  leaving  behind  him  three 
hundred  and  fifty  Tamil  converts,  some  schools,  the  Tamil 
Scriptures  just  mentioned,  and  a  Tamil  dictionary  and  grammar. 

The  greatest  of  Ziegenbalg's  immediate  successors  was  Schulze, 
a  learned  scholar  and  capaljle  organizer.  In  later  years  the  names 
of  Fabricius,  Kohlhoft',  Gericke,  and  Jsenicke  appear.  But  as  an 
historic  character,  the  first  name  of  all  in  importance  is  that  of 
Christian  Frederick  Schwartz,  who  must  always  be  regarded  as  Schwartz, 
standing  in  the  front  rank  of  Indian  missionaries.  Like  most  of 
the  others,  he  was  a  fruit  of  the  Pietist  movement ;  and  he 
was  enlisted  in  missionary  service  by  Schulze,  who  had  retired  to 
Germany.  He  went  out  in  1749,  the  very  year  in  w^hich  Von 
Bogatsky  composed  the  first  German  missionary  hymn,  with  the 
title,  "  A  Prayer  to  the  Lord  to  send  faithful  labourers  into  His 
harvest,  that  His  Word  may  be  spread  over  all  the  world."  It 
begins  thus  : — 

iriic/i  (((//,  dn  Geist  der  ersten  Zciigen. 

Awake,  'J'liou  Spirit,  Who  of  old 
Didst  fire  tlie  watchini-u  of  the  Church's  youth, 

Who  faced  the  foe,  unshrinkiug,  bold, 
Who  witnessed  day  and  night  the  eternal  truth  ; 
AVhose  voices  through  the  world  are  ringing  still. 
And  bringing  hosts  to  know  and  do  Thy  will ! 

Under  Schwartz  the  Mission  was  extended  far  beyond  the  little 
Danish  settlement  of  Tranquebar.  From  Madras  to  Tinnevelly, 
over  the  whole  Tamil  country,- — in  particular  in  what  was  then 
the  independent  kingdom  of  Tanjore, — its  influence  spread,  and 
numerous  congregations  were  gathered.  These  Missions,  unlike 
Tranquebar  itself,  were  not  under  the  Danish  administration,  but 
were  more  directly  the  w^ork  of  the  S.P.C.K.,  though  the  mis- 
sionaries came  from  the  same  German  sources.  The  external 
results  were  considerable.  At  least  fifty  thousand  Tamils  were 
baptized  before  the  close  of  the  century.    Schwartz  himself  gained 

*  It  is  picturesquely  told  by  Dr.  Fleming  Stevenson  in  Tlte  Dawn  of  the 
Modern  UlinsiDn  (Edinburgh,  1SS7),  and  by  Dr.  A.  C.  Thompson  in  Protestant 
i/i.s-s I'oxs  (New  York,  lS9i). 


26  AffSSrONS    AFTER    THE    REFORMATION 

Part  I.  extraordinary  influence  over  both  Europeans  and  Indians.  No 
Chap^3.  other  missionary  has  ever  wielded  such  pohtical  authority.  What 
lo.M-l/86.  ^yQui(;[  )-)e  dangerous,  and  compromising  to  a  Mission,  in  ahiiost 
any  one  else,  became  in  Schwartz  a  power  for  good.  Hyder  Ali, 
the  famous  Eajah  of  Mysore,  certainly  the  most  formidable  Native 
ruler  with  whom  England  has  had  to  cope,  on  one  occasion 
declined  to  receive  any  emissary  from  the  British  authorities 
except  Schwartz.  "Send  me  the  67ms  ^m^i,"  he  exclaimed ;  "I 
can  trust  him  !  "  When  Schwartz  died  in  1798,  after  almost  half 
a  century's  unbroken  labours^for  he  never  returned^ to  Europe,- — ■ 
the  Eajah  of  Tanjore  gave  a  commission,  which  Flaxman  the 
sculptor  executed,  for  a  monument  to  be  put  up  in  the  garrison 
church  at  Tanjore  ;  and  there  this  monument,  representing  the 
Eajah  himself  receiving  the  benediction  of  the  dying  missionary, 
may  be  seen  to  this  day. 
Decay  But  while  Scliwartz  and  his  comrades  are  to  be  admired  and 

Mi^s^slon.  their  memory  cherished,  their  missionary  pohcy  was  not  one  that 
can  be  altogether  approved.  They  baptized  inquirers  far  too 
readily ;  they  tolerated  many  heathen  customs ;  they  chose,  as 
Mr.  Sherring  expresses  it,'''  to  make  caste  a  friend  rather  than  an 
enemy,  and  thereby  admitted  a  traitor  within  the  citadel  and 
prepared  the  way  for  the  ruin  of  the  work.  After  Schwartz's 
death  the  professing  Christians  relapsed  by  thousands  into 
Heathenism  ;  and  when  the  eighteenth  century  closed,  there  was 
comparatively  little  to  show  as  the  result  of  its  labours.  A  few 
Lutheran  missionaries  were  still  at  work  ;  but  the  funds  of  the 
S.P.C.K.  were  slack  at  the  time,  and  the  whole  enterprise 
languished  for  many  years.  Slower  progress,  we  can  now  see, 
would  have  been  surer  ;  and  if  a  more  solid  foundation  had  been 
laid,  the  edifice  would  not  have  fallen  into  ruin.  How  the  Mission 
revived  under  the  S.P.G.,  in  the  present  century,  will  appear 
hereafter. 

To  go  back  to  King  Frederick  IV.  of  Denmark.     It  was  not 
only  India  that  owed  its  first  Protestant  Mission  to  him.     Under 
Hans  his  royal  and  godly  auspices,  too,   Hans  Egede,  the  Norwegian 

^^^^^-  pastor,  went  with  his  noble  wife  to  Greenland.  The  story  of 
their  sufferings  is  most  touching.  Egede  returned,  a  solitary 
widower,  after  fourteen  years'  indescribable  privations  and 
bitter  disappointments,  and  after  preaching  on  these  words  in 
Isaiah  xlix.  : — "  I  said,  ...  I  have  spent  my  strength  for  nought, 
and  in  vain  :  yet  surely  my  judgment  is  with  the  Lord,  and  my 
work  with  my  God."  His  own  labours  had  indeed  seemed 
almost  fruitless ;  but  their  fruits  appeared  afterwards,  and  in- 
directly they  led  to  one  of  the  grandest  missionary  enterprises  of 
modern  times. 

For  it  was  in  the  same  year,  1722,  in  which  Egede  sailed  for 
Greenland,  that  a  baiid  of  those  old  Moravian  Christians  who  had, 

*   Hif<tory  of  Protetstanf  Missions  in  India,  edition  of  1884.,  p.  50. 


Af/SS/O.'V.':   AFTER    THE    REFORMATIO^'  2'J 

since  the  fifteenth  century,  boine  the  name  of  Unitas  Fratnim,    Tart  I. 
migrated  into  Saxon  Silesia  to  escape  persecution.  There,  welcomed  ^.'^^P;.^; 
by  that   devoted   servant  of   the    Lord,   Count    Zinzendorf,  they    "        '     ' 
established  their  famous  settlement  of  Herrnhut.     Eleven  years  Moravian 
later,  Count  Zinzendorf  was  at  Copenhagen   representing  Saxony  ^^'ssions. 
at  the  coronation  of  a  new  king  of  Denmark.     This  new  king  had 
commanded  Egede's  Mission  in  Greenland  to  be  given  up — that  is, 
that  no  more  supplies  be  sent  to  it ;  and  the  Count,  stirred  by  the 
siglit  of  two  Eskimo  boys  whom  Egede  had  baptized  and  sent  to 
Europe,  went  back  to  Herrnhut,  and  told  the  Brethren  of  the 
crisis.     Just  at  the  same  time,  they  heard  of  the  sufferings  of  tlie 
Negro  slaves  in  the  West  Indies.    These  two  pieces  of  intelligence 
were  God's  message  to  the  Unitas  Fratrum.    Two  men  volunteered 
for  Greenland,  and  two  for  the  island  of  St.  Thomas  ;  and  the 
Moravian  Missions  l)egan.      No  Church  has  obeyed  the  Lord's 
command  wath  the  same  devotion  and  self-forgetfulness  that  have 
been   manifested   by  the    Church   of   the    United   Brethren.     In 
Greenland  and  Labrador,  in  Central  and  South  America,  in  West 
and    South    Africa,   on    the    borders    of   Thibet,   and    among   the 
Australian  aborigines,  they  have  fearlessly  preached  the  Gospel  of 
Christ.     This  little  community,  never  exceeding  70,000  souls,  has 
sent  forth  two  thousand  missionaries. 

In  the  meantime,  besides  the  Missions  among  the  American 
Indians  and  Negroes  carried  on  by  the  S.P.G.,  the  Christian  com- 
munities of  New^  England,  Pennsylvania,  and  other  colonies  were 
engaged  in  the  same  work.  Of  the  many  faithful  men  who  gave 
their  lives  to  it  in  the  eighteenth  centur)-,  the  most  celebrated  was 
David  Brainerd.  In  1709  a  "  Society  for  Propagating  Christian  Brainerd. 
Knowledge  "  had  been  founded  in  Scotland.  Its  primary  object 
was  home  missions  in  the  Highlands ;  Init  for  a  time  it  gave  the 
Presbyterian  colonists  of  New  York  and  New  Jersey  a  grant  to 
maintain  two  missionaries  to  the  Indians.  In  1744  Brainerd  was 
chosen  as  one  of  these  two.  He  laboured  among  the  Delaware 
tril)e  less  than  three  years,  and  died  of  consumption  at  the  age  of 
twenty-nine  ;  but  in  that  short  time  a  wonderful  work  of  the  Spirit 
of  God  was  done.  But  Brainerd  did  less  in  his  lifetime  than  his 
biography,  by  President  Edwards,  did  after  he  was  gone.  In  its 
pages  is  presented  the  picture  of  a  man  of  God  such  as  is  rarely 
seen.  No  book  has,  directly  or  indirectly,  borne  richer  fruit.  It  exer- 
cised a  definite  spiritual  influence  upon  William  Carey  and  Samuel 
Marsden  and  Henry  Martyn  and  Thomas  Chalmers,  and,  through 
them,  indirectly,  upon  countless  multitudes.  Sometimes  God 
ordains  for  His  servants  a  long  life  of  blessing.  Sometimes  He 
calls  them  away  after  a  few  brief  years'  service,  but  then  makes 
their  names  and  memories  an  inspiration  to  others.  Such  have 
been  David  Brainerd,  Henry  Martyn,  and  James  Hannington. 
Being  dead,  they  yet  speak. 

This  long  and   yet    brief   sketch  of   the    Missions  of   eighteen 
centuries  will  show  that  the   Lord  has  never  suffered  His  great 


2S 


AfjSSIONS   AFTER    THE   Rp.FOKMATlOK 


Part  I.    Command  to  be  wholly  forgotten.     In  eveiy  age  the   Gospel  has 
1' 3^1786   ^^^"^    preached    as   a   witness   somewhere    among   the    Heathen 

^  _^ '  nations.       The    eighteenth   century   itself,    with    all   its    spiritual 

deadness,  was,  as  we  have  seen,  a  period  whose  Missions  are  not 
to  be  despised.  Nevertheless,  one  can  find  in  the  England  of  this 
period  scarcely  any  trace  of  the  true  missionary  spirit  which  seeks 
Missionary  the  evangelization  of  the  world.  Oui-~liymn -writers,  indeed,  had 
Hymns.  already  caught  the  inspiration.  Watts  rendered  the  great  mis- 
sionary Psalm  into  English  verse,  in  his  "  Jesus  shall  reign 
where'er  the  sun,"  as  far  back  as  1719  ;  and  within  the  next  three 
or  four  years  Williams's  "  O'er  the  gloomy  hills  of  darkness  "  and 
Shrubsole's  "  Arm  of  the  Lord,  awake,  awake  !  "  were  written. 
But  they  failed  to  suggest  to  Christians  who  sang  them  their 
personal  duty  in  the  matter.  The  great  awakening  only  came  in 
the  closing  years  of  the  century. 


From  Cohimhu^,  by  C.  E.  Markliam  (CI.  Philip  &  Sou). 


part  ih 

ONE    HUNDEED    YEARS    AGO 
1786-1811. 


NOTE    ON   PART   IT. 


This  Part  is  entitled  "One  Hundred  Years  Ago";  but  it  looks  back 
over  sixty  years  of  the  Eighteenth  Century,  and  brings  us  down  to  the 
thirteenth  year  of  the  Nineteenth  Century.  It  is  essential  to  a  right 
understanding  of  the  origin  and  early  years  of  the  Church  Missionary 
Society  that  the  condition  of  the  Chin-ch  of  England  in  the  Eighteenth 
Century  is  realized.  Chap.  IV.,  therefore,  sketches  its  leading  features, 
and  notices  V)oth  the  earlier  Methodist  Revival  and  the  later  Evangelical 
Movement  within  the  Church  ;  distinguishing,  as  it  is  important  to  do,  the 
first  generation  of  Evangelicals,  among  whom  Henry  Venn  of  Hudders- 
tield  Avas  a  leading  figure,  and  the  second  generation  of  Evangelicals,  of 
whom  his  son  John  Venn  of  Clapham  was  a  leader.  Then  in  Chap.  V. 
we  turn  aside  to  view  the  condition  of  "  Africa  and  the  East "  when  the 
Society  was  founded,  bringing  the  narrative  of  Wilberforce's  efl'orts 
down  to  the  year  1800.  Chap.  VI.  concentrates  our  attention  on  the 
events,  especially  in  1786,  which  led  to  the  Missionary  Awakening,  and 
introduces  us  to  the  Eclectic  Society  and  its  discussions.  Chaps.  VII. 
and  VIII.  tell  the  stt)ry  of  the  actual  establishment  of  the  Society  and 
the  going  forth  of  the  first  missionaries.  In  Chap.  IX.  we  resume  tiie 
review  of  African  and  Indian  affairs,  and  rejoice  with  Wilberforce  over 
both  the  Abolition  of  the  Slave  Trade  and  the  Opening  of  India  to  tho 
Gospel  vuider  the  Charter  of  1813. 


THOMAS    CLAR'KSON 


ZACHARY     MACAULAY. 


WILLIAM    WILBERFORCE. 


JOHN  BACON. 


HENRY  THORNTON. 


Thomas  Clarkson,  Leader  in  Anti-Slave  Tnulc  Campaifiu.    (Photograph  by 

Walker  &  Boutall,  Clifford's  Inn.) 
Zachary  Macaulay,  Leader  in  Anti-Slave  Trade  Carapaiyn. 
Williaiu  AVilliertorce,  M.H.,  Leader  in  Anti-Slave  Trade  Canipaigu. 
.Iiihn  liacun,  Sculptor,  Member  of  Original  C.M.S.  Committee. 
Henry  Tlioriiton,  Hanker  and  Philanthropist. 


cnAi'Ti:!;  iv. 

The  TiKlHTKKSril  I'KNTlin-  and  the  liVAXOElJr.iL   h'EMVAL. 

The  Church  under  the  Georges  Butler  and  Wesley  The  Methodist 
Movement  Wesleyans,  Calvinists,  Evangelicals — The  Last  Decade 
—Second  Generation  of  Evangelicals     The  Clapham  Sect. 

''  Our  J'athcru  understood  not  Thy  wonders  .  .  .  they  remembered  not  th<'.  mvH' - 
tude  of  Thy  mercies  ;  .  .  .  Nevertheless  He  savcdthem  for  His  name's  sake,  that 
He  might  viake  His  mighty  power  to  be  known." — Ps.  cvi.  7,  8. 

ET  us  take  our  stand  in  England  one  hundred  years   Part  11. 
ago,    and    survey  the  world — the  world   which    God  ^/f|*^'^''' 
loved,  the  world  for  which  the  Son  of  God  hecanie       ''*'''    ' 
incarnate,    and     died,     and    rose    again— the    world  a  Survey 
which  He  gave  in  charge  to  His  Church,   that    she  a^o^***^^ 
might  proclaim  to  every  creature  the  good  tidings  of  His  redemp- 
tion.    Nearly  eighteen  centuries  have  run  their  course  since  He 
went   up  from   Olivet  to   the  right    hand  of   the  Father :    what 
has  the  Church  done  ? 

Europe — hut  for  the  ruling  race  in  Turkey — is  Christian,  that 
is.  Christian  hy  profession,  Christian  according  to  statistical  tables. 
Asia  is  Mohannnedan  or  Heatlien.  In  India  the  English  con- 
querors have  done  almost  nothing  to  pass  on  the  great  Message  to 
the  multitudes  lately  come  under  their  sway.  A  handful  of 
Germans  have  laboured  in  the  south,  and  gathered  a  good  many 
small  congregations  of  converts  ;  and  a  self-educated  Englisli 
cobbler  has  just  settled  in  Bengal  with  a  like  object  in  view  ; 
and  that  is  all.  In  Ceylon,  the  Dutch  regime  has  compelled 
thousands  to  call  themselves  Christians,  who,  at  the  lirst  con- 
venient opportunity,  will  slip  back  into  Buddhism.  China  is 
closed,  though  within  her  gates  there  are  scattered  bands  of  men 
acknowledging  "  the  Lord  of  heaven  "  and  owning  allegiance  to 
the  Pope  of  Rome.  Japan  is  hermetically  sealed  :  the  Jesuit 
tyranny  of  the  sixteenth  century  is  one  of  the  most  hateful  of 
national  memories,  and  no  Christian  has  been  allowed  to  land  for 
nearly  two  hundred  years.  Africa  is  only  a  coast-line :  the 
interior  is  unknown  ;  and  the  principal  link  between  Christendom 
and  the  Dark  Continent  is  the  slave-trade.  South  America,  for 
the  most  part  nominally  Christian,  is  sunk  in  superstition  ;  North 
America. is  Christian  in  a  more  enlightened  sense  :  but  .neither  in 
the    Souih   nor   in   the  Nortli    are    there   any  serious   efforts   to 


32  The  Eighteenth  CexTury  and 

Part  II.    evangelize  the  Bed  men  of  the  far  interior,  still  less  those  towards 

1786-1811.  j-j-^g  Arctic  Circle  or  Cape  Horn — though  Europe  has  sent  devoted 

Chap^4.   ]\j;oi.r^^vians  to  Greenland.     The  countless  islands  of  the  Southern 

Seas  are  not  yet  touched,  though  a  hand  of  artizan  missionaries 

has  lately  sailed  in  that  direction.     Such,  in   the  closing  years  of 

the    eighteenth    century,   is  the   condition    of  God's  earth ;    and, 

standing  in  thought  in  England  at  that  date,  we  may  add,  Wlw 

cares  ? 

The  We  have  looked  around  :  let  us  look  back.     "What  has  been  the 

Church       condition    of    our    Church    and   nation    during    this    eighteenth 

under  the  o  o 

Georges.       CCntury  ? 

The  century  opened  with  some  little  promise.  Notwithstanding 
the  virulent  hostility  of  rival  ecclesiastical  parties  at  the  time,  the 
Church  was  certainly  not  asleep.  The  two  newly-formed  Societies, 
for  Promoting  Christian  Knowledge  and  for  the  Propagation  of 
the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts,  were  just  starting  on  their  beneficent 
career ;  and,  as  we  have  already  seen  in  our  Third  Chapter, 
did,  during  the  whole  century,  practically  all  that  was  done  by 
Enghshmen  for  the  evangelization  of  the  world.  But  after  the 
death  of  Queen  Anne,  and  the  advent  of  the  Hanoverian  kings, 
there  came  a  time  of  decadence  and  depression  ;  one  may  almost  say 
of  despair,  remembering  that  the  great  Bishop  Butler  refused  the 
Butler's  Primacy  because  he  thought  it  too  late  to  save  a  falling  Church, 
^""^^  '  and  penned  that  sad  sentence  in  the  Preface  to  his  Analogy,  "  It 
is  come,  I  know  not  how,  to  be  taken  for  granted  by  many  persons 
that  Christianity  is  not  so  much  as  a  subject  for  inquiry,  but  that  it 
is  now  at  length  discovered  to  be  fictitious.  And  accordingly  they 
treat  it  as  if,  in  the  present  age,  this  were  an  agreed  point  among 
all  people  of  discernment."  The  sneering  attacks  of  the  Deists 
were  indeed  among  the  most  formidable  that  the  Christian  religion 
had  encountered  ;  and  although  they  were  successfully  resisted  by 
Butler  himself,  and  Paley,  and  Warburton,  and  other  doughty 
champions  of  the  faith,  it  must  be  acknowledged  that  the  majority 
of  the  clergy  were  led  by  the  assumed  necessity  of  arguing 
against  them  to  neglect  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  altogether  : — 

"  Men  were  pondering  over  abstract  questions  of  faith  and  morality 
who  else  might  have  been  engaged  in  planning  or  carrying  out  plans  for 
the  more  active  propagation  of  the  faith,  or  a  more  general  improvement 
in  popular  morals.  The  defenders  of  Christianity  were  searching  out 
evidences,  and  battling  with  deistical  objections,  while  they  slackened  in 
their  fight  against  the  more  palpable  assaults  of  the  world  and  the  flesh. 
Pulpits  resounded  with  theological  arguments  where  admonitions  were 
urgently  needed.  Above  all,  reason  was  called  to  decide  upon  questions 
before  which  man's  reason  stands  impotent;  and  imagination  and 
emotion,  those  great  auxiliaries  to  all  deep  religious  feeling,  were  bid  to 
stand  rebuked  in  her  presence,  as  hinderers  of  the  rational  faculty,  and 
upstart  pretenders  to  rights  which  were  not  theirs.  'Enthusiasm'  was 
frowned  down,  and  no  small  part  of  the  light  and  fire  of  religion  fell 
with  it.''  * 

*  C.  J.  Ahhej,  English  Church  in  the  Ei'jhiecnth  Century,  2nd  Edn.,  p.  4. 


THE  Evangelical  Revival 


33 


Indeed,  many  of  the   clergy,   following   Bishop   Hoadly's    Lati-   Part  II. 
tudinarian  views    and  even  Dr.  Samuel  Clarke's  openly-avowed  17H6-1811. 
Arian    opinions,   wu'ote   pamphlets    to   justify    their    nevertheless    ^l^^P-  4- 
suhscribing  to  what  they  acknowledged  to  be  Trinitarian  Articles  conThTon 
and    foi'inularics.     And  meanwhile,   numbers  of   thoughtful  men  °f  ^^^^ 
were  led  astray  by  Hume,  Gibljon,  and  Voltaire.  ^^^^' 

Blackstone's  oft-quoted  remark,  that  he  had  gone  from  church 
to  church  in  London,  and  that  "  it  would  have  been  impossible  for 
him  to  discover,  from  what  he  heard,  whether  the  preacher  were  a 
follower  of  Confucius,  of  Mahomet,  or  of  Christ,"  though  it  may 
give  a  somewhat  exaggerated  view  of  the  actual  fact,  yet  is  most 
significant  of  what  the  actual  fact  must  have  been.  Nor  were  the 
Nonconformists  of  the  period  any  better.  One  of  them,  Dr.  Guyse, 
wrote,  "  The  religion  of  Nature  is  the  darling  topic  of  our  age ;  and 
the  religion  of  Jesus  is  valued  only  for  the  sake  of  that.  ...  All 
that  is  distinctively  Christian  ...  is  waived  and  banished  and 
despised."  '•'     Of  the  clergy  themselves  Bishop  Eyle  writes  : — 

'•'  Tlio  vast  majority  of  them  were  sunk  in  workllincss,  and  neitlier  knew 
nor  cared  anytliing  about  their  profession  They  neither  did  good 
themselves,  nor  Hked  any  one  else  to  do  it  for  them.  Thoy  hiuited,  they 
shot,  they  farmed  :  they  swore,  they  drank,  they  gamhlcd.  When  they 
assemhled,  it  was  generally  to  toast  *  Church  and  King,'  and  to  build  one 
another  up  in  oarthly-mindedness,  prejudice,  ignorance,  and  formality. 
When  they  retired  to  their  own  homes,  it  was  to  do  as  little  and  preach 
as  seldom  as  possible.  And  when  they  did  preach,  their  sermons  were  so 
unspeakahly  bad,  that  it  is  comforting  to  reflect  that  they  were  generally 
preached  to  empty  benches."  f 

This  is  severe,  and  perhaps  it  generahzes  too  much,  and  fails 
to  allow  for  numerous  exceptions ;  but  what  shall  we  say  of 
Boswell's  statement  to  Wilberforce  that  Dr.  Johnson,  strong 
Churchman  as  he  was,  had  affirmed  that  he  had  never  been 
acquainted  with  one  "religious  clergyman "?  :|:  Dr.  Overton, 
though  he  balances  the  favourable  and  unfavourable  evidence  in 
more  neutral  fashion  than  Bishop  Eyle,  yet  gives  actual  facts  ' 
which  go  far  to  justify  Bishop  Kyle's  strictures,  j  Plurality  and 
non-residence,  in  particular,  were  colossal  evils.  Bishop  Watson  And  the 
of  Llandaff  held  sixteen  livings  in  different  parts  of  England,  bishops, 
taking  the  tithes  from  them  all,  and  employing  a  curate  in  each — 
probably  one  of  those  who  were  "  passing  rich  on  forty  pounds 
a  year";  and  living,  not  in  his  diocese,  but  at  Windermere,  he 
occupied  most  of  his  own  time  "  as  an  improver  of  land  and  planter 
of  trees,"  thinking,  as  he  himself  said,  "  the  improvement  of  a 
man's  fortune  by  cultivating  the  earth  was  the  most  useful  and 
honourable  way  of  providing  for  a  family."     When  only  twcnty- 

*  Quoted  by  Kyle,  ChrUtian  Leaders  of  the  La:<t  Centurn,  p.  16. 
t  ('In-istian  Leaders  of  the  Last  Century,  p.  17. 
X  Life  of  ^yilhcrforce,  p.  423. 

§   The    English    Churdi    in    the    Ei<jhteenth    Cenfnni,    cliap.    viii.,    "Church 
Abuses." 

VOL.  I.  n 


34 


The  Eighteenth  Century  and 


Part  II. 

1786-1811 

Chap.  4. 


Green's 
picture. 


Two 
divisions 
of  the 
Lord's 
army. 


seven  years  of  age,  he  had  been  appointed  Professor  of  Chemistry 
at  Cambridge,  though  he  says  himself  that  he  "had  never  read 
a  syllable  on  the  subject,  nor  seen  a  single  experiment  in  it  ";  and 
seven  years  later  he  was  appointed  Eegias  Professor  of  Divinity, 
whereupon,  he  writes,  "  I  immediately  applied  myself  with  great 
eagerness  to  the  study  of  divinity."  '''  This  is  the  Bishop  Watson 
who  wrote  an  .4|)o/o(/7/ /or  the  Bible,  which  led  to  George  III.'s 
remark  that  he  did  not  know  the  Bil^le  needed  any  apology  !  One 
example  is  perhaps  sufficient.     Dr.  Overton  gives  many  more. 

Naturally  the  general  condition  of  the  people  corresponded.  Let 
us  quote  Mr.  Green's  striking  description  of  it : — 

"  In  the  higher  circles  '  every  one  laughs,'  said  Montesquieu  on  his  visit 
to  England,  '  if  one  talks  of  religion.'  Of  the  prominent  statesmen  of 
the  time  the  greater  part  were  unbelievers  in  any  form  of  Christianity,  and 
distinguished  for  the  grossness  and  immorality  of  their  lives.  Drunken- 
ness and  foul  talk  were  thought  no  discredit  to  Walpole.  .  .  .  Purity  and 
fidelity  to  the  marriage  vow  were  sneered  out  of  fashion.  .  .  .  At  the 
other  end  of  the  social  scale  lay  the  masses  of  the  poor.  They  were 
ignorant  and  brutal  to  a  degree  which  it  is  hard  to  conceive,  for  the  vast 
increase  of  population  which  followed  on  the  growth  of  towns  and  the 
development  of  manufactures  had  been  met  by  no  effort  for  their  religit)us 
or  educational  improvement.  Not  a  new  parish  had  been  created.  Hai'dly 
a  single  new  church  had  been  built.  Schools  there  were  none,  save  the 
grannuar-schools  of  Edward  and  Elizabeth.  The  rural  peasantry,  who 
were  fast  being  reduced  to  pauperism  by  the  abuse  of  the  poor-laws,  were 
left  without  moral  or  religious  training  of  any  sort.  '  We  saw  but  one 
Bible  in  the  parish  of  Cheddar,'  said  Hainiah  Mf)re  at  a  far  later  time, 
'  and  that  was  used  to  prop  a  flower-pot. '  Within  the  t(  )wns  they  Avere 
worse.  There  was  no  effective  police ;  and  in  great  outbreaks  the  mob 
of  London  or  Birmingham  burnt  houses,  flung  open  prisons,  and  sacked 
and  pillaged  at  their  will.  .  .  .  The  introduction  of  gin  gave  a  new 
impetus  to  drunkenness.  In  the  streets  of  London  gin-shops  invited 
every  passer-by  to  get  drunk  for  a  penny  or  dead  drunk  for  twopence."  f 

The  great  victory,  therefore,  which,  by  the  instrumentality  of 
Butler,  Warburton,  and  many  others,  the  Church  had  gained  over 
the  assailants  of  Christianity  as  a  system,  left  her  still  helpless 
before  the  more  dangerous  assailants  of  Christianity  as  a  life,  the 
world,  the  flesh,  and  the  devil.  "  Intellectually,"  remarks  Dr. 
Overton,  "  her  work  was  a  great  triumph  ;  morally  and  spiritually 
it  was  a  great  failure."  | 

Then  came  the  Evangelical  Movement,  the  leaders  of  which 
flung  themselves  into  the  harder  battle  with  sin  and  Satan.  But 
both  divisions  of  the  army  of  the  Lord  were  needed.  To  quote 
Overton  again, — "  Neither  could  have  done  the  other's  part  of  the 
work.     War))urton  could  no  more  have  moved  the  hearts  of  living 

*  One  is  not  surprised  to  find  the  sister  University  of  Oxford  expelling 
Bix  students  for  praying  and  readine;  the  Scriptures  in  private  liouses;  which 
led  to  the  remark  that  though  extempore  swearing  was  permitted  at  Oxford, 
extempore  praying  could  not  be  borne. 


t  Short  History  of  the  Euglislt  People,  chap,  x.,  sect.  1. 
t  Fuylish  Churcli  in  the  Eightee)ith  Century,  chap.  ix. 


T}tE    PA'ANGELICAL    JiiVlVAt.  3? 

masses  to  their  inmost  depths,  as  Whiteiield  did,  than  Whitefield  Part  IT. 
could  have  written  the  Divine  Legation.     Butler  could  no  more  ^'^^^'^^^l' 
have  carried  on  the  great  crusade  which  Wesley  did,  than  Wesley        ^^" 
could    have    written    the   Anuloijii.     But   without   such    work    as 
Whitefield  or  Wesley  did,  Butler's  and  Warburton's  would  have 
been  comparatively  inefficacious  ;  and  without  such  work  as  Butler 
and  Warburton  did,  Wesley's  and  Whitefield's  work   would  have 
been,  humanly  speaking,  impossible."  '■^'^ 

In  one  short  paragraph.  Green  thus  describes  the  revolution 
that  ensued : — 

"  In  tlic  middle-class  tho  old  piuty  lived  on  unchaiij^ed,  and  it  was 
from  this  class  that  a  religious  revival  burst  forth,  wliich  changed  in  a 
few  years  the  whole  temper  of  English  society.  The  Church  was  restored 
to  life  and  activity.  Religion  carried  to  the  liearts  of  the  poor  a  fresh 
spirit  of  moral  zeal,  while  it  purified  our  literature  and  our  manners.  A 
new  philanthropy  reformed  our  prisons,  infused  clemency  and  wisdom 
into  our  penal  laws,  al)olished  the  slave-trade,  and  gave  the  tirst  imi>ulse 
to  popidar  education." 

This,  however,  is  a  compendious  statement,  which  leaps  over 
long  years  of  struggle.  Bishop  Butler  wrote  the  sad  sentence 
before  quoted  in  1736.  As  we  stand  surveying  the  century  in  its 
last  decade,  most  of  the  triumphs  of  moral  reform  enumerated  by 
Green  are,  after  sixty  years,  still  in  the  future.  Yet  over  those 
sixty  years  we  can  look  back  with  profound  thankfulness.  Seven 
years  prior  to  173G,  John  Wesley  had  formed  his  little  society  of  vvesiey, 
praying  friends  at  Oxford  ;  when  that  year  opened  he  was  on  his  "^^^^^^^^ 
voyage  across  the  Atlantic  to  Georgia,  whence  he  returned  with  &c. 
new  light  as  to  his  own  sinfulness  and  inability  to  save  himself, 
and  as  to  the  all-sufficiency  of  Christ ;  and  two  years  later  he  began 
that  wonderful  career  of  preaching  and  organizing  which  continued 
uninterrupted  for  more  than  half  a  century.  On  Trinity  Sunday 
in  that  same  year,  1736,  George  Whiteiield  was  ordained  at 
Gloucester,  and  preached  his  first  sermon  in  St.  Mary-le-Crypt, 
which,  as  was  complained  to  the  Bishop,  "  drove  fifteen  persons 
mad!  "  To  these  two  great  names,  we  must  add  those  of  Grim- 
shaw,  Berridge,  the  first  Hciu-y  Venn,  Rowlands,  Romaine,  Hervey, 
Toplady,  and  Fletcher  of  Madeley  ;  every  one  of  them,  be  it  re- 
membered, a  clergyman  of  the  Church  of  England.  To  them,  in 
the  main,  was  due,  under  God,  the  Evangelical  Revival. 

How  was  their  work  done  ?     Let  Bishop  Ryle  reply  : — 

"  The  men  who  wrt)Ught  deliverance  for  us  were  a  few  individuals,  ^^^  ^ 
most  of  theui  clergymen,  whose  hearts  God  touched  about  the  same  preached, 
time  in  various  parts  of  the  coiuitry.  They  were  not  wealthy  or  highly 
connected.  They  were  not  put  forward  by  any  Church,  party,  society, 
or  institution.  They  were  simply  men  whom  Cod  stirred  up  and 
brought  out  to  do  His  work,  without  previous  concert,  scheme,  or  plan 
They  did  His  work  in  the  old  apostolic  way,  by  becoming  evangelists. 
They  taught  one  set  of  truths.     They  taught  them  in  the  same  way, 

*  EiitjUsh  Chitrch  i,i  the  Eighteenth  Century,  chap.  ix. 
D    2 


36  The  Eighteenth  Century  and 

Part  II.    with   fire,  reality,  earnestness,  as  men   fully  convinced   of   what   they 

1786-1811.  taught.      They  taught  them  in   the  same   spirit,  always   loving,   com- 

Chap.  4.    passionate,  and,  like  Paul,  even  weeping,  but  always  bold,  unflinching, 

and  not  fearing  the  face  of  man.     And  they  taught  them  on  the  same 

plan,  always  acting  on  the  aggressive  ;  not  waiting  for  sinners  to  come 
to  them,  but  going  after  and  seeking  sinners ;  not  sitting  idle  till  sinners 
oftered  to  repent,  but  assaulting  the  high  places  of  imgodliness  like  men 
storming  a  breach,  and  giving  sinners  no  rest  so  long  as  they  stuck  to 
their  sins." 

These  striking  words  accurately  sum  up  the  features  of  the 
movement,  as  revealed  in  biographies,  memoirs,  journals,  letters, 
and  sermons  innumerable.  Bishop  Eyle  goes  on  to  describe  both 
the  methods  of  the  evangelists  and  the  substance  of  their  preach- 
ing. They  preached  everywhere :  *  in  parish  churches  when 
permitted  ;  "  in  the  field  or  by  the  road-side,  on  the  village-green 
or  in  the  market-place,  in  lanes  or  in  alleys,  in  cellars  or  in 
garrets,  on  a  tub  or  on  a  table,  on  a  bench  or  on  a  horse-l)lock  ; 
no  place  came  amiss  to  them."  They  preached  sivijjly,  following 
Augustine's  maxim,  "  A  wooden  key  is  not  so  beautiful  as  a  golden 
one,  but  if  it  can  open  the  door  when  the  golden  one  cannot,  it  is 
far  more  useful."  They  Tpreached  fervently  and  directly.  "  They 
believed  that  you  must  speak  from  the  heart  if  you  wish  to  speak 
What  they  ^0  the  heart."  Then  as  to  the  substance  of  their  preaching  :  it 
preached.  ^^„^^  above  all  things  doctrinal,  one  may  say  dogmatical.  They 
believed  they  had  definite  truths  to  set  forth,  and  they  set 
them  forth  definitely.  They  taught  that  men  were  dead  in  sins 
and  guilty  before  God ;  that  Christ  died  to  save  men  from  sin's 
penalty,  and  lives  to  save  them  from  sin's  power;  tliat  only  faith 
in  Him  could  give  them  His  salvation  ;  that  al)solute  conversion 
of  heart  and  life  was  needed  by  all,  and  that  the  Holy  Ghost  alone 
could  convert  and  sanctify  them.  Standing  in  thought  in  the 
closing  decade  of  the  eighteenth  century,  we  find  that  the  procla- 
mation of  these  essential  and  fundamental  truths  has,  by  tlie 
power  of  the  Spirit,  directly  revolutionized  thousands  of  lives, 
and  is  indirectly  and  gradually  revolutionizing  the  Church  of 
England. 

But  the  revolution,  we  observe,  is  very  gradual.     Its  force  has 

been    minimized   by  its   divisions.     From    the    beginning  of   the 

The  three    movement  there  were  lines  of  cleavage.     Three  distinct  sections 

parties.       among  the  men  of  the  Eevival  are  easily  traced.     There  were, 

first,   the  Methodists  proper,  under  John  Wesley.      They  were 

(//)  The       gathered    into   communities   called   the    "Methodist    Societies," 

Wesieyans  although  as  long  as  Wesley  lived  they  continued  in  at  least  a 

loose    connexion   with   the    Cliurch   of   England,    and   certainly 

repudiated  the  term  "  Dissenter."     But  notwithstanding  Wesley's 

*  But  to  this  there  were  exceptions  among  those  whose  names  are  given 
above.  Some  of  them  worked  only  within  parocliial  limits;  Romaine,  for 
instance.  Bishop  Eyle's  words  apijly  rather  to  Woslpynnd  Whitefield  and  their 
followers. 


THE  Evangelical  Revival  37 

repeated  decliinition   that  "  if  tlic  Methodists  left  the  Church  he  Part  II. 
would  leave   them,"  separation  was  really  inevitable.     Many  ofl78H-18l]. 
the   bishops   were   personally   kind   to   Wesley,    but    the   clerp;y      _|^*2!l 
generally  could  not  abide  either  the  teaching  or  the  ways  of  the 
Methodists.      Itinerant   preaching   was   of   the    essence  of   their 
method,   and  itinerant  preaching  was   regarded   as  utterly  sub- 
versive of  the  parochial  system.     In  the  last  decade  of  the  century, 
in  w^hich  we  are  in  imagination  standing,  the  Wesleyan  Methodists 
(John  Wesley  having  died  in   1791)   liave  practically  become  a 
distinct  religious  l)ody. 

The  S(>cond  section  were  the  Calvinistic  Metliodists,  under  c^,'{^|]i^ists 
Whitefield,  with  the  Countess  of  Huntingdon  as  their  great 
patroness  and  in  some  respects  virtual  leader,  who  succeeded  in 
bringing  many  of  the  aristocracy  under  the  sound  of  the  Gospel. 
A  duchess  -''might  complain  of  Methodist  preaching  as  "  tinctured 
with  impertinence  and  disrespect  towards  .  .  .  superiors,"  and 
consider  it  "  monstrous  to  be  told  she  had  a  heart  as  sinful  as  the 
common  wretches  "  of  tlie  lower  orders;  Init  still  she  did  not 
refuse  Lady  Huntingdon's  invitations,  nor  did  scores  of  the  most 
distinguislied  denizens  of  the  political  and  fasliional)le  world.  It 
was  the  poor,  however,  who  were  chiefly  reached  by  the  preaching 
of  Whitefield  and  his  associates  ;  and  it  was  chiefly  in  their  interest 
that  Lady  Huntingdon  built  chapel  after  chapel  for  what  in  time 
came  to  be  called  "  The  Countess  of  Huntingdon's  Connexion." 
She  was,  indeed,  as  reluctant  as  Wesley  to  be  a  "  Dissenter "; 
but  undenominational  preaching-halls  were  then  illegal,  and  a 
building  could  only  be  used  for  worship  if  properly  registered  ; 
and  as  her  chapels  were  not  churches,  they  liad,  to  her  vexation, 
to  be  registered  as  "  dissenting."  Her  preachers,  however,  were 
all  known  as  Methodists,  wliich  was  a  generic  term  and  by  no 
means  confined  to  Wesley's  followers  ;  but  the  Calvinistic  con- 
troversy, which  was  conducted  for  many  years  with  a  bitterness 
and  rancour  quite  inconceivable  even  in  these  latter  polemical 
days,  clave  a  great  gulf  between  the  two  sections. 

Then,  thirdly,  there  was  a  section  that  clung  steadfastly  to  the  ^■)  The 
Church,  and  submitted  to  the  limitations  involved  in  so  doing,  cais.  ^ 
To  this  section  belonged  Romaine,  Venn,  Toplady,  Walker  of 
Truro,  and  many  others.  They  were  allied  with  Whitefield  and 
Lady  Huntingdon  in  the  Calvinistic  controversy,  against  Wesley 
and  Fletchei'.  Indeed  Toplady  was  the  principal  antagonist  of 
Arminian  views,  and,  it  must  be  regretfully  added  of  the  author  of 
"  Rock  of  Ages,"  one  of  the  most  bitter.  The  extreme  predestinarian 
views,  however,  of  Toplady  and  Romaine  were  not  held  by  Venn 
and  many  others  of  the  clergy  of  this  section.  But  while  they 
were  supporters  of  the  IMethodist  movement  generally,  they  disap- 
proved of  tlie  itinerant  preaching  which  ignored  the  parochial 
system   and  intruded   even    into    parishes   where,   as  in   Venn's, 

*   The  DuL'lic^s  of  I3uckiii;rliaiu. 


38  The  Eighteenth  Century  and 

Pabt  II.   Evangelical  teaching  prevailed  ;  and  though  for  a  time  they  were 
^rnf"^^^^'  enrolled  as  members  of  Lady  Huntingdon's  Connexion,  while  it 
^^"    ■   w^as  a  Society  within  the  Church,  they  withdrev*^  from  it  when  lier 
chapels  were  registered  as  "  Dissenting  places  of  worship." 

As,  therefore,  we  survey  England  in  the  last  decade  of  the 
century,  we  see  that  the  Eevival  movement,  while  it  has  done 
God's  work  nobly  in  saving  multitudes  of  individual  souls,  has 
yet  not  leavened  the  Church  at  large ;  and  still  less  has  it 
leavened  the  regular  Nonconformist  denominations,  the  Inde- 
pendents and  the  Baptists.  There  have  been  honoured  names  in 
those  denominations  during  the  century,  notably  those  of  Isaac 
Watts  and  Philip  Doddridge  ;  but  the  great  revival  movement  has 
only  influenced  them  indirectly.  The  Wesleyan  Methodists  are 
organized  on  their  own  lines  ;  the  Calvinistic  Methodists — except 
in  "Wales,  where  they  already  form  a  distinct  community — 
correspond  roughly  with  the  numerous  but  iinorganized  non- 
denominationalists  of  a  century  later.  The  Evangelicals,  properly 
so  called,  ai'e  but  a  small  body,  within  the  Church ;  distinct 
from  either  section  of  Methodists,  though  often  called  by  that 
despised  name  ;  and  totally  distinct  from  the  old  Puritans  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  though  even  that  title  is  sometimes  applied 
to  them.     For,  to  quote  Overton  again, 

"  The  typical  Puritan  was  gloomy  and  austere ;  the  typical  Evan- 
gelical was  bright  and  genial.  The  Puritan  would  not  be  kept  within 
ithe  pale  of  the  National  Church ;  the  Evangelical  would  not  be  kept  out 
of  it.  The  Puritan  was  dissatisfied  with  our  liturgy,  our  ceremonies,  our 
vestments,  and  our  hierarchy ;  the  Evangelical  was  perfectly  contented 
with  them.  If  Puritanism  was  the  more  fruitful  in  theological  literature. 
Evangelicalism  was  infinitely  more  fruitful  in  works  of  piety  and  benevo- 
lence ;  there  was  hardly  a  single  missionary  or  philanthropic  scheme  of 
the  day  which  was  not  either  originated  or  warmly  taken  up  by  the 
Evangelical  party.  The  Puritans  were  frequently  in  antagonism  with 
'  the  powers  that  be,'  the  Evangelicals  never  :  no  amovuit  of  ill-treatment 
could  put  them  out  of  love  with  our  constitution  in  both  Church  and 
State."  * 

What,  then,   was  really  the  condition  of  the   Church  in   that 

Were  closiug  decade '?      Was  Evangelicalism  dominant,  as  is  so  often 

gehcais"'    carelessly  afdrmed  ?     That  it  was  growing  in  influence,  and  was 

dominant  ?  indisputably  the  strongest  spiritual  force  in  the  country,  is  true. 

But   it   still   represented  only   a   small   minority  ;    it  was  either 

No,  hated    dcspiscd   or   hated    by   most    Churchmen  ;    one    bishop    wrote, 

despised.     "  Church-Metliodism  is  the  disease  of  my  diocese  ;  it  shall  be  the 

business  of  my  hfe  to  extirpate  it."  f     The  report  that  one  of 

"the  serious  clergy"  (as  they  were  called)  was  appointed  to  a 

parish  was  in  many  cases  the  signal  for  an  outcry  as  great  as  if  a 

pestilence  w^ere  coming  ;  I    Trinity  College,  Cambridge,  declined 

*   Enrjlisih  Church  in  the  Eighteenth  Centunj,  chap.  ix. 

t  See  Hole's  Early  History  of  C.M.S.,  p.  53". 

I  See  The  Emjlisli  Church  in  the  Nineteenth  Century,  cliap.  iii. 


THE    KVAyGRl.lCAI.    REVIVAL  39 

to  receive  their  sons  as  undergraduates  ;*  Hugh  Pearson,  after-  Part  II. 
wards  Dean  of  Salisbury,  narrowly  escaped  rejection  by  his  ^^^^^"^l 
ordaining  bishop  because  he  spoke  favoui-ably  of  Wilberforce  s  __^ 
Practical  View  of  Christianlti/ ;  \  if  the  Bishop  of  London's 
carriage  conveyed  a  visitor  from  his  house  to  that  of  a  leading 
Evangelical  rector,  it  must  put  her  down  at  a  neighbounng 
public-house,  to  avoid  being  seen  to  stop  at  such  a  clergyman's 
door ;  I  and  when  Henry  Martyn  visited  his  native  Cornwall  after 
his  ordination,  he,  though  Senior  Wrangler  and  Fellow  of  his 
College,  was  not  allowed  to  preach  in  any  church  in  the  county 
except  his  brother-in-law's. §  The  Bishops  were  continually 
uttering  warnings  against  "Methodists"  in  their  charges,  and 
were  careful  to  explain  that  they  included  under  that  name 
the  "serious  clergy"  within  the  Church.  Not  a  few  even 
doubted  their  lovalty  to  the  Government  and  the  Constitution. 
William  Wilberforce  relates  the  difticulty  he  had  in  re-assuring 
Pitt  on  this  point.  From  their  great  opponent,  Tomline,  Bishop 
of  Fjincoln,  Pitt  had  learned  to  think  them  "  great  rascals," 
and  even  to  question  their  moral  character.il  On  the  other 
hand.  High  Churchmen,  as  the  phrase  would  now  be  under- 
stood—i.e.  men  of  what  are  colloquially,  however  inaccurately, 
termed  "Catholic"  principles,— had  been  few  and  far  between 
ever  since  the  days  of  the  Non-jurors  ;  but  there  was  a  small 
body  of  them  afterwards  known  as  the  "  Clapton  Sect,"  in  contra- 
distinction to  the  Evangelical  "  Clapham  Sect,"  and  because 
some  of  its  leaders  lived  at  Clapton  or  Hackney,  notably  Joshua 
Watson,  the  typical  Church  layman  of  those  days.  The  vast  who  we- 
majority  of  the  bishops  and  clergy  would  perhaps  be  best  de- 
scribed, as  to  their  teaching  and  general  attitude,  by  the  Scotch 
term  "  Moderate."  They  were  equally  opposed  to  Eome  and  to 
Dissent,  and  thev  hated  "  enthusiasm  "  of  any  kind.  The  union 
of  Church  and  State,  with  the  State  practically  ruling  the  Church, 
was  their  ideal,  one  may  say  their  idol.  "  Our  happy  Establish- 
ment "  was  their  favourite  phrase.  ^^^ 

Had  the  religious  condition  of  the  clergy  and  people  improved  church  at 
in  the  preceding  half-century  ?     No  doubt  it  had  ;  but  abuses  and  t^he^end 
scandals   were   still   sadly   rife.      In    the    country   districts    few  century. 

*  Jolm  Venn  was  so  rcfiised,  "not  that  he  was  either  dissolute  or  ignorant, 
l.iit  because  he  was  the  son  of  Henry  Venn."     Moule,  Charles  Sioiron,  p.  60. 

+  Private  .Tournal  of  II.  Venn  the  vounfjer,  December,  1852. 

+  "  A  near  relative  of  t lie  Bishop,  after  beinj,'  a  guest  at  Fnlliani  Palace, 
wa*s  to  visit  Mr.  Venn  at  Clapham.  We  were  ourselves  sent  to  wait  at  the 
Bull's  Head,  300  vards  from  tho  Rectory,  and  to  bring  (he  visitor  round.  The 
Bishop  could  not'let  his  carriage  bo  seen  to  draw  up  at  Mr.  Venn's  Rectory, 
though  it  might  be  seen  to  set  down  a  lady  at  a  .-mall  pubhc-house.  thris- 
tian  Observer,  January,  1S70.  The  writer  is  evidently  Henry  \  enn  the 
younger  (the  C.M.S.  Secretary),  who  in  1870  was  editing  the  Christian 
Ohseryer. 

§  Dr.  G.  Smith,  Henry  Martmu  Y>-  H- 

ll   Life  of  Wilberforce,  chap.  xii. 


40  The  Eighteenth  Century  and 

Part  II.  attended  church,  and  too  many  of  the  clergy  were  glad  enough 
1786-1811.  when  none  appeared  at  all,  and  they  were  relieved  from  the 
Chap.  4.  necessity  of  holding  a  service.  They  were  pluralists ;  they 
were  keen  sportsmen  ;  some  of  them  drank  heavily  ;  not  a  few 
were  openly  vicious.*  Pew  of  the  bishops  set  a  good  example. 
"  We  hear,"  says  Dr.  Overton,  "  strange  tales  of  one  bishop 
examining  his  candidates  for  ordination  in  a  tent  on  a  cricket- 
field,  he  himself  being  one  of  the  players ;  of  another  sending 
a  message,  by  his  butler,  to  the  candidate,  to  wadte  an  essay ; 
of  another  examining  a  man  while  shaving,  and,  not  unnaturally, 
stopping  the  examination  when  the  examinee  had  construed 
two  words."  I  The  sermons  of  the  day  called  forth  the  sarcasm 
of  Sydney  Smith.  "  We  have,"  he  says,  "persevered  in  dignified 
tameness  so  long,  that  while  we  are  freezing  common  sense 
for  large  salaries  in  stately  churches,  amid  whole  acres  and 
furlongs  of  empty  pews,  the  crowd  are  feasting  on  ungrammatical 
fervour  and  illiterate  animation  in  the  crumbling  hovels  of 
Methodists."  Any  "semi-delirious  sectary,"  he  complains,  could 
"  gesticulate  away  the  congregation  of  the  most  profound  and 
learned  divine  of  the  Established  Church,  and  in  two  Sundays  preach 
him  bare  to  the  very  sexton."  \  Few  new  churches  were  built- — 
only  six  in  all  London  during  the  fifty-nine  years  of  George  III.'s 
reign  ;  and  great  parishes  like  Marylebone  and  St.  Pancras,  with 
populations  even  then  of  50,000  and  60,000,  had  only  one  church 
Evan-  apiece.  Meanwhile  the  despised  handful  of  Evangelicals  were 
geiicai  crowding  their  proprietary  "  episcopal  chapels,"  multiplying 
ments.  Communions  and  communicants,  introducing  week-day  services 
and  even  the  dreaded  innovation  of  evening  services,  and  lending 
brightness  to  their  worship  by  the  use  of  hymns,  to  the  horror  of 
the  clergy  generally,  and  even  of  so  able  a  prelate  as  Bishop 
Marsh,  who  strongly  condemned  them  in  one  of  his  charges.  And 
William  Wilberforce,  solemnly  called  of  God,  as  he  believed,  to 
work  for  "  the  reformation  of  manners,"  was  pushing  the  Society 
he  had  formed  for  that  purpose,  despite  the  warning  he  had 
received  from  a  nobleman  he  called  upon,  who  j)ointed  to  a  picture 
of  the  crucifixion,  saying,  "See  there  the  end  of  reformers"; 
and  followed  this  up  by  his  great  work,  A  Practical  Victo  of 
Christianity,  which  immediately  sold  by  thousands,  and  has  since 
gone  through  fifty  editions. 

The  decade  in  which  we  are  surveying  the  country  was  in  other 

*  EncjUsh  Church  in  the  Nineteenth  Century,  chap.  i.  Even  at  a  much 
later  period,  the  daily  service  in  Chester  Cathedral  changed  its  hour  in  the 
race-week,  to  enable  the  clergy  and  congregation  to  attend  the  races  !  (Chris- 
tian Observer,  July,  1863,  p.  S-tO.) 

t  Ibid.  The  particulars  of  these  cases  are  given  in  the  Memoir  of  Bishop 
JBtonifield,  vol.  i.  p.  59.  It  there  appears  that  the  cricketer  was  not  the 
bishop  himself,  but  his  examining  chaplain. 

t  Quoted  in  Thr  Kn<ilish  Churcli  in  the  Nineteenth  Century,  chap.  v.  Of 
coiir.se  there  were  exceptions  to  Sydney  Smith's  sweeping  statements.  Bisliop 
Porteus,  for  instance,  had  immense  congregations  at  St.  James's,  Piccadilly. 


THE  Evangelical  Revival  41 

respects  a  dark  and  discouraging  period.     The  Fiench  Revolution   Taut  II. 
tilled  the  British  mind  with  terror  and  dismay,  and  all  the  more  17H6-1811. 
because  sympathy  with  it  on  the  part  of  some  who  called  them-        ^^" 
selves  "  patriots  "  led  to  open  disaffection,  the  king  being  violently  The 
mobbed  on  his  way  to  open  Parliament,  and  the  most  inflammatory  a°<J*"r\[^" 
publications  being  actively  distributed."     Tom  Paine's  liujhts  0/ period. 
Man  leaped  into  popularity,  while  it  was  regarded  by  the  majority 
of  sober  citizens  as  subversive  of  the  constitution.     To  subsidize 
the  Continental  Powers  that    were  fighting  France,   taxes  were 
heaped  upon  taxes,  and  the  national  debt  rose  by  leaps  and  bounds. 
In  1797  the  Bank  of  England  stopped  payment,  I  and  a  mutiny  on 
board  the  fleet  that  was  guarding  our  shores  brought  the  country 
into  more  imminent  peril  than  it  Ixiid  incurred  for  centuries.     All 
this  affected  the  Church  seriously.     On  the  one  band,  her  position 
was  strengthened  by  the  general  desire  to  stand  by  all  that  was 
stable  and  respectable  in  the  national  institutions.     On  the  other 
hand,  the   dread  of   any  and   every  innovation,   which  was  the 
natural  result  of  the  alarm  excited  by  the  revolutionary  excesses  in 
France,  was  a  great  obstacle  to  any  new  plans  for  the  religious 
improvement  of  the  people. 

It  was  at  such  a  time  as  this  that  the  little  band  of  Evangelical 
Churchmen  began  to  consider  their  responsibilities  regarding  the 
evangelization  of  tlie  world.  Let  us  now  take  our  stand  again  in 
the  year  1796,  and  see  who  these  men  are  and  what  they  are 
doing. 

It  is  the  second  generation  of  Evangelicals  with  whom  we  have  Second 
now  to  do.     All  the  leaders  of  the  great  revival  movement  arc  of  Efvan°" 
dead.     Henry  Venn  was  the  last  to  be  taken.     He  is  succeeded  geiicais. 
in    the    counsels    of   the   brethren    by   his   son   John,    Rector   of 
Clapham,  a  man  of   culture,  judgment,  and    sanctified   common 
sense,  well  fitted  to  be  the  leader  of  the  coterie  of  friends  living  in 
his  parish  to  whom  by-and-by  is  to  l)e  given  the  nickname  of  the 
"  Clapham  Sect."     A  nickname  indeed,  but  one  that  will  be  held  curham 
in  honour  in  years  to  come  by  many  who  have  had  no  connexion  ®"*" 
with  the  "  Sect  "  ;  for  the  men  to  whom  it  is  given  are  the  salt  of 
the  earth  among  the  laity  of  the  period.     William  Wilberforce, 
the  brilliant  and  fascinating  M.P.  for  Yorkshire,  ranking  in  Parlia- 
ment  with   Pitt  and  Fox  and  Burke,  and,  through  his  intimate 
friendship  with  Pitt,  exercising  no  small  influence  on  public  affairs  ; 
Henry  Thornton,  the  excellent  and  munificent  son  of  an  excellent 
and  munificent  father,  spending,  like  his  father,  an  ample  fortune 
in  doing  good  ;  Charles  Grant,  of  the  East  India  Company,  one  of 
the  chief  instruments  in  opening  up  India  to  the   Gospel  ;  James 
Stephen,  the  legal  adviser  of  the  Evangelicals,  father  and  grand- 
father of  still  better  known  men  ;  Zachaiy  Macaulay,  the  devoted 

*  See  Life  of  WiUicrfim-e,  chap.  x. 

t  A  national  subscription  of  two  millions  sterling  was  niisod  to  assist  the 
Treasury  to  pay  the  expenses  of  tlic  war.  Wilberforce  subscribed  an  eighth 
of  his  income. 


42  The  Eighteenth  Century  and 

Part  II.   friend  of  Africa,  who  is  presently  to  become  editor  of  the  Evan- 
1786-1811.  geHcal  organ, — father,  too,  of  a  more  famous  son  ;  Lord    Teign- 
^P'    ■   mouth,    returned  from  the  Governor-Generalship  of  India; — all 
these  belong  to  the  "  Sect." 

A  brilliant  picture  is  drawn  of  this  coterie  of  friends  and  fellow- 
workers  in  Sir  James  Stephen's  famous  Essay  on  "  The  Clapham 
Sect."  "     But  still  more  graphic  and  life-like  are  the  pictures  of 
The  Mr.  J.  C.  Colquhoun,  in  his  delightful  volume,  Wilbcrforco  and  His 

ci'apham.  Friends.\  Henry  Thornton,  in  1792,  bought  a  house  and  grounds 
on  Battersea  Else,  at  the  west  end  of  Clapham  Common.  On  the 
estate  he  built  two  other  houses,  one  of  which  w^as  presently 
occupied  by  Charles  Grant,  and  the  other  by  William  Wilberforce  ; 
and  these  three  friends,  with  Zachary  Macaulay  and  James 
Stephen,  formed  the  inner  Cabinet  whence  so  many  philanthropic 
and  Christian  enterprises  emanated.  Let  us  read  a  few  brief 
fragments  of  Colquhoun's  vivid  description  of  a  summer  evening 
in  Thornton's  demesne  :  I — 

"The  sheltered  garden  behind,  with  its  arbeil-trees  and  elms  and 
Scotch  firs,  as  it  lay  so  still,  with  its  close-shaven  lawn,  looked  gay  on  a 
May  afternoon,  when  groups  of  young  and  old  seated  themselves  under 
the  shade  of  the  trees,  or  were  scattered  over  the  grounds.  Matrons  of 
households  were  there,  who  had  strolled  in  to  enjoy  a  social  meeting ; 
and  their  children  busied  themselves  in  sports  with  a  youthful  glee 
which  was  cheered,  not  checked,  by  the  presence  of  their  elders.  For 
neighbourly  hospitality  and  easy  friendship  were  features  of  that  family 
life. 

"  Presently,  streaming  from  adjoining  villas  or  crossing  the  common, 
appeared  others  who,  like  Henry  Thornton,  had  spent  an  occupied  day 
in  town,  and  now  resorted  to  this  well-known  garden  to  gather  up  their 
families  and  enjoy  a  pleasant  hour.  Hannah  More  is  there,  with  her 
sparkling  talk  ;  and  the  benevolent  Patty,  the  delight  of  young  and 
old ;  and  the  long-faced,  blue-eyed  Scotchman,  §  with  his  fixed,  calm 
look,  unchanged  as  an  aloe-tree,  known  as  the  Indian  Director,  one  of 
the  kings  of  Leadenhall  Street ;  and  the  gentle  Thane,  Lord  Teignmouth, 
whose  easy  talk  flowed  on,  like  a  southern  brook,  with  a  sort  of  drowsy 
murmur ;  and  Macaulay  stands  by  listening,  silent,  with  hanging  eye- 
brows ;  and  Babington,  in  blue  coat,  dropping  weighty  words  with  husky 
voice  ;  and  young  listeners,  starting  into  life,  who  draw  round  the 
thoughtful  host,  and  gather  up  his  words — the  young  Grants,  and  young 
Stephen,  and  Copley, ||  a  'very  clever  young  lawyer.'  .  .  . 

"  But  whilst  these  things  are  talked  of  in  the  shade,  and  the  knot  of 
wise  men  draw  close  together,  in  darts  the  member  for  Yorkshire  ^\ 
from  the  green  fields  to  the  south,  like  a  sunbeam  into  a  shady 
room,  and  the  faces  of  the  old  brighten,  and  the  chikb-en  clap  their 
hands  with  joy.  He  joins  the  group  of  the  elders,  catches  up  a  thread 
of  their  talk,  dashes  oft'  a  bright  remark,  pours  a  ray  of  happy  ilhmiina- 


*  In  hiB  E$>inys  in  Ecclesiastical  Biorfruphy.     But  the  term  "  Clapham  Sect" 
seems  to  have  originated  with  Sydney  Smith. 
t  Longmans,  1867. 

t   J.  C.  Colqnhoun,  Wilhcrforce  and  hi^  Friend.^,  pp.  306—308. 
§  Charles  Grant.  ||   Afterwards  Lord  Lyndhurst. 

^  Wilberforce. 


THE  Evangelical  Revival  43 

tion,  and  f<ji  a  few  moments  seems  as  wise,  as  thoughtful,  and  as  constant   Part  II. 
as  themselves.     But  this  dream  will  not  last,  and  these  watchful  young  1786-1811 
eyes  know  it.     They  remember  that  he  is  as  restless  as  they  are,  as  fond    Cliap.  4. 
of  fun  and  movement.     So,  on  the  first  youthful  challenge,  away  flies  the 
volatile  statesman.     A  bunch  of  flowers,  a  ball,  is  thrown   in   sport,  and 
away  dash,  in  joyous  rivalry,  the  children  and  the  philanthropist.     Law 
and  statesmanship  forgotten,  he  is  the  gayest  child  of  them  all. 

"  But  presently  when  the  group  is  broken  up,  and  the  friends  have 
gone  to  their  homes,  the  circle  under  Henry  Thornton's  roof  gathers  for 
its  evening  talk.  In  the  Oval  Library,  which  Pitt  plainied,  niched,  and 
fringed  all  round  with  books,  looking  out  on  the  pleasant  lawn,  they 
meet  for  their  more  su.staincd  conversation.  In  this  easy  intercourse 
even  the  shy  Gisborne  *  opens  himself.  .   .  . 

"Or  they  vary  their  sununer  evenings  by  strolling  through  the  fre.sh 
green  fields  into  the  wilder  shrubbery  which  encloses  Mr.  \Vilberforces 
(lemesne,  Broomfield,  not  like  Battersea  Rise,  with  trim  parterres  and 
close-mown  lawn,  but  unkemi)t, — a  picture  of  stray  genius  and  irregulai- 
thoughts.  As  they  pass  near  the  windows  that  look  out  on  the  north,  and 
admire  the  old  elms  that  shade  the  slopes  to  the  stream,  the  kindly  host 
hears  their  voices,  and  runs  out  with  his  welcome.  So  they  are  led 
into  that  charmed  circle,  and  find  there  the  portly  Dean.t  with  his 
stentorian  voice,  and  the  eager  Stephen,  Admiral  Ganibier  and  his  wife, 
and  the  good  Bishop  Porteiis,  who  has  come  from  Fulham  to  sec  his  old 
friends,  the  Mores. 

"  Another  evening  the  party  cross  the  common,  and  drop  into  the  villa 
of  the  Teiginnouths,  or  spend  a  pleasant  hour  in  Robert  Tliornt(nrs 
decorated  grounds,  to  look  into  his  conservatory  full  of  rare  plants,  and 
his  library  with  its  costly  volumes.  On  Suiulay  they  take  their  seats  in 
the  old  church,  with  the  Wilberforces'  and  Macaulays'  and  Stephens' 
pews  close  to  their  own,  and  in  the  front  gallery  the  Teiginnouths';  and 
they  listen  to  the  wise  discourses  of  Venn.  Another  Sunday  they  sit 
enchanted  under  the  preaching  of  Gisborne.'' 

Let  us  now  leave  Clapham,  and  come  into  the  great  metropolis  e^?"-  . 
itself.  At  St.  Mary  Woolnoth,  at  the  corner  of  Lombard  Street,  London, 
is  old  John  Newton,  once  a  slave-dealer  and  immersed  in  the 
grossest  vices,  now  the  venerated  Nestor  of  the  Evangelical 
body,  to  whom  Wilberforce,  Thomas  Scott,  Cowper  the  poet, 
Milner  the  Chm*ch  historian,  Claudius  Buchanan,  and  Hannah 
More,  owe  much  of  their  spiritual  enlightenment,  and  who  (in 
the  language  of  his  own  hymn)  has  taught  hundreds  of  less-known 
souls  "  How  sweet  the  name  of  Jesus  sounds  in  a  believer's 
ear."  \  At  St.  Anne's,  Blackfriars,  there  is  William  Goode,  wise 
and  patient  counsellor  and  committee-man.  Only  two  or  three 
other  London  parishes  are  in  Evangelical  hands  ;  but  there 
are  licensed  proprietary  "episcopal  chapels"  with  able  pastors, 
exercising  a  wide  influence :  such  as  St.  John's,  Bedford  Row, 
where  Richard  Cecil  is  still  ministering,  scholarly,  refined, 
brilliant,— "  the  one  clerical  genius  of  his  party,"  Bishop  S. 
Wilberforce  calls  him  ;   or  Bentinck  Chapel,  Marylebone,  where 

*  Rev.  Thomas  Gisborne,  of  Yoxall  Lodge,  Needwood  Forest, 
t  Isaac  Milner,  Dean  of  Carlisle. 

X  Jfr.  Lecky  calls  Newton  "  uuc  of  the  most  devoted  and  single-hearted  uf 
Christian  ministers." 


44  The  Eighteenth  Century^  &-c. 

Part  II.  Basil  Woodd  is  surrounded  by  an  influential  and  liberal  congrega- 
1786-1811.  tion  ;  or  the  Lock  Chapel  (then  near  Hyde  Park  Corner),  where 
Omp^  .  rpj^Qjj^as  Scott  is  manfully  preaching  righteousness  to  an  ultra- 
Calvinistic  people  whose  lives  differ  widely  from  their  high 
professions,  eking  out  his  miserable  income  by  walking  fourteen 
miles  every  Sunday  to  give  "  lectures  "  in  two  other  churches  at 
7s.  6d.  apiece,  and  writing  the  great  Commentary  which  crushes 
him  by  the  expense  of  its  production,  though  its  sale  in  the  next 
half-century  is  to  produce  half  a  million  of  pounds  sterling. 
And  in  the  In  the  provinces  there  are  by  this  time  not  a  few  faithful  and 
successful  Evangelical  clergymen,  such  as  Rol)inson  of  Leicester 
and  Eichardson  of  York  ;  above  all  there  is  Charles  Simeon  at 
Cambridge,  still  "boycotted"  (to  use  a  word  not  yet  in  the 
English  language)  by  both  "  town  "  and  "  gown,"  but  "  increasing 
the  more  in  strength,"  and  laying  the  foundation  of  that  unique 
influence  which  will  make  him  for  forty  years  the  most  con- 
spicuous figure  in  Cambridge. 

These  are  some  of  the  men  of  light  and  leading  in  the  sparse 
and  scattered  ranks  of  the  Evangelical  clergy  and  laity  as  the 
eighteenth  century  draws  to  its  close.  Not  a  single  Ijishop  gives 
them  the  slightest  recognition  beyond  what  he  is  officially  obliged 
to  give.'"'  Only  one  dignitary — Isaac  Milner,  Dean  of  Carlisle — is 
counted  among  them.  But  the  power  of  the  Lord  is  with  them. 
They  are  not  only,  by  His  grace,  bringing  thousands  of  individual 
souls  out  of  darkness  into  light,  but  they  are  gradually  leavening 
the  teaching  of  the  Church,  to  such  an  extent  that  the  doctrines 
which  they  alone  in  1796  are  setting  forth  in  Scriptural  fulness 
will,  fifty  and  a  hundred  years  later,  although  still  hated  l)y  some 
and  ridiculed  by  others,  be  admitted,  even  in  derision,  to  be  "  the 
popular  theology,"  that  is,  the  theology  wdiich  is  in  fact  the 
religion  of  tlie  English  people. 

*  It  is  usually  said  that  Bishop  Portcus  of  Lonrlon  was,  if  not  an  Kvan- 
{^elical  liiinself,  favouiably  disposi-d  toi\'ardB  them.  Jle  certainly  joined  them 
in  philanthroiiic  enterpi'ii-es  like  Wilberforce's  against  the  slave-trade  ;  and 
lie  manifested  some  religious  sympathy  with  them.  Probably  he  felt  obliged 
to  be  cautious. 


CHAPTER  V. 

Africa  and  tuf.  ]']AsT—]\'AJTiNa. 

The  Dark  Continent  -England  and  the  Slave  Trade— Granville  Sharp, 
Clarkson,  Wilberforce  -The  Struggle  for  Abolition— The  East 
India  Company— Religion  in  British  India  in  the  Eighteenth 
Century —Charles  Grant  and  Wilberforce —The  Dark  Period  in 
India     Other  Eastern  Lands,  Waiting. 

"  Thou  wicked  nvd  slothful  servant." — Matt.  xxv.  26. 

"  The  name  of  Clod  is  hlasphemed  amonij  the  (lentilvs  thromjh  ijou." — lloiii.  ii.  2k 

TIEN  the  Evangelical  Revival  had  reached  the  point  to  Takt  IF. 
which  our  last  chapter  brought  it,  Africa  and  India  ^~,*|^''^!.^" 
iiad  waited  two   hundred  years  for  Christian  England       ''^^''  '^' 
to   give  them    the  Gospel.     English  intercourse  and 
tratiic  with  both  the  Dark  Continent  and  the  East 
Indies  had  begun  in  the  reign    of  Queen  Elizabeth.     In    West 
Africa,  as  we  have  before  seen,  the  S.P.G.  had  one  missionary, 
for  three  or  four  years,  in  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
and  a  Negro  clergyman  for  fifty  years  following.     In  the  Tamil 
country  of  South  India  the  S.P.C.K.  had  done  a  great  work  by 
tlie  agency  of  German  Lutherans.     That  was  all.     Let  us  now 
briefly  review    the    connexion  of  England   with  both   India  and 
Africa  before  the  epoch  of  extended  luissionary  effort  began. 

Africa  was  then  a  Dark  Continent  indeed.  Dark  it  is  still  ;  The  Dark 
but  dark  it  was  a  centmy  ago  in  a  sense  we  can  hardly  realize 
now.  For  many  years  past,  in  successive  editions  of  the  Cliiirck 
Missiouari/  Atlas,  the  article  on  Africa  has  commenced  with 
these  words  :  "  Africa  has  been  described  '  as  one  universul 
den  of  desolation,  misery,  and  crime  '  ;  and  certainly,  of  all  the 
divisions  of  the  globe  it  has  always  had  an  unfortunate  pre- 
eminence in  degradation,  wretchedness,  and  woe."  Gleams  of 
light  are  to  be  seen  now,  here  and  there,  athwart  the  moral 
darkness  ;  yet  those  old  words  need  little  modification  to-day. 
P)ut  when  the  Church  Missionary  Society  was  founded,  Africa 
was  a  dark  continent  in  another  sense.  It  was  almost  wholly 
unknown.  The  coast-line  had  been  traced  by  the  Portuguese 
explorers  of  the  lifleenth  century  ;  init  although  the  course  of 
some  of  the  rivers  and  the  position  of  some  of  the  lakes  had  been 
fairly  guessed  at  by  Mercator,  Ogilby,  and  other  map-makers  of 
the    seventeenth    century,    the    more    careful    accuracy    of    the 


46 


Africa  and  tme  East — Wait  inc. 


Chap.  5. 


The  Slave 
Trade. 


Part  II.  eighteenth  century  had  discarded  this  guess-work,  and  in  1788, 
1786-1811.  the  newly-formed  African  Association  said  in  its  prospectus  that 
nvimi  ■^  Africa  stood  alone  "in  a  geographical  view "  because  it  was 
"  penetrated  by  no  inland  seas,  nor  overspread  with  extensive 
lakes  like  those  of  North  America,  nor  had,  like  other  continents, 
rivers  running  from  the  centre  to  the  extremities  "  !  The  only 
British  traveller  who  had  made  any  discoveries  was  James  Bruce, 
and  his  narratives  of  journeys  in  Nubia  and  Abyssinia  had  been 
received  with  scepticism.  Mungo  Park  was  then  on  the  travels 
which  in  1796  revealed  the  existence  of  the  Niger,  though  its 
course  to  the  sea  was  not  determined  till  1830.  That  was  all. 
Very  happily  did  William  Jowett,  the  first  Cambridge  missionary 
of  the  C.M.S.,  when  considering  the  peoples  and  religions  of 
Africa  from  his  watch-tower  at  Malta,  exclaim, — "Even  the 
geographer,  whose  task  lies  merely  with  the  surface  of  the  land 
and  sea,  confesses  that  all  he  has  to  show  of  Africa  is  but  as  the 
hem  of  a  garment  !  " 

Dark  also,  in  a  moral  sense,  was  the  connexion  of  England 
with  Africa.  It  is  a  humiliating  fact  that  for  more  than  two 
centuries  England  was  the  chief  slave-trading  nation.  She  did 
not  indeed  begin  the  detestable  traffic.  It  was  the  Portuguese 
and  the  Spaniards  who  first  kidnapped  Negroes,  and  carried  them 
across  the  Atlantic  to  provide  labour  for  the  early  settlements  in 
the  New  World,  l^ecause  the  Natives  they  found  there  proved 
incapable  of  steady  work  ;  and  in  the  first  decade  of  the  sixteenth 
century,  a  Papal  bull  authorized  the  opening  of  a  slave-market  at 
Lisbon.  But  in  1562  an  Act  was  passed  by  the  English  Parlia- 
ment legalizing  the  purchase  of  Negroes  ;  and  Queen  Elizabeth's 
famous  naval  commander,  Sir  John  Hawkins,  sailed  at  once  to  a 
small  peninsula  in  West  Africa,  named  l)y  the  Portuguese  Sierra 
Leone,  forcibly  and  fraudulently  seized  "three  hundred  Negroes, 
carried  them  across  the  Atlantic  to  Hayti,  and  sold  them  there. 
During  the  hundred  years  preceding  1786,  the  number  of  slaves 
imported  into  British  Colonies  exceeded  two  millions.  In  1771, 
no  less  than  192  slave-ships  left  England  for  Africa,  fitted  up  for 
exactly  47,146  slaves.  Slaves  formed  an  important  part  of  the 
property  of  well-to-do  families  in  England.  Most  people  of 
consideration  had  estates  in  the  West  Indies,  and  thence  they 
brought  Negroes  home  as  domestic  servants.  So  late  as  1772, 
advertisements  appeared  in  the  London  newspapers  of  black  boys 
and  girls  to  be  sold.^'-  But  it  was  in  that  year,  1772,  that  the 
freedom   of   the    slave    on   British    soil   was    secured.     Granville 

*  Here  is  the  ailvortisemont  of  an  auction  :— "  Twelve  pipes  of  raisin  wine, 
two  boxes  of  bottled  cyder,  six  sacks  of  flour,  three  ne^ro  men,  two  negro 
women,  two  negro  boys,  one  negro  girl."  Here  is  a  bill  of  lading  :  — "  Shipjjed 
by  the  grace  of  God,  in  good  order  and  well-conditioned,  in  and  upon  the  good 
ship  Mam  Borouiih,  twenty-four  prime  slaves,  six  prime  women  slaves,  marked 
aiul  numiiered  as  Iti  the  margin" — tiie  marks  being  branded  on  a  certain  part 
(if  the  \)oi]y. —The  Lirerponl  y'/'iruf.fM  (London,  1897),  quoted  in  ihe  Times, 
Dee-ember  4th,  1897. 


Slaves  in 
England. 


Afk/ca   Axn  THE  East—  IVaitikc,  47 

Shall),  then  a  cU'ik  in  a  •^ovenHiient  oHice,  whosu  sympathies  had   Part  II. 
heen  drawn  out  by  the  sufferings  of  some   Negro   slaves  who  had  IT'^ti-lsH- 
hetii  eruelly  treated,  had  determined  to  test  the  legality  of  slavery    ^^"^  ^• 
in  England  ;  and  his  unyielding  perseverance,  in  the  face  of  all 
sorts  of  obstacles,  brought  the  question,  at  last,  to  a  plain   issue  English 
before  Lord  Chief  Justice  Mansfield.     On  June  22nd,  1772,  was  ^^^^^^ 
delivered  the  memorable  judgment  which  settled  the  controversy  pounced 
once  for  all.    "  The  claim  of  slavery,"  said  the  Lord  Chief  Justice,  '  ^^*  ' 
"  never  can  be  supported.     The  power  claimed  never  was  in  use 
here,  or  acknowledged  by  the  law.  .  .  .  As  soon  as  any  slave  sets 
his  foot  on  EmjUsli  i/ronnd  he  becomes  free." 

This  judgment  did  not  stop  the  slave-trade  as  between  Africa 
and  the  Colonies  ;  but  it  at  once  set  free  all  the  slaves  in  the 
British  Isles.  The  immediate  result,  however,  was  not  good. 
Claiming  their  liberty,  they  deserted  their  masters,  and  thensuddenly 
found  themselves  without  employment  or  means  of  subsistence ; 
and  the  streets  of  London  began  to  swarm  W'ith  Negro  beggars. 
Granville  Sharp  now  turned  his  energy  into  schemes  for  their 
benefit ;  and  it  was  in  1786  that,  with  the  help  of  Government,  sierra 


Leone 


he  formed  a  plan  for  settling  them  on  that  very  peninsula  of  Sierra  coion 
Leone  where  Hawkins  had  kidnapped  the  first  British  slave-  founded 
cargo.  Four  hundred  liberated  Negro  slaves  were  shipped  thither, 
under  English  superintendence;  and  a  district  twenty  miles  square 
having  been  purchased  from  a  Native  chief,  the  British  flag  was 
hoisted,  and  the  Negroes  were  planted  out  upon  the  land.  Other 
shiploads  followed ;  about  a  thousand  Negroes  came  over  from 
Nova  Scotia,  \vhither  they  had  fled  from  the  United  States  ;  a 
good  many  English,  farmers  and  artizans,  sought  their  fortune  in 
the  new  settlement ;  and  the  population  grew  apace.  Disaster 
after  disaster,  however,  fell  upon  the  colony  :  the  Native  chiefs 
plundered  it,  and  sickness  carried  off  most  of  the  English  settlers — 
which  led  to  Sierra  Leone  receiving  the  sobriquet  of  the  White 
Man's  Grave.  To  promote  the  safety  and  pi-osperity  of  the 
people,  the  Sierra  Leone  Company  was  formed  in  1791,  to 
introduce  trade,  industry,  and  Christian  knowledge.  Henry 
Thornton  was  the  chairman,  and  Wilberforce  a  director  ;  and  among 
the  leading  men  were  other  magnates  of  the  "  Clapham  Sect."  But 
further  disasters  ensued  ;  and  in  1794,  Freetown,  the  capital,  was 
destroyed  by  a  French  squadron,  and  the  inhabitants  treated  with 
merciless  barbarity.  Zachary  Macaulay,  father  of  the  great 
historian,  was  governor  of  the  settlement  at  that  time.  A 
previous  governor.  Lieutenant  Clarkson,  should  also  be  men- 
tioned, for  his  singular  devotion  and  genuine  piety."'' 

In  the  meanwhile,  at  the  very  time  that  Granville  Sharp  was 
forming  his  first  plans  for  sending  liberated  slaves  to  West  Africa, 
the  University  of  Cambridge  had  propounded,  as  the  subject  for 

*  Lieut.  Clarkson's  Journal,  ft  touchiiig;ly  interesting  narrative,  is  pnhlished 
by  Bishop  Inghain  in  liis  Siena  Leone  after  a  Hundred  Years  (Seeley,  1SS»4). 


48 


Africa  and  the  East — Waiting 


Part  II. 

1786-1811. 

Chap.  5. 

Clarkson's 
Essay. 


WiUiam 
V/ilber- 
force. 


His  con- 
version. 


His  dedi- 
cation. 


the  Latin  Essay  of  1785,  the  question,  "  Is  it  right  to  make  slaves 
of  others  against  their  will  ?  ' '  The  prize  was  awarded  to  Thomas 
Clarkson  ;  and  on  gaining  it  he  reflected  that  "  if  the  contents  of 
liis  essay  were  true,  it  was  time  that  some  one  should  see  these 
calamities  to  their  end."  He  republished  it  in  English,  and  it 
became  a  classic  in  the  controversy  of  the  next  twenty  years. 

Wilham  Wilberforce,  too,  had  begun  his  great  campaign  against 
the  Slave  Trade  itself.  Even  in  his  earlier  years  there  had  been 
signs  that  God  had  marked  him  out  to  be  the  leader  in  the  great 
enterprise.  "  His  abomination  of  the  slave-trade,"  wrote  a  school- 
fellow long  afterwards,  "  he  evinced  when  he  was  not  more  than 
fourteen  years  of  age."  He  wrote  to  the  newspapers  on  the 
subject  while  still  a  boy  ;  and  even  amid  the  gaieties  of  his 
early  adult  life  the  sufferings  of  the  slaves  in  the  West  Indies 
oppressed  his  spirit.  "In  1780,"  he  afterwards  wrote,  "I 
expressed  my  hope  that  I  should  redress  the  wrongs  of  those 
wretched  beings."  But  the  youthful  lover  of  freedom  had  not  yet 
entered  into  the  liberty  wherewith  Christ  makes  His  people  free, 
and  did  not  yet  see  that  the  deliverance  of  the  slave  from  earthly 
bondage  must,  if  any  real  good  was  to  be  done,  be  accompanied  by 
efforts,  in  the  name  and  in  the  strength  of  the  Lord,  to  deliver 
him  also  from  spiritual  bondage.  It  was  in  1785  that  Wilberforce, 
while  on  a  continental  tour  with  his  friend  Isaac  Milner,"''  was 
awakened  by  reading  Doddridge's  i?/sc  and  Pro^jrcss  of  Bel ig ion  in 
the  Soul ;  and  on  October  21st,  in  that  year,  it  pleased  God  to  make 
His  gracious  promise  of  the  Spirit  to  those  that  ask  Him,  in 
Luke  xi.  13,  the  turning  point  of  the  young  statesman's  life,  and 
by  that  Spirit  to  enable  him  to  yield  his  whole  self,  body,  soul,  and 
spirit,  to  the  service  of  his  Divine  Master,  f  Then  Wilberforce 
advanced  from  feehng  to  action ;  and  it  was  in  the  memorable 
succeeding  year,  1786 — concerning  which  more  will  be  said  in 
the  next  chapter, — that  he  wrote,  "  God  has  set  before  me  two 
great  objects,  the  suppression  of  the  slave-trade  and  the  reforma- 
tion of  manners  " — and  that  under  the  celebrated  oak  at  Keston, 
he  devoted  himself  definitely  to  the  campaign  against  the  traffic 
in  human  flesh  and  blood. 

That  Wilberforce  was  specially  raised  up  by  God  for  this  great 
work,  no  one  can  doubt  who  reads  the  long  story  of  the  twenty 
years'  struggle.  Edmund  Burke  had  formed  plans  a  few  years 
previously  for  mitigating  the  horrors  of  the  slave-trade  and 
ultimately  suppressing  it,  but  had  given  up  the  idea  as  hopeless. 
No  mere  political  movement  could  have  accomplished  it.  "  The 
powerful  interests  with  which  the  battle  nuist  be  fought,"  writes 
Wilberforce's  son  and  l)iographer,  "  could  be  resisted  only  by  the 
general  moral  feehng  of  the  nation.  There  was  then  no  example 
upon  record  of  any  such  achievement,  and  in  entering  upon  the 

*  Afterwards  Doaii  of  Carlislo  mid  Prpsidcnt  of  Queens',  Cambridge. 
■|-  But  Wilborfoi-ce,  tliouj;li  undoubtodly  foiivertod  to  God  in  October,  1785, 
did  not  fullv  realize  his  now  state  of  salvation  for  some  fi'w  months.    Seep.  .'37. 


AlKlCA    A.VD    THE    EaST WAITING  4O 

struggle  it  was  of  the  utmost  moment  that  its  leader  should  be   Part  II. 
one  who  could  combine,  and  so  render  irresistible,  the  scattered  1786-1811. 
sympathies  of  all  the  religious  classes."     This  Wilberforco  alone      ^'^P-  •'^- 
could  do,  and  did  do. 

It    is    important  to  distinguish    between   the  Slave  Trade  and 
Slavery.     Slavery  on   British   soil   was  declared   illegal   by   Lord 
Chief  Justice  Mansfield's  judgment.     Slavery  in  the  British  West 
Indies  was  not  touched  by  that  judgment ;  and  its  abolition  was 
not  to  come  for  half  a  century,  and  then  not  by  Wilberforcc's 
hands,  but  by  Buxton's.     Wilherforce's  campaign,  though  inspired  His  anti- 
by  his  distress  at  the  sufferings  of  the  West  Indian  slaves,  was  xrad^p 
not  against  Slavery—  for  that  the  time  had  not  come — but  against  campaign, 
the  Slave  Trade. 

At  first  it  seemed  to  Wili)erforce  and  his  comrades  that  the 
abolition  of  the  Slave  Trade  would  l)e  speedily  decreed.  They 
had  with  them  tiie  sympathies  of  the  three  foremost  statesmen 
and  orators  of  the  day,  Pitt,  Fox,  and  Burke  ;  and  Wilherforce's 
intimate  friendship  with  Pitt,  who  was  then  almost  at  the  height 
of  his  power  as  Prime  Minister,  gave  him  exceptional  opportunities 
of  pushing  the  cause.  They  little  anticipated  the  prolonged 
struggle  that  was  before  them.  They  quite  failed  to  estimate  the 
strength  of  the  vested  interests  of  a  great  trade.  And  it  very  soon 
appeared  that  the  walls  of  Jericho  w'ould  not  fall  at  the  first 
trumpet  blast.  The  slave-traders  and  slave-holders  boldly  dis-  Opposition 
puted  the  very  facts  on  which  the  abolitionists  relied.  Yet  the  °rade." 
horrors  of  the  "  middle  passage  "  across  the  Atlantic  were  already 
notorious.  One  example  will  suffice.  A  slave-ship  with  5G2 
slaves  on  board  lost  fifty-five  by  death  in  seventeen  days.  They 
were  stowed  between  decks  under  grated  hatchways.  They  sat 
between  each  other's  legs,  and  could  neither  lie  down  nor  in  any 
way  change  their  position  night  or  day.  They  were  branded  like 
sheep  with  the  marks  of  various  owners,  these  being  burned  on 
their  breasts  with  a  red-hot  iron.  Zachary  Macaulay  actually 
crossed  the  Atlantic  in  a  ship  full  of  slaves,  on  pm'pose  to  sec 
these  horrors  for  himself.  But  "  the  trade  "  gravely  affirmed  that 
the  slave-ships  were  "redolent  with  frankincense";  that  the 
voyage  across  the  Atlantic  was  the  happiest  period  of  the  Negro's 
life  ;  and  that  the  involuntary  convulsions  caused  by  the  heavy 
irons  on  his  body  came  from  his  love  of  dancing."  They  declared 
that  insubordination  and  crime  would  be  the  only  result  of  milder 
treatment.  They  raised  the  cry  of  "  Property  !  property  !  "  and 
thus  appealed  to  all  the  selfishness  of  British  human  nature. 
And  they   hinted  that  the  abolitionists  were  no  better  than  the 

*  Tlieee  actual  statements,  from  the  evidence  given  before  the  Parliameu- 
tarr  Committee,  are  quoted  in  the  Li/c  of  JVilberforce,  chap.  vii.  In  1788.  a 
slave-ship  that  was  being  fitted  out  in  the  Thames  wn-?  visited  by  some 
membei'B  of  Parliamenr,  and  the  result  was  an  Act  limiting  tLe  number  of 
slaves,  which  was  passed  at  the  very  beginning  of  the  controversy.  But  it 
was  totally  disregarded,  and  never  enforced. 

VOL.    I.  E 


Africa  a.vb  the  East — Waiting 


Chap.  5. 


Part  II.  republicans  who  were  then  deluging  Paris  with  blood.  One 
1786-1811.  result  was  that  Mr.  Ramsay,  a  clergyman  who  had  lived  in  the 
West  Indies,  and  spoke  the  truth  concerning  the  traffic,  literally 
died  under  the  distress  caused  by  the  calumnies  which  were  heaped 
upon  him.''=  Another  result  was  that  their  audacious  misrepre- 
sentations were  successful,  year  after  year,  in  staving  off  the  final 
decision. 

In  1789  Wilberforce  made  his  first  great  speech  in  Parliament 
on  the  subject,  occupying  three  hours  and  a  half.  The  Bishop 
of  London,  Dr.  Porteus,  wrote  that  it  was  "  one  of  the  ablest  and 
most  eloquent  speeches  ever  heard  in  that  or  any  other  place," 
and  added,  "  It  was  a  glorious  night  for  the  country."  The 
slaveholders,  however,  succeeded  in  getting  the  motion  deferred 
till  after  the  examination  of  witnesses  ;  which  involved  a  post- 
ponement to  the  next  session.  The  collection  and  marshalling 
of  evidence  involved  immense  labour,  and  Wilberforce's  diary 
shows  that  for  months  he  gave  nine  hours  a  day  to  the  task. 
Entries  abound  like  this,  "  Slave-trade  —  quite  exhausted." 
Zachary  Macaulay,  w^ho  knew  West  Africa,  and  James  Stephen, 
who  knew  the  West  Indies,  were  his  chief  lieutenants,  and 
rendered  important  service.  For  three  years  the  struggle  went 
on,  and  in  1791  the  question  again  came  before  a  full  House. 
It  was  at  this  point  that  John  Wesley  sent  from  his  dying  bed 
his  memorable  message  to  Wilberforce,  probably  one  of  the  last 
things,  if  not  the  very  last  thing,  that  he  ever  w^rote.  Encouraging 
the  young  statesman  to  be  an  "  Athanasius  contra  mundum,"  the 
aged  saint  adjured  him  to  be  "  not  weary  in  well-doing."  "If 
God  be  for  you,  who  can  be  against  you  ?  Go  on  in  the  name  of 
God,  and  in  the  power  of  His  might,  till  even  American  slaver}^ 
the  vilest  that  ever  saw  the  sun,  shall  vanish  before  it.  That 
He  w^ho  has  guided  you  from  your  youth  up  may  continue  to 
strengthen  you  in  this  and  all  things,  is  the  prayer  of  your 
affectionate  servant,  John  Wesley."  But  on  tliis  occasion  "  the 
trade  "  triumphed  by  a  large  majority. 

The  cruel  attempt  to  identify  the  abolitionists  with  the  infidel 
followers  of  Tom  Paine,  on  the  ground  that,  like  them,  they 
aimed  at  overthrowing  property  and  civil  order,  had  its  effect 
upon  the  mind  of  King  George  III.,  and  he  became  their 
determined  opponent,  as  already  were  the  Prince  of  Wales  (after- 
wards George  IV.)  and  other  of  the  royal  dukes.  This  added 
greatly  to  the  difficulty  of  the  position  ;  but  Wilberforce,  strong 
in    the   righteousness   of  his  cause,   persevered   year  after  year, 


Wesley's 

dying 

message. 


Hope 
d  ;ferred 


*  Wilberforce  himself  incurred  great  obloquy,  and  many  stories  to  his 
discredit  were  put  in  circulation  by  his  enemies.  On  one  occasion  Clarkson 
was  travelling  by  coach,  and  the  passengers  Were  discussing  the  slave-trade 
question.  "  Mr.  Wilberforce,"  said  one,  '"  is  no  doubt  a  great  philanthropist 
in  public  ;  but  I  happen  to  know  that  he  is  a  cruel  husband  and  beats  his 
wi^."  In  point  of  fact,  Wilberforce  wa?  not  yet  married ! — Harford's 
Rtcollections  of  Wilberforce,  p.  141. 


Africa   and  the  East — Wait  rye  51 

although    in   1795,    in    1796,    in   179H,   in   1799,  hu    was   beaten,    Part  II. 
somotinu's  in  one  way,  sometimes  in  another.  ITHfi-lsii, 

Having  thus  brought  Wilberfoice  and  his  campaign  to  the  close    ^*'">''  ^' 
of  the  century,  let  us  now  turn  to  India. 

In  the  gradual  "Expansion  of  England"  as  manifested  in  the 
growth  of  the  Empire  in  all  parts  of  the  world,  an  important  part 
has  been  borne  by  those  voluntary  yet,  in  a  sense,  authorized 
associations  called  Chartered  Companies.  In  the  present  work  we 
shall  see  something,  by-and-by,  of  the  influence,  generally  for 
good,  of  tlie  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  the  liritish  East  Afiica 
Com))any,  and  the  Hoyal  Niger  Company.  The  fiist  led  the  way 
to  the  greatness  and  completeness  of  the  Dominion  of  Canada. 
The  second  has  given  us  the  East  Africa  and  Uganda  Protectorates, 
with  all  their  illimitalile  possibilities.  The  third,  in  preparing  the 
basin  of  the  great  river  for  the  Niger  Protectorate,  has  done 
excellent  work.  So  has  the  British  South  Africa  Company,  which 
has  already  extended  over  vast  regions  the  Pax  Britannica.  But 
the  greatest  of  all  these  associations  has  been  the  East  India 
Company. 

On  the  last  da}  of  the  sixteenth  century,  December  31st,  KlOO, 
Queen  Elizabeth  granted  a  royal  charter  to  "  one  Body  Coi-porate 
and  Politick,  in  Deed  and  in  Name,  by  the  name  of  TJie  Governor  The  East 
and  C oni pa nij  of  Merchants  of  London  trading  into  the  East  Indies."  company 
So  was  born  the  famous  "John  Company,"  which  for  two  hundred 
and  fifty-seven  years  represented  Great  Britain  in  India.  "  During 
one  half  of  this  period  it  was  a  trading,  and  during  the  other  half 
a  political  and  administrative  organization  ;  while  all  through  its 
history,  when  it  depaited  from  the  i)rinci])les  of  toleration,  it  was 
hostile  to  Christian  Missions  from  a  blinded  selHshness.  Yet  it 
was  used  by  the  Sovereign  Puler  of  the  lunnan  race  to  prejiare 
the  way  and  open  wide  the  door  for  tlie  first  hopeful  and  ultimately 
assuiedly  successful  attempt,  since  the  Apostolic  Church  swept 
away  Paganism,  to  destroy  the  idolatrous  and  Musalnian  cults  of 
Asia."  '■'■'■ 

The  early  agents  of  the  Company  were  very  different  men  from 
the  early  "  pilgrims  "  to  the  American  Colonies.  To  the  efforts 
made  to  evangelize  the  Eed  Men  of  New  England  there  was  no 
parallel  in  India  ;  and  the  impression  made  by  Englishmen  on 
the  Hindu  mind  may  be  gathered  from  the  oft-quoted  words  English 
addressed  to  the  chaplain  who  accompanied  Sir  T.  Koe,  the  !"'«''s|«>" 
Jiritisn  Ambassador  to  the  Mogul  Enipi-ror,^ — "Cluistian  religion 
devil  religion  ;  Christian  much  drunk,  much  do  wrong,  much  beat, 
much  abuse  others."  Job  Charnock,  the  founder  of  Calcutta  and 
first  Governor  of  Bengal,  became  an  avowed  Pagan  under  the 
influence  of  his  Native  wife,  and  after  her  death  annually  sacrificed 
a  cock  upon  her  tomb.     Civil   and  military   officers   kept    their 

•  Dr.  G.  Smith,  Conversion  ofJndiu,  p.  S4. 
E    2 


;2  Africa  and  the  East — Waiting 

Part  11.  zenanas,  "where,"  as  one  described  it, "  they  allowed  their  numerous 
1786-1811.  black  wives  to  roam  about  picking  up  a  little  rice,  while  they 
Chap.  5.  pleased  them  by  worshipping  their  favourite  idol."  The  pages  of 
Sir  John  Kaye's  Histori/  of  Christianity  in  India  teem  with  similar 
illustrations — and  worse — of  the  social  and  moral  condition  of 
Anglo-Indian  society  in  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries. 
After  this,  it  is  a  small  thing  to  say  that  the  East  India  Company 
was  eighty  years  in  India  before  a  church  w^as  built.  When  two 
or  three  had  been  supplied,  it  became  fashionable  at  Madras  to 
attend  public  worship  twice  a  year,  on  Christmas  and  Easter 
days  ;  and  on  these  occasions  the  Natives  crowded  to  see  the 
strange  spectacle  of  Europeans  going  to  "  do  pujah."  The  new 
charter  before  mentioned,  issiied  by  William  III.  in  1698,  w'hich 
required  the  Company  to  provide  a  chaplain  in  every  garrison 
and  principal  factory,  and  enjoined  on  such  chaplains  the 
duty  of  learning  the  native  languages,  "  the  better  to  enable 
them  to  instruct  the  Gentoos  that  are  servants  or  slaves  of 
the  same  Company  in  the  Protestant  religion,"  produced  little 
effect ;  ■■'■  and  so  late  as  1795  Sir  John  Shore  (afterwards  Lord 
Teignmouth),  then  Governor-General,  reported  officially  that  the 
clergy  in  Bengal,  "  with  some  exceptions,"  were  "  not  respectable 
characters."  "A  black  coat,"  he  added,  "is  no  security  from 
the  general  relaxation  of  morals."  Some  of  them  returned  home 
with  large  fortunes,  made  by  trading  and  even  gambling. 
First  Meanwhile,    all    through    the   eighteenth   century,  missionary 

Missions.  -(^yQj.]^  among  the  Natives  was  going  on  in  the  south  of  India. 
It  liegan,  indeed,  in  Danish  territory,  but  it  spread  both  into 
Native  States  and  into  the  distiicts  occupied  by  the  Company. 
This  was  the  Mission  founded  by  Ziegenbalg  and  Plutscho 
under  the  auspices  of  King  Frederick  IV.  of  Denmark,  and 
subsidized  and  in  great  part  directed  by  the  S.P.C.K.,  as  men- 
tioned in  our  Third  Chapter.  But  this  was  only  in  the  Tamil 
country.  In  1758,  however,  Clive,  whose  victories  really  laid  the 
Kier-  foundation  of  English   supremacy  in   India,  invited  Kiernander, 

nander.  ^j-^g  of  ^\-yQ  Danish  missionaries,  to  Calcutta,  and  thus  began 
Missions  in  the  North.  In  1771,  Kiernander  built  a  church, 
and  called  it  by  the  Hebrew  name  Beth  Tephillah  (House  of 
Prayei').  It  was  generally  known  as  the  Mission  Church,  but  in 
later  years  as  the  Old  Church.  His  labours,  however,  were 
mainly  confined  to  the  poor  Portuguese  and  Eurasians,  from 
amongst  whom  he  gathered  a  small  congregation  ;  a  few^  adherents 
won  from  Heathenism  being  also  baptized.  He  worked  well 
according  to  his  hghts,  but  the  character  of  his  teaching  may  be 
Grant^.^       imagined   from   the   fact  that  when  Charles  Grant,  then  a  young 

*  Occasionally  "black  servants"  v^ere  bought,  and  then  baptized  and  in- 
structed ;  and  "Portuguese"  (i.e.  half-castes)  in  humble  life  were  to  some 
extent  cared  for.  The  earliest  recorded  "  convert,"  mentioned  as  far  back  as 
1674,  was,  curiously  enough,  named  John  Lawrence.  See  an  article  in  the 
Madras  Mail,  July  21st,  1897. 


Africa  axd  the  East — Waiting  53 

official  of  the  Company,  who  had  been  awakened  to  a  sense  of  sin   L'^Rt  IL 
and  of  the  just  claims  of  a  holy  God,  went  to  him  in  deep  concern,  ^^°^^-^**y- 

--  "  my  anxious  inquiries,"  writes  Grant,  "  as  to  what  I  should  do       '_ 

to  he  saved  embai-rassed  and  confused  liim  exceedingly  ;  and  he 
could  not  answei-  my  questions."  His  old  age  was  clouded  by 
h(iavy  pecuniary  embarrassments,  and  his  churcli  in  1787  was 
seized  l)y  tlie  Sheriff  of  Calcutta  in  behalf  of  his  creditors. 

Then  Charles  (}rant,=-  who  had  risen  rapidly  in  the  Company's 
service,  and  held  what  was  then  the  high  rank  of  Senior  Merchant, 
stepped  forward,  and,  in  conjunction  with  Mr.  William  Chambers, 
the  Company's  chief  linguist,  and  the  Eev.  David  Brown,  a  friend  Dav^d^ 
of  Charles  Simeon's,  who  had  come  out  as  chaplain  to  the  Military 
Orphan  Asvlum,  purchased  the  church,  and  having  vested  it  in 
iheir  three  names,  wrote  to  the  S.P.C.K.  in  England  to  send  out 
a  clergvman.  (irant  offering  to  pav  him  3G0/.  a  year  out  of  his  own 
])ocket.'  The  S.P.C.K.  did  (1789)  send  out  a  clergyman  named 
Clarke,  who  was  really  the  fii'st  English  missionary  sent  to  India  ; 
l)ut  as  he  did  not  turn  out  well,  and  only  held  the  post  a  few  monUis, 
lie  is  not  usually  counted.  Not  till  eight  years  afterwards  (1797) 
did  the  S.P.C.K.  succeed  in  finding  a  successor,  and  he,  like  the 
missionaries  in  the  South,  was  a  Dane  in  Lutheran  orders,  Mr. 
Kingeltaube;  but,  after  a  year  or  two,  he  joined  the  London 
I\Iissionary  Societv.t  and  the  S.P.C.K.  never  sent  a  third  man. 
INleanwIiile  David  Brown  had  resigned  his  post  at  the  Asylum  to 
take  charge  of  the  church  on  ('larke  leaving  ;  and,  except  durhig 
Kiiigeltaube"s  tenure  of  the  post,  continued  to  minister  to  a  growing 
and  intluential  English  and  Eurasian  congregation,  without  pay, 
for  twenty-three  years.]  He  was  also  appointed  a  Company's 
chaplain,  and  ministered  for  part  of  the  time  simultaneously  in  the 
official  church,  St.  John's;  and  he  constantly  attended  the 
hospital  and  the  gaol.  He  never  took  furlough.  In  the  wdiole 
period  he  was  only  once  absent,  for  a  short  trip  up  the  Ganges. 
"  In  the  religious  progress  of  the  Evu-opean  comnmnity,"  writes 
Sir  John  Kaye,j  "he  found  his  reward.  He  lived  to  see  the 
streets  opposite  to  our  churches  blocked  up  with  carriages  and 
})alanquins,  and  to  welcome  hundreds  of  communicants  to  the 
Supper  of  the  Lord.  He  lived  to  see  the  manners  and  conversa- 
tion of  those  by  whom  he  was  surrounded  purified  and  elevated  ; 
the  doctrines  of  his  Master  openly  acknowledged   in  word   and 

*  An  extremely  iutorestinp:  sketcli  of  Charles  Grant's  career,  by  Jfr.  Henry 
Morris,  lias  been"  recently  jmblislied  at  Jladris  by  the  Christian  Literature 
Society  for  India,  and  in  London  by  the  S.P.C.K.  See  aleo  Dr.  George  Smith's 
chapter  on  (irant  in  Tirrlve  Indian  St(ite--<inen. 

t  Uinfreltaabe  afterwards  be^-'i'i  the  f^reat  work  of  the  ljond<m  Missionary 
Society  in  Sonth  Travancore.  Thoiitjh  a  man  of  great  devotion,  he  was  very 
eccentric,  and  after  labouring  for  some  years  and  baptizing  many  converts, 
he  suddenlv  disappeareil  in  ISlo,  and  was  never  heard  of  again. 

I  The  ciiurch  continued  in  the  hands  of  trustees  till  1S70,  when  it  was 
handed  over  to  the  Church  Missionary  Society. 

§    Christiiinity  in  Indin,  p.  1(35. 


54  Africa  and  tnf.  East — JVArTiNC 

Part  II.   deed,  where  once  they  had  been  scouted  by  the  one  and  violated 
1786-1811.  \^y  the  other."     The  rehgious  history  of  Calcutta  during  a  quarter 
Chap^5.   ^1  ^  century  is  the  history  of  David  13rown's  life. 
Plans  of  The  three  friends,  Grant,  Chambers,  and  Brown,  together  with 

Br^wif"'^  another  Company's  official,  George  Udny,"''  formed,  in  1786,  a 
large  scheme  for  a  Bengal  Mission  under  Government  auspices, 
and  submitted  it  to  influential  persons  in  England,  as  we  shall  see 
hereafter.  Nothing  came  of  it  directly,  but  it  was  one  of  the 
causes  which  led  indirectly  to  the  establishment  of  the  Church 
Missionary  Society.  Grant,  however,  made  a  small  beginning 
himself  by  commissioning,  at  his  own  charges,  a  ship's  surgeon 
named  Thomas  to  start  a  Mission  at  a  place  called  Gomalty  ;  but 
this  scheme  failed  also. 
Gi ait's  Grant  returned  to  England  in  1790,  and  was  at  once   in  com- 

influence.  ij-,m^ication  with  William  Wilberforce  and  other  influential 
Christian  men  regarding  possible  plans  for  the  evangelization  of 
India.  He  published  an  able  and  elaborate  pamphlet  entitled 
"  Observations  on  the  State  of  Society  among  the  Asiatic  Subjects 
of  Great  Britain,"  which  is  characterized  by  Sir  John  Kaye  and 
other  good  authorities  as  one  of  the  most  statesmanlike  papers  ever 
w^ritten  upon  British  influence  in  India.  He  became  a  Director  of 
the  East  India  Company,  and  was  three  times  Chairman  of  the 
Board  ;  and  for  many  years  all  his  energies  were  thrown  into  the 
arduous  work  of  supervising  the  government  of  the  great  Depen- 
dency.    Sir  John  Kaye  thus  writes  of  him  : — 

"  The  headpiece  of  the  Company  in  Leadenhall  Street,  the  mouthpiece 
of  the  Company  in  St.  Steplieii's,  the  oracle  on  all  subjects  of  Indian 
import,  of  that  little  knot  of  warm-liearted,  earnest-minded  men  wlio  dis- 
cussed great  measures  of  linmanity  on  Clai)ham  Common,  Charles  Grant  so 
tempered  the  earnestness  of  his  spiritual  zeal  with  sound  knowledge  and 
strong  practical  sense,  that  whatever  he  said  carried  a  weighty  signifi- 
cance with  it.  Such  a  iiian  was  much  needed  at  that  time.  He  was 
needed  to  exercise  a  double  influence — an  influence  alike  over  the  minds 
of  men  of  difterent  classes  in  India,  and  of  his  colleagues  and  compatriots 
at  home." 

And   Dr.  George    Smith  sums  up  his   career  in   these    eloquent 
words:!  — 

"  In  the  seventy-seven  years  ending  1823  Charles  Grant  lived,  a  servant 
of  the  East  India  Company  in  Bengal,  and  then  Chairman  of  its  Coui't 
of  Directors ;  a  member  of  Parliament,  and  father  of  two  statesmen  as 
pure  as  himself  and  only  less  able — Lord  Glenelg  and  Sir  Robert  Grant, 
Governor  of  Bombay.  Charles  Grant  saw  and  mitigated  the  greatest 
famine  on  record,  which  swept  oft"  four  millions  of  beings  in  Bengal, 
Behar,  and  Orissa,  a  century  and  a  quarter  ago.     He  purged  the  Com- 

*  In  1893,  the  Commissioner  of  Peshawar,  a  descendant  of  Udny's,  and 
bearing  the  same  name,  held  a  drawing-room  meeting  at  his  house  at  that 
frontier  city,  which  was  addressed  by  the  Author  of  this  work  and  the  late 
Rev.  R.  W.  Stewart. 

t  In  an  article  in  Qood  Words,  September,  1891;  reproduced,  in  substance, 
in  Twelve  Indian  Statesmen,  1897. 


Africa  and  the  East — IVajt/ng  -.^ 

pany's  goveviinient  of  abuses  at  the  worst  period  of  its  history.     A  friend    Part  II. 
of  Schwartz,  tlie  great  niissionary,  ho  helped  Carey  to  Serampore,  he  sent  1786-1811. 
out  the  EvangeHcal  chaplains  through   Simeon,  he  founded  Haileybury    Chap.  o. 
College,  he  was  the  chief  agent  *  in  the  institution  of  the  Church  Mission- 
ary  and  Bible  Societies,  he  fought  for  the  freedom  of  the  African  slave 
as  wisely  as  for  the  enlightenment  of  the  caste-bound  Hindu.     He  was 
the  authority  from  whom  Wilberforce  derived  at  once  the   impulse   and 
the  knowledge  which  gained  the  first  battle  for  toleration  in  the  Hon. 
East  India  Company's  charters  of   1793  and   1813.     Above  all,  Charles 
Grant  wrote  in  1792  the  noblest  treatise  on  the  Asiatic  subjects  of  Great 
Britain,  and  the  means  of  improving  their  moral  condition,  which  the 
English  language  has  ever  yet  seen." 

It  was  in  1793  that  William  Wilberforce,  influenced  by  Grant, 
first  moved  Parliament  to  afford  facilities  for  Missions  in  India. 
The  East  India  Company's  Charter  had  to  be  renewed,  and  he 
proposed  resolutions  in  favour  of  promoting  the  moral  and  religious  0;.^^^^^;.°^ 
improvement  of  the  Natives.  These  resolutions  were  carried  in  f^rce. 
Committee  of  the  House,  but  before  the  third  reading  of  the 
Charter  Bill  the  East  India  Directors  took  alarm,  and  the  result 
was  that  Wilberforce  had  in  sorrow  to  write,  "  All  my  clauses 
were  struck  out  last  night,  and  our  territories  in  Hindostan, 
twenty  millions  of  people  included,  are  left  in  the  undisturbed 
and  peaceable  possession,  and  committed  to  the  providential 
protection,  of — Brama." 

From  that  year,  1793,  may  be  reckoned  what  has  been  well 
called  the  Dark  Period  of  twenty  years  in  the  history  of  Chris-  The  Dark 
tianity  in  India,  during  which  all  possible  discouragement  was  p^"°  • 
given  by  the  East  India  Company  to  every  eflbrt  to  spread  the 
Gospel.  It  is  significant  that,  in  that  same  year,  Lord  Macartney, 
on  his  embassy  from  Great  Britain  to  China,  made  the  following 
humiliating  declaration :  "The  English  never  attempt  to  disturb 
or  dispute  the  worship  or  tenets  of  others  ;  they  come  to  China 
wnth  no  such  views  ;  they  have  no  priests  or  chaplains  with  them, 
as  have  other  European  nations."  Chaplains,  however,  there 
were  in  India  ;  and  we  may  thank  God  for  them.  During  the 
twenty  years,  all  that  was  done  in  India,  by  the  Church  of 
England,  for  the  spread  of  the  Gospel,  was  done  by  them,  and 
especially  the  famous  "  Five  Chaplains,"  David  Brown,  Claudius 
Buchanan,  Henry  Martyn,  Daniel  Corrie,  and  Thomas  Thomason. 

It  is  a  curious  coincidence  that  this  same  date,  1793,  was 
the  date  of  Sir  John  Shore's  accession  to  the  Governor-General-  Lord^ 
ship.  For  Shore  was  a  godly  Christian,  who  made  no  secret  of  his  mo^"h. 
personal  religion,  refusing  to  transact  business  on  Sundays,  and 
getting  churches  built  at  the  civil  and  military  stations.  But 
more  than  this  he  could  not  do.  To  Wilberforce,  who  had  written 
to  him  about  Missions,  he  replied  that  the  English  in  India  would 
not  tolerate  them  :  indeed  "  they  needed  first  to  Christianize  them- 
selves."     After  four  years  he  returned  to  England,  became  Lord 

*  Rather,  "  one  of  the  chief  agents. 


56  Africa  and  the  East — JVa/t/ng 

Part  II.   Teignmouth,  joined  the  Evangelical  coterie  atClapham,  and,  when 
1786-1811.  the  Bible  Society  was  established,  was  elected  its  President. 
P"  But  meanwhile  India  continued — tvaiting. 

Thus  we  have  seen  Africa  and  India  waiting.  But  India  is 
The  rest  of  not  the  w^hole  of  "the  East."  What  of  the  rest  of  Asia?  First 
wai^ng!"  there  was  the  Turkish  Empire.  The  Levant  was  not  in  those  days 
the  scene  of  holiday  tours.  Few  Englishmen  had  ever  visited 
Syria  or  Asia  Minor.  But  the  Lands  of  the  Bible,  where  the  first 
Christian  Churches  had  been  planted,  and  in  particular  the  Holy 
Land  itself,  the  sacred  ground  on  which  the  Lord's  own  feet  had 
trod,  were  not  forgotten  by  the  few  large-hearted  souls  that  could 
look  beyond  the  bounds  of  their  own  parishes.  Those  lands, 
however,  were  practically  inaccessible.  Mohammedan  tyranny 
ruled  undisturbed.  European  Powers  had  not  yet  begun  to  inter- 
fere in  the  East.  It  was  but  a  few  years  before  that  the  Turk 
was  thundering  at  the  gates  of  Vienna.  Moreover,  in  the  closing 
decade  of  the  century,  the  Mediterranean  was  the  battle-field  of 
hostile  fleets.  So  "the  East,"  in  so  far  as  it  meant  the  Levant, 
was  still — waiting.  But  had  it  not,  all  this  while,  its  own  Chris- 
tianity? Yes,  the  ancient  Churches  of  "  the  East  "  still  lived,  and 
had,  through  the  wonderful  providence  of  God,  been  preserved 
through  twelve  centuries  of  Moslem  oppression.  But  if  alive  in 
one  sense,  they  were  dead,  or  all  but  dead,  in  another.  Not  one 
of  them  was  even  attempting  to  win  the  Mohammedan  to  Christ ; 
and,  their  presence  notwithstanding,  the  Lands  of  Islam  were  still 
waiting — waiting  for  an  aggressive  Gospel. 

So  also  was  it  with  Persia ;  so  with  Tartary ;  and  as  for  Central 
Asia,  no  one  knew  anything  of  it.  Ceylon  and  the  other  East 
Indian  possessions  of  Holland  had  had  a  dull  and  formal  Pro- 
testant Christianity  imposed  upon  them  by  their  well-meaning  but 
unspiritual  Dutch  rulers.  China,  on  the  other  hand,  was  the  scene 
of  extensive  Roman  Missions,  but  the  converts  were  scarcel}' 
distinguishable  from  the  Heathen,  and  had  only  exchanged — 
painful  though  it  is  to  state  the  actual  truth — one  idolatry  for 
another.  Moreover,  although,  in  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth 
centuries  the  Jesuits  had  contrived  to  get  into  the  country,  and  by 
their  scientific  attainments  to  maintain  a  position  there,  China,  at 
the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century,  was  closed  against  foreigners. 
Still  more  securely  was  Japan  locked  and  barred  against  all  inter- 
course with  the  outer  world.  The  great  nations  of  the  Far  East 
were  still — waiting. 

And  in  the  heavens,  the  Lord  of  all  these  Eastern  lands,  the 
Lord  of  the  whole  earth,  was — loaiting.  Nearly  eighteen  centuries 
had  passed  away  since  He  started  His  Church  on  what  should 
have  been  her  career  of  world-wide  blessing ;  and  while  the 
Church  had  corrupted  herself,  torn  herself  to  pieces  with 
internal  dissension,  and  at  last  gone  to  sleep,  the  Church's 
Lord  was  still — waiting. 


JOHN    VENN. 


REV.   THOMAS  SCOTT 


REV.    CHARLES    SIMEON. 


J^~^' 


REV.    JOHN    NEWTON. 


REV.    RICHARD   CECIL. 


John  Venn,  Rector  of  Clapham  ;  First  Chairman  of  C.M.S.  Committee. 
Ihomas  Scott,  Commentator  ;  Fir.st  Secretary  of  C.M.S. 

Charles  Simeon,  Incumbent  of  Trinitj-,  Cambridge  :  Originator  of  idea  of  CM  S 
John  Newton,  Rector  of  St.  Mary  Woolnoth.  "    ' 

Richard  Cecil,  Minister  of  St.  John's  Chapel,  Bedford  Row. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

The  Missionary  Awakening,  178G— 1709. 

The  Twelve  Events  of  1786-Charles  Simeon—Carey— The  Baptist  and 
London  Missionary  Societies — The  Eclectic  Discussions— Botany 
Bay — "  Simeon  in  earnest  " — ^Josiah  Pratt  and  John  Venn-  Why 
form  a  new  Society  ?—L. M.S.  not  desirable,  S.P.G.  not  possible. 

"  Wlien  ve  shdll  sf-c  tlicst'  thini.is  cauit'  to  ]>ass,  ];iu>w  that  it  i.-s  '/i/;//i." — 
St.  Mark  xiii.  29. 

"  WJiat  Itarr  J  now  dotn-?     Is  there  iiot  a  cau.'^e?" — 1  Snni.  xvii.  29. 

N  our  Fourth  Chapter  we  took  a  rapid  sui-vey  of  the   Part  II. 
World,  the  Country,  and  the  Church,  from  the  point  178(M«1J. 
of  view  of  the  closing  decade  of  the  Eighteenth  Cen-    ^  '"^'-  '*• 
tury.     Our  Fifth  Chapter  show^ed  us  "  Africa  and  the 
East — Waiting,"  till  the  Evangelical   Revival  should 
set  on  foot  the   forces  for  their  evangelization.     We  must   now 
trace  out  the  story  of  the  Missionary  Awakening,  and  particularly 
the  story  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society. 

The  year  1786  was  an  epoch-making   year   in    the   history    of  The  great 
Missions.     In  that  year  twelve  different  events  occurred,  many  of  year  1786. 
them  quite   unconnected   with   one    another,  but    most  of  them 
coml)ining  to  produce  tlie  Missionary  Awakening  which  led  to  the 
establishment  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  while  others  of 
tliem  were  more  or  less  connected  with  that  Awakening. 

(1)  In  1786,  William  Wilberforce  entered  into  the  peace  of  God,  J^^^^'^'; 
received  the  Lord's  Supper  for  the  first  time    on    Good   Friday, 
solemnly  resolved  "  to  live  to  God's  glory  and  his  fellow-creatures' 
good,"   and,   as  before  mentioned,   dedicated  himself,  under   the 
oak-tree  at  Keston,  to  the  task  of  abolishing  the  slave-trade. 

(2)  In  1786,  Thomas  Cku-kson's  essay  against  the  slave-trade 
was  published,  and  began  its  work  of  influencing  the  public  mind. 

(3)  In  1786,  Granville  Sharp  formulated  his  plan  for  settling 
liberated  slaves  at  Sierra  Leone. 

(4)  In  1786,  David  Brown,  the  first  of  the  "Five  Chaplains," 
landed  in  Bengal. 

(5)  In  1786,  Charles  Grant  at  Calcutta  conceived  the  idea  of  a 
great  Mission  to  India. 

(6)  In  1786,  William  Carey  proposed  at  a  Baptist  ministers' 
meeting  the  consideration  of  their  responsibility  to  the  Heathen, 
and  was  told  by  the  chairman  to  sit  down. 


;.s 


TiiK  Missionary  Awakening,    17S6 — i7qq 


Chap.  6. 


Part  II.        (7)   In  1786,  the  lirst  ship-load  of  convicts  was  sent  to  Austraha, 
1J,^S-1^^1-  and  a  chaplain  with  them. 

(8)  In  1786,  the  Eclectic  Society  discussed  Foreign  Missions  for 
the  first  time. 

(9)  In  1786  occurred  the  visit  of  Schwartz,  the  S.P.C.K. 
Lutheran  missionary  in  South  India,  to  Tinnevelly,  which  led, 
more  than  twenty  years  after,  to  the  establishment  of  the  C.M.S. 
Tinnevelly  Mission. 

(10)  In  1786,  Dr.  Coke,  the  great  Wesleyan  missionary  leader, 
made  the  first  of  his  eighteen  voyages  across  the  Atlantic  to 
carry  the  Gospel  to  the  negro  slaves  in  the  West  Indies,  an 
enterprise  afterwards  joined  in  by  the  C.M.S.  and  several  other 
societies. 

(11)  In  1786  was  passed  the  Act  of  Parliament  which  enabled 
the  Church  of  England  to  commence  its  Colonial  and  Missionai'y 
Episcopate. 

(12)  In  1786,  Dr.  Thurlow,  Bishop  of  Lincoln,  preaching  the 
annual  sermon  of  the  S.P.G.,  advocated  the  evangelization  of  India. 
"  Can  we,"  he  urged,  "  withhold  from  so  many  millions  of  rational 
beings,  unhappily  deluded  by  error  or  degraded  by  superstition, 
the  privilege  of  an  emancipation  from  their  chains  of  darkness 
and  an  admission  into  the  glorious  liberty  of  the  children  of 
God?"  And  he  appealed  to  the  East  India  Company  to  build 
churches  and  support  clergymen  for  them. 

Some  of  these  events  have  been  noticed  before.  Some  wnll 
demand  our  attention  by-and-by.  Let  us  now  take  No.  5,  with 
Nos.  4  and  12,  and  then  Nos.  6,  7,  and  8. 

It  was  a  similar  plan  to  Bishop  Thurlow's  that  Charles  Grant 
had  conceived,  as  before  mentioned.  Upon  the  Company  and  the 
Government  he  relied  for  the  propagation  of  Christianity  in 
Bengal.  He,  together  with  his  three  coadjutors  before  named, 
David  Brown,  Chambers  and  Udny,  addressed  letters  regarding 
the  great  scheme  for  a  Bengal  Mission  to  the  Archliishop  of 
Canterbury,  and  also  to  influential  members  of  Parliament.  The 
two  men  in  England,  however,  on  whom  they  relied  to  push  it 
forward  were  William  Wilberforce  and  Charles  Simeon.  Both 
were  young ;  neither  had  yet  gained  their  subsequent  unique 
influence  ;  but  with  an  instinct  in  which  we  must  see  the  guidance 
of  God,  Brown,  who  had  been  Simeon's  intimate  friend  at 
Cambridge,  and  Grant,  who  must  have  heard  of  Wilberforce's 
new  fame  as  a  religious  man,  fixed  on  the  clergyman  and  the 
layman  who,  above  all  others,  w^ere  likely  to  influence  godly 
people  in  England.  Wilberforce  has  been  already  introduced. 
Let  us  now  introduce  Simeon. 

Charles  Simeon,  on  first  entering  King's  College,  Cambridge, 
had  been  aroused  from  a  life  for  self  and  the  world  by  the 
summons  of  the  Provost  to  receive  the  Lord's  Supper ;  and  had 
found  light  for  his  perplexed  mind  and  peace  for  his  quickened 
conscience  by  reading  Bishop  T.  Wilson's  book  on  the  Sacrament. 


TifR  Af/ssrONA  RV  A  if  a  A'EJVf.vCr,    1786 — ijqq  fq 

During  his  undergraduate  days  he  had  gradually  grown  in  the  Part  II. 
Christian  life,  though  meeting  with  not  a  single  man  who  knew  ^J,^^"^^\^* 
the  doctrines  of  grace.  Just  before  his  ordination  on  his  fellow-  ^^' 
ship  in  1782,  he  had  come  across  John  Venn,'''  of  Sidney  Sussex 
College,  who  became  his  life-long  friend.  He  served  as  curate 
at  St.  Edward's  for  a  few  months,  at  once  ci'owding  the  church  by 
his  awakening  sermons,  and  then  was  appointed  by  the  Bishop  of 
Ely,  who  was  a  friend  of  his  father's,  to  Trinity  Church.  The 
parishioners,  alarmed  at  the  advent  of  a  "  Methodist,"  locked  the 
pews  and  stayed  away  from  church  ;  but  the  aisles  w^ere  soon 
thronged  by  casual  hearers.  When  he  started  an  evening  service 
— an  outrageous  novelty  in  those  days, — the  churchwardens,  to 
prevent  it,  locked  up  the  church.  For  years  Simeon  underwent 
persecution  of  all  kinds,  from  both  town  and  gown  ;  but  he  always 
said,  "  The  servant  of  the  Lord  must  not  strive  ";  and  his  quiet 
but  unconquerable  patience  gradually  won  a  complete  victory. 
This  was  the  clergyman  to  whom  Charles  Grant  and  David 
Brown  sent  from  Calcutta  their  scheme  for  a  great  official  Church 
Mission  to  India. 

The  evangelization  of  India,  however,  was,  in  God's  purposes, 
not  to  come  that  way.  It  was  the  Dutch  method  of  Missions, f 
and  it  had  been  tried  and  found  wanting.  Not  by  the  official 
action  of  Government,  but  by  the  devotion  of  an  obscure  Baptist 
cobbler,  w^as  a  Bengal  Mission  to  be  established.  Yet  the  letters 
of  Brown  and  Grant  bore  fruit.  Nearly  half  a  century  afterwards 
Simeon  endorsed  the  original  joint  letter  he  had  received  from  the 
Calcutta  friends  with  the  words,  "It  shows  how  early  God  enabled 
me  to  act  for  India,  to  provide  for  which  has  now  for  forty-two 
years  been  a  principal  and  an  incessant  object  of  my  care  and 
labour.  ...  I  used  to  call  India  my  Diocese.  Since  there  has  been 
a  Bishop,  I  modestly  call  it  my  Province."  |  If  it  were  only  for 
his  having,  at  a  time  when  godly  clergymen  were  so  soi'ely  needed 
in  the  Church  at  home,  influenced  such  men  to  go  out  as  Claudius 
Buchanan,  Henry  Marty n,  Daniel  Corrie,  and  Thomas  Thomason 
■ — the  other  four  of  the  "  five  chaplains," — India  owes  to  Charles 
Simeon  an  untold  debt  of  gratitude. 

The  obscure  Baptist  cobbler  was  of  course  William  Carey,  ^j."^^*" 
Carey  owed  his  interest  in  the  heathen  world  to  the  perusal  of 
Cook's  Voyages  ;  but  his  spiritual  fervour  he  owed,  under  God, 
to  Thomas  Scott,  afterwards  the  first  Secretary  of  the  Church 
Missionary  Society.  Long  afterwards  he  wrote,  "  If  I  know 
anything  of  the  work  of  God  in  my  soul,  I  owe  it  to  the  preaching 
of  Mr.  Scott."  It  was  in  178G  that  he  in  vain  invited  his  brethren 
to    give   attention    to    the    Lord's    last    command.      "  Sit    down, 

*  Who  had  been  excluded  from  Trinity  College  because  he  was  the  son  of 
one  of  the  "  serious"  clergy.     See  p   39. 

t  See  p.  19. 

X  This  document,  with  Simeon's  endorsement,  is  now  in  the  possession  of 
Ridley  Hall. 


Carey. 


6o  The  Missionary  Awakening^  1786 — I7q9 

Part  II.    young  man,"  said  the  chairman  of  the  meeting  ;   "  when  it  pleases 

1786-1811.  God  to  convert  the   Heathen,  He'll  do  it  without  your  help,  or 

Chap^e.   i^iiiue."     Although  his  first  attempt  to  awaken  a  missionary  spirit 

failed,  he  went  on  praying  and  studying,  learning  Latin,  Greek, 

Hebrew,  French,  and  Dutch.     In  1792   he  published  his  famous 

Enquiry  into  the  Obligations  of  Christians  to  use  Means  for  the 

Conversion  of  tJtc  Heathen.      In  the  same   year,  on    May   30th, 

he   preached  his  memorable  sermon  before  his  fellow-ministers 

at  Nottingham,  on  Isa.  liv.  2,  3,  "  Enlarge  the  place  of  thy  tent," 

&c.,  dividing   it   under    those   two    heads    which  have    been    an 

inspiration   to  the  whole  Church  of  Christ  from  that  day  to  this, 

"  (1)  Expect  great  things  from  God  ;   (2)  Attempt  great  things  for 

Baptist       God."     On  October  2nd  the  first  fruit  of  it  sprang  vip  :  the  Baptist 

^o^ig'ty"^*"^  Missionary  Society  was  formed;  and  in  the  following  year  Carey 

himself  sailed  for  India  as  its  first  missionary. 

Carey's  enterprise  also  led  to  the  formation,  in  1795,  of  the 
second  great  missionary  society  of  that  period.  Its  founders 
were  Dr.  Haweis,  Eector  of  Aldwinkle,  and  Mr.  Pentycross,  Vicar 
of  Wallingford,  together  with  some  Independent  and  Presbyterian 
ministers, — not  Baptists,  and  not  Wesleyans  ;  and  its  basis  was 
undenominational.  It  was  called  simply  The  Missionary  Society  ; 
but  as,  shortly  afterwards,  two  Scotch  associations  were  founded, 
which  were  called  respectively  the  Edinburgh  and  the  Glasgow 
London  Societies,  it  quite  naturally  came  to  be  known  as  the  London 
Socfet°y.^'^^  Missionary  Society,  and  ultimately  adopted  that  title.  Its  esta- 
lilishment  was  hailed  with  great  enthusiasm  l)y  a  wide  circle  of 
Christian  people,  which  culminated  when,  in  the  following  year, 
the  ship  Duff  sailed  with  its  first  party  of  missionaries  for  the 
South  Sea  Islands.  Although  its  constitution  has  always  remained 
unsectarian,  it  has  practically,  from  the  first,  been  the  missionary 
organization  of  the  Congregationalists.  No  society  has  had  greater 
names  on  its  roll  :  it  may  suffice  to  mention  Morrison,  John 
Williams,  Moffat,  Livingstone,  Ellis,  Mullens,  and  Gilmour. 

The  two  Scotch  societies  just  mentioned  were  founded  in  179G. 

An  attempt  in  the  same  year  to  induce  the  General  Assembly  to 

take  up  Missions  officially  was  not  successful,  despite  Dr.  Erskine's 

memorable  appeal  to  Scripture — "  Moderator,  rax  me  that  Bible  !  " 

Let  us  now  turn  to  the  Evangelical  leaders  within  the  Church 

of  England.     They  had  l)egun  to  consider  the  subject  of  Missions 

Soctety*^      some  years  before.     The  Eclectic  Society  had  been  founded  in  1783 

discus-       \^y  a  few  clergymen   and    laymen,   for  the    discussion  of   topics 

interesting  to  them.     They  met  fortnightly  in  the  vestry  of  St. 

John's  Chapel,  Bedford  Row,  of  which  Richard   Cecil  was  then 

minister.     A  missionary  subject  came  before  them  for  the  first 

time  on  November  13th  in  that  epoch-making  year,  1786,  when 

the  question  for  consideration  was,  "  What  is  the  best  method  of 

planting  and  propagating  the  Gospel  in  Botany  Bay  ?  "     "  Botany 

kir^B^tany  ^^^  "  ^^'^^^  ^oi'  wliat  wc  HOW  Ivuow  as   the  Australian  Continent, 

Bay.  and  was  a  familiar  name  to  the  readers  of  the  Voyages  of  Captain 


The  Missionary  Awakening^   1786 — 1799  61 

Cook,  by  whom  the  Ccasteni  coast  of  that  portion  of  Aiistraha  now  Tart  II. 
called  New  South  Wales  had  been  explored.     The  new  continent  1786-1811. 
had  been  chosen  by  the  British  Government  as  a  penal  settlement,    ^^^6- 
and   the   first   ship-load   of    convicts   was,    as   above-mentioned, 
despatched  to  Botany  Bay  ''•'■    in    this  same  year,  1786.     One  of 
Wilberforce's  first  efforts  for  the  good  of  his  fellow-creatures  was 
in  their  behalf.     He  and  John  Thornton  interviewed  Pitt,    and 
induced   the  young  Prime  Minister  to  send  a  chaplain  with  them 

which  circumstance  was  to  Henry  Venn  the  elder,  then  in 
his  old  age,  the  token  of  coming  blessing  for  the  distant  regions 
of  the  earth.  Throughout  the  world,  he  wrote  on  the  occasion, 
"  a  vast  multitude  whom  no  man  could  number  should  call  upon 
the  name  of  the  Lord."  Though  he,  "  stricken  in  years,"  would 
not  live  to  see  it,  he  "  would  be  well  informed  of  it  above."  "  All 
heaven,"  he  goes  on,  "  will  break  forth  in  that  song  of  praise, 
Alleluia,  for  the  Lord  God  Omnipotent  reigneth."  The  first 
chaplain  was  Eichard  Johnson  ;  t  his  assistant  and  successor, 
appointed  in  1793,  was  Samuel  Marsden,  afterwards  the  Apostle 
of  New  Zealand,  whose  heroic  labours  resulted  in  an  abundant 
fulfilment  of  Venn's  prophecy. 

In   1789,    the   Eclectic   Society   again   discussed  a  missionary 
subject,  "  What  is  the  best  method  of  propagating  the  Gospel  in  The  Gospel 
the  East  Indies  ?  "     In  the  propounding  of  this  question  we  see  *^°''^"'''*- 
the   influence   of  the  communications  received   by    Simeon  and 
Willierforce  from  Brown  and  Grant ;  but  there  is  no  record  of  the 
discussion. 

In  1791,  a  third  missionary  question  was  considered  at  an 
Eclectic  gathering,  viz.,  "  What  is  the  best  method  of  propagating 
the  Gospel  in  Africa?" — which  carries  us  back  to  two  other  The  Gosjei 
of  the  events  of  1786.  The  subject  was  no  doubt  suggested  *^°'' '^'^''''^^" 
both  by  Wilberforce's  Parliamentary  campaign  against  the  Slave 
Trade  and  by  the  then  struggling  freed-slave  settlement  at  Sierra 
Leone  ;  both  which  have  been  already  noticed.  Of  this  discussion, 
again,  no  account  has  been  preserved. 

Not  until  1796  did  the  Eclectic  brethren  again  discuss  Foreign 
Missions  ;  and  in  the  meanwhile  the  Baptist  and  London  Mis- 
sionary Societies  had  been  founded.  In  the  year  that  saw  the 
birth  of  the  latter,  1795,  Charles  Simeon  and  other  Evangelical 
Churchmen  were  discussing  at  two  clerical  meetings  at  Eauceby 
in  Lincolnshire  the  possibility  of  using  a  legacy  of  ^84000,  left  to 
the  Vicar  to  lay  out  "  in  the  service  of  true  religion,"  in  training 
young  men   for  missionary  service.     Nothing  came  of  this,- and 

*  The  name  of  Botany  Bay  long  remained  a  synonym  for  a  place  of 
pnnishraent,  but  the  Bay  itself  -was  soon  superseded  as  a  landing-place  by 
Port  Jackson,  a  few  miles  north,  now  the  magnificent  harbour  of  Svdney. 

t  A  curious  and  interesting  Memoir  of  Richard  Johnson  has  lately  been 
published,  under  the  title  of  Austr'xlm  s  First  Prencktr,  by  James  Bonwick 
(S.  Low  it  Co.,  1S98).  His  little-known  history  deserved  to  be  ferreted  out; 
but  the  author  might  have  spared  his  reflections  on  Marsden. 


b2 


The  Miss  ion  a  r  y  A  wa  kening,   i  7  8  6 —  1  7  q  9 


for  the 
World 


Part  II.  the  money  was  used,  it  is  believed,  for  a  similar  purpose  for  the 
1786-1811.  home  ministry  ;  but  the  incident  shows  that  Simeon  and  others 
Chap^e.  ^g^.g  ^Q^  forgetting  the  Lord's  Command,  though  as  yet  the  way 
in  which  they  could  do  their  part  in  fulfilling  it  had  not  appeared. 
But  on  February  8th,  1796,  Simeon  opened  a  discussion  at  an 
Eclectic  meeting  on  the  question,  "  With  what  propriety,  and  in 
what  mode,  can  a  Mission  be  attempted  to  the  Heathen  from  the 
Established  Church  ?  " 

The  very  form  of  the  question  marks  a  step  in  advance.  No 
longer  do  Botany  Bay,  or  the  East  Indies,  or  Africa,  fill  up  the 
The  Gospel  field  of  vision.  It  is  "the  Heathen"  that  are  thought  of.  The 
Evangelization  of  the  World  is  contemplated,  however  remotely. 
And  the  mention  of  "the  Estabhshed  Church"  indicates,  what 
was  the  fact,  that  while  the  brethren  gave  hearty  God-speed  to 
the  non-denominational  "  Missionary  Society "  lately  founded, 
and  some  of  them  contributed  to  it,  they  felt  nevertheless  that 
the  Church  of  England  must  have  its  own  Missions. 

Some  particulars  of  the  discussion  have  been  preserved.'''  Only 
"  two  or  three  "  out  of  the  seventeen  members  present — pre- 
sumably Simeon,  Scott,  and  Basil  Woodd — were  favourable  to  any 
definite  attempt  lieing  made.  The  majority  were  afraid  of  the 
bishops,  or  shrank  from  seeming  to  interfere  with  the  S.P.G.  and 
S.P.C.K.,  or  doubted  the  possibility  of  obtaining  men,  or  urged 
the  claims  of  the  Church  at  home.  Nevertheless,  the  "  two  or 
three"  ardent  spirits  did  not  lose  heart;  and  long  afterwards 
Basil  Woodd  wrote  across  his  MS.  notes  of  the  discussion,  "  This 
conversation  proved  the  foundation  of  the  Church  Missionary 
Society." 

Three  years,  however,  elapsed  before  action  was  taken  ;  and  we 
have  only  a  few  occasional  hints  that  the  great  subject  was  not 
forgotten.  At  Charles  Simeon's  suggestion,  the  clerical  society  at 
Eauceby,  above  mentioned,  and  the  Elland  Society,  which 
supported  young  men  of  Evangelical  principles  at  the  Universities 
with  a  view  to  holy  orders  (as  it  does  still),  were  considering 
the  question  ;  and  on  their  behalf  the  Kev.  C.  Knight,  a  leading 
member,  was  in  correspondence  with  the  Bishop  of  London.  Of 
this  correspondence  the  Minutes  of  the  Elland  Society  (still  extant) 
give  an  interesting  account  ;  but  nothing  came  of  it.  Again,  in 
the  Life,  of  Wilberforce  we  find  the  following  two  entries  in  his 
journal : — 

1797.   July  27th.  "  To  town,  and  back  to  dine  at  Henry   Thornton's, 
where  Simeon  and  Grunt  to  talk  over  Mission  scheme." 
November  9th.  "  Dined  and  slept  at  Battersea  Rise  for  mis- 
sionary meeting  ;  Simeon,  Charles  Grant,  Venn.     Something, 
but  not  much,  done.     Simeon  in  earnest." 

*  They  were  summarized  in  an  Appendix  to  the  Funeral  Sermon  preached 
by  the  younger  Henry  Yenu  (Hon.  Sec.  of  C.M.S.)  on  the  death  of  Josiah 
Pratt.  This  Appendix  is  printed  at  the  end  of  Pratt's  Life.  See  also  J.  H. 
Pratt's  Eclectic  Sfote-t. 


Simeon  in 
earnest. 


The  3fissioNARV  Aivakexing^  1786 — 1799  63 

That  dinner  at  Clapham  on  November  9th  was  more  important  in    Part  II 
the  world's  history  than  the  Lord  Mayor's  banquet  at  the  Guildhall  ^1^^'^^^} 

,,  •       ■,  .  X  Chap,  b 

the  same  evenmg  !  ^__ 

It  was  in  this  year,  1797,  that  a  young  clergyman,  lately  come 
to  London  as  curate  to  Cecil,  joined  the  Eclectic  Society.  This  josjah 
was  Josiah  Pratt,  whom  we  shall  often  meet  hereafter.  His  first  Pratt. 
religious  impressions,  as  a  youth  at  Birmingham,  had  come  through 
hearing  the  impressive  reading  of  the  Venite-''  by  Charles  Simeon, 
then  also  quite  a  young  man  ;  and  it  was  the  solemn  utterance,  by 
Thomas  Eobinson  of  Leicester,  of  the  words,  "  Let  us  pray," 
before  the  sermon,  that  led  to  his  conversion  of  heart  to  God. 
On  February  4th,  1799,  he,  the  youngest  of  the  Eclectic  brethren, 
proposed  this  question  for  discussion  :  "  How  far  may  a  Periodical 
Publication  be  made  subservient  to  the  interest  of  Keligion  ?  " 
This  discvission  bore  fruit.  It  led  to  the  starting,  two  years  later,  of 
the  Christian  Observer , which  quickly  became,  and  for  three  quarters 
of  a  century  continued,  a  valuable  organ  of  Evangelical  principles 
and  work.  Pratt  himself  was  the  first  editor,  but  was  soon 
succeeded  by  Zachary  Macaulay.  It  is  mentioned  here,  partly  to 
introduce  Pratt,  and  partly  because  his  proposal  was  immediately 
followed,  at  last,  by  a  reconsideration  of  the  subject  of  Missions. 

For  on  February  18th,  1799,  the  Eclectic  Society  once  more 
faced  the  question.  There  was,  indeed,  only  what  is  recorded  as 
"  a  general  conversation  on  the  subject  of  a  Mission  connected 
wdth  the  Evangelical  part  of  the  Church  of  England";  but  it 
issued  in  a  notice  for  a  more  regular  discussion  on  March  18th, 
when  John  Venn  himself  would  introduce  the  subject  in  the 
following  form  :  "What  methods  can  we  use  more  effectually  to  "What 
promote  the  knowledge  of  the  Gospel  among  the  Heathen '?"  ^g"."^ 
This  again  was  a  further  advance  upon  the  thesis  of  three  }ears 
before.  The  question  was  now  not  merely  "  What  ought  the 
Church  to  do  ?  "  but  "  What  can  loc  do  ?  " 

John  Venn's  wisdom  and  judgment  are  very  manifest  in  the 
summaries  of  his  address  which  have  been  preserved.!  He  laid 
down  three  principles  :  (1)  Follow  God's  leading,  and  look  for 
success  only  from  the  Spirit.  This  was  the  primitive  policy. 
"  The  nearer  we  approach  the  ancient  Church  the  better." 
(2)  Under  God,  all  will  depend  on  the  type  of  men  sent  forth.  A 
missionary  "  should  have  heaven  in  his  heart,  and  tread  the  world 
under  his  foot."  And  such  men  only  God  can  raise  up.  (3)  Begm 
on  a  small  scale.  "  Nature  follows  this  rule.  Colonies  creep 
from  small  beginnings.  Christianity  was  thus  first  propagated." 
In  applying  these  principles  Mr.  Venn  deprecated  beginning  by 
collecting  money.  Eather,  let  each  member  (1)  admonish  his 
people   to   promote  Missions,    (2)    pray  constantly  for  guidance, 

*  The  singint;  of  the  Canticles,  except  by  cathedral  choirs,  was  a  later 
Evanselical  innovation. 

+  Notes  by  both  W.  Goodc  and  Josiah  Pratt  are  printed  in  the  Appendix 
ciied  in  a  previoas  Note. 


a  new 
Society 


64  The  Missionary  Awakening^  1786 — 1799 

Part  II.   (3)   study  and  inquire  as  to  possible  future  plans,  (4)  speak   to 
1786-1811.  Christian  friends  on  the  subject.     Finally,  the  Mission  must  be 
Chap.  6.   founded  upon  "  the  Ghurch-inmciiAc,  not  the  high-CJiurch  prin- 
cijjle";  and  if  clergymen  cannot  be  found,  send  out  laymen. 

The  remarks  of  Grant,  Pratt,  Simeon,  Scott,  and  Goode  are 
also  briefly  recorded.  Simeon,  with  characteristic  directness, 
proposed  three  questions  :  ' '  What  can  we  do  ?  When  shall  we 
do  it?  How  shall  we  do  it?  "  and  answered  them  thus,  (1)  "  We 
must  stand  forth  before  the  public  "  ;  (2)  "  Not  a  moment  to  be 
lost.  We  have  been  dreaming  these  four  years,  while  all  Europe 
is  awake  "  [with  the  excitement  of  the  great  war]  ;  (3)  "  Hopeless 
to  wait  for  missionaries  ;  send  out  catechists."  Ultimately  it  was 
Must  form  resolved  to  form  a  Society  immediately.  On  April  1st,  another 
meeting  was  held  to  prepare  the  Eules  ;  and  on  Friday,  April  12th, 
1799,  the  public  meeting  took  place  which  established  the  Church 
Missionary  Society. 
But  why .'  But  why  was  the  new  Society  established  at  all  ?  Were  there 
not  Church  Societies  already  in  existence  ?  And  was  there  not 
also  a  younger  Society  which,  though  not  conducted  by  Chui'chmen 
only,  was  one  in  which  Churchmen  could  certainly,  if  they  would, 
exercise  great  influence?  The  answer  to  this  last  question  is 
found  in  John  Venn's  dictum  that  the  projected  Missions  must  be 
based  on  the  "  Church-principle."  It  may  be  doubted  whether 
even  his  foresight  could  then  perceive  that  while  simple  evangelistic 
preaching  can  be  carried  on  in  common  by  Evangelical  Christians 
divided  on  Church  questions,  the  non-denominational  method 
becomes  impracticable  when  converts  are  being  gathered  into 
communities  ;  but  if  not,  it  was  a  true  instinct  that  led  him  to 
the  conclusion.  A  Native  Christian  community  must  either  be 
linked  with  an  existing  body  or  become  a  new  independent  body 
itself.  In  the  former  case  it  cannot  help  following  some  de- 
nominational lead  ;  in  the  latter  case  it  adds  one  to  the  number  of 
distinct  bodies  that  already  divide  Christendom.  On  the  Con- 
cTret^ational  principle,  the  latter  result  is  unobjectionaJDle ;  Init 
neither  Presbyterianism  nor  Methodism  accepts  that  principle,  and 
L.M.s.  still  less  does  the  Church  of  England  do  so.  The  decision  of  the 
desirable  Evangelical  brethren,  therefore,  not  to  throw  their  energies  into 
the  new  London  Missionary  Society,  was  inevitable.  And  not 
only  inevitable.  It  was  not  because  they  could  not  help  it  that 
they  formed  a  Church  Society.  With  all  their  true  love  for  the 
ii-odly  men  outside  the  Church,  and  their  large-hearted  readiness 
to  unite  with  them  in  every  religious  and  philanthropic  enterprise  in 
which  union  did  not  compromise  principle — as,  for  instance,  in 
the  Eeligious  Tract  Society,  founded  in  that  same  year,  1799,  and 
in  the  Bible  Society,  founded  in  1804,— they  nevertheless  were 
ex  animo  loyal  members  of  the  Church  of  England.  They 
thoroughly  believed  in  Episcopacy  and  Liturgical  Worship  ;  and 
while  no  doubt,  in  common  with  Churchmen  of  all  schools  at  that 
tune,  they  set  a  higher  vahie  on  "  Establishment  "  than  men  of  any 


The  Missionary  Awakening,   1786 — lyqq  65 

school  do  now,  they  were  far  too  well  instructed  to  imagine  that   Part  ir. 
the  Church  of  England  only  dates  from  the  Reformation.     As  we  1786-1811. 
shall  see  presently,  they  looked  back  to  the  primitive  Church  for    Chap.  0. 
guidance  in  the  details  of  their  enterprise.     One  of  their  leaders, 
Josepli  INIilner,  had  but  recently  published  his  great  History  of  the 
Ciiurch  of  Christ,  in  which,  while   faithfully  setting  forth  Evan- 
gelical doctrine  as  the  life  of  the  Church,  he  showed  the  continuity 
of   the   Church    from   the  Apostolic   Age  downwards,  and  dwelt 
lovingly  on  tlie  characters  and  careers  of  the  holy  men  of  even  the 
darkest  periods  of  mediaeval  superstition. 

The  answer  to  the  other  question,  Why  did  not  the  Evangelical  s.p.c.k. 
leaders  throw  their  energies  into  the  existing  Church  Societies,  ^^^  '  '  ' 
the  S.P.C.K.  and  S.P.G.  ?  is  not  fully  seen  in  Venn's  other  dictum,  possible, 
that  the  projected  Missions  must  not  be  based  on  the  "  High- 
Church  principle."  There  is  more  behind  than  appears  on  the 
surface.  The  expression  "  High-Church  principle  "  would,  in  the 
present  day,  mean  that  missionary  work  could  only  be  effectively 
done  by  the  Church  in  her  corporate  capacity,  or  by  missionaries 
of  a  Church  holding  the  apostolical  succession.  But  it  is  doubtful 
whether  Venn  meant  that.  As  stated  in  the  previous  chapter, 
real  High  Churchmen  were  but  few  then.  The  S.P.C.K.  and 
S.P.G.  had  both  been  founded  as  voluntary  societies,  and  though 
the  latter  had  a  royal  charter,  it  would  be  the  extremest  Erastianism 
to  suggest  that  a  royal  charter  represented  ' '  the  Church  in  her 
corporate  capacity."  Moreover  the  S.P.C.K.  was  at  that  very 
time  employing  and  supporting  missionaries  in  Lutheran  orders 
in  India,  and  rejoicing  over  tlie  news  of  those  missionaries  them- 
selves ordaining  Natives  after  the  Lutheran  use.'''  More  probably 
Venn  meant  two  other  things,  viz.,  (1)  that  no  Church  enterprise 
ought  to  be  undertaken  by  individual  clergymen,  without  the 
bishops  at  their  head,  and  (2)  that  every  man  ordained  by  a  bishop 
was  ipso  facto  fit  to  be  a  missionary.  If  these  two  propositions 
constituted  what  Venn  meant  by  the  "  High-Church  principle,"  it  principles 
is  no  marvel  that  he  objected  to  it ;  for  (1)  the  question  he  pro-  '^'^'^^''^'i' 
])ounded  to  the  Eclectic  brethren  was  "  What  can  tee  do'?" — we 
individual  men  of  a  despised  school;  and  (2)  the  leading  principle 
he  laid  down  was  that  all  would  depend,  under  God,  on  the 
type  of  men  sent  out,  and  that  God  only  could  provide  the 
right  ones.  Here,  in  fact,  we  have  the  two  essential  and  un- 
changing principles  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  viz.,  (1)  It 
is  the  right  of  Christian  men  who  sympathize  with  one  another 
to  combine  for  a  common  object,  (2)  Spiritual  work  must  be  done 
by  spiritual  men. 

Apart,  however,  from  all  differences  of  opinion  on  points  like 
these,  there  was  one  suflicient  reason  for  not  working  through 
the  S.P.C.K.  and  S.P.G.  John  Venn  and  several  other  of 
his  associates  were  sul)scribers    to    both    Societies  ;    but  at   that 

*  See  the  quotation  from  an  S.P.C.K.  Report,  ante,  p.  23. 
VOL.  I.  F 


66 


The  Missionary  Awakening,   1786 — 1799 


Chap.  6, 


Part  II.  time  they  had  not  the  sHghtest  chance  of  Ijeing  permitted  to 
1786-18U.  exercise  any  influence  in  the  counsels  of  either.  Ilhistrations 
have  been  given  in  the  previous  chapter  of  the  hatred  and 
contempt  with  M'hich  the  "  feeble  folk  "  of  the  still  small  though 
increasing  body  of  "  serious  clergy  "  were  regarded  by  their  fellow- 
Churchmen.  It  is  fashionable  now  to  allow  that  they  did  good 
in  their  day  ;  but  all  they  got  then  was  the  barest  toleration. 
"  Your  fathers  killed  the  prophets,  and  ye  build  their  sepulchres." 
In  a  letter  written  some  years  afterw^ards,  Pratt  stated  that  at  this 
time  so  exclusive  a  spirit  reigned  in  the  S.P.C.K.  that  although 
he  and  his  brethren  were  subscribing  members,  any  offer  of  active 
co-operation  with  a  view  to  Missions  would  have  been  instantly 
rejected;  and  mentioned  the  fact  that  "a  most  worthy  man" 
had  been  refused  admission  to  membership  because  he  was 
recommended  by  Wilberforce  !  ''•'-  If,  therefore,  the  Evangelicals 
were  to  do  anything  at  all  for  the  evangelization  of  the  Heathen, 
they  must  act  for  themselves ;  and  this  being  so,  they  naturally 
and  rightly  determined,  under  God,  to  work  upon  their  own  lines 
and  in  accordance  wdth  their  own  principles. 

It  must  be  added  that  both  the  S.P.C.K.  and  the  S.P.G.  were 
then  at  the  lowest  point  of  energy  and  efficiency.  The  zeal  and 
earnestness  that  had  set  them  going  a  hundred  years  before  had 
almost  died  out ;  and  the  wonderful  vigour  and  resourcefulness 
that  have  given  both  of  them  world-wide  spheres  of  usefulness  in 
our  own  day  had  not  yet  been  awakened  The  S.P.C.K.  was  so  short 
of  funds  that  its  India  Missions  were  starved,  and  the  Native 
Christian  communities  were  rapidly  diminishing  ;  while  the  S.P.G. 
was  only  able  to  keep  up  its  grants  to  the  Colonies  by  means  of 
the  interest  on  its  invested  funds,  its  voluntary  income  being  then 
under  £800  a  year.f  As  we  shall  see  hereafter,  the  S.P.G.  owed 
its  revival  in  no  small  degree  to  the  Church  Missionary  Society ; 
not  merely  through  the  natural  action  of  a  healthy  emulation, 
but  through  the  direct  efforts  of  some  of  the  Evangelical  leaders. 
In  later  times,  owing  to  the  rise  of  the  Tractarians  and  their  suc- 
cessors, theological  differences  have  become  more  acute ;  and  it  is 
inevitable  that  a  Society  which,  on  its  own  legitimate  principle,  is 
as  broad  as  the  Church,  should  have  some  men  upon  its  staff 


*  See  C.  Hole,  'Early  HMory  of  CM. 8.,  p.  407.  At  a  much  later  period, 
between  1820  and  1824,  Charles  Simeon,  when  proposed  as  a  member  of  the 
S.P.C.K.,  was  "black-balled,"  and  he  was  only  admitted  siibsequently  owing 
to  the  personal  efforts  of  C.  J.  Blomfield,  afterwards  Bishop  of  London. 
(See  Christian  Observer,  July,  1863,  p.  536.)  This  was  in  the  very  midst  of 
the  period  when,  according  to  most  Church  writers,  the  Evangelicals  were 
dominant ! 

"j"  The  S.P.G.  had,  however,  a  consid(>rable  public  position.  When  Edward 
Bickersteth  was  a  lad  (probably  in  1801),  he  was  present  at  the  Anniversary 
Sermon  at  Bow  Church  in  Cheapside,  and  was  much  impressed  by  the 
equipages  of  the  Lord  Mayor  and  Sheriffs,  who  attended  in  state,  and  also  by 
the  handsome  carriages  of  the  Archbishops  of  Canterbury  and  York  and  many 
of  the  Bishops.     Life  of  E.  Bickersteth,  vol.  i.  p.  6. 


The  Mis^ionarv  Awakening^  1786 — 1799  67 

whose  views  and  methods  cannot  be  approved  by  most  supportei'S   Part  II. 
of  the  C.M.S.  ;  but  this  should  not  blind  any  of  us  to  the  magnifi-  17S6-1811. 
cent  work  which,  with  whatever  deductions,  the  S.P.G.  has  done       '"P" 
and  is  doing  all  round  the  globe. 

But  John  Venn's  address  on  that  memorable  18th  of  March, 
pei'haps  without  his  seeing  the  full  bearing  of  what  he  said,  laid 
down  other  important  missionary  principles.  (1)  "Follow  God's  John  Venn 
leading."  This  seems  a  trite  remark  ;  but  in  the  practical  conduct  pri^^ipies. 
of  missionary  enterprise  nothing  is  more  important.  It  is  one 
thing  to  lay  a  large  map  on  the  table  and  say,  "  We  will  go  here, 
and  we  will  not  go  there."  It  is  quite  another  thing  to  watch  the 
indications  of  the  Divine  will,  not  moving  till  they  are  clear,  but 
when  they  are  clear,  moving  fearlessly.  Many  illustrations  of  the 
importance  of  this  principle  will  appear  in  this  History.  (2)  "  Begin 
on  a  small  scale."  This,  again,  seems  a  trite  thing  to  say;  but 
experience  has  shown  its  value.  Very  likely  Venn  had  in  his 
mind  the  virtual  collapse  of  the  London  Missionary  Society's  first 
expedition  to  Tahiti,  attempted  on  too  grand  a  scale,  sent  forth 
with  immense  vclat,  and  furnishing  even  then  useful  lessons  on 
the  vanity  of  hvunan  plans — though  it  was  so  greatly  blessed 
afterwards.  (3)  "Put  money  in  the  second  place,  not  the  first; 
let  prayer,  study,  and  mutual  converse  precede  its  collection." 
Even  at  the  end  of  the  nineteenth  century,  we  are  only 
beginning  to  see  the  bearing  of  this  all-important  principle. 
(4)  "Depend  wholly  upon  the  Spirit  of  God."  This  seems  a 
matter  of  course ;  yet  nothing  is  more  often  forgotten.  The 
Church  is  only  slowly  learning  that  fundamental  article  of  her 
Creed,  "  I  believe  in  the  Holy  Ghost." 

The  full  significance  of  Venn's  utterances  docs  not  appear  ever  to 
have  been  pointed  out  before.  Only  fragmentary  notes  of  them 
survive,  and  these  seem  to  have  been  regarded  as  merely  of  a  mild 
historical  interest.  We  shall  see  presentlj-  that  the  Eector  of 
Clapham  was  the  author  also  of  the  Kules  of  the  new  Society,  and 
of  its  first  Account  of  itself  for  the  public.  Justly  does  the 
Society's  Jubilee  Statement  (1848)  describe  him  as  "  a  man  of  such 
wisdom  and  comprehension  of  mind  that  he  laid  down  on  that 
memorable  occasion,  before  a  small  company  of  fellow-helpers, 
those  principles  and  regulations  which  have  formed  the  basis  of 
the  Society,"  and  upon  which  its  work  has  been  carried  on  ever 
since.  Truly  the  name  of  Venn  deserves  to  l^e  held  in  honour  by  The  three 
all  its  members.  Henry  Venn  the  First  was  one  of  the  chief  ^^""^• 
leaders  in  the  Evangelical  Revival  which  necessarily  preceded 
Evangelical  Missions.  His  son  John  Venn  took  a  principal  part 
in  building  and  launching  the  new  Society.  Henry  Venn  the 
Second  was  afterwards,  for  thirty  years,  its  wise  and  indomitable 
Honorary  Secretary  and  virtual  Director, 


F  2 


CHAPTER  VII. 


Part  II. 

1786-1811, 

Chap.  7. 

April  I2th, 
1799. 


The 
"  upper 


The  New  Society  and  its  Early  Struggles. 

April  I2th,  1799 — The  Men  and  their  Plans — Waiting  for  the  Arch- 
bishop— Men,  Money,  and  Openings  wanted — The  First  Five 
Sermons — Thomas  Scott  and  Josiah  Pratt. 

"  Wlw  luith  despised  the  day  of  small  tilings  ?" — Zech.  iv.  10. 

|E  have  seen  the  principles  and  olDJects  of  the  founders  of 
the  new  Missionary  Society.  Let  us  now  take  up  the 
story  of  its  birth  and  early  years. 

It  is  Friday,  the  12th  of  April,  1799.  We  are  in  a 
first-floor  room  in  a  hotel  in  Aldersgate  Street,  the 
Castle  and  Falcon.  It  is  not  an  unfamihar  hostelry.  In  it  were 
held  the  earher  meetings  of  the  Eclectic  Society,  before  they  were 
moved  to  the  Vestry  of  St.  John's,  Bedford  Eow.  In  it  the 
London  Missionary  Society  was  founded,  four  years  before.  And 
the  three  windows  of  this  first-floor  room  on  the  right  will  still  be 
pointed  out  a  hundred  years  after  as  marking  the  birthplace  of 
the  largest  missionary  organization  in  the  world. 

In  this  "  upper  room  "  are  gathered,  on  this  12th  of  April, 
sixteen  clergymen  and  nine  laymen.*  The  Rev.  John  Venn, 
Rector  of  Clapham,  is  in  the  chair.  The  speeches  are  short  and 
business-like.  All  know  what  they  have  come  for,  and  there  is  no 
occasion  for  moving  oratory.  Four  Resolutions  are  adopted.  The 
first  puts  the  fundamental  principle  of  Missions  in  the  fewest 
possible  words  : — 

(1)  "That  it  is  a  duty  highly  incumbent  upon  every  Chris- 
tian to  endeavour  to  propagate  the  knowledge  of  the  Gospel 
among  the  Heathen." 

Not  "  the  Church,"  merely,  be  it  observed  ;  but  "  every  Chris- 
tian." Then  if  the  Church  does  not  move,  individual  Christians 
must  move.  Thus  simply  is  justified  the  establishment  of  the 
new  Society.  The  second  Resolution  justifies  it  in  regard  to 
another  point : — 

(2)  "  That  as  it  appears  from  the  printed  Reports  of  the  Societies 
for  Propagating  the  Gospel   and  for  Promoting  Christian  Know- 


*  The  list  has  often  been  given,  but  as  some  who  were  present  soon  with- 
drew from  the  infant  Society,  it  is  more  interestiro-  I0  print  the  names 
of  the  first  Committee.  Moreover,  at  this  first  meeting,  some  of  tlie  most 
ardent  leaders,  as  Simeon,'_Cecil,  Grant,  and  H.  Thornton,  were  not  present. 


The  New  Society  and  its  Early  Struggles       '    69 

lodge  that  those  respectable  societies  confine  their  labours  to  tlie  Part  II. 
British  Plantations  in  America  and  to  the  West  Indies  *  there  17H6-1811. 
seunis  to  be  still  waiitiiij,'  in  the  E.sta])li.shed  Church  a  society  for    Chap.  7. 

seudiup;  missionaries  to  the  Cmitiniiit  nf  Africa,  or  the  other  parts       

of  the  heathen  world." 

The  next  Eesolution  forms  the  Society  and  adopts  the  Eules  The  new 
subnutted:-  f„°S 

(3)  "That  the  persons  present  at  this  meetin;^'  do  form  them- 
selves into  a  Society  for  that  purpose,  and  that  the  followinj^^  rules 
be  adopted." 

(In  the  original  Minutes  the  Eules  follow.) 

Then  a  fourth  Eesolution  directs  the  first  practical  step  : — 

(4)  "  That  a  Deputation  be  sent  from  this  Society  to  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury  as  Metropolitan,  the  Bishop  of  London  as 
Diocesan,  and  the  Bishop  of  Durham  as  Chairman  of  the  ^Mission 
Couunittee  of  the  Society  for  Promoting  Christian  Knowledge, 
with  a  copy  of  the  Rules  of  the  Society  and  a  respectful  letter." 

Then  comes  the  election  of  the  officers  and  committee.  It  is  officers 
resolved  to  request  Mr.  Wilberforce  to  be  President ;  but  he  proves  mittee""^" 
to  ])e  unwilling  to  take  this  prominent  position  in  the  infancy  of 
the  Society,  and  he  therefore  becomes  a  Vice-President,  along 
with  Sir  E.  Hill,  13ait.,  M.P.,  Vicc-Admiral  Gambler,  Mr.  Charles 
Grant,  ]\lr.  Henry  Hoare,  Mr.  Edward  Parry,  and  Mr.  Samuel 
Thornton,  M.P.  The  Treasurer  appointed  is  Mr.  Henry  Thornton, 
M.P.     The  Committee  chosen  number  twenty-four,  as  follows  : — 

Rev.  W.  J.  Abdy,  Curate  of  St.  John's,  Horsleydown,  Soutliwark. 

Rev.  R.  Cecil,  Minister  of  St.  John's  Chapel,  Bedford  Row. 

Rev.  E.  Cuthbert,  Minister  of  Loug  Acre  Chapel. 

Rev.  J.  Davies,  Lectui-er  at  twt)  London  cluuches. 

Rev.  H.  Foster,  Lectiu-er  at  four  London  churches. 

Rev.  W.  Goode,  Rector  of  St.  Anne's,  Blackfriars.f 

Rev.  John  Newton,  ^.lector  of  St.  Mary  Woolnoth,  liomhard  Street. 

Rev.  Dr.  J.  W.  Peeis,  Rector  of  Morden. 

Rev.  G.  Pattrick,  Lecturer  at  two  London  churches. 

Rev.  Josiah  Pratt,  Curate  of  St.  John's,  Bedford  Row. 

Rev.  T.  Scott,  Minister  of  the  Lock  Chapel. 

Rev.  John  Venn,  Rector  of  Clapham. 

Rev.  liasil  Woodd,  Minister  of  Bentinck  Chapel,  Marylebone. 

Mr.  John  liacon,  R.A.,  Sculptor. 

Mr.  J.  Brasier,  Merchant. 

Mr.  \V.  Cardah  ,  Solicitor. 

Mr.  N.  Downe. ,  Merchant. 


•  It  has  sometimes  been  sa^gested  that  "West"  here  is  an  accidental 
slip,  and  that  "East"  was  jneant.  But  is  this  so?  The  S.P.G.  had,  even 
then,  some  little  conne.xion  with  the  West  Indies  ;  and  althous,'h  the  S.F.C.K. 
was  supporting  with  its  funds  the  Lutheran  missionaries  in  the  East  Indies, 
it  is  quite  pn.ssible  that  tlio  Hosolntiou  did  not  refer  to  what  was  not  strictly 
an  Knjilish  Mission. 

+  Properly  St.  Andrew-by-tlic- Wardrobe,  witli  which  Si.  Anne's  liad  been 
united. 


70  The  Neiv  Society  and  its  Early  Struggles 

Mr.  C.  Elliott,  Upholsterer. 

Mr.  J.  Jowett,  Skinner. 

Mr.  Ambrose  Martin,  Banker. 

Mr.  J.  Pearson,  Surgeon. 

Mr.  H.  Stokes,  Merchant. 

Mr.  E.  Venn,  Tea-broker. 

Mr.  W.  Wilson,  Silk-merchant. 

It  will  be  observed  tbat  of  the  thirteen  clergymen,  only  four 
were  beneficed.  Four  had  proprietary  chapels  licensed  by  the 
Bishop  of  London.  The  rest  were  curates  or  lecturers.  The 
"  serious  clergy  "  had  then  few  chances  of  being  appointed  to 
livings,  and  it  speaks  much  for  the  good  sense  of  the  bishops  that 
they  were  willing  to  license  the  proprietary  chapels  for  Church 
services.  As  for  the  lectureships,  they  were  usually  endowed 
offices  to  which  the  parishioners  had  the  appointment ;  and  a 
good  many  Evangelical  clergymen  found  employment  that  way. 

Among  the  lay  members,  the  most  remarkable  was  John  Bacon, 
E.A.,  the  celebrated  sculptor,'''  who,  after  executing  so  many 
elaborate  monuments,  was  commemorated,  as  directed  by  his  will, 
only  by  a  tablet  with  the  following  epitaph  : — "  What  I  was  as  an 
artist  seemed  to  me  of  some  importance  while  I  lived ;  but  what  I 
really  was  as  a  believer  in  Jesus  Christ  is  the  only  thing  of 
importance  to  me  now."  Mr.  Elliott  is  notable  as  the  father  and 
grandfather  of  distinguished  children  and  grandchildren,  among 
them  the  two  famous  Brighton  clergymen  (E.  B.  and  H.  V.  Elliott), 
the  authoresses  of  "  Just  as  I  am  "  ai'd  of  Copsleij  Annals,  and 
Sir  Charles  Elliott,  late  Lieut. -Governor  of  Bengal.  Mr.  Jowett 
was  the  father  of  the  first  Cambridge  graduate  sent  out  by  C.M.S., 
William  Jowett,  who  was  12th  Wrangler  in  1812.  Mr.  Wilson 
was  uncle  to  Daniel  Wilson,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Calcutta. 

Bacon,  Jowett,  andPattrick  died  very  shortly,  and  Cecil  resigned 
owing  to  ill-health.  Among  the  four  who  filled  their  places,  two 
should  be  mentioned,  viz.,  the  Eev.  Samuel  Crowther,  Vicar  of 
Christ  Church,  Newgate,  after  whom  was  named,  long  afterwards, 
the  rescued  slave-boy  who  became  the  first  Bishop  of  the  Niger  ; 
and  Mr.  Zachary  Macaulay,  governor  of  Sieri-a  Leone,  editor  of 
the  Christian  Observer,  and  father  of  the  historian. 

It  will  be  observed  that — of  all  men  ! — Simeon's  name  was  not 
on  the  list.  This  was  because,  in  those  days  of  slow  travelling,  it  was 
essential  that  the  Committee  should  consist  of  London  men.  But 
soon  afterwards  twenty-six  country  members  were  elected  in  ad- 
dition, among  whom,  besides  Simeon,  were  Biddulph  and  Vaughan 
of  Bristol,  Dikes  of  Hull,  Fawcett  of  "Carlisle,!  Melville  Home  of 
Macclesfield,  Robinson  of  Leicester,  and  Richardson  of  York,  all 
men  of  mark  and  influence. 

*  Bacon  presented  a  silver  teapot  to  the  Eclectic  Society  for  i..se  at  its 
meetings  ;  which  teapot  is  still  preserved  in  the  Chnrch  Missionary  Hoi.'se. 

t  Mr.  Fawcett  was  the  only  one  of  the  founders  who  lived  to  be  present  at 
the  Jubilee. 


The  New  Society  and  its  Early  Struggles  71 

What  was  the  name  of   the  new  Society?     The   Resolutions   Part  II. 
passed  at  the  meeting  did  not  give  it  a  name  ;  nor  did  the  original  -^J,^^''"'^^J- 
Rules.     But  six  weeks  afterwards  a  second  General  Meeting  was        ^^^"  '* 
held,  at  which  the  Rules  were  revised,   and  the   name  settled,  The  new 
"  The  Society  for  Missions  to  Africa  and  the  East."     But  this  ^^^^^^'^ 
title  never  came  into  practical  use.     For  some  years  the  words 
"The  Missions   Society,"  or  "The  Society  for  Missions,"  were 
colloquially    used.      Gradually    people   began   to   add   the   word 
"  Church,"  to  distinguish  the  Society  from  others  ;  but  not  until 
1812  was  the  present  full  title  formally  adopted,  "  The  Church 
Missionary  Society  for  Africa  and  the  East." 

It  is  not  necessary  here  to  give  the  original  Rules.  Suflice  it  to  The  Rules, 
say  that  they  made  (as  at  present)  every  subscriber  of  a  guinea  (or,  if 
a  clergyman,  half  a  guinea)  a  member;  that  they  provided  for  the 
appointment  of  a  General  Committee  of  twenty-four,  one-half  of 
whom  wore  to  be  clergymen  (the  rule  making  all  su])scril)ing  clergy- 
men members  of  the  Committee  not  being  added  till  1812) ;  also  a 
Committee  of  Correspondence  to  obtain,  ti'ain,  and  superintend 
the  missionaries ;  and  that  they  directed  that  the  acceptance  of 
missionary  candidates  should  be  voted  on  by  ballot.  The  present 
Law  XXXI. ,  "A  friendly  intercourse  shall  be  maintained  with 
other  Protestant  Societies  engaged  in  the  same  benevolent  design 
of  propagating  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,"  was  No.  XX.  ;  and  the 
concluding  Rule,  connnending  the  Society  to  the  prayers  of  its 
friends,  was  the  same  as  the  last  Law  now.  There  was  no 
provision  for  the  appointment  of  Patrons,  or  of  Secretaries. 
Thomas  Scott,  who  became  the  first  Secretary,  was  appointed  by 
the  Committee. 

The  next  thing  was  to  prepare  a  statement  for  publication  ;  and  The  Pro- 
John  Venn  drew  up  a  paper  entitled  A)i  Account  of  a  Society  for 
Missions  to  Africa  and  the  East.-'  This  paper  has  one  singular 
feature.  It  contains  no  reference  to  what  is,  after  all,  the  one 
great  reason  and  motive  for  ^Missions,  viz.,  the  solemn  Commission 
given  by  our  Lord  to  His  Church,  and  binding  upon  every 
member.  But  it  dwells  impressively  on  the  blessings  of  the 
Gospel,  and  the  world's  need  of  them ;  and  it  touchingly  refers  to 
the  condition  of  Euro2)e  at  the  time,  expressing  the  hope  "that 
since  God  had  so  signally  defended  this  Island  with  His  mercy  as 
with  a  shield.  His  gracious  hand,  to  which,  amidst  the  wreck  of 
nations,  our  safety  had  been  owing,"  would  be  "  acknowledged, 
and  His  goodness  gratefully  recorded,  even  in  distant  lands."  It 
refers  to  the  S.P.C.K.  and  S.P.G.,  notes  the  work  they  were  doing, 
and  shows  the  openings  left  by  them  for  a  fresh  organization, 
explaining  that  the  words  in  the  title,  "  for  Africa  and  tlie  East," 
indicate  that  the  new  Society  would  not  interfere  with  the  S.P.G., 
whose  principal  field  was  North  America.  It  also  lays  down 
clearly  the  principle  of  "  Spiritual  men  for  spiritual  work,"  stating 

*  One  copy  of  the  original  Acccnnt  is  preserved  at  tlieC.M.  House.     It  was 
reproduced  in  fac-simile,  and  republished,  in  188fj. 


72  The  New  Society  and  its  Early  Struggles 

Part  II.  that  it  would  be  the  Committee's  aim  to  recommend  such  men 
"^Cht"^^?^'  °^^^  ^^  "have  themselves  experienced  the  benefits  of  the  Gospel, 
^'^^'  ■  and  therefore  earnestly  desire  to  make  known  to  their  perishing 
fellow-sinners  the  grace  and  power  of  a  Eedeemer,  and  the 
inestimable  blessings  of  His  salvation."  It  also  has  some  remark- 
able paragraphs  on  the  proposed  appointment  of  "  catechists,"  or 
as  we  sliould  now  call  them,  lay  evangelists.  It  is  explained  that 
men  not  fitted  by  education  for  English  ordination  might  yet  prove 
good  missionaries  to  "  savages  rude  and  illiterate,"  and  it  appeals 
(with  references  to  Hooker  and  Bingham)  to  the  usage  of  the 
primitive  Church  for  authority  to  use  such  men  as  "  catechists." 
Lay  missionaries  do  not  need  any  apology  in  the  present  day ;  but 
at  that  time  the  proposal  was  a  bold  one,  and,  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
such  serious  objections  were  urged  against  it  by  some  of  the 
Evangelical  leaders  themselves,  including  even  John  Newton  and 
an  ultra-Calvinist  like  Dr.  Hawker  of  Plymouth,  that  it  had  soon 
to  be  dropped  altogether  ;  and  in  the  Account  as  printed  with  the 
First  Annual  Eeport  some  of  these  paragraphs  have  disappeared. 
So  strict  were  the  ecclesiastical  principles  of  men  whom  some 
regarded  as  scarcely  Churchmen  at  all. 
blr'f^ce"  ^  deputation,  to  consist  of  Wilberforce,  Grant,  and  Venn,  was 
and  the  uow  appointed  to  wait  upon  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  and  to 
bishVp.  present  to  him  the  Account  and  the  Eules,  together  with  a  letter, 
signed  by  Venn  as  chairman  of  the  Committee.  It  does  not 
appear  that  the  deputation  was  ever  received  by  the  Archbishop, 
though  the  letter  and  papers  were  sent  to  him.  His  communica- 
tions seem  to  have  been  with  Wilberforce  only.  The  letter  did 
not  ask  for  patronage,  nor  even  for  permission  to  go  forward.  It 
only  stated  that  the  Committee  "humbly  trusted  that  his  Grace 
would  be  pleased  favourably  to  regard  their  attempt  to  extend  the 
benefits  of  Christianity,  an  attempt  peculiarly  necessary  at  a 
period  in  which  the  most  zealous  and  systematic  efforts  had  been 
made  to  eradicate  the  Christian  faith."  It  was  dated  July  1st, 
but  not  until  the  end  of  August  did  Wilberforce  succeed  in  seeing 
the  Archbishop,  whom  he  reported  as  "  appearing  to  be  favourably 
disposed,"  but  "  cautious  not  to  commit  himself."  But  the  other 
bishops  had  to  be  consulted,  and  in  those  days  such  a  consultation 
was  not  easily  managed  ;  and  not  until  nearly  a  year  afterwards, 
on  July  24th,  1800,  was  Wilberforce  able  to  communicate  the 
result  to  the  Committee.     He  wrote  : — 

"  I  have  had  an  interview  with  the  Archbishop,  who  has  spoken  in 
very  obliging  terms,  and  expressed  himself  concerning  your  Society  in 
as  favourable  a  way  as  could  be  well  expected.  I  will  tell  you  more  at 
large  when  we  meet,  what  passed  between  us.  Meanwhile,  I  will  just 
state  that  his  Grace  regretted  that  he  could  not  with  propriety  at  once 
express  his  full  concurrence  and  approbation  of  an  endeavour  in  behalf 
of  an  object  he  had  deeply  at  heart.  He  acquiesced  in  the  hope  I 
expressed,  that  the  Society  might  go  forward,  being  assured  he  would 
look  on  the  proceedings  with  candour,  and  that  it  would  give  him 
pleasure  to  find  them  such  as  he  could  approve." 


The  New  Society  and  its  Early  Struggles  73 

What  Wilbcrforce  did  tell  Venn  further  when  they  met  seems   Part  ir. 
only  traceable   in  a  speech  and  a   letter   of   Pratt's  some  years  l7H(j-i«ii. 
later.     The  Archbishop  and  the  Bishop  of  London,   said   Pratt,    ^^'^P-  7. 
"  encouraged  us  to   proceed,   and  promised  to   regard   our   pro- 
ceedings    with    kindness,    and    to    afford    us    countenance    and 
protection    when    our    proceedings    should    have    attained    such 
maturity  as  to  commend  themselves  to  their  approbation." 

Meanwhile,  during  the  waiting-time,  the  Committee  had  been  Committee 
meeting  regularly,  in  Mr.  Goode's  study  at  St.  Anne's  Eectory  on  ""^^^'^s^- 
St.  Andrew's  Hill.  Indeed  that  study  remained  their  meeting- 
place  for  twelve  years,  a  fact  afterwards  commemorated  by  a 
tablet  on  the  chimney-piece,  which  may  be  seen  there  to  this 
day.-  But,  pending  the  Archbishop's  reply,  the  members  had 
little  business  to  transact.  They  corresponded  with  friends  in  the 
country ;  they  formed  the  nucleus  of  a  library ;  and  in  their 
private  capacity  they  subscribed  one  hundred  guineas  for  the 
London  INIissionary  Society  as  a  mark  of  symixithy  when  its 
missionary  ship  the  Dtiffwds  captured  by  the  French. 

When  at  length  the  Archbishop's  reply  througli  Will)erforce 
was  received,  the  Committee  met  to  consider  it.  Some  members 
thought  the  encouragement  it  gave  too  slight  to  proceed  upon, 
but  Venn  and  Scott  took  a  more  hopeful  and  courageous 
view,  and  ultimately  the  decisive  resolution  was  adopted,  "That 
in  consequence  of  the  answer  from  the  Metropolitan,  the  Com- 
mittee do  noiv  proceed  in  their  great  design  with  all  the  activitij 
p)ossible."  I 

Three  requisites  for  the  Society's  work  had  now  to  be  sought  j[]y^<=. 
for,  viz.,  men,  money,  and  openings  for  Missions.  As  regards  "a)^Men, 
men,  sympathizing  clergymen  in  all  jsarts  of  England  were 
written  to,  but  not  one  gave  much  hope  of  likely  candidates.  Mr. 
Jones  of  Creaton  knew  of  one  young  shopman,  "  a  staunch 
episcopalian,  somewhat  contemptuous  of  Dissenters,  and  aiming  at 
ordination,"  and  doubted  if  he  would  do.  Mr.  Fawcett  of  Carlisle 
knew  two  "  apparently  suited,"  but  "  could  it  be  right  to  break  the 
hearts  of  their  mothers?"  Mr.  Dikes  of  Hull  knew  no  one. 
Mr.  Powley  of  Dewsbury  knew  no  one.  Mr.  Vaughan  of  Bristol 
knew    no   one.      Dr.    Hawker    of    Plymouth    protested    against 

*  A  photoj^rapli  of  ilio  room,  sliowiiig  tlic  tahlet,  hangs  in  tlio  CM.  House  ; 
and  a  reproduction  of  it  will  be  found  at  page  SO. 

t  There  was  also  an  answer  from  the  S.P.C.K.  The  Minutes  of  that 
Society  for  November  4tli,  1800,  include  tlio  following  entry  : — "  Head  a 
letter  from  the  Rev.  Tlios.  Scott,  Secretary  to  a  '  Society  for  Mis.sions  to 
Africa  and  tlie  East,'  dated  the  3rd  inst.,  which  had  accompanied  a  present 
to  the  Poard  of  fifty  co])ios  of  an  account  of  tliat  Society,  and  in  which  he 
expressed  a  ho]io  that  tlieir  additional  institution  will  be  considered  as  a 
sincere  though  fcel)le  coadjutor,  in  tlie  great  and  arduous  attempt  of  pro- 
moting Christianity  through  the  nations  of  tlie  Earth,  and  will  accordingly 
be  htoked  upon  by  this  Society  with  a  favourable  eye.  Agreed  that  the 
thanks  of  this  Society  be  returned  to  that  Society  for  this  mark  of  their 
attention." 


74         The  New  Society  and  its    Early  Struggles 

Part  II.   sending  out  laymen  at  all  even  if  they  could  be  found.     Simeon 

1786-1811.  had  sounded  the  "  serious  men  "  at  Cambridge,  but  was  sorry  to 
Ghap^7.  gg^y  ihdX  not  one  responded  with  "  Here  am  I,  send  me,"  and 
added,  "  I  see  more  and  more  TF/io  it  is  that  must  thrust  out 
labourers  into  His  harvest." 

(i)  Money,  Money,  naturally,  was  not  much  wanted  until  men  had  been 
found  ;  but  the  first  two  donations  were  given  at  the  very  first 
meeting,  £100  each  from  Mr.  Ambrose  Martin,  the  banker,  and  Mr. 
Wolff,  the  Danish  Consul-General.  The  first  published  contribu- 
tion list,  which  is  for  two  years,  comprises  also  donations  of  £50 
from  "Wilberforce  and  three  Thorntons,  and  various  other  dona- 
tions and  subscriptions,  amounting  to  £912  altogether :  against 
which  the  only  expenditure  was  £95  for  printing.  Several  of  the 
country  clergy  wrote  that  the  distress  was  so  great,  owing  to  the 
war  and  bad  harvests,  that  no  money  could  be  spared  from  the 
relief  of  the  starving.  "High  prices,  taxes,  and  the  condition  of 
the  poor,"  wrote  Vaughan  of  Bristol,  "bring  extraordinary 
demands  on  every  one." 

(r)  Fields  Meanwhile  the  third  requisite  for  missionary  work,  openings, 
was  engaging  the  careful  attention  of  the  Committee.  West 
Africa,  as  already  mentioned,  was  prominent  in  their  thoughts  ; 
but  other  fields  were  considered,  including  Ceylon,  China,  Tartary, 
and  Persia,  and  the  great  Arabic-speaking  peoples  of  the  Bast. 
Suggestions  were  also  made  by  friends  that  the  Society  might 
undertake  the  enlightenment  of  the  Greek  Church,  and  that  it 
might  ransom  Circassian  slaves  in  the  Eussian  territories  near  the 
Caspian  Sea,  with  a  view  to  teaching  them  Christianity ;  but  the 
Committee  did  not  take  kindly  to  either  of  these  proposals. 
Meanwhile,  in  the  absence  of  missionaries,  they  fell  back  upon 
the  printing-press  as  an  agent  of  evangelization  ;  and  the  earliest 
practical  steps  taken  after  the  receipt  of  the  Archbishop's  com- 
munication were  in  that  direction.  Plans  were  formed  for  the 
preparation  of  a  version  of  the  New  Testament  in  Persian  ;  and 
of  a  grammar  and  vocabulary  and  simple  tracts,  in  the  Susoo 
language  ;  and  a  grant  was  made  to  the  Professor  of  Arabic  at 
Cambridge,  Mr.  Carlyle,  to  assist  him  in  producing  the  Scriptures 
in  that  language.  An  interesting  memorandum  by  him  on  the 
subject  is  appended  to  the  Society's  first  Annual  Eeport.  So  also 
are  copious  extracts  from  a  pamphlet  on  the  possibility  of  pro- 
ducing the  Scriptures  in  Chinese,  which  had  been  written  by  a 
dissenting  minister  named  Moseley.  This  pamphlet  called  atten- 
tion to  a  manuscript,  containing  portions  of  the  New  Testament 
in  Chinese,  which  had  lain  unnoticed  for  sixty  years  in  the 
British  Museum.  The  prosecution  of  this  work  was  soon  after- 
wards handed  over  by  the  infant  Society  to  the  S.P.C.K.  ;  the 
Committee  "being  confident  that  in  consequence  of  the  superior 
funds  of  that  Society,  and  the  rank,  talents,  and  influence  of  many 
of  its  members,"  the  scheme  might  by  them  "  be  more  completely 
carried  into  execution."     The  S.P.C.K.,  however,  soon  afterwards 


The  New  Society  and  its  Early  Struggles  75 

resigned  the  work  into  the  hands  of  a  still  younger  organization,  Part  II. 
which  at  this  time  was  not  yet   founded,  viz.,  the  British  a-'^d  n86-18n. 
Foreign  Bible  Society.  1 

We  now  come  to  the  Society's  first  Anniversary.  This  was  two  Mistake  of 
years  after  its  foundation  ;  for  pending  the  Archbishop's  reply,  °^^^- 
no  public  demonstration  could  be  made.  A  curious  consequence 
ensued.  The  first  Anniversary  being  in  1801,  and  the  second  in 
1802,  and  the  tenth  in  1810,  and  so  on,  a  general  impression  came 
to  prevail  that  the  Society  was  one  year  old  in  1801,  two  years  old 
in  1802,  ten  years  old  in  1810,  and  so  on,  and  therefore  that  the 
date  of  its  foundation  was  1800.  This  mistaken  idea  was  actually 
perpetuated  for  many  years  in  official  documents ;  and  the  earliest 
reference  to  the  true  date  that  Mr.  Hole  has  been  able  to  find 
occurs  in  the  appendix  to  Mr.  Venn's  funeral  sermon  on  Josiah 
Pratt  in  1844.  Not  till  the  period  of  the  Jubilee  did  the  title-page 
of  the  Annual  Eeport  give  the  fact  correctly. 

The  early  Anniversaries  were  different  indeed  in  character  from  The  early 
those  of  later  years.  The  Sermon  was  the  principal  thing  ;  the  sa"res?'^' 
Meeting  was  quite  secondary,  so  far  as  public  interest  was 
concerned.  Almost  from  the  first,  it  was  de  rujueur  for  men 
and  women  from  the  few  Evangelical  congregations  in  London 
to  hear  the  Sermon,  which  was  preached  in  the  forenoon.  The 
Meeting  immediately  followed  it,  and  consisted  of  the  members  of 
Committee  and  a  few  other  subscribing  members  ;  all  the  names 
being  duly  entered  in  the  Society's  minute-book.  Men  only 
attended,  just  as  they  only  would  attend  a  political  or  commercial 
meeting  ;  and  the  presence  of  ladies  was  not  expected. -•=  In  fact, 
the  purpose  of  the  INIeeting  was  simply  that  the  members  might 
formally  adopt  the  Eeport,  pass  the  accounts,  and  elect  the 
committee  and  officers  for  the  ensuing  year.  Great  speeches  on 
these  occasions  were  yet  in  the  future.  There  being  for  the  first 
twelve  years  no  President,  a  Vice-President  or  member  of  Com- 
mittee took  the  chair.  At  the  first  Anniversary,  John  Venn 
presided  ;  after  that,  it  was  always  a  layman.  There  was  no 
collection  ;  nor  was  there  after  the  Sermon  on  the  first  three 
occasions.  At  subsequent  Sermons  the  contributions  much 
exceeded  the  usual  amount  at  the  present  day.  This  is  easily 
accounted  for.  There  were  as  yet  no  Local  Associations,  and 
therefore  contributors  naturally  put  into  the  church  plates 
offerings  which  would  now  be  paid  to  local  treasurers.  For  the 
first  dozen  years  (after  collections  began)  the  amount  averaged 
nearlv  £300. 

There  is  much    tliat   is   deeply  interesting   about   these   early 

*  It  was  thought  quite  improper  for  hulics  to  attend  public  meeticga 
Some  years  hxter  than  this,  a  Bishop  was  publicly  rebuked  by  a  Baron  of  the 
Exchequer  for  bringing  in  his  own  wife  upon  his  arm  ;  and  even  so  late  as  wl'f-n 
Blomfield  was  Bishop  of  Chester,  a  few  ladies  who  were  admitted  to  an 
S.P.(t.  meeting  in  that  diocese  were  carefully  concealed  behind  the  organ! 
See  Christian  Observer,  January,  1861,  p.  40. 


76  The  New  Society  and  its  Early  Struggles 

Part  II.    Sermons.     The  venerable  John   Newton  was  invited   to   preach 
1786-lSll.  the  first,  in   1801  (two  years  after  the  Society's  birth,  as  above 
Chap^7.   exj)lained) .     After  some  hesitation,  owing  to  his  doubts  about  the 
scheme  for  employing  catechists,   he  consented ;    but    ill-health 
prevented  his  fulfilling  his  promise,  and,  a  few  days  before  the 
time,   the  Committee   had   to   request   their    Secretary,    Thomas 
Whit  Scott,  to  preach.     The  day  appointed  was  Whit  Tuesday,  May 

Tuesday,  26th,  and  the  church  St.  Anne's,  Blackfriars,  Mr.  Goode's.  The 
weather  was  unfavourable,  and  only  some  four  hundred  persons 
assembled.  That  does  not  seem  a  failure,  at  eleven  o'clock  on  a 
week-day,  considering  the  obscurity  of  the  infant  Society  ;  but 
Scott  no  doubt  thought  the  congregations  of  St.  John's,  Bedford 
Row,  and  Bentinck  Chapel,  and  the  Lock  Chapel,  and  Clapham 
Church,  and  the  half-dozen  others  likely  to  sympathize,  would 
have  sent  larger  contingents ;  and  Mrs.  Scott  wrote  to  her  son  at 
Hull,  "  We  did  expect  a  crowded  church  on  this  most  important 
occaision  ;  but  alas  !  our  hopes  were  damped."  In  subsequent 
years  the  "  crowded  church  "  became  a  fact ;  and  from  those  days 
to  the  present,  the  C.M.S.  Annual  Sermon  has  never  lost  its 
attractiveness.  To  preach  it  was  once  called  by  the  late  Bishop 
Thorold  "  the  blue  riband  of  Evangelical  Churchmanship  " ;  '■'  and 
certainly  the  list  of  the  preachers  is  a  list  of  the  most  eminent  of 
Evangelical  clergymen  during  the  whole  century. 
The  first  The  first  fivc  preachers  were  Scott,  Simeon,  Cecil,  Biddulph  of 
preachers.  Bristol,  and  John  Venn  ;  and  it  is  interesting  to  read  and  compare 
their  sermons.  Scott's,  in  the  judgment  of  the  present  writer,  is 
incomparably  the  best.  It  is  long,  comprehensive,  and  admirable 
every  way.  Simeon's  is  very  short,  less  than  one-third  the  length 
of  Scott's,  and  much  simpler,  but  full  of  fervour.  Cecil's  is  in- 
cisive and  epigrammatic,  but  scarcely  bears  out  his  reputation  as 
"  the  one  Evangelical  genius."  Biddulph's  is  plainer,  but  has 
impressive  passages.  John  Venn's  is  more  like  the  average 
sermon  of  the  day  than  any  of  the  others,  the  first  half  of  it  being 
of  the  moral  essay  type ;  but  it  is  valuable  nevertheless.  There 
are  features  common  to  all.  In  not  one  of  them  is  the  Lord's 
Last  Command  prominent.  The  leading  thought  usually  is  the 
wickedness  and  misery  of  Heathendom  ;  and  the  motive  chiefly 
T.  Scott's  appealed  to  is  that  of  pity.  Scott's  text  is  Eph.  ii.  12,  "  Having 
Sermon.  ^^  hope,  and  without  God  in  the  world."  He  reviews  the  cruelty 
and  licentiousness  of  ancient  Paganism,  quoting  Terence  and 
other  classical  authors  in  illustration,  and  affirms  that  African  and 
Asiatic  Heathenism  is  no  better.  He  refers,  as  do  most  of  the 
early  preachers,  to  the  question  of  the  future  state  of  the  Heathen 
who  have  not  heard  the  Gospel — a  subject  that  frequently  came 
up  at  the  Eclectic  meetings.  Generally  speaking,  the  preachers 
do  not  dogmatize  on  the  point ;  but  they  urge  that  as  we  certainly 
have  no  positive  knowledge  that  the  Heathen  are  saved,  it  is  our 

*  And  by  Arclibisliop  Magee,  when  Dean  of  Cork.     See  Chapter  LIIL 


The  New  Society  and  its  Early  Struggles  77 

plain  duty  to  try  to  save  them.  Scott  deals  in  a  masterly  way  Part  II. 
with  the  charge  of  "  uncharitahleness  "  urged  against  those  who  17«6-I8il. 
feared  they  might  be  lost.  Ciiap^?. 

"  Our  opinions,"  lie  says,  "  concerning  the  eternal  condition  of  our 
fellow-men  will  not  alter  that  condition,  whether  we  f,froundlessly  pre- 
sume that  they  are  safe,  or  needlessly  tremble  lest  they  should  perish 
everlastingly."  "  Either  they  are  perishing,  or  tlusy  are  not :  and  it  is 
very  strange  that  lore  should  in  this  instance  lead  men  to  that  very 
conduct  which,  if  adopted  hy  a  parent  towards  a  child  even  supposed  to 
oe  in  danger,  would  he  ascriVjed  to  brutal  selfishness  and  want  of  natural 
aflectitni  ! — and  that  malevolence  should  dictate  those  anxious  fears  and 
expensive  self-denying  exertions  which,  in  any  case  affecting  the  health 
or  temporal  safety  of  others,  would  he  looked  upon  as  indubitable  proofs 
of  strong  affection  and  tender  solicitude  !  " 

Continuing,  he  asks  whether  our  Lord  w^as  lacking  in  "charity  " 
when  He  wept  over  Jerusalem,  and  whether  the  opposite  conduct 
would  have  been  "  benevolence  "  ;  and  he  observes  that,  after  all, 
it  is  those  Christians  that  are  "uncharitable"  who  do  the  most, 
not  only  to  spread  the  Gospel,  but  to  relieve  temporal  distress. 
When  Scott  comes  to  the  practical  part  of  the  sermon,  he  is 
certainly  less  "  straight  "  (to  use  a  modern  phrase)  than  mis- 
sionary advocates  would  be  now.  Considering  that  no  one  had 
yet  offered  to  go  as  a  missionary,  nor  that  any  likely  person  had 
been  heard  of,  his  caution  in  disclaiming  any  desire  to  excite 
"disproportionate  and  romantic  zeal"  seems  rather  needless. 
He  does  quote  Christ's  command,  and  says  that  "  no  doubt  "  it 
was  still  in  force ;  but  this  point  is  timidly  set  forth.  Instead  of 
summoning  Christians  to  evangelize  the  world,  he  only  suggests 
that  "  something  "  should  be  attempted.  And  he  is  careful — 
rightly  careful,  and  yet,  at  that  time,  perhaps  unnecessardy 
careful — to  assure  his  hearers  that  faithful  pastors  at  home, 
"  prudent  and  active  men  "  who  form  and  direct  missionary  plans, 
business  men  who  contribute  money,  and  those  that  use  their 
influence  and  reputation  to  "  patronize  and  protect  their  designs 
against  the  opposition  of  worldly  men,"  "  are  all  serving  the 
common  cause";  "nor  would  it  be  advisable  to  remove  them 
from  their  several  stations,  even  to  employ  them  as  missionaries." 
Still,  he  appeals  earnestly  for  help  in  some  form.  "  Let  us,"  he 
urges,  "not  merely  inquire  what  we  are  hound  to  do,  but  what 
we  can  do."  Then  he  reviews  the  obstacles  that  will  be  en- 
countered, and  illustrates  the  power  of  the  Spirit  to  do  what  man 
cannot  do  by  referring  to  "  the  impediments  to  cultivation  from 
snow  and  frost,"  which  are  "insuperable  by  all  the  power  of 
man,"  but  wdiich  are  effectually  removed  "when  the  Almighty 
Ruler  of  the  seasons  sends  the  warm  south  wind,  wdth  the  beams 
of  the  vernal  sun."  He  then  proceeds  to  argue  that  several 
societies  are  better  than  one,  but  that  they  should  work  in 
harmony  ;  that  those  who  object  that  home  work  is  more  urgent 
are  not  "  the  most  zealous  in  bringing  sinners  to  repentance  and 


7S  The  New  Society  and  its  Early  Struggles 

Part  II.   faith  in  their  own  neighbourhood";    and  that  zeal  for  the  con- 

1786-1811.  version  of  the  Heathen  will  certainly  kindle  increased  zeal  for 
\^^  ■   souls  at  home. 

Simeon's.  Simeon's  text  was  Phil.  ii.  5-8,  "  Let  this  mind  be  in  you,  which 
w\as  also  in  Christ  Jesus,"  &c.;  and  his  main  point  is  seen  in  this 
question,  "  What  would  have  been  the  state  of  the  whole  world, 
if  the  same  mind  had  been  in  Christ  that  is  in  us  ?  " 

Cecil's.  Cecil  took   Isa.   xl.   3,  "  Prepare  ye  the  way  of  the  Lord,"  and 

divided  his  sermon  thus  :  the  Moral  state  of  the  Heathen,  the 
Means  of  their  recovery,  and  the  Motives  to  attempt  it.  It  con- 
tains some  very  striking  passages.  For  instance,  referring  to  the 
need  of  care  lest  "specious  but  unsound  characters"  should  go 
out  into  the  Mission-field,  he  says  that  though  "such  carnal 
Gospellers"  may  take  upon  themselves,  like  some  at  Ephesus,  to 
exorcise  the  evil  spirits  that  possess  the  Heathen,  the  evil  spirits 
will  probably  reply,  "Jesus  I  know,  and  Paul  I  know,  but  who 
are  ye?  "■ — and  they  will  "  return  from  their  rash  attempt  '  naked 
and  wounded.'  "  So  again,  "  while  the  Sons  of  Earth,  the  slave- 
traders  particularly,  entail  an  odium  upon  the  veiy  name  of 
Christianity,"  and  "the  Sons  of  Hell  are  endeavouring,  and  that 
wdth  horrid  strides  of  late  [alluding  obviously  to  the  infidel 
measures  of  the  French  Eevolution]  to  root  out  the  very  remem- 
brance of  it  from  the  earth,"  "  may  we,"  he  says,  "  as  the  Sons  of 
God,  '  in  the  midst  of  a  crooked  and  perverse  generation,'  '  shine 
as  lights  in  the  world.'  "  Once  more  :  If  any  ask.  What  have  we 
to  do  wnth  the  rehgion  of  other  nations  ?  he  rephes, — 

"  Suppose  the  Heathen  milUons  to  be  sick,  and  this  through  a  poison 
Avliich  was  artfully  introduced  as  a  medicine,  and  which  must  destroy 
both  them  and  their  posterity  ;  suppose  also  that  any  one  had  a  specific, 
and  the  07il>j  specific,  which  could  reheve  them  under  the  efiects  of 
that  poison  ;  I  ask  what  notion  the  Objector  would  form  of  a  person 
who  should  Hve  and  die  with  this  specific  in  his  cabinet,  crying  '  What 
have  I  to  do  with  the  remedies  of  other  nations  ? '  Would  not  he  say, 
'  This  Querist  has  either  no  faith  in  his  remedy,  or  no  feeli7iff  in  his 
lieart '  ?  " 

Bidduiph's  Much  in  the  same  way  did  Biddulph,  whose  text  was  the 
"Golden  Eule  "  in  Matt,  vh.,  apply  that  Eule.  Imagining  the 
case  of  the  Susoos  being  Christians  and  ourselves  Heathen,  he 
thus  speaks  : 

"  Bring  the  matter  home,  my  Christian  brother,  personally  to  your- 
self. Faiicy  yourself  to  he  a  poor  Heathen,  wandering  in  your  native 
woods,  without  any  distinct  knowledge  of  God,  or  any  acquaintance  at 
all  with  a  crucified  Saviour,  yet  conscious  of  guilt,  harassed  by  fear,  and 
destitute  of  all  consolation  under  the  certain  prospect  of  death  and  a 
subsequent  state  of  existence.  Now  what  would  you  wish  tliat  the 
enlightened  Susoos,  enjoyhig  your  present  advantages,  should  do  to  you  ? 
Let  "conscience  determine  the  part  which  you  would  have  them  to  act ; 
and  tkis  is  the  rule  of  your  own  conduct,  when  you  again  contemplate 
yourselves  as  Christians." 

J.  Venn's.       John  Venn's  text  was  1  Cor.  i.  21,  "  After  that  in  the  wisdom 


The  New  Society  and  its  Early  Steuccles  jq 

of  God,"  &c.     He  reviewed  the  vain  attompts  of  ancient  j)hiloso-  ,?J^'^,4,Yi 
phers  to  reform  mankind — making',  in  a  striking  note,  an  excep-    chap  7. 
tion  in  favour  of  Socrates, — and  tlien  set  forth  the  Gospel  as  the      — 1 
one  remedy  for  human  sin  and  woe. 

The  next  four  preachers  were  Edward  Burn  of  Birmingham,  others. 
Basil  Woodd,  T.  Kobinson  of  Leicester,  and  Legh  Richmond. 
Robinson  was  a  very  eminent  preacher,  and  his  sermon  in  1808, 
on  Rom.  x.  13-15,  is  one  of  the  most  powerful,  and  one  of  the 
most  finished,  in  the  entire  series.  Its  utterances  were  solemnized 
by  the  death  of  Newton,  and  the  paralytic  stroke  of  Cecil,  whicli 
had  lately  occurred.  Claudius  Buchanan  was  the  preacher  in 
1810.  He  was  followed  by  Melville  Home,  Goode  (the  rector  of 
the  church),  Dealtry  (afterwards  Archdeacon  of  Surrey),  and 
Dean  Ryder  of  Wells  (afterwards  Bishop  of  Lichfield).  Some  of 
these  sermons  will  claim  notice  by-and-by.  All  were  delivered 
in  St.  Anne's  (or,  more  accurately,  St.  Andrew's,  as  before 
explained).     St.  Bride's  was  first  used  in  1817. 

Of  these  preachers,  the  two  who  were  pre-eminently  identified 
with  the  earliest  struggles  of  the  Society  were  Thomas  Scott  and  Scott 
John  Venn.  Venn's  remarkable  wisdom  in  laying  down  the  secretary. 
Society's  principles,  drafting  its  rules,  and  guiding  its  first  pro- 
ceedings from  the  chair  of  the  Committee,  has  already  been 
noticed.  Of  scarcely  less  value  was  the  indomitable  energy  of 
Scott.  For  three  years  and  a  half  lie  plied  the  labouring  oar  as 
Secretary.  Although  active  opei-ations  had  scarcely  begun  when 
he  retired,  he  was  untiring  in  working  out  the  preliminaries,  and 
his  courage  and  faith  again  and  again  carried  the  day  when  more 
timid  counsels  nearly  prevailed.  Scott's  deeply  interesting  narra- 
tive of  his  own  gi-adual  enlightenment  and  conversion  to  God  is 
entitled  T}ie  Force  of  Truth.  Truth  indeed  has  force  ;  and  so  has 
character  ;  and  the  force  of  character  in  Scott  was  a  distinct  factor 
in  the  development  of  the  newly-born  Society.  He  was  deficient 
in  popular  gifts  ;  he  was  in  some  ways,  like  John  Newton,  a  rough 
diamond;  but,  as  W.  Jowett  says,'''  "  being  endued  with  a  strong 
and  capacious  understanding,  and  possessing  unwearied  perse- 
verance, he  made  himself  a  thoroughly  learned  man,  especially 
in  theology  "  ;  and  as  Dr.  Overton  says.f  "  he  was  a  noble  speci- 
men of  a  Christian,  and  deserved  a  much  wider  recognition  than 
he  ever  received  in  this  world."  He  resigned  his  Secretaryship 
at  the  close  of  1802,  on  his  appointment  to  the  vicarage  of  Aston 
Sand  ford,  Bucks. 

His  successor  was  Josiah  Pratt,  who  has  l^een  already  introduced.  Pratt  the 
Pratt  was  only  thirty-four  years  of  age  wlien  he  was  appointed  |"c°etary. 
Secretary,   and  he  held  office  for  more    than  twenty-one  years. 
The  growth  of  the  Society's  influence  at  home,  and  tlie  extension 
of  its  work  al)road,  was  mainly  due,  under  God,  to  liim.     For  the 

*  C.M.S.  Jubilee  Tract,  Founders  and  Fiixt  Five  Tears. 
+  Englinh  (')nirrh  in  the  Einhtcfufh  Cmtiiry,  chap.  ix. 


8o 


The  New  Society  and  its  Early  Struggles 


Part  II. 
1786-1811 

Chap.  7. 


first  nine  years  of  his  Secretaryship,  his  salary  was  £60  a  year ; 
then  £100  a  year ;  and,  from  1814,  £300  a  year.  He  had  two 
Sunday  lectureships  and  one  on  Wednesday  evenings  ;  but  almost 
the  whole  of  his  week-day  time,  often  up  till  late  at  night,  was 
absorbed  by  the  work  of  the  Society  ;  and  his  house,  22,  Doughty 
Street,  was  for  several  years  practically  the  Society's  of&ce. 

There  he  studied  the  needs  of  the  great  dark  world,  the  possi- 
bilities of  its  evangelization,  the  problems  of  so  vast  an  enterprise  ; 
and  there,  as  we  shall  see,  he  in  after  years  compiled  month  by 
month  the  current  history  of  all  its  branches.  There  he  thought 
out,  and  prayed  over,  his  plans  for  his  own  infant  Society.  There 
he  interviewed  likely,  and  (more  often)  unlikely,  candidates  for 
missionary  service.  There  he  wrote  his  long  letters  to  Africa  and 
India  and  New  Zealand,  in  days  when  shorthand-writers  and 
copying-presses  were  unknown,  and  when  there  were  no  mail- 
steamers  to  carry  his  correspondence  or  bring  back  the  answers. 
There  he  bore  the  burden  of  what  became  a  rapidly  growing 
organization;  and  there,  in  simple  faith,  he  daily  and  hourly  cast 
his  burden  upon  the  Lord. 


The  study  in  St.  Anne's  Rectory,  in  which  the  first  Committee  Meetings 
were  held,  showing  the  tablet  on  the  chimney-piece  (see  page  73). 


\Vhom 
come  mis- 


CHAPTER  I VTII. 

The  First  Missionaries. 

Henry  Maityn's  Offer  -The  Men  from  Berlin — Their  Training — The 
First  Valedictory  Meetings —The  First  Voyages  out  -The  First 
Englishmen  accepted-Ordination  difficulties. 

"  Whom  shall  I  send,  and  who  will  go  for  Us  ?  " — Isa.  vi.  8. 

SEE  more  and  more,"  wrote  Charles  Simeon,  when  Part  TI. 
all  inquiries  after  likely  missionaries  only  resulted  in    Jm^    '^i 

disappointment,   "  117/0  it  is  that  must  thrust  out      J 1 

labourers  into  His  harvest."  These  words,  already  fjo^ 
quoted  in  a  previous  chapter,  indicate  the  gravest  of 
the  difficulties  to  be  encountered  by  the  new  Society,  and  indicate  sionaries  ? 
also  the  true  solution  of  those  difficulties.  It  will  be  remembered 
that  the  original  idea  of  the  founders,  in  their  despair  either  of 
finding  ordained  men  willing  to  go  abroad,  or  of  inducing  the 
bishops  to  ordain  men  for  foreign  work,  w^as  to  send  out  lay 
"  catechists."  This  plan  fell  through;  and  it  pleased  God  to 
show  117/0  could  thrust  out  lal)ourers  by  sending  them  as  their  tirst 
English  candidate  a  Senior  Wrangler  and  Fellow  of  his  College, 
who  could  be  ordained  on  his  fellowship.  This,  it  need  liardly  be 
said,  was  Henry  Marty n. 

Henry  Martyn  was  Senior  Wrangler  and  First  Smith's  Prize-  ^^"[^n 
man  in  1801.  It  is  interesting  to  notice  that  the  Third  and 
Fourth  Wranglers  that  year  were  Robert  and  Charles  Grant,  sons 
of  the  Charles  Grant  wliom  we  liave  already  met  as  one  of  the 
originators  of  India  ^Missions  and  as  one  of  the  founders  of  the 
Society.  Robert,  afterwards  Governor  of  Bombay,  is  known  to 
us  l)y  his  hymns,  "  Saviour!  when  in  dust  to  Thee  "  and  "  Wlien 
gathering  clouds  around  1  view."  Charles  (afterwards  Lord  Glenelg) 
became  Minister  for  India,  in  which  capacity  he  sent  the  first  Daniel 
Wilson  as  Bishop  to  Calcutta.  Martyn  was  ordained,  and  became 
Simeon's  curate,  in  1803  ;  but  before  that,  in  the  autumn  of  the 
previous  year,  he  was  in  communication  with  the  new  Society. 
The  reading  of  David  Brainerd's  Life  '•'  had  stirred  his  heart  about 
the  Heathen,  and  shown  him  also  the  blessedness  of  a  life  of  self- 
sacrifice  in  the  Lord's  service  ;  and  the  news  that  kept  coming  to 
Simeon  of  Carey's  work  in  Bengal  drew  out  his  sympatliies  to 
India.     Obstacles,    however,  arose    to   his   going    out    under  the 

*  See  p.  27. 
VOL.  I.  G 


82  The  First  Missionaries 

Society.  Family  losses  and  responsibilities  made  it  impossible  for 
him  to  take  the  bare  allowance  of  a  missionary ;  and  besides  this, 
it  would  have  been  difficult  even  for  Mr.  Grant  to  obtain  leave  for 
his  sailing  in  an  East  India  Company's  ship  with  the  direct  object 
of  preaching  to  the  Heathen.  But  an  appointment  as  a  Company's 
chaplain  was  obtained  for  him  ;  and  the  Society's  Eepoi't  in  1805 
stated  that  the  Committee  had  "  cheerfully  acquiesced,  as  the 
appointment  was  of  considerable  importance,"  and  might  "  ulti- 
mately lead,  under  God,  to  considerable  influence  among  the 
Heathen."  He  sailed  for  India  in  1805,  laboured  untiringly  for 
six  years  in  such  work  as  was  possible,  then  journeyed  to  Persia 
in  failing  health,  suffered  there  for  a  year  the  bitter  enmity  of  the 
Mohammedan  moulvies,  and,  on  his  way  home  thence,  yielded  up 
his  heroic  spirit  to  God  at  Tokat  in  Armenia,  on  October  16th,  1812, 
at  the  age  of  thirty-two.  Though  his  name  does  not  actually 
honour  the  C.M.S.  roll  of  missionaries,  it  is  a  recollection  to  be 
cherished  that  he  was  really  the  Society's  first  English  candidate ; 
and  though  his  career  was  brief,  and  he  was  never  technically 
a  missionary,  yet  his  unreserved  devotion  to  Christ's  cause,  and 
the  influence  of  his  name  and  character  upon  succeeding  genera- 
tions, entitle  him  to  be  for  ever  regarded  as  in  reality  one  of  the 
greatest  of  missionaries.  "  God  measures  life  by  love  ";  and  by 
that  measure  Henry  Martyn's  life  was  a  long  one  indeed. 

Before,  however,  Martyn  approached  the  Society,  an  unlooked- 
for  opening  had  appeared  for  obtaining  missionaries  elsewhere. 
Through  two  foreign  Protestant  ministers  residing  in  London, 
Mr.  Latrobe,  of  the  Moravian  Church,  w^ho  was  acting  as  agent 
here  of  the  Moravian  Missions,  and  Dr.  Steinkopfl',  of  the 
Lutheran  Savoy  Chapel,  the  Committee  heard  of  a  Missionary 
Seminary  lately  established  at  Berlin.  This  new  institution  in 
Germany  was  really  the  outcome  of  the  missionary  awakening  in 
England.  A  certain  Baron  von  Schirnding  saw  in  a  Hamburg 
newspaper  a  notice  of  the  formation  of  the  London  Missionary 
Society,  and  wrote  to  the  Directors  about  it.  Their  reply  he 
communicated  to  other  godly  men  in  Germany  of  the  Pietist 
school,  and  ultimately,  with  a  vieW'  to  the  promotion  of  a  missionary 
spirit,  and  to  the  supply  of  men  to  any  societies  that  might  be 
formed,  the  Berlin  Missionary  Seminary  was  started,  under  the 
auspices,  and  partly  at  the  expense,  of  the  good  Baron,  and  under 
the  direction  of  a  Lutheran  pastor,  the  Rev.  Jolm  Ja^nicke.  The 
frugality  expected  from  the  students  may  be  gathered  from  the 
fact  that  they  were  to  be  allowed  two  rix-dollars  (about  6i'.  8(/.) 
per  week  for  their  entire  maintenance.  From  this  institution  the 
perplexed  Conmiittee  of  the  new  Church  Society,  in  what  seemed 
the  hopeless  backwardness  of  Englishmen,  now  hoped  to  obtain 
missionai'ies.  The  second  Annual  Report,  presented  in  June,  1802, 
began  with  these  words  :— "  It  is  with  much  regret  that  your 
Committee  meet  the  Society  without  having  it  in  their  power  to 
report  that  any  missionaries  are  actually  engaged  in  fulfilling  the 


The  First  Missiosarihk  8^ 

pious  designs   of  the  Society.     They  had   indulged  the  hope  that,    Part  IF. 
ill  consequence  of  their  earnest  apphcations  to  a  very  numerous  I'W-l.sii. 
hody  of  clerg)'iiien   in  ahiiost  every  part  of  the  kingdom,  several    ^'''"P-  **• 
persons  in  whose  piety,  zeal,  and  prudence  the  Committee  might 
conlide  woidd   ere  this   have  offered  themselves  to  lahour  among 
tlie  heathen.     Their  hope  has  however  heen  disappointed."     After 
lanieiiting  "  tiie  evident  want  of  that  lioly  zeal  which  animated  the 
ajjostles    and  primitive    Christians,"  the  Committee  wont   on  to 
announce  that,  "  following  the  steps  of  the  Society  for  Promoting 
(!inistian  Knowledge,"  they  were   now  looking  to  the   Continent 
for  men,   and  expressed  a  hope  that  the  new    Jierlin    Seminary 
would  presently  supply  them. 

Within   a   month   of  this   Keport   heing  presented,    two   of   the 
Berlin  students,  IMelchior  Kenner,  of  tlie  Duchy  of  Wurtendjerg,  The  first 
and  Peter  Ilartwig,  a  Prussian,  liad   heen  accepted   hv  correspon- ^na"?ic8. 
dence  ;  and  in  Novemher  of  that  same  year,  lbO'2,  they  arrived  in 
England-  at  the  very  time  when  Henry  Martyn  was  in  connnuni- 
cation  with  tlie  Society.     Germans  and  l-higlishmen  did  not  study 
each   otliers'  language  then   as  they  do  now  ;  and  when  the  two 
men  appeared  hefore  the  Committee  in  the  library  of  St.  Anne's 
Rectory  there  was  no  means  of  conversing  with  them.     A  few  days 
after,  however,  the  Committee  received  tliem   again  along  with 
Dr.  SteinkopfT,  who  acted  as  inteipreter  ;  and  having  accepted  them 
as  "  missionary  catechists  "  for  West  Africa,  sent  them  to  lodge  at 
riai)liam,  where  they  could  learn  a  little  English  hefore  going'^out. 
When  tliey  were  ready  to  sail.  Dr.  Steinkopt'i  on'eied  to  arrange  for 
tht'ir  i-eceiving  Lutheran  orders  ;  and  the  Committee,  to  avoid^what 
they  thought  woidd  he  the  ecclesiastical  irregularity  of  this  being 
done  for  a  Church  society  within  an  English  diocese,  gave  them 
leave  to  go  hack  to  Germany  and  be  ordained   there.     They  went 
accordingly,  and  came  back  Lutheran  clergymen,  and  therefore  on 
a  par  ecclesiastically  with  the  German  and  Danish  missionaries  of 
the  S.P.C.K.  in  South  India.     The  Committee  then  accepted  them 
as  full  "  missionaries  ";  and  the  "  catecliist  "  difficulty  was   thus 
ilisposed   of,  as  the  friends  who  objected  to  laymen  being  sent  out 
were    cpiite    willing   to    recogni/e    Lutheran    orders.     A    passage 
havmg  been  engagi'd  for  them— concerning  which  more  presently, 
-  and  Ilartwig  having  married  Sarah  Windsor,  late  governess  in 
Mr.^  Venn's  family,  it  now  only  remained  to  bid  them  God-speed. 

This  first  Valedictory   Dismissal    is   deeply  interesting   to    us  First  Vaic 
who  now,  year  by  year,  witness  the  wonderful  scenes  on  similar  DjVm'iss 
occasions.     It  was  what  was  called  "  an  Open  Committee,"  held    """"'"  ' 
at  the  New  London  Tavern  in   Chcapside.      Subsequently,  these 
Valedictory  gatlierings,  when    held  in  pulilic  halls,    were  called 
Special  Geiieial  Meetings  of  the  Society  ;  but  in   course  of  years 
they  came  to  be  regarded  as  technically  meetings  of  the  General 
Conmiittee,  ami  the  proceedings  were  entered  in  a  regular  way  in 
the   Minute  Books.     The  altered  procedure  in  I'ecent  years  "will 
appear  hereafter.     At  that  first  Dismissal,  on  Januarv  31st,  1804 

Q  2 


§4  The  First  Missionaries 

Part  II.  there  were  present  twenty  clergjaiien  and  twenty-four  laymen. 
1786-1811.  Ladies  were  not  yet  invited  to  the  Society's  pubhc  meetings  ;  the 

Chap.  8.   fivst  occasion  of  their  being  present  was  at  tire  fourth  Valedictory 

Dismissal,  in  1811.     At  the   fifth  Dismissal,  in  1812,  there  was 

also  a  service  at  St.  Lawrence  Jewry,  with  a  collection  which 
amounted  to  £72.  Eeverting  to  this  first  one,  the  chair  was  taken 
by  the  Eev.  Henry  Foster,  one  of  the  most  regular  members  of 
the  Committee  ;  the  Instructions  were  read  by  Pratt ;  the  two 
missionaries,  unable  to  speak  English  with  sufficient  fluency, 
responded  by  presenting  a  written  letter  to  the  Committee  ;  and 
that  was  all.  The  most  interesting  incident  of  the  gathering,  to  us, 
was  the  presence  of  Henry  Marty n,  who  was  then  still  expecting 
to  join  the  Society.     In  his  journal  we  find  the  following  entry  : — 

"  At  one  o'clock  we  went  to  hear  the  cliarge  delivered  to  the  mis- 
sionaries at  the  New  London  Tavern  in  Cheapside.  There  was  nothing- 
remarkable  in  it,  but  the  conclusion  was  affecting.  I  shook  hands  with 
tlie  two  missionaries,  and  ahnost  wished  to  go  with  them,  but  certainly 
to  go  to  India." 

"  Nothing  remarkable  ":   no,  Henry   Martyn  could  not  foresee 
Pratt's  In-  with  what  deep  interest  those  first  Instructions  would  be  read 
structions.  xiinety  years  after.     But  even  when  set  side  by  side  with  the 
ablest  of  the  long  series  of  masterly  state  papers  produced  in  later 
years  by  Henry  Venn  the  Younger  in  the  form  of  Instructions  to 
departing  missionaries,  Josiah  Pratt's  "  charge  "  will  not  suffer  by 
the  comparison.     It  does  not  convey  injunctions  regarding  personal 
conduct ;   it  does  not  give  spiritual  counsel.     For  these  it  refers 
the  brethren  to  some   more  private  Instructions  separately  given. 
But  it   ably  reviews  the  position  of  affairs  in  West  Africa  at  the 
time,  and  directs  the  missionaries  as   to   the   course   they  shall 
pursue  in  various  contingencies.     It  expresses  thankfulness  that 
when  the   Society  had  "  the  means  and  the  will "  to  send  forth 
messengers  of  the  Gospel,  but  was  "  destitute  of  proper  instru- 
ments," these  men,  having  no  pecuniary  means,  had  "  depended  on 
tlie  providence  of  God  to  furnish  them,"  and  had  in  faith  gone  to 
tlie  Berlin  Seminary  to  be  prepared  for  missionary  service.     It  ex- 
presses the  opinion  that  the  best  plan  of  operations  for  a  Mission 
would  be  a  "  Settlement,"  "  consisting  of  several  Christians    of 
both  sexes  living  as  a  small  Christian  community,  and  exhibiting 
to  the  Natives  the  practical  influence  of  Christianity  in  regulating 
the  tempers  and  the  life,  and  in   thus    increasing  the  domestic 
felicity";  but  that  until,  if  ever,   it  should  be  "in  the  power  of 
the  Society  to  accomplish  this  plan  upon  any  considerable  scale," 
which  "must  be  left  to  the  gracious  Providence  of   God,"  the 
Committee  would  "  imitate  the  example  of  our  Lord,  when  He 
sent  His  disciples  two  and  two  to  declare  the  glad  tidings  of  His 
Kingdom."     One  passage,  in  whicli  the  missionaries  are  instructed 
how  to  deal  witli  slave-traders,  is  especially  worth  quoting  for  its 
wisdom  : — 

"  You  will   take  all    prudent  occasions   of  weaniug  the  Native  cliiefs 


The  First  Missionaries  85 

from  this  traflSc,  by  depicting  its  criminality,  the  miseries  wliicli  it  Part  II. 
ocrasinns  to  Africa,  and  tho  obstacles  which  it  opposes  to  a  more  1786-1811. 
lirolitablt^   and  p;(^nerous  intercourse    with   the   European  nations.      liizt    Chap.  8. 

wliih^   you   do  this,  you  will   cultivate   kindness   of   spirit  towards  thoso        

persons  who  are  connected  with  tliis  trade.  You  will  make  all  due 
allowances  for  tlmir  habits,  theii-  pri'jndices,  and  their  views  of  interest. 
Let  tlu'm  never  be  mi;t  by  you  with  reproaches  and  invectives,  however 
di'based  j'ou  may  find  them  in  mind  and  manners.  Let  them  never 
have  to  char<i(!  you  with  intriyuinu;  aifainst  them  and  thwartiiifj  their 
schemes;  but  let  them  feel  that,  tliou^di  the  silent  influence  of  Chris- 
tianity must,  whenever  truly  felt,  inidermine  the  soiuces  of  their  piin, 
yi't  in  you,  and  in  all  luider  your  influence,  they  meet  with  openness, 
simplicity,  kindness,  and  brotherly  love." 

At  the  second  Valedictory  Mectinfj,  January  13th,  1806,  which  Second 
may  conveniently  ho  noticed  at  this  point,  there  was  given,   in  dfictory 
addition   to   the  formal  written  Instructions  read  hy  the  Secre-  Meeting, 
tary,  a  spiritual  address  liy  a  clergyman  ;  which  custom  has  heen 
adhered  to  ever  since.     On  tliat  occasion  the  speaker,  with  great 
appropriateness,  was  Jolm  Venn  ;  and  liis  address,  printed  witli  J- Venn's 
the  Annual  Report,  is  every  way  admirahle,  and  might  be  de-  ^  ^^^^' 
livcred  now,  almost  word  for  word,  to  any  departing  missionary 
hand.     He  dwells  on  the  example  of  John  the  Baptist,  of  our 
hlesscd  Lord  Himself,  and  of  the  Apostles  ;  and  then  also  on  that 
of  the  modern  missionaries  whose  names,  even  at  so  early  a  date, 
were  known   and  honoured,   Eliot,  Brainerd,  and  Schwartz,  and 
the  ^loravians  in  Greenland.     One  lesson  drawn  from  the  example 
of  John   the   J^aptist  is  worth  noting.     Venn  observes  that  "  an 
external  appearance  of  sanctity"  in  him  "seems  to  have  had  a 
wonderful    effect  in   impressing  the  minds   of   the   Jews  ";    and 
lu-ges  that  "  the  same  impression,   in  some  way,  viust  be   made 
upon  the  people,  that  we  are  above  the  zvorld.     In  vain,"  he  adds, 
"  will   those  who  are  eager  about  the  accommodations  and  enjoy- 
ments of   the  world   persuade    mankind  that   they  are  truly   in 
earnest  in  their  religion."     And  take  this  striking  description  of  a 
true  missionary's  cliaracter  : 

'■  He  is  one  who,  likc^  Enoch,  walks  with  TJod,  and  derives  from  constant 
I'niiimunion  with  Him  a  portion  of  the  diviiui  likeness.  Dead  to  the 
usual  piusuits  of  the  world,  his  afi'ectioiis  arc^  fixed  upon  thinj^s  above, 
where  Christ  sitteth  at  the  ri^jht  hand  of  t!od.  He  is  not  inthu-nced, 
therefore,  by  the  love  of  fame  and  distinction,  the  desire  of  wealth,  or 
the  love  of  ease  and  .self-indulgence.  Deeply  atlected  by  the  sinful  and 
ruined  state  of  mankind,  especially  of  the  Heathen,  he  devotes  his  life, 
with  all  its  faculties,  to  jiromote  their  salvation,  liulaunted  by  dancers, 
unmoved  by  sufrerinj,fs  and  ]iain,  he  considers  not  his  life  dear,  .so  that 
he  may  ;j;lorify  Cod.  With  the  world  under  his  feet,  with  Heaven  in  his 
eye,  with  the  (Jospel  in  his  hand,  and  Chri.st  in  his  heart,  he  })leads  a.s  an 
anibassa<lor  for  (lod,  knowing  nothing  but  Jesus  Christ.  <;njovinc  nothing 
but  the  conversion  of  sinners,  hoping  for  nothing  but  the  promotion  of 
the  Kingdom  of  Christ,  and  j^loryinc  in  notbiiiij  but  in  the  cross  of 
Christ  .Jesus,  by  which  he  is  crucified  to  the  woild  and  the  world  to 
him.  Daily  studying  the  word  of  life,  and  transformed  him.self  more 
and  more  into  the  image  which  it  sets  before  him,  ho  holds  it  forth  to 


voyages. 


86  The  First  Missionaries 

Part  II.    others  as  a  light  to  illuminate  the  darkness  of  the  Avorld  around  him, 
1786-1811.  as  an  exhibition   of  the  light  and  glory  of  a  purer  and  higher  world 
Chap.  8.    above." 

A  valedictory  address  by  Thomas  Scott,  in  1811,  is  also 
singularly  wise  and  comprehensive ;  but,  like  his  first  Annual 
Sermon,  very  long,  occupying  thirty-two  octavo  pages. 
The  first  But  to  appoint  men  to  West  Africa,  and  to  send  them  there, 
were  two  very  different  things.  The  only  conveyance  that  could 
be  heard  of  was  a  slave-ship,  regularly  fitted  up  for  the  trade ; 
but  though  there  would  be  plenty  of  room  in  her  until  she  arrived 
off  the  Coast,  application  for  a  passage  was  refused.  Zachary 
Macaulay,  who  was  now  a  member  of  the  Committee,  was  "  re- 
quested to  seek  for  some  other  vessel  ";  and  at  length  he  "  found  " 
the  John,  belonging  to  a  firm  of  woollen  drapers,  proceeding  to 
Sierra  Leone,  and  succeeded  in  engaging  passages  for  the  two 
missionaries  at  thirty  guineas  each.  The  John  sailed,  with  other 
merchant-vessels  bound  elsewhere,  under  the  protection  of  an 
armed  convoy;  and  this  first  voyage  of  C.M.S.  missionaries  proved 
more  prosperous  than  some  later  ones,  as  they  reached  Sierra 
Leone  safely  after  fifty-seven  days'  sailing,  only  four  times  longer 
than  the  fortnight  occupied  by  steamers  to-day.  But  the  voyage 
of  the  second  party^ — three  men,  Nylander,  Biitscher,  and  Prasse — 
illustrates  vividly  the  delays  and  inconveniences,  to  say  nothing 
of  dangers,  to  which  the  travellers  in  those  days  were  exposed. 
After  five  weeks  of  waiting  at  Liverpool,  their  ship  sailed  on  Feb- 
ruary 12th,  1806,  ])ut  was  stranded  on  the  Irish  coast.  After  seven 
more  weeks'  delay  in  Ireland,  they  sailed  again  on  April  22nd 
from  Bristol ;  but  the  ship  had  to  put  into  Falmouth  to  join  others 
sailing  under  convoy.  While  the  brethren  were  on  shore,  the 
captain  suddenly  weighed  anchor  without  giving  them  notice, 
and  resumed  his  voyage.  They  hastily  engaged  an  open  boat, 
hoping  to  catch  up  the  vessel,  which,  before  steam  made  ships 
independent  of  the  wind,  was  generally  possible  ;  but  the  attempt 
failed,  and  after  being  long  tossed  about  by  a  violent  gale,  and  in 
imminent  peril,  they  had  the  mortification  of  being  ol)ligcd  to 
return  to  Falmouth.  Providentially  the  wind  changed,  and  the 
whole  fleet  had  to  put  back.  Thus  they  were  enabled  to  em- 
bark again,  and  after  losing  the  convoy  and  narrowly  escaping 
a  French  privateer,  they  reached  Madeira  on  June  2nd.  There 
the  captain,  who  had  been  drinking,  suddenly  died,  and  the  ship 
was  detained  more  than  three  months  until  fresh  orders  could 
come  from  England.  At  last,  on  September  22nd  they  safely 
reached  Sierra  Leone,  more  than  seven  months  after  their  first 
sailing. 

The  next  party  from  Berlin  came  to  England  under  difliculties 
of  another  kind,  which  are  thus  referred  to  in  the  Report : — 
"  These  brethren  left  Berlin  on  July  2nd,  embracing  the  oppor- 
tunity afforded  between  the  time  of  signing  the  Armistice  between 
the  Russians  and  the  French,  and  the  conclusion  of  the  Peace  of 


The  First  Missionaries  87 

Tilsit.     Bxf  avoiding  the  great  roads,  and  travelling  on  foot,  they   Part  ll. 
arrived  without  interruption,  through  many  difficulties,  at  Werni-  ^JJ^^^^^^y- 
gerode.     From  Wernigerode  they  went  to  Altona ;  from  that  place        ^P" 
to  Tonningen,  and  thence  they  emharked  for  this  country." 

At  this  point  it  may  bo  of  interest  to  glance  at  the  Society's  ^^''j;';'^^" 
published    accounts,  and  see    its   expenditure    upon    these   early  mission- 
missionaries.     In    the   account   for   1803-4,  the    following   items  *""• 

occur  : — 

i:    .-.  ,1. 

Hy  till'  Ivhicatioii  of  Four  Studeiit.s  at  tliu  Semi- 
uiuy  at  Berlin.  Six  niontlis  .         .         .         .         .         .     7l'     3     0 

By  Exiieuee.s  on  Account  of  the  Missionaries 
Renner  and  Hartwig,  during  tlieir  Stay  in  England, 
for  Hoard,  Lodging,  Washing,  Apparel,  Education, 
and  Incidents I'L'l     •»   11 

Hv  their  Passage  to  and  from  ftermany  to  obtain 
Onlination,  and  necen.sary  ExiKMices  ....     •"!'••   1-     / 

By  Conveyance  of  tlieni  and  Mrs.  Hartwig  to  Porl.s- 
niou'tli  \vitli\lieir  Baggage, »S.c.,  and  Expences  during 
tlieir  Stay  tliere,  previous  to  tlieir  sailing  .  .  .     -1    13     0 

By  tlie'ir  Passage  for  Sierra  Leone,  thirty  giiineas 
eacl'i.  with  sundry  Articles  of  Clothing  suitable  for 
that  Climate,  and  other  Necessaries  ....  I'l'i'     3     8 

In  the  account  for  1805-6,  one  of  the  items  is  as  follows :  — 

Sundry.small  Artii-les  r)f  Apparel  and  incidental  Ex- 
pences, with  Board.  Washini:,  Lodging:,  tS.c..  for  the 
live  Missionaries,  Woman  and  Child,  diirinp  their  stay 
in  England,  with  Charges  for  their  Instruction  in  the 
Enjilish  Language,  Apothecary's  Attendance,  an«l 
Medicine  for  two  of  them  in  a  dangerous  illness,  itc.  3JI   lU  11 

And  ill  the  accoiuit  for  1806-7  are  these  items : — 

For  the  Passa<ie  of  Three  Missionaries  to  Africa, 
with  Apparel  and  other  Necessaries    .  .  .  .    1'.'3    II      1 

Expenc(>s  of  the  said  Missionaries  in  Ireland,  in 
conse(|uenco  of  the  Vessel  being  stranded  oil"  Wex- 
ford            73   1 1     0 

Further  Expences  in  Madeira,  durinp  a  stay  there 
of  several  Months,  in  consequence  of  the  Death  of 
their  Captain -""     "     •' 

Very  early  in  the  history  of  their  enterprise,  the  Committee  of  ^');"^'<^'^*''^» 
the  young  Society  had  to  learn  by  experience  how  the  work  of  'pieid. 
God  may  l)o  marred  by  the  infirmities  of  men.  First  they  were 
perplexed  by  getting  very  little  news  of  tlie  missioiuiries.  At 
one  time  eight  months  elapsed  without  any  tidings  from  Sierra 
Leone  at  all.  Then  came  criticism  from  onlookers,  that  the  men 
were  slow  at  the  language,  and  not  getting  at  the  people.  Then 
followed  plain  indicati.ms  of  friction  among  the  brethren.  At 
first  the  Committee  had  appointed  Renner  "  Senior."  Then  they 
made  all  equal.  Then  they  re-appointed  Renner  "  Superior." 
These  are  troubles  whicli   some  of  the  younger  Societies  in  our 


88  The  First  Missionaries 

Part  II.  own  day  have  had  to  go  through,  though  the  pubhc  hear  nothing 
"^ruf'^^s'^'  °^  ^^'  ^^^®  °^^  Societies  are  not  free  from  the  difficulties ;  but 
^P"  ■  they  have  learned  by  long  experience  the  best  ways  of  dealing 
with  such  matters.  The  early  Committee  were  often  perplexed, 
though  never  in  despair ;  often  cast  down,  though  never 
"  destroyed."  Of  the  first  five  missionaries,  already  named, 
three  proved  excellent  and  faithful  workers,  accomplished  what 
for  West  Africa  may  be  called  long  service  (Renner  seventeen 
years,  Nylander  nineteen,  Biitscher  eleven),  and  died  at  their 
posts.  One,  Prasse,  was  also  excellent,  but  died  two  years  after 
landing.  This  is  a  satisfactory  record,  notwithstanding  that  the 
fifth,  Hartwig,  turned  out  badly,  and  caused  grave  mischief  in 
Hartwig's  Africa  and  untold  sorrow  to  the  Committee.  He  engaged  in 
the  slave-trade,  and  in  many  other  ways  proved  himself  quite 
unworthy  of  the  name  of  missionary.  His  poor  wife,  Venn's 
former  governess,  had  to  leave  him  and  come  home.  For  several 
years  Hartwig  wandered  about  in  Africa,  and  at  length,  "coming 
to  himself "  in  the  "  far  country  "  of  sin,  wrote  home  to  Pratt  in 
penitence  and  remorse.  The  Society  declined  to  reinstate  him 
as  a  missionary,  but  consented  to  engage  him  on  trial  as  an 
interpreter  and  translator ;  and  his  brave  wife  went  out  again 
and  rejoined  him.  He  died,  however,  almost  immediately,  and 
Mrs.  Hartwig  a  few  months  afterwards. 

Pratt's  letters  to  the  brethren  on  these  various  difficulties  are 
full  of  both  wisdom  and  tenderness.  God  had  indeed  manifested 
His  gracious  favour  to  the  Society  in  giving  it  such  a  Secretary. 
It  is  also  worth  noting  how  entirely  open  tlie  Committee  were 
regarding  these  trials.  The  fall,  and  the  penitence,  of  Hartwig 
were  fully  recorded  for  all  men  to  read  ;  and  so  were  the  minor 
infirmities  of  others  from  time  to  time.  But  it  must  be  remem- 
bered that  the  printed  accounts  rarely  went  into  the  hands  of  any 
one  who  would  not  regard  such  troubles  wath  prayerful  sympathy. 
To  publish  a  man's  unsatisfactory  conduct  in  these  days  would  be 
to  ruin  him  for  life. 

At  the  very  beginning  of  even  the  less  serious  of  these  painful 
experiences,  the  Committee  made  up  their  minds  to  send  out  no 
men  who  were  not  trained  under  their  own  eye ;  and  in  1806 
much  time  and  thought  were  given  to  the  subject  of  a  Seminary 
in  England.  In  consultation  with  Thomas  Scott,  who  was  now 
Rector  of  Aston  Sandford,  Bucks,  they  ultimately  arranged  for 
their  candidates  to  reside  at  Bledlow,  a  village  five  miles  off, 
where  Nathaniel  Gilbert,  formerly  chaplain  at  Sierra  Leone,  was 
rector.  They  were  to  reside  with  William  Dawes,  a  gentleman 
who  had  been  twice  governor  of  Sierra  Leone,  and  who  knew 
something  of  the  Susoo  language,  as  well  as  of  Hindustani, 
Persian,  and  Arabic  ;  and  they  were  to  go  over  to  Scott  once  a 
week  for  further  theological  teaching.  The  third  party  of 
Germans,  Barneth,  Klein,  Wcnzel,  and  Wilhelm — the  party 
already  mentioned  as  having  to  journey  from  Berlin  by  byways 


The  First  Missionaries  89 

and  on  foot,— were  thus  sent  to  Bledlow  ;  also  two  English  candi-  Part  II. 
dates,  who,  howevei-,    proved  unsatisfactory,  and   only   stayed  a  1786-1811. 
few  weeks.     Nor  did  the  four  Germans  stay  long,  though  this  was    ^^^V-  8. 
not  their  own  fault,  hut  hecause  Mr.  Dawes  moved  from  Bledlow. 
Then  Scott,  with  his  indomitahle  spirit,  although  much  occupied 
with  liis  hihlical  work,  consented  to  take  the  candidates  himself ;  t.  Scott 
and  he  continued  this  important  service  for  some  years,  until  in  1815  *^  ''■^'""• 
failing  health  compelled  him,  after  most  courageous  struggles,  to 
give  up  the  work.     Under  him  the  men  did  well ;  they  were  true 
and  humhle  Christians,  won  the  hearts  of  the  Buckinghamshire 
farmers  and  lahourers,  and  responded  readily  to  Scott's  teaching. 
He  shrank  from   no  laliour.     Shortly   after   he    took   them,   the 
Committee  wrote  and  requested  him  to  instruct  the  candidates  in 
Susoo  and  Arabic,  he   being  totally  ignorant  of  hoth  languages  ! 
It  is  amazing  to  find  that  he  really  set  to  work,  though  over  sixty, 
to  learn  both.     lie  and  his  pupils  together,   by  means  of  those 
linguistic  works  upon  which  the  infant  Society  had  incurred  its 
eailiest  expenditure,  did  manage  to  get  a  fair  knowledge  of  Susoo  ; 
and  though   Arabic   was  far  more  diilicult,   his  familiarity  with 
Hebrew   helped   him,    and   within   a   few   months   he  set  about 
reading  the  Koran  with  the  students. 

Not  long  after  Scott  began  his  work,  the  fii'st  two  Englishmen  F'^st 
sent  out  by  the  Society  came  on  to  the  roll,  but  without  going  misS- 
under  his  instruction.     They  were  in  fact  not  "  missionaries"  in  *''''=5- 
the  Society's  sense  of  the  word,  but  Christian  artizans,  engaged  to 
go  to  New  Zealand  as  pioneers  of  industry  and  civilization,  though 
with  the  object,  through  these,   of  introducing  the  Gospel ;  and 
they   were    called   in    the   Eeports  "lay  settlers."     These  were 
William  Hall,  a  joiner  from  Carlisle,  and  John  King,  a  shoemaker 
from  an  Oxfordshire  village.     They  proved  the  first  agents  in  one 
of  the  Society's  greatest  and  most  fruitful  enterprises,  the  initiation 
of  which  will  have  to  be  reviewed  in  an  earlv  cliapter. 

But  in  October,  1809,  just  two  months 'after -Hall  and  King 
sailed,  the  Committee  accepted  for  training  a  married  shoemaker 
named  Tliomas  Norton,  a  man  of  real  ability,  who  had  already,  like 
Carey,  studied  Greek  in  the  intervals  of  his  trade,  and^  who 
ultimately  received  holy  orders  and  was  one  of  the  first  two 
English  clergymen  sent  out  by  the  Society.  At  first  it  was  con- 
templated to  send  him  to  one  of  the  Universities;  but  Scott 
urged  that  the  university  life  of  the  period  was  not  favoural)le  to 
the  cultivation  of  the  missionary  spirit  or  of  missionarv  habits  of 
life,  and  it  was  resolved  to  send"  him  and  his  wife  to  Aston  Sand- 
ford.  They  must  come,  wrote  Scott,  by  the  coach  which  ran 
three  times  a  week  from  the  Bull,  Holborn.  Thov  should  be  met 
m  the  evening  in  a  tilted  cart,  the  best  cojivevance  for  those 
roads. 

Till'  next  English  candidate  accepted  was  William  Greenwood, 
a  blanket  manufacturer  from  Dewsbury,  in  1811;  and  in  the 
following  year  came  Benjamin  Bailey  and  Thomas  Dawson,  from 


90  The  First  Missionaries 

Part  II.  the  same  towTi.  Nine  other  Germans  were  also  received,  one  of 
^Cb^^^R^  whom  was  afterwards  the  famous  South  Indian  missionary 
ap^  •  Ehenius.  A  httle  later,  the  Committee  declined  the  offer  of  a 
Shropshire  curate  who  required  at  least  £700  a  year  in  order  to  do 
missionary  work  effectively.  Meanwhile  Scott's  bodily  infirmities 
were  increasing ;  and  offers  from  the  Rev.  John  Buckworth,  of 
Dewsbury,  and  the  Rev.  T.  Rogers,  of  Wakefield,  in  1814,  to 
train  some  of  the  candidates  were  accepted.  The  first  candidate 
sent  to  the  latter  clergyman,  an  Essex  farmer's  son,  bore  a 
name  that  was  to  be  highly  honoured  in  after  years — Henry 
Baker. 

And  now  the  very  difiiculty  presented  itself  that  had  led,  at  the 
beginning,  to  the  adoption  of  the  abortive  catechist  scheme  before 
referred  to.     Norton  and  Greenwood  were  ready  for  ordination  ; 
How  but  how  were  they  to  obtain  it  ?     The  bishops  had  not  yet  smiled 

dination .?  upou  the  uew  Society  at  all,  and  when  two  or  three  were  cautiously 
approached  through  personal  friends,  they  entirely  declined  to 
ordain  men  for  work  outside  their  own  dioceses,  or  even  for 
curacies  within  their  dioceses  if  understood  to  be  merely  stepping- 
stones  to  foreign  work.  Those  who  were  thus  applied  to  were  not 
the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  or  the  Bishop  of  London,  to  whom 
in  the  present  day  we  go ;  for  Archbishop  Moore,  who  had 
promised  to  "  regard  the  Society's  proceedings  with  candour,"  and 
Bishop  Porteus,  who  had  supported  the  Evangelicals  in  philan- 
thropic movements,  were  dead,  and  Dr.  Manners-Sutton  and  Dr. 
Randolph,  who  now  filled  the  two  posts  respectively,  were  quite 
beyond  the  reach  of  the  "  serious  clergy."  Scott  would  have  taken 
Norton  for  his  own  curacy,  but  Buckinghamshire  was  then  in  the 
diocese  of  Lincoln,  and  Bishop  Tomline  was  at  that  very  time 
fulminating  against  the  Evangelicals  (who  were  very  mild  Cal- 
vinists)  in  his  Refutation  of  Calvinism.  At  last,  a  Cheshire 
clergyman  who  wanted  a  curate  succeeded  in  obtaining  ordination 
in  Chester  diocese  for  Greenwood,  on  Trinity  Sunday,  1813  ;  and 
the  incumbent  of  St.  Saviour's,  York,  persuaded  the  northern 
Archbishop  (Harcourt)  to  ordain  Norton  for  him  at  the  following 
Christmas.  Norton  was  rather  closely  examined  on  certain  points 
of  Calvinistic  doctrine,  because  he  had  been  trained  by  Scott;  but 
he  wrote,  "  Through  mercy  I  was  enabled  to  answer  the  Arch- 
bishop either  in  Scripture  language  or  that  of  our  i\rticles." 

Thus,  fourteen  years  after  the  foundation  of  the  Society,  two 
bishops  were  induced  to  perform  acts  that  assisted  its  plans ; 
though,  be  it  observed,  they  did  not  perform  these  acts  for  the 
Society's  interests,  nor  at  its  request,  but  only  for  work  (albeit 
temporary)  under  the  clergy  in  their  own  dioceses.  The  circum- 
stance throws  light  on  the  patient  faith  of  the  Committee,  in 
going  on  with  an  enterprise  which  by  this  time,  as  we  shall  see 
hereafter,  was  growing  rapidly  iinder  their  hands,  but  for  which 
they  could  as  yet  perceive  no  certain  way  of  obtaining  fit  instru- 
ments duly  commissioned  by  their  own  Church.     They  could  not 


The  First  Missionaries  91 

foresee  that  their  missionary  candidates  would  in  after  years  form   Part  II. 
a  distinct  element  in  the  London  ordinations,  and  that  again  and  ^p^^'^^^y' 
again  men  trained  by  them,  and  without  the   advantage  of  Uni-        ^^' 
versity  education,  would  take  the  first  place  in  the  strictest  exami- 
nation any  Church  of  England  diocese   lias,  and  read  the  Gospel 
accordingly  in  St.  Paul's  Cathedral. 

The  obstacles  in  the  path  of  the  Connnittcc  emphasize  also  tlio 
del)t  that  English  Church  Missions  owe  to  Lutheran  Germany.  Our 
As  we  have  already  seen,  all  the  S.P.C.K.  men  in  India  were  Qe'Jmany. 
Ijutherans.  In  the  Church  Missionary  Society's  first  fifteen  years, 
it  sent  out  twenty-four  missionaries.  Of  these,  seventeen  were 
Gei'mans  ;  and  of  the  seven  Englishmen,  only  three  were  ordained, 
viz.,  the  two  above-mentioned,  and  William  Jowett,  the  first 
University  graduate  on  the  Society's  roll,  having  been  12th 
Wrangler  in  1810.  Of  him  we  shall  have  more  to  say  in  a  future 
chapter.  Meanwhile,  we  can  understand  the  feelings  of  Melville 
Home,  one  of  the  leading  Evangelicals  of  that  day,  when  in  eloquent 
language,  in  a  speech  at  Leicester,  he  compared  England  and 
Germany.  On  the  one  hand,  England  had  stood  alone  "  as  the 
forlorn  hope  and  supporting  pillar  of  the  laws,  libei'ties,  and 
religion  of  the  vanquished  Continent,"  when  all  Europe  was 
under  the  iron  heel  of  Buonaparte.  On  the  other  hand,  Germany, 
amid  all  her  sufferings  from  the  horrors  of  war,  was  "  advancing 
with  the  sacred  standard  of  the  cross  of  Christ  and  reviving  the 
drooping  zeal  of  the  Church  of  England."  But  he  was  not  happy 
in  the  prospect.  "  Highly,"  he  said,  "  as  I  honour  the  pious 
Lutheran  ministers,  who  are  bold  to  suffer  and  die  in  our  cause, 
I  cannot  brook  the  idea  of  their  advancing  alone  into  the  field  with 
the  standard  of  our  Church  in  their  hands.  Where  arc  our  own 
ministers'?  What  happy  peculiai'ity  is  there  in  the  air  of  Ger- 
many ?  What  food  is  it  which  nourishes  these  pious  Lutherans  ? 
I  cannot  allow  these  good  men  to  stand  in  our  place.  Let  us 
assert  om*  own  dignity  and  that  of  the  Chiu-ch  to  which  we 
belong  !  "  In  after  years,  some  of  the  noblest  of  the  Society's 
missionaries  were  Germans  ;  but  they  were  not  Lutherans.  They 
were  for  the  most  part  trained  at  Islington,  and  received  English 
orders  from  the  Bishop  of  London.  Though  England  cannot 
claim  them,  the  English  Church  can.  And  now  we  have  lived  to 
see  the  day  when  in  England  itself  the  missionary  vocation  is  at 
last  widely  recognized  as  worthy  of  the  very  best  of  our  young 
men,  and  to  send  forth  year  by  year  inci'easing  numbers  of  those 
who  are  manifestly  the  Lord's  chosen  vessels  to  bear  His  name 
before  the  Heathen. 


CHAPTEK  IX. 

Africa  and  India  :  Struggle  and  Victory. 

Renewed  Anti-Slave  Trade  Campaign — Wilberforce's  Triumph — Sierra 
Leone — India  in  the  Dark  Period — Carey  and  Serampore — Claudius 
Buchanan — The  Vellore  Mutiny — Controversy  at  Home — The 
Charter  Debates — Another  Victory — India  Open. 

"  Let  no  man's  heart  fail  because  of  him;  thy  servant  will  go  andfght  tvith 
this  PhilisHne    .  .  .  So  David  prevailed." — 1  Sam.  xvii.  32,  50. 


Part  II. 

1786-1811. 

Chap.  9. 


First 
Missions 
in  Africa. 


Resumed 
attack  on 
the  Slave 
Trade. 


WING  started  the  new  Society,  let  us  now  resume 
the  story  of  the  two  great  mission-fields  that  were 
"waiting,"  Africa  and  India.  In  our  Fifth  Chapter, 
we  left  the  British  Slave  Trade  still  rampant  in  West 
Africa  at  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century,  and  the 
Dark  Period  of  twenty  years  just  beginning  in  India  in  1793. 

Meanwhile,  missionary  work  had  been  commenced  in  South 
Africa.  The  Moravians  were  first,  as  they  have  been  in  other 
fields.  George  Schmidt  went  out  as  early  as  1737,  and  laboiu^ed 
six  years  among  the  Hottentots  ;  but  it  was  not  until  the  last 
decade  of  the  century  that  the  Dutch,  who  then  reigned  at  the 
Cape,  allowed  others  to  go.  The  British,  however,  conquered  the 
colony,  and  in  1798  the  new  London  Missionary  Society  sent  that 
remarkable  Hollander,  Dr.  John  Vanderkemp,  to  work  among 
both  Hottentots  and  Kaffirs.  How  the  Gospel  was  sent  to  West 
Africa  will  appear  in  a  future  chapter.  We  now  turn  again  to  the 
Imttle  of  the  Slave  Trade. 

Year  after  year,  as  we  have  seen,  Wilberforce's  efforts  had  been 
ballled  ;  and  when  the  eighteenth  century  closed,  the  question 
seemed  no  nearer  solution.  Yet,  notwithstanding  the  opposition 
of  the  slave-traders,  of  the  royal  dukes,  and  of  King  George 
himself,  conviction  gradually  forced  itself  upon  the  minds  of 
most  honest  men.  The  Evangelical  Churchmen,  the  Methodists, 
the  regular  Dissenters,  and  the  Quakers,  combined  to  use  all 
their  influence  in  getting  petitions  sent 
some  of  the  bishops  did  good  service  in 
Political    events,    and    the    overwhelming 


to  Parliament;  and 
the  House  of  Lords, 
anxieties    about     the 


Wa)-,  prevented  any  definite  steps  being  taken  in  the  first  three 
years  of  the  new  century ;  l)ut  in  1804  Wilberforce  again 
advanced  to  the  attack.  The  change  in  the  minds  of  men  was  at 
once  apparent.     The  bill  passed    all  stages  in  the  Commons  by 


CHARLES  GRANT. 


REV.  HENRY  MARTYN. 


REV.  ABDUL  MASIH. 


REV.    CLAUDIUS   BUCHANAN. 


REV.  DANIEL  CORRIE. 


Chnrlos  Gi-aiit,  ?;ast  India  Director. 

irciiiy  Miutyn.  Senior  \Vniii>rler,  Kiist  India  Chaplain  ;  Pir.-t  Enirlisliman  offering  to  C.M.S. 

-MnIuI  Mnsili.  Henry  Martyn'.s  Ci.nvcrt  from  Islam  ;  First  Iniliaii  Clerirvman. 

C'laudiu.-i  Hiu-lmnan,  V.nsi  India  ('liaii)iiin. 

Diuiiel  forrie,  Kast  India  Chaplain;    First  Bishop  of  Madras. 


Aj-rica  and  Ixdia  :  Struca.le  axd   Victory  93 

large  majorities.     But  the  House  of  Lords  deferred  it  for  a  year  ;   Part  II. 
and  in  1805,  owing  to   the  absence   of   many  friends  "  through  1786-1811. 
forgetfulness,  or  accident,  or  engagements  preferred    f)om  hike-         'f'"  ^' 
wannness,"  it  was  thrown    out    in    the    Commons.     Wilherforce 
was  deeply  pained.     "  I  could  not  sleep,"   he   wrote  ;    "  the  poor 
blacks  ruslied   into  my  mind,  and  the  guilt  of  our  wicked  land." 
Tiien  can)e  the  death  of  I'ilt,  licart-hroken  at  Napoleon's  crushing 
victory   at  'Austerlitz  ;  and  then   the  death  of  his  old  rival,  but 
comrade-in-arms  against  the  slave-trade,  Fox.     Wilberforce  had 
now  to  contend,  not  only  with  the  last  desperate  energies  of  "  the 
trade,"  and  the  active  hostility  of  the  royal  dukes,  but  with  the 
lukewarmness  of  leading  statesmen  who  professed  to  be  allies. 
But  he  was  the  central  figure  of  an   increasing  body  of  resolute 
men,  bent  not  only  upon  the  abolition  of  the  slave-tratle,  but  upon 
many  other  ])hihiiitlnopic  objects.     Mr.  Colquhoun  draws  several 
pictures    of  Wil  her  force's   daily   life,    first    in  Palace   Yard,    and  Scene  in 
afterwards    at  Kensington.     Here  is    a  fragment  describing   the  Yard" 
scene  in  Palace  Yard,  while  Pitt  was  yet  alive  : — 

"  Its  boll  is  always  tinkling,  iuid  the  kn(  >ckt;r  never  still ;  up  tlie  c'r« )\vde(l 
door-step  and  douu  again  there  flows  a  stream  of  men,  which  runs  on 
without  stofjping  from  morning  to  niglit;  and  sncli  (jueer  visitors,  black 
and  white,  rosy-faced  Saxons,  and  woolly-liairod  Africans;  bnstling, 
warm  men  from  tlie  city,  spruce  peers  and  baronets  from  the  AVest  End, 
stout  scpiires  from  Yorksliire.  broad-cloth  manufacturers  from  l^radford 
and  Ficeds,  broad-brimmed  (juakers  from  London,  York,  and  Norwich, 
yellow-faced  nabobs  who  have  been  burnt  under  the  tropics;  and  mixed 
with  these,  black-coated  clergymen,  and  grave  dignitaries,  and  smooth- 
shaven  preachers  of  many  sects.  Here  you  meet  that  stout  Scotchman, 
East  India  Director.  Mr.  Grant,  whose  sons  are  just  beginning  to  be 
noticed,  and  that  stern,  silent  tnan,  with  (juick  step  and  keen  grey  eyes, 
the  father  of  a  son  more  famous,  Zathary  Macaulay  ;  and  that  i,navo, 
austere  banker,  whose  word  the  ("ity  of  Loiitlon  takes  as  a  bond,  who 
has  a  name  and  nott;  in  the  House  of  Conunons  Henry  Thornton  ;  and 
that  long,  .shy,  bashful  cleri,fyman,  Mr.  (iisborne,  who  comes  up  un- 
willingly from  his  Staffordshire  woods;  and  that  stout,  portly  dean,  Mr, 
Milner,  who  walks  and  talks  as  if  he  had  borrowed  the  voice  of  Dr. 
Jolui.son  ;  and  that  gentle  layman.  Mr.  liabinjj;ton,  from  Leicesti'rshire ; 
and  the  acute  and  energetic  William  Smith,  member  for  Norwich;  and 
the  courteous  peer  from  the  hills  of  Cumberland,  Lord  Muncaster.  That 
(piick  step  and  keen  legal  eye  belong  to  Mr.  Stephen.  Mixed  with  these, 
you  have  the  bustling  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and  the  eaj;le-eyed 
Sct)tchman  with  his  broad  accent,  onuiipotent  to  the  north  of  the  Tweed; 
and  then  (for  the  House  is  up)  a  notable  pair,  the  tall  figure  of  the 
Premier  [l'itt\  with  the  ruddy  features,  cheerful  voice,  and  pleasant  joke 
of  Addington." 

Not  till  the  winter  of  lHOG-7  did  \Vilberforce  at  last  witness  the 
triunipli  of  his  cause.  Then,  in  division  after  division,  he  proved 
victorious  ;  obstacle  after  obstacle  was  overcome  ;  the  Lords  passed 
the  bill ;  then  it  came  to  the  Connnons.  On  February  23rd  the 
second  reading  was  pioposed.  The  o})position  now  nuide  little 
show.     Sir  Samuel  Romilly  touched  the  House  to  its  heart's  core 


94  Africa  and  India  :  Strucgle  and   Victory 

Part  II.   when  he  "  entreated  the  young  members  of  parhament  to  let  that 
1786-1811.  day's  event  be  a  lesson  to  them,  how  much  the   rewards  of  virtue 
^^'    '   exceeded  those  of  ambition  ;  and  then   contrasted  the  feelings  of 
Napoleon    Buonaparte   in   all   his    greatness   with   those   of    the 
honoured  man  who  would  that  night  lay  his  head  upon  his  pillow 
British        y^Y\di  remember  that  the  Slave  Trade  was  no  more  ";  and  shouts  of 
Trade         acclamation  burst  forth    such   as   had  rarely  been  heard  in  the 
abolished.   House.     The  second  reading  was  carried  by  283  to  16 ;  the  bill 
went  safely  through  committee,  and  back  to  the  Lords  for  final 
acceptance  ;  and  on  March  25th,  1807,  it  received  the  royal  assent. 
"  God  will  now  bless  the  country,"  wrote  the  victorious  champion: 
"  the  first  authentic  account  of  the  defeat  of  the  French  has  come 
to-day."     It  was  true.     From  that  time  the  tide    in    the    great 
European  struggle  turned.     In  the  very  year  which  abolished  the 
hateful  traffic,   began  the  series  of  events  in   Spain  which  cul- 
minated in  the  victories  of  Wellington   and  the  fall  of  Napoleon. 
"  Oh,  what  thanks,"  continues  Wilberforce's  journal,  "do  I  owe 
the  Giver  of  all  good,  for  bringing  me  in  His  gracious  providence 
to  this  great  cause,  which  at  length,  after  almost  nineteen  years' 
labour,  is  successful!  " 

In  the  same  year,  1807,  other  events  occurred  of  great  impor- 
tance to  the  Colony  of  Sierra  Leone.  First,  the  misfortunes  of 
the  Sierra  Leone  Company,  which  had  often  given  great  anxiety 
to  Wilberforce  and  the  Thorntons,  led  to  a  parliamentary  inquir}'. 
Transfer  of  and  this  to  the  transfer  of  the  settlement  to  the  direct  administra- 
Le^o^neto  ^^^^^  ^^  ^^®  Crowu,  which  was  effected  on  January  1st,  1808. 
the  Crown.  The  directors  of  the  Company,  in  a  final  report,  justly  pleaded 
that,  notwithstanding  the  tremendous  obstacles  they  had  had  to 
encounter,  and  the  heavy  financial  losses  incurred  in  the  enter- 
prise, much  good  work  had  been  done.  They  had  "  established  a 
colony  which,  by  the  blessing  of  Providence,  might  become  an 
emporium  of  commerce,  a  school  of  industry',  and  a  source  of 
knowledge,  civilization,  and  religious  improvement,  to  the  in- 
habitants of  the  African  Continent  ";  and  they  declined  to  regard 
this  as  an  unworthy  return  for  the  pecuniary  sacrifices  of  the 
shareholders.  Like  another  African  Company  long  afterwards, 
they  were  "  content  to  take  out  their  dividends  in  philanthropy." 
New  plans  Then  sccondly.  Government  arranged  for  the  reception  at 
s°ave"  Sierra  Leone  of  slaves  who  might  be  rescued  from  slave-ships  still 
plying  in  defiance  of  the  law  and  captured  by  the  British  cruisers 
sent  to  enforce  the  law.  The  population  thereu]ion  began  to 
increase  rapidly,  some  two  thousand  "  liberated  Africans,"  as  they 
were  called,  being  added  to  it  annually  for  several  years.  These 
having  been  kidnapped  from  all  parts  of  West  Africa,  tliere  were 
gathered  at  Sierra  Leone  repi'esentatives  of  more  than  a  hundred 
tribes,  almost  all  speaking  different  languages  or  dialects.  Their 
moral  condition  was  deplorable,  and  for  some  years  the  settlement 
presented  sad  scenes  of  barbarism,  immorality,  and  superstition. 
But,  thirdly,  for  the  improvement  and  civilization  of  the  people,  a 


Africa  axp  Ixdia  :  SrRUcnr.F.  and   Victory  q; 

new  ComiJany   was   formed   called   the   Afiicaii   Institution.     The    Paht  II. 
Duke  of  Gloucester,  one  of  the  royal  princes,  was  president ;  and  ^[f?*''''^|^'- 
several  bishops,  statesmen,  and  philantluopists  formed  the  {govern-       '"^ 
inf^  body,  including?  Wilberforce,  Clarkson,  Granville  Sharp,  four 
Thorntons,  Zachary   Macaulay,   Charles   Grant,   James  Stephen, 
and  others   whose    names   will  become   familiar  in   this  History. 
I'jiier^etic  steps  were  taken  for  the  iM-nclit  of  the  Colony.      Schools 
were  opened  ;  the  j^rowth  of  ])rofilal)le  products  was  encoura^i'd  ; 
and  the   people  were   incited   to   en^'a^'e   in  both   agriculture  and 
trade.     But  it   must   be   acknowledj^ed   that   the   success  of  these 
measures  was  very  partial ;  and  it  was  not  until  the  direct  teachini^  Yet  one 
of  the  Gospel  was  undertaken — from  which  the  African  .Xssociation  {^^5!mg"" 
was  precluded    by    its   constitution  -  that   any    real    and  marked 
improvement  began  to  i)e  seen  in  Sierra  Leone. 

How  this  teaching  came  to  be  given  will  appear  hereafter. 
But  we  can  now  see  how  natural  it  was  for  a  new  missionaiy 
society  founded  by  men  of  the  "  Clapham  Sect  "  to  i)ear  the  name 
of  .\frica  upon  the  forefront  of  its  title.  In  tlie  Instructions 
delivered  to  the  first  two  missionaries  sent  out,  in  1S04,  the  facts 
that  had  direct^i'd  the  minds  of  the  ('onimittee  to  \Vest  Africa  are 
clearly  stated  : — 

"  The  teiiipural  uiisoiy  <if  tlie  whole  Ib-atlit'ii  WCiM  has  l)eiii  drt'a<l- 
fiilly  a>i;^ravatu(l  liy  its  iiitfrcoursp  witli  men  \vln>  hear  tin*  nuiiie  of 
Christians;  hut  tlu-  Wisteni  coast  of  Afrita  hetwcen  the  Tropics,  and 
iiiort' csiK'ciiilly  tliat  jtart  of  ithetwcen  the  Line  and  the  Tropic  ofCancer, 
has  not  only,  in  (■oimiion  witli  otlier  huatlion  (oiintrifs.  iiM-civcd  from  us 
our  disi-ascs  and  our  vit-es.  hut  it  lias  e\t'r  hcen  tlic  chief  theatre  of  the 
ii))iiimaii  Slave  Tiade  ;  and  tens  of  tliou.saiids  of  its  cliiidnn  have  Iteen 
animally  torn  from  tlieir  ile:iri-st  connexions  to  minister  to  the  hixuries 
of  men  liearini;  the  Christian  name,  and  who  had  no  mon;  ri^ht  to  exeicise 
tliis  violenci!  than  the  .Vfricans  had  to  depopulate  our  coa.sts  with  a 
similar  view.  'I'lie  wiekedness  and  w  retclutjness  eonsecpient  upon  thi.s 
trade  of  hiood  have  deeply  and  extensively  infected  tlie.se  siiores  ;  and 
tliou^li  \Vest«'rn  .Africa  may  justly  chaifre  liei-  suft'erin^'s  from  this  trade 
ujion  all  Kuropi",  direetly  or  n-motely.  yi-t  the  British  Nation  is  now,  and 
has  lon<;  heen,  most  tleeply  criminal.  We  desire,  therefore,  while  wo 
jiray  and  lahour  for  tlie  removal  i>f  this  evil,  to  make  We.stern  Africa  tlie 
l>est  remnmratioii  in  our  power  for  its  manifold  wrongs.'' 

Nobly  indeed  was  this  ntible  purpose  fulfdled.  There  are  few 
episodes  in  all  missionary  history  more  moving  than  the  story  of 
the  early  i-lVoits  of  the  Church  ^lissionary  Society  in  West  .\frica. 
It  is  a  story  of  faith  tested  and  tested  again  and  again,  of  patience 
having  her  perfect  work,  of  disappointment  and  disaster,  and  of 
the  mighty  power  of  l)iviiie  grace  in  the  luaits  of  the  most 
degiaded  of  mankintl. 

Let  us  now  turn  to  India.     One  result  of  Wilberforce's  unsuc-  ^"st  India 

r    \  1        •  Ti-  f    1       T-i  T      !•     /-I  •     v-ompany 

cessf ul  attempt  to  ol)tam  a  modincation  of  the  Last  1  nclia  Company  s  exclude 
charter   in    1793  was  that  the  Company  stitTened  its   regulations  ^1^*'°"" 
touching  the  admission  into  its  territories  of  persons — merchants 


96  Africa  and  India  :  Stkuggle  and    Victory 

Part  II.  or  others — not  sent  by  itself.  "  A  man  without  a  '  covenant '  was 
1786-1811.  a  dangerous  person  ;  doubly  dangerous  the  man  without  a  '  cove- 
Chap^9.  ^^^-^^'  ^^^^  jf^jif]^  ^^  Bible." '■'■'-  Carey  was  the  first  to  suffer.  He 
embarked  in  a  Company's  ship,  but  it  being  discovered,  just  before 
she  sailed,  that  he  had  no  licence,  he  and  his  baggage  were  sent 
ashore  again.  Then  he  obtained  a  passage  in  a  Danish  ship  ;  but 
on  his  arrival  at  Calcutta,  having  no  licence  from  the  Company  to 
reside  in  Bengal,  which  at  that  time  was  necessary,  Mr.  Udny 
entered  his  name  as  an  indigo-planter,  stood  surety  for  his  good 
conduct  in  a  large  sum  of  money,  and  sent  him  to  manage  one  of 
his  own  indigo  factories  a  hundred  and  fifty  miles  from  Calcutta. 
There,  and  in  that  capacity,  lived  for  six  years  the  one  representa- 
tive in  India  of  the  missionary  zeal  of  Christian  England  ;  and  in 
that  obscure — one  may  say  ignominious — way  began  English 
Missions  in  her  great  dependency. 

In  1796  came  another  Baptist  missionary,  Mr.  Fountain,  who 
succeeded  in  entering  the  country  in  the  character  of  a  servant 
on  Mr.  Udny's  estate ;  but  his  outspoken  sympathy  with  French 
republican  notions  caused  alarm,  and  brought  upon  him  the 
censure  of  his  Society.  It  was  the  avowal  of  similar  views  that 
prevented  that  noble  Scotchman,  Mr.  Haldane,  who  had  sold  his 
large  estate  to  go  out  and  found  a  Mission  in  Bengal,  from 
obtaining  leave  from  the  Company  to  go  ;  and  when,  in  1799, 
four  more  Baptist  missionaries  arrived  in  an  American  ship,  great 
alarm  prevailed  in  Calcutta,  more  especially  as  a  Calcutta  paper, 
mistaking  the  word  "  Baptist,"  stated  that  four  Papists  had 
come,  who  were  at  once  assumed  to  be  French  spies.  In  our 
Fourth  Chapter  we  saw  something  of  the  reasons  for  the  horror 
and  detestation  with  which  any  democratic  opinions  were  then 
regarded  ;  and  as  Buonaparte  was  at  that  very  time  in  Egypt, 
and  was  known  to  have  designs  on  India,  we  are  not  surprised 
to  find  that  the  Governor-General  was  taking  steps  to  expel 
"  all  Frenchmen  and  republicans."  Thirteen  years  after,  when 
Napoleon's  Grand  Army  had  been  destroyed  in  Eussia,  the  Mis- 
sionary Register  opened  its  number  for  April,  1813,  with  an  article 
headed  "  India  secured  to  Britain  by  Eussian  Victories  " — which 
has  in  our  day  a  curious  sound. 

Tlie   four   missionaries   were   instantly   ordered    to    leave    the 

country  ;  but  they  contrived  to  get  up  the  Hooghly  in  a  boat  by 

night  to  Serampore,  a  small  Danish  settlement  fifteen  miles  north 

Danish        of  Calcutta.     "  It  was  a  sort  of  Alsatian  receptacle,"  says  Sir  John 

?e^c"i5eT"*  Kaye,t  "  for  outcasts  of  all  kinds.     Fugitive  debtors  from  Calcutta 

them.  found  there  an  asylum  where  English  law  could  not  reach  them  ; 

and   even    that   most  perilous  and   pestilential   of   all    suspected 

persons,  the  missionary  of  the  Gospel,   might  lie  there  without 

molestation."     For  the  Danish  governor,  on  being  challenged  by 

the  Calcutta  authorities  to  give  them  up,  refused  to  do  so.     The 

*  Kave's  ChrL^tianihi  in  Tndla,  ji.  223.  t   f^''^'->  P-  228. 


Africa  and  India  :  Struggle  and   Viciorv  97 

result  was  that  Carey  left  his  indigo  factory  and  came  and  joined  Part  II. 
them;  and  so,  in  January,  1800,  began  the  great  Serampore  ^J,^^"^^^!- 
Mission,  which  was  to  be  a  power  in  India  for  many  a  long  year.  ^^' 

.  A  remarkable  man  must  now  be  introduced,  to  whom,  perhaps 
more  than  to  any  one  else,  the  coming  opening  of  India  to  the 
Gospel  was  due.  Claudius  Buchanan  was  a  young  Scotchman  ciaudius 
who  had  left  his  studies  at  Glasgow  University  to  wander  over  Buchanan. 
Europe  with  his  violin,  but,  finding  liimself  destitute  in  England, 
had  "  come  to  himself  in  the  far  country,"  had  been  led  to  Christ 
by  old  John  Newton,  and  sent  to  Cambridge  at  the  expense  of 
Henry  Thornton.  Subsequently  Simeon  obtained  for  him  an 
East  Indian  chaplaincy,  and  he  arrived  in  Calcutta  in  1797.  He 
quickly  became  a  power  in  Bengal,  and  in  1800  was  appointed  to 
preach  before  the  Governor-General,  the  Ma)(juis  Wellesley,  on  a 
nicnioraljle  occasion.  Nelson  had  destroyed  the  Fi-encli  fleet  at 
the  Battle  of  the  Nile,  and  their  Syrian  campaign  had  failed  ;  and 
a  Thanksgiving  Day  was  proclaimed  at  Calcutta  "  for  the  ultimate 
and  happy  establishment  of  the  tranquillity  and  security  of  the 
British  possessions  in  India."  Lord  Wellesley  was  so  stirred  by 
Buchanan's  sermon,  that  he  ordered  copies  to  be  circulated  all 
over  India  and  sent  home  to  the  East  India  Directors ;  and 
almost  immediately  afterwards  he  put  David  Brown  and  Buchanan 
at  the  head  of  a  great  College  he  was  founding  for  the  education 
of  young  Englishmen  in  the  Indian  languages,  and  generally  for 
the  promotion  of  Western  literature  and  science.  As  the  only 
man  in  India  competent  to  teach  Bengali  was  Carey,  Brown  per- 
suaded the  Governor-General  to  appoint  him,  assuring  him  that 
he  was  "  well  affected  to  the  Government."  The  large  salaries 
attached  to  the  offices  held  by  these  three  good  men  were 
imreservedly  devoted  to  preparing  the  way  for  further  Missions 
by  printing  translations  of  the  Scriptures. 

Buchanan  spent  some  of  his  money  in  another  way.  He  sent 
home  no  less  than  £1650  to  the  universities  and  pui)lic  schools  of 
England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland,  to  be  offered  in  prizes  for  the  Buchanan 
best  essays  and  poems,  English,  Latin,  and  Greek,  on  subjects ''"^^*' 
that  would  set  the  competing  students  thinking  of  the  spread  of 
the  Gospel  in  India.  The  subject  of  the  Greek  Ode,  VivlaOtM  <f>C)<;, 
is  worth  noting  in  view  of  what  will  be  related  piesently.  The 
successful  English  poem  was  sent  in  by  young  Charles  Grant,  son 
of  the  great  Anglo-Indian  above-mentioned,  and  fourth  W^ rangier 
in  Henry  Martyn's  year.  Buchanan  followed  this  up  by  giving 
Oxford  and  Cambridge  £500  each  for  the  best  English  prose  work 
on  certain  missionarj'  topics,  one  of  them  being  the  History  of 
Missions  in  all  ages.  At  Oxford,  the  prize  was  won  by  Hugh 
Pearson,  afterwards  Dean  of  Salisbury,  and  biographer  of 
Schwartz,  and  of  Buchanan  himself.  His  Essay  has  been  already 
referred  to,  and  quoted  from,  in  this  History.*     At  Cambridge  the 

•  See  p.  8. 
VOL.    I.  H 


q8  Afiuca  and  India  :  S-jkuggle  and    VjcroRi' 

Part  II.   best  Essay  (though  a  technicahty  deprived  it  of  the  prize)  was  by 
1786-1811.  John   W.  Cunningham,  Fellow  of   St.  John's,  fifth  Wrangler  in 
Chap.  9.   1802,  and  afterwards  Vicar  of  Harrow.     All  these  three  successful 
'  competitors  became  active  C. M.S.  men. 

Meanwhile  Buchanan  was  vigorously  using  his  own  vigorous 
pen,  sending  home  his  works  for  publication  in  England.  One  of 
these,  the  Memoir  of  the  Expediency  of  an  Ecclesiastical  Estahlish- 
ment  in  British  India,  had  great  influence  afterwards.  Another, 
entitled  Christian  Besearchcs  in  Die  East,  describing  a  visit  he 
paid  to  Travancore,  in  order  to  inquire  into  the  condition  of  the 
ancient  Syrian  Church  there,  led,  ten  years  later,  to  the  establish- 
ment of  the  C.M.S.  Travancore  Mission. 
Successor  All  this  time  the  Serampore  Mission  had  been  growing  in 
NHssTon.  strength  and  influence.  Not  only  w^as  its  literary  and  translational 
work  most  extensive  and  valuable,  but  it  w^as  gaining  converts. 
In  six  years  ninety-six  adults  had  been  baptized,  including  six 
Brahmans  and  nine  Mohammedans.  Sir  William  Jones,  the  great 
Orientalist,  had  declared  that  no  Brahman  could  be  converted  ;  and 
again  and  again, even  to  our  own  day,  has  it  been  asserted  that  no 
Moslem  ever  is  converted.  Sir  William  knew  the  power  of  caste, 
and  the  critics  know  the  power  of  Islam.  But  he  forgot,  and  they 
forget,  the  power  of  the  Cross  ;  and  the  Serampore  converts  w^ere  but 
the  first  of  a  long  series  of  proud  Brahmans  and  fanatical  Moslems 
who  have  come  to  the  feet  of  the  Son  of  God.  There  were  some,  in- 
deed, as  there  have  been  some  in  all  ages  from  Ananias  and  Sapphira 
downwards,  who  proved  unworthy  members  ;  but  others  became 
conspicuous  examples  of  the  transforming  power  of  the  Gospel. 
Encouraged  by  these  successes,  and  by  the  high  character  and 
tolerant  policy  of  Lord  Wellesley,  the  Baptist  missionaries  began 
to  distribute  tracts,  and  even  to  preach  and  teach,  in  Calcutta,  and 
in  the  surrounding  rural  districts  ;  but  these  proceedings  were 
quickly  checked,  and  an  unfortunate  tract  attacking  the  character 
of  Mohammed  led  to  greater  vigilance  on  the  part  of  the 
authorities.  It  was  at  this  time,  too,  but  after  Lord  Wellesley  had 
left  India,  that  the  Government  passed  a  special  Act  taking  the 
Temple  of  Juggernaut,  with  all  its  horrors  and  immoralities,  under 
State  protection  and  patronage. 

Then,  in  1806,  occurred  an  event  which  threw  back  the  progress 

Veiiore        of  liberty  for  seven  years.     Some  of  the  Sepoy  troops  at  Vellore, 

Mutiny.      yiQ.^y  Madras,  mutinied.     A  mighty  panic  was  engendered  ;  and  it 

suited  the  purpose  of   the  Anglo-Indians  w^ho  were  opposed  to 

Missions  to  attribute  the  outbreak  to  alarm  caused  by  the  presence 

of  missionaries.'''     From  that  time  the  Company  and  its  officers 

became  more  and  more  hostile.     Two  Baptist   missionaries  who 

More  mis-  arrived  in  1807  were  ordered  off  at  once,  and  one  of  them  pro- 

sionaries      ceeded  to  Burmah  instead,  and  started  a  Mission  there.     In  1811, 

excluded. 

*  AiJiopos  of  ibis  panic  Sir  John  Kaye  observes,  "  It  is  always  religion  that 
is  to  blame.  If  a  man  catches  cold,  be  caught  it  at  church  ;  such  accidents 
never  happen  at  the  theatre."      Christiauity  in  India,  p.  252. 


Africa  and  India  :  Struggle  and   Victory  99 

one  of  the  Serampore  men,  Mr.  Chamberlain,  went  up  to  Agra,   Part  II. 
but  was  instantly  sent  back  under  a  guard  of  Heathen  Sepoys  ;  1786-1811. 
and  on  being  invited  again  to  the  North-West  to  be  tutor  to  an  P" 

officer's  children,  he  was  a  second  time  ordered  back  by  Lord 
Hastings,  then  Governor-General,  who  said  that  "one  might  fire 
a  pistol  into  a  magazine  and  it  might  not  explode,  but  no  wise 
man  would  hazard  the  experiment."  In  1812,  three  English  and 
five  American  missionaries  arrived  at  Calcutta.  The  latter  w'ere 
the  very  first  sent  forth  by  the  newly-formed  American  Board  of 
Commissioners  of  Foreign  Missions,  a  body  similar  in  constitution 
to  the  London  Missionary  Society,  liut,  like  it,  virtually  the  society 
of  the  Congregationalists.  All  the  eight  were  peremptorily  refused 
permission  to  land.  Two  of  the  Americans,  one  of  them  being  the 
heroic  Judson,  became  Baptists,  and  got  leave  to  go  to  Burmah. 
After  a  series  of  difficulties  enough  to  try  the  faith  and  patience  of 
the  boldest,  but  which  cannot  be  detailed  here,  the  other  three, 
who  had  escaped  in  a  coasting  vessel  to  Bombay,  were  allowed  to 
remain  there ;  and  they  ultimately  laid  the  foundation  of  the 
prosperous  American  Mission  in  that  Presidency.  Of  the  English- 
men one  was  deported,  one  escaped  to  Serampore,  and  one  to  a 
Dutch  settlement ;  but  this  one  was  eventually  expelled,  and  the 
Mission  was  ordered  to  pay  £500  to  cover  the  expense  of  sending 
him  home.  Even  at  Madras,  the  Government  of  which  was 
usually  more  tolerant,  and  had  just  put  up  a  monument  to 
Schwartz  at  the  Company's  expense,  a  missionary  of  the  London 
Missionary  Society  w^as  expelled  in  the  same  year,  1812. 

The  Vellore  Mutiny  caiised  greater  alarm  in  England  even  than  Contro- 
in  India.  A  war  of  pamphlets  ensued,  opened  by  a  member  of  the  Efnlund 
East  India  Company  named  Twining,  who  quoted  from  Buchanan's 
Memoir  before  mentioned,  and  moved  the  Court  of  Proprietors  to 
expel  all  missionaries  from  India  and  stop  all  printing  of  the 
Scriptures  in  Indian  languages  ;  and  this  motipn  was  only  defeated 
by  the  strenuous  efforts  of  Charles  Grant,  who  was  now  an 
influential  Director  of  the  Company.  A  Bengal  officer.  Major 
Scott-Waring,  published  a  Vindication  of  the  Hindoos  from  the 
Aspersions  of  the  Bev.  C.  Buchanan.  Well  might  Wilberforce 
write  of  the  Anglo-Indians  who,  "  having  lived  among  Pagans 
for  many  years,"  had  now  "  come  home  with  large  fortunes,  and 
manifested  their  heathenish  principles  by  openly  espousing  the 
cause  of  the  Vedas  against  the  Scriptures  and  the  Hindoo  against 
the  Christian  faith."  Among  the  replies  was  one  by  Lord  Teign- 
mouth  himself.  Sydney  Smith  published  his  famous  and  furious 
attack  on  Indian  Missions  in  the  Edinburgh  Bevieiv  (April,  1807), 
aiming  his  bitterest  shafts  at  the  "  consecrated  cobblers "  who 
were  engaged  in  such  a  work.  Southey  rejoined  in  the  very  first 
number  of  the  Quarterly  Bevieiv  (April,  1808). 

Buchanan  now  came  home,  and  threw  himself  into  the  conflict  Bucha- 
with  characteristic  impetuosity.     But  instead  of  flinging  pamphlets  campaign, 
at  his  opponents,  he  preached  sermons  to  his  friends.      If  only  the 

H  2 


100  Africa  and  India  :  Struggle  and   Victor v 

Part  II.   Christian  public  could  be  stirred  up  to  care  for  the  evangelization 

1786-1811.  of  India,  he  cared  little  for  what  the  critics  might  say.     His  great 

Chap.  9.   ggi^n^oi-i  c^t  Bristol  on  February  26th,  1809,  which  (said  a  paper  of 

the  day)  "  kept  the  minds  of  a  large  auditory  in  a  state  of  most  Hvely 

sensation  for  an  hour  and  twenty-five  minutes,"  and  which  was 

;'The  Star  published  with  the  title  "  The  Star  in  the  East,"  may  be  truly  said 

Ealt.^'        to  have  first  awakened  the  interest  in  India  which  was  presently 

to  win  so  remarkal)le  a  victory  in  Parliament.     He  described  the 

labours  of  both  the  little  band  of  S.P.C.K.   Lutheran  missionaries 

in  the  South  and  the  Baptist  brethren  in  the  North.     He  told  the 

story  of  two  converts  from   Mohammedanism,  one  of  whom  had 

died  a  martyr  for  Christ.     He  appealed  powerfully  for  the  people 

he  loved  so  well,  and  closed  with  these  striking  words  :  ''■'■ — 

"  While  Ave  are  disputing  here  whether  the  faith  (jf  Clirist  can  save  the 
Heathen,  the  Gospel  hatli  gone  foi'th  for  tlie  healing  of  the  nations.  A 
cont'i-egatiou  of  Hindus  will  assemble  on  the  morning  of  the  Sabbath, 
under  the  shade  of  a  banyan-tree,  not  one  of  whom,  perhaps,  ever 
heard  of  Great  Britain  by  name.  There  the  Holy  Bible  is  opened  ;  the 
Word  of  Christ  is  preached  with  eloquence  and  zeal;  tlie  atlections  are 
excited;  the  voice  of  prayer  and  praise  is  lifted  up;  and  He  who 
hath  promised  His  presence  when  two  or  three  are  gathered  together 
in  His  name,  is  there  in  the  nudst  of  them  to  bless  them,  according  to 
His  word.  These  scenes  I  myself  liave  witnessed;  and  it  is  in  this 
sense  in  particular  I  can  say,   We  /tare  .seen  His  tSfar  in.  the  Ea^iT 

Then,  in  1810,  he  preached  the  C.M.S.  Annual  Sermon,  on 
the  words,  "  Ye  are  the  light  of  the  world."  This  text,  and  the 
"  star  in  the  east,"  are  both  of  them  interesting  as  embodying  the 
same  thought  as  the  subject  he  had  chosen  five  years  before  for  the 
(ireek  Ode  ;  and  on  the  very  words  of  that  subject,  "  Let  there  be 
light,"  he  preached  in  the  University  Church  at  Cambridge  in  this 
same  year.  Light  for  India's  darkness  was  thus  repeatedly  his 
theme  ;  and,  in  the  C.M.S.  Sermon,  very  impressively  does  he 
dwell  on  both  the  darkness  and  the  light. 

In  these  ways  the  public  mind  was  becoming  familiarized  with 
the  great  questions  about  to  be  raised  when  the  Company's 
Charter  should  have  to  be  renewed  in  1813.  A  year  before  that, 
Christian  men  began  to  form  plans  for  hifluencing  Parhament. 
wiiber-  Wilberforce,  mindful  of  his  defeat  on  the  same  question  nineteen 
force  to  the  yg^rs  before,  would  remember  that  it  took  exactly  nineteen  years 
to  get  the  Slave  Trade  abolished,  and  would  be  encouraged  by  the 
victorious  issue  which  God  had  graciously  granted  to  his  African 
campaign  to  hope  for  a  similar  interposition  of  the  same  Lord  of 
Hosts  in  the  Indian  campaign  he  was  about  to  undertake.  "  It  is 
a  shocking  idea,"  he  wrote  to  a  friend,  "  that  we  should  leave  sixty 
milhons  of  our  fellow-subjects,  nay  of  our  tenants  (for  we  collect 
about  seventeen  millions  sterling  from  the  rent  of  their  lands),  to 
remain  in  a  state  of  barbarism  and  ignorance,  the  slaves  of  the  most 
cruel  and  degrading  superstition."     To  Hannah  More  he   wrote, 

*   QMM.  Report,  1809,  Appendis,  p.  515. 


Africa  and  India  :  Struggle  and   Victory  loi 

"  Now  that  the  Slave  Trade  is  abolished,  this  is  by  far  the  greatest  Part  II. 
of  our  national  sins."     In  his  diary  we  see  him  using  dinner-  ""^p^^'-^^q"^' 
parties  and  all  sorts  of  other  opportunities  to  influence  leading  men        ^P" 
to  help  him — to  use  his  owai  words — in  "getting  leave  for  Gospel 
light  to  pass  into  India."     "This,"  he  wrote,  "is  indeed  a  cause 
for  which  it  is  worth  while  being  a  public  man." 

The  battle  now  began.  Wilborforco  marshalled  his  forces ; 
Buchanan  wielded  his  vigorous  pen  ;  Grant  and  Parry  used  every 
effort  to  influence  their  fellow-Directors  ;  Pratt  threw  his  energies 
into  the  work  of  rousing  the  country.  On  the  other  side  pamphlet 
after  pamphlet,  article  after  article  in  newspaper  and  review,  held 
up  to  the  contempt  of  the  world  the  miserable  and  hopeless 
attempts  of  "consecrated  cobblers"  to  convert  the  mild  Hindu, 
and  at  the  same  time,  with  glorious  inconsistency,  tried  to  frighten 
the  English  people  into  the  belief  that  unless  they  put  a  stop  to 
the  said  "  consecrated  cobblers  "  they  would  infallibly  lose  India. 

The  campaign  \vas  opened  on  April  24th,  1812,  by  an  important  ^^^^^^"^^ 
Public  Meeting  on  the  India  question,  arranged  by  the  Church 
Missionary  Society,  at  which  four  hundred  gentlemen  assembled, 
including  many  M.P.'s  and  other  influential  persons.  Wilberforce 
in  his  diary  calls  it  "  a  grand  assemblage,"  and  adds,  "I  spoke 
wdth  acceptance."  A  few  days  later  he  attended  a  meeting  of 
the  S.P.C.K.  for  the  same  object  at  the  office  of  that  Society, 
which  also  had  been  stirred  up  by  Buchanan's  works,  and  which 
was  employing  its  more  recognized  influence  in  the  same  cause.''' 

Besides  the  pressure  brought  to  bear  on  the  Government  in 
this  way,  and  by  personal  influence,  two  measures  of  importance 
were  taken,  chiefly  at  the  instance  and  at  the  cost  of  the  Church 
Missionary  Society.  One  was  the  rousing  of  the  Christian  public 
to  send  petitions  to  Parliament  from  all  parts  of  the  country. 
Pratt  worked  at  this  with  untiring  energy  ;  and  the  number  sent 
in  (about  850)  was  the  largest  ever  known  up  to  that  time  upon 
any  subject.  The  other  was  the  commissioning  Buchanan  to 
take  up  his  pen  once  more  ;  and  two  powerful  pamphlets  were 
the  result,  one  on  the  general  subject  of  religion  in  India  and  the 
other  on  the  importance  of  an  "ecclesiastical  establishment" 
there.  These  were  printed  at  the  Society's  expense,  sent  to  all 
M.P.'s,  and  circulated  by  thousands  in  the  country.  In  the  midst 
of  the  agitation  arrived  the  news  of  Henry  Martyn's  death,  at 
Tokat  in  Armenia,  on  his  way  home  from  India  and  Persia.  Such 
an  event,  at  such  a  moment,  stirred  the  hearts  of  the  workers  in 
the  cause,  and  spurred  them  on  to  more  strenuous  efforts  for  the 
opening  of  India  to  the  Gospel. 

"The  harvest,"  writes  Sir  John  Kaye,  "now  appeared  ready 
for  the  sickle.  The  labours  of  those  busy  workmen,  Grant, 
Teignmouth,  Thornton,  Wilberforce,  Buchanan,  and  their  com- 

*  In  the  recently-published  History  of  the  S.P.C.K.  the  entire  credit  is  given 
to  that  Society,  and  the  C.M.S.  is  not  mentioned.     But  this  is  not  "history." 


I02 


Africa  and  India  :  Struggle  and   Victory 


Part  II. 

1786-1811. 

Chap.  9. 


House  of 

Commons 

examines 

Lord 

Teign- 

mouth. 


panions,  were  at  length  about  to  be  rewarded.  They  had  toiled 
and  striven  manfully  for  years ;  they  had  encountered  public 
opposition  and  private  ridicule  ;  they  had  been  shouted  at  by  the 
timid  and  sneered  at  by  the  profane  ;  they  had  l)een  described  as 
dangerous  intermeddlers,  and  as  imbecile  fanatics.  They  had 
contended  only  against  the  open  official  suppression  of  Christianity 
in  India  ;  they  had  asked  only  for  toleration ;  they  had  demanded 
that,  in  the  midst  of  opposing  creeds,  the  faith  of  the  Christian 
might  be  suffered  to  walk  unveiled  and  unfettered.  They  had 
been  seeking  this  liberty  for  many  years  ;  and  now  at  last  the  day 
of  emancipation  was  beginning  to  dawn  upon  them."  * 

Proceedings  in  the  House  of  Commons  began  with  the  exa- 
mination of  witnesses  in  Committee  of  the  whole  House.  Two 
former  Governors-General  were  examined.  Warren  Hastings, 
now  an  old  man,  was  very  cautious,  and  would  not  commit 
himself  to  either  approval  or  disapproval  of  missionaries,  or  of 
the  proposal  for  a  bishop  ;  but,  to  be  quite  safe,  he  adopted  the 
familiar  excuse  that  the  time  was  not  opportune.  Then  came 
Lord  Teignmouth.  Let  us  hear  Kaye's  graphic  account  of  his 
examination  :  t — - 

"The  Committee  seemed  to  know  the  kind  of  man  tlmy  had  to  deal 
with,  and  assailed  him  at  starting  by  putting  an  extreme  case  :  '  Would 
it  be  consistent  with  the  security  of  the  British  Empire  in  India  that 
missionaries  should  preach  pulilicly,  with  a  view  to  tlie  con\'ersion  of  the 
Native  Indians,  that  Mohaiumed  is  an  impostor,  or  should  speak  in 
opprobrious  terms  of  the  Brahmins,  or  their  religious  rites  Y  '  To  this, 
of  course.  Lord  Teignmcmtli  replied  that  tliere  might  be  danger  in  such 
indiscretion  ;  but  that  no  one  contemplated  the  conversion  of  the  Natives 
of  India  by  such  means  ;  and  when,  soon  afterwards,  the  question  was 
put,  '  Is  j'our  Lordship  aware  that  an  opinion  prevails  in  India  that  it 
is  the  intention  of  the  British  Government  to  take  means  to  convert  the 
Natives  of  the  country  to  the  Christian  religion  ? '  he  answered,  without 
a  moment's  hesitation,  '  I  never  heard  it  or  suspected  it.'  One  would 
have  thought  tliat  there  was  little  need  after  this  to  put  the  case 
hypothetically ;  but  the  witness  was  pi'esently  asked  whether,  allowing 
such  an  opinion  to  exist  among  the  Natives,  the  appearance  of  a  Bishop 
on  the  stage  would  not  increase  the  danger.  '  I  should  think,'  said 
Lord  Teignmouth,  '  it  would  be  viewed  with  perfect  indifterence.' 
Determined  to  work  the  hypothesis  a  little  more,  the  Committee  asked 
him  whether,  '  were  the  Hindus  possessed  with  an  idea  that  we  had  an 
intention  of  changing  their  religion  and  converting  them  into  Christians, 
it  would  be  attended  with  any  bad  consequences  at  all  ? '  'I  will 
expatiate  a  little  in  my  answer  to  that  question,'  said  Lord  Teignmovith ; 
and  he  then  delivered  himself  of  the  following  explanation,  the  admirable 
good  sense  of  which  is  not  to  be  surpassed  by  anything  to  be  found  in 
the  entire  mass  of  evidence  elicited,  throughout  the  inquiry,  upon  all 
the  points  of  the  Company's  charter : — 

"  '  Both  the  Hindus  and  Mohammedans,  subject  to  the  British  Govern- 
ment in  India,  have  had  the  experience  of  some  years,  that,  in  all  the 
public  acts  of  that  Government,  every  attention  had  been  paid  to  their 
prejudices,  civil  and  religious,  and  that  the  freest  toleration  is  allowed 


*  Christianity  in  India,  p.  257. 


t  Ibid.,  p.  264. 


Africa  and  India  :  Struggle  and   Vjctory  103 

to  them  ;  that  there  are  many  regulations  of  Government  which  prove    Part  TI. 
the  disposition    oi  Government  to  leave  them  perfectly  free  and  un-  1786-1811. 
molested  in  their  religious  ordinances ;    and  that  any  attempt  at  an    Chap.  9. 
infringement  upon  their  religion   or  superstitions  would  be  punished  by 
the  Government  of  India.     With   that   conviction,  which   arises   from 
experience,  I  do  not  apprehend  that  they  would  be  brought  to  believe 
that  the  Government  ever  meant  to  impose  upon  them  the  religion  of 
this  country.' 

"  But  the  Committee  had  not  yet  done  with  their  hypothesis,  and  were 
determined  not  to  let  the  witness,  whatever  might  be  his  opinion  of  its 
absurdity,  escape  without  giving  a  direct  answer ;  so  they  assailed  him 
again  by  asking,  'Should  the  state  of  things  be  altered,  and  we  not 
observe  the  conduct  we  have  hitherto  observed,  but  introduce  new  modes 
and  enact  new  laws,  for  the  carrying  into  effect  the  conversion  of  the 
Natives  to  Chi-istianity,  would  not  that  be  attended  with  disagreeable 
consequences  ? '  To  this,  of  course,  but  one  answer  could  be  given ; 
and  Lord  Teignmouth  gave  that  answer,  leaving  the  Committee  to  make 
what  use  of  it  they  could.  '  If  a  law  were  to  be  enacted,'  he  said,  '  for 
converting  the  Natives  of  India  to  Christianity  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
have  the  appearance  of  a  compulsory  law  upon  their  consciences,  I  have 
no  hesitation  in  saying  that,  in  that  case,  it  would  be  attended  with  very 
great  danger.'  Who  eVer  doubted  it  ?  Who  ever  contended  for  anything 
so  preposterous — so  insane  ^  " 

The  Charter  Bill  introduced  by  Lord  Castlereagh  in  1813  was  Charter 
debated  in  Committee  of  the  House  of  Commons  on  a  series  of 
Eesolutions,  and  Nos.  12  and  13  showed  that  the  Government, 
after  some  hesitation  and  under  considerable  pressure,  had  re- 
cognized the  strength  of  feehng  in  the  country.  They  were,  in 
fact,  framed  upon  lines  suggested  by  Will^erforce  and  the  C.M.S. 
Committee  : — 

"  XII.  Resolved.  That  it  is  the  opinion  of  this  Committee  [i.e.  of  the 
House  of  Commons]  that  it  is  expedient  that  the  Church  Establishment 
in  the  British  territ<iries  in  the  East  Indies  should  be  placed  under  the 
superintendence  of  a  Bishop  and  three  Archdeacons,  and  that  adequate 
provision  should  be  made  from  the  territorial  revenues  of  India  for  their 
maintenance. 

"  XIII.  Resolved.  That  it  is  the  opinion  of  this  Committee  that  it  is 
the  duty  of  this  country  to  promote  the  interest  and  happiness  of  the 
native  inhabitants  of  the  British  d<iminions  in  India,  and  that  such 
measures  ought  to  be  adopted  as  may  tend  to  the  introduction  among 
them  of  useful  knowledge  and  of  religious  and  moral  improvement. 
That  in  the  furtherance  of  the  above  ol)jects,  sufficient  facilities  shall  l)e 
afforded  by  law  to  persons  desirous  of  going  to,  and  remaining  in,  India 
for  the  purpose  of  accomplishing  those  benevolent  designs. 

"  Provided  always  that  the  authority  of  the  Local  Governments 
respecting  the  intercourse  of  Europeans  with  the  interioi-  of  the  country 
be  preserved,  and  that  the  principles  of  the  British  Government  on 
which  the  natives  of  In<lia  have  hitherto  relied  for  the  free  exercise  of 
their  religion  be  inviolably  maintained." 

No.  12  passed  easily;  but  No.  13  led  to  long  and  heated 
debates,  certain  Anglo-Indians  and  their  sympathizers  straining 
every  nerve  to  defeat  it.  One  member,  TNIr.  Marsh,  gave  a  glow- 
ing description  of  the  Hindus  and  of  Hinduism,  dwelling  on  "  the 


I04  Africa  and  India  :  Struggle  and   Victory 

Part  II.    benignant  and  softening  influences  of  religion  and  morality  "  that 

^rnf ^^1^  prevailed  in  India,  and  expressing  "horror  at  the  idea  of  sending 
ap^--  Qy^^  Baptists  and  Anabaptists  to  civilize  and  convert  such  a 
people,  at  the  hazard  of  disturbing  or  deforming  institutions  which 
appeared  to  have  been  the  means  ordained  by  Providence  of 
making  them  virtuous  and  happy."  Among  the  speakers  on  the 
Christian  side  were  the  two  Charles  Grants,  father  and  son,  stand- 
ing shoulder  to  shoulder  in  the  cause  of  the  Master  they  loved. 
Wilberforce  rose  about  midnight  on  June  22nd,  and  spoke  for 
two  hours.  "  Nobody,"  wrote  a  hostile  critic,  "  seemed  fatigued  : 
all  indeed  were  pleased,  some  with  the  ingenious  artifices  of  his 
manner,  but  most  with  the  glowing  language  of  his  heart.  Much 
as  I  differed  from  him,  it  was  impossible  not  to  be  delighted  with 
his  eloquence."     Early  next  morning  he  wrote  to  Mrs.  Wilber- 

victoryat  forcc, — "  Blcssed  be  God,  we  carried  our  question  about  three 
this  morning  "  ;  and  a  few  days  later,  "  I  heard  afterwards  that 
many  good  men  had  been  praying  for  us  all  night."  The  Bill 
quickly  followed  the  Eesolutions,  and  received  the  royal  assent 
on  July  21st.'''  In  the  autumn  of  that  very  year  Napoleon  was 
totally  defeated  by  the  allied  armies  at  Leipsic,  and  Wellington 
drove  Soult  over  the  Pyrenees  and  linally  delivered  Spain  from  her 
invaders.  The  East  India  Act  came  into  force  in  the  following 
April ;  and  in  that  very  month  Napoleon  was  banished  to  Elba, 
and  peace  proclaimed.     "  Them  that  honour  Me  I  will  honour." 

Thus  what  Professor  Seeley  calls  the  period  when  Anglo-Indian 
life  was  "  brahvmiized" — when  "  the  attempt  was  made  to  keep 
India  as  a  kind  of  inviolate  paradise,  into  which  no  European, 
and  especially  no  missionary,  should  be  suffered  to  penetrate — 
came  to  an  end,"  and  "  England  prepared  to  pour  into  India  the 
civilization,  the  Christianity,  and  the  science  of  the  West."  f 
"And  now,"  wrote  Buchanan,   "we  are  all  likely  to  be  dis- 

what  is  to  graced.  Parliament  has  opened  the  door,  and  who  is  there  to 
°  °^'  go  in?  From  the  Church  not  one  man!"  It  was  too  true. 
Southey,  in  his  Quarterly  Eeviciu  article  five  years  before,  had 
taunted  the  Church,  strong  Churchman  as  he  was,  with  the 
remark  that  "  the  first  step  towards  winning  the  Natives  to  our 
religion  was  to  show  that  we  had  one  "  ;  and  this  remark  was  just 
as  applicable  now.  But  the  first  two  English  clergymen  for  the 
work  were  at  this  very  time  serving  curacies  ;  and  in  1815  they 
landed  in  India,  the  pioneers  of  a  long  succession  of  able  and 
holy  men.  The  first  Bishop,  too,  was  duly  appointed  in  accordance 
with  the  new  Act,  as  we  shall  see  by-and-by.  Wilberforce  was 
not  wrong  when  he  wrote,  after  his  great  victory,  "  I  am  persuaded 
that  we  have  laid  the  foundation-stone  of  the  grandest  edifice  that 
ever  was  raised  in  Asia." 

*  The  Sections  of  the  Bill  embodying  in  an  enlarged  form  the  Eesolutions 
given  above  are  printed  at  length  in  the  C.M.S.  Eeport  of  1814. 
"t"  Ex-panaion  of  England,  p.  .310. 


A    PEEIOD    OF    DEVELOPMENT 
1813-1824. 


NOTE   ON  PAET   III. 


This  Part  is  entitled  "  A  Period  of  Development."  The  Society  emerges 
from  its  feeble  infancy  and  moves  forward  with  the  vigour  of  youth. 
Chap.  X.  describes  a  host  of  "forward  steps  "that  marked  the  years 
1812-18.  Chap.  XI.  tells  the  story  of  the  first  Provincial  Associations 
and  Deputations.  In  Chap.  XII.  we  turn  aside  to  notice  other  Societies, 
both  their  work  and  progress  and  their  relations  with  the  C.M.S.  In 
particular  we  see  the  vei'y  curious  circumstances  of  the  revival  and 
expansion  of  the  S.P.G.  in  1818.  The  next  five  chapters  take  us  into 
the  Mission-field,  and  we  read  of  the  eai'ly  trials  and  successes  in  West 
Africa  (XIII.),  the  deaths  of  faithful  labourers  there  (XIII.,  XIV.) :  the 
commencement  of  work  in  North  and  South  India  (XV.),  and  in  New 
Zealand,  Ceylon,  &c.  (XVI.) ;  the  Society's  plans  and  efforts  for  the 
revival  of  the  ancient  Eastern  Churches  (XVII.),  both  in  the  Turkish 
Empire  (as  it  was  then)  and  in  Travancore.  Chap.  XVIII.,  from  the 
standpoint  of  1824,  the  date  of  Pratt's  retirement,  surveys  the  position 
and  prospects  of  the  work  at  home  and  abroad,  and  shows  how  hard 
experience  had  moderated  the  sanguine  expectations  of  the  early  leaders 
of  Missions. 


LORD   GAMBIER. 


REV.  BASIL  WOODD. 


REV.  JOSIAH    PRATT. 


REV.  WILLIAM   GOODE. 


REV.  T.  T.   BIDDULPH. 


Admiral  Lnnl  fJiiniliier,  Presiilent  of  C.M.S.,  1812-1833. 

Basil  AVdddil,  Minister  (if  I'.ciitiiicl-;  ( 'liaiicl,  Maryleljone  ;  Firsi  "Deputation," 

Josiali  I'ratt,'  Scci'i'tai-y  ..f  C.-M.S.,  1N()2-I.si'4. 

William  tloodc,  liceLor  ot  St.  Auiic'.s,  itlackt'i-iars. 

T.  T.  Eidclulpb,  lucumbent  of  St.  James's,  Bristol. 


CHAPTER  X. 

Forward  Steps. 

Signs  and  Causes  of  Coming  Development — The  President— New  Rules 
— Salisbury  Square  Annual  Meetings  and  Sermons — Valedictory 
Meetings— Public  Affairs:  Fall  of  Napoleon:  State  of  the  Country 
—  More  Openings  for  Work— Translational  Undertakings  Samuel 
Lee— Offers  of  Service     Special  Funds— The  "  Missionary  Register." 

"  Sj'w/,-  iinto  the  chUJrcn  «f  Israel,  that  then  go  forirard."- — Exod.  xiv.  15. 

|ROM  time   to  time,  in  the  history  of  the  Church  Mis-  Part  III. 
sionary  Society — as  indeed  of  most  other  enterprises    1812-24. 
—  there   have   heen  epochs  marked  hy  very  distinct         P"      " 
advance,  followed  perhaps  by  periods  of  slower  and 
quieter  progress.     Such  an  epoch  we  find  in  the  years  epoch. 
1812  —  1816.     Before  that  time,  the  Society  was  but  an  infant. 
In  1812-13,  it  seemed  to  shoot  up  suddenly  into  vigorous  growth. 
Not,  indeed,  in  respect  of  what  is  after  all  the  essential  function 
of  a  missionary  society.     Only  three  men  were  sent  out  in  1812, 
all  German  mechanics  ;  and  only  one  in  1813,  an  English  school- 
master.    Not    till   1815  did    the    first   three   English   clergymen, 
Greenwood,    Norton,    and   Jowett,    actually    sail.     Nevertheless, 
these  years  were  years  of  very  marked  advance  in  the  influence 
of  the  Society  at  home,  and  the  interest  of  the  Christian  public  in 
Missions  generally. 

The  infant  Society  had  indeed  heen  growing  all  along,  and  there 
had  been  signs  of  coming  development.  West  Africa  was  no 
longer  the  only  field  of  lalwur.  Samuel  INIarsdcn  had  come  home 
from  Australia  on  leave,  and  had  induced  the  Society  to  plan  a 
settlement  in  New  Zealand  ;  and  he  had  gone  back  to  his  post 
among  the  convicts,  taking  with  him  two  mechanics  to  send  to 
the  Maori  cannibals.  A  Corresponding  Committee  had  been 
formed  at  Calcutta,  and  grants  of  money  had  l)een  voted  to  it,  for 
translational  purposes  and  to  employ  native  readers.  Above  all, 
Claudius  Buchanan  had  come  home  from  India,  and  had  (as  we 
have  before  seen)  been  employing  his  vigorous  and  resourceful 
mind  in  planning  schemes  for  the  evangelization  of  that  great 
dependency. 

Then   ca^ne   Melville   Home's  sermon    in    1811,   which    is    in-  J^rmoT^ 
disputably  the  most  eloquent  and  moving  of  all  those  preached  in 


io8 


Forward  Steps 


Appeal  to 
women. 


Part  III.  the  earlier  years.  Taking  as  a  text  the  inspiring  utterance  of 
1812-24.  g^_  Paul,  "  I  can  do  all  things  through  Christ  which  strengtheneth 
Chap.  10.  ^^g^,,  -j^g  denounced  in  bimiing  words  the  backw^ardness  of  the 
Church,  and  appealed  for  a  courageous  resolve  to  do  the  Lord's 
will.  "Away,"  he  cried,  "with  the  wretched  cant  of  false 
humility,  '  We  can  do  nothing.'  "  His  exhortation  was  especially 
to  the  clergy  :  why  were  they  not  pressing  into  the  foreign  field 
themselves  ?  But  in  one  notable  passage  he  addressed  wives  and 
mothers,  and  this,  as  the  first  appeal  of  the  kind  put  forth  in  a 
C.M.S.  sermon,  it  will  be  interesting  to  quote  here  : — 

"  Christian  Matrons !  from  whoso  endeared  and  endearing  lips  we  first 
heard  of  the  wondrous  Babe  of  Bethlehem,  and  were  taught  to  bend  our 
knee  to  Jesus — ye  who  first  taught  these  eagles  how  to  soar,  will  ye  now 
check  their  flight  in  the  midst  of  heaven  ?  *  I  am  weary,'  said  tlie  ambitious 
Cornelia,  '  of  being  called  Scipio's  Daughter.  Do  something,  my  sons,  to 
style  me  the  Motlier  of  the  Gracchi ' !  And  what  more  laudable  ambition 
can  inspire  you  than  a  desire  to  be  the  Mothers  of  the  Missionaries, 
Confessors,  and  Martyrs  of  Jesus?  Generations  imborn  shall  call  you 
blessed.  The  Churches  of  Asia  and  Africa.,  when  they  make  grateful 
mention  of  their  founders,  will  say,  '  Blessed  be  the  wombs  which  bare 
them,  and  the  breasts  which  they  have  sucked  ! '  Ye  Wives,  also,  learn 
to  rejoice  at  the  sound  of  the  battle.  Rouse  the  slumbering  courage  of 
your  soldiers  to  the  field,  and  think  no  place  so  safe,  so  honoured,  as  the 
Camp  of  Jesus.  Tell  the  missionary  story  to  your  little  ones,  luitil  their 
young  hearts  burn,  and  in  the  spirit  of  those  innocents  who  shouted 
Hosanna  to  their  lowly  King,  they  cry,  '  Shall  not  we  also  be  the  Mis- 
sionaries of  Jesus  Christ  ?  ' '" 

But  while  the  pleading  of  Marsden  and  Buchanan  for  the  South 
Seas  and  India,  and  the  eloquence  of  Melville  Home,  gave  a 
decided  impetus  to  the  Society,  the  two  immediate  causes  of  the 
great  steps  forward  at  the  epoch  we  are  now  to  review  were  the 
agitation  for  the  opening  of  India  to  the  Gospel  and  the  journeys 
of  some  of  the  clerical  leaders  all  over  the  country  to  start  Branch 
Associations.  The  India  movement  began,  as  we  have  seen, 
with  the  holding  of  a  public  meeting  attended  by  four  hundred 
gentlemen,  the  largest  the  Society  had  yet  held  ;  and  it  at  once 
showed  the  world  that  a  powerful  institution  was  springing  up. 
The  Deputation  movement  raised  the  Society's  income  in  one 
year  from  £3000  to  £13,000  This  latter  movement  will  be 
described  in  a  separate  chapter 

The  year  1812  witnessed  several  forward  steps  in  the  home 
administration  of  the  Society.  Up  to  this  time  there  had  been  no 
President.  Now  Admiral  Lord  Gambler  w^as  appointed.  He  was 
one  of  the  most  distinguished  of  naval  officers  at  a  period 
memorable  for  brilliant  examples  of  naval  skill.  In  1807  he  com- 
manded the  naval  squadron  to  which  the  Danish  fleet  (then  under 
Buonaparte's  control)  surrendered  and,  in  1809,  the  Channel  fleet 
which  defeated  and  partially  destroyed  the  French  ships  opposed  to 
it ;  for  the  first  of  which  services  he  received  a  peerage,  and  for  the 
second  the  thanks  of  both  Houses  of  ParUament.     When  Thomas 


The  first 
President, 


Forward  Steps  ioq 

Scott  was  at  the  Lock  Chapel,  the  Admiral  was  one  of  his  flock  ;  Part  m 
and  he  was  a  Governor  and  hearty  friend  of  the  new  Society  from  1812-24. 
the  very  first.     As  the  Society's  work  and  responsibilities  grew,  it  Chap.  10. 

was  necessarily  brought  much  into  contact  with  the  Government,       

— indeed  much  more  than  it  is  now,  when  the  liberty  of  individuals, 
or  of  companies  or  societies,  to  engage  in  enterprises  of  all  sorts 
all  over  the  world,  is  so  much  greater  than  it  was  then ;  and  in 
the  absence  of  recognition  by  the  bishops,  the  Society  had  to  look 
to  laymen  of  position  to  represent  it.  At  the  Anniversary  of  1812, 
therefore,  not  only  was  a  President  appointed  in  the  person  of 
Lord  Gambler,  but  sixteen  Vice-Presidents  also,  including  four 
peers  and  eight  memliers  of  parliaincnt.  Among  tlu.'se  were  Lord  p^elidlnVs. 
Teignmouth,  formerly  (as  Sir  John  Shoie)  Governor-General  of 
India,  and  now  President  of  the  liii)le  Society ;  Sir  Thomas 
Baring,  father  of  Bishop  Baring,  and  of  Lord  Northbrook ; 
Thomas  Babington,^:^  the  intimate  friend  of  Wilbeiforce,  after 
whom  Zachary  Macaulay  named  the  son  who  was  by-and-ljy  to 
become  so  famous  ;  and  Nicholas  Vansittart,  who  became,  only 
three  weeks  later,  Chancellor  of  the  ExcJiequer,  succeeding  INIr. 
Perceval,  who  was  shot  dead  in  the  lobby  of  the  House  of 
Connnons  on  May  9th.  Perceval  himself,  who  was  Premier  as 
well  as  Chancellor,  and  a  man  of  high  character  and  (in  a  sense 
uncommon  in  those  days)  irreproachable  life,  had  himself  shown 
courtesy  and  kindness  to  the  Society  more  than  once.  So  did 
Lord  Liverpool,  who  succeeded  him  as  Premier ;  and  so  did  Earl 
Bathurst,  who  at  the  same  time  became  Secretary  for  the  Colonies. 
Vansittart,  while  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer,  and  afterwards  as 
Lord  Bexley,  spoke  at  the  Annual  Meetings.  Without  the  favour  The  need 
of  the  Ministers,  many  of  the  Society's  early  enterprises  would '^°''^*'^'"- 
not  have  been  possible.  Missionaries  frequently  had  passages 
granted  them  in  Government  ships ;  and  those  proceeding  to 
Colonies,  like  Sierra  Leone,  or  Ceylon,  or  New  South  Wules,  had 
to  take  letters  of  couunendation  from  the  Colonial  Office  in 
London.  Tiiose  for  India  had  of  course  to  get  leave  from  the 
East  India  Company.  A  President,  therefore,  had  important 
functions  in  those  days  ;  and  Lord  Gambler,  who  held  the  oflice 
twenty  years,  proved  far  more  than  a  figure-head.  He  took  an 
active  part,  not  only  in  high  official  negotiations,  but  in  the 
ordinary  labours  of  the  Committee.  It  is  almost  needless  to  add 
that  in  this  respect  he  has  been  imitated  by  his  two  successors, 
the  Earl  of  Chichester  and  Sir  John  Kemiaway. 

In  the  same  year,  181'2,  the  Society's  Laws  were   revised.     The  Open  con- 
most  important  alteration  was  in   tiie  constitution   of  the   Com-  theSo"iety^ 
mittee.     Hitherto  it  had  consisted  of  clergymen  and  laymen  in 
equal  numbers.     Now  the  twenty-four  elected  nitanbers  were  all 
to  be  laymen  ;  but  all  subscribing  clergymen  were  to  be  members 

*  Father  of  Canon  .John  Babinyton,  und  uncle  of  C.  C.  Babkugton,  Professor 
of  Botany  at  Cambriilge. 


no  Forward  Steps 

Part  III.  likewise/''  This  was  the  constitution  previously  invented  by 
1812-24.  Pratt   for   the  Bible    Society,!  and   it  was  now  adopted  for  the 

Chap.  10.  Q}-(^^j.g]-^  Missionary  Society.  One  cannot  but  admire  the  courage 
and  faith  of  the  Society  in  adopting  such  a  constitution.  The  new 
law  practically  put  it  at  the  mercy  of  whatever  party  in  the  Church 
might  choose  to  take  advantage  of  the  position  to  secure  a  majority. 
From  that  day  to  this  there  has  been  nothing  whatever  in  the 
laws  of  the  Society  to  prevent  its  principles  and  methods  of  action 
being  entirely  changed.  Membership  in  the  Church  of  England 
is  the  sole  qualification  for  the  governing  body.  It  is  needless  to 
say  that  those  Churchmen  who  are  not  in  accord  with  the  distinc- 
tive Evangelical  principles,  doctrinal  and  ecclesiastical,  wdiich 
have  ever  guided  the  Society,  have  always  been  a  inajority  among 
the  clergy.  Why  have  they  never  exerted  the  powder  the  laws 
give  them,  qualified  themselves  for  the  Committee  by  a  half-guinea 
subscription,  and  come  and  out-voted  the  old  members  ?  John 
Henry  Newman,  who  was  at  one  time  an  active  member  of  the 
Oxford  Church  Missionary  Association,  did  think  of  planning  such 
a  conp.X  We  have  no  ground  for  blaming  him  :  he  was  as  much 
a  member  as  any  one  else,  and  had  a  perfect  right  to  get  the  views 
he  honestly  held  adopted  if  he  could.  But  a  Society  has  traditions 
as  well  as  laws ;  and  although  the  Church  Missionary  Society's 
laws  say  nothing  whatever  about  Evangelical  doctrines  or 
principles  or  methods,  every  one  knows  that  these  are  in  fact,  and 
have  been  from  the  first,  the  life  of  the  Society  ;  and  it  is  greatly 
to  the  credit  of  the  clergy  generally  that  they  have  always,  with 
the  honourable  fairness  of  English  gentlemen,  recognized  its 
traditions,  and,  while  not  always  approving  of  its  proceedings, 
have  abstained  from  interfering  with  them.  Still  more  con- 
spicuously generous  is  the  conduct  of  those  bishops  who,  though 
not  in  accord  with  the  Society's  traditions,  are  willing  to  be 
identified  with  it  by  membership  and  by  the  acceptance  of  the 
office  of  Vice-President.  But  the  day  for  episcopal  recognition  of 
this  kind  had  not  come  at  the  time  we  are  now  reviewing.  In 
1815,  however.  Bishop  Bathurst  of  Norwich  and  Bishop  Ryder  of 
Gloucester,  the  first  on  the  Bench  to  do  so,  gave  their  names  to 
the  Society  as  Vice-Presidents. 

The  Com-  To  revert  to  the  amended  laws  of  1812.  Two  Committees  sub- 
ordinate to  the  General  Committee  already  existed,  viz.  (1)  of 
Correspondence,  to  receive  and  train  missionary  candidates,  and 

to  administer  the  Society's  foreign  work,§  and  (2)  of  Accounts, 

« 

*  At  the  General  Meeting  in  May,  it  was  only  provided  tliat  clerical 
members  of  the  Society  might  attend  the  Committee,  but  as  tliis  proved  a 
privilege  which  they  did  not  appreciate,  anothei'  General  Meeting  was  held 
in  December,  and  the  law  was  altered  to  Tuake  them  full  voting  members. 

t  See  p.  152. 

X  So  Henry  Venn  says.     See  Chapter  XXXVI. 

§  Three  years  later,  the  Committee  of  Coi-rospondence  was  divided  into 
four  sections,   viz.,  (1)   Africa,   (2)   India  and  Ceylon,  (3)  New  Zealand,  (4) 


Forward  Steps  hi 

the  name  of  which  sufficiently  explains  its  functions.  Two  others  Part  11  [. 
were  now  added,  viz.,  (3)  of  Patronage,  to  nominate  Vice-Presi-  1S12-24. 
dents  and  otherwise  ohtain  the  support  of  influential  persons,  and  ^^^\^-  l*^- 
(4)    of   Funds,    to    circulate    missionary    information    and    devise  " 

measures  for  obtaining  contrilnitions.  One  more  new  law  may  be 
mentioned.  The  Committee  were  empowered  to  appoint  persons 
who  had  "  rendered  essential  service  to  the  Society  "to  be 
Honorary  Governors  or  Members  for  Life.  Acting  on  this  law,  Hon.  Life 
they  soon  opened  the  list  of  Hon.  Life  Governors  by  placing  on  °°v""°''s- 
it  four  names,  viz.,  Thomas  Scott,  Claudius  Buchanan,  Basil 
Woodd,  and  the  Kev.  J.  Jtenicke  of  the  Berlin  Seminary ;  '■'•  and 
two  years  later  they  added  the  names  of  Goode,  Burn,  }3iddulph, 
and  J)aniel  Wilson,  of  the  liome  clergy;  Sanuiel  Marsden,  the 
Australian  cliaplain ;  and  Corrie,  Thomason,  and  Thompson, 
Indian  chaplains,  i 

The  year  1812  also  saw  a  small  foreshadowing  of  the  future  The  first 
Church  Missionary  House.  Up  to  this  time  the  Committee  meet-  °'^''"* 
ings  had  been  held,  as  before  mentioned,  in  Mr.  Goode's  Rectory ; 
and  the  "office"  was  in  Pratt's  house  in  Doughty  Street.  In 
January,  1812,  a  room  for  Committee  meetings  was  hired  at  Mr. 
Seeley's  bookselling  shop  at  169,  Fleet  Street ;  |  but  Pratt  con- 
tinued to  do  his  own  official  work  at  home.  In  the  following  vear 
it  became  necessary  to  provide  a  regular  office,  and  No.  14,  Salis- 
bury Square  w^as  rented,  the  Committee  meeting  there  for  the  first 
time  on  December  13th,  1813.  Subsequently  it  became  the 
residence  of  an  Assistant  Secretary,  with  quarters  for  missionary 
candidates  ;  office,  college,  and  Secretary's  house  being  thus  under 
one  roof.j  The  hours  were  nine  to  seven,  for  Secretary,  Assistant 
Secretary,  and  clerks.  In  1820,  a  house  in  Barnsbury  Park  was 
taken  for  the  Assistant  Secretary  and  students ;  and  No.  14, 
Salisbury  Square  l^ecame  an  office  only. 

Mpclitenaneaii  and  lloiiie.  Thus  the  "  Group  "  system  of  recent  years  was 
anticipated.  So  alao  was  the  modern  "precis  "  systoin.  Tlie  despatches  we're 
to  be  "abstracted  and  indexed"  for  the  use  of  the  Conmiittee. 

*  .John  Venn  was  on  his  deatli-bed  at  the  time,  or  doubtless  his  name  would 
have  been  added.     He  died  July  Ist,  1813. 

t  Tbis  List  has  grown  in  subsequent  years,  until,  in  1882,  it  was  arranged 
to  limit  it  to  one  hundred  names  ;  and  now,  year  by  year,  much  interest  is 
taken  in  the  selection  of  names  to  till  up"  vacancies.  The  authority  to 
appoint  Hon.  Life  Memlicrg  was  not  made  use  of  until  1888,  when  it  was 
availed  of  to  find  a  place  for  ladies. 

X  Messrs.  Seeley  afterwards  moved  to  the  other  side  of  Fleet  Street. 
No.  lOit  became  the  olHce  of  the  liecunl  newspaper,  and  for  some  years 
its  upper  floors  were  occupied  by  the  Church  of  England  Sunday  School 
Institute. 

§  Many  readers  will  remember  that  by  the  side  of  the  CM.  House  as  it 
was  in  lHS;i  there  was  a  small,  old-fashioned  Scotch  hotel.  That  hotel  was 
No.  14,  which  had  been  occupied  by  the  Society  from  1813  to  18H2.  In  1862 
it  was  given  up  for  the  large  new  House  erected  hard  by.  Jn  1883  it  was 
pnrcha.sed,  pulled  down,  and  a  new  wing  to  the  existing  Honse  built  on  the  site. 
The  east  end  of  the  present  large  Committee-room,  therefore,  is  the  identical 
spot  where  the  Committee  met  for  the  first  time  in  1813. 


112  Forward  Steps 

Part  III.      That   resident   Assistant    Secretary   was   Edward   Biclversteth. 
1812-24.   He  did  not  come  into  the  Society's  service  until  1815,  and  w^e 
Chap.  10.  g^^^j  xnQQi  him  in  another  chapter,  before  that  time,  at  Norwich ; 
Ed^^^      but  this  seems  a  convenient  place  to  introduce  him,  as  hisappoint- 
Bicker-       meut  was  assuredly  one  of  the  steps  foi-ward  which  we  are   now 
tracing   out.     At   this    time    he  was    a    solicitor    at  Norwich,  in 
partnership  with  his  wife's    brother,  Mr.   T.  Bignold.     He  had 
been    educated   for   his  profession  in    London,    and    while    there 
had  taken  some    interest    in  INIissions.     He  had  heard  Claudius 
Buchanan's    Annual    Sermon,    and    read    Buchanan's    writings, 
which  had  opened,  he  writes,   "  a  new  scene  of  the  vast  impor- 
tance of  studying  in  every  way  to  promote  the  Gospel  of  Christ." 
"  By  the  grace  of  God,"  he  adds,  "  I  will  bend  my  soul  more  and 
more  to  this  glorious  end.     I  may  do  much  more  by  self-denial. 
My  Saviour  died  for  me,  and  shall  I  not  alistain  from  luxuries  for 
His  Gospel?"     Thus  began  a  career  which  afterwards  gave  the 
Church  Missionary  Society  a  Secretary,  and  in  later  years  gave  a 
bishop  to  Exeter  in  his  son,  a  bishop  to  Japan  in  his  grandson, 
and  at  least  five  missionaries  to  India  and  Africa  in  a  daughter,  a 
grand-daughter,  and  three  grandsons."- 
More  To   resume.      The   Anniversaries   were   now   becoming   much 

sermons,  morc  important  and  interesting.  St.  Anne's  Church  was  crowded 
at  the  Sermons.  Even  in  1810,  Buchanan  estimated  that  two 
thousand  persons  were  present.  In  1812,  the  preacher  was  Mr. 
Goode,  the  Eector,  himself ;  and  in  1813,  the  Eev.  W.  Dealtry, 
Fellow  of  Trinity,  Cambridge,  and  also  F.E.S.  He  was  mathe- 
matical professor  at  the  East  India  Company's  College,  and  just 
then  was  at  Clapham,  serving  the  parish  church  for  John  Venn. 
Venn  died  in  the  same  year,  and  Dealtry  succeeded  him  as  Eector. 
In  1814,  the  first  dignitary  of  the  Church  to  preach  for  the 
Society  occupied  the  pulpit.  This  was  the  Hon.  and  Eev.  Henry 
Dudley  Eyder,  Dean  of  Wells,  who  in  the  following  year  became 
Bishop  of  Gloucester,  the  first  decided  Evangehcal  raised  to  the 
Episcopal  Bench.  Dean  Eyder's  sermon  will  come  before  us 
again  presently.  Then  in  1815,  the  Eev.  E.  T.  Vaughan  of 
Leicester  (father  of  Dean  C.  J.  Vaughan)  was  the  preacher. 
He  was  one  of  the  ablest  of  the  Evangelical  clergy,  and  his  work 
for  the  missionary  cause  at  Leicester  l^ecame  a  pattern  to  be 
pointed  to  for  imitation ;  but  he  subsequently  adopted  strange 
views.  In  1816,  a  s_econd  representative  of  India  was  selected, 
another  of  the  godly  chaplains  whom  Simeon  had  sent  out, 
and  whose  names  should  be  had  in  everlasting  remembrance 
— Daniel  Corrie.  His  text,  Isa.  xliv.  20,  was  suggested  by 
his  personal  experiences  of  Indian  religion — "  He  feedeth  on 
ashes  :  a  deceived  heart  hath  turned  him  aside,  that  he  cannot 
deliver  his  soul   nor  say.  Is  there  not  a  lie  in  my  right  hand?" 

*  Mrs.  E.  Durrant,  Miss  E.  B.  Darrant,  Rev.   H.    B.   Duriant,  Dr,  Albert  R. 
Cook,  Dr.  J.  H.  Cook. 


Forward  Steps  113 

Very  moving  is  his  account  of  the  misery  and  hopelessness  of  the  Part  lir. 
Hmdu.  This,  let  it  be  remembered,  was  at  a  time  when  suttee,  1812-24. 
child-murder,  and  other  crimes  were  rife,  which  have  since  been  ^^^P-  ^^• 

abolished  by  law.  

Corrie's  was  the  last  Sermon  preached  at  St.  Anne's,  Blackfriars. 
In  1817,  Daniel  Wilson  began  the  long  series  of  Sermons  at  First  Ser- 
St.  Bride's,  Fleet  Street.-  He  was  at  that  time  Minister  of  st°"BHde-s 
bt.  John's  Chapel,  Bedford  Row,  having  succeeded  Cecil  in  1809. 
He  was  an  active  member  of  the  Committee,  both  in  its  delibera- 
tions in  London,  and  in  preaching  and  speaking  over  the  country ; 
and  he  continued  so  after  he  became  Vicar  of  Islington  in  1824^ 
and  until  his  appointment  to  the  Bishopric  of  Calcutta  in  1832.' 
His  St.  Bride's  sermon,  on  the  words,  "  Lift  up  your  eyes,  and  look 
on  the  fields,"  is  remarkable  for  its  comprehensive  survey  of  the 
world,  and  of  the  Missions  actually  carried  on.  Other  preachers 
had  enunciated  principles  :  he  sets  forth  facts.  And  the  appeal  Appeal  to 
to  "the  younger  clergy"  at  the  end  is  something  quite  new  :— ^fergf ' 
"Listen  to  the  call !  Think,  and  think  again,  on  the  question. 
Do  not  mistake  cowardice  and  indolence  for  humility."  To  which 
succeeds  a  passage  which  could  only  with  partial  truth  be  spoken 
even  now;  and  then  it  was  an  ideal  representation  of  the  fact 
indeed  :— "  Say  not  that  your  parents  and  friends  discountenance 
your  design.  You  mistake  their  meaning.  They  intend  only  to 
try  your  constancy.  ...  All  the  Church  accounts  those  famihes 
blessed  who  give  a  son  to  this  cause."  When  this  ideal  repre- 
sentation IS  reahzed,  the  EvangeHzation  of  the  World  will  not  be 
very  far  off ! 

The  Anniversary  Meetings  at  this  time  changed  their  character  •  Annual 
a,nd  the  change  marks  another  forward  step.     In  1813,  for  the  '""'"*'"^"' 
first  time,  ladies  attended ;  and  instead  of  a  formal  gathering  of  a 
hundred  gentlemen  to  do  necessary  business,  six  hundi-ed  members 
crowded  the  large  room  in  the  New  London  Tavern.     For  the 
first  time,   a  President  presided.     For  the  first  time,  important 
speeches  were  made,  by  Wilberforce,   Simeon,  Dean  Ryder,  and 
others.      But  it  was  not   an   Anniversary   Meeting  that  was  to 
engage  for  the  first  time  what  was  then  the  regular  place  for  great 
London   gatherings,    Freemasons'    Hall.     It   was   a   Valedictory  And  Vaie- 
Dismissal  that  took  the  Society  to  that  historic  building      This  '^'=t°0'- 
was  on  January  7th,  1814,  and  the  occasion  was  a  great  event 
mdeed.     The  first  four  missionaries  for  India  were  taken  leave  of 
Rhenius,  Schnarre,  Greenwood,  and  Norton ;  and  these  last  two 
were  the  first  clergymen  of  the  Church  of  England  to  go  to  Asia 
definitely  as  missionaries.!     The   other   two,  like   the   SPCK 
men   and  like  the  C.M.S.  men  in  Africa,  were  in  Lutheran  orders. 
Lord  Gambler  presided  ;  Wilberforce  and  Henry  Thornton  spoke, 

1 QOQ^*-  "^"u®^  "^^^  ^^®"  "®®^  ^^^^  since,  except  in  1823,  1&31,  1832,  and 
i«dd,  in  which  years  respectively  fotir  other  City  churches  received  the 
Society. 

t  With  one  exception  not  usuallv  reckoned.     See  p   f  3 
VOL.    I.  "  J 


114 


Forward  Steps 


Part  III, 
1812-24. 
Chap.  10. 


Crowds 
attending. 


The  pro- 
ceedings 
improved. 


and  also  a  young  Fellow  of  St.  John's,  Cambridge,  who  was  to  be 
a  power  m  after  years,  John  W.  Cunningham  of  Harrow.  Pratt 
delivered  the  Instructions,  and  a  masterly  address,  written  by 
Buchanan,  was  read  for  him  (he  being  ill)  by  Dealtry.  Some 
fifteen  hundred  people  attended ;  and  for  the  first  time  tickets  of 
various  colours  were  used,  and  members  of  the  Committee  acted  as 
stewards.  Greenwood  and  Norton  did  not  sail  for  more  than  a 
year  after ;  but  Ehenius  and  Schnarre  proceeded  at  once  to 
Portsmouth  to  join  an  East  Indiaman,  a  passage  by  which  had 
been  granted  by  the  Company.  Portsmouth  friends  had  before 
been  privileged  to  see  the  last  of  missionaries ;  and  this  time  an 
enthusiastic  lady  there  wrote  to  Pratt, — 

"  They  brought  the  apostolic  age  forciV)ly  before  me,  and  T  tlaouglit  of 
lianiabas  and  Paul,  and  could  not  help  saying  to  myself,  Sureljf  the 
barbarous  people  will  call  dear  Mr.  Rhenius  '  Mercurius.'  Dear  Sir, 
what  highly-privileged  days  are  these  ! 

All  the  promises  do  travail 

With  a  glorious  day  of  grace." 

The  Committee  did  not  venture  to  engage  Freemasons'  Hall  for 
the  next  Anniversary  ;  but  in  1815  they  did  so,  and  were  rewarded 
by  an  attendance  as  crowded  as  at  the  Dismissal.  Wilberforce 
in  particular,  wrote  Pratt,  "carried  away  with  him,  even  more 
than  usual,  the  hearts  of  his  hearers  by  a  full  stream  of  Christian 
feeling  and  sublime  piety";  and  James  Stephen,  "  in  a  style  of 
grand  and  vehement  eloquence,  made  an  indelible  impression." 
The  numbers  of  friends  desiring  to  attend  the  annual  gatherings 
now  increased  year  by  year  ;  and  in  1817  tickets  were  issued  to 
members  only.  As,  however,  nearly  two  thousand  were  at  once 
applied  for,  some  hundreds  failed  to  get  into  the  hall ;  and  Pratt 
expresses,  in  some  comments  he  wrote  at  the  time,  the  wish  that 
a  building  might  be  erected  to  hold  3000  people,  and  so  constructed 
that  all  should  hear  with  ease.  Exeter  Hall  was  then  yet  in 
the  future.  Not  till  1831  was  it  ready  for  the  Anniversaries. 
Another  difficulty  that  was  growing  was  the  length  of  the  Eeport 
to  be  read ;  and  in  1819  it  was  arranged  to  read  an  Abstract  only. 
But  even  the  Abstract  "  occujned  nearly  tivo  hours";  and  five  I  re 
speeches  followed.  And  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  Meeting 
at  this  time  did  not  begin  till  noon,  the  Sermon  haring  been 
preached  the  same  morning  at  10  a.m.  The  Monday  Evening 
"Service  did  not  begin  till  1821.  It  is  true  that  there  was  no 
meeting  on  the  Tuesday  evening ;  yet  still  it  must  have  been  a 
fresh  and  living  interest  that  brought  crowds  to  gatherings  of  such 
length.  There  were  no  missionaries  to  tell  thrilling  stoi'ies  of 
converts.  There  were  almost  no  converts  to  tell  about.  No  one 
asked,  What  are  the  results  ?  They  met  to  do  the  will  and  the 
work  of  the  Lord  they  loved  ;  and  they  rejoiced  to  do  it. 

One  other  development  in  the  Meetings  of  this  period  is  worth 
noting.     In  the  early  years,  all  the  Eesolutions,  except  the  one 


FoRii^ARD  Steps 


II 


^vhlch  adopted  the  Report,  were  votes  of  thanks  to  all  sorts  of  Part  III 
people,  patrons  and  committee-men,  treasurers  and  secretaries  1H12-24.' 
preachers    and  speakers ;    and    the  natural    result    was    that  the  ^^^^P-  ^^■ 

speeches  tended  to  flow  into  the  channel  of  mutual  admiration.       

ihe  plan  of  carefully  framing  the  Eesolutions  to  refer  to  the 
events  and  cn-cumstances  of  the  year  seems  to  have  heen  invented 
My  \  au^dian  of  Leicester,  and  it  was  at  once  highly  praised  hy 
i  ratt,  and  recommended  for  general  adoption.  "The  usual 
motions  of  thaiiks,"  he  says,  "  might  be  consolidated,  in  order  to 
give  tmie  for  Eesolutions  declaratory  of  the  mind  of  the  Meeting 
on  the  rea  husmess  of  the  Society."  Some  later  remarks  of  his 
suggested  hy  the  various  May  Anniversaries  of  1817  are  wortli 
quoting,  and  worth  digesting : — 

'j  A  very  improved  .spirit  lui.s  prevailed.  Tlicre  has  heen  less  mingling 
<.f  hnnum  inl.rnuty  with  the  work  of  Go<l-less  of  mutual  praise-a  more 
devout  and  heavenly  spir.t--more  unfeigned  aflection  toward  other 
ChristiHiKs  in  their  exertions  -  and  a  more  .singh,  eve  to  th<>  glory  of  G..d 
^^e  urge  it  on  all  our  Chri.stian  brethren  t..  invoke  the  ..ntponrinrr  ..f  a 
granou.s  influence  on  tluMnind.s  of  ineaehers,  .speakers,  and  hearer.s  that 
a  pure  fire  may  he  kindled  and  cherished,  which  .shall  difliise  itself  on  111 
sides  and  warm  every  heart;  and  we  advi.se  such  a  modilieation  of  the 
Kesohit.ons  a.s  may  rather  lead  the  .sp.-akers  and  the  audience  into  an 
lie  hgent  view  of  the  various  objects  and  measures  of  the  Societies, 
than  to  search  out  and  listen  to  some  ingenious  form  of  paying  com- 
phments  one  to  another.   *  1^1^111^  com 

Other  Valedictory  Meetings  were  held  from  time  to  time  ;  and 
one  of  them  calls  for  special  notice.     On  October  28th,  1817   no 
less  than  eight  ordained  Englishmen  were  taken  leave  of,  with 
two  Lutheran  clergymen  and  six  wives,  sixteen  in  all,  jioin'-  to  P'k*"" 
four  different  parts   of  the  world,  viz.,  Collier  \  and  Decke?  to  laUcnT/ave 
Africa   Connor  to  the  Levant,   Joseph   Fenn,  Henry  Baker,  and  °^- 
Barenhruck    to  India;   Knight,  Lamhrick,  Mayor,  and  Ward,  to 
. -Q?"*!.    A^  ''''^  another  great  occasion.     There  was  a  service 
at   St.  Brides,   at   which  J.  W.   Cunningham  preached,  on   the 
singularly  suitable  words,  "  Though  I  am  sometime  airaid,  vet  put 
I  my  trust  m  Thee '•  (P.B.V.  of  Ps.  Ivi.  3).     Freemasons'    H^Ul 
was  crowded  for  the  IMeeting,  over  which  Lord  Gambier  presided 
Iratt   read  the    Instructions— again    admirable;    and   then    four 
missionaries  (Collier,  Connor,  Fenn,  Lamhrick),  representing  the 
four  fields,  replied  m  behalf  of  themselves  and  their  brethren  — 
a  plan  rarely  followed  in  after  years,  until,  quite  recentlv,  the  lar-e 
numbers  going  out  have  necessitated  its  revival       The   \ddress 
was  given  by  Charles  Simeon. t      The  collection  was  £111,  and 
two  £oO_  donations  were  sent  in  afterwards  as  thankofferings  for 
such  a  sight.     One  clergyman  wrote,  aUuding  to  the  death  Sf  the 
1  rincess  Charlotte,  which  had  just  plunged  the  whole  countrv  into 
griel,— "At   this  moment   of   national    sorrow,    and    perhajps   of 

*  Missionari/  Re<ii.-<fcr,  1.S17.  p.  lf)7. 

t  Mr.  Collier  went  as  chaplain  to  Sierra  Loone.     Sec  p.  163 
+  Printed,  with  the  Iiistrucrion.«>,  in  ihe  lieport  of  1818. 
I   2 


lib 


Forward  Steps 


Part   III. 

1812-24. 

Chap.  10. 

Events  in 
Europe  : 
Over- 
throw of 
Napoleon. 


national  chastisement,  may  Institutions  like  these  be  om'  safeguard 
and  defence  !  " 

The  great  European  events  at  this  period  could  not  fail  to  affect 
the  feelings  and  utterances  of  the  Society's  advocates.  Englishmen 
were  called  upon  to  show  their  gratitude  to  the  God  of  battles  and 
of  nations  by  spreading  His  Gospel.  Napoleon's  Grand  Army 
had  perished  on  the  frozen  plains  of  Eussia  in  1812,  and  in  the 
autumn  of  1813,  when  the  first  C.M.S.  deputations  were  travelling 
over  England,  the  Allied  forces  on  the  Continent  were  pressing  the 
great  usurper  back  on  to  the  French  frontier,  while  Wellington 
was  clearing  Spain  of  the  invaders  and  driving  them  back  across 
the  Pyrenees.  "  Surely,"  writes  a  Huddersfield  clergyman  in 
a  paper  circulated  after  Basil  Woodd's  visit,  "  the  wonderful 
interposition  of  Divine  Providence  in  behalf  of  our  nation  at  this 
awful  crisis  wdll  excite  the  members  of  the  Established  Church 
to  exert  themselves  in  promoting  the  increase  of  the  Eedeemer's 
Kingdom."  A  Liverpool  clergyman  writes,  "  What  glorious 
intelligence  !  How  thankful  we  should  be  to  the  Great  Arbiter 
of  nations  for  His  '  mighty  hand  and  stretched-out  arm '  in 
breaking  the  yoke  of  the  oppressor !  May  it  stimulate  us  to 
renewed  efforts  !  "  A  hymn  composed  at  the  time,  and  sung  at 
the  first  Bristol  Anniversary  in  the  following  year,  contains  this 
verse : — 

Amidst  our  isle,  exalted  high, 

Do  Thou  our  glory  stand ; 
And  like  a  wall  of  guardian  fire 

Surround  Thy  fav'rite  land. 

That  the  "  isle  exalted  high  "  might  prove  worthy  of  being  the 
Divine  "  favourite  "  was  one  aim  of  the  missionary  advocates. 
The  Annual  Eeport  presented  in  May,  1814,  just  after  the  banish- 
ment of  Napoleon  to  Elba,  opens  by  calling  attention  to  the  "  new 
and  extraordinary  circumstances  "  of  the  country  : — 

"  After  two-and-twenty  years  of  bitter  animosity,  or  of  treacherous 
peace  more  injurious  than  open  war,  the  good  providence  of  Him  Who 
doeth  after  the  counsel  of  His  own  will  has  brought  within  our  reach  that 
state  of  repose  for  which  wo  often  and  earnestly  prayed,  but  under 
mournful  forebodings  that  it  was  removed  to  a  distance  incalculable.  A 
generation  has  grown  up  under  the  din  of  arms.  The  youth  and  early 
manhood  of  our  children  have  been  familiarised  with  tales  of  infamy  and 
of  blood.  The  whole  frame  of  human  society  in  this  more  civilized  part  of 
the  world  has  been  disorganized.  One  of  the  most  powerful  and  refined 
of  nations  was  making  rapid  and  systematic  strides  toward  a  state  of 
barbarism.  All  the  varied  occupations  which  form  the  peculiar  character 
of  civilized  life  were  likely  soon  to  be  absorbed  in  those  of  the  cultivator 
and  the  soldier — of  the  man  who  should  till  the  ground  in  order  to  feed 
another  who  might  disturb  and  oppress  the  world.  But  the  good 
providence  of  God  has  rescued  Europe  from  this  enormous  evil,  and,  by 
means  which  so  distinctly  mark  His  irresistible  hand,  that  even  the 
thoughtless  are  compelled  to  exclaim,  '■  Verily  there  is  a  God  that  judgeth 
the  earth  !  '  " 

Dean  Dudley  Eyder,  the  preacher  on  that  same  day,  must  have 


Forward  Steps  117 

startled  the  congregation  when  he  gave  out  his  text,  and  no  doubt  Part  III. 
stirred  their  deepest  emotions  too — "  Thou  hi'test  me  up  above    1812-24. 
those  that  rise  up  against  me  :  Thou  hast  dehvered  me  from  the  ^'^^P-  1^- 
violent   man  ('  man  of  violence,'  viarg.).     Therefore  will  I  give  The  "man 
thanks  unto  Thee,  O  Lord,  among  the  Heathen,  and  sing  praises  ^*^^'°",, 
unto  Thy  name."     "  Behold,"  said  the  Dean,  "  our  deliverance, 
even  from  the  Man  of  Violence.      Behold    our    Deliverer,  even 
the   Mighty  Jehovah.      And    behold    in   the    Society   for  which 
I  plead  the  humble  instrument  of  accomplishing  our  purpose  of 
gratitude." 

It  is  difficult  for  us  to  realize  the  intensity  of  hatred  and  indig- 
nation with  which  England  regarded  Buonapai'te.  Two  facts 
incidentally  but  significantly  recorded  in  the  Society's  publica- 
tions  at  the  time  may   illustrate  what  cause  there  was  for   it. 

(1)  Before  his  invasion  of  Eussia,  he  told  the  Russian  Ambassador 
that  he  would  destroy  that  empire.  "Man  proposes,"  was  the 
reply,  "but  God  disposes."  "Tell  your  master,"  thundered 
Napoleon,  "  I  am  he  that  proposes,  and  I  am  he  that  disposes." 

(2)  He  did  invade  Eussia  ;  he  returned,  leaving  the  bulk  of  his 
vast  army  dead  upon  its  frozen  plains  ;  and  the  official  returns 
of  the  Eussian  authorities  showed  that  they  had  had  to  hum 
213, olG  French  corjises  and  95,810  chad  Jiorses.  It  w^as  to 
Englishmen  horrified  by  such  impiety  and  such  shocking  results 
of  unbridled  ambition,  that  the  good  Dean  appealed  in  his 
memorable  Sermon. 

In  the  following  year,  1815,  when  Napoleon,  having  escaped 
from  Elba,  again  threatened  Europe,  the  Committee  opened  their 
Eeport  by  adverting,  with  deep  regret,  to  the  disappointment 
of  these  anticipations.  "  The  portentous  gloom  which  seemed 
scattered  by  the  Divine  Hand  is  again  gathering  round.  The 
threatening  clouds  are  again  darkening  the  heavens,  and  a  dread 
night  of  horrors  seems  fast  coming  upon  this  fair  portion  of  our 
world."  Within  seven  weeks  of  these  words  being  read,  the  Peace  at 
"mighty  Hand  and  outstretched  Arm"  once  more  intervened, '^^^' 
and  the  crowning  victory  of  Waterloo  ushered  in  the  thirty  years' 
peace.  The  unhappy  two  years'  war  w^ith  the  United  States  had 
already  come  to  an  end,  and  Yaughan  of  Leicester,  in  the  Sermon 
of  1815,  had  exclaimed,  "  May  Britain  and  America,  now  re-united, 
know  no  other  rivalry  than  the  rivalry  of  effoi'ts  to  bless  the 
world !  ' ' 

But    the    internal    state   of    the    country   was    bv   no    means  State  of  the 

p  11.  1        c  /-ii      •      •  •  mi  .  country. 

lavourable  to  appeals  for  Christian  enterprises.  The  increase 
of  wealth  during  the  war  had,  indeed,  been  enormous.  England 
had  for  a  time  possessed  the  colonies  of  France,  Spain,  and 
Holland;  "manufactures  profited  by  the  great  discoveries  of 
Watt  and  Arkwright ;  and  the  consumption  of  raw  cotton  in  the 
mills  of  Lancashire  rose  from  fifty  to  a  hundred  millions  of 
pounds."  At  the  same  time,  agriculture  was  in  a  state  of 
"feverish  and  unhealthy  prosperity,"  the  price  of  wheat  rising 


1 1 8  Forward  Steps 

Part  III.  to  £5  per  quarter.  But  the  new  wealth  was  not  evenly  dis- 
1812-24.  ti'ibuted  :  both  the  introduction  of  machinery  and  the  high  prices 
^P"  ■  of  produce,  while  enriching  the  few,  reduced  multitudes  to  ruin  ; 
and  the  rapid  increase  of  population  increased  the  difficulty  of 
the  position,  while  the  distress  was  enhanced  by  the  pressure  of 
the  now  enormous  national  debt,  exceeding  800  millions  sterling, 
and  of  the  immense  yearly  expenditure, — the  budget  of  1815 
being  for  ninety  millions,  a  figure  only  again  reached  within 
quite  recent  years,  when  the  population  has  doubled,  and  the 
wealth  of  the  country  increased  almost  beyond  calculation. 
Pauperism  was  rife  to  an  extent  inconceivable  ixi  these  days  :  for 
instance,  at  one  time,  every  third  person  in  Birmingham  was  a 
pauper ;  and  the  poor-rate  rose  fifty  per  cent.  Kiots  broke  out, 
which  were  only  suppressed  by  military  force  ;  "  and  with  the 
increase  of  poverty  followed  its  inevitalale  result,  the  increase  of 
crime."  *  It  was  in  the  midst  of  a  social  condition  like  this  that 
the  small  fraction  of  the  nation  that  could  look  beyond  material 
interests  and  care  for  the  Eternal  Lord  and  His  Kingdom  was 
being  summoned  to  a  holy  war  in  His  name. 

Nevertheless,  the  proclamation  of  peace  had  filled  all  hearts 
New  hopes  with  joy  ;  and  the  Committee  fully  believed  that  a  wide  extension 
and  plans,  ^f  ^j^g  Society's  operations  would  be   the   result.     Dean    Eyder 
expressed  their  feelings  in  the  Sermon  already  referred  to  : — 

"  All  the  signs  and  circumstances  of  the  times  concur  with  the 
stupendous  event  of  our  deliverance  to  press  this  great  duty,  the  object 
of  the  Society,  upon  your  minds.  The  weapons  of  our  warfare  seem  to 
have  been  preparing  by  gradual  and  almost  silent  operation,  till  the 
luoment  is  at  last  arrived,  and  the  feeling  and  priuciijle  communicated, 
by  which  these  weapons  sliould  be  wielded  for  the  conversion  of  the 
world,  the  fultilment  t>f  the  primary  design  of  creation,  the  consumma- 
tion of  redeeming  love." 

And  five  years  after  this,  in  the  Keport  of  1819,  the  Committee 
were  still  full  of  the  same  thoughts.  "  We  are  labouring,"  they 
said,  "in  a  Pacified  World!  The  sword  is  beaten  into  the 
ploughshare  and  the  spear  into  the  pruning-hook." 

For  some  time,  the  eyes  of  the  Committee  had  been  directed  to 
the  East,  where  the  Oriental  Churches  still  kept  the  lamp  of 
Christianity  burning — albeit  feebly  and  dimly — amid  the  darkness 
and  tyranny  of  Islam  ;  and  now  that  the  Mediterranean  was  no 
longer  continually  traversed  by  hostile  fleets,  the  way  was  open 
for  a  Mission  to  the  Levant.  Of  that  enterprise  a  future  chapter 
will  tell.  Here  it  need  only  be  noticed  tluit  William  Jowett, 
Fellow  of  St.  John's,  Cambridge,  and  Twelfth  Wrangler  in  1812, 
sailed  for  Malta  with  a  special  connnission  from  the  Society  about 
two  mouths  after  the  ]3attl(!  of  Waterloo.  Kussian  Tartary,  and 
Persia,  were   also  pressed  upon   the  attention  of  the  Committee, 

*  Partlj'  from  Green's  Short   History  of  the  Eiujiiah  People,  chap,  x.,  sect.  -i. 


FoRii  'A  R  D  Steps  i  i  Q 

aiul  Astrachan,  on  the  Caspian,  seriously  considered  as  an  inviting  Part^  HI. 
city  ior  a  cential  station;  bufthe  Ediiihurgli  Society  was  already  Jj^^""^"J; 
in  occupation  of  it.  Ceylon  was  much  upon  their  mind,  and  an  "^P" 
active  correspondence  had  been  t,'oing  on  with  the  excellent 
Chief  Justice,  Sir  Alexander  Johnston,  who  presently,  on  his 
return  to  I'^ngland,  became  a  Vice-President  of  the  Society.  The 
two  English  clergymen  who,  as  before  stated,  were  the  first 
missionaries  of  the  Society,  and  of  the  Church  of  England,  to 
India,  were  originally  designated  to  Ceylon.  With  the  West 
Indies,  also,  the  Committee  were  in  correspondence, — Mr.  W. 
Dawes,  the  former  Governor  of  Sierra  Leone,  who  had  for  a  few 
months  undertaken  the  training,  at  his  house  in  Buckingham- 
shire, of  the  early  German  missionaries,  being  now  resident  at 
Antigua ;  and  a  call  also  came  from  Honduras,  in  Central 
America;  wliile,  all  this  time,  Africa  and  India  occupied  the 
largest  share  of  attention,  and  the  openings  in  distant  New 
Zealand  gave  promise  of  a  rich  harvest  of  souls. 

Literary  and  translational  work  also  occupied  much  time  and  Literary 
thought  at  this  period,  and  a  prominent  place  in  the  Annual  ^°''''' 
Ki'poits.  The  Bible  Society  was  for  the  most  part  engaged  in 
printing  and  circulating  the  Scriptures  in  English  and  in  the 
Continental  languages ;  while  a  considerable  part  of  the  similar 
work,  and  still  more,  the  preparation  of  tracts.  Ac,  and  the 
translation  of  the  Prayer-book,  in  Asiatic  and  African  tongues, 
was  undertaken  iiy  the  Church  Missionary  Society.  There  were 
in  hand  the  Old'  and  New  Testaments  in  Syriac,  portions  of 
Scripture  in  Malay,  and  some  of  the  Gospels  in  two  West  African 
languages,  Susoo  and  BuUom  ;  also  parts  of  the  Prayer-book  in 
.\rabic,  Persian,  Hindustani,  and  Bullom  ;  and  various  tracts, 
catechisms,  &c.,  in  some  of  these  languages.  ISIodern  Greek,  and 
Maltese,  and  even  Italian  publications  were  taken  in  hand,  in 
coimexion  with  the  Society's  plans  for  the  Levant;  and  a  newly- 
discovered  MS.  of  the  Scriptures  in  Ethiopic,  the  ecclesiastical 
language  of  the  Abyssinian  Church,  was  edited  and  printed.  In 
particular,  the  Committee  were  very  keen  upon  completing  the 
important  works  in  Hindustani  and  Persian  left  unlinished  by  Specially 
Henry  Martyn.  They  actually  had  a  new  fount  of  type  made  to  •"■  "■^'"* 
reproduce  tiie  Persian  character  more  exactly,  paid  for  it  out  of 
C.M.S.  funds,  and  placed  it  at  the  disposal  of  tiie  Bible  Society. 
Special  mention  is  made  of  one  work  accomplished,  not  by 
the  Society,  but  in  Russia,  viz.,  the  printing  of  Henry  Martyn's 
Persian  New  Testament,  which  had  been  received  by  the  Persian 
Mohammedans  willi  eagerness,  and  even  by  the  Shah  himself. 
Thus,  said  the  seventeenth  Report.  "  the  dear  Martyn,  though  dead, 
was  still  preaching  the  Gospel  to  that  numerous  people."  He 
himself,  indeed,  was  not  forgotten  in  Persia.  Tlie  testimony  of 
English  travellers  is  from  time  to  time  adduced  in  the  Society's 
publications.  One,  Captain  Gordon,  is  cited  as  saying,  *'  You 
little    think    how    generally    the    English   Moollah,    Martyn,    is 


Christians. 


1 20  Forward  Steps 

Part  III.  known  throughout  Persia,  and  with  what  affection  his  memory  is 
1812-24.  cherished."  * 
lap^    .       j^  ^^^^g  j^^.  ^^,^^^   q£  ^j^-g  ]^i^;^(j  ^}^y^l;  |-]^g   Society  took    up  that 
Samuel       remarkable  young   man,    Samuel    Lee.     He    was    a    carpenter's 
^^^-  apprentice  at  Shrewsbury,  who,  while  working  at  his  trade,  had 

acquired  a  knowledge  of  Latin,  Greek,  Hebrew,  Syriac,  Arabic, 
Persian,  and  Hindustani,  before  he  was  twenty-five  years  of  age. 
He  came  under  the  notice  of  Buchanan,  who  introduced  him  to 
Pratt ;  and  the  Committee  arranged  for  him  to  go  to  Cambridge 
at  the  Society's  expense.!  There  he  quickly  made  his  mark  as  a 
scholar,  and  for  some  years  he  was  employed  by  the  C.M.S.  Com- 
mittee, and  called  "the  Society's  Orientalist."  His  name,  and 
the  works  upon  which  he  .was  engaged,  frequently  occur  in  the 
Eeports  of  this  period.  He  afterwards  became  Professor  of 
Arabic  and  Canon  of  Bristol. 
co^nti-°  Another  task  undertaken  by  the  Society  after  the  Peace  w^as 

nentai  the  rousing  of  the  Protestant  Churches  of  the  Continent  to  take  a 
share  in  missionary  work.  In  the  Eeport  of  1816  the  Committee 
say  :— 

"  The  return  of  Universal  Peace  opening  the  friendly  intercourse 
which  all  true  Christians  in  the  world  will  ever  desire  to  maintain,  the 
Committee  have  availed  themselves  of  the  opportunity  to  diffuse  in- 
formation on  the  subject  of  Missions,  and  to  offer  to  Foreign  Protestants 
every  practicable  degree  of  co-operation.  .  .  .  They  have  opened  an 
intercourse  with  a  Missionary  Institution  established  at  Basle,  and  they 
will  render  every  aid  in  their  power  to  any  other  Societies  which  may 
rise  among  the  Foreign  Churches.  The  return  of  Peace  has  brought 
many  Colonies  again  luider  the  power  of  the  Continental  States  ;  and 
your  Committee  trust  that  the  Christians  of  those  States  will  unite  and 
exert  themselves  in  diffusing,  in  and  around  these  Colonies,  the  blessings 
of  the  Gospel.  The  Missions  of  the  Danes  in  India  have  long  lan- 
guished for  aid.  The  Kingdom  of  the  Netherlands  has  an  extensive 
tield  for  exertion  in  the  Eastern  Archipelago ;  and  the  vast  countries 
of  Northern  Asia  are  opening  themselves  before  the  other  States  of  the 
Continent." 

Among  instances  of  practical  help  given  in  accordance  with  these 
designs,  may  be  mentioned  the  temporary  carrying  on  of  the 
Danish  Mission  schools  at  Tranquebar  in  South  India,  and  a  grant 
of  £100  to  the  new  Basle  Seminary,  which  had  been  founded  by 
some  Christians  in  that  city  as  a  thankoflering  for  its  preservation 
from  threatened  disaster  and  ruin  in  the  last  year  of  the  Great 
War.  I      It   is    also    a  striking   and    little-known   fact   that    the 

*  Missionary  Register,  January,  1821,  p.  36. 

t  It  is  a  curious  fact  that  one  of  the  first  uses  to  which  the  newly-hired 
liouse  in  Salisbury  Square  was  ])ut  was  to  receive  Lee's  family  while  he  was 
at  Cambridge,  "  as  the  most  economical  means  of  providing  for  them." 

+  The  contending  armies  were  on  opposite  sides  of  the  town.  Bombs  were 
thrown  into  it.  Suddenly  (said  Mr.  Blumhardt,  the  Director,  at  a  C.M.S. 
meeting  at  Cambridge  in  1822),  "  the  Lord  of  the  elements  sent  a  very  strong 
east  wind,  and  the  bombs  were  exhausted  in  the  air  before  they  could  reach 
our  homes." — Missionary  Register,  June,  1822. 


Forward  Steps  I-2I 

Domestic  and  Foreign  Missionary  Society  of  the  Protestant  Epis-  Part  III. 
copal  Church  of  America  owes  its  origin  to  suggestions  made  by  (.^^^^'^j^J; 
Pratt  to  some  of  the  bishops  of  that    Church,  as  will  be  seen      J_ 
hereafter. 

In  fact,  in  the  Eighteenth  Year,  as  Dr.  Mears  observes,*  "the 
wide  reach  of  the  Society,  nerved,  as  it  were,  by  the  strength  and 
energy  of  youth,  seemed  suddenly  to  embrace  the  whole  world.  ^,^Jf/e^'^ 
The  Society  saw  before  it  the  prospect,  not  only  of  bringing 
civilization  to  West  Africa  and  New  Zealand,  of  diffusing  education 
throughout  India  and  Ceylon,  and  of  aiding  evangelization  in  all 
these  countries  and  in  the  Mohammedan  world ;  not  only  of 
awakening  missionary  interest  among  Churchmen  in  America, 
and  of  reviving  evangelistic  zeal  among  the  Protestants  of  Europe; 
but  also  of  assisting  in  the  recovery  from  tlieir  long  sleep  of  the 
ancient  Syrian  and  Greek  Churches.'"  Well  might  the  Committee 
exclaim,  "  Who  is  sullicient  for  these  things?  "  And  well  might 
they  "affectionately  urge  the  duty  of  intercession  on  all  the 
members  of  the  Society,"  informing  them  that  they  themselves 
were  now  meeting  every  Saturday  evening  to  "  invoke  the  blessing 
of  God  on  all  their  plans  and  proceedings." 

And  in  tlie  Eeport  of  1818,  they  survey  the  position  in  sti-iking 
language : — 

"  In  the  adoption  of  those  Missions,  the  Committee  were  led  by 
degrees,  as  tlie  Piovidcnice  of  God  opened  opportunities  before  them. 
No  Society  could  hiive  at  once  planned  sucli  a  series  and  system  of 
Mis.sions;  ami  it  is  no  small  satisfaction  to  your  Committee  to  review, 
in  this  respect,  the  steps  of  tlits  Society,  and  to  see  how  God  luis 
graciously  led  it  forward,  as  l)y  the  hand,  and  fixed  it  in  positions  most 
favourably  situated  for  iuHuence  on  the  }*Iohammedan  and  Heathen 
World. 

"On  the  review  of  these  Missions  it  will  be  seen  that  the  Society  has 
to  deal  witli  man  in  almost  every  stage  of  civilization  ;  from  the  nol)le 
but  micultivuted  New  Zealander,  upward  through  the  more;  civilized 
African,  and  the  still  more  relined  Hindoo,  to  the  acute  and  half- 
tMdightened  Mohanunedan,  and  the  different  gradations  in  which 
Christianity  is  enjoyed  by  the  Abyssinian,  the  Syrian,  and  the  Grei-k 
Churches. 

"These  varied  shades  of  light  and  civilization  require  all  the  varied 
means  and  instruments  which  the  Society  is  now  calling  into  action  : 
from  the  blacksmith,  the  rope-maker,  the  l)oat-l)uilder,  and  the  farmer, 
who  meet  tlu^  iirst  necessities  of  the  New  Zealander.  up  through  the 
schoolmaster  who  follows  his  fugitive  i-hildren  into  the  woods,  and  the 
reader  who  collects  the  mon;  lettered  Hindoos  around  him  in  the  bazaar, 
to  the  catechist  who  instils  principles  into  inquiring  minds,  and  the 
missionary  who  preaches  the  glad  tidings  of  salvation.  All  are  needed  : 
and  all  are  occupying  an  important  post  in  that  gi-eat  work,  which  it 
pleases  God  to  assign  to  our  various  Institutions." 

And  these   various    projects   were   not    fruitless.      Dr.   Mears 

*  Dr.  Mears,  who  was  for  a  time  a  C.M.S.  missionary,  was  eugaged  to 
prepare  a  portion  of  this  History ;  but  ill-health  put  a  stop  to  his  work.  The 
passage  above  is  extracted  from  his  MS. 


increasing. 


122  FORIFARD   StEPS 

Part  III.  thus  happily    summarizes  the    encouragements  of  the    Society's 
Cha^lo    "  ss'^^^^se^^^th  year  "  (really  eighteenth),  ending  April,  1817  : — 

"  The  seventeenth  j-ear  saw  in  Africa  the  first  grand  result  of  direct 

Evangelization  by  its  own  European  ageiits ;  in  India  and  in  New 
Zealand,  its  first  successes  from  a  combination  of  Medical  Work  with 
preaching;  in  the  former  country,  t\\e  first  employment  for  Educational 
purposes  of  native  teachers  trained  by  the  Society  ;  in  the  latter  Islands, 
the  first  material  result  of  Technical  Education  ;  in  Europe,  the  first 
practical  efi'ects  from  the  Society's  endeavours  to  awaken  missionary 
interest  in  the  Continental  Frotestant  Churches ;  in  the  Mediterranean, 
the  first  advantages  accruing  from  the  appointment  of  a  Literary  liepre- 
semtative;  in  America,  the  first  fruits  of  the  suggestion  of  co-operation 
made  by  the  Committee  to  the  Episcopal  Church  of  the  United  States ; 
while  it  witnessed,  for  the  Syrian,  the  Hindu,  the  Malay,  and  the  African, 
the  first  versions  of  the  Holy  Sci'iptures  committed  to  them  in  modern 
times  at  the  hands  of  the  first  Missionary  Translators  of  the  Society." 

cajid^dates  Oft'ers  of  service,  too,  were  now  becoming  numerous  ;  and  the 
Committee  were  beginning  to  find  the  necessity  of  exercising  that 
caution  in  receiving  them  which  has  often  exposed  the  Society  to 
the  censures  of  unthinking  people,  but  which  has  again  and  again 
been  so  abundantly  justified.  In  1816,  the  Committee  in  their 
Report  said,  "Not  a  few  offers  have  been  of  such  a  nature,  that 
they  cannot  but  earnestly  advise  all  who  think  of  proposing 
themselves  for  this  arduous  work,  well  to  count  the  cost,  and 
to  view  impartially  their  own  situation  and  character ;  and  the 
Committee  are  the  more  urgent  on  this  head,  as  their  reasonable 
expectations  and  hopes  have  not  been  without  disappointment, 
from  caprice,  self-wiU,  or  worldly-mindedness,  after  considerable 
expense  had  been  incurred."  And  in  the  following  year,  in  which 
no  less  than  fifty  offers  had  to  be  reported,  they  mentioned  that 
"  the  general  want  of  employment,"  owing  to  the  distressing 
condition  of  the  country,  had  compelled  them  to  "  scrutinize  with 
peculiar  care  into  the  motives  which  led  to  these  numerous  offers." 
And  it  is  evident  that  an  experience  familiar  enough  in  later  days 
led  them  to  add  these  significant  words  : — 

"  It  will  be  obvious  to  all  considerate  persons  that  the  Secretaries  and 
Committee  of  the  Society  have  more  ample  means  of  appreciating  the 
(jualifications  of  candidates  than  can  be  enjoyed  by  others.  The  friends 
of  any  person  who  ofi'ers  himself  as  a  Candidate  for  this  work  naturally 
incline  to  think  well  of  his  spirit  and  qualifications :  they  feel  a  measure 
of  personal  or  local  interest  in  his  success :  nor  have  they  had  the 
opportunity  of  being  convinced  by  experience  that  something  more  than 
genuine  piety  and  a  desire  of  engaging  in  this  service  is  absolutely 
requisite  to  the  character  of  a  Missionary." 

Cautions         Onty  ^  ^w  months  later,  Pratt  wrote  the   following  admirable 
forcandi-    ^'emarks  on  missionary  character.     The   extract  is  long,  but  no 

cates.  ...  "^ 

reader  will  wish  it  shortened  :* — 

"  Not  a  few  of  the  present  race  of  Missionaries  emulate  the  virtues  of 
the  best  of  their  predecessors,  and  are  the  happiness  and  honour  of  the 

*  Missionary  Register,  January,  1817. 


FoRiVARD  Steps  123 

bodies  to  which  they  belong;  and  many  more  are  devoting  with  all  Part  III. 
simplicity,  the  talents  entrusted  to  them,  to  the  honour  of  their  Lord  :  1812-24. 
but  there  are  some  of  less  weight  of  character.  Chap.  10. 

"  We  do  not  speak  of  those  shades  and  gradations  of  character  which 
are  inevitable  in  such  a  body  of  men  ;  nor  of  that  variety  of  talents  which 
the  Great  Householder  commits,  for  wise  purposes,  to  His  servants  :  but 
we  speak  of  those  imperfections  which  have,  in  different  degrees,  disap- 
pointed the  reasonable  expectations  of  the  Societies  by  whom  such  persons 
have  been  prepared  and  sent  forth,  at  a  great  charge  on  Public  Charity. 

"It  may  be  beneficial  to  trace  the  operations  of  a  mind  of  this  de- 
scription in  offering  itself  to  the  Missionary  Service.  An  honest  zeal 
springs  up  in  a  man  newly  awakened  to  feel  his  own  obligations  to 
Redeeming  Mercy,  to  connuunicate  the  knowledge  of  Salvation  to  others. 
Missionaiy  Sermons,  or  Meetings,  or  Publications,  awaken  his  attention 
to  the  awful  state  of  the  Heathen  World — he  otters  himself  to  this  service 
— he  persuades  himself  that  he  is  sincere  ;  and  he  really  is  sincere  ; — 
prudent  counsellors  advise  him  to  much  prayer,  self-examination,  and  a 
diligent  study  of  the  Missionary  work  and  its  ditticulties,  with  his  own 
fitness  for  the  lal)our  ;  and  they  give  him  faithful  intimations  of  their 
own  judgment  respecting  him — these  may  happen  to  be  somewhat 
humV)ling,  and  he  receives  a  little  check  in  his  view  of  himself  ;  but  he 
goes  to  liis  [)re})aratory  work  under  the  strong  bias  of  new-kindled  zeal, 
with  little  real  self-suspicion,  and  with  little  actual  discernment  of 
motives  ;  and  his  conclusions  are,  of  course,  favourable  to  his  wishes  : — 
he  perseveres,  and  prevails  ;  and,  at  length,  sets  forth  on  his  high  errand, 
not  to  teach,  alas !  so  much  as  to  learn  ! — to  learn  that  he  has  deceived 
himself  and  misled  others ;  that  he  is  not  sufficiently  dead  to  the  world ; 
that  he  is  unreasonably  careful  about  his  conveniences  and  comforts  ; 
that  he  cannot  deny  his  whole  self ;  that  he  cannot,  in  lowliness  of  mind, 
esteem  others  better  than  himself  ;  that  he  cannot  keep  his  eye  ott'  his 
own  things,  to  look  with  kind  consideration  and  strict  impartiality  on 
the  things  of  others ;  that  he  cannot  lie  at  the  feet  of  his  Master,  and  at 
the  feet  of  his  Bretliren  for  his  Master's  sake: — he  learns  somewhat  of  Painful 
these  painful  lessons  before  he  reaches  the  Heathen  shores:  and  when  he  lessons  to 
enters  on  his  work,  still  he  has  much  to  learn,  before  he  can  effectually 
teach:— he  counted  little,  in  theory  and  at  home,  of  jnivations,  and 
ditticidties,  and  opposition,  and  enmity,  and  strange  maniu-rs,  and  new 
modes  of  thinking,  and  prejudices,  and  duluess,  and  disappointments  : 
he  read  of  all  these,  and  thought  lightly  of  them  ;  but  he  has  now  to 
learn  that  he  is  come  to  this  arduous  work  inadecjuately  prepared  ;  that, 
as  he  knew  but  little  of  himself,  so  he  knows  but  little  of  those  among 
whom  he  is  to  live  ;  that  he  wants  that  good  sense,  that  intelligence, 
that  self-command,  that  unwearied  patience,  that  condescending  kindness, 
and  that  knowledge  of  the  heart,  which  are  absolutely  re(|uisite  to  the 
full  discharge  of  his  high  calling.  And  well  will  it  be  for  liini  if  he 
discern  this;  and  if,  feeling  his  own  deficiencies,  he  go  humbly  to  his 
Heavenly  Father,  and  diligently  learn,  that  he  may  be  enabled  well  to 
occupy  such  talents  as  may  have  been  entrusted  to  him  in  teaching 
others.  The  wisest  and  best  of  our  Missionaries  must  learn  in  this  way  : 
but  they  know  this  ;  and  their  good  sense,  and  their  diligent  study  of 
their  own  hearts  and  of  mankind,  have  prepared  them  to  learn  with 
rapidity,  when  on  Heathen  ground,  the  best  methods  of  conunending 
their  message  to  the  men  among  whom  they  are  to  live  : — while  others  will 
give  way  to  discontent,  and  peevishness,  and  selfishness;  and  will  grow 
listless,  and,  ultimately,  luiless  Divine  mercy  arrest  their  progress,  utterly 
iHiprofitable  in  the  great  work  which  they  have  uiuiertaken. 


124 


Forward  Steps 


Part  III, 
1812-24. 
Chap.  10. 


Needed 
qualifica- 
tions. 


Let  prayer 
be  multi- 
plied. 


Women 

not 

wanted. 


"  We  liave  no  pleasure  in  drawing  such  a  sketch  t){  human  infirmities  ; 
and  rejoice  to  beheve,  that  but  a  few,  in  any  considerable  degree, 
answer  to  this  picture :  but  we  sincerely  hope  that  this  statement  of 
facts,  which,  in  various  measures,  have  too  often  occurred,  may  act  as 
a  caution  to  those  who  are  purposing  to  offer  themselves  to  this  service. 

"  We  know  the  difficulties  under  which  the  different  Societies  labour, 
in  their  judgment  of  candidates.  Where  there  are  apparent  integrity 
and  piety  and  zeal,  there  is  yet  sometimes  an  al)sence  of  decided 
MISSIONARY  talent;  and, where  there  is  talent,  and  even  sincerity,  there 
is  too  often  a  want  of  the  missionary  soul:  there  is,  not  seldom,  a 
moderate  p(jrtion  of  various  missionary  virtues,  which  together  iovm  a 
character  that  you  cannot  disapprove,  and  are  reluctant  to  reject ;  but 
there  is  an  absence  of  those  decided  and  positive  missionary  gifts  and 
GRACES,  which  would  lead  you  to  send  such  an  one  forth  with  confidence 
an(l  joy. 

"  A¥e  would  iH)t  be  supposed  to  luidervalue  men  of  a  heavenly  character, 
though  not  of  a  superior  mind.  No!  such  men,  by  their  humilitv,  their 
faith,  their  love,  and  their  prayers — by  their  readiness  of  service,  and 
unwearied  kindness  of  spirit — are  the  stay  and  comfort  of  their  Brethren  : 
they  conciliate  and  win  the  Native  mind  ;  and  they  call  down  the  blessing 
of  their  Lord  on  the  undertaking  in  which  they  are  engaged. 

"  But,  perhaps,  Christians  have  failed  here  in  the  duty  of  Prayer.  The 
devoted  Missionary  is  the  greatest  character  in  the  Church  of  Christ : 
all  the  mere  dignities  of  outward  station  sink  before  the  grandeur  of  his 
mind  and  purpose.  But  the  greatest  of  all  human  Missionaries  was 
specially  prepared  and  trained  for  his  arduous  service  ;  and  the  more  we 
study  the  history  of  those  men  who  have  most  fully  imbibed  his  spirit 
and  imitated  his  labours,  the  more  clearly  shall  we  discern  the  provi- 
dential and  gracious  infiuence  which  guided  them,  from  their  earliest 
years.  The  true  Missionary  must  be  a  man  peculiarly  called  and  pre- 
pared of  Him,  who  divideth  to  every  man  severally  as  He  will. 

"  Let  us  then,  Christians,  in  all  our  prayers  for  the  success  of  Missions, 
never  fail  to  beseech  the  Lord  of  the  Harvest,  that  He  would  send  forth 
labourers  into  His  harvest — that  He  would  graciously  prepare,  from  their 
youthful  years,  by  the  leadings  of  His  Providence  and  the  influences  of 
His  Holy  Spirit,  able  and  devoted  servants  for  the  advancement  of  His 
Kingdom  in  the  world. 

"  Oh,  how  does  the  heart  cling  to  the  name  and  deeds  of  such  men  of 
God  !  We  need  not  point  out  these  Christian  heroes.  Every  Society 
actively  engaged  in  promoting  the  knowledge  of  Christ  in  the  world  is 
blessed  with  such  men.  May  every  retin-ning  year  multiply  their  number 
manifold  ! " 

One  result  of  the  increasing  number  of  Englisli  candidates  was 
that  the  Committee  in  1817  resolved  upon  receiving  no  more  from 
the  Berlin  Seminary.  No  doubt,  however,  there  were  other 
reasons  for  this  step  ;  for  in  the  following  year  two  Germans  were 
received  from  the  newly-o]3ened  Institution  at  Basle.  These  were 
J.  A.  Jetter  and  W.  J.  Deerr,  both  of  whom  proved  valuable 
missionaries  and  fulfilled  long  periods  of  service. 

It  was  in  1815  that  the  Society  received  its  first  offers  of  servics 
from  women.  Three  ladies  at  Clifton,  Misses  Hensman,  Weales, 
and  W.  Wilton,  of3^ered  to  go  anywhere  in  any  capacity.  Daniel 
Corrie,  wiio  was  home  from  India  at  the  time,  expressed  a  strong 
opinion  that  they  might  be  of  great  value  for  work  among  the 
Hindu  women,  for  whom  nothing  had  then  been  done  ;  but  the 


Forward  Steps  125 

Committee,  after  discussion  at  two  meetinj^s,  resolved  not  to  send  Part  III. 
unmarried  women  abroad,  except  sisters  accompanying  or  joining  p^^"^"^"!' 
their  brothers.    No  other  decision  could  be  looked  for  at  that  period,       ^^' 
and  it  is  rather  a  token  of  the  Committee's  readiness  for  "new 
departures"  that  they  did  not  say  No  at  once  without  debate. 
Four  years  more  passed  before  the  first  two  "  female  mission- 
aries" were  sent  out,  "  schoolmistresses  "  for  Sierra  Leone  ;  but  one 
of  them  went  with  her  brother,  W.  A.  B.  Johnson.     She  afterwards 
married.     The  other,  Mary  Bouffler,  died  soon  after  landing. 

How  the  money  was  raised  to  meet  all  the  enlarged  and  ex- 
panding work  foreshadowed  in  this  chapter  will  appear  in  the 
next  one.  Here  we  need  only  note  two  special  funds  started  at 
this  time,  which  were  "forward  steps"  indeed,  but  of  the  kind 
that  have  to  be  retraced. 

One  of  these  Special  Funds  was  to  purchase  and  fit  out  a  special 
missionary  ship.  Both  Marsden  and  Buchanan  had  urged  such  Funds, 
a  plan  on  the  Society  ;  the  former,  however,  only  asking  for  a 
small  vessel  for  local  use  in  the  South  Seas,  while  Buchanan, 
with  his  usual  large  conceptions,  aimed  at  a  ship  that  would 
convey  missionaries  and  stores  to  all  parts  of  the  world,  facilitate 
visitation  of  the  Missions,  and  secure  speedier  and  more  regular 
communication.  Our  ocean  greyhounds,  as  the  great  mail- 
steamers  have  been  so  happily  termed,  were  of  course  then  in 
the  future.'''  The  scheme  was  at  first  warmly  received,  but 
never  came  to  maturity.  It  was  arranged  to  name  the  ship  the 
William  Wilherforce ;  but  although  a  good  deal  of  money  was 
contributed,  the  fund  did  not  prove  large  enough  for  the  purpose, 
and  was  at  length  applied  to  cover  the  expenses  of  the  Active, 
Marsden' s  brig  in  the  South  Seas.  The  other  Special  Fund  was 
for  the  maintenance  of  African  children.  At  first,  gifts  of  £5 
were  invited,  for  the  "redemption"  of  the  children  of  slaves;  Redemp- 
but  this  "  redemption  "  looked  so  much  like  purchase — which  ^^°g^°^ 
word  was  actually  used  now  and  then  by  inadvertence, — that 
strong  anti- slavery  friends  protested,  and  the  plan  was  abandoned, 
"to  avoid,"  said  the  Committee,  "the  appearance  of  evil."  In 
lieu  of  it,  regular  subscriptions  of  £5  a  year  were  invited,  towards 
the  expense  of  feeding  and  clothing  boys  and  girls  rescued  from 
slave-ships  and  handed  over  to  the  care  of  the  Sierra  Leone 
missionaries  by  the  Government.  A  great  many  such  contributions 
w^ere  given,  including  some  by  Quakers  who  could  not  support  the 
Society  in  a  general  way.  The  suggestion  was  made  at  the  same 
time  that  the  children  might  be  named  after  the  donors,  which 
much  added  to  the  interest  of  the  plan.  The  first  case  of  the 
kind  was  a  gift  from  a  Welsh  friend  named  Llewellyn,  who 
requested  that  four  boys  supported  by  his  money  should  be  called 
David,   Morgan,   Owen,    and   Evan    Llewellyn;    and   four   girls, 

*  It  is  a  curious  fact  that  even  forty  years  later,  when  Pratt's  Memoir  was 
published  iu  1849,  his  biographer  mentions,  as  a  reason  why  the  Society  at 
that  (late  needed  no  ships  of  its  own,  that  letters  had  come  from  Xew  Zealand 
in  ninety  days.     They  now  come  in  thirty-five. 


126 


Forward  Steps 


The  "  Mis- 
sionary 
Register." 


Part  III.  Anne,  Martha,  Lucy,  and  Sarah  Llewellyn.  Very  soon  almost 
1812-24.  all  the  familiar  Evangelical  names  in  England  were  reproduced 
Chap.  10.  -j^  Africa ;  and  we  find  Richard  Cecil,  Martyn  Buchanan,  John 
Newton,  Gloucester  Ryder,  John  Venn,  Edward  Bickersteth, 
Richard  Gurney,  Hannah  More,  Mary  Clapham,  and  so  forth. 
Thus  began  a  system  which  was  very  attractive  at  first  sight, 
and  seemed  reasonable  at  Sierra  Leone,  where  children  of  various 
tribes,  without  parents  and  without  names,  were  taken  up — 
though  even  there  it  proved  awkward  in  after  years,  when  a 
grown-up  "  Edward  Bickersteth  "  or  "  Hannah  More  "  happened 
to  turn  out  badly  and  was  convicted  of  crime  ;  but  which,  when 
subsequently  adopted  in  India,  produced  very  untoward  effects, 
denationalizing  the  children  and  condemning  them  to  be  identi- 
fied all  through  life  as  children  of  charity. 

It  only  remains  here  to  notice  the  fresh  efforts  made  at  this 
time  to  diffuse  missionary  information  by  means  of  periodicals. 
Up  to  1812,  the  Society  had  nothing  for  its  friends  to  read  except 
the  Annual  Sermon  and  Report ;  the  latter  of  course  very  meagre, 
but  having  the  journals  of  the  early  West  African  missionaries 
appended.  But  in  1813,  Josiah  Pratt  commenced  the  publication 
of  a  monthly  paper  called  the  Missionary  Begister,  which  he  carried 
on  for  five-and-twenty  years  with  quite  extraordinary  industry 
and  vigour.  It  began  with  thirty-two  small  pages  (fscap.  8vo), 
but  very  soon  became  thicker,  and  after  three  years  was  enlarged 
to  demy  8vo.  In  type  and  paper  it  has  to  a  modern  eye  a  very 
old-fashioned  and  uninviting  look  ;  but  its  contents  are  most 
valuable,  collected  with  what  must  have  been  astonishing  patience, 
and  arranged  with  great  skill.  From  first  to  last,  it  was  not 
confined  to  C.M.S.  information,  but  definitely  aimed  at  giving  a 
systematic  account  of  all  Missions  of  all  Societies.  Taking  up  at 
random  the  eighth  volume,  for  1820,  we  find  that  it  contains 
540  pages,  and  that  of  these  only  140  are  devoted  to  the  Church 
Missionary  Society.  For  completeness  there  has  never  been 
anything  at  all  like  it.  From  1813  to  1855  one  could  obtain  from 
it  almost  all  the  materials  for  a  general  History  of  Missions. 
From  the  time  it  was  given  up  until  now  there  has  been  no  such 
work,  and  the  historian  would  be  compelled  to  search  all  the 
Reports  of  the  various  organizations.  In  the  first  ten  of  these 
forty-three  volumes,  for  example,  one  can  read  of  the  triumph  of 
Christianity  in  Tahiti  (so  curiously  like  the  modern  story  of 
Uganda),  the  destruction  of  idolatry  in  the  Sandwich  Islands, 
the  commencement  of  the  Madagascar  Mission,  the  now  forgotten 
but  most  interesting  enterprise  of  the  L.M.S.  in  Siberia,  the 
Scottish  Mission  ob  the  Caspian  Sea,  the  earliest  work  of  Robert 
Moffat  and  of  that  strange  man  Joseph  Wolff,  the  beginnings  of 
S.P.G.  in  India  and   South   Africa,"  the  wonderful  translational 

*  It  is  interesting  to  find  that  the  first  C-hnroh  work  in  South  Africa  whs 
an  S.P.G.  school  fit  Wynberg— a  place  near  Cape  Town  which  is  now 
couspicuoas  for  its  ipissionai-y  zoal  in  support  of  C.M.S. 


Its  com- 
pleteness. 


Forward  Steps  127 

work  of  the  Serampore  Baptists,  the  first  inception  of  the  Basle  Part  III. 
Missions,  the  formation  of  the  great  American  Societies,  and,  in  ^^^^^^ 
particular,  the  first  efforts  of  the  A.B.C.F.M.  in  Bombay  and  _£_  • 
Tm-key,  the  foundation  of  the  Freed  Slave  Colony  of  Liberia,  the 
patient '  labours  of  the  Moravians  in  many  lands,  the  Methodist 
work  in  the  West  Indies,  the  progress  of  Morrison's  Chinese 
Bible,  Judson's  start  in  Burmah,  and  several  Missions  in  such 
oft-forgotten  fields  as  the  Malay  Archipelago  and  Central  America. 
The  work  of  the  Bible  Society  and  the  Jews'  Society  on  the 
Continent  of  Europe  is  described  at  length,  with  information 
from  their  branches  in  Germany,  Eussia,  &c.  The  S.P.G.  colonial 
operations  in  Canada  are  included  ;  and  so  are  the  proceedings 
of  home  Societies  like  the  S.P.C.K.  and  Keligious  Tract  Society 
(on  their  home  side),  the  Naval  and  Military  Bible  Society,  the 
Prayer-book  and  Homily  Society,  and  even  the  National,  British, 
and  Sunday-school  Societies,  together  with,  of  course,  philan- 
thropic organizations  like  the  African  Institution  and  the  Anti- 
Slavery  Society. 

A  few  further  particulars  of  the  early  contents  will  be  in- 
teresting. The  funny  little  first  volume,  in  its  brown  leather  us  con- 
covering,  opens  with  "  kn  Appeal,  particularly  to  Churchmen,  *^"*^- 
on  the  i)uty  of  Propagating  the  Gospel  "  ;  and  the  rest  of  the 
thirty-two  pages  of  No.  1  are  occupied  with  a  brief  account  of 
the  Church  Missionary  Society.  Nos.  2  and  3  are  entirely  taken 
up  with  a  contribution  from  Hugh  Pearson  (afterwards  Dean  of 
SaHsbm-y)  entitled  "Historic  View  of  the  Progress  of  the  Gospel 
since  its  first  Promulgation" — a  reproduction,  in  abbreviated 
form,  of  his  Essay  which  gained  the  Buchanan  Prize  at  Oxford.* 
No.  I  is  devoted  to  India,  the  Charter  Bill  of  1813  being  then  before 
Parliament;  and  concludes  with  an  obituary  notice  of  Henry 
Martyn,  whose  death  had  just  been  announced.  No.  5  contains 
a  brief  sketch  of  all  the  chief  Missionary  and  Bible  Societies  in 
the  world ;  a  narrative  of  the  shipwreck  of  an  African  missionary 
party ;  and  notices  of  the  May  Meetings.  _  Here  it  should  be 
mentioned  that  the  Begister,  like  other  periodicals  at  that  time, 
was  published  at  the  end  of  the  month  it  belonged  to,  so  that 
the  May  number  in  each  year  gives  the  account  of  the  May 
Anniversaries.  The  next  few  numbers  give  a  serial  sketch  of 
the  life  of  Schwartz,  some  of  the  speeches  at  the  inauguration 
of  the  Bristol  C.M.S.  Association,  and  much  information  about 
other  Societies.  The  systematic  and  complete  review  of  the 
various  Mission-fields  and  societies  does  not  begin  till  the  fourth 
year,  when  the  magazine  became  an  octavo  one.  This  fom'th 
volume  opens  with  a  Ust  of  all  the  (Protestant)  missionaries  in 
the  world  at  that  time  (1816),  two  hundred  and  sixty  in  number ; 
and  the  fifth  volume  opens  with  an  alphabetical  Hst  of  all  mission 
stations,  with  a  few  notes  to  most  of  their  names  and  the  names 
of  the  missionaries  working  at  them.     Summaries  of  this  kind, 

*  See  p.  97. 


128 


Forward  Steps 


Chap.  10. 


Its  pic 
tures. 


Part  III.  varying  in  form,  are  given  in  most  of  the  January  numbers. 
1812-24.  Biographical  sketches  of  deceased  missionaries  and  Native  con- 
verts are  numerous,  and  give  the  minutest  details  of  the  last 
days  and  hours  of  some  of  them.  Descriptions  of  idolatry,  and 
of  heathen  customs  like  suttee,  &c.,  are  inserted,  often  taken  from 
the  very  first  authorities  of  that  day,  such  as  Sir  W.  Jones  and  Dr. 
Ward.  In  the  volume  for  1820  we  find  printed,  for  the  first  time, 
the  familiar  prayer  used  to  this  day  at  C.M.S.  General  Meetings. 
Illustrations  occur  frequently,  from  1816  onwards,  very  rough 
woodcuts  which  would  not  pass  muster  now,  but  which  excited 
keen  interest  eighty  years  ago.  Before,,  however,  these  begin, 
two  illustrations  are  found,  of  another  kind.  One  is  a  striking 
diagram  or  chronological  chart  showing  the  progress  and  relative 
position  of  Christianity,  Mohammedanism,  and  Paganism,  in  the 
eighteen  Christian  centuries ;  and  the  other  is  a  map  of  the  world 
with  all  the  Missions  of  all  Societies  marked. 

This  Missionary  Begister  was  unquestionably  a  great  power 
in  its  early  years.  Though  not  an  official  publication  of  the 
Church  Missionary  Society,  it  was  naturally  identified  very  closely 
with  it  by  Pratt  being  the  editor  ;  and  the  Society  pmxhased 
some  thousands  of  copies  every  month  for  free  distribution  among 
subscribers  and  collectors.  It  was  ultimately  superseded  by  the 
various  periodicals  started  at  different  times  by  the  Societies 
themselves  in  their  individual  interest ;  but  the  forty-three 
volumes  will  always  remain  a  monument  of  sanctified  industry 
and  a  storehouse  of  valuable  information  concerning  the  progress 
of  the  Kingdom  of  God. 


The  First  Picture  in    a]  Missionary    Magazine,  the    Missionary   Register  of 
April,  1816.;   representing  a  scene  in  West  Africa. 


Thi'x  Map  will  stryc  to  shevt  the  relalire 
iituaiinn  of  ihe  prinapai  stationj  of 
r^orrttntit  Missions  in  the  Eastern  Hernia 
jphere.  It  comprehends  a  portion  of  the 
Eujth.wlujjt,  ronrain.f  four  fifths, prrliaps , 
of  oJl  its  Inhnbilants.  The  Mnp  is  corrected. 
up  to  the  enJ  of  ihe  Tear  iSiG.  />«/  the 
Stativnj  are  siihfect  to  frrr/iient  change. 

The  Mirsiouart/  Stations  are  denoted,  by 
a  line  under  the  nnme.!  of  the-  places. 

In  the  /tn.'sian  Empire,  Sarepta  is  a 
SettUinent  of  tJie  United  Bretliren,  and 
Oretibury,  Asfrachnn ,  and  Kf>rass,ore  Stations 
of  the  Edinbui-g  Missionary  Society. 

At  Malta,  the  Cliurcli  Missionarif  SocieO/  has 
a  JfepresenUUiye ,  and  the  London  Missionarif 
Societt/  has  sent  one  to  Ike  Greek  Islandj. 

In  IVeslern  Africa,  Ike  Church  Missionary 
Society  has  Station.r  at  Coree,  Canoffce  , 
Gamhier,  and  Yoitgroo:  tyith  three  in  the 
Colony  of  Sierra  Leom.  which  could  not  be 
marked  on  thi,  Uap,  these  are  at  Leicester 
Afountoin.ot  Regents  To»n  ,ond  at  Kissty 
town.Ath'rettown,in  the  Colony,  the 
IVesleyan  Methodists  hove  a  Mission,  and 
at  Cape   Coast,  the  Society  for  fYopogatwig 
the  Gospel  have  an  Aged  Hatiee  Missionary. 

In  South  Africa,  the  Stations   are.  for 
want  of  room  on  the  Map,  chiefly  denoted 
bif  numbers  which  refer  to  the  accom- 
panying List  ■■   Of  these  Stations  Cnadenthal 
and  Graenekloof  art  Settlements  of  the 
United  Brethren,  and,  at  Cape  Toun  the 
ffesleyan  Methodists  have  o  Missionary.  Oil 
.the  rest  belong  to  the  London  Missionary  Society 


"  for  1816. 
>UT  TlIK  1L4STSR 


Map  and  «  ^anyiof  Notes  inserted  tr.  t.>e       Iiti^&'.onar^    Register      for   1816. 

MIKHIff*  ACY  >1.C:eXHIBITl.<.     THEVARIorS    S TAXI OJTSpP, PROTESTANT    MISS  tOXS  THROi  t^HOTT  THK  K-VSl^KK^HEMISPHERK 


Art   ^  •  Jnf>»4  a^  Ml  Z^.**'  Vw« 


CHAPTER  XI. 

liousiNii  Tilt:  Cousriiv :  The  First  Associatioss  and 
Deputations. 

Growing  Needs — Plans  for  Associations  —The  Start  at  Bristol — Basil 
Woodd's  Yorkshire  Journey — Features  of  the  Campaign:  Obstacles, 
Opposition  within  and  without  the  Church.  Successes,  Spiritual 
Influence,  Hymns  Norwich,  Cambridge,  Liverpool,  Ireland  — 
Grandfathers  of  the  Present  Generation. 

"  The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  cime  upon  Gideon,  and  he  blen'  o  (ni)npet  .  .  .  And 
he  sent  messengers  throu.jhoiit  all  Mnnnsseh  .  .  .  and  he  sent  messenijers  unto 
Asher,  and  unto  Zebuhin,  and  unto  Naphtali." — Judges  vi.  34,  35. 

have  now  to  look  at  one  particular  movement  of  the  Part  III. 
year  1813  which,  as  already  indicated,  was  one  of  the  p^^^'^i^, 
pi-ineipal    "forward   steps"    of  the    period,    and    the         ^' 
cause    of    many    others.     This    movement    was    the 
sending  out  of  Deputations  to   preach   and  speak  in 
l)ehalf  of  the  Society,  and  the  establishment  of  Local  Associations. 
Apparently  it  was  the  need  of  money  that  led  to  the  initiation  of 
the    movement  ;    but    money  was  not   the  chief    burden   of    the 
sermons  and  speeches. 

In  1812,  having  thirteen  men  already  in  the  field  and  ten  under 
training, — with  heavy  responsibilities  in  Africa,  and  (as  we  shall 
see)  New  Zealand  and  India  and  Ceylon  beginning  to  demand 
attention, — the  Committee,  conscious  that  an  income  of  £2500  to 
.£3000  a  year  would  not  meet  the  growing  expenditure,  were  much 
occupied  in  devising  plans  for  widening  the  area  of  interest  in  the  Plans  to 
country  and  thus  increasing  the  Society's  resources.  Pratt  at  "'*^^""'**- 
length  niatin-('d  a  scheme,  atlapted  from  one  already  started  by  a 
younger  but  more  flourishing  institution,  the  Bible  Society,  for 
establishing  Church  Missionaiy  Associations  in  town  and  country 
in  aid  of  the  Society ;  nay,  as  the  original  scheme  phrased  it, 
"  throughout  the  Empire."  The  main  idea  was  to  obtain,  not 
only  collections  in  churches,  which  needed  no  regular  local 
Associations  to  secure  them,  but  more  especially  penuij-a-treck 
■subscription.s  from  young  and  old.  rich  and  poor;  which  were  to 
be  raised  by  each  member  undertaking  to  collect  at  least  twelve 
such  subscriptions,  say  Is.  a  week  or  £2  12s.  a  year. 

The  first  of  these  new  Associations  was  formed  within  a  few 
weeks,  for  London  itself  ;  but  this  soon  became  practically  only  a 

VOL.    I.  K 


130  Rousing  the  Country: 

Part  III.  committee  of  leaders  of  the  various  parochial  and  congregational 
1812-24.  associations  which  gradually  came  into  existence,  and  which 
Chap.  11.  geverally  retained  their  independence.  Of  provincial  Associations, 
First Asso-  Mr.  Hole's  researches  show  that  the  first,  organized  in  February, 
ciations.  1813,  was  at  Dcwsbury,  a  town  which  had  already  given  the 
Society  two  of  its  earliest  English  missionary  candidates,  Green- 
wood and  Bailey.  The  Vicar,  Mr.  Buckworth,  was  one  of  the 
warmest  friends  of  the  missionary  cause.  Collections  on  Mr. 
Pratt's  plan  w^ere  begun  about  the  same  time  at  Carlisle,  Beading, 
and  four  or  livo  smaller  places,  without  the  formation  of  a  regular 
Association.  The  honour  of  being  the  first  parish  of  all  to  organize 
one  has  been  claimed  for  Hatherleigh  in  Devonshire  ;  but  this 
was  for  the  C.M.S.  and  the  Jews'  Society  (then  an  undenomina- 
tional bod}^)  jointly.  In  like  manner,  at  St.  Chad's,  Shrewsbur3% 
an  Association  was  formed  to  collect  jointly  for  the  C.M.S., 
the  Bible  Society,  and  the  Prayer-book  and  Homily  Society. 
Dewsbury  in  England  and  Glasbury  in  Wales  certainly  stand 
.first  with  regularly-organized  Associations  forCM-S.  only.*  But 
Bristol.  Bristol  had  been  planning  operations  on  a  large  scale  before, 
apparently,  any  of  the  others  ;  and  probably  the  only  reason  why 
its  date  is  not  actually  the  earliest  is  because  so  large  a  scheme  as 
it  was  proposing  needed  time  to  mature.  When  it  did  start,  on 
March  25th,  it  at  once  took  the  lead,  and  kept  it  for  many  years 
— if  indeed  it  does  not  still  keep  it,  seeing  that  the  three  or  four 
Associations  that  now  raise  a  larger  sum  cover  a  much  larger  area. 
The  chief  founders  and  leaders  of  the  Bristol  Association  are 
worth  naming.  They  were  the  Rev.  T.  T.  Biddulph,  already 
mentioned  as  the  preacher  of  the  fourth  Annual  Sermon  ;  the  Rev. 
James  Vaughan,  father  of  a  well-known  clergyman  of  later  years, 
James  Vaughan  of  Brighton  ;  the  Rev.  John  Hensman,  whose 
name,  by-and-by,  came'  to  be  given  to  children  in  a  Tamil  boarding- 
school,  and  eventually  to  be  borne  by  a  Native  clergyman  in 
Ceylon  and  a  leading  Native  Christian  layman  at  Madras ;  the 
Rev.  Fountain  Elwin,  long  a  prominent  Evangelical  clergyman  ; 
and  Mr.  J.  S.  Harford,  of  Blaise  Castle,  an  intimate  friend  of 
Wilberforce,!  and  uncle  of  Canon  Harford-Battersby,  the  founder 
of  the  Keswick  Convention.  These  men  arranged  for  the  in- 
auguration of  the  Bristol  CM.  Association  by  proceedings  lasting 
over  five  days,  comprising  sermons  in  seven  churches,  witli 
collections  (which  included  £60  w'orth  of  ladies'  jewellery),  and  a 
great  public  meeting  in  the  Guildhall,  at  which  eleven  resolutions 
were  moved  and  seconded  by  twenty-two  speakers,  besides  whom 

*  In  the  Jubilee  Statement  of  the  Committee,  in  1848,  several  places  are 
mentioned  as  havincf  had  Associations  at  an  earlier  date,  Olney  in  1802, 
Aston  Sandford  in  1804,  &c.  ;  but  these  were  not  regular  Associations,  and 
this  word  never  occurs  in  the  Reports  until  1813. 

t  Mr.  Harford  was  quite  a  younp-  man  at  this  time.  Fifty  years  after,  he 
published  a  most  interesting^  book,  Recotlcctions  of  William  Wilberforae 
(London,  1864),  which  contains  many  striking  anecdotes  of  the  great 
philanthropist. 


The  First  Associations  and  Deputations  131 

there  were  the  Mayor  in  the  chair,  and   Mr.  Pratt,  who  had  come  Part   III. 
from   liondon  on  purpose.     I  low  lonj;  tlie  meeting  histed  we  aro    |Wl2-24. 
not  told  ;  hut  in  those  days  live  and  six  hours    were    not   thought         P"  ^^' 
too  long  on  an  important  occasion.     Some  of  the  speeches  are 
still  extant, '•■  and  they  are    not  short.      Mr.    Pratt's    must  have 
occupied  an  hour  ;  and  Mr.  Harford's,  which   is  described   in  a  Harford's 
contemporary    notice    as  "  very   elegant,"    and   which    is   really  "P*"*'- 
eloquent   and   able,    probably    three-quarters   of   an    hour.     One 
passage  is  so  striking  that  it  must  be  quoted  here.     Mr.   Harford 
is  ri'plying  to  the  objection,  "  What  right  have  we   to  disturb  the 
ancient  faiths  of  the  East  ?  "     He  says  : — 

"To  this  f|U('8tinn  I  would  simply  reply.  "What  right  had  St.  Paul 
[whom  he  supposes  to  have  brought  the  Gospel  to  Britain  ;  hut  the 
argiuiietit  would  apply  eipially  to  any  one  else  to  visit  this  rouiitry  when 
the  thiek  rilni  of  Pagan  darkness  involved  the  uiinds  of  its  inhabitant,'^.!' 
What  right  had  he  to  Ijrave  the  terrors  of  our  stormy  seas,  and  to 
eneounter  the  still  more  savage  manners  of  our  ancestors!-  What  right 
had  ho  to  oppose  himself  to  their  ]iorri«l  customs,  to  throw  down  by  his 
doctrine  their  "altars  stained  with  the  blood  of  human  sacrifices,  and  to 
regenerate  the  code  of  their  morals  di.sgraced  by  the  permission  of  every 
crime  which  can  brutalise  and  degrade  human  nature  r  What  right  had 
he  to  8ubstitutt>  for  the  furious  imprecations  of  the  Druids  tlu'  .still  small 
voice  of  Him  who  was  meek  and  lowly  in  heait !-  What  i  i<;ht  had  he  to 
exchange  their  horrid  pictun-s  of  the  invisible  world  f..r  the  glorious 
prospects  of  the  heavenly  Mount  Zion,  the  iiuuuiierable  company  of 
angels,  and  the  spirits  of  just  men  made  pi-rfect  r'  What  right  lia<l  he  to 
l)lant  by  such  a  procedure  the  .seminal  jirinciple  of  all  our  subse<|U«'nt 
glory  and  pmspi-rity  as  a  nation,  our  boasted  liberty,  our  admiraltle 
code  of  law,  the  wliole  inimitable  frame  and  constitution  of  our  govern- 
nn'ut  in  Church  and  State  !- 

'•  This  <|uarrfl  with  the  memory  of  St.  Paid  T  shall  leave  to  the  oppo- 
mnts  of  .Slissioiiary  Institutions  to  .settle;  and  when  they  have  made  up 
tlieir  minds  as  to  the  di-gree  of  infamy  wlii»'h  is  to  cleave  to  him,  for 
having  lu-en  (in  a  remote  sense  at  least)  tin-  first  conveyancer  to  us  of 
the  best  blessings  which  we  now  enjoy,  I  will  then  consign  «»ver  tho 
Mi.ssioiuuies  of  the  present  day  to  their  severest  reprehension  I" 

This  speech  is  remarkable  also  for  a  glowing  eulogy  of  Henry 
Marty n.  the  news  ofwho.se  death  had  just  been  received.  The 
addresses  generally  consist  of  arguments  justifying  the  existence 
and  objects  of  the  Society.  There  are  appeals  neither  for  men 
nor  for  money.  It  was  no  doubt  supposed  that  when  the  claims 
of  tho  Heathen  world  came  to  be  realized,  both  would  be  forth- 
coming. If  this  expectation  was  entertained,  it  was  not  fulfilled 
as  regards  men.  No  missionary  on  the  Society's  roll  appears  to 
have  hailed  from  Bristol  for  many  years  afterwards.!  But  as 
regards  money,  this  great  meeting  initiated  the  movement  which 
quadrupled  the  Society's  income  within  the  year.     Its  immediate 

•   In  vol.j.  of  tbe  Misiiunar\j  Rojxster. 

+  But  it  is  true  that  in  some  cases  tho  particolar  towii  whence  a  man 
came  is  not  named.  And  there  may  have  been  candidate!*  who  were  not 
accepted. 

K   2 


132  FousiiYG  THE  Country: 

Part  III.  result  was  the  mapping  out  of  the  whole  city  for  systematic  weekly 
1812-24.   r^^-^(J  monthly  collections ;  and  in  its  first  year  the  Bristol  Associa- 
Chap.  11.  ^j^^   raised   £2300,  a  sum    equal   to  the  whole  average  annual 
receipts  of  the  Society  before  that  time. 

An  important  feature  in  these  inaugural  proceedings  was  the 
presence  of  Mr.  Pratt.  His  visit  to  Bristol  was  the  first  instance 
First  "de-  of  what  is  now  known  as  a  "deputation."  But  that  word  was 
putations.  ^^^  used  then  in  this  connexion.  It  often  occurs  in  the  early 
records,  but  it  means  a  deputation  to  wait  upon  a  bishop  or  a 
minister  of  state.  In  this  year,  1813,  began  the  practice  of  sending 
leading  clergymen  to  different  counties  and  towns  to  preach 
sermons  and  address  meetings  ;  but  they  were  looked  upon  as  a 
sort  of  variety  of  the  "  itinerants  "  of  Wesley's  day,  and  were  a 
good  deal  suspected  in  conseqvience.  The  first  demand  for  such 
a  visitor  came  from  Leeds  ;  an  eminent  surgeon  there,  Mr.  W. 
Hey,  F.E.S.,  a  friend  of  Wilberforce,  suggesting  that  a  tour  might 
be  made  through  the  West  Eiding.  Pratt  applied  to  Basil  Woodd, 
and  Woodd' s  reply  shows  what  such  a  proposal  looked  like  at 
first  sight:  "  I  do  not  see  the  expediency  of  sending  ministers 
from  London  to  Yorkshire  ...  it  has  an  aspect  of  publicity  which 
I  do  not  like.  I  am  willing  to  succour  the  cause  in  my  own  little 
sphere,  but  do  not  ask  me  to  take  long  journeys."  Nevertheless 
he  gave  way,  yielding,  it  may  be  supposed,  to  Pratt's  reasoning 
or  importunity  ;  and  within  three  weeks,  on  July  21st,  he  was  on 
B.woodd's  his  way  to  Yorkshire  with  his  wife,  taking  the  tour  in  lieu  of  a 
^°"'"'  holiday,  travelhng  in  a  postchaise,  and  undertaking,  if  required,  to 

preach  twice  a  day.  "  This  is  a  glorious  object,"  he  wrote,  "  and 
it  is  an  honour  to  collect  if  but  one  stone  or  brick  for  the  spiritual 
temple.  I  trust  I  have  your  prayers  in  this  very  important  and 
unexpected  engagement,  for  this  day  three  weeks  I  as  much 
expected  to  be  in  the  moon  !  " 

Leeds,  Bradford,  Huddersfield,  Wakefield,  Pudsey,  Tadcaster, 
Knaresborough,  York,  Scarborough,  Bridlington,  Malton,  Ponte- 
fract,  Barnsley,  and  many  smaller  places,  were  visited  on  this 
journey ;  and,  on  the  return  journey  southwards,  Kettering, 
Peterborough,  and  some  Midland  villages.  The  tour  took  two 
months  and  a  half.  The  travelling,  in  pre-railway  days,  and  hotel 
expenses,  came  to  £150  ;  but  Mr.  Woodd  collected  £1060.  He 
preached  fifty  sermons,  and  started  twenty-eight  associations,  in- 
volving, it  may  be  presumed,  a  good  many  public  meetings,  besides 
private  conferences,  &c. ;  and  he  distributed  over  7000  papers. 
In  Bradford  parish  church  he  preached  three  times  on  Sunday,  the 
collections  amounting  to  £73  ;  and  he  "  could  not  resist "  address- 
ing the  children  also.  "  Who  knows,"  he  said,  "  but  it  may  bring 
some  child  to  the  blessed  Saviour  ?  ' '  Missionary  Exhibitions 
were  yet  seventy  years  off";  but,  "I  brought  two  Hindoo  gods 
with  me ;  one  has  a  snout  like  an  elephant.  I  find  they  entertain 
everybody,  and  plead  the  cause  of  Missions  as  well  as  if  they  were 
missionaries   themselves."     He  returned  full  of  joy  and  thank- 


TiiF.   First  Associations  and  Deputations  133 

fulness.     "  Our  excursion,"  he   wrote,  "  has  been  attended  with  Part  ITT. 
a   succession  of   mercies,  kindnesses,    and  endearing   interviews,  p,^.^"~^i'" 
which    I   trust  will  prove  a   foretaste  of   our   eternal  meeting."      ''  ^' 
.  .   .   "I  have  experienced  great  encouragement  for  fresh  exertion . 
May  the  Church  Missionary  Society  flourish  till  the  Son  of  Man 
Cometh  in  His  glory  !     Amen."     His  hosts  appear  to  have  been  as 
pleased  as  he  was.     One  clergyman  wrote  about  "  the  truly  great 
and  good  Eev.  Basil  Woodd,  who,  wdth  his  dear  and  interesting 
meillc.ure  moitie,  W'herever  they  go  kick  the  beam  of  hospitality 
by  their  own  intrinsic  excellence." 

This  memorable  journc^y  was  quickly  followed  by  others,  under- 
taken by  such  men  as  Goode,  Burn,  Henry  Budd,  Logh  Richmond, 
Melville  Home,  Haldane  Stewart,  William  Marsh,  Daniel  Wilson, 
and,  a  little  later,  R.  W.  Sibthorp  and  J.  W.  Cunningham.  There 
was  also  an  M.P.,  Mr.  T.  R.  Kemp,  who  took  a  tour  in  the  north, 
carrying  the  clerical  deputation  with  him  in  his  carriage.'''  Mr.  Hole 
has  traced  out  the  tours  from  the  middle  of  1813  to  the  end  of  1814 
with  infinite  pains  and  accuracy,  devoting  to  them  nearly  half  of 
his  large  volume.  The  I'ecords  are  full  of  interest.  They  give 
signilicant  glimpses  of  the  Chiu'ch  life  of  the  period ;  they  narrate 
the  small  beginnings  of  associations  which  have  done  noble  work 
in  later  years,  and  are  doing  it  still ;  and  they  introduce  us  to  the 
fathers  and  grandfathers  of  our  own  contemporaries  in  all  parts  of 
the  country.  In  the  present  work  we  can  but  gather  up  some  of 
the  general  features  of  these  early  deputation  tours,  with  a  few 
illustrative  incidents. 

1.  The  inconveniences   of   travelling   in    those   days,    and    tlie  Risk-sin 
weary  length   of  the  journeys,  must  be  borne  in  mind.     In   the   "^  ^^  '"^' 
first  tour,  already  described,  Basil  Woodd  wrote,  "  Our  carriage 

has  cracked  two  axle-boxes  and  two  springs;  roads  very  rough." 
After  a  Cornish  trip  he  wrote,  "  Last  Saturday  at  Plymouth  was 
the  first  regular  dinner  I  had  for  eight  days."  On  one  occasion 
Daniel  Wilson  travelled  from  6  a.m.  to  5  p.m.  in  a  coach  dragged 
by  "  four  wretched  horses,"  with  seven  other  passengers  inside 
and  ten  out,  accomplishing  forty  miles  in  the  time ;  after  which 
he  had  twenty-six  miles  further  to  go  in  a  postchaise,  at  the 
rate  of  five  miles  an  hour,  arriving  at  his  destination  at  10  p.m. 
"  There  was  a  suffocating  dust  the  whole  way."  One  journey 
cost  the  Society  and  the  Church  dear.  Mr.  Goode  went  to 
Ipswich  on  a  frosty  night ;  the  floor  of  the  coach  was  out  of 
repair,  and  let  in  chilling  draughts  ;  and  the  illness  that  resulted 
ended  a  most  valuable  life. 

2.  Much  more  serious  than  these  external  discomforts  were 
the  opposition  and  objections  mot  with.  Here  and  there,  letters 
in  the  local  newspapers — anonymous,  of  course — reproduced  the 
cavils  of  East  India  traders  and  the  sarcasms  of  Sydney  Smith  ; 

*  It  was  this  sir.  Kemp  ou  whose  estate  at  Bi-ightou  Kemp  Town  was 
built. 


134  BoirSING    THE    COUNTRV  : 

Part  TII.  and  criticisms  of  this  kind,  of  which  we  think  liglitly  now,  had  a 
1812-24.  quite  factitious  importance  then.  Still  greater  was  the  difficulty 
P"  ■  caused  by  the  lack  of  episcopal  patronage.  Eleven  bishops  were 
on  the  list  of  patrons  of  the  Bible  Society — and,  it  may  be  added 
here,  six  royal  princes,  the  Dukes  of  York,  Kent,  Cambridge, 
Cumberland,  Sussex,  and  Gloucester  (Kent  and  Sussex  spoke  at 
the  Anniversaries  in  these  very  years)  ;  but  not  one  had  given  his 
name  to  the  Church  Missionary  Society.  Some  of  the  bishops 
opposition  Were  even  open  opponents.  "  We  have  got  a  new  bishop,"  writes 
of  bishops,  one  friend,  "who  is  determinedly  hostile  to  every  society,  and 
declares  o^jenly  that  he  looks  on  them  as  dangerous  to  the  State 
and  the  Establishment."  Bishop  Law,  of  Chester,  whose  diocese 
extended  from  Birmingham  to  Westmoreland,  charged  his  clergy 
not  to  receive  "  those  itinerant  preachers  who,  neglecting  their 
own  parishes,  went  about  through  the  country  to  draw  all  the 
money  they  could  for  the  support  of  societies  self-constituted, 
and  unauthorized  by  either  Church  or  State."  Evening  services, 
too,  and  week-day  services,  were  sometimes  objected  to,  not  only 
by  bishops,  but  by  other  respectable  people  who  dreaded  inno- 
vations. The  Bishop  of  Exeter  forbad  evening  services  when 
Basil  Woodd  visited  Devonshire ;  and  even  John  Scott  of  Hull, 
son  of  Thomas  Scott,  and  for  many  years  afterwards  one  of  the 
warmest  of  C.M.S.  men,  was  afraid  to  hold  a  special  service  on  a 
week-day.  "  It  would  ])e  very  distasteful  to  church  folk,"  he 
said,  "  and  give  the  whole  affair  an  irregular  and  unchurchlike 
appearance."  We  are  not  surprised,  after  all  this,  to  find  many 
excellent  clergymen  holding  aloof.  One  at  Liverpool  returned 
the  papers  sent  to  him,  saying,  "  A  society  having  for  its  object 
the  increase  of  pure  i-eligion  seems  to  me  essentially  defective 
if  it  has  not  the  patronage  and  support  of  those  to  whom  I  owe 
deference  as  exercising  the  apostolic  office  and  functions  in  our 
Church."  To  which  Pratt  replied,  "Your  principle  would  have 
stifled  the  Eeformation  in  its  birth.  It  implies  that  nothing  can 
become  a  duty  in  the  subordinate  members  of  the  Church  in 
which  their  superiors  do  not  countenance  them.  We  have  but 
one  point  to  aim  at  in  this  respect — to  deserve  that  countenance, 
and  we  have  no  doubt  it  will,  in  due  time,  be  obtained." 
Objection  was  also  frequently  made  that  the  new  Society  was 
interfering  with  the  old  ones — generally,  of  course,  by  those  who 
did  nothing  for  the  old  ones  !  The  most  conspicuous,  and  indeed 
amusing,  instance  occurred  in  1817  at  Bath,  when  an  Archdeacon 
interrupted  a  meeting  by  a  public  protest,  Init  this  will  be  noticed 
in  the  next  chapter.  Pratt's  ordinary  reply  to  such  objections 
will  easily  be  divined.  In  a  word  it  was  this,  that  neither 
S.P.C.K.  nor  S.P.G.  was  sending  any  Church  of  England  mis- 
sionaries to  either  Africa  or  Asia.  But  he  replied  in  another 
way  in  at  least  one  case.  A  Norwich  clergyman  offered  him  his 
pulpit,  provided  the  collection  might  go  to  the  S.P.C.K.  instead 
of  the  C.M.S.     Pratt  at  once  consented,  saving,  "We  seek  not 


The  First  Associations  asd  Deputations  135 

ourselves,  but  Christ  Jesus  the  Lord.     His  Ivin^'dora,  His  glory,  Part  III. 
His  spirit,  is  what  we  seek  to  advance  in  ;ill  things."  1812-24. 

3.  A  good  deal  of  difficulty  was  encountered  from  an  opposite      '^P'     ' 
quarter.     The  London  Missionary  Society,  quite  naturally,  as  a  Rivalry  of 
non-denominational  body,  sought  the  support  of  Churchmen  as  ^-m.s. 
well    as   of    Nonconformists,    and    was   at  this  time  particularly 
vigorous  in  pushing  its  claims  all  over  the  country.     It  had  no 

high  ecclesiastical  authorities  to  appease,  and  it  had  already 
aroused  widespread  enthusiasm  among  the  Dissenters.  Much 
more  jealousy  was  aroused  in  this  way  than  on  account  of  S.P.CJ. 
or  S.P.C.K.,  neither  of  which  would  have  dreamed  of  employing 
"  itinerant  preachers  "  in  those  days.  Again  and  again  we  find 
local  friends  who  desired  the  new  Church  Society  to  be  supported 
writing  urgent  letters  to  Pratt  for  deputations,  "  or  the  London 
Missionary  Society  would  occupy  the  field  first."  Bristol  itself 
was  roused  in  the  first  instance  by  the  L.M.S.  ol)taining  sermons 
and  collections  in  no  less  a  church  than  St.  Mary  Redcliffe.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  Dissenters  in  many  places  were  very  generous 
to  the  Church  Society.  Repeatedly,  when  Ijegh  Richmond  or 
Ilaldane  Stewart  or  Daniel  Wilson  was  to  pivach  in  the  parish 
chui"ch,  the  Independent,  Paptist,  and  INfethodist  ministers  closed 
their  cliapels,  and  took  their  people  to  hear  the  visitor.  At  Stoke- 
upon-Trent,  "  the  Methodists  enlivened  the  service  by  their  loud 
Amens."  At  Kettering,  Andrew  Fuller,  the  friend  of  Carey,  and 
secretary  of  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society,  held  one  of  the  plates 
at  the  doors. 

4.  One  effect  of  these  difficulties  on    both  sides  was  that  the  Church 
advocates  of  the   new  Society'  took  especial  pains  to  insist  on  its  of  cms. 
Church  basis  and  character.     Thus,  at  the  inaugural  meeting  at  gl^^j  "' 
Piistol,  the  principal  resolution  approved  the  new  Society  because 

it  was  understood  to  be  "  decidedly  attached  to  the  doctrines 
and  episcopal  government  of  the  United  Church  of  England  and 
Ireland";  and  on  the  same  occasion  Mr.  Biddulph,  the  Evan- 
gelical leader  at  Bristol,  said,  "  It  is  in  the  character  of  Church- 
men that  we  appear  this  day;  happy  in  an  opportunity  of  testifying 
our  attachment  to  our  Zion,  and  of  proving  that  attachment-by 
zeal  for  her  lionour  " ;  and  he  goes  on  to  quote  from  the  Prayer- 
book,  to  show  that  "  our  past  omissions  are  not  chargeable  on  oiu' 
Venerable  Parent."  This  phrase,  and  "  our  Venerable  Mother 
tlie  Estaljlished  Church,"  are  not  infrequent.  A  Suttblk  gentle- 
man, in  giving  in  his  adhesion  to  th(!  Society,  wrote,  "  Satisfied 
as  I  am  of  the  superior  excellence  of  oui"  venerable  Clnuch 
Establishment,  from  its  strict  adherence  to  the  great  truths 
of  the  Gospel  in  its  Liturgy,  Articles,  and  Homilies,  I  cannot 
but  wish  for  the  success  of  a  plan  to  extend  its  influence  ";  and 
similar  expressions  abound  in  sermons,  speeches,  aiul  letters, 
Especially  do  we  find  tliem  in  Irish  utterances.  "  However 
great,"  says  one,  "  the  l)lessings  of  religion  under  any  really 
Christian   form,  she  appears   with   a    peculiar  grace  when  she  is 


136  J^ousiNG  THE  Country: 

Part  III.  made  known  through  that  pure  and  evangehcal  medium  [the 
]«l2-2-t.  Church]  which  unites  a  dignity  to  command  the  respect  of  the 
Chap^ll.  j^^Qsi;  imperious."  Again,  an  Irish  judge  rejoices  to  have  "  no 
douht  that  the  Heathen  will  flock  in  larger  bodies  into  the  Church 
of  England  than  into  any  other  religious  community."  John 
Cunningham  of  Harrow,  for  many  years  a  leader  among  English 
Evangelicals,  wrote  a  pamphlet  in  1814  on  Church  of  England 
Missions,  in  which  he  appeals  to  "those  who  believe  in  the 
superiority  of  our  Church  to  every  other  religious  society,"  who 
"  discover  in  its  formularies  the  exact  impress,  the  sacred  image, 
the  embodied  spirit  of  the  Gospel,"  who  "  attribute  the  moral  and 
intellectual  advancement  of  the  country  in  great  measure  to  the 
character  of  the  religion  diffused  by  the  Establishment,"  who 
believe  that  the  "stream  of  pure  and  undefiled  piety"  having 
"  suffered  so  little  pollution  in  this  country  since  the  Apostolic 
ages"  is  due  to  "the  mercy  of  God  in  confining  it  to  this  par- 
ticular channel."  And,  again  and  again,  Churchmen  are  called 
to  greater  activity  in  the  cause  in  order  that  even  recognized 
Churches,  like  tlie  Presbyterian  Church  of  Scotland  and  the 
Lutheran  Church  of  Germany,  may  not  outrun  the  Church  of 
England  in  promoting  it.  "  Shall  the  eldest  daughter  of  the 
Eeformation,"  exclaims  one,  "  suffer  her  younger  sisters  to  out- 
strip her  in  the  cause  of  missionary  benevolence  ?  Shall  not  the 
Church  of  England,  the  Queen  of  Churches,  awake  from  her 
lethargy,  stand  up  in  her  comely  proportions,  clothe  herself  wuth 
the  doctrines  of  her  Articles  as  with  the  garments  of  salvation, 
and  send  forth  her  sons,  breathing  the  spirit  of  her  Liturgy,  to 
carry  the  banners  of  the  Cross  to  the  ends  of  the  earth?  " 
"The  Much   of  this  has   a  strangely  unfamiliar  sound  in  our  ears. 

Estabhsh-  Egpg(,ially,  the  constant  reference  to  "the  Establishment."     Is 
this  word,  much  as  we  still  value  the  connexion  of  Church  and 
State,   ever  used  at  a  missionary  meeting  now  ?    or  even    at  a 
Church  Defence  meeting  ?     This  is  not  the  place  to  discuss  the 
causes  of  the  change  of  feeUng  ;  but  the  fact  is  certainly  signifi- 
cant.    Still  more  curious  is  a  sentence  in   a  circular  issued  at 
Norwich  by  Edward  Bickersteth,  then  a  solicitor  in  that  city  : — 
"  As  this  is  peculiarly  a  Church  Society,  and  as  the  objects  of  the 
Society  have  received  the  sanction  of  Parliament,  it   is  hoped  that 
all  the   friends  of  the  Establishment  will  patronize  and   support 
it."     It  is  true  that   the  reference  here  is  to  the  passing  of  the 
East  India  Company  Charter  Act,  which  was  one  "object"  of 
the  Society.     Still,  tlie  sentence  startles  the  modern  reader. 
iTvono-pii-        5.  While  the  advocates  of  the  Society  were  thus  emphasizing  in 
caifsm  no.  evcry  possible  way  its  Church  character,  it  does  not  seem  to  have 
liTid!^"       occ^^"^'®^  ^°  them  to  emphasize  its  Evangelical  distinctiveness.    We 
r  V  in  vain  in  their  utterances  for  the  strong  assertions  of  the 
truth    \  Evangelical  doctrines  and  the  rights  of  Evangelical  men 
I  •  1    f    '^1  quite  the  staple  of  C.M.S.  speeches  in  the   middle  of 
.1  ,  At  iu'st  sight  one  proposes  to  account  lor  tins  bv  the 


TiiK  First  Associations  axp  Deputations  137 

fact  that  tlie  Tiactarian  movement  had  not  then  t^'iven  an  impetus  Yk\^-x\\\. 
to  High  Church  teaching  and  methods.     But  the  opposition  to  ^^-  -| 

Evangehcahsm  was— as  has  heen  aheady  shown  in  these  pages— 

actually  stronger  and  more  bitter  in  those  days  than  afterwards. 
Bishop  Tomline  of  Lincoln  was  at  least  as  vehement  in  his 
denunciations  of  what  he  was  pleased  to  call  Calvinism  as  "  Henry 
of  Exeter"  in  later  days;  and  "  Calvinism"  really  meant  Evan- 
gelicalism, for  the  Wesleyans,  who  were  strong  anti-Calvinists, 
were  equally  condemned.  The  real  fact  is  that  the  theological 
"  colour  "  of  an  organization  emanating  from  the  "  serious  clergy  " 
went  without  saying.  It  was  its  Church  character  that  needed 
explanation  and  vindication. 

G.  But  whatever  might  l)e  the  opposition  to  the  Society,  or  to  Success^^ 
the  missionaiy  cause  generally,  the  preaching  deputations  drew  t.ons. 
crowds  to  their  services.  At  Norwich,  people  clung  to  the  windows 
outside  to  catch  a  few  words  of  Pratt's  sermon ;  and  Daniel 
Wilson  wrote  at  the  same  time,  "  The  whole  city  seemed  to  have 
come  together.  You  might  have  walked  on  the  people's  heads. 
I  stand  ama/.ed  at  what  God  hath  wrought."  At  Sheffield  Parish 
Church,  the  congregation  assembled  to  hear  Legh  Richmond 
numbered  3500,  and  hundreds  failed  to  get  in  ;  and  at  Bradford, 
when  he  preached  three  times  on  the  Sunday,  the  congregations 
were  estimated  at  2000,  3000,  and  4000  respectively.  "  I  never 
saw  anything  like  it,"  he  wrote;  "such  a  day,  such  a  church, 
such  a  vicar,  such  life,  such  attention,  such  liberality."  Tlie 
vicar  thus  referred  to  was  Mr.  Crosse,  whose  bequest  founded  the 
Crosse  Hebrew  Scholarship  at  Cambridge.  Curious  incidents  are 
recorded  :  for  instance,  at  Welshpool,  an  officer  at  the  theatre 
on  Saturday  night  called  out  to  the  company  that  they  must 
all  come  to  church  next  day  and  hear  the  gentleman  from 
]-:ngland.  Collections  were  often  very  large,  and  the  poor  gave 
f reel v. 

7.* It  is  evident  that  most  of  the  work  was  done  by  sermons.  Meetings 

.,  ,,.  .  ,j\  1  a  douDitul 

The  day  of  large  public  meetmgs  was  not  yet.  As  we  have  seen,  novelty, 
they  came  slowly,  even  in  London.  There  is  a  curious  incident 
mentioned  in  an  article  signed  "H.,"  written  forty  years  later, 
which  appears  in  the  Chrhtian  Observer  of  June,  1857.  Mr. 
Jiichardson  of  York  has  been  before  mentioned  as  one  of  the 
first  country  mtiinbers  of  the  Society,  and  a  hearty  friend  ;  but  the 
meeting  here  mentioned  could  not  have  been  before  1817,  as 
Biekerstetli  was  one  of  the  deputation  :  — 

"It  is  now  alino.st  forgotU'ii  with  what  (li.strnst  even  the  best  men 
viewed  theso  Puhlic  A.s.seinblics  for  religion.s  i)vui)o.st'.s.  We  can  reiiR-iuher 
iioar  half  a  century  since,  tlio  visit  of  a  'deputation"  from  one  of  these 
Institutions,  to  York,  where  Mr.  Richardson —the  lit  Prebendary  of  such 
a  Catliedral,  lofty  and  majestic  in  his  person  and  manner— then  presided 
over  the  con.siderable  body  of  earnestly  religions  men  in  that  city.  His 
consent  was  obtained,  though  with  some  <hHi<-ulty.  to  the  holding  of  such 
a  meeting      And  the  writer  of  this  paper  nuit-mbers,  when   the  present 


138  Rousing  the  Country: 

Part  III.  Bishop  of  Calcutta,  Mr.  Bickersteth,  and  himself  presented  themselves  to 
1812-24.    the  Meeting,  the  solemn  manner  in  which  the  then  aged  and  venerable 

Chap.  11.   Minister  rose   from   his  chair,    and,   leaning    on   his  gold-headed   staft", 

announced  to  the  assembly  his  doubts  about  such  Meetings;  but  added, 

that,  as  certain  well-known  advocates  of  religious  objects  had  presented 
themselves  in  the  hope  of  being  allowed  to  hold  such  an  assembly,  he 
had  consented  to  it,  and  he  now  called  on  them  to  proceed,  and  if  they 
had  any  new  facts  or  arguments  in  store,  to  produce  them  ;  on  which  the 
trembling  youths  (comparatively)  arose,  and,  as  well  as  they  were  able, 
told  their  story,  showed  the  destitute  condition  of  nine-tenths  of  the 
human  race,  and  pointed  to  the  means  by  which  it  was  ho})ed  to  meet 
their  necessities,  and  pour  the  light  of  the  Gospel  into  these  daik  regions. 
And  after  they  had  finished,  what  was  their  joy  to  hear  Mr.  Richardson 
close  the  Meeting  by  announcing  that  he  was  convinced,  and  tliat  hence- 
forth he  should  rejoice  to  welcome  such  deputations  as  the  Society  were 
pleased  to  send." 

Zealous  g.  In   othei'  ways,  too,  the  old  Scotch  proverb,  "  Many  a  little 

collectors.  •/     '  '  v  >  j 

makes  a  mickle,"  was  illustrated.  Penny  Associations  were  being 
started  in  many  places  not  visited  by  deputations  ;  collectors,  men 
and  women,  undertaking  to  collect  a  penny  a  week  from  at  least 
twelve  persons,  i.e.  a  shilling  a  week,  or  £2  12s.  a  year.  Mr.  Hole 
has  unearthed  the  case  of  a  Warwickshire  lady  who  hoped  to  find 
a  subscriber  or  two  at  Coventry,  "  though  I'eligion  was  not  much 
alive  in  that  town."  She  left  a  jDaper  with  a  townsman,  asking 
him  to  give  a  penny  a  week.  He  read  the  paper,  was  stirred 
up  by  it,  and  started  collecting  himself  among  his  "  serious 
acquaintances,"  and  in  a  short  time  he  had  formed  what  he  called 
four  "societies"  of  twelve  persons  each  giving  a  penny  a  week, 
and  three  "  societies  "  of  twelve  each  giving  a  shilling  a  month. 
Several  ladies  in  different  tow^ns  obtained  hundreds  of  small 
subscribers.  And  not  ladies  only.  A  Welsh  clergyman,  on 
receiving  a  paper  from  headquarters,  mounted  his  horse,  rode 
forty  miles,  applied  to  rich  and  poor,  and  came  back  with 
£23  Is.  GfZ.  An  Essex  vicar's  wafe  sent  up  collections  from  "  the 
Tradesmen's  Club  at  the  Hun  inn,  30s.,"  "  the  Tradesmen's  Club 
at  the  Swan,  20s.,"  and  "  the  Labourers'  Club  at  the  Stvan,  20s." 
9.  But  the  movement  did  not  aim  only  at  the  collection  of 
funds,  nor  were  its  results  pecuniary  only.  The  numerous  original 
letters  examined  by  Mr.  Hole  mention  again  and  again  the  spirit 
of  prayer  awakened.  "  Prayer  for  the  conversion  of  the  Heathen 
was  everywhere  remembered  among  religious  people,  in  individual 
devotions,  in  social  meetings,  in  family  worship,  in  secluded 
villages,  in  humble  cottages,  and  among  children."  Even  this 
was  not  the  only  spiritual  result,  scarcely  perhaps  the  chief 
Spiritual  Spiritual  result,  of  the  movement.  Preachers  like  Basil  Woodd 
effects  of     Q^Yy^  Legh  Eiclimond  and  Daniel  Wilson  preached  no  mere  charity 

tnc  move-  j.  •/ 

ment.  sermous.     In  setting  forth   the  darkness  and  the   needs    of  the 

Heathen  world,  they  also  set  forth  the  one  remedy,  the  message 
of  a  full  and  finished  salvation  from  the  guilt  and  the  power  of 
sin   by  the    atoning  death  of  Christ   and   the  regenerating    and 


The  First  Associations  and  Deputations  139 

sanctifying  grace  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  and  in  doing  this,  they  were  Part  III. 
preaching  the  Gospel  which  is  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation  1812-24. 
to  thousands  who  needed  it  for  themselves,  and  to  not  a  few  who  ^^^P-  ^^ 
rarely  if  ever  heard  it.  Mr.  Kemp,  M.P.,  whose  volunteer  tour 
with  a  clerical  deputation  has  been  mentioned  above,  wrote  his 
impressions  of  the  campaign,  and  said  that  not  only  would  the 
Society  itself  benefit,  but  it  would  also  "  become  the  instrument 
of  preaching  the  Gospel  in  many  pulpits  whence  the  joyful  sound 
was  not  often  heard."  In  this  sense  the  utterances  of  the  depu- 
tations were  strongly  and  powerfully  Evangelical ;  they  \vere 
spiritually  Evangehcal,  though  not  polemically  Evangelical. 
Moreover,  the  Gospel  they  preached  was  a  practical  Gospel, 
because,  mstead  of  merely  comforting  "professors"  (as  pious 
people  were  called)  with  glowing  accounts  of  their  privileges  and 
safety  as  the  fiock  of  Chi-ist,  they  summoned  the  said  "  professors  " 
to  rise  up  and  bestir  themselves  for  the  salvation  of  others.  Their 
teaching,  therefore,  roused  both  the  careless  and  unbelieving  from 
the  sleep  of  sin,  and  also  the  drowsy  Christian  from  the  sleep  of 
self-satisfaction.  In  both  respects,  the  journeys  of  the  C.M.S. 
deputations  proved  a  real  blessing  to  the  country  and  to  the 
Church. 

10.  It  is  interesting  to  observe  that  the  spiritual  influence  of  the  Use  of 
missionary  services  was  distinctly  fostered  by  the  use  of  hynnis,  '^*''^"^- 
then — as  before  stated — a  suspected  novelty  in  the  Church  ;  so 
seriously  suspected,  indeed,  that  Charles  Simeon,  at  this  very 
time,  advised  a  friend,  whose  bishop  was  angry  with  him  for 
introducing  them,  to  "  put  them  aside  "  as  "  quite  unnecessary."  ■•'■ 
"  The  hymns,"  wrote  Basil  Woodd  from  Yorkshire,  "  have  greatly 
increased  the  missionary  feeling."  But  he  preferred  metrical 
versions  of  the  Psalms,  and  this  is  not  surprising  when  one  reads 
the  doggerel  of  some  of  the  hymns  of  the  pei'iod.  The  reason, 
however,  for  his  preference  was  more  probably  that  Psalms 
were  ecclesiastically  less  open  to  objection  ;  and  it  is  noticeable 
that  the  first  "hymn-paper"  issued  by  the  Society  itself  at 
that  very  time  contained  four  Psalms,  viz.  the  GTth,  "  To  bless 
Thy  chosen  race"  (Tate  and  Brady);  the  72nd,  "Jesus  shall 
reign  where'er  the  sun"  (Watts);  the  96th,  "  Sing  to  the  Lord, 
ye  distant  lands"  (Watts) ;  and  the  117th,  "  From  all  that  dwell 
below  the  skies"  (Watts).  Yet  there  were  a  few  good  original 
hymns  too,  current  at  the  time,  such  as  "  O'er  the  gloomy 
hills  of  darkness,"  "Arm  of  the  Lord,  awake,  awake,"  and  "AH 
hail  the  power  of  Jesus'  name."  It  is  a  significant  thing  that, 
although  several  of  these  Psalms  and  hymns  wei'e  written  early  in 
the  dull  eighteenth  century,  they  failed  to  come  into  general  use 
until  the  present  century.  The  missionary  awakening  caused  a 
demand  for  such  compositions,  and  long-neglected  prayers  and 
praises  in  verse  were  unearthed,  gradually  became  familiar,  and 

*  Moule's  Charles  Simeon,  p.  182. 


140  Rousing  ti/f.   Country: 

Part  III.  now  are  sung  all  over  the  world.  Here  a  very  curious  fact  may 
1812-24.  )3e  mentioned.  The  earlj^  traditions  of  the  Church  Missionary 
^P"  ■  Society  as  a  carefully  strict  Church  institution  w^ere  perpetuated 
to  our  own  day  in  the  matter  of  hymns  for  its  official  Anniversary 
Sermon.  The  paper  printed  for  the  occasion  was  always  headed 
"Psalms  to  be  Sung,"  and  the  same  three  were  sung  year  after 
year  without  change,  viz.,  "With  songs  of  gi'ateful  praise"  (a 
version  of  Ps.  xcvi.),  sung  to  "Darwell's  "  ;  "Jesus  shall  reign," 
sung  to  "Truro";  and  "From  all  that  dwell,"  to  the  Old 
Hundredth  :  these  last  two  being  the  very  two  that  Basil  Woodd 
asked  for  in  lieu  of  "hymns."  It  will  scarcely  be  believed  that 
the  first  "  hymns  "  at  the  famous  St.  Bride's  Service  were  sung  in 
1882,  on  the  occasion  of  Bishop  Pakenham  Walsh's  sermon. 

Our   account   of  the   rise    of  the  Association   and  Deputation 

sj'stem   must  not  close  without  a  brief  notice  of  three  or  four  of 

the  Associations.     The  great  one  at  Bristol  has  been  mentioned. 

Norwich     The  next  in  importance  was  at  Norwich,  the  formation  of  which 

tion°'^*^"      was  due  to  Edward  Bickersteth,  then  a  solicitor  in  that  city. 

If  Bristol  had  the  honour  of  leading  the  way  in  the  new 
missionary  movement,  Norwich  was  distinguished  for  being  the 
first  to  secure  the  patronage  of  a  bishop.  The  then  Bishop  of 
Norwich,  Dr.  Bathurst,  was  a  very  liberal-minded  man,  and  in 
his  first  episcopal  charge  went  so  far  as  to  avow  himself  convinced 
that  the  "  zeal  and  piety  "  of  the  Evangelicals,  "  when  under  due 
regulation,  were  productive  of  very  great  good."  ■•'•  He  was 
already  a  friend  of  the  Bible  Society  ;  and  he  at  once  acceded  to 
Bickersteth's  request  that  he  would  be  Patron,  not  of  the  Church 
Missionary  Society  itself,  but  of  the  proposed  Norwich  Association. 
But  very  few  of  the  leading  clergy  and  people  in  Norfolk  followed 
his  example.  "  This  city,"  wrote  Bickersteth,  "  is  in  a  very 
different  state  to  Bristol.  All  are  alive  to  worldly  things,  while 
religion  meets  with  either  opposition  or  a  most  cold  and  heartless 
reception."  "  Many  seem  to  start  with  horror  at  the  idea  of 
Missions  as  including  everything  enthusiastical  and  fanatical." 
But  he  had  already  declared  to  his  fellow-citizens  that  "  an  Asso- 
ciation there  sliould  be,  if  he  stood  alone  on  the  Castle  Hill  and 
proclaimed  it  "  ;  and  now  he  expresses  his  full  belief  that  if  they 
"continued  praying  and  believing  and  working,"  it  might  be 
"  respectable."  And  the  "  praying  and  believing  and  working  "  did 
bring  down  a  blessing.  Although  "  the  rich  and  noble,  the  clergy 
in  general,  and  the  Dissenters  and  party  men  "  all  stood  aloof,  the 
success  of  the  inaugural  services  and  meetings  (Sept.,  1813)  was 
astonishing.  It  was  on  this  occasion  that  the  crowds  mentioned 
before  thronged  to  hear  Pratt  and  Daniel  Wilson  ;  and  the  week 
produced  £900.  A  Ladies'  Association  was  started,  the  first  in 
England ;  and  it  is  a  striking  parallel  to  this  that  the  first  of  the 
modern  Ladies'  Unions  was  also  started  in  Norfolk,  in  1883.     At 

*  Overton,  English  Church  in  the  Nineteentli  Centunj,  p.  113. 


The  First  Associations  and  Deputations  141 

the  first  x\nniversary,  in  1814,  the  Bishop  actually  presided  at  Part  III. 
St.  Andrew's  Hall,  and  delivered  the  first  episcopal  speech  ever  1812-24. 
given  for  the  Church  Missionary  Society.  It  was  short,  hut  very  Chap.  11. 
much  to  the  point.  "  Do  some  respectahle  men  start  at  the  very 
name  of  'Missionary'?  What  does  'Apostle'  mean?"  "Arc 
we  to  beware  of  enthusiasm  ?  I,  gentlemen,  am  no  friend  to  a 
zeal  that  is  without  discretion.  But  those  who  affect  to  he  so 
much  alarmed  about  it  may  prevent  the  effects  they  apprehend  by 
joining  our  ranks  and  moderating  the  zeal  from  which  they  fear 
such  bad  consequences."  "  But  they  tell  us  that  there  are  already 
two  venerable  societies  in  the  Established  Church.  Be  it  so — I 
wish  there  were  two  hundred  !  "  And  the  good  bishop  concluded 
by  encouraging  the  Society  to  persevere  "  till  the  glad  tidings  be 
preached  in  every  corner  of  the  world,  '  as  far  as  winds  can  waft 
and  waters  roll.'  "  Heber  had  not  yet  written  "  From  Greenland's 
icy  mountains  "  :  whence,  then,  came  these  last  words? 

x\mong  the  earliest  Associations  one  expects  to  find  Cambridge,  First  steps 
considering  Simeon's  intimate  connexion  with  the  first  establish-  trid^^" 
ment  of  the  Society,  Martyn's  career  and  death,  and  the  interest 
excited  by  Buchanan's  prize  essays.  And  there  were  influential 
Evangelicals  in  the  University  besides  Simeon,  such  as  Isaac  Milner, 
Dean  of  Carlisle  and  President  of  Queens',  who  had  been  a  Senior 
Wrangler ;  William  Farish,  Tutor  of  Magdalen  and  Jacksonian 
Professor  of  Chemistry,  also  a  Senior  Wrangler,  and  immensely 
respected  for  his  ability  and  goodness  ;  James  Scholefield,  Fellow 
of  Trinity,  and  afterwards  Eegius  Professor  of  Greek  ;  Joseph 
Jowett,  Fellow  and  Tutor  of  Trinity  Hall  and  Eegius  Professor  of 
Civil  Law ;  his  nephew,  William  Jowett,  Fellow  of  St.  John's, 
and  afterwards  a  missionary ;  and  William  Dealtry,  Fellow  of 
Trinity,  who  succeeded  John  Venn  at  Clapham.  Nevertheless, 
there  must  have  been  some  peculiar  difficulties  ;  for  no  regular 
Association  was  formed  until  1818,  and  even  then  Simeon,  to  use 
his  own  words,  "  trembled  at  the  proposal,  and  recommended  the 
most  cautious  proceedings."  Meanwhile,  as  before  stated,  one  of 
the  earliest  churches  in  England  to  have  a  collection  for  the 
Society  was  Trinity,  Cambridge,  as  far  back  as  1801 ;  and  early  in 
1813  we  find  both  town  and  gown  being  canvassed,  the  former  by 
ladies  and  the  latter  by  undergraduates.  The  well-known  names 
of  Charles  Bridges  and  Francis  Cunningham,  both  of  Queens' 
College,  occur  among  those  of  the  undergraduates  who  were 
active  ;  and  among  the  junior  contributors  were  Henry  Venn  the 
Second  (afterwards  C.M.S.  Secretary),  H.  V.  Elliott  and  E.  B. 
Elliott,  two  brothers  Carus-Wilson,  John  Babington,  and  others 
who  in  after  years  did  good  service  in  the  cause  of  Christ.  Through 
the  efforts  of  F.  Cunningham,  Daniel  Wilson  was  induced  to 
visit  Cambridge  in  the  May  term  of  1811,  and  preach  in  Simeon's 
church.  During  the  three  weeks  before  he  came,  the  zealous 
juniors  set  to  work,  and  collected  no  less  than  £270  in  the  various 
colleges,  one-half  the  contributors  being  of  Queens'  College,  then 


142  Jio USING  THE  Country: 

Part  III.  the  favourite  resort  of  Evangelical  students.  Sixty  years  after- 
1812-24.  wards,  Canon  John  Bahington  tlius  recorded  his  recollections 
Chap^ll.   of  it:  — 

"  A  rare  sermon  it  was ;  I  was  never  more  deeply  interested  in  my 
life.  The  text  was,  '  He  shall  see  of  the  travail  of  his  soul  and  be  satis- 
fied.' The  question  was,  What  must  that  be  which  shall  satisfy  the 
yearnings  of  the  blessed  Redeemer's  soul  i"  I  have  seen  a  priuted  sermon 
of  his  upon  that  text,  but  the  influence  at  the  time  of  his  fervour,  and 
the  depth  that  he  seemed  to  open  before  us,  was  far  beyond  anything  that 
the  printed  sermon  can  suggest." 

When  the  regular  Association  ^vas  formed,  at  a  public  meeting  in 
1818,  two  Fellows  became  Secretaries,  Mandell  of  Queens"  and 
Scholefielcl  of  Trinity ;  and  among  the  Vice-Presidents  we  find  no 
less  a  person  than  Lord  Palmerston,  then  one  of  the  members 
for  the  University.  But  the  connexion  of  Cambridge  with  the 
Chiu'ch  Missionary  Society  has  in  later  years  been  of  a  very 
different  character,  as  we  shall  see  hereafter.  The  primary 
purpose  of  an  Association — and  a  most  useful  purpose — is  to 
raise  funds.  Cambridge  has  raised  missionaries. "■= 
Man-  The  most   unpromising  of   the  large    towns  were  Manchester 

Chester.  ^^^^  Liverpool.  Manchester  began  with  a  Sunday-school  Asso- 
ciation in  St.  James's  parish,  and  no  more  was  done  for  two 
years.  "  We  are  opposed,"  wrote  a  friend  there,  "  by  all  the 
weight  of  property  and  powder,  both  ecclesiastical  and  secular.  .  .  . 
The  soil  of  Manchester  is  very  unfavourable  to  the  cultivation 
and  growth  of  any  religious  institution  whatsoever  :  even  those 
already  planted  are  in  a  weak  and  languishing  state,  choked  with 
Liverpool,  thorns,  the  cares,  the  riches,  the  pleasures  of  life."  Liverpool 
seems  to  have  been  still  w^orse.  The  only  Evangelical  clergyman 
there,  Mr.  Blacow,  had  a  proprietary  chapel,  and  no  status  among 
his  brethren.  "What  with  ultra-Calvinists  on  one  side,  Methodists 
on  the  other,  and  the  whole  posse  of  the  clergy  and  their  power- 
ful lay  patrons  on  a  third,  I  am  perpetually  assailed."  He  adds 
that  he  fears  that  all  he  can  raise  will  be  £200  or  £300  a  year  from 
his  own  congregation  !  How  many  Liverpool  churches  raise  that 
sum  now  ?  Mr.  Blacow  thought  that  this  w^ould  be  a  proof  that 
"  the  bush  w^as  not  burnt."  He  enlarges  on  "  the  zeal  and  energy 
of  the  Dissenters  and  the  apathy  of  the  Establishment."  "The 
whole  mass  of  the  people  is  verging  fast  into  dissent,  and  we  shall 
soon  have  an  episcopal  Establishment  with  a  dissenting  popula- 
tion." But  there  w^as  something  much  worse  than  Dissent. 
Liverpool  had  been  deeply  involved  in  the  slave-trade  ;  and  Blacow 
observes  that  "  an  age  must  elapse  before  the  garment  spotted  by 
the  flesh — with  the  polluted  stains  of  African  gore  which  clings  to 
so  many  leading  men — is  worn  away."  "  While  a  shred  of  that 
remains,"  he  adds,  "  whoever  appears  among  us  in  the  holy  garb 

*  In  an  article  on  "  The  Early  Days  of  the  C.M.S.  at  Cambridge,"  in  the 
CM.  Intelligencer  of  September,  IS87,  Mr.  Hole  gives  full  and  interesting 
pai'ticulars  ;  and  these  are  supplemented  in  his  book. 


I 


The  First  Associations  and  Deputation^  143 

of  the  Eedeemer's  righteousness,  will  be   treated  as   a   mover  of  Part  III. 
sedition,  a  man  not  fit  to  live  upon  the  earth."     Eeading  all  this,    1812-24. 
one  begins  to  appreciate  the  mighty   work  done   for  religion",  and       ^^'     ' 
for  the  Church  of  England,  in  after  years,   by  Hugh   Stowell  at 
Manchester  and  Hugh  McNeile  at  Liverpool. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  of  the  home  enterprises  undertaken 
at  that  time  was  the  establishment  of  the  Hibernian  Auxiliary.  Ireland. 
The  same  difficulties,  from  the  opposition  of  the  bishops  on  the 
one  side  and  the  rival  claims  of  the  London  Missionary  Society  on 
the  other,  w-hich  we  have  noticed  in  England,  were  encountered 
also  in  Ireland;  but  at  length  Pratt,  D.  Wilson,  and  W.  Jowett, 
went  over,  in  June,  1814, — leaving  London,  it  is  worth  noting,  at 
7  a.m.  on  Monday,  and  reaching  Dublin  early  on  Friday  morn- 
ing ;  and  being  received  with  the  greatest  kindness  by  many 
leading  people,  they  successfully  started  the  Auxiliary.  It  is 
curious  to  observe  that  one  of  their  most  enthusiastic  friends  was 
Mr.  Thomas  Parnell,  great-uncle  of  the  Irish  political  leader. 

Many  names  interesting  in  very  different  ways  from  this  one  p^j^  grand- 
occur  in  the  records  of  the  early  Associations  and  Deputations. 
We  find  Reginald  Heber  (afterwards  Bishop  of  Calcutta)  seeking, 
but  in  vain,  to  influence  the  clergy  of  Shrewsbury  in  the  Society's 
favour.  We  see  E.  T.  Vaughan,  father  of  Dean  C.  J.  Vaughan, 
warmly  welcoming  Pratt  to  Leicester ;  Sir  John  Kennaway, 
grandfather  of  the  present  President,  taking  the  lead  in  the  Devon 
Association  ;  Thomas  Fowell  Buxton,  afterwards  Baronet,  and 
grandfather  of  the  present  Sir  T.  F.  Buxton  ;  Mr.  Hardy,  Recorder 
of  Leeds,  father  of  Gathorne  Hardy,  M.P.,  first  Viscount  Cran- 
brook  ;  John  Sargent,  friend  and  biographer  of  Henry  Marty n, 
and  father-in-law  of  Bishop  Samuel  Wilberforce  ;  Peter  French 
of  Eeading,  grandfather  of  Bishop  Frencli  of  Lahore ;  T.  Carr, 
of  Wellington,  Somerset,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Bombay,  in  his 
old  age  a  leading  member  of  the  C.M.S.  Committee  ;  C.  J.  Hoare 
(of  the  Fleet  Street,  not  the  Lombard  Street,  branch  of  the 
family),  afterwards  Archdeacon  of  Surrey  and  Vicar  of  Godstone.; 
Philip  Gell,  the  first  collector  of  Sunday-school  contributions  for 
the  Society,  father  of  Bishop  Gell  of  Madras ;  Isaac  Spooner, 
of  Elmdon,  father-in-law  of  William  Wilberforce,  and  grandfather 
of  the  wife  of  x\rchbishop  Tait ;  Mr.  John  Higgins,  father 
of  C.  L.  Higgins,  one  of  Dean  Burgon's  "Twelve  Good  Men," 
and  President  of  the  Bedfordshire  C.M.  Association  ;  and  John 
W^est,  an  Essex  curate  who  was  afterwards  the  first  C.M.S. 
missionary  in  North-West  America,  and  baptized  the  first  Chris- 
tian Indian  boy  (afterwards  the  first  Red  Indian  clergyman) 
by  the  name  of  his  old  rector,  Henry  Budd.  Many  other  not 
less  interesting  names  have  come  before  us  in  this  chapter. 
Sometimes  a  pessimistic  Evangelical  speaker  enlarges  mournfully 
on  the  words,  "Your  fathers,  where  are  they?"  May  we  not 
well  reply,  "  Instead  of  thy  fathers  shall  be  thy  children,  w^hom 
thou  mayest  make  princes  in  all  the  earth  "  '? 


CHAPTER  XII. 

CJI.S.  AND  Other  Societies. 

The  S.P.C.K.  and  S.P.G.  at  this  Period— The  Archdeacon  of  Bath's 
Attack  on  C.M.S. — Awakening  in  S.P.G.  :  the  Royal  Letter — Pratt's 
"Propaganda" — Heber  proposes  union  of  S.P.G.  and  C.M.S. — The 
Bible  Society,  Jews'  Society,  Prayer  Book  and  Homily  Society, 
Religious  Tract  Society,  Nonconformist  Missionary  Societies — 
Foundation  of  the  American  Church   Missions. 

'^  Look  not  every  man  on  his  own   things,  bnt  every  man  also  on  the  things  of 
others." — Phil.  ii.  4. 


Part  III. 
1812-24. 
Chap.  12. 


Relations 
to  other 
Societies. 


HE  references  in  C.M.S.  publications  in  early  days,  and 
especially  in  the  Missionary  Bcgister,  to  the  labours 
and  progress  of  other  Societies,  are  so  frequent  and  so 
full,  that  it  seems  desirable  at  this  stage  to  give  a  short 
notice  of  these  Societies,  and  of  the  relations  of  the 
Church  Missionary  Society  to  them ;  more  especially  as  some  of 
them  owed  much  to  the  sympathy  and  energy  of  C.M.S.  leaders. 
The  spirit  that  actuated  men  like  Josiah  Pratt  and  his  comrades 
is  strikingly  shown  in  his  words,  quoted  in  the  preceding  chapter, 
when  a  Norwich  rector  insisted  on  giving  the  collection  after 
Pratt's  sermon,  not  to  the  new  Society,  but  to  the  S.P.C.K. :  "  We 
seek  not  ourselves,  but  Christ  Jesus  the  Lord.  His  kingdom,  His 
glory,  His  spirit,  is  what  we  seek  to  advance  in  all  things." 

The  reasons  that  compelled  the  founders  of  the  Society  to  esta- 
blish it  at  all,  notwithstanding  the  previous  existence  of  the  S.P.C.K. 
and  S.P.G.  on  one  side  and  of  the  non-denominational  London 
Missionary  Society  on  the  other,  have  already  been  stated. '■=  When 
once  their  own  organization  was  launched,  however,  while  they 
frequently  urged  its  difference  in  basis  and  in  principle  from  the 
L.M.S.  as  a  reason  why  Churchmen  should  join  it,  a  careful  search 
fails  to  find  any  instance  of  their  urging  any  difference  of  basis 
and  principle  between  it  and  the  S.P.C.K.  and  S.P.G.  as  a  reason 
why  any  particular  class  of  Churchmen  should  support  it  rather 
than  them.  They  constantly  pleaded  that  Church  people  generally 
should  support  it  as  ivell  as  the  others  ;  but  on  what  ground  ?  On 
the  ground  that  the  Heathen  must  be  evangelized,  and  that  the 
two  old  Societies  were  only  doing  it  on  a  very  small   scale.     In 

*  Sec  Chapter  VI.,  pp.  64,  65. 


S.P.C.K. 


C.M.S.  AND  Other  Societies  14; 

1817,  the  S.P.C.K.  Lutheran  missionaries  in  South  India  were  Part  III. 
reduced  to  two  ;  and  out  of  a  free  income  of  £24,000,  it  spent    1812-24. 
upon  them  and  their  mission  about   £1000,  the    Society's  main  ^^_^12- 
work  being  that  of  pubhcations  and  grants  to  schools  at  home.    At 
the  same  period  the  S.P.G.  had  about  forty  clergymen  and  forty 
schoolmasters  in  the  North  American  Colonies,  and  scarcely  any 
others ;  "  and  of  these,  only  three  were  in  part  labouring  among 
the    Indians.     But   its   great   and   sudden    expansion    was   now 
approaching,  and   was  described  year  by  year   by  Pratt   in  the 
Begister  with  unfeigned  joy  and  unreserved  sympathy. 

The  spirit  in  which  both  these  elder  sisters  were  regarded  might  Cordial 
be  illustrated  by  many  expressions  in  the  Eeports,  Sermons,  and  of  s%"g^" 
speeches  of  the  time.     For  instance,  in  the  Eeport  of  1814,  the  ^"d" 
Committee  speak  of  "  the  invaluable  labours  of  the  two  Societies,"  ^"^' 
while  they  add  that  as  Missions  to  the  Heathen  are  only  one  of 
the  objects  aimed  at  in  either  case,  an  institution  was  still  needed 
which  should  aim   solely  at  that  object.     "  Most  gladly  will  the 
Committee  witness  such  an  augmentation  of  the  funds  of  those 
two    Societies  as  will  enable  them  to  enlarge  their  care  of  the 
Heathen.      There   is    more    than  room  for    all   exertions.     This 
Society  comes  forward,  not  to  censure  the  partial  efforts  of  past 
times,  but  to  aid  and  augment  these  efforts."     And  in  the  same 
year,  Dean  Eyder,  in  the  Annual   Sermon,  says  of  the  two  elder 
institutions,  "  God  be  thanked  for  their  past  exertions  !     God  be 
with  them  in  the  future !     We  would  hail  them  as  elder  brethren, 
as  forerunners,  as  examples.     We  are  not  contending  in  a  race 
where  '  all  run,  but  one  receiveth  the  prize.'     There  are  many 
crowns,  and  only  too  few  candidates." 

In  1814,  the  S.P.C.K.  published  in  one  large  volume  an  Abstract 
of  its  Eeports  and  Correspondence  on  the  Lutheran  Missions  in 
South  India  from  1709  to  date.  Pratt  instantly  hailed  this  work 
with  satisfaction,  and  strongly  recommended  it  in  the  Register; 
and,  at  the  end  of  his  review  of  it,  added  a  noteworthy  separate 
paragraph,  in  which  he  "  respectfully  submitted  to  the  venerable 
Society  for  Propagating  the  Gospel  the  expediency  of  imitating 
the  example''  of  the  sister  Society.  "The  public,"  he  urged, 
"  have  very  little  opportunity  of  becoming  acquainted  with  its 
proceedings,  the  Annual  Sermon  and  Eeport  not  being  published 
for  sale,  but  hmited  in  their  circulation  to  the  members"  (then 
about  300  in  number);  "  nor,"  he  adds,  "  is  justice  done  to  those 
patient  and  successful  exertions  by  which  it  long  reproached  the 
supineness  of  others."  Meanwhile  he  regularly  published  in  the 
Register  large  extracts  from  the  S.P.G.  Eeport,  although  the 
work  was  almost  wholly  then  among  the  settlers,  and  scarcely  a 
reference  to  the  Heathen  is  to  be  found.     In  1817  is  reprinted  in 

*  To  be  strictly  accurate,  the  Society  paid  £50  a  year  towards  the  stipend 
of  a  chaplain  for  the  Africa  Company  on  the  Gold  Coast,  and  £40  a  year  for 
three  schoolmasters  and  one  schoolmistress  for  the  convicts  in  Kew  South 
Wales  and  Norfolk  Island. 

VOL.    I.  T. 


146 


C.M.S.  AND  Other  Societies 


Part  III 
1812-24. 
Chap.  12. 


Avoiding 

S.P.G. 

fields. 


S.P.C.K. 
moving. 


its  pages  nearly  the  whole  of  the  Annual  Sermon  preached  at 
Bow  Church  by  the  Bishop  of  London  (Dr.  Howley),  "  not  only," 
writes  the  editor  (Pratt),  "on  account  of  its  intrinsic  excellence, 
but  because  we  wish  our  readers  to  partake  with  us  in  the  pleasure 
which  we  derive  from  witnessing  the  pledges  tints  given,  in  the 
highest  quarters,  of  hearty  co-operation  in  the  diffusion  of  Chris- 
tianity throughout  the  world.  The  anxiety  which  the  higher 
Pastors  of  the  Church  are  beginning  to  feel  for  the  recovery  and 
edification  of  her  distant  members  awakens  in  our  minds  a  lively 
hope  that  the  course  which  has  been  at  last  entered  on  will  l^e 
consistently  pursued."  The  Annual  Meeting  is  also  noticed,  as 
usual ;  though  in  those  days  there  was  little  to  notice,  for  it  was 
held  in  the  vestry  immediately  after  the  Sermon,  merely  to  adopt 
the  Keport  and  pass  a  vote  of  thanks  to  the  Bishop. 

Moreover,  the  Committee  were  careful  not  to  intrude  into  what 
might  be  S.P.G.  fields  of  labour.  In  1819,  Bishop  Kydcr  of 
Gloucester  brought  before  them  the  need  for  the  Church  of 
England  undertaking  missionary  enterprise  in  South  Africa,  where 
at  that  time  only  the  London  Missionary  Society,  the  Wesleyans, 
and  the  Moravians  were  engaged.  The  Committee,  however, 
seem  to  have  had  some  information  that  the  S.P.G.  was  con- 
templating work  there,  and  therefore  directed  inquiries  to  be  made 
on  this  point  in  the  first  instance.  On  ascertaining  that  the 
S.P.G.,  having  been  applied  to  by  the  Governor  of  Cape  Colony, 
was  about  to  send  "  a  clerical  missionary  to  instruct  the  Natives," 
it  was  resolved  to  take  no  further  steps. 

In  1813,  the  S.P.C.K.,  stirred  up  evidently  by  the  rapid  progress 
and  important  position  attained  already  by  the  Bible  Society, 
began  to  organize  district  committees  all  over  the  country,  which 
very  quickly  doubled  and  trebled  its  income. -■=  One  of  the  first 
of  these  was  formed  by  Basil  Woodd,  immediately  after  that 
memorable  tour  in  Yorkshire  for  C.M.S.  which  was  described  in 
the  preceding  chapter,  in  connexion  with  his  own  congregation 
at  Bentinck  Chapel ;  and  it  raised  £122  for  the  S.P.C.K.  the  first 
year.  The  S.P.G.  subsequently  started  similar  District  Com- 
mittees ;  but  this  was  preceded  by  a  series  of  events  which  marked 
the  emergence  of  the  Society  from  its  long  torpor  into  the  activity 
that  has  characterized  its  proceedings  from  that  day  to  this. 
These  events  must  be  briefly  noticed. 

On  November  30th,  1817,  in  which  year  St.  Andrew's  Day  and 
Advent  Sunday  coincided,  a  Church  Missionary  Association  was 
inaugurated  at  Bath  by  a  sermon  preached  at  the  Octagon  Chapel 


*  With  a  \'iew  to  assisting  this  movement,  Pratt  inserted  in  the  Retjister 
the  "  form  of  recommendation  for  membership,"  as  follows  : — "We  the  Under- 
written do  recommend  A.  B.  to  be  a  Subscribing  Member  of  the  Society  for 
Promoting  Christian  Knowledge,  and  do  verily  believe  that  he  is  well  affected 
to  His  Majesty  King  George  and  his  Government,  and  to  the  United  Church 
of  England  and  Ireland  as  by  Law  established  ;  of  a  sober  and  i-eligious  life 
and  conversation ;  and  of  an  humble,  peaceable,  and  charitable  disposition," 


C.M.S  AND  Other  Societies  147 

(afterwards  Dr.  Magee's)  by  Bishop  Eyder  of  Gloucester  ;  and  the  Part  III. 
next  day  the  same  Bishop  presided  over  a  meeting  convened  to    1812-24. 
form  the  Association.     As  soon  as  he  had  delivered  his  opening  Chap.  12. 
speech,  and  just  as  Mr.  Pratt  was  about  to  make  his  statement  on 
behalf  of  the  Society,  the  Archdeacon  of  Bath,  Mr.  Thomas,  rose  The  Arch- 
unexpectedly  and  protested,  in  the  name  of  the  Bishop  of  Bath  B^a^th""  °^ 
and  Wells,  against  the  invasion  of  the  Diocese  by  an  unauthorized  p"m  s" 
society,  which  amounted,  he  said,  to  a  factious   interference  with 
S.P.G. ;    and   also   against   Bishop    Eyder   for   intruding   into  a 
diocese  not    his  own.     In  point  of   fact,   Bishop  Eyder  was  no 
intruder,  for  he  was  also  Dean  of  Wells — a  not  uncommon  case  in 
those  days, — and  therefore  had  a  status  in  the  diocese.    Moreover, 
the  Bishop  of  Bath  and  Wells  had  been  communicated  with  by 
him,  had  consented  to  his  presiding,  and  had  not  commissioned 
the  irate  Archdeacon  to  make  the  protest.     Also  it  turned  out  that 
the  Archdeacon  was  not  even  a  subscribing  member  of    S.P.G. , 
which  Pratt  was  !     But  the    incident,  though    a   small  thing  in 
itself,  led  to  great  consequences.     The  Church  Missionary  Society  striking 
IDrolited   by   it,   both  in   money  sent  in  at  once  in  token  of  con-  '■^s"'*^- 
fidence    (£400,  against  the  loss  of   four  guinea  subscriptions) ;  - 
and  from  the  war  of  pamphlets  which  ensued,   which  gave  the 
Society   a   pubhcity  it  had  not    before    attained    to.     The  Arch- 
deacon's attack  appeared  in  the  Times,  and  a  "  Defence  "  written 
by  Daniel  Wilson  not  only  went  rapidly  through  eighteen  editions, 
but  was  printed  in  many  newspapers.     The  S.P.G.  profited  still 
more.     The  Archdeacon's  eulogy  of  its  great  work    was   so  far 
beyond  the  truth  at  the  time,  that  some  of  the  bishops  woke  up  s.p.g. 
and  resolved  to  put  more  life  into  it,  and  make  it  worthy  of  such  ^p^.*"'"^ 
praise,  and  in  particular,  not  to  leave  Church  Missions  in  North 
India  (the  South  being  cared   for  by  the  S.P.C.K.)  to  the  young 
C.M.S.  _  The  C.M.S.  leaders  made  no    secret  of  their    thankful 
satisfaction  at  this  move.     Pratt  thus  announced  it  in  the  Bcqistcr 
of  April,  1818  :  — 

"  Our  readers  will  rejoice  to  learn  that  the  Society  [S.P.G.]  is  enlarging 
its  operations,  and  is  about  to  avail  itself  of  that  influence  which  it  may 
extensively  exert  over  tlie  members  of  the  EstabHshed  Church,  to  call 
their  resources  into  action  in  support  of  Missions  to  India.  Several 
Special  Meetings  have  been  sununoned,  within  the  last  few  weeks,  to 
deliberate  on  these  subjects,  and  were  attended  by  the  Archbishops  of 
Canterbury  and  York,  the  Bishops  of  London,  Salisbury,  Norwich, 
Gloucester,  Ely,  Peterborough,  Exeter,  Oxford,  and  Llandaff,  ...  We 
shall  take  an  early  opportunity  of  reporting  the  proceedings." 

And  the  next  Annual  Eeport  said,  "  Your  Committee  most 
heartily  bid.  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  God- 
speed, and  entreat  every  member  of  this  Society  [C.M.S.]  to  aid 
that  venerable  body  to  the  utmost  by  his  contributions  and  by  his 
prayers.     They  augur  incalculable  good  from  these  exertions,  not 

*  Just  as  in  tbo  case  of  Canon  Isaac  T:wlor's  attack  in  1888,  wliich 
brouo^ht  C.M.S.  gifts  amountini>-  in  the  aggregate  to  £100\ 

L    2 


letter  for 
S.P.G 


148  C.M.S.  AND  Other  Societies 

Part  III.  only  to  the  Heathen  and  Mohammedan  subjects  of  the  Empire, 
1812-24.   but  to  those  who  attempt  to  become  blessings  to  them."     At  the 

Chap.  12.  gg^^-^g  ^-jj^g^  ^YiQ  Committee  reminded  their  friends  that  even  if  the 
S.P.G.  undertook  the  duty  of  evangehzing  the  whole  of  the 
Heathen  within  the  Empire,  there  would  still  remain  five  or  six 
hundred  millions  of  souls  outside  the  Empire,  and  therefore 
(at  that  time)  outside  its  range, — a  hint  that  C.M.S.  had  still  a 
raison  d'etre.  "Oh!"  exclaims  the  Eeport,  "it  needs  nothing 
but  an  understanding  of  the  immensity  of  human  wretchedness 
and  perdition  to  extinguish  all  jealousy  and  rivalry  among  Chris- 
tians—^/lai  rivalry  alone  excepted,  which  shall  labour  most 
assiduously  to  save  souls  from  death  and  to  hide  the  multitude 
of  sins  !  " 

The  new  measures  adopted  by  S.P.G.  were  two.  First,  a  sum 
of  £5000  was  voted  to  the  Bishop  of  Calcutta,  who,  though  an  old 
S.P.G.  supporter,  had  now  been  in  India  nearly  four  years  without 
receiving  any  help  from  the  Society.     Secondly,  the  Prince  Eegent 

Royal  (afterwards  "George  IV.)  was  applied  to  for  a  "  King's  Letter  "  to 

be  sent  to  all  parishes  in  England  and  Wales  directing  that  a 
collection  be  made  for  the  Society.  Similar  Letters  had  been 
granted  to  the  Society  six  times  in  the  preceding  century,  and  the 
fact  that  one  had  not  been  apphed  for  since  1779,  almost  forty 
years  previously,  was  a  sign  of  the  inert  condition  from  which  the 
Society  was  now  awaking.  In  announcing  these  decisions  in  the 
Begister,  Pratt  said, — 

"  Let  us  thankfully  acknowledge  herein  the  good  hand  of  Him  Who 
governeth  all  things  after  the  counsel  of  His  own  will.  We  trust  that 
we  shall  have  to  record  the  collection  of  a  munificent  sum  on  this 
occasion,  and  that  it  will  be  our  frequent  duty  to  report  the  great  in- 
crease and  successful  labours  of  Church  Missionaries  among  the  Heathen." 

That  this  was  not  merely  the  utterance  of  official  courtesy  is 
shown  by  the  following  extract  from  a  private  letter  written  at  the 
time  by  Pratt  to  Thomason  at  Calcutta  : — 

"  Wonderful  things  have  taken  place.  .  .  .  The  Archdeacon  of  Bath 
has  unwittingly  served  that  great  cause  which  lies,  we  trust,  nearest  our 
hearts.  He  gave  the  Society  for  Propagating  the  Gospel  credit  for 
doing  so  much,  that  some  of  our  rulers  in  the  Church  have  felt  it 
needful  to  do  more  than  it  had  ever  entered  into  their  minds  to  con- 
template. And  now,  hy  virtue  of  a  King's  Letter  .  .  .  all  the  clergy  will 
be  enjoined  to  plead  its  cause.  .  .  .  Had  any  one  told  me,  when  I  and 
Mr.  Bickersteth  were  travelling  to  Bath,  to  attend  the  famous  meeting 
of  December  1st,  that  in  less  than  six  months  such  a  meastu-e  should  be 
determined  on  by  Authority,  no  sagacity  of  ours  could  have  devised  by 
what  means  such  an  event  could  be  accomplished  ;  but  we  would  adore 
the  Avisdom  and  goodness  of  our  God,  and  pray  for  the  man  who  has 
been  the  undesigning  instrument  of  so  much  good." 

And  to  Corrie,  also  in  India,  he  writes,^ 

"  Is  not  this  wonderful?  Could  you  have  conceived  any  means,  when 
among  us,  by  which  the  Clergy,  wUling  and  unwilling,  should  be  con- 
strained in  all  their  pulpits  to  plead  the  cause  of  Missions  ? — and  of 


CMS.  AND  Other  Societies  149 

Missions  in  India  ?     True,  numbers  will  make  this  a  reason  for  not  aiding  Part   III. 
us :  but  they  will  be  made  to  aid  that  cause  which  is  dearer,  we  trust,  to    1812-24. 
all  our  hearts  than  any  consideration  respecting  ourselves."  Chap.  12. 

But  Pratt  was  not  content  with  words.     He  did  a  very  notable 
thing.     Hardly  had  the  Eoyal  Letter  been  issued,  early  in  1819, 
than    a   remarkable    book    appeared,    by   an   anonymous   writer,  Pratt's 
entitled    "Propaganda:  being  an   Abstract  of   the    Designs  and  ^"o°u7book 
Proceedings  of  the  Incorporated   Society  for  the  Propagation  of  ^o  help 
the  Gospel  in   Foreign  Parts  ;  with  Extracts   from    the  Annual  ^'^'^' 
Sermons;    by  a  Member   of   the    Society";    the   extracts    being 
from  the   sermons  of  such  men  as  Archbishop  Seeker,  Bishops 
Beveridge,  Burnet,  Butler,  Horsley,   Lowth,   Newton,    Tomline, 
Warburton,  kc     That  hook  was  covijnled  by  Josiah  Pratt.     With 
infinite  labour  he  had  gone  through  the  old  S.P.G.  Reports  and 
extracted  the  best  passages,  feehng  that  if  the  clergy  who  received 
the  Letter  could  only  have   such   sermons  and  reports  to  guide 
them,  their  appeals  to  their  congregations  would  be  more  intelli- 
gent and  more  effectual.     With  all  possible  speed  he  brought  it 
out,  and  published  it  anonymously,  conscious  that  if  his  name,  or 
that  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  appeared,  it  would  quite 
fail  to  do  the  work  he  hoped  it  would  do.     Its  success  was  imme- 
diate and  decided,  and  it  had  great  influence  in  promoting  the 
collection.     The  Preface  to  this  book  is  worth  quoting  in  full  :— 

"  From  the  Year  1702,  to  the  present  Year,  a  Sermon  has  been  annually 
preached  before  the  Society,  at  the  Parish  Church  of  St.  Mary-le-Bow': 
which  Sermon  has,  in  every  instance  except  that  preached  in  1703,  been 
printed  for  the  use  of  the  members;  and  has  been  accompanied,  with 
the  exception  of  a  few  of  the  earlier  years,  with  an  Abstract  of  the 
Society's  Proceedings. 

"  These  Records  of  the  Society  having  never  been  published  for  sale, 
but  printed  merely  for  the  use  of  the  Members,  the  Editor  considered 
that  he  should  render  an  acceptable  service  to  his  Brethren  of  the 
Clergy,  by  collecting  from  these  Records,  such  statements  and  reasonings 
as  might  enable  them  to  plead  with  eiiect  the  cause  of  the  Society,  in 
obedience  to  the  Royal  Mandate  issued  on  the  Tenth  Day  of  February 
of  the  present  Year. 

"  These  ofBcial  documents,  together  with  an  Account  of  the  Society  to 
the  Year  1728,  published  by  its  Secretary,  the  Rev.  David  Humphreys, 
D.D.,  have  supplied  the  materials  for  the  following  pages. 

"  The  Clergy  will  see,  from  the  various  Extracts  herein  given,  that  the 
IJast  was  contemplated,  many  years  since,  by  some  of  the  Right- 
Reverend  Members  of  the  Society,  as  a  most  important  object  of  its 
attention  and  care.  Bishop  Thurlow,  in  1786,  spoke  strongly  on  this 
subject;  and  was  followed  by  many  others.  In  1817,  it  was  renewed, 
with  fresh  vigour  and  zeal,  by  Bishop  Howley ;  and  by  Bishop  Ryder,  in 
the  present  year.  The  Editor  ventures  to  predict,  that  the  more  closely 
the  condition  of  that  part  of  the  Empire  is  examined,  the  more  earnest 
will  every  fa,ithful  Member  of  the  Church  become,  to  aid  the  Propaga- 
tion of  the  Gospel  in  those  parts,  by  his  contributions,  his  counsels,  and 
his  prayers.  The  sources  of  information  on  this  subject  are  now  easy  of 
access,  and  are  multiplying  every  day. 
"  Lo7}don,  May  1,  1819." 


150  C.M.S.  AND  Other  Societies 

Part  III.  The  progress  of  the  movement  is  reported  in  the  Ecgistei'  month 
1812-24.  ijy  i:nonth.  The  S.P.G.'s  own  Circular  is  given  in  full;  which,  it 
ap^i  .  jjjyg^  i^g  observed  in  passing,  contains  no  reference  to  any  other 
Society,  not  even  the  S.P.C.K.,  and  no  allusion  to  any  existing 
work  in  India.  The  Annual  S.P.G.  Sermon  of  that  year  also  is 
printed  in  the  Becjister  almost  in  full,  occupying  sixteen  columns 
of  close  type ;  in  the  December  number  is  given  the  total  of 
royal  collections  up  to  that  time  from  the  various  dioceses, 
amounting  to  £42,222  15s.  Q>d. ;  and  the  following  announcement 
is  also  made  : — "  We  rejoice  to  find  that  a  beginning  has  been 
made  in  the  establishment  of  Local  Associations  in  support  of  the 
Society ;  as  we  may  hope,  by  this  means,  to  see  the  great  body 
of  the  Estal)lished  Church  brought  into  a  system  of  habitual 
contribution  in  support  of  Missions  to  the  Heathen." 

A  little  later,  we  tind  the  following  in  tlie  Annual  Eeport : — 

[This  Society]  "  is  a  kindred  Societ)'  to  those  veuenible  institutions  of 
the  Chiu-ch  of  England — tlie  Societies  for  Promoting  Christian  Kniiw- 
ledge  and  for  tlie  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts,  which 
liave  laboured  in  the  glorit>us  work  of  in'eaching  Christ  among  tlie 
Heatlien  and  in  the  British  Colonies  dining  more  than  half  a  century. 
It  utterly  disclaims  all  interference,  all  rivaliy  with  them.  It  occupies 
no  missionary  station  which  they  are  able  to  occupy.  It  exercises 
toward  them  a  temper  respectful  and  conciliating.  It  regards  them  as 
elder  sisters,  and  rejoices  to  behold  them  putting  forth  their  strengtli, 
increasing  tlie  number  of  tlieir  friends,  extending  tlie  limits  of  their 
Missions.'"* 

Did  S.P.G.      It  may  be  asked  whether  there  was  any  reciprocitv  of  feeling 

rccipro-  *^  •/  J.  »-  '-^ 

cate?  on  the    part    of    the    older    Society    towards   the    younger   one. 

There  does  not  seem  to  be  any  evidence  of  it ;  but  it  must  be 
remembered  that  S.P.G.  had  then  no  organ  of  its  own,  and  that 
its  Aimual  Eeports  were  the  briefest  business  statements.  At 
the  same  time,  a  very  kindly  feeling  could  hardly  be  expected. 
Only  two  bishops  had  as  yet  openly  joined  the  Church  Missionaiy 
Society  ;  it  was  still  widely  regarded  as  an  institution  that  had  no 
right  to  exist ;  and  it  would  scarcely  be  surprising  if  the  kind  and 
sympathetic  utterances  of  its  leaders  were  looked  on  as  an  attempt 
at  patronizing  and  as  savouring  of  impertinence.  It  is  not 
agreeable  to  human  nature  to  be  patted  on  the  back  by  those 
whom  you  are  wont  to  despise.  But  if  the  younger  Society  did 
not  get  much  direct  expression  of  gratitude  from  its  elder  sister, 
the  cause  it  was  serving  received  a  great  impetus  ;  and  this  not 
only  in  the  way  indicated  in  Pratt's  letters,  but  in  another  way 
which  Dr.  Overton  shrewdly  points  out.  Missions  to  the  Heathen 
bore,  in  the  imagination  of  the  majority  of  Churchmen,  the  taint 
of  "  Methodism."  But  the  S.P.G.  was  above  suspicion  in  this 
respect;  "  it  was  impossible  for  the  keenest  scent  to  detect  in  it 
any  traces  of  that  hated  thing";  so  when  such  a  Society  itself 

*  C.M.S.  Report,  1823,  p.  51. 


C.M.S.  AND  Other  Societies  I51 

engaged  in  efforts  of  the  kind,  "  it  stamped  them,  as  it  were,  with  Part  III. 
the  mark  of  respectabihty."  *  1812-24. 

But  the  idea  occurred  to  at  least  one  great  and  admirable  man  P" 
that  the  two  sisters  might  be  united.  This  was  Eeginald  Heber,  Heber's 
of  whom  we  shall  see  more  in  another  chapter.  He  wrote  to  p'^"^  *° 
John  Thornton,  his  intimate  college  friend,  then  Treasurer  of  the  s.p.g.  and 
C.M.S.,  and  to  Bishop  Eyder,  on  the  subject.  From  the  latter  ^■^■^^ 
letter  it  appears  that  though  sympathizing  with  both  S.P.G.  and 
C.M.S.,  he  had  definitely  joined  the  latter  and  not  the  former. 
"  Of  the  two  Societies,"  he  says,  "  I  have  been  induced  to_  join 
that  which  is  peculiarly  sanctioned  by  your  Lordship's  name,  as 
apparently  most  active,  and  as  employing  with  more  wisdom  than 
the  elder  corporation  those  powerful  means  of  obtaining  popular 
support  which  ignorance  only  can  depreciate  or  condemn  It  is 
but  justice  to  say  that  I  have  seen  nothing  which  leads  me  to 
repent  of  this  choice.  But  why,  my  Lord,  should  there  be  two 
societies  for  the  same  precise  object?  "  He  actually  formulated 
a  scheme  of  union,  or  rather,  as  must  candidly  be  said,  of 
absorption  of  C.M.S.  into  S.P.G.  The  S.P.G.  was  to  admit  all 
C.M.S.  members  to  its  membership,  and  enrol  on  its  staff  all 
C.M.S.  missionaries;  the  C.M.S.  Secretaries  were  to  become 
Joint  Secretaries  of  S.P.G. ;  and  C.M.S.  was  to  transfer  to  S.P.G. 
all  its  property  and  funds.!  What  the  replies  of  Bishop  Eyder 
and  Mr.  Thornton  were  is  not  recorded.  In  the  meanwhile,  the 
S.P.C.K.,  which  was  increasing  its  income  and  its  home  work 
by  leaps  and  bounds,  was  not  prospering  in  its  South  Indian 
Missions.  One  Lutheran  minister  was  sent  out  in  1813 — but  soon 
died, — another  in  1818,  and  two  more  in  1819 ;  Pratt's  Register 
reporting  the  valedictory  charges  on  all  three  occasions.  In  the 
following  decade,  these  Missions,  which  had  greatly  languished, 
came  under  the  joint  direction  of  the  S.P.C.K.  and  S.P.G. ;  and 
subsequently  the  S.P.G.  took  entire  charge  of  them,  since  which, 
under  a  succession  of  able  men  like  Caldwell,  they  have  been 
developed  and  extended  in  all  directions. 

It  must  not  be  supposed,  because  the  Church  Missionary 
Society  displayed  so  much  brotherly  feeling  towards  the  older 
Societies,  that  the  Evangelical  leaders  were  backward  in  defending 
Evangelical  truth  when  they  thought  it  necessary.  In  1816,  for  s.p.c.k. 
example,  a  great  conflict  arose  in  the  S.P.C.K.  over  a  tract  by  gfe"*™^^'^" 
Dr.  Mant  on  Baptismal  Eegeneration.  Basil  Woodd  and  Daniel 
Wilson,  whose  congregations  were  among  the  most  liberal 
supporters  that  the  S.P.C.K.  had  in  London,  contended  that  its 
extreme  statements  were  inconsistent  with  the  Society's  regular 
line  of  moderate   teaching  on   the    subject;  and    although   they 

*  Entjlish  Church  in  the  Nineteenth  Century,  cbaji.  viii. 

■)"  Dr.  G.  Smith,  in  his  fascinating^  recent  biogra]ihy  of  Heber,  prints  this 
proposal  with  the  evident  sympathy  becoming  a  Presbyterian.  The  Pres- 
byterians all  over  the  wox-ld  have  unreservedly  woi'ked  their  Missions,  not  by 
societies,  but  by  "  the  Church  in  her  corporate  capacity." 


152 


C.M.S.  AND  Other  Societies 


Part  III, 
1812-24. 
Chap.  12. 


The  Bible 
Society. 


Its  consti- 
tution. 


were  beaten  at  the  crucial  division,  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury 
intervened,  and,  though  approving  the  tract  himself,  obtained 
some  modifications  in  its  language. 

Of  all  the  Societies  v^'ith  which  our  own  Society  was  brought 
more  or  less  into  contact  at  the  period  now  under  review,  by  far 
the  most  successful  and  prosperous  was  the  British  and  Foreign 
Bible  Society.  It  had  been  founded  on  March  7th,  1804,  after 
some  months  of  patient  preparation.  All  denominations  joined 
in  it ;  Wilberforce,  Grant,  and  others  whose  names  are  already 
familiar  to  us  in  this  History,  became  its  leading  members  ;  royal 
dukes  patronized  it ;  bishops  who  would  do  nothing  for  Evangelical 
movements  within  the  Church  gave  it  their  names  and  influence  ; 
and  its  establishment  was  hailed  with  widespread  enthusiasm. 
At  Oxford,  in  1813,  it  was  joined  by  the  Chancellor  of  the 
University,  eight  Heads  of  Houses,  five  Professors,  and  both 
Proctors,  besides  the  Lord-Lieutenant  and  other  chief  men  of  the 
county  and  city  ;  and  at  Cambridge  the  patronage  was  not  less 
distinguished.  Three  Secretaries  were  originally  appointed :  one 
for  the  Nonconformists,  Mr.  Hughes,  who  was  the  real  founder ; 
one  for  the  Foreign  Protestants,  Dr.  Steinkopff;  and  one  to 
represent  the  Church  of  England — for  which  post  Josiah  Pratt 
was  chosen,  but  he  only  held  office  a  few  weeks,  and  was 
succeeded  by  the  Eev.  John  Owen.  Pratt  was  the  inventor  of  the 
constitution  of  the  committee.  Its  members  were  all  to  be  laymen, 
of  whom  six  were  to  be  foreign  Protestants,  and  the  remainder 
(thirty)  equally  Churchmen  and  Dissenters  ;  but  all  clergymen 
and  ministers  who  became  subscribing  members  might  attend 
and  vote, — "a  provision,"  says  the  Bible  Society's  historian, 
Mr.  Owen,  "  which,  while  it  concealed  their  names,  recognized 
their  privileges  and  retained  their  co-operation."  This  proviso  is 
interesting  as  having  doubtless  suggested,  a  few  years  later,  the 
similar  plan  upon  which  the  governing  body  of  the  Church 
Missionary  Society  has  been  formed  for  more  than  eighty  years. 
But  the  two  Societies  have  had  a  higher  and  a  closer  association 
than  that  involved  in  this  external  resemblance.  They  have 
worked  together  in  unbroken  fellowship  in  the  one  cause  of  giving 
the  Word  of  God  to  the  Heathen  nations.  While  the  C.M.S.,  and 
the  other  various  missionary  societies,  have  supplied  the  trans- 
lators of  the  Scriptures,  the  Bible  Society  has  done  the  essential 
work  of  printing  and  distributing  the  versions.  The  Bible  is  still, 
and  no  doubt  ever  will  be,  the  object  of  attack  and  criticism  on 
the  part  of  men  whose  learning  is  not  sanctified  by  the  wisdom 
that  Cometh  from  above ;  but  meanwhile,  in  its  hundreds  of 
foreign  versions,  it  is  proving  its  inspiration  by  enlightening  the 
eyes  and  converting  the  souls  of  multitudes  of  the  most  ignorant 
and  degraded  of  the  human  race. 

The  proceedmgs  of  the  Bible  Society  occupy  considerable  space 
in  the  Register.  In  its  tenth  year  the  Society's  Income  had 
reached   £70,000,  exclusive  of   sales   of  Bibles ;  and   the  Eeport 


C.M.S.  AND  Other  Societies  153 

printed  is  an  astonishing  record  of  work  all  over  the  world.  In  Part  ni. 
1817,  so  great  was  its  progress  in  Europe  that  Pope  Pius  VII.  p^^^^t" 
issued  a  Bull  against  it ;  to  which  the  Bishop  of  Cloyne,  at  the  ^°^P-  ^- 
Anniversary  that  year,  thus  incisively  referred  : —  Pope's  Bull 

against  it. 

"  This  i-espoctable  porsona,c;e,  his  Holiness  the  Pope,  says  that  many 
heresies  wnll  a])i)ear,  but  that  the  most  baneful  of  heresies  is  tlie  reading 
and  dissemination  of  the  liible.  So,  then,  to  propagate  that  book  in 
wliich  Clu-istianity  is  founded  is  to  propagate  heresy.  The  misfortune 
of  this  Bull  is  tliat  it  comes  into  the  world  a  thousand  years  too  late. 
It  might  have  done  some  harm  in  tlie  Ninth  Century,  but  will  have  very 
little  "eil'ect  in  the  Nineteenth.  .  .  .  To  quote  St.  Paul,  '  I  thank  my  God 
that,  after  tlie  way  they  call  heresy,  so  worship  I  the  God  of  my  fathers.'  " 

The  Bihle  Society's  anniversaries,  indeed,  were  generally  very  its  Anni- 
hiilliant  affairs.  In  1816,  the  speakers  were  Lord  Teignmoutli  ''^■■^^'■"^• 
(President,  in  the  chair),  the  Duke  of  Kent,  the  Chancellor  of  the 
Exchequer,  the  Bishops  of  Gloucester,  Norwich,  Salisbury,  and 
Clogher,  Charles  Grant,  M.P.,  and  Lord  Gamhier.  Speeches  in 
its  behalf  at  Liverpool,  Margate,  Dover,  &c.,  by  the  Prime  Minister 
himself,  Lord  Liverpool,  are  reported  in  the  Begister.  Indeed 
this  very  brilliancy  was  a  cause  of  complaint  on  the  part  of  some. 
Bishop  Eaiulolph  of  London  was  "  disgusted  at  the  pomp  and 
parade  "  of  tlie  Society,  contrasting  it  with  the  "  simplicity  and 
modesty"  of  the  S.P.C.K.''^  But  of  course  much  more  serious 
grounds  of  opposition  prevailed,  and  the  Bible  Society  was  again 
and  again  vehemently  attacked  by  the  ablest  High  Church 
controversialists  of  the  day,  such  as  Bishop  Herbert  Marsh, 
Archdeacon  Daubeney,  and  Dr.  C.  Wordsworth,  because  it  circu- 
lated the  Bible  without  the  Prayer-book,  and  encouraged  the 
notion  that  men  might  draw  their  own  religion  from  it  without 
the  guidance  of  the  "  authoritatively-commissioned  priests  "  of 
the  "one  only  apostolical  Church  established  in  this  country."! 
It  will  at  once  be  understood  how  the  C.M.S.  leaders  were  con- 
cerned in  the  defence  of  the  Bible  Society,  as  well  as  in  alliance 
with  it  in  the  ti'anslation  and  distribution  of  the  Scriptures. 

Another  organization  with  which  the  Society's  chief  men  were 
in  close  touch  was  the  London  Society  for  Promoting  Christianity  London 
among  the  Jews.  It  was  founded  in  1808,  on  non-denominational  society, 
lines  like  the  London  Missionary  Society ;  and  like  the  Bible 
Society,  it  had  royal  support,  the  Duke  of  Kent  being  Patron. 
In  a  few  years,  however,  it  ran  hopelessly  into  debt,  and  then 
it  appeared  that  subscriptions  were  refused  on  account  of  its 
unsectarian  character.  Ultimately  the  Dissenters,  in  a  genei'ous 
spirit,  withdrew,  and  subsequently  founded  a  separate  society 
for  themselves  ;  and  from  that  time  the  London  Society  prospered. 
Its  debt,  then  £14,000,  was  paid  off  in  the  room  at  the  next 
Anniversary.     Its  meetings,  in  fact,  were  for  many  years  perhaps 

*  Overton,  English  Church  in  the  Nineteenth  Century,  chap.  viii. 
t  Archdeacon  Daubeney,  qnoted  by  Overton,  ut  supra. 


1-4  C.M.S.  AND  Other  Societies 

Part  III.  the  most  popular  of  all  ;  the  meetmgs  being  always  densely 
1812-24.  crowded,  and  the  greatest  interest  being  taken  in  the  Hebrew 
Chap^l2.  school-children  \\\\o  sang  on  these  occasions.  Charles  Simeon 
was  specially  devoted  to  the  Jews'  Society;  and  so  was  Legh 
Eichmond,  the  author  of  The  Dairyman's  Daughter  and  other 
biographical  sketches  of  Christians  in  humble  life  which  had  an 
enormous  circulation,  who  was  not  only  Eector  of  Turvey,  but 
also  Chaplain  to  the  Duke  of  Kent.  On  one  occasion,  however, 
when  he  was  to  preach  at  a  Sheffield  church  for  the  Church 
Missionary  Society,  he  took  as  his  text  Eom.  iii.  29,  "  Is  He  the 
God  of  the  Jews  only?  "  Another  anecdote  tells  the  other  way. 
Simeon  and  Bickersteth  were  together  on  the  platform  at  a  Jews' 
meeting.  The  former,  in  his  speech,  said  the  Society  was  "  the 
most  blessed  of  all."  The  latter  wrote  to  him  on  a  slip  of  paper, 
"  Six  millions  of  Jews,  and  six  hundred  millions  of  Gentiles — 
which  is  the  most  important?"  Simeon  replied,  "But  if  the 
conversion  of  the  six  is  to  be  life  from  the  dead  to  the  six  hundred 
— what  then  ?""''=  The  friendship  of  CM. S.  was  manifested  by 
the  House  in  SaHsbury  Square  being  lent  to  the  Jews'  Society  for 
its  Committee  meetings. 

Yet  another  body  closely  connected  with  the  Church  Missionary 

Prayer        Socicty  was  the  Prayer  Book  and  Homily  Society,  which  was  a 

Homify ''    kind  of  Evangelical  S.P.C.K.  so  far  as  its  particular  function  was 

Society.      concerned.     Prayer-books  were  then  often  pubHshed  without  the 

Articles,  and  this  Society  was  designed  to  secure  that  they  appeared 

in    all   the    copies  it    supplied,     It  proved  a  useful    ally  to   the 

Missions    in    publishing  translations    of  the    Prayer-book   in  the 

various  vernaculars.     The  S.P.C.K.  at  that  time  was  not  likely  to 

print  versions  coming  from  the  missionaries  of  an  "  unauthorized" 

body  like  the  Church  Missionary  Society. 

Religious        Then  there  was  the  Eeligious  Tract  Society,  founded  in  the 

Sockty.       same  year  as  C.M.S.,  1799.     Its  first  promoters  were  members  of 

"  the  Three   Denominations,"   Presbyterians,   Independents,  and 

Baptists ;  but  Churchmen  quickly  joined  it,  and  Legh  Eichmond 

became  one  of  the  Secretaries,  believing,  to  use  his  biographer's 

words,  "that  he  might  promote  the  interests  of  his  own  Church 

by  preventing  the  circulation  of  tracts  hostile  to  her  opinions,  as 

well  as  advance  the  common  cause  of  true  religion."     The  great 

work,  at  home  and  abroad,  done   by  this   Society  is  well  known. 

One  feature  of  its  early  years  is  worth  noting.     Its  anniversaries, 

which  the  Missionary  Register  regularly  reports,   were  held  at 

six  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  the  day  on  which  the  Bible  Society 

also    met,  at  the   City  of   London  Tavern.     Breakfast   was   the 

first  item   in  the  programme,  and  the  Begister  mentions  that  in 

1823   no  less  than  1054  persons  paid    for    their   breakfast,   and 

hundreds  more  were  unable  to  get  in. 

Noncon-  With  the  London  and  Baptist  Societies,  and  with  the  Moravian 

formist 


Societies. 


*   Memoir  of  E.  Bickerstetli,  vol.  ii.  p.  61. 


C.M.S.  AND  Other  Societies  155 

and  Wesleyan  Missions  —the  last-named  of  which  were  at  this  Part  III. 
time  being  more  regularly  organized,  the  C.M.S.  leaders  also  i^^'^"^^' 
maintained  a  "friendly  intercourse,"  in  accordance  with  the  ^^' 
Society's  31st  Law.  They  watched  with  sympathetic  interest  the 
London  Society's  work  in  South  Africa  and  the  South  Seas,  and 
its  beginnings  in  China  (Morrison's  Chinese  New  Testament  was 
published  in  1814)  ;  the  Methodist  revivals  among  the  West  Indian 
Negro  slaves ;  the  extraordinary  industry  and  success  of  the 
Baptists,  Carey,  Marshman,  and  Ward,  in  translating  the  Scrip- 
tures into  various  Indian  and  other  Asiatic  languages  ;  and  the 
heroic  enterprises  of  the  Moravians.  Also  the  connnencement  of 
organized  Missions  by  the  Foreign  Protestant  (Churches,  and 
by  the  Christians  of  the  United  States — especially  the  strange 
experiences  of  the  first  American  missionaries  who  attempted  to 
land  in  India.  All  these  were  regularly  reported  in  the  Beyister. 
And  in  1818  a  plan  w^as  set  on  foot  of  the  Secretaries  of  the 
different  Societies  meeting  quarterly  (afterwards  monthly)  for 
conference  on  topics  of  common  interest.  At  first  they  were 
held  in  the  C.M.S.  House  ;  afterwards  in  the  different  6ffices  in 
turn. 

One  happy  result  of  Pratt's  energy  in  setting  others  to  work 
must  be  specially  mentioned.  In  1816,  he  addressed  letters  in 
the  name  of  the  Committee  to  some  of  the  bishops  and  other 
leading  members  of  the  American  Protestant  Episcopal  Church, 
not  asking  for  the  aid  of  that  Church  for  the  Society,  but  offering 
the  aid  of  the  Society,  if  needed,  to  enable  the  American  Church 
to  give  independent  co-operation  in  the  work  of  evangelizing  the 
Heathen.  Very  cordial  letters  were  received  in  reply,  particularly 
from  Bishop  Griswold,  of  what  was  then  callecl  the  "Eastern 
Diocese,"  and  Bishop  White  of  Pennsylvania.  Bishop  Griswold 
at  first  douloted  whether  the  American  Church  was  strong  enough 
to  engage  in  Foreign  Missions,  and  suggested  that  a  clergyman  in 
his  diocese  who  offered  for  missionary  service  should  be  adopted 
by  the  Church  Missionary  Society.  But  Pratt,  in  repl}',  urged 
the  formation  of  an  American  Church  Society,  which  should  send 
him  out  itself,  on  the  ground  of  the  great  reflex  benefits  that 
would  accrue  to  the  Church  itself  from  engaging  directly  in 
missionary  work  ;  and  the  Committee  offered  a  grant  of  £200  to 
help  their  American  fellow-Churchmen  to  make  a  start.  TJte 
result  was  the  establishment  of  tJie  Domestic  and  Foreign  Missionary  American 
Society  of  the  American  Church.  In  1821,  its  organization  was  society.^' 
completed,  as  a  Society  comprising  and  representing  the  whole 
Church  ;  and  the  constitution  is  printed  at  length  in  the  C.M.S. 
Eeport  of  1822.  The  American  Church  owes  a  deep  debt  of 
gratitude  to  the  S.P.G.  for  its  labours  among  its  people  before  the 
Declaration  of  Independence  which  established  the  Eepublic  of 
the  United  States  ;  but  it  owes  the  initiation  of  its  great  Missionary 
organization  to  the  Church  Missionary  Society. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


Part  III. 
1812-2-4. 
Chap.  13. 


Previous 
work  in 
W.  Africa, 


iSiERRA  Leone  .-  The  White  Man's  Grave  and  the  Black 

Man's  Life. 

Early  Efforts— The  Susoo  Mission  Edward  Bickersteth's  Visit  Work 
among  the  Liberated  Slaves  W.  A.  B.  Johnson  and  H.  During— 
The  Revival  at  Regent  The  Fever  and  its  Victims— West  Africa 
not  a  Debtor  but  a  Creditor. 

"So  then  death  v:orl-eth  in  -us,  hut  life  in  you." — 2  Cor.  iv.  12. 

N  our  Fifth  and  Ninth  Chapters  we  saw  how  it  came 
to  pass  that  the  new  Society  found  its  sympathies 
drawn  out  in  an  especial  degree  for  Africa,  and  fixed 
its  eyes  upon  the  West  Coast.  Not,  in  the  first 
instance,  upon  Sierra  Leone.  The  Httle  mountainous 
peninsula  was  then  only  peopled  by  two  or  three  thousand  settlers, 
liberated  Negroes  from  England  and  from  the  other  side  of  the 
Atlantic  ;  and  for  them  and  the  Europeans  in  charge  of  them  the 
Sierra  Leone  Company  provided  chaplains,  Melville  Home  and 
Nathaniel  Gilbert  (both  of  whom  we  have  met  before)  being  the 
first.  The  Society  had  larger  ideas.  Not  for  the  few  settlers, 
but  for  the  great  tribes  and  nations  beyond,  Susoos,  Jalofs, 
Temnes,  Mandingoes,  Fulahs,  were  its  earliest  plans  formed. 
Not  a  peninsula  five-and-twenty  miles  in  length,  but  a  large 
section  of  the  great  dark  continent,  was  the  object  of  their  prayers 
and  efforts. 

Some  attempt  had  already  been  made  by  other  societies  to 
j)lant  the  Gospel  in  Africa.  The  solitary  S.P.G.  missionary  at 
Cape  Coast  Castle  in  1752,  and  his  native  successor,  have  been 
mentioned  in  our  Third  Chapter.  The  Moravians  had  sent  men 
to  the  same  Guinea  Coast  in  1768,  but  all  had  died.  Among 
the  Hottentots  of  South  Africa  the  same  devoted  Church  had  been 
more  successful ;  while  the  Wesleyans,  and  the  London  Missionary 
Society,  had  also  bei^un  good  work  among  the  southern  tribes,  the 
latter  having  on  its  staff  that  remarkable  missionary  Vanderkemp. 
To  the  neighbour] lood  of  Sierra  Leone,  the  two  small  societies 
in  Scotland,  the  Glasgow  and  the  Edinburgh,  had  combined  to 
send  six  men,  to  the  Susoos ;  but  three  had  died,  one  (Peter 
Greig)  had  been  murdered  by  the  Fulahs — -the  first  missionary 
martyr  in  Africa, — and  two  had  returned  home  ;  and  no  further 
effort  was  made  to  continue  the  Mission. 


S/£Ji/i:A  Leose  :    The    White  Man's  Gra^e,  o^c.       157 

This  last-named  effort  had  directed  the  thoughts  of  the  new  Part  III. 
Enghsh  Society  to  the   Susoo  tribes,  north  of  Sierra  Leone ;  in    1812-24. 
addition    to   which,    several    Susoo   boys   h.ad   been    brought   to  C'hap^l.}. 
England    by    Zachary    Macaulay,   and    were    being    educated  at  susoo  boys 
Claphani  in  a  small  school   called    the  African  Academy.     The  ^am*'' 
Committee  engaged  one  of  the  returned  Scotch  missionaries,  Mr. 
Brunton,  to  prepare   vocabularies,  tracts,  Sec,  in   the  Susoo  lan- 
guage ;  and,  to  establish  a  Mission  among  the  Susoo  people,  the 
earliest  German  missionaries  were  appointed. 

We  have  seen  that  although  it  was  easy  to  appoint  men  to  West 
Africa,  it  was  not  so  easy  to  get  them  there  ;  and  we  have  had 
some  glimpses  of  the  difficulties  and  trials  of  the  early  voyages. 
Still  harder  did  it  prove  to  get  them  from  Sierra  Leone,  whitlier  Early 
the  successive  vessels  took  them,  to  their  allotted  field  of  labour  '  duties, 
among  the  Susoos,  about  one  hundred  miles  to  the  north,  on  the 
Rio  Pongas.  Physical  dif^^iculties,  such  as  rarity  of  communica- 
tion, were  not  the  greatest.  The  whole  coast  was  dangerous, 
owing  to  the  virulent  hostility  of  the  slave-dealers.  The  Slave- 
trade,  it  must  be  remembered,  was  not  abolished  till  1807  ;  the 
Act  did  not  come  into  force  in  Africa  till  January  1st,  1808 ;  and 
even  then,  the  enforcing  of  it  was  not  an  easy  task.  Moreover, 
as  has  been  related  in  a  previous  chapter,  human  infirmity 
was  manifested  by  the  missionaries  themselves ;  dissension 
finding  entrance  among  them,  and  one  having  to  be  dismissed  for 
grave  misconduct.  Some  little  good  work,  however,  was  done  in 
Freetown,  the  capital  of  Sierra  Leone,  where  many  Susoos  were 
to  1)6  found  ;  and  at  length,  in  1807,  after  more  than  three  years' 
delay,  Leopold  Biitscher  succeeded  in  reaching  the  Rio  Pongas 
and  arranging  for  a  missionary  settlement  there.  The  others 
quickly  followed  ;  more  men  came  out ;  and  in  the  next  four  or 
five  years  three  stations  were  occupied,  Bashia  and  Canoffee  on 
the  Pongas,  and  Gambler  (so  named  after  tlie  President  of  the 
Society,  and  not  to  be  confounded  with  the  River  Gambia) ;  in 
addition  to  which,  Nylander  l)egan  a  ^fission  among  the  BuUom 
tril)e,  on  the  mainland  opposite  Sierra  Leone. 

Nevertheless,  the  Susoo  Mission  was  a  very  humble  enterprise,  ?".'°? 

Iff  i-ri  T  1  1T-I      Mission. 

and  tar  from  satisfactory  according  to  our  modern  standard.  It 
was  little  more  than  two  or  three  schools,  in  which  German 
missionaries,  while  still  trying  to  pick  up  Susoo,  were  teaching 
English — also  a  language  they  understood  very  imperfectly — to  a 
few  African  boys  who  were  clothed  and  fed  at  the  expense  of  the 
Mission.  Year  by  year  the  Committee  had  nothing  else  to  tell 
in  their  Annual  Reports  ;  yet  their  faith,  though  often  sorely  tried, 
never  failed.  The  journals  of  the  missionaries  were  regularly 
published,  and  are  even  now  interesting  to  read,  for  the  graphic 
accounts  they  give  of  the  degradation  of  the  people.  And  the 
Committee  felt  assured  that  slow  but  sure  work  among  the 
children  would  in  due  time  bear  fruit.  "  Let  us  fervently  pray," 
says  the  Annual  Report  of  1810,  "  that  these  children  may  become 


158  Sierra  Leone: 

Part  III.  faithful  disciples  of  our  Great  Master  ;  and  that  some  of  them  may 

1812-24.   i^e  raised  up  as    instruments   to   proclaim    the   glad   tidings    of 

Chap^lS.  grj^ivation  throughout  their  native  tribes.     It  is  in  this  way  that 

'  we  may  expect  God  will  be  pleased  to  work  when  His  time  is 

come  for  diffusing  His  Gospel  widely  through  the  nations,  because 

it    is   in    this    way    that    He   has  usually  elTected  His  purposes 

hitherto." 

But  the  Committee  wanted  more  than  this.  The  care  of  the 
children — many  of  them  the  offspring  of  the  slave-dealers  them- 
selves-— had  given  the  missionaries  an  entrance  to  the  people ; 
and  Pratt  wrote  again  and  again  urging  them  to  take  advantage  of 
it.     Thus,  in  1813  (combining  two  letters  here) : — 

"  The  public  are  now  beginning  to  take  a  warm  interest  in  the  Society's 
concerns.  We  have  aroused  their  feelings  and  awakened  their  con- 
sciences. Many  eyes  are  turned  on  our  missionaries.  .  .  .  Schools  are  our 
foundation  ;  but  the  foundation  is  laid  in  order  to  the  rearing  of  the 
superstructure.  .  .  .  The  time  is  come !  The  natives  know  you  now  to 
be  honest  men.  Go  as  often,  and  as  far  into  the  Susoo  country  as  you 
can.  .  .  .  Preach  Christ  to  them  !  Let  us  have  exact  accounts  of  your 
Susoo  preachings  :  name  your  subjects,  the  number  of  your  hearers,  the 
reception  or  rejection  of  the  Word.  Let  it  be  known  and  felt  all  over 
the  Susoo  country  that  you  have  a  message  to  deliver  them  from  God. 
.  .  .  Success  belongs  not  to  us,  but  attempts  and  exertions  do." 

The  difficulties  of  obeying  these  counsels,  however,  were  real 
ones.  For  one  thing,  the  missionaries  were  suspected  of  being 
spies,  and  of  informing  the  British  ships  of  the  secret  smuggling  of 
slaves  that  was  still  going  on,  and  the  slave-dealers  became  worse 
rather  than  better  disposed  towards  the  Mission  ;  and  twice  they 
burned  down  the  Mission  houses.  For  another  thing,  the  traffic 
Foreign  burst  into  fresh  life  when  the  Peace  ensued  in  1814  ;  the  Treaty 
tride"  of  Paris  restoring  to  France  its  old  possessions  in  West  Africa, 
Goree  and  Senegal,  and  allowing  her  five  years'  grace  before 
putting  an  end  to  her  slave-traffic — which  practically  meant  the 
resumption  of  it  for  that  period.  Wilberforce  and  his  friends  at 
once  woke  up  in  England.  The  Society  held  a  public  meeting  on 
the  subject,  which  was  addressed  by  him  and  Henry  Thornton 
and  James  Stephen  ;  other  meetings  were  held  in  London  and 
the  Provinces  ;  hundreds  of  petitions  were  presented  to  Parliament, 
with  755,000  signatures ;  and  addresses  to  the  Crown  were 
adopted  hy  l)oth  Houses.  In  the  meanwhile,  however,  miscliiof 
had  been  done.  Tiie  French  slave-traders  had  not  lost  a  moment 
in  resuming  the  traffic ;  and  of  course,  England  and  France 
being  now  at  peace,  British  ships  had  no  power  to  interpose. 
The  deliverance,  strangely  enough,  came  through  Napoleon. 
When  he  left  Elba  and  again  threatened  Europe,  and  "  the 
threatening  clouds  again  darkened  the  heavens"  (to  use  the 
Com)nittee's  words  quoted  before),  one  of  his  first  acts  was  to 
abolish  the  slave-trade  entirely,  hoping  thereby  to  concihate  the 
Allied   I'owers ;    and   when   Waterloo   once   more   restored    the 


The  White  A/.tAr's  Grai^e  Axn  the  Black  Man's  Life     159 

Bourbons  to  tlie  throne  of  France,  tliey  could    not  for  very  slianie  Part   III. 
refuse   to  confirm   the  one  good  act  of  the  vanquished  usurper,    j^l-  i-'^ 
With  great  joy   the  Church   Missionary  Society  saw  all   Eurojie  ^'"'l>  '•<• 
imited  on   the  question — always  excepting  Spain  and    Portugal, 
which  nations,  uinnindful  of  the  heavy  debt  they  owed  to  England 
for  delivering  them  from  the  French  conqueror,  still  persisted  in 
sanctioning  the  hateful  trallic. 

Then  again,  the  missionaries  were  pressed  hy  secular  concerns, 
involved  in  maintaining  the  children.  To  remedy  this,  when 
Biitscher  returned  to  Africa  after  his  short  visit  to  England  in 
1812,  (Jerman  artizans  were  sent  with  him,  with  a  view  to  their 
relieving  the  missionaries  of  these  duties  ;  hut  they  did  not  prove 
very  satisfactory.  Sickness  and  death,  too,  frequently  invaded 
the  Mission  party,  and,  worst  of  all,  dissensions  again  arose  among 
them.  ^leanwhile,  the  ]X)pulation  of  the  Colony  of  Sierra  Leone  Need  of 
was  ra})idly  growing.  Thousands  of  slaves  taken  from  the  slave-  Leone. 
ships  were  landed  at  Freetown  hy  the  Jiritish  ci.iisers  ;  the 
(lovernment  perceived  that  Christian  care  and  instruction  were 
more  and  more  needed  for  them  ;  and  projects  began  to  be  formed 
for  concentrating  the  Mission  in  Sierra  Leone  itself,  and  setting 
the  missionaries  to  minister  to  the  still  miserable  though  rescued 
Negroes. 

To  arrange  all  this,  to  set  things  in  order  generally,  and  to 
acquaint  the  Committee  fully  with  all  the  circumstances  of  the 
Mission,  a  man  who  could  fully  represent  the  Society  was  now 
wanted  ;  and  the  eyes  of  the  Committee  fell  on  the  Norwich 
sohcitor,  Edward  Bickerstcth.  Pratt,  indeed,  had  already  Bicker- 
sounded  him  with  a  view  to  his  taking  holy  orders,  moving  to  w.*  Africa. 
London,  and  becoming  Assistant  Secretary  ;  and  while  he  was  still 
considering  that  call,  this  further  and  most  important  summons 
came.  lie  hesitated  no  longer,  hut  at  once  placed  himself  at 
the  Society's  disposal,  although  a  heavy  pecuniary  sacrifice  would 
be  involved  in  giving  up  his  profession.  With  a  view  to  his 
visiting  Africa  with  adequate  influence  and  fidl  power  of  sacred 
ministration,  the  Bishop  of  Norwich  ordained  him  deacon  at  once 
(December  10th,  1815),  and  also  gave  him  letters  dimissory  to 
the  Bishop  of  Gloucester,  that  he  might  receive  priest's  orders  a 
few  days  later.     On  January  21th  ho  sailed  for  Sierra  Leone. 

The  Instructions  of  the  Committee  given  to  Bickersteth  arc, 
like  all  Pratt's  writings,  full  of  wisdom  and  judgment.  Two  tasks 
were  committed  to  him,  (1)  to  examine  into  the  actual  state  of 
the  Mission,  (2)  to  make  or  suggest  plans  for  its  more  efTicient 
working.  The  importance  of  the  first  part  of  his  commission  may 
be  gathered  from  the  fact — so  unlike  anything  in  our  modern 
experience — that  in  twelve  years,  out  of  twenty-six  men  and 
women  who  had  gone  to  Africa,  only  two  had  visited  England 
since,  and  of  these  only  one,  Biitscher,  had  had  information 
to  give  the  Committee.  They  had  therefore  been  dependent  on 
correspoudeii'je  and  casual  report.     Bickersteth  was  accordingly 


1 60  Sierra  Leone  : 

Part  III.  instructed  to  converse  with  every  member  of  the  Mission  sepa- 
1812-24.   rately,  and  with  all  other  persons,  English  or  African,  who  could 
Chap.  13.  ^gj^  Yiim  anything  at  all.     But  to  some  he  was  to  give  exceptional 
confidence  : — 

"  If,  under  circumstances  so  likely  to  call  for  your  Christian  candour, 
you  find  any  men  whose  devout  intercourse  with  their  Heavenly  Master 
and  His  Holy  Word  have  raised  them,  through  the  grace  of  the  Divine 
Spirit,  above  the  influence  of  the  temptations  around  them,  and  have 
maintained  the  Life  of  God  in  a  state  of  vigour  in  their  own  souls,  you 
will  take  such  men  to  your  heart ;  you  will  be  in  an  instant  at  home  with 
them  ;  you  will  place  unlimited  confidence  in  their  assertions ;  you  wall 
feel  that  they  are  far  more  competent  than  others  to  give  you  a  sound 
opinion  on  the  objects  of  your  mquiry  ;  you  will  unfold  to  them  at  large 
the  views  and  wishes  of  the  Society ;  you  wiU  kneel  down  with  them  at 
the  footstool  of  Him  who  waits  to  be  gracious,  and  who  delights  in  and 
will  crown  these  believing  and  patient  efforts  of  His  servants." 

His  influ-  Bickersteth's  visit  was  greatly  blessed  of  God.  It  corrected 
ence  t  ere.  j^^^^^y  gyiig  j  it  initiated  many  new  plans  ;  it  gave  a  fresh  impetus 
to  the  whole  work  ;  it  proved  the  real  starting-point  of  the  perma- 
nent Sierra  Leone  Mission.  In  personal  matters,  the  best 
testimony  is  that  borne  by  the  senior  missionary  Eenner,  who  had 
himself  not  been  without  fault.  "  Our  respected  visitor,"  he 
wrote,  "  was  partial  to  none  of  us,  but  acted  in  a  straight  course, 
dealing  out  meat  in  due  season ;  admonishing,  reproving,  or 
comforting,  as  every  one's  situation  or  circumstances  might 
require."  Sir  Charles  McCarthy,  the  Governor,  reported  to  Earl 
Bathurst,  the  Secretary  for  the  Colonies,  very  highly  of  Bicker- 
steth's influence.  On  leaving,  he  addressed  a  pastoral  letter  to 
the  brethren.  In  this  admirable  document  he  points  out  faithfully 
the  evil  of  any  one  missionary  acting  independently  of  the  rest, 
wdiich  had  been  a  fruitful  cause  of  disunion.  He  lays  stress  on 
our  Lord's  rule  in  Matt,  xviii.,  "  If  thy  brother  shall  trespass 
against  thee,  go  and  tell  him  his  fault  between  thee  and  him 
alone."  He  exhorts  to  "  a  tender  consideration  of  one  another's 
feelings,  infirmities,  situation,  rights,  and  circumstances."  He 
significantly  warns  them  that  "  the  missionary  has  not  only  to 
guard  against  the  plague  of  his  own  heart,  but  lest  he  be  hindered 
in  his  work,  and  led  into  error,  by  the  wife  of  his  bosom."  "  The 
veiy  affection,"  he  adds,  "which  is  due  in  so  dear  a  connexion 
may  mislead  us." 

Bickersteth  had  received  authority  to  dismiss  or  suspend  any 
agent  if  necessary  ;  but  he  was  not  obliged  to  have  recourse  to  so 
painful  a  step.  The  missionary  band  was  not  to  be  reduced  in 
number  in  this  way.  It  had,  in  God's  mysterious  providence, 
been  terribly  reduced  by  death.  Out  of  the  twenty-six  men  and 
women  who  had  gone  out  before  Bickersteth,  sixteen,  as  before 
mentioned,  had  died,  besides  children.  There  were  now  six 
Lutheran  clergymen  in  the  Mission,  Eenner,  Nylander,  Biitscher, 
AVenzel,  Wilhelm,  and  Klein  ;  and  one  schoolmaster. 


The  White  Man's  Grace  and  the  Black  Man's  Life     i6i 

On  missionary  policy  and  methods,  nothing  can  he  more  just  Part  III. 
and    discriminating   tlian   hoth   liickersteth's    injunctions  to  the    1812-24. 
hrethren    and    his    Report   to    the   Committee.     lie  had,  on  the  ^^''P-  ^^• 
whole,  hecn  pleased  with  the  schools  on  the  Pongas.     At  Bashia, 
on  Easter  Day  (April   14th,  iHlG),  he  admitted  six  senior  hoys  to 
the  Lord's  Suj)per,  the  first  African  conununicants  in  the  Mission. 
He  realized   the  exceeding  diflicidty  of  work  among  the  adults, 
most  of  whom  were  dehased  and  demoralized  by  the  slave-trade  ; 
yet  he  could  not  refrain  from  plainly  saying  that  they  had   not 
had  a  fair  chance  of  hearing   the  Gospel.     The  missionaries  had 
undoul)tedly  been  slack  in  this  respect ;  they  had  lacked  boldness, 
and  love  for  dying  souls  ;  they   pleaded  ignorance  of  the   Susoo 
language,  but  had  not  sought  for  interpreters.     Bickersteth  there-  His 
fore  obtained    a  Native   who   could   interpret  a  little,  and  went  c"*"'?'*- 
himself  to  preach  in  the  villages,  in  order  to  show  the  brethren 
how   to  do  it  and  encourage  them   by  his  example  ;  and  in  his 
pastoral  letter  he  lays  the    greatest    stress    upon    preaching  the 
Gospel,    in    season    and   out   of   season,    as  the   first   duty  of  a 
missionary.     "  This  is  your  first,  your  great   work.     Everything 
else  must  be  subordinate  to  this.     Go  in  the  dry  season  regularly 
to  the  Susoo  and  BuUom  towns.     Take  with  you,  if  you  find  it 
expedient,  some  of  the  children.     Sing  a  Susoo  or  Bullom  hymn. 
Preach  the  Gospel,  and  pray  with  them  ;  and  God  will  bless  you." 

Bickersteth's  hope  tliat  the  Susoo  INIission  might  be  maintained 
and  developed  was  not  fulfilled.  Not  long  after  his  return  to 
England,  the  hostility  of  the  chiefs  compelled  its  abandonment. 
But  the  many  prayers  that  had  gone  up  for  it  were  not  left 
unanswered.  Not  a  few  of  the  boys  and  girls  in  the  schools  gave 
evidence  of  Divine  grace  in  their  hearts  ;  and  one  of  the  six 
boys  whom  Bickersteth  had  admitted  to  the  Lord's  Supper  was 
honoured  in  a  remarkable  way  to  be  an  encouragement  to  praying 
friends  at  home.  His  baptismal  name  was  Simeon  Wilhelm,  and 
he  was  the  son  of  a  Susoo  chief  of  some  note.  He  begged 
Bickersteth  to  take  him  with  him  to  England,  in  order,  as  he 
said,  that  he  might  learn  more  fully  what  would  fit  him  to  teach 
his  countrymen  ;  and  Bickersteth,  though  with  much  hesitation, 
did  so.  The  boy,  then  seventeen  years  old,  lived  at  first  at 
Pakefield  Kectory  with  Francis  Cunningham  ;  but  the  east  coast 
proving  too  cold  for  an  African  constitution,  he  was  taken  in  at 
No.  14,  Salisbury  Square,  by  Bickersteth,  who,  it  will  be  remem- 
bered, then  lived  there  ;  and  he  attended  an  important  school  in 
Shoe  Lane,  where  the  then  young  National  Society  was  developing 
its  improved  system  of  education.  Simeon  impressed  every  one 
by  the  tlioroughness  of  his  Christian  character  and  the  consistency 
of  his  life  ;  but  his  health  suddenly  failed,  even  in  an  English 
summer,  and  he  died  in  the  Church  Missionary  House,  the  first  A  Nep-o 
garnered  fruit  visible  to  English  eyes  of  the  long-tried  and  much-  ut'c'c-'m.'" 
prayed-for  West  Africa  Mission.  He  was  buried  in  St.  Bride's  House. 
Church,  and  Pratt  preached  a  funeral  sermon  orj  the  text,  "  Is  not 

VOL.  I.  ji 


1 62  Sierra  Leone: 

Part  III.  this  a  brand  plucked  out  of  the  fire  ?  "  Bickersteth  wrote  a 
1812-24.  memoh'  of  him,  with  every  particular  of  his  last  days  and  hours, 
Chap.  13.  ^}^ji(3i^  occupies  more  than  fifty  columns  of  the  Missionary  Begister, 
in  three  successive  numbers,  his  portrait  being  given  too.* 
Nothing  of  this  kind  is  ever  published  at  the  present  day.  We 
do  not  keep  diaries  of  the  utterances  of  a  sick-bed  ;  but  this  old 
narrative  cannot  be  read  without  emotion,  and  one  realizes 
something  of  the  thankfulness  and  joy  with  which  friends  all  over 
the  country  read  it  then. 

A  very  different  career  shows  how  God  blessed  the  Susoo 
Mission  in  quite  unlooked-for  fashion.  In  1812,  Biitscher  had 
brought  to  England  a  boy  who  had  been  baptized  by  the  name  of 
Richard  Wilkinson.  This  boy,  on  the  eve  of  returning  to  Africa, 
after  residing  a  few  months  with  Thomas  Scott,  was  affectionately 
addressed  by  the  Committee  and  commended  in  prayer  to  God. 
He  d^d  not,  however,  turn  out  well,  and  Bickersteth  found  him  a 
hindrance.  The  abandonment  of  the  Mission  led  to  his  being  lost 
sight  of ;  and  for  more  than  forty  years  nothing  more  was  done 
The  Rio  for  the  Rio  Pongas.  In  1854,  a  new  Mission  was  started  there  by 
MisMon  ^^  Association  in  the  West  Indies  ;  and  when  the  first  missionary, 
Mr.  Leacock,  arrived,  he  was  welcomed  by  a  native  chief,  who,  to 
his  astonishment,  proceeded  to  repeat  the  Te  Deitm.  This  was 
Richard  Wilkinson.  For  some  years  he  had  relapsed  into 
heathenism,  but  in  1835,  being  ill,  he  turned  again  to  the  Lord, 
and  from  that  time,  for  nearly  twenty  years,  he  prayed  that  a 
missionary  might  once  more  come  and  teach  his  people.  He 
proved  a  steadfast  friend  to  the  new  Mission,  and  died,  grateful 
and  happy,  in  1861.  The  Rio  Pongas  Mission  is  still  carried  on 
by  the  Barbadoes  Association,  and  is  now  affiliated  to  the  S.P.G. 
"  Cast  thy  bread  upon  the  waters  :  for  thou  shaft  find  it  after 
many  days." 

But  to  resume.  Though  Bickersteth  did  not  contemplate 
Plans  for  abandoning  the  Pongas,  he  came  back  to  England  full  of  the 
L^one,  possibilities  of  Sierra  Leone.  The  recaptured  slaves,  in  thousands, 
from  many  tribes  and  nations,  and  of  many  languages,  were  being 
clothed  and  provided  for  by  the  Government.  But  Christian 
teaching  and  influence  were  sorely  needed  ;  and  what  an  opening 
was  thus  presented  for  raising  up,  if  the  converting  grace  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  were  vouchsafed.  Native  Christians  who  should 
themselves  in  after  years  carry  the  Gospel  to  the  interior,  it  might 
be  to  the  very  countries  from  which  they  had  been  stolen  !  This 
was  the  grand  work  to  which  the  Church  Missionary  Society  now 
girded  itself. 

While  Bickersteth  was  laying  his  plans  for  the  due  occupation 
of  Sierra  Leone  before  the  Society,  Sir  Charles  McCarthy,  the 
Governor,  was  sendmg  corresponding  plans  home  to  the  Secretary 
for  the  Colonies.     The  Committee  and  Earl  Bathurst  accordingly 

*  July,  August,  and  September,  1818. 


The  White  Man's  Grave  and  the  Black  Man's  Life     163 

arranged  measures  together.  The  peninsula  was  divided  into  Part  III. 
parisliL's,  and  the  Society  undertook  to  provide  ministers  and  l«12-24. 
schoohnasters,  Government  giving  considerable  pecuniary  aid       \  ^''^P-  ^^• 

central    boarding-school,    called    the    Christian    Institution,  \vas      

established  on  Leicester  Mountain,  above  Freetown,  and  here 
were  received  nome  two  hundred  boys  and  girls  supported  by  the 
special  School  Fund  referred  to  in  a  previous  chapter.  Govern - 
nient  built  a  church  at  Freetown,  and  made  provision  for  two 
chaplains.     Further  details  it  is  needless  to  give  more  fullv 

Parts  of  these  plans  were  settled  before  Bickersteth'  went 
out ;  and  the  first  four  schoolmasters  sailed  a  few  weeks  after 
11m,  arrived  at  Sierra  Leone  while  he  was  there,  and  were 
located  by  him.  Two  of  these,  both  Gei'mans,  Johnson  and 
During,  received  Lutheran  orders  at  the  hands  of  three  of 
their  brethren,  and  afterwards  became  two  of  the  very  best 
missionaries  who  ever  laboured  in  West  Africa.  At  the  same 
time,  an  excellent  clergyman,  Mr.  Garnon,  went  out  as  Govern- 
nient  chaplain  ;  and  soon  afterwards  the  Society  supplied  a  second 
chaplain  in  the  person  of  one  of  its  students,  Mr.  Collier  In  the 
next  five  years,  to  1822  inclusive,  seventeen  more  men  were  sent 
out  by  the  Society.  Death  continued  to  claim  a  sad  tribute  •  the 
sowing  was  still  in  tears;  but  a  joyful  reaping,  at  last,  was  now 
at  hand. 

The  most  conspicuous  instrument  used   by  God  to  effect  the 
change  was   William    Augustine  Bernard  Johnson.     He  was   a  t  ^ 
native  of  Hanover.     When  eight  years  old,  he  was  reproved  by 'n'^"'"" 
his  master  one  Monday  morning,  for  only  remembering  one  text  ''"""^• 
out  of  the  Sunday  morning  sermon,  which  was,  "  Call  upon  Me  in 
the  day  of  trouble:  I  will  deliver  thee,  and  thou  shaltglorifv  Ue  " 
ihe  rebuke  he  received  for  remembering  nothing  else  so  aftected 
him  that  this  text  was  deeply  imprinted  on  his  mind  for  the  rest 
of  his  hfe;  and   very  truly   did   it  prove   the  key  of  his  career. 
Coming  to  l^^ngland  after  his   marriage,  he  worked  at  a  sugar- 
refiner  s  m  Whitechapel ;  but  business  was  slack,  and  wages  low 
and  at  length  they  were  on  the  verge  of  starvation.     Suddenlv  the 
text  recurred  to  his  mind,  and  he  cried  to  God,  not  onlv  for  bread 
but  tor  the  pardon  of  his  sins.     In  a  quite  unexpected  wav   lielp 
came  to  them  ;  but,  what  was  still  better,  both  husband  and  wife 
set  themselves  to  serve  the  Lord  with  full  purpose  of  heart  from 
that  day      In  the  following  year,  1813,  he  chanced  to  be  present 
atone  of  tlie  Church  Missionary  Society's  valedictory  meetings- 
and  his  whole  soul  was  fired  with  the  thought  of  teaching  The 
Heathen  also  to   "call  upon    the  Lord."     Two  vears  later,  his 
fellow-countryman    Diiring,    who   was   already  accepted    bv  the 
Society,  introduced  him  to  Pratt ;  and  in  1816,  as  already  men- 
tioned they  sailed  together,  with  two  others,  and  the  wives  of 


four,  for  Africa 


all 


Johnson  was  located  by  Bickersteth  at  Regent  s  Town  (or  as  it  Tohn.on    . 
was  ultimately  called,  Eegent),  one  of  the  setdements  of  liWed  fc^-t"  ^' 

M  2 


164  Sierra  Leone: 

Part  III.  slaves,  where  some  fourteen  hundred  of  them  had  been  placed. 
1812-24.   The  description  of  them  will  answer  equally  well  for  any  of  the 

Chap.  13.  other  "parishes,"  as  they  were  called,  Gloucester,  Kissey 
Leopold,  Wilberforce,  Bathurst,  Waterloo,  Charlotte,  &c.  Twenty- 
two  different  tribes  and  nations  were  represented  among  them, 
and  the  only  medium  of  mutual  comixiunication  was  a  little 
broken  English.  Their  condition  was  deploral^le.  Tbe  purity  of 
the  marriage  state  was  unknown  among  them.  They  were 
crowded — one  may  say  herded — in  miserable  huts.  They  were 
full  of  disease,  and  the  latest  arrivals  were  like  skeletons.  When 
clothing  was  given  them,  they  sold  it ;  and  not  till  they  saw  a 
modestly  dressed  negro  servant-girl  in  Johnson's  house  did  they 
perceive  the  advantage  of  it.  They  shirked  the  labour  of  cultivat- 
ing the  ground,  many  of  them  preferring  to  hve  by  thieving.  "  If 
ever  I  have  seen  wretchedness,"  wrote  Johnson,  on  arriving  at 
Eegent,  "it  has  been  to-day.  These  poor  depraved  people  are 
indeed  the  offscouring  of  Africa.  But  who  knows  whether  the 
Lord  will  not  make  His  converting  power  known  among  them  ? 
With  Him  nothing  is  impossible."  So  "  in  the  day  of  trouble," 
once  more,  Johnson  "  called  upon  the  Lord."  And  the  promise 
was  abundantly  fulfilled.  Deliverance  from  despair  was  granted 
at  once  ;  and  if  ever  a  missionary  was  permitted  to  prove  that 
God  had  said  to  him  in  power,  "Thou  shaft  glorify  Me,"  it  was 
William  Johnson. 

The  On  July  14:th,  1816,  his   second  Sunday,  Johnson  persuaded  a 

Revival,  fg^y  q{  '^y^q  people  to  comc  into  his  own  hut  early  in  the  morning, 
and  sang  and  prayed  with  them.  The  Spirit  of  God  at  once  gave 
a  blessing  :  their  hearts  wei'e  touched,  and  all  day  long  successive 
little  companies  crowded  into  the  hut.  Next  day  he  began  school, 
with  ninety  boys  and  a  few  girls,  and  forty-three  adults  in  the 
evening.  In  the  following  month,  a  stone  church  put  up  by  Govern- 
ment was  ready,  and  very  quickly  the  degraded  people,  under  the 
mighty  Divine  influence  that  was  working  in  them,  though  they 
knew  it  not,  were  attending  in  crowds.  He  invited  them  to  visit 
him  privately.  At  first  they  only  came  for  what  they  could 
get ;  but  soon  one  and  another  and  another  appeared,  deeply 
convicted  of  sin,  and  crying  to  God  for  mercy  ;  and  at  earliest 
dawn,  before  the  daily  prayers  in  chiu'ch  at  6  a.m.,  Johnson 
could  see  men  and  women  kneeling  under  the  bushes  in  secret 
prayer.  Saturday  evening  was  again  and  again  observed  to 
be  a  time  of  special  blessing ;  but  Johnson  did  not  then  know 
that  the  Church  Missionarj^  Committee  in  London  always  met 
on  that  evening  for  prayer.  In  October,  only  three  months  after 
his  arrival,  twenty-one  converts  were  baptized,  carefully  selected 
from  among  a  crowd  of  applicants ;  and  month  by  month  other 
baptisms  followed.  Nothing  in  missionary  history  is  more  touch- 
ing than  some  of  the  utterances  recorded  of  the  now  tamed  and 
humble  people.  "  I  cannot  thank  the  Lord  Jesus  enough  for  this 
good  book,"  said  one,  "for  I  have  seen  myself  in  it."     "How  ig 


The  Wmih:  AfA.\\s  Gka]'e  and  the  Black  Mas^s  Life     i6' 

it  witli  ycHii'  heart?"  one  was  asked:   "  Massa,"  was  tlie  reply,  Part  III. 
"  my  licart  no  live  here  now  ;  my  heart  live  there,"  pointing  up-    1S12-24. 
ward.     A  mutual  henefit  society  was  formed  :  "  Dat  he  very  good  ^^'"P-  ^"^ 
ting,  broders,"  said  one;  "  suppose  one  be  sick,  all  be  sick;  one 
be   well,    all   be   well."     A  missionary  association   was  formed  : 
seventeen  of  the  converts  spoke,  and  one  hundred   and  seven  put 
down   their  names  as   subscribers.     Some  of    the   speeches   are 
reported  in  the  Ueijiater.     Here  is  a  fragment  of  one  : — 

"Mi.ssionary  conu)  hero,  und  proacli  to  us,  and  we  i)ay  iiotliin^. 
Eni^iaud  make  u.s  froe.  and  Iniiit,^  u.s  to  this  eountry.  My  lnuthuis.  (Jud 
lia.s  (lone  ^'leat  tliiiij^s  for  us.  lint  I  liave  denied  Him  Hke  IV-ter.  I  am 
guilty  lu'fore  Him;  liut  oli.  may  Hi;  liave  merey  upon  me!  1  am  not 
able  to  do  anythini;.  I  pray  tJod  make  us  help  God's  word  to  c-over  tlie 
earth  as  the  waters  eover  the  sea.  1  l»elieve  that  word  will  eome  true. 
If  any  got  a  penny,  let  him  give  it,  and  pray  God  to  bless  our  Society.' 

This  led  to  a  general  Churcli  Missiunary  Association  being 
formed  for  the  Colony  in  1819  ;  mid  the  contributions  in  its  first 
year  amounted  to  £(58  4i.  11(/. 

Let  us  take  one  day  out  of  Johnson's  diary,  September  (Jth, 
1817,  fourteen  months  after  his  arrival : — 

"The  vestr}',  the  gallery  stairs,  the  tower,  the  windows,  were  all 
full.  Some  of  the  seats  in  the  passages  were  over-weighted  and  broke 
down.  When  I  entered  the  church  and  saw  tlie  mu]titu<les,  I  could 
hardly  refrain  myself.  After  evening  service,  one  of  the  boys  wished 
to  know  if  it  were  really  true  .Testis  prayed  for  them.  They  had 
been  in  the  iiehl  to  pray,  and  did  not  know  how.  I  spoke  to'thein, 
and  they  went  hack  with  joy.  It  was  a  moonlight  night,  and  the 
mountains  re-echoed  with  the  singing  of  hymns,  the  girls,  in  one  i)ait. 
praying  and  singing  by  turns.  The  hoys  liad  got  upon  a  high  rock 
with  a  light ;  i)no  gave  out  a  hymn,  and  when  tinishod,  another  engaged 
in  prayer.     Many  of  the  people,  hearing,  got  up  and  joined  them." 

Revivals  among  emotional  people  like  the  Negroes  are  not 
uncommon  in  America.  ^lethodist  camp-meetings  are  regular 
agencies  for  producing  them.  But  there  the  people  are  familiar 
from  infancy  with  the  outline  of  the  way  of  salvation.  Here  we 
see  absolutely  ignorant  and  utterly  degraded  Heathen,  with  no 
religious  ideas  beyond  the  superstitions  of  "  grce-grees  "  or  fetishes, 
suddenly  understanding  what  sin  is.  Who  Christ  is,  how  sin  can  be 
put  away,  how  Christ  can  be  trusted  and  served  ;  and  not  merely 
understanding  these  truths  and  giving  play  to  the  emotions 
kindled  by  them,  but  exhibiting  before  the  eyes  of  all  around  them  itspracti- 
transformed  lives— honesty  and  purity  and  love  in  tlie  place  of*"^' ''^^''^^■ 
pilfering  and  uncleanness  and  incessant  quariels.  What  could 
eftect  such  a  change?  No  missionary  coidd  do  it;  no  army  of 
missionaries;  but  the  Holy  Ghost  alone.  But  the  Holy  Ghost 
works  by  means  ;  and  the  means  He  used  at  Regent  -  as  so  often 
elsewhere — was  a  man  wholly  devoted  to  his  work,  really  caring 
for  the  souls  of  his  flock,  setting  forth  in  all  their  simplicity  and 
fulness  the  great  facts  of  sin  and  salvation,  and  trusting  only  to 


1 66  SiERKA  Leone 

Paet  III.  the  Spirit  Himself  to  make  the  word  effectual.     And  the  result  was 

1812-24.   seen  in  godly  lives.     Mr.  Garnon,   the  chaplain,  visited  Eegent, 

^^'     '  and  wrote  of  the  people,  "  We  could  scarcely  have  expected  such 

evidences  from  those  who  have  so  long  been  far  distant  from  God 

by  wicked  works  and  gross  ignorance.     Their  general  characteristic 

is  loivly  obedience.     When  Mr.  Johnson  has  been  out,  they  often 

labour  more  than  common  to  do   a  good  day's    work."     And  a 

schoolmaster  emploj'ed   at   Regent    during  a  visit  Johnson  paid 

to  England  was  astonished    at    their  "  integrity,   industry,   and 

docility." 

Gospel  The  Gospel  was  not  brought  to  these  people  by  Civilization  ;  but 

Civiiiza-^     the  Gospel  brought  Civilization  in  its  train.     Here  is  the  report 

*'°"-  of  Regent  two  years  after  : — 

"  The  Town  itself  is  laid  out  with  regularity  ;  nineteen  streets  are 
formed,  and  are  made  plain  and  level,  with  good  roads  round  the  Town  ; 
a  large  stone  Church  rises  in  the  midst  of  the  habitations ;  a  Govern- 
ment House,  a  Parsonage  House,  a  Hosjiital,  School  Houses,  Store 
Houses,  a  Bridge  of  several  arches,  some  Native  dwellings,  and  other 
buildings,  all  of  stone,  are  either  finished  or  on  the  point  of  being  so. 
But  the  state  of  cultivation  further  manifests  the  industry  of  the  people : 
all  are  farmers  ;  gardens,  fenced  in,  are  attached  to  every  dwelling  ;  all 
the  land  in  the  immediate  neighbourhood  is  under  cultivation,  and 
pieces  of  land  even  to  the  distance  of  three  miles  ;  there  are  many  rice- 
fields  ;  and,  among  other  vegetables  raised  for  food,  are  cassadas, 
yilantains,  coco,  yams,  coffee,  and  Indian  corn  ;  of  fruits,  they  have 
bananas,  oranges,  limes,  pineapples,  ground-nuts,  guavas,  and  papaws  ; 
of  animals,  there  are  horses,  cows,  bullocks,  sheep,  goats,  pigs,  ducks, 
and  fowls ;  a  daily  market  is  held  for  the  sale  of  articles ;  and  on 
Satiu'days  this  market  is  large  and  general.  It  has  been  already  said 
that  all  are  farmers  ;  but  many  of  them,  l)eside  the  cultivation  of  the 
ground,  have  learned  and  exercise  various  trades  :  fifty  of  them  are  masons 
and  bricklayers  ;  forty,  carpenters ;  thii'ty,  sawyers  ;  thirty,  shingle- 
makers  ;  twenty,  tailors ;  four,  blacksmiths ;  and  two,  butchers.  In 
these  various  ways,  upward  of  six  hundred  <.)f  the  Negroes  maintain 
themselves  ;  and  have  been  enabled,  in  this  short  space  of  time,  by  the 
fruits  of  their  own  productive  industry,  to  relieve  from  all  expense,  on 
their  personal  account,  that  Government  to  which  they  pay  the  most 
grateful  allegiance." 

And  an  official  Report  on  Roads  and  Public  Buildings,  issued  in 
1819,  thus  concluded  its  remarks  on  Regent  : — 

"  Let  it  be  considered  that  not  more  than  three  or  four  years  have 
passed  since  the  greater  part  of  Mr.  Johnson's  population  were  taken 
out  of  the  holds  of  slave-ships ;  and  who  can  compare  their  present 
condition  with  that  from  which  they  were  rescued,  without  seeing 
manifest  cause  to  exclaim,  '  The  hand  of  Heaven  is  in  this  !  '  Who  can 
contrast  the  simple  and  sincere  Christian  worship  which  precedes  and 
follows  their  daily  labours,  with  the  grovelling  and  malignant  supersti- 
tions of  their  original  state,  their  gree-grees,  their  red-water,  their  witch- 
craft, and  their  devils'  houses, — without  feeling  and  acknowledging  a 
miracle  of  good,  which  the  immediate  interjiosition  of  the  Almighty  could 
alone  have  wrought  ?  And  what  greater  blessing  could  man  or  nation 
desire  or  enjoy,  than  to  have  been  made  the  instruments  of  conferring 
such  sublime  benefits  on  the  most  abject  of  the  human  race  ? 


The  White  Man's  Grai^e  and  the  Black  Man's  Life     ibj 

"  If  any  other  circumstance  cuuld  be  required  to  prove  the  immediate  Part  III. 
interposition  of  the  Ahnitihty.  we  have  only  to  h^ok  at  tlie  plain  men  1812-24. 
and  simple  means  employed  in  brincjing  about  the  miraculous  conv(!rsion  Chap.  13. 

that  we  have  recorded.     Does  it  not  recall  to  mind  the  first  difTusion  of ■ 

the  Gospel  by  the  Apostles  themselves?  These  thoughts  will  occur  to 
strangers,  at  remote  distance,  when  they  hear  these  things  ;  and  must 
they  not  occur  much  more  forcibly  to  us  who  have  these  things 
constantly  before  our  eyes  ?  " 

In  1819,  Mrs.  Johnson,  who  had  heen  doing  excellent  work 
among  the  women  and  girls,  was  ordered  home,  sick,  and  her 
hushand  had  to  accompany  her  to  England.  On  Easter  Day, 
about  ten  days  before  they  sailed,  he  baptized  253  adult  converts,  johnson-s 
and  administered  the  Holy  Communion  to  258.  The  parting  '=°"v«''^s. 
with  his  people  brought  out  all  the  love  they  had  learned  to  feel 
for  him.  With  many  tears  they  crowded  the  shore  to  bid  him 
farewell,  saying,  "  Massa,  suppose  no  water  live  here,  we  go  with 
you  all  the  way,  till  no  feet  more  !  "  The  time  of  his  absence  was 
a  time  of  testing,  of  winnowing  and  sifting,  for  the  Native  Church  ; 
and  one  of  the  converts  afterwards  described  it  thus  : — "  Massa, 
before  you  go  from  this  place  you  preach,  and  you  say,  '  Suppose 
somebody  beat  rice,  when  he  done  beat,  he  take  the  fan  and  fan 
it,  and  then  all  chaff  fly  away,  and  the  rice  get  clean.  So  God  do 
Him  people  :  He  fan  the  chaff  away.'  Now,  Massa,  we  been  in 
that  fashion  ever  since  you  been  gone  to  England.  God  fan  us 
that  time  for  true."  Nevertheless,  when  Johnson  returned  to 
Africa  in  the  following  Januar5^  he  found  the  people,  as  he  said, 
"  hungering  after  the  word  of  God  more  than  ever."  His  journals, 
and  those  of  other  missionaries  in  the  Colony,  fill  many  pages  of 
the  Missionari/  licgister,  and  of  Appendices  to  the  Annual  Reports  ; 
and  the  details  of  his  daily  ministrations  among  the  people,  the 
evidences  of  grace  in  their  hearts  and  lives,  and  the  illustrations 
also  of  the  devil's  power  to  cause  inconsistency  and  backsliding 
in  some,  are  most  touching. 

But  it  was  not  at  Regent  only  that  the  Spirit  of  God  was 
working.  Mr.  During's  labours  at  Gloucester  met  with  blessing 
little  less  remarkable  ;  and  indeed  almost  all  the  parishes  showed 
improvement  which  astonished  those  who  visited  them,  and 
elicited  warm  testimonies  from  the  Government  officials  and  other 
independent  witnesses.  Thus  Sir  George  Collier,  the  Commodore  Official 
of  the  West  African  Scjuadron,  wrote, — 

"  More  improvement  under  all  circimistances  of  climate  and  infancy 
of  ct)lony  is  scarcely  to  be  sui)posed.  I  visited  all  the  black  towns  and 
villages,  attended  the  public  schools  and  other  establishments;  and  I 
have  never  witnessed  in  any  population  more  contentment  and  happiness. 
...  I  have  attended  places  of  public  worship  in  every  quarter  of  the 
globe,  and  I  do  n\ost  conscientiously  declare  that  never  did  I  witness 
the  services  of  religion  more  piously  performed  or  more  devoutly  attended 
to  than  in  Sierra  Leone." 

The  Chief  Justice  of  the  Colony  in  1822,  the  Hon  E.  Fitzgerald, 
testified  that  while,  ten  years  before,  with  a  population  of  4000, 


testi- 
monies. 


i6S  Sierra  Leone  : 

Part  III.  there  were  forty  cases  in  the  calendar  for  trial,  now,  with  the 
1812-24.  population  increased  to  6000,  there  were  only  six  cases  ;  and  not 
Chap.  13.  Q^g  ^£  ^j^ggg  .^g^g  from  any  village  superintended  hy  the  mission- 
aries. The  Governor,  too,  Sir  Charles  McCarthy,  a  man  who  by 
his  high  character,  wisdom,  and  untiring  energy,  conferred  in- 
estimable benefits  on  the  Colony,  attended  the  Committee  while 
on  a  visit  to  England,  and  bore  strong  testimony  to  the  reality  of 
the  missionary  work. 

The  joy  of  the  Committee,  and  of  friends  all  over  the  country, 
was  the  kind  of  joy  of  which  we  commonly  say  that  it  knows 
no  bounds  ;  but  this  phrase  would  be  incorrectly  applied  here. 
Their  joy  did  know  bounds.  The  journals  were  read  with  keenest 
interest  and  thankfulness  ;  and  when  Johnson  visited  England, 
his  simple  and  unaffected  recital  of  God's  work  at  Regent  made  a 
deep  impression  everywhere.  Yet  the  Committee,  and  the  leading 
friends,  knew  well  that  the  great  Enemy  of  souls  would  not  let 
Caution  alone  such  a  work  as  that.  The  expressions  about  it  in  the 
Com-'*^*^'  I^sports  are  cautious  and  moderate;  the  missionaries  are  com- 
mittee, mended  for  so  carefully  testing  the  candidates  for  baptism — as 
indeed  they  did, — and  enjoined  to  redouble  their  vigilance,  if  that 
were  possible,  and  their  watchfulness  also  as  regards  their  own 
personal  Christian  life.  Satan  "  desired  to  have  "  them  as  well 
as  their  converts  ;  and  the  infirmity  of  human  nature  is  illustrated 
by  the  withdrawal  of  four  schoolmasters,  and  the  dismissal  of 
two,  during  that  very  time  of  blessing,  1818-22.  Moreover,  there 
were  reminders  year  by  year  of  the  perils  to  life  and  health  at 
Deaths  Sierra  Leone.  The  deaths  up  to  1815  inclusive  have  already 
Leorfe."^^  been  mentioned.  In  1816,  one  of  the  new  schoolmasters  died  a 
few  weeks  after  landing.  In  1817  was  Blitscher's  home-call, 
and  that  of  another  schoolmaster.  In  1818,  Wenzel  died,  and 
one  of  the  wives;  in  1819  two  schoolmasters  and  another  wife, — 
one  of  the  former,  J.  B.  Cates,  a  man  of  exceptional  power  and 
excellence,  "our  right  hand,"  as  Mr.  DUring  called  him  ;  ='•  in 
1820  one  of  the  wives  ;  in  1821,  the  senior  of  them  all,  and  No.  1 
of  the  entire  C.M.S.  roll,  Melchior  Renner,  after  seventeen  years' 
unbroken  service  in  Africa.  Moreover,  in  1818-19,  both  chaplains, 
Mr.  Garnon  and  Mr.  Collier,  died,  and  Mrs.  Collier,  t 

Full  accounts  of  the  sickness  and  death  of  all  these  brethren 
and  sisters  were  published  in  the  Begister,  and  called  forth  wide- 
spread sympathy  and  fervent  prayer.  It  is  hard  to  say  which  are 
the  most  moving,  the  trustful  and  sometimes  joyful  utterances  of 
the    dying    soldiers    of   the  Cross,   or    the  courageous    faith    that 

*  Cates's  motlior  went  to  one  of  the  Annual  Meetinofs  at  Freemasons' 
Hall.  To  prevent  overcrowding,  only  subscribers  were  admitted.  "  Are  you 
a  subscriber?"  "No,"  said  the  poor  woman,  and  sadly  turned  away. 
Suddenly  she  reappeared  :  "  Yes,"  she  exclaimed  ;  "  I  am  a  subscriber ;  I 
have  given  an  only  son." — Life  of  Josiuh  Pratt,  p.  382. 

t  A  special  chapter  follows  this  one,  giving  fuller  personal  details  of  some 
of  these  brethren  and  sisters. 


The  White  Max's  Ghave  and  the  Black  ATak's  Life     i6q 

breathes  in  tlie  letters  of  tlie  survivors.     But  even  after  all  this,  Part  III. 

the  worst  was  yet  to  come.     In  1823,  the  yellow  fever  broke  out,    1812-2-t. 

and  wrought  havoc  in  the  Colony.     Many  officers   and  civilians  ^^^P_'"^- 

fell  a  victim   to  it.     The  Chief  Justice,  the  Colonial  Secretary,  a 

member  of  the  Governor's  Council,  three  doctors,  two  chaplains, 

and  many  others,  all  died  within  a  few  weeks.     The  Chief  Justice 

was  deeply  mourned  by  the  whole  Colony,  having  been  universally 

esteemed  as  the  friend  of  every  Christian  and  philanthropic  work. 

Two   thousand  Negroes  attended   his   funeral.     Nyliinder  wrote 

that  Sir  C.   McCarthy,   the  Governor,  was  absent  on  the  Gold 

Coast,  but  was  daily  expected.     "  lie  will  be  astonished  to   see 

the  Colony  almost  empty  of  Public  Officers — no  Lawyer — no  Judge 

— no  Secretaiy— only  one  Writer,  and  three  IMembers  of  Council 

— no  Chaplain — one  Schoolmaster — only  thiee  Medical  Men  -and 

a  few  Missionaries  !  " 

But  the  missionaries  were  not  exempt.     In  1823,  seven  new 
schoolmasters  and  five  wives  landed  at  Sierra  Leone.     Of  these 
twelve    persons,  six    died   in    that  year,   and    four   more  within 
eighteen  months. ^'^     Then  came  the  home-call  of  William  Johnson 
himself.     He  had  left  his  wife   in  England  ;  and  in   this   year, 
being  crippled  by  ophthalmia,  he  received  leave  to  go  home  and 
see  her,  as  she  was  not  expected  to  live  long.     Three  days  after 
he  sailed,  the  fatal  fever,  which  no  doubt  was  already  on  him, 
appeared  ;    and  after  four  more  days,  the   evangelist  of  Regent  Deaths  of 
yielded  up  his  spirit  to  the  Lord,  and  his  body  was  committed  to  i°d"''°" 
the  deep,  at  the  age  of  thirty-four,  and  after  seven  years  of  a  During, 
missionary  life  to  which  there  are    few  parallels    in   the  whole 
history  of  the  Church.     Then  Diiring  took   the  fever,  and,  while 
almost  at  the  point  of  death,  was  put  on  board  a  ship,  with   his 
wife,  to  be  taken  if  possible  to  England.     The   vessel  sailed  on 
August  31st,  and  was  never  again  heard  of.     She  was  supposed 
to  have  foundeied,  with   all  on   boaid,  in  a  terrible  gale  in  the 
English  Channel  in  the  first  week  of  November.     Thus  perished 
also  the  evangelist  of  Gloucester  Town,  where  a  work  of  God  had 
been  manifested  only  second  to  that  at  Regent.     The  two  Hano- 
verians  who   together    had    studied   at    the    National    Society's 
Central  School,  who  together  had  sailed  for  Africa,  who  together 
had  received  the  instructions  of  Edward  Bickerstetli  on  the  spot, 
who  together — or  rather,  simultaneously — had  entered  upon  the 
arduous  task  of  reclaiming  the  most  degraded  of  mankind,  who 
together  had   rejoiced   over    the    aljundant    tokens    of    the   Holy 
Spirit's  converting  and  sanctifying   work,   now   almost    together 
entered  into  th(!  presence  of  their  Lord.1 


*  See  next  cliaptor. 

t  The  old  Memoir  of   W.  A.  B.  Johnson  lias   been   loiif,'   out   of  print;   but 

>r.  A.  T.  Pierson  lias  lately  given  the  gist  of  it  in  a  very  attrat-tive  form  in 

is    St'rcn    Years    in    Sierra  Leone    (Now    York,    1897).      Dr.    Pier-on    thinks 

Jdhnson's  narrative  "the  most  remarkable  story  of  seven  years' missionary 

labour  "  ho  "  ever  read." 


Dr 


170  Sierra  Leone: 

Part  III.       The  Committee  were  for  the  moment  crushed  by  all  this  over- 

1812-24.    whelming  sorrow.     They  gazed  in  one  another's  faces  across  the 

Chap.  13.  ^jj^i^jg  .  ^Yiey  knelt  together  at  the  footstool  of  Divine  Mercy ;  and 

Attitude  of  the  tradition  is  that  one  leading  lay  member,  on  the  day  that  the 

mfttee'"      iiews  Came  of   several  deaths,  rose  and   said  in  a  tone  of  deep 

feeling  and  firm  resolve,  "We  must  not  abandon  West  Africa." 

And  when,  at  the  following  Anniversary,  they  had  to  present  their 

Report,  the  language  is  singularly  calm  and  courageous  : — 

"The  Committee  scarcely  know  whether  to  speak  in  the  language  of 
grief  or  of  joy,  of  sorrow  or  of  triumph — so  mingled  have  been,  of  late,  the 
Divine  Dispensations.  In  no  one  year  lias  the  Society  ever  suffered  a 
greater  loss  in  its  Friends  and  Labourers,  while  in  no  one  year  has  there 
been  a  more  evident  blessing  on  their  labours.  The  alleviations  of  its 
heavy  trials  have  been  remarkable.  They  have  given  occasion  for  a 
special  manifestation  of  Divine  Grace.  Those  who  have  died  have  died 
in  the  Lord,  thanking  God  for  calling  them  to  His  work,  and  glorifying 
His  Holy  Name  in  the  midst  of  their  sufferings.  Their  surviving  relatives 
around  them  have  expressed  entire  resignation  to  the  Divine  Will,  in 
the  very  midst  of  their  trials,  and  this  just  before  they  themselves  were 
called  to  their  everlasting  reward.  The  survivors  seem  to  have  had  their 
faith  elevated  above  the  trying  circumstances  in  which  they  had  been 
placed,  and  to  have  become  more  entirely  united,  and  devoted  to  their 
work.  The  Society  will  see  in  this  state  of  things  a  peculiar  manifesta- 
tion of  the  character  of  the  work,  whose  laboiirers  have  often  had  to  say, 
'  As  dying,  and  behold  we  live — as  sorrowful,  yet  always  rejoicing.'  Their 
Heavenly  Master  illustrates  the  power  and  the  abundance  of  His  own 
grace,  in  the  very  weakness  of  His  servants  ;  and  He  carries  on  His  own 
work,  while  He  removes  to  their  eternal  reward  those  instruments  whom 
He  has  most  highly  honoured." 

Several  of  the  schoolmasters  were  Germans,  not  from  Berlin  as 
of  old,  but  from  the  new  Basle  Seminary  ;  and  the  news  of  their 
Zeal  of  deaths  made  a  deep  impression  upon  the  students.  "Every  one 
Basle  men.  ^£  ^^^^.  ij^.e^hren,"  wrotc  Blumhardt,  the  Director,  "is  preparing 
himself  to  come  forward  and  offer  himself  as  a  sacrifice  to  the 
Lord.  Should  many  more  such  tidings  of  an  immortal  world 
arrive,  we  could  not  longer  detain  our  dear  brethren-soldiers 
from  going  to  the  spot  where  the  Heroes  of  the  Church  have 
fallen." 

The   tidings  of  Johnson's  death  at  sea  did  not  reach  Sierra 

Leone  till  they  had  come  to  England  by  the  ship  he  died  in  and 

Ijeen  communicated  by  another  ship  to  Africa ;  and  appeals  from 

the  brethren  to  send  him  back  quickly,  and  many  letters  from  his 

converts  to  himself  about  the  sickness  and  the  sorrow  oppressing 

the  Colony,  kept  arriving  at  Salisbury  Square  long  after  he  had 

Regent        been  called  away.     But  when  at  last  Regent  heard  of  it,  a  fresh 

*^astor°s '^^  and  remarkable  pi'oof  of  the  genuineness  of  religion  in  the  people 

death.         was  afforded.     The  schoolmaster  in  charge,  when  reading  out  the 

news,  begged  them  to  be  calm  and  quiet ;  and  though  the  whole 

congregation  were  instantly  in  tears,  none  of  the  noisy  outcries 

were   heard  which    had   been    so  natural    to   them    in    the  past. 


The  White  Man's  Gra  ve  and  the  Black  Mans  Lite     171 

Presently  they  rose  and  sang  a  liymii  which  Johnson  had  taught  Part  III. 

them,  and  of  which  he  was  very  fond  : —  1812-24. 

•'  Chap.  1:^. 

In  every  troublo  sharp  and  strong, 

My  soul  to  Jesus  flies  ; 
My  anchor-hold  is  firm  in  Him, 

When  swelling  billows  rise. 

Bin  comforts  bear  my  spirits  up; 

I  trust  a  faithful  God  ; 
The  sure  foundation  of  my  hope 

Is  in  my  Saviour's  blood. 

Loud  Ilallolujahs  I  will  sing 
To  mj-  Redeemer's  Name  ; 
In  joy  and  sorrow,  life  and  death, 
His  love  is  still  the  same. 

At  the  usual  Prayer  Meeting  on  the  following  Saturday  evening, 
several  of  the  converts  spoke  lovingly  of  their  departed  friend  and 
pastor;  and  one  of  them  said,  "We  thought  too  much  of  Mr. 
Johnson,  though  he  was  a  good  man.  God  will  not  suffer  us  to 
put  confidence  in  any  hut  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  My  dear 
brethren,  I  think  God  took  him  away,  l^ecause  we  looked  more 
to  Mr.  Johnson  than  we  did  to  Jesus." 

In  the  next  three  years  several  more  deaths  occurred,  among  More 
them  that  of  Nylander,  the  oldest  missionary  after  Renner  was  '*^^**'^- 
taken  away,  being  No.  3  on  the  Society's  roll.  He  had  laboured 
nineteen  years  in  Africa  without  once  coming  to  Europe.  He 
was  the  founder  of  the  BuUom  Mission,  and  in  his  later  years 
was  looked  up  to  as  the  veteran  of  the  Colony.  When  he  died 
in  1825,  only  one  man  was  left  who  had  gone  out  before  1820. 
This  was  Wilhelm,  one  of  the  fourth  party  (1811),  and  No.  10  on 
the  roll.  In  182G,  out  of  a  total  of  seventy-nine  persons,  mis- 
sionaries, schoolmasters,  and  wives,  who  had  gone  out  in  the 
twenty-two  years,  only  fourteen  remained  ;  tlie  large  majority  of 
the  remainder  being  dead. 

This  chapter  may  appropriately  be  concluded  by  quoting  from 
a  striking  letter  addressed  to  the  Committee  in  the  midst  of  their 
trials  by  a  friend  of  the  Society  whose  name  is  not  given  : — 

"  We  ought  not  to  bo  discouraged  by  our  lo.ssos  in  Africa  ;  since,  even 
on  the  principle  of  justice,  we  .should  be  very  liberal  to  that  country. 
For  what  has  influenced  the  public  mind  so  much  as  tlie  interesting 
accounts  conuaunicated  respecting  that  country  'i  I  tirnily  believe  that 
three-fourths  of  the  zeal  for  Mis.sions  now  evident  among  us  was  first 
excited  by  the  state  of  Africa.  Go  and  tell  of  rains,  and  fevers,  of 
graves,  of  deaths,  of  niis.sionaries  dead,  of  missionaries  dying,  of  mis- 
sionaries fainting  under  the  burden  and  heat  of  tlie  day,  tell  of  the  good 
already  done,  and  that  others  are  panting  to  enter  into  tlii.s  very  Held — 
these  things  will  produce  even  more  beneficial  effects  than  they  have 
ever  yet  prochiced  :  tliey  will  produce  sufficient  funds  for  the  support, 
not  only  of  the  African  Mission,  but  of  the  whole.  Such  a  labourer  as 
this  is  surely  worthy  of   its  liire  :  an  advocate  so  touching,  so  eloquent, 


172       S.'£RJ^A  Leone:   The    White  Man's  Grai'e^  &^c. 

Part  III.  so  successful,  should  be  well  repaid.  In  fine,  notwithstanding  the 
1812-24.  Society's  expenditure  upon  Africa,  Africa  is  an  advantage  to  the  Society- 
Chap.  13.  — a  creditor,  and  not  a  debtor." 


Africa  the 
xA'orld's 


Yes,  and  so  Africa  always  has  been.  To  India,  to  China,  to 
creditor,  all  other  Misslon-fields,  Africa  is  a  Creditor,  not  a  Debtor.  The 
deep  interest  and  living  sympathy  again  and  again  aroused  in 
behalf  of  Africa,  by  the  enterprises  of  various  Missions,  whether 
on  the  Niger,  or  the  Congo,  or  the  Zambesi,  whether  on  Lake 
Nyassa  or  the  Victoria  Nyan^a,  whether  at  Sierra  Leone  or 
Kuruman  or  Zanzibar  or  Mombasa,  have  again  and  again  been 
manifested  in  personal  consecration  and  in  the  dedication  of 
substance  to  the  Lord,  by  which  every  other  part  of  the  world 
has  been  the  gainer. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

The  Finished  Course. 

Miss  Childe's  Book -Some  Martyrs  for  Christ  in  West  Africa— Rev. 
W.  Garnon— Gates— A  Negro's  Wail— Mr.  and  Mrs.  Palmer— 
C.  Knight  and  H.  Brooks— Nylander's  Daughters— Kissey  Church- 
yard. 

"  /  am  now  ready  to  be  offered.  .   .  .  I  hare  finished  my  cov.rse."~2  Tim.  iv.  6,  7. 

HEN  we  read  St.  Paul's  touching  words,  "  I  nm  now  Part  III. 

ready  to  be  offered,  and  the  time  of  my  departure  is  at    1812-24. 

hand  ;  I  have  fought  a  good  fight,  I  have  tinished  my  Cliap.  U. 

course,  I  have  kept  the  faith," — and  remember  that 

they  were  written  in  his  old  age  from  the  Mamertine 
Prison  at  Rome,  we  think  naturally  of  his  long  career  and  his 
"  labours  more  abundant,"  and  our  idea  of  a  "  finished  course  "  is 
of  a  long  life  of  usefulness  at  length  laid  down.  But  a  "  finished 
course  "  need  not  be  a  long  one.  Both  the  sons  of  Zebedee  finished  a  finished 
their  course,  although  one  was  the  first  apostle  to  fall,  and  the  '=°"''^^- 
other  outlived  all  the  rest.  The  Lord  Himself,  at  the  age  of  thirty- 
three,  could  say,  "  I  have  finished  the  work  which  Thou  gavest 
Me  to  do:  and  now  come  I  to  Thee."  Yes,  "the  work  which 
Thou  gavest  me  to  do  "  ;  not  necessarily  the  work  which  we  in 
our  shortsightedness  may  have  purposed  or  aspired  to  do.  "  Im- 
mortal till  his  ivork  is  done  " — so  the  Christian  has  been  well 
described ;  yes,  but  the  work  appointed  by  the  Divine  Master  may 
be  a  very  small  one,  and  when  that  work  is  finished,  the  "com-se" 
is  finished  too. 

The  words  thus  chosen  for  the  title  of  tliis  chapter  are  the  title  M'ss 
of  a  book  written  more  than  thirty  years  ago  by  the  daugiiter  of  book!^'^ 
the  venerated  former  Principal  of  the  Church  INIissionary  College, 
the  Rev.  C.  F.  Childe,  but  now  out  of  print. ^'^  No  more  beautiful 
and  touching  book  has  ever  been  publislied.  In  simple  language 
it  sketches  the  careers  of  some  of  the  earlier  C.M.S.  missionaries, 
most  of  them  in  Africa,  whose  "finished  course"  was  a  very 
brief  one.  The  present  chapter  consists  chiefly  of  a  few  gleanings 
from  that  volume,  supplemented  from  the  original  records.  The 
scope  of  our  History  does  not  permit  of  many  biographical  details 

*  The    Fini-ihed   Course:    Brief   Notices   of  Departed    Church   Uissionaries. 
Seeley&Co.,  1865. 


174  The  Finished  Course 

Part  III.  of  the  missionaries  being  introduced  ;  but  we  may  at   this  point 
1812-24.   I'ightly  turn  aside  for  a  moment  from  the  general  narrative,  to 
^P'     ■  behold  the  triumphs  of  Divine  Grace  in  some  of  the  brethren  and 
sisters  whose  "course  "  was  quickly  "  finished." 

One  of  the  most  interesting  of  these  faithful  labourers  was  not 
a  C.M.S.  missionary  at  all,  in  the  strict  sense  of  the  word.  His 
name  does  not  appear  on  the  roll.  But  to  all  intents  and  purposes 
he  was  a  C.M.S.  missionary  nevertheless.  In  the  early  days  of 
Sierra  Leone,  the  Committee  now  and  again  picked  out  their  best 
men  and  gave  them  to  the  Government  to  send  out  as  chaplains  ; 
and  while  the  regular  missionaries  were  either  German  Lutheran 
ministers  or  English  schoolmasters  and  artizans,  Englishmen 
qualified  for  ordination  were  allotted  to  the  not  less  important — 
Garnon  the  ^nd  more  prominent  and  influential — office  of  chaplain.  One  of 
chaplain,     these  was  the  Eev.  William  Garnon. 

William  Garnon  was  an  orphan  brought  up  by  an  uncle,  Captain 
James  Garnon,  who  had  seen  much  active  service,  and  filled  his 
nephew's  mind  with  the  glories  of  a  soldier's  life.  William  in  due 
course  obtained  a  commission  in  the  14th  Foot,  and  served  in 
Spain  under  Sir  John  Moore,  and  in  the  ill-fated  Walcheren 
Expedition.  The  Walcheren  fever  shattered  his  health,  and  during 
the  long  period  of  delicacy  that  followed  he  came  under  the 
influence  of  a  godly  aunt  at  Brighton,  and  ultimately,  through  a 
faithful  sermon  he  heard  there,  was  converted  to  Christ.  Being 
introduced  to  William  Wilberforce,  he  was  encouraged  by  that 
great  man  to  study  for  the  ministry;  and  after  ordination  and  a 
short  service  in  England  as  curate,  he  was  appointed  to  the 
Chaplaincy  at  Sierra  Leone.  He  sailed  thither,  accompanied  by  a 
young  wife,  in  September,  1816,  at  the  very  time  that  Edward 
Bickersteth  was  returning  to  England. 

The  difference  between  a  chaplain  and  a  missionary  in  West 
Africa  was  little  more  than  one  of  status  and  salary.  Government 
connexion  and  pay  being  a  good  deal  higher  than  that  of  a 
missionary  society.  The  chaplains  threw  themselves  heartily  into 
missionary  work,  and  the  missionaries  performed  the  chaplains' 
duties  when  death  or  absence  left  vacancies.  Mr.  Garnon  proved 
a  true  missionary,  travelling  among  the  villages,  encouraging  the 
brethren,  addressing  their  congregations,  instructing  their  classes. 
It  was  the  period  of  the  revivals  under  Johnson  and  During, 
described  in  the  preceding  chapter;  and  Garnon's  help  and  counsel 
were  of  the  greatest  value. 

Sunday,  July  19th,  1818,  was  a  day  of  arduous  service  at 
Freetown,  and  Garnon  was  tired  out.  In  the  middle  of  the  night 
he  was  called  up  by  a  messenger  from  one  of  the  German 
missionaries,  Mr.  Wenzel,  who  was  dying ;  and  in  a  few  minutes 
a  second  messenger  followed,  urging  him  to  come  quickly.  His 
wife,  dreading  the  exposure  for  him  in  his  fatigued  condition, 
begged  him  to  wait  till  the  morning;  but  his  reply  was,  "  If  the 
doctor  is  sent  for,  he  is  not  afraid  to  go  instantly  ;  neither  must 


The  Finished  Course  17- 

I."     He  rode  on   horseback   four  miles  through  heavy  rain  ;  and  Part  HI. 
two  days  after  he  was  struck  down  by  fever.     At  the  same  time,    1812-2-^. 
in  the  same  house,  the  assistant-chaplain,  Mr.  Collier  (who  had  ^^^P"  ^'*- 
been  a  C.M.S.  student),  and  Mrs.  Collier,  were  also  lying  ill ;  and 
Mrs.  Garnon  herself  was  daily  expecting  the  advent  of  her  first- 
born.    On  the  28th  Mrs.  Collier  died  ;  and  the  missionaries  who  More 
came  together  for  her  funeral  that  evening,  knelt  round  her  coffin,  deaths, 
and  prayed  the  Lord,  if  it  were  His  will,  to  raise  up   both  the 
chaplauis.     INIi-s.   Garnon,  who  had  been    tenderly   nui-sing    her 
husband   with  the  little  strength  she  had,    was  now  obliged  to 
retn-e;     but  Johnson,   During,  and   Gates,   watched  through  the 
night.     Eapidly,  however,  their  beloved   friend    and    counsellor 
sank,  saymg  with  almost  his  last  breath  the  Apostolic  Benediction 
over  himselj—^^  The  gi-ace  of  om-  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  love 
of  God,  and  the  fellowship  of  the    Holy   Ghost,  he  with  me"; 
adding,  a  moment  afterwards,  "  Yes,  they  are  ivith  me."     In  the 
early  morning  of  July  29th,  just  two  days  after  his  twenty-seventh 
birthday,  William   Garnon   entered   into  rest;    and  thus  on  two 
successive  evenings  the  bereaved  band  of  missionaries  assembled 
round  an  open  grave.     Next  day,  Garnon 's  little  son  was  born 
On  the  third  day,  the  sick  German,  Wenzel,  died,  and  was  buried. 
''And  now,  dear  Sirs  !"  wrote  Gates,  reporting  these  deaths, 
"  be  not  discouraged  !     Let  more  labourers  put  their  lives  in  their 
hands,  and  come  to  help  those  that  are  left.     Ethiopia   shall  soon 
stretch  out  her  hands  unto  God  !  "     Then,  when  Gates   himself 
died  in  the  following  year,  and  the  other  chaplain,   Mr.  Colliei-, 
and  Mrs.  Jesty  (a  most  devoted  woman,   whose  husband   only 
survived  her  six  months),  During  wrote  : 

"When  it  ploasos  God  to  visit  His  people  with  afflictions,  those  who 
arc  His  are  best  seen,  and  distin-uislied  from  tli..se  wlio  bear  His  name 
but  are  none  of  His.  Wliile  those  whose  only  hope  is  in  this  life  are 
tcrrifie.l  by  soenig  niuiibers  of  their  fellow-mortals  liurriod  into  eternity 
the  true  Christian  is  enal)led  to  stand  like  a  eliild  by  his  Fatlier's  side' 
and  SCO  with  serenity  what  Ifr  is  doini,^  .  .  .  T  would  Innubly  say  to  mv 
superiors,  He  not  dismayed  at  tlie  dark  dispensations  of  our  (ic.d''  Fear 
not:  for  tlio  Saviour  shall  yet  see  of  the  travail  of  His  soul  amon^r  the 
tribes  of  Africa.  T  am  not  cast  down  :  I  know  that  the  Lord  can  work 
by  a  single  individual  as  much  as  liy  a  thousand  ;  only  I  would  crave 
your  earnest  prayers  for  us  the  survivors." 

Another  wrote,— "  We  are  not  discouraged,  but  encouraged; 
and  if  we  are  so  who  stand  in  jeopardy  every  hour,  why  should 
not  you  be  ?  Send  us  another  Cates-^an  Elisha  instead  of  our 
Elijah  !  '  And  Nylander,  alluding  to  a  report  that  had  reached 
bierra  Leone  that  the  Society  was  gravely  thinking  of  abandoning- 
the  Mission,  urges  the  blessing  that  God  had  alreadv  vouchsafed 
to  the  labours  of  those  who  had  been  taken  awav,  and  even  to 
the  silent  influence  of  those  who  had  been  but  a  few  weeks  in  the 
country,  mentioning  actual  cases  of  conversion  brought  about  by 
God  using  the  words  and  lives  of  some  with  the  briefest  careers. 


176  The  Finished  Course 

Part  III.  "  Look  forward  for  your  reward  !  "  he  writes  to  the  Committee  ; 
1812-24.  <<  though  the  bodies  of  our  brethren  are  removed  from  among  us, 
Chap^l4.  yg|.  ^Y^^  ggg^l  ^vhich  they  sowed  keeps  growing."  One  simple 
A  Negro's  letter  in  broken  English  must  be  quoted,  written  to  Mr.  Johnson 
wail.  while  in  England  by  one  of  his  converts.     It  gives  the  most  vivid 

picture  of  all  : — 

"  That  time  Mr.  Cates  sick,  and  Mr.  Morgan  sick  ;  and  poor  Mr.  Gates 
die.  Then  Mr.  CoUiur  get  sick,  and  Mr.  Morgan  get  sick  again  ;  and 
one  friend  said,  *  God  soon  leave  this  place ' ;  and  I  said,  '  I  trust  in  the 
Lord  Jesus  :  He  knows  His  people,  and  He  never  loft  them,  neitlier 
forsake  them'— and  thtui,  next  Sunday,  Mr.  Gollier  die--then  Mr. 
Moro-an  sick — Mrs.  Morgan  sick — Mr.  Bull  sick.  Oh !  that  time  all 
Missionaries  sick  !     We  went  to  Freetown  Monday,  and  bury  Mr.  Gollier 

we    come  home  again,  and  keep  service  in   Church.     Oh,  that  time 

trouble  too  much  in  my  heart.  Nobody  to  teach  me,  and  I  was  so  sorry 
for  my  poor  country-people.  Mr.  Gates  die — Mr.  Collier  die — Mr. 
Morgan  sick — oh,  what  must  I  do  for  my  countrymen  !  But  I  trust  in 
the  Lord  Jesus  :  He  know  what  to  do  ;  and  1  went  to  pray,  and  I  say, 
'  O  Lord,  take  not  all  the  Teachers  away  from  us  ! '  " 

The  sad  The  year  1823  was  another  specially  sad  time,  as   mentioned 

year  1823.  ]-,gf(^j,g  *  j^  January  of  that  year  a  vessel  from  England  arrived  at 
Sierra  Leone,  bringing  back  Mr.  and  Mrs.  During,  and  bringing  also 
no  less  than  thirteen  new  labourers,  and  a  new  colonial  chaplain 
and  his  wife.  The  same  ship,  sailing  again  for  England,  took  in 
it  W.  A.  B.  Johnson.  Now  observe  what  the  hand  of  death  did 
in  that  vear.  On  April  20th  one  of  the  new  men  was  taken  ;  on 
April  25th  a  second  ;  on  May  3rd  Johnson  died  at  sea  ;  on  May 
6th  a  colonial  chaplain  returning  home  also  died  at  sea  ;  on  May 
7th  the  new  chaplain  was  called  aw^ay  ;  on  June  6th  his  wife ; 
on  June  22nd  the  wife  of  the  first  man  taken  ;  on  June  25th 
another  wife ;  on  June  28th  another  of  the  new  band ;  on 
November  26th  yet  another.  In  that  November,  too,  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Diiring  were  lost  at  sea.  It  was  at  the  same  time  that  the  Colony 
w^as  so  bereft  of  its  officials,  as  before  recorded. t  Let  us  now  just 
glance  at  two  members  of  this  martyr-band — as  they  may  w^ell  be 
called, — the  new  chaplain  and  his  wife,  the  Eev.  Henry  and  Mrs. 
Palmer. 
Mr.  and  Mr.  Palmer,  like  Mr.  Garnon,  had  been  in  the  army.     He   had 

Pa^imer  fought  at  Waterloo,  and  had  served  in  many  distant  chmes ;  and 
a  man  thus  inured  to  hardship  seemed  to  the  C.M.S.  Committee 
exactly  fitted  for  the  dangerous  post  of  Sierra  Leone,  and  was 
accordingly  recommended  by  them  to  the  Government.  Moreover 
he  was  of  a  singularly  bright  and  joyous  spirit,  that  could  be 
trusted  not  to  give  way  to  depression.  His  young  wife  was  the 
daughter  of  a  country  clergyman,  the  Eev.  John  Noble,  Vicar  of 
Frisby,  Leicestershire,  and  had  been  the  sunshine  of  the  village. 
It  was  not  till  Mr.  Palmer  was  about  to  sail  for  Africa  that  she 
was  married.     In  her  tw^entieth  year  she  was  cheerfully  laid  on 

*  See  p.  169.  t  See  p.  169. 


The  Finished  Course  i^-j 

the  altar  of  sacrifice  by  her  parents  ;  and  it  is  related  that,  just  Part  in 
before  starting  for  church  for  the  wedding,  she  suddenly  sat  down  1812-24.' 
at  the  piano  and  sang  Kelly's  hymn— not  so  familiar  now  as  it  ^*'^P- 1^- 

once   was— "We've    no    abiding    city   here";     which   led   their      

thoughts  up  from  the  dreaded  African  shore  to  the  "  city  out  of 
sight,"  the  "  city  which  hath  foundations,  whose  builder  and  maker 
IS  God."  But  the  beautiful  prayer  in  the  Marriage  Service  re- 
minded them  that  it  is  those  who  "  obey  His  will  "  that  are 
"  always  in  safety  under  His  protection." 

In  the  Memoir  of  Eobert  Noble,  the  great  educational  missionary 
in  the  Telugu  country,  it  is  recorded  that,  when  he  was  a  boy,  his 
elder  sister,  who  was  going  out  to  the  Mission-field,  passed  through 
the  town  of  Oakham,  where  he  was  at  school,  very  early  In 
the  morning,  called  to  bid  him  farewell,  saw  him  in  bed,  and  gave 
him  a  Bible  as  a  parting  gift,  saying,  "  Eobert,  read  your  Bible." 
That  sister  v%-as  Anne  Palmer. 

On  their  arrival  at  Sierra  Leone  they  were  temporarily  quartered 
with  W.  A.  B.  Johnson  at  Regent.  When,  three  months  later, 
he  was  about  to  start  on  that  voyage  which  he  did  not  live  to 
complete,  Mrs.  Palmer  had  the  privilege  of  being  present  at  the 
memorable  farewell  communion  service,  and  wrote  home  with 
overflowing  joy  of  the  four  hundred  and  twenty  Negro  Christians 
among  whom  she  had  knelt  at  the  Lord's  Table.  On  May  3rd 
INIr.  Palmer's  predecessor  in  the  chaplaincy,  the  Rev.  S.  Flood, 
sailed  for  England— which  he,  too,  never  reached.  Tlie  next  day,' 
Sunday,  Mr.  Palmer  pi-eached  at  Freetown  on  the  opening  words 
of  the  Lord's  high-priestly  prayer,  "  Father,  the  hour  is  "come." 
In  the  middle  of  the  sermon  he  felt  the  fever  seize  upon  him  ;  and 
on  reaching  home  he  said  with  deep  emotion  that  if  he  never  had 
another  opportunity  of  declaring  the  Gospel,  he  believed  he  had 
faithfully  declared  it  that  day  ;  and  then  with  solemn  emphasis  he 
repeated  his  text,  "Father,  the  hour  is  come!"  Within  three 
days  he  was  gone.  The  veteran  Nyliinder  wrote,  "  Had  he  fallen 
at  Waterloo  when  he  fought  there,  would  not  his  death  have  been 
counted  honourable  ?  Is  not  his  death  hero  in  tlie  Loi'd's  battle 
more  honourable?  "  The  young  widow  wrote,  "  He  who  cannot 
err,  whose  love  to  His  people  can  never  fail,  has  seen  fit  to  take 
my  beloved  husband  to  Himself.  Can  I  reply  against  God  ?  I 
cannot;  I  will  not.  The  hour  was  come,  and  His  name  was 
glorified." 

She,  too,  now  took  the  deadly  disease.  From  her  sick-bed  she 
wrote  to  a  schoolmaster's  wife  in  Sierra  Leone,  "  May  you  and 
your  husband  hold  each  other  as  loans,  together  with  every  other 
precious  gift  which  our  God  may  bestow  upon  you."  Three 
weeks  after  her  own  husband's  death,  the  babe  was  born  whom 
her  fellow-missionaries  had  looked  for  to  cheer  her  in  her  sorrow  ; 
but  it  was  born  only  to  die  ;  nnd  six  days  after,  "  tlie  hour  "  came 
for  the  young  mother  too.     On  June  6th  she  fell  asleep. 

The  missionary  who  reported  these  losses  was  a  young  school- 

VOL.    I. 


N 


178 


The  Finished  Course 


14. 


Part  III.  master  conspicuous  for  piety  and  devotion,  one  of  the  party  who 
1812-24.  \^c^^  only  come  out  in  the  previous  January,  Phihp  Vaughan. 
It  w^as  his  wife  to  whom  Mrs.  Pahner  wrote  the  message  ahove- 
quoted.  That  wife  was  the  next  to  be  struck  down.  The  narrative  of 
her  last  days  is  one  of  the  most  touching  of  the  many  touching 
narratives  of  that  fatal  year.  Her  sick-chamber  was  indeed  the 
house  of  God  and  the  gate  of  heaven.  Her  utterances  of  faith  and 
hope  are  most  beautiful.  Not  for  a  moment  did  she  repine.  "  I 
have  never  repented,"  she  said,  "one  single  step  I  took  towards 
coming  here.  I  sought  my  God's  direction,  and  I  firmly  believe  I 
had  it,  both  by  the  teaching  of  His  Spirit  and  the  leadings  of  His 
Providence."  To  her,  too,  a  child  was  born,  but  born  only  to  die  ; 
and,  shortly  after,  she  "  finished  her  course,"  literally  "  with  joy." 
Out  of  six  labourers  in  Freetown  alone,  three  months  before, 
only  Vaughan  himself  now  remained ;  and  he,  too,  joined  them 
in  the  presence  of  the  Lord  in  the  following  November.  The 
widow  of  another  of  the  martyr-band  came  and  took  charge  of  the 
girls'  school ;  but  she  also  was  taken  within  a  few  months. 
There  was  no  C.M.S.  missionary  in  Freetown  left  to  smooth  her 
dying  pillow  ;  the  veteran  Nyliinder  was  lying  dangerously  ill  at 
the  neighliouring  village  of  Kissey  ;  and  a  young  Wesleyan  mis- 
sionary, Mr.  Harte,  was  alone  privileged  to  receive  her  parting 
messages.  He  too  died  soon  after  ;  and  Nylander  himself  in  the 
following  year. 

But  before  Nyliinder's  death,  two  other  valuable  men  had 
arrived,  and  had  died.  The  Committee,  deeply  feeling  the  im- 
portance of  sending  good  men  to  the  two  stations  which  had  been 
so  greatly  blessed  under  Johnson  and  Diiring,  Eegent  and 
Gloucester,  appointed  to  the  Sierra  Leone  Mission,  for  the  first  time, 
two  of  their  English  candidates  who  had  been  ordained,  Charles 
Knight  and  Heni-y  Brooks.  Knight  was  a  brother  of  one  of  the 
four  men  who  had  formed  the  first  band  of  missionaries  to  Ceylon.* 
Brooks,  like  Henry  Williams  of  New  Zealand,  had  been  a 
lieutenant  in  the  Navy.  The  words  of  Edward  Bickersteth's 
charge  to  them  at  the  Valedictory  Meeting,  show  incidentally 
which  of  the  brethren  who  had  died  in  Africa  were  held  in 
special  estimation  for  their  faithfulness  and  zeal.  "  You  are 
about,"  said  Bickersteth,  "to  tread  in  the  steps  of  Garnon,  and 
Johnson,  and  Diiring,  and  Vaughan  "  ;  though  he  added,  "  and 
many  others  of  the  excellent  of  the  earth,  who  are  gone  from  the 
scene  of  your  future  labours  to  their  heavenly  rest.  Follow  them 
as  they  followed  Christ." 

They  sailed  on  November  3rd,  1824,  but  contrary  winds  drove 
their  vessel  into  Cowes,  and  there  they  were  detained  just  two 
months.  Brooks,  recalling  his  naval  experiences,  wrote,  "How 
different  are  my  circumstances,  views,  hopes,  from  what  they 
were  when  I  was  last  in  this  port !     Then,  we  were  waiting  for  a 


See  p.  216. 


The  Finished  Course  179 

fair  wind  in  order  to  carry  out  the  declaration  of  War  against  the  Part  III. 
Americans.     Now,  we  are  waiting  for  a  favourable  gale  to  enable    1812-24. 
us  to  go  and  pi'each  the  Gospel  of  Peace  to  the  Africans.     Then,  I  Chap^i-t. 
was  in  fear  and  apprehension.     Now,  I  am  tranquil,  blow  high  or 
blow  low,   because  I  am    assured  that   my  God  watcheth  over 
me."     At   length    they  got  away,  and  reached  Sierra  Leone  on 
February  3rd. 

Knight  took  charge  of  Gloucester,  and  Brooks  of  Regent.  Both 
stations  had  greatly  suffered  during  the  year  and  a  half  that  had 
elapsed  since  their  bereavement.  The  Negro  Christians,  easily 
led  this  way  or  that  way,  had  sadly  backslidden.  But  within  a 
few  weeks,  the  two  new  pastors  had  the  joy  of  seeing  most  of 
them  come  back  ;  and  all  looked  bright  and  hopeful.  But  very 
quickly  was  their  course  finished.  On  the  sixth  Sunday  of  his 
ministry,  Knight  was  struck  by  the  fever,  and  had  to  commit  the 
services  to  the  schoolmaster,  though  by  a  great  effort  he  succeeded 
in  administering  the  Communion.  That  the  Lord  was  calling  him 
away  he  did  not  doubt  for  a  moment ;  but  he  faced  death  witliout 
a  shadow  of  fear.  He  did,  however,  think  of  the  effect  of  it  in 
England.  "  It  will  be  such  a  discouragement  to  the  Society,"  ho 
said  :  "  and  it  will  prevent  others  coming  out.''  Brooks  liastoncd 
over  from  Kogent,  in  time  to  bid  his  comrade  farewell,  and,  on 
the  evening  of  his  death,  their  seventli  Sunday  in  Africa,  to  com- 
mit his  body  to  the  grave.  Then  he  went  back  to  his  own  post, 
and  on  the  thirteenth  Sunday,  a  sunstroke  laid  him  low.  On  the 
Monday,  however,  he  got  up — to  bury  another  fellow-labourer,  his 
schoolmaster's  wife.  On  the  Tuesday  he  was  again  struck  down, 
never  spoke  again,  and  fell  asleep  early  on  the  Wednesday  morn- 
ing, May  4th.  A  young  Negro  lad  in  the  Christian  Institution 
wrote  home  to  the  Society,  "  Dear  Sir,  do  send  us  more  mission- 
aries like  Mr.  Brooks,  men  who  count  all  things  but  loss  for  Jesus 
Christ's  sake." 

It  was  within  the  following  three  weeks  that  the  veteran 
Nyliinder  was  taken,  after  nineteen  years'  unbroken  service.  Of 
him  we  will  not  now  speak ;  but  let  us  briefly  notice  the  two 
young  daughters  he  left  behind. 

In  Edward  Bickersteth's  journal  of  his  visit  to  Africa  in  1816, 
occurs  the  following  entry,  under  date  May  5th  : — 

"  I  preached  from  Matt,  xxviii.  19,  'Baptizing  them  in  the  name  of 
the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Gliost,'  after  which  I  had 
the  pleasure  of  baptizing  Mr.  Nyliinder's  two  children,  Catherine*  and 
Anne  Elizabeth.  The  negro  school-children  seemed  much  interested, 
and  I  was  glad  ui  the  opportunity  of  talking  to  them  about  tlie 
ordinance." 

This  was  on  the  Bullom  Shore,  opposite  Sierra  Leone,  where 
Nyliinder  was  then  stationed;  and  it  was  the  first  baptism  in  tiiat 
country,  in  which  now  for  many  years  the  Sierra   Leone  Church 

*  Sic  ill  journal ;  but  afterwards  she  appears  as  Hannah. 
N   2 


i8o 


The  Finished  Course 


Part  III, 
1812-24. 
Chap.  14. 


And 
grand- 
daughter. 


has   maintained   its   own    Mission,    and    admitted    hundreds   of 
members  into  the  visible  Body  of  Christ. 

The  two  little  girls,  entirely  orphaned  by  their  father's  death 
at  the  ages  of  thirteen  and  eleven,  were  sent  to  England  for 
education ;  and  after  six  years  at  the  famous  Clergy  Daughters' 
School  near  Kirkby  Lonsdale,  they  were  engaged  by  the  Society  to 
be  teachers  in  the  land  of  their  birth.  When  the  Committee  took 
leave  of  them,  in  1831,  Bickersteth  affectionately  addressed  the 
young  sisters  whom  he  had  baptized  fifteen  years  before,  and 
whose  names  stand  Nos.  10  and  11  on  the  C.M.S.  roll  of  women 
missionaries.  Young  as  they  were,  they  proved  excellent  school 
mistresses ;  and  a  few  years  later,  both  w^ere  married :  Anne 
Elizabeth  to  the  Eev.  J.  F.  Schon,  the  eminent  linguistic  student 
and  missionary,  and  her  sister  Hannah  to  the  Eev.  Edward 
Jones,  the  coloured  clergyman  of  the  American  Church  who  was 
so  long  Principal  of  Fourah  Bay  College. 

But  they  also  soon  finished  their  course.  Each  died  in  turn  at 
the  age  of  twenty-five.  Each  left  a  little  daughter.  Hannah's 
child  soon  followed  her  to  the  better  land.  Anne  Ehzabeth's 
child  still,  by  God's  mercy,  survives,  and  is  honoured  by 
missionaries  and  travellers  innumerable  who  have  enjoyed  the 
simple  hospitality  of  her  mission  bungalow,  as  Mrs.  Higgens  of 
Colombo. 

When  James  Frederick  Schon  was  mourning  the  loss  of  his 
beloved  young  wife  Anne  EHzabeth,  one  of  the  African  Christians 
said  to  him,  "  Massa,  the  time  when  trouble  catch  me,  me  go  to 
you :  you  speak  to  us  of  Jesus  and  the  Eesurrection,  and  that 
make  our  hearts  glad.  Massa,  can  this  now  no  comfort  you  ? 
Your  wife  no  lost,  your  child  no  lost.  They  that  believe  in  Jesus 
never  die." 

Kissey  Churchyard,  in  which  lie  the  mortal  remains  of  many  of 
these  brethren  and  sisters,  is  a  familiar  name  to  older  members 
of  the  Church  Missionary  Society.  Often  were  the  tombstones 
in  it  referred  to  at  missionary  meetings  in  former  years.  And  no 
wonder  ;  for  touching  indeed  are  these  memorials  of  the  dead — 
or  rather,  of  those  "not  dead  but  gone  before."  Many  of  them 
belong  to  a  later  period  than  this  chapter  has  to  do  with ;  yet  let 
them  be  just  noticed  here.  Side  by  side  lie  those  heroes  and 
heroines  of  the  cross.  "  TJiere,"  says  the  book  that  has  inspired 
this  chapter,  "  lies  the  veteran  missionary,  worn  out  by  years  of 
toil ;  and  tJiere,  the  young  brother,  struck  down  in  the  prime  of 
his  youth,  and  the  height  of  his  usefulness.  There  sleeps  the 
young  wife,  who  rejoiced  that  she  was  counted  worthy  to  die  for 
the  name  of  the  Lord ;  and  there  the  little  children,  early  blighted 
by  that  deadly  climate, — like  the  babes  of  Bethlehem,  '  uncon- 
scious martyrs  in  the  cause  of  their  Eedeemer.'  "  What  the 
touching  Service  for  the  "  Churching  of  Women  "  calls  "  the 
great  pain  and  peril  of  child-birth  "  is  conspicuouslj^  illustrated 
by  the  inscriptions  on  the  graves  at  Kissey.     Here  lies  Augusta 


The  Finished  Course  i8i 

Kissling  [)Ue  Tanner),  the  young  wife  of  the  excellent  Basle  Part  III. 
missionary  to  the  Gold  Coast  who,  after  five  years  there,  joined  iP^^""^' 
the  C.M.S.,  man-ied,  and  went  to  Sierra  Leone,  and  who  in  after  ^_f^  ' 
years  rendered  valuable  service  in  New  Zealand.  Many  hopes 
clustered  round  Augusta  Tanner.  Her  Lord  had  given  her 
natural  talents,  which  a  good  education  had  developed.  When 
she  was  fifteen,  God  brought  her  to  Himself.  At  the  age  of 
nineteen  He  called  her  to  West  Africa.  For  more  than  a  year 
she  enjoyed  good  health,  and  began  zealously  to  work  among 
the  women  and  girls.  Then  her  babe  was  born,  and  died ;  and, 
an  hour  after,  the  mother  yielded  up  her  beautiful  spirit  to  the 
Lord.  Near  her  grave  is  that  of  Mrs.  Graf  and  her  infant.  She 
landed  with  her  husband  one  December ;  on  March  14th  she  was 
laid  to  rest  in  Kissey  Churchyard.  Hard  by,  again,  is  the  grave  of 
Mrs.  Schlenker  and  her  infant.  She  lived  in  Sierra  Leone  just 
six  months.  And  the  graves  of  two  wives  of  David  Schmid,  both 
Germans ;  the  first  of  whom  landed  in  January  and  died  in  July, 
and  the  second  landed  in  January  and  died  in  March. 

But  Kissey  Churchyard  is  not  the  only  spot  thus  sacred.  The 
cemetery  of  Freetown  contains  many  like  early  graves ;  and  not  a 
few  are  found  in  other  outlying  villages.  It  was  not,  however,  in 
all  cases  the  wife  that  was  taken  so  soon.  One  grave  at  Kissey, 
for  instance,  bears  this  inscription,  "  Our  dear  and  blessed 
Conrad's  resting-place."  "  Conrad "  was  another  Basle  man 
ordained  in  England,  the  Kev.  John  Conrad  Clemens.  To  his 
wife,  also,  a  little  babe  was  given,  and  immediately  taken  away 
again ;  but  she  recovered,  nursed  her  dying  husband,  and  then 
nobly  laboured  on  ■  in  iVfrica,  as  a  widow,  for  nineteen  years. 
Sabina  Peter  von  Ella,  of  Straslnu-g,  deserves,  as  Mrs.  Clemens, 
an  honoured  place  among  the  heroines  of  Sierra  Leone. 

Some  have  reproached  the  Missionary  Societies  for  sending  out 
young  women   to   die,  and    have    suggested    that   their  children 
"  have    no    right    to   exist."     Let    such    critics   read    Dr.    Gust's  Dr.  Cust 
address    on   Missionary  Heroes   in    Africa,  in   w^hich    he   speaks  death's  of 
so  sympathetically  of  "  many  a  gentle  woman's  grave,  for  women  J^g"^"^.'" 
have  never  been  found  wanting  to  share  the   honour  and   the  sion -field, 
danger  of  the  Cross,"  and  uses  these  noble  words: — "Some  are 
selected  to  live  and  work ;   to  others  is    conceded   the  peculiar 
grace  to  die  nol)ly,   and   set   a   glorious   example.     Deaths    arc 
required  as  well  as  Lives  to  complete  the  picture  of  the  New^  Life. 
Some   may  follow  the  steps  of  our  Lord  in  a  life  of  beneficence 
and  mercy  ;  to  others  is  granted  the  sweeter  lot  of  filling  up  that 
which  is  behind  of  His  sufferings.     And  in  the  last  struggle,  how 
by  grace  they  have  been   sustained,  doing  nothing  common  or 
mean  in  the  last  memorable  scene  of  their  earthly  passion   but 
sealing  their  faith  by  their  manner  of  meeting  death." 


CHAPTER  XV. 


India  :  The  Opened  Door  ;  the  Entering  In. 

C.M.S.  Work  begun  before  the  Opening — The  Calcutta  Corresponding 
Committee — Corrie  and  Abdul  Masih — The  First  Missionaries — 
The  Bishopric  of  Calcutta — Bishop  Middleton — Bishop's  College — • 
Bishop  Heber — Burdwan  and  its  Schools — Miss  Cooke's  Girls' 
School — Benares,  Agra,  Meerut — The  Sepoy  Convert — Madras  and 
Tinnevelly — Hough  and  Rhenius. 


"  Open  ye  the  gates,  that  the  righteous  . 
enter  in." — Isa.  xxvi.  2. 


Part  III. 
1812-24. 
Chap.  15. 


Work  in 
India 
before  the 
door 
opened. 


Corrie 
and  Abdul 

Masih. 


.  which  keepi-th  the  truih  may 


OW,  through  the  Divine  blessing  upon  the  strenuous 
exertions  of  Buchanan  and  Wilberforce  and  Pratt  and 
their  aUies,  the  door  of  India  was  opened  for  the 
Gospel,  we  have  already  seen  in  our  Ninth  Chapter. 
We  must  now  see  how  the  Christians  of  England 
availed  themselves  of  the  great  opportunity. 

But  the  Church  Missionary  Society  had  begun  work  in  India 
before  that  year  1813.  A  Corresponding  Committee,  comprising 
three  of  the  famous  "five  chaplains,"  David  Brown,  Buchanan, 
and  Henry  Marty n,  and  also  George  Udny,  had  been  formed  at 
Calcutta  in  1807,  and  money  had  been  granted  to  them,  first  for 
translations  of  the  Scriptures,  and  then  for  the  employment  of 
Native  Christians  as  "  readers."  The  Society's  vote  of  money  for 
readers  was  noticed  in  the  House  of  Commons  by  a  hostile 
member,  but  Grant  succeeded  in  quieting  him. 

Subsequently,  Martyn  and  Buchanan  having  left  India,  and 
David  Brown  dying  in  1812,  the  other  two  of  the  "  five  chaplains," 
Daniel  Corrie  and  Thomas  Thomason,  were  the  leading  spirits  ; 
and  it  was  under  Corrie' s  auspices  that  the  first  and  most 
celebrated  of  these  readers  was  set  to  work.  This  was  Abdul 
Masih,  originally  Sheikh  Salih,  a  zealous  Delhi  Mohammedan, 
and  a  man  of  some  rank,  having  been  master  of  the  jewels  at  the 
Court  of  Oudh.  He  had  been  led  to  seek  Christ  through  hearing 
Henry  Martyn  explaining  the  Ten  Commandments  to  a  crowd  of 
natives  at  Cawnpore.  He  engaged  himself  as  a  copyist  under 
Sabat,  Martyn's  assistant  in  translating  the  New  Testament  into 
Hindustani,  and  as  he  copied  the  translated  chapters,  the  entrance 
of  God's  Word  gave  light ;  and  the  result  was  that  he  asked  for 


India  :   The  Opened  Door  ;   the  Entering  In        183 

baptism.  After  Martyn  left  India,  on  Whit  Sunday,  1811,  he  was  pabt  III. 
baptized  by  David  Brown  in  the  Old  Church,  Calcutta,  by  the  1812-24. 
name  of  Abdul  Masih  (Servant  of  Christ).  Corrie,  on  being  Chap^l5. 
appointed  chaplain  at  Agra,  took  him  there  with  him,  engaging 
him  as  a  reader  in  the  name  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society. 
He  was  thus  the  first  C.M.S.  agent  in  India ;  and  it  is  a  coinci- 
dence worth  noting  that  Corrie' s  diary  of  the  boat  journey  with 
him  up  the  Ganges  was  one  of  the  communications  read  at  the 
first  Committee  meeting  held  in  the  new  office  in  Salisbury  Square, 
on  Deceml)er  13th,  1813.  A  rich  blessing  was  vouchsafed  to  the 
Indian  evangelist's  work,  and  during  Corrie's  sixteen  months  at 
Agra  over  fifty  adults,  Hindus  and  Mohammedans,  were  baptized. 
So  commenced  the  career  of  the  man  who  was  afterwards  ordained 
by  Bishop  Heber.  Let  it  never  be  forgotten  that  the  first  Native 
clergyman  of  the  Church  of  England  in  India  w^as  a  convert  from 
Mohammedanism.  Thomason  had  a  portrait  of  him  painted,  and 
sent  it  home  to  Simeon  in  1814.  Simeon  sent  it  to  the  Church 
Missionary  House,  and  there  it  hangs  to  this  day.  A  letter  of  Abdul 
Masih's  to  the  Committee,  a  translation  of  which  is  printed  in  the 
Report  of  1818,  is  singularly  touching.  "  0  friends  of  my  soul,"  he 
says,  "  I  who  am  the  least  of  the  servants  of  the  Chm-ch  of  Hindoo- 
stan,  give  praise  to  the  Lord  Jesus,  the  Messiah,  having  found 
favour  of  you  all."  He  gives  an  account  of  his  work,  and  particu- 
larly of  two  ex-Moslems  who  had  apostatized,  expressing  gladness 
that  the  "wolves  in  sheep's  clothing"  had  thrown  off  their  dis- 
guise. He  sends  "  salaams  "  from  forty-two  men  and  women  and 
their  childi-en  ;  and  concludes, — "  May  this  Letter  of  Abdul  Masih 
written  January  1,  1816,  from  his  residence  Akbarabad  [i.e.  Agra, 
the  city  of  Akbar],  arrive  in  London  at  the  Church  Missionary 
House,  in  the  presence  of  the  Reverend  Josiah  Pratt !  " 

Abdul  Masih's  journals  came  home  regularly,  and  proved  quite  ^^^^^^'f^^ 
the  ])iece  de  resistance,  sometimes  for  months  together,  in  the  new  ^° 
Missionary  Begister  ;  and  they  excited  the  deepest  interest  among 
the  Society's  friends  throughout  the  country.  It  is  interesting  to 
notice  that  he  was,  in  a  humble  sense,  the  first  C.M.S.  medical 
missionary.  It  was  reported  that  in  two  months  he  had  treated 
one  hundred  cases,  had  spent  a  large  part  of  his  stipend  in 
the  purchase  of  medicines,  and  was  known  far  and  wide  as  the 
Christian  hakim.  His  journals  greatly  encouraged  the  Committee. 
As  yet  there  was  no  fruit  to  speak  of  in  West  Africa,  whither  all 
the  missionaries  (save  the  two  "lay  settlers"  for  New  Zealand) 
had  hitherto  been  sent ;  and  here,  before  a  single  man  had  been 
sent  to  India,  and  at  the  very  time  that  Wilberforce  was  fighting 
in  Parliament  for  Uberty  to  send  them,  the  Lord  was  already 
gathering  out  His  elect,  using  two  instruments  which  have  every- 
where and  at  all  times,  down  to  the  present  day  in  Uganda,  been 
more  blessed  than  any  other,  the  Native  Evangelist  and  the 
Written  Word.  The  Committee  saw  in  it  a  confirmation  of  "  that 
first  principle  of  all  missionary  exertions,  an  entire  confidence  in 


184        India:   The  Opened  Door;  the  Entering  In 

Part  III.  God,  in  the  prudent   use  of  all  opportunities  as  they  may  present 
1812-24.    themselves."-'' 
Chap.  15. 

But  before  the  news  began  to  arrive  that  so  cheered  the 
Committee— indeed  within  a  month  of  that  first  journal  of  Corrie's 
being  read, — the  great  Valedictory  Dismissal  had  been  held, 
noticed  in  a  previous  chapter,!  to  take  leave  of  the  first  four 
missionaries  for  India,  Ehenius,  Schnarre,  Greenwood,  and  Norton. 
Buchanan's  written  address  on  the  occasion  is  a  masterpiece  of 
wise  counsel,  dictated  by  his  own  experience  in  India,  and  based 
upon  our  Lord's  charge  to  the  Twelve  in  St.  Matthew.  J  It  is 
notable  for  its  plain  statement  that  a  missionary's  life  in  India  is 
not  (ordinarily)  one  of  peril  or  privation,  and  for  the  warning  that 
one  of  the  chief  temptations  would  be  to  indolence  and  ease  in  the 
enjoyment  of  "new  modes  of  comfort";  notable  also  for  its 
earnest  exhortation  not  to  send  home  coloured  and  (unintention- 
ally) misleading  reports.     Let  one  short  passage  be  quoted  : — 

"Beware,  especially,  of  giving  too  favourable  an  account  of  your 
ability  to  preach  in  the  native  languages,  and  of  the  effects  of  your 
preaching  on  the  hearers.  For  instance,  after  you  have  made  some 
progress  in  a  particular  language,  and  have  committed  to  memory  a  few 
theological  phrases,  you  will,  perhaps,  try  to  converse  with  the  Natives 
on  religious  suhjects.  But,  in  your  account  of  such  a  conversation  in  this 
stage  of  your  study,  do  not  call  it  preachinxj  Christ  to  the  people.  For  it 
may  he  that  the  people  scarcely  understood  a  single  doctrine  of  your 
address,  and  that,  when  they  asked  you  a  question,  you  could  not 
understand  or  answer  them.  "To  preach  Christ  implies  the  preaching  of 
Him  fully,  and  to  the  understanding  of  tlie  people  ;  and  that  people  are 
placed  under  a  heavy  responsihility  who  reject  the  message.  In  your 
written  accounts,  therefore,  he  just  to  yourselves,  be  just  to  the  people, 
and  be  just  to  Christ's  doctrine." 

Among  other  striking  features  of  the  address  are  his  illustrations 
of  the  use  to  be  made  of  the  descriptions  of  idolatry  in  Isaiah 
and  other  prophets,  in  Meu  of  mere  abuse  of  the  idols,  and  his 
reference _  to  the  unique  Chaldaic  verse  embedded  in  the  Hebrew 
of  Jeremiah's  prophecy,  chap.  x.  11,  "Thus  shall  ye  say  unto 
them.  The  gods  that  have  not  made  the  heavens  and  the  earth,  even 
they  shall  p)crish  from  the  earth,  and  from  under  these  heavens." 
I'  Just  as  if,"  says  Buchanan,  "  while  you  are  receiving  instructions 
in  your  own  tongue,  one  sentence  should  be  given  you  in  the 
Tamul  or  Cinghalese  language  w^hich  you  should  deliver  to  the 
Hindoos."  §  This  great  charge-— which  a  friend  in  India  (not 
named)  urged  the  Committee  to  adopt  as  a  standing  charge  for 
all  Indian  missionaries — was  Buchanan's  last  w-ork.  He  died 
February  9th,  1815 ;  and  Pratt  wrote,  in  well-chosen  w^ords, 
"In  his  character  were  united  remarkable  simphcity,  great  com- 

*  Eeport,  1815,  p.  567.  f  See  p.  113. 

X  It  is  printed  in  the  Appendix  to  the  Report  of  1814. 

§  He  names  Tamil  and  Singhalese  becaase  two  of  the  men  were  going  to 
Madras,  and  two  to  Ceylon — though  the  two  latter  did  actually  go  to  India, 


India  :  The  Opened  Door  ;   the  Entering  In        185 

prehension    and  grasp  of  mind,   with  the  warmth  and  glow   of  Part  III. 
genius  ;  and  tliese  quahties  were  all  sanctified  by  Divine  grace,    1812-24. 
and  directed  to  the  promotion  of  Christ's  Kingdom  among  men,  Cnap^lo. 
with  a  boldness  and  fortitude,  under  difficult   circumstances,  the 
success  of   which    will   endear   his   memory   to   generations   yet 
unborn." 

The  East  India  Company,  loyally  accepting  the  decision  of 
Parliament,  gave  Ehenius  and  Schnarre,  before  the  Act  actually 
came  into  force,  passages  to  India  and  licenses  to  reside  there, 
the  Society  guaranteeing  their  character  and  good  behaviour.  (At 
a  subsequent  period  the  Committee  had  to  promise  to  recall  any 
missionary  with  whom  the  Government  might  be  dissatisfied  ;  and 
to  require  each  man  to  give  a  bond  for  £450,  to  secure  his  return 
if  summoned.)  At  Madras  they  were  received  by  another  of  the 
godly  chaplains  to  whom  India  owes  so  much,  Marmaduke 
Thompson,  who  was  just  then  forming  there  a  Corresponding 
Committee  for  South  India.  The  venerable  Dr.  John,  who  had 
for  many  years  been  at  the  head  of  the  Danish  Mission  at 
Tranquebar,  being  just  dead,  and  the  S.P.C.K.  having  no  one  to 
send  in  his  place,  the  two  C.M.S.  men  were  directed  by  the 
Corresponding  Committee  to  go  and  take  charge  for  a  time  ;  and 
although  soon  afterwards  they  were  recalled  to  Madras  for  work 
in  the  city,  other  C.M.S.  missionaries  were  sent  to  Tranquebar, 
and  this  arrangement  continued  for  some  years.  In  passing  it 
may  be  noticed  that  the  first  Native  teacher  engaged  under  these 
two  owed  his  conversion  to  his  recovery  from  sickness  through 
the  use  of  medicines  dispensed  by  them — another  foreshadowing 
of  the  Medical  Missions  of  the  future.  Norton  and  Greenwood,  More  men, 
and  a  new  Lutheran  clergyman  of  great  ability  and  learning, 
Christopher  Gottbold  Schroter,  followed  in  1815 ;  Benjamin 
Bailey  and  Thomas  Dawson  in  1816 ;  and  the  brothers  Schmid, 
Barenbruck  (the  last  of  the  Berlin  men),  Adlington,  Henry  Baker, 
and  Joseph  Fenn,  in  1817. 

This  was  not  a  very  eager  response  by  Christian  England  to  tbi;  But  very 
new  openings  which  God's  Providence  had  given  to  its  zeal  and  ^^' 
energy.  Nor  had  other  Societies  a  worthier  reinforcement.  The 
S.P.C.K.  sent  one  Lutheran  out  in  1813,  and  no  more  till  1818. 
The  London  Missionary  Society  began  to  extend  in  the  South, 
followed  a  year  or  two  later  by  the  Wesleyans  ;  and  the  Baptists 
advanced  from  Serampore  into  the  North-West ;  hvX  the  progress, 
even  in  staff  and  machinery,  was  very  slow.  There  was  also  the 
little  beginning  of  the  American  Congregationalists  at  Bombay, 
already  referred  to.     That  was  all. 

In   the   meanwhile,  the    Home  Government  had  fulfilled   one 
purpose  of  the  Act  of  1813,  by  appointing  a  Bishop  of  Calcutta.  The  first 
Their  choice  fell  upon  Dr.  T.  F.  Middleton,  Archdeacon  of  Hun-  cakut^ta.' 
tingdon,  Vicar  of  St.  Pancras,  and  author  of  a  valuable  treatise, 
not  on  the  Greek  x\rticle  pure  and  simple,  after  the  fashion  of  the 
dry-as-dust  divines  known  as  the  "  Greek-play  bishops,"  but  on 


1 86       India:   The  Opened  Door;  the  Entering  In 

^iHV^-ii'  *^^  Doctrine  of  the  Greek  Article  applied  to  the  Criticism  and 
Chap.  15  ^^^'^''^^'rO'tion  of  the  Neio  Testament,  which  really  was  designed  to 
.'— _  '  refute  Socinian  interpretations  of  certain  important  passages 
of  Scj-ipture  bearing  on  the  Deity  of  the  Son  and  the  Holy 
Ghost.  Middleton  was  a  strong  High  Churchman,  and,  as  Dr. 
Overton  puts  it,  "  figuratively  speaking  he  hailed  from  Clapton, 
not  from  Clapham."  ■-'  It  is  worth  noting,  however,  as  indicating 
the  views  concerning  Continental  Protestantism  then  prevailing 
among  good  men  of  his  type,  that  in  dehvering  an  admirable 
charge  to  Mr.  Jacobi,  the  Lutheran  missionary  sent  to  India  in 
1813  by  the  S.P.C.K.,  he  said,  "  We  regard  you  as  invested  with 
the  functions  of  an  apostle  "  ;  while  Jacobi  in  his  reply,  which  is 
printed,  without  correction  or  comment,  in  the  volume  of  Bishop 
Middleton's  Sermons  and  Charges,  observed  that  he  was  "very 
happy  to  understand  that  the  Church  of  England  considers  the 
Luthei-an  Church  as  a  faithful  sister." 

The  opinion  is  a  common  one  that  the  Evangelicals  would 
necessarily  be  disappointed  at  the  choice  of  Middleton  for  a 
bishopric  the  establishment  of  which  was  so  largely  due  to  their 
energy ;  but  no  evidence  of  this  is  produced,  and  it  would  seem 
more  probable  that,  accustomed  as  they  were  to  work  as  a  despised 
minority,  and  strangers  as  they  were  to  ecclesiastical  honours,  the 
appointment  would  appear  to  them  quite  natural,  and  w^ould  be 
taken  as  a  matter  of  course.  Pratt,  at  all  events,  knew  that  an 
able  and  vigorous  man  was  being  sent,  as  he  resided  in  St.  Pancras, 
and  had  supported  Middleton  in  large  schemes  of  Church  extension 
which  some  of  the  parishioners  had  bitterly  opposed.!  The 
greater  part  of  Middleton's  charge  to  Jacobi  is  printed  in  the 
Missionary  Begister  of  January,  1814  ;  and  the  very  next  number 
opens  w4th  this  announcement : — 

Bishop  fob  India. 

Archdeacon  Middleton,  whose  Address  to  Mr.  Jacobi  we 
noticed  in  our  last  Number,  has  been  appointed  the  new 
Bishop  for  India — the  most  important  charge  with 
which  any  English  Clergyman  ever  left  his  native  shores  ! 

U)^offe"nd  ^^  India  got  its  first  Bishop ;   but  for  fear   of   offending  the 

India.  Natives — very  few  indeed  of  whom  can  have  known  or  cared  any- 
thing about  it — he  was  consecrated  privately  in  Lambeth  Palace 
Chapel  (May  8th,  1814),  and  the  Dean  of  Winchester's  sermon 
on  the  occasion  was  not  allowed  to  be  printed.  The  Missionary 
Begister,  however,  printed  the  Bishop  of  Chester's  valedictory 
address  at  the  S.P.C.K.  House,  and  Middleton's  reply.  How 
Bishop  Law  viewed  the  matter  may  be  judged  from  these  words  : 
"  The  establishment  of   Episcopacy  will   most  effectually  check 

*  See  p.  39. 

t  Mr.  Hole  suggests  that  the  great  Parliamentary  grant  of  one  million 
sterling  for  building  churches  in  1818  was  indirectly  a  result  of  Middleton's 
work  at  St.  Pancras. 


India:   The  Opened  Door;   the  Entering  In        187 

every  erroneous  doctrine,  stop  the  wild  progress  of  enthusiasm,  Part  III. 
and  spread  the  kno^Yledge  of  uncorrupted  Christianity."  cha^i*' 

In  due  course  Bishop  Middleton  landed  in  India.     Sir  John       °^^" 
Kaye  quaintly  says  :  * — 

"  There  was  no  commotion,  no  excitement.  Offended  Hinduism  did  But  India 
not  rise  up  in  arms,  nor  indignant  Mohammedanism  raise  a  war  cry  of  '^^'"^'^  "°*- 
death  to  the  infidel.  English  gentlemen  asked  each  other  at  the  dinnei-- 
table  if  they  had  seen  the  Bishop  ;  but  the  heart  of  Hinduism  beat 
calmly,  as  was  its  wont.  The  Bishop  preached  in  the  Christian  temple 
on  the  Clu'istian's  hara  din ;  and  that  night  the  Europeans  in  Calcutta  slept 
soundly  in  their  beds.  There  was  not  a  massacre ;  there  was  not  a  rebellion. 
The  merchant  took  his  place  at  the  desk  ;  the  public  servant  entered  his 
office  ;  and  the  native  underlings  salaamed  meekly  and  reverentially  as 
ever.  Everj^thing  went  on  as  usual,  in  spite  of  the  Bishop,  and  his  lawn 
sleeves,  and  his  sermon  on  Christmas  Day.  It  really  seemed  probable, 
after  all,  that  British  dominion  in  the  East  would  survive  the  blow." 

It  was  the  same  when  he  took  his  journeys.  Brahman  priests 
whose  lands  did  not  yield  them  enough  revenue  welcomed  the 
Lord  Padre  Sahib,  thinking  that  he  would  look  on  them  as 
brothers  and  squeeze  grants  for  them  out  of  the  Government 
purse ;  others  asked  him  for  a  little  money  towards  the  repair  of 
their  temples  ;  and  the  Bishop,  instead  of  finding  them  either 
terror-stricken  at  his  approach  on  the  one  hand,  or  ready  to  be 
converted  on  the  other,  found  that  a  few  rupees  judiciously 
distributed  were  his  best  passport. 

Middleton  became  a  good  and  hard-working  bishop  in  some  Bishop 
ways,  though  his  life  was  much  embittered  by  disputes  with  the  andC.M°s. 
Government  about  his  jurisdiction  over  the  military  chaplains,  by 
frequent  struggles  on  points  of  etiquette  and  precedence,  and  by 
the  pretensions  of  the  principal  Presbyterian  chaplain,  Dr.  Bryce, 
a  combative  man,  to  be  quite  as  good  as  any  bishop.  But  the 
Church  Missionary  Society  had  to  suffer  great  disappointment  on 
account  of  two  of  his  decisions.  He  declined  either  to  license 
the  missionaries  or  to  ordain  Natives.  He  has  often  been  blamed 
for  these  refusals  ;  but  both  were  due  to  an  honest  belief  that  his 
commission  from  the  State  gave  him  no  authority  to  do  either. 
The  result,  however,  was  (1)  that  Abdul  Masih,  for  whose  ordina- 
tion the  Society  had  fondly  hoped,  had  to  wait  until  Middleton 
had  been  succeeded  by  Heber  ;  and  (2)  that  the  missionaries,  not 
being  licensed,  were  precluded  from  ministering  even  occasionally 
to  English  congregations.  This  question  perplexed  and  troubled  the 
Bishop  not  a  little.  He  was  not  happy  about  the  presence  in  his 
diocese  of  clergymen  without  his  license.  "  I  must  either  license 
them,"  he  said,  "  or  silence  them."  He  conscientiously  declined 
to  do  the  first,  and  he  found  himself  unable  to  do  the  second. 

Nevertheless,  the  Committee  determined  that  nothing  on  their 
part  should  prevent  such  co-operation  with  the  Bishop  as  they 
were  permitted  to  render.     "When  he  formed  his  great  plan   for 

*  Christianitij  in  India,  p.  290. 


1 88        India  :   The  Opened  Door  ;   the  Entering  In 

Part  III.  the  establishment  of  Bishop's  College,  proposing  to  apply  to  it 

Cha^lt   *^'^*  ^^^°^  °^  £5000  which  first  extended  the  operations  of  the 

lap^. .  g  p  Q   ^Q  India,*  and  when  the  S.P.C.K.  thereupon  voted  a  like 

c.M.s.        sum,  the  Committee  resolved  not  to  be  behind  the  older  Societies, 

%t^?^      ^^^^  proceeded  to  vote  £5000  too  out  of  the  Society's   General 

Fund — one-sixth  of  its  Income  for  the  year — for  the  same  purpose  ; 

and    Pratt  wrote  in   the  Bccjistcr,   "Wo    heartily  rejoice    in    the 

co-operation  of  these  three  Societies  in  this  great  object,  and  trust 

that  this  co-operation  will  tend  to  cherish  a  kind  and  friendly  spirit 

among  their  Members,  both  in  their  proceedings  at  home  and  in 

their  exertions  among  the  Heathen. "f    The  following  Minute  was 

passed  at  the  Committee  meeting  of  July  12th,  1819  : — 

"  Re.solve(I — Tliat  this  Society  cannot  behold  without  a  high  degree  of 
gratitude  the  general  interest  at  this  time  manifesting  itself,  through 
every  part  of  the  Kingdom,  in  favour  of  the  Veneral)le  Society  for  the 
Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts  ;  and  contemplates  with 
peculiar  pleasure  the  zeal  and  readiness  with  which  it  has  adopted  the 
important  Plan  suggested  l)y  the  Lord  Bishop  of  Calcutta  for  establishing 
a  Mission  College  near  Calcutta,  and  the  jiromptitude  with  which  the 
Society  for  Promoting  Christian  Knowledge  has  agreed  to  support  the 
said  Plan  ;  and  that  this  Society,  desirous  of  co-operating  in  the  same 
great  and  conunon  Cause,  do  now  make  a  like  Grant  of  £-")000  for  the 
same  purpose;  and  that  its  Corresponding  Committee  at  Calcutta  l)e 
empowered  to  express  to  his  Lordship  its  respectful  acknowledgments 
of  the  enlarged  views  which  he  has  so  eminently  displayed  in  his  plans 
for  promoting  the  Conversion  of  the  Native  Population  of  India  ;  and  to 
request  that  he  will  be  pleased  to  accept  the  sum  hereby  voted,  to  be 
paid  by  the  Society's  Corresponding  Committee,  in  such  manner  and  at 
such  times  as  his  Lordship  may  wish." 

Not  content  with  this  conspicuous  token  of  their  eager  desire  to 
support  the  Bishop,  the  Committee  in  the  following  year  voted 
£1000  towards  the  maintenance  of  the  College,  and  repeated  the 
vote  in  the  two  succeeding  years  ;  but  Middleton  had  just  scruples 
about  drawing  this  money,  as  the  College  statutes  provided  that 
students  would  be  at  the  disposal  of  S.P.G.  The  grants  were, 
however,  duly  paid ;  but  the  Committee  had  some  little  difficulty 
in  justifying  them  to  some  of  their  supporters,  and  in  1826  they 
issued  an  elaborate  memorandum  on  the  subject.  Eventually 
better  arrangements  were  made  for  receiving  C.M.S.  students; 
but  little  use  was  ever  made  of  this  privilege. 
Coikge'.^  In  due  course  a  fine  building  was  erected  on  the  bank  of  the 
Hooghly,  three  or  four  miles  below  Calcutta  ;  and  the  Bishop 
threw  his  whole  heart  into  the  development  of  the  scheme.  A 
Fellow  of  Trinity,  Cambridge,  Dr.  Mill,  went  out  as  Principal,  and 
high  hopes  were  entertained  of  the  usefulness  of  the  new  Univer- 
sity of  the  East,  as  Middleton  loved  to  call  it.  But  for  reasons 
which  have  never  been  clearly  understood,  or  at  all  events   never 

*  See  p.  148. 

t  The  Bible  Society,  subsequently,  also  voted  £5000,  of  course  specifically 
for  Bible  translations. 


India:   The  Opened  Door;   the  Entering  In        189 

clearly  explained,  the  College  did  not  prove   a  success.     For  one  Part  III. 
thing,  it  was  certainly  premature.     It  was  for  the  high  classical  J^J^'^t 
and  theological  education  of  the  Native  Christians  ;  but  there  were      J_ 
not  then,  nor  were  there  for  long  years  after,  a  sufficient  number 
of  suitable  converts  belonging  to  the  Church  of  England.     Ulti- 
mately, after  a  struggle  lasting  half  a  century,  the  buildings  were 
sold  to  Government.     The  institution,  on  a  more  modest  scale,  is 
now  carried  on  in  the  heart  of  the  city  by  the  Oxford  Mission. 

As  time  went  on,  Bishop  Middleton  learned  to  value  the 
missionaries,  and  began  to  desire  a  closer  connexion  with  them. 
But  in  the  midst  of  hopeful  negotiations  with  the  Society,  which 
gave  Pratt  great  satisfaction,  the  Bishop  died,  on  July  11th,  Death  m^^^ 
1822,  after  a  few  days'  illness,  brought  on,  no  doubt,  by  the  fatigue 
involved  in  his  immense  journeys.  The  Diocese  of  Calcutta  com- 
prised all  India,  and  Ceylon,  and  Australia  .'—but  no  Indian 
bishop  ever  attempted  to  reach  that  ultima  TJude  of  his  jurisdic- 
tion. Even  within  India  proper,  the  travelling,  in  pre-railway 
days,  was  wearying  and  wearing  in  the  extreme  ;  and  Middleton's 
three  successors  all  fell  victims  to  its  exhaustion.  Indeed  the 
Diocese  of  Calcutta  enjoys  the  unique  honour  of  having  had  seven 
bishops  in  succession,  not  one  of  whom  came  home  to  die.  The 
eighth  was  spared  to  retire  after  twenty  years'  work  ;  but  all  his 
predecessors  fell  at  their  post.  There  is  no  other  foreign  diocese 
in  the  world  with  a  similar  record. 

Middleton's  immediate  successor  was  Eeginald  Heber,  Eector  g^^fina''* 
of  Hodnet,  Shropshire,  a  brilliant  scholar  and  Quarterly  Reviewer, 
a  true  poet,  a  devoted  parish  clergyman  ;  a  fascinating  personality 
altogether,  loved  and  admired  by  all  who  knew  him.=:^     "  No  man," 
wrote  young  Lord  Ashley  (afterwards  the  great  Earl  of  Shaftes- 
.  bury)  in  1826,  "  ever  equalled  Bishop  Heber.     His  talents  were  of 
the  most  exquisite  character.     If  he  were  not  a  Socrates,  able  to 
knock  down  by  force  of  reasoning  the  most  stubborn  opposers,  he 
was  like  Orpheus,  who  led  even  stones  and  trees  by  the  enchant- 
ment of  his  music."  i     His  appointment  was  hailed  with  joy  by 
the  Evangelicals.    Not  that  he  was  one  of  their  own  body.    Indeed 
he  has  been  sometimes  claimed  as  a  High  Churchman.     He  was 
really  in  the  best  sense  a  moderate  man,  and  singularly  free  from 
party  prejudice  of  any  kind.     In  a  letter  to  a  young  clergyman 
advising  him  to  "avoid  singularities,"   he  specifies   "the  High 
Churchman  who  snuffles  in  a  pompous  tone  through  his  nose,  and 
the  Evangelical  minister  who  preaches   extempore."     He  wrote 
occasionally  for  the  Christian  Observer,  but  he  objected  to  prayer- 
meetings.     Perceiving   the  great  influence  of  hymns  among  the 
Dissenters,  he  compiled  a  hymn-book  for  Church  use,  appropriate  Hin^^^ 
to  the  Church  seasons ;  but  as  neither  the  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury nor  the  Bishop    of   London   would   authorize   its   use,    he 

*  See  Dr.  G.  Smith's  delightful  biography  (Murray,  1895). 
f  Life  of  Lord  Shafteshuvy,  vol.  i.  p.  102. 


IQO        India  :   The  Opened  Door  ;   the  Entering  In 

Part  III.  refrained  from  publishing  it."*  His  own  hymns,  especially  "  Holy, 
1812-24.  holy,  holy,  Lord  God  Almighty  "  and  "  The  Son  of  God  goes  forth 
^^'  '  to  war,"  have  of  themselves  immortalized  his  name;  and  still 
more,  the  greatest  of  missionary  hymns,  "  From  Greenland's  icy 
mountains."  f  But  Heber  besides  being  an  exemplary  parish 
clergyman,  was  a  thorough  believer  in  Missions.  He  was  a  warm 
supporter,  not  only  of  the  S.P.G.  and  S.P.C.K.,  but  also  of  the 
C.M.S.  and  the  Bible  Society.  :f  For  the  Bible  Society,  indeed,  his 
first  missionary  sermon  was  preached  at  Shrewsbury  in  1813.  A 
sermon  for  the  C.M.S. ,  at  Whittington  in  1820,  on  the  words, 
"  Thy  Kingdom  come,"  is  a  singularly  earnest  and  impressive 
appeal.  "  When  you  are  about  to  lie  down  this  night,"  he  said 
to  the  congregation,  "  and  begin,  in  the  words  which  the  Lord  has 
taught  you,  to  commend  your  bodies  and  souls  to  His  protection, 
will  you  not  blush,  will  you  not  tremble  to  think,  while  you  say 
to  God,  '  Thy  Kingdom  come  !  '  that  you  have  this  day  refused 
your  contributions  towards  the  extension  of  that  Kingdom  ?  I 
know  you  will  not  refuse  them  ! ' ' 
Heber  and  Heber  was  consecratcd  on  June  1st,  1823 ;  and  on  the  9th  he 
^•^•^-  attended  a  meeting  of  the  C.M.S.  Committee,  and  assured  them 
that  he  "  entirely  approved  the  principles  on  which  the  Society's 
Missions  in  the  East  were  conducted,  and  was  going  out  with  the 
most  cordial  disposition  to  render  them  every  assistance  in  liis 
power."  His  policy  was  quite  different  from  Middleton's.  He 
avoided  friction  w'ith  the  civil  authorities ;  he  made  friends  with- 
the  Baptist  and  Congregationalist  missionaries  ;  he  put  the  evan- 
gelization of  the  Heathen  in  the  forefront  of  the  Church's  duty  in 
India.  He  took  a  different  view  of  his  powers  and  responsibilities 
from  that  taken  by  his  predecessor,  and  on  arriving  in  India,  he 

*  Some  of  these  particulars  are  from  Overton's  English  Church  in  the 
Nineteen th  Century. 

t  On  Whit  Sunday,  1819,  Dr.  Shipley,  Dean  of  St.  Asaph  and  Vicar  of 
Wrexham,  preached  a  sermon  in  Wrexham  Church  in  aid  of  the  S.P.G.  That 
day  was  also  fixed  upon  for  the  commencement  of  the  Sunday  Evening 
Lectures  intended  to  be  established  in  that  church — an  important  event  in 
the  parish  at  a  time  when  Evening  Services  were  still  few  and  far  between. 
Reginald  Heber,  then  Rector  of  Hodnet,  the  Dean's  son-in-law,  undertook  to 
deliver  the  first  lecture.  In  the  course  of  the  Saturday  previous,  the  Dean 
and  his  son-in-law  being  together  at  the  Vicarage,  the  former  requested 
Heber  to  write  "  something  for  them  to  sing  in  the  morning,"  and  he 
retired  for  that  purpose  from  the  table,  where  the  Dean  and  a  few  friends 
were  sitting,  to  a  distant  part  of  the  room.  In  a  short  time  the  Dean 
inquired,  "What  have  you  written?"  Heber,  having  then  composed  the 
three  first  verses,  read  them  over.  "  There,  there,  that  will  do  very  well," 
said  the  Dean.  "No,  no,  the  sense  is  not  complete,"  replied  Heber. 
Accordingly  he  added  the  fourth  verse,  and  the  Dean  being  inexorable  to 
his  repeated  request  of  "  Let  me  add  another,  oh,  let  me  add  another,"  thus 
completed  the  hymn,  which  has  i^ince  become  so  colpbi'atcd.  It  was  sung 
the  next  morning  in  Wrexham  Church,  for  the  first  time.  A  facsimile  of 
Heber's  original  MS.  appeared  in  the  CM.  QJeaner  of  April,  1882. 

X  Heber's  project  of  uniting  the  C.M.S.  with  the  S.P.G.  has  been 
already  mentioned,  p.  151. 


India:   The  Opened  Door;  the  Entering  In        191 

at  once  arranged  to  give  episcopal  licenses  to  the  missionaries.'''  Part  III. 
He  also  expressed  his  readiness  to  receive  Natives  of  India    as    1812-24. 
candidates  for  ordination — a  short  Act  of  Parliament  being  passed       ^P" 
on  purpose  to  confirm  his  authority  to  do  so  ;    and,  as  before 
intimated,  he  admitted  Abdul  Masih — who  had  already  received 
Lutheran  orders  upon  Middleton's  refusal  to  ordain  him — to  the 
ministry    of    the    Church    of   England,    by    conferring   Anglican 
orders  upon  him  on  November  30th,  1825. t     He  further  greatly 
pleased    the    Evangelical    leaders    by    appointing    Daniel    Corrie 
Archdeacon  of  Calcutta.     Corrie  indeed  had  been  a  persona  grata 
with   Bishop   Middleton,  who  had  spoken  of  him  in  the  warmest 
terms. 

Let  us  now  take  a  brief  survey  of  the  Society's  Missions  in  Survey 
India  as  they  had  been  developed  during  Middleton's  Episcopate,  Missions, 
and  as  they  appeared  when  Heber  landed  at  Calcutta. 

In  the  ten  years,  1814  to  1823,  the  Society  had  sent  to  India 
twenty-six  men  :  fourteen  to  the  North,  eleven  to  the  South,  and 
one  to  Bomljay.  Thirteen  were  English  clergymen,  and  eleven 
were  Germans  in  Lutheran  orders ;  the  remaining  two  were  a 
schoolmaster  and  a  printer.  There  was  also  an  able  and  devoted 
Eurasian,  William  Bowley,  who  had  received  Lutheran  orders  in 
India.  Three  had  died,  and  one  had  returned  invalided.  Eleven 
stations  had  been  occupied  by  European  missionaries,  and  at 
several  other  places  there  were  native  catechists  and  schools 
supported  by  the  Society,  but  supervised  by  Company's  chaplains. 
The  work  was  entirely  administered  by  the  Corresponding  Com-  The  Cone- 
mittees  at  Calcutta,  Madras,  and  Bombay  ;  the  Society  voting  co'm^'"^ 
them  large  grants  of  money  year  by  year,  and  leaving  to  them  its  mittees. 
distribution,  and  (in  most  cases)  the  location  of  missionaries — ■ 
even  the  transfer  of  a  man  from  Madras  to  Calcutta,  or  vice  versa. 
No  other  system  was  possible  at  a  time  when  a  letter  took  five 
months  to  go  or  come, — for  instance,  the  death  of  Bishop  Middleton, 
on  July  11th,  was  not  known  in  England  till  December.  And 
the  Corresponding  Committees  consisted  of  Company's  chaplains 
and  ofificials  who  were  devoted  to  the  Society's  spiritual  principles 
and  fitted  by  long  experience  in  India  to  devise   and  carry  out 

*  Dr.  Overton  (English  Church  in  the  Nineteenth  Century,  p.  276)  eays 
that  Heber  "  very  properly  insisted  that  the  missionaries  sent  out  by  the 
C.M.S.  should  lie  as  much  under  his  jurisdiction  as  those  sent  out  by  other 
Church  Societies,  and  he  succeeded  in  carrying  his  point,  though  the  rule  was 
not  formally  recognized  by  the  Society."  This  is  the  one  single  instance  in 
which  1  find  Dr.  Overton  inaccurate.  (1)  As  regards  episcopal  licenses,  the 
Society  had  begged  for  them  from  Bishop  Middleton,  and  rejoiced  when 
Heber  gave  them.  (2)  There  were  no  English  missionaries  of  other  Church 
Societies  when  Heber  went  out,  except  the  professors  in  Bishop's  College, 
belongino:  to  the  S.P.G.  Three  young  S.P.G.  men  arrived  during  Hebcr's 
short  episcopate.  In  the  South,  all  the  S.P.C.K.  men  were  Germans  in 
Luthornn  orders. 

t  This,  as  before  stated,  was  the  first  Anglican  ordination  of  a  Native  of 
India.  But  Heber  had  already  ordained,  in  India,  a  Xative  of  Ceylon, 
a  student  at  Bishop's  College,  named  Christian  David. 


192       India  :   The  Opened  Door  ;  the  Entering  in 

Part  III.  good  plans.  At  Calcutta,  Thomason  was  Hon.  Secretary ;  at 
1812-24.  Madras,  Marmaduke  Thompson  ;  at  Bombay,  Thomas  Carr  (after- 
Chap.  15.  •,^yap(;^g  gi^.g|;  Blsliop  of  Bombay).  The  Treasurer  at  Madras  was 
J.  M.  Strachan,  in  after  years  perhaps  the  most  influential  layman 
in  the  counsels  of  Salisbury  Square.  George  Udny,  who  had  been 
one  of  the  original  promoters  of  missionary  work  in  Bengal  twenty 
years  before,'''  was  still  a  member  of  the  Calcutta  Committee. 
But  the  Committee  at  home  then  contained  scarcely  anyone,  save 
Charles  Grant,  wdio  knew  India  personally.  The  position  is 
almost  entirely  reversed  at  the  present  day.  On  the  one  hand, 
there  are  very  few  chaplains  in  India  of  the  type  of  Corrie  and 
Thomason.  On  the  other  hand,  Anglo-Indian  officials  are  an 
important  element  in  the  Home  Committee,  and  so  are  retired 
missionaries  ;  and  both  classes  add  to  their  past  local  experience 
the  larger  experience  gained  in  the  Committee  itself  of  Missions 
all  round  the  world.  Add  again  to  this  a  mail  communication  in 
less  than  a  fortnight,  and  the  electric  telegraph,  and  we  can  realize 
the  immense  change  that  time  has  wrought.  Whether  the  con- 
sequent tendency  to  centralization  may  not  go  too  far  is  a  further 
question,  not  to  be  discussed  here. 
Ecciesias-  Difficulties,  however,  arose  between  some  of  the  missionaries — • 
cuUies'.'^"  particularly  some  of  the  Lutherans — and  the  Corresponding  Com- 
mittees ;  the  former  objecting  to  being  controlled  by  the  latter. 
The  Home  Committee  had  to  interpose  ;  and  in  1818  they  laid 
down  important  rules  on  the  subject.  The  missionaries  were 
bidden  to  recognize  the  full  authority  of  the  Corresponding  Com- 
mittees in  "  external  affairs,"  which  were  defined  as  comprising 
"  the  fixing  of  stations,  the  locations  and  transference  of  mission- 
aries, reception  or  dismissal  of  catechists  and  other  assistants, 
the  regulation  of  salaries,  the  undertaking  and  the  general 
planning  of  buildings,  &c."  In  "internal  affairs,"  which  were 
defined  as  "  the  spiritual  power  and  authority  for  the  due  exercise 
of  which  a  missionary  was  responsible  to  the  ecclesiastical  rulers 
of  the  Church  he  belonged  to,"  the  missionaries  were  to  be 
directed  by  "  the  Bishop  or  other  regular  Ecclesiastical  Power." 
The  Society  "  assumed  no  control  over  the  conscience  of  a 
missionary  in  the  discharge  of  his  spiritual  functions,"  but  "  it 
would  ever  exercise  the  right  of  retaining  or  dismissing  him, 
according  as  it  might  approve  or  disapprove  his  views,  temper, 
or  condiict."  Counsel's  opinion,  however,  which  was  obtained 
at  this  time,  affirmed  that  the  Bishop  had  absolute  power  over 
locations — that  is,  of  English  clergymen.  He  had  no  authority 
over  laymen  ;  nor  over  Lutheran  ministers — so  where  was  the 
"Ecclesiastical  Power"  that  was  to  control  the  very  persons 
with  whom  the  difficulties  arose?  The  Committee,  however, 
gave  positive  instructions  that  Anglican  forms  of  worship  were 
to  be  used  in  all  the  Society's  Missions,  and  at  the  same  time 

*  See  p.  54. 


India:   The  Opened  Door;  the  Entering  In        193 

passed  a  resolution  to  receive  no  Lutheran   candidate  who  was  Part  III. 
unwilhng  to  promise  this.  1812-24. 

In  regard  to  funds,  the  Corresponding  Committees  undertook  P" 
large  responsibilities.  They  did  much  more  than  administer  Liberal 
grants  from  England.  They  boldly  set  forth  the  principle  that  \°^^^^^' 
for  the  evangelization  of  India  the  English  in  India  were  pri-  India, 
marily  responsible,  and  they  treated  the  Society's  grants  as 
virtually  grants-in-aid  to  Missions  locally  supported  and  worked. 
For  missionaries  they  might  have  to  look  to  England  ;  but  for 
money  they  looked  primarily  to  India — certainly  for  the  money 
for  buildings,  the  maintenance  of  schools,  and  the  payment  of 
Native  agents.  This  system  was  originated  at  Calcutta,  in  1817, 
by  a  sermon  preached  by  Corrie  at  the  Old  Church,  in  which, 
having  just  returned  from  England,  he  told  the  Anglo-Indians 
how,  in  his  own  father's  parish  at  home,  the  poor  were  denying 
themselves  to  send  the  Gospel  to  the  Heathen.  "When,"  said 
he,  "  shall  we  begin  to  see  British  Christians  in  India  do  the 
same  '?  "  No  less  than  £300  was  collected  after  that  sermon. 
Thomason  wrote : — "  This  was  in  every  respect  an  interesting 
occasion.  Never  before  had  a  Discourse  been  delivered,  pro- 
fessedly with  a  Missionary  object,  from  a  pulpit  of  the  Established 
Cluirch  in  India.  It  is  my  full  intention  to  keep  up  the  practice, 
if  it  please  God  to  spare  my  life."  And  the  success  of  the  plan 
was  remarkable.  For  instance,  in  1823,  while  the  Calcutta  Com- 
mittee drew  bills  on  the  Society  at  home  for  £7387,  they  raised 
in  Bengal  just  £4000 ;  and  while  the  Madras  Committee  drew 
on  the  Society  for  £3390,  they  raised  on  the  spot  just  £2000.  In 
fact,  the  number  of  godly  officers  and  civilians  in  India  had 
largely  inci'eased,  under  the  influence  of  the  many  devoted  men 
for  wliom  Simeon,  through  Charles  Grant,  had  obtained  chaplains' 
appointments ;  and  their  scale  of  giving  was  much  liigher  than 
prevailed,  or  ever  has  prevailed,  in  England.  When  we  are 
told,  as  we  so  often  are  told,  that  Anglo-Indians  do  not  believe  in 
Missions,  the  answer  is  that  they  are  the  most  liberal  supporters 
of  the  very  Missions  their  eyes  have  seen,  most  of  which  were 
actually  started  at  their  instance  and  at  their  expense.  That  is 
to  say,  the  truly  Christian  men  among  them  ;  and  who  else  are 
competent  judges? 

Glancing  now  at  the  C.M.S.  Missions  as  they  appeared  in  1823, 
we  find  that  the  Corresponding  Committees  had  from  the  first 
set  before  them  three  ntetJiods  of  missionary  work  for  adoption, 
viz.,  the  (1)  Press,  (2)  Schools,  and  (3)  what  they  called  Missionary 
Establishments,  i.e.  stations  with  ordained  missionaries.  The 
employment  of  Native  Christian  "readers"  like  Abdul  Masih 
was  apparently  included  under  the  first  head,  as  they  were  to 
"read"   to  their  countrymen  the   Scriptures,  tracts,  &c.,  which  J^f^^at 

ii  -r^  -I  T        1  r  ■       •  ill!       Calcutta. 

the  Press  produced  ;  but  01  course,  as  "  missionary  establish- 
ments "  multiplied,  these  "  readers  "  developed  into  "  catechists  " 
under   the  ordained   missionary.     All  three  methods  were  being 

VOL.  I.  o 


194         India:   The  Opened  Door;   the  Entering  In 

Part  III.  worked  at  Calcutta.  The  Mission  (after  a  temporary  location  at 
1812-2-i.   Garden  Eeach,  south  of  the  city)  had  secured  a  valuable  piece  of 

Chap.  15.  gj.Q^^j-,(;^  -y^  \^Q  heart  of  that  part  of  the  native  quarter  known  as 
Mirzapore,"-  using  for  its  purchase  a  gift  of  Es.  30,000  from  Major 
Phipps.  At  that  time  the  Society  had  a  plan  for  establishing 
in  all  its  Missions  what  w^ere  called  "  Christian  Institutions," 
by  which  was  meant  a  seminary  for  the  preparation  of  Native 
teachers,  with  mission-house,  church,  printing-office,  &c.,  all  in 
one  compound.  The  purchase  at  Mirzapore  was  with  this  object ; 
and  it  has  been  an  important  centre  of  work,  more  or  less  on 
those  lines,  from  that  day  to  this.  A  church.  Trinity  Church, 
was  built,  and  opened  in  1826.  A  printing  establishment  was 
started  under  a  man  named  Brown,  who  had  been  sent  out  for 
the  purpose,  after  serving  for  some  years  in  the  printing-ofilice 
employed  by  the  Society  in  London.!  He  was  really  in  his  own 
province  an  excellent  missionary,  and  died  at  his  post  in  1824. 
Presses  and  founts  of  type,  English,  Arabic,  and  Persian,  were 
sent  out  by  the  Society  ;  the  Nagri  or  Sanscrit  character  types 
being  obtained  in  India.  Portions  of  Scripture,  prayer-books, 
catechisms,  primers,  hymn-books,  tracts,  simple  expositions, 
were  produced  in  large  numbers ;  and  it  is  interesting  to  see 
in  one  of  the  lists  "  500  Hints  on  Prayer  for  the  Outpouring  of 
the  Holy  Spirit." 

First  Schools    of  various    grades    were    gradually    started    both    in 

^hoo?s!  Calcutta  and  in  several  other  of  the  chief  cities  of  North  India  ; 
and  every  effort  was  made  to  introduce  what  was  then  known 
as  the  New  or  National  System  of  Education.  This  was  the 
pupil-teacher  system  started  in  England  by  Dr.  Bell,|  and 
worked  by  the  National  Society,  which  was  founded  in  1811. 
Bell  himself  had  invented  it  at  Madras,  §  and  the  Church 
Missionary  Society  took  it  back  to  India.  To  us  now  it  seems 
curious  that  no  attempt  was  in  the  first  instance  made  to  give 
Christian  teaching  in  those  small  schools.  But  the  idea  was 
to    awaken    a  desire  for  knowledge,  however  simple,   as   a  road 

*  Not  to  be  confonnded  with  the  town  of  that  name  near  Benares,  which 
is  a  station  of  the  L.lVl.S. 

t  The  firm  then  was  W.  M.  Watts.  The  business  was  in  after  years  taken 
over  by  Messrs.  Gilbert  and  Rivington,  who  are  s(il]  the  Society's  chief 
prin'^ers. 

%  ^nd,  almost  simultaneously,  by  Thomas  Lancaster,  who  instituted  the 
"  Hritisli"  or  undenominational  form  of  education,  in  contradistinction  to  the 
"  National "  education  of  Bell  and  the  Church.  The  controversy  between  the 
advocates  of  the?e  systems  was  as  bitter  then  as  it  has  been  in  recent  years. 

§  He  was  an  army  chaplain  there,  and  superintended  the  education  of  the 
boys  at  the  Militbry  Orphan  Asylum.  One  day  he  chanced  to  see  some 
Native  children  writing  with  their  fingers  on  the  sand.  He  told  a  teacher  at 
the  school  to  teach  the  aljdiabet  in  the  same  way ;  but  the  teacher  neglected 
to  do  BO,  and  the'ii  Bell  set  an  elder  boy  to  teach  the  j'ounger  so.  This  was 
the  origin  of  the  whole  ]nipil-teacher  system,  the  discovery  of  which  was 
welcomed  in  England  with  quite  extraordinary  enthusiasm.  See  Overton, 
English  Chiircit  in  the  Kiiiefeenth  Century,  chap.  vii. 


India  :   The  Opened  Door  ;  the  Entering  In        195 

by   which   the    Gospel    should   afterwards   travel.      Of   the   first  Part  III. 
school  opened,  at  Kidderpore,  a   suburb   of  Calcutta,  the  Com-    1812-24. 
mittee    say   in    the   Eeport  of  1817, — "It   is  under   the   care  of  Chap.  15. 
the    missionaries,    hut   is   not   likely    to   alarm  prejudice,  as  the 
schoolmaster  is   not   a    Christian."      It   would  be   easy  to  criti- 
cize such  a  system  now.      Apparently    it   was    criticized   then  ; 
for  the  Committee,  in  the  Eeport  of  1819,  entered  into  a  careful 
defence    of    it.     "  Where    we    cannot    effect  what   we   would," 
they    say,     "it    is    the   part    of   prudence    to    attempt    what   w^e 
can." 

And  certainly  this  system  did  prove  the  thin  end  of  the  wedge. 
For  example,  at  and  around  Burdwan,  an  important  town  ^urdwan. 
seventy  miles  north-east  of  Calcutta,  several  village  schools  were 
started  by  a  Christian  officer  stationed  there,  Captain  Stewart, 
in  communication  with  the  Corresponding  Committee  and  with 
funds  provided  by  them.  At  first  the  Scriptm'es  were  not  even 
read  in  them  ;  and  Thomason  wrote  that  he  thought  Captain 
Stewart  had  acted  "  very  wisely."  Then  it  was  arranged  to  open 
a  central  school  in  the  town,  at  which  English  should  be  taught, 
and  to  which  should  be  drafted  the  most  promising  of  the  village 
scholars.  Here  we  see  the  embryo  "  Anglo- Vernacular  School." 
And  as  the  scholars  could  not  come  in  daily,  Stewart  provided 
lodging  and  food  for  them  for  the  inside  of  each  week — in  which 
plan  we  see  the  embryo  Mission  Boarding-School.  After  this 
had  been  going  on  for  a  year,  Thomason  wrote: — "Burdwan  is 
now  ripe  for  a  Missionary.  He  will  have  a  large  School  of  Boys 
prepared  for  him,  already  well  taught,  capable  of  receiving  any 
instruction  that  he  may  judge  it  expedient  to  impart.  He  will 
have  escaped  the  drudgery  of  elementary  instruction,  and  will 
sit  down  at  once  to  the  full  and  mature  labours  of  a  Missionary  " ; 
and  Stewart,  having  thus  gained  the  confidence  of  the  parents, 
gave  notice  that  the  Christian  Scriptures  would  be  introduced 
into  the  central  school  when  the  missionary  arrived.  In  due 
course  he  did  arrive  ;  and  after  another  year,  the  English  resi- 
dents at  Burdwan,  invited  to  the  annual  Examination,  beheld 
with  astonishment  the  Gospels  being  read,  taught,  and  questioned 
upon,  in  a  school  of  Heathen  boys,  with  their  Heathen  parents 
looking  on.  "  The  Brahmans  stood  by,  and  heard  their  boys 
speak  of  Jesus  as  the  Son  of  God  and  the  Saviour  of  the  World, 
and  of  His  command  to  go  and  preach  the  Gospel  to  all  people, 
without  uttering  a  word."  Yet  the  boys  themselves,  only  a  few 
months  before,  had  objected  to  read  any  book  which  contained 
the  name  of  Jesus.  The  following  year,  1822,  the  report  was, 
"  The  Gospels  are  now  read  in  all  the  schools.  Who  could  have 
expected,  a  year  ago,  to  see  a  thousand  Hindu  children  reading 
the  Gospel?"  The  w^edge  had  been  driven  home;  and  it  is 
simple  matter  of  historical  fact  that  more  converts  from  Hinduism 
have  been  gathered  into  the  Christian  Church  through  the  ^""jj*^  °* 
influence,  direct  or   indirect,  of  schools,   than  by  any  other  one  work. 

o  2 


196        India  :  7 he  Opened  Door',   the  Entering  In 

Part  III.  instrumentality."-  Even  at  the  present  day,  when  the  evan- 
1812-24.  gehstic  preacher  or  lecturer  goes  out  from  England  for  a  winter's 
^P'  ^'  campaign  among  English-speaking  Natives,  the  knowledge  of 
Christianity  that  he  builds  upon  in  addressing  those  who  are  still 
Heathen  has  been  gained  by  them  in  Mission  Schools.  "When 
one  and  another  yields  to  the  claims  of  Christ  pressed  by  these 
evangelists,  he  yields  to  a  Lord  and  Saviour  whose  claims  he 
well  knew  before — claims  which,  humanly  speaking,  he  would 
not  have  recognized  now  but  for  that  prior  knowledge. 

One  of  the  missionaries  who  was  located  at  Burdwan   bore  a 

name  which  has  become  highly  honoured    in    his  distinguished 

The  sons.     This   was  the    Eev.  John   Perowne,   who  went   out   and 

erownes.  JJJ^l3Q^J,g^  g^j^  Burdwau  scveu  years.     He  was  the  father  of  Bishop 

J.  J.  S.  Perowne,  of  Worcester  ;  of  Dr.  E.  H.  Perowne,  Master  of 

Corpus  ;  and  of  Archdeacon  T.  T.  Perowne,  of  Norwich. 

No  other  station  in   Bengal   proper,  outside  the  capital,   was 

occupied  except  Burdwan.     But  higher  up  the  great  plain  of  the 

Ganges,  in  that   part  of  India   afterwards  (in    1833)  designated 

the  North-West  Provinces,  w^ork  had  been  begun  at  several  cities, 

generally  throiigh  the  influence  of  Anglo-Indians  ah-eady  there. 

Corric's    residence   at  Agra    as   chaplain  had  fixed  the  location 

there  of  Abdul  Masih  ;  and  during  the  period  now  under  review, 

the  faithful  old  evangelist  continued  his  labours  amid  the  respect 

of  all  who  knew  him.     He  was  supported  by  the  counsel  and 

sympathy   of   a    godly   officer,    Lieutenant    Tomkyns.       Corrie's 

appointment  to  Benares,  on   his  return  from   his  furlough,  had 

issued  in  a  determination  on  the  part  of  the  Society  to  assault 

that    great    fortress    of    Hindu   idolatry.       His   ow^n   heart    w-as 

deeply  moved  by  the   scenes   around  him.     He  was  no  modern 

globe-trotter,  viewing  the  degrading  superstitions  of  Benares  with 

languid  curiosity.     Like  St.  Paul  at  Athens,  his  spirit  was  stirred 

within  him,    and   he    saw  in  those  crowds  of   deluded    devotees 

inawartal    beings    who    might    be    living    for    the  glory    of  God. 

'ote    also    of    a    neighbouring  district,   quite  a  small  one, 

*  Not  to  friend  of  his  was  magistrate,  that  in  it  two  widows,  on 

IS  a  ^f-tio"  (^ge,   were    burnt    every    month ;    that   six   lepers   were 

over  by  Messr®  within  the  year ;  and  that  one  hundred  persons  had, 

prin"ters.  drowned  themselves  in  w^ells,  in  revenge  for  some 

X  4nd,  almost     unexpected    opening    for   good    work    in   Benares 

I' Hritisji"  or  midex  a  wealthy  Hindu,  named  Jay  Narain,  establishing 

National "  educatio,   i^rge  Boys'  School,  and  handing  it  over  to  the 

advocates  of  the^e  svs.       %      ■   Z         m  •  j-    o   i,      i    u 

§  HewasanarmychlJ^^o^i^^y-  ^^^^^  g^'^^*  School  has  ever  smce 
bovs  at  the  MilitbrV  ()rpi|ducational  agency,  and  has  given  a  know- 
Native  children  writing  -witi faith  to  many  v/ho  have  only  embraced  the 

the  school  to  teach  the  alphal 

to  do  so,  and  then  Bell  set  ai  i.   i        £  -n  •    j 

ti.f.  r.y.\  u.  r.t  i-v.      Y  ,   ''  "nges,  not  tar  from  Benares,   was  occupied 
lue   origin  ot   the    whole  ])up°  ^ 

welcomed    in    England  with  qi 

£nglts}t  Church  in  the  Nineteenth  reckoning  the  large  accessions  from  the  non- 


India:   The  Opened  Door;   the  Entering  In        197 

also  at  Corrie's  instance.  It  was  a  Government  station  for  invalid  Part  III. 
soldiers,  and  the  policy  at  that  time  was  to  begin  by  providing  i^^^^"t* 
schools  for  the  children  of  Englishmen,  who,  like  the  rest  of  the  ^^' 
Eurasian  population,  were  much  neglected.  That  this  class  was 
worth  caring  for  was  illustrated  by  the  fact  that  the  missionary 
who  was  stationed  at  Chunar,  and  whose  name  will  ever  be 
inseparably  connected  with  it,  William  Bowley,  was  himself  an 
Eurasian.  He  was  at  first  employed  as  a  catechist.  Then,  when 
Bishop  Middleton  declined  to  ordain  Natives  of  the  country,  he 
received  Lutheran  orders,  from  three  of  the  Lutheran  ministers 
already  in  the  field,  at  the  same  time  as  Abdul  Masih.  In  1825, 
again  along  with  Abdul  Masih,  he  was  ordained  as  an  Anglican 
clergyman  by  Bishop  Heber.  He  laboured  at  Chunar  with 
exemplary  devotion  for  nearly  thirty  years.  Greenwood,  who  has 
been  mentioned  more  than  once  before  as  one  of  the  first  two 
English  clergymen  engaged  as  missionaries  in  India,  was  also  at 
Chunar,  doing  the  English  part  of  the  work. 

At  Meerut,  the  furthest  to  the  north-west  of  all  the  stations,  an  Meemt: 
interesting  work  was  carried  on  under  the  superintendence  of  verts. "^°"' 
another  of  the  zealous  chaplains,  the  Eev.  Henry  Fisher.  Two 
particularly  interesting  converts  here  come  into  view.  The  first 
was  a  Brahman  named  Permanund,  who  had  been  converted  to 
Christ  under  the  teaching  of  the  Baptist  missionary  mentioned  in 
a  former  chapter  as  having  been  twice  sent  down  from  the  North- 
West  under  guard  by  order  of  the  Government.'''  Ho  had  not, 
however,  lieen  Ixxptizod,  because  he  wished  his  infant  son  to  be 
admitted  into  the  visible  Church  with  him,  and  this,  of  course, 
the  Baptist  missionary  would  not  do.  He  came  under  the  notice 
of  Mrs.  Sherwood,  the  wife  of  an  officer  at  Meerut,  and  the  well- 
k  nown  authoress  of  excellent  books  for  young  people ;  and  in 
1  815  she  obtained  for  him  an  appointment  as  schoolmaster  under 
the  C.M.S.  Corresponding  Conmiittee.  He  was  thus  the  Society's 
first  agent  in  that  city ;  and  at  Christmas,  1816,  he  was  baptized 
by  Mr.  Fisher  by  the  name  of  Anund  Masih  (Joy  of  Christ).  He 
laboured  for  twenty  years,  and  then  was  ordained.  It  is  a  thing 
to  remember  that  the  first  Native  clergyman  of  the  Church  of 
England  in  North  India  (Abdul  Masih)  had  been  a  Mohammedan, 
and  that  the  second  (Anund  Masih)  had  been  a  Brahman — the  two 
classes  from  which  those  who  knew  not  the  power  of  Divine 
grace  had  often  declared  that  no  converts  could  be  won. 

The  other  interesting  convert  at  Meerut  was  a  non-commissioned 
officer  in  the  25th  Sepoy  regiment,  a  Brahman  of  very  high  caste, 
who,  having  long  been  convinced  of  the  folly  of  idolatry,  and 
having  seen  something  of  Christian  worship  when  sei-ving  in 
Mauritius,  came  spontaneously  to  a  room  over  the  city  gate 
at  Meerut,  where  Anund  Masih  had  gathered  a  few  converts, 
and  at  once  joined  the  little  community,  and  was  baptized  by  the 

*  See  p.  y9. 


iq8         India  :    The  Opened  Door;   the  Entering  In 

Part  III.  name   of    Matthew   Prabhu-din.     The    officer    commanding    the 

PK.^^"^*'   ^'^o^™6^^  reported  to  the  Government  "  so  singular  and  unprece- 

^^'    '  ■  dented  an  occm-rence  "  as  the  conversion  of  a  Sepoy  to  Christianity, 

Sepoy         stating  that  "the  greatest  consternation"  prevailed  among  the 

cashi>red.  Native   troops,    and   that   serious   mischief    might   result.      The 

Governor-General  ordered  a  special  Commission  of  Inquiry,  and 

it  turned  out  that  the  only  "  consternation  "  had  been  among  the 

English  officers,  and  that  Prabhu-din,  though  he  could  no  longer 

eat  with  the  Brahmans  in  the  regiment,  was  still  respected  by 

them    as    a    good    soldier.       Nevertheless,    he    was    dismissed, 

"rejected,"  wrote  Fisher,   "  by  his  earthly  commander,  because 

he  was  a  Christian."     The  Government  allowed  him  his  pension, 

and  afterwards  offered  him  admission  to  another  regiment ;  but 

this  he  declined,  saying  he  had  done  nothing  to  deserve  dismissal 

from  his  own."     He  continued  a  faithful  Christian,  and  was  often 

alluded  to  in  warm  terms  in  Mr.  Fisher's  reports. 

The  Society  had  also  for  some  time  schools  and  agents  at 
Allahabad,  Lucknow,  and  Delhi.  The  first  Church  of  England 
work,  therefore,  at  the  last-named  city,  now  famous  as  a  great 
S.P.G.  centre,  was  done  by  the  C.M.S.  Anund  Masih  frequently 
visited  Delhi,  and  a  sect  of  Hindu  ascetics  called  Saadhs  came 
imder  his  influence ;  but  no  great  results  followed.  It  is  also 
On  the  ^^  noteworthy  that  the  first  attempt  to  carry  the  Gospel  to  Thibet 
THbet."  was  made  by  the  Society  during  this  period.  At  Titalya,  then 
a  military  station  in  the  Himalayas,  the  commanding  officer, 
Captain  Latter,  was  a  zealous  Christian,  and  at  his  instance  the 
German  missionary  Schroter,  who  accompanied  Greenwood  and 
Norton  to  India  in  1815,  was  appointed  to  that  place,  with  a  view 
to  his  studying  the  Thibetan  language,  becoming  acquainted  with 
the  people,  and  preparing  Scriptures  and  tracts  for  them.  His 
letters,  and  those  of  Captain  Latter,  during  four  or  five  years,  are 
very  interesting;  but  he  died  in  1820,  the  first  C.M.S.  missionary 
removed  by  death  in  any  Mission  except  West  Africa ;  and  Latter 
also  dying  soon  afterwards,  the  enterprise  was  never  resumed. 
But  Schroter  left  important  MSS.  of  his  Thibetan  studies,  and 
these  were  handed  over  to  Carey  and  the  Serampore  Mission  as  a 
help  to  the  translational  work  going  on  there,  while  his  valuable 
collection  of  books  on  Thibet  was  given  to  Bishop's  College. 
Schroter  himself  was  a  remarkable  man— a  great  linguist  and  a 
true  and  humble  missionary.  So  also  were  the  next  two  men 
who  died  in  India,  Schnarre  and  La  Eoche,  both  likewise 
Lutherans. 

One  more  important  forward  step  taken  at  this  time  in  North 

*  The  full  details,  with  the  official  correspondence  and  minutes  of  the 
Commission  of  Inquiry,  are  published  in  Wilkinson's  Sket^'hes  of  Chrinfianitii 
in  North  India  (London-  1844).  Sir  John  Kayo,  who  is  geoerally  on  the 
Christian  side  upon  questions  of  the  kind,  disputes  the  fact  of  the  man  being 
dismissed  because  he  was  a  Christian  {Clwistianity  in  India,  p.  342)  ;  but 
the  official  documents  seem  decisive  on  the  point. 


Imdia  :   The  Opf.s'ed  Door;   the  Entering  In         igq 

India  calls  for  notice.     In  1820,  Miss  M.  A.  Cooke  was  sent  out  Part  III. 
by  the  British  and  Foreign   School   Society,  at  the  request  of  a  p^^^~^^" 
local  educational  body  at  Calcutta,  with  a  view  to  her  starting  a       "^"    ' " 
school    for    Hindu    girls.      Female   education   had    already   been  First  girls' 
successfully   begun   at   Serampore    by   Mrs.    Marshman,    of   the^^°g°'^  = 
Ba))tist  I\Iission;  and  Miss  Cooke  was  to  make  a  further  attempt  Cooke. 
in  the  same  direction.     After  a  few  months,  the  local  body  found 
itself  without  funds  to  go  on,  and  transferred  Miss  Cooke  to  the 
C.M.S.     While  she  was  still  studying  Bengali,  and  wondering  in 
what  way  she  might  presently  begin  to  work,  an  incident  occurred 
which  gave  her  an  unexpected  opening.     On  January  25th,  1822 
— a  date   worth   noting — Miss  Cooke  visited   one   of   the   Boys' 
Schools,  in  order  to  observe  the  pronunciation  of  the  language. 
"  An  European  Female,"  as  the  Report  quaintly  styles  her,  in  the 
heart  of  the  native  town,  was  a  novelty  which  drew  a  crowd  I'ound 
the  school  door.     In  the  crowd  was  a  little  girl,  whom  the  Native 
teacher  drove  away,  telling  Miss  Cooke  that  the  child  had  for 
three  months  been   disturbing  them  by  begging  to  be  allowed  to 
learn   to  read  with  the  boys.     Miss  Cooke  immediately  said  that 
she  would  come  the  very  next  day,  and  begin  to  teach  her  as  well 
as  she  could.     Next  day,  accordingly,  she  went  again,  accom- 
panied by  an  Englishwoman  who  had  been  long  in  India  and 
spoke  Bengali  well.      They  found  fifteen   girls   assembled,    and 
their    mothers    standing   outside,     eagerly   peering    through    the 
lattice.     The  women  were  admitted,  and  a  most  interesting  con- 
versation took  place.     The  lady  friend,  who  is  not  named,  thus 
narrates  it : — 

"  Thoy  inquired  whether  Miss  Cooke  was  married.  I  answered  No. 
Had  she  been,  or  was  she  goinc^  to  be  ? 

'"No:  she  is  married,  or  devoted,  to  your  children:  she  lieard  in 
Kiicjland  that  the  women  of  tliis  country  were  kept  in  total  ignorance; 
tliat  tliey  were  not  tauglit  even  to  read  and  write,  and  that  tlie  men 
alone  were  allowed  to  learn,  and  that  there  was  no  female  to  teach  you. 
She  therefore  felt  much  sorrow  for  your  state,  and  determined  to  leave 
her  country,  her  pareuts,  her  friends,  and  every  other  advantage,  and 
come  here  for  the  sole  puri)ose  of  educatini;  your  female  cliildren." 

"  They  with  one  voice  cried  out,  smiting  their  bosoms  with  their  right 
hands,  '  Oh.  what  a  pearl  of  a  woman  is  this!' 

"  I  added,  '  She  has  given  up  every  eartlily  expectation  to  come  here  : 
she  seeks  not  the  riches  of  this  world,  but  that  she  may  promote  your 
best  interests.' 

"  '  Our  children  are  yours !  we  give  them  to  you  ! '  replied  two  or  throe 
of  the  mothers  at  once.' 

Two  days  afterwards  this  lady  went  again  : — 

"One  asked,  'What  will  l)e  tlie  u.se  of  learning  to  our  female 
children  !'  " 

"  T  said.  '  It  will  enable  them  to  be  more  useful  to  their  families  :  and 
it  will  tend  to  gain  them  resjiect,  and  increase  the  harmony  of  families." 

"  '  True,'  said  one,  "  our  husbands  now  look  upon  us  as  little  better 
than  brutes.' 


200         India  :   The  Opened  Door  ;  the  Entering  In 

Part  III.      "  Another  said,  '  And  what  benefit  will  yoih  derive  ?  ' 
1812-24.        "  '  The  only  return  we  wish  is  to  promote  your  happiness.' 
Chap.  15.       "  '  Then  I  suppose  this  is  a  holy  work,  and  pleasing  to  your  God.' " 

It  is  a  far  cry  from  this  simple  beginning  to  the  accomplished 
Christian  Indian  ladies  who  are  graduates  of  the  Universities  ;  yet 
the  one  has  led  on,  step  by  step,  to  the  other.  Miss  Cooke,  at 
least,  had  faith  to  beheve  in  great  results.  In  a  few  weeks, 
petitions  began  to  come  to  her  asking  for  a  girls'  school  in  this 
and  that  street,  and  when  she  sent  to  England  her  first  report,  she 
could  tell  of  fifteen  schools  at  work,  and  nearly  four  hundred  girls 
in  attendance.  Eurasian  girls  had  been  obtained  from  the  Female 
Orphan  Asylum  as  teachers.  Miss  Cooke  suggested  that  Girls' 
Schools  throughout  England  should  be  invited  to  contribute 
specially  to  this  work;  and,  recollecting  the  Eoyal  Letter  in 
favour  of  the  S.P.G.  four  years  before,  she  added,  "  Would  that 
the  King  would  command  a  Sermon  to  be  preached  for  the  Cause 
throughout  his  Dominions  !  "  Meanwhile  the  Calcutta  Committee, 
true  to  their  principle  of  appealing  primarily  to  the  English  in 
India,  opened  a  special  fund,  which  speedily  reached  3000 
rupees,  the  Marquis  of  Hastings  (the  Governor- General)  and  the 
Marchioness  giving  200  each. 

A  year  or  two  after  this.  Miss  Cooke  was  married  to  one  of  the 
new  missionaries,  the  Eev.  Isaac  Wilson  ;  but  she  continued  her 
labours  zealously,  both  during  her  married  life  and  long  after  she 
became  a  widow  in  1828. 

Bombay.  Leaving  North  India,  we  come  to  the  Bombay  Presidency.  In 
1818,  a  Corresponding  Committee  was  formed  by  the  Eev.  Thomas 
Carr,  another  of  the  zealous  chaplains  (afterwards  first  Bishop  of 
Bombay) ;  and  in  1820,  a  Cheshire  curate,  the  Eev.  E.  Kenney, 
was  sent  out  by  the  Society,  the  first  missionary  of  the  Church  of 
England  in  Western  India.  He  began  earnestly,  but  he  only 
stayed  six  years,  and  the  work  for  long  after  that  was  on  a  very 
small  scale. 

Madras.  The  story  of  the  Missions  in  the   South  is  very  different.     It 

was  in  the  Madras  Presidency  that  the  Danish  and  German  Mis- 
sions, supported  by  the  S.P.C.K.,  had  been  carried  on  all  through 
the  eighteenth  century.  The  most  important  centres  were  Tranque- 
bar,  which  always  remained  in  direct  connexion  with  Denmark, 
and  Tanjore,  Trichinopoly,  and  Madras,  which  were  definitely 
S.P.C.K.  Missions.  As  before  mentioned,  the  work  had  greatly 
languished  after  the  death  of  Schwartz,  and  was  at  its  lowest  ebb 
during  the  first  twenty  years  of  this  century.  I.  C.  Kohlhoft"  was 
at  Tanjore,  and  Pohle  at  Trichinopoly  ;  and  there  were  a  few 
Natives  also  in  Lutheran  orders,  who  were  called  "country 
priests."  Three  more  were  so  ordained  in  1818,  four  years  after 
there  was  a  Bishop  in  India,  a  notable  circumstance  in  S.P.C.K. 
history.  The  earhest  C.M.S.  missionaries  were  sent  to  assist 
these  Missions.  Schnarre,  and  afterwards  Bilrenbruck,  were  in 
charge  at  Tranquebar,  after  the  death  of  the  Danish  veteran  Dr. 


India:   The  Opened  Door;  the  Entering  In        201 

John  ;    and  Ehcnius  and  L.  Schmid  at  Madras.     But  the  latter  1'akt  III. 
brethren,     and    others    who    followed    them,     among    whom    J  ^^S 

Kidsdale  should  be  specially  named,  presently  began  independent      

work  in  and  around  the  capital.  A  church  was  built  m  Black 
Town  (the  most  populous  native  quarter  of  INIadras)  m  loiJ ;  ^^ihi 
the  three  methods  already  specified  in  the  account  of  r«Jorth 
India  were  all  adopted  also  at  Madras.  Tamil  books  and  tracts 
were  prepared  and  printed  in  large  numbers  at  the  mission  press, 
and  some  Telugu  works  also;  many  vernacular  schools  were 
opened  ;    and  a    Seminary    for    training   Native   evangehsts   was 

But  the  principal  interest  of  the  Southern  Missions  is  derived  Jra^van- 
from  Travancore  and  Tinnevelly.  Concerning  Travancore  it 
need  only  be  said  here  that  Norton,  one  of  the  first  two  Eng  ish 
ordained  missionaries,  was  sent  there  shortly  after  his  arrival  in 
India  in  1815,  and  took  up  his  residence  in  the  following  year  at 
AUepie,  where  he  laboured  twenty-five  years,  and  died  at  his  post; 
and  that  the  famous  triumvirate,  Benjamin  Bailey,  Henry  Baker, 
and  Joseph  Fenn,  went  to  Cottayam  in  1818-19.  These  three 
were  specially  commissioned  to  work  for  the  revival  of  the  Syrian 
Church ;  and  this  branch  of  the  Society's  enterprise  will  come 
before  us  in  another  chapter.  _  ,     Tvr    i 

Of  Tinnevelly,  the  famous  southernmost  province  in  the  Madras  r^nne- 
Presidency,    more    must   be   said.     Its  missionary  history   dates  ^1,,^- 
back  to  1771,  in  which  year  Schwartz's  journal  mentions  that  one  «  ^^ 
of  his  Native  Christians  from  Trichinopoly  was  reading  the  Gospel 
to  the  Heathen  there.     In  1778,  Schwartz  himself  visited  Palam- 
cotta,    the    English    capital   of   the   province,    three    miles    from 
Tinnevelly  town,  and  found  a  few  Christians  there.     He  baptized 
a  Brahman  widow  who  had   been   living  with  an  English  ofiicer, 
and    been    taught    by  him    the   rudiments   of    Christianity.     She 
received  the  name  of  Clorinda,  and  w^as  afterwards  chiefly  instru- 
mental   in    building   a   little    church.       In    1780,    Pohle    visited 
Palamcotta,  and  organized  the  congregation  ;  and  m  1786,  when 
Schwartz  paid  them  a  second  visit,  they  numbered   160  persons. 
In  1790  he  ordained,  according  to  the  Lutheran  use,  one  of  his 
best  catechists,  Satvanadhan,  and  put  him  in  charge,  speaking  of 
his    zeal,    love,    aiid    self-denial,    in    the    highest    terms.      This 
ordination  was  the  one  over  which   the  S.P.C.K.  so  rejoiced,  as 
before    mentioned. ''=      As    a  further  evidence  of  its   sense  of  the 
importance  of  this   opening,  the   S.P.C.K.  sent  JuMiicke,  a  new 
German  missionary,  to  Tinnevelly,  and  he  laboured  there  till  his 
death  in  1800.     The    harvest  from  the  seed  sown  by  him  and 
Satyanadhan  was  great.     Thousands  were  baptized  by  Gencke, 
one   of   the   Tanjore  missionaries,  in  the  first  five  years  of  this 
century  ;  no  less  tlian  5095  in  three  months  in  1802.     But  from 
1806  to  1816  no  missionary  visited  Tinnevelly;   there  were,  in 

•  See  p.  23. 


S.P.C.K. 


efforts. 


202         India  :   The  Opened  Door  ;  the  Entering  in 

Part  III.  fact,  as  we  have  seen,  none  to  go ;  and  the  work  fell  all  to  pieces. 

Ch^^is'  -'^^^■^^P^  ^^^^  bai^tizing  had  been  too  rapid  ;  certainly  the  caste 
^P"  ■  customs  tolerated  were  themselves  enough  to  eat  the  life  out  of 
the  Christian  community ;  and  in  1816  there  were  only  3000 
professing  Christians  left. 

2i°"f^i^^  "  ■'■^  *^^*  y®^^  another  of  the  good  chaplains,  the  Eev.  James 
Hough,  was  appointed  to  Palamcotta  ;  and  to  him  is  due  the  re- 
organization, revival,  and  extension  of  the  Missions  in  Tinnevelly. 
He  at  once  made  diligent  inquiries  about  the  Christians,  and  found 
the  three  thousand  souls  scattered  among  sixty  villages,  without 
schools,  and  without  Tamil  Testaments  even  for  the  few  who  could 
read.  But  they  were  living  in  peace,  and  on  the  whole  he  was 
pleased.  The  two  chief  villages  were  Nazareth  and  Mothellur, 
where  he  found  "  country  priests  "  ministering  to  the  people. 
He  at  once  sent  a  report  home  to  the  S.P.C.K.,  but  without 
waiting  for  its  aid  he  at  his  own  expense  started  schools  and 
obtained  Testaments,  Prayer-books,  and  tracts  from  Madras,  and 
himself  began  to  learn  Tamil.  The  S.P.C.K.  supplied  a  little 
money,  but  could  send  no  men,  being  unable  to  reinforce  even  its 
larger  Missions  in  Tanjore  and  Trichinopoly.  At  length  Hough 
applied  to  the  CM. S.  Corresponding  Committee  at  Madras  ;  and 
in  1820  Ehenius  and  B.  Schmid  were  sent  to  Palamcotta.  They 
were  warmly  welcomed  by  Hough,  who  was  on  the  point  of 
retiring  in  Ijroken  health.     He  wrote  to  the  Society  : — 

"  I  can  now  look  forward  to  my  approaching  departure  hence  with 
less  regret.  Yet,  as  the  scone  of  my  labours,  the  object  of  my  anxieties, 
the  subject  of  my  prayers,  and  the  source  of  my  delight,  for  four  years 
past,  I  cannot  entertain  tlie  thought  of  quitting  it  foi-  ever  without 
painful  emotion.  I  am  most  thankful  for  having  been  permitted  to 
make  a  small  beginning  here  in  the  noble  work  of  turning  the  Heathen 
from  darkness  to  light,  and  from  the  power  of  Satan  unto  God." 

For  several  years  these  two  good  men  bore  the  whole  burden 
of  the  Tinnevelly  Mission.  Schmid  supervised  the  schools  ; 
Ehenius,  with  his  attractive  personality  and  perfect  knowledge 
of  Tamil,  shepherded  the  S.P.C.K.  congregations  and  directed  the 
S.P.C.K.  catechists,  and  also,  by  his  preaching  all  over  the  district, 
started  extensive  new  work  under  his  own  Society.  The  transfer 
of  the  S.P.C.K.  Missions  to  the  S.P.G.,  the  arrival  of  the  first 
S.P.G.  missionaries,  the  friendly  division  of  the  territory,  and  the 
further  development  of  C.M.S.  work,  belong  to  a  later  period. 
Here  it  may  suffice  to  say  that,  under  Ehenius's  holy  influence 
and  untiring  energy,  there  seemed  for  a  time  as  if  an  old  pre- 
diction of  Jaenicke's  might  be  fulfilled  :  "  There  is  every  reason 
to  hope  that  at  a  future  period  Christianity  will  prevail  in  the 
Tinnevelly  district." 


Rhenius. 


ClIAPTEU   XVI. 

"Insular  Missions":  New  Zealand,  Ceylon,  West 
Indies,  Malta. 

Samuel  Marsden  and  the  Maoris  The  New  Zealand  Mission- 
Christmas  Day,  1814  The  Lay  Settlers— Trials  and  Disappoint- 
ments—Henry and  William  Williams— The  Openings  in  Ceylon 
and  the  First  Missionaries— Antigua.  Barbadoes,  Honduras— Malta 
as  a  Centre  of  Influence. 

'•  T,ff  (liriii   .   .   .   th'rhire  His  praise  in  the  islands." — Isa.  xlii.  12. 

HE  term  "Insular  Missions"  is  not  a  recognized  one  Part  III. 
in    C.M.S.  phraseology;    but    it    is   to   be  found    m  ^^,^^^ -Jg 

occasional   use  in  the  early  Keports,  and  in  that    of       ^_ 

1820  a  very  interesting  passage  is  quoted  and  adopted 
from  the  local  Report  of  one  of  the  Associations  (not 
named),  which  puts  the  thought  of  the  Isles  of  the  Sea  in  a  very 
striking'way.  After  surveying  the  Continents  of  Asia  and  Africa, 
the  "  Insular  Missions,"  it' is  suggested,  might  seem  little  worthy  isUnd 
of  notice.  "  But  7chat  is  it  that  has  placed  us,  the  inhal)itants  of  ^„'|X"' 
the  British  Islands,  but  a  few  ages  since  scarcely  included  m  the  BntUh 
known  world,  and  described  only  by  the  whiteness  of  our  clilTs, 
the  tin  on  our  coast,  and  our  strange  superstitions — trJiat  has 
placed  us  in  a  position  from  which  we  parcel  out  the  globe?  .  .  . 
And  who  shall  sav  that  the  Cinghalese,  or  the  New  Zealandcrs, 
or  the  West  Indian  brethren  of  those  Africans  in  whom  so  wonder- 
ful a  change  has  already  taken  place,  may  not,  when  our  still 
enlarging  Missions  shall'  have  made  them  fully  acquainted  with 
Him  "through  \Viiom  all  have  access  by  one  Spirit  unto  the  same 
Father,  rise  to  our  elevation,  or  even  reach  a  standard  of  spiiitiuil 
dignity  and  power  which  Christendom  has  not  known  since  the 
Apostolic  Age?  "  Might  not  those  Islands,  continues  this  Report, 
"one  day  inquire  in  </;c//- Missionary  Meetings  how  the  British 
Church  may  be  revived  ?  " 

Several  great  islands  in  the  various  oceans  presented  them- 
selves from  time  to  time  to  the  thoughts  of  the  C.M.S.  leaders. 
Ceylon  came  into  view  in  the  very  first  year.  The  West  Indies, 
and  Madagascar,  and  Sumatra,  and  the  Malay  Archipelago,  were 
brought  mider  their  notice  by  governors,  chaplains,  and  other 
Englishmen  resident  or  interested  in  them.  Malta— great  his- 
torically and  strategically,  if  not  in  size— asked  for  help  by  the 


204  '''•Insular  Missions^* : 

Part  III.  mouth  of  a  Eoman  Catholic  priest.  The  innumerable  islands  of 
pP^^^t'  the  Southern  Seas  might  have  been  suggested  by  the  great  enter- 
^^^'  '  prise  of  the  London  Missionary  Society  in  some  of  them  ;  but 
perhaps  the  very  fact  that  they  were  partly  thus  provided  for 
excluded  them  from  consideration,  as  they  are  never  alluded  to  as 
a  possible  field.  But  a  Mission  to  New  Zealand  was  the  second 
undertaken  by  the  Society ;  and  not  one  of  its  Missions  has  a  more 
thrilling  history. 

New  Zealand. 

The  shipping  of  the  first  cargo  of  convicts  to  Botany  Bay  has 
been  referred  to  in  a  previous  chapter  as  one  of  the  several  events 
that  marked  in  so  striking  a  way  the  year  1786.     The  second  of 
the  Government  chaplains  sent  out  to  the  settlement  thus  formed 
Samuel       was  Samucl  Marsden,  whose  heroic  enterprise,  prolonged  through 
h?  N^w"     ™oi'e  than  forty  years,  has  justly  earned  for  him  the  title  of  the 
South  Apostle  of  New   Zealand.     The   son  of  a  Yorkshire  tradesman, 

Wales.  ggj-j|-  ^Q  Cambridge  by  the  Elland  Society  (an  association  for 
assisting  godly  men  to  study  for  holy  orders),  he  was  appointed  in 
1793,  through  the  recommendation  of  Wilberforce,  chaplain  to  the 
penal  establishment.  "For  many  years,"  to  use  the  words  of 
Dean  Jacobs,  the  historian  of  the  Church  of  New  Zealand,  "he 
carried  on  singlehanded  a  most  determined  struggle  against  the 
vilest  imaginable  iniquities,  the  grossest  abuses  of  authority,  and 
the  most  shameless  licentiousness  shielded  by  official  influence. 
As  a  sure  consequence,  he  provoked  the  virulent  opposition  of 
powerful  and  unscrupulous  adversaries — men  interested  in  main- 
taining the  abuses  he  exposed — who  strove  for  years,  though 
happily  without  success,  to  blacken  his  character  and  drive  him 
from  the  Colony."  *  With  this  conflict,  however,  we  have 
nothing  to  do.  But  while  Marsden  was  faithfully  doing  his  duty 
to  God  and  man  in  New  South  Wales,  and  while  he  did  not 
neglect,  as  we  shall  see  hereafter,  the  downtrodden  and  degraded 
aborigines  of  Australia,  his  sympathies  were  especially  drawn  out 
towards  the  Maori  race  of  New  Zealand. 

New  Zealand  was  so  named  by  the  Dutch  navigator,  Tasman, 
who  discovered  the  islands  in  1642.  He  did  not,  however,  venture 
to  land,  in  the  face  of  the  warlike  demonstration  made  against 
him  by  the  Natives  ;  and  it  was  left  to  Captain  Cook,  more  than  a 
century  later  (1769),  to  begin  friendly  intercourse  with  them. 
But  the  adventurous  traffic  that  sprang  up  in  the  South  Seas  in 
consequence  of  Cook's  discoveries  was  marked  by  the  treachery 
and  fraud  and  violence  by  which  the  pioneers  of  so-called 
"Christian  commerce  and  civilization"  among  barbarous  races 
have  so  often  disgraced  the  Christian  name.  The  authentic 
accounts  of  the  merciless  cruelties  perpetrated  by  English  traders 
on  the  Maoris,  who  in  good  faith  put  themselves  in  their  power, 

*  Colonial  Church  Histories :  New  Zealand.  By  the  Very  Rev.  Henry 
Jacobs,  D.D.,  Dean  of  Christchurch,  New  Zealand.     S.P.C.K.,  1888. 


J^Eiv  Zealand,  Ceylon^   West  Indie';,  Malta        20? 

give  the  reader  the  same  kind  of  sickening  shudder  that  one  feels  TaRt  m. 
on  seeing  dumb  animals  wantonly  ill-treated.     Of  course  retalia-  ^i«i^  ^• 
tion  ensued  whenever  a  chance  for  it  occurred.     Nevertheless,  the      J_ 
Maori  savages,  fierce  as  they  were,  and  addicted  to  cannibalism, 
proved  to  be  one  of  the  finest  aboriginal  races  with  whom  English- 
men ever  came  in  contact. 

The  first  Maoris  that  :Marsden  saw  were  two  men  who  had  l^een  Marsden 
brought  by  Captain  King,  Governor  of  the  penal  settlement  on  Maoris. 
Norfolk  Island,  to  Port  Jackson  (the  great  inlet  now  known  as 
Sydney  Harbour),  with  a  view  to  their  giving  hints  on  the  cultiva- 
tion of  New  Zealand  flax  {jjhormium  tcnax).  Subsequently  others 
came  over  to  New  South  Wales,  and  Marsden  strove  to  do  them 
good  and  bring  them  under  the  sound  of  the  Gospel.  He  con- 
stantly received  them  at  his  own  house  at  Paramatta  (fifteen  miles 
inland  from  Sydney),  and  put  up  huts  in  his  garden  for  their 
accommodation,  as  many  as  thirty  being  sometimes  there  at  once. 
There  were  awkward  incidents  now  and  then.  On  one  occasion 
a  lad  died  who  was  the  nephew  of  a  chief,  and  his  uncle  was 
about  to  kill  a  slave,  to  attend  his  spirit  in  the  invisi])le  woild. 
With  great  diflicultv  he  was  persuaded  to  defer  it  till  Marsden, 
who  was  absent,  came  home.  Then  he  had  to  give  way  to 
Marsden's  protestations.  One  of  the  chiefs  entertained  in  1806 
was  a  man  of  great  intelligence  named  Te  Pahi  (Tippaheo),  who 
was  so  struck  bv  what  he  saw  of  the  arts  of  life  that  he  bogged 
for  some  one  to  be  sent  over  to  teach  his  countrymen.  In  1808,  ^ars^den-s 
Marsden  visited  England,  and  at  once  came  to  the  Church  c^Si.s. 
Missionary  Society  to  plead  for  the  Maori. 

The  Society  w^as  then  still  in  its  infancy.  It  had  sent  out 
exactly  five  missionaries,  and  these  to  a  Mission-field  compara- 
tively near,  and  familiar  to  the  leaders  through  the  Sierra  Leone 
Company,  and  indeed  to  some  of  them,  Zachary  Macaulay  and 
Melville  Home  for  instance,  from  personal  knowledge.  Now  they 
were  asked  to  send  men  to  the  Antipodes,  to  a  land  w^hence  it 
would  take  twelve  months  to  get  an  answer  to  a  letter,  to  a  race 
of  warlike  barbarians  among  whom  no  Europeans  had  yet  settled. 
It  must  have  been  a  startling  suggestion,  even  to  men  of  faith  like 
Pratt  and  John  Venn.  Moreover  they  had  had  a  serious  warning 
regarding  the  South  Seas  by  the  disasters  and  disappointments 
that  had  attended  the  London  Missionary  Society's  great  enter- 
prise. Nevertheless,  after  the  second  Committee  meeting  for  the 
consideration  of  the  proposal,  it  was  decided  to  accept  it.  After 
all,  no  elaborate  scheme  was  before  them;  no  gi'eat  company  of 
settlers,  going  forth  in  their  own  ship,  as  in  the  case  of  Tahiti, 
was  asked  for.  Marsden  did  not  even  suggest  a  "  Mission,"  in 
our  sense  of  the  word.  He  only  asked  for  three  mechanics.  His 
theory  was  the  theory  of  many  now  who  know  nothing  of  the 
history  of  Missions.  There  is  no  excuse  for  them  now  ;  but  there 
was  much  excuse  for  INIarsden  and  the  Society  then.  The 
theory  seemed    reasonable    on    the  surface ;    and    they  had   no 


The  "lay 


206  ^^  Insular  Missions  ^^ : 

Part  III.  experience  to  correct  it.     It  was  this,  expressed  in  Marsden's  own 
1812-24.   ,vords:- 

Chap.  16.  ...    . 

"Nothing  in  my  opinion  can  pave  tlio  way  for  the  introthiction  of  tlie 

Gospel  but  civilization, — and  that  can  only  be  acconiplishod  among 
the  Heathen  by  the  arts.  .  .  .  The  arts  and  religion  should  go  together. 
The  attention  of  the  Heathen  can  be  gained,  and  their  vagrant  habits 
corrected,  only  by  the  arts.  Till  their  attention  is  gained,  and  moral 
and  industrious  habits  are  induced,  little  or  no  progress  can  be  made  in 
teaching  them  the  Gospel.  ...  To  preach  the  Gospel  without  the  aid 
of  the  arts  will  never  succeed  among  the  Heathen  for  any  time." 

Marsden  and  the  Society  were  to  learn  the  fallacy  of  this 
by  hard  experience,  and  it  was  the  New  Zealand  Mission  that 
was  to  teach  them.  However,  two  men  were  found  who  seemed 
settlers."  suitable,  William  Hall,  a  joiner,  recommended  by  Mr.  Fawcett 
of  Carlisle,  and  John  King,  a  shoemaker,  recommended  by 
Daniel  Wilson,  then  at  Oxford  (as  Vice-Principal  of  St.  Edmund 
Hall).  It  did  not  occur  to  the  Committee  to  give  them  any 
theological  instruction.  They  were  plain  Christian  men,  and  if 
they  were  by-and-by  to  give  any  teaching  at  all,  it  would  be  of 
the  simplest  character.  But  they  did  have  some  preparation. 
Hall  was  sent  to  Hull  to  learn  something  of  ship-building  and 
navigation,  and  King  to  a  rope-walk  to  learn  spinning,  &g.  The 
third  man  wanted  should  have  been  a  smith  ;  but  a  smith  did  not 
appear.  Basil  Woodd,  however,  brought  a  young  schoolmaster, 
who  also  understood  farming,  Thomas  Kendall.  Humble  as  such 
a  band  was,  it  was  found  desirable  to  secure  the  "favour"  of 
Lord  Castlereagh,  then  Secretary  for  the  Colonies,  and  of  Colonel 
Macquarie,  who  was  going  out  to  New  South  Wales  as  Governor. 
A  passage  was  obtained,  with  some  difficulty,  for  Hall  a»d  King 
by  the  transport-ship  Ann  (by  which  Mr.  Marsden  also  sailed),  on 
condition  of  their  lending  a  hand  on  the  voyage  when  required. 
They  were  to  have  £20  a  year  for  personal  expenses,  and  to  be 
provided  with  seeds,  live  stock,  and  tools,  and  then  to  maintain 
themselves.  They  are  never  called  "missionaries"  in  the  old 
Eeports,  but  at  first  "  lay  settlers,"  and  some  years  later 
"  teachers."  Kendall,  who  did  not  sail  till  later,  is  called  "  school- 
master "  until  his  ordination. 
Their  in-  Inexperienced  as  the  Committee  were  in  such  a  Mission  as  this 
"'""'"  — Qy.  indeed  in  any  Mission — the  Instructions  to  Hall  and  King 

are  singularly  good  and  wise.  The  Society's  object,  they  said, 
was  "  to  introduce  amongst  the  Natives  the  knowledge  of  Christ ; 
and  in  order  to  this,  the  Arts  of  Civilized  Life."  The  men  are 
instructed  as  to  both  their  religious  and  their  civil  life.  As 
regards  religious  conduct,  they  are  enjoined  (1)  to  guard  earnestly 
the  sacredness  of  the  sabbath-day ;  (2)  never  to  omit  family 
worship,  and  to  "  perform  it  as  publicly  as  possible,  by  reading 
Scripture  or  singing  "  loud  enough  to  be  heard  by  a  passing 
Native."  "  To  show  them  that  you  worship  your  God  every 
day,  as  Daniel  did,  cannot  but  make  some  impression  on   them." 


structions. 


New  Zealand^   Cf.ylon^    West  Indies^  Malta         207 

(3)  They  were  to  converse  with  the  Natives  about  sin  and  Part  I'IL 
salvation  "  when  employed  in  planting  potatoes,  sowing  corn,  ||^'^~^"*; 
or  in  any  other  occupation."  (4)  They  were  to  gather  the  '^P^^- 
children  together  for  instruction  as  soon  as  possible.  "  While 
catechizing  them,  you  may  speak  through  them  to  the  grown 
people."  Then  as  regards  civil  conduct,  they  are  bidden  (1)  to 
"spend  no  time  in  idleness,"  but  "occupy  every  moment  set 
apart  for  laI)our  in  agriculture,  building  houses  or  boats, 
spinning  twine,  or  some  other  useful  occupation."  "  If  you 
indulge  in  idleness,  you  will  be  ruined."  (2)  To  make  them- 
selves independent  in  respect  of  provisions,  by  cultivating  grain 
and  rearing  pigs  and  poultry.  (3)  To  give  no  presents  to  the 
Natives,  and  to  receive  none.  (4)  To  show  the  Natives  the 
advantage  of  industry  by  sending  their  handiwork  (mats,  &c.)  to 
Port  Jackson  for  sale.  (5)  On  no  account  to  be  drawn  into  wars. 
"Tell  them  you  are  forbidden  by  the  Chiefs  who  have  sent  you 
out.'.' 

The  .-!////  sailed  in  August,  1809,  and  reached  Port  Jackson  in  Their 
February.  On  the  voyage  one  of  those  unexpected  incidents  ^°y^^^- 
occurred  which  in  missionary  history  have  so  often  displayed 
the  particular  providence  of  God.  A  poor,  haggard  Maori  was 
found  on  board,  who,  after  the  strangest  adventures,  and  after 
the  most  barbarous  treatment  by  English  captains,  had  been 
brought  to  England  and  turned  ashore  to  starve  ;  and  this  Maori, 
whose  name  was  Euatara,"  proved  to  be  a  nephew  of  the  chief 
Te  Pahi,  and  himself  a  chief  likewise.  His  joy  at  learning  the 
errand  of  Hall  and  King  may  be  imagined,  and  he  eagerly 
promised  them  all  assistance  and  protection  in  his  power.  But 
on  arriving  at  Port  Jackson,  Marsden  and  his  party  had  to  meet 
a  grievous  disappointment.  News  had  just  come  that  the 
British  ship  Boijd  luul  been  burnt  by  the  Maoris,  and  the  crew 
killed  and  eaten.  This,  it  was  afterwards  proved,  was  but  in 
retaliation  for  murders  by  traders  ;  and  in  its  turn  the  massacre 
was  revenged  by  a  party  of  whalers,  who  attacked  and  burnt  Te 
Pahi's  village,  although  he  himself  had  done  all  in  his  power  to 
save  the  crew  of  the  Boyd,  and  did  in  fact  save  some  of  them. 
But  these  sad  events  put  an  end  to  any  hope  of  a  speedy  settle- 
ment in  New  Zealand. 

After  some  months  of  weary  waiting,  a  whaling-ship  was  found  Long 
willing  to  take  the  young  chief  Ruatara  and  land  him  in  New  '^^'''^'^• 
Zealand,  and  he  was  sent  in  her  to  ascertain  the  prospects  of 
safely  settling  there.  But  nothing  was  heard  of  him  for  more 
than  a  year,  and  Marsden  could  only  wait  anxiously,  while  the 
Society  at  home  began  almost  to  despair  of  the  enterprise.  At 
last  Ruatara  appeared  at  Port  Jackson.  The  captain  of  the 
whaler  had  refused  to  land  him  in  New  Zealand,  but  carried  him 
off  to  Norfolk  Island  and  put  him  ashore  destitute  ;  and  at  length 

*  Wiitteu  in  the  earlier  Reports  "Duaterra." 


2o8  ''^Insular  Missions  ^^ : 

Tart  III.  he  had  persuaded  another  ship  retiirniug  to  Port  Jackson  to 
1812-24.   take  him  back  thither.     Another  attempt  was  made  after  a  while, 

Chap.  16.  g^^j  |.]^jg  |.jj^g  Euatara  did  land  ;  and  the  resnlt  of  his  intercourse 
with  the  other  chiefs  was  that  though  they  received  his  descrip- 
tions of  civilized  life  with  mocking  scepticism,  they  agreed  to 
welcome  the  settlers. 

opposi-  But  now  Marsden  encountered  fresh  obstacles.     The  Colony  of 

tion  of         New  South  Wales  thought  the  extermination   of  Maori   savages 

colonists  •  ^ 

more  desirable  than  their  conversion ;  and  the  traders  who  were 
profiting  by  fraud  and  violence  all  over  the  Southern  Ocean 
objected  to  any  attempt  by  missionaries,  w^hether  in  New 
Zealand  or  at  Tahiti,  to  preach  honesty  and  morality  and  peace. 
Every  possible  slander  was  set  on  foot  against  Marsden ;  no  one 
supported  him ;  no  ship  would  take  him  and  his  mechanics 
across ;  nor  indeed  would  the  Governor  give  him  temporary 
leave  from  his  duties  as  chaplain  to  enable  him  to  go.  At  last 
he  purchased  a  small  brig  of  110  tons,  the  Active,  and  sent 
Kendall  and  Hall  over  to  make  further  inquiries ;  and  on  their 
return  with  a  favourable  report,  and  bringing  Euatara  and  other 
Marsden  chicfs  witlTi  them,  the  Governor  gave  him  permission  to  go,  and 
to  New  i?iike  the  whole  party  with  him,  i.e.  the  three  men  from  England, 
with  their  wives  and  children,  and  half  a  dozen  mechanics  from 
Port  Jackson,  and  the  Maori  chiefs.  The  strange  condition  of 
South  Sea  society  at  the  time  may  be  gathered  from  the  com- 
position of  the  crew  of  the  Active :  one  Englishman,  one  Irish- 
man, one  Prussian,  one  Swede,  one  Norwegian,  one  American,  one 
white  Colonist,  one  Maori,  two  Tahitians,  and  one  Sandwich 
Islander ! 

These  few  details  have  been  given  in  order  to  convey,  if 
possible,  some  slight  idea  of  the  difficulties  attending  even  the 
preparations  for  a  Mission  to  New  Zealand  in  those  days.  It 
was  now  November,  1814.  Five  years  and  three  months  had 
elapsed  since  the  Ann  left  England.  Another  year  and  three 
months  were  yet  to  pass  before  the  Society  at  home  heard  of 
the  settlement  having  really  been  begun.  This  was  not  sowing 
the  seed  and  waiting  patiently  for  the  harvest.  It  was  waiting 
for  even  an  opportunity  to  sow  the  seed.  Truly  patience  had  her 
perfect  work  in  those  days  ! 

The  voyage  from  Sydney  to  North  Cape,  the  northern  ex- 
tremity of  New  Zealand,  about  1000  miles  due  east,  is  now  done 
in  four  or  five  days  by  steamer.  The  Active  left  Port  Jackson  on 
November  28th,  and  sighted  North  Cape  on  December  15th,  a 
good  voyage  for  a  little  sailing  vessel.  The  Bay  of  Islands, 
whither  she  was  bound,  being  the  entrance  to  the  district  where 
Euatara  and  other  friendly  chiefs  were  dominant,  is  a  little  to 
the  south  of  North  Cape,  on  the  further  (east)  side.  How  Marsden 
heard  that  a  deadly  feud  had  sprung  up  between  Euatara's  tribe 
and  another ;  how  he  at  once  landed,  despite  Euatara's  warnings, 
and,  with  only  one  Sydney  man  and  an  interpreter,  went,  un- 


New  Zealand^   Ceylon^    West  Indies^  Malta        209 

armed,  straight  to  the  hostile  party  ;  how  he  slept  that  night  in  Part  III, 
their    midst    under   the   open   canopy   of   heaven;    how    in   the    |8]2-24. 
morning   he  persuaded  them  to  make  peace  ;    how  he  went  on       "^" 
joyfully  with  his  whole  party  to  Euatara's  tribe  ;  how  the  horse, 
the  bull,    and   the  cows   he  had  brought   with    him,  excited  the 
Natives,  whose  largest  animal  was  the  pig ;  how  everything  be- 
tokened a  prosperous  start  for  the  settlement, — has  often  been 
told,  and  can  be  read  again  and  again  with  deepest  interest.     Let 
us   come   to   Christmas   Day.       It   fell    that    year    on    Sunday.  Christmas 
Ruatara   had    gathered   his    fellow-chiefs   and    people   together.  ^^^^  '^''♦• 
"  A  very  solemn  silence  prevailed.     I  rose  and  began  the  service 
by  singing  the  Old  Hundredth  Psalm,  and  I  felt  my  very  soul 
melt  within  me  when  I  viewed  my  congregation,  and  considered 
the  state  they  were  in.     After  reading  the  service,   I   preached 
from  "St.  Luke  ii.  10,  '  Behold,  I  bring  you  good  tidings  of  great 
joy,  which  shall  be  to  all  people.'  "  '•'     Such  is  Marsden's  simple 
accoimt  of  one   of   the  gi'eat  historic   scenes    in   the   history   of 
Missions, — indeed  one  of  the  really  great  scenes  in  the  history  of 
the  British  Colonial  Empire,  for  the  very  existence  of  the  now 
flourishing  Colony  of  New  Zealand  is  due  to   the   courage   and 
faith  of  Samuel  Marsden  in  flinging  himself  among  the  Maoris. 
The  Mission  he  initiated  on  Christmas  Day,  1814,  tamed  the  race ; 
and  then,  in  poured  the  colonists. 

Marsden  spent  two  months  in  the  country,  and  then  returned 
to  his  own  duties  in  New  South  Wales.  From  Paramatta  he 
sent  a  full  report  of  his  proceedings  home  to  England.  It 
arrived  early  in  1816,  while  Edward  Bickersteth  was  on  his 
voyage  out  to  Africa,  and  just  before  William  Johnson  sailed 
thither.  It  excited  the  liveliest  interest.  There  were  yet  to 
pass  many  years  before  praise  could  ascend  to  God  at  the  news 
of  Maori  conversions ;  but  prayerful  sympathy  was  called  forth, 
and  Africa  had  already  taught  the  Society  that  there  must  be  a 
sowing  in  tears  before  there  could  be  a  reaping  in  joy.  One  ripe 
ear,  however,  was  very  quickly  reaped,  though  not  in  New  Zealand 
itself.  A  young  Maori,  named  Maui  (Mowhee),  who  had  been  a  Maori 
under  Marsden's  instruction  at  Paramatta,  worked  his  way  to  London. 
England  as  a  common  sailor,  and  on  reaching  London  was  taken 
by  the  captain  to  the  Church  Missionary  House.  The  Society 
received  him,  and  sent  him  to  Basil  Woodd  at  Paddington  ;  and 
there  he  showed  evident  signs  of  Divine  grace  in  his  heart.  He 
set  to  work  to  learn  how  to  teach,  hoping  to  go  back  to  his 
own  countiy  as  a  teacher;  but,  as  in  the  case  of  Simeon  Wilhelm 

*  Seventy-eight  years  after,  on  September  2Sth,  1802,  the  C.^r.S.  Deputa- 
tion to  the  Colonies  landed  at  the  beaatiful  city  of  Auckland,  a  little  south  of 
the  Bay  of  Islands,  and  proceeded  to  the  Cathedral,  where  were  gathered 
the  Bishop  and  clergy  and  a  large  congregation  of  white  colonists.  Marsden's 
text  on  Christmas  Day,  ISll,  was  the  text  of  the  first  address,  and  the 
Church  of  New  Zealand  was  invited  now  to  join  in  sending  on  the  "  pood 
tidings  of  gi-eat  joy '"  to  "  all  i)eople." 

VOL.  I.  P 


2 1  o  "  Ins  ul  a  r  Missions  ' ' ; 

Part  III.  the  Susoo  lad/''  disease  struck  him,  and  he  died  in  the  faith  of 
1812-24.   Christ  on  December  28th,  1816,  just  two  years  after  Marsden's 

Chap,  lb.  chi-igti^^ag  sermon  at  the  Bay  of  Islands.  A  deep  impression 
was  made  by  the  Christian  deaths  of  the  young  Negro  and  the 
young  Maori  in  London,  within  a  few  months  of  each  other,  and 
before  any  decided  encouragement  had  come  to  the  praying 
members  of  the  Society  from  either  Africa  or  New  Zealand. 
The  names  of  Mowhee  and  Simeon  Wilhelm  were  coupled  in 
many  utterances  of  thankfulness  in  sermons  and  speeches  all 
over  England ;  and  both  their  portraits  appear  in  the  same 
volume  of  the  Missionary  Bcgister,  1818. 

Meanwhile  Marsden  was  carrying  on  a  Maori  Seminary  at 
Paramatta,  where  Natives  might  be  more  effectively  trained  in 
"  the  arts  of  life  "  under  his  own  eye  than  in  New  Zealand  itself ; 
suitable  men  being  sent  over  from  time  to  time.  This  Seminary 
lasted  for  some  years,  with  varying  fortunes.      At   the   Bay   of 

The  Islands,  the  little  band  of  settlers  were  patiently  trying  to  win 

settfemenT  their  Way  among  the  Maoris.  It  proved  wearying  and  discourag- 
ing work.  Euatara  had  died  before  Marsden  left,  and  the  loss  of 
his  help  and  protection  w^as  keenly  felt.  Savagery  of  all  kinds 
abounded  ;  robberies  were  incessant ;  and  repeatedly  the  settlers 
and  their  families  were  warned  at  night  that  they  would  be 
murdered  before  morning.  Hall  and  King  made  no  progress  in 
the  language,  though  Kendall  did  ;  and  it  was  hard  to  get  even 
the  friendly  Natives  to  learn  anything,  whether  reading  or  writing 
or  handicrafts.  And  with  all  this,  there  was  constant  peril  from 
a  settlement  of  escaped  convicts  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  Bay — 
men  of  the  most  reckless  character,  whose  wicked  treatment  of 
the  Maoris  continually  endangered  the  lives  of  all  white  people 
In  1819,  however,  when,  after  the  lapse  of  four  years  and  a  half, 
Marsden  paid  a  second  visit  to  New  Zealand,  taking  with  him  a 
clergyman  sent  out  by  the  Society  to  be  the  spiritual  head  of  the 
Mission — Mr.  Butler, — and  again  when  he  paid  his  third  visit,  in 
1820,— things  looked  brighter  in  several  ways.  The  "  arts  of  life  " 
really  seemed  to  be  progressing.  There  were  fields  of  wheat ; 
there  were  horses  and  cattle  ;  fruit-trees  sent  from  Sydney  were 
flourishing ;  blacksmith's  shops,  saw-pits,  rope-walks,  were  at 
work ;  and  a  boarding-school  was  successful  in  tamiug  and 
teaching  even  the  wild  and  volatile  Maori  children.  Kendall  was 
especially  efficient :  he  was  the  schoolmaster,  the  farmer,  the 
doctor,  and  the  linguist.  He  had  already  prepared  some  small 
papers  in  the  Maori  language.  The  settlers  were  gaining  respect 
and  influence,  insomuch  that,  although,  within  a  year  or  two, 
about  one  hundred  Natives  had  been  murdered  by  European 
traders  and  escaped  convicts,  no  retaliation  had  been  attempted 
upon  the  Mission  settlement.  The  Committee  were  much  en- 
couraged ;  they  saw  the  good  influence  of  even  the  small  beginnings 

*  See  p.  161. 


New  Zealand^   Ceylon,    JFest  Indies,  Malta         211 

of  industrial,  educational,  medical,  and  lin<fuistic  woik  ;  and  they  Part   III. 
hoped  great  things  from  the  etibrts  of  the  new  Governor  of  New    1812-24. 
South  Wales,  Sir  Thomas  Brisbane,  in  putting  down  the  outrages  ^"''''''-  ^^• 
perpetrated    by  Europeans — concerning    which    they    had  in    an 
earlier  Kej)ort  used  this  strong  language  : — 

"  Your  Committee  feel  it  strongly  that  Providential  Guidance  has 
thrown  the  Society,  in  its  two  attempts  among  the  more  unciviHzcd 
Heatlien,  into  conflict  with  the  most  rapacious  of  their  countrymen. 
But  wlietlier  it  respects  Western  Africa  or  New  Zealand,  they  will  not 
cease  to  protest  against  these  enormities,  and  to  wipe  their  hands  of 
these  crimes  :  nor  will  they  desist  from  employing  all  practicable  methods 
of  redress,  till  such  redress  is  actually  obtained." 

But  a  much  darker  period  now  ensued.  A  great  chief  named  Hongi  in 
Hongi,-  who  was  supposed  by  the  missionaries  and  by  Marsden  ^"^land. 
to  be  their  best  Maori  friend  and  one  likely  to  be  soon  influenced 
by  the  Gospel,  came  to  England  with  Kendall.  He  was  received 
with  much  respect  and  kindness  by  the  Society's  leaders  ;  and 
one  good  thing  resulted  from  the  visit— he  and  Kendall  were  sent 
to  Cambridge  for  two  months  to  enable  that  great  scholar.  Pro- 
fessor Samuel  Lee,  "  the  Society's  Orientalist,"  f  to  fix  the  grammar 
of  the  Maori  language  ;  and  the  Grammar  and  Vocabulary  produced 
by  Lee  became  the  foundation  of  all  subsequent  Maori  translations. 
Kendall  was  admitted  to  holy  orders  during  their  stay,  and  high 
hopes  were  entertained  of  the  future  of  the  Mission.  But  it 
turned  out  that  Hongi's  chief  object  in  coming  to  England  was  to 
obtain  guns  and  gunpowder;  that  he  had  obtained  a  large  quantity, 
and  that  on  his  way  back  he  purchased  more  at  Sydney  by  selling 
the  valuable  presents  given  him,  including  some  from  George  IV., 
who  had  granted  him  an  interview  ;  and  his  return  to  New 
Zealand  was  the  signal,  not  for  peace  and  advance  in  civiHzation, 
but  for  war  and  massacre  and  cannibalism.  The  narratives  of  his 
proceedings  are  truly  dreadful ;  and  the  settlers  were  filled  with 
horror  when  they  saw  the  heads  of  men  and  wooien  tossed  about 
in  wild  fury,  and  tit-bits  from  human  corpses  brought  to  their  own 
dwellings  and  offered  to  them  to  eat.  Worst  of  all,  to  the 
shame  and  dismay  of  the  little  band,  Kendall  himself  was  Kendairs 
proved  to  be  the  ally  of  Hongi,  and  seemingly  the  instigator,  not  treachery, 
indeed  of  his  cannibalism,  but  of  his  ambitious  designs.  The 
Society  had  laid  down  strict  rules  against  the  use  of  guns  and 
gunpowder  in  bartering  for  food,  and  honest  men  like  Hall  and 
King  were  ready  to  starve — as  indeed  they  nearly  did— rather  than 
disobey  this  rule.  Kendall  opposed  them,  and  claimed  liberty  to 
trade  in  arms  and  ammunition,  and  one  or  two  of  the  Sydney  men 
sided  with  him.  This  led  to  the  discovery  of  his  alliance  with 
Hongi.  In  the  Eeport  of  1822,  the  Conmiittee  say,  referring  to 
the  change  in  the  chief's  temper  and  attitude, — "  Into  the  cii'cum- 

*  Written  "  Shung-hoe  "  in  the  earlier  Keports. 
t  See  p.  120. 

r   2 


212  "  Ins ular  Missions  " ; 

Part  III.  stances  which  led  to  this   they  will  not  now  enter;    they  have 
_[^12~^'t-   obtained  a    clue    to    them,    which    will   lead,  they   fear,  to    some 
'^^'     '  painful   conclusions."       In   the  following    year    the    Committee 
say  :— 

'•  Had  the  whole  number  of  labourers  in  this  Mission  maintained 
among  these  Heathens  the  Christian  spirit  and  character,  the  Committee 
would  have  made  comparatively  light  of  its  external  difficulties ;  but  it 
is  with  grief  that  they  add  that  its  main  trials  have  arisen  from  within. 
It  has  been  found  requisite,  in  the  faithful  discharge  of  the  duty  which 
Christian  Communities  owe  to  the  honour  of  that  Name  by  which  they 
are  called,  to  separate  from  the  Society  two  Members  of  the  Mission, 
for  conduct  disgraceful  to  their  profession.  The  Committee  trust  that 
it  will  never  become  necessary  again  to  exercise  this  painful  duty :  but 
should  the  necessity  at  any  time  recur,  the  path  of  duty  is  obvious,  as  no 
blessing  from  God  can  be  expected,  but  in  proportion  as  the  simplicity 
and  purity  of  the  Christian  character  are  maintained." 

Agents  Qne  of  the  two  dismissed  was,  of  course,  Kendall ;    the  other 

QismisscQ 

w^as  Mr.  Butler's  son.  In  the  following  year,  a  third  man, 
a  mechanic,  w^as  dismissed ;  and  Mr.  Butler  himself,  who 
had  come  to  England,  withdrew.  But  several  others — thirteen 
had  gone  out  from  England  up  to  1823,  and  some  from  New  South 
Wales — were  working  and  praying  earnestly.  In  the  Report  of 
1824  the  Committee  say  : — 

"  In  the  midst  of  the  evils  which  have  arisen  to  this  Mission  from  the 
sins  of  some  who  have  lieen  engaged  in  it,  and  the  infirmities  of  others, 
God  has  not  left  Himself  without  witness  in  this  land,  but  has  maintained 
among  His  people,  under  all  the  trials  endured  from  the  Natives,  and  the 
still  greater  trials  from  some  of  their  own  body,  faithful  and  devoted 
Labourers,  who,  though  they  have  felt,  to  use  their  own  expression,  as 
'  living  Martyrs,'  have  continued  to  lift  up  holy  hands  in  the  midst  of 
these  savage  tribes,  to  labour  unweariedly  for  their  good,  and  to  cause  the 
light  of  a  meek  and  holy  conversation  to  sliine  aroiind  them." 

When  we  remember  that  all  these  sore  trials  were  burdening  the 
minds  and  hearts  of  the  Committee  in  the  very  year  of  the  terrible 
mortality  at  Sierra  Leone,  described  in  the  Thirteenth  Chapter, 
we  cannot  but  praise  God  that  His  grace  enabled  them  to  hold 
on  with  unfaltering  faith  ;  and  that  the  blessing  vouchsafed  to 
Johnson's  work  at  Regent  was  fresh  in  their  memories  as  a  token, 
after  ail,  of  the  favour  of  the  Lord.  Marsden,  too,  upon  whom 
fell  the  heaviest  burden,  in  grappling  on  the  spot  with  the  diffi- 
culties of  the  Mission,  both  external  and  internal,  never  despaired 
for  a  moment.  He  had  his  previous  experience  with  the  L.M.S. 
Tahiti  Mission  to  fall  back  upon ;  and  that  Mission  now,  after 
years  of  trial,  was  being  blessed  beyond  anticipation  : — 

"  I  had  many  a  battle  to  fight  [he  wrote]  for  years,  with  some  of  the 
first  settlers  sent  out  to  the  Society  Islands,  who  turned  out  unprincipled 
men.  The  Directors  of  the  London  Missionary  Society  despaired  of 
success,  after  they  had  expended  many  thousands  of  jjounds ;  and  they 
frequently  wrote  to  me  on  the  subject,  expressing  theu'  fears  that  they 
must   abandon  the   Mission.     I   never   had   myself,   however,  but   one 


New  Zealand^  Ceylon^    West  Indies^  Malta        213 

opinion  relative  to  that  Mission— and  that  was  that  it  woiikl  succeed  :  Part  III. 
and  God  has  now  blessed  the  word  of  His  grace  to  thousands  of  the  poor  1812-24. 
Heathen  in  those  Islands."  Cl.ap^l6. 

He  added,  significantly,— "  The  way  is  still  open,  if  Lal)Ourerscan 
only  be  procured  fit  for  the  work  ;  and  God  will  find  these  and 
send  them  forth  w^ien  He  sees  meet.  You  have  some  excellent 
ones  of  the  earth  in  New  Zealand,  whom  the  Lord  will  assuredly 
bless;  but  we  must  not  sow  and  expect  to  reap  in  the  same 
day." 

In  that  very  year,  1822,  was  sent  forth  the  man  w^hom  we  may  J*^^^^;^^^ 
regard  as  the  first  of  the  second  generation  of  New  Zealand  mis-  Henry 
sionaries,  and  who  was  destined  in  God's  providence  to  be  one  of  wiihams. 
the  chief  instruments  in  the  evangelization  of  the  Maori  race. 
Henry  Williams  had  been  an  officer  in  the  Na\y,  and  had  served 
in  the  wars  with  both  France  and  the  United  States.  He  offered 
to  the  Society  in  1820,  and  received  his  education  for  the  ministry 
under  a  clerical  relative,  the  Eev.  E.  G.  Marsh.  He  was  the 
second  candidate  to  receive  holy  orders  from  the  Bishop 
of  London  under  the  new  Colonial  Service  Act;='=  and  he  sailed, 
with  his  wife  and  three  children,  on  August  7th,  1822.  The 
Instructions  given  him  are  very  significant.  The  Committee  were 
now  realizing  that  if  Civihzation  preceded  Christianity,  it  was  very 
likely  to  prove  an  obstacle  to  Christianity,  and  that  the  Gospel 
did  not  need  the  "  arts  of  hfe  "  as  its  precursors,  how^ever  useful 
they  might  be  to  w^in  attention  to  the  Divine  message,  and, 
as  in  this  case,  to  make  a  Mission  partly  self-supporting.  "It 
is  the  great  and  ultimate  purpose  of  this  Mission,"  they  said  to 
Henry  Williams,  "  to  bring  the  noble  but  benighted  race  of  New 
Zealanders  into  the  enjoyment  of  the  light  and  freedom  of 
the  Gospel.  To  tJtis  grand  end,  all  the  Societi/s  measures  are 
subordinate." 

"  The  Committee  are  the  more  earnest  with  you  on  this  ponit,  because, 
in  the  constant  attention  which  this  Mission  will  require,  for  years  to 
come,  to  secular  business,  the  temptation  of  the  Labourers  has  been, 
and  will  be,  not  to  give  a  due  proportion  in  their  plans  to  Religious 
Education  and  Instruction.  .  .  . 

"  Go  forth,  then,  in  the  true  spirit  of  a  devoted  Missionary,  haWng  no 
secular  object  in  view,  but  desirous  of  bringing  glory  to  God  by  advancing 
the  Kingdom  of  His  Son.  .  .  . 

"  The  result  of  your  labours,  be  well  assured,  will  in  due  time  show 
itself.  What  a  man  soweth,  that  shall  he  also  reap.  Indefatigable 
laboiu-s,  unwearied  patience,  persevering  pi-ayer,  simple  faith,  and  un- 
failing love,  will  in  the  end  produce  their  visible  fruit  to  the  praise  and 
glory  of  God  ;  while  self-will,  evil  tempers,  indolence,  self-indulgence, 
pursuit  of  gain,  a  worldly  spirit,  strife  and  contention,  neglect  of  devotion, 
and  all  those  other  evils  to  which  we  are  by  nature  prone,  would  render  you 
unprofitable  to  New  Zealand,  and  a  burden  to  the  Society  ;  and  would 
till  you  with  self-reproach  and  st>rrow,  if  they  did  not  end,  as  they  have 
done  in  some  awful  instances,  in  a  state  of  apostasy  from  God." 

*  See  p.  2  15. 


214  "  ^^'^  UL  A  R  Missions  ' '  ; 

Part  III.  In  the  Address  delivered  at  the  same  time  by  E.  G.  Marsh, 
Pi^^'^^^t'  there  is  a  striking  passage  about  self-defence.  The  New  Zealand 
^^^'  '  missionaries  were  not  only  forbidden  to  use  muskets  for  barter, 
No  fire-  Mr.  Marsh  enjoins  them  not  to  use  arms  at  all,  even  to  save  the 
arms !         \\mq,%  of  their  families  :  '■'' — 

"  As  you  are  about  to  euter  the  territories  of  a  savage  and  powerful 
people,  to  commit  yourselves  to  their  hospitality,  and  to  live  inider  their 
laAvs,  it  would  be  vain  to  think  of  protecting  yourselves  by  force  against 
their  violence.  It  is  impossible  to  shut  your  eyes  to  the  fact  that,  so  far 
as  human  means  are  concerned,  you  must  be  considered  as  in  their 
power  and  at  their  mercy.  .  .  .  All  oftensive  instruments,  therefore,  it  is 
wise  for  a  Missionary  to  renounce.  As  his  object  is  })eaceful,  so  should 
his  hand  be  iniarmed.  He  should  carry  the  olive-branc.-li,  and  not  the 
sword ;  and  sliould  exhibit  the  example  of  a  person  who  comes  into  the 
enemy's  camp  in  the  sa-red  character  of  a  Herald  of  Peace.  He  will 
therefore  neither  wear  a  sword,  nor  bestow  one.  He  will  persist  in 
abstaining  from  earthly  weajions  while  lie  is  prosecuting  a  spiritual 
warfare.  He  will  say  under  all  provocations, '  I  will  go  in  the  strength 
of  the  Lord  God  ;  I  will  make  mention  of  His  righteousness  only.'  " 

The  reply  of  Henry  Williams  is  also  interesting,  and  just  such 
as  might  be  expected  from  a  naval  officer  entering  missionary 
service.  He  assures  the  Committee  that  he  shall  "  consider  it  a 
most  sacred  duty  to  regard"  their  orders  at  all  times  "  as  rigidly 
as  ever  he  did  those  of  his  Senior  Officer  while  he  was  in  His 
Majesty's  Service  "  ;  and,  referring  to  his  wife,  he  says,  "  With 
Mrs.  H.  regard  to  Mrs.  Williams,  I  beg  to  say  that  she  does  not  accom- 
wiiiiams.  pany  me  merely  as  my  wife,  but  as  a  fellow-helper  in  the  work." 
Even  at  the  end  of  the  century,  Henry  Williams's  example  would 
not  be  out  of  date  ! 

Henry  Williams  proved  to  be  a  man  after  Marsden's  own  heart. 
From  the  time  of  his  arrival  in  New  Zealand,  the  whole  Mission 
improved ;  and  Mrs.  W^illiams,  as  he  had  said,  was  a  true  fellow- 
worker.  Trials,  how^ever,  were  not  over.  A  new  station  was 
established,  among  new  people ;  and  the  thieving  and  threats 
from  which  the  earlier  settlers  had  suffered,  had  now  to  be  again 
encountered.  Moreover,  "four  young  children  in  a  very  small 
dwelling,  which  effectually  excluded  neither  wind  nor  rain,  was  in 
itself  sufficiently  inconvenient ;  and  to  this  was  added  the  want 
of  a  fire  even  in  cold  weather,  for  the  walls  of  rushes  were  too 
combustible  to  allow  of  one  in  the  house  "  ;  while  the  cooking 
Mrs.  Williams  had  to  do  in  an  open  shed,  whatever  the  weather. 
That  is,  when  there  was  anything  to  cook  ;  but  the  Natives  stole 
their  fowls  and  destroyed  their  vegetables,  and  refused  to  supply 

*  There  is  no  real  inconsistency  between  these  counsels  and  the  duty  of  a 
missionary  to  join,  in  case  of  urgent  need,  in  a  defensive  fight  under  the 
orders  of  the  State,  as  recently  in  Uganda.  What  is  here  deprecated  is  his 
defending  the  Mission  against  violence  offered  to  it  in  virtue  of  its  missionary 
character.  An  English  open-air  preacher  attacked  by  roughs  would  refrain 
from  inJLiring  them  in  self-defence,  but  he  would  join  in  defending  those  very 
roughs  against  a  foi-eia'n  invader. 


Nfav  Zealand,   Crylon,    West  Indies,  Malta        215 

food  except  in  exchange  for  guns  and  poAvder,  which  WilHams  Part  III. 
resohitely  decHned  to  barter.  "  Often,"  wrote  he  of  his  wife,  "  is  ^^^^it' 
she  tired  in  her  work,  but  never  of  it."  ^^^' 

Another  of  God's  chosen  instruments  for  the  evangehzation  of 
New  Zealand  was  now  on  his  way  out,  in  the  person  of  Henry 
WilUams's  brother.  WilHam  Williams  had  been  brought  up  to  wliliams. 
the  medical  profession,  and  had  been  assistant  to  a  surgeon  at 
Southwell ;  but  on  Henry's  going  forth  as  a  missionary,  he 
determined  to  follow  him.  He  went  to  Magdalen  Hall  (now 
Hertford  College) ,  Oxford,  and  took  his  degree  in  1824  ;  and  in 
July,  1825,  he  sailed  with  his  young  wife  for  New  Zealand. '■'■  In 
the  Instructions,  the  Committee,  perhaps  encouraged  by  the 
words  that  Henry  Williams  had  uttered  about  his  wife  three 
years  before,  specially  addressed  Mrs.  Wilham  Williams.  They  Mrs.  w. 
exhorted  her  to  remember  that  "no  country  can  be  happy  or  '  '^'"^' 
Christian  but  in  proportion  as  its  Females  become  so,"  and  to 
seek  every  opportunity  of  influencing  the  Maori  women.  "You 
should  rank,"  they  said,  "with  those  honourable  Women  of  old 
who  laboured  with  even  Apostles  in  the  Gospel."  In  all 
missionary  histoly,  has  any  woman  proved  herself  more  worthy 
of  this  "  rank  "  than  Jane  Williams  ? 

When  Wilham  Williams  and  his  wife  reached  Sydney,  they 
were  met  by  Henry  in  a  little  vessel,  the  Herald,  which  he, 
profiting  by  his  naval  experience,  had  himself  built  at  the  Bay  of 
Islands,  with  the  assistance  of  W.  Hall,  who,  as  will  be  remem- 
bered, had  learned  something  of  ship-building  at  Hull  before 
leaving  England  seventeen  years  before.  The  Active  had  been 
sold  some  time  previously  ;  a  vessel  which  had  taken  Marsden  to 
New  Zealand  for  his  fourth  visit  in  1823  had  been  wrecked ;  and 
Henry  Williams  had  determined  to  supply  the  want  himself. 

Meanw^iile,  not  a  few  signs  had  appeared  of  the  grace  of  God 
working  in  Maori  hearts.  There  were  inquirers  after  the  way  of 
salvation  ;  there  were  hopeful  deaths  ;  and  on  September  14th, 
1825,  the  first  baptism  took  place,  that  of  a  chief  named  Eangi,  F^|^st^^ 
on  his  deathbed.  There  could  be  no  doubt  of  the  genuineness  of  '^""^^ 
his  faith  :  he  received  the  name  of  "  Christian  "  ;  and  he  was  the 
first  of  a  great  company  of  believers  destined  to  be  gathered  out 
of  one  of  the  most  savage  and  ferocious  races  ever  met  with. 
But  the  great  ingathering  was  not  yet. 

Ceylon. 

The  very  first  Eeport  issued  by  the  Society,    in    1801,  gives 
evidence  that,  in  wistfully  surveying  the  wide  fields  of  Heathendom, 
the  Committee  did  not  pass  over  the  Island  of  Ceylon.     It  had  ^^y^^°j['^j^^ 
long  been  in  the  possession  of  Holland,  having  been  taken  by  that  EngUsh" 
enterprising  little  State  from  the  Portuguese  in  1656  ;  but  it  had 

*  She  lived  to  receive  the  C.M.S.  Deputation  to  the  Colonies  in  1892, 
and  died,  honoured  and  revered  by  all,  in  1896,  aged  95|.  Her  husband  waa 
the  first  Bishop  of  Waiapu,  and  her  son  the  third. 


2l6 


"  Insular  Missions  " , 


Chap.  16. 


Part  III.  lately  (1796)  been  conquered  by  England.  The  Dutch,  as  men- 
1812-24.  tioned  in  a  former  chapter,'''  had  forced  Protestant  Christianity 
upon  the  people,  by  subjecting  Buddhists,  Hindus,  and  Eomanists 
alike  to  heavy  civil  disabilities ;  but  they  had  honestly  en- 
deavoured to  provide  religious  ministrations  for  them,  building 
churches  and  supporting  clergy  and  schoolmasters.  The  British, 
of  course,  restored  religious  liberty  ;  and  though  the  first  governor 
did  seek  to  continue  the  official  patronage  of  religion,  this  policy 
was  soon  abandoned.  The  people  quickly  perceived  that  their 
new  rulers  cared  little  what  religion  prevailed ;  and  whereas  in 
1801  there  were  342,000  Singhalese  and  136,000  Tamils  who 
professed  Protestant  Christianity,  in  ten  years  more  than  half  of 
these  had  gone  back  to  Buddhism  or  the  Tamil  devil-worship. 
"  Government  religion "  had  been  thrown  off,  and  the  Dutch 
churches  were  going  to  ruin.  The  Society,  however,  was  thinking 
of  Cej'lon  before  these  apostasies  occurred,  and  regarded  it  as  a 
specially  hopeful  field.  Moreover,  there  was  no  East  India 
Company  there  to  exclude  or  expel  missionaries.  The  British 
authorities,  indeed,  were  fairly  favourable.  But  Africa  presently 
filled  all  the  field  of  vision,  and  Ceylon  disappeared  for  a  time 
from  view. 

In  1810-11,  two  circumstances  brought  Ceylon  once  more 
prominently  before  the  Society.  One  was  the  publication  of 
Buchanan's  Christian  Bcsearchcs  in  the  East,  which  within  two 
years  ran  through  twelve  editions,  and  which  gave  much  informa- 
tion about  Ceylon.  The  other  was  the  presence  in  England  of 
the  Chief  Justice  of  the  Island,  Sir  Alexander  Johnston,  an 
admii'able  Christian  man,  who  had  on  his  own  account  employed 
two  Singhalese  men  to  translate  Bishop  Porteus's  work  on  the 
Evidences  of  Christianity,  and  who  earnestly  pressed  the  claims 
of  the  comparatively  new  British  possession  upon  the  sympathy  of 
Christian  England.  On  his  return  to  Ceylon,  he  caused  the  first; 
number  of  the  Missionary  Begister  (January,  1813)  to  be  translated 
into  Singhalese,  Tamil,  and  Portuguese,  for  circulation  in  the 
Island ;  and  he  wrote  to  Pratt  proposing  a  Church  Missionary 
Association  there,  and  the  sending  of  suitable  native  youths  to 
England  for  training.  This  latter  plan  was  forestalled  by  the 
Society  resolving  to  send  out  missionaries  ;  and  it  will  be  remem- 
bered that  the  first  two  English  candidates  for  whom  ordination 
had  been  procured.  Greenwood  and  Norton,  were  at  first  designated 
to  Ceylon,  and  only  diverted  to  India  after  they  had  actually 
sailed. 

Not  till  1817  were  there  men  actually  available.  But  in  that 
year  the  first  four  were  sent  forth,  Samuel  Lambrick,  Eobert 
Mayor,!  Benjamin  Ward,  and  Joseph  Knight.     Lambrick  was  a 

*  See  p.  56. 

t  Mayor  married  Charlotte  Bickersteth,  sister  of  the  C.M.S.  Secretary, 
and  was  the  father  of  the  three  distinguished  brothers  Mayor,  of  St.  John's, 
Cambridge,  one  of  whom  became  Latin  Professor. 


Sir  A. 
Johnston. 


First  mis- 
sionaries 
to  Ceylon. 


New  Zealand^  Ceylon^    West  Indies^  Malta        217 

man  in  middle  life,  who  had  been  a  tutor  at  Eton,  and  was  probably  Part  III. 
the  most  mature  person  yet  engaged  by  the  Society.  They  were  1812-24. 
all  ordained  by  Bishop  Eyder  of  Gloucester.  This  was  the  first  *^^^16. 
occasion  of  sending  out  four  clergymen  at  once  to  one  Mission, 
and  many  years  elapsed  before  the  Committee  were  able  to  take  a 
similar  step.  They  were  heartily  welcomed,  not  only  by  Sir  A. 
Johnston,  but  also  by  the  Governor,  Sir  Eobert  Brownrigg.  It  is 
very  interesting  to  observe  in  the  early  Eeports  how  frequently  the 
Colonial  Governors  are  mentioned  as  heartily  co-operating  with 
Missionary  Societies.  Sir  E.  Brownrigg,  when  he  left  Ceylon  in 
1820,  referred  in  a  public  speech  to  his  action  in  this  respect. 
"  The  chief  ends  I  have  had  in  view,"  he  said,  "  were  the  happiness 
of  the  people  confided  to  my  care,  and  the  honour  of  my  own 
country,  to  which  I  was  responsible  for  the  sacred  trust."  On 
these  accounts,  therefore,  and  not  merely  because  of  his  personal 
faith  in  Christianity,  he  felt  it  his  "  bounden  duty  to  foster  and 
encovirage  "  Missions.''' 

It  was  by  Sir  E.  Brownrigg's  advice  that  the  old  hill  capital,  . 
Kandy,  was  occupied  by  Lambrick.  The  Kandyans  were  a  Kandy. 
singularly  vigorous  race,  and  had  maintained  their  independence 
all  thi^ough  the  Portuguese  and  Dutch  periods ;  and  it  was  with 
difficulty,  and  after  the  destruction  of  one  detachment  of  troops 
sent  against  them,  that  the  British  succeeded  in  subduing  them, 
in  1815.  Two  years  later,  a  formidable  rebellion  broke  out,  but  it 
was  quelled  just  before  the  missionaries  arrived,  and  the  Governor 
wished  one  of  them  to  go  there  at  once.  The  possession  of  the 
famous  rehc  called  "  Buddlia's  Tooth"  by  the  chief  Buddhist 
Temple  at  Kandy  added  to  the  importance  of  the  place,  as 
pilgrims  from  all  parts  resorted  to  it.  Two  other  stations  were 
opened  at  the  same  time  :  Baddegama  in  the  southern  Singhalese 
country,  and  Nellore,  in  the  Jaffna  Peninsula,  at  the  north  end  of 
the  Island,  a  densely-populated  Tamil  district.  Four  years  later, 
Lambrick  removed  to  the  village  of  Cotta,  in  the  plain,  six  miles 
from  Colombo,  which  has  been  an  important  centre  ever  since. 

Bishop  Heber  visited  Ceylon  in  1825,  and  was  exceedingly  Heber  in 
pleased  with  all  he  saw.  "  The  Church  missionaries  in  this  '^^y'""- 
island,"  he  wrote,  "  are  really  patterns  of  what  missionaries  ought 
to  be — zealous,  discreet,  orderly,  and  most  active."  f  It  is  a 
curious  illustration  of  the  times  that  his  advice  was  asked  by 
the  brethren  as  to  the  propriety  or  otherwise  of  their  meeting 
the  missionaries  of  other  denominations  in  periodical  gatherings 
for  Bible-study,  conference,  and  prayer ;  and  that  so  good  and 
large-hearted  a  man  as  Heber,  while  "  not  thinking  it  necessary  to 
advise  their  cessation,  now  that  they  were  established,"  did  feel 
it  necessary  to  request  the  chaplains  and  such  other  of  the 
clergy  as  were  not  missionaries  to  abstain  from  attending  them, 

*  Misi:ionarii  Rejifiter,  1821,  p.  71. 

t  Dr.  G.  Smith's  Bisltop  Heher,  p.  286. 


2 1 8  "  Ins  ul  a  r  Missions  ' '  ; 

Part  III.  and  did  also  feel  it  necessary  to  suggest  restrictions  as  to  the 

1812-24.   part  laymen  might  take  in  them  : — 

Chap.  16. 

"  With  no  feeling  of  disrespect  or  suspicion  towards  the  excellent 

laymen  who  have  joined  you,  I  would  recommend,  if  my  counsel  has 
any  weight  (and  I  ofler  it  as  my  counsel  only),  that,  though  there  is  no 
impropriety  in  their  taking  their  turns  in  reading  the  Scriptures,  and 
mingling  in  the  discussions  which  arise  on  the  suhjects  connected  with 
your  conference,  they  would  abstain  from  leading  in  prayer,  except  when 
the  meeting  is  held  in  one  of  their  own  houses,  and  when,  as  master  of 
the  family,  they  may  consistently  offer  up  what  will  then  be  their  family 
devotion."' 

hlrd°fiefd  "^h®  Society  had  expected  Ceylon  to  be  an  easily  fruitful  field  ; 
but  the  opposite  proved  to  be  the  case.  One  of  the  missionaries 
wrote  in  1868,  reviewing  the  past  history  :  '■'■ — 

"  A  more  arduous  task,  a  more  trying  field  of  labour,  it  would  be  difli- 
c\dt  to  imagine.  It  is  a  matter  well  luiderstood  by  planters,  that  while 
the  primeval  forest  land,  if  cleared  and  planted,  will  soon  yield  them 
a  rich  return,  the  chenas  of  the  lower  ranges,  previously  exhausted  by 
native  cultivation,  though  far  more  easy  of  access,  and  requiring  far  less 
outlay  at  the  beginning,  will  too  often  mock  their  hopes,  and  can  only  be 
made  to  yield  "a  return  at  last,  by  a  long  and  expensive  mode  of 
cultivation.  This  fact  has  its  counterpart  in  spiritual  husbandry.  .  .  . 
Pure  Buddliists  and  Hindus  are  tenfold  more  accessible  than  the 
thousands  of  relapsed  and  false  professors  of  Christianity.  .  .  .  The 
traditions  preserved  in  native  families  of  the  fact  that  their  forefathers 
were  once  Christians  and  afterwards  returned  to  Buddhism,  is  naturally 
regarded  by  them  as  a  proof  of  the  superiority  of  the  latter  religion  ; 
whilst  tlie  sight  of  clnu'ches,  built  by  the  Dutch  but  now  gone  to  ruin, 
adds  strengtli  to  the  belief  that  Christianity  is  an  upstart  religion,  which 
has  no  vitahty,  and  which,  if  unsupported  by  the  ruling  powers,  cannot 
stand  before  their  own  venerated  system." 

And  in  few  Missions  did  the  progress  prove  slower,  for  many 
years,  than  in  Ceylon.  But  a  brighter  day  afterwards  dawned  ; 
and  though  the  work  has  never  produced  startling  results,  no 
Mission  has  had  year  by  year  to  tell  of  more  manifest  tokens  of 
Divine  grace  in  individual  hearts  and  lives. 

West  Indies. 

When  the  "  Society  for  Missions  in  Africa  and  the  East  "  was 
founded,  there  was  evidently  no  thought  of  extending  its  opera- 
West  tions  to  the  West.     The  sympathy  of  the  leaders,  however,  with 

ij^djan^^  the  Negro  race,  and  especially  with  th-e  Negro  Slaves,  could  not 
fail  to  reach  to  the  British  possessions  in  the  West  India  Islands, 
in  which  so  many  thousands  of  Negroes  were  still  the  slaves  of 
English  planters.  But  the  call  thither  came  in  an  unlooked-for 
way.  As  before  explained,  it  was  not  the  practice  of  the  Com- 
mittee to  take  a  map  of  the  world,  and  put  their  fingers  upon 
particular  regions  to  which  they  would  like  to  send  missionaries. 

*  Jubilee  Sketches  of  the  C.M.S.  Ceylon  Mission. 


Negroes. 


New  Zealand^  Ceylon^    West  Indies^  Malta         2iq 

Tlieve  was  alwavs  an  invitation  or  other  external  reason  for  Part  HI. 
going  in  this  or  that  direction.  This  was  what  has  been  always  (j,^.Jj^-[e 
regarded  as  Providential  Leading.  It  was  so  with  the  West  1__ 
In^lies.  Mr.  William  Dawes,  who  had  been  Governor  of  Sierra 
Leone,  and  afterwards  a  member  of  the  Committee,  went,  in  1813, 
to  live  in  the  Island  of  Antigua,  and  offered  to  act  as  an 
honorary  lay  "  catechist  "  to  snch  Negroes  as  he  could  reach. 
His  proposal  was  cordially  accepted,  and  although  his  name  does 
not  appear  on  the  Society's  roll,  he  really  did  effective  missionary 
work  for  some  years — much  as  the  India  chaplains  did.  He 
instituted  both  day-schools  and  Sunday-schools,  and  the  Society 
granted  him  money  for  teachers.  An  officer  in  the  Eoyal 
Artillery,  too.  Lieutenant  E.  Lugger,  who  was  quartered  at 
Barbadoes,  started  schools,  assisted  by  the  Society,  in  that 
Island,  and  the  scheme  was  afterwards  extended  to  St.  Vincent 
and  Dominica.  In  1820,  more  than  two  thousand  Negro  children 
were  under  instruction.  The  Committee  also  sent  a  clergyman 
who  had  offered  to  the  Society  to  Hayti,  as  a  chaplain.  Meanwhile, 
the  S.P.G.  held  the  Codrington  Estate  in  Barbadoes  in  trust,  and 
employed  a  chaplain  to  instruct  the  slaves  engaged  upon  it. 
The  work  of  other  Missions  will  appear  by-and-by. 

British  Honduras,  although  on  the  mainland  of  Central  Honduras. 
America,  may  be  regarded  as  a  part  of  the  West  Indies,  and 
therefore  must  be  mentioned  here.  At  the  invitation  of  the 
English  chaplain  there,  Mr.  Armstrong,  the  Society,  in  1818, 
sent  a  second  chaplain,  a  schoolmaster,  and  a  printer,  for  the 
purpose  of  establishing  a  Mission  among  the  Mosquito  Indians, 
who  appeared  to  be  particularly  accessible  to  Christian  instruc- 
tion. But  the  second  chaplain  returned  invalided,  and  the 
work  was  never  prosecuted  with  effect,  although  for  three  or  four 
years  Honduras  held  its  place  in  the  Society's  Eeports. 

The  Committee  rejoiced  when  two  Bishops  were  sent  to  the 
West  Indies  in  1824,  to  preside  over  the  new  dioceses  of 
Jamaica  and  Barbadoes;  and  at  a  later  period  important  work 
was  undertaken  in  the  former  jurisdiction. 

Malta. 
How  Malta  came  to  be  occupied,  and  with  what  purposes,  wall 
appear  in  the  next  chapter.     Here  it  need  only  be  ol)servcd  that 
the  Committee  regarded  the  little  Island    as  a   convenient  base  Maita^as^ 
for   extending  operations   in    all    directions.      "  From    this    com-  centre, 
manding  station.  Christians  have  easy  access,  in  their  efforts  to 
raise   and    propagate   the   Faith,    to    important   portions   of    the 
Three  Continents  of  the  Old  World,  by  a  line  of  coast  equal  in 
extent  to  half  the  circumference  of  the  Globe."      The  access  to 
Africa  from  the  INIediterranean  was  especially  prominent  in  their 
thoughts.     Thev  looked  at  Egypt,  pitying  the  oppressed  Coptic 
Church,   and  trusting  that  "  while  the  Pyramid  and  the  Temple 
had  excited  enthusiasm   and  animated    research,    Christian    zeal 


220     "  Ins  ular  Missions  ' ' ;  Ne  iv  Zba  land,  Ce  yl  on,  &=  c. 

Part  III.  would  not  be  found  deficient  in  giving  aid  to  that  Church  whose 
1812-24.  country  afforded  protection  to  our .  Infant  Saviour,  and  whose 
Chap.  16.  shrines  were  consecrated  by  the  labours  of  a  Cyril  and  an 
Athanasius."  And  they  looked  at  the  Barbary  States,  and 
joyfully  anticipated  the  day  when  "  the  northern  shores  of  Afi'ica, 
and  all  the  other  coasts  of  these  magnificent  inland  seas  "  should 
* '  feel  the  reviving  influence  of  that  Sacred  Light  which  once  shone 
upon  them  with  distinguished  splendour."  And  they  did  not 
confine  themselves  to  rhetoric.  Scores  of  pages  in  the  volumes  of 
the  Missionary  Begister  at  this  time  are  filled  with  important 
information  regarding  North  Africa  and  the  Levant  generally. 
Prom  the  Malta  Press  went  forth  thousands  of  Christian  tracts  and 
portions  of  Scripture  to  every  accessible  North  African  port.  And 
from  Malta  started  the  Mission  to  Abyssinia,  which  ultimately  led 
the  Society  to  Eastern  Equatorial  Africa. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

The  Eastern  Churches:  Efforts  to  Bevive  Them. 

The  Committee's  Eyes  upon  the  East — An  Appeal  from  Malta — 
William  Jowett— C.M.S.  Policy  with  the  Eastern  Churches— The 
Bible  for  the  Eastern  Churches — Promising  Beginnings — Turkish 
Atrocities — The  Syrian  Church  of  Travancore — Buchanan  and 
Colonel  Monro — C.M.S.  Designs — Fenn,  Bailey,  Baker. 

"  He  that  hath  an  ear,  let  him  hear  tchat  the  Sioirit  saith  imto  the  Churches." 
—Rev.  ii.  7,  11,  17,  29  ;  iii.  6,  13,  22. 

'HE  energy  with  which  the  young  Society  was  now  being  Part  III. 
conducted  led  to  many  plans  being  proposed  to  the    1812-24. 
Committee  for  development  in  different  directions  ;  and      ^^P'     ' 
the  extraordinary  breadth  both  of  knowledge  and  of 
sympathy  which  Josiah  Pratt  displayed  in  the  3Iission- 
ary  Register — to  w^hich  there  is  really  no  parallel  at  all  in  the  present 
day — naturally  induced  a  belief  that  the  Society  could  be  used  for 
almost  any  good  purpose  at  home  or  abroad.     Among  the  sugges-  c.M.s.not 
tions  made  to  the  Committee  repeatedly  by  various  friends  was  that  clthoi^^" 
"  clergymen  of  learning,  intelligence,  and  piety  "  should  be  stationed  countries, 
at  various  Continental  cities,  particularly  in  Italy.     The  idea  was 
not   to   try   and   add   to   the   number  of  Protestant  communions 
abroad ;  not  necessarily  to  encourage  open  secession  from  the  Roman 
Church.     But   it  was   thought  that  there  must  be  many  godly 
individuals  in  that  Church  who  would  welcome  more  Scriptural 
and   truly   Primitive   teaching,    and   that   gradually   a   reforming 
movement  might  be  set  on  foot  within  the  Italian  and  Spanish 
and  Galilean  Churches  themselves.     "  Frequent  and  strong  repre- 
sentations," the    Committee    say   in   the   Report   of    1818,    were 
made  to  them  as  to  the  good  which  might  thus  be  done.     It  did 
not  appear  to  them,  however,  that  this  was  the  proper  work  of  the 
Church  Missionary  Society.     That  work,  they  said,  was  "  to  com- 
municate the  knowledge  of  Christianity  to  such  as  did  not  possess 
it."     Still,  there  was  a  way  in  which  they  were  willing  to  help. 
Though  their  funds,  they  felt,  were  not  applicable  to  such  projects, 
their     "knowledge     and    influence"    might    be   rightly   used   in 
"  reviving   and   diffusing   Christianity   \\\    any    of    the  Churches 
alDroad," — not  only  in  the  Roman  Church,  but  in  the  too  rational- 
istic Protestant  Churches,  such  as  those  of  Germany,  Switzerland, 
Holland,  &c.     They  were  disposed,  accordingly,  to  "render  advice 


Churches  ? 


222     The  Eastern  Churches  :    Efeorts  to  Revive  Them 

Part  III.  and  assistance  to  suitable  clergymen,  willing  to  proceed  to  places 
] 812-24.   where  they  were  likely  to  be  useful."     Apparently,  they  had  no 
Chap.  17.  opportunity  of  fulfilling  this  promise,  because  no  suitable  clergy- 
men came  forward. 
,,,.    f  But   it   was   different   with    the    Churches    of   the  East.     The 

Why  lor  .  .... 

Eastern  Socicty  did  enter  upon  an  important  enterprise  with  a  view  to 
their  possible  revival.  Where  lay  the  difference  ?  It  lay  in  this, 
that  the  revival  of  the  Eastern  Churches  would  undoubtedly  have 
an  effect  on  the  Mohammedan  and  Heathen  World.  "  It  has  not 
appeared,"  says  the  same  Eeport,  "conformable  to  the  direct 
design  of  the  Society  to  expend  any  part  of  its  funds  on  Christian 
Countries,  otherwise  than  with  ilie  ultimate  vieio  of  ivinning, 
through  them,  the  Heathen  to  the  reception  of  the  Gospel."  Long 
before  this,  indeed,  their  eyes  had  rested  with  peculiar  interest 
on  the  sacred  regions  of  the  East,  It  was  humiliating  that  in 
the  lands  in  which  the  Incarnate  Son  of  God  lived  and  died, 
in  which  Apostles  laboured,  from  which  the  Gospel  had  first 
sounded  out,  a  fanatical  and  yet  sterile  religion  like  Islam,  the 
enemy  of  all  enlightenment,  the  bar  to  all  progress,  should  be 
dominant.  Yet  the  Eastern  Churches,  so  far  from  being  effective 
instruments  for  winning  the  Mohammedans  to  Christ,  were,  and 
still  are — regretfully  as  it  must  be  said, — a  real  obstacle  to  their 
evangelization.  "  We  have  lived,"  they  say,  "  among  Christians 
for  twelve  hundred  years,  and  we  want  no  such  religion  as  that." 
And  it  must  indeed  be  sorrowfully  acknowledged  that  the  ignorance 
and  superstition  prevailing  among  the  Oriental  Christians  go  far  to 
justify  such  a  remark. 

As  far  back  as  1802,  a  Bristol  friend  had  written  to  the  young 
Society, — "  Would  it  not  be  an  object  well  worthy  the  attention  of 
your  Missionary  Society,  to  attempt  the  revival  of  Spiritual  and 
Evangelical  Eeligion  in  the  Greek  Church  ?  "  In  the  next  Annual 
Eeport,  this  proposal  is  just  mentioned,  but  merely  as  one  of 
several  suggestions  of  possible  missionary  enterprises,  and  without 
any  expression  of  the  Committee's  wish  to  adopt  it.  A  few  years 
later,  Claudius  Buchanan,  whose  Christian  Researches  in  the  East, 
describing  his  travels  in  India  and  Ceylon,  had  excited  so  much 
interest,  was  contemplating  a  journey  to  the  Levant,  no  doubt 
with  a  similar  oloject.  His  book  had  revealed  to  Christian 
England  the  existence  of  the  ancient  Syrian  Church  in  Travancore. 
Another  book,  had  he  taken  this  proposed  journey,  would  doubtless 
have  told  with  equal  sympathy  of  the  oppressed  Churches  of 
Greece,  Asiatic  Turkey,  and  Egypt.  He  did  not  go,  however. 
Perhaps  the  then  urgent  question  of  the  opening  of  India  kept 
him  in  England.  The  actual  proposal  which  ultimately  led  to  the 
Society's  enterprises  in  the  Mediterranean,  came,  strange  to  say, 
from  a  Eoman  Catholic. 

Two  English  friends  of  the  Society  had  been  visiting  Malta,  and 
had  made  the  acquaintance  there  of  Dr.  Cleardo  Naudi.  From 
them,  no  doubt,  he  heard  of  the  new  Missionary  Society  of  the 


The  Eastern  Churches:    Efforts  to  Revive  Them     iix 

Chm-ch  of  England  ;  and  in  June,  1811,  he  addressed  a  letter  to  Part  III. 
Pratt/''     In  this  curious  document,    he  calls  attention    to    "  the    1H12-24. 
multitudes  of  Christians  of  different  denominations  in  the  Levant      '"^'"    '■ 
[i.e.  the  various  Oriental  Cliurches]  "living  mingled  in  confusion  Appeal 
with  the  Turkish  inhabitants."     Prior  to  the  War,  he  says,  the  ^"Jl^g^gg 
Boman     Congregation     De     Propaganda    Fide    frequently    sent  Romanist, 
missionaries  to  these  "  ignorant  Christians  "  ;  but  that  Institution 
being  "  now  no  more — its  property  sold — its  revenues  usurped  and 
diverted,"  they  were  "  deprived  of  the  true  hght  of  the  Gospel." 
There  were  still,  it  was  true,  some  "  Fathers  of  St.  Francis"  in 
Egypt,  but,  it  was  "  much  to  be  lamented,"  they  were  "very  ill- 
informed."     "  It  now,   therefore,"   he   goes  on,  "  devolves  upon 
you  to  enter  on  this  labour  of  propagating  the  Clu'istian  Faith 
among  Intidels,  and  of  confirming  it  among  the  Ignorant."     And 
he  appeals  for  missionaries  of  the  English  Church  who  would 
"  accommodate   themselves   to    Eastern    customs    in   respect    of 
manners,  dress,  &c.,"  and  learn  Arabic  and  Modern  Greek. 

It  is  surely  a  curious  spectacle.  Evidently  the  good  doctor 
was  a  truly  pious  man.  To  him  Eastern  Christendom  was 
heretical,  and  should  be  enlightened  by  Western  Christendom. 
Rome  was  no  doubt  the  chief  representative  of  Western  Christen- 
dom ;  but  if  she  failed,  the  English  Church,  as  an  independent 
Branch,  was  quite  qualified  to  teach  the  East.  It  is  remarkable 
also  that  he  quotes  a  Greek  deacon  who  had  observed  to  him  that 
"  the  institution  of  the  Bible  Society  of  England  must  have  taken 
place  by  heavenly  inspiration  "  ! 

The  Committee  responded  warmly.  In  the  Report  read  at  the  Attitude 
Anniversary  of  1812,  they  invited  "  zealous  young  clergymen  "  to  com-'^'^' 
come  forward  and  be  "  the  honoured  instruments  of  confirming  mittee. 
and  propagating  the  doctrine  of  the  Cross  in  countries  dear  to 
them  as  scholars  from  classical  associations,  and  more  dear  to 
them  as  Christians  from  sacred."  It  is  a  striking  coincidence 
that  on  the  very  day  on  which  they  had  received  Dr.  Naudi's 
letter,  they  had  also  before  them  one  from  Melville  Home,  calling 
attention  to  Buchanan's  account  of  the  Syrian  Church  of  Malal)ar, 
and  urging  them  to  send  a  Mission  for  its  enlightenment ;  and  in 
the  same  Annual  Report  of  1812,  they  dwelt  upon  this  call  also. 
In  addition  to  which,  the  Abyssinian  Church,  and  Egypt,  and 
Arabia,  and  Persia  were  all  referred  to ;  and  the  Committee 
expressed  their  longing  for  another  Pentecost  when  "  Parthians 
and  iNIedes  and  Elamites,  and  tiie  dwellers  in  Mesopotamia,  and 
in  Judiea — in  Egypt — and  Arabians  "  would  "speak  in  their  own 
tongues  the  wonderful  works  of  God."  In  the  following  year,  they 
enlarged  further ;  and  the  paragraph  is  interesting  as  showing  what 
was  thought  at  that  time  of  the  prospects  of  the  Papacy : — 

"  The  Coininitteo  feel  deeply  impressed  with  the  conviction  that  Malta 
has  not  been  ijlaced  in  our  hands  merely  for  the  extension  and  security 

*  Printed  in  the  Appendix  to  the  Keport  of  1812.  * 


224     The  E astern  Churches :   Efforts  to  Revive  Them 

Part  III.  of  our  political  greatness.  The  course  of  Divine  Providence  seems 
1812-24.  plainly  to  indicate  that  the  United  Church  of  England  and  Ireland  is 
Chap.  17.  called  to  the  discharge  of  an  important  duty  there.     The  Romish  Church 

is  manifestly  in  a  state  of  gradual  but  rapid  dissolution.     Its  scattered 

members  ought  to  be  collected.  "Wliat  Church  is  to  collect  them  ?  The 
prevailmg  form  of  worship  in  the  East  almost  miiversally,  and  in  the 
rest  of  the  world  generally,  is  episcopal.  "U'as  ever  such  an  opportunity 
pr  jsented  for  extending  Christianity  in  that  primitive  form  of  its 
discipline  which  is  established  in  the  United  Empire  ?  " 

Encoiu-aged  by  the  Society's  response,  Dr.  Naudi  came  to 
England,  and  laid  before  the  Committee  proposals  for  sending 
them  t^o  or  three  Maltese  or  Greeks  or  Itahans  for  English 
education  and  ordination.  On  being  sho^vn  the  Thirty-Nine 
Articles  and  the  Oath  of  Supremacy,  which  candidates  for  EngUsh 
orders  must  accept,  he  expressed  his  behef  that  they  would  be  no 
obstacle.  The  Committee  approved  of  this  plan;  but  nothing 
seems  to  have  come  of  it.  They  appointed  Naudi,  however,  the 
Society's  correspondent  at  Malta  ;  and  they  proposed  to  a  young 
Cambridge  man,  the  brother  of  Pratt's  wife,  to  go  out  to  the 
Mediterranean  as  "  Literary  Eepresentative,"  to  inquh'e  into  the 
state  of  rehgion  in  the  Levant,  and  to  suggest  methods  for 
translating  and  cu'culating  the  Scriptures,  and  other  ways  of 
William  influencing  the  Oriental  Chm'ches.  This  was  ^N'ilham  Jowett, 
jowett.  gQj^  Qf  John  Jowett  of  Southwark,  a  gentleman  who  had  been  one 
of  the  original  members  of  the  first  Committee,  but  who  had  died 
a  few  months  after  his  appointment."  William  Jowett  was 
Twelfth  Wrangler  in  1810,  and  a  Fellow  of  St.  John's  ;  and  he 
had  a  curacv  at  Nottingham.  In  after  years  he  was  to  become  a 
Secretary  of  the  Society.  He  now  accepted  the  proposed  com- 
mission, but  could  not  go  for  two  years. 

We  go  foi-ward,  therefore,  to  1815.  We  enter  No.  11  Sahsbury 
Square.  We  find  the  Committee  sitting,  with  the  President,  Lord 
Gambler,  in  the  chah-.  The  Cambridge  Wrangler  is  present — the 
first  University  graduate  to  go  forth  in  the  service  of  the  Society. 
It  is  a  quiet  "  dismissal,"  not  a  pubhc  meeting  as  when  bands  of 
men  for  Africa  and  India  had  been  taken  leave  of.  But  Josiah 
Pratt  rises,  and  reads,  as  Jowett's  instructions,  one  of  the  most 
important  of  aU  the  Society's  early  manifestoes. 
His  in-  The  Committee  quite  understood   that   they  were  not   under- 

structions,  i-^king  a  Mission  of  the  ordinaiy  kind.  Jowett's  "  high  office  as  a 
Minister  of  the  Gospel  and  a  Messenger  of  Di^-ine  Mercy  "  might 
have  to  be.  "in  its  direct  exercise,  suspended  for  a  time."  His 
task  was  (V)  to  collect  information  about  the  state  of  rehgion  on 
the  shores  of  the  Mediten-anean,  and  (2)  to  inquire  as  to  the  best 
methods  of  "  propagating  Christian  Knowledge."  There  was  verj* 
little  known  m  England  on  these  points.  "  The  Classic,  the 
Painter,    the    Statuaiy,    the    Antiquarian,    the    Natm-ahst,    the 

*  John  Jowett's  brother  Benjamin  was  grandfather  of  Benjamin  Jowett, 
Master  of  Balliol. 


The  Eastern  Churches:   Eeeorts  to  Revive  Them    225 

Merchant,  the  Patriot,  the  Soldier,  all,"  say  the  Committee,  "  have  Part  III. 
their  reporters  ;  but  no  one  details  to  us  the  number   and  the  if'^^ft" 
characters  of  Christians ;  no  one  has  opened  to  us   channels  of      ^^^' 
communication  with  such  men  ;  no  one  names  the  men  who  are 
there,  perhaps,  in  retirement  sighing  over  the  moral  condition  of 
their  coiintry,  and  calling,  as  Europe  once  called  to  Asia,  Come 
over  and  help  us."  '■•'•     From  Malta  as  a  centre,  Jowett  is  to  survey 
the  religious  horizon.     First,  he  is  to  look  at  the  Eoman  Church,  chfrstflnf 
"  Notice  her  condition — any  favourable  indications — the  means  of  Moslems,' 
communicating  to  her  our  privileges.     You  cannot  act,  under  your  ^nd  jews, 
circumstances,    as    a   public   impugner   of   her   errors,    nor   as  a 
reformer  of  her  practice ;  I  but  you  may  watch,  with  a  friendly 
eye,  to  ascertain  the   best   means   of  restoring  her  to  primitive 
health  and  vigour."     Then  he  is  to  study  the  various  Oriental 
Churches,  Greek,  Jacobite  or  Syrian,  Coptic,  Abyssinian,  Armenian, 
Nestorian.     Then  the  Mohammedans  :  "  Carry  your  eye  all  round 
the  Sea,  by  its  north-eastern,  its  eastern,  its  south-eastern,  its 
southern,    and   its    south-western    borders,    and   you    behold  the 
triumphs  of  the  False  Prophet.     Turkey  presents  itself  as  almost 
begirding,  directly  or  by  its  vassal  states,  this  inland  ocean."  \ 
Then  the  Jews:  "multitudes  are  scattered  among  the  Moham- 
medans, and  no  one  has  hitherto  investigated  the  state  of  this 
people."      Nor   are  the  Druses  and  other   strange   communities 
omitted  from  the  enumeration.     Then   as  to   methods  of  work  : 
Jowett  is   to  visit  and  correspond  with  rulers  and  consuls  and 
ecclesiastics  and  travellers  of  all  kinds  ;  to  form,  if  possible,  local 
associations   for  distriliution   of  Scriptures    (in    fact,  small   Bible 
Societies) ;  to  prepare  for  the  establishment  of  a  printing-press  at 
Malta ;  to  study   the  languages  of  the  Levant,   and  to   seek  for 
valuable  ]\ISS.  of  the  Scriptures  in  them.     Then  it  is  hoped  that  g"?^/^^""" 
"  some  of  the  distinguished  Prelates  of  our  Church  "  would  open  churches, 
a  correspondence  with  the  Patriarchs  of  Constantinople,  Antioch, 
and   Alexandria,    "so  that  through  their  influence    our   systems 
of    education    might    be    communicated,    and     Bible    Societies 
established." 

It  was,  indeed,  to  the  Eastern  Churches  that  the  Society  chiefly 
looked  for  the  future  evangelization  of  the  non-Christian  popula- 
tions in  the  neighbouring  Asiatic  and  African  countries.  "As 
these  Churches,"  they  said,  "  shall  reflect  the  clear  light  of  the 

*  A  curious  illustration  of  the  ignorance  here  lamented  is  famished  by  the 
insertion  in  the  Mi.fsioiiarij  Register  (.June,  1818)  of  a  quite  elementary 
account  of  the  population  and  condition  of  .lerusalem,  sent  from  Madras,  being 
derived  from  an  Armenian  bishop  visiting  India. 

t  Under  the  European  Treaties  which  had  confirmed  the  annexation  of 
Malta  bv  Groat  Britain,  the  Maltese  were  to  be  left  "  undisturbed  in  their 
faith."  The  Government  therefore  would  not  allow  any  evangelistic  work 
among  them. 

X  At  that  time,  of  course,  Greece  and  the  (ireek  Islands,  Roumania 
and  Bulgaria  and  Serbia  and  Bosnia,  and  tVie  whole  of  North  Africa,  owed 
allegiance  to  Turkey. 

VOL:     I.  Q 


226     The  Eastern  Churches:   Efforts  to  Rej^/ve  Them 

Part  III.  Gospel  on  the  Mohammedans  and  Heathens  around,  they  will 
LSI  2-24..   doubtless   become    efficient   instruments  of   rescuing   them    from 

Chap.  17.  delusion  and  death."  And  "  it  is  by  bringing  back  these  Churches 
to  the  knowledge  and  love  of  the  sacred  Scriptures,  that  the 
blessing  from  on  high  maybe  expected  to  descend  on  them."  =•• 
Again, — 

"  The  x'evival  of  the  Greek  Church,  in  its  primitive  purity  and  vigour, 
should  be  an  object  of  the  affectionate  exertions  and  earnest  prayers  of 
all  who  wish  the  extension  of  Christianity  in  these  regions.  Enlightened 
and  animated  by  the  free  and  amj^le  circulation  among  them  of  the 
Holy  Scriptures,  the  Greeks — numerous,  widely  scattered,  with  a 
cultivated  language,  and  maintaining  a  ready  intercourse  among  them- 
selves and  with  others — will  act  most  powerfully  and  beneficially  on  the 
large  masses  of  people  among  whom  they  live."  f 

Accordingly,  these  Churches  were  to  be  dealt  with  in  a 
moderate  and  conciliatory  spirit.  In  the  Instructions  given  to  a 
later  band  of  missionaries,  there  is  a  striking  passage  illustrating 
this  :  \— 

"  Study — for  it  is  peculiarly  applicable  to  the  circumstances  of  an 
enlightened  and  devout  Christian  labouring  in  the  midst  of  a  benighted 
and  corrupted  Oriental  Church — study  that  spirit  of  moderation,  delicacy, 
and  caution,  which  was  exhibited  by  the  Apostles  toward  their  country- 
men the  Jews,  and  toward  their  converts  from  among  the  Gentiles. 
Although  they  acted,  and  spoke,  and  wrote  under  the  immediate  inspira- 
tion of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  foreknew  certainly  the  approaching 
dissolution  of  the  Jewish  Polity,  yet,  in  ritual  observances,  such  as 
Circumcision,  Washings,  the  Change  of  the  Sabbath,  Fasts,  Attendance 
at  the  Temple  and  in  the  Synagogues,  and  generally  in  all  the  discipline 
of  the  old  covenant,  which  was  waxing  old  and  ready  to  vanish  away, 
they  were  temperate,  conformable,  conciliatory,  and  large-hearted. 
They  were,  especially,  backward  to  dispute,  excepting  when  ceremonial 
observances  were  abused  to  disparage  the  doctrine  of  free  justitication 
by  faith  in  Christ,  or  substituted  for  the  inward  sanctification  of  the 
heart  by  the  operation  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Imitate  them,  by  continually 
insisting,  in  the  simplest  and  most  practical  manner,  on  the  two  cardinal 
doctrines  of  the  Gospel,  Justification  and  Sanctification ;  and  waive  as 
much  as  possible,  those  contentions  which  are  unprofitable  and  vain." 

And  again,  on  another  occasion,  Jowett  was  cautioned  about 
proselytism  : — 

"  The  eternal  salvation  of  the  souls  of  men  is  the  grand  object  of  our 
hopes  and  cares.  .  .  .  But  a  difficulty  arises  here,  so  far  as  our  coiu-se 
lies  among  those  who  are  already  outwardly  members  of  Christian 
Churches.  Whenever  the  member  of  a  Cluu-ch  which  holds  the  main 
truths  of  the  Gospel,  though  with  a  great  mixture  of  error,  discerns  that 
error,  he  is  perhaps  disposed  to  break  away  from  its  Communion.  It 
requires  much  wisdom,  candour,  and  fidelity,  to  guide  the  conscience 
aright  in  such  cases." 

And  the  Committee  go  on  to  distinguish  between  the  Eoman 
Church  and  the  Churches  of  the  East : — 

"  The  Roman  Catholic  Church  is  entangled  in  a  snare  from  which  it 

*  Kej  ort,  1820.  f  Report,  1819.  %  Eeporfc,  1829,  p.  142. 


The  Eastern  C/fUECHEs:    Efeorts  to  Revive  Them     227 

cannot  be  freed,  while  it  holds  the  Infallibility  and  Universal  Headship  Part  III 
of  the  liisliop  of  Rome.  The  Greek,  Armenian,  Syrian,  Coptic,  and  l«12-24.' 
Abyssnnan  ("liurches,  t]iou«r]i  in  many  points  far  gone  from  the  simplicity  Chap.  17. 

and  purity  of  the  truth,  are  not  so  entangled  ;  and  also  possess  within       

themselves  the  principle  and  the  means  of  reformation."  * 

At  first,  the  enterpri?,e  gave  high  promise  of  success.     Jowett  Bright 
went  forth,  and,  after  him,  the  first  two  Oxford  men  enrolled  hy  ^'°^'^^^^^- 
the  Society,  James  Connor,  Scholar  of  Lincoln,  and  John  Hartley 
of  St.   Edmund  Hall.     They  travelled  to  Egypt,  Syria,  Turkey, 
the  Greek  Islands,  at  a  time  when  such  journeys  were  almost  as 
difficult  and  fatiguing  as  in  the  time  of  St.  Paul ;  for  example,  on 
one  occasion  the  voyage  from  Malta  to  Constantinople  occupied 
sixty-nine  days  !     Sometimes  they  were  in  quarantine  for  weeks, 
as  the  plague  continually  raged  in  the  Levant.     A  printing-press  Malta 
was  estahhshed  at  Malta,  which   at  one  time  (rather  later,  1827)  ^'■^^^• 
was  under  the  charge  of  John  Kitto,  the  deaf  but  learned  'mason 
who  afterwards  did   so   much   to  popularise    the    best   results  of 
Biblical   study   and    Oriental   research.!      This   press  sent  forth 
Scriptures  and  tracts  by  the  thousand  in  Maltese,  Itahan,  Modern 
Greek,  and  Arabic.     Some  of  them  were  written  by  Dr.  Naudi, 
and  it  is  interesting  to  find  an  enlightened  Eoman  Catholic— for 
he  does  not  seem  to  have  left  his  Church — writing  tracts  on  the 
importance  of  the  Scriptures  being  read  by  the  people  at  large. 
Some  of  them    consisted   of   extracts   from    the    Greek    Fathers, 
translated  into  Modern  Greek.     Maltese,  however,  was  especially 
studied,  as  an  introduction  to  Arabic  ;  and  a  large  part   of  the 
Bible  was  produced  in  it.     It  was  observed  that  in  the   Greek 
churches,  the  Old  Testament  was  read  in  the  Septuagint  version, 
and  the  New  in  the  original  Greek ;  in  the  Coptic  churches,  in 
Coptic  ;    in  the   Syrian    churches,  in  Syriac ;    in  the  Abyssinian 
churches,   in  Ethiopic  ;    and  generally,  read  from  old  MSS ;  but 
that  none  of  these  ecclesiastical  languages  were  "  understanded  of 
the  people,"  nor  did  even  the  priests  often  possess  printed  copies. 
The  Society,   therefore,  in  conjunction  with  the  Bible    Society, 
published  editions  of  the  Scriptures  in  these  languages  for  the  use 
of  the  priests  and  others  who  could  read  them.     The  ol)ject  was 
"  the  enlightenment  and  elevation  of  the  priests  of  the  respective 
Conmumions  by   Scripture    Truth  and   Charity,"   in   order  that, 
"  by  their  means,  translations  might  be  made  into  the  Vernaculars 
for  the  use  of  the  people,  and  for  the  conversion  of  the  Heathen 
around  them."     In  two  cases  the  Society  was  itself  instrumental 
in  getting  important  vernacular  versions  into  circulation.     First,  a 
Greek  Archimandrite  at  Constantinople,  named   Ililarion  (after- 
wards an  Archbishop  in  Bulgaria),  undertook  a  version  of  ihe  New 
Testament  in  :\Iodern  Greek,  which  was  duly  published.    Secondly, 
a  translation  of  the  Ethiopic  Bible  of  the  Abvssinian  Church  had 
been  made  a  few  years  before  by  an  aged  monk  named  Abu  Rumi, 

*  Missio7tary  Register,  1829,  p.  407. 

t  Whose  son  is  Prebendary  Kitto,  Hector  of  .^^t.  Martin-in-tho-Fieldg 

Q   2 


228     The  Eastern  Churches:    Efforts  to  Revive  Them 

Part  III.  under  the  direction  of  the  French  Consul  at  Cairo,  M.  Assehn  de 
1812-24.  Cherville.  The  MS.,  consisting  of  no  less  than  9539  pages  in 
'  '  ^"  the  Amharic  language  and  character  (the  Abyssinian  vernacular), 
all  written  out  by  xA.bu  Eumi,  was  lighted  on  by  Jowett,  and,  after 
some  negotiation,  purchased  for  the  Bible  Society;  and  portions  of 
it  were  printed,  many  thousands  of  copies  of  which  were  afterwards 
circulated  by  C.M.S.  missionaries  in  Abyssinia.''' 

The  intercourse  which  the  "  Litei-ary  Eepresentatives  "  had 
with  the  Eastern  bishops  and  priests  was  very  hopeful.  The 
Welcome  Bishop  of  Smyrna,  the  Bishop  of  Scio  ("  a  truly  learned  man  "), 
Eastern  the  Professors  at  the  great  Greek  College  at  Scio,  and  leading 
Bishops,  priests  and  doctors  at  Athens,  Milo,  Zante,  &c.,  gave  Jowett  a 
warm  welcome  on  his  very  first  journey.  When  he  visited 
Egypt,  the  Coptic  Patriarch  granted  him  letters  to  the  principal 
priests  and  convents.  Mr.  Connor  was  received  with  equal 
warmth  by  the  Greek  Patriarchs  of  Constantinople  and  Jerusalem, 
the  Greek  Archbishops  and  many  Bishops  in  Crete,  Ehodes,  and 
Cyprus  ;  and  the  Syrian  and  Armenian  Patriarchs  and  Bishops 
in  Syria  and  Palestine.  The  two  brethren,  indeed,  saw  quite 
enough  to  make  them,  as  Jowett  significantly  says,  lift  up  their 
hearts  to  God  with  the  cry,  "  That  it  may  please  Thee  to 
illuminate  all  Bishops,  Priests,  and  Deacons,  with  true  knowledge 
and  understanding  of  Thy  word  !  " — but  many  of  the  most  influen- 
tial ecclesiastics  entered  heartily  into  the  plan  of  forming  local 
^■'^l^^.  Bible  Societies,  and  circulating  Vernacular  Versions  ;  and  several 
such  societies  were  actually  formed,  at  Malta,  Smyrna,  Athens, 
and  Corfu  and  other  Ionian  Islands.  Apparently  the  only  obstacle 
was  fear  of  the  Turks  taking  alarm,  and  withdrawing  some  of 
the  small  amount  of  religious  liberty  then  allowed  to  the  oppressed 
Christians.  Even  where  no  regular  organization  was  formed,  the 
Patriarchs  and  Bishops  frequently  fostered  plans  for  the  circula- 
tion of  the  Versions.  The  Eev.  Eobert  Pinkerton,  Agent  on  the  Con- 
tinent for  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society,  a  very  able  man, 
came  south  at  this  time,  and  took  an  active  part  in  the  work.  Mr. 
Henry  Drummond,  afterwards  so  well  known  by  his  connexion 
with  Edward  Irving,  also  fostered  these  local  plans  and  associa- 
tions, employing  for  the  purpose  an  agent  named  Christopher 
Burckhardt  (not  to  be  confounded  with  the  famous  traveller  of 
that  name).  "  His  idea  of  a  Bible  Society,"  writes  Jowett,  "  is 
very  simple.  It  is  two  or  three  people  sitting  down  together, 
signing  a  set  of  rules,  and  then  saying,  '  We  are  the  Bible  Society 

of  • ,'  and  immediately  acting  as  such.     The  only  objection  to 

this  system  is  its  want  of  appearance  in  the  eyes  of  its  neighbours : 
which,  however,  is  in  some  degree  its  security."  This  is  the  true 
way  of  forming  almost  any  society  ! 

The    spirit    of   inquiry    thus    awakened    in    the    East    led   one 

*  The  revision  of  this  Version  for  the  Bible  Society  was  one  of  the  tnsks 
of  the  East  African  missionary  Krapf,  in  his  old  age,  .and  it  was  finished  only 
in  1879,  and  printed  at  the  St.  Crischona  Mission  Press,  near  Basle. 


The  Eastern  Churches:    Efforts  to  Revive  Them     229 

ecclesiastic,  th^   Archbishop   of   Jerusalem    in   one  of  the   three  Part  III. 
branches  of  the  Syrian  Jacobite  Church,  to  visit  Europe,  in  order  i?^^"^' 
to  obtain  help  towards  printing  the  Scriptures  in  the  particular       ^P' 
form   in   which   his  people  could  read  them,   i.e.   in   the  Arabic  An  Eastern 
language  printed  in  Syriac  characters.     He  applied  to  Eome  and  bishop  in 
Paris  in  vain,  and  then  came  on  to  London.     He  was  warmly  England, 
received   l)y   the    C.M.S.    Committee,    and    a    special    fund    was 
opened,  not  by  the  Society  itself,  but  l)y  its  friends  independently, 
in  aid  of  his  scheme,  of  which  Professor  Macbride  of  Oxford  and 
Professor  Lee  of  Cambridge  were  Secretaries.      The  Archbishop 
was  taken  leave  of  at  a  large  public  meeting  at  Freemason's  Hall, 
presided  over  by  Lord  Teignmouth. 

In  1820,  Jowett  came  to  England  for  a  few  months,  and  brought 
out  a  valuable  work.  Christian  Besearches  in  the  Mediterranean, 
on  the  plan  of  Buchanan's  previous  book  on  the  Further  East ; 
and  so  great  was  the  interest  aroused  by  his  accounts  of  the  Lands 
so  dear  to  Christian  hearts,  that  he  was,  at  the  age  of  thirty-four, 
appointed  to  preach  the  Annual  C.M.S.  Sermon.  (Has  there  ever  jowetfs 
again  been  a  preacher  of  it  so  young?)  His  text  was  admirable  :  s^'''"°"- 
"  He  that  hath  an  ear,  let  him  hear  what  the  Spirit  saith  unto  the 
Churches."  The  ancient  Churches  of  Ephesus  and  Pergamos  and 
Thyatira  and  Sardis  and  Laodicea  were,  in  their  respective 
distinguishing  features,  abundantly  represented  in  the  Oriental 
Christendom  of  the  Nineteenth  Century ;  and  there  were  not 
wanting,  here  and  there,  Chin'ches  in  some  degree  worthy  to 
represent  even  Smyrna  and  Philadelpliia.  In  this  excellent  sermon, 
Jowett  did  not  view  the  Eastern  Christians  merely  as  objects  of 
interest  and  symj^athy.  He  saw  that  they  ought  to  be  the 
evangelists  of  the  Moslem  world.  But  for  this  they  were  not  yet 
qualified.  "  They  believe  in  Christianity  ;  but  the  grounds  of 
their  belief  are  not  such  as  would  persuade  unbelieving  nations. 
Christianity  is  upheld  chiefly  by  Custom  and  by  Authority  ;  and 
not  unfrequently,  by  belief  in  idle  legends  and  lying  wonders." 
Therefore  they  must  be  familiarised  with  the  Scriptures,  and 
taught  the  Historical  Evidences  of  the  Faith.  And  the  enterprise 
of  enlightening  the  Oriental  Churches  was  to  be  regarded  only  as 
a  preparatory  work.  Jowett's  ardent  hopes  looked  forward  to 
"  the  conversion  of  the  Mohammedan  Provinces  which  encompass 
two-thirds  of  the  Mediterranean,  the  recovery  of  the  Jews  to  their 
true  Messiah,  and  eventually  the  evangelizing  of  all  the  dark  and 
unknown  regions  of  Interior  Africa." 

These    far-reaching  hopes  were  not   damped  by  the   sad  and 

untoward    events    that    innnediately   ensued   in    the    East.       On 

Monday:  April  30th,  1821,  Jowett  preached  his  sermon.     On  the 

verv  Sundav  followin<r,  May  6th,  a  terrible  outbreak  of  Moham-  ^^^Jbreak 

1        r      "  ■  ■  n     i    /^i  -1  mi  i  i    °i  Moham- 

medan   tanaticism    occurred  at    Oonstantmople.       ine   veneral)le  medan 

Patriarch    of   the    Greek    Church,  who  had    so   lieartily    thrown  bigotry. 

himself  into  the   work  of  Bible  translation  and  distribution,  was 

attacked  by  a  Turkish  mob  while  performing  divine  worship,  and 


2^o    The  Eastern  Churches :    Efforts  lo  Revive  Them 


Part  III, 
1812-24. 

Chap.  17. 

Massacre 
of  Scio. 


Turkey 

and 

Russia. 


The  Pope 
and  the 
Sultan. 


dragged  to  a  cruel  and  ignominious  death.  Other  bishops  and 
priests  were  killed  ;  and  the  outrage  was  followed  by  others  not 
less  barbarous  in  many  parts  of  the  Turkish  Empire.  In  par- 
ticular, the  frightful  massacre  at  Scio  horrified  all  Europe — a 
rehearsal,  one  may  say,  of  the  Bulgarian  and  Armenian  atrocities 
of  later  years.  The  city  of  Scio  was  sacked  ;  the  great  College, 
the  headquarters  of  Greek  learning,  the  churches,  the  hospitals, 
the  houses,  were  all  destroyed,  and  the  valuable  libraries  burnt  ; 
and  thousands  of  the  people  were  mercilessly  slaughtered.  These 
outrages  led  to  the  Greek  War  of  Independence  ;  and  thus  began 
the  gradual  dismemberment  of  Turkey.  Christian  Englishmen  at 
that  time  little  thought  that  the  Ottoman  Empire  would  last 
through  the  century  ;  they  would  have  been  shocked  at  the  idea 
of  British  blood  and  treasure  being  expended  in  the  hopeless 
attempt  to  prop  it  up  ;  by  them,  and  by  their  fathers  for  several 
centuries,  the  Turk  had  been  ever  looked  upon  as  the  relentless 
foe  of  Christendom  ;  the  Poles  who  had  hurled  him  back  from  the 
gates  of  Vienna,  and  the  Greeks  who  now  rose  against  him,  were 
the  heroes  of  those  days.  The  advance  of  Russia,  if  anticipated 
at  all,  was  anticipated  with  pleasure  and  hope.  Several  Russian 
Bil^le  Societies  had  been  established,  and  were  doing  splendid 
work.  In  the  Missionary  Register  of  December,  1817,  there  are 
speeches  reported  of  the  Archbishops  of  Moscow  and  Tobolsk, 
delivered  at  meetings  of  the  societies  of  those  cities.  The  Czar 
Alexander  himself  was  the  ardent  promoter  of  Bible  and  missionary 
enterprise,  and  the  personal  friend  of  the  Gurneys  and  Frys  and 
other  leaders  of  philanthropy  in  England.  Russia  was  looked  to 
as  the  ally  of  all  that  was  good ;  Turkey,  as  almost  the  em- 
bodiment of  evil.  In  a  powerful  Introduction  to  the  Missionary 
Register  of  1823,  Josiah  Pratt  enlarged  on  the  subject.  "  The 
stronghold  of  the  Mohammedan  Antichrist,"  he  wrote,  "  is  shaken 
to  its  foundations."  Recent  events  were  "  all  additional  symptoms 
of  the  approach  of  that  Ruin  which  has  long  been  preparing  for 
this  main  support  of  the  delusions  of  the  False  Prophet — delusions 
by  which  the  god  of  this  world  has  for  twelve  centuries  blinded 
the  eyes  and  besotted  the  hearts  of  countless  millions  of 
mankind." 

But,  for  the  time,  the  growing  work  of  Bible  and  tract  circula- 
tion was  greatly  impeded.  In  a  previous  chapter,'-'  the  Papal 
Bull  of  1817  against  the  Bible  Society  was  noticed.  In  1824,  a 
new  Pope  issued  a  Circular  warning  Catholics  against  its  transla- 
tions— although  the  Bible  Society,  with  great  wisdom,  circulated 
in  Roman  Catholic  countries  the  vernacular  versions  made  by 
Roman  divines  themselves.  In  like  manner,  the  Sultan,  as 
Commander  of  the  Faithful,  immediately  after  the  issue  of  that 
Circular,  put  forth  a  Firman  forbidding  the  import  of  any  Christian 
Scriptures  into  the  Turkish  dominions,  and  ordering  copies  to  be 


See  p.  153. 


The  Eastern  Churches:    Efforts  to  Revive  Them     231 

burnt.     Thus,  wrote  Pratt,   "  the   Eastern  Antichrist  co-operates  Part  III. 
with   the  Western  !  "—and  the  co-operation   was  perhaps  closer   ^j^^^"^"*- 
than  the  pubhc  reahzed,  for  the  opinion  of  some  of  the  British      '_^  "• 
Consuls,  and  of  leading  Eomanists  in   the  East  themselves,  was 
that  Eomish  influence  was  at  the  bottom  of  even  the  Sultan's 
action,  seeing  that  Papal  missionaries  were  in  no  way  interfered 
with.     No  one  at   that  time  would  have  thought  Pratt  narrow- 
minded  for  stigmatizing  the  Papacy  as  the  Western  Antichrist. 
Bishops    and   divines   beyond   all    suspicion    of    Evangehcalism 
habitually  did  so  then. 

Jowett  continued  at  Malta  till  1830,  and  Hartley  made  interest- 
ing tours  in  Asia  Minor,  and  in  the  Ionian  Islands  ;  but  from  1825 
onwards  the  Society's  efforts  were  chiefly  concentrated  on  Egypt 
and  Abyssinia,  and  the  missionaries  were  all  Germans  or  Swiss 
from  the  Basle  Seminary.  Other  missionaries  from  the  sarne 
institution,  however,  worked  at  Smyrna  and  Syra.  But  all  this 
belongs  to  a  later  period  in  our  History.  The  nett  result  of  the 
enterprise  for  the  revival  of  the  Eastern  Churches  was,  un- 
doubtedly, that  Oriental  Christendom,  though  according  manifest 
respect  to  the  good  men  living  in  its  midst,  and  wilHng  to  use  the 
pubhcations  of  the  Malta  Press,  was  by  no  means  inclined  to  be 
quickened  into  fresh  life  by  the  Christendom  of  the  West. 

The  Malabar  Syrian  Church. 

There  is  another  Oriental  Church  for  the  revival  of  which,  at  Syrian 
this  period,  the  Society  made  earnest  efforts.  From  the  earliest  ^^^H^]" '" 
centuries,  Christianity  had  taken  root  in  South-West  India  ;  and 
when  Vasco  da  Gama,  the  Portuguese  navigator,  reached  India 
by  sea  round  the  Cape  in  1498,  he  found  flourishing  a  Nestorian 
Church,  which,  though  not  free  from  errors  and  superstitions, 
knew  nothing  of  the  Papacy,  the  cultus  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  or 
Transubstantiation.  An  army  of  Portuguese  priests  followed,  and 
in  many  places  the  Indian  Christians  submitted  to  the  yoke  of 
Eome.  In  1511  came  Xavier ;  and  at  Goa  he  found  visible  signs 
of  Portuguese  Christianity  in  the  shape  of  "a  magnificent 
cathedral,  a  resident  bishop,  a  chapter  of  canons,  a  Franciscan 
convent,"  &c.  The  ancient  Church,  however,  did  not  submit  to 
Eome  till  1599,  when  Menezes,  Archbishop  of  Goa,  by  an 
unscrupulous  use  of  both  force  and  fraud,  secured  its  subjection 
at  the  Synod  of  Udiampura.  All  the  married  priests  were  de- 
posed ;  the  doctrine  of  transubstantiation  and  the  worship  of  the 
Virgin  were  enforced  ;  and  the  Inquisition  was  established.  But 
when  the  Dutch  dispossessed  the  Portuguese  of  certain  ports  on 
the  Malabar  coast  in  1663,  they  made  way  for  a  Syrian  Metro- 
politan to  come  from  Antioch,  who  was  welcomed  by  the  majority 
of  the  Christians  as  their  liberator  from  Eoman  tyranny  ;  and  the 
result  was  that  the  Church,  instead  of  resuming  its  old  Nestorian 
connexion,  became  Jacobite,  and  has  ever  since  looked  to  Antioch 


232      The  Eastern  Churches:    Efforts  to  Revive  Them 

Part  III.  as  its  ecclesiasticcal  centre. -■=     Hence  the  common  name  of  Syrian 

Ch-llr    ^^'^^^^'^^^'  f^l^ou^li  tlie  designation  used  locally  is  "  Christians  of  St. 

'^^''    ''  Thomas."     The  majority  of   its    members   are  in    the   protected 

states  of  Travancore  and  Cochin  ;  and  the  Eomanists  being  also 

numerous,  those  states  have  the  largest  proportion  of  Christians 

in  the  population  to  be  found  in  India. 

Bucha-  It  was  Claudius  Buchanan  who  first  drew  public  attention  to 

searches.'  ^^"^  ancient  Church.  In  his  Christian  Researches  he  gives  a 
graphic  account  of  his  visit  to  Travancore  in  1806,  and  writes 
enthusiastically  of  the  Syrian  Christians  and  their  comparative 
freedom  from  error.  He  brought  to  l^^ngland  the  famous  Peschito 
MS.,  now  in  the  University  Library  at  Cambridge,  the  only  com- 
plete ancient  MS.  of  the  Syriac  Bible  in  Europe,  except  one  at 
Milan.  In  the  Eeport  of  1812,  in  which  was  propounded  a  com- 
prehensive programme  of  missionary  work  in  the  East,  evidently 
inspired  l)y  Buchanan's  book,  the  C.M.S.  Committee  say  of  "the 
Syrian  Christians  of  Malay ala  "  that  "  they  have  maintained  a 
regular  Episcopal  Succession  from  the  earliest  ages,  and  in  all 
important  points  accord  with  the  faith  of  the  Primitive  Church  "  ; 
and  it  is  suggested  that  "  a  few  learned,  prudent,  and  zealous 
clergymen  would  be  received,  as  there  is  ground  to  hope,  with 
open  arms  by  this  venerable  Church.  Their  labours,"  it  is 
added,  "  would  tend,  under  the  Divine  blessing,  to  revive  and 
confirm  the  influence  of  the  faith  in  that  oppressed  Community, 
and  might  lead  ultimately  to  a  union  between  our  Churches." 

But  the  first  practical  step  towards  helping  the  Syrian  Church 
was  taken  by  the  British  Eesident  at  the  Hindu  Court  of  Travan- 
core.    A  previous  Eesident,  Colonel  Macaulay,  had  welcomed  and 

Colonel       aided  Buchanan  ;  and  now  his  successor.  Colonel  Monro,  in  1813, 

Monro.  formed  a  plan  for  establishing  a  college  for  the  education  of  the 
Syrian  clergy  and  laity,  inducing  the  Hindu  Eani  (Princess)  to 
endow  it  with  money  and  lands,  and  applying  to  Mr.  Marmaduke 
Thompson,  the  Madras  chaplain,  for  a  clergyman  of  the  Church  of 
England  to  be  Principal.  In  1816,  Thompson  being  now  Secretary 
of  the  C.M.S.  Corresponding  Committee  at  Madras,  sent  in 
response  two  of  the  first  missionaries  who  arrived  from  England, 

fn°dBriiey.  ^^^^^^^^^  Norton  and  Benjamin  Bailey.  This  step  met  the  hearty 
■  approval  of  the  Home  Committee,  who  thereupon  commissioned 
their  OrientaHst,  Samuel  Lee,  at  Cambridge  (not  yet  Professor), 
to  write  a  sketch  of  the  history  of  the  INIalabar  Church  ;  which  he 
did  with  his  usual  learning  and  thoroughness,  and  it  was  printed 
as  an  appendix  to  the  Eeport  of  1817.  Another  missionary, 
Dawson,  who  was  sent  in  the  following  year,  had  soon  to  return 

Baker  and  home  invalided;  but  in  1818  arrived  Henry  Baker  and  Joseph 
Fenn.  Norton  was  stationed  at  Allepie,  the  energetic  Eesident 
obtaining  from  the  Eani  a  grant  of  land  for  the  Mission.    Bailey, 

*  The  best  account  of  the  Syrian  Church,  its  history  and  doctrine  and 
liturgies,  &c.,  is  given  in  Lingerings  of  Light  in  a  Darl;  Land,  l)y  T.  Whitehouse  ; 
London,  1873.     Mi-.  Whitehouse  was  a  chaplain  at  Cocliin. 


The  Eastern  Churches:    Efforts  to  Revive  Them     233 

Baker,  and  Femi,  the  celebrated  Travancore  Triumvirate,  settled  at  Part  III. 
Cottayam,  where  Colonel  Munro's  Syrian  College  had  been  estab-  ^^'^'^^j 
lished.    Fenn  had  been  a  young  London  barrister,  who  gave  up      ^^^ 
brilliant  prospects  to  be  a  missionary.     Having  good  connexions, 
and  exhibiting  unusual  powers,  he   was    already  making  £1500 
a  year.     But   he  heard  the  Divine  call,  and  responded  at  once ; 
and  he  was  ordained  in  the  first  instance  to  Francis  Cunningham's 
curacy  at  Pakefield.     To  him  was  more  especially  committed  the 
work  of  seeking  to  influence  the  Syrian  Church.- 

The  missionaries  were  expressly  instructed  by  the  C.M.S.  Com-  '^j^^g^^-^j^_ 
mittee  "  not  to  pull  down  the  ancient  Church  and  build  another,  cernfng°an 
but  to  remove  the  rubbish  and  repair  the  decaying  places."     "  The  ^^^^^^^ 
Syrians  should  be  brought  back  to  their  own  ancient  and  primitive 
worship  and  discipline,  rather  than  be  induced  to  adopt  the  liturgy 
and  disciphne  of  the  Enghsh  Church ;  and  should  any  considera- 
tions induce  them  to   wish  such   a  measure,  it  would  be  highly 
expedient    to    dissuade    them    from    adopting    it,    both    for    the 
preservation    of    their  individuahty    and  entireness,    and    greater 
consequent  weight  and  usefulness  as  a  Church  ;  and  to  prevent 
those  jealousies  and  heart-burnings  which  would  in  all  probability 
hereafter  arise." 

At  the  first  arrival  of  Norton,  some  apprehension  was  manifested 
by  the  Metran  (Metropolitan)  and  other  Syrians  that  the  English 
clergy  were  coming,  as  the  Eoman  clergy  had  come,  to  subjugate 
them  to  the  domination  of  a  foreign  Church.  "  But  I  assured 
them,"  wrote  Norton,  "that  it  was  our  sole  desire  to  be  instru- 
mental, by  the  Divine  assistance,  in  strengthening  the  Metran's 
hands  for  removing  those  evils  which  they  had  derived  from  the 
Church  of  Eome,  and  which  he  himself  lamented,  and  to  bring 
them  back  to  their  primitive  state,  according  to  the  purity  of  the 
Gospel,  that  they  might  again  become  a  holy  and  vigorous  Church, 
active  and  useful  in  the  cause  of  God."  The  Metran  thereupon 
w^elcomed  him  as  their  "  deliverer  and  protector."  This  Metran, 
however,  soon  died ;  but  he  was  succeeded  by  two  excellent  men, 
who  were  Metrans  jointly,  and  who  both  proved  most  friendly, 
and  anxious  to  follow  the  counsels  of  the  missionaries.  On 
December  3rd,  1818,  an  assembly  was  summoned  by  one  of  them. 
Mar  Dionysius,  which  was  attended  by  forty  catanars  (priests) 
and  seven  hundred  of  the  laity,  and  at  which  Joseph  Fenn 
addressed  them.  He  dwelt  on  the  duties  of  both  clergy  and  laity, 
pointing  out  the  evils  of  enforced  celibacy  for  the  former,  and  the 
importance  of  conducting  public  worship  in  a  language  "  under- 
standed  of  the  people";  and  suggested  the  appointment  of  six 

*  An  interesting  account  of  Joseph  Fenn,  by  Dr.  J.  C.  Miller,  appeared  in 
the  CM.  Intelligencer  of  May,  1878.  He  was  for  fifty  years  Minister  of  Black- 
heath  Park  Chapel,  and  a  venerated  member  of  the  C.M.S.  Committee.  He 
was  the  father  of  several  clerical  sons:  among  them,  C.  C.  Fenn,  of  Ceylon, 
and  afterwards  Secretary  of  C.M.S.;  David  Fenn,  of  Madras;  J.  F.  Fenn, 
of  Cheltenham  ;  T.  F.  Fenn,  Head  Master  of  Trent  College. 


234     The  Eastern  Churches:    Efeorts  to  Revive  Them 

^fv^  ^}^'  °^-  ^^^®  ™°^*  ^^^^®  catanars  to  consult  with   the  Metran  and  the 

Chaplt   i^^ssionaries  as  to  the  purifying  and  simphfying  of  the  rites  and 

1_    ■  ceremonies  of  the   Church,  which  were  extremely  elaborate  and 

comphcated    and    in    many   respects    superstitious,— adding    the 

caution  that  it  was  desirable  to  "  alter  as  little  as  possible."  ^= 

Early  Of  course,  it  was  not  expected  that  reforms  could  be  effected  at 

success  o     Qj-^gg  .  ^j^^j  meanwhile  the  three  brethren  set  to  work  in  the  various 


aries.  departments  allotted  to  them.     Fenn  took  charge  of  the  College, 

at  which  it  was  arranged  that  every  candidate  for  the  Syrian 
ministry  should  be  trained  ;  Bailey,  having  been  two  years  longer 
in  Travancore  than  the  others,  and  being  therefore  more  advanced 
in  the  language,  began  the  translation  of  the  Bible  into  Malayalam  ; 
and  Baker  started  and  supervised  schools  in  Cottayam  and  the 
surrounding  villages.  They  quickly  won  the  personal  esteem  of 
the  people  ;  and  a  remarkable  letter  f  was  written  by  the  Metran 
to  the  President  of  the  Society,  Lord  Gambler,  in  1821,  in  which, 
comparing  the  Pope  to  Pharaoh,  he  called  Colonel  Macaulay, 
(the  first  Resident),  Moses,  and  Colonel  Monro,  Joshua;  speaking 
also  affectionately  of  "  Mar  Buchanan,  the  illustrious  priest,"  of 
"Priest  Benjamin,  Priest  Joseph,  and  Priest  Henry"  (Bailey, 
Fenn,  and  Baker),  and  of  "  Samuel  the  Priest,"  i.e.  Professor 
Lee,  who  had  written  them  a  letter  in  the  ancient  Syriac  language. 
Bishop  Middleton,  of  Calcutta,  who  visited  Travancore  just  when 
the  work  was  beginning,  approved  of  the  missionaries'  plans  ;  and 
the  Principal  of  Bishop's  College,  Dr.  Mill,  two  years  later,  wrote 
with  surprise  and  pleasure  of  the  judicious  way  in  which,  in  his 

But  dis-      j^^flgment,  they  were  filling  a  very  difficult  position. 

appointing       For  some  years  the  reports  were  very  hopeful ;    and  yet   no 

results.  definite _  reform  had  been  accomplished.  The  actual  practice  of 
the  Syrian  Church  proved  to  be  far  more  superstitious  than  was 
perceived  at  first.  The  clergy  were  ignorant  and  often  immoral, 
and  the  people  given  to  drunkenness  and  Hcense  of  all  kinds. 
Many  of  the  religious  customs  were  simply  borrowed  from  the 
surrounding  Heathenism.  In  respect  both  of  religious  observance 
and  of  morality,  the  Christians  had  "mingled  with  the  Heathen 
and  learned  their  works."  But  the  missionaries  noted  this  great 
and  fundamental  difference  between  them,  that  while  the  Heathen 
gloried — as  they  glory  to-day — in  their  shame,  and  justified  the 
vilest  practices  by  the  example  of  their  gods,  the  Christians 
entirely  acknowledged  their  own  sin  and  degradation,  and  even  the 
superstitious  character  of  their  worship,  and  professed  to  wish  for 
improvement.  Both  the  Residents  and  the  missionaries  urged  the 
marriage  of  the  priests,  the  prohibition  of  which  was  no  original 
rule   of  the   ancient  Church  of  Antioch,  but  had   been  borrowed 

*  An  abstract  of  this  Address  is  given  in  the  Appendix  to  the  Report  of 
1820;  in  which  also  there  is  an  official  report  by  Colonel  Monro  to  the 
Madras  Government  on  the  history  and  condition  of  Christianity  in  Travan- 
core. 

t  Printed  in  full  in  the  Missionary  Register  of  1822,  p.  131. 


The  Eastern  Churches:    Efforts  to  REinvE  Them     235 

from  Eome.     Celibacy,  indeed,  was  held  in  high  honour  ;  but  in  Part  III. 
actual   fact   there   was   very   little   real    celibacy.      Though   the    Wl^^-*- 
priests  had  no  lawful  wives,  they  had  mistresses,  and  children,     ^^"^^"  ^^' 
quite  openly  ;  so  that  marriage  would  have  been  an  important 
reform.     But  although  the  good  Metrans  did  advocate  it,   very 
little   came   of  the  proposal.     Meanwhile,  Fenn  and  Bailey  went 
on  training  the  young  priests  and  translating  the  Scriptures,  and 
attending  the  Syrian  services  regularly,  although  these  were  often 
extremely  distasteful  to  them. 

In  1825  the  good  Metran,  Mar  Dionysius,  died.  His  successors 
proved  to  be  men  of  a  totally  different  spirit,  and  opposed  all 
reforms.  For  ten  years  more,  nevertheless,  the  Society  persevered  ; 
but,  as  will  appear  hereafter,  the  enterprise  was  at  last  acknow- 
ledged to  be  a  failure.  To  the  Jews  at  Pisidian  Antioch,  in 
the  earliest  days,  St.  Paul  had  said,  "  It  was  necessary  that  the 
word  of  God  should  first  have  been  spoken  unto  you  :  but  seeing 
ye  put  it  from  you,  and  judge  yourselves  unworthy  of  everlasting 
life,  lo,  we  turn  to  the  Gentiles.  '  So,  in  effect,  said  the  mission- 
aries to  the  Indian  children  of  the  Syrian  Antioch.  They  now 
turned  to  the  Heathen.  But  this  as  viewed  from  1825,  is  still  in 
the  future. 


CHAPTEE  XVIII. 

The  Outlook  after  Twenty-five  Years. 

Josiah  Pratt  retires — Sombre  Tone  of  his  Last  Report — Cunningham 
on  the  Great  Enemy — Discouragement  and  Repulse  in  the  Mission 
Field — Deaths — New  Friends — The  Anniversaries — Men  and  Means 
—  Ordinations — New  N.-W.  America  Mission — The  S.V.M.U. 
Motto  anticipated — The  One  Hope,  an  Outpouring  of  the  Spirit. 


"Much  discouraged  because  of  tit  e  ivay." — Numb.  xxi.  4. 

"  But  David  encouraged  himself  in  the  Lord  his  God."-  1  Sam. 


6. 


Part  III. 
1812-24. 
Chap.  18. 


Josiah 
Pratt 


QUx\ETEE  of  a  century  had  now  passed  since  the 
Httle  l)and  of  obscure  clergymen  and  laymen  esta- 
blished the  new  Society  in  the  Castle  and  Falcon  Inn. 
We  have  traced  the  history  of  the  Society's  early 
struggles,  of  its  trials  of  faith  and  patience,  of  its 
almost  sudden  leap,  at  the  age  of  thirteen,  from  infancy  to 
vigorous  youth,  of  its  rapid  extension  throughout  the  country,  of 
its  relations  with  other  Societies,  of  its  first  Missions  in  West 
Africa,  in  North  and  South  India,  in  New  Zealand,  in  Ceylon  ;  of 
its  efforts  in  behalf  of  the  Eastern  Churches.  Let  us  now  pause 
for  a  moment  at  the  year  1824,  and  survey  the  Society's  position, 
its  Missions,  and  the  world  generally. 

As  before  stated,  it  is  a  curious  fact  that  in  1824  the  Society 
was  not  aware  of  its  being  twenty-five  years  old  !  The  tradition 
had  grown  up  that  it  was  founded  in  1800,  probably  because 
Pratt  and  the  few  other  survivors  of  the  little  band  of  founders  '■' 
had  been  wont  to  date  the  commencement  of  the  Society,  not 
from  its  actual  formation  in  1799,  but  from  its  resolve  to  go 
forward  in  the  following  year,  when  the  Archbishop's  reply  was 
received.  It  was  Henry  Venn  who  afterwards  put  the  matter 
right,  and  celebrated  the  Jubilee  in  the  true  fiftieth  year.  But  let 
us  take  advantage  of  the  mistake,  and  instead  of  taking  our  stand 
definitely  in  April,  1824,  adopt  for  our  survey  the  broader  platform 
of  the  years  1824  and  1825  generally,  up  to  which  period  the 
preceding  chapters  have  brought  the  history  of  the  Missions. 

On  April  23rd,  1824,  just  after  the  real  twenty-fifth  birthday, 
Josiah  Pratt  resigned  his  Secretaryship.  It  is  only  a  close  study 
of  the  period  that  can  enable  one  to  realize  the  importance  of  this 

*  Of  the  original  thirty-two  (members  of  Committee  and  V.P.s),  twelve 
were  still  alive  in  1824. 


The  Outlook  after   Twenty-five   Years  237 

event.  Pratt  has  never  been  fully  appreciated.  He  is  not  a  Part  III. 
historic  character.  But  a  sense  of  his  greatness  grows  upon  the  1^12-24. 
mind  as  the  Society's  inner  history  is  followed,  and  as  the  ^^'  ' 
Missionary  Begister  is  studied  page  by  page.  In  particular,  the 
combination  in  him  of  faithfulness  to  the  spiritual  principles  which  His  char- 
were — and  are — the  life  and  soul  of  the  Society,  with  the  truest  ^ork.^"'* 
and  most  generous  breadth  of  sympathy  towards  other  men  and 
other  organizations,  was  almost  unique.  One  cannot  resist  the 
conviction  that  in  this  breadth  of  sympathy  he  did  not  always 
carry  all  his  colleagues  on  the  Committee  with  him  ;  but  of  the 
value  of  it  to  the  Society  during  those  critical  early  years  there 
can  be  no  manner  of  doubt.  To  quote  two  very  diverse  authorities  : 
Dr.  Overton  calls  him  "  quite  one  of  the  best  in  every  way  of  the 
Evangelical  clergy."  "  Like  many  of  the  Evangelicals,"  he  says, 
"  Pratt  showed  great  business  talents,  which  were  most  valuable 
in  the  management  of  their  various  projects.  He  was  a  man  of 
singularly  unobtrusive  character,  and  was  rather  forced  by  circum- 
stances than  led  by  his  own  choice  into  prominence.  His  forte 
was  practical  wisdom."  And  Mr.  Jowett,  who  was  one  of  his 
successors  in  the  Secretariat : — "  He  was  a  man  all  energy — grave, 
firm,  undaunted  energy,  with  a  mind  comprehensive,  sagacious, 
sound,  and  practical  ;  a  mind  always  busy,  going  forth  in  its 
exc versions  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land,  and 
through  the  compass  of  the  whole  earth.  .  .  .  With  these  original 
qualities  of  the  understanding  was  combined  a  power  of  labour 
truly  astonishing.  .  .  .  Others  might  deliberate  ;  he  could  de- 
liberate and  act  too.  ...  In  the  qualities  of  his  heart  he  was 
truly  large,  fervent,  and  affectionate."  "  I  never  knew  a  man 
like  him,"  Bishop  Gobat  once  said,  "  able  to  ask  of  missionary 
candidates  such  plain  questions  without  offending."  How  true 
was  Cecil's  forecast  when  Pratt  first  came  to  him  as  curate  in 
1795,  and  the  young  clergyman  was  timid  and  downcast — "  Never 
mind,  Pratt :  make  yourself  useful,  and  tJie  time  icill  come  when 
you  will  he  wanted." 

The  ground  of  Pratt's  retirement  was  the  increasing  burden  of 
the  Missionary  Begister,  which  occupied  a  very  large  portion  of  his 
time  ;  and  any  reader  of  its  volumes  at  that  period  will  wonder 
that  the  editor  could  find  an  hour  for  anj^thing  else.  It  may  justly 
be  again  observed  that  no  missionary  periodical  of  the  present  day 
can  compare  with  what  the  Begister  was  then,  in  comprehensive- 
ness and  completeness,  and  editorial  industry.  That  there  was  no 
hidden  reason  for  resignation  behind,  in  the  shape  of  any  dif- 
ference with  the  Committee,  is  clear  from  the  fact  that  they  at 
once  appointed  him  Chairman  of  the  Committee  of  Correspondence, 
an  office  of  far  more  dominating  influence  then  than  it  could 
possibly  1)6  now,  when  the  numbers  are  five  or  six  times  greater.''' 

*  There  is  now  no  permMiient  Chairman  of  this  Committee.  In  the  absence 
of  the  President,  some  Vice-Pi-esirlent  or  other  member  is  voted  to  the  chair 

ad  hoc. 


238  The  Outlook  after   Tiventv-fij-e  Years 

Part  III.  There  is  no  reason  to  doubt  that  Pratt  wrote  the  bulk  of  the 
1812-34.    Eeport  of  1824,  though  he  retked  just  before  its  presentation.     Its 
lap^    •  concluding   paragraphs   are'    singularly   weighty.      Let    a    short 
His  last      passage  be  given  : — 

Report. 

''No  man  can  say  that  he  has  acted  up  to  the  extent  of  his  ol)ligations. 
Let  hiiii  but  feel,  in  its  full  energy,  the  constrainino-  power  of  the  love  of 
Christ  to  his  own  soul,  and  the  tirst  waking  thought  and  the  last 
conscious  desire  of  every  day  will  be  how  he  may  best  live  unto  Him 
who  died  for  him.  Let  him  but  know  in  the  full  comprehension  of  their 
value,  the  things  which  are  freely  given  to  him  of  God,  and  lay  to  heart 
the  dreadfid  state  and  inuninent  danger  of  the  perishing  world,  with  his 
own  responsibility  for  the  talents  coirunitted  to  his  charge,  and  the  few 
fleeting  moments  in  which,  to  all  eternity,  he  will  be  aV)le  to  do  any- 
thmg  toward  the  Salvation  of  innuortal  souls — let  him  feel  all  this  as  he 
ought,  and  every  faculty  of  body  and  soul,  every  hour  of  his  waking 
life,  and  every  atom  of  power  and  influence  which  he  can  command, 
will  be  devoted  to  rescue  souls  from  death  and  to  hide  a  multitude  of 
sins." 

But  upon  the  whole,  this  last  Eeport  of  Pratt's  has  a  distinctly 
sombre  tone.  Its  opening  words  are,  "  The  Committee  have  to 
display  a  chequered  scene,"  and  reference  is  immediately  made  to 

A  time  of  the  "very  severe  trials"  which  it  had  "pleased  God,  in  His  wise 
and  righteous  Providence,  to  bring  on  some  parts  of  the  Missions  "  ; 
and  the  whole  outlook  at  this  time  was  very  different  from  the 
animated  expectations  that  had  marked  the  period  of  development, 
1813  to  1816.  Missionary  leaders  were  now  learning,  year  by 
year,  the  hard  lesson  that  the  Jericho-walls  of  Heathenism  do  not 
fall  at  the  first  summons  ;  that  the  great  Enemy's  malice  is  most 
especially  manifested  against  that  division  of  the  Lord's  army  that 
attacks  him  in  his  strongholds;  that  the  "  strong  man  armed  " 
can  only  be  dispossessed  of  his  usurped  dominion  by  the  direct 
power  of  the  "  Stronger  than  he."  Many  encouraging  facts  dwelt 
upon  by  Pratt  in  the  Begister  ■■'•  a  few  months  before  this  time,  as 
for  example  that  the  contributions  to  the  various  Societies  now 
amounted  to  £1000  per  day,f — that  the  Scriptures  had  been 
translated  into  one  hundred  and  forty-four  languages, — that  tens  of 
thousands  of  souls  had  already  been  gathered  from  among  the 
Heathen,  numbers  of  whom  had  died  in  the  faith  and  were  now 
safe  for  ever, — only  tended  to  make  the  antagonism,  both  of  "  flesh 
and  blood"  and  of  "principalities  and  powers,"  more  vehement 
and  bitter  than  ever.  Naturally,  therefore,  we  find  the  reality  of 
the  Devil  and  his  works  much   dwelt  upon   at  this  time.     For 

fohn  Cun-   instance,  J.  W.  Cunningham's  powerful  Sermon  at  the  Anniver- 

ling-ham's 

*  January,  1821.  The  January  number  of  the  Register  was  at  this  time 
always  devoted  to  a  survey  of  the  world  and  of  Missions. 

t  In  the  Register  of  December,  1825,  is  given  a  List  of  Contributions  to 
"  Missionary,  Bible,  Tract,  and  Education  Societies,"  including  institutions 
like  the  National  Society,  the  Sunday  School  Union,  the  Naval  and  Military 
Bible  Society,  &c.  The  total  is  estimated  at  about  £380,000;  but  more  than 
half  of  this  would  be  for  home  work. 


The  Outlook  after   Twenty-five  Years  239 

sary  of  1823  is  devoted  to  this  subject.-''  The  text  combines,  in  a  Part  III. 
way  which  is  not  at  all  common,  the  31st  and  32nd  verses  of  St.  1812-2-4. 
John  xii.,  "  Now  shall  the  prince  of  this  world  be  cast  out ;  and  I,  Chap^lS. 
if  I  be  lifted  up  from  the  earth,  will  draw  all  men  unto  me  "  ;  and 
the  subject  is,  in  the  preacher's  words,  "  The  Empire  of  Satan 
upon  Earth,  and  the  Destruction  of  that  Empire  by  the  Son  of 
God."  After  a  masterly  sketch  of  the  results  of  the  Devil's 
dominion,  both  outwardly  in  Heathendom,  and  inwardly  even  in 
the  hearts  of  professing  Christians,  and  a  striking  picture  of  the 
gradual  present  victory  and  complete  future  triumph  of  Christ, 
Cunningham  proceeds  to  ask  pointedly,  "  Why  should  any  man 
be  astonished  to  find  almost  innumerable  obstacles  and  enemies  to 
the  prosecution  of  the  missionary  cause?"  "The  Missionary 
Enterprise,"  he  goes  on,  "  may  be  considered  as  an  assault,  at 
once  open  and  direct,  at  the  very  heart  of  its  citadel.  Is  it  not 
then  to  be  expected  that  an  Enemy  so  fierce,  powerful,  and 
implacable,  will  resist  such  an  attack  ?  ...  Is  the  evil  spirit  an 
'  accuser  of  the  brethren  '  ? — then  have  we  a  right  to  expect 
'  railing  accusation  '  against  his  opposers.  Is  he  the  '  father  of 
lies  '  ? — then  we  may  expect  to  be  pursued  by  the  grossest  false- 
hoods and  calumnies.  Was  he  '  a  murderer  from  the  beginning  '  ? 
— then  have  we  reason  to  anticipate  persecution,  and  every  species 
of  violence  by  which  unmeasured  and  unwearied  malignity  can 
prosecute  its  object."  At  his  concluding  paragraphs  we  will  look 
presently. 

Meanwhile,  let  us  glance  at  the  Mission-field.  In  West  x^frica.  Reverses 
the  work  had  almost  collapsed,  owing  to  the  terrible  succession  of  '" 
deaths  ;  there  were  already  signs  of  the  tares  springing  up  amid  the 
wheat,  even  in  the  district  (Eegent)  that  had  been  the  scene  of  the 
lamented  Johnson's  much-blessed  labours ;  and  the  slave-trade, 
particularly  under  the  French  flag,  was  reviving,  with  all  its 
horrors,  along  the  whole  coast.  In  New  Zealand,  after  ten  years' 
work,  no  spiritual  fruit  had  been  gathered,  and  the  Mission  had 
been  sadly  damaged  by  the  bad  conduct  of  some  of  the  agents. 
On  the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean,  and  in  Travancore,  the 
ancient  Churches  of  the  East  were  showing  less  disposition  than 
they  had  shown  at  first  to  accept  the  reforming  suggestions  from 
the  West  ;  and  the  Greek  revolt  had  been  met  by  increased 
manifestations  of  bigotry  and  fanaticism  on  the  part  of  Moham- 
medan Turkey.  In  Eussia,  too,  the  narrower  school  in  the  Eusso- 
Greek  Church  was  regaining  the  upper  hand,  and  troubling  the 
Scottish  Missions  on  the  Caspian  ;  and  this,  with  the  growing 
enmity  of  the  Tartar  population,  led  to  several  stations  being  aban- 
doned ;  while  the  death  of  the  Czar  Alexander  in  1825  put  an  end 
to  the  large  hopes  that  hung  upon  his  personal  piety  and  sympathy 
with  missionary  effort.  In  India,  progress  was  very  slow,  except 
in  Tinnevelly ;  the  most  shocking  accounts  of  widow-burning  and 

*  Likewise  C.  F.  Childe's  Sermon  in  1879. 


240  The  Outlook  after   Twenty-five    Years 

Part  III.  child-murdei-  were  coming  home,  and  rending  the  hearts  of  the 
1812-24.   readers  of  the  Begister  ;■'■'  the  first  Bisliop  had  died,  and  the  second 

Chap^lS.  j^^^  ^j^^y  .^^g^  landed;  from  the  S.P.C.K.  Tamil  Missions  no 
reports  were  being  received  at  all ;  and  the  greatest  Mission  in 
Bengal,  that  of  the  Baptists  at  Serampore,  was  in  the  midst  of  the 
untoward  dispute  which  presently  separated  it  for  many  years 
from  the  parent  society.  In  South  Africa,  the  great  work  of 
Moffat  and  others, — and  in  the  South  Seas,  the  great  work  of  John 
Williams  and  others, — under  the  London  Missionary  Society, 
were  meeting  with  serious  (though  temporary)  checks.  China 
was  still  virtually  closed ;  but  Morrison,  whose  Chinese  Bible 
had  long  been  complete,  was  at  this  very  time  in  England, 
forming  plans  for  Chinese  work  at  Singapore  in  view  of  a  possible 
future  entrance  into  the  empire  itself.  Japan,  of  course,  was  still 
hermetically  sealed  ;  and  its  name  never  occurs  at  all  in  these 
early  Eeports  and  Begisters. 

Perhaps  the  most  painful  manifestation  of  the  Enemy's  malice 
was  in  the  West  Indies.  The  Anti-Slavery  Society  had  just  been 
formed  (1823) ;  Wilberforce  had  committed  the  cause  to  Fowell 
Buxton,  and  Buxton  had  opened  his  Parliamentary  campaign  ;  and 
the  slave-proprietors  in  the  West  Indies,  having  taken  alarm  at 
the  rising  feeling  in  England  against  slavery  in  any  form,  were 
seriously  opposing  missionary  work  among  the  negroes.  Some 
Wesley  an  missionaries,  overawed  by  their  attitude,  had  publicly 
disclaimed  all  sympathy  with  the  Abolitionists,  and  thereupon  had 
been  disavowed  and  censured  by  their  Society  at  home.  In 
Demerara,  a  missionary  of  the  L.M.S.  was  unjustly  condemned  to 
execution  for  his  sympathy  with  the  negroes,  and  died  in  prison. 
But  his  case,  and  the  West  Indian  Slavery  question  generally,  will 
come  before  us  hereafter. 

Criticism         Naturally,  controversies  like  these  brought  Missions  into  unusual 

at  home,  p^^j^jig  noticc  ;  and  a  torrent  of  ignorant  and  prejudiced  criticism 
poured  forth  from  newspapers  and  reviews,  which  added  to  the 
general  sense  of  sore  conflict  and  trial  of  faith.  Notwithstanding 
the  favourable  attitude  of  the  Prime  Minister,  Lord  Liverpool, 
towards  Missions,  most  leading  statesmen — as  usual — had  no 
faith  in  them ;  and  it  is  curious  to  find  the  Duke  of  Wellington, 
then  in  the  plenitude  of  his  unique  authority,  declining  to  be 
Patron  of  the  Wellington  CM.  Association,  on  the  ground  that 
"if  the  Society's  object  was  to  convert  the  Hindus,  its  efforts 
would  be  fruitless  if  they  were  not  mischievous."  Ecclesiastical 
opposition  against  the  C.M.S.,  too,  had  revived.  Good  Bishop 
Evder  was  translated  from  Gloucester  to  the  Diocese  (as  it  then 
was)  of  Lichfield  and  Coventry,  and  the  new  Bishop  of  Gloucester 
(Bethell)  forbad  all  sermons  and  collections  for  the  Society ; 
several  Archdeacons  attacked  the  Society  in  their  charges  ;  and  at 
places  like  Worcester,  Eeading,  and  Guildford,  attempts  to  form 
CM.  Associations  failed.      Nor  did  the   opponents  balance  this 

*   See  Mls><io»arii  Register,  1824,  pp.  238,  278i 


The  Outlook  after   Tiventy-five  Years  241 

wpposition  by  any  zeal  in  behalf  of  Missions  under  auspices  more  Part   III. 
congenial  to  them.     The  S.P.G.  was  again  in  financial  difficulties.    1812-2-i. 
The  great  Eoyal  Letter  Collection  in  1819  had  been  put  in  trust  ^^^P-  ^^• 
for  Bishop's  College  ;  and  the  ordinary  funds  had  rather  suffered      ' 
by  it.     In  1823,  the  S.P.G.  income  from  voluntary  contributions 
was  only  £2100,  which  with  £4700  from  the  dividends  on  reserve 
and  trust  funds,  and  £9200  from  the  Government  for  Canadian 
clergy,  was  quite  insufficient  even  for  its  then  hmited  work ;  while 
it  was  at  this  very  time  arranging  to  take   over  the  South  Indian 
Missions  which  the  S.P.C.K.  had  not  the  machinery  for  managing. 
Again  Pratt  came  to  the  front  with  a  strong  appeal  for  S.P.G.  in 
the  Begister ;  ="'■  other  C.M.S.  men  helped  :  for  example,  a  "  district 
society"  was  formed  at  Clapham  itself  by  Dealtry,  Basil  Woodd 
and    Cunningham    speaking   on    the   occasion.     And  from   about 
this  time  the  Society  began  to  expand  and  develop  as  it  has  done 
ever  _  since.  _  In  the  very  next   year,  1826,  it  held  its  first  really 
public  meeting,  in  Freemasons'  Hall,  on  which  occasion  Dealtry 
was  one  of  the  speakers. 

So  there  were  many  things  to  account  for  sombre  reports.     And 
the  Church  Missionary  Society  could  not  but  feel  the  departure  Deaths  of 
of  old  and  revered  friends.     Thomas  Scott— "  Father  Scott,"  as  ^"^"'*^- 
he  was  affectionately  called,  died  in   1821,  and  Charles  Grant  in 
1823 ;  f  both,  however,  leaving  sons  who  did  noble  work  for  the 
missionary  cause.     Wilberforce's  last    speech   in   Parliament,  on 
West  Indian  slavery,  was  delivered  in  1824  ;  and  though  he  hved 
yet  some  years,  it  was  mostly  in  retirement.     On  the  other  hand.  New 
new  friends  were  coming  forward.     Charles  Grant  the  younger,  ^"^"ds. 
afterwards   Lord  Glenelg,  who  had  already  gained  a  position  in 
Parliament,  was    a   w^arm    supporter.      So   was   Fowell   Buxton, 
Wilberforce's    successor    in    the    Anti-Slavery    campaign.      The 
names    of   Hugh    Stowell   and  Hugh    McNeiie   begin   to   appear 
among  the  speakers  at  meetings.     Henry  Venn  the  younger,  the 
future  Secretary,  joined  the  Committee  in    1822.     Buxton's  first 
speech  at  the  Anniversary,  in  1822,  is  very  striking  in  its  way 
of  presenting  our  responsibility  : — 

"  I  will  put  the  case  to  myself  :— '  You  are  a  professor  of  Cluistianity— 
you  avow  your  belief  of  its  truth,  and  admire  its  doctrines— you 
enumerate  the  blessings  which  He  gives  who  gives  all  things,  and  you 
count  among  them  His  inestimable  love  in  the  redemption  of  the  world— 
you  know  that  Christian  charity  is  the  inseparable  fruit  of  true  faith— 
and  you  know  that  this  chanty  seeks  above  all  things  the  salvation  of  the 
souls  of  men.  What  do  you  do  ?  You  subscribe  your  two  or  three 
guineas  a  year  !  The  conversion  of  eight  hundred  millions  of  souls- 
there  is  the  object  to  be  accomplished !— and  there  is  the  sacrifice  which 
you  are  prepared  to  make  for  it ! ' 

*  November,  1825. 

t  Charles  Grant  literaJly  died  in  liaruess.  After  two  days  and  nights  ol' 
almost  uninterrupted  work,  he  retired  to  rest  feeling  rather  ill— as  well  he 
might.  The  doctor  was  sent  for,  and  applied  remedies  ;  but  Grant  turned  over 
in  bed,  and  "  fell  asleep." 

VOL.  I.  T> 


242  The  Outlook  after  Twenty-five  Years 

Part  III.  "Were  I  to  say,  in  the  ordinary  business  of  life,  '  Such  and  such  an 
1812-24.  object  is  my  grand  concern  :  to  that  I  direct  all  my  powers :  on  that  my 
Chap.  18.  very  soul    is    centred  :    and   I  give  for  this  great  object  my  two-and- 

forty  shillings  a  year ' — such  professions  would  be  counted  but  an  idle 

mockery,   when    compared    with    such    feebleness    and    inadequacy    of 
exertion." 

As  regards  patronage,  too,  there  was  some  little  progress,  not- 
withstanding the  criticisms  and  the  opposition.  No  other  English 
Bishop  had  joined,  besides  the  two  already  on  the  list,  Bathurst 
of  Norwich,  and  Eyder,  now  of  Lichfield  and  Coventry  ;  but 
Archbishop  Trench  of  Tuam  represented  the  Church  of  Ireland, 
and  the  Bishop  of  Calcutta  (Heber)  the  "Episcopate  abroad.  There 
were  two  Deans,  Pearson  of  Salisbury,  and  Lord  Lifford  of 
Armagh  ;  and  there  were  four  Heads  of  Houses,  of  Oriel  and 
Magdalen  Hall  at  Oxford,  and  of  Queens'  and  Corpus  at  Cam- 
bridge. The  laymen  were  better  represented  by  ten  peers  and  ten 
M.P.'s.  Of  the  latter.  Sir  Eobert  Harry  Inglis,  the  well-known 
and  highly-respected  member  for  Oxford  University  for  so  many 
years,  is  the  most  noticeable.  We  shall  meet  him  hereafter.  It 
should  be  added  that  many  other  peers  were  Patrons  of  Pro- 
vincial i\.ssociations,  though  not  of  the  Parent  Society.  No  less 
than  twenty-six  of  these  appear  in  the  Eeport  of  1824.  Among  the 
names  it  is  interesting  to  see  "  the  Earl  of  Derby  "  and  "  the  Earl 
of  Eosebery."  Here  also  we  may  notice  the  names  added  to  the 
list  of  Honorary  Governors  for  Life,  for  their  "  very  essential  ser- 
vices to  the  Society,"  in  addition  to  those  mentioned  in  our  Tenth 
Chapter."  There  were,  of  the  home  clergy,  J.  W.  Cunningham, 
Fountain  Elwin  (Secretary  of  the  great  Bristol  Association),  John 
Langiey  (Shropshire  Association),  William  Marsh,  Gerard  Noel, 
Legh  Eichmond,  E.  W.  Sibthorp  (the  eloquent  preacher  who 
afterwards  joined  the  Church  of  Eome,  then  came  back,  and  then 
seceded  again),  Charles  Simeon,  J.  H.  Singer  (Secretary  of  the 
Hibernian  Auxiliary,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Meath),  Professor 
Scholelield  of  Cambridge,  Haldane  Stewart,  and  one  or  two  others  ; 
Henry  Davies  (Bombay  Cbaplain)  ;  and  three  laymen,  viz..  Colonel 
Munro,  of  Travancore ;  J.  M.  Strachan,  of  Madras  ;  and  J.  H. 
Harington,  of  Calcutta. 

The  Anniversaries  continued  to  be  occasions  of  great  interest  to 
an  ever- widening  circle  of  members  and  friends.  The  preachers 
subsequent  to  1817,  up  to  which  date  they  have  already  been 
noticed,  were,  in  1818,  Professor  Parish,  of  Cambridge  ;  in  1819, 
the  Hon.  Gerard  T.  Noel ;  in  1820,  B.  W.  Mathias,  of  Dublin  ;  in 
1821,  Wilham  Jowett,  whose  sermon  has  before  been  noticed;  in 
.  1822,  Marmaduke  Thompson,  the  Madras  chaplain;  in  1823,  John 
W.  Cunningham,  of  Harrow,  as  already  mentioned ;  in  1821, 
Fountain  Elwin,  of  whose  sermon  more  presently. 
Progress  at  The  Society's  Income  was  steadily  rising.  In  1823-4  it  was 
£31,500;  and  in  the  following  year  it  rose  to  £40,000,  and  never 

*  See  p.  111. 


home. 


The  Outlook  after  Twenty-five  Years  243 

again  fell  below  that  figure.  The  advance  shown  is  really  not  so  Part  Hi. 
great  as  it  actually  was,  owing  to  some  slight  changes  in  the  mode  1812-24. 
of  presenting  the  accounts.  In  a  future  chapter,  the  financial  P"  ^^' 
details  will  be  more  fully  explained.  The  sources  of  Income 
presented  a  striking  illustration  of  the  power  of  littles.  Large 
benefactions  and  legacies  were  few  and  far  between ;  but  penny 
collections  were  organized  all  over  the  country.  Ladies'  Associa- 
tions were  a  great  power  in  those  days.  They  were  not 
parochial,  but  for  a  tow^n  or  district ;  and  hundreds  of  ladies  went 
round  and  round  collecting  the  pennies  week  by  week  and  month 
by  month.  The  poor  gave  eagerly  ;  artizans'  Missionary  Unions 
were  formed ;  Sunday-schools  and  Juvenile  Associations  were 
multiplying.  At  Harrow,  Cunningham  had  been  unable,  from 
local  circumstances,  to  start  a  regular  Association  so  early  as  he 
wished ;  but  at  length  a  meeting  was  held :  the  room  was 
thronged  ;  and  five  hundred  labourers,  servants,  &c.,put  down  their 
names  as  penny  subscribers.  A  Juvenile  Association  at  Hull,  and 
a  Sunday-school  at  Leeds,  raised  each  of  them  over  £100  a  year. 
A  new  publication,  the  Quarterly  Paper,  had  been  started  in  1816, 
for  free  distribution  to  those  humble  but  regular  contributors  ;  and 
over  half  a  million  copies  were  circulated  in  1822.  It  was  beginning 
to  be  the  custom  at  some  Provincial  Anniversaries  to  hold  meet- 
ings in  the  evening  "  for  the  Labouring  Classes."  Of  course 
regular  Annual  Meetings  everywhere  were  held  in  the  daytime.  An 
evening  meeting  at  Manchester  in  1823  is  specially  mentioned, 
which  was  attended  by  1200  persons  of  the  working  class.  Yet, 
with  all  this  activity,  the  great  bulk  of  the  clergy  still  held  aloof ; 
and  many  even  of  decided  Evangelical  views  merely  supported 
the  Society  because  it  was  Evangelical,  but  showed  no  real  zeal  in 
the  missionary  cause.  Again  and  again  do  the  Annual  Eeports 
and  Sermons  appeal  to  the  clergy  ;  and  this  in  tone  and  language 
that  leave  no  doubt  in  the  reader's  mind  that  they  were  regarded 
as  exceptionally  backward  in  fulfilling  their  great  obligation  to 
obey  the  Lord's  Last  Command. 

At  the  end  of  1824,  the  Society  had  sent  out  from  Europe 
ninety-eight  men,='=  and  six  single  women.  Of  the  ninety-eight 
thirty-two  were  English  clergymen ;  thirty-two  were  English 
laymen  (including  a  few  who  were  ordained  afterwards)  ;  thirty 
were  in  Lutheran  orders  (sixteen  from  the  Berlin  Seminary,  nine 
from  the  Basle  Seminary,  two  from  the  University  of  Jena,  and 
three  others)  ;  and  four  were  German  laymen.  Of  the  whole 
ninety-eight,  fifty-four  were  still  on  the  roll  afc  the  end  of  1824. 
Of  the  six  single  women,  five  had  married  and  one  died.  The 
number  of  wives  was  forty-seven. 

It  was  only  in  the  Eeport  of  1823  that  the  Society  first 
published  a  Statistical  Table.     It  contains  the  numbers  of  Euro-  statistics. 

*  The  roll  of  men  to  that  date  is  exactly  one  hundred  ;  bnt  this  includes 
Bowley,  the  Eurasian,  in  North  India,  and  Puckey,  a  lay  settler  in  New 
Zealand  who  had  gone  from  Sydney. 

K   2 


244  ^^^^  Outlook  after   Twenty-five   Years 

Part  III.  pean    and  Native  missionaries  and  agents,    and  of    schools  and 
1812-2-i.   scholars.    At  the  end  of  1824,  there  were  but  two  "  Native  mission- 

GhaiK^is.  ^^.JQg^"  Abdul  Masih  and  Bowley  the  Eurasian.  There  were  319 
"  Native  teachers  and  assistants,"  but  two-thirds  of  these  were  in 
India,  where  probably  the  non-Christian  school-teachers  were 
included.  There  were  296  schools,  and  14,090  scholars.  Not  till 
1832  was  an  estimate  given  of  the  number  of  communicants ;  and 
not  till  1869,  of  the  total  number  of  Christian  adherents. 

The  numerous  deaths  and  disappointments  in  the  Missions, 
especially  in  West  Africa,  led  the  Committee  to  think  much  of  the 
importance  of  native  agency.  In  the  Report  of  1823,  they 
express  very  earnestly  their  hope  and  prayer  that  efficient  native 
evangelists  and  teachers  might  be  raised  up  "  in  such  numbers, 
through  the  blessing  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  as  to  supersede  the 
necessity  of  any  other  supply  of  Teachers  from  Christendom  than 
those  guides  and  counsellors  who,  availing  themselves  of  the 
experience  of  all  the  older  Churches  of  Christ  in  the  West,  might 
be  the  means  of  establishing  and  extending  the  rising  Churches  of 
the  Heathen  World."     But  this  was  yet  in  the  future. 

Candi-  Meanwhile  the  arrangements  for  training  men  at  home  were 

^^"^^^^  at  this  time  occupying  much  of  the  Committee's  attention.  Since 
Scott  had  been  obliged  to  give  up  the  charge  of  candidates — 
Benjamin  Bailey  was  the  last  under  him, — they  had  been  dis- 
tributed among  various  clergymen  in  different  parts  of  the  country, 
for  theological  reading  with  a  view  to  holy  orders.  That  is,  for 
part  of  their  time.  The  weeks  occupied  during  the  consideration 
of  their  candidature,  and  again  between  the  completion  of  their 
theological  studies  and  their  sailing  for  the  Mission-field,  they 
spent  under  Bickersteth's  care,  in  Salisbury  Square  as  long  as  he 
resided  in  the  House,  and,  when  the  House  became  too  small,  at  a 
house  taken  for  him  in  Barnsbury  Park.  Mr.  Dandeson  Coates, 
afterwards  Lay  Secretary,  lived  at  the  Office  after  Bickersteth  left 
it,  and  gave  a  good  deal  of  time  to  assisting  in  the  details  of 
business.  With  Bickersteth  also  resided  the  men  from  Basle 
during  their  sojourn  in  England.  But  as  his  chief  work  was  in 
the  country,  travelling  from  place  to  place,  preaching  and  si3eaking 
at  local  Anniversaries,  the  time  that  he  could  give  to  the  candi- 
dates and  students  was  not  large.  In  view  of  all  these  circum- 
stances, the  Committee  began  to  feel  that  a  regular  Training 
Institution  for  the  Society  was  becoming  an  urgent  need.  Some 
of  their  friends  opposed  the  idea,  and  urged  that  accepted  candi- 
dates should  be  sent  to  the  Universities ;  but  it  was  ultimately 
agreed  that  while  men  educated  independently  at  the  Universities, 
and  then  coming  forw^ard  for  missionary  work,  should  l)e  earnestly 
sought  for,  it  was  desirable,  in  the  case  of  men  of  humbler  station, 
requiring,  to  be  trained  at  the  Society's  expense,  that  they  should 
be  under  the  more  immediate  supervision  of  the  Society's  repre- 
sentatives. Hence  the  scheme,  one  of  Pratt's  special  hobbies,  for 
establishing  an  Institution  at  Islington.     Of  this  Institution  we 


The  Outlook  after  Tiventy-five    Years  245 

shall  see  more  in  an  early  chapter.  The  House  in  Upper  Street  part  hi. 
%Yas  opened  for  the  reception  of  students  on  January  31st,  1825  ;  1812-24. 
but  the  college  buildings  were  not  erected  for  two  or  three  years  Chap.  18. 
later.     Its  history,  therefore,  falls  into  our  next  period.  ' 

Meanwhile  the  Basle  Seminary  was  turning  out  admh-able  men,  Basiemen. 
under  the  guidance  of  its  highly-respected  Principal,  Theophilus 
Blumhardt.  The  Committee  justly  placed  great  confidence  in  his 
faithfulness  and  wisdom ;  and  when  he  visited  England  in  1822, 
he  was  warmly  welcomed,  and  spoke  at  the  Anniversary  Meeting. 
Although  at  this  time,  and  until  1826,  his  men  received  only 
Lutheran  orders,  he  fully  agreed  to  their  adopting  the  Prayer  Book 
in  its  entirety,  and  assured  the  Committee  that  they  were  able, 
"  from  a  full  conviction  of  their  hearts,"  to  accept  the  ordinances 
of  the  Church  of  England.  In  the  next  quarter  of  a  century  we 
shall  find  that  a  large  proportion  of  the  Society's  best  and  ablest 
missionaries  came  from  the  Basle  Seminary  ;  but  most  of  these,  as 
we  shall  see,  received  further  training  in  England,  and  English 
orders. 

One  of  the  early  difficulties  of  the  Society  in  sending  forth 
missionaries — the  obtaining  English  ordination  for  them — was  Ordina- 
now  entirely  removed.  After  Bishops  Eyder  and  Bathurst  joined  ^'°"^" 
the  Society,  they  ordained  men  at  the  Committee's  request, 
accepting  as  a  title  the  Committee's  agreement  to  employ  them. 
Archbishop  Harcourt,  of  York,  did  the  same  on  two  or  three 
occasions.  But  an  arrangement  like  this  could  only  be  provisional. 
However,  the  difficulty  was  solved  in  1819  by  an  Act  of  Parlia- 
ment called  the  Colonial  Service  Act,  which  gave  the  Archbishops 
of  Canterbury  and  York  and  the  Bishop  of  London  power  to 
ordain  men  for  "  His  Majesty's  Colonies  and  Foreign  Possessions," 
under  certain  restrictions.  From  that  time  the  Bishop  of  London 
regularly  ordained  the  Society's  missionaries.  Indeed  he  had 
claimed  to  have  the  right  before,  objecting  to  Bishop  Eyder  doing 
so  ;  -■'  and  the  Act  settled  the  question.  The  first  missionary  thus 
ordained  was  Isaac  Wilson  (who  married  Miss  Cooke  of  Calcutta), 
at  Christmas,  1820,  and  the  second  Henry  Williams  (afterwards 
Archdeacon  in  New  Zealand),  at  Trinity,  1822. 

One   new  Mission  had  been  lately  started,  which  has  not   yet  5J'^^|°" '" 
been    mentioned.     The   Society  for  Missions  in  "  Africa  and  the  vv/st " 
East  "    had   gone   into   the   Far   West.     So  far  back   as  1810,  a  ^'^^''''^a. 
gentleman  in  Upper  Canada,  Mr.  John  Johnston,  had  called  the 
Society's  attention  to  the  Red  Indians  of  the  Ojibbeway  tribe  on 
Lake  Superior,  and  stated  that  if  a  man  could  be  sent  to  them,  the 
Bishop  of  Quebec  (then   the   only  Bishop  in  Canada)    would  no 
doubt  ordain  him.     Inquiry  was  accordingly  made  ;  but  Bishop 
Mountain  declined  to   ordain  any   such   person,  and   the    matter 
dropped.     In  1819,  another  proposal  was  made  to  the  Society,  by 
a  member  of  the  North-West  Fur  Company  (not  yet  amalgamated 

*  Committee  Minutes,  September,  1818. 


246  The  Outlook  after   Twenty-five    Years 

Tart  III.  with  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company),  to  estabhsh  a  Mission  among 
Ph^^^it'   ^^®  Indians  beyond  the  Eocky  Mountains,  in  what  is  now  British 
^^'     ■  Cohimbia.     The  Committee  undertook  "  to  procure  further  infor- 
mation "  ;  but  what  the  result  was  does  not  appear,  as  the  matter 
is  not  again  referred  to.     Nearly  forty  years  were  yet  to  elapse 
before  a  North  Pacific  Mission  was  started. 

A  third  proposal  led  to  more  definite  results.  In  1820,  the 
Eev.  John  West,  Curate  of  White  Eoding,  Essex,  an  active 
member  of  the  Society,  was  appointed  by  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
pany chaplain  to  their  settlement  on  Eed  Eiver,  south  of 
Lake  Winnipeg.  He  laid  before  the  Committee  a  proposal  for 
establishing  schools  for  the  Indian  children  in  that  district ;  and 
they  voted  £100  to  assist  him  in  this  scheme.  In  the  following 
year,  he  wrote  proposing  a  regular  Mission ;  and  two  members  of 
the  Board  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  Mr.  Nicholas  Garry 
and  Mr.  Benjamin  Harrison,  attended  the  Committee  to  support 
the  application.  The  result  was  the  appointment  of  Mr.  West 
himself  to  superintend  the  Mission,  of  a  schoolmaster  to  work 
under  him,  and,  subsequently,  of  one  of  the  Society's  students, 
David  T.  Jones,  to  be  an  additional  missionary  ;  and  the  voting  of 
£800  a  year  to  cover  expenses.  These  decisions  being  come  to  in 
1822  make  that  year  the  date  of  the  North-West  America 
Mission."  In  the  autumn  of  that  year.  Captain  (afterwards  Sir 
John)  Franklin,  returned  from  one  of  his  great  Arctic  expeditions, 
and  came  to  the  Society  to  urge  it  to  extend  its  work  to  other 
Indian  tribes  scattered  over  those  vast  regions,  particularly 
pressing  the  claims  of  the  Eskimo.  But  many  years  were  to  pass 
before  these  extensions  could  be  undertaken. 

It  is  very  interesting  to  observe  how,  as  the  work  went  on  year 
by  year,  the  C.M.S.  leaders  were  acquiring  not  only  experience  in 
Higher  the  practical  conduct  of  Missions,  but  higher  and  truer  conceptions 
Mir^!o°ns  *-*^  ^  ®  work  itself,  and  of  the  obligations  of  Christians  regarding 
it.  In  a  former  chapter  it  was  observed  that  the  miseries  of  the 
Heathen  appeared  to  them  at  first  the  chief  motive  of  Missions, 
and  that  the  unique  position  and  urgency  of  the  Lord's  Last 
Command  did  not  seem  to  have  dawned  upon  them.  In  the 
Eeport  of  1819,  however,  we  find  for  the  first  time  the  two  great 
Missionary  Commands  of  Christ  put  in  juxtaposition,  and  the  duty 
of  "  every  Christian  in  every  age  "  insisted  on  plainly  : — 

"From  the  moment  when  our  Lord,  looking  on  the  desolate  multitudes 
of  Judtea,  gave  that  injunction  to  His  discijjles,  '  Pray  ye  the  Lord  of 
the  Harvest  that  He  would  send  forth  labourers  into  His  Harvest,'— 
from  that  moment.  Prayer  for  this  object  has  never  ceased  to  be  the 
Duty  of  every  Chi'istian.  From  the  moment  when  He  left  that  last 
command,  '  Go  ye  into  all  the  world  and  preach  the  Gospel  to  every 
creatui-e,' — from  that  moment,  every  possible  effort  has  been  the  Duty 
of  every  Christian  in  every  age." 

*  So  it  was  called  for  three-quarters  of  a  century.  It  is  now  called  North- 
West  Canada  Mission,  this  name  being  preferred  bv  Canadian  friends. 


The  Outlook  after  Twenty-fu'e   Years  247 

In  Pratt's    annucal  Survey   of   the   World,   in   the  Eegister    of  Part  HI. 
January,  1820,  there  is  a  remarkable  anticipation  of  a  great  thought  Jj^^^~ j"J" 
which  has  only  been  quite  recently  formulated,  viz.  that  it  is  the      ^'^^' 
duty  of  Christians  to  take  definite  measures  for  the  Evangehzation  s.v.m.u. 
of  the  Whole  World  within  a  limited  time.     As  now  formulated,  [I'cfpated.' 
the  "watchword,"  as  it  is  called,  says  "in  this  Generation."     It 
is  not  put  quite  h\  that  form  in  1820 ;  but  elaborate  calculations 
are  given   regarding  the  number  of  millions  of  Heathen  in  the 
world,  and  the   possibility  of  sending  30,000   missionaries  from 
Europe  and  the  United  States  in  twenty-one  years.     It  is  shown, 
in  the  qui(^est  and  most  cogent  manner,  that  this  could  be  done, 
and  that  the  cost  would  be  met  by  an  annual  contribution  from 
each  communicant  in  Protestant  Christendom  of  four  dollars,  say 
sixteen  shillings.     The  use  of  dollars  in  the  calculation  reveals  the 
source  of  the  scheme.     It  was  drawn  up  by   Gordon   Hall  and 
Samuel  Newell,  two  members   of  the  first  band  of  missionaries 
sent   to   the   Heathendom    of   the   Eastern   Hemisphere    by    the 
Christians   of   the   United    States — of   that     band,    sent   by    the 
American  Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  whose  untoward  reception 
by  the  British   authorities  at  Calcutta,  in  1812,  has  been  noticed 
in  a  previous  chapter.     They  were  now  at  Bombay,  and  thence 
they  sent  this  remarkable  scheme  to  Boston.     Pratt  received  it  in 
due  course,  and  inserted  large  extracts,  with  full  commendation, 
in  the  Eegister.     From  the  United  States  it  is,  in  our  own  day, 
that  the  proposition  in  still  more  definite  form  has  come. 

It  does  not  appear  that  this  Bombay  scheme  laid  any  hold  of 
the  mind  of  the  Christian  pubhc.  The  time  was  certainly  not  ripe 
for  it.  But  there  was  another  subject  brought  forward  at  this 
period,  which  engaged  wnder  attention,  and  which  also  antici- 
pated much  that  has  occupied  the  minds  of  devout  and  devoted 
Christians  in  these   latter  years.     This  was  the  need  of  a  /Vcs/tAnout- 

/•     7       Tr   7       c<     •    •  pouring  of 

outpouring  of  the  Hoiy  b^nnt.  the  spirit 

It  is  a  remarkable  circumstance  that  what  seems  to  have  first  "eeded, 
brought  this  subject  into  especial  prominence  in  Josiah  Pratt's 
mind  was — of  all  things  ! — the  Coronation  of  George  IV.,  in  1821. 
The  very  solemn  Coronation  Service  had  not  been  heard  in 
England  for  sixty  years,  owing  to  George  III.'s  long  reign;  and 
when  it  was  at  last  used  again,  its  unfamiliar  phrases  created  a 
deep  impression.  In  the  Eegister  of  January,  1822,  Pratt  quotes 
and  comments  on  the  Service,  pointing  out  especially  that  it 
' '  recognizes  and  enforces  the  necessity  of  the  constant  and 
abundant  influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  in  order  to  success  in  the 
labours  of  Government  and  in  the  conduct  of  the  Christian  Life." 
For  instance,  "  The  King  is  consecrated  to  his  Office  by  the 
significative  act  of  anointing  with  Oil — denoting  those  Gracious 
Influences  and  that  Heavenly  Unction  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  without 
which  he  cannot  fulfil  his  awful  obhgations.  To  this  end.  Prayer 
is  put  up  for  the  strengthening  Gi'ace  of  the  Holy  Ghost."  Then, 
after  noticing  the  difficulties  and  disappointments  besetting  mis- 


24'"^  The  Outlook  after  Twenty-five   Years 

Part  III.  sionary  work  all  over  the  world,  Pratt  urges  upon  Christians  the 
1812-24.    (Jluty  of  prayer  for  the  outpouring  of  the  Spirit.     In  the  following 
Ghap^S.  ygg^j,^  1823,  his  annual  Survey   is   headed,   "The  Conversion   of 
And  the  World  dependent  on  the  more  abundant  influence  of  the  Holy 

prayed  for.  gpji-it."  The  subject,  it  is  Stated,  was  attaining  prominence  "in 
the  Pulpit,  in  Prayer,  in  Addresses  and  Eesolutions  at  Public 
Meetings,  in  Instructions  delivered  to  Missionaries,  in  Eeports  of 
Societies,  and  in  the  Communications  of  the  Labourers  them- 
selves ";  and  it  is  added  that  special  courses  of  sermons  on  "  the 
Deity,  Offices,  and  Gracious  Operations  of  the  Holy  Ghost"  were 
being  delivered  in  many  churches.  In  that  year  came  John 
Cunningham's  Sermon,  referred  to  earlier  in  this  chapter.  By 
what  means  did  he  affirm  that  the  influences  of  Satan  must  be 
met  and  overcome?  "It  is  only  by  an  agency  like  his  own, 
spiritual  and  invisible,"  urges  the  preacher,  "  that  we  can  hope 
effectually  to  contend  with  him  "  ;  and  therefore.  Prayer  for  the 
Holy  Spirit  is  the  great  weapon.  He  refers  to  "  the  multiplication 
of  prayers  for  the  outpouring  of  the  Spirit"  as  "  a  sign  of  the 
times,"  and  dwells  on  "  the  consolatory  fact  that  thus  the  weakest, 
the  most  unlearned,  the  poor  palsied  or  bedridden  soldier  of  the 
Cross  can  carry  the  war  into  the  very  camp  of  the  Enemy." 

Then  in  the  following  year,  1824,  Fountain  Elwin,  the  energetic 
Secretary  of  the  great  Bristol  Association,  being  the  appointed 
Preacher,  went  straight  to  the  heart  of  the  subject.  "  It  shall 
come  to  pass  in  the  last  days,  saith  God,  I  will  pour  out  of  My 
Spirit  upon  all  flesh" — these  words,  in  which  St.  Peter,  on  the 
Day  of  Pentecost,  quoted  the  old  prophecy  of  Joel,  were  his 
animating  text.  And  it  is  a  delightful  sermon  every  way,  full 
of  Scripture,  full  of  the  Spirit  of  whom  it  speaks,  full  of  true 
missionary  earnestness  and  enthusiasm.  Why  is  the  professing 
Christian  world,  it  asks,  exhibiting  so  little  of  the  life  and  power 
of  religion?  Because  the  words  are  true  of  so  many,  "Having 
not  the  Spirit."  Why  is  Oriental  Christendom  withered  and 
decayed  ?  Because  they  have  still  to  hear  ' '  what  the  Spirit  saith 
unto  the  Churches."  How  long  will  Israel  be  yet  an  outcast  from 
the  Lord  ?  "  Until  the  Spirit  be  poured  upon  them  from  on  high." 
Why  is  Heathendom  in  moral  darkness  ?  Because  another  s^nrit, 
the  "  god  "  and  "  prince  of  this  world,"  rules  there  undisturbed. 
What  then  is  to  be  done  ?  Send  forth  men  who  can  truly  respond 
to  the  solemn  question  at  their  ordination,  "  Do  you  trust  that  you 
are  inwardly  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost?" — who  will  take  no 
weapon  but  "the  sword  of  the  Spirit" — whose  motto  will  be, 
"Not  by  might,  nor  by  power,  but  by  My  Spirit" — who  will 
"keep  the  unity  of  the  Spirit";  and  we  all,  on  our  part,  must 
look  for  the  outpouring,  like  Elijah  by  his  servant's  eyes — 2Jray  for 
it,  as  Elijah  did  while  the  servant  was  looking — and  labour  to 
promote  it,  because  even  the  Omnipotent  Spirit  works  by  means. 


FROM    PEATT'S    RETIREMENT    TO 
VENN'S   ACCESSION:    1824-1841. 


NOTE   ON   PART   IV. 


This  Part  only  contains  six  chaptei's,  but  they  are  long  and  important 
ones.  The  first  two  are  devoted  to  home  affairs.  Chap.  XIX.  is  the 
first  of  a  series  of  chapters  which,  one  or  more  in  each  Part  of  the 
History,  introduce  to  lis  the  Personnel  of  the  Society,  the  Secretaries  and 
Committee-men,  the  Preachers  and  Speakers  at  the  Anniversaries,  the 
Candidates  and  Missionaries,  and  those  friends  and  fellow-workers  who 
died  in  the  period.  In  like  manner.  Chap.  XX.  is  the  first  of  a  series 
of  chapters  which  in  each  Part  show  us  the  Society's  Environment 
diu'ing  the  Period,  particularly  dwelling  on  the  state  and  progress  of 
the  Church  of  England,  with  especial  reference  to  the  relations  of  the 
Evangelical  school  or  party  to  other  schools  and  pai'ties.  In  this 
chapter  we  see  something  of  the  condition  of  England  when  Queen 
Victoria  ascended  the  throne,  the  great  improvements  within  the  Church, 
certain  internal  differences  among  Evangelicals,  and  the  rise  of  the 
Tractarian  or  Oxford  Movement. 

The  other  four  chapters  take  us  again  to  the  Mission-field.  India 
absorbs  two  of  them.  Chap.  XXI.  is  an  important  chapter,  parallel  to 
the  "  Environment "  chapters  at  home.  It  notices  the  changes  and 
developments  in  India  in  the  period  of  the  "thirties,  particularly  the 
reforms  of  Lord  W.  Bentinck  ;  also  the  episcopate  of  Daniel  Wilson, 
and  his  struggle  with  Caste  ;  also  the  advent  of  Alexander  Duff  and  the 
commencement  of  Educational  Missions  under  his  auspices.  Then 
Chap.  XXII.  turns  our  attention  to  the  C.M.S.  Missions,  and  takes  a 
survey  of  them  all  round  India,  with  a  glance  at  other  Missions,  and  at 
Ceylon.  Chap.  XXIII.  carries  us  back  to  Sierra  Leone,  and  then  across 
the  Atlantic  to  the  West  Indies,  teUing  the  painful  story  of  Slavery 
there  and  the  story  also  of  Buxton's  successful  attack  upon  it.  All  the 
other  Missions  are  grouped  together  in  Chap.  XXIV.,  New  Zealand,  the 
Mediterranean,  and  Rupert's  Land,  and  the  short-lived  attempts  at 
work  in  Abyssinia,  and  in  Zululand,  and  among  the  Australian  Blacks. 


^. 


REV.    J.    W.    CUNNINGHAM. 


REV.    W.     JOWETT 


REV.     E.     BICKERSTETH. 


BISHOP    RYDER. 


SIR    T.     FOWELL    BUXTON. 


J.  W.  CunninKham,  Vicar  of  Harrow,  the  most  frequent  .speaker  at  C.M.S.Aimiver.saries. 

W.  Jowett,  First  Cambridue  Missinnarv  ;   Secretary  of  C.M.S.,  1832-18J.a. 

Echvanl  Bicker.steth,  CM. 8.  Secretary',  1816-1830. 

Henry  Ryder,  Bishop  of  t;iouce.ster  and  of  Lichfield  ;  First  Bishop  to  join  C.M.S. 

T.  Fowell  Buxton,  M.P.,  Leaderiin  Anti-Slave  Trade  Campaign. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

7'/re   rEllSOXXEL    OF  THE    FeuTOT). 

Dandeson  Coates  —  Edward  Bickersteth  —  The  Committee  —  Lord 
Chichester  President— The  two  Bishops  Sumner— The  Preachers 
and  Speakers— B.  Noel  and  Dale  suggest  "Own  Missionaries"— 
The  Missionaries— The  CM.  College— Deaths— Simeon  and  Wil- 
berforce. 

"  IT'e  have  many  memhers  in  one  hoihj,  ami  all  metnhers  hare  nnt  the  mine 
office." — Rom.  xii.  4. 

TIE  title  of  this  Fourth  Part  of  our  History  embodies  Part  IV. 

no  mere  arbitrary  division  of  time.      The  period  of    I82i-il. 

Pratt's  Secretaryship  was  a  distinctive  period  ;  and  so  <^'''"P-  !!•• 

was    the    period    of    Henry    Venn's    Secretaryship. 

Pratt's  retirement  marked  a  real  epoch ;  and  so,  still 
more  conspicuously,  did  Venn's  accession.  It  is  impossible  to  a  period  ot 
study  the  history  of  the  seventeen  years  that  elapsed  between  the  l°^n°not'' 
one  epoch  and  the  other  without  feeling  that  they  formed  in  some  extension, 
i-espects  an  interregnum.  There  was  progress,  \assuredly.  The 
Society's  income  more  than  doubled  in  the  period.  Associations 
multiplied  all  over  the  country.  Two  hundred  missionaries  were 
sent  out,  against  one  hundred  in  the  preceding  twenty  years.  In 
some  of  the  mission-fields  there  was  distinct  advance,  as  we  shall 
see.  Nevertheless,  the  progress  was  due  rather  to  the  natural 
growth  of  what  had  been  planted  before,  tlian  to  definite  forward 
steps— except  in  one  instance,  the  West  Indies  Mission — on  the 
part  of  the  Society.  Consolidation  rather  than  extension  is  the 
note  of  the  period.  Much  was  done  in  the  way  of  regulations, 
financial  and  personal.  The  rules  regarding  Candidates,  Students, 
Furloughs,  Marriage,  Children,  Sick  and  Retired  J^Iissionaries, 
Associations  at  home,  Corresponding  Committees  abroad.  Episcopal 
Licenses,  &c.,  &c.,  were  gradually  formulated.  The  Society, 
having  passed  its  infancy  and  its  vigorous  youth,  was  settling  into 
tlie  maturity  of  middle  life. 

Throughout  the  period,  a  commanding  lay  personality  to  a  large 
extent   dominated   the  committee-room.      Mr.   Dandeson  Coates  Dandeson 
had  been  a  memljer  of  the  Committee  from  1817  ;  and  from  1820  ^°^*^^- 
he  had  lived  in  the  Church  ^[issionary  House,  rendering  valuable 
assistance  in  the  practical  details  of  tlie  work.     On  the  rearranf^e- 


2^2 


T/TE  Personnel  of  the  Period 


Part  IV. 
1824r-41. 
Chap.  19. 


ment  consequent  on  Pratt's  retirement  in  1824,  he  was  appointed 
Assistant  Secretary ;  and  in  1830  he  received  the  title,  then  first 
used,  of  Lay  Secretary.  This  office  he  held  till  his  death  in  1846. 
He  was  a  very  able  man,  possessing,  said  Henry  Venn  long  after- 
wards, "first-rate  powers  of  ))usiness."  "The  official  corre- 
spondence," continues  Venn,"-  "  was  never  more  ably  conducted. 
Sir  James  Stephen  used  to  say  that  he  knew  no  one  in  the  public 
service  who  worked  more  efficiently  and  zealously  in  an  adminis- 
trative department."  It  is  to  him,  evidently,  that  the  formulating 
of  the  various  regulations  for  the  practical  working  of  so  compli- 
cated a  machine  as  a  great  missionary  society  was  mainly  due. 
He  represented  also,  with  great  vigour — sometimes  with  too  great 
vigour, — the  policy  of  a  vigilant  guardianship  of  the  Society's 
independence  of  official  Church  control.  This  was  naturally  the 
lay  view  of  many  questions  that  came  before  the  Committee ;  and 
the  more  conciliatory,  though  not  less  staunchly  evangelical, 
element  was  supplied  by  his  clerical  colleagues, — who,  however, 
were  often  overborne  by  the  force  of  his  strong  personality.  Both 
Bickersteth  and  Jowett,  who  were  successively  his  associates 
as  Secretaries,  felt  the  strain.  Of  the  latter,  Venn  says  : — "  Of  his 
Christian  wisdom  and  missionary  sympathies  it  is  not  possible 
to  speak  too  highly  ;  but  the  full  vigour  of  his  lay  colleague 
somewhat  overshadowed  his  administration."  Canon  Bateman, 
the  biographer  and  son-in-law  of  Daniel  Wilson,  writes  :  f — • 
"  The  clerical  secretary  at  this  epoch  (1832)  was  the  pious 
and  amiable  William  Jowett ;  but  the  lay  secretary  and  the 
ruling  mind  was  Mr.  Dandeson  Coates.  Most  men  of  that  day 
will  remember  his  tall,  thin  figure,  his  green  shade,  his  quiet 
manner,  untiring  industry,  and  firm  but  somewhat  narrow  mind. 
Whilst  Mr.  Jowett  was  writing  kind  and  gentle  letters,  Mr.  Coates 
was  stamping  upon  the  committee  the  impress  of  his  own  decided 
views ;  and  the  lay  element,  paramount  for  the  time  at  home, 
soon  became  predominant  abroad."  Batemaii  was  perhaps  not 
quite  an  impartial  judge,  for  reasons  which  will  appear  hereafter ; 
but  the  traditions  of  the  Church  Missionary  House  confirm  the 
general  impression  given  by  his  words. 

Of  the  clerical  secretaries  of  the  period,  the  first  to  be  mentioned 
is  Edward  Bickersteth.  We  have  already  seen  something  of  his 
earlier  life,  of  his  work  at  Norwich,  of  his  visit  to  West  Africa,  of 
his  residence  (first  at  Salisbury  Square  and  then  at  Barnsbury 
Park)  with  the  candidates,  of  his  provincial  journeys  in  behalf  of 
the  cause.  During  Pratt's  tenure  of  office,  he  was  Assistant 
Secretary ;  on  Pratt's  retirement  he  succeeded  to  his  chair.  But 
his  principal  work  remained  the  same  :  he  might  still  be  called 
"  chief  deputation  "  and  "  candidate  secretary."  Little,  if  any,  of 
the  official  administration  was  committed  to  him ;  he  kept  up  that 

*  Address  at  the  Openino:  of  the  New  House,  1862 ;   printed  in  the  Q.M. 
Intelligencer,  April,  1862,  and  in  the  Appendix  to  the  Life  of  H.  Venn. 
I  Life  of  Bishop  Wilson,  vol.  ii.  p.  10. 


The  Fersosnel  of  the  Period  253 

fatlicrly,  or  brutlierly,  correspondence  with  the  missionaries  which  ]'akt  IV. 
is   so   important  a  part  of  a   Secretary's  work — though  so  httle    |«^-l— tl- 
noticed, — and  for  which  the  personal  touch  he  had  had  with  tliem      '"^'" 
as    candidates    specially    fitted    him  ;    but    such    of    the    regular 
business  as  was  not  absorbed  by  Coates's  all-embracing  energy 
was  done  by  a  second  clerical  secretary,  the  Eev.  T.  Woodrotie. 
Of   this   colleague,  though   he  held  office  seven   years,  the  old 
records  tell  nothing  that   gives  the  student  of  them  any  definite 
impression  ;  and  Venn,  in  the  reminiscences  already  quoted  from, 
does    not    mention    his    name.      But    Bickersteth,    though    not 
occupied  with  official  business,  was  a  power  in  the  Society.     The 
growth   of  the    income,    the    multiplication    of    associations,    the 
increasing  number  of  offers  of  service,  were  mainly  due  to  his 
energy  and  devotion  ;  and,  next  to  Pratt,  he  was  unquestional)ly 
the  best  and  greatest  of  Venn's  predecessors.     He  represented 
the  highest  spiritual  side  of  the  Society's  principles  and  methods  His 
and  operations.     His  evangelical   fervour  was   irresistible ;    and  ^^'^^0^^' 
wherever  he  went,  from  county  to  county  and  from  town  to  town, 
he   stirred   his   hearers   to   their   hearts'    depths,  and   set   them 
praying  and  working  wuth  redoubled  earnestness.     His  beautiful 
loving  influence  healed  niany  divisions,  and  bound  both  workers 
at   home  and    missionaries    abroad   in  holy  fellowship.     If  ever 
a  C.jNI.S.  secretary  was  lilled  with  the  Spirit,  that  secretar}'  was 
Edward  Bickersteth. 

In  the  Memoir  of  Bickersteth  by  liis  son-in-law,  Professor  T.  K. 
Birks,  and  in  an  appendix  thereto  by  Henry  Venn,  illustrations 
are  given  of  the  application  by  Bickersteth  of  his  spiritual  prin- 
ciples to  controverted  questions  in  the  Society.  He  supported 
Coates  in  some  at  least  of  his  assertions  of  the  Society's  indepen- 
dence, though  not  quite  from  tbe  same  standpoint ;  not  from  the 
dread  of  episcopal  or  clerical  officialism,  which  was  natural  in  a 
layman,  but  from  a  jealous  cai'e  of  the  spiritual  character  of  the 
work.  An  important  instance  of  this  will  come  before  us  here- 
after. But  upon  some  questions,  the  laymen  who  were  strong 
advocates  of  independence  were  not  with  him,  and  in  his 
judgment  they  took  too  secular  a  view.  Nanw  says,  "  He  was  His 
sometimes  overborne  in  argument,  but  .  .  .  subsequent  events  difficulties 
have  shown  that  his  spiritual  wisdom  was  a  surer  guide  than  the 
more  acute  and  forcible  reasoning  of  his  opponents."  One  ques- 
tion, regarding  the  training  of  students  at  the  ^Missionary  College, 
led  to  painful  divisions  between  old  and  mutually  valued  friends. 
Bickersteth  was  outvoted  on  this  occasion  ;  ■■'•  and  although  he 
loyally  accepted  the  decision,  it  is  evident  that  the  strain  of  such 
conflicts  told  upon  him,  and  prepared  the  way  for  his  retirement. 
Like  other  clerical  secretaries  in  earlier  days,  he  had  a  pastoral 
charge  in  addition  to  his  secretaryship,  being  minister  of  Wheler 
Chapel  (now  St.  INIary's,  Spital  Square)  ;  and  iinding  the  double 

*  Mctnoir  of  E.  Bickersteth,  vol.  i.  pj).  -li'l',  4;i«. 


2  54  The  Personnel  of  the  Period 

Part  IV.  labours  l)eyond  his  strength,  especially  while  his  work  consisted 
Chft~l9  ^°  largely  of  journeys  to  the  provinces,  he  proposed  to  the 
^HL  '  Committee  certain  changes  in  his  duties,  particularly  a  smaller 
amount  of  deputation  service.  "  After  fourteen  years  of  incessant 
travelhng,  he  might,"  he  thought,  "in  justice  to  himself,  and 
without  injury  to  the  Society,  have  some  partial  rehef."  He 
plainly  intimated  that  if  they  felt  unable  to  adopt  his  proposals, 
"he  was  prepared  to  consider  their  decision  as  the  voice  of  God 
calling  him  to  another  sphere  of  labour  "  ;  yet  in  the  face  of  this, 
the  Committee  declined  his  suggestions — whereupon  he  wrote  his 
^^^^ptire-  letter  of  resignation.  He  delayed  sending  it,  however;  and  on 
the  very  next  day,  Sunday,  March  14th,  1830,  Mr.  Abel  Smith, 
M. P.  for  Herts,  who  "  chanced  "  to  be  a  worshipper  at  Wheler 
Chapel,  mentally  resolved  to  offer  him  the  rectory  of  Watton. 
This  "  coincidence  " — if  such  a  word  may  be  used  of  so  signal  an 
instance  of  "particular  Providence  "—settled  the  question;  and 
Bickersteth  was  able  to  name  a  hapj^ier  reason  for  retirement. 
"  I  have  never  ceased,"  writes  Henry  Venn  in  the  Address  before 
quoted  from,  "to  regret  the  early  dissolution  of  his  connexion 
with  the  office."  For  twenty  years  more,  however,  Bickersteth 
continued  the  devoted  friend  and  untiring  advocate  of  the  Society  ; 
and  perhaps  the  more  prominent  part  which  he  was  now  able  to 
take  in  the  general  current  affairs  of  the  Church  was  really  of 
greater  value  than  his  continuance  in  Salisbury  Square  could 
have  been.  We  shall  often  meet  him  again  in  these  pages. 
slcr'e-^'  Woodroffe  and  Coates  were  now  the  only  Secretaries  ;  and  two 

taries.  vears  later,  1832,  Woodroffe  also  retired.  To  him  succeeded 
William  Jowett,  whose  impaired  health  prevented  the  continuance 
of  his  missionary  labours  in  the  Levant.  His  "  overshadowed  " 
position  in  the  office  has  been  already  referred  to.  In  1839,  a 
third  Secretary,  the  Eev.  T.  Vores  (afterwards  a  well-known 
clergyman  at  Hastings),  was  appointed.  H.  Venn,  then  a  leading 
member  of  Committee,  wrote  of  him  :  - — "  He  has  the  abilities 
that  we  want,  but  whether  he  can  stand  his  ground  against  all 
circumstances  is  the  question."  In  the  following  year  Jowett 
retired,  and,  some  months  later,  Vores  also.  All  this  while  the 
dominating  spirit  was  Dandeson  Coates  ;  but  in  1841  began  the 
Secretaryship  of  Henry  Venn,  and  very  soon  the  whole  Society 
felt  that  a  hand  was  upon  the  helm  which  could  be  trusted  to  the 
uttermost.  That  hand  was  destined  to  steer  the  good  ship  for 
thirty  years, 
seffe"-'^'"^  After  Bickersteth 's  retirement,  no  Secretary  at  headquarters 
taries.  was  Commissioned  for  deputation  work  ;  and  many  years  elapsed 
before  any  office  was  created  similar  to  that  of  the  present  Central 
Secretary.  But  the  growing  demands  of  the  ever-increasing 
number  of  Associations  led  to  the  appointment,  even  in  Bicker- 
steth's  time  (1828),  of  a  "  Visiting  Secretary,"  who  held  no  rank  in 

*  111  a  letter  tu  D.  Wilson,  Vicar  of  Islington,  Lf/e  o/  U.  Venn,  p.  103. 


The  Personnel  of  the  Period  255 

the  Secretariat  proper.    A  second  was  added  two  or  three  years  Part  IV. 
later,  and  a  "  Lay  Agent,"  a  retired  naval  officer,  who  looked  after    l»24^1. 
local  funds,  distribution  of  papers,  &c.     In   1835,  for  the  first  Chap^l9. 
time,  appears  the  title  of  "Association  Secretaries."     There  were 
then  four,  one  of  them    being  the  layman,   Mr.  Greenway,  and 
another,  newly  appointed,  being  the  Eev.  Charles  Hodgson,  who 
for  many  years  w^orked  Yorkshire  with  extraordinary  energy,  and 
brought  up  the  contributions  of  that  great  county  to  a  point  from 
which  in  these  later  years  it  has  actually  receded.     In  the  same 
year  the  arrangement  was  first  made  of  dividing  the  country  into 
districts — four  at  first, — and  placing  an  Association  Secretary  in 
each. 

Turning  now  to  the  governing  body  of  the  Society,  we  find  it  in  Members 
those  days  very  much  smaller  than  at  present.  The  average  Com- 
attendance  at  the  General  Committee  in  1837  was  eleven  laymen  "^'"ee. 
(out  of  twenty-four  elected  members)  and  eight  of  the  subscribing 
clergymen.  The  Committee  of  Correspondence,  upon  which,  as 
now,  fell  the  labour  of  detailed  administration  of  the  Missions, 
consisted  nominally  of  the  twenty-four  lay  members  of  the  General 
Committee  and  of  six  or  eight  clergymen  ;  and  the  average  atten- 
dance in  that  year,  in  which  they  met  forty-three  times,  w^as 
eleven.  But  there  were  good  and  strong  men  among  those  who 
by  their  regular  attendance  really  governed  the  Society.  Henry 
Venn,  in  the  Address  before  referred  to,  mentions  in  particular 
Sir  James  Stephen,  son  of  the  James  Stephen  whom  we  met  Leading 
with  in  our  earlier  chapters,  father  of  the  famous  judge  of  recent  '^y""^"- 
times  and  of  Mr.  Leshe  Stephen,  and  author  of  the  Essays 
in  Ecclesiastical  Biography.  He  was  a  high  official  in  the 
Colonial  Office,  and  subsequently  became  an  Under-Secretary 
of  State  and  Professor  of  Modern  History  at  Cambridge. 
He  was  a  valuable  member  of  the  Committee  for  nine  yearg. 
Mr.  W.  A.  Garratt,  an  able  barrister,  was  for  twenty-three 
years  a  regular  attendant,  and  seems  to  have  had  exceptional 
influence  in  the  Society's  counsels.  The  legal  profession  was 
also  represented  by  W.  Blair,  John  Poynder,  E.  V.  Sidebottoci, 
W.  Grane,  and  W.  Dugmore,  Q.C.  Among  other  leading  lay 
members,  W.  M.  Forster  should  be  mentioned,  who,  with  his  wife, 
was  wrecked,  and  drowned,  off  the  Welsh  coast  in  1831  ;  Dr. 
John  Mason  Good,  "  a  physician  of  high  reputation  in  medical 
literature,  and  a  scholar  acquainted  with  seventeen  languages"; 
E.  J.  Bunyon,  a  leading  financial  member;  Sir  George  Grey, 
afterwards  the  well-known  Whig  Home  Secretary ;  and  Dr.  John 
Whiting  (uncle  of  the  Rev.  J.  B.  Whiting),  who  acted  as  honorary 
medical  adviser.  Very  early,  too,  the  Indian  civil  and  mihtary 
services  began  to  furnish  valuable  members,  as  they  have  done 
ever  since.  Colonel  Phipps,  General  Latter,  Major  Mackworth, 
and  J.  H.  Harington,  were  among  the  first ;  but  the  most 
important  and  influential  member  from  India  was  J.  M.  Strachan, 
who  had  been  Treasurer  of  the  Madras  Corresponding  Committee, 


members. 


Wilson, 


256  The  Personnel  of  the  Period 

Part  IV.  and  who,  from  1830  onward,  was   for  nearly  forty  years   in   the 
1824^41.   forefront  of  the  Society's  leaders.     Captain  the  Hon.  P.  Maude, 

Chap^l9.  -^;^^  joined  the  Committee  in  1833,  and  therefore  belongs  to  the 
period  under  review  ;  but  his  great  services  for  more  than  half  a 
century  will   be   more    suitably  noticed  hereafter.      Among  the 

Clerical       clerical  members  of  the  period,  Venn  particularly  mentions  James 

'"'""  °'"  Hough,  the  former  chaplain  in  Tinnevelly,  with  "  his  unim- 
passioned  but  warm-hearted  sentiments  "  ;  M.  M.  Preston,  with 
his  "grave  aspect,  affectionate  heart,  thinking  head,  but  slow 
speech  "  ;  C.  Smalley  the  elder,  w4th  his  "  solid,  practical  sense, 
and  singleness  of  eye  to  the  will  and  glory  of  the  great  Head  of 
the  Church."  To  these  we  may  add  Joseph  Fenn,  who,  invalided 
from  Travancore,  was  one  of  the  most  regular  and  revered 
members  from  1830  to  1875  ;  and  Thomas  and  John  Harding,  the 
latter  afterwards  Bishop  of  Bombay.  Among  occasional  but 
highly-valued  attendants  from  the  country  were  Chancellor  Eaikes, 
Professors  Farish  and  Scholefield,  J.  W.  Cunningham,  and  Hal- 
dane  Stewart.     But  foremost  of  all  among  the  clergy,  during  the 

Daniel  first  half  of  our  period,  was  Daniel  Wilson,  whose  appointment  to 
the  Bishopric  of  Calcutta  in  1832  will  come  before  us  in  an  early 
chapter.  In  1824  he  became  Vicar  of  Islington,  and  the  wonder- 
ful expansion  of  Church  work  in  that  great  parish  dates  from  that 
year.  In  1828  he  established  the  Islington  Church  Missionary 
Association,  which  has  ever  since  been  one  of  the  most  active  and 
fruitful  of  all  the  Associations,"'  and  has  long  raised  £3000  a  year 
for  the  Society. 

Among  the  Vice-Presidents,  Venn  specially  mentions  as  valued 
helpers  Lord  Bexley  (the  Mr.  Vansittart  who  had  been  Chancellor 
of  the  Exchequer),  who  gave  important  counsel  to  the  Society 
regarding  its  finances,  and  for  many  years  was  a  leader  in  several 
of  the  religious  societies  ;  Charles  Grant,  Lord  Glenelg,  son  of 
Charles  Grant  the  elder,  and  President  of  the  Board  of  Control 
(India  Oftice)  ;  Sir  Thomas  Baring,  Sir  George  Eose,  Sir  Eobert 
Inglis,  Mr.  (afterw^ards  Sir)  T.  Fowell  Buxton,  James  Stephen  the 
elder,  and,  of  course,  Wilberforce.  Lord  Ashley,  afterwards  the 
great  Earl  of  Shaftesbury,  became  a  Vice-President  in  1837. 
The  Treasurer,  throughout  the  whole  period,  was  John  Thornton, 
nephew  of  the  Henry  Thornton  who  was  the  first  holder  of  the 
office. 

Death  or  In  1833,  the  Society  suffered  the  loss  of  its  first  President,  Admiral 

Gambler.  Lord  Gambier.f  in  his  seventy-seventh  year.  "  His  Christian 
character,"  wrote  Pratt  in  the  Bcgister,  "  was  strongly  marked  by 
simplicity  and  spirituality.  His  ardent  zeal  for  the  Kingdom  of 
Christ  led  him  ever  to  take  a  lively  interest  in  the  Society's  pro- 
ceedings."    The  Committee,  in  the  following  year,  nominated  the 

*  Of  this  Association,  the  Author  was  Hon.  Seci'etaiy  I'roni  1874  to  1880, 
and  had  the  pri^-ilege  of  arranging  its  Jubilee,  whicli  was  celebrated  on 
January  17th,  187  8, 'a  special  extra  fund  being  raised  of  ilOOO. 

t  See  p.  108. 


Vice- 
Presidents. 


The  Personnel  of  the  Period  2^7 

Marquis   of  Cholrriondeley  as  his  successor ;    but  that  excellent  Part  IV. 
Christian  nobleman  declined  on  the  score  of  health.     Then  they    1^^^-41. 
approached  the  Earl  of  Chichester,  Henry  Thomas  Pelham,  a  ^^^^P"  ^^- 
Captain  in  the  Eoyal  Horse  Guards,  who  had  just  completed  his  The  Eari  of 
thirtieth  year.     "  Led,"  wrote  his  friend  Mr.  Alexander  Beattio  in  Chichester. 
1886  (the  year  of  his  death),  "in  comparatively  early  life,  under 
the  influence  of  one  of  the  Society's  friends,  to  accept  for  himself 
the  fulness  and  freeness  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  it  was  his  desire, 
since  that  happy  union  with  his  precious  Saviour,  to  make  that 
Gospel  known  at  home  and  abroad."     The  friend  here  referred  to 
was  Charles  Hodgson,  who  had  been  a  hunting  comrade  of  his  at 
Cambridge.     He  and  the  young  nobleman  had  together  dedicated 
themselves  to  the  service  of  Christ   in   the   churchyard   of   the 
Northumberland  parish  of  which  Hodgson  w^as  curate.''' 

The  young  Earl  accepted  the  post  of  President  on  Christmas 
Eve,  1834,  and   in   the  following  May  he  presided  for  the  first  His  first 
time  at  the  Annual  Meeting.     After  a  modest  reference  to  him-  speech, 
self,  he  spoke  the  following  wise  and  stirring  w^ords  : — 

"  A  great  deal  was  heard  at  the  present  day  of  the  danger  to  which 
the  Church  of  England  was  exposed  from  its  political  and  outward  foes. 
He  thought,  however,  they  need  not  be  afraid  of  such  foes  as  these.  If 
the  Church  of  England  were  indeed  found  zealously  engaged  in  the 
work  of  her  Lord,  He  would  be  on  her  side,  and  who  could  be  against 
her  ?  If  she  was  zealously  engaged  in  the  missionary  cause,  then  indeed 
the  Lord  of  hosts  would  be  with  her,  and  the  God  of  Jacob  would  be 
her  refuge.  But  was  there  not  cause  to  fear  with  respect  to  our 
national  and  beloved  Church,  that  on  account  of  her  neglected  oppor- 
tunities in  spreading  abroad  that  knowledge  and  light  which  God  had 
vouchsafed  her,  a  long  account  against  her  was  recorded  in  heaven  ? 
When  they  considered  their  great  national  wealth,  their  many  facilities 
of  communication  with  other  nations,  the  repeated  and  still-continued 
removal  of  obstacles  and  impediments  to  the  missionary  cause  in 
different  parts  of  the  British  possessions,  and  when  also  they  looked 
over  the  map  of  the  world,  and  traced  upon  it  the  wide  territory  of 
British  dominion,  and  still  wider  one  of  British  influence, — was  there 

*  Canon  Tristram  writes  to  the  Author  as  follows  : — "  The  story  of  Charles 
Hodgson's  and  Lord  Chichester's  conversion  as  told  me  first  by  the  late 
Gr.  T.  Pox,  was  this  : — They  had  been  great  friends  at  Cambridge,  and  both 
were  beautiful  horsemen  and  keen  huntsmen.  Lord  Pelham  (as  he  then 
was)  went  on  a  visit  to  his  friend  Hodgson,  who  had  recently  been  ordained 
to  the  curacy  of  St.  John  Lee,  near  Hexham.  He  was  already  under  serious 
impressions,  and  Hodgson  was  very  anxious  to  do  his  duty  as  a  clergyman. 
One  day  they  had  been  out  hunting  together,  and  after  putting  up  their 
horses,  sauntered  into  the  churchyard.  They  happened  to  sit  upon  an  altar 
tombstone,  and  talked.  At  length  they  mutually  vowed  to  give  themselves 
to  Christ,  as  they  had  never  done  before,  and  knelt  down  by  the  stone  to 
pray  and  seal  their  vows  together.  From  that  day  forward  they  were  new 
men.  Once  when  I  was  staying  with  Lord  Chichester  at  Stanmer,  I  ventured 
to  hint  at  the  story,  and  asked  him  if  he  remembered  his  visit  to  St.  John 
Lee.  He  said  he  did  indeed,  and  if  he  were  there  he  could  take  me  straight 
to  the  tombstone,  near  the  south-west  end  of  the  church."  See  also  Lord 
Chichester's  Reminiscences  of  Hodgson,  Christian  Observer,  October,  1872, 
p.  747. 

VOL.  I.  S 


2^8 


The  Personnel  oe  the  Period 


Tart  IV. 
1824-41. 
Chap.  19. 


Bishops. 


The  two 
Sumners. 


Preachers 
of  the 
Annual 
Sermons. 


not  some  cause  for  shame  and  for  fear,  lest  God,  in  His  justice,  might 
call  them  to  a  severe  account  for  the  time  which  had  been  wasted,  and 
the  mercies  which  had  been  so  long  abused  ? 

"  Amid  those  gratulations  which  ought  to  be  raised  upon  occasions 
like  the  present,  when  they  celebrated  the  triumphs  gained  by  this  and 
other  Christian  efforts  over  the  jjowers  of  darkness,  they  had  also  to  feel 
some  degree  of  contrition  for  the  little  which  had  hitherto  been  done. 
If  God  were  to  call  them  to  a  strict  account,  He  might  reason  with  them 
as  He  did  with  His  people  of  old,  '  What  more  can  I  do  for  my  vineyard 
than  I  have  done  ;  and  yet  when  I  looked  for  grapes,  wherefore  brought  it 
forth  wild  grapes  ? '  They  might,  indeed,  thank  God  that  in  His  mercy 
He  had  enabled  this  Society  to  bear  some  fruit,  which  proved  it  to  be  a 
branch  of  the  true  vine  under  the  culture  of  the  Divine  Husbandman  ; 
but,  alas  !  what  was  that  Society  when  compared  with  the  whole  body  of 
the  Church  to  which  it  belonged  P  Let  those  who  really  loved  the 
Church  of  England  earnestly  pray  that  it  might  please  God  to  shed 
abroad  in  her  a  missionary  spii'it.  He  prayed  that  that  Church  might 
remember  the  debt  of  gratitude  which  she  owed  to  her  great  Head, 
preserver,  and  Redeemer.'' 

Little  did  the  great  assembly  that  day  think  that  the  tall  young 
nobleman  in  the  chair  would  remain  President  for  fifty-one  years, 
and  only  miss  one  Anniversary  in  the  whole  of  that  time  !  Never 
surely  did  any  Society  possess  for  so  long  a  period  a  President 
so  sagacious,  so  large-hearted,  so  true  to  his  Divine  Lord,  so 
justly  honoured  and  revered  by  all  who  had  the  privilege — a 
privilege  indeed ! — -of  coming  in  contact  with  him. 

During  the  period  under  review,  several  Bishops  joined  the 
Society  ;  and  some  who  did  not  formally  do  so  testified  their 
sympathy  in  other  ways.  Bishop  Barrington  of  Durham,  for 
instance,  bequeathed  £500  to  the  funds.  In  1840,  there  were 
eight  Vice-Patrons  holding  English  sees,  and  four  holding 
sees  abroad.  Two  should  be  specially  named,  who  became 
warm  and  most  valuable  friends  :  Charles  Kichard  Sumner, 
Bishop  of  Winchester,  and  John  Bird  Sumner,  Bishop  of  Chester 
and  afterwards  Archbishop  of  Canterbury.  These  two  good  men 
threw  themselves  heart  and  soul  into  the  service  of  the  leading 
religious  institutions,  and  year  by  year  they  spoke  at  meeting  after 
meeting,  especially  at  those  of  the  Church  Missionary,  Jews',  and 
Bible  Societies. 

The  brothers  Sumner  were  both  preachers  of  the  C.M.S. 
Annual  Sermon,  in  1825  and  1828  respectively.  J.  B.  Sumner, 
who  came  first,  was  only  Prebendarj^  of  Durham  when  he 
preached.  Charles  E.  Sumner  was  appointed  at  the  very  next 
Anniversary  after  his  accession  to  the  see  he  so  long  adorned.  It 
cannot  be  said  that  either  of  their  sermons  was  remarkable.  The 
two  that  came  between  them,  in  1826  and  1827,  by  Edward 
Cooper  and  Henry  Budd,  two  excellent  country  rectors,  are  much 
more  impressive  to  read.  The  latter  in  particular,  is  a  striking 
exposition  of  2  Cor.  v.  20,  "  Now  then  we  are  ambassadors  for 
Christ."  It  will  be  remembered  that  it  was  under  Budd  that 
John  West,  the  first  C.M.S.  missionary  to  the  Red  Indians,  had 


The  Personnel  of  the  Period  2  5q 

served  as  curate,  and  that  West  baptized  his  first  Indian  pupil  by  the  Part  IV. 
name  of  his  old  rector.  Budd  opens  his  sermon  with  an  apology  1824-41. 
for  appearing  as  a  substitute  for  "  a  well-tried  labourer  in  the  Chap^l9. 
vineyard  of  the  Gospel  in  a  foreign  clime."  This  was  no  doubt 
Thomason,  who  was  then  at  home,  but  too  ill  to  undertake  such 
a  duty.  The  Minutes  of  the  period  show  that  several  eminent 
clergymen  were  asked  at  various  times  to  preach  the  Annual 
Sermon  who  were  unable  to  do  so,  and  who  in  fact  never  did  : 
among  them  Archbishop  Trench  of  Tuam,  then  the  one  episcopal  Names 
patron  in  Ireland ;  Copleston,  Provost  of  Oriel,  and  afterwards  "hissing. 
Bishop  of  Llandaff;  Dean  Davys,  of  Chester;  Archdeacons 
Browne  and  Law  ;  John  Hambleton  of  Islington  ;  and  Haldane 
Stewart.  The  absence  from  the  list  of  this  last  name,  one  so 
universally  honoured  in  Evangelical  circles,  is  strange  ;  and  so  is 
the  absence  of  the  name  of  Daniel  Wilson  the  younger,  who 
succeeded  his  father,  the  Bishop  of  Calcutta,  in  the  Vicarage  of 
Ishngton  in  1832,  and  held  it  for  more  than  half  a  century.  Pratt 
was  repeatedly  invited  to  undertake  the  Sermon,  but  always 
declined  such  an  honour.  The  last  attempt  to  persuade  him  was 
made  in  1832,  by  Jowett,  who  appealed  to  him  as  the  Society's 
"  Moses  "  : — "  You  have  seen,  first,  the  day  of  small  things  ;  then  a 
day  of  surprising  success,  which  elated  many  ;  then  the  chastise- 
ment of  the  Lord  our  God  (Deut.  xi.  2)  ;  now,  I  do  believe,  a  day 
of  humble  awe  and  believing  enlargement.  Point  out  to  us,  I  pray 
you,  guidance  and  encouragements  for  a  little  longer.  Write  us  a 
Christian  Deuteronomy  (Ps.  Ixxi.  17,  18)."  But  the  appeal  was 
in  vain. 

The  other  preachers  during  the  period  now  under  review  were 
Dr.  J.  H.  Singer,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Meath,  1829 ;  Dr. 
Pearson,  Dean  of  Salisbury,  whom  we  have  l^efore  met  in  this 
History,  1830  ;  John  Graham,  of  York,  1831 ;  Edward  Bickersteth, 
1832  ;  Archdeacon  Bather,  of  Salop,  1833  ;  Professor  Scholefield, 
of  Cambridge,  1834  ;  the  Hon.  Baptist  W.  Noel,  1835  ;  Arch- 
deacon Spooner,  of  Coventry  (brother-in-law  of  Wilberforce,  and 
father  of  Archbishop  Tait's  wife),  1836  ;  Thomas  Dale,  afterwards 
Vicar  of  St.  Pancras,  1837 ;  Francis  Goode,  son  of  the  W.  Goode 
whom  we  have  met  as  one  of  the  Society's  founders,  1838  ;  J.  N. 
Pearson,  w^ho  had  been  Principal  of  the  C.M.S.  College,  1839  ; 
Chancellor  Eaikes,  of  Chester,  1840 ;  Francis  Close  of  Chelten- 
ham, afterwards  Dean  of  Carlisle,  1841. 

Of  these  thirteen  sermons,  two,  those  of  F.  Goode  and  F.  Close, 
will  come  under  our  notice  hereafter.  Three  others  call  for  special 
attention,  those  of  Bickersteth,  Baptist  Noel,  and  Dale.  The 
brothers  Noel,  Gerard  and  Baptist,  were  two  of  the  most  power- 
ful speakers  and  preachers  of  the  day.  The  Register  contains 
many  extracts  from  their  speeches  and  sermons,  which  give  a 
high  idea  of  their  fervid  eloquence.  Baptist  Noel's  sermon  in  Baptist 
1835  is  in  many  ways  a  great  one.  It  is  evident  that  India  was  ^?mo^n. 
much  upon  his  heart,  and  for  India  he  pleads   with   a  fulness  of 

s  2 


26o  The  Personnel  of  the  Period 

Part  IV.  knowledge  rarely  seen  among  men  who  have  not  been  there,  and 
1824-41.  evincing  his  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  current  history  of  the 
Chap.  19.  Missions.  But  what  at  the  present  day  particularly  arrests  our 
attention  is  his  partial  anticipation  of  the  "Own  Missionary" 
plan  which,  after  sixty  years,  has  latterly  been  adopted  with  so 
much  promise  of  blessing.  He  indulges  in  what  then  seemed  the 
wild  imagination  of  the  Society  being  able  to  send  to  India  One 
Hundred  Missionaries  in  the  next  twelve  months,  and  draws  a 
striking  picture  of  the  effects,  dkect  and  indirect,  of  such  a  forward 
step,  calculating  that,  as  one  of  the  results,  there  would  probably, 
in  twenty  years,  be  16,190  evangelists,  European  and  Native,  preach- 
ing the  Gospel  in  India.     Then  he  asks,  "  But  can  it  be  done?  " 

An  "  Own  '"'  I  answer  :  It  can  be  done  at  once,  and  easily.  Among  all  the  friends 
Mission-  of  the  Society,  are  there  not  fifty  at  least,  who,  without  foregoing  a 
ary '  plan,  j^-^^^.^g  comfort  which  they  now  enjoy,  without  sacrificing  what  is  more  to 
tliem  than  the  weekly  penny  contributed  by  the  labourer,  or  the  annual 
poimd  by  the  domestic  servant,  could  each  contribute  £".300  to  the 
maintenance  of  •  one  additional  Missionary  in  India  ?  One  generous 
person  has  already  signified  her  intention,  henceforth,  to  do  so  for  New 
Zealand.  Will  not  twenty-five  more  be  found  to  follow  that  Christian 
example  for  India  ?  Thus  twenty-five  Missionaries  might  be  sent.  Among 
the  larger  and  more  wealthy  parishes  and  congregations,  with  which  some 
of  our  Missionary  Associations  are  connected,  are  there  not  at  least  fifty, 
in  which  ten  persons  might  add  £10  to  their  annual  subscriptions;  one 
hundred  persons  £1  ;  and  two  hundred  more  10s. ;  without  involving  them- 
selves in  any  painful  sacrifice,  or  in  the  least  diminishing  their  contribu- 
tions to  any  home  object  ?  Each  such  parish,  or  congregation,  could 
maintain  one  additional  Missionary.  If  there  are  fifty  who  could  do  it, 
will  not  twenty-five  be  found  generous  enough  to  make  the  example,  and 
thus  add  twenty-five  Missionaries  to  India  ?  Further— among  the  young 
men  who  take  a  benevolent  interest  in  our  Missions,  are  there  notfifty  who, 
at  their  own  cost,  might  give  ten  years  to  Missionary  labours,  as  some 
in  their  circumstances  do,  to  travel  for  their  pleasure  ?  If  so,  will  not 
ten  be  found  sufliciently  devoted  to  do  it  I"  Thus,  sixty  new  Missionaries 
might  be  raised  ;  and  with  these  examples  before  them,  surely  the  other 
Associations  of  this  great  Society  would  not  find  it  difficult  to  provide 
for  the  remaining  forty  : — and  thus  a  hundred  additional  Missionaries 
might  be  sent  out  within  the  year.  ... 

"I  believe  that,  if  a  hundred  devoted  men  did  go,  it  would  infuse  an 
unction  into  the  ministry  of  thousands  in  this  land,  inspire  our  prayers 
with  fervency,  unlock  the  refused  treasure,  make  Christians  love  each 
other,  and,  being  equally  the  eftect  and  the  pledge  of  an  enlarged  bless- 
ing from  God,  would  multiply  conversions  in  our  congregations,  and, 
rebuking  the  wordliness  of  multitudes,  form  a  new  era  in  the  Church,  to  be 
nuirked  by  a  holier  ardour,  and  a  moi-e  self-denying  energy  in  the  whole 
course  of  Christian  duty. 

'•'  Only  let  the  experiment  be  made.  In  this  congregation  are  probably 
numbers  who  have  influence  with  various  Associations ;  some  who  are 
possessed  of  wealth  ;  and  some  who  are  Ministers  of  Christ.  Will  you, 
then,  in  the  Name  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  to  the  utmost,  by  example 
and  by  argument,  animate  our  Associations,  generally,  to  provide  the 
Heathen  with  a  hundred  additional  Missionaries  within  the  next  year  ? 
In  the  name  of  a  world  of  sinners,  I  ask  it  of  you  :  I  ask  it  in  the  name 
of  Christ." 


The  Personnel  of  the  Period  261 

Two  years  later,  in  1837,  Thomas  Dale,  who  was  then  Vicar  Part  IV. 
of  St.  Bride's  and  therefore  preached  in  his  own  church,  took  up  i^'^^^lq 
the  same  idea,  and  worked  it  out  more  nearly  as  has  been  done  in  ' 

our  own   day.     If ,  he  says,  a  true   standard  of  self-sacrifice  were  Dale  also 
followed,  then —  -"^Own 

"  Not  a  f ew  amonp;  ns  .  .  .  would  have  e«cA  his  own  special  representa-  ^^^^y 
live  ministering  the  Gospel  to  the  Heathen,  scattering   among  them,  in 
his    stead,  the    seed    of  life,  and   thus  supplying  his  lack  of  personal 
service.  .  .  . 

"  But  next,  there  is  a  principle  of  combination,  which  is  so  often  in- 
juriously, that  it  might  well  be,  for  once,  profitably  a^jplied.  Where  the 
burden  is  too  heavy  for  one,  whj'  should  not  two,  or  four,  or  six,  if 
linked  together  in  close  bonds  of  kindred,  or  by  the  closer  tie  of 
Christian  brotherhood,  combine  to  maintain  their  own  Missionary  '^ 
Why  should  not  the  various  members  of  families,  whom  God  hath 
blessed,  he  led  thus  to  ofter  a  living  tribute  to  His  praise  'i  .  .  . 

"  But  if,  again,  there  are  many  instances  of  disciples  who  can  bestow 
largely,  but  not  to  this  extent,  is  not  the  principle  which  we  have  laid 
down  especially  applicable  to  congregations  ?  Cannot  the  Pastor  urge 
upon  his  flock  to  adopt,  as  the  lowest,  such  a  scale  of  congregational  con- 
tributions as  shall  ensure  for  them  one  who  shall  represent  them  in  the 
benighted  empire  of  ignorance,  and  among  the  godless  hordes  of  idolatry 
and  superstition  'f  Why  should  not  the  sword  of  the  Spirit  be  unsheathed, 
why  should  not  the  banner  of  Salvation  be  unfurled,  at  their  proper 
cost,  and  in  their  special  name,  by  some  intrepid  warrior  of  Christ ;  who 
has  abjured  home,  with  all  its  comforts — kindred,  with  all  its  charities — 
society,  with  all  its  indulgencies  and  delights — country,  with  all  the  ties 
which  it  entwines  so  tenaciously  around  the  heart,  in  order  to  be  their 
delegate  in  the  great  work  of  preaching  the  Word  of  God  Y  In  the 
turbulent  pei^od  of  our  own  national  history,  when  Liberty  was  struggling 
to  the  birth,  but  there  was  no  strength  to  bring  forth,  and  the  State, 
in  sore  travail,  was  compelled  to  maintain  a  precarious  existence  at 
the  point  of  sword  and  spear ; — every  adequate  portion  of  land 
sent  forth  its  own  warrior,  armed  and  equipped  to  battle,  for  his 
country's  honour,  and  his  own  dear  domestic  hearth ; — and  for  these, 
even  the  vassals  of  arbitrary  power  would  contend,  as  though  they  were 
freemen  like  ourselves,  and  struck  for  liberty.  Cannot  something  like 
this  be  accomplished,  in  this  noblest  of  causes,  by  the  voluntary  enei'gies 
of  the  Chiu'ch  ?  Cannot  the  parish  which  sent  one,  or  the  city  which 
furnished  perhaps  a  hundred,  warriors,  provide  a  single  Missionary  Y  .  .  . 

"  Oh  !  if  one  thousand  congregations  were  thus  stirred  up  throughout 
the  land,  in  our  own  Church  alone,  to  say  nothing  of  other  denomina- 
tions of  Christians  ;  nay,  if  one-half  this  number,  not  one  in  twenty, 
throughout  the  empire,  were  kindled,  as  by  a  tongue  of  fire  glanced  from 
heaven,  into  this  divine  work  of  faith  and  labour  of  love,  then  would  our 
calculation  be  complete  ; — then  would  flow  into  the  desolate  wastes  of 
Heathenism  a  full  and  gracious  tide,  not  of  seventy,  but  of  seven  hundred 
Missionaries,  to  testify  among  all  nations  the  wonderful  works  of  God." 

Bickersteth's  sermon,  preached  two  years  after  his  retirement  ^' t?'.'^'^^''' 
from  the  Secretariat,  has  of  course  a  special  interest.     It  is  the  sermon. 
only  Annual  Sermon    ever  preached   by  an    ex- Secretary.      His 
biographer.  Professor  Birks,  says  :   "His   sense  of  the  great  im- 
portance of  the  occasion  led  him  to  bestow  much  pains  on  the 
sermon,  and  his  elder  children  can  recollect  his  reading  it  aloud 


262  The  Personnel  of  the  Period 

Part  TV.  to  them  in  private,  more  than  once,  to  discover  any  defects,  and 
Ch"''~^iq  '""^  more  famihar  with  it  in  the  puWic  dehvery.  His  text  was 
^^'  '  Ps.  Ixvii.  1,  2,  which  he  apphed  to  the  British  Nation,  to  the 
Chm-ch  of  England,  and  to  the  Church  Missionary  Society.  He 
enlarged  on  the  high  privileges  of  om-  country,  its  providential 
opportunities,  and  grievous  sins  ;  the  past  revival  of  the  Church, 
and  its  remaining  weakness  and  corruption  ;  the  growth  of  mis- 
sionary zeal,  and  its  scanty  means  compared  with  the  immense 
expenditure  on  mere  luxuries  and  sinful  pleasures ;  the  fearful 
wants  and  darkness  of  the  Heathen  world,  and  the  hlessings  that 
would  flow  to  it  from  an  extensive  revival  of  true  religion  in  our 
Church  and  Nation  ;  with  the  means  by  which  these  blessings 
might  be  secured— prayer,  personal  devotedness,  and  their  com- 
bined influence  on  the  hearts  and  minds  of  others."  Bickersteth 
himself  wrote  :  "  God  carried  me  through  my  duties  with  much 
mercy.  I  preached  an  hour  and  three-quarters — the  longest 
sermon  I  ever  preached  in  my  life — but  the  interest  seemed  to  be 
kept  up  in  a  crowded  congregation  to  the  end." 

The  Sermon,  however,  had  long  ere  this  exchanged  places  in 
importance  with  the  Annual  Meeting  ;  and  the  enhanced  interest 
of  tlie  latter  became  more  manifest  when  Exeter  Hall  was  opened 
in  1831 — of  which  more  in  the  next  chapter.  Indeed,  in  1836, 
the  Society  had  to  hold  an  overflow  meeting  in  the  Lower  Hall ; 
and  in  1839  an  Evening  Meeting  was  added  for  the  first  time. 
Speakers  The  lists  of  Speakers  year  by  year  are  interesting  to  look  over. 
Annual  In  the  twenty-scvcn  years,  from  1815,  when  Ereemasons'  Hall 
Meetings,  ^yas  first  taken,  including  sixteen  meetings  in  that  Hall  and  nine 
in  Exeter  Hall,  the  same  names  occur  again  and  again  :  Bishop 
Eyder  fourteen  times,  the  two  Bishops  Sumner  (in  twelve  years) 
nine  times  each,  the  Marquis  of  Cholmondeley  nine  times,  Lord 
Calthorpe  eight  times,  J.  W.  Cunningham  sixteen  times,  Wilberforce 
eight  times,  Daniel  Wilson  seven  times,  Gerard  Noel  eight  times, 
Charles  Simeon  only  four  times  (but  much  more  often  for  the 
Jews'  Society),  Haldane  Stewart  five  times.  Baptist  Noel  four 
times,  C.  J.  Hoare  four  times,  Bickersteth  six  times.  Charles 
Grant  the  younger  (Lord  Glenelg)  spoke  three  times.  Lord  Bexley 
three  times,  Fowell  Buxton  four  times.  Sir  Eobert  Inglis  five 
times  in  this  period.  Sir  George  Grey  once.  Lord  Chichester 
(before  his  appointment  as  President)  once.  Professor  Scholefield 
three  times.  Hugh  Stowell  first  appears  in  1833,  and  he  then 
spoke  every  year  except  one  for  seven  years.  Hugh  McNeile 
spoke  in  1827  and  1828,  but  not  again  in  this  period.  Francis 
Close  made  his  first  C.M.S.  speech  in  1839.  Henry  Venn  spoke 
once  only,  in  1833.  Bishop  Bathurst  of  Norwich  spoke  in  1818, 
Bishop  Ward  of  Sodor  and  Man  in  1828,  Bishop  Turner  of  Cal- 
cutta in  1829,  Bishop  Mcllvaine  of  Ohio  in  1835,  Bishop  Corrie 
of  Madras  in  1835,  Bishop  Otter  of  Chichester  in  1837,  Bishop 
Longley  of  Eipon  in  1838,  Bishop  Denison  of  Salisbury  in  1841. 
Samuel  Wilberforce,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Oxford,  appeared  for  the 


The  Personnel  of  the  Period  263 

first  time  in  1840.  It  has  been  a  very  rare  thing  for  men  not  Part  IV. 
of  the  Enghsli  Church  to  speak  at  the  C.M.S.  Anniversary;  but  iH2-t-4l. 
Bkunhardt,  the  Director  of  the  Basle  Seminary,  spoke  in  ^^^^'  ' 
1822,  Alexander  Duff  in  1836,  and  Merle  D'Aubignc  in  1838.  It 
is  very  likely  that  Duff's  appearance  drew  the  crowd  which 
necessitated  the  overflow  meeting  before  mentioned.  His  speech 
is  one  of  the  finest  ever  delivered  in  Exeter  Hall.'''  It  is  interest- 
ing to  observe  that  Captain  Allen  Gardiner  also  was  a  speaker  in 
the  same  year,  just  when  he  was  persuading  the  Society  to  engage 
in  a  Mission  to  the  Zulus.  It  will  be  asked,  But  where  were  the 
C.M.S.  missionaries  all  this  time?  It  is  rather  surprising  to  find 
so  few  in  the  lists,  considering  that  many  had  come  home  in  the 
'twenties  and  'thirties  ;  but  the  only  names  are  Jowett  and 
Hartley  of  Malta,  Eaban  of  Sierra  Leone,  Fenn  and  Doran  of 
Travancore,  Yate  of  New  Zealand,  Gobat  of  Abyssinia,  and  John 
Tucker  of  Madras. 

This  brings  us  to  the  most  important  of  all  branches  of  the 
■personnel,  the  missionaries  themselves.  Among  the  two  hundred  Jion^/eJ 
sent  out  in  the  period  under  review,  from  1824  to  1840,  there 
are  over  seventy  whose  names  must  be  recorded ;  and  the 
lengthened  services  of  some  of  them  are  remarkable.  Of  Daniel  Long 
the  Prophet  we  read  that  "  this  Daniel  continued" ;  and  truly  the 
same  thing  may  be  said  of  many  of  the  missionaries  sent  forth  at 
this  time.  Two  "  continued  "  sixty  or  more  years  ;  five,  over  fifty 
years ;  twelve,  forty  or  more  years  ;  nineteen,  thirty  or  more 
years.  Noble  service  was  rendered,  as  has  been  before  stated,  by  the 
Basle  Missionary  Seminary,  in  supplying  some  of  the  ablest  and 
most  devoted  missionaries.  From  it,  prior  to  1841,  went  forth,  Basiemen. 
to  West  Africa,  Hansel  (10  years),  Schon  (20),  Schlenker  (16), 
Graf  (19),  Biiltmann  (22);  to  West  Africa  and  afterwards  to  New 
Zealand,  Kissling,  who  became  one  of  Bishop  Selwyn's  Arch- 
deacons (33) ;  to  the  Levant,  Egypt,  and  Abyssinia,  Gobat, 
afterwards  Bishop  of  Jerusalem  (17  years  under  C.M.S.),  Lieder 
(35),  Krusc  (35),  Schlienz  (16),  Hildner  of  Syra  (45) ;  to  Abyssinia 
and  afterwards  India,  Isenberg  (32),  and  Blumhardt  (40)  ;  to 
Abyssinia  and  East  Africa,  Krapf  the  explorer  (19) ;  to  India,  Deerr 
(24),  Schaffter  (30),  Weitbrecht  (21),  Kriickeberg  (27),  Leupolt  (42), 
Lincke  (36),  C.  C.  Menge  (38),  J.  P.  Menge  (30) ;  to  India,  and 
afterwards  to  Smyrna,  Jetter  (22).  Most  of  these  came  from  Basle 
to  Islington,  received  further  training  in  the  Church  Missionary 
College,  and  were  ordained  by  the  Bishop  of  London.  Another 
valuable  band  of  Germans  from  Basle  went  to  the  north-west  of 
Persia  under  the  Basle  Society,  but  on  the  conquest  by  Eussia  of 
the  district  they  worked  in,  and  their  consequent  expulsion,  they 
joined  the  C.M.S.  iVmong  these  were  Schneider  (37  years), 
Hoernle  (42),  Kreiss  (16),  who  went  to  India  ;  Pfander,  the  great 
missionary  to  Mohammedans,  who  lalx)ured  in  India  and  Turkey 
(25) ;  and  Wolters  of  Smyrna  (39). 

*  See  p.  310. 


264  The  Personnel  of  the  Period 

Part  IV.       Among  the  English  missionaries   sent  forth  from   the  Church 

Ph^^q    ^^issionary  College  in  the  period  were,  to  West  iVfrica,  Warhm-ton 
^      (20  years),  Townsend  (40),  Beale  (19),  Peyton  (15),  Isaac  Smith 

Islington  (18),  Denton  (16) ;  to  India,  Farrar,  father  of  the  Dean  of  Canter- 
bmy  (19),  Sandys  (41),  W.  Smith  (41),  Peet  (33),  Pettitt  (22), 
Harley  (35),  Thomas  (34),  Stephen  Hobbs,  afterwards  in 
Mauritius  (38),  Hawksworth  (23),  James  Long  (32)  ;  to  Ceylon, 
Oakley,  who  in  half  a  century  never  once  returned  home  (51) ; 
to  New  Zealand,  Hamhn,  the  first  student  in  the  College  (40), 
C.  Baker  (46),  A.  N.  Brown,  afterwards  Archdeacon  (55),  Matthews 
(52,  and  12  as  emeritus  in  the  country),  Ashwell  (49),  and 
Burrows  (57)  ;  to  North-West  America,  Cockran,  afterwards 
Archdeacon,  who  never  once  came  home  (40),  and  Cowley,  after- 
wards Archdeacon  (47). 

Among  the  English  missionaries,  several  of  whom  were  men- 
tioned in  earlier  chapters,  who  went  forth  before  the  Islington 
College  was  opened, — or  after  its  opening,  without  its  training, — 

°erv1cis"^  some  also  had  long  periods  of  service :  in  Africa,  J.  W.  Weeks, 
afterwards  Bishop  of  Sierra  Leone  (21,  and  2  as  Bishop) ;  in 
India,  Norton  (25),  B.  Bailey  (34),  H.  Baker  (47),  M.  Wilkinson 
(24),  J.  S.  S.  Eobertson  (39)  ;  in  Ceylon,  J.  Knight  (22),  J.Bailey 
(24),  and  W.  Adley,  who  afterwards  lived  in  England  to  the  age 
of  ninety-seven  (22)  ;  to  New  Zealand,  G.  Clarke  (21),  Henry 
Williams,  afterwards  Archdeacon  (45),  E.  Davis  (40),  T.  Chapman 
(46),  J.  A.  Wilson  (35),  Morgan  (33). 

University  _  Up  to  1841,  the  missionaries  from  the  Universities  w^ere  few 
indeed,  only  sixteen  altogether.  There  were  six  from  Oxford, 
Connor  and  Hartley,  of  the  Mediterranean  Mission ;  William 
WiUiams,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Waiapu  (53  years),  0.  Hadfield, 
afterwards  Bishop  of  Wellington  (55,  and  still  surviving  emeritus), 
and  H.  H.  Bolxart,  of  New  Zealand  ;  and  John  Tucker,  of  Madras 
(14).  Cambridge  sent  seven,  W.  Jowett,  12th  Wrangler,  of 
Malta  (15)  ;  E.  Taylor  (38),  of  New  Zealand  ;  P.  Wybrow,  G. 
Valentine,  1st  Class  Classics  and  Sen.  Opt.,  and  J.  Chapman, 
27th  Wrangler  (13),  of  India ;  J.  F.  Haslam,  9th  Wrangler,  of 
Ceylon  (11) ;  and  F.  Owen,  of  the  brief  Zulu  Mission.  And  there 
were  three  from  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  viz.,  Doran  of  Travancore, 
J.  H.  Gray  of  Madras  (10),  and  E.  Maunsell  of  New  Zealand  (30 
years  under  C.M.S.,  and  30  as  Archdeacon).  Some  of  these  did 
not  have  long  careers  ;  but  Wybrow,  Valentine,  and  Haslam  died 
early  at  their  posts ;  Jowett,  Tucker,  and  Chapman  became 
Secretaries  of  the  Society ;  while  Doran  was  an  Association 
Secretary  for  thirteen  years,  and  J.  H.  Gray  for  twenty-two 
years.  Upon  the  whole,  therefore,  the  Society  and  its  cause  owed 
much  to  these  sixteen  University  men.  In  1841,  the  year  to 
which  properly  our  enumeration  ought  to  extend,  come  the  dis- 
tinguished names  of  Fox  and  Noble  ;  but  they  may  be  left  to  the 
next  period. 

At  this  point  the  new  Church  Missionary  College — or,  as  it  was 


men 


The  Personnel  of  the  Period  265 

originally  called,    Institution— may  be   conveniently  introduced.   t-ARTiy. 
The  considerations  that  led  to  its  being  established  have  been  ^J^/g 
already  brielly  noticed.-     They  are  stated  at  length,  and,  in  view       Jl_ 
of  the  doubts  expressed  by  many  friends,  with  obvious   care,  in  Church 
the  Eeport  of   1823.     No  other   Society  has  ever  followed  this  J^^'°''' 
example.     Both  the  S.P.G.  on  one  side,  and  the  Denominations  College, 
on   the   other,  have   looked  to  independent  institutions  for  the 
training  of  their  missionaries.     In  the  case  of  S.P.G. ,  St.  Augus- 
tine's College,  Canterbury,  has,  since  its  foundation  in  1848,  been 
a  chief  source  of  supply."    It  was  not  because  the  Church  Mis- 
sionary Society  has  had  a  peculiar  difficulty  in  getting  University 
men  that  its  own  College  has  been  necessary.     On  the  contrary, 
a  very  large  majority  of  the  University  men  who  have  gone  out  as 
missionaries  to  the  Heathen  at  all  have  gone  out  in   connexion 
with  C.M.S.,  and  C.M.S.  has  had  a  larger  proportion  of  graduates 
on  its  roll  than  any  other  of  the  greater  Societies.!     Nevertheless, 
the  experience  of  seventy  years  has  fully  vindicated  the  wisdom 
and  foresight  of  Josiah  Pratt  in  projecting  the  Islington  College. 
No  other  missionary  institution  in  the  world  has  such  a  roll  of 
distinguished  names.     Those  enumerated  above  belong  only  to 
its  iirst  sixteen  vears.     Later  vears  added  largely  to  the  list. 

The  selection'^of  Islington  as  the  locale  for  the  College  proved  a  J^s  locale, 

,      .  1  1  z  Islington. 

happy  one.  Probably  the  choice  was  a  natural  consequence  of 
Bickersteth  and  his  students  being  already  in  Barnsbury  Park ; 
but  it  is  very  likely  that  the  expectation  of  Daniel  ^yilson's  early 
succession  to  the  vicarage  also  influenced  the  Society.  The 
advowson  had  been  bequeathed  to  him  by  his  uncle,  whose 
property  it  was  ;  and  the  old  vicar,  Dr.  Strahan,  "  under  whom," 
says  Wilson's  biographer,  "Islington  slept,"  was  not  likely  to 
survive  long.  In  fact  he  died  in  the  very  year  (1824)  after  the 
ground  was  purchased,  so  that  when  the  Institution  was  actually 
opened,  it  was  welcomed  bv  a  vicar  who  was  at  that  time  the 
most  influential  clergyman  on  the  Committee.  The  inauguration  Jt^/^'^f  "&"- 
took  place  on  January  31st,  1825,  on  which  occasion  the  passage 
of  Scripture  read  was  very  happily  chosen.  It  was  Isa.  liv.,  in 
which  occurs  Carey's  famous  text,  "  Enlarge  the  place  of  thy 
tent,  and  let  them  stretch  forth  the  curtains  of  thine  habitations  : 
spare  not,  lengthen  thy  cords,  and  strengthen  thy  stakes." 
Excellent  addresses  were  given  to  the  asseml)led  friends  by  the 
newly-appointed  Principal,  the  Eev.  J.  Norman  Pearson,  of 
Trinity  College,  Cambridge,  and  to  the  students  (twelve  in 
number)  by  Bickersteth.  [  But  at  first  no  new  building  was 
erected  upon  the  ground  purchased;  only  the  house  already 
standing  on  it  (still  the  Principal's  house)  was  used.  In  the 
following  year,  however,  it  was  determined  to  build  a  real  college, 

*  See  p.  244. 

t  Of    course,    small    bands   of    University   men,    as    in    the    Oxford    and 
Cambridge  Missions  in  India,  do  not  come  into  such  a  comparison, 
t  Printed  v>:rhatuii  in  the  Report  of  1825. 


266  The  Personnel  of  the  Period 

Part  IV.  to    accommodate  if  necessary  fifty   students,   with  hall,    library, 

1824r-4l.    lecture-rooms,  &c. ;  and  on  July  31st,  1826,  the  first  stones  (there 

'^^'        were  two,  one  at  the  base  of  each  of  the  central  pillars)  were 

laid    by  the  President,   Lord  Gambler.     On   the   same    day,   the 

students  (twenty-six  ;  of  whom  six  were  already  in  orders)  were 

Its  studies,  examined  before  the  Committee  in  Latin,  Greek,  Divinity,  Logic, 
and  Mathematics.  The  languages  of  the  Mission-field  were  then 
regarded  as  an  important  part  of  the  studies,  and  three  months 
later,  another  Examination  took  place  of  the  Oriental  Classes 
conducted  by  Professor  S.  Lee,  in  Hebrew,  Arabic,  Sanscrit,  and 
Bengali. 

Its  first  The   first   Principal,   the  Eev.  J.  Norman  Pearson,  of  Trinity 

Principal.  College,  Cambridge,  was  a  good  and  able  man ;  but  in  the  in- 
experience of  the  Committee,  and  every  one  else  concerned,  in  the 
conduct  of  such  an  institution,  grave  differences  of  opinion  arose 
as  to  the  methods  of  training.  An  Investigation  Committee, 
appointed  at  a  time  of  financial  pressure  to  examine  into  the 
Society's  expenditure  (as  we  shall  see  hereafter),  included  the 
College  within  their  purview,  and  recommended  considerable 
alterations.  It  was  these  differences  that  caused  so  much  distress 
to  Bickersteth,  as  before  mentioned,  and  undoubtedly  led  to  his 
contemplating  retirement.  Yet  the  changes  ultimately  decided  on 
were  in  the  direction  of  his  own  views.  The  Institution  was  to 
be  less  of  a  College  and  more  of  a  Home,  and  the  academical 
element  was  to  be  distinctly  subordinate  to  the  spiritual  element.* 
In  the  course  of  the  discussions  Mr.  Pearson  resigned  the 
Principalship,  but  afterwards  he  withdrew  his  resignation,  and 
continued  Principal  till  1838.  He  then  retired,  on  his  appoint- 
ment to  the  Incumbency  of  Tunbridge  Wells.  The  Bishop  of 
London  (Blomfield)  took  the  opportunity  to  express  his  high 
opinion  of  the  College  and  its  Principal.  "  He  remarked  that  he 
had  been  much  struck  with  the  comprehensiveness  of  the 
theological  knowledge  acquired  by  the  students,  and  with  the 
judiciousness  of  the  mode  in  which  it  had  been  imparted  ;  and 
added  that  the  Society's  students  had  been  among  his  best 
candidates."  The  Eev.  C.  F.  Childe,  Head  Master  of  Walsall 
Grammar  School,  was  appointed  to  succeed  Pearson,  and  for 
twenty  years  proved  a  Principal  whose  devotion  and  success  have 
never  been  surpassed. 

Deaths  of  It  Only  remains  to  mention  the  deaths  of  this  period.  That  of 
the  President,  Lord  Gambler,  has  been  already  mentioned.  In 
1831,  died  Basil  Woodd,  whose  great  services  from  the  very  first 
have  been  frequently  referred  to  ;  in  1833,  James  Stephen  the 
elder,  and  Charles  Elliott,  the  veteran  member  of  Committee  ;  \ 
in  1834,  Lord  Teignmouth,  President  of  the  Bible  Society,  and 
that  excellent  lady,  Hannah  More,  who  had  for  so  long  exercised 

*  See  Report  of  1830;  and  the  Appendix,  in  which  the  new  Regulations  for 
the  Institution  aie  printed  in  full, 
t  See  p.  70. 


friends. 


The  Personnel  of  the  Period  267 

a     powerful    influence    among    rich   and    poor    in    tlie    cause    of  Part  IV. 
true  religion,    and  who  bequeathed  the   Society  £1000;   in  1836,    182-4-41. 
Bishop   Eyder,  and    in   1837,    Bishop    Bathurst,    the    first    two  '^^'"P-  ^^- 
prelates  to   join  the  Society ;    in  1838,   Zachary   Macaulay,  and 
Biddulph   of  Bristol.     The  deaths  of  Heber,  Corrie,  and   Carey 
will  come  before  us  in  reviewing  India,  and  those  of  Morrison 
and  Marsden  in  reviewing  China  and  New  Zealand.     Departed 
missionaries  also  will  be  referred  to  under  the  various  Missions. 
But   two  other  deaths  must  be  more  particularly  mentioned  in 
closing  this  chapter,  those  of  William  Wilberforce  and  Charles 
Simeon. 

Wilberforce  and   Simeon  had  been    contemporaries    in  a  very  wiiber- 
marked  sense.     They  were  born  in   the  same  year,  1759.     They  simlon.*^ 
were  not  together  at  Cambridge,  as  Wilberforce  went  there  very 
young  ;    but  they  entered  on  their  respective   life-works  nearly  Their 
together,  Simeon  preaching  his  first  sermon  only  a  few  months  fives'^^^ 
after  Wilberforce  made  his  first  speech  in  Parliament.     Wilber- 
force's  conversion  to  God  occurred  a  few  years  later  than  Simeon's  ; 
but  the  opposition  and  ridicule  they  encountered  in  their  respective 
circles  were  simultaneous.     As  w^e  have  seen,  it  was  to  these  two 
men  that  Charles  Grant  and  his   associates   at  Calcutta  specially 
addressed  their  first  appeal  for  a  Bengal  Mission.     At  the  very 
time  that  Simeon  wrote  his  paper  on  Missions  for  the  Eclectic 
Society,  Wilberforce  was  writing  his  Practical  View  of  Christianity. 
The  one  led  to  the  foundation  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society. 
The   other   had    an  influence  quite  unique  on   Christian  life  in 
England.     Together   in    spirit,    though    in    widely  different    sur- 
roundings and  by  very  different  methods,  they  laboured  for  the 
extension    of    true   religion  at   home   and  for  the   spread  of  the 
Gospel  abroad.     Together   they  spoke   at  the   first  great  public 
Anniversary  Meeting  held  by  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  in 
1813.     They  both  spent  their  fortunes  for  the  good  of  Church  and 
people.     Wilberforce  was   far  more  outwardly  successful  in  his  Their 
lifetime.      The  extraordinary  fascination   of   his   social  qualities  [nflu^nce^ 
made  him  personally  popular  even  among  those  who  sneered  at 
his   religion ;    while    Simeon's   personal   influence,   though    very 
great  within  his  own  circle,  never  made  him  a  generally  popidar 
man.     But  Simeon  has  been,   indirectly,   a  greater  power  in  the 
Church  of  England  ;  especially  through  the  Simeon   Trust,  which 
has  secured  Evangelical  teaching  in  perpetuity  for  some  of  the 
most   important   parishes   in    England.     Wilberforce    died    three 
years  before  Simeon  ;  but  it  is  a  question  whether  the  impressive 
scene  at  Westminster  x\bbey  on  August  5th,  1833,  w^hen  all  that  Their 
was  distinguished  in  Church  and  State  gathered  round  the  gi'ave  ""^""^  ^" 
of  the  most  eminent  Christian  the  British  Parliament  has  ever 
known,  was  one  whit  more  significant  than   the   scene  in  King's 
Chapel  at  Cambridge  on  November  19tli,  1836,  when  the  liody  of 
the  man  who  had  so  long  stood  nearly  alone  in   his  witness  for 
Christ,  despised  and  hated  by  town  and  gown  alike,  was  followed 


!68 


The  Personnel  of  the  Period 


]'ART  IV. 

1824-41. 
Chap.  19. 

Ctephen 
on  'Wilber- 
force. 


Macaulay 
and 

Stephen 
on  Simeon. 


to  its  last  resting-place  by  the  whole  University  and  a  multitude 
of  other  mourners. 

Of  Wilberforce,  Sir  James  Stephen,  in  one  of  the  most  brilliant 
of  his  brilliant  Essays,  says  :=■' — • 

''  Of  the  schemes  of  public  benevolence  which  were  matured  or 
projected  during  the  half-century  which  followed  the  peace  of  1783, 
there  was  scarcely  one  of  any  magnitude  in  which  Mr.  Wilberforce  was 
not  largely  engaged.  Whether  churches  and  clergymen  were  to  be  multi- 
plied, or  the  Scriptures  circulated,  or  missions  sent  to  the  ends  of  the 
earth,  or  national  education  established,  or  the  condition  of  the  poor 
improved,  or  Ireland  civilized,  or  good  discipline  established  in  gaols,  or 
obscure  genius  and  piety  enabled  to  emerge,  or  in  whatever  other  form 
philanthropy  and  patriotism  laboured  for  the  improvement  of  the 
country  or  of  the  world, — his  sanction,  his  eloquence,  his  advice  were 
still  regarded  as  indispensable  to  success." 

"What,  asks  the  same  writer,  was  the  secret  of  his  power  ? 

"  It  is  to  be  found  in  that  unbroken  communion  with  the  indwelling 
God,  in  which  Mr.  Wilberforce  habitually  lived.  He  '  endured  as  seeing 
Him  who  is  invisible,'  and  as  hearing  Him  who  is  inaudible.  When 
most  immersed  in  political  cares,  or  in  social  enjoyments,  he  invoked  and 
obeyed  the  Voice  which  directed  his  path  while  it  tranquillized  his 
mind.  That  Voice  .  .  .  taught  him  to  rejoice,  as  a  child,  in  the 
presence  of  a  Father  whom  he  much  loved  and  altogether  trusted,  and 
whose  approbation  was  infinitely  more  than  an  equivalent  for  whatever 
restraint,  self-denial,  labour,  or  sacrifice,  obedience  to  His  will  might 
render  necessary." 

Of  Simeon,  Lord  Macaulay  wrote,  "If  you  knew  what  his 
authority  and  influence  were,  and  how  they  extended  from 
Cambridge  to  the  remotest  corners  of  England,  you  would  allow 
that  his  real  sway  over  the  Church  was  far  greater  than  that  of 
any  Primate."  f  Sir  James  Stephen  suggested  that  the  Church 
of  England  should  turn  out  of  the  catalogue  of  her  saints  such 
doubtful  figures  as  St.  George,  St.  Dunstan,  and  St.  Crispin,  to 
make  room  for  "  St.  Charles  of  Cambridge."  \  And  Dr.  Moule 
says  :  §  — 

"  As  regards  the  Church  of  England,  his  dearly-beloved  Church,  he 
has  proved  himself  one  of  her  truest  servants  and  most  effectual 
defenders.  Perhaps  more  than  any  other  one  man  who  ever  arose 
within  her  pale,  he  has  been  the  means  of  showing,  in  words  and  in  life, 
that  those  Christian  truths  which  at  once  most  abase  and  most  gladden 
the  soul,  as  it  turns  (in  no  conventional  sense  of  the  words)  from  dark- 
ness to  light,  from  death  to  life,  from  self  to  Christ,  are  not  the  vagaries 
of  a  few  fanatical  minds,  careless  of  order  and  of  the  past,  but  the 
message  of  the  Church,  the  tradition  of  her  noblest  teachers,  the  breath 
and  soul  of  her  offices  and  order.  He  has  shown  in  another  direction, 
under  conditions  of  peculiar  and  difficult  experiment,  that  the  converted 

*  Essays  in  Ecclesiastical  Biogra'pliy,  Essay  on  Wilberforce,  pp.  486,  499. 
t  Trevelyan's  Life  of  Lord  Macaulay,  vol.  i.  p.  67. 
X  Essays  in  Ecclesiastical  Biography,  p.  578. 
§  Moule's  Simeon,  p.  259. 


The  Personnel  of  the  Period  269 

life  is,  in  its  genuine  development,  a  life  of  self-discipline,  of  considerate-  Part  IV. 

ness  for  every  one  around,  of  courtesy  and  modesty,  of  hourly  servitude  1824-^1. 

to  established  duty,  and  of  that  daylight  of  truthfulness  without  which  Cliap.  19. 

no  pietj'  can  possibly  be  wholesome."  

Such  were  the  two  greatest  men  among  the  early  promoters  of 
the  Church  Missionary  Society.  They  were  not  its  working 
leaders,  like  John  Venn  and  Pratt  and  Basil  Woodd  and  Bickersteth 
and  Zachary  Macaulay  ;  but  the  one  was  the  author  of  the 
original  idea  of  such  an  organization,  and  the  other  was,  of  all  its 
public  champions,  the  most  influential  and  the  most  eloqvient. 
We  shall  meet  both  Simeon  and  Wilberforce  again  in  this  History 
in  chapters  that  look  back  to  incidents  in  their  lives ;  but  in 
ti'eating  of  the  lyeraonncl  of  the  period  now  before  us,  we  take 
occasion  to  l)id  them  both  farewell. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

The  Environment  of  the  Period. 

Public  Affairs — The  Reform  Bill  and  the  Bishops — Accession  of 
Queen  Victoria — Church  Reform — Evangelical  Improvements — 
The  C.P.A.S. — Growth  of  S.P.G. — Bishop  Blomfield — Opening  of 
Exeter  Hall — Bible  Society  Controversies — Prayer  at  Public  Meet- 
ings— Calvinistic  Disputes — Edward  Irving — Plymouth  Brethren — 
Prophetical  Studies — Pratt  warns  against  Disunion — The  Tractarian 
Movement:  Keble  and  Newman — Attitude  of  the  Evangelicals 
and  of  C.M.S. 


Part  lY. 
1824-41 . 
Chap.  20. 


A  period 
of  large 
changes, 


On  the 
Ccntinent, 


"  Now  I  heseech  you,  brethren,  hy  the  name  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  tJiat  .  .  . 
there  he  no  dixnsions  among  you." — 1  Cor.  i.  10. 

"Lest  Satan  should  get  an  adcantage  of  us:  for  ire  are  not  iynorant  of  his 
devices." — 2  Cor.  ii.  11. 

N  studying  the  history,  not  of  the  Society's  Missions, 
but  of  the  Society  itself,  we  cannot  fail  to  notice 
how  it  was  affected  by  its  surroundings,  in  the 
Country  and  in  the  World,  in  the  State  and  in  the 
Church.  And  there  was  so  much  that  was  im- 
portant and  interesting  in  the  environment  during  the  period 
we  are  now  studying,  that  it  seems  right  to  devote  a  chapter  to  it. 
For  the  leaders  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society  were  not  men 
wholly  absorbed  in  the  details  of  the  Society's  business,  and 
uaable  to  pay  attention  to  public  affairs  or  to  the  general  interests 
of  religion.  On  the  contrary,  they  were  men  of  the  world  in  the 
best  sense,  and  took  a  prominent  part  in  all  movements  for  the 
pubHc  good  at  home  and  abroad. 

Our  period,  from  1824  to  1841,  was  emphatically  a  period  of 
movement ;  of  large  changes  and  developments.  Abroad,  the 
reactionary  influences  that  naturally  prevailed  after  the  fall  of 
Napoleon  were  losing  their  force.  In  1830  the  counter-forces  of 
revolution  burst  forth,  replacing  in  France  the  Bourbons  by  the 
Citizen  King,  and  thus  preparing  the  w^ay  for  the  still  fiercer 
revolution  of  1848  ;  and  putting  on  the  throne  of  the  newly-formed 
kingdom  of  Belgium  one  of  the  wisest  of  modern  sovereigns.  On 
the  other  hand,  Russia,  under  Nicholas,  was  commencing  that 
forward  march  which,  despite  subsequent  reverses,  still  continues, 
and  the  Eastern  Question  came  during  our  period  into  the  front 
rank  of  international  difficulties  ;  while  the  too  enthusiastic  antici- 


The  Environment  oe  the  Period  271 

pations  of  freedom  and  enlightenment  in  the  young  kingdom  of  Part  IY. 
Greece  and  the  new  republics  of  South  America  gradually  faded  1824-41. 
away.  The  Church  Missionary  Society  was  not  unaffected  by  Chap.  20. 
these  events.  Its  Turkish  Missions  had  to  be  given  up  on  account 
of  the  turmoil  in  the  East ;  the  revolutionary  sj)irit,  spreading  to 
England,  started  controversies  which  sadly  interfered  with  the 
progress  of  rehgious  enterprises ;  while  at  the  same  time,  godly 
men  were  stirred  up  by  the  alarming  condition  of  things  to  work 
harder  than  ever  to  preach  the  Gospel  while  there  was  time.  "  The 
commotions  of  the  kingdoms  around  us,"  said  the  Committee  in 
1831,  "and  the  agitations  of  our  own  country,  call  on  us  to  '  work 
while  it  is  day.'"  "The  pangs  and  throes  of  the  Old  World," 
wrote  Pratt  in  the  Missionary  Begister,  "are  fast  coming  on. 
Dark  and  ominous  clouds  are  blowing  up  from  every  quarter ; 
the  moral  atmosphere  is  surcharged  with  mischief,  and  society 
itself  seems  ready  to  heave  from  its  foundations."  He  commends 
the  Epistle  of  St.  James  for  general  reading,  and  goes  on,  "  Not 
by  our  controversies,  but  by  our  meekness  and  patience — not  by 
many-coloured  faith,  but  by  our  works,  proceeding  from  that  well- 
defined  faith  of  Scripture,  '  faith  that  worketh  by  love  ' — will  the 
cause  of  our  Eedeemer  be  truly  and  largely  promoted  in  this 
nation  and  in  the  world." 

At  home,  the  period  takes  us  from  the  middle  of  George  the  And  at 
Fourth's  reign,  over  that  of  William,  to  the  early  days  of  Queen  ^°"'^' 
Victoria  and  her  young  husband  Prince  Albert ;  and  we  seem ,  even 
as  we  read  these  words,  to  step  into  a  new  atmosphere.     The  great 
material  developments  of  the  century  are  commencing.     Steam 
navigation  is  already  rapidly  increasing;    railway  travelling  has 
begun  ;  even  the  electric  telegraph  is  projected  ;  ■■'■  the  penny  post 
has  just  been  established  (1840)  ;  the  financial  reforms  of  Peel  and 
his  successors,  which   are   to  diffuse  wealth  to  an  extent  utterly 
undreamed  of,  are  about  to  be  initiated.     But  an  epoch  of  national 
upheaval  has  preceded  all  this.     Parliamentary  Eeform  has  been  Reform 
effected  after  a  conflict  far  exceeding  in  bitterness  anything  that  ^'"• 
we  in  the  second  half  of  the  century  have  witnessed.     The  agita- 
tion, when  the  House  of  Lords  threw  out  Earl  Grey's  first  Bill, 
was  tremendous.     Quiet  families  in  the  country  were  terrified  at 
night  by  seeing  the  flames  of  burning  hay-ricks  and  even  of  farm- 
houses, and  in   the  day  by  the  news  of  riots  in  all  directions,  of 
Derby  gaol  broken  open,  of  Nottingham  Castle  burnt,  of  fearful 
excesses  in  the  streets  of  Bristol.     In  the  n)idst  of  it  all  came  the 
Cholera,  a  disease  hitherto  unknown  in  Europe,  and  caused  uni-  Cholera, 
versal   terror   by  its  ravages.     A  Fast  Day  was  proclaimed   by 
Government;  and  Pratt  wrote  in  a  private  letter,!    "I   gather 
hope  from  the  seeming  piety  with  which  the  Day  of  Humihation 

*  In  ]  837-8  the  first  steamships  crossed  the  Atlantic,  the  London  and 
Birniingliani  Railway  was  opened,  and  a  telegraphic  message  was  sent  from 
Euston  to  Camden  Town. 

t  Life  of  Pratt,  p.  288. 


272  The  Environment  of  the  Period 

Paet  IV.  was  observed  ;  for  though  there  was  a  degree  of  impious  scoffing 
1824-41.  ["in  the  House  of  Commons]  such  as  I  never  remember  on  any 
Chap.  20.  gj^-^j}^^  occasion,  there  was,  on  the  other  hand,  more  apparent 
piety  than  I  ever  saw.  So  it  is,  while  the  enemy  comes  in  hke  a 
flood,  the  Spirit  of  God  lifts  up  a  standard  against  him." 
Bickersteth  w^rote  a  tract  on  the  occasion,  which  was  circulated 
by  hundreds  of  thousands. 

Parliamentary  Eeform  did  not  of  itself  effect  Social  Eeform  ; 

but  it  woke  up  the  nation  to  see  the  appalling  need  of  it.     Let 

Social         Lord  Shaftesbury's  biographer  summarize  for  us  the  condition  of 

condition       ,1   • 

of  the  thmgs  :— 

people.  u  s^  spirit  of  turbulence  and  lawlessness  manifested  itself  everywhere. 

.  .  .  Education  was  at  a  deplorably  low  ebb.  .  .  .  The  factory  system 
was  cruel  in  its  oppression.  Mines  and  collieries  were  worked  in  great 
measure  by  women  and  children.  Bakers,  sailors,  and  chimney-sweeps, 
were  unprotected  by  legislation.  Friendly  societies,  many  of  them  rotten 
to  the  core,  were  the  only  legalized  means  of  self-help.  Pawnbrokers 
held  the  savings  of  the  people. "  Sanitary  science  was  practically  unknown. 
Ragged  schools,  reformatory  and  industrial  schools,  mechanics'  institutes, 
and  "workmen's  clubs,  had  not  begun  to  exist.  Taxation  was  oppressive 
and  unjust.  Postal  communication  was  an  expensive  luxury  even  to  the 
well-to-do.  Limited  liability,  enabling  working-men  to  contribute  their 
small  capital  to  the  increase  of  the  productive  power  of  the  country,  was 
not  so  much  as  thought  of.  The  cheap  literature  of  the  day  reflected 
the  violent  passions  which  raged  on  every  side.  Crime  was  rampant ; 
mendicancy  everywhere  on  the  increase  " — 

— and  the  writer  goes  on  to  draw  a  picture  of  London  and  the 
large  towns  before  Sir  E.  Peel  established  the  police  force."  This 
graphic  passage  describes  the  position  in  1833.  In  1837,  when 
Queen  Victoria  ascended  the  throne,  it  was  worse  rather  than 
better,  a  fact  to  be  remembered  when  we  look  back  over  her  long 
and  glorious  reign ;  and  at  this  point  it  will  be  interesting  to  read 
the  words  of  Lord  Chichester,  at  the  C.M.S.  Anniversary  next 

T,.  after  her  accession,  regarding  the  young  Queen  : — 

The  young  /        o  <_>  .^  w     "^ 

Queen.  u  gij-^gg   ^^yy^   last   Anniversary,  a   star   has    risen  above   our  political 

horizon— a  star  of  beauty  and  of  promise  ;  and,  from  thousands  of  British 
hearts,  there  are  ascending  daily  prayers  that  the  dawn  of  her  reign  may 
be  the  dawn  of  her  coimtry's  glory — that,  herself  reflecting  the  beams  of 
the  Sun  of  Righteousness,  our  Gracious  Queen  may  gladden  and  refresh 
our  drooping  land.  May  the  blessing  of  God  so  rest  upon  her,  that  the 
loyalty  which  she  inspires  may  provoke  us  to  a  better  chivalry  than  that 
of  arms  !  May  her  name  be  associated  with  those  works  of  Christian 
Love,  which,  however  disproportionate  to  our  high  responsibilities,  prove 
that  we  are  still  a  Christian  People  !  And  thus  shall  the  record  of  her 
reio-n  be  a  record  of  victories  unstained  with  blood — of  victories,  whose 
o-lo'ry  shall  be  ascribed  to  the  Son  of  God— whose  trophies  shall  consist, 
not  of  captive  Kings  or  Nations  made  subject  to  the  sceptre  of  England's 
Queen,  but  of  ransomed  slaves  delivered  from  the  bondage  of  Satan,  and 
brought,  through  the  efl'orts  of  British  Charity,  into  the  happy  service 
of  England's  God."  f 

*  Hodder,  E.,  Li/e  of  Lord  Shaftesbury,  vol.  i.  pp.  131-134. 

t  Sydney  Smith,  preaching  at  St.  PanUs  on  the  Qncen's  Accession,   said. 


The  Environment  of  the  Period  273 

The   Ministry   of   Eaii  Grey,  which  took  oflice   in  1831  after  Part  IV. 
twenty  years  of  Tory  government,  and  which  carried  the  Eeform    1S24-41. 
Bill,  did  not  prove  antagonistic  to  the  plans  and  pohcy  of  the  ^hap^20. 
Evangelical  leaders.     It   was  on  the  right  side  of   the   Slavery  The  whigs 
question,  its  Lord  Chancellor,  Brougham,  having  been  for  years  ^^    ^ 

ri.1  J.  ci  ,'1  T  ,  -..  •',.      Church 

one  01  the  most  powerful  anti-slavery  advocates ;  and  it  was  this  Reform. 
Government  that  introduced  and  passed  the  Abolition  Bill,  as  we 
shall  see  by-and-by.  On  India  questions,  too,  it  was  sound,  the 
younger  Charles  Grant  (afterwards  Lord  Glenelg)  being  President 
of  the  Board  of  Control  (as  the  India  Office  was  then  called). 
Certainly  it  was  not  specially  favourable  to  the  Church.  Earl 
Grey  called  on  the  Bishops  to  "set  their  houses  in  order," 
though  he  did  not  finish  the  quotation  and  tell  them  they  should 
"  die,  and  not  live."  Eadical  reforms  were  introduced,  to  the 
dismay  of  the  majority  of  Churchmen  ;  and  the  opposition  offered 
to  these  and  to  the  Eeform  Bill  by  the  Bishops  in  Parliament 
brought  upon  them  great  odium.  They  were  even  hustled  and 
insulted  in  Palace  Yard  ;  they  were  burnt  in  effigy  ;  on  the  5th 
of  November,  figures  representing  them  were  substituted  for  Guy 
Eawkes ;  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  was  mobbed  in  his  own 
cathedral  city  ;  the  Bishop  of  Lichfield  and  Coventry  (Eyder)  was 
nearly  killed  outside  St.  Bride's,  Fleet  Street ;  the  Bishop  of 
London  dared  not  go  out  to  preach ;  and  the  Bishop  of  Bristol's 
palace  was  attacked  and  burnt  to  the  ground.  When,  however, 
the  Irish  Church  Temporalities  Bill  was  brought  in,  which  al^olished 
two  archiepiscopal  and  eight  episcopal  Sees,  and  many  sinecure 
cathedral  stalls,  and  redistributed  their  revenues,  eleven  Enghsh 
Bishops  voted  for  it.  They  were  beginning  to  see  that  although 
Church  Eeform  might  be  painful,  it  was  the  only  way  of  saving 
the  Church — at  least  the  Church  Establishment.  Josiah  Pratt 
had  seen  this  before.  He  wrote  of  the  "infatuation"  of  those 
who  opposed  all  change.  "  If  the  real  evils  in  the  Church," 
he  said,  "  were  promptly  redressed,  it  would  stand  firm  in  its 
strength ;  but  while  nothing  is  done  to  remove  its  blemishes, 
the  sappers  are  at  work  at  the  foundation."  The  obstructives, 
however,  were  outvoted ;  and  it  is  impossible  now  to  dispute  the 
truth  of  Dr.  Stoughton's  words,  that  "  the  reforms  strengthened 
the  Church's  corner-stones,  added  buttresses  to  its  walls,  and  gave 
it  a  new  lease  of  continuance."  "-'' 

"What  limits  to  the  glory  and  happiness  of  our  land,  if  the  Creator  should  in 
Tlis  mercy  have  placed  in  the  heart  of  this  royal  woman  the  rudiments  of 
wisdom  and  mercy;  and  if,  f^ivinp:  them  time  "to  expand,  and  to  bless  our 
children's  children  with  her  goodness.  He  should  grant  to  her  a  long 
sojourning  upon  earth,  and  leave  her  to  reign  over  us  till  she  is  well-stricken 
in  years.  What  glory!  AVhat  happiness  !  What  joy!  What  bounty  of  God  !  " 
((Quoted  by  Stoughton,  Relijion  in  Enfilnnd,  1800—1850,  vol.  ii.  p.  165.) 

*  An  excellent  summary  of  the  Cliurch  legislation  of  the  period  is  given 
by  Canon  CJ.  G.  Perry  in  his  Studoifs  EiiffUsh  Church  History,  chap.  xi. 
(Murray,  1>S!»0).  "In  the  course  of  twelve  years,"  he  says,  "  the  status  of 
the  Church  of  England  was  revolutionized." 

VOL.  I.  T 


274 


The  Eni'ironment  of  the  Period 


There  can  l^e  no  doubt  that  the  Church,  notwithstanding  the 
abuses  that  needed  to  be  dealt  with,  was  in  its  moral  and  spiritual 
influence  far  stronger  than  it  had  been  at  the  beginning  of  the 
century.  Dr.  Overton  gives  many  contemporary  testimonies  to 
the  fact.-'-  Of  course  its  condition  would  not  compare  for  one 
moment  with  its  condition  in  the  present  day.  Since  then  the 
standard  of  efficiency  has  been  enormously  raised  ;  and  the  practical 
good  work  done  is  a  hundred-fold  what  it  was  at  the  date  of  Queen 
Victoria's  accession.  But  the  improvement  had  begun ;  and  Dr. 
Overton  attriluites  it,  in  the  main,  to  the  influence  of  the  Evan- 
gelical party.  In  the  main ;  but  he  very  fairly  adduces  the 
conscientious  zeal  of  the  small  band  of  real  High  or  "  Orthodox  " 
Churchmen — the  men  who  were  infusing  new  life  into  the  S.P.G. 
and  S.P.C.K. — such  as  Bishops  Van  Mildert  and  Blomfield,  Arch- 
deacon Daubeney,  Christopher  Wordsworth  the  elder  (Master  of 
Trinity),  H.  H.  Norris,  and  Joshua  Watson  the  layman,  though  he 
confesses  that  they  did  not  exercise  a  wide  influence, — except 
indeed  Blomfield,  at  a  rather  later  period.  These  two  sections 
together  were  but  a  small  minority  of  Churchmen.  "  Both 
together  w^ere  far  outnumbered  by  the  many  w^ho  w^ere  neither  one 
thing  nor  the  other ;  some  inclining  to  the  high  and  dry,  some  to 
the  low  and  slow  ;  some  whose  creed  consisted  mainly  in  a  sort  of 
general  amiabihty,  and  some  who  were  mere  worldlings."!  This 
torpid  majority,  indeed,  were  easily  roused  to  echo  the  cry  of  "  the 
Church  in  danger";  but  the  Church  Improvement  and  Church 
Extension  wdiich  are  the  best  Church  Defence  were  eflected  by  the 
iwo  wings,  and,  in  the  main,  by  the  Evangelicals.  It  is  incidental 
evidence  of  this,  as  Overton  points  out,  that  to  be  "  serious  "  still 
meant  to  be  a  "  Low  Churchman,"  not  a  "  High  Churchman." 
People  generally  took  for  granted  that  spirituality  and  Evangeli- 
calism were,  in  the  Church  of  England,  nearly  synonymous 
terms.  Not  that  all  Evangelicals  were  spiritual :  that  has  never 
been  the  case ;  but  that  spiritual  men,  generally  speaking,  were 
assumed  to  be  Evangelicals. 

In  a  previous  chapter  we  saw  how  the  earlier  Evangelicals 
introduced  week-day  services  and  evening  services,  and  hymns, 
and  more  frequent  communions.  Daniel  Wilson,  soon  after  going 
to  Islington,  succeeded  in  arranging,  says  his  biographer,  "three 
full  services  in  the  church  on  Sundays  and  great  festival  days, 
and  one  in  the  w^eek,  besides  morning  prayers  on  Wednesdays  and 
Fridays  and  saints'  days.  An  early  sacrament  at  eight,  in  addition 
to  the  usual  celebration,  had  been  also  commenced."  \  In  fact, 
considerably  later  than  this,  at  Evangelical  country  towns  like 
Lowestoft  under  Francis  Cunningham,  attendance  at  early  Com- 
munion was  a  special  token  of  evangelical  fervour.  In  1836  Simeon 
wrote  of  Trinity  Church,  Cambridge,  "  Yesterday  I  partook  of  the 


*  English  Church  in  the  Nineteenth  Century,  p.  8. 

t  Ibid.,  p.  15.  X  ^'f^  of  Bishop  D.  Wilson,  vol.  i.  p.  264. 


The  Environment  of  the  Period  275 

Lord's  Supper  in  concert  with  a  larger  number  than  has  been  Part  TV. 
convened  together  in  any  church  in  Cambridge  since  the  place  }^^^'^}q 
existed  upon  earth.  ...  So  greatly,"  he  quaintly  adds,  "  has  the  '"'P' 
Church  of  England  been  injured  by  myself  and  my  associates."  '■■• 
No  wonder  Dr.  Overton,  after  noticing  Daniel  Wilson's  work  at 
Islington,  remarks  that  "  the  Low  Churchmen  were  better 
Churchmen  than  the  No  Churchmen."  And  it  was  the  same  in 
practical  parochial  work.  Dr.  Moule  mentions  that  his  father, 
when  at  Gillingham,  was  told  by  Bishop  Burgess  of  Salisbury, 
about  the  period  we  are  now  dealing  with,  that,  "wherever  he 
went  in  his  diocese,  it  was  generally  those  who  thought  with  him 
[H.  Moule]  who  were  the  active  men  in  the  parishes.  "  It  is  they," 
he  said,  "  who  get  schools  built,  and  diligently  teach  the  young, 
and  bring  them  well  prepared  for  Confirmation."  Moreover,  it  is 
specially  germane  to  this  History  to  observe  that  it  was  then,  as 
now  and  as  ever,  the  parishes  in  which  zeal  and  interest  in  the 
evangelization  of  the  world  were  manifested,  that  were  in  the  front 
in  all  Church  work  at  home. 

This  last  point  was  also  illustrated  when  the  Church  Pastoral  f-^-^-f- 
Aid  Society  was  founded  in  1836.  It  was  actually  formed  in  the 
Committee-room  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  Pratt  taking 
an  active  part  in  the  arrangements.  Bickersteth  and  other  C.M.S. 
leaders  were  also  in  its  counsels  from  the  first ;  and  its  second 
Anniversary  sermon  was  preached  by  Mr.  Pearson,  the  Principal 
of  Islington  College.  The  Missionary  Begistcr  regularly  reported 
its  proceedings,  as  well  as  those  of  the  London  City  Mission,  and 
of  the  Additional  Curates'  Society,  or,  as  the  latter  was  at  first 
named,  the  Clergy  Aid  Society,  which  were  established  about  the 
same  time.  Indeed  the  x\.C.S.  was  started  by  some  of  the  Bishops 
partly  as  a  kind  of  protest  against  the  Evangelical  distinctiveness 
of  the  C.P.A.S.  Mr.  Gladstone,  also,  who  was  at  first  a  Vice- 
President  of  the  C.P.A.S.,  withdrew  and  joined  the  rival  society. 

This  last-mentioned  incident  is  an  illustration  of  the  increasing 
activity  of  the  more  Orthodox  School  on  the  lines  of  organization 
laid  down  by  the  Evangelical  Societies.  The  Register  of  1839 
records  the  formation  of  Provincial  Associations  in  aid  of  the  Growth  of 
S.P.G.,  the  Bishop  of  Nova  Scotia  and  Archdeacon  Eobinson  of  ^■^■^■ 
Madras  visiting  some  of  the  counties  for  the  purpose.  One 
result  of  this  movement,  viz.,  proposals  for  forming  Joint  Local 
Associations  of  S.P.G.  and  C.M.S.,  will  come  before  us  hereafter. 
The  S.P.G.  funds  were  now  rising  rapidly  year  by  year,  and  it  was 
successfully  grappling  with  a  still  more  rapid  rise  in  the  expendi- 
ture, accompanied  by  the  withdrawal  of  the  old  Government 
grant  for  the  Canadian  clergy.  Royal  letters  were  granted  to  it  in 
1831  and  1836,  the  latter  being  specially  with  a  view  to  aid  in 
ministering  to  the  freed  slaves  in  the  West  Indies ;  but  the 
healthier  sources  of  Income  grew  independently  of  these  Letters, 

*  Moule's  Simeon,  p.  257. 
T   2 


276 


The  Environment  of  the  Period 


Part  IV.  and  by  1840  the  voluntary  contributions  exceeded  £40,000.     In 

1824-41.    that  year  its  Annual  Sermon   was  preached  for  the  first  time  at 

Chap.  20.  g|._  Paul's,  and  the  Lord  Mayor  gave  a  dinner  afterwards  at  the 

Mansion  House  ;    but  there  were  no  public  meetings  at  this  time, 

the  one  in  1826,  mentioned  in  a  former  chapter,  and  another  in 

1827,  being  quite  exceptional. 

-The  Among  other  features  that  marked  the  Church  of  the  period  was 

Bishops,     the  increasing  activity  and  efficiency  of  the  Bishops.    Conspicuous 

among  those  who  were  raising  the  standard  of  episcopal  work  were 

the  two  Sumners   at  Winchester  and  Chester,   Bishop  Eyder  at 

Lichfield,  Bishop  Otter  at  Chichester,  and  Bishop  Blomfield  in 

London.     Bishop  Blomfield  was  called  by  Sydney   Smith  "  The 

Church  of  England  here  upon  earth  ";  and  again  he  says,  "  When 

the   Church   of    England  is   mentioned,  it   only  means  Charles 

James  London."  =•'     It  is  worth  while,  therefore,  to  look  a  little 

Bishop        at   this  remarkable  man.     The  difference  between  Blomfield   at 

Blomfield.    Q^ggter  and  Blomfield  in  London  marks  in  curious   ways    the 

changes  that  were  coming  over  the  Church,     For  example,  about 

ten  years  before  Queen  Victoria  came  to  the  throne,  a  clergyman 

in  tile  diocese  of  Chester  opened  his  church  to  a  deputation  to 

"    preach  on  behalf  of  some   society  (not  named,  but  not  C.M.S.). 

Bishop  Blomfield  wrote  to  him  as  follows  :f — 

"July^Qth,  1827. 
"...    A  circular  letter  has  been  put  into  my  hands,  announcing  a 
sermon  to  be  preached  in  your  church,  on  behalf  of  a  society  called  the 

Society,  by  the  Rev. .     This  open  defiance  of  my  directions, 

with  respect  to  these  itinerant  preachers,  calls  for  some  expression  of  my 
displeasure.  I  would  put  the  question  to  your  common  sense,  whether 
there  must  not  be  some  check  upon  the  preaching  of  sermons  for 
societies  .  .  .  and  who  is  to  exercise  that  check  Imt  the  bishop  ?  .  .  .  I 
have  prohibited  Mr. from  preaching  again  in  my  diocese." 

But  when  the  Queen  came  to  the  throne,  even  the  S.P.G., 
which  was  above  all  suspicion  of  irregularities,  was  sending  its 
deputations  over  the  country.  Again,  here  is  a  passage  from  the 
Memoir  of  Bishop  Blomfield,  in  which  his  son  and  biographer 
describes  his  views  concerning  ecclesiastical  and  religious  topics, 
wdiich  affords  a  very  curious  glimpse  into  the  mind  of  a  vigorous 
young  Bishop  of  the  via  media  school :  I — 

"  He  insisted  iipon  the  gown  being  worn  in  the  pulpit,  alleging  that 
the  use  of  the  surplice  was  a  departure  from  the  usual  practice,  only 
found  in  remote  and  small  parishes ;  he  would  not  support  the  Church 
Missionary  Society,  disapproving  of  the  principles  of  its  management ; 
he  considered  that  charity  was  too  much  diverted  to  distant  objects  to 
the  neglect  of  those  nearer  and  more  immediate  ;  he  considered  that 
the  revival  of  an  operative  Convocation  would  be  inexpedient;  he  refused 
to  sanction  any  collection  of  hymns  for  use  in  churches  ;  he  declared 
that  it  was  binding  upon  the  clergy  to  preach  the  sole  merits  of  Christ, 
and  the   corruption  of  human  nature,  but  discovmtenanced  Cahdnistic 

*  Memoir  of  Bishop  Blomfield,  vol.  i.  p.  205. 

t  Ibid.,  vol.  i.  p.  119.  X  Ibid.,  vol.  i.  p.  110. 


The  ByviROXMEXT  of  the  Period  277 

opinions  ;  he  disapproved  of  Wednesday  evening  lectures,  and  tlionglit  Part  IV. 
that  where    there  were  two  full  services   on    Sundays,   such   week-day    1824-41. 
services  were  not  recjuired ;    he  would  rather  that  the  sermon  should  be  Chap.  20. 
omitted  on  Communion  Sundaj^s,  than  the  elements  should  be  adminis- 
tered   to  more  than  one   comnuuiicant  at  a   time  ;    he   questioned  the 
propriety  of  holding  oratorios  in  churches,  and  the  profit  of  converting 
a  dinner-party  into  a  prayer-meeting  ;    and  he  maintained  that  the  first 
duty  of  bishop  and  clergy  is  to  act  strictly  and  punctiliously  according 
to  law." 

But  when  Blom field  was  in  the  diocese  of  London,  shortly  after  Biomfieid 
the  Queen  came  to  the  throne,  we  find  him  using  all  his  influence  surpHce. 
to  get  the  clergy  generally  to  adopt  the  surplice  in  the  pulpit ; 
also  to  introduce  the  weekly  offertory,  and  to  read  the  Prayer  for 
the  Church  Militant  at  Morning  Service,  even  when  there  was 
no  Communion.  The  Charge  delivered  in  1842,  in  which  he  made 
these  recommendations,'''  was  warmly  welcomed  by  many  Evan- 
gelicals, among  them  by  J.  W.  Cunningham  of  Harrow,  who  was 
then  one  of  their  foremost  leaders,  and  who  was  a  far  more 
frequent  speaker  at  C. M.S.  Anniversaries  than  any  other  individual 
in  the  whole  century.  But  two  newspapers  attacked  the  Bishop 
from  opposite  points  of  view.  One  was  the  Times,  which  was 
then  largely  under  the  influence  of  the  young  Tractarian  party, 
and  the  other  was  the  Record,  which,  although  at  first  it  approved 
the  suggestions,  afterwards  turned  round  and  advised  the  clergy 
of  Islington  and  other  Evangelicals  to  refuse  compliance.  It  is 
curious  to  find  Blomfield's  biographer  writing  in  1863  to  the  eft'ect 
that  the  use  of  the  surplice  in  the  pulpit,  which  had  been  widely 
adopted  at  the  Bishop's  request,  was  "  now  generally  aban- 
doned "  !  f 

But  this  is  carrying  us  beyond  our  period.     Let  us  return  to 
the  'thirties. 

The  great  Societies  had  now  a  place  of  meeting  better  fitted  to  Exeter 
accommodate  the  troops  of  friends  that  attended.  A  large  Hall  buut. 
had  been  built  on  the  site  of  old  Exeter  Change  in  the  Strand,  the 
money  being  raised  by  the  issue  of  £50  shares,  which  were  taken 
up  by  the  wealthy  philanthropists  interested  in  the  provision  of 
such  a  meeting-place.  Some  of  the  Societies  took  shares,  and  the 
C.M.S.  for  many  years  held  five,  as  an  investment,  the  interest 
forming  a  small  item  in  the  Income.  It  was  at  first  proposed  to 
name  the  building  the  Philadelphian  Hall,  with  the  correspond- 
ing motto,  "Let  brotherly  love  [^lAaSfAe^ia]  continue";  but 
before  it  was  opened,  the  now  famous  name  o-f  Exeter  Hall  was 
decided  on,  "  in  reference  to  the  site  having  belonged  to  the 
Exeter  family."  The  opening  took  place  on  March  29th,  1831, 
with  a  large  gathering  for  prayer,  when  representatives  of  many 
societies  took  part.  In  May  of  that  year,  the  Hall  was  used  for 
the  Anniversaries  of  most  of  the  leading  societies  ;    and  it  has 

*  Memoir  of  Bishop  Biomfieid,  vol.  ii.  pp.  22,  47,  &c. 
t  Ibid.,  vol.  ii.  p.  63. 


278 


The  Environment  of  the  Period 


Part  IV. 
1824-4.1. 
Chap.  20. 


Amend- 
ments at 
Exeter 
Hall 
meetings. 


Bible 
Society 
contro- 
versies, 


On  the 
Apocrypha 


And  on 

theological 

tests. 


The  great 
struggle. 


been  so  used  ever  since.  "  Midway  between  the  Abbey  of  West- 
minster and  the  Church  of  the  Knights  Templars,"  writes  Sir 
James  Stephen  in  his  picturesque  style,  "  twin  columns,  emulat- 
ing those  of  Hercules,  fling  their  long  shadows  across  the  strait 
through  which  the  far-resounding  Strand  pours  the  full  current  of 
human  existence  into  the  deep  recesses  of  Exeter  Hall.  Borne  on 
that  impetuous  tide,  the  mediterranean  waters  lift  up  their  voice 
in  a  ceaseless  swell  of  exulting  or  pathetic  declamation.  The 
changeful  strain  rises  with  the  civilization  of  Africa,  or  becomes 
plaintive  over  the  wrongs  of  chimney-boys,  or  peals  anathemas 
against  the  successors  of  St.  Peter,  or  in  rich  diapason  calls  on  the 
Protestant  Churches  to  wake  and  evangehze  the  world  !  " 

It  is  a  curious  illustration  of  the  imperfections  of  all  things 
human,  that,  in  the  first  year  of  the  occupation  of  what  was 
intended  to  be  a  temple  of  "  brotherly  love,"  several  of  the  meet- 
ings were  interrupted  by  the  moving  of  amendments  ;  a  circum- 
stance then  apparently  unprecedented,  and  which  has  since  then 
rarely  if  ever  recurred.  Both  the  C.M.S.  and  the  Bible  Society 
underwent  this  experience.  In  the  former  case  the  amendment, 
which  we  shall  hear  of  in  another  chapter,  was  at  once  approved 
and  almost  unanimously  adopted  ;  but  in  the  latter  case  it  brought 
a  bitter  controversy  to  a  climax  and  led  to  a  painful  secession. 

The  Bible  Society,  indeed,  though  it  had  attained  a  position  of 
influence  far  exceeding  that  of  any  other  Society,  and  though  it 
was  doing  a  magnificent  work,  was  not  only  continually  assailed 
by  vigorous  High  Church  pens  like  those  of  Bishop  Marsh  and 
Archdeacon  Daubeney,  but  also  repeatedly  troubled  by  internal 
dissensions  ;  and  these  divided  the  C.M.S.  leaders,  the  Secretaries 
themselves  being  on  opposite  sides  in  the  critical  controversy  in 
1831.  Before  this,  there  had  been  a  serious  struggle  over  the 
question  of  printing  the  Apocrypha.  The  Society  did  not  include 
the  Apocryphal  books  in  its  English  Bibles,  but,  being  "the 
British  and  Foreign,"  afiihated  and  subsidized  the  Continental 
Societies  which  did  include  them  in  the  foreign  editions.  This 
was  objected  to  by  the  Scotch  branches,  which,  after  much 
disputing,  ultimately  seceded,  notwithstanding  that  the  Parent 
Society  at  length  gave  way,  and  determined  to  make  no  grants 
towards  the  publication  of  any  editions  that  included  the 
Apocrypha.  But  the  controversy  in  1831  was  much  more  serious. 
The  Society  having  been  originally  formed  as  a  mere  business 
organisation  for  producing  and  circulating  the  Scriptures,  its 
membership  was  quite  open,  and  it  was  in  fact  supported  by 
many  of  the  old  English  Presbyterians  who  had  drifted  into 
Unitarianism,  as  well  as  by  others  whose  doctrinal  views  were  very 
uncertain,  if  indeed  they  had  any  at  all  to  speak  of.  This  gradually 
became  a  great  offence  to  the  more  decided  Evangelicals,  both 
Churchmen  and  Dissenters;  and  after  many  preliminary  skirmishes, 
the  battle  was  joined  at  the  first  Annual  Meeting  that  was  held  in 
Exeter  Hall.     An  amendment  was  moved  to  the  Eeport,  affirming 


The  ExriRONMEJsiT  of  the  Period  279 

"  that  no  person  rejecting  the  doctrine  of  a  Triune  Jehovah  can  Part  IV. 
be  considered  a  member  of  a  Christian  Institution,"  and  requiring  ^P"*"^!: 
the  Laws  to  be  altered  accordingly.  Immense  uproar  ensued,  '^■_  " 
and,  says  Dr.  Stoughton,  "  it  was  sad  to  witness  the  passionate 
expressions  of  feeling  which  w^ere  exhibited."  "'■'  The  chairman, 
Lord  Bexley,  could  not  make  himself  heard,  and  Daniel  Wilson 
stepped  forward  to  speak  in  his  name,  as  a  strong  opponent  of 
the  px'oposed  test.  The  venerable  and  eccentric  pastor  of  Surrey 
Chapel,  Eowland  Hill,  declared  that  it  was  "preposterous  to 
refuse  to  let  Socinians  distribute  the  only  antidote  to  their  owai 
errors,"  and  that  he  would  be  glad  if  even  a  Mohammedan  were 
willing  to  do  so.  "  Nay,  he  would  accept  a  Bible  from  the  devil 
himself,  only  he  would  take  it  with  a  pair  of  tongs."  The 
graver  defenders  of  the  existing  open  constitution  argued  that  if 
the  Society's  Laws  w'ere  to  eml)ody  restrictive  theological  defini- 
tions, it  would  be  needful  to  go  further,  and  insert  other  words 
to  exclude  Romanists,  &c. ;  and  they  pleaded  that,  as  a  matter  of 
fact,  all  the  members  of  the  governing  body,  and  the  agents,  w'ere 
orthodox  evangelical  Christians.  The  amendment  was  rejected 
by  a  great  majority;  and  a  portion  of  the  minority  thereupon 
seceded,  and  formed  the  Trinitarian  Bible  Society,  which  exists  to 
this  day. 

In  this  controversy,  Josiah  Pratt,  in  common  with  the  majoi'ity  Attitude 
of  C. M.S.  leaders,  supported  the  original  constitution.  Bickersteth  men. 
was  on  the  other  side,  and  had  to  encounter  a  vehement  protest 
by  Dandeson  Coates  in  consequence;  but  he  declined  to  deseit 
the  Bible  Society,  recognizing  the  blessedness  of  its  work,  and  that 
the  objection  w^as  after  all  rather  a  theoretical  than  a  practical  one. 
He,  however,  subscribed  also  to  the  Trinitarian  Society  as  a  token 
of  sympathy  with  the  conscientious  scruples  of  its  promoters.! 
Many  other  good  men  adopted  his  line  ;  and  at  the  Anniversary 
in  the  following  year,  the  brothers  Noel,  Gerard  and  Baptist,  who 
had  been  in  the  opposition,  made  a  generous  amende,  and  avowed 
their  unfaltering  allegiance  to  the  old  Bible  Society.  Pratt,  with 
his  never-failing  impartiality,  reported  the  proceedings  of  the 
new  Trinitarian  organization  year  by  year  in  the  liegistcr,  and  it 
can  therefore  be  seen  that  the  speakers  at  its  meetings  com- 
prised scarcely  any  C.M.S.  leaders.  Dissensions,  moreover,  arose 
in  its  councils  from  the  first ;  but  none  the  less  it  did  good  work 
in  spending  upon  the  work  of  Bible  circulation  the  money  of 
those  who  would  not  support  the  old  Society. 

There  was  another  controversy  mixed  up  with  tliis   one.     In  Prayer  at 
earlier  days,  none  of  the  religious  Societies  opened  their  public  i^eetings. 

*  ReUgion  in  England,  1800  to  1850,  vol.  ii.  p.  90.  The  Record  of  the 
period  gives  a  verhatiui  report  of  the  proceediuf^s,  which  lasted  six  hours,  and 
were  of  the  most  painful  character.  One  can  scarcely  read  the  report  -without 
sympathizint^  with  the  supijortors  of  the  anicndnient  ;  and  the  Record  evidently 
did  so. 

I  Memoir  of  E.  Bickcrstetli,  vol.  ii.  pp.  30-35. 


2 So  The  Environment  of  the  Period 

Part  IV.  meetings  with  prayer.  This,  which  seems  to  us  ahnost  incredible, 
1824-41.  -yvas  ^Q  doubt  due  to  two  circumstances.  First,  the  old  Conventicle 
^^^'  '  Acts  forbad  anything  of  the  nature  of  a  religious  service  except 
in  churches  and  licensed  dissenting  chapels  ;  insomuch  that  even 
at  Simeon's  conversational  parties  for  undergraduates,  held  in  his 
own  rooms  at  King's  College,  he  had  no  prayer,  for  fear  of 
transgressing  the  law.'-^'  It  is  true  that  a  new  Act  regarding 
Dissenters  in  1812  had  repealed  the  old  ones  ;  but  its  effect  was 
uncertain.  Secondly,  public  meetings  were  held  in  the  large 
rooms  of  hotels  and  taverns  :  and  there  w'as  a  feeling  of  "  incon- 
gruity of  acts  of  religious  worship  wnth  places  usually  occupied 
for  very  different  purposes."  f  Gradually,  however,  the  need  and 
importance  of  public  prayer  was  more  and  more  felt ;  and 
apparently  the  Jews'  Society  led  the  way  in  introducing  an 
opening  prayer  at  Freemasons'  Hall.  Immediately  after  the 
C.M.S.  Anniversary  in  1828,  the  Committee  passed  a  resolution 
that  "  as  the  S.P.G.  and  the  Jews'  Society  opened  their  meetings 
with  prayer,"  it  was  desirable  for  the  Church  Missionary  Society 
to  do  the  same  for  the  future.  This  History  has  shown  several 
occasions  on  which  C.M.S.  helped  S.P.G. ;  but  this  good  example 
set  by  S.P.G.  may  well  be  held  to  balance  the  account.  It  is  true 
that  the  S.P.G.  annual  meetings  were  wont  to  be  held  in  the 
vestry  of  Bow  Church,  w4iich  was  sacred  ground  ;  but  it  can 
hardly  be  doubted,  in  the  face  of  the  C.M.S.  Committee's 
resolution,  that  the  two  special  meetings  held  by  the  venerable 
Society  in  Freemason's  Hall  in  the  two  years  immediately 
preceding  (1826  and  1827)  were  also  opened  with  prayer  ;  and 
this  would  certainly  protect  the  C.M.S.  from  any  accusation  of 
ecclesiastical  irregularity  if  it  proceeded  to  do  the  same  in  the 
same  hall.]: 

But  when  Exeter  Hall,  a  building  free  from  tavern  associations, 
was  opened  in  1831,  there  was  no  longer  any  room  for  scruple  on 
the  score  of  incongruity  ;  and  from  that  time  the  practice  became 
general.  But  the  Bible  Society  was  still  an  exception.  Why 
was  this  ?  Not  only  because  a  Socinian  would  object  to  the 
ordinary  Christian  conclusion  of  a  prayer,  "through  Jesus  Christ 
our  Lord,"  but  because  Dissenters  objected  to  a  form  of  prayer, 
while  Churchmen  dreaded  what  wdld  sentiments  might  be  expressed 
in  extempore  prayer,  and  Quakers,  then  very  influential  (it  was 
the  period  of  Joseph  John  Gurney  and  Mrs.  Fry),  objected  to 
any  arrangement  beforehand  as  to  who  should  lead  in  prayer. 
Bickerstetla  and  others,  however,  deeply  felt  that  these  difficulties 

*  Moule's  Simeon,  p.  229. 

t  Pratt,  in  Missionary  Register,  1828,  p.  221. 

X  The  Liverpool  CM.  Associatiou  followed  the  example  of  the  Parent 
Society,  and  appointed  a  clergyman  to  draw  up  a  prayer  for  use,  taken  from 
the  Liturgy.  A  proposal  was  also  made  "  to  conclude  with  a  psalm  or 
hymn";  "but,"  say  the  Minutes  of  the  Liverpool  Committee,  "further 
consideration  of  this  important  innovation  to  our  proceedings  was 
postponed." 


The  Environment  of  the  Period  281 

were  the  sort  of  difficulties  that  ought  to  be  surmounted  ;  and  TARTiy- 
many  who,  hke  Pratt,  had  opposed  any  imposition  of  doctrmal  ^      ^^ 

tests,  concurred  in  the  importance  of   sanctifying  Bible  Society      

meetings  by  the  reading  of  Scripture  and  prayer.  But  Mr. 
Brandram,  the  able  clerical  secretary,  supported  the  Dissenters  in 
opposing  any  such  innovation  ;  and  no  change  was  effected  till 
1849,  when  the  reading  of  "  a  devotional  portion  of  Scripture  " 
was  at  last  permitted.     Prayer  was  not  introduced  until  1857. 

Questions  like  these,  however,  were  but  the  practical  outcome  0^^^'^'^°"^ 
of  a  general  spirit  of  disunion  which,  from  about  1827  onwards,  Evan- 
spread  in  Evangelical  ranks.-     For  instance,  on  the  great  suliject  gei'cais. 
of  Catholic  Emancipation,  which  was  the  chief  topic  of  political 
home  controversy  before  the  Eeform  agitation,  leading  Evangelical 
Churchmen   were   divided.      Wilberforce,    Buxton,    the   Grants, 
younc^    Lord    Ashlev,    Dealtry,    Daniel    Wilson,    favoured    the 
recognition  of  Eoman  Cathohc  claims;  but  they  were  a  minority.  |-^hohc^^_ 
Pratt  and  Bickersteth  earnestly  and  actively  opposed  the  Bill.  tion. 
The    consequence   was    that    the    Eccord,   then    lately   started, 
expressed,   strange  to  say,  no  strong  opinion  on  the  matter.     A 
similar   division    of    opinion   prevailed   throughout   the   Church. 
Most  of  the  High  Church  and  Orthodox  Bishops  and  divines  were 
against  the  Bill,  but  not  all.     Keble  led  a  strenuous  opposition 
at    Oxford;    and    Sir   Eobert   H.    Inglis,  a    strong    Churchman, 
yet  associated  with  the  Clapham    circle  and  a  warm   supporter 
of  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  obtained  the  coveted  seat  for 
the  University,  after  a  prolonged  and  strenuous  struggle,  turning 
out  Peel,  who,  with  the  Duke  of  Wellington,  had  brought  in  the 
dreaded  Bill  in  the   teeth  of  all  their  previous  declarations.  _  It 
passed,  however  (1829)  ;    and  thus  one  of  the  causes  of  disunion 
was  put  out   of  the  way.      There   were    similar    ditferences,  but 
less  acute,  over  the  Bill  for  repealing  the  Test  and  Corporation 
Acts,  which   was   practically  for   the   relief   of   Dissenters  ;    but 
this  also  passed,  in  the  preceding  year,  1828. 

But  internal  and  esoteric  controversies  wuthin  Evangehcal 
ranks  affected  the  Church  Missionary  Society  more  directly.  The  Jaivmistic 
old  Calvinistic  disputes  had  not  died  out.  There  was  a  small  and 
diminishing  party  of  very  extreme  predestinarian  views,  whose 
members  constantly  charged  moderate  Calvinists  like  Scott, 
Simeon,  Pratt,  and  Bickersteth,  with  being  "enemies  to  the  free, 
sovereign,  and  everlasting  grace  of  God";  yet  these  moderate 
leaders  were  the  very  men  who  all  the  while  were  defending  the 
doctrines  of  grace  against  the  vehement  attacks  of  Bishops  Mant 
and  Marsh  and  Archdeacon  Daubeney,  as  well  as  against  the 
Arminianism  of  the  Wesleyans.  Bickersteth,  in  his  journeys  for 
the  Church  Missionary    Society,  found  what  was   called   "high 

*  There  was  indeed  some  disunion  before.  Ten  years  earlier  had  occurred 
what  was  called  the  Western  Schism,  when  some  friends  at  Bristol,  Bath,  &c., 
went  astray  on  the  subject,  inter  alia,  of  Infant  Baptism,  and  seceded  from 
the  Church. 


missiona 
sermon 


282  The  Environment  of  the  Period 

Part  IV.  Calvinism  " — reaching  almost  to  Antinomianism — a  great  obstacle. 

1824-41.  Men  who  would  not  sav  to  their  own  congregations  at  home, 
^'  ■  "  Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,"  because  no  one  could  believe 
except  by  the  compulsory  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  who 
openly  repudiated  the  word  "  responsibility  "  as  applicable  to  the 
elect  people  of  God,  were,  quite  naturally,  incapable  of  missionary 
zeal  for  the  evangelization  of  the  Heathen  ;  and  Bickersteth  writes 
of  his  attempt  to  introduce  the  Society  at  Plymouth,'''  where 
Dr.  Hawker's  influence  was  dominant,  as  his  "  most  formidable 
affair."  "  Such,"  he  wrote,  "  is  the  effect  of  his  doctrines,  that  I 
fear  nothing  can  be  done  in  that  large  town  for  extending  Christ's 
Kingdom." 

Edward  Then  again,  Edward   Irving  was  at   the  zenith   of   his   great 

rving.  reputation  in  1825-33.  No  such  preacher  had  ever  taken  London 
by  storm.  Crowds  from  the  highest  classes  of  society  mobbed 
the  modest  Scotch  churches  in  Hatton  Garden  and  Regent  Square. 
Even  at  7  a.m.  the  latter  building  was  crowded.  "  By  many 
degrees  the  greatest  orator  of  our  times,"  said  De  Quincey.  "  The 
freest,  bravest,  brotherliest  human  soul  mine  ever  came  in  contact 

His  great  with,"  Said  Carlyle.  Irving's  famous  sermon  before  the  London 
"^  Missionary  Society  in  1825  startled  all  missionary  circles.  He 
denounced  the  Societies  for  their  prudential  care  about  money 
matters,  and  called  upon  Christians  to  go  forth  into  all  the  world 
as  the  apostles  went  round  the  familiar  villages  of  their  own  little 
Galilee,  without  scrip  or  purse,  shoes  or  staves.  "  He  seemed," 
says  Dr.  Stoughton,  "  going  back  to  the  days  of  Francis  of  Assisi, 
interpreting  Scripture  as  the  Italian  saint  would  have  done,  and 
seeking  to  wrap  a  friar's  mantle  round  a  Protestant  preacher."  f 
Although  the  Directors  of  the  L.M.S.  were  inclined  to  think  their 
preacher  mad,  a  good  many,  both  within  and  without  the  Church, 
regarded  him  as  a  new  prophet  arisen  in  the  name  of  the  Lord.;]: 
Then  Irving  strayed  into  strange  heresies  regarding  the  nature  of 
Christ's  humanity,  and  set  forth  novel  views  of  prophecy,  and 
subsequently  developed  "supernatural  manifestations"  in  the 
shape  of  miraculous  tongues  and  cures.  Then  he  was  excom- 
municated by  the  Church  of  Scotland,  and  founded  the  "  Catholic 
Apostolic  Church,"  now  known  as  Irvingites  ;  and,  in  Stoughton's 
words,  "the  'religious  public,'  after  making  him  an  idol,  pulled 
him  from  his  pedestal  and  east  him  down  into  the  dust."  With 
much  of  this  our  History  is  not  concerned  ;  but  Irving's  influence 
undoubtedly  fostered  the  disunion  among  Evangelical  Christians 
which  is  one  of  the  features  of  the  environment  of  the  period. 

*  But  at  Devonport  (Plymouth  Dock  it  was  then  called),  Mr.  Hitchins, 
Henry  Martyn's  cousin,  had  a  C.M.S.  Association. 

t   Reliipon  in  England,  1800-1850,  vol.  i.  p.  379. 

X  In  1889,  a  series  of  articles  appeared  in  Tlie  CJiristian,  which  turned  out 
to  be  in  the  main  a  reproduction  of  Irving's  sermon.  They  had  a  similar 
effect  on  many  minds,  for  a  time.  It  is  worth  noting  that  the  writer,  like 
Irving,  soon  afterwards  went  quite  off  Evangelical  and  Scriptural  lines. 


The  Environment  of  the  Period  283 

Nearly  at  the  same  time,  arose  ^vhat  is  known   as  Plymouth  rAHT_TY. 
Brethrenism,  which  in  the  'thirties  and  'forties  rapidly  became  a  ^j^;    20. 

power,  and  drew  away  not  a  few  of  the  most  spiritually-mmded      

members  of  the  Church,  particularly  in  Ireland.     It  began  with  Piyrnouth 
that  longing  after  a  perfect  Church  which  has  always  been  so 
attractive   a   conception   among   simple-mmded    Christians   witn 
little    knowledge   of    Church    History.      Its    influence   grew   m 
consequence  of  its  thorough  devotion  to  the  study,  verse  by  verse 
and  line  by  hne,  of  the  Word  of  God  ;  not  merely  the  critical 
study  of  Hebrew  verbs  and  Greek  prepositions— though  this  was 
not  omitted  by  the  more  scholarly  of  the  Brethren,— but  the  study 
of  the  inmost  meaning  of  the  narratives  and  precepts  and  prophecies 
as  a  revelation  from  God  to  men.     And,  in  particular,  it  developed 
well-marked    "Futurist"   views   of   unfulfilled   prophecy,    which 
have  since  been  widely  adopted,  and  have  led  at  different  times  to 
much  controversy.     In  later  years,  the  influence  of  the  Brethren 
has  dechned,  owing  to  their  endless  divisions  ;   but  m  the  period 
we  are  now  studying,  they  had  the   advantage  which  belongs;  to 
every  new  movement,  and  indirectly  they  caused  much  doubting 
and  questioning  in  Evangelical  circles.     The  Church  Missionary 
Society  had   cause  in  those  days  to  lament  their  influence,  tor 
it    lost   through   them    three    missionaries,  viz.,  John  Kitto,  the 
printer   at   Malta,  who  joined   Mr.  Anthony  Groves  (though  he 
did   not   belong   to   them   in    after   years);    Ehenius,    the   great 
Tinnevelly  missionary,  whose  breach  with  the  Church  was  also 
due  to  Mr.  Groves's  influence ;  and  Mrs.  Wilson,  of  Calcutta  and 

^Thr'study  of  prophecy  was  not  confined  to  the  Brethren  and  f-Pjf.ts 
those  who  came  under  their  influence.     Sober  and  godly  divines  and^.^^^ 
within  the  Church  were  taking  up  the  subject ;  and  several  ot 
those  best-known  among  C.M.S.  leaders  adopted  what  are  known 
as  Pre-Millenarian  views.     We  here  touch  a  question  which  has 
a  very   close   connexion   with   Foreign   Missions.      The  popular 
idea,  prior  to  this  period,  had  been  that  the  gradual  and  complete 
conversion  of  the  world  would  be  effected  by  their  agency,     ihe 
earlier  Annual  C.M.S.   Sermons  generally  take  this  for  gmnted 
and  draw  glowing  pictures  of  the  wonderful  results  to  be  looked 
for  ere  long  from   missionary  effort.     Perhaps  it  was  the  hard 
experience  gained  in  Sahsbury   Square,  of  the  slow  progress  of 
God's  work,  and  of   the  wav  in  which  it  is  marred  by  human 
infirmity,    that   led,    together   with   a  closer   study   of   the    iSew 

*  See  pp.  317,  320.  Mr.  Groves  was  a  remarkable  nian,  and  truly  devoted.  He 
■went  to  Baghdad  as  a  volunteer  "free-lance"  missionary  at  his  o-nm  charfjcs 
in  1830,  and  was  there  joined  by  Mr.  ParncU  (afterwards  Lord  Congleton) 
andF  W  Newman  (brother  of  J.  H.  Newman,  and  afterwards  a  Deist)  :  and 
also  by  Pfander,  afterwards  tlie  great  C.M.S.  missionary  to  Moliammedans. 
While  they  were  at  Baghdad,  a  terrible  outbreak  of  the  plague  occurred, 
which  carried  off  moie  than  half  the  population  ;  and  Mrs.  Groves  was  one 
of  the  victims.     Mr.  Groves  afterwards  went  to  India. 


284 


The  Environment  of  the  Period 


Part  IV. 
CLap.  20. 

E.  Bicker- 

steth's 

changed 

views. 


Elliott's 
"  Horse." 


Testament,  to  Edward  Bickersteth's  avowed  change  of  views. 
He,  and  many  others  hke-minded,  came  to  beheve  that  our  Lord 
will  return  to  an  unconverted  world,  though  it  might  be,  if  He 
tarried  long,  to  a  Christianized  world  in  the  sense  in  which  Europe 
is  already  Christian;  that  therefore  the  "millennium" — wdiatever 
the  mysterious  "thousand  years  "  of  Eev.  xx.  might  really  mean 
— could  not  precede  His  coming,  but  must  follow  it ;  and 
that  after  His  return  there  w^ould  be  further  great  events  upon 
the  earth,  though  upon  the  nature  of  these  it  would  not  be  right 
to  dogmatize.  The  effect  of  such  views  upon  Missions  was  not  to 
paralyze  but  to  stimulate  prayer  and  effort.  If  the  Lord  might 
really  come  at  any  time,  so  much  the  more  reason  for  the  utmost 
energy  and  self-denial  to  ' '  prepare  and  make  ready  His  way ' ' ; 
and  Bickersteth,  in  a  letter  written  (1836)  to  a  clergyman  who 
had  asked  him  for  advice  as  to  the  best  way  of  awakening 
missionary  interest,  urged  him  to  study  the  Lord's  gracious 
purpose  to  gather  for  Himself  an  elect  Church  out  of  the  Gentiles 
before  His  Coming,  which  would  be  the  "  grand  animating  spring  " 
of  zeal  and  liberality.'''  Francis  Goode,  in  the  Annual  Sermon  of 
1838,  strikingly  sets  forth  the  same  motive  for  missionary  effort. 
These  views,  however,  did  not  win  universal  assent,  even  among 
the  inner  circles  of  Evangelical  students  ;  and  at  a  later  period 
(1853),  Samuel  Waldegrave,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Carlisle,  de- 
livered a  course  of  Bampton  Lectures  against  "Millenarianism." 
Meanwhile,  E.  B.  Elliott  of  Brighton,  shortly  after  the  close  of  our 
period  (1844),  produced  his  great  work,  HorcB  Apocalyptica,  which 
took  the  religious  world  by  storm,  and  by  its  learned  and  powerful 
marshalling  of  the  evidence  for  the  Historical  interpretation  of  the 
Books  of  Daniel  and  Eevelation,  completely  thrust  out,  for  the 
time,  the  Futurist  views  of  the  Plymouthists.  This  book — 
"  a  work,"  writes  Sir  James  Stephen,!  "  of  profound  learning, 
singular  ingenuity,  and  almost  bewdtching  interest," — although 
comprising  four  large  volumes,  ran  in  a  few  years  through  several 
editions. 

But  the  study  of  pi^ophecy  was  not  always  conducted  soberly 
and  reverently,  or  with  due  modesty  and  reserve ;  and  even 
Bickersteth  found  "the  prophetical  spirit"  almost  as  unfavourable 
to  Missions  as  the  ultra-Calvinistic  spirit.  "  Things  are  most 
dead  and  cold  here"  [the  Midland  Counties],  he  wrote  in  1831 ; 
"  the  good  men  are  all  afloat  on  prophesying,  and  the  immediate 
work  of  the  Lord  is  disregarded  for  the  uncertain  future. "J  And 
Pratt  wrote  in  1841,  the  last  year  of  his  editorship  of  the  Begistcr, 
"  Plain  commands  and  plain  promises  are,  if  not  almost  superseded, 
yet  certainly  weakened  in  their  force  and  energy,  by  views,  sound 
or  unsound,  on  unfulfilled  prophecy.  .  .  .  The  cause  of  Missions  is 
safe  while,  it  rests  on  plain  and  unquestionable  commands  binding 

*  Memoir,  vol.  ii.  p.  93. 

f  Essays  in  Ecclesiastical  Biography,  p.  583. 

J  Memoir,  vol.  ii.  p.  43. 


The  Environmext  of  the  Period  285 

on  all  Christians,  and  on  promises  open  to  all  who  endeavour  to  Part  IV. 
fulfil  these  conunands  ;  but  questions  of  this  nature,  rising  within  p?^"^~t,l: 
Christian  Communities,  will  weaken,  so  far  as  they  are  listened  to,      ^^^' 
the  springs  and  motives  of  action." 

This  brief  sketch  will  serve  to  show  how  many  topics  there 
were  upon  which  the  Evangelicals  of  the  period  held  divergent 
views,  and  how  imminent  was  the  danger  of  serious  disunion,  a 
danger  that  was  not  wholly  avoided.  The  Church  Missionary 
Society  seemed  to  be  the  one  rallying-point  where  all  could  unite 
— as  it  has  been  on  other  occasions  since  then.  A  C.M.S.  leader, 
therefore,  was  the  natural  counsellor  at  such  a  time ;  and  Pratt  warmings, 
again  and  again  in  the  Hegister  warned  his  readers  against 
the  danger.  He  began  in  1827  with  strong  and  significant  words. 
After  referring  to  his  reminders  in  previous  years  (as  we  have 
before  seen)  of  the  antagonism  of  the  devil  when  his  kingdom 
was  being  so  vigorously  assailed,  he  goes  on,  "  But  it  is  the 
Internal  Enemy  which  is  chiefly  to  be  dreaded.  Christians  are 
not  at  peace  among  themselves."  He  denounces  the  unchari- 
table spirit  which  "highly  colours"  and  "grossly  exaggerates" 
the  w^eaknesses  or  the  mistakes  of  Committees  and  secretaries  ; 
the  spirit  of  suspicion  that  looks  at  reports  and  statements 
"  rather  with  the  view  of  detecting  some  concealed  delinquency, 
or  of  finding  ground  of  objection,  than  with  the  design  of 
rejoicing  with  the  Society  in  any  good  which  it  may  have  been 
the  means  of  effecting,  and  of  sympatliizing  with  it  in  its 
trials."  "Every  man,"  he  continues,  "will  be  tempted  to  set 
himself  up  for  a  critic  and  a  judge  :  if  measures  are  proposed 
which  do  not  exactly  accoi'd,  as  he  apprehends  them,  with  his 
own  notions,  he  may  scatter,  as  some  have  done,  crude  and 
erroneous  circulars  and  pamphlets  about  the  country ;  while 
others,  without  asking  explanations,  will  take  it  for  granted  that 
these  things  are  true,  and  act  on  them  as  though  they  were  so." 
"While  Charity  will  not  hide  her  eyes  from  what  is  evil,  she 
suffereth  long  and  is  kind — beareth  all  things,  believeth  all  things, 
hopeth  all  things,  endureth  all  things — and  never  faileth  !  "  Are 
Pratt's  warnings  quite  out  of  date? 

A  time,  however,  was  now  approaching  when  minor  diiferences 
had  to  be  sunk  in  the  presence  of  what,  at  the  time,  all 
Evangelicals,  and  a  good  many  who  would  have  refused  the 
name,  regarded  as  the  common  foe.  Within  the  period  we  have 
been  reviewing  began  the  Tractarian  movement. 

The   history   of   what   is   perhaps    better   termed    the    Oxford  Jjie  Oxford 

TV  r  J.  •         r  c  J 1  T  1       ■  •  •        T         Movement. 

Movement  is  01  course  one  or  the  most  deeply  mterestmg  episodes 
of  the  century.  An  influence  which  displaced  what  had  promised 
to  be  a  dominant  influence  at  Oxford  and  perhaps  in  the  Church — 
that  of  Liberal  Churchmen  like  Whately  and  Arnold  (different  as 
the  two  men  were), — which  carried  captive  some  of  the  most 
brilliant  minds  in  the  University, — which  survived  the  tremendous 
shock  of  the  secession  to  Eome  of  its  foremost  leader  and  of  others 


286  The  Environment  of  the  Period 

Part  IY.  scarcely  less  distinguished, — which  has  developed,  despite  in- 
1H24-41.  numerable  obstacles,  into  one  of  the  most  potent  influences  in  the 
Chap.  20.  Anglican  Clmrch  to-day, — is  one  worthy  of  the  closest  and  most 
patient  study.  In  the  present  History,  of  course,  such  a  study 
would  be  quite  out  of  place.  But  throughout  our  narrative,  from 
this  time  forward,  we  shall  be  continually  meeting  the  men,  the 
measures,  the  tendencies,  the  effects  of  the  Oxford  Movement ; 
and  at  this  point  it  is  necessary  to  inquire  how  the  C.M.S.  leaders 
viewed  it  in  its  early  stages. 

"What  is  called  the  Oxford  or  Tractarian  movement,"   says 
Dean  Church  in  the  opening  Hnes  of  his  brilliant  and,  one  may 
Its  occa-     say,  pathetic  work,"  "  began,  without  doubt,   in   a  vigorous  effort 
sion.  {q][:  ^^i-^g  immediate  defence  of  the  Church  against  serious  dangers, 

arising  from  the  violent  and  threatening  temper  of  the  days  of  the 
Eeform  Bill.  It  was  one  of  several  and  widely  differing  efforts. 
Viewed  superficially  it  had  its  origin  in  the  accident  of  an  urgent 
necessity.  The  Church  was  really  at  the  moment  imperilled  amid 
the  crude  revolutionary  projects  of  the  Eeform  epoch ;  and 
something  bolder  and  more  effective  than  the  ordinary  apologies 
for  the  Church  was  the  call  of  the  hour."  This  view  is  confirmed 
by  the  familiar  fact  that  John  Henry  Newman  always  dated  the 
movement  from  Keble's  famous  sermon  on  "  National  Apostasy  " 
on  July  1-ith,  1833,  which,  as  the  title  indicates,  was  inspired  by 
the  political  perils  of  the  time.  But  the  attacks  on  the  Church  a  . 
an  Establishment  were  only  the  occasion,  not  the  cause,  of  the 
Its  causes,  movement.  The  cause  lay  far  deeper.  Eomanticism  was  rising  up 
against  utilitarianism  ;  Sir  Walter  Scott's  works  had  awakened  in 
thousands  of  minds  a  sympathetic  interest  in  what  was  mediaeval 
and  antiquarian  ;  Coleridge  and  the  Lake  Poets  were  exercising 
an  influence  on  thoughtful  minds  which,  so  far  as  it  affected 
religion,  prepared  them  for  the  new  teaching  that  was  coming; 
and  Keble's  Christian  Year,  in  addition  to  its  poetic  merits,  had 
revealed  the  possibility  of  a  quiet  and  reverent  devoutness  which, 
without  attending  a  Clapham  breakfast  or  an  Exeter  Hall  meeting, 
or  subscril)ing  to  the  Bible  Society,  could  realize  that 

"  There  is  a  book,  who  runs  may  read. 
Which  heavenly  truth  imparts  ; 
And  all  the  lore  its  scholars  need 
Pure  eyes  and  Christian  hearts. 

"  The  works  of  God  above,  below, 
Within  us  and  around, 
Are  pages  in  that  book  to  show 
How  God  Himself  is  found." 

From  which  conviction  the  prayer  would  naturally  arise — 

"  Thou  Who  hast  given  me  eyes  to  see 
And  love  this  sight  so  fair, 
Give  me  a  heart  to  find  out  Thee, 
And  read  Thee  everywhere." 

*  The  Oxford  Movement ;  Macmillan,  1891.     It  was  published  after  his  death. 


The  Environment  of  the  Period  287 

Then  it  must  be   admitted  that    EvangehcaHsm   had   by    this  Part  IV. 
time  Ijecome — shall  we  say  ? — too  comfortable  to  attract  the  ardent    1824-41. 
and  romantic  minds  of  brilliant  Oxford  men  bursting  with  new  ^'^^P-  ^Q- 
and  half-formed  ideas  about  the  grandeur  of  an  ancient  historic  Evan- 
Church,   the  beauty  of  submission    to    Authority,  and   the    con-  geiicaiism 
temptible    character    of    anything    that    could    be    branded    as  Oxford 
"popular   religionism."     Dean  Church  is  of  course  scarcely  an '"^"' 
impartial  judge  of  Evangelicalism — though  no  man  was  ever  more 
impartial  in  intent, — but  there  is  truth  and  force  in  his  remark  '■' 
that  "  the  austere  spirit  of  Newton  and  Scott  had,  between   1820 
and  1830,  given  way  a  good  deal  to  the  influence   of   increasing 
popularity";   that  "the  profession  of   Evangelical   religion    had 
been   made   more  than  respectable    by  the  adhesion  of   men    of 
position  and  weight";  that,  "  preached  in  the  pulpits  of  fashion- 
able chapels,  this  religion  proved  to   be  no  more  exacting  than 
its  'High  and  Dry'  rival";    that,  "claiming  to  be  exclusively 
spiritual,    fervent,    unworldly,    the   sole    announcer    of   the   free 
grace    of   God   amid   self -righteousness   and    sin,    it   had  come, 
in  fact,  to  be    on  very  easy  terms  with   the  world."      In  other 
words,  it  was  no  longer  a  kind  of  martyrdom  to  be  counted  an 
Evangelical ;  and  the  young  Oriel  men  had  undoubtedly  in  them 
something  of  the  martyr-spirit.     To  l)e  persecuted  for  what  they 
regarded  as  the  One  Catholic  Apostolic  Church  was  an  honour  to 
be  coveted.     Their  ideal  of  life  was  really  high.     They  thought 
the  "ordinary  religious  morality,"  as  the  same  writer  expresses  it, 
loose  and  unreal — as  indeed  it  might  well  seem  to  those  who  knew 
not   personally   the   bright   and  holy   life  of  a   Bickersteth  or  a 
William  Marsh ;  and  the   movement  really  sprang,  not   from    a 
political  or  theological  cry,  but  from  a  deep  moral  conviction  and 
purpose.     The  old  English  Church  with  its  Apostolical  Succession 
was  in  danger  :  let  them  live  for  the  Church,  or  die  in  its  defence  ! 

Probably  it  was  the  fact  that  the  movement  seemed  to  be 
a  Church  Defence  movement  that  prevented  the  Evangelical 
leaders  from  noticing  it  at  first  ;  besides  which  there  were  at 
Oxford  almost  no  Evangelicals  to  observe  it.  Two  town  churches 
were  in  their  hands ;  but  while  Natt,  at  St.  Giles's,  was  an 
excellent  man,  Bulteel,  at  St.  Ebbe's,  was  an  antinomian,  and 
ultimately  left  the  Church.  In  the  University,  St.  Edmund  Hall 
was  the  "  Low  Church  "  preserve,  but  it  was  a  good  deal  looked 
down  upon.  Wadham,  under  Dr.  Symons,  was  considered  fairly 
safe  by  Evangelical  parents,  and  for  this  reason  John  Henry  John 
Newman  was  sent  there.  His  Oriel  Fellowship  was  later.  He  M!"Za^ 
had  been  brought  up  upon  the  writmgs  of  Eomaine,  Newton, 
Milner,  and  Scott.  He  and  his  brother  F.  W.  Newman  were 
subscribers  to  the  Oxford  Church  Missionary  Association,  and 
for  one    year,   1830,  he  was   Secretary  of  it ;  f  and  he    actually 

*  llie  Oxford  Movement,  p.  12. 

t  Of   Newman's  attempt,   mentioned  by  Venn,   to    get    men    to    come    up 


288  The  Environment  of  the  Period 

Part  IV.  contributed  both  money  and  articles  to  the  Bccord.  But  Keble  in- 
1824-41.  fluenced  Hurrell  Fronde,  and  Hurrell  Fronde  influenced  Newman. 
.  la^  .  <ijjg  made  me  look,"  says  Newman  himself,  "with  admiration 
towards  the  Church  of  Eome,  and  in  the  same  degree  to  dislike 
the  Eeformation.  He  fixed  deep  in  me  the  idea  of  devotion  to 
the  blessed  Virgin,  and  he  led  me  gradually  to  believe  in  the  Real 
Presence."  '•'  These  influences  brought  him  whei^e  at  first  he 
did  not  mean  to  go.  "I  do  not  ask,"  he  afterwards  said  in 
his  pathetic  "  Lead,  kindly  light," — 

"  to  see 
The  distant  scene  ;  one  step  enough  for  me  " — 

a  mistaken  prayer  as  regards  saving  truth,  though  a  good  one 
for  providential  guidance. 

But    very  soon   the  Evangelical     leaders    plainly    saw    "  the 
distant  scene."     Indeed  Pratt,    who,    as  we  have  seen,  was  no 
suspicious  and  narrow-minded  partizan,  perceived   the  doubtful 
tendency   of    Keble's    poetry,     beautiful   as    it    was,    from    the 
The  first.     The  Tracts  for   the  Times,  which  gave  the  Oxford  move- 

Tracts,  nient  its  more  familiar  name,  began  to  appear  in  1833 ;  but 
it  was  not  till  1836  that  there  was  anything  in  them  to  excite 
much  alarm.  Then  the  Evangelicals  saw  whither  the  new  school 
was  drifting ;  and  the  Bemains  of  Hurrell  Froude,  pul:)lished 
a  year  or  tw^o  later,  revealed  something  of  its  inner  history. 
Gradually  the  full  sacerdotal  and  sacramental  system  of  Trac- 
tarianism  stood  revealed,  and  proved  to  be,  in  its  essence,  what 
not  Evangelicals  only,  but  all  moderate  Anglican  Churchmen, 
had  always  understood  as  "  popery  " — to  use  the  old  word  which 
in  those  days  was  habitually  used  by  all  alike.  The  truths  which 
the  great  Revival  of  the  preceding  century  had  restored  to  the 
Church — the  supremacy  of  Holy  Scripture,  the  sinner's  direct 
access  to  God  by  faith,  salvation  by  grace  alone,  true  regeneration 
the  work  only  of  the  Holy  Ghost — were  discredited  ;  and  for  them 
was  virtually  substituted  a  religion  which  made  salvation  to 
consist,  practically,  in  membership  in  a  Church  possessing  the 
apostolical  succession,  and  served  by  a  priestly  caste  that  alone 
could  administer  effectual  sacraments. 

In   the  present  day  we    can  look  back  over   sixty   years  and 

Influence    acknowledge  to  the  full  the  good  which  the  Oxford  Movement  has 

of  the  effected  in  the  Church  of  England.     To  attribute  to  its  influence 

ovemen  .  ^^^  ^^^^  improvement  in  public  worship  and  parochial  work  which 

the  Evangelicals  had  already  more  than  begun,  and  have  since  done 

much  to  develop,  is  unjust  and   absurd  ;  but  that  it  has  carried 

that  improvement  further  is  indisputable,  and  our  dislike  for  the 

extreme  forms  of  modern  Ritualism,  as  indicative  of  unscriptural 

and  outvote  the  Executive  I  have  found  no  trace  in  the  old  records.  (See 
H.  Venn's  Address  at  Opening  of  new  CM.  House,  printed  in  CM.  Intelligencer, 
April,  1862,  and  as  Appendix  B  in  his  Memoir,  p.  405.) 

*  Apologia,  p.  87. 


The  Environment  of  the  Period  289 

Deaohing,  ought  not  to  ])lind  us  to  the  fact.  Moreover,  the  Part  IV. 
faithful  Anglican  Christian  to  whom  the  old  doctrines  of  grace  1824-^1. 
are  dearer  than  life  itself  has  learned  from  it  to  value  his  ^'^«T^20. 
great  inheritance  in  an  ancient  historic  Church,  and  to  rejoice 
in  being  hnked,  not  only  with  the  Fathers  of  the  blessed  Eefor- 
mation,  but  also  with  the  Fathers  of  Primitive  Christendom. 
The  continuity  of  Evangelical  religion  from  that  of  the  early 
Fathers  was  shown,  it  is  true,  by  the  Evangelical  historian  of  the 
Church  of  Christ,  Joseph  Milner,  from  whose  great  work  Newman 
himself  confessed  that  he  derived  his  enthusiasm  for  the  Fathers  ; 
but  still  it  cannot  be  said  that  the  continuity  of  the  organic 
Visible  Church  was  realized  to  any  extent  till  it  was  taught  by 
the  men  of  Oxford.  This  continuity  the  Evangelical  Churchman 
has  learned  to  value,  while  not  for  a  moment  will  he  "  unchurch  " 
those  members  of  other  Protestant  communions  that  have  not 
the  same  advantages  as  himself.  He  finds  now  that  he  can 
join  in  much  that  is  modern  in  Church  life  and  organization, 
and  that  is  unquestionably  the  indirect  issue  of  the  Oxford 
movement,  without  in  the  smallest  degree  compromising  or 
marring  his  plain  Gospel  beliefs  and  teachings.  But  this 
development  of  healthy  and  helpful  Church  life  has  come 
gradually  ;  and  considering  the  grave  errors  with  which  it  was 
at  first  too  closely  connected,  we  are  not  surprised  that  our 
Evangelical  fathers  dreaded  every  new  advance  and  suspected 
every  successive  step. 

But  the  Church  Missionary  Society  w\as  very  slow  to  enter  into  ^  ttitude 
even  legitimate  controversy.  It  is  stastling  to  read  Eeport  after  °'^-'^-^- 
Eeport,  and  Sermon  after  Sermon,  at  this  period,  and  find  no 
allusion  to  the  new  teachings  that  were  causing  so  much  alarm. 
Pratt  denounced  them  in  letters  to  Bishop  Daniel  Wilson ; 
Bishop  Wilson  out  in  Calcutta  delivered  a  powerful  charge  against 
them  ;  Bickersteth  protested  against  S.P.C.K.  tracts  that  seemed 
to  have  caught  the  infection,  and  which  were  in  fact  written  by 
Dodsworth,  one  of  the  Oxford  party,  who  afterwards  seceded  to 
Eome;  the  Christicui  Observer,  in  able  articles,  exposed  the 
fallacies  underlying  Newman's  arguments.  But  the  C.M.S.,  as 
a  society,  held  its  peace.  And  it  is  remarkable  to  find  in  the 
Sermon  of  1841,  by  Francis  Close,  the  first  public  avowal  of  its 
being  an  "  Evangelical  Institution."  And  yet  in  this  very  Sermon 
there  is  the  strongest  affirmation  of  the  Society's  Church  character, 
much  more  space  being  given  to  this  than  to  its  Evangelical 
character.  The  explanation  is  very  simple.  The  C.M.S.  leaders 
regarded  the  Oxford  party  as  "schismatics"  (so  Pratt  calls 
them),  and  the  Evangelicals  as  the  truest  and  fullest  representa- 
tiv'es  of  the  old  Anglican  and  Eeformed  Church. 


VOL.  I. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 


Part  IV. 
1824^1. 
Chap.  21. 

Death  of 

Bishop 

Heber. 


India  .-    Changes,  Beforms,  Developments. 

The  Bishops — Daniel  Wilson— Lord  W.  Bentinck — Social  Reforms — 
Abolition  of  Suttee— Government  Patronage  of  Idolatry — Charles 
Grant  the  Younger  and  the  Company — Resignation  of  Sir  P. 
Maitland — Work  and  Influence  of  R.  M.  Bird — Steam  Communi- 
cation— New  Bishoprics — Bishop  Corrie — Bishop  Wilson  and  the 
Caste  Question  —  Education  —  Alexander  Duff;  his  Father  and 
C.  Simeon — Duff's  Plan— Ram  Mohun  Roy — Duff's  College— The 
Early  Converts — Duff  and  Macaulay — The  "Friend  of  India"  and 
"Calcutta  Review" — Duff  at  home — His  C.M.S.  Speech. 

"Prepare  ye  the  way  of  the  Lord.  .  .  .  Every  raUey  sliaJl  he  exalted,  and 
every  mountain  and  hill  aliall  he  made  low  :  and  the  crooked  shall  he  made 
straight,  and  the  rough  places  plain." — Isa.  xl.  3,  4. 

ISHOP  HEBER— gentle  Reginald  Heber— was  found 
dead  in  his  bath  at  Trichinopoly  on  April  2nd,  1826. 
It  was  a  young  C.M.S.  missionary,  J.  W.  Doran, 
who,  with  the  chaplain,  lifted  the  lifeless  body  out  of 
the  water.  During  his  brief  Indian  career  of  two 
years  and  a  half,  Heber  had  won  all  hearts  by  his  unfailing 
courtesy,  goodness,  and  earnestness  ;  and  his  episcopate  had  for 
the  first  time  put  Church  of  England  Missions  in  his  vast  diocese 
on  a  right  footing.  The  sorrow  in  India  was  unmistakable. 
Public  meetings  in  honour  of  his  memory  were  held  in  the  three 
Presidency  cities,  and  the  testimonies  of  high  officials  to  his  worth 
are  very  touching. '-■=  Sir  Charles  Grey,  the  Chief  Justice  of 
Bengal,  felicitously  applied  Heber's  own  picturesque  lines — in  his 
Oxford  prize  poem,  Palestine — to  the  progress  which  Christianity 
might  have  been  expected  to  make  in  India  under  Heber's  sway: — 

No  hammer  fell,  no  ponderous  axes  rung, 
Like  some  tall  palm  the  mystic  fabric  sprung,  "j" 

The  news  reached  England  in  September,  and  caused  universal 
grief.  The  C.M.S.  Committee,  at  a  special  meeting,  expressed  in 
the  strongest  terms  their  sense  of  the  loss  sustained  by  the  Church, 
and  their  "  gratitude  to  the  Giver  of  all  good  for  the  strong  faith, 
ardent  zeal,  unaffected  humility,  universal  love,  and  incessant 
labours  of  this  distinguished  Prelate."     At  the  same  time  they 

*  Printed  in  the  Mis^^ionary  Perjistcr  of  December,  1826. 

f  Variations  in  these  lines  si])pear  in  Heber's  works.  They  are  here  quoted 
direct  from  the  contemporary  report  of  Sir  C.  Grey's  speech,  and  are 
probably  the  original  form. 


BISHOP   HEBER. 


DR.  ALEXANDER    DUFF. 


BISHOP    DANIEL    WILSON. 


BISHOP   COTTON. 


REV.   J.   J.  WEITBRECHT. 


REV.    B.    BAILEY. 


ResriniiUl  Heljer,  Second  Bishop  of  Calcutta,  1S23-1926. 
Alexiiuder  Duff,  D.D.,  Founder  of  Educationul  Missions  in  India. 
Diuiiel  Wilson,  Bishop  of  Calcutta,  ls32-ls.iS. 
(i.  E.  L.  Cotton,  Bishop  of  Calcutta,  Is.JS-lSCifi. 
J.  J.  Weitbrecht,  Missionary  in  Bengal,  18:j0-1852. 
Benjamin  Bailey,  Missionary  in  Travancore,  lSlG-1850. 


India:   Changes,  Reforms,  Developments  291 

adopted  a  memorial  to  the  Government,  urging  the  estabhshment  PartIV. 
of  more  Bishoprics  in  India,  seeing  that  no  one  man  could  sustain  ^^^^^ 
the  responsibilities  and  labours  of  such  a  diocese.     The  S.P.G.       J_ 
and  S.P.C.K.  did  the  same.     But  seven  years  more  were  to  elapse 
before  any  step  was  taken  to  supply  this  urgent  need,  and  nine 
years  l)efore  it  was  actually  supplied. 

And  meanwhile,  two  more  episcopal  lives  were  sacrificed.  The  bj^»;°p|^^ 
next  Bishop,  Dr.  James,  only  lived  in  India  eight  months  ;  and  Turner, 
the  fourth  Bishop,  Dr.  J.  M.  Turner,  only  eighteen  months.  The 
latter  was  deeply  mourned.  He  had  thrown  himself  with  ardour 
into  missionary  labours,  in  cordial  sympathy  with  both  S.P.G. 
and  C.M.S.  Corrie  wrote  that  he  was  "  by  far  the  best  suited  for 
the  appointment  of  any  who  had  occupied  it,"  and  again,  when 
Turner  lay  on  his  dying  bed,  "  To  the  Indian  Church  the  loss  will 
be  greater  than  any  yet  suffered."  The  C.M.S.  Committee  in 
their  minute  on  hearing  the  news,  spoke  of  his  "  combination  of 
literary  attainments  with  great  devotedness  to  the  service  of  his 
Heavenly  Master,"  of  his  "  judicious  counsels,"  of  his  "  paternal 
and  social  intercourse  with  the  missionaries,"  and  of  his  "  bright 
example  of  fidelity,  zeal,  and  unwearied  labour." 

The  death  of  the  fourth  Bishop  created  the  utmost  consternation  ^9^^^^^ 
in  England.     The  Societies,  C.M.S.  included,  again  memorialized  dead: 
the  Government  to  establish  more  bishoprics ;   but  the  Eeform  ^^"^^o^  ^^ 
agitation  absorbed  attention,  and  nothing  was  done.     Meanwhile  next? 
the  vacancy  must   be   filled  up  ;    and   who  would  go  ?     In  the 
present  day  the  question  would  naturally  be  asked,  Are  there  no 
suital)le  men  in  India  itself,  already  inured  to  the  chmate  ?     But 
an  afiirmative  answer  to  this  question  in  1831  would  have  been  of 
little  practical  use.     There  were  excellent  chaplains,  well^  fitted 
to   be   bishops.      Thomason  was  dead  ;   but  there  were  Carr  of 
Bombay,  Robinson  of  Madras,  and,  above  all,  Corrie  of  Calcutta, 
who  as  Archdeacon,  had   three  times   found  himself  the  acting 
head  of  the  English  Church  in  India,  in   the  intervals  between 
the  successive  episcopates.     But  to  appoint  one  of  these  meant 
(1)  a  letter  to  India,  (2)  the  voyage  of  the  one  chosen  to  England 
for    consecration,    (3)   his    voyage    out   again;    and    thus   some 
eighteen  months  would  be  spent  before  India  could  have  another 
bishop,  or   two   years    since    Turner's    death.      Someone    must 
be  sent  out  ready  consecrated   from   England;  but   again,    who 
would  go  ? 

Bishop  Turner,  before  saihng  for  India  in  1829,  had  attended 
the  first  annual  meeting  of  the  Islington  Church  Missionary 
r».ssociation,  which  Daniel  Wilson  had  founded  in  the  previous 
year.='=  The  Vicar,  in  the  chair,  promised  the  Bishop  that  "  if  at  ^^^^^^,^ 
any  time  Islington  could  give  or  do  anything  to  benefit  India,  prom?re^ 
thev  were  ready."  The  Bishop  said  "  he  would  undoubtedly  call 
for  the  redemption  of  the  pledge  at  some  future  time."     It  was 

*  Sec  p.  256. 

u  2 


292 


India:    Chances,  J^efokjijs,  Developments 


Part  IV. 
1824-41. 
Chap.  21. 


Daniel 

Wilson, 

Bishop. 


His 
character. 


his  death  that  sounded  the  summons  ;  it  was  the  Vicar  that 
responded. 

The  President  of  the  Board  of  Control  in  the  new  Eeform 
Ministry  was,  as  before  mentioned,  Charles  Grant  the  younger  ; 
and  to  him  fell  the  duty  of  finding  the  new  bishop.  Naturally  he 
looked  to  the  Evangelical  leaders ;  lint  one  after  another  they 
declined.  Dr.  Dealtry,  Chancellor  Eaikes,  and  Archdeacon  C.  J. 
Hoare,  were  all  asked  in  vain.  Daniel  Wilson  then  wrote  to 
Grant,  mentioning  other  suitable  names  ;  but  having  sent  off  the 
letter,  he  suddenly  felt,  in  his  own  words,  "  compelled  by  con- 
science, and  by  an  indescribable  desire,  to  sacrifice  himself,  if 
God  should  accept  the  offering,  and  the  emergency  arise."  And 
so  it  came  to  pass  that  on  April  29th,  1832,  Daniel  Wilson,  at  the 
age  of  fifty-four,  was  consecrated  fifth  Bishop  of  Calcutta.  On 
that  day  began  an  episcopate  which,  in  the  good  providence  of 
God,  w^as  destined  to  last  many  years  longer  than  the  four  previous 
episcopates  combined,  with  the  intervals  between  them. 

The  Journals  of  Bishop  Heber  will  always  remain  incomparable 
as  a  picturesque  description  of  India  externally  at  the  period  of 
his  residence  there.  But  the  Life  of  Bishop  Wilson  '■-  gives  a  much 
more  vivid  account  of  the  incessant  occupations  of  an  Indian 
Bishop,  of  his  ecclesiastical  difficulties,  and  of  the  great  influence 
for  good  which  he  may  be  privileged  to  exercise.  Daniel  Wilson's 
character  was  by  no  means  a  perfect  one.  He  was  naturally 
both  impetuous  and  imperious.  He  was  a  man  of  decided  views 
on  most  subjects,  and  was  not  afraid  to  avow  them.  Hence  we 
are  not  surprised  to  find  his  biographer,  who  was  also  his  chaplain 
and  son-in-law,  Canon  Josiah  Bateman,  telling  us  that  he  was  "  a 
man  much  spoken  against,"  and  went  through  "  evil  report  and 
good  report."  Eumours  used  to  reach  England  of  his  being 
personally  dictatorial,  and  too  stiff  as  a  Churchman  ;  and  old 
friends  like  J.  W.  Cunningham  and  Dean  Pearson  of  Salisbury 
would  write  out  affectionate  warnings  and  exhortations.  But  no 
one  w^as  more  conscious  of  his  failings,  such  as  they  were,  than 
the  Bishop  himself.  His  replies  to  the  friendly  letters,  printed  in 
his  Biography,  are  beautifully  humble  and  grateful ;  and  his 
journals  are  full  of  self-condemnation  and  of  earnest  prayers  for 
the  sanctifying  grace  of  God.  In  fact,  his  faults  were  the  faults 
of  a  strong  character.  He  proved  a  great  bishop ;  and  he  did  a 
noble  work.  "  His  strong  devotional  spirit,"  says  Sir  John  Kaye, 
"  his  self-forgetfulness  in  his  Master's  cause,  his  unstinting  love 
towards  his  fellows,  his  earnestness  of  speech,  his  energy  of 
action,  had  something  of  an  almost  apostolic  greatness  about 
them.  .  .  .  On  the  banner  which  he  carried,  the  word  '  Thorough  ' 
was  emblazoned.  He  did  everything  in  a  large  way.  Although 
pure  Gospel  truth  was  far  dearer  to  him  than  the  dignity  of  his 


*  Lije  of  Daniel  Wilsnt),  D.D.,  Lord  Bislop  of  Calcutta.     Ey  tho  Eev.  Josiah 
Bateman,  M.A.     London  :  John  Murray,  1860. 


India:   CifANCFS^  Rfforats^  DEJ^Er.orMENTs  293 

hurcli,    he    strove   mightily    for    the    out\v;ird    honour   of   that  Part  IV. 
Chureli."  ■■■  ^j;-/^  1,'j- 

When  Wilson  arrived  in  India,  the  Governor-General  was  Lord  '''^^"  "  * 
William  Bentinck,  whose  Christian  profession — with  that  of  his  Lord  w. 
excellent  wife — was  more  decided  than  in  the  case  of  any  of  the  GoCerno''r'. 
chief  rulers  since  Lord  Teignmouth.  He  and  the  Bishop  hccame  General, 
fast  friends,  notwithstanding  that  he  was  entirely  opposed  to 
ecclesiastical  estahlishments  and  dignities  of  any  kind,  bishoprics 
included.  The  Bishop  wrote  of  "the  noble  character  of  his 
administration,"  and  said,  "I  verily  believe  we  shall  never  see 
his  like  again.  Had  he  been  educated  in  Church  principles,  he 
would  be  perfect !  But  he  does  not  even  know  what  is  meant  by 
an  Archdeacon  !"  There  was,  in  fact,  a  general  improvement  in 
the  character  of  Indian  officials.  Worldliness  of  course  still 
prevailed ;  and  the  Bishop  was  often  shocked,  when  on  his 
tours,  by  the  openly  vicious  lives  lived  by  some.  Still  things 
were  better  than  they  had  been.  "There  was,"  says  Kaye,  "a 
devout  spirit  abroad  in  Anglo-Indian  Society.  The  English  in 
India  had  outlived  the  old  reproach  of  irreligion  and  immorality. 
To  be  a  regular  attendant  at  church,  to  be  strict  in  family  worship, 
to  subscribe  to  missionary  objects  and  to  attend  missionary 
meetings,  was  in  no  wise  to  stand  out  conspicuously  from  the 
crowd.  In  some  regiments,  the  '  new  lights,'  as  they  were 
profanely  called,  were  so  numerous  that  they  ceased  to  be  ex- 
ceptions, and  therefore  were  no  longer  objects  of  derision."  To 
what  was  this  change  due?  Mainly,  under  God,  to  the  godly 
chaplains  whom  Simeon  had  engaged  and  Grant  had  sent  forth. 

Lord  W^illiam  Bentinck's  Governor-Generalship  was  signalized 
by  great  and  important  reforms  and  advances,  which  had  a  His  great 
distinct  beai'ing  on  the  cause  of  Christianity  in  India.  In  effecting  reforms, 
these.  Lord  William  was,  during  part  of  his  time,  strongly  sup- 
ported by  Charles  Grant  the  younger,  when  President  of  the 
Board  of  Control.  By  various  enactments  it  became  penal  (1)  for 
widows  to  be  burnt  alive  on  their  husbands'  funeral  pyres,  (2)  to 
mui'der  parents,  by  drowning,  or  exposure,  or  burial  alive,  (3)  to 
murder  children  by  leaving  them  on  the  river  bank  to  be  the  prey 
of  crocodiles,  (4)  to  encourage  devotees  to  destroy  themselves  by 
throwing  themselves  under  the  wheels  of  idol-cars,  (5)  to  promote 
voluntary  torture  by  hook-swinging,  &c.,  (G)  to  offer  human 
sacrifices ;  although  all  these  crimes  were  done  in  the  name  of 
religion.  Other  reforms  were  initiated  to  dissociate  the  British 
Government  from  open  patronage  of  idolatry  ;  to  admit  Native 
Christians  to  public  offices  equally  with  Hindus  and  Moham- 
medans ;  and  to  relieve  converts  from  any  one  religion  to  another 
of  disabilities  touching  the  holding  of  property. 

•Vll  these  reforms  were  vehemently  opposed,  not  only  by  leading 
Hindus,  but  by  influential  Anglo-Indians.     The  cry  was   again 

*  Chrii^tianiiii  in  India,  p.  4i5. 


294  India  :   Changes^  Reforms^  Developments 

Part  IV.  raised  that  it  was  dangerous  to  meddle  with  ancient  and  beneficent 
1824-41  rehgions  ;  and  some  of  the  Em-opeans  defended  the  old  barbarities 
^^'  '  with  greater  persistence  than  the  more  enlightened  Natives  them- 
Aboiition  selvcs.  The  first  reform  was  the  abolition  of  Suttee,  or  widow- 
of  Suttee,  burning.  Shocking  accounts  of  individual  recent  cases  of  this 
terrible  custom,  taken  from  official  reports  presented  to  Parlia- 
ment, were  published  in  the  Missionary  Begistcr/'-  Christian 
officers  who  came  home  described  the  horrors  they  had  themselves 
witnessed.!  And  as  regards  the  prevalence  of  Suttee,  a  parlia- 
mentary paper  stated  that,  in  Bengal  alone,  5997  widows  had 
been  burnt  alive  in  the  preceding  ten  years.]:  Yet  in  the  very 
same  blue-book,  an  Anglo-Indian  official  vindicated  the  rite  as  a 
species  of  voluntarj'-  death,  "  as  when  a  high-spirited  female,  in 
defence  of  her  chastity,  prefers  loss  of  life  to  loss  of  honour,"  and 
deprecated  the  abolition  of  what  (to  use  his  own  words)  they 
considered  "  a  light  affliction  working  for  them  an  exceeding 
weight  of  glory  "  !  §  And  Lord  Ashley  (afterwards  Lord  Shaftes- 
bury) when  in  office  at  the  India  Board  in  1828  was  "put  down 
at  once  as  a  madman  "  because  he  thought  Suttee  wrong,  jj  But 
Mr.  Buxton  in  Parliament,  and  Mr.  Poynder,  a  solicitor  on  the 
C.M.S.  Committee,  in  the  Court  of  East  India  Directors,  were 
agitating  for  the  abolition  of  this  "light  affliction";  and  in  1829 
Lord  William  Bentinck,  by  a  stroke  of  his  pen,  put  an  end  to 
Suttee. 11  Other  enactments  followed,  forbidding  the  various 
crimes  above  enumerated. 
East  India  In  1833,  twcuty  ycars  had  elapsed  since  the  memorable  revision 
chTrte"^  ^  of  the  East  India  Company's  Charter  in  1813,  and  the  time  had 
renewed  come  for  a  further  revision.  Now  came  Charles  Grant's  oppor- 
tunity. He  not  only  completely  altered  the  position  of  the 
Company  as  a  commercial  body,  throwing  the  Indian  trade  open 
to  the  world,  but  he  threw  the  country  open  too,  and  it  was  no 
longer  necessary  for  every  missionary  or  other  ' '  interloper ' '  to 
get  the  Company's  license  to  settle  there.  Moreover,  he  secured, 
at  last,  the  authority  to  erect  two  more  bishoprics,  and  the  money 
to  support  them.  Without  him,  little  would  have  been  done. 
There  was  no  excitement  in  the  religious  world,  as  in  1813  ;  and 
the  C.M.S.  Eeports  scarcely  notice  the  sul)ject.  The  Company 
had  conciliated  the  Christian  public  by  the  abolition  of  Suttee,  and 
also  by  a  despatch  to  India  on  the  very  eve  of  the  Charter  Bill 
coming  before  Parliament. 

This  memorable  despatch,  inspired  by  Charles  Grant,  dealt  with 
the  great  and  complicated  subject  of  the  connexion  of  the  State  with 

*  See  vol.  for  1824,  pp.  2.38,  278.  Some  of  these  accoinits  sliowcd  tliat 
•VTidow-burning  was  not  always  voluntary,  cases  being  given  of  yonng  widows 
forced,  screaming,  on  to  the  funeral  pile. 

t  Ihid.,  182.5,  p.  2.56.  +  Ibid.,  1828,  p.  75. 

^   Ihid.,  1828,  p.  75.  !|    Life  of  Lord  SJiafteslury,  vol.  i.  p.  82. 

"^  The  official  Regulation  is  printed  in  the  Mixsionani  Reai.'^ter  for  1830, 
p.  185. 


/.yd/a:   Cf/AycE.'s^  Reform!^ ^  Development!^  295 

idolatry.     The  theory  of  the  Government  of  Indica  was  absolute  Part  IV. 
religious  neutrality  and  toleration  ;  hut  the  theory  broke  down  in  i^^'^^' ,' 
practice.     When    the   British    arms  conquered    and   annexed   an      '''^^" 
Indian  state,  large  or  small,  the  British  rule  of  course  succeeded  state 
to  the  responsibilities  and  duties  of  the  dispossessed  governments.  ^f|do"rt^ry. 
Now  these  often  included  grants  to  temples  and  mosques,  the 
collection  of  taxes  and  dues  for  their  maintenance,  the  administra- 
tion of  lands  belonging  to  them,  police  protection  for  idolatrous 
rites,  and  honours  (such  as  salute-firing)  to  idol-festivals.     The 
English  governors  and  administrators  in  a  newly-annexed  district 
simply    continued    the    practice    of    their    Native    predecessors, 
generally  quite  oblivious  of  the  fact  that  this  really  involved  the 
patronage,  by  a  professedly  Christian  nation,  of  religious  systems 
and  customs  that  were  not  only  false  but  cruel  and  degrading  ; 
and  even  when  they  came  to  think  about  it,  they  justified  it  on 
the  ground  that  to  withdraw  the  aid  and  protection  so  given  would 
be  an  interference  with  the  religions  of  the  country,  and  therefore 
inconsistent   with    the    neutrahty   professed.      It    was    Claudius 
Buchanan  who  first  roused  the  Christian  conscience  of  England 
by  his  account  of  the  horrors  of  Juggernaut,  of  which  he  was  an 
eye-witness  in  1806.     The  temple  and  its  abominable  rites  were 
actually  supported  by  what  was  called  the  pilgrim-tax,  a  capitation  The 
tax   imposed   on   the   hundreds   of    thousands   of    pilgrims   who  f^lf "'"" 
resorted  to  them,  collected  by  government  officials,  handed  to  the 
Brahman  priests,  and  any  balance  (generally  a  large  one)  appro- 
priated for  the  general  revenue  of  the  Company.     In  other  words, 
as  Kaye  expi-esses  it,  the  British  Government  in  India  "acted  as 
churchwarden  to  Juggernaut."     The  system  of  which  this  was 
typical  gradually  became  more  and  more  offensive  in  the  eyes  of 
Christian   men  in   England  ;    and  at  the  public  meetings  of  the 
missionary  societies  the  pilgrim-tax  became  a  common  object  of 
denunciation.     The   question,  however,    was   not    a   simple   one. 
Supposing   the   tax   abolished,    would   not   that   encourage  more 
pilgrims  to  resort  to  the  temples?     And  as  regards  temple  estates, 
would   not   a   withdrawal   from   their   administration   tempt   the 
Native  trustees  who  might  be  appointed  to  peculation  and  corrup- 
tion ?     Charles  Grant,  however,  set  himself  solemnly,  and  as  in 
the  sight  of  God,  to  consider  the  whole  subject ;  and  the  result 
was  his  deep  conviction  that  England  must  wash  its  hands  of  all 
association  with    idolatry,   whatever   the    consequences.     Having 
come  to  this  decision,  he  persuaded  the  reluctant  Directors  to  fall 
in  with  his  view,  and  the  famous  despatch  of  1833  was  sent  out,  °''^"*^^^ 
amid   a   chorus   of    thanksgiving    from    all   who   cared    for   the    ^^^^  ^ 
evangelization  of  India. 

But   it   was   one   thing   to   send   such   a   despatch,  and  quite  Jh^e  ^^^^ 
another  thing  to  get  it  obeyed.     In   the    Madras   Presidency  it  evadldl 
was  openly  ignored — the  new  Bishop  of  jMadras  (of  whom  more 
presently)  being   publicly  rebuked   by  the    Governor  in  Council 
for  presenting  (in  1835)  a  respectful  memorial  from  the  clergy 


296 


India  :   Chakges^  Reforms^  Developments 


Part  IV. 
1824r-41. 
Chap.  21. 


Sir  P. 

Maitland 
resigns. 


Victory 
at  last. 


and  godly  laity  on  the  subject.  But  Lord  W.  Bentinck  was" 
not  now  at  the  head  of  the  Supreme  Government  at  Calcutta, 
nor  was  Charles  Grant  (who  had  become  Lord  Glenelg)  any 
longer  at  the  Board  of  Control ;  and  the  East  India  Directors 
in  Leadenhall  Street  resisted  every  effort  made  by  Mr.  Poynder 
and  others  to  get  the  despatch  of  1833  carried  out.  In  1837,  the 
year  of  Queen  Victoria's  accession,  the  Company,  inspired  by  a 
new  President  of  the  Board  of  Control,  Sir  John  Hobhouse,  sent 
out  a  discreditable  despatch,  virtually  approving  of  the  delay  in 
carrying  out  its  orders  of  four  years  before ;  whereupon  a  startling 
event  occurred.  Sir  Peregrine  Maitland,  Commander-in-Chief  of 
the  Madras  Army,  resigned  his  post  rather  than  give  any  further 
directions  to  the  troops  to  do  honour  to  the  idols. '■'  This  grand  act 
of  self-sacrifice  won  the  battle.  The  excitement  in  Christian 
circles  in  England  was  intense  ;  Parliament  was  roused,!  and 
Sir  J.  Hobhouse  had  to  promise  to  send  out  peremptory  orders 
that  the  despatch  of  1833  was  to  be  obeyed  without  further  delay. 
This  was  done  in  August,  1838,  and  left  no  excuse  for  the  local 
Indian  authorities.  Nevertheless,  further  measures  had  to  be 
taken  ;  and  though  the  instructions  were  partially  carried  out,  it 
was  not  till  1841  that  public  honours  to  idols  were  finally 
abolished.  All  through  these  years,  the  Church  Missionary 
Society  was  strongly  exercised  on  the  subject,  and  repeatedly 
memorialized  the  Home  Government ;  and  great  was  the  rejoicing 
when  at  last  the  victory  had  been  really  won,  and  the  disgrace  to 
Christian  England  finally  wiped  out.]; 


*  His  exact  act  was  this.  Two  Christian  privates  had  refused  to  fire  their 
muskets  to  salute  an  idolatrous  procession ;  and  Sir  P.  Maitland  refused  to 
sign  the  order  for  their  punishment.  "  He  called  his  family  round  liim, 
explained  to  them  the  poverty  into  which  they  would  be  plunged  by  his 
resignation.  They  united  in  desiring  that  he  should  obey  liis  conscieace. 
All  the  Army,  including  the  Duke  of  Wellington,  thought  him  wrong,  and 
the  East  India  Company  condemned  him  ;  but  his  manly  and  straightforward 
explanation  of  his  conduct  won  the  Duke  over  to  his  side,  and  at  length  the 
G^overniQ«nt  gave  him  the  governorship  of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope."  (From 
Venn's  Private  Journals,  18.54.)  A  different  and  very  interesting  version 
Avas  given  by  the  late  Rev.  J.  H.  Gi'ay  in  tlie  C'./T/.  Intelligencer  of  September, 
1887.  Mr.  Gray  was  at  Madras  at  the  time,  and  he  states  that  one  of  the  first 
papers  put  before  Sir  P.  Maitland  for  signature  was  a  document  sanctioning 
the  appointment  and  payment  of  dancing-girls  for  a  certaiu  Hindii  temple. 
This  he  refused  to  sign,  and  appealed  to  the  Company.  The  Directors 
declined  to  give  way,  and  Maitland  thereupon  resigned. 

t  Mr.  Gray  (see  preceding  note)  further  states  that  ho  himself  subse- 
quently sent  home  to  Maitland  an  account  and  sketch  of  an  outrageous  act 
of  homage  to  an  idol  committed  by  a  high  English  official  ;  and  Bishop 
Blomfield  took  them  to  the  House  of  Lords,  exhibited  them  there,  and 
threatened  to  send  the  sketch  broadcast  over  the  country ;  and  that  this 
menace  settled  the  question  in  Parliament. 

X  The  whole  history  can  be  traced  out  in  the  Missionary  Register,  1832  to 
1841.  It  is  summarized  in  Kaye's  Christianity  in  India,  pp.  418 — 430,  and, 
inore  briefly,  in  an  able  paper  by  Mr.  (now  Sir)  W.  Mackworth  Young,  now 
Lieut. -Governor  of  the  Punjab,  read  before  the  Cambridge  Church  Missionary 
LTnion,  and  printed  in  the  O.M.  Intelligencer  of  February,  1885. 


India  :   Changes^  Reforms^  Develoi'Ments  297 

This  period  ^vas  one  of  material  as  %Yell  as  moral  reform  and  Part  IV. 
development.     It  was  one  of  important  services  rendered  by  very  }^^^~^h 
eminent  civil   servants  of  the  Company.      For  example,   Eobert      ^^_ 
Merttins  Bird,  who,  while  at  the  head  of  the  Eevenue  Department  r.  m.  Bird 
in  the  North- West  Provinces,  planned  and  carried  out  the  sm'vey  Thoma^on. 
and  land  settlement  of  that  immense  territory,  becoming  thereby 
recognized  as  the  chief  authority  on  a  most  complicated  subject, 
and   saving   tw^enty   millions   of  people   from   misery   and   ruin. 
Dr.  G.   Smith  mentions  James  Thomason,  John   Lawrence,  and 
William  Muir,  as  coming  "under  the  spell  of  Merttins  Bird";  "■ 
and  Sir  E.  Temple  says  that  Bird,  "  a  born  leader  of  men,"  and 
Thomason,    "formed  the  great   school  of  administrators    in    the 
North-West  Provinces."!     "To   have  been  selected  by  Eobert 
Bird,"  says  Mr.  Bosworth  Smith,  "  as  a  helper  in  the  great  work 
in  which  he  was  engaged,  was  looked  upon  as  a  feather  in  the  cap 
even    of    those    who   were   destined   soon   to   eclipse    the    fame 
of   their   old   patron."  \     Thomason   wrote   that   he   found  Bird 
"so  instructive    and    communicative    on    subjects   which   regard 
another   world,"    and   they    discussed   together    "  how   to    carry 
out    their   Christian   principles    into   their   daily  walk   as   public 
servants."  §     His  and  his  sister's  work  in  the  C.M.S.  Gorakhpur 
Mission  will  be  mentioned  hereafter.     On  his  retirement  to  Eng- 
land he  became  a  regular  and  valuable   member  of  the  C.M.S. 
Committee. 

One   branch   of  material   progress    must    be    noticed,  because 
it  has  had  untold  influence  upon  the  practical  working  of  India 
Missions.     This  was  the  establishment  of  steam  communication  steamers 
between   England    and   India.      Moreover    it    was    under    Lord  E^ngiand 
W.  Bentinck's  administration  that  the  initiative  was  taken,  and  ^"'1  India, 
the  virtual  leader  in  taking  it  was  Bishop  Daniel  Wilson. 

It  has  been  mentioned  that  the  news  of  Heber's  death  on 
April  2nd  reached  England  in  September.  That  one  fact  suf- 
ficiently illustrates  the  position  at  the  time.  On  December  9th, 
1825,  four  months  before  Heber  died,  the  first  steamer  fi-om 
England  reached  Calcutta ;  but  she  had  come  round  the  Cape, 
and  taken  five  months  to  accomplish  the  voyage, — no  faster,  in 
fact,  than  the  old  East  Indiamen ;  and  it  was  found  that  even  a 
full  complement  of  passengers  in  "the  cabin"  would  not  pay  for 
the  fuel  expended.  II  Natui'ally,  nothing  more  was  done.  When 
Daniel  Wilson  arrived  at  Calcutta  in  1832,  he  found  the  question 
revived,  and  under  discussion.  It  interested  him  at  once  ;  for  no  man 
ever  felt  more  keenly  the  separation  from  home  friends.  "  Three 
points  of  abstinence,"  he  said,  "  would  promote  calmness  of  mind 

*  Twelve  Indian  Statesmen,  p.  75.     Bii'd's  second  name  is  \-ariously  spelt  in 
different  books.     "  Merttins  "  is  the  correct  form, 
t  Men  and  Erenf.i  of  Mij  Time  in  India,  p.  41). 
X  Life  nf  Lord  l.awrencc,  vol.  i.  p.  9(3. 

§    Rulers  of  India  :   r/wiiia.soH,  by  Sir  R.  Temple.      P.  71. 
II   Missionary  Register,  1825,  p.  599;  1826,  p.  26  J. 


:q8 


India  :   Ci/anges^  Reforms^  Developments 


Part  IV. 
]  82-4-41. 
Chap.  21. 


Bishop 
Wilson 
heads  the 

movement, 


The 
P.  &  O. 
service. 


in  India  :  (1)  never  to  look  at  a  thermometer ;  (2)  never  to  talk 
about  the  arrival  or  non-arrival  of  ships  ;  (3)  never  to  reckon 
up  minutely  the  weeks  and  months  of  residence."  Good  rules, 
observes  his  biographer,  but  never  so  badly  kept  as  in  his  case  ; 
for  he  constantly  made  written  notes  of  all  three  circumstances  ! 
But  his  keen  desire  for  quicker  communication  with  the  home- 
land led  him  to  throw  himself  into  the  new  projects.  A  public 
meeting  to  promote  them  was  held,  at  which  he  was  not  present ; 
and  it  was  a  failure.  No  money  was  subscribed;  and  without 
money  nothing  could  be  done.  The  very  next  morning  Lord  W. 
Bentinck  and  Mr.  (afterwards  Sir)  Charles  Trevelyan  met  him  out 
riding  ;  and  the  latter  said  to  the  Bishop,  "  My  Lord,  I  wish  you 
would  step  forward."  Daniel  Wilson  that  day  wrote  a  letter  to 
the  chief  magistrate,  offering  donations  from  himself  and  family 
for  so  great  an  object.  The  letter  was  published,  and  received 
with  enthusiasm ;  another  meeting  was  held,  the  Bishop  himself 
presiding;  and  in  a  few  weeks  two  thousand  five  hundred 
subscribers  had  raised  167,000  rupees,  then  equal  to  nearly 
£20,000.  The  Bishop  continued  at  the  head  of  the  movement. 
He  wrote  to  influential  people  in  England — thirteen  long  letters  to 
Charles  Grant  alone.  "  To  have  a  certain  post,"  he  said, 
"starting  on  a  given  day,  arriving  at  a  given  day,  returning  at  a 
given  day — and  that  day  one-half  earlier  than  the  average  arrivals 
now — would  be  as  life  from  the  dead !  Positively  it  would  make 
India  almost  a  suburb  of  London !  "  And  he  dwelt  on  the 
influence  of  inventions  in  other  ages  upon  moral  progress : — • 
"  What  an  invention  the  mariner's  compass  !  What  an  invention 
the  art  of  printing  !  By  these  two  discoveries  the  world  became 
accessible  to  knowledge  and  improvement.  The  Eeformation 
sprang  from  their  bosom."  * 

His  energy  was  successful.  Charles  Grant  introduced  the 
question  in  the  House  of  Commons,  from  the  Treasury  Bench, 
on  June  3rd,  1834  ;  a  Parliamentary  Committee  reported  favour- 
ably ;  Government  subsidies  were  offered ;  mail  steamers  were  set 
running  between  England  and  Alexandria;  other  steamers  (at 
first  four  times  a  year  !)  between  Suez  and  IBombay ;  in  1841  the 
P.  k  0.  Company  organized  the  latter  service  systematically, 
with  steamers  of  the  great  size  (as  then  thought ! )  of  1600  tons  and 
500  horse-power ;  and  India  was  brought  within  two  months  of 
England.  The  Suez  Canal  was  not  then  dreamed  of ;  nor  the 
gigantic  and  luxurious  vessels  that  now  bring  us  letters  in  twelve 
days.  But  great  issues  spring  from  small  beginnings  ;  and  it  will 
interest  all  readers  of  this  History  to  find  that  the  man  who  really 
set  the  ball  rolling  was  the  great  Evangehcal  Missionary  Bishop 
of  Calcutta. 

It  has  been  mentioned  that  the  Charter  Act  of  1833  provided  for 


*  This  narrative  is  condensed  from  a  long  account  in  the  Lije  of  Biiliop  D. 
Wilson,  vol.  i.  chap.  12. 


India  :   Changes^  Reforms^  Developments  299 

the    establishment  of  two  new  bishoprics,  viz.,  for  Madras    and  Part  IV. 
Bombay.     This  was  really  in  pursuance   of    a    plan    laid  before    lS24-il. 
Grant    and    the    Government    by   Bishop   Wilson   prior    to    his       ^'^'     ' 
departure  for  India  ;  and  great  was  his  joy  when  he  heard  of  its  New 
being  included  in  the  Bill.     Let  it  be  remembered  that  this  was  Mld'Tas*'^^ ' 
the    Eeform    Ministry,    by   which    the    Irish    Church    was    being  and  Bom- 
despoiled  of  several  of  its  bishoprics,  whose  chief  had  told  the    ^^' 
English  Bishops  to  set  their  houses  in  order,  and  whose  doings 
inspired    Keble's    memorable    sermon    at    Oxford     on    National 
Apostasy ;    and  we  see  the   more   clearly    what    India  owed  to 
Charles   Grant,    the    worthy   son   of    his    distinguished    father. 
Wilson  at  once  wrote  home  asking  that  Archdeacon   Corrie  might 
be   Bishop   of   Madras,    that   Archdeacon   Robinson    of    Madras 
might  be  Bishop  of  Bombay,  and  that  Archdeacon  Carr  of  Bombay 
might  succeed  Corrie  in  the  Archdeaconry  of  Calcutta.     Various 
delays,  however,  ensued  ;    but   at  length,  in   1835,  Corrie,  having 
come   home,    was   consecrated   first    Bishop    ot   Madras.      Carr 
ultimately  became  first   Bishop   of   Bombay,   but    this    was   not 
till  1837. 

Thus,  at  length,  one  of  the  '  five  chaplains  "  who  had  kept  the  Bishop 
Gospel  lamp  burning  in  Bengal  in  the  Dark  Period  prior  to  1813 
became  a  bishop  of  the  Church  he  had  so  faithfully  served.  For 
nearly  thirty  years,  Corrie,  gentle  and  unobtrusive  as  he  was  in 
character,  and  chaplain  as  he  was  in  ecclesiastical  status,  bad  ■ 
been  indisputably  the  chief  missionary  of  the  Church  of  England 
in  India.  Almost  all  the  mission  stations  in  North  India  had 
been  started  by  him.  He  had  never  sought  great  things  for 
himself.  He  just  "  served  his  own  generation  by  the  will  of 
God,"  with  a  quiet  devotion  and  unfailing  discretion  that  had 
made  him  loved  and  trusted  by  all.  And  now,  having  passed  his 
years  va  the  North,  he  entered  a  new  sphere  of  labour  in  the 
South  as  Bishop  of  Madras.  But  it  was  for  a  little  while  only. 
For  rather  more  than  a  year  he  so  acted  as  to  win  all  hearts — 
except  those  of  the  irate  governor  and  officials  who  resented  his 
gentle  protest  against  their  disobedience  to  the  order  forbidding 
honours  to  idols, — and  then  God  took  him,  on  February  5th,  His  death. 
1837,  to  the  intense  grief  of  all  Christians  in  India,  and  of  the 
Church  Missionary  Society  at  home.  He  was  succeeded  by 
Bishop  Spencer  ;  and  when  Carr  was  consecrated  to  the  new 
see  of  Bombay,  there  were,  at  last,  three  Bishops  for  India. 

During  Corrie's  brief  episcopate,  there  was  one  matter  which 
much  burdened  his  mind.  This  was  the  great  Caste  Question  in  The  Caste 
the  Native  Church.  It  had  not  troubled  him  during  his  long  Question, 
career  in  the  North.  Caste  difficulties  have  never  been  so  acute 
there  as  in  the  South.  For  one  thing,  the  influence  of  Moham- 
medanism has  tended  to  minimize  the  influence  of  the  minute 
distinctions  and  restrictions  which  in  the  South  reign  undisturbed. 
The  Brahmans,  of  course,  are  strict  everywhere  ;  but  the  numerous 
lower  castes  are  far  more  jealously  marked  off  in  the  South  than 


300  India  :   Changes^  J^eforms^  DEVELorMENrs 

1824-^7"  "^   ^^^®    North.     In  Bengal,  for  instance,  a   Sudra  is  a  low-caste 
Chap  21    '^^^" '  '^'■^*'  !^  Madras,  he  is  a  high-caste  man,  because  there  are 

L   '  beneath   him    endless  further  ramifications  of  the  system.     For 

another  thing,  Native  Christian  communities  scarcely  existed  in 
the  North  in  Corrie's  time  ;  but  in  the  South  they  were  numerous, 
and  there  was  room  within  the  Church  for  the  development  of 
the  caste  spirit.  In  fact,  as  has  been  l^efore  mentioned,  the 
Danish  and  German  missionaries  who  had  gathered  these  com- 
caste  in  muuities  permitted  the  retention  in  the  Church  of  many  cherished 
c'hu'^ch'''^  caste  customs.  A  note  to  one  of  Bishop  Wilson's  Charges 
enumerates  fifty  distinct  usages  common  among  them  w^aich  he 
regarded  as  inconsistent  with  the  spirit  of  Christianity.  The 
principal  were  these : — the  different  castes  entered  church  by 
diiferent  doors,  and  sat  on  different  sides;  they  received  the 
Lord's  Supper  separately,  sometimes  using  separate  cups  ;  the 
missionary  himself  had  to  receive  last,  for  fear  of  defihng  the 
Sudra  communicants ;  a  Sudra  catechist  or  minister  would  not 
reside  in  a  Pariah  village,  nor  would  a  Sudra  congregation  receive 
a  Pariah  teacher ;  a  Christian  Sudra  would  give  his  daughter  to 
a  Heathen  of  the  same  caste  rather  than  to  a  fellow-Christian  of 
a  lower  caste,  and  several  other  degrading  distinctions  affected 
the  relations  betw^een  the  sexes.  Moreover,  the  Christians,  in 
order  to  retain  their  positions  in  the  castes  they  respectively 
belonged  to,  "mingled  with  the  Heathen  and  learned  their 
works  ":  they  observed  heathen  rites,  employed  heathen  dancers 
and  musicians  at  festivals,  wore  heathen  caste-marks,  and  so 
forth. 
Attitude  _  The  three  or  four  old  S.P.C.K.  missionaries  who  still  supervised 
"'  the  Tamil  congregations  in  Bishop  Heber's  time,  including  the 

venerable  and  venerated  Kohlhoff,  had  tolerated  these  usages,  as 
their  predecessors  had  done,  though  without  liking  them.  ]3ut 
the  younger  men  w^ho  now  began  to  arrive  in  the  country,  some 
sent  by  the  S.P.C.K.  itself,  some  by  the  C.M.S.,  and  some,  a  few 
years  later,  by  the  S.P.G.,  w^ere  disposed  to  adopt  a  firmer 
attitude  against  them  ;  and  of  these  Ehenius,  the  C.M.S. 
missionary,  was  the  virtual  leader.  Heber  was  appealed  to  on 
tlie  subject,  and  he  was  about  to  inquire  into  it  on  the  spot  when 
of  Bishop  he  died  at  Trichinopoly.  He  had,  however,  formed  a  prehminary 
^  '"''  and  tentative  opinion,  chiefly  based  on  the  views  of  Christian 
David,  the  Ceylon  Tamil  whom  he  had  ordained  at  Calcutta. 
David  urged,  as  so  many  have  done  before  and  since,  that  caste 
was  merely  a  matter  of  social  distinction  ;  and  Heber,  mindful 
of  the  social  distinctions  in  England  itself,  which  have  nothing 
to  do  with  religion,  was  inclined  to  take  a  lenient  view  of  caste 
customs.  But  in  India  caste  is  far  indeed  from  being  a  mere 
social  system.  It  is,  in  fact,  the  strongest  religious  influence  in 
the  country.  It  is  not  that  a  respectable  and  cleanly  man  objects 
to  eat  with  a  man  of  dirty  habits.  On  the  contrary,  the  vilest 
beggar  who  is  a  Sudra  by  descent  would  consider  himself  defiled 


of  mission 
aii 


lyDi.i:    C/f.\\<:/:s,   A'/:/-oa'jUS,  Dev ELorMi-Ms  \o\ 

by  contact  with  an  educated  and  respectable  Pariah.  This  was  I'akt  IV. 
the  system  that  was  eatin^^  the  hfc  out  of  the  Native  Church  ;  and  '^^^1-4] . 
it  cannot  be  doul)t('(l  th;it.  llchcr  would  liave  soon  perceived  its  ''"  ' 
evil  had  he  Hved. 

]5ishop  Wilson  was  face  to  face  with  the  question  as  soon  as  he  rf  Bisiop 
arrived  in  India.  He  took  a  strong  lino  at  once.  Basing  his  ^''^°"- 
decision  on  the  grand  New  Testament  principle  that  in  Chi-istianity 
"  there  is  neither  Gi'eek  nor  Jew,  circumcision  nor  uncircumcision, 
Barbarian,  Scythian,  bond  nor  free,  l)ut  Christ  is  all,  and  in  all," 
h(;  directed  that,  as  i-egards  Church  usages,  "caste  must  be 
abandoned,  decidedly,  immediately,  finally."  But  when  his  letter 
was  read  to  the  principal  congregations,  at  Vepery,  Trichinopoly, 
and  Tanjore,  the  Sudra  Christians  openly  revolted.  At  Tanjore, 
where  KohlhoCf  had  presided  over  the  Church  for  many  years,  not 
only  did  the  bulk  of  the  congregation  at  once  secede,  but  the 
majority  of  the  native  ministers  or  "  country  priests,"  catechists, 
schoolmasters,  and  other  mission  employes,  refused  compliance, 
despite  the  entreaties  of  their  senior,  the  venerable  Nyanapragasen, 
then  eighty-three  years  of  age  ;  and  all  these  were  thereupon 
dismissed.  l\\  1835,  Bisho])  Wilson  visited  the  South,  and  dealt  Bishop 
earnestly  and  lovingly  with  the  disaffected  Christians,  pleading  ^nj°re** 
with  them  the  example  of  the  Good  Samaritan,  who  did  not  sto]> 
to  ask  who  the  "certain  man  "  was,  nor  dreamed  of  Ix-ing  dcliled 
by  touching  him.  "And  what,"  exclaimed  the  Bishop,  rising 
from  his  scat  in  the  crowded  chuirb,  "did  our  Messed  Master 
say  to  this?  (In,  and  do  tlioiu  likcvjise."  "A  long  pause,"  says 
his  biographer,  "  of  motionless  and  breathless  silence  followed, 
broken  only  when  he  besought  every  one  present  to  offer  up  this 
prayer, — '  Lord,  give  me  a  broken  heart,  to  receive  the  love  of 
Christ  and  obey  His  coimnands."  Whilst  the  whole  congregatioii 
were  repeating  this  in  Tamil,  he  bowed  upon  the  cushion,  doubt- 
less entreating  liel[)  fi'oni  (lod,  and  tlien  dismissed  them  witli  bis 
blessing."  ■■'• 

Nevertheless,  all  his  efforts  proved  luisuccessful ;  and  at 
Trichino])oly  he  began  a  definitely-arranged  plan  for  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  Holy  Connnunion,  to  servo  as  an  object-lesson. 
Pie  quietly  directed  who  should  come  up  to  receive  :  first  a  Sudra 
catechist,  then  two  Pariah  catechists,  then  an  ]<]nglish  gentleman, 
then  a  Sudra  again  ;  and  to  assist  his  design,  the  liighest  English 
lady  in  rank  at  the  station  requested  that  a  Pai'iah  might  kneel 
between  her  and  her  husband.  In  this  way,  a  formal  step  was 
taken  ;  and  it  served  to  band  together  tJiose  Native  Christians 
who  conformed.  But  the  majority  held  aloof;  and  for  many 
years  great  difliculties  beset  these  old  Missions,  des})ite  the  earnest 
work  of  the  new  English  missionaries  whom  the  S.P.G. — having 
ere  this  entirely  taken  over  the  work  fiom  the  S.P.C.K. — was 
about   this  time   beginning   to    send    out.      In    after   years    the 

*  Lijc  of  Bibluip  D.  Wilsov,  vol.  i.  p.  163. 


302 


IxDiA  :   Changes^  Reforms,  Developments 


Part  IV. 
182-i-41. 
Chap.  21. 


Education 
in  India. 


The  Hindu 
College. 


Alexander 
Duff. 


difficulties  rather  increased,  owing  to  the  action  of  the  new 
Mission  of  the  Leipsic  Lutheran  Society,  which  allowed  caste 
(and  does  so  still),  and  drew  away  many  members  of  the  S.P.G. 
congregations.  The  C.M.S.  and  S.P.G.  Missions  in  Tinnevelly 
have  from  time  to  time  had  similar  difficulties  to  meet ;  and 
indeed  they  have  never  been  fully  surmounted.  A  serious  crisis 
in  the  C.M.S.  Krishnagar  Mission,  in  Bengal,  forty  years  later, 
will  meet  us  in  due  course.  Meanwhile  the  question  has  been 
noticed  in  this  place  in  connexion  with  the  three  Bishops  who 
first  dealt  with  it. 

We  must  now  turn  to  a  large  and  important  subject  which 
much  occupied  the  minds  of  thinking  men  in  India  during  the 
period  under  review — the  question  of  Education. 

If  the  British  rule  was  to  be  perpetuated  in  India,  it  was  felt 
that  the  people  must  be  educated.  Their  degrading  supersti- 
tions were  largely  due  to  ignorance  ;  and  the  enlightenment  of 
their  minds  would  open  the  way  to  higher  moral  influences. 
Moreover,  unless  the  government  was  always  to  remain  a  pure 
despotism,  preparation  must  be  made  for  the  Natives  in  due  time 
sharing  in  the  work  of  administration  and  legislation.  It  was  not, 
however,  till  Lord  William  Bentinck  took  up  the  question,  that 
anything  definite  was  done  by  the  Government.  In  the  mean- 
while, in  1818,  Carey  and  his  associates  had  projected  a  college 
at  Serampore  for  the  higher  education  of  Natives.  But  that 
institution,  though  in  time  it  came  to  do  excellent  work,  was  not 
in  Calcutta.  The  only  attempt  made  at  the  capital — where  such 
an  attempt  was  most  needed — was  what  was  called  the  Hindu 
College,  opened  in  1817  under  the  joint  auspices  of  a  few  English- 
men and  Hindus.  In  this  institution  English  was  taught,  and 
English  literature  and  science  studied,  in  the  teeth  of  the  opinion 
then  prevailing  in  Government  circles,  under  the  influence  of  the 
great  Sanscrit  scholar,  H.  H.  Wilson,  that  the  right  kind  of  higher 
education  for  the  Indian  people  w^as  the  study  of  classical  Oriental 
languages,  such  as  Sanscrit  and  Persian.  But  the  Hindu  College 
was  strictly  non-Christian,  and  virtually  anti-Christian.  The 
English  text-books  read  w^ere  Hume's  Essays  and  the  licentious 
plays  of  the  age  of  Charles  II.  ;  and  even  Tom  Paine 's  works 
were  read  with  avidity  out  of  school-hours.  The  consequence 
was  such  a  flood  of  immorality  that  the  very  Heathen  parents 
themselves  were  alarmed ;  and  the  whole  cause  of  English  study 
was  discredited. 

But  now  there  arrived  in  Calcutta  a  man  whom  God  had  chosen 
to  guide  the  new  ambition  to  learn  English  into  Christian  channels, 
and  to  initiate  one  of  the  most  important  of  agencies  for  the 
evangelization  of  India.     That  man  was  Alexander  Duff. 

Duff  was  a  young  Highlander  ;  and  at  first  sight  it  seems  hard 
to  connect  him  with  Charles  Simeon  of  Cambridge.  Yet  one  of 
the  grand  things  which,  all  unconsciously,  Simeon  was  in  the 
Lord's  hands  the  instrument  of  doing,  was  the  forging  of  the  first 


India  :   Changes^  JiEFORMS,  Developments  303 

link  in  the  chain  of  events  that  led  to  the  great  Educational  Part  IV, 
Missions  of  India.  Going  back  to  the  year  in  which  Simeon  read  182-i-l] . 
that  paper  before  the  Eclectic  Society  which  originated  the  Chap^2l. 
Church  Missionary  Society,  1796,  we  find  that  in  the  summer  a  retro- 
of  that  same  year  he  took  holiday  and  went  to  Scotland.  At  l,'?"*-^  . 
Moulin,  the  parish  which  now  contams  the  lamihar  Fitlocline,  he  the  parish 
visited  Mr.  Stewart,  an  able  Presbyterian  minister  of  "  Moderate  "  ?ath^r"^^ 
views,  who  "preached  a  pure  and  high  morality,  and  held  in  a 
certain  sense  the  doctrines  of  Christian  orthodoxy";  but  who 
"  saw  no  satisfying  results  of  his  labour  among  his  people,  and 
was  himself  restlessly  conscious  that  secrets  of  spiritual  joy  and 
power  lay  near  him  undiscovered."  '■--  Indeed,  one  Sunday  he 
told  his  people  so,  asking  them  to  pray  that  he  might  have  more 
light,  and  promising  that  if  he  got  it,  he  would  impart  it  to  them ; 
which  led  many  to  go  to  church  week  after  week  from  curiosity, 
wondering  what  new  revelation  would  come.  Then  came  Simeon, 
and  Mr.  Stewart  invited  him  to  speak  a  few  words  to  the  con- 
gregation. "  I  expressed,"  writes  Simeon,  "  my  fears  respecting 
the  formality  which  obtains  among  all  the  people,  and  urged  them 
to  devote  themselves  truly  to  Jesus  Christ."  But  he  adds,  "  I 
was  barren  and  dull :  God,  however  is  the  same,  and  His  word  is 
unchangeable."  Yes,  and  God  worked.  That  night  Mr.  Stewart 
came  to  Simeon's  bedroom,  and  opened  his  heart  to  him ;  and 
from  that  day  forth,  with  satisfied  mind  and  rejoicing  heart  he 
preached  Jesus  Christ  and  Him  crucified,  with  the  result  that, 
both  at  Moulin  and  afterwards  in  other  parishes,  numbers  of  souls 
were  converted  to  God.  Now  in  that  congregation  was  a  lad  of 
seventeen,  James  Dulf.  Whether  he  was  present  when  Simeon 
preached,  and  whether  he  was  impressed,  we  know  not ;  but 
under  Mr.  Stewart's  now  faithful  ministry  he  was  led  to  yield 
himself  to  the  Lord.  Ten  years  afterwards,  his  son  Alexander 
was  born  ;  and  this  son  always  attributed  his  own  decision  for 
Christ  to  the  influence  and  example  of  his  father.  So  Dr.  George 
Smith  begins  his  brilliant  Life  of  Duff  with,  these  words, — "  The 
spiritual  ancestry  of  Alexander  Duff  it  is  not  difficult  to  trace  to 
Charles  Simeon."  f 

In  due  course  Alexander  Duff  went  to  St.  Andrew's  University,  ^^'^^"'^ 
and  having  taken  the  highest  honours  in  classics,  sat  down  to 
study  theology  at  the  feet  of  Dr.  Chalmers,  then  at  the  height  of 
his  great  reputation.  Chalmers  was  one  of  the  few  Scotchmen  who 
then  cared  for  Missions,  and  during  his  five  years  at  St.  Andrew's 
six  of  his  most  distinguished  students  dedicated  themselves  to 
the  foreign  field.     But  the  EstabUshed  Church  of  Scotland  was 

*  Moule's  Simeon,  p.  159. 

f  The  story  is  partly  told  iu  the  opening  pages  of  Dr.  G.  Smith's  Life  of 
Duff ;  but  in  the  middle  of  the  first  volume  (p.  326)  one  comes  upon  a  fuller 
and  more  touching  account,  <■,  propos  of  Duff's  visit  to  Cambridge  in  1836. 
Fifty  years  later,  a  sou  of  Mr.  Stewart's  was  an  elder  of  the  Scotch  Church 
at  Caliutta,  and  held  prayer-meetings  with  Duff's  converts.  {Life,  vol.  ii. 
p.  56.) 


304  India  :   Chaages^  Reforms^  Developments 

Part  IV.  not  yet  a  missionary  Church.     It  was  still  largely  of  the  opinion 

1824-41.    Qf  ij^g  Moderator  of  thirty  years  before,  who  in  1796  (the  very  year 

^^'     '  of  Simeon's  visit  to  Moulin)  had  said  that  "  to  spread  the  Gospel 

among  heathen  nations  seems  highly  preposterous,  in  so  far  as  it 

anticipates,  nay  it  even  reverses,   the  order  of   nature  "  !     The 

Scotch  Missions  previously  mentioned  in  this   History,   in  West 

Africa  and  in  Russia,  were  the  work  of  a  small  voluntary  society. 

But  a  few  leading  men  in  the  Church,  notably  Dr.  Inglis,  were 

now  waking  up  to  see  that  Scottish  Presbyterianism  should  have 

representatives  in  India  :  not  chaplains  only — them  it  had  already 

— but  missionaries  also  ;  and  at  length,  in  1829,  Alexander  Duif 

Duff  to        was  ordained  to  be  the  first  foreign  missionary  officially  sent  forth 

Calcutta.     ,3y  ^j^g  Church  of  Scotland. 

After  suffering  shipwreck  twice  on  his  voyage  out,  the  young 
minister,  twenty-four  years  of  age,  landed  at  Calcutta  in  May, 
1830.  When  the  Natives  who  could  read  the  newspapers  saw  the 
account  of  his  escape  from  two  shipwrecks,  they  said,  "  Surely 
this  man  is  a  favourite  of  the  gods,  who  must  have  some  notable 
work  for  him  to  do  in  India."  After  visiting  every  missionary 
and  mission  station  in  and  round  Calcutta,  he  formed  his  own 
Duff's  plan  for  an  entirely  new  agency.  It  was  "  to  lay  the  foundation 
scheme.  ^j  ^  systcm  of  education  which  might  ultimately  embrace  all  the 
branches  ordinarily  taught  in  the  higher  schools  and  colleges  of 
Christian  Europe,  but  in  inseparable  combination  with  the  Chris- 
tian faith  and  its  doctrines,  precepts,  and  evidences,  with  a  view 
to  the  practical  regulation  of  life  and  conduct.  Eeligion  was  to 
be,  not  merely  the  foundation  upon  which  the  superstructure  of 
all  useful  knowledge  was  to  be  reared,  but  the  animating  spirit 
tvhich  was  to  pervade  and  halloio  all."  ■■'■  The  Bible  was  to  be 
read  and  expounded  daily,  "  while  the  teacher  prayed,  at  the  same 
time,  that  the  truth  might  be  brought  home,  by  the  grace  of  the 
Spirit,  for  the  real  conversion  to  God  of  at  least  some  of  the  stu- 
dents." In  view  of  the  teachings  of  Scripture  and  Church  history, 
Duff  "  did  not  expect  that  all,  or  the  majority,  of  these  Bengali 
youths  would  certainly  be  thus  turned  ;  for  in  nominal  Christen- 
dom he  felt  that  few  have  been,  or  are,  so  changed,  under  the 
most  favourable  circumstances.  That  '  many  are  called  but  few 
chosen,'  however,  only  quickened  his  zeal.  But  he  did  expect 
that,  if  the  Bible  were  thus  faithfully  taught  or  preached,  some  at 
least  would  be  turned  from  their  idols  to  serve  the  living  God."  f 
Its  in-  Such  is  the  system  which  almost  all  the  principal  missionary 

fluence  societics  in  India  have  since  adopted,  which  has  often  been 
results.  assailed  for  its  paucity  of  direct  results,  but  the  indirect  results  of 
which  have  been  incalculable.  Even  in  direct  results,  it  has  not 
failed  those  who  have  worked  it  on  Duff's  principles  as  above 
stated.  Let  it  be  granted  that  the  true  converts  from  among  the 
higher  and  educated  classes  in  India  have  been  few  in  comparison 

*  Dr.  G.  Smith,  Life  of  Dn£  vol.  i.  p.  110.  t  Ibid.,  p.  109. 


IxD/A :   C//.i.yc/:s,  REJ-oRArs^  DkyKLOPMEsrs  305 

with  the  whole  villages  of  poor  cultivators  that  have  come  over  Part  IV. 
in  the   South.     But  it  is  as  true  at  home  as  in  India  that  "  not   l^-+-^l- 
many  wise  men  after  the  flesh,  not  many  mighty,  not  many  noble       "^''  "  ' 
are  called"  ;  and  as  a  matter  of  historical  fact,  scarcely  one  such 
convert  has  been  made  in  India  except  through  the  agency,  direct 
or  indirect,  of  Missionary  Education. 

But  although  it  is  too  late  to  criticize  the  system  now,  one  is 
not  surprised  that  it  was  opposed  at  first.  Dr.  Bryce,  the  senior  The  plan 
Presbyterian  chaplain,  whose  chief  occupation  seems  to  have  been  °PP°sed. 
fighting  the  Anglican  bishop  (at  least  in  Middleton's  time)  on 
points  of  precedence  and  the  like,  and  whose  great  church  was 
empty  while  the  godly  Scotch  people  went  elsewhere,  gave  Duff 
no  sympathy."  Nor  did  a  single  missionary  in  Calcutta  approve 
the  young  Scotchman's  project.  "  You  will  deluge  the  city," 
they  said,  "with  rogues  and  villains."  But  the  Hindu  College 
was  doing  that  already.  There  was  no  means  of  stopping  the 
demand  for  English  now.  The  stream  of  tendency  was  rising 
rapidly,  and  all  that  could  be  done  was  to  direct  it  into  good 
channels.  That  was  Duff's  purpose.  He  found  no  fault  with  the 
simple  preaching  and  teaching  already  in  vogue,  though  the 
I'esults  so  far  had  been  infinitesinuxl.  There  were  then  less  than 
twenty  converts  from  Hinduism  or  Mohammedanism  in  Cal- 
cutta, half  of  them  Anglican  and  half  Baptist.  But  Duff  said, 
"  While  you  engage  in  directly  separating  as  many  precious 
atoms  from  the  mass  as  stubborn  resistance  to  ordinary  appliances 
can  admit,  we  shall,  with  the  blessing  of  God,  devote  our  time 
and  strength  to  the  preparing  of  a  mine,  and  the  setting  up  of  a 
train  which  shall  one  day  explode  and  tear  up  the  whole  from 
its  lowest  depths."  I  And  God  gave  him,  too,  some  "precious 
atoms,"  sooner  than  he  or  any  one  else  thought  possible. 

But  though  Duff  got  no  support  from  the  older  missionaries,  he 
was  greatly  encouraged  by  one  remarkable  Hindu — Ram  Mohun  Ram 
Roy,  the  Erasmus  of  India,  as  Dr.  George  Smith  calls  him.  R°y "" 
Forty  years  before,  without  ever  coming  across  a  missionary 
(for  there  were  none),  Ram  Mohun  Roy  had  recoiled  from  the 
degrading  superstitions  of  Patna  and  Benares,  and  had  written 
an  attack  on  "  the  idolatrous  system  of  the  Hindus."  The  study 
of  English  subsequently  introduced  him  to  the  Bible,  and  tlien 
to  the  further  study  of  Greek  and  Hebrew.  In  1814  he  founded 
the  Brahmo  Sabha — the  progenitor  of  the  Brahmo  Samaj — "  to 
teach    and   to   practise   the  worship  of  one  supreme,  undivided, 

*  It  oupht,  however,  to  be  stated  tliat  Dr.  Hryce  had,  in  IS2.5,  written  homo 
to  the  General  Assonihly,  askin<?  that  aufjust  body  to  send  out  one  or  two 
Scotch  chTfryinen  wlio  coidd  8j)eak,  Hke  tlio.se  of  the  Clmreli  of  Knjjland,  witli 
tlie  sanction  of  an  "  Kcck'siastical  Kstablisliment,"  so  tliat  their  Mission  niiffht 
liave  the  sii])))ort  of  "  Constituted  Kcck'siastical  Authority."  Uur  Presbj-terian 
brethren  of  the  Churcli  of  Scotland  have  always  laid  even  more  stress  on 
their  "Established"  position  than  the  old-fashioni'd  Hi^'h  Churchmen  of 
Eiifjland. 

t  Dr.  G.  Smith's  Dk/,  p.  108. 

VOL.  I.  X 


3o6  India  :   Changes^  Reforms^  Developments 

Part  IV.  and  eternal  God."  The  orthodox  Hindus  thereupon  founded  the 
1824-41.  Dharma  Sabha,  m  defence  of  Brahmanism  Avith  all  its  rites  and 
Chap.  21.  customs,  such  as  Suttee.  "Thus,"  says  Dr.  G.  Smith,  "Hindu 
society  in  Calcutta  became  divided  into  opposing  camps,  while 
the  Hindu  College  youths  formed  a  third  entrenchment  in  support 
of  pure  atheism  and  libertinism.  These  were  the  three  powers  at 
work,  unconnected  by  any  agency  save  the  slow  and  indirect 
influence  of  English  literature  in  the  hands  of  vicious  teachers, 
unopposed  by  Christianity  in  any  form,  denounced  at  a  distance, 
but  not  once  fairly  grappled  with,  by  any  Christian  man,  from  the 
Bishop  to  the  Baptist  missionaries." 

Eam  Mohun  Eoy  had  already  given  important   aid  to  Lord  W. 
Bentinck  in  the  abolition  of   Suttee.     Now  he  warmly  w^elcomed 
Duff  Duff,  entered  into  his  projects,  heartily  approved  of  his  determina- 

be-ins.  ^jq^  ^q  have  Scripturc-rcading  and  prayer  in  the  proposed  school, 
and  lent  him  the  small  hall  of  the  Brahmo  Sabha  to  begin  his 
work  in.  On  July  13th,  1830,  only  six  weeks  after  landing — 
having  learned  some  Bengali  on  his  long  voyage — Duff  opened 
his  new  school.  Several  high-class  youths,  most  of  them  Brah- 
mans  by  caste,  had  been  persuaded  by  Eam  Mohun  Eoy  to 
attend.  Ijet  us  read  Dr.  G.  Smith's  picturesque  account  of  this 
great  and  memorable  day  :  '■'•• — 

A  memo-         "  Standing  up  with  Earn  Mohvm  Roy,  while  all  the  lads  showed  the 
"■^t)'^  same  respect  as  their  own  rajah,  the  Christian  missionary  prayed  the 

scene.  Lord's  Prayer  slowly  in  Bengah.     A  sight,  an  hour,  ever  to  be  remem- 

bered !  Then  came  the  more  critical  act.  Himself  putting  a  copy  of 
the  Bengali  Gospels  into  their  hands,  the  missionary  requested  some  of 
the  older  pupils  to  read.  There  was  murmuring  among  the  Brahmans 
among  them,  and  this  found  voice  in  the  Bengah  protest  of  a  leader — 
'  This  is  the  Christian  Shaster :  we  are  not  Christians  ;  how  then  can  we 
read  it  r'  It  may  make  us  Christians,  and  our  friends  will  drive  us  out  of 
caste.'  Now  was  the  time  for  Ram  Mohun  Roy,  who  explained  to  his 
young  countryman  that  they  were  mistaken.  '  Christians  like  Dr. 
Horace  Hayman  Wilson  have  studied  the  Hindu  Shasters,  and  you  know 
that  he  has  not  become  a  Hindu.  I  myself  have  read  all  the  Koran 
again  and  again,  and  has  that  made  me  a  Mussulman  ?  Nay,  I  have 
studied  the  whole  Bible,  and  you  know  I  am  not  a  Christian.  Why  then 
do  you  fear  to  read  it  r*  Read  and  judge  for  yourselves.  Not  compulsion, 
but  enlightened  persuasion,  which  you  may  resist  if  you  choose,  con- 
stitutes you  yourselves  judges  of  the  contents  of  the  hook.'  Most  of 
the  reuionstrants  seemed  satisfied." 

succ;ss  of  Twelve  months  passed  away.  The  school  had  become  famous  : 
the  ochooi.  j;i-,j^.gg  hundred  boys  were  in  regular  attendance  ;  and  the  first 
annual  examination  astounded  the  Enghsh  residents  who  attended 
it.  Then  Duff  arranged  for  a  quiet  course  of  evening  lectures  in 
his  own  house  on  Natural  and  Eevealed  Eeligion,  for  students  of 
both  his  own  school  and  the  Hindu  College.  Twenty  attended 
the  first ;  but  the  second  was  never  delivered.  The  whole  city 
was  alarmed.     Students  of  the  Hindu  College   had   attended  a 

*  Li/e  o/  BuS,  vol.  i.  p.  121. 


India  :   Changes^  Reforms^  Developments  307 

Christian  lecture  in  a  missionary's  house  !     Dr.  H.  H.  Wilson  and  Part  IV. 
the  other  anti-Christian  Englishmen  at  the  head  of  the  Hindu  ip*~i\' 
College  forhad  their  pupils  to  attend  religious  discussions  ;  and      ^"P' 
the  Government  were  accused  of  letting  a  "  wild  Padre  "  hreak  its 
boasted  neutrality.     ])utjf  sought  a  private  interview  with  Lord 
William  Bentinck,  who  assured  him  of  his  deep  sympathy,  but 
advised  caution.     But  the  young  students  of  the  Hindu  College  students 
themselves   resented   the   outcry,  and   boldly  claimed  liberty  to  nbe^y, 
attend  Christian  lectures  if  they  liked.     They  started  a  paper  of  and  break 
their  owm,  the  Enquirer,  w'hich  was  edited  by  the  leading  spirit 
among   them,    Krishna   Mohun   Banerjea,    a    Kv;lin   Brahman.''' 
They  ostentatiously  met  together  and  broke  caste  by  eating  beef, 
and   in  their  wild   and   unrestrained    assertion  of  freedom,  they 
grossly  insulted  a  holy  Brahman  by  tossing  the  remains  of  their 
repast  into  his  inner  court.     Thereupon  K.  M.   Banerjea   (who, 
how'ever,  w^as  not  present  w^hen  this  was  done)  was  expelled  from 
family  and  home.     "  I  was  perfectly  regardless  of  God,"  he  after- 
wards wrote,  "  yet  He  forgot  me  not."     He  and  his  associates, 
sobered  by  the  outcry,  and  convinced  now  that  they  w^anted  some 
positive  truth  to  fill  the  "  aching  void  "  left   by  their  apostasy 
from   Brahmanism,    came    and    sat   at   Duff's   feet    to   learn   of 
Christianity  as  humble  seekers  after  truth. 

Another   twelve   months   passed ;    and  then,   on  August  28th, 
1832,   the  first  convert,  Mohesh  Chunder  Ghose,  was  baptized ;  The  first 
not,  however,  by  Duff  himself,  but  by  the  Eev.   T.   Dealtry,  the  ""^"t^- 
successor  of  Thomason,  in  the  Old  Church  of  David  Brown  and 
Buchanan   and   Henry   Martyn   and   Corrie.f      "  A   year    ago," 
exclaimed  the  young  convert  after  the  baptism,  "  I  w'as  an  atheist 
and  a  materialist ;  and  what  am  I  now  ?     A  baptized  Christian  ! 
A  year  ago  I  was  the  most  miserable  of  the  miserable  ;  now,  the 
happiest  of  the  happy  !   .   .   .  In  fipitc  of  inyadf,  I  l:)ecame  a  Chris- 
tian.    Surely  this  must  have  been  what  the  Bible  calls  grace,  free 
grace,  sovereign  grace,  and  if  ever  there  was  an  election  of  grace 
surely  I  am    one."     The    next    was   Krishna    Mohun  Banerjea  k.  m. 
himself.     Long    drawn    towards   Socinianism,    and    unwilling   to    ^"^''J^^- 
"  acknowledge  the   glory  of   the   Eternal  Trinity  " — "  God,"  he 
said,  "  by  the  influence  of  His  Holy  Spirit,  was  graciously  pleased 
to  open  my  soul  to  discern  its  sinfulness  and  guilt,  and  the  suit- 
ableness   of  the   great   salvation    which    centred   in   the   atoning 
death  of  a  Divine  Bedcenier."     He  was  baptized  on  October  17th 
in  Duff's  schoolroom,  by  Duff  himself,  but  soon   afterwards  joined 
the  Church  of  England,  and  l)oth  he  and  Mohesh  became  teachers 

*  The  highest,  most  exclusive,  most  sacred  section  of  the  Brahmau  caste. 

t  "  For  some  unexplained  reason,"  says  Dr.  G.  Smith.  But  Mohesli 
Chunder  Ghose  had  been  studying  at  Bishop's  College,  and  the  teachers  thei'e 
had  no  doubt  spared  no  pains  to  make  an  Anglican  of  him.  Moreover  a 
certain  "Major  P."  (Major  Ph]])]>s  r),  who  belonged  to  the  Old  Church,  had 
taken  him  by  tlie  hand  to  lead  him  to  Christ.  S.P.d.  licport  for  lb32,  quoted 
in  the  Mi.<siiiii(ii-y  ttciiinler  for  1833,  ji.  535;  also  C.M.S.  licpoii,  IS-i'S,  p.   12. 

X  2 


3o8 


India  :   Changes,  Reforms,  Developments 


Part  IV, 
1824-41. 
Chap.  21. 


Ram 
Mohun 
Roy's 
death  in 
England. 


English 
language 
in  India. 


in  C.M.S.  schools.  Mohesh  died  in  1837,  and  his  funeral  sermon 
was  preached  at  the  Old  Church  hij  Banerjca,  who  had  just  been 
ordained  by  Bishop  Wilson.  Banerjea  was  afterwards  the  leading 
Native  clergyman  of  the  Church  of  England  in  Bengal,  and  was 
attached  to  the  S.P.G.  Then  on  December  14th,  1832,  came  a 
third,  Gopinath  Nundi,  well-known  in  after  years  for  his  courageous 
confession  of  Christ  when  captured  by  the  bloodthirsty  Moham- 
medans in  the  great  Mutiny.  Once  more,  on  April  21st,  1833, 
Anundo  Chund  Mozumdar  was  baptized  in  the  Scotch  church.''' 
Four  "precious  atoms"  indeed! — and  the  precursors  of  many 
more  in  after  years. 

Eam  Mohun  Eoy  was  not  present  at  these  baptisms.  He  had 
come  to  England,  and  in  England  he  died,  in  1833.  If  in  earlier 
years  he  had  known  Duff,  he  might  have  been  the  Luther  of 
India.  If  in  this  country  he  had  met  Dr.  Chalmers,  to  whom 
Duff  gave  him  a  letter  of  introduction,  he  might  (humanly 
speaking)  have  been  brought  to  Christ.  But  he  fell,  as  so  many 
like  him  have  done,  into  the  hands  of  the  Unitarians  ;  and  he 
died  at  Bristol,  declaring  that  he  was  neither  Christian,  nor 
Mohammedan,  nor  Hindu. 

Duff's  work  was  by  no  means  confined  to  his  school.  He  was 
only  four  years  in  India  before  his  health  utterly  gave  w^ay,  and  he 
was  sent  home,  and  remained  at  home  six  years.  But  during  his 
short  period  at  Calcutta  he  was  a  power.  In  particular  he  inspired 
Charles  Trevelyan,  who  in  his  turn  inspired  T.  B.  (afterwards 
Lord)  Macaulay,  who  together  inspired  Lord  William  Bentinck, 
with  the  doctrine  that  the  English  language  must  be  fostered  in 
India.  Not,  indeed,  to  the  disparagement  or  discouragement  of 
the  vernaculars.  No  one  knew  better,  or  urged  more  strongly, 
than  Duff  that  no  acquired  language  can  ever  replace  the  mother 
tongue.  But  the  Eenaissance  for  India  was  beginning  ;  and  what 
Greek  had  been  to  the  European  Renaissance  of  the  fifteenth 
century,  some  great  language  with  a  literature  behind  it  must  be 
to  India.  Should  it  be  Sanscrit,  or  Persian,  or  Arabic  ?  Yes, 
said  the  Orientalists.  No,  said  Duff,  and  Trevelyan,  and 
Macaulay ;  let  these  be  studied  by  linguistic  and  philological 
experts,  for  their  archaeological  value  ;  but  English  must  be  the 
medium  for  lifting  the  young  Indian  mind  on  to  the  higher  plane 
of  Western  culture,  Western  science,  and  Christian  truth.  Fierce 
and  prolonged  was  the  struggle  between  the  Oriento-maniacs  and 
the  Anglo-maniacs,  as  the  two  parties  were  colloquially  termed ; 
but  at  last  Macaulay's  logic  and  eloquence,  backed  by  the  palpable 

*  Gopinath  Nundi  became  a  missionary  of  the  American  Presbyterian 
Church.  Anundo  joined  the  London  Missionary  Society.  Duff  himself 
explained  that  the  reason  why  not  one  of  the  four  remained  in  the  service  of 
the  Church  of  Scotland  was  that  the  Church  had  then  no  opening  for  them. 
"  If  the  ground  of  their  reasons  had  not  been  removed,"  he  wrote,  "  I  should 
not  have  expected  any  talented  young  man  who  burned  with  zeal  to  be 
employed  in  arousing  his  countrymen,  to  remain  with  us — indeed  I  could  not 
ask  any." — Lije  of  Duff,  vol.  i.  p.  281. 


I^DiA  :   C/fANGF.s^  Reforms,  Developments  30Q 

evidence  furnished  by  Duff's  college,  won  the  day ;  and  Lord  W.  P^gy  ly- 
Bentinck  closed  his  seven  years'  beneficent  rule  by  issuing  the  (^5;^^\-^ 

order-in-council   which  decided   the    supremacy   of   the    English       '_ 

language  in  the  Higher  Education  of  India. 

Both  evil  and  good  results  have  followed.  But  the  evil  was 
sure  to  come,  whatever  the  decision  was ;  while  the  good  belongs 
to  the  actual  decision  itself.  To  name  only  one  thing.  Every 
cold  season  now.  Christian  lecturers  and  evangelists  visit  India,  and 
find  ready  for  them  eager  audiences  composed  of  the  cream  of 
India's  young  manhood,  and  understanding  English.  To  what 
do  they  owe  that '?  They  owe  it  to  the  foresight  and  determina- 
tion of  Bentinck,  and  Macaulay,  and  Trevelyan,  and  Duff. 

These  developments  and  reforms  were  greatly  assisted  by  three 
organs  in  the  press.  First,  Duff  started  the  Calcutta  Christian  The^press 
Observer.  Secondly,  an  old  quarterly  called  the  Friend  of  India,  cutta." 
conducted  by  the  Serampore  Baptist  missionaries,  was  in  1835 
changed  into  a  weekly  paper  by  Mr.  J.  C.  Marshman,  son  of 
Carey's  colleague.  Under  his  editorship,  1835  to  1852,  it  became 
the  leading  journal  of  India ;  and  it  continued  so  under  the  editor- 
ship of  Mr.  Meredith  Townsend  (afterwards  co-editor  with  Mr. 
E.  H.  Hutton  of  the  Siicctator),  1852  to  1859,  and  under  that  of 
Dr.  George  Smith  (whose  admiral^le  works  are  frequently  referred 
to  in  this  History),  1859  to  1875— forty  years  altogether  of  unique 
influence  always  exercised  in  a  high  Christian  spirit. ^'^  Then 
thirdly,  in  1844  Captain  (afterwards  Sir  John)  Kaye,  the  historian 
of  the  Mutiny,  and  of  Christianity  in  India,  in  conjunction  with 
Marshman  and  Duff,  and  assisted  by  Henry  Lawrence  and  other 
brilliant  officers  and  civilians,  established  the  Calcutta  Eevietv. 
To  the  weekly  Friend  of  India  and  the  quarterly  Calcutta  Beview 
the  cause  of  progress  and  enlightenment  in  India  owes  much. 

As  to  Duff's  policy  of  Missionary  Education,  it  has  been  the 
pattern  for  the  extensive  work  carried  on  in  many  parts  of  India 
by  the  Church  Missionary  Society  ;  and  therefore  it  is  that  the 
foregoing  short  account  of  its  inception  and  initiation  has  found 
place  in  the  pages  of  our  History. 

Duff  found  that  in  Scotland  he  had  a  work  to  do  almost  as  ^^^^^ 
difficult,  and  at  first  as  discouraging,  as  his  work  in  India — to 
arouse  his  Church  to  care  for  the  evangelization  of  India.  The 
story  of  his  campaign,  first  in  the  General  Assembly, t  and  then 
in  the  Presbyteries,  as  told  by  Dr.  G.  Smith,  is  thrilhng  indeed; 
and  among  the  immediate  results  were  the  inspiring  with  mis- 
sionary zeal  of  McCheyne  and  Somerville,  and  the  actual  sending 

*  It  is  interesting  also  that  these  three  successive  editors,  Marslinian, 
Townsend,  and  Smith,  wei-e  likewise  successive  Calcutta  correspondents  of 
the  Times. 

■f  His  wonderful  speech  in  the  Assembly  is  described  by  Dr.  G.  Smith,  who 
gives  some  passajjes.  The  whole  of  it  is  printed  in  Pratt's  Missionary 
Re'/ister,  and  occupies  no  less  than  twenty-four  columns  in  the  June,  Jul^-, 
August,  and  September  numbers  of  1835. 


3IO  India:   Changes,  Rrfori\ts,  Developments 

Part  IV.  forth   of  John  Anderson,  Thomas  Smith,  and  J.  Murray  Mitchell. 

1824-41.    Indeed,  Scotland  has  given  a  far  larger  proportion  of  its  ablest 

^^^" '    '  ^^cl  most  cultured  men  to  Foreign  Missions  than  any  other  country 

in  the  world.     But  this  does  not   belong  to  our  History.     What 

Duff's         does  belong  to  it  is  the  magnificent  speech  which  the  young  High- 

Speech".       lander — he  was  still  only  just  thirty — delivered  at  the  Church 

Missionary  Society's  Anniversary  in  1836,'''  to  which  allusion  has 

before  been  made.     No  extracts  can  give  any  adequate  idea  of  it, 

and  yet  a  few  passages  must  be  given. 

"  it  is  a  most  affecting  thought,"  he  began,  "  that  in  searching 
for  the  most  marvellous  proofs  of  the  fall  of  man,  we  are  not 
required  to  go  to  the  outskirts  of  the  terrestrial  globe — to  the 
shores  of  New  Zealand,  or  to  the  coast  of  Labrador  ;  but  to  visit 
the  vast  region  of  the  East,  which  enwraps  in  its  bosom  the  cradle 
of  the  human  race,  of  Eeligion,  of  Science,  of  the  Patriarchal 
Faith,  yea,  of  Christianity  itself."  This  he  pow^erfully  illustrated 
from  the  actual  facts  of  Indian  ignorance,  superstition,  and 
degradation.  What,  then,  was  to  be  done  ?  "  If  it  be  asked  what 
is  the  prime  instrument  in  regenerating  a  fallen  world,  most 
assuredly  the  answer  must  be — the  ever-blessed  Gospel,  preached, 
proclaimed,  or  taught  by  the  living  voice,  and  brought  home  to 
the  heart  by  the  Spirit  of  God."  "In  this,"  he  observed,  "all 
Christians  are  agreed";  but  referring  to  the  Eeport  just  read, 
which  spoke  of  Schools  and  Institutions,  he  added,  "  Here  pious 
minds  sometimes  demur."  Then  follows  a  splendid  defence  of 
Education  as  a  missionary  agency.  How  could  Englishmen,  he 
asked,  be  expected  to  go  to  India  in  sufficient  numbers  to  reach 
130  millions  (as  was  then  estimated)  of  Heathen?  "  Not  unless, 
by  some  catastrophe,  we  should  be  compelled  to  flee  in  thousands 
from  the  land  of  our  nativity,  as  the  Jews  fled  from  the  city  of 
their  fathers,  or  as  seamen  flee  from  a  sinking  ship."  No,  we 
The  object  must  look  to  native  evangelists ;  and  to  educate,  lead  to  Christ, 
tionai"'^^"  ^^^  train  for  His  service,  those  who  might  be  so  used  was  the 
Missions,  grand  purpose  of  Missionary  Education.  "  If  any  object  to  this, 
let  them  begin  at  home  :  let  them  go  forth  with  the  destroying 
scythe,  to  prove  the  sincerity  of  their  principles,  and  mow  down 
their  Christian  Schools  of  every  grade :  let  them  toss  their 
Cambridge  and  Oxford  into  the  depths  of  the  sea ;  and  then, 
smiling  at  the  wreck  and  havoc  they  have  made,  declare  that 
we  act  inconsistently  in  desiring  to  erect  Christian  Schools  on 
the  Ganges,  as  w^ell  as  on  the  banks  of  the  Cam  or  of  the  Thames." 
Then  Duff  enlarged  on  the  intellect  of  India,  which  would  be 
satisfied  somehow.  "  We  have  not  to  do  there  with  vacuity  of 
mind  .  .  .  rather,  with  plenitude  of  mind."  Therefore,  let  us 
see  to  it  that,  loith  the  knowledge  India  would  acquire,  we  gave 
her  also  the  knowledge  of  Jesus  Christ  and  Him  crucified ; 
otherwise    we    should    be    training    up    ' '  versatile    and   learned 

*  Missionortj  Reyintcr,  183G,  p.  398. 


IxDiA  :   Chances,  Reforms,  Developments 


x\  I 


infidels."     Finally  he  appealed  to  his  audience.     First  as  to  their  ^J«j_[); 
duty  and  responsihility,  and  then —  Chap.  21. 

"  But  why  should  I  appeal  to  duty  and  responsibility  alone  ':'— why  not  ^^^.^ 
to  the  exquisite  enioyinent  experienced  by  those  who  kn«'W  iin.l  value  fervent 
the   privik-e  of   beini   fellow-w.rkers  with  the  S'eat  God  Huuself   ni  appeal, 
advancint,'  that  cause  f..r  which  tlie  world  was  ori.truially  created,  and  tor 
tlie   devoloi)inent  of  wliich  tlie  worhl  is  still   preserved  in    benig         i 
appeal  to  all  present  who  bask  in  the  sun.shine  of  the  Redeemer  s  love, 
whether  the  enjoynu-nt  felt  in  proniotin-  the  great  cause  for  which  He 
died  in  a.'onies  oil  the  Cross,  that  He  might  see  of  the  travail  of  His  soul 
and  be  satisfied,  is  not  ineftable  '1    Oh  !  it  is  an  enjoyment  which  those  who 
have  once  tasted  it  would  not  exchange  for  all  the  treasures  of  India 
It  is  a  ioy  rich  as  heaven  and  ksting  as  eternity ;  and,  in  the  midst  ot 
troublous  times,  when  the  shaking   of  the  nations   and  the  heaving  of 
the  earthquake  which  may  ere  long  rend  asunder  the  mightiest  empires 
have  commenced,  what  stay -what  refuge-what  hi.hng-place  can    he 
found  like  the  faith  and  hope  which  are  the  stronghold  of  therigliteous. 
Those  whose    faith  has   been  tirmly   placed   on   the  rock   of  Jehovah  s 
i)iomi.ses   can  look  across  the   surges  of  the  tempestuous  ocean  to  the 
l)ri<dit  regions  which   lie  beyond.  .  .  .  Think    of  the  earth     as  it  now 
is  "rent  with   noise   and   burdened  with  a  curse;    think    of   the  same 
earth,  in  the  radiance  of  Prophetic  Vision,  coiiverte.l   into   gladsome 
bowers,  the  abodes  of  peace  and  righteousness.     \  lew  the  Empire  ot 
Satan,  at  present  fast  bound  by  the  iron  chains  of  malignant  demons, 
who  feed  and  riot   on  the  groans  and    perdition   of   immortal    spirits. 
Behold,  from  the  same  dark   empire,  in   the    realization    of    proplietic 
imagery,  the  new-clad  mvriads  rise,  chaunting  the  chorus  of  a  Renovatec 
Creation  -the  jubilee  of  a  once  groaning  but  now  Phnancipated  L  inverse  . 
.  .  .   Oh,  that   the   blessed  era  were  greatly  hastened!     Oh,  that   the 
vision  of  that  mitred  minstrel  who  erewhile  sung  so  sweetly  of  •  U|een- 
land's  icy  mountains'  and  '  India's  coral  strand'  were  speedily  realized. 
—  that  glorious  vision  whereui,  rapt  into  future  tunes,  he   beheld  the 
stream    of  Gospel  blessings  rise,   and   gush,   and    roll    onwanl    till    it 
embraced  every  land  and  circled  every  shore- 
Till  like  a  sea  of  jrhny, 
It  si>rca(l  from  ])olc  to  pole. 

"  Even  so.  Lord  Jesus  I  come  (juickly  :  even  so.     Amen." 

Duir  sat  down  amid  a  tempest  of  applause.  Bishop  J.  B. 
Sumner,  of  Chester  (after^yards  Archliishop  of  Canterlniry),  was 
the  next  speaker.  He  rose,  and  paused  long,  waiting',  as  he 
explained,  "  till  the  gush  of  emotion  excited  had  been  somewhat 
assuaged."  William  Carus,  then  one  of  the  deans  of  Trinity 
College,  Cambridge  (who,  a  few  months  later,  succeeded  Simeon  \^^^^^^ 
at  Trinity  Church),  was  present,  and  asked  Duff  to  visit  the 
University  ;  and  there  the  young  Scotch  missionary  met  Charles 
Simeon,  to  wdiose  blessed  influence  over  his  father's  pastor  his 
own  career  in  India  was  indirectly  due.  It  was  Simeon's  last 
link  with  the  India  for  whicli  he  had  done  so  much.  Six  months 
later,  he  entered  into  rest. 


CHAPTEK   XXll, 


TM'IA  :    rnOORESS    OF  TUK   M]ssiOy>^. 

The  North  India  Stations— The  Awakening  in  Krishnagar— Bishop 
Wilson's  Hopes  -Why  they  failed  -Bishop  Wilson  declines 
Ladies  — Mrs.  Wilson  -Bombay— Tinnevclly  Rhcnius  :  his  Work, 
his  Disconnexion  —  Progress  under  Pettitt  —  The  Tinnevelly 
Christians:  Nominal  Christianity;  Persecution;  C.M.S.  and  S.P.G. 
— Travancore:  Syrians  and  Heathen;  Changed  Policy  of  the  Mis- 
sion—Madras Seminary— Telugu  Mission  :  Fox  and  Noble— John 
Tucker  —  Controversies  with  the  Corresponding  Committees  — 
Bishop's  College— Other  Missions  in  India— Ceylon. 

".4s  he  sowed,  some  fell  h]/ the  uatj  side  .  .  .  and  s,nne  fell  <,n  stomj  ijnjitnd 
.  .  .  and  sotne  fell  a)iwng  thorns  .  .  .  and  other  fell  on  good  ground,  and  did 
yield  fnt it  that  s]>ran>j  up  and  increased." — St.  Mark  iv.  4-8. 

X  our  Fifteenth  Chapter,  we  took  a  brief  survey  of 
the  Society's  Missions  in  India  when  Bishop  Heber 
landed  in  1823.  Let  us  now  view  tliem  again  as 
they  appeared  in  1841.*  In  the  whole  twenty-seven 
years,  1814  to  1840  inclusive,  the  Society  had  coni- 
niissioned  exactly  one  hundred  missionaries  to  work  in  India. 
The  word  "sent  out  "  would  not  be  strictly  accurate,  as  a  few  of 
them  were  engaged  in  India.  Fifty-six  were  labouring  at  the 
close  of  1840  ;  and  among  these  were*  such  men  as  Sandys,  Long, 
Weitbrecht,  W.  Smith,  Leupolt,  Pfander,  Pettitt,  Thomas,  Bailey, 
Baker,  and  Peet. 

In  North  India  there  was  distinct  development  although  three 
important  cities  in  which  some  preliminary  work  had  been  done 
by  catechists  and  schoolmasters  had  not,  owing  to  the  paucity  of 
labourers,  been  regularly  worked,  and  had  dropped  out  of  the  list. 
These  were  Delhi,  Cawnpore,  and  Lucknow,  The  two  former 
have  since  become  great  centres  of  S.P.G.  work ;  and  Lucknow, 
after  the  Mutiny,  was  permanently  occupied  by  the  C.M.S.  At 
this  time  Oudh  was  still  an  independent  kingdom  ;  but  it  had 
been  arranged  for  Abdul  Masih  to  be  stationed  at  the  capital,  and 
after  his  ordination  by  Bishop  Heber  in  December,  1825,  he 
proceeded  accordingly  to  Lucknow.  But  he  fell  ill  soon  after  his 
arrival,  and  died  on  March  4th,  1827,  after  fourteen  years'  faithful 
service  as   really  the  first  C.M.S.  missionary  in   India;  "during 

*  But  this  chapter  at  ouo  or  two  points,  looks,  for  convenience,  a  little 
beyond  that  date. 


India  :  Progress  of  the  Missions  313 

the  whole  of  which  time,"  wrote  the  Calcutta  Corresponding  Com-  Part  IV. 
mittee,    "he    had   uniformly  adorned   the    doctrine    of   God    our  ^P'^g 
Saviour,  and  greatly  endeared  himself  to  many  Christians  of  all       ^P"    " " 
classes  in  society."     Nine  years  elapsed  before  the  second  Native 
clergyman  in  North  India  was  ordained— Anund  Masih,  to  w^hom 
reference  was  made  in  Chapter  XV. 

Agra,  the  scene  of  most  of  Abdul  Masih's  labours,  was  now  ^^^^'^j.^^" 
occupied  by  four  able  Europeans,  Germans  from  the  Basle 
Seminary,  who  had  been  expelled  from  the  north-west  of  Persia 
when  the  Russians  conquered  and  annexed  the  province  they 
worked  in.  These  were  Schneider,  Hoernle,  Pfander,  and  Kreiss. 
They  had  made  their  way  to  India  without  returning  to  Europe ; 
and  there  they  were  gladly  taken  up  by  the  Calcutta  Correspond- 
ing Committee.  They  remained  in  Lutheran  orders  for  several 
years,  but  ultimately  they  (except  Kreiss,  who  died)  were  ordained 
as  clergymen  of  the  Church  of  England  by  Bishop  Cotton.  In 
addition  to  the  ordinary  work  of  preaching  and  teaching,  the 
missionaries  had  now  the  care  of  a  large  number  of  famine 
orphans,  thrown  upon  the  Society's  hands  after  the  terrible 
famine  of  1837-8.  For  their  accommodation,  the  Government  ^^^"^^"1  ^^ 
gave  the  Society  the  tomb  of  Miriam  Zamani  (the  traditional  Secundra. 
Christian  wife  of  Akbar,  the  great  Mogul  Emperor),  just  opposite 
Akbar's  own  grand  mausoleum  at  Secundra,  six  miles  from  Agra. 
The  Secundra  Orphanage  w^as  for  some  years  w^orked  by  Hoernle, 
w^ho  also  started  a  mission  press,  at  which  the  orphan  boys,  as 
they  grew  up,  were  employed. 

At  Benares,  W.  Smith  and  Leupolt  were  now  in  the  full  tide  of  fm'ifh^nd 
the  noble  work  which  for  forty  years  they  carried  on  together,  to  Leupoit. 
the  admiration  of  all  India.  Smith  was  the  itinerant  preacher, 
in  the  city  and  in  the  surrounding  .country ;  Leupolt  was  the 
organizer  of  schools,  orphanages  (here  also  famine  orphans  were 
taken  charge  of  in  1837-8),  industrial  institutions.  Under  his 
superintendence,  the  little  Christian  village  at  Sigra,  a  suburb 
of  Benares,  became  a  happy  centre  of  industry  and  good 
influence. 

A  new  Mission  had  been  begun  in  1824  at  Gorakhpur,  north-  Gorakhpur, 
west  of  Benares,  near  the  frontier  of  Nepaul.  It  was,  like  so 
many  other  Indian  mission  stations,  started  at  the  request,  and  at 
the  expense,  of  a  Government  oflicial.  This  w^as  Mr.  R.  M.  Bird, 
the  Commissioner  of  the  district,  w^ho,  like  other  civil  officers, 
did  all  in  his  power  for  Missions  while  in  India,  and  joined  the 
C.M.S.  Committee  when  he  returned  to  England.  =■=  His  sister, 
a  weak  and  delicate  lady,  laboured  most  devotedly  by  his  side 
at  Gorakhpur,  teaching  the  women  and  girls,  and  translating  books 
and  tracts  into  Urdu,  until  her  death  from  cholera  in  1834.  Lord 
William  Bentinck  took  much  interest  in  this  Mission,  and  allotted 
to  it  a  large  tract  of  waste  land,  to  be   cultivated   by  the  Native 

*  See  p.  297. 


314  I.ynr.i:  Pkocrf.ss  of  thf.  Jf/.'ss/oxs 

I'vRT  IV.  ("hristians,  aiul  upon  it  was  built  a  villa-^a'  for  thoin  to  dwoll  in, 

(''l*"^^>-'    "'^'"^''^  ^^•^^'^'^'■''•^'^•''.  "  Town  of  tliL'(!os|H'l."    The  first  niissionaiy, 

''  '■  "-•  the  Rev.  M.  Wilkinson,  l)a]>tizecl  sonic  notal)U'  converts,  particularly 

Sheikh  Raji-ud-din,  a  ^^ohan)nledan  of  rank  and  influence,  wiio, 

after  some  years  of  consistent  Christian   life,  died  at  a  ^reat  aj;e, 

faithful  to  the  last,  thouf^h  plied  with  i-very  inducement  to  recant 

on  his  death-hed. 

fndwdt-        ('<>nii"k'  t»^  Lower  Benj^'al,  Timothy  Sandys  had  hej^un  the  work 

brecht.        wliicli,    for   as    len«,'thened    a    jx'riod    as    Smith    and    Leupolt   at 

Jienares,  and  with  ecpial  faithfulness,  he  carried  on  in  the  capital 

of  India.     Weithrecht,    another  of   the    Basle  men,    hut  trained 

fin-ther  at  Isliuf^ton  and  in  Enj^lisli  orders,  was  at  Burdwan  with 

his  devoted  wife,  whose  work  in   En^dand  in  her  old  aj^o  is  one  of 

the   happiest   memories  of  the  present  generation.      But  at  the 

period   of  this   survey,    the  eyes  of   the    Society   restt-d  with   the 

most  caf^er    interest   and   hope   upon   the   I\rishna<,'ar  or  Nuddea 

(more  properly  Nadiya)  district,  fifty  miles  north  of  ('alcutta.     In 

tiiis  district   there   had  just  been   reaped   the   lart,'est   harvest  of 

converts  yet  gathered  hy  any  Mission  in  North  India. 

In  1831,  one  of  the  German  missionaries  at  Burdwan,  W.  J. 
Deerr,  visited  Nadiya,  a  sacred  Hindu  town,  and  the  hirlhplaco 
of  Chaitanya,  tlie  Vaishnava  reformer  of  the  sixteenth  century. 
Thence  he  crossed  the  river  Ilooj^hly  and  made  his  way  to  another 
Krishnr-     important  town,  Krishna^ar,  where  he  started  a  vernacular  school. 
^°''-  This  district  is  in  the  heart  of  Lower  Bengal,  and  densely  popu- 

lated, there  being  at  the  last  census  more  than  two  millions  of 
souls  on  an  area  of  3400  square  miles,  or  590  to  the  square  mile. 
Deerr  came  across  some  membei*s  of  a  curious  community  called 
Karta  Bhoja,  "  Worshippers  of  the  C'reator,"  one  of  the  numeious 
sects,  half  Hindu  anil  half  Moslem,  which  have  from  time  to  time 
risen  up  to  protest  against  the  tyranny  of  the  Brahmans.  In 
1H33,  thirty  persons  of  this  sect  were  baptized  in  the  face  of  much 
Movement  persecution.  The  movement  went  on  without  much  being  said  or 
citril^^  thought  about  it,  until  1838,  when  suddenly  the  leading  men  in 
tianity.  ten  villages,  including  with  their  families  some  five  hundred  souls, 
simultaneously  eml)raced  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  and,  after  some 
months'  instruction,  were  baptized.  The  Society  at  home  heard 
of  it  early  in  1839  ;  but  the  Committee  only  put  a  l)rief  and 
cautious  paragraph  in  the  Annual  Report  of  that  year.  "  A  spirit 
of  inquiry,"  they  said,  "  to  a  considerable  extent,  has  lately  been 
manifested  in  the  Krishnagar  branch  of  the  Burdwan  Mission,  of 
a  very  hopeful  kind.  Time  is  necessary  to  ascertain  its  real 
character.  Experience  has  taught  the  Committee  to  rejoice  with 
trembling,  even  under  the  most  satisfactory  indications  of  a  work 
of  grace  among  a  Heathen  population."  That  was  all  :  not 
another  word.  But  shortly  afterwards  such  accounts  came  from 
the  Bishop  of  Calcutta  himself  as  filled  all  hearts  with  joyful 
anticipation. 

"One  day,"  writes  Daniel  Wilson's  biographer,  "at  the  close 


India:  Progress  of  the  Missions  315 

of  the  year  1888,  a  Native  of  courteous  address  and  fine  bearing  Part  IY. 
stood  at  the  gate  of  the  Bishop's  pahxce,  the  bearer  of  a  message  1824-41, 
to  him  from  the  missionaries  of  Krislinagar,  simihxr  to  the  one  ^'^^P-  ^2. 
spoken  to  St.  Paul  in  vision,  when  the  man  of  Macedonia  stood  by  Appeal  to 
his  bedside,  saying.  Come  over  and  help  us.  It  conveyed  tidings  ^^°\ 
of  a  great  and  general  movement  amongst  the  Natives  towards 
Christianity.  Advice  and  help  were  urgently  required."  The 
Bishop  immediately  commissioned  Archdeacon  Dealtry  (who  had 
been  appointed  to  that  office  when  Corrie  became  Bishop  of 
Madras),  and  Krishna  Mohun  Banerjea,  who  was  now  a  clergyman, 
to  go  to  Krishnagar  and  report.  They  found  that  the  whole 
population  of  fifty-five  villages  were  desirous  to  become  Christians. 
The  movement  had  been  fostered  by  the  unselfish  kindness  of 
Mr.  Deerr  and  his  helpers  when  an  inundation  destroyed  the  crops, 
and  to  that  extent  temporal  motives  were  at  work  ;  but  the  cjurus 
of  the  sect  themselves,  who  would  be  losers  and  not  gainers 
by  becoming  Christians,  were  also  among  the  seeking  crowd. 
Dealtry  and  Banerjea,  together  with  Sandys  and  Weitbrecht,  who 
had  also  hastened  to  the  district,  baptized  at  once  five  hundred 
persons  who  had  already  been  some  time  under  instruction  ;  and 
they  returned  to  Calcutta  to  beg  the  Corresponding  Committee 
to  send  more  missionaries  and  native  catechists  as  quickly  as 
possible.  Eight  months  later  the  Bishop  went  himself,  accom- 
panied by  his  chaplain,  J.  H.  Pratt  (son  of  Josiah  Pratt)  ;  when 
five  hundred  more  candidates  were  baptized,  and  two  hundred  of 
the  former  company  confirmed.  And  at  a  second  visit  in  March, 
1840,  nearly  similar  numbers  were  received.  The  adherents 
numbered  more  than  three  thousand. 

The  Bishop  addressed  two  long  and  deeply-interesting  letters  to  Bishop 
Lord  Chichester,  as  President  of  the  Society,  detaihng  the  whole  S^por"'^ 
story,  and  his  own  visit."  It  is  not  surprising  that  he  viewed  the 
movement  as  the  prelude  to  a  much  wider  one,  that  would  sweep 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  souls  into  the  Christian  Church.  Not 
that  he  forgot  the  dangers  of  such  a  sudden  accession  of  poor  half- 
taught  cultivators.  "  The  human  heart,"  he  wrote,  "  is  deceitful : 
appearances  are  treacherous.  Popular  movements  of  any  kind 
draw  in  numbers  of  ill-informed  followers.  The  habits  of  heathen 
society  soon  steal  behind  the  Christian  inquirer,  and  entangle  him 
in  the  old  ambush.  The  result  of  real  conversions,  even  at  home, 
and  in  our  largest  parishes,  and  where  crowded  congregations  in 
every  quarter  promise  abundant  fruit,  is  comparatively  small — 
what  then  are  the  allowances  to  be  made  for  our  feeble  flocks  in 
Pagan  India?"  Still  he  did  believe  that  the  Holy  Spirit  was  at 
work  ;  and  w^ho  should  set  limits  to  the  power  of  His  grace  ? 

It  is  well  known  that  the  early  promise  of  Krishnagar  was  not  Krishna- 
fulfilled  ;  and  blame  has  often  been  cast  upon  the  Bishop  and  the  ^aradisap- 

I        ■>      •  ~>         •        -,         -r^  ^  ,f  pointment: 

missionaries  tor  being  deceived.     But  one  cannot  read  the  letters  why? 
*  Printed  in  the  Appendix  to  the  Report  of  1840. 


31 6  Ixdia:  Progress  of  r/fE  Jf/ss/oxs 

Part  IV.  ^vl•itten  at  the  time  \vithout  noting  the  care  and  caution  exercised, 
1824r-41.  jhg  steadfastness  of  tiie  converts  \inder  persecution,  and  many 
'^P"  other  sif^iis  of  the  reahty  of  the  movement.  If  Krishnagar  was 
afterwards  a  disappointment — as  no  douht  it  was — are  not  other 
reasons  sufficient?  Certainly  there  are  three  which  amply  account 
for  it.  First,  there  were  not  Native  teachers  enough,  and  of  good 
quality  enough,  to  go  in  at  once  and  lead  the  converted  on 
to  a  higher  life.  Secondly,  it  is  clear  that  the  German  mission- 
aries who  took  charge,  such  as  Deerr,  Kruckeherg,  Lincke, 
Blumhardt,  &c. — there  were  ten  in  the  district  in  1848 — had  not 
learned  the  importance  of  teaching  the  Native  Church  its  first 
lessons  in  self-support,  self-administration,  and  self-extension. 
Not  that  they  are  to  be  l)lamed  for  this  more  than  others. 
Scarcely  any  one  at  that  time,  at  home  or  abroad,  had  really 
grasped  that  gi*eat  principle  ;  and  in  North  India  especially,  the 
patriarchal  system  that  suited  the  genius  of  the  German  brethren, 
making  each  missionary  the  ma-bap  (mother  and  father)  of  his 
people,  was,  kind  as  it  seemed,  a  real  obstacle  to  the  healthy 
independent  growth  of  the  Church.  Then  thirdly,  when  the 
Society  at  home,  inspired  by  Henry  Vemi,  adopted  the  priiicii)le 
just  indicated  as  its  definite  policy,  the  missionaries  were  with- 
drawn (or  vacancies  not  supplied)  too  quickly  ;  and  the  community 
that  might  in  its  infancy  have  been  taught  to  walk  alone,  when 
suddenly  let  go,  stumbled  and  fell.  How  it  was  again  revived  in 
later  years,  we  shall  see  hereafter. 

One  request  of  Bishop  Wilson  for  Krishnagar  reminds  us  of 
another  department  of  work  in  Bengal.  lie  appealed  for  money 
to  provide  instruction  for  the  women  and  girls.  B\it  in  what  way '? 
By  taking  them  into  the  households  of  married  missionaries,  and 
clothing  and  feeding  them.  Unmairied  lady  missionaries  were 
not  then  thought  of.  If  they  had  been,  and  if  they  could  have 
l)een  provided,  would  not  such  an  agency  have  been  at  least  one 
preservative  against  declension  in  the  Krishnagar  Mission?  But 
the  Bishop  was  not  prepared  to  welcome  tliem  at  all.  Archdeacon 
C.  J.  Hoare  wrote  to  him  from  England  about  a  lady  who  wished 
to  go  out  and  work  in  India.  "No,"  replied  the  Bishop,  "the 
lady  will  not  do.  I  object  on  principle,  and  from  the  experience 
of  Indian  life,  to  single  ladies  coming  out  to  so  distant  a  place, 
with  the  almost  certainty  of  their  marrying  within  a  month  of 
their  arrival.  .  .  .  I  imagine  the  beloved  Persis,  and  Tryphena  and 
Tryphosa,  remained  in  their  own  neighbourhoods  and  families."  '•' 
It  will  be  observed  that  he  conveniently  omits  Phebe  of  Cenchrea, 
who  certainly  did  not  stay  at  home  !  And  ladies  did  go  to  India 
even  then  in  the  name  of  the  Lord,  and  did  not  get  married  at 
once,  but  did  work  at  some  few  of  the  stations  of  both  C.M.S. 
and  other  societies.  These  were  sent  out  by  a  new  organization 
founded  in  1834,  which  afterwards  adopted  the  title  of  the  Society 

*  Life  of  Bishop  D.  Wilson,  vol.  ii.  p.  255. 


India:  Progress  of  the  Missions  317 

for  Promoting  Female  Educcation  in  the  East — a  society  whose  Part  IV. 
agents  have  done  noble  work,  not  only  in  India,  but  in  other  parts  i,^*^'^'"^-,^.; 
of  Asia,  both  West  and  East.  ^^^'   "' 

There  was  a  Ladies'  Female  Education  Society  in  Calcutta 
before  this,  founded  in  1824,  which,  with  the  assistance  of  a  grant 
of  £500  from  the  C.M.S.,  had  established  a  Central  School,  with 
Mrs.  Wilson  (whose  original  girls'  school  when  she  was  Miss 
Cooke  was  noticed  in  our  Fifteenth  Chapter)  at  the  head  of  it. 
The  coming  of  these  ladies  released  Mrs.  Wilson  from  the 
Central  School,  and  enabled  her  to  carry  out  the  desire  of  her 
heart  by  establishing  a  Female  Orphanage.  This  she  did  at  Mrs.  wii- 
Agarpara,  a  few  miles  north  of  Calcutta,  in  1836.  Bishop  Wilson,  Agarpara. 
after  a  visit  to  her  there,  wrote  of  her,  "This  holy  woman,  and 
'  widow  indeed,'  with  a  spiritual,  sweet,  consistent  carriage — 
Henry  Martyn  or  Corrie  in  female  form — meek,  silent,  patient, 
laljorious,  with  extraordinary  tact  for  her  peculiar  work — is 
carrying  on  the  greatest  undertaking  yet  witnessed  in  India."  '•' 
For  six  years  she  continued  this  blessed  work,  and  then,  to  the 
Bishop's  dismay  and  grief,  she  joined  the  Plymouth  Brethren, 
who  had  spread  even  then  to  India.  She  had  ceased  to  be 
connected  with  the  Church  Missionary  Society  at  her  husband's 
death  in  1828 ;  and  the  Bishop  thought  that  her  isolated  position 
had  made  her  more  open  to  the  persuasions  of  the  new-comers. 
She  had  indeed  asked  the  Society  to  occupy  Agarpara  as  one 
of  its  stations,  but  the  paucity  of  men  had  led  the  Committee 
to  decline;  which,  the  Bishop  thought,  "was  the  spark  that 
fired  the- train."  f  When,  however,  she  openly  seceded  from 
the  Church,  he  persuaded  her  to  transfer  her  institution  to  the 
Society,  and  then  Agarpara  became  a  C.M.S.  station. 

Crossing  India  now  to  the  Bombay  Presidency,  we  find   some  Bombay : 
little  development,  though  the  work  was  still  on   a  very  small  valentine.'^ 
scale.     The  two  principal  missionaries, during  our  present  period 
wereC.  P.  Farrar  and  J.  Dixon,  both  Islington  men.     The  former 
w^as  the  father  of  F.  W.  Farrar,  afterwards  successively   Head 
Master  of  Marlborough,  Canon  and  Archdeacon  of  Westminster, 
and  Dean  of  Canterbury.     A  new"  station  had  been  opened  in  1832 
at  Nasik,  an  important  centre  of  Brahman  influence  in  the  Deccan 
— indeed   the  Benares   of  Western   India.     At   Bombay  a  High  Money 
School,  established  in  memory  of  a   godly  and   much-respected  School, 
civilian,  Eobert  Money,  had  been  put  under  the  Society's  charge, 
and  a  scholar  of  Trinity  College,   Cambridge,  G.  M.  Valentine, 
had  come  out  as  its  Principal.     A  remarkable  Parsee  convert  had 
been  one  fruit  of  his  work  in  the  School,  who  afterwards  became 
well  known  as  the  Eev.  Sorabji  Kharsedji.     The  Society  viewed 
with  great  satisfaction  the  appointment  of  Archdeacon  Carr,  who 
had  long  been  its  correspondent,  to  be  the  first  Bishop  of  Bombay. 

*  Missionary  Eegister,  1838,  p.  828. 
•j*  Life  of  Bishop  Wilson,  vol.  ii.  p.  187. 


2iS  India:  Progress  of  the  Missions 

Part  IV.       Passing  on  to  the  South,  we  find  that  the  ten  or  twelve  years 

}^^~^}.j    prior  to  the  establishment  of  the  Bishopric  of  Madras  had  been  a 

^^'    "'  time  of  great  progress  in  Tinnevelly.     Ehenius  proved  himself  a 

South  most  devoted  and  untiring  missionary.     Year  by  year  the  converts 

Progl-essin  increased   in    number.     The  people   who  put  themselves   under 

Tinnevelly  instruction,    indeed,    were    far   more    numerous    than    could    be 

Rhen'ius.     Satisfactorily  dealt  with.     Many  native  catechists   and  teachers 

were  employed,  but  they   needed   more   instruction  themselves, 

and  more  supervision  than  the  three  or  four  missionaries  in  the 

province  could  give  them.     It  was  really  a  good  thing  that  the 

opposition  of  the  Heathen  was  incessant,  and  that  persecution 

ever  and  anon  broke  out.     This  constantly  weeded  the  catechumens, 

those    who   were    double-minded    or   half-hearted   falling    back ; 

while  the   baptized   Christians,  not  having  been  admitted  to  the 

Church  till  they  had  been  well  tested,  for  the  most  part  remained 

steadfast.     The  pastoral  care  of  the  Christians,  scattered  as  they 

were   over  the  country  in  more  than  two   hundred  towns   and 

villages,  was  a  heavy  burden  upon  the  missionaries  ;  but  in  1830 

an  important  step  was   taken   towards  the   development  of   an 

indigenous   Native  Church  by  the  ordination  of  the  first  Tamil 

Rev.  John   pastor,  Jolin  Devasagayam.     He  had  been  for  some  years  working 

^z^txn        ^^    ^"^  Inspecting   Schoolmaster  in    the    Tranquebar   district,   of 

which  the  Society  was  for  a  time  in  charge  when  the  old  Danish 

Mission  had  come  to  an  end ;  and  he  had  emphatically  earned  for 

himself  a  good  degree.     It  was  Bishop  Turner,  the  fourth  Bishop 

of  Calcutta,  who,  while  on   a  visit  to  Madras,  had  the  privilege 

of    ordaining    the     first     Native     clergyman     in     South     India. 

Devasagayam,   on    his   ordination,   was    sent  to  Tinnevelly,   and 

there,  in  1836,  he  received  priest's  orders  from  Bishop  Corrie,  in 

Trinity  Church,  Palamcotta.     This  church,  opened  in  June,  1826, 

was    the  first    of    several    substantial   churches,  with    towei's    or 

spires,    that   were    erected    in    the  province,    and    became    the 

outward  and  visible  sign   of  the   growth  of  Christianity.     Many 

services  of  deep  interest  have  been  held  in  it  in  the  past  seventy 

years. 

Ehenius   founded    several  useful    societies    among  the  people, 

especially  the  Dliarma  Sangam,  or  Native  Philanthropic  Society, 

for  the  purchase  of  land  and  houses  as  a  refuge  for  converts  who 

Christian    wcrc  persecuted.     Several  Christian  villages  sprang  up  under  the 

villages.      auspices    of   this    organization,    such    as    Kadachapuram    (Grace 

Village),    Suviseshapuram    (Gospel   Village),   and   Nallur    (Good 

Town).     There  were  also   a   Poor    Fund,   a  Widows'   Fund,  and 

Tract  and  Bible  Societies.     In  connexion  with  these  last,  Ehenius 

did  excellent  translational  and  literary  work. 

The  old  ^*^^'   some  ycars    Ehenius    also    supervised    the    congregations 

s.p.c.K.     belonging  to  the  old  S.P.C.K.  Mission,  comprising  in  1825  about 

issions.    ^200  Christians.     Catechists  for  the  old  stations  and  districts  were 

supplied   from    Tanjore    and  Trichinopoly  ;    but  the  four  or  five 

Germans  at  those  centres  were  unable  to  spare  from  among  them- 


India:  Progress  of  the  Missions  319 

selves  a  resident  missionary  for  Tinnevelly.-''  Bishop  Heber,  Part  IV. 
indeed,  much  desired  men  in  Enghsh  orders  for  Tanjore  and  the  l^^-i-il- 
other  older  Missions.  In  writing  to  the  S.P.C.K.,  while  acknow-  *^h^^22. 
ledging  the  excellence  of  old  Kohlhoff  and  others,  he  *'  trusted  he 
was  not  illiberal  in  expressing  a  hope  that  the  Venerable  Society 
would  supply  him  with  episcopally-ordained  clergymen."  Un- 
fortunately none  were  forthcoming;  nor  was  the  S.P.G.,  when  it  s.p.g. 
took  over  the  administration  from  the  S.P.C.K.  in  1825,  able  to  do  caidweii 
more.  Not  till  1829  could  one  be  spared,  Mr.  Eosen,  and  he  only 
stayed  a  few  months.  At  last,  in  1836,  the  S.P.G.  was  able  to 
send  an  English  missionary  to  its  districts  in  Tinnevelly,  the 
Eev.  C.  Hubbard,  together  with  two  Germans  in  English  orders. 
In  1841  came  the  Rev.  R.  Caldwell,  who  became  one  of  the 
greatest  of  Indian  missionaries,  and  facile  ijrinceps  among  Tamil 
scholars.  Shortly  after  this,  the  districts  of  the  two  societies  were 
carefully  marked  out.  Hitherto  the  congregations  had  been  much 
mtermingled  ;  and  though  this  had  promoted  the  unity  of  the 
Church,  and  facilitated  the  supervision  of  all  alike  in  Ehenius's 
time,  it  was  found  awkward  for  native  catechists  and  school- 
masters in  the  same  group  of  villages  to  be  in  different  connexions 
and  looking  to  different  superiors.  The  able  compiler  of  the 
S.P.G.  Digest  thus  sums  up  what  was  done  : — "  Notwithstanding 
the  difficulties  involved — such  as  exchanges  of  schools,  congrega- 
tions, and  lay  agents — a  division  of  districts  was  effected  in  a 
spirit  worthy  of  the  common  cause.  As  a  consequence  of  the 
long  neglect  of  the  earlier  Mission,  the  C.M.S.  has  obtained 
possession  of  the  greater  part  of  the  Tinnevelly  field,  the  S.P.G. 
operations  being  confined  to  the  south-east  of  the  province."  i 

In  reading  the  old  C.M.S.   Reports  at  the   time  of  the  rapid  views  of 
development  of  the  Native   Christian  community  under  Rhenius,  r'^mitt 
one  is  struck  with  the  extreme  caution  and  candour  of  the  Com-  on  Tinne- 
mittee.     They  knew  well  how  ready  friends  at  home  are  to  over-  gres^s.^™' 
estimate    the    results    of    Missions,    and    to    imagine    or    expect 
perfection  in  native  converts  ;  and  year  after  year,  while  thank- 
fully reporting   the  progress  effected  through  the  goodness  and 
grace  of  God,  they  carefully  set  forth  the  unfavourable  side,  willing 
rather  to  run  the  risk  of  putting  weapons  into  the  hands  of  unfair 
and  unscrupulous  opponents — which  proved  to  be  the  case — than 
to  ignore  or  conceal  facts.     Nay,  they  not  only  did  this  ;  they  also, 
even    when    a    specially    favourable    report    came,   warned"^  their 

*  "  Noiinnally  the  Mission  was  under  the  Tanjore  Missionaries,  but  tlie  only 
real  superintendence  continued  to  be  supplied  hy  the  agents  of  the  C.M.S., 
until  1829." — S.P.G.  Digest,  p.  533.  The  Calcutta  Diocesan  Committee  of  the 
S.P.C.K.,  at  the  time  of  the  transfer  to  S.P.G.,  referred  to  the  Tinnevelly 
Christians  as  having-  Jjeen  "kindly  taken  up  by  .  .  .  the  Church  Missionary 
Society  :  thus  verifying,  in  a  double  sense,  the  text  that  saith,  '  One  soweth 
and  another  reapeth.'  .  .  .  [The]  Committee  rejoice,  for  their  object  is  equally 
attained,  that  these  Gentiles  were  not  suffered  to  remain  in  their  idolatry, 
and  that  this  timely  assistance  has  been  afforded  by  a  Sister  Society."  CM  S 
Report,  1828,  p.  9(3.  f  Digest,  j,.  534. 


320  India  :  Progress  of  the  Missions 

Part  IV.  readers  against  thinking  too  much  of  it.     In  one  Eeport  they  call 
1824-41.    on  them  "  to  rejoice  in  what  the  Lord  had  done,  hut  with  trembling, 
Chap.  22.  ^^^^  ^^  l^g  much  in  prayer  for  the  as  yet  tender  flocks,  that  He  who 
breaks  not  the  bruised  reed  may  strengthen,  invigorate,  and  con- 
firm the  work  of  grace."     Again,  "  The  Committee  would  guard 
their  statements  from  being  misunderstood,  as  if  they  represented 
a  state  of  advancement  and  purity  beyond  the  truth  of  the  case. 
The  description  of  a  change  from  a  state  of  Heathenism  to  that  of 
a  profession  of  Christianity  is  always  liable  to  such  misrepresenta- 
tions  by    superficial   readers."     And   again,    after  quoting  some 
instances  of  exemplary  Christian  conduct  in  the  Christians,  they 
said,  "  Let  us  not  be  mistaken,  as  if  these  instances  were  produced 
as  samples  of  the  general  state  of  Native  Christians.     Far  other- 
wise :  they  are  given  only  as  special  instances  of  divine  grace, 
which  prove  that  the  work  is  of  the  Lord  " — for,  it  is  justly  added, 
"  Men  do  not  gather  grapes  of  thorns,  or  figs  of  thistles." 
Difficulties      In  1835,  a  grave  crisis  occurred  in  Tinnevelly.     Three  or  four 
^u^  •         vears  before  this,  Ehenius  had  proposed  that  he  and  the  other 

Knenius.       J  •ii-i         it         -\    •       f  jjitj^i 

Germans  with  hmi  should  ordam,  accordmg  to  the  Lutheran  use, 
four  or  five  of  the  chief  native  catechists,  and  so  make  them 
"  country  priests  "  like  those  of  the  S. P. C.K.  Missions.  To  this 
j)roposal  the  Society  replied  that  the  S.P.C.K.  "  country  priests  " 
had  received  Lutheran  orders  at  a  time  when  there  was  no 
English  bishop  in  India  ;  but  that  as  English  orders  were  now 
procurable,  a  Church  society  could  seek  no  others  for  ncio 
candidates,  though  it  gladly  still  recognized  Ehenius's  own  orders 
just  as  the  S.P.G.  still  recognized  Kohlhoff's.  Much  correspon- 
dence ensued  ;  and  at  length  Ehenius  proposed  either  (1)  to  give 
up  his  Tinnevelly  post  and  engage  only  in  translational  work,  or 
(2)  to  join  another  society,  or  (3)  to  go  to  England  and  confer  with 
the  Committee.  The  Committee  chose  the  third  alternative  ;  but 
in  the  meanwhile  Mr.  Anthony  Groves,  the  w^ell-known  and  very 
devoted  Plymouth  Brother,-''  had  visited  Tinnevelly,  and  so 
influenced  Ehenius  that,  instead  of  going  to  England,  he  issued 
two  pamphlets  attacking  the  Prayer  Book  and  the  whole  con- 
stitution of  the  Church  of  England,  and  sent  them  all  over  South 
India.  The  Committee  received  these  pamphlets  with  "deepest 
regret  and  distress,"  and  while  expressing  their  "  strong  sense  of 
his  piety,    zeal,    devotedness,    and   unwearied  labours,"  yet  felt 

Rhenius      "  bound  in  consistency,  as  attached  members  of  the   Church  of 

discon-        England,"  to  dissolve  connexion  with  him. 

Ehenius  thereupon,  in  what  appeared  an  excellent  spirit,  handed 
over  the  charge  of  the  Mission  to  the  Eev.  George  Pettitt,  who 
was-  sent  to  Tinnevelly  by  the  Madras  Committee,  and  left  the 
district ;  but  the  difficulties  of  the  position  were  much  enhanced 
when  the  other  three  German  brethren,  Schaffter,  Midler,  and 
Lechler,  elected  to  secede  with  him,  leaving  only  John  Devasa- 

*  See  p.  283. 


India:  Progress  of  the  AIissions  321 

gayam  clinging  to  the   Church.     Naturally  there  was  much  giief,  Part  IV. 
and  not  a  little  discontent,  among  the  Native  Christians;  but  all   1824-41. 
seemed  to  be  quieting  down,  when  a  leading  catechist,  who  was  ^'^^P-  2^- 
discovered  misappropriating  funds,  resigned,  and  at  once  set  to 
work  to  incite  the  people  to  invite  Mr.  Ehenius  and  the  others 
back.     Unhappily,  encouraged  by  English  friends  at  Madras  who 
resented  the    Society's    assertion  of  its  Church  principles,   they 
thereupon  returned ;  and  a   great  and  distressing  schism  ensued.  Distress- 
For  three  years  the  Committee  had  to  report  on  Tinnevelly  in  '"g schism, 
terms  expressive  of  deep  sorrow  ;    for  although  three-fourths  of 
the  converts  remained  staunch,  the  district  was  now  filled  with 
"  envying   and   strife,   confusion    and   every   evil   work."     Good 
Bishop  Corrie  w^ent  down  to  Tinnevelly,  and  endeavoured  to  make 
peace,  but  in  vain  ;  but  his  venerable  and  gracious  presence  made 
a  deep  impression  on  the  faithful  members  of  the  Church,  and  it 
w^as  on  this  occasion  that  Devasagayam  received  priest's  orders 
- — the  first  of  many  ordinations  held  at  Palamcotta. 

In  June,  1838,  however,  Ehenius  died,  lamented,  for  his  zeal  Death  of 
and  earnestness,  by  all  parties.  The  Society  at  once  approached  ^^emus. 
his  widow  with  a  proposal  that  she  and  her  family  should  be 
treated  just  as  they  would  have  been  if  Ehenius  had  been  on  the 
roll  at  the  time  of  his  death.  The  good  feeling  thus  established 
was  signally  manifested  when  the  eldest  son  offered  his  services  as 
a  missionary,  came  to  England  to  be  trained  at  Islington,  and 
ultimately  returned  to  Tinnevelly  as  a  member  of  the  C.M.S. 
staff.  In  the  meanwhile,  the  singular  patience  and  gentleness 
which  Mr.  Pettitt,  in  his  most  trying  position,  had  manifested 
during  the  three  years,  had  borne  speedy  fruit.  Most  of  the 
Christians  who  had  seceded  came  back  to  the  Church,  with 
Schaffter  at  their  head.  Lechler  joined  the  London  Missionary 
Society  in  another  part  of  South  India.  Miiller  proposed  to  the 
L.M.S.  to  receive  him  and  his  peojjle  where  they  were,  thus 
extending  into  Tinnevelly  the  Tamil  Mission  which  that  society 
was  carrying  on  upon  the  other  side  of  the  mountains,  in  South 
Travancore.  The  L.M.S.  Directors,  however,  loyal,  as  ever,  to 
the  great  principle  of  missionary  comity,  declined  to  encroach  The 
upon  Church  of  England  ground  ;  and  ultimately  Miiller  also,  heailT. 
and  the  remaining  seceders,  rejoined  the  Church  and  the  C.M.S. 

All  traces  of  the  schism  now  quickly  disappeared.  "Then," 
wrote  Pettitt  afterwards,  quoting  the  Acts,  "had  the  Churches 
rest,  and  were  edified,  and  walking  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord,  and  in  Further 
the  comfort  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  were  multiplied."  In  1841,  Bishop  p^"^'-^^^- 
Spencer  visited  the  Mission,  and  held  the  first  confirmations  in 
the  district,  laying  hands  on  some  fifteen  hundred  candidates. 
Just  before  the  crisis  of  1835,  the  Christian  adherents,  including 
catechumens,  numbered  about  10,000  ;  now,  after  six  years,  they 
numbered  20,000 ;  after  another  six  years,  30,000.  This  total, 
however,  continually  varied  as  persecution  raged  and  waned ;  but 
the  number  of  baptized  Christians  rose  steadily  year  by  year,  fronj 

VOL.  I.  Y 


3' 


India:  Progress  of  the  Missions 


Part  IV. 
1824-il. 
Chap.  22. 


Pettitt  on 
the  acces- 
sions in 
Tinnevelly. 


How  treat 
inquirers 
with  mixed 
motives  ? 


about  3000  in  1835  to  6000  in  1841,  and  12,000  in  1848.  Among 
these  there  were  a  good  many  Vellalars  and  Maravars,  highly 
respectable  and  respected  divisions  of  the  Sudra  caste,  and  there- 
fore ranking  high  in  South  India.  At  the  other  end  of  the  scale 
there  were  Pariah  congregations.  But  the  bulk  of  the  converts 
were  from  the  Shanar  caste,  the  palmyra-climbers  of  the  province,* 
though  many,  having  become  fairly  well  off,  merely  owned  the 
trees  and  let  them  out  to  their  poorer  brethren.  Thg  Shanars, 
and  some  other  Tamil  castes,  are  counted  as  Hindus,  but  really 
are  devil-worshippers  ;  and  the  religion  of  Tinnevelly  is  a  com- 
bination of  that  strange  and  degrading  system — if  system  it  can  be 
called — and  the  more  elaborate  Brahmanism. 

In  his  interesting  book  on  the  Tinnevelly  Mission,  |  Mr.  Pettitt 
discusses  the  causes  of  the  considerable  accessions  to  Christianity 
in  this  province.  He  explains  that  temporal  motives  had  large 
influence,  but  believes  that  these  motives  were  used  by  the  Holy 
Spirit  to  lead  on  to  true  conversion  of  heart  in  many  cases.  "  The 
temporal  condition  of  our  people,"  he  writes,  "  has  been  decidedly 
improved,  not  by  any  pecuniary  advantages  received  from  the 
Mission,  jor  there  are  none,  but  from  Christian  knowledge, 
education,  deliverance  from  spiritual  slavery,  protection,  and  the 
cultivation  of  industrious  habits."  "  Is  it  to  be  wondered  at,"  he 
asks,  "  if  many  have  derived,  from  seeing  the  advantage  of  con- 
necting themselves  with  a  vmited  and  protected  body  like  this,  an 
impulse  which  their  faint  perceptions  of  the  truth  of  Christianity 
would  not  of  itself  produce  ?  "  He  further  explains  that  by  "  pro- 
tection "  he  means  that  the  lower  castes,  by  joining  a  homogeneous 
body,  found  remedy  and  redress  against  the  oppression  of  the 
higher  castes,  particularly  through  having  men  of  some  education 
and  influence,  as  the  leading  catechists  were,  both  to  advise  them 
and  to  get  justice  done  them.  Mr.  Pettitt  also  discusses  the  ques- 
tion. How  far  is  a  missionary  justified  in  receiving  persons  w^hom 
he  knows  or  suspects  of  being  impelled  by  earthly  motives  to  come 
to  him  ?  Certainly,  he  replies,  he  must  never  set  before  the 
Heathen  "  the  promise  of  the  life  that  now  is  "  as  a  reason  why  he 
should  come  to  Christ.  But,  he  asks,  if  a  Heathen,  merely  seeing 
that  Christianity  is  a  system  of  justice  and  peace,  comes  forward 
as  an  inquirer,  is  he  to  repel  or  refuse  him  ?  Is  he  not  rather  to 
receive  him  and  instruct  him  and  show  him  what  Christianity 
really  is  ?  "It  may  be,"  he  goes  on,  "  that  in  the  Gospel  net  w^e 
enclose  both  good  and  bad ;  but  the  sorting  process  soon  takes 
place.     Some  we  decline  at  once  ;  some  are  cast  off  for  open  sin, 


*  The  sandy  plains  of  Tinnevelly  are  covered  with  groves  of  palmyra- trees. 
This  tree  constitutes  an  important  part  of  the  wealth  of  the  district.  A 
Shanar  climbs  thirty  or  forty  trees,  to  a  height  of  sixty  or  eighty  feet,  twice 
daily,  to  collect  the  sap,  which  in  one  form  is  the  staple  food  of  the  people, 
and  in  another  gives  consistency  to  their  mortar  for  building.  The  trunk, 
the  roots,  the  tibres,  the  leaves,  of  the  tree  are  also  used  in  various  ways. 

■f-  i/(e  Tinnevdlxj  Ui»»ion  of  the  C.M.S.     London,  iSJl. 


IxDiA :  Progress  of  the   Missions 


323 


or  irregular  attendance,  or  relapses  into   heathenish  acts  ;  others  Part  IV. 
are  driven  away  by  persecution,  or  withdraw  from  dislike  of  the   i«2+-4i. 
restraints  and  requirements  of  the  Gospel.     Many,  however,  are  ^^'^P-  22. 
retained,  and  after  long  and  careful  instruction  are   admitted  l)v 
baptism  into  the  Christian  Church  " — and  he  felicitously  illustrates 
the  difference  between  these  "  adherents  "  in  the  early   stages  of 
their  adhesion  and  the  surrounding  Heathen  by  comparing  the 
former  to  land  just  enclosed  for  cultivation,  and  the  latter  to  the 
waste  land  outside  the  fence.     His  further  account  in  detail  of  the 
methods  adopted  for  the  "  shepherding  "  and  "  feeding  " — to  vary 
the  figure— of  these  still  "  silly  sheep  "  is  exceedingly  instructive, 
but  must  not  detain  us  here. 

It  will  be  borne  in  mind  that  these  remarks  do  not  apply  to  the 
converts  from  the  higher  castes.  Their  case  was  quite  different. 
"  What  things  were  gain  "  to  them  they  had  to  "  count  loss  for 
Christ."  Of  the  reality  of  their  convictions  there  could  rarely  be 
any  doubt.  Even  the  Shanars  and  the  lower  castes  or  out-castes  Persecu- 
frequently  had  to  endure  grievous  persecution.  Crops  were  often  *'°"  °*"*''^ 
destroyed,  cattle  maimed  or  stolen,  houses  and  huts  pulled  down,  ''°"'"'''*^" 
and  the  people  themselves  maltreated.  False  accusations,  backed 
by  the  unblushing  perjury  which  is  so  common  in  India,  were 
brought  against  them  in  the  local  courts  ;  and  the  local  judges, 
who  were  generally  Brahmans,  were  naturally  prejudiced  agafnst 
them,  and  not  always  fair  in  theii-  decisions.  The  Heathen  of 
the  lower  castes,  indeed,  often  suffered  oppression  of  this  kind  ; 
but  the  Christians,  in  addition,  were  persecuted  for  their  neglect 
of  idol  feasts  and  other  observances.  An  association  was  formed 
called  the  Vibiithi  Sangam,  or  Sacred  Ashes  Society,  in  allusion 
to  the  heathen  marks  on  the  forehead  or  breast  or  arms,  denotin^^ 
allegiance  to  this  or  that  god,  that  are  made  with  the  ashes  0I 
sandal-wood;  and  this  society  took  the  leading  part  in  the 
persecution.  One  great  cause  of  offence  was  a  family,  or  small 
village  community,  transforming  its  little  devil-temple  into  a 
Christian  prayer-house — which  was  frequently  done  ;  and  the 
transformed  huts  were  often  pulled  down  in  the  night.  In  one 
gross  case  Mr.  Pettitt  appealed  to  the  magistrate  at  Palamcotta. 
TIk"  members  of  the  Sacred  Ashes  Society  who  had  destroyed  the 
prayer-house  pleaded  that  no  such  building  had  existed.  The 
magistrate  despatched  a  police-officer  to  see  the  place  and  report. 
The  Heathen  party  instantly  sent  men  to  run  all  night  and  reach 
the  village  first,  thirty  miles  off.=-  When  the  policeman  arrived, 
he  was  shown  a  bit  of  ploughed  land,  with  grain  growing.  A 
Christian  bystander,  however,  quietly  said,  "  Please,  sir,  take  up 
one  or  two  of  those  blades  of  grain'  by  the  roots."  The  ground 
had  been  ploughed,  watered,  and  planted  in  the  night,  to  remove 
all  traces  of  the  ruined  building  ! 

*  There  is  nothing  unusual  in  this.  When  I  was  at  Palamcotta,  a  man 
brought  nic  a  letter  from  Mcngnauapuram,  twenty-ei<iht  miles  olf,  which  he 
luiil  run  all  niglit  to  deliver  early  in  the  morning. — 'E    S 

Y   2 


324  India  :  Progress  of  the  Missions 

Tart  IV.       One  case,  in  1846  (to  go  forward  a  little),  was  carried  to  the 

Gh^^2    ^^^B'^®^^  court  in  Madras.     As  usual,   the  anti-missionary  party 

^^"     ■  among    the    Europeans    warmly    espoused    the    cause    of     the 

Anglo-        persecutors ;  but  a  prolonged  trial  resulted  in  the  disgrace  and 

attt'ckthe    dismissal  of  the  local  Brahman  judges.     On  this   occasion   the 

Mission.      C.M.S.  and  S.P.G.  missionaries  united  in  a  public  statement,  to 

SPG  and  counteract  the  evil  influence  of  certain  Madras  newspapers.     This 

c'.M.s.       masterly  document,  while  refuting  the  calumnies  that  had  been 

bine  to  "^"    cii'culated,  fearlessly  avowed  that  such  calumnies  were  only  what 

defend  it.    was    to    be     expected    whenever    success    was    vouchsafed    to 

missionary   labours.     The   very    same  critics    who    at    one   time 

would   taunt   the    missionaries  with  their  lack  of  results  would, 

when  results  were  achieved,  complain  of  the  inevitable  consequent 

disturbance    of   the   Heathen   mind.     "  Our   success,    however," 

said  the  missionaries,  with  admirable   point,    "is  no  fault:    we 

labour   with   the   view   of    succeeding,    and   if    our   labours    are 

tolerated  at  all,  any  measure  of  success  w^hich  may  follow  must 

be    tolerated    also.      Hindus    must    either    be   prevented    from 

embracing  Christianity,  or  protected  in  the  profession  of  it." 

The  signatures  to  this  document  show  what  excellent  men  there 
now  were  in  the  Tinnevelly  Mission.  Among  the  four  S.P.G.  names 
are  Caldwell  and  Pope.='=  Among  the  fourteen  C.M.S.  names  are 
Pettitt,  Sargent,  Thomas,  J.  T.  Tucker,  and  the  brothers  Hobbs. 
The  great  work  of  Tucker,  Thomas,  and  Sargent  will  come  before 
us  hereafcar.  The  leading  missionaries  of  the  two  societies  had 
at  this  time  been  unitedly  engaged  in  making  a  new  translation  of 
the  Prayer-book.  "We  had  met,"  writes  Pettitt,  "nearly  every 
month  for  three  years  :  our  intercourse  had  been  delightful  and 
profitable ;  and  we  were  all  sorry  that  the  meetings  were  now  to 
cease.  Indeed  the  regret  was  so  sincere  and  deep  that  we 
resolved  in  future  to  meet  together  twice  a  year  for  mutual 
intercourse,  and  for  the  consideration  of  matters  connected  with 
our  common  work ;  and  the  Eev.  E.  Caldwell  was  appointed 
secretary  to  see  this  arrangement  carried  into  effect."! 

Another  labourer  at  this  time  was  Miss  C.  C.  Giberne,  who  had 

been  in  Ceylon  as  an  agent  of  the  Female  Education  Society,  but 

in  1844  joined  the  C.M.S.,  and  began,  on  a  small  scale,  the  work 

.among  girls  and  women  which  in  later  years  has  been  carried  ou 

with  such  signal  blessing  by  the  ladies  of  the  Church  of  England 

Zenana   Society.     Yet  another  labourer  was    a   highly-esteemed 

Mn  ^        bhnd   Eurasian,  W.    Cruickshanks,    who   in    1844   opened  what 

shanks.       became  the  Palamcotta  High    School.      Under  him  this  School 

produced  important   converts,   some   of  whom  became  catechists 

and   clergymen ;    notably  W.  T.  Satthianadhan,    afterwards    the 

honoured  pastor  of  Zion  Church,  Madras. 

Turning  now  westward,  and  crossing  the  Ghauts,  we  come  to 

*  Dr.  G.  U.  Pope,  now  so  well  known  at  Oxford,  is  the  sole  survivor, 
t  Pettitt's  Tinnevelly  Mission,  p.  453. 


India:  Progress  of  the  Missions  325 

Travancore.     The  commencement  of  this  Mission  was  related  in  Part  IV. 
the  chapter  on  Efforts  to  Eevive  the  Eastern  Chm^ches,  as  for  ^J;™ 
its  first  twenty  years  it  was  entirely  confined  to  an  honest  and       ' 
patient  endeavour  to  arouse  the  ancient  Syrian  Church  to  self-  Tra^van- 
reformation.     So  particular  were  the  missionaries  not  to  endanger  ly^ln  ^ 
the  success  of  the  mission  they  were  sent  to  fulfil  by  any  action  church, 
that  could  offend  the  most  sensitive  ecclesiastical  propriety,  that, 
when  Archdeacon  Robinson  of  Madras  paid  them  a  visit  in  1830, 
they  asked  his  counsel  about  building  a  small  chapel  for  occa- 
sional worship  according  to  Anglican  use.    For  fourteen  years  they 
had  worked  on  without  that  privilege,  worshipping  always  in  the 
Syrian  churches,  despite  much  in  the  ritual  w^hich  they  dishked. 
Now,  although  they  had  not  in  any  systematic  way  preached  to 
the  Heathen,  they  had  a  few  converts  from  Heathenism,  and  they 
shrank  from  subjecting  these  to  the  teaching  of  the  ignorant  and 
immoral  Syrian  ]3riests.     The  now  hostile  Metran,   not  satisfied 
wdth  the  better-educated  priests  produced  by  the  Syrian  College 
which  the  missionaries  were  still  carrying  on,  had  ordained  lads 
of  tw^elve  and  fourteen  years  of  age  to  the  diaconate,   hterally 
tempted  thereto  by  the  ordination  fee  !  and  he  encouraged  both 
priests  and   deacons  in  every  superstitious  usage,    especially  in 
masses  for  the  dead,  these  being  a  profitable  source  of  revenue. 
Altogether,  there  was  less  evidence  than  ever  of  any  desire  after 
reform  and  the  purifying  of  the  Church. 

In  1835,  Bishop  Wilson  visited  Travancore,  and,  showing  the  Bishop 
utmost  sympathy  for  so  venerable  a  Christian  community,  bent  ^^avan-'" 
all  his  energies  to  influence  the  Metran  and  other  leaders.  He  core, 
preached  by  invitation  in  the  principal  Syrian  church  at  Cottayam 
before  an  immense  concourse  of  people.  The  service  was  very 
elaborate  :  forty  priests  and  deacons  appeared  in  gorgeous 
vestments,  and  mass  was  performed,  with  a  loud  shout  of  joy  at 
the  end  from  the  whole  congregation,  and  the  "kiss  of  peace" 
given  all  round  from  one  to  the  other.  The  Bishop  preached  on 
the  Epistle  to  the  Church  of  Philadelphia— a  generously-chosen 
subject,  when  undoubtedly  Ephesus  or  Thyatira  or  Sardis  w^ould 
have  better  represented  the  actual  state  of  the  Church  of  Malabar. 
"  I  dw^elt,"  he  wrote,  "  on  what  the  Spirit  saith,  first  as  respects 
Christ  who  addressed  the  Church;  secondly,  as  respects  the 
Church  itself ;  thirdly,  as  to  the  promise  made  to  it.  On  this  last 
head  I  showed  them  that  Christ  had  set  before  them  an  open  door 
by  the  protection  and  friendship  of  the  English  Church  and  people. 
In  application  I  called  on  each  one  to  keep  Christ's  word,  and  not 
deny  His  name,  as  to  their  own  salvation.'"'^  "We  wish,"  he 
exclaimed  at  another  gathering,  "that  the  Syrian  Church  should 
shine  as  a  bright  star  in  the  right  hand  of  the  Son  of  Man,  holding 
forth  the  faithful  word." 

But  it  w^as  all  in  vain.     In  the  very  next  year,   the  Metran 

*  Life  of  Bishop  D.  Wilsmi,  vol.  ii.  p.  63. 


326  India:  Progress  of  the  Missions 

convened  a  Synod,  at  which  it  was  iinally  resolved  to  reject  all  the 
suggestions  that  had  been  made  by  the  English  Bishop,  and  to 
put  an  end  then  and  there  to  the  influence  of  the  English 
missionaries  in  the  Syrian  Church.  They  accordingly  retired 
from  the  College,  and  with  sorrow  abandoned  an  enterprise  thai3 
liad  been  faithfully  and  with  much  self-denial  prosecuted  for 
twenty  years.''' 

Now,  however,  they  were  free ;  and  they  turned  to  the 
Heathen.  Bailey  continued  his  translations  into  Malayalam  of 
the  Bible  and  Prayer-book,  and  his  printing-press,  and  built  a 
large  church  for  Anglican  services  at  Cottayam — "  Mr.  Bailey's 
fine,  noble  church,  the  glory  of  Travancore,"  wrote  Bishop  Wilson 
on  his  second  visit ;  Baker  extended  his  evangelistic  work  and 
vernacular  village  schools  in  the  central  districts  of  Cottayam  and 
Pallam  ;  two  younger  men  of  great  energy  and  zeal,  Joseph  Peet 
and  John  Hawksworth,  set  to  work  among  the  Heathen  in  the 
Mavelicara  and  Tiruwella  districts  to  the  south ;  and  another  new 
man,  H.  Harley,  opened  a  Mission  at  Trichur,  in  the  kingdom  of 
Cochin,  to  the  north.  Of  all  these  labours  we  shall  hear  more 
hereafter.  But  meanwhile,  there  were  devout  and  pure-minded 
men  among  the  Syrians  who  deplored  the  loss  of  so  much  holy 
influence  in  their  Church,  and  these  could  not  be  entirely  deserted. 
A  large  part  of  the  old  endowment  of  the  Syrian  College  raised  by 
Colonel  Munro  being  awarded  to  the  Mission  by  a  Court  of 
Arbitration,  a  new  College  on  the  lines  of  the  English  Church  was 
established  at  Cottayam,  and  the  money  so  awarded  applied  to 
the  education  of  Syrian  youths.  The  Eev.  John  Chapman,  Fellow 
of  St.  John's  College,  Cambridge,  was  sent  out  to  take  charge  of 
this  new  College,  and  for  ten  years  did  splendid  service.  The 
result  of  its  influence,  and  of  the  pattern  of  simpler  worship  and 
purer  life  now  set  by  the  liberated  Mission,  was  a  spontaneous 
reforming  movement  within  the  Syrian  Church,  which  in  later 
years  has  proved  a  great  blessing.  And  although,  from  the  first, 
proselytism  was  anxiously  avoided,  many  Syrians,  sick  of  the 
corruptions  and  superstitions  of  their  own  community,  openly 
joined  the  Church  of  England ;  and  several  of  those  trained  in  the 
College  were  ultimately  ordained  to  be  pastors  of  the  Native 
Cl^urch  gradually  being  built  up  out  of  Heathendom. 
Madras  The  need  of  a  superior  Theological  Seminary  for  South  India 

logical        wa^.^more  and  more  felt  as  the  Tinnevelly  Mission  developed  and 
Seminary,   the  Travaucore  Mission  got  on  to  right   lines ;    a    Seminary   to 
which  the  best  educated  of  the  catechists  could  be  sent,  for  an 
English  divinity  course.     In  1838,  the  Eev.  Joseph  Henry  Gray, 

*  Canon  Bateman  says,  "One  unworthy  clergyman,  a  chaplain  of  the  Com- 
pany, had  travelled  through  the  country  telling  the  people  that  crucifixes  and 
prayers  for  thv3  dead,  and  all  the  superstitions  learned  from  Rome,  were  right, 
and  that  the  missionaries  and  doctrines  were  all  wrong"  {liije.  of  Bishop 
D.  Wilson,  vol.  ii.  p.  223).  "This,"  adds  Whitehouse,  "was  not  t  lie  only  case 
of  the  kind  "  {Lingering s  of  Light  in  a  Darh  Land,  p.  264:). 


Ixdia:  Progress  of  tiii-:  Missions  327 

who  had  j^ained  high  honours  at  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  was  sent  Part  IY. 
to  Madras  to  set  such  an  institution  on  foot.      It  proved    con-  Jj^^^^l,' 
spicuously  successful.     From  among  its  alumni  came  some  of  the      _1_"  ' 
ablest  of  the  Tamil  and  Malayalam  clergy  and  chief  catechists, 
such  as  George  Matthan,  of  Travancore,  who  translated  Butler's 
Analogy  into  Malayalam;  Devasagayam  Gnanamuttu  and  Jesudasen 
John,  of  Tinneveliy,  the  latter  the  son  of  old  John  Devasagayam  ; 
Joseph  CorneHus  and  W.  T.  Satthianadhan,   also  of  Tinneveliy. 
Subsequently  this  Seminary  was  superseded  for  some  years  by 
other  institutions  estabhshed  in  the  two  Missions  themselves  ;  and 
only  in   comparatively  recent  years  has  it  been   revived  in  the 
present  Madras  Divinity  School. 

Towards  the  end  of  our  period,  the  Society's  attention  was  The^  ^^ 
drawn  to  an  important  section  of  the  population  of  South  India  people : 
which,  so  far,  had  been  almost  entirely  neglected.  North  of 
Madras  for  five  hundred  miles,  and  inland  for  some  three  hundred 
miles,  stretches  a  country  inhabited  by  the  Telugu-speaking 
people, '■•  numbering  at  that  time  about  ten  millions.!  In  1805,  in 
the  very  midst  of  the  "Dark  Period,"  the  London  Missionary 
Society  had  sent  two  men  to  Vizagapatam,  on  the  coast ;  but  they 
and  their  successors  were  mainly  occupied  in  translational  and 
educational  work,  and  for  thirty  years  had  no  convert.  In  1822, 
the  same  Society  had  occupied  Cuddapah,  an  important  inland 
centre ;  but  there  also  progress  had  been  slow.  In  1835,  the 
American  Baptist  Missionary  Union  had  begun  a  Mission  in  the 
Nellore  district,  wdiich  in  later  years  has  become  famous.  All  the 
other  Missions  in  the  Telugu  country,  S.P.G.,  American  and 
German  Lutherans,  and  Canadian  Baptists,  are  of  later  date. 

At  various  posts  in  this  territory  there  were,  at  the  period  of 
Queen  Victoria's  Accession,  a  little  band  of  godly  Christian 
Enghshmen,  in  the  civil  and  military  services,  who  encouraged 
one  another  in  good  works.  One  of  them,  Mr.  John  Goldingham,| 
in  1838,  addressed  an  earnest  letter  to  the  C.M.S.  Corresponding  Appeal  to^ 
Committee  at  Madras,  pleading  the  cause  of  the  Telugu  people,  their'be  °" 
and  proposing  to  raise  a  fund  to  start  a  Church  of  England  half. 
Mission  among  them.  This  letter  may  be  regarded  as  an  answer 
to  the  prayers  of  good  Bishop  Corrie,  who  on  his  death-bed  had 
laid  their  case  before  the  Lord.  The  Madras  Committee  sent  on 
the  letter  to  England  ;  but  the  Home  Committee,  though  receiv- 
ing it  w^ith  "the  most  lively  interest,"  were  constrained,  in  view 
of  the  financial  position  of  the  Society,  to  decHne,  "  though  with 
most  painful  feelings,"  undertaking  the  Mission.  Thereupon  some 
leading  members  who  were  connected  with  South  India,  among 
them  Mr.  Hough,  the  former  Tinneveliy  chaplain,  Mr.  Joseph 
Fenn,  the  former  Travancore  missionary,  and  Mr.  J.  M.  Strachan, 

*  "  Telngii"  is  not  a  geographical  but  a  liiigiiistic  name. 
t  Now  twenty  millions. 

X  Twenty  years  later,  Mr.  Goldingham  became  a  member  of  the  Committee 
at  home. 


3-^  India:  Progress  of  rhe  Missions 

Part  IV.  the  former  Madras  treasurer,  resolved  to  try  and  organize  a  Mission 
r?^2    *^®°^s®^^®s.      The   appeal,  by   a  remarkable    providence,    came, 
Chap.  22.  nearly   at   the  same   time,  into   the  hands  of   two   yomig   men, 
graduates    respectively   of    Oxford    and    Cambridge,    who   were 
unknown  to  each  other  ;  and  they  responded  to  it,  separately  and 
independently,  with  oflers  of  personal  service.    Meanwhile  a  fund  of 
nearly  £2000  had  been  raised  by  Mr.  Goldingham  and  liis  friends 
in    India  ;    and   both  men  and  means  being  thus  provided,  the 
C.M.S.  Committee  at  length  consented  to  undertake  the  enterprise. 
The   two   men   proved   to    be   two   of   the   most    devoted  and 
honoured  missionaries  whose  names   appear  on  the  Society's  roll, 
Nobfe"^      I^obert  Turlington  Noble  and  Henry  Watson  Fox.     Of  them  person- 
ally a  future  chapter  will  speak.  On  March  8th,  1841,  they  sailed  for 
India,  and  proceeded  toMasulipatam,  the  chief  seaport  on  the  coast 
of  the  Telugu  country.     It  was  arranged  from  the  first  that  they 
divl'rse        should  work  in  quite  different  ways.     Noble  was  to  open  a  school 
work.  on  the  hues  of   Duff's  College  at    Calcutta.     Fox  was  to  be  an 

itinerant  preaching  missionary.  With  unusual  self-denial,  how- 
ever, they  attempted  nothing  for  two  years,  but  gave  themselves 
wholly  to  the  study  of  the  language.  At  length,  on  November  21st, 
1843,  the  English  School,  as  it  was  called,  was  opened  by  Noble, 
in  conjunction  with  an  excellent  Eurasian,  J.  E.  Sharkey,  to 
whom  the  Telugu  language  was  a  vernacular.  The  fruits  it 
gathered  will  appear  hereafter.  Fox's  health  was  weak  from  the 
first,  and  his  period  of  actual  evangelistic  work  was  brief ;  but  he 
laid  the  foundations  of  the  Village  Mission  which  in  later  years  has 
gathered  thousands  of  souls  into  the  Visible  Church. 
Tu^cker  Another  very  important   development   in   South  India  during 

at  Madras,  the  period  now  under  review  was  the  appointment  of  the  Eev. 
John  Tucker  as  Secretary  at  Madras.  Mr.  Tucker  was  a  Fellow 
of  Corpus,  Oxford,  as  far  back  as  1817,  and  was  an  intimate 
friend  of  Thomas  Arnold  and  John  Keble.^=  He  had  had  some 
years'  ministerial  experience,  and  he  proved  one  of  the  best  gifts 
God  ever  gave  to  the  Church  Missionary  Society.  He  went  out 
in  1833,  and  for  fourteen  years  (with  a  short  interval)  he  exercised 
an  influence  which  has  never  been  surpassed.  It  was  he  who 
advised  Pettitt  throughout  the  difficulties  with  Ehenius  ;  it  was 
he  who  directed  the  changes  in  the  Travancore  Mission ;  it  was 
he  who  organized  the  new  Telugu  Mission.  But  above  all,  his 
influence_  over  the  English  in  Madras  was  unique.  The  cream 
of  the  civil  and  military  circles  crowded  to  his  ministry,  and 
he  was  privileged  to  lead  to  Christ,  and  to  confirm  in  the 
faith,  high  officers  in  both  services  who  became  from  that 
time  the  staunch  friends  of  the  missionary  cause;  several  of 
whom  in  after  years  were  prominent  men  in  the  C.M.S. 
Committee-room  in  Salisbury  Square— as  Tucker  himself  did 
for  a  short  time  as  Secretary.     It  is  a  grievous  pity  that  there 

*  "  The  single-hearted  and  devout."     Lock's  Life  of  Keble,  p.  5, 


India  :  Progress  of  the  Missions  329 

is   no   memoir   of   John    Tucker ;    but   he   left   such    a   positive  Part  IV. 
prohibition    against  it   that   not    even   an    obituary  notice  could  iP'^g' 
appear   in   the    Society's   publications.     His    sister   became  well       ^^' 
known  by  her  excellent  little  books  on  Missions,   The  Bainhow 
in  the  North  (Eupert's  Land),  The  Southern  Cross  and  Southern 
Croivn  (New  Zealand),   and  Sunrise  Within    the    Tropics  (Abeo- 
kuta) ;    and   in    her    memory   was   founded    the    Sarah    Tucker 
Institution  at  Palamcotta. 

Mr.  Tucker's  name  introduces  an  important  subject,  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  Society's  Missions  in  India.  In  a  previous 
chapter  *  reference  was  made  to  the  Corresponding  Committees  The  Corre- 
formed  in  earlier  days  by  Evangelical  chaplains  like  David  Brown  lom-'^'"^ 
at  Calcutta  and  Marmaduke  Thompson  at  Madras.  In  1824,  mittees. 
when  Bishop  Heber  had  given  in  his  adhesion  to  Missions,  the 
Calcutta  Committee  enlarged  itself  into  an  Auxiliary  Society, 
with  a  constitution  broad  and  inclusive  like  the  Parent  Society, 
giving  all  subscribing  clergymen  seats  and  votes  on  the  Com- 
mittee ;  and  Madras  soon  after  followed  this  example.  At  first 
this  development  seems  to  have  been  approved  at  home ;  but  in 
time  it  led  to  serious  difficulties,  as  the  Auxiliary  Committees, 
strong  in  numbers  and  influence,  were  not  willing  to  be  directed 
by  the  Parent  Committee,  and  increased  the  expenditure  more 
rapidly  than  the  funds  could  bear,  not  being  fettered  by  the  strict 
system  of  estimates  that  has  prevailed  in  later  years  ;  and  this 
was  one  principal  cause  of  the  financial  perplexities  that  presently 
arose,  as  we  shall  see  in  a  future  chapter.  Moreover,  some  of 
the  chaplains  proved  to  be  not  at  one  with  the  Society  in  matters 
of  missionary  policy,  and  friction  within  the  Auxiliary  Committees 
themselves  resulted  from  this.  It  does  not  appear  that  party 
differences  in  Church  matters  actually  arose  ;  but  Edward  Bicker- 
steth  foresaw  that  these  would  certainly  ensue  some  day,  and  he 
urged  the  Committee  to  dissolve  the  Auxiliary  Committees,  and 
form  new  ones,  consisting  only  of  members  appointed  by  name 
from  home.f  The  inclusive  principle  has  always  worked  well  in 
the  Parent  Society  ;  but  obviously  the  circumstances  of  Indian 
Presidency  cities  are  different.  Men  would  assert  their  right  to 
seats  there  who  would  not  dream  of  asserting  it  here  ;  and  nothing 
but  hopeless  disunion  could  be  the  result.  Naturally,  however, 
the  Home  Committee  shrank  from  so  extreme  a  step  as  disband- 
ing existing  bodies,  which  had  raised  considerable  local  funds, 
and  were  doing  good  work.  The  solution  of  the  difficulty,  in  the 
case  of  Madras,  came  through  the  dissensions  within  the  local 
body  itself.  Some  of  the  best  members  at  last  resigned,  including  ^ommfttee 
the^lay  secretary  and  treasurer ;  and  then  the  Home  Committee  dissolved, 
intervened,  dissolved  the  Auxiliary  Committee,  and   appointed  a 

*  See  p.  191. 

f  See  Letter  from  Henry  Venn,  in  Appendix  to  second  edition  of  the 
Memoir  of  E.  Bickersteth,  p.  4.52.  Venn  mentions  the  fact  as  an  ilhistration  of 
Bickerstetli's  influence  for  good  in  guarding  the  Society's  spiritual  principles. 


33°  Txdia:  Progress;  of  riir.  J//s';fo.ys 

Part  IA'.  new  Corresponding^  Committee,  chiefly  from  the  old  members, 
IJJ^"^/.;  but  hmited  in  numbei-,  and  at  the  same  time  resolved  to  seek  for 
'''*''  ""'  ii  clergyman  of  some  standing  to  go  out  as  Secretary.  Hence  the 
appointment  of  John  Tucker,  who  quickly  allayed  feeling  and 
won  general  respect.  While  holding  firmly  the  Society's  Evan- 
gelical principles,  he  understood  Church  principles  also  better 
than  some  of  his  lay  colleagues;  and  but  for  him,  the  difficulty 
with  Rhenius  migiit  not  have  been  so  resolutely  dealt  with. 

A  controversy  subsequently  ensued  witii  Bishop  Daniel  Wilson, 
on  the  question  of  the  degree  of  episcopal  control  involved  in  the 
acceptance  of  an  episcopal  licence  ;  and  even  Corrie  was  obliged  to 
express  his  disapproval  of  the  line  taken  by  the  Madras  Committee. 
But  the  ]\Iadras  Conmiittee  were  backed  by  Dandeson  Coates 
at  home,-'=  and  so  the  Parent  Society  became  involved  in  a  pro- 
longed and  serious  controversy  with  tlie  Bishop  who  had  once  been 
its  most  prominent  clerical  member,  to  the  distress  of  both  sides. 
This  controversy  will  be  furtiier  noticed  hereafter.  |  Its  cllc'ct  on 
the  Corresponding  Connnittees  is  all  that  is  before  us  now.  The 
Calcutta  C'ommittee,  which  comprised  Government  officials  of 
high-standing  like  Sir  Charles  Trevelyan,  resented  the  concordat 
ultimately  come  to  between  the  Parent  Society  and  the  Bishop, 
and  in  their  action  to  some  extent  disregarded  it ;  and  good  Arch- 
deacon Dealtry,  one  of  the  Society's  best  friends,  ceased  to  attend.  I 
Presently  they  took  a  step,  touching  the  location  of  a  young 
missionary,  contrary  to  the  wishes  of  both  the  Home  Conunittee 
and  the  Bishop ;  and  on  the  Home  Committee  expressing  dis- 
approval of  this,  they  resigned  in  a  body.  Thus  at  Calcutta  also 
Calcutta  came  the  opportunity  for  substituting  a  nominated  Corresponding 
di°sToTved^*  Committee  for  an  open  one  ;  and  this  was  immediately  done. 

It  is  noteworthy  that  the  two  open  Connnittees,  at' Madras  and 
r^Lo»        Calcutta,  were  ultimatelv  dissolved  from  exactlv  opposite  causes. 

opposite         rpi        A  r     T  /~i  •  '  v     •  i  i 

causes.  ilie  .Madras  Committee  were  not  suiriciently  to  be  relied  upon  in 
regard  to  Evangelical  principles.  The  Calcutta  Committee  were 
too  reluctant  to  recognize  the  due  authority  of  Bishops.  The  two 
cases  well  illustrate  the  difficulty  the  Home  Committee  have  con- 
tinually had  to  encounter  in  steering,  carefully  and  prayerfully, 
between  Scylla  and  Charybdis.  It  would  be  too  much  to  affirm 
that  they  have  invariably  steered  precisely  the  right  course  ;  but 
the  blame  again  and  again  cast  upon  them  by  both  sides  in  turn 
is  a  strong  evidence  of  their  honest  desire  not  to  be  guided  by 
human  applause  one  way  or  the  other. 

There  was  another  matter  in  which  Bishop  Wilson  was  dis- 
pleased with  the  Calcutta  Committee.  They  obtained  the  consent 
of  the  Home  Committee  to  the   starting  of  a  "Head  Seminary," 

*  See  p.  2.52.  f  See  p.  423. 

:J:  Life  of  Bishop  D.  Wilson,  vol.  ii.  p.  19.  Canon  Bateman  is  not  quite  im- 
partial in  his  narrative,  though  generally  accurate  as  to  facts.  The  account 
ill  the  text  coi-rects  him  in  one  or  two  statements,  where  the  Society's 
iMiuutes  are  decisive  the  other  wav. 


IxDiA:  Progress  of  the  Jlf/ss/ojvs  331 

similar  to  the  one  begun  about  the  same  time  at  Madras.     But  at  Part  IY. 
Calcutta  there  was  Bishop's  College,  and  Wilson  regarded  the  ij^^^i' 
new   Seminary  as  virtually  projected  in   opposition   to  it.     The      'f^ 
Home  Committee  disclaimed   any  such  intention,  and  passed  a  Calcutta 
resolution  recognizing  the  Bishop's  right  to  make  what  conditions  f^d^'"^*^^ 
he  pleased  for  ordination,  so  that  if  he  liked  to  require  that  any  Bishop's 
candidate  for  orders  from  the  Seminary  should  first  go  for  further    °  ^^^' 
study  to  Bishop's  College,  they  could  make  no  objection.     But  it 
must  be  confessed  that  the  Society  had  scarcely  ever  reaped  any 
benefit  from  its  large  grants  to  Bishop's  College  ;  and  there  had 
been  so  much  murmuring  in  England  about  those  grants  that  the 
Committee  had  been  obhged,   years  before,  in   1827,  to  issue  a 
circular  to  their  friends  descanting  on  the  great  advantages  to  be 
gained  from  them — which  advantages  certainly  never  were  gained. 
The  College,  in  fact,  was  not  a  success,   as  the   S.P.G.  Eeports 
repeatedly  and  frankly  acknowledged  ;  and  the  great  work  of  the 
Principal,  Dr.  Mill,  was  his  Christa  Sangita,  a  Life  of  Christ  in 
Sanscrit   verse,    which    made    a   profound   sensation  among  the 
Brahmans.     But  Bishop  Wilson  gave,  one  might  almost  say,  his 
whole  heart  to  the  College.     From  the  first,  he   did  all  that  man 
could  do  to  support  and  foster  it.     When  sickness  drove  professors 
away,  he  would  go  and  take  the  lectures  himself ;   and  he  con- 
stantly wrote  to  the  S.P.G.  Committee  to  cheer  them  up  about  it. 
"  Your  noble  College  is  scarcely  ever  out  of  my  thoughts,"   he 
said  in  1834.   "...  The  College  is  my  delight.     I  am  labouring 
with  my   whole  soul  to  secure   its    efficiency."  ■■'■     One  thing    is 
certain:   the  C.M.S.    Head   Seminary  never  did  it  any  damage. 
The  Seminary  was  not  successful  enough  itself,  and  did  not  last 
very  long.     Like  many  other  plans,  it  fell  through  for  lack  of  an 
adequate  succession  of  qualified  men. 

During  the  period  we  have  been  reviewing  there  was  consider-  gg^f/^j^s 
able  extension  of  missionary  work  by  various   societies  in  many  working 
parts.     The  S.P.G.  Missions,  both  in  Bengal  and  in  the  South,  '"  ^"'^*^- 
shared   in    the    progress    already   indicated   in    connexion    with 
Krishnagar  and  Tinnevelly  ;    and  in  Tan j ore   its    congregations 
were  increased  by  large  accessions  from  Romanism. f     At  Cawn- 
pore,  that  excellent  missionary,  the  Rev.  W.  H.  Perkins,  was  at 
work;  and  at  Bombay  the  Rev.  G.  Candy,  "  our  beloved  brother," 
wrote   J.    S.   S.   Robertson,   the  C.M.S.   missionary.     A    devoted 
young  man,  the  Rev.  T.  Christian,  had  in  1824-7,  from  Bhagalpur, 
tried  to  reach  the  Rajmahal   Pahari  tribes  ;    but   his   early  death 
caused  the  further  prosecution  of  this  effort  to  wait  for  the  C.M.S. 
Mission  begun   in   1850.     The   London   Missionary   Society  w^as 
progressing  both  in  Bengal  and  in  its  extensive  Southern  Missions. 

*  S.P.G.  Report,  1835. 

t  Caldwell  wrote  in  1850,  "In  intellect,  habits,  and  morals,  the  Romanist 
Hindus  do  not  differ  from  the  Heathen  in  the  smallest  degree." — S.P.G. 
Bvjest,  p.  541. 


2,7,2  India:  Progress  of  the  Jf/ss/oxs 

Part  IV.  In  j\[r.  Lacioix  it  had  probably  the   best  Bengali  preacher  ever 
182-4-il.    known.     The  Baptists    had    extended    in    the    North,    and    the 
Chap^22.  Wesleyans    in    the    South.     The    Scotch    Educational    Missions 
passed  to   the   Free   Church   at    the    great    Disruption    of    1843. 
Dutf,  Mackay,  and  Ewart  at  Calcutta,  John  Wilson  and  Murray 
]\Iitchell  at    Bombay,   and  John  Anderson  at  Madras,    were  all 
doing  splendid    work   with  their  colleges ;    and  Stephen  Hislop 
had  begun  at  Nagpore.     The  Basle  Mission  in  Malabar,  and  the 
American  Board  Mission  in  Madura,  began  in  1834 ;  the  American 
Baptist   Telugu    Mission    in    1835  ;    the    American    Presbyterian 
Mission  in  the  North-West  Provinces  in  1836 ;  the  Irish  Presby- 
terian Mission   in  Gujerat,  the   Leipsic  Lutlieran  Mission  in  the 
Carnatic,  the  Welsh  Calvinistic  Methodist  in  Bengal,  the  Berlin 
Mission  in  Behar,  all  in  1841 ;  Gossner's  Mission  to  the  Kols  in 
1846. 
Deaths  of        In  the  midst  of  this  extension,  death  closed  the  careers  of  two 
Nfarsh^"'^   of  tlie  carlicst  and  greatest  of  English  missionaries.     In  1834  died 
man.  William  Carey,  and  in  1837  his  colleague,  Joshua  IMarshman,  in 

each  case  after  about  forty  years'  untiring  labours,  Carey  having 
never  once  come  home.  They  had  "  expected  great  things  from 
God"  ;  they  had  "  attempted  great  things  for  God  "  ;  and  "  great 
things  "  indeed  had  God  done  for  them,  and,  by  them,  for  the 
extension  of  His  Kingdom. 

Ceylon. 

Ceylon  in  A  brief  uotc  must  be  appended  to  this  chapter,  to  prevent  Ceylon 
this  period,  (j^.^pp^j^g  q-^^^  q{  Q^r  History  at  this  time.  There  is,  however, 
little  to  say  about  the  Mission  in  that  Island  until  a  later  period. 
Patient  and  prayerful  work  w^as  going  on  at  Cotta,  Baddegama, 
and  Kandy,  among  the  Singhalese,  and  in  the  Jaffna  Peninsula 
among  the  Tamils ;  but  the  stagnation  produced  by  the  old 
Dutch  policy  still  continued,  although  small  congregations  were 
gathered  here  and  there.  Some  excellent  missionaries  w^ere  at 
work,  in  addition  to  the  four  wdio  in  1818  had  started  the 
Mission;  among  them  T.Browning,  1820-38;  J.  Bailey,  1821- 
44  ;  W.  Adley,  1824-46 ;  G.  C.  Trimnell,  1826-47  ;  H.  Powell 
(afterwards  Vicar  of  Bolton  and  Hon.  Canon  of  Manchester), 
1838-45  ;  J.  F.  Haslam  (St.  John's,  Camb.,  9th  Wrangler),  1838- 
50 ;  J.  T.  Johnston,  1841-49  ;  C.  Greenwood,  1841-50  (when  he 
was  drowned  while  bathing)  ;  while  within  this  period  W.  Oakley 
andE.  Pargiter  began  their  lengthened  careers,  the  former  in  1835, 
and  the  latter  in  1845.  The  first  two  Native  clerg^^men,  Cornelius 
Jayesinha  and  Abraham  Gunasekara,  w'ere  ordained  by  Bishop 
Spencer  of  Madras  in  1839,  and  the  third,  Cornelius  Sennanayaka, 
by  the  first  Bishop  of  Colombo,  Dr.  Chapman,  in  1846. 


CHAPTEE  XXIII. 

The  Negro  on  Both  Sides  the  Atlantic  :  Enslaved  and 

Free. 

Continued  Slave  Trade  in  West  Africa — Sickness  and  Sorrow  at  Sierra 
Leone — Progress  notwithstanding— Can  the  Negro  be  elevated  ? — 
West  Indian  Slavery  —  Wilberforce  and  Buxton  —  The  Parlia- 
mentary Campaign — West  Indian  Cruelties — ^Persecution  of  Mis- 
sionaries— Trial  and  Death  of  John  Smith — Oppression  of  Negroes 
in  Jamaica — An  Amendment  at  Exeter  Hall — Abolition  of  Slavery 
—Death  of  Wilberforce— "  Compensation  for  the  Slave" — The  Day 
of  Emancipation — Missionary  Plans  for  the  Negroes— C. M.S.  in 
Jamaica — British  Guiana  Mission — Zachary  Macaulay. 

"  Their  cry  came  lop  unto  God  hy  reason  of  the  hondage." — Exod.  ii.  23. 

^^Is  not  this  the  fast  that  I  have  chosen!'  to  loose  the  ha^ids  of  wickedness,  to 
undo  the  heavy  burdens,  and  to  let  the  oppressed  go  free,  and  that  ye  break  every 
yoke?" — Isa.  Iviii.  6. 

I.  In  TVest  Africa. 

HE    Act    of    1807    neither    stopped   the    West  African  part  IV. 

Slave  Trade  nor  interfered  with  West  Indian  Slavery.    1824r-41. 

What  it  did  do  was  to  render  illegal  the  kidnapping  Chap.  23. 

of  Africans  by  British  subjects.     The  Treaties  of  Paris  African" 

and  Vienna  affected  to  a  large  extent  the  traffic  by  slave 
ships  under  foreign  flags,  permitting  British  cruisers  to  board  going  on 
vessels  suspected  to  be  slavers  and  to  liberate  any  slaves  found  ^"ss^fsf " 
in  them.  It  was  this  provision  that  added  so  largely  to  the 
population  of  Sierra  Leone,  the  cargoes  of  slaves  rescued  from 
the  slave-ships  being  taken  thither,  as  before  described.-"  But 
French,  Portuguese,  and  American  vessels  continued  to  engage 
actively  in  the  trade,  notwithstanding  the  profession  by  Prance  and 
the  United  States  of  sincerity  in  attempts  to  stop  it.  The  most 
horrible  details  are  given  year  by  year  in  the  Missionary  Begister, 
taken  from  official  reports  published  in  the  London  Gazette.  For 
instance,  a  French  captain,  having  completed  his  cargo  of  slaves 
in  the  Old  Calabar  Eiver,  thrust  them  all  into  a  space  between 
decks  only  three  feet  high,  and  closed  the  hatches  over  them.  In 
the  morning  fifty  were  dead.  The  fifty  bodies  were  thrown  into 
the  sea,  and  the  captain  went  ashore  to  buy  fresh  slaves  to  take 
their  places.  Other  facts  given  are  too  sickening  for  these  pages. 
And  the  number  of  slaves  kidnapped  was  larger  than   ever.     It 

*  See  p.  94. 


334  The  Negro  on  Both  Sides  the  Atlantic  : 

Part  IV.  was  estimated  that  within  a  few  months,  in   1821,  nearly  forty 

1824-41.    thousand  slaves  were  shipped  from   the  Guinea  Coast  and  what 

Chap.  23.  ^g  j^Q^^  know  as  the  Niger  Delta.     Both  in  that  year  and  the 

following,    at   "Wilberforce's   instance,    the    House   of   Commons 

unanimously  adopted  addresses  to  the  Crown,  calling  attention  to 

these   facts    and   encouraging    the    Government    to    exert   more 

pressure  on  foreign  powers.     But  little  came  of  this  ;  and  twelve 

years  later,   in   1835,  we  find  the  House   again   addressing   the 

Crown  and  urging  that  the  Powers  be  called  upon  to  unite  in  a 

Solemn   League,   declaring  the   Slave  Trade    to    be    Piracy,   and 

taking  effectual  measures  to  put  an   end  to  it.     But  all  was  in 

vain.     The  year  1838  was  worse  than  any  previous  one.     More 

Victims       than  one  thousand  a  day  were  either  killed  on  the  African  coast,  or 

1000  a  day.  ([{q^  on  the  voyage,  or  were  landed   in    Cuba,  Brazil,  &c.     No 

wonder  the  hateful  traffic  flourished,  seeing   that  the  American 

or  Portuguese  trader  realized  a  profit  of  from   150  to  200   per 

cent.  ! 

The  end  was  not  yet.  How  it  was  at  last  brought  about  will 
appear  in  a  future  chapter.  But  all  through  these  years  many 
thousands — though  only  a  small  minority  of  the  whole — of  rescued 
slaves  were  landed  at  Siei'ra  Leone,  and  taxed  to  the  utmost  the 
material  and  moral  resources  of  the  Colony. 
Sierra  Meanwhile,  the  "  White  Man's  Grave  "  continued  to  sustain  its 

tife°white"  I'sputation.  We  have  already  seen  how  both  Government  officials 
man's  and  missionaries  were  cut  off  in  1823.'''  In  1824  occurred  one 
^^^'^^-  death  which  was  a  blow  of  especial  severity  to  the  Colony.  Sir 
Charles  McCarthy,  the  Governor,  fell  in  one  of  England's  "little 
wars  "  with  the  Ashantis.  The  British  force  was  overwhelmed  by 
a  multitude  of  Ashanti  warriors,  and  most  of  the  officers  were 
killed.  Sir  Charles,  severely  wounded,  was  taken  prisoner,  and 
immediately  put  to  death.  Africa  never  had  a  truer  friend.  At 
the  C.M.S.  Anniversary  in  1821  he  said  a  few  words  in  response 
to  a  vote  of  thanks  for  his  great  services  to  the  Colony : — 
"  Witnessing  as  I  have  done  the  sufferings  of  our  black  brethren, 
and  feeling  that  it  is  the  influence  of  Christianity  alone  which  can 
make  them  civilized  and  happy  in  this  life  and  happy  in  a  future, 
with  these  impressions  I  shall  shortly  return  to  Africa ;  and  my 
own  exertions  in  this  cause,  such  as  they  are,  shall  be  continued 
to  the  end  of  my  days."  And  continued  they  were,  faithfully,  to 
the  last. 

The  next  four  years  saw  the  deaths  of  four  more  Governors,  one 
after  the  other,  viz.,  Sir  C.  Turner,  Sir  H.  Campbell,  Colonel 
Denham,  and  Colonel  Lumley.j  The  missionaries,  too,  continued 
to  fall  victims  to  the  climate.  As  late  as  1840,  there  was  a  dis- 
tressing diminution  of  their  number.     In  January  of  that  year, 

*  See  p.  169. 

•|-  One  of  the  Governors,  a  little  later,  was  Major  Octavius  Temple,  father  of 
the  present  Archbishop  of  Canterbury.  He  also  died  at  Siei-ra  Leone  in 
1834. 


Enslaved  and  Free  335 

thirteen  (new  or  returning,  and  including  wives)  arrived  at  Sierra  Part  IV. 
Leone.     Before  the  end  of  July  five  of  them  were  dead,  and  five   l«24— tl. 
others  had  had  to  return  to  England.     But  before  that,  a  much       ''P'     * 
worse  thing  had  occurred.     In  1831,  one  of  the  most  trusted  of  a  worse 
the  missionaries,  Mr.  Davey,  fell  into   grievous  sin,  and  brought  ^'^3}^'^^" 
the  whole  Mission  into  disgrace  ;  and,  shortly  after,  there  was  a 
rumour  that  he  had  been  upset  on  a  river  and  been  drowned.     It 
is  piteous  indeed  to  read  the  letters  of  the  brethren  at  this  time. 
They  w'ere  crushed  down  wath  sorrow  ;  and  as  to  the  Committee, 
their  hearts  for  the  moment   sank  within  them.     Then,  in  1834, 
died  the  last  representative  of  the  early  bands,  J.  G.  Wilhelm, 
after  twenty-three  years'   unbroken  and  faithful  service.     "Our 
very  dear,  aged,  and  venerable  brother,"  Mr.  Kissling  called  him 
in  sending  the  news  home.     "  Aged  and  venerable  "  in  relation 
to    the   average   span  of  life  in  West  Africa — for  he  was  only 
fifty-six ! 

The  result  of  all  this  w^as  that  the  Mission  could  with  the 
greatest  difficulty  be  carried  on  at  all.  Stations  were  without 
heads,  schools  without  teachers,  congregations  without  pastors  ; 
and  the  attenuated  band  were  worn  out  in  the  vain  attempt  to 
cope  with  the  ever-growing  work  involved  in  the  continual  arrival 
of  fresh  cargoes  of  rescued  slaves,  ignorant,  diseased,  vicious, 
intractable.  The  marvel  is  that  any  good  work  was  effected  at  all. 
But  the  Lord  did  not  forsake  His  servants.  He  did  not  suffer 
those  whom  He  had  taken  to  Himself  to  die  in  vain.  Notwith- 
standing all  difficulties  and  disappointments,  the  fruits  of  the 
working  of  His  Spirit  were  always  manifest.  Externally  the 
Colony  improved  year  by  year  ;  and  though  there  was  sad  declen-  Yet  the 
sion  at  the  very  stations,  like  Eegent,  which  had  received  so  much  ^°'''"'  p''"- 

.  o         '  cresses. 

blessing,  yet  true  conversions  were  reported,  and  there  were  many 
tokens  of  the  steadfastness  and  consistency  of  not  u.  few  among 
the  people.  When  Henry  Townsend,  afterwards  the  honoured 
missionary  of  Abeokuta,  went  out  to  Sierra  Leone  as  a  school- 
master in  1836,  he  wrote  home  enthusiastically  of  what  he 
saw.     Of  his  first  Sunday  there  he  said  : — 

"  No  one  arriving  liere  would  imagine  that  he  was  in  a  country  the 
inhabitants  of  which  have  been  accustomed  to  idolatry,  but  in  one  wliere 
God  had  for  many  years  been  worshipped  in  spirit  and  in  truth.  The 
solemn  stillness  of  the  day  of  rest  reigns  around,  and  numbers  of  both 
sexes  are  seen  hastening  to  school  to  learn  to  read  and  be  instructed  in  the 
Chi'istian  religion.  ...  If  every  Lord's  Day  is  kept  as  this  one  has  been, 
it  shows  that  they  honour  C-)od's  laws,  and  that  the  Spirit  of  God  has  been 
with  them,  teaching  and  guiding  them  in  the  path  of  holiness  to  the  praise 
and  glory  of  that  grace  which  has  called  them  from  darkness  to  light."  * 

And  in  1842  a  Parliamentary  Committee  on  the  Colony  gave 
this  testimony  : — 

"  To  the  invaluable  exertions  of  the  Church  ^Missionary  Society  more 
especiall3' — as  also,  to  a  considerable  extent,  as  in  all  our  African  settle- 

*  Seddall's  Sierra  Leone,  p.  130. 


336  The  Negro  on  Both  Sides  the  Atlantic  : 

Part  IV.  ments,  to  the  Wesleyan  body — the  highest  praise  is  due.  By  their 
1824-41.  efforts,  nearly  one-fifth  of  the  whole  population — a  most  unusually  high 
Cli::p.  23.  proportion  in  any  country — are  at  school;  and  the  effects  are  visible 

in  considei'able   intellectual,   moral,    and  religious  improvement, — very 

considerable  under  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  such  a  colony." 

The  Church  Missionary  Society  had  then  some  7000  regular 
attendants  at  public  worship,  of  whom  some  1500  were  com- 
municants. There  were  fifty  schools,  with  6000  pupils.  The 
Wesleyans  at  the  same  time  had  over  2000  members,  and  1500 
children  at  school. 

Much  earlier  than  this,  the  great  European  mortality  had  led 
the  Society  to  a  deep  conviction  of  the  paramount  importance  of 
Native  Agency.  The  old  "Christian  Institution"  had  not  been 
a  success.  The  infant  Church  had  not  then  the  material  for  a 
Seminary  of  picked  African  youths.  But  in  1827,  it  was  super- 
Fourah  seded  by  a  new  institution  established  at  Fourah  Bay,  under  the 
Coiie  e  direction  of  the  Eev.  C.  L.  P.  Hilnsel,  a  very  superior  Basle  man 
ordained  by  the  Bishop  of  London.  He  started  with  six  youths, 
and  the  first  name  on  the  roll  is  the  now  honoured  name  of 
Samuel  Crowther.  The  Fourah  Bay  College,  during  its  seventy 
years'  career,  has  from  time  to  time  suffered  from  the  same  cause 
as  all  the  other  departments  of  the  Mission,  the  sickness  and 
removal  of  labourers,  and  sometimes  it  has  had  to  be  closed  for  a 
time.  The  Principal  who  succeeded  in  carrying  it  on  longest 
without  interruption  was  the  Eev.  Edward  Jones,  an  American 
coloured  clergyman  of  the  Episcopal  Church  of  the  United  States, 
who  took  up  the  w^ork  in  1840,  and  continued  in  it  more  than 
twenty  years.  And  notwithstanding  all  disadvantages,  the  Fourah 
Bay  College  has,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  educated  the  majority  of  the 
African  clergy  and  many  of  the  leading  laity.  In  1845  was 
founded  the  Grammar  School,  which,  also  under  native  manage- 
ment, flourished  and  became  self-supporting ;  and  a  Girls' 
Boarding  School,  afterwards  known  as  the  Annie  Walsh  Female 
Institution,  w^hich  likewise  has  proved  a  blessing  to  the  Colony. 

Much  discussion  went  on  in  England  from  time  to  time  as  to 
whether  the  African  was  capable  of  being  raised  perceptibly  in 
the  scale  of  civilization,  and  in  particular,  whether  he  had  intellect 
for  anything  more  than  very  elementary  study.  In  1829,  two 
speakers,  at  different  Anniversaries,  used  the  same  striking 
illustration  in  dealing  with  this  question.     Powell  Buxton  said : — 

Briton  "  Some  centuries  ago,  a  Roman  army,  headed  by  their  most  illustrious 

slaves  and  Chief,  visited  a  small  and  obscure  Island  in  the  Atlantic,  where  the 
slaves."  people  were  brutal  and  degraded,  and  as  wild  as  the  wildest  beasts  ;  find 
the  then  Chief  Orator  of  Rome,  writing  to  a  friend,  said,  '  There  is  a 
slave-ship  arrived  in  the  Tiber,  laden  with  slaves  from  that  Island ; 
but,'  he  adds,  '  don't  take  one  of  them  :  they  are  not  tit  for  use.'  That 
Island  was  Britain  !  Yet  Rome  has  found  her  rival  in  Britain  ;  and  the 
descendants  of  those  British  slaves  have  far  surpassed  the  sons  of  the 
haughty   Romans !     May   not   a   day    arrive   when    the    sons    of   these 


E.YS LAVED    AND    FrEE  337 

degraded  Africans  will  run  with  you  the  race  of  religion  and  morality,  Part  IV. 
and  even  outstrip  you  in  the  glorious  career  ?  "  182-i--tl. 

And  Dr.  Philip,  the  distinguished  L.M.S.  missionary  in  South  " 

Africa,  referred  to  the  very  same  incident : — 

"  Calling  one  morning  on  a  gentleman,  I  was  shown  into  his  library  ; 
and  while  waiting  I  took  up  Cicero's  letters  to  Atticus.  One  of  the  first  . 
letters  which  caught  my  eye  was  that  in  which  the  Roman  orator  com- 
plains of  the  stupidity  of  slaves  from  Britain.  Just  as  I  had  finished 
reading  it,  my  eye  lighted  on  two  busts  placed  on  opposite  sides  of  the 
room — Cicero  and  Isaac  Ne^vton, — and  I  could  not  help  exclaiming,  '  See 
what  that  Man  says  of  that  Man's  country  ! ' "  * 

Fourah  Bay  College,  and  the  other  two  institutions,  did  much 
to  prove  that  the  African  was  quite  able,  if  only  he  had  equal 
advantages,  to  hold  his  own  with  the  European. 

In  1840,  the  Sierra  Leone  congregations  combined  to  form  a  Sierra 
Church  Missionary  Association,  which  remitted  to  the  Society  £87  c^m!  asso. 
in  its  first  year,  and  in  the  next  thirty  years  raised  no  less  than  ciation. 
£7000   for   the   Evangelization   of  the   World.      But  the  further 
development  of  the  African  Church  does  not  belong  to  our  present 
period,  and  here  we  must  stop  for  the  present. 

II.  hi  the  West  Indies. 

While  the  French,  Spanish,  and  American  slave-traders  were 
still  robbing  West  Africa  of  thousands  of  its  people,  the  minds  of 
Christian  men  in  England  were  turning  to  the  condition  of  the 
Negro  slaves  themselves  in  the  British  West  Indian  Colonies,  slavery 
The  Act  of  1807  had  abolished  the  British  Slave  Trade,  but  it  had  %^^^l^ 
left  intact  the  property  of  the  West  Indian  planters  in  human  vvest 
flesh  and  blood.  There  were  nearly  a  million  of  black  slaves  in  ^"'^''^^* 
Jamaica,  Barbadoes,  Trinidad,  and  the  other  islands  belonging 
to  England,  and  in  Demerara  and  other  parts  of  what  is  now 
British  Guiana  on  the  mainland  of  South  America.  Every  slave's 
child  born  into  the  world  in  this  population  was  apparently 
doomed  to  interminable  bondage  ;  but  that  word  "  interminable  " 
the  Committee  of  the  Church  Missionary  Societ}^  began,  in  1823, 
to  hope  might  not  prove  to  be  applicable.  "  They  begin,"  said  the 
Eeport  of  that  year,  "to  conceive  hopes  that  ere  long  they  shall 
be  enabled  to  blot  it  out  of  the  Society's  records.  They  cannot 
but  anticipate  with  joy  that  day  when  the  Illustrious  Advocate  of 
the  African  Eace  shall  witness  that  great  consummation  of  his 
toil — a  public  and  solemn  provision  for  securing  the  personal 
freedom  of  every  African  throughout  the  British  dominions. 
The  Committee  invoke  most  earnestly  the  aid  of  the  whole  body 
of  members  in  this  cause." 

The  "  Illustrious  Advocate  of  the  African  Eace  "  had,  two  years 
before  this,  in  May,  1821,  finding  age  and  infirmit}^  increasing, 
appealed  to  a  young  member  of  Parliament  to  take  up  the  mantle 

*  Missionanj  Register,  1820,  p.  252. 
VOL.  I.  Z 


338 


The  Negro  on  Both  Sides  the  Atlantic : 


Part  IV. 
1824-41. 
Chap.  23. 

Wilber- 
force  com- 
mits the 
cause  to 
Buxton. 


Anti- 
Slavery 
Society 
formed. 


that  was  falling  from  him — token  though  it  be,  hke  Elijah's, 
of  isolation  and  reproach, — and  to  follow  up  the  Abolition  of  the 
Slave  Trade  by  the  Abohtion  of  Slavery.  That  young  member 
was  Thomas  Fowell  Buxton.  Brought  into  the  full  hght  of  the 
Gospel,  and  to  unreserved  dedication  of  himself  to  the  service 
of  Christ,  under  the  ministry  of  Josiah  Pratt  at  Wheler  Chapel, 
Spitalfields,  Buxton  had  determined  to  use  his  parliamentary 
position  for  the  benefit  of  the  oppressed  at  home  and  abroad.  His 
marriage  to  Hannah  Gurney,  of  Earlham,  a  younger  sister  of 
Elizabeth  Fry,  had  brought  him  into  the  philanthropic  circle 
that  was  then  doing  so  much  to  reform  the  Criminal  Law  and 
improve  the  prisons  ;  and  it  was  a  s]3eech  of  his  on  Sir  James 
Mackintosh's  Bill  for  reducing  the  number  of  crimes  punishable 
with  death  (then  230  !)  that  led  William  Wilberforce  to  make  him 
his  "  parliamentary  executor."  -■'  "  After  what  passed  last  night," 
wrote  Wilberforce  the  very  next  day,  "I  can  no  longer  forbear 
resorting  to  you,  and  conjuring  you  to  take  most  seriously  into 
consideration  the  expediency  of  your  devoting  yourself  to  this 
blessed  service.  .  .  .  Let  me  then  entreat  you  to  form  an  alliance 
with  me,  that  may  be  truly  termed  holy ;  t  and  if  I  should  be 
unable  to  commence  the  war,  and  still  more  if,  when  commenced, 
I  should  (as  certainly  would,  I  fear,  be  the  case)  be  unalile  to 
finish  it,  I  entreat  that  you  would  continue  to  prosecute  it."  % 

Only  two  months  before  this,  Buxton's  sister-in-law,  Priscilla 
Gurney,  had  died  in  his  house.  On  her  death-bed  she  called  him 
to  her  side  and  seemed  anxious  to  say  something  very  important ; 
but  she  was  too  far  gone,  and  could  only  press  his  hand  and 
murmur,  "The  poor  dear  slaves !"  §  Wilberforce's  letter,  there- 
fore, came  to  one  whose  heart  was  already  touched ;  and  after 
long  and  prayerful  consideration  the  "  holy  alHance  "  was  entered 
into. 

At  the  beginning  of  1823  was  formed  the  Anti-Slavery  Society, 
with  the  Duke  of  Gloucester,  brother  of  the  King,  as  President. 
Wilberforce  immediately  issued  a  powerful  pamphlet.  An  Ajyjjeal 
on  behalf  of  the  Slaves,  which  made  a  profound  impression.  The 
Quakers  sent  a  petition  to  Parliament,  the  first  on  the  subject ; 
and  Wilberforce,  in  presenting  it  on  March  19th,  reminded  the 
House  that  it  was  they  who  had,  nearly  thirty  years  before, 
given  him  for  presentation  the  first  petition  against  the  Slave 
Trade.  "Was  it,"  asked  Canning,  then  Secretary  for  the 
Colonies,  "his  intention  to  found  any  motion  on  the  petition?" 
"No,"  replied  Wilberforce,  "but  such  is  the  intention  of  an 
esteemed  friend  of  mine";  whereupon  Buxton,  thus  publicly 
introduced  as  his  successor,   immediately  rose  and  gave   notice 


*  Life  of  Sir  T.  F.  Buxton,  p.  141. 

t  In  obvious  allusion  to  tho  "  Holy  Alliance"  tlien  lately  formed  by  certain 
of  tho  European  Powers. 

+  L^fe  of  Sir  T.  F.  Buxton,  p.  103. 
§  lUd.,  p.  106. 


Enslaved  and  Free  339 

of  a  resolution,  which,   on    May    15th,   he   formally    moved,   as  Part  IV. 
follows :—  1824^1. 

.      .  .  .        Chap.  23. 

"  That  the  state  of  slavery  is  repugnant  to  the  principles  of  the  British       

Constitution  and  of  the  Christian  Religion  ;    and  that  it  ought  to  be  Buxton's 
gradually   abolished   throughout   the    British   Colonies   with    as    much  ^'^^^ 
expedition  as  may  be  found  consistent  with  a  due  regard  to  the  well-  parlia- 
being  of  the  parties  concerned."  ment. 

His  plan  w^as  that  existing  slaves  should  be  better  treated,  be 
allowed  lawful  marriage,  have  provision  for  their  religious  instruc- 
tion, and  opportunity  to  work  out  their  own  freedom  ;  and  that  all 
Negro  children  born  after  a  certain  day  should  be  free — so  that  in 
the  course  of  a  few  years  slavery  would  automatically  die  out. 
No  proposal  could  be  more  moderate,  or  less  revolutionary.  The 
Abolitionists  were  accused  of  seeking  to  demoralize  the  slaves  by 
freeing  them  before  they  were  fit  for  freedom  ;  but,  as  Buxton's 
biographer  well  observes,  "  it  was  they  who  desired  to  approach 
emancipation  by  a  long  series  of  preparatory  measures ;  it  was 
the  planters  w^ho  rejected  these  preparatory  measures,  because 
they  would  lead  to  ultimate  emancipation."  But  Buxton,  in  his 
speech,  was  plain  enough  as  to  where  the  right  lay  to  the  bodies  who  owns 
of  the  slaves  :—  the  slave's 

body  ? 

"  We  have  been  so  long  accustomed  to  talk  of  '  my  slave  '  and  ^  ifour 
slave,'  and  what  he  will  fetch  if  sold,  that  we  are  apt  to  imagine  that  he 
is  really  yours  or  mine,  and  that  we  have  a  substantial  right  to  keep  or 
sell  him.  Here  is  a  certain  valuable  commodity,  and  here  are  two 
claimants  for  it,  a  white  man  and  a  black  man.  Wliat  is  the  commodity 
in  dispute  ?  The  body  of  the  black  man.  The  white  man  says,  '  It  is 
mine,'  and  the  black  man,  '  It  is  mine.'  The  claim  of  the  black  man  is 
just  this — Nature  gave  it  him.  Will  any  man  say  he  came  by  his  body 
in  an  illegal  manner  ?  Does  any  man  suspect  he  played  the  knave  and 
purloined  his  own  limbs  ?  I  do  not  mean  to  say  the  Negro  is  not  a 
thief  ;  but  he  must  be  a  very  subtle  thief  indeed  if  he  stole  even  so  much 
as  his  own  little  finger  ! 

'•  Then  we  come  to  the  claim  of  the  white  man.  You  received  him  from 
your  father — -very  good.  Your  father  bought  him  from  a  neighbouring 
planter — very  good.  That  planter  bought  him  of  a  trader  in  the 
Kingston  slave-market,  and  that  trader  bought  him  of  a  man-merchant 
in  Africa.  So  far  you  are  quite  safe.  But  how  did  the  man-merchant 
acquire  him  ?     lie  stole  him  !  ''  * 

This  inimitable  argument — as  witty  as  it  was  seriously  irre- 
fragable— seems  very  much  a  matter  of  course  now.  It  is  hard 
to  remember  that  within  the  lifetime  of  Queen  Victoria  there  were 
thousands  of  honourable  and  respectable  Englishmen  who  declined 
to  admit  it,  and  who  were  strongly  represented  in  Parliament. 
The  Government,  however,  proposed  to  meet  Buxton  half-w^ay, 
by  recommending,  though  not  requiring,  the  local  Legislatures  to 
adopt  measures  for  ameliorating  the  condition  of  the  slaves  wdth 
a  view  to  their  future  emancipation  ;  and  Canning's  amendment 
to  this  effect  being  carried,  circulars  in  accordance  with  it  were 

*  Life  of  Buxton,  p.  114. 

z  2 


340  The  Negro  on  Both  Sides  the  Atlantic- 

Part  IV.  addressed  to  the  different  Colonies.     But  the  uselessness  of  such 
1824.-41.   gentle  measures  was  soon  apparent.      The  news  of  the  debate 
Chap.  23.  treated  the  most  violent  excitement  in  the  West   Indies.     The 
indigna-     indignation  of  the  planters  knew  no  bounds,  and  the  rancour  of 
tionofthe   their  language  is  almost  inconceivable.     It  was  openly  proposed 
indfan        to  throw  off  the  yoke  of  England  and  join  the  United  States.     On 
planters.     ^^   other   hand,    the    slaves   imagined   that   the   great   King   of 
England  had  ordered  their  freedom,  and  that  the  masters  were 
keeping  them  out  of  their  rights.     Some  refused  to  work,  and 
resisted  compulsion,  and  some  committed  outrages  on  the  white 
men.     The  disturbances  were  soon  suppressed,  however,  by  the 
troops;  and  "pressed  down  and  running  over  was  the  measure 
of  vengeance  dealt  to  the  unhappy  Negroes."     Moreover  the  news 
of  the  outbreaks  produced  a  revulsion  of  feeling  in  England ;  the 
half-hearted  supporters  of  abolition  at  once  fell  away  ;  and  Buxton 
was  for   a   time   the    most   unpopular   man    in  Parliament,    and 
perhaps  in  England. 
Persecu-  The  wrath   of  the  West   Indians   did  not   stop  at  their  slaves. 

l'i°narrs^"  ^o^'  ^^^ny  ycars,  faithful  and  patient  missionary  work  had  been 
done  among  them  by  missionaries  of  the  London,  Baptist, 
Wesleyan,  and  Moravian  Societies ;  *  and  upon  them  fell  the 
bitterest  reproaches.  Because,  so  far  as  their  httle  influence 
went,  they  had  pleaded  the  cause  of  their  suffering  flocks,  they 
were  supposed  to  have  fostered  the  insurrection.  In  reality  it 
was  their  teachings  that  prevented  the  revolt  being  more  general, 
and  led  even  the  slaves  who  did  rise  to  spare  the  lives  of  the 
whites  that  fell  into  their  hands.  "  We  will  take  no  life,"  said 
some  of  the  rioters,  "  for  our  pastors  have  taught  us  not  to  take  that 
which  we  cannot  give."  But  in  Demerara,  in  1823,  a  missionary  of 
Case  of  the  L.M.S.,  John  Smith,  was  tried  by  court-martial  for  aiding  and 
smkh  abetting  them,  and  although  the  evidence  showed  that  he  had 
been  especially  earnest  in  counselling  patient  obedience,  and  had 
offended  the  slave-leaders  by  so  doing,  he  was  sentenced  to  death. 
The  Home  Government  remitted  the  capital  sentence,  but  mean- 
while Smith  had  died  of  the  hardships  he  endured  in  prison. 
Great  excitement  ensued  in  England.  Again  public  opinion 
veered  round.  Henry  (afterwards  Lord)  Brougham  brought  forward 
Debate  in  (June  2nd,  1824)  a  vote  of  censure  in  the  House  of  Commons, 
showing  that  the  trial  had  been  illegally  conducted,  and  that 
the  officers  who  conducted  it  were  influenced  by  the  violent  anti- 
negro  prejudices  of  the  slave-proprietors.  Dr.  Lushington  and 
Sir  James  Mackintosh  supported  him  in  speeches  that  moved 
the  whole  country.  Canning,  naturally  unwilling  to  condemn 
British  officers,  but  seeing  direct  opposition  hopeless,  moved 
the  "previous  question,"  which  enabled  the  Government  to 
evade  the  motion.      But   in  his   speech,  he  pointedly  separated 

*  The  small  C.M.S.  and  S.P.G.  work  has  been  previously  mentioned ;   see 
p.  218.     Their  enlarged  Missions  were  later. 


Parlia 
ment. 


Enslaved  and  Free  34I 

himself    from     the    pro-slavery    party.       He    actually    thanked  PartIV. 
Broiigham   for  his   exertions;    he  disclaimed   any    "  mdiflerence  ^^Z^i^ 
to  the  rehgious   instruction   of   the  slaves"  on  the   part   of   the      J__ 
Government ;    he   protested    against   the  "  monstrous    doctrmes 
propagated  by  some  of  the  colonists  with  a  view  of  puttmg  out 
the  light  of  natural  and  revealed  rehgion  "  ;  and  he  warned  them 
against  "  any  attempt  in  future  to  discourage  religion  or  molest 
its  teachers."     It  was  in  these  debates  that  Wilberforce   spoke  ^/^'^.^last 
for  the  last  time  in  Parhament.  speech. 

Nevertheless,  the  Anti-slavery  leaders  were  compelled  by 
Canning's  policy  of  "recommendations"  to  rest  on  their  oars  for 
a  while  ;  and  meantime  they  set  to  work  to  inform  the  Enghsh 
people  of  the  real  condition  of  the  Negroes,  which  was  little 
understood.  No  doubt  many  of  those  who  had  property  in  the 
West  Indies  really  desired  that  their  slaves  should  be  well 
treated,  and  beheved  that  they  actually  were  well  treated ;  and  it 
was  natural  that  they  should  resent  the  imputations  cast  upon 
all  slaveholders  alike.  But  they  were  sadly  ignorant  of  the 
facts.  They  knew  not  what  their  agents  and  overseers  were 
doing.  They  did  know,  however,  quite  enough.  They  knew,  or  ^^-^l^'^^^^^ 
might  have  know^n,  that  their  slaves  worked  on  the  sugar-planta-  Negroes, 
tions  nineteen  hours  a  day  in  crop  time,  and  fourteen  hours  and  a 
half  at  other  times ;  that  they  w^ere  kept  at  work,  the  weak  and 
sickly  equally  with  the  strong  and  heahhy,  by  the  threat  of  the 
whip ;  that  the  slave's  "  scanty  supply  of  food  and  clothing  was  a 
source  of  constant  and  bitter  suflering ;  that  his  domestic  ties 
were  utterlv  dissolved ;  that  every  hindrance  was  thrown  in  the 
way  of  his  education  ;  that  his  religious  teachers  were  persecuted ; 
that  his  day  of  rest  was  encroached  on  ;  -  that  every  prospect  of 
civil  rights  was  taken  away  ;  that  however  grievous  an  injury  was 
inflicted  on  him,  to  obtain  redress  was  almost  impossible ;  and 
that  the  slightest  offences  subjected  him  to  the  severest  punish- 
ments, to  the  stocks,  to  the  prison,  to  the  lash."  t  These  things 
were  general,  and  not  seriously  denied ;  but  the  charge  of  cruel 
flogging  was  denied.  The  returns  of  punishments,  however,  given 
in  by  the  planters  themselves  for  the  two  years  1828-9  showed  a 
total  of  68,921  floggings,  of  which  25,094  were  duly  registered  as 
inflicted  on  females;  and  the  law  allowed  twenty-five  stripes  to 
each  ordinary  "punishment."  At  this  very  time  the  Jamaica 
House  of  Assembly  re-affirmed  by  a  large  majority  the  right  to 
flog  women  publicly  and  indecently.  Another  new  law  forbad  f^^^^^,^^ 
Negroes  "  teaching  or  preaching  as  Anabaptists  or  otherwise,"  ^etoed^by 
under  pain  of  "  whipping,  or  imprisonment  wdth  hard  labour";  ^  '"^" 
and  also  prohibited  all  religious  meetings  or  services  between 
sunset  and  sunrise,  which  w^as  equivalent  to  forbidding  them 
altogether.     Upon  this  enactment  of  a  "Christian"  legislature 

*  In  one  case,  a  manager  put  all  his  Negroes  in  the  stocks  on  Sundays,  to 
prevent  their  attending  chapel.     C.  S.  Home,  Story  oj  the  L.M.8.,  p.  161. 
t  Life  of  Buxton,  p.  213. 


34- 


The  Negro  on  Both  Sides  the  Atlantic . 


Part  IV. 

182Jr-il. 

Chap.  23. 


Lord  Sligo 
confirms 
Buxton's 
state- 
ments. 


C.M.S. 
agents 


An  Amend' 
ment  at 
Exeter 
Hall. 


the  Home  Government  imposed  the  royal  veto ;  whereupon  the 
Jamaica  Assembly  re-enacted  it,  with  severer  penalties.  The 
King's  veto  had  to  be  put  in  exercise  a  second  time.  What 
George  IV.  had  done,  William  IV.  now  repeated. 

But  in  the  meanwhile,  not  unnaturally,  another  insurrection 
broke  out,  and  was  suppressed  with  more  terrible  severity  than 
ever.  Moreover  the  missionaries  who  sought  to  minister  to  the 
Negroes  were  bitterly  opposed  and  persecuted ;  one  Wesleyan 
who  had  disobeyed  the  law  thus  twice  disallowed  by  the  King  of 
England  died  in  a  horrible  dungeon  ;  and  many  chapels  were 
destroyed  by  white  mobs,  while  the  magistrates  looked  on.  Two 
or  three  of  the  missionaries,  notably  Knibb,  a  Baptist,  came  to 
England,  and  horrified  many  public  meetings  by  a  recital  of  what 
they  and  their  flocks  had  endured.  Of  course  their  accounts 
were  received  in  official  circles  with  scepticism ;  but  Lord  Sligo, 
Governor  of  Jamaica,  wrote  afterwards  (in  1835)  to  Buxton, — 
"  When  I  W'cnt  out  to  Jamaica  I  thought  that  the  stories  of  the 
cruelty  of  the  slave-owners  disseminated  by  your  society  were 
mei'ely  the  emanations  of  enthusiastic  persons, — rather  a  carica- 
ture than  a  faithful  representation  of  what  did  actually  take  place. 
Before  I  had  been  long  in  Jamaica,  I  had  reason  to  think  that  the 
real  state  of  the  case  had  been  far  understated  ;  and  this,  I  am 
quite  convinced,  was  the  fact."  "-■' 

The  opposition  was  not  confined  to  Methodists  and  "Anabap- 
tists." There  w^ere  C.M.S.  catechists  and  schoolmasters  who  met 
with  similar  treatment.  Eor  when  the  Bishoprics  of  Jamaica  and 
Barbadoes  were  established  in  1824,  the  Church  Missionary 
Society  enlarged  the  operations  it  had  been  carrying  on  upon  a 
small  scale  on  three  or  four  of  the  West  India  Islands,!  though 
even  then  the  scale  was  very  small  compared  with  that  of  the 
Nonconformist  Missions.  The  work  really  consisted  of  supporting 
schools,  and  providing  schoolmasters  and  catechists.  This  was 
chiefly  upon  estates  whose  owners  did  not  join  in  the  general 
hostility  to  the  religious  instruction  of  the  Negroes  ;  \  though  in 
some  cases,  especially  in  Demerara,  the  Society's  agents  suffered 
almost  as  much  as  those  who  were  called  "  sectarian  teachers." 
It  was  in  this  connexion  that  the  Amendment  to  the  Annual 
Report  w^as  moved  on  the  first  occasion  of  the  Anniversary 
Meeting  being  held  in  Exeter  Hall,  as  before  mentioned.  §  The 
Eeport,  as  read,  said,  "  There  are  honourable  and  bright  excep- 
tions. There  are  among  the  West-Indian  Proprietors  some 
Christian  Men,  who  have  come  forward,  in  the  face  of  much 
opposition  and  reproach,  for  the  benefit  of  the  Slaves  on  their 


*  Life  of  Buxton,  p.  317.  t  See  p.  218. 

X  The  S.P.G.,  as  trustee  of  the  Codrington  estates  in  Barbadoes,  was  a 
slave-owner,  but  acted  with  so  much  wisdom  and  kindness  that  its  Negroes 
were  virtually  enfranchised  before  the  Abolition  Act,  and  formed  an  indiistrioiis, 
peaceful,  and  religious  community.     See  S.P.G.  Digest,  jj.  202. 

§  See  p.  278. 


Enslaved  and  Free  343 

Estates,  and  who,  by  imparting  to  them  the  benefits  of  Christian  PartIV. 
Instruction,  are  materially  promoting  their  spnitual  welfare,  as  ^  ^^ 
w^ell  as  efficiently  preparing  them  for  the  right  use  and  enjoyment  __ 
of  liberty."  This  sentence,  hterally  true  as  it  was,  w^as  objected  to 
by  the  Eev.  S.  C.  Wilks,  Editor  of  the  Christian  Observer,  for  fear 
advantage  should  be  taken  of  it  to  discount  the  statements  made 
regarding  the  general  oppression  of  the  slaves.  He  moved  that 
these  words  be  added:— "But  still,  such  is  the  power  of  the 
System,  that  the  very  Friends  of  the  Slaves  cannot  carry  then- 
wishes  into  full  effect,  but  are  cramped  and  crippled  in  then- 
exertions."  This  Amendment,  or  rather  rider,  did  not  lead  to  the 
uproarious  scenes  that  were  witnessed  the  following  day  at  the 
Bible  Society's  meeting ;  -■■-  for  Daniel  Wilson  (not  yet  Bishop  of 
Calcutta)  at  once  rose  and  seconded  it,  and  his  influence  was  so 
great  that  no  further  discussion  ensued,  but  it  was  put  to  the 
meeting  and  carried  almost  unanimously. 

Meanw^iile  the  serious  proceedings  of  the  white  population  m 
Jamaica  elicited  from  Lord   Goderich,  the  Colonial  Secretary  m  Lord^.^^^^ 
Lord   Grey's   Ministry,   a   remarkable   despatch,!    in   which   he  despatch, 
said  : — 

"  Nothing  can  justify  the  systematically  withholding  from  any  men  or 
class  of  men  a  Kevelation  given  for  the  common  benefit  of  all.  I  could 
not  therefore  acknowledge  that  the  Slaves  in  Jamaica  could  be  permitted 
to  live  and  die  amidst  the  darkness  of  Heathen  Idolatry,  whatever 
efiect  the  advancing  light  of  Christianity  might  ultimately  have  on  the 
relation  of  Master  and  Slave.  Nor  am  I  anxious  to  conceal  my  opmion 
that  a  change  in  this  relation  is  the  natural  tendency,  and  must  be  the 
ultimate  result  of  the  difihsion  of  religious  knowledge  among  them.  .  .  . 
So  long  as  the  Islands  were  peopled  by  importations  of  Native  Africans 
who  lived  and  died  in  Heathenism,  the  relation  of  Master  and  Slave 
might  be  expected  to  be  permanent ;  but  now  that  an  indigenous  race 
of  men  has  grown  up,  speaking  our  own  language  and  instructed  m  our 
religion,  alhthe  more  harsh  rights  of  the  Owner,  and  the  blind  submis- 
sion of  the  Slave,  will  inevitably,  at  some  period,  more  or  less  remote, 
come  to  an  end." 

"  More  or  less  remote  "—that  was  a  cautious  w^ay  of  still  appeal- 
ing even  to  the  self-interest  of  the  planters.  But  it  was  their 
obstinacy  that  turned  the  "  more  "  into  "  less."  The  Anti- Slavery 
leaders  had  ere  this  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  gradual 
measures  of  amelioration  which  they  had  advocated  in  1823 
would  be  of  Httle  avail  even  if  adopted.  They  now  saw  the 
fallacy  of  their  own  admission  that  "  no  people  ought  to  be  free 
till  they  are  fit  to  use  their  freedom."  "  This  maxim,"  said 
Macaulay,  "  is  w-orthy  of  the  fool  in  the  old  story,  who  resolved 
not  to  go  intQ  the  water  till  he  had  learned  to  swim."  I  And  m 
May,  1830,  a  great  meeting  was  held  in  Freemasons'  Hall  to 
proclaim  that  the  object  now  to  be  fought  for  was  immediate  and 

*  See  p.  279.  t  rri^ted  in  t'le  ilisHionanj  Register,  1832,  p.  274. 

X  Essay  on  Milton.     Essays,  vol.  i.  p.  42. 


344  The  Negro  on  Both  Sides  the  Atlantic: 

Part  IV.  unconditional  Abolition.     William  Wilberforce,  who  had  for  five 

1824-41.   years  retired  from  public  life,  came  forth  from  his  retirement  to 

Ohap.  16.  ^g^]^Q  ^]^Q  chair,   and  with  enfeebled  frame  and  weakened  voice 

■wiiber-       delivered  a  most  impressive  address.'''     Brougham,  Lushington, 

s°e"chin^*  T.   B.   Macaulay,   Buxton,  Lords   Calthorpe  and  Milton,  Daniel 

public.        Wilson,  and  others  spoke  ;  and  the  gist  of  the  string  of  resolutions 

was  that   every    effort   was  to    be  made    to   ensure  "  the    early 

and  universal  Extinction  of  Slavery  in  all  the  Possessions  of  the 

British  Crown." 

Three  more  years,  however,  elapsed  ;  and  it  is  needless  here 

to   detail  Buxton's  exertions  in  Parliament  in  the  face  of  both 

open  opposition  and  half-hearted  support.     The  thrilling  story  of 

them  is  given  in  full  in  his  Life.     At  length,  on  May  14th,  1833, 

Mr.    Stanley,!  who    had   succeeded  Lord   Goderich  as   Colonial 

Secretary    in   the    Whig   Ministry,    introduced    the  Government 

The  Bill,  proposing  the  abolition  of   Slavery  throughout   the  British 

Abolition     dominions,  but  a  temporary  apprenticeship  of  the  slaves  to  their 

existing  masters,  as  a  transition  measure,  and  a  vote  of  twenty 

millions  sterling  as  compensation  for   the  loss  of  property.     The 

Bill  passed  on  August  28th.     Wilberforce  did  not  see  that  day  ; 

but    he    lived    to   know   the   Bill   was    safe.     "The    Moses     of 

the  African    Israelites,"  as    Colquhoun  observes,  w^as  spared  to 

witness  the  children    of   his    watchful    oversight    just    stepping 

Death  of     into  their  promised  land.]:     He  entered  into  rest  on  July    29th, 

force  ^'^'       exclaiming  with    fervour  on  his  dying  bed,   "  Thank    God    that 

I  should  have  lived  to   witness    a    day   in    which    England   is 

willing   to   give    twenty    millions    sterling    for   the    Abolition    of 

Slavery !  " 

"The  past  year,"  said  the  C.M.S.  Committee  in  their  next 
Annual  Eeport,  "will  be  ever  memorable,  in  the  history  of  this 
Country,  for  the  termination  of  an  arduous  and  painful  conflict 
which,  in  various  forms,  has  agitated  the  Councils  of  the  Nation 
during  half  a  century.  That  Veteran  Philanthropist  of  whose 
death  the  Committee  feel  it  is  almost  impossible  for  them  to 
speak,  since  all  hearts  feel  toward  his  memory  more  than  words 
can  utter,  was  permitted  by  Divine  Providence  to  live  just  long 
enough  to  witness  the  crowning  of  his  laboui's,  and,  after  a  noble 
warfare  of  fifty  years,  to  close  his  eyes  with  peaceful  triumph  and 
adoring  wonder  at  the  thought  that  he  had  lived  to  see  the 
day." 

The  speeches  at  the  May  Meetings  that  year,  1834,  are  stirring 

+p  read,  even  now ;  especially  Buxton's  at  the  Wesley  an  Anni- 

compensa-  vt'^'s^iy-      At  the  C.M.S.   Meeting,   Hugh  Stowell  dwelt  on  the 

tion  for       twt^ty  millions  Compensation.     "  But  where,"  he  exclaimed,  "  is 

ownef,^but  the  Co'^^ps^sation  for  the  Slave?"     His  eloquent  periods  were 

what  for 

the  slave  ?        ^  Priijed  in  the  UUsionarxj  Reaisier,  July,  1830,  p.  292  ;  see  also  p.  216. 

t  Aftery^^'<is   the  Earl    of  Derby,   Leader  of  the    Conservative  Party    and 
Prime  Miniltsr.     He  was  then  a  Whig. 
+  Wilberfo'f'^  *"^^  '*'•*''  Friends,  p.  416. 


Enslaved  and  Free  345 

afterwards  put,  says  the  Missionary  Bcgister,  by  "  a  delighted  Part  IY. 

hearer,"  into  the  following  stanzas  : —  1824-41. 

Chap.  23. 

Yes  !  wisely  and  well  has  oui'  Senate  decided,  

And  the  deed  shall  a  gem  in  its  diadem  stand ! 
By  Mercy  and  Justice  its  counsels  were  guided, 
And  Slavery's  moanings  have  ceased  in  the  land. 

But  though  Providence  thus  has  your  fiat  directed. 

One  proof  of  additional  zeal  I  would  crave, 
Your  care  has  the  I'ights  of  the  Master  protected. 

Oh,  let  Compensation  extend  to  the  Slave ! 

Yet  what  for  his  ills  can  afford  reparation, 

His  spirits  restore,  or  his  vigour  renew  Y 
Golconda's  vast  wealth  were  a  poor  compensation. 

Too  trivial  a  boon  were  the  mines  of  Peru. 

Oh !  give  him  the  Records  of  Light  and  of  Gladness, 

The  "  Pearl  of  great  price  "  for  his  portion  decree, 
There  show  him,  we  all  were  in  bondage  and  sadness, 

Till  by  Christ's  precious  blood  we  were  ransom'd  and  free. 

Ye  have  viTonged  him — ye  think  on  those  wrongs  vsath  contrition — 

Like  Zaccha^us  a  four-fold  requital  bestow  ; 
Send  the  faithful  and  good  on  a  merciful  mission. 

And  lead  him  the  way  of  Salvation  to  know. 

This,  this  shall  be  lasting  and  true  Compensation, 

More  pure  than  the  ransom  that  lately  ye  gave  ; 
For  the  Saviour  shall  speak,  through  His  blest  Revelation, 

Glad  tidings  of  Freedom  and  Peace  to  the  Slave. 

The  day  of  emancipation  had  been  fixed  for  August  1st,  1834.  The  day  of 
It  was  observed  with  gratitude  to  God  by  many  friends  in  tion. 
England.'''  And  wdth  much  prayer ;  for  they  hardly  dared  to 
whisper  to  one  another  their  secret  apprehensions  of  what  might 
be  going  on  that  day  in  the  West  Indies.  "  Would  not,"  writes 
Buxton's  son  and  biographer,  "  the  gloomy  predictions  of  the  West 
Indians  be  now^  fulfilled?  The  bloodshed,  the  rioting,  the 
drunkenness,  the  confusion,  they  had  so  often  foretold — would 
not  these  tarnish  the  lustre  of  this  glorious  deed  of  the  British 
people  ? ' ' 

"  It  was  therefore,"  he  goes  on,  "  with  feelings  of  deep  solicitude  that 
Mr.  Buxton  and  his  friends  awaited  the  news  from  the  Colonies.  He 
was  at  Northrepps  Hall,  when,  on  the  10th  of  September,  a  large  pile  of 
letters  came  in  with  the  colonial  stamps  upon  them.  He  took  them, 
still  sealed,  in  his  hand,  and  walked  out  into  the  wood ;  desiring  no 
witness  but  One  of  the  emotion  and  anxiety  he  experienced.  He  opened 
them ;  and  deep  indeed  was  his  joy  and  gratitude  to  God  when  he 
found  that  one  letter  after  another  was  tilled  with  accounts  of  the 
admirable  conduct  of  the  Negroes  on  the  great  day  of  freedom. 
Throughout  the  Colonies  the  churches  and  chapels  had  been  thrown 
open,  and  the  slaves  had  crowded  into  them,  on  the  evening  of  the  31st 
of  July.  As  the  hour  of  midnight  approached,  they  fell  upon  their 
knees,  and  awaited  the  solemn  moment.  When  twelve  sounded  from 
the  chapel  bells,  they  sprang  upon  their  feet,  and  through  every  island 

*  On  August  1st,  1884,  the  Jubilee  of  the  day  was  celebrated  by  a  great 
meeting  in  the  Guildhall,  the  Prince  of  Wales  presiding. 


346  The  Negro  on  Both  Sides  the  Atlantic: 

Part  IV.  rang  the  glad  Konnd  of  thanksgiving  to  the  Fatlier  of  all  ;  for  the  chains 

1824  41.    were  broken,  and  the  slaves  were  free."* 

Chap.  23.  .  -r.      ■  ,  1  .  •  .    , 
In  the  Missionary  Begister  f  many  touching  narratives  of  the 

observance  of  the  day  are  recorded.     It  is  mentioned  that  one  of 

the  hymns  sung  as  the  Negroes  rose  to  their  feet  at  midnight, 

free  men,  was  Charles  Wesley's  "Blow  ye  the  trumpet,  blow  " — 

"which,"  says  a  missionary  correspondent,  "had  we  ever  given 

it  out  before,  would  have  subjected  us  to  a  charge  of  treason." 

The  prayers  of  some  of  the  people  are  given  ;  here  is  one : — 

"Blessed  Lord  !  AVe  want  tongue,  Ave  want  word,  we  want  heart,  to 
praise  Dee.  Debil  don't  do  de  good  to  ns,  but  Don  do  de  good  to  us  ;  for 
Don  put  it  into  the  heart  of  l)lessed  European  to  grant  us  dis  great 
])rivi1ege.  O  derefore  may  none  of  we  poor  sinner  praise  de  debil  by 
niakin  all  de  carouze  about  de  stieet,  but  fock  like  dove  to  deir  window 
to  praise  and  glorify  Dy  Great  Name  !  " 

But  the  Compensation  for  the  Slave  of  which  Hugh  Stowell  had 
spoken — what  of  that?  It  was  not  forgotten.  All  the  societies 
New  Mis-  set  to  woi'k  to  extend  their  Missions  in  the  West  Indies,  and  the 
sions  to  the  Government  voted  large  sums  in  aid  of  Christian  education  for  the 
Negroes.  The  S.P.G.,  aided  by  a  Eoyal  Letter  and  the  Govern- 
ment Grants,  expended  in  the  next  fifteen  years  £171,000  upon 
that  object,  j  The  Church  Missionary  Society  took  counsel  with 
the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  and  the  Bishop  of  London,  and  tlic 
former  forwarded  memorials  from  the  Committee  to  the  Bishops 
of  Jamaica  and  Barbadoes.  The  Society  had  for  some  years  been 
at  work  in  Jamaica,  in  Antigua,  in  some  of  the  smaller  islands, 
and  in  Demerara  on  the  mainland ;  and  a  Church  Missionary 
Association  had  been  formed  in  Jamaica  in  1827,  with  Sir  G.  H. 
Rose  as  President.  But  now  the  Committee  proposed  more  ex- 
tended work ;  and  in  doing  so,  they  not  only  thought  of  the 
immediate  benefit  to  the  liberated  Negroes,  but  fully  expected 
that  the  result  would,  in  course  of  time,  be  the  provision  of  W'est 
Indian  coloured  missionaries  for  Africa.  With  a  view  to  this 
especially,  the  Rev.  C.  L.  F.  Hansel,  one  of  the  ablest  missionaries 
at  Sierra  Leone, §  was  commissioned  to  go  to  Jamaica  and  start  a 
Large  Normal  Institution  for  Negro  teachers.  The  vigour  with  which 
c  "m^s^  the  new  plans  were  carried  out  will  be  gathered  from  the  fact 
that  in  1838  the  Society  had  in  Jamaica,  Trinidad,  and  Demerara, 
thirteen  ordained  missionaries,  twenty-three  English  catechists 
and  schoolmasters,  seventy  schools,  6000  scholars,  and  8000 
persons  at  public  worship.  Government  gave  the  Society  laige 
sums  to  build  and  maintain  schools ;  and  in  1840  a  meeting  of 
"planters,  merchants,  and  others  interested  in  Jamaica"  was 
held  at  Willis's  Rooms  with  a  view  to  getting  substantial  help  for 
them,  the  result  of  which,  "not  much  exceeding  £1000,"  actually 
disappointed  the  Committee. 

*  Life  of  Baxtov,  p.  296.  t  1834,  pp.  464—470. 

+  S.P.G.  Digest,  p.  195.  §  See  p.  336. 


Enslaved  and  Free  347 

The  results  of  the  work  were  certainly  not  disappomting.  In  Part  IV. 
1840,  the  Committee  reported  of  Jamaica,  "  Large  congregations  l^^^^}^ 
have  been  gathered  ;  numbers  of  the  Negroes  have  been  baptized ;  ""^^^'  • 
classes  for  Confirmation  have  been  formed  ;  a  considerable  number  Results, 
have  been  confirmed  by  the  Bishop  ;  and  of  these,  many  have 
become  communicants.  Week-day  lectures.  Missionary  Meetings, 
Sunday  Schools,  Day  and  Evening  Schools,  Infant  Schools,  &c.,  are 
carried  on."  In  Barbadoes  the  Society  had  intended  to  work, 
but  was  prevented  by  difliculties  arising  through  the  Bishop 
requiring  missionaries  to  the  Negroes  to  be  under  the  authority 
of  the  rectors  of  the  parishes  into  which  the  Island  was  divided.''' 
The  parochial  system,  indeed,  was  perhaps  more  complete  in  the 
West  Indies  than  in  any  other  Colony,  owing  to  the  liberality  of 
the  State  provision  of  funds  ;  and  this  subsequently  facilitated 
the  withdrawal  of  the  Society  from  the  Islands  altogether.  The 
immediate  cause  of  this  step  was  the  alarming  condition  of  the 
Society's  finances  in  1839-41,  of  which  more  hereafter.  The 
withdrawal  was  gradual :  some  of  the  missionaries  were  taken  on  c.m.s. 
to  the  colonial  establishments ;  when  others  died,  their  places  draw's, 
were  not  filled  up  ;  the  Normal  School  in  Jamaica  was  transferred 
to  the  Trustees  of  the  Lady  Mico  Charity,  which  has  been  a  great 
benefit  to  that  island  ;  and  by  1848  the  last  link  had  been  severed. 
The  Society  naturally  incurred  much  blame  for  having  thus  put 
its  hand  to  the  plough  and  then  looked  back  ;  but  when  we  come 
to  the  financial  position,  we  shall  see  that  drastic  measures  some- 
where were  inevitable,  and  it  seemed  to  the  Committee  that  the 
West  Indian  work,  interesting  and  important  as  it  was,  was  of  a 
less  definitely  missionary  character  than  the  work  in  Africa,  India, 
and  other  great  Heathen  fields.  Meanwhile  the  S.P.G.  and  the 
Nonconformist  Missions  continued  their  operations,  and  were  the 
instruments  of  great  good  among  the  Negro  population. 

To  one  branch  of  the  West  Indies  Mission  the  Society  clung 
longer.  This  was  the  Mission  to  the  Indians  of  British  Guiana,  British 
which  had  been  commenced  as  an  offshoot  from  Demerara.  Mission. 
With  this  work  one  honoured  name  is  connected,  that  of  the  Rev. 
J.  H.  Bernau,  a  Basle  man  who  received  further  training  at 
Islington,  and,  having  been  ordained  by  the  Bishop  of  London, 
went  out  in  1835.  For  eighteen  years  he  laboured  zealously,  and 
gathered  a  small  congregation  of  Indians  of  three  or  four  different 
tribes ;  and  his  work  at  Bartica  Grove  was  watched  with  prayerful 
interest  by  many  friends  in  England.  In  1855  this  Mission  was 
closed,  and  afterwards  came  under  the  charge  of  the  S.P.G., 
which  still  labours  in  the  country.  One  of  its  missionaries,  Mr. 
Brett,  did  a  remarkable  work  for  more  than  forty  years.  Mr. 
Bernau,  in  later  years,  was  Incumbent  of  Belvedere  in  Kent.    He 

*  This  was  a  long  controversy,  into  which  it  would  be  unprofitable  to  enter 
now,  as  the  West  Indies  Mission  did  not  continue  many  years.  The  Committee 
were  at  one  time  troubled  by  strong  articles  in  the  Ricord  against  the  Bishop, 
which  they  seriously  disapproved  and  publicly  repudiated. 


348  The  Negro  on  Both  Sides  the  Atlantic 

Part  IV.  died  in  1890,  aged  eighty-five.     He  was  the  father  of  Mrs.  A.  E. 
l«"'-^^l-    Moule. 

idp^-  .      ^y^  xixxx'sX  not  bid  farewell  to  the  West  Indian  Negro  without  a 

One  more    tribute  to  the  memory  of  one  man  who  has  not  been  mentioned  in 

the  Negro,  ^^^^^  chapter,  and  only  casually  in  former  chapters  as  one  of  the 

Mai^Jia     ^o^^^^ers  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society.     Zachary  Macaulay 

^""^y-  was  not  in  Parliament ;  he  was  not  a  platform  speaker ;  he  was 

not  in  the  pubhc  eye  a  representative   of  the  Anti- Slavery  cause 

like  Wilberforce  or  Buxton.     But  it  was  he  who  toiled  unceasingly 

behind    the    scenes,    wading   through    blue-books,   coUating    and 

grouping  evidence,  preparing  memorials,  writing  pamphlets,  and 

ready  at  all  times,  like  a  walking  handbook  or  dictionary,  to  be 

referred  to  touching  any  and  every  detail  of  the  subject ;  so  that 

Wilberforce  once  said,  when  information  was   wanted,  "  Let  us 

look  it  out  in  Macaulay."     No  man  knew  the  Negro  as  he  did. 

He  had  passed  his  youth  in  Jamaica,  as  overseer  of  an  estate.     He 

had  been  Governor  of  Sierra  Leone  in  the  earliest  days  of  the 

Colony.     The  result  was,  that,  as  Colquhoun  says, — "  One  object 

filled  his  eye  and  engrossed  his  soul : — 

"  He  had  heard  the  bay  of  the  bloodhound 
On  tlie  track  of  the  hunted  slave  ; 
The  lash  and  the  curse  of  the  master, 
And  the  groan  that  the  captive  gave. 

"  Ho  had  seen  in  the  cane-fields  of  Jamaica  the  Negro's  weary 
step  and  sunken  condition;  he  had  watched  him  toiling  under 
tropical  suns,  and  engaged  through  long  nights  in  the  intolerable 
pressure  of  sugar-straining.  He  had  tracked  him  to  his  African 
home  by  the  steaming  rivers  of  reeds  and  mangroves ;  and  from 
the  reedy  banks  he  had  seen  him  torn — bound,  manacled,  and 
driven  like  a  beast  on  shipboard — to  be  squeezed  into  a  stifling 
hold,  to  die  worse  than  the  death  of  a  dog,  and  to  be  flung  like 
carrion  into  the  waves.  The  memory  of  these  horrors  haunted 
him,  and  he  never  rested  till  they  were  put  down."  -  Outliving 
Wilberforce  by  four  years,  he  died  in  1838.  He  is  chiefly  known 
now  as  Lord  Macaulay's  father;  but  if  Thomas  Babington 
Macaulay  had  never  been  born,  the  name  of  Zachary  Macaulay 
would,  on  its  own  account,  be  worthy  of  everlasting  remembrance. 

*    Wilberforce  and  his  Friends,  p.  251. 


CHAPTEE  XXIV. 

Greek,  Copt,  Abyssinian,  Zulu,  Maori,  Australian,  Gree. 

Malta,  Syra,  Smyrna — Egypt  and  Abyssinia:  S.  Gobat ;  Lieder  ;  Isen- 
berg  and  Krapf — The  Zulu  Mission  :  Francis  Owen — New  Zealand  : 
First  Baptisms;  New  Missionaries;  Extension;  Charles  Darwin; 
Bishop  Broughton  ;  Marsden's  Last  Visit  and  Death — New  Hol- 
land Mission  :  the  Australian  Blacks — Rupert's  Land  :  the  Cree 
and  the  Soto;  Cockran  and  Cowley;  Bishop  Mountain's  Visit. 

"  And  gathered  them  out  of  the  lands,  from  the  east,  and  from  the  ivest,  from  the 
north,  and  from  the  south."- — Ps.  cvii.  3. 

"  Whosoever  shall  not  receive  you,  nor  hear  you,  .  .  .  depart  thence." — St. 
Mark  vi.  11. 

I.   The  Greek,  the  Copt,  and  the  Abyssinian. 

|HE  earlier  history  of  what  was  for  many  years  known  as  Part  IV. 
the  Mediterranean  Mission  has  been  told  in  connexion    1824-41. 
with    the   efforts    to    revive    the    Oriental    Churches.  ^^^^P-  ^'*- 
Those  efforts  were  continued  and  developed  during  the  vv-oriTfbr 
period  now  under  review.     Malta  was  still  the  base,  so  ^^^'^^^^ 
to  speak,  of  the  enterprise.     Jowett  continued  there  (with  intervals) 
till  1832  ;  ■'■  but  the  leading  mind  in  the  very  important  literary 
work  carried  on  was  Christopher  F.  Schlienz,  one  of  the  Basle 
men,  and  an  accomplished    scholar,   who  in   sixteen  years  sent 
out  from    the    Malta    Press    hundreds  of  thousands    of   portions  Malta 
of    Scripture,    books,    and   tracts,    in    Italian,     Maltese,    Modern  P""^^^- 
Greek,  Turkish,  Arabic,  and  Amharic.     Purchasers  appeared  from 
all  parts  of  the  Turkish  Empire — w^hich  was  then  much  larger 
than   it   is   now — and  North  Africa.      Perhaps    Schlienz's   most 
important   work   was   his    Arabic    Bible    and    Prayer-book,    and 
Turkish    and   Amharic   Prayer-books.      In   producing   the    three 
latter  the  S.P.C.K.   gave  pecuniary  aid.     One  of  his   assistants 
was  a  remarkable  man  w^hose  name  became  well  known  in  after 
years,  George  Percy  Badger.     He  was   a  printer  by  trade,  and 
an  Islington  student.     He    w^as    afterwards    ordained  by  Bishop 
Blomfield  and  sent  by  the  S.P.G.  to  Persia  ;  then  for  some  years 
he  was  chaplain  at  Aden  ;   and  in  his  later   years,   which  were 

*  He  went  out  for  the  third  time  in  1829.  The  Instructions  then  delivered 
to  him  are  a  masterly  and  comprehensive  review  of  the  whole  position  and 
outlook  in  the  East ;  presumably  by  Bickersteth,  though  they  read  more  like 
Pratt's — who,  liowever,  was  not  then  Secretary. 


3SO  Greek,  Copt,  Abvss/A'/a.v,  Zulu, 

Part  IV.  spent  in  the  Cape  Colony,  he  was  one  of  the  most  celebrated  of 
1824-41.   Arabic  scholars,  and  received  the  Lambeth  degree  of  D.C.L.  from 

Lhap^^4.  Archbishop  Tait.     He  died  in  1888. 

The  establishment  of  the  Kingdom  of  Greece  led  to  high  antici- 
pations of  a  general  revival  of  Greek  influence  in  the  East,  and 

Gr«'ce  '"  ^^^®  Society,  encouraged  by  the  reception  given  by  Greek  bishops 
to  Mr.  Hartley,  the  Oxford  man  "  who  was  continuing  the  travels 
and  researches  among  the  Oriental  Churches  begun  by  Jowett, 
formed  plans  for  educational  work  in  the  interest  of  those  Churches. 
Athens  was  occupied  by  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  of 
America ;  and  the  Church  Missionary  Society  chose  the  Island  of 
Syra,  and  also  Smyrna — which,  though  in  the  Turkish  dominions, 
was  one  of  the  most  important  Greek  centres  in  the  East.  In 
1829,  a  Prussian  who  had  been  sent  by  the  Basle  Society  to  Corfu, 
P.  A.  Hildner,  was  taken  over  by  the  Society,  and  stationed  at 
Sj'ra  ;  and  there  he  lived  and  worked  for  fifty-four  years.  He 
carried  on  a  school  called  the  Pajdagogion,  and  gave  a  sound 
Scriptural   education   to   hundreds  of   Greeks.     In    1831,    J.    A. 

and  Asia  Jetter,  wlio  had  been  invalided  from  Bengal,  was  sent  to  Smyrna  ; 
and  in  1835  he  was  joined  by  Peter  Fjellstedt,  a  Swede,  who  also 
had  been  invalided  from  India,  having  been  with  Rhenius  in 
Tinnevelly.  These  two  travelled  all  over  Asia  Minor,  and  the 
latter  afterwards  in  Bulgaria,  distributing  Scriptures  and  tracts, 
and  preaching  the  simple  Gospel  of  Christ  as  opportunity  offered 
In  times  of  plague  and  cholera,  which  then  alternately  ravaged  the 
Levant,  they  gave  themselves  assiduously  to  the  care  of  the  poor 
and  sick.  For  a  time  they  had  both  Greek  and  Turkish  schools 
at  Smyrna ;  but  the  hostility  of  Greek  priests  and  Turkish 
mullahs  was  successful  in  getting  them  closed,  and  in  1840  both 
brethren  were  recalled  to  England,  and  retired.!  In  1842  the 
Smyrna  Mission  was  reopened  by  J.  T.  Wolters,  one  of  the 
Basle  men  who,  like  Pfander,  Hoernle,  and  others,  had  been 
driven  out  of  Persia  by  the  Russians,!  and  had  joined  the 
Church  Missionary  Society. 

and  Egypt.  Two  of  the  Oriental  Churches,  the  Coptic  and  the  A])yssinian, 
the  Society  was  now  making  special  efforts  to  influence.  In  1825, 
five  Basle  men,  Samuel  Gobat,  Christian  Kugler,  J.  P.  T.  Lieder, 
Theodor  Milller,  and  W.  Kruse,  were  sent  to  Egypt;  the  first  two 

s.  Gobat.  with  an  eye  to  Abyssinia  whenever  the  way  opened.  Gobat 
(afterwards  Anglican  Bishop  in  Jerusalem)  was  a  remarkable  man. 
His  fascinating  autobiography  gives  a  delightful  and  ingenuous 
account  of  his  earlier  years.  §  He  came  from  Basle  to  Islington, 
just  when  the  College  was  opened,  ||  and  though  he  was  only  in 

*  See  p.  227.  His  journals  are  printed  at  great  length  in  the  Register,  and 
are  deeply  interesting. 

t  Jetter  was  the  father  of  Mrs.  Greaves  of  the  C.E.Z.M.S. 

t  See  p.  313. 

§  Samuel  Gobat :  H>s  Life  and  Work.     London  :  Nisbet,  1884. 

II  "I  enjoyed,"  says  Gobat,  "the  society  of  several  of  the  missionary 
students,  especially  Cockran,   afterwards  Archdeacon  of  Rupert's  Land,  and 


Maori ^  Australian^   Cree  351 

England  a  few  months,  the   Committee  acquired  a  high  idea  of  Part  IV. 
both  his  abihty  and  his  devotion.     Coming  from  the  Jura,  his    182-4-41. 
vernacular  was  French,  but  he  knew  German  and  English,  Latin,  C^hap.  24. 
Greek,  and  Hebrew,  and  he  was  studying  Arabic  and  Ethiopic. 
Going  to  Egypt,  and  thence  to  Palestine,  is  a  very  simple  thing 
now,  but  it  was  not  so  then.     The  p.irty  were  forty-nine  days 
getting  fi-om  Marseilles  to  Malta  ;  and  when  Gobat  and  Kugler 
visited  Jerusalem  to  consult  with  some  Abyssinians  there  (who  all 
died  of  the  plague  shortly  after),  they  had  to  return  from  Jaffa  to 
Damietta  in  an  open  boat. 

The  work  in  Egypt  was  carried  on  for  more  than  thirty  years, 
chiefly  by  Lieder,  who  died  at  Cairo  in  1865.  He  and  his  brethren  Lieder 
itinerated  all  over  the  Delta,  into  the  Fayum,  and  up  the  Nile  into  '"  ^gypt. 
Nubia,  selling  and  distributing  Scriptures  and  tracts,  among 
both  Christians  and  Mussulmans,  but  more  especially  the  former. 
The  Coptic  Patriarch  and  priests  were  generally  friendly,  though 
those  of  the  Greek  Church  were  not.  Schools  also  were  set  on 
foot ;  and,  in  particular,  a  Boys'  Boarding  School  at  Cairo,  which 
in  1842  was  changed  into  a  Theological  Seminary  for  the  training 
of  the  Coptic  clergy.  Many  of  them  received  in  it  from  Lieder 
pure  and  Scriptural  teaching  which  they  could  have  had  in  no 
other  way  ;  and  one  of  the  students  afterwards  became  Abuna 
(Archbishop)  of  the  Abyssinian  Church.  Linguistic  w^ork  was  also 
done  at  Cairo  as  well  as  at  Malta.  Lieder  revised  the  Coptic  and 
the  Arabic  New  Testament  for  the  S.P.C.K.  ;  and  he  translated 
into  Arabic  the  Homilies  of  St.  Chrysostom,  "and  some  useful 
works  by  Macarius,  whose  authority  is  much  respected  by  the 
Coptic  Church,  but  from  whose  principles  that  Church  has 
grievously  declined."  '■' 

Abyssinia   had    been    long    in    the    thoughts    of  the    Church 
Missionary  Society.     The  acquisition  by  the  Society  of  a  valuable 
MS.  of  part  of  the  Old  Testament  in  Ethiopic,  the  ecclesiastical 
language  of  the  Abyssinian  Church,  in  1817,  led  to  the  Committee's  The  Abys- 
requesting  Samuel  Lee  t  to  prepare  a  brief  history  of  that  Church  ;  church, 
which  historical  sketch  is  printed  in  the  Appendix  to  the  Eeport 
of  1818.     Then  the  purchase,  by  Jowett  in  1820,  of  Abu  Eumi's 
MS.  version    of   the    Bible    in    Amharic,]:  the  vernacular   of  the 
country,  increased  the  interest.     Not  till  1830,  however,  did  Gobat  Gobat  to 
succeed  in  getting  to  Abyssinia.     The  account  of  his  voyages  down  Abyssinia, 
and  across  the   Eed    Sea,    in    open    Arab   vessels  crowded   with 
pilgrims,  with  only  polluted  water  to  drink,  and  sometimes  none 
at    all,  and  he  himself  suffering,  now  with  ophthalmia,  and  now 

W.  Williams,  afterwards  Arclideacon  [and  Bishoii]  in  New  Zealand.  But 
my  chief  associate  was  the  gifted  and  deeply  pious  Mr.  C.  Friend,  who  died  in 
India  on  the  very  threshold  of  his  career."     lh\d.,  p.  60. 

*  Annual  Report,  18-4.5,  p   48. 

f  The  Society's  learned  'protege,  who  was  afterwards  Professor  of  Arabic  at 
Cambridge.     See  p.  120. 

+  See  p.  227. 


352  Greek^  Copt^  Abyssinian,  Zulu^ 

Part  IV.  with  dysentery,  is  very  interesting  but  very  painful  reading.* 
1824-41.  B^t  still  more  interesting,  and  still  more  painful,  are  the 
Chap.  24.  g^ccounts,  by  himself  and  his  companions  and  successors,  of 
the  Abyssinian  Church.  How  low  a  nominally  Christian  Church, 
still  holding  the  ancient  Creeds,  can  descend  in  corruption 
of  both  doctrine  and  practice,  would  scarcely  be  believed, 
except  on  the  united  testimony  of  intelligent  and  trustworthy 
men;  men,  moreover,  who  were  actuated  by  no  mere  iconoclastic 
zeal,  who  remembered  the  significant  cautions  of  the  Committee 
not  to  rail  against  unaccustomed  usages  and  ritual, f  and  who,  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  constantly  tried  to  find  common  ground  between 
themselves  and  the  priests  and  monks  they  conversed  with.  Yet 
thev  did  find  a  few  "  pious,  conscientious,  upright,  and  self-deny- 
ing priests,  notwithstanding  their  ignorance  of  the  way  of  salva- 
tion "  ;  and  some  who  were  "  well  acquainted  with  the  Bible,  and 
with  the  writings  of  the  Eastern  Fathers  of  the  first  four  centuries," 
but  "  subtle  and  acute  reasoners  who  delighted  in  metaphysical 
niceties  rather  than  in  practical  investigations."  \  In  fact,  they  were 
often  encouraged  by  their  intercourse  with  the  people.  "Many 
Abyssinians  changed  many  of  their  views  for  the  better  ;  and 
I  observed,"  says  Gobat,  "numerous  individuals  on  whom  the 
truths  of  the  Gospel  had  made  a  deep  impression,  though  I  only 
knew  four  or  five  whom  I  could  consider  as  truly  converted."  § 
Gobat  himself  became  so  widely  respected,  that  the  Abyssinians 
seriously  thought  of  electing  him  Bishop. 

But   his  health   failed,   and  he  was  compelled  to  leave,  after 

burying  his  companion  Kugler,  who  died  of  wounds  caused  by  the 

Gobat  in      bursting  of  his  gun.     Gobat  returned  to  Europe,  and  when  his 

England,    j^g^^^j^  ^^,^^  rcstored,   started  again   for  Abyssinia.     Here  is  his 

account   of   ths    "valedictory  dismissal"  by   the    Committee  in 

1833  :— 

"  I  -went  to  Salisbury  Squai'e,  where  many  friends  were  assembled. 
After  a  short  prayer,  the  too  humble  Edward  Bickersteth,  who  had  been 
appointed  to  deliver  the  instruction,  rose.  '  My  dear  friends,'  he  simply 
said,  *  I  feel  altop,ether  unfit  and  unworthy  to  give  an  instruction  to  our 
brother  Gobat,  and  am  conscious  that  we  all  need  his  instruction.  I 
will  now  request  him  to  impart  it  to  us  before  he  takes  liis  leave.'  I  was 
thunderstruck  ;  but  crying  to  God  for  help,  I  began  to  address  my 
superiors,  the  Committee  and  the  meeting,  scarcely  knowing  what  I  was 
to  say.  I  never  knew,  in  fact,  what  I  did  say ;  I  only  remember  thanking 
God  afterwards  for  not  permitting  me  to  be  confounded."  || 

*  One  voyage,  a  little  later,  is  thus  described  : — "We  found  the  boat  laden 
with  ghee  or  butter  in  large  jars,  and  a  large  number  of  Negro  and  Abyssinian 
pilgrims.  Each  passenger  had  his  place  measured,  about  five  feet  and  a  half 
long  by  two  feet  broad,  over  the  tops  of  the  jars,  or  rather  between  them  ; 
Q,\\i\.  ill  this  disarjreeaUe  position  we  Itad  to  ahicle  twenty-one  days,  exposed  to 
the  burning  sun.  The  excessive  crowding,  contact  with  our  neighbours,  and 
the  invasions  of  their  minute  and  all  too  numerous  attendants,  effectually 
banished  rest." — S.  Golat,  p.  154. 

t  See  p.  226.  t  ^-  Oohat,  pp.  118,  120. 

§  Uid.,  p.  122.  II  Ibid,.,  p.  160. 


Maori^  Australian^  Cree  -^53 

This  time  Gobat  took  a  wife  out  with  him,  a  Swiss.  The  Part  IV. 
narrative  of  their  travels  and  sufferings  is  touching  in  the  extreme.  1824-41.* 
Gobat  was  ahnost  continuously  ill,  and  at  last  he  was  forced  to  Chap.  24. 
retire  altogether.  

The   next   missionaries    in    Abyssinia    were    C.  Isenberg  and  isenberg, 
C.  H.  Blumhardt,  and  they  were  joined  in  1837  by  J.  L.  Krapf ;  hiX 
and  subsequently  J.  J.  Mlihleisen   also  was  sent  out.     All  four  ^""^pf- 
were  Basle  men.     Isenberg  and  Blumhardt  afterwards  laboured 
many  years  in  India.     Mlihleisen   retired,  and  took  the  name  of 
Arnold;  and  "  Mlihleisen -Arnold  "  became  in  after  years  a  well- 
known  clergyman  in  Cape  Colony,  and  a  recognized  authority  on 
Mohammedan    questions        Krapf  s    labours    and    sufferings    in 
Abyssinia  and  the  adjoining  kingdom  of  Shoa  form  one  of  the 
most   thrilhng   chapters   of  missionary  history.      The  people    of 
Shoa  professed  the  Christian  faith  hke  Abyssinians,  but  the  state 
of  the  Church  was  worse  than   ever  there.     Polygamy  prevailed, 
and  the  grossest  immorahty  ;  and  the  "  Christian  "  king  had  five 
hundred  wives. 

It  was  Eomanist  intrigues  that  ultimately  put  an  end  to  the 
Mission.  French  priests  and  travellers  on  three  separate  occa- 
sions procured  the  expulsion  of  the  missionaries.  To  one  of  these 
Krapf  had  showed  much  kindness  ;  which  kindness  was  rewarded, 
not  only  by  one  of  these  hostile  intrigues,  but  also  by  the  publica- 
tion of  a  book  in  which  the  Frenchman  embodied  many  results  of 
Krapf 's  researches  without  a  word  of  acknowledgment.  The  book, 
indeed,  contained  some  items  of  information  which  were  certainly 
more  original  as  to  their  source.  "  Monsieur  Krapf,"  one  day  said 
the  intending  author,  "we  must  assert  that  we  have  seen  the 
sources  of  the  Ha  wash."  "  When  I  replied,"  writes  Krapf,  "that 
this  would  not  be  true,  as  we  had  not  seen  them,  he  rejoined 
with  a  smile,  '  Oh,  we  must  be  i)Mloso])hcs  ! '"  An  account  of  the 
river  sources  in  question  accordingly  ajopeared  in  the  "philoso- 
pher's "  veracious  narrative. 

In  one  sense  the  Abyssinia  Mission  did  not  die.  It  developed 
into  another  and  greater  enterprise.  In  Shoa  Krapf  met  with  the 
Galla  tribes,  who  were  Heathen ;  and  in  view  of  his  desire  to  work 
amongst  them,  the  Committee,  in  1841,  separated  Abyssinia  from 
the  "  Mediterranean  Mission,"  and  headed  it  in  the  Annual  Eeport 
"  Abyssinia  or  East  Africa  Mission."  In  the  following  year,  the  .<East 
name  of  Abyssinia  was  dropped,  and  his  last  attempt  in  Shoa  was  Africa." 
called  the  "  East  Africa  Mission,"  two  years  before  what  we 
understand  by  the  term  commenced  at  Mombasa. 

II.   The  Zulu. 

South  Africa  was  one  of  the  earliest  fields  to  which  European  South 
missionaries   carried  the   Gospel.      First,   the  Moravians,  in  the  African 
middle  of  the  eighteenth  century.     Then,  at  the  beginning  of  this  '^'^^'°"^- 
century,    the    London   Missionary   Society,    the   Wesleyans     the 

VOL.  I.  A  a 


354  Greek ^   Con\  Abyssinian^  Zulu^ 

Part  IV.  Glasgow  Society  (afterwards  Free  Church  of  Scotland),  the  French 
1824-41.    Protestant  Mission,  the  Berlin  and  Ehenish  Societies/''     All  these 
i^ip^'   •  were  at  work  at  the  date  of  Queen  Victoria's  accession,  among 
Hottentots,    Fingoes,    Griquas,    Kafirs    (then    written    Caffres), 
Bosjesmans  (or  Bushmen),  Bechuanas,  Basutos,  &c.,  and  at  many 
stations  considerable  results  had  been  achieved  ;  but  the  trouble- 
some  wars   between   the   colonists   and   the    Kafirs    had    much 
interfered  with  the  work  in  some  parts. i      The  famous   Lovedale 
Industrial  Institution  had  been   started  by  the   Scotch  Mission. 
Eobert    Moffat   was  just    then    in  England,  after  twenty  years' 
labours,  delighting  the  Christian  public  with  his  thrilhng  narra- 
tives.    Among  the  Zulus  (then  written  Zoolahs),  two  Missions 
were   just   being    established ;    one    by  the   American  Board  of 
Missions,  the  other  by  the  Church  Missionary  Society. 
All  n  It  was  Captain  Allen  Gardiner,  E.N.,  afterwards  so  well  known 

appeais^to   ^^^1'  liis  heroic  enterprise  and  tragic  death  at  Tierra  del  Fuego,  who 
c.M.s.        called  attention  to  the  Zulus.     In  1834  he  visited  Dingarn,  the 
great    chief   of   the    nation,   the    predecessor    of    Cetewayo,   and 
obtained  leave  from  him  for   missionaries   to  go  to  his  people ; 
and  then  came  to  England,  and  earnestly  begged  the  Society  to 
start  a  Mission  there.     He  was  one  of  the  speakers  at  the  Anni- 
versary of  1836 ;  and  in  many  other  ways  his  zeal  and  fervour 
were  exercised  to  arouse  sympathy  with  the  fierce  Heathen  of 
Zululand.     The   result   was    an    offer  of   service  from  the  Eev. 
F- Owen     Francis   Owen,  Curate  of  Normanton,  a  Cambridge  graduate  in 
land.  lionours  ;  and  he,  with  his  wife   and   sister,  sailed  on  Christmas 

Eve  in  that  year.  The  Instructions  of  the  Committee  to  him  \ 
are  very  interesting,  and  exhibit  strikingly  the  beautiful  spirit  that 
actuated  William  Jowett,  then  the  Clerical  Secretary.  The 
Mission  was  to  be  on  what  may  be  called  New  Zealand  lines. 
Agriculture  and  cattle-breeding  were  to  be  undertaken  along  with 
preaching  and  teaching  ;  but  the  over-secularity  that  had  marked 
the  earlier  efforts  among  the  Maoris  was  to  be  avoided.  In 
choosing  the  locahty  for  a  station,  three  things  were  to  be  sought 
for, — salubrity,  for  health's  sake  ;  security  for  life  and  property ; 
scope  for  ready  and  frequent  intercourse  with  the  people. 

Mr.  Owen  and  his  party  went  out  with  Captain  Gardiner.     On 

*  The  S.P.G.  had  sui^plied  a  few  clergymen  to  minister  to  the  colonists, 
but  in  1837  had  only  one  on  its  roll.     Digi'st,  p.  272. 

t  The  outrages  committed  on  the  CafJres  by  the  white  colonists — chiefly 
Dutch,  but  some  English  also — aroused  the  indignation  of  Fowell  Buxton  and 
the  other  friends  of  Africa  who  had  lately  won  their  great  victory  in  the 
abolition  of  West  Indian  Slavery  (see  p.  344).  The  result  was  a  despatch  by 
Clharles  Grant  (the  younger;  afterwards  Lord  Glenelg ;  the  excellent  head  of 
the  India  Office  in  1831-3;-!,  see  p.  273),  now  Colonial  Secretary, — which  Buxton 
characterized  as  "  most  noble "  and  "most  admirable,"  and  as  "about  the 
first  instance  of  a  strong  nation  acting  towards  the  weak  on  the  principles  of 
justice  and  Christianity"  (Life  of  Buxton,  pp.  310,  ;-t22).  In  these  South 
African  matters,  Buxton  was  much  guided  by  Dr.  Philip,  the  very  able  and 
experienced  head  of  the  L.M.S.  Missions  at  the  Cape. 

X  Printed  in  Appendix  to  Report  of  1837. 


Maori ^  Australian^  Cree  355 

their  arrival  at  Cape  Town,  a  Cliurch  Missionary  Association  for  Part  IV. 
the  Colony  was  formed,  the  Governor,  Sir  B.  D' Urban,  presiding  1^24-11. 
at  the  inaugural  meeting.  Then  they  went  on  to  Port  Natal,  and  ^"P'  ' 
Mr.  Owen,  after  a  trying  journey  across  country,  arrived  at 
Dingarn's  town  on  August  19th,  1837,  and  on  the  next  day, 
Sunday,  addressed  the  chief  and  his  people  at  length,  proclaiming 
the  true  God  and  His  laws,  with  an  outline  of  the  Gospel.  The 
mission  station  was  fixed  on  a  hill  near  the  capital,  Unkunkinglove, 
and  there  Mr.  Owen  and  his  family  settled  in  October.  The 
American  Mission,  which  was  there  before  him,  was  settled  in 
another  part  of  the  country.  Owen's  journals  are  very  curious 
and  interesting ;  and  Dingarn  reminds  one  much  of  King  Mtesa  of 
Uganda.  On  one  occasion,  Owen  asked  for  certain  things  to  be 
done  quickly.  "  Why  such  a  hurry?  "  said  the  chief.  "  Because 
life  is  short."  "  How  can  that  be,  since  you  say  we  are  all  to 
w^ake  up  again  ?  " — referring  to  the  general  resurrection. 

But  within  four  months  all  was  at  an  end.  A  large  party  of  Perils  and 
Boers  came  to  Dingarn  to  treat  with  him  for  settling  in  the 
country.  Without  a  moment's  warning,  the  whole  of  that  party,  sixty 
Dutchmen  and  their  native  followers,  were  massacred.  Then  the 
native  girls  who  had  been  given  to  Mrs.  Owen  as  servants  charged 
her  and  her  husband  with  speaking  against  the  chief — though 
their  conversations  were  in  English,  which  the  girls  did  not 
understand.  This  put  their  lives  in  imminent  peril ;  but  ulti- 
mately they  were  sent  out  of  the  country.  They  retired,  as  did 
also  the  American  missionaries,  to  Port  Natal ;  and  finding  a 
vessel  about  to  proceed  to  Algoa  Bay,  they  all  sailed  in  her. 
Captain  Gardiner  and  his  family,  who  had  settled  near  the  coast 
at  a  place  he  had  named  Berea,  left  at  the  same  time.  Terrible 
fighting  ensued  between  the  Boers  and  the  Zulus ;  and  the  feud 
continued  for  many  years. 

In  the  meanwhile,  the  Society,  ignorant  of  the  break-up  of  the 
Mission,  had  sent  out  a  lay  agent,  W.  Hewetson,  and  a  surgeon, 
R.  Philips,  to  join  Owen.  Unwilling  to  return  to  England,  the 
party  resolved  to  try  and  get  to  Mozika,  in  Bechuanaland,  eight 
hundred  miles  inland  from  Grahamstown,  a  station  that  had  been 
occupied,  and  abandoned,  in  succession,  by  the  French  Protestant 
Mission,  and  by  another  band  from  the  American  Board;  and 
they  actually  reached  the  place.  But  the  Society  at  home  had 
been  informed  that  the  French  Mission  intended  re-occupying  it ; 
and  instructions  were  therefore  sent  to  Mr.  Owen  to  return  with  End  of  the 
his  party  to  England.  And  thus  ended  the  first  and  only  enter-  "^'^^'o"- 
prise  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society  in  South  Africa.  In  1859, 
the  S.P.G.  began  w^ork  in  Zululand,  and  it  still  suj)ports  the 
Mission  there  under  the  Bishop. 

III.  The  Maori. 

We  left  New  Zealand  at  the  point  where,  after  years  of  patient 
labour   and  distressing   trials,  the   dawn  of  a  brighter  day  was 

A  a  2 


356 


Greek,  Copt^  Abv.sslxiax,  Zulu, 


Part  IV. 
182-4-41. 
0 hap.  24. 

New  Zea- 
land :  the 
brothers 
Williams. 


Fruits  at 

last. 


Baptisms. 


beginning  to  appear.  William  Williams  joined  his  brother  Henry 
in  1826,  and  then  began  the  forty  years'  miited  work  of  the  two 
leading  evangelists — par  nohile  fratrum — of  the  Maori  race.  But 
heavy  clouds  came  with  the  dawn.  In  1827  the  Wesleyan  station 
at  Whangaroa  was  destroyed  by  hostile  Natives,  and  the  members 
of  that  Mission  were  obliged  to  leave  the  island.  In  the  following 
year,  the  great  chief  Hongi  died.  Cruel  savage  as  he  was,  he  had 
always  befriended  the  missionaries,  and  when  dying  he  exhorted 
his  people  to  protect  them.  Indeed  he  never  would  take  the  life 
of  a  white  man,  despite  the  shocking  outrages  perpetrated  on  his 
race  by  escaped  convicts  and  other  reckless  adventurers  who 
landed  from  time  to  time.  But  his  illness  and  death  and  the 
confusion  that  ensued,  put  the  Mission  in  imminent  peril ;  and 
they  sent  away  all  books,  stores,  &c.,  that  could  possibly  be  spared, 
by  a  vessel  just  sailing  for  Sydney.  As  for  themselves,  and  their 
wives  and  children,  they  resolved  to  cling  to  their  posts  to  the 
last.  "  When  the  natives,"  wrote  William  Williams,  "  are  in  our 
houses,  carrying  away  our  things,  it  will  be  time  for  us  to  take  to 
our  boats."  Nay,  hearing  of  two  leading  tribes  preparing  for  war, 
Henry  WiUiams  hastened  to  the  place  where  the  two  bands  of 
warriors  were  encamped  and  awaiting  the  signal  for  battle,  hoisted 
a  white  flag  between  them,  persuaded  them  to  remain  quiet  till 
after  the  Ea-tapu  (Sunday),  held  a  service  for  them  all  on  that 
day,  and  on  the  Monday  succeeded  in  making  peace  between  them. 
In  all  missionary  history  there  is  no  more  thrilhng  incident  than 
this,  which  led  to  what  was  called  the  Peace  of  Hokianga, 
March  24th,  1828.- 

Meanwhile,  many  signs  appeared  that  the  patient  teaching  of 
the  Word  of  God  was  not  fruitless.  It  will  be  remembered  that 
the  first  baptism,  of  the  dying  chief  Eangi,  had  taken  place  in 
1825.  Another  man,  Euri-ruri,)  showed  unmistakable  tokens  of 
the  working  of  divine  grace  in  his  heart ;  but  he  fell  sick  and  died 
without  baptism.  Many  of  the  Natives  had  learned  to  read ;  and 
in  1827,  the  arrival  from  Sydney  of  some  books  in  their  own 
tongue  (containing  Gen.  i.-iii.,  Exod.  xx.,  Matt,  v.,  John  i.,  the 
Lord's  Prayer,  and  some  hymns)  caused  the  utmost  excitement 
and  dehght.  "We  have  had,"  wrote  one  of  the  missionaries, 
"  dying  testimonies  ;  now  we  can  bless  God  for  living  witnesses." 
Some  of  the  people  began  to  ask  that  their  children  might  be 
baptized,  though  hesitating,  or  not  sufficiently  instructed,  to  take 
the  decisive  step  themselves  ;  and  in  August,  1829,  four  children 
of  a  ferocious  chief  named  Taiwhanga  were  publicly  admitted  to 
the  Church,  together  with  the  infant  son  of  William  Wilhams. 
The  missionaries  little  dreamed  that  that  infant  son,  sixty-six 
years  after,  would  be  consecrated  third  Bishop  of  Waiapu!  But 
six  months  after,  on  February  7th,  1830,  the  first  public  baptismal 

*  The  whole  narrative  is  given  in  Carleton's  Life  of  Henry  Williams  (Auck- 
land, 1874),  p.  69. 

f  Written  at  the  time  "  Dudi-dudi." 


Maori ^  Australian^  Cree  357 

service  for  adults  was  held  in  New  Zealand ;  and  one  of  the  candi-   Part  IV. 
dates  received  into  the  Church  that  day  was  Taiwhanga  himself,  to   ^^^^^ 
whom  was  given  the  name  of  Eawiri  (the  native  form  of  David).        ^^-     ■ 
An   outpouring   of  the  Spirit   upon   the  people  followed  :    many 
came  to  the  missionaries  in  deep  conviction  of  sin  ;    classes  and 
prayer-meetings  were  arranged  ;  more  hooks  came  from  Sydney, 
containing  portions  ot  the  Gospels  and  1st  Corinthians,  and  of  the 
Prayer-book  and  Catechism,  and  were  eagerly  devoured ;   and  in 
the  midst  of  it  all  came  Samuel  Marsden,  on  his  sixth  visit.     Who  Marsden's 
can  describe  the  old  man's  joy !     At  the  very  time,  on  Sunday,  ^°^" 
March   14th,  when  a  Maori  congregation,  in  his  presence,  joined 
in  the  Church  service,  savage  lighting  was  going  on  only  two  miles 
off.     "  At  one  glance,"  he  wrote,  "  might  be  seen  the  miseries  of 
Heathenism  and  the  blessings  of  the  Gospel !  " 

During  this  time  the  missionaries  at  work,  besides  the  brothers  a  goodly 
Williams,  had  all,  except  one   (Yate=''-),  been  lay  agents,  though  nfission- 
some  of  these  had  been  under  training  for  a  time  at  Islington,  aries. 
There  were,  in  1830,  John  King,  one  of  the  two  original  settlers 
(Hall  had  lately  retired  to  New  South  Wales,  after  several  years' 
good  work),   J.   Kemp,  G.  Clarke,  R.  Davis,  J.  Hamlin  (the  first 
Ishngton  student),  C.  Baker,  from  England;    and  J.  Shepherd, 
W.  Fairburn,  and  W.  Puckey,  from  New  South  Wales.     But  the 
Eev.  Alfred  N.  Brown  (also  one  of  the  first  batch  of  Ishngton 
students,  but  ordained  by  the  Bishop  of  London),  had  just  arrived. 
In  the  next  twelve  years  the  following  were  (among  others)  sent 
out :  T.  Chapman,  J.  Matthews,  J.  A.  Wilson,  J.  Morgan,  B.  Y. 
Ashwell,    Eev.    E.   Maunsell    (B.A.,    Trin.    Coll.,  Dublin),    Eev. 
E.    Taylor    (M.A.,   Queens',  Camb.),  0.   Hadfield    (Pemb.  Coll., 
Oxford),    Eev.   E.  Burrows,  and    S.    M.    Spencer  ;    and     G.    A. 
Kisshng,  the  Basle  man  whose  health  had  failed  in  West  Africa, 
was  transferred  to  New  Zealand  in  1841,  after  ordination  by  the 
Bishop  of  London.     All  these  did  good  service — some  of  them,  it 
may  be  truly  said,  splendid  service — for  many  years  ;  and  several 
of  the  laymen  were  afterwards  ordained.     Most  of  them  never 
once   returned  to   England.     It   is  a  fact   worth   noting   that   a 
surgeon,  who  may  be  called  the  Society's  first  medical  missionary,  The  first 
Mr.  S.  H.  Ford,  went  out  in  1836 ;  and  the  Committee's  Instruc-  mfssufn- 
tions  to  him   are  very  interesting.     But  he  withdrew  after  four  ary. 
years.     Here  it  may  be  mentioned  that  the  first  death  in  the  New 
Zealand  Mission  in  twenty-seven  years  occurred  on  February  1st, 
1837,  when  Mrs.  E.   Davis  entered  into  rest,  deeply  lamented. 

*  Mr.  Yate  was  an  able  man,  and  much  valued ;  and  when  he  visited 
England  in  1834-5  he  became  popular  throughout  the  country.  On  his  way 
back,  some  charge  was  brought  against  him  at  Sydney,  and  as  he  declined 
investigation,  he  was  inhibited  by  Bishop  Broughton.  The  Society  then  dis- 
connected him ;  whereupon  he  returned  to  England,  and  published  his 
grievances.  So  popular  a  man  had  a  large  following ;  and  the  Committee 
have  never  in  any  matter  had  greater  trouble  than  in  this.  Pressure  was 
brought  to  bear  on  them  from  all  parts  of  the  country ;  but  Yate  was  not 
I'einstated. 


358 


Greek ^  Copr^  Abyssinian,  Zulu, 


Part  IV. 
1824-41. 
Chap.  24. 

Extension. 


A  type  of 
Uganda. 


Three 
visitors  : 


Charles 
Darwin, 


Bishop 
Broughton 


The  second  was  a  very  sad  one.    The  Eev.  J.  Mason  was  drowned 
in  crossmg  a  river,  in  January,  1843. 

Hitherto  the  Mission  had  not  gone  far  from  the  shores  of  the 
i3ay  of  Islands ;  but  Henry  Wilhams  now  planned  extension,  and 
in  the  next  few  years  new  stations  were  planted  at  Waimate  and 
Kaitaia,  in  the  north ;  then  in  the  Hot  Lakes  district ;  then  on 
the  Waikato  Eiver  ;  then  on  the  Bay  of  Plenty.  In  1839  two 
still  more  important  steps  were  taken.  William  Williams  moved 
to  the  East  Coast,  into  the  country  which  afterwards  formed  the 
diocese  of  Waiapu,  and  took  up  his  abode  at  Turanga,  on  Poverty 
Bay,  where  the  town  of  Gisborne  now  stands ;  and  Octavius  Hadfield 
settled  at  Otaki,  in  the  south,  now  in  the  diocese  of  Wellington. 
Both  these  good  men,  long  afterwards,  became  Bishops  in  the 
very  territories  in  which  they  had  been  the  pioneers  of  the 
Gospel.  Some  of  these  extensions  were  due  to  the  zeal  of 
Maori  converts,  many  of  whom  showed  real  earnestness  in 
spreading  the  faith  to  distant  tribes.  The  detailed  narratives, 
of  travel,  of  the  preaching  of  Christ,  of  the  true  conversion  of 
soul  after  soul,  of  the  examples  of  Christian  life  shown  by  the 
Natives,  are  of  exceeding  interest.  Nothing  in  the  modern  history 
of  the  Uganda  Mission, — which  in  so  many  ways  resembles  that 
of  the  New  Zealand  Mission — is  more  thrilling,  or  affords  more 
signal  illustrations  of  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  W.  Williams 
had  completed  and  revised  the  Maori  New  Testament  and  Prayer- 
book,  and  many  thousands  of  copies  had  been  printed  and 
sold.  In  1840,  the  year  when  New  Zealand  became  a  British 
Colony,  there  w^ere  thirty  thousand  Maori  attendants  on  public 
worship. 

Before  this,  how^ever,  the  Mission  had  received  three  important 
and  interesting  visits.  In  1835,  H.M.S.  Beagle,  then  on  its 
famous  scientific  voyage  round  the  world,  appeared  off  the  coast, 
and  Charles  Darwin,  then  a  young  naturalist,  visited  the  mission 
station  at  Waimate,  where  William  Williams,  Davis,  and  Clarke 
w^ere  at  work.  Viewing  with  admiration  the  external  scene 
presented,  the  gardens,  farmyard,  cornfields,  &c.,  he  wrote, 
"  Native  workmanship,  taught  by  the  missionaries,  has  effected  the 
change.  The  lesson  of  the  missionary  is  the  enchanter's  wand. 
I  thought  the  whole  scene  admirable.  .  .  .  And  to  think  that 
this  was  in  the  centre  of  cannibalism,  murder,  and  all  atrocious 
crimes !  .  .  .  I  took  leave  of  the  missionaries  wdth  thankfulness 
for  their  kind  welcome,  and  with  feelings  of  high  respect  for  their 
gentlemanlike,  useful,  and  upright  characters.  It  would  be  difficult 
to  find  a  body  of  men  better  adapted  for  the  high  office  which  they 
fulfil."  '■'- 

A    second  visit  was  from  Bishop  Broughton.      Australia  was 
'  separated  from  the  diocese  of  Calcutta  in  1836,  and  Archdeacon 

*  Journal  of  Researches  into  the  Natural  History  and  Geology  of  the  Countries 
V'sited  during  the  Voyage  of  H.M.S.  " Beagle"  round  the  World.  By  Charles 
Darwin.  M.A.,  F.R.S.' 


Maori ^  Australian,   Cree  359 

Broughton,  of  Sydney,  was  appointed  Bishop  of  the  new  diocese.  Part  IV. 
He  was  the  first  and  only  "  Bishop  of  AustraHa,"  the  title  being  ^^^l^ 
altered  to  "  Sydney  "  when  other  dioceses  were  formed  out  of  his.      J_ 
At  the  request  of  the  C.M.S.  Committee-  he  visited  New  Zealand 
in  1838,  "  though  at  much  personal  inconvenience,"  ordained  Mr. 
Hadfield,  and  confirmed  several  candidates,  but  fewer  than  there 
would   have  been  but  for  an  outbreak  of  influenza  among  the 
Natives,  and  the  Bishop's  inability,  for  want  of  time,  to  visit  more 
than  three  stations.     On  Christmas  Day  he  preached  at  Paihia,  not 
far  from  the  spot  where  Marsden  had  preached  the  first  Christian 
sermon  in  New  Zealand  exactly  twenty-four  years  before.!     His 
report  to  the  Society  bore  high  testimony  to  the  reality  of  the 
work  and  the  character  of  the  agents,  while  faithfully  pointing  out 
features    susceptible   of   improvement,   and   begging   for  a   large 
increase  of  the  staff.  4 

In  the  same  year  another  bishop  appeared,  a  French  Eomanist, 
with  two  priests.  This  was  not  one  of  our  "  three  interesting 
visits,"  for  they  stayed;  and  stayed,  it  need  scarcely  be  added, 
not  in  the  still  Heathen  districts,  but  close  to  the  existing 
Mission.  Here  is  another  feature  in  which  New  Zealand  is  like 
Uganda— and  with  still  more  unhappy  results,  as  will  appear 
hereafter.  . 

The  third  of  the  three  visits — but  the  second  in  order  of  tmie,  Samuel 
1837— was  from  Samuel  Marsden.  The  old  veteran,  for  the  ^^^[^^t^"  = 
fourteenth  time,  sailed  across  the  twelve  hundred  miles  between  visit. 
Sydney  and  the  Bay  of  Islands,  to  pay  his  seventh  and  last  visit 
to  the  land  and  the  people  for  whom  he  had  done  so  much.  At 
the  age  of  seventy-two,  bowed  down  by  bodily  infirmities,  he 
was  carried  in  a  litter  from  station  to  station  in  the  north  by 
Maori  bearers  who  loved  him,  and  then  went  on  by  sea  to  the 
east  and  the  south.  Wherever  he  went,  he  was  met  by  crowds  of 
Natives,  who  journeyed  long  distances  to  see  the  benefactor  of 
their  race.  With  humble,  lowly  thankfulness  the  aged  samt 
gazed  on  the  results  of  his  labours  and  his  prayers ;  and  "with 
paternal  authority  and  affection,  and  with  the  solemnity  of  one 
who  felt  himself  to  be  standing  on  the  verge  of  eternity,  he  gave  his 
parting  benedictions  to  the  missionaries  and  the  converts." §  One 
night  on  deck,  wrote  Mr.  A.  N.  Brown  (June  8th,  1837),— 

"  He  spoke  of  almost  all  his  old  friends  liaving  preceded  him  to 
the  Eternal  World— Komaine,  Newton,  the  Milners,  Scott,  Robuison, 
Buchanan,  Goode,  Thomason,  Legh  Richmond,  Simeon.  He  then 
alluded  in  a  very  touching  manner  to  his  late  wife.  They  had 
passed,  he  observed,  more  than  forty  years  of  their  pilgrimage  ni 
company;  and  he  felt  their  separation  more  severely  as  the  months 
rolled  on.  I  remarked  that  their  separation  would  be  but  for  a  short 
period  longer.      'God  grant  it,'    was  his  reply;    and  then,  lifting  his 

*  See  p.  411.  t  See  p.  209. 

+   Printed  in  the  Appendix  to  the  Report  of  1840. 

8   Minute  of  C.M.S.  Committee  on  death  of  S.  Marsden. 


360  Greek^   Copt^  Abyssinian^  Zulu^ 

Part  IV.  eyes   toward  the  moon,  which  was  peacefully  shedding  her  beams  on 
1824-41.    the  sails  of  our  gallant  bark,  he  exclaimed,  with  intense  feeling — 


Chap.  24. 


'  Preijare  me,  Lord,  for  Thy  right  hand  j 
Then,  come  the  joyfid  day  !  '  " 


His  death.  Jt  was  indeed  "  but  for  a  short  period."  He  returned  to  Sydney 
in  August,  after  six  months'  absence,  and  on  May  12th,  1838,  at 
Paramatta,  he  entered  into  rest. 
Two  of  his  Fifty-five  years  after,  in  1893,  his  grand-daughter.  Miss  Hassall, 
dlml?'  opened  her  own  house  near  Sydney  as  the  "  Marsden  Training 
Home  "  for  lady  missionaries  in  connexion  with  the  New  South 
Wales  Church  Missionary  Association ;  and  the  first  student  ad- 
mitted to  the  Home  was  her  own  niece,  Samuel  Marsden's  great- 
granddaughter,  x\my  Isabel  Oxley,  who  in  1896  went  to  China  as  a 
missionary  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society.  "  The  children  of 
Thy  servants  shall  continue,  and  their  seed  shall  be  established 
before  Thee." 

IV.   The  Australian  Black. 

Australian  "  -"-  ^^^e  Seen  the  miserable  Africans  first  come  from  the  holds 
Aborigines  of  slave-sliips  ;  but  they  do  not  equal,  in  wretchedness  and  misery, 
the  New  Hollanders.  They  are  the  poorest  objects  on  the 
habitable  globe."  So  wrote  Mr.  George  Clarke,  afterwards  so 
well  known  in  New  Zealand,  and  father  of  Archdeacon  E.  B. 
Clarke,  in  1823.  He  had  been  sent  out  by  the  Society  to  join  the 
New  Zealand  Mission,  but  on  his  way  thither  he  was  detained  at 
Sydney  by  Samuel  Marsden,  and  commissioned  to  take  charge  of 
an  institution  projected  by  the  New  South  Wales  Government  for 
the  instruction  of  Australian  Aborigines,  or  (as  they  were  then 
called)  New  Hollanders.  This  had  been  a  scheme  of  Governor 
Macquarie's  as  far  back  as  1814,  but  it  was  only  now  about  to  be 
carried  out.  There  was  to  be  a  farm,  workshops,  schools,  and  a 
church  ;  though  how  far  these  designs  were  fulfilled  does  not 
appear.  The  place,  about  twelve  miles  from  Paramatta,  was 
called  Black  Town.  The  exigencies  of  New  Zealand,  however, 
compelled  Marsden,  after  a  few  months,  to  send  Clarke  on  thither  ; 
but  a  year  or  two  later,  W.  Hall,  who,  it  will  be  remembered, 
was  one  of  the  first  two  settlers  sent  out,  returned  to  Sydney,  and 
took  charge  of  the  institution  for  a  time, 
a'^ie^dto  In  1825  an  Auxiliary  Church  Missionary  Society  was  estab- 
from  '  lished  at  Sydney,  with  Samuel  Marsden  as  President,  and  Sir 
Sydney,  Thomas  Brisbane,  the  Governor,  as  Patron.  Its  primary  object 
was  to  undertake  work  among  the  Aborigines  or  Blacks.  An 
virgent  appeal  was  sent  to  the  Parent  Society  in  England  for 
missionaries;  and  SirT.  Brisbane  promised  ten  thousand  acres  for 
a  mission  station  and  farm.''=  Two  places  were  fixed  on,  Bon  Bon 
and  Limestone  Plains,  near  each  other,  and  both  about  120  miles 

*  Similar    grants    were    made    to    the  London  and  Wesleyan    Missionary 
Societies.     Both  began  work,  but  both  relinquished  it  soon  after. 


AIaori^  Australian^   Cree  361 

from    Sydney.     A  clergyman,  J.   Norman,   and  a    schoolmaster.  Part  IV. 
J.  Lisk,  were  sent  out  by  the  Society,  both  of  whom  had  been  at  IP'^'^}, 
Sierra    Leone,    but    had   failed   to    stand    the    African    chmate.  ^  ^^n^-  • 
Neither  of  them,  however,  actually  got  into  the  work.     Norman 
was  sent  by  the  Governor  to  Tasmania  as  a  chaplain  for  convicts, 
and  Lisk  was  obliged  to  return  home  on    account   of  his  wife's 
health.     In  1830,  the  Home  Government,  by  Sir  George  Murray  and  by  the 
and  Lord  Goderich,   successive  Colonial  Secretaries,  approached  ^ent!"' 
the  Society,  offering  a  grant  of  £500  a  year  for  the  support  of  two 
missionaries  ;  and  in  the  following  year  two  clergymen,  J.  C.  S. 
Handt  and  W.  Watson,  were  sent  out,  and  subsequently  another 
clergyman,  J.  Giinther,''=  and  a  farmer,  W.  Porter.     Handt  and 
Watson    were    appointed  to    a    Government    station     for    the  The  Mis- 
Aborigines  at  Wellington  Valley,  two  hundred  miles  inland  from  ^'°"- 
Sydney.     In    1836,   Handt  was  sent   to    Moreton  Bay,    on    the 
coast  four  hundred  miles  north  of  Sydney,  where  there  was  a 
penal  settlement,  and  whence  other  Aborigines  could  be  reached  ; 
and  Giinther  succeeded  him  at  Welhngton  Valley.     For  several 
years  regular  reports  were  presented  by  the  missionaries  to  the 
New  South  Wales  Government,   and   printed  at    Sydney.     The 
extracts  from  these  and  from  the  journals  of  the  brethren,  printed 
in  the  C.M.S.  Eeports,  give  a  vivid  account  of  the  terrible  de- 
gradation of  the  Aborigines — bad  enough  by  nature,  but  rendered 
far  worse  by  the  shocking  wickedness  of  the  white  men.     Never- 
theless, in  the  teeth  of  almost  unparalleled  difficulties,  good  work 
was  done.     Black  children  were  taken  into  the  mission-hoiises  its  results, 
and   taught  to  read  and  write,  proving   really   intelligent ;    and 
hundreds    of     adults,    notwithstanding     their     nomadic    habits, 
gathered  under  Christian  instruction,  joined  in  Christian  worship, 
and  gave  many  signs  of  great  improvement.     It  is  not,  however, 
recorded  that  any  were  actually  baptized.     A  good  beginning  was 
made    in  linguistic   and   translational  work.     A  vocabulary   and 
grammar    were    prepared,     and   translations    of    three    Gospels, 
portions  of  Genesis  and  the  Acts,  and  a  large  part  of  the  Prayer- 
book. 

Some  differences  ensued,  however,  between  the  Society  and  the  its  end. 
New  South  Wales  Government ;  and  at  length,  in  the  Annual 
Eeport  of  1842,  the  following  paragraph  is  found  : — "  No  prospect 
being  left  of  surmounting  the  difficulties  from  different  sources  in 
which  this  Mission  has  for  some  time  past  been  involved,  con- 
sistently with  the  terms  on  which,  at  the  instance  of  Her 
Majesty's  Government,  the  Mission  was  undertaken-  by  the 
Society,  the  Committee  have  been  reluctantly  compelled  to 
relinquish  it."  And  relinquished  it  was,  accordingly,  by  the 
Society,  though  one  or  more  of  the  missionaries  still  carried  on 
work  among  the  Natives,  the  Government  continuing  its  care  of 
them.     Few  persons,  either  in  England  or  in  Australia,  are  now 

*  Father  of  the  present  Archdeacou  Giiuther,  of  Paramatta. 


362 


Greek ^  Copt,  Abvss/jv/ajv,  Zulu, 


Part  IV. 
1824^1. 
Chap.  24. 


Rupert's 
Land  Mis- 
sion. 


Cockran. 


Red  River, 


Indian 
Settlement, 


Fruits. 


An  Indian 
Appeal. 


aware  of  the  fact  that  the  first  attempt  to  preach  the  Gospel  to 
the  Austrahan  x\borigines  was  made  by  the  Church  Missionary 
Society ;  and  it  would  be  with  no  httle  surprise  that  they  would 
read  the  more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  columns  of  small  type 
in  which  the  proceedings  of  the  Mission  are  detailed  in  the  C'.il/. 
Becord  of  1834-39. 

V.  The  Cree  and  the  Soto. 

The  foundation  of  what  was  long  known  as  the  North-West 
America  Mission,  in  1820-22,  has  been  already  mentioned.  The 
return  home  of  Mr.  West  in  1823  left  Mr.  David  Jones  alone  at 
theEedEiver;  but  in  1825,  Wilham  Cockran,  a  sturdy  North- 
umbrian from  Chilhngham,  went  out,  having  firet  received  both 
deacon's  and  priest's  orders  from  the  Bishop  of  London.  Thus 
began  what  has  been  well  called  "  a  finished  course  of  forty 
years,"  broken  only  by  a  few  months  in  Canada  ;  for  Cockran 
never  returned  to  England. 

The  work  on  the  Eed  Eiver  was  among  the  Cree  Indians  ;  not, 
however,  neglecting  the  whites  and  half-breeds  in  the  employ  of 
the  Hudson's  Bay  Company.  The  latter  were  mostly  at  Fort 
Garry,  at  the  junction  of  the  Assiniboine  and  Eed  Eivers,  where 
the  flourishing  city  of  Winnipeg,  capital  of  the  entire  North- 
West,  now  stands.  Here  was  what  was  called  the  Upper  Settle- 
ment. The  Middle  Settlement  was  a  httle  lower  down  the  united 
river,  as  it  flows  northward  towards  Lake  Winnipeg;  then  the 
Grand  Eapids,  a  Httle  further;  and,  a  few  miles  still  lower  down, 
Cockran  founded,  in  1833,  what  is  still  known  as  the  Indian 
Settlement,  with  a  view  to  inducing  the  wandering  Crees  to 
settle  down  and  cultivate  the  ground,  and  thus  remain  under 
regular  Christian  instruction. 

It  is  difficult  now  to  conceive  the  isolation  and  hardships  then 
endured  by  the  httle  missionary  band.  Their  communication 
with  England  was  via  Hudson's  Bay,  by  the  one  ship  which  each 
summer  sailed  to  York  Fort  with  a  year's  provision,  and  at  once 
returned  before  the  ice  blocked  her  in.  In  1836,  she  arrived  off 
York  too  late  to  land  her  cargo,  and,  after  contriving  to  get  the 
mail-bags  ashore,  had  to  sail  back  to  England,  leaving  no 
supphes  to  be  sent  up  the  Nelson  Eiver  by  the  canoes  waiting  for 
them.  The  missionaries  (and  the  other  Europeans  too)  got  their 
letters,  but  nothing  else,  and  were  reduced  to  great  straits  ;  "  but," 
wrote  Cockran,  "we  have  our  Bibles  left!"  But  their  long  and 
patient  labours  had  borne  spiritual  fruit,  and  in  1837  there  was  a 
community  at  the  Eed  Eiver  stations  of  six  hundred  baptized 
Christians.  The  Indians  had  learned  to  value  their  "  praying- 
masters,"  and  when  Jones  was  returning  to  England  in  1838,  they 
wrote  the  following  letter  to  the  Society  : — 

"  Anffust  1,1838. 
"Skrvants  of  the  Great  Goj), 

"  We  uncfc!  more  call   to  you   for  help,  and  hope   our    cry   will 
avail.     You  sent  us  what   you  called  the  Word   of  God ;  we   left  our 


Maori ^  Australian^  Cree  363 

hunting-grounds  and  came  to  hear  it.     But  we  did  not  altogether  Hke  Part  IV. 

it,  for  it  told  us  to  leave  off  drunkenness  and  adultery,  to  keep  only  one    182-4-41. 

wife,  to  cast  away  our  idols  and  all  our  bad  heathen  ways  ;  but  as  it  Chap.  24. 

still  repeated  to  us  that,  if  we  did  not,  the  great  God  would  send  us  to 

the  great  devil's  fire ;  by  the  goodness  of  God  we   saw  at  last  it  was 

true.     We  now  like  the  Word  of  God,  and  we  have  left  off  our  sins  ; 

we  have  cast  away  our  rattles,  our  drums,  and  our  idols,  and  all  our 

bad  heathen  ways.     But  what  are  we  to  do,  our  friends  '?     Mr.  Jones  is 

going  to  leave  vis ;  Mr.  Cockran  talks  of  it.     Must  we  turn  to  our  idols 

and  gods  again  ?  or  must  we  turn  to  the  French  praying-masters  ?     We 

see  three  French  praying-masters  have  come  to  the  river,  and  not  one 

for  us  !     What  is  this,  our  friends  ?     The  Word  of  God  says   that  one 

soul  is  worth  more  than  all  the  world ;  surely  then,  our  friends,  three 

hundred  souls  are  worth  one  praying-master !     It  is  not  once  t)r  twice 

a  week  teaching  that  is  enough  to  make  us  wise  ;  we  have  a  bad  heart, 

and  we  hate  our  bad  hearts  and  all  our  evil  ways,  and  we  wish  to  cast 

them  all  away,  and  we  hope  in  time,  by  the  help  of  God,  to  be  able  to  do 

it.     But   have    patience,    our   friends ;    we   hope    our  children   will   do 

better,  and  will  learn  to  read  God's  book,  so  as  to  go  forth  to  their 

country  people  to  tell  them  the  way  of  life,  and  that  many  may  be  saved 

from  the  great  devil's  fire." 

This  touching  appeal  was  at  once  responded  to  by  the  going 
forth  of  J.  Smithurst  in  1839 ;  but,  for  lack  of  men,  not  again 
until  1841,  when  Abraham  Cowley,  a  j)rotecje,  of  the  Eev.  Lord  Abraham 
Dynevor's  at  Fairford  in  Gloucestershire,  was  appointed  to  the  °^^^- 
Mission.  He  was  not  ordained ;  but  he  was  sent  via  Canada,  and 
received  deacon's  orders  en  route  from  the  Bishop  of  Montreal, 
Dr.  G.  J.  Mountain.'''  To  get  from  Canada,  however,  by  Lake 
Superior,  to  Eed  Eiver,  proved  impracticable.  The  dismal  plain.- 
and  forests  of  Algoma,  through  which  the  luxurious  Canadian 
Pacific  Express  now  speeds  its  way,  could  only  then  be  traversed 
with  extreme  difficulty  ;  and  the  young  clergyman,  finding  that 
he  could  get  no  further,  returned  as  quickly  as  possible  to  England, 
and  was  just  in  time  to  sail  hence  by  the  annual  ship  direct  to 
York  Fort. 

Extension  had  already  begun.  When  John  West  first  went 
out  in  1820,  he  picked  up,  during  his  canoe  voyage  from  York  to 
Eed  Eiver,  two  young  Indian  boys,  and  took  them  with  him. 
They  were  the  first  of  their  nation  to  be  baptized,  by  the  names 
of  Henry  Budd  and  John  Hope.  Both  became  excellent  assis-  ^^^ 
tants ;  and  in  1840,  Budd  was  sent  five  hundred  miles  off,  up  the 
great  Saskatchewan  Eiver,  to  open  a  new  station  in  the  Cumber- 
land district,  which  he  did  at  a  place  called  the  Pas,  afterwards 

*  There  were  then  only  two  bishoprics  for  all  British  North  America,  Nova 
Scotia  and  Quebec.  But  during  the  lifetime  of  Bishop  Stewart  of  Quebec,  the 
Rev.  G.  J.  Mountain,  son  of  a  previous  Bishop  Mountain  of  Quebec,  had  been 
appointed  a  Coadjutor-Bishop  of  Montreal.  When  Bishop  Stewart  died,  in 
1836,  Bishop  G.  J.  Mountain  succeeded  to  his  jurisdiction,  but  retained  the 
title  of  Bishop  of  Montreal.  When  the  separate  Bishopric  of  Montreal  was 
founded  in  18.50,  Bishop  G.  J.  Mountain  assumed  the  title  of  his  predecessor, 
Bishop  of  Quebec.  Unless  these  facts  are  carefully  borne  in  mind,  the  Church 
history  of  Canada  is  rather  confusing. 


■'  3^4         Greek^  Copt^  Abyssinian^  Zulu^  Maori^  &c. 

ji.  Part  IV.  Devon.     Cowley,  on  his  arrival,  was  sent  to  Manitoba  Lake,  and 

I  ^^^'^^x    ^l^sre  he  founded  a  station  among  the   Soto  or  Saulteaux  Indians, 

lap^^  .  gg^^^jj-ig  ji^  Fairford  after  his  birthplace.     The  Sotos  proved  a  far 

harder  race  to   influence   than   the   Crees.     While   Cowley   was 

sorrowing  over  his  ill-success,  Budd   was  experiencing   manifest 

blessing ;  and  when  a  new  missionary,  James  Hunter  (afterwards 

Archdeacon),  came  out,  and  proceeded  to  the  Pas,  he  found  so 

many  Crees  under  instruction   that  four   years  later   there   were 

more    than    four    hundred    baptized.      Another    Indian,    James 

Settee,  who  had  also  been  a  boy   under   West,    was    sent    still 

further  afield  in  1846,  as  far  as  Lac  la  Eonge,  on  the  "  height  of 

land  "  or  watershed  between  the  rivers  that  fall  into  Hudson's 

Bay  and  those  that  flow  northwards  and  join  the  great  Mackenzie. 

Bishop  of        In  1844,  the  Mission  had  the  advantage  of  an  episcopal  visita- 

Montreai's  ^-^^^^     Bishop    Mountain    of    Montreal,    at   the    request   of    the 

Society,  succeeded  in  performing  the  long  land   journey   which 

Cowley   had   been  unable   to  take.     Canada   is  so   much   better 

known  now,  that  the  particulars  of  his  journey,   as  summarized 

by  Dr.  Langtry  of  Toronto, '■■'  will  interest  not  a  few  : — 

"  The  whole  distance  involved  a  journey  from  Montreal  of  about 
2000  miles,  and  it  was  all  accomplished  either  in  birch-bark  canoes,  or 
on  foot.  They  paddled  up  the  Ottawa  about  3:^0  miles,  then  made  their 
way  by  numerous  portages  into  Lake  Nipissing,  which  they  crossed. 
Then  down  the  French  River  into  the  Georgian  Bay  (Lake  Huron)  ;  then 
for  300  miles  they  threaded  their  way  through  that  wonderful  Archi- 
pelago, containing,  it  is  said,  39,000  islands,  to  the  Sault  Ste.  Marie. 
Thence,  after  a  long  portage  round  the  Sault,  they  rowed  across  the 
entire  length  of  Lake  Superior  to  Fort  William  ;  thence  up  to  Kemenis- 
tiquoia  ;  through  the  Rainj^  and  Wood  Lakes  ;  down  the  Winnipeg  River  ; 
thence  along  the  shores  of  tlie  stormy  Lake  Winnipeg  to  the  mouth  of 
the  Red  River." 

The  Bishop  was  astonished  and  delighted  with  what  he  found 
at  the  Red  River  stations,  and  wrote  most  warmly  to  the  Society. 
He  confirmed  846  candidates,  including  a  large  proportion  of 
Indians,  gave  Cowley  priest's  orders,  delivered  sixteen  addresses  in 
seventeen  days,  and  then  started  on  his  long  journey  back  to 
Montreal. 

The  Red  River  is  now  the  seat  of  an  Archbishopric  ;  and  there 
are  eleven  dioceses  in  the  North-West  Territories.  In  this 
expansion  the  Society  has  taken  a  large  share,  as  will  appear 
by-and-by. 

*  Colonial  Church  Histori''.'< :  Eastern  Canada.  By  J.  Langtry,  M.A., 
D.C.L.,  Prolocutor  of  the  Provincial  Synod  of  Canada.     S.P.C.K.,  1892. 


FBOM  VENN'S  ACCESSION  TO  THE 
JUBILEE  :  1841-1848. 


NOTE   ON  PAKT  V. 


This  is  the  shortest  of  our  Parts  in  regard  to  the  length  of  time  covered, 
comprising  barely  eight  years,  from  the  spring  of  1841  to  the  JubileJ 
Commemoration,  November,  1848,  though  in  one  or  two  chapters  the 
narrative  is  necessarily  continued  a  little  beyond  that  epoch.  The  first 
chapter,  XXV.,  combines  the  Personnel  and  the  Environment,  intro- 
ducing us  to  the  new  Secretary,  Henry  Venn,  and  his  fellow-workers, 
and  also  noticing  various  controversies  at  home,  and  Missions,  Protestant 
and  Roman,  abroad.  It  is  supplemented  by  two  chapters  which  take  up 
definite  subjects,  and  in  doing  so  show  us  more  of  both  the  Personnel 
and  the  Environment.  Chap.  XXVI.  describes  the  relations  at  the  time 
of  the  C.M.S.  and  the  Church,  and  relates  the  adhesion  to  the  Society 
of  the  Archbishops  and  Bishops,  the  attitude  towards  it  of  men  like 
Blomfield  and  S.  Wilberforce,  and  its  attitude  towards  the  rising 
Tractarianism.  Chap.  XXVII.  tells  the  story  of  the  Colonial  and  Mis- 
sionary Episcopate,  and,  in  particular,  of  the  establishment  of  the 
Colonial  Bishoprics  Fund,  of  the  New  Zealand  Bishopric,  and  of  the 
Anglican  Bishopric  in  Jerusalem  ;  also  of  the  Society's  controversy  with 
Bi.shop  D.  Wilson. 

Then  follow  three  chapters  on  the  Missions.  India  is  omitted  in  this 
Part,  the  history  of  the  work  there  in  the  'forties  having  been  practically 
covered  in  the  preceding  Part.  Chap.  XXVIII.  gives  a  full  narrative  of 
the  events  and  controversies  of  the  period  in  New  Zealand,  with  special 
reference  to  Bishop  Selwyn  and  Sir  G.  Grey.  Chap.  XXIX.  comprises 
several  interesting  episodes  in  the  history  of  Missions  in  Africa,  the 
story  of  Crowther,  the  first  Niger  Expedition,  the  origin  of  the  Yoruba 
Mission,  and  Krapf's  commencement  on  the  East  Coast.  Chap.  XXX. 
takes  us  for  the  first  time  to  China,  and  summarizes  the  events  before 
and  after  the  first  Chinese  War. 

The  last  two  chapters  of  the  Part  are  special  ones.  Chap.  XXXI. 
reviews  the  finances  oi  the  Society,  the  contributions  and  the  expendi- 
ture, during  the  half-century.  Chap.  XXXII.  describes  the  Jubilee 
Commemoration. 


CHAPTEK  XXV. 

Henry  Venn — and  Survey  of  Men  and  Things. 

The  Year  1841  an  Epoch  in  Church,  in  State,  in  C. M.S. —Henry 
Venn — Deaths  of  Pratt  and  Coates  —  The  Committee,  Vice- 
Presidents,  Preachers  and  Speakers — C.M.S.  Missions  and  Mis- 
sionaries— Missions  of  Other  Societies — Roman  Missions — Contro- 
versies at  Home :  Maynooth,  Irish  Church  Missions,  Evangelical 
Alliance  —  Scotch  Disruption  —  C.M.S.  and  Scotch  Episcopal 
Church. 

"  Lo,  I  have  given  thee  a  wise  and  an  understanding  heart." — 1  Kings  iii.  12. 
"  Can  we  find  such  a  one  as  this  is,  a  man  in  ivhom  the  Spirit  of  God  is  ?" — 
Gen.  xli.  38. 

'HE  year  1841  was  an  epoch  in  the  history  of  the  State,    part  V. 

an  epoch  in  the  history  of  the  Church,  and  an  epoch  in    1841-4.8. 

the  laistory  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society.     Few  Chap.  25. 

years  have  had  more  fateful  issues.     In  the  State,  the  An  epoch- 

year  saw  the  fall  of  the  Melhourne  Government,  and  making 
the  commencement  of  Peel's  administration.     In  that  year  Mr.  ^^^^' 
Gladstone  became  a  Minister,  and  Mr.  Cobden  entered  Parliament,  in  the 
From  that  year  began  the  great  fiscal  reforms  which  have  done  state, 
so  much  for  the  material  advancement  of  the   nation,  culminating 
in  the  Eepeal  of  the   Corn  Laws  and  the  establishment  of  Free 
Trade.     In  1841,  England  was  engaged  in  the  Afghan  and  China 
wars  :  if  the  former  did  not  open  Central  Asia,  it  indirectly  led,  a 
few  years  later,  to  the  conquest  of  the  Punjab  ;  while  the  latter 
did  open  to  European  influence  the  largest  homogeneous  popula- 
tion in  the  world.     In   1841,  the  struggle  between  Turkey  and 
Egypt  issued  in  the  virtual  independence  of  the  vassal  state.     In 
1841,  the  Niger  Expedition  ascended  that  great  river.     In  1841, 
David  Livingstone  went  to  Africa.     In  1841,  steam  communication 
with    India   via   the   Ked    Sea   was   organized    by   the  P.  &    0. 
Company.     In  1841,  the  Prince  of  Wales  was  born. 

Then   turning   to   the  Church :    in    1841  appeared  the  famous  in  the 
Tract  XC,  the  most  daring  manifesto  of  the  Oxford  Movement,  in  ^^"'"'^^ 
which  John  Henry  Newman  (to  adopt  the  words  of  the  resolution 
of  the  Heads  of  Houses  at  Oxford  condemning  the  Tract)  "  evaded 
rather  than  explained  the  sense  of  the  Thirty-Nine  Articles,  and 
reconciled  subscription  to  them  with  the   adoption  of  the  errors 


368      Henry  Venn — and  Survey  of  Men  and  Things 

Part  Y.    they   were   designed   to    counteract."  '■•'     In    1841,    the    Colonial 

1841-48.   Bishoprics  Fund  was  established,  which  has  had  a  large  share  in 

C  lap^  o.  extending  the  Anglican  Episcopate  over  the  world.     In  1841,  the 

Bishopric  of  New  Zealand  was  founded,  and   Selwyn  appointed 

first  Bishop.     In  1841,  the  Anglican  Bishopric  in  Jerusalem  also 

was  established. 

In  the  Almost  all  these  events,  sooner  or  later,  affected  the  Church 

ooety.      Missionary  Society.     But  the  year  was  a  marked  one  wdthin  the 

Society  itself.     In  1841,  the  two  Archbishops  and  several  Bishops 

joined    it,    on     the    addition    to    its    Laws  and  Eegulations   of 

certain  provisions  for  ecclesiastical  difficulties.     In  1841  occurred 

various  events  which  led  to  the  Yoruba,  Niger,  and  East  Africa 

Missions ;  and  the  future  China  Mission  was  appearing  above  the 

horizon.     In  1841,  Eobert  Noble  and  H.  W.  Fox  went  to  India  to 

start  the  Telugu  Mission.     In  1841,  the   Society,  in  the  face  of 

all   these   openings    and   possibilities,    was   in  the  midst  of    the 

greatest  financial  crisis  in  its  history,  the  whole  of  its   reserve 

funds  having  been  sold  out,  and  a  debt  of  several  thousand  pounds 

being  due  to  the  bankers  and  private  friends. 

Lastly,  in  1841,  Henry  Venn  became  Honorary  Secretary  of 
the  Society. 

The  three         jS[o   name    is   so  identified    with    the' History    of   the    Church 

Vcnns  ■  ' 

Missionary  Society  as  the  name  of  Venn.  We  found,  in  our 
earlier  chapters,  the  springs  of  the  stream,  whose  winding  and 
gradually  widening  course  we  have  been  following  from  its  source, 
in  the  Evangelical  Eevival  of  the  Eighteenth  Century  ;  and  of  that 
Eevival,  so  far  as  it  permanently  affected  the  Church  of  England, 
the  First  Henry  Venn,  Vicar  of  Huddersfield,  was  perhaps  the 
chief  promoter.  It  is  true  that  the  Eevival  was,  in  its  beginnings, 
entirely  a  Church  movement.  The  Wesleys,  Whitefield,  and  all 
the  other  earlier  leaders,  were  clergymen.  But  the  most  conspicu- 
ous results  of  their  labours — partly,  if  not  principally,  through  the 
Church's  own  fault — were  ultimately  seen  outside  its  pale.  With 
Venn  and  his  more  immediate  allies  it  was  different.  They 
preached  the  same  Gospel  in  the  power  of  the  same  Spirit,  but 
they  submitted  to  the  restrictions  imposed  by  their  parochial 
responsibilities,  rendered  all  loyal  allegiance  to  the  Bishops,  held 

*  Bishop  Philpotts  of  Exeter,  the  most  advanced  and  militant  High  Church- 
man on  the  Bench,  said  in  his  Charge  : — "  The  tone  of  the  Tract  as  respects 
our  own  Church  is  offensive  and  indecent ;  as  regards  the  Reformation  and 
our  Reformers  absurd,  as  well  as  incongruous  and  unjust.  Its  principles  of 
interpreting  our  Articles  I  cannot  but  deem  most  unsound  ;  the  reasoning 
with  which  it  supports  its  principles  sophistical ;  the  averments  on  which  it 
founds  its  reasoning,  at  variance  with  recorded  facts.  ...  It  is  idle  to  argue 
against  statements  which  were  not  designed  for  argument,  but  for  scoffing. 
...  It  is  far  the  most  daring  attempt  ever  yet  made  by  a  minister  of  the 
Church  of  England  to  neutralize  the  distinctive  doctrines  of  oiir  Church  and 
to  make  us  symbolize  with  Rome."  (Quoted  in  hije  of  Archbishop  Taif, 
vol.  i.  p.  99.) 


Hexrv  Venn — and  Survey  of  Men  and  Things      369 

tirmly  by  the  Prayer-book,  steered  a  middle  course  between  Part  Y. 
the  Arminianism  of  Wesley  and  the  ultra-Calvinism  of  some  of  lS'il-48. 
Whitefield's  followers,  and  gradually  built  up  the  new  school  of  ^"^^" 
"  serious  clergy  "  within  the  Church,  from  which  sprang  the 
Church  Missionary  Society.  Then,  in  the  second  generation  of 
Evangelicals,  comprising  men  like  Newton,  Cecil,  Scott,  Simeon, 
Pratt,  and  the  Milners,  we  found  that  John  Venn,  Eector  of 
Clapham,  son  of  the  First  Henry  and  father  of  the  Second  Henry, 
was  not  only  the  Nestor  of  the  party,  but  the  first  chairman  of 
the  new  Society,  and  the  author  of  its  original  constitution.  And 
now,  in  the  third  generation  of  Evangelical  Churchmen — perhaps 
we  may  say  in  the  third  and  fourth — reckoning  Bickersteth, 
Cunningham,  and  the  first  Daniel  Wilson  as  representing  the 
third,  and  McNeile,  Stowell,  Close,  and  Miller,  as  representing  the 
fourth — we  shall  find  the  Second  Henry  Venn  exercising  for  thirty 
years  an  unique  influence  as  the  Society's  Honorary  Secretary  and 
virtual  Director. 

Henry  Venn  the  younger  was  born  at  Clapham  on  February  Henry 
10th,  1796.  The  date  is  noteworthy,  for  it  was  only  two  days  yo^unger? 
after  Charles  Simeon  had  opened  that  discussion  at  the  Eclectic 
Society  which  led  to  the  formation  of  the  C.M.S.  In  1814  he 
went  to  Queens'  College,  Cambridge,  of  which  Isaac  Milner,  Dean  At  Cam- 
of  Carlisle,  then  an  aged  man,  was  still  President.  He  came  out  bridge. 
19th  Wrangler  in  ]  818 ;  Lefevre  (afterwards  Sir  John  Shaw 
Lefevre)  being  Senior,  and  Connop  Thirlwall  (afterwards  Bishop  of 
St.  David's)  also  in  the  list.  In  the  following  year  he  was  elected, 
like  his  grandfather,  the  first  Henry  Venn,  a  Fellow  of  Queens', 
and  was  ordained  by  the  Bishop  of  Ely.  In  1821  he  was  curate 
of  St.  Dunstan's,  Fleet  Street,  and  then  began  to  attend  the 
Committee  meetings  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society.  Only  for 
two  or  three  years,  however ;  as  in  1824  he  went  back  to  Cam- 
bridge, and  became  Tutor  at  his  college — which  at  this  time  rose  to 
be  third  among  the  colleges  in  point  of  numbers, — and  also  Proctor 
to  the  University.  An  interesting  circumstance  connects  him  also 
with  Great  St.  Mary's.  The  Vicar  was  then  Mr.  Musgrave,  after- 
wards Bishop  of  Hereford  and  Archbishop  of  York.  Musgrave 
arranged  to  start  an  evening  service  for  the  townspeople, — a 
great  novelty  in  the  University  Church,  although  Simeon  had 
long  ago  introduced  it,  in  the  teeth  of  much  opposition,  at  Trinity  ; 
■ — and  appointed  Venn  to  be  the  new  evening  lectui'er.  Shortly 
after,  however,  Venn  moved  to  Hull,  being  nominated  by  W^illiam  At  Hull. 
Wilberforce  to  the  then  very  unattractive  parish  of  Dry  pool. 
There  he  laboured  six  years,  until,  in  1834,  he  was  offered  by 
Daniel  Wilson  the  younger,  who  had  succeeded  his  father  the 
Bishop  in  the  Vicarage  of  Islington,  the  incumbency  of  St.  John's, 
Hollo  way.  This  move  brought  him  back  to  Salisbury  Square, 
and  he  quickly  became  one  of  the  leading  members  of  Committee. 

In  1840,   William  Jowett  resigned  his  Clerical    Secretaryship 
and  ill  the  following  year  his  colleague  Vores  foil  )wed  his  example 

VOL.  I.  B    b 


At  Hollo- 
way. 


370      Henry  Venn — and  Survey  of  Men  and   Things 

Part  V.   This  left  the  Lay  Secretary,  Dandeson  Coates,  sole  head  of  the 
1841-48.    House.'''     The  Eev.  Eichard  Davies  was  appointed  Clerical  Secre- 
Chap.  25.  ^g^j^.y  .   ,1  jj-^  whom,"  wrote  Venn  in  after  years,  "  we  had  a  lovely 
example  of  quiet  energy,  a  heavenly  spirit,  and  devoted  love  to  the 
cause."  i      He  continued  at  his  post  seven  years;  "  but  his  early 
removal  from  the  office  prevented  the  full  ripening  of  excellent 
official  qualifications."  \.     No  second  suitable  clergyman  was  forth- 
coming ;  and   in    October    1841,    Venn    was    approached,    and 
"  kindly  consented,  as  a  temporary  arrangement,  to  connect  him- 
H.  Venn      self  officially  with  the  Society,  under  the  designation  of  Honorary 
ofcl'M.^s.'    Clerical  Secretary  j;ro  tempore."  §     He  had  already  been  virtually 
the    Society's  leader,    particularly  in  ecclesiastical  matters.     In 
that  very  year,  as  we  shall  see  in  the  next  chapter,  he  had   been 
in  no  small  degree  instrumental,  with  Lord  Chichester,  in  bringing 
about  the  adhesion  of  the  Archbishops  and  Bishops  to  the  Society  ; 
and  three  or  four  years  earlier,  he  had  drawn  up  that  important 
manifesto  on  the  relations  of  the  Society  to  the  Church  which  for 
nearly  forty  years  was  printed,  with  his   initials,   in   the  Annual 
Eeports.     Now  he  became  the  official  mouthpiece  of  the  Society. 

It  was  at  first  really  supposed  to  be  pro  tempore.  Venn  still 
retained  his  Holloway  parish  ;  besides  which,  he  was  only  just 
recovering — indeed  it  was  doubtful  whether  he  was  really  recover^ 
ing — from  a  long  and  serious  illness.  For  more  than  a  year,  in 
1838-9,  he  had  been  unable  to  fulfil  any  of  his  ministerial  functions. 
In  May,  1841,  his  medical  adviser  urged  him  to  give  up  his  parish 
altogethei",  and  allow  his  constitution  tw^o  or  three  years  to  regain 
strength  ;  but  instead  of  following  this  advice,  he,  five  months 
after,  added  to  his  parochial  work  the  Secretaryship  of  the  Church 
Missionary  Societ)^  One  might  say  that  he  did  not  deserve  to 
last ;  yet,  through  the  goodness  of  God,  he  lasted  thirty  years. 
He  continued  at  St.  John's  till  the  end  of  1845,  and  then,  at  last 
finding  it  impossible  to  fill  both  posts  efficiently,  he  resigned  the 
parish — and  the  income, — and  gave  himself  from  that  time,  body, 
soul,  and  spirit,  night  and  day,  all  the  year  round,  to  the  work  of 
the  Church  Missionary  Society. 

What  was  thought  of  him  after  the  four  years'  piro  tern,  tenure 

of  the  office  we  may  see  from  a  letter  on  the  question  which  office 

c.  Baring    he  sliould  retain,  written   by  Charles  Baring   (afterwards  Bishop 

Venn'.  of  Durham)  to  Venn's  brother   John   (afterwards  Prebendary  of 

Hereford):  II— 

"  I  feel  so  strongly  that  the  duty  of  a  minister  of  Christ  is  to  preach 
the  Gospel,  that  in  almost  every  case  I  should  without  a  doubt  say,  Give 
up  the  Secretaryship  for  pastoral  work  ;  hut  yourhrother  is  an  exception 
to  this,  and  I  feel  as  confident  that  if  he  were  to  resign  his  post  in 
SaUsbury  Square  he  would  be  relinquishing  one  of  the  most  imi^ortant 

*  See  p.  252. 

f  Address  at  Openiug  of  new  CM.  House  ;   CM.  InftJUyencer,  1862,  p.  83. 

I  Ibid.  '  §  Annual  Eeport,  1842. 

II  Memoir  oj  Henry  Ft  7m,  p.  124. 


Henry  Venn — and  Survey  of  Men  and  Things      2^']i 

spheres  for  promotins;  Christ's  kingdom,  for  which  the  grace  of  God  Part  V. 
seems  pecuHarly  to  have  suited  him.  I  have  now  been  almost  a  year  1841-48. 
and  a  half  in  constant   attendance  at  the  Committees,  and  mnch  as  I   Chap.  25. 

value  your  brother's  talents  generally,  it  is  only  there  that  his  real  value       

can  be  seen  as  a  most  influential  and  successful  promoter  of  his  Master's 
kingdom.  His  calm  judgment  and  long-sighted  views  of  results,  his  firm- 
ness and  settled  opinions  upon  all  doctrinal  and  ecclesiastical  matters, 
his  kindness  of  heart  and  manner,  his  straightforward  honesty  and 
ca.ndour — all  these  have  won  him  not  merely  the  confidence  of  the  Com- 
mittee, but  have  given  him  a  power  with  tlKmn  and  an  authority  which  no 
other  secretary  has  before  possessed.  Again  and  again  have  I  heard 
from  the  lips  of  many  of  the  Committee  almost  the  same  language,  that 
they  considered  it  one  of  the  most  marked  proofs  of  God's  goodness  to 
the  Society,  the  having  raised  up  such  a  person  at  a  most  critical  time, 
without  whose  aid  they  could  scarcely  have  hoped  to  have  weathered  the 
storms  which  were  surrounding  them." 

It  must  have  been  a  cause  of  special  thankfulness  to  Josiah 
Pratt  and  Edward  Bickersteth,  the  one  at  St.  Stephen's,  Coleman 
Street,  and  the  other  at  Watton,  to  see  such  a  man  in  the  office 
they  knew  so  well.  Pratt  was  an  old  man  when  Venn  first 
joined  _23ro  tern.,  and  at  that  very  time  was  arranging  to  transfer  to 
other  hands  his  special  child,  the  Missionary  JRcgistcr.  Bicker- 
steth was  still  in  the  prime  of  life,  but  was  just  then  seriously  ill. 
He  recovered,  however,  to  work  for  seven  years  more  with 
unabated  fervour  in  behalf  of  many  a  noble  Christian  enterprise. 
Pratt's  home-call  came  before  Venn  was  permanent  Secretary. 
He  died  on  October  10th,  1844,  full  of  years  and  honours — if  by  Death  of 
honours  we  understand  the  respect  and  love  of  all  who  knew  him,  ^"^'f^*^ 
and  the  blessing  vouchsafed  upon  the  Society  he  had  so  devotedly 
and  so  wisely  served.  Two  of  his  funeral  sermons  were  preached 
by  Bickersteth  and  Venn.  It  was  in  an  Appendix  to  Venn's 
Sermon,  when  published,  that  the  first  authentic  sketch  of  the 
Society's  origin  and  early  history  appeared.  And  the  Sermon 
itself  mentioned  the  striking  circumstance  that  while  Pratt's  first 
official  act  w^as  his  being  one  of  the  sixteen  clergymen  who 
formed  the  Society  in  1799,  his  last  one  was  to  second  the 
resolution  in  1841  which  modified  its  constitution  and  opened  the 
door  for  the  adhesion  of  the  Heads  of  the  Church. 

Hardly  had  Henry  Venn  entered  upon  the  full  responsibilities 
of  permanent  office,  when  he  lost  his  able  and  experienced  lay 
colleague.  Dandeson  Coates  died  on  April  23rd,  1846,  after  a  Death  of 
short  illness.  In  the  Eeport  presented  at  the  Anniversary,  only  a  coates?°" 
few  days  after,  the  Committee  put  on  record  the  "self-sacrifice, 
zeal,  and  extraordinary  ability  with  which  he  conducted  the 
business  of  the  Society,  and  the  admirable  way  in  which  he 
brought  the  great  principles  of  the  Gospel  of  the  Grace  of  God  to 
bear  upon  the  discussion  of  all  important  questions."  His  very 
ability,  however,  had  sometimes  caused  difficuky,  as  indicated  in 
previous  chapters  ;  "■'    but  his  loss  was  keenly  felt;    and  it  must 

*  See  p.  252. 

B  b  2 


372      Henry  Venn — and  Survey  of  Men  and  Things 


Part  V. 
18-41-t8. 
Chaji.  25 


Major 
Straith 
Lay  Sec. 


Associa- 
tion Sees. 


New 
Clerical 
Members 
of  Com  - 
mittee. 


New  Lay 
Members. 


have  been  no  slight  additional  trial  in  the  of&ce  when  his  death 
was  followed,  within  five  months,  by  the  death,  after  twenty-seven 
years'  faithful  service,  of  the  Accountant,  Mr.  Northover,  who  was 
thrown  from  a  pony-chaise  and  died  almost  immediately.  Coates's 
successor  as  Lay  Secretary  was  Major  Hector  Straith,  who  had 
been  Professor  of  Fortification  at  Addiscombe,  and  who  held 
ofiice  thirteen  years.  He  was  superior  to  Coates  spiritually,  but 
not  his  equal  in  the  conduct  of  business. 

All  this  time  there  was  another  officer  in  Salisbury  Square,  who, 
however,  had  no  part  in  the  general  administration.  This  was 
Mr.  G.  C.  Greenway,  the  naval  officer  before-mentioned.  •■'  He 
acted  as  Association  Secretary  for  London  and  the  neighbourhood, 
and  also  as  a  central  correspondent  for  the  other  Association 
Secretaries,  the  number  of  whom  was  now  increasing.  In  1841 
there  were  eight.  In  1849  there  were  thirteen.  Among  them  at 
this  time  were  Joseph  Eidgeway,  afterwards  first  Editorial 
Secretary  of  the  Society  ;  George  Smith,  afterwards  first  Bishop 
of  Victoria,  Hong  Kong ;  E.  W.  Foley,  afterwards  Vicar  of  All 
Saints',  Derby  ;  H.  Powell,  afterwards  Vicar  of  Blackburn  and 
Hon.  Canon  of  Manchester ;  Bourchier  Wray  Savile,  a  well- 
known  writer  ;  and  Charles  and  George  Hodgson,  who  worked 
Yorkshire  so  zealously  for  many  years. 

Of  the  clergymen  who  joined  the  Committee  at  this  period,  and 
were  appointed  members  of  the  Committee  of  Correspondence,  the 
most  important  were  Edward  Auriol,  Edward  Hoare,  Charles 
Baring,  and  John  C.  Miller.  Auriol,  Eector  of  St.  Dunstan's-in- 
the-West,  soon  became  by  far  the  most  influential  clerical  member, 
and  continued  so  for  thirty  years,  serving  as  a  matter  of  course  on 
every  important  sub-committee.  Hoare  was  Venn's  successor 
at  St.  John's,  Holloway ;  but  he  moved  soon  afterwards  to 
Ramsgate,  and  ceased  attending.  Not  till  nearly  thirty  years 
later  did  he  become  the  power  in  the  Committee-room  which  is 
now  so  well  remembered.  Baring  was  Eector  of  All  Souls', 
Langham  Place,  and  was  a  valued  member  until  his  appointment 
to  a  bishopric  in  1856.  Miller  was  Minister  of  Park  Chapel, 
Chelsea  ;  but  his  removal  to  the  great  sphere  of  his  usefulness  at 
Birmingham  soon  took  him  away  from  Salisbury  Square. 

The  lay  members  at  this  time  included  several  men  of  position 
and  influence.  Captain  the  Hon.  W.  Waldegrave  (afterwards 
Earl  Waldegrave),  Sir  Harry  Verney,  Sir  Walter  E.  Farquhar, 
General  Maclnnes,  Admiral  Sir  H.  Hope,  the  Hon.  S.  E.  Curzon, 
Lord  Henry  Cholmondeley,  appear  in  the  lists  ;  and  several  of 
these  were  regular  and  very  useful  members.  Colonel  Caldwell 
joined  in  1834,  but  his  continuous  membership  did  not  begin  till 
twenty  years  later,  and  then  lasted  twenty  years.  James  Parish 
and  E.  M.  Bird  represented  the  Indian  official  element,  and 
both   were    highly    valued.      So    was    John    Gurney    Hoare,    a 


^  *  See  p.  255. 


Henry  Venn — and  Survey  of  Men  and  Things      373 

regular   attendant  for  nearly  thirty  years.     His  brother   Joseph    Part  Y. 
was  a  member  for  one  year  in  1849,  but  his    more    important    ^l^^^"**,^- 
services    belong   to  a  later   period.     But    above  all,    among   the      '^M^-'- 
new  members  of  that  time,  must  be  named  Alexander  Beattie, 
who  joined  in  1842,  and  was  still  the  Nestor  of  the  Society  forty- 
seven  years  afterwards.     He  had  before  this  been  a  merchant  in 
Calcutta,  and  a  member  of  the   Society's   Corresponding    Com- 
mittee there.     In  after  years  he  was  a  magnate  in  the  railway 
world. 

But  most  of  these  were  new  men  at  the  period  we  are  reviewing. 
The  leaders  in  the  Committee-room  were,  of  the  clergy,  James 
Hough,  Joseph  Fenn,  Cornwall  Smalley,  sen.,  and  (when  present) 
E.  Bickersteth,  and  of  the  laity,  C.  Brodrick,  W.  A.  Garratt,  and 
J.  M.  Strachan  ;  several  of  whom  have  been  mentioned  before. 

The  Vice-Presidents  in  1841  included  the  Marquis  of  New  vke- 
Cholmondeley,  the  Earls  of  Galloway,  Gosford,  and  Eoden ; 
Viscount  Lorton ;  Lords  Barbara,  Bexley,  Calthorpe,  Glenelg, 
and  Teignmouth  ;  Lord  Ashley,  Sir  T.  D.  Acland,  Sir  T.  Baring, 
Sir  T.  F.  Buxton,  Sir  G.  Grey,  Sir  E.  H.  Inghs,  Sir  A.  Johnston; 
Messrs.  W.  Evans,  H.  Goulburn,  J.  P.  Plumptre,  and  Abel  Smith, 
M.P.'s ;  Mr.  Justice  Erskine  ;  Dr.  Cotton,  Provost  of  Worcester 
College,  Oxford ;  Dr.  Symons,  Warden  of  Wadham  ;  Dr. 
Macbride,  Principal  of  Magdalen  Hall ;  Dr.  Lamb,  Master  of 
Christ's,  Cambridge  ;  and  Dean  Pearson,  of  Salisbury.  Between 
this  date  and  the  Jubilee,  the  following  were  added  : — The  Duke 
of  Manchester,  the  Earls  of  Gainsborough  and  Effingham,  and 
Earl  Waldegrave ;  Viscount  Midleton,  Lord  Lurgan,  Lord  H. 
Cholmondeley,  Lord  Sandon  (afterwards  Earl  of  Harrowby),  Sir 
Peregrine  Maitland,'"'  and  Mr.  H.  Kemble,  M.P.  In  addition  to 
these,  by  the  end  of  this  period  the  number  of  Bishops  who  had 
joined  the  Society  was  thirty-four  ;  but  of  them  the  next  chapter 
will  speak. 

The  principal  names  added  to  the  list  of  Honorary  Governors  Honorary 
for  Life,  on  account  of  their  "essential  services  to  the  Society,"  for  Life, 
between  1824  and  1848,  were  the  following : — Pratt,  Woodrotfe, 
Bickersteth,  Pearson,  and  Davies,  on  their  respective  retirements 
from  office  ;  Baptist  Noel,  James  Hough,  and  Joseph  Fenn,  as 
leading  members  of  the  Committee ;  W.  Dealtry  of  Clapham 
(afterwards  Archdeacon),  C.  J.  Hoare  (afterwards  Archdeacon), 
Charles  Bridges,  Hugh  Stowell,  Francis  Close  (afterwards  Dean) ; 
Hon.  J.  T.  Pelham  (afterwards  Bishop  of  Norwich),  and 
Chancellor  Kaikes  ;  T.  Dealtry  of  Calcutta  (afterwards  Bishop  of 
Madras)  ;  and  Dr.  Steinkopff,  of  the  Bil)le  Society.  No  leading 
layman  was  added  in  this  period. 

The  list  of  preachers  of  the  Annual  Sermon  during  the  period  ^^'^1^'^*'^''^ 
contains  notable  names.     Francis   Close's    sermon   in    1841  has  Bride's, 
already  been  noticed.!     In  1842,  the  preacher  was  Hugh  Stowell 

*  See  p.  296.  t  See  p.  289. 


374      Hf.nrv   Venn — and  Survey  of  Men  and  Things 

Part  V.   of  Manchester,  who  for  so  many  years  stood  m  the  front  rank  of 
1841-48.    Exeter  Hall  orators.     His  sermon  was  one  of  great  importance, 
Cliap^2o.  cQj^-iing  just  after  the  adhesion  to  the  Society  of  the  Archbishops 
and  Bishops  ;   and  we  shall  see  more  of  it  accordingly  in  the  next 
chapter.      Then    followed   the    Hon.    and  Eev.  W.   J.   Brodrick, 
afterwards   Viscount   Midleton.     In    1844,    Bishop   Blomfield  of 
London,   one  of  the  new  episcopal   patrons,  preached;   and  his 
words,  too,  must  be  quoted  hereafter.     Then  in  1845  came  Hugh 
McNeile   of  Liverpool,  unquestionably  the   greatest  Evangelical 
preacher   and    speaker   in   the    Church   of   England  during  this 
century  ;  but  his  sermon,  in  print  at  least,  does  scant  justice  to 
his  reputation,  and  calls  for  no  special  notice.     In  1846,  Bishop 
Daniel  Wilson  was  in  England,  and  was  invited  to  occupy  the 
St.  Bride's  pulpit.     He  had  already  done   so  thirty  years  l^efore, 
when  Minister  of  St.  John's,  Bedford  Eow  ;  ■'■   and  his  is  the  only 
name   that   has   ever  appeared   twice    in   the   famous   list.     His 
sermon    also   will   be    noticed   in   another  chapter.     In    the  two 
remaining   years    of   the    period,    the    preachers    were    Charles 
Bridges,  the  well-known  expositor,  and  John  Tucker,  the  Madras 
Secretary,    who   was   now   at   home,    and  shortly  to  become  a 
Secretary    in    Salisbury     Square ;    but   neither    of    these    need 
detain  us. 
Speakers  at      Turning  to  the  Annual  Meetings,  we  find  several  of  the  leading 
Mletings^'  speakers  of  the  preceding  period  again  prominent.     In  the  eight 
years,  1842-49  inclusive,  John  Cunningham  again  spoke  four  times 
(including  the  Jubilee  Meeting),  making  nineteen  times  in  thirty- 
four   years.     No   other   man   has   ever   been    so   frequently   put 
forward.     Stowell  spoke  three  times,  McNeile  once,  Close  twice. 
Baptist  Noel  three  times,  Bickersteth   twice.   Dr.    Marsh    once, 
Professor   Scholefield   twice.     The   brother-Bishops  Sumner   are 
again  conspicuous,    the    Bishop    of   Winchester   speaking   three 
times,   and  the  Bishop   of  Chester  three   times, — the  latter  also 
presiding  in   1848    on   his    elevation   to    the    Primacy,  t     Bishop 
Longley    of    Eipon,    another   future    Primate,    spoke    in     1842 
and    1844 ;    indeed    he    was    almost    as    frequent    a    speaker   at 
various    May  meetings   as   his    brethren   the  Sumners.     Samuel 
Wilberforce,  who  had  spoken  as  Archdeacon  of  Surrey  in  1840, 
appeared  again  as  Bishop  of  Oxford  in  1846,  and  also,   as  we 
shall  see  hereafter,  at  the  great  Jubilee  Meeting  in  1848.     Sir 
Eobert  Harry  Inglis  was  a  speaker  four  times  in  five  years.     So 
far  as  regards  those  mentioned  before  as  speaking  in  the  preceding 
period.     The  new   names    in    this   period   include    Lord    Ashley 
(twice).  Lord  Sandon,  Bishop  Spencer  of  Madras,  Bishop  Perry  of 
Melbourne,  Montagu  Villiers  (afterwards  Bishop  of  Carlisle  and 
Durham),  John  C.  Miller,  H.  V.  EUiott,  Dr.  Tyng  of  New  York, 

*  See  p.  113. 

t  Since  that  time  it  lias  been  the  custom  to  invite  each  new  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury  to  take  the  President's  chair  at  the  Anniversary  next  after  his 
appointment. 


asions 


Henry  Venn — and  Survey  of  Men  and  Things      375 

and  Dr.   F.  Jeiine,   Master  of  Pembroke  College,  Oxford  (after-    Part  V. 
wards  Bishop  of  Peterborough).  cf^^lf- 

The  missionary  speakers  are  again  in  this  period  very  few  :  only  ^'^^^'  "'^" 
John  Tucker,  Weitbrecht,  Bernau,  H.  W.  Fox,  G.  Smith  of 
China,  W.  Smith  of  Benares,  Townsend,  and  E.  Jones,  the  coloured 
Principal  of  Fourah  Bay  College.  Others,  however,  were  put  up 
at  the  Evening  Meetings ;  but  these  were  then  gatherings  of  a 
very  secondary  character,  without  special  attraction,  and  rarely 
well  attended. 

So  much  for  the  i^^i'^onnel  of  the  Society  at  home  during  this 
period.     What  of  its  Missions  and  missionaries  ? 

Henry  Venn  came  to  Sahsbury  Square  not  only  at  an  epoch  in  Jlli'lss^'^"^" 
the  Society's  history  ecclesiastically,  not  only  at  a  crisis  financially,  in  iJ 
— both  which  will  be  described  in  future  chapters, — but  also  at  a 
time  when  the  openings  in  the  mission-field  were  increasing  on 
every  hand.  Educational  work,  mainly  with  a  view  to  the  train- 
ing of  native  teachers  and  evangelists,  was  conspicuous  for  its 
development.  "  In  West  Africa,"  says  the  Eeport  of  1841, 
"  there  is  the  Fourah  Bay  Institution;  in  Jamaica,  the  Normal 
School  ;  in  Malta,  the  new  Institution  ;  in  Syra,the  High  School ; 
in  Cairo,  the  Seminary ;  in  Calcutta,  the  Head  Seminary  ;  in 
Benares,  Jay  Narain's  School ;  in  Madras,  the  Institution  and 
Bishop  Corrie's  Grammar  School ;  in  Bombay,  the  Money  Institu- 
tion ;  in  Ceylon,  the  Cotta  Institution.  They  constitute  the  very 
hope  of  the  future  usefulness  of  the  Missions ;  they  require  a 
large  expenditure  ;  they  need  also,  for  their  successful  superinten- 
dence, the  most  exalted  piety."  Some  of  these  did  not  last;  the 
list  suggests  reflections  on  the  failure  of  the  best  plans  ;  but 
several  have  lasted  to  this  day,  and  all  are  typical  of  a  branch  of 
missionary  work  which  w^as  growing  in  importance,  and  calling 
for  the  services  of  the  best  men. 

The  same  Eeport  mentions  appeals  before  the  Committee  for 
Missions  to  the  Ashantis  of  West  Africa  and  the  Druses  of  the 
Lebanon ;  to  the  Himalaya  Valleys,  and  to  the  Afghan  territories 
then  (but  only  temporarily)  occupied  by  British  troops.  The  new 
Telugu  Mission  was  just  being  started.  Krishnagar  called  loudly 
for  development.  The  Niger  Expedition  was  about  to  open  up 
new  territories  to  evangelization  ;  the  Sierra  Leone  Mission  was 
stretching  out  into  the  Temne  country ;  and  a  year  or  two  later 
came  the  first  ordination  of  an  African  clergyman,  and  the  com- 
mencement of  the  Yoruba  Mission.  Krapf  in  Abyssinia  was 
already  looking  southward ;  his  move  to  Mombasa  nearly  co- 
incided in  time  with  Townsend's  to  Abeokuta  ;  and  before  the 
close  of  our  period  the  great  explorations  of  Equatorial  Afiica  had 
begun.  Above  all,  the  long-closed  door  into  China  was  on  the 
point  of  opening ;  before  we  complete  this  section  of  our  History 
we  shall  find  several  China  Missions  established. 

But  the  supply  of  missionaries  from  the  Church   at  home  was 


376      Hexrv  Vi-:xa' — axd  Survey  of  Men  and  Thixgs 

Part  V.   still  miserably  inadequate.     There  was,  however,  some  little  im- 

1841-48.    provement.     In  a  previous  chapter  it  was  mentioned  that  in  the 

^^^'   "^'  first  forty  years  of  the  Society's  existence  only  sixteen  University 

The  mis-     men  went  forth  under  its  auspices.     Exactly  the   same  number, 

sionaries.    sixteen.  Went  out   in   the   eight   years  now   under  review.     The 

list  begins  with  the  two  founders  of  the  Telugu  Mission,  Eobert 

Turlington  Noble  and   Henry  Watson    Fox,    of    Sidney  Sussex, 

Umversity  Cambridge,  and  Wadham,  Oxford,  respectively.     It  includes  also, 

'"^"*  from  Cambridge,  W.  C.  Dudley  (Queens'),  T.  G.  Eagland  (Corpus, 

4th  Wrangler,  and   Fellow),   E.  L.   Allnutt  (Peterhouse),  E.  M. 

Lamb  (Trinity),  M.  J.   Wilkinson   (Trinity),  and  E.   H.   Cobbold 

(Peterhouse);  from  Oxford,  J.  G.  Seymer  (Ch.  Ch.),  C.  L.  Eeay 

(Queen's),  and  George  Smith  (Magdalen  Hall ;  afterwards  Bishop 

of   Victoria)  ;    from   Dublin,  E.  Johnson,  T.   McClatchie,  G.  G. 

Cuthbert,  W.  Farmer,  and  W.  A.  Eussell  (afterwards  Bishop  of 

North  China).     Of  these,  Dudley  and  Eeay  went  to  New  Zealand  ; 

Smith,  McClatchie,  Cobbold,  Farmer,  Eussell,  to  China  ;  and  all 

the  rest  to  India. 

Islington         Of  the  Islington  men  of  the  period,  the  most  notable  are  Ed- 

'"^"'  ward  Sargent  (afterwards  Bishop),  and  J.  T.  Tucker,  of  Tinnevelly  ; 

Henry  Baker,  jun.,    of    Travancore  ;  Samuel  Hasell,   of  Bengal 

(afterwards  Central  Secretary)  ;  James  Hunter,  of  Eupert's  Land 

(afterwards  Archdeacon)  ;  S.  M.   Spencer,  of  New  Zealand.     Of 

the  Basle  men,  we  should  notice  Gollmer,  West  Africa;  Koelle, 

West  Africa  and  Turkey  ;  Eebmann,  East  Africa  ;  Erhardt,  East 

Africa  and  North  India  ;  Schurr  and  Fuchs,  North  India.     All 

these  were  at  Islington  as  well  as   at  Basle.     Two  other   men, 

whose  names  come  on  the  list  at  this  time,  must  be  mentioned, 

viz.,  Samuel  Crowther,  the  first  of  the  Society's  African  clergymen, 

ordained  from  IsHngton  in  1843  ;  and   Samuel  Williams,  son  of 

Archdeacon  Henry  Williams,  of  New  Zealand,  who  was  taken  out 

by  his  parents  when  a  few  months  old  in  1822,  was  ordained  in 

the  country  in  1846,  and  still  survives  as  Archdeacon  himself,  and 

an  honorary  C.M.S.  missionary. 

Their  Some  of  thcse   brethren,   like  those  of  the    preceding   period, 

llrvi«°^     accomplished  long  periods  of  service  :— Sargent,  47  years,  besides 

seven    as    a  catechist   before  ordination;   S.Williams   (to  1898), 

51  ;  Crowther,  from  ordination,  47  ;   Spencer,  40  in  active  work, 

and  afterwards  as  e7?ierf^«.s  ;   Schurr,  36  ;  Erhardt,  42  ;  Eebmann, 

29   without   coming  home ;  Baker,  35  ;  Fuchs,  32  ;  Eussell,  25, 

and  seven  as  bishop  ;  Noble,  24  without  coming  home.    Others  of 

the  same  period  had  many  years  too  :  W.  Clark,  30  ;  Bilderbeck, 

37  ;  Bomwetsch,  31. 

MTsslonT*       -'^^  *^®  wider  area  of  Protestant  Missions  generally,  this  period 

generally,    compvises  soiiie  memorable  incidents,  some  satisfactory  progress, 

and  not  a  little  trial.     The  India  field  has  already  been  noticed.  ='= 


*  P.  331. 


Henry   Venn- — and  Survey  of  Men  and  Things      377 

China  is  especially  conspicuous.  It  was  at  this  time  that  several  Part  V. 
of  the  largest  Missions  there  were  begun  ;  and  William  Burns,  1841-48, 
one  of  the  most  heroic  of  missionaries,  went  out  as  the  first  repre-  ^^^'  ^" 
sentative  of  the  English  Presbyterians  in  1847.  So  did  W.  J. 
Boone,  the  first  representative  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church 
of  America,  afterwards  Bishop.  That  Church  had  also,  a  little 
earlier,  sent  John  Payne  to  Liberia,  w^ho  likewise  was  sub- 
sequently for  many  years  Bishop.  In  South  Africa,  Casalis,  of 
the  French  Basuto  Mission,  and  Moffat,  of  the  L.M.S.,  had  become 
celebrated.  In  1841  went  forth  David  Livingstone,  and  the 
Missionary  Register  reports  from  time  to  time  the  proceedings  of 
"Mr.  Livingston,"  and  in  particular,  his  discovery  of  Lake 
Ngamiin  1849.  Elsewhere,  the  L. M.S.  had  many  trials  at  this 
time.  The  Eussian  Government  suppressed  the  Siberia  Mission 
in  1840  ;  in  Madagascar,  the  great  persecution  was  at  its  height, 
and  news  of  the  Native  Christians  only  came  at  uncertain  intervals  ; 
in  the  South  Seas,  John  Williams  was  killed  at  Erromanga  in 
1839  ;  and  in  1842  began  the  French  aggression  in  Tahiti,  which 
ultimately  drove  the  Society  from  the  island,  and  incidentally 
brought  England  and  France  to  the  verge  of  war."  On  the  other 
hand,  the  great  Wesleyan  triumph  in  the  Fiji  Islands,  under 
John  Hunt,  belongs  to  this  period  ;  and  so  does  the  success  of  the 
American  Board  in  establishing  Christianity  in  Hawaii.  This  also 
is  the  date  of  the  heroic  enterprise  of  Captain  Allen  Gardiner — 
whose  enforced  retirement  from  Zululand  we  have  already  seen  f 
— in  Tierra  del  Fuego ;  but  his  death  did  not  occur  till  1851. 
Medical  Missions  were  still  in  the  future  ;  but  Woman's  Work  was 
beginning  to  extend,  particularly  in  connexion  with  the  Society 
for  Promoting  Female  Education  in  the  East,  which  in  1848  had 
about  twenty  missionaries  in  India,  Ceylon,  China,  Palestine,  and 
South  Africa. 

The  period  was  also  one  of  great  activity  in  Eoman  Catholic  Roman 
Missions.  This  was  mainly  due  to  the  energy  of  a  new  voluntary 
society,  not  worked  by  "  the  Church,"  although  patronized  by  the 
Popes,  which  had  been  founded  at  Lyons  in  1822  by  "a  few 
humble  and  obscure  Catholics  "  (to  use  their  own  words),  wath 
the  title  of  the  Institution  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Faith.]:  The  Lyons 
From  1842  onwards,  for  ten  or  twelve  years,  the  reports  of  this 
society  are  summarized  in  the  Missionary  Begister,  with  consider- 
able extracts,  which  are  extremely  interesting.     In  the  first  year 

*  "I  am  glad,"  said  Louis  Philippe  to  Lord  John  Russell,  "that  our 
negotiations  on  Tahiti  terminated  favourably.  I  should  have  been  grieved  to 
do  any  injury  to  your  capital,  but  I  was  advised  to  make  an  attempt  on 
London,  and  I  should  have  been  successful."  Life  of  Lord  Shafteshurii,  vol.  ii. 
p.  91.  "  Terminated  favourably  " — because  England  cared  little  for  a  Christian 
state  whicli  was  the  fruit  of  Missions,  and  let  the  French  have  their  way. 
Lord  Ashley's  "grief  and  indignation "  are  expressed  in  strong  terms  in  his 
journal.     Ihid.,  p.  16. 

t  See  p.  35.5. 

X  Not  to  be  confounded  witli  the  College  of  the  Propaganda  at  Rome. 


Institution. 


Part  V. 
1841-48. 
Chap.  2.5. 


Romish 
activity  in 
Protestant 
Mission- 
fields. 


378      Henry  Venn — and  Survey  of  Men  and  Things 

(1823)  it  collected,  chiefly  from  among  the  shopkeepers  and 
artizans  of  Lyons,  about  £1900.  In  1833  its  income  was  £13,000  ; 
in  1843,  £141,000;  in  1852,  £200,000.  In  1843  it  claimed  to  be 
assisting  130  bishops  and  4000  priests,  belonging  to  various  Eoman 
orders  and  societies.  This  originally  humble  voluntary  society 
was  in  fact  at  this  time  enabling  Eome  to  girdle  the  globe  with 
Missions.  One  of  the  reports  contrasts  with  much  complacency 
the  economy  with  which  their  operations  were  conducted  with 
"  the  extravagant  salaries  allowed  the  lordly  missionaries  of  the 
Anglican  Church  in  the  East  and  West  Indies,  the  immense  sums 
swallowed  up  by  the  Methodist  Proconsuls  who  rule  it  over  the 
Kings  of  the  Southern  Ocean,  and  the  innumerable  hawkers  of 
Bibles,  whose  prudent  zeal  extends  no  further  than  to  introduce 
along  the  coasts  of  China,  w4th  smuggled  opium,  the  sacred 
writings  which  they  profane." 

Protestant  Missions  soon  felt  the  effects  of  this  new  energy  of 
Eoman  Catholic  France.  In  1839  the  C.M.S.  Eeport  noticed  the 
"  direct  and  undisguised  hostility  to  Protestant  Missions  which 
Eome  w^as  showing  in  India,  in  New  Zealand,  in  the  Levant  and 
Abyssinia,  and  among  the  Eed  Indians."  But  it  was  added,  "  It 
is  an  axiom  established  by  the  history  of  the  Gospel,  that  wherever 
the  soil  has  been  best  cultivated,  and  wherever  the  hopes  of  a 
future  harvest  are  most  promising,  there  the  enemy  will  be  the 
most  busy  in  sowing  tares."     Again,  in  the  Eeport  of  1847  : — 

"  Eacli  successive  year  affords  fresh  proof  of  the  warlike  activity  in 
the  Koniish  camp,  and  sees  the  nmltitudes  sent  out  on  Foreign  Missions 
who  have  been  trained  in  the  College  of  the  Propaganda.  In  numbers 
and  activity  they  far  outdo  the  advocates  of  the  Truth.  While  we  are 
meditating'to  send  a  catechist  to  a  distant  tribe  of  North-West  American 
Indians,  1000  miles  from  the  headquarters  of  both  parties,  we  hear  that 
four  Komish  priests  are  already  among  them  !  While  the  Church  of 
England  for  a  whole  year  seeks  in  vain  for  one  missionary  to  China,  the 
Romish  agent  at  Hong  Kong  negotiates  for  a  contract  with  a  Steam 
Navigation  Company  to  carry  to  China  100  priests  within  the  year! 
.  .  .  The  intrusions  into  our  Missions  in  Krishnagar  and  New  Zealand 
are  but  faint  skirmishes,  to  be  numbered  among  the  many  signs  which 
unequivocally  proclaim  that  the  battle  between  Popery  and  Protestant- 
ism must  be  fought  on  the  Mission- field  no  less  than  at  home." 


Romish 
activity  in 
England. 


"  No  less  than  at  home."  These  words  contain  an  allusion  to 
the  growing  activity  of  Eome  in  England  at  the  time,  encouraged 
by  the  Tractarian  secessions.  In  1845,  Peel  had  carried  his  bill 
giving  further  grants  to  Maynooth  College,"-''  despite  an  out- 
burst of  Protestant  feeling.  Then  came  the  great  Irish  famine 
which  led  to  the  Eepeal  of  the  Corn  Laws.  This  gave  Christian 
people  in  England  an  opportunity  to  fight  Eomanism  in  Ireland 
with  spiritual  w^eapons.     The  charity  of  England,    which  saved 

*  On  account  of  which  Mr.  Gladstone  left  the  Ministry.  Ciu-iously  enough 
it  was  Mr.  Gladstone's  Irish  Church  Disestablishment  Bill  of  1869  that 
abolished  the  Maynooth  subsidy. 


Henry  Venn — and  Survey  of  Men  and  Things      379 

thousands  of  lives  of  Irish  Eomanists,  predisposed  them— just  as    Part  V. 
similar  charity  dispensed  by  missionaries   among  famine-stricken  qj^^^~^^-' 
people  in  India  predisposes  them — to   listen  to  the  message  of      ^^'^'    '^' 
free  salvation  from  their  benefactors.     Hence  the  Irish  Church  Irish 
Missions,  into  the  cause  of  which  Edward  Bickersteth  flung  him-  M^issfons. 
self  at  this  time  with  characteristic  ardour.-     "  While  Enghshmen 
in    general,"   writes  his  biographer,   Professor   Birks,    "felt   the 
plain  duty  of  relieving  temporal  distress,  there   were  a  smaller 
number  of  earnest  Christians  who   saw  in  this  visitation  of  God 
a  still  louder  call  to  care  for  perishing  souls,   and  to  raise  them 
from  the  darkness  of  sin  and  superstition  into  the  glorious  liberty 
of  the    Gospel  of  Christ."     "  The  false  benevolence  which  pre- 
tended to  heal  the  miseries  of  Ireland  by  an  ampler  supply  of 
Popery  at  the  expense  of  the  State  [alluding  to  Maynooth]  called 
for   vigorous   efforts   of  real   Christian   love   in   a   more    earnest 
diffusion  of  the  Gospel,  the  only  true  remedy  for  Ireland's  distress 
and    moral    degradation."  \     To    this    work    the    leaders  of  the 
Church  Missionary  Society,  never  too  much  absorbed  with  their 
own  organization  to  care  for  other  Christian  enterprises,  gave  their 
warm  co-operation  ;  and  the  Missionarij  Ecgister  regularly  reported 
its  progress. 

Concerning  another  movement  of  the  day — also  arising  in  part 
out  of  the  Maynooth  controversy — they  were  not  unanimous. 
This  was  the  Evangelical  Alliance.  For  some  years,  Mr.  Ig'^f^^''^"' 
Haldane  Stewart  had  sought  to  heal  the  divisions  wdthin  the  Alliance. 
Evangelical  ranks,  to  which  reference  was  made  in  a  previous 
chapter,]:  by  issuing  annually  an  Invitation  to  United  Prayer,  for 
the  Church  and  for  the  World  ;  but  in  1845,  at  the  instance  of 
certain  Scotch  ministers,  a  conference  was  held  at  Liverpool 
which  issued,  in  the  following  year,  in  the  formation  of  an 
organized  body,  uniting  Churchmen  and  Dissenters,  called  the 
Evangelical  Alliance.  Of  this  body  Edward  Bickersteth  w^as  one 
of  the  chief  founders  and  leaders.  At  the  time,  a  strong  anti- 
State-Church  movement  was  spreading  among  the  Dissenters ; 
and  Bickersteth  hoped  that  the  Alliance  might  at  least  cause  the 
views  they  honestly  held  to  be  more  gently  and  charitably  pro- 
mulgated. But  some  of  his  brethren  took  a  different  line,  and 
feared,  by  joining  the  new  organization,  to  encourage  the  Chvu'ch's 
opponents.  Josiah  Pratt  was  now  dead  ;  but  he  had  not  approved 
of  the  preliminary  steps  taken  two  or  three  years  earlier.  Hugh 
McNeile  wrote  to  Bickersteth,  "  I  am  convinced  that  your  ardent 
and  loving  spirit  will  meet  with  a  distressing  disappointment  in 
the  issue  of  the  Alliance  ";  and  the  Christian  Observer  decidedly 

*  The  Society  for  Irish  Cliurch  Missions  was  founded  by  Bickersteth , 
Alexander  Dallas,  and  Captain  Trotter  of  the  2nd  Life  Guards.  The  plans 
were  laid  at  Captain  Trotter's  house,  Dyrhain  Park,  Barnet ;  and  a  fund  of 
£10,000  was  mainly  raised  by  his  efforts.  He  was  one  of  the  ablest  and 
most  fervent  of  volunteer  lay  evangelists. 

I  Memoir  of  E.  Bickersteth,  vol.  ii.  p.  363-5.  J  See  p.  285. 


3''^o      Hexrv  Venn — aaw  Survey  of  Men  and  Things 

Part  V.   condemned  the  scheme.     The  same  diversity    of  opinion  regard- 
pf'^^"!^'   i'^^g  the  Alhance  has  prevailed  in  Evangehcal  circles  ever  since  ; 
aap^  o.  1^^^^  ^^  ^^^  ^^^  doubt  the  good  it  has  done  by  its  influence  upon 
Protestant  movements  on  the  Continent. 

It  has  been  said  that  the  definite  move  towards  forming  the 
Alliance  was  made  from  Scotland.     In  fact  it  was,  in  one  aspect, 
an  attempt  to  heal  the  dissensions  which  had  been  at  first  the 
Disruption  causc,  and  then  still  more  the  consequence,  of  the  Disruption  of 
i<irk.°^'^       1843,  and  the  secession  of  a  large  part  of  the  Scottish  people,  and 
of  several  hundred  of  the  best  ministers,  from    the  Established 
Presbyterian  Church.     That  great  event  could  not  be  viewed  with 
indifference  in  England.     The  strong  affection  of  the  Evangelicals 
for  the  union  of  Church  and  State  prevented  their  approving  the 
formation  of  the  Free  Church  ;  and  yet  their  natural  sympathies 
went  with  its  leaders,  Chalmers,  Candlish,  and  others,  who  mainly 
represented  the  evangelical  side  of  the  Kirk.     Pratt  regarded  the 
Secession  as  "  a  noble  sacrifice  to  what  was  conscientiously  con- 
sidered to  be  absolute  duty  "  ;  but  he  was  "  not  convinced  that  the 
sacrifice  was  called  for  by  a  right  sense  of  duty."  '■■■     Bickersteth 
took  a  more  sympathetic  view  :  he  regretted  the  separation,  but  he 
thought  the  contention  of  the  Establishment  party  was  "  a  virtual 
denial  of  the  visible  Church  as  a  distinct  ordinance  of  Christ." 
Episcopal        Another  series  of  events  in  Scotland,  though  less  important  in 
in  Scot-      itself,  touched  the  Church  Missionary  Society  more  closely.     The 
land.  Scottish    Episcopal  Church  had  a  Communion  Service  differing 

from  that  of  the  Church  of  England,  and  on  this  account  several 
congregations  of  an  Evangelical  type  had  always  kept  aloof  from 
it,  and  were  ministered  to  by  clergymen  in  English  orders  ;  and 
these  congregations  had  a  certain  legal  status  under  an  old  Act 
of  Parliament.  About  this  time,  however,  some  modifications  in 
the  terms  of  subscription  of  the  Scottish  Episcopal  Church  had 
opened  the  door  for  their  adhesion  to  it ;  and  several  of  them  took 
advantage  of  this,  to  gain  the  benefit  of  episcopal  countenance. 
Unfortunately,  two  of  the  Scotch  Bishops  subjected  the  con- 
gregations of  this  type  at  Edinburgh  and  Aberdeen  to  high- 
handed treatment,  in  the  one  case  forbidding  prayer-meetings,  and 
in  the  other  case  excommunicating  the  minister  for  using  the 
English  Service.  Both  congregations  at  once  seceded,  and  at 
Edinburgh  a  new  church  was  built  for  the  minister,  the  Rev. 
D.  T.  K.  Drummond,  an  excellent  and  faithful  clergyman  ;  and 
a  few  other  congregations  followed  suit.  Naturally  enough,  this 
brought  upon  them  the  fulminations  of  High  Church  organs  in 
England ;  while  on  the  other  hand,  the  Record,  whose  chief  pro- 
prietor and  virtual  director,  Mr.  Alexander  Haldane,  was  a  Scotch- 
man, threw  itself  into  the  conflict  with  the  energy,  and,  it  must 
be  added,  bitterness,  that  in  those  days  so  markedly  characterized 
it.     Now  the  old  English  congregations,  both  those  that  adhered 

*  Letter  to  Bishop  of  Calcutta  ;  in  Memoir  of  Pratt,  p.  359. 


Henry  Venn — and  Survey  of  Men  and  Things      381 

to   the    Scotch    Church    and    those    that    held    aloof,    were   the    Part  V. 
supporters  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society  in   Scotland  ;  and  a    l^-il— j-8. 
question  arose  as  to  what  churches  and  chapels  a  deputation  from  ^''^P-  ^•^• 
the  Society  might  preach  in.     The   Committee  of  the   Edinburgh  perplexity 
CM.  Association  were  mostly  men  who  clave  to  Mr.  Drummond  ;  of  c.m.s. 
and  there  was  no  doubt  that  the  best  spiritual  life  of  the  Church 
was   then   in   the  separated  congregations.     On  the  other  hand 
their  position  was   regarded   by    some    of  the    Society's   leading 
friends  in  England  as  irregular,  if  not,  as  High   Chvu^chmen  said, 
schismatical ;  and  after  prolonged  discussions  the  Committee  in 
Salisbury    Square,  unable    to    ignore    the  strong    representations 
made  to  them  from  either  side,  resolved  that  the  official  deputa- 
tions should  attend  meetings  only,  and  not  preach  at  all. 

The  controversy  continued  for  many  years.  The  Committee, 
after  two  years,  allowed  the  deputations  to  preach  in  the  English 
Episcopal  Chapels,  as  they  w^ere  called.  Indeed  most  of  the 
support  came  from  tliem.  This,  however,  did  not  satisfy  the 
friends  belonging  to  them.  These  friends  wished  the  Committee 
not  only  to  allow  deputations  to  preach  in  the  English  chapels, 
but  also  to  forbid  their  preaching  in  the  Scotch  Episcopal  Churches. 
But  the  Committee  maintained  an  impartial  attitude,  refusing  to  Attitude  of 
make  any  restrictions  either  way;  and  of  course  both  sides  were  ^•^•^• 
dissatisfied.  In  later  times,  the  circumstances  altered  consider- 
ably ;  but  this  does  not  belong  to  our  present  subject. 

Such  were  the  men,  and  such  the  surroundings,  of  Henry 
Venn's  first  seven  years  as  Secretary.  Or  rather,  some  of  them. 
For  other  most  important  features  of  the  environment  of  the 
period  have  yet  to  be  noticed.  We  shall  see  the  Society's  Laws 
modified  to  open  the  door  for  the  adhesion  of  the  Heads  of  the 
Church.  We  shall  see  the  Archbishops  and  Bishoj^s  joining  it. 
We  shall  see  the  extension  of  the  Colonial  and  Missionary 
Episcopate.  We  shall  see  the  bitter  controversies  that  clustered 
round  the  Tractarian  Movement.  We  shall  see  the  Society  in  the 
most  serious  financial  crisis  it  has  ever  known,  and  see  how  it 
w'as  delivered.  Then,  in  the  foreign  field  we  shall  see  the 
opening  of  China,  the  commencement  in  East  Africa,  the  extension 
of  the  West  Africa  Mission  to  the  Yoruba  country,  the  first 
attempt  to  navigate  the  Niger  in  the  interests  of  commerce  and 
Christianity.  Thus  the  seven  years  from  Venn's  accession  to  the 
Jubilee,  from  1841  to  1848,  were  a  period  of  important  events  at 
home  and  abroad ;  a  period  of  much  testing  of  faith  and  of 
principle;  a  period  in  which,  very  emphatically,  the  Society  could 
say,  "The  Lord  of  Hosts  is  with  us;  the  God  of  Jacob  is  our 
refuge  !  " 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

The  Society  and  the  Church. 

Improved  Condition  of  the  Church— Church  Unions— H.  Venn's 
Defence  of  C. M.S. — "Sanction  of  Convocation" — F.  Close's  Ser- 
mon—Bishop Blomfield's  Proposals  for  C.M.S."  and  S.P.G. — 
F.  Close  and  Lord  Chichester  on  the  Proposals — Revision  of  C.M.S. 
Laws — Archbishops  and  Bishops  join  C.M.S. — Hugh  Stowell's 
Sermon,  and  Bishop  Blomfield's — Results,  Expected  and  Actual — 
S.P.G.  and  C.M.S.— Samuel  Wilberforce,  Bishop  of  Oxford  :  his 
Career  and  Influence— J.  B.  Sumner,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury — 
Tractarian  Controversies  and  Secessions — Attitude  of  C.M.S. 

"  The  hand  of  the  Lord  tvas  with  them.  .  .  .  Then  tidings  of  these  things  came 
unto  the  ears  of  the  Church  .  .  .  and  they  sent  forth  Barnahas.  .  .  .  ^uho, 
xL'hen  he  came,  and  had  seen  the  grace  of  God,  rvas  glad." — Acts  xi.  21-23. 

Tart  V.   "  I^^^^^HE  two  great  Missionary  Societies  of  the  Church  " 
Ls4i-ks.        pTj  ^^      ig  a  yeiy  common  phrase  at  the  present  day.     The 
Clmpj26.        M  ^      ^^Q  ^^,g^   Qf  course,  S.P.G.  and  C.M.S.     But  sixty 
l^^mYlU      years   ago,    if   the    expression   had   been    used,    it 
would  not  have  meant  these  two.     It  would  have 
meant    S.P.G.    and    S.P.C.K.      Not  that  the    S.P.C.K.   has  lost 
ground  in  the  interval.     On  the  contrary,  it  never  did  so  great  and 
beneficent  a  work  as  at  present.     But  it  is  not  usually  thought  of 
as  a  missionary  society  ;  and  on  the  other  hand,  the  C.M.S.  has 
won  for  itself  a  recognition  which  in  the  first  forty  years  of  the 
century  it  did  not  enjoy. 
Increasing       But    about    the    time     of    Qxieen    Victoria's    Accession,    the 
thf°church  vigour  of  the  Church  of  England,  and  its  consequent  efficiency, 
lan^"^"       were  rapidly  increasing,  and  the  clergy  generally  were  becoming 
much  more  alive  than  before  to  the  need  of  fostering  and  support- 
ing   Church    Societies   for   various    objects.     It    is    customary  to 
attribute  this  growing  energy  and  efficiency  to  the  influence  of  the 
Oxford    Movement.      Evidence    has    been   given   in   a   previous 
chapter  '■'    showing    the    fallacy   of    this   view.      No    doubt    the 
Movement  had,   subsequently,  a  great  effect  upon  the    Church, 
transforming  the  old-fashioned  country  parson  into  an  ardent  and 
hard-working  parish  pi-iest.     But  the  improvement,  as  we  have 
seen,   was  marked  and  widespread   before    that,   and  while    the 
Movement  was  still  in  its  infancy.     In  particular,  some  of  the 
new  bishops  were  raising  the  standard  of  episcopal  work  to  a  very 

*  See  p.  274, 


REV.  HUGH  :M'NE1LE. 


REV.  Hugh:  STOW ELL,- 


ARCHBISHOP  SUMNER. 


dean;  close. 


BISHOP  .S.    WIL3ERFORCE. 


Hugh  M'Ncilo,  T).T).,  T.iverpool. 

Hush  Stowell,  :N[aiichcstcr. 

J.  b.  Sumner,  Archljisho])  of  Canterbury. 

Francis  Clo.so,  Dean  uT  Carlisle. 

Samuel  Wilbcrforcc,  lii.shop  of  Oxford  and  of  AVinchester. 


The  Society  and  the  Church  383 

different  height  from  what  it  had  formerly  been.     Conspicuous    Part  V. 
among  these  were  Bishop  Eyder  at  Chester,  Bishop  Blomfield  at    I84l-i8. 
Chester  and   London,   Bishop  Otter  at  Chichester,  and  the  two       ^^^"  ^^' 
Sumners,  at  Wincliester  and  Chester.    Samuel  Wilberforce's  tenure  working 
of  the  Diocese  of  Oxford,  which  unquestionably  raised  still  higher  Bishops, 
the  standard  of  a  bishop's  activities,  and  did  much  to  form  the 
modern  idea  of  the  bishop  as  the  working  captain  of  both  clergy 
and  laity  in  his  diocese,  did  not  begin  till  1845 ;  and  Wilberforce, 
in  the  earlier  years  of  his  episcopate  at  least,  was  very  far  from 
being  one  of  the  Oxford  School. 

One   result   of   the    growing   energy   of   the    Church   was    the 
remarkable  progress  of  the  S.P.G.,  which  has  been  noticed  before. 
The  S.P.C.K.,  the  Clergy  Aid  Society  (now  the  Additional  Curates  church 
Society),  the  Church  Building  Society,  and  the  National  Society,  Societies, 
were  also  being  vigorously  worked.     At  the   same  time,  the  old 
office  of  rural  dean  was  revived,  and  ruri-decanal  meetings  began 
to  be  held,  which  Josiah  Pratt,  old  man  and  conservative  as  he 
now  w^as,  welcomed  as  the  beginning  of   more  effective  Church 
organization — while    he    deprecated   the    unofficial    gatherings   of 
clerical   friends   for   spiritual   exercises   being   given   up   in  con- 
sequence.*     One   result   was    a   proposal   in   some    quarters    to 
combine  the  five  Societies  just  mentioned  in  a  Church  Union,  for  church 
the  deanery  or  some  larger  ecclesiastical  area.     Then,  in  places  Anions, 
where  some  of  the  clergy  were  favourable  to  the  C.M.S.,  it  was 
suggested  that  it  also  should  be  included  ;  and  the  Jews'  Society 
and   the   recently-formed   Pastoral  Aid   Society  were    sometimes 
mentioned  too.     Samuel  Wilberforce,  then  Archdeacon  of  Surrey, 
proposed  to  combine  seven  Societies,  viz.,  the  five  before  mentioned 
and  the  C.M.S.  and  C.P.A.S. 

The  C.M.S.  Committee  saw  clearly  that  this  kind  of  union,  why 
well-meant  as  it  was,  would  be  more  hkely  to  strangle  the  obj^cfed 
Societies  than  to  give  them  fresh  life;  and  just  about  the  time  *°'^^<= 
that  Henry  Venn  became  Secretary,  a  Circular  was  issued  on  the 
subject,  in  which  it  was  pointed  out  that,  even  takijig  the  lowest 
financial  ground,  the  step  was  unadvisable.  A  man  who  would 
subscribe  a  guinea  to  the  Church  Union  might  probably  subscribe 
a  guinea  cacli  to  the  different  Societies  if  approached  on  their 
behalf  separately  ;  or  at  all  events  to  more  than  one.  Besides 
which,  the  proposal  ignored,  said  the  Circular,  "  a  deep-seated 
principle  of  human  nature — a  legitimate  principle  as  regards 
charitable  donations — that  to  him  who  gives,  it  belongs  to 
determine  how  his  gift  should  be  applied ;  whereas  the 
Societies  it  was  proposed  to  combine  all  differ  from  each  other, 
either  as  to  the  operations  which  they  undertake,  or  as  to  the 
sphere  in  which  they  carry  on  these  operations,  or  as  to  both 
these  particulars."  In  short,  the  plan  was  not  good  for  any  of  the 
Societies.     The    S.P.G.,  for   instance,    would    get   less   out  of   a 

*   jltinoir,  p.  351. 


384  The  Society  aad  ihe  Church 

Part  Y.   Chiu-cli  Union  comprising  also  the  S.P.C.K.,  the  A.C.S.,  and  the 
1841-48.   National  Society,  than  it  would  if  separately  worked.     How  could 

/ 1 1  Oft  .  .  .  t 

P'  "•  a  preacher  or  speaker  interest  his  auditory  in  all  four  at  once  ? 
And  obviously  the  difficulty  would  be  far  greater  in  the  case  of- 
Societies  avowing  distinctive  principles,  whether  Evangelical  or 
any  other. 
c.M.Asso-  The  Church  Missionary  Society's  Associations  throughout  the 
i^ntact?^  country  were  therefore  directed  to  maintain  themselves  intact ; 
and  it  was  from  the  discussion  of  this  subject  that  the  practice  arose 
of  not  sending  deputations  to  joint  meetings.  The  Circular  of 
1841  fully  recognized  the  right  of  a  parish  clergyman  to  divide  his 
collections  in  any  way  he  thought  best,  and  to  combine  any 
numl)er  of  Societies,  C.M.S.  included,  in  any  kind  of  Union,  if  ho 
pleased.  It  only  observed  that  the  Society's  official  deputations 
could  not  be  "  expected  "  to  be  at  the  service  of  such  parishes. 
This  regulation  no  doubt  works  hardly  here  and  there  ;  but  the 
principle  involved  in  it  is  one  which,  upon  the  whole,  has  been 
for  the  advantage  of  all  the  Societies. 

It  will  be  readily  understood,  however,  that  the  refusal  to  be 
included  officially  in  the  Church  Unions  gave  a  handle  to  the 
many  Churchmen  who  disliked  the  Society,  and  were  not  sorry  to 
have  fresh  ground  for  denouncing  it  as  "  not  a  Church  society." 
In  fact,  the  very  criticisms  that  have  still  to  be  met  in  some 
quarters  had  then  to  be  met  much  more  frequently.  They  came 
Pusey  and  most  persistently  from  the  rising  Tractarian  School.  Dr.  Pusey 
Sumner,  himself,  preaching  for  the  S.P.G.  at  Weymouth,  made  a  vehement 
attack  on  the  Church  Missionary  Society.  Moreover,  the  cry 
began  to  be  raised  that  Missions  should  be  worked  by  "  the 
Church  in  her  corporate  capacity,"  and  that  all  societies  were,  to 
say  the  least,  an  anachronism.  This  view  was  dealt  with,  and 
opposed,  in  admirable  fashion  by  Bishop  J.  B.  Sumner  of  Chester 
(afterwards  Archbishop  of  Canterbury),  in  a  speech  at  the  C.M.S. 
Anniversary  of  1840. 

The  Church  Missionary  Society,  in  fact,  was  now  too  large 
and  important  to  be  ignored.  But  it  could  still  be  assailed. 
And  it  was  assailed — as  it  sometimes  is  still — with  a  singular 
ignorance  of  its  actual  history  and  work,  or  of  the  actual  history 
and  work  of  the  varied  organizations  which,  on  different  sides, 
were  invidiously  compared  with  it. 
H.  Venn's  This  secms  the  right  place  to  notice  the  famous  document  drawn 
^^j^"g^^°^  up  by  Henry  Venn  (before  he  was  Secretary),  known  as  the 
Appendix  to  the  Thirty-Ninth  Keport.  There  has  been  a  sort  of 
tradition  that  its  immediate  occasion  was  the  settlement  of  the 
controversy  about  licenses  with  Bishop  Daniel  Wilson  ;  but  in 
point  of  fact  its  date  is  more  than  two  years  after  that  settlement, 
and  although  it  notices  the  arrangement  with  Bishop  Wilson  as 
an  important  illustration  of  some  of  its  statements,  its  scope  is 
actually  much  wider.  It  was  in  reality  a  public  vindication  of  the 
Society  from  criticisms  current  among  Churchmen  at  home  ;  and 


The  Society  and  the  Church  385 

the  occasion  of   its  being  written  was  a   request   from    Charles    Part  Y. 
Bridges  for  an  answer  to  various  objections  he  had  met  with  on  pf'^^'^'i,^' 
deputation  tours/''     Its' title  is  a  comprehensive  one — "  Bemarks       ^^'  " 
on    the    Constitution    and   Practice    of    the    Church    Missionary 
Society,  with    Reference    to   its   Ecclesiastical   Belations."     Such 
portions    of    it    as  apply  to   the  relations  between  the  mission- 
aries and  the  bishops  abroad  will  be  more  conveniently  noticed  in 
the  next  chapter,  in  which  the  controversy  with  Bishop  Wilson 
will  be  referred  to.     At  present  we  have  to  do  with  those  parts 
that    are    concerned    with    the    general   relations   between    the 
Society   and  the  Church  at   home.     The  paper  begins  with  an- 
nouncing its  obiect,  viz.,    "  to  show  that    the  constitution  and  Constitu- 

o  **  .      ,  .  .  .  tion  of 

practice  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society  are  m  strict  con-  c.m.s. 
formity  with  Ecclesiastical  principles,  as  they  are  recognized  in 
the  constitution  and  practice  of  the  Church  of  England";  and 
then  proceeds  to  distinguish  between  the  Church's  temporal 
and  spiritual  functions,  the  provinces  respectively  of  Laity  and 
Clergy : — 

"  Throughout  the  system  of  the  Church  of  England  there  is  a 
recognized  co-operation  of  temporal  and  spiritual  functions  in  matters 
Ecclesiastical ;  that  is,  the  Laity  and  Clergy  have  not  only  their  separate 
and  distinct  provinces,  but,  in  nwiny  important  respects,  they  unite 
their  agency  for  the  accomplishing  of  Ecclesiastical  acts." 

Illustrations  of  this  are  given,  such  as  Lay-Patrons,  Church- 
wardens and  Sidesmen,  the  Ecclesiastical  Courts,  and  the 
Sovereign  as  Chief  Euler.     Then — 

"  Keeping  the  foregoing  distinction  in  view,  the  Church  Missionary 
Society  may  be  regarded  as  an  Institution  for  discharging  the  temporal 
and  lay  offices  necessary  for  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  among  the 
Heathen.  It  is  strictly  a  Lay  Institution  :  it  exercises,  as  a  Society, 
no  spiritual  functions  whatsoever." 

"  Such,"  the  paper  goes  on  to  say,  "  being  the  constitution  of 
the  Society  in  theory — are  its  proceedings  conducted  in  conformity  Functions 
with  this  theory,   and  with  the   Ecclesiastical   principles  of  the  °^^•'^•^• 
Church  of  England  ?  "     These  proceedings  are  then  stated  to  be 
the  following  : — 

"  I.  The  collection  of  the  Home  Eevenue,  and  the  Disbursement  of  it 
abroad. 

"II.  The  Selecting  and  Educating  Candidates  for  Missionary  Em- 
ployment. 

"  III.  The  Sending  Forth,  to  particular  Stations,  the  Missionaries 
thus  ordained,  or  other  Clergymen  who  have  been  previously 
ordained. 

"  IV.  The  Superintendence  of  Missionaries  in  their  labours  among  the 
Heathen." 

Of  these,  No.  1  is  declared  to  be  "  altogether  within  the  province 
of  Laymen."     Under  No.  2  it  is  explained  that  the  Society  no 

*  See  a  biographical  sketch  of  C.  Bridges,  e\-idently  by  H.  Venn,  in  the 
Christian  Ohseri'er  of  June,  1869. 

VOL.  I.  C   C 


The  Society  and  the  Church 


Pakt  V. 
1841^8. 
Chap.  26. 


The  true 
meaning 
of  "  send- 
ing forth.' 


Pending 
revival  of 
Convoca- 
tion, all 
Societies 
alike 
voluntary. 


more  encroaches  upon  "  spiritual  functions  "  than  do  the  Colleges 
at  the  Universities,  which  are  "  Lay-Corporations  ";  also  that  in 
practice,  the  examination  and  training  of  the  Society's  candidates 
are  conducted  by  clergymen.  And  the  Bishop  of  London's 
sanction  and  approbation  of  the  training  at  Islington  is  referred 
to.  Under  No.  3  is  noticed  an  objection,  based  on  the  use  of  the 
word  "  sending  forth,"  which,  it  was  said,  was  the  province  of 
the  Bishops  : — 

"  Now,  here  an  objection  against  the  Society  has  been  founded  on  the 
use  of  the  term '  sending  forth  ' — it  sounds  like  an  exercise  of  ecclesiastical 
power.  But,  Ecclesiastically  speaking,  the  Bishop  of  London  'sends  forth  ' 
every  Missionary  ordained  by  him.  The  Law  of  the  land  has  sanctioned 
the  two  Archbishops,  and  the  Bishop  of  London,  in  ordaining  persons 
to  officiate  abroad.  The  Secretary  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society 
rec^uests,  by  Letter,  the  Bishop  of  London  to  ordain,  in  conformity  with 
the  provisions  of  the  Act  of  Parliament,  such  and  such  persons,  whom 
the  Society  is  willing  to  support  in  some  Foreign  Station.  The  Bishop, 
by  the  imposition  of  hands,  gives  them  authority  to  preach  the  Gospel, 
with  a  view  to  their  Foreign  location.  In  the  case  of  persons  already  in 
Holy  Orders,  who  may  join  the  Society,  they  may  be  said  to  go  forth 
by  their  own  voluntai'y  act ;  but  their  Letters  of  Orders,  given  by  a 
Bishop  of  our  Church,  are  their  mission  and  commission,  Ecclesiastically 
speaking. 

"  Hence,  to  call  the  acts  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society — in  selecting 
the  Station,  paying  the  passage-money,  and  agreeing  to  provide  the 
Missionary's  salary — to  call  these  acts  a  sendiyiy  forth  of  Preachers,  in 
an  Ecclesiastical  sense,  is  to  confound  names  with  things,  and  to  lose 
sight  of  all  true  Church  principles." 

No.  4  takes  us  into  the  mission-field,  and  must  therefore  be 
considered  in  the  next  chapter.  The  remarks  upon  it  occupy  the 
larger  part  of  the  paper. 

Three  concluding  observations  are  made, — (1)  that  although 
missionary  operations  are,  from  the  nature  of  the  case,  in  a  sense 
anomalous  in  the  system  of  the  Church  of  England,  they  are 
analogous  to  voluntary  agencies  and  work  at  home  ;  (2)  that  they 
are  temporary  in  character,  having  in  view  the  building  up  of  the 
future  Church  in  Heathen  lands ;  and  that,  in  such  a  time  of 
transition,  it  is  natural  that  difficulties  and  perplexities  should 
arise  ;  (3)  that  all  must  really  depend  upon  a  good  understanding 
and  mutual  confidence  between  the  Ecclesiastical  Authorities  and 
the  conductors  of  a  voluntary  society. 

On  the  first  of  these  three  points,  there  is  an  important  reference 
to  "a  duly-assembled  Convocation."  The  Convocations  of  the 
Church  of  England  had  been  suppressed  since  the  reign  of  Queen 
Anne,  and  when  Henry  Venn  wrote  this  document  there  was  no 
prospect  of  their  revival.  How  it  came  about  that  they  were 
revived  we  shall  see  hereafter.  But  it  is  interesting  to  see  Venn's 
opinion  that  if  some  day  Convocation  should  take  it  in  hand  "  to 
decree  and  to  regulate  missionary  operations,"  they  would  have 
to  do  it  on  much  the  same  lines  as  those  already  laid  down  by 
the  Church  Missionary  Society.     Also  it  will  be  observed  that 


The  Society  and  the  Church  387 

there  is  a  passing  hint  correcting  the  idea  that  S.P.G.,  or  any  Part  V. 
other  society,  was  more  the  official  representative  of  the  Church  lH-ti-4-K. 
than  C.M.S.  :-  Chapj>G. 

"  And  here  it  may  be  observed  that  nothing  less  than  the  sanction  of 
a  duly-assembled  Convocation  can  more  fully  identify  the  acts  of  any 
Missionary  Society  within  the  Church  of  England,  with  the  Church. 
(The  American  Episcopal  Church  has,  in  Convention,  thus  identitied 
itself  with  a  Missionary  Society.)  Without  such  sanction,  all  associations 
of  Churchmen  must  stand  in  the  same  position.  Still  further,  not  to 
notice  the  present  abeyance  of  Convocations,  it  may  be  asserted,  that 
even  if  the  Church  were  to  assemble  in  her  Provincial  Convocations, 
and  to  decree  and  to  regulate  Missionary  operations,  such  proceedings 
could  not  essentially  addto,  or  alter,  those  important  particulars  which, 
under  present  circumstances,  entitle  the  operations  of  the  Church 
Missionary  Society,  to  be  regarded  as  Missionary  operations  of  the 
United  Church  of  England  and  Ireland." 

These  "  Eemarks  "  were  printed  as  Appendix  II.  of  the  Thirty-  Appendix 
Ninth  Eeport.     In  the  following  year  a  brief  extract  from  it  was  Thi°ty. 
printed  as  a  Note  to  the  29th  Law%  which  provides  for  the  going  ninth 
out  of  candidates,  "  ordained   or  unordained,  at  the  discretion  of    ^''^ 
the  Committee."     The  Note  begins  thus  : — "The  Bishops  of  the 
Church  of  England,  under  the  authority  of  the  law  of  the  land, 
ordain  and  send  forth    [ecclesiastically  speaking]  the    Society's 
missionaries."     The  rest  of  it  has  to  do  with  licenses,  and  touches 
points  belonging  to  our  next  chapter.     From  ISIS,  the  "  Eemarks  " 
were  printed  in  full  in  every  Annual  Eeport  until  1877,  when  they 
were  withdrawn  because  they  had  failed  to  meet  the  case  of  the 
Colombo    difficulties.       But    for    the  most   part    they   must    be 
acknowledged  to  be   of  permanent  value.     It   is   interesting   to 
find   in  "the    St.  Bride's   Sermon   preached   by  Francis  Close  of 
Cheltenham  in  1841 — the  very  Sermon  in  which,  as  mentioned  in 
a   former   chapter, '•=  the    Society   was   first   definitely   called    an 
"  Evangelical  Institution  " — a    parallel    passage,    but    fuller,  to  Francis 
Venn's  allusions  to  the  suspension  of  Convocation,  and  the  volun-  c!,°nvoc"- 
tary  character  of  S.P.G.,  and  a  re-affirmation  of  Venn's  statement  tion, 
as  to   who    "sends  forth"    the  missionaries  in  an  ecclesiastical  and  ^'°"^' 
sense  : — 

"  Let  me  observe,  that  this  Society  does  not  assume  to  represent  the 
Church;  nor  can  any  Society  assume  this,  without  presumption.  We 
are,  alas  !  in  such  a  situation  in  the  Church  of  England,  that  we  cannt)t 
move  as  a  Church — we  have  no  Synod ;  we  have  no  Convocation  ;  we 
have  no  General  Assembly.  And  it  was  this  very  destitution  that  gave 
birth  to  the  Venerable  Society  for  Promoting  Christian  Knowledge,  and 
that  for  Propagating  the  Gospel  in  B^oreign  Parts  :  these  are  voluntary, 
independent  Institutions,  conducted  by  members  of  the  Church  of 
Eno'land — by  the  Bishops,  Priests,  Deacons,  and  Laymen — but  only  in 
their  individual  capacity.  For  if  every  member  of  the  Church  of 
England,  Clerical  and  Lay,  should  join  these  Societies,  thej'  would  still 
be   but  voluntary  Charitable  Associations,  and  would  fail  to  represent 

*  See  p.  289. 


C.M.S. 


C   C 


o 


388  The  Society  and  the  Church 

Part  V.  the  Church  of  England  : — in  fact,  a  Chnrch  Society  is  a  contradiction  in 
1841-48.  terms ;  a  vohmtary  Association  of  Church  members  cannot  be  '  the 
Chap.  26.   Church.'     The  utmost,  therefore,  that  we  can  hope  to  do,  under  these 

circumstances,  is,  to  be  careful  that  our   Voluntary  Institutions  for  any 

spiritual  object  should  be  conducted  by  Christian  men,  members  of  oiu- 
Church,  and,  as  far  as  possible,  in  strict  accordance  with  her  doctrines 
and  her  discipline.  This  character  we  claim  for  the  Church  Missionary 
Society,  in  common  with  the  elder  existing  Institutions.  .  .  . 

"  How  shall  I  establish  this  claim  ?    Brethren,  the  time  would  fail  me 
to  adduce  the  abundant  evidence.     Whether  I  look  abroad  or  at  home, 
I  see  the  marks  of  Apostolicity  in  every  act  of  this  Institution.  .  .  . 
C.M.s.  "  But  it  may  be  replied  that  all  this,  and  much  more  of  a  similar  kind, 

'^•'s^e1id°'^  may  be  true,  and  yet  the  important  link  may  be  wanting  to  connect 
forth  mis-  your  Missionaries  with  the  Apostolic  Church.  Well  aware  of  this,  we 
sionaries."  scruple  not  to  confess  our  faith,  that  the  Church  alone  can  send  out 
Missionaries  ;  and  we  repel  the  accusation,  that  this  Institution  sends 
them  forth  !  Our  ordained  Missionaries  are  not  commissioned  by  a 
Committee,  or  by  Managers,  whether  Lay  or  Clerical ;  they  are  sent 
forth  by  the  Bishops  of  the  Anglican  Church.  Our  Missionaries  are 
ordained  by  the  justly-respected  Lord  Bishop  of  this  Diocese,  ixpon  a 
Missionary  Title  for  Orders  ;  or  they  receive  Holy  Orders  at  the  hands 
of  Colonial  Bishops  :  and  thus  the  exact  position  in  which  we  are  placed 
is  fully  recognized.  The  Society  is  but  as  the  Patron  of  perpetual 
Advowsons  in  distant  lands,  nominating  the  Incumbents ;  as  the  parent 
of  a  j^outh,  presenting  him  to  the  Bishop ;  as  the  College  in  which  he  is 
educated,  claiming  Holy  Orders :  and  while  the  Society,  standing  in  the 
position  of  the  Patron,  the  Parent,  or  the  University,  determines,  as 
they  all  do,  the  special  location  of  the  Minister,  it  is  the  mission  of  the 
Bishop  by  which  he  is  sent  forth ;  and  under  the  license  of  the  Bishop 
he  is  placed,  wherever  he  is  found  in  his  work.  How  idle  it  is,  to  tell 
us  that  our  Missionaries  are  not  Episcopally  sent  forth ;  or  that  our 
Society  is  wanting  in  a  true  Church  character  ! 

"  To  such  captious  cavillers  we  are  ready  to  reply  :  Are  they  Episco- 
palians P  so  are  we.  Are  they  Apostolicals  ?  so  are  we.  Are  they  lovers 
of  order,  and  Church  Authority  't  so  are  we  ;  and  so  ivere  we — it  may  be 
added — before  ancient  novelties  were  revived  !  Whatever  they  are,  as 
Churchmen,  so  are  we.  Nay,  like  the  Apostle,  we  may  say,  We  are  more. 
Who  originated  Episcopacy  in  India  ? — Buchanan,  and  others,  who  were 
the  Founders  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society.  Who  conveyed  the 
first  Bishop  to  New  Zealand  ?  * — the  Church  Missionary  Society  !  And 
if,  in  that  interesting  colony,  there  soon  be  placed  a  Bishop,  it  will  be 
through  the  request,  and  at  the  expense,  of  the  same  Institution!" 

A  few  lines    further   on  in  the   same    Sermon   we    find  these 

words  : — "  We  have  every  reason  to  beheve  that,  ere  long,  the 

Fathers,  the  revered  Fathers  of  our  Church  at  home,  w^ill  take 

us  to  their  protection  and   cherish  us  with  their  favour.   ...  It 

is  delightful  to  look  forward  to  this   opening  prospect."     These 

Bishop        words  were   an   allusion  to  Bishop  Blomfield's  public  proffer  of 

^'"roaches  ^^^^  right  hand  of  fellowship,  made  only  six  days  before.     To  this 

cLM.s.        we  now  come. 

*  This  refei'ence  is  not  to  Bishop  Selwyn,  but  to  Bishop  Broughton  of 
Australia,  who  visited  Australia  at  the  Society's  request  and  expense  in  1838. 
In  the  next  line  the  reference  is  to  the  proposed  Bishop  of  New  Zealand,  i.e.,  in 
the  issue,  to  Sehvyn. 


The  Society  and  the  Church  389 

The  Society  had  already  been  recognized  as  at  least  an  existing    Part  V. 
fact  by  both  the  Primate  and  the  Bishop  of  London.     The  former,    1841-48, 
Dr.  Howley,  when  himself  Bishop  of  London,  had  approved  the      ^^^' 
Islington   College  and  ordained   the    students ;    and  so    had  his 
successor,  Bishop  Blomfield.    As  Primate  he  had  been  consulted  by 
the  Society  from   time  to  time,  particularly  on  the  West  Indian 
questions.     But  both  felt  that  something  more  was  now  desirable. 
The  Society's  concessions  to  Bishop  Daniel  Wilson,  as  embodied 
in  the  "  Eemarks  "  above  noticed,  had  been  much  approved  ;  and 
so  had  the  "  Remarks  "  themselves  generally.     Moreover,  in  1840, 
Bishop   Blomfield   put   forth   the    proposals    which   led    in    the 
following  year  to  the  establishment  of  the    Colonial  Bislioprics 
Fund  ;  and  as  the  Society's  co-operation  in  the  work  to  be  done 
by  that  Fund  was  desired,   it   became  important  to  bring  it,  if 
possible,  into  closer  connexion  with  the  heads  of  the  Church. 

And  it  was  not  the  Church  Missionary  Society  only  that  was 
to  be  approached.  The  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel,  s.p.g. 
though  commonly  regarded  as  much  more  ecclesiastically  correct,  liTo^to^ 
was  essentially  also  a  voluntary  Society  ;  and  it  had  not  been,  correction 
and  with  the  coming  increase  of  the  Colonial  Episcopate  was 
not  likely  to  be,  without  its  own  difficulties  in  the  perplexing 
circumstances  of  Church  work  in  new  countries.  Moreover, 
notwithstanding  Dr.  Pusey's  advocacy  of  the  S.P.G. ,  some  of  the 
Oxford  Tractarians  were  attacking  both  it  and  the  S.P.C.K.  One 
of  their  leaders,  the  Rev.  William  Palmer,  author  of  Orujines 
Litur(jicce,  used  very  strong  language  at  the  annual  members' 
meeting  of  the  S.P.C.K.  in  1840.  He  called  it  a  "  congregational 
society,"  a  "  joint-stock  club."  The  S.P.G.,  he  affirmed,  was  as 
bad,  because  the  Bishops,  under  its  charter  (as  it  then  was)  were 
not  ex  officio  members  of  the  governing  body,  but  had  to  be  elected. 
"What,"  said  Mr.  Palmer,  "would  be  thought  of  guinea  sub- 
scribers in  the  early  Church  inviting  the  Apostles  to  become  mem- 
bers of  their  Committee  ?  "  "  The  Societies  should  change  their 
rules  so  as  only  to  lay  their  offerings  at  the  feet  of  the  Apostles,  to 
collect  money  for  the  Bishops."  ■■'  This  reads  very  curiously  now  ; 
but  it  enables  us  to  understand  why  the  S.P.G.  as  well  as  the  C.M.S. 
was  to  be  brought  into  closer  connexion  with  the  Episcopate. 

Private  preliminary  negotiations  had  been  going  on  some  time 
between  Bishop  Blomfield  on  one  side  and  Lord  Chichester  and 
H.  Venn  on  the  other.     The  first  public  reference  to  the  matter  Biomfieid's 
was    made  by   Bishop   Blomfield    at  the  memorable  meeting   of  colon^a?* 
April    27th,    1841,    which   inaugurated    the    Colonial    Bishoprics  Bishoprics 
Fund.     That  meeting  and  its  proper  object   will  come  under  our     ^^  '"^' 
notice  in  the  next  chapter.     But  Bishop  Blomfield,  in  the  course 
of  his  speech  moving  the  first  resolution,  said  : — 

"  I  have  always  been  of  opinion  that  the  great  missionary  body  ouglit 
to  be  the  Church  herself.     It  seems  to  me  to  follow,  as  an  inevitable 

*  From  a  nearly  verbatim  report  of  the  prolonged  discussion,  in  the  Record 
of  May  11th,  1840. 


39°  The  Society  axd  the  Church 

Part  V.    consequence,  from  the  very  definition  of  the  Church,  that  all  operations 
1841-48.    which  are  to  be  performed  for  the  advancement  of  the  Saviour's  King- 
Chap.  26.  dom  upon  earth   should  be  the  Church's  operations.     At  the  present 
moment,    as   I   have  observed,  those  operations  are  carried  on  by  two 
Societies,  both  in  connexion  with  the  Church ;  one  which  has  now  for 
nearly   a   century   and  a  half   directed   its  principal   attention   to  the 
maintenance  of  true  religion  amongst  the  settlers  of  Great  Britain  in 
distant  parts ;  the  other,  which   is   of  more  recent  origin,  devoting  its 
energies  and   applying   its  resources    to   preaching   the    Gospel  to  the 
Heathen ;    both    most   important   branches   of   Christian    charity,   the 
comparative  importance  of  which  I  will  not,  on  the  present  occasion, 
stay  to  consider.     But  there  has  not  been  that  perfect  unity  of  operation 
between  them — at  least,  not  that  uniformity — which  ought  to  charac- 
terize  the  proceedings  of  one  undivided  pure  branch  of  Christ's  holy 
Catholic  Church.  Now  it  does  appear  to  me  far  from  impracticable  that  a 
plan  might  be  devised  which  should  remove  the  evil  and  do  away  with  the 
seeming  anomaly — if  it  be  not  a  real  anomaly — which  now  I  know,  from 
my  own  experience,  necessarily  impedes  the  progress  of  both  Societies 
c  M*s  ^"'^  "^  *^^^  ^^*^^y  work  which  they  have  in  hand.     I  think  that,  under  your 
come  Grace's  sanction,  means  might  be  devised,  and  those  not  of  a  complicated 

under  the  nature,  by  which  both  Societies  might  be  induced  to  carry  on  their 
Bishops,  operations  under  the  same  superintendence  and  control ;  I  mean  the 
superintendence  and  control  of  the  heads  of  the  United  Church  of  this 
Kingdom.  When  I  use  the  word  '  control,'  I  do  not  mean  a  control 
which  shall  be  exercised  in  the  way  of  invidious  or  captious  interference 
— I  do  not  mean  a  control  which  shall  limit,  except  within  certain 
recognized  bounds,  the  operations  of  either  Society  ;  but  I  mean  simply 
that  kind  of  superintendence  and  control  which,  with  the  willing  co-opera- 
tion of  both  Societies,  shall  secure  for  both  a  strict  and  regular  movement 
within  the  limits  of  the  duty  which  they  owe  to  the  Church.  I  forbear 
from  specifying  particularly  the  details  of  the  plan  to  which  I  allude ; 
it  may  be  sufficient  to  say  that,  if  it  were  carried  into  eli'ect,  it  would 
leave  both  Societies  at  perfect  liberty  to  prosecute  the  holy  work  which 
they  have  in  hand  unimpeded  and  uninterrupted  ;  while  at  the  same 
time  it  would  prevent  the  deviation  of  either  from  that  straight  line  of 
spiritual  policy  which  seems  to  be  marked  out  by  the  very  principles  of 
the  Church  itself.  I  think  it  is  impossible  not  to  perceive  that  the 
present  time,  when  we  are  preparing  to  extend  the  full  benefits  of  our 
ecclesiastical  polity,  in  all  its  completeness,  to  all  the  dependencies  of 
the  empire,  seems  to  be  a  peculiarly  appropriate  moment  for  taking 
this  work  in  hand,  and  for  making  provision  for  the  time  to  come,  that 
the  Church,  in  her  foreign  and  missionary,  as  well  as  in  her  domestic 
operations,  shall  present  an  united  front  to  the  M'orld,  and  shall  not 
leave  it  in  the  power  of  her  advei-saries  and  traducers  to  say  that  we 
differ  amongst  ourselves  upon  the  vei-y  first  principles  of  our  duty." 

^he'ste^r^'"        The  Earl  of  Chichester,  who,  as  President  of  the   C.M.S.,  had 

responds,    been  invited  to  second  the  resolution,  at  once  responded  cordially, 

intimating  "  his  great  satisfaction  with  the  Bishop's  suggestion 

as  to  the  necessity  of  a  perfect  uniformity  of  action  with  regard 

to  religious  Missions." 

c.M.s.  This   was    on    Tuesday.     On    the    Monday   following,   Francis 

welcomes    Close  preached  the  great  sermon  at   St.  Bride's  already  quoted 

Biomfieid's  fi-Qm.     Next  day,   at  the  Annual  Meeting   in   Exeter   Hall,   the 

proposa.1,  ...  ^      ,  . 

Eeport    anticipated   with    gladness  the    coming  concordat,  while 


The  Society  and  the  Church  39  i 

taking  occasion,  in  obvious  reference  to  the  Tractarian  movement,    PaktV. 
to  avow  fearlessly  the  Society's  loyalty  to  the  doctrmes  of  the  ^^^^  ^e. 

Eeformation  : —  

"  To  preach  Christ,  and  Him  crucified,  has  been  the  great  end  proposed  While 
to  and  by  your  Missionaries,  in  accordance  with,  and  submission  to  tJie  holding  to 
EcclesiasUcal  order  and  polity  of  the  Church  This  object  .md  these  Gospel  ^^^_ 
principles  your  Committee  trust  will  be  handed  down,  undehled  ami 
unimpaired,  from  year  to  year.  As  regards  Ecclesiastical  questions,  the 
Committee  have  always  considered  that  it  was  no  part  of  their  province 
to  settle  them.  In  all  such  matters  they  were  desirous  to  conform  to  . 
the  laws  of  the  Church;  but  as,  in  applying  those  laws  to  Missionary 
exertions,  new  and  doubtful  questions  must  arise,  the  Committee  would 
hail  with  satisfaction  the  adoption  of  measures  by  which  such  (luestions 
might  be  satisfactorily  adjusted.  And  if,  in  connection  with  sucli 
measures,  the  fuller  sanction  of  the  Heads  of  the  Church  to  the  (.perations 
of  the  Society  may  be  obtained,  your  Committee  would  rejoice  them- 
selves, and  would  feel  that  the  members  of  the  Society  would  have  fresh 
cause  for  thankfulness.  At  the  same  time,  the  Committee  trust  that  it 
will  always  be  maintained  by  the  friends  and  supportei-s  of  the  Church 
Missionary  Society,  that  the  Saviour  alone  is  the  great  Fountain  of  Life  ; 
and  that  Ecclesiastical  discipline,  however  valuable,  and  however  dear  to 
them,  is  but  the  channel  through  which  the  waters  of  life  should  flow  to 
the  perishing  nations  of  mankind.  And  they  trust  that  neither  faith, 
nor  watchfulness,  nor  prayer,  will  be  wanting:  that  the  prmciples  of  the 
Society  may  never  be  compromised  ;  and  that  it  niay  contiiuie  to  be  tlie 
honoui-ed  instrument  of  sending  forth  ^he  pure  Gospel  of  Christ,  as  it 
was  preached  by  Cranmer,  and  Latimer,  and  Ridley,  and  the  Maityis 
and  Reformers  of  our  Church." 

Naturally,  several  of  the  speakers  referred  to  the  great  question 
now  in  the  thoughts  of  all.     The  President  himself  enlarged  upon  ^-d  ch- 

.,  commends 

It  : —  it  to  the 

"  I  would  call  your  attention  to  the  suggestion  made  by  our  respected  Society. 
Diocesan,  the  Bishop  of  London,  and,  as  I  understand,  with  the  full 
sanction  of  the  Archbishop,  that  if  some  arrangement  c..uld  be  made  by 
which  the  two  Societies  could  agree  to  refer  all  matters  of  an  ecclesiastica 
nature  to  one  and  the  same  recognized  authority,  consisting  of  a  Council 
of  Bishops,  that,  if  this  could  be  d< me,  both  Societies  might  expect  the 
full  and  public  sanction  of  his  L(n-dship  and  the  Arehbishop.  I  am  sure 
that  I  should  not  be  doing  justice  to  my  own  feelings,  if  I  merely  said 
that  I  most  tliankfully  received  this  proposition  as  a  member  of  X.tii 
Societies.  As  a  member  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  with  whose 
proceedings  and  principles  I  am  much  more  intimately  ac.iuainted  than 
with  those  of  the  other,  I  am  not  only  thankful,  but  I  most  cordially 
approve  of  the  proposition  as  in  perfect  harmony  with  the  spirit  ot  our 
Rules,  and  with  the  principles  and  practice  of  the  Society  ever  since  my 
connexion  with  it.  Most  earnestly  do  I  pray  to  the  great  Head  of  tlie 
Church,  whose  Name  is  Counsellor  and  the  Prince  of  Peace,  that  His 
wisdom,  and  peace,  and  truth  may  direct  and  accomplish  the  work  thus 
happily  begun  ;  that  the  arrangement  i>f  the  details  may  be  found  as 
easy  ill  execution  as  the  abstract  proposition  is  simple,  and  sound,  and 
catholic  in  its  character.  I  rejoice  in  the  prospect  of  this  result,  because 
I  beheve  that,  anu.ng  other  benefits,  it  will  place  the  liishops  of  our 
Church  in  what  I  humbly  conceive  to  be  their  legitimate  position  m 
regard  to  both  Societies.     It  will  enable  both  the  clergy  and  the  laity  to 


39- 


The  Society  and  the  Church 


Part  V.  plead  the  cause  of  either  Society,  under  the  known  sanction  of  their 
1841-48.  respective  Diocesans.  It  will  secure,  I  trust,  the  joint  and  steady- 
Chap.  26.  progress  of  both  Societies  through  our  land,  withcnit  rivalry  and  without 

collision.      It   will    enable   their    Missionaries   abroad   to   pursue  with 

renewed  vigour  their  present  course  of  Vjrotherly  co-operation  in  the 
several  departments  of  Chi-ist's  vineyard  to  which  He  has  called  them. 

"  And,  Gentlemen,  I  rejoice  to  think  that  all  this  may,  under  God's 
blessing,  be  effected  without  any  change  in  the  principles,  or  even  the 
system  of  our  own  Society.  For  although  I  love  to  see  union  and 
catholicity  in  all  our  religious  proceedings — though  neither  from  prin- 
ciple nor  by  disposition  am  I  opposed  to  useful  reforms,  nor  any  stickler 
for  old  forms  and  practices  merely  because  they  are  old, — yet  do  I  think 
that  we  should  prove  ourselves  unwise  stewards  of  the  trust  reposed  in 
us,  ungrateful  and  forgetful  servants  of  the  gracious  Master  Who  for 
forty  years  has  so  remarkably  preserved  and  blessed  and  honoured  this 
Society,  if,  in  the  matter  of  its  principles  or  its  constitution,  we  were 
found  to  be  given  to  change." 

Bishop  C.  Sumner  of  Winchester,  whose  identification  with  the 
Society  was  witnessed  by  the  fact  that  this  was  his  ninth  speech 
at  an  Annual  Meeting,  warmly  endorsed  Lord  Chichester's  words  ; 
and  Bishop  Denison  of  Salisbury,  who  s]3oke  for  the  first  and  only 
time,  regarded  the  project  as  equivalent  to  "  the  Church  becoming 
her  own  Missionary  Society,"  acting  by  "  her  own  constituted 
organs."  Edward  Bickersteth  "cordially  concurred"  in  the 
President's  view  of  the  matter,  and  "rejoiced  in  our  more  direct 
connexion  with  the  Episcopate  of  our  beloved  Church."  But 
the  concordat,  although  projected,  was  not  yet  arranged ;  and 
Baptist  Noel,  who  was  the  last  speaker,  called  on  the  Committee 
to  act  with  caution,  pointing  out  that  the  Society  was  "  invited  to 
enter  into  certain  relations,  not  with  any  living  individuals,  but 
with  a  succession  of  official  persons,"  and  urging  that  nothing  be 
done  "which  might  bear  the  effect  of  fettering  our  missionaries 
in  preaching  the  Gospel,"  or  impair  the  security  for  sending  out 
"  no  missionaries  but  those  who  believe  and  love  the  Truth." 

Very  soon  Bishop  Blomfield  sent  in  his  definite  proposal,  which 
was  a  simple  but  an  important  one.  It  was  that  one  new  Law  be 
added  to  the  Society's  existing  Laws,  in  these  words  : — 

"  That  all  questions  relating  to  matters  of  Ecclesiastical  Order  and 
Discipline,  respecting  which  a  difference  shall  arise  between  any  Colonial 
Bishop  and  any  Committee  of  the  Society,  shall  be  referred  to  the 
Archbishops  and  Bishops  of  the  United  Church  of  England  and  Ireland, 
whose  decision  thereupon  shall  be  final." 

The  Committee  thought  this  too  comprehensive  if  standing 
alone  ;  and  after  much  consideration,  and  several  interviews 
between  Archbishop  Howley  and  the  Bishop  on  one  side  and  Lord 
Chichester  and  Venn  on  the  other,  it  was  arranged  that  another 
Law  should  be  added,  in  order  to  secure  {inter  alia)  the  procedure 
already  agreed  with  the  Bishop  of  Calcutta  : — 

"The  object  of  the  preceding  Law  being  only  to  provide  a  mode  of 
settling  questions  relating  to  Ecclesiastical   Order  and  Discipline,  as  to 


The 

Church's 
"  own  con- 
stituted 
organs." 


B.  Noel's 
cautions. 


Blomfield's 
new  Law 
for  C. M.S. 


C.M.S. 
additions. 


The  Society  and  the  Church  393 

which  no  provision  has  yet  been  made  by  the  Society,  it  is  not  to  be  so  Part  \. 
construed  as  in  any  other  respect  to  alter  the  principles  and  practices  1841-48. 
of  the  Society  as  they  are  contained  in  its  Laws  and  Regulations,  and  ChapJJ6. 
explained  in  Appendix  II.  to  the  Thirty-Ninth  Report. 

"  The  proposed  reference  shall  be  made  through  his  Grace  the  Pnmate, 
by  the  Connuittee,  accompanied  by  such  explanations  and  statements  as 
the  Connuittee  may  deem  advisal)le;  and  the  Connuittee  will  be  bound 
so  to  refer  all  qucs'^tions  falling  within  the  sc<ipe  of  the  Rule  so  under- 
stood as  aforesaid,  which  the  Colonial  Bishop  shall  require  them  to 
refer. 

"  While  all  decisions  of  the  Bench  of  Bishops  on  questions  so  referred 
will  be  considered  l)y  the  Committee  as  binding  on  them  an(l  their 
agents  or  representatives,  the  Colonial  Bishops  or  other  Ecclesiastical 
Authorities,  unless  concurring  in  the  reference,  cannot  properly  be  con- 
sidered as  so  bound."  * 

The  Committee  further  armnged  to  alter  Law  II.,  ^vhich  Alterations 
regulates  the  Patronage  of  the  Society.  Hitherto  Bishops  and  age. 
Peers  had  heen  Vice-Patrons,  and  other  distinguished  persons 
Vice-Presidents ;  hut  it  was  thought  well  that  a  single  separate 
office  should  he  reserved  for  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury.  To 
this  office  the  title  of  Vice-Patron  was  now  allotted  ;  and  all  others 
were  to  be  equally  Vice-Presidents.  The  office  of  Patron  was 
still  to  be  reserved  for  a  member  of  the  Eoyal  Family. 

On  July  27th  a  General  Meeting  of  the   Society  was  held  at  '^^ ^ 
Exeter  Hall  to  consider  the  alterations  in  the  Laws  proposed  by  Ge"epi 
the  Committee.     A  great  concourse  assembled.     In  opening  the     ««*'"e. 
proceedings  Lord  Chichester  alluded  to  the  fact  of  the  Bishop  of 
London's  proposals  applying,  not  to  the  C.M.S.  only,  but  to  the 
S.P.G.  also  :— 

"The  object  is  to  bring  this  and  another  body  of  nearly  similar 
character,  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  Foreign 
Parts,  into  direct  and  immediate  connexion  with  the  Established  Church 
oi  Great  Britain  and  Ireland. 

"  The  sole  object  of  his  Grace  and  the  Rt.  Rev.  Prelate  is  to  raise  the 
importance  and  extend  the  usefulness  of  the  two  Societies  liy  ali'ording 
to  their  operations  the  countenance,  sanction,  and  support  of  the  spiritual 
Heads  of  the  Church. 

"This  cannot  fail  to  prove  highly  beneficial  to  this  Society.  But 
it  will  still  more  have  an  important  bearing  in  another  respect :— the 
junction  and  avowed  connexion  of  these  twt)  Societies  will  tend  to 
impart  general  stability  to  the  Church  itself." 

The  Eesolution  moving  the  Laws  was  entrusted  to  Lord  Ashley  ^^^^^^ 
(afterwards   Lord  Shaftesbury),  who  strongly  advocated  the  adop-  moves       ^ 
tion  of  the  proposal.     Josiah  Pratt  seconded  it,  as  the  oldest  and  ntwLaws. 
most  influential  of  the  original  members  present.     He  said  : — 

"If  this  arrangement  were  to  be  purchased  by  any  sacrifice   on  the  ^J^^f^^^^^  j^ 
part  of  the   Soinety  I  would  certainly  demur.      I    have  seriously  and  ^^'^°" 
anxiously    considered   this    question,   for   it   is    one    that    ought  to    be 

*  The  slight  differences  in  these  two  Laws  as  they  now  stand  arise  from 
alterations  made  in  1877,  with  the  approval  of  the  ^Urhbishop  of  Cantorbmy 
and  tlie  Hi.shop  of  London. 


394  The  Society  and  the  Church 

Part  V.  thoroughly  examined,  whether  any  sacrifice  ought  to  be  required  of  the 
1841-48.  Society,  more  especially  at  this  time,  when  it  is  clear  that  the  principles 
Chap.  26.  of  this  Society,  which  are  those  of  an  Apostolical  Church  properly 
carried  out,  have  been  the  great  cause  of  its  success.  If,  then,  the  least 
sacrifice  of  those  principles  were  to  be  made,  to  effect  this  object,  I 
would  protest  against  it,  and  rather  leave  the  Society  than  continue  in 
it  if  it  were  to  lose  its  great  characteristic  and  vital  principle  of  up- 
holding the  great  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  as  the  ground  of  a  sinner's  hope  for  salvation  witli  God.  But 
there  is  no  fear  of  that.  I  think  that  the  blessing  of  God  is  with  the 
Society,  and  that  He  has  led  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  and  the 
Bishop  of  London  to  see  that  they  are  called  upon  by  their  connexion 
with  the  Church  to  sanction  its  operations ;  and  I  hope  this  course  will 
not  be  regarded  as  any  sacrifice,  but  as  a  deference  paid  to  the  honour 
and  usefulness  of  the  Church,  and  to  consistency  of  principle." 

He  concluded  with  some  remarkable  words.  "We  have  no 
hope,"  he  said,  "  of  our  Church  acting  as  the  Church  of  Scotland 
does  "  (i.e.  the  Established  Presbyterian  Church).  "  That,"  he 
continued,  "  is  the  only  Chiu'ch  establishment  which  acts  as  a 
Missionary  body,"  referring  to  the  fact  that  the  Scottish  Missions 
are  the  official  work  of  the  whole  Church  acting  through  its 
General  Assembly.  But  he  went  on  : — "  Since  we  cannot  act  as 
a  missionary  body,  let  us  take  this  course,  and  at  least  be  ex- 
ternally united  in  the  work  of  Missions.  This  is  the  only  union 
that  can  be  formed  at  j)resent  for  that  end,  and  I  think  it  is  a 
union  which,  with  the  blessing  of  God,  will  effect  that  end." 
This  is  only  one  of  many  notable  signs  that  meet  the  reader  of 
the  speeches  and  papers  of  that  day,  that  the  idea  of  the  Church 
as  a  whole  carrying  on  its  own  Missions  was  not  an  unwelcome 
one  to  the  Evangelical  leaders,  and  that  they  regretted  its 
impracticability. 

An  amendment  w^as  moved  by  the  Vicar  of  Fairford,  Gloucester, 
Mr.  Eice  (afterwards  Lord  Dynevor),  to  the  effect  that  the 
reference  of  any  dispute  should  be,  not  to  the  whole  Episcopate, 
but  to  such  Bishops  only  as  were  members  of  the  Society.  He 
expressed  great  fear  lest  the  adoption  of  the  proposition  as  it  was 
should  completely  hand  over  the  Society  to  the  control  of  the 
Bishops, and  he  quoted  some  w^ords  spoken  to  him  by  Dr.  Pusey, 
who  was,  he  said,  a  connexion  of  his,  and  whom  he  "  esteemed 
very  highly  as  a  conscientious  person."  Dr.  Pusey  had  said  that 
the  Society  should  collect  funds  and  hand  the  money  to  the 
Bishops  for  disposal.  Cries  of  "  No,"  "  No,"  very  naturally  arose 
at  this  quotation,  and  Mr.  Eice  proceeded  to  say  that  he  feared 
that  as  the  Oxford  men  had  failed  in  their  previous  attempts  to 
destroy  the  Society  by  saying  it  was  not  a  Church  of  England 
Society,  they  were  now  endeavouring  to  gain  it  over  to  their 
own  party.  He  further  thought  it  very  unfair  that  missionaries 
should  be  exactly  in  the  situation  of  ciu-ates  in  this  country, 
whose  license  might  be  withdrawn  without  any  reason  being 
assigned  for  it. 


The  Society  and  the  Church  395 

The  amendment  was  seconded  by  the  Eev.  S.  Glynn, "•=  but  no    Part  V. 
other  speaker  supported  it.     Baptist  Noel,  E.  Bickersteth,  and  ^^J^J^;"^- 
J.   W.   Cunningham    spoke  warmly   in    favour   of   accepting   the      ''^^'" "  ' 
Bishop    of    London's   proposal,    and   other   clergymen   from    the  Leaders 
country  followed  on  the  same  side.     They  pointed  out  that  what-  ''^P'y- 
ever  inconvenience  might  arise  from  the  dependent  position  of 
missionaries  in  a  foreign  diocese,  neither  the  resolution  nor  the 
amendment  would  in  any  way  affect  it,  and  that,  in  point  of  fact, 
the  proposal  was  for  the  Society's  benefit,  in  that  it  provided  a 
right  of  appeal  against  the  unlimited  powder  of  Bishops  abroad. 
All  the  speakers  expressed  in  strong  terms  their  determination  to 
stand  firm  to  the  Society's  principles,  and  their  entire  disapproval 
of  the  Tractarian  teaching ;  but  urged  that  neither  one  nor  the 
other  was  involved  in  the  proposition  before  the  meeting.     Mr. 
Eice   again   and    again   declined   to   withdraw   his    amendment, 
although  generally  pressed  to  do  so.     But  he  at  last  gave  way,  J^^^^"^ 
and  withdrew  it,  amid  great  applause  from  the  meeting,  and  the  ad^ted. 
resolution  was  then  put  and  carried  unanimously. 

Immediately  on  the  adoption  of  the  Laws  by  the  General 
Meeting,  Archbishop  Howley  and  Bishop  Blomfield  joined  the 
Society ;  and  x\rchbishop  Harcourt,  of  York,  and  six  other 
English  Bishops,  at  once  followed  their  example.  It  may 
be  well  here  to  put  on  record  the  names  of  all  who  had  joined 
before.  They  were  (not  in  chronological  order),  Sumner  of 
Winchester,  Sumner  of  Chester,  Eyder  and  Butler  of  Lichfield,  ^l^^^^^ 
Otter  and  Shuttleworth  of  Chichester,  Burgess  and  Denison  and 
of  Salisbury,  Bathurst  and  Stanley  of  Norwich,  Ward  and  j^-n''°''^ 
Bowstead  of  Sodor  and  Man,  Pepys  of  Sodor  and  Man  and  c.m.s. 
Worcester,  Copleston  of  Llandaff,  Longley  of  Eipon ;  also 
Archbishop  Trench,  of  Tuam.  Those  who  now  joined,  besides 
the  two  Archbishops  and  the  Bishop  of  London,  were  Law  t 
of  Bath  and  Wells,  Monk  of  Gloucester,  Musgrave  of  Here- 
ford (afterwards  of  York),  Kaye  of  Lincoln,  Davys  of  Peter- 
borough, and  Short  of  Sodor  and  Man.  In  the  next  seven 
years  these  were  followed  by  Gilbert  of  Chichester,  Lonsdale 
of  Lichfield,  Wilberforce  of  Oxford,  Prince  Lee  of  Manchester, 
and  Eden  of  Sodor  and  Man.  There  were  also  tw^o  Irish 
Bishops,  Daly  of  Cashel  and  O'Brien  of  Ossory,  and  several  of 
the  new  Colonial  Bishops  to  be  mentioned  by-and-by.  Even 
the  militant  Bishop  Philpotts  of  Exeter  became  Patron  of  the 
Devon  Association,  though  he  did  not  join  the  Parent  Society.  It 
may  be  added  that  Dr.  Hook  of  Leeds  joined  at  the  same  time  as 
the  Archbishops,  and  preached  for  the  Society  in  his  parish  church. 

*  Si\c  in  the  BecorcV>i  report  of  the  meeting.  But  was  it  not  the  late  Rev. 
Carr  J.  Gljn  of  Dorset  ? 

t  This  was  the  Bishop  Law  who,  when  Bishop  of  Chester,  had  been  so 
hostile  to  C.M.S.  deputations.  See  p.  134.  He  was  the  father  of  Dean 
Henry  Law,  of  Gloucester,  a  prominent  Evangelical  in  later  days. 


39^  The  Society  and  the  Church 

Part  V.       At   the   Anniversary   of   1842,    it   was   natural    that   the   new 

184.1-48.   patronage  acquired   during   the  year  should   have    a   prominent 

Chap.  26.  place  in  men's  thoughts.     The  Annual  Eeport,  indeed,  announced 

the  adhesion  of  the  Prelates  in  a  merely  formal  paragraph.     But 

several  of  the  speakers  alluded  to  it  with  much  warmth  ;  and  the 

preacher  at   St.  Bride's,  who  happened  to  be  the  most  popular 

Hugh         Protestant  orator  then  living,  Hugh  Stowell  of  Manchester,  spoke, 

Stowell  on  m.-       ?       i  R  .  '     r  » 

the  adhe-    oi^©  i^^f-Y  Gvcn  Say,  exultmgiy  of  the  event : — 

Bishops.  "  A  special  lustre  is  reflected  on  our  commemoration  this  year,  because 

it  is  the  first  since,  through  the  good  hand  of  oiir  God  upon  us,  we  have 
had  to  thank  Him  for  the  accession  of  both  our  Archbishops,  and  of 
many  other  members  of  the  Episcopal  Bench,  to  the  Presidency  of  our 
Society.  It  is  an  event  to  make  ovir  hearts  leap  for  joy — an  event,  for 
which  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus  is  to  be  devoutly  magnified — an  event, 
which  took  place  at  a  juncture,  and  was  accomplished  in  a  manner, 
which  gave  to  it  a  peculiar  grace.  It  occurred  at  a  crisis,  when  many, 
from  whatever  motives,  were  unwisely  and  unfairly  attempting,  by  the 
formation  of  unions  of  certain  societies,  designated  by  them  exclusively 
Church  Societies,  to  brand  this  Society  as  unworthy  of  that  designation  : 
and  had  our  Ecclesiastical  Rulers  connived  at — much  more  had  they 
countenanced — such  ungenerous  proceedings,  disastrous  must  have  been 
the  consequences,  not  so  much  to  the  aspersed  Institution,  as  to  our 
beloved  Church  herself.  How  opportune,  and  benign,  at  such  a  moment, 
the  accession  of  the  supreme  Rulers  of  our  Church  to  the  patronage  of 
the  excommunicated  Society  !  Nor  was  the  way  in  which  they  took  the 
step  less  happy  than  the  juncture  at  which  they  took  it ;  for  they 
required  nothing  more  than  a  simple  ecclesiastical  arrangement — an 
arrangement  not  more  fitting  for  them  to  demand  than  pleasing  to  the 
Society  to  make.  Not  one  principle  has  been  abandoned  ;  not  one  plan 
relinquished ;  not  one  rule  rescinded  :  insomuch,  that  virtually,  if  not 
actually,  our  Prelates  have  endorsed  and  authenticated  the  constitution 
and  character  of  the  Society,  even  from  her  birth." 

He  goes  on  to  enlarge  on  the  advantages  of  the  Church  of 
England  and  its  "legitimate  Ministry";  "Christ  having  con- 
fided to  His  Church  a  two-fold  treasure — a  succession  of  commis- 
sion in  the  order  of  her  Teachers — a  succession  of  doctrine  and 
ordinances  in  their  teaching"  —  concerning  which  he  uses  sur- 
prising language  from  the  mouth  of  such  a  man.  But  he  goes  on 
afterwards  to  utter  veiy  solemn  words  of  warning  against  "  any 
attempt,  from  whatever  quarter,  or  in  whatever  shape,  to  corrupt 
the  Society  from  the  simplicity  that  is  in  Christ,"  and  protests 
against  those  whose  virtual  boast  would  be,  "  We  determined  not 
to  know  anything  among  you,  save  the  Church  Catholic,  and  her 
glorified." 
Bishop  Two  years  later,  Bishop  Blomfield  himself  preached  the  Annual 

Se?mon  at^  Scrmon  at  St.  Bride's.''''    It  is  a  very  able  and  impressive  discourse, 

St.  Bride's. 

*  Bishop  Blomfield  to  Bishop  D.  Wilson  of  Calcutta  : — "  On  Monday  I  am 
to  preach  the  anniversary  sermon  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society.  Efforts 
have  been  made  to  deter  me  from  doing  this ;  but  as  I  have  thought  fit  to  join 
the  Society,  I  could  not  consistently  decline  the  duty.  I  cannot  say  that  I 
am  entirely  satisfied  with  its  constitution,  or  with  the  conduct  of  its  com- 
mittees ;  nevertheless,  I  am    persuaded   that    I   shall    do  more  good  to   the 


The  Society  and  the  Church  397 

and  is  noteworthy  for  having   for   its  text  the  verses  in  Isa.  hv.    Part  V. 
which    are    for  ever  memorahle  as   the   text  of   Carey's  famous    ^,[^"*^~^; 
sermon  in  1792.     It  is  very  faithful  in  its  reference  to  mediaeval      '_^£_   ' 
darkness,  when,  after  the  early  energies  of  the  Church  in  "  en- 
larging the  place  of  her  tent,"  in  "lengthening  her  cords  and 
strengthening  her  stakes,"  "  the  scene  "  (says  the  Bishop)  "  was 
sadly  changed  "  : — 

"  The  eflbrts  of  Satan  to  regain  a  portion  at  least  of  the  (loniinidn, 
which  had  been  won  from  him  by  the  noble  army  of  martyrs  and  con- 
fessors, were  bnt  too  successful.  Heresy  and  s(;hism  weakened  the 
stakes  of  the  tabernacle ;  superstition  removed  them,  and  substituted 
for  them  false  and  unsubstantial  supports ;  and  then  its  cords  were 
slackened,  and  its  curtains  were  shaken  and  torn  by  the  blast ;  and 
many  cities  were  reduced  to  spiritual  desolation  ;  and  the  awful  warning, 
which  the  Spirit  sent  to  the  Churches,  began  to  receive  its  fullihnents; 
and  the  witnesses  were  slain  ;  and  the  Church  herself  was  driven  into 
the  wilderness  ;  and  it  was  no  longer  a  (piestion  wliether  she  should 
enlarge  the  place  of  her  habitation,  but  wliether  she  should  have  any 
earthly  habitation  at  all,  except  in  name  and  shadowy  form.  Then 
might  she  have  taken  up  the  complaint  of  Jeremiah  :  *  My  tabernacle  is 
spoiled,  and  all  my  cords  are  broken  :  my  children  are  gone  forth  of  me, 
and  they  are  not,  there  is  none  to  stretch  forth  my  tent  any  more,  and 
to  set  up  )ny  curtains.  For  the  pastors  are  become  brutish,  and  have 
not  sought  the  Lord  :  therefore  shall  they  not  prosper,  and  all  their 
flocks  shall  be  scattered.'  " 

Then,  after  referring  to  later  efforts  in  the  cause  of  evangeliza- 
tion, and  lamenting  their  inadequacy,  he  enlarges  on  the  new 
schemes  for  Colonial  and  Missionai'y  Bishoprics  (of  which  our 
aext  chapter  will  treat),  and  gratefully  notices  the  Society's 
co-operation  in  them. 

Apparently,  a  great  deal  more  was  expected  from  the  alteration 
in  the  Society's  constitution  and  the  adhesion  of  the  Heads  of  the 
CJhurch    than    has   ever   been    realized.      For  one  thing,   it  was  was 
supposed  on  all  hands  that  the  Archbishops  and  Bishops  would  ca^ufed 
have    much    more   influence   in    the    direction    of    the   Church's  by  the 
Missions  than   before.     Some  of  the  secular  papers  nuxde  merry    '^  °^^ ' 
over  the  ease  with  which  they  had  contrived — so  it  was  said — to  get 
possession  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society.     In  point  of  fact, 
the  new  Laws  have  never  once,  in  more  than  half  a  century,  been 
acted  upon.     Not  that  their  value  is  the  less  on  that  account. 
Perhaps  their  very  existence  has  obviated  the  necessity  of  appeal- 
ing to  them.="     For  another  thing,  it   was  supposed  that   there 
would  l)e  a  lai'ge  adhesion  of  the  moderate  clergy  who  had  always 
put  forward  the  lack  of  episcopal  patronage  as  their  chief  ol)jection 

Clnircli  by  assisting  it,  and  by  co-operatinp;  with  it  as  far  as  I  can,  than  by 
retraciiifz:  tlie  stops  1  have  taken  ;  nor  do  I  doubt  but  that  its  loading:  members 
are  actuated  by  an  honest  desire  to  conduct  the  Society's  operations  tipon 
soiind  Churcli  ])rinciples." — Memoir  of  Jiif:hoiJ  BloiiiJicJd,  vol.  ii.  p.  86. 

*  The  instances  of  reference  to  certain  Prelates,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Ceylon 
and  Palestine  controversies,  were  not  formal  references  under  tliese  Laws, 
though  no  doubt  in  conformity  with  the  spirit  of  them. 


^q8 


The  Society  and  the  Church 


Tart  V. 
1841-48. 
Chap.  26. 


to  the  Society.  For  another  thing,  it  was  supposed  that  the  two 
Societies,  C.M.S.  and  S.P.G.,  were  now  to  be  in  a  sense  united  ; 
]iot  deprived  of  their  separate  and  independent  positions  and 
functions,  but  to  be  hke  two  arms  directed  by  one  head,  the 
Episcopate.  Josiah  Pratt  himself  so  regarded  it.  In  a  private 
letter  he  wrote  : — 

"  The  union  formed  with  the  Propaoation  of  the  Gospel  Society  is  a 
union  in  that  which  the  order  and  discipline  of  the  Church  required  in 
order  to  give  us  the  full  benefit  of  her  action,  so  far  as  she  can  (without  an 
act  of  Convocation)  give  it  to  us ;  yet  leaving  us  to  the  full  in  the  inde- 
pendent pursuit  of  our  course,  as  to  all  those  views  of  Evangelical  truth 
which  first  knit  us  together,  and  which  are  the  life  and  soul  of  our  body." 

Practically,  no  such  results  ensued.  First,  there  was  no 
"  rush  "  into  the  Society  at  all,  as  some  had  actually  feared, 
lest  the  wrong  men  should  get  the  upper  hand.  The  clergy  who 
held  aloof  from  the  Society,  finding  their  principal  reason  for 
doing  so  gone,  easily  found  other  reasons  as  satisfactory  to  them- 
selves. As  for  the  Bishops,  they  were — as  they  are  still — much 
too  busy  to  undertake  the  detailed  administration  of  complicated 
machines  like  societies  having  agencies  and  agents  in  all  parts  of 
the  world;  and  both  S.P.G.  and  C.M.S.  continued  to  be  directed 
by  their  respective  Committees,  that  is  to  say  by  clergymen  and 
laymen  having  leisure  for  such  work.  The  two  Societies  went 
their  several  ways,  in  friendly  occasional  communication  if  the 
interests  of  either,  or  the  common  interests  of  both,  required  it, 
but  with  little  that  could  be  called  co-operation,  and  certainly  with 
nothing  that  could  be  called  union ;  and  with  what  came  to  be 
almost  inevitable  rivalry  in  the  country,  the  friends  and  supporters 
of  each  being  on  neither  side  always  generous,  or  even  just, 
towards  the  other  side.  Probably,  bearing  in  mind  what  human 
nature  is,  there  would  have  been  this  kind  of  rivalry  even  if  there 
had  been  no  Tractarian  movement ;  but  that  the  Tractarian  con- 
troversy greatly  embittered  it  there  can  be  no  question.  Not  that 
the  majority  of  S.P.G.  supporters  were  Tractarians  ;  very  far  from 
it ;  but  a  young  party  is  always  active,  and  the  Tractarians,  few  as 
they  were  comparatively,  were  untiring  in  their  efforts  to  take  the 
lead  where  they  could. 

The  S.P.G.  at  that  time  was  a  very  close  corporation.  The 
number  of  subscribing  "associate  members"  was  growing 
rapidly  with  the  extension  of  the  Society's  influence ;  but  the 
number  of  incorporated  members  was  limited,  and  the  election 
was  vigilantly  guarded;  while  the  "  n  arrow" "  C.M.S.  had  an 
open  constitution  which  admitted  every  subscribing  clergyman 
automatically.  Leading  Evangelical  clergymen  of  many  years' 
standing  as  subscribers  to  S.P.G.  could  not  obtain  election  into 
the  body  of  incorporated  members  ;  but  the  young  Tractarians 
contrived  to  get  in,  and  made  themselves  conspicuovis  in  the 
Monthly  Meeting  ;  as  also  in  those  of  the  S.P.C.K.,  as  already 
mentioned   in    this   chapter.      In   1843,   Pratt,   Bickersteth,   and 


The  SocfETV  and  the  Church  399 

others,  who  were  not  only  suljscribers,  but  supporters  of  S.P.G.  in    Takt  V. 
their  own  neighbourhoods,  were  contemplating  withdraw^al,  because    1841-48. 
the  Standing  Committee  felt  unable  to  give  them  a  pledge  that  Chap^26. 
men  of  the  new  School  would  not  be  sent  out  as  missionaries,  should 
To  us  now  it  seems  surprising  that  such  a  pledge  should  have  c.m.s. 
been    expected.      The   S.P.G.   has  always  professed  to   pass  no  s.p.g.? 
judgment,    as   a    society,  on   a  man's    theological    views.      His 
ordination  by  a  Bishop  is  accepted  as   a  sufficient  guarantee  in 
that  respect.     "  None  are  excluded  whom  the  Church  w'ould  admit, 
and  none  admitted  whom  the  Church  w^ould  exclude."  '•'     That  is 
a  perfectly  intelligible  and  legitimate   principle,  and  well  under- 
stood.    Why  then  did  Pratt  and  Bickersteth  expect  such  a  pledge  ? 
The  answer  is  that  they  regarded  the  Tractarians  as  outside  any 
possible   area   of   selection.     Tract  XC.  had  been  solemnly  and 
officially   condemned    at    Oxford.      Most    of    the    Bishops    had 
"charged"  against  the  new  teachings,  which  were  avowedly  in 
many  respects  identical  with  those  of  Eome.     Both  Archbishop 
Howley  and  Bishop  Blomfield  had  written   and   spoken  strongly 
against  them.     How  could  members  of  such  a  party  be  sent  forth 
as  missionaries  by  an  Anglican  \  Church  society  ?     However  the 
S.P.G.  Secretary  did  give  an  assurance  that  the   Society  would 
"  adhere  to  the  plain  sense  of  the  Articles  and   Liturgy  as  their 
rule  of  examination";    and  both  Pratt    and  Bickersteth    gladly  Pratt  and 
continued  members.     "  It  is  a  serious  matter,"  wrote  Bickersteth,  fiea'l^Jtcf"^ 
"  to  cripple  a  Society  that  has  done  so  much  for  God,  and  I  do  not  s.p.g. 
feel  justified  in  so  doing."     He  preached  for  S.P.G.  from  time  to 
time  in  various  places,  both  while  he  was  C.M.S.  Secretary,  and 
afterwards. 

The  question  may  be  asked,  What  came  of  Bishop  Blomfield's  s.p.g. 
proposal  to   bring  the  S.P.G.    also   into   closer   connexion   with  Bishop^s. 
the  Episcopate  ?     The  answer  is  no  doubt  to  be  found  in  the  fact 
that  in   184:6  the  Society  resolved  that  in  future  its  Examining 
Board  should  be  appointed  by  the  two  Archbishops  and  the  Bishop 
of  London.]: 

At  this  point  a  gi'eat  man  may  most  conveniently  be  introduced, 
whose  name  has  been  already  once  or  tw'ice  mentioned,  and  will 
frequently  appear  in  sul)sequent  pages — Bishop  Wilberforce.     He  f^muei 
was  not  yet  a  bishop  when  the  Prelates  joined  the   Church  Mis-  wiiber- 
sionary  Society   but  w^as  appointed  to  the  see  of  Oxford  in  1845.  ^°'^'^^- 
The  month  of  November  in  that  year  saw  two  events  pregnant 
with  important  issues  for  the  Church  of  England.     On  All  Saints' 

*  S.P.G.  Digei>f,  p.  813.  But  the  Society,  proijorly,  reserves  the  rij^ht  to 
accept,  or  refuse,  or  disconnect,  a  man  on  other  grounds  ;  and  the  rules  are 
very  precise.     Ibid. 

t  The  use  of  the  woi'd  "  Anglican  "  is  not  so  recent  as  is  sometimes  supposed. 
The  Christian  Observer  of  this  period  constantly  uses  it.  It  was  in  no  sense 
then  opposed  to  the  word  "  Protestant." 

+  S.P.G.  Digest,  p.  842. 


400 


The  Society  and  the  Church 


His  love 
for  C.M.S. 


Part  V.  Day,  John  Henry  Newman  was  formally  received  into  the  Eoman 
1841-48.  Church  by  Dr.  (afterwards  Cardinal)  Wiseman.'''  On  St.  Andrew's 
^P'  ■  Day,  Samuel  Wilberforce  was  consecrated  Bishop  of  Oxford.  His 
parentage,  his  education,  his  early  friendships,  his  maiTiage,  had 
all  helped  to  identify  him  with  the  Evangelicals  ;  though  from  the 
first  there  w^as  combined  with  his  undoubted  personal  piety  a 
certain  keen  sense  of  the  greatness  of  "  the  Church  "  which  fore- 
shadowed the  career  of  the  man  who  was  to  become  the  undisputed 
leader  of  what  may  be  called  the  Anglican  Party  in  the  Church  of 
England.  His  eloquence  as  a  preacher  and  speaker,  and  his 
untiring  industry  in  working  to  a  high  ideal  of  clerical  life,  were 
the  admiration  of  all  who  knew  him  ;  and  the  hopes  entertained  by 
the  Evangelical  leaders  that  the  son  of  Wilberforce  was  destined  to 
exercise  commanding  influence  on  their  side  in  the  Church  are 
illustrated  by  the  offer  of  St.  Dunstan's,  Fleet  Street,  pressed  upon 
him  when  under  thirty  years  of  age  by  no  less  a  person  than 
Charles  Simeon.  Had  he  accepted  it,  he  would  probably  have  at 
once  become  a  power  in  Salisbury  Square.  He  was  already  a 
fervent  advocate  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society.  He  had 
published  a  pamphlet  in  its  defence  ;  he  had  preached  and  spoken 
for  it  in  many  parts  of  the  South  of  England  (he  was  then  Vicar 
of  Brightstone  in  the  Isle  of  Wight)  ;  and  in  September,  1833,  he 
wrote  :  f — 

"  We  have  been  busy  setting  up  Church  Missionary  Associations  here- 
abouts with  much  prospect  of  usefulness.  It  is  my  favourite  society,  so 
thoroughly  Church  of  England,  so  eminently  active  and  spiritual,  so 
important  for  a  maritime  nation  whose  commerce  has  led  her  to  carry  the 
Devil's  missionaries  everywhere." 

Like  Eeginald  Heber,|  however,  he  desired  to  see  the  C.M.S. 
and  S.P.G.  united  ;  not,  it  is  evident,  to  rob  the  one  of  its  spiritual 
principles  or  the  other  of  its  broad  basis  and  ecclesiastical  status, 
but  so  to  combine  the  best  qualities  of  both  as  to  form  an  instru- 
ment for  the  evangelization  of  the  world  worthy  of  the  Church  of 
England.  It  was — and  such  a  purpose  always  is — a  noble  ideal  ; 
but  the  realities  of  our  imperfect  state  are  against  it,  as  has  been 
shown  before  in  the  pages  of  this  History.  Samuel  Wilberforce, 
being  personally  intimate  with  good  men  in  both  societies,  was 
trying  hard,  in  1832-3,  to  bring  them  together  ;  but  the  attempt,  it 
is  needless  to  say,  failed.  "  Unhappily  failed,"  writes  Wilber- 
force's  biographer  ;  §  "  happily  failed,"  rather,  if  we  consider  the 
whole  circumstances  of  the  Church  in  the  last  sixty  years. 
Both  societies  have  done  more  good  separately  than  they  could 
have  done  united.  In  1838,  Wilberforce,  ever  busy  and  resourceful, 
planned  a  memorial  to  the    Church    Missionary    Society,   to  be 


His  aims 
for  C.M.S. 


*  Having  been  previously,  on   October   8th,  received   privately  by  Father 
Dominic. 

t  L'Je  0^  Bishop  Wilberforce,  vol.  i.  p.  68.  X  See  p.  151. 

§  Canon  Ashwell,  author  of  vol.  i.     P.  14. 


The  Society  and  r/fE  CnuRcir  401 

largely  signed  by  clergy  and  laity,  calling  upon  it  to  "  send  out  I^art  V. 
The.  Church,  and  not  merely  instructions  about  religion."  "  If,"  pf'*^~i^" 
he  writes  to  a  friend,'''  "  we  can  get  up  a  strong  memorial  from  lay  '"^^^" 
and  clerical  subscribers,  we  shall  force  the  Society,  whose  Com- 
mittee is  very  Low  Church,  to  do  something."  No  further 
allusion  to  the  proposed  memorial  occurs  in  his  Biography  ;  and 
no  trace  of  its  reception  appears  in  the  Society's  minute-books ;  so 
presumably  it  fell  through.  Again,  in  1843,  he  wrote  to  Lord 
Chichester  on  the  case  of  the  Society's  Associations  in  Scotland, 
arguing  against  the  Committee's  neutrality  in  the  controversy  f — 
that  very  neutrality  which  so  offended  the  Becord  and  a  section  of 
the  members  from  the  opposite  point  of  view.  As  usual,  the 
Committee  were  between  two  fires.  But  it  is  noticeable  that 
Wilberforce  in  this  letter  identifies  himself  with  the  Society, 
speaking  of  ''our  taking  a  line,"  "  o/^r  decision,"  &c.J  He  was 
then  Archdeacon  of  Surrey  ;  and  it  was  at  this  time  that  he  was 
planning  the  Church  Union  before  alluded  to,  in  which  the  C.M.S. 
and  the  Pastoral  Aid  Society  were  to  be  included.  His  published 
sermons,  too,  were  being  highly  commended  by  the  Christian 
Observer. 

It   was  at  this  time  also  that  he  fell  into  a  mistake  very  strange  His  mis- 
for  so  able  a  man.     At  an  S.P.G.  meeting  at   York,  in  1844,  he  compan- 
based  his  praise  of  the  Society  on  the   fact  that  it   did  its  work  |°"  "^ 
more  economically  than  the  C.INLS.,  for  its  exj)enditure,  he   said,  c.ivi.s. 
was  £200  a  year  per  missionary,  whereas  the  C.M.S.  spent  £1000  a 
year  per  missionary.    Which  society  was  really  the  moi'e  economical 
at  the  time  is  a  problem  beyond  solution,  so  different  was  the 
work,  so  different  were  the  methods.     The  point  is  that  the  basis 
of   Wilberforce's   comparison   is    an   absurd   one.      In   fact,    the 
higher  the    expenditure   per  missionary,  the  larger  is  the  work 
done.    If  in  one  parish  with  three  clergjnuen  £1000  a  year  is  spent 
on  all  church  objects,  and  in  another  parish  with  three  clergj^men 
£5000  a  year  is  spent,  that  only  means  that  more  work  is  done  in 
the  latter  than  in  the  former.     There  were  other  errors   in   Arch- 
deacon  Wilberforce's  argument ;  all  which  were  pointed  out  in 
an  admirable  letter  to  him  from  Henry  Venn.§     Wilberforce  at 
once  frankly  and  gracefully  acknowledged  his  mistake   and  with- 
drew his  comparison.     But  if  such  a  man  could  fall  into  such  a 
mistake,  how  can  we  wonder  at  the  blunders  of  inferior  men? 

In  the  early  days  of  his  episcopate,  Bishop  Wilberforce  was  Bishop 
severe  on  the  Tractarians.  He  suspended  Dr.  Pusey  for  a  time,  wiiber- 
But  though  he  was  always  Anglican  and  anti-Roman,  he  became  church 
more  and  more  alienated  from  the  Evangelicals.  He  continued  to  p*'"*'^^- 
be  invited  now  and  then  to  their  platforms,  and  to  speak.  He 
spoke  at  the  C.M.S.  Anniversary  in  1846,  at  those  of  the  Jews' 
Society  and  the  Pastoral  Aid   Society  in  1847,  and  at  the  C.M.S. 

*  Life  of  Bishop  WiJherforce,  vol.  i.  p.  129.  t  See  p.  381. 

t  Life  of  Bishop  Wilberforce,  vol.  i.  p.  294. 

§   The  coiTL'spomlence  is  printed  iu  the  Memoir  of  lUnry  Venn,  p.  472. 
VOL.  I.  D    d 


402  The  Society  and  the  Church 

Part  V.   Jubilee  Meeting  in  1848;  but  in  1852  he  wrote,  "  I  had  a  satis- 

1841-48.   factory  ordination  .   .   .  not  one  Low  Churchman  in  the   set."  '■' 

Cliap.  26.  jjg  ^g^g  nevertheless  always  sensitive  to  Evangelical  opinion  of 

him,  and  often  writhed  under  the  BecorcVs  lash.    It  was  mercilessly 

laid  upon  him,  and  sometimes  far  from  fairly.     On   one  occasion 

the  Bishop  wrote  privately  to  the  editor  to   expostulate,  but  was 

told  in  reply  that  he  was  "  a  Papist  in  reality,"  and  that  "  the 

salvation  of  his  soul  was  jeopardized."  i     On  another  occasion  he 

appealed   to   Bickersteth,    and   on   yet    another    to    Archbishop 

Sumner,  believing  that  they  could  influence  the  paper. ;[:     The  idea 

that  either  of  them  would  have  been  listened  to  for  a  moment  is 

simply  comical. 

Commence-      Here  it  may  conveniently  be  mentioned  that  the  Guardian  was 

of  "The      started  on  January  1st,  1846,  by  a  small  band  of  able  and  resolute 

Guardian."  j^ien  of   the    advanced   Anglican    school,    particularly  F.    Eogers 

(afterwards  Lord  Blachford),  J.  B.  Mozley,  Mountague  Bernard, 

and  E.  W.  Church  (afterwards  Dean  of  St.  Paul's).     It  had  a  hard 

struggle   for    existence  in  its  early  years,   but    gradually  gained 

immense  influence. 

bishop  ^^^^  elevation  of  Bishop  John  Bird  Sumner,  of  Chester,  to  the 

Sumner,      primatial  see  of  Canterbury,  in  1848,  on  the  death  of  Archbishop 

Howley,    was    a   cause   of   great   joy   and   thankfulness    to    the 

Evangelicals.     His  gentle  and  concihatory  spirit,  his  faithfulness 

to  the  truth,  his   sound  and  quiet   Churchmanship,   gave    great 

promise  of  a  successful  Primacy.     He   did  not  prove    a   strong 

Archbishop ;  but  it  may  fairly  be  questioned  whether  a  masterful 

man  on  either  side  of  Church  controversies  would  have  been  more 

useful.     It  is  interesting  to  observe  that  Bishop  Wilberforce  was 

a  member  of  the  C.M.S.  Deputation  that  presented  the  Society's 

address  to  him  on  his   appointment.     Under   the  revised  Laws 

the  Archbishop,  being   already  a  Member    of  the    Society,  was 

Vice-Patron  if  willing  to  be  so  ;  §  and  of  course  so   old  and  tried 

a  friend  had  no  hesitation  in  accepting  the  office. 

The  Trac-        No  oue  cau  read  the  contemporary  evidence  without  seeing  how 

trov^"sies.'  g'l'eatly  the  Oxford  Movement  fostered  division  and  bitterness  on 

all  sides  at  this  time.     This,  of  course,  is  not  necessarily  to  its 

condemnation.     Our  Lord  Himself,  in  one  sense,  "  came  not  to 

send  peace,  but  a  sword."     But  the  fact  is  so.     The  vehemence 

of  the  controversial  publications   and  utterances  was  of  a  kind 

rarely  seen   now.     On   the  one  side,   the  Tractarians,  many  of 

whom  were  brilliant  writers,  heaped  contempt  upon  the  "  ignorant 

prejudices  "  of  everybody  opposed  to  them,  by  no  means  excepting 

the  Archbishops    and    Bishops;    and,  through  the  younger  Mr. 

*  Life  of  Bishop  Wilberforce,  vol.  ii.  p.  152. 

t  Ihid.,'voL  ii.  p.  223.  +  Ibid.,  vol.  ii.  p.  199;  vol.  i.  p.  501. 

§  The  correspondins:  ofRfe  of  President  in  the  S.P.G.  did  not  fall  to  him 
thus  automatically.  He  had  to  be  elected  by  the  Incorporated  Members,  and 
the  election  is  recorded  in  the  Report  of  1848.  This  has  been  altered  since. 
The  Primate  is  now  ex  officio  President  of  S.P.G. 


The  Society  and  the  Church  403 

John  Walter,  they  enhsted  the  Times  in  their  favour — the  leading    Part  \^ 
articles  of  which  had  little  of  the  dignity  that  now  characterizes    1841-48. 
them.     On  the  other  hand,  even  the  decorous  Christian  Observer,      '^P' 
though  its  articles  on  the  Tractarian  controversy  are  very  able, 
indulged  in  language  which  no  one  would  now  justify.     The  new 
school  were  not  only  called  Puseyites,  but,  after  the  old  Nonjurors 
whom     they    resembled,    Sacheverellians    and    Altitudinarians. 
The   Evangelicals   were    of    course    branded    as    Puritans — the 
infelicity  of  which  name  Dr.  Overton  has  shown,  as  mentioned 
before.     Some  of  the  new  practices  most  bitterly  contested  have 
long  since  been  generally  adopted  as  real  improvements,  or  are 
regarded   as   indifferent ;    for  instance,    of   the   former  kind,   the 
weekly  offertory,    and   of    the   latter   kind,    the    surplice   in   the 
pulpit.     But  much  graver  matters  than  such  as  these  were  at 
stake,   as  was   shown  when  we  were  viewing  the   first   rise    of 
Tractarianism,  and  it  was  only  upon  these  graver  matters  that 
the  Church  Missionary   Society  uttered  its   voice.      Indeed  the  Attitude  of 
transition    from    the    average    pamphlet   or   magazine    article    or 
newspaper  leader  of  the  period  to  the  Church  Missionary  Eeports 
is  most  startling.     Very  little  is  said,  it  is  true.     Henry  Venn 
and  his  colleagues  were   "  doing  a  great  work,"  and  could  not 
"comedown"  even  to  solemn  and  serious  controversy.     At  the 
very  time  that  Newman's  secession  to  Eome  was   shaking  the 
whole  Church,  the  C.M.S.  Eeports  took  not  the  slightest  notice 
of  the  subject,  but  dwelt  on  the  calls  for  men  and  means  from  No  mere 
Africa   and   India   and    New    Zealand.     But   when    Evangehcal  p"'^""'"' 
principles  are  mentioned,  there  is  no  mistaking  the  Committee's 
meaning.     External  things  they  never  refer  to.     What  they  stand 
by  are  the  fundamentals  of  the  faith. 

For  example,  in  connexion  with  the  alarming  crisis  in  the 
Society's  finances  in  1842,  the  Committee  solemnly  appealed  to 
the  country  to  come  to  the  Society's  help,  on  the  distinct  ground 
that  they  looked  for  the  Divine  blessing  only  upon  "  the  faithful, 
plain,  and  full  maintenance  of  the  great  principles  of  '  the  truth  '  but  fidelity 
as  it  '  is  in  Jesus,'  by  all  the  agents  and  missionaries  of  the  mental 
Society,  without  compromise  and  without  reserve" — on  "  the  *''"*^- 
sustentation  of  a  Scriptural,  Protestant,  and  Evangelical  tone 
throughout  all  their  ministrations  " — on  "  the  upholding  of  the 
Bible,  and  the  Bible  alone,  as  the  foundation  and  rule  of  faith." 
So,  in  1841,  Josiah  Pratt  wrote  to  his  son  in  Calcutta  (after- 
wards Archdeacon  Pratt), — "  The  Church  Missionary  Society  is 
becoming  more  than  ever  the  refuge  of  Apostolical  and  Eeformation 
Truth  ;  and  by  the  grace  of  God  it  shall  so  continue."  And  John 
Cunningham,  in  one  of  his  greatest  speeches,  at  the  Annual 
Meeting  of  1842,  exclaimed,  "  We  will  preach  Christ  and  Him 
crucified — or,  we  will  hold  our  peace  !  " 


D  d  2 


CHAPTEE  XXVII. 

The  Colonial  and  3Iissionary  Episcopate. 

S.P.G.  Appeals  in  Eighteenth  Century — First  Bishops  for  America 
and  Canada — The  Colonial  Episcopate  at  Queen  Victoria's  Acces- 
sion—Growth of  S.P.G.  — The  Colonial  Church  Society  —  The 
Colonial  Bishoprics  Fund,  1841  — Attitude  of  C.M.S. — New  Zea- 
land Bishopric — C.M.S.  Relation  thereto  — Bishop  Selwyn — Stowell's 
Sermon — Other  new  Bishoprics — ^Jerusalem  Bishopric — Bunsen, 
Lord  Ashley,  Gladstone — The  First  Bishop  consecrated — C.M.S. 
Controversy  with  Bishop  Daniel  Wilson — The  Concordat  and 
H.  Venn — Case  of  Mr.  Humphrey — Bishop  D.  Wilson's  Visit  to 
England— His  C.M.S.   Sermon. 

"  Take  heed  vnto  yourselves,  and  io  all  fhe  Jlock,  in  the  which  the  Holy  Ghost 
hath  7nade  you  lishnps,  to  feed  the  Church  of  God,  ichich  He  purchased  with  His 
own  hlojd."—ActH  xx.  28  (R.V.).    . 


Part  V. 
1841^8. 
Chap.  27. 

Colonies, 
but  no 
bishops. 


Efforts  of 
S.P.G. 
to  obtain 
colonial 
bishops. 


NGLAND  had  been  colonizing  for  two  hundred  years 
Ijefore  the  Church  of  England  sent  a  bishop  beyond 
the  seas.  But  this  was  not  the  fault  of  the  Church  ; 
certainly  not  of  the  English  Episcopate.  It  was 
the  fault  of  the  State,  that  is,  of  the  successive 
Ministries  that  raised  endless  political  obstacles.  The  Church 
of  England,  as  an  Established  Church,  is  necessarily  restricted 
in  its  action  by  Acts  of  Parliament,  or  by  the  lack  of  Acts  of 
Parliament ;  and  not  until  that  w^onderful  year  1786,  which 
saw  the  beginning  of  so  many  movements  that  have  combined 
to  produce  Modern  Missions,-'-  did  the  British  Government,  at 
last,  permit  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  to  consecrate  a 
bishop  for  foreign  parts.! 

The  compiler  of  the  valuable  S.P.G.  Digest  gives  a  most 
curious  and  interesting  account  of  the  efforts  made  by  Chiu'chmien 
through  no  less  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  to  obtain  a 
bishop  or  bishops  for  the  Colonies — and  made  in  vain.  J  Arch- 
bishop Laud  seems  to  have  been  the  first  to  move,  in  1634-38. 
The  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel,  to  its  honour,  did 
from  its  very  first  establishment  in  1701  agitate  for  the  removal 
of  the   anomaly  of  an  Episcopal  Church  being  obliged  to  leave 

*  See  p.  57. 

t  The  cousecration  was  on  February  4th,  1787 ;  but  the  Act  enabling  it 
belongs  to  1786. 

t  See  also  Bishop  S.  Wilbci-force's  History  of  the  American  Church  (London, 
1846)  ;  chaps,  iv.,  v. 


Tin-   Colonial  and  Mission ary  Episcopate  40? 

tens  of  thousands  of   its  members  without  the  advantage  of  the    Part  V. 
Three    Orders   of   its   Ministry.     To  us   it   seems  an  mtolerable  .,_ 

scandal  that  a  man  in  the  American  Colonies  seekmg  ordmation  _  _ 
in  the  last  century  should  have  had  to  cross  the  Atlantic  to  obtain 
it-a  voyage  the  perils  of  which  in  those  days  we  can  now 
scarcely  realize.  At  first  the  S.P.G.  only  ventured  to  propose 
the  appointment  of  an  itinerant  Suffragan  "  to  visit  the  several 
Churches ;  to  ordain  some,  confirm  others,  and  bless  all  ;  the 
very  titles  being  suggested  which  the  now  familiar  Act  ot 
Henry  VIII.  provided  for  suffragan  bishops,  and  which  m  our 
own  day  have  been  adopted  at  home— Colchester,  Dover, 
Nottinc^liam,  Hull.  Negotiations  went  on  for  some  years; 
obstacles  were  gradually  overcome ;  and  in  1714  success  was 
almost  attained.  But  the  death  of  Queen  Anne  put  an  end 
to  this  as  well  as  to  other  projects  for  the  greater  efliciency 
of  the  Church;  and  for  seventy  years  nothing  was  done.  Ihe 
SPG  raised  funds ;  Archbishops  and  Bishops,  as  well  as 
wealthy  laymen,  gave  large  donations  ;  prelates  of  high  reputQ 
like  Bishop  Butler,  Bishop  Sherlock,  Bishop  Lowth,  and 
Archbishop  Seeker,  pressed  the  Georgian  Ministries  again  and 
acnxin  with  plans  for  sending  bishops  to  America  ;  but  no  response 
cSuld  be  obtained,  even  to  so  touching  an  appeal  as  this  from  Touching 
New  Jersey  :-  %°^^^,^^_ 

"The  Poor  Church  of  God  here  in  ye  Wilderness,  Tliers  none  to 
Guide  her  atnons?  all  ye  sons  y'  slie  has  broui;ht  forth,  nor  is  there 
any  V  takes  her  by  tlie  hand  of  all  the  Sons  y' she  has  brou.i^ht  up. 
When  ve  Aptles  lic-ard  tliat  Samaria  had  received  the  \^  ord  of  God, 
inu.Rdratelv  thev  sent  out  l>  of  the  cheif.  Peter  and  John  to  lay  their 
hands  un  them,' and  pray  tluvt  they  might  receive  the  Holy  Ghost; 
they  did  n..t  stay  for  a  secular  design  of  salary:  and  when  the  Aptles 
heard  that  the  Word  of  God  was  preached  at  Antioch,  presently  they 
sent  out  Paul  and  Barnabas,  that  they  should  go  as  far  as  Antu.ch  to 
conthin  the  disciples  :  and  so  tlie  churches  were  established  in  the  faitJi, 
and  increased  in  numV,er  daily.  .  .  .  Hut  we  have  been  here  these  twenty 
years  callin-'  till  our  hearts  ache,  and  ye  own  tis  the  call  and  cause  ot 
God,  and  yet  ye  have   not   heard,  or  have  not  answered,  and  that  s  all 

It  was  because  John  Wesley  despaired  of  the  Church  of  Methodilt 
EnMand  ever  sending  bishops  to  America  that,  immediately  after  b.shops. 
theVar  of  Independence  and  the  establishment  of  the  American 
Republic,  he,  on  September  2nd,  1784,  at  Bristol,  "  set  apart, 
l)v  the  imposition  of  hands.  Thomas  Coke,  to  be  supermten- 
dent  of  the  flock  of  Christ."'  This  act  of  Wesley's,  done  in  an 
emer^rencv  "  for  the  present  distress,"  proved  momentous  in  its 
result^s  It  was  the  real  foundation  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  of  the  United  States,  perhaps  the  most  vigorous  and 
influential  of  all  the  Christian  organizations  in  America,  and  now 
one  of  the  most  extensive  and  aggressive  missionary  organizations 
in  the  world. 

*  S.P.G.  Digest,  p.  745. 


4o6  Th'E  Colonial  and  Missionary  Episcopate 

Part  V.        But    this    great     event    in    the     history    of    Methodism    only 
1841-48.   preceded  by  a  few  weeks  the  gift  of  the  historic  Episcopate  to 
lap^  7.  America.     It  was  the  separation  of  the  United  States  from   Great 
First  Britain  that  forced  the  Government  to  action.     "  The  same  stroke 

bishopl"for  "^^'hich  severed  thirteen  colonies  from  England  set  the  Church  free 
the  U.S.  to  obtain  for  herself  bishops  of  her  own."  *  Samuel  Seabury,  "  a 
godly  and  well-learned  man"  who  had  been  one  of  the  S.P.G. 
clergy  in  America,  being  elected  by  his  brethren,  came  over 
to  seek  consecration.  The  Government,  afraid  of  offending  the 
new  Eepublic,  declined  to  bring  in  a  bill  to  enable  the  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury  to  consecrate  him  ;  and  he  therefore  appealed  to  the 
little  struggling,  but  independent.  Episcopal  Church  in  Scotland. 
On  November  14th,  1784,  that  Church  had  the  honour  of  providing 
the  first  Bishop  of  the  Anglican  Communion  in  foreign  parts. 
But  the  Church  of  England,  though  stepping  more  slowly  in  the 
fetters  of  her  State  connexion — not  the  less  galling  sometimes 
because  felt  to  be  of  the  highest  value  upon  the  whole — quickly 
followed  suit.  Largely  through  the  influence  of  Granville  Sharp 
— Wilberforce's  coadjutor  in  the  Slave  Trade  campaign — an 
Act  of  Parliament  was  passed,  as  already  mentioned,  in  1786 
(26  George  III.  c.  84),  empowering  the  English  Archbishops,  with 
the  assistance  of  other  Bishops,  to  consecrate  persons  who  are 
subjects  or  citizens  of  countries  outside  the  British  dominions  ; 
and  the  American  Minister  in  London  heartily  concurring,  two 
clergymen  of  the  American  Church,  William  White  and  Samuel 
Provoost,  were  consecrated  in  Lambeth  Palace  Chapel  on  February 
4th,  1787.  One  other  similar  consecration  took  place  in  1790  ;  since 
which  the  Church  in  the  United  States  has  gone  forward  without 
English  assistance,  and  its  four  bishops  have  become  eighty. 
The  Colonial  Episcopate  proper  began  at  the  same  time.  On 
First  August  12th,  1787,  Dr.  Charles  Inglis  was  consecrated  first  Bishop 

b?sho{fs.  of  Nova  Scotia,  his  jurisdiction  including  all  the  British  possessions 
in  North  America  ;  and  in  1793  he  was  relieved  of  the  overwhelm- 
ing charge  of  Upper  and  Lower  Canada  by  the  establishment  of 
the  See  of  Quebec,  to  which  Dr.  Jacob  Mountain  was  appointed. 
So  stood  the  Colonial  Episcopate  when  the  Church  Missionary 
Society  was  founded,  and  when  the  new  century  opened. 
Bishops  for  The  ucxt  extension  was  to  India.  In  obtaining  this,  a  leading 
part,  as  before  related, t  was  taken  by  the  Church  Missionary 
Society.  The  S.P.C.K.  used  its  influence  to  the  same  end.  The 
S.P.G. ,  which  then  had  no  interests  in  Asia,  was  not  concerned  in 
the  project.  But  it  was  the  influence  of  the  S.P.G.,  in  the  main, 
that  obtained  two  bishoprics  for  the  West  Indies  in  1824,  Jamaica 
and  Barbadoes,!  and  the  bishopric  of  Australia  in  1836;  while 
all  three  societies  combined  in  the  reiterated  appeals  to  Govern- 
ment which  led  to  the  foundation  of  the  Sees  of  Madras  (1835) 
and  Bombay  (1837). 

*  H.  W.  Tucker,  The  English  Church  in  Other  Lands,  p.  22. 
t  See  p.  101.  +  See  p.  342. 


The  Colonial  and  Missioxakv  EriscoPATE  407 

Thus,  when  Queen  Victoria  ascended  the  throne,  there  were  Part  V. 
only  seven  bishoprics  in  the  British  dominions  abroad,  viz.,  two  p|^;*^~^,*l' 
in  North  America,  two  in  India  (Calcutta  and  Madras),  two  in  the  ''^P'"^' 
West  Indies,  and  one  in  Australia  ;  seven  in  all.  Five  months  seven 
after  her  accession  the  first  Bishop  of  Bombay  was  consecrated,  atroad""^^ 
That  made  eight.  Ac?Sif 

In  that  same  year,  1837,  the  S.P.G.  issued  an  able  and  com- 
prehensive statement  on  the  condition  of  the  Church  in  the 
Colonies,  which  Josiah  Pratt,  true  to  his  unvarying  policy, 
immediately  published  in  the  Missionary  Eegistcr/^  The  S.P.G.  ^''^'^]'  °^ 
was  now  in  the  full  tide  of  its  rapid  progress  at  home  and  abroad. 
Its  voluntary  contributions,  which  we  have  seen  were  only  £1340 
in  1820,  rose  to  £11,475  in  1837,  to  £16,082  in  1838,  to  £22,821 
in  1839,  to  £38,730  in  1840  ;  t  cand  it  was  largely  extending  its 
work  in  Canada,  in  the  West  Indies,  in  India,  and  in  Australia. 
In  1837  it  had  177  agents  abroad,  clergymen,  schoolmasters,  and 
catechists ;  within  seven  years  the  number  more  than  doubled, 
being  378  in  1844.  A  large  proportion  of  these,  of  course,  were 
not  supported  wholly  by  the  Society.  Its  system  has  always  been, 
to  a  large  extent,  one  of  grants-in-aid  to  local  funds  or  to 
supplement  Government  subsidies ;  but  the  rate  of  progress  is 
astonishing. 

In  1838  was  founded  the  Colonial  Church  Society.  It  had  ^^'^^ 
existed  two  years  before  that,  as  a  small  organization  for  supply-  Society, 
ing  Church  ordinances  to  Western  Australia  ;  but  at  its  second 
anniversary  it  extended  the  sphere  of  its  operations  to  the  Colonies 
generally.  It  undoubtedly  owed  its  origin  to  the  desire  of 
Evangelical  Churchmen,  who  had  httle  influence  in  the  counsels 
of  the  S.P.G.,!  to  stretch  out  a  helping  hand  to  their  brethren  in 
the  Colonies;  but,  like  the  CM. S.,  it  was  intended  to  be  not  a 
rival  of  the  older  society,  but  a  fellow-labourer.  One  of  its  leading 
promoters  wrote  : — 

"  The  Church  Missionary  Society  directs  its  labours  to  the  Heathen, 
and  has  declined  applications  from  the  Colonies  for  ministerial  assistance, 
leavinf;  tliisto  the  Society  for  the  Propai^ation  of  the  (Jospel.  To  that 
Venerable  Society,  which  it  is  admitted  has  not  resources  equal  to  its 
demands,  the  one  lately  established  is  not  a  rival  :  but  it  is  hoped  it  will 
prove,  as  the  spirit  in  wliich  it  has  originated  plainly  indicates,  a  faithful, 
disinterested,  courteous  Auxiliary  in  the  blessed  work  in  which  it  i.s 
engaged,  viz.,  in  planting  the  Church  of  the  Living  God  in  every  Coloiiy 
of  the  British  Empire." 

That  the  statement  w\as  true  that  the  S.P.G.  had  not  resources 
— rapidly  as  they  were  growing — sufficient  for  the  calls  upon  it  is 
evident  from  the  fact  that  at  this  very  time,  owing  to  the  with- 
drawal of  Government  aid,  it  had  to  close  many  schools  in  New- 

*  M.  R.,  1837,  p.  529. 

t  The  Koyal  Letters  (.«ce  p.  148)  were  cnntimied,  abnnt  every  three  years. 
The  last  was  in  18.34,  and  produced  £28,000. 
:  See  p.  398. 


4o8  The  Colonial  and  Missionary  Jipiscopate 

Part  V.  foundland  and  discharge  the  masters  and  catechists/''  There  was 
1841-48.  then  existing  a  Newfoundland  School  Society,  which  had  been  a 
Chap.  27.  gpecial  child  o-f  Daniel  Wilson's  before  he  went  to  Calcutta  ;  and 
the  Newfoundland  clergy  (many  of  them  on  the  S.P.G.  roll)  applied 
to  this  society  for  assistance,  and  it  provided  teachers  at  thirty 
places  which  had  been  sufferers.  It  was  afterwards  amalgamated 
with  the  new  Colonial  Church  Society  ;  which  is  the  reason  for 
mentioning  it  here. 

We  now  approach  that  great  date  in  the  history  of  the  Church 
Colonial  of  England,!  the  year  1841.  There  were  then  ten  colonial 
Fifnd'^i84f  l)ishoprics,  Toronto  and  Newfoundland  having  been  added  since 
'  1837.  Bishop  Blomfield,  in  May,  1840,  addressed  a  letter  to  the 
Primate,  suggesting  the  formation  of  a  Fund  for  endowing  Colonial 
Bishoprics  ;  and  on  April  27th,  1841,  was  held  the  great  and 
memorable  meeting  at  Willis's  Rooms,  at  which  the  Fund  was 
formally  established,  and  at  which  also,  as  before  related,]:  Bishop 
Blomfield  made  that  public  offer  to  the  Church  Missionary 
Society  which  resulted  in  the  concordat  under  which  the  Primate 
and  other  Bishops  joined  it.  The  names  of  the  speakers  at  this 
meeting  are  worth  recording.  Archbishop  Howley  presided  ;  and 
the  resolutions  were  moved  and  seconded  by  Bishop  Blomfield 
and  the  Earl  of  Chichester  (President  of  C.M.S.)  ;  Mr.  Justice 
Coleridge  and  Bishop  C.  Sumner  of  Winchester;  Mr.  John 
Labouchere,  the  banker,  and  Archdeacon  Manning  (afterwai'ds 
Eoman  Cardinal)  ;  Mr.  W.  E.  Gladstone,  M.P.,  and  Archdeacon 
Robinson  of  Madras.  §  Large  subscriptions  were  announced,  in- 
cluding £10,000  from 'the  S.P.C.K.,  £5000  from  the  S.P.G.,  and 
£600  a  year  from  the  C.M.S.  towards  the  support  of  one  bishopric, 
that  of  New  Zealand — of  which  more  presently. 
Scheme  The  four  Archbishops   of  the  then  United  Church  of  England 

Bishops,  ii-ud  Ireland,  and  twenty-five  Bishops,  then  issued  a  manifesto, 
embodying  the  following  proposals  : — The  first  bishopric  to  be 
established  was  New  Zealand.  The  next  was  to  be  one  for  the 
British  possessions  in  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  with  jurisdiction 
over  the  Anglican  congregations  in  Spain,  Italy,  kc.  This  was 
intended  to  be  at  Malta,  where  Queen  Adelaide,  widow  of  William 
IV.,  was  building  a  church  at  her  own  expense  ;  but  in  the  event 
Gibraltar  was  selected  instead  as  the  seat  of  the  bishopric.  Then 
were  to  follow  New  Brunswick,  the  Cape,  Van  Diemon's  Land 
(i.e.  Tasmania),  and  Ceylon.  The  claims  were  also  mentioned  of 
Sierra  Leone,   British   (luiana.  South  Australia,  Port  Philip   (i.e. 

*  See  Misxionarij  Rerii<fcr,  1838,  p.  229.  The  fact  is  not  mentioned  in  tlio 
S.P.(t.  Digest,  or  in  the  S.P.C.K.  Uistoni  of  the  Church  in  Canada. 

t  See  p.  .367.  '      X  See  p.  389. 

§  In  1891,  the  Jiibiloo  of  the  Coh)iiial  Bishoprics  Fund  was  celebrated  by  a 
meeting  at  wliicli  Mr.  Ghidstone  again  spoke  after  tlie  fifty  year.s'  interval, 
and  Sir  John  Kennaway  sj)()ke  as  representative  of  the  Church  Missionary 
Society. 


The  Coi.oxial  axd  M/ssio.xar)    Episcopate  409 

Melbourne),  Western  Australia,  Northern   India  (where  a  See  of    Part  V. 
A^M-a  was  contemplated),  and  Smitliern  India  (for  Tinnevelly  and    ^^^-^:^ 
Travancore).     The  bishoprics  actually  founded  l^etween  18-41  and       J_ 
the    C.M.S.    Jubilee    were    New    Zealand,    Tasmania,    Antij^ma, 
Guiana,  Gibraltar,  Fredericton  (New  Brunswick),  Colombo,  Cape 
Town,  Newcastle  (N.S.  Wales),    Melbourne,  and  Adelaide  ;    also 
Jerusalem,  under  special  circumstances  to  be  presently  noticed. 

What  was  the  relation  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society  to  this  R«=^^t^°';^°f 
extension  of  the  Anglican  Episcopate  ?  the  move- 

There  is  a  widely-current  notion  that  the  Society,  though  not  ment. 
openly  objecting  to  bishops  as  such,  would  not  be  sorry  to  be 
without  them  ;  that  the  Committee  and  the  missionaries  alike  use 
their  best  endeavours  to  prevent  the  establishment  of  the  Episco- 
pate in  countries  in  wliich  the  Society's  Missions  are  carried  on  ; 
and  that  when  it  is  a/«/7  accompli,  tliey  sulnnit  with  a  bad  grace, 
and  render  the  bishops  as  little  deference  as  they  decently  can. 
Such  a  notion  could  hardly  prevail  so  widely  as  it  does  if  there 
were  no  foundation  for  it  at  all.  What,  then,  is  the  truth  of  the 
matter? 

First  of  all,  it  cannot  be  doubted  that  the  absence  of  the  why^ 
Episcopate  for  so  long  a  period  in  so  many  of  the  Missions — in  supporters 
West  Africa  nearly  forty  years,  in  Ceylon  thirty  years,  in  New  ^P\^i",^*^"- 
Zealand  and  North-West  America  nearly  thirty  years— did 
accustom  the  rank  and  iile  of  the  Society  to  Missions  without 
bishops,  and  therefore  that  they  were  slow  to  see  the  need  of 
them,  except  perhaps  occasionally  for  confirmations  and  ordina- 
tions. Then  secondly,  when  a  large  extension  of  tiie  Episcopate 
was  contemplated,  they  could  not  but  feel  that  the  choice  of  men 
for  bishoprics  would  lie,  in  the  main,  with  those  who  had  little 
sympathy  with  the  Society  and  its  work  ;  and  it  is  not  unnatural 
that  some  nervousness  should  have  been  manifested.  Thirdly,  it 
cannot  l)e  denied  that,  in  the  event,  such  apprehensions  did  not 
prove,  in  some  cases,  to  i)e  unwarranted.  Fourthly,  such 
tremendous  claims  to  unchecked  power  came  to  be  put  forward 
on  behalf  of  the  Episcopate,  particularly  by  the  Tractarians  — 
though  they  themselves  set  a  poor  example  of  obedience  to 
l)ishops, — that  a  natural  reaction  took  place  in  the  minds  of  more 
moderate  Churchmen.  When  it  was  laid  down  in  intolerant  tones 
that  a  Church  Mission  could  not  even  be  begun  without  a  bishop, 
men  could  not  but  ask  themselves  whether  the  Spirit  of  God  was 
absolutely  tied  even  to  His  own  ordinances,  and  whether  the 
blessing  which  had,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  been  granted  to  many 
Missions  before  any  bishop  appeared  did  not  clearly  prove  the 
contrary.  . 

To  this  extent,  there  ha^  unquestionably  been  some  foundation  ,^^»»|?*^^. 
for  the  current  belief.     But  while  the  Society  lias  never  professed  cognized 
to  attribute   to  the  Episcopate  such   an  exclusive  virtue  as  would  lfj^l°l^ 
render  Missions  deprived  of  its  advantages  useless,— and  while 
anion"  some  of  its  meml)ers  there  has  certainly  been  a  disposition 


4IO  The  Colonial  and  Mlssionary  Episcopate 

Part  V.  to  undervalue  those  advantages  themselves, — it  is  equally  true 
rf^^~27  ^^"^'^^  ^^®  responsible  leaders  of  the  Society  have  never  failed  to 
^^^^'  '  recognize  the  importance  of  the  Church  being  represented  abroad 
in  its  full  organization,  to  value  highly  the  actual  benefits  of  the 
Episcopate,  and  to  render  due  respect  and  deference  to  individual 
bishops — who  have  proved,  after  all,  to  be  but  fallible  men.  The 
large  share  which  the  Society  has  taken  from  the  first  in  promoting 
the  extension  of  the  Episcopate,  again  and  again  finding  both  men 
and  means  for  the  purpose,  ought  to  have  saved  it  from  the 
invidious  remarks  often  made  by  those  who  substitute  for  a  real 
knowledge  of  the  facts  the  imaginations  of  a  prejudiced  mind. 

Let  us  now  look  at  the  Society's  official  utterances  at  the  epoch 
we  are  reviewing,  and  to  the  acts  by  which  the  sincerity  of  those 
utterances  was  proved, 
t^o^rked  ^^^  active  part  taken  by  the  Society  in  the  establishment  of  the 

actively  to  Episcopate  in  India  has  been  described  in  a  former  chapter. =■'  In 
1836-38,  as  we  shall  see  presently,  the  Committee  were  earnestly 
considering  how  to  get  the  advantages  of  a  bishop's  work  and 
influence  in  New  Zealand.  In  1839,  a  whole  year  before  Bishop 
Blomfield's  first  move  for  the  formation  of  the  Colonial  Bishoprics 
Fund,  the  Committee,  in  concluding  their  Annual  Eeport,  men- 
tioned as  a  "ground  of  congratulation"  "the  extension  of 
Episcopal  Authority  and  Influence  in  those  regions  wherein  the 
Missions  of  the  Society  are  situated."  "It  is  true,"  they  go  on, 
"  that  no  new  Diocese  has  during  the  past  year  been  created  in 
foreign  parts,  though  more  than  one  be  called  for  ;  but  the  benefits 
of  Episcopal  Superintendence  have  been,  during  this  year, 
increasingly  felt  in  various  parts  where  Dioceses,  more  or  less 
new,  had  previously  existed."  This  refers,  no  doubt,  mainly  to 
the  three  Indian  sees  ;  possibly  also  to  Jamaica ;  certainly  also  to 
the  visit  of  Bishop  Broughton  of  Australia  to  New  Zealand  in  the 
preceding  year.  Again,  in  the  Eeport  of  1840,  the  Committee, 
after  expressing  "heartfelt  joy"  at  the  increased  zeal  for  church 
building  at  home  and  abroad,  and  other  Christian  enterprises, 
— say,"  Nor  less  do  they  rejoice  in  the  fact  of  the  extension  of 
Episcopacy  in  the  Colonial  Possessions  of  Britain.  At  present 
there  are  nine  Colonial  Bishoprics  ;  and  there  is  a  strong  desire, 
as  well  as  a  pressing  want,  for  more."  In  fact,  ilic  Society's 
leading  friends  had  urged  this  extejision  long  before  the  authorities 
others  of  thc  Church  saw  its  importance.  "  We  greatly  rejoice,"  wrote 
moved.  an  Evangelical  editor  at  this  juncture,  "  that  the  highly-important 
duty  of  adding  largely  to  the  number  of  bishoprics  in  our  Colonies, 
which  we  repeatedly  urged  many  years  ago,  when  the  proposal  was 
reprobated  as  unnecessary  and,  as  '  making  bishops  too  cheap),'  and 
lowering  their  secular  dignity,  has  now  strongly  commended  itself 
to  the  rulers  and  clergy  and  laity  of  our  Church,  so  that  before 
long,  we  trust,  every  British  Colony  will  enjoy  the  benefits  of  con- 
firmation, local  ordination,  and  episcopal  jurisdiction."  i 

*  See  Chapter  IX.  f  Christian  Observer,  Hay,  1S41. 


The  Colo XI a l  and  Missionary  Episcopate  411 

So  mucli  for  the  Society's  general  view  of  the  matter.     Let  us    Part  Y. 
now  come  to  the  definite  question  of  a  hishopric  for  New  Zeahmd,  ,1?"*^"^' 
whicli  was  tlie   Society's  special  interest,  and   concerning  which      '"^^'    * ' 
very  strange  misconceptions  have  long  heen  current.     The  New  c.M.s.and 
Zealand  Mission  was  undertaken  thirty  years  hefore  the  Islands  ,^^^  ^^^" 
were  annexed  to  the  British  Empire  ;  and  no  one  in  those  days  bishopric, 
dreamed  of   an  English  bishop  being  sent  outside  the  iMnpire. 
The  Act  of  George  III.  above  mentioned  W'ould  not  have  apphed 
to  the  case.     Even  Australia,  which  was  British,  was  included  in 
the  Diocese  of  Calcutta  !     In  1<S24:,  it  was  constituted  an  Arch- 
deaconry, and  the  Rev.  W.  Broughton  was  appointed  Archdeacon 
by  Bishop    Heber.     Bishop    Daniel   Wilson    used   to    send   him 
instructions  regularly.     In   1836,  as  before  mentioned,  the  new 
Diocese  of   Australia   was   formed,   and  Archdeacon  Broughton, 
being  in  England,  was  consecrated  to  be  the  first  bishop.     New 
Zealand  was  not  included  in  his  diocese  ;  but  did  the    Church 
Missionary  Society  therefore  do  nothing?     Let  us  see. 

In  the  Life  o/BisJiop  Selwyn  it  is  stated  that  the  Bishop  "  made 
an  offer"  to  go  to  New  Zealand,  but  that  the  C.M.S.  Committee  Current 
"  had   grave  doubts   about  the  legality  and  validity  of  episcopal  ^'to^**^^ 
functions  exercised   ])eyond  the  limits  of  the  Empire  and  of  the  c.iyi.s. 
area  assigned  to  the  liishop  by  letters  patent";    and  that  the 
Bisliop   "represented  that  while    undoubtedly  he    had    no   legal 
jurisdiction  in  New  Zealand,  his  spiritual  office  might  be  exercised 
validly  in   a  coimtry  which  formed    part  of    no  diocese."     Now 
see  what  the  contemporary  documents  state.     At  the  first  Com- 
mittee meeting  after  Broughton's  consecration,  it  was  resolved  to  c.m.s. 
wait  upon  him  and  request  him  to  give  such  episcopal  countenance  Bishop 
and  supervision  to  the  Mission  as  was  possible.     He  had,  however,  Broughton 
to  go  oft"  suddenly,  and  in  fact  he  actually  sailed  the  day  after  the  New^'zca- 
Committee  met.      Then  they  conuiiunicated  with    him    through  •^"'i- 
^Ir.  Cowper,  the  cliaplain   at  Sydney,  who  was  Secretary  to  tlie 
Corresponding  Committee  there  which  Marsden  had  formed   for 
the  administration   of  the  New^    Zealand    Mission.     The    Bisliop 
replied   in   due  course  with  the   "offer"   to  go  himself  to   New 
Zealand.     The  legal  difficulties  supposed  to  be  involved  were  not 
new  to  the  Committee.     They  had  before  had  to  face  the  question  The  legal 
in  the  case  of  Travancore,  where  the  Society's  missionaries  had  ^^^^  '°"^' 
been  unable  to  obtain  the  advantage  of  the  Bishop  of  Calcutta's 
license,  as  his  jurisdiction  did  not  extend  into  tlie  native  states. 
Nevertheless,  they  needed  no  reminder  from  Bishop  Broughton 
that  there  are  "  functions  inherent  in  the  Episcopal  office,  inde- 
pendently  of   the   prerogatives    attached    to    it    by   the    law    of 
England  "—which    are    the     very    words     of     their     resolution 
(December  6th,  1836)  :— 

"  That  thougli  the  Committee  are  advised  in  reference  to  the 
Travancore  case  that  a  Colonial  Bislioji  cannot  gi-ant  Licenses  in  extra- 
diocesan  stations,  nor  execute  his  c^tttce  to  the  same  extent  there, 
nor    witli     the    same     antlmritv    and     lei^al     sanction,    as    within    the 


412  The  Colo  N't  at.  and  Missioxary  Episcopate 

Part  Y.    Hmits    of   liis   i^ateiit ;    yet   that   it   is   iieveitlieless    desirable  tliat  the 
1K41-48.    Missionaries  aiul  Native  Converts  in  such  stations   should,  where  prac- 
Chap.  27.  ticable,  enjoy  the  full  privileges  of  a  Christian  Church,  by  participating 
in  the  benefits  of  the  exercise  of  the  Episcopal  office,  so  far  as  circum- 
stances may  permit ;  especially  the  rite  of  Confirmation,  the  conferring 
Holy  Orders,  and  the  exercise  of  pastoral   encouragement,  admonition, 
or  counsel,  these  functions  heiny  inherent  in  the  Episcopal  office,  indepen- 
dcntly  of  the  pr erogatives  attached  to  it  by  the  law  of  England T 

The  Committee,  therefore,  had  no  "doubts"  at  all.  They 
knew  perfectly  well  that  the  Bishop's  legal  jurisdiction  did  not 
extend  beyond  his  assigned  diocese  ;  but  this  did  not  make  them 
the  less  desirous  that  the  missionaries  and  converts  should 
"  enjoy  the  full  privileges  of  a  Christian  Church,  by  participating 
in  the  benefits  of  the  exercise  of  the  Episcopal  office  so  far  as 
circumstances  might  permit."  In  fact  they  rejoiced  to  find  a 
Colonial  Bishop  who  did  not  mind  doing  a  spiritual  work  which 
was  extra-legal.  With  strict  accuracy,  therefore,  the  Eeport  of 
1838  said  that  "  the  Bishop  of  Australia  has,  at  the  request  of  the 
Parent  Committee,  undertaken  to  visit  the  Mission  ";  and  again, 
the  Eeport  of  1839  (presented  before  it  was  known  that  he  had 
gone),  that  the  Committee  had  "  opened  a  conwiunication  with  the 
Bishop  of  Australia,  ivitJi  a  vieio  to  acquire  for  the  Mission,  through 
his  instrumentality,  such  an  exercise  of  the  Episcopal  functions  as 
the  nature  of  the  case  would  admit."  Indeed,  at  the  very  time 
that  the  Bishop  was  sailing  from  Sydney  (December,  1838),  they 
had  been  further  considering  how  to  overcome  the  obstacles  to 
the  possession  of  episcopal  supervision  for  the  Mission.  When 
they  heard  of  his  visit  they  again  (August,  1839)  expressed  their 
"  deep  sense  "  of  the  need  of  a  clergyman  in  the  Island  "  invested 
with  ecclesiastical  authority,"  "  to  regulate  the  ecclesiastical 
proceedings  of  the  Mission  in  conformity  with  the  discipline  of  our 
Church."  If  a  bishop  could  not  be  obtained,  perhaps  an  arch- 
deacon or  a  commissary  might  be  of  partial  use. 

c.M.s.  On   receiving   Bishop    Broughton's   report    of    his    visit,    the 

bfsifop°for    Committee  wrote  as  follows  : — 

New  Zea- 
land. "  The  Committee  most  cordially  concur  in  the  judgment  of  his  Lord- 
ship, 'that  the  Church  (f  Enyland  requires  to  be  planted  in  Xeiv  Zealand 
in  the  full  inteyrity  of  Iter  system.'  This  consideration  induced  the 
Committee  to  request  the  Bishop  of  Australia  to  visit  the  Mission, 
anticipating  such  information  and  suggestions  as  would  promote  that 
object.  Since  the  receipt  of  the  Bishop's  letter,  other  steps  have  been 
taken  by  the  Committee  directed  to  the  same  end.  Should  it  please  Divine 
Providcnice  to  favour  their  views,  and  to  raise  up  an  individual  eminently 
devoted,  and  thoroughly  right-minded,  to  exercise  his  paternal  authority 
in  the  midst  of  this  infant  Jiock,  the  blessings  to  be  anticipated  to  New 
Zealand  would  be  truly  great."  * 

What  were  these  "other  steps"?  The  Committee  went  to 
the  Bishop  of  London,  to  see  what  chance  there  was  of  obtaining 

*  Misaionarij  Register,  1839,  p.  552. 


Tin:  CoLOXfAL  axp  Missioxarv  Episcupate  413 

a  bishop  for  New  Zealand  itself.     On  December  3rcl    1839    the    P^-n-  v. 
President  and  some  leading  members  waited  on  Bishop  131om-  ,, 

field      He  encouraged  them  to  approach  the  Government,  while      

he  himself  went  to  the   Archbishop.     The   very  next  day  LordoM.s^^^ 
Chichester    interviewed    Lord    John    Kussell,     who    was     then  Qovem- 
Secretary   for   the   Colonies.     Lord  John    said   a   bishopric   was  mcnt. 
impossible    until    New     Zealand   was    annexed    to    the   British 
dominions.      The    Archbishop    thought    a   bishopric    should    be 
pushed  for,    but   said   a   special   Act    of    Parliament    would    be 
necessary      Thereupon  the  Committee  asked  Lord  John  Kussell 
to  gi-ant  them  another  interview  ;  but  he  dechned,  saying  it  was 

useless.  ,      ,    ,  .  ^     t 

Early  in  1840,  Bishop  Blomfield  put  forth  his  proposals  for  a 
Colonial  Bishoprics  Fund,  and  the  Committee  at  once  promised 
"  cordial  co-operation  "  "so  far  as  concerned  the  New  Zealand 
or  any  other  CT^LS.  Mission."  -  They  urged  that  a  bishopric  was 
also  needed  for  West  Africa,  and  again  the  Archbishop  and  Lord  c^m.^s^ 
John  Russell  were  approached  on  this  point.  Just  then,  news  again, 
arrived  in  England  of  the  proclamation  of  tlie  Queen's  sovereignty 
in  New  Zealand  ;  and  Lord  Chichester  and  Mr.  Coates  went  to 
Lord  John  to  press  the  establishment  of  both  bishoprics.  Lord 
John  asked  if  the  Society  would  endow  them.  He  was  informed 
that  there  was  no  power  to  do  this,  but  that  the  Society  woiikl 
support  the  bishops  until  an  endowment  could  be  obtained.  The 
Sierra  Leone  Bishopric  had  to  wait  for  ten  years  yet;  but  the 
New  Zealand  one  was  pushed  fonvard,  and  in  the  Report  of  1841 
the  Committee  said  : — 

"  Of  the  Sees  which  it  i.s  designed  to  erect,  New  Zealand  comes 
amoiK-  the  foremost.  And  the  Committee,  on  pnneiple,  and  from  a 
deep  c.mviction  <.f  the  necessity  of  the  measure  for  their  mi.ssi.manes 
in  that  island,  have  undertaken  to  aid  lar-ely  m  providing  the  endow- 
ment from  the  lands  held  by  the  Society  in  the  islaml :  and  until 
those  lands  can  be  made  available  for  the  purpose,  the  Committee  have  C^M^S- 
engaged  to  contribute  towar.ls  the  salary  of  the  liislmp,  an  amount  i^-"^'-" 
not  exceeding  £(300  per  annum."  year. 

The  Society's  proceedings  in  this  matter  have  been  given  in 
detail,  because  the  recital  proves  to  absolute  demonstration  how 
utterly  groundless  are  the  statements  to  be  found  in  some 
modern  books.  Thus,  in  Dean  Jacobs's  Church  History  of 
New  Zealand,  it  is  said  that  Bishop  Broughton,  before  visiting 
the  Mission,  "  obtained  the  hesitating,  not  to  say  hardly-given,  More  > 
consent  of  the  C.M.S."  I  And  the  Life  of  Sclwijn  has  this  ^^^i^-'Xs. 
statement:—"  The  idea  of  having  a  resident  bishop  among  them 
was  distasteful  to  the  majority  of  the  Churcli  Missionary  clergj', 

*  To  this  an  allusion  (not  quite  accurate)  occurs  in  Bishop  Sauiucl 
Wilborforco's  iuurnal.  March  24th.  1840 :-"  The  Ch.  Miss.  Soc.  l>ave  just 
offeri-.l  to  ou.low  a  bishopric  witli  £1000  a  year,  an<l  lan<l  liereafter,  it  Bp.  ot 
London  will  consecrate,  for  New  Zealand.     This  is  a  great  begunung. 

I  Cohjnial  Chunk  lli^turies:  Ketv  Zcahu)l,  ]).  70. 


414  The  Colonial  and  Missionary  Episcopate 

Part  V.  and  was  loudly  condemned  by  the  Secretary  at  home.""  Who 
1841-48.  could  "  the  Secretary  at  home  "  be?  Jowett  and  Vores  were  just 
Chap.  27.  leaving ;  Venn  had  not  yet  come  into  office.  Is  Coates  referred 
to?  Eemembering  his  independent  lay  view  of  things,  one 
might  imagine  him  in  some  private  circle  drawing  a  picture  of 
a  possible  High  Church  bishop  set  over  a  long-established 
Evangelical  Mission,  and  "loudly  condemning"  his  anticipated 
proceedings.  But  we  have  seen  that  Coates  went  to  Lord 
J.  Eussell  to  press  the  establishment  of  the  bishopric  !  How- 
ever, suppose  that  some  such  thing  did  occur,  the  ohiter 
dictum  of  an  individual  is  not  the  official  utterance  of  the  Society. 
With  regard  to  the  other  assertion,  that  "  the  majority  of 
the  missionary  clergy  "  disliked  the  idea  of  a  resident  bishop,  it 
is  quite  a  mistake.  There  were  at  the  time  six  "  missionary 
clergy"  in  New  Zealand,  viz.,  Henry  Williams  (afterwards 
Archdeacon),  William  Williams  (afterwards  iVrchdeacon,  and  then 
Bishop),  A.  N.  Brown  (afterwards  Archdeacon),  E.  Taylor,  E. 
Maunsell  (afterwards  Archdeacon),  and  0.  Hadfield  (afterwards 
Bishop).  Of  these,  the  brothers  Williams  had  both  expressed 
in  the  strongest  terms  their  desire  for  a  bishop.  So  had 
Hadfield,  who  had  only  lately  arrived.  Half  the  number  there- 
fore are  accounted  for  at  once.  Whence  come  "  the  majority  "? 
Moreover,  no  one  who  knows  the  history  can  suppose  it  likely 
that  to  Maunsell  the  idea  of  a  resident  bishop  was  distasteful.  Of 
the  views  of  Brown  and  Taylor  there  is  no  evidence.  On  the  other 
hand  it  is  very  possible  that  the  remark  may  be  true  of  some  of 
the  lay  catechists  and  settlers,  who  were  disposed  to  presume  a 
little  on  the  position  in  which  the  sudden  growth  of  the 
Mission  and  the  paucity  of  clergy  had  placed  them  f — though 
Bishop  Broughton  had  written  very  favourably  of  them  on  the 
whole.  But  then  how  could  lay  catechists  and  settlers  be  "the 
majority  of  the  missionary  clergy  "  ?  In  fact,  William  Williams's 
own  statement  some  years  after  is  decisive  :  "  The  appointment  of 
a  bishop  had  long  been  desired  by  the  members  of  the  Mission. 
The  Christian  Church  had  grown  to  an  extent  which  made  it 
inexpedient  that  it  should  be  left  under  the  management  of  local 
committees.  It  needed  a  presiding  authority,  to  which  all  could 
look  with  confidence,  together  with  the  exercise  within  it  of  those 
ecclesiastical  functions  which  are  essential  to  its  complete 
efficiency."  I 

Howfind  a      go  far  we  have  only  considered  the  bishopric.     What  of  the 

bishopric?  bisliop  ?     New  Zealand  was  not  then,  as   now,  a  delightful   and 

flourishing  colony.     There  was  nothing  in  a  country  inhabited  by 

a  people  only  just  emerged  from  cannibalism  to  tempt  a  clergyman 

to  desire  lawn  sleeves.     The  popular  ideas  of  the  place  may  be 

*  Life  of  Bishnp  Sehinjv,  vol.  i.  chap.  3. 

t  See  a  letter  in  Curteis's  Bisliop  Selwyn,  p.  79. 

J   Bishop  W.  Williams,  Chriifianity  among  the  New  Zealunders,  p.  290. 


The  Coloxjal  axd  Missjo.xaky  Episcopate  415 

gathered  from  Sydney  Smith's  witticism — "It  will  make  quite  a    Part  V. 

revolution    in    the  dinners  of  New  Zealand:    tcte  d'Eveque  will    1H41-4.H. 

be  the  most  recherche  dish,  and  your  man  will  add,  '  And  there  is      i"!^ '• 

cold  clerfjyman  on  the  side-table.'  "  "■'     The  most  natural  course  in 

such  circumstances  would  have  been  to  select  for  the  bishopric 

one  of  the  six  clergymen  already  in  the  colony.     They  knew  the 

people,  and  the  language  ;  four  were  University  men,  and  a  fifth 

had  been  a  naval  officer,  and  was  a  born  leader ;  so  it  cannot  be 

said  that  there  were  none  fit  to  choose  from.     But  they  had  one 

fatal  disqualification.     They  belonged  to  the   Church   Missionary 

Society.     And  although  the  heads  of  the  Church  had  just  joined 

the  Society,  and  the  Society  had  voted  £G00  a  year  towards  the 

episcopal  stipend,  the  appointment,  nominally  that  of  the  Crown, 

was  virtually  in  the  hands  of  the  new  Colonial  Bishoprics  Fund ; 

and  although  that  Fund  was   doing   nothing   for  the  support  of 

the  Bishopric — as  the  other  half  of  the  stipend  was  to  be  paid 

by   Government — its   chief   promoters   were   in    the   van   of   the 

general  movement,   and  had  to  find  bishops  for  the  new  sees. 

They  did  not  even  consult  the  Church  Missionary  Society  at  all. 

It  is  an  incongruous  spectacle.     Yet  the  providence  of  God  was 

not  withheld  ;   and  the  choice  ultimately  fell  upon  a  man  whose  Choice  of 

name  will  be  honoured  for  all  time  as — with  all  his  faults,  and  he  seiwyn. 

had  faults — one  of  the  greatest  bishops  in  the  whole  history  of 

the  Church. 

George  Augustus  Seiwyn  was  a  brilliant  Etonian  and  Johnian. 
Born  in  the  same  year  as  Mr.  Gladstone,  he  was  an  intimate  friend 
of  the  future  Premier  at  Eton  ;  and  another  schoolfellow,  E.  Harold 
Browne  (afterwards  Bishop  successively  of  Ely  and  of  Winches- 
ter), wrote  of  him,  "  He  was  always  first  in  everything  ;  and  no  one 
ever  knew  him  without  admiring  and  loving  him."  At  Cambridge 
he  was  second  classic  of  his  year,  and  rowed  in  the  'Varsity  Eight 
on  the  first  occasion  of  the  Inter-University  Boat  Race.  He  was 
a  strong  Churchman  ;  not  stiff"  and  inelastic  like  the  older  High 
Church  School,  and  not  enamoured  of  Roman  ways  like  the  new 
Tractarians ;  but  one  who  thoroughly  believed  in  the  Church  as  a 
Divine  institution,  and  had  lofty  ideas  of  the  part  she  should  play 
in  the  world.  When  an  Eton  tutor  and  curate  at  Windsor,  he 
formed  one  of  the  Church  Unions  before  referred  to,  I  comprising 
four  societies,  viz.,  S.P.G.,  S.P.C.K.,  Church  Building  Society, 
and  National  Society.  As  a  clergyman  he  regarded  himself  as  a  Seiwyn's 
subaltern  in  the  Church's  army,  iDound  to  go  wherever  his  com-  obedience, 
manding  officer  sent  him  ;  and  when  he  received  the  offer  of  the 
Bishopric  of  New  Zealand,  he  wrote  to  Bishop  Blomfield, — 
"  Whatever  part  in  the  work  of  the  ministry  the  Chui-ch  of 
England,  as  represented  by  her  Archbishops  and  Bishops,  may 
call  upon  me  to  undei'take,  I  trust  I  shall  be  willing  to  accept 
with  all  obedience  and  humility.  .  .  .  I  place  myself  unreservedly 

*  Life  of  Bishop  W'ilberforce,  vol.  i.  p.  203.  f  See  p.  383. 


41 6  The  Colonial  and  Missw.nary  Episcopate 

Part  V.    in  the  hands  of  the  Episcopal  Council,  to  dispose  of  my  services 

^^■*l"f^-    as  they  may  think  best  for  the  Church." 

^'^' '    '       And  so  it  came  to  pass  that  Selwyn  was  consecrated  on  Sunday, 

Seiwyn       Octobcr  17th,  1841,  at  the   age  of  thirty-three.     But  he  did  not 

fawyerl  ^^^®  ^^^  V^^^^  taken  by  the  Crown  lawyers  in  the  matter.  They  so 
drew  the  letters  patent  as  to  make  the  Queen  "  give  him  power  to 
ordain."  Against  this  he  protested,  very  naturally.  If  a  bishop 
has  any  inherent  authority  at  all,  he  certainly  has  authority  to 
ordain.  His  protest,  however,  was  unsuccessful ;  but  he  did 
succeed  in  getting  the  appointment  of  archdeacons  left  to  him. 
Against  one  curious  blunder  he  did  not  protest.  By  inadvertence 
his  jurisdiction  was  made  to  extend  from  50°  South,  not  to  34° 
South,  as  intended,  but  to  34°  North,  thus  giving  him  a  large 
part  of  the  Pacific  Ocean  ;  and  this  mistake  led  long  afterwards 
to  his  undertaking  the  Melanesian  Mission. 

Although  the  Church  Missionary  Society  had  not  been  con- 
sulted in  the  choice   of   a   man  who  was  to  be  bishop  over  its 

fndcTivi  s  ^^^*^io^'  friendly  relations  were  at  once  entered  into  with  him. 
'  He  accepted  the  Vice-Presidency.  He  came  to  Salisbury  Square 
and  had  an  interview  with  the  Committee  which  gave  them  (in 
their  own  words)  "  lively  satisfaction."  And  he  spoke,  with 
Bishop  Blomfield,  at  a  C.M.S.  meeting  at  the  Mansion  House, 
presided  over  by  the  Lord  Mayor.  In  the  next  Annual  Eeport 
(1842),  the  Committee  said,— 

'■'  The  necessity  for  Episcopal  Superintendence  has  been  long  felt  both 
by  the  missionaries  and  the  Committee,  in  the  advanced  state  of  the 
Mission.  The  Connnittee  can  now  report  that  New  Zealand  has  been 
erected  into  an  Episcopal  See,  and  that  the  full  benefits  of  our  Eccle- 
siastical Constitution  have  thus  been  provided  for  the  infant  Church  in 
those  Islands.  .  .  ."  [After  referring  to  the  consecration  of  Bishop  Sehvj'n] 
"  In  several  communications  with  the  Committee,  his  Lordship  manifested 
a  lively  interest  in  the  Society,  and  kindly  expressed  his  readiness  to  render 
the  Committee  every  assistance  in  his  power  toward  carrying  out  their 
plans  with  respect  to  the  New  Zealand  Mission." 

And  Venn  wrote  out  to  the  senior  missionary  about  the  new 
Bishop  as  follows  : — 

"  I  must  congratulate  you  and  the  rest  of  our  brethren  upon  the 
appointment  of  a  bishop.  I  regard  this  event  as  the  consummation  of 
all  our  missionary  schemes  for  New  Zealand,  and  as  an  answer  to  the 
prayers  which  we  have  long  been  offering  up  that  the  Lord  would  foster 
and  confirm  the  infant  Church.  Though  the  selection  of  the  individual 
to  fill  the  office  was  made  independently  of  the  Society,  we  trust  that  it 
has  been  guided  by  a  gracioxis  Providence  for  the  best  interests  of  the 
Church  of  Christ.  I  have  had  several  interviews  with  the  Bishop,  and 
indulge  the  best  hopes  from  his  Christian  devotcdness,  his  zeal,  his 
talents,  and  his  large  experience  in  the  work  of  education.  I  trust  that 
the  whole  of  our  missionary  brethren  will  receive  him  with  the  confi- 
dence becoming  the  paternal  relation  in  which  he  now  stands  toward 
them." 

In   the    remarkable    Annual   Sermon   of  that  year,   which   has 


The  Coloxial  axd  Mi^sioxarv  En  scop  ate  417 

already  been  noticed  and  quoted  froni,^''  Hugh  Stowell  in  eloquent  Tart  V. 
language  dilated  on  the  new  Colony  and  Diocese  of  New  lH-il-48. 
Zealand  : —  <^"'"M'-  27. 

"  The  Apostles  did  not,  in  the  outset,  map  out  the  Heatlien  World  ""^h 
into  skeleton    dioceses,  and  plant  a   Bishop   at    Crete,   at  Ephesns,    at  New  zia" 
Antioch, — no  ;  but  they  themselves,  lirstof  all,  '  went  everywhere  preach-  land  and 
ing  the  word,'  and  they  sent  forth  chosen   evangelists  to   proclaim  the  ^^^■^^  ric 
unsearchable  riches  of  Christ :  and  when  the   Lord  had  given  testimony    '^  "P"^- 
luito  the  word  of  His  grace,  when   nudtitudes  had  been  gathered  from 
among  the  Heathen,  when  pastors  had  been  set  over  the  infant  churches 
thus  gathered,  and  when  those  pastors  themselves  needed  chief  shepherds, 
then  at  length,  when  a   fixed  Episcopacy  was  re(|uii-ed,  and  when  the 
Apostles,  thitherto  the  itinerating  Bishops  of  the  Universal  Church,  were 
about   to  enter  into  their  rest,'  they  instituted    and    added   Diocesan 
Episcopacy,  to  consolidate,  perpetuate,  and  govern  the  Church  ;  and  so 
Timothy  was  appointed  to   Ephesus,  Titus  to    Crete,  and  Ignatius  to 
Antioch. 

"  Thus  has  it  been  in  our  modern  Missionary  progress.     This  Society  The  mis- 
did  not  tarry— to  instance  a  beautiful  existing  illustration  of  our  meaning  ^"s't^'th 
—till  haply  there  might  be  a  Bishop  set  over  the  wild  Western  Isle  of  biThop  ^ 
New  Zealand  ;  but  she  at  once  introduced,  amidst  the  ferocious  caiuiibals  "^^t. 
of  that  seemingly  inaccessible  land,  the  messengers  of  grace  and  peace 
and    love;    and    they,  preaching  Christ  crucified,   were   through   grace 
enabled  so  to  subdue  many  a  savage  spirit  ancl  soften  many  a  stony 
heart,  that  numerous  flocks  were  gathered  from  among  the  fell  natives ; 
pastors  were  multiplied   over  those  flocks  ;    the  island    began    to  wear 
a  general   aspect  of  Christianization  ;  the   P'piscopate    was  now    called 
for,  to  give   order  and  perjietuity  to  the  work;  and,  lo !  as   the  result 
of  our  labours,  a    Bishop  lias  been    consecrated  to    the  fair   Western 
See. 

"  In  this  way   the    Church  Missionary  Society  h:is  had   the  blessed 
privilege  of  w'el coming  to  a  garden,  which  she  had  been  the  honoured 
means  of  winning  from  the  waste,  this  master  luisbandman  in  the  vine- 
yard of  God  :  and  such  is  the  maturity  of  the  work  in  the  once  barbarous 
Isle,  now  lovely  in  grace  as  she  is  beaiiteous  in  nature,  that  it  only  needs 
the  parocliial  system  of  our  Church  to  be  fully  introduced,  in  order  that 
we  may  witlulraw  our  Missionary  labours  froni  her  shores,  and  turn  them 
to  new  wilds  in  the  wilderness,  where  we  may  hope  to  add  fresh  spheres 
to  our  Primitive  Episcopate,  and  fresh  trophies  to  om-  Scriptural  Church 
--but  all   for  the    glory   of   Christ   Jesus.     Blessed    fruit  of   oiu-   weak  C.M.S. 
endeavours !  expressive  proof  of  our  fidelity  to  our  Church  !     For  can  it  |^^f  ^V" 
with  fairness  be  denied,  that  as  this  Institution,  muler  God,  has  mauily  ingfand^" 
helped  to  annex  to  the  Crown   of   England's  Queen   the  fairest  province  and  to  the 
in  her  wide  doniinions— the  fairest,  becau.se   unstained  bv  the  blood  of  Church, 
concpicst,  and  neither  wrested  by  violence  nor  filched  by  fraud  from  the 
aboriginal  tribes,  but  vanquished   by  the   Sword   of  the  Spirit,  and  led 
c-aptive  by  the   cords   of  love,  luitil  the  nation  has  virtually  said  to  lier 
Benefactress,  as  did  the  Moabitess   to  Naomi  of  old,  '  Thy  people  .shall 
be  my    people  and  thy  God  my  God '—can   it  be   denied,  that  as  this 
Society  has  thus  helped  to  add  ithe  fairest  province  to  the  Empire  of  our 
Queen,    she    has   also   aided  largely  in  adding    the    fairest  Diocese   to 
the    ample    fold    of   om-   Church  I-'— the    faiiest,   because    the    lirighte.st 
modern  evidence   of  the  ajiostolicity  and  catholicity   of  our  Church,  of 
the  soundness   of  her  faith,  and  the  energy  of   her  obedience,  of  the 

*  Sec  p.  396. 
VOL.  I.  E   e 


41 8  The  Colonial  and  Missionary  Episcopate 

Part  V.  power  of  hei-  love,  and  of  the  abiding  of  the  Sjiirit  of  Christ  with  her 
1841-48.  Ministers  and  in  her  ministrations — a  hving  Epistle,  known  and  read  of 
Chap.  27.   all  men." 

Bishop  And  Bishop  Blomfield,  in  his  C.M.S.  Sermon  in  1844,  before 

fiy^fhe''*    noticed,  thus  referred  to  the  Society's  part  in  both  the  evangehza- 
same.         tion  of  Ncw  Zealand  and  the  establishment  of  the  Bishopric  : — 

"...  That  remote  Colony  of  New  Zealand,  where  this  Society,  having 
been  the  honoured  instrument  of  displaying  the  light  of  the  Gospel  to 
those  who  were  in  darkness  and  the  shadow  of  death,  has  now  been  mainly 
instrumental  in  placing  that  light  upon  the  Church's  golden  candlestick, 
in  its  Apostolical  completeness." 

But  the  C.M.S.  was  not  now  to  be  the  only  Church  Society 
labouring  in  New  Zealand.  To  it  was  still  left  the  Maori  work  ; 
but  in  view  of  the  rapid  colonization  of  the  country,  both  the 
S-P-G.  S.P.G.  and  the  S.P.C.K.  gave  the  Bishop  large  assistance  in 
now  e  ps.  p^.Q^^.j^ij^^g  clergy,  churches,  and  schools  for  the  white  settlers ; 
and  he  took  out  with  him,  as  a  beginning,  three  clergymen  and 
four  students  for  holy  orders,  besides  two  new  C.M.S.  missionaries, 
one  from  Cambridge  (Dudley)  and  one  from  Oxford  (Eeay). 
The  announcement  in  the  S.P.G.  Eeport  contains  what  seems  to 
be  the  first  reference  to  the  C.M.S.  in  an  S.P.G.  official  publica- 
tion : — 

"  The  erection  of  an  Episcopal  See  in  New  Zealand  must  be  considered 
as  an  era  in  the  history  of  that  interesting  island  ;  and  the  Society  are 
prepared  to  exert  themselves  to  the  utmost  in  order  to  render  every 
assistance  which  may  be  required  of  them  by  the  Bishop.  At  the  same 
time,  they  wish  carefully  to  abstain  from  intruding  on  the  field  already 
occupied  by  the  missionaries  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  and  will 
take  measures  for  preventing  misapprehension  on  this  subject." 

We  must  not  now  follow  Bishop  Selwyn  to  New  Zealand.  We 
shall  meet  him  there  by-and-by. 

Other  new  The  majority  of  the  other  bishoprics  founded  between  1841  and 
bishoprics.  -|^g^g  were  for  Colonies  in  which  the  Society  was  not  at  work. 
But  it  had  Missions  in  the  new  dioceses  of  Guiana  and  Colombo  ; 
and  Bishops  Austin  and  Chapman  at  once  became  Vice-Presidents 
and  expressed  cordial  feelings  towards  the  Society.  Of  the  latter 
the  Eeport  of  1845  said, — "  The  Committee  anticipate  much 
benefit  to  the  Mission  from  his  spiritual  direction  and  paternal 
superintendence  over  the  Church  in  this  interesting  Island" 
[Ceylon].  The  Society's  interest,  however,  was  not  limited  to  its 
own  spheres  of  labour.  The  new  Bishop  of  Barbadoes,  Dr.  Parry, 
was  invited  to  be  a  Vice-President,  and  consented.  When  Bishop 
Gray  was  consecrated  to  the  new  diocese  of  Cape  Town  in  1847, 
he  too  accepted  the  same  office  ;  and  his  appeal  for  South  Africa  was 
printed  in  the  Missionary  Register  with  a  sympathetic  commenda- 
tion.'''    Another  bishop,    consecrated   on  the  same  day,   Charles 

*  M.  E.,  1847,  p.  301. 


The  Colonial  and  Missionary  Episcopate  419 

Perry  of  Melbourne,  the  Senior  Wrangler  of  his  year,  who  had    Part  V. 
been  an  influential  EvangeHcal  clergyman  at  Cambridge,  was  an    1841-48. 
ardent  friend  of  the  Society,  and  long  afterwards,  when  he  retired  ^*'^P-  ^'^• 
after  a  nearly  thirty  years'  episcopate,  became  a  leading  memlier 
of  the  Committee.     In  the  decade  following  the  C.M.S.  Jubilee, 
the  Society  was  concerned  in  the  formation  of  six  new  bishoprics, 
as  will  appear  hereafter. 

Another  Anglican  Bishopric  was  founded  in  1841,  at  the  same  Bishopric 
time  as  that  of  New  Zealand,  but  under  very  different  circum-  Jerusalem 
stances.     This  was  the  Bishopric  in  Jerusalem. 

Eeference  has  been  made  in  previous  chapters  to  the  visits  of 
Mr.  Jowett  and  Mr.  Connor  to  Palestine  in  1816-19.  From 
time  to  time,  also,  American  missionaries,  Presbyterian  and  Con- 
gi-egationalist,  essayed  to  work  among  the  Oriental  Christians, 
but  did  not  settle  in  the  country.  The  London  Jews'  Society  state  and 
made  various  attempts,  from  1820  onwards,  to  establish  a  Jewish  ^f "he  Ho^i 
Mission ;  and  from  1835  its  agents  succeeded  in  making  good  Land.  °^ 
their  footing  in  Jerusalem.  Converts  from  Judaism  were  gathered 
into  the  Church,  despite  bitter  persecution  ;  and  the  sympathies  of 
Christians  at  home  were  largely  di'awn  out  towards  the  work. 
Plans  were  formed  for  building  a  church  on  Mount  Zion,  Anglican 
in  the  first  instance,  but  with  a  view  to  its  becoming  the  head- 
quarters of  an  independent  Hebrew  Christian  Church.  For  the 
study  of  prophecy  at  this  time,  to  which  reference  has  before  been 
made,-  had  led  men  like  Edward  Bickersteth,  Dr.  Marsh,  and 
Lord  Ashley,  to  expect  the  early  return  of  the  Jews  to  their  own 
land.  In  1839,  all  Syria  was  in  confusion,  owing  to  the  revolt  of 
Egypt  against  Turkey  and  the  victories  of  Mehemet  Ah  over  the 
Ottoman  forces.  The  Powers  at  last  interfered— except  France, 
which  sympathized  with  Egj^jt— and  drove  Mehemet  Ah  out  of 
Syria  by  force.  This  was  one  of  Lord  Palmerston's  great  coui^s 
as  Foreign  Secretary  ;  and  the  Life  of  Lord  Shaftesbury  shows  us 
Lord  Ashley  (as  he  then  was)  pushing  Palmerston  on,  hoping 
thus  to  clear  the  way  for  the  Jews  to  settle  in  the  Holy  Land.f 

As  soon  as  peace  was  made.  King  Frederick  William  IV.,  who  King  of 
had  just  come  to  the  throne  of  Prussia,  sent  Chevalier  Bunsen  to  proposes 
England  with  proposals  for  securing  from  Turkey  greater  freedom  bishopric, 
for  the  Christians  in  Palestine,  and,  with  this  purpose  in  view, 
for  sending  out  an  Anglican  bishop  who  should  act  as  the  head  of 
the    Protestant  community   and   represent   it    before   the  Porte. 
This  fell  in  with  Lord  Ashley's  Jewish  prospects,  and  he  warmly 
seconded    Bunsen's    efforts.      Mr.    Gladstone    and    Archdeacon  churchmen 
Samuel  Wilberforce  also  took   an   active  part  in  supporting  the^°''?"'* 
scheme.:     The  latter  (and  very  likely  the  former)  really  beheved  ^^^'"^*' 
that  the  alliance  of  the  English  Church  with  the  German  Lutheran 

*  See  p.  283.  f  ^'/e  0/  Lord  Shafteshnry,  vol.  i.  chaps.  8  and  9. 

I  In  the  Life  of  Cardinal  Mann iniT,  Mr.  Gladstone  is  represented  as  havino- 
opposed  the  Bishopric.  But  Lord  Ashley's  diary  at  tlie  time  is  decisive  the 
otlier  way. 

E  e  2 


4-20  The  Colonial  and  Missionary  Episcopate 


Part  V. 
1841-48. 
Chajj.  27. 


Church  would  pave  the  way  for  the  latter  presently  receiving  the 
historic  Episcopate.'''  The  Tractarians  were  furious. f  Arch- 
bishop Howley  and  Bishop  Blomfield,  who  were  sympathetic,  were 
beset  with  their  protests,  Dr.  Pusey  loudly  complaining  that 
' '  for  the  first  time  the  Church  of  England  was  holding  communion 
with  those  outside  the  Church."  But  S.  Wilberforce  wrote, — 
' '  I  confess  1  feel  furious  at  the  craving  of  men  for  union  with 
idolatrous,  material,  sensual,  domineering  Eome,  and  their 
squeamish,  anathematizing  hatred  of  Protestant  Eeformed  men."  \ 
But  while  the  King  of  Prussia  w^as  thinking  of  an  alliance 
between  the  two  Churches,  and  of  a  more  recognized  status  for 
German  Protestants  in  Palestine,  and  while  High  Churchmen 
were  divided  on  the  ecclesiastical  questions  involved,  the  thoughts 
of  Lord  Ashley  and  the  Jews'  Society  ran  chiefly  in  quite  different 
channels.  To  them  the  Jerusalem  Bishopric  was  the  revival, 
after  long  centuries,  of  the  "  Diocese  of  St.  James  at  Jerusalem." 
St.  James  the  Just  was  "par  excellence  the  Apostle  of  the  Circum- 
cision, and  the  ardent  imaginations  of  the  friends  of  Israel  looked 
now  to  a  Church  of  the  Circumcision,  presided  over  by  a  Christian 
of  Jewish  race,  and  to  which  an  Apostle  to  the  Gentiles,  such  as 
(say)  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  might  perhaps  one  day 
indite  a  new  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews.  And  when  Lord  Ashley 
obtained  the  appointment  for  the  Eev.  Michael  Solomon  Alexander, 
a  Jewish  convert,  §  the  joy  of  men  like  Bickersteth  knew  no  bounds. 
An  extract  from  Bunsen's  diary  will  perhaps  best  illustrate  the 
general  tone  of  feeling  : — 

(July  19th,  1841). — "The  successor  of  St.  James  will  embark  in 
October.  He  is  by  race  aii  Israelite ;  born  a  Prussian  in  Breslaii ;  in 
confession  belonging  to  the  Church  of  England  ;  ripened  (by  hard  work) 
in  Ireland ;  Professor  of  Hebrew  and  Arabic  in  England  (in  what  is  now 
King's  College).  So  the  hef/hmmg  is  made,  please  God,  for  the  restoration 
of  Israel.''  \\ 

But  before  the  consecration  could  take  place,  an  Act  of  Parlia- 
ment had  to  be  obtained,  the  Acts  before  referred  to  in  this 
chapter  not  covering  the  case.  Chiefly  through  Lord  Ashley's 
efforts,  a  Bill  was  introduced,  "  empowering  the  Archbishops  of 
Canterbury  and  York,   assisted  by  other  Bishops,  to  consecrate 

*  Life  of  Bishop  Wilberforce,  vol.  i.  p.  200.  See  a  curious  proof  that  there 
was  some  ground  for  this  hope,  in  Chapter  XLI.  of  this  History. 

f  But  Manning  and  Palmer  seem  to  have  been  favourable.  See  Life  of  Lord 
Shaftettbury,  vol.  i.  p.  378.  Manning's  biographer,  however,  throws  doubt  on 
this. 

+  Life  of  Bishop  Wilberforce,  vol.  i.  p.  213. 

§  The  story  of  Alexander's  conversion  is  very  interesting.  As  a  young  Jew, 
he  was  living  in  Lambeth  with  a  Roman  Catholic  who  was  studying  for  the 
priesthood.  Two  young  ladies  visiting  in  the  district  persuaded  tlie  Romanist 
to  accept  and  read  a  Bible.  It  brought  both  him  and  the  Jew  to  Christ.  One 
of  those  young  ladies  was  Ellen  White,  afterwards  Mrs.  Ranyard,  founder  of 
the  London  Bible-Women's  Association;  the  other  was  Martha  Edwards, 
afterwards  Mrs.  Weitbrecht  of  Burdwan. 

II   Life  of  Lord  Shaftesbury,  vol.  i.  p.  371. 


77/ A-  Coi.oxiAL  Axn  Missionary  Episcopate  421 

British  subjects,  or  the  subjects  or  citizens  of  any  foreign  kingdom    \^ll_^ 
or  state,  to  be  Bishops  in  any  foreign  country,  and,  withm  certain  ^^  _^^  ^y'. 

limits,    to   exercise    spiritual   jurisdiction    over    the   ministers  of      

British  congi-egations  of  the  United  Church  .of  England  and 
Ireland,  and  over  such  other  Protestant  Congi'egations  as  may  be 
desirous  of  placing  themselves  under  the  authority  of  such 
Bishops."     On  September  14th,  1841,  Lord  Ashley  wrote  :— 

"  Tlie  Bill  fen-  creatiufr  the  Bishopric  of  Jerusalem  passed  last  night  I  ]^°j;^gy.g 
May  the   blessiiiij  of  the   God  of  Abraham,  of  Isaac,  and  of  Jacob,  the  joy. 
Father   of  our   Lord  Jesus  Christ,  be  with  it  now  and  for  ever.  .  .  . 
Under  God's  blessing,  j-^r*  magna  f id." 

The  Act  has  ever  since  been  commonly  known  as  the  Jerusalem 
Act ;  but  there  is  no  mention  of  Jerusalem  in  it.  It  is  general  in 
character ;  and  under  its  provisions  all  Bishops  for  countries 
beyond  the  British  dominions  have  since  been  consecrated  (if 
consecrated  in  England),  the  Crown  giving  its  mandate  to  the 
Archbishop,  and  citing  the  Act  as  its  authority  for  doing  so. 
If  the  Act  had  been  passed  a  year  or  two  earUer,  the  Bishopric  of 
New  Zealand  need  not  have  waited  for  the  annexation  of  the 
Islands  to  the  British  dominions.  It  is  a  curious  circumstance 
that  an  Act  which  has  so  largely  contributed  to  the  extension  of 
the  EngUsh  Episcopate  should  be  so  entirely  anathema  to  High 
Churchmen  generally.  They  never  tire  of  denouncing  it  ;  but 
they  use  it  whenever  they  require  it. 

The  endowment  of  the  new  bishopric  did  not  come  from  the 
Colonial  Bishoprics  Fund.  Even  the  influence  of  Bishop  Blomfield 
and  Mr.  Gladstone  would  not  have  procured  it  in  that  quarter 
without  a  struggle.  The  King  of  Prussia  promised  £600  a  year  ; 
and  a  capital  sum  sufficient  to  give  a  like  income  was  raised  l^y 
subscription,  the  London  Jews'  Society  giving  £3000.  The 
nomination  was  to  lie  with  the  Crowns  of  England  and  Prussia 
alternately  ;  and  England  had  the  first  turn  and  appointed  Dr. 
Alexander.  He  was  consecrated  on  November  7th,  1841.  One  ^{^^"P^er 
of  the  prelates  who  laid  hands  on  him  was  Bishop  Selwyn,  whose  cons^e^- 
own  consecration  had  only  taken  place  three  weeks  before  ;  and  "^^^  ■ 
Bickersteth  wrote, — "  Perhaps  a  more  solemn  effect  was  never 
produced  than  when  the  Bishop  of  New  Zealand  selected 
Acts  XX.,  and  read  the  passage,  '  And  now  I  go  bound  in  the 
spirit  unto  Jerusalem,'  &c.  The  Bishop  of  London  was  in  tears."  "'= 
Selwyn's  biographer  apologizes  for  his  presence  on  the  occasion, 
saying,  "The  circumstance  caused  some  surprise  to  his  friends, 
and  the  mention  of  it  now  may  be  a  matter  of  regi'et  to  those 
who  here  learn  it  for  the  first  time."  i  In  fact,  it  was  one  of  the 
many  instances  in  which  Selwyn  proved  himself  superior  to  the 
prejudices  of  his  own  party.  A  curious  illustration  of  similar 
breadth  of  view  occurs  in  Lord  Ashley's  journal,  in  the  notice  of 

*  Memoir  of  E.  Bickersteth,  vol.  ii.  p.  ly2. 
t  Life  of  Bishop  Selwyn,  vol.  i.  p.  81. 


422  The  Colonial  and  Missionary  Episcopate 

Part  V.   a  dinner  at  Eichmond  shortly  before  the  consecration,  at  which 

1841-48.   Bunsen  entertained  Dr.  Alexander  and  several  friends : — 
Chap.  27. 

^  "  Gladstone  stripped  himself  of  a  part  of  his  Puseyite  garments,  spoke 

dinner"  ^     ^^^^  3.  pious  luan,  rejoiced  in  the  Bishopric  of  Jerusalem,  and  proposed 
party.  the  health  of  Alexander.     This  is  delightful ;  for  he  is  a  good  man,  and 

a  clever  man,  and  an  industrious  man."  * 

All  readers  of  J.  H.  Newman's  A2)oIogia  will  remember  that  he 
mentions  the  Jerusalem  Bishopric  as  the  last  straw  in  the  burden 
of  his  dissatisfaction  with  the  Church  of  England  ;  although  he 
did  not  go  over  to  Eome  until  four  years  later.  It  is  a  strange 
instance  of  the  vicissitudes  that  Time  brings,  that  in  our  own 
day,  while  the  revival  of  the  bishopric  was  secured  by  Evan- 
gelical influence  in  the  teeth  of  the  vehement  opposition  of 
Canon  Liddon,  its  very  name  has  since  come  to  be  a  red  rag 
to  niany  conscientious  Protestant  Churchmen,  while  it  is  now 
enthusiastically  supported  by  the  very  party  that  formerly 
detested  it. 
c.M.s.  not  Tlie  Church  Missionary  Society  had  no  connexion,  as  a  society, 
corfcerned  witli  the  establishment  of  the  Jerusalem  Bishopric.  It  had  then 
Jerusalem  ^^^  worlc  in  Palestine ;  f  and  although  it  had  previously  sought 
bishopric ;  the  revival  of  the  Eastern  Churches,  this  was  not  the  particular 
purpose  of  the  bishopric.  That  purpose,  as  already  indicated, 
was  the  formation  of  a  Jewish  Church  ;  and  this  lay  outside  the 
range  of  C.M.S.  objects.  Still,  the  promoters  of  the  scheme  were 
supporters  of  the  Society.  Of  the  five  trustees  of  the  fund,  four 
were  Vice-Presidents,  viz.,  Loi'd  Ashley,  Sir  T.  Baring,  Sir  E.  H. 
Inglis,  and  Sir  G.  H.  Eose,  while  the  fifth,  Mr.  John  Labouchere, 
was  one  of  the  Society's  bankers.  So  the  Committee,  in  the 
Eeport  of  1842,  noticed  the  Jerusalem  Bishopric  and  the  proposed 
but  rejoic-  Gil:)raltar  Bishopric  together,  designating  them  as  "  events  which 
'"^  ^  '  ■  would  form  a  glorious  epoch  in  the  history  of  missionary 
operations";  and  they  presented  an  address  to  the  King  of 
Prussia  on  his  visit  to  England  at  the  time,  referring  to  the 
Society's  past  indebtedness  to  Berlin  for  missionaries,  and  to  the 
"  paternal  and  beneficial  influence  "  which  the  new  bishop  might 
exercise  over  the  C.M.S.  Missions  in  Egypt  and  Aljyssinia.  In 
after  years  the  Society's  Palestine  Mission  brought  it  into  closer 
relations  with  the  new  see  ;  and  therefore  it  has  seemed  desirable 
to  give  this  brief  account  of  its  establishment. 

Relation  of      Bcfore  closiug  this  chapter,  it  is  necessary  to  notice  the  relation 

C  M  S    to  •  ...  .  . 

bishops       of  the  Society  and  its  missionaries   to   the  bishops  in   dioceses 

abroad.       abroad.     This  can   best  be  done  by  a  further  reference    to  the 

famous  document  by  Henry  Venn  which  formed  the  Appendix 

to  the  39th  Eeport.     It  has  already  been  summarized,  and  quoted 

*  Life  of  Lo7-cl  Shajteshury,  vol.  i.  p.  377. 

f  Mr.  Hodfler  says  it  had,  but  lie  is  mistaken.     {Life  of  Lord  Shaftculury, 
vol.  i.  p.  366.) 


The  CoLOXiAi.  a.vd  Missioxarv  Episcopate  423 

from,    in   connexion    with    the  general  question  of  the    relations    J'jf/?'- 
between  the  Society  and  the  Church ;  -  but  of  its  four  divisions,  ^|^^     ^j 

one  remains  for  notice  here.     This  is   "  The   Supermtendence  of      

the  Missionaries  and  their  Labours  among  the  Heathen." 

We  have  seen  that  the  first  Bishop  of  Calcutta,  Middleton, 
declined  to  recognize  missionaries  by  giving  them  episcopal 
licenses  like  other  clerg>'men  ;  and  that  his  successor,  Heber, 
on  the  other  hand,  did  recognize  and  license  them.  On  this 
question  of  licensing  a  controversy  arose  between  the  Society  and  an^B^^hop 
Bishop  Daniel  Wilson  soon  after  he  reached  India.  The  Bishop  d.  wiison. 
desired  not  only  to  give  the  missionaries  licenses,  but  to  give  or 
withhold  them  at  his  pleasure  ;  while  the  Committee  urged  that 
this  would  put  them  too  much  in  the  unrestricted  power  of 
whoever  might  be  bishop  for  the  time  being.  In  short,  the  Bishop 
wished  the  missionaries  to  have  a  status  similar  to  that  of  curates 
in  England,  while  the  Society  wished  them  to  have  a  status  as 
nearly  that  of  incumbents  as  the  very  different  circumstances  of 
the  Mission-field  would  permit.  The  dispute  lasted  for  three 
years ;  and  the  Bishop  had  much  correspondence,  not  only  with 
the  Committee,  but  with  individual  members  of  it.  For  example, 
Fowell  Buxton  wrote  to  him,  "  For  God's  sake,  and  for  the  sake 
of  the  poor  heatliens,  do  not  let  your  love  of  the  Church  ol)Struct 
the  diffusion  of  Christianity  "  ;  to  which  Daniel  Wilson  rejoined, 
"  For  God's  sake  do  not  let  your  dread  of  the  Church  obstruct  the 
diffusion  of  Christianity."  At  length  the  whole  matter  was 
referred  to  three  friends— Dean  Pearson  of  Salisbury,  Dr. 
Dealtry  of  Clapham,  and  J.  W.  Cunningham  of  Harrow.  Ulti- 
mately, at  their  instance,  the  Committee  gave  -way,  and  conceded 
the  main  point  to  the  Bishop.  +  The  arrangement  was  embodied 
in  the  four  following  Rules,  drawn  up  by  the  Bishop  himself  :— 

1.  The  Bishop   expresses— by  cvj-anting  or  withholding  his  license,  in  JJ'^^f^"" 
which  the  sphere  of  the    Missionary's  labour  is  mentioned— his 
approbation  or  otherwise  of  that  location. 

•2.  The  Hishop  superintends  the  Missionaries  afterward,  as  the  other 
Clergy,  in  tlie  discharge  of  their  Ecclesiastical  dnties. 

3.  The  lii'shop  receives  from  those— the  Committee  and  Secretary— 

who  still  stand  in  the  relation  of  Lay-Patrons  to  the  Missionary, 
such  conununications  respecting  his  Ecclesiastical  thities  as  may 
enable  the  Bishop  to  discharge  that  paternal  superintendence  to 
the  best  advantjige.  The  Archdeacon  of  Calcutta  or  Bombay 
acting  under  the  Bishop's  immediate  direction  when  he  happens 
to  be  absent. 

4.  If  the  Bishop  or  Archdeacon  fills,  at  the  request  of  the  Society,  the 

offices  of  Patron.  President,  Vice-President.  Treasurer.  Secre- 
tary, &c..  he  receives,  further,  all  such  confidential  information, 
on  all  topics,  as  the  Bishops  officially  neither  could  wish  nor 
properly  ask  (to  receive). 


*  Sec  p.  385. 

t  See  Life  of  Bishop  D.  Wilson,  vol.  ii.  p.  17;  also  Memoir  of  Henry  \eui), 
2nd  edition,  p.  144,  where  there  is  a  letter  on  the  subject  from  Sir  Charles 
Trevelvan,  who  liad  been  a  member  of  the  Calcutta  Corresponding  Committee. 


4^4  The  Colonial  axd  MissioyAKv  Episcopate 

Part  Y.        These  rules  form  the  basis  of  Venn's  statement  in  the  fom-th 

r^^^^lv    section  of  his  document.       He  goes  on  to  embody  in  very  plain 

'^P'     ■  words  the  Bishop's  view  of  the  matter  as  in  the  end  adopted  by 

Venn's        the    Committee.     "The  Society,"   he  says,  "has  recognized  the 

comments,  uncontrolled  discretion  of  the  Bishop  to  grant  or  withhold   his 

license,  and  the  propriety  of  specifying  in  such  license  a  particular 

district  as  the  field  of  labour  ;  so  that  a  missionary  cannot  be 

removed  from  one  district  to  another  without  the  sanction  of  the 

Bishop."     And   again,   "  The  Missionaries,   thus  licensed,  stand 

towards  the  Bishops  in  the  relation  rather  of  Stipendiary  Curates 

than    of   Beneficed   Clergj'men."      These    sentences    so   entirely 

concede  Bishop  Wilson's  point,  that  we  can  scarcely  be  surprised 

that   the    Calcutta    Committee,    consisting    of   laymen   in    high 

Government  office,  rebelled,  as  we  have  before  seen.''=    Nevertheless 

Venn's  paper  was  regarded  for  nearly  forty  years  as  the   charter 

of  the  Society's  liberties.     But  the  Ceylon  Controversy  of  187G 

brought  up  the  whole  question  again.     The  Society's  Law  was 

then  altered,   with  the  approval  of  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury 

and  the  Bishop  of  London;  and  the  famous  "  H.  V."  document 

was  dropped. 

The  controversy  with  Bishop  Wilson  properly  l^elongs  to  an 
earlier  section  of  this  History.  Its  settlement  was  in  1835-6. 
But  notice  of  it  has  been  deferred  until  now,  partly  because  this 
yenn's  chapter  is  a  suitable  place,  and  partly  on  account  of  Venn's  share 
influence.  -^^  ^^^  matter,  his  great  personality  having  only  risen  up  before  us 
in  the  present  section.  It  is  very  significant  that  he  was  not  in 
attendance  at  Committee  meetings  during  the  greater  part  of  the 
three  years  that  the  dispute  lasted,  as  he  was  then  at  Hull ;  that 
within  a  few  months  of  his  return  to  London  and  to  Salisbury 
Square  the  dispute  was  settled  by  the  Committee  giving  way  ; 
and  that  he,  though  not  then  a  Secretary,  was  chosen  to  embody 
the  arrangement,  and  the  Society's  general  ecclesiastical  principles, 
in  an  important  paper.  The  inference  is  obvious  regarding  his 
great  influence  and  the  direction  it  took.  Then  in  1841  comes 
the  addition  to  the  Society's  Laws  which  enabled  the  Heads  of 
the  Church  to  join  it,  and  the  grant  to  the  New  Zealand  Bishopric  ; 
and  immediately  afterwards  Venn  becomes  Hon.  Secretary. 
Again,  the  inference  is  obvious. 

But  Venn  was  no  servile  worshipper  of  ecclesiastical  authority. 
It  was  he  who  led  the  Society  to  decline  a  place  in  the  Church 
Unions  before  mentioned ;  and  as  regards  the  power  of  the 
Society  over  its  missionaries,  a  case  arose  at  the  very  time  he 
became  Secretary,  which  caused  much  anxious  discussion,  tested 
the  new  concordat  with  the  Archbishops  and  Bishops,  and  gave 
the  Society  an  opportunity,  after  having  done  so  much  to  satisfy 
the  autliorities  of  the  Church,  of  asserting  its  own  just  rights. 
HumphJ^y!      "'^  yoi-'^g  missionary  in  the  Diocese  of  Madras,  Mr.  Humphrey, 

*  See  ]).  ;{;50. 


The  Colo  si  al  axd  Missiosary  Episcopate  425 

drew  plans  for  a  new  church,  and  sent  to  friends  in  England  an  Takt  V. 
appeal  for  funds  to  build  it.  This  church  was  to  be  so  built  p,^'~^" 
as  to  he  the  outward  and  visible  sign  of  what  is  known  as  the  '"^'  '' 
"  doctrine  of  reserve."  The  choir  was  to  be  for  "  the  faithful," 
the  transepts  for  "  catechumens  "  and  "penitents"  respectively, 
and  the  nave,  separated  by  an  organ-screen,  for  the  heathen;  and 
the  teaching  was  to  be  graded  accordingly,  the  "  mysteries  of  the 
faith"  being  concealed  from  the  Heathen.  In  later  times  these 
principles  were  avowed  by  some  few  High  Church  clergymen  in 
India,  and  were  strongly  opposed  in  an  able  pamphlet  by  Bishop 
Caldwell,  of  the  S.P.G.'Tinnevelly  Mission.  -  But  in  1841  such 
views  were  quite  a  novelty  ;  and  the  Madras  Corresponding 
Committee,  with  their  Secretary,  the  Kev.  H.  Cotterill  (then  an 
East  India  cliaplain  ;  afterwards  Bishop  of  Grahamstown,  and  then 
of  Edinburgh),  condemned  them  at  once,  and  attirmed  that  any 
man  holding  them  was  disqualified  from  being  a  missionary.  To 
this  the  Bishop  of  Madras,  Dr.  Spencer,  objected.  He  did  not 
discuss  Mr.  Humphrey's  particular  views  :  he  merely  challenged 
the  right  of  the  Society  to  disconnect  a  missionary  holding  his 
license.  The  case  was  not  referred  to  the  English  Episcopate 
under  the  new  Law  XXXII.,  because  the  Committee  considered 
that  Law  XXXIII.  distinctly  excepted  it ;  but  they  nevertheless 
submitted  it  in  a  less  formal  way  to  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbuiy 
and  the  Bishop  of  London.  They  disavowed  a  part  of  the 
proceedings  of  the  Madras  Committee  ;  but  they  successfully 
maintained  the  Society's  right  to  close  connexion  with  any 
missionary,  while  disclaiming  the  right  to  judge  his  qualifications 
for  oilier  service  in  the  Church.  The  dispute  did  not  alienate 
Bishop  Spencer.  He  had  been  a  good  friend  before,  and  he 
continued  a  good  friend  afterwards. 

This   chapter  may  fitly  conclude  with  one  more  reference  to 
Bishop  Daniel  Wilson.     In   1845  he  paid  his  one  onlv  visit  to  Bishop  d. 

T-i        1         1     1       •  1   ■  X  r  i.  '  •  i.       '    TT  Wilson  in 

England  durmg  his  quarter  of  a  centuiy  s  episcopate.     He  was  England. 

now  on  the  old  atl'ectionate  terms  with   the  C.M.S.  Committee, 

and  was  received  by  them  with  all  honour.     It  was  while  he  was 

in  England  that  Samuel  Wilberforce  became  Bishop  of  Oxford  ; 

and  it  is  interesting  to  see  that  when  Wilson  had   his  farewell 

interview   in   Salisbury  Square  before  returning  to  India,  it  was 

Bishop  Wilberfoice  who,  after  Venn's  official   address,  delivered 

the  Committee's  Godspeed  to  the  departing  veteran,  in  a  speech 

"  subdued,    affectionate,   dignified,    and  full   of  heart."  f     But  it 

is  the   St.  Bride's  Sermon  of  that  year,  1846,  that  is  especially  "'s  great 

worthy  of  notice.      The  fact  has  been   already  mentioned    that  st.  Bride's. 

Daniel   Wilson's  name  is  the  oidy  one  that  occurs  twice  in  the 

list  of  ninety-eiglit  preachers.     The  sermon  was  a  great  one.     It 

occupied  an  hour  and  a  half  in  delivery.     The   text  was,  "They 

•  Seo  Vol.  III.,  Chapter  LXXVI. 

t  /.«/.'  0/  T\hhoi,  D.  iri7*v);i,  vol.  ii.  p.  279. 


426  The  Coloxial  and  Missionary  Episcopate 

Part  V.  overcame  him  by  the  blood  of  the  Lamb"  (Rev.  xii.  11),  and  the 
1841-48.  heads  were  (1)  "  The  Mighty  Foe,"  (2)  "  The  Means  of  Resisting 
Cha]|x27.  him,"  (3)  "  The  Issue  of  the  Conflict."  The  Bishop  gave  a  solemn 
testimony  against  Romanism  and  Tractarianism,  and  made  a 
most  powerful  appeal  for  men  to  carry  to  India  the  pure  and 
uncorrupted  Gospel.  His  final  words  were  a  touching  farewell  to 
a  great  assembly  of  friends  who  would  never  see  him  again  : — 

"  Brethren,  1  have  done.  I  commend  the  sacred  cause  of  Missions, 
and  especially  in  India,  to  your  prayers.  I  am  re-embarking,  if  God 
permit,  for  the  scene  of  my  duties,  baptized  for  the  dead.  Receive,  I 
pray  you,  in  love,  this  my  last  testimony  to  the  blood  of  the  Lamb. 

''  I  shall  see  you  no  more  at  our  Anniversaries.  But  we  shall 
be  assembled  before  the  judgment-seat  of  Christ.  Let  each  of  us  see  to 
it,  that  we  meet  there  on  safe  ground.  Satan's  widespread  empire  is 
made  up  of  multiplied  individuals.  Let  us  take  care  that  Satan  is  cast 
out  from  the  heaven  of  our  hearts  ;  and  that  we  believe  for  ourselves, 
each  of  us,  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb,  and  bear  our  testimony  to  it,  each 
in  our  sphere,  even  unto  ilie  death. 

"  Then  may  we  luuubly  hope  that,  being  washed,  covered,  plunged, 
hidden  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb,  we  shall  pass,  as  one  of  our  Com- 
mentators [Dr.  Gill]  sublimely  speaks,  '  under  that  purple  covering 
triumphantly  to  glory ' ! 

'  Deo  soli  per  Christi 
Sanguinem 
Sit  gloria  in  sempitenum].'  " 

God  grant  that  the  doctrine,  the  principles,  the  spirit  of  this 
great  sermon  may  more  and  more  be  the  doctrine,  the  principles, 
the  spirit,  of  our  Colonial  and  Missionary  Episcopate  ! 


5k. 


ARCHDN.     H.     WILLIAMS. 


REV.     S.     MARSDEN. 


BISHOP    SELWYN. 


> 


BISHOP    W.    WILLIAMS. 


MRS.    W.    WILLIAMS. 


Henry  William.';,  Mi.*siciiiary  in  New  Zealand,  1822-1SG7. 

Sannicl  :\Iars(leii,  Cliaplain,'  New  Smith  AVales;  Founder  of  New  Zealand  Mission. 

G.  A.  Selwyii,  fiist  r'.i.-^lidp  (jf  New  Zealand. 

William  Williani.s,  Jlissioiiavy  in  New  Zealand,  1825-1878;  First  Bishop  of  Waiapu, 

Mi'S.  AV.  Williainh^,  AVife  of  ditto  (.survived  to  180C). 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

New  Zealand  :  The  Bishop,  the  Colony,  and  the 
Mission. 

Advent  of  Colonists— Annexation  of  New  Zealand— Arrival  of  Bishop 
Selwyn  :  his  Testimony,  Travels,  and  Trials— His  Difficulties 
with  C. M.S.— His  tardy  Ordinations— Colonial  Encroachment  and 
Maori  Discontent— Governors  Fitzroy  and  Grey— The  Missionary 
Lands  Question— Grey's  Secret  Despatch  Archdeacon  H.  Wil- 
liams disconnected  and  reinstated-The  Maori  Bible— Romanist 
Mission— Extension  and  Successes  of  C.M.S.  Mission— Sir  G. 
Grey's  Testimony— The  Melanesian  Mission. 

"  Neither  as  being  lords  over  God's  heritage,  hut  heim  ensamples  to  thejlock." 
—1  Pet.  V.  3. 

"In  perils  by  mine  own  cotmtrymen." — 2  Cor.  xi.  26.  „        m- 

"  Questions  and  strifes,  .  .  .  whereof  cometh  .  .  .  evil  surmisings.  —1  Tim.  vi.  4. 

IF  chronological  order  be  observed,  the  words  of  the  title    Part  V. 
of  this  chapter  must  be  transposed.     They  should  be  ^^^-f^' 
"  The  Mission,  the  Colony,   and  the  Bishop."     The      J_   ' 
Mission,  however,  has  already  been  introduced,  and 
its    history  sketched  through  "tliirty   years  ;  ■'•=   and  in 
this  chapter  we  have  to  do  principally  with  its  relations  to  the 
Bishop  and  the  Colon  v. 

Reference  has  already  been  made  to    the    troul)le   caused  l)y  "Xl^yn 
runaway  convicts  and  other  reckless  and  unprincipled  people  who  New  ica- 
settled  near  some  of  the  Mission  stations,  set  up  scores  of  grog-  ^"  • 
shops,  and  tempted  the  Native  women  into  sin.     The  evil  grew  so 
rapidly  that  in  1833  Government  sent  out  a  Resident,  Mr.  Busby, 
to  keep  order.     But  the  Consul  had  no  force  behind  him,  and  his 
"  moral  suasion  "  was  simplv  disregarded  and  laughed  at.     Then 
as  news  reached   England  of  a  l)eautiful  country  with  a  healthy 
climate  being  now   accessible,  and  of  the  once-ferocious  Natives 
having  been  tamed  by  the  missionaries,  the  rush  of  settlers  began. 
A  New  Zealand  Association  was  formed,  which  sought  parliamen- 
tary powers  for  regular  colonization.    This  scheme  was  opposed  l)y  c.ivi.^s.^ 
the  Church  Missionary  Society,  Dandeson  Coates  throwing  all  his  coioniza- 
great  energy  and  ability  into  the  struggle.     It  is  easy  now  to  see  tion. 
that  opposition  in  such  a  case  was  hopeless,  and  therefore  in- 
expedient ;  but   the    Committee   had   before   them    the   cases    of 
aborigines   elsewliere,    wlio    had    been    liarbarously   treated    by 
colonists,  driven  from  tlieir  lands,  and  mercilessly  slaughtered,  as 

*  III  Cliiiptor.s  XVI.  and  XXIV. 


428 


New  Zealand: 


Part  V. 

1841 -i8. 
Chap.  28. 

C.M.S. 
petition  to 
Parlia- 
ment. 


New  Zea- 
land Land 
Company. 


New  Zea- 
land 

becomes'a 
British 
Colony, 


through 
influence 
of  mis- 
sionaries. 


in  the  old  American  Colonies,  in  the  West  Indies,  in  South  Africa, 
and  in  Australia,  and  they  resolved  to  tight  for  those  whom  they 
naturally  now  regarded  as  their  Maori  children.  Their  petition 
to  the  House  of  Commons  in  1838  gives  a  striking  account  of 
the  external  results  of  the  Mission.  ,  It  mentions  the  thirty-two 
agents,  the  2500  Natives  in  the  congregations,  the  1500  in  school, 
the  wide  observance  of  the  Lord's  Day,  the  reduction  of  the 
language  to  writing,  the  Bible  translations,  the  printing-press,  the 
farm,  the  water-mill,  the  introduction  into  the  island  of  cattle  and 
sheep  and  horses,  also  of  new  plants  and  seeds,  the  influence  of 
the  Mission  in  checking  war  and  cannibalism,  &c.,  &c. 

The  opposition  was  successful,  and  the  bill  was  defeated  ;  but  a 
new  body  came  into  existence,  the  New  Zealand  Land  Company, 
which  proceeded,  without  a  charter,  to  send  emigrants  out,  and 
agents  to  purchase  land  from  the  Natives.  The  people  thus  sent 
out  were  mostly  respectable  labourers,  and  upon  the  whole  this 
branch  of  the  colonization  was  fairly  well  conducted.  The  southern 
districts  of  the  North  Island  principally  were  selected,  and  the 
present  capital  of  New  Zealand,  Wellington,  was  founded  by 
the  Company's  colonists.  The  testimony  of  Colonel  Wakefield 
— a  famous  name  in  New  Zealand  history, — who  was  the  chief 
agent,  to  the  character  of  the  Maoris  in  those  districts,  is  very 
striking : — 

"  The  whole  of  the  Native  population  of  this  place  profess  the  Christian 
religion,  and  though  there  are  no  missionaries  among  them,  they  are 
strict  in  the  performance  of  their  religious  exercises.  As  is  to  be 
expected,  they  are  but  imperfectly  acquainted  with  the  doctrines  of 
Christianity,  and  are  superstitious  in  many  of  their  observances.  But, 
compared  with  what  they  must  have  been  before — and  this  is  obviously 
the  true  standard  of  comparison — the  improvement  effected  by  their 
conversion  to  Christianity  is  most  striking."  * 

The  annexation  of  New  Zealand  to  the  British  Dominions  now 
became  an  absolute  necessity  if  law  and  order  were  to  prevail ;  and 
in  1840,  Government  sent  out  Captain  Hobson,  R.N.,  to  negotiate 
with  the  Maori  chiefs  for  the  establishment  of  the  Queen's 
supremacy  over  them.  They  were  very  reluctant  to  surrender 
any  of  their  rights ;  but  they  trusted  the  missionaries,  and  on 
Henry  Williams  assuring  them  that  in  no  other  way  could  they  be 
protected  from  the  immigrants,  they  entered  into  the  negotiation. 
The  French  Eomish  priests  used  all  possible  influence  to  get  them 
to  refuse ;  but  in  the  end  the  famous  Treaty  of  Waitangi  was 
signed,  on  February  6th,  1840,  by  forty-six  chiefs.  More  than  four 
hundred  others  in  all  parts  of  the  country  afterwards  signed,  chiefly 
through  the  instrumentality  of  H.  Williams,  who  travelled  for 
three  months  to  interview  all  the  tribes.  The  New  Zealand 
Company's  agents,  who  were  at  Wellington,  were  very  angry, 
regarding  the  treaty  as  impeding  their  proceedings.     It  contained 

*  Quoted  in  Bishop  W.  Williams's  Christianiti/  among  the  Nciv  Zcalanders, 
p.  272. 


77/ A-  Bishop^  the  Coi.oxv^  and  r/fE  Missiox  429 

three  ailiclcs,  (1)  ceding  to  the  Queen   full   sovereignty  over  the    Part  V. 
ishinds,  (t2)  guaranteeing  to  the  various  tribes  all  territorial  rights,    |!^"*^~1^' 
with  the  right  of  pre-emption  of  lands  reserved  to  the  Crown;  (3)       ^^^' 
extending  to  the  Natives  the  rights  of  British  subjects.    In  an  official 
letter  Captain  Hohson   warmly  acknowledged  the  "  efficient  and 
valuable  support,"  the  "  very  zealous  and  effective  assistance,"  of 
the  missionaries,  in  bringing  the  negotiation  to  a  happy  conclusion. 
The     Government    then     formally    proclaimed    New    Zealand    a 
British  Colony,  and  nominated  Captain  Hobson  the  first  Governor  ; 
and  he  at  once  appointed  one  of  the  C.M.S.  lay  agents,  Mr.  George 
Clarke,  to  the  office  of  Protector  of  the  Aborigines. 

The  way  was  now  clear,  as  before  explained,  for  the  estaljlish-  Bishop 
ment  of  a  bishopric ;  and  in  due  course  arrived  the  Bishop  arrives" 
introduced  in  the  preceding  chapter.  On  ]\Iay  30th,  1842,  Selwyn 
landed  at  Auckland,  the  infant  capital,  and  on  Sunday,  June  5th,  he 
preached  in  the  court-house,  for  lack  of  a  church,  on  the  words  of 
Ps.  cxxxix.  9, 10,  "  If  I  take  the  wings  of  the  morning,  and  dwell  in 
the  uttermost  parts  of  the  sea  ;  even  there  shall  Thy  hand  lead  me." 
In  the  afternoon,  to  the  astonishment  of  all,  he  conducted  a  sen'ice 
in  the  Maori  tongue,  so  quickly  had  he  learned  it  while  on  his 
voyage  out.  A  few  days  after,  he  sailed  northwards  for  the  Bay 
of  Islands,  and  on  the  evening  of  June  20th,  after  dark,  Henry 
Williams,  while  teaching  his  Bible-class  at  Paihia,  had  a  card  brought 
to  him  bearing  these  words,  "  T]\a  Bishoj)  of  New  Zealand  on 
the  beach."  Hurrying  down,  Williams  found  Selwyn  and  one  of 
his  clergy  dragging  up  a  boat,  having  steered  their  course  to  the 
shore  by  a  pocket-compass.  The  Bishop  quickly  charmed  every- 
body. "  I  am  quite  afraid,"  wrote  Henry  Williams,  "  to  say  how 
delighted  I  am." 

Selwyn    himself  was    not  less  pleased.     "  I  have  imbibed,"  he  Seiwyn 
wrote  to  the  Society,  "  the  strongest  regard  for  the  Native  people,  wffh  the 
and  a  very  high  regard  and  esteem  for  the  members  of  the  Mission  Mission 
in  general."     And  in  a  private  letter, — "  I  am  much  pleased  with 
the  missionary  clergymen  whom  I  have  seen  here.     They  seem  to 
be  veiy  zealous  and  able  ministers,  and  I  think  myself  happy  in 
having  under  me  a  body  in  whom  I  shall  see  so  much  to  commend 
and  so  little  to  reprove.     The  state  of  the  ^Mission  is  really  wonder- 
fully good."  ■■'•     On  June  26th,  he  preached  a  sermon  at  Paihia  in 
which  occur  his  oft-quoted  and  memorable  words  : — 

"  Christ  has  blessed  the  work  of  His  ministers  in  a  wonderful  manner.  His 
We  see  here   a  whole   nation   of  paijans   converted   to  the  faith.     God  rnemorable 
has  given  a  new  licart  and  a  new  spirit  to  tlionsand.s  after  thousands  ,,f  t^s^"^°"y- 
our  fellow-creatures  in  this  distant  (piarter  of  tlie  earth.     A  few  faithful 
iiion.  by  the  ]>ower  of  tlie  Spirit  of  Ooch  liavi'  l)een  tlie  means  of  adding 
another   Clnistian   people   to  the  family  of   (>od.  .   .  .  Young  men  and 
maidens,  old  men  and  children,  all  with  one  heart  and  one  voice  praising 
God;    all    ottering  up    daily   their   morning  and    evening    prayers:    all 

*  Curtcis's  Life  of  Selwyn,  p.  53. 


43©  New  Zealand: 

Part  V.  searching  the  Scriptures,  to  find  the  way  of  eternal  life ;  all  valuing  the 
1841-48.  Word  of  God  above  every  other  gift ;  all  in  a  greater  or  less  degree 
Chap.  28.   bringing  forth,  and  visibly  displaying  in  their  outward  lives  some  fruits 

of  the  influences  of  the  Spirit.   .  .  .  Where  will  you  find,  throughout  the 

Christian  world,  more  signal  manifestations  of  the  presence  of  the  Spirit, 
or  more  living  evidences  of  the  Kingdom  of  Christ  'i  "  * 

Seiwyn  at        The  Bishop  took  up  his  residence  at  Waimate,  in  the  north   of 
Waimate.    ^^^^    Noi'th    Island,  that  his    headquarters   might  be  among  the 
Maoris,  rather  than  at  Auckland,  which  was  the  seat  of  Govern- 
ment, or  at   Wellington,   which    belonged  to  the  Company    and 
where  there  was  a  growing  population  of  settlers.     He  occupied 
one  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society's  houses ;  and  hard  by  he 
started  "  St.  John's  College,"  for  the  training  of  both  English  and 
Maori  divinity  students.     Here,  within  a  few  months,  died  one  of 
the   men   who  had  come  from  England  with  him,  the  Eev.  T. 
Whytehead,  Fellow  of  St.  John's,  Cambridge,  whom  he  looked  to 
being  his  right  hand,  and  the  loss  of  whom  he  deeply  felt.     Here, 
on  February  23rd,  1843,  he  held  his  first  confirmation,  laying  his 
hands  on   325  Maoris:   "and   a  more  orderly  and  I  hope    more 
impressive  service,"  he  wrote,  "  could  not  have  been  conducted  in 
He  ordains  any    churcli  in  England."     Here,    on    Trinity    Sunday,    Eichard 
c.M.s.        Davis,  one  of  the  lay    catechists,   originally   a  young  farmer  in 
England,    was    ordained,    after    twenty    years'  faithful  and   un- 
interrupted  service  ;  and  on  SeiDtember  24th,  S.  M.   Spencer,  a 
new  arrival,  originally  an  American.!     In  the  following  year  he 
ordained    five    other    of    the    Society's   lay   agents,    J.    Hamlin, 
T.  Chapman,  W.  Colenso,  J.  Matthews,  and  C.   P.  Davies.     He 
appointed  Alfred  N.  Brown  to  be  Archdeacon  of  Tauranga,  and 
He  ap-        William  Williams  to  be  Archdeacon  of  Waiapu.     Of  the  latter  he 
P°l'i'o         wrote,  in  a  letter  to  the  S.P.G.,  "  He  is  a  man  universally  beloved, 
men  Arch-  and  ouc  wdio,  during  twenty  years  of  residence  in  a  savage  country, 
deacons,      j^^g  j^^g^.  nothing  of  that  high  tone  of  feeling  which  distinguishes 
the  best  class    of    English  clergymen."     And,  a  little  later,  he 
appointed  Henry  Williams  Archdeacon  of  Waimate.     With  untir- 
ing energy  he  travelled  over  the  whole  country,  either  on  foot,  or 
coasting  in  miserable  trading  schooners.     Concerning  the  latter  he 
only  said  that  a  Government  brig  w^hich  brought  a  new  governor 
was  "  a  floating  palace  "  in  comparison.     "  He  has  laboured  hard," 
wrote  Henry  Williams,  "  and  set  us  a  noble  examjDle.     He  does  the 
work  of  the  best  two  missionaries  I  have  ever  knowai."     His  very 
His  first  visitation,  in  1842-3,  lasted  six  months,  in  wdiich  he  travelled 

journeys.     752  milcs  ou  foot,  86  on  horscback,  249  in  canoes  or  boats,  and 
1180  in  ships  ;  total  2277  miles.]:      "  When  I  form  my  plan  for  the 

*  This  is  a  longer  extract  than  has  been  published  for  many  years.  It 
is  partly  from  the  C.M.S.  Report  of  1843,  and  partly  from  Carleton's  Life 
of  Henri/  Willi(i)ni<,  vol.  ii.  p.  58.  It  is  entii-ely  omitted  in  both  Tuckei-'s  and 
Curteis's  Lives  of  Selwyii ;  but  part  of  it  appears  in  Dean  Jacobs's  Church 
History  of  Neiu  Zealand,  and  one  sentence  of  it  in  Tucker's  Emjlisli  Church 
in  01  her  Lands. 

t  Who  died  April  30th,  1898.  t  Life  of  Bishop)  Selmjn,  vol.  i.  chap.  5. 


The  Bishop,  the  Colony,  and  the  Mission  431 

summer,"  wrote  the  Bishop  himself,  "  T  write  down  all  the  days    \^l^ 
in  mv  journal,  with  '  D.v.'  against  the  name  of  the  place  which  I  ^^^^^  ^g. 

hope  to  reach  on  that  day.     If  I  succeed,  I  add  a  '  d.g.,'  to  the      

name.     Almost    all    my    marks   of    'd.v.'    have   this    year   been 
changed  into  '  D.G.'"  Tvr-     • 

Everywhere  the  Bishop  found  the  happy  results  of  the  Mission. 
Of  one  Sunday  on  his  tour  he  wrote, — 

"We  enjoyed  another  peaceful  Sunday.  The  morning  opened  as  Among 
usual  with  the  morning  hymn  of  the  birds,  which  Captain  Cook  com-  ^^y^^ris^" 
pares  to  a  concert  of  silver  bells,  beginning  an  hour  before  the  sun  rises, 
and  ceasing  as  soon  as  it  appears  above  the  horizon.  When  the  song  of 
the  birds  ended,  the  sound  of  native  voices  round  our  tents  earned 
on  the  same  tribute  of  praise  and  thanksgiving  ;  while  audible  murmurs 
on  every  side  brought  to  our  ears  the  passages  of  the  liible  which  others 
were  reading  to  themselves.  I  have  never  felt  the  full  blessing  of  the 
Lord's  Day.  as  a  day  of  rest,  more  than  in  New  Zealand,  when,  after 
uncampiiif;"  late  on  Saturday  night  with  a  weary  party,  you  will  find 
them,  early  on  the  Sunday  mornin<(,  sitting  (luietly  round  their  fires, 
with  their  New  Testaments  in  their  hands."  * 

Even  where  old  tribal  feuds  were  ranging  professedly  Cliristian  Between 
Natives  in  hostile  camps,  their  religion  was  not  forgotten.     For  j.°^p| 
instance,  hearing  of  a  probable  war  between  two  tribes,  Selwyn 
hastened   (as  Henry  Williams  had  done  before  f )  to  the  place, 
and,  arriving   on    Saturday,  pitched   his   tent   between   the   two 
parties,  and  prevented  the  fighting  : — 

"  On  the  next  morning,  Sunday,  the  whole  valley  was  as  (juiet  as  in 
the  time  of  perfect  peace,  the  Natives  walking  about  unarmed  amongst 
the  cultivations,  it  beiiiij  perfectly  understood  that  neither  party  would 
fiyht  on  the  Lord's  Day.  Going  early  in  the  morning  to  one  of  theyyaAs, 
I'^found  the  chief  reading  prayers  to  his  people.  As  he  had  just  come  to 
the  end  of  the  Litany,  1  waited  till  he  had  concluded,  and  then  rea<l  the 
Communion  Service,  and  preached  to  them  on  part  of  the  lesson  of  the 
day,  'A  new  commandment  I  give  unto  you  that  ye  love  one  another.' 
I  spoke  my  opinion  openly,  but  without  giving  any  offence;  and  the 
chief,  after' the  service,  received  me  in  the  most  friendly  manner.' 

The  Mission  had  been  entirely  confined  to  the  North  Island, 
the  Maoris  being  few  and  scattered  in  the  others ;  but  when 
Selwyn  visited  tiie  coasts  of  the  ^Middle  Island,  and  even  the  in  the 
small  South  Island,  he  found  every  little  Native  settlement  pro-  ^^^^^l 
fessing  Christianity.  No  missionary  had  gone  there  ;  but  two 
voung^chiefs  from  Mr.  Hadfield's  station  at  Otaki  had  travelled 
southward  a  thousand  miles  in  an  open  boat  to  carry  the  Gospel 
to  them  all ;  and  the  Maoris  at  every  settlement  attributed  their 
conversion  to  these  two  zealous  volunteer  evangelists.  All  this 
while,  the  pages  of  the  CM.  Record  and  the  Missionary  Rcyister 
were  filled  with  the  most  touching  and  delightful  narratives  of 

*  From  Miss  Tucker's  Southern  Cross  and  Sout/nrn  Crown,  p.  231.  Other 
books  pive  pan  of  the  extract.  Lady  I^Iartiti  says  of  Wairnate,  "  It  was  (rraiul 
to  hear  the  people  repeat  the  respouses  all  to<,'ether  in  perfect  time.  It  was 
like  the  roar  of  waves  on  the  beach."— Owr  Mcwrif,  p.  34. 

I  See  p.  3.36. 


432  Ne w  Zeala nd  : 

Part  V.  conversions,  Christian  lives,  and  peaceful  deaths.  It  would  be 
] 841-48.  impossible  in  this  History  to  give  even  specimens  of  them  ;  "  but 
^^^' '  ■  no  Mission  in  any  part  of  the  world  has  witnessed  more  conspicuous 
illustrations  of  the  power  of  Divine  grace.  One  feature  of  the 
work,  however,  must  not  be  omitted,  so  strikingly  similar  is  it  to 
what  we  have  seen  in  recent  years  in  Uganda.  R.  Taylor,  one  of 
the  ablest  of  the  missionaries,  writes  as  follows  in  his  interesting 
book,  Fast  and  Present  in  Neio  Zealand  (p.  20)  : — 

Features  of      "  I  was  present  when  the  first  case  of  Maori  New  Testaments  sent  to 

Ch^?s-  Tauranga  arrived,  early  in  1839.     The  whole  stock  was  at  once  disposed 

tianity.        of.     One  man  said  he  had  now  a  telescope  on  board  his  ship  which  would 

enable  him  to  see  the  rocks  and  shoals  afar  off.     Old  men  of  seventy 

leai'ned  to  read ;  whenever  they  had  a  spare   moment,  they  might  be 

seen  clustering  round  some  one  who  was  reading." 

Then  of  his  own  Wanganui  district,  a  few  years  later  : — 

"  It  was  wonderful  to  see  how  many  could  read,  and  write  likewise. 
Every  day  generally  brought  its  Maori  mail,  with  letters  on  all  subjects : 
one  asking  for  books  or  medicine  ;  another  from  a  teacher,  giving  an 
accoinit  of  his  last  sermon,  and  the  heads  of  it,  asking  if  he  had  treated 
the  subject  properly :  some  inquiring  the  meaning  of  texts,  or  as  to  the 
right  line  of  conduct  inider  certain  circumstances." 

Taylor  also  mentions  that  many  could  read  a  book  upside  down, 
owing  to   their  habit  of  sitting  in  a  small  circle  with  a  book  open 
in  the  middle.     This  also  is  like  Uganda. 
Seiwyn's         Thus  all   began  happily  for  the  new  Bishop.     But  difficulties 
cutties^'     ^°°^^   arose    between   him    and   the    Society.     It   does   not  seem 
with  necessary  to  adjudge  blame  now.     It  would  be  easy  to  make  out 

■  ■  ■  a  case  against  the  missionaries,  or  against  the  Committee  at  home, 
or  against  Selwyn  himself.  In  fact,  difficulties  were  practically 
inevitable  in  the  circumstances.  They  would  arise  from  very 
small  causes.  Little  varieties  in  worship,  or  even  in  phraseology, 
are  always  apt  to  irritate.  A  good  deal  is  revealed  in  a  casual 
sentence  in  an  unpublished  letter  from  a  missionary,  that  the 
Natives  "  did  not  understand  the  Bishop's  fast-days  and  saints' 
days."  The  Bishop,  in  his  strict  observance  of  them,  was  only 
following  the  Church  rules  he  was  used  to ;  while  the  Maoris,  in 
the  simplicity  of  a  religion  whose  ecclesiastical  correctness  had 
been  confined  to  Sunday  observance  and  the  regular  use  of  the 
Prayer-book  in  its  plainer  outlines,  would  quite  naturally  be  per- 
plexed. But  in  fact  there  were  more  serious  causes  of  difference 
than  small  things  like  these.  The  Bishop  would  not  ordain  the 
About  English  lay  missionaries  unless  he  might  also  locate  them  without 
locations,  ^-eference  to  the  Society,  and  he  required  them  to  sign  a  pledge  to 
go  wherever  he  told  them  ;  and  as  this  would  have  been  contrarj^ 
to  the  procedure  arranged  with  the  Bishop  of  Calcutta  and 
embodied  in  the  "  H.  V."  document,!  the  Committee  would  not 
"  present  "  candidates  while  that  condition  was  insisted  on.     Here, 

*  See,  however.  Chapter  LXVII.  t  See  p.  423. 


The  BisHor^  the  Colony^  and  the  Mission         433 

again,  it  may  fairly  be  said  that  the  Bishop,  regarding  himself  as    Part  V. 
the  general  of  an  army,  would  naturally  expect  to  post  his  clergy    1^41-48. 
out    according  to  his   discretion  ;    while  on  the  other  hand  the     ^^^'"  ^^' 
Society  would  naturally  desire  to  work  its  Mission  on  its  own 
plans,  as  it  was  doing  in  other  parts  of  the  world.     The  Bishop, 
again  naturally,  preferred  the  S.P.G.   arrangements,  which  gave 
him   unconditional   grants   of  money  for  clergymen  of  his   own 
selection.    The  two  systems  are  both  legitimate  enough.    Both  have 
their  merits,   and  both   have  their  disadvantages.     Why  should 
it  be  necessary  to  criticize  either  Society  ?     The  difference  with  the 
C.M.S.  was  settled  l)y  the  formation  of  a  Central  Committee  of 
missionaries,  with  tlie  Bishop  as  chairman,  to  which  was  com- 
mitted   the    ordinary   arrangements   for  location,   subject    to    the 
control  of  the  Home  Committee  in  cases   affecting   the  general 
policy  of   the   Mission.     But   again,    when    the   men   had   been 
ordained  deacons,  this  still  left   large  districts  unprovided  with 
ministers  who  could  administer  the  Holy  Cominunion  ;  and  the  About  or- 
Bishop,  with  his  high  ideas  of  the  office  of  a  priest,  required  for  '^'"at'ons. 
ordination  to  it  a  more  advanced  scholarship  than  could  be  attained 
by  men  in  middle   life   who  had  been  labouring  for  years  as  lay 
agents  among  a  barbarous  people,  and  knew  a  great  deal  more  of 
Maori  than  of  Latin  or  Greek."     We  can  appreciate  the  Bishop's 
desire  to  maintain  the  standard  of  learning  among  his  presbyters, 
while  we  can  see  the   disadvantage    of   his   policy  in  an   infant 
Church  scattered  over  a  country  as  large  as  England  ;  a  policy 
which  not  only  limited  the  number  of  English  clergymen  in  full 
orders,  but  resulted  in  the  postponement  for  many  years  of  the  His  back- 
ordination  of  Maoris   even  to  the    diaconate.     Selwyn   was   ten  ,^^J^dTin^- 
years  in  his  diocese  before  admitting  an  English  deacon  to  priest's  ing  Maoris, 
orders  ;  eleven  years  before  ordaining  the  first  Maori  deacon ;  f 
twenty-four   years    before   giving  a  Maori    priest's  orders.     The 
dilemma  applies  to  all   successful  Missions.     You  cannot  main- 
tain   anything    like   an   English    standard    of    scholarship     for 
ordination,    and    at   the    same   time    provide    a    rapidly-growing 
Native    Church   with  clergy  who  are  either  of  the  Native  race 
themselves  or  at   least   fluent   in  its  language.     Bishop   Selwyn 
chose   one    alternative.     Other   bishops   have   chosen  the  other. 
It    is    always    a    difficult    task   to    steer    between    Scylla    and 
Charybdis. 

On  the  general  question  of  episcopal  authority  in  details,  the 

*  One  man  from  Sydney,  Mr.  Puckey,  was  never  even  ordained  deacon,  but 
laboured  faithfully  for  fifty-live  years  as  a  humble  lay  agent.  Yet  the  Bishop 
chose  him  as  one  of  a  Committee  of  four  to  revise  the  Maori  Prayer-book, 
because  of  his  intimate  knowledge  of  Maori  idiom. 

■j"  "  The  step  was  taken  Avith  small  encouragement  from  the  majority  of  the 
older  missionaries  "  {Lije  of  Sehuyn,  vol.  ii.  p.  19).  Pages  could  be  filled  with 
contemporary  letters  disproving  this  remark  ;  even  on  the  very  opposite  page 
of  the  same  work  is  a  letter  from  Ai-chdeacon  Abraham,  saying  that  "one  or 
two  of  the  Church  Mission  clergy  pressed  on  the  Bishop  very  much  the 
importance  of  making  a  beginning." 

VOL.  I.  F    f 


434  New  Zealand: 

Part  V.  missionaries  were  by  no  means  of  one  mind.  The  brothers 
1841-i8.  Wilhams,  and  Hadfield,  stood  very  much  by  the  Bishop.  Henry 
^^^"  "  ■  Wilhams,  it  is  true,  was  a  strong  Protestant :  he  was  at  this  time 
sending  home  to  his  brother-in-law,  E.  G.  Marsh,  subscriptions  to 
decidedly  combative  Protestant  societies  in  England  ;  -'=  but  as  an 
old  naval  officer  he  believed  in  authority  and  discipline,  and 
Selwyn  owed  more  to  him  than  he  ever  acknowledged  or  even 
knew.  But  some  of  the  laymen,  and  one  or  two  of  the  clerical 
missionaries,  complained  much  to  the  Home  Committee  ;  and  the 
Selwyn  result  was  that  when  the  Bishop  desired  to  rent  from  the  Society 
wafmate.  *^®  entire  mission  premises,  buildings  and  farm,  at  Waimate,  for 
his  own  puri^oses,  the  Committee  declined  to  divert  the  station 
from  its  previous  use.  Naturally,  again,  the  Society  incurred 
blame  for  this  ;  and  it  is  impossible  to  read  the  letters  of  the  period 
without  sympathizing  with  Selwyn  in  having  to  move  from  the 
spot  which  had  been  his  headquarters  for  two  years,  and  where 
his  college  had  been  started.  At  the  same  time,  the  Committee 
could  hardly  be  expected  to  view  with  favour  the  transformation 
of  the  most  important  C.M.S.  station  in  New  Zealand,!  in  the 
midst  of  a  host  of  Native  Christians  who  were  the  fruit  of  the 
Mission,  into  a  kind  of  ecclesiastical  collegiate  establishment  with 
a  tone  and  colour  quite  different  from  the  tone  and  colour  of  a 
C.M.S.  Mission.  How  would  the  Cowley  Fathers  have  liked 
Mr.  Pennefather  and  his  Mildmay  Institutions  to  be  set  down  in 
their  midst  at  Poona  ?  \ 

So  it  came  to  pass  that  in  1844  Bishop  Selwyn  accepted  from 
the  Society,  as  a  sort  of  "compensation  for  disturbance,"  one  of 
the  two  mission  schooners,  the  Flying  Fish  (which  proved  very 
useful  to  him),^;  and  moved  to  Auckland,  the  rising  seat  of  Govern- 
ment. He  established  his  headquarters,  and  St.  John's  College, 
at  Tamaki,  four  miles  from  the  town  ;  where  the  exquisite  chapel 
associated  with  himself  and  Bishop  Patteson  so  deeply  interests 
the  visitor  to-day.  The  move  proved  to  be  really  very  much  to 
his  advantage ;  for  within  six  months  of  his  leaving  Waimate,  the 
mission  premises  there  were  occupied  by  troops,  and  some  of  the 
buildings  were  burnt  down.  A  punishment  on  the  C.M.S.  !  says 
some  one.  Well;  but  Waimate  revived  again  immediately,  and 
amid  all  the  wars  and  apostasies  and  miseries  of  subsequent 
history  it  never  again  saw  an  armed  force.  It  has  remained  ever 
since  a  centre  of  peaceful  Christian  work. 

*  Life  of  H.  Williams,  vol.  ii.  p.  76. 

f  In  1844  there  were,  at  this  station,  a  central  church,  and  twelve" small 
chapels  in  neighbouring  villages ;  total  average  congregations,  1000  Maori 
Christians  ;  communicants,  380 ;  24  schools,  with  720  scholars  ;  baptisms  in. 
the  year,  adults  252,  children  99.  There  were  40  acres  of  wheat,  and  180 
sheep  ;  and  the  flour-mill  yielded  48,000  lbs.  of  flour. 

t  This,  of  course,  is  only  an  illustration.  It  is  not  meant  to  suggest  that 
Bishojj  Selwyn's  views  and  ways  were  those  of  the  Cowley  Fathers  j  nor  yet 
that  the  C.M.S.  missionaries  were  of  precisely  Mildmay  type. 

§  Life  of  Selieyn,  vol.  i.  p.  187. 


The  Bishop^   the  Colony^  and  the  Mission  435 

Captain  Hobson  had  died  in  1848,  and  was  succeeded  by  Captain  Part  V. 
Fitzroy,  R.N.,  an  excellent  man  and  good  friend  to  the  Mission.  1841-48. 
His  appointment  was  a  happy  response  to  the  following  delightful  ^^^P-  ^'^^ 
letter  from  the  head  chief  of  one  of  the  tribes  : —  Ma^~ 

appeal  to 

"  Good  Lady  Victoria,— How  farest  thou  ?  Great  is  my  love  to  you.  the  Queen, 
who  are  residing  in  your  country.  My  subject  is,  a  Governor  for  us  and 
the  foreigners  of  this  Island.  Let  him  be  a  good  man.  Look  out  for  a 
good  man— a  man  of  judgment.  Let  not  -a  troubler  come  here.  Let 
not  a  boy  come  here,  or  one  pufted  up  with  pride.  AVe,  the  New 
Zealanders,  shall  be  afraid.  Let  him  be  as  good  as  this  Governor  who 
has  just  died.  Mother  Victoria,  let  your  instructions  to  the  foreigner 
be  good.  Let  him  be  kind.  Let  him  not  come  here  to  kill  us,  seeino- 
that  we  are  peacealjle.  Formerly  we  were  a  bad  people,  a  murdering 
people  :  now  we  are  sitting  peaceably.  We  have  left  off  the  evil.  It  was 
you  appointed  this  line  of  conduct,  and  therefore  it  is  good  to  us. 
Mother,  be  kind. 

"  From  me, 

"  Werowero." 

All  this  time,  the  relations  between  the  colonists  and  the  Maoris  Colonists 
were  becoming  more  and  more  strained.  Disputes  about  pur-  Maoris : 
chases  of  land  were  incessant ;  and  the  commissioners  appointed  "lo^e 
to  see  justice  done  found  the  native  customs  of  tenure  exceedingly  '^''^''"'^'^^• 
complicated,  while  the  Maoris  fretted  at  the  consequent  delays. 
Then  some  of  the  settlers  whose  unprincipled  designs  were  thwarted 
by  the  Treaty  of  Waitangi  tried  to  prejudice  the  Maoris  against  the 
Treaty  and  to  stir  them  up  to  disloyalty.  Drink  and  immoraliliv, 
too,  were  bringing  the  inevitable  misery  and  bloodshed  in  the'ir 
train.  "  The  influence  of  the  immoral  Enghsh  living  in  the  land," 
wrote  the  Bishop,  "is  the  greatest  difficulty  I  have  to  contend 
with  ;  as  the  Natives  continually  object  to  me  the  lives  and  conduct 
of  my  own  countrymen."  -  The  evil  was  enhanced  by  the 
prosperity  caused  by  the  sudden  and  large  demand  for  labour,  n,nd 
the  ready  market  and  high  prices  for  produce  to  be  obtained  at 
Auckland  and  Wellington.  But  it  is  touching  to  find  the  Christian 
Maoris  who  were  engaged  in  the  growing  traffic  doing  their  best  to 
keep  out  of  the  way  of  ungodly  Europeans.  In  this  they  wej-e 
assisted  at  Auckland  by  Mr.  (afterwards  Sir  W.)  Martin,  the  Chief 
Justice,  and  Mr.  Swainson,  the  Attorney-General,  who  put  up  hnts 
round  their  own  dwellings,  where  the  converts  could"  sojourn  in 
peace  and  engage  in  daily  worship  according  to  their  custom. f 
But  all  Englishmen  wdio  befriended  the  Maoris  became  unpopu- 
lar with  the  bulk  of  the  settlers ;  and  most  unpopular  of  all  were 
the  missionaries,  especially  the  Bishop  and  Archdeacon  Henrv 
Williams.  "You  will  not  be  deeply  affected,"  wrote  Selwyn, 
"  by  the  report  of  my  unpopularity.  The  real  subject  of  grief  is 
the  injury  done  to  religion  by  the  un-Christian  feelings  and 
language  which  many  permit  and  justify  in  themselves." 

*  Curteis's  Lije  of  Bishop  Selwyv,  p.  73. 
t  Southerji  Cross  a)id  a^outhern  Crocii,  >i  228. 
F   f   2 


436 


New  Zealand: 


Part  V. 
1841-48. 
Chap.  28. 

The  first 
outbreaks. 


Heke's 
War. 


Forbear- 
ance of 
Maoris. 


Henry 

Williams 

misjudged, 


At  last  outbreaks  occurred.  In  the  south,  the  accidental 
shooting  of  a  Maori  woman  led  to  a  massacre  of  white  men  by 
still  heathen  Natives  by  way  of  reprisal,  amid  shouts  from  the 
chiefs  of  ' '  Farewell  the  light !  Farewell  the  day  !  Come  hither 
night !  "  and  in  the  north,  a  warlike  chief  named  Heke  cut  down 
the  flagstaff  at  the  settlement  of  Kororareka  as  a  protest  against 
British  rule.  This  latter  incident  led  to  a  little  local  war  ;  and  it  is 
noteworthy  that  Heke  was  finally  defeated  by  the  English  troops 
through  their  attacking  his  fortified  ixili  on  a  Sunday,  while  his 
men  inside  were  engaged  in  Christian  worship.  Moreover,  when 
the  Maoris  captured  and  burnt  the  town  of  Kororareka  (March, 
1845)  they  behaved  with  a  forbearance  that  would  have  done 
credit  to  European  troops,  and  was  in  striking  contrast  to  their 
own  customs  only  a  few  years  before.  The  Bishop  thus  described 
it  :— 

"  Two  officers  captured  and  sent  back  unhurt ;  one  woman  taken  and 
sent  back  with  an  escort  under  a  flag  of  truce  ;  the  bodies  of  the  slain 
respected ;  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  allowed  to  land  during  the 
plunder  and  take  away  such  portions  of  their  property  as  they  wished. 
.  .  .  The  wounded  and  the  women  and  children  allowed  to  embark 
without  molestation  ;  after  the  explosion  of  the  fortified  house,  the 
whole  force  sufi'ered  to  retreat  on  board  the  ships  without  a  shot  being 
fired ;  guards  placed  to  protect  the  houses  of  the  English  clergyman  and 
the  French  bishop." 

But  th(>  respect  paid  by  the  insurgents  to  the  missionaries  only 
made  the  latter  more  suspected  by  the  colonists  and  by  others. 
Lieutenant  Philpotts,  a  son  of  the  famous  Bishop  of  Exeter,  "to 
whose  hasty  and  ill-judged  order  to  fire  upon  the  town  the 
disasters  at  Kororareka  appear  to  have  been  in  a  great  measure 
due,"'''  called  Archdeacon  Henry  Williams  "Traitor"  to  his 
face,  when,  at  the  risk  of  his  own  life,  the  Archdeacon  was 
conveying  the  wounded  captain  of  the  ship  from  the  shore  in  a 
boat.  The  lieutenant  was  killed  in  the  same  war ;  and  Williams, 
again  at  personal  risk,  went  into  the  native  jyali,  and  though  not 
allowed  to  take  away  the  body,  cut  off  a  lock  of  the  dead  man's 
hair  and  sent  it  to  his  friends.!  Higher  officers  thought  differently 
of  the  Archdeacon.  Governor  Fitzroy,  who  had  laboured  hard  in 
the  cause  of  peace  and  justice,  indignantly  repudiated  the  charge 
of  treachery  which  some  were  copying  the  lieutenant  in  suggesting, 
and  called  Williams  "the  tried,  the  proved,  the  loyal,  the  inde- 
fatigable." :[  And  no  wonder;  for  Williams  and  his  brethren 
undoubtedly  saved  the  Colony  from  destruction.  At  one  point 
of  Heke's  War  tlie  British  troops  were  defeated  with  heavy  loss, 
and  for  some  months  the  white  settlements  were  practically 
defenceless.  The  excitement  among  the  Maoris  was  great ;  and 
they  could  easily  have  overwhelmed  by  the  mere  force  of  numbers 
the  scattered  and  discouraged  colonists.    What  was  it  that  warded 

*  Dean  Jacobs,  Ch^irch  Hisiory  of  New  Zealand,  p.  137. 

t  Ihid.,  p.  138.  X  Life  of  H.  Williams,  vol.  ii.  p.  106. 


The  Bishop^   the  Colony^  and  the  Mission  437 

otf  so  disastrous  a  stroke?    It  was  Christianity.    Tlie  same  gentle,    Part  V. 
unobtrusive,  yet  powerful  influence  which  prepared  New  Zealand    1841-48. 
for  colonization,  preserved  the  infant  settlements  from  destruction.  ^^'^P-  ^8. 
The   missionaries  unceasingly  exerted  themselves  to  tranquillize 
the  various  chiefs ;  strongly  tempted  as  they  were  to  join   Heke, 
they  remained    loyal   to   the  Queen   and  to  the    Church ;  Heke 
was    left    alone,   and   was  easily   crushed    when    reinforcements 
arrived. 

Peace  was  restored  ;  but  the  little  war  had  called  the  attention  ^ew  Zea- 
of  the  British  Parliament  to  New  Zealand,  and  a  Select  Com-  in'paHia-'^^ 
mittee,  presided  over  by  Lord  Howick,  pronounced,  by  a  majority  '"^"*- 
of  one,  against  the   Treaty  of   Waitangi,   to  the  dismay  of  the 
Church  Missionary  Society,  the  Bishop,  the  Governor,  and  all 
who  valued  the  cause  of  fair  and  truthful  dealings  with  the  Maoris. 
The   Society  made  a  strong  protest  to  Lord  Stanley  (afterwards 
the   Earl  of  Derby,  and  Premier),  then  Colonial  Secretary;   and 
he  practically  threw  over  the  Select  Committee's  Eeport.     But 
Fitzroy  was  recalled,  and  Captain  (afterwards  Sir)  George  Grey 
sent  out  as    Governor.      England  has  never  had  an  abler  pro- 
consul in  her  colonies  than  Sir  George  Grey,  and  to  this  day  he  Siro. 
is  justly  honoured.     But  he  began  unfortunately  in  New  Zealand.  ^^^^' 
He  came  at  once  under  the  influence  of  the  New  Zealand  Com- 
pany, reversed  many  of  the  best  acts  of  his  predecessor,   gave 
credence  to  the  jealous  and  bitter  accusations  brought  against  the 
missionaries,  and  charged  them — especially  Henry  Williams — with 
being   the    real   cause  of  Heke's    War.      He   indited  a   "  secret 
despatch  "  to  Mr.  Gladstone,  who  had  succeeded  Lord  Stanley 
as  Secretary  for  the   Colonies,  embodying  this  and  other  serious 
charges  against  them. 

In  the  very  month  when  this  despatch  was  written,  June,  1846, 
Peel  went  out  of  office  ;  the  Whigs  came  in  under  Lord  John 
Eussell ;  and  the  Colonial  Office  was  given  to  Earl  Grey,  the  very  Eari  Grey's 
Lord  Howick  who  had  carried  in  the  Select  Conmiittee  the  con-  pouiy"^ 
demnation  of  the  Treaty  of  Waitangi.  He  at  once  proceeded  to 
carry  out  his  own  views  and  those  of  the  New  Zealand  Company. 
A  new  Charter  for  the  Colony  was  sent  out,  with  certain  famous 
Instructions  appended,  which  virtually  took  the  greater  part  of 
the  lands  that  belonged  to  the  Native  tribes  and  were  guaranteed 
to  them  by  the  Treaty  of  Waitangi,  and  made  them  Crown  lands, 
saleable  to  the  highest  bidder  for  the  profit  of  the  State.  Details, 
of  course,  cannot  be  explained  here ;  but  this  description  is 
substantially  correct.  The  right-minded  part  of  the  colonist 
community  w^ere  aghast  ;  the  Chief  Justice,  the  Bishop,  the 
missionaries,  all  protested ;  Archdeacon  H.  Williams  declared 
that  the  Instructions  gave  the  lie  to  all  his  assurances  to  the 
chiefs  which  had  induced  them  to  acknowledge  the  Queen's 
sovereignty  ;  and  the  Bishop  said  he  would  no  longer  be  identified 
with  the  Government  by  taking  a  salary  from  them.  Mr.  Joseph 
Hume,  the    economist  M.P.,   called   him  a    "turbulent  priest." 


438  New  Zealand  : 

Part  V.  Lord  Grey,  indeed,  sent  him  out  a  personal  complimentary 
cf^^~28  ™®^^^g®'  ^^^^^  ^6  wrote,  "I  would  rather  he  cut  me  in  pieces 
lap^  .  1^]^^^  induced  me  by  compliments  to  resign  the  Natives  to  the 
tender  mercies  of  men  who  avow  the  right  to  take  their  land,  and 
who  would  not  scruple  to  use  force  for  that  purpose."  -■'  He  and 
the  missionaries,  however,  did  their  best  to  reassure  the  alarmed 
Maoris,  and  thus  averted  another  war ;  and  Governor  Grey  found 
himself  obliged  to  let  the  Instructions  lie  dormant,  and  not  act 
upon  them  at  all. 

Meanwhile,  the  action  of  Governor  Grey  and  Earl  Grey  in 
another  matter  brought  fresh  and  serious  trouble  upon  the 
Mission ;  which  brings  us  to  the  Missionary  Lands  Question. 

The  Lands      The   question  arose  in  this  way.     The  New  Zealand  Mission 
Question.    ^^^.^^  from    the  first  in  a   totally  different  position  from  those  in 
tropical  countries,    in    that   the    climate    was    one    in  which  the 
missionaries  might  expect  to  live  in  health  without  furloughs  in 
England,  and  in  which  their  families  could  be  brought  up  with 
a  view  to  the  permanent  settlement  of  succeeding  generations. 
It  will  have    been  seen  from  previous  chapters  in  this  History 
that  even  in  India  and  Africa  a   considerable  proportion  of  the 
early    missionaries    lived    and    died    in    their    fields    of    labour 
without  ever  coming  home ;    but,  except  in  very  few  cases,  they 
could  not  settle  their  children  there.     New  Zealand  was  different. 
^o^JTid        ^^^^   Society,    indeed,    undertook   to    care    for    such    children    as 
mis-  might  be  sent  home  ;   but  the  parents  very  reasonably  preferred 

rn°New^      to   bring   them    up   there.     Then   the   healthy   climate   and  the 
educate^      temperate  habits  of  the   missionaries  naturally   resulted   in   the 
and  pro-      rearing  of  large  families  ;  and  this  proved  a  great  advantage  to 
thli/"*^       the   rising   Colony,    providing   it   with   young   men   and   women 
children?    brought   up   Under    Christian   infiuence    and   teaching,    many   of 
whom    came    in    after    years    to    be    in    the   front   rank    of   the 
colonial  population.     The  Williams  families,  in  particular,  have 
grown    in    seventy   years    into    quite    a    clan,   and    many   of   the 
members  are  now  amongst    the    most   highly   respected   in    the 
country  and  the  Church.     But  how  were  the  children  provided 
for  in  the  first  instance  ?     The  Society,  according  to  its  practice, 
made  small  allowances  for  them  during  childhood ;    but  as  the 
boys  grew  up,  how  were  they  to  be  occupied '?     A  few  became 
mission  teachers  and  ultimately  missionaries ;    but  naturally  the 
majority  needed  secular  occupation.     Trades  and  professions  had 
little  opening  in  the  early  days ;    but  the  vast  stretches  of  un- 
cleared  land  invited  the    industrious    settler   and   farmer.      The 
Settle  them  natural   and  the  right    course    was    to   place    the    young   people 
iTnd!^         upon  the  land  ;  and   the  land  had  to  be  bought  from  the   Maori 
owners.     At    this  point,   rather  than    copy  from  the   statements 
on  the  subject  from  time  to  time  put  forth  by  the  Society,  it  will 

*  Lije  of  Bishop  Sehuyn,  vol.  i.  p.  275. 


The  Bishop^   the  Colony^  and  the  Mission'         439 

be  well  simply  to  extract  the  explanation  by  an  impartial  writer,    Part  Y. 
Dean  Jacobs  :  ■•'■ —  1841-48. 

Crmp.  28. 

'^  Who  shall  say  that  [the  parents]  were  blaine\vc)rthy  if . . .  in  preference       

to  seeking  for  their  sons  any  chance  employment  that  might  be  found  in 
the  vitiated  atmosphere  of  the  irregular  settlements  that  fringed  the 
coasts,  they  desired  to  settle  them  upon  the  land,  and  train  them  up  as 
useful  colonists,  practical  teachers,  and  patterns  of  civilization  to  the 
surrounding  Natives  ?     Had  they  taken  advantage  of  their  position  and  Did  the 
influence  to  possess  themselves  of  an  exorbitant  quantity  of  land,  they  ^'ig|'°"" 
might  well  be  deemed  deserving  of  censure  ;  but  if  the  amount  acquired  defraud  the 
by   them   seemed   large   in   the   aggregate,  it   was  simply  because  the  Natives? 
families  of  the  missionaries  had  so  increased  as  to  form  no  inconsiderable 
portion  of  the  community.     In  1844  the  families  numbered  twelve,  and 
the  children  [and  granH  children]  one  hundred  and  twenty.     It  should 
be  borne  in  mind  also  that  the  missionary  purchases  were  made  at  a 
time  when  the  colonization  of  New  Zealand  was  not  dreamt  of. 

"  But  what  was  the  case  in  New  South  Wales  ?  There,  in  an  already 
thriving  colony,  we  find  that  no  lands  were  purchased  by  the  clergy ; 
but  that  was  for  a  very  sufficient  reason  :  the  Government  made  a  free 
grant  to  its  chaplains  of  land  at  the  average  rate  of  IHOO  acres  for  each 
child — a  very  much  larger  amount  than  was  ever  claimed  by  any  mis- 
sionary in  New  Zealand,  and  very  nearly  double  the  quantity  unanimously 
awarded  by  the  council  under  Governor  Fitzroy  to  the  Rev.  Henry 
Williams. 

"  If,  again,  they  had  abused  their  opportunities  to  acquire  land  at  an 
unfair  price,  they  would  have  been  entitled  to  no  mercy.  But  so  far 
from  this  being  the  case,  it  was  proved  upon  inquiry  that  they  gave  for 
their  land  more  than  thirteen  times  as  much  as  the  agents  of  the 
Government  gave  at  a  later  period,  when,  owing  to  colonization,  land 
had  grown  in  value  ;  and  no  less  than  eighty  times  as  much  as  was  given 
by  the  New  Zealand  Company.  Neither  was  the  land  they  purchased 
specially  good  ;  it  was  mostly  bush  land,  which  had  been  cultivated  and 
abandoned  by  its  original  possessors,  as  supposed  to  have  been  worked 
out.  Besides  all  this,  it  must  be  added  that  in  no  solitary  instance  did 
the  Natives  complain  of  being  unfairly  dealt  with  by  the  missionaries." 

It  will  be  gathered  from  this  extract  that  complaints  had  been 
made  of  the  amount  of  land  that  had  been  purchased  by  the 
missionaries.  This  was  so  ;  and  the  Society  at  home  had  had  J^^\^lf 
to  publish  a  full  explanation  of  the  circumstances,  and  had  also  the  case. 
issued,  when  the  Colony  was  first  established,  and  before  the 
Bishop  went  out,  stringent  regulations  for  the  missionaries' 
guidance.  In  two  or  three  cases,  individuals  among  them — 
one  especially,  a  lay  agent  from  Sydney,  not  known  personally 
to  the  Committee — had  purchased  tracts  of  land  at  the  request 
of  the  Natives,  with  a  view  to  the  settlement  of  quarrels 
among  them.  This,  though  done  with  the  best  motives,  was 
not  approved  by  the  Committee,  being  likely  to  increase  the 
hostile  feelings  of  the  colonists.  In  1843  a  Court  of  Land 
Claims  was  established  by  Governor  Fitzroy,  which  heard  all 
complaints ;  and  the  result  was  that  the  various  cases  were 
easily  and  satisfactorily  settled.     The  quantity  of  land  the  pos- 

*   Church  History  of  Neiv  Zealand,  p.  142. 


440 


N'eh'  Z/-:ALAyD. 


Part  V. 
1841-48. 
Chap.  28 


Governor 
Grey's 
secret 
despatch. 


Alarm  of 

C.M.S. 

Committee, 


session  of  which  by  C.M.S.  missionaries  was  confirmed  by  the 
Court  came  out  less  than  half  what  was  allowed  in  New  South 
Wales  for  girls  and  less  than  one-fourth  what  was  allowed  for 
boys  ;  and  it  was  shown  that  the  average  price  they  had  paid 
for  it  was  3s.  Id.  per  acre,  most  of  the  purchases  having  been 
made  long  before  the  Colony  was  established,  and  while  war  and 
savagery  still  prevailed.  But  the  regulation  price  fixed  when  the 
Land  Court  was  formed,  and  which  was  paid  by  many  purchasing 
colonists,  was  tJtreej^ence  cm  acre.  Here  the  narrative  ought  to 
stop.  The  upright  and  honourable  dealings  of  the  missionaries 
had  been  vindicated,  and  there  should  have  been  an  end  of  the 
complaints.  But  the  young  men,  their  sons,  to  whom  the  various 
holdings  were  now  transferred,  were  industrious  and  clever,  and 
farmed  them  so  successfully  that  they  were  becoming  prosperous 
men.  This  caused  jealousy ;  and  the  great  trouble  was  yet  to 
come. 

Early  in  1847  the  C.M.S.  Committee  were  startled  and  shocked 
by  a  communication  from  Lord  Grey,  enclosing  the  "  secret 
despatch  "  from  Governor  Grey  already  alluded  to.  This  "  secret 
despatch  "  stated  that  the  land  claims  of  several  influential 
persons  in  New  Zealand,  some  of  them  Government  officials  and 
some  of  them  missionaries,  were  "  not  based  on  substantial  justice 
to  the  Aborigines  or  to  the  British  settlers  " — although  they  had 
been  finally  settled  by  the  Land  Court  three  years  before.  And 
further,  that,  on  account  of  the  discontent  of  the  Natives,  the 
claimants  could  not  "  be  put  in  possession  of  the  lands  without  a 
large  expenditure  of  British  blood  and  money  "■ — whereas  they 
were  at  the  very  time  in  quiet  and  undisturbed  possession.  "  The 
only  step,"  justly  observes  Dean  Jacobs,  "  which  could  possibly 
have  led  to  bloodshed  would  have  been  an  attempt  by  the  Govern- 
ment to  eject  them" — so  popular  were  they  among  the  Natives. 
But  the  C.M.S.  Committee  naturally  gave  credence  to  official 
statements,  and  were  greatly  alarmed.  They  immediately  sent 
the  copy  of  the  "  secret  despatch  "  out  to  New  Zealand,  and  gave 
positive  orders  that  every  missionary  was  at  once  (1)  to  accept 
the  joint  decision  of  the  Governor  and  the  Bishop  as  to  the 
quantity  of  land  he  was  to  retain  for  himself,  (2)  to  transfer  the 
rest  absolutely  to  his  children  or  otherwise  dispose  of  it,  (3)  except 
as  to  any  portion  claimed  by  the  Natives,  which  was  to  be  given 
up  entirely. 

These  were  no  doubt  excellent  instructions,  but  they  were  based 
on  insufficient  knowledge.  First,  there  was  no  portion  disputed 
by  the  Natives ;  secondly,  the  possessions  confirmed  by  the  Land 
Court  had  mostly  been  already  all  transferred  to  the  children, 
some  of  whom  were  now  married  men  with  families  of  their  own. 
The  receipt,  therefore,  of  the  resolutions  caused  the  missionaries 
no  difficulty.  Archdeacon  H.  Williams  expressed  entire  agreement 
with  them,  and  declared  that  they  would  not  require  the  award  of 
the  Governor  and   the  Bishop,  as  they  would  retain  notli'nuj  for 


The  Bishop^  the  Colony^  axd  the  Af/ssroy         441 

themselves,  but  transfer  all  that  had  not  been  transferred  already.    I^-^^t  V. 
But  he  and  his  brethren  were  indignant  at  the  imputations  of  the  p[^^~^' 
"  secret  despatch,"  and  still  more  so  when  it  came  out  that  the       ^^ 
Governor  had  written  again  to  the  Colonial  Office,  and  also  to  the  Henry 
Society,  charging  the  missionaries  with  being  the  chief  cause  of  ^JlgnTnt. 
Heke's   War,   and   affirming   that  "unless   some   of   them    were 
removed,  there  would  never  be  peace  in  the  Northern   District." 
"The  missionaries,"  wrote  the  Archdeacon,  "  shrink  with  horror 
from  such  a  charge,  and  are  prepared  to  relinquish  their  claims 
[i.e.  the  lands  in  possession  ;  there  were  no  new  claims']  altogether, 
upon  it  being  shown  that  these  claims  would  render  the  possibility 
of  such  an  awful  circumstance  as  the  shedding  of  one  drop  of 
human  blood." 

Naturally   the  Archdeacon,  for  himself  and  his  brethren,  de- 
manded   an    inquiry    into    the    truth    of    such    serious    charges. 
"  Sliould  I  fail  to  scatter  them  to  the  winds,"  he  wrote,  "  I  will 
resign  my  duties  in  New  Zealand."     He  appealed  to  the  Governor : 
the  Governor  did  not  answer  his  letter.     He  appealed  to  Lord 
Grey  :  Lord  Grey  refused,  saying  that  an  inquiry  would  be   an 
affront  to   the  Governor.     He  appealed  to  Lord    Chichester,  as 
President  of  C.M.S.  ;  but  the  Committee  dared  not  oppose  the 
Colonial  Office,  and  said  it  was  "  impossible  to  institute  inquiries 
on  the  subject."    He  appealed  to  Bishop  Selwyn,  who  had  hitlierto  Seiwyn-s 
defended  the  missionaries  on  this  land  question  ;  and  the  Bishop's  attitude, 
action  it  would  take  much  space  to  explain.     We  must  in  justice 
to  him  bear  in  mind  that  he  did  not  like  the  possession  of  land 
by  the  missionaries  and  their  families  at  all.     For  one  thing,  he 
desired  to  attract  the  young  men  to  his  college,  in  hopes  of  training 
them  for  service  in  the  Church  ;  and  then,  as  before  stated,  he 
wished  them  to  be  at  his  own  disposal,  to  be  sent  to  any  part  of 
the  country  at  his   discretion  ;  and  obviously  the   possession  of 
land  by  them  would  to  some  extent  hinder  this.     What  he  did 
was,  first,  to  appeal  to  the  missionaries  to  teach  their  sons  "  to 
renounce  the  barren  pride  of  ownership  for  the  moral  husbandry 
of  Christ's  Kingdom  in  the  harvest-field  of  souls,"  urging  that 
"  there  is  a  Christian  meekness  and  a)i  active  zeal  by  which  the 
Christian  may  inherit  the  earth,  though  he  have  no  other  posses- 
sion in   it  than  a  grave."     Admirable  counsel  for  a  missionary  ; 
yet  if  a  young  man  is  not  a  missionary  Ijut  a  farmer,  who  would 
think  of  laying  it  upon  him  as  a  Chi-istian  duty  that  he  should 
abandon  his  farm  ?     It  is  no  discredit  to  him  to  keep  and  to  use 
what  has  come  to  him  in  a  legitimate  way.     It  was  one  thing  to 
offer  to  abandon  just  rights  if  by  keeping  them  the  peace  of  the 
country  was  endangered  ;  it  was  another  thing  to  be  expected  to 
do  so  without  a  shadow  of  evidence  that  there  was  any  such  risk, 
and  in  the  teetli  of  a  refusal  even  to  inquire  concerning  it.     Then 
the  Bishop  interpreted  the  Society's  resolutions  in  a  sense  different 
from  that  understood  by  the   missionaries,  and  certainly  different 
from  what  the  Committee  intended ;  and  thereupon  he  called  on 


442  New  Zealand: 

^ha-\-Ir    ^^^em  to  deliver    up  the    title-deeds  unconditionally,   and  accept 
Chap  28    ^""'h^tsver  the  Governor  might  afterwards  allot  to  them. 

L  '  Some  of  them  now  gave  way  rather  than  have  further  con- 
troversy; but  Archdeacon  H.  WiUiams  declined,  so  long  as  the 
grave  charges  against  the  brethren,  and  himself  in  particular,  were 
neither  proved  nor  withdrawn.  With  him  it  was  no  longer  a 
question  of  property,  but  of  character.  In  the  case  of  one  of  the 
lay  agents,  Mr.  G.  Clarke,  the  Governor  sued  him  before  the 
Supreme  Court.  He  declined  to  defend  the  action,  but  quietly 
awaited  the  result;  and  the  Chief  Judge  decided  in  his  favour.* 
Meanwhile,  the  refusal  of  Henry  Williams  to  hand  over  the  title- 
deeds  had  been  communicated  to  England ;  the  Bishop  had 
written  to  the  Society  strongly  against  him  ;  the  Colonial  Office 
was  pressing  Lord  Chichester  ;  and  on  November  20th,  1849,  the 
Committee,  in  deep  sorrow,  but  distracted  by  the  contrary  opinions 
expressed  on  all  sides,  and  determined  at  all  costs  to  set  the 
Henry  Society  right  with  the  Government,  passed  a  resolution  dissolving 
discon'"^  their  connexion  with  Archdeacon  Henry  Williams, 
nected.  Ti\m  is  but  a  Very  brief  and  condensed  account  of  a  long  and 
Who  was  painful  controversy.  Henry  Williams's  biographer,  Mr.  Carleton, 
to  blame?  .^  ^^^^^  Zealand  gentleman,  afterwards  Vice-Chancellor  of  the 
New  Zealand  University,  devotes  almost  one  whole  volume  to  it, 
and  defends  him  at  every  point,  blaming  severely  the  Governor, 
the  Bishop,  the  Colonial  Office,  and  the  C.M.S.  Committee. 
Dean  Jacobs  substantially  endorses  his  view.  Mr.  Tucker, 
Selwyn's  biographer,  passes  over  the  controversy,  but  quotes  the 
Bishop's  advice  to  the  missionaries  above  referred  to.  In  this 
History  we  are  only  concerned  with  the  Society  and  its  agents. 
On  the  general  question  of  the  lands  enough  has  already  been 
said.  As  regards  the  charges  against  the  missionaries  of  en- 
dangering the  peace  of  the  country,  they  can  only  be  characterized 
as  utterly  absurd  ;  and  it  is  a  mystery  how  Governor  Grey  came 
to  make  such  statements.  That  Archdeacon  Williams  was 
justified  in  the  position  he  took  up,  and  from  which  he  never 
moved,  that  the  character  of  himself  and  his  brethren  was  at 
stake,  is  beyond  doubt ;  but  it  is  generally  a  hopeless  task  to  bring 
to  book  persons  in  official  position — or  indeed  any  other  position — 
who  make  accusations  without  supplying  the  evidence.  Nothing  is 
harder  to  bear  ;  but  most  of  us  have  had  to  bear  it  in  some  form. 
Henry  Williams  would  perhaps  have  won  a  greater  victory  than 
he  ultimately  did  (as  we  shall  see)  if,  instead  of  vindicating  himself 
and  censuring  his  accusers  in  caustic  and  vehement  letters,  he 
had  ignored  the  charges  and  left  the  Lord  to  plead  his  cause. 
As  for  the  Society,  it  is  impossible  to  feel  that  the  Committee 
were  right  throughout.  A  careful  perusal  of  the  Minutes  for 
several  years,  with  side-lights  from  letters,  &c.,  shows  the  extreme 

*  Tliis  decision  was  reversed  on  appeal   to  tlie  superior  court  in  England; 
))iit  siilisequently  tlie  reversal  was  itself  I'eversed. 


The  Bis//or^  thk  Colox)\  Ayi^  the  M/ssiox  443 

perplexity  they  were  in,  and  their  anxious  desii'e  to  be  just  ;  but    Part  V. 
they  were  certainly  misled  as  to  facts,  and  perhaps  unduly  ready  p,^"*^~^' 
to  defer  both   to   the   Government  and  to  the  Bishop,  as  well  as      ''^*' 
over-sensitive  to  public  opinion.     The  "  man  in  the  street,"  the 
ordinary  newspaper  reader,    of    course    believed   the   official  de- 
spatches;  and  the  Committee,  for  the  credit  of  the  Society,  shrank 
from  shielding  missionaries  from  censure  which  only  a  close  and 
careful  inquiry  could  prove  to  be  undeserved. 

But  the  time  did  come  when  right  was  done.     In  order  to  finish 
the   narrative,  it   is   necessary  to   go   forward  a  little   into   suc- 
ceeding years.     Henry  Williams's  l)rother,  Archdeacon  William  wniiam 
Williams,  came  to  England,  to  explain  matters  to  the  Committee,  defends 
His    statement   in    refutation    of    Governor   Grey's   charges  was  Henry, 
conclusive,'''   and  tlie  Committee,  in  May,  iJSol,  passed  a  strong 
resolution  entirely  exonerating  the  missionaries  from  them,  and 
recognizing  to  the  full  the  value  of  their  services  to  the  Colony  as 
well  as  to  tlie  Maoris.     But  they  could   not   see   their  way  to 
reinstating  Henry  Williams.     In   their   judgment   he   had  done 
wrong,  and  there  was  "no  sufficient  reason"  for  rescinding  the 
resolution  disconnecting  him.     The  opinion,   however,    of   many 
leading   friends   in    the    country    began    to    change.      The    facts 
gradually  became  known  ;    and  the  Committee  were   beset  with 
appeals  from  all  sides  for  a  reconsideration  of  the  Archdeacon's 
case.     At  length  an  opportunity  came  for  restoring  him  gracefully, 
In  1854,   Sir  George  Grey  (as  he  now  was)  and  Bishop  Sehvyn  Seiwyn 
both  came  to  England.     The  chief  subjects  of  their  intercourse  appeauo 
with   the   Society  will   come  before  us  hereafter.     Here  it  need  c.m.s. 
only  be  said  that  Sir  George,  without  confessing  his  mistakes — 
that  was  too  much   to  expect — did  his  best  to  remedy  them  by 
warmly  testifying  to  the  high  character  and  good  influence  of  the 
missionaries  ;  and  that  the  Bishop  expressed  a  personal  wish  that 
the  Archdeacon  should  be  reinstated.  I     The  Committee  thereupon, 
on  July  18th,  unanimously  passed   a  resolution  reaffirming  their 
"confidence  in  Archdeacon  Henry  Williams  as  a   Christian  mis- Henry 
sionary,"   "rejoicing  to  believe  that  every  obstacle   is  providen- rei'ns'fated. 
tially  removed  against  his    return  into  full  connexion  with  the 
Society,"  and  asking  him,  "receiving  the  resolution  in  the  spirit 
in  which  it  is  adopted,  to  consent  to  return,"  so  that  "  all  personal 
questions  on  every  side  may  be  merged  in  one  common  object  of 
strengthening  the  cause  of  Christ  in  the  Church  of  New  Zealand." 
And    in    forwarding    the    resolution    Henry  Venn    wrote, — "  Be 
assured  that  if  the  Committee  have  in  any  respect  misunderstood 

*  This  most  able  documont  is  printed  at  lenj^th  in  the  Life  of  H.  Williaiiis, 
vol.  ii.  p.  261. 

t  In  tlio  pulilishod  resolution,  only  the  Bishop's  wish  is  referred  to.  The 
liiofjrapher  of  lleiiiy  Williams  comments  on  wh.at  seems  the  sipiHlifant  absence 
of  Sir  (t.  Grey's  name  ;  and  Dean  Jacobs  oidy  "  presumes"  that  the  Governor 
must  have  concurred.  Hut  the  orifjinal  Minutes  reconl  that  the  request  was 
made  by  both  the  Hishoj)  ami  the  (iovernor. 


444  New  Zealand: 

Part  V.  your  actions  or  mis-stated  facts,  it  has  been  unintentional  on  their 
1841-48.  part,  as  they  are  most  desirous  of  doing  full  justice  to  your 
"''"  ■  character,  and  to  the  important  services  which  you  have  rendered 
to  the  cause  of  Christ."  Thus  the  veteran  missionary  was 
vindicated  and  restored,  to  the  satisfaction  of  all  who  knew  him  in 
New  Zealand.  He  never  returned  to  England,  but  laboured  on 
with  unchanging  devotion  till  his  death  in  1867. 

It  has  been  felt  necessary  to  narrate  these  facts,  even  so  long 
afterwards,  partly  because  there  are  still  allusions  in  current 
books  to  the  supposed  land-greed  of  the  New  Zealand  missionaries,''' 
and  partly  because  excellent  lessons  for  our  own  or  any  other 
time  may  be  draw^n  from  the  narrative.  Moreover,  there  has 
probably  been  no  matter  in  the  whole  history  of  the  Society  that 
has  given  the  Committee  more  trouble  ;  and  this  work  would 
therefore  be  quite  incomplete  if  it  were  passed  over. 

It  is  right  here  to  say  that  Sir  George  Grey,  though  undoubtedly 
he  fell  into  mistakes  in  this  matter,  proved  himself  upon  the 
whole  a  hearty  friend  to  the  Mission,  and  an  upholder  of  the 
Treaty  of  Waitangi  and  the  rights  of  the  Maori  people.  The 
C.M.S.  reports  and  periodicals  at  the  time  frequently  spoke 
warmly  and  justly  in  his  praise  ;  and  we  shall  see  by  and  by 
that  he  afterwards  deserved,  and  received,  still  more  confidence 
and  commendation. 

To  revert  to  the  Mission  itself.  Two  features  of  the  work  must 
Maori  not  be  passed  over.  One  is  the  Maori  Version  of  the  Bible  and 
Prayer-  Prayer-book.  In  1836,  William  Williams  had  completed  the 
translation  of  the  New  Testament  and  the  Morning  and  Evening 
Services  ;  and  a  printing-press  was  busy,  under  a  printer  sent  out 
by  the  Society,  Mr.  Colenso,  in  producing  thousands  of  copies. 
Then  came  Eobert  Maunsell  (afterwards  LL.D.,  and  Archdeacon), 
who  began  the  Old  Testament,  for  which  his  Hebrew  scholarship 
specially  qualified  him.  When  Bishop  Selwyn  went  out,  he 
formed  a  Revision  Committee,  combining  with  W.  WiUiams  and 
Maunsell  two  lay  agents  who  had  a  singular  familiarity  with 
colloquial  Maori,  Hamlin  and  Puckey.  At  a  period  later  than 
that  now  under  review,  further  revision  was  undertaken  by  the 
same  two  leaders,  with  William  Williams's  son  Leonard  (now 
Bishop  of  Waiapu),  and  two  Wesleyans  ;  and  Mrs.  Colenso,  a 
daughter  of  one  of  the  lay  agents  from  Sydney,  rendered  great 
service,  being  "  a  very  able  and  intelligent  Maori  scholar." 

The  other  feature  of  the  period  calling  for  notice  is  the  attempts 

*  It  should  be  added,  to  make  the  story  complete,  that  two  lay  agents  had 
also  been  disconnected  :  one  of  them,  the  Sj'dney  man  alluded  to  on  p.  439, 
some  years  before  ;  and  the  other  Mr.  George  Clarke.  In  the  latter  case  also 
there  was  miscoiiception.  The  Committee  thought  he  had  "litigated,"  in 
order  to  keep  his  lands  ;  but  in  reality  it  was  the  Governor  who  sued  ]\hn,  as 
before  mentioned,  and  he  did  not  even  defend  the  action,  yet  the  decision  was 
ill  liis  favour.  However  tlic  (lovcrnment  gave  him  .an  important  post,  so  he 
did  not  rejoin  the  Society.     He  was  the  father  of  Archdeacon  E.  B.  Clarke. 


book. 


/ 


The  Bishop^  the  Coloxy,  Axn  the  Mission         44: 


of  the  French  Romanists  to  pervert  the  Maori  Christians.     Bishop    Part  V. 
W.  Williams  <,nves  an  account  of  them,-'=  and  the  journals  of  the  --Ir*^^"^* 
missionaries  at  the  time   are   full   of   references   to   them.     The      '"^'' 
policy  of  Rome  in  the  nineteenth  century  is  the  same  everywhere.  French 
It   is   to   assail    Christian    converts   rather   than   go   to   the   un-  pr°^i|*Jjis. 
evangelized  Heathen.     In  New   Zealand  the  French  priests  had  turb  the 
two  great  advantages.     First,  they  could  with  truth  affirm  that  no  converts, 
land-grabbers  or  troops  were  behind  them.     "  Heke  !  "  said  one  of 
them,  addressing  the  insurgent  chief  when  the  little  war  was  over, 
"  the   Queen  first  sent  you  teachers,   and  then  sent  soldiers  to 
destroy  you."     Secondly,  they  could,  as  in  other  lands,  allow  the 
maintenance  of  heathen  usages  which  the  Protestant  missionaries 
discouraged.     The  nominal  Christians,  therefore,  who  were  now 
becoming  numerous,  fell  an  easy  prey  to  them  at  first.     But  as 
the  people  became  familiar  with  the  Maori  Scriptures,  the  priests  Maoris 
found   themselves   foiled   with   a   weapon   that   never   fails.     At  R^'j^^sh 
Waimate  the  French   Bishop  said  to  a  Maori  Christian,   "  The  teaching, 
missionaries  have  houses,  and  wives,  and  children  ;  all  their  love 
is  for  them  ;    but  we  have  none,  therefore  our  love  is  for  you." 
"  Is  it  then  wicked,"  asked  the  Maori,  "  for  a  missionary  to  have 
a  wife  and  children  ?  "     "I  am  an  apostle  and  bisliop  of  Christ," 
was  the  reply,  "  and  I  tell  you  it  is."     "  But,"  rejoined  the  Maori, 
"  St.  Paul  also  was  an  apostle,  and  he  said  a  bishop  ought  to  be 
the  husband  of  one  wife."  f     A  French  priest  challenged  William 
■\Villiams  to  the  ordeal  by  lire,  proposing  that  they  should  both 
walk  into  flames,  and  see  which  of  them  God  would  keep  intact. 
The  Maoris  eagerly  collected  wood  for  the  purpose,  expecting  him, 
as  the  challenger,  to  try  first ;  but  this  he  declined  to  do.     The 
apparent  success  of  the  French  Mission  was  short-lived.     Very 
few    Maoris   permanently  joined  the  Roman    Church ;    and   the 
victory  was  luiquestionably  due  to  the  widespread  knowledge  of 
the  Word  of  God.     The  indirect  influence  of  Rome  in  later  years 
in  aiding  the  lapse  of  a  part  of  the  nation  into  semi-Heathenism 
will  come  before  us  hereafter. 

A   much  more  serious  obstacle  to  the  growth  of  true  spiritual  Growth 
Christianity  was  the  rapid  development  of  the  Colony,  with  the  coiony : 
increase    of   wealth,    particularly   when    the   gold   discoveries  in  ^°[fes'*'^' 
Australia  caused  a  sudden  demand  for  agricultural  produce.     New 
Zealand    could    supply  the    gold-diggers    with    food.     The    gold- 
diggers   paid    for   it    with   gold.     Both    settlers   and    Natives    in 
New  Zealand   found  themselves  getting  rich  ;  and  the  grog-shop 
furnished  an  easy  way  of  spending  money.     A  younger  generation 
of    Maoris  was   growing   up,    and    falling   a    prey    to    the    new 
temptations.      "  Why,"    ask    the    critics   of   C.M.S.,    "  were    the 
young  neglected  ?     Why  was  an  '  emotional  religion  '  considered 
surticient,    without    systematic    teaching   and   strict    disciphne  ? 

*  Christian  it  II  among  the  Xew  Zealander^,  pp.  253,  280,  334,  A'c. 
t  Bishop  W.  Williams,  Hid.,  p.  281. 


446  New  Zealand: 

Part  V.   Why  were  the  confirmees  presented  to  the  Bishop  mostly  middle- 
1841-48.   aged  people,  while  the  lads  and  lasses  were  running  wild  ?     And 
^^^'     '  why  was  only  religion  taught   and  not  industry  too  ?  "     Here  is 
Bishop  William  Williams's  reply  : — 

"  The  charge  of  an  immense  district  was  often  left  to  one  indi- 
vidual. The  case  would  be  somewhat  parallel  if  a  clergyman  were 
required  to  itinerate  between  London  and  York  on  foot,  and  then 
between  London  and  Southampton,  officiating  at  places  on  the  road 
varying  in  distance  from  ten  to  twenty  miles ;  and  then,  when  he  is 
at  home,  having  charge,  in  addition  to  other  matters,  of  three  hundred 
candidates  for  baptism,  and  of  seven  hundred  regular  attendants  at 
Bible-classes,  who  had  been  left  in  the  interval,  not  to  the  care  of 
competent  curates,  but  to  teachers  who  themselves  required  to  be 
taught  the  first  principles  of  the  oracles  of  God."  * 

And,  as  he  goes  on  to  explain,  notwithstanding  these  difficulties 
and    disadvantages,   schools  were,  with    Government    aid,    being 
established ;    and  these  were   definitely  industrial    schools,  with 
farms   attached,  and  the   boys  were    taught  ploughing,  reaping, 
threshing,  carpentry,  &c.,  and  the  girls  prepared  for  domestic  life  ; 
— but  unquestionably  it  was  all  on  an  inadequate  scale. 
Flourish-         The  Eastern  District,  which  was  William  Williams's  own  sphere 
EasTanV"  ^^  work,  was  the  most  prosperous  spiritually,  just  because  it  was 
South-        furthest  removed  from  the  colonial  settlements  ;  but  the  Western 
^^^^-  District  (as  it  was  called, i.e.  the  far  south-west),  under  O. Hadfield  t 

and  E.  Taylor,  afforded  conspicuous  examples  of  high  Christian 
character.     At  Christmas  (the  New  Zealand  midsummer),  1846, 
Taylor's      \)^q  converts,  to  the  number  of  2000,  gathered  from   all  parts  of 
Maoris.       Mr.  Taylor's  district  to  Wanganui.    Next  day  a  missionary  meeting 
was    held,    and   two  Christian    chiefs   volunteered    to    carry    the 
Gospel  to  a  hostile  and  still  heathen  tribe.     They  went,  and  were 
both  cruelly  murdered ;    and   soon  afterwards  their  places  were 
taken  by  two  others.     At  the  Christmas  of  1848,  seven  hundred 
English    settlers  gathered  at  Wanganui    for   horse-races.     They 
were  puzzled  at  the  absence  of  the  Maoris.     The  Maoris,   two 
thousand  of  them,  were  at  church,  710  remaining  for  Holy  Com- 
munion.    At  the  neighbouring  English  church,  the  communicants 
numbered  fifteen. :]:     The  general  results  of  the  Mission  are  nowhere 
Sir  G.         lietter  summarized  than  in   an  address  by  Sir  George  Grey  to  the 
Sstmfony.  C.M.S.    Committee    when    he    came    to    England   in   1854.     The 
official  minute,  revised  by  himself,  is  as  follows  : — 

"  Sir  George  Grey  stated  that  he  had  visited  nearly  every  station  of  the 
Society,  and  could  speak  with  confidence  of  the  great  and  good  work 

*  Christianity  among  the  New  Zealandei's,  p.  346. 

I  Hadfield  was  greatly  beloved  by  Bishop  Selwyn,  and  frequent  warm 
notices  of  him  occur  in  the  pages  of  both  Lives  of  the  Bishop.  But  both  omit 
the  fact  that  he  was  a  C.M.S.  missionary.  He  afterwards  became  Bislioj)  of 
Wellington  and  Primate  of  New  Zealand. 

X  These  and  many  other  remarkable  incidents,  and  a  vast  amount  of 
valuable  information,  are  given  in  Mr.  Taylor's  two  Avorks,  The  Pas^t  and 
I'r^.  e- 1  of  New  '/leal.anJ,  and  Te  Iha  a  Maui,  or,  Neic  Zeahnid  and. its  Inhabitants. 


Till-:  Bisiior^   riir.   Coi.oxv,  anp  the  Mission  447 

acc()in[ili.slic'(l   by  it  in  New  Zealand  :  that  lie  believed  that  out   nf  the     I'akt  V. 
Native  population,   estimated  by  himself  at  nearly  10(),(J0",  tiiere  were     1.S41-48. 
not  more  than  10(10  who  did  not  make  a  profession  of  Christianity  ;  that  Cliaj).  28. 
thouph  he  had  heard  doubts  expressed  about  the  Christian  character  of 
individuals,  yet  no  one  tloubted  the  eflect  of  Christianity  upon  the  mass 
of  the  people,  which  liad  been  evidenced  in  their  social  improvement, 
tluir   friendly  intercourse  with   Europeans,  and   their  attendance   upon 
Divine  worship ;  that  there  was  in  many  i)laces  a  readiness  on  the  part 
of  the  Natives  to  contribute  one-tenth  of  the  produce  of  their  lal)our  for 
the  support  of  their  Christian  teachers,  and  to   make  lil)eral  tyrants  of 
land  for  the  endowment  of  the  schools ;  that  some  of  the  Native  teachers 
were,  and   many,  by  means  oi  the  schools,  might  be,  (jualilied  for  actiiig 
as  Native  pastors,  if  admitted  to  Holy  Orders,  and  might  be  trusted  in 
such  a  position  to  carry  on  the  good  work  among  their  countrymen,  and 
even  to  go  out  as  Native  missionaries  to  other  islands  of  the  Pacitic  ; 
that  the  great  want  in  the   Native   Church   at  the  present  was  a  con- 
solidation of  the  work,  and  its  establishment  upon  a  basis  of  self-support; 
that  it  was  impossible  for  a  single   ]iislu)p  to  accomplish  svich  a  work, 
from  the  extent  and  geographical  isolation  of  the  difterent  parts  of  the 
diocese;  that  he  understood  that  it  was  the  opinion  of  the  Jiishop  that 
there  should  be  four  Jiishopries  in  the  Northern  Island,  in  which  oi)inioii 
he  concurred;    that  the  most  suitable   persons  to  be  appointed  to  the 
new  sees  were  those  he  understood  to  have  been  reconunended  by  the 
Bishop,  namely,  three  of  the  elder  missionaries  of  the  Society,  who  had 
commenced   the   work,  and  brought  it  to   its  present  state:    that  the 
appointment  of  these  gentlemen  would,  he  believed,  give  satisfaction; 
tliat  he  believed   nothing  could  induce  the  missionaries  to  desert  the 
Natives  ;  that  they  would  rather  give  up  their  salaries  and  throw  them- 
selves upon  Native  resources  ;  that  they  possessed  the  full  contidence  of 
the  Natives,  and  were  thoroughly  accpiainted  with  their  character  :  but 
that,  if  the  Society  were  now  wholly  to  withdraw  from  New  Zealand,  the 
work  would,  he  believed,  fall  to  pieces,  and  the  Mission  do  an  injury  tt) 
Christianity  ;  whereas,  if  the  work  should  be  consolidated  and  perfected, 
as  he  hoped,  the  conversion  of  New  Zealand  would  become   one  of  the 
most   encom-aging  facts  in   the   modern   history  of  Christianity,  and  a 
pattern  of  the  way  in  which  it  might  be  established  in  all  other  heathen 
countries." 

All  this  time  Bishop  Sehvyn  was  displaying  the  most  unbounded  Seiwyn's 
energy,  travelling  all  over  the  country,  ministering  to  both  colonists  energy.^ 
and  Natives,  never  sparing  liimself,  and,   while    often  unpopular 
with   the   former,  universally  lionoured  by  the  latter,  and  also  by 
the    missionaries,  notwithstanding    the  occasional  differences    of 
opinion.     His  two  greatest  works,  however,  were  the  organization 
of  the  New  Zealand  Church  and  the  foundation  of  the  Melanesian  The 
Mission.     The  former  will  come  before  us  hereafter.     The  latter  MfssCfnl^" 
properly  lies  outside  the  range  of  this  History  ;  but  it  is  impossible 
to  pass  over  without  notice  one  of  the  most  interesting  missionary 
enterprises  of  modern  times.     Seven  voyages  did  Bishop  Selwyn 
make  to  the  Melanesian  Islands  in  five  years.     At  first  it  was  very 
perilous  work  ;  but   he  so  completely  succeeded   in   winning  the 
contidence  of  the  islanders   that  on   the  seventh  voyage  he  visitt-d 
tiftv  islands  in  perfect  safety.     He  brought  several  lads,  of  different 
tribes  and  languages,  to  be  trained  at  bt.  John's  College  ;  but  the 


448    New  Zealand  :  The  Bishop^  the  Colony^  and  the  Mission 


Part  V. 
1841-48. 
Chap.  28. 


A  living 
Church 
must  be  a 
missionary 
Church. 


climate  of  New  Zealand  proved  too  cold  for  them,  and  it  was  not  till 
some  years  later  that  Patteson's  plan  of  gathering  them  in  Norfolk 
Island  met  with  more  success.  But  what  gives  special  impor- 
tance to  the  Melanesian  Mission  is  that  Selwyn  designed  it  as  an 
outlet  for  the  foreign  missionary  zeal  of  the  New  Zealand  Church. 
"  It  seems  to  be  an  indisputable  fact,"  he  said  in  his  first  episcopal 
charge,  "that  hoivever  inadequate  a  Church  may  be  to  its  oivn 
internal  loants,  it  must  on  noaccowit  siis2:)cnd  its  missionary  duties; 
that  this  is  in  fact  the  circulation  of  its  life's  blood,  ivhich  ivould 
lose  its  vital  jwtver  if  it  never  flowed  forth  to  the  extremities,  but 
curdled  at  the  hca,rt."  If  only  every  Church,  however  small,  and 
every  parish,  however  poor,  would  act  on  the  grand  and  true 
principle  thus  set  forth  so  forcibly  by  Bishop  Selwyn,  the  whole 
life  of  the  whole  Church  would  be  quickened  and  invigorated  as  it 
has  never  been  yet  since  the  days  of  the  Apostles. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

New  Enterprises  in  Africa  .-  Niger  Expedition,  Yoruba 
Mission,  East  Coast. 

Story  of  Adjai  the  Slave-boy— Fowell  Buxton's  New  Plans — The 
River  Niger — Prince  Albert's  First  Speech — The  Expedition  of 
1841 — Its  Failure  and  Fruits — Buxton's  Death — The  Returning 
Egba  Exiles — S.  Crowther's  Ordination — Townsend  and  Crowther 
to  Abeokuta — Krapf  in  Shoa — His  Voyage  to  Zanzibar — Mombasa 
— Death  of  Mrs.  Krapf — The  Appeal  of  her  Grave. 

"  Thou  hast  hrowjht  a  vine  out  of  Egypt ;  Thoit  hast  cast  out  the  Heathen,  avd 
planted  it.  .  .  .  She  sent  out  her  boughs  unto  the  sea,  and  her  brandie-^  unto  the 
river." — Ps.  Ixxx.  8,  11. 

E  are  now  approaching  the  period  of  modern  African    Part  V. 

exploration.      But   the   great   discoveries   that    have    1841-48. 

been  so  brilhant  a  feature  of  the  geographical  history      '^^^" 

of  the  last  forty  years,  and  of  which  three  C.M.S. 

missionaries  wei'e  the  pioneers,  do  not  come  within 
the  field  of  vision  just  yet.  The  course  of  the  most  important 
exploratory  expeditions  was,  ultimately,  not  from  West  to  East, 
but  from  East  to  West.  But  this  was  not  expected  in  the 
'forties  ;  and  the  West  Coast  is  still,  in  our  present  period,  the 
principal  object  in  view.  In  this  chapter  important  enterprises  West 
in  West  Africa  come  before  us ;  while  before  we  close  it,  we  ^[H^ 
shall  have  just  a  preliminary  glimpse  of  the  wonderful  scenes 
presently  to  be  revealed  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  Dark  Con- 
tinent. 

The  West  African  events  of  this  period,  in  their   missionary  a  Negro's 
aspect,  group  themselves  about  the  life-story  of  one  remarkable  "f^-story. 
man — a  Negro,  a  slave,  the  first  African  clergyman  of  our  day,='= 
and  the  first  African  bishop. 

In  the  reign  of  George  III.  there  was,  about  one  hundred  miles 
inland  from  the  port  of  Lagos,  a  town  called  Oshogun.  The 
hinterland  of  Lagos  is  inhabited  by  the  Yoruba  nation,  numbering 
some  millions  of  souls,  and  consisting  of  several  distinct  tribes, 
Egba,  Jc'bu,  Ondo,  Ibadan,  itc,  all  speaking  the  one  Yoruba 
language.  From  this  country  a  considerable  proportion  of  the 
victims  of  the  slave-trade  were  drawn  ;  and  not  a  few,  therefore, 
of  the  lil)erated  slaves  at  Sierra  Leone  belonged  to  one  or  other 

*  "  Of  our  day" — not  to  forget  or  ignore  Pliilip  Quaque,  the  S.P.G.  African 
clergyman  in  the  eiglitoenth  century.     See  p.  24. 

VOL.  I.  G   1,' 


45©  Neh-  ENTERrniSES  jn  Afe/ca: 

Part  V.  of  the  Yoruba  tribes.  In  1821,  the  town  of  Oshogun  was 
1841-48.  destroyed  by  Fulah  slave-hunters,  and  the  Egba  inhabitants 
Chap.  29.  carried  away  captive.  Among  the  captives  were  the  wife  of  an 
The"b^  Egba  who  (it  is  supposed)  fell  fighting  in  defence  of  his  home, 
Adjai  kid-  and  their  three  children,  a  boy  of  eleven  years  and  two  younger 
napped,       ^.^.^^      rj.^^^^.  j^^y^  Adjai,  was  the  future  Bishop  of  the  Niger. 

During  the  next  few  months  httle  Adjai,  separated,  of  course, 
from  mother  and  sisters,  was  the  property  in  succession  of  five 
masters,  being  bartered  generally  for  tobacco  and  rum.  One 
dreadful  fear  haunted  him  through  all  these  changes,  and  this 
was  lest  he  should  be  sold  to  the  "white  men,"  the  Portuguese 
slave-traders  on  the  coast.  The  very  thing  he  so  much  dreaded 
w^as  ordained  by  Him  who  governs  all  things  according  to  the 
counsel  of  His  own  will,  to  be  the  means  of  opening  out  to  him  a 
career  of  liberty  and  usefulness  far  beyond  his  wildest  imagina- 
tions. His  fifth  master  sold  him  to  a  Portuguese  trader  at 
Lagos,  and  there  he  was  chained  in  the  old  barracoon  or  slave- 
shed  upon  the  site  of  which  now  stands  St.  Paul's  Church,  until 
shipped  as  the  day  when  he  was  shipped  as  one  of  187  slaves  forming  the 
a  slave,       gargo  of  a  vessel  bound  for  Cuba  or  Brazil."'' 

rescued  by  The  vcry  ncxt  day,  the  slaver  was  seized  by  H.M.S.  Myrmidon, 
ship"  '^  belonging  to  the  British  squadron  then  patrolling  the  coast,  and 
commanded  by  Captain  (afterwards  Admiral  Sir  Henry)  Leeke.f 
One  of  her  young  officers  who  took  part  in  the  rescue  w^as  after- 
Avards  Commander  v^mith,  E.N.  ;  and  his  son.  Lieutenant  George 
Shergold  Smith,  was  the  leader  of  the  first  missionary  party  to 
Uganda  in  1876.  Sometimes  we  are  permitted  to  see  the  links 
that  make  up  the  wondrous  chain  of  God's  providential  dealings. 
Have  we  ever  seen  one  more  touchingly  significant  than  this  ? 
The  father  is  engaged  in  suppressing  the  slave-trade  on  one 
coast  of  Africa,  and  helps  to  deliver  a  little  Negro  boy  who  be- 
comes the  great  pioneer  missionary  of  that  side  of  the  continent ; 
the  son,  fifty-four  years  after,  becomes  the  first  messenger  of  the 
Cross  to  penetrate  Africa  from  the  other  side, — on  a  mission,  too, 
which  has  resulted  in  an  immense  extension  of  British  influence 
in  Africa,  and  the  consequent  suppression  of  the  slave-trade  over 
vast  territories.:!: 

On  June  17th,  1822,  the  slaves  rescued  by  the  Myrmidon  were 
landed  at  landed  at  Sierra  Leone,  and  distributed  among  the  villages.  The 
Le^o"e,  ^^oy  Adjai  was  allotted  to  Bathurst ;  and  from  the  very  first  day 
of  his  being  put  to  school,  he  evinced  a  ready  intelligence  which 
was  unusual  in  the  miserable  victims  of  the  slave-trade.  One  of 
the  schoolmasters  he  was  under,  an  industrial  instructor,  was 
J.  W.  Weeks,  afterwards  the  second  Bishop  of  Sierra  Leone. 
One  future  bishop  taught  the   other  future  Ijishop  the  use  of  tlie 

*  The  Portuguese  ship  was  (happily)  called  the  E^peranra,  Felix, 
f  In  after  year.s  Bp.  Crowther  knew  Admiral  Leeke  well.     See  Vol.  IT.  p.  114. 
+  Another  interesting'  link  is  that  Commander  Smith  became  i)i  after  years 
agent  of  the  Devonshire  estates  of  Sir  John  Kennaway,  now  C.M.S.  President. 


Niger  Exped/t/o.x,    Yoruba  Af/ssio.x,  East  Coast    451 

plane  and  tlie  cliisel.     But  in   a   liif^lier  kind   of  knowlfdj^e  siill    Takt  V. 
young    Adjai    soon   purchased    to    liiniself   a   good  degree,     lie    1hh-4>". 
learned  to  know  the  Only  True  God,  and  Jesus  Christ  whom  He  ^'"'l*-  ^^• 
had  sent ;    and  having  given  ample   evidence   that   his  heart  as 
well  as  his  mind   had  embraced  the  Gospel,  he   was  baptized  on  baptized, 
l^ecember  11th,  1825,  and  named  after  a  venerable  clergyman  in 
England,  whom  we   have  met  with   before   as  one  of  the  early 
members  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society/''  Samuel  Crowther. 
In    1826,    one   of   the   schoolmasters   came   to   England,    and 
brought  Crowther   with   him  ;    and   for   a   few   months   the  lad 
attended  the  Parochial  School  in  Liverpool  Eoad,  Islington.     He 
retvu'ned  to  Sierra  Leone  in   the   following  year,  just  when  Mr. 
Haensel  was  organizing  the  Fourah  Bay  College ;   and  the  very 
first  name  on  its  roll  of  students  is  that  of  Samuel  Crowther.     He  first 
soon  became  an  assistant  teacher ;  then  a  schoolmaster  at  Regent  Bay'^^'^ 
(W.  Johnson's  old   station)  under  Weeks  ;  and  afterwards  again  a  student, 
tutor  at  the  College,   under  the  Rev.  G.  A.  Kissling  (afterwards 
Archdeacon  in  New  Zealand).     In  the  published   reports  from 
1830  onwards,  his  name  frequently  occurs  as  that  of  a  faithful  and 
efficient  agent  of  the  Mission ;   and  that  of  his  wife  appears  as  married. 
"  Susanna  Crowther,  school-mistress."     But  the  memorable  year 
1841,  which  we  have  before  noticed  as  so  great  an  epoch  in  the 
history  of   the    Church,    was   the   year   that   witnessed    Samuel 
Crowther's  first  step  towards  the  high   position   he   afterwards 
occupied. 

When  Fowell  Buxton  had  achieved  the  great  triumph  of  his 
life  by  the  abolition  of  West  Indian  slavery  in  1833-34,  he  turned 
his   energetic  mind   to  Africa   itself.     The    slave-trade   was  still  Slave-trade 
rampant.     Not   that   Wilberforce's   victory    in    1807    had    been  pant!^*""" 
abortive.     No  British  ships  were  now  engaged  in  the  traffic.     But 
Spanish,    Portuguese,  and   Brazilian    vessels  were  still  carrying 
cargoes  of  Negroes  across  the  Atlantic ;  and  though  the  Britisli 
cruisers  caught  some,  the  majority   succeeded  in  eluding  them. 
What  was  to  be  done  ?     Early  one  morning  in   1837,  just  before 
Queen  Victoria's  accession,  when   staying  at  Earlham   (the  well- 
known  home  of  the  Gurneys,  near  Norwich),  Buxton  walked  into 
a  room  where  one  of  his  sons  was   sleeping,  and  told  him  he  had 
been  awake  all  night  thinking  of  the  slave-ti'ade,  and  "  had  hit  Foweii 
upon  the  true  remedy  for  that  portentous  e\al."  f     It  was  this  : —  l^^edy.' 
'' The  deliverance  of  Africa  is  to  be  effected  bi/  calling  out  her  oicn 
resources." 

To  the  maturing  of  a  plan  for  working  out  this  principle  he  now 
devoted  his  time  and  thought  ;  and  after  months  of  study  and 
inquiry,  he  printed  a  pamphlet  in  the  form  of  a  Letter  to  Lord 
^Iell)ourne  (then  Premier),  which  he  afterwards  expanded  into  his 
important  work,  TJie  Slave   Trade  and  its  Eemedy.     It  set  forth 

*  See  J).  7*1.  t  I'ije  of  Buxtuii,  j).  363. 

G    g   2 


452  New  Enterprises  in  Africa  : 

Part  V.   startling  evidence  of  the  immensity  and  the  horrors  of  the  existing 
rh^^"tq'    slave-trade ;  it  urged  the  strengthening  of  the  British  squadron, 
^^' '      and  the  negotiating  of  treaties  with  native  chiefs;    and  then  it 
proceeded  to  enlarge  on  the  capabilities  of  Africa,  and  the  possi- 
bilities of  developing  her  mineral  and  vegetable  resources.     The 
Government  was  to  do  its  part ;  commercial  companies  were  to 
do  theirs  ;  missionary  societies  were  to  add  the  work  of  evangeli- 
The  Bible    zation.     "  It  is  the  Bible  and  the  Plough,"  said  Buxton,  "that 
Plough.       must  regenerate  Africa." 

Only  seven  years  before  this,  an  event  had  occurred  which 
much  helped  to  secure  favour  for  Buxton's  projects.  The  course 
The  River  of  the  Eiver  Niger  had,  in  1830,  been  determined  by  Lander.  The 
^^^^'  history  of  this  discovery  is  curious.  That  there  was  a  great  river 
somewhere  in  the  Western  Soudan  was  known  in  the  previous 
century ;  but  in  the  edition  of  the  Encycloi^s^dia  Britannica 
pubhshed  in  1797,  it  was  confounded  with  the  Senegal,  which 
flows  westward  into  the  Atlantic  Ocean.  It  was,  however,  on 
July  21st  of  that  very  year,  that  Mungo  Park  struck  its  upper 
waters  near  Segou,  west  of  Timbuctoo.  "  I  beheld,"  he  says,  "  the 
long-sought-for  majestic  Niger,  glittering  in  the  morning  sun,  as 
broad  as  the  Thames  at  Westminster,  and  flowing  slowly  to  the 
eastiuard."  But  still  no  one  guessed  where  its  embouchure  was  to 
be  found.  Park  was  killed  in  the  attempt  to  complete  the  ex- 
plorations ;  Clapperton  died  in  making  a  similar  attempt ;  and  not 
until  1830  did  Lander,  having  travelled  overland  from  the  Slave 
Coast  to  Boussa,  where  Park  had  met  his  death,  succeed  in 
descending  the  stream  until  he  emerged,  by  one  of  the  mouths 
that  form  the  Niger  Delta,  into  the  Gulf  of  Guinea.  Most  great 
rivers  have  been  discovered  at  their  mouths,  and  their  course 
traced  up-stream.  The  Niger  w^as  known  at  its  upper  waters  long 
before  the  tracing  of  its  outflow  into  the  sea. 

Although  a  commercial  venture  up  the  river,  made  by  that 
persevering  friend  of  Africa,  Mr.  Macgregor  Laird,  in  1832,  had 
proved  a  failure,  the  more  intelligent  of  the  British  public  fully 
believed  in  the  great  opening  for  geographical  and  mercantile 
Buxton's  enterprise  furnished  by  Lander's  discovery.  Of  this  feehng  Buxton 
proposa  s.  ^^^^  advantage.  Armed  with  his  pamphlet,  he  approached  the 
Government,  and  urged  the  fitting  out  of  an  expedition  to  go  up 
the  Niger,  and  make  a  systematic  beginning  in  the  promotion  of 
such  commerce  and  civilization  as  would,  in  the  long  run,  destroy 
the  slave-trade.  The  Colonial  Secretary  in  1838  was  Lord 
Glenelg,  the  younger  Charles  Grant,  whose  excellent  work  when 
at  the  India  Office  we  have  before  seen.  "  I  ought  to  know 
something  of  Colonial  Secretaries,"  wrote  Buxton,-  "for  I  have 
worried  each  of  them  in  succession  for  twenty  years.  .  .  .  There 
is  not  one  of  them  who,  in  my  estimation,  has  acted  more  con- 
scientiously, or  of  whose  anxiety  to  do  justice  to  Negroes,  Caffres, 

*  Life,  p.  366. 


Niger  Expedition^   Yoruba  Missiox^  East  Coast    453 

Hottentots,  and  Indians  I  feel  more  assurance  than  Lord  Glenelf]^."  Part  V. 
Then  also  Sir  James  Stephen,  son  of  the  James  Stephen  whom  we  J|^^^'^" 
have  seen  as  one  of  Wilberforce's  associates  and  one  of  the  '^ 
founders  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  and  who  was  Henry 
Venn's  brother-in-law,  was  Permanent  Secretary  of  the  Colonial 
Ollice  ;  so  everything  was  favourable  to  Buxton's  plans.  Lord 
Glenelg  brought  them  before  the  Cabinet ;  the  Cabinet  unani- 
mously approved  them  ;  and  Buxton  wrote  to  his  son-in-law 
Andrew  Johnston,  "Thank  God!  I  say  it  with  all  my  heart, 
tliank  God!"  "■•  But  approval  and  action  are  not  quite  the  same 
thing.  Lord  Glenelg  retired  from  office ;  possibly  Lord  Melbourne's 
celebrated  question,  "Can't  you  let  it  alone?"  was  put  in  this 
case  as  in  so  many  others  ;  and  things  did  not  move  rapidly. 
Besides  which,  it  was  not  sufficient  to  convince  the  Cabinet:  a 
great  part  of  the  work  was  to  be  done  by  private  enterprise  ;  and 
this  enterprise  had  to  be  set  on  foot  and  organized. 

At  length,  in  July,  1839,  a  new  Society  for  the  Civilization  of 
Africa   was    inaugurated.    Bishop   Blomfield,    Lord    Ashley,   Sir 
Eobert  Inglis,  and  other  influential  men  taking  part ;  and  Samuel 
Gurney,  Dr.  Lushington,  and  Mr.  Gladstone  joining.     "  Quite  an 
epitome  of  the  State,"  wrote  Buxton  ;  "  Whig,  Tory,  and  Radical ; 
Dissenter,    Low    Church,    High    Church,    tip-top    Oxfordism,    all 
united."  f     The  movement  now  grew  apace  ;  and  on  June  1st,  Great 
1840,  one  of  the  greatest  meetings  ever  held  in  Exeter  Hall  pushed  meetfng,^ 
it  into  the  front  rank  of  the  topics  of  the  day.     For  Prince  Albert,  J^^-^^  '^t, 
who  had  been  married  to  the  Queen  not  four  months  before,  was 
in  the  chair,  supported  by  some  five-and-twenty  peers  and  bishops, 
and  a  host  of  M.P.'s  and  leading  laymen    and   clerg}-men.     In 
this   his  first  speech  before  an  English  audience   Prince  Albert  Pr["=e. 

i  "  Albert  s 

said, Speech. 

"  I  havo  bct-n  induced  to  preside  at  the  Meeting;  of  this  Society  from  a 
conviction  of  its  paramount  imjiortance  to  the  great  interests  of 
humanity  and  justice.  I  deeply  regret  that  the  benevolent  and  per- 
severing exertions  of  Enghmd  to  aboUsh  the  atrocious  traffic  in  human 
beings — at  (Mice  the  desolation  of  Africa  and  the  blackest  stain  on 
civilized  Europe — liave  not  as  yet  led  to  a  satisfactory  conclusion.  I 
sincerely  trust  that  this  great  country  will  not  relax  its  efforts  initil  it 
lias,  finally  and  for  ever,  put  an  end  to  a  state  of  things  so  repugnant  to 
the  principles  of  Christianity  and  to  the  best  feelings  of  our  nature.  I 
do  tru.st  tliat  Providence  will  prosper  our  exertions  in  so  holy  a  cause  ; 
and  that,  under  the  auspices  of  our  Queen  and  her  Government,  we  may, 
at  no  distant  period,  be  rewarded  by  the  accomi)lisliment  of  the  great 
and  humane  object,  for  the  promotion  of  which  we  have  met  this  day." 

Buxton  himself  moved  the  first  resolution  ;  and  he  was  followed 
by  Samuel  Wilberforce,  then  Archdeacon  of  Surrey,  with  his 
hereditary  right  to  a  foremost  place  on  such  a  platform,  and  with 
an  eloquence  even  more  captivating  than  that  of  his  illustrious 
father.     Then  came  Sir  Robert  Peel,  the  leader  of  the  Conservative 

*  Life,  p.  373.  t  J^id.,  p.  380. 


454 


New  Enterprises  in  Africa  : 


Part  V. 
1841-48. 
Chap.  29. 


The 

scheme 

criticized. 


C.M.S. 
action. 


Opposition,  to  support  a  scheme  promoted  by  the  Whig  Ministiy  ; 
the  Bishops  of  Winchester  and  Chichester,  the  Earl  of  Chichester, 
President  of  the  C.M.S.  ;  the  Marquis  of  Northampton,  Lord 
Ashley,  Sir  T.  Dyke  Acland,  and  several  others.  It  was  shortly 
after  this  meeting  that  Fowell  Buxton  was  created  a  baronet.'-^' 

Meanwhile  the  Government  were  not  idle.  They  were  building 
three  new  iron  steamers  expressly  for  the  expedition,  two  of 
which,  when  launched,  received  the  names  of  the  Albert  and  the 
Wilberforce,  the  third  being  christened  the  Soudan.  Lord  John 
Eussell,  who  was  now  Colonial  Secretary,  and  Lord  Palmerston, 
who  was  Foreign  Secretary,  entered  warmly  into  the  plans  ;  and 
the  former  wrote  officially, — 

"  It  is  proposed  to  establish  new  commercial  relations  with  those 
African  chiefs  and  powers  within  whose  dominions  the  internal  slave- 
trade  of  Africa  is  carried  on,  and  the  external  slave-trade  supplied  with 
its  victims.  To  this  end,  the  Queen  has  directed  her  Ministers  to 
negotiate  conventions  or  agreements  with  those  chiefs  and  powers  :  the 
basis  of  which  conventions  would  be,  first,  the  abandonment  and  absolute 
prohibition  of  the  slave-trade,  and,  secondly,  the  admission,  for  con- 
sumption in  this  country,  on  favourable  terms,  of  goods,  the  produce  or 
manufacture  of  the  territories  subject  to  them." 

Several  scientific  men  were  engaged  by  the  new  African  Society 
to  accompany  the  expedition ;  and  an  Agricultural  Association 
organized  by  Buxton  with  the  help  of  the  Gurneys  and  some 
other  Quaker  friends,  raised  £4000  to  start  a  "model  farm" 
somewhere  on  the  Niger.  These  plans  called  forth  a  good  deal  of 
criticism.  The  Times  distinguished  itself  by  its  vehement  attacks 
on  the  whole  scheme  ;  and  the  Edinburgh  Eoview  followed  suit.f 
But  Prince  Albert  was  not  moved  from  his  attitude  of  hearty 
approval.  He  visited  the  three  ships  in  the  Thames  before  they 
sailed,  and  narrowly  escaped  drowning  from  an  accident  to  his 
boat..!  As  for  Buxton,  the  motto  of  his  family  had  been,  "  What- 
soever thy  hand  findeth  to  do,  do  it  with  thy  might,"  and  the  last 
five  words  of  this  text  was  the  motto  attached  to  the  arms  which 
he  bore  as  a  baronet. 

But  what  had  the  Church  Missionary  Society  to  do  with  all 
this  ?  From  first  to  last  it  was  in  close  alliance  with  Buxton  in 
his  plans.  The  Niger  would  be  a  highway  for  the  Gospel  as  well 
as  for  legitimate  trade.  If  "  the  Bible  and  the  Plough  "  were  to 
combine  to  regenerate  Africa,  and  if  the  new  Agricultural  Associa- 
tion was  to  provide  the  plough,  it  was  plainly  the  part  of  the 
Church  Missionary  Society  to  provide  the  Bible.  Accordingly 
the  Committee  obtained  leave  to  send  two  mission  agents  with 


*  Another  interesting  fact  about  this  great  meeting  is  that  David  Living- 
stone was  present  He  was  then  a  young  student  under  the  London  Missionary 
Society. — Blaikie's  Personal  Life  oj  Livingstone. 

t  Dickens's  clever  caricature  of  the  scheme,  in  his  picture  (in  Bhak  Hov.^c) 
of  Mrs.  Jellyby  and  Borrioboola  Gha,  will  of  course  be  remembered. 

X   Life  of  Buxton,  p.  443. 


Nicer  Exr/mrnox,    Yoruba  M/ss/ox,  East  Coast    455 

the  expedition,  and  for  this  service  they  selected  J.  F.  Schiin   a    ^^^^^'J^- 
German  missionary  at  Sierra  Leone  with  special  Imguistic  gifts,  ^^^^^    - 

and  Samuel  Crowther.  

The  expedition   sailed  on  April    14th,   1841,   and   entered   tlie  Niger  Ex. 
mouth  of  the  Niger  on  August  20th.     Through  the  slimy  man-  p 
grove   swamps,  with  their   fever-hreeding  miasma,   for  the    hrst 
twenty   miles— then  through   a  region    of  dense   tropical   forest, 
palms,  bamboos,   and  gigantic    cotton-trees— then  past  the   hrst 
plantations   of  plantains  and  sugar-cane,  with  here  and  there  a 
mud    hut— the   three   vessels  slowly   steamed   up   the   principal 
channel  of  the  river.     At  Abo,  a  hundred  mUes  up,  and  again  at 
Idda,   another  hundred  miles    further,   treaties    were    concluded 
with  the  chiefs  for  the    suppression   of    the   slave-trade   and  ot 
human    sacrifices,    and  for   the   promotion    of  lawful   commerce. 
Important  information  was  collected  touching  the  condition  and 
capabilities  of  the  country  ;  and  Schon  gathered  much  linguistic 
material  which  afterwards  proved  valuable.     But  the  expedition 
closed  in  sorrow^  and  disappointment.     A  deadly  fever  struck  the  its  trials, 
crews,  and  forty-two  white  men  out  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  died 
in  two  months.     Only  one  steamer,  the  Albert,  got  as  far  as  Egan 
(pronounced  Egga),  the  highest  point   reached,  some  350    miles 
from  the  sea,  the  other  two  having  been  sent  back  full  of  invahds  ; 
and  the  Albert  itself  had  at  one  time  only  three  white  men  with 
strength  enough  to  work  the  ship.     The  proposed  "  model  farm 
was  started  at  Lokoja,  but  ere  long  the  men  in   charge   had   to 
leave  in  shattered  health  ;  and  almost  the  only  immediate   result 
of  the  first  gallant  attempt  to  "  regenerate  Africa  "  was  the  publica- 
tion by  the  Church  Missionary  Society  of  Schon   and  Crowther  s 
Journals,  which  proved  a  valuable  book,  and  most  useful  in  after 

^^The  failure  of  the  Niger  Expedition  as  distinctly  killed  Fowell  its  failure. 
Buxton  as  the  Battle  of  Austerlitz  killed  Pitt.  He  sivrvived  it 
three  years,  but  he  was  never  the  same  man  again.  "  He  rarely 
spote  of  the  Expedition,"  says  his  son  and  biographer :"  his 
grave  demeanour,  his  worn  pale  face,  the  abstraction  of  his 
manner,  and  the  intense  fervour  of  his  supplications  that  God 
would  'pity  poor  Africa, --these  showed  too  well  the  poignancy 
of  his  feelings."  -  On  the  other  hand,  the  Times  was  triumphant ; 
the  very  name  of  the  Niger  Expedition  became  a  byword  and  a 
proverb  to  express  hopeless  failure  ;  and  for  twelve  years  pub  he 
opinion  tolerated  no  further  attempts  to  utilize  the  river,  llie 
promoters  did  not  lose  all  heart :  they  held  another  meeting,  to 
which  Lord  John  Eussell,  now  leader  of  the  Opposition  (Peel 
having  come  in),  had  the  courage  to  come  and  speak,  boldly 
asserting,  against  all  cavils,  the  soundness  of  Buxton's  schemes 
and  prophesving  that  the  failure  was  only  temporary;  and 
Samuel  Wilberforce  again  eloquently  pleaded  for  persevering  and 

*  Life  of  lUiJcto)!,  i>.   IGG. 


45^  New  Enterprises  in  Africa  : 

Part  V.   patient  effort  in  behalf  of  Africa.     Buxton  was  not  well  enough 

Cha^~29'   ^°  ^®  present ;  but  in  1843  he  was  able  to  take  part  in  the  dissolu- 

lap^   •  tion  of  the  Company.     "  I  feel,"  he  said,  "  as  if  I  were  going  to 

attend  the  funeral  of  an  old  friend."     His  own  funeral   was   not 

Death^of  long  delayed.  He  died  on  February  19th,  1845.  But  he  was  not 
forgotten.  No  less  than  fifty  thousand  Negroes  in  Africa  and  the 
West  Indies  subscribed  to  the  fund  for  a  monument  to  him  ;  and 
the  statue  in  Westminster  Abbey  is  the  result.  Moreover,  his 
name  and  character  and  influence  have  been  perpetuated  in  sons 
and  daughters,  grandsons  and  granddaughters,  great-grandsons 
and  great-granddaughters,  who  have  been,  and  still  are,  the 
friends  of  Africa  and  of  every  good  and  holy  cause  at  home  and 
abroad. 

ffaihire?'*  Aiid  Lord  John  Eussell  was  right.  The  failure  of  the  Niger 
Expedition  was  not  final.  In  His  never-failing  wisdom,  God 
permitted  it,  perhaps  as  a  lesson  on  the  uncertainty  of  human 
plans.  Few  projects  for  the  benefit  of  mankind  succeed,  when 
they  are  ushered  in  with  a  flourish  of  trumpets.  It  pleases  God 
to  choose  the  weak  things  of  the  world  to  confound  the  mighty. 
The  day  came  when  the  Negro  teacher  who  occupied  so  humble 
a  place  in  the  Expedition  became  Bishop  of  the  whole  Niger 
territory.  The  day  came  when  English  ladies  of  refinement 
found  that  they  could  live  and  labour  on  the  banks  of  the 
fever- stricken    river.     The   day   came    when    a   great   Chartered 

After  days.  Company  not  only  developed  the  river  district  itself,  but  delivered 
the  great  Hausa  nation,  in  the  heart  of  the  Soudan,  from  the  Fulah 
slave-kidnappers  who  had  oppressed  them  so  long,  and  pro- 
claimed the  entire  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  vast  region  under  its 
control. 

l/o"I  Sierra  Leone   was   now  a   prosperous  settlement.     The   West 

prospering.  African  is  not  great  at  agriculture,  but  he  is  a  born  trader ;  and 
many  of  the  rescued  slaves  had  become  flourishing  traffickers 
along  the  coast.  In  1839,  a  few  of  the  most  enterprising,  who 
belonged  to  the  Yoruba  nation  before  mentioned,  purchased  from 
Government  a  small  slave-ship  which  had  been  captured,  named 
her  the  Wilberforce,  freighted  her  with  English  goods  hkely  to 
attract  buyers,  and  set  sail  for  what  was  then  known  as  the  Slave 
Coast,  a  thousand  miles  to  the  east  of  Sierra  Leone,  and  the  gate 
into  their  own  Yoruba  country.  Lagos  being  in  the  hands  of  a 
hostile  and  slave-kidnapping  tribe,  they  landed  at  Badagry, 
quickly  disposed  of  their  cargo,  filled  their  little  vessel  with  the 
produce  of  the  country,  and  returned  to  Sierra  Leone;  and  a 
brisk  trade  speedily  sprang  up.  A  few  years  before  this,  the 
remnant  of  the  scattered  Egbas  whose  lands  had  been  ravaged 
by  the  Fulah  slave-raiders,  as  before  mentioned,  had  come 
together  again  and  settled  round  a  high  isolated  rock  called 
Olumo;  and  a  great  town  of  probably  100,000  souls  was  the 
result,  to  which  they  gave  the  name  of  Abeokuta,  or  Under-stone. 


sYicER  ExrEDiTioN^    YoRUhA  MISSION^  East  Coast    457 

The  Sierra  Leone  traders  heard  of  this  revival  of  the  Egba  power,    Part  V. 
and  some,  who  belonged  to  that   section   of  the    Yoruba  people,  J|J^^^"tg 
emigrated  to  Abeokuta.     These  had  not  been  the  most  religious  of      ^^_^ 
the    professing    Christians   at    Sierra   Leone ;    but   in   a   wholly  sierra 
heathen  country  they  began  to  long  after  their  old  church  services,  J;|ders  at 
and  they  sent  to  the  Sierra  Leone  missionaries,  begging  them^  to  Abeokuta. 
come  and  provide  Christian  ministrations  for  them  and  teaching 
for  the  Heathen  population. 

In  the  meanwhile,  God  was  preparing  the  instrument  for  this 
extension    of  the    work.     The    C.M.S.    Committee    had    been   so 
struck  by  the  tone  and  intelligence  of  Samuel  Crowther's  journal 
of  the  Niger  Expedition  that  they  sent  for  him  in  the  following 
year,  1842,  to  come  to  England,  placed  him  in  Islington  College, 
and  in  a  few  months  found  him  qualified  for  presentation  to  the 
Bishop    of  London    as    a   candidate  for  ordination.     On   Trinity . 
Sunday,  June  11th,  1843,  twenty-one  years  (less  one  week)  after 
the  poor  frightened  slave-boy  was  landed  by  H. M.S.  Myrmidon  at 
Sierra    Leone,    he   was    duly    admitted   to    the    ministry    of  the  l^^^^^j"'- 
Church  ;*  and  on  October  1st  in  the  same  year  he  received  priest's  cr^ther. 
orders.     Of  course  he  was  at  once  in  demand  as  a  preacher ;  and 
it  was  a  touchingly  significant  scene  when  he  stood  up   in  the 
pulpit    of   Northrepps    Church   in  the   presence   of    the   veteran 
benefactor  of  his  race,  Thomas  Fowell  Buxton.     It  was  at  the 
very    next    Anniversary    that   Bishop    Blomfield    preached   the  Bishop 
Annual  Sermon, f  and  in  the  course  of  it  he  said, —  on°the^ 

"  What  cause  for  thanksgiving  to  Him  who  hath  made  of  one  blood  all  mmiTster. 
nations  of  men,  is  to  be  found  in  the  thought  that  He  has  not  only 
blessed  the  labours  of  this  Society  by  bringing  many  of  those  neglected 
and  persecuted  people  to  the  knowledge  of  a  Saviour,  but,  from  among 
a  race  despised  as  incapable  of  intellectual  exertion  and  acquirement, 
He  has  raised  up  men  well  qualified,  even  in  point  of  knowledge,  to 
communicate  to  others  the  saving  truths  which  they  have  themselves 
embraced,  and  to  become  preachers  of  the  Gospel  to  their  brethren 
according  to  the  flesh  !  " 

Saturday,  December  2nd,  1843,  was  a  great  day  at  Sierra  c^^her 
Leone.  On  that  day,  the  "  black  man  who  had  been  crowned  a  Leone"^ 
minister,"  as  the  phrase  was,  disembarked  from  the  ship  that  had 
brought  him  from  England,  amid  the  welcomes  of  hundreds  of 
those  who,  like  himself,  had  once  been  slaves  but  now  were  free 
— many  of  them  free  with  the  liberty  of  the  children  of  God. 
The  next  day,  "the  Eev.  Samuel  Crowther"  preached  to  an 
immense  congregation  from  ihe  words,  "  And  yet  there  is  room," 

*  An  interesting  incident  happened  at  the  ordination.  "WTien  the  candidates 
for  deacon's  orders  were  to  go  up  to  the  Bishop,  an  awkward  pause  occurred. 
The  Englishmen,  by  a  sudden  and  simultaneous  instinct,  waited  for  the  Negro 
to  go  first ;  while  he  was  sitting  with  his  eyes  on  the  ground,  unconscious  of 
the  precedence  they  wished  to  accord  him.  At  last,  suddenly  seeing  that  all 
eyes  were  fixed  on  him,  he  quietly  arose,  went  forward,  and  knelt  before  the 
Bishop. 

t  See  pp.  396,  418. 


458 


New  Enterprises  in  A/-rica 


Townsend 

visits 

Abeokuta. 


Part  V.  and  afterwards  administered  the  Lord's  Supper  to  a  large  number 
pf'^^'tn  of  Negro  communicants.  This  service  was,  of  course,  in 
'»P^'9-  'English,  iYiQ  lingua  franca  oi  the  Colony ;  but  "  Adjai "  had  not 
forgotten  the  native  Yoruba  of  his  childhood,  and  in  a  few  days 
he  conducted  another  service  in  that  language,  for  the  benefit  of 
the  large  section  of  the  population  whose  vernacular  it  was. 
This,  it  may  be  presumed,  was  the  first  Christian  service  ever 
held  in  Africa  in  the  Yoruba  tongue  ;  and  it  is  not  surprising 
that  at  the  end,  after  the  benediction,  the  whole  congregation 
burst  forth  with  the  cry  of  K&  oh  shell,  "  So  let  it  be  !  " 

But  Crowther  was  not  to  be  long  in  SieiTa  Leone.  Before 
this,  while  he  was  in  England,  Henry  Townsend,  the  young 
schoolmaster  from  Exeter  who  was  already  giving  promise  of 
great  efficiency  as  a  missionary,  had  made  an  expedition  in  the 
little  trading-vessel  Wilhcrforcc  to  Badagry,  and  had  actually 
gone  up  to  Abeokuta.  He  had  been  warmly  received  by  the 
principal  chief,  and  invited  to  return  and  live  there.  He  returned 
at  once  to  England  and  reported  this  remarkable  opening  for  an 
entirely  new  Mission  a  thousand  miles  beyond  Sierra  Leone,  in 
the  very  country  which  had  been  so  ravaged  by  the  slave-trade. 
An  active  Methodist  missionary,  Mr.  Freeman,  had  anticipated 
Townsend,  both  in  visiting  Abeokuta,  and  in  reporting  on  it  in 
England;  and  both  the  C.M.S.  and  the  Wesleyan  Society  were 
already  keen  to  enter  so  inviting  an  opeii  door.  Townsend  re- 
ceived holy  orders  from  Bishop  Blomfield  on  Trinity  Sunday, 
1844,  just  a  year  after  Crowther  ;  and  then  he  returned  to  Africa, 
commissioned,  together  with  Crowther  and  with  a  young  German 
missionary,  the  Eev.  C.  A.  Gollmer,  to  commence  a  Mission  in 
the  Yoruba  country. 

Towards  the  end  of  1844 — a  year  memorable  also  for  the  first 
commencement  of  work  on  the  East  African  coast,  as  we  shall  see 
presently — the  party  sailed  for  Badagry.  There,  however,  they 
were  detained  a  year  and  a  half,  owing  to  the  death  of  the  friendly 
head-chief  of  Abeokuta,  and  the  road  thither  being  closed  by  local 
wars.  At  length  the  way  opened  to  go  forward,  and  on  August  3rd, 
1846,  Townsend  and  Crowther  (Gollmer  being  left  at  the  coast) 
entered  the  great  Egba  town,  amid  joyous  welcomes  from  chiefs 
and  people. 

The  Yoruba  Mission  quickly  took  a  foremost  place  in  the 
interest  and  sympathies  of  the  Society's  circle  of  friends  ;  and  for 
some  years  no  Mission  was  watched  more  eagerly  or  prayed  for 
more  fervently.  We  leave  it  now  for  the  present,  proposing  to 
return  to  it  in  a  future  chapter,  when  we  shall  see  something  of 
the  blessing  which  God  graciously  vouchsafed  to  it. 


The  new 

Yoruba 

Mission. 


Meanwhile,  we  will  cross  over  to  the  other  side  of  the  Dark 
Krapf  in      Continent,  where  we  left  the  intrepid  Johann  Ludwig  Krapf  facing- 
perils    and  privations    innumerable    in    what  proved  to  be    vain 
attempts  to  establish  a  Mission   in   the  kingdom    of    Shoa,   and 


Niger  Expedition^    Yoruba  Mission^  East  Coast    459 

among  the  Galki  tribes,  south  of  Abyssinia/'^     He  had  now  (1842)    Part  V. 
a  young  wife  to  share  his  wanderings ;  a  lady  from  Basle,  whom  }!^'^^~^^' 
he  had  married  at  Cairo.     Eosina  Krapf  was  a  brave  and  devoted      '''^^' 
woman  ;  and  needful  it  was  that  she  should  be.     In  the  dry  bed 
of   a  torrent,    between   rocky   hills,   with   no  tent,   or   nurse,    or 
surgeon,  her  child  was  born.     "  In  the  Shoho  wilderness,"  wrote 
Krapf,  "my  beloved  wife  was  prematurely  delivered  of  a  little  Birth  and 
daughter,  whom  I  christened  '  Eneba,'  a  tear.     I  had  to  bury  the  the  desert, 
dear  child,  for  she  lived  only  a  few  hours,  under  a  tree  by  the 
wayside,  and  her  mourning  mother  was  obliged  to  prosecute  her 
journey  on   the   third  day,   as   the  Shohos  would  not  wait  any 
longer,  and  there  was  no  village  where  she  could  have  found  rest." 

Krapf  had  asked  leave  for  the  Society  to  go  southwards,  and 
try  and  reach  the  Galla  tribes  another  way ;  and  at  Aden,  whither 
— being  finally  driven  out  of  Shoa — he  now^  proceeded,  he  found 
letters  sanctioning  his  proposal.  He  and  his  wife  accordingly,  on  Krapf  goes 
November  11th,  1843,  set  sail  in  an  Arab  trading-vessel  bound  for  south. 
Zanzibar.  The  miserable  craft,  leaky  and  ill-found,  tossed  about 
for  four  days,  and  then  began  steadily  to  sink.  There  seemed  no 
hope  of  escape,  and  the  husband  and  wife  together  commended 
themselves  to  the  Lord,  and  awaited  death  calmly ;  when 
suddenly  a  boat  unexpectedly  appeared,  and  took  them  off,  only 
a  few  minutes  before  the  vessel  turned  over  and  went  down. 
They  were  put  on  shore  again  at  Aden,  and  in  a  few  days  started 
again  in  another  trading-vessel  going  to  various  ports  on  the  East 
Coast  of  Africa.  It  is  worth  noting  that  this  voyage,  so  pregnant 
with  great  issues,  was  being  taken  at  the  very  time  that  the  newly- 
ordained  African  clergyman,  Samuel  Crowther,  was  sailing  from 
England  for  Sierra  Leone. 

The  x\rab  vessel  took  two   months  to  complete  its  voyage   to  ^'"^pfon 
Zanzibar.     At  several  ports  Krapf  inquired  about  the  interior,  of  African 
which  nothing  whatever  was   then  known  to  geographers.     He  Coast, 
was  told  of  "  Chagga  "  and  "  Uniamesi  "  (as  he  spelt  it) — names 
familiar  to  us  now, — and  that  in  the  latter  country  there  was  "  a, 
great  lake."     This  is  the  first  mention  of  that  inland  sea  which 
Speke  discovered  fourteen  years  afterwards  and  named  the  Vic- 
toria Nyanza.     On  January  3rd,  1844,  Krapf  entered  the  harbour 
of   Mombasa.     Here  we  catch    a   ghmpse  of   the   Divine    Hand 
ordering   by   its  invisible   governance  the   course   of   this   world. 
Had  the  first  vessel  from  Aden  not  foundered,  it  would  have  taken 
Krapf  straight  to    Zanzibar,    and    he    might   never   have    visited 
Mombasa  at  all — which  would  have  altered  the  whole  history  of 
African  geographical  and  missionary  enterprise. 

Only  for  a  few  hours,  however,  was  Krapf  at  Mombasa  on  that 
3rd  of  January ;  though  this  was  enough  to  suggest  the  place  to 
his  mind  as  a  base  for  future  travels  and  labours.  It  was  to 
Zanzibar  that  he  was  now  going. 

The  island   and  town  so  named  held  even   then  an   important 
*  See  p.  353. 


460  New  Enterprises  in  Africa  : 

Part  V.   place  in  the  geography  of  the  world  as  the  capital  of  the  great 

Ph^^tq    ^^'^^  potentate,  Sultan  Said  Said.     As  Imam  of  Muscat  in  Arabia, 
^P"     ■  Said  Said  had  extended  his  dominion  all  down  the  East  African 

Zanzibar     coast,  and  then  had  transferred  the  seat  of  his  empire  to  Zanzibar. 

SuUa^n.  ^^^  Arabs  are  great  traders,  and  the  place  became  a  centre  of 
widely-extended  commerce.  Some  hundreds  of  Banians,  the 
trading  caste  of  Gujerat  in  Western  India,  had  settled  there,  and 
brisk  was  the  traffic  across  the  Arabian  Sea,  wafted  by  the  steady 
trade-winds.  "In  the  autumn,  the  sailors  have  but  to  spread 
their  broad  lateen  sails  to  the  north-east  monsoon,  to  l)e  driven, 
faster  than  any  but  the  fastest  steamers  can  follow,  [from  the 
Indian]  to  the  African  coast.  There  they  have  only  to  wait  till 
the  summer  season  brings  the  south-west  monsoon,  to  be  wafted 
back  with  equal  ease  and  swiftness  to  the  shores  of  India."  ■'• 
These  Banian  traders  being  British  subjects,  an  English  Consul 
had  been  stationed  at  Zanzibar.  Not,  indeed,  for  their  protection 
only.  England  had  already  done  something  towards  at  least  the 
diminution  of  the  East  African  Slave  Trade.  A  treaty  limiting  its 
area  and  scope  had  been  concluded  witli  Said  Said  as  far  back  as 
1822,  and  though  the  result  was  but  small,  this  gave  the  Consul 
something  to  do. 

Krapf  received  a  cordial  welcome  from  Captain  Hamerton,  who 
was  then  Consul,  and  from  the  Sultan  himself.  The  former  asked 
him  "  to  remain  in   Zanzibar,  preaching  on   Sunda5'^s  to  its  few 

Krapf  at  Europeans,  w^orking  amongst  the  Banians  from  India,  founding 
schools  for  the  Arabs  and  Swahilis  (coast  people),  and  preparing 
books."  But  Krapf 's  heart  was  with  the  Gallas,  and  he  declined 
the  work  which,  many  years  after,  was  so  efficiently  taken  up  by 
,  the  Universities'  Mission.  The  Sultan,  therefore,  gave  him  a 
letter,  which  ran  as  follows  : — 

"  This  comes  from  Said  Said,  Sultan  ;  greeting  all  our  subjects,  friends, 
and  governors.  This  letter  is  written  on  behalf  of  Doctor  Krapf,  a 
German,  a  good  man  who  wishes  to  convert  the  world  to  God.  Behave 
well  to  him,  and  be  everywhere  serviceable  to  him." 

The  Mohammedan  potentate,  it  will  be  observed,  was  quite 
willing  that  a  Christian  missionary  should  go  to  Heathen  savages. 
It  did  not  occur  to  him  that  the  Christian  message  was  for  him 
too. 

In  the  first  week  of  May,  1844,  just  when,  in  Exeter  Hall,  the 
C.M.S.  Committee  were  reporting  that  they  had  given  Dr.  Krapf  t 
leave  to  visit  the  East  African  coast,  he  and  his  wife  settled  at 
Krapf  at  Mombasa.  This  place  also,  like  Zanzibar,  is  both  an  island  and  a 
town ;  but  not,  like  Zanzibar,  an  island  fifty  miles  long.  It  is  a 
small  islet  in  the  estuary  of  a  small  river.  It  was  one  of  the 
Portuguese  settlements  in  the  seventeenth   century,  and  the   old 

*  Li/e  0/  Hir  Bartle  Frere,  vol.  i.  p.  500. 

•j-  The  degree  of  Ph.D.  was  conferred  on  him  in  this  year,  1844,  by  the 
University  of  Tubingen. 


Mombasa. 


Niger  Expedition^    Yoruba  Mission^  East  Coast    461 

fort  around  which  the  town  clusters  bears  the  date  of  its  erection    Part  V. 
by  Xeixas  de  Cabreira,  1635.     Mombasa  is  the  Portuguese  form    1841-48. 
of  the  name,  but  Krapf  wrote  it  in  the  Arab  form,  Mombaz,  and  ^'^^P-  29- 
the  former  has  only  been  revived  in  the  past  twenty  years.     The 
inhabitants  were  chiefly  Swahili,  a  mixed  race  resulting  from  the 
mingling  of  the  Arabs  with  the  Natives ;  but  on  the  mainland  was 
the  barbarous  Wanika  tribe."'' 

With  characteristic  energy,  Krapf  at  once  flung  himself  into  the 
study  of  l)oth  languages,  and  within  a  month,  on  June  8th,  he 
actually  began  an  attempt  to  translate  the  Book  of  Genesis  into 
Swahili,  assisted  by  the  Mohammedan  Cadi  (judge)  of  Mombasa. 
Scarcely,  however,  had  he  begun,  when  the  great  trial  fell  upon 
him  which  was  to  be  the  first  of  a  long  series  of  illustrations  of 
that  key-text  of  African  missionary  history,  "Except  a  corn  of 
wheat  fall  into  the  ground  and  die,  it  abideth  alone ;  but  if  it  die, 
it  bringeth  forth  much  fruit."  On  July  13th,  death  took  his  wife 
from  his  side. 

Eosina  Krapf  had  already,  as  we  have  seen,  laid   one  child  in 
an  African   grave.     On  July  6th  a   second  infant  daughter  was  Birth  and 
given  to  her.     Nothing  more  touching  has  ever  been  written  than  "^^^^^ 
Krapf 's   diary  of  the   next   seven   days.f     When   it  became  clear 
that  she  had  not  strength  to  throw  off  the  fever,  Mrs.  Krapf  called 
the  Mohammedans  who  had  been  attending  on  them  around  her 
and  told  them,   "with  decision   and  force,   that  no  Saviour  but  Rosina 
Jesus  Christ  could  support  them  in  the  hour  of  death."     Then  she  ^yfrfg  ^ 
turned  to  her  husband  : —  message. 

"  She  told  me  that  I  shouki  never  forbear  speaking  to  the  people 
about  Christ,  and  His  being  the  only  and  true  Mediator  between  God 
and  man.  Though  my  words  might  be  forgotten,  yet  tliey  might  at  the 
hour  of  death  recur  to  the  mind,  and  then  be  a  blessing  to  the  hearer : 
Christ  being  able  to  pardon  a  tremblino-,  contrite,  and  believing 
Mohammedan  as  well  and  as  easily  as  He  had  pardoned  herself. 
Furthermore,  she  said  I  should  not  spend  my  time  in  mourning  for  her, 
but  strive  in  good  earnest  to  fulfil  my  duty  and  work  while  it  is  day." 

Then  Krapf  himself  was  attacked  by  the  fever,  and  when  his 
wife  breathed  her  last  it  was  only  by  a  great  effort  that  he  was 
able  to  rise  and  satisfy  himself  that  she  w^as  really  dead.  At  her 
own  express  wish  she  was  buried,  not  on  the  island  of  Mombasa, 
but  on  the  mainland  opposite  ;  and,  a  day  or  two  after,  the 
motherless  babe  was  laid  beside  her.  "  My  heart  and  body," 
wrote  Krapf  in  a  private  letter,  "wept  for  many  days."  Yet  he 
could  see  in  that  grave  the  pledge  of  future  triumphs  of  the 
Gospel  in  Africa ;  and  he  wrote  home  to  the  Committee  his 
memorable  and  oft-quoted  message  :  —  Krapfs 

.  message  to 

"  Tell  our  friends  at  home  that  there  is  now  on  the  East  African  Europe. 
coast  a   lonely  missionary  grave.     Tliis   is  a  sign  that  you  have 

*  Swahili  is  from  sahel,  Arabic  for  "coast."     Krapf  wrote  Sooahelee  aud 
Wonica. 
■f  Printed  in  the  O.M.  Record  of  April,  1845,  and  in  The  Finished  Course. 


of  it 


462      New  Enterprises  in  Africa  :  Niger  Expedition^  (5^=c. 

Part  V.   commenced  the   struggle  with  this  jjar^  of  the  ivorld ;  and  as  the 

1841-48.   victories  of  the  Church  are  gained  by  stepping  over  the  graves  of 

Chap.  29.  j^Qy  memhers,  you  may  he   the  more  convinced  that  the  hour  is  at 

hand  when  you  are  summoned   to  the  conversion  of  Africa  from  its 

eastern  shore." 

He  little  thought,  indeed,  that  on  the  very  plot  of  land  in  which 
he  laid  the  remains  of  his  beloved  Eosina  would,  thirty  years 
after,  rise  a  famous  missionary  settlement  and   a  Church  of  the 

What  came  Living  God.  But  he  did  begin  to  ponder  on  the  future,  and  to 
form  large  plans  for  extended  missionary  operations.  Three  ideas 
shaped  themselves  in  his  mind  :  (1)  a  chain  of  stations  to  stretch 
right  across  the  continent ;  (2)  a  colony  for  freed  slaves  similar  to 
Sierra  Leone,  for  which  colony,  he  wrote,  "  Mombaz  and  its 
environs  would  be  the  best  site  "  ;  (3)  in  his  own  words,  "  A 
black  bishop  and  black  clergy  may  become  a  necessity  in  the 
civilization  of  Africa."  There  was  small  prospect  of  either  then  ; 
yet  Krapf  lived  to  see  the  Central  African  Missions  of  our  own 
day,  and  Frere  Town,  and  the  Bishopric  of  the  Niger. 

But  this  was  not  yet.  For  two  years  the  solitary  missionary 
toiled  at  the  Swahili  language,  compiling  a  grammar  and  dictionary, 
and  translating  the  whole  New  Testament ;  occasionally  visiting 
the  Wanika  on  the  mainland  ;  and  prosecuting  geographical  and 
ethnographical  inquiries  in  all  directions.     At  last,  in  June,  1846, 

Krapf  and  he  was  joined  by  a  fellow-labourer.  John  Rebmann,  like  him,  was 
e  mann.  ^^  Wurtemburger  and  a  Basle  student ;  but,  unlike  him,  had  taken 
the  divinity  coiu'se  at  Islington  and  received  English  oi'ders  at  the 
hands  of  Bishop  Blomfield.  Then,  like  St.  Paul  when  Silas  and 
Timotheus  joined  him  at  Corinth,  Krapf  was  "pressed  in  the 
spirit";  and  very  soon  were  begun  those  wonderful  explorations 
which,  in  their  issue,  opened  up  all  Equatorial  Africa,  and  led  to 
the  vast  development  of  European  influence  and  Christian  enter- 
prise which  are  among  the  glories  of  our  day. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

The  Opening  of  China. 

Nestorian  and  Roman  Missions  in  China— China  in  the  First  Report 
of  C. M.S. —Morrison,  Milne,  Gutzlaff— E.  B.  Squire's  Attempt— 
The  Chinese  War— Lord  Ashley  and  the  Opium  Trade— New- 
Moves  Forward— Vincent  Stanton— The  C.M.S.  Mission— The 
First  Missionaries— Bishop  George  Smith. 

"  When  He  saiv  the  multitudes,  He  was  moved  with  compassion  on  them." — 
St.  Matt.  ix.  36. 

"J  have  set  before  thee  an  open  door ^ —'^ex .  m.  8. 

ROCK,  Rock,  when  wilt  thou  open  ?  "  said  the  Jesuit,    Part  V. 
VaUgnani,  as  his  wistful  eyes   looked  towards  the  Jj^^^"^o 
long-closed  Celestial  Empire  on  his  way  to  Japan.      ^^^'^ 
"  0  mighty  fortress,  when  shall  these  impenetrable  China's 
gates    of    thine    be   broken    through?"       His    pre- ga°es^ 
decessor,   Francis  Xavier,  had  already  died  in  his  rude    hut  on 
another   httle  barren  island,  gazing  across  the  narrow   strait   at 
the   long-closed   mainland   of   China.      But   Xavier   did   not   die 
despairing.     With  his  last  breath  he  repeated  the  familiar  closing 
words  of  the  Tc  Deum,  "  In  te,  Domine,  speravi,  non  confundar 
in  teternum  ";  and  the  trustful  hope  of  the  Church  of  God,  as  she 
has  knocked  at  the  gate  of  China,  has  not  been  "  confounded  for 

ever. 

Not  that  Christianity  had  then  never  entered  China.  The 
famous  inscription  at  'Si-ngan-fu  is  to  this  day  a  witness  that 
in  the  seventh  century  a.d.  the  Nestorian  Missions  had  spread  Nestorian 
"the  illustrious  rehgion  "  in  every  direction;  and  in  the  thir- 
teenth century  the  great  Tartar  potentate,  Kublai  Khan,  sent 
from  Peking  to  the  Pope  for  teachers.  =■=  John  de  Monte  Corvine, 
the  Franciscan,  wielded  great  influence  at  the  Court  of  Peking, 
translated  the  New  Testament  and  the  Psalms  into  Chinese,  and 
baptized  six  thousand  souls.  But  for  the  next  two  centuries 
the  history  is  an  absolute  blank.  After  Xavier' s  death,  however, 
the  Roman  missionaries,  backed  by  the  power  of  Portugal,  and  ^"i^^"^^ 
winninfT  their  way  by  their  scientific  attainments  as  well  as  by 
their  undaunted  courage,  estabhshed  themselves  within  the 
"  mightv   fortress."      The    success   achieved   by   Matthew   Ricci 

*  See  Chapter  II. 


464 


The  Opening  of  China 


Part  V. 
1841^8. 
Chap.  30. 


Chris- 
tianity 
prohibited. 


China  in 
the  first 
C.M.S. 
Report. 


Moseley's 
pamphlet. 


and  other  zealous  and  learned  priests  was  considerable,  largely 
through  their  virtual  sanction  of  ancestral  worship  in  the  form 
of  masses  for  the  dead,  and  the  close  resemblance  of  the 
externals  of  their  worship  to  the  idolatry  of  Buddhism  and 
Taoism.  Their  frequent  interference  with  politics,  however,  as  in 
other  parts  of  the  world,  repeatedly  aroused  the  fears  of  the 
Chinese  Government,  and  led  to  terrible  persecutions.  In  the 
eighteenth  century  Christianity  became  a  prohibited  religion, 
though  the  many  thousands  of  Chinese  hereditary  Christians 
scattered  in  small  bands  over  the  vast  empire  were  too  little 
distinguishable  from  the  Heathen  to  be  seriously  molested.  The 
Eomanist  headquarters  were  at  Macao,  the  island  off  the  Canton 
Eiver  belonging  to  Portugal. 

The  very  first  Eeport  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  dated 
May,  1801,'''  devotes  two  of  its  twelve  short  pages  to  China.  The 
words  are  worth  recording  here  : — 

''  The  extensive  Empire  of  China,  which  is  stated  to  contain  three 
hundred  milKons  of  inhabitants,  has  hitherto  enjoyed  no  share  of  the 
Missionary  labours  of  the  protestaut  churches.  A  zealous  dissenting 
minister,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Moseley,  has,  however,  of  himself  conceived  the 
design  of  printing  part  of  the  Scriptures  in  the  Chinese  language,  and 
circulating  the  work  in  that  populous  country.  Extracts  from  the 
valuable  Memoir,  he  has  printed  upon  this  subject,  are  subjoined  to  this 
Report.  To  carry  his  design  into  execution  is,  however,  a  work  more 
adequate  to  the  united  eflbrts  of  a  society  than  to  the  exertions  of  an 
individual.  He  has  therefore  expressed  his  wish,  that  this  Society 
should  undertake  the  important  work  he  had  proposed,  and  has  promised 
to  give  into  its  hands  a  considerable  pecuniary  aid  which  had  been 
promised  to  him.  The  Committee  are  fully  impressed  with  a  sense  of 
the  importance  of  the  proposed,  work,  but  they  are  aware  of  its 
difficulties.  The  want  of  a  sufficient  fund,  the  natural  difficulty  of  the 
Chinese  language,  the  little  acquaintance  with  it  which  Europeans 
possess,  form  obstacles  not  easily  to  be  sm^mounted.  The  Committee, 
however,  have  determined  to  open  a  separate  fund  for  this  purpose ;  and 
should  that  fund  be  adequate  to  the  necessary  expense  ;  and  should 
they  also  obtain  sufficient  evidence  of  the  fidelity  and  elegance  of  the 
MS.  Chinese  version  of  part  of  the  New  Testament,  now  in  the  British 
Museum ;  or  should  the  Committee  find  the  means  of  obtaining  a 
N'ew°Tes^  faithful  and  elegant  translation,  they  will  direct  their  attention  to  this 
ta^nt^^"  important  subject.  At  the  same  time,  they  earnestly  beg  it  to  be 
understood  that  a  work  of  this  magnitude  and  importance  cannot  hastily 
be  executed  ;  and  they  deprecate  the  idea  of  holding  out  sanguine  or 
arrogant  expectations  of  speedy  success  in  it." 

Turning  to  the  Appendix,  we  find  nine  more  pages  devoted  to 
extracts  from  Mr.  Moseley's  pamphlet.  He  gives  a  brief  sketch  of 
the  Koman  Missions,  their  early  successes  and  suljsequent  troubles  ; 
and  then  describes  the  Chinese  MS.,  which  he  had  discovered  in 
the  British  Museum,  and  which  had  been  brought  to  England  by 
Sir  Hans  Sloane  in  1738.  It  contains,  he  says,  St.  Luke's  Gospel, 
the  Acts,  and  St.  Paul's  Epistles ;  and  he  earnestly  appeals  for  aid 

*  See  p.  74. 


Chinese 
version  of 


The  Opening  of  China  465 

Hi  printing  it  for  circulation.     How  this  work  came  into  the  hands    Part  V. 
of  the  S.P.C.K.,  and  from  theirs  into  those  of  the  newly-formed    l''^-il-if^- 
Bihle  Society,  has  already   been  related. •■-     The  thoughts  of  the  Cliap^iO. 
Church    Missionary    Society    meanwhile    turned    to    Africa  ;    and 
China  was  for  the  time  forgotten. 

But  it  was  the  interest  excited  by  Moselev's  pamphlet  and  the  l.m  s. 

.       .  .  sends 

Chinese    MS.  that   led    the   London    Missionary    Society   to  send  Morrison 
Kobert  Morrison  to  China  in  1807.     The  Northumbrian  lad  was  *°  '^^'"^• 
self-educated  like  Carey ;  but,  like  Carey,  he  became  celebrated  in 
after  years  for  his  Oriental  learning.     His   own  first  thought  was 
of  Africa  :  could  he  not  go  to  Timbuctoo,  then  recently  revealed 
by  the  travels  of  Mungo  Park  ?     But  God  wanted  him  for  special 
service  in  China,  just   as,    thirty-four  years   after,    God   wanted 
Livingstone,   who  had  thought  of  China,  for   special  service   in 
Africa.      It   was,    however, — as   we    have    seen   regarding    other 
Missions, — one  thing  to  be  appointed  to  China,  and  quite  another 
thing  to  get  there.     The  English  trade  was  in  the  hands  of  the 
East  India  Company,  and  no  passage   for  a  missionary  could   be 
obtained  in  their  ships.     So  Morrison  crossed  the  Atlantic  to  New  How  he 
York,  and  thence  sailed  in  an  American  vessel  round  Cape  Horn  ^°*  ^  ^^^' 
and  across  the  Pacific,   with   letters  to  the  American  Consul  at 
Canton.     There  he  landed  on  September  7th,  1807,  eight  months 
after  leaving  England — a  quick  voyage  considering  the  route  and 
the  period. 

Again,  it  was  one  thing  to  reach  China,  and  another  thing  to 
live  and  work  there  as  a  missionary.  "First  of  all,  Chinamen 
were  forbidden  by  the  Government  to  teach  the  language  to  any 
foreigner,  under  pain  of  death.  Secondly,  no  one  could  remain  in 
China  except  for  purposes  of  trade.  Thirdly,  the  Roman  Catholic 
missionaries  would  be  [and  were]  bitterly  hostile."!  How  How  he 
Morrison  lived  in  an  American  house,  unable  to  walk  the  streets,  w'ork? 
and  unable  to  leave  his  Chinese  books  aboiit ;  how  he  presently 
donned  Chinese  dress,  grew  long  finger-nails,  and  cultivated  a 
queue  ;  how  he  afterwards  abandoned  this  plan,  as  useless  in  the 
circumstances;  how  he  hired  a  single  room  to  live  in,  and  was 
cheated  and  ill-treated  by  the  Chinese  landlord  ;  how  lie  tried  in 
vain  to  tame  and  teach  three  wild  Chinese  lads  ;  how  he  laboured 
and  laboured  at  the  language  ;  how  after  two  years  he  was  engaged 
by  the  East  India  Company  as  their  translator,  and  thus  o])tained 
a  secure  position  ;  how,  after  infinite  toil,  he  produced  a  Chinese 
grammar  and  dictionary,  the  latter  of  which  cost  the  Company 
£12,000  to  print  and  publish  in  six  quarto  volumes  with  4600 
pages ;  how  he  also,  wath  the  aid  of  Robert  Milne,  who  went  out  His 
in   1813,]:  produced  the  whole  Bible  in  Chinese  in   1818;  how  in  Bibie"^ 

*  See  p.  74. 

t  C.  S.  Home,  Sfori/  of  tlxe  L.M.S.,  p.  124. 

X  It  was  Milne  who  said  that  "to  acquire  Cliinese  is  a  work  for  men  with 
bodies  of  brass,  lungs  of  steel,  heads  of  oak,  hands  of  >  ]irini;-steo],  e_yes  of 
eagles,  hearts  of  apostles,  memories  of  angols,  aud  lives  of  Methuselah!  " 

VOL.  I.  H   h 


466 


The  Opening  of  China 


Part  V. 
18-41-48. 
Chap.  30, 


His  death, 


New  edict 
against 
Chris- 
tianity. 


American 
Missions. 


Gutzlaff. 


1814  he  baptized  one  Chinese  convert,  and  nine  others  in  the  next 
twenty  years ;  how  he  and  Milne  founded  an  Anglo-Chinese 
College  at  Malacca,  being  British  territory  ;  how  Milne  started  a 
magazine  there  called  (of  all  names  !)  the  Gleaner ;  how  Milne 
died,  and  Mrs.  Milne,  and  Mrs.  Morrison,  leaving  Morrison  in 
1822  once  more  the  sole  Protestant  missionary  in  China  ;  how  he 
visited  England  in  1824-5  ;  how  he  went  back  to  more  troublous 
surroundings,  hostile  Enghsh  officials  and  Eomish  conspiracies 
against  him  ;  and  how  on  July  31st,  1834— the  very  day  on  which, 
far  away  on  the  other  side  of  the  globe,  the  West  Indian  slaves 
were  joyfully  awaiting  the  midnight  that  would  usher  in  their  new 
freedom  ■■■ — he  entered  into  rest,  at  the  age  of  fifty-three  : — all  this, 
and  much  more,  has  often  been  told,  and  was  told,  year  by  year, 
by  Josiah  Pratt,  in  the  pages  of  the  Missionary  Register. 

In  the  very  first  volume  of  the  Begister,  for  1813,  occur  two 
notices  regarding  China.  Morrison's  labours  are  briefly  referred 
to  in  an  account  of  the  London  Missionary  Society ;  and  in 
the  December  number  is  given  a  new  Imperial  Edict  issued 
from  Peking  against  Christianity.  "  Such  Europeans,"  it  says, 
"  as  shall  privately  print  books  and  establish  preachers  in  order  to 
pervert  the  multitude  ...  the  chief  ofte  shall  be  executed  " — and 
others  should  be  imprisoned  or  exiled. 

America  was  not  content  with  having  helped  Morrison  to  get 
to_  China.  In  1829  began  the  noble  succession  of  American 
missionaries  who  have  done  so  much  for  the  evangelization  of  the 
Celestial  Empire.  In  that  year  the  A. B.C. P.M.,  the  Society 
constituted  with  a  broad  basis  like  the  L.M.S.  in  England  (though 
virtually  Congregationalist),  sent  out  Elijah  Bridgman  and  David 
Abeel,t  and,  three  years  later,  S.  Wells  Williams,  afterwards  well 
known  for  one  of  the  best  books  on  China,  The  Middle  Kingdom. 
They,  however,  were  as  closely  confined  to  the  foreign  trading 
factories  at  Canton  as  Morrison  and  Milne  had  been.  But  at  this 
time,  also,  occurred  the  travels  of  a  very  remarkable  man,  Charles 
Gutzlaff. 

Gutzlaff  was  a  Prussian  agent  of  the  Netherlands  Missionary 
Society,  an  accomplished  scholar,  a  qualified  doctor,  and  a  man 
of  extraordinary  enterprise  and  resource.  His  proper  mission- 
field  was  Siam ;  but  in  1831-5  he  made  seven  journeys  up  and 
down  the  coast  of  China,  sometimes  accompanying  foreign  trading- 
vessels  as  surgeon  and  interpreter,  and  sometimes  in  Chinese 
junks ;  ascending  the  rivers,  landing  here  and  there  at  the  risk  of 
his  life,  pursued  by  pirates,  harassed  by  the  police,  stoned  by  the 
mob,  haled  before  the  magistrates,  but  giving  medicine  to  crowds 
of  sick  folk,  and  distributing  literally  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
tracts  and  portions  of  Scripture.    His'method  was  much  criticized, 

*  See  p.  345. 

t  It  was  Mr.  Abeel  whose  appeals  in  En glaiKl  in  1831  for  the  Chinese  women 
led  to  the  formation  of  the  Society  for  Promoting'  Female  Education  in  the 
East. 


The  Opening  oe  China  467 

but  his  adventures  excited  unbounded  interest  in  England  and    Part  V. 
America,  and  certainly  gave  the  Christian  public  a  new  idea  as  to    l^-il-^^- 
the  possibilities  of  missionary  work  in  China.     "Are  the  bowels  '-^''^P-  ^^- 
of  mercy  of  a  compassionate  Saviour,"  he  wrote  at  the  close  of  was  china 
his  third  journey,    "shut  against  these   millions?     Before  JJm,  "*"y^*^"^' 
China  is  not  sJiut !     He,  the  Almighty  Conqueror  of  Death  and 
Hell,  will  open  the  gates  of  heaven  for  these  myriads.     He  has 
opened  them.     When  we  arrived  at  Fuh-chow,  on  our  return,  ray 
large  store  of  books  was  exhausted,  and  I  had  to  send  applicants 
away  empty-handed."  '■'•     "  Two  friends,"  stirred  by  his  narx-atives, 
issued  in    1834  a  rousing  "  Appeal  to  the  British  and  American 
Churches,"  pointing  out  that  "  the  Buddhists  of  the  first  century 
found  the   door  of  China  open  for  their  Idolatry ;  and  the  Nes- 
torians    of    the    seventh    century,    for    their    Heresy ;    and    the 
Mahomedans  of  the  eighth  century,  for   their   Koran ;    and  the 
Papists  of  the  thirteenth  century,  for  their  Mass  " — why  not,  then, 
the  purer  and  fuller  message  of  the  Gospel?     "  Whenever,"  they 
go  on,  "  Invoiiam  viam  ant  facia7u  has  been  the  maxim  of  any 
sect  or  system,  they  have  scaled  the  imperial  wall,  and  penetrated 
far  enough  into  the  Celestial  Empire,  to  prove  that  neither  was 
impassable." 

The   natural   result   of   these    efforts   followed.      The   Chinese 
Government  woke  up,  and  issued  a  new  edict.     "  Some  English  Another 
ships,"  it  said,  "have  passed  along  the  coasts  of  China,  and  have  edfct.^ 
distributed  some  European  books  ;  and  as  these  books  exhort  to 
believe  and  to  venerate  the  Chief  of  that  religion,  named  Jesus,  it 
appears  that  this  religion  is  the  same  as  the  Christian  Eeligion, 
whicli  has  been  prosecuted  at  different  times  and  banished  with 
all  rigour."     "  The  Christian  religion,"  it  goes  on,  "  is  the  ruin  of 
morals   and   of   the   human   heart;  therefore  it  is  prohibited."! 
After  Morrison's  death,  the   L.M.S.   work  was   carried   on  with 
difldculty   by   his   son   and   W.    H.    Medhurst ;    and   though    the 
Americans  were  not  molested,  it  was  little  that   they  could  do. 
Nevertheless,  three  other  American  societies  sought  to  enter  the 
field,  the  Baptists,  the  Presbyterians,  and  the  Protestant  Episcopal  American 
Church.     The  Episcopal  Church  sent  two  men  in  1835  to  Singa-  iviTssion^ 
pore  and  Batavia,  for  preparator}-  study  and  work,  and  they  were 
followed  in    1837  by  W.   J.   Boone,    M.D.,    afterwards   the   first 
Protestant  Bishop  in  China. 

Although  in  the  first  two  years  of  the  existence  of  the  Church 
Missionary  Society,  when  no  Protestant  mibbionaries  had  yet 
attempted  to  enter  China,  the  possibility  of  sending  men  there  was 
several  times  discussed  by  the  Committee,  the  other  enterprises 
to  which  the  Providence  of  God  called  them  entirely  diverted 
their  attention  for  many  years.  In  1824,  when  Morrison  was  in 
England,  he  was  received  by  them,  and  asked  them  to  send  a 


*  Missionary  Register,  1835,  p.  85.  f  Ibid.,  1837,  p. 

H  h  -2 


90. 


468  The  Opening  oe  China 

Part  V.  Mission  ;  but  tlie  way  did  not  open,  and  in  1832  we  find  a  resolu- 
1841 -48.   tion,  in  reply  to  a  suggestion  from  friends  to  the  same  eifect,  that 

Chap^30.  ^^g  financial  position  precluded  the  Society  from  undertaking  such 

C.M.S.,       an    enterprise.      In    1834,   however,   the    Committee   were    again 

Guuiai"'  discussing  the  openings  indicated  by  Gutzlaff's  journeys.  They 
wrote  out  to  him  for  information,  and  actually  made  a  grant  of 
£300  to  him  in  furtherance  of  his  work.  His  reply  =■=  plainly  told 
of  the  difficulties  and  dangers  which  Europeans  in  China  would 
encounter.  He  mentions  his  own  trials,  but  adds,  "  Nevertheless 
I  am  still  alive,  and  can  in  much  weakness  carry  on  the  work  of 
God."  "Neither  the  Apostles  nor  the  Eeformers,"  he  writes, 
"  waited  luitil  Governments  were  favourable  to  the  Gospel,  but 
went  on  boldly  in  the  strength  of  the  Lord."  What  sort  of 
missionaries  should  go?  "  We  want  here,"  he  says,  "  7io  gentle- 
men missionaries."  Considering  that  when  gentlemen  by  birth 
and  education  have  gone  to  the  mission-field,  they  have  for  the 
most  part  set  a  brilliant  example  to  others  of  readiness  to  endure 
hardship — just  as  they  do  in  the  army  and  navy, — this  remark  is 
at  first  sight  startling  ;  but  evidently  his  reference  is  rather  to 
those  who,  whatever  their  origin  socially,  desire  to  live  as 
"  gentlemen  "  and  not  risk  their  precious  lives.  For  he  goes  on — 
"  but  men  who  are  at  all  times  ready  to  lay  down  their  lives  for 
the  Saviour,  and  can  wander  about  forgotten  and  despised,  without 
any  human  assistance,  but  only  the  help  of  God."  t 

c.M-S^  B       '^^^^  an  one  the  Committee  hoped  they  had  found  in  Edward  B. 

Iquire. '  '  Squire,  an  officer  in  the  Indian  Navy,  who  offered  to  the  Society 
at  this  time  ;  and  on  June  28th,  1836,  they  bid  him  farewell  with 
an  admirable  paper  of  Instructions  drawn  up  by  William  Jowett.]: 
He  was  to  make  Singapore  his  headquarters,  and  thence  make 
such  journeys  to  Chinese  ports  as  he  might  find  possible.  "  View- 
ing the  enterprise  in  all  its  difficulties,"  said  the  Committee  in  the 
Eeport  that  had  just  before  been  presented,  "  they  are  constrained 
to  exclaim,  With  man  this  is  impossible  !  Their  only  ground,  yet 
a  sure  ground,  of  encouragement  is  that  with  God  all  things  are 
possible  !  "  Neither  the  hour  nor  the  man,  however,  had  come 
yet.     Mr.  Squire,  excellent  as  he  was,  did  not  get  beyond  Macao. 

Opium  and  Q^-^g  clifiiculty  was  that  the  Opium  Traffic  was  now  in  full  swing. 

^''^'  The  abolition  in  1833  of  the  East  India  Company's  monopoly  of 

trade  in  the  East  had  been  followed  by  an  immense  increase  of 
the  export  of  Indian  opium  to  China.     Every  ship  to  a  Chinese 

*  Printed  in  the  Missionary  Register,  1837,  p.  326. 

I  In  after  years  there  seemed  good  reason  for  not  entirely  trusting  Gutzlaff's 
accounts  of  his  work  in  China.  H.  Venn's  Private  Journals  are  much 
occupied  with  this  question  in  the  early  'fifties.  King  Frederick  William 
cf  Prussia  believed  in  Gutzlaff,  and  on  Bunsen  informing  him  of  the  doubts 
of  experienced  men  in  England,  he  (the  King)  "wrote  a  letter  of  sixteen 
pages,  urging  Bunsen  to  arouse  the  Bishops  and  clergy  of  the  Church  of 
England  to  more  vigorous  action  for  the  evangelization  of  China  "  Private 
Journal,  October  11th,  1850. 

+   Printed  in  the  Appendix  to  the  Report  of  1837. 


The  Opening  of  China  469 

port  ca^rriecl  the  drug ;  everj^  ship,  therefore,  was  regarded  by  the    Part  V. 
Chinese  authorities  as  bringing  into  the  country  something  worse  p,^."*^~t^' 
even  than  Christianity  ;  a  missionary  coming  in  an  opium-vessel      ''^''" ' 
was  an  enemy  to  the  Empire ;  and  practically  all  aggressive  work 
was   suspended.      Then    came   the    first    War   with    China ;    and 
missionary  work  of  any  kind   being  for  the  time  hopeless,   Mr. 
Squire  returned  to  England."     "  The  many  millions  of  China," 
said  the  Eeport  of  1841,  "  are  not  forgotten  by  your  Committee  ; 
nor  are  they  inattentive  to  the  great  political  events  which  are 
taking  place  in  that  country  ;  but  should  God  in  His  providence 
again  open  the  door  for  missionary  operations,  your  Committee 
feel  that  greatly  enlarged  resources  must  be  provided,  to  justify 
them  in  recommencing  a  Mission  which  for  its  successful  prosecu- 
tion would   demand  a  scale  of  operations  in  some  measure  com- 
mensurate with  the  magnitude  of  the  undertaking." 

It  was  the  War  that  opened  China  to  the  Gospel.     We  have  The  War 
seen  how   in  New  Zealand  the  missionary  led  the  way,  and  the  chlnl's 
English  colonist  and  soldier  followed.     In  China  the  soldier  led  gates, 
the  way  and  the  missionary  followed.     It  was  on  this  wise.     The 
Chinese  Government,  seriously  alarmed  at  the  quantities  of  opium 
now  poui'ing  into  the  country,  took  stringent  measures  to  stop  it. 
Commissioner   Lin,   at   Canton,  insisted  on  whole  cargoes   being 
forfeited  ;  and  more  than  the  value  of  one  million  pounds  sterling 
was  actually  destroyed.     Angry  disputes  followed ;  and  presently 
the  question  became  one,  not  of  opium  merely,  but  whether  the 
]"]nglish  would  be  allowed  to  trade  with  China  at  all.     Ultiniately, 
in  1810,  open  war  ensued — a  war  which,  on  England's  side,  it  is 
hard  to  justify  on  any  righteous  principle  of  national  conduct,  and 
yet  a  war  which  undoubtedly  resulted  in  great  benefit  to  China. 
Of  course  the  British  troops  were  everywhere  easily  victorious. 
They  captured  the  island  of  Chusan  ;  they  captured  Ningpo  ;  they 
captured  x\moy  ;  they   threatened   Peking  itself  ;    and  at    length 
the   Chinese  sued  for   peace  on  any  terms  that   England  would 
grant.     The  principal  conditions  were — the  cession  to  England  of 
the   island  of  Hong  Kong;    the    throwing  open  of   five    "treaty 
ports"  to  foreign  trade  and  residence,  viz..  Canton,  Amoy,  Fuh-  First  open 
chow,   Ningpo,   and   Shanghai ;    and  a  heavy  money  indemnity.  p°''*^- 
The  Treaty  of  Nanking,  which  imposed  these  terms,  and  in  the 
framing   of   which    Morrison's    son    took    an    active    part,    was 
concluded  in  1842. 

An  extract  from  Lord  Ashley's  journal  at  this  point  will  show  Lord 
what  the  feelings  of  many  thoughtful  Christian  men  were  at  the  uie'^War." 
time  :  f — 

"Nov.  22nd,  1842.     Intelligence  of  great  successes  in  China,  and  con- 
sequent peace.     I  rejoice  in  peace  ;  I  rejoice  that  this  cruel  and  debasing 

*  He  was  afterwards  ordained,  and  was  Vicar  of  S\vansoa  for  thirty  years. 
I  Life  of  the  Earl  of  Shaftesbunj,  vol.  i.  p.   HO. 


470 


The  Opening  of  China 


Lord 

Ashley  on 
Opium. 


Part  V.    war  is  terminated  ;  but  I  cannot  rejoice — it  may  be  nnpatriotic,  it  may  be 

1841-48.    un-British — in  our  successes.     We  have  triumphed  in  one  of  the  most 

Chap.  30.  lawless,  unnecessary,  and  unfair  struggles  in  the  records  of  History  ;  it 

— —       was  a  war  on  which  good  men  could  not  invoke  the  favour  of  Heaven, 

and  Christians  have  shed  more  Heathen  blood  in  two  years  than  the 

Heathen  have  shed  of  Christian  blood  in  two  centuries. 

"  Nov.  25th.  The  whole  world  is  intoxicated  with  the  prospect  of 
Chinese  trade.  Altars  to  Mammon  are  rising  on  every  side,  and 
thousands  of  cotton  children  will  be  sacrificed  to  his  honour.*.  .  .  The 
peace,  too,  is  as  wicked  as  the  war.  We  refuse,  even  now,  to  give  the 
Emperor  of  China  relief  in  the  matter  of  the  opium-trade." 

These  last  words  prepare  us  for  Lord  Shaftesbury's  hfe-long 
protest  against  the  Opium  Traffic.  Early  in  the  following  year, 
1843,  Mr.  Samuel  Gurney  and  Mr.  Fry  approached  him  with  a 
view  to  his  taking  up  the  question  in  Parliament.  The  War  had 
not  compelled  the  Chinese  Government  to  legalize  the  traffic.  To 
do  that,  indeed,  they  positively  refused.  But  they  saw  that  open 
resistance  was  impossible ;  and  the  sin  of  forcing  the  drug  upon  an 
unwilling  nation — a  nation  conscious  of  its  lack  of  moral  strength 
to  resist  the  temptation  to  opium-smoking,  yet  conscious  also  of 
the  disastrous  consequences  of  yielding  to  it — has  lain  heavy  on 
the  minds  of  Christian  men  ever  since.  What  could  be  done  ? 
Without  entering  into  the  details  of  the  question,  which  are  very 
complicated,  it  may  suffice  to  quote  the  resolution  moved  by  Lord 
Ashley  in  the  House  of  Commons  on  April  4th,  1843  : — 

"  That  it  is  the  opinion  of  this  House  that  the  continuance  of  the  trade 
in  opium,  and  the  monopoly  of  its  growth  in  the  territories  of  British 
India,  are  destructive  of  all  relations  of  amity  between  England  and 
China,  injurious  to  the  manufacturing  interests  of  the  country  by  the 
very  serious  diminution  of  legitimate  commerce,  and  utterly  inconsistent 
with  the  honour  and  duties  of  a  Christian  kingdom  ;  and  that  steps  be 
taken  as  soon  as  possible,  with  due  regard  to  the  rights  of  governments 
and  individuals,  to  abolish  the  evil." 

His  speech  in  moving  this  resolution  occupied  seven  columns  of 
The  Times  next  day  ;  and  that  paper,  in  a  leading  article,  pro- 
nounced it  "  grave,  temperate,  and  practical,"  and  "  far  more 
statesmanlike  in  its  ultimate  and  general  views  than  those  by  which 
it  was  opposed."  Moreover,  The  Times  held  up  to  scorn  the  chief 
argument  on  the  other  side,  as  in  essence  this — that  morality  and 
religion  and  the  happiness  of  mankind  were  very  fine  things  in 
their  way  ;  but  that  we  could  not  afford  to  buy  them  at  so  dear  a 
price  as  £1,200,000  a  year  of  the  Indian  revenue.  It  is  clear  that 
on  some  grave  questions  our  public  instructors  have  not  grown 
wiser  in  half  a  century.  At  the  earnest  request,  however,  of  the 
Premier,  Sir  Eobert  Peel,  Lord  Ashley  did  not  divide  the  House, 
being  assured  that  the  resolution  would  hamper  the  Government 
in  their  negotiations  with  China  on  the  subject,  and  understanding 
by  private  communications  from  the  Board  of  Trade  that  Govern- 

*  Eeferring  to  the  child-labour  in  the  Lancashire  cotton-mills,  not  yet 
regulated  by  his  Factory  Acts. 


"The 
Times  " 
on  Opium. 


The  Opening  of  China  47 1 

menb  were  in  earnest,   and  glad  to  be  pushed  on  by  the  moral    Part  A\ 
influence  of  the  debate.'''     But  whatever  good  intentions  Ministers    1841-l-s. 
may  have  indulged  in  at  the  time,  nothing  came  of  them.     The         P"  ^^' 
Opium  Traffic  grew,  and  grew,  until  its  profit  to  the  Indian  revenue  Growth  of 
was  not  one  million  but  eight  millions ;  and  the  debasement  of  the  ^rade'*"'" 
Chinese  people  so  increased  that,  to  meet  the  demand  for  opium, 
the  poppy  supplanted  cereals  in  extensive  tracts  of  country  that 
never  before  displayed  what  Archdeacon  Moule  calls  "its  baneful 
bloom."! 

The  Missionary  Societies  now  prepared  to  move  forward.  The  Missions 
L.M.S.  removed  its  Anglo-Chinese  College,  of  which  Dr.  Legge  \  fb?Xlrd. 
had  become  Principal,  from  Malacca  to  Hong  Kong ;  while  Med- 
hurst  and  Dr.  Lockhart — the  first  medical  missionary  in  China — 
established  themselves  at  Shanghai.  Other  Missions  were  started 
at  Hong  Kong,  and  also  at  Amoy  and  Ningpo.  The  Female  Edu- 
cation Society  sent  a  lady  to  Shanghai ;  and  another  lady,  who  did 
a  great  work,  Miss  Aldersey,  settled  at  Ningpo.  At  Hong  Kong, 
twelve  missionaries  ixiet  and  made  arrangements  for  a  revised 
version  of  the  Bible,  delegates  being  appointed  for  the  work.  In 
1844  there  were  thirty  Protestant  missionaries,  at  various  ports. 
In  1846  Dr.  Boone,  of  the  American  Episcopal  Church,  was 
consecrated  Bishop,  and  settled  at  Shanghai.  A  clergyman  whose 
name  should  ever  be  affectionately  remembered  by  the  Church 
Missionary  Society,  the  Eev.  Vincent  J.  Stanton,  went  out  in  1843  Vincent 
as  Consular  Chaplain  at  Hong  Kong  ;  and  it  was  he  who  founded 
St.  Paul's  College  there.  He  had  gone  to  China  during  the  war  as 
a  voluntary  and  unattached  missionary,  and  had  been  seized  and 
confined  in  chains  for  four  months.  On  his  release  he  returned  to 
England  ;  and  when  Hong  Kong  became  a  British  possession  he 
was  appointed  chaplain. § 

What  was  the  Church  Missionary  Society  doing  ?  The  opening  Could 
of  China  was  coincident  with  the  serious  financial  crisis  which  has  go  in?' 
been  before  alluded  to,  and  which  will  be  more  fully  noticed  in  a 
future  chapter ;  and  when  the  Treaty  of  Nanking  was  concluded, 
all  the  Committee  could  do  was  to  put  on  record  their  deep  sense 
of  the  importance  of  the  opportunity,  and  express  their  readiness 
to  join  in  taking  advantage  of  it  whenever  men  and  means  should 
be  forthcoming.  A  statement  to  this  effect  was  issued,  to  meet  the 
appeals  that  at  once  came  from  all  parts  of  England,  pressing  the 
Society  to  undertake  a  China  Mission.  The  news  of  the  Treaty 
reached  England  in  November,  1842.     In  December  the  Committee 

*  Li^e  of  Lord  Shaftesbury,  vol.  i.  pp.  466,  475. 

f  Story  nf  the  Cheh-Kiang  Missiov,  p.  5. 

X  Afterwards  Professor  of  Chinese  at  Oxford. 

§  Mr.  Stanton  was  in  after  years  Rector  of  Halesworth,  and  a  munificent 
siipporter  of  the  C.M.S.  Mrs.  Stanton,  who  was  with  him  in  China,  was  a 
cousin  of  the  Gurneys,  Fiys,  Barclays,  &c.  Their  son  is  now  Professor  of 
Divinity  at  Cambridge.  The  chains  worn  at  Canton  by  Mr.  Stanton  are  to  be 
seen  at  many  of  tlie  Missionary  Exhibitions. 


47-  The  Oi'ENiNG  OF  China 

Part  Y.   passed  their  resolution  on  the  subject.     In  January  thek  statement 
1841-48.   ^yas  issued.     In  March  came  the  first  token  that  the  Lord  would 
^^P'     ■  answer   the   prayers  going  up  from  the  whole  C.M.S.  circle.     A 
The  money  friend  feeling  himself  to  be  "less  than  the  least,"  and  therefore 
men!^^       Calling  himself  '  ^Xa^ia tot (.fio<i  instead  of  giving  his  name,  sold  out 
£6000   Consols  and   handed  the  proceeds  to  the  Society  as  the 
nucleus  of  a  China  Fund.     Before  long,   tw^o  clergymen  came  for- 
ward   to    undertake   the    Mission :    the   Rev.    George    Smith,    of 
Magdalen  Hall,  Oxford,  who  had  been  a  zealous  and  successful 
Association  Secretary  of  the  Society,  and  had  also  had  a  parish  in 
Yorkshire ;  and  the  Rev.  Thomas  McClatchie,  of  Trinity  College, 
Dublin,  who  was  curate  of  Midsomer  Norton.     They  were  cordially 
accepted,  received  their  Instructions  at   a  Valedictory  Meeting  on 
May  29th,  1844,  and  sailed  on  June.  4th  for  China. 
George  Smith  and  McClatchie  were  instructed  to  visit  all  the  five  Treaty 

Smith  and    -r,       ,  n   tt  t'-  n  i      ■  i       •  t 

McClatchie  -Torts,  and  Hong  Kong,  and  report  upon  then-  relative  advantages 
for  the  new  Mission.  This  commission  they  fulfilled,  and  their 
reports  and  letters,  printed  at  great  length  in  the  CM.  Record,  are 
exceedingly  interesting,  especially  as  read  in  the  light  of  the 
immense  development  of  missionary  work  in  China  since  then.  It 
was  only  in  the  Ports  themselves  that  any  definite  agencies  could 
be  set  on  foot.  A  treaty  obtained  by  the  United  States  immediately 
after  the  British  one  gave  the  right,  within  the  Ports,  to  build 
churches  and  hospitals  ;  but  no  European  could  go  more  than  half 
a  day's  journey  beyond  the  city  walls,  as  he  was  obliged  to  be  back 
by  nightfall.  But  the  Mandarins  were  very  courteous,  and  seemed 
ready  to  pay  respect  to  any  religious  teachers.  At  Amoy,  for 
instance,  the  five  chief  Mandarins  invited  all  the  missionaries  there, 
during  Smith's  visit,  to  an  entertainment,  and  placed  them  in  the 
seats  of  honour,  complimenting  them  on  bringing  a  religion  tending 
to  the  peace  and  harmony  of  mankind. '■=  Fuh-chow  seems  to  have 
impressed  Smith  more  than  any  other  of  the  Ports  ;  but  there  were 
exceptional  difficulties  in  the  way  of  getting  in  there.  Canton, 
Amoy,  and  Hong  Kong,  were  already  occupied  by  other  Missions. 
Shanghai  and  Ningpo,  therefore — though  the  former  w^as  already 
occupied, — were  reported  as  the  most  likely  places.  McClatchie 
quickly  took  up  his  permanent  residence  at  Shanghai ;  but  Smith's 
health  failed,  and  he  returned  to  England  after  two  years'  absence. 
The  Society  published  his  Narrative  of  Travel  in  China,  which  had 
a  large  sale,  and  did  much  to  interest  the  Christian  public  in  the 
Celestial  Empire.! 

The  Committee  now  issued  an  earnest  appeal  for  more  mission- 
aries, and  particularly  for  University  men.  Again  it  pleased  God 
to  give   them    the    encouragement   of   a    speedy   response.     Two 

*  Speech  of  the  Rev.  G-.  Smith  at  Exeter  Hall,  May,  18-i7.  llissio'nary 
Register,  1847,  p.  376. 

I  A  good  summary  of  his  travels  and  experiences  is  given  by  Miss  Headland 
in  her  biographical  sketch  of  him,  in  Brief  Sketches  of  C.M.S.  Workers 
(Nisbet,  1897). 


The  Opening  of  China  473 

Dublin  f:fradiiatps  canio  forwavtl,  William  Armstrong;  Eussell  and    Part  Y. 
William  Farmer.     They  received  some  further  iheolciffical  iusli-uc-    l''<-tl--18. 
tion  at  Islington   College,  and  were  ordained    by  the  Bishop  of      '"^'" '  *** 
London  on  May  13th,  1847.     In  October  they  were  admitted  to 
priest's  orders  and  taken  leave  of ;   and  on  November  10th  they 
sailed  for  China.     And  a  third  man  went  with  them,  Eobert  Henry 
Cobbold,  a  double-honour  man  from  Peterhouse,  Cambridge,  who 
had  had  three  years'  ministerial  experience,  and  was  curate  of 
Melton  Mowbray.     Farmer  was  to  join   McClatchie  at  Shanghai, 
and  Russell  and  Cobbold  were  to  start  a  new  Mission  at  Ningpo.  Russell 
To  have  a  Mission  manned  entirely  by  University  men  was  a  new  cobboid. 
thing  for  the  Society  ;   but  the  interest  aroused   in  China  at  the 
time  was  great,   and  the  Connnittee  indulged  in  high   hopes  of 
opei'ations    on    an    unusually    extensive    scale.      Smith's    book 
exercised  considerable  influence ;   and  his  speeches   also  brought 
the     claims    of    the    newly-opened    Empire    before     numerous 
Christian  circles.     At  the  Anniversary  Meeting  in  1847  he  said, — 
"  The  opening  in  China  will  absorb,  for  many  years  to  come,  all 
the  materials    for    missionary  strength  and   effectiveness    at  the 
disposal  of  the  Committee." 

Two  further  developments  of  C.M.S.  work  must  be  noticed  in 
this  chapter,  as  they  just  fall  within  the  proper  limits  of  the 
present  section  of  our  History.  On  February  12th,  1849,  it  W'as 
announced  to  the  Committee  that  the  Rev.  George  Smith,  the  g.  Smith 
pioneer  missionary  to  China  above  referred  to,  had  been  appointed  ^f  vifiorfa*! 
to  the  new^  Bishopric  of  Victoria,  Hong  Kong.  The  establishment 
of  this  see  had  been  strongly  urged  upon  the  Government  by  Lord 
Chichester  and  Henry  Venn,  and  an  endowment  was  provided,  in 
the  main,  by  the  liberality  of  an  anonymous  donor,  a  friend  of  the 
S.P.G.  and  S.P.C.K.  The  S.P.G.  also  made  a  grant.  Venn's 
influence  with  Archbishop  Sumner,  and  with  the  Colonial  Oflice, 
procured  the  appointment  of  George  Smith  ;  and  he  was  con- 
secrated "-^^  on  Whit  Tuesday,  May  29th,  1849,  together  with  Bishop 
Anderson  for  Rupert's  Land — another  new  see  strongly  pressed  on 
the  attention  of  Government,  and  of  the  Colonial  Bishoprics  Fund, 
by  the  Church  Missionary  Society.  Both  Smith  and  Anderson 
were  men  of  a  true  missionary  spirit,  and  both  did  admirable  work. 
We  shall  see  more  of  them  both  by-and-by. 

The  other  move  forward  was  the  resolve  to  start  a   Mission  at  Fuh-chow 
Fuh-chow.     This  was  urged  by  Bishop  Smith,  and  it  was  arranged  planned, 
to  send  a  reinforcement  out  to  China  with   him,  two  members  of 
which  should  proceed  to  Fuh-chow.     Again,  University  men  were 
appealed  for;  and  again  God  raised  them  up.      Another  double- 
honour   Cambridge   man   offered,    F.  F.   Gough,   Scholar   of    St. 
John's,  and  Curate  of  St.  Luke's,  Birmingham  ;  also  a  Caius  man,  More  men. 
W.   Welton,   a  qualified   surgeon   as  well   as  a   clergj-man,  from 
Suffolk  ;    also  a  Dublin  graduate,  E.  T.  R.  Moncrieff",   Curate  of 

*  In  Canterbury  Cathedral.     See  Vol.  II.  p.  313. 


474  The  Opening  of  China 

Part  V.  Achurch,  Oundle.  Gough  was  instructed  to  join  Enssell  at 
Cha^~30  -^^^§P°'  Farmer  having  left  China  invahded,  and  having  died  on  the 
^"  ■  voyage  home  ;  Moncrieff  was  to  accompany  the  Bishop  to  Hong 
Kong  as  tutor  in  St.  Paul's  College  there,  a  new  institution  founded 
by  the  efforts  and  the  liberal  gifts  of  the  chaplain  before  mentioned, 
Mr.  Stanton  ;  and  Welton,  and  an  Islington  man,  E.  D.  Jackson, 
were  appointed  to  Fuh-chow.  On  November  5th,  1849,  they  all 
sailed  with  the  Bishop.  Another  Islington  man,  John  Hobson, 
had  sailed  earlier  in  the  year, 
nofi'ifthe  ^°  *^^®  outlook  was  promising.  But  the  C.M.S.  China  Mission 
front  in  has  uevcr  been  in  the  front  rank  of  agencies  in  the  Land  of  Sinim, 
India  and  Africa  have  generally  claimed  the  largest  places  in  the 
Society's  thoughts  ;  and  it  is  only  quite  recently  that  its  China 
Mission  has  much  expanded.  The  London  Missionary  Society, 
and  the  American  Societies,  have  always  taken  a  more  important 
part  in  the  work ;  and  of  course  in  later  years  the  China  Inland 
Mission  has  far  exceeded  all  others  in  the  number  of  its  labourers 
and  the  extent  of  its  operations.  But  the  work  is  one  ;  Christ's 
servants  are  one ;  the  spiritual  Church  into  which  so  many 
thousands  of  Chinamen  have  been  admitted  is  one  ;  the  Faith  in 
which  they  have  lived  and  died  is  one ;  the  Home  into  which  they 
are  gathering  is  one.  Many  regiments  are  at  work  in  China  ;  but 
they  are  one  Army,  under  one  Divine  Captain. 


China. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

The  Society's  Finances. 

Earliest  Contributions — The  Associations  in  1820 — London  and  the 
Provinces  in  1848 — Comparison  with  the  Present  Time — A  Mis- 
sionary-box at  Sea — The  Expenditure  of  the  Half-Century — The 
Financial  Crisis  of  1841 — ^Plans  of  the  Special  Committee — What 
are  the  "  Talents "  given  to  a  Society  ? — An  Income  Tax  for 
C.M.S. — An  Appeal  on  Protestant  Principles — Its  Results. 

"  Noiu  concerning  the  coUection." — 1  Cor.  xvi.  1. 

"It  is  required  in  atfruuirds,  tliat  a  man  he  found  faithful." — 1  Cor.  iv.  2. 

i|T  this  point  it  seems  desirable  to  give  a  brief  account  of  Part  Y. 
the  Society's  funds  during  its  first  half-century  ;  how  lS-il-48. 
they  were  raised,  and  how  they  were  expended.  Chap^Sl. 

In  the  first  five  years  of  the  Society's  existence,  Early  free- 
its  funds  were  derived  entirely  from  what  may  be  ^^'"  °^"' 
called  m  the  fullest  sense  "  freewill  offerings."  No  money 
was  asked  for  in  the  first  instance  ;  and  the  donations  ("  bene- 
factions "  as  they  were,  and  still  are,  called),  with  two  or 
three  hundred  annual  subscriptions,  mostly  the  time-honoured 
guinea,  which  came  in  unsought,  and  amounted  in  the  five 
years  to  a  total  of  £2461,  sufficed  to  pay  the  preliminary 
expenses  and  the  earliest  charges  for  the  first  two  missionaries. 
Indeed  almost  from  the  beginning  the  Committee  began  to  invest 
surplus  monies,  and  thus  to  "  put  by  for  a  rainy  day  ";  and  seven 
East  India  10  per  cent,  bonds  of  £100  each,  purchased  out  of  the 
above-mentioned  total,  formed  the  first  reserve  fund.  Consols 
were  afterwards  liought  ;  and  the  balance-sheet  of  1807  records 
the  receipt  of  dividends  "  less  ten  per  cent.  Propertjj  Tax."  In  the 
spring  of  1804,  when  two  missionaries  had  actually  sailed,  a 
circular  was  issued  to  friendly  clergy  asking  for  contributions,  and 
particularly  for  congregational  collections.  The  response  was  First 
immediate.     Within  a  few  weeks,  twenty-six  parishes  had  made  '^^u^'cj^. 

11         ■  •I'll  1  1  -\  r  c  collections. 

collections,  either  m  church  or  by  personal  canvass.  Most  of 
these  were  in  small  towns  and  villages  ;  but  St.  Mai'y's  Chapel, 
Birmingham  (Rev.  E.  Burn),  heads  the  list  with  £58,  and  Holy 
Trinity,  Cambridge  (C.  Simeon),  stands  next  with  £50.  In  the 
following  year,  Bentinck  Chapel  (Basil  Woodd)  stands  first  with 
£240  ;  and  this  West  End  congregation  kept  the  lead  for  many 
years.     In  1804  the  first  legacy  was  received,  £20,  from  a  London 


Chai).  81. 


476  The  SociErv''s  Finances 

Part  Y.    man ;     and   on    Christmas    Day,    1808,    the    first    Smiday-school 
j«-n-f^8-   collection  was  made  at  Matlock  (Rev.  Philip  Gell),  £4  lis.  M. 

Progress,  however,  was  slow  ;  and  £3000  in  one  year  was  not 
reached  till  1812-13.  But  in  the  following  year,  that  amount  was 
quadrupled,  £13,200  being  received.  This  was  due  to  the  establish- 
ment of  Associations,  and  the  journeys  of  Basil  Woodd,  Legh 
Richmond,  Daniel  Wilson,  and  others,  all  over  the  country,  as 
described  in  our  eleventh  chapter.  So  successful  were  these  new 
efforts,  that  the  Income  for  a  time  grew  faster  than  the  Expendi- 
ture ;  and  in  1816  the  Committee  congratulated  their  friends  on 
the  "pleasing  circumstance  "  that  the  Expenditure  was  "keeping 
pace  with  the  Income"!  It  really  needed  expanding  work  to 
effect  this  ;  for  the  Income  not  only  suddenly  leaped  in  1812-13 
from  £3000  to  £13,000,  but  rose  in  1817-18  to  £24,000,  and  in 
1819-20  to  £30,000,  thus  increasing  tenfold  in  seven  years. 

Let  us  see  what  the  financial  results  of  the  new  Association 
system  were,  more  in  detail ;  and  let  us  take  as  a  specimen  the 
year  1819-20,  when  the  system  had  been  at  work  seven  years. 
The  total  collected  in  that  year,  through  the  Associations,  and 
excluding  contributions  sent  direct  to  the  Society,  was  £25,000. 
Of  this  amount  London  stands  for  just  one-tenth,  £2500.  St. 
John's  Chapel,  Bedford  Row  (Daniel  Wilson),  stands  first  with 
£563;  then  Clapham  (Deal try),  £383;  Percy  Chapel  (Haldane 
Stewart),  £302  ;  Bentinck  Chapel  (Basil  Woodd),  £259  ;  Wheler 
Chapel  (Pratt  and  Bickersteth),  £147.  The  first  three  of  these 
items  account  for  one-half  of  the  whole  sum.  The  only  parish 
churches,  besides  Clapham,  that  did  anything  substantial,  were 
St.  James's,  Clerkenwell,  £128,  and  Christ  Church,  Newgate 
Street,  £79.  Kensington  does  not  appear  at  all,  nor  Marylebone ; 
Paddington  is  represented  only  by  Bentinck  Chapel ;  Islington  by 
a  ladies'  association  raising  £57 ;  Hampstead  by  one  guinea 
subscriber,  and  "  a  few  children,  £2  8.S-.  OcZ."  South  of  the  Thames, 
except  Clapham,  there  are  only  Southwark,  £172  ;  Kennington, 
£58  ;  Brixton,  £7. 
M^^>t  Then,    leaving    London,    and    beginning   with     the    Northern 

Counties,  we  find  a  Newcastle  Association,  which  comprises  both 
Northumberland  and  Durham,  and  sends  £300  (Durham  city 
£20)  ;  Cumberland  contributing  £276  (Carlisle,  where  Fawcett  was, 
£226),  and  Westmoreland  £160,  Kirkby  Lonsdale,  under  the 
influence  of  the  Carus  Wilsons,  standing  for  £100  of  this. 
Lancashire's  total  is  £940,  of  which  Manchester  supplies  £452 
(St.  James's  £157;  St.  Clement's  and  St.  Stephen's  also  in 
front) ;  Liverpool  £325  (St.  Andrew's  £153,  and  St.  Mark's  £80) ; 
and  Preston  £136.  Yorkshire  beats  London,  with  its  £3070,  of 
which  £710  came  from  York,  £553  from  Hull  and  neighbourhood, 
£542  from  Leeds,  £200  each  from  Sheffield  and  Huddersfield, 
£153  from  Knaresborough,  £143  from  Halifax  ;  while  Dewsbury, 
Doncaster,  and  Bradford  follow.  Cheshire  sent  £506,  of  which 
£204  came  from  the  village  of  Latchford. 


North, 


The  Society^s  Flyaxces  477 

Coming  into  the  Midlands,  we,  find   Lincolnshire  sending  £338    Part  Y. 
(Gainsborough    standing   for   £121);     Notts,    £410     (Nottingham    l«-H-tH. 
£255);    Derbyshire,    £720    (chiefly    Derby;    Ashbourne    £173);  <^'''^';=^'- 
Staffordshire,  £770  (North  Staff.,  £300  ;  Tamworth  £260) ;  Shrop-  in  the  Mid- 
shire,  where  John  Langley  was  at  work,  £622  (Wellington  £127,  '^"ds, 
and  Madeley  £117  ;  the  rest  chiefly  Shrewsbury)  ;  Herefordshire, 
£379  ;    Worcestershire,     £342    (Worcester  £114,    and    Bewdley 
£93) ;  Warwickshire,  £894  (Birmingham   £636 ;  Coventry  £120)  ; 
Leicestershire,  £827  (due  to  Vaughan's  influence)  ;  Rutland,  £38  ; 
Northamptonshire,  £430  (Creaton  £173) ;  Gloucestershire,  without 
Bristol,    £840    (North-east   Forest   of   Dean    Association,    £190 ; 
Campden  £113)  ;  Oxfordshire,  £118 ;  Berks,  £368 ;  Bucks,  £210  ; 
Herts,  £13  ;  Beds,  £107. 

In  the  East,  there  are  Norfolk,  £776  (chiefly  Norwich,  but  Lynn  in  the  East 
and  Wymondham  contributing)  ;  Suffolk,  £443  ;  Cambridgeshire,  ^"  °"  ' 
£276;  Essex,  £570  (Colchester  leading).  In  the  South,  Kent 
stands  for  £303,  but  of  this  £187  is  from  Blackheath  ;  Surrey  (not 
including  Claphara,  &c.)  for  £350,  of  which  £81  is  from  Rich- 
mond ;  Sussex  for  only  £167  (mostly  Chichester  and  Hastings)  ; 
Hants  for  £510,  more  than  half  of  it  from  the  Channel  Islands, 
but  Portsea  stands  for  £93  ;  Dorset  for  £353  ;  Wilts  for  £71  ; 
Somerset  for  £754  (Bath  £334,  Yeovil  £187) ;  Devon  for  £477 
(Devonport  £140,  Teignmouth  £92) ;  Cornwall  for  £195.  Bristol, 
reckoned  always  as  a  separate  county,  heads  all  other  Associations 
with  £1755.     JHunts  and  Monmouthshire  do  not  appear  at  all. 

Wales   sends   £247,    of   which  £152  is  from  Glasbury.      The  ^"^J^^^^^^- 
Edinburgh  Association  stands  for  £300  ;  and  Ii-eland  for  the  round  ir^eUnS.  ' 
figure  of  £2000,  evidently  the  sum   remitted  within  the  year,  but 
not  necessarily  corresponding  exactly  with  the  amount  collected. 
The  Isle  of  Man  is  down  for  £5. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  great  watering-place  Associations  are  No  great 
conspicuous  by  their  absence.  There  are  no  Brighton  or  Worthing  ^tces'."^' 
or  Eastbourne  ;  no  Ramsgate  or  Margate  or  Dover  or  Folkestone  ; 
no  Southsea  or  Sandown  or  Bournemouth ;  no  Ilfracombe  or 
Weston-super-Mare  ;  no  Southport  or  Blackpool ;  no  Scarborough 
or  Cromer  ;  no  Harrogate  or  Leamington  or  Tunbridge  Wells. 
Bath,  Cheltenham,  Torquay,  Teignmouth,  and  Hastings,  seem  the 
only  representatives  in  the  list  of  this  fruitful  class  of  contributing 
towns ;  though  Clifton  was  an  important  part  of  the  Bristol 
Association. 

Coming  forward  into  sul)sequent  years,  we  And  the  Associations  The  asso- 
growing,  but  somewhat  intermittently.     Between  1824  and   1834,  the  jubilee 
they  went  up  and  down  between  £35,000  and  £45,000.     In  the  p"'"^- 
year  of  the  Queen's  Accession  they  reached   £61,000,  and  in  the 
'forties  they  averaged  about  £75,000.     Let  us  take  the  year  before 
the  Jubilee,  1847-8,  and  again  examine  the  details. 

In    that   year,    London — which    was    defined    as    within    five 
miles  of  St.  Paul's — still  kept  its  place  as  contributing  (through 


478 


The  Society'' s  Finances 


Associations)  about  one-tenth  of  the  Association  income,  £7200. 
There  was  then  a  City  of  London  Auxihary,  which  had  been 
founded  in  1840  at  a  meeting  at  the  Mansion  House,  summoned 
by  the  Lord  Mayor  in  response  to  a  requisition  signed  by  seven 
hundred  citizens.  When  its  first  annual  meeting  was  held,  again 
at  the  Mansion  House,  on  November  2nd,  1841,  it  was  found 
that  £1700  had  been  raised  by  it  in  the  year.  On  this  occasion, 
Bishop  Blomfield,  who  had  just  joined  the  Society,'''  and  Bishop 
Selwyn,  who  had  just  been  consecrated,!  were  among  the  speakers. 
The  contributions,  however,  did  not  keep  up  at  that  level,  and  in 
the  year  we  are  now  reviewing,  1847-8,  the  amount  was  only 
£434.  But  this  consisted  mainly  of  a  great  many  guinea  sub- 
scriptions from  City  firms,  which,  evidently,  were  regularly 
canvassed. 

Among  the  other  metropolitan  Associations,  the  most  con- 
spicuous feature  is  the  rise  of  Islington,  w^hich,  with  only  seven 
churches,  stands  for  £1500 ;  St.  James's  being  first,  as  it  has 
been  ever  since.  The  other  chief  figures  are,  Clapham,  £528  ; 
Chelsea  (three  churches),  £534;  St.  John's  Chapel,  Bedford  Eow, 
£478;  North-East  London,  £406;  Camberwell,  £386;  Hampstead, 
£373 ;  St.  George's,  Bloomsbury,  £325.  Kensington  is  again 
conspicuous  by  its  absence.  Paddington — Bentinck  Chapel  having 
disappeared — is  only  represented  by  Bayswater  Chapel  (the  pre- 
cursor of  the  present  St.  Matthew's),  £130.  Proprietary  chapels 
are  still  (barring  Islington,  Clapham,  and  Bloomsbury)  the 
centres  of  evangelical  life.  Besides  those  above-mentioned,  we 
find  Charlotte  Chapel,  Pimlico ;  Park  Chapel,  Chelsea ;  Christ 
Chapel,  Maida  Hill ;  Chapel  of  Ease,  Islington ;  Pentonville 
Chapel ;  Gray's  Inn  Eoad  Episcopal  Chapel ;  St.  John's  Chapel, 
Hampstead ;  Eam's  Chapel,  Homerton ;  Lock  Chapel,  Eaton 
Chapel,  Belgrave  Chapel,  Percy  Chapel,  Long  Acre  Chapel, 
Bridewell  Chapel,  Fitzroy  Chapel ;  St.  James's  Chapel,  Maryle- 
bone ;  Holland  Chapel,  Brixton  ;  Camden  Chapel,  Camberwell ; 
Stockwell  Chapel;  Carlisle  Chapel,  Kennington ;  St.  Mary's 
Chapel,  Lambeth.  A  few  of  these  still  exist,  but  most  of  them 
have  long  since  been  replaced  by  consecrated  churches.  But  in 
1847-8,  there  were  collections  for  the  Society  in  only  twenty-two 
regular  churches,  mostly  of  very  small  amounts.  The  clergy  of 
London  whose  congregations  did  the  most  were.  Baptist  Noel  at 
St.  John's,  Bedford  Eow ;  Montagu  Villiers  at  Bloomsbury, 
Smalley  at  Bayswater,  Pisk  at  Maida  Hill,  Grifiith  at  Homerton, 
E.  Montgomery  at  Percy  Chapel,  Daniel  Moore  at  Camden 
Chapel,  Jowett  at  Clapham ;  D.  Wilson,  Hambleton,  Mackenzie, 
Sandys,  and  E.  Hoare,  at  Islington;  Cadman,  Niven,  and 
Burgess  at  Chelsea. 

Proceeding  into  the  Provinces,  we  find  Yorkshire  easily  first, 
with  £9800,  and  Lancashire  next  with  £6575.     No  other  county 


See  p.  395. 


t  Sec 


tlG. 


The  SocietyK";  Finances 


479 


exceeds  £3000.     Between  £2000   and  £3000  we  find,  in  oixler,    Part  V. 
Somerset,    Sussex,     Stafford,    Warwick,     Suffolk,    Kent,    Hants.    l«-ii-4'8. 
Between   £1500    and   £2000  are  Norfolk,    Gloucester,    Cheshire,  ^I'^pj?!. 
Surrey,   Bristol,    Lincoln,    Devon.      Between  £1000   and   £1500, 
Derby,  Essex,  Notts,  Leicester,  Shropshire,  Worcester.     Between 
£800    and    £1000,   Durham,    Dorset,    Cambridge,    Wilts,    Berks, 
Herts,    Northampton,    Middlesex    (outside    London).      Between 
£500   and   £700,  Oxford,   Bucks,  Cumberland,    Northumberland, 
Hunts,    Cornwall.     Below    £500,    Hereford,    Monmouth,    Beds, 
Westmoreland,  Isle  of  Man,  Eutland.     Wales  stands  for  £1542  ; 
Scotland  for  £643  ;  Ireland  for  £1300. 

One  cannot  compare  these  figures  with  those  of  the  present  Then  and 
time  without  l)eing  struck  by  the  relatively  great  advance  in  later  "°^' 
years  of  the  Southern  Counties,  especially  those  near  London,  in 
comparison  with  that  of  the  North.  Taking  the  two  ecclesiastical 
Provinces  of  Canterbury  and  York,  we  find  that  the  former, 
although  hampered  by  the  slow  progress  of  some  midland 
counties,  has  increased  by  about  155  per  cent.,  while  the  latter 
has  increased  by  only  about  eighty-five  per  cent.  Yorkshire 
in  particular  has  increased  by  only  thirty-four  per  cent.  In 
1847-8  Yorkshire  contributed  nearly  twelve  per  cent,  of  the 
whole  ;  now,  only  seven  per  cent.  Great  towns  like  Hull  and 
Huddersfield  have  actually  gane  back.  On  the  other  hand, 
Middlesex,  Herts,  Essex,  Kent,  Surrey,  Sussex,  Hants,  which 
in  1847-8  contributed  together  twenty-five  per  cent,  of  the 
whole,  now  contribute  thirty-six  per  cent.  Ireland  has  multi- 
plied its  contribution  by  twelve :  it  then  gave  one  and  two- 
thirds  per  cent. ;  now  it  gives  eight  and  a  half  per  cent.  This 
is  the  most  striking  feature  of  all  in  the  comparison.  Next  to  it 
is  the  rise  of  the  watering-places  as  contributors.  The  five 
watering-places  (not  reckoning  Clifton)  mentioned  above  as  con- 
triliuting  in  1819-20  sent  then  together  £600.  The  same  five,  in 
1847-8,  sent  £2900 ;  and  thirteen  of  the  others  mentioned  sent 
£2800,  Brighton  leading  with  £1335.  The  five,  in  1896-7,  sent 
£6000,  and  the  thirteen  £14,000 ;  while  Bournemouth,  Southsea, 
Sandown,  Worthing,  Folkestone,  Blackpool,  which  do  not  appear 
in  1847-8,  added  £4000  in  1896-7,  making  a  total  of  £24,000  from 
tw^enty-four  watering-places,  or  just  twelve  per  cent,  of  the  whole 
Association  Income.  But  a  reference  to  the  present  day  is 
scarcely  relevant  in  this  chapter. 

Eegular  Parochial  Associations  under  the  clergy  were  much  Methods  of 
more  conmion  in  1848  than  in  1820.  The  old  non-parochial  funds.^ 
Ladies'  Associations  for  a  whole  town,  however,  were  still 
numerous,  and  did  a  large  part  of  the  best  work.  Organized 
Juvenile  Associations  rarely  appear  in  the  lists,  and  the  Lanca- 
shire Sunday-schools  are  not  so  prominent  as  in  subsequent 
years.  Sales  of  work  also  are  few  ;  but  one  at  York,  in  1839, 
reahzed  £1000,  including  a  gift  of  £10  from  Queen-Dowager 
Adelaide.     A  much  large),  proportion  of  the  contributions  in  most 


48o 


The  Society''s  Finances 


Part  V. 
1841-48. 
Chap.  31. 


Legacies. 


A  mission' 
ary  box 
saves  a 
ship. 


Views  of 
Associa- 
tion Secre- 
taries. 


parishes  seems  to  have  come  from  ordinary  guinea  subscriptions. 
That  is  to  say,  other  sources  of  income  had  not  been  much 
cultivated,  while  this  one  was  well  worked  by  the  lady  collectors. 
Penny-a-week  collections,  also,  from  house  to  house,  were  then  a 
common  method  of  raising  money. 

The  Association  Income  in  those  days  was  a  more  important 
element  in  the  Society's  Funds  even  than  it  is  now.  Instead  of 
providing  three-fifths  or  two-thirds  of  the  total  as  at  present,  it 
provided  four-fifths  or  even  five-sixths.  Benefactions  and  sub- 
scriptions paid  direct  to  headquarters  supplied  about  one-tenth 
of  the  whole,  and  legacies  not  more  than  one-twentieth.  But 
on  two  occasions  large  legacies  were  received.  In  1835,  Mr. 
Cock,  of  Colchester,  bequeathed  his  estate  to  various  institutions, 
and  the  Society's  share  realized  over  £5000 ;  and  in  1846  a  legacy 
from  Mr.  John  Scott  realized  over  £7000.  Apart  from  the  latter, 
the  average  from  this  source  in  the  'forties  was  under  £4000. 

The  missionary-box  was  from  a  very  early  period  an  important 
means  of  collecting  small  sums.  Some  pleasant  incidents  of  zeal 
and  self-denial  in  connexion  with  boxes  are  recorded  from  time 
to  time.  One  incident,  of  a  different  kind,  should  be  recorded. 
During  the  short  war  with  the  United  States  in  1812-14,  an 
American  privateer  captured  a  small  Welsh  collier  in  the  Irish 
Channel.  The  captain  of  the  privateer,  noticing  in  the  cabin  a 
strange  little  box  with  a  slit  in  it,  asked  what  it  was.  "  x\h  !  " 
replied  the  Welshman,  "  I  and  my  poor  fellows  drop  a  penny 
apiece  into  that  ]:)ox  every  Sunday,  to  help  to  send  missionaries 
to  the  Heathen."  "Indeed,"  exclaimed  the  American,  "that's  a 
good  thing  !  "  A  Inief  pause  ensued,  and  then  the  victor  suddenly 
said,  "  I  won't  touch  your  vessel,  nor  a  hair  of  your  heads  "  ;  and, 
summoning  his  men,  he  returned  to  his  own  ship,  leaving  the 
collier  with  the  missionary-box  to  go  its  own  way  free  !  '■'' 

In  Henry  Venn's  Private  Journal,  there  is  an  account  of  the 
Annual  Conference  of  the  Society's  Association  Secretaries  in 
January,  1850,  shortly  after  the  Jubilee.  The  unanimous  judg- 
ment of  the  Association  Secretaries  was  "  that  the  Society's 
Income  might  be  sustained  at  its  present  point,  but  that  there 
was  no  prospect  of  increase."  Has  there  ever  been  an  Annual 
Conference  at  which  the  same  opinion  has  not  been  expressed  ?  f 
And  yet — ! 

We  must  now  turn  to  the  Society's  Expenditure.  A  ghmpse  of 
the  way  in  which  the  early  funds  were  spent  on  the  first  mis- 
sionaries going  to  West  Africa  was  given  in  the  curious  entries 
quoted  in  our  Eighth  Chapter.  ;|:  The  sudden  increase  in  the  Income 
in  1813,  and  its  rapid  growth  for  several  years  afterwards,  due  to 

*  Missionary  Register,  1814,  p.  .514. 

t  Until  1898.     In  January,  1898,  the  Reports  of  the  Association  Secretaries 
were  marked  by  a  hopeful  tone  quite  different  from  that  of  previous  years. 
X  See  p.  87. 


The  Society's  Finances  481 

the   establishment   of   the   Associations,    enabled   the   Society  to    Part  V. 
start  and  develop  the  Missions  in    India,   Ceylon,  the   Mediter-    I84l-t8. 
ranean,  and  New  Zealand.     The  India  Missions  soon  accounted  Chapel, 
for  a  third,  or  two-lifths,  of  the  whole  foreign  Expenditure  ;  indeed.  The  Expen- 
of  the  whole  £1,500,000  spent  (exclusive  of  local  funds)  in  the  d'ture. 
mission-field  in   the  Society's  first  half-century,  India  and  Ceylon 
together  absorbed  just  one-half.     The  cost  of  the  New  Zealand 
Mission  also  became  heavy,  exceeding  £16,000  in  1839.     In  the 
same  year  the  West  Indies  work  cost  £19,000,  but  towards  this 
the  Government  granted  £2000  for  schools.     The  cheapest  of  all 
the  Missions   (except   the  tentative  efforts   in    South  Africa  and 
Australia)  was  that  in  Rupert's  Land,  its  cost  at  that  same  date 
not  exceeding  £1000. 

Of  each  pound  sterling  of  the  total  Expenditure  of  the  first 
half-century,  al^out  14.s.  4f/.  was  incurred  directly  for  the  Missions  ; 
Is.  Id.  for  disabled  missionaries,  care  of  children,  &c.  ;  Is.  Id.  for 
training  of  missionaries  ;  and  2.s.  Wd.  for  home  charges  proper, 
including  collection  of  funds,  publications,  and  administration.  It 
ought,  indeed,  to  be  borne  in  mind  that  "Publications"  then 
included  translations  and  linguistic  works ;  but  even  allowing  for 
this,  the  percentage  of  home  expenditure  was  considerably  higher 
than  at  present. 

The  expenditure  on  reports  and  periodicals  was  very  high  in  the  Cost  of 
'forties.  The  Annual  Report  cost  on  an  average  nearly  £1300  a  tions.*^^" 
year,  or  two-thirds  w^hat  it  does  now,  although  it  w^as  not  half 
its  present  size,  and  the  circulation  many  thousands  of  copies  less. 
The  periodicals  '■'  averaged  £2500  a  year  in  cost,  of  which  al^out 
£150  was  got  back  in  sales.  The  corresponding  periodicals  now 
cost  over  £5000,  but  almost  the  whole  of  this  comes  back  in  sales. 
The  average  number  of  papers  circulated  in  the  'forties  was  about 
a  million  a  year,  chiefly  small  papers ;  and  the  nett  cost  (ex- 
cluding Annual  Reports)  was  nearly  £3000  a  year.  The  number 
now  is  four  or  five  million,  nearly  half  of  it  substantial  magazines, 
and  the  nett  cost  is  £2500. 

For  many  years  from  1813  on^vard,  the  Income  so  much  ex- 
ceeded the  Expenditure  that  substantial  amounts  were  invested  invested 
in  Government  securities,  and  formed  a  useful  working  capital,  f""'^^- 
In  the  later  'twenties,  the  expansion  of  some  of  the  Missions — 
especially  in  India,  where  the  Corresponding  Committees  kept 
drawing  on  the  Society  beyond  the  amounts  sanctioned, — and  the 
establishment  of  the  College  at  Islington,  encroached  largely  on 
this  reserve,  and  in  1830  a  Committee  of  Investigation  was  ap- 
pointed, which  led  to  some  economies,  and  to  the  starting  of  a 
Fund  for  Sick  and  Disabled  Missionaries,  as  by  this  time  the 
burden  of  providing  for  them  was  pressing  on  the  Society.  At 
the  same  time,  however,  it  was  found  necessary  to  increase  the 
Expenditure  on  Home  Organization  with  a  view  to  extending  the 

*  See  Chapter  XXXV. 
VOL.  I.  I  i 


4^2  The  Society^ s  Finances 

Part  V.    Assocications  and  so  raising  larger  funds.     The  effort  was  success - 
rf!*^~tt    ful ;  and  in  1836  the  Society  had  £30,000  invested  in  Government 
lap^  .   gi^Qjji^g^  while  the  Committee  were  largely  increasing  its  responsi- 
bilities in  India  and  New  Zealand,  undertaking  extensive  work  in 
the  West  Indies,  and  planning  the  short-lived  Australia  and  South 
Africa  Missions.     The  result,  especially  of  the  West  Indies  Mis- 
sion, was   speedy  financial  embarrassment ;  and  this   culminated 
71.^  great    in  a  serious  crisis  in  1841-2,  the  very  year  of  the  adhesion  of  the 
1841-2.°^      Bishops  and  of  Henry  Venn  becoming  Secretary.     On  March  31st, 
1842,  the  Society  had  not  only  used  the  whole  of  its  reserve,  but 
had  had  to  obtain  loans  from  members  of  the  Committee  to  the 
extent  of  £11,500,  while  considerable  debts  were  due  to  trades- 
men.    There  was  the  Disabled  Missionaries'  Fund,  then  £17,000, 
which  could  not  be  touched ;  and  there  were  the  College  premises  : 
that  was  all — for  even  the  House  in  Salisbury  Square  was  only 
rented. 

The   Appendix  to  the  Eeport  of  that  year  contains   valuable 
reports  from   successive  sub-committees  appointed  to  investigate 
Special        ^^^  consider  the    whole   position.     The  last  of   these   sub-com- 
Committee.  mittees  consisted  of  four  influential  bankers  not  actively  engaged 
in  the  Society's  administration,  viz.,  Sir  Walter  E.  Farquhar,  the 
Hon.  Arthur  Kinnaird  (afterwards  Lord  Kinnaird),  Mr.  H.  Sykes 
Thornton,    and   the    Society's   Treasurer,    Mr.    John    Thornton. 
Drastic       Very  drastic  measures  were  proposed,  and  adopted  by  the  Com- 
proposa  s.    j-j^i|^^gg_     Several  Missions  were  to  be  given  up,  including  all  those 
in  the  Mediterranean  and  the  West  Indies,  the  smaller  work  in 
Australia  and   South  Africa,   and  Nor tli- West  America;   and  by 
this   means   £22,000   a   year   was  to  be   saved.     Then,  no  new 
missionaries  were  to  be  sent  out,  except  to  fill  vacancies  in  the 
Missions  to  be  maintained,  and  no  new  students  to  be  admitted 
to  Islington,  except,  in  like  manner,  to  fill  vacancies.     Then,  all 
legacies,  and  all  benefactions  over  £5,  were  to  be  applied  to  the 
payment  of  the  debt,  and  to  forming  gradually  a  capital  fund  of 
£30,000.     To  this  end,    also   special  contributions  were  invited, 
and  Lord  Bexley,  the  former    Chancellor   of  the   Exchequer,    to 
whose   suggestion  this   plan  was  diie,    started  the  fund  with    a 
donation    of   £100.     Finally   a   Finance    Committee    was    to    be 
appointed,  without  whose  sanction  no  expense  of  any  kind  was  to 
be  incurred.     But  in  one  direction,  the  expenditure  was  to  be  in- 
creased.    The   Home   Organization   was   again   to  be  extended. 
That,  the  Committee  knew,   was   spending  a   little   to   produce 
much. 
t^Te'^ob'"       In  the  course  of  these  reports,  some  important  principles  are 
served.        laid   down.     First,    that    buildings    for   public    worship    in    the 
Colonies,    e.g.   in    Sierra   Leone,    ought   to   be   provided   by  the 
Responsi-   Government.    "  This  obhgation,  indeed,"  say  the  Sub-Committee, 
Govern^-      "  ^^^^    heeu    Uniformly    acknowledged    by    successive    Colonial 
ment,  Secretaries;   but  they  have  not  hitherto  fulfilled  the  obhgation." 

Like  the  son  who  said  to  his  father,  "I  go,  sir,"  and  went  not. 


The  Society's  Fixances  483 

A   modern   Colonial   Secretary  would   be  more  likely  to  resemble    Part  V. 
the  other  son,  who  said,  "  I  will  not "  ;  and  it  would  be  surprising    1841-48. 
indeed  if  he  "  afterward  repented."     Secondly,  "  It  is  obligatoiy  ^^'I'^P-^l- 
on  a  Christian  Government  to  take  measures  for  the  endowment 
and   establishment   of   a    Native   Church."     The   recital    of   this 
principle  and  the  preceding  one  significantly  illustrates  the  change 
of  feeling  in  half  a  century.     Then,  thirdly,  the  local  contribu-  of  friends 
tions   of   friends   in  India  and  elsewhere   ought   to   provide   all  ^^^°^'^' 
buildings,  such  as  churches,  schools,  and  other  institutions,  and 
the  repairs  of  them, — except  what  might  be  done  by  Government ; 
and  also  maintain  all  orphans  and  other  children   in  boarding- 
schools, — the   Society's    funds    being   only   drawn    upon    for  the 
maintenance    of    "  seminaries,"   i.e.    divinity   schools  and   other 
i  nstitutions  for  training  native  agents.     This  is  a  principle  of  more 
permanent  value,   though   it    is   acted    upon    now  less  regularly 
than  in  those  days.     Fourthly,  in  these  reports  we  find  the  first  of  Native 
clear   enunciation  of  the  principle  of  the  self-support  of  Native  christians. 
Churches  : — 

"  All  missionary  operations  should,  from  the  first,  contain  within 
themselves  the  germ  of  the  self-supporting  principle.  .  .  .  Native  con- 
verts should  be  habituated  to  the  idea  that  the  support  of  a  Native 
Ministry  must  eventually  fall  upon  themselves  ;  as,  in  their  heathen 
state,  they  have  been  accustomed  to  bear  the  expense  of  heathen  minis- 
trations. ...  It  is  not  meant  that  Native  converts  should  contribute 
toward  the  maintenance  of  European  agents  ;  but  it  may  be  reasonably 
expected  that  tliey  should,  from  the  first,  bear  some  portion,  however 
small,  of  the  necessary  expenses  of  Native  ministrations,  and  of  the 
Christian  education  of  their  children. 

'•  The  Society  would  be  thus  effectually  preparing  the  way  for  the 
transfer  of  such  Native  Christian  congregations  to  the  regular  Ecclesias- 
tical Establishment  ;  and  leaving  itself  at  liberty  to  go  forward  in  the 
work  of  breaking  up  the  fallow-ground  of  Heathenism,  which  is  the 
peculiar  province  of  a  missionary  society." 

Once  more,  fifthly,  a  principle  that  has  often  been  set  forth  is 
very  well  expressed  by  the  four  bankers : — 

"  It  appears  to  us  that  the  golden  rule  and  principle  of  restricthig  Relation  of 
expenditure  within  income,  equally  ajiplicable  to  conununities  and  to  Expendi- 
individuals,   ought,   in   a  religious   society,  to    obtain  in   a   far   higher  income 
degree,  inasmuch  as   its  aim  and    end  a^e  sacred.     It  is  called  upon, 
indeed,  to  occupy  diligently  with   the  talents   committed  to  it ;  hut  not 
to  aim  at  occupying  with  more  talents  than  God  in  His  wdsdom  has  been 
pleased  to  dispense :  and  therefore  it  is  our  full  persuasion  that  the 
Divine   Blessing  cannot  be  expected  without  a  firm  adherence  to  this 
sacred  principle." 

Yes,  admirably  stated ;  yet  two  things  are  forgotten.     One  is  But  what 
that  the  "  talents  "  which  God  gives  a  missionary  society  are,  not  ^''taknts^-.? 
the  money,  but  the  men  ;   and  if  He  sends  the  men — not  other- 
W'ise — it  is  only   reasonable    to  believe  that  He  will    send   the 
money    for    their    support.     Our    responsibility    lies    in    taking 
measures  to  secure  that  the  men  accepted  are  trulv  sent  bv  Him. 

I  i  2 


484 


The  Society's  Finances 


Part  V. 

1841 -i8. 

Chap.  31. 


A  plain 
fallacy. 


An  appeal 
on  Pro- 
testant 
principles. 


Striking 
speech  of 
J.W.Cun- 
ningham. 


An  Income 
Tax  for 
C.M.S. 


Then  again,  even  if  the  Society's  income  be  taken  as  the 
"talent,"  it  is  not  a  fixed  amount.  It  is  not  hke  a  dividend  on 
an  investment,  which  can  be  counted  on.  It  is  impossible  to 
know  what  the  year's  Income  will  be  till  the  year  is  finished. 
Therefore,  the  only  possible  way  of  observing  the  rule  laid  down 
in  the  words  quoted  would  be  to  incur  no  expenditure  till  a  whole 
year's  income  is  in  hand,  and  then  to  regulate  it  accordingly. 
The  four  bankers  recommended  that  the  Society's  expenditure 
be  hmited  to  £85,000 ;  but  how  could  they  tell  that  £85,000  would 
be  received  ?  All  depended  upon  God  inclining  the  hearts  of  His 
people  to  give ;  and  why  should  it  be  supposed  that  He  would  do 
this  to  the  extent  of  £85,000,  neither  more  nor  less?  In  fact  the 
principle  laid  down  is  in  the  highest  degree  excellent ;  but  it  is 
usually  applied,  and  was  applied  by  them,  in  a  way  that  involves 
fallacies  which  are  quite  obvious  when  fairly  looked  at. 

In  their  own  Annual  Eeport,  the  Committee,  while  accepting 
the  proposals  made  to  them,  appealed  earnestly  for  fresh  support 
to  enable  them  at  the  same  time  to  go  forward  in  Africa  and 
India.  And  they  based  their  appeal  distinctly  upon  their  Evan- 
gelical principles,  thus  showing  that  the  Society's  new  eccle- 
siastical position  was  not  to  involve  any  compromise  of  them  : — 

"  Let  not  this  appeal  of  the  Committee  be  mistaken.  Let  it  not  be 
supposed  that  it  is  on  gold,  or  silver,  or  patronage,  that  they  found 
their  hopes  of  success.  God  forbid !  It  is  the  faithful,  plain,  and  full 
maintenam-e  of  those  great  principles  of  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  by 
all  the  agents  and  missionaries  of  this  Society,  without  compromise  and 
without  reserve — it  is  the  sustentation  of  that  Scriptural,  Protestant,  and 
Evangelical  tone  throughout  all  their  ministrations — it  is  the  upholding 
of  the  Bible,  and  the  Bible  alone,  as  the  foundation  and  rule  of  faith — 
upon  which  the  blessing  of  God  has  rested,  does  rest,  and  ever  will  rest." 

Never  before  had  the  Committee  spoken  so  plainly.  They  were 
Henry  Venn's  sentences,  in  the  first  Eeport  that  he  wrote.  With 
this  unmistakable  language  did  the  man  who  had  been  the  chief 
instrument  in  bringing  the  Society  and  the  Bishops  together 
mai'k  his  accession  to  office. 

At  the  Annual  Meeting,  J.  W.  Cunningham  was  commissioned  to 
speak  on  the  financial  position,  andan  admirable  speech  he  delivered. 
What  would  be  thought,  he*  asked,  of  the  Committee  being  locked 
up  in  the  King's  Bench  (i.e.  in  the  debtors'  prison  at  that  time)  for 
spending  too  much,  not  on  themselves,  but  on  the  salvation  of  the 
world  !  One  of  his  suggestions  is  interesting.  That  was  the  year 
when  Sir  Eobert  Peel  first  imposed  the  Income  Tax,  sevenpence  in 
the  pound.  "  When  we  first  heard  of  it,"  said  Cunningham,  "  we 
were  all  confounded  ;  and  people  began  to  look  anxiously  at  their 
account-books.  But  we  have  been  able  to  accommodate  ourselves 
to  our  circumstances.  We  don't  like  it,  but  our  faces  are  not 
now  so  long  about  it  as  they  were.  Well,  what  the  Society 
icants  froiii  yoio  is  cm  income-tax.  Sir  E.  Peel  says  Id.  in  the  £ 
will  produce  £4,000,000.     Now  supposing  every  one  of  us,  as  we 


The  Society's  Finances  485 

have  gradually  made  \\\>  our  minds  to  the  Id.  in  the  £,  were  only    Part  V. 
to  add  another  halfpenny  in  the  pound  for  missionari/  objects  ?  "         rf^^"^' 

It  does  not   appear   that  this   suggestion  was  adopted !     But      ^'^''" ' 
the  Committee's  general  ajDpeal  was  not  in  vain.    When  May,  18-13,  The 
came  round,  they  had  to  report  the  receipt  of  the  largest  income  srt^^gM. 
ever,  up  to  that  time,  received  by  any  religious  society,  £115,000. 
All  the  debt  except  £1000  had  been  paid  off ;  a  good  beginning  had 
been  made  in  the  formation  of  a  capital  fund  ;  the  special  gift  of 
£6000  Consols  had  been  made  to  begin   a  Mission  in  China  ;  and 
although  large  reductions  had  been  effected,  as  recommended,  in 
some  of   the    Missions,  there   was  good   hope  of   being    able  to 
continue  some  of  the  Mediterranean  stations,  and  British  Guiana, 
and  North-Went  America.     The  Report  began — an  unusual  thing 
in  those  days — with  a  text :   "  The  Lord  hath  done  great  things 
for  us,  whereof  we  are  glad."     And  the  Committee  thus  referred 
to  their  declaration  of  principles  a  year  before  :— 

"  Taking  thoir  stand  upon  the  Protestant  and  Evanojelical  principles 
by  wliieli  the  Society  liad  ever  reauhxted  its  course,  [the  Connnittee] 
awaited  the  result  of  the  trial  :  whether  a  Society,  cleaving  humbly  but 
faithfully  to  these  principles,  would  be  rescued  from  its  peril,  or  be 
allowed  to  sink  under  pecuniary  embarrassments." 

And  again,  in  1844  : — 

"  Upon  these  principles  the  Committee  took  their  stand  in  a  season 
of  jeopardy ;  upon  these  principles  they  uuxde  their  appeal  for  special 
assistance  ;  and  to  these  principles,  under  God,  they  owe  their  present 
prosperity.  Therefore  they  regard  themselves  as  boiuid,  by  new  and 
most  cogent  obligations,  to  guard  witli  the  utmost  vigilance  against  all 
surrender  or  compromise  of  principle  tlu-oughout  the  various  ramifica- 
tions of  their  widely-extended  agency  :  that  as  far  as  human  means  can 
provide,  the  (jospel  preached  may  not  be  '  another  Gospel,'  but  the  very 
Gospel  of  the  grace  of  God,  ])ublished  in  and  by  the  open  volume  of  in- 
spiration ;  such  as  the  Reforming  Fatliers  of  our  beloved  Clnu-ch  exhibited 
in  their  lives,  illustrated  in  their  writings,  and  testified  with  their  blood." 

During  the  four  or  five  succeedmg  years,  the  Income  varied  as 
usual ;  but  the  general  improvement  in  the  financial  position  was 
maintained,  and  in  1847  the  Capital  Fund  had  reached  £30,000;  the 
new  Special  China  Fund  had  received  £15,000 ;  and  there  was  no 
deficit.  "  Amidst  the  many  special  mercies,"  said  the  Committee 
in  their  Jubilee  Statement,  "  which  mark  the  history  of  the 
Society,  this  providential  release  from  serious  financial  embarrass- 
ment is  not  the  least  remarkable."  And  similar  experiences  have 
attended  the  later  history,  as  we  shall  see.  Again  and  again  have  in  later 
pecuniary  difhculties  been  encountered.  Again  and  again  have  y^^"- 
the  Committee  "  asked  the  Lord,  and  told  His  people."  Their 
faith  has  often  been  severely  tried.  But  God's  faithfulness  has 
never  failed.  Just  in  so  far  as  we  have  been  able  to  trust  Him, 
in  that  proportion  have  all  our  needs  been  supplied. 


CHAPTER   XXXII. 

The  Jubilee. 


Part  V. 
1841-48. 
Chap.  32. 

The 
Jubilee  not 


Europe  and  England  in  1848 — Survey  of  the  Half-Century's  Work — • 
Jubilee  Tracts — Jubilee  Services  and  Gatherings — The  Great 
Meeting:  Lord  Chichester,  Sir  R.  Inglis,  Bishop  Wilberforce, 
Cunningham,  Bickersteth,  Hoare — Observances  in  the  Provinces 
and  in  the  Mission-Field — Death  of  H.  W.  Fox — The  Fox  Sermon 
at  Rugby  —  The  Jubilee  Fund  —  The  Queen  becomes  a  Life 
Governor — Fox's  Jubilee  Hymn. 

"  Ye  shall  hallow  the  fiftieth,  year  .  .  .  it  shall  he  a  juiile  unto  you.'' — 
Lev.  XXV.  10. 

"  0  praise  tlie  Lord  .  .  .  for  His  vicrciftd  Vindness  is  ever  more  and  more 
towards  us." — Ps.  cxvii.  1,  2  (P.B.V.). 

ERY  modest  was  the  first  announcement  of  the  advent 
of  the  Society's  Jubilee  Year.  It  would  almost  seem 
as  if  its  approach  had  been  unexpected.  We  have 
liefore  seen  that  for  at  least  forty  years  after  the 
Society  was  founded,  the  real  date  of  its  foundation 


whyf  ^'^  ■  ^V'^^  ^^o^  generally  recognized.  The  Report  presented  at  the  May 
Anniversary  of  1847  is  called  the  Report  "  for  the  Forty-Seventh 
Year."  During  the  next  twelve  months,  however,  the  truth 
seems  to  have  dawned  upon  the  mind  of  Salisbury  Square,  for 
the  next  Report,  presented  May,  1848,  appeared  with  no  corre- 
sponding   figure,    "  for    the Year,"    but    opened    with  the 

following  paragraph,  intimating,  in  the  quietest  and  most  un- 
exciting language,  that  the  year  just  closed  was  not  the  Forty- 
Eighth,  but  the  Forty-Ninth,  and  that  therefore  the  Jubilee  Year 
was  now  commencing  : — 

"  The  present  is  the  Forty-eighth  occasion  on  which  the  Committee  of 
the  Church  Missionary  Society  have  met  their  constituents  to  render  an 
account  of  their  trust.  But  as  the  Society  was  instituted  on  the  1:2th  of 
April,  1799,  and  as  the  first  Pubhc  Meeting  was  deferred  till  the  close 
of  the  second  year  from  the  formation  of  the  Society,  there  is  a  very 
special  interest  attached  to  this  epoch,  as  the  commencement  of  the 
Fiftieth  Year  of  the  Society's  existence — the  year  of  Jubilee  according  to 
the  reckoning  of  a  Divine  ordinance  under  the  old  Law." 

The  chairman  at  the  Anniversary  Meeting  at  which  this 
announcement  was  read  was  not  the  President,  Lord  Chichester, 
but  the  new  Arclibishop  of  Canterbury,  John  Bird  Sumner,  who 


The 

Jubilee  an- 
nounced. 


The  fuBiLEE  4S7 

had  only  succeeded  to  the  Primacy  a  few  weeks  before.     It  was  a   Part  v. 
happy    augury    for    the    Society   that   its   Jubilee   Year   should    ^'^'^'^J"'';'- 
commence  under  the  auspices    of   one   whose  presence,  as    the       "*'' 
Eeport  proceeded  to  say,   "combined    the  encouragement   of    a 
long-standing  attachment  to  our  principles  with  the  sanction  of 
the  liighest  ecclesiastical  authority." 

Tile  last  of  the  four  Resolutions  submitted  and  adopted  tliat 
day,  which  was  moved  by  Francis  Close  and  seconded  by  Edward 
Bickersteth,  stated  that  a  review  of  the  Society's  fifty  years' 
history  presented  "  both  a  pressing  call  and  a  fitting  occasion 
for  prayer  and  praise,"  and  instructed  the  Committee  to  arrange 
plans  for  suitably  commemorating  the  Jubilee. 

The  speeches  at  the  Meeting,  however,  were  largely  inspired  |*ate  of 
by  other  considerations.     For  the  Society,  which  had  sprung  into  the'^R'^to- 
existence    in    almost  the  darkest  period  of  modern  history,  was  '"*'°"s. 
attaining  its  Jubilee  when  Europe  was  once  more  in  the  throes  of 
revolution.     The  sudden  overthrow  of  Louis  Philippe,  liis  fliglit 
from  Paris,  and  the  proclamation  of  the  French  Republic,  in  the 
February  of  that  year,  had   let  loose  the   spirit  and  the  forces  of 
anarchy    all    over   the    Continent.     Several  of  the  great  capitals 
were  in  the  hands  of  revolutionary  mobs  ;  emperors  and  kings  had 
abdicated ;  Rome  had  risen  against  the  Pope.     Men's  hearts  were 
failing  them  for  fear,  and  for  looking  after  those  things  that  seemed 
to   be   coming  on  the  earth  ;    and  many  students  of  unfulfilled 
prophecy  announced  that  "the  great  tril)ulation  "  was  at  hand. 
England,    almost   alone,    remained    at   peace ;    Queen   Victoria's 
throne,  almost  alone,  remained  unshaken.     Yet  there  were  grave 
causes  of  anxiety  at  home.     Ireland,  which  had  lost  one-fourth  Perils  at 
of  its  population,  by  death  or  emigration,  in  and  after  the  terrible    °'^^' 
potato  famine  of  IS-AG,  was  seething  with  discontent;  and  afattious  Irish 
insurrection  broke  out  under  Smitli  O'Brien,  only,  however,  to  be  ^'"'"^' 
speedily   suppressed.     In  England   itself,  the    Chartist  agitation  chartist 
suddenly  came  to  a  head,  and  terrified  the  nation.     Two  hundred  *e'*^^'°"- 
thousand  citizens  of  London  were  enrolled  as  special  constables  ■•'• 
to  protect  the  city  on  the  dreaded  10th  of  April ;  and  the  Duke  of  The  loth  of 
Wellington  kept  large  bodies  of  troops  ready,  but  wisely  hidden    '"''''''■ 
from  the  pulilic  view.     The  day,   however,  passed  quietly  ;    the 
gigantic  procession   that  was  to  storm  Parliament  melted  away  ; 
the  Chartist  petition  reached  the  House  of  Commons  in  a  cab  ; 
and  nothing  more  was  ever  heard  of  the  movement.     After  all, 
the  Chartist  demands  do  not  now  seem  so  dreadful.     Some  of 
them — notably  voting  by  ballot — have  long  since  become  the  law 
of  the  land.     But   the  alarm  at  the  time  was  genuine,   and  in 
view  of  the  condition  of  the  Continent,  reasonable.     And  when, 
three    weeks    after   that   memorable    10th  of  April,    the  C.M.S. 
Anniversary  was  held,   it  was   natural    that    God's    infinite    and 
distinguishing    mercy   to    the    Realm    and    Nation    of    England 

*  Among  whom  were  the  skudents  in  the  CM.  College. 


488 


Ihe  Jubilee 


Part  V.   should  be  uppermost  in  men's   thoughts.     Indeed  a  deep  sense 
Chap~32    °^  solemn  thankfulness  pervaded  the  May  Meetings  of  the  year 
'  generally.     Lord  Ashley  wrote  in  his  diary  : — 

The  Mav 

Meetings.  "  The  speeches  have  been  altogether  of  a  deep  and  feeling  character 
well  suited  to  the  times  we  live  in.  The  effect  of  this  month  of  May, 
with  all  its  attendant  ceremonies,  is  indescribably  beneficial :  it  is  a 
species  of  salt,  and  preserves,  by  the  purification  of  the  atmosphere 
even  those  who  do  not  come  in  contact  with  it."* 

"To  some,"  wrote  Edward  Bickersteth  at  the  time,  in  a  tract 
to  be  mentioned  separately,  "  it  might  appear  as  if  the  present 
shaking  of  all  the  kingdoms  of  Europe,  and  the  vast  troubles  of 
every  kind,  social  and  commercial,  of  famine,  and  of  approaching 
cholera,!  rendered  this  an  inexpedient  time  for  enlarged  mis- 
sionary exertions.  A  Scriptural  judgment  leads  to  an  opposite 
conclusion  :  '  famine,  pestilence,  and  earthquakes  in  divers  places,' 
mark  the  very  time  when  the  '  Gospel  of  the  kingdom '  shall  be 
'  preached  for  a  witness  to  all  nations.'  When  God's  judgments 
are  abroad  in  the  earth,  is  the  time  when  the  inhabitants  of  the 
world  shall  learn  righteousness."  And  he  goes  on  to  exhort 
Christians  to  turn  from  "  the  intense  political  excitement  of  this 
remarkable  time  to  the  more  hidden  and  spiritual  course  of  mis- 
sionary labour,"  reminding  them  of  Elijah's  experience  at  Horeb. 
' '  It  was  only  when  the  wild  tumult  of  the  elements  had  passed 
away  that  Elijah  had  communion  with  his  God,  and  a  fresh 
commission  from  Him.  It  was  then  that  the  '  still  small  voice  ' 
sounded." 

Lord  Chichester,  too,  in  his  speech  at  the  C.M.S.  Anniversary, 
referred  both  to  the  troubles  of  the  time  and  to  the  Jubilee  : — 

"  We  know  that  when  the  storm  arises — when  the  vessel  is  threatened 
by  danger,  when  the  hearts  of  the  crew  are  failing  them  for  fear,  they 
must  come  vmto  the  Lord  in  their  trouble,  for  He  alone  can  deliver  them 
from  the  hour  of  their  distress.  But  though  it  is  to  Him  that  we  must 
alone  look,  we  may  derive  comfort  under  such  circumstances,  when  we 
know  that  whether  it  is  in  the  State  or  in  the  Church  there  are  cool 
heads  and  brave  hearts  at  the  helm,  and  many  bended  knees  amongst 
the  company  of  the  ship.  .  .  . 

"  We  are  now  commencing  our  Jubilee  Year.  There  is  something  to 
me  peculiarly  beautiful  and  touching  in  that  ancient  institution  of  the 
old  dispensation.  There  is  something  peculiarly  grateful  in  the  manner 
in  which  Almighty  God  commanded  that  jubilee  to  be  observed.  It  was 
proclaimed,  as  you  know,  in  the  day  of  the  Atonement,  and  the  celebra- 
tion of  it  was  a  celebration  purely  of  an  Evangelical  character.  And 
when  He  who  was  the  great  antitype  of  all  those  great  and  merciful 
institutions  came  into  the  world,  He  was  said  to  be  anointed  to  preach 
glad  tidings  to  the  meek  and  lowly  of  heart,  to  bring  comfort  to  the 
spirit-broken  and  oppressed,  and  liberty  to  the  captive,  and  to  open  the 
prison  doors  of  those  who  were   bound.     Oh !  that  you,  my  Christian 

*  Li/e  of  t/ie  'Earl  of  Shaftesbiiri/,  vol.  ii.  p.  2.50. 

■j-  lu  the  following  year  was  the  second  great  visitation  of  cholera  in 
England. 


"  After  the 
fire,  a  still 
small 
voice." 


Lord 
Chiches- 
ter's 
speech. 


The  Jubilee  4^9 

friends  mif^ht,  in  this  our  Jubilee  Year,  manifest  more  of  that   Evan-    Part  V. 
.^elical  spirft  that  desires  to  Ughten  all  l)urdens,  to  break  every  yoke,  and    1«^^-^- 
to   deliver   some   of   those    captives  in   Africa   and  Asia,    who    are   still   Lhap^i- 
groaning  in  tlie  chains  of  darkness,  and  bring  them  to  know  the  Saviour 
whose  'yoke  is  easy,  and  whose  burden  is  light!"' 

"  Liberty,  Equality,  and  Fraternity  "  was  the  cry  of  the  Conti-  Libmy^ 
nental  revolutionaries  ;  but  they  knew  nothing  of  the  liberty  with  Fraternity, 
which  Christ  makes  His  people  free,  nothing  of  the  equality 
which  rejoices  that  "the  same  Lord  over  all  is  rich  unto  all  that 
call  upon  Him,"  nothing  of  the  fraternity  involved  in  union  with 
the  One  Elder  Brother  under  the  One  Father.  But  in  these  truer 
senses  "Liberty,  Equality,  and  Fraternity"  was  the  message  of 
the  Church,  and  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society.  This  then 
was  the  very  time  to  proclaim  it. 

The  Society  had  now,  for  the  first  time,  to  take  a  systematic 
review  of  its  past  history;  and  in  due  course  Henry  Venn 
produced  a  valuable  summary  of  it,  under  the  title  of  the  Jubilee  R«;'^«^°f 
Statement,  which  occupies  ninety  pages  of  the  Jubilee  Volume,  years. 
The  results  it  records  seem  small  now;  but  they  must  be 
judged  from  the  point  of  view  of  1848,  and  with  due  regard  to 
the^whole  circumstances  of  the  fifty  years,  and  then  they  are  seen 
to  justify  to  the  utmost  the  profound  thankfulness  expressed  in 
the  Statement.  The  Society  had  sent  out  from  Europe  350  mis- 
sionaries ;  ■'■=  but  the  effectiveness  of  this  band  was  not  represented 
by  the  figure  350.  No  less  than  83  had  died,  after  an  average 
service  of  six  years;  140  had  retired,  chiefly  from  failure  of 
health,  with  an  average  service  also  of  six  years;  and  the 
remaining  127  still  on  the  staff  had  not  yet  attained  an  average  of 
ten  years'  service.  With  this  force,  102  Mission  stations  had 
been  established,  in  Africa,  Asia,  America,  and  Australasia  ;  1300 
Native  teachers  and  evangelists  had  been  trained  for  work  among 
their  fellow-countrymen,  and  twelve  of  them^had  received  holy 
orders ;  13,000  communicants  could  now  be  reckoned,  "  gathered," 
says  the  Statement,  "  from  the  highways  and  hedges  of  the  world, 
but  introduced  as  guests  to  the  marriage  feast,— beside  the  large 
number  who  had  departed  in  Christ,  and  been  admitted  into  the 
immediate  presence  of  the  Lord  of  the  feast  above";  and  probably 
100,000  souls  were  under  Christian  instruction. 

"  If  we  pause,"  continues  the  Statement,  "  to  consider  the  infinite  The  real 
benefits  bestowed  upon  each  soul  brought  out  of  darkness  into  light— 
the  sources  of  misery  closed— the  sources  of  life  and  happiness  opened, 
—then  the  statistics  of  our  Missions,  the  report  of  tens  of  thousands 
brought  to  acknowledge  Christ,  and  of  thousands  becoming  intelligent 
partakers  of  His  Holv  Sacraments,  will  reveal  such  a  rich  treasury  of 
spiritual  and  eternal  benefits,  that  to  have  borne  the  humblest  part  m 
communicating  them  will  be  esteemed  a  high  honour,  and  an  abundant 
grt)und  of  praise  and  thauksgiving/| 

*  The  number  on  the  roll  to  the   date  of  the  Jubilee  Meeting  is  387,  but 
this  includes  some  who  bad  joined  in  the  mission-field. 


490  The  Jubilee 

Part  Y.        A  survey  of  the  mission-field  itself  was  still  more  encom-aging. 
Ch^^i~32    "^^^^  Committee's  preliminary  Circular,  issued  in  anticipation  of 
lap^    .  ^^  Statement,  draws  the  following  striking  contrast  between  past 
Survey  of    and  present  : — 

the  field, 

"_We  niay  contrast  the  facilities  for  carrying  out  the  design  of  the 
Society  in  its  early  days  with  those  which  now  exist.  Then,  all  Europe 
was  at  war  with  England  ;  India  was  virtually  barred  against  mission- 
aries ;  New  Zealand  was  shunned  for  its  inhuman  cruelties  ;  the  Medi- 
terranean^  Sea  was  occupied  by  hostile  fleets  and  armaments ;  in  the 
West  Indies,  the  minds  of  the  degraded  Negro  race  were  crushed  with 
their  bodies.  One  spot,  the  colony  of  Sierra  Leone,  invited  by  its 
openness,  but  repelled  by  its  insalubrity,  the  benevolent  enterprise  of 
the  Fathers  of -the  Church  Missionary  Society. 

"  Contrast,  with  these  recollections,  the  present  openness  of  the  whole 
world  to  Missionary  euteriirise — the  easiness  of  access — the  frequency  of 
communication— India  not  only  welcoming  the  arrival  of  Missionaries, 
but  reproaching  our  slackness  in  not  sending  more.  The  fragrance  of 
the  first-fruits  gathered  on  her  soil,  and  already  waved  as  a  wave- 
offering  before  the  Lord,  invites  us  to  reap  the  abundant  harvest.  New 
Zealand  has  been  won  by  Missionaries  to  the  Crown  of  England  and  to 
the  visible  Church  of  Christ.  The  West  Indies,  having  anticipated  tlieir 
Jubilee,  permit  us  to  withdraw  our  forces  to  conquer  new  countries. 
From  all  parts  of  the  world  invitations  arrive,  which  the  Society  is 
compelled  to  decline." 

and  ofthe  The  Statement  itself  reviews  the  fields  of  labour  one  by  one. 
In  Sierra  Leone,  the  work  for  the  rescued  slaves  had  resulted  in 
ten  thousand  souls,  once  degraded  beyond  conception,  in  regular 
attendance  on  public  worship.  A  promising  Mission  had  been 
begun  in  the  Yoruba  country  ;  and  on  the  East  Coast  of  Africa 
two  intrepid  pioneers  were  discovering  new  territories  and  reducing 
new  languages  to  writing.  In  the  Mediterranean,  the  Society's 
efforts  for  the  enlightenment  of  the  Eastern  Churches  had  not 
.been  successful ;  but  there  were  still  three  or  four  labourers  at 
Smyrna  and  Cairo,  and  a  C.M.S.  missionary  (Gobat)  had  become 
AngHcan  Bishop  at  Jerusalem.  In  India,  Tinnevelly  and  Krish- 
nagar  had  yielded  rich  fruit ;  Travancore  was  becoming  promising ; 
at  Calcutta,  Burdwan,  Gorakpur,  Benares,  Agra,  Meerut,  Kotgur, 
Bombay,  Nasik,  Madras,  and  Masulipatam,  good  work  was  going 
on,  though  some  of  these  stations  showed  disappointing  results, — 
as  also  did  Ceylon.  New  Zealand  was  the  brightest  spot  in  the 
circle  of  Missions,  despite — as  we  have  seen  in  previous  chapters 
— many  grave  difficulties.  From  New  South  Wales,  Zululand, 
Abyssinia,  and  the  West  Indies,  the  Society  had  withdrawn  ;  but 
British  Guiana  was  still  occupied,  with  fair  results.  In  Eupert's 
Land  ("  North- West  x\merica  "),  the  work  was  on  a  small  scale, 
but  had  been  much  blessed.  Half  a  dozen  picked  men  had  been 
sent  to  China,  but  the  Mission  there  was  still  in  the  earliest 
preparatory  stage. 

That  was  That  was  all.  But  we  who  have  been  tracing  out  the  history 
know  at  what  cost  these  results  had  been  achieved.  We  have 
seen  also  something  of  the  "earthiness"  of  the  "vessels"  en- 


The  Jubilee  40 1 

trusted  with  the  Divine  "  treasure,"  and  we  can  understand  the    Part  V, 
Committee's  grateful  exclamation,   "  Not  unto  us,  O    Lord,  not  J^"*^"^" 
unto  us,  but  unto  Thy  Name  give  glory,  for  Thy  mercy  and  for       ^P' ' 
Thy  truth's  sake." 

In  nothing  is  the  immense  difference  between  the  period  of  the 
Jubilee  and  the  present  time  more  strikingly  manifested  than  in 
the  "literature"  which  was  prepared  for  the  commemoration, 
compared  with  what  would  now  be  thought  necessary.  This  T^j^iiee 
"  literature  "  consisted  of  just  thirteen  tracts  and  leaflets,  of  the  Tracts, 
plainest  and  (as  we  should  now  say)  most  old-fasliioned  "tract  " 
type,  some  being  in  foolscap  octavo  and  some  smaller.  No.  1  was 
the  Committee's  official  Circular.  No.  2  was  a  4-page  leaflet, 
written  in  a  more  popular  style  by  H.  W.  Fox.  No.  3  contained 
seven  original  hymns  and  three  original  prayers  :  the  former  by 
James  Montgomeiy,  George  Pettitt  of  Tinnevelly,  T.  R.  Birks 
(afterwards  Professor  at  Cambridge),  and  the  young  "  Rev.  E.  H. 
Bickerstctli  "  (now  Bishop  of  Exeter)  ;  and  the  latter  by  Edward 
Bickersteth,  Haldane  Stewart,  and  John  Tucker.  Of  the  hymns, 
one,  by  E.  H.  Bickersteth,  "  0  brothers,  lift  your  voices,"  has 
lived,  and  is  well  known  in  C.M.S.  circles.  No.  4  was  a  "  Practical 
Address  to  British  Christians,"  by  E.  Bickersteth,  which  is  cer- 
tainly one  of  the  most  ettective  missionary  appeals  ever  written. 
No.  5  was  a  sketch,  by  H.  Venn,  of  "  The  Founders  and  the  First 
Five  Years."  No.  6  was  an  Address  to  Christian  Ladies,  by 
E.  Bickersteth  ;  No.  7,  a  "  Mother's  Appeal  "  for  education  for 
missionaries'  daughters,  signed  "  L.  W."  (Mrs.  D.  Wilson  of 
Islington)  ;  No.  8,  a  leaflet  with  a  small  missionary  map,  by 
"  S.  T."  (Miss  Sarah  Tucker)  ;  No.  9,  a  "  Conversation  witli  a 
Little  Boy,"  by  George  Pettitt ;  '•'  No.  10,  an  Appeal  to  the  Clergy, 
by  tlie  Rev.  John  Hambleton,  of  Islington.  The  remaining  three, 
not  numbered,  were  a  "  Letter,"  by  W.  Jowett,  on  the  general 
progress  of  Missions  ;  a  tract  on  the  Uses  of  Gold  and  Silver,  by 
the  Rev.  W.  Tait ;  and  a  leaflet  called  "  The  Whole  Jubilee  Day," 
showing  the  hours  in  different  longitudes  corresponding  to  mid-day 
on  the  Jubilee  Day,  and  containing  also  a  remarkable  hymn  by 
H.  W.  Fox,  "  I  hear  ten  thousand  voices  singing,"  which  will 
be  found  appended  to  this  chapter.! 

The  Committee  did  not  defer  the  actual  commemoi'ation  till  the 
Society's  half-century  was  completed.     They  regarded  the  Jubilee 

*  In  this  "  Conver-sation,"  the  little  boy  is  represented  as  saying*.  "How  I 
wish  that  Queen  Victoria  may  reign  fifty  years,  and  that  I  may  be  alive  nt 
her  .Jubilee.  I  am  sure  I  would  go  to  church  and  sing  praises  to  God  with  all 
my  heart." 

t  Tiiese  Tracts,  though  they  now  seem  to  us  inadequate,  were  quite  up  to 
the  standard  of  the  titnc,  ovon  in  external  "got-np."  I  jiersoually  can  never 
forgot  the  oxtreine  interest  wirh  which  I  read  some  of  them  as  a  bo}-.  There 
was  another  tract  circulated  witii  them,  which  is  not  in  the  collection,  but 
which  gave  me  my  first  conceptions  of  the  four  cliief  founders,  Thomas  Scott, 
Charles  Simeon,  John  ^'enn,  and  Josiah  Pratt. — E.  S. 


492 


The  Jubilee 


year  as  beginning  directly  the  forty-ninth  year,  completing  the 
seven  sabbatical  periods  of  the  Mosaic  Law,  was  over.  They 
therefore  fixed  the  date  for  the  chief  celebration  in  the  middle  of  the 
fiftieth  year,  on  All  Saints'  Day,  November  1st,  1848,  "  being  a 
day,"  said  their  Resolution,  "  which  the  Church  of  England  has 
dedicated  to  the  commemoration  of  the  '  one  communion  and 
fellowship  '  in  which  the  members  of  Christ's  mystical  body  are 
knit  together." 

The  arrangements  made  for  the  observance  consisted  of  five 
sermons  and  three  meetings,  and  two  breakfasts  : — 

(1)  On  Sunday,  October  29th,  Canon  Dale,  who  happily  was 
Canon-in-Residence  at  the  time,  preached  a  special  sermon  at  the 
ordinary  afternoon  service  at  St.  Paul's.  In  those  days  all  the 
services  were  held  in  the  choir,  which  was  quite  cut  off  from  the 
dome  and  nave  by  a  great  organ  screen ;  and  the  congregations  were 
not  large.  Dome  services  (except  for  the  charity  children  once  a 
year),  and  evening  services,  were  quite  unknown  in  the  national 
cathedral.  Canon  Dale's  text  was  Phil.  ii.  10,  11,  "  That  at  the 
name  of  Jesus  every  knee  should  bow,"  &c. ;  and  from  these 
verses  he  based  a  very  powerful  and  impressive  sermon  on  behalf 
of  the  Society — "  a  great  national  society,"  he  called  it,  "  engaged 
in  what  ought  to  be  a  great  national  work  " — as  one  instrument 
for  hastening  the  time  when  the  grand  promise  of  the  text  shall 
be  fulfilled. 

(2)  On  the  Tuesday  evening,  October  31st,  Edward  Bickersteth 
preached  at  St.  Anne's,  Blackfriars,  the  old  church  in  which  the 
earliest  Anniversary  Services  were  held.  His  text  was  Rev.  xiv. 
6,  7 — the  angel  with  the  everlasting  Gospel ;  and  his  sermon  was 
one  of  the  great  pulpit  efforts  of  which  we  have  so  few  examples 
in  the  present  day.  It  occupies  sixty  pages  of  the  Jubilee  Volume, 
and  must  have  taken  as  long  a  time  to  deliver  as  his  ^Anniversary 
Sermon  in  1832  ;■■•  and  its  intense  earnestness  will  move  any 
reader  even  now.  He  dwelt  on  the  Gospel  as  "  everlasting  "  (1) 
"in  contrast  with  perishing  empires  " — a  peculiarly  appropriate 
thought  at  that  time  ;  (2)  "  in  contrast  to  the  pretensions  of  vain 
philosophy  "  ;  (3)  "in  its  suitableness  to  the  most  urgent  wants 
of  mankind  "  ;  (4)  "in  the  eternal  blessings  it  conveys  "  ;  (5)  "  in 
the  obligation  of  every  Christian  to  diffuse  it."  Then  he  enlarged 
on  "  its  wide  diffusion  in  the  last  days";  under  which  head  he 
poured  out  of  his  wealth  of  first-hand  knowledge  whole  pages  of 
details  on  both  the  work  done  and  the  w^oi'k  w'aiting  to  be  done. 
Then  he  expounded  at  length  on  the  message  announced  by  the 
angel,  "Fear  God,"  &c.  ;  and  finally  he  appealed  to  ministers, 
rulers,  heads  of  families,  women,  children,  young  men,  to  be  up 
and  doing, — closing  with  these  words  : — 

"  Brethren,  by  all  the  interesting  recollections  which  crowd  around 
this  Jubilee ;  by  the  memory  of  all  who  have  gone  before  us ;  by  the 

*  See  p.  261. 


The  Jubilee  493 

fervent  pra3^ers  offering  up  in  all  the  Churches  tJn-ougli  the  world  at  this  Part  V. 
season;  by  the  wants  of  perishing  millions;  by  the  best  interests  of  ] 841— IS. 
your  country,  your  Church,  and  yourselves  ;  by  the  everlasting  miseries  Chap.  32. 

from  which  the  Gospel  saves  us,  and  the  everlasting  blessedness  to  which 

it  brings  us  ;  by  the  solemn  and  last  command,  the  dying  love,  the 
constant  intercession,  the  faithful  promises,  the  speedy  return,  and  the 
eternal  glory  of  Immanuel ; — I  beseech  you,  now  afresh  consecrate  your- 
selves and  all  you  have  to  God  your  Father,  your  Saviour,  and  your 
Sanctifier,  in  advancing  the  wider  diffusion  of  the  everlasting  Gospel 
through  the  world." 

(3)  The  Jubilee  Day  itself  was  also  devoted  to  church  services  ;  Breakfast 
but  it  began  with  a  Breakfast  at  the   Castle  and  Falcon,  in  the  clstie  and 
room  in  which  the  Society  was  born  on  April  12th,  1799.     The  Falcon, 
proprietor  of  the  hotel,  Mr.  Woods,  himself  gave  the  breakfast ; 

and  the  gathering  was  addressed  by  the  Eev.  John  Fawcett,  of 
Carlisle,  one  of  the  few  original  members  still  surviving. 

(4)  At  eleven  o'clock,  the  principal  sermon  of  all  was  preached  Archbishop 
at  St.  Anne's,  Blackfriars,  in  the  morning,  by  the  Archbishop  of  fe"rmon'^a^t 
Canterbury  himself.     Dr.  Sumner,  of  course,  could  not  compare  St.  Anne's 
in  eloquence  with  Dale,  or  in  knowledge  of  the  subject  or  intense 
fervour  with  Bickersteth  ;  and  his  sermon  is  as  short  as  Bicker- 

steth's  is  long.  But  it  is  good  and  sound  and  earnest,  on 
Prov.  xxiv.  11,  12 — "If  thou  forbear  to  deliver,"  &c.  "I  spent 
an  hour,"  wrote  Bickersteth,  "  along  with  two  or  three  friends, 
with  the  Archbishop  after  his  sermon,  and  thanked  God  for  the 
remarkable  spirit  of  meekness  and  wisdom  which  God  has  given 
him."  '■' 

(5)  In    the     afternoon,    Bishop    Blomfield    preached     at    St.  other 
George's,  Bloomsbury.     His  sermon  is  not  extant. 

(6)  The  same  evening.  Archdeacon  T.  Deal  try,  of  Calcutta  (after- 
wards Bishop  of  Madras),  preached  at  Christ  Church,  Newgate 
Street,  on  the  "jubilee"  of  Lev.  xxv.  This  sermon  is  excellent, 
though  without  any  pretension  to  exceptional  power ;  and  the 
preacher's  personal  experiences  in  India  are  introduced  with  good 
effect. 

(7)  Of  the  three  Meetings,  the  first,  on  the  afternoon  of  October  Valedictory 
31st,  was  a  Valedictory  Dismissal  of  missionaries.    It  was  thought  i^nngtJ^n^* 
well   to   include   in   the   Jubilee   functions   one   of  the    Society's 
ordinary  proceedings,  as  a  kind  of  object-lesson.     It  was  indeed 

quite  an  ordinary  meeting,  and  different  from  the  crowded  Vale- 
dictory Meetings  in  Freemasons'  Hall  as  far  back  as  1814  ;  for  it 
was  held,  as  had  come  to  be  a  frequent  practice,  in  the  old,  ugly, 
inconvenient  parish  schoolroom  of  Islington,  which  seated  at  a 
pinch  three  or  four  hundred  people  on  bare  un-backed  forms. t 
There  was  nothing  very  remarkable,  moreover,  in  the  proceedings 
of  the  meeting.     No  band  of  University  men  was  going  to  India 

*  Memoir,  vol.  ii.  p.  403. 

"j"  This  schoolroom  was  afterwards  altered  and  enlarged  to  become  the 
Bishop  Wilson  Memorial  Hall,  a  fairly  comfortable  room,  since  superseded  by 
the  present  handsome  hall. 


sermons. 


4Q4 


The  Jubilee 


Part  V. 
1841-48. 
Chap.  32. 


Breakfast 
at  the 
College. 


Young 
Men's 
Meeting. 


or  China ;  no  well-known  hero  of  the  field  was  I'eturning  after 
furlough  ;  no  new  and  important  enterprise  was  being  inaugurated. 
Of  the  eight  new  missionaries  taken  leave  of,  three  bore  names 
which  in  after  years  came  to  be  held  in  honour  in  C.M.S.  circles, 
viz.,  David  Hinderer,  James  Erhardt,  and  Julia  Sass.  All  three 
went  to  Africa  (Erhardt  afterwards  to  India) ;  and  their  periods  of 
service  proved  to  be  respectively  28,  42,  and  21  years.  But  there 
was  nothing  remarkable  about  them  then.  There  was  also  a  young 
African  named  T.  B.  Macaulay,  who  had  been  an  Islington  student, 
and  who  afterwards  married  Bishop  Crowther's  daughter,  and 
became  Principal  of  Lagos  Grammar  School.  The  Instructions 
delivered,  and  the  Valedictory  Address  by  Mr.  Jowett,  are  printed 
in  the  Jubilee  Volume. 

(8)  The  great  Jubilee  Meeting  itself  was  held  in  Exeter  Hall  on 
Thursday,  November  2nd,  the  day  following  the  Jubilee  Day.  Of 
this  more  directly. 

(9)  On  the  Friday  morning,  there  was  a  Breakfast  at  the 
College  for  old  and  present  students,  at  which  Mr.  Childe  and 
Mr.  Venn  spoke,  and  William  Smith  of  Benares,  to  represent  the 
missionaries  trained  in  the  College. 

(10)  In  the  evening  of  the  same  day,  there  was  a  meeting,  in 
Freemasons'  Hall,  of  what  was  then  called  the  Church  of  England 
Young  Men's  Society  for  Aiding  Missions  at  Home  and  Abroad  ; 
of  this  meeting  the  only  record  is  that  many  young  men  w^ere 
present.  But  the  rank  and  file  of  men  and  women  in  London 
were  then  almost  untouched ;  and  evening  meetings  were  unusual. 
The  Young  Men's  Society  that  arranged  this  one  might  perhaps 
have  become  a  power  in  after  years  if  it  had  retained  its  distinctive 
title  and  definite  purpose  ;  but  in  1857  it  dropped  the  "  Aiding 
Missions,"  and  subsequently  it  was  distanced  in  the  race  of  use- 
fulness by  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association. 


The  great 

Jubilee 

Meeting. 


Lord 
Chiches- 
ter's 
speech. 


The  Jubilee  Meeting  calls  for  fuller  notice.  The  great  Hall  was 
of  course  filled ;  and  the  President  was  supported  on  the  platform 
by  several  of  the  Vice-Presidents  and  other  hifluential  friends. 
One  of  the  original  members  of  the  Society  in  1799  was  present, 
and,  as  far  as  w^as  known,  only  one — the  Rev.  John  Fawcett  of 
Carlisle,  who  had  spoken  at  the  Breakfast  on  the  previous  day. 
The  "  Old  Hundredtli  "  was  sung ;  after  which  John  Tucker  offered 
the  familiar  C.M.S.  prayer,  wath  additions  for  the  occasion,  and 
read  Ps.  Ixxii.  Lord  Chichester  then  spoke  from  the  chair, 
humbl}^,  quietly,  and  wdth  deep  spirituality,  as  always  : — 

"  This  Jubilee  of  ours  is  indeed  a  happy  season  for  those  to  whom 
God  has  given  a  capacity  for  snch  enjoyments — for  those  who  know  the 
blessedness  of  pardon  and  redemption — who  know  enough  of  the  love 
of  Clirist  to  rejoice  in  His  work,  and  to  long  for  a  fuller  manifestation 
of  His  glory.  Many  thousands  of  souls  thus  blessed  were  yesterday 
engaged  in  the  work  of  prayer  and  praise — praying  for  the  same  bless- 
ings, praising  God  for  the  same  mercies.     The  sun  of  yesterday,  in  his 


The  Jubilee  4Q5 

circuit  througli  tlie  heavens,  dawned  on  many  a  band  of  liappj'  converts  Part  V. 
thus  engaged — bright  spots  in  the  midst  of  Pagan  darkness,  hke  distant  lS-l-1-48. 
and  scattered  watch-iires  in  a  starless  night.     May  we  not  su[)pose,  my   Cliap.  32. 

friends,  tliat  those  beloved  brethren,  the  fruits  of  our  poor  iniworthy       

labours,  were  engaged  in  praying  to  God  for  us,  as  we  were  praying  for  Jhinfngon 

them ;  that  they  were  praising  God  on  our  behalf,  as  we  were  praising  bands  of 

Him  on  theirs  "r'     We  may  depend  upon  it  that  such  prayers  and  pra  ses  ^°y^^''*he 

are  heard  in  heaven ;  that  such  songs  from  ransomed  sinners,  wafted  by  world. 

the  intercession  of  our  Immanuel,  ascend  unto  the  ears  of  the   Lord   of 

Sabaoth.     But,  alas  !  my  friends,  this  world  below  has  as  yet  no   ear  for 

such  music.     There  is  nothing,  I  think,  in  God's  creation  that  afibrds 

such  a  melanclK)ly  subject  for  our  thoughts   as  that  mass   of  darkness 

and  sin  which  still  covers  this  miserable  world.     For  eighteen  hiuidred 

years  the  heralds  of  Christ  have  been  prc^claiming  His  message  and  His 

Kingdom.     For  eighteen  hundred  years  the  King  Himself,  our  great 

High  Priest,  has  been  pleading  before  His  Father's  throne.     But  as  yet 

the  world  in  general  is  alike  deaf  to  His  message,  and  dead  to  His  love. 

This  is  indeed  an  oi:^pressing  thought ;  sad  enough  to  crush  our  hopes 

and  our  energies,  if  we  did  not   remember  the  name   of  Him   who  is 

called  '  Wonderful,  Counsellor,  the  Mighty  God,  the  Everlasting  Father, 

the  Prince  of  Peace  ' ;  that  the  govenmient  of  this   apparent  chaos  is 

committed  to  His  shoulders  ;  and  that,  by  His  Word,  by  His  Spirit,  by 

His  judgments,  and  at  last  by  His  coming,  He  will  at  length  subdue 

every  enemy,  and  restore  peace,  and  light,  and  joy  to  this  restless  and 

wicked  world." 

An   abstract  of  the  Jubilee  Statement  was  then  read,  not  by 
Henry  Venn  (whose  voice  never  enabled  him  to  read  his  own 
Eeports),  but  by  C.  P.  Childe,  Principal  of  the  College.     The  first 
Eesolution  was  moved  by  Sir  Eobert  Harry  Inghs,  M.P.  for  Oxford  sir  r.  h. 
University.    He  w^as  a  fine  specimen  of  the  old  English  gentleinan,  spfech^ 
a  strong  Churchman  and  Tory,  a  familiar  figure  in  the  House  of 
Commons,  a  man  of  wide   culture,  and  a  very  warm  friend  of  the 
Society,  who  had  several  times  spoken  at  the  Anniversaries."    There 
w^as  one  very  felicitous  passage  in  his  hearty  speech.     Eeferring 
to  the  fact  that  the  previous  day,  the  Jubilee  Day  proper,  was 
All  Saints'  Day,  he  reminded  the  meeting  that  that  day,  the  day 
then  present,  was,  in  the  Eoman  Calendar,  All  Souls'  Day,  when  aii  Souis' 
the  dead    are  specially  prayed   for.     "We  enter  not,"  said  he,     ^^ ' 
"  into  Eome's  worship  ;  we  have  nothing  to  do  with  her  doctrines  ; 
but  let  us  never  forget  that  in  immediate  juxtaposition  with  the 
Feast  of  All  Saints  is  the  Feast  of  All  Souls  ;  and  though  we  dare 
not  pray  for  the  souls  of  the  dead,  we  may — icc  must — pray  ^and 
labour    for    the  souls  of  all  living.'"     This   first   Eesolution   was 
seconded  by  Mr.  J.  M.  Strachan,  the  much-respected  member  of 
Committee  who  had  been  treasurer  of  the  Society  at  Madras. 

Then   arose  the  Bishop  of  Oxford  to  move  the  second  Eesolu-  f '^"{^j^g^ 
tion.     It  was  a  courageous  thing  on  the  part  of  the  Society  to  force's 
invite  Samuel  Wilberforce.     By  this  time  he   was  identified  in  sp«^<=h. 
the  minds  of  all  men,  not  indeed  with  the  Tractarians,  but  with 

*  A  cliarming  sketch  of  Sir  R.  H.  Inglis  is  given  by  J.  C.  Colquhouii  in  his 
graphic  book,  WiUiam  Wilberforce  and  his  Friends.  But  Inglis  belonged  to  a 
rather  voungcr  geiieratioii. 


496 


The  Jubilee 


Part  Y. 
1841-i8. 
Chap.  32. 


The 
humble 
room  fifty 
years  be- 
fore. 


The  men 
and  the 
period. 


that  more  advanced  section  of  the  High  Church  Party  which 
looked  npon  them  with  favour ;  and  his  frequent  speeches  in 
behalf  of  S.P.G.  were  not  always  without  invidious  comparisons 
with  C.M.S.*  But  the  Committee  well  knew  his  old  love  for  the 
Society;  and  to  him  they  committed  the  task  of  making  the 
great  speech  of  the  day.  And  a  great  speech  it  was.  The  hall 
rang  with  applause,  as  one  eloquent  sentence  poured  forth  after 
another,  and  especially  when  he  referred  to  his  father's  work  in 
the  abolition  of  the  slave-trade,  and  to  "  that  saint  of  God,  John 
Wesley."     A  sentence  or  two  may  be  quoted  : — 

"  When  I  fix  my  mind  on  the  humble  room  in  which,  fifty  years  ago, 
were  gathered  together  that  little  company  of  overworked  parish  priests, 
labouring  together  day  and  night  in  their  holy  vocation,  in  the  midst 
of  the  almost  overwhehiiing  multitude  of  the  world  of  this  metropolis, 
and  call  to  mind  Avliat  glorious  thoughts  were  then  struggling  in  their 
souls — what  mighty  impulses  God's  Spirit  was  working  in  their  hearts — 
as  I  look  back  to  that  scene,  I  feel  humbled  with  admiration  and 
wonder  at  the  means  then  used  for  producing  these  great  results.  I 
hardly  know  of  any  period  since  the  time  when  the  whole  Church  of 
Christ  was  gathered  together  in  that  upper  chamber,  with  the  door  shut 
upon  them  for  fear  of  the  Jews,  when  mightier  issues  were  struggling  in 
fewer  minds.  It  was  purely  and  entirely  a  work  of  faith.  They  under- 
took that  work,  not  as  shallow  and  capricious  men  often  undertake 
benevolent  beginnings,  to  lay  theni  aside  at  the  first  blast  of  a  strong 
opposition,  but  gravely  and  thoughtfully,  as  men  who  knew  that  it  was  a 
great  thing  to  labour  for  God,  and  a  mighty  trust  to  begin  anything  in 
furtherance  of  His  Kingdom.  They  saw  the  Church  slumbering  in  the 
midst  of  the  world,  and,  all  unlikely  as  it  seemed  to  them  that  they  could 
arouse  its  slumbering  heart,  they  said,  '  Nevertheless,  if  God  be  willing, 
we  will  go  forth  in  this  undertaking.' 

"  Many  were  the  difficulties  that  arose  in  their  onward  path.  There 
was  first  the  difficulty  which  always  waits  on  any  mighty  work  of  God — 
the  certain  oj^position  to  it  always  stirred  up  by  the  great  enemy  of  Christ 
and  man,  and  exhibited  in  the  hatred — in  the  direct  opposition — in  the 
mocking  scorn,  and  often  in  the  cold  and  pretended  sympathy — of  the 
world  around  them.  But  this  was  not  their  only  difficulty.  There  was 
still  a  greater  difficulty  to  be  met  and  overcome.  Not  only  were  they 
met  by  the  opposition  of  the  world,  but  by  the  utter  coldness  and  a2">athy 
of  the  Church  herself.  The  beginning  of  this  work  was  in  what  was 
perhaps  the  darkest  and  coldest  time  in  the  whole  history  of  the  Church 
of  England — a  period  of  coldness  and  of  darkness  of  which  we  in  these 
days,  and  with  our  knowledge  of  what  now  exists,  can  hardly  have  a  con- 
ception, without  going  patiently  back  and  inquiring  into  the  events  and 
circumstances  of  that  time,  and  comparing  the  principles  of  action  in 
every  single  department  of  Christian  work,  Christian  labour,  and  Christian 
self-denial  then  current,  with  those  which  are  now  admitted  and  acted 
upon  by  all  men.  They  lived  at  the  close  of  a  period  when  the  Church 
was  so  apathetic,  that  not  only  had  she  done  nothing  towards  her  great 
work  of  evangelizing  the  Heathen,  but  allowed  her  influence  at  home  to 
wither  and  decay  in  her  hand,  leaving  our  own  increasing  population 
to  grow  up  in  heathenism,  and  only  showed  her  semi-vitality,  or  rather 
her  anti-vitality,  by  casting  out  from  her  bosom  that  great  and  good  man 
• — that  saint  of  God — John  Wesley. 

*  See  p.  401. 


The  Jubilee  497 

"  It  was  at  the  close  of  sucli  a  period  as  this,  when  all  was  darkness  Part  V. 
around  them,  that  God  put  these  thoughts  into  the  hearts  of  these  men.  1841^8. 
They  knew  that  God's  Word  remains  sure,  and  they  determined  to  act  Chap.  32. 

upon   it ;    and   so  the  blessing  which  waits   always   upon   faithful   en-       

deavours  was  vouchsafed  unto  them — not  given  at  once,  not  given  without  Jiessino- 
days  of  waiting,  without  nights  of  prayer,  without  self-denial,  without  given.  ° 
the  frown  of  the  world,  without  '  fightings  without,'  without  '  fears 
within  ';  but  given  in  God's  time,  given  surely,  given  abundantly.  Surely 
we  may  thank  God  heartily  that  He  gave  them  the  zeal,  that  He  gave 
them  the  wisdom,  that  He  gave  them  the  ability,  to  lay  these  foundations, 
upon  which  others  since  have  built ;  tliat  He  suffered  them  in  that  day 
to  freight  their  vessel  with  His  triith  ;  that  He  allowed  them,  in  the 
daring  of  true  faith,  to  set  it  upon  the  tides  of  His  mysterious  provi- 
dence, leaving  to  Him  to  guide  its  course,  leaving  to  Him  to  accomplish 
its  adventure." 

Then  came  John  Cunningham  of  Harrow,  the  most  frequent  John  cun- 
and  trusted  speaker  at  C.M.S.  meetings,  as  we  have  before  seen,  speech.'"  ^ 
His  part  was  to  set  forth  once  more  the  great  principles  of  the 
Society,  which  he  did  with  perfect  plainness,  as  regards  both  its 
mingling  of  the  lay  with  the  clerical  element  in  the  Executive, 
and  the  Gospel  which  its  founders  designed  the  Society  to 
proclaim.     On  the  latter  point : — 

"  Led,  as  we  cannot  doubt,  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  to  discern  the  desti- 
tute and  perishing  condition  of  the  heathen  world — without  a  God,  a 
Saviour,  or  a  Bible — they  set  to  work  to  find  the  appropriate  remedy 
for  this  large  amount  of  moral  disease  and  physical  wretchedness. 
There  could  be  but  one — the  Gospel  of  a  Crucified  Saviour.  And  they 
not  only  adduced  this  remedy,  but  they  resolved  to  administer  it  in  its 
utmost  simplicity  and  purity.  They  resolved  to  follow  the  example  of 
the  first  Fathers  on  the  English  Reformation ;  and  were  not  satisfied  to 
give  to  the  Heathen  a  mere  system  of  Christian  ethics — a  set  of  well- 
constructed  ordinances — but  they  sought  out  the  great  fundamental 
truths  of  the  religion  of  the  Cross — the  election  of  grace — original  cor- 
ruption— justification  through  faith — regeneration,  conversion,  sanctifica- 
tion,  by  the  Spirit  of  God — good  works  as  the  fruit  of  sound  faith — and 
they  resolved  knowingly  to  send  out  no  one  missionary  who  should  not 
carry  to  the  war  with  idolatry  these  truths  written  with  the  blood  of  a 
Saviour,  and,  if  I  may  so  speak,  verified  and  sanctified  by  their  all- 
powei'ful  influence,  wherever  honestly  promulgated  by  the  messengers  of 
religion.  The  '  first  Fathers '  of  our  Institution  believed,  with  Bishop 
Wilson,  that  '  a  Christless  missionary  is  no  missionary  at  all.' " 

The  third  Eesolution  approved  of  a  Letter  being  sent  from  the  Letter  to 
Meeting  to  "  the  much-loved  brethren  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  chrisUans. 
gathered  out  from  among  the  Heathen  and  Mohammedans  in 
Africa,  Asia,  &c."  Archdeacon  Dealtry,  of  Calcutta,  whose 
sermon  we  have  already  noticed,  moved  this,  and  George  Pettitt, 
of  Tinnevelly,  seconded  it,  representing  respectively  the  numerous 
Native  Christians  of  North  and  South  India.  Both  their  speeches 
were  full  of  encouraging  facts. 

Then,  to  move  the  last  Eesolution,  arose  Edward  Bickersteth.  Bicker- 
Seizing  the  platform-rail  with  both  hands,  he  burst  forth  in  burster 
accents   of   holy   and  ecstatic  joy   which   none  who  heard   him  ^oiyjoy, 

VOL.  I.  K  k 


498  The  Jubilee 

Part  V.   that  day  could  ever  forget, — "  Glory  be  to  God,   our  Heavenly 

1841-48.   Father,  for    the  scenes  which  He  has  permitted  us  to  witness 

Chap.  32.  ^i^^yij^^g   ^}-,Q  ig^gi;   fg-^y   ^ays ! "     Thc   speech,    if   read  now,  seems 

fragmentary  and  lacking  in  point ;  but  in  fact  Bickersteth  was 

overcome  by  his  emotions,  and  it  was  the  spirit  rather  than  the 

matter  of  what  he  said  that  was  remembered  by  his  hearers.'"^' 

E.  Hoare's      The  last  spcech  was  a  maiden  one  at  a  great  C.M.S.  meeting, 

spTe"h.       by  a  clergyman  who,  at  the  age  of  thirty-six,  was  still  young  for 

the  honour  of  taking  part  on  such  an  occasion.     This  was  Edward 

Hoare,  then  Incumbent  of  Christ  Church,  Eamsgate,  and  afterwards 

the   revered    Canon    Hoare   of   Tunbridge   Wells.      His    closing 

sentences  are  perhaps  the  most  interesting  to  us  now,  at  the  close 

of  another  half-century,  and  therefore  the  most  worth  quoting,  of 

any  that  were  spoken  that  day  :  — 

"  And  now,  after  the  thankful  retrospect  of  the  past,  it  may  be  well, 
before  we  part,  to  look  forward  for  a  few  moments  to  the  future,  and  to 
consider  what  will  be  the  state  of  things  should  this  Society  ever  witness 
The  next  another  Jubilee.  What  changes  will  have  taken  place  ere  then  !  There 
Jubilee !  ^^j^j  have  been  a  vast  change  in  our  Missions.  By  that  time,  possibly. 
Dr.  Krapf's  grand  idea  may  be  realized,  and  the  little  Mission  of 
Eastern  Africa  be  enlarged  till  it  meet  in  the  interior  the  widely- 
spreading  Churches  from  the  West.  And  what  will  be  the  state  of 
things  at  home  ?  Where  will  be  England's  throne  ?  May  it  stand  fast 
through  God's  blessing,  and  may  all  remember  that  its  one  secvirity  is 
in  the  truth  of  God  !  Who  will  then  be  Archbishop  ?  May  the  Lord 
grant  that  he  may  be  like-minded  with  him  whose  appointment  to  that 
high  office  now  fills  our  hearts  with  joy !  And  the  Meeting — who  will 
be  there  ?  Few,  if  any,  of  those  who  are  present  now  will  be  privileged 
to  be  there.  The  speakers  of  to-day  will  all  be  passed  away.  Some  of 
those  dear  children  just  mentioned  by  Mr.  Bickersteth  may  be  here  to 
take  his  place,  but  the  voice  of  the  beloved  father  must  be  silenced. 
And  what  is  the  conclusion  ?  That  we  all  remember  that  time  is  short. 
We  must  be  like  the  drops  of  the  rainbow,  each  in  himself  a  mere  drop, 
and  each  falling,  but  each  reflecting  the  Lord's  light  in  the  brief  moment 
of  our  rapid  fall,  so  that  the  whole  combined  should  form  the  bow 
between  earth  and  heaven,  the  standing  testimony  to  the  covenant  of 
God. 
But  will  "  But  will  the  world  ever  see  another  Jubilee  ?     And   may   we  not 

there  be  venture  to  hope  that  ere  another  fifty  years  be  passed  we  shall  have 
reached  the  Jubilee  of  Jubilees,  and  been  permitted  to  witness  the 
glorious  advent  of  the  Lord  of  Glory  ?  I  know  we  should  speak  trem- 
blingly on  such  a  subject;  but  our  Lord  has  said,  'When  these  begin  to 
come  to  pass,  then  look  up,  for  your  redemption  draweth  nigh.'  We 
are  not  to  wait,  then,  till  we  see  the  elaborate  fulfilment  of  the  whole 
page  of  prophecy ;  but  are  to  look  up  in  hope,  even  at  the  outset  of  the 
great  events  of  the  latter  days.  When,  therefore,  we  see  the  powers  of 
heaven  shaken,  and  iipon  earth  distress  of  nations  with  perplexity ; 
when,  at  the  same  time,  we  see  the  missionary  spirit  rising  in  the  Church 
like  the  streak  of  early  dawn  preparing  the  way  for  the  rising  of  the  sun, — 
we  venture  to  hope  that  we  may  regard  these  things  as  the  harbingers 

*  Bickersteth  wrote  to  a  friend,  "I  never  spent  such  a  remarkable  four 
days  as  the  Jubilee  days  in  London.  It  was  really  heaven  upon  earth." 
Memoir,  vol.  ii.  p.  403. 


The  Jubilee  499 

of  glory,  as  a  token  that  the  day  is  not  far  distant  when  the  kingdoms    Par 
of  the  world  shall  become  the  kingdoms  of  the  Lord  and  of  His  Christ.    18-i] 
And  what  a  day  of  jubilee  will  be  then !     Now  we  meet  the  citizens  of  Chaj 
one  city,  though  uniting  in  a  sympathy  of  praise  with  the  people  of  God       — 
in  almost  all  the  nations  under  heaven ;   but   then  shall   be  gathered 
together  into  one,  all  things  in  Christ.     Now  we  meet,  the  men  of  one 
generation,  to  commemorate  fathers  that  are  departed,  and  to  hand  on 
their  work  to  children  that  are  to  come  ;  but  then  shall  be  assembled  the 
whole  company  of  God's  elect,  of  every  land  and  every  age.     Now  the 
sun,  pursuing  its  course,  has  gathered  up  the  praises  of  successive  lands ; 
but  then  all  shall  be  united  in  one  glorious  anthem  in  the  actual  presence 
of  the  Sun  of  Righteousness.     May  God  grant  to  us  and  to  our  children 
that  we  may  then  '  be  found  in  Him,  not  having  our  own  righteousness, 
which  is  of  the  law,  but  that  which  is  through  the  faith  of  Christ,  the 
righteousness  which  is  of  God  by  faith  ! '  " 

No  words  could  more  fitly  have  wound  up  such  a  Meeting  as 
this ;  and  none  could  more  surely  have  led  the  assembly  to  rise, 
as  they  did,  in  the  spirit  of  humble  praise,  and  sing  the  grand  and 
ever-welcome  hymn  which  has  so  often  filled  the  great  hall  with  The  c 
solemn  and  yet  joyful   strains — "All  hail  the  power  of  Jesus''"^''- 
Name !  " ''' 

It  was  not  only  by  the  Committee  officially  that  the  Jubilee  was 
observed.  Many  special  sermons  were  preached,  and  meetings 
held,  which  were  locally  arranged,  in  various  parts  of  London  and 
the  Provinces.  The  Archbishop  of  York  both  preached  and  The 
presided  at  a  meeting,  in  that  city.  The  Bishop  of  Chester  did  the  in  the 
same,  in  his  city,  the  Cathedral  and  the  Assembly  Eooms  being  P''°vi 
both  "crowded  to  excess."  The  Bishops  of  Hereford,  Norwich, 
Eipon,  Salisbury,  and  Winchester,  the  Archbishop  of  Dublin,  and 
the  Bishop  of  Derry,  all  either  preached,  or  presided,  or  both. 
Bishop  Wilberforce  preached  at  St.  Mary's  at  Oxford,  whence  John 
Henry  Newman  had  so  recently  retired  ;  and  also  took  the  chair 
at  a  crowded  meeting  in  the  Town  Hall.  At  Cambridge,  some 
four  hundred  persons,  a  large  proportion  of  them  undergraduates, 
attended  what  the  Jubilee  Volume,  using  language  not  so  common 
then  as  now,  calls  "  an  early  celebration  of  the  Holy  Communion," 
at  Trinity  Church,  the  scene  once  of  Charles  Simeon's  ministry. 
Bath,  Birmingham,  Brighton,  and  Bristol  were  conspicuous  for 
their  enthusiasm.  One  of  the  most  interesting  functions  was  a 
sermon  preached  in  Eugljy  School  Chapel,  by  the  Head  Master, 
Dr.  A.  C.  Tait;  but  its  special  interest  arose  from  another  cir- 
cumstance, to  be  mentioned  presently. 

Still  more  interesting  was  the  commemoration  of  the  Jubilee  in  The 
the  Mission-field.     At   several   of  the  villages  in    the  Colony  of  in  the 
Sierra   Leone,  services    and   meetings   were    held ;    and   also  at  ^1^^" 

*  I  cannot  refrain  from  mentioning  the  fact  of  my  own  presence,  as  a  boy 
of  twelve,  at  this  Jubilee  Meeting.  My  recollection  of  it  is  vivid ;  par- 
ticularly of  Sir  R.  Inglis's  reference  to  All  Souls'  Day,  Bishop  Wilberforce's 
to  John  Wesley,  and  E.  Bickersteth's  opening  words  of  joyous  thankful- 
ness.— E.  S, 

K  k  2 


500 


The  Jubilee 


At  Sierra 
Leone. 


Part  V.  Abeokuta.  In  India,  there  were  various  gatherings  at  Calcutta, 
1841-48.  a_t  four  centres  in  the  Krishnagar  district,  at  Benares,  Agra, 
Chap.  32.  gjjj-^^g^^  Karachi,  Bombay,  Malegam,  Poona,  Madras,  Masulipatam, 
and  many  stations  in  Tinnevelly  and  Travancore.  In  Ceylon,  at 
Cotta,  Kandy,  and  Jaffna ;  in  China,  at  Shanghai ;  in  Jamaica  and 
British  Guiana ;  at  Smyrna  and  Jerusalem  ;  in  New  Zealand, 
at  Auckland,  where  the  announcement  of  the  Jubilee  was  only 
received  from  England  twenty-four  hours  before  the  day  appointed, 
and  where  Bishop  Selwyn  composed  a  special  prayer  for  the  occa- 
sion ;  and  at  Eed  Eiver,  in  North- West  America,  though,  on  the 
very  day,  "the  winter  set  in  furiously."  Moreover,  the  day  was 
sympathetically  observed  by  Continental  Protestants  at  Amsterdam 
and  Basle  ;  by  the  Basle  Mission  in  Western  India ;  at  sea,  by  a 
band  of  missionaries  on  board  ship  ;  and  on  the  banks  of  the 
Indus,  by  a  number  of  devout  British  soldiers  on  their  march  to 
the  seat  of  war  in  the  Punjab. 

Two  specimens  of  the  observances  may  be  given,  one  from  West 
Africa  and  one  from  Tinnevelly.  From  Freetown  the  Eev.  J. 
Beale  wrote  : — ■ 

"  The  1st  of  November  was  observed  much  as  a  Sabbath.  Few  of  the 
people  came  to  market  from  the  villages,  and  very  little  business  was 
done  here.  At  seven  o'clock  a.m.  we  had  a  prayer-meeting,  when  the 
whole  congregation  were  present,  attired  in  their  best  clothes.  I  com- 
menced by  giving  out  the  Rev.  E.  H.  Bickersteth's  hymn, — 

"  Lord  Jesns,  unto  Whom  is  given 

All  power  on  earth,  all  power  in  heaven  "; 

which  was  sung  with  the  deepest  feeling  by  the  whole  assembly.  We 
then  united  in  prayer  and  thanksgiving  ;  the  latter  was  the  most  hearty 
and  deep-felt.  Such  prayers  and  thanksgivings  I  have  scarcely  ever,  if 
ever,  witnessed. 

"  At  the  Grammar  School,  also,  the  day  was  commenced  by  suitable 
prayers,  and  by  reading  portions  of  Scripture  adapted  to  the  occasion. 
At  ten  o'clock  the  pupils  marched,  three  deep,  with  banners,  from  Regent 
Square  to  the  Mission  Church,  Freetown.  Here  the  Rev.  T.  Peyton 
preached  an  excellent  sermon,  from  Isaiah  Ixii.  1,  to  a  very  large 
congregation.  The  Acting-Governor  and  the  other  Europeans  were 
present. 

"  In  the  evening  his  Honour  the  Chief  Justice  presided  over  a  full 
and  overflowing  meeting,  which  was  one  of  the  most  orderly  ever 
witnessed  within  any  church. 

"  I  do  believe  the  Jubilee  will  be  the  means  of  bringing  down  from 
heaven  a  larger  blessing  than  we  have  hitherto  received." 

And  the  Eev.  John  Devasagayam  thus   wrote   from  Kadatcha- 
puram : — 

**We  celebrated  our  Jubilee  on  the  1st,  with,  we  trust,  a  prayerful 
and  a  thankful  spirit.  The  school-children  commenced  the  day  at  3  a.m. 
with  singing  praises  to  the  Lord  in  the  Jubilee  hymns.  The  people 
assembled  in  very  good  time,  and  were  in  number  more  than  1200.  For 
their  accommodation  we  had  erected  a  temporary  shed.  I  commenced 
the  [regular  Divine  service  a  little  before  eleven  o'clock.  I  preached 
from  adverse  in  the  Second  Lesson,  Heb.  xii.  2,  'Looking  unto  Jesus.' 


At  John 

Devasa- 

gayam's 

Christian 

village. 


The  Jubilee  ^o\ 

I  gave  a  short  account  of  the  Society's  commencement,  their  sevei'al    Part  V. 
Missions,  and  their  present  prosperity  in  Tinnevelly  and  other  parts  of    18-il^l8. 
the  workl.     I  told  my  people,  also,  how  the  children  of  God,  in  England  Chap.  32. 
and  in  India,  contributed  to  our  Society,  and  how  it  was  our  duty  to 
come   before   the   Lord   this   day   with   thanksgiving   and    prayer    and 
oft'erings.      While    I    offered,   before    the    General    Thanksgiving,    the 
valuable  prayer  provided  us  by  dear  Mr,  Tucker,  and  the  people  re- 
peated it  after  me,  we  longed  that  our  hearts  might  bo  truly  united  in 
its  spirit. 

"  At  five  o'clock  the  infant-school  children  went  around  the  street, 
singing  the  Jubilee  hymns,  and  the  people  were  much  delighted  and 
gave  them  presents,  which  thej'  brought  again  for  the  Jubilee  Fund. 
We  had  also  regular  evening  service. 

"  It  pleased  the  Lord,  on  the  evening  of  the  Jubilee  Day,  to  call  A  death  on 
Daniel,  our  schoolmaster  at  Neijayapoorani,  to  the  heavenly  Jubilee,  by  day.  ' 
cholera.  When  I  visited  him,  after  evening  prayers,  he  could  only 
answer  my  inquiries  by  asking  me  to  pray  for  him.  A  short  time  after 
this  he  left  us  for  his  heavenly  rest.  He  was  a  truly  devoted  Christian, 
and  has  been,  out  of  love,  administering,  during  the  last  month,  cholera 
medicine  to  fifty  people,  without  fearing  for  himself." 

There  was  one  event  of  the  Jubilee  season  which,  hke  the  death 
from  cholera  mentioned  in  this  last  extract,  reminded  the  Society's 
circle  of  what  John  Dcvasagayam  called  "  the  heavenly  Jubilee." 
Henry  Watson  Fox  died  a  fortnight  before  the  day.  He  had  lost  Another 
his  wife  at  Madras,  and  one  child  at  sea,  in  1845  ;  he  had  brought  h.^w.'fox. 
the  other  two  children  to  England,  spoken  at  the  Annvial  Meeting 
of  1846,  and  returned  to  India ;  but  after  another  year's  work,  his 
health  had  quite  failed,  and  he  reached  home  again  in  April,  1848. 
He  was  then  appointed  Assistant  Secretary,  John  Tucker  being  at 
the  same  time  appointed  Secretary  to  work  alongside  Venn.  Fox 
began  his  duties  with  gladness  and  enthusiasm,  and  entered  with 
especial  zeal  into  the  preparations  for  the  Jubilee  ;  and  it  was 
now  that  he  wrote  the  hymn  already  referred  to.  But  he  was 
not  permitted  to  share  in  the  commemoration.  He  entered  into 
rest  on  October  14th.  Forty-seven  years  after,  his  son,  Henry 
Elliott  Fox,  became  Honorary  Secretary  of  the  Society. 

It  was  in  connexion  with  Fox's  death  that  Dr.  Tait  preached  Tait's  ser- 
that  sermon  in  Eugby  School  Chapel  on  the  Jubilee  day  ;  and  ever  Rugby, 
since  then,  it  has  been  the  custom  for  a  sermon  to  be  preached  in 
the  Chapel  on  All  Saints'  Day,  with  a  collection  in  aid  of  a  fund, 
started  at  that  time  by  the  Eev.  F.  Gell  (now  Bishop  of  Madras), 
for    maintaining    a    "  Eugby-Fox    Master"    in    Eobert    Noble's  The 
College  at  Masulipatam.     Many  leading  men  have  preached  that  pof  Fund, 
sermon :    among    them    Benson  and   Temple    (afterwards   Arch- 
bishops of  Canterbury),  Goulburn  (afterwards  Dean  of  Norwich), 
Claughton  (afterwards  Bishop  of  St.  Alban's),  French  (afterwards 
Bishop  of   Lahore),   Eoyston   (afterwards  Bishop  of   Mauritius), 
Hodges  (now  Bishop  of  Travancore  and  Cochin),  Percival   (now 
Bishop  of  Hereford),  Bishop  Jaync  of  Chester,  Bishop  Parry  of 
Dover,  &c.     Among  the  missionaries  who  have  held  the  post  of 
Eugby-Fox  Master  have  been  John  Sharp  (now  Secretary  of  the 


502  The  Jubilee 

Part  V.  Bible  Society)  and  A.  W.  Poole  (afterwards  first  English  Bishop 
1841-48.  in  Japan).  About  £350  a  year  is  still  raised  for  the  Fund,  to 
Chap.  32.  ^hich,  since  1850,  no  less  than  £13,675  has  been  contributed.  • 

The  It  remains  to  notice  the  Special  Jubilee  Fund.     The  Committee 

FundT  invited  thank-offerings  for  four  definite  objects,  viz.,  (1)  the 
augmentation  of  the  Disabled  Missionaries'  Fund ;  (2)  a  Fund  to 
provide  a  Boarding  School  for  missionaries'  children  ;  (3)  a  Fund 
to  assist  infant  Native  Churches  to  raise  endowments ;  (4)  a  Fund 
for  mission  buildings.  All  these  would  relieve  the  General  Fund, 
and  enable  it  to  be  used  more  entirely  in  direct  evangelistic  work. 
The  total  amount  specially  contributed  was  £55,322  lis.  Id., 
up  to  June  30th,  1850.  A  few  small  sums  were  added  in  the  next 
year  or  two ;  and  the  accruing  interest  exceeded  £2000.  The 
List  of  Contributions  occupies  sixty  four-column  pages,  similar  to 
the  familiar  pages  in  the  Annual  Eeport.  They  came  from  all 
parts  of  the  country,  and  indeed  of  the  world,  in  large  and  small 
sums.  Bristol  sent  £1625  ;  York,  £1318  ;  Birmingham,  £1141 ; 
Bath,  £863;  Liverpool,  £766;  Manchester,  £717;  Hull,  £663. 
In  London,  £7500  was  raised,  of  which  Islington  gave  £1490,  and 
Clapham  £679.  Among  individual  churches,  St.  John's,  Bedford 
Eow,  stands  for  £484,  and  St.  George's,  Bloomsbury,  for  £425. 
These  figures,  of  course,  do  not  include  the  donations  and  collec- 
tions sent  direct  to  Salisbury  Square,  which  amounted  to  £11,300. 
There  were  two  gifts  of  £1000  each,  and  three  of  £500  each.  No 
less  than  £2647  was  remitted  from  the  mission-field,  of  which 
£1900  was  from  India.  The  Sierra  Leone  congregations  sent 
£164.  The  missionaries  in  New  Zealand  sent  as  their  personal 
contribution  £101.  But  of  all  the  benefactions,  the  one  which 
The  most  gratified  the  Society  was  £100  from  the  Queen  and  Prince 

Queen's  Albert,  paid  through  the  Windsor  Association.  It  is  in  virtue  of 
tion.      '    this  gift  that  Her  Majesty's  name  has  stood  ever  since  in  the 

Eeport  at  the  head  of  the  List  of  Life  Governors. 

Disposal  of      In  due  course  the  Committee  apportioned  the  money  as  follows : 

the  Fund.    _^^   ^j^g  Disabled  Missionaries'  Fund,  £20,000;    to  the  Native 

Churches  Endowment  Fund,  £10,000  ;  to  the  Mission  Buildings 

Fund,  £17,000.     The   remainder,  after  payment  of  about  £2000 

for  expenses  (which  may  be  said  to  have  been  covered  by  the 

interest),  was  applied  towards  the  building  of  the  new  Children's 

Home,  of  which  we  shall  hear  by-and-by.     All  proved  of  great 

service  to  the  Society.     All  was  actually  spent  within  a  few  years, 

except  the  Disabled  Missionaries'  Fund,  the  principal  of  which 

always  remains  intact,  and  now  stands  at  £49,000,  providing  some 

£1500   a   year   towards    the   expenses    on    account    of   disabled 

missionaries  and  of  widows  and  children. 

Results  of       The   financial  result  of  the  Jubilee  was   therefore  not  small. 

the  Jubilee.  -g^|.  ^^  indirect  results  were  greater.     The  Society  took  a  position 

before  the  whole  Church  which  it  had  never  attained  before.    The 

general  interest    in    Missions    was    undoubtedly  widened    and 


The  Jubilee  503 

deepened.     New  friends  and  supporters  were  secured.     Children  Part  V. 

received  impressions  into  their  young  hearts  which  fifty  more  years  1841-48. 

have  not  effaced.     God  answered  the  prayers  of  His  people,  and  ^^^P-  ^^• 
poured  out  a  blessing  which  has  lasted  to  this  day. 

H.  W.  Fox's  Jubilee  Hymn. 

I  hear  ten  thousand  voices  singing 

Their  praises  to  the  Lord  on  higli ; 
Far  distant  shores  and  hills  are  ringing 

With  anthems  of  their  nations'  joy — 
"  Praise  ye  the  Lord  !  for  Ho  has  given 

To  lands  in  darkness  hid  His  light ; 
As  morning  rays  light  up  the  heaven, 

His  Word  has  chased  away  our  night." 

On  China's  shores  I  hear  His  praises 

From  lips  that  once  kissed  idol  stones  ; 
Soon  as  His  banner  He  upraises, 

The  Spirit  moves  the  breathless  bones  — 
"  Speed,  speed  Thy  Word  o'er  land  and  ocean  ; 

The  Lord  in  triumph  has  gone  forth  : 
The  nations  hear  with  strange  emotion. 

From  East  to  West,  from  South  to  North." 

The  song  has  sounded  o'er  the  waters, 

And  India's  plains  re-echo  joy  ; 
Beneath  the  moon  sit  India's  daughters, 

Soft  singing,  as  the  wheel  they  ply — 
"  Thanks  to  Thee,  Lord  !  for  hopes  of  glory, 

For  peace  on  earth  to  us  revealed  ; 
Our  cherished  idols  fell  before  Thee, 

Thy  Spirit  has  our  pardon  sealed." 

On  Afric's  sunny  shore  glad  voices 

Wake  up  the  morn  of  Jubilee  : 
The  Negro,  once  a  slave,  rejoices. 

Who's  freed  by  Christ  is  doubly  free— 
"Sing,  brothers,  sing!  yet  many  a  nation 

Shall  hear  the  voice  of  God  and  live  : 
E'en  we  are  heralds  of  salvation  ; 

The  Word  He  gave  we'll  freely  give." 

The  sun  on  Essequibo's  river 

Shines  bright  midst  pendant  woods  and  ilowers  ; 
And  He  who  came  man  to  deliver 

Is  worshipped  in  those  leafy  bowers— 
"  O  Lord  !  once  wo  by  Satan  captured, 

Were  slaves  of  sin  and  misery  ; 
But  now  by  Tliy  sweet  love  enraptured 

We  sing  our  song  of  Jubilee." 

Fair  are  New  Zealand's  wooded  mountains, 

Deep  glens,  blue  lakes,  and  dizzy  steeps  ; 
But  sweeter  than  the  murmuring  fountains 

Rises  the  song  from  holy  lips — 
"  By  blood  did  Jesus  come  to  save  us, 

So  deeply  stained  with  brother's  blood  ; 
Our  hearts  we'll  give  to  Him  who  gave  us 

Deliverance  from  the  fiery  flood," 


504  The  Jubilee 

Part  V.  O'er  prairies  wild  the  song  is  spreading, 

1841-48.  Where  once  the  war-cry  sounded  loud  ; 

Chap.  32,  But  now  the  evening  sun  is  shedding 

His  rays  upon  a  praying  crowd — 

"Lord  of  all  worlds,  Eternal  Spirit ! 

Thy  light  upon  our  darkness  shed  ; 
For  Thy  dear  love,  for  Jesu's  merit, 
From  joyful  hearts  be  worship  paid." 

Hark  !  hark  !  a  louder  sound  is  booming 

O'er  heaven  and  earth,  o'er  land  and  sea  ; 
The  angel's  trump  proclaims  His  coming, 

Our  day  of  endless  Jubilee — 
"Hail  to  Thee,  Lord  !  Thy  people  praise  Thee, 

In  every  land  Thy  Name  we  sing ; 
On  heaven's  eternal  throne  upraise  Thee ; 

Take  Thou  Thy  power,  Thou  glorious  King."     Amen. 


END    OF   VOL.    I. 


BILBKKT   AND    KIVINGTON,    LD,,    ST.    JOHN'S    HOUSE,    CLERKENWELL,    E.C. 


Princeton  Theological  Semmary-Speer  Lit 


1    1012  01085  4190 


DATE  DUE 


H1GHS^A1TH  #45230 


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