rsity of California
ithern Regional
BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
PRINTED BY
SPOTTISWOODK AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE
LONDON
LIFE AND LETTERS
OF
EDWARD BICKERSTETH
BISHOP OF SOUTH TOKYO
BY
SAMUEL BICKERSTETH, M.A.
VIOAR OF LEWISHAM, S.E.
LONDON
SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON & COMPANY
(LIMITED)
St. IDunstan's fsousc
FETTER LANE, FLEET STREET, B.C.
1899
TO THE BELOVED FATHER
TO WHOSE PRAYERS, EXAMPLE, AND TRAINING
ALL HIS CHILDREN OWE MORE THAN WORDS CAN EXPRESS
AND WITH THE EARNEST DESIRE
THAT THE EXTENSION OF CHRIST'S KINGDOM
SO DEAR TO HIM AND TO HIS FIRST-BORN SON
MAY BE ADVANCED BY THIS RECORD
OF A MISSIONARY'S LIFE
AND WORK
2O662O2
PREFACE
To write a biography is an attempt to prolong and extend
a personal influence. After my brother's death in August
1897, a desire was expressed not only in England, but
also in Delhi and in Japan, that some authentic account
should be written of the work which he was called of God
to do, first in the East and afterwards in the Far East.
At the request of Mrs. Edward Bickersteth, my sister-
in-law, I undertook to write this biography. I had hoped
to complete the work within a year, but I could not fore-
see that the increase of population in the parish of Lewis-
ham, rapid for many years past, would have developed
during the last two years at a pace in excess of the growth
of any other part of the metropolitan area. This has
made it almost impossible to give continuous thought or
study to the Life, except during absence from home.
While it may be granted that the choice of a near
relative as a biographer has some advantages, there are
obvious dangers involved in such a selection. I cannot
say how far I have avoided them ; at least, I have tried to
do so. As a Commissary in England to my brother during
almost all his episcopate, I was necessarily familiar with
Vlii BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
his Japanese work, but I have special reason to thank those
who by the loan of letters and documents have enabled
me to deal, as fully as space allowed, with the years during
which my brother was head of the Cambridge Mission.
I am thus indebted to the present Bishop of Durham, the
Bishop Designate of Lahore (Dr. Lefroy), the Master of
Pembroke College, the Rev. S. S. Allnutt (now head of the
Cambridge Mission), the Rev. Dr. Weitbrecht, and especi-
ally to Canon Stanton, of Trinity College, Cambridge, who
has been intimately connected with the Mission from its
start and kindly allowed me to read over to him the
Chapters II. to V. As a graduate of the University of
Oxford, I have felt it a special privilege to be allowed to
write the story of this well-known Cambridge Mission.
In the early part of Chapter VI. will be found, in a letter
addressed by the Bishop to the Master of Pembroke, a terse
and vivid account of the state of Japan in 1886. But I
have purposely avoided overloading the book with facts and
figures connected with the marvellous story of Japanese
enterprise since 1868, as travellers, artists, and journalists
have already made the world familiar with this romance of
modern history, its contrast with the preceding centuries
of apathy, its encouragement to believe that what the
Japanese have already done is but the preface to the
volume of their future achievements, if once the gold of
Christianity mingles with the quicksilver of their national
temperament. To them imitation does not appear to mean
limitation, as it so often does, because they are careful also
to adapt, as well as to adopt, western ideas, reforming
PREFACE IX
them where necessary to suit their own habits of thought
and life. The late Sir Rutherford Alcock once pointed
out to me, in the course of conversation, that more than
once in their history the Japanese had shown great ability
in seizing upon new ideas, but for his part he was doubtful
as to their power ' to keep on developing ' unless Chris-
tianity added stability to the national character.
I have intentionally put together into separate chapters
information about the organisation of the Cambridge Mis-
sion, the Nippon Sei Kokwai, and Community Missions,
because happily in these days not only several English
Bishops expect their Ordination candidates to take up a
missionary subject, but also young Church people all over
the country voluntarily submit themselves to examination
in missionary knowledge. It will be convenient, I hope,
to such students to have ready to hand, and disentangled
from biographical details, information upon such missionary
methods, while for those who have time for fuller study
the intervening chapters will illustrate the way in which
the Bishop applied his principles.
I desire to take this opportunity of thanking those, and
they are many, who have sent me personal recollections of
my brother's work, which every reader will feel to be a
great addition to the value of the volume, especially the
well-known traveller, Mrs. Bishop, Colonel Gordon Young,
the Rev. F. Armine King, Warden of St. Andrew's Mis-
sion, Tokyo, the Rev. John Imai, and others, as well as
Mr. A. C. Benson for leave to reproduce some of his father's
letters.
X BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
Chiefly I have to thank my sister-in-law, not only for
putting unreservedly at my disposal all my brother's
papers and .letters, but also for helping me in every way in
her power, especially where her residence in Japan, which
I have never visited, enabled her to supply my lack of
knowledge.
Some words of my predecessor in this parish, the
present Bishop of Lichfield, to whom I had written
acquainting him with my purpose of writing my brother's
life, have often come to my mind, and supplied me with
an inspiring motive : ' Your brother's memoir will be much
more than a valuable contribution to missionary literature.
It will be an incentive to missionary zeal, and to self-
sacrificing love for the Master and for the souls He
loves.'
If it should please God to fulfil this hopeful forecast, it
will be an answer to many prayers, and a rich reward for
any labour involved in the task.
THE VICARAGE, LEWISHAM, S.E.
Festival of S. Michael and AH Angels, 1899
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTORY
PAGE
Birth at Banningham Parentage, Edward Bickersteth of Watton, ' Ed war
Henry,' of Exeter Baptism Childhood at Hampstead Schooldays
at Highgate Foreign travel Scholarship at Pembroke College,
Cambridge Degree Death of his mother and of two sisters
Selection of assistant curacy Ordination Work at West End,
Hampstead Fellowship Personal appearance Characteristics
Relationship to Church parties . . . . . . I
CHAPTER II
RETURN TO CAMBRIDGE AND CALL TO DELHI
Return to Cambridge Recollections by Rev. C. W. E. Body Desires
for missionary work, to what due ? First idea of the Cambridge
University Mission Influence of Dr. Westcott and Dr. French
Bickersteth's offer to go out to India Testimony of Professor Stanton
and Rev. S. S. Allnutt to his influence His paper on Cambridge
Mission before Cambridge Church Society The four-fold object of
the C. M. His paper in ' Mission Field ' Why Delhi was selected
Community Missions then a novelty Affiliation of Cambridge Mission
with S. P.O. Statistics of S.P.G. at Delhi Letter of Rev. R. R.
Winter Consecration of Dr. French as first Bishop of Lahore
Formation of Cambridge Committee Departure of the first two
missionaries, Edward Bickersteth and J. D. M. Murray, for Delhi . 2O
CHAPTER III
CAMBRIDGE MISSION, DELHI (THE WORK)
Arrival in Delhi Visit of Bishop (Johnson) of Calcutta First impres-
sions Teaching in St. Stephen's High School Training of Catechists
Christian hostel for boys Furlough of the Rev. R. R. Winter-
Serious illness of the Rev. J. D. M. Murray Bickersteth left alone in
charge of the mission Recollections by Mrs. Parsons His efforts to
teach the teachers Necessity for Christian masters in secular schools
Arrival of the Rev. H. C. Carlyon and Rev. J. D. Blackett
Bickersteth's views on bazaar preaching His evangelistic labours
among Kolis and Chamars His views on relative merits of Hinduism
Xli BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
and Muhammadanism and their mutual influence on India and on each
other Arrival of Rev. S. S. Allnutt and Rev. G. A. Lefroy Deci-
sion of the C.M. to prepare candidates for the Calcutta (B.A.) degree
Appeal of Bishop French and Bishop Lightfoot to Cambridge
Meeting in College Hall, Westminster Speech by Dr. Westcott The
beginning of the Higher Education Visit of Rev. E. H. Bickersteth
to Delhi Bickersteth's illness and enforced furlough Personal
Recollections by Dr. Weitbrecht ....... 47
CHAPTER IV
CAMBRIDGE MISSION, DELHI (THE LIFE)
Spiritual power dependent on devotional life Bickersteth's appreciation
of Retreats and Quiet Days His advocacy of intercessory prayer
Other plans for deepening spiritual life His vindication of ' rule ' in
prayer, and conviction that missionaries, above all men, need a regulated
devotional life Effects of the spiritual fervour of the Cambridge mis-
sion in (a) stricter discipline, (b) more definite teaching, and (c ) the spirit
of brotherliness among the members of the mission Recollections by
Rev. G. A. Lefroy By Bishop (Matthew) of Lahore By Col.
Gordon Young Address of native Christians to Bishop of Exeter on
hearing of Bickersteth's death 79
CHAPTER V
FURLOUGH FRAMLINGHAM CALL TO JAPAN
Continued ill-health Letters to Rev. G. A. Lefroy, S. S. Allnutt, H. C.
Carlyon Forced to take another year of furlough (1883-4) Depar-
ture of Rev. J. W. T. Wright and Rev. Arthur Haig for C.M.,
Delhi Permanent Relations of C.M. with S.P.G. Endeavours to
organise Zenana work into a Community Mission for women At
Cannes for the winter Letter on the unseen world Correspondence
with Allnutt and Lefroy Summer in England Again forbidden to
return to India (1884) Acceptance of. Rectory of Framlingham
Bishop'French's offer of Archdeaconry of Simla and Indian Chaplaincy
Correspondence re Headship of C.M. Refusal of Archdeaconry and
decision to return to Delhi Again forbidden to rejoin mission (March
1885) At last allowed to return (Sept. 1895) Called to Japan as
Bishop (October) His training for that post Grief at giving up
the C.M., Delhi Letters to Lefroy Consecration Departure for
the Far East . . . . . . ..... . . 109
CHAPTER VI
A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE (l886-l888)
Outward bound Journal Visit to Jesuit Missions at Shanghai ' Open :
letter to Dr. Searle on the State of Japan Landing at Nagasaki
CONTENTS Xlii
PAGE
Holy week at Osaka Important conference there Arrival at Tokyo
Meeting with Bishop Williams (American) and Bishop Nicolai
(Russian) First idea of Nippon Sei K5kwai (N.S.K.) Second
' open ' letter to Dr. Searle on St. Andrew's Mission, to be established
at Tokyo First missionary tour (Northwards) to Yezo and the Ainus,
(Westwards) to Kiushiu First- proposal for Ladies' Institute (Educa-
tional) at Tokyo Letters to his fourth brother on his beginning the
clerical life Three conferences at Osaka His first ordination in
Japan To Nagasaki again and back by Shikoku Easter (1887) in
Tokyo First local council of N.S.K. Visit to Korea with Bishop
(Scott) of North China (Sept. 29-Oct. 6) Beginning of St. Andrew's
and St. Hilda's Missions Holy Week (1888) in Tokyo and ordination
of John Imai Bishop's First Pastoral Return (May 1888) to Lambeth
Conference Five months in England Speech in St. James's Hall
His part in the Lambeth Conference Summer holidays with the
Bishop of Exeter Return with recruits to Japan (October 1888) . 149
CHAPTER VII
S.P.G. and C.M.S. Missions Bishop Bickersteth's paper on 'Variety of
Methods' (1893) Letter from Canon Tristram The Ladies' Institute
(Education) Community Missions St. Andrew's for men The
Bishop's idea in starting it Its first members Its rule of life Vows
Miss Tsuda's paper on the position of Japanese women St.
Hilda's Mission for women Exterior rule of the community The
Bishop's letters on the necessary qualifications of its members Its
special work Consecration of the chapel, with the Bishop's address
Its medical work Orphanage Recollections by Miss Thornton and
by Miss Bullock . . . . . . . '.'V "' . . 206
CHAPTER VIII
A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE (1888-93)
Landing at Tokyo (St. Andrew's Day) 1888 Statistics as to the strength
of the missions of the Church of England in Japan Christmas at
Tokyo Letters from the Inland Sea Visit to Kagoshima, his most
southernly station Travelling hard and fast, late and early Second
Lenten Pastoral (March 1889) on (i) Reunion, (2) Standards of faith,
(3) Ritual controversies at home, (4) Ecclesiastical courts in their effect
on missionary enterprise His first (English) ordination to priesthood,
Easter 1889 St. Hilda's Hospital Second Biennial Synod Scheme
for Pastor Funds Journey to Yezo (2,000 miles in 17 days) Tour in
Southern Japan Ordination of Rev. John Imai to priesthood
XIV BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
FACE
First thought of bishopric of South Japan (January 1890) Pastoral
letter to university students Third Lenten Pastoral Visit of Duke
and Duchess of Connaught And of Bishop Corfe (of Korea) -First
extempore address in Japanese Autumn journey to Western Japan
Fourth Lenten Pastoral (1891) At work on Commentaries Canon
Barnett's visit and reminiscences Third Biennial Synod and visit of
Bishop Hare (American) Letter on Prayer Book Revision Visit of
the Bishop of Exeter and party Terrific earthquake A year of
journeying (1892) Visit to Luchoo Islands First baptism of Ainus
Return to England (December 27, 1892) -via Delhi Conference
with Archbishop on Episcopal Subdivision In England February to
October 1893, with incessant travelling His marriage (September)
and return to Japan via Canada . . . . . . .254
CHAPTER IX
NIPPON SEI KOKWAI
(Holy Catholic Church of Japan)
Its intention Two defective views of a missionary's duty Archbishop
Benson on the opportunity thus offered The Bishop's sermon before
the First Synod (1887) The resolution adopted at Osaka The rela-
tion of the N.S.K. to other bodies of Christians A conference with
Protestant Nonconformists The constitution and Canons of the
N.S.K. Was its formation premature? Letter from the Bishop on
ritual points Revision of Japanese Prayer Book The principles which
underlay it Pastoral letter from the Bishops of the Anglican communions
in Japan The decision as to the Thirty-nine Articles The marriage
laws Letter of Archbishop Benson, and joint Pastoral letter on this
subject Successive synods and their work Home and foreign missions
of the N.S.K. Extension of the Episcopate Recollections by Bishop
Fyson and Bishop Evington. . . . ... . . 301
CHAPTER X
A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE (1893-97)
Success of his efforts for the increase of the episcopate in Japan Con-
secration of the Bishops of Kiushiu and of Yezo His visit and appeal
to the Church in Canada His impression of the missionary oppor-
tunities of that Church Fourth General Synod Welcome to the
newly consecrated American Bishop (McKim) Special General Synod
on Episcopal Jurisdiction His proposal to the Archbishop of Canter-
bury to form a bishopric of Osaka (June 1894) His appeal to
Canada to send a Bishop to the West Coast The war with China
and its effect on missionary inquiry His special collects for use of
soldiers Revision of Japanese Book of Common Prayer Conduct of
CONTENTS XV
PACK
the Japanese during the war The Bonin Islands Visitation of the
West Coast Eighth Lenten Pastoral (1895) First meeting of
Bishops of the Anglican Communion in Japan (June 1895) Summer
holidays in Karuizawa Summoned to England to confer about Osaka
Bishopric Return with Bishop (Awdry) of Southampton appointed as
First Bishop of Osaka A bright Easter (1896) General Synod at
Osaka Letters written while on a ' pioneer ' tour Recollections by
Miss Rankin Disastrous floods in Gifu Serious illness and final
return to England Recollections by Mrs. Bishop . . '' . . 360
CHAPTER XI
INTELLECTUAL STANDPOINT
His natural love of reading Criticism on books in his letters home r
Value of early Greek Fathers to the modern missionary References
to books which attack the faith To biographies, Manning, Pusey, &c.
His views on the Atonement On Sacrifice On the ' Lux Mundi '
school of thought On Old Testament criticism On Keswick teach-
ing On Reunion with Nonconformists On the Pope's Encyclical
On the Imperial position of the Church of England On Church Re-
form the true cure for lawlessness His defence of the Miracle of the
Resurrection in the 'Japan Mail' His teaching on private con-
fession Non-communicating attendance Fasting Communion
Some letters of spiritual counsel His ideal of the Episcopate and
efforts to reach the ideal Appreciation of his character by the Rev.
F. Armine King By Rev. John Imai By the Bishop of St.
Andrews ........... 397
CHAPTER XII
THE CALL HOME
The Bishop's death at an early age not premature Months of illness
Lambeth Conference Last earthly days The funeral at Chisledon
Reception of the news in Japan Address from Kobe Christians
Extract from the ' Japan Daily Mail ' Memorial services, with address
by Archdeacon Shaw Resolution of the Diocesan General Synod
Permanent memorials Personal letters ...... 454
APPENDICES . . . . . . . . . 475
INDEX . . . . . . . . . 493
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PHOTOGRAVURE PORTRAIT ..... Frontispiece
PEMBROKE COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE . . - . . To face p. 20
CAMBRIDGE MISSION AT DELHI . -. . . 49
BlCKERSTETH HALL, DELHI ..... 6l
GROUP OF CAMBRIDGE MISSIONARIES AT DELHI . 79
FRAMLINGHAM RECTORY t 130
ST. ANDREW'S HOUSE, TOKYO . . . ' -. - ' 224
GROUP OF CLERGY AND DIVINITY STUDENTS . 290
VIGNETTE PORTRAIT . . ... L v 300
GROUP OF THE MEMBERS OF THE SYNOD OF 1893 351
BISHOPSTOWE, TOKYO ( i 365
ST. ANDREW'S CHURCH, TOKYO v .1 w . . 368
THE BISHOP'S GRAVE AT CHISLEDON ... . ' , '. 474
MEMORIAL BRASS IN EXETER CATHEDRAL . . page 474
MAP OF JAPAN
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTORY
EDWARD BICKERSTETH, the third in direct succession
who has borne the name during this century, was the
eldest son of Edward Henry, Bishop of Exeter. He was
born June 26, 1850, 'at Banningham Rectory, Norfolk.
He sprang, however, from a family which had originally
come from the North. Nowhere do the waters gleam and
curve with greater beauty than along the winding banks of
the Inline, as it nears the little country town of Kirkby
Lonsdale in Westmoreland. The old pastoral republics
which peopled the valleys and hills in the good old days of
the Cumberland and Westmoreland estatesmen produced
many gentle in heart and soul, and wise and shrewd above
their class. Of these the Broughams, the Sedgwicks, and the
Bickersteths are examples. The Bickersteths, or Bicker-
staffes for down to the last century the name was spelt in-
differently in either way were lords of the manor of
Bickerstaffe, near Ormskirk, in Lancashire, from a period
anterior to the reign of King John, and played a not in-
considerable part in local history during the thirteenth and
fourteenth centuries, two members of the family represent-
ing the county in Parliament, Sir Ralph (who was several
times High Sheriff of Lancashire during the reign of
Edward II.) in 1313, and Henry de Bickersteth in 1339.
In 1376 the manor passed by the marriage of an heiress
to an ancestor of the present Earl of Derby, but more than
B
2 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
one branch of the family continued to reside in the neigh-
bourhood, and a second Henry de Bickersteth acquired
through his marriage with Malma, daughter and co-heir of
Gilbert de Ince (circa 1420), an estate in Aughton, the
adjoining parish to Ormskirk, which remained in the pos-
session of the family down to 1736. From this Henry
was lineally descended Thomas Bickersteth of Aughton,
whose third son James, after studying medicine under Dr.
Longworth of Ormskirk, settled as a surgeon at Burton-in-
Kendal. He was the father of Henry Bickersteth of Kirkby
Lonsdale, who as a surgeon was well known in the town,
and honoured far and near.
Henry Bickersteth married a lady named Elizabeth
Batty, of Deansbiggin, a remarkable woman, shrewd,
strict, and stately, called the Queen of Kirkby Lonsdale.
They had five sons, the eldest of whom, James, was lost
at sea ; the second, John, was a learned divine and hymn-
writer, and was the father of Robert (Bishop of Ripon,
1857-1884) and Edward (Dean of Lichfield) ; the third,
Henry, became Senior Wrangler (1808), subsequently
Master of the Rolls (1836-1851), and was called to the
Upper House as Baron Langdale. 1 The fourth was
Edward, and the fifth Robert, who having settled at
Liverpool, became one of the first medical men in the
north of England.
This fourth son, Edward Bickersteth, the father of
the present Bishop of Exeter, was the grandfather of the
subject of this memoir. He came to London on January I,
1 80 1, when only fourteen years of age, to take a clerkship at
the General Post Office. He was a youth of eager tempera-
ment, possessed of great energy of character, and had a
1 He married Lady Jane Harley, daughter of Edward, Earl of Oxford and
Mortimer, but had only one daughter, who pre-deceased him. He was offered,
but declined on the score of health, the great seal of England. '
INTRODUCTORY 3
passion for reading. His duties at the Post Office occupied
him daily from 10 to 3, but within four years we find him
offering his services to a lawyer for eight hours a day in
addition to this. These hours had to be fitted in between
6 to 10 A.M. and 3 to 1 1 P.M. In his new work he employed
himself with such success that in due time he himself became
a solicitor, a profession which he only relinquished, together
with an annual income of 8oo/., in 1815, on taking Holy
Orders. He undoubtedly bequeathed to his grandson his
love of learning, while his character and career probably
shaped the thoughts of the younger man in more ways
than can be definitely traced. For Edward Bickersteth, in
exchanging the legal profession for the ministry of God's
Word and Sacraments, had not only given up excellent
worldly prospects for the kingdom of God's sake, but knew
that he would be at once sent out on a special mission of
inquiry to Africa, the western shores of which were then
invested with peculiar terror owing to the grievous mortality
among the missionaries. He had, however, for years been
a missionary at heart, and was ordained Deacon (being then
twenty-nine years of age) on December 10, 1815, by the
Bishop of Norwich, and Priest on December 21, within eleven
days, by the Bishop of Gloucester (on Letters Dimissory).
This enabled him to proceed in full orders to Sierra Leone,
where he himself prepared the first six native converts for
the Lord's Supper, and admitted them to those Holy
Mysteries.
Subsequently, he was resident for many years at the
C.M.S. House in Salisbury Square, E.G., as one of the
secretaries of that society, and as Rector of Watton, Herts
(1830-1850), he was ' in labours abundant, in journeyings
oft' on behalf of the foreign missions of the Church. He
was called to his rest on February 28, 1850.
His only son Edward Henry (through his marriage
4 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
with Sarah, eldest daughter of Thomas Bignold, Esq., of
Norwich) was born on St. Paul's day 1825. He had five
sisters, two of whom became widely known through the
book called ' Doing and Suffering.' l After taking classical
and mathematical honours at Trinity College, Cam-
bridge, and obtaining for the first time then on record the
Chancellor's medal for English verse three years in suc-
cession, he was ordained in Norwich Cathedral in 1848
(where his father had been ordained twenty-three years
before), and appointed at once as curate-in-charge of the
small country parish of Banningham in Norfolk. He
had married the same year his cousin Rosa, daughter of
Sir Samuel Bignold, M.P. for Norwich. Their first-born
child was a daughter, the eldest of ten sisters, and the
next a son, Edward, the eldest of six brothers. He
was born at the Rectory on Wednesday, June 26, 1850.
Against this event the following extract stands in the
Bishop of Exeter's diary : ' The mercy of its being a boy,
whose birth my father anticipated with joy, and whose
blessed standard of the Gospel may God grant him one
day to uphold.'
It will be seen, therefore, that from the first day of his
earthly life the child thus welcomed was dedicated by the
piety and prayers of his own father to the work of uphold-
ing, if not of carrying into distant lands, the Cross of
Christ. For indeed the father himself had fully inherited
the ardour of the missionary spirit, and although in God's
never-failing Providence not allowed to offer himself for
1 This book recorded the correspondence between the elder sister Eliza-
beth (wife of the Rev. T. R. Birks, Professor in Moral Philosophy in the
University of Cambridge), and Fanny her younger sister, a great invalid,
and was written by their sister Mrs. Ward, afterwards the devoted godmother
of .Edward Bickersteth. Of the other sisters, one, Mrs. Durrant, is now a.
missionary ut her own charges in connection with the C.M.S. in North-
West India, and another, Mrs. Cook, is the mother of two medical mission-
aries in Uganda.
INTRODUCTORY 5
the mission field (an honour which he had in early life
once coveted), yet he became the spiritual father and
supporter of many who gladly sacrificed all for Christ's
sake and the Gospel's, and lived to send his eldest son as
his representative.
Edward was baptised by his father on Sunday, July 28,
-1850, his godfathers being one of his uncles, the Rev. T. R.
Govett, M.A., and John McGregor, Esq., better known as
' Rob Roy,' who had been a bosom friend of his father's
at Trinity College, Cambridge. 1 At the baptism the
father preached from the words, ' Of whom the whole
family in heaven and earth is named ' thinking of
his own father, then in Paradise, and of the little boy
added that day to the Church below.
In 1851 Edward Henry Bickersteth was appointed by
the philanthropist Earl of Shaftesbury, his own and his
father's friend, to the Rectory of Hinton Martell in
Dorsetshire, and while there Bishop Denison of Salisbury
visited the parish and gave his blessing to the future
missionary. In 1855, however, Mr. Bickersteth was chosen
by trustees for the Vicarage of Christ Church, Hampstead,
where he continued to reside for thirty years, until he
was selected on the nomination of Mr. Gladstone first
for the Deanery of Gloucester, and shortly after for
the Bishopric of Exeter, over which see he now presides.
The change of the parental home to the pleasant vicinity
of London (Hampstead is only four miles from Charing
Cross, and was then much less built over) solved the educa-
tional problem, as there were exceptionally good schools
in the neighbourhood.
The vicarage, built in the time of Queen Anne, was
1 It is interesting to note that another Cambridge friend and cotemporary
of his father's, also of Trinity College, the Rev. Brooke Foss Westcott, had
visited the rectory shortly before.
6 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
a roomy house, secured for Christ Church during the
vicariate of my father's predecessor, Thomas Pelham
(subsequently Bishop of Norwich), and commanded
splendid views across London from Primrose Hill to the
Crystal Palace, and on a clear day as far as to Knockholt
Beeches, near Sevenoaks ; while it had a garden which
recalled Tennyson's lines:
Not wholly in the busy world, nor quite
Beyond it, blooms the garden that I love.
News from the humming city comes to it
In sound of funeral or of marriage bells ;
And, sitting muffled in dark leaves, you hear
The windy clanging of the minster clock.
There many happy hours were spent, and a healthier
place in the neighbourhood of London could hardly have
been found.
In the autumn of 1859 Edward went to a dame's school
(Mrs. Smallwood's), situated in North End, on the farther
side of the Heath, and stayed there for two years and more.
Each morning he shared his father's early cup of coffee,
and was then accompanied by him across the Heath,
which was at that time infested by very rough characters. 1
Father and son, however, went both of them together,
and reached the school daily in summer and winter by
7 A.M., at which hour the boy's work began.
In 1862 he was sent on to Highgate School, which was
founded in 1565 by Sir Roger Cholmeley, Chief Justice
of the King's Bench, and was then under the Rev. John
Bradley Dyne, D.D. This entailed a daily walk of four
miles to and from school, in winter across the Heath and
along the high road which led through Caen woods, the
1 On three occasions the boy when returning home from Highgate School
was stopped in the fields, and once robbed of watch and chain, and another
time of money.
INTRODUCTORY 7
property of the Earl of Mansfield ; in summer by a slightly
shorter route across the fields which lay to the north side
of Traitor's Hill. The father still accompanied the son
daily, unless hindered by private or pastoral duties, de-
lighting in making him familiar with the Latin names of
birds, trees, &c., and in following all his classical studies.
Within a term or two a cousin, Edward Bickersteth Birks,
came to reside at Christ Church vicarage for several
years, 1 and the two cousins, thus thrown together, became
almost like brothers.
Edward's seven years at Highgate School were in every
sense happy, and while proving him to be keen in the
acquisition of Greek and Latin, and unusually fond of
reading, also showed tha^: he was not devoid of a healthy
interest in games. Football he never cared for, but
excelled so far in cricket as to play in the First Eleven
during his last term, obtaining that year the highest score
in the Old Cholmeleian match. 2 He was also fond o{
entomology, and collected many good specimens on the
Heath and in the Highgate woods. He was taught swim-
ming and riding, the latter accomplishment giving him a
firm seat and confidence on horseback, and being of special
use to him in after years, when he had to scour the plains
round Delhi in visiting different mission stations, or make
his way along untrodden paths in Japan. At school he
showed no aptitude for modern languages, though as a
missionary he mastered six eastern languages.
Edward Bickersteth continued at Highgate till 1869,
in which year he obtained the school exhibition and also
1 Edward B. Birks obtained the School Exhibition in 1867, also an open
scholarship at Trinity College, Cambridge, in the same year, and a Fellow-
ship in 1871. He is now Vicar of Kellington, Whitley Bridge, Yorks.
2 He never lost his interest in this game, and in his many voyages was
always 'ready to join in a deck game ; and the cry of 'Well bowled, Bishop,'
was not infrequently heard.
8 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
an open classical scholarship at Pembroke College, Cam-
bridge, thus half supporting himself while he was an
undergraduate at the University. His father wrote in his
diary : ' His scholarship crowned his patient diligence at
Highgate ; his school course has never caused an hour's
anxiety, but has called for continual praise.'
Dr. Dyne, 1 his head master at Highgate, writes thus :
Rogate, Petersfield : September 24, 1897.
(
Dear S. Bickersteth, You ask me to send you any
reminiscences I can of your brother Edward's schooldays,
or of the influence he exerted in the school. I gladly do
so as far as I can, for the whole of his school life was most
gratifying to me ; although from his living with his parents
at Hampstead, not under my roof, or in a boarding house
at Highgate, but merely coming over to school daily, I
had not the opportunity of knowing his inner life which I
had in the case of boys living under me out of school.
He was of a retiring character, loved his home, whither he
generally went when work was over ; so that, always
without reproach and happy with his school-mates, 2 and
sociable, whilst with them he did not attain that command-
ing influence amongst them which a senior eminent in.
school sports does.
He entered the school in January 1862, after the
Christmas holidays, at the bottom of the third form.
We generally printed our school list in October : and
in the list of that year I find his name at the top of
his form. This was an augury of future industry and
love of study, and I may add of doing his duty to his
parents, always a ruling principle with him. From the
third form he gradually rose through the fourth and fifth,,
always taking a high place amongst several clever con-
temporaries (E. B. Birks being one), to the foremost place
in the sixth form in 1869, when he was senior prefect,,
and left the school carrying off not only the Governors'
1 Died January 1899, when nearly ninety years of age.
- The boys of Highgate in after years collected an annual sum of money
for the Delhi Missions while Bickersteth was connected with the Cambridge
Mission. On his consecration as Bishop his old school-fellows at Highgate
presented him with a pastoral staff, still in use in the diocese.
INTRODUCTORY 9
gold medal for Latin verse, but the first exhibition to the
university, the Burdett Coutts prize for mathematics, the
first prize for Divinity, and several others.
At one time several boys walked over from Hamp-
stead with him to school, and I always spoke with praise
of the punctuality of my Hampstead contingent led by him
. . . Pray excuse this rambling letter from one many years
past the allotted life of man but thankful to have been
so long spared.
Yours sincerely,
J. B. DYNE.
Edward's summer holidays were spent as a rule under
the roof of his grandfather, Sir Samuel Bignold, who
resided at Norwich, but who had also a seaside home at
Lowestoft. Twice the Lake district was visited while
staying at the house of his aunt (Mrs. Robert Bickersteth)
at Casterton Hall near the old home at Kirkby Lonsdale,
and once in 1867 he had a delightful tour in Norway
and Sweden with his father, during which they took an
extended tour up the Fiords, journeying over 2,000 miles.
On that occasion he became familiar with the great Uni-
versity at Christiania, where they were the guests of Pro-
fessor Voss, and with which in after years (1886) he
compared the modern University of Tokyo.
It will thus be seen that his boyhood and early youth
offered no striking features worthy of notice, but were
essentially ' home-spun,' to use a favourite expression of
his father's, and redolent of the simple joys so beauti-
fully described by John Keble, himself brought up in a
clerical home.
Sweet is the smile of home, the mutual look
Where hearts are of each other sure,
Sweet all the joys that crown the household nook,
The haunt of all affections pure.
At the same time proximity to London, with occasional
visits to St. Paul's, to Westminster Abbey, to the Royal
10 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
Academy, and to the House of Commons l (in the pro-
ceedings of which throughout his life Edward Bickersteth
took an unflagging interest), prevented any stagnation of
mind. His father's varied circle of interests parochial,
ecclesiastical, literary widened his horizon. These early
years make a reposeful background on which the eye lingers
fondly, when it is contrasted with the far distant scenes in
which the boy, thus trained, was to spend his strenuous
life.
Spiritually, he was from his earliest years devout. It
seems in keeping with his subsequent well-balanced judg-
ment and sagacity that he never passed through any
violent epoch of conversion, but ' grew on before the Lord.'
As early as December 1856, among his father's memo-
randa occurs this note, ' I trust prayer is a real tJiing with
our boy.' He was then six and a half years old. In his
fifteenth year (March 1865) he was confirmed at Hamp-
stead Parish Church by the Bishop (Tait) of London.
His father, who himself prepared him for confirmation,
was engaged at that time with his poem ' Yesterday, To-
day, and For Ever,' in which the son took intelligent
interest and delight. Then, as throughout life, he seemed
to have a shrinking from coarse expressions and evil ways,
and was never entangled in those moral difficulties which
threaten the soul with shipwreck.
In 1857 and again in 1863, God gathered from the
home two little ones, Constance and Eva Mabel, but no
desolating bereavements swept over it till Edward's
Cambridge career was nearly over.
Among the younger members of the family the
' Brother,' as he was often called, being at one time the
only son among five daughters, won himself an unques-
1 He was present at the great debate in the House of Lords on the
Disestablishment of the Irish Church.
INTRODUCTORY 1 1
tioned place in their estimation, while in after years the
youngest ones looked up to him not without awe, though
with much affection. He stood godfather to his sister Effie
on her baptism in 1867, and greatly valued that relation-
ship.
In the summer of 1869 he spent six weeks travelling
through Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, and France, in
company with his father and mother and three of the elder
sisters, and in the autumn of that year he went into
residence at Pembroke College, Cambridge, as a scholar.
It was then a small college, but had already begun to
expand under the inspiring organisation of the Rev. C. E.
Searle. During his time as tutor, and since 1 880 as Master,
it has been partially rebuilt and has doubled its size.
Between the scholar and the tutor a friendship of no
ordinary tenderness and tenacity sprang up, and through-
out his life Edward Bickersteth could always rely on the
confidence of Dr. Searle in his different missionary under-
takings.
In the autumn of 1870 he accompanied his father
for a tour of some weeks in America. The father will
never forget his son's ' exquisite delight ' on first hearing
of the plan. He was always an excellent traveller.
Among his contemporaries and friends at Cambridge
may be mentioned C. W. E. Body, W. Lawson, Heriz
Smith, A. F. Kirkpatrick, V. H. Stanton, C. H. Prior,
A. J. Mason, A. W. Verrall, G. H. Rendall, with some of
whom he went upon a reading party in the Isle of Wight
(1871) under the guidance of his cousin, Professor Joseph
Mayor.
Edward Bickersteth went up to the university set on
obtaining a good degree, and determined to take
advantage to the fullest extent of the intellectual oppor-
tunities there abundantly opened to him. From the
12 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
first he and two friends read with a view to obtaining
Fellowships, and consequently his failure to obtain a first-
class in the Classical Tripos (February 1873) was at the
time a bitter disappointment to him, probably one of the
keenest trials of his life. 1
In April of that year he visited Rome with his cousin
Edward Birks and an old school friend Dorsay Cremer 2
and made a tour in Italy, which in after years he was able
twice to revisit. Few travellers were more untiring than
he in absorbing all that the magnetic influence of historical
sights and scenes is able to impart.
On his return he was anxious to take Holy Orders at
once, saying that enough money had been spent on him,
but yielded without delay to the earnestly expressed
wishes of his parents that he should continue at Cam-
bridge and read for the Theological Tripos. The college
offered to extend his scholarship for another year, and the
following spring he was rewarded by being placed with
two others in the first class, obtaining also the Scholefield
and Evans prizes, so that in the spring of 1875 he was
elected to a fellowship at Pembroke College. But his
mother was not spared on earth to share in the joy of
these successes. On August 2, 1.873, while staying at
Cromer in Norfolk, she had been suddenly called to enter
nto her rest. It would not be easy to reproduce in words
the perfect sympathy which had always bound together
the mother and son, or to bring out how great a depriva-
tion to him was the loss of her discriminating judg-
ment and devoted love, for which he had never looked in
vain. The death of the mother had followed upon the
' home call ' 3 of his sister Alice Frances, eleven months
1 He was bracketed seventh in the second class.
2 Now Vicar of Eccles.
3 She was aged 19, and inherited her father's gift of song ; see ' The
Master's Home Call,' by the Bishop of Exeter (Sampson Low & Co.).
INTRODUCTORY 13
previously (September 16, 1872), and of the youngest
sister Irene (November 12, 1872).
There had always been the strongest affection between
Edward and Alice, and it is also remembered with what
poignant sorrow Edward grieved over the sudden death of
Irene. Thus death had entered into the vicarage three
times in twelve months, and although by the clear insight
of my father's strong faith we had been taught that those
in Paradise were the living ones, those on earth the dying
ones, yet the earthly home could never be the same again.
Edward never destroyed one of his mother's letters,
which unfailingly reached him two or three times a week
during his undergraduate life ; but they do not offer
material for quotation, being full of the home interests of
a large family, in which then, as afterwards in India and
Japan, he never failed to keep up an unbroken interest,
and in which he expected to be most fully posted up.
An exception may be made in the following three letters,
considering the intimate influence which the two men
therein mentioned were to have on his life.
On November 12, 1871, his mother wrote : 'How kind
Mr. Westcott seems to be to you and your companions.
I am sure his teaching must be very valuable.' Or again :
< It is interesting to us that you should be enjoying Pro-
fessor Westcott's lectures, when twenty-five years ago he
and your father were together.' Such allusions are fre-
quent, while on November 28, 1871, she wrote :' Father
and I, with Lily, went to St. Pancras yesterday and heard
a most wonderful preacher of the same class as Mr. Body.
It was Mr. Wilkinson, 1 and he certainly gave a wonderful
sermon. I never saw anyone, perhaps, who seemed so
vividly to realize eternal things while speaking. It was a
very great help.' While with regard to his first curacy,
' Now Bishop of St. Andrews.
14 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
which had been already under discussion, she wrote
(May 17, 1872): 'Did father tell you that he lunched
with Mr. Thorold one day this week to give him
American information, as he is hoping to go there this
summer, and Mr. Thorold still so wishes to have you
for his curate ? I do feel it would be a great privilege
to you to work under such a man, and your position in
every way would be a good one. It makes my heart so
happy to think of you in the ministry, telling of the
Saviour's love to perishing souls, and I often and often
commit it in prayer to our gracious Father, my dear boy.
Father has said sometimes that he thought if he could see
you preaching the gospel he could say from his heart,
" Lord, now lettest thou Thy servant depart in peace ;" but if
He spares us to see you established in the ministry, and
your work blessed of God, it would be indeed a blessing.'
These words were written within three months of her death.
Mr. Thorold ' was an old friend of Edward Bicker-
steth's father, and godfather to his son Hugh. He
had been persuaded by him to leave Westmoreland for
work in London, and a curacy under him would have
been congenial work and valuable experience. But his
mother's death made Edward wish to reside as near as
possible to the old home, so that eventually he accepted
the offer of a title from a neighbour of his father's, whose
parish all but adjoined that of Christ Church, Hampstead.
He was ordained deacon at St. Paul's Cathedral by
Bishop Jackson of London, being first among the candi-
dates, on the fourth Sunday in Advent, 1873.
The recently formed parish of Holy Trinity to which
he was licensed was administered by the Vicar (the Rev.
Henry Sharpe) on more extreme Evangelical lines than
his new curate felt in sympathy with, so it turned out
1 Afterwards Bishop of Rochester, and then of Winchester.
INTRODUCTORY 15
happily that the little hamlet of West End (now a large
suburb) was intrusted to his care. There within two
years he succeeded, with the help of many of his father's
friends, in building an excellent mission church of brick,
which has now become a centre for a new ecclesiastical
district. This his first scene of ministerial labours never
ceased to be regularly remembered by him in intercession
up to the end of his episcopate.
On December 20, 1874, m tne same place, and by the
same Bishop of London who had set him apart for the
diaconate, Edward Bickersteth was advanced to the
priesthood. His father wrote in his journal : ' This day
my beloved Edward was ordained Priest. His diaconate
has been full of promise, and full of realised blessing, a
wise tact in dealing with many minds, and a constraining
desire to preach Christ, a full Christ, to his flock. And
this while pressed with many literary works the Theo-
logical Tripos examination, in which he came out first
writing for the Hulsean, trying for the Carus, and prepar-
ing for the examination of priest. But now his preparation
work is over, and he is fully on his ministerial way. The
Lord grant that, abiding in Jesus Christ, he may bring forth
much fruit, and win many jewels for the crown he will cast
at the feet of his Lord. His dear mother's image has
seemed so present the last two days. Surely through
Jesus she knows all.'
It was during these years (1873-5) that Bickersteth
greatly enjoyed the friendship of Mrs. Charles, one of his
father's oldest friends resident at Hampstead. The gifted
authoress of 'The chronicles of the Schonberg Cotta Family'
was, as all who knew her will admit, most stimulating as a
conversationalist, and very sympathetic in her power of
appreciating the intellectual workings and spiritual aspira-
tions of younger minds. He also regularly attended the
1 6 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
conference of the London Junior Clerical Society, of which
he was one of the first members. This society used to meet
at a Lecture Room in King's College, London, and among
its members at that time were the Rev. H. J. Mathew
(late Bishop of Lahore), the Rev. John Oakley (late Dean
of Manchester), the Rev. Brook Deedes (now Rector of
Hawkhurst and sometime Archdeacon of Lahore), the Rev.
A. J. Worlledge (now Chancellor of Truro), the Rev. J. W.
Horsley (Vicar of St. Peter's, Walworth), and others. The
Rev. Charles Kingsley, the Rev. Alfred Barry (afterwards
Bishop of Sydney), and the Rev. W. D. Maclagan (now
Archbishop of York), used to attend the meetings from
time to time and address the members. In all such intel-
lectual discussions Edward Bickersteth took a thoughtful
part.
In appearance he was tall, being just over six feet
in height, always very thin, with grey eyes and some-
what marked features, his chin being unusually long.
His voice, though not powerful nor remarkable for its
musical cadences, carried well, and seldom if ever failed
him. His forehead was of noble proportions and marked
him out as a man of thought. His eyes shone with keen
intelligence, and a smile of singular sweetness lit up his
whole face, and revealed as in a moment the man himself.
All his movements were quick, and he walked always at a
great pace.
Although a poet's son, Edward Bickersteth was never
himself a poet, nor was his expression of ' thought much
tinged by emotion.' In writing he aimed rather at lucidity
of style than at rhetorical effect, and he set more store on
introducing an historical precedent than a glowing simile.
From his father he inherited his strong will and great
tenacity of purpose, coupled with a gentleness of bear-
ing and a singular gift of patient waiting upon God;
INTRODUCTORY \J
while from his mother he derived a marked tenderness, a
cautious sagacity in judgment, the reticence of reserve,
as well as a disinclination to self-advertisement. Like all
highly strung natures, he could be deeply stirred, but by
God's grace he learnt to curb his impatience, so that the
peacefulness, seldom broken in upon in later life, carried
with it a note of victory. These characteristics, disciplined
and matured by experience, developed in him not only
a vocation of leadership, but also made that leadership
eagerly looked for by friends and acquiesced in even by
those who differed from him.
To the fact that he was born and bred among the
Evangelicals may be attributed his early sense of the
seriousness of life, of the necessity for personal religion, of
the reality of divine mercy and judgment, and of the con-
straining force latent in the words ' For Christ's sake.'
This spiritual birthright he never lightly esteemed, and
never forfeited by a rash exchange into a wholly opposite
school of thought ; but his natural disposition, his love of
learning and of precision of thought, his appreciation of first
principles and of historical precedents, and his balanced
judgment made it certain that fuller sacramental teach-
ing when presented to him would find a ready response
and satisfy the deeper instincts of his nature. Moreover
in God's providence he went up to the University two
years before the Cambridge School of Divinity received
its most powerful recruit in the person of Dr. Westcott
(called in 1871 to be Regius Professor of Divinity), and
the influence of his Alma Mater, interpreted for him by
Lightfoot, Westcott, and others, completed his mental and
spiritual evolution, more especially after his return to the
University to reside as a Fellow.
But there is no doubt that his early training enabled
him to see from the inside the aspirations and methods
c
1 8 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
of truly spiritually minded men, both clergy and laity,
belonging to the Evangelical school of thought. The re-
membrance of this experience was of special use to him
when called upon to supervise the work of strongly
Evangelical missionaries in Japan. Many years later
writing in Japan from a mission station where he was stay-
ing, he expressed himself thus in a letter to his wife :
These are people from whom I feel one may learn
much. Their hearts are really in their work, and they
pursue it simply and loyally for Christ's sake. Of course
I do feel a great lack of church privileges and of the sense
of need of them. They would be stronger and better if
they would only superadd them to what they have. But
their lives seem otherwise set. Their very reading is in
the main of a dissenting order, and their thoughts get that
tinge. Still, with it all there is a personal love of our Lord
and a loyalty to Him which makes their work not what
it might be, but still very valuable and with a beauty of
its own. God give us increasingly what they have, as well
as all the truths of the other order which complement it.
Again :
These dear people live as if no great movement had
ever passed over the English Church with all its teachings
fifty years ago, (indeed, almost as if the Church were
not, in many of its aspects and directions), though un-
consciously they are much the better for its influence.
But I had even to remind them it was Lady Day. Would
that they could learn to add the idea of the sv arwp.a and
all it means to that of the iz>
1 In 1892 Archbishop Benson, speaking at a meeting in
St. James's Hall on behalf of the Society for Promoting
1 Speaking at the I95th Anniversary of that Society, Archbishop Benson
said : ' We talk familiarly about people being ' ' High Church " people, or
" Low Church " people, or " Broad Church" people ; but there is an un-
occupied word which I want to come, if not into our lips, at least into our
minds, and hearts, and lives. It is the word " Deep." What I want is
" Deep Church " for all ; Deep Church that can be produced only by Christian
knowledge and by the " principles" of Christian knowledge.'
INTRODUCTORY ip
Christian Knowledge, pointed out that in the nomenclature
of Church parties one word had been left unemployed, and
pleaded in favour of 'Deep Churchmen,' as distinct from
High, Low, or Broad, while embracing many character-
istics of all the three. It would be presumptuous to imply
that Edward Bickersteth realised that description, it is
quite certain that it expressed his ideal.
c 2
20 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
CHAPTER II
RETURN TO CAMBRIDGE AND CALL TO DELHI
' The very fact of their having received the training and education of one
University will be a bond of sympathy between the missionaries of no ordinary
strength. Our English Universities have a character and tradition of their own,
which are impressed by a thousand subtle and indefinable influences on those
who pass through them, and will naturally engender unity of feeling and
similarity in modes of thought. We refuse to regard the consideration of such
influences and associations as merely sentimental rather we believe that they
should be carefully taken account of, and consecrated by combined action in
the service of Christ.' Rev. EDWARD BICKERSTETH, t'u the ' Mission Field?
March 1877.
IN May 1875 Edward Bickersteth returned to Cambridge,
having been elected to a Fellowship at Pembroke College,
on which foundation he had already held a scholarship.
Those were the days before the last University Commis-
sion had reorganised the conditions on which Fellowships
are held, and there was no rule of compulsory residence at
the University, nor indeed any rule attached to the tenure
except that a Fellow could not be married.
As a matter of fact, Bickersteth retained his Fellow-
ship for eighteen years, the larger part of which time he
was absent from England either in India or Japan, and
only for the first two years took his full share in lecturing
and other collegiate duties. He always held that if
Fellowships were ever to be allotted to specific objects,
it was not unreasonable that one should be held by a
missionary. He maintained that the Christian sons of
an ancient University were responsible not only for the
RETURN TO CAMBRIDGE AND CALL TO DELHI 21
confirmation of the faith, but also for its propagation.
He had reason to believe that his brother Fellows, or many
of them, the tutor especially, took his view, and approved
of one of the governing body being thus employed on
foreign service ; and there can be no doubt that the news
from the front which Bickersteth from time to time sent
home, and his letters from Japan addressed to the Master
of Pembroke on some important new departure in his
-work, not only excited interest in the college itself, but
were widely read in other colleges as well. He did not
retain rooms in college after he left Delhi, but his sermons
.in chapel and occasional lectures during his enforced and
prolonged absence from India, or on his brief visits from
Japan, brought home to many younger men their own
share of responsibility for imparting as well as for retain-
ing the faith. Certain it is that Pembroke College never
failed to have a place in his intercessions, and if the
mission to Delhi gained greatly in prestige through its
first leader being on the governing body of a college, the
college itself lost nothing by sharing some of its material
resources with the East, and by giving one of its sons for
this work of the Lord.
The following recollections, contributed by the Rev.
C. W. E. Body, D.D., Professor at the Theological College,
New York, and formerly Provost of Trinity College,
Toronto, give a contemporary picture of Edward Bicker-
.steth's college life.
Amongst my most valued recollections of happy Cam-
bridge days are those of a little group of younger Fellows
and graduates who were accustomed to meet two or three
times a week at the lectures of Dr. Westcott, then Regius
Professor of Divinity, or at the meetings of the University
Church Society, a society founded largely at Dr. West-
cott's suggestion. Under the influence of the deeply
spiritual teaching with which we were thus constantly
22 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
surrounded we were drawn together in bonds of mutual
sympathy and affection of a somewhat unusual kind.
Coming from various colleges, with every variety of
temperament and standpoint, we felt ourselves united in a
living harmony of developing faith. Such intercourse and
fellowship I shall always look upon as among the most
precious formative influences of my life. Among these
friends Edward Bickersteth occupied a foremost place.
He possessed a remarkable combination of qualities
not often given to any one man ; on the one side one was
instinctively drawn to him by his affectionate nature, with
all its delicacy of consideration and sympathy, whilst very
soon one felt oneself to be in the presence of a singularly
resolute will informed by a well balanced conscience, and
even masterful in its grip and influence.
Strength and tenderness were blended in him in
singular beauty, and to the last the attractiveness of the
combination was felt by all who knew him well. A slight
lisp in speech, and that half-suppressed laugh which
seemed to flow instinctively from his buoyant nature, might
have seemed in others a defect or an affectation ; to
Bickersteth's transparently genuine nature these were soon
felt to give an additional charm.
The Monday evening class on the Epistle of St. John,
as well as the more formal professorial lectures on the
Introduction to Christian Doctrine in the quaint old
Divinity Schools, in which from many sides we were led
up to the fulness of the Christian faith, were to him an
unfailing source of ever fresh delight. I can still re-
member the joyous enthusiasm with which in our afternoon
walks he would discuss some wider thought thus opened
up to him. His buoyancy and depth of faith gave a special
kind of inspiration to his society, marking him out as a
future leader in the world of men.
Hence when his name was announced as the head of
the new University Mission to North India his friends
recognised a special appropriateness in the selection.
How memorable was that service on Sunday evening
in St. Giles's Church, at which Dr. Lightfoot, with even
more than his usual forcefulness and sympathy, gave the
farewell address, 1 and the Bishop of Ely (Dr. Woodford)
1 As a matter of fact, this sermon was preached a year before the Cam-
bridge Missionaries started, and was entitled, 'The Father of Missionaries.'
For some quotations from it see p. 42.
RETURN TO CAMBRIDGE AND CALL TO DELHI 23
sent forth the first two University missionaries (Bickersteth
and a dear personal friend, the Rev. J. D. Murray, Scholar
of St. John's College) to North India.
We felt that it was a representative offering which was
then made. We were sending out in faith and hope that
which seemed most distinctly characteristic of the best
Cambridge life of our day. This conviction was only
deepened by subsequent events. Through all the neces-
sary difficulties of the inception of such a work, in the
delicate task of remodelling an established S.P.G. Mission
to adapt it to the special type of university brotherhood
and educational work we had set before ourselves, Bicker-
steth's affectionate tact and unswerving loyalty to his own
ideals were alike everywhere felt ; of all this, however,
others will speak with far more intimate knowledge than I
possess. Two or three years after Bickersteth's departure
to Delhi I was called to work at Trinity College, Toronto.
When we were again brought into close contact Bickersteth
was Bishop in Japan, and we were endeavouring to send
out from Trinity a Canadian mission on something like
the old Cambridge lines. As he spoke in our Convo-
cation Hall for this mission the same spiritual attractive-
ness and impelling force of statesmanlike conviction were
as strongly marked as ever. There was nothing limited
or negative about his nature all was positive to the
highest degree, positive to the point of a bold insistence
as he depicted our opportunity and responsibilities. To
his encouragement and zeal whatever success has attended
the mission is largely due.
The same qualities were conspicuous in his earnest
desire that the Church of Canada should send out a Bishop
of its own to assume in its name chief oversight over a
large district in Japan in which the Canadian missions
were situated. He had little sympathy with that point of
view which, contrary to all apostolic precedent, assumed
that a young National Church should first prove itself
perfectly able to bear alone all its own internal burdens
before it ventures forth, in obedience to our Lord's com-
mand, to plant the faith in the regions beyond.
Although at the last meeting of the Canadian General
Synod the proposal of the Japanese Bishops was felt to
be at that time impracticable, one may confidently hope
that the day is not far distant when those greatly to be
24 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
regretted obstacles will be removed, and Bishop Bicker-
steth's desire is, by God's mercy, carried to a successful
realisation.
In what so unexpectedly proved to be his last illness
I was privileged to be with him once in New York on his
way to England, and subsequently in London. The same
heroic discontent with present results and glad pressing
forward to new activities remained with him to the last ;
that in some sense almost unique combination of faith and
hope and love which it was permitted him to embody and
to leave as an abiding legacy to the Church he so dearly
loved.
But when Bickersteth returned to Cambridge, had he
then definitely before his mind the idea of offering himself
for mission work abroad ? There had been various pre-
disposing influences at work for many years, leading him
to ' look at the fields ' white for the harvest. At Christ
Church Vicarage, Hampstead, he met many missionaries,
and his father remembers in particular the deep impres-
sion left on his son's mind after a missionary meeting
addressed by the Rev. Robert Clark (of the Punjab) and
the Rev. J. Welland, two missionaries of the Church Mis-
sionary Society.
He had never thought of offering himself either to the
S.P.G. or C.M.S., so far as is known at the time he returned
to Cambridge. His election, however, to a Fellowship
after he had experienced two years and more of pastoral
work in England placed him in a position in which he was
bound to look at his life from a new standpoint. What
was to be his future ? At home or abroad ? And if the
latter, how could he work in and bring to bear most fruit-
fully the academic resources and advantages now open to
him ? I remember well his expressions of surprise and
regret when it was pointed out (I think in some periodical)
how few University graduates, and how much fewer honours
men, had followed the lead which Henry Martyn had
RETURN TO CAMBRIDGE AND CALL TO DELHI 25
given to his University. 1 Whatever occupied Edward
Bickersteth's mind he was sure to pray about. It is not,
therefore, strange that he who had already listened to two
out of the three most memorable commands ever uttered
by our Lord ' Look at the fields ' and ' Pray the Lord
of the harvest ' soon heard with increasing clearness
the complementary words, ' Go and make disciples of
the nations.' He had taken stock of the facts, descried
the paucity of the labourers, and in his perplexity had
turned to pray ; so in due order he was led to obey the
third command, not by securing a deputy in lieu of per-
sonal service, but by offering himself. This seems to be
a sufficient explanation of his desire for missionary work,
and of his decision to go. What led to the realisation of
his hope, and to the formation of the Cambridge Mission
must now be told.
The entry occurs in his father's diary, July 25, 1875 :
My beloved son's election to a Fellowship in May was
indeed a signal mercy as crowning his long work of
patient study, and now he has opened up to me a thought
which has long been in his mind of trying to organise a
band of missionary labourers in Cambridge, and himself
going forth with them to India after a while. I feel that
it is the greatest gift I could give to the missionary cause,
for I had often counted on Edward being the stay of my
declining years, and the stay of his brothers and sisters ;
and if once he is called to missionary work, though he
may come home from time to time, he will not look back,
having put his hand to the plough.
The father's insight into the tenacity of his son's purpose
proved true, but his foresight could not tell that the work
begun in India and then checked through disease would be
1 See Mr. Eugene Stock's ' History of the Church Missionary Society '
vol. ii. ch. 36, for an interesting account of ' Some recruits from the Uni-
versities.'
26 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
continued in Japan, and ended so far as earth's activities
are concerned at the comparatively early age of 47.
There can be no doubt that the Cambridge Mission,
the first Community Mission sent out by any University in
modern times, is greatly indebted in its inception to the
influence of two distinguished men the Rev. T. V. French,
sometime Fellow of University College, Oxford, and
the Rev. Professor B. F. Westcott, formerly Fellow of
Trinity College, Cambridge, who were each in the Provi-
dence of God recalled to reside at their respective
Universities early in the seventies. Mr. French, as Rector
of St. Ebbe's in Oxford, and Dr. Westcott, as Regius
Professor at Cambridge, were both deeply impressed with
the needs of India and with the special aptitude of the
Universities, ' by the happy discipline through which they
combine reverence with freedom and enthusiasm with
patience,' to meet those needs. The one had formed his
opinions through his own prolonged experience as a
missionary in Northern India, especially as Principal of the
Lahore Divinity School ; the other had arrived at the same
conclusions by independent thought and study, but both
alike felt that ' the Universities are providentially fitted to
train men who shall interpret the faith of the West to the
East, and bring back to us new illustrations of the one
infinite and eternal Gospel.' They inculcated their views
on all who came under their influence, and Edward Bicker-
steth, as it so happened, was naturally brought into touch
with both. Mr. French had served with his father (the
Rev. E. H. Bickersteth) at Christ Church, Hampstead,
during a few months in 1863, and their common love for
missionary enterprise had cemented so fast a friendship
between the two men that Mr. French always revisited
Hampstead when he returned to England. Professor
Westcott, born in the same year and the same month as
RETURN TO CAMBRIDGE AND CALL TO DELHI 2/
Mr. Bickersteth of Hampstead, had first met him when they
were both undergraduates at Trinity College, Cambridge,
from which time dated a friendship destined to be lifelong.
Edward, who had been himself accustomed to hear fre-
quently from his father's lips the wise counsel, ' Thine own
friend, and thy father's friend, forsake not,' cannot have been
uninfluenced by Mr. French's missionary ardour during
his visits to Hampstead, and when in due course he
himself had gone up to Cambridge he was not slow to
claim an introduction to Professor Westcott on the score
of being his father's son.
In this way it may safely be asserted that the younger
man was gradually put on terms of easy friendship with
these two master minds, and was therefore the more ready to
receive the contagious influence of their teaching and their
ideals. But we are not left to weave together conjectures
on this point. Professor V. H. Stanton, his contemporary
and close friend, writing in the ' Cambridge Review '
(October 14, 1897), has recorded that Edward Bickersteth
had himself stated that a letter of Mr. French's to him in
1875 suggested the first idea of a Cambridge Brotherhood
to his mind. The paper read by Mr. French on the in-
vitation of Edward Bickersteth before the Cambridge
Missionary Aid Society, February 16, 1876, on the pro-
posed Cambridge University Mission in North India is
unquestionably the result of much previous correspondence
between the two men. It may be here noted that
Bickersteth himself had read a paper on February 9, 1876
(the week previous to Mr. French's visit), before the Cam-
bridge Church Society on the same subject.
While, therefore, fully acknowledging all the indebted-
ness of the Cambridge Mission to these two leaders for their
large share in the first suggestion and direction of the move-
ment, there can be no doubt that the Rev. S. S. Allnutt
28 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
(the present head of the Cambridge Mission) was justified in
writing, in the 'Delhi Mission News' (October 1897) : ' It
is certain that to the energy, enterprise, and devotion of
Edward Bickersteth it was due that the idea of a Uni-
versity Mission did not remain a splendid dream, but was
so speedily translated into actual concrete form and em-
bodiment. How well I remember the walks during which
he unfolded to me the main principles on which it was
proposed to start a missionary Brotherhood, and the role
it was to seek to accomplish. The subject had taken
entire possession of him, and to his contagious enthusiasm
was due the fact that with only one exception the band of
men who with himself composed the original staff of the
Brotherhood were won by his own personal influence.
This alone testifies to the force of character as well as the
consuming zeal that marked the man then as afterwards
throughout his career.'
Professor Stanton, in the paper already quoted, writes
to the same effect, ' that Edward Bickersteth made the
general idea which he derived from his teachers thoroughly
his own, conceived with the definiteness and force that
were necessary in order that the project should succeed,
how the life and work of such a body of missionaries
should be organised, saw from his own study of foreign
missions what the defects of ordinary methods were which
needed to be remedied, and was the first to point out fully
what the secrets of strength of missionary work conducted
by a community would be. He stated with perfect
clearness the advantages of the proposed plan precisely
as they are to this day insisted on by those who have had
experience of their working. And it should be remem-
bered that there was not then any mission, even belonging
to a religious order, which could serve as an example,
certainly none which would naturally occur to the mind.'
RETURN TO CAMBRIDGE AND CALL TO DELHI 29
But this point can be best cleared up by the words of the
present Bishop of Durham (Dr. Westcott). Writing to me
on October 8, 1897, from Auckland Castle he says : ' No-
thing, as you know, gave me greater joy in my 'Cambridge
work than the foundation of the Delhi Mission, and your
brother was made to embody the ideas which it represents.'
What, then, were the advantages which Edward
Bickersteth hoped for from the establishment of a
University Mission ? In his paper read before the Cam-
bridge Church Society he sums them up under four heads :
I. Concentration of effort on a particular city or small
district.
II. Continuity in work done, involving the possibility
of subdivision of labour in (a) controversial, (^) literary
undertakings.
III. (And on this he desired to lay special stress).
Opportunity afforded for united religious exercises and
services, and
IV. The connection of the mission with Cambridge,
securing a supply of men, as well as substantial aid by
research carried on at home in libraries and colleges, and
thus enabling the University to perform one of her most
sacred duties.
It is suggestive that in this his first statement he fore-
casts the time when ' the whole would be handed over to
Indian teachers and the Indian Church,' thus incidentally
showing how early rooted in his mind was the value of the
principle of autonomy which in after years, by the Provi-
dence of God, he was to be the main instrument for
securing to Japan, by the organisation of the Nippon
Sei Kokwai (the Holy Catholic Church of Japan).
He impressed the spirit of brotherhood on the whole
scheme by the choice of the three words which he placed
at the head of his paper :
crvvspyoi, <7Vfnro\irai,
fellow soldiers fellow workers fellow citizens
30 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
In drawing up the memorandum circulated in Cambridge
in June 1876, Bickersteth elaborated with greater detail the
aims with which the Cambridge Mission was begun. He
wrote that ' the many resident members of the University
who felt that Cambridge ought to be connected with a
characteristic missionary work believed that the present
needs of India pointed towards fresh efforts in the direction
of education, especially the education of native Christians,
a work which would naturally belong to the province of
an English University. This belief had taken shape in
the original resolution that
The special object of the mission be, in addition to
evangelistic labour, to afford means for the higher educa-
tion of young native Christians, to offer the advantages of
a Christian home to students sent from mission schools to
the Government College, and through literary and other
labours to reach the more thoughtful heathen.
In further explanation of this resolution he wrote in the
' Mission Field,' 1 March 1877 :
The direct work of preaching and evangelisation needs
no comment. . . . All recognise the importance of training
a native pastorate. Such a work could only be under-
taken by the Cambridge Mission in years to come. It
demands a full mastery of the language, and an ac-
quaintance with the customs and habits of the people
and their characteristic modes of thought. The value
of controversial literature as a means of reaching the
more thoughtful has long been appreciated. A more
pressing need is the supply of doctrinal and devotional
books for the native Church. A University mission will
naturally attempt something in this direction. An over-
burdened missionary, who bears alone the manifold cares
of a whole station, has but little time for such labours.
1 It is a strange coincidence that the very next article in this issue of the
Mission Field deals with the progress of missions in Japan, and also that
Mr. Bickersteth, in the opening sentence of his own article, cited India and
Japan as two countries which illustrated the greatly changed character of
missionary work since Gregory sent Augustine to Kent.
RETURN TO CAMBRIDGE AND CALL TO DELHI 31
The education of young native Christians is an important
part of the machinery of the native Church, which has as
yet received comparatively little attention in India. . . .
The only other object specified is a Home of Christian
Students at the Government College. At Delhi there is no
Christian College, as at Calcutta, Madras, and Agra, and
Government education is purely secular. Now, by way of
comparison, imagine the general moral effect on an average
English youth who had been brought up at a Christian
school of spending two or three years at Oxford or
Cambridge, and finding that the curriculum of study and
discipline of his college rigidly excluded from first to last
all provision for religious instruction or services. But this
is no imaginary case in India, and how much worse is such
an ordeal for those who have only recently abandoned
heathen practices, and are perhaps as yet only partially
instructed in Christian truth. How likely that philosophy
divorced from religion, science without God, history apart
from its moral teaching, should lead them, not to their old
superstitions those they have abandoned for ever but to
the negation of the atheist, the doubting of the sceptic,
or it may be to the cheerless creed of the Positivist or
Secularist.
The perusal of the article from which the above extracts
have been taken makes plain (i) that Delhi had been
decided upon as the city which was to be occupied with
all the strength that the University of Cambridge could
put forth, and (2) that the Cambridge Mission was to be in
affiliation with the S.P.G. Some explanation is necessary
in order to show by what considerations and negotiations
these two important matters had been settled.
From the first it had been understood that India should
be the chosen country, but at one time Amritsar and some
unevangelised country district within reach of that city had
been thought of as the best field for a University mission.
Characteristically, Bickersteth had written in February
1876:
All such questions may be safely and gladly left to
32 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
those whom years of experience have taught the most
urgent wants of India, and the most fruitful method of em-
ploying whatever resources England, and especially our
Universities, may supply.
Certainly no efforts were spared to find out what city
or province was pointed out by God's Providence as being
most urgently in want The influence of Mr. French was
naturally cast in favour of the Punjab, the scene of his
own missionary labours. He pleaded for a district to be
occupied accessible both by rail and steamer to the Indus
and beyond the Indus to the great mountain barrier such
as Multan, which is by rail only a night's journey from
Lahore and Amritsar, or Alwar in Rajpootana, from which
Jaipur with its large and thriving market-place and famous
for its massive temples and gorgeous palaces, could be
visited, and from which Ajmeer and Mount Aboo were
an easy distance. He enforced his appeal by recalling
the opinion of Sir H. Lawrence, who had urged him to
get a mission planted or to go himself among the original
Bheels and Minas singularly unprepossessed and likely
to be readily impressed with the Gospel. He cited the
words of the Rev. Robert Clark, 1 a veteran missionary of
the C.M.S., who had lately written :
I do not know a more hopeful field than we have in
the Punjab, a people for centuries accustomed to conquest
and government, and who have in them the spirit to con-
quer and govern for Christ, when once God's Holy Spirit
of Life has been imparted to them.
Then as regards affiliation with any existing Missionary
Society, many considerations suggested an appeal to the
Church Missionary Society. It was known that the C.M.S.
Punjab Conference had urged on that society the establish-
1 The Rev. Robert Clark, of Trinity College, Cambridge, was 28th
Wrangler, and is still, after nearly fifty years' service engaged in active
missionary work in the Punjab.
RETURN TO CAMBRIDGE AND CALL TO DELHI 33
ment of a Christian college, and that one of their mis-
sionaries, Mr. Baring, had had the importance of such work
in his mind for many months, and had had much corre-
spondence with the secretaries in Salisbury Square about
it. It was pointed out that for a number of young men to
go out without any connection with any society, and with-
out any of the experience gained during a whole century,
would endanger greatly the success they so desired. They
must have some head, or the body would suffer greatly.
They must not be independent of existing missions, or
there would be a collision. They must rather work in
with existing societies than independently of them. Mr.
French himself in his visit to Cambridge (February 1 876)
had felt at liberty to plead for the C.M.S. ' as the society
to which the proposed mission should be affiliated, on
the score of the prolonged, patient, diversified, and costly
efforts made by that society in North India, which gave
them a sort of claim not to be set aside in any decision
arrived at regarding the Missionary Order to which the
Cambridge men should ally themselves, he would not say
identify themselves.'
It is certain that there was no wish on the part of
Edward Bickersteth to set aside the C.M.S. On the
contrary, his grandfather's connection with that Society as
one of its secretaries (1815-30) and his father's devoted
support of it as a prominent member of committee, made
it natural for him to desire that the Church Missionary
Society should be approached in the first instance. Besides,
one of the men who had offered to join the Cambridge
Mission was the son of a strong C.M.S. supporter, and his
father would have been glad if the proposed connection
with that Society had been found feasible, though when
that arrangement fell through, his hesitation was in the
end removed by the assurance he received from Professor
D
34 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
Westcott that the lines on which the mission was founded
and would be worked were distinctly those of moderate
churchmanship.
In a letter to me from Pontresina (September 12,
1875) my brother wrote :
I am very glad you like my plan. It will have to be
steered, I expect, between many rocks and quicksands,
and maybe will never reach harbour, but I am hopeful.
Its three masts are :
1. A close connection with Cambridge and Oxford.
2. An affiliation to one of the societies.
3. A connection with one of the missionary bishops
who are shortly to be appointed.
As regards the C.M.S., I should not myself much mind
being under it, only I think, and indeed know, that this has
been a difficulty to some men, and I should be glad to lift
it out of the way. Still, independent work would look like
opposition, so something must be excogitated if possible
between dependence and independence.
Mr. French had indeed foreseen the possibility of ' an
a priori dim apprehension of not being able to work in
harmony with C.M.S. principles and methods of action,'
and had asked that if the way was not clear at once to join
themselves with the C.M.S. that they would hold their judg-
ment in suspense for two or three years, and make them-
selves practically acquainted with the working and workers
of both C.M.S. and S.P.G., relying meantime on their own
resources or funds guaranteed them by friends. Clearly
there was no lack of deliberation. Writing later to me in
June 1876 from Pembroke College, Cambridge, my brother
speaks of a missionary conference to be held at Christ
Church Vicarage, Hampstead, on the I4th, which French
came from Oxford to attend, and when the Rev. H.
Wright (Chief Secretary of the C.M.S.), the Rev. R. Clark
(of the Punjab), the Rev. H. U. Weitbrecht l (a C.M.S.
1 Of Simla, formerly of the Divinity School at Lahore, and now at Battala.
RETURN TO CAMBRIDGE AND CALL TO DELHI 35
missionary himself and the son of a C.M.S. missionary),
and General Maclagan all met under the roof of the Rev.
E. H. Bickersteth to discuss the affiliation of the Cambridge
Mission with the C.M.S.
But discussion only served to bring out the difficulties
which at all events seemed to be insuperable at that time.
There was no lack of sympathy with the missionary ardour
of the Cambridge graduates on the part of the C.M.S.
Committee, but the idea of a Community Mission called a
' Brotherhood ' was then too novel to be acceptable, and
too strange a method of working to be easily understood.
Although no vows were taken by the members, yet it was
understood that they could not marry and remain connected
with the mission, a condition of membership open to much
criticism in the judgment of some C.M.S. supporters.
This is perhaps worth noting, as it is a proof that during
the last quarter of a century the organisation of the
Cambridge Mission and its success has done much to
educate the opinion of Church people, and to familiarise
their minds with the idea of Brotherhoods, now well
known and adopted in England as well as in the mission
field. 1
The Rev. A. Clifford, C.M.S. Secretary at Calcutta (now
Bishop of Lucknow), in a paper read before the Calcutta
Diocesan Conference (February 9, 1889), noticed this
change of sentiment in the following words :
Next let me state briefly why I think that the Com-
munity system represents a method which God's Provi-
dence is calling us to use. Twenty years ago if it had
been proposed to either of the two great missionary
1 At the end of the Second Report of the Cambridge Mission, published
at the University, the Cambridge Committee ' hail with deep thankfulness
and satisfaction the prospect of the mission to Calcutta which is now being
undertaken by the sister University of Oxford, and they rejoice to believe
that the two missions will support one another in advancing towards one
common end.'
D 2
36 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
societies of our Church to recognise the Community life as
a practicable missionary method, the proposer would, I
think, have been told in very emphatic terms that his
suggestion was entirely visionary. He would have been
told that he lived 500 years too late, that the Community
system belonged to mediaeval times and was contrary to
the spirit of the nineteenth century. Ten years ago the
reply to such a proposal would have been more hesitating,
but it would still almost certainly have been voted unor-
thodox. To-day it is plain that a very great change must
have come over the mind of the Church, when not only
can we be calmly discussing the question here, but when
it is a fact that within a month we may expect to see a
Community actually started in this Province by the most
evangelical if the least conservative of the two great mis-
sionary societies.
In answering the question, What has brought about
this change ? Mr. Clifford gave as his first reason the effect
of the example set by the Cambridge Mission to Delhi, as
well as by the Cowley and Oxford brethren.
The selection of the missionaries, again, was a point
which involved some difficulties. It was felt that Cam-
bridge graduates who would be willing enough to be
nominated by a sub-committee consisting of three Uni-
versity professors (such as was afterwards appointed)
would not submit to a further examination by the com-
mittee of the C.M.S. Also, it was felt on the side of the
Cambridge men to be essential in order to keep up the
interest of the University in the proposed mission that
reports should be made direct to the committee in Cam-
bridge, and this was contrary to one of the rules of the
C.M.S., by which all workers for whom they are in any
way financially responsible must make their reports direct
to Salisbury Square. These considerations, apart from
any possible doctrinal differences, were in themselves
sufficient to make co-operation unworkable.
The result of the failure to come to terms with the
RETURN TO CAMBRIDGE AND CALL TO DELHI 37
CM.S. was that application was made to the S.P.G., whose
rules of procedure enabled them to dispense with some of
the conditions which the C.M.S. had laid down. 1
But it is time to explain how it was that Delhi
was chosen in preference to any other city in North
India, such as Amritsar, Alwar, or Multan. The opinion
may be hazarded that from time to time God wills that
certain cities should be strongly occupied, so as to make
them centres from which the gospel of His grace should
sound out throughout a large region. It was so in the
Church of the first days, as we may see from the forces
brought to bear upon Ephesus (Acts xviii. 24-28, xix.).
He guided first Aquila and his wife Priscilla, then
Apollos, and then St. Paul to come to that city and
there reside. The consequences were felt throughout
all the province of Asia. The Church grew and mul-
tiplied, and a fierce opposition, helping the cause which
it attacked, sprang up. So it has been again and
again in the Church's story. So it has been, as it is
reasonable to believe, in the case of Delhi. Missionary
work was commenced there on behalf of the Church of
England by the S.P.G. in i854, 2 and continued with great
promise till the Indian Mutiny, when four missionaries
and two native Christians were amongst its first victims.
1 It was settled that if Cambridge raised 5oo/. a year towards the
continuous maintenance of the mission, the Standing Committee of the S.P.G.
were willing to supplement such contributions, and generally to afford every
assistance to the mission, while leaving the nomination of the missionaries to
the sub-committee of Cambridge professors. Eventually it was determined
that the S.P.G. subsidy should take the form of personal grants to the
missionaries, each of whom were to receive 7$ a year besides a grant for
their outfit.
2 The Rev. J. S. Jackson and the Rev. A. R. Hubbard, both of Caius
College, Cambridge, the former being a Fellow, commenced work there on
February II. Mr. Hubbard was killed in the Mutiny. The Rev. T. Skelton,
Fellow of Queen's College, Oxford, offered in 1858, and recommenced the
work in 1859. See S.P.G. Digest, p. 615.
38 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
The mission was re-formed in 1859 and made steady pro-
gress. Canon Crowfoot (now of Lincoln) had resided there
for three years, and had kept up a remarkable influence by
lectures and private intercourse over the boys, who, having
been educated in St. Stephen's High School at Delhi,
were afterwards drafted into the Government College.
There also a devoted man of great powers of organisation,
of restless energies, of impulsive enthusiasm, the Rev. R.
R. Winter, with his wife, had been labouring for eleven
years without furlough. Both were filled with missionary
ardour, and had taxed and even over-taxed their strength,
but they could not be persuaded to take any rest until it
was possible to supply their place, and so had stayed on
year after year. In the year 1875 there had been ninety
baptisms, chiefly from the Chamars. The agencies con-
nected with the mission were very numerous, and of a
more representative and diversified character than was
then customary, as may be judged from the following sta-
tistics, which are copied from a statement drawn up by
Mr. Winter himself.
'The district entrusted to the mission contains over
3,000,000 people. Work is carried on, not only in Delhi
and its suburbs, but in fifty towns and villages, by three
English clergy, two native clergy, two laymen (voluntary
Europeans), forty-nine catechists, readers, and school-
masters, thirty-eight non-Christian masters, fourteen
European zenana missionaries, ten native Christian mis-
tresses, four parochial mission women, twenty-six Hindu
and Muhammadan female teachers, and one medical mis-
sionary with three assistants.
' Eight hundred and fifty-seven boys were taught in the
higher class of schools, 777 boys and young men in schools
and evening classes for the lower orders, 443 pupils in
zenanas, and 396 in schools for women and girls, showing
a total of 2,473 under instruction.
' The statistics of the Medical Mission for the previous
year showed 9,058 separate cases treated, with an aggre-
RETURN TO CAMBRIDGE AND CALL TO DELHI 39
gate of 29,798 attendances and a daily average of 101
sick attended.
' The total number of Christians was 650, and frequent
applications for Christian teaching were being received
from the villages round.'
All this organisation had been worked by mis-
sionaries connected with the S.P.G. and maintained by its
financial support, and Delhi was the city above all others
in the north of India on which they had been led to con-
centrate their forces. When, therefore, the application
was received from the Cambridge graduates, who were
prepared to go out to India and had been advised to think
of Northern India as the scene of their future labours,
what more natural than that the Standing Committee of
the S.P.G. should welcome their aid and direct their atten-
tion to so hopeful an opening as Delhi undoubtedly was ?
It so happened also that a letter written by Sir Bartle
Frere early in the year 1876' had been received in
Cambridge and had excited much interest there. Sir
Bartle Frere had visited Delhi in the suite of the Prince of
Wales, and had thus written :
I have been to call on Mr. and Mrs. Winter at Delhi,
and find them both much overtaxed. I am much mis-
taken if you have not a larger Tinnevelly at Delhi in the
course of a few years, but they need more money and
more men, especially a man to take charge of educational
work and a medical man to supervise and direct the
Medical Female Mission, which really seems doing wonder-
ful work. Delhi seems quite one of the most hopeful
openings I have seen.
Yet another circumstance was overruled of God to
the selection of Delhi. Edward Bickersteth's article in the
' Mission Field ' (March 1 877) already quoted fell under the
eye of Mr. Winter himself at Delhi, and led him at once to
1 January 16.
40 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
write off to the Bishop (Johnson) of Calcutta, recently con-
secrated as successor to Bishop Milman :
Your Lordship will have thought me long in writing
on the subject of forming classes for the B.A. degree in
connection with this mission, but it seemed better to put
off doing so till the fate of the Government College was
decided. It has now been closed on financial grounds.
Will the Cambridge Mission fill the gap left vacant? Our
plan has hitherto been to educate only up to the Matricula-
tion examination in our High School, and then to draft
the boys into the Government College. / see by an article
in the ' Mission Field ' for March that this formed part of
the plan of the Cambridge men, as well as a home for
Christian students in the Government College. . . . When
the college is thoroughly efficient we might hope to
attract students from other mission schools in the Punjab,
for no mission whatever in this province has B.A. classes.
In that case it would be most useful for them to open a
boarding-house, or extend an existing one, not only for
Christians but for non-Christian students. If the Cambridge
Mission will undertake this, most of the educated young men
of the city will pass under its influence,
The Bishop of Calcutta's comment on this letter will be
readily endorsed. ' My own mind [he writes in reply to
Mr. Winter] is that this seems to be quite providential in
that an opportunity offers for securing the Christian educa-
tion of young men up to the taking of the degree.'
Yet one more unforeseen coincidence may be regarded
as a providential sanction, vouchsafed by the Divine guid-
ance. In the autumn of 1877 the Rev. T. V. French was
appointed to be the first Bishop of Lahore, and Delhi was
transferred from the see of Calcutta to the newly created
diocese. Episcopal control more sympathetic, more
painstaking, more inspiring, could not have been found
anywhere by the Cambridge Brotherhood than was
assured to them by the fact that they would have as their
father in God the very man who had come over from
RETURN TO CAMBRIDGE AND CALL TO DELHI 41
Oxford to Cambridge on purpose to advocate the selection
of some city in Northern India as the most suitable
place for this new departure in missionary methods. How
little could it have been foreseen early in 1876, when the
first proposals for the establishment of the Cambridge
Mission were being publicly discussed, that before the end
of the year following the principal speaker at the meeting
would have been consecrated the Bishop of the first two
men who had come forward to join the mission.
All the pourparlers were so far settled that on
November 29, 1876, the Rev. R. Bullock, the Secretary of
the S.P.G., was invited to Cambridge and attended the first
meeting of the Cambridge Committee, which consisted of
thirty-four well-known resident members of the University.
Among them were the Rev. the Masters of Clare, Pem-
broke, and Magdalen Colleges ; Professors Westcott, Light-
foot, Cowell, and Paget, M.D. ; the Rev. F. J. Hort, D.D. ;
the Rev. C. W. E. Body, now Theological Professor at
New York ; the Rev. J. W. Hicks (Sidney), now Bishop
of Bloemfontein ; the Rev. A. F. Kirkpatrick (Trinity),
now Master of Selwyn ; the Rev. E. T. Leeke, now Sub-
Dean of Lincoln ; the Rev. A. J. Mason (Trinity), now
Lady Margaret's Reader in Divinity ; the Rev. C. E. Searle,
now Master of Pembroke ; the Rev. V. H. Stanton (Trinity),
now Ely Professor of Divinity. The Rev. Edward
Bickersteth was appointed secretary, and in a private note-
book, where he entered the briefest possible memoranda,
are the following entries :
November 5. Twenty-first Sunday after Trinity.
Pembroke College Chapel. Subject for praise and prayer
at the Holy Eucharist, that ' the S.P.G. have accepted
our scheme.' Gratias Deo. This week I am to speak on
the subject before the Church Society. Our prayer must
be constantly for His direction.
November 29. First committee meeting of Delhi
42 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
Mission. Mr. Bullock attended from London. So far,
gratias Deo, all gone well. May He give us the means
we need.
November 30. St. Andrew's Day. Was engaged in
drawing up circular. Searle sent ioo/. In the evening
Bishop Lightfoot's sermon. I made use of the Cuddesdon
manual of devotion for foreign missions.
It may be of interest here to note that on December 4
and again on December 5 occurs the entry, ' Had walk
with G. A. Lefroy, who thinks of missionary work.'
The following quotation from Bishop Lightfoot's well-
known sermon (alluded to above) on ' Abraham, the
Father of Missionaries,' will show how vigorous an appeal
was made to Cambridge to support the new mission.
Taking as his text Hebrews xi. 8, the preacher
pleaded :
God grant that this noble army of missionaries may
never want recruits ! God grant that, as from time to
time its ranks are thinned by death, or as new levies are
raised for some fresh campaign in the service of our great
Captain, men may press forward from this our own dear
Cambridge to fill the vacant places, and do battle for the
truth !
I need hardly say why I have put these thoughts
before you this evening. You yourselves will have
anticipated the moral. These annual days of intercession
have not been without their fruit. Some among ourselves
have heard the call and are ready to obey. Steps have
been taken for the formation of a Cambridge Mission to
North India. Two volunteers have already come forward.
The headquarters of the mission are to be fixed at Delhi.
Delhi ! What associations do not gather about the
name ? Delhi, the immemorial centre of Hindu tradition,
the chief stronghold of Muhammadan power, the capital of
the descendants of Timur, the seat of the most splendid,
if not the most powerful, of Oriental monarchies, the city
of many sieges, Tartar, Persian, Mahratta, English Delhi
the beautiful, the cruel, the magnificent, the profligate.
And a name, too, of not less absorbing interest to the
RETURN TO CAMBRIDGE AND CALL TO DELHI 43.
Christian than to the Englishman. The Delhi Mission
was still in its infancy when the Mutiny broke out. The
Delhi Mission was baptised in blood. It was literally
murdered. But here, as elsewhere, the blood of the
martyrs was the seed-plot of the Church. The work of
evangelisation has revived. A memorial church, bearing
the name of the first martyr, St. Stephen, commemorates,
the death of these, his latest successors. No missionary
field in India, we are told, is more promising than this.
Only men are wanted to aid in the work.
And to Cambridge more especially the call comes. It
is the blood of Cambridge martyrs which cries out of the
ground for revenge, the noble revenge of bringing the
gospel of love and peace home to the hearts of that people
by whose hands they were slain. The Delhi Mission was
in its origin essentially a Cambridge Mission. Its martyrs
were Cambridge men. Its first founder, the chaplain, had
been a Fellow of Christ's College. Its acting head at the,
time when the Mutiny broke out was a member of Caius
College. Another student attached to the mission was a
near relative of one who now holds an honourable office
in our University. All these were among the first fruits
of the slain. Shall their blood cry to us in vain ?
It is therefore in some sense in fulfilment of a pledge
which Cambridge has given to Delhi that our two
volunteers have devoted themselves to this work. Before
we meet together on St. Andrew's Day next year they
will already, if it please God, have left our shores.
On Sunday, October 21,1 877, Dr. Vaughan preached the
University sermon, and the Bishop of Ely (Dr. Woodford)
preached at Pembroke College Chapel, and on the follow-
ing day he ordained Mr. Murray to the Diaconate in
Great St. Mary's Church. 1 The ordination sermon was
preached by Dr. Westcott, and Dr. Lightfoot gave a
luncheon party in his rooms, at which, among others,
the Bishop of Ely, and the Rev. E. H. Bickersteth (now
1 Mr. Murray was ordained priest at Lahore by Bishop French, Arch-
deacon Matthews preaching the sermon, on December 21, St. Thomas'
Day, 1878, being the first anniversary of the Bishop of Lahore's consecration.
Mr. Bickersteth, as examining chaplain, went up from Delhi to be present.
44 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
Bishop of Exeter) were present, as were the first two
members of the mission. In the afternoon a committee
meeting was held in Dr. Westcott's rooms, and in the
evening a farewell service was held at St. Michael's Church,
when the Bishop of Lichfield (Dr. Selwyn) preached,
taking for his text Psalm cxxi. 8. Writing a year later
to the Rev. R. Bullock (October 16, 1878) from Faredabad,
sixteen miles south of Delhi, Bickersteth said :
I cannot close this letter without a reference to
the loss which we feel the Cambridge Mission has sus-
tained in the death of Bishop Selwyn. 1 To have been
allowed to listen to his strong and loving words of
counsel in leaving Cambridge was a singular privilege. I
have very often thought of his parting good-bye, ' The
Lord preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this
time forth for evermore.'
That same evening after the service, Dr. Lightfoot gave
a soiree in his rooms, when the Bishop of Lichfield was
present, and also three former workers in the Delhi Mis-
sion, Mr. Jackson, Mr. Skelton, and Canon Crowfoot. The
next morning there was a farewell breakfast at Pembroke
College, and later in the day Bickersteth left Cambridge
and returned to Hampstead. The day after he went down
with one of his sisters to spend a quiet day at Watton, the
scene of his grandfather's pastorate (1830-50), and where
his own mother and his sister Alice, with three other sisters,
had been laid to rest.
His father had married the previous year as his second
wife, Ellen Susanna, daughter of the late Robert Bicker-
steth, Esq., of Liverpool. Between her and her stepson
there grew up a true affection, and twice over, once in
Delhi (1881) and again in Japan (1891), he was able to
welcome her, when, accompanying his father, she visited
the scene of his missionary labours.
1 The news of his death reached Delhi, May 4, 1878.
RETURN TO CAMBRIDGE AND CALL TO DELHI 45
Writing to me at St. John's College, Oxford, on the
night before he left the old home, he said :
Christ Church Vicarage, Hampstead, N.W.
October 29, 1877.
I have your letter, a thousand thanks for it, and for
the very dear little Bible. Fancy me translating out of it
to a Hindu two years hence. All has now been nicely
arranged ; everything, even to the cake for Rosie, 1 packed.
Dearest boy, I know your thoughts will be with me to-
morrow, and very often all the time we are parted one from
the other. Thank God, those who have the same Christ
are not really altogether parted. ' Peace I leave with you,'
pray it may be true of me and pray it still more for father.
It is his grief at losing me that grieves me most, and will
for long. But I feel sure he will be comforted, some special
gift of peaceful comfort will be given him of God. And
may He comfort you I know He will and guide you
in every difficulty, and strengthen you for all the strong
work you have before you, and give you the happiest
Oxford life, shall ever pray,
Your affectionate Brother,
EDWARD BICKERSTETH.
Next day, Tuesday, October 30, he left England,
accompanied by his father as far as Dover, and by
Murray. In the train between London and Dover the
father engaged in prayer with his son and his companion,
and it was then that in answer to a request from the
former he chose the words evsica e/uov ical rov svayys\iov
to be their guide and inspiration. These words were
chosen as expressing the only but sufficient consolation
which the father felt in giving up his firstborn son to
the mission field. Ever since these words have been
preserved as the motto of the Cambridge Mission, and
have been printed on the first page of all its reports, and
they are now cut into the coping stone of the grave of its
first head.
1 His eldest sister, Mrs. Rundall, then living at Kharwarra in Rajputana.
46 EISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
By these providential leadings the steps of the Cam-
bridge Brotherhood were thus ordered by God to the
ancient city of Delhi, where the two first members arrived
early in December 1877. In order to sustain the full
efficiency of the work, it was felt to be most desirable that
the mission should consist of not less than five men, and
if possible of six. The first members left England knowing
that the Rev. H. F. Blackett, Scholar of St. John's College,
purposed joining them the following year, and they soon
received the gratifying news that the Rev. H. C. Carlyon,
M.A. (formerly Scholar of Sidney Sussex College), had
offered to come out with him, and that his offer had been
accepted by the Cambridge sub-commitee. Both these
missionaries started on November n, 1878, by which time
the committee were able to announce in their ' First Report
of the Cambridge Mission to North India (Delhi),' that
'they had reason to believe that before the close of 1879
two others will be ready to follow.' These two latter were
the Rev. Samuel Scott Allnutt, M.A. (late Scholar of St.
John's College), and the Rev. G. A. Lefroy, B.A. (Trinity
College), who went out in 1879, thus bringing the mission
up to the number originally contemplated.
Thus had the great Head of the Church heard the
prayers offered up with fervent faith, and been pleased to
send out in three successive years these men, ' two and two
before His face,' into the city, whither He Himself would
come.
47
CHAPTER III
THE CAMBRIDGE MISSION TO DELHI
I. THE WORK
' Certainly I feel, if possible more vividly here than in England, that the
Church will never regret any single labourer sent to North India.' Letter of
the Rev. Edward Bicker steth to the Rev. R. Bullock at the end of his first year.
' WE offer, then, in the name of our friends at Delhi to
those who are able to join them the life and the work. We
want the best men that Cambridge can give, and we have
nothing to offer them but the life and the work.' In these
words, on May 24, 1882, speaking at a meeting held by
the London Committee in the College Hall, Westminster,
Professor Westcott summed up the situation some five
years after the Cambridge Mission at Delhi had been in
full activity.
There is no doubt whatever that Edward Bicker-
steth would have cordially accepted the dichotomy thus
characteristically drawn between the inner and the outer
aspects of the mission which had been undertaken by his
University. Indeed, it may weir be that the teacher was
quoting from his own pupil's words, for writing to
Dr. Westcott on September i, 1881, he had closed his
appeal : ' Very gladly shall we welcome to a share in our
life and work any who, otherwise fitted, will join us in the
spirit of our motto " For My sake and the Gospel's." '
The phrase 'the life and the work' was so constantly on
Bickersteth's lips, and his own example showed how
48 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
important he felt it to maintain the life as well as the work,
that the principle involved in the distinction may be said
to give the key to his character. He would often point out
how choked with care and jejune, work must become unless
it is continually fed by the forces which alone refresh the
inner life and keep it calm and vigorous. The spirit of
the work was more to him than the work itself.
In describing Edward Bickersteth's share in the
inception and organisation of the Cambridge Mission, I
purpose, therefore, to devote this chapter to a statement
of the work undertaken by that mission, so long as he was
officially connected with it (1877-84), and to attempt in
a subsequent chapter to discover the springs and secret
sources of the life which took shape in the work now to
be recorded. I say so long as he was officially connected
with it, for it will be easy to show that the Cambridge
Mission never ceased to hold its place in his affections and
in his daily intercessions.
The voyage out was in no way eventful, Bombay being
reached on November 21, 1877. During his two days in
this city, Bickersteth saw the Robert Money schools, and
made a memorandum that there had been no conversion
in those schools for twelve years, though much moral
influence had been exercised.
On the 23rd he left for Kharwarra, where his eldest
sister and her husband Lieutenant F. M. Rundall x were
staying among the aboriginal Bheels. 2
Mr. Murray had arrived in Delhi on December 12,
1 Now Colonel Rundall, D.S.O.
2 It will be remembered that Mr. French had quoted Sir Henry
Lawrence's opinion that missionary work among the Bheels would be a
promising opening. It is pleasant to know that although Edward Bickersteth
was led further afield to Delhi, his sister collected funds to build a church
at Kharwarra, while his father supplied the Church Missionary Society with
the stipend of a missionary.
49
having spent several days in seeing the principal towns on
the route from Bombay. Of his own arrival Edward
Bickersteth writes in his Journal :
It was still dark when I reached Delhi from Kharwarra
on the morning of December 13, so that I had no oppor-
tunity of seeing the city as I entered. I succeeded, however,
without difficulty in rinding the mission compound, which
is near the station, and in arousing Murray, whose room
opened on the garden. I need hardly say that I had a very
warm welcome from Mr. Winter, when at daybreak he came
to see if I had arrived. As the Bishop (Johnson) of Calcutta
was to arrive the next afternoon, all that day was engaged
in getting the necessary furniture for our house, which is
on the other side of the compound to Mr. Winter.
The Bishop, who was then engaged in making the
acquaintance of his huge diocese, came to Delhi to visit
the work before ceding it to the newly constituted diocese of
Lahore, and stayed there from Friday, December 14, for a
fortnight.
Bickersteth described this visit with all the enthusiasm
of a new-comer.
Our first work was to arrange a whole scheme of
engagements with the Bishop. Nearly every day was
occupied, and sometimes the Bishop gave three or four
addresses on the same day to different audiences, hold-
ing a confirmation on Christmas Eve, and first baptising
59, of whom all but 10 were adults. This is considerably
the largest baptism that has ever taken place in this part
of India. Nearly 200 were confirmed. Bishop Milman
was about to hold a confirmation here at the time of
his lamented death, so that there has been considerable
delay and the number has accumulated. This and the
celebration of Holy Communion on Christmas Day, at
which 150 communicated, were perhaps the two most
intensely interesting services I have ever attended.
The Cambridge Mission, therefore, were clearly happy
in the hour of their arrival, so far as the Bishop's visitation
E
5O BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
led to a review of all the forces that made for Christianity
in and about Delhi, and enabled them to take in at a glance
the varied work that had been started by Mr. and Mrs.
Winter, and in which they were henceforth to take so
important a part.
From what was said on page 38, it will be remembered
that Delhi and its districts were so organised by Mr. Winter
as to be able to satisfy all the forecasted requirements
of the Cambridge missionaries. The city itself, divided
into nine separate divisions or parishes, each with its
catechists and readers, seemed to Bickersteth's sanguine
anticipations 'to fall in with the future organisation
of the Cambridge Mission, and to make it quite easy
to arrange to give each English missionary, when he has
obtained a sufficient knowledge of the language, a practi-
cally independent sphere of work, in which he will be able
to work out, with the assistance of his own catechists, and,
when the time comes, of native pastors, his own plans,
educational or otherwise, while he himself will live at our
central Mission House.' ('Journal,' January 1878.)
St. Stephen's High School and many vernacular schools
which were carried on among the very numerous class of
Chamars (workers in leather, a staple trade of Delhi), made
educational work possible from the first. Bickersteth wrote
in his first letter to Mr. Bullock :
A low caste vernacular school in Delhi differs almost
as much from St. Stephen's High School as at home a
ragged school from a public school.
And again, Jan. 3, 1878 :
We are to have some personal experience of St.
Stephen's High School, the highest educational institution
of the mission, almost at once, as Murray and I have agreed
directly the school re-opens to give an hour and a half each
of us three times a week to taking a class.
THE CAMBRIDGE MISSION TO DELHI 51
The school had been worked on the principle of
enforced Christian instruction, on the wisdom of which
Bickersteth desired further light, and with his characteristic
preference for wide research before forming an opinion on
a debatable point, he wrote home :
It would, I think, help to the solution of this difficulty
if someone were willing to devote time to collecting
accounts of the various methods of instruction that have
been in favour in the mission schools of past ages, and
accompany them with such opinions and judgments on
the one side and the other as are given in the Allahabad
Conference Report. I have not seen any such compre-
hensive articles, though General Tremenhere's pamphlet
and the late Bishop Douglas's letters are heavy blows
aimed against the present system, or, as its advocates say,
against its abuses.
With regard to catechists, he wrote that Bishop John-
son's suggestion of assembling them for some regular system
of instruction, each catechist spending at least two months
in the year under instruction at Delhi, ' seems to open out
a prospect in the direction of what should be the most
characteristic work in days to come of the Cambridge
Mission, as some of these men if further instructed would
(Mr. Winter thinks) make excellent native ministers.'
But it should be stated that although the catechists
benefited greatly as preachers by the instructions they
received, the expectations that several might advance to
the ministry has not been fulfilled.
The advantages of a Christian Home or ( Hostel ' for
students sent from mission schools to the Government
College had been one of the plans also mentioned in the
original circular, and it became possible at once to take up
that kind of work, inasmuch as there was already the be-
ginning of a Christian Boys' Boarding School. Bickersteth
expressed his hope that they might become an important
E2
52 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
agency in training the members of the native Church,
and in supplying suitable men as native catechists and
pastors. Already keen to promote any work which would
indirectly build up the native Church, he agreed to take
over the school, the headmaster of which, Janki Nath by
name, was a graduate of the University of Calcutta. He
had formerly been a Brahmin. 1 The boys were thirteen
in number.
But one entry in the Journal already quoted needs
some notice. ' I must hasten to mention that at a meeting
of the Delhi Mission Committee held on Saturday, De-
cember 21, the care of the mission during Mr. Winter's
absence was formally handed over to us.' This entry is
explained by the 'memorandum on the Cambridge Mission
to North India (Delhi) ' published in Cambridge by the Uni-
versity Committee, March 29, 1 878. We read : ' After Delhi
was chosen as the first seat of the mission, the Cambridge
Committee heard that it would be necessary for the Rev.
R. R. Winter, who, with the help of the Rev. Tara Chand,
had been in charge of the S.P.G. Mission there, to return to
England for two years in the early part of the present year.
Under these circumstances, by agreement with the Com-
mittee of the S.P.G. they authorised Mr. Bickersteth and
Mr. Murray to take charge of the work during his absence.'
Accordingly on April 2 Mr. and Mrs. Winter left for
their much needed furlough in England, and did not return
to Delhi till December n, 1879, on which day Mr. Winter
came back to India in company with Mr. Allnutt and
Mr. Lefroy, Mrs. Winter returning a year later.
It is plain that although the Cambridge Committee
added that ' the letters which they had received satisfied
them that this arrangement will be of the greatest service
1 The Rev. S. S. Allnutt writes : ' Janki Nath is a man of very high
principle universally respected by all, Christians ancl non-Christians alike.'
THE CAMBRIDGE MISSION TO DELHI 53
in supplying under favourable conditions the objects of the
Cambridge Mission,' yet the whole burden of responsibility
must have weighed very heavily on the shoulders of a
young Cambridge graduate, not yet twenty-eight years of
age, unacquainted with the languages in daily use and
unversed in oriental methods and manners, who had only
been resident four months in the land of his adoption.
He was left practically alone, for a great misfortune had
befallen the mission, of which the Cambridge Committee
knew nothing when they passed their memorandum just
quoted.
On March 1 1 Mr. Murray fell ill with a slight attack of
haemorrhage, and the entry in Bickersteth's Journal is :
March 12-20. During this time Murray had one or
two very slight returns of haemorrhage. He was unable to
move himself, and this has been his worst day. Very weak
and depressed.
March 21. Murray decidedly better, and has been out
in the garden. Gratias Deo.
March 22. A return of haemorrhage the worst he
has had.
April 7. Murray has been going on well since March
22. To-day he has been walking in the compound ; but
on the nth he was taken ill again, and on the 22nd he
left for Meerut en route for Simla.
Thus Bickersteth was brought perilously near to the
situation which he had described only to deprecate, and
which it had been hoped the Cambridge Mission would
render next to impossible : ' An over-burdened missionary,
who bears alone the manifold cares of a whole station.' *
It must not be supposed that he so much as hinted
that he felt oppressed. In fact, with his usual reticence,
he said very little, if anything, about it, not only nursing
his brother missionary with unremitting care till he left
1 See chapter ii. 30.
54 I5ISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
for Simla, but in the midst of that anxiety saying farewell
to Mr. Winter, and with a stout heart setting to work at
once to keep pace with all the multifarious calls upon his
time. In writing at the end of his first year to Mr. Bullock
to excuse himself for not having written reports of their
proceedings at certain stated intervals, he says :
My excuse must be the ready but true one, that when
I agreed to the rule as proposed I had no idea of the inces-
sant demands which a mission like that of Delhi would
daily make on time and strength. Life in Delhi itself, if
any progress at all is to be made in the essential work of
learning the language, leaves no leisure for writing reports.
I take the opportunity of being out for a fortnight among
our distant country stations with the Bishop of Lahore to
send a letter. Since the beginning of April, when Mr. and
Mrs. Winter left for England, the mission has been in my
charge. I had thought that this great responsibility would
have been shared by the daily co-operation and counsel of
my friend and colleague Mr. Murray, but God's will was
otherwise, and owing to the illness which prostrated him
in March, he has been condemned to very unwilling exile
in the Himalayas for the past six months, and is forbidden
to return to Delhi till this time next year. A short three
months in Delhi had already given him great influence in
the schools which were under his charge. His time at
Simla will not be wasted, as he is at work on the language.
Of course Edward Bickersteth could not be left only
with the assistance of his native colleague, the Rev. Tara
Chand, and there is a note of relief in the brief entry
on April 24 : ' Telegram saying that Hunter is coming.'
Mr. Hunter was assistant to Mr. Bray, the S.P.G. Secretary
at Calcutta, who, at the cost of greatly adding to his own
labours, spared him to come and work at Delhi.
Two young laymen also gave their help one Mr.
Bridge, whom the Bishop of Calcutta had brought with
him from Assam, and the other Mr. Maitland, of Trinity
College, Cambridge. The latter had been visiting the
THE CAMBRIDGE MISSION TO DELHI 55
celebrated cities of the world, and felt an especial
attraction to Delhi and its mission. He daily taught
English to the boys in the Upper School, and passed six
of them into the Punjab University largely by his exertions.
He also helped to nurse Mr. Murray. Mr. Bridge lived in
the Mission House for nearly a year, ' making the longest
stay hitherto of any of my companions ' Bickersteth
writes in a letter dated April 29, 1879, a fact which shows
how fragmentary was the help on which he could rely.
The recollections sent to me by Mrs. Parsons, Zenana
(S.P.G.) Missionary at Delhi, prove how others appreciated
his efforts at that time of stress.
In February 1878 I had the privilege of being engaged
in the S.P.G. Zenana. Mission, and placed at the Ladies'
Home. The Winters were going on furlough, and the
mission, including the many branches of women's work,
was to be left in sole charge of Mr. Bickersteth. The
Home at that time consisted of six Zenana teachers and a
training class of five pupils, all quite young. In allotting
my work to me Mrs. Winter said : ' Refer every matter of
difficulty to Mr. Bickersteth. He is young, but very wise
and good.'
In a very little time Mr. Bickersteth began to acquaint
himself with each of the different institutions, 2nd got to
know all about everything. Of his large minded sympathy
and tact, which seemed to extend to every case, one could
never say too much. . . . Soon we learnt we could always go
to him in every case of difficulty, great or small. . . . One
great feature of his character was his treatment of the
erring. His rebukes were given with the gentleness of
a loving woman and the firmness of the Master. His
presence among us seemed to bring with it a desire for
higher aims for ourselves, and a feeling of affectionate
reverence for him.
We went once to bring some orphans from the Poor
House. (1877 had been a year of famine, and there were
many destitute ones left in 1878.) We found them all
looking miserable, like bundles of dirt and rags, some very
famished. After Mr. Bickersteth had selected as many as
56 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
he thought fit, as we were going away he saw two girls,
one rather big who was crippled after rheumatic fever, and
one little one quite blind. He looked at them and said,
4 We must take these two also, and see what we can do for
them.' So he lifted each one, and, carrying them himself,
put both into his tonga, to the surprise of the natives
standing by, not one of whom would have liked to touch
them. For the cripple girl he got the best treatment to
be had, and after some time she could walk : she never
forgot the Padre Sahib's kindness.
Sometimes if a matter taken to him were rather serious
he would say : ' Come to-morrow, and I will tell you what
to do or say.' Then we knew that our Head was going to
pray over it before deciding what was to be done about it.
Once a girl in the Orphanage was bad with cholera, and
he went twice every day to see her, and would sit a long
time beside her. One would have thought the girl might
have been his own kith and kin. In no case was his
sympathy and help given in a half-hearted way.
He was so much reverenced in Delhi that a letter
addressed ' To the Chief Christian in Delhi ' puzzled the
Post Office until the postman insisted it must be for Mr.
Bickersteth, and so indeed it proved. In the Zenana
Mission we all felt that Mr. Bickersteth was indeed our
guide and friend.
But h^ could write at the end of the first year, ' AIL
the old machinery has been kept in operation,' and this
included the Sunday and daily services in St. Stephen's
Church, the evening services for Christians in different
parts of the city, the high and low caste schools, preach-
ing in the bazars, the Zenana work, the hospital and
dispensary, the two boarding schools, and the refuge.
The lamented death of the excellent Dr. Bose, who had
been suddenly called to his rest shortly before Mr. Winter
left, called out in a home letter the expression of the hope
that ' Cambridge may speedily send us a duly qualified
doctor ; ' but no man offered, nor has any medical graduate
of Cambridge yet joined the mission. In the autumn of
THE CAMBRIDGE MISSION TO DELHI 57
1878 he writes that 'the medical lady in charge of the
mission hospital and dispensary broke down after eleven
years of Indian work under the great pressure of a fever
epidemic caused by the subsidence of an unusual overflow
of the Jumna in last October and November. She has
since been ordered to spend two summers at home, and
has left for England.'
The principal new efforts of the year were a class for
the lower grade of catechists or readers, and a monthly
devotional service for the English-speaking mission
workers. Of the service something will be said in the
next chapter, but he wrote of the class : < 4 r
It represents at present a very rude endeavour to improve
the attainments of our native teachers. The idea of the plan
we pursue was given to me by Pastor Luther, 1 of Ranchi,
who visited us last winter to place his son in our Boarding
School. The village readers, who are employed during the
week in teaching in their schools, come into Delhi on Friday
evening and stay till after morning service on Sunday.
In company with teachers of the same grade who are
employed in Delhi itself they receive during the time
lessons in the Bible and Prayer-book, dictation and read-
ing, besides listening to parts of the ' Pilgrim's Progress '
read aloud to them.
Periodical examinations were held and an order of merit
published, and it was decided that the amount of the stipend
they received should be partly dependent, as in the case of
the Bengal Missions, on their place in the list.
In one most important branch of the work, St.
Stephen's High School, the lack of any visible results
caused the young missionary much thought and some
misgivings. Commenting on the results of the last year
he writes home :
1 An S.P.G. Pastor of the Kol Mission.
58 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
No boy from the High School has this year become a
Christian. There seems no other means for reaching the
upper classes in India which covers the same ground ; at the
same time, no doubt, knowledge of Christianity is imparted
under extreme difficulties in our high schools. The boys
cannot be regarded in any sort as religious inquirers. They
are sent by their parents to the mission school because the
fees are somewhat less than the Government School, and
during the latter part of the course, when their minds
would naturally be more open to new truth, they are
engrossed in the one object of acquiring sufficient know-
ledge to pass the University Entrance Examination as a
preliminary to obtaining a Government post. Under these
circumstances, it seems to be the opinion of the most
experienced teachers that little immediate result can be
expected, but that success is rather to be looked for in a
higher moral standard in after years, induced by contact
with the moral beauty of the New Testament teaching
and a certain familiarity with the example of our Lord's
life. Something more might perhaps be hoped for from
the personal influence of Christian masters who would be
willing to lay themselves out to obtain influence over the
scholars out of school as well as in, as was so remarkably
and successfully done by Mr. Noble at Masulipatam. From
this point of view the increase in the number of Christian
masters is very greatly to be desired, and also the addition
of a higher college class, as at present the boys are often
removed under alien influences before their education is
completed.
Mr. Winter had always taken a somewhat different
view, holding that 'for secular teaching non-Christian
masters are not only indispensable, but that they form
a link between the missionaries and the boys with their
parents,' bringing ' an efficient and thoughtful body of
men into contact with the missionaries, and whose habits
of loyalty to their employers kept them from acting
against Christianity.' Bickersteth, while admitting that
there were collateral advantages in a mission possessing
a large institution like St. Stephen's School and its
THE CAMBRIDGE MISSION TO DELHI 59
branches in a place like Delhi inasmuch as it added
greatly to the general reputation of the mission, bringing
the missionaries into contact from time to time, in a way
that would not otherwise be possible, with the native
gentlemen of the city yet was thankful when he could
write to Dr. Westcott to the effect that ' we have been
able slightly to increase the number of Christian masters
in the High School and its branches, sufficiently to give us
one Christian master to each branch ; ' and he added, ' We
are still very far short of the standard which I see the
well-known native Madras clergyman, Padre Sattianadan,
considers essential to the profitableness of the school from
a missionary point of view that one half at least of the
masters should be Christian.'
He was deeply thankful, also, when the arrival of
Mr. Carlyon, just before Christmas Day 1878, enabled
him to put him in charge of the High School and its
branches, and to entrust the keeping of the Christian Boys'
School to Mr. Blackett Mr. Carlyon also started a Bible
class on Sunday afternoons for young men able to speak
English who had already embraced Christianity. It was
the same feeling which led Bickersteth four years later to
begin what Mr. Allnutt described as a most useful course
of lectures to masters, on the Characteristics of the Old and
New Testaments, a course which was only interrupted by
the illness which obliged him to return to England.
Delhi itself, of course, offered scope for bazar preaching,
and the Cambridge missionaries were able to increase
somewhat the frequency and regularity of this branch of
work in different parts of the city and suburbs. Bickersteth
wrote :
So far as I have hitherto observed, the only opponents
to our preachers are Muhammadan moulvies. One of
6O BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
these is a Wahabi preacher also on his own account.
He generally takes St. John's Gospel as his text-book,
and though his aim certainly is far more to invalidate
the Gospel than to use it for the instruction of his
hearers, yet I have sometimes thought that he is not
altogether uninfluenced by what he has read. In
argument it must be admitted that it sometimes so
happens that the Muhammadans have the best of it.
A moulvie one day in my hearing stoutly maintained that
Our Lord's words, ' There be some standing here which
shall not taste of death till they see the kingdom of
God,' involved a plain historical inaccuracy, and the
catechist, though not an illiterate man, had no answer to
give.
This led Bickersteth to draw the conclusion that
' knowledge of the Bible more than controversial books
was the main need of their teachers and preachers ' a need
which he at once set to work to try to supply, not only by
the weekly Bible-readings for those in Delhi (as mentioned
above), but by encouraging the Reverend Tara Chand to
hold a class on the first Sunday in each month, when all
the catechists came in from the districts. Between the
monthly meetings each catechist was expected to prepare
so many chapters of one of the Gospels, the commentary
in use being that of the Rev. Robert Clark (C.M.S.) and
of Moulvie Imad-ud-din.
A few sentences from a letter to Dr. Westcott, written
much later on September I, 1 88 1, give his more matured
opinion. He writes :
Our first circular also referred to evangelistic labours.
All work in a heathen land is this more or less, for
even a sermon in church may be listened to by a crowd of
Muhammadans and Hindus in the church porch. But
perhaps bazar preaching has the best claim to that title.
Its value is universally recognised when the speakers are
intellectually and spiritually qualified for the work, but
the criticism to which all missionary operations are now
B1CKERSTETH HALL, DELHI.
THE CAMBRIDGE MISSION TO DELHI 6 1
subjected has condemned many efforts in that line which
once would have passed muster. Two improvements may,
I hope, be shortly possible in our present practice. The
one is a preachers' class, where subjects may be carefully
prepared and digested beforehand .... the other a
preaching-room. The difficulty is that the bazar is after all
common property, and the Christian preacher has no real
authority to regulate the crowd who listen to him. 1 The
case would be quite different in a preaching-room, or,
still better, a chapel by the side of the way. It would, I
think, be specially useful among a Muhammadan popu-
lation. The adherents of a religious system to which
love is almost unknown enjoy heated controversy, but
get no good from it. We are at present looking out for
a suitable site. If we obtain one, and can erect a
building 2 on a sufficiently large scale, we hope that some
of the most able and thoughtful of the native clergy
and others in North India will be willing to deliver
lectures in Delhi.
Outside Delhi many thousand representatives of the
Koli or weaver class, and of the caste of Ckamars, or shoe-
makers, were gathered in small village communities.
It was among the latter that so many had been baptised
1 ' The preaching in the bazar (at Biwari) was not very satisfactory ;
very large crowds gathered, but they were disorderly, and no inquiries
followed as to our lodging-place.' Again at Kalanam : 'We went to their
little bazar, and for some time sat and talked, but the place was too noisy to
be satisfactory, and the cattle being driven home at night continually broke
up the audience. ' Again : ' A little friendly conversation resulted, as it was
meant to do, in a request to sit down in the place for conversation attached to
their mosque, and a little crowd soon collected. Such an opportunity is much to
be preferred to preaching in the open bazar, when the audience consists of
Muhammadans. The Christian is on their ground, so to speak, and if he came
unasked still they have requested him to remain. We talked for awhile of sin,
and of escape from it, not without some attempt being made to get the conver-
sation away to those metaphysical points which the Muhammadan always
prefers to moral teaching. The one flatters his real or supposed intellectual
acuteness, the other condemns his daily life ; the one fortifies him in the sup-
posed sufficiency of his creed, the other suggests doubts which he would fain
banish as to whether it answers his real needs.' (Mission Field, June 1882.)
2 Such a building was erected in Delhi soon after Bickersteth had been
obliged to leave India, and[received the name of the Bickersteth Hall.
62 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
by Mr. Winter in recent years. Of these Edward Bicker-
steth writes :
There is a little Christian colony of the Koli caste,
some fifty miles to the south of Delhi, at Biwari. They
consider themselves somewhat higher in social rank than
the Chamars, but both are very low in the social scale.
It seems likely that of God's mercy Christianity will have
a rapid and wide extension among these classes. More
than once during the last few months we have had requests
for instruction from distant villages. The Chamars live,
alike in the city and in the villages, apart by themselves
in small mud huts, which are often neatly arranged in
squares and alleys. Each hut as a rule contains one
or two rooms, and possibly a very small verandah to
keep off the hottest of the sun's rays. The furniture
consists of one or two charpoys (bedsteads), some cook-
ing utensils, and possibly a piece of carpet and a stool
for a visitor. . . . The master of the establishment may
generally be discovered sitting on the ground in front of
his house at work on his shoes (an active worker can make
a good pair in about two days) ; his wife, her dark-skinned
children hanging about her the while, is commonly engaged
in some culinary occupation not far off, which frequently
involves the whole prospect in a cloud of smoke. In the
evening, should a pair of shoes have been completed, it is
usual for the head of the establishment to make a visit
to the bazar in hope of a purchaser. . . . One excellent
native custom, by which the chief men of a particular
district form a kind of court of arbitrament among their
fellows, Mr. Winter has perpetuated among our native
Christians. . . . The people of one entire square of houses of
this kind in Delhi are now all but entirely Christian. This
square or 'basti,' as it is called, lies just within the city
walls, not far from our mission house, at the north-east
corner of the city, close under the battered and shapeless
mass of the Mori bastion, a name very familiar to those who,
twenty years ago, followed in breathless anxiety the
fortunes of the siege of Delhi. ... I believe that many
will be found to pray that these poor Christians may live
worthily of their profession, and as I was trying to teach
them last night (the strangeness and picturesqueness of the
THE CAMBRIDGE MISSION TO DELHI 63
phrase seemed to strike them at once), be ' fishers of men '
among their heathen brethren around.
Rohtak (forty-four miles west of Delhi), Kalanam
(a village consisting mainly of Muhammadans), Biwari (a
large commercial city), Dadri (the capital of a native
State), and many others were places frequently visited by
Bickersteth, accompanied by Mr. Carlyon or else by Mr.
Lefroy as well as by a catechist. 1 Daryagunge, a district of
Delhi itself, was always accessible and was visited bi-
weekly (on Thursdays and Saturdays). Bickersteth had
taken special charge of that district. On arrival the
two missionaries and catechist used to pay several pastoral
visits, and then the simple evening service was held, if
possible in a chapel, which formed one side of the court.
It consisted of a bhajan (or hymn), the Confession,
Absolution and Lord's Prayer, Magnificat and Creed,
then a chapter read and expounded, after which followed
the sermon, another bhajan, and a few more prayers. The
hymn was especially popular, and it would scarcely have
been a service to these people without one or two bhajans,
which conveyed in the roughest metre some simple
Christian truth.
The more distant stations, best visited in the cold season,
such as Rohtak (with 1 5,000 inhabitants and twenty-four
mosques), were reached by dakgari (post carriage), or, if the
road was very bad, in ekkas or native pony-carts, ' a method
of procedure which effectually prohibits any use of books
by the way ' being Bickersteth's characteristic comment. 2
Here is a shortened account of one of these periodical visits.
1 Yakub Kishan Singh, who was his frequent companion, was ordained
subsequently to Bickersteth's departure from Delhi, He died in October 1897
at Gurgaon, where he had retired with his son, and thus was called to his rest
within two months of the death of his English friend.
2 '.Yakub found us an empty native house at Rohtak, with, of course, no
64 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
January 12, 1882, I left Delhi with Carlyon at IOP.M. ;
owing to the dreadful state of the road after the winter
rain we did not reach Rohtak till three in the afternoon.
There one of our two native deacons is placed, an old
gentleman with white beard and venerable l aspect, but with
natural strength unabated. He owes his Christianity (it
is thirty-one years since he was baptised) to the zeal of a
Christian officer in the army. As a boy his father had
given him a good education in ancient Hindu learning,
and much he laments over its decay. He has known
many missionaries, among others Dr. Pfander, who used to
read with him at one time in Agra. Rising early, the
missionaries went out and sat for some time talking, now
with a little group of saltpetre manufacturers, now
in the ' baithak,' or place of conversation attached to a
mosque, later in the day spending the time in looking
up the scattered Christians, mostly poor, and receiving
little parties of native gentlemen, masters perhaps from a
Government school, and in the evening preaching in the
bazar. ' We also believe in the Trinity/ was the some-
what abrupt announcement of one of the masters [he was
the head master, and had been trained in the mission
school at Delhi many years ago]. This led to a con-
versation about mysteries and our duty to accept them on
sufficient evidence, even when they are wholly beyond our
power to comprehend. This is a point which the more
educated Hindus are very slow to allow, though it is
plain that all men do it in a multitude of instances.
Sometimes much interest attached to the personal
history of some of the scattered Christians. Thus Bicker-
steth writes :
Part of the object of our visit was to see Jumna
Das. He was formerly a sadhu, 2 or holy man, a Hindu,
furniture or carpets, but it is wonderful how soon, when one has disposed one's
effects about one and got out one's books, ; &c. , one begins to get fond of one's
abode and to regard it as a kind of quasi-home for the time being.' Letter,
Jan. 12, 1882, Mission Field.
1 He was ordained by Bishop Milman. The other, Asad Ali, was
ordained to the diaconate by Bishop French (1880). 'A special interest,'
wrote E. B., ' attached to Ali's ordination by his former teacher at the Lahore
Divinity ..School, where he|had been the senior student of his year.'
2 Sadhu or saint = holy man. Fakir = poor man.
THE CAMBRIDGE MISSION TO DELHI 65
baptised three years ago by Yakub. A special interest
about him is that he still retains much, perhaps too much,
of his old manner of life. Certainly nothing has been
done to alter or denationalise the outward man or old
surroundings of this strange convert. Scanty dress, rough
hair, vvcatherbeaten countenance, dwelling and occupation,
are all just as they were before the Hindu sadhu took on
him the yoke of Christ. He lives on a plot of land of
which he is owner, and satisfies his wants, which are simple
enough, by its cultivation. His house is little more than
a hut of reeds, just sufficient to keep off nightdews quite
insufficient, I should say, to shield him from heavy rain.
His house is close to the road, and travellers often stay to
get water from his well during the hot weather. To give
water to passers-by is a recognised meritorious action of
Hindus. It is pleasant to think that in one spot at least a
good work, to the performance of which by Christians a
special promise is attached, is not neglected. Who can
tell the results of the quiet talks that doubtless go on
sometimes between the Christian guru and the thirsty
travellers who resort to him for water. Jumna Das soon
caught sight of us as we made our way to his little hut.
Apart from his own conversation, you would perhaps only
find out his Christianity from his books, but you would
probably not discover his library at once. It is contained
in a large earthen pot, such as is commonly used for
holding water in India. The possible dangers attached to
this method of storing his treasures the old man recently dis-
covered to his cost, as several were stolen from him. The
accomplishment of reading is an immense gain in the case
of a solitary Christian. For instance, he is shortly to be con-
firmed, and I was able to give him an excellent little Hindu
book on the subject (S.P.C.K.). He will study it word by
word, but without this his preparation must have been con-
fined to the very scanty instruction Yakub can give him on
very occasional visits. We stayed with him some little time,
and had reading and prayer. He is very honest and real.
Again :
The native Christian whose name is Hassu seems to
be doing his work l fairly well. His early life was a strange
1 I.e. teaching a school of little urchins belonging to the Koli caste on the
outskirts of the city of Bihwari.
F
66 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
one. He belonged to a Muhammadan family, whose chief
occupation is to take care of the ruinous tomb of an old
Muhammadan ' pir ' or saint. He spent his young days in
the service of this tomb, and participated in the alms of
the faithful. He was baptised some years since, having
heard the Gospel, I believe, first during street preaching.
I went with him to see his relations, whose countenances,
as is commonly the case with this class of people, had very
little to recommend them. Degradation had too certainly
followed on the idleness in which their ancestor's sanctity
enabled them to live. A curious part of their story is that
the people who now support them are Hindus, not
Muhammadans. The 'pir' seems to have been reverenced
alike by both classes of religions, but in the case of the
Hindus, who should naturally have been hostile to him and
his religion, reverence has survived to later generations,
and some poor idolaters of a neighbouring village still hope
to win merit hereafter by supporting his descendants on
part of their produce. This is but one of the many curious
instances in which Hinduism and Muhammadanism have
managed to dissemble their differences in outlying places
in India. Islam has, I think, in all cases been the loser,
adopting the superstitions of its natural enemy without
inclining in the least towards the truths which the super-
stitions feel after. The followers of a system based on the
sternest monotheism have been saint worshippers, but
none, I think, till they accept the truth, regard incarnation
as within the limits of revelation.
It may safely be asserted that at no time was direct
evangelistic work (whether public preaching, Bible classes,
or the care of three of the Delhi districts and three
out-stations in the surrounding district) neglected by the
Cambridge Mission, nor did it cease to have a powerful
attraction for Bickersteth. Preaching in bazars in a
popular style was not his forte, and, to quote a Devonshire
proverb, the fodder he provided was too high up for the
cattle ; but he was at his very best when engaged in earnest
conversation with some inquirers who remained behind
after the audience had broken up, or who, Nicodemus-like,
THE CAMBRIDGE MISSION TO DELHI 67
sought further light in the seclusion of the house or tent
after nightfall.
These longer evangelistic tours, undertaken on the apos-
tolic method of journeying two and two together, greatly
enriched the experience of the Cambridge missionaries,
and led Bickersteth to dwell much on the relative good
and evil of Hinduism and Muhammadanism, and to think
deeply about the best method of presenting Christianity to
the adherents of both these religions. 1 In regard to their
distinctive tenets, he saw how ' the impersonality of the
Supreme Being is a fundamental doctrine of Hinduism,
and affects their whole system.' ' This/ he writes, ' seems
to be frequently forgotten by those who argue that, owing
to its theory of incarnations, the system of Hinduism is far
nearer to Christianity than that of Islam.' In a letter of an
able Sanscritist he had read : ' In Hinduism the principle of
Divine Incarnation abounds to utter extravagance. It is
like a tree which needs nothing but the pruning knife
vigorously applied.' Upon which he commented : ' If the
incarnations of Hinduism were incarnations of a personal,
self-conscious Being, it would be so, but they are not.
They are rather means by which a being, impersonal and
incapable by itself of attaining to conscious existence, is
enabled through contact with matter to attain to person-
ality.'
In answer to the question, ' Has the presence of Islam
in India been for good or evil ? ' he believed it to be
' impossible to give any simple and unqualified reply.'
In a lecture which he delivered after his return to England
(before the Cambridge Graduates Mission Aid Society,
March 1883), he argued :
1 With regard to methods, he looked forward hopefully to the influence of
the Christian 'guru' (Hindu religious teacher) and his disciples as ' potent
auxiliaries, perhaps even chief agencies, in spreading the Gospel in India.'
F 2
68 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
On behalf of Islam it may fairly be contended that
the protest it has maintained for certain fundamental
truths of religion has not been without influence for
good, such as the personality of God, the essential
brotherhood of man with the consequent duty of charity,
and the sinfulness of idolatry and drunkenness. . . .
But heavy counts may be brought to prove that this gain
has been largely counterbalanced. If it asserts the person-
ality and unity of God, it also, by the denial of the fact or
possibility of incarnation, places an impassable barrier
between Him and His creatures. If it rightly proclaims
the essential brotherhood of all men, it finds a false basis
for it in fact, in a common submission to the claims of
Mahomed. Again, taking it as a whole, its moral code
and its practice is lower than that of Aryan nations. A
considerable school of living writers has so minimised
these and other vices and deficiencies of the system as to
justify a verdict almost wholly in its favour. This incon-
siderate partisanship produces a result as far from the
truth as the indiscriminate condemnation which it succeeds.
Good and evil are so intermingled in the system as
necessarily to produce results which cannot be tabulated
under either head, and any estimate of Islam which neglects
this is essentially defective.
More quotations in the same vein might be given, but
enough has been cited to prove the spirit in which
Bickersteth approached some of the problems presented
by comparative religious philosophy, and which he
aimed at impressing on all who came to work with him.
His was a mind from the first singularly free from pre-
judice, and therefore especially fitted to draw up a fair
statement of the strong and weak points of any faith
which has claimed the moral allegiance of the human
heart, and then strike a balance and justify the position
which he himself held.
Education, especially higher education, had been
from the first the principal object in the eyes of those
who started the Cambridge Mission.
THE CAMBRIDGE MISSION TO DELHI 69
The arrival of the Rev. S. S. Allnutt and the Rev.
G. A. Lefroy at the close of December 1 879 had greatly
added to the strength of the mission, and justified the
serious contemplation of a more elaborate educational
programme. From the first Mr. Allnutt identified himself
with the educational work of the mission, for which he
had great ability. Between both these two valuable recruits
to the mission and Edward Bickersteth there grew up the
warmest brotherly affection.
It will be remembered that the charge of St. Stephen's
High School (with 150 boys), training up to the standard of
the University Entrance Examination, was entrusted to the
mission at the beginning of 1880, as was that of several
branch schools in which from four to five hundred boys were
under preparatory training. By the end of 1 880 the mission
was able to undertake an important and characteristic edu-
cational work. It was decided to form classes in order to
supply the need felt since the Government College at Delhi
had been closed, and so to prepare candidates for the B.A.
Examination of the University of Calcutta. This privilege,
indeed, had always been possessed by St. Stephen's High
School as affiliated to that University, but it had long been
held in abeyance. This decision was not arrived at without
prolonged inquiry and prayerful thought. As long before
as October 1878, the Bishop of Lahore had spent three
weeks at Delhi with Bickersteth, and they had visited
together for the first time, but by no means for the last,
the most distant out-stations. 1 They frequently discussed
the educational problem, especially an Arts College, the
1 Writing to Edward Bickersteth from Peshawar (March 16, 1885) the
Bishop says : ' I had two days also with Winter also at Balandshar, and looked
with happy recollections on the road which you and I traversed by Toglaka-
bad to the villages beyond it ; journeys it may yet please God to permit us to
repeat either in the neighbourhood of Delhi or on the frontier.'
70 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
proposal to establish which fell in with the views of the
Bishop, who had himself spent the first years of his
missionary life in a similar college at Agra. The Bishop
had felt (and also had written home to the Cambridge
Committee) the great and urgent importance of there
being a college, as complete as possible in its proportions,
religious, scientific, philosophic, at Delhi and in connection
with the mission there.
In his original paper before the Missionary Aid Society
Dr. French had referred to the Alexandrian schools of
thought and inquiry as supplying the exactest and most
practical model of a Christian Educational Institute, which
in its class-rooms and lectures should be exhaustive of all
the great branches of science and problems of thought on
which the human mind is exercised. He had pointed out
that 'at Alexandria Christianity found ready to hand
great schemes of education encyclopaedic in character,
well compacted and organised in system, expansive and
even tolerant in principle,' and that ' it needed only the
mind of a philosopher and the heart and mind of a
Christian to see how happily all this might be fertilised,
fecundated, refined, and even glorified by being brought
into combination with that seed of the Word God's
divinely appointed instrument of growth into that Divine
Image in which man was created : which, while raising
him out of himself, makes him to be himself in the truest
best sense, humanises most while it most divinises him,
when he is most, as Hippolytus expressed it, Osoiroiovpisvos'
He had further brought out that for the realisation of this
ideal there must be an enquiring as well as a learned
people as a condition of hopefully attempting to introduce
the Alexandrian School system and programme, because
unless there had been a stir and a ferment the scheme
would fall to the ground flat and abortive.
THE CAMBRIDGE MISSION TO DELHI 71
Now from investigation made on the spot in the daily
companionship of the head of the Cambridge Mission, the
Bishop's spirit was deeply stirred within him. As he
mused the fire burned, and he wrote to Cambridge
describing the opening and the need of a college ' which
should (by God's help) rally round it the more highly
educated natives, and Hindus trained at the primary and
middle Government Schools, training them indeed for
M.A. degrees, both at Lahore and Calcutta, but with the
loftier and purer aim which Christian teaching imparts to
other studies when that teaching is seen to be not merely
a bye-end of an institution, but its quickening, informing,
and binding principle.' He drove home the plea by
illustrating ' the happy results ' which had followed the
establishment of such colleges by Theodore and Hadrian
in Canterbury, by Alcuin at York, at Alexandria in earlier
times, and recently at Calcutta and Bombay by the Jesuits,
and forcibly clinched his argument by the assertion :
' This is the very crisis, Delhi is the very place, the
Cambridge Mission is in several respects, to say the least,
the very instrument which seems to me needed.' Thus he
reaffirmed the verdict passed by the Bishop of Calcutta in
1876, on the opportunity opened for Cambridge by the
closing of the Government College, and at last his ideal
based on the Alexandrian method of combining theo-
logical and general learning took shape not only in his
Theological School at Lahore, but also in the Arts College
at Delhi.
That Bickersteth himself had already made up his
mind in the direction indicated by the Bishop can be
gathered from his appeal to Cambridge, when he had
pleaded for the establishment of a college where teaching
would be given by Christian teachers and be permeated
with Christian ideas, and added : ' Will two laymen of
?2 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
sufficient attainments and of high aims offer to undertake
this work ' ? while in a later letter to Dr. Wcstcott
(September I, 1881) he described the situation thus :
As regards the college, I have mentioned that our
original proposal extended only to establishing a hostel
for Christian students attending the Delhi Government
College. The Government Institution was, however, closed
shortly before we arrived in Delhi ; and we found that
a scheme had already been set on foot by some of the
wealthier inhabitants of the city to establish a native
college, to which it was expected Government would give
the usual grants in aid. We were anxious that if possible
nothing should be done by us which might prejudice an
independent and public-spirited movement of this kind.
At the same time we felt that far more beneficial results
might reasonably be looked for from an education which
was completed under Christian influences, than if boys
who had been trained in our schools passed just at the
period when their minds are naturally most susceptible of
impressions into a college which at best held a neutral
attitude towards religious truth. Under these circum-
stances it was during last summer agreed that the mission
should undertake to open college classes from January
1 88 1 for pupils from St. Stephen's and other mission
schools. The limitation left a wide field for independent
enterprise. The promoters, however, of a native college
failed to collect sufficient funds to secure the support of
the Punjab Government. Their scheme, therefore, has
fallen into abeyance, and is not now likely to be revived,
Since this happened we have received an intimation to the
effect that a missionary college open to all students,
whether of Government or mission schools, and conducted
by our mission, would probably receive liberal support
from the Government. Proposals made by us in reply,,
having reference mainly to the amount of pecuniary
assistance we should require, are at present under the
consideration of the Punjab authorities. If these negotia-
tions have a satisfactory termination, the higher education
of so large a district as the South Punjab will for the first
time have been placed in Christian hands.
The news of this opening was received with enthusiasm
THE CAMBRIDGE MISSION TO DELHI 73
by the Cambridge Committee, and at their request the
Bishop of Durham (Dr. Lightfoot) penned a vigorous and
characteristic appeal to his old University to rise to this
occasion.
After reminding Cambridge that as himself responsible
for the working of a large, populous, and undermanned
diocese, and eager therefore to welcome zealous and earnest
recruits for his own work, he yet gladly made himself
the mouthpiece of the cry from Delhi, regarding the
mission there as the first charge on the evangelistic zeal and
devotion of Cambridge, he then proceeded to quote the
passage from Bickersteth's letter given above as best
describing ' a signal opportunity, unforeseen when the mis-
sion was planned.' In conclusion he asked for five more men,
two for the new University and three for the more general
work of the mission. ' But what have the committee to offer
in return ? Certainly not wealth or luxury or ease, but a
modest stipend sufficient for maintenance, brotherly co-
operation and sympathy, opportunities of common prayer
and devotional exercises, and, above all, a great work to be
done for Christ's sake. Are there not five true sons of
Cambridge to whom such a prospect is far nobler and
brighter and more alluring than the immediate comfort of
a country curacy, or the ultimate prospect of a country
rectory ? Are there not five men who are prepared to lose
their souls that they may find them ? '
This appeal was circulated in November 1881, and in
the following spring (May 20) a largely attended meeting l
was organised by the London Committee at the College
1 At the meeting the Rt. Hon. G. Cubitt (now Lord Ashcombe) presided,
and the speakers were Bishop (Lightfoot) of Durham, Bishop (Harvey Good-
win) of Carlisle, Dr. Westcott (now Bishop of Durham), Bishop (Benson) of
Truro, Rt. Hon. H. C. Raikes, M.P., Mr. Dalrymple, M.P., Canon Farrar
(now Dean of Canterbury), Rev. E. H. Bickersteth (now Bishop of Exeter),
Rev. Brownlow Maitland, and Mr. C. Raikes, C.S.I.
74 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
Hall, Westminster, to make the opportunity more widely
known. On that occasion Dr. Westcott reminded those
present that :
In the other Indian universities English had been the
one medium of higher education. In that of the Punjab
it was proposed that while the subject-matter remained
unchanged, instruction might be given in the vernacular. 1
Everyone could see at once the vast difficulties and the
corresponding advantages offered by that scheme. It
involved nothing less than quickening into vigorous
growth the language which answered to the characteristic
modes of native thought. Let them consider for a moment
what would have been the loss to England if all higher
education had been given to them through the medium of
Greek, what would have been the loss to the apprehension
of Christian truth. No one could feel more intense
gratitude than he for the lessons which Greek had taught
them. But the Christian truths have passed into our
common tongue and received large enrichments in the
process. This represented to them, he believed, what we
may look for in India. Let the treasures of western
thought find expression it would be a long and hard
work he knew in the vernacular, and there would be a
double gain of incalculable value. India would be the
richer, and they would be the richer. Not only would there
be the power of conveying all that they had learnt of truth
to every native in its most effective form, but they would
learn in due time those aspects of the one Faith which in
the order of Providence the Indian mind was fitted to
present in virtue of its peculiar endowment. For they
must be blind to the teaching of the past, if they did not
believe that God would enable them to see hereafter more
of His counsel through the races of the East. He con-
cluded by describing the educational work at Delhi as an
opportunity for sharing, however humbly, and it must be
very humbly, in moulding the moral and spiritual bent of
a great people, a sacred charge which had been undertaken,
1 It may be well to explain that all instruction in the arts course is
given through the medium of English, though at the same time there are
Arabic and Sanscrit classes connected with the University, which have been
a step in the direction pointed out by Dr. Westcott as so full of promise.
THE CAMBRIDGE MISSION TO DELHI 75
or rather which had been given and not refused. It could
not now be laid aside, and they wanted men, Cambridge
men, to fulfil it. icaXov TO a6\ov KOI 17 gXvrts
On the point of language, Edward Bickersteth himself
used to point out that 'there is probably no Christian
doctrine, however deep and intricate, which the copious
and pliant language of India, with the aid on the one side
of Sanscrit, on the other of Persian and Arabic, will not
eventually be able to express in a suitable terminology.'
He also felt that there was a profound truth and insight in
the forecast of his old teacher Dr. Westcott, that ' the
intellectual and spiritual sympathies of the leading peoples
of India are with Syria and Greece rather than with Rome
and Germany, that they will move with greater power
along the lines traced out by Origen and Athanasius than
along those of Augustine and Anselm which we have I
followed.' Bickersteth held that this opinion would in
time be confirmed by all experience in eastern lands.
The St. Stephen's College at Delhi was eventually
founded, and in October (1882) the Act was passed
which constituted the Punjab University College at
Lahore a college complete in all its functions, St. Stephen's
College being at once affiliated to it. But by that
time Edward Bickersteth had been invalided to England.
He was forced by repeated attacks of fever to leave India
in the August of 1882, confidently expecting to be back
again before Christmas. As a matter of fact, he never saw
again the scene of his first missionary labours until the
early spring of 1893, by which time he had been seven
years Bishop in Japan.
Among the happiest experiences of his Delhi life was
the winter visit paid to him in 1880-1 by his father and
stepmother. After Mr. Bickersteth had been twenty-five
76 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
years vicar of Christ Church, Hampstead, his parishioners
presented him with a cheque, requesting him to spend
part of it in a visit to India to see his son, well knowing
that no suggestion would be more agreeable to him.
Accordingly my father, leaving England in October, was
met by my brother at Calcutta, and travelled with him
for several weeks, ten days being spent at Delhi, inspecting
missions in North India.
There are very few letters of this Delhi period of my
brother's life preserved, and one note book in which he
jotted down scant memoranda is missing. The absence
of these must be a loss to the biographer, but enough has
been said to show the part and lot in the founding of the
Cambridge Mission which in the Providence of God
Edward Bickersteth was allowed to fill ; and the harder
task now remains of trying to draw back the veil from the
inner life of the mission, rightly hidden from the world,
but for all that ' the very pulse of the machine.'
In conclusion, the following paper of personal recollec-
tions, kindly contributed by the Rev. H. U. Weitbrecht,
D.D., C.M.S. Missionary at Batala, will be read with
interest :
My first introduction to Edward Bickersteth was in
February 1 876, when he was residing at Pembroke College
as a Fellow. Having resigned my curacy at Liverpool, I
was on the way to London to offer my services to the
C.M.S., and spent some days with the Rev. T. V. (after-
wards Bishop) French, whose appeal on behalf of the
Lahore Divinity School had drawn my attention. Mr.
French's thoughts were naturally full of the plan then in
hand for starting a Cambridge University Mission, and he
offered to take me with him to a meeting which was to be
held at Cambridge to discuss and set forward the project.
I was only too pleased to go, and still more gratified on
arriving at Cambridge to find that my host there was the
man who was the moving spirit of the whole scheme. The
THE CAMBRIDGE MISSION TO DELHI 77
days spent in Bickersteth's rooms at Cambridge saw the
beginning of a lifelong friendship.
In May 1876 I went to reside at Cambridge for three
months for the purpose of reading Sanscrit, and during
that time we had many opportunities of discussing the
work of missions, past, present, and future, and especially
the great questions of how to influence the philosophical
and educated classes of India, and to train the clergy and
preachers of her Church. So strong were our sympathies
that Bickersteth proposed to me to join the new Brother-
hood, but being already pledged to the C.M.S. this was
impossible.
It was, however, a delight and a privilege that I
repeatedly enjoyed, to have the opportunity of intimate
intercourse with Bickersteth in India, where he followed
me a year later. Early in 1879 I saw him at Delhi, and
wondered at the progress he had made in the language
amid the enormous mass of work that had devolved upon
him when left in full charge of the widely ramified
mission in his first year. Two contrasting pictures of him
come to my remembrance in that year. The first is that
of a little service with a handful of Cliamar Christians in
one of the bastis of Delhi. We sat on a charpoy (cot) ; a
few prayers were read, a rude hymn sung to ruder instru-
ments, and a simple address given by Bickersteth. The
other scene was laid in Simla, where we met a few months
later. Bickersteth had readily accepted an invitation to
lecture in English to an audience of non-Christians, con-
sisting chiefly of well educated and high-caste men con-
nected with the Government offices in Simla, many of
them adherents of the theistic Brahmo Samaj. The subject
that he chose was the trial of Jesus Christ. In his keen
and polished, yet earnest and sympathetic style, he drove
home forcibly the argument for the divinity of the Saviour,
from the fact that He staked life and reputation on the
truth of His assertion that He was the Son of God. Not
long after, when we were on a walking tour together, some
remarks on the same subject in a Brahmo journal called
forth a letter from Bickersteth, which he read to me before
sending it. It was in the same style as his lecture that is
to say, a specimen of what Christian controversy should
be. One cannot be too thankful that the Oxford Mission
to Calcutta, a result of the stimulus which Bickersteth gave
78 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
and which deals with the same class of people, fully main-
tains the same tone.
The walking tour that I referred to covered a happy
ten days of that same summer holiday. We had for com-
panions Murray and (I think) one other, and we walked
fifty miles out toKotgur by the Simla-Tibet road, returning
the same way. Delightful was the first nearer approach to
the great snow range of the interior Himalayas, delightful
the talks by the way and the Greek Testament readings in
the forest or the hospitable mission house in the secluded
station of Kotgur.
Three years later came the sad news that Bickersteth
was invalided home. The meetings at Diocesan Synods,
ordinations, and like occasions were at an end, nor did I see
him again till after he had been for some time as Bishop in
Japan. In April 1891 I \vas passing with my wife, who
was recovering from a long and weary illness, through
Tokyo, and there we were warmly welcomed by our old
friend, and spent some days in his house. Here it certainly
seemed to me that his special gifts had found a fit field for
their exercise. Faithful and strenuous in whatever task he
was called to do, whether small or great, he was, I take it,
more especially fitted to deal with the larger questions of
policy and principle, and to teach, influence, and guide
educated men and women. How effectually he did so his
biography will sufficiently show.
The last time we met was early in 1893, as Bickersteth
was passing through India. Even t\vo years before he had
seemed to be exhausted by work beyond his strength, and
now his old Indian trouble had returned to some extent.
But he was full of interest in all that he saw at Batala, where
I was then stationed, and ready to hold a Bible reading for
the missionaries, which brought to memory our Himalayan
intercourse. I parted from him with apprehension ; yet
God allowed him to work a while longer, and when the sad
news of his departure came one could but feel that a full
life-work had' been crowded into his comparatively few
years, and thank God for that life with its deeds and
memories.
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CHAPTER IV
THE DELHI MISSION THE LIFE
' You have given much attention to the methods and helps which con-
tribute to the cultivation of the spiritual life, and I am sure that this should
be the distinguishing mark of a Brotherhood, and that on it eventually, all
special success will depend. ' Letter from Rev. Edward Bickersteth to the
Rev. G. A. Lefroy, November 20, 1884.
' THE picture I have always had of him is at the close of
a day in Delhi. I stayed with them once in the hot
weather, when we all slept on the roof. When we had
all laid down, he walked up and down the parapet, as I
thought praying over the city from a place where he could
look down upon it. His tall figure against the dark sky
made quite an impression on me, and I feel sure that the
burden of the city's needs weighed on him nobly. ... It
was he who placed the Delhi Mission on a very high level
of continual consecration.' So writes (August 1897) the
Rev. J. H. Lloyd, now Vicar of St. Giles', Norwich,
formerly Principal of St. John's College (C.M.S.), Agra.
' His was indeed a consecrated life, and India can never
forget him,' was the testimony of India's late Metropolitan
Bishop, Dr. Johnson of Calcutta, in a letter of the same
date.
Now it will be conceded that spiritual consecration
issues in devotional life and craves for expression in
devotional habits, and it is the purpose of this chapter
to draw aside the veil as far as may be, and show how
' frequent opportunities of united devotion ' was the rule
SO BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
of the Delhi Brotherhood as conceived by Edward
Bickersteth. In his first paper before the Cambridge
Church Society (February 9, 1876) he summed up the
advantages of a Community mission, looked at from this
aspect, in these words :
Then, and on this I lay especial stress, there is the
opportunity which will be afforded for united religious
exercises and services. Without wishing for one moment
to impugn the belief in the special presence of God with
the solitary labourer, yet to most men there is no greater
help in a work of abounding difficulty than the opportunity
and the obligation of common devotion. It is striking
to notice that even a St. Francis Xavier, after one of his
great missionary journeys, refused to set forth again
until he had time to recruit his spiritual force by staying
awhile in the retreat of his college.
' Frequent opportunity of united devotion ' was there-
fore quite as much the aim of the Cambridge Mission as
even concentration of effort, subdivision of labour, con-
tinuity of teaching, and leisure for literary work. Edward
Bickersteth, although brought up among Evangelicals, who
twenty-five years ago had not yet made up their minds as
to the spiritual results of such times of retirement, was
indeed not unfamiliar with the blessing of retreats and
quiet days, for his father, who had taken the lead in this
as in other matters, had for some years planned and
carried 'out an annual Retreat at Christ Church, Hamp-
stead. Among the conductors appear such names as the
Rev. Canon Thorold (afterwards Bishop successively ot
Rochester and of Winchester), the Rev. Canon W. H.
Fremantle of Claydon, Bucks (afterwards Dean of Ripon),
the Rev. Canon Garbett, and the Rev. W. Boyd Carpenter
(afterwards Bishop of Ripon).
Another help to his devotional life came to him through
his friendship with the Rev. Canon Wilkinson (then Vicar
THE DELHI MISSION THE LIFE 8 I
of St. Peter's, Eaton Square, and successively Bishop of
Truro and of St. Andrews), with whom he stayed in the
spring of 1877, and who became, in God's providence,
one of the strongly formative influences of his spiritual
life.
Bickersteth therefore left England for his new work
strongly imbued with the conviction that prayer is worth
our best time, ' more things being wrought by prayer than
man dreams of,' and also not without some experience
as to the best way of organising concerted action in
prayer.
It was to him a matter of special thankfulness that
the ten days' visit of the Bishop of Calcutta to Delhi
(which, as already mentioned, followed close on his own
arrival there) ended with a quiet day of devotion :
A practice which will (he writes), I hope, at intervals
be always continued in our mission. . . . We found the
practice quite as helpful here in a heathen land as some
of us in former days had done in London. There was a
peculiar sense of calm and strength in the gathering of
our little company to pray both for itself and for the great
heathen city, whose cries we could so plainly hear as we
knelt in our silent church.
While, writing after a year in India, we find him ex-
pressing the hope :
That it may be possible to arrange for a longer period of
withdrawal from direct work [than is afforded by a quiet
day]. If this is necessary in England, it is still more so in
India. Mission life is life at high pressure, and in itself
seems to have but little leisure for cultivating recollected-
ness and prayerfulness of spirit. For the sake of the
mission itself it will be very desirable, I believe, from time
to time to escape from missionary duties altogether.
A paper on ' Missionary Training,' which he read in the
G
82 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
Selwyn Divinity School, Cambridge (April 9, 1884), sums
up his experience gained at Delhi in these words :
No men, I believe, as a class so need the help of a
regulated devotional life as missionaries. Contact with
heathenism and Islam tends more rapidly to exhaust
spiritual energy than anything else. Happy, then, those
whose spiritual training has led them to value regular
reading of Holy Scripture, meditation, frequent com-
munions, daily times of retirement, retreats, and the other
different helps to spiritual progress for the voluntary use
of which opportunity is now, as a rule, given in our
theological colleges. The exigencies of foreign work may
in after years cut them off for a time from some of these
blessings as, for instance, from Holy Communion ; but if
it be so, they will carry with them the desires and habits
which the holy practice of their years of training will have
implanted in them, and that sense of the Divine Presence
which regulated practice so fosters that it abides, even
when the practice itself must for a time be laid aside.
Of a piece with this was the great value which Bicker-
steth had learnt to set on intercessory prayer. He writes :
The Book of Prayers published by the S.P.G. is in
daily use at our Mission House at three o'clock in the
afternoon, which, allowing for the difference of time
between India and England, associates us with you in
common supplication about the same hour. 1
This conviction of the duty and privilege of regular
and detailed intercession only deepened as years went
on, so that during his episcopate of Japan, and right on to
the last week of his life, not a day passed without his
bringing before God the needs of each mission station in
1 From a paper issued in Cambridge it appears that a short service had
been started at 9.30 P.M. on the first Saturday in each month at the Mission
House in Jesus Lane, Cambridge, ' as Mr. Bickersteth had asked that those
interested in the mission would specially remember it in prayer that day,'
bc>ing that on which the monthly service for English-speaking workers was
held in Delhi.
THE DELHI MISSION THE LIFE 83
his diocese and its workers. No matter where he was at
the hour assigned to that duty (generally about 2 P.M.)
in crowded railway train or busy steamer, or in the quiet of
his study the closed eyes and recollectedness of bearing
would tell those who knew him best that the Bishop had
entered the presence of God bearing his people on his heart.
The following letter touches on these points.
Delhi : November 8, 1878.
My dear Sam, You are the most excellent of fellows
in writing me letters. I quite look forward to getting them,
and I am the worst of replyers, if such a word there be.
But I must send you a line to-day, even though Hunter is
away at Kurnal, and I have both churches (station and
mission) to preach in on Sunday, which meaneth three
sermons.
Before I forget it, about the Highgate boys. I'll try
and send them a letter for their magazine in December.
I have already sent to the printer a letter to Mr. Bullock
of the S.P.G., of which I will send copies home as soon as
it is ready, and you can send them I am afraid it is not
much of an epistle to Wordsworth, Holland, Dalton, &c.,
with my love.
An article I have written on ' retreats ' in the ' Indian
Christian Intelligencer' is, I hope, better worth perusing.
It ought to have been out now, but the MS. was mislaid,
and it will appear in the December number.
If I feel one thing more strongly than another about
this missionary work, after a year's thought and work
(more work than thought though), it is that the ' Wilkinson '
idea of missions is the right one. I call it the ' Wilkinson
idea ' because I got it most, and realised it most, in talking
to him. I mean that the results, as far as results are
granted, will be in proportion, generally speaking, to the
spirituality of the agents. Increase your central fire ; i.e.
be more filled with the Spirit, have a stronger hold on
verities, live more in the sense of the unseen, realise (like
Brother Lawrence) the overshadowing Presence, let Christ
dwell in our hearts Bia rrfs tria-rsajs (taking those words in
their mystery and fulness and blessedness), crush down
selfishness and sin, and then through perhaps only two or
84 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
three such agents more good might be done in a short while
than by fifty ordinary Christians. Our present Bishop ' goes
towards the ideal ; none, of course, attain it, as its measure
is ' the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ ' but
he exemplifies to me to some extent the idea one can form
and dimly strive after. Such men breathe a power around
them ; they are not, like your Evangelistic preachers, always
aiming at conversions in the narrower sense of the term ;
but still their whole life tends to convert people, whether
dead Christians or inquiring heathens. They are not always
talking about the Cross, but yet they lead men to it and,
too, induce them to take it up ; they deal with all truths
as they come across their path, thankful to set men right
on any point, or to plant any seed which may grow and
fructify.
What a wonderful thing is that peace which God can
give to those who ' walk in the light.' Emphatically it is
a gift : it is no use striving after it directly : aim more
singly at God's glory, strive to be purer, holier, better,
and God gives it as a reward which indeed passeth under-
standing.
There is evening church bell, so I must hasten on.
Later, after church. Some business turned up just before
church, so I had to stop ; but I have given up my ' basti '
service to-night to our schoolmaster, so that I may get
through some letters. One of the trials of this life is the
multiplicity of small things : so likely are they to disturb
that peace I was speaking of if one lets them e.g. since I
began to write, a letter from a young lady to say she would
be glad if I would send her a cheque for travelling expenses
(I have just engaged her as Zenana teacher) ; the names
of my class to be called over ; some money to be sent to
Hunter in the district ; a man to be talked to who wanted a
tip and didn't get it ; a letter about a house which has just
turned up and might suit our girls' school, and I dare say
some other matters which I now forget. There is a fine
passage in chap. iii. of the ' Imitation ' (wrongly translated
in the English version, the ' ones ' should all have capital
O's) about the unity of work. It isn't so easy to see that each
of the manifold trifles tends towards the development of
' the kingdom of God,' but it is plain that none of them
'I.e. Bishop Thomas Valpy French, of Lahore.
THE DELHI MISSION THE LIFE 85
could be omitted without detriment to that little part of the
kingdom where each little trifle arises.
Ever your most affectionate Brother,
EDWARD BICKERSTETH.
A new feature of the first year's work in Delhi was the
establishment in St. Stephen's Church of a monthly
devotional service for English-speaking workers, consist-
ing of a lesson, two hymns, a missionary litany, and an
address.
Among the subjects which have occupied us
hitherto, (he writes) have been ' Times of Retirement '
' United Action,' ' Prayer,' ' Holy Communion,' &c.
This and the daily use of a series of special collects have
been found by all real helps towards realising the oneness
of our work and its dependence on the one Source of life
and strength.
Out of this monthly service sprang daily morning
prayer and a Thursday celebration of Holy Communion
for English-speaking mission workers.
Even in itself (Bickersteth writes in 1879) there is, I
think, real use in the bell of a Christian church being heard
twice a day in a city where the cry of the muezzin is never
omitted from the platform of a hundred mosques.
And in 1882 he writes:
Hindus consider us a very irreligious people, and
it has been thought that one reason of the fewness and
the want of stedfastness in Muhammadan converts is to
be found in the inadequacy of the provision for public
devotion in the Church. Muhammad knew what he was
about when he established the five obligatory hours of
prayer, besides three others for the specially religious.
A weekly devotional meeting for catechists and native
Christian masters was started in October 1878, and the
Bishop of Lahore (Dr. French), who was then on a visit to
86 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
the mission, conducted the first of these. Bickersteth
writes that 'it will be calculated to give a tone to the
week's work,' and it was this higher and more spiritual
tone on which he set an ever-increasing value as he saw
more of missionary success and missionary failure. He
also circulated a special subject for prayer every month in
the mission, to secure that prayer should be offered with
the understanding as well as with the spirit.
The need of pastoral and devotional books, which
hitherto had been infrequently used in Delhi, was much
felt. Bickersteth often alludes to it, and regrets that the
catechists had no such book to use on their way to their
work and again on their return. It is characteristic of
him that on his arrival in Delhi his first present to each
of the native catechists had been a copy of St. Augustine's
' Confessions ' 'a book [he writes] which has been recently
translated into Urdu, and which seems wonderfully to
commend itself to the native mind.' l
But ' a man's praying power is not a mere arbitrary
possession.' He cannot command it when he will. It is
the result of the growth, generally of the slow growth, of
his spiritual character, the development of a faith that
has long communed with God. No account of the inner
life of the Cambridge Mission would be complete without
some reference to the private habits and personal religion
of the first head of the mission. In God's providence he
was sent to Delhi not only to plant the Cambridge Mission
but also to purge the mission in Delhi of many weak
adherents to the Christian Church, and to raise the standard
of personal holiness among the Christian converts as well
1 It may here be noted that a book of historical sketches, entitled The
Women of Christendom (published by the S.P.C.K.), was written at his
request by his friend, the late Mrs. Charles, author of The Chronicles of the
Schonberg Cotta Family, for use in Zenana work.
THE DELHI MISSION THE LIFE 87
as among the European workers. This result could never
have been attained had it not been for his own strenuous
strivings after holiness. He was not a man who kept a
devotional diary in which he poured out his soul almost
with the freedom and fulness with which a man talks to his
friend. But he began a habit (February 1 876) a year before
he left England, which he seems never to have intermitted
during his sojourn at Delhi and for years afterwards, of
noting down each occasion on which he received Holy
Communion the place, date, and the special subject of
prayer, thanksgiving, or intercession then uppermost in his
mind. They are noted with the utmost brevity, but they
supply a continuous comment on his life of spiritual
endeavour, and few, if any, of the chief interests of his work
fail to find a place in these entries as the years roll on.
In giving a few examples as a key to some of the self-
discipline and training of the future Missionary Bishop, it
must be understood that he himself would have been the
first to deprecate their being regarded as other than
the ordinary practice in the life of a growing Christian.
Often these eucharistic resolutions (whether made in
Pembroke Chapel or in the cities and villages of Northern
India) were of the simplest, as :
To look day by day for a happy sense of the Presence
of Christ ;
Or,
For an immediate reference and obedience to Him
such as was that of the disciples to the Son of Man in the
days of His ministry.
Or,
For early rising [which for long was a difficulty to him,
but for which he continuously strove until he acquired
the habit].
Lent was always observed with special attention, care
being taken at Easter to note down with frank fidelity
88 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
success or failure, progress or defeat. Thus after his first
Lent in India he notes on Easter Day (April 21, 1878):
My Lenten Rule has been much broken, partly by my
own want of zeal, partly by Murray's illness and the great
rush of work which came in on me on Winter's departure.
Then follows reference to the points of fasting and
self-denial, which he had set himself to observe, with the
characteristic touch of common-sense : ' Remember that
any fasting which weakened would be wrong in this
country,' and then follow these resolutions :
A. During this hot weather it is essential for me to rise
and go to bed at such hours as at all cost to obtain time
for prayer.
B. To daily pray amid the great responsibilities of my
office for very special grace and power, and for
C. Calmness and the sense of Christ's Presence amid a
multitude of little things, and
D. That my sense of responsibility as a minister of the
Church may not be weakened by isolation or residence
among heathen.
At times he would take one main subject for a whole
year, and e.g. try to practise humility in various ways
throughout that time. So he would resolve :
Not to read for the sake of having read.
Not to speak for effect in the presence of superiors or
inferiors.
Not to love authority for its own sake.
To care for truth, not supremacy in argument.
To guard against over-sensitiveness, probably due to
pride (think of Christ's humility).
For guidance on the subject of confession.
Or he would seek for a ' love of souls born of love to
God,' and would pray that he might ' maintain an intense
desire for the conversion and helping of souls,' and that he
might ' let nothing interfere with the actual effort to draw
THE DELHI MISSION THE LIFE 89
souls to God, or nearer to God.' At this time he had
been much impressed with the burning love of the Rev.
R. Bateman, C.M.S. missionary at Narowal, of whom in
after years he loved to speak as 'the apostle of the
Punjab.'
At another time he took a year of ' seeking God's glory
because I love Him, and progressively as I love Him more
so overcoming (i) passion ; (2) self-seeking and selfish-
ness, specially in unreadiness to give up plans ; (3) unreadi-
ness to meet others.'
Sometimes he would concentrate his thoughts on inter-
cession, and the names of his fellow-workers (Carlyon,
Murray, Lefroy, Allnutt, R. R. Winter) constantly recur
in this way.
Nor did he omit thanksgiving e.g. ' because his midday
and pre-Communion meditation had been blessed,' ' because
he had been able to control his thoughts at the time of
consecration,' or ' for the experience of a deeper reverence
at the time of reception of the Holy Eucharist,' or ' because
of some glimpses of His Presence.'
It will be understood that these resolutions, which I
have here necessarily strung together, were used by him
singly, and that this watchful soldier of the Cross let his
whole soul go out, now to one point and now to another,
in which he sought a closer likeness to his Lord. Though
he framed for himself, and used at intervals, a carefully
constructed scheme of self-examination based on his
ordination vows, yet he never practised and never advised
the indiscriminate use of a long list of questions which tend
either to depress or to deceive the questioner. Those
who, in India or elsewhere, have attended retreats and quiet
days conducted by Edward Bickersteth have borne witness
to the power of his addresses, not only as uplifting, but as
most practical, and his spiritual counsels to others could
90 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
never have been so thorough, so searching, or so stimulat-
ing had they not been the reflection of his own spiritual
life.
Further proof of Bickersteth's sense of the great impor-
tance of an ordered devotional life is given in a paper on
' System in Private Prayer ' which he read on his return
from India in the rooms of his friend, the Rev. Heriz
Smith, Fellow of Pembroke College. After anticipating
' the objections often brought in perfect good faith against
method in devotion, on the ground that though order and
form were necessary for public worship, yet nowhere is a
method less needed, or perhaps more out of place, than in the
access of a soul to God, and in its personal and private
approach to Him, he acknowledged that anything which
could interfere with the sense of filial confidence towards God
on the part of the suppliant must be opposed to the first
principles of our Lord's teaching, and he wholly refused to
admit as valid a priori objections to a systematised religion.
Taking the seventeenth century as his example a century
which has not yet been adequately appreciated, as it was
the century of Bacon, Descartes, and Leibnitz in philosophy,
of Harvey, Newton, and Halley in natural science, and in
religion of the Oratorians, Port Royalists, and Quietists
with Fenelon in France ; of Spener and the Pietists in
Germany ; of Molinos in Italy ; and of the school of
Bishop Andrewes, the Puritans, and the Cambridge Platonists
in England he went on to cite the example of Bishop
Andrewes (once Master of his own college) a man great
alike as a scholar, a preacher, an administrator, and a
linguist of Nicholas Ferrar, of George Herbert, of Bishop
Cosin, as evidence of the very partial application of such
objections. He then enumerated the positive advantages
which had led men of great spiritual discernment to the
adoption of system in prayer and the other parts of
THE DELHI MISSION THE LIFE 91
devotion. Among these were : (i) the maintenance of due
comprehensiveness and variety in prayer ; (2) the readiest
help against wandering thoughts ; (3) security for terse
and simple language, such as becomes creatures in the
presence of a Creator, servants before a Lord, sinners before
a Judge ; (4) the means of bringing into use the treasures
of the past.' In conclusion he said :
We have had a great deal of thinking done for us, and
this is no less true of devotion than of philosophy. It is
not possible to believe that God can have so endowed the
Church of later days with the bequests of the past, and at
the same time have meant them to lie idle and infructuous
on the shelves of libraries, instead of being, in proportion
to their power and excellence, still used as the vehicle of
prayer and intercession.
In accordance with this was Bickersteth's frequent
advice to use at the time of private devotion, first, ' a
book of prayers by some approved author or collector,
reverent, sober, and full the gain being great if such a
book was interleaved and secondly, a MS. book in which
each missionary should arrange and collect for himself such
prayers as he valued.'
The testimony of Dr. Phillips Brooks (afterwards Bishop
of Massachusetts) on this point is striking. Speaking in
1885 at the College Hall, Westminster, he thus referred to
his visit nearly three years previously to the Cambridge
Mission, Delhi :
I was struck by the consecration of the missionaries
to their work, and by their sincere piety. I shall never
forget those simple noonday services in the little mission
chapel, in which they consecrate themselves and their
work to God. I have been present at no services which
left upon my mind a more profound impression.
Enough has been said to prove the spirit in which the
first Head of the Cambridge Mission girded himself for
92 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
the work, and it is time to try and trace the results of the
devotional system thus definitely adopted and diligently
maintained.
To it may be attributed certain marked features of the
mission : (a) its definite discipline, (b) its clear and dogmatic
presentation of the Christian faith, and (c) the singular har-
mony which knit together the brotherhood, and which has
characterised the community from the first day until now.
(a) Discipline. It will be remembered that Bickersteth
was called upon within two or three months of his arrival
to take over the supervision of the complex machinery of the
whole mission at Delhi. While he found much to admire,
he found also some things to criticise, and in his judgment
there was need of greater firmness in the administration of
discipline.
During the few years preceding the establishment of
the Cambridge Mission large numbers of the Chamars or
shoe-makers had been baptised by Mr. Winter, sometimes,
as Bickersteth was led to think, upon insufficient proof of
faith and repentance. Shortly after his arrival he noted
in his Diary (January 1878) :
In the evening after service we were surprised by a party
of 1 1 people (7 men and 4 boys) coming in from , all
wishing for baptism. Mr. \Vinter explained to them the
seriousness of the step. They are to stay the night.
The next day he adds :
The eleven Christians were baptised this evening.
They just know the elements of Christianity, and had an
earnest desire for baptism. Is this quicker than St. Paul
and the jailer ?
In his first formal letter to Mr. Bullock (October 1878)
we find him uttering a warning note :
Most of the Christians are as yet very poor and very
ignorant, understanding but little of the step they have
THE DELHI MISSION THE LIFE 93
taken, but they have at least been brought under the influ-
ence of a new and higher life. It is true one sometimes
reads almost in despair St. Paul's descriptions of his recent
converts in such passages as I Thessalonians i. ; but never-
theless it would be faithless not to thank God for what we
have, and to pray, work, and look for both their social and
spiritual advancement.
In the following February (1879) Bickersteth took
advantage of the annual church meeting, consisting of
mission agents and members of the ' Panchyats,' or local
councils, to bring up for discussion the desirability of a
service of admission for catechumens. He writes :
All agreed as to the desirability in many cases of admit-
ting catechumens by a regular service in church ; with the
less educated especially, who require a longer preparation,
it would prove of very great service. . . . Special cases, of
course, might occur in which baptism could not be delayed.
The plan was tried, and proved so beneficial that in a
letter to Dr. Westcott, written two and a-half years later,
Bickersteth was able to say :
Besides this, after full discussion with Mr. Winter and
our native brethren in the missionary council, some rules
of discipline have been laid down. These relate mainly to
two points, the instruction of candidates for baptism and
admission to the Holy Communion. With regard to the
instruction of candidates we have adopted the plan of a
catechumens' class, into which all candidates are admitted
by a short service. As regards the difficult point of admis-
sion to and exclusion from Holy Communion, the best
criterion seemed to be attendance at the ordinary services.
By the admirable arrangement of small school-houses and
chapels which Mr. Winter has established in various parts of
the city these services are brought close to their very doors.
Great negligence in attending them is therefore particularly
culpable, and seems to warrant exclusion from the higher
ordinance. The number of baptisms and communicants
on the system is at present very small. Perhaps this is
for a while not greatly to be regretted. Among a class so
94 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
degraded and yet so comparatively unprejudiced rapid
advance may I think be looked for, when once a few
persons alike well instructed and devoted are leading the
way.
On Mr. Winter's return from his furlough in England
(December 1879), he was at first inclined sharply to differ
from the views taken on this matter of discipline by the
younger man who had acted as his locum tenens, but
eventually he himself came to the same conclusion. This
change of mind resulted in a change of policy, which three
years later bore fruit in a general gathering of the converts
to Delhi, where steps were taken to test both their creed
and conduct. A picturesque meeting, lighted by the fitful
gleam of torches and prolonged far into the night, resulted
in a diminution of the number of converts but in a
strengthening of the morale of the mission. Although this
event took place a few months after Bickersteth's return to
England on sick leave, yet it was the result of the more
searching standard by which he tested missionary work.
(#) Purity of doctrine. The same spiritual insight led
him from the first to see the inherent weakness of teaching
Christianity through those whose grasp on its fundamental
doctrines was feeble.
A mind less trained to meditate on eternal truth
might have lost sight of principles under the superincum-
bent weight of daily details loudly calling for immediate
attention ; but devotional feeling, by teaching the soul to
linger in the presence of its Lord, teaches Christians ' not
only to talk with Him face to face as a man speaketh with
his friend, but also as brethren of the only Son to seek and
embrace the faith in full liberty of the Spirit.' :
This led Bickersteth from the first to be keenly
sensitive to any dimness of apprehension in the con-
' II. T. Liddon, The Priest in his Inner Life, p. 38.
THE DELHI MISSION THE LIFE 95
verts as to the Divine claims, and to set great store upon
methods calculated to help them to know God and His
Son Jesus Christ.
He wrote home (1878) :
A greater efficiency combined with a raised spiritual
tone in our teachers, a truer and more vivid sense of the
blessings of which they have been made heirs, and a
stronger desire to make others partakers with themselves,
are perhaps even more to be desired at present in our
mission than an increase of converts.
Again :
An improvement may, I hope, shortly be possible
to our present practice, that is a preachers' class, where
subjects may be carefully prepared and digested before-
hand. Our native brethren experience no such difficulty
as Englishmen often would in filling half an hour with
talk on a religious topic. But too often it happens that
while each sentence of the sermon which is delivered
is sufficiently excellent, the sermon as a whole is too
discursive to leave any lasting impression. A class in
which the subject will be talked out with such helps as
books may supply may, I hope, partly correct this.
Again, later (1881):
Their danger is to be content with a minimum of reading,
while constantly engaged in preaching and teaching.
These extracts are sufficient to prove how keenly he
was alive to the prime necessity of teaching the teachers,
if they were to become weapons meet for the Master's use.
He was well aware that the errors of teachers become the
teachers of error, if we may revise Bishop Beveridge's
aphorism.
This view of Edward Bickersteth's spiritual influence
on the mission is confirmed by the recollections of the Rev
S. S. Allnutt, who writes to me (October 20, 1898) :
p5 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
He was wholly right in his judgment as to the
spiritual condition of the converts, and his spiritual instinct
had discerned what was lacking, ' My people have perished
from lack of knowledge.' It was to supply this that was
the most crying need at first, and so he was led to set
about introducing measures whereby the teachers should
themselves be instructed and their standard of Christian
life raised. What Pere Gratry calls in his life of Pere
Perreyve, ' Organisation de la Vie,' was to all intents and
purposes an unknown factor in the otherwise complete
organisation of the mission. The book I mention was
o
a favourite one of E. B.'s, and he gave it me in 1875 on
my ordination as Priest.
The following letter and extract from a speech show
how fully he believed the Church of England to be called
of God to maintain and hand on this purity of doctrine.
Cambridge Mission, Delhi :
3rd Sunday after Trinity, May 1881.
My dear Sam, I have two letters of yours unan-
swered. Thanks much for them. And, what is more,
time is getting on, and your ordination by the time this
reaches you will be hard at hand ; so, contrary to custom,
I must send you a Sunday line.
I have a good deal on hand just now : a lecture
Wednesday week in Urdu on ' The Jewish Expectation
of a Messiah at the Christian Era.' This is the main
subject There will be some comparison, also, of the
vaguer Gentile hope. This is to be given to a class of
Hindu and Mahomedan masters. I rather think of
writing a little set of lectures in this line : such as
' Heathenism at the Christian Era,' ' The Jewish Sects,'
' How Christ fulfilled the Expectation of the Jews,' &c.
This indirect but, perhaps, not less forcible line of argu-
ment stirs less opposition and has perhaps more weight.
Then I have two sermons in thought : one on ' The
Church' for native Christians, its gradual rise, and the
folly of supposing they can commence building de novo,
and the advantages they gain from being heirs of the
struggles and victories of the past ; and then an ordination
sermon for Trinity Sunday at Amballa. I am glad I shall
be at an ordination service that day. You partly sug-
THE DELHI MISSION THE LIFE 97
gested me a subject. I am going to take the combination
of St. Paul's two great phrases, Xpio-Tos vjrsp and Xpicrroy
h. What you wrote so truly about an historical creed
seems to me to be summed up in these two phrases. Be-
sides, it seems to me that their combination is really that
which we are asked for 'a Gospel for the nineteenth
century.' Speaking generally, Reformation theology and
the modern Evangelical school have laid stress on the virep,
and the Fathers and the modern High Churchmen on the
sv, and just as Dorner has shown in another great subject
that the Godhead of Christ was mainly insisted on till
century XVI. and His manhood after that century, so, I
should say, the work of the nineteenth is to combine
the two teachings. A new Gospel cannot be anything
srspos, or it will fail and come under St. Paul's malison
(Gal. i.) ; but it may be a far more harmonious setting
forth of the old truths in their connection, and not merely
in their distinctness, and in proportion as it is so it will
attract men and satisfy real soul needs. . . .
. . . How thankful we ought to be for this dear old
English Church, and to be allowed to work in her ! With
faults patent enough (especially of organisation) I believe
she goes nearer to the (unattained) ideal of a body which
should teach revealed truth in its manifoldness and har-
mony than any Christian society has done since the first age
(and they probably taught without, not through, formularies).
And I fancy one of the first delights you will find in
ministerial work will be that of finding your daily occupa-
tion to be the assimilation of revealed truth in order to
the dispensing of it. ' Confirma et sanctifica me in veritate,
Sermo tuus est veritas.' May this, dearest brother, indeed
be true of you, and may you all through your life have the
joy of seeing Christ's truth, ministered by you, the means
of spreading the Christ life among your people. Every
past struggle and victory will assuredly help towards this.
I am sending you 5/. to buy books with. Get such as will
be useful for your work ; especially commentaries, histories,
and books on doctrine and sermons not that 5/. will go
far in so many lines !
God bless and keep you, and make you a blessing
prays ever
Your affectionate Brother,
BlCKERSTETH.
H
98 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
Speaking at the Church Congress at Portsmouth, 1885,
he said :
The second suggestion I have to make is in connection
with what I may call the liberty which would be given to
native Churches in India. No doubt our primary duty is
to hand over to them the fulness of the Catholic faith, and
of the Church's organisation. But it is not necessary to
hand over to them anything that is distinctly western. At
the last Pan-Anglican Conference (1878) a resolution, I
think, was passed with reference to the translation of the
Prayer Book into other languages. I venture with great
humility to suggest to your lordships that you should
consider at some future meeting what is the minimum of
conformity which will be required in future between
Oriental Churches and our own Church. I have noticed
in an ecclesiastical paper a report (I do not know whether
correct or not) that the Episcopal Church of America has
announced that it is willing to take into communion with
itself any body of Christians that retains the Episcopal
form of Government, the Holy Scriptures, the Creeds, and
duly consecrated and administered Sacraments. May I
suggest that it may be possible that, in future, we may
receive into communion with our own Church in England
any bodies of Christians who in these four points are at
one with ourselves ? As has been already mentioned, there
are a large number of Christians not belonging to our
communion scattered throughout the length and breadth
of India, but they all look up with reverence to the
English Church. If we of the English Church have those
advantages together which other communities possess
separately namely, an orthodox faith, an unbroken past,
and individual liberty it is our duty to hand these advan-
tages to others ; but as regards the form in which we our-
selves have them, we need not go further than ask them to
receive from us the Divine Word, and the Creeds and the
Church's Ministry and Sacraments, as we have them our-
selves. If the suggestions I make could be carried out, I
think we should have done something towards the develop-
ment of the Church in India.
(c) Spirit of brotherliness. With regard to the harmony
which knit together the Cambridge men into one brother-
THE DELHI MISSION THE LIFE 99
hood, no testimony can be more valuable than that of
the Rev. G. A. Lefroy. Mr. Lefroy was chosen after an
interval to be second Head of the mission, a position
which he has only resigned on his call to be the third
Bishop of Lahore. In a letter to me (dated September
1898) which he sent with his recollections he wrote :
I feel so utterly unable to reproduce on paper any sort
of picture of what he really was to us. You know, I think,
something of what he was to me more than any other
individual, he has been the inspiring example of my life.
Yet we were only together two and a-half years, and that
was fifteen years ago. During that time I was the junior
member of the mission, and was not nearly so much in his
counsels as, e.g. Carlyon and Allnutt
Frequent visitors to the mission at Delhi have recorded
the impression, made upon all of them alike, that those living
there in community were indeed living together as brothers.
Thus the idea of fellowship, emphasised in the first syllable
of the three Greek words placed by Bickersteth at the head
of his paper before the Church Society, 1 proved to be no
standard impossible of attainment, but the inspiration of
their daily life.
From the Rev. G. A. Lefroy
My recollections of contact at Cambridge with Edward
Bickersteth, before the mission started for Delhi, are very
slight indeed. I remember a walk in the Botanical Gardens
shortly after I had, in consequence of a sermon preached
by Dr. Lightfoot in Great St. Mary's, asked to be accepted
as a member of the Brotherhood. One or two more similar
walks I know followed, and then I have a clear recollection
of a characteristically University gathering at which, the
full number of six who had been asked for to start the
mission having been completed, we inaugurated our under-
taking by a breakfast in Pembroke College in the rooms of
1 ffwarpaTiH-rai, ffvvfpyoi, ffv/jLiro\'trai. See Chapter II. p. 29.
H 2
100 BISHOP EDWARD fclCKERSTETII
our leader. And I have often thought that it was a marked
sign of the hand of our God upon us for good from the
first, that although of the six who so sat down to breakfast
in the spring of 1 877 only two were able to go out that
year, two more the next year, and the remaining two not
till the autumn of 1879, yet eventually, without a single
loss or withdrawal from any cause, the same six met in
December 1879 for breakfast and a truly 'common' life
in Delhi. Of the subjects of conversation in those first
walks I remember nothing, but I do know that the sense
of enthusiasm and of keen, though restrained, energy which
so markedly characterised Bickersteth did not wholly fail
of their due effect upon me. In Delhi, while as quite the
youngest and most inexperienced member of the mission
I was unable to enter so thoroughly into the plans and
difficulties of our Head as the elder members, such as
Murray, Carlyon, and Allnutt, yet, on the other hand, just
because of my youth I was brought into specially close
contact with him of another kind, acting as a kind of curate
to him in several departments of our work, notably the
ministerial charge of Daryaganj, one of the most important
of the city districts, and also of Mehrowli, a principal out-
station lying some eleven miles to the south of Delhi.
After the lapse of more than fifteen years, handicapped
as I am by an abnormally weak memory, I am quite unable
to recall specific incidents illustrative of the relationship
so established, and of what it became to me, yet I do
know that in the quiet walks home, late on Sunday night,
from Daryaganj to our own house, a distance of about
two miles, along a road often bathed in the glorious Indian
moonlight, and running between the old Mogul fort of
Delhi on our right hand and the solemn and beautiful
Jama Musjid on the left, while further on we passed through
the historic Kashmir Gate, with its undying Mutiny
associations, ideals were suggested to me, and a force of
character and depth of piety brought home to me, which
in those first days of my ministerial life were of simply
priceless value, and to which I believe I owe more of
inspiration and strength for that life than to any other
individual influence outside the innermost circle of my own
home. The drives out to Mehrowli, too, were full of interest
and helpfulness, though that part of our work together is
more saddened in recollection by its frequent connection
THE DELHI MISSION THE LIFE IOI
with weakness or suffering on Bickersteth's part, for it was
often resorted to when overstrain of work or fever in Delhi
made some little change imperative. And how frequent
such occasions were I have realised more than I ever did
before by reading through, for the purpose of these notes, .
a diary I used to keep at that time. It is of the very
barest kind and scarcely suggestive of anything of interest
for my present purpose, but it is remarkable that out of a
large number of allusions to Bickersteth in it nearly half
consist of such remarks as ' E. B. very seedy,' ' bad night,'
' high fever,' ' headache,' or the like. In point of fact, there
is no doubt that almost from the first the intense summer
heat told unduly on a mind and body which was always
working at the highest possible point of energy and
intensity. I know that often) as we lay out on the roof at
night side by side, I would turn over in a sleep which,
though somewhat disturbed by the heat, had yet plenty of
restorative power in it, to find Bickersteth literally gasping
alongside of me, and quite unable to get to sleep at all.
Then two distinct experiences stand out in my mind
with special clearness the one my ordination to the
priesthood at Amballa, the other a walk deep into the
Himalayas from Simla which Bickersteth and I took in
the autumn of 1881.
For the ordination, on Trinity Sunday, June 12, in the
very greatest heat of a hot year, we stayed at the Chap-
lain's house. There were together for about four days
before the Sunday, Bishop French, that true father in God
to so many of us in the Punjab, Bickersteth, as examining
chaplain, another Englishman besides myself for Priest's
orders, and a native, still working with an unblemished
name and very high character in one of the C.M.S. stations
of the Punjab, also for Priest's orders.
As in other cases so here, in my inability to recall
details I can only say that the whole time, the close
contact with, and the addresses of, the saintly Bishop, the
walks with Bickersteth, and his sermon at the ordination
itself, formed one of the most impressive experiences of my
life.
In our Himalayan walk we were naturally brought
into the closest and most continuous contact that I
enjoyed during that two years and three-quarters of life
together in India. Away from all the engrossing occupa-
102 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
tions and distractions of Delhi work, we were for nearly a
month practically quite alone together, scarcely meeting
another Englishman along the road, usually sleeping in
the same room, walking, talking, playing chess together.
Into this trip also, however, the experience of sickness
entered, as both on our outward and homeward march we
had to lie by for one or two days owing to slight attacks
of, as I believe, the very same trouble which at last took
him from us.
And from all these diverse experiences, while the
separate details which went to form them have passed from
my mind, a figure stands out of the clearest, most impres-
sive, most unforgettable personality possible. If I were to
try and single out special features of it which is difficult
to do I think I should give the first place to two piety
and energy.
All he did was, as we knew and recognised instinctively,
based on prayer and communion with God. His devotional
addresses were full of the deepest spiritual power. One ot
the most distinct contributions of all that he made to the
organisation of the work of the Delhi Mission was the
deepening in the native agents the sense of the supreme
need of earnest personal prayer and of systematic Bible
study for the efficient discharge of the very difficult work
to which they were called. Additional opportunities and
services for this end were afforded, while he regularly every
week had any catechist, or other agent with whom he was
in direct contact, to his own room for conversation and
prayer together. Far as we have fallen short of his
standard in this respect, I do yet hope and believe that
the principles which he instilled into us, and on which he
based the early life of our Brotherhood, have not been
lost.
And then there was his incessant energy of body and
mind. I always think of him as living at the highest
possible strain of all his powers. If he walked it was, even
in the middle of the hot weather, at a pace which few cared
to keep up with, at any rate without protests, uttered or
thought ; if he rode and this he frequently did, though it
always seemed to me as though he was not a true horseman
in the sense of enjoying the riding for its own sake, but
that he simply viewed it as a convenient and rapid means
of getting from place to place no grass grew under the
THE DELHI MISSION THE LIFE 103
pony's feet. So it was in his study of Urdu and Persian,
so it was in every single thing he took in hand. That this
intensity of disposition was, at any rate at that compara-
tively early part of his life, accompanied by some of the
defects which almost inevitably go with that type of
character cannot, I think, be doubted. There was at
times a tendency to impatience, and not infrequently the
worries and difficulties inseparable from a work and life
such as ours, and which on some occasions became very
grave indeed in connection with our position and work in
Delhi, told upon him in a way that he was, I am sure,
himself the first to regret.
But, on the other hand, the spirit of high enthusiasm,
the thoroughness, the devotion to work as also to play,
while he was at it the high aims, the wise, large-hearted
plans for their attainment, and the depth of personal holi-
ness and of striving after an ever closer and closer walk
with God, which were embodied in him, were both to the
mission as a whole and to each of us individually an
inspiration such as we can never forget, and have, especially
in conjunction with his peculiar position as the first Head
and one of the first founders of the mission, secured a quite
unique position in the annals of the Cambridge Mission to
the name of Edward Bickersteth.
G. A. LEFROY.
Cambridge Mission, Delhi : September 29, 1898.
St. Michael and All Angels.
The late Bishop Matthew, in writing to me in the
autumn of 1897, said that in Edward Bickersteth ' strength
and sweetness were blended in quite an unusual degree.'
A pathetic incident attaches to the following letter, as
it was penned a year later within a few days of his own
sudden death.
From the Right Rev. H. J. Mattkeiu, late Bishop of
Lahore
Bishopsbourne, Lahore :
October 22, 1898.
Dear Mr. Bickersteth, I have once more to apologise
for being behind time in sending this, but I have only just
104 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
returned from a visitation tour which has been more than
usually fatiguing. But I am afraid that I have been
dilatory on this account more than any other, that I have
become more and more alive to the want of materials which
would contribute anything of interest to your biography of
your brother. A careful search through my correspondence
failed to find any letters which would be of use. That is
not surprising, as Edward Bickersteth never wrote for the
sake of writing, and our work was not in any way connected,
mine being at that time entirely English work, while he was
studying and endeavouring to solve missionary problems.
Hence our intercourse was limited to the few visits
which he was enabled to pay to us at Simla, and which
were generally at a time when either he came to Simla
as examining chaplain to the Bishop (French) on duty, or
when compelled to suspend work from ill-health. I should
mention that your brother was very strict in his abstinence
from discussing matters in which there might be a difference
of opinion between himself and other members of the Delhi
Mission. And although there were questions of some im-
portance upon which there was not unanimity between the
representative of the old S.P.G. Mission and its Head and
the Cambridge men, yet in reference to these E. B. was
always very reserved. So that it comes to pass that,
greatly as I valued his friendship and enjoyed the oppor-
tunities of having his society, there is left little beyond the
recollection of his strong but gracious and gentle personality.
I had first seen him as long ago as 1875, when he was
assistant curate to the Rev. H. Sharpe at Hampstead and
I was taking charge, during my furlough, of an adjoining
parish. Since that time his ecclesiastical position had some-
what changed, and he had arrived at that via media which
is so admirably represented in his legacy to the ' Nippon
Sei Kokwai.' { The perusal of that book has reminded me of
many a conversation on the themes therein treated ; the
place of the sacraments in the Christian system, the relation
of confirmation to baptism, and the like. On these sub-
jects we were very much of one accord. When I was
obliged to leave India in 1885, after a long term of service
at Simla, it was the great desire of Bishop French that
1 I.e. 'Our Heritage in the Church,' being papers written for Divinity
Students, published by Sampson Low & Co.
THE DELHI MISSION THE LIFE IO5
your brother then holding the college living of Framling-
ham, and unable from considerations of health to return to
Delhi should come out, at least temporarily, as Chaplain
of Simla. The offer of the Bishopric of Japan came and
put an end to this scheme, but had not a higher call come,
in Simla he would have had a field for which he was in
many respects admirably suited. The congregation of
Christ Church, Simla, contains the heads of the Govern-
ment of India, both civil and military, and no single con-
gregation, either at home or in the dependencies of the
empire, represents such vast responsibilities of rule.
In the early spring of 1886 Mrs. Matthew and I had
the great pleasure of a visit from Edward Bickersteth at
Bologna when he was on his way to Japan after his conse-
cration. We had a day of sightseeing it was a Saturday
and on the Sunday he was to leave at 9 A.M. for Brindisi
to join the mail steamer. When he and I arrived at the
railway station it was to learn that the train would be two
hours late. During those two hours we paced the long
platform and had a most interesting talk. The principal
subject was the strength and weakness of the Evangelical
party to which few dealt more equal justice.
Once more I had a visit from him on his way from
Japan to England in 1893. He spared me a couple of
days of his short sojourn in India, and one of the chief
recollections of that visit is that he was in buoyant spirits,
and his looking into my library with a ' Come out for a
walk ' was like the summons of an undergraduate for a
'constitutional.' In 1896 he wrote suggesting that in the
following spring I should join him in Japan, and that we
should voyage together to the Lambeth Conference. That
delightful programme was not to be. He was driven
home by illness earlier than he had proposed to go, and I
was detained in my diocese by plague and scarcity. But
among the companions I have known I recall none whose
society was more stimulating or more edifying.
Believe me,
Yours sincerely,
HENRY J. LAHORE.
While at Delhi, as afterwards in Japan, Bickersteth
always tried to cultivate cordial relations with those of his
\
106 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
countrymen who were employed in the civil and military,
or in diplomatic and naval life. The following testimony
of a layman will thus add completeness to what is already
written.
Recollections of Colonel Gordon Young
Stockton House, Fleet, Hants.
Sept. 9, 1898.
Dear Mrs. Bickersteth, I am sorry to think that I
have not complied with your brother-in-law's request
that I should write a few recollections of Delhi days in
connection with the life of your dear husband, late Bishop
of South Tokyo.
This has not been from any unwillingness, but positively
from my sense of absolute inability from a literary point
of view, and in the absence of memoranda of any sort, to
write anything that should in the least help to convey to
others an idea of how his life at Delhi impressed those
who were outside the immediate sphere of his daily
work.
The beauty of his character is much better known
to you and to those of his own circle than to any others,
and the scope and earnestness of his work and his devotion
to it can only be told by those with whom he was associated
in it all.
I do not know if you know Delhi at all ; if so, you may
remember Ludlow Castle, which was my residence as
Commissioner from 1879 to 1883, with a break of ten
months' furlough. This house and the mission residence
were almost contiguous.
When I went to Delhi Mr. Bickersteth reigned as Head
of the Cambridge Mission there and was almost my nearest
neighbour. We soon became acquainted, and though he was
absorbed in the labours of evangelisation, controversy with
Muhammadan doctors of the law, supervision of schools,
and general administrative work of the mission, we were
sometimes able to persuade him to come to tea and a game
of tennis with us, which little piece of relaxation he seemed
greatly to enjoy.
He seemed almost a shadow in those days, so thin was
he ; but he had physical strength, upheld no doubt by his
THE DELHI MISSION THE LIFE IO/
high spirit, which enabled him to do more in the way of
walking and working than anyone would have given him
credit for possessing. However hot and oppressive the
night had been, the very earliest dawn saw him struggling
along towards the city, white umbrella in hand, for several
hours' work before breakfast with unfailing regularity and
this was only the beginning of what went on till nightfall.
The missionaries' residence being half or three-quarters of a
mile outside the city of Delhi while their work was chiefly
inside, although it was no doubt good as a matter of health,
yet added materially to the exhaustion all felt by nightfall,
owing to the constant running to and fro in the blazing
heat. Of all this, however, others will have given you the
fullest details.
It was a special privilege and delight to us when from
time to time he was prevailed on to preach to us at St.
James's Church ; at such times his face, and especially his
eyes, seemed literally illumined with a holy light, which
made it quite beautiful to regard. I can recall the look at
this moment.
His nature invited confidence, and the kindest hearing
and wisest counsel might always be relied on by those
who sought his advice.
He certainly had very great persuasive powers with his
opponents in religion amongst the Muhammadans of Delhi,
and had he stayed he would, I doubt not, have succeeded
to a large extent in affecting the attitude of many of the
moulvies towards Christianity. Lefroy, as you know, has
worthily followed his steps in this direction, and, I believe,
with marked results.
When my wife was in England and I a temporary
bachelor, I was a not infrequent guest at the Mission
House at the evening meal on Sunday, when the burden
and heat of the day were over. Very delightful were the
conversations which then ensued between your husband
and his friends Blackett, Lefroy, Allnutt, and others
among them a Mr. Maconochie, of the Civil Service, who
used to come in from a neighbouring district for the
day ; and it was interesting to remark the gentle way in
which Mr. Bickersteth's influence pervaded the whole
and elevated it
Though these few lines seem hardly worth sending
you, so bald and trite are they, yet I would not have you
108 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
think me to fail in love and veneration for the late dear
Bishop, and so they must go to you imperfect as they are.
Believe me, Yours truly,
G. GORDON YOUNG.
In concluding this chapter on the life, as distinct from
the work, the following touching letter from the native
Christians at Delhi will show how the influence of the life
outlasts the work, and in fact enables one who, as men say,
is dead, yet to speak.
From the Native Christians at Delhi
Delhi : August 20, 1897.
To the Right Rev. the Lord Bishop of Exeter.
My Lord, I humbly beg to say that I write the
following lines on behalf of the native Christians of Delhi :
' We, the members of St. Stephen's Mission Church,
Delhi, were grieved to hear of the death of your dear son,
the Right Rev. Edward Bickersteth, Bishop in Japan.
He was at one time the life and soul of the Cambridge
Mission to Delhi, and we enjoyed the privilege of having
him with us and among us for about five years. His zeal
and earnestness in preaching Christ to our fellow country-
men and his love and kindness had endeared him to
us. Unfortunately, the climate of Delhi did not agree with
him, and he was obliged to leave us ; when we consoled
ourselves that, though he was taken away from us, yet he
was called to a higher sphere of Christian work for the
extension of the kingdom of Christ in Japan. Now that
he has gone behind the veil our sorrow is revived ; still,
faith and hope in Christ assure us that we shall meet him
again, never, never to part.
1 We heartily sympathise with you in your present
bereavement, believing firmly that God the Comforter will
comfort you, as well as those who now mourn for our once
beloved pastor, teacher, and friend.'
I am, my Lord,
Your most obedient servant,
JANKI NATH.
Head Master, St. Stephens High School, Delhi.
[Here follow the signatures of thirteen of the leading Christians.]
109
CHAPTER V
FURLOUGH FRAMLINGHAM CALL TO JAPAN
' It is a much harder task to wait than to work, I fear, but perhaps in
God's eyes one may conduce as much as the other to the final end.' Letter
of the Rev. Edward Bickersteth to S. P. G. in reporting Mr. j\ fun-ay's illness
(1878).
IN September 1882 Edward Bickersteth landed in
England from his first missionary journey, and though he
thrice essayed to return to Delhi, the Spirit suffered him
not. When he again left England for the mission field,
three and a half years later, it was as Missionary Bishop in
Japan.
His return from Delhi was dictated wholly by reasons
of health, and, as has been said, he anticipated a very short
furlough of not more than three or four months. But the
disease of dysenteric fever, from which he eventually died,
had laid a deeper hold upon him than he or others knew.
His temperament led him never to spare himself, and we
find Bishop French writing to him as early as July 1878 :
' I am sorry to gather you are not thinking of a breath of
the hill air. If I have a house of sufficient size I must
write and beg you to run up to Simla, if even for eight or
ten days, to be revived and refreshed.' At this time
Bickersteth was bearing alone the burden of all the work
organised by Mr. and Mrs. Winter (S.P.G.), and which the
Cambridge Mission had taken over during Mr. Winter's
furlough. The strain of this single-handed work told upon
1 10 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
him, and it was then undoubtedly that the seeds of his
illness were sown. Later on, also, when itinerating with
Bishop French (a workman who was also wholly unable to
spare himself), he had a severe attack of fever. He first
tried the effect of residence at Simla, whence he wrote to
Mr. Lefroy :
The Priory, Simla : June 7, 1882.
My dear Lefroy, I am bowing with the best grace I
can muster to Ross's dictum, but I don't at all like it nor
believe it to be altogether necessary. However, a doctor's
order backed by all the injunctions of the people I know in
Delhi and here, and the Bishop's expressed wish seem to
leave no loophole, so I hope it is for the best. [After
asking for several books he continues :] You asked for a
prayer for Holy Communion. Here is one by Bishop
Moberly wholly in the words of the English Office. It
omits the ava/j,vr)<ri$ r rrpo dsov side of the service, otherwise
I like it. I have been round Jakko this morning on
Micks, who is in capital form, though, being shoeless, he
finds the stones a little awkward.
Ever your affectionate Brother in Christ,
EDWARD BICKERSTETH.
But two months later the doctors were imperative that
he must return to England at once. There, like too many
other missionaries on furlough, he went about too much,
and simply transferred the scene of his labours from Delhi
and its environments to Cambridge, London, and other
parts of the country which he visited to enlist new recruits
or to awaken a sense of missionary responsibility. He was
able to write from Hampstead on March 22, 1883.
My dear Lefroy, . . . . Now for a happy piece of
information. My silence about men hitherto has been
because there has been nothing to tell since Haig l definitely
offered. At last Wright 2 has been able to make up his
mind, seeing his way clear. I heard of it only yesterday
morning. I believe we have in him one of the most
1 Rev. A. Haig. * Rev. J. W. T. Wright.
FURLOUGH FRAMLINGHAM CALL TO JAPAN III
valuable men that will have been in India for some time.
He was the man selected for the work by both Dr. West-
cott and the master of Pembroke, though he has offered
quite spontaneously. As a great friend of Haig's alike at
school (Cheltenham) and college (Pembroke), and as both
now working as curates (St. Mary Abbot's, Kensington),
our new colleagues will have much in common. I have
eight sermons this week, so no more from your affectionate
brother in Christ,
EDWARD BICKERSTETH.
He went to Rome and Italy with three of his sisters
after Easter, and spent August and September at Pen-
maenmaur, whence he wrote to the Rev. S. S. Allnutt :
September 6, 1883.
My dear Allnutt, I have been seduced into reading
longer than I meant by a chapter of Huxley's ' Lay
Sermons.' It is my rule to read a book on natural science
or art each vacation, so I have taken to this. A good deal
of it is antiquated already by what has occurred since it
was written e.g. the advocacy of natural science education
in the Universities, &c. a good deal also of defence of his
science against clergy and theologians perhaps he might
think less necessary now than twenty years since. Some
paragraphs are wholly regrettable e.g. a section on the
' worship of the Unknown ' being the highest we can
attain and likely to produce the noblest sentiments ! and,
lastly there is a very great deal which to the mere t'Stwr^y
in natural science (why don't we talk about naturals ? it is
as good a word as mathema^y as far as formation goes
and much more exact and expressive) is suggestive and
helpful. ... I have been reading a good deal here
(between walks) of one kind and another. ' De la Con-
naissance de Dieu,' by Gratry, which a sister and I have
just finished, is extremely well worth the reading, and has
a good deal in it which may be useful, especially as to the
way of putting truth before unbelievers.
Rosmini's ' Five Wounds of the Church,' which
Liddon has just published, I have also read but am much
disappointed in, except in the chapter on clerical educa-
tion. Tulloch's ' Rational Christianity ' I have also
accomplished. The second volume is an account of the
112 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
Cambridge Platonists. I told you that Dr. Hort suggested
them to me as a study. As a useful study for oneself I
have no doubt he was right. Their noble ' rational ' (in
the highest sense) method of theologising is a model, but
I doubt if there will be very much in them which will be
directly useful for Indian work less than in the great
Fathers. By the bye, Professor Wace (the editor of the
dictionary), with whom I went up Camedd Llewellyn,
told me that Westcott's article on Origen is the most
wonderful production, a book in itself, and most sug-
gestive and thorough. It is to appear in the fourth
volume. Also, I am reading as a ' Sunday book ' Fair-
bairn's ' Studies in the Life of Christ ' a book you will
enjoy for its suggestiveness. The author is a Presbyterian
not the same man that wrote the ' Typology ' a younger
and more modern-minded man, so much so that there is
very much in his book that I dislike.
I have just accomplished also 'John Inglesant,' 'The
Monastery,' and ' Abbot ' (nearly), besides Neander's ' Life
of St. Bernard ' ; so I have not been wholly given to oriental
studies these few weeks.
Your ever affectionate Brother in Christ,
EDWARD BICKERSTETH.
But the effect of his over-activity was too apparent
when, in the autumn of 1883, he had actually taken his
passage for his return to Delhi. The day had been fixed
(October 22) for Bishop Lightfoot of Durham to preach
the farewell sermon for himself and the two new mission-
aries (the Rev. A. Haig and the Rev. J. W. T. Wright)
who were to accompany him. On the eve of departure,
however, he was suddenly prostrated by a severe return of
his illness. He explained the situation in the following
letter to Mr. Carlyon :
Christ Church Vicarage, Hampstead :
October 19, 1883.
My dear Carlyon, This letter is a sad one for me to
write, and I know it will be a sad one for you to receive.
To tell you the cause at once, owing to an attack of fever
which came on without expectation or notice last Saturday,
FURLOUGH FRAMLINGHAM CALL TO JAPAN 113
the doctors have ordered me another year in Europe, and
at Westcott's express wish, all but command, I have been
obliged to consent.
To give you more particulars. I think I told you,
writing on Friday last, that my head was very dizzy.
However, I anticipated no evil, and started Saturday
morning for Cambridge for an executive committee.
I walked up to my brother's rooms (a Pembroke freshman)
in Tennis Court Road, and when I was half-way there, to my
surprise I got all the symptoms of the old ague, which I
had had no attack of since last January. However, there
was nothing for it, and I got on to our committee, which
lasted two hours, during the whole of which I was most
wretched. . . . On Sunday the fit had gone, and I was able to
get through though it didn't do me much good the work
I had arranged. Westcott, dear loving man, pursued me by
two letters, one urging me on his own account to see doctors,
and another on behalf of a number of the committee, whom
he had taken the trouble to see. So perforce I went. . . .
On Tuesday I saw Dr. Charles, till 1880 the first man
at Calcutta and now an Honorary Physician to the Queen,
so I suppose there could be no higher authority. He
examined me thoroughly, and, though he said there was
nothing organically wrong, positively forbad my return,
like Gowers, for a year. His reasons were that I am still
very liable to fever and wholly anaemic, so that (he said) 1
should not have a chance of getting through the rains,
either in the hills or plains, without breaking down. He
wants me to spend all the winter, doing only four hours a
day work, in Italy and the Riviera, and then next summer
(except two months) in Wales and Scotland. Then, and
this is the only good part of it, he says I shall be up to
another five or six years in India. Less than two winters,
he thought, never really eradicated fever, if it had at all
badly taken hold of one.
Well, it seemed utterly sad, and to break up all one's
plans and ideas. However, after having agreed to go and
see the doctors, and my father and Westcott being so very
decided that I ought to obey what they said, there did not
seem a loophole of escape for this year. Another year
away from Delhi and a year's practical idleness are a
sufficiently unwelcome prospect ; and the Providence which
assigned it, just as I seemed so very much better in health
114 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
and was all prepared to start, is certainly very inexplicable ;
one can only believe if grace be given for it that the reason
and result will be seen hereafter. It is so sad to me to
think of not seeing you all for so long, and also to feel
that my work is burdening other shoulders, which have
more than enough of their own ; but I must look forward
to next year, and you will too.
My plans are to leave this on the 3Oth of this month
get to Bordighera in about a fortnight move about the
Riviera places (Cannes, Mentone, Sec.) till February, and
then go on to Rome. A sister goes with me, and another
will join me later.
Your affectionate Brother in Christ,
EDWARD BICKERSTETH.
While to Mr. Allnutt he wrote a week later as follows :
Christ Church Vicarage, Hampstead :
October 26, 1883.
My dear Allnutt, . . . The service of farewell for
Wright and Haig on Monday was very well attended, and
all, except that the Bishop had a very husky voice, went
well. The sermon was striking, though not equal to ' the
Father of Missionaries.' You will see the last half in
the ' Guardian ' of next week. The first part was on the
phenomenon of the vitality of so small and insignificant a
nation as Israel among the great empires of the past.
There was also a striking parallel, quite new to me, between
the revivals which at times now take place of false systems
under the influence of Christianity and the revival which
took place of the old heathenism between the time of
Pliny's letter and that of Antoninus Pius. . . .
Fare thee well in the name of the Lord. Alas that I
am not to see you for so long. I have the kindest and
most loving letters from everyone but it is a sad dis-
appointment, which I feel more daily.
Your very affectionate Brother in Christ,
EDW. BICKERSTETH.
This reluctance to give up even temporarily his work
at Delhi will be seen to be a proof of his characteristic
tenacity of purpose, especially in the light of a letter written
three months before to Mr. Lefroy. Writing on St. James's
FURLOUGH FRAMLINGHAM CALL TO JAPAN 11$
Day, 1883, after referring to matters then being debated
between the S.P.G. and the Cambridge Mission, he said :
Now, lastly, as to myself. I strictly meant what I said
several mails since that no plan whatever should be made
to hinge on me for some time to come. When I came
home I went to a London physician (Dr. Gowers), an
uncommonly able fellow, who said in effect : ' You have
been very ill indeed ; I can cure you this time, but if you
get as ill a second time you will not recover.' Practically,
I consider that he has kept his word as to curing me through
God's mercy ; though not well, I am very much better.
I have been to him several times, and he is reconciled
to my returning to India. This being so, I propose to
return to Delhi in October and not elsewhere. If I fail
and get serious fever again I should probably try to start
some hill mission work, or to carry on literary work in the
hills for the rest of the year ; but in this case it would be
right that someone else be appointed Head of the Cambridge
Mission. . . .
Murray, Maitland, Haig, and Wright all meet here
to-morrow. Christmas together, God willing, in Delhi.
The truth is that neither then nor later in Japan did he
know when he was beaten, and so often did his excellent
constitution and the buoyancy of his temperament respond
to the calls made upon them by his faith in God and the
fervour of his missionary zeal, that his power of recovery
may well have seemed to himself well-nigh inexhaustible.
But although the head of the mission was thus obliged
to direct its affairs from a distance for yet another twelve-
month, there were one or two matters which he could
handle all the better for being accessible to Cambridge and
to London. Notably was this the case with regard to (i)
the permanent relationship of the Cambridge Mission to
to the S.P.G. Mission in Delhi, and (2) a proposal to start
a Community Mission for Women there.
With regard to the former, it was inevitable that the
successful starting of a University mission within the area
I 2
Il6 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
of an S.P.G. district, much in the same way as a College
Mission has of late years been grafted upon the parochial
system in South London, would raise questions as to the
permanent relationship between the two organisations
which required careful handling if the work was to be
strong and to last on after those acquainted with its
original foundation (such as the Rev. R. Bullock, Secretary
of the S.P.G. till 1878) had passed away. This was in-
evitable, quite apart from the personal equation of those
concerned. The settlement of the matter was further
complicated by some divergence of view between Mr.
and Mrs. Winter and the members of the Cambridge
Mission. This difference never caused disruption, and in
the end Mr. Winter approximated more nearly to the
views taken by the Cambridge Brotherhood ; but the
way by which progress towards identity of policy and
harmony of teaching was reached led through a prolonged
and tangled correspondence.
In a memorandum (dated May 4, 1883, Pembroke
College, Cambridge) for the Cambridge Committee
Bickersteth wrote :
When the rules were laid down under which the
Cambridge Mission started, it was declared that the
arrangement contemplated in them was temporary. Mr.
Winter had informed the Cambridge Committee that he
only expected to return to India for a few years, and
Mr. Bullock, though entering into no agreement on behalf
of the society, looked forward to the mission being carried
on in the future by Cambridge only.
The point which Bickersteth always pushed to the fore
was that ' only thus could the Cambridge Mission give full
effect to its principles and methods of work. This cannot
be till the opportunity is given it of attempting to carry
out all branches of mission work, and more especially of
organising and training a native Church, through which
FURLOUGH FRAMLINGHAM CALL TO JAPAN II.;
alone the methods and principles of a mission can widely
influence the people of India? He therefore thought it would
be well if the Cambridge Committee would request the
S.P.G. to consider whether they would not be prepared to
entrust their mission at Delhi to the members of the
Cambridge Mission, to be worked by it after Mr. Winter's
retirement, and in the meantime not to send more mission-
aries of their own to Delhi.
No useful purpose would now be served by giving
copious extracts from the letters which passed between
Delahay Street, Westminster, and Cambridge and Delhi ;
but the points at issue involved (i) the possible amalgama-
tion of the two missions, as when a college mission some-
times takes over the administration of a whole parish, its
titular head being Rector or Vicar of the old parish ; (2)
the future title of the mission ; (3) the possibility of a
married missionary being connected with the Cambridge
Mission, whose wife could keep up some of the zenana
agencies started by Mrs. Winter ; (4) the supervision of
educational work solely by the Cambridge men.
Canon Crowfoot of Lincoln was a personal friend of
Bickersteth's, and as he had also previously worked at
Delhi and was a member of the S.P.G. Standing Committee,
he was a valuable intermediary. To him Bickersteth wrote
as follows :
Christ Church Vicarage, Hampstead : July 30, 1883.
My dear Crowfoot, I received a copy of Winter's
letter and a letter from Winter himself some weeks since.
It seems to me to be in all main points eminently
satisfactory, and quite such as our [Cambridge] Committee
will be able to accept. . . . Winter's suggested title,
' Delhi and South Punjab Mission,' could not be used in
documents to be circulated in Cambridge. I propose
' the Cambridge University Mission to Delhi supported by
S.P.G.' This, I think, might be used both by us and by
the society, which would be a great gain. His (Mr. Winter's)
IlS BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
plan differs toto azlo from the other, 1 which I think could
under no circumstances be accepted by us. To agree to it
would be, I am sure, practically to condemn the University
Mission to a condition in which it could at the best only
hope to prolong a weak and lifeless sort of existence. . . .
As to the whole mission, or the lead of the mission
reverting to S.P.G., I do not think we need consider it
now. It is most unlikely, I think, that it ever would be so,
though if we could avoid leaving a legacy of doubt to our
successors it would surely be better. With the scheme as
a whole I heartily agree. . . .
Yours very sincerely,
EDW. BICKERSTETH.
The return to England that summer of the Bishop of
Lahore (Dr. French) enabled the matter to be discussed
with all the chief authorities concerned. As to the division
of the Cambridge Mission into two branches, one to continue
as a purely educational body at Delhi, the other to open
up more varied missionary work at Cawnpur, 2 Bishop
French, then staying with Bishop Lightfoot, wrote to Dr.
Westcott as follows :
Auckland Castle : October 15, 1883.
My dear Professor Westcott, I had sent to Bickersteth
three days before as full an explanation as I could of my
views on the knotty point of the precise relations to be
sustained by the Cambridge Brethren towards the S.P.G.
and its missionaries. This paper will doubtless be for-
warded for your perusal, as also for that of the Bishop of
Durham, whose guest I am at present for a missionary
anniversary.
I am so very thankful to be allowed to hope that there
will not be a break up of the Cambridge Mission Brother-
hood, and a severance of it into two bands, by which the
original idea of the mission will be almost wholly frustra-
ted. It is a grand field viewed in its various departments,
1 The reference is to an alternative plan proposed to S. P. G. , but not
adopted.
2 It is interesting to note that the work contemplated at Cawnpur has
since been undertaken by two of the sons of Bishop Westcott, who with the
help of the S.P.G. started a missionary Brotherhood there in 1895.
FURLOUGH FRAMLINGHAM CALL TO JAPAN 1 19
and can be occupied without the intrusion of rival missions.
I pray God that the plan may be adhered to in its entirety
and integrity. . . .
Yours very truly and obliged,
THOS. V. LAHORE.
In the following October Bickersteth wrote to Mr.
Carlyon that the S.P.G. passed a resolution to the effect
' that the society agrees very carefully to abstain from
doing anything which will prevent the eventual succession
of a member of the Cambridge Mission to the headship of
the Delhi Mission.' The Cambridge Committee, under-
standing this resolution to mean that ' nothing would be
done to prevent the management of the Delhi Mission
coming into the hands of the Cambridge Mission,' agreed
to it, and so Bickersteth had the satisfaction of leaving a
few days later for his enforced sojourn on the Riviera
knowing that this question of the relationship between
two bodies which were ' separate yet connected ' had been
placed in a fair way for final settlement.
On the lamented death of the Rev. R. R. Winter in
1891 the S.P.G. put their work under the supervision of
the Cambridge Mission. In Delhi there was one paid
missionary and one honorary at the time. The present
title by which the mission is known is ' The Cambridge
Mission to Delhi in connection with S.P.G.' There are
branch missions in Karnal, Rohtak, Gurgaon, Rewari, and
other places.
The other matter which Bickersteth endeavoured to
forward was the establishing of some organised women's
work at Delhi to help in the zenana work started by Mrs.
Winter, as well as in the medical work.
As far back as October 1881 he had written to Dr.
Westcott (from Kotgarh, in the Himalayas, where he and
Lefroy had gone for a holiday) :
I2O BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
The Zenana mission is, of course, no immediate part of
our work, but at the same time it vitally affects the whole
mission organisation. A mission to men unsupported by a
mission to women would indeed be now quite an anachronism
in India. The influence of the Zenana on Indian youth
from the despotic old grandame downwards is proverbially
strong, and efficient Zenana mission work is the only hope
of purifying this influence and turning it in a right direc-
tion. So far, then, as this is concerned, the position of the
Cambridge Mission is at present a very unfortunate one.
He felt that neither the existing S.P.G. Lahore Diocesan
Committee, whose chief work was the distribution of funds,
nor the monthly mission council at Delhi, on which natives
sat, could be a governing body for a Zenana mission.
In the summer of 1883 and throughout 1884 he corre-
sponded much with Canon Crowfoot of Lincoln and with
the members of the Cambridge Mission in Delhi on points
of detail.
The points which seemed essential to Bickersteth were
that the head of the whole mission should be head of the
zenana work ; that the Zenana mission should in future be
formed into a community, with a rule of its own, superin-
tended by a lady trained herself under rule in England ;
that the then band of workers, older or younger, should be
admitted only as assistants ; that there should not be the
smallest hesitation in admitting Eurasian and native help
to the full position of Sisters, if otherwise fit ; that the
proposed community should be in immediate connection
with an English institution. With regard to the vitally
important principle of 'a reasonable agreement in theo-
logical matters,' he wrote to Mr. Winter, who feared
development on extreme lines, to re-assure him.
Christ Church Vicarage, Hampstead :
July 1 8, 1884.
My dear Winter, . . . To be definite, I should not
wish to have Sisters at Delhi who make a daily celebration
FURLOUGH FKAMLINGHAM CALL TO JAPAN 121
a condition of uniting in any plan. Not that I object to
the daily celebration in itself; if I did, I should go against
a great number of good people, St. Austen included, but
that at present I do not think it would be desirable at
Delhi ; nor again should I wish to have Sisters who made
Confession compulsory, and a good many practically do
so. ...
Ever affectionately Yours,
E. B.
He was eager to choose St. Hilda as a name for the
women's mission. ' I find her,' he wrote, ' described as
" sancta, prudens, literata," in a note to Bright's " Early
English Church." '
A memorandum for circulation in England was drawn
up by Bickersteth and sent by him to Canon Crowfoot
' for criticism and suggestion,' and then laid before Dr.
Westcott and the Bishop of Lahore, who gave it their
full approval. The death of Mrs. Winter, and her call to
rest from her incessant labours early in the autumn of 1884,
made it more urgent than ever to provide for the future of
zenana work. ' The name [he wrote] has been altered
from St. Hilda to St. Stephen at Mr. Winter's request. I
think for the worse, but we thought we ought to yield.'
But the appeal, so carefully discussed, although printed
in December, was not widely circulated, for a letter came
from Mr. Winter begging for still further delay. Bicker-
steth wrote to Lefroy : ; ^ :
Rectory, Framlingham : December 19, 1884.
... I heard yesterday of Winter's return and that he
wishes no steps taken in re Sisterhood till he comes. Give
him my love and tell him he was just in time to stop our
second circular, as before our first. Do not tell him that I
am absolutely certain that his attempt to establish a Broad
Church Sisterhood, which is what his letter to Crowfoot
amounts to, is foredoomed to failure. A Sisterhood need
not be on extreme lines, but I feel sure that for success
122 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
the Sisters must be not only ' learned, with piety taken for
granted,' but come out because they have a real vocation
and also possess, and so are able to teach, a full and clear
creed.
Your loving Brother sv Xpia-Tw,
E. B.
For the time being no further steps could be taken.
The present zenana and medical work is carried on from
St. Stephen's House, Delhi, by eighteen workers, as well as
at four other centres.
The first week in November 1883 saw Bickersteth with
one of his younger sisters, May, settled at the Hotel de la
Terrasse, Cannes, for the winter. Then began between
this brother and sister that close friendship and community
of interest, intellectual and spiritual, which was to bear
fruitful results in after years when this sister became the
organising secretary of the Guild of St. Paul in support
of Community missions in Japan. Brother and sister paid
a visit to Avignon, ' the old papal chateau or fortress,' on
their way out, and he wrote to Mr. Lefroy to announce his
arrival.
Hotel de la Terrasse, Cannes :
November 9, 1883.
My dear Lefroy, Here in Cannes we are going to
stay, and not in Bordighera, as I thought when I was
writing before. I shall send to Bordighera to see if any
letters have gone from you to me there. Several reasons
have induced us rather to choose Cannes. One that Dr.
Charles is here, the physician who sent me abroad ; then
that we have several friends ; also, I regret to say that we
have a young cousin, a girl of nineteen, one of the ablest
that has been to Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, exceedingly
ill of consumption and with only a slight hope of temporary
betterment, living at Grasse, a place close by. Such is life.
Here am I positively doing nothing walks, shoppings, tea
parties, luncheons, &c., &c. and that at a time when I
expected to be back with you all and in the thick of work.
I am here because there seemed positively no alternative,
FURLOUGH FRAMLINGHAM CALL TO JAPAN 123
and, as it was said to me yesterday, there are instances
in which vox medici is vox Dei. I cannot but admit,
after my last attack of fever (as my own feelings told
me), that the doctors were for once right. I am doing
nothing, because having consented to come it seems folly
to defeat the end of coming by work, as they tell me I
assuredly should.
And there are you, doing far more work than you
ought, and this partly because you have mine on your
shoulders as well as your own. With the general disposi-
tion of things, rest content. It is a nobler call far to work
than to rest, and you are worthy of it. But for this very
reason you should not exhaust your strength. It was
utterly foolish of you not to take a holiday, and I hope
you will get some change during the winter. . .
Ever your affectionate Brother in Christ,
EDWARD BICKERSTETH.
Six weeks later he wrote again to Mr. Lefroy a letter
which shows his inability to keep his mind from perpetually
working on Indian problems, though it also illustrates his
sense of humour.
Cannes : December 29, 1883.
My dear Lefroy, I have only a talkative salon to
write to you in just now, so won't be altogether responsible
for the coming production. So many thanks for your
letter, which reached me from Bordighera. I do feel it
indeed sad to be separated in ' presence ' and work for
another year (only ten months now), but though I am really
getting on here, I cannot say the doctors were wrong.
I might have got back to India and to work for a bit, but
I think it would probably have been, as they said, to
topple over, like a house of cards, before so very long.
Now I shall quite hope, God willing, for a spell of work ;
and experience has shown that in most cases it is only
periods of work on which reasonable expectations of
results can be based. (There ! I have got a word ; a
nervous old lady is chattering on draughts. There ! she is
gone. Expect a slight improvement in composition.)
Now about the two or three things you mentioned.
First about the catechists' class. I am very glad you are
going to take the Church history. Should I take it again,
124 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
you are not likely to have exhausted that endless subject ;
but in all this work I think it will be better that you should
not look on what you are doing as temporary (except so
far as you may be overtaxing your strength in taking it up
at all). What I mean is that when I come back to India
I think that it will be well for a year or two that I should
do work which does not involve any great change of
organisation &c. if I give it up ; e.g. I can preach, take
tours, visit Muhammadans, give a course of lectures to
masters if you want one, and I hope get to work on some
book. These kind of things can be dropped if I get ill,
and the literary work I could take to the hills with me.
Furthermore, if I find it necessary to work sometimes at
half-pressure, I should not feel tied by such work in the
same way as by work which recurred on fixed days. I
do not mean that if I keep well I should not try to get to
something more regular, but that, as I said, for a time I
think this would be a wiser arrangement. So in anything
you start for the class don't feel only ' in charge.' And
still more with Daryaganj, about which I want a long
letter a little bird whispered to me that it was going on
admirably. You must be their permanent pastor and
priest in every sense, though of course I will give you any
help I can.
The plan of the Cambridge Mission Commentary on
the New Testament was to get the books divided out
among certain men of whom we should have the choosing.
I thought it would be best to endeavour in all cases to
put a native and European together, the former to supply
illustration and to ensure intelligibility the latter for
information, and to counteract the fancifulness &c. of the
native brother. Further, I thought the commentary should
be, if possible, very much shorter, and if the language
admits it terser, than Clark's and Imad-ud-din's (I doubt
theirs being much read) ; and then if ' our ' commentary
were published in moderate sized volumes there would be
a hope of catechists taking it about with them on their
tours and so forth, or at all events not being afraid to
begin a volume. Further, I had the idea that it should be
in a native-looking form and style, so that an inquiring
moulvi might not disdain it. I should not mind if the
comments were printed round the paper, Quran and
Persian poetry fashion. I think the idea is worth recon-
FURLOUGH FRAMLINGHAM CALL TO JAPAN 12$
sidering, though two years ago the Bishop thought it prema-
ture ; but now if you and Allnutt could contribute and, say,
Shirreff, Hooper, and Weitbrecht, there would at least be a
nucleus of an English company. Short essays on such
subjects as you mention, ' the authority of the Christian
Ministry,' might certainly very well be added, and some
detached notes, without making the volumes too bulky.
I'll send you a tiny paper of headings for an essay on that
same subject next week. The Bishop of Durham com-
plains in the last edition of his ' Galatians ' that he has been
much misrepresented and misunderstood in what he said
about ' episcopacy.' Of course, as a necessary conse-
quence, he is now accused of having changed his opinions
since he became a Bishop !
I hope the new men will take to school work, and
very much hope that with your powers of picking up the
language, making its sounds and understanding them, you
will be able to throw yourself into vernacular and literary
work. But you will be guided by circumstances that is, by
the Hand which makes the circumstances. Tell me when
you write what you are doing in the language line. Have
you learnt any Persian ? If so, don't stay too long over
the dull books. Some of the poetry and philosophy I
read with Cowell is most interesting.
E.g. : the Masnavi, of which (book i.) there is an
infamous translation in the library.
Aklagi Jalali, an Orientalised Aristotle's ' Nico-
machean Ethics ; ' there is a still worse translation in an
old Oriental Society's series.
Umr Khaiyairis Rubaiyat. I think I sent you out a
translation in the last batch of books.
Also, have you done any Arabic ? I find I can read
the Quran with the help of Penrice's dictionary, a transla-
tion, and notes ! ! ! and you might certainly get so far and
much beyond, but so far is distinctly useful. There is an
excellent new manual of Hindi ; it is up three flights of
hotel stairs or I would give you the name, as it is I'll put
it on the outside. It contains, I fancy, about all that we
need know.
Well, goodbye (in its true sense),
Your ever affectionate Brother in Christ,
EDWD. BICKERSTETH.
126 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
During this time he made many delightful friendships,
seeing much of Dr. Murray Mitchell and others. When
visiting the Riviera myself in the spring of 1895, I came
across several of the English residents there who had
never lost the impression made by contact with his earnest
missionary zeal. His pastoral visits to his young cousin,
Miss Effie Murchison, daughter of the late Dr. Roderick
Murchison, who had come into Cannes from Grasse, were
paid daily, and in January he had to break to her at the
doctor's wish that human skill could do no more to prolong
her life. He wrote to Lefroy (January 1884) :
I scarce know how I got through my task, but she was
far calmer than I ; indeed, I shall never forget her perfect
self-control and peace, and I see her daily TO, avw &TSITS,
TO, avw <})povetT. At least these experiences should be a
help to me to do this.
At Easter he moved on to Rome, and from there
wrote to Lefroy, on hearing of the death of his brother :
Hotel d'Allemagne, Rome: April 19, 1884.
My dear Lefroy, Your letter reached me just before
I left Cannes, and I was very glad to have it. All in-
formation as to how matters go with you all is very
welcome to me, and will be till (D.V.) I see you in
October. Here people wish one another a 'buona
Pasqua ; ' why do not we in England, as much as ' A
Happy Christmas ? ' Anyhow I hope you may have been
having such, and it will not have been the less so in one
sense to you personally that you will have connected it
with the thought of your brother who has been taken from
you. I had not heard of this till I got your letter, and
now I pray God to comfort you and yours in the thought
of him. The truest comfort, indeed, you have in the ' good
Christian hope 'of which you tell me. and Easter fulfils
it, as far as may be, till the stria-way a)<yr) ETT' Avrov with
its wondrous teaching that death is a conquered foe. It
requires much faith though to accept this and all it means.
I have felt this during the winter in attending constantly
on several dying people. . . . Well, I said it requires faith
FURLOUGH FRAMLINGHAM CALL TO JAPAN 1 27
to believe this that when death seems so absolutely vic-
torious it is not, and yet the two facts of our Lord being the
Second Adam and of His Resurrection carry with them
no less. ' Lord increase our faith.' . . .
Ever your affectionate Brother in Christ,
E. B.
In Rome they met Mrs. Charles, their authoress friend
of Hampstead, and returned to England by way of Assisi,
the home of St. Francis, Perugia the old Umbrian capital,
Florence, and thence back to Cannes, as Bickersteth's cousin
had died there on May 5 and he wished to visit her grave.
Writing to Lefroy from Hampstead, May 16, 1884, he
said :
I hope it has been good for me to have my own
mind so often of necessity occupied with the thoughts of
the other world and the preparation for it, but oh ! how
strange the mystery of it all is, and taken at its fullest
(and I can't quite follow Dr. Westcott's plea for keeping
one's mind all but a blank on the subject), still how little
one knows of the world upon which they enter. I think
it is not sufficiently customary among us to practise
meditation on the other life. I suppose it passed away a
good deal with prayers for the dead ; but if they were at
all generally revived in the form of Scudamore's Saturday
prayer, and if it were more the custom to keep private
diptychs of those at rest (as the prayers of the old Greek
Liturgy form have so passed out of use), I think it would
be helpful and salutary.
And a few weeks later he wrote to Mr. Allnutt from
Cambridge :
Pembroke College, Cambridge : June 3, 1884.
My dear Allnutt, You see I am here again in this
dear old place, which is looking its loveliest and best. I
paid a good many visits yesterday, and have just dotted
down fifteen more that have to be paid to-day and to-
morrow morning. . . .
On the great subject of the Intermediate State, I
don't feel that I have anything helpful to say. Two or
three points strike me in what you say.
128 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
1. If the teaching of many passages on the activity of
the soul in the intermediate state is to be balanced against
the one word Koipdcrdai, it seems to me that the result
must be in favour of the many passages as against the
one word. Koifiacrdat is easily intelligible on the theory of
activity, the other passages are not intelligible on the
theory of a soul asleep.
2. Does not Dr. Westcott's suggestion that the soul with-
out the body has no energetic power seem contrary to his
own constant teaching, that we ought not to give opinions
on matters which our present faculties are not suited to take
cognisance of?
3. May there not be something in the Hindu theory
that the soul after death has an organ of its own through
which it still acts ? This is strongly urged in one of the
last sermons of a volume of sermons by the Nonconformist
preacher Baldwin Brown, which is in my shelf of sermons.
4. Dr. Westcott suggests in a passing sentence of his
new volume of sermons that St. Paul in 2 Cor. v. is referring
to the heathen idea of being unclothed such, I suppose,
as Virgil describes in the meeting of yEneas and his father
in this case I suppose the passage would have no
reference to a Christian view of Paradise ?
Tell me in your next if you have any opinion on this
point viz. what account is to be given of our Lord's human
body still bearing the marks of the Passion if Westcott's
theory (worked out in the ' Historic Faith ') of the soul, so to
say, forming its own body hereafter is to be accepted ?
Your ever affectionate Brother in Christ,
EDWD. BICKERSTETH.
That summer he preached at Wells Cathedral and ad-
dressed the members of the Theological College, and stayed
some days with the Bishop of Truro (Dr. Wilkinson) at Lis
Escop. The Bishop introduced him to Sister Julian, Superior
of the Community of the Epiphany, whose friendship he
greatly valued and to whose advice he owed much in later
days when forming and carrying on the work of St. Hilda's
Mission in Tokyo. Later on he visited the Bishop of
Durham (Dr. Lightfoot), and assisted at the marriage of
FURLOUGH FRAMLINGHAM CALL TO JAPAN 1 29
his friend the Rev. J. D. M. Murray, 1 who had gone out to
Delhi with him (1877). In August he went to Scotland,
from whence he wrote to Lefroy, still under the impression
he was to return to Delhi in October :
Pitlochrie, Perthshire : August 6, 1884.
My dear Lefroy, You will have heard of me indirectly
through Winter, but I indeed owe you some direct reply to
your most interesting accounts. Taking it as a whole, I
am sure we have every reason for deep thankfulness at the
result of your great meeting. 2 Hitherto one has felt that
there has been something behind keeping the men back ;
that even the better sort of them, who attended services
and in part obeyed Christian laws and followed Christian
customs, were trammelled by their connection with their
fellow-countrymen, and so had but little sense of the value
of their new privileges, and less still of the happiness of
true religion. Now I do hope there will be a change.
Decision for God was what was needed, and this seems to
have been after the first few defalcations just what your
midnight meeting has led to.
It will be a great joy to you that your work among
these men during these past two years has led up to this,
and you ought to accept it to the full. Missionaries want
all the joy God sends them. And it seems to me to augur
very well for the future of the Chaiuars in Delhi. Of
course, as you say, there will be still plenty of difficulties,
and the little ship will want piloting amid rocks and quick-
sands for many a day yet. Still, if there are some deter-
mined men even in one quarter of the city who value their
faith and their fidelity to their Lord above all things, in
the end all will be well, and the good neutralise and
lessen the evil from year to year.
With heartiest love, I am,
Your affectionate Brother in Christ,
E. B.
But next month came keen disappointment. The
doctors again refused their permission for him to return,
1 He had retired from the mission in 1880, and died in London,
December 10, 1894.
2 See chapter iv. p. 94.
K
130 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
and would not be moved by his earnest wishes. The
college living of Framlingham, in Suffolk, had just fallen
vacant, and he was strongly advised by some of his friends
to take it. On turning then, as always, to his father,
to Bishop Lightfoot, and Dr. Westcott for advice, he was
surprised to find that they all three agreed that it was his
duty to accept the offer, at least for a time.
The living was one of the best endowed in the gift of
the college, being then of the value of 1,3 SO/, per annum,
with good rectory and grounds. The parish, with the hamlet
of Saxsted, was in the county of Suffolk and diocese of
Norwich, with a population of 3,000 souls. The place was
not devoid of many interests, but owing to the advanced
age of a nonagenarian rector it had fallen behind the
times in the matter of parochial efficiency. To speak
plainly, almost everything had to be done if ' the cure of
the souls of the said parishioners ' was to be fulfilled.
Bickersteth entered upon the work in October and at
once set to work to do what was necessary, but it is clear
he never felt settled there. He wrote to Lefroy :
I am feeling very sad these days, thinking of your
getting my letter at Delhi, and oh ! so wishing that for my
letter and its sadness I could substitute myself and the joy
of meeting you. I cannot bear to think, and do not think,
that all the work we have done (and especially you and I
together) is the work of a closed chapter in life, and I cannot
but feel that we shall be allowed some-while to write it out
to a completer end. It may not be so. God only knows,
and in this thought is, and ought to be, rest.
In a letter to the Rev. S. S. Allnutt he enumerated some
ways in which he hoped still to be of use to the Cambridge
Mission while Rector of Framlingham.
Pembroke College, Cambridge : October 21, 1884.
First, so many thanks for telegraphing. I read into
your words all the love that sent them not that I was
FURLOUGH FRAMLINGHAM CALL TO JAPAN 131
able exactly to act on them in any literal way. Having
accepted Framlingham, I was forced to go on with
the various processes of Induction, Institution, &c.,
but then you know, as Thiers said about the French
Republic, ' a thing is not eternal because it is estab-
lished ;' so it is with me and this living. If I see my
way opened India- wards again, and some ray of light
showing me that I am to walk along it I should rather
perhaps say, hear some voice bidding me do so no con-
sideration of being in an English living will, I trust and
hope, keep me from coming to you. I feel sure that I was
right in obeying now and doing what I was told, notwith-
standing the grief unto tears which the decision has caused
me ; but I do not at all feel equally sure that to come out
may not be my duty (made plain as my duty) in less time
than most people think. Only I feel I cannot make plans.
When God wills me to come, if so it be (and as I expect),
He will make it plain that I ought to come by giving me
strength perhaps, and opening some special work for me
with you, or making it easy for me to give up work here.
I shall try daily to. pray, 'Make Thou Thy way plain
before my face. '
He also wrote to me at Ripon, where I then resided as
chaplain to the Bishop (Dr. Boyd Carpenter) :
The Rectory, Framlingham :
October 31, 1884.
My dear Sam, It is before breakfast but after chota
haziri (we keep somewhat Indian hours here). As for
writing you a long letter about my doings, don't you wish
you may get it ? Why, you might consider it so interesting !
as to take it instead of the visit you promised me here. I
am expecting you for some of the days you (previous to
receiving this letter) meant to spend (only by a lapse of
memory) at Lancaster Gate. On the whole I shall wish
to have you on the I2th, as a young curate is coming to
stay with me later, and we shall be less cosy (derivation
' causer ' to chat, so equals ' chatable ' or ' chatatory ').
Yes, I am here for a time. I can't think for long
with enough work for ten years in merely getting things
into order. I am thankful to be allowed to work, and feel
better able to do it than previously but. .at present I do
K 2
132 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
not feel, though I shall, I trust, do all I can while here, that
this is to be my life's work. But God knoweth. And, after
all, life is far more like a mosaic of different pieces than a
polished slab, so in a sense it is life's work.
About the word catholic, see Westcott's note in his
' Canon.' The more important of its two early meanings
(universal and proportionate) that is, proportionate has
been forgotten.
Yours very affectionately,
E. B.
To his old head master he wrote :
November 5, 1884.
My dear Dr. Dyne, It was a very great pleasure to
me to receive your kind letter. Leaving Indian work for
the time being (I do not give up the hope of getting back
to it in time) has been a great trial to me, but I believe
that it is God's will that I should be for a while here. I
have a large parish, with two churches and two curates.
Yours most sincerely,
EDWARD BICKERSTETH.
The parish church of Framlingham needed restoration
and that work he at once began, though he could not do more
than begin it. He was enabled, however, to see some desir-
able alterations made in the chancel, and also in its furniture.
As for the spiritual fabric, he knew it to be a much
more delicate and difficult matter to handle wisely the
spiritual stones of the living Church of Christ. But house-
to-house visitation there, as everywhere, proved an invalu-
able opportunity for explaining alterations, removing pre-
judices, recruiting workers, as well as for that direct appeal to
the human conscience, which the true pastor of souls learns
how and when to make. Some of his friends, notably
Canon Crowfoot of Lincoln, came to his assistance in
beginning for that parish the special use of Advent and
Lent as seasons for spiritual advance. Tho services of
Holy Week in 1885 and the Three Hours' service on Good
FURLOUGH FRAMLINGHAM CALL TO JAPAN 133
Friday, conducted by Canon Crowfoot, warmed the hearts
of the people for the Easter Festival, the congregations on
that day being full of encouragement. A visit paid to the
parish in 1898, the year after his death and twelve years
after he had ceased to be Rector, elicited from many their
faithful and grateful remembrance of one who in his short
ministry there had led them to Christ.
But had he wished to settle down, his former Diocesan,
Bishop French of Lahore, had no intention of losing
his services in India if he could possibly retain them.
The value which he set on his chaplain's work and
influence may be gathered from a note in his Diary, written
a year later on hearing of his call to Japan :
Bickersteth's withdrawal has stunned me and pierced
me to the quick of my soul. Should I, like Jonah, when
stormy waves beat over our ship, ask to be let down the
side of the ship, not to be swallowed up, even temporarily I
hope, but to be transferred to some small missionary post ?
The diocese should go into mourning, and the Gazette
record it in black-edged notice. I have gone for a day's
outing ^vhen young, and something has happened which
took zest, sparkle, and spangle out of the day's pleasure ;
I am almost tempted to find this in this sorrowful event.
He referred to the same subject in an address to his
clergy at the Diocesan Synod at Lahore, November 23,
1885:
About the transfer of Mr. Bickersteth's services I can
hardly trust myself to speak yet. It ought to be a thought
of comfort, and will be so, I trust, when the first shock of
sorrow and disappointment has passed, that if the diocese
of Lahore must wear the weeds of mourning, that of Japan
may well wear the marriage garment of joy and praise.
It is not therefore surprising that on this occasion he
left no stone unturned to secure his return. On hearing of
the acceptance of Framlingham, he telegraphed at once to
134 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
Lord Kimberley (Secretary of State for India) asking him
to confer a chaplaincy on Bickersteth that he might reside
at Simla in the hot weather. The Bishop also proposed
to offer him an archdeaconry. Bickersteth wrote to Lefroy
about what he described as ' this strange disturbing offer of
chaplaincy and archdeaconry : '
Framlingham : November 20, 1884.
Westcott refuses all advice. He says he has none to
give. The offer coming from the Bishop, and yet upsetting
such recently formed plans if it be accepted, are (he says)
the pros and cons, but which should prevail he does not
know ; my father also is undecided. As a consequence I
am trying to work on here as if no such plan had been
proposed, and am laying as I may the foundations of a
parochial organisation. For myself I shrink greatly from
a chaplaincy. . . . Still, if I could see the way open to be
in charge of Simla and of some use to the mission, I do
not know that I ought to shrink from it. I have made the
latter a sort of condition with the Bishop of my considering
the matter definitely. If, e.g., I was assured time each
winter for a spell in the district with one of you, and had
an open house to offer you by turns at Simla in the hot
weather, this would be something. However, I will not run
on in vain speculations. Till I hear, they are vain. Write
me your full opinion.
There was another question which in Bickersteth's
opinion urgently pressed for settlement namely, the suc-
cession to the headship of the mission. As long as he was
in England planning to return at the earliest moment, his
absence, though inconvenient, allowed of his duties being
discharged by deputy. His acceptance of Framlingham
altered the situation. The senior member of the mission,
the Rev. H. C. C. Carlyon, did not wish for the headship,
and Mr. Allnutt felt that he could not go on with his
school work and also lead the mission. Mr. Lefroy was
felt by all to have special aptitude for the duties of head-
FURLOUGH FRAMLINGHAM CALL TO JAPAN 135
ship, but he was unwilling to assume the work at once.
Moreover, the Cambridge Brotherhood were loth to give
Bickersteth up as long as there was any possibility of his
return. Accordingly, in the letter to Lefroy already quoted
(dated November 20, 1 884), Bickersteth wrote :
The [Cambridge] Committee is this day week, and as
I think I mentioned to Allnutt I have written to Westcott
to tell him that I shall support what seems your quite
unanimous opinion because it is such, and I expect I shall
get your wishes sanctioned, though somewhat against the
independent opinion of the majority, as it is somewhat
against my own. ... I do think and feel that you are
very especially gifted %ptrt Ssov for the office. But this
being so (again but for your letters) I should have de-
cidedly held that you had better be appointed at once.
There are grave evils in interregna : without the fault of
anyone concerned, they keep things in uncertainty. How-
ever, as you think otherwise (and I understand that you
would like some further time for preparation and to look
upon the next year or two as such) I shall, as I said, try
and induce the Committee to accede.
The offer of the archdeaconry with its intermittent
possibilities of still serving the Cambridge Mission in-
creased the uncertainty, but it did not alter Bickersteth's
judgment that Mr. Lefroy should be head of the Cam-
bridge Mission, as will be seen by the following letter :
Gloucester : January 29, 1885.
My dear Lefroy, Consider this scrap, please, a
postscript to a letter which I have written to Allnutt and
which he will send you. You will learn from it that there
is some possibility of my returning to India in October
no certainty and if I return of my eventually doing some
work again at Delhi. Now what I want to say to you is
that I do not think this should throw any doubt or hesita-
tion into your mind with reference to your succession to
the headship of the mission next year. If I return it will
be to spend two years first of all at Simla, and then,
perhaps, not to get more than seven months or so in the
136 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
year at Delhi, of which I should be a good portion travel-
ling in the district. Altogether, the prospect seems to me
much too uncertain to admit of your entertaining any
doubt that it is your duty to prepare during the next
twelve months for accepting the full responsibility of the
headship of the mission at Easter, 1886. I shall for my
part, I believe, if again allowed to take part in mission
work, work quite as happily under you as over you, and
should such be the outcome of a somewhat far-off future, I
see no reason to think that as between you and me there
would be any difficulty. I write this now, however, because
though my prospects of return are distant, your thoughts
and prayers, through which you and the mission will be so
largely shaped and influenced, are immediate.
Your affectionate Brother in Christ,
EDWARD BICKERSTETH.
In the event he, however, refused the proffered offer of
the archdeaconry, chiefly on the advice of the Bishop
(Pelham) of Norwich, and determined to make one more
effort to return to Delhi itself. He wrote to Mr. Lefroy :
Framlingham, Suffolk : March 5, 1885.
There are only a few minutes to mail time, but I have
several letters of yours unanswered and must send you a
line, not, however, so much on account of the unanswered
letters, though they are on my conscience, but because I
have just decided, as far as I may for the present, on my
future course. Briefly, I have refused Simla, and told the
Bishop I will rejoin you in October if doctors will let me.
I have been led to this, though after the greatest un-
certainty for four months as to what I ought to do a four
months which have been some of the most trying I ever
spent mainly by the two following considerations :
(a) The Bishop of Lahore has, in a series of letters of
the most affectionate, and, at the same time, urgent cha-
racter, pressed me to return to the Punjab.
() I consulted the Bishop of Norwich, being the
Bishop I am serving under. He said, in effect, ' If you are
allowed to return to missionary work I have nothing to
say, but your work in Framlingham is too important for
FURLOUGH FRAMLINGHAM CALL TO JAPAN 137
you to give up to take, even for a time, other English work-
in India.'
Well, seeing myself a great deal to be said for taking
Simla for the two years until I could see my way more
clearly, I still did not feel at all certain enough that 1 was
called to this to go against my present Bishop's advice.
On the other hand, I have not been able to do other-
wise than give the very greatest weight to the urgent
invitations of a man I so much respect and love as the
Bishop of Lahore. Well, the result is what I have told
you. If doctors permit, I am returning to India in October ;
but, without the interim of two years at Simla. I am
coming straight to missionary work.
I hope I may still be of some use to the Bishop at
Simla, as for a couple of years certainly I shall have to
be away from Delhi for May and June.
Once again, however, he was denied his heart's desire.
The doctors totally refused to entertain the idea of his
return to India, and he had to write sadly to the Bishop of
Lahore :
The Rectory, Framlingham : March 26, 1885.
My dear Bishop, It grieves me so to be writing this
letter. The way to India for me seems again closed for
the present. I obtained last week Dr. Westcott's consent
to my return and the Master of Pembroke's, but was
totally refused by Sir J. Fayrer when he examined me in
London. He did not, indeed, say that his prohibition was
final, but he did say plainly that I must not come now. I
had only just escaped from a chronic disease, and though
I am getting better I am not well, and that a return now to
the plains and still more to the hills would be nearly sure
to set it up again. The letter he wrote about me was such
as to prohibit our committee from taking me.
The disappointment is very great. I had counted on
getting back now, and somehow believed I should. I can-
not help still believing that it is only for a time : but for
the present it does seem to make it a duty to do English
work, and, I suppose, to work here where I am. My
inclination is to retain my fellowship, and so to be free to
come and go as I like ; but having come here at the advice
of so many whom I am bound to respect, and having
138 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
commenced work here, I do not like to throw it up, unless
there is some call to me to go elsewhere. But wherever I
am I shall always keep India in view as my objective.
Pray for me, please, that I may be willing to accept what is
to me the hardest of all decisions for as long as God
wills it.
It is just mail time, but I felt I must write this
line.
Ever your affectionate son in Christ,
EDWARD BICKERSTETH.
No wonder he excused himself to the Cambridge
Mission at Delhi for not writing to them on the details of
the work as much as he had wished to do on the plea that
' the double anxiety of starting a great parish and negotia-
ting a return to India at the same time has been heavy, and
I fear made me unduly self-centred. You have, however,
been daily in my prayers, if I have not poured myself out
on paper. You know I am, at the best, bad at the
latter.'
During that winter and spring came the interest aroused
by his father's appointment, first as Dean of Gloucester, a
position which he held for a few weeks only, and then by
his call to the English episcopate as sixty-second Bishop of
Exeter. This broke up the Hampstead home after thirty
uninterrupted years. Edward was present with his father
when he was installed as Dean at Gloucester on January 28,
and attended him as chaplain on his consecration at St.
Paul's Cathedral on St. Mark's Day, 1885, little thinking
that within twelve months he would himself be called in
the same place to bear the burden of fatherhood in God.
Notwithstanding these interruptions, the parochial
activities at Framlingham increased every month, and
especially during Lent there was much encouragement n
the attendance of many at the special services. On
Easter Monday my brother wrote to me at Ripon :
FURLOUGH FRAMLINGHAM CALL TO JAPAN 139
Every good wish of this season. Surely it was a true
instinct which saw in Easter ' the Queen of Festivals.' If
only Christ Risen had been more kept in mind, people
would never have fallen into the mistake of substituting
the acceptance of a doctrine for union with a Person as the
condition of salvation. . . The forbidding of my return to
India has been a great trial. I had made up my mind it
was to be. Now father and all advise my staying here, and
on the principle of not moving till one is called I think I
shall. If I do, I shall try and make this place a centre for
a society of missioners, to preach especially in Suffolk, but
not exclusively. I had my vestry this morning. Only
one opponent of my changes in a large meeting, and he
never comes to church ! Pray that I may be guided
aright.
Your ever affectionate Brother,
E. B.
However, during the next three or four months his
health so far improved as to enable him yet once again to
wring a hesitating consent from his medical advisers to
his return to Delhi. He wrote to Lefroy :
Vicar's Close, Wells : September 9, 1885.
My dear Lefroy, I have been spending another few days
of pleasant holiday with my father on the borders of Dart-
moor, picking up health and strength for India. . . I go
on to my brother Sam's at Ripon, then, I think, to Lincoln,
and then to wind up my affairs at Framlingham and preach
farewell sermons. Even after a short year, farewell-saying
is sore work, especially to the sick and others whom one
has seen often ; and my decision was so pushed off from
week to week by causes that I could not control that my
time is now not long. Perhaps this is for the best.
I do not think that I have attained to the standard you
put before me in this decision of returning to you to which
1 have come, I mean I have rather thought of coming to
make another as persevering an attempt as I may to live
in India and work with you all, than of necessarily coming
to live or die. Perhaps the other would have been and
would be the higher determination, but I don't think that
I can be sure enough of what any resolution I now made
140 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
would be worth at some future crisis, as men of greater
moral strength would be, to make it right for me to act
under the pressure of so high a purpose. Mine, I admit, is
the lower ground not by any means ' a counsel of perfec-
tion,' but safer, I feel, for me. Curiously, as regards leav-
ing Framlingham I was helped by knowing (I should not
like this generally mentioned) that I should not anyhow
have been there for more than a short time longer that is,
in all probability.
I start on October 30, and come by Brindisi ; I fancy
this is best for me medically and otherwise. I may be in
time for the Synod. How very delightful it is to think
that the month after next I shall probably see you all
again.
May God give you and me to do a little more work
together for Him.
There is more to write, but this will do for to-night.
Your very affectionate Brother,
EDWARD BICKERSTETH.
At my house in Ripon I remember witnessing his
signature to the deed of resignation of Framlingham, the
one and only English parish which he held, and which
henceforth he remembered in prayer every Wednesday.
Had he been minded to settle in England, few places
could have combined more attractions for one who,
whether at home or abroad, never lost the keenest interest
in the vexed and various problems which beset the
development of the Church in England. The ample en-
dowment would have enabled him to carry out any schemes
which commended themselves to his judgment. But
although the work there had drawn out many of his
pastoral instincts, and was rich in opportunities of service,
the missionary spirit had passed into his very soul, his love
for the work at Delhi was little less than a passionate
attachment, and there can be no doubt that he loosed
himself from these moorings with an intense joy at the
thought of returning to Delhi.
FURLOUGH FRAMLINGHAM CALL TO JAPAN 141
And now he was to be tested by a new call.
His berth for India was taken for the third time, and
the day of his departure in October was settled, when a
telegram from the Archbishop of Canterbury (Dr. Benson)
was destined wholly to change the scene of his future
labours. The Archbishop had entertained Bickersteth
both at Lincoln and at Truro as his guest, and he
turned to him when he had to appoint a successor to
Bishop Poole (Bishop of the Church of England in Japan),
whose deeply lamented death after a brief episcopate of
two years had occurred in the summer of I885. 1
The Providence which thus transferred Bickersteth
from the East to the Far East is unmistakable. In Japan
he carried on his work for eleven years ; it is doubtful if he
could really have stayed as many months in India. In
Japan a man was wanted whose experience had already
taught him the wide difference between the western and
eastern mind ; the delicacy of the relationship between
the principles underlying episcopacy and the accidental
circumstances of which missionary societies are the too
permanent product ; the undoubted advantages attaching
to holy homes in which married missionaries can illustrate
many Christian virtues, and yet the urgent call for Com-
munity missions of women as well as of men not only
or chiefly because more economical, but because apostolic
simplicity and the ' separating ' vocation of the Holy
Spirit can therein be very plainly exhibited ; the real
importance of accurate translations both of Bible and of
Prayer Book, and yet the danger of cumbering nascent
churches with the literary lumber of mediaeval contro-
versies ; the absolute necessity of maintaining the sense of
the presence of God amid the inevitable loneliness of spirit
1 The Right Rev. A. W. Poole, D.D., was consecrated in Lambeth
Palace Chapel on October 18, 1883, and died on July 14, 1885.
142 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
inseparable from missionary life, as well as a rule of life at
once sober and strict for newly won converts ; and, as a
guiding principle, unifying all missionary activities and
dominating them, the keeping in view as the aim in all the
work, the building up of a native Church to be in God's
own time a true branch of Christ's Holy Catholic Church,
an organ for the spiritual development of the nation, a body
in which the Holy Spirit could dwell and prepare the
Bride of Christ.
It is plain to any reader of these pages that Edward
Bickersteth as Fellow of his college, as the head of a Mis-
sionary Brotherhood, as examining chaplain and confiden-
tial friend of Bishop French at a time when the newly
formed see of Lahore was being rounded into separate
existence and made instinct with synodical activities, as
already the painstaking learner of five Eastern languages
and the sympathetic student in loco of at least two of the
great Oriental religions, and as one not wholly unac-
quainted with the details of pastoral and parochial activity
had enjoyed advantages which promised to be of special
use to him as a Missionary Bishop among the progressive
Japanese, however much his appointment may have
severed (as it did) the tenderest ties which fast bound him
to his first missionary home.
But he was not in much doubt as to which way the
path of duty led him. If the Archbishop thought him the
right man, then he was ready to go where he was sent.
As usual, he wrote to Lefroy :
Trinity College, Cambridge : October 30, 1885.
My dear Lefroy, ... I have written to the Arch-
bishop accepting Japan. The day after the mail last week
I got an answer from the Bishop of Durham, quite agree-
ing with Dr. Westcott, and so, as I obeyed before, I have
obeyed again. I believe it is right. I know that it is not
FURLOUGH FRAMLINGHAM CALL TO JAPAN 143
my own desire. Coming back to you all was a thought of
constant joy to me. Work in Japan at present looks cold
and comfortless. I do not mean that it always will do so.
It has perhaps as great interests as any country could
have, and I doubt not that I shall get to love the people,
the work, and my fellow-labourers (some of whom,
according to all accounts, are very excellent, among others
Foss of Christ's, Lloyd of Peterhouse, Fyson of Christ's)
as time goes on. But I speak of my present feelings.
But we shall be doing one work and for one Master. I
hope, too, the connection between Delhi and Japan may
not be one of letters only. Parts of the country are quite
a sanitorium, and some of you will come, I do trust, from
time to time to see me. Maitland (to whom my hearty
love) will of course abjure Australia in its favour ! I do
not expect to start before January. The consecration day
is not yet settled. . .
Well ! farewell for to-day. My daily thoughts and
prayers are with you.
Your very affectionate Brother,
EDWARD BICKERSTETH.
Again he wrote to him for the New Year :
The Palace, Exeter: December n, 1885.
My dear Lefroy, I must write you a line for the New
Year, just to wish you in it all the greatest and most
glorious blessings that time, as it goes, can bring with it.
Do you remember our spending New Year's Day at
Mehrowli four years since, and oh ! how I had looked
forward to spending it and this winter in Delhi ! It had
been the point of my hopes, and I seemed just about to
reach it ; perhaps my way of bringing it about was too
self-willed. Anyhow, it has been turned aside from where I
wished it to tend, whither I have no longings or drawings,
and where instead of the re-knitting of old and strongest
affections, I may only look at the most to making new
acquaintances which can never at the utmost be nearly what
the old affections have been and are. Well, it is just that
' are ' which is a comfort to me sometimes. To us being sv
Xpia-Tw there is a true permanence amid all the incessant
changings of this changeful life, something has been gained
by the life and love together which will not ever die.
144 I5ISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
But at present this separation is very hard. I believe
it was right. At least, all wise people told me I had no
choice, and I submitted it to enough of them ; but still, ever
since I agreed to go to Japan I have had such a longing
for Delhi and the society of you all that I dare say I have
painted my future life in duller colours than perhaps it will
actually wear, and, if so, this is not right. I ought, and I
recognise it, to feel thankful that I am being sent to
mission work, and to an important position where there is
more hope of my being able to work continuously than
there could have been in my loved Delhi. And you will
get the wider view-point, too ; indeed, you already have,
and from it the survey of life at least shall have in it hope
and peace, though not all the lights that I had been
making to play around my prospects. . .
With hearty New Year's wishes and love to all,
Your affectionate Brother in Christ,
EDWARD BICKERSTETH.
To Rev. S. S. Allnutt
January 8, 1886.
My dear Allnutt, My consecration is fixed for
February 2, and I am to start about March I. The multi-
tude of meetings, &c., which I am obliged to attend in
order to get up a Japanese fund prevents my taking an
earlier mail. Also, I am trying to get men to accompany
me, or join me in Japan. Meetings in Oxford and Cam-
bridge in February may (as I pray) draw out someone,
but they may not. I have often dreaded a lonely life, and
it may be God's discipline for me for a time that I be
alone. . . .
I know you will give me your heartiest, fullest prayers,
both unitedly and individually, on February 2, and when I
am starting so I need not ask them. . . .
... I shall look forward longingly. In March plainly
1 could not come. Not only the weather is against it, but
much is waiting me in Japan (confirmations and ordina-
tions) which it would not be right to delay. Now that I
have undertaken it, I must bear my burden and you will
help me.
Farewell sv Xptcrr&>. That bond unites absolutely
Your very affectionate brother in Christ,
EDW. BICKERSTETH.
FURLOUGH FRAMLINGHAM CALL TO JAPAN 145
It is plain that Edward Bickersteth's call to Japan
came from that Spirit Who still, as in the Church of the
first days, uses that word, ' Separate Me Barnabas and
Saul for the work ' a word which now as then cuts to the
dividing asunder of relationships most intimate and friend-
ships most close.
But although the young Bishop-designate he was
then only thirty-five years of -age felt the conflict so
counter and so keen, he at once threw himself with
characteristic energy into all the preparations for his new
work.
The postponement of the time originally fixed for his
consecration chafed him as he longed to start ; but he
occupied the longer interval in trying to catch some fishers
of men who would join the Community Mission of St
Andrew, which he at once determined to found. There was
now also no let to his taking preliminary steps for the
formation of St. Hilda's Community Mission for Women
on the lines which he had already thought out as suitable
for Delhi. Another care was to find a congenial companion
as chaplain. ' Pray for me that I may find a true a-vvspyos
(he wrote to Lefroy). I know too well how often my own
judgments would have been wrong unless they had been
balanced and corrected by you and the others. I want a
man on whom I can rely for the diocese's sake as well as
for my own.'
It was at this time also that he created the nucleus of
St. Paul's Guild for Prayer, the first members consisting
chiefly of his own brothers and sisters. We all met as a
family at Exeter for that Christmas and New Year, and no
one would have known that Edward had to bear up under
the still recent disappointment of not returning to Delhi
and the load of his new duties, dimly descried. He
threw himself into all the home festivities, and we enjoyed
L
146 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
one or two long walks on Dartmoor. On New Year's Day
he wrote to Lefroy, whose father had recently died, and
dwelt much on the permanence of the work done by the
regenerate life.
The Palace, Exeter: January i, 1886.
My dear Lefroy, I only saw a notice in the paper of
the great sorrow which has come to you and yours after
the mail left last week. You will know how much you
have been you are always, but beyond usual in my heart
and prayers since. I know not if you will have heard by
telegram of your father's call ; anyhow, I do not doubt
that to you, who have served Him so stedfastly and lived
with Christ these years so closely, there will be given now,
when you so need it, not the removal of sorrow which
none of us would have even if we could but the deep
divine consolation which assuages it, and in time even
illuminates it. I have been thinking a good deal about
the real permanence of Christian work recently. All these
changes which have come to myself, and perhaps unduly
saddened me, have driven me that way for comfort. The
changeless God ; the eternal fact of the God-man ; the
communication of His life through the Spirit to all
the sons of God and brethren of Christ ; these are the
foundation truths, and from them results this, that all
which they, God's sons and Christ's brethren, do has an
eternal significance too. ' He that eateth of this Bread
shall live for ever.' ' He that believeth on Me shall never
die.' and if so, no work which is done by the energies
of the regenerate life dies either ; it may seem to, but
it does not. It has gone to add something to the
increase, perfection, or beauty of the ever rising temple
of God.
And so your father's long life of usefulness to Church
and parish, every nearest affection, and even perhaps
through God's mercy some fragments of such broken work
as my own, live on.
I have been thinking of you, too, as being called to
give up for India's sake something more than any of us
have been called to. Absence from home we voluntarily
adopt and we need not deny it to be difficult and a self-
denial but it becomes far more so, and therefore by a
FURLOUGH FRAMLINGHAM CALL TO JAPAN 147
divine law which generally, I think, measures ultimate
results to the suffering by which they are brought about,
more fruitful, when it involves being away from those we
love when we would most of all long to be with them.
This great sorrow and its consolations, my dear brother,
are given you not for your sake only, but for the sake of
Hindus and Muhammadans yet outside, that they too may
in years to come ' be comforted with the comfort wherewith
you yourself are comforted of God.' Think of it this way
when you can, sometimes.
A Bishop's duties begin to press on me as in prospect
and reality very onerous.
Yours with abiding love and sympathy,
EDWD. BICKERSTETH.
The day of the consecration was then uncertain, but it
was a few days later settled for the Feast of the Presenta-
tion of Christ (February 2), to be in St. Paul's Cathedral
on the same day as that of Lord Alwyne Compton, who
had been called to fill the see of Ely.
Edward Bickersteth's private note-book of spiritual
resolutions bears ample evidence of the spirit in which he
entered upon the episcopate. At the consecration the
sermon was preached by Canon Paget, now Dean of
Christ Church, Oxford, and the elected Missionary Bishop
of Japan, vested with his rochet, was led up to the Arch-
bishop by the former and present Bishops of Exeter
that is, by Dr. Temple (now Archbishop of Canterbury,
then Bishop of London) and by Dr. E. H. Bickersteth.
Few who were present at the consecration could be un-
moved spectators of this scene when the father led up
his eldest son to the Archbishop of the province to
present him for consecration.
In the huge congregation there was a largely missionary
element, and besides numerous relations there were present
representatives of every period of Edward Bickersteth's
life those who had known him at school, at college, or in
148 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
India while the Delhi Brotherhood telegraphed to him
as the assurance of their prayers, Philippians iv. I/. 1
From henceforth the newly consecrated Bishop never
failed to remember in his prayers the Bishop of Ely, in
company with whom he had received the special spiritual
grace which he firmly believed was granted in accordance
with Divine promise to those who by apostolic succession
had been brought, as Bishops, into a new relation with their
ascended Lord. Within four weeks of his consecration
Bishop Edward Bickersteth left for Japan.
1 He kept the copy of this telegram in his MS. book of private devotions
to the 'end of his life.
149
CHAPTER VI
A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE. 1 886-1 888
' I may add that no brighter prospect, I believe, has ever been set before the
missionary than that in Japan.' Letter to Dr. Searle, August 14, 1886.
THE Bishop left England on Saturday, March 6, 1886, for
the Far East, and, travelling by way of Milan and Brindisi,
reached Alexandria on Ash Wednesday, March 10. There
he joined the Rev. H. Maundrell, who, with his wife and
children, was returning after furlough to Nagasaki, 1 a
C.M.S. station in Kiushiu, the great southern island of
the Japanese Empire. Mr. Maundrell, who had more than
once visited Hampstead, proved to be a most pleasant
travelling companion, and it was God's good Providence
which sent to the somewhat lonely Bishop so sympathetic a
friend. Two years later he made him Archdeacon of
Kiushiu, and placed much reliance on his good judgment.
The following extracts are from letters written on the
journey.
To his Father
Alexandria : Ash Wednesday, March 10, 1886.
There could scarcely be a less pleasant way of spend-
ing Sunday than in pouring rain running down the east
coast of Italy for the most part alone in a railway carriage.
1 This well-known port derives a special interest from the fact of its having
been the scene of a large number of the martyrdoms which give lustre to
Japanese Church History in the seventeenth century, while the English
Bishop's chapel now occupies the ground where once renegade Dutch
merchants trampled on the cross as a condition of their trading with Japan.
150 BISHOP EDWARD BICKEKSTETH
However, I read my services, and the earliest Christian
sermon on record outside the Canon, the so-called Second
Letter of St. Clement of Rome, really a homily by an un-
known writer. I must make up my mind, I expect, to a good
many lonely journeys, and seek to realise more fully the
Presence of the Divine Guide. . .
The man I have seen most of (on board) is one of Mr.
Spurgeon's preachers ! . . .
Still, much as I should value Lent in a Christian
country, I am not altogether sorry to be journeying during
it. It will be helpful, I trust, to trying to make the time
a preparation for all the work before me. A strange eight
years and a half indeed it has been since I was last draw-
ing near to Alexandria with dear Murray : full of changes
and surprises but I trust that God has been with me, and
His guidance in the past should give me confidence for the
future. ' Because Thou hast been my help, therefore' &c.
Had I been going back to India the journey would have
been comparatively natural. As it is, I am going again to
the wholly unknown, and this is a great added trial to that
of leaving you all.
S.S. Bokhara, near Aden : March 16, 1886.
A strange party we were on the little launch [at Suez]
Indian officers, missionaries, ladies, Italian workmen hired
for S. Indian gold mines, &c.
I find Maundrell a very agreeable companion, and am
getting from him a good deal of information about Japan.
As yet I have learnt more about Japan than I have of
Japanese. I brought with me so much to do of arrears of
letters, accounts, &c., that my time has been well filled up.
I do not spend more than about an hour and a half on
deck, I think, usually. Almost the only book I have read
at all has been the Report of the Osaka Conference of
1883, which contains a mass of missionary information on
all topics connected with Japan. . . We have a short daily
service every day in the saloon at 10.30 . . . and had two
services on Sunday. None of these have been very well
attended, except the morning service on Sunday. Indians
and colonists, like English farmers, are far too often content
to make their one weekly service do duty for their whole
religion. How we do need a higher standard ! and abroad,
where it should be highest, everything tends to depress it,
and it is lower than at home. . . I am despatching a heavy
A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE. 1 886- 1 888 151
mail to London and Delhi, as well as Exeter so will not
write more. My thoughts and prayers are ever with you.
To Rev. S. S. Allnutt
S.S. Bokhara, Red Sea : March 14, 1886.
In a way there seems something wrong that I am at
last, after so many attempts, coming East, and not coming
to dear old Delhi ; and yet, as I look back upon it all now,
in this the first period of quiet I have had for some time,
I feel that God has been guiding me, though not in the path
I had chosen. Well, if so, some day we shall be able to see
that our plans were better broken and our efforts frustrated.
... In Japan it is at present plainly, from all I have
gathered, the day as yet of small realisations but large hopes.
In one matter, however, which has been a good deal on my
mind, they are ahead of India that is, in their readiness to
undertake, in part or even altogether, their church support.
Of course, in Japan they have profited by Indian experience
of the disastrous results of too much help from England
and America, and lay the greatest stress on independence.
It may be that we have not been bold enough in the matter
as yet at Delhi. Winter, I know, lays stress on the united
service on Sunday morning in St. Stephen's, &c., but I
cannot help thinking more than I did that with so large a
body of missionaries as Delhi possesses, and is likely to
retain, there will be great danger of overshadowing the
native Church, which it is our very object to establish, and
weakening where we think to support. Were the man forth-
coming it would really, I believe, be a healthier thing for St.
Stephen's and its services to be in native hands. Ot course,
I know he is not at present, and it is also much easier to
write about than effect changes ; but I do feel increasingly
alike what the danger is and, therefore, what our object
should be.
To his Father
S.S. Bokhara : March 24, 1886.
I am getting on a little with Japanese under my good
tutor Maundrell's care. . . . To think that this is my sixth
Eastern language (besides Hebrew ) ! I hope it is the
last. . . .
It seems so strange to be so near India, the land where
152 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETII
I had thought to spend my life, and to be going on so
very far beyond ; but as I have been looking back these
days on the last three years and a half, certainly the
Providence has seemed very marked which has led me to
Japan.
The steamer touched at Colombo on Lady Day, and
the Bishop was able to land and see Bishop Copleston, and
go with him to a celebration of Holy Communion. By
April 8 Hongkong was reached and a few days later
Shanghai. From these two places he wrote :
To his Father
C.M.S. House, Hong Kong: April 8, 1886.
I have a good deal of talk with some of my fellow
passengers on religious subjects. Among men in the East
infidelity is everywhere ; partly the misstatements of the
. Creed that have been so rife, above all the crude doctrine
of Atonement that has been taught as if it, and not the fact
it misrepresents, were the centre of the Gospel ; partly the
uncertainty occasioned by the great variety of Christian
sects ; partly the supposed inroads of science, and an un-
defined fear that more will yet have to be given up, seem
to have shaken the faith of men generally in the Far East.
Of course there are many exceptions, but from what I am
told, and the little I have seen, the disease of unbelief
is very widely spread. Still, I am inclined to believe, as
notably the last few years at Oxford, there will be a re-
action before long. Men have been reading Buckle and
Renan as discoverers and innovators, but the novelty is
wearing off, and the hollowness of what they had to say
will surely then become more apparent. . . .
I am longing for news of you all, and shall feel it a
great comfort when the weekly letters begin to arrive.
Shanghai : April 13, 1886.
At Shanghai Maundrell and I drove out to Sikawei, a
great Jesuit establishment about five miles from the city.
Truly as far as buildings and institutions are concerned the
Jesuits have done great things. Sikawei is an immense
collection of large houses devoted to various missionary
A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE. 1 886- 1 888 153
objects. The largest is a college, to which pupils are sent
from the interior, with a grand library, an observatory,
museum, &c., and rooms for a considerable number of
fathers. The rooms certainly were plain enough a bed,
table, and chairs seemed the only furniture. Convents,
girls' schools, orphanages, &c., are at a little distance. We
were shown over the college by a lively French Jesuit in
Chinese costume, pigtail and all complete. It looked
laughable, but ' extremes meet.' Major Tucker and the
Salvation Army are doing the same thing in India, and
think it essential to large success. I wish at all events
that there were in Japan some men like Bateman and
Gordon of the Punjab, who identified themselves in a
wonderful way with the people.
It is extremely hard to find out the moral value of the
results of Roman Catholic missions in these countries. A
Nonconformist missionary after nearly forty years of experi-
ence in the Canton province told me that he believed their
work to be good, and that not a few of the country people
whom he had come across were simple-minded Christians.
On the other hand, Archdeacon Moule had come across
some Mariolatry which seemed little better than a sort
of z'</<?/atry.
On the way back we visited another great missionary
establishment Bishop Boone's, of the American Church.
Unfortunately he was out, and I only just had time to
leave a card and peep into a dear little church, where a
Chinese clergyman was reading the Evensong Psalms.
But the leisure which the voyage afforded had been
turned by the Bishop to a more abiding purpose. In an
' open ' letter which he addressed to the Rev. Dr. Searle,
Master of Pembroke College, Cambridge, he brought under
review the leading features of Japan at that time, its
chief needs and a characteristic proposal for helping to
meet them. That proposal was the establishment of a
University mission in some chief city of the empire,
such as Cambridge had already sent to Delhi.
Before leaving England he had brought this idea
before the notice of personal friends, and addressed two
154
BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
A plea
for Uni-
versity
help.
The claim
of ancient
countries
upon
ancient
Uni-
versities.
meetings, one at Cambridge and one at Oxford, on the
subject. He had argued that :
To allow a great and prosperous nation to adopt the
outward form of our civilisation without the knowledge of
the faith on which it is based would be disastrous to them
and dishonourable to us. To embrace the opportunity
could not fail to ensure the divine blessing alike on them
and us.
He was careful to point out that already the mis-
sionaries supported by the S.P.G. and C.M.S., as well as
those sent out by the Sister Church of America, were doing
excellent work in Japan, but that these missionaries would
no doubt welcome, as they had done in India, additional
labourers in a mission such as it was proposed to establish.
He now wrote to Dr. Searle the following thoughtful
and earnest appeal :
S. S. Ancona, Singapore : March 31, 1886.
The meetings of University men which I was allowed
to address in Cambridge, Oxford, and elsewhere during
last month, and especially the crowded meeting over
which you so kindly presided in the old library of the
college, have left in my mind a hope which I can
scarcely doubt the future will fulfil that my request for a
small body of men to establish a mission in Japan will not
be disregarded. I wish in this letter to put before you
some of the reasons which seem to me to justify this
request at the present time.
It is admitted that the nations which have the chief
claim upon the missionary energies of the Universities are
those which, with ancient histories, civilisations, and re-
ligious systems of their own, have in recent years been to
a greater or less degree permeated by our culture and
knowledge. Particular places in Christendom will naturally
select for their own sphere of work those places in the
non-Christian world in which the characteristic resources
and gifts at their command may find full and special em-
ployment. From this point of view the great nations of
the East, which in place of their ancient systems, in our
A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE. 1 886- 1 888 155
own day and under our very eyes, are adopting the culture,
the philosophies, and sciences of the West, seem to appeal
with special force for that help which our Universities are
best able to give.
There are not very many places in the East in which
as yet this is the case. It may be hoped, too, that in time
to come native Christian Churches will themselves be in
a position to secure that the claims of Christianity shall not
be put on one side in the countries where they are estab-
lished through the pressure of secular sciences. For the
present this is not so, and if to-day Christianity is to
obtain a hearing in the chief centres of literary and
scientific life in the East, the few men of ability and learn-
ing in the native Churches must be assisted by Western
teachers of the faith.
The islands of Japan have a population of about thirty-
eight millions. Their intercourse with the West, after an
interval of more than two centuries, recommenced in the year
1853 ; and it was only so recently as 1868 that the Revo-
lution took place, which resulted in the break-up of the
old feudal system of the country and placed in complete
authority the present dynasty and government. From this
date commenced also the introduction with such startling
rapidity of European methods and customs, and the adop-
tion of the latest discoveries of the West. Railways and
steamers, telegraphs and telephones, post offices and post
office savings banks, and our methods of municipal and
executive government, have all been introduced within the
space of less than two decades into a country which was
wholly unknown to the last generation of Englishmen. It
is expected that the first representative Parliament will
meet in 1890. With the outward marks of our civilisation
has been adopted also our system of education. Japan for
a thousand years has possessed an educational method
founded upon that of China. Since the renewed inter-
course with Europe this has been re-modelled in all its
branches. Between 1873 an d 1883, 29,000 schools had
been built and opened, and more are being established
every year. The chief object of the old method of educa-
tion was the acquisition of the Chinese character as the
indispensable key to all later study of literature and philo-
sophy. Not less than ten years was spent in this unpro-
ductive toil. This study now occupies a subordinate place.
Even
native
Churches
need
foreign
help at
first.
The mar-
vellous de-
velopment
of Japan :
(a) politic-
ally ;
(b) edu-
cationally.
156
mSHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
Hence had
arisen a
desire to
learn
about
Christian-
ity-
Proofs of
this desire.
Buddhism
thus
stirred
into recru-
descence.
The ordinary subjects of primary education among our-
selves have, to a considerable extent, supplanted it. Our
text-books of science and literature are being translated,
and English is taught as a classic.
Two other changes seem to have accompanied the
spreading of education among the masses of the people.
On the one hand, they are far more ready than when the
country was first re-opened to give a respectful hearing to
the claims of Christianity. On the other, a determined
and not altogether unsuccessful attempt is being made by
the priesthood to revive an interest in Buddhism.
Many causes, I gather, have combined with education
to produce the change in the popular attitude towards
Christianity, such as the better understanding of its tenets
and character through the labours of missionaries, and the
neutral position in regard to all religious faiths now taken
up by the Government. The change itself seems very
marked. Thus in 1860 a missionary wrote that when he
mentioned the subject of Christianity in the presence of a
Japanese, his hand would almost involuntarily be applied
to his throat to indicate the extreme perilousness of such a
topic. How great the contrast of this with an account in a
recent number of the missionary organ of the American
Church, in which I find that the people of a district near
Osaka, the second city of Japan, are so earnest in their
desire to learn Christianity that they have built a large
house for a school, and are determined to have no one but
a Christian to take charge of it. This feeling has for some
time past been reflected in the native journals. In 1881 a
leading Japanese paper declared Christianity to be the only
religion that can satisfy the aspirations of the Japanese
people to-day ; and another paper in my possession of so
recent a date as last June assigns the spread of Christianity
as the reason of the falling off of the income of a Buddhist
sect.
On the other hand, Buddhism seems not prepared in
any degree to loose its hold upon the people without a
struggle. Mr. Warren, the secretary of the Church
Missionary Society in Japan, wrote in 1879 : ' Buddhism, at
least in one of its branches, the Shiu sect, shows remarkable
signs of vigour. . . It is making strenuous efforts to get a
footing in Satsuma, from which province it has hitherto
been excluded, and it has just completed a large college at
A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE. 1 886- 1 888 157
Kyoto for the accommodation of 600 students. There is a
rumour that some of the numerous students educated there
may eventually be sent to Europe and America for
proselytising purposes.' Mr. Maundrell, a missionary of
the same society who is with me on board, tells me that
he has experienced opposition in Kiushiu, the most
southerly island of the Japanese group, which must be
assigned to the same cause the revived energy of the
Buddhist priesthood. It is well known that Japanese
Buddhists, who have become aware of the vast differences
between Buddhism as they received it in Japan and the
system which 500 years before our era was taught by
Gautama in India, have recently been studying in Europe
the earlier records of their faith. This is another evidence
of the strength of this movement, notwithstanding the
opposition it has met from the progressive party. Such a
renewal of interest in a system which for a thousand years
has exercised supreme influence over the religious opinions
of a great nation was perhaps to be expected. The Bishop
of Durham, I think, has pointed out that the Paganism of
Bithynia, which at the date of Pliny's letter seemed likely
rapidly to die out, had apparently obtained a new lease of
life by the middle of the century. In our own day there
has been a revival of zeal. But the Church, I think, has
nothing to fear from such temporary recrudescences as
these of religious fervour. Rather, perhaps, more genuine
recruits will pass into her ranks at such times than when
the systems which are opposed to her are inactive and
torpid.
But I must turn to a subject which with reference to But the
the proposal of a University mission is yet more important, general
I mean the University which has been founded in Tokyo, contact
the new capital of the Japanese empire. This is a Univer- with West -
sity of which the instruction is given wholly through the ern . clvil ~
medium of European languages. Till recently the pro- [^ds'to
fessors also have been European, German in the medical Agnosti-
and English in the scientific and literary schools ; but cism -
these professorships now as they fall vacant are generally
filled by natives who have studied in Europe. Through
this University have passed many hundreds of young
Japanese. In Delhi, Hinduism lost its hold upon the
faith of young Hindus about the time when they passed
from the upper classes of the school into the college. An
158 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
analogous result has followed in Japan. Belief in
Buddhism and Shintoism has passed from the minds
of the men who have followed the appointed course
of instruction in the Tokyo University ; and they
have returned to their homes, in the various provinces of
the empire, with as little faith in the creeds of their ances-
tors as has the graduate of Calcutta or Lahore in the
divinities of the Hindu Pantheon. But this .is not all.
Had it been so, the work of the University might have
been regarded by the missionary more truly than it now
can be as a prceparatio evangelica. But the mind of the
young Japanese has not only been disabused of the super-
stitions of his youth, but too often he has also been led by
his European teacher to regard the creed of Christendom
as practically on a level with the faith of his own country.
' Europe,' he has been told, ' has rejected the faith of Christ
very much on the same grounds on which you have seen
it necessary to reject the demi-gods of Northern Buddhism.'
I would not be understood to bring a sweeping charge of in-
fidel propagandism against all the European professors who
have taught in Japan. I know that there have been bright
exceptions : men who have not been ashamed of the Cross
amid surroundings of peculiar difficulty. But admittedly the
great majority of those who have left England and Germany
to teach in Japan have not themselves been Christian in
faith, and have led their pupils to adopt their own attitude
towards Christianity. This is an all but necessary con-
sequence. Even if a teacher endeavour to maintain a
negative and neutral attitude in regard to revelation, it is
impossible, I believe, that the minds of his pupils should
come under the daily influence of his mind at an age when
they are most open to new impressions and not catch from
him very much his own view of divine as well as human
knowledge. In Japan, the wide dissemination of literature
which is more or less directly hostile to Christianity is said
also to have had a disastrous tendency in the same direc-
tion. In an able article on this subject, which was read
at a missionary conference at Osaka, I find the works of
Spencer, Mill, Bain, Huxley, Draper, and others men-
tioned as having prejudiced the educated classes against
the study of the claims of Christianity.
I need scarce do more than point out what seems the
legitimate and inevitable conclusion. Through contact
A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE. 1 886- 1 888 159
with Europe, and above all with England, a new era has Is not
been inaugurated in the history of the whole Japanese En g land
people. At the same time, the educated classes of the [bie for
country have learned, chiefly from the lips of English averting
teachers, to distrust all systems of religion, including thls T
Christianity. Under such circumstances it cannot, I think,
be unreasonable or over-confident to believe that the
English Universities will shortly send men to Japan who,
while they shall have full sympathy with the new longing
after exact knowledge and science which has been awakened
in so large a class of her people, shall at the same time
teach them alike by word and life the knowledge of God.
It is recognised that the slave trade and the enforced
commerce in opium have laid us under a special obligation
to send the Gospel to Africa and China. The obligation
cannot be less onerous in the case of a country which has
learned from us the knowledge of science without God and
of philosophy without religion.
I received, shortly before I left England, a letter from A corn-
Mr. Lloyd (formerly a Fellow of Peterhouse, who, now in m ?mt.y
connection with S.P.G., is himself doing excellent work cou i<j do
among the educated classes in Tokyo) in which he urged good
that the establishment of a University mission is particularly servlce
desirable at the present time. In regard to such missions
it may be said now, as could not have been said ten years
ago, when first you were kind enough to go into the
question with me, that experience has proved the method
of working by small brotherhoods of University men to be
alike practicable and effective. In place of the isolation
which has too often been the lot of the foreign missionary,
the members of such a brotherhood possess the privilege of
fellowship alike in devotion, study, and work a privilege
which at Delhi we have found to be invaluable. I plead,
then, for men to carry out in Japan the method of mission-
ary work which has proved so helpful in India. No doubt
India has the first claim upon our missionary resources.
There could be no question between the two countries were
it necessary to select one or the other. But I know that
you do not hold this to be the case. Indeed, with the
interest in foreign missions which is so marked now in both
Universities, it cannot be doubted that they are well able
to establish and maintain a mission of their own in Japan
without any injury to the missions in India. Were it
i6o
BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
And
especially
help to
build up a
native
Church.
otherwise, my love to Delhi is too great to allow me to
advocate the establishment of another mission, even in the
diocese over which I have been called to preside. I may
add that it does not seem unimportant, at a time when
Buddhism is attracting so much interest in Europe, that
the Universities should be directly represented in a Buddhist
as well as a Hindu and Muhammadan country.
There are not a few other characteristic features of
Japanese missions at the present time upon which I should
like to dwell. Such is the development, with a rapidity to
which India presents no parallel, of an independent native
Church, together with the emergence of all those difficult
but most interesting problems which attend the early years
of an indigenous Christian community. Such, again, is the
presence in Japan alone of a powerful and well worked
mission of the Russo-Greek Church, under its influential
and learned Bishop Pere Nicolai. Such is the return to
the Roman obedience by thousands of the descendants of
the Christians who in the first half of the seventeenth cen-
tury gave their lives for the faith. It is an interesting
evidence of the tenacity of the Japanese character that
sufficient fragments of the faith had been handed down
from generation to generation, through more than two
hundred years of separation from all western help, to
induce these poor people again to profess Christianity
when the country was re-opened. And yet again, besides
the missions of our sister Church, there are in Japan at the
present time various bodies of Christians founded by
different Protestant communities in America. But I must
be content with pointing out that the difficult questions
which such circumstances give rise to will especially claim
the study and assistance of a body of University men.
I should indeed most heartily welcome to Japan those
who, with the qualifications which are needed for such
kinds of work as I have indicated, would join me in the
spirit of our old Delhi motto, SVSKSV sfj,ov KOI rov
This letter justifies the verdict of the present Bishop of
Durham (Dr. Westcott) that ' on being called to undertake
the episcopal charge of the English missions in Japan, where
he found a larger field and more favourable conditions
A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE. 1 886-1 888 l6l
[than in Delhi] for the use of his zeal and experience,
Bishop Bickersteth at once recognised the greatness of the
unique opportunity? l The foundation and building up of
the Nippon Sei Kokwai (Holy Catholic Church of Japan)
was from the first the idea which he had in view, and from
which he never allowed himself to be deterred ' by the
emergence of all these difficult and most interesting
problems ' which his keen foresight told him would be
inseparable from ' the early years of an indigenous Chris-
tian community.'
It was with the feeling of most lively interest that the
Bishop neared Japan on board a steamer belonging to the
Mitsu Bishi Company (one of the largest of the Japanese
steamship companies) in which he had come from Hong-
kong.
In his first letter from Japan he writes :
We had a perfect passage to Nagasaki, the sea like a
mill-pond all the way. The second evening we passed the
Goto Islands, a group of five, where many of the Christians
took refuge in the great persecution two and a half centuries
ago. The Roman Catholics have now again got missions
and congregations there, and I looked at them with the
greatest interest as the first territory on which my eyes had
rested in the empire of Japan. We reached Nagasaki
about i A.M. Sleep had overpowered me, though I meant
to have looked at the entrance through my cabin window.
In the morning when I got up I found we were safely in
the land-locked harbour, which is surrounded by the not
very lofty but picturesque and fertile hills which are
characteristic of Japan and distinguish it from the flat
coast of North China.
The day on which the Bishop landed was Thursday,
April 15, and two missionaries, Mr. Hutchinson and Mr.
Brandram, welcomed him on shore. After seeing the
1 See Introduction to Our Heritage in the Church, by Bishop Edward
Bickersteth, published (1898) in England after his death.
M
1 62 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
catechist's house and church in the city it was time for
service. ' I had asked to have a service in order that
special thanksgiving might be offered for our safe voyage.
We had Holy Communion, and I spoke a few words.'
The Bishop happened there also to meet some Chinese
native Christians from Fuchow, who were being sent as
missionaries to Corea ' a comparatively unvvorked country.
We had prayer for them, as they were starting that night.
These prayers were offered, one in Chinese, one in Japanese,
and one in English.'
But after a few hours the Bishop had to re-embark for
Kobe, where he was to spend the festival of Easter. He
writes :
The hills of Kobe were in sight when we went on deck
after tiffin, and you will imagine how interesting a sight
they were to me. By 3. 1 5 we were at anchor in the great
harbour ; the town lies on the north shore of the inland
sea. The hills behind it rise to a height of 2,000 feet and
the whole scene, except that the sea in front is shut in by
islands, reminds me of the Riviera.
On Monday in Holy Week he went on to Osaka, of
which he writes :
The chief feature of the town is its many-branching
river and system of canals, which have given it the name of
the Venice of the East ; but it is very unlike the Italian
city. It has no great buildings, and consists of rows
of wooden houses arranged with mathematical regularity
in squares and oblongs. However, it is none the less
interesting for this reason to the missionary, who thinks
chiefly of its teeming population.
It was here that the Bishop preached his first sermon
and took his first confirmation in Japan, of which he writes :
The services for the Holy Week had been arranged in
common between us and the Americans, so I went to four
out of the five different churches on different nights. On
A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE. 1 886- 1 888 163
Good Friday I addressed all the missionaries together on
' fellowship in the suffering of Christ ' from Phil, iii., and
yesterday I took a confirmation, sixteen being confirmed.
I learned the words and the blessing in Japanese, and Mr.
Evington translated for me two short addresses.
On Easter Monday the Bishop joined the mission
party in ' a very pleasant picnic on the hills. The scenery
is not unlike parts of Scotland or the Lakes ; not grand or
rugged, but richly wooded and picturesque. The magnifi-
cent flowering shrubs are unlike anything we have in
England.' Thence he visited Kyoto, ' formerly the ancient
capital of the country, still its religious centre, lying at the
foot of hills of which the lower slopes are covered with
great Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines.'
The conference of the Church Missionary Society took
place on May 3, when the missionaries of that society
and the other clergy of the Church of England presented
the Bishop with an address of welcome, in which, after
referring to ' the attitude of popular opinion towards
Christianity as a hopeful sign for the future success of the
work ' and assuring him of ' the loyal support and loving
co-operation of the clergy and congregations committed
to his charge,' they added these words :
And above all, we are happy that one has been called
in the providence of God to preside over us who has
already shown such earnest devotion in the cause of
missionary effort, a devotion, doubtless, inherited from a
father whose name will ever be remembered for untiring
zeal in promoting the extension of Christ's Kingdom
amongst the heathen.
This annual conference, the first of seven over which
the Bishop presided without a break, passed the following
important resolution, out of which much future organisation
was to grow :
M 2
164 P.ISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
That, taking into consideration the existence of three
Episcopal missions in this country, two of which are in
connection with the Church of England and one with the
Protestant Episcopal Church of America, and being con-
vinced that co-operation between these three societies, and
visible union among the native Christians connected with
them, is necessary to the establishment of a strong Epis-
copal Church and a necessary preliminary to any wider
union of Christians in Japan on a permanent and satis-
factory basis ; and further, noting that for some time past
united action has existed among the various sections of
non-Episcopal communities to the manifest increase of
their strength and influence, and that efforts are now being
made, specially by the native Christians, towards unity
amongst the different communities themselves the
annual conference of the C.M.S., now sitting in Osaka,
wishes to suggest to the Bishop and clergy of the
American Church and the clergy of the S.P.G. the
desirability of holding a general conference of the three
missions on this subject at an early date.
In writing to his father about this conference, the
Bishop recorded, his first impressions thus :
c\o Rev. A. C. Shaw, S.P.G. Mission, Tokyo :
May 14, 1886.
Our Conference (C.M.S.) went off very well. It was
harmonious throughout, and I trust has given a spur to
our missionary work : not that my clergy need stimulating
to do more work, as most of them are overworking already,
but that meeting and discussion and common prayer send
men back with greater heart to their labour. I hope next
year to have a Quiet Day to end up with.
Among many other matters we agreed to one resolu-
tion which may carry with it important consequences.
Mr. Fyson proposed a general conference of our Church
missions (C.M.S. and S.P.G.) and the American Church
Mission with a view to fuller co-operation. I yesterday
transmitted the invitation to Bishop Williams of the
American Church, who has accepted it. Union is very
much in the air in Japan. The Presbyterians have all
joined together, and the Congregationalists and they are
trying to amalgamate. . . . On the other hand, we and the
American Church are essentially one here we have the
A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE. 1 886-1 888 165
same Prayer Book in Japanese and if we could only
work together should be a fairly strong body, though even
then small compared with the Nonconformist American
Missions. And we could certainly, if we had liberty
allowed us, offer a basis of wider union on some such lines
as those I mentioned at the Portsmouth Congress which
ought in time to draw in many of the separated
communities.
. . . There is the most curious difference between the
people of this country and India. Here foreigners can
only suggest and guide, in India they rule ; so that even by
missionaries, not to say Bishops, continual care has to be
taken not to offend Japanese susceptibilities. They have
not yet realised this in Salisbury Square, and send out
pages of regulations for native Churches. In the one case,
where a missionary unwisely took them in his hand and
said that this was the plan agreed upon for their organisa-
tion in England, the whole thing was promptly rejected
with the offer of monetary help which was attached to its
acceptance. Wiser men are bringing them to much the
same point by suggestion and guidance.
By the roth of the same month the Bishop had gone
up to Tokyo, not then or for some years wholly connected
with Osaka by railway. There he was welcomed by the
Rev. A. C. Shaw (now Archdeacon of South Tokyo) and the
Rev. A. Lloyd (formerly Dean of Peterhouse, Cambridge),
both connected with S.P.G. missions in that city. The
former of these had worked in Tokyo since 1873. At his
invitation the Bishop made his house his headquarters
while in Tokyo, for the next year and a- half. He writes
in his ' Journal ' :
The house of the former is in a quarter of the city
called Shiba, and I was most agreeably surprised at the
situation and character of the place. Though in the heart
of the city, there are a number of gardens and fir woods
about, and Mr. Shaw's house is on a hill which lifts it above
the masses of human habitations around. The city itself
is immense, stretching like London for miles and miles in
all directions. There are over a million inhabitants, and it
1 66 'BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
contains all the Government Offices and the University of
Japan.
In Tokyo the Bishop met for the first time Bishop
Williams, of the Episcopal Church of America. He had
been in the Far East, both in China and Japan, for nearly
thirty years, first as missionary and then as missionary
Bishop, having been consecrated in 1866. Here also he
called on Bishop Nicolai, the revered representative of the
Greek Church, and he thus describes his visit :
The Greek Bishop is a startling figure in long blue
cassock, many-coloured belt, long hair. We talked of many
things, including union of Churches. He has very large
buildings, and is erecting a great cathedral. Russians
take great interest in the mission, as it is their only one
outside Russian territory, though they have others on the
borders of China. He gave us copies of the Psalter &c.,
which he had recently translated. At my request he wrote
my name in Russian, and he said when we parted, ' We
must love in deed as well as word.' The object of the
mission is not wholly political ; it was largely got up by an
admiral who was wrecked on the coast of Japan, and sent
out this mission as a thankoffering for the kindness shown
him by the people.
When Bishop Nicolai returned the above call, a visit
was paid by both Bishops to the English Church.
A dear little building, very well appointed, built of red
brick and with a pretty garden round it. I asked him to say
the Lord's Prayer with us and to give the blessing. He
was very pleased, and explained that he only did not kneel,
because it is contrary to their Canon during the fifty days
from Easter to Pentecost
On May 18 Bishop Williams and Bishop Nicolai came
to dine with him, and he records in his ' Journal ' : ' Three
Bishops not known to have met before in Japan.'
On the 2ist he met the native Christians of the C.M.S.
Mission in Tokyo, and records :
A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE. 1886-1888 167
May 21, Evening. Dined with Mr. Williams of
C.M.S. Met native Christians of C.M.S. congregation
afterwards. Only one man of position among them a
Dr. Hada. Had agreed not to speak that evening, but as
they were anxious to hear something I talked to them a
little while. Referred to Bishop Poole, their need of a
pastor, the importance of their position in this capital city,
the old Jansenist motto : Unde ardet inde lucet the flame
and the light are of like origin. Love and usefulness go
together.
On May 22 the Bishop characteristically organised a
Quiet Day, of which he writes :
May 22nd. I held a Quiet Day for the S.P.G., C.M.S.,
and American Missions, and gave four addresses : (i) at
Holy Communion, on ' The Use of Quiet Days ; ' (2) after
Matins, on ' God and the Practice of His Presence ; '
(3) after the Litany, on ' Life in God ; ' and (4) after a
Metrical Litany, on ' Work for God.' No such Quiet Days
have been held before in Tokyo, and they seem to supply
a real want.
Thus at the outset of his work in Japan he emphasised
the same principles of the life and the work which we have
seen to have been the keynote of his work in Delhi.
On May 24 a second step was taken towards con-
federation at a meeting attended by English (S.P.G. and
C.M.S.) and American missionaries, and called, in accord-
ance with the resolution passed at the recent C.M.S.
conference at Osaka : ' To try and weld together into one
body the various scattered congregations of our respective
missions.' Bishop Williams presided, and it was decided
to hold a conference of delegates on July 8 and the
following days, each society sending their own representa-
tives.
At once Bishop Bickersteth set to work to draft Canons '
in order to submit a scheme to the forthcoming conference.
1 See chapter ix. , p. 320, and Appendix B, p. 476.
l68 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
No task could have been more congenial to him, and he
ransacked ancient and modern authorities. His short
diary as well as his careful memoranda show how he com-
pared primitive experience embodied in the decisions of
early Councils with the more recent Canons of the
American and New Zealand Churches, ever balancing one
against another the claims of early precedents and of
modern latter-day needs. He also referred the whole
matter to the Archbishop of Canterbury (Dr. Benson), then
as ever ready, Cyprian-like, to enter into a careful consider-
ation of such questions, and to place his own trained and
discriminating judgment at the service of those who were
called upon ' to build the walls of Jerusalem.'
For the convenience of those who may have occasion
to refer to the first beginnings of the Nippon Sei Kokwai, 1
its constitution and Canons, its principles and aims, I am
devoting Chapter IX. of this biography to an account in
detail of this important and permanent work of laying the
foundations, in which Bishop Bickersteth was surely sent
out by God to take a leading part.
I therefore will here only chronicle the holding of the
United Conference on July 8 at Tokyo. All the delegates
were present at the opening service, when Bishop Williams
was celebrant at the Holy Communion and Bishop Bicker-
steth preached the sermon, taking as his texts St. Matt.
xvi. 19 and St. John xx. 23.
He records in his ' Journal ' :
Tokyo, July 8, 1886. (The week of a conference repre-
sentative of missionaries, preparatory to a General Con-
ference in 1887.) All the delegates were present this
morning at our opening service. I preached and Bishop
Williams celebrated. I took a subject from St. Mat-
thew xvi. and St. John xx., ' The threefold power of the
Keys/ (a) The Keys, () Binding and loosing, i.e. Legisla-
1 I.e. The Holy Catholic Church of Japan.
A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE. 1 886- 1 888 169
tion, (V) Absolution. I treated them as inherent in the
Christian Society, and exercised continually through its
ministry. The keys I took to be the key of knowledge,
and the key of admission to and exclusion from the
Christian Church. The whole seemed applicable to our
efforts to found a Christian Church in Japan.
The opening service was in the C.M.S. Mission Church
at Tsukiji, the foreign settlement of Tokyo. We met in
Bishop Williams's College for our meetings, which is near
the church. The conference lasted four days, with
sittings of about three hours twice daily. The proposed
Synod and the code of Canons, on which Bishop Williams
and I have been at work, were our chief subjects of discus-
sion. I speak of discussion, but the whole was most har-
monious, everybody, I think, trying to contribute rather
than to oppose, to ' build ' rather than to ' overthrow.'
Besides the two subjects I have mentioned, the revision
of the present Prayer Book, the formation of an indepen-
dent Japanese Missionary Society, education, various
social questions (very difficult here as in India), litera-
ture (this field has hitherto been left wholly to Non-
conformistSj we are now starting a monthly Church
Magazine, but this will not take the place of books), Quiet
Days, and the circulation among the missionaries of papers
of intercession like those of the Society of Watchers and
Workers, &c., all came under review.
The only drawback was the extreme heat, the thermo-
meter registering higher than had been known for about
fifteen years.
July ii. One object of this conference is to form
one native Church out of the various scattered congrega-
tions. This is rendered necessary here, even more than in
India, both because it is the demand of the Japanese
Christians themselves, and because such unions have been
accomplished by the various Nonconformist bodies ; also
because here, even more than in India, the actual work of
evangelisation is best done by the natives themselves
under an organisation in which they have a considerable
share of authority. We have had many delicate questions
to consider, but the conference has been most harmonious.
... If our plans can be carried through, I trust that by
God's grace they will give a great stimulus to Church
work, which is here mainly missionary work.
I/O BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
The following is the letter written jointly by Bishop
Williams and Bishop Bickersteth at the close of this
conference, addressed to the Bishops of the Anglican
Communion :
Tokyo, Japan : St. James' Day, 1886.
To t/ie Right Rev. the Bishops of the Anglican Communion.
Right Rev. and Dear Brethren, We have been re-
quested, by a conference of delegates of the three mis-
sionary societies, which are connected with the Anglican
Communion in our jurisdiction, to endeavour to set before
the Church in England and America the special needs
and claims of the great country in which our work lies.
The missionary fields of the Church are now so various,
and their needs for the most part so well known by
missionary publications, that a special appeal requires
justification. This justification we believe to be found in
the greatness and hopefulness of missionary work in
Japan, combined with the shortness of the time during
which it is likely that the present opportunity will be
continued to us.
It is scarcely more than thirty years since this country,
with its population of nearly forty million souls, was sealed
to all intercourse with the West, except through a single
Dutch trading company. During the interval it has
adopted, with startling rapidity, our civilisation and cus-
toms, assimilating very much of our most advanced learn-
ing and knowledge, and itself being admitted to a
recognised position among the nations of the world. The
result has been a great displacement from the faith of the
Japanese people in the religious systems which for a
thousand years have held undisputed sway among them.
Though Shintoism and Buddhism are still nominally the
religions of the great mass of the people, they have ceased
to have any beyond a speculative interest for the educated,
and have lost much of their hold even on the lower classes.
State recognition has recently been withdrawn from both
systems.
Meanwhile alike the treatment and popular estimate of
Christianity have no less completely changed. Instead of
being proscribed by public edict, it shares in the impartial
toleration which is now shown by the Japanese Govern-
A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE. 1 886-1 888 I/I
ment of all religious faiths. Instead of being regarded
with feelings of mingled contempt and hatred, it is now
generally looked upon with interest and respect. Among
the upper classes this is in part due to the belief that it is
an essential element in the higher form of Western civilisa-
tion, which they have adopted as their model. But a more
spiritual motive often prevails. The work of the last two
years more especially seems to have left upon the minds
of many experienced missionaries, alike within and with-
out our Communion, the impression of a widespread desire
to know the truth.
Such a crisis in a nation's history seems to call for a
combination in the Church's missions of men of various
gifts and powers. We desire to call attention to three
lines of work which seem to us of special importance at
the present time.
1. A wide field is open to those who, taking advantage
of the new spirit of respectful inquiry, would give them-
selves to public preaching and lecturing alike in the towns
and country, a work with which might often be combined
the preparation of books fitted to commend the faith to
the Japanese mind.
2. The new system of education, which has been put
into operation throughout the Japanese Empire, affords
what we believe to be an unprecedented opportunity to the
educational missionary. Alike in government and private
schools, instruction in the English language is now
eagerly sought from the lips of those to whom English is
their native tongue. A fair salary is assigned in return for
a few hours' teaching on five days in the week. The
teachers in the private schools have the fullest consent of
those who engage them to bring to bear upon their pupils,
alike in and out of school hours, every moral and spiritual
influence. Such missionaries, if attached to the staff of a
society, would, in some cases, need to make little or no
demand upon its funds other than for occasional expenses.
Experience has already shown that large and even rapid
results may be expected from such work.
In connection with this we would notice that in the
capital and some other large cities instruction in English
is now desired scarcely less by the women than by the
men of Japan. Ready access is afforded to English-
speaking ladies who will undertake to provide it ; and
1/2 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
this, in many cases, with the hope rather than the fear, on
the part of the pupil, that the acquisition of the teacher's
language will be accompanied by instruction in her faith.
3. Colleges have been established for the education of
clergy and teachers, as well as Christian schools both for
boys and girls. A small beginning has also been made
in the work of training Japanese Christian women to act,
after the model of Apostolic days, as evangelists among
the many millions of their countrywomen who are as yet
unenlightened, and to help in the further instruction of
their sisters in the faith. All such training institutions
must for the present be carried on chiefly by foreign
missionaries. Their importance is emphasised by the
rapidity of the recent increase in the number of baptisms,
which has been larger during the past year than during
any year preceding since the foundation of the missions.
Such growth can only be healthful and permanent, if the
newly baptised can at once be placed under well instructed
as well as earnest pastors and teachers of their own
nationality and tongue.
With opportunities and needs such as these, we have
at present at work in connection with our communion only
twenty-one clergy, six laymen, and eight missionary ladies.
So small a staff is insufficient even for the work in hand,
and without its increase extension is impossible. Such
increase, to be effectual, should be immediate. Here the
hope all but reaches certainty, that it is the divine
purpose to grant to adequate efforts on the part of the
Church a new Christian nation. But in a special sense, to
the people of these islands, now is the day of salvation.
Their old religions are indeed disappearing ; but manifold
superstitions and infidelities wait to occupy the ground, if
it is not claimed by the faith of Christ.
On the other hand, the opinion held by many does not
seem unfounded that when the people of these islands
themselves shall have been gathered into the fold, mission-
aries sent forth by them might exercise as large an influence
on the nations of the neighbouring continent as was exer-
cised by missionaries from Great Britain in the early
middle ages on the nations of North Europe.
We appeal, then, with many prayers, for men and
women fitted alike by the Spirit of wisdom and the Spirit
of love to enter in at the great door and effectual which
A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE. l886-l888 1/3
has been opened to us. We venture to commend most
earnestly the facts which we have addressed to your con-
sideration, asking you to bring them, as opportunity may
offer, before the clergy, the missionary societies, and the
students in our universities, colleges, and theological
schools. Necessary support will, we cannot doubt, be
provided for efficient labourers. Earthly recompense it is
not in our power to offer them, and they will not seek
it. Rather they will feel that to be allowed to share, at the
crisis of its religious history, in bringing a great and noble
people to the knowledge of God, is, till the day of Christ,
its own all-sufficient reward.
We are, Right Reverend and dear Brethren,
Your faithful Servants in Christ,
(Signed} C. M. WILLIAMS,
Missionary Bishop of Yedo
EDWARD BICKERSTETH,
Missionary Bishop of the Church of England in Japan.
By the August of this year the Bishop had fully made
up his mind to place his University Mission in Tokyo.
He gave his reasons in a second letter to the Master of
Pembroke College (the Rev. C. E. Searle, D.D.), dated
August 14, 1866, from which the following extracts are
given :
My dear Master, . . . Since I wrote to you last
April, I have visited the principal mission stations of our
Church in Japan. One object of my journeys has been,
after consulting the missionary clergy in each place, to
decide on the city in which a special mission to the edu-
cated classes may at the present time be located with the
greatest advantage. I now feel no doubt that such a mission
should be placed in Tokyo, the capital of the Japanese
empire, from which I am now writing. Tokyo is the chief
centre alike of government and education. Young men
of high position and promise continually visit it, and go
forth from it again to all parts of these islands, so that
Christian influence exerted here is widely felt throughout
the whole land.
Two special circumstances have assisted me in coming
to this conclusion :
174 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
1. There is an active and promising mission of the
Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Tokyo,
which is only prevented from a far wider range of useful-
ness by want of men. The Society's missionaries will
offer a hearty and brotherly welcome to a new mission,
and put their experience at its disposal in its early
days.
2. An offer of educational work in a celebrated Japanese
school has recently been made to the Rev. A. Lloyd, of
which without further aid he is only able partially to take
advantage. . . .
I cannot but feel that this opening, at the present
time, may be accepted as a sign of God's guidance. The
primary difficulty of all mission work among educated
classes is to obtain entrance among them. This school
will afford the missionaries who teach in it an entrance
into a large circle of Tokyo society from the time they
arrive in the country, without laying on them the heavy
burden of general school management and financial pro-
vision ; and also without so engrossing their time as to
prevent the acquisition of the language. When once this
is attained, all the manifold operations of general mission
work will also be open to them.
I have ventured to ask for four men. One who was
present at our meeting in the old Library last February
has written offering to join me next year. Others are
considering the matter. It may be that the proposal
which has now been made to Mr. Lloyd will enable them
to come to an immediate decision. The greatness of
Japan's need is surely the measure of the Church's duty.
I may add that no brigher prospect, I believe, has ever
been set before the missionary than that which Japan
offers to-day.
1 am, my dear Master,
Yours very sincerely,
EDWARD BICKERSTETH,
Bishop.
The Bishop was now burning to be off on his first
missionary tour, and to see face to face the devoted mis-
sionaries, men and women, as well as the converts under
A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE. 1 886-1 888 175
his charge, many of whom were isolated. During these
three months in the city of Tokyo which is by far the
largest city in Japan, its population being about 1,200,000
he had not only closely studied the problem of the
best way to bring the forces of Christianity to bear on
that great centre of thought, life, and influence ; but he had
also made plans for extensive missionary tours throughout
the whole length and breadth of the empire, all the missions
of the Church of England being at that time under his
sole supervision.
Japan is about 1,700 miles in length, and had in 1886
a population of 38,000,000, while the English missions
were dotted about at places as far distant as Nagasaki in
the extreme south (Kiushiu) and Sapporo in the far north
(Yezo).
At that time there was no territorial division in Japan
between the missions sent out by the sister Churches of
America and England. The missionaries from each
country, and the native converts gathered by their efforts,
were under the jurisdiction of their respective Bishops,
irrespective of locality. The first attempt at a delimita-
tion of dioceses took place in 1891, when an arrangement
made between Bishop Bickersteth and Bishop Hare of
South Dakota (then in temporary charge of the American
Mission) was submitted by them to the Archbishop
of Canterbury and the American House of Bishops.
The Archbishop approved the plan, and the House of
Bishops ' commended it to the favourable consideration of
the Bishop to be placed in charge of the missionary diocese
of Yedo.' But it was not until 1894 that this delimitation
(with important modifications) was ratified by the Japanese
Synod and in the Synod of 1 896 the six ' missionary
districts ' were formally recognised. During these years
many negotiations were necessary, and some questions
176 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
were raised of a difficult and delicate nature. But in this
place it only seems necessary to point out how for
Bishop Bickersteth the ruling principle throughout was
that expressed by himself in 1895 :
It is my earnest desire and prayer that the result of
our present organisation may be the wider extension and
progressive usefulness of the missions of both branches of
the Anglican Communion in Japan, and of the Church
which they have been allowed to found together.
Writing on October 23, 1886, the Bishop remarks : ' I
am reading Adams's " History of Japan," and find it hard
to believe that the country is the same that he describes in
the year 1860.' In 1886, however, internal communication
between the capital and even the important cities in the
main island (Hondo) was still deficient ; journeys were
precarious, and often only possible on foot. The network
of railways which the Bishop during his eleven years
episcopate saw spreading in all directions had not then
even connected the modern capital ' Tokyo with its
ancient rival Kyoto, and journeys had to be accom-
plished by jinricksha, or coasting steamer, or on foot,
often in perils, not indeed of robbers, but of heavy
rains, swollen rivers, and earthquakes. The Bishop's
ubiquitous energy during this and the two or three following
years, in which he visited and revisited every part of the
empire, led Sir Rutherford Alcock, when presiding in 1888
at a drawing-room meeting held at the London residence
of Sir Monier Monier- Williams in support of the mission,
to utter a timely caveat against such incessant travelling
as being impossible for a European to keep up in Japan.
However, the Bishop did not act on impulse, as will be
seen from the following letter in which he had sketched
out with precision the main outlines of the tour on which
he now started :
A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE. 1 886-1 888 177
To his Father
c\o Rev. A. C. Shaw, Shiba, Tokyo :
June 28, 1886.
This will reach you about the time that I start on
my journey, so let me give you a sketch of my proposed
movements. About August 10 or 15 I leave Yokohama
by steamer for Hakodate in Yezo, the most northerly
island of the Japanese group. There I shall probably stay
a fortnight, and then go on to Sapporo, a town further up
the east coast, where there is an ' unattached ' Christian
congregation which perhaps may be brought to anchor by
our side.
From Sapporo I hope to get into the Ainu country,
the harmless but wholly untutored race, whose ways and
manners Miss Bird has described. By the last week of
September I ought to be back here again, but only to stay
a day to change summer for winter things and proceed to
Osaka, whence partly by the Inland Sea and partly by land
I am to make my way to the province of Iwami, on the west
coast. This will be another six weeks' work. Mr. Evington
of the C.M.S. is to be my companion. Thence to Nagasaki,
the inspection of which and its outstations will take me to
the middle of January ; then probably for a month or six
weeks to Kobe and the C.M.S. Conference at Osaka, and
then back here for Easter. 1
No doubt the Bishop's tall slim figure, and at times his
worn and emaciated appearance, hardly prepared people
for the inexhaustible energy which kept his work, physical,
mental, and spiritual, at high pressure. The shortest and
one of the best missionary speeches which it has been my
privilege to hear was made in the Library 2 at Lambeth
Palace by Admiral Sir Vesey Hamilton. The Admiral,
not without demur on his part, had consented to move a
1 N.B. These plans were (with slight modifications) carried out with
the addition of the first Synod of the Japanese Church at Osaka in February
1887.
2 The meeting was held on October 31, 1890, in support of the St. Andrew's
and St. Hilda's Missions, Tokyo, founded by Bishop Bickersteth, and by that
time in working order.
N
178 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
resolution at the meeting. He produced a profound
impression on the friends and supporters of the mission
gathered in the crowded library by his words :
Being in command of the Chinese squadron, I hap-
pened to be in Tokyo a few years ago when your
Bishop first arrived, and I remember hearing men say,
on seeing their new Bishop : ' Here is the round man in
the square hole.' I returned to Tokyo after a year or
two, and they said to me : ' Admiral, we were quite
wrong. No one works harder than our Bishop, and he
is the round man in the round hole ' Ladies and gentle-
men, you may safely go on in your support of any work
led by him.
On the eve of his departure from Tokyo, the Bishop
mentions in a letter his indebtedness to John Imai, ' a
young catechist who interprets for me nicely ; a particu-
larly pleasant young Japanese, strongly imbued with the
Christian tone and temper.'
The following extracts from the Bishop's 'Journal
Letters ' will give some idea of this first journey to the
northern island of Yezo :
First Tour in Yezo, 1886
Horobetsu, Aug. 26. A gloomy morning. We started on
horseback for New Mororan, a place about twelve miles off,
six miles along the shore, the same route we had come from
Old Mororan, and then for six miles along a mountain path
where only occasionally could we get out of a walking
pace. We arrived in about four hours ; the village, with
the exception of a house or two, is wholly Ainu, very pic-
turesque, nestled in a little bay of the sea. We took up
our quarters in a small Japanese inn, where shortly we
received a visit of ceremony from the Ainu chief, who
entered in his robe of state with absolutely imperturbable
face, and seated himself demurely opposite Mr. Batchelor ;
several followers did the same behind him, and then
he commenced a short harangue to the effect that he
was pleased to see us in his village. Mr. Batchelor
A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE. 1 886-1 888 179
replied with equal solemnity, reminding him that we all
believed one God, and that the Ainu had a tradition that
all men of old were brothers. In this we agreed, and
hoped they would not consider us as aliens but friends.
All this was preceded and followed by the usual beard
stroking. An arrangement was then made that there
should be a meeting in the evening at the hut of the chief,
which is a good size, and a magic lantern shown which we
had brought with us. Truly I wish you could have been
present at that meeting. The wildness of the scene !
Possibly some of your Arab encampments across the
Jordan may have equalled it, but nothing I have seen in
India. The magnificent Ainu men with their great beards
and solemn countenances, the women got up in their best
bead necklaces, &c., all hideously disfigured to Western
eyes by the tatooing they think so beautiful, the crowd of
children, the bear skins hung about the rude hut, the hut
itself grim with soot, which, nevertheless, had formed a kind
of ebony polish over the roof beams, all lighted by the
fitful gleams of pieces of pine bark, and all the faces turned
in astonishment at the magic lantern pictures by help of
which they were being taught the first principles of the
Gospel. I cannot describe it for you, but you may be able
to throw these features of the scene together into some
sort of a picture.
August 28. Reading Bishop of Durham's ' Ignatius
and Polycarp ' truly a marvel of condensed learning and
shrewd combination and interpretation of scanty details,
throwing a flood of light on the darkest fifty years of the
Church's history.
August 29. I baptised two Ainu, and their adopted
Japanese child. Mr. Batchelor took all the service except
the words of the administration of the sacrament. They
are only the second and third of their race admitted to the
Church ; may they indeed be a first-fruits to Christ !
August 31. Left early in Japanese carriage (a springless
vehicle) for Sapporo ; route is dull in parts, and so was
the sky. I employ my time so far as the jolting permits
in reading Dr. Lightfoot and in making use of my com-
panions to learn some Japanese.
September i. I reached Sapporo at 4 P.M. Sapporo is
the capital of Yezo, a new city made by the Government,
about twenty miles from the Western Sea, in order to be
N 2
ISO BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
out of reach of Russian ironclads. It is flourishing, and
has now a population of about 10,000 or 12,000 people. I
am staying with Professor Brookes, of the Agricultural
College.
September 3. I repaid calls on Christians. I found
one with Liddon's ' Bampton Lectures,' and Kenan's ' Life
of Christ ' ; in another house I found four generations,
great grandmother to baby !
September 4. I saw in the museum a very interesting
collection of Ainu curiosities, poisoned arrow-heads, primi-
tive weaving looms, &c. Just outside the museum build-
ings are some holes in the ground, the remains of the
homes of a yet earlier race called Guru-pokguru ; of these
there are yet some remnants, in yet more northerly
islands.
September 5. 10 A.M. Morning service and Holy
Communion, fifty-eight communicants, the largest number
I have seen in Japan. At 3 P.M. I gave an address
to the college students on ' The Bible Revelation of the
Divine Character.' It lasted over an hour, but they were
very attentive, especially as they only know English
imperfectly.
September 8. I started at 6.30 from Mororan to cross
Volcano Bay in a little steamer ; when half way across
the captain said it was too rough to land on the further
side, and returned, so we had three hours' toss for nothing.
We returned ten miles to Horobetsu, meaning to round
the head of the bay on ponies, but were stopped by a
downpour of rain. This would have been a three days'
journey.
September 9. We started at 1.45 A.M. on ponies to
return to Mororan, a fine but very dark night, and four
hours' ride. I was thrown but not hurt ; my pony mistook
Mr. Batchelor's big dog for a bear, and bounded over a
ditch and into some rough underwood, when it stumbled
and got me over its head. We crossed Volcano Bay
safely and reached Hakodate after eight hours in a country
brake. I found letters requiring an immediate answer
and the mail starting next morning early, so I was up
until i A.M. writing, thus for the first time in my life, I
think, I travelled and worked for more than twenty-four
hours at a stretch.
September 10. Reading Pusey on Daniel.
A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE. 1 886-1 888 l8l
From September 16 till October I the Bishop was at
Tokyo actively engaged in promoting the establishment of
the Ladies' Institute, 1 a high-class school for girls the
superintendence of which was offered, by the eminent
Japanese who founded it, to English ladies, the choice
of the first Head Mistress and members of the staff being
left to the Bishop.
He sadly records :
No reading, except St. Ignatius's letter to St. Polycarp,
an old to a young Bishop in the second century, and a
tiny book by Archdeacon Norris on Pastoral Theology ;
some good points, but his advice not to read modern
commentaries on Scripture delusive.
On October I came his first tour on the West coast,
already alluded to, which is recorded in the following
entries in his ' Journal ' :
Tour on the West Coast, 1886
October 8. I left by the little coasting steamer with
Mr. Evington and Mr. Chapman, the former the Secretary
and the latter a young missionary of C.M.S. ; it was
delightfully smooth, or the little vessel crowded with
Japanese would not have been very pleasant The morning
lights were very lovely, and by nine o'clock we were again
on shore and had started for Fukuyama, a town a few miles
from the coast, where we were to stay a few days. This
we reached about mid-day, and spent the afternoon in
seeing the little company of Christians. Work was only
commenced there last year, and there are already signs of
a bountiful harvest if only the men were forthcqming to
gather it in.
October 10. I confirmed ten persons of all ages, from
22 to 70, in the back room of the Japanese inn, and after-
wards gave them their first Communion. In the afternoon
Mr. Evington baptised five persons.
October u and 12. A public preaching at night in
a large rough shed ; such places the Japanese are wonder-
1 See chapter vii. p. 215.
1 82 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
fully clever in rapidly adorning and fitting up ; the first
night about 120 persons, the second night about 200
persons present. I gave an address by interpretation on the
Christian's answer to these three questions : ' Whence is
man ? ' ' What is he ? ' and ' Whither going ? '
October 12. I walked some six miles to Era, a large
village where there are several Christians, one a farmer
who had seen better times struck me particularly by the
honesty of his countenance and, so far as expression is an
index of heart, happiness in his new faith.
We first called on the doctor, who is more or less
favourably disposed to Christianity, and then adjourned to
a house where the screens which divide Japanese rooms
had been taken down, making one large room of the whole
front part of the building. Here, both afternoon and
evening, a large congregation collected ; in the afternoon
I spoke by interpretation, and in the evening Mr. Evington
gave the principal address, the Japanese catechist who is
with us speaking both times. The heads of my sermon
addressed ' to those only who believe in a good God,' were :
A. All such may hold it as certain that God has
made known a true religion to man, and that we men
are so made as to be able to embrace it when made known
to us.
B. Are you or are you not satisfied with your new
faith ? Man's chief needs are (a) The knowledge of God ;
(#) Reconciliation with God ; (c) Union with God. How
far does Buddhism or Shintoism satisfy you in these
respects ?
C. The answer of Christianity to these needs, through
Christ the Word, Christ the Atoner, Christ Exalted, giving
the Holy Spirit
October u. I walked in to Fuchoo, a small town
with about 6,000 inhabitants, six miles from Era. I passed
on the way a new Buddhist college, beautifully situated on
a hill ; probably the spread of Christianity has stimulated
the effort. In the towns, among the upper classes,
Buddhism has no hope of a future, but the case is different
in the country.
October 17. I confirmed one man who, with several
others, had been baptised in the morning. His baptism,
owing to circumstances, has been delayed some months, so
Mr. Evington was anxious that it should not be put off
A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE. 1 886-1 888 183
any longer. He is to act as leader of the little band of
Christians here until a regular catechist can be found.
St. Luke's Day. Holy Communion ; Mr. Evington, the
Catechist, Yama Shita, the man yesterday baptised and
confirmed, and myself, a little company. I had some
scruples both as to the confirmation of the man and so
soon receiving him to Holy Communion ; but, under the
circumstances, as there cannot be another celebration in
this district until March, it seemed right.
I visited the chief school of the town, only of the same
grade as our parochial schools, but teaches chemistry, &c. :
some 600 scholars, and though this is a fifth-rate country
town, all are taught after the newest Western methods.
What will be the result if Christianity is not able to give
heart to this vast extension of intellectual learning, sup-
ported by the whole force of a centralised government ?
In the afternoon the Christians asked us to tea in a tea-
house near the town, and in the evening I entertained
them in the lower room of an inn. Afterwards I talked to
them on bearing the cross in life as well as on their fore-
heads.
October 19. We left before daylight; the Christians
had assembled, and accompanied us to the foot of a beauti-
ful pass, through which our way lay. I had a jinriksha,
but it broke down when our journey was only one-third
accomplished. We slept at a little inn at the back of a
shop in a place called Kisha.
October 20. We left at 6.45, and walked ten miles
along the banks of the Gogawa ; the road crossed the
stream several times, but the bridges had been carried
away by a flood, and we had to make circuits round the
bend of the stream ; we reached Mizashi about mid-day,
a large town with 10,000 or 12,000 people, at the point of
a river where it becomes navigable ; there are no Christians
here at present.
After a short stay we took a large country boat with
two oarsmen, one of whom worked a sort of paddle in the
stern, and the other a large heavy oar in the prow ; we and
our luggage were in the middle of the boat on a little
platform to keep us from the water, which inevitably
splashes in while descending rapids.
On this river there are rapids about every mile, the
descent of some is very interesting ; the boat is guided by
1 84 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
the oarsman in front, who stands up and steers by the
strokes of the heavy blade of his oar, which he cleverly
balances on the side of the boat, now on this, now on the
other side of the prow. When the steeper rapids are
studded with rocks across the descent of the water, this
method of journeying is very exciting and interesting, and
but for the skill of the steersman, which seems never to fail,
would be dangerous. I thought of our descent of the St.
Lawrence Rapids in 1870, but then we had a steamer,
which would have had no chance in a shallow boiling river
like the Gogawa.
October 21. All day in the boat running between hills
from one to two thousand feet high, so no distant views.
This province is rightly called Iwa-mi, or rock view. In
the afternoon we stopped at a place called Kumamoto,
hoping to see a young man who, from this out-of-the-way
part of Japan, had made his way to Oxford ; he was, how-
ever, away. It appears that since his return he has been
lecturing against Christianity ; he is the son of a Buddhist
Priest. We slept at a place called Watavi, where there is
an earnest catechumen, who hopes to be baptised before long.
October 22. We reached Watadzu at the mouth of the
Gogawa ; the last part of the journey was exceedingly
beautiful, the river descending rapidly through lofty hills,
which block the view at the end of every reach. We stayed
in a small inn belonging to one of the Christians, and had
a service at night.
October 23. After arranging for a confirmation here
ten days later, we left at 6.45 A.M., and walked fourteen
miles to Hamada ; part of the journey is over sand by the
sea coast, which with a hot sun is tiring. At Hamada are
some six or seven Christians.
October 26. Confirmation of five candidates, followed
by a tea, to which I asked all the Christians. In the
evening a public preaching, at which some young pleaders
from the county court were present.
October 27. Holy Communion at 5 A.M., and all the
Christians present, about ten in number. We rode fourteen
miles to Matsuye, and walked on twelve more to Masuda.
We got into the dark, and were glad of the help of a lamp
brought to us by a Christian who came to meet us. He
and another man are the only Christians as yet in the
place.
A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE. l886-l888 185
October 28. I found that there is a hopeful little
company of catechumens here, but in this out-of-the-way part
of Japan they are deterred by the opposition of their official
superiors. They are employed in the police, and their
chief happens to be a strong Buddhist. A widow woman
who teaches in a Government school has been chief mover
here.
October 28-31. I preached by interpretation every even-
ing. On the 3Oth Mr. Evington's sermon was interrupted
by the ' fire-bell.' It was not a serious affair, but in Japan
it is the custom for all people to troop to a fire to offer
their services, and not seldom actually to hinder the efforts
of the firemen.
All Saints' Day. I started on the return journey to
Hamada, and stopped at mid-day at a place called Misumi ;
I saw a police inspector who is an inquirer after ' The
Way ; ' his wife, who at first was bitterly opposed, now
seems more earnest from what I could hear than he.
November 6. By jinriksha some six miles to a large
inland sea, and then by boat 16 miles to Matsuye (16 miles,
8 men, 6 oars, 4 passengers, 3^ hours, price $s. !) Matsuye,
is the chief town of the two provinces of Iwami and
Idzumo, formerly, as its picturesque old castle bears
witness, the capital of a Daimio. Now it is the centre of
higher education in the district, and has a population of
about 25,000. The first Christians were baptised here in
the spring of this year, and number about seven persons.
November 15-19. I journeyed to Kobe, by lake, river,
jinriksha, and walking. I managed over twenty miles one
day, the longest walk I have taken since my Indian illness.
On the i /th we travelled for seventeen hours, and missed
our steamer in the evening by ten minutes, hearing it
whistle for departure just before we reached the port. In
consequence I had all the i8th in a little inn on the coast ;
a hurricane blew all day, and did a good deal of damage to
Kobe houses, and the little mission church here.
To his Father
November 27, 1886.
I finished the second volume of Lightfoot's ' Ignatius '
on a long river journey, and am now reading Hatch's
' Organisation of the Early Christian Churches.' It is an
extreme book, and I am not surprised he has had since to
1 86 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
put the pastoral epistles into the second century. I don't
see anything to be said for his view of Irenaeus having
given a new and revolutionary turn to Christian thought
in regard to a dogmatic faith and a visible Church
organisation at least, there is nothing in his writings to
suggest he thought himself saying anything new.
Christmas 1886 was spent at Nagasaki and is thus
recorded :
I could not have had pleasanter hosts and companions
than Archdeacon and Mrs. Maundrell and their chil-
dren. On December 28 the Christians asked me to a tea,
and I spoke to them of St. Francis Xavier, the seven-
teenth-century martyrs, and the beginning of modern
missions. On December 30 I met a Roman Catholic lady
who told me of the descendants of the Japanese Christians
for the 220 years of isolation retaining the use of Christian
names, which they always called ' soul names.'
Thus closed a year of incessant travelling, and on
January n, 1887, he wrote to his father :
From my consecration to the end of the year I held
twenty-two confirmations I think, altogether mostly in
private houses and hotels. Very, very different indeed to
the beautiful old English churches ; but I like to compare
this with what must have been the circumstances of the
early days.
In the first chapter of this biography I mentioned the
tenacious hold which Edward Bickersteth always kept
upon family interests at home, so that, although he was so
far distant and for so long a time, yet he never ceased to
be regarded as the eldest brother, whose opinion and advice
were to be looked for and would be certainly forthcoming.
The following extracts from letters to his fourth brother,
the Rev. H. V. Bickersteth (now Chaplain to the Bishop of
Exeter), then about to take Holy Orders, illustrate this
close touch with home :
A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE. 1 886- 1 888 187
Yokohama : June 2, 1886.
My dear Harry, I am thinking of you, probably
about concluding your Tripos Examination. How well I
remember my feelings about mine when it was over ! A
certain sense of relief at its not so much mattering whether
you forget a fact or two now as it did a fortnight since is
inevitable ; but the best of the Theological Tripos for the
candidate for Holy Orders is that all his work is in direct
preparation for the duties of his life. . . . Read books on
the Pastoral Life ; Gregory's ' De Cura Pastorali/ Walsham
How's ' Pastoral Work,' ' Bridges on the Ministry,' Liddon's
' Priest in the Inner Life,' in addition to the Pastoral
Epistles read devotionally, and our Lord's discourses to
the disciples, as in St. Matt. x. and St. John xx. and xxi.
I shall hope to pray for you constantly these months that
God the Holy Spirit may indeed prepare you. ACCIPE
Spiritum Sanctum, the form of words in ordination to
priesthood and episcopate, imply preparedness on the part
of the receiver as well as gift from the Great Giver, and
this is no less true of admission to the diaconate. ... A
longing for one of you out here, or for a while with you at
home, is sometimes very great ; but the work is theMaster's,
and I must not, and I trust do not, wish it otherwise or
elsewhere.
Your most affectionate Brother,
EDW. BlCKERSTETH, Bishop.
Again :
Tokyo : August 15, 1886.
I believe that you will never be other wise than most
thankful for your course of reading forthe Theological
Tripos ; it is invaluable for a clergyman's work, at least
it will prove so if you continue it. For after all Theology,
scientia Dei, is an endless and never fathomable subject, at
least not so long as it is Theologia Viatorum. I suppose
it will not be so, when the travellers have reached their
country.
Again :
Watazu : November 3, 1886.
I fear this will not reach you in time to convey,
although you will not need it, the assurance of all my love
and sympathy, and prayers on your ordination day. To-
1 88 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
day reminds me specially of the mother. 1 If, as I scarcely
doubt, in the patria cara they know the things of earth, at
least of the Church on earth, then it will be to her a great
joy that a third son is taking orders. . . . Before my
consecration, in the three days I got at Trinity Square, I
spent my time (and found it most helpful) in taking just
the service and the Pastoral Epistles with parts of the
Gospels, St. Matt, x., St. John x. and xxi., without any
other book or nearly so. ... I hope you have daily ser-
vice at your church. Try to keep up the daily saying of
the Office, if not I think nothing has been of more help
to me, especially reading the appointed lections of Holy
Scripture. The prayers, too, never fail, specially if you
take them, as is reasonable, as a framework into which
special petitions may be fitted.
On returning to Tokyo, January 15, 1887, the Bishop at
once set about preparing for the United Conference of the
Protestant Episcopal Church of America and the Church
of England, which was to precede the First Synod of the
Japanese Church, and which assembled at Osaka on
February 8. At the opening service he 2 preached from
the text St. John xvi. 13.
He wrote to his father the same day :
Osaka : February 8, 1887.
I have preached a long hour's sermon and sat four
hours in conference, so you will pardon it if this is
but a line. Yesterday I was making arrangements for
our three conferences ; 3 and finishing my sermon for
to-day. I preached on ' He shall guide you into all the
truth.' . . .
This afternoon we have had an interesting discussion
on union with other Christian bodies, and appointed a
committee to meet some of their leading men. But, alas !
these matters are easy as long as they are in the ' resolu-
tion stage.' Still I hope the expressed desire after better
1 His mother's birthday.
* For the argument of the sermon, see chapter ix. p. 305.
1 (i) United Conference of American and English Missionaries, (2) First
Synod of the Nippon Sei Kokwai, (3) C.M.S. Conference.
A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE. 1 886- 1 888 1 89
things tends to bring it about a little more quickly than if
it were not felt and formulated. 1
By February 18 he was able to write after the three
important gatherings mentioned in the preceding letter :
' God has been very good to us, and guided us through.'
Also:
The united service on Sexagesima Sunday was most
interesting, solemn, and stirring. Bishop Williams could
remember the day when there was not a Christian in Japan
in connection with our communion, and now the church
was filled with adults, perhaps 220 : the children of neces-
sity had a separate service of their own.
From February 19 to March I the Bishop went to Kobe
to make the acquaintance of the people there, and his first
ordination followed his return to Osaka early in March.
In March, one year after leaving England, he wrote to
his father :
Osaka : March 4, 1887.
My dearest Father, It is half-past nine at night, and
I have to-day looked over two sets of examination papers,
given two long addresses to my three candidates, 2 and one
address to the missionaries of our and the American
Church here so I am afraid again this will be only a
scrap of a letter. Truly I have had a rush of work the
last two months.
I think I told you the result of our conferences. We
accepted the Articles &c., so that no present difficulty
might arise as to the Church of England basis, and
delayed the consideration of the more important Canons
for two years. The C.M.S. ought now to be satisfied.
Their Conference of Missionaries have passed a vote of
warm satisfaction unanimously, and the S.P.G. men also
are pleased ; so I hope the ship, which was a bit bested
1 See chapter ix. p. 313.
2 (i) Terasawa San, now priest -in-charge of Holy Trinity Church, Osaka,
(2) Terata San, now (1898) sent to Formosa by the Japanese Missionary
Society as a mission priest; (3) Nakanishi San (the 'old samurai'), now
deacon-in-charge of St. Peter's Church, Osaka.
190 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
by the waves, will now reach port. Already the whole
thing has given a wonderful push to all work. The
Japanese are delighted at having done the thing with us,
and no longer feel only dictated to though, indeed, there
was more feeling perhaps than fact about it. ...
You will be thinking of me at my first ordination. One
year to-day since I left England, a year and two days since
I left Exeter, and a month longer since my consecration. I
have already got to love my work, though truly there is an
' onus episcopatus,' one anxiety, even with a small body of
clergy, not going without another coming ; a continual
giving out, I scarcely ever hear a sermon ; and the con-
stant responsibility of more or less unaided decisions.
Only may the Good Lord pardon and accept the work of
this almost over-busy, over-anxious, yet unfailingly inter-
esting year.
To think that in another year I may be thinking of
starting to see you all, 'just a glance,' again !
Your most loving Son,
EDWARD BICKERSTETH, Bishop.
And again :
Kobe : March 9, 1887.
From Saturday, February 19, to Tuesday, March i, I
was here in Kobe, making the acquaintance of some of
the people.
From March I to March 8 I was at Osaka for the
examination and ordination. Another time I hope to be
able to direct these more completely ; this time, owing to
the conferences, I could only manage three addresses on
the Friday and Saturday on ' The Call, to the Ministry,'
'The Grace of Ministry,' 'The Pastor's Private Life.'
Evington translated them for me.
The ordination itself was, I hope, solemnly and im-
pressively conducted. The church was crowded. The
sermon was preached by Evington, whom, with Mr. Shaw
of Tokyo, I have made my examining chaplain. Of the
three candidates one was over sixty an old samurai, who
in former days can remember being told off to see that no
foreigner landed on the coast from a distressed man-of-
war that had put in at Osaka, and has lived to be
ordained ' deacon ' by an English Bishop. All three I was
satisfied with.
A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE. l886-l888 IQI
On Tuesday 7th I came here, and expect to stay till
Monday fortnight about but with two breaks, one to a
little S.P.G. outstation to the west along the coast, and
the other to Tokushima, a large town in Shikoku, where
the C.M.S. has work.
I am giving Wednesday evening lectures on ' The
Means of Grace ' to a tiny band, and Sunday afternoon
sermons on ' The Prodigal Son ' that endless subject.
While at Osaka the distressing news reached him of
he death of Mrs. Maundrell, wife of the Archdeacon, and
he at once started for Nagasaki (350 miles distant) to
comfort his friend, then as always ready to pour out his
sympathy for any of his clergy in trouble. He arrived
too late for the funeral, but was able to conduct a me-
morial service with a celebration of Holy Communion.
He worked his way back to Tokyo for Easter, visiting
en route Tokushima, a place on the east coast of Shikoku,
a large island to the south-west of Osaka.
March 22. I reached Tokushima at 10 A.M. The
Church here is small and not very flourishing ; the
Christians who are resident in the place have not been
earnest, and there have been several defections. However,
with a new and energetic catechist things are beginning to
look brighter. In the afternoon I attended a ladies' sewing
class, which he and his wife had started ; to this some of
quite the upper classes in the city, the wives of the officials,
came. In one of them, Mrs. Uyeda, we took a special
interest, as she is a candidate for baptism ; her husband is
head of the revenue department. In the evening I gave
an address to some of the more educated men, whom the
catechist had got together in Japanese fashion for tea and
talk. I spoke of the changed view of Christianity in
Japan, and of Christian doctrine being the answer to man's
gropings and questionings.
March 24. A confirmation of eleven persons, and one
baptism. In the afternoon I asked all to a feast at a
picturesque tea house, on a hill near the town. One of the
Christians is a photographer, so he took our whole group.
Several of the Christians belonged to a village twenty
192 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
miles off, which we had not time to visit, so they had
come to Tokushima to visit us.
March 25. Seven A.M., Holy Communion ; I said
farewell to the Christians, telling them to make me come
again quickly by having a large number of candidates for
confirmation, whom I must come to confirm. I went in a
jinriksha to the coast, about ten miles, and took a sailing
boat to pass over to Awaji, an island N.E. of Shikoku.
On the way I went to see the celebrated whirlpool, and
got a magnificent view from a rocky island close to the
narrow channel where the waters are much agitated. I
saw two junks come through, one of them was completely
twisted round twice by the force of the waters, and then
hurried on her way at a tremendous pace ; there does not
seem to be any particular danger, the force of the water
carrying them clear of the rocks. The day was delightfully
fine, and we sailed into Fukura with a fair wind.
Good Friday, Tokyo. A quiet day, with a good con-
gregation in the morning. I preached on the Seven
Words, the first three in the morning and the last four at
night.
Easter Eve. Mr. Shaw carried me off forcibly to see
the cherry blossom in some Tokyo Gardens ; it was very
beautiful.
Easter Day. I preached on ' Behold I am alive for
evermore.' A crowded congregation ; 90 communicants,
Japanese and English, at the celebration of Holy Com-
munion in our little church.
The summer was occupied in various missionary
journeys, and after a short holiday at the hill station of
Karuizawa (August 1-13), the Bishop was free to make a
long planned visit to Korea.
Before leaving Tokyo on September 14 he attended
the first Local Council of the Nippon Sei Kokwai.
The Council (he wrote), according to our new orga-
nisation, contains representatives of all missions of the
Anglican communion in a particular district, as the bi-
ennial Synod gathers representatives from all Japan.
We did some practical work, besides a good deal of
talking.
A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE. 1 886-1 888 193
The visit which the Bishop was now about to pay to
Korea was the result of much previous correspondence
both with the Archbishop of Canterbury and Bishop Scott of
North China, the latter of whom had agreed to meet him at
Seoul, the Korean capital. At that time Europe had heard
very little of Korea and cared less for this peninsula, which
was destined eight years later to become the theatre of the
war fought so vigorously by Japan and so feebly by China.
The Japanese Government were, however, well aware,
then as later, that Korean misgovernment was a standing
menace to the settled peace of the Far East, inasmuch as
its glaring injustice was an invitation to Russia to step
in, and even offered her a plausible excuse for putting her
neighbour's house to rights. Needless to say, the two
English Bishops were only remotely interested in the
political opportunities of the moment ; their hearts were
set on arranging for the seeds of the Gospel to be planted
among the Koreans, then so little known and now so
frequently visited by travellers, and so ably described by
the pen of Mrs. J. F. Bishop and others. As a necessary
preliminary, the Bishops were minded to see the land for
themselves, as it was fairly accessible both from North China
and Japan, and the result of their personal observations and
of their joint report to Lambeth was the Archbishop of
Canterbury's mission sent out in 1889 in connection with
the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, under
the devoted leadership of Bishop Corfe. Bishop Bicker-
steth left Tokyo on September 14, only to be driven
back by a violent storm, ' which the captain, though
the boldest of sailors, was unable to face.' However,
the next day the wind moderated, and a start was
made. On board the Bishop saw much of Professor
Shida (a Japanese pupil of Lord Kelvin's), ' a particularly
attractive man ; ' and he left Kobe on September 22 for
O
194 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
Nagasaki, ' the inland sea as calm as an Italian lake : I
have never seen it more beautiful.' On September 27 he
left Nagasaki for Korea, touching at the Goto Islands and
at Tsushima. The rest of his experiences may be best
given in his own words.
September 29. I set foot on the soil of Korea for the
first time this morning. With the help of a Chinese
interpreter who speaks admirable English, I had no diffi-
culty in finding the house of one of the Chinese catechists
sent here by Archdeacon Wolf from Fuchow. You may
remember my meeting them last year at Nagasaki. They
were then on their way to this place. The interpreter was
unable to stay, but I carried on a conversation for some
time with them through their wives, who were trained at a
boarding school at Singapore. They are getting some
knowledge of Korean, and are welcomed at the houses of
the people in the neighbouring villages. Their immediate
work plainly must be to learn the language, and with this
object they should certainly, as soon as possible, get a
house among the Koreans. At present they are in a
Japanese settlement. It is a difficult isolated position
which they occupy, and they need the help of others' inter-
cessions. At times they feel dispirited and lonely. They
are the first missionaries of Korea, and by God's grace may
be the pioneers of a great work. I left them after prayer,
which I asked one of them to offer in Chinese, and the
blessing, which I gave, in English.
The Theological School at Tokyo begins work to-day.
September 30. We left Fusan at 8 A.M. ; steam
along the Korean coast all day, and pass Port Hamilton.
October I. Still making our way along the coast, a
curious sight on deck of Japanese and Koreans unable to
understand one another's speech, but communicating their
thoughts about us to one another by means of Chinese
o *
signs, which they traced with their fingers on the palms of
their hands.
The new Jubilee School at Yokohama opens to-day.
I trust it may be a centre of widespread influence for
good. The education of European and Eurasian boys is
often sadly neglected in the East.
October 2. I was greatly grieved at not reaching the
A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE. l886-l888 195
port of Chimulpo until Sunday morning. I had looked
forward to a quiet day with Bishop Scott Sunday
travelling I abhor, but there are times when the irregulari-
ties of steamers render it necessary. I was carried up to
Seoul, some twenty-eight miles by eight men, in a chair
which the Consul-General, my host, had kindly sent down
for me. The bare sandy hills, with often fantastic and
beautiful outlines, remind me somewhat of Ajmir and the
north of Rajputana.
The Consul-General gave me a warm welcome, and
the pleasure was great of meeting Bishop Scott, the first
Bishop of our Church whom I had met since I parted with
Bishop Copleston in Ceylon. We were soon engaged in
exchanging notes and experiences, and discussing plans for
work in this country.
The Consul's house is full, as two English officers from
Hongkong have travelled across the country here from
the east coast, and are his guests as 'well as ourselves.
The house, which is now the British Consulate-General's,
belonged formerly to a Korean Mandarin ; it stands well in
a compound of its own, just inside the city walls, and a
little above the general level of the city. The gain of this
they only can know who have walked about the streets of
Seoul. I will not attempt description. I thought when I
saw it that the Chinese town at Shanghai was the filthiest
place human beings live in on earth ; but Seoul is a grade
lower. The climate is superb, probably one of the finest
in the world. This may explain the comparative
immunity of the people from epidemics which everything
else would conduce to bring about.
Most of the houses are merely hovels of mud, but the
mandarins' are of wood, not unlike the better sort of houses
in Japan. Some of those which outwardly look most
dismal are, I am told, comfortable and even grand in their
way inside.
The costume of the men is very picturesque, and in
this respect they are great dandies, being far more precise
and particular than their Japanese neighbours. It is a
mystery how such spotless garments find their way into
and out of such beggarly houses. We had hoped for four
days together in the capital, but a telegram, as it turned
out unnecessarily, summoned us back to Chimulpo after I
had been there for forty-eight hours only. The Bishop of
o 2
196 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
North China had, however, arrived three days before me, so
that I think between us we obtained all necessary informa-
tion. We are embodying it in a report for the Archbishop,
It will be an ample repayment for the expenditure of time
and trouble, if the generosity of English Churchmen should
make it possible for a new missionary diocese to be
established, with Seoul, at some future day, for its cathedral
city.
Two points I may notice : (i) The Koreans as a nation
have no religion. They were Buddhists, and Buddhists'
monasteries are still to be found on the hills. But Con-
fucianism supplanted Buddhism, and now has itself but
little hold even on the upper classes. (2) The story of
the French mission, though there are some things about
it to cause regret, is evidence that the people thirst for
what they have not got, and are ready to listen to teachers
who command their respect, and, like the Japanese, to give
their lives for the faith.
We were fortunate in seeing one most remarkable
spectacle. Once in four years an examination is held for
a sort of literary degree. It was going on last Monday. I
was told that ten thousand students presented themselves.
The Consul-General kindly accompanied us to see what
we might, and with his help we were able to get into the
great yard where it was being conducted. A large number
of huge umbrellas had been stuck into the ground, under
which there were little groups of students, provided each
with an immense sheet of parchment paper, a rhyming
dictionary, and thin strips of paper, on which had been
written a subject for a poem. With the help of the
dictionary, the duty of each candidate was to produce a
poem of his own, to be submitted to the Examiner. When
we arrived some had finished their task ; others \vere still
in the throes of composition. The Examiner, a mandarin
of high rank, in court dress, was seated in a sort of hall,
fenced off from the candidates by a low paling. As each
completed his task he rolled up the parchment, and pro-
ceeded to fling it over the paling on to the ground inside.
Men inside the paling were busy engaged in picking up
the scrolls, unrolling them, rolling up a number of them
together into larger bundles, and stacking these beside
the examiner. As the scrolls came flying over the paling
more thickly, it was all they could do to gather them
A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE. l886-l888 197
together. Meanwhile no quiet was maintained, such as
might seem suitable for votaries of the Muses ; on the
contrary, a crowd of interested spectators, vendors of
sweetmeats, tea, and other refreshments, &c., &c., surged
up and down between the umbrellas. All thought, one
would have considered, must be at an end ; and the con-
trast was laughable as the remembrance suggested itself
of the Senate House at Cambridge and St. Mary's chimes !
One person, at least, was au fait at his work. The aged
examiner seemed to appraise the papers, which were pre-
sented to him one by one, at the rate of about twenty a
minute !
When we reached Chimulpo again late on Tuesday we
found that our steamer was not to start until Thursday
morning. This port is an increasing place, and mission-
aries at Seoul would do well to have work there also, if
possible.
October 6. Bishop Scott is returning with me to
Nagasaki. The sea is again as calm as a lake, and con-
ference on all manner and kinds of subjects is delightful as
we pace the deck.
In the autumn of that year the Rev. L. B. Cholmondeley
-arrived in Tokyo as the first member of St. Andrews Uni-
versity Mission, and took up his residence with the Bishop
at Shiba, a district of Tokyo ; and in December the Bishop
had the pleasure of welcoming to Tokyo the first members of
St. Hilda's Community Mission, who reached Yokohama
-early on Sunday, December 4, and after being met there
by the Bishop and Miss Hoar (of the Women's Mission
Association, S.P.G.) arrived at Tokyo in time for the mid-
day service and celebration of Holy Communion. On the
8th the Bishop admitted them as members of the Com-
munity Mission. 1
The Bishop at once took steps to build a permanent
house for the mission, as well as for the St. Andrews
University Mission for men. For this a sum of i,2OO/. was
required. He subscribed 3OO/. himself to meet a grant of
1 See chapter vii. p. 233
198 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
3OO/. from the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge,
and the balance was raised by the Guild of St. Paul in
England. 1
The time was now come for him to return to England
to take part in the third gathering of the Bishops of the
Anglican Communion. The Wednesday in Holy Week
1888 was spent as a Quiet Day for all the workers
in Tokyo, and on Maunday Thursday the Bishop
admitted John Toshimichi Imai to the diaconate, and
on the same day (March 29) he issued his first Pastoral
Letter ' to the Clergy and Layworkers ' on the eve
of his departure. After referring to the hope which
he entertained of collecting sufficient funds in England
to enable him to extend St. Andrew's and St. Hilda's
Missions, and of urging during the summer, in conjunction
with Bishop Scott of North China, the claims of Korea ' as
a new and interesting field of evangelistic labour,' he made
mention of the Tokyo Ladies' Institute, 'the superintendence
and instruction of which had been placed by its Japanese
promoters in the hands of members of the Church of
England, although it lay outside the course of the
operations of missionary societies.' He expressed regret
that the re-issue of the ' Shinko no Hata,' the literary
organ of the Nippon Sei Kokwai, had been prevented by
other work, but believed that much good would result
from the circulation among isolated Christians of brief
letters containing advice and sympathy, together with
information of what was passing in the mission with which
they had become connected.
In connection with the generous present by the S.P.C.K.
of a theological library, placed in St. Andrew's House,
Shiba, Tokyo (where the Bishop was now living with his
Chaplain, the Rev. L. B. Cholmondeley), he expressed ' his
1 See chapter vii. p. 241.
A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE. 1 886- 1 888 199
sense of the importance of the prayerful, systematic, life-
long pursuit of Biblical and theological study. Growth in
knowledge was the one essential of efficiency in all ministry.
In their own field of labour more especially, unlike some
others, the progress of general culture had entirely outrun
the obedience of faith, and at the same time ecclesiasti-
cal questions of the gravest importance awaited considera-
tion. It followed that nowhere was there more needed
than among themselves that accuracy of teaching which
comes from fulness of knowledge, together with that
sobriety of judgment which commonly follows on sus-
tained and comprehensive study.'
In conclusion, the Bishop expressed very grateful
thanks for the kindness he had received during his first
two years in Japan, especially mentioning one (Arch-
deacon Shaw) whose house had been his home during the
greater part of that time.
The Bishop sailed on April 3, and reached England on
May 17, twelve days later than was expected, owing to
being detained in quarantine at San Francisco, at which
vexatious delay his eager spirit greatly chafed.
During the five months which the Bishop spent in
England, his forecast of incessant travelling and speaking
was fulfilled to the letter, but he had the satisfaction in
many parts of the country of making personal acquaintance
of members of the Guild of St. Paul, which was henceforth
established on a firm footing. 1 The roll of membership
rapidly rose to 1,000, and the Bishop accepted the offer of
two clergy (the Rev. F. Armine King and the Rev. F. E.
Freese) for St. Andrew's Mission, where the Rev. L. B.
Cholmondeley temporarily helped by the Rev. C. G.
1 The annual subscriptions rose from ng/. to 2557. , and the income for
the year, including donations and offertories, rose from 6437. in 1887, to
I,2I4/. in 1888.
2OO BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
Gardner was already at work, and two more ladies
volunteered for St. Hilda's Mission and were accepted.
The chief speech delivered by the Bishop while in
England was made in St. James's Hall at the annual
meeting- of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel,
(July 10), which was timed that year to be held during the
session of the Lambeth Conference.
In that speech Bishop Bickersteth began by drawing a
parallel between the diffusion of the Greek language and
literature in the nearer East through the conquests of
Alexander the Great, and the diffusion of Anglo-Saxon
modes of writing and thinking in the further East, as the
two most important events in early and modern history.
The supremacy of England in India, and her possession of
a continuous line of important harbours along the southern
Asiatic coast stretching from Aden to Hongkong, together
with the re-opening of Japan to Western intercourse, and
the formation of colonies of merchants, chiefly English and
American, in China and Japan, had been the most powerful
causes contributing to that result. Japan was the latest of
the greater Oriental countries to come under the influence
of this return movement of the West towards the East, but
it had been probably affected by it more completely and
more unalterably than any other nation. One of the
greatest of Japanese statesmen had said to him last year :
' Other Eastern nations have cared chiefly to adopt from
you your guns and means of defence, we have honestly
tried also to understand your thought ; ' and further, those
who knew Japan best admitted that during the thirty-five
years which had elapsed since the re-opening of the
country she had made no backward step. Not only
had much that was pernicious and embarrassing been swept
away . . ., not only had all the latest inventions of natural,
political, and economic science . . . been widely adopted,
A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE. 1 886- 1 888 2OI
but also a system of graded education based on the village
school and culminating in the Tokyo University had made it
certain that the movement which vitally affected the upper
classes would permeate the whole people.
In answering the question what was the attitude of the
people towards religion, the Bishop repudiated the recent
suggestion of an English writer that the Japanese were
without the religious sentiment, though he admitted that
among the educated classes Shintoism, the ancient faith
brought originally from Manchuria Buddhism, received,
though in an altered form, from India and Confu-
cianism, imported from China, had ceased to command
credence, exercise authority, and guide life. In answer-
ing the further inquiry, what was the attitude of the
people towards Christianity, he thought it might best be
described as one of respectful hesitation. Most certainly
Christianity was respected, both as the faith of the
missionaries who resided in Japan and as the religion of
Western nations, and also a widespread feeling existed
that it might prove the cement and bond of the new
national life. But this favourable opinion was traversed
by the doubts generated through the wide circulation of
anti-Christian literature with its usual assumption that
Christianity was the foe of science, unnecessary as a basis
of morals, and already negatived by the wise men of the
West.
As regards the masses of the people, the Bishop had
heard of no instance where a missionary conversant with
the language and possessed of sympathy and tact had
resided among them and not gathered considerable
numbers into the fold of Christ. It was not beyond
the bounds of sober expectation that Japan might be
counted among the Christian nations within the lifetime of
those now living.
202 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
In conclusion, the Bishop urged that no work could be
grander than that before them, and that no communion
but their own was so fully fitted and furnished for its
accomplishment. By its past history, by its present posi-
tion, by its characteristic endowments, it only could be ' the
church of the reconciliation' * not only to the separated
fragments of Western Christendom, but also to countries
as far asunder as England and America from India, China,
and Japan.
In the Lambeth Conference itself the Bishop felt an
absorbing interest, the opening sermon of the Primate of
All England (Archbishop Benson), delivered in the Abbey
on July 3, greatly delighted him, not only as a weighty
utterance on the position of the Anglican communion, but
also as a luminous vindication of her inherited call to be a
missionary and evangelistic agency throughout the world.
I attended him as chaplain at that service, and can never
forget the radiant face with which he broke away from the
procession after it had passed down the nave, and said :
' Was it not a true encyclical ? It will strengthen missions
all over the world.'
The Bishop of Exeter took a house in Wimpole Street
during the whole month of the Lambeth Conference, and
here the son was his father's guest, and greatly enjoyed
meeting the many Bishops from all parts of the world who
were entertained there. Of his own part in the conference
little can be said, as it is well known that no report of
the discussions is allowed to reach the public beyond the
published encyclical. But my brother served on the
Committee for Authoritative Standards of Doctrine and
Worship, and also took an active part in some discussions,
1 This phrase had been used by Bishop Whipple of Minnesota in a sermon
preached by him before the members of the Lambeth Conference on July 3,
1888, in Lambeth Palace Chapel. See Lambeth Conferences, published by
S.P.C.K., p. 246.
A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE. 1 886-1 888 2O3
specially on the questions of polygamy and of the observ-
ance of Sunday..
Some idea of the impression made by the young
missionary Bishop may be gathered from the following
letter written to him by Dr. Searle over a year later :
Pembr. Coll. Lodge, Cambridge :
December 30, 1889.
My dear Bishop, It is a curious connection of thought
that impels me to write to you on the occasion of the
death of the Bishop of Durham. It is, however, easy to
trace. That death will be felt to the remotest parts of
the world, and at once I got thinking how you would feel
it, for I know your admiration for him how, too, he had
sympathised with you in your first missionary enterprise
at Delhi, and how, too, last year he had opened his palace
and his heart to all the missionary Bishops. He had great
regard for you, and if I may tell you now that he is gone he
looked to see great things done by you in Japan. Speaking
of the Pan-Anglican meeting, he more than once said that
your part in it had been so useful that you had impressed
him by your largeness of heart and comprehensive spirit :
' he has grown so ' was, I recollect, the exact expression.
I venture to tell this to you-, my dear Bishop, as I know at
times you must need encouragement and feel inadequate
to your burden.
. . . Always affectionately yours,
C. E. SEARLE.
Bishop Bickersteth's own impressions of the conference
are recorded in the following letter to his old Diocesan,
Bishop French :
Lynton, North Devon : August 7, 1888.
My dear Bishop, I am getting a little rest here in a
house which my father has taken, and am thankful for it
after the fatigues of ten weeks' incessant speaking and
preaching.
... I hope you will think the conference has done
good work. I was in the minority on one or two resolu-
tions ... I did not agree with the first of the resolutions
204 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
on Sunday. Bengel and Lightfoot agree in thinking that
St. Paul's words in the Colossians are inconsistent with
the perpetual obligation in the Jewish sense of the law of
one day in seven, and this is what the resolution seems to
affirm . . . Still on the whole I do trust that God's work
will have been set forward a step, and a large step, both at
home and abroad ; and the tone which characterised all
the meetings from first to last of brotherly love and
mutual confidence was beyond anything that I had
anticipated, and suggestive of highest and fullest hope.
Ever your affectionate old chaplain and younger
brother in the ministry of Christ,
EDWARD BICKERSTETH, Bishop.
During the month of August, the Bishop of Exeter was
able to gather all his children and grandchildren at Lyn-
ton in Devon. The bachelor ' Uncle Bishop ' was always
greatly in demand on all expeditions, and readily responded
to all the pastimes of the children. One reminiscence
may be allowed. On August 6, during a birthday picnic
in the Valley of Rocks, a game of cricket was started, in
which the two Bishops joined, and were supported by the
late Bishop Smythies of Central Africa, then the guest of
the Rector of Lynton. On asking the age of the hero of
the day and being told he was just four, Bishop Smythies
said : ' And I, my child, am forty-four this very day,' and
gave him his blessing. It was during this month that the
Rev. Armine King visited Bishop Bickersteth at Lynton
after he had finally decided to join him in Japan, a
decision which was the beginning of a close and abiding
friendship, and greatly strengthened the Bishop's work in
the capital of Japan.
On October 25 the Bishop started for Japan via Canada,
accompanied by the Rev. Armine King, the two St.
Hilda's ladies, and a lady worker sent out by the Ladies'
Association S.P.G., having as fellow-travellers the late
Bishop of New Westminster and Mrs. Sillitoe. A member
A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE. 1 886-1 888 205
of the Guild of St. Paul wrote : ' I am glad our Bishop is
starting on Agincourt Day. As far as numbers go he is
fighting against far greater odds than the English were in
France.' But, although few, the returning missionaries
might have taken up the words, ' We few, we happy few,
we band of brothers.' l
The wrench of parting, however, was not easy, though
it gave promise of the fruitfulness which waits upon all
self-sacrifice, as will be seen from the following letter :
To his Father
Train near Shrewsbury : October 24, 1888.
My dearest Father, One line to reach you to-morrow
morning. It was very hard parting to-day, and yet as your
love was the measure of it I do not know that I could
wish it less hard ; and I believe that here or in Japan God
will let me meet you again. Still, except for my work, I
should, I am sure, never bring myself to leave our loving
circle, or rather circle of home circles, in England. The
wcrk and its end does just make it possible. Thank you,
dearest Father, and God give you His richest blessings for
all the love which you with Madre 2 have showered on me
these months. They have gone by like a day. It is difficult
to believe that what I so looked forward to is over ; but it
is a very bright and helpful memory. I do trust that I
may work in Japan as one should who has your example
and prayers to support him.
Your most affectionate Son,
EDWARD BICKERSTETH, Bishop.
1 Henry V. Act IV. Scene 3. 2 His step-mother.
206 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
CHAPTER VII
MISSIONARY METHODS, WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO
COMMUNITY MISSIONS
' We need not go further than the Acts and Epistles, with such help perhaps
as Professor Ramsay's great work gives in understanding Apostolic methods,
to see how well it is to have an ideal and to work with a plan from the begin-
ning.' Letter of Bishop EDWARD BICKERSTETH to Guild of St. Paul,
December 28, 1893.
IN this chapter a fuller account will be found of the two
Community missions of St. Andrew's and St. Hilda's at
Tokyo. The only reason for singling out these two mis-
sions for special and detailed mention is that they were
each of them founded by Bishop Bickersteth and each
bear strongly the impress of their founder. But he himself
would have been the first to deprecate any mention of
them to the virtual exclusion of other methods of missionary
work, such as had been maintained long before his arrival
in Japan by the devoted missionaries, men and women,
sent out from England through the agency of the S.P.G.
or C.M.S. and other societies, as well as by the Sister
Church of America.
The first missionary of the S.P.G., the Rev. A. C. Shaw
(now Archdeacon), who is so often mentioned in these
pages, arrived in Tokyo on September 25, 1873, an d the
first preaching station of the mission was opened by the
Rev. H. B. Wright in the earlier months of 1874 that is,
twelve or thirteen years before Bishop Bickersteth began
MISSIONARY METHODS AND COMMUNITY MISSIONS 2O/
his special missions. The first convert, Andrew Shimada,
won to God through the labours of these men, was
baptised by Mr. Wright on St. Andrew's Day in 1874,
and is now working as a Deacon.
In 1875 Miss Hoar, of the Ladies' Association S.P.G.,
began ' her faithful and successful ' work l in Tokyo. She
was joined in 1886 by her cousin Miss Annie Hoar, and
the teaching and training of Japanese women, as well as
district visiting, were zealously carried on by them, until
owing to a breakdown in health they were obliged to
leave Japan in 1898.
The first missionary of the C.M.S. 2 in Japan was the
Rev. George Ensor, who had been assigned to China, but
owing to lack of funds he was sent to Japan, a special
donation of 4,ooo/. having been made to the society in
1867 to enable them to start a Japanese Mission. He
landed on January 23, 1869, just after the conclusion of
the Revolution for which the year 1868 will ever be
memorable in the annals of the Japanese. It was in No-
vember 1868 that the young Mikado had moved his Court
from Kioto to Yedo, and renamed that city Tokyo.
On January 5, 1869, he had first received a Foreign
Minister in public audience ; but evangelisation was still
carried on exposed to constant persecution, and it was
not till the end of 1872 that the notorious notice-boards
prohibiting Christianity were withdrawn. Mr. Ensor's
health failed and he had to return to England in that
very year ; but he had been already joined by the
Rev. H. Burnside, and ever since the C.M.S. has gone on
strengthening her mission agencies, until now not only in
Kiushiu and in the Hokkaido (where there are no other
English missionaries except those sent out by this society),
1 See S.P.G. Digest, p. 721.
- See History of the C.M.S. by Eugene Stock, vol. ii. ch. Ixv.
208 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
but also on the main island of Hondo, they are far the
strongest numerically of the missionaries which represent
the Church of England.
By such missionaries, both men and women, evange-
lisation and education in all its variety of methods has
been energetically carried on, and Bishop Bickersteth
threw himself into their work with strong and discrimi-
nating sympathy. At the Birmingham Church Congress
in 1893 he thus alluded to the manifoldness of the methods
by which the Gospel must be presented and preached :
The subject I understand to be assigned to me is
' Varieties of Method in the Evangelisation of the Heathen.'
The title is rightly chosen. In some real sense there are
no varieties in this work. St. Paul's words, ' We preach
Christ Jesus as the Lord ' sum up and identify everything
worth calling missionary work which has yet been done or
ever will be. In missions, oneness and sameness are
essential ; variety is only accidental.
Such varieties, then, as are to be spoken about are due
not to differences in the contents of the Gospel, but to the
fact that in the effort to bring the message of the faith to
bear on the hearts and consciences of men, all modern
missions alike make use of a large machinery of apparatus
and means educational, literary, institutional, medical
which does vary indefinitely in accordance with the resources
at the disposal of the particular mission, and the character
of that one of the world's all but countless peoples among
whom it is at work.
I do not say, or think, that we are wrong in developing
and using this great machinery. But I may be allowed to
notice in passing that the number of missionaries, men and
women, who put all use of means and machinery on one
side as not intended for them, and go forth in the expecta-
tion of winning souls simply by their words and lives by
words of which the love of God in Christ is the inspiration
and by lives lived in closest association with the lives of
the people among whom they dwell is too few. Some
such there have been in modern times Gordon, for instance,.
ihefagir missionary of the Punjab and their influence has
been incalculable and very salutary.
MISSIONARY METHODS AND COMMUNITY MISSIONS 2O9
But the mass of us work, and always will work, through
machinery. Hence arise variety, and complexity, and
manifoldness. I will employ the few moments at my
disposal in mentioning some of the forms which our work
takes in Japan.
I. First of all, then, we use public preaching, a form of
work which cannot be neglected without detriment not
only to the aggressive power of a mission, but to its inner
life. In Japan, however, this does not as a rule take place in
the open air, as in India police regulations and the people's
ideas on the matter stand in the way of this but in rooms
erected or hired for the purpose. This form of work is not
without results. At least it makes known among a large
number of persons, chiefly in that lower rank of society in
which the mass of any people must always be included,
that there is such a thing as Christianity. Sometimes it
has led directly to conversions. Recently in one or two
large towns in Japan, a plan has been tried which has been
called, by a name borrowed from you, a special mission.
With us the speciality consists in concentrating for several
weeks a number of evangelists who are commonly working
separately, in one great city, in widely advertising for some
time beforehand the meetings and addresses, and in asking
the prayers of all the Church missions in the empire for
that city during the time the mission is going on. Results
have been appreciable. The Buddhists, notwithstanding the
traditional teaching of their religion which prescribes uni-
versal toleration, have paid the ' mission ' the compliment of
noisy and violent opposition.
II. Work among tJie educated classes. The percentage
of the educated class in Japan is large. It was so formerly,
when Chinese methods prevailed. It is so now, when
European methods have largely taken their place. The
present educational system of Japan is widely extended.
It tends to become more thorough and less exotic than it
was when first introduced a few years ago. In range it
covers the whole field of knowledge from the subjects
taught in village schools to the curriculum of an English
University, theology only excepted. Theology cannot be
taught, because the educated Japanese mind is as yet in a
state of indecision and uncertainty in reference to the
whole subject of religion. The number of educated men
who believe in the old faiths is few, and the class tends to
210 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
become extinct. It seems especially the duty of English
and Americans, whose literature and science have been the
main agencies in bringing about the changes out of which
has emerged the modern Japan, to make sure that the
classes who have proved so receptive of their teaching in
other ways, should at least have the opportunity of learn-
ing what their faith is.
(a) The Community mission affords one way in which
this may be done. . . .
(b) Again, educated nations in a special degree require
an educated clergy. The missionary societies are, I believe,
conscious of this now, as they were not in former years
before Bishop French induced a new view on the subject
by founding his college at Lahore. In Japan now we have
three Divinity Schools supported by the Anglican Com-
munion ; one taught by the missionaries of the Church
Missionary Society, one by the clergy of a University
Mission which has been established in Tokyo, and one by
the able and excellent clergy of the American Church
Mission.
The last eight years has seen the ordination of twenty-
two Japanese, nearly all of them alumni of these schools.
Our hopes for the future are largely bound up with these
men and with those who will be added to their number.
At the best, no European will ever understand the language
or mind of the Oriental people as the sons of the soil do.
The present danger is that the rising generation, even of
young Christian men in Japan, should be so attracted to
the new careers and prospects which are open to them
under the modern circumstances of their country as to
neglect or even despise the ministry of the Church. There,
as in England, nothing but a sense of the value of the souls
of men, and of the privilege for Christ's sake of minister-
ing under His commission to those for whom He died, can
meet this risk.
(c) Again, in addition to schools founded and main-
tained by English societies the educational system in Japan
to which I have referred is glad from time to time to avail
itself of the services of English masters, and occasionally of
English mistresses. The vast educational departments of
India and Japan are among the phenomena of our day.
They are effecting a silent revolution in the East of which
the Church must needs take account. Any plan which
directs the forces which they control in right channels is
MISSIONARY METHODS AND COMMUNITY MISSIONS 211
worthy of consideration. Among such plans I unhesi-
tatingly count the acceptance by sincere and consistent
Christian men and women of educational posts under the
Governments of these two lands. Let them count the cost
beforehand in Japan, probable loneliness, the uncertainty
of tenure, and the limitation (which must be loyally adhered
to) which obliges them not to teach doctrinal Christianity
during school hours. Still if, notwithstanding all these
disadvantages, they are prepared to throw themselves
enthusiastically on the one hand into the work of secular
education, and on the other into the opportunities, indirect
though they be, of making known the truth which these
posts afford, then I believe such educationalists are to be
counted among real and effective allies of the regular
missionary staff. . . . Some English Churchmen, I gather,
are suspicious of this mode of work, as if in it the claims
of the truth were subordinated to those of secular science.
This fear is groundless, provided the teacher is possessed
by a sincere and earnest desire for the salvation of those
under his charge.
III. Work among women. In Japan, as in India,
Christian work among women must largely be undertaken
by Christian women if it is to be done at all. They have a
field open to them than which they could not desire a fairer.
An English Churchwoman, whose qualifications are bright
and gentle manners, the knowledge which an average
education supplies, and that sympathy for Orientals which
will lead her to see their good points, and to wish to
Christianise not to Europeanise them to mention some
necessary points and to omit deeper qualifications still
may in Japan adopt almost any form of work which
she prefers with good hope of success. She may teach a
school, she may nurse the sick, she may visit the poor, she
may take charge of orphans, she may train Japanese
women-workers. If she has considerable means at her
disposal, and that indescribable quality which makes social
intercourse a spiritual power, she may make her drawing-
room a centre to which Japanese ladies will gladly resort
in order that they may come under the influence of her
words and spirit, and catch the reflection of her faith,
though it may be they know not where its fires are fed.
I have known this done in one almost ideal life l which
1 Mrs. Kirkes. See chapter viii. p. 298.
212 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
closed in Tokyo less than six months since, and invites
followers to-day from among the refined and wealthy and
devoted Church women of England.
IV. Lastly, and perhaps of highest importance, there
is the mission agency which the Church itself constitutes
I mean the native, indigenous Church so soon as it has
sufficient members to admit of organisation. Apostolic
precedent and modern experience may alike warn us that
there is serious loss in placing any long interval between
the first groups of baptisms and the rudimentary organisa-
tion of the wider Christian society. It is well to pass as
quickly as possible through the congregational stage.
And further, in Japan above all lands, if we can only
advance towards it slowly, we are bound from the beginning
to have an eye to the day, which may or may not be
distant, when the Church shall be wholly independent of
ourselves.
The few thousand Christians who are attached to our
missions are members of a nation numbering forty million
souls, a nation where patriotism is almost too universal
to be counted a virtue, and whose ideal it is to take its
place as an equal among the great civilised nations of the
world. Such a nation must of course have a Church of its
own. Even now, though an Indian Christian if a Church-
man not seldom counts himself a member of the Church of
England of the Church, that is, of the conquering race to
a Japanese the idea of belonging to the Church of a foreign
land would seem too ridiculous to be worth growing
indignant at. We have tried to meet this feeling, surely a
right and worthy feeling on the whole, to the utmost
extent that prudence, not to say the slow movement of
the complicated machinery by which our Anglican com-
munion does its work, have permitted us. We have to-day
a genuine native Church in Japan, with its own constitution
and Canons (drawn up in 1887, not 1603) and Synod and
vestries and missionary society, &c., all, it is true, in their
initial stage of working, still all mainly carried out by
Japanese themselves, and on I believe such primitive and
catholic lines as will only need expansion and develop-
ment, not change, till the day of independence is reached.
One thing at least has resulted from this venture : the
distinction between converts of United States and
MISSIONARY METHODS AND COMMUNITY MISSIONS 213
Canadian and English Church Missions has fallen entirely
into the background. All alike belong, and lay stress
only on belonging, to this little Church of Japan.
It was always a delight to the Bishop to stay with his
missionaries whenever he could make time, and one of the
incidental advantages of the increased Episcopate in Japan,
to which he much looked forward, was further leisure for a
more minute acquaintance with the details of their work.
The recollections of Canon Tristram, of Durham, whose
daughter, Miss Louisa Tristram, has been for long one of
the foremost lady workers in the C.M.S. Mission at Osaka,
will be read with interest :
The College, Durham : February 13, 1899.
Dear Mr. Bickersteth, I have rarely enjoyed a visit
more than the few days I spent with the Bishop at Tokyo
in 1891. My missionary daughter, who was my companion,
was hospitably entertained at the beautifully situated St.
Hilda's Mission House. . . . We had many delightful talks
of an evening in the Bishop's own study, and he deeply
impressed me as having inherited all his dear father's
saintliness. There were a number of Japanese Divinity
students to whom I gave a lecture on the evidences one
evening. Shortly after our visit I had the pleasure of
acting as chaplain at a confirmation at Nagoya in a
mission room, simply an ordinary Japanese room fitted
up. I was always struck with the considerate way in
which your brother conducted his services in accordance
with the custom of the missionary of the place, never
adopting the eastward position or doing anything which
could suggest difference. He also quite adapted himself to
the habits of the country ; so at Nagoya, being in a house, he
had taken off his shoes and confirmed in his stocking feet.
I afterwards went round the island of Kiushiu, and as we
were returning again came across the Bishop at Fukuoka
in the north of the island, where I had the privilege of
taking part in the consecration of a beautiful little church
built by the C.M.S. native converts, and assisting after-
wards in the Holy Communion. It was indeed a day of
rare interest. We travelled back to Osaka together, where
214 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
again I was one of the clergy at the consecration of
another native church. The Bishop seemed very ill and
worn, in fact he had been working with a ceaseless energy
that would have tried an iron constitution. I never saw
him again till he brought his bride to dine with us in
Durham in 1893. I wish I could write anything worthy
of being quoted in your memoir, but after seven years my
recollections are not so distinct as they might be. I can
only say that he was one whom to know was to love and
reverence, though we might not see alike on many points.
Believe me ever sincerely yours,
H. B. TRISTRAM.
An important educational venture in which the Bishop
took much interest may here be mentioned. In the autumn
of 1886 Professor Toyama, of Tokyo, wrote a paper on the
higher education of Japanese ladies, with the result that it
was proposed to found an institute in the capital to pro-
mote the culture of women. The building, for which the
Japanese authorities promised to be responsible, was to
contain reading and lecture rooms, class rooms for about
one hundred day pupils, and a hostel for boarders, the
whole being under English superintendence and manage-
ment. It was this latter condition which brought this wholly
Japanese scheme before the Bishop. Through some
Scotch professors at the university he was brought into
contact with Count Ito (then Minister of Education, sub-
sequently Prime Minister of Japan) and others, and elected
a member of the committee of management. He was
then asked to seek for teachers in England, and consented
to do so after laying down this one stipulation that ' the
teachers should be free to exercise their personal influence
with their pupils as they might desire, no restriction being
put upon them in any way, and it being understood that
as religious people they would exercise religious influence.'
He was himself surprised at the readiness with which his
conditions were accepted, and wrote home that ' men
MISSIONARY METHODS AND COMMUNITY MISSIONS 215
themselves agnostic and as keen as razors in intellect not
seldom admitted that religion is a great element even in
culture. Here, if the scheme advances, is an offer to put
under distinct Christian influence and instruction the
young wives and daughters of the highest class in the
capital, who share continually in the life which the enter-
prise of their husbands and fathers has so wonderfully
developed. I do not know that any nobler opportunity of
widespread influence and usefulness of the highest kind
has ever been offered to the Christian women in England.'
The Bishop's appeal, in which he was joined by the
Rev. A. C. (now Archdeacon) Shaw, met with a warm
response in England, and within fifteen months of the
receipt of this letter six ladies of exceptionally high
culture and training gave themselves for the work of the
Ladies' Institute, and under the leadership of Miss MacRae
(Head Mistress of the Church of England High School
for Girls, Baker Street) set sail for their distant field of
work on January 26, 1888. One and all had given up a
successful career in England for the sake of Japan. The
Bishop's letters bear frequent testimony to the interest
he took in their work, but its subsequent development
disappointed him. In his judgment the ladies did not
display sufficient patience in first securing influence
over their pupils, which influence in Japan, as in the
East generally, is proverbially strong, and then wait for
opportunities to turn it into directly religious channels.
In any case within a few years the Japanese authorities
took fright at the idea of direct proselytism, so far altering
the conditions as to materially restrain the liberty of
Christian influence exercised by the English successors of
these ladies.
It will thus be seen that in launching his scheme for
Community missions Bishop Bickersteth only designed to
2l6 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
add, if it were possible, one more method hitherto untried,
in order to supplement, not in any way to supplant, work
already in operation. If, therefore, the rest of this chapter
is devoted to the new work, it will not be supposed that
the other and older work is ignored.
It is proposed to establish, as soon as men and means
are available, an associated mission in Japan after the
manner of the University missions in India. The mission
will be carried on in immediate connection with the
Bishop, and if possible in the same city which shall be
chosen for his residence. In this case the missionaries
will reside in his house. The special object of the mission
will be to reach the educated classes, while at the same
time it is believed that it will form a useful centre for
general mission work. It is hoped that in time educated
Japanese Christians will be attached to the mission staff.
On the last day of 1885, a few weeks before his conse-
cration, this appeal had been made by the Bishop- elect.
The Bishops of Durham (Dr. Lightfoot), Exeter (Dr.
Bickersteth), and Salisbury (Dr. Wordsworth) at once
headed a subscription list in order to help to provide the
means, and in a few weeks nearly 3OO/. was collected. The
committee of the S.P.G. also unanimously recommended
that a grant be assigned at the next annual distribution of
funds in aid of the initial expenses of the mission. As to
men it will be remembered that three months later the
Bishop, when on his first voyage to Japan, had written to-
Dr. Searle (March 31, 1886) 'to claim the sympathy and
assistance of a body of University men ' in the work of
evangelising Japan and building up a native Church.
The first member of the University Mission thus pro-
jected was the Rev. L. B. Cholmondeley, formerly assistant
curate of Kenwyn, Truro. He sailed for Japan at the end
of March 1887, within a year of the Bishop's appeal to
Cambridge. Mr. Cholmondeley, however, belonged not to>
MISSIONARY METHODS AND COMMUNITY MISSIONS 217
Cambridge, but to the sister University of Oxford, and it is
curious to note that all the first members of this mission
without exception were graduates of Oxford. Mr. Chol-
mondelcy was followed in the autumn of 1888 by the
Rev. F. Armine King (of Keble College, Oxford, formerly
curate of Tottenham), and in the spring of 1889 by the
Rev. F. E. Freese (Trinity College, Oxford, formerly curate
of St. George's, Stonehouse). The Rev. C. G. Gardner
(B.A. Oxford), who had gone out under S.P.G., joined St.
Andrew's Mission for a time in 1890, and the Rev. Her-
bert Moore (Keble College, Oxford, curate of St. Thomas's,
Liverpool) came out from England in the same year. In
1891 the Rev. L. F. Ryde (St. John's College, Oxford,
formerly curate of St. Andrew's, Great Yarmouth), and in
1894 the Rev. A. E. Webb (Brasenose College, Oxford,
formerly curate of Stockport) were added to the number.
The Bishop himself used often to tell the story that
as the result of a miserably attended meeting at Oxford
he received two or three offers of service, while enthusiastic
receptions afforded him at his own University, which at the
time seemed more encouraging, yet sent no members to
the Community mission of St. Andrew's at Tokyo. 1
A perusal of the early correspondence connected with
the foundation of these two organisations will give some
idea of the exact niche which the Bishop designed these
associated missions to occupy. They had to make, almost
to fight, their way to recognition, or at least to apprecia-
tion. In the second chapter, in describing the initiation
of the Cambridge Mission to Delhi, proof has been given
of the shyness with which Community missions were
regarded twenty years ago. A like spirit of caution is to
1 In the autumn of 1896 the Bishop had the pleasure of welcoming the
first recruit from his own University in the person of Mr. Basil Woodd
(Trinity College, Camb. ), who joined the mission as a layman.
2l8 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
be noticed in a speech delivered by Bishop Edward
Bickersteth at the annual meeting of the S.P.G. at St.
James's Hall in July 1888, when he was at home for the
Lambeth Conference.
The small independent mission to which I referred just
now is to be a Community mission, and I venture to
suggest that in the present circumstances of Church work
in the East the society should put prominently forward as
one of its main objects the formation of Community
missions both of men and women. No one can value
more highly than I do the exhibition before the heathen
of the purity, the blessedness, the love of the English
home. I should think it a loss if in any central station,
or at the head of some large institutions, there were not a
married missionary. But this being fully admitted, the
reason of the case, together with the teachings of history
and experience, prove that we cannot hope to do the work
to which God has manifestly now led us in eastern lands
if we continue to take the English parsonage as supplying
the normal type of the life of the foreign missionary. The
expense alone is prohibitory. On the other hand, there
are very few and all honour to them who can bear the
strain of solitary work in a heathen country. The Com-
munity mission (I venture to mention that I speak from
some experience in past years) supplies just what is needed.
Sympathy is its guiding thought, and union in devotion
and work its unfailing practice. Missions from Oxford
and Cambridge in Calcutta and Delhi, and from St. John's,
Cowley, in Bombay, have proved, if any doubted, that such
associated life and work in the East is neither impossible
nor unpractical.
It will be noticed that the prudential reason of in-
creased economy is given its full place in this apologia,
and indeed the average cost of each member being only
ioo/. a year justifies his argument; yet this financial
consideration weighed far less with the Bishop than his
belief that such a mission, consisting exclusively of gradu-
ates of the English Universities, would command the respect
of the educated classes, and especially of the University of
MISSIONARY METHODS AND COMMUNITY MISSIONS 2 19
Tokyo, which sent its own sons all over the country. He
also believed that in the early Church history of any coun-
try it is most important to avoid defects which it might be
difficult to make good, and that a body of men working
under the immediate direction of the Bishop and on
Apostolic lines would be very careful in this respect. In
a word, he was convinced that from the singular opportu-
nity offered by the receptivity of Japan a mission of that
kind ought to have the greatest influence. In a city like
Tokyo, where men followed with keenest interest the battle
between Christianity and agnosticism, where arguments
might be answered at any moment by quotations from
Huxley or Herbert Spencer, it was surely wise to send
those who, as the Bishop expressed it, ' cannot have gradu-
ated too highly in the spiritual life ' and yet who have also
learnt from England's wisest and best how and when to use
the weapons of attack.
But it will be asked : What was the rule of life which
the members of the mission were expected to follow ?
One point from the first was decided, as stated by the
Bishop in a letter to Canon Stanton, dated from Okayama,
November 18, 1886. After mentioning four or five men
in England with whom he had been in correspondence,
he adds :
If you remember, the last day I was with you in Cam-
bridge we agreed that the plan adopted at Zanzibar should
be adopted by me too in the case of all men coming out to
serve directly under me that is, not in connection with any
Society. According to this plan, the Bishop is responsible
for all expenses except such as are strictly personal. For
these a small yearly sum is allowed to each missionary ; at
Zanzibar 2O/. or 25/., but here probably 40!. or 5O/. would
be necessary. But anyhow there could be nothing but a
' subsistence ' allowance not ' indigence ' in any sense, but
no surplus.
220 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
This plan has been always followed, but with regard
to a rule of life the Bishop desired to feel his way, not
from hesitation or uncertainty, but deliberately adopting
this policy as most likely to avoid the evils of a cut and
dried system. Even three years after the foundation of the
mission he wrote to his secretary sister :
Tell Canon Crowfoot (with my affectionate regards) we
have no formulated rules as yet at St. Andrew's. I prefer
their growing as St. Vincent de Paul taught. All are, of
course, under me. All attend Mattins, Sext, and Compline,
and generally Evensong. Holy Communion on Sundays,
Thursdays, and Saints' Days, &c. Each has his own work
to do college or mission district or classes as the case
may be. All live together. The idea (as at Delhi) is a
common life, to strengthen and help forward individual
work.
With regard to length of service the Bishop expressed
his views in a letter of November 17, 1887, m which he
wrote :
' You will remember that I could not take on
the staff of my special University Mission owing to his offer
being limited to three years.' This was the principle which
he wished to enforce, though at times the pressure of work
forced him into a suspension of this rule.
It was not till 1891 that the Rule of Life here given
was formally drawn up and printed.
The Rule of the Mission Brotherhood of St. A ndrew.
1. The name of the society shall be ' The Mission
Brotherhood of St. Andrew.'
2. The object of the mission is to seek the glory of
God in making known the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ
among the people of Japan, especially in Tokyo and
adjacent districts.
3. The members of the brotherhood shall be graduates
of Oxford and Cambridge holding Deacon's or Priest's
Orders in the Anglican communion.
MISSIONARY METHODS AND COMMUNITY MISSIONS 221
[It is understood that no one will be accepted as a
member of the brotherhood who is engaged to be married,
and that no member of the brotherhood will contract
any such engagement without offering to resign his posi-
tion.]
4. The central residence of the brotherhood is the
house of the Bishop St. Andrew's House, Shiba, Tokyo.
No member shall undertake any work which perma-
nently separates him from sharing in the corporate life of
the brotherhood.
5. Besides the members, clergy and laymen may be
admitted either as Resident or Non-Resident Associates.
6. The Bishop is Visitor, and no fundamental rule of
the brotherhood shall be changed without his consent.
7. One of the members shall be elected at a General
Chapter on the eve or festival of St. Andrew to act as
Head of the brotherhood for one year. He shall be
admitted to his office by the Bishop. His duties shall
include the general superintendence of the corporate life of
the brotherhood and the distribution of work, subject to
the approval of the Visitor.
Every member shall be admitted at a service in chapel
by the Bishop, or some one deputed by him.
8. Ordinary chapters, to which questions concerning
the rule and work of the brotherhood may be submitted,
may be held once a month, or more frequently at the dis-
cretion of the Head, who shall preside in the absence of the
Visitor. Resident Associates (of six months' standing)
have the right to attend.
9. One of the members or associate members shall be
appointed by the Head to act with him in the management
of the .funds and domestic affairs.
10. After every seven years' work in Japan every
member of the brotherhood shall be entitled, subject to
the exigencies of the work then in hand, to a furlough of
one year in England.
1 1. The ordinary week-day services will be as follows :
(the times of the services being subject to alteration)
Matins (Japanese), Holy Communion, Sext, Evensong,
Compline (Japanese).
[Each member shall have his own rule as to frequency
of Communion.]
a. All the brethren will endeavour to set apart some
222 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
time or times before Sext for daily meditation and inter-
cession.
b. A missionary Litany will be held on Friday.
c. A time or times will be set apart every week for the
united study of the Bible and of Christian doctrine.
d. A Retreat will be held once a year, and Quiet Days
observed in or about the Ember seasons.
1 2. Each member of the brotherhood is expected,
(i) to pursue some branch of theological study,
(ii) to prepare during his first three years of residency
in Japan for two examinations in the language.
Approved, EDW. BICKERSTETH, Bishop.
November 27, 1891.
Appendix to Rule explaining position of Associates.
a. All clergy accepted for St. Andrew's Mission shall
come out to Japan as members of the mission and
associates of the brotherhood.
b. An associate may, if he so desire, be admitted a
member of the brotherhood after six months in Japan.
c. Associates are expected to follow the Rule of the
brotherhood so far as it regulates the common life of the
House and the distribution of the work.
d. Resident associates of six months' standing have the
right to attend chapters, and to vote on all questions not
immediately affecting the corporate life of the brotherhood.
January 1892.
It seems worth while to record thus fully the origin
and rule of St. Andrew's House, inasmuch as experience
gained in the Church's active warfare ought to be made
available as a guide to those engaged in other parts of the
mission field.
Rightly as he believed wrongly as some thought the
Bishop steadily refused on principle to be connected with
or to found a brotherhood or sisterhood which would smother
individuality and submit itself to the iron yoke sometimes
assumed to be inseparable from such organisations. He
saw, or thought he saw, his way to a revival of Community
MISSIONARY METHODS AND COMMUNITY MISSIONS 223
missions, both for men and women, which would combine
a sufficiently strong central rule with allowance for the
claims of individuality. This point is illustrated by a few
words in a letter written in Easter week 1889 :
I do not much think I should get on with his sort of
people. I like people with lots of naturalness, sympathy,
and love, making use of all Church privileges as God's
gifts to them, and I should fancy he is enamoured more of
ecclesiastical stilts, laces, strait waistcoats, and other
articles of that description.
Whatever may be the future of the missions which the
Bishop was allowed to found in Delhi and Tokyo, at least
one thing has been strikingly proved in the experience
vouchsafed to them, that men so associated can live
together in brotherly love, and by love can serve one
another and the Church of God. What the Rev. G. A.
Lefroy 1 once said of Delhi is, I believe, equally true of
St. Andrew's that its members have been singularly free
from jars and misunderstandings.
The Bishop dealt with the vexed question of vows in
the same spirit. He did not hold them to be essential
neither did he regard them as unwise or unlawful. His
mind can be gathered from the following extracts from
letters to his sister May :
January 4, 1890.
I fear I haven't time to write on vows. I feel gene-
rally :
A. That short dispensable vows should hardly be called
vows. So great a term is not needed for the thing.
B. That permanent, lifelong vows are right under
circumstances and acceptable to God. Why not ? I have
seen no reason. I should not be concerned to deny that
they are in a sense a confession of weakness, but we are
weak. Also I think they should be dispensable, either by
those who take them proprio motu or by the Church. . . .
1 Bishop Designate of Lahore (1899).
224 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
Again, a real vocation to win souls for God during
such length of life as God shall give sealed not by a vow
but by an inner intention ; to be set aside, if at all, not by
some public dispensation, but by God's Providence altering
circumstances and calling elsewhere is the true foundation
of a worker at St. Andrew's or St. Hilda's.
From the first he was anxious to preserve the due
balance between the work and the life. In a letter to
Canon Stanton (dated St. Andrew's House, February 21,
1888) he wrote :
So our numbers are going up. May our increase be
intensive as well as extensive, as dear old Dr. Kaye (of
Lincoln) used to say.
This was the impression made upon the more thought-
ful Japanese, one of them using the following simile : ' I
see that, like two wings of a bird, religion and intellectual
study must be kept up together.'
The members were from the first housed with the
Bishop, who, when in Tokyo, always resided at St.
Andrew's House until his marriage in 1893.
It is not possible here, owing to want of space, to do
more than refer very generally to their work, interesting
and important as it has been and is.
Three or four main objects have been kept in view from
the first :
1. To train the native ministry, by whom ultimately
Japan must be won for Christ.
2. To organise lectures and classes by means of which
Christ and His claims may be brought before the people.
3. To itinerate in or near Tokyo.
4. To open up other strong centres, as opportunities
offered and means allowed.
Writing to the Guild of St. Paul from Tokyo, July 5,
1 889, the Bishop reports :
i. A Divinity School is the first charge of St. Andrew's.
MISSIONARY METHODS AND COMMUNITY MISSIONS 22$
Of this school Mr. King is now principal. This position
gives him the opportunity, which I have no doubt will be
very well used, of influencing a large number of the future
clergy of the Japanese Church. Of course lectures are
frequent and on many subjects, but the aim of the school
is not merely to carry on a course of instruction, but to
create a tone and atmosphere, and maintain a life. To
the fulness of this life daily matins in St. Andrew's
Church, compline in my private chapel, walks with their
teachers, Sunday afternoons in the drawing room of
St. Andrew's House, private talks in this or that study, all
alike contribute.
2. By the side of the Theological School there ought
to be an institution for more general instruction. The
Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge has recently
promised 25O/. to meet 4OO/., if this can be obtained from
other sources. Meanwhile a night school, which owes its
origination and its prosperity mainly to Mr. Cholmondeley,
partially fills the gap. Mr. Freese is now in charge of the
Church of the Holy Cross, Kyobashi.
3. Tokyo is the centre of a very populous country
district. As you know, it is also itself one of the great
cities of the world, whether estimated by population or
area. Alike in the city and country, active evangelisation
ought to be carried on from centres like St. Andrew's, the
Church of the Ascension, the Church of the Holy Cross,
&c., or villages like Shimo-fuku-da. Those who are to
carry on this evangelisation must not be hampered by
educational work.
Kyobashi, Ushigome, and Mita, three districts of the
great city of Tokyo, were placed under the care of St.
Andrew's Mission. Each has a small church and native
congregation supplemented by direct evangelistic work,
and in each full parochial life is maintained, together with
such agencies as dispensaries, preaching stations, and classes
for inquirers and catechumens.
It was not till the end of 1894 that the Bishop, writing
to Mr. Lefroy at Delhi, could report :
I have just established my first out-station of St.
Andrew's Mission, but no further off from the centre than
Q
226 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
one of the districts of Tokyo. A ' strong centre ' with
several such offshoots is what I am aiming at.
Writing the same year to the Guild of St. Paul the
Bishop could report progress with thankfulness chastened
by a sober realisation of the still inadequate forces at his
disposal.
With American Church Mission, S.P.G., C.M.S., St.
Andrew's, St. Hilda's (both of which are now in full
work), Mrs. Kirkes' house (itself a centre of manifold
influence for highest good among the upper classes, which
could be set moving by no other means, and no one else in
like manner, so far as I am aware), the Ladies' Institute
(where mistresses enter at Easter on the second period of
their very important work), the Mission of the Ladies'
Association of S.P.G., &c., Tokyo is now a centre where
all forms and methods of missionary endeavour are
represented. And yet how small a portion of its vast
population even know that we are here ! How much some
portions of the work which is going on need strengthening
and developing. May God send us more workers ! May
He give us who are here more self-denial, more faith, more
real love of Christ and the people. You will ask this for us.
Three years later (July 28, 1894), writing from
Hakone, the Bishop described as ' a really important step
in advance ' the arrangement by which the Rev. L. B.
Cholmondeley and his colleague (the Rev. W. F. Madeley)
went to reside in the district of Ushigome :
It will bring the mission into closer contact with the
people of an important district than has hitherto been
possible, and I do not doubt that, with God's blessing,
results will follow. Though work has been carried on in
Ushigome for many years, the number of Christians is as
yet very small, and for the most part they are, I fear,
individually weak in faith and knowledge. Japanese clergy
and catechists, without the support of European mission-
aries close at hand, have failed to correct this state of
affairs. It is one instance among many of the necessity of
close co-operation between foreign and native workers,
MISSIONARY METHODS AND COMMUNITY MISSIONS 227
upon which I very often insist, if the Church's work is to be
well done during the present generation. Hereafter, as the
Japanese character strengthens and its many good elements
are developed under the influence of Christian grace and
teaching, whole districts may be handed over entirely to
native hands. But, unless in very rare cases, as yet this
cannot safely be done. If the European is all but helpless
without his Japanese colleague, on the other hand he
supplies the experience and knowledge and faculty of
perseverance, without which Japanese workers make but
slow progress.
But let us not mistake what this means. It means a
far larger number of European workers than if it were
wise to work on another principle. Out-stations must
be manned and yet the central mission not be depleted.
To confine our thoughts to our own missions. Four
European clergy, with their Japanese colleagues, are the
least that can carry on the work in Shiba. The present
staff at St. Andrew's Mission, after Mr. King's return in
the autumn, will exactly provide this minimum number.
But other furloughs will be due before very long. If, then,
Ushigome is to be maintained as well as .the central
mission at Shiba, some increase is very desirable. May
God send us the men of His choice !
But Ushigome is only one of half a dozen populous
districts in South Tokyo, in several of which branch
houses might well be at once established. With our
present staff this is of course impossible. But what a
vista is thus opened to us of possible extension as the
years go on ! We need not, indeed, as a guild look forward
to occupying the whole ground. Our two great societies
will in time, I hope, both extend their operations. 1 But I
am quite sure that a large part of the work must be done
by us if it is to be done at all through English Christians.
Let us be thankful that it is so. What more could we ask
than to be allowed a share in bringing the light of Christ's
Gospel and the fellowship of His Church to men and
1 The C.M.S. have responded to the Bishop's appeal, and have
strengthened their staff in the capital ; but the S. P. G. Mission, on the other
hand, has been gradually weakened in numbers until its sole ' foreign ' repre-
sentative in the present diocese of South Tokyo is Archdeacon Shaw, although
it is responsible for the income of the two Bishops of South Tokyo and Osaka.
The C. M.S. is responsible for the income of the two Bishops of Kiushiu and
Yezo.
Q 2
228 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
\vomen who otherwise must live on in the darkness and
isolation of heathenism ? Where could a nobler field be
found on which to concentrate all the energies of the
Church's service than such a centre of human activity and
interest as is the capital of Japan ? l
Before giving an account of the other Associated Mis-
sion founded by the Bishop that of St. Hilda for women
workers it will be well to give some description of the
women of Japan and of the openings for work among them.
On this point a paper 2 recently written in excellent
English by Miss Tsuda, a Japanese lady professor in the
Peeresses' and Normal Schools at Tokyo, gives us full and
accurate information. She reminds us that ' it is no easy
task to give a true estimate of the present condition of
women in Japan, and of the place they occupy, since every
year and month brings important changes.' But an
abstract of her sketch of the past and hopes for the future
will be read with interest.
Miss Tsuda asserts that the women of old Japan
always held a position unique in the East. History as far
back as it goes has given an honourable place to women.
Five Empresses have ruled in their own right. A woman
was the first historian. Artists of rare skill and scholarship
may be counted among the sex. The old ideas regarding
women were enlightened ones, and it is outside influences
which have tended to lower the old standard. The spread
1 It is sad to have to record that since the Bishop wrote these glowing
words in the justifiable expectation that the Church at home would not fail to
rise to so great an opportunity, only one graduate from England (a layman,
Mr. C. H. Basil Woodd, M.A., Trinity College, Cambridge) has joined St.
Andrew's Mission, and the only other recruit has been the Rev. W. C.
Gemmill, graduate of Trinity University, Toronto, who joined the mission as
a layman and has since been ordained to the diaconate and priesthood.
Published in the Japan Daily Mail (November 1898). I am indebted for
this summary to Mrs. Edward Bickersteth, a personal friend of Miss Tsuda.
This gifted Japanese Christian lady during the winter of 1898-9 visited
England, where she made many friends.
MISSIONARY METHODS AND COMMUNITY MISSIONS 22Q
of Buddhism, the introduction of Chinese literature, and,
above all, the strong influence of the Confucian scholars have
brought about this change, until in the sixteenth century
the Japanese woman had sunk down from her former
position of respect and equality. History has left us little
account of women for the four hundred years that followed.
The home was a sealed one hidden from outside gaze.
Here, in quiet and seclusion, the young girl grew up under
the strict doctrine of the Chinese sages. Implicitly
obedient to her parents in childhood, when married she
served her husband as her master, and in old age, leaning
on sons who took their father's place, she taught the same
doctrines to her daughters that she had held all her life,
mpressing on them her standard of duty and right, of
gentleness, sacrifice, and abnegation. Then the women of
old Japan had few educational advantages. They were
not, however, without some training, and, except in the
lowest classes, received instruction in the written language.
The daughters of the nobility were instructed in reading,
writing, poetry, Japanese history, and in some cases
Chinese. In addition, they learned music, the tea cere-
mony, etiquette, flower arrangement, and incense burning.
In the middle classes among the daughters of the retainers
(samurai] very much the same course of study with the
addition of more Chinese was pursued. A knowledge of
sewing and household work was indispensable, and often
composed the greater part of training. The daughters of
the lower classes (merchants, farmers, artisans) were far
less educated. In the cities they gained the bare rudi-
ments of reading and writing, but sometimes spent much
time on music and dancing. In the country the days
were too much filled with labour in the field or at the
loom to leave time for study of any sort. This
limited education was in keeping with the narrow life of
230 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
those days. The special attention paid to etiquette and
moral training, the keen sense of duty, loyalty, and honour
early instilled into the mind, tended to produce women
who, though not intellectually trained, were not without
moral responsibility and dignity mingled with gentleness
and sweetness of disposition. In the educational problems
of the day for women none is more perplexing than the
difficulty of keeping the beauty and refinement of the old
system with the broader and new ideas and the freedom of
thought and 'action which come from the culture of the
intellectual powers. Changes have come quickly since the
Revolution of 1 868. The first official step was the establish-
ment of public primary schools for boys and girls all over
Japan in 1869. In 1872 the Educational Department
established the Tokyo Girls' School, the first Government
school for girls. In 1874 it established the Higher Normal
School for girls. In 1886 was established, by H.I.H. the
Empress, the Peeresses' School for the daughters of the
nobility, the first girls' school for the higher classes. As
regards the social position of woman in Japan, it cannot be
denied that for many years the laws and government of
the day had little regard for her ; laws regarding her were
very few, simply because she was a factor not worth con-
sidering. Marriage and divorce have been left to custom
in lack of civil codes on such matters. Still, here too there
are signs of change in the right direction. In the two
principal religions of Japan, Shintoism and Buddhism,
women have had little part or influence, except as earnest
believers and devotees. Buddhism has always looked
down on woman. She has been regarded as full of sin
and impurity, and not allowed to visit holy places, as
she defiled' them. Shintoism gives a better position to
woman, but Shintoism has only a shadowy influence over
the people.
MISSIONARY METHODS AND COMMUNITY MISSIONS 231
Miss Tsuda, herself a Christian and Church-woman of
many years' standing, concludes her article thus :
Christianity has done, and is doing much, for the eleva-
tion of woman. It will do more. It will raise the Japan-
ese woman socially, will exalt her home, will purify the
social and moral evils that work against her, will give her
a higher code of morals, and an ideal of womanhood which
in the present age is unknown.
No wonder, then, that the Bishop was strongly con-
vinced of the necessity for strengthening and extending
the existing work among Japanese women, and to this end
he established St. Hilda's Mission. The progress and
development of this mission lay very near his heart.
Within six months of his arrival in Japan he wrote to
Canon Stanton from Kobe :
November 27, 1886.
One line by way of supplement to mine of last week.
I referred only, I think, to the University Mission which I
propose : but I hope also to have a new Ladies' Mission
in Tokyo. This will in time, I hope, draw workers from
the Bishop of Truro's very excellent sisterhood at Truro, 1
though as yet the number of sisters is too small for them to
undertake foreign work. The Bishop (Dr. Wilkinson) has,
however, suggested that any ladies coming for mission work
to Tokyo might with advantage spend a few weeks or
months at the Truro sisterhood before starting and this
I should like them to do, if possible. The Bishop has also
put me in communication with a very admirable worker
in his diocese, who proposes to undertake mission work
in Japan.
On March 12, 1887, he wrote to his old Diocesan,
Bishop French of Lahore :
My dear Bishop, Many months have run by since I
wrote to you. I meant to have been a better correspon-
dent. Almost the whole time has been spent in moving
from place to place and in short visitations. Japan is
1 Community of the Epiphany.
232 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
though it looks small in the map immense, double the
length of England, and many places difficult of access for
large parts of the year owing to snow in the passes, and
always requiring much time to be spent en route. The
faith is certainly making itself felt through God's good
Spirit throughout the land. Little congregations are being
gathered even in quite remote parts, and the people recog-
nise, as in the early days, that Christianity raises the moral
tone of its professors, and not seldom has turned them
markedly from lives of notorious wickedness to lives which
even heathen note to be holy and attractive. It is largely
by means of such witnesses that the Gospel is being made
known.
I have also spent much time in all the correspondence
and work that is necessary in the attempt to start several
new missions one a brotherhood, one an associated Ladies'
Mission which may develop into a sisterhood, and yet
another the charge of a Japanese Ladies' High School,
for which the University (of Tokyo) professors asked me to
obtain teachers. I hope all three of them may be at work
by the end of the year, or in a year's time but the Uni-
versity Mission cannot hope for anything like the Delhi staff.
The desire to establish a women's mission connected
with the honoured name of St. Hilda had first come to him
when at Delhi, for he felt strongly the truth of Bishop
Lightfoot's strictures on the Church's folly in trying to do
her work ' with only one arm,' as he phrased it. Writing
to Canon Stanton on November 2, 1887, Bishop Bickersteth
says :
Japan is an instance of the folly of trying to establish
large Anglican missions without a Bishop. It is quite
inconceivable that had there been a Bishop here ten years
ago they should have been allowed to go on without
any adequate effort to develop ladies' work, and thus have
been utterly distanced by the American Nonconformist
bodies. However, 1 cannot be thankful enough for the re-
sponse which has been made to my appeals in this respect.
The first two members of the new Associated Mission
arrived at Yokohama early on Sunday, December 4. 1887.
MISSIONARY METHODS AND COMMUNITY MISSIONS 233
The following day they were admitted by the Bishop to be
members of St. Hilda's Associated Mission. The Bishop
wrote :
In the words of admission I have tried to bring out the
idea of life. Buddhism is all about dying, and I have
referred to their life in Christ's life, leading to the eternal
life of those for whom they work.
The form of admission is as follows :
The Bishop shall give to the person to be admitted a
cross, saying, ' Receive and wear this cross in token that
thou wilt die daily to self and in newness of life serve the
Risen Christ, who gave His Life for men, that He might
bring many unto Life eternal.'
Here far more than in the case of St. Andrew's Mission
the Bishop had to buy his wisdom by experience. St.
Andrew's was avowedly formed on the same lines as the
Cambridge Mission at Delhi, but there was no precedent
for a Women's Associated Mission founded and worked on
the same lines.
Simple rules were framed from the first, but it was not
till March 1892 that the Bishop put his hand and seal to
the Rule (exterior and interior) of St. Hilda's Mission.
Of the Exterior Rule A it is sufficient to state that
Clause 2 provided that 'those approved as candidates
shall stay at the House of the Community of the Epiphany,
Truro, for six weeks.' In Clause 3 the Bishop again tried
to secure that ' deep should answer to deep,' as he had
done years before in arranging that prayer should be
offered at Cambridge and at Delhi as far as possible at
the same time. It provides that ' the Community of the
Epiphany shall be daily remembered in the prayers of the
members of the mission, and they likewise shall be prayed
for daily by the sisters.'
Of Exterior Rule B Clause 2 provides that ' a Bishop
234 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
or priest shall be chosen as warden, subject to the sanction
of the Bishop of the diocese and the patron of St. Paul's
Guild.'
Clause 4 that ' each new member shall be admitted
by a service in chapel, which shall not be held (except
under exceptional circumstances) until after a probation
of one year.'
Clause 5, that 'the members of the mission shall yearly
on St. Hilda's Day (November 17) elect one of their
number to be Member- in-Charge if approved for the office
by the Warden.'
Clause 7, that ' a chapter shall he held at least once in
two months at which all important matters affecting the
welfare and development of the mission shall be dis-
cussed.'
Clause 10, that 'services shall be held in the chapel of
the Mission House three times a day ; in the morning a
shortened form of Matins (in Japanese) shall be said ; at
midday Sext (in English), with special collects and heads
for intercession, with space for silent prayer ; in the evening
Compline (in Japanese) ; and also that the members shall,
as far as their work allows, attend the services in the
Church of St. Andrew, Shiba.'
Clause 11, that ' members shall not accept invitations
into society, but that they may receive visits from and pay
visits to their friends subject to the claims of the work.'
Clause 14, that 'silence shall be kept as far as possible
on the stairs and in the passages of the Mission House ;
also throughout the house before Matins and after
Compline.'
Clause 17 that (a) 'each member shall consider it a
point of duty to take sufficient exercise, relaxation, food,
and rest, and to avoid overwork, remembering that bodily
health is a gift of God, and essential to some forms of work
for Him.
(b) That ' each member is entitled, subject to the
exigencies of the work, after six [now altered to five]
years' work in the mission, to one year's furlough in
England.'
The object of the Interior Rule is stated to be 'to
glorify God by obeying His call and doing His will
MISSIONARY METHODS AND COMMUNITY MISSIONS 235
in all things.' Its closing words, which are highly charac-
teristic of the founder, may be quoted :
In a life of rule and ordered service, be careful to main-
tain the freedom and gladness of the children of God,
through habitual remembrance of His presence and the
forgiveness of all your sins through the cross of Jesus
Christ.
It is plain that the mission thus organised was largely
dependent for its success on the care with which can-
didates were selected in England. The Bishop accordingly
was constant in stating and re-stating his ideal and his
suggestions for guidance in this selection. 1 I therefore
have put together from his letters to me some of the points
which he used to lay down.
Four characteristics are essential in all candidates for
St. Hilda's Mission.
1. Piety.
2. Sociability in the sense of being able to live happily
in a community.
3. Strong Church principle.
4. Refinement.
The absence of the first of these disqualifies for all
missions, and any of the four for St. Hilda's and like similar
Community missions. I have re-written the St. Hilda's
Rule, and have tried to make it more comprehensive, so
that anyone may understand by studying it what is our
practice (on confession &c.), and what kind of life I set
before them as an ideal. Would that I myself were nearer
what I ask them to aim at.
Again, ' One is almost tempted to say that without a
really strong, loving, religious head or mother, Community
missions cannot prosper.'
Again, in regard to the social position of the candi-
dates :
1 Candidates were interviewed by myself as Commissary, by Bishop
Wilkinson (now Bishop of St. Andrews), and then by the Mother Superior of
the Community of the Epiphany.
236 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
They should be taken from the gentle walks of life.
One reason is that the candidates you select are sure to draw
others from the same rank and avocations they have been in
themselves. Another that manners are a real missionary
poiver in Japan. A third is that we are aiming at (though
owing to failures it is only beginning) a life as well as a
mission in Japan, and for this people of different ranks do
not permanently or for any length of time coalesce. It
might be the higher thing if it were not so, and I can
imagine an argument that spiritual sympathies should
render it unnecessary, yet sisterhoods get out of the
difficulty by their second orders, and all somehow or other
recognise the principle, and, though I regret it in some
ways, I fear we must too. For permanent life and work
together people must, it seems, we being what we are,
have something of like training and hold views which are
not mutually exclusive. This holds good in a parish as
regards a vicar and his curates, though not of course in the
wider area of a Church.
Again :
The only hope of building up a Community mission of
women is to get people well agreed already, and also well
taught in the faith, and holding it on its Church as well
as on its evangelical side with some firmness. Of course I
do not mean that these conditions ensure peace and
progress, but where they are absent the hope is very small
indeed.
Again, with regard to one who had been described as
' pious and energetic, and beginning to feel that there may
be some solid truth in Church doctrine,' and who was
wishful to go to St. Hilda's, if not as a member, at least as
an associate, or even as a long-time visitor, he wrote :
A person in her position is not in a fit frame of mind
to work for God among the heathen. First of all, she
must decide whether the new lights of truth which are
beginning to break in upon her are ignes fatui or sun's
rays. Till she has done this, she will necessarily be so
unsettled in her own mind as to be wholly unfit to
contribute to the life of a community and to co-operate in
MISSIONARY METHODS AND COMMUNITY MISSIONS 237
its work. Her critical faculties will be sure to be dominant,
when her sympathy should be the leading trait. For
mission work we need persons whose mind is made up on
the leading points alike for personal and corporate religion,
and the place for their decision is not Japan but England.
It is suggested that I might teach her Church doctrine,
but even if I had a moment to spare for such work St.
Hilda's would be the wrong place. Our workers ought to
have behind them if possible an even tenor of life, certainly
a matureness according to their years in their own
principles. And this is above all the case at St. Hilda's,
where we have no large body of workers into which to
engulf a stray person of a different type, and are only
beginning, owing to failures in the past, to generate a truly
healthy spiritual atmosphere and to build up a life. More-
over, a ' long-timed ' visitor or an associate should be more
not less in touch with the others than a member, because
she is less under rule, and therefore her words and ways
are more free to do mischief if they do not do good. The
' associate ' plan is not in order to get persons into the
community whose views would otherwise exclude them,
but for those who cannot presumably give their lives to
the work. I am revising the rule to make this more
clear.
The Bishop's general idea for a member of St. Hilda's
may be well gathered from the following extract from a
letter to his sister May, dated St. John's Day 1887 :
The people we have [for St. Hilda's] should be spiritu-
ally minded and prepared to take pains with their own
spiritual life, regarding the work as the outcome of life (not
vice -versa), formed in character or they cannot influence
others and in all ways refined in thought and manner.
If they are also able, and have some sparkle of originality
about them, it will probably help them to strike out new
paths for themselves. I do not mean the ' community
idea' to crush out the individual. If it does, the highest
work becomes impossible. Our duty here, utterly dis-
tanced as far as numbers are concerned by American
Nonconformity of all sorts and kinds, is to do what we can
by God's grace of the highest and best.
It will be gathered from these letters that offers for
238 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
St. Hilda's Mission were frequent, and so they were.
Writing (again to his sister May) on January 18, 1891,
the Bishop referred to this as follows :
Remember that an offer is less and less a criterion that
a person is fit. It is so easy now to get about the world ;
except for the distance from England, it is not harder or
less agreeable to live in Tokyo than in London. Work (it
is true) is in parts here hard and repulsive, but so it is in
' Darkest England ' ; so that, taking all together, offers are
likely to be frequent when maintenance is provided, and so
can only be entertained if we have fullest proof of physical,
mental, spiritual competence, besides the offer. The offer
by itself goes for little, though it seems hard to say so.
Also I feel more and more that the only persons who will
really do for us are ladies from refined and religious
homes.
With regard to confession l with a view to receiving
private absolution, the Bishop was often asked by candi-
dates to declare his views, and they may be clearly
gathered from the following extracts from his letters.
The letters you have sent give me a fairly full view of
the opinions of Miss - - (presumably those which she has
been taught) on confession.
I understand Miss to hold that, though not
essential to salvation, confession is a means of grace, and
that as such it should be pressed, though not enforced on
all, as the ordinary channel among Catholic Christians of
the forgiveness of sins. In this view there are several
serious mistakes. Confession is not, except in the most
indirect sense, a means of grace but a method of discipline,
and therefore, like other methods of discipline, not useful
for all. In this it differs from absolution, which is a
covenanted means of grace and for all whether given, as
commonly, in connection with the sacraments or apart
from them, whether pronounced publicly or privately. It
follows that the Christian who has received private abso-
lution possesses no greater privilege, though possibly as an
individual more comfort, than any other communicant.
1 For a fuller statement of his views on this subject see chapter xi. , pp. 430-433.
MISSIONARY METHODS AND COMMUNITY MISSIONS 239
And again, that whether a particular person should or
should not practise private confession must depend on
their own circumstances and needs.
I will not go further into the general question except to
add that were the view which Miss has been taught
correct, not only would Scripture language about forgive-
ness, the sacraments, &c., be beyond explanation, but the
whole Church would have been in error on this matter,
theoretically, till late in the middle ages, and practically
until the rise of the Jesuits.
I cannot, then, both for her own sake and that of the
mission, accept Miss - - as a member of St. Hilda's if I
rightly understand her view of confession and she continues
to hold it. It is true that I should not feel her holding
this view an obstacle to her working in this diocese or to
my supporting her, as I do many others in Japan who are
only partially in agreement with me. But at St. Hilda's
I act as warden as well as Bishop, and am responsible
for the teaching given in a special degree. I wish the
members to be, broadly speaking, prepared to accept my
teaching, and if I am right Miss - - would feel herself
precluded from doing so by conscientious convictions. I
shall greatly regret losing Miss - , as her letters show an
earnest and straightforward soul. She is also most right
in holding that in the mission field the whole truth should
be taught without prejudice. But in this instance she has
been led to add to the Catholic faith and practice points
which they do not contain. I hope she may feel at liberty
to reconsider the matter.
After reading the correspondence about Miss
twice over carefully, it did not seem to me that there was
any real choice left to me in the matter. As I understand
it, Miss - - still holds that confession is, not a practice
useful for some persons or some states and circumstances
of life, but the ordinary condition of attaining to full
spiritual life, and that as such it ought to be pressed by the
clergy on all persons alike who come under their charge.
But at the same time, as a 'self-sacrifice,' she proposes to
keep this view in the background if I accept her as a
member of St. Hilda's. Now I must say that, however
well meant, this arrangement would be wholly wanting in
240 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
moral honesty and is not one which I could possibly
sanction or agree to. If confession is for all persons alike
God's intended and prescribed way of obtaining forgiveness
and peace, then those who are convinced of this cannot put
such a truth on one side at pleasure. They are bound to
teach it everywhere and by all means as they may have
opportunity. Not to do so would be a sin against God
and a grievous wrong to others. The view may be, as it
is, neither Scriptural, primitive, nor catholic, but this would
not alter their obligation as long as they held it.
It will thus be seen that the mission was not on party
lines, and the Bishop was well aware no one more so
of the strength and weakness which such a fact implied.
In a letter to Mr. Lefroy, dated Karuizawa, August 19,
1895, he wrote :
I am grieved that Cambridge is not sending you more
men to Delhi. You certainly ought by this time to be
stronger in numbers. The actual work you have in hand
plainly demands it. I suppose that work which is not
laid down on clearly marked party lines suffers in com-
parison with work which follows them, or rather seems to
suffer, for with actual success or failure numbers certainly
have no necessary connection. But for the ' seeming to
suffer ' you will probably lay your count with Lightfoot's
saying, ' You will have done more for the world when you
leave it.' By degrees though, notwithstanding, I do hope
and trust you will reach to a dozen men.
St. Hilda's Mission slowly but surely strengthened
itself in the Lord, eight or ten English ladies joining
within the first few years. Isobe San l and Sakai San,
two Japanese ladies who came to be trained in evangelistic
work, were also admitted as members of the mission in
March 1892. Of this admission the Bishop wrote to his
father :
On Thursday I admitted two Japanese ladies as
members of St. Hilda's Mission. This is a new step out
1 Isobe San has since married the Rev. P. Yamada.
MISSIONARY METHODS AND COMMUNITY MISSIONS 241
here. They are not bound for life, but both hope to
remain in the work. I used the same service (only in
Japanese) as that with which the foreign members are
admitted.
The Bishop lost no time in providing for the proper
housing of the mission. He secured a large site, and
erected upon it a House for the workers and the High
School (Ladies). This House 1 has twice been added to,
and in the same compound stand the Training House for
Mission Women, the Embroidery School, the Orphanage,
and Orphanage School, while within a few minutes' walk
is a dispensary which contains four beds for urgent cases.
Some of these have been erected by the contributions of
St. Paul's Guild (aided by grants from the Society for
Promoting Christian Knowledge), and some are private
gifts, the present Mission Women's Home being a memorial
of Canon Thornton of Truro and one of his daughters,
and the Orphanage and Orphanage School having been
erected by the well-known lady traveller, Mrs. J. F.
Bishop, F.R.G.S., in memory of her husband, Dr. John
Bishop, whose name they bear.
In a letter to the Guild of St. Paul from Tokushima,
July 5, 1889, after referring to the growth of St. Hilda's
in detail, and specially to the projected Training Home
for Mission Women, the Bishop wrote :
Let me only say that the native mission woman seems
to me as necessary to the effectiveness of the foreign
missionary lady as the catechist to the work of the foreign
clergyman. This principle has only recently been under-
stood, or at least acted upon ; homes for the training of
such workers, who might be drawn surely from the higher
1 One of the members, writing in August 1889, says : ' I wish you could see
St. Hilda's House. It is beautifully situated and very spacious. I always say
we ought to be specially good workers, for we certainly have a specially beauti-
ful mission house, and special spiritual help in the care and prayers the
mission receives at home and in Japan itself.'
R
242 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
as well as or better than from the lower ranks of Eastern
Society, are only just being established. 1 Our sister
mission from the American Church has one such home
at Osaka. The Church Missionary Society will establish
one, I hope, shortly. The difficulty at first is to get persons
to be trained, but this will be got over as congregations get
more numerous and stronger. With this training will be
linked direct evangelistic work, both in Tokyo and beyond.
If you run through the work in hand you will feel,
I think, two things : first, that we have much reason
to be thankful for the result of two years' effort ; and,
secondly, that we cannot be content with these beginnings.
This is the only word we have the least right to use at
present, but it suggests incompleteness, progress, advance ;
new tiers and stones, fresh workers, and then, some day
but not now, crownings and endings. . . .
... I have no desire to make little of the demands on
your prayers and self-denial which all this suggests, but
there is surely great encouragement in the thought of how
these new claims have arisen. Two years ago I was
asking your help because a large field was all but vacant.
Now work done has itself created new wants. Then we
had to originate, now we are called on to develop. I heard
a native deacon last night talking about ' hot believers.'
Such a development of St. Andrew's and St. Hilda's
as I have suggested is a mere fragment of that which
the English Church might do in the East if once her love
was at a ' white heat.' May God give us His Holy Spirit,
the spirit of liberality, self-sacrifice, love.
The dedication of St. Hilda's Chapel on the eve of St.
Michael and All Angels 1889 was a bright event, of which
the following account is taken from the ' Japan Daily-
Mail ' :
The chapel is a large room constructed to hold almost
a hundred worshippers, and, though the fittings are hardly
completed, the lights, the tasteful decorations, especially at
the east end, and the large congregation present on the
occasion, combined to give it a very festal appearance. As
1 Miss Hoar, of the Ladies' Association S.P.G., had for many years past
received Japanese girls and women into her own house, and carefully trained
them as workers.
MISSIONARY METHODS AND COMMUNITY MISSIONS 243
the Bishop entered the chapel, the Venerable Archdeacon
Shaw presented the petition from the members of the
mission for the dedication ; after which the Bishop and a
procession of eleven clergy walked up the chapel repeating
the 24th Psalm. The Bishop then proceeded to dedicate
the chapel, using the well known prayers by Bishop
Andrewes with special collects, and Evensong followed.
I append the Bishop's address verbatim as a good
illustration of his happy instinct in blending together
things new and old, and as exhibiting the characteristic
ideal which he set before the workers.
We have met to celebrate the dedication of this chapel,
and the opening of a dispensary in this mission of St.
Hilda. A great name cannot be selected from the records
of the Church and used to designate some new venture of
faith without incurring a responsibility. So soon as you
have adopted it, it becomes more than a mere title. Men
do not err if they institute some sort of comparison
between the life and work of the past and of the present
which the name links.
Now St. Hilda was no ordinary character. Of the
royal line of Northumbria, grand niece of Edwin, she was
baptised with the king on Easter Eve in the year 627, the
birthday, as it has been well called, of the Northumbrian
Church. Twenty years later we find her the Superior of a
small community on the banks of the Wear, herself the pupil
at the same time of Aidan, the wisest perhaps, as the most
lovable, of the founders of the English Church. Yet ten
years later and she has established the great religious
house, with which her fame is so closely connected, by the
Bay of the Lighthouse, as it was then called, on the bold
Yorkshire coast There it was, as Bede her biographer
tells us, she taught her companions to practise thoroughly
all virtues, but especially peace and love. There she bade
them serve the Lord while they had health, and under
adversity or bodily infirmity to render thanks to Him.
On the altar of their chapel, covered with a fair white
cloth, lay a costly copy of the Gospels with a sapphire set
in the golden cover, and her constant instruction to them
was to give much time to the study of Scripture as well as
much to the practice of the works of light. So well were
244 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
her words obeyed that her conventual house became the
chief centre of education and of charitable deeds in all
that part of the land. There, in the words of a modern
authoress, ' she diffused life and beautiful order around her.'
There came the Greek Theodore, the Archbishop, pilgrims
from Jerusalem and Rome, kings and great men to seek
her counsel. And there, when she had completed nearly
a quarter of a century of toil, after receiving with the
handmaidens of Christ the viaticum of the most Holy
Communion and giving them her last admonitions to live
in evangelical peace with each other and all, she passed, as
Bede tells us, from death unto life.
Certainly, I repeat, St. Hilda was no ordinary character,
and hers no common achievements. Have we done well to
connect with so great a name a work and enterprise which is
as yet but in its earliest days and has no triumphs to record ?
I think so, for if a name is a responsibility, it is also both
a lesson and an inspiration. It may be so emphatically
with this name. We cannot use it without being reminded
that we fall short of our privilege when we fail to claim
as our own the great and good of the past Christian ages.
We are linked with them by the unbroken continuity of
our communion through unparalleled crises. They are
one with us in the Body of Christ. We cannot use it
without being reminded that we claim to be partakers of
the same Spirit, Who made them wholly to be what they
were. There is no eminence of past attainment which
might not be reached to-day. We cannot use it without
being led to study sympathetically their modes of life and
their methods of work. True, it were idle to think of
reproducing the past in the exactness of external circum-
stances or manner of thought. Our lives and work will
probably differ as much from theirs as the England or even
the Japan of to-day from the England of the time of King
Edwin. But we do believe that the Christ, Who called
men and women to be the vessels and organs of His grace
for the work of missions in our own land twelve centuries
ago, calls and endows them still. We do believe that the
Christ, Who made use of the manifold virtues of an
Augustine, an Aidan, a Wilfred, a Hilda, their wisdom and
love and skill, to bring England to the faith, will by the
same Gospel which they preached, set let us pray in not
unlike lives, bring to Himself the great nations of the East.
MISSIONARY METHODS AND COMMUNITY MISSIONS 245
We do believe that the history of their lives and work is
written for our example, that, to take one instance out of
many, as large room and place was found then for com-
munities of men and women, wholly dedicated to the work
of the Lord, so there is like place for them still in the
multiform organisation of the modern Church.
And such conclusions are rather emphasised than em-
barrassed by the greater difficulty of the task committed
to us. If storied systems of belief and ancient philo-
sophies, as in India, and the modern spirit claiming, as in
this country and our own, to banish God to the very con-
fines of His universe, present a far vaster and more intri-
cate problem to the Church to-day than the mere ignorant
idolatries of the seventh century, the more need to fall
back on our belief in the abiding Presence of the Christ,
the more need to make use of every means which experi-
ence has sanctioned.
To you, my sisters, the members of this mission, is
given a share in this work and in the inspiring hope of its
accomplishment. You have been made partakers of His
power Who animated those earlier workers. You use in
part the very methods which they found effectual, See
that in this chapel, now dedicated to the worship of God,
you continually refresh your innermost being at the springs
of grace. Let it be to you a sanctuary where you meet
Him in Whom you live, for Whose glory you work.
Count not the hours spent here to be other than the very
condition of successful service. Nor let yours be mere
selfish devotions. Remember one another at the throne
of grace, and the wider interests of the Church.
So shall evangelical peace be yours with each other and
with all men. So shall you make large progress in the
study of the Divine Wisdom. So shall you hold out to
many the example of the works of light, and win many to
the obedience of the faith.
And let me remind you to-night that you are supported
by the constant prayers of very many : the sisters who
work around the latest built of our English cathedrals ;
the deaconesses who toil amid the masses of our great
metropolis ; the members of our Guild, some present with
us here to-day, but to be counted now by many hundreds
and in various lands.
May your life and work be worthy of your special, your
246 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
unique vocation. Let the love of Christ constrain you
See that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently.
Obey them that have the rule over you. Grow in grace
and humility. Set before men the example of simplicity
of life, nobility of thinking, strength of faith ; and your
reward shall be the love of the souls whom you have won
to God, the peace of God here, and at the last the Master's
welcome.
Among the works set on foot by the Bishop through
St. Hilda's Mission may be mentioned : (a) the school for
girls, (b} the Home for Training Mission Women, (c) the
hospital and medical work, (d) the orphanage, (>) the
Needlework and Embroidery School, (/) evangelistic
visiting of particular districts.
The educational work in the school for girls at Tokyo,
as well as in Bishop Poole's Memorial School at Osaka,
was directed towards meeting the need which Christian
education alone can supply. In St. Hilda's School at first
scarcely any of the pupils were Christian, so the baptism at
rare intervals of those who wished to accept Christ and to
confess Him as their Saviour made red-letter days in the
history of the mission. The Bishop used to rejoice in such
days, and entered with spirit into the social festivities by
which they were marked.
One of the workers writes :
Christmas Day, 1889, will be long remembered in
St. Hilda's Mission as a day of first-fruits in connection
with the school.
At the 9 A.M. Japanese matins, five out of our pupils
were baptised, together with eleven other adults.
On December 20 school closed, and by Christmas
Eve the large schoolroom was in festive dress, bright red
berries, evergreens and chrysanthemums ; in the centre, a
large picture of the Nativity, with the Union Jack on one
side and the Japanese flag on the other, meeting overhead
(typical of the union of the two nations in the Christ),
and surmounted by a cross of evergreens and red berries.
MISSIONARY METHODS AND COMMUNITY MISSIONS 247
On Christmas Day, at 10 o'clock, a party of twenty-
seven (twenty- two of whom were Japanese) sat down
in St. Hilda's schoolroom to quite orthodox Christmas
fare turkey, plum pudding, nuts, almonds and raisins,
crackers, &c.
A very happy party we were with our Bishop (St.
Hilda's Warden) at the head of the long table. At 4 P.M.
came Evensong, and the beautiful Christmas hymns in
Japanese, in St. Andrew's Church ; then at 6 P.M. tea,
cakes, and an entertainment in St. Andrew's schoolroom.
Next day our guests, who had arrived Christmas Eve, left,
to carry into their own homes, we hope, some of the true
Christmas joy.
On January 9 the whole school, St. Hilda's members
and teachers (thirty-nine persons), mustered at the Bishop's
house for a most enjoyable evening (6 to 9 o'clock). A
bran pie, music, photographs, the giving of the presents,
and the Swedish dance made the evening slip rapidly
away.
The days when confirmation was administered were
also times of deep spiritual joy, and many outside St.
Hilda's will feel indebted to one of the pupils of the school
for the graceful eastern imagery in which she expressed
her joy, ' My heart feels like a bird let loose in a field '
being the words in which she showed her appreciation
of the freedom wherewith Christ had made her free.
It was precisely this ordered sense of liberty which the
Bishop was so anxious to secure. The ' foreign style '
extolled in novels and exhibited by some globe-trotters
was threatening havoc, not only to the false and foolish
elements of the national religions, which had been hitherto
unassailed by western ideas, but also to the filial piety and
dutiful obedience which were the salt of these religions.
Secular education, in exposing the inherent weakness
of the false faiths, tended to persuade their adherents
that their strict ideas of parental authority were unneces-
sary, so that the social independence of women, unbalanced
248 I5ISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
by the gradual training of centuries of Christian life and
teaching, was a doctrine openly proclaimed.
The efforts on the part of the missionaries to solve
this problem by setting before the Japanese an ideal of
Christian womanhood, with its restraints as well as its
liberty, led the ' Hoshi Shimbun ' (a Japanese newspaper
quoted in the 'Times' in 1890) to draw the attention of its
readers to the progress of Christianity in Japan in the
following words :
There is nothing striking about the number of
converts added each year to the roll of Japanese Christians,
nor about the increase of propagandists and their ministra-
tions. But, on the other hand, the foreign faith advances
surely and steadily, planting its feet firmly as it goes, and
never retrograding for an instant. To estimate its develop-
ment, observation for a week or month is insufficient ;
observation for half a year or more will discover that what
it lacks in extent it gains in stability. Diligence in the
cause of female education and untiring efforts to improve
the status of Japanese women are already discernible
effects of the progress it is making. Christianity will
ultimately attain to power by gradual and steady accumula-
tion of merits, and if it progresses at its present rate its
future is secured.
The sincerity of this article was attested by the fact
that it concluded with ' a call to Buddhists to bestir them-
selves in the cause of their faith/ and with the warning that
' they cannot meet the crisis by indulging in slanderous
diatribes against Christianity at their anti-Christian meet-
ings.'
The medical side of the work of St. Hilda's Mission
was started in 1888 and soon included a hospital with its
twenty beds and two dispensaries which are centres for
district nursing in different parts of the city. The impor-
tance of this form of work as an evangelistic agency in
Japan is very great, and testimony is borne to it by the
MISSIONARY METHODS AND COMMUNITY MISSIONS 249
general secretary of St. Paul's Guild, 1 who when in Japan
in 1891 describes it as follows :
Passing under the red cross on the lantern, the sign that we
had reached our destination, and, bowing low, we entered
the house : no front door, no hall, but, taking off our shoes,
we stepped straight from the street on the floor of the
house raised a foot or two above the ground. . . . The
patients, men, women, and children, sat on the floor of the
outer room, the very poorest of the poor, but they never
seemed to lose their quiet courtesy to each other or to us.
I sat there for about an hour and a half, and I felt that
here indeed the Guild was already being rewarded tenfold
for anything it is doing to further such work in Japan.
After the medicines had been dispensed, Miss Thornton sat
among the patients and taught them very simply, and the
look of interest deepened on their faces as she proceeded,
and I think they would have listened for hours.
The English nurse was able to write of her patients :
There is scarcely a nation in the world who bear pain
as well as the Japanese, so those whose privilege it is
either to nurse or doctor them are struck with the calm
patience with which they bear pain and discomfort,
especially in poverty.
But the Bishop never lost sight, nor would allow his
workers to lose sight, of direct evangelistic work, and he
endeavoured to further this in Tokyo, not only by the
establishment of branch houses from St. Andrew's Mission,
but also by diligent house-to-house visiting of certain
districts through the ladies of St. Hilda's Mission. He
felt that the work of teaching and helping those already
Christians was of first importance, as when the Japanese
became earnest and growing Christians they could do so
much more than foreigners among their own people.
Therefore the St. Hilda's ladies took Bible classes for
Christian women and visited them diligently in their
1 Miss May Bickersteth.
250 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
homes, while efforts to reach the women still not converts
were not neglected.
The Guild of St. Paul was directly responsible for the
financial support of these special missions, and the Bishop
always maintained that it was possible to work such special
funds in perfect loyalty to the older societies. He would
not admit that money partly given out of local interest or on
personal grounds deflected any stream of support which
would have otherwise come to the S.P.G. or C.M.S. On
the contrary he maintained that it unsealed fresh springs
of support and enthusiasm, diffusing a wider and more
detailed information of a particular mission, thus reacting
in the long run on the general sense of responsibility for
foreign missions, and enkindling in the whole Church a
quickened enthusiasm for fulfilling her Lord's command.
The Bishop felt the necessity of having some fund
upon which he could draw for those works which in his
judgment formed on the spot required immediate atten-
tion.
The income of St. Paul's Guild has been over 2,ooo/.
annually for some years past, the minimum subscription
of its members being 2s. 6d. Its accounts are strictly
audited every year, and a balance sheet published. No one
can estimate the support to the evangelisation of Japan
which has come from the systematic prayers and interces-
sions offered corporately and individually by the members
of the Guild, nor tell how inspiriting has been the enthu-
siasm of its large body of voluntary secretaries who work
the different branches in England and beyond it.
All these schemes were thought out and started on a
' plan ' in the spirit of the quotation placed at the
head of this chapter, though according to shortsighted
human wisdom they seemed to need for a few years
longer Bishop Bickersteth's fostering and inspiring super-
MISSIONARY METHODS AND COMMUNITY MISSIONS 25 1
intendence in order that they might develop strongly.
The real answer to such fond regrets is perhaps best
given in some words of his own, written on July I, 1889, on
hearing in Japan of the death of one of the sisters of the
Community of the Epiphany at Truro. He wrote :
Tell the Mother Superior how much I sympathise
not that they will really be the losers for being directly
represented in that other world, which perhaps is nearer
than we know.
Moreover, the sagacity of his successor (Dr. Awdry), the
present Bishop of South Tokyo, is another guarantee that
the missions will not lack sympathy and discriminating
direction.
In concluding this chapter, the recollections kindly
contributed by Miss Thornton and Miss Bullock may fitly
find a place. The no less valuable appreciation sent by
the Rev. F. Armine King, Head of St. Andrew's Mission,
has been purposely placed at the close of chapter xi.
Recollections by Miss Thornton, Member in charge of
Evangelistic Work of St. Hilda's Mission
Bishop Bickersteth had already planned the establish-
ment of an ' associated mission of women workers ' before
he left England to enter on his work in Japan. In 1886 I
received a letter from him, written on his way out, telling
me that he wished to start such a mission of ladies work-
ing together under a common rule, and asking me if I
would join it, which I did in the following year.
Except for his few years in India the Bishop had, I
believe, no practical experience in ' common ' life of any sort,
and neither had we who came to the mission. It was an
experiment, and very great were the difficulties, mistakes,
and troubles of the first few years. But his great hopeful-
ness and large faith in the power of goodness to conquer
carried us through them all, till at last St. Hilda's Mission
passed into quieter waters.
Personally I never gained more from him than during
2 $2 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETII
those years of trouble. His endless patience and goodness
to us when we were acting wrongly, together with his high
standard of what we ought to be, did much to change my
whole view of life. Nor did he only train us in the
spiritual life, though that was ever first with him. He
took care also to train our minds to right thinking on
matters of theology. He spoke to us on these matters,
not as he might have done as from above, but as mind
meeting mind, expecting us to be interested in what was
interesting him ; giving us great thoughts in their great-
ness, and so leading some of us at least to desire to know
more.
One of the things which most impressed us in the
Bishop was his chivalrous care and thought for the
physical well being of all his women workers. Naturally,
we of St. Hilda's Mission had most often reason to feel
this, but throughout his diocese it was the same. If he
came across ladies working in the country, he noticed at
once if they were not comfortably housed, or if they were
lonely or out of health, and he never forgot in the press ot
other business to remedy what was wrong. Several times
after a tour in his diocese he has said to me on his return :
' So-and-so wants a change ; will you write and ask her to
come and stay with you ? '
Nor with all the claims of his large diocese did he ever
fail to find time to minister to those who were sick, whether
among his own body of workers or among the English
residents in Japan. And most beautiful, strong, and tender
were those ministrations.
I like, perhaps, most to remember him as the master
under whom I worked. Himself keen, full of enthusiasm,
and with numberless plans of work in his head, he always
had room for the thoughts and plans of his workers and
met them with generosity and sympathy. But he de-
manded one's best, and claimed that one's whole self
should be given to the work.
E. THORNTON.
Recollections by Miss Bullock, the Member now in charge of
St. Hilda's Mission
When I came out to St. Hilda's in 1891 the mission
was already four years old. I was quite unexpectedly put
MISSIONARY METHODS AND COMMUNITY MISSIONS 253
in charge three months afterwards, and was therefore
untrained and unprepared. But from the beginning our
Bishop was to us all a true father in God, and I ever found
him, in small things as well as in great, a most kind and
sympathetic guide and friend. His high standard of what
was right seemed to lift one up, and make one feel that it
was possible only to aim at the highest. One thing that
specially helped me in his quiet talks and kindly advice
was his warning against being over anxious and busy ; he
spoke so much of the need of recollectedness. When he
was in Tokyo he used himself to take the weekly Evensong
in our own chapel, when, as also on our Quiet Days, the
addresses he gave us were full of value. Whether his
subject was a character, or an epistle, or some passages in
the life of our Lord, he made it live for those he was
addressing, sometimes we have felt with an almost
startling intuition of individual needs.
This was also noticed with our Japanese heads of
departments and other workers. For these he might con-
ceivably have been a distant force, as it were, behind our-
selves. Instead he was a very real friend to each, and
they recognised his personality : how much this was so
came out chiefly after he was taken from us.
His great power of organisation penetrated even into
the details of our various works. As, for instance, the little
service used daily on opening the school was revised on
lines laid down by him in such a way that to his initiative
is due a marked raising of the religious tone amongst the
pupils. This has recently shown itself in a number of
definite requests for baptism.
Again, his love for children was shown in his thought
for our little orphans. On his visits to us he would often
preferably pass through their playground ; and an invita-
tion to play in the garden at Bishopstowe or a visit to the
country were pleasures he often brought into the children's
lives.
E. BULLOCK.
254 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
CHAPTER VIII
A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE
1888-1893
' We are Christians of the nineteenth century, not of the first, and must
not neglect our heritage. Join me in the prayer that God may enable our
Church to guard the heritage which He has committed to us.' Letter
from Bishop Edward Bickersteth to the Rev. B. Terasawa, December 31,
1887.
IT was on St. Andrew's day 1888 that the Bishop again
set foot in Japan, ready to obey the calling of Jesus Christ,
and to follow Him without delay. He ' forthwith ' gave
himself up to the engrossing interests of his work.
The baptised Japanese Christians then under his epis-
copal supervision were 1,989 in number, 831 of them
being communicants. During 1888, 548 adults and 173
children had been baptised. There were twenty-six
ordained missionaries and five Japanese deacons, also
twenty-one English ladies and four laymen working in
connection with the mission. Besides these there were
twenty-four catechists, twenty-one native teachers, and six
divinity students. The Bishop wrote at this time :
The great disparity between the number of Christians
and communicants may be partly, though I fear not wholly,
explained by the large number who were awaiting con-
firmation at the beginning of the year. The number of
baptisms represents the addition through missions of the
Church of England to the roll-call of the Nippon Sei
Kdkwai. It is a source of constant gratification that in
A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE. 1888-1893 255
labouring for the interests of this nascent communion we
are associated closely with our American fellow-Church-
men.
Christmas brought its customary opportunities for
realising Christian fellowship, and the Bishop wrote to his
father :
Tokyo : December 26, 1888.
We had a bright Christmas, though at no time does
one long more for England and home, and it is hard to
believe that only two months have run by since I left
you.
On the morning of Christmas Day I attended a Japanese
service at which there were some twenty baptisms, includ-
ing that of my cook and his two children. His wife has
been a Christian for some time. It would be better, I think,
to have these baptisms on Christmas Eve ' after the old
custom, but the habit has been otherwise here. Then I
preached and celebrated at the English service, taking as
my text Jude 20, 21, 'your most holy faith,' the Incarna-
tion its centre, and the bearing of this on devotion, ' praying
in the Holy Ghost.' Afterwards I ran round to the various
mission houses. At 4 o'clock two St. Hilda's ladies and
one or two others came to tea. At 5 I preached at
Kyobashi, one of our city churches, at which the Institute
ladies now help in the music. At 7 all the Shaw party,
Mrs. Kirkes, Miss MacRae, and the other Institute
mistresses, and Miss Braxton Hicks came to dinner.
When this was over I left Cholmondeley and King to
entertain them, and went to see Nurse Grace and have tea
and a short Evensong at St. Hilda's, so I managed to see
something of all my flock in this part of Tokyo during the
day.
On the advisability of one in his position entertaining
socially some of the leading English residents from time
to time, and thus bringing them and the missionaries
together, the Bishop wrote to his father :
1 For some time past this custom which the Bishop advocates has been
the practice in the mission at Tokyo.
256 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
I am in the midst of what I only half like a little
series of dinner parties. They seem half incongruous with
mission work, and yet I believe they do good. Chol-
mondeley is an excellent seneschal and King a general
favourite. He is a very strong man alike in faith and
character, and withal well balanced.
There can be no doubt that the Bishop's influence for
good was thus extended in Tokyo, and he was an excellent
host and keen conversationalist, never happier than when
keeping open house. He was also able literally to fulfil
the apostolic direction to entertain strangers. Many
Englishmen travelling in the Far East came to Tokyo,
and were always sure of a welcome and hospitality.
On his return to Japan the Bishop found himself in
the new year, like Janus of old, compelled to face both
ways, south and north, as in both directions work was
claiming his attention. ' I had planned to leave Tokyo at
the beginning of the month' (he wrote January 25, 1889,
to his ever faithful Guild of St. Paul), ' but I had miscalcu-
lated the capacity of accumulation which work possesses
during the absence of workers.'
After conducting a Quiet Day for his clergy in Tokyo
he determined first of all to visit the stations in Kiushiu.
There was still no continuous railway communication from
Tokyo southwards, so the 650 miles to his southernmost
station of Kagoshima l was best covered by boat. Some
selections from letters to the Bishop of Exeter will describe
this journey.
Nagoya [half-way between Tokyo and Osaka] :
February I, 1889.
I came here by sea, leaving Yokohama at four in the
afternoon, and reaching this about the same time next day.
The town lies at the head of Owari Bay, the upper waters
1 It was at this port (called by him Cangoxima) that Francis Xavier
landed on August 15, 1549.
A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE. 1888-1893 257
of which are so shallow that the large steamers cannot
navigate them, so for three hours one is confined to a
launch. I made friends with the steersman, and sat in a
corner of the wheelhouse studying Japanese and practising
on my companion. The mission l here is only two months
old. . . . This town is a stronghold of Buddhism. It and
Kyoto are now its chief centres. This morning I called
on a singularly able and attractive Buddhist priest, Nanju
by name, who spent seven years in England, five of them
at Oxford learning Sanscrit, and has since been in India,
His influence is good as far as it goes. I should think on
the whole he is against idolatry, and he teaches the older
and generally speaking nobler ethics of his faith, but he
holds no Christian doctrine.
Sunday, February 3, was spent at Gifu, twenty miles
further inland than Nagoya, the Bishop confirming a few
candidates, and addressing a large audience in a hall
usually devoted to professional story-telling (a recognised
Eastern way of obtaining a livelihood) on the subject
' What is Religion ? ' Several Buddhist priests were present.
Then, after a very rough journey occupying the whole
day, Osaka was reached, and on Sunday, February 10,
besides confirming in one of the churches, the Bishop held
a confirmation in the house of an old lady eighty-eight
years of age. He wrote :
She was herself the candidate. It was touching to
hear that when she was told she could gain eternal life in
Christ, she had replied that that was the last thing she
desired ; the life she had lived with its many troubles had
been quite sufficiently long. Now she seemed to be
singularly happy in her faith. When I gave her her
confirmation card, and asked her to use the prayer printed
1 This mission, supported by the dioceses of Huron and Ontario, was sent
out with the Bishop's consent. It first consisted of the Rev. J. Cooper
Robinson and his wife, who were afterwards joined by fellow-labourers, and
the whole mission in the provinces of Mino and Ovvari was eventually
affiliated to the Canadian branch of the C.M.S.
258 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
on it, she read it off without difficulty. Her son, a grey-
haired man, is also a Christian.
After visiting Kobe, and presiding at a meeting where
representatives for the Church council were chosen, the
Bishop proceeded to Nagasaki, ' where ten Christian
medical students who had recently come from Kumamoto
to attend the Government Medical Training School
promise to be a real support to the little congregation.'
He writes to his father :
February 18, 1889.
I had a perfect voyage down here, full moon and
waveless sea ; among my companions a Presbyterian
minister going to recruit in China, and the Vicar Apostolic
of a province in China on the borders of Tartary, an edu-
cated and courteous Italian who spoke English very fairly.
I had a good deal of talk with him, and was surprised to
find that though not a Bishop he had leave from the Pope
to confirm ; truly Popes take liberties ! Roman Catholics
certainly can teach us by their readiness to bear hardships.
This man and his priests are at times subject to most
serious privations, I should fear. In Japan a Roman priest
gets one-seventh of what C.M.S. and S.P.G. allow to an
unmarried deacon. Of course, they can only live on the
food of the country. Would that they had a less encum-
.bered faith! ... I confirmed nineteen yesterday, making
more than one hundred during the last five weeks. I
expect to start for Kagoshima to-morrow. It is my most
southernly station.
Again :
Nagasaki: February 24, 1889.
Kagoshima, where I have been, is one of the places in
Japan which is most difficult of access ; five days' journey
from here by land, and only occasional steamers every ten
days or so. I was therefore forced to go and come back
by the same steamer, and expected to have only a few
hours there. As it was, I had a day and a half. The little
congregation has made some progress. I confirmed nine,
and in the evening went out to a village in the suburbs
A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE. 1888-1893 2 59
where several have recently been baptised, and where one
of the Christians opened his house for a preaching. There
may perhaps be a considerable ingathering there.
One poor lonely American is living in the town, a Mr.
S . He has been engaged to teach through the Japanese
Legation in Washington. I called on him with Archdeacon
Maundrell. He was very glad to have English-speaking
visitors. I was pleased to find that he has a Bible class
among his students. He is the only, or all but the only,
man I know in Japan, apart from missionaries, who is
doing this. We had fine weather both ways in a prover-
bially stormy part of Japanese waters.
Leaving Kumamoto on February 28 in jinrickshas, the
little village of Koye was reached at 7.30, ' but as Mr.
Brandram wished to see each candidate again separately,
the confirmation did not take place till between 12 and I at
night.' Notwithstanding this, the Bishop continues :
Next morning we were early on our way, and journeyed
the whole day in jinrickshas to the foot of a range of moun-
tains which runs from the centre of the island to the east
coast. At one place on our way we had the pleasure of
calling on a Christian doctor.
The next day, Saturday, March 2, should have seen us
at Kami No Mura, a walk of twenty-five miles, but we were
fairly defeated, after accomplishing ten miles, by rain and
mud. New and excellent roads are rapidly being pushed
throughout the length and breadth of Japan, but none yet
towards the mountain ridges and valleys that lay in our
route that day. It was the policy of the old rulers to keep
the lines of communication between themselves and their
neighbours in the condition which might be thought to
oppose the greatest obstacles to invaders of their own
territory. The storm cleared off in the night, and Sunday
morning broke fair and sunny ; so I determined to keep
my engagement that evening, but it took us till near night-
fall to get through the river of mud into which the previous
day's storm had transformed the greater part of our road.
A band of young Christian men come out to greet us some
two miles before we reached our destination. There seems
260 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
much vigour and life in the little congregation of this remote
mountain village. I was guest of the village doctor, a most
friendly host, but I fear not a genuine enquirer. Among
those confirmed was a girl who had read the New Testa-
ment through five times in a year ; also two brothers of the
headman of the village. The headman himself also came
to see me ; in figure and bearing he is one of the most
striking Japanese that I have met. I quite trust that he
will shortly follow his brothers' example.
Our itinerary for the next four days stood thus :
Monday, March 4. Walk twenty-two miles to a place
called Shinmachi.
Tuesday, March 5. Walk some four miles ; descend
a rapid river by boat for six hours, which takes us to
Nobeoka on the east coast formerly a daimio's city, and
still a place of importance. Old traditions here prevail
which are obsolete in other parts of Japan, for instance, that
special reverence is due to the ' samurai ' class. Still there
is a strong spirit of religious enquiry abroad among the
people. The first conversions were due to the work of a
young Christian schoolmaster, who was himself baptised by
Mr. Lloyd several years since in Tokyo. The congrega-
tion now contains several persons of importance in the
town. Fourteen were confirmed, after which the Christians
entertained me at tea.
Wednesday, March 6. We left Nobeoka early ; a
considerable body of the Christians accompanied us the
first two miles. We had now turned northward, and our
route was over a lofty mountain pass. We accomplished
twenty-eight miles on foot by nightfall.
Thursday, March 7. We walked the same distance
as the day before, amid some finer scenery. In the evening,
from 6 till II, we enjoyed being rowed some fifteen miles
further down a river under a bright moonlit sky. We
finished our journey shortly after midnight at Oita. The
last stage was by jinrikshas.
Friday, tJie St/i. We stayed at Oita. This is one of
four stations recently established by the Native Missionary
vSociety ; the other three are on the main island. The agent
is one of our best workers, well known in the neighbour-
hood as a scholar of the old school. The station was
commenced last year. Eight were presented for confima-
tion.
A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE. 1888-1893 26l
From Fukuoka, a large town on the west coast of
Kiushiu, the Bishop wrote to his father :
March 12, 1889.
I have been travelling hard and fast, early and late, to get
round this rapidly growing mission. The number of places
has doubled nearly where confirmations are required since
I first came to Kiushiu two years ago, and the number of
Christians is, I should think, threefold. If labourers can be
found and sent forth speedily, there is, I believe, more likeli-
hood here of a large ingathering than in any other part of
the East that I have visited. . . . Nakatsu I left yesterday
morning and travelled through here in jinrikshas eighty
miles 5 A.M. to 12 midnight. It was too late when I arrived
to knock up Mr. and Mrs. Hutchinson, so I went to an inn
for the night, and came here to breakfast this morning.
After leaving Fukuoka, the Bishop spent four days in
visiting ten mountain villages.
In one of these, Oyamada, 150 out of 200 inhabitants
are Christian. It was a new and delightful experience
which I may perhaps be allowed to enjoy more frequently
in the future to find a whole village en fete, and to be
welcomed as their Bishop by what seemed to be the whole
population.
On his return to Tokyo in March the Bishop set to
work to issue his second Pastoral. In a letter to his father
(March 30, 1889) he says :
I have been very busy this week chiefly preparing my
Lent Pastoral to the clergy, which, I suppose, will become
an institution. I think that they are useful ... I have
said something on the Lambeth Conference Pastoral from
a missionary Bishop's point of view. You will not, I fear,
wholly agree with me, and yet I do not know that you
will very much disagree. My chief point is that all these
disputes weaken energies which ought to be spent on
missions, whether home or foreign.
In the Pastoral (dated St. Andrew's House, Shiba,
262 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
Tokyo, April 2, 1889), after alluding to matters of local
interest, the Bishop thus referred to mutual relations between
the various branches of the Anglican communion :
A Conference constituted as was that at Lambeth is
particularly fitted to consider questions which arise between
the various branches and dioceses of the Anglican com-
munion. It was not, however, found necessary to do more
than repeat the recommendations of the Conference of
1878. These have formed the basis of our action in this
country, and have been found to possess great practical
convenience.
He then passed to the question of Re-union :
No one could have doubted that re-union with
Christians who have separated from us, whether on grounds
of doctrine or organisation, was the earnest and heartfelt
desire of every member of the conference. The course
which was taken in adopting, as a basis on which negotia-
tions could be profitably carried on, the four points which
had already been laid down by the Convention of the
American Church namely, the Bible, the Creeds, the
Sacraments, and Episcopacy may be found in God's
Providence hereafter to have been a real step in advance
towards the solution of a practical question of very great
difficulty. It was felt that these points constitute on our
part an irreducible minimum, beyond which concession
would be unfaithfulness to inherited trust. I regret not to
be able to think that the present moment is favourable for
taking any further action on this matter in Japan. 1 There
is no likelihood that the fourfold basis which the conference
accepted would commend itself immediately to any of
the numerous religious bodies which are represented in
this country. We shall not allow delay to lessen desire.
The Archbishop of Canterbury's letter to the Metro-
politan of Kieff on the occasion of the nine hundredth
anniversary of the conversion of Russia and the speech in
reply of the Chief Procurator of the Holy Synod led him
1 See chapter ix. p. 317.
A MISSIONARY BISHOr'S LIFE. 1888-1893 263
to refer to ' the mission of the Russian Church in Japan
presided over by a prelate of lofty Christian spirit and
untiring energy,' and to continue :
Negotiations with a view to organic union would at
present be premature, and probably could not with
advantage be in the first instance carried on in a
country so distant from the chief centres of Church life in
the two communions as is Japan. Nor would it seem to
me wise to attempt to ignore the doctrinal differences
which divide us. Still the missions of two Churches, whose
representatives meet in the eastern mission field for the
first time in this country, will have contributed something
in furtherance of a sacred cause if they cultivate brotherly
intercourse and continue to work side by side with the
rivalry only of doing most in the service of their ' Lord
and God.'
The report of the committee (on which he had himself
sat) on ' authoritative standards of doctrine and worship '
and the section of the Encyclical Letter founded on the
report, together with the corresponding resolutions of the
conference, he thus commended to their careful considera-
tion :
These have all an important bearing on our work here.
It would not seem to me desirable at present to re-open
the question of the position to be assigned to our Anglican
Prayer Book and Articles by the Japanese Church. 1 It is a
question of very great difficulty, and the compromise
arrived at in the Synod of 1887 may well be for the present
maintained. At the same time, not many years can elapse
before it will again present itself for consideration. You
will notice alike the cautious language of the conference
and the real relaxation which it recommends of existing
bonds.
The Bishop then reminded his readers that the promul-
gation of the Japanese Constitution in February would
1 See chapter ix. p. 339.
264 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
always mark the year (1889) as an important epoch in the
national history .
Not the least noticeable section is that which secures
liberty of religious worship to all subjects of the empire.
Christianity, which less than twenty years ago was a
proscribed faith, thus attains to the position of a religio
licita. For the moment the pre-occupation of the people,
especially in the capital and great cities, with political
questions militates against a spirit of earnest religious
inquiry. This will cease to be the case as the possession
of political privileges becomes familiar to the popular
mind, while the public recognition of religious freedom
will remain as a permanent acquisition. The words of De
Tocqueville, ' Men never so much need to be theocratic
as when they are most democratic,' suggest a warning
and a hope.
After noting 'two new claimants for the religious
allegiance of Japan, Unitarian and Theosophist,' and
giving reasons for the statement that ' both were strenuous
opponents of the Catholic faith,' the Bishop concluded with
a reference to the ritual controversies which then affected
the Church in England : !
The fortunes of the Church in our own country affect
us immediately. I earnestly hope that 2 the trial at law on
ritual questions, now being carried on, will be the last of a
series which have broken the peace and weakened the
influence of the Church for nearly forty years. . . . The
principle that omission is prohibition has only a limited
applicability. Were it rigorously enforced, unless at the
same time the rubrics were made far more elaborate and
minute, after the manner of those in the Roman service
books, it would be impossible to perform many of our
offices.
Under these circumstances, the questions which we
should ask in regard to ritual matters seem to be three :
(i) Is there a clear direction on the point in the Book of
Common Prayer? If so, the matter is settled in the view
1 Compare chapter xi. pp. 419-421. * The Bishop of Lincoln's case.
A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE. 1888-1893 265
of the loyal Churchman. I may add, as the matter has
been misunderstood, that no Bishop has authority to set
aside the directions of the Prayer Book when they can be
carried out. (2) If the Prayer Book is silent, is the pro-
posed custom or rite in accordance with the tradition of
the Church, not merely a modern Roman use, not over-
minute and fidgetty, not obliquely indicative of doctrine
which at best is only a ' private interpretation ; ' or if an
innovation, is it strictly in accordance with the spirit of
the Prayer Book ? The introduction of hymns, for which
little if any provision is made in the rubrics, and the choice of
particular hymns are instructive examples under this head.
(3) If the question is still an open one, what is the desire
of the best educated and most devout lay communicants ?
Very little practical difficulty will occur when ritual
questions by this method are approached in a tolerant spirit,
such as on all external matters the very nature of the
Gospel requires. If a reasonable doubt remains, recourse
should be had, in accordance with the direction of the
Preface in the Prayer Book, to the Diocesan, and if
necessary through him to the Archbishop. The Bishop
also has a claim to be consulted before practices are
adopted for which, however desirable or even necessary
under novel circumstances, the Prayer Book does not make
provision. I am thankful that among ourselves there is,
with considerable variety of practice, little disagreement
and frequent co-operation.
I add a few words in reference to the decisions of the
Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. Whether or no
these decisions could be enforced beyond the limits of
British rule is a point on which I have not been able to
obtain information.
I am unable to agree with those who hold that the
committee is an ecclesiastical court, or that its judgments
represent the living voice of the Church. Were this the
case, it would follow that the Church could no longer
claim to be the interpreter of divine revelation to her
children and to the nation. She would have abdicated this
high function in favour of a body of lawyers, to whom
indeed all respect is due for their office and talents, but
who need not necessarily be, and some of whom are not,
believers in the Christian faith. As a communion she
would rapidly cease to command respect or elicit enthu-
266 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
siasm. Her foreign missions mould be among the first to
wither and decay. Such a position has never been accepted
by any branch of the Church, even in days when Em-
perors presided in CEcumenical Councils.
The true position and authority of the court can only
be understood by a consideration of the successive statutes
through which it has come to be constituted as at present.
The general result of such an investigation is, I believe, to
establish that the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council,
as well as the court established by the Public Worship
Act, are civil tribunals, and that the ecclesiastical courts
are mainly in abeyance. For such an investigation this
letter does not afford space. As, however, they may not
be known to you and are valuable by way of illustration,
while we are engaged in framing the Canons of the Japanese
Church, I have quoted in the Appendix * the exact words
of one of the chief statutes bearing on the subject of the
Reformation period. It is an important point gained that
thoughtful Churchmen of all schools are agreed on the
necessity of the reform of our own legal procedure.
In regard to the whole matter, we are called upon to
offer earnest prayer to Almighty God that the present
ritual differences may be speedily adjusted. It is impos-
sible to deny that there are in our communion a few clergy
who desire to re-introduce Roman doctrines and practices.
Their number I believe to be diminishing. The attempt
is so plainly inconsistent with loyalty to the Prayer Book
that I doubt not that if left to the steady discountenance
of ecclesiastical authority, and met by sober argument, it
will speedily die away. On the other hand, unusual
opportunities of personal observation, continued now
through many years, enable me to bear witness that in the
mission field adherents of cither Church party work with
equal loyalty, equal zeal, and equal love of our Master.
To both He at times grants the seal of success. To
narrow, in the way that is being attempted, the basis of
the Anglican communion would bring immediate loss to
her evangelistic enterprises. At the same time there can
be no doubt that energies are being wasted and frittered
on these controversies which if otherwise employed would
suffice to give a new impulse alike to our home and
missionary work. It is surely more than time that they
1 He quoted 24 Henry VIII. c. 19.
A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE. 1888-1893 267
were disengaged from the present disputes and directed to
nobler and diviner ends.
On Easter Eve of this year the Bishop ordained two
candidates for the priesthood, and of this he writes :
The rain came down in torrents, and thinned the con-
gregation ; but the service my first ordination to the
Priesthood was, I think, solemn and well and carefully
conducted.
About this time he was much cheered by a grant from
the S.P.C.K. for the hospital he desired to start in connec-
tion with St. Hilda's, and he wrote enthusiastically to his
father :
I am morally convinced that they could not employ
their surplus funds better than in the ways I point out,
and shall be only too glad to find that they see the same !
Seriously, they are an excellent society. I should not
have known what to do without their help towards
St. Hilda's Building Fund.
In the same letter he wrote :
I was drawing up Canons on Clergy Discipline last
week with Bishop Williams, a most difficult business, but
we had the help of the last and best productions of the
American dioceses.
The second Biennial Synod of the Nippon Sei Kokwai
was held at Tokyo after Easter. The Bishop entertained
Mr. (now Bishop) and Mrs. Evington, Archdeacon
Maundrell, and Mr. Brandram as his guests, and one
evening had a reception for all the Japanese and English
missionaries, ' which Cholmondeley managed excellently,'
and, as usual, he was delighted to fill his house with his
fellow-missionaries. He wrote home, May 3, 1889 :
The Synod has gone very well hitherto, I think ; plenty
of talk but not without result, and gradually the Japanese
are being educated to their responsibilities.
268 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
And again :
Much time was occupied in debate on small points, but
some things were of real importance, such as ' Rules for
the trial of clergy ' and ' Pastor Funds.' At present the
congregations pay directly to the clergy, which I think the
worst plan of all. I hope that the new rules 1 which I
suggested will gradually break up this plan. You would
have been interested in seeing the body of Japanese dele-
gates gathered from all parts of the country. I will send
a photograph, but, alas, Bishop Williams, the chairman, is
not in it. He has a horror of photographs, and made off
when it was taken.
Towards the end of April the Bishop was free to start
with his domestic chaplain, the Rev. L. B. Cholmondeley,
for the northern island of Yezo.
Of this journey he writes to his father from Hakodate :
May 21, 1889.
We (Cholmondeley and I) left Tokyo last Thursday.
W r e had a good ship the Yamashiro Maru by name
her commander is Captain Young, with whom I have now
made a good many voyages. During the summer months
the wind blows mainly from the east, so that there is an
almost incessant swell on the east coast of our main island.
We reached here at five on Sunday morning. Some
Japanese came off early to meet me. Mr. Andrews, the
missionary here, brought us ashore at seven. We had
Japanese service with Holy Communion at nine, English
service, at which I preached, at ten, and a confirmation in
the afternoon. There were eight candidates, several of
them persons of position and intelligence. I have two
other places to visit, one Horobetsu, where I went nearly
three years ago among the Ainu ; the other, Kushiro, a
place about 200 miles off to the north-east. By land it is
a journey of at least ten days, but by water, if there is no
fog, of only twenty-four hours. We feared there was no
1 The proposal was that a central fund of 2,ooo/. should be raised, the
interest of which would be used to augment salaries of pastorates, and into
which would be paid all salaries of churches wholly or partly self-supporting,
and out of which would be paid all salaries of pastors or unordained agents.
A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE. 1888-1893 269
steamer going, but were much relieved last night to find
that one starts to-morrow morning. Andrews and
Cholmondeley will accompany me. I am afraid that unless
something detains our ship we shall only get a few hours
at the place. However, there will be time enough just to
greet a brave lady, Miss Payne by name, who is our solitary
representative there, and to have Holy Communion and
a confirmation. Then, next week I hope to get to
Horobetsu, and possibly back again to Tokyo for Whit
Sunday. I have promised them a Quiet Day at St. Hilda's,
if it can be managed, the Saturday before.
And again, writing from Tokyo, June 5, 1889, he
says :
I got back (after travelling 2,000 miles in seventeen
days) on Sunday night from the North, out of a land
where fires are still necessary to hot summer weather. All
the officers except the one on duty were present at a service
I held in the saloon in the morning. I used the prayer for
protection at sea, and an hour after we were near being in
great danger. A strong wind and current had set the ship
back much more than the captain had calculated, and in
consequence he attempted in a fog to run round a cape too-
soon. Providentially he discovered his mistake just in
time.
On June 24 the Bishop left Tokyo by the new railway,
and was absent in Southern Japan till July /. That
summer he spent the first week of his holidays at Miyano-
shita, a beautiful spot 1,500 feet above the sea level.
Writing to his father, August 2, 1889 (the sixteenth anni-
versary of his mother's death), he said :
I am thinking of this day sixteen years ago. With
your present I have had set in gold a cross cut from a tree in
Pembroke Gardens, 300 or 400 years old, which Prior gave
me. My brother Pembroke Bishop (New Westminster)
has done the same thing.
He then went for a few days to Haruna, whence he
wrote :
2/0 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
I am trying to write at a little table at a priest's house
in the priestly village of Haruna, a mountain village in the
province of Kotouke, still a great place of pilgrimage. The
five mistresses of the institute are my hostesses, and most
thoughtful and hospitable they are a pleasant combina-
tion of learning and physical energy.
This autumn was marked by the consecration of St.
Hilda's Chapel and of the Church of Good Hope in the
Mita district of Tokyo. Of the former some account has
been given in the preceding chapter. Of the latter the
Bishop wrote to his father :
Yesterday I consecrated (or dedicated, as we more
often call it here, where such acts have no legal force) the
Church of the Good Hope which Lloyd had erected. The
congregation is a remarkable one, gathered out of a great
school, and in consequence of considerable intelligence.
From October 21 to the end of November was occupied
by a long journey west, and on his return to Tokyo on
December 2 he wrote to his father :
I dined at a dinner of the Tokyo Club on Tuesday.
Sir Edwin Arnold made a speech. With some things that
were very good and true he coupled most unfounded
claims, as I thought, on behalf of Buddhism. Plainly he
did not understand that the Japanese section of his
audience (mostly University professors and newspaper
editors) was utterly incredulous of any single Buddhistic
tenet. I had a good deal of talk with him afterwards. He
spoke very reverently of Our Lord, and told me how he
had visited Palestine with the view of writing a poem on
the Gospels, but that the subject had seemed to him too
great and he had relinquished the idea. I got him to
admit verbally that ethics without a creed are powerless.
Yesterday a great church was consecrated which
Bishop Williams has built. I took part in a Japanese
service in the morning, and an English in the afternoon.
It is far the most imposing building which we have out
here, and will, I dare say, with a crush take in 600
A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE. 1888-1893 2/1
worshippers. It ought to be an addition to our strength
and usefulness. The architecture is very simple and good
I think.
Alluding to his frequent journeys, many of which now
began to be possible by rail, the Bishop wrote :
I go first class for three reasons : (i) it is cheap here ;
(2) I meet people whom I want to meet ; (3) I can sleep
better, and so work when I get in. But I admit that the
other practice is much more suitable for a missionary
Bishop.
The ordination to the priesthood at Tokyo on the Fourth
Sunday in Advent of John Imai, his frequent interpreter
and constant companion, for whom he had a great regard,
was an event of deep interest to the Bishop. He wrote to
his father :
The ordination last Sunday was a singularly happy
service, and very nicely conducted. The church was
crowded. The singing of the ' Veni Creator ' in a Japanese
version, while young Imai was kneeling in the midst, very
helpful and uplifting. Besides Imai three deacons were
ordained. Mr. Batchelor, the missionary to the Ainu, was
ordained on Saturday, a less helpful service from lack of
congregation.
Writing on December 26, 1889, to his father he said :
* Except that it was this side of the world and not that,
we had a very happy Christmas ; ' while, on January 4,
he gave the first hint of a castle in the air which he had
begun sedulously to build.
So we are in the nineties. 1880 saw you in India.
Would that 1890 might see you in Japan, or, at least, in
Canada, where I could meet you for a few weeks.
He had need of some bright anticipation, for the new
year brought a break-down of the health of Archdeacon
2/2 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
Maundrell, who left on furlough, but was never allowed by
the doctors to return to Japan. Also at this time some
developments of teaching in one of the Divinity colleges
involving uncertainty about the Godhead of Our Lord gave
him acute and serious apprehension.
The Bishop began the new year with a Quiet Day for
his Tokyo clergy, taking as his subject ' Jesus, the Apostle
and High Priest.'
On St. Paul's Day (his father's birthday), mindful
that Japan is the first land on which the sun rises, he
wrote :
I was the first to offer prayers for you on your birthday,
between 12 and I in the small hours of the morning. A
very happy day and year to you, dearest and best of
fathers.
The next day he heard of the death of Bishop J. B.
Lightfoot, of Durham, his former tutor and constant friend,
more especially during the Delhi days. Many letters of
this time contain allusion to his great sense of personal
bereavement through the Bishop's death. On January 27
he wrote to his father :
Yesterday brought me the too sad news of the Bishop
of Durham's death. I cannot think why it was not
telegraphed. As it was, I heard of it through an American
Church paper. What a mysterious Providence, which
spared him a year ago and let him go back to that service
of thanksgiving in his cathedral, and then took him from
us. I do not know that there is anyone in whom judgment
and learning and goodness have been more remarkably
combined among the great men of the English Church.
No one can take his place, and no one will be more missed
alike in the struggles and the labours of the next twenty
years. But even cut short as it has been, it was a beautiful
life and a noble example, a great gift for awhile, and in a
sense for always. But the world feels poorer, and the
undoubted dangers ahead more dangerous now that his
A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE. 1888-1893 273
counsel and wisdom in the earthly sense are no longer
ours. Personally, like all his pupils, I owe him a debt
quite beyond repayal. It is a pleasure to look back to
frequent intercourse with him in Cambridge and London,
and Bishop Auckland and Scotland.
And to me he wrote :
February 17, 1890.
The world seems different to me with the Bishop of
Durham no longer here. I feel his death to have left a
greater blank than perhaps anyone's could outside our
immediate circle. My debt to him, both for teaching and
counsel, is beyond estimate. He combined in an extra-
ordinary way qualifications which others are endowed with
separately. Learning which was prodigious and yet in
full and facile command, a sympathy which was ready and
heartfelt, and at the same time a strong practical grasp of
immediate circumstances. Well, if it is not wrong to
sorrow it would be wrong not to thank God for so great a
gift to the English Church, and to many outside its pale,
as his life and work have been.
A matter of great importance the extension of the
Episcopate in Japan now began to occupy his thoughts.
He wrote to his father :
I am thinking over whether it would not be well to
ask the Archbishop to promote a scheme (say next year)
for the establishment of a South Japan bishopric. The
more I see of this work the more I feel that it wants
constant looking after of the kind that a Bishop only can
give. Priests are so made that they resent superintendence
from brother priests as interference. The work here is
essentially different from England. There a village goes on
quite well if the Bishop preaches in the church once in five
years not so a mission station. For efficiency he should
be seen once or twice every year. Now Japan is nigh
2,000 miles long, and my most northern station twelve
days' journey from my most southern. Kiushiu, the
southern island, by itself is as large as Ireland, and has
double the population of Ireland. The number of clergy
and Christians has more than doubled in these four years.
274 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
Undoubtedly, if there were two Bishops the work would
be better looked after and better done. Further, in the
southern half of the country all the clergy but one are
C.M.S. Therefore probably that society would promote
such a scheme. Please tell me what you think. I shall
ask one or two of the more experienced clergy here, and
will let you know what they say. If they and finally the
Archbishop agreed, I might conceivably take a month in
England some time to get the many details settled.
In February he attended a meeting of the Bible Society
and got them to appoint a committee ' on the revision of
the New Testament (Japanese), which badly needs it.'
There was no part of his episcopal work for which
Bishop Edward Bickersteth was more fitted by tempera-
ment and training than the duty of ' showing faithfulness
and diligence in driving away erroneous and strange
doctrines contrary to God's word,' especially those which,
if unchecked, would tend, through being unbalanced state-
ments, to destroy the proportion of faith. As used by
him, the word ' Catholic ' chiefly meant ' proportionate.'
A proof of this is the careful letter, formal and yet
affectionate, which he wrote at this time to the students in
the Divinity Colleges of the Holy Trinity, Osaka, and of
St. Andrew, Tokyo.
Addressing the students as his ' dear sons in Christ/
the Bishop, after referring to his direct responsibility in
regard to those who were preparing to receive Holy Orders
at his hands, proceeds :
The re- But the Bishop is still ' as chief pastor ultimately
bllityofa res P ons it>le for the care of souls within his diocese,' and
Bishop is bound from time to time to exercise his office by letter
or by word of mouth. As my office bids me, then, I propose
in this letter to point out to you the reasons why you are
bound to be loyal and dutiful members of our Nippon Sei
K5kwai, and both to live and die within her pale. Circum-
stances to which I need not refer make the subject one
n man-
A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE. 1888-1893 275
of special interest to you at the present time. In order
to do so, I must go back to the very beginning of the
Christian Church.
The Catholic Church was, as you know, founded on The value
the Day of Pentecost. The representatives of many nations of ' The
assembled in Jerusalem for the feast and gathered by the Apostles' 6
one baptism into its fold were a symbol of its catholicity.
The Acts of the Apostles, as the Greek title implies, is
not a complete history, but a selection of typical acts of
the Apostles and their companions, from which, in con-
junction with the contemporary apostolic epistles, later
ages may learn the true principles of spiritual life and
work.
Now what were the chief duties imposed by the
ascended but ever present Christ on the apostolic Church ?
They may be summed up as follows :
i. To witness to, without subtraction or addition, and The
to hand down to their successors the essential elements of
the Lord's own teaching and a true account of His life on
earth. You know how they carried out this great charge, taining
They filled up at once the number of the apostolic com- Wltness
pany (Acts i. 21, 22). The first disciples were placed
under regular instruction. ' They continued in the
Apostles' docrine ' (see Acts ii. 42 and compare St. Matt.
xxviii. 20 and St. Luke. i. 4). They had no sacred books
of their own, but they appealed to the conformity of what
they taught with the Old Testament. (See Acts xxvi. 22,
23, and 2 Tim. iii. 15, 16.) The Apostles stayed together
for at least twelve years in Jerusalem. During that time
they determined what were the typical and representative
parts of the manifold teaching of our Lord which it was
especially important should be taught and handed down
by the growing number of Christian evangelists, and also
shaped the outlines of the creed (see Rom. vi. 17, R.V.).
I notice in passing that it is very important for you, Attacks on
who as teachers will be called upon to defend the Christian th Faith,
faith, to meditate often and carefully on the early history of
the faith and the Church. Many of the attacks on the them
Christian faith in western lands, and particularly on the
truth of our Lord's resurrection, are founded on supposed
discrepancies in the written Gospels. The books contain-
ing these attacks are imported in large numbers into this
country. These points must be carefully considered, but
2/6
BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
(2) In
maintain-
ing wor-
ship
(3) In
maintain-
ing the
Ministry
the truth of Christianity does not depend on the solution
of such literary problems. It is often impossible, owing to
our want of knowledge of all that took place, to answer
such attacks completely. On the other hand, a true
appreciation of the origin and growth of the Church is the
best refutation of sceptical arguments. The Church of the
first century is an inexplicable phenomenon apart from
the truth of the Resurrection.
2. The second great duty of the early Church was to
maintain in a way acceptable to Him the worship of
Almighty God. Judaism had done this in its day. With
Pentecost the Church succeeded to its office. Now, had
the first duty that I mentioned not been performed, the
second would have been impossible. If the knowledge of
our Lord's teaching about God the Father had been lost
or obscured, or if the facts of His incarnation, death, and
resurrection had not been correctly handed down, the way
of access to God which Christ had opened would, as far as
individual believers were concerned, have been closed.
The disciple who had been baptised into the Holy Name
and received, we may gather, the laying on of hands
(n.b. the future tense in Acts ii. 38) continued in the ap-
pointed prayers (n.b. the article in the Greek of Acts ii. 42).
The Holy Communion was constantly celebrated, not as a
mere symbolic ceremony to be occasionally resorted to,
but as a real means of grace ' by the which God doth work
invisibly in us ' ; it was called the Communion of the Body
and of the Blood of Christ (see i Cor. x. 16 and Article
XXV.). Psalms and hymns were a constituent part of
the service, and before the death of the last Apostle
considerable progress had been made in the composition
of a Christian liturgy. The object of the service was not
only the edification of individuals but to pay homage to
God.
3. Very soon after the Gospel spread beyond the
limits of Palestine, a regular ministry was ordained (see
Acts xiv. 23 &c.). This was necessary both for the sake
of preserving the Gospel teaching inviolate and for the
instruction of Church members and enquirers, and also to
carry out ' decently and in order ' Christian worship and to
maintain discipline. Many discussions have arisen in
regard to the exact form of this ministry. Three points
are clear and you should keep them well in memory;
A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE. 1888-1893
(a) There is no evidence that anyone undertook the regu-
lar public ministry of the Church unless he had received
a commission to do so from those who had themselves
received authority to give it to him. We never find that theordina-
the body of believers conferred orders, (b} There is tion to
evidence that before the death of St. John the Church ^ lc t h b
possessed, both in places where the Jewish and in places received,
where the Gentile element predominated, the three-fold not self-
order of ministry. This ministry, as the most learned im P sed
n~ i r i , 1 i nor reear-
Bishop of modern times, who has just passed to his rest, ded'as a
said, ' was the outcome of the ripened wisdom of the mere cere-
apostolic age.' (c) Ordination was not regarded as a mony
mere ceremony nor the offices of the Church as secular
institutions. On the contrary, the laying on of hands was
believed to be accompanied by gifts of the Holy Spirit,
Who Himself conferred the several offices. St. Paul's
words on this point are express (see Acts xx. 28, I Tim.
iv. 14, 2 Tim. i, 16), Those who have denied this have too
often denied also the authenticity of the canonical books
from which we learn it.
The work of the Church to-day is essentially the same To-day,
as in the first age. There are no doubt some striking differ- ew errors,
T - .... .... . but the
ences. Instead of the living voice of Apostles and their church's
immediate companions and successors we have the written duty the
records and letters of the New Testament. Again, new forms same
of error have arisen unknown to the first century of which
the two chief are Romanism, which interferes with the one-
ness of Christ's mediation, and Calvinism, sometimes called
Puritanism, which narrows and obscures the love of God
our Father. These systems are not less dangerous because
good men have adopted both the one and the other. But
these differences do not essentially alter the character of
the Church's work. We, too, have to guard and hand down
the whole faith all things, that is, which Christ imme-
diately or through the Holy Spirit abiding in them com-
manded the Apostles to do or teach. We, too, have to
maintain the Christian rites and worship, baptism, con-
firmation, prayer, absolution, and Holy Communion. We,
too, have to cherish the true conception of, and to hand
down through regular channels, the Orders of the Christian
Ministry not allowing a mistaken charity to make us
think that these matters are of no importance.
Apply what I have been saying to the subject of
278
BISHOP EDWARD EICKERSTETH
Seven
questions
for a well-
instructed
Japanese
Christian
allegiance to the Nippon Sei Kokwai. Every thoughtful
and instructed Christian has a right to ask such questions
as these : Does the communion into which I am baptised
offer me all the advantages which are the lawful inheritance
of Christian people ? Does it allow me free access to the
Holy Scriptures ? Is its Ministry lawfully derived from the
Apostles by a regular succession ? Are the Holy Sacra-
ments and comfirmation duly administered? Are its
forms of worship consonant with the evangelical and
apostolic teaching, Christ alone being regarded as the one
Mediator ? Does it, on the one hand, duly administer
discipline and on the other maintain the lawful freedom of
individuals ? Do its ministers rightly declare the absolu-
tion of sins to penitent persons in Christ's name ? And if
an affirmative answer can be given to such questions, then
he is bound to abide in the communion into which he has
been baptised, and to leave that communion for another
not possessing these privileges would be for him a sin,
because he would be neglecting the means which God had
placed in his hands to prepare, him for the world to come.
After pointing out that the Nippon Sei Kokwai
possessed all these privileges, the Bishop concluded :
It is for us the highest of all privileges to have had
committed to us all that is needed to maintain and extend
a living branch of the Church of God. In no case can the
results be unimportant of the establishment in your land,
at a time so eventful and critical in its national history, of a
Church which maintains alike historical continuity with
the Church of the Apostles and a full and unadulterated
faith.
May God give you His holy blessing, prays your father
in God,
EDW. BlCKERSTETH, Bishop.
S. Andrew's House, hiba, Tokyo :
February 1890.
The extracts at such length from this Pastoral Letter
to Divinity Students seem justified as it is one out of
many instances of the sensitive and careful watchfulness
A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE. 1888-1893 279
which the Bishop endeavoured to keep over his flock.
Sometimes also discipline with regard to moral failure had
to be exerted, and commenting about this time on the
conduct of some students, he writes :
King has shown great skill in his management of the
whole affair. He is, like St. Stephen, ir^p^s TT/O-TSWS real
In the Annual Lenten Pastoral he mentioned, as prin-
cipal among the events of importance in the Church in
Japan during the last twelve months, ' the resignation by
Bishop Williams of the active duties of the episcopate
after a period of labour in Japan considerably exceeding a
quarter of a century.'
None can grudge him the rest which has long been due.
The most affectionate respect will follow him in his retire-
ment. It is a matter of satisfaction that the Bishop was able
to preside in April last over a fully constituted meeting of
the synod which he had so large a share in organising.
After another month's tour confirming and ordaining,
In company, first, of the Rev. H. Evington (of the
C.M.S., now Bishop of Kiushiu), and then of the Rev.
H. J. Foss (of the S.P.G., now Bishop of Osaka), visiting
the missions, the Bishop took part on March 10 at Osaka
in the opening of the Girls' School, built as a memorial of
his predecessor, Bishop Poole, whose brief episcopate had
ended on July 14, 1885 an episcopate which he described
as ' of briefest duration but fullest influence, and a death
lamented alike within and beyond our own Church.'
On April 17 the Bishop dined at the British Legation
to meet the Duke and Duchess of Connaught. H.R.H. the
Duchess consented with gracious readiness to the Bishop's
request that she should lay the foundation stone of St.
Hilda's Hospital. He wrote to his father :
280 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
I have seen a good deal of both. They say that they
know you. Nothing could have been kinder than they
were. They let me present to them anyone that I liked
in the garden after the stone-laying, so that I had the
opportunity of gratifying a good many people. It is a
good thing that the Japanese should see our Prince and
Princess publicly acknowledge and support a work con-
nected with a mission.
In the same letter he rejoices that ' Dr. Westcott goes
to Durham. I have only half known Cambridge since
1879, and now shall scarcely seem to know it at all.'
He then started west again for a five weeks' tour, often
in out-of-the-way places. This spring he felt sure enough
of his command of language to venture on extempore
preaching in Japan, and writes to his Father :
January 27, 1890.
I gave an extempore address in Japanese for the
first time in church a stumbling affair, I fear, but I hope
not wholly unintelligible.
In August he wrote of ' departures many and arrivals
few.' He spent his holiday at Nikko with the Rev. and
Mrs. J. M. Francis, of the American mission, and found
much enjoyment in their companionship. Nikko is so
beautiful in its situation among the mountains that a
Japanese proverb says that he who has not been to Nikko
must not say kekko (beautiful). In September the Bishop
of Korea (Dr. Corfe) came to stay with him, and he writes :
He has quite a large enough staff to make a good
beginning ... It is a great mercy that our little journey '
has borne so much fruit. Though slowly, yet certainly,
things do get done. Ten years ago we had no Bishop in
North China, Korea, or Japan.
On St. Michael's Day, the eve of his departure for
another long journey in Kiushiu and the West, he wrote :
1 See chapter vi. p. 194.
A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE. 1888-1893 28 1
Yesterday I preached a semi-political sermon, which I
seldom do. There is great excitement here about Treaty
Revision, and much that I disapprove has been said by
the English-speaking Yokohama merchants. I tried to
give a Christian tone to things.
Travelling was now much more expeditious on certain
routes, as when the Bishop reached Kobe in twenty-eight
hours by 'the luxurious new ship, the Saikyo Maru,
of the great Japanese Steamship Co.' He wrote to his
father from Kumamoto :
October 1890.
Among my fellow-travellers were two members of the
Inland mission, with whom I got into conversation after
one of them had sung your hymn, ' Peace, perfect peace.'
[After leaving Kobe] the next day we were in the Inland
Sea, which is specially lovely this time of year with the
green rice harvest clothing all the lower parts of the hills.
This is a route which I hope you will come next year.
We reached Shimonoseki at midnight. I got with a
number of Japanese into an open boat, and we were about
an hour making the shore. The tide runs through the
strait with such velocity that at times it will prevent the
passage even of a steamer. ... I had meant to go on by
land to Fukuoka, but on getting near the pier noticed in
the moonlight a fairly large steamer all but ready to start,
and on inquiry found she was going straight to Fukuoka.
They told me the sea was very rough outside, but I
balanced a whole day in jinrikshas with six hours on the
ship, and decided on the latter. It certainly was rough,
and of the smaller craft only the ship I was on ventured
out ; but I was having breakfast with Mr. and Mrs.
Hutchinson by ten o'clock. . . . The number of Christians
at Fukuoka is now 100, a tenfold increase in four years.
I laid the foundation stone for the church, which will be a
conspicuous building close to the public offices.
Again :
October 9, 1890.
On the Tuesday we left by the early train for Oyamada,
our Christian village. Here I consecrated the church,
282 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
which has been some time building. Mr. Hutchinson
preached. There were some eighty communicants. It
was wonderful to think how recently these poor people
had been idolaters and enslaved in various superstitions,
and to notice their present orderly behaviour and reverence
in the service, and apparently real appreciation of its
meaning.
That evening I parted from Mr. Hutchinson at a place
called Kuruma. He went back to Fukuoka by the new
Kiushiu railway, and by half past-ten I was some miles on
my way to Kumamoto. The jinriksha men were willing
to have run further, but it was time for bed, and I stopped
them at a good inn which I had been told of at a place
called Fukushima, or ' happy island.' Yesterday some
eight more hours' jinriksha travelling brought me in here
to Mr. and Mrs. Brandram's house. These good people,
like the Hutchinsons, live in the middle of a great Japanese
town in Japanese quarters, which they have to a certain
extent Europeanised. No doubt when this is possible the
gain is great to a missionary's work. The people have
much less fear of approaching him than if he lives in a
building erected after the manner of Europeans. Mr.
Brandram has very kindly vacated his study for me. I
feel the kindness the more as I fear it is an act which
I never do for anyone.
Again :
October 15, 1890.
My main business at Kumamoto was a meeting of the
Kiushiu Local Council. To some extent I enjoy presiding
at these meetings, but it is in them, too, that deficiency in the
language must make itself felt. When each delegate if he
knows an out-of-the-way Chinese word feels it his duty to
use it, and the subject under discussion requires a know-
ledge of some technical phraseology, the poor chairman is
often at fault. Fortunately at Kumamoto Mr. Brandram
has made great progress with the language, and is an
excellent assistant.
All through this year in letter after letter he continued
to discuss the proposed visit of his father to Japan, devising
and revising schemes, and overcoming every suggested
A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE. 1888-1893 283
difficulty in his eager desire to secure the visit during 1891.
Writing on November 3 he says :
You can easily rest on your way through Canada.
Banff, four days from Montreal, is a great Rocky Mountain
resort, or at Winnipeg the Bishop would show you hos-
pitality. I don't think you will have any difficulty, as the
journey is perfectly ordered right through from Liverpool
to Yokohama.
He himself continued to give proof of his vigour in
travelling, as will be seen from the following letter.
Yonago, West Coast : November 7, 1890.
My dearest Father, I got in here to-night after two
long days in jinrikshas (118 miles), and find the mail going
out and a confirmation arranged for me ; so this can only
be a scrap indeed.
On Sunday I preached to some 500 men on the
Impfoieuse, our flagship in these seas. Sir Nowell and
Lady Salmon were very pleasant. Monday night I attended
a great reception given by Viscount Aoki, Japanese Minister
for Foreign Affairs, in honour of the Emperor's birthday.
I came away as soon as propriety allowed, but was only
then home by 10.30, and by 6 next morning was in the
train. That night I reached Kyoto at 1 1.45. Next morning
I went on to Kobe and lunched with the Fosses. At 5 I
left by the new railway for a place on the Inland Sea named
Tatsuno. The station is a mile from the town, and a river
bank had given way, so I had to make a long detour.
However, I found a fairly good inn and got a few hours'
rest, and since I have been pushing on over the mountains
to catch my engagements here.
I don't often make quite such a four days of it, nor do
I like long lonely jinriksha rides, but this time I had no
choice. Here I found Chapman waiting for me a nice
young C.M.S. missionary, who will travel with me down
the coast for a fortnight.
With fond love to all,
Your very affectionate Son,
ROW. BlCKERSTETH, Bishop.
284 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
He wrote on November 18 from Hiroshima, on the north
coast of the Inland Sea, ' a great Japanese city (of 80,000
inhabitants) which I have never visited before,' and on
November 24 from Osaka, which he reached from Hiro-
shima after a journey ' in a small steamer crowded with
Japanese.'
The next year (1891) was to be to him one of gloom
and gladness, for it was marked by a tedious illness which
brought him near to the gates . of death ; but by God's
Providence his illness (an attack of the same dysenteric
fever which caused his death six years later) did not lay
him aside until he had issued his annual Lenten Pastoral
with its useful appendices and statistical information, and
had presided at the Third Biennial Synod of the Nippon
Sei Kokwai, assembled at Osaka in April.
In the ' Pastoral ' (dated St. Matthias's Day), after
referring to the growth of the mission, the Bishop dwelt at
length on some aspects of the ' Judgment of the Archbishop
of Canterbury on certain Points of Ritual ' commonly
called the Lincoln Judgment in so far as they affected
Japanese use, and passed on to deal with some of the
problems suggested by Old Testament criticism, and to
plead for the production of a commentary in Japanese on
the text of the Holy Scriptures.
A subsequent chapter l will give better opportunity for
a statement of his views on these matters, but it was owing
to a well thought out policy on his part that he encouraged
all his missionaries, lay and clerical alike, to keep them-
selves abreast of those questions which, under the guidance
and governance of the Holy Spirit, the Church at home
was being led to investigate. He felt that for men, often
isolated and as a rule out-numbered, mental freshness was
necessary to missionary ardour, and so of set purpose he
1 Chapter xi. pp. 413-415.
A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE. 1888-1893 285
gave them his own views of, and encouraged them to read
and think upon, matters of wider interest than even the
problems of their own work directly supplied.
In the appendix to this ' Pastoral,' therefore, there are
not only lists of clergy &c., and comparative statistics of
the progress and retrogression of the mission in various
branches of the work, but also a copy of Archbishop
Benson's Pastoral on the Lincoln Judgment, of Bishop
Westcott's Thesis on the Sacraments, a quotation from
Professor Sayce's book on ' Recently Discovered Arabian
Inscriptions,' and a list of religious and theological works
in Japanese edited by English and American Church
Missionaries. In particular he urged :
It is felt that there is no more important means of
strengthening our Japanese brethren in the Christian faith,
and of leading them to accept it in its fulness as taught by
the Church, than commentaries on Holy Scripture. With
this view it is proposed to combine the efforts of a company
of students in the production of a commentary on the New
Testament. It is expected that each contributor will give,
so far as he may be able, the result of his independent study,
and indicate his own judgment on such questions as arise out
of the sacred text. But with a view to giving some unity
to the work, it is suggested that the commentaries of the
following authors, where available, should be consulted,
and such quotations made from them as may be thought
advisable.
i. The commentaries of the School of Antioch
especially St. Chrysostom. 2. Bengel. 3. Meyer. Godet.
4. S.P.C.K., Alford, Lightfoot, Westcott, Wordsworth,
Ellicott, Sadler.
It is thought that it may be often desirable, as in the
commentaries of Bishop Lightfoot, &c., to add detached
notes on particular subjects at the end of chapters,
especially such as bear on the circumstances of the Church
in Japan. It is proposed that the commentaries be written
in English on the basis of the present Japanese text (cor-
rections being suggested in foot-notes), and submitted to a
general editor, who, at his discretion, would circulate them
286 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
among other members of the company, and that if approved
they be then translated into Japanese under the direction
of Mr. Takahashi Goro. The promoters of the plan have
asked the Bishop of the Church of England to act as editor,
and the Rev. H. D. Page as secretary. It is thought that
6oo/. will be eventually needed to publish the work, and
that its importance will justify an appeal for this sum being
made to English and American Societies, &c.
In concluding his ' Pastoral ' he pleaded :
Might not more of us than at present profitably under-
take some literary task ? Some of the best work yet done
has come from hands that I know to be otherwise most
largely occupied.
He had set the example, as will be seen from the
following extract from a letter written while on a brief
holiday at Miyanoshita :
January 9, 1891.
I have begun a commentary on St. Paul's pastoral
epistles. It seemed especially wanted here, and to offer
an opportunity of teaching a great deal in an uncontro-
versial way which the Japanese divinity students and
others are ignorant or callous of. The work is laborious,
as I have first to work up my notes, and then to translate
it to my teacher in colloquial Japanese, who brings it
back to me next day in the written language, when I copy
it out. I find it, however, very interesting. Hitherto St.
Chrysostom and Theodore of Mopsuetia have been my
guides among the ancients. Dr. Westcott's ' Commentary
on the Hebrews ' shows how much may be got out of the
Greek fathers which is still fruitful. As it seems to me, the
commentaries which we supply to the Japanese should
give them some fair idea of what exposition has hitherto
attained to in the West ; so that they may start making
their own commentaries from that point.
In March he was recalled suddenly to Tokyo from
Kobe:
A telegram reached me at Kobe to bring me back to
the funeral of the American Minister, who died suddenly.
I have been sitting with his widow, Mrs. Swift, for along time
A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE. 1888-1893 287
this afternoon. The funeral was a grand state affair. He
was an American Churchman, so buried with our rites. The
scene, as we walked through Tokyo, and again at Yokohama,
was very striking, the long line of clergy in surplices, and
diplomats, and sailors, and the men-of-war saluting. Bishop
Williams and I, of course, walked together. I trust I may
be some comfort to the poor widow.
Holy Week and Easter were spent by the Bishop at
Tokyo. Writing later to his Guild, he says :
The Easter services at St. Andrew's were bright and
happy, my guest, Mr. Barnett, of Whitechapel, preaching
a helpful sermon on serving others in the strength of Christ
Risen. . . . Then came the three days' C.M.S. Conference
at Osaka, and then the Synod.
Canon Barnett has kindly supplied me with the follow-
ing recollections. He writes :
Warden's Lodge, Toynbee Hall, Whitechapel, E. :
February 10, 1899.
Dear Mr. Bickersteth, Your brother left on my mind
an impression of his greatness and goodness, but I cannot
recall his definite words. He seems, as I think of him, to
have been one pre-eminently fitted to commend our faith
to the East, his strength of principle, his simplicity of
thought and action, his devotion to duty, would all
commend themselves to a side in human nature which is
not often touched by the popular religions. He did much
to help us to form our opinions. I have turned out my
Diary, and copy two references just as they stand.
I am yours ever truly,
SAMUEL F. BARNETT.
Good Friday, March 27, 1891. We went to church
and had a most helpful sermon from the Bishop. His good-
ness gave depth to his words as he showed the moral quality
of the Atonement. Such a sermon every Sunday would make
life easier, and such teaching must tell on Japan. As to
the Greeks, the cross will be foolishness to the Japanese.
They have resolutely shut sorrow out of their lives, they
288 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
have a laugh ready for every occasion, they wave off care
with a branch of blossom.
Easter Sunday. We arrived at church in time to see
the Japanese congregation, which met at nine o'clock and
quite rilled the place. It was touching to see them with
their own neat an'd pretty ways singing our well-known
Easter hymns. The English congregation, among whom
were several Japanese gentlemen, also filled the church.
I preached. Afterwards we lunched with the Bishop.
Apart from his mannerisms, which suggest superiority, he
is a fine fellow -thoughtful as well as earnest, liberal as well
as strong. He ought to have a wife.
It was at this time that there appeared the first
symptoms of his Delhi illness, from which he had hitherto
been free in Japan. Writing to his father on Good
Friday, he says :
I have been poorly. I think that some of our Lenten
fish was not what it ought to have been ! and for the first
time since I came to Japan have had to spend a day or
two in bed. However, I am now better, though a bit
weak. It has just come in Holy Week, and ami'd a crush
of duties which has made it most untimely.
Still, he persevered and presided at the Third General
Synod, and his opening address on the principles of debate
was probably the most terse and well-balanced statement
which he was ever allowed to deliver. Its line of argument
will be found in Chapter IX., 1 and the concluding paragraph
only is here given -a paragraph which was reproduced in
many English papers, and quoted by Earl Nelson at the
Church House in the autumn of that year as an ideal
.statement of a true missionary's ambition.
For the Church of my baptism I could seek no greater
grace, as individuals we could ask no higher privilege,
than to have contributed, at a great crisis, to the establish-
ment in this land of a branch of Christ's Holy Church,
united by bonds of faith and affection only to its Western
1 See chapter ix. pp. 326-330.
A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE. 1888-1893 289
mother apostolic in order and creed a new home where
souls may be re-created into the image of God.
The Bishop of South Dakota (Dr. Hare) had been
deputed by the American House of Bishops to superintend
provisionally the work resigned by Bishop Williams, and
he was present at the synod. Bishop Bickersteth wrote
to his father :
Osaka : April 9, 1891.
Dearest Father, This can be only a line, as our synod
is in session.
We had a very good C.M.S. Conference last week. . . .
Oh that men were wiser ! I have just been talking to
a C.M.S. man (a very nice fellow !) who had never had
Holy Week services because he did not care about them !
and this year had no Easter Communion in order to
attend the conference. His excuse was that he did what
he could as he sent his people a telegram ! !
. . . The synod, too, has gone well. The Bishop of
South Dakota has been the greatest support and help
to me.
I am going to take two or three days', or perhaps a
week's, rest from to-morrow, as presiding for days together
in a synod and conference is very hard work, especially
when one has been poorly. But really they have all looked
after me like so many brothers and sisters so that it
has been worth not being quite well to call out their
kindness.
I had a most successful ' At Home,' Japanese and
Foreign, on Tuesday night nearly 200 people, I suppose.
Your very loving Son,
EDW. BICKERSTETH, Bishop.
Pardon an arm-chair letter !
And again :
Kobe : April 13, 1891.
. . . Our conference and synod arc over, and for
both, I think, there is much reason to be thankful. In
the synod there was a good deal of expression of loose
opinion, but the voting was always on the right side. An
U
2QO BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETII
appalling number of committees have been appointed to
report to the next synod on Prayer Book Revision, New
Services, Vestments, and I know not what. But these
things are at least a sign of interest and life. ... I am
going for a few days to the hills with Mr. and Mrs. Foss,
Dr. and Mrs. Weitbrecht (you remember them at Lahore,
they are on their way home), and Mr. and Mrs. Swann.
My old Indian complaint has been troubling me a little,
and the doctor advises the change ; but I am already
better.
In writing to the Guild of St. Paul in England about
this synod, the Bishop thus referred to the Committee on
Prayer Book Revision : l
It is not surprising that a volume which grew up
wholly in the West should not meet all the requirements
of a Far Eastern Church . . . Some day Japan may have
liturgiologists of her own, who will compose liturgies
more suited to the genius of her people and language than
a translated volume can ever be. It is remarkable that
liturgies of some literary merit were produced by Shinto
priests a thousand years ago.
After his brief rest with Mr. and Mrs. Foss at Arima
he returned to entertain Dr. and Mrs. Weitbrecht and Canon
Tristram of Durham, and then started off, broken in health
as he was, to consecrate a church at Fukuoka, nearly 700
miles distant. But his anticipated return to health was
not to be realised until after a sharp and serious illness
which compelled him to give up all work in June and
July, and wholly prevented a visit to the northern island
for which arrangements had been made. Humanly speak-
ing, he was only nursed back to life by the skill and
kindness of Dr. Howard, a medical man who had been
his guest the previous year and now came to stay in the
Bishop's house to give him his undivided attention, and
1 Chapter ix. p. 332.
A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE. 1888-1893 29 1
by the unremitting care and brotherly devotion of the
Rev. A. F. King, the Head of St. Andrew's Mission. The
efforts of these two friends were so far successful under
God's blessing that Dr. Howard allowed and, in fact,
ordered his patient to take a sea voyage. By July 28
he had been able to resume his correspondence with his
father, and wrote on that date :
I am daily making excellent progress towards full
health and strength, indeed, though needing care, I am
practically well. Dr. Howard's wonderful skill and
attention and King's unremitting care as a nurse have got
me through an illness in a month which might have taken
several, and the voyage to Vancouver will be just the
bracing that I need. King will accompany me. After all
the nursing he will need the holiday, and also for some
weeks I am to be dieted, in which he is very skilled. Diet-
ing and rest have been the two main elements in my cure.
. . . Dr. Howard, with his experience, divined the cause
directly, and in his great kindness gave himself up to me
entirely. It was a most kind Providence which brought
him here at the time. Te Deum Laudamus.
He met his father and step-mother and his sister May
(the Honorary Secretary of the Guild of St. Paul), who
had left England on August 12 and travelled via Canada
to Banff in the Rocky Mountains in August, and brought
them back to Japan, in which islands they spent seven
delightful weeks from September 23 to November 15.
On that day they left Nagasaki, and, after a week at
Hongkong, returned via Colombo and the Canal, and
reached Exeter on December 29. Little need here be
said, as my sister described their experiences in a volume
entitled 'Japan as we Saw it.' 1 The visit was an unin-
terrupted success, and full of absorbing interest to the elder
Bishop as one who all his life had been an enthusiastic
advocate of the Church's prime duty to evangelise the
1 Published by Sampson Low & Co.
U 2
292 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
nations of the world. Much interest was excited by his
journey, not only in Japan, where he was met everywhere
with great kindness, but also in England. The present
Archbishop of Canterbury (Dr. Temple), speaking as
Bishop of London at the Church House, expressed this
feeling when he said :
He rejoiced that Bishop Edward Bickersteth should
be in Japan, a man whom they knew well before he went
and whom they were certain of as a true apostle of the Lord
Jesus Christ, overseeing the beginnings and the work of this
entirely new Church set up so far away. And there was
something peculiarly interesting just then in the fact
that riot only was the Bishop there doing his work, but
that his father, one of the episcopate of England presiding
over the large diocese of Exeter, where he was beloved
for his wonderful kindness, was there to help his son
and assure the Japanese of deep sympathy felt for them
by those from whom he had come in England. It was
itself an omen of future success.
The Bishop of Exeter sent a long letter to the ' Times,'
dated November 2, 1891, giving some account of his
impressions. Some extracts may here be given.
It is impossible to help being attracted by the Japan-
ese. Their quiet order and submission to authority, their
instinctive courtesy, their bright smile and merry laughter ;
their carefully tended homesteads and gardens, their
agricultural industry, which verifies the saying, ' In Japan
crops follow each other so quickly the soil has no time
to grow weeds;' their wonderful imitative talent, which
always attempts to improve on that it copies, and not
seldom succeeds ; the tenderness of parents and the happi-
ness of little children, their passion for education and their
mental powers these things must strike every stranger.
They are emphatically a people of bright hope, sveXTriSss
as Thucydides says of the Athenians. While, at the same
time, if anyone dreams that Shintoism or Buddhism can
produce the same fruit as Christianity, it only needs to
learn what lies beneath the surface of society here for the
A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE. 1888-1893 293
illusion to pass away like a dream. Home is not to -them
what home is to us. The boys, so happy in early child-
hood, are too often petted and spoiled ; they are not taught
to obey ; they bully each other and their parents. The
women, graceful and gracious as they are in their youth,
grow old prematurely. The men, who have only eight or,
at most, ten festival days of rest in the year, show the need
of that one-day-in-seven Sabbath which was made for man ;
they are not a long-lived race. But there are worse evils :
the grossest superstition or blind materialism, concubinage
and impurity, fickleness and inconstancy, though with noble
and notable exceptions, are widely prevalent. Christianity
alone can cope with the vices and foster the virtues of this
great nation of more than 40,000,000 souls. But no
Christian man can note their many fascinating characteristics
without exclaiming, Quoniam tails es, utinam noster esses.
It is recorded of St. Bernard that his first question to his
missioners, when they returned from their missions, always
was, ' Could you love those to whom you were sent ? ' It
is no hard task to love the Japanese. . . .
. . . The Church founded by the episcopal Churches of
England and America has increased fivefold during the
last few years. There is that in their reverent ritual which
seems especially to commend itself to the order-loving
Japanese ; and their liturgies and creeds are simply price-
less amid the shifting currents of religious thought which
are swaying the mind of Japan at this crisis. . . . But
let no one think that this vast empire is to be won without
our taking up the cross and following the evangelists
of former ages as they followed Christ. Of the forty
millions in Japan not more than one in 400 has yet been
baptised.
A terrific earthquake, the most destructive experienced
in Japan in modern times, occurred on October 28, the
centre of the disturbance being in the plain between Gifu
and Nagoya, places which the two Bishops and their
party had only left the previous week. Even in Osaka
they were in serious danger, the house of Archdeacon
Warren, whose guests they were, being partly demolished
but no harm befell any of the party. '
294 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
The next letter was written after the Bishop of Exeter
had come and gone, and is dated
Nagasaki, November 16, 1891,
My thoughts are with you continually. Parting is very
hard, the trial of missionary work here : and the past ten
weeks were so delightful in prospect and in their passage
that I do not like to think of their being over ; but the
recollection is very bright, and I do feel it is not merely a
recollection, but that you have left us all better for your
presence, and your words of love and counsel.
Early in 1892 Bishop Edward Bickersteth issued a list
of his engagements for the year, 1 acting on a suggestion
that it would be more convenient if he intimated the
order in which he proposed to visit the different stations
under his jurisdiction. The area over which he travelled
is now under the superintendence of four English Bishops
(those of South Tokyo, Osaka, Kiushiu, and Yezo).
There can be no doubt that the incessant travelling was
a severe tax on his strength, which strength could not be
1 LIST OF ENGAGEMENTS, &c., 1892
January 7 . . . . S.P.G. Conference, Tokyo.
January 17 . . . Confirmation, Kyobashi, Tokyo.
January 19 .... Meeting of Tokyo Local Council.
February 15 March 6 . . Confirmations Hiroshima, Fukuoka,
and Kumamoto.
March 13 .... Ordination, St. Andrew's Church,
Tokyo.
March 16 . . . . C.M.S. Conference, Osaka.
March 21 April 5 . . ..... f .. . Confirmations, Bingo and Awa. Con-
secration of Fukuyama Church.
April 20 May 10 . , , . Confirmations, Izumo and Iwami.
May 16 June 16 . . . Confirmations, Yezo.
June 17 July 4 . .. . Confirmations, Tokyo and Yokohama,
Izu and Sagami.
September 20-27 Confirmations, Shimosa.
October 3-31 . . . . Confirmations, Nagasaki, S. and E.
Kiushu, Kiushiu Local Council.
November 15 December 6 . Osaka Local Council. Confirmations,
Osaka, Kobe, Gifu, Nagoya, and
Inui (Totomi).
December 18 . . . . Ordination, St. Andrew's Church,
Tokyo.
A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE. 1888-1893 295
described as more than convalescence ; but with character-
istic optimism where his own comfort was concerned the
utmost he confessed was such phrases as now and again
occur in his letters : ' I am all right, or all but all right,
again in health.'
In the autumn of this year, on the eve of his departure
for England, the Bishop was able to write as follows to his
clergy and fellow-workers :
Since I wrote to you last Lent I have been almost
entirely occupied with journeys and visits. Nemuro is the
furthest point I have reached in the north, and Naha in
Okinawa, the chief island of the Loochoo Group, in the
south. On journeys of this kind some points are always
brought home to the mind with special force and insis-
tence. Chief among these I should place at the present
time the particular value of a careful superintendence of
our lay workers.
He also wrote to the Guild of St. Paul :
Nobeoka, Kiushiu :
November 2, 1892.
During September I completed my visitation of the
Tokyo district, and the last day of the month saw me
again in Yezo, where I reached two of the three places
which I was obliged to omit in June. One other place,
Abashiri, I have been obliged to give up the hope of visit-
ing this year. It is on the north-east coast of the island,
and communication is most uncertain, and in winter it is
shut in for many months by ice floes from all communica-
-tion by sea. I had hoped to have reached every station
where there are members of the Nippon Sei Kokwai during
the year, but owing to this failure I shall not quite have
accomplished my wish.
I am now on my way back from a short but most
interesting trip to the Loochoo Islands. You will find
them pardon my thinking you may need some guidance
in placing your finger on them on the map ! stretching
296 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
in a long line over some 600 miles of sea, between the
southernmost point of Japan proper and Formosa. I
must try to write a full account of them before long and send
it to you. There are some seventy islands, most of them
inhabited, and the largest, Okinawa, which I visited, has
a population of about 350,000. They form part of the
Empire of Japan, and the reason of my recent visit was
that several of our Church-people have migrated there
whom I wished to form into a congregation, and also
there were two candidates for confirmation. The Rev.
A. R. Fuller, of the C.M.S. Mission at Nagasaki, accom-
panied me. The only point I wish to mention now is the
strong impression which my short journey left on my
mind that here is a new great field of work, sufficient to
task all the energies of a band of labourers for many years
to come, and which cannot with due hope of efficiency be
added to a diocese which is almost too widely spread for
efficient superintendence. Will you ask God that in His
time the way may be made clear for the work being ade-
quately undertaken in these islands by a fully equipped
mission of our Church ?
It should be mentioned that this year he confirmed the
first-fruits of the Ainu. He wrote :
At Sapporo we were guests of Mr. and Mrs. Batchelor,
and that afternoon I confirmed four Ainu, the first of their
race to receive the laying on of hands. Mr. Batchelor is
much to be congratulated on having been allowed to
gather in the first-fruits of this interesting people. Have
you seen his book ' The Ainu of Japan ' ? It is a thoroughly
trustworthy account. In the evening I held a confirma-
tion for Japanese. Both these confirmations were in Mr.
Batchelor's drawing-room, as there is no church yet at
Sapporo.
The Bishop was now free to leave Japan on his return
to England, where his main object was to confer with the
Archbishop about some subdivision of his jurisdiction
under one or more additional Bishops, and also to plead
for recruits for all branches of the work.
A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE. 1888-1893 297
* I propose to sail from Kobe for England on December
27,' he wrote to his clergy, 'and on the way I have
arranged to spend a few days at Delhi, my old mission
station in the South Punjab.' These quiet words hardly
reveal the depth of interest with which he revisited his
first missionary home, where Mr. Lefroy, Mr. Allnutt, and
Mr. Carlyon, his former fellow-labourers, were still striving
with one mind and one spirit as witnesses of the living
Lord. Their joy in welcoming him was great, and they
were hardly prepared to find how many of the converts
remembered him, and how tenacious a place he held in
their affections. It will be remembered that when he left
Delhi, in August 1 882, he hoped to have returned before
Christmas of that year. And now ten years had elapsed,
years which, however, had in no way lessened his interest
in his old mission, an interest sustained and quickened by
daily intercession on its behalf.
On St. Paul's Day, 1893, he telegraphed his birthday
congratulations to his father from Delhi. After a few
very pleasant days in India he reached England on
February 25, and I met him as he stepped from the train
at Victoria Station late at night, but hardly jaded by
his long journey, to the fatigue of which he was inured
by his constant travelling. His stay in England lasted
till October 21, and there were few parts of the country
he did not visit, speaking and preaching everywhere.
Just at that time, English interest in Japan was very
keen, and one who, like himself, could be trusted to give
a wise and wide view of the outlook, neither ignoring
nor exaggerating the difficulties, was listened to with
marked attention. I accompanied him on a tour in the
Midlands and among some of the northern towns, and his
power of interesting country squires as well as men of
business, keen artisans as well as simple peasants, was
298 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
clearly proved, as was their readiness to take interest in
one who came from the Land of the Rising Sun.
Besides speaking in London at the annual S.P.G. meet-
ing, and presiding at the evening meeting of the C.M.S. in
Exeter Hall, the Bishop read a paper at the Birmingham
Church Congress and addressed the students in theological
colleges at Wells, Lincoln, and Leeds, and at St. Augustine's
College, Canterbury.
He also had to work through a formidable list of ser-
mons and meetings arranged for him before his arrival in
connection with the Guild of St. Paul. In consequence,
although he did not become known by face to all the
branches of the Guild, yet his visit left its mark on the whole
watershed of their interest, from which flowed the streams
of intercession and offers of personal service to fertilise the
missions in the beloved land of his adoption.
At the meeting held in the ancient chapter house of
Exeter Cathedral on March 21 there was present the Rev.
John Imai, then about to conclude a visit of some months'
duration which the generosity of an English lady, Mrs.
Kirkes, had enabled him to pay to this country. Thus
one who had been admitted by the Bishop to the ministry,
and had been profitable to him in it, stood by his side that
day, and these two, Bishop and priest, representing respec-
tively Churches of the West and East, pleaded for a deeper
and more practical sense of responsibility towards the
Mikado's Empire.
The mention of Mrs. Kirkes recalls the sorrow which
her death, on April 21 of that year, caused to the Bishop
and to all who knew her in Japan. An elderly lady of
ample private fortune, she devoted herself entirely to the
work she had undertaken in Tokyo. There, in her charm-
ing house in Nagato Cho, she had for five years been
responding to her special vocation i.e. endeavouring to win
A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE. 1888-1893 299
the affection and confidence of women of the higher classes
in Tokyo. She possessed patience, tact, and attractiveness
of no common order, and some of those whose doors were
closed to most missionaries opened them to her. In the
houses of many Japanese of rank and influence she had
told by life as well as by lip the story of the faith. When
in 1892 she returned to England for a short visit, so many
Japanese well known in society assembled at the station to
bid her farewell, that people could only compare it to the
departure of an ambassador rather than of a quiet English
lady. Truly she was an ambassador of the King of Kings,
and the hearts of her Japanese friends were touched at the
unselfish love which led her to leave her comfortable
English home for the far off capital of Japan. Not long
after her return to Tokyo she succumbed quite suddenly
to an attack of pneumonia. Bishop Edward Bickersteth
greatly felt her loss, and never ceased to long that some
other English lady of high station and independent means,
as well as of deep spirituality, might be led to fill the post
left vacant by her death.
The Bishop spent part of August (1893) quietly with
his family at Nevin in North Wales, where the Bishop of
Exeter again, as in 1888, gathered together all his children
and grandchildren, thirty-nine in all, for five happy and all
too brief weeks. But before this month a great joy had
come into the younger Bishop's life through his engage-
ment in June to Miss Marion Forsyth, daughter of .Mr.
William Forsyth, Q.C., formerly M.P. for Marylebone.
The marriage took place on September 28, and after a
brief wedding tour of five days at the English Lakes and
farewell visits to relations and friends, Bishop and Mrs.
Edward Bickersteth left England for Japan on October 21.
They travelled by way of Canada, where the Bishop had
promised to address a series of meetings on behalf of the
300 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETII
missions supported in Japan by the Canadian Church. To
his sister May he wrote :
Queenstown Harbour : October 27, 1893.
All leavings and partings are very hard, but they do
not lessen, perhaps only quicken, in the sense of helping
us to realise, love ; and this time I have every right to feel
rich.
VIGNETTE PORTRAIT.
(Taken May 1893.)
3oi
CHAPTER IX
NIPPON SEI KOKWAI
(ffo/y Catholic Church oj Japan}
' To have wisely developed the organisation of a congregation or of a
district or of a church, neither oppressing it by the multitude of its rules
and societies, nor allowing its energies to run to waste for lack of them
s to do a work without which the highest spirituality devoted solely to the
ends of converting and edifying the souls of men will in part at least fail
of its aim.' Pastoral Letter of Bishop Edward Bickersteth to his Clerg)>,
Lent 1894.
THE quotation at the head of this chapter shows that
Bishop Bickersteth on principle avoided an unorganised
propagation of the Gospel, just as he recoiled from an
unhistorical method in preaching the faith.
The present Bishop of Durham, in a preface to Bishop
Bickersteth's book, ' Our Heritage in the Church ' (published
for the first time in English after his death), wrote :
A distinguished Japanese clergyman, the Rev. J. T.
Imai, has told us that on the morning after his arrival in
Tokyo the Bishop said to him : ' The Church of Japan must
be the Church of Japan ; the Prayer Book of that Church
must be really its own Prayer Book.' His life was spent
sacrificed, as we speak in unwearied labour to establish
this result. By his wise and patient energy he united the
congregations of the American and English Missions in
one body. He himself, in conjunction with Bishop
Williams of the American Church, drafted its constitution
and Canons, which were adopted in a full synod in 1 887.
And he has left a Church in Japan in closest fellowship
with our own, already fully constituted, and only waiting
for native Bishops to be completely self-governing and
independent.
302 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
It will be well, therefore, to consider more fully
hovv the formation of the Nippon Sei Kokwai came about.
The organisation of this body is of more than local
interest, inasmuch as it is the first instance of the founda-
tion of a fully organised and autonomous Church in the
near or far East in modern times. 1
There are two views of the proper aim and method of
missionary enterprise the triumph of either of which has
been, and always will be, fatal to the establishing of a
national Church, at once independent and also interdepen-
dent, because in full communion with other branches of the
Catholic Church. If it be supposed to be the missionary's
prime duty to win believers, and to snatch them as brands
from the burning only as individuals, he will not care
much about incorporating them into a body. But, on the
other hand, if it be supposed that loyalty to the com-
munion which thrust him out (sK(Sd\r)} 2 as a labourer into
the mission field compels him to impress, and even to
impose as far as may be, an exact reproduction, say, of
Western canons and articles upon Eastern minds, then
he will stifle among the converts any signs of originality,
which, if encouraged to grow under due limitations, would
have given to the newly made Church a vigorous individu-
ality of its own.
It was these defective ideas of the missionary calling
which Bishop Edward Bickersteth set himself to avoid,
as he tried deftly to weave together the loose ends of
such organisation as he found on his arrival. He felt it
important to guard against these mistakes, from which
in the past the Church of England herself had suffered.
The Church of Rome, after her splendid effort to re-
1 For Resolution of C. M.S. Conference (Osaka) in May 1886 see chapter
vi. pp. 163, 164.
- Cp. St. Matthew, ix. 38.
NIPPON SEI KOKWAI 303
introduce Christianity into our own islands, eventually
hampered the boon of evangelisation by striving to annex
here a new spiritual province instead of to build up a
national Church. England slowly learnt this to her cost.
And as in the sixth century in these islands Augustine
did nothing to develop a native ministry, so in the six-
teenth century in Japan, Francis Xavier and his immediate
successors did not ordain one single Japanese to the priest-
hood, an error in policy which led to fatal results when
under dire persecution all the foreign missionaries were
killed or banished by edict.
The Bishop wrote to the Archbishop (Benson) of
Canterbury setting forth his proposals, and the Primate's
reply will be read with interest :
Lambeth Palace, S.E. : August 13, 1886.
My dear Bishop, I have read with deepest interest
your letter. . . . There can be no doubt that the moment
is critical. Your own episcopate and that of Bishop
Williams will see Japanese Christianity on the other side
of a crisis. How it is landed there whether rich in hope
for the future, or already infested with the divisions
which have grown up historically elsewhere must depend
on the work of the early Bishops. . . . This becomes, of
course, much plainer and much easier of execution when
we and our clergy remember that the great end of our
planting a Church in Japan is that there may be a Japanese
Church, not an English Church. Any forgetfulness of this,
any aiming at a different end, will only reproduce in the
next 200 years the miseries which have arisen from
the Italian Church, in the days of her prosperity, having
determined to be the Church of other lands. She has
been justly disappointed, and all Christendom suffers both
from the wounds she dealt in the struggle and from the
indifference and infidelity which have followed the indigna-
tion at her, wherever she had succeeded in getting accepted
as the only possible Church.
To make a living Christ known and loved, and seen
to be Himself at work in man and for man, and to make
304 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
it recognised that Church doctrine is a true expression of
Himself in His Oneness and manifoldness, is the only way
in which the Church can be manifold and yet one. 'Hcray
ofioQvfjia&bv sTrl TO avTo is the practical charter under
which the Church of the Acts did its work.
May I only hear the same of all Church people in
Japan. After that we shall hear of grander unities still.
Let me ask you to present my affectionate respects to
Bishop Williams, and thanks for his strong and valued
kindness to our dear Bishop Poole.
Believe me, my dear Bishop,
Your affectionate Brother in Christ,
EDW. CANTUAR.
The Right Rev. Edward Bickersteth, D.D.,
Bishop of the Church of England in Japan.
When the Bishop returned to England in 1888 he
was full some men thought too full of organisation.
I remember well going with him to the C.M.S. House in
Salisbury Squaie, where, as ever, he received a kindly
welcome. But when he had explained in detail to a large
gathering of the committee, lay and clerical, the growth of
the Japanese Church, I recollect the warning words which
his statement elicited, clearly showing that some of his
hearers felt that evangelisation, not organisation, was the
sole work of the missionary. But the Bishop was not
abashed, and in his reply allowed a flash of humour to
escape as he reminded his audience that after all theirs
was the ritualistic view of the episcopal office, inasmuch as
they valued it for its convenience in the matter of ordaining
and confirming, two ritual acts, whereas his was the evan-
gelical view of that office, because he looked on the Bishop
as the pastor gregis and the pater cleri.
Preaching at the United Conference of the Protestant
Episcopal Church of America and of the Church of
England on February 8, 1887, on the eve of the first
synod, he thus referred to the period identified with the
NIPPON SEI KOKWAI 305
work of St. Paul, 1 to prove that individualism might easily
be carried too far :
' I will send thee forth far hence unto the Gentiles ' was
the word of the divine voice which called St. Paul to his
life's task. ' He wrought for me unto the Gentiles ' are
the strange expressive terms in which he defines his own
position. The countries of the empire to the west of
Palestine, and above all their great cities, with the exception
of Alexandria, where the Jewish population was particu-
larly numerous, were the sphere in which St. Paul's voice
was heard ; nor does he appear to have visited any district
or city without direct results of his labours being seen in
the conversion of men to the faith of Christ. How did he
regard these believers ? Only as individuals with separate
souls to be saved or lost ? Or as this, and at the same time
as members of a congregation in whose fellowship and
communion they would find spiritual grace and consola-
tion ? Or as this and more, as members of a spiritual society
which exceeded in limit any one country or nation ; yea,
which already had its representatives beyond the frontiers
of the eternal world ? This last conception alone answers
to his fullest teaching. In the earlier epistles we read of
the Churches, ' the Churches which are in Judea,' ' the
Churches of God,' ' the Churches of the Gentiles.' In the
later epistles we read of the Church, of which Christ is 'the
Head,' ' which Christ loved,' through which the angels learn
' the manifold wisdom,' ' which is the fulness of Him that
filleth all in all.' As he travelled on his journey westward
and came continually nearer to the city which was the
centre of human authority, the idea formed itself with
growing fulness in his mind of the great society which
should cope with and supersede the last and mightiest of
the heathen empires, until, as in the camp of the Guards,
he takes up his pen to write to the distant Christians who
were his unfailing care, the glowing terms which I have
quoted alone express his vision and his thought.
With regard to the second alternative he was equally
' This sermon, entitled, The Church in Japan, was preached on St. John
xvi. 13, ' He shall guide you into all truth.'
X
306 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
clear. Preaching l at the earlier conference of the same
bodies of missionaries, within three months of his arrival in
Japan, he had said :
Now let us inquire what has been the custom of the
Anglican communion in regard to the indigenous Churches
which, through God's mercy, she has been allowed to
establish in foreign lands. Practically it has been this.
We have handed over to them our own system as a whole,
with its standards of doctrine, forms of devotion and
teaching, and methods of government, modifying them in
theory not at all, and in "practice only as far as has been
found essential by individual workers. Thus in Africa,
India, and China branches have been founded of the
Anglican communion which alike in doctrine and consti-
tution are reproductions of the mother Churches of the
West. And if I may be allowed to define just what it
seems to me has been the motive of our gathering here
to-day from various parts of Japan, it has been this, the
consciousness that though this country is the last to which
our missions have been sent, yet in it first our traditional
method of working, if the end of all missions is to be
attained, must be largely modified. Here, as I gather from
those best qualified to judge, we require already to be
allowed to take steps towards establishing a Christian
community, which shall exercise the powers, educational,
disciplinary, legislative, and judicial, which are inherent in
the Church. Unlike the British colonies, wherein race and
speech and customs the mother country is largely repro-
duced ; unlike India, where the problem is complicated by
the fact of British rule and the existence of a large body
of European residents ; unlike Africa and China, where in
the one case the low development of the native races, in
the other the natural immobility of the people, prevent as
yet such problems from coming with like prominence to
the front, Japan is a country so I seem already to have
learnt from you filled with a strong desire for a free
development in accordance with her national type, and
1 The Prerogatives of the Church, a sermon preached at the opening of
a Conference of Delegates of the Missions of the Protestant Episcopal Church
of America, the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, and of the Church
Missionary Society, on July 8, 1886.
NIPPON SEI KOKWAI
307
which admits the modes of thought and life of the foreigner
only because of their manifest superiority to her own, and
with the intention of adapting them to her own individual
needs. ' We are glad of teachers,' it was said by one of
her own sons ; ' we require no masters.' On a like principle
it can scarcely be doubted that in accepting Christianity
an acceptance which many believe to be in no very distant
future Japan will adopt no mere Western type of the
faith ; and though receiving, as is necessary, the framework
of the Church from abroad, will complete her ecclesiastical
organisation on her own lines. If this be so, our own aim
is sufficiently clear. It is to form in this country during
the brief period of transition a Christian society which
shall itself be constituted in all necessary things on the
lines of the historic Church, and retain every essential
element of the faith, but shall not any longer than is
needful be weighted by Western use or formulary, or
trammelled by the predominance of a foreign clement in its
councils.
A clear conception as to what was and what was not
possible was essential to success. Accordingly, in this
same sermon the Bishop definitely laid down ' the lines of
divergence,' as an engineer would say.
In the first place, then, on the negative side we must
not forget that our missions have been sent here by three
different societies, from different countries, Churches, and
schools of thought, and that any endeavour so to amalga-
mate their missionary work as to obliterate the distinctions
which with common loyalty to the Anglican communion
they severally cherish must necessarily fail. But while a
union of missionary societies is impossible and perhaps
undesirable, there seems no reason why they should not
co-operate far more closely than in the past, or why the
congregations which God has granted as the fruit of their
efforts should not be gradually welded into one Christian
communion, exercising eventually the full powers of a
Christian Church.
In aiming at this, four things have seemed to me to be
possible at the present time :
i. That one name should be adopted to represent the
308 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
whole Japanese Church which is in communion with our-
selves. A name is itself a powerful bond.
2. That a representative body, call it synod or
conference or council, should be constituted, in. which all
duly ordered congregations should be represented, and
which should take counsel for the common interest of the
whole. In such a body, on the principle which I have put
before you, laity as well as clergy would find a place.
3. That a constitution and Canons should be formed
dealing with the special need of the Church in Japan.
In the minor matters with which Canons would deal, such
as the employment, licensing, and salary of lay agents, the
use of commendatory letters, and many others which will
occur to you, unity of action might easily and most bene-
ficially be attained. In others, such as regulations relating
to ordination, it would mainly rest with the episcopate to
settle one rule of practice. But so far as it might be pro-
posed that the doctrinal standards of a Japanese Church
should differ in extent or form from those of the Anglican
communion, it is plain that such modification would for
the present require the consent of our own ecclesiastical
authorities.
4. There seems room for a considerable extension of
united evangelistic work such as the three societies have
already inaugurated in the capital, and upon which as it is
developed here and in other places the future of the Church
in Japan must so largely depend. Pastoral and building
funds, on the same principle, would be of great value.
Could these four points be attained, I conceive that
we should have done something towards displaying before
the heathen that oneness which is our Lord's own condition
of missionary success, we should have obtained some of
the benefits of co-operation, and our brethren would have
been admitted to a larger share in the management of
their own Church.
Let me, then, attempt to define both what seem to me
not to be and to be the objects of our present gathering.
In the first place, then, negatively, we do not meet
with any view of seeking a change in our own position as
foreign missionaries sent to this land by two branches of
the Anglican Church. All of us without exception are
more than satisfied with we are thankful for the position
we hold as members of the ancient and unique communion,
NIPPON SEI KOKWAI
309
Orthodox, Catholic and Evangelical, with its glorious though
chequered story in the past, and its unexampled promise
to-day, into which, by God's great mercy, we were baptised.
Nor, again, do I understand that we are met to con-
stitute a new Church for our native brethren in the faith.
The very term is a misnomer. It is'not so that the Church
of Christ is propagated. Rather, to~use again the familiar
simile, when the faith is first preached and received in any
country it is at the utmost a new branch of the Church,
which, so to speak, has germinated, not a new tree with a
separate root and stem and independent life of its own.
More particularly, as soon as in any country believers are
gathered into a society, they are put in possession of the
Holy Scriptures and standards of faith as they are held
and guarded by that branch of the Church through which
they have been instructed, and in due time they receive
the Sacred Orders with authority to minister the Word of
God and the Sacraments for themselves. So has it already
been in this land. Through you, in whose labours, though
very late, I am allowed to share, there has been formed in
this land a Christian Church, which is represented by con-
gregations in many different parts. By virtue of common
membership of the Body of Christ, through union in one
faith, and participation of the same sacraments, this
Church exists, and is in communion with Churches in
other lands.
Subordinate to these objects is the formation of a
body of Canons having to do chiefly with points on
which, if the English custom were followed, the episcopate
would act independently, but in which it seems desirable,
in accordance with more ancient precedent, that it should
not act without your concurrence and that of our brethren.
' I have resolved,' wrote St. Cyprian to African clergy,
' from the beginning of my episcopate to do nothing of my
own private opinion without your counsel and without the
counsel of the lay people.' If here again, after thought-
ful reconsideration by ourselves and our brethren, fair
unanimity be attained, we shall have promoted, I believe,
the best interests of our branch of the Church. It would
then follow that, before finally taking action, we should
again communicate with the authorities of our Church in
England and America, and with the missionary societies,
which, while rightly disclaiming ecclesiastical authority,
310 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
have so large an interest in our work and embody so rich a
practical experience of the Church's needs.
The question here suggests itself as to what relationship,
if any, the Nippon Sei Kokwai desired to maintain towards
other Christian bodies outside the limits of the Anglican
communion. Did she assume the sole right to act and
speak authoritatively for all those Japanese who had been
also baptised into the Holy Name ? Did she shut her eyes
to their existence, and to the fact that numerically they
were far stronger than all her members twice told ?
The answer which the Bishop would have made to
these questions can be unmistakably inferred from his own
words.
He did plainly hold that :
The result of evangelistic work here, which has been the
formation of a large number of organised native Churches,
not in communion, if the word be used in the accepted
sense of an allowed interchange of ministries in the conse-
cration of the Eucharist, is most wasteful of strength and
means, and, consistently with the language and teaching of
the New Testament, cannot be held to be in accordance
with the mind of Christ. 1
At least it may be admitted that none have spent many
years in missions without the desire growing deeper and
stronger in their souls not to perpetuate in the land of
their adoption the divisions of the land of their birth.
Here, and in the East generally, gloss it over as you will
by high sounding terms, mitigate it as you may and ought
1 In the same sermon, The Church in Japan, he quoted the following
words from Mr. Eugene Stock (C.M.S.), in his book, Steps to Truth, p. 62 :
' It will not do to think and teach as if Catholicity consisted in a happy
belief that our Lord meant Christendom to consist of some hundreds of
distinct Churches, holding no communion one with another. No, the Church
our Lord founded was a visible organised and undivided society, and ought
to have remained so, and the fact that it has not so remained ... is to be
ascribed not to divine grace, but to human imperfection. ' And he also quoted
the striking passage of Professor Milligan in his book, The Resurrection of
Our Lord (pp. 203-5), especially his words, 'The world will never be won
by a disunited Church.'
NIPPON SEI KOKWAI 3H
by kindly feeling and social intercourse, yet the hindrances
which impede the work of the Lord by the disunion of His
followers are too plain and obtrusive to be put on one side.
From much thinking over them, brethren, I know
something of the greatness of the difficulties which beset
this question. On the one hand, we are bound to do
nothing which could compromise one word which goes
toward expressing in human language the essential facts
of the faith. We inherit, and may not surrender, the
Orders which connect us with the Church of apostolic
times, and with the great communion, now spread into
every land, to which we belong. But we have other duties,
too, than these. We must also keep steadily before our-
selves and our people the divine ideal as at least a hope of
the future ; we must not plead the faults of the past as a
justification for easy acquiescence in the difficulties of the
present. We must lay stress on our privileges, but in
doing so we must endeavour to divide what is useful and
salutary for ourselves from what is essential as a basis of
corporate reunion.
All, therefore, that the Bishop believed to be possible
was :
Deliberation not upon the creation but the fuller organ-
isation of a Church, and our consultations will be carried on
under the ennobling belief that they will contribute both
to the closer union of our own people and the extension
among us of the work of God, and also to the eventual
regathering into one larger communion, in the confession of
one creed and the participation of the same sacraments,
of many from wJiom vve have been separated.
All that he hoped was that the
Constitution of a formal synod which can express the
mind of the whole Church will be of the greatest service
towards settling what is essential as the basis of corporate
reunion.
All that, moved by divine charity, he anticipated was
the day
When this people shall long have been numbered among
the Christian nations, men shall look back not without
312 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETII
gratitude to you who in divine Providence have been
among the first to teach them the truth of God, and still
more often, as we pray, shall return with thanks and praise
to Him, ' the Father of unchangeable Po\vcr and eternal
Light, through Whom things which were cast down are
being raised up, and things which had grown old are being
made new l ; ' Whose revealed purpose it is in some second
' meeting point of the ages,' when again the times are full,
to regather all things into Him from Whom at the first
they took their origin, even into His Son Jesus Christ our
Lord.
Within these limits, and by keeping in view this out-
look, most men will be ready to agree that he was justified
in excusing himself and the conference from the charge of
presumption in organising the Nippon Sei Kokwai :
It is not, I trust, presumptuous to believe that though
as a company of missionaries we are not a full representa-
tion even of a local Church, and can claim but little
authority for our decisions beyond their intrinsic rightful-
ness, yet that so far as we continue in holy counsel, with
prayer and supplication in the Spirit, in implicit obedience
with St. James to the divine will as revealed in the inspired
writings, with St. Peter and St. Paul and St. Barnabas,,
contributing each that which individual experience may
have taught us for the gain of all, we too shall have that
special guidance which is vouchsafed by God to the Church
in the ' fellowship of sacred counsel.'
But so far as Reunion with Methodist missionaries
(American) was concerned, the year 1887 was not allowed
to close without a definite endeavour being made to clear
the ground of misunderstanding by conferring together on
this subject.
A conference of the representatives of the Methodist
and Anglican missions in Japan was held during Advent
(December 10, 1887), being the result of the following
resolution passed at the conference of the missionaries of
1 See Canon Bright's Ancient Collects, p. 98.
NIPPON SEI KUKWAI
313
the Anglican communion held at Osaka in the previous
February :
That this united conference of the missionaries of the
Church of England and of the Protestant Episcopal
Church of America wishes to place on record its desire for
the establishment in Japan of a Christian Church, which
by imposing no non-essential conditions of communion,
shall include as many as possible of the Christians of this
country.
At a preliminary meeting held in July, Bishop Bicker-
steth was asked 'to put before the conference such definite
suggestions as he might think would lead, if they were
accepted, to practical action,' and at the first of a series of
conferences, which were conducted in the spirit alike of
candour and charity, he read a paper on ' The Basis of
Christian Union.' His paper was printed in obedience to
the request of those who heard it. After defending the
resolution just mentioned from some criticisms directed
against its indefiniteness, which was not the result of
carelessness but of intention, on the part of those who
drafted it, he showed that it rested on a belief, and at the
same time abstained from any definition of method or
means through which the belief might find embodiment.
The belief was that the intention of our Lord in founding
His Church was to establish a visible and organic society,
which should maintain His faith and worship till He
should come again. It therefore logically followed that
all breaches of organic union in the Christian body,
however far their existence might be over-ruled by His
Providence, were not in accordance with His design, but
the result of human perverseness.
After emphasising two points : (i) that union, not unity,
was their goal, for unity to a large extent might be believed
already to exist, however hidden by diversities, among all
followers of the One Lord, and (2) that union among the
BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETK
Japanese bretJiren was in the main their aim, he quoted
words of Archbishop Benson 1 to the effect that union in
the mission field, could it be attained, would react
powerfully upon the Churches of western lands. He next
urged that union, if it was to be more than a mere name,
implied a fundamental agreement in regard to (i) creed,
(2) rite, and (3) organisation.
(i) With regard to creed, those whom the union com-
prised must appeal to the same standards of doctrine and
teaching, not implying a rigid identity of view or a verbal
uniformity of statement on all doctrinal matters, but
resting on a primary acceptance of those facts which
constitute the faith. Admittedly, the Christian faith
differed radically from all other systems of belief in that
it not only appealed to but (so to speak) consisted of
historical facts. Christians believe not in abstract pro-
positions about God, but in God Himself, revealed in His
Son, Jesus Christ their Lord.
To Christians salvation depended not merely or chiefly
on the acceptance of a doctrinal system, but on union with
a Person. There could be no union which did not rest on
a common acceptance of those primary facts which con-
stitute the faith. Christians in past days have gone far
beyond this in the endeavour after union in matters of
belief. The two vast systems of belief, the theologies of
Rome and Geneva, each with a lengthened history, each of
great logical consistency on its own principles, each from
points of view not without grandeur of conception and
dignity of statement, have claimed exclusive control over
the faith of believers. But although grateful to individuals
on one side and the other, such as St. Philip Neri, the
early Oratorians of Paris, the gifted recluses of Port Royal,
the learned patristic scholars of St. Maur, Fenelon and
Bossuet, Montalembert, Gratry, and the modern school of
1 ' It requires large wisdom abroad and great forbearance at home to work
out an ideal of the Catholic Church, so various and yet one. If it be not too
sanguine a view to take, one might almost think that while Christendom is
seeming to be offending against such wisdom by raising up at present in every
heathen land three or four different Churches, representing our home fashions,
it will be impossible to maintain their variances where they have no historic
foundation to rest on, and thus God may be preparing their extinction here
through the unreasonableness of their separation there.' The Seven Gifts,
p. 219.
NIPPON SEI KOKWAI 315
French Christian Socialists ; or such as Calvin, a prince
among commentators, and Chalmers yet personally he
felt that both these systems contained vast and ultimately
fatal additions to the apostolic faith, and he could have
no say to a Church which made the acceptance of any one
characteristic article of the creed of Pius IV. or of the
Westminster Confession a condition of communion.
^Thc positive and negative limitations, then, within
which he felt bound to place himself as to belief were the
obligatory acceptance of the facts of the creed, but no
submission to any particular doctrine of the Roman or
Genevan schools. Assuming that there would be no
division of opinion as to the primary authority of the
Jewish and Christian Scriptures, he would be satisfied if
the Nicene Creed (if necessary, with the Filioque clause
bracketed) were made the sole other standard of belief.
(2) Passing from creed to rites, of which the two
principal were the two holy sacraments of Baptism and
the Eucharist, the question arose, ' Is it the duty of a
Church to lay down a doctrine of sacramental belief? ' If
it does not do so, is it so far neglecting that teaching office
for which, among other things it is set, as to forfeit the
divine blessing? Allowing due weight to the fact that
the great majority of existing Churches defined sacramental
doctrine and imposed their definition as a condition, if not
of membership, at least of ministry, he thought that this
fact might be paralleled by another not less weighty
i.e. that the primitive Church maintained its unity, defended
the faith, and extended its own borders with a success not
wholly equalled since, without the aid of any dogmatic
decisions on sacramental questions. Indeed, discussion on
such questions in early days was almost unknown. The
primitive faith in regard to them was to be gathered, not
from the records of controversies, but from incidental
notices. He asked, then, was it not conceivable that,
without reflection on the action considered necessary in
later centuries, it might be right for a Church in a heathen
land to-day to fall back on yet older precedents ? Such a
Church would insist on the unfailing performance at the
administration of the sacraments in all particulars of the
acts commanded, and on the exact repetition of the words
prescribed by our Lord, but not lay down as of obligation
any particular view of the nature of the spiritual benefit
316 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
conferred. He should feel able to agree to such a deci-
sion, though he claimed the right of reconsideration, and
though he himself held fullest views as to the spiritual
benefits conferred on the faithful in the sacraments of adop-
tion and love. As to confirmation, he must remind them
that the Anglican communion, while fully expressing her
belief in the spiritual gifts of which she held it to be a
means, did not exact its acceptance as an absolute condition
of admission to Holy Communion. As it was a rite of
such large authority and precedent, he trusted that no
difficulty would be felt in accepting the Anglican principle,
that the rite is fully recognised but not imposed.
(3) With regard to organisation, under which legis-
lative, judicial, and ministerial action was comprised,
he confined himself to the Christian ministry, asserting
that if agreement as to its form could be attained,
then the legislative and judicial procedure would not
present insuperable difficulties. But he was bold to state
that no scheme of union would in his judgment carry
with it any reasonable hope of acceptance in the commu-
nion to which he belonged which did not make provision
for a definitely episcopal succession and a threefold
ministry. He was not now raising the question of what
forms of Holy Orders are, and what are not, valid in
matters spiritual, but, mindful of the tenacity with which
the Anglican Church, through the most terrible crises in
her history, had maintained the same principles of succes-
sion and order, he felt sure that in practice she would
maintain them always. If, then, it was a priori impossible
for the representatives of Methodist Churches in Japan to
co-operate in the establishment of a Japanese Church with
a threefold ministry obtained through an episcopal succes-
sion, the discussion on ecclesiastical and organic union
would be vain. But he had been encouraged to believe
that, though probably not accepting the usual Anglican
standpoint which would refer such a ministry to apostolic
direction, yet that for the sake of the great and momentous
issues in view, the ministry which the Anglicans held to
be apostolic might in practice be accepted by all.
In conclusion, he confessed that if this broad basis
of agreement were arrived at, the way would not yet
be plain for immediate action to bring about the establish-
ment of a Church which accepted the Scriptures as its
o
NIPPON SEI KOKWAI 317
authority and the Nicene Creed as its standard, which
rigidly adhered, without doctrinal explanation of the
spiritual mystery, to the administration of the sacraments
in the forms which the Lord appointed, and which main-
tained the threefold ministry and the apostolic succession.
Authoritative action must proceed from the Churches at
home, but there the tide was setting more and more strongly
year by year towards the adoption of some such principles
as those which underlie the above proposals. While as to
the Japanese Christians, he had not heard any expression
of opinion in favour of the ultimate adoption as their own
standard of faith and teaching of any doctrinal confession
of the sixteenth or seventeenth centuries, nor had he seen
any desire among them to entangle themselves in the long
and mournful sacramental controversies of the Western
Church.
Union comprehensive, organic, practical might still
be reserved for a far-ofT day, and be realised only in some
distant generation. Let it be so. It was not till genera-
tions and centuries had run their course that He came in
whom all the separated nations of earth were blessed.
Christians could afford to wait without loss of hope. In
aiming at union, they were working on the line of a revealed
purpose of God, and bringing nearer the fulfilment of the
last prayer of the Master.
Curiosity may be felt as to what practical result, if
any, came from this conference. Immediate consequences
were not looked for by its promoters, and the Bishop in a
subsequent pastoral, while admitting that ' it had not been
possible to take any immediate steps towards the solution
of various practical difficulties which beset the whole ques-
tion,' expressed his own belief that the conference with
representatives of various Methodist missions had not been
4 without fruit.' '
1 ' It is worthy of note, especially on an occasion like this, when so many
of our brethren from other communions have met together in respect to the
memory of him who was so lately among us, that one of his first acts on his
arrival in Japan was to put forth terms of a basis for reunion or communion
with ourselves of all or any of the bodies called Protestant which are working in
Japan. The response his appeal met with was to a great extent disappointing.
318 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
It will, then, be admitted that the determination to
organise the Nippon Sci Kokwai was not due to any over-
looking of the work already undertaken by others, but that
its organisation grew out of the hope that it might ultimately
help to promote the union of Christians in Japan, and
meanwhile preserve the fulness of the faith.
The permanent results of these early labours were em-
bodied in ' The Constitution and Canons l of the Nippon Sei
Kokwai,' from which it will be seen that the legislative
authority of the Nippon Sei Kokwai was the synod, that
the executive authority rested in the main with those who
were ordained to holy offices, and that the judicial authority
remained still in large part to be settled, though some
temporary rules were agreed upon.
THE CONSTITUTION AND CANONS OF THE
NIPPON SEI KOKWAI
Article I. The Church shall be called the Nippon Sei
Kokwai (Holy Catholic Church of Japan).
Article II. This Church doth accept and believe all
the Canonical Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments,
as given by inspiration of God, and as containing all
things necessary to salvation, and doth profess the faith
as summed up in the Nicene Creed and that commonly
called the Apostles' creed.
The attempt was perhaps premature, and out of place in Japan, where
the various missions are dependent on the home Churches. But no one can
believe that such efforts, made by such men, are altogether in vain or without
effect in hastening the coming of that day when " there shall be one fold," as
there is " one Shepherd ; " and the evidence which he gave so early in his
life here of his desire to break down the wall of separation which divides
Christians from Christians was but one proof of the spirit which actuated him
to the end, and to the existence of which many can here bear witness.'
Address of Archdeacon Shaw at Karuizawa, August 1897, after hearing of
Bishop Ediuard BickcrstetKs death.
1 For the Canons see Appendix B.
NIPPON SEI KOKWAI 319
Article III. This Church will minister the doctrine
and sacraments and discipline of Christ, as the Lord
hath commanded, and will maintain inviolate the three
orders of Bishops, Priests, and Deacons in the sacred
ministry.
Article IV. There shall be a general synod of this
Church at least every third year from the year of our
Lord 1887, at such times and in such places as shall be
determined by the Bishop or Bishops at the time being
resident in Japan ; who also, after consultation with each
Standing Committee, shall have the right to convene
special meetings of the synod, if occasion should arise.
Article V. The synod shall be composed of the
Bishops and all clergymen canonically resident in their
jurisdictions (not under discipline) and of lay delegates
to be chosen by the local councils.
Provided that so soon as an increase in the number of
clergy shall render it necessary, they also shall be repre-
sented by delegates.
Article VI. The Bishops shall vote separately from
the clergy and lay representatives, and no resolution shall
be deemed to have been carried unless a majority of the
Bishops and of the clerical and lay representatives, voting
conjointly or by orders, vote in its favour ; provided that
so long as there are only two Bishops, if one of them vote
with the majority for the resolution it shall be deemed to
have been carried.
Article VII. The powers of the synod, when duly
convened, shall extend to :
(i) Deliberation on all questions relating to the welfare
and progress of the Church. (2) The establishing and
carrying on of home and foreign missionary societies.
(3) The making, amending, and rescinding of canons.
The synod shall also have power to amend the consti-
32O BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
tution ; provided that, a notice of the proposed amend-
ment having been given and accepted in a previous
regular synod, a majority of two-thirds of the members
vote in its favour.
Article VIII. The President of the synod shall be a
Bishop elected by the Bishops present thereat. 1
The Canons related to such points as : (i) Of the ad-
mission of candidates for Holy Orders ; (2) of admitted
candidates ; (3) of examination for ordination ; (4) of
ordination ; (6) of (Japanese) Bishops ; (7) of unordained
agents ; (8) of discipline ; (10) of Local Councils ; (n) of
vestries; (12) of the Missionary Society; (13) of conse-
crated buildings ; and (14) of marriage and divorce.
Of these, the drafting of the Canon on marriage and
divorce was at that time deferred, and the full considera-
tion of the text of six others was not then entered upon ;
but it was evident to the Japanese, as well as to the
authorities, in England, that a real step forward had been
taken. He wrote to me from Shiba, Tokyo :
June 30, 1887.
My dearest Sam, . . . The attempting something
like synodical action so quickly was only justified by our
exceptional circumstances, but had we not done so I doubt
if we should have maintained our position at all. The
Japanese are far too independent a people not to demand
some share in self-government from the beginning. I see
from the Archbishop's speech at St. James's Hall I have
not yet heard from him that a long letter I wrote him
convinced him of this.
Your very affectionate Brother,
EDWARD BICKERSTETH, Bishop.
The Archbishop had written a few months before ~ : ' I
think you really know how almost impatient I am for
1 In this reprint of the Constitution I have embodied some slight alterations
made later. S. B.
2 Addington Park, December 31, 1886.
NIPPON SEI KOKWAI 321
native Churches, and will know how that I desire only
to have such important work solid;' but, in criticising a
draft 'copy of the constitutions and Canons sent to him
for that purpose, he had deprecated ' such vast questions
being hurried to a conclusion/ while admitting that 'Japan
was evidently a country requiring its native Church, and
able to receive it early.' The Archbishop had argued, ' I
understand how Nonconformist bodies feel bound to pre-
cipitate conclusions and make fully-expanded organisa-
tions at once. But it does not become us to follow a
method novel to us or to initiate temporary formations
and formulations. No historical Church has legislated so
rapidly as you propose. Things with us grow and ripen
in their own time.'
It will be seen that Bishop Bickersteth, notwithstand-
ing, had kept to his own opinion and carried his point,
and the Archbishop came to agree with him. If the
political precocity of the Japanese is a fair analogy, it
may be asserted that the younger man on the spot rightly
saw that the proverbial danger would wait upon delay
in ecclesiastical as in political affairs. The impression,
however, must not be given that he acted from impatience
or from impulse. On the contrary, in his own English
copy of the constitution and Canons, besides numerous
references to the early Fathers, to Archbishop Cranmer, and
to others, I find, copied on the front page, these words of
John Keble, which express the principle on which he desired
to act : ' It can never be wise for the Church to do grave
things in a hurry.'
A perusal of the Bishop's sermons and correspondence
at this time leave on the mind the impression that he did
not act precipitately, but in keeping with this cautious
quotation, and that he felt at every turn the necessity of
anticipating and of meeting objections, of conciliating
322 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
prejudices, and of drawing together those who had pre-
viously stood apart. The smooth working of the general
synods (at first held biennially, and now made triennial)
since that held in the first year of his episcopate justifies
the belief that the work thus in God begun will continue
to the building up of the Japanese Church.
Writing to his clergy in Lent 1888, the Bishop was
able to say :
I look back with especial pleasure to our conference
and synod at Osaka in February of last year. I believe
that the steps which were then taken will, with God's
blessing, have the most beneficial influence on the history
of the Church. At the same time, it is inevitable that some
special difficulties should attend an attempt to secure
united action in a way and to a degree for which there is
no exact precedent. Prayer, study, and consultation will
enable us to overcame them as they arise. For the pre-
sent I need only remind you that no clergyman, whether
Japanese or English, is released from the obligation to
obey in their entirety, so far as is possible in this country,
the directions of the Prayer Book. Whether a more
elastic system may hereafter be possible, and if possible
desirable, is one of the many problems awaiting solution in
the future.
Although the constitution and Canons agreed upon
by the synod, as the legislative authority, were in the
main accepted by the Christian congregations as well
as by those who represented them in the conference, there
were not wanting those here and there who were tempted
to take a line of their own. As usual in such differences
of practice, the points in themselves were small, but not
therefore necessarily insignificant. For example, the use of
the surplice, a cross and flowers on the Holy Table, the
position of the font, bowing at the human name of our
Lord and at the doxology, standing at the entrance of the
ministers and during the offertory, the omission of the
NIPPON SEI KOKWAI 323
prayer for the church militant these were some of the
matters in dispute.
The duty of a missionary Bishop to govern can never
for long be a sinecure when he has to deal with nascent
congregations of newly converted Christians. This is
especially the case when the converts are a people as
independent and as ready to take a line of their own as
the English race itself. It has been said that ' not only
England, but every Englishman is an island.' The same
remark, whether in censure or in commendation, may be
made of the Japanese. The following extracts from a
letter of Bishop Bickersteth's written on December 31,
1887, well illustrate the sympathy and judgment which
he tried to blend in his treatment of even minor ritual
difficulties. Recent experience in England has shown the
danger of the casual policy of saying to clergy, ' Do it,
but do not ask me.' Bishop Edward Bickersteth, without
being fussy, was firm, and his temperament made him 1
unable to leave these things to take care of themselves.
After explaining and enforcing the importance of the
principles of (i) authority, (2) freedom, and (3) unity, the
Bishop gave the following ruling :
The use of the surplice. I gathered from you that the
brethren would like a special garment to be used, but not
of a white colour. I should not be opposed to this in itself,
still I cannot but hope that it will become more and more
natural to us to associate the white colour not with false
worships, but with the holy worship of God in Heaven, in
which hereafter we hope to join. (See Rev. iii. 45 ; iv. 4 ;
vi. 1 1 ; xix. 8).
Floivers and cross on the Holy Table. Flowers, God's
most beautiful works, seem fully in place in God's house,
the place where our Lord deigns especially to be, and as
accompaniments of the services of our religion, of which,
as resting on the resurrection, the very keynote is victory
and praise. The cross is a symbol used by Christians
324 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
from very early times. I observe that on the outside of
churches it is common among all Christians in Japan. I
should be sorry to see either the flowers or the cross dis-
carded. At the same time, if in any place there is a danger
of giving offence, either to weaker brethren or unbelievers,
by placing them on the Holy Table, I should feel that this
was a case in which St. Paul's principle applied, as stated
in i Cor. viii. 13, and that for the present it is better
to avoid placing them in that position.
The position of t lie font. In time to come I cannot but
hope that some of our churches may be erected on the
ancient plan, a plan which was also adopted at the church
where I usually worshipped in India. According to it,
Christians only are admitted into the main body of the
church, unbelievers having a place assigned them in a
large porch separated by a low wall or barrier from the
nave itself. The font would then naturally be placed just
within the nave. This plan allows unbelievers to listen to
God's word preached, which by His grace may become the
means of their conversion, but prevents them from seeming
to belong to the congregation in which, not having been
baptised, they have as yet no place. Catechumens should
also have a special place assigned them. Experience has
shown that such arrangements are a real help to the
orderly and devout conduct of God's worship, and help the
worshippers to realise more fully the privilege of belonging
to the Church of Christ.
Bowing at the human name of our Lord and at the
do.vology. These are Christian customs, practised in some
of our churches, not in others. They certainly should be
by no means enforced, but neither should they be forbidden.
To do so would cause great grief to some tender con-
sciences. Bowing at the mention of our Lord's name in
the creed is almost universal, but even here individual
liberty should be respected. Further, it may be taken as a
rule that simple forms of outward devotion are an assis-
tance, elaborate forms a hindrance to that devotion of the
heart which is the one thing needful.
Standing at the entrance of the ministers. In some of
our churches this is the practice, in some it is not. It
seems to me just one of those points which should be left
to be decided according to the wishes of individual clergy
and congregations. Personally I prefer it. It is a mark
NIPPON SEI KOKWAI
325
of respect for the ministers of Christ which accords well
with the teaching of the New Testament (see, for instance,
i Thess. v. 12, 13; Heb. xiii. 17, & c .). Besides it gives
an opportunity for all to kneel with the minister in private
prayer before the service commences. Thoughts which
have wandered to earthly things are in this way collected
for the solemn duty of worshipping Almighty God.
Facing, as far as possible, the same way during prayer.
Probably all would be agreed on this. It would, however,
be best not to make a law on the subject, which might fret
some of the brethren who had been accustomed to a
different use. A good custom will gradually prevail
through its own goodness.
With regard to other resolutions which referred to
singing the responses to the commandments, singing before
the gospel, and prayer by the preacher before his sermon,
such points might well be left to the decision of congrega-
tions and individual preachers. Some preachers are very
fond of saying a short extempore prayer before their
sermon. I do not myself adopt the plan, but should be
sorry to see others forbidden to adopt it by a law.
In conclusion, the Bishop expressed his conviction that :
The Prayer Book would require very large modification
before it can be finally accepted as the service book of the
Nippon Sei Kokwai. But successful alterations require
much prayer, great caution, and, as I have said, long study.
Without these loss would be certain and gain doubtful.
Even at present no one who studies and uses the prayers
can fail to have vividly impressed upon his mind and heart
certain great principles and truths which are founded on
the teaching of Holy Scripture and are needed for all times.
They are such as these : the obligation of definite belief in
revealed truth, the duty of worship as the highest act of
redeemed men, the authority of the threefold ministry, the
reality of sacramental grace, the duty of reverence, alike
outward and inward, in God's house and service. These
and other truths our Church has been in a special way
entrusted with. We do not, then, want in any way to
reduce our teaching and services to the level of what others
may think right : but rather to point out, as occasion offers,
that inasmuch as all our teaching and practice is founded
326 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
on God's revelation and in accordance therewith, it must
have a real bearing on the spiritual life and progress of all
the Christian people of the land.
You will join me in the prayer that God may enable
our Church to guard the heritage which He has committed
to us, and while holding great truths and principles un-
altered, wisely to adapt their external embodiment to the
special circumstances of your favoured land a land which
we who have come hither from far learn to love as truly as
yourselves.
These counsels of the Bishop to the Church at Osaka
have been quoted at length, not because of anything
exceptionally important in this particular case, but to
show that he did not neglect the duty of minute super-
vision imposed upon him by his office ; and that he kept
jealously in view, as a trustee of the faith, the future
interest of the Japanese Church, refusing to be tied and
bound by party considerations.
In opening the third biennial synod (April 4, 1891),
the Bishop made a determined effort to bring home to the
Nippon Sei Kokwai, especially to the more progressive and
least-balanced members of the synod, the limitations
under which all their discussions must be carried on, unless
they were to snap their continuity with the best traditions
handed on by the Catholic Church. He pointed out the
essential difference between schools of thought and sects, the
benefit of the one, the danger of the other, and urged that
the Nippon Sei Kokwai ' must act within its terms, submit
to temporary limitations, and not cramp a reasonable
variety.'
Are there any principles which it were well to bear in
mind as fitted to limit and control our discussions ? There
are three things which, as it seems to me, if duly con-
sidered, will supply the needful limitations, as well as a
main guidance of our action.
Of these, the first is the fact to which I have already
NIPPON SEI KOKWAI
327
alluded, that we are a branch of the Catholic Church. As
such, we are the depositaries in our faith and orders of a
great trust with which we have no right to meddle. To
retain it, and to hand it on unimpaired to the generation
which shall succeed us, is our highest privilege. It is the
profession of the Christian faith, witnessed to by Holy
Scripture and enshrined in the creed, which alone makes
us to be Christians, while the organisation of the ministry,
which is of God's ordering,"not of human contrivance, links
us with the Church of the past and with contemporary
Churches in other lands. These things are not brought
into debate among us. They are, if I may borrow the
language of geometry, the axioms and postulates which
lie at the basis of our discussions. No small part of the
progress to which I have referred is due to the steadfast-
ness of our profession in these regards. The inquirer who
joins us is left in no doubt as to the character of our belief,
and the nature of our organisation and worship.
Now this is a limitation which, as I have said, unless as
a Church we would commit spiritual suicide, must always
remain. Not so that which I have now to mention, which
is in its own nature merely temporary. I mean the limita-
tion which arises from our present connection with the
Anglican communion, and especially with its three
branches in England, America, and Canada. Let us look
at this point without prejudice. Two things are to be
remembered, (i) The great majority of our clergy are as
yet foreigners, bound by the obligations of their ordination
vows, supported entirely by foreign contributions, and
dependent on foreign Churches for their maintenance in
sickness or old age ; and though there would be no canonical
hindrance that I am aware of the two ministries being on
the spiritual side identical to Japanese clergy transferring
themselves to the service of the Anglican communion, or
of Anglican clergy resigning their position in their own
Church and entering the ministry of the Sei Kokwai, yet,
as you are aware, want of means in the Sei Kokwai, and
perhaps some provisions of the civil law, render this for
the present impossible. This is one side of the question.
On the other hand, it is plain (2) that the laws of the
Church as defined by the synod must be obeyed alike by
all who minister, whether Japanese or foreign. Law would
lose its fundamental character if it could be neglected
We are a
branch of
the Catho-
lic Church
We arc
connected
with the
Anglican
Commu-
nion
328
BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
We must
allow large
differences
of opinion
Schools of
thought v.
sects
by those who are especially charged with its administra-
tion.
Let me add one limitation more. Our action should be
controlled by a frank recognition that the Church must
allow large differences of opinion within her pale on minor
points. Every great Church, as distinguished from the
sects, developes within itself individualised schools of
thought. A sect is a body of men which breaks off from
the historic society which Christ founded with the view
of emphasising some particular opinions, always more or
less true, on which its members have come to lay special,
if not exclusive, store. Owing to the presence of the truth
in what it holds, the sect has a certain temporary vitality,
until it be again absorbed into the catholic body. Now
the emphasising of particular views by different sections of
believers is inevitable. It is due, on the one hand, to the
infinity of truth, and, on the other, to the narrow limitation
of human faculties. Like other necessary phenomena, it
must, then, be allowed for, as well as controlled, in the
Church. Its true exhibition is in the formation of schools
of thought, which, while all confessing the same, facts of the
historic creed, contribute each their own quota towards its
elucidation. Such schools are not antagonistic but com-
plementary, not mutually destructive but ancillary the one
to the other. Jew and Gentile in the first century, the
Mystical School of Alexandria and the literal interpre-
ters of Antioch in the third and fourth, the Scotist and
Dominican Schoolmen in the thirteenth to avoid instances
nearer to our own day each in their turn contributed
something to the fuller apprehension of the faith. For
the moment, they may have counted one another as foes.
They were really fellow-labourers in the cause of Christ.
Now it must be evident to you that schools of thought
are being formed, too, among ourselves. It is natural that
it should be so, for the reasons which I have assigned ;
doubly natural because of the character of the communion
to which we owe our Christianity. It is our business tc
see that no attempt at exclusive or selfish legislation drives
into extreme courses developments which are not in them-
selves unhealthy. Schools may be vehicles both of the
divine grace and truth. Schisms and partisanships are
sin, and too easily forfeit the one and obscure the other.
Let there be among us, then, liberty for such varieties of
NIPPON SEI KOKWAI 329
teaching as are not inconsistent with a common faith, and
for such developments of ritual as do not conflict with a
common order. Here, if anywhere, the lessons of the past
may come to our assistance. Who can read without
deepening sadness the later religious history of the coun-
tries of Central Europe which accepted the Reformation of
the sixteenth century? The movement was in itself
inevitable, and might have been fraught with unmingled
blessings. But the sacrifice of common order and the
unbalanced assertion of individual opinions have gone far
to extinguish the faith itself in the countries which wit-
nessed it. On the other hand, many of the Churches of
the further East have, in past times, suffered from the im-
position, alike in practice and doctrinal statement, of a rigid
and unreasoning uniformity. Let us accept the warning
for ourselves. They who know that their teaching and
worship are built upon apostolic foundations need not aim
at a featureless sameness, whether of doctrinal statement
or ritual practice. Those with whom liberty at any time
shows risk of developing into licence, will feel it needful to
fall back on common order and principle. Two apostolic
words from the same epistle, both addressed in the first
instance to the assertors of unqualified liberty, may serve
to clench the lesson both to them and equally to the
maintainers of an unreasoning uniformity : ' Came the
Word of God unto you alone?' (i Cor. xiv. 36); 'We
have no such custom, neither the Churches of God ' (i Cor.
xi. 1 6).
Let me, then, earnestly recommend to you the recog- Three
nition of these three points as fitted to regulate and control P s
our discussions. The Church is not in search of a faith, .
but founded on a revelation. It must act within its terms.
For the time being we are in close relationship with one
of the communions of the West. We will submit to the
temporary limitation which this involves. // is neither
possible nor desirable to mould all minds on one type nor
to satisfy all desires by one form. We will not by minute
regulations cramp a reasonable variety.
Subject to these limitations and controlled by the sense
of the Divine Presence, we may adopt, I believe, such
measures as seem good to us in the fullest confidence of
being guided by the Spirit of God. We are now in the
second period of our history. In the first, in which I
330 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
personally had no share, the work, which was exclusively
evangelistic, was mainly in foreign hands. That' period
has gone by and has been succeeded by the present, of
which the duties are both evangelistic and pastoral, and
throughout which co-operation should be the word inscribed
over either field of energy. As time again goes on, the
sphere of evangelisation will grow smaller, and that of
pastoral activity be continually enlarged, until, either in
our own time or in that of our successors, the work which
began in the hands of foreigners will pass wholly into the
hands of Japanese.
The influ- This, by Divine Providence, is the order of the Church's
ence which progress in every land. It may be helpful to remember
the Church j T-I . r i
may have wnere we n w stand. The prospect is one of solemn
on the responsibility and of inspiring hopefulness. It is opened
State to us, too, at a time when, more than at any earlier period
if a foreigner may rightly judge, through the progress of
political organisation, the country stands in need of a
solid core and centre of thoughtful men, who recognise the
obligations of righteousness, unselfishness, and philan-
thropy, because they are implicated in their creed. It is
not too much to say that representative government, if it
is to be permanent, demands a religious people. If so
for other systems of belief are dying or dead the future
rests with the Church. I can only allude to this here.
The first great subject which came before the synod,
and towards which it was necessary to exhibit the principles
of caution mentioned above, was the Revision of the
Japanese Prayer Book. This weighty matter of revision
was wisely relegated by the synod to a committee, and
occupied six years of anxious work. Year by year the
Bishop, in writing ad clerum, referred to this question, and
its gradual progress towards the form which it now has
assumed can be traced by his references to it in successive
Pastorals. Every year he brought forward this matter, but
never from exactly the same point of view, dealing with
the application of great principles either to the office of
Holy Communion, or to special services, or to daily
Prayers, or some kindred point.
NIPPON SEI KOKWAI
331
p ray e r
Book
In his Pastoral of 1890 he wrote :
Some would also look with favour on an effort, not only Some re-
to revise, but to remodel the Offices of the Church, so as
to bring them, as they believe, more into harmony with
eastern modes of thought and devotion. I am very far
from thinking that a translation of our English Book of
Common Prayer will be finally accepted as its service book
by an Oriental Church. But for two reasons I trust that
for some years to come no steps will be taken in the direc-
tion indicated, (i) Our Japanese brethren have not as yet
the knowledge of earlier liturgical forms, nor generally the
intimate and accurate acquaintance with Christian doctrine
which are indispensable to so refined and difficult a task as
the formation of a new liturgy. (2) The foreign clergy,
without whose assistance the services could not at present
be carried on, are under canonical obligation to use their
own Prayer Book in public worship. There is no reason
for thinking that this obligation would be satisfied by the
use of a different book, however excellent. I may add
that there might be much less difficulty in the composition
and authorisation of an appendix to the present Prayer
Book, containing such prayers and services as the special
circumstances of Japan seem to require, for example, a
prayer for protection from fire and earthquake, a prayer
for the consecration of a grave, a service for the admission
of catechumens.
To the synod of 1891 he said :
Now, what is the practical outcome of a sober considera-
tion of these two points ? I conceive it to be this that
we should exercise great caution and deliberation before knowledge
making important changes in our Service Book. At
present the substantial identity of the Prayer Books of
England, America, and Japan anticipates and prevents
alike conscientious scruples and practical difficulties. I
should be sorry by precipitate action to forfeit this advan-
tage. I am not, indeed, opposed to all change, even
immediately. The differences of East and West even
where the Christians of the three continents are bound
together by the sacred ties of a common faith and the
same spiritual lineage, render some modifications inevitable.
It is true that the English Prayer Book is not the outcome
'
332
BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
In time the
Japanese
Church
will enrich
their devo-
tions with
a termino-
logy' of
their own
of the religious thought of one nation only in any one age,
but represents in an English dress the devotional treasures
of many lands and centuries. Still, it cannot be made
entirely available here, as it is, even for immediate use.
But if some changes are inevitable and desirable, let them
be confined for the present to necessary curtailments and
additions, and to points of order and detail, and leave the
substance and fabric of the book intact. It is too soon as
yet to think of writing a new Confession of Faith outside
the catholic creeds, even if, unlike myself, you should
eventually think such to be requisite. It is too soon we
have not as yet the liturgical knowledge and skill to
recast the Prayer Book, though it may be, as has been
suggested, that the substance of Greek Liturgies and the
form of Shinto norito will prove more consonant to the
genius of your language than the brief collects and suffrages
of western growth. If we were to attempt such enter-
prises as yet, it is more likely that we should lose what we
have than gain what we have not Meanwhile the exercise
of restraint in this regard will not be without its advan-
tages. It will give opportunity for prayer and study on
subjects where, if either be omitted, no good result can be
expected.
Speaking at the synod of 1893 the Bishop said :
I cannot regret the concentration of our attention at
this early period of our history on the subject of the offices
of divine worship. To offer the service of reasonable and
acceptable worship to God through Christ is the most
exalted duty of the Church. And the dignity of the end
in view lends something of its own importance to the
media, whether ritual or verbal, which we employ in its
attainment.
And here if we ask whether in forming or developing
our own service book any guidance is afforded us by
the universal practice of the Church, the answer is not
doubtful. Take the most august of Christian rites, founded
in the institution of our Lord himself, the liturgy, or
service of Holy Communion. Observe and compare the
services which have been used by various Churches in
different eras and in different lands. Note how certain
features characterise all alike the reading of Holy Scrip-
NIPPON SEI KOKWAI
333
turc, the offering of definite and orderly intercession,
adoration and praise in union with the company of heaven,
the commemoration of the institution of Christ and the
communion of the faithful. Yet, on the other hand, mark
how rich is the variety of prayers and praises which the
great liturgies contain, as men of God in different ages and
lands sometimes great doctors and fathers, a Basil or a
Chrysostom, a Leo or a Gregory, more often unnamed
students and saints have elaborated them for His glory.
We cannot fail to see the bearing of this twofold fact this
unanimity and this variety upon ourselves. We too, I
trust, shall always gladly maintain the great outlines of the
sacramental offices which unite us with the Churches of
other lands. Yet as time goes on, Japanese Christianity,
like Palestinian and Alexandrian, Italian and Gallican
Christianity in the early days, will enrich its own service
with devotions of which the language will betray no hand
except that of its own writers, and will pass what it borrows
from foreign services through the alembic of the mind and
heart of Japanese theologians and liturgists. For the
present, indeed, we are in no way ready for so great a
work. The formation of a suitable theological terminology,
the preparation of minor offices, with the consideration of
certain subordinate details of service arising from the
difference of the two eucharistic offices from which our own
is drawn, will sufficiently occupy our attention. Yet even
in these lesser matters you will, I hope, feel how serious
the duty is with which as a synod we are entrusted, and
how necessary it is to be guided by right principles.
In the Pastoral of 1894 he wrote :
No doubt the day is as yet far distant when a Japanese
synod will be able profitably to undertake the discussion
of serious ritual and liturgical questions. It was, so to
say, the chance of two Prayer Books being employed by
the Anglican missions in this country which gave occasion
for any such discussions at the present stage of develop-
ment. It is to be hoped that many years will be allowed
to pass by before they are renewed as regards the substance
of our Service Book. The incorporation into the office of
Holy Communion of the American Prayer of Consecration
as an alternative form, the restoration of an absolution
he
stances
which
Book K -
vision ne-
334
BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
Two re-
grettable
< Jimssions
to the Visitation of the Sick, and the addition of some
excellent occasional prayers, chiefly from the revised
American Prayer Book, are among the more important
improvements. The additional services should form a
useful appendix to the Book of Common Prayer. Two
omissions are to be regretted and might well be repaired.
/ a \ jj^ j a p anese Church has as yet no adequate know-
the Re- ledge to enable its representatives to form an independent
vised Book judgment on the use of the Apocrypha. The custom of
the three Western Churches, to which she owes her
existence, ought to have been followed. () If in these
days a direction is felt to be galling, at least some recom-
mendation of the use of the daily office by the clergy
should be prefixed to the Prayer Book. Such a use is not
indeed a specific for the maintenance of a high standard of
spiritual life among the Church's ministers, but it is an
important guarantee that that end will be kept in view
and a great help towards its attainment. The standard
of religion would never have been depressed as it was in
England in the last half of the eighteenth century if the
Church's rule in the matter had not been so widely
neglected. The recovery of the practice has accompanied
and largely contributed to the present happier state of
things. The six short Prayers, a Psalm Lesson, Creed, and
Canticle with certain suffrages, which are all that are now
enjoined, link the clergyman who uses them day by day
with a great body of worshippers and of students of Holy
Writ. If he is alone, they form a framework of devotion
into which he may well fit his own special needs, and the
more often he can draw his people to use them with him
the greater their gain and his. The Church, in a phrase of
language familiar to antiquity, was the Altar and Altar-
court l of God.
The new
version
be' g ac-
Again, in his Pastoral of 1895 the Bishop wrote :
The New Japanese version of the Prayer Book has
been finished after probably a greater expenditure of toil in
translation and minute revision, extended over some six
some years vers j O ns of the Prayer Book in our day. It is impossible
to come
1 See the collection of references in the Bishop of Durham's Commentary
on the Epistle to the Hebrews, pp. 455-457.
NIPPON SET KOKWAI 335
that all should be entirely satisfied with the result. The
differences between the English and American Books
involved numerous decisions in which strong predilections,
happily by no means always running parallel with nation-
ality, were engaged on one side or the other. The selec-
tion of a theological terminology in an eastern language
adequate to render the venerable forms into which the
Christian thought of the West has cast its beliefs and
prayers is, as you are aware, a task of extreme difficulty.
This difficulty has now been in large part overcome, and
the thanks of the whole Church are due to those who,
under whatever inevitable imperfections, have given us a
service book which in completeness and literary style is
much in advance of its predecessor. I may express the
hope that now that the version is complete, it may be
allowed to remain as it is, at least for some years. No
doubt a later generation will improve upon the work of
our own. But stability is a note of the Church with which
frequent changes of liturgical forms, or even of translation,
are more or less inconsistent. As it now stands, it is, I
believe, fairly adequate to the needs of the little Japanese
Church, and like the Japanese Church itself it bears
witness to the unity of the American and English Churches,
and to the good results of the co-operation of their clergy
in a heathen land.
In the September of that year the following Joint
Pastoral from the Bishops in Japan accompanied the
actual issue of the Revised Prayer Book.
THE REVISED PRAYER BOOK
[It is requested that this letter !>e read during divine service in Church on a
Sunday shortly before the day on which the new Version is first made use of.]
Tokyo : September 1895.
To the Reverend the Clergy and the Members of the
Nippon Sei K5kwai
Dear Brethren, The revised translation of the Prayer
Book (with the exception of the Epistles, Gospels, and
Psalms) is now complete. A longer time has been spent
on the last stage of the revision than was anticipated at the
336 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
synod of 1893. ^ n consequence its publication has been
delayed beyond the date (January i, 1895) then fixed for
its compulsory use in public service. It is, therefore,
desirable that it should now be adopted with as little delay
as possible, and we request that all necessary steps be at
once taken for providing each congregation with a suffi-
cient supply of the revised edition.
Much labour has been ungrudgingly given through a
series of years to the work of revision ; and if the ends in
view have been attained, the use of the new book in
divine service cannot fail to contribute to that intelligent
and truthful worship of Almighty God which Christians
are bidden to offer. (St. John iv. 24, I Cor. xiv. 15.)
Various new prayers and additional rubrics will be
found in the body of the book. The Lectionary has been
carefully revised. The appendix contains a series of new
services, of which experience has shown the need.
We cannot but hope that the publication of this revised
version will lead to a fuller study and wider use of all parts
of the book.
The clergy are bound by their ordination vows to
follow the order of the Church's services in their ministra-
tions, and if they are fully to discharge this part of their
duty they must make themselves thoroughly acquainted
with the meaning of each rubric and prayer. In congrega-
tions where there is a minister in constant residence, it is
not lawful to omit any part of the prescribed services.
Thus, for instance, there is no justification for the prevalent
neglect of the Saints' Day services, nor for the omission of
an Evening Service on Sunday.
Again, it is impossible for teachers to fulfil the
responsible duty of instructing the young in the Catechism
(see rubric after the Church Catechism and Canon V. 5)
unless they have themselves dwelt upon the meaning of
the great moral and spiritual truths which it inculcates, in
meditation and prayer (i Tim. iv. 15). Or, to take one
other instance, the principles of such a service as that of
the Visitation of the Sick must be carefully considered
and apprehended before it can be profitably employed.
But the obligation of carefully studying and taking
regular and intelligent part in the Church's services is not
confined to the clergy. To all of us the words are
addressed, ' Ye also, as living stones, are built up a spiritual
NIPPON SEI KOKWAI 337
house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacri-
fices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ' (i St. Peter
ii. 5). We would therefore take this opportunity of
earnestly pressing upon the faithful laity of the Church,
that they never allow worldly occupations to interfere
with the discharge of this primary duty of all Christian
people.
We rejoice to know that already many of the laity
make use of the Prayer Book in family and private devo-
tions, and read Holy Scripture according to the Lectionary
of the Church. A form of Family Prayer is included in
the present volume, which may be easily varied by the
selection of prayers from other services, appropriate to the
special circumstances of each family or to the season of
the Church's year. The publication of a revised Psalter
will lead, we hope, to its becoming in the Japanese Church,
as it is in other branches of the Catholic Church, a book
valued alike in the congregation and in the home, as con-
taining inspired forms of devotion, suited to the experi-
ence of the many needs of our human lives.
We pray for you, dear brethren, that studying Holy
Scripture under the guidance of the ' form of sound words '
(2 Tim. i. 13) which this book contains, you 'may be
built up on your most Holy Faith ' (St. Jude 20), and, con-
tinually taking part in the Church's sacrifice of prayer
and praise and sacramental worship, may be filled with
heavenly grace, and do that which is well pleasing in the
sight of God our Father, to whom we have access in one
Spirit through Jesus Christ our Lord.
We are, dear Brethren,
Your faithful and affectionate Brethren and Servants
in Christ,
EDW.' BlCKERSTETH, Bishop.
JOHN McKiM, Bishop.
HENRY EVINGTON, Bishop.
Some rumours reached England that serious omis-
sions were being sanctioned in this Revised Japanese
Prayer Book, and called forth from the Bishop the follow-
ing letter of refutation and explanation, which he addressed
to his sister May, as Secretary of the Guild of St. Paul.
Z
338 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
Karuizawa : August 19, 1896.
Canon 's opinion is of importance, but he is not
sufficiently acquainted with the facts.
We have not been engaged at all in striking out, as he
deems, parts of the Prayer Book, but in the better work of
insertion.
The Prayer Book we inherited in Japanese (I need not
recount how this came about, an oversight probably of
Archbishop Tait's) was the American Book minus its best
element, the Prayer of Consecration. Practically the result
of the last ten years has been to insert all important omis-
sions (including a rubric on Private Confession and the
American Consecration Prayer), except the rubric on daily
service. For some reason or other the C.M.S., which had
given way on other points, set themselves against this ; but
the use of daily service is extending, and with patience the
rubric, I hope, will find a place in the Japanese book.
Taking the Japanese Prayer Book as a whole, it is, I
believe, the best yet issued in Churches connected with the
Anglican communion. The additional special prayers,
and an appendix of services, specially required in missions,
or of importance in this country (e.g. for the Emperor's
birthday), are a great gain.
Of course the Prayer Book has never been thrown
before a General Synod, nor is there any intention of so
dealing with the Articles. The points in the Prayer Book
were considered by a special committee, and if the Articles
are revised, the same course will be taken. All that the
synod does is to give or refuse its sanction to the decisions
of the committee. Had it not been for the differences of
the English and American Prayer Books no liturgical
subjects would have been considered at all. As there were
these differences, discussion was inevitable, and on the
whole we have much reason to be thankful for the result.
The reason why the marriage law question has arisen is
the same. The American book omitted the Table of
Degrees, just as it omitted the rubric on daily service.
We have to take things as we find them, and ' restore the
breaches ' if we are able. I think it most likely we shall
succeed.
On the difficult and important question of a Confession
of Faith to take the place of the Thirty-nine Articles
NIPPON SEI KOKWAI 339
(which had been provisionally accepted by the Nippon Thcque
Sei Kokwai) many discussions arose, and the Bishop Sa^o
wrote : l of the
Thirty-
nine
In this connection let me remind you that it will not Articles
be possible indefinitely to delay the preparation of a
Confession of Faith which may take the place of the
Thirty-nine Articles of Religion in the Japanese Church,
and be used, like our Articles, as an authorised standard
of teaching for clergy. For the laity probably no one
would propose to exceed the requirements of the Cate-
chism. On this subject there are two points which it is
important to bear in mind. I. That by a resolution of
the Lambeth Conference of 1888 the episcopal succession
cannot be conferred on a newly constituted Church, unless
there be satisfactory evidence that it holds substantially
the same doctrine as the Anglican communion and
that its clergy subscribe Articles in accordance with the
express statements of our own standards of doctrine and
worship, though not necessarily bound to accept in their
entirety the Thirty-nine Articles of Religion. This gives
us a large but limited freedom. If the substance of
Anglican teaching is retained, the form may differ, and
matters of some importance perhaps still in the West,
but of historical interest only here, may be omitted.
2. That a Japanese confession must be largely the work
of Japanese Christians, and if matters of controversy are
referred to, they must be those of which the vital impor-
tance is felt and acknowledged in Japan.
And again : *
The Thirty-nine Articles have no oecumenical authority.
They are 'English of the English,' an outcome of the
special circumstances of the Church of England in the
sixteenth century. In the matters with which they deal,
as compared with the contemporary confessions of Ger-
many and Switzerland, they bear striking testimony to
the wisdom and moderation of the English Reformers ;
but they are not, and do not profess to be, a complete
statement of Christian doctrine, and were certainly never
1 Lent Pastoral 1892. * Lent Pastoral 1896.
Z2
340 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
intended by their compilers to be imposed as a standard
of orthodoxy outside the British Isles.
Further, speaking generally, the imposition of elabo-
rate doctrinal standards, as distinguished from the brief
devotional enumeration in a creed of the facts of belief,
is an evidence of weakness. Lengthy statements of this
kind would not be required under the best and most
healthy conditions of the Church's life. And if it be
concluded at any time that the adoption of some such
statement is inevitable, the greatest care should be taken
that it is germane to the particular circumstances of
the local Church and does not contain unnecessary or
irrelevant definitions.
Now, do the Thirty-nine Articles of the Church of
England so fulfil these conditions as to render it desirable
to insert them in the Prayer Book of the Japanese Church ?
I cannot think so.
For instance, when it is remembered how clear are the
statements of the creeds on the great doctrines of the
Holy Trinity and of the Incarnation, are Articles I. to
V. necessary in this country as a formulary of general
instruction ?
Again, is not the Article on original sin read, as it
must be in Japan, altogether apart from the controversy
which gave it special point and meaning in England three
centuries ago, very liable to misinterpretation by most
Eastern Christians?
Again, the Article on Justification, taken in relation
to the doctrinal controversies of the Reformation, is ex-
cellent alike in its reticence and in its affirmations. But
would any careful student of Holy Scripture maintain
that it is so adequate and balanced a statement of the
whole complex doctrine to which it refers as to render
it desirable for an Oriental Church, under totally different
circumstances and surroundings, to insert it as it stands
into its Office Book ?
Again, is it necessary at present in the East to have
any authoritative decision at all on the problems of elec-
tion and free will ? Might not the whole subject be left
to the consideration of a native schola t/ieologorum, when
such arises ? And if so, is there need to ask each member
of the Japanese Church who uses the Prayer Book to
consider and interpret our Article XVII. ?
NIPPON SEI KOKWAI 341
Again, do not our special circumstances here render
it most undesirable that we should insert in our Book of
Common Prayer the first clause in the second paragraph
of Article XIX. ? What should we think of our brethren
of the Orthodox Church of Russia were they to append
to their Japanese Liturgy some similar statement in refe-
rence to ourselves ? Here again the circumstances of the
sixteenth century in England offer no parallel to our own
in Japan.
Further, though the East is but little concerned in
Western controversies, it has and always will have its own
modes of thought, its own problems, its own difficulties ;
and this being so, it would seem that the doctrinal con-
fession of an Eastern Church, if its formulation be deemed
requisite, should be the work of Oriental theologians, be
' racy of the soil,' spring out of a surrounding of Eastern
circumstances, and carry to those who study it the obvious
meaning of its own allusions and references. It could not
be maintained that this would be true of the Thirty-nine
Articles.
For these reasons I have no doubt that the Bishops at
the recent synod were right in their decision not to allow
the Articles to be appended to our Service Book. By a
resolution of the first synod of the Nippon Sei Kokwai
in 1887 the Articles were temporarily accepted. The
result of this action is that their definitions may not be
contravened by the authoritative teachers of the Church.
So long as Anglican missions are working in Japan,
they may, if it be thought well, without difficulty be
retained in this position ; but I am unable to think that
it would be desirable to accord them any more definite
recognition.
With regard to the Marriage laws, 1 it will be remem- Marriage
, . . f I>aw and
bered that at the first synod the matter was deferred lor TaWe O f
further discussion, being of such vital importance, and it ]
has been debated at each successive synod.
Before leaving Japan in 1892 the Bishop had written to
his clergy :
A number of careful reports are being prepared for
1 See Canon XV.
342 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
the next meeting of the synod. Among them will be
one on marriage law. The marriage law of the Church
vitally affects its well-being as well as tests its obedience
to divine command and restriction. I hope that the
difficulties which have been raised in reference to it will
have your careful attention. Some papers issued by the
S.P.C.K. will be forwarded to you shortly. For myself, I
cannot doubt that the two principles embodied by Arch-
bishop Parker in the marriage law of the English Church,
and from which as English clergymen we are not person-
ally at liberty to recede namely, that marriage is unlawful
within the third degree, and that relationship by affinity is to
be treated as equivalent to relationship by consanguinity
are in accordance with Scriptural guidance and catholic
precedent.
At the synod of 1 893 he spoke as follows :
A report will be presented on the marriage law of the
Church. No subject is of larger practical importance.
Laxity in regard to it is the sure precursor of decline in a
Christian communion. Vagueness and uncertainty involve
injustice to individuals who transgress through ignorance.
On the other hand, definite law and practice, based on right
principles, do much to maintain a high moral tone in the
Christian society, and even more, as time goes on, may be
trusted to influence the laws of the State in cases where,
as is probable when the State is not Christian, the civil
law is at first laxer than that of the Church. Now here
again let me point out that while on some points there has
been divergence of opinion and practice and when this
is the case we are at liberty to decide the questions which
may arise as seems best under local circumstances yet
certain principles have been maintained from the beginning.
Among these I should notice (a) the indissolubility (unless
with the one exception which our Lord allowed) of the
marriage tie, (<) the prohibitions of marriage within the
third degree a stricter rule than this has been maintained
at times, never a less strict (c] the identity of the relation-
ship arising through consanguinity and affinity. I will
only add that while in regard to this subject especially I
recognise the consideration which Christianity always
gives to national or local customs, I should indeed fear for
NIPPON SEI KOKWAI 343
the future of the Nippon Sei Kokwai if our marriage law
embodied any other than the principles of the Universal
Church.
In this view he was upheld by the unhesitating support
of Archbishop Benson, who wrote :
Addington Park, Croydon : September 20, 1892.
My dear Bishop Bickersteth, I do not think you can
possibly undertake to alter the Table of Kindred and
Affinity, which gives the mind of the Church of England
with perfect definiteness upon that important subject ; nor
have I any power whatever to make or recommend a
change.
Apart from the question of such power, I believe our
law to be Scriptural and Christian. If the Church of
America has a fixed law of its own, we cannot interfere
with that ; and persons whom the American Church
present to us as communicants according to the law of
their Church must needs be received as communicants by
us, not on the ground that their law is correct, but on the
ground that they make themselves responsible as a Church
for the competency of communicants, and on that responsi-
bility we accept them.
With earnest good wishes and prayers,
Your sincere friend and affectionate
Brother in Christ,
EDWARD CANTUAR.
Subsequently the Bishop wrote to his father as follows :
Bishopstowe : 13 Igura, Azaba, Tokyo :
June 17, 1895.
Dearest Father, I must prepare for our | Bishops'
Meeting ' to-morrow, so you will pardon a short line.
What an utter scandal that service was at St. Mark's,
North Audley St. ... Surely, if it were made plain that
clergymen taking these marriages would be looked upon as
under ecclesiastical censure and in disgrace, they would
not be taken. And then if a Bill were brought into the
House of Lords every year to repeal the clause which
opens our churches for such profane services, even though
it took a long time to educate the people's conscience to
344 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
the point of demanding its passing, not only would the
Church be able to say Liberavi aniinain meant, but an
indirect gain the people would be brought to recognise
the value of a sacred society in the midst of them which
had a mind and practice of her own on all matters which
so nearly touch as this does the nation's morals and life.
As it is, the laisser faire policy must, I think, actually
weaken the national conscience, which it is our business to
strengthen.
Your very affectionate Son,
EDW. BICKERSTETH, Bishop.
This was a subject on which the Bishop felt very keenly,
and though no Canon was passed by the synod, yet a
joint Pastoral on the Christian marriage law was issued
by Bishops Bickersteth and McKim early in 1894. There-
was eager discussion on the point in the synod of 1 896,
when much pain was caused to Bishop Bickersteth as
chairman by some expressions of laxity of opinion on the
part of a few of the Japanese delegates. Thereupon he
declared in full synod that he would resign his position
rather than preside over a Church which tampered with
the Christian marriage law. His action made a deep im-
pression on the Japanese who were present, and had great
effect at the time.
He emphasised this in his Pastoral to his clergy when
he wrote :
The debate on the laws of marriage showed that it is
not yet sufficiently felt that in this and other like matters
we are not at liberty, if we would be true to ourselves, to
enact any law which would conflict with the mind and
practice of the Catholic Church. Had this been more fully
grasped, it would not have been proposed to admit the use
of the service of the Church in the case of marriage with
a deceased wife's sister and a deceased brother's widow.
There is little if any doubt that the Mosaic Law is based on
the principle that affinity is to be regarded as equivalent in
point of relationship to consanguinity. The practice of the
NIPPON SEI KOKWAI
345
Christian Church from the beginning, in days anterior to
the definite enactments of Canon law, was in accordance
with this view. The Canon law only defined what had
long been accepted. If, then, in a matter of much conse-
quence we, the youngest of the organised Churches of
Christendom, were to strike out a new path for ourselves,
we should imperil to this extent our right of communion
with the whole Body of Christ, and be setting a precedent
which, if followed in other matters, might lead to most
serious and perilous results. It is, I believe, our duty at
the present time to make opportunities of inculcating this
view of the question on our Japanese brethren, in order
that, if possible, practical unanimity on this matter may be
attained by the next meeting of the synod.
The following joint Pastoral on this question was issued
after the synod by the four Bishops of the Nippon Sei
Kokwai.
To the Reverend the Clergy of the Nippon Sei Kokwai
June 1896.
Reverend and dear Brethren, After the synod of 1893
we addressed a letter to you on the subject of the Christian
marriage law, in which we recorded the main principles
which should guide our action as ministers of the Church
in this most important matter. It was our hope that the
synod of this year would have embodied these principles
in a formal Canon, but as this has not proved practicable,
we think it our duty to re-affirm the points which were laid
down in our former letter.
The main substance of our former letter is contained in
the following paragraphs :
The three fundamental principles which it is important
carefully to consider and bear in mind are
(1) The indissolubility and exdusiveness of Christian
marriage that is, Christian marriage does not admit
either of divorce or polygamy. This principle is involved
in the law of the original institution (Genesis ii. 24), which
was for a time relaxed ' because of the hardness of men's
hearts,' but reimposcd in all its strictness on His disciples
by our Lord (St. Matt. xix. 3-9).
(2) The illegality of marriage within the third degree
346 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
of relationship. This principle is clearly recognised in the
Levitical code (Leviticus xviii.) and was usually embodied
in the customs even of the heathen nations of antiquity.
The one exception for which the Mosaic Law made pro-
vision, that of the Levirate (Deut. xxv. 5), emphasised the
general obligation. In the mediaeval era certain Christian
codes extended the prohibition beyond the third degree, but
without Scriptural warrant.
(3) The identity of the relationships which arise from
affinity, in the case of a party contracting \a marriage, with
the natural relationships of consanguinity. This principle
again rests on the primaeval law, ' They twain shall be one
flesh ' (St. Matt. xix. 5).
A Table of Kindred and Affinity based on these prin-
ciples is enclosed with this letter. No marriage should
be solemnised by us which contravenes its regulations.
The method of granting dispensations for monetary pay-
ment is of recent origin, established only under the vicious
system of the Papal Curia, and can have no place among
ourselves.
The rule that divorce is not permitted between Christians
who have entered into the marriage covenant is not affected
by the omission, lamentable though it be, to seek God's
blessing in the Church's marriage rite. The only exception
is that stated in our Lord's words (St. Matt. xix. 9). Under
no circumstances can the guilty party in a divorce be re-
married with the Church's service, or be re-admitted to
communion, if he or she have contracted a civil marriage
during the lifetime of their legitimate partner.
Much discussion has taken place as to the legitimacy
of the remarriage of the innocent party in a divorce.
On the whole we are of opinion that such marriages
should be discouraged. Certainly, no clergyman can at
any time be compelled to officiate at such a marriage if he
feel scruple in regard to it. On the other hand, we think
that a priest should not be forbidden to conduct such a
marriage who can do so conscientiously.
The marriage law of the Church is not in its entirety
applicable to unions contracted before baptism. In Japan
it may be thankfully admitted that custom and civil law
in many important particulars coincide with the law of
the Church. Each case in which the Christian law has
been contravened unwittingly must be judged on its own
NIPPON SET KOKWAI 347
merits. Ecclesiastical regulations and penalties cannot as
such be made retrospective.
It is clear from St. Paul's words (i Cor. vii. 15) that
marriages between other than Christians are not, like those
between Christians, in their own nature indissoluble ;
nevertheless the Apostle's judgment is that, on one of the
parties becoming Christian, they should not be dissolved,
if the other partner is willing to maintain the union (r Cor.
vii. 12-14) It is, of course, understood that in such a case
the non-believing partner will abstain from attempting to
enforce any conditions inconsistent with the Christian
faith and morals. The Christian who after baptism has
continued in the estate of marriage with the unbeliever,
with whom he or she was united before baptism, must not
capriciously attempt to escape from the obligation at a
later period. To him or her the connection has become
of the same character as Christian marriage.
The Church has always regarded with the gravest dis-
approval the contraction of marriages between a Christian
and an unbeliever. St. Paul's words (i Cor. vii. 39;
2 Cor. vi. I4~vii. i) are most probably to be understood
as forbidding such unions. We are not at liberty to
solemnise such marriages with the Church's rite. When,
however, such marriages took place, the ancient practice
was not to require a separation as the condition of com-
munion on the part of the Christian partner. ' Fieri non
debuit, factum valet.' A more or less lengthy suspension
from communion was considered sufficient penalty.
A marriage with a catechumen who is about to be
baptised is a somewhat different case. It should, however,
be avoided as far as possible, and we request that no such
marriage be solemnised without special reference to the
Bishop.
In conducting Christian marriages it is in all cases the
duty of the clergyman to assure himself, either by personal
inquiry or by letter from another clergyman, that the
Christian marriage law will not be infringed by the
solemnisation of the rite. No marriage should be solemn-
ised except in the presence of at least two witnesses. An
official register should be kept (see Canon V. 3) in
which at the time of the marriage the names, birthplace,
age, residence, and condition of each party should be
recorded. This register should be signed by both parties,
348 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
by at least two witnesses, and by the minister. Copies of
this register should be given to the parties on their
application and be forwarded to the Bishop.
It is our earnest desire that no marriage be solemnised
in Lent and other appointed seasons of abstinence.
These principles and directions we desire now to
re-affirm, and besides we would take the opportunity of
asking your attention to three additional points.
(1) The civil law of Japan has hitherto permitted
marriage with a deceased wife's sister, though it was
stated at the recent synod that public opinion holds such
alliances to be undesirable. As they conflict with the
third of the three principles which we have enumerated
above, not only ought they to be most gravely discouraged
by us, but all requests that we will solemnise in such
cases the Church's office of Holy Matrimony should be
refused.
The further question, however, arises whether under
Canon VIII. the priest who is in pastoral charge of
persons who contract such marriages is under obligation
to present them to the Bishop with a view to their ex-
communication. This question has been before the
Bishops elsewhere, as well as in Japan, and we concur in
the general opinion that the condemnation expressed in
the refusal to allow in such cases the use of the Church's
service is sufficient, and that it is not necessarily your duty
to take the further step of presenting the parties to the
Bishop.
(2) In the case of the apostasy from the faith of a
husband or wife, we are of opinion that the Christian
partner cannot seek for a divorce in the civil court, nor
remarry (if a civil divorce is obtained by the person who
has apostatised) so long as that person is alive and
contracts no other union. To act otherwise would be
voluntarily to forfeit the hope of reconciliation.
(3) Experience has shown that it is most desirable that,
unless under very exceptional circumstances, the service
of the Church should not be solemnised until all the
necessary steps have been taken to legalise the marriage
according to the civil law. On the other hand, there should
be no unnecessary delay in conducting the religious service
after the requirements of the civil law have been complied
with.
NIPPON SEI KOKWAI
349
We cannot, Reverend Brethren, exaggerate our sense
of the grave importance of the clergy in these matters
acting on the principles which have guided the mind and
practice of the Church from the beginning, and at the
same time of there being exhibited by us all the utmost
consideration and gentleness in dealing with the various
and often difficult cases which must necessarily arise until
Christian principles have wholly permeated the laws and
customs of the land.
Asking for you in all these matters the guidance of the
Holy Spirit of God,
We are, Reverend and dear Brethren,
Your faithful and affectionate
Brethren and Servants in Christ,
EDW. BICKERSTETH, Bishop.
JOHN McKiM, Bishop.
HENRY EVINGTON, Bishop.
WM. AWDRY, Bishop.
The election of delegates to the synod, the right
of women to vote in vestries, and the management of
pastor funds, were among the matters dealt with in the
synod of 1889, over which Bishop Williams had presided.
On these questions Bishop Bickersteth wrote as follows : l
a. The Election of Representatives to the Synod. The
plan now adopted can only be temporary. It assigns the
same number of representatives to each of the four local
districts, and takes no account of the number of communi-
cants in each. Further, no provision is made to ensure a
representation of foreign clergy. This must cause serious
difficulty as the number of Japanese clergy increases.
b. The Right of Women to vote in Vestries &c. A
long discussion took place on this subject in the synod,
and the decision of the question was adjourned. I have
not met with, nor had brought to my notice, any precedent
in favour of such a right in any earlier age of the Church.
It would be a grave step for a Church so young and
without experience as the Nippon Sei Kokwai to permit
an innovation in such a matter. I hope that the history of
1 Pastoral 1890.
350 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
the question may be fully investigated between now and the
next synod, and that if the past gives no authority for the
proposal its adoption may have your steady discountenance.
c. Pastor Fund Societies. A series of resolutions on
the formation of such societies was commended by the
synod to the local councils. I am thankful that, in all the
districts, societies are now in operation or steps being taken
to establish them. The beginning in each case may be
very small, but the principle involved is of the largest
importance and widest application. It is not too much to
say that the future wellbeing of the Church and the main-
tenance of its standards of doctrinal and moral teaching
depend on the adoption of such financial organisation as
will secure the due independence of the clergy. The
policy is disastrous which makes the priest immediately
dependent for daily bread on those to whom he ministers.
This is fully recognised in the wise regulations under which
the Church Missionary Society grants assistance to associ-
ated groups of congregations. At present the existence of
congregations assisted by different foreign societies in the
same local area unduly multiplies machinery and limits
co-operation. It is much to be desired that some plan may
be arrived at by which, as in the case of the Japanese
Missionary Society, the funds collected in one district may
be administered by a single organisation.
On the subject of Church Discipline the Bishop
wrote : l
It seems that a uniform practice is not followed by all
clergy alike in regard to the retention of names on con-
gregational registers, and that this has introduced some
uncertainty into the returns. The only three causes for
which names of living members should be removed from
a register are : (i) transference to another congregation ;
(2) excommunication ; (3) schism. Mere carelessness in
attending services, however regrettable, if not such as to
bring the offender within the Canon, does not justify the
removal of his name from the register. Nor does it seem
desirable to extend the causes for which the extreme
penalty of excommunication can canonically be inflicted.
The very patience of the Church in awaiting the return of
1 Pastoral 1892.
NIPPON SEI KOKWAI
351
her careless children, who do not openly and avowedly
renounce their allegiance or forfeit their privileges by
flagrant offences, is not seldom rewarded by their ' coming
to themselves.' The names of Christians in towns or
villages where congregations have not yet been formed
should be placed on the list of the nearest congregation.
Synods of the Nippon Sei Kokwai were held in 1889
1891, 1893, 1894, 1896, that of 1894 being specially
summoned (in accordance with Article III.) to consider
matters connected with episcopal jurisdiction in Hondo.
A picture of the synod of 1893 is given in the following
extract from Mrs. Edward Bickersteth's ' Journal ' :
Wednesday, November 29. This morning we started at
8.30 for the American cathedral, where the opening service
of the synod was to be held. There were present the
fifty delegates, of whom 'about fifteen are ' foreigners,' and
also some English and American ladies.
The processional hymn was ' Holy, Holy, Holy,' in
Japanese, sung to the old tune, while in filed eight Japanese
and four or five foreign clergy, Bishop M'Kim and my
Bishop, the latter being celebrant The service lasted
about one and three-quarter hours, for it included a sermon
and several hymns. Of course I understood not a word,
though I was able to follow the prayers, but I think for the
first time I realised E. as a missionary Bishop, and felt
something of the greatness of the work and the power of
the Nippon Sei Kokwai. . . .
Thursday, November 30. . . . . Mrs. F. and I went
across to the Synod House about n,and I stayed for quite
an hour in the gallery. I could not understand a word, of
course, but Mr. F.'s interpreter kept up a running commen-
tary, which enabled me to follow pretty well, and I was
immensely interested. . . . It was wonderful to think of all
those men not as individuals, but as representatives of large
bodies of Christians, and so as a real evidence of the
nationality and life of the Sei Kokwai.
Early in its existence the Nippon Sei Kokwai took
steps to organise both (i) home and (2) foreign missions
352 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETII
Canon XII. (see Appendix B) was re-drafted in 1894,
so that there might be elected in each chiho (or diocese)
a Home Missions Committee. With regard to home
missions, if there is force in the cry 'Japan for the
Japanese,' there is no less truth and inspiration in the
words, ' The Japanese for Japan,' and when the Nippon Sei
Kdkvvai is really strong enough to use her own sons
and daughters to win souls for Christ the day of Japan's
conversion will be at hand. With regard to foreign
missions, we are familiar in England with Diocesan Boards
for promoting church building and education at home,
and for opening up home missions, and we entrust to those
boards the practical duties connected with the selection
of suitable agents, as well as collecting and disbursing
funds. But hitherto our Diocesan Boards of Foreign
Missions, where they exist, play only a humble part,
although they have done something to secure that the
maintenance of foreign missions shall be regarded as an
integral part of the Church's duty. It is far otherwise in
Japan. The Nippon Sei K5kwai has been able to arrange
for the formation of a Board of Foreign Missions which
can really act, as the following Canon C. will show.
Canon C. Of Foreign Missions
1. There shall be one board representing the whole of
the Nippon Sei Kokwai, called the Board of Foreign
Missions, consisting of all the Bishops of the Nippon
Sei K5kwai having jurisdiction in Japan, and of two
treasurers and one secretary, to be elected at each regular
meeting of the synod.
2. The chairman of the board shall be one of the
Bishops, who shall be elected at the first meeting of the
board after the synod.
3. The duties of the board shall be :
(a) To make inquiries and to receive applications con-
cerning openings for missionary work in any foreign
NIPPON SEI KOKWAI
353
country (or portion thereof) not yet evangelised, or among
Japanese resident in foreign countries.
(b} To appeal for and receive subscriptions from
members of the Church for foreign missions, and with
that end in view to appoint agents in various parts of
Japan for making known the needs of any foreign
missions supported wholly or in part by the Nippon
Sei Kokwai.
(c) To appeal for and appoint clergy and other workers
for the foreign mission field, in accordance with the state
of the funds at their disposal.
(d} Under special circumstances to make grants to
foreign missions of other Churches in full communion
with the Nippon Sei Kokwai.
(e] To publish from time to time for general distribu-
tion a report of work and statement of accounts ; and
always to present to each regular synod of the Church
a report of work and statement of accounts for the period
subsequent to the preceding regular synod.
4. No clergy or other workers shall be sent forth as
foreign missionaries representing the Nippon Sei Kokwai
who have not letters of commission for such work duly
signed by the chairman of the board acting on behalf of
the whole or a majority of the board.
Work in Formosa has been already undertaken by
this Nippon Sei Kdkwai Board of Foreign Missions.
Bishop Bickersteth also visited the interesting group of
Luchoo Islands, and always hoped to see further steps
taken to evangelise these islanders, of whom there are
probably not less than 200,000 in the largest island. 1 The
Bishop of Kiushiu is now maintaining work there.
This was the principle which in the Bishop's judgment
really made all efforts to extend the episcopate in Japan
of such vital importance. He wrote : 2
The justification of a multiplied episcopate is the
development of direct evangelisation which, alike in
ancient and modern times, it has brought in its train, and
1 Okinawa. 2 Lent Pastoral 1895.
A A
354 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
which in all probability is necessary as a preparation
before any general desire will be manifested to embrace
the Christian faith.
The question has been raised whether new Bishops
should be Japanese or foreigners. I notice that a popular
Church magazine in England has recently advocated the
immediate consecration of Japanese clergy. I am unable
to agree in this suggestion. No one can be more anxious
than I am to adopt the counsel of the late Bishop of
Lahore and ' to stand behind our native brethren ' in the
East. No one desires less than I to perpetuate Anglican
dioceses in Japan. But an episcopate which was wholly
supported by foreign subscriptions, and the nomination to
which consequently remained in foreign hands, could not
be counted really indigenous because the see was held for
the time being by a Japanese. Some portion at least of
the required funds should be supplied from Japanese
sources, and this is at present impossible. While, then,
I hope that the time may not be very far distant when
it may be right to consecrate a Japanese Bishop in this
country, I do not think it has yet come. Kindly English
opinion has credited us with more rapid advance than has
actually been made.
Our immediate aim should be to make each principal
division of a vast urban area like that of South Tokyo,
and each chief provincial city, a distinct mission centre,
complete in all its parts. An addition of some thirty
clergy to our present staff, with a proportionate increase
of other workers, would enable us to reach this standard
in both jurisdictions. For the present, in most, though
not in all cases, we must look to England and Canada
for the men and women who can act as responsible
heads of new work. God grant that the practical out-
come of the intense interest which western lands have
taken in the fortunes of this country during the past year
may be the offer of personal service on the part of men
and women who are fitted physically and spiritually for
such high tasks.
In reply to the question whether it would not be well
to raise a capital sum to endow a new Bishopric in Japan
he wrote to the Archbishop :
NIPPON SEI KOKWAI 355
Azabu, Japan : January 16, 1895.
My dear Lord Archbishop,. . . I think this would be
unnecessary, as we do not propose to found permanent
Anglican dioceses here, but only to tide over the time till
it may be right to consecrate Japanese to independent sees.
It is impossible to say how soon this may be, but it is not
likely to be more than a generation and may be much
sooner. No Japanese Bishop, I think, should be consecrated
till the native Church is able mainly to undertake the
expenses of his salary. About #200 a month, at the
present rate of exchange 2$ol. a year, is what I find the
Japanese think should be the salary of one of their Bishops.
This would place him financially in the same position as a
judge of one of their higher courts. But it will be some
time yet before they can think of raising, whether by en-
dowments or annually, so large an amount as this.
I am, my dear Lord Archbishop, yours affectionately
and obediently,
EDWARD BICKERSTETH, Bishop.
The following recollections of Bishop Bickersteth from
two of his missionaries, both clergymen connected with
the Church Missionary Society, the present Bishops of the
Hokkaido and of Kiushiu, whose call to the episcopate
is mentioned in the next chapter, will be read with
interest.
Hakodate : November 7, 1898.
Dear Mr. Bickersteth, I do not know that I can
furnish you with anything worth inserting in your ' Life
of Bishop Bickersteth.' As you know, he was residing in
Tokyo and I in Osaka, and I did not therefore see so much
of him as I should have liked.
Others will, I am sure, have referred to his statesman-
ship in Church matters in this empire, to the large share-
larger than that of any other man he had in organising
the Sei Kokwai (the Church of Japan) and in the creation
of the new dioceses of Kiushiu and Hokkaido ; there is
no need for me to dwell on this point in his character and
work. If I were asked what it was in him that struck me
particularly, I should reply for one thing his great intel-
lectual ability, enabling him to wield so much influence
356 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
over both foreigners and Japanese. I often felt that he
was superior in scholarship, in wide reading, in readiness
of speech to any of his clergy ; he therefore always com-
manded their respect. He was a great reader, and there-
fore always had something fresh to put before his hearers
in his sermons and addresses, and this made him an ever
welcome preacher and speaker. Travelling with him on
two occasions I remember that about half the baggage
he carried consisted of new books, and whenever there was
a few minutes' wait at an inn he would have oae of these
out. His sermons and addresses from the chair were
always looked forward to as one of the special treats at
our C.M.S. Conference, and he was a welcome guest in
any house ; it was a pleasure and a privilege to entertain
him.
I often wondered, too, that he was able to preside so
efficiently at the meetings of the Japan synod and local
councils. As Bishop he was of course too busy from the
time of his landing in the country to be able to give as
much time to the study of the language as an ordinary
missionary, and yet he was able to grasp the purport of a
Japanese speech and the drift of a discussion, a by no
means easy thing to do even for those who have the repu-
tation of being specially good Japanese scholars, and often
with a few clear words of his own sometimes speaking in
English for the sake of greater accuracy and being inter-
preted would show the way out of the difficulty, and
enable the point to be settled satisfactorily to all. The
Bishop was not always worldly wise ; he made mistakes
sometimes, as all men do. But they are really not worth
mentioning in comparison with the success he achieved,
the great work he accomplished for the Church in Japan,
recognised, and thankfully recognised, by foreign mission-
aries and Japanese alike.
One more point I may mention. He had naturally
more sympathy with the S.P.G. than the C.M.S., but he
strove to be fair also to his C.M.S. clergy and worked
hard for C.M.S. interests, and all C.M.S. missionaries will
acknowledge that he did a great deal towards developing
the C.M.S Mission in this country.
Yours sincerely,
P. K. FYSON, Bishop.
NIPPON SEI KOKWAI 357
Bishop's Lodge, 9 Deshima, Nagasaki, Japan : September 8, 1898.
My dear Mr. Bickersteth, I must apologise very
humbly for my delay in writing to you, as I had promised,
a few lines in reference to my connection with the late
Bishop of South Tokyo.
At the time of Bishop Bickersteth's arrival in this
country I was Acting Secretary of the Church Missionary
Society and resident in Osaka; the Bishop arrived in
Nagasaki with Archdeacon Maundrell, but came on by
the same ship to Kobe, and on the following day reached
Osaka. Mrs. Evington and I had the pleasure of enter-
taining him for the first six weeks of his sojourn in this
new country and new diocese. He was really a stranger to
both of us, though I was always under the impression that
we had met at the house of one of the curates of West-
minster about the time he took his degree ; we were not
long strangers, his genial and courteous manner, his readi-
ness to fall in with the ways of the home, his kind and
sympathetic manner, soon won our affection, and we felt
the influence of his truly holy life.
In the autumn of the same year, as on many occasions
afterwards, we had a long journey together lasting six or
seven weeks, during which we visited the C.M.S. out-
stations of the city of Osaka, and the country stations of
the S.P.G. mission in Kobe. This naturally brought me
into very close contact with the Bishop, in seeing candi-
dates for confirmation, in interpreting addresses, in con-
versation on various subjects, missionary and theological,
as well as being forced to see him at his devotions, because
we were often obliged, on account of the smallness of the
inns, to occupy the same room ; here it was that I felt the
power of his spiritual life, his holiness of character, his
devotion to his work.
In all these journeys it was his custom to carry a bag
full of books. On one occasion I remember his telling me
that he had just completed the three volumes of Bishop
Lightfoot's ' Ignatian Epistles.' A great deal of his study
of the language was done on these journeys whilst riding
in jinrikshas, steamers, and railways ; for though he did, of
course, spend time when in Tokyo, he often complained
that there were many hindrances ; only the other day I
turned up a letter in which he wrote, ' There has been little
time for the language this week.' Nevertheless, whilst he
358 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
never acquired great fluency in the use of it, his ability to
understand and follow the speeches in the synod was
remarkable.
We always felt that his mind took greater delight in
the mystical side of things, and in his sermons he was often
more inclined to follow the abstract style of Bishop West-
cott than the clear statements of Dr. Lightfoot, much as
he loved and honoured the latter prelate. At the time of
Bishop Lightfoot's death he wrote to me ' individually I
feel orphaned.' I quite well remember, on one of our
journeys together, he was reading the morning lessons, and
he said to me, ' I feel each year as I read the Minor Prophets
that I understand them better ; ' and I said ' I think a great
deal is read into the words of the Prophets that they never
intended.' He replied, ' That is just like you and Fyson,
you do not appreciate anything that is mystical.'
The great work of his life in Japan was, without doubt,
the very important share he took in the organisation of the
Church in Japan. The time was, no doubt, ripe for some
action to be taken ; the Congregational and Presbyterian
Christians had just completed their organisation, and
Bishop Williams had been pressed to do something for the
missions of the Church. To throw himself into this Bishop
Bickersteth was quite prepared, for before seeing Bishop
Williams at the C.M.S. Conference, held in Osaka during
his first six weeks' stay there, he had proposed a meeting
of members of the Church missions for the drawing up of
some plan by which the different missions might work
under some kind of mutual arrangement, and so make
it manifest that we are really one body. The particular
details of how this finally resulted in the first synod of the
Japan Church you are doubtless in possession of, so that I
need not repeat them here. Whilst the constitutions of
the Churches of Ireland and the United States were used
as models, the successful carrying through of the whole
matter was immensely due to the patience and learning of
his masterly mind.
In conclusion, I would say that in all times of difficulty
we always found a ready sympathy and help ; he was ever
ready to advise, to strengthen our hands, and to make us
feel that no part of the field was forgotten ; no individual,
no part of the work left out of his thoughts. He never
tried to force his own views on those who differed from
NIPPON SEI KOKWAI 359
him, but was liberal to all so long as they kept within the
bounds that he felt the Church would allow.
I have written but a short letter, but you have, no
doubt, abundant materials for the details of the Bishop's
work. I shall be glad to try and answer questions, if I
am able, on any particular point for which you may wish
for information.
Again asking your pardon for my long delay, and with
kindest regards,
Believe me to remain,
Very sincerely yours,
HENRY EVINGTON.
Bishop of Kyushyu, S. /of an.
The Reverend S. Bickersteth, Lewisham.
360 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
CHAPTER X
A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE
1893-1897
' It is, then, on these few thousand scattered converts in Japan, on this
Church, organised but not yet financially independent, socially influential, or
numerically strong, that our hopes for the future are fixed. In it we ask your
interest and your prayers, and for it we plead for far more adequate support in
time to come.' Closing words of paper read 1 at the S.P. G. Annual Meeting in
St. James's Hall on June 23, 1897, held to welcome the Bishops attending the
Lambeth Conference.
THE main purpose of the Bishop's return to England in
the early spring of 1893 was accomplished, inasmuch
as Archbishop Benson, whom he visited at Addington
shortly after his arrival, concurred in his view of the
need of increased episcopal supervision for the English
missions in Japan. Bishop Bickersteth always pointed
to Japan as an instance of the trouble and weakness
which ensues when missions are planted without a
Bishop and left to grow up for some years as best they
may, with only occasional visits from a father in God.
The Korean Mission, which was led into the field from the
first by a Bishop, was the plan which his missionary ex-
perience, as well as his study of primitive methods, alike
told him to be the ideal.
However, it was no hard case which he had to argue in
order to persuade Church authorities at home that the
work in those parts of the empire of Japan under his
1 Owing to my brother's illness I was allowed to read his paper for him.
A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE. 1893-1897 361
jurisdiction was such as to call for ' partners to come over
and help ' him, or else for one or more of his fellow labourers
on the spot to be raised to the episcopate.
The islands of Yezo in the north and of Kiushiu in the
south of the Japanese group were naturally selected for
the formation of separate dioceses. The English mission-
aries in both these islands were entirely supported by the
Church Missionary Society, and that society now generously
made itself responsible for the necessary episcopal incomes.
Bishop Bickersteth wrote to his clergy l :
Almost immediately after my return to England I was
permitted to confer with the Archbishop of Canterbury
and the Committee of the Church Missionary Society in
reference to the establishment of Anglican bishoprics in
Kiushiu and Yezo. The Archbishop readily accepted this
proposal, and the liberality of the Church Missionary
Society, which is the only society of the Anglican com-
munion working in those islands, made it possible that
steps should at once be taken for filling the new sees. I
need not tell you how heartily I rejoice in the nomination
to one of these sees of the Reverend H. Evington, whose
work as a missionary of long standing in this country is
well known to us all, and with whom I have been repeatedly
brought into special association at the Ember seasons,
when he has most efficiently fulfilled the duties of my
examining chaplain. I heartily commend him to your
prayers at this time.
He had much hoped that one or both of the new
Bishops might have been consecrated in Japan ; but legal
difficulties intervened, and the Rev. Henry Evington was
consecrated in Lambeth Chapel on Sunday, March 4,
1894.
There was considerable delay in the appointment to
Yezo, much to Bishop Bickersteth's regret, and it was only
in the spring of 1896 news came of the selection of the
1 Pastoral 1894
362 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
Rev. P. K. Fyson, another of the missionaries in Japan
whom he had long known and valued. Bishop Fyson was
consecrated Bishop of the Hokkaido at St. Matthew's,
Bethnal Green, on June 29, 1896, and resides at Hako-
date.
Bishop Bickersteth also cherished the hope that another
missionary jurisdiction might in time be formed in the
main island which should comprise the missions planted
and supported by the Canadian Church, the result of his
earnest appeal to Canada in 1888, and which should be
presided over by a Canadian Bishop.
In December 1892 he had written :
Let me mention that I am assigning the district of
Nagano in Shinshu to the mission sent to this country by
the Board of Missions of the Canadian Church, of which
the Rev. J. G. Waller is the first representative. It is a
subject of thankfulness that in this mission, and in that of
which Nagoya is the centre, where there are three clergy
at work from Wyclif College, Toronto, and in the newly
established Nurses' Training School in Kobe, the growing
interest in missions of the Canadian Church is beginning
to afford us very valuable aid. The towns in Shinshu are
numerous and of considerable importance. It is my
earnest hope that the Canadian Board may be able to send
out and support a fully equipped mission to that province,
consisting of not less than four clergy, besides lady
workers.
But the Bishop knew well that interest once roused
needs sustaining, and therefore in returning to Japan with
his wife in the autumn of 1893 he set aside eight days in
order to visit different centres in Canada and to plead the
cause of Japan. The following extracts from letters to his
father tell their own story :
Bishopsleigh, Kingston : All Saints' Day, 1893.
After landing in New York on Sunday morning and
attending morning and evening service in two of the
A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE. 1893-1897 363
churches, we were obliged to go on that night to Montreal,
where engagements had been made for me to speak on
Monday and Tuesday. Both were well attended. On
Tuesday we lunched with the Bishop, a fine old man of 79,
in much vigour, and in the afternoon were present at the
opening of a new University Library by Lord Aberdeen.
This morning, after a celebration at St. John's, Montreal,
we came on here.
Train, Mid-prairie : November 10, 1893.
We had a fairly good meeting at Kingston, and the
Archbishop and Mrs. Lewis were very kind and hospitable.
On the Thursday some five hours took us to Toronto,
where we were guests of the Bishop and Mrs. Sweatman.
Again a big meeting at night. Friday we went to
Hamilton. We quite lost our hearts to the Bishop of
Niagara and Mrs. Hamilton, with whom we stayed till
Monday. Saturday we considered to belong to our honey-
moon and spent it at Niagara. We could not have had a
better day, and enjoyed it thoroughly. The falls must
ever be one of the greatest sights of nature, even though
much has been done since you and I were there in 1870
to vulgarise the surroundings. On the Friday I had again
addressed a meeting, and on Sunday I preached in the
cathedral in the morning and in a parish church in the
evening. On Monday we returned to Toronto and spent
the afternoon with my old friend Provost Body. He is
among the men to whom the Church in Canada is most
specially indebted, as it is really mainly through him that
Trinity College has attained its present flourishing condi-
tion. In the evening I addressed a meeting of students and
others in the College Hall. Body accompanied us to the
train at 10.15 P.M., and we have been travelling ever since
.... A pleasant Chinese missionary and his wife are ' on
board,' as they say, 1 Stewart by name ; also Kakuzen San,
one of my deacons, who has been studying in Toronto and
was ordained for me by the Bishop of Toronto .... I
must write a letter to the Canadian Mission supporters
which they have asked for, so will leave M. to tell you
all else.
1 The Rev. Robert and Mrs. Stewart, known and honoured in missionary
annals as having been called to lay down their lives in the massacre of
Kucheng.
364 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
s.s. Empress of Japan : November 13, 1893.
We had no difficulties of any kind on our journey.
The Selkirks especially were really a splendid sight in
their dress of winter snow. It had fallen about three days
before we passed, and will not leave them for months.
The Chaplain of Donald, an excellent Keble man, Irwine
by name, a friend of King's, joined us at Field and
travelled with us a hundred miles through the Selkirks,
pointing out the special views and places of interest. The
Bishop of New Westminster was poorly, so we only spent
the evening at his house, instead of staying the night.
The lasting impressions of this journey the Bishop
thus summed up in a letter to the Guild of St. Paul in
England :
Even so brief a stay in Eastern Canada as ours certainly
strengthened in my mind the opinion which intercourse
with Canadian Churchmen had led me to hold for some
time past namely, that the day of the Church in the
dependency is only yet dawning. And if it is so, and her
strength and influence prove far greater in time to come
than they have ever been yet, is it not of real importance
that her missionary work in the East has been begun, if
only as yet on a very small scale, and may we not believe
that it will grow with her growth, and strengthen with the
increase of her zeal, and be fraught with manifold results
of blessing to this, and perhaps also other, Eastern lands ?
Canada has not yet responded to his earnest invitation
to be represented in Japan by a Bishop of her own, but
there seems no reason to think that his forecast of her
future was too sanguine. His successor in the diocese of
South Tokyo, Bishop Awdry, in his first Pastoral Letter
to his clergy (August 1 898), wrote :
In November I returned to Japan through Canada,
where the Bishops and other fellow-Churchmen, especially
in the dioceses of Quebec, Toronto, and Columbia, show a
lively interest in our work, and gave me some substantial
help.
A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE. 1893-1897 365
The first work which awaited Bishop Bickersteth after
his arrival in Japan on November 27 was the fourth 1
general synod of the Nippon Sei Kokwai, which opened
on the 29th. He presided as senior Bishop, but was
delighted to welcome as his assessor the Right Rev.
Bishop McKim, a personal friend and a missionary in Japan
of long standing, who in the previous June had been
consecrated to take charge of the American missions in
Japan. In his opening address Bishop Bickersteth ex-
pressed the feeling of all present when he said :
After longer delay than we then anticipated, the
vacancy in the American episcopate caused by the retire-
ment of the Right Rev. Bishop Williams 2 (whose continued
presence in our midst is a subject of congratulation to us
all) has been filled by the appointment and consecration
in June last in New York of the Right Rev. J. McKim.
Very few words are needed on my part to express the
respectful gladness with which the synod greets, on his en-
trance upon the great responsibilities of the episcopal office,
one whom all its members have known for so long a time.
After spending two months at the Bishop's old quarters
at St. Andrew's House, Bishop and Mrs. Bickersteth took
possession in February 1894 of a house which belonged
to Archdeacon Shaw and was left vacant just at this time
by his return to England on a well-earned furlough.
Under the new name of Bishopstowe it remained their
home for the three happy years they were allowed to spend
together in Japan, and there all the workers, English and
Japanese, from all parts of the diocese, and many others,
found a warm welcome and ready hospitality at all times.
The house was admirably suited for its new purpose.
Quite simply built in wood, it contained a large number of
1 The synods, at first biennial, are now triennial, and are referred to as
The General Synods of the N. S. K.
* Bishop Williams, though having laid down the active duties of the
episcopate, continues to reside in Japan and to labour as a missionary.
366 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
rooms, one of which was immediately set apart as a chapeL
while the situation was ideal for a Bishop's house. It
stood within five minutes' walk of St. Andrew's Church,
and, though in the heart of the city, was surrounded by a
garden which gave the Bishop a privacy which he much
valued and was also most useful for diocesan gatherings.
But while rejoicing in their pleasant home and its sur-
roundings, the Bishop and his wife often talked of building
on ground hard by, acquired at the end of 1893 as Church
property, a Bishop's house which with some adaptation
would be available in the future for the Japanese successors
to whom the Bishop always looked forward a plan which
has been actually carried out by his immediate successor,
Bishop Awdry.
In May of this year it was found necessary to summon
a special meeting of the general synod in consequence of
some discussions which had taken place as to episcopal
jurisdiction in the main island. The Bishop was able to
write to his father :
All went off most excellently. Our discussions lasted
two days. An excellent report of a committee went through
without difficulty on the second day. It practically esta-
blishes four dioceses on the lines (any minor modifica-
tions being left to Bishop McKim and myself) of Bishop
Hare's and my agreement. In the two cities of Tokyo
and Osaka we have not laid down any definite lines, but
empowered the Bishops to arrange division by parishes.
Further slight modifications of the scheme (as it
affected local synods &c.) have been made since, but in all
important respects it remained unaltered through future
negotiations, and was formally recognised by the general
synod of 1896, which gave to the local synods of the six '
jurisdictions in Japan the status of diocesan synods.
1 These six missionary dioceses are those of Yezo, North Tokyo, South
Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, and Kiushiu.
A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE. 1893-1897 367
To Bishop Bickersteth it was always, as he himself
wrote, a cause of joy that
We [the English and the American missions] have been
allowed to organise together the Nippon Sei Kokwai,
which_includes all the congregations of both missions, and
of which the successive synods have given proof of real
and growing efficiency, ft is well that it is so. We are
only spjourners in a land where independence is a passion.
Our aim, though years may elapse before its attainment, is
to wholly hand over our common work to Japanese Bishops
and clergy.
In June of this year there occurred the death of the
British Minister, Mr. Fraser, who was much respected for
his high character and Christian profession, and the Bishop
wrote to his father :
Tokyo : June 14, 1894.
Our thoughts have been full of our late minister, Mr.
Fraser. You will have seen his death in the papers. We
shall greatly feel the loss of so truly Christian a man.
The funeral was a most remarkable sight, the procession
of clergy and carriages a mile long. I hope that as a
Christian ceremony it may not have been without its
effect.
A severe earthquake visited Tokyo and Yokohama on
June 20 of this year, and the Bishop writes :
We were at the Freeses in Yokohama, and were just
finishing luncheon. The shock came on more suddenly
than the one at Osaka (1891), but was not so long or so
violent ; still, it was more severe than any that has been
for many years except the one you were in. Several
persons were killed by falling chimneys. Bishop McKim
had a narrow escape.
The Church of St. Andrew's, Shiba, Tokyo, was so
shattered that it had to be taken down, and a temporary
church of wood, larger than, but not nearly so sightly as its
predecessor, was put up in its place. St. Andrew's serves
as the Japanese mother church for the diocese of South
368 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
Tokyo, and also as the chapel of the British Legation and
other English residents in that part of the city.
The action of the special synod in May in dividing
the main island of Hondo into four missionary jurisdictions
caused the Bishop to realise forcibly the need of yet
another episcopal colleague to relieve him of the newly
formed 'jurisdiction ' of Osaka, not that he himself
desired less work, but only that his sphere should be
so far limited as to allow of more possibility of effective
superintendence.
He first mentions the plan in a letter to his father of
June 29, 1 894 :
I have written a long letter to the Archbishop this
mail urging the appointment of a Bishop for Osaka and
its district. (Bishop McKim hopes to get a Bishop
appointed to Kyoto.) This would leave me in charge of
the jurisdiction of South Tokyo, with over eight millions
people, seventeen English and eight Japanese clergy ;
while the Osaka Bishop would have about nine millions,
fourteen English and seven Japanese clergy to begin
with. I feel sure, if the plan can be carried out, it will
greatly strengthen the missions here. Osaka itself is
350 miles from here, and the furthest stations in its district
are 600. Such long distances prevent the sense of touch
and special interest which there ought to be between the
Bishops and clergy in Japan as the Church grows. . . .
I have also been writing to Canada about their mission,
and a possible Canadian bishopric on the west coast so
each week gets full. I often wish (for my own sake) that
there was more directly spiritual work.
The clouds of war in the Far East now gathered
densely about Japan, and although the Bishop wrote,
'You in London know more about the war than we do
here, as the Government allows very scant news to get
into the papers,' yet no other topic in men's minds in
Japan could vie in importance with the great war with
China.
O v
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A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE. 1893-1897 369
Again,
Hakone : August 13, 1894.
It is certainly a very anxious time for this country. A
bad defeat would throw it back a generation. A great
victory would enable it to extend the rudiments of
civilisation to Korea, but it would not be morally good for
the people, who are already much too inclined to boast
On the whole, I wish for peace and divided honours as
soon as possible, and that Korea should be placed under
some form of international tutelage. Russia, I suppose,
would not allow either England or Japan to absorb it.
Besides we only want a port, and not the land ; Russia
herself would like the land, but her railway is not complete,
so she wishes for delay.
On Saturday we heard that 1 a new treaty is agreed
upon between England and Japan. I suppose that there
will be some delay before it comes into force, but it will
free us from the trouble of passports, and, what is better,
it will, I hope, diminish considerably the irritation in the
Japanese mind against foreigners. It is largely good
Mr. Eraser's work.
At the request of one of his clergy (the Rev. A. F.
King), the Bishop drew up the following collects for use
during the war. They are given not only for their intrinsic
interest, but also because they afford proof of his real
power in the difficult matter of writing prayers suitable for
general use :
For t/te Christians who at the call of duty are serving
in tJie armies of Japan or China.
O Lord God Almighty, look down on Thy servants
the members of Thy Church who are employed in the
present war. Be present with them in each hour of danger
and of temptation. Grant that they may remember their
high calling and, resisting all evil by the power of Thy
Holy Spirit, may glorify Thee among their fellow-soldiers,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
For the sick and wounded.
Have mercy, O Lord, upon the wounded and suffering,
whether in our own armies or among the enemy. In the
1 This treaty came into operation on July 17, 1899.
B B
3/0 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
hour of their trial may they look unto Thee, and though
they know Thee not by the hearing of the ear, listen
Thou unto their cry, assuage their suffering, and deal
mercifully with them, for the sake of Thy Son, Jesus Christ
our Lord. Amen.
For the doctors and nurses.
O Lord God, the Physician of souls, look in mercy on
those who minister to the wounded and suffering during
the present war. Give effect to their skill, and healing to
the means which they employ. And though they know
Thee not in Thy Christ, grant them pure intention and
readiness of self-denial, and accept their service as done
unto Thee, through the same Thy Son, Jesus Christ our
Lord. A men.
During that summer the Bishop and Mrs. Bickersteth
spent six weeks in a Japanese house on the shores of the
beautiful Hakone lake, but the 'holiday' was largely
absorbed by continuous and laborious work on a com-
mittee for the revision of the Japanese Prayer Book. Of
this committee, Bishop Bickersteth was chairman, but he
had as coadjutors Bishop McKim (who occupied a neigh-
bouring house) and the Rev. P. K. Fyson and H. J. Foss
(now Bishops of the Hokkaido and Osaka respectively,
who for that whole summer were guests of Bishop Bicker-
steth), as well as a member of the American Mission and
some of the ablest Japanese clergy and catechists. The
committee often sat for five or six hours daily, and it
was usually not till the evening that the busy workers
could be induced to join expeditions on the lake or on the
hills. The whole matter was of keen and absorbing in-
terest to the chairman, and on September 6 he wrote to
his father :
Our Prayer Book Committee, on which I have been at
work continuously for five weeks, ended this morning. It
has been a difficult work, English and American and
Japanese, high and low, C.M.S. and S.P.G., all having their
fancies ; but I think the result is satisfactory. ' The
A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE. 1893-1897 371
Record ' (I think it was) told me of dear Maitland's ' death
at Delhi I feel to have lost a true and affectionate friend,
though of recent years I had seen him so little. He was
indeed nobly devoted to India, and is one of the growing
number of men of high qualifications who have given their
lives for its regeneration. I am glad that I saw him last
year at Delhi. He was then so much stronger than when
I was living in India that I anticipated many years of life
and work for him. They will feel his loss greatly at the
Cambridge Mission.
Again :
Bishopstowe : September 5, 1894.
We came down from Hakone to a series of visitors,
the Baring Goulds (one of the clerical secretaries of the
C.M.S. and his daughter), the Rev. G. H. Pole of Osaka,
Bishop Evington and his little daughter, and next week
we expect the Freeses. S. Jerome says : ' Domus episcopi
omnium debit commune hospitium ; ' I think our domus
does in part fulfil this, at least during times of the year.
The Church Congress met that year at Exeter, and the
Bishop's unfailing interest in Church matters at home was
quickened by the fact of his father's presidency. He
wrote at the time : ' We are thinking of you day by day
this week.'
Meantime the Japanese successes went on without
drawback, and the Bishop was proud of the land of his
adoption.
He wrote October 18, 1894:
I suppose you heard of our great naval victory. Did
you notice the doings of the Kobe Maru ? I forget whether
it was the Kobe or the Saikyo Maru in which we went
down the Inland Sea together three years ago. Certainly
Japan has raised her name and fame in the world by her
conduct of the war. 2 Except the sad Kowshing business,
it has been conducted both on civilised modes and with
1 Son of the Rev. Brownlow Maitland and an Honorary Missionary at Delhi.
2 This was of course written before the excesses at Port Arthur (the one
real blot on the wonderful record of humanity and order) had been committed.
R B 2
372 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
wonderful precision and bravery. It is amusing to read
some of the English papers, and to see their astonishment
at the Japanese actually having a commissariat !
Again, in reply to an attack in an English paper on his
beloved Japanese, he wrote :
November 8, 1894.
' Barbarian ' is the last word that can be applied to the
Japanese. It has not been applicable to them for some
centuries now. Nor is theirs a ' thin veneer of civilisation '
merely. The old civilisation and the new have both alike
penetrated deeply into the life of the people, and will as
time goes on be amalgamated into a form of civilised and
cultivated life suitable to themselves. The adoption of our
mode of education is in itself a guarantee against mere
superficiality. Nor are their faults those of barbarism,
but of civilisation. Secularism is the chief, contented-
ness with this life and mere material progress, besides
the bad inheritance from past days of a low standard of
morality.
As regards the present war, I have come to think that
they had more right to force it on than I thought at first.
That they did so may not be wholly justifiable. But there
is no doubt that they feel that the state of Korea for the
last ten years has been a real source of danger to them-
selves, and that they have the same right to interfere as
we had in Upper Burmah, &c. Their desire to do so was
certainly quickened by the manifest risk of allowing the
country to remain under so weak a government till Russia
had completed her Siberian railway. The state of things
would have invited Russian interference, and Russia in
Korea would have been a standing menace to Japan. Also,
I think that they have felt (with whatever mixture of base
motives) that they are really able to do a great and good
work in the Far East at the present time a work which
no other eastern country can do as the pioneer of civilisa-
tion, and that they have welcomed this war as an
opportunity of putting their hand to the work.
The Kowshing business is still sub judice, but apart
from it it seems that they have conducted the war on far
humaner principles than any war has ever yet been con-
ducted in eastern lands, and more humanely than Europe
conducted her wars till quite recent times. A member of
A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE. 1893-1897 373
Bishop Corfe's Mission, now in Japan, tells me that a
Japanese regiment which was quartered near him in
Chemulpo behaved admirably.
Certainly Counts Oyama, Yamagata, and Inouye, who
are the three men in charge, the first two of the armies in
Manchuria and at Port Arthur, and the third in Seoul as
ambassador with practically supreme authority, are men
who as generals and statesmen would do credit to any
western land.
The Bishop was laid aside by illness in the November
and December of this year, but within a month he was
able to work again, and was specially glad to welcome the
Rev. Armine King on his return from a short furlough.
He also much enjoyed the visit of his wife's youngest
sister, who spent five months at Bishopstowe and who
entered keenly into all the varied interests of the life there.
The Bishop took great interest in a visit paid by his
chaplain, the Rev. L. B. Cholmondeley, to the Bonin
Islands, 1 where were a few English-speaking residents and
several Japanese Christians, and in consequence of Mr.
Cholmondeley's report he licensed a lay reader to work
among both the Europeans and Japanese there.
In March 1895 the Bishop went on a visitation tour on
the west coast, and some extracts may be given from
letters to his wife.
Matsue : March 23, 1895.
This is only a little sheet, but I have been at work
no! engaged all day, and it is now just tea time. This
morning I prepared a sermon which I hope to give to-night
to the confirmation candidates preparatory to to-morrow.
This afternoon I have had the clergy and church com-
mittee for a long talk over the visitation papers. This is a
useful plan, I think. It shows one's own interest in the
details of their work, and it gives one an opportunity of
making suggestions in a natural way.
1 The present Bishop (Awdry) of South Tokyo has visited these islands
(1899), an d is anxious to see the opening there followed up.
374 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
t Hotel, Yonago : March 27, 1895.
I reached here all right yesterday afternoon. Yonago
is on a salt water lake, to the shore of which I trudged
(about seven and a half miles) with Arato San, our deacon,
Buxton leading the way on a bicycle. Then we got on to
one of the minute lake steamers which brought us here.
Last night I confirmed fourteen a nice service. I took the
names of the Holy Spirit Spirit of holiness, Spirit of truth,
Spirit of power in connection severally with the three bap-
tismal vows as a subject. I am now off to inspect a school.
Matsue : March 28, 1895.
I scribbled you a pencil line yesterday from Yonago.
Afterwards I had a meeting of the catechists and committee.
They were a little touchy upon financial matters and their
contributions to the N.S.K. societies, but I hope will do
rightly. Then I went to inspect a school about a mile in
the country which Mr. Buxton has established for beggar
children. The village is a beggar village, and its teacher
is a youth who seems as proud of his twenty-five beggar
children as if he were headmaster of Harrow. I examined
them, and left some money for kwashi (cakes) after my
departure. Two of the beggars had been confirmed the
night before.
Then back to Yonago to confirm a lady, the wife of a
judge, who had been unable to get out the evening before.
Then to lunch with the two missionary ladies. Then
ten miles to the port of Sakai half jinriksha, half walk-
ing a little seaside hotel hanging over the water of
the harbour. I had not been there since 1 889. There is
now a good preaching room in a suburb called Naborimichi,
where at night I confirmed four young men, and after-
wards had the catechists and committee in for a talk.
This morning there was no steamer, so we came by
jinriksha and native boat. It rained the whole way, and
we were five to six hours doing the fifteen miles. I
managed, however, to keep fairly dry. It was delightful
getting your letters on arrival. ... I am so glad our
two servants were received as catechumens. May they
indeed persevere !
Yamaoka Hotel, Hamada : Sunday, March 31, 1895.
We left Matsue on Friday. It was pouring with rain
till about eleven o'clock, but in the little steamer we did
A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE. 1893-1897 375
not mind this ; and after about an hour in the jinrikshas
it cleared, and we have had very little since, though it has
been very cold. We lunched at Imaichi with Nurse
Evans, and got to the pretty little village of Omori a
little after dusk. Alas ! the hotel and its shiten [i.e.
annexe] were both full, so we had to make shift with a
very poor little inn. I should think we were among their
first visitors, but they were very obliging, and did all for
us they could.
All yesterday till six in the evening we were on the
road. Here Makioka San [a Japanese priest] met us.
This morning I celebrated in the preaching room, some
thirteen or fourteen communicants, and confirmed four.
This evening I am preaching on ' not receiving the grace
of God in vain.' Then to-morrow, at 5 A.M. (if I can get
the men here), I start for Hiroshima. I may get through
by the evening, but more likely shall have to spend the
night at Kobe and get in early Tuesday morning. Then
I have a confirmation, and probably go on to Fukuyama.
Thursday I leave for Tokyo, and should be with you
between 5 and 6 P.M. on Friday. . . .
. . . There are some few Romanisms but a great deal
that is most excellent and helpful in the ' Spirit of St.
Francis de Sales' which I have been reading this Lent.
How humbling it is to see the heights and depths to which
those men attained !
The Bishop was now feeling the relief of the curtail-
ment of his sphere of labour (the new Bishop of Kiushiu
most kindly relieving him of the charge of Yezo until the
appointment to that northern bishopric should be made),
and the Lenten Pastoral of 1895 was for the first time
addressed ' to the clergy of the Church of England in the
South Tokyo and Osaka missionary jurisdictions.' In it
he drew special attention to some of the great lessons of
the war.
The unbroken success which has attended the Japanese
armies in the invasion of Korea and China involves
consequences alike to victors and vanquished of which
it is impossible to over-estimate the importance. For
376 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
the next generation at all events Japan will hold the
prerogative position among the nations of the Further
East for good or for evil. The result must ultimately
depend upon whether or no her rulers and statesmen
act upon principles of which religion is the sanction,
and of which Christianity alone has as yet proved
the adequate inspiration. The Church has been at
work far too short a time in Japan for us reasonably to
expect the open acceptance of the obligations of Christian
teaching. But the influence of the Church and of the
faith of Christ has at all times been felt over a far wider
area than that in which their authority is directly recog-
nised. And we may hope that the influence not only of
Christian missions but of intercourse with Christian nations
has so far prevailed that the principle of unselfish regard
for the interests of others, even of foes, will be allowed
some real weight in the new settlement of eastern affairs
which is imminent.
In May, writing from Gifu, the Bishop records with
pleasure the appointment of Sir Ernest Satow, K.C.M.G.,
as British Minister in Japan.
He is, I suppose, the ablest man Japan has yet had sent
her, except perhaps Sir Harry Parkes. He was Sir Harry's
lieutenant for many years, and left him to become mini-
ster in Siam and afterwards in Morocco.
In June Bishop and Mrs. Bickersteth had the pleasure
of welcoming as their guest Mrs. J. F. Bishop, F.R.G.S.
The Bishop writes of her to his father as ' a really wonder-
ful person, always in pain, but full of interest and vigour
and ready at any time to be drawn into conversation on
her travels.' This was the first of many visits during
which this ever welcome guest became an intimate and
valued friend. Mrs. Bishop has kindly contributed some
' reminiscences,' which will be found at the end of this
chapter.
In June also was held the first Bishops' meeting (in
connection with the Anglican communion) in Japan,
A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE. 1893-1897 377
when, on June 18, Bishops Bickersteth, McKim, and
Evington met for an early celebration of Holy Communion
in the House Chapel at Bishopstowe, and remained the
whole day in conference. That evening a ' representative '
dinner-party was given in honour of the event, when
Bishop and Mrs. Bickersteth had the pleasure of welcoming
as their guest the venerable Bishop Nicolai of the Russian
Church, as well as representatives of the American,
Canadian, and Japanese Churches, and missionaries sent
out by the S.P.G., C.M.S., and Guild of St. Paul.
In July the Bishop again visited Osaka and its neigh-
bourhood, and wrote to his wife :
Osaka : July 2, 1895.
I got in just at n A.M. From Nagoya we crawled.
There were soldiers' trains on the line. Some of the men
whom I saw were bronzed and their uniforms worn, as if
they had seen much hard work ....
To-night we start for Sakai at 5 o'clock. 1 There will be
a little party of ' foreigners ' there, and I suppose some fifty
to sixty catechists and Japanese clergy, all, I understand,
in the same house, a large sort of summer tea-house by the
sea shore. I hope some good may be done both here and
in the Tokyo ' School.' As the Japanese like it, it is best
certainly that we should fall in with the plan. Otherwise
I should have thought something more in the nature of a
retreat, followed by more regular classes in the Divinity
School Buildings, would have been more useful.
Hamadera, Sakai : July 3, 1895.
We came down here about 6.30 last night, and after tea
had a ' welcome ' meeting, as they call it. Then this morning
before breakfast we had morning prayer, and afterwards
my paper on the Incarnation. Koba San read it for me.
This afternoon I have been having a walk with
C. Warren along the shore, hoping to win some sleep to-
night.
1 N.B. This was for a gathering of the clergy and catechists connected
with the C.M.S. Mission for the purpose of devotion, instruction, and
discussion. Similar gatherings were held from time to time in different parts
of the diocese.
378 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
I have been having also several talks with the Japanese
catechists, so I hope the time is not lost ; at least, my
having come serves to show interest, which is so far good.
Osaka : Saturday night, July 6, 1895.
I have been sermonising all day, and have got my two
discourses just ready.
I read through the Bishop of Durham's noble missionary
sermon to C.M.S., only I fear that the a^vrfroi (is that a
right word ? ) would not have caught the points in the
hearing.
For Monday morning I have taken the epistle
(Romans viii. 18). It is a great passage, on which I do
not think I ever ventured to preach before. The thought
I have tried to insist on is sympathy with the wide human
family emphasised, not interfered with, by the greatest of
the Christian privilege.
The brief summer holiday was spent at Karuizawa, a
mountain village where the Bishop hired a small chalet
whence he wrote to his sister :
We came up here on Saturday, and are greatly enjoying
the quiet, and being to ourselves most of all. This house
is on a little hill by itself, and we have done nothing to
encourage visitors, meaning to have a fortnight to ourselves.
In Tokyo this is quite impossible, so I think we are justified
in taking this spell of isolation. We are reading Dante
(Dean Church's Essay and Gary), Hook's Archbishops,
Westcott's Hebrews, and a little Japanese, all together !
It has rained pretty well since we arrived, but we have not
minded much :
My sister-in-law, Mrs. Edward Bickersteth, writes to me
of that visit :
It was noticed by many that at no time during his
episcopate was E. so full of physical vigour and buoy-
ancy of spirits as during this holiday and the months
that immediately followed. Though much quiet work was
got through at Karuizawa, both in study of the language
and in attempts to bring missionary effort to bear on the
inhabitants of the village, as well as the erection and dedi-
A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE. 1893-1897 379
cation of a small wooden church for the English and
American visitors, yet he was also more ready than usual
to throw himself with almost boyish eagerness into holi-
day pursuits. Long walks were taken daily on the hills,
and we had one expedition of several days' duration in
company with Miss Bullock of St. Hilda's Mission and
some delightful English friends, Mr. and Mrs. T. H. James,
and their young daughter, which remains as a specially
bright spot in the memory of that happy summer.
Not long after the autumn work had begun a telegram
most unexpectedly summoned the Bishop to England to
confer with the authorities at home as to the proposed
Osaka bishopric. There had been much delay in the
matter, owing to protracted negotiations between the
Archbishop of Canterbury and the missionary societies.
The ultimate decision of the C.M.S. that they could not
help at all unless they were allowed to nominate the
Bishop to be appointed led the Archbishop to apply to
the S.P.G. That society at once responded by promising
to be responsible for the salary, leaving the nomination to
the Archbishop, and a ready response was made to their
special appeal for an Osaka Bishopric Fund.
Bishop and Mrs. Bickersteth reached England on
December n, 1895, an< 3 within a few weeks the Bishop
had the joy of knowing that his desire was accomplished.
Seldom, perhaps, was he more pleased and satisfied than
at the fulfilment of this scheme which he had long felt
so needful to the missions in Central Japan, especially
on learning that the Right Rev. William Awdry, Bishop-
Suffragan of Southampton, had accepted the Archbishop's
invitation to become the first Bishop of Osaka. Bishop
Awdry was prepared to give up his parish and leave
England with his wife within the short space of six
weeks, so as to be able to attend the General Synod of
the Japanese Church in April. The interval before
380 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
starting was well employed by Bishop Bickersteth.
Never was he more vigorous, nor pleaded with more
ability and persuasion for the Far Eastern Church which
he loved so well. He thus happened to be in England
on February 2, the anniversary of his consecration, and
he wrote to his wife from Cambridge :
Pembroke College, Cambridge : Feast of the Purification, 1896.
To think that I have held the holy office of a Bishop
now for ten years the average time, I believe. It is very
humbling in the thought of how much more might have
been done, and how much better done what has been taken
in hand ; and at the same time to have been allowed to
work at all during so long a period is reason enough for
thanksgiving.
The two Bishops left England on February 21, and
Bishop and Mrs. Bickersteth reached Tokyo on the
eve of Palm Sunday (March 28) after an absence of
exactly five months, and great was their joy to be ' at
home ' again. They received a warm welcome, and the
Bishop was able to write to his mother-in-law : ' I never
returned to find work going on more harmoniously and
hopefully.'
This Easter, too, was one of the happiest times of the
Bishop's life. Some idea of it is given in the following
letter, written by his wife on Easter Day to her mother in
England :
I would not have changed our Easter for any in the
world : it has been so perfect. . . . This morning dawned
more brightly than we had dared to hope after last night's
clouds, and the whole day has been one of unclouded love-
liness with a real foretaste of summer. We went to the
7 o'clock celebration (Japanese), and E. celebrated. The
church [St. Andrew's, Shiba] looked beautifully festal, and
we were very thankful for the fifty-five communicants
(quite forty-five of them Japanese).
At the 9 o'clock Japanese service the church was quite
A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE. 1893-1897 381
full (165 for Mattins and sermon, and some 30 communi-
cants), and the service was so bright and hearty. Arch-
deacon Shaw preached, and it was very nice to see him
among the people he loves so much. He is exceedingly
happy to be back. I stayed on for English Mattins. E.
preached on ' Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us,' &c.
You know that the Resurrection is the very centre and
mainspring of his life, and he always glows with joy on
Easter Day. We had a delightful party to luncheon, as
our guests were Imai San and Yoshizawa San [two
Japanese priests] and Isobe San and Sakai San [two
Japanese lady-workers]. They were al! so happy and
Easter-like. This afternoon E. and I walked to see the
Shaws. Mr. Batchelor (of Ainu fame) has been to tea
with us, and we have been to the five o'clock English
evensong.
That Easter evening all the members of St. Andrew's
and St. Hilda's Missions came to supper at Bishopstowe,
and the day closed with English compline in the House
chapel.
On Easter Tuesday the Bishop and Mrs. Bickersteth
went to Osaka, where they were the guests of Archdeacon
and Mrs. Warren for the General Japanese Synod and the
C.M.S. conference which followed it. The fatigue of pre-
siding at a synod of such importance, with the delibera-
tions conducted of course entirely in Japanese, immediately
after a five months' absence from the country, told severely
upon the Bishop's health (though many of those present
remarked at the time on the ability of his chairmanship),
and, in fact, he never wholly recovered from the strain.
He was, however, full of hopefulness, and he thoroughly
enjoyed receiving Bishop and Mrs. Awdry in May as
guests at Bishopstowe and introducing to them as many
as possible of his friends and fellow-workers, little dream-
ing that in God's providence he was preparing a welcome
for his successor. In June he travelled with the Rev. A.
F. King through a hitherto un visited portion of his diocese,
382 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
purposely choosing a new route to Matsumoto in order to
' survey' the land and to decide on possible new openings
for work. He had joyfully planned many such ' pioneer '
journeys owing to the now more compassable size of his
diocese. The following extracts may be given from letters
to his wife before she joined him in Nagano, where, as
always in that busy centre of work (the house of the Rev.
J. G. and Mrs. Waller), they spent a few happy days.
Kofu : June 4, 1896.
I hope that my Saru Hashi postcard will have reached
you a day before this letter, and my telegram a day before
the postcard. Both yesterday and to-day we have been in
a basha. 1 The Hachioji Kurumaya asked most extrava-
gant prices, so we had a basha to go half a day's journey to
a place called Yoshino, but then we were forced to do the
same thing again as there were no kurumas to be had. Our
second basha would only take us one short stage and landed
us in a place called Ueno Machi, still twelve miles from
our destination. Fortunately a more venturesome driver,
who knew the road well and had an excellent horse, undertook
to take us on, and did so safely and easily. At Saruhashi
we got rooms all right, and were not sorry to turn in. It
had been pouring from, I suppose, about three o'clock.
When we woke this morning the prospect was most dreary.
However, we felt that there was nothing for it but to go
on, so we again got a basha (shaking notwithstanding it is
better as taking our luggage and as being much cheaper),
and were rewarded by the weather clearing when we were
about half-way here. We had no view from the pass,
though the flowers were lovely, but before we got in Fuji
San had put its top out of the clouds, and the whole
Koshu range (the same that you and I saw last year from
the other side) was clearing. We got some tea, and then
went and called on the Methodist mission here, whom
we found to consist of three ladies. They were quite
delighted to see us, saying that to have foreign visi-
tors was such a pleasure and insisting on our staying
for a kind of tea-supper. Then we walked up to the old
1 A rough, springless vehicle dignified by the name of a carriage.
A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE. 1893-1897 383
castle. I do wish you could have been there, such views
of mountains in the direction we are to go to-morrow.
I have scarcely been able to open a book, though I
have made some attempts. In a kuruma it is difficult, in
a basha it is hopeless, even when the road is good, which is
very seldom.
Matsumoto : 5 P.M. June 6, 1896.
We got in an hour ago, and Kakuzen San [a Japanese
deacon] has sent off a Japanese telegram to you.
Yesterday we were again in basha or walking all day.
The first part of the road was good, but the last ten to
fifteen miles of the forty all stones and furrows and ditches.
We walked a good part of it. Mr. Kennedy and Kakuzen
San were waiting for us at Kami no Suwa. They had
been out paying some visits in the district, and went on
with us to Shimo no Suwa, where we got in just at dark.
It was lovely all day, very little dust and not too hot. The
views from the higher points are very beautiful. The lake
is not so beautiful as Hakone, and they are gradually
encroaching on it by redeeming lands for rice fields.
Kami no Suwa is the bigger place. We ought to have a
mission there. Our only accident was the horse coming
down once and breaking a shaft, but the man tied it up as
if it were quite a matter of course. I did not sleep at Kofu,
so went to bed early at Shimo no Suwa and slept for hours,
but the result was that I did not see the chief of police last
night. However, good man ! he called again this morning
and I had a talk with him. He seems a genuine man and
I hope will prove a believer. Your two letters were waiting
me here.
I think there will not be water enough in the river to
bring us down, so we shall come over Hofukuji, and perhaps
catch your train at Ueda. Look out for us, but of course
it is uncertain, with so long a tramp and kurumas, &c., if
we shall get in.
August was again spent at Karuizawa, where the
Bishop had now built a wooden chalet, and some account
of the happy weeks there, as well as some reminiscences of
Bishopstowe, will be found in the following recollections
kindly furnished by Miss Ranken, daughter of the late
Dean of Aberdeen, a frequent guest and valued friend.
384 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
When I came to Japan in the early spring of 1 892 the
Bishop was absent in another part of the diocese. I had
taken in hand some work in Tokyo under certain restric-
tions of a non-missionary character, which gave rise to
more or less adverse criticism on the part of some of those
who had at heart the Christianising oif Japan.
I knew that there was ground for disappointment on
the Bishop's part, because the hopes which had been enter-
tained, hopes in which I knew he had shared, of being able
to carry out the work referred to on proselytising lines had,
for the present at any rate, to be set aside. This being the
case, I looked forward to his return with a certain amount
of anxiety, for it would not have been possible for me to go
on with work under conditions of which he disapproved.
The open mind which he brought to the judgment of
the case, the clear manner in which he stated it these
were my first experiences of the Bishop, and they gave me
encouragement amid the difficulties of unaccustomed work.
His interest never tired, nor did his support in the conten-
tion that there might be other ways besides those most
obvious of doing work for the cause of missions.
It was not, however, till after his return from England
with Mrs. Bickersteth in the end of 1893 tnat I had any
opportunity for intimate personal intercourse with him. I
think there were few of us who did not hail with delight
that new home at Bishopstowe, or who did not soon dis-
cover that we could go there with the certainty of finding
ourselves, in a special sense, at home, in touch with all that
is best and highest in English home life, while none the
less fully in touch with the mission work to which the lives
of the Bishop and his wife (I knew them together, and
cannot separate them) were dedicated.
The characteristic which first impressed me with a sense
of enjoyment is still, to my mind, that which distinguished
the Bishop, the clear expression of a clear knowledge. I
do not mean to separate this from the deeply devotional
and reverent side of his character, for, indeed, the two
seemed to be very closely knit together. But there is
surely no one who has realised in Japan the pity of the
confusion of half-informed, or more than half ;/.$- in formed,
missionary effort, clashing aimlessly against the confused
creeds of the country who will not acknowledge that a
first requisite was the trained theological mind, able to give
A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE. 1893-1897 385
utterance to the truths of the creed in unfaltering words,
the exact, and not only the approximate, expression of
that which he desired to set forth.
I was much struck also by his manner with children,
and by the ease with which simplicity of expression came
to him in addressing them. He seemed to have found out
that a child can follow reasoning if it is presented in
simple and intelligible language. I have heard a child
reproduce his train of thought in the same ordered
sequence in which it had been delivered, and with a
pleasure in having understood such as no talking down to
a supposed child- level could have given.
In conversation it did not often seem possible for him
to skim lightly over the surface of things, implying a
knowledge which he did not possess, and consequently one
found oneself brought to book, as it were, by questions put
simply with the desire to know all that could be known on
the subject, but having naturally the effect now and then
of bringing to light a general ignorance where those around
him had been dogmatising with all the lightness of society
talk. His talk on historical or political subjects, or on
social questions, was always full of interest, informed and
informing.
His sense of humour and power of enjoying a joke did
not strike one immediately, but they were great neverthe-
less, and as valuable as, when wisely directed, they always
are in bringing minds into touch and smoothing away
difficulties. I have often heard it remarked : ' The Bishop
has plenty of fun in him when you get to know him,' which
might, perhaps, have been put equally well in a reverse
form. There were people who, beginning to know him on
some such common ground, were the more readily to be
brought under his influence.
However busy his life might be, there was always time
for the ready courtesy of an unselfish nature to show itself,
and nothing seemed to come in the way of the restful,
helpful prayer-time in the chapel. Whether the prayers
were in the old familiar language, consecrated by all our
dearest memories, or in the unfamiliar words of the
Japanese, telling of great hopes for a future so full of
promise, and with its soft Italian vowels seeming peculiarly
fitted for the expression of devotion, these services seemed
C C
386 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
expressly meant for the setting forth of the doctrine of the
communion of saints.
I spent some weeks of the summer of 1896 partly in,
and partly quite near, the cottage which the Bishop had
just built at Karuizawa. From the city of Tokyo the road
across the island to the western sea, following the line of
least width, crosses a mountain chain by the Usui Togi, a
pass 4050 feet above the sea. By means of a wonderful
chain of tunnels the railway from Tokyo to Navetzu, on
the Sea of Japan, opened within the last six or seven years,
avoids the crown of the pass or Togi, and comes out nearly
eight hundred feet lower on a wide grassy plain, once
evidently the bed of a great mountain tarn, dominated by
the peak of Asama Yama, the highest active volcano in
Japan, over the top of which rises always a grey pillar of
smoke, glowing red after nightfall.
At the upper end of the plain, below the abrupt ascent
to the Usui Togi, lies the village of Karuizawa. Half
way up the track leading from the village to the top of
the pass, where a level space overhangs a clear mountain
stream, stands the Bishop's cottage, looking across the
plain, and seen to great advantage from the lower level.
It was not begun, however, till after the opening of the
little wooden church which stands among the pine trees at
the foot of the ascent. Here by the beginning of August
1896 the cottage was ready for its first guests. In building
this summer home, as in the life at Bishopstowe, the main
idea and motive was to make a centre for rest and home
life for as many as possible of the mission workers and
others, like myself, for whom the ever ready kindness of
the Bishop and Mrs. Bickersteth saw an opportunity for
exercising itself.
The dainty simplicity of the cottage at Karuizawa must
have had its own value. There were books and flowers,
the latter most easy of attainment, for we lived in a limit-
less garden. We were amused to find that three sets of
our party, of whom the Bishop and Mrs. Bickersteth made
one, had fixed on Dante as a good staying study for leisure
moments. As usual, the Bishop must have found that he
had but little time for that sort of thing, for much work
went on. All through the morning the thin wooden parti-
tions allowed one to hear the subdued murmur of voices,
to which sounds was attached an interest coming from the
A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE. 1893-1897 387
knowledge that they were the echoes of discussions vital to
the establishing of the Church in Japan. The morning
prayer in the upper chamber, which was his study, wide
open to the air from those grand mountains, with their sug-
gestion of ' Even so standeth the Lord round about His
people ; from this time forth for ever more,' the solemn
inflections of the Bishop's voice intoning the Japanese
prayers, the reverent responses of the worshippers all was
full of ' the beauty of holiness.
On a Sunday evening, just at the end of the holiday,
tidings reached Karuizawa of great and disastrous floods in
a remote corner of the diocese, on the Gifu plain, and, in
spite of recent ill-health, the Bishop at once felt that his
place was with his people in their trouble. So he started off
at daybreak next morning, and the following letters to his
wife tell of his experiences :
St. Andrew's House, Tokyo : September 14, 1896.
Just one line I must leave to tell you of my journey.
Except an hour's stop at Takasaki, the journey was quite
easy and comfortable, by no means very hot. I read the
' Expositor ' and a good deal of my Latin book, which I
am taking on with me. Mr. Webb met me here. My
letter and telegram had both arrived, and Mr. King was
seeking information as to routes. I had some tea, and
then went up to St. Hilda's, where I saw the new buildings
(very nice) and settled about your going there to-morrow.
On my return Mr. King had come in with the unexpected
news that the line is open, so I start to-night. I shall be
rather tired, but I think it is best to go on at once.
Probably I shall not be away more than two or three days ;
but I'll telegraph again to-morrow. God bless you, my
dear one, and bring you safely here to-morrow
would have been such a nice three days with you ; but still,
it is all right, and I am sure I do right to go.
Nagoya : September 15, 1896.
Just a line to tell you that I had a good sleep in the
train last night, and reached here (Mr. Robinson s house)
at noon. I have now had a talk. The accounts about loss
of life, &c., in this part of the country are exaggerated.
C C 2
388 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
In the Gifu ken [district] things are worse, and I am going
on there to-night, and to-morrow shall get out, if possible,
to Takasu and Imau. If I can, I shall get back on Thurs-
day by the express. I must start, so only this.
Gifu: Thursday.
We were all yesterday going and coming from Ogaki.
The rain prevented us reaching Imau, but we are just
starting there, and do not expect to be back till late to-
night
There were four breaks in embankments, besides the
two rivers, between here and Ogaki, and the damage done
most saddening.
The Bishop returned to Tokyo, and at once plunged
into full work, though increasingly unfit for the strain. At
the end of September he took part in a gathering by the
seaside for devotion and mutual counsel of Japanese clergy
and catechists, and from this he returned full of thankful-
ness and hope. Then, early in October, he conducted a
Retreat at St. Hilda's Mission House, the depth and
beauty of his addresses on ' The Life of Perfection ' being
remarked by many present. Within a few days came the
attack of illness which, though none suspected it, was the
beginning of the end, and the Bishop was compelled to
take to his bed in the midst of a C.M.S. Conference
through which he was painfully struggling. On the second
day of his illness came the news of the sudden call to rest
of his beloved friend and revered leader, Archbishop
Benson. The shock of the tidings was severe, and for long
he could think or speak of little else. As soon as he could
stand, and long before he was fit for it, the Bishop was
back at his desk and his work. On November 8 he cele-
brated in his own chapel, and on November 14 confirmed
two Japanese boys there, while on Sunday, November 15,
he preached at the English service at St. Andrew's, Tokyo,
and in the afternoon baptised a little English baby, the son
A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE. 1893-1897 389
of one of the Legation Secretaries. But the following day
there came another severe relapse, and the doctors ordered
an immediate return to England. It was a sore trial to the
Bishop to leave undone the winter's work which had been
so joyfully planned, and several questions unsettled which
seemed to demand his presence. But the call of God was
plain, and obedience was instant and unquestioning.
In spite of his hurried departure, he found time to leave
a few lines for his valued worker and friend, the Rev. A. F.
King, who, with the Rev. John Imai, was expected shortly
to return from a visit of inquiry to Formosa, to which they
had been commissioned by the Bishops in Japan :
You will be surprised to find me gone on your return.
It is a great grief to me from all points of view, but it
seemed right to obey the doctors' very clear orders.
Some of those who saw the Bishop leave Japan recalled
afterwards their fears that he could never so recover
as to resume his work there. But no such thought
was present to his own mind. Indeed, through all the
long weary months of illness that followed, one great
characteristic was his buoyant hopefulness and eager anti-
cipation of return to work. The words of his farewell to
his clergy given below are rather a proof of his constant
and habitual realisation of the continuity of life and of the
nearness of the unseen world than a sign that he felt his
days on earth were numbered.
To the Reverend the Clergy and the Laity of the
South Tokyo Chiho
Bishopstowe, ligura, Azabu, Tokyo :
The Vigil of St. Andrew, 1896.
My dear Brethren, It is a great grief to me to be
leaving Japan just at the present time. Now, however,
that many weeks have passed by since I was first laid aside
by illness, and I am, though better, unable to undertake my
39O BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
ordinary duties, there seems to be no doubt that it is my
duty to accept the medical decision, and seek a full restora-
tion of my health and strength by a change of climate. I
know that you will give me the help of your special prayers
that if it is God's will I may before long resume my work
among you.
Let me only add, dear brethren, that it is perhaps
well for us to be reminded in this way how little the work
of any one person is necessary to the certain final triumph
of the Kingdom of Christ ; and, on the other hand, how
important it is that each of us should ' redeem the oppor-
tunity ' which each day offers as it passes, remembering the
great teaching of our Advent season that 'the time is
short ' and ' the Master near.'
Asking for you the peace and blessing of Gpd, I am,
Yours faithfully and affectionately in Christ,
EDW. BICKERSTETH, Bishop.
But there can be no doubt that the strenuous labour of
the past three years, together with the strain and worry of
special anxieties in his work, had wearied him and taken
more out of him than he or others knew.
A vivid picture of the life at Bishopstowe, and of the
impression made by the Bishop on those who came into
touch with him, is given in the following recollections most
kindly furnished by Mrs. J. F. Bishop, the well-known
lady traveller and now equally well-known advocate of the
missionary cause :
20 Earl's Terrace, London, W. : October 6, 1898.
Dear Mr. Bickersteth, The first time that I met the
late Bishop Edward Bickersteth was in 1888 at dinner at
the house of the late Bishop and Mrs. Perry. He was the
only guest besides myself. The prospect of his presence
had been held out to me as a great treat, and so truly I
found it.
His portraits are very like him, but they do not repre-
sent his great height, the rapidity and energy of his
movements, or the vitality and earnestness of his expres-
sion, all the more noticeable because he had then only
recently recovered from the breakdown of his health at
A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE. 1893-1897 391
Delhi, from which, indeed, he never did fully recover.
Mental vigour, physical energy, and broad and large in-
tellectual vitality were my first impressions of him.
During dinner Bishop Perry, with a graceful courtesy
peculiarly his own, declared that he should ' retire from the
conversation,' upon which I took upon myself to elicit
Bishop Bickersteth's opinions upon several Japanese sub-
jects, on all of which he had evidently thought carefully,
and finally, after we had left the dinner-table, on the
position of Christianity in Japan and its probable future.
This was a congenial subject, and the evening passed
swiftly by in listening to Bishop Bickersteth's broad and
luminous views. The graphic account he gave of the dis-
cussions in the synod of the Japanese Church then
recently held, on doctrine, constitution, the Prayer Book,
the proposed National Episcopal Church, and the adoption
or non-adoption of the Thirty-nine Articles was so lucid
and brilliant, and so lightened by touches of humour and
picturesqueness, that I have never forgotten it, and it
prepared me for taking something of an intelligent interest
in the Japanese Church when I revisited Japan six years
later.
When I was at Osaka in Japan, in 1894, I received a
message from Mrs. Bickersteth offering me hospitality
whenever 1 should go to Tokyo, and the following year I
visited them for the first time. Their house, Bishopstowe,
in the green and hilly suburb of Azabu, stands back from
a pretty Japanese lane, among Japanese houses and shady
gardens. It, like its neighbours, is built of wood. The
back has a very pretty view, and there is a very large
lawn bordered by maples and other Japanese trees, pro-
fusely blossoming gardenias, and sunflowers. The front
and porch are hidden by a clematis. It is not a pretty
house, but it had the quiet comfortable look of home.
The house is roomy, and answered admirably for the
' Hostel ' which they made it. The clergy, the missionaries,
strangers, were all welcome, and both in Tokyo and at a
house which the Bishop built in the Karuizawa hills, they
received and nursed and fed into health invalids and people
recovering from illness, not only of the mission but out-
siders. During one of my visits diphtheria attacked the
youngest of a large family, and as soon as the malady was
heard of, the other children were immediately sent for to
392 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
Bishopstowe, where they remained for a considerable time ;
the risk of receiving them being cheerfully run by both host
and hostess.
The Bishop's study was a bright room upstairs, nobly
lined with a very fine library, to which the best books as
they came out were constantly added, producing an over-
flow on tables and even chairs. It was the library of a
man of severe yet eclectic literary tastes, as well as of a
student. The servants were Japanese. The head man,
having lived nine years with the Bishop, was absolutely
devoted to him. No English was spoken. The domestic
arrangements were as harmonious as all else.
I have dwelt thus long on the house, because such were
the surroundings among which Bishop Bickersteth's brief
and blessed married life was spent an ideal married life,
beautiful in mutual love and reverence, and in the strength
of twain for all good and loving works.
I was with them immediately on their return from Eng-
land (in June 1896), and was grieved to see that the Bishop
had not benefited by the voyage. He seemed languid and
weak, and found his head less able than usual for continu-
ous work. For the summer they went to Karuizawa, but it
failed to restore him, and when I returned to what had by
this time become my home, Bishopstowe, I was shocked at
the manifest change. His movements were languid, he
no longer leapt energetically and eagerly to his work, but
goaded himself to it ; his head not only ached with a weary
ache, but, as he said, ' felt vacant,' and his digestive powers
had failed so much that he was living on a very light diet.
Weak and ill as he was, he made the effort to preach. He
looked very ill and found a difficulty in standing ; but
there was no failure in vigour of thought and expression,
or in that deep spirituality of tone which was one of his
marked characteristics. The same evening, I think, the
illness began which ended fatally ten months later.
I cannot venture to give any sketch of his character,
but I must mention some of the points which came out
very prominently during my acquaintance with him. Every
part of his nature seemed under strict discipline, and yet
there was a great spontaneity about him, nothing rigid or
strait-laced, and he threw himself very sympathetically
into the intellectual and other interests of other people, and
children, when he played with them, recognised him as a
A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE. 1893-1897 393
playmate. He was very bright in conversation, and saw
the humorous aspects of events and characters very keenly.
His domestic life was harmonious and beautiful. His
courtesy to the Japanese servants was unfailing. His time
was always at the disposal of anyone who sought him, and
the seekers were many, and might often have been regarded
in the light of interruptions solely. But that was not his
view. He used hospitality without grudging, and indeed
when yesterday, in Westminster Abbey, at the consecra-
tion of two prelates, I heard the passage read on the
qualifications essential for a Bishop, I thought how your
lamented brother possessed them all.
Naturally I saw much of his relations with his ' fellow
workers,' both English and Japanese, and they were of a
very happy nature. The workers all had the certainty of
the personal interest of the Bishop in themselves, their
work, and their difficulties, and they consulted him regard-
ing everything, well assured of the soundness of his
judgment and the thorough disinterestedness of his advice.
The wholesome ascendancy which his strong character and
personal devoutness gave him, though possibly unsuspected
by himself, and used only in the exercise of his mission as
the ' chief pastor of the flock,' together with extreme tact,
as well as high intellectual ability, enabled him, by simply-
being what he was, to prevent friction arising among the
workers, and helped him to help them to rise above the
littlenesses and undue absorption with the pettinesses of
detail which infest mission work, and ofttimes render it
unfruitful. I have never seen a mission in which a brighter
spirit and greater harmony prevailed.
Also I noticed, and with very great pleasure, that no
difference was made by the Bishop between the English
priests and deacons and the Japanese. It seems almost
natural for the European to treat the Oriental as his
inferior, an assumption of superiority greatly resented by
the high-spirited Japanese, as well as the attempt made
in some quarters to treat them like children. Bishop
Bickersteth, on the contrary, helped the native clergy and
other workers to occupy a position of equality. He
treated them with the utmost courtesy, received them
socially and frequently, and encouraged them to a free
expression of opinion regarding controverted points and
methods of work. I feel sure that the result was that they
394 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
were very much more disposed to consult him on all
points and to accept his guidance than if there had been
anything tutorial in his manner of dealing with them.
Then he never spared himself. In bad health he
travelled through his diocese, including the remote parts
of the Hokkaido, when the facilities for travel were fewer
than they are now ; never shrinking from fatigue, exposure
to deleterious weather, unsuitable and insufficient food,
ofttimes wretched accommodation, and hosts of vermin.
His being at once a scholar, a student, and a man of
the world, also helped him with the Japanese. His
scholarly acquisition of their language enabled him to
converse readily on the topics of the day with educated
men, and his knowledge of the world saved him from
falling into the mistakes so naturally made in coming to
reside in a country with a very elaborate civilisation. He
had adopted Japan as his country, purposing to live and
die there, and none of its interests were foreign to him.
He had grasped the political situation, recognised the
relative values of the factors in it, and the dangers which
are arising on the hitherto triumphal march of progress.
The singular grasp and breadth of his mind gave him a
power of taking in the situation and future of the Church
in Japan in all its bearings, and all detail in his view was
to be regarded as the laying the foundation of an ecclesi-
astical edifice, which was to be a Japanese Holy Catholic
Society, with its own constitution, Canons, and peculiarities,
not an exotic offshoot of a foreign Church. It was
obvious that in his ideas and hopes the work to which he
daily attended carefully and laboriously was but in the
direction of preparation for this great end. He often said
that he regarded his work as one of foundation laying,
preparation, and instruction, and that he hoped to see the
day when a Japanese Bishop would occupy his place.
This breadth of outlook, to which details were subordinate,
gave him such a peculiar fitness for guiding the infancy of
the Church to what he regarded as its adult destinies that
the Providence which to our thinking removed him prema-
turely must always remain a mystery.
When I recall the earnestness of the daily intercessory
service in the quiet chapel at Bishopstowe, I am reminded
that, dear as Church ordinances and methods were to him,
they were but the means to the great end of the creation
A MISSIONARY BISHOP'S LIFE. 1893-1897 395
of a body of faithful men and women who should adorn
the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things.
Before I saw Bishop Bickersteth in Japan a missionary,
now himself a Bishop, who was very far from sympathising
with some of your brother's Church views, remarked to
me : ' It is a great privilege to receive him as a guest ; he
does us good, he is such a very holy man.' In his own
perfectly ordered home I felt the truth of this verdict.
He obviously lived under 'the powers of the world to
come,' in the vision of that unseen on which he was so
soon to enter. The deep spirituality of his nature which
impressed those who knew him at Delhi was not the less
remarkable in Japan. He turned from conversation on
things so-called secular to things spiritual so easily and
naturally as to deprive his auditor of all sense of abrupt-
ness or dislocation in the transition.
Trained under Bishop Lightfoot and Bishop Westcott,
I was not surprised at his scholarship, at once profound
and graceful, his erudition, his remarkable knowledge of
the history of Churches and of dogma, and the intellectual
equipment which fitted him, as few are fitted, to face the
elaboration and fine spun metaphysics of the faiths of the
East. But it was a matter for daily astonishment how he
found leisure in his laborious life to keep in touch with
political and social movements, and to be well acquainted
with Church affairs and home politics.
My letter is exceeding all reasonable limits, and yet
fails to include much of what I should like to say of his
great conversational powers, his keen acumen and insight,
the breadth of his views, his very strong Churchmanship,
combined with his full and hearty recognition of the
spiritual attainments and work of members of other com-
munions, his intense earnestness, his broad views as to the
future of the Japanese Church, and his recognition of the
adaptations of Western to Eastern methods which would
be an essential element of its growth ; his self-sacrificing and
single minded effort, his devotion to mission work, which
compelled him to plead for it at the Lambeth Conference
even with the hand of death upon him, his self-denial in
daily life, his love of children, his playfulness, his thought-
fulness for others, his intellectual honesty, which compelled
him to state the views of opponents as fully and clearly as
his own, and the purity and sincerity of his life.
396 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
Of his thoughtful kindness to myself I cannot speak too
gratefully. In the peaceful atmosphere of Bishopstowc
and in that busy life of work which never degenerated
into hurry, no one was overlooked or forgotten ; kindness
in word and act was both rule and habit. I felt more
and more, as I knew the Bishop better, that the beauty
of his life and character came from his lifelong habit of
living in the realisation of the Divine Presence, and
under ' the powers of the world to come.' When I left
Tokyo for Yumoto in June 1896 he asked if I had with
rne a copy of ' The Imitation of Christ/ and on finding that
I had not he gave me a copy which he had used himself.
It is very touching to find that all the passages on selfish-
ness, worldliness, and humility are marked.
His power of organisation appeared to me great, but he
recognised the need of something more. Miss Thornton
mentioned that in speaking to her with reference to her
co-workers, he said, ' You must do more than organise
you* must inspire.' So his own words and the breadth of
his outlook on the future of mission work in Japan ofttimes
came to his own fellow-workers with the stimulating and
sustaining power of an inspiration, making them feel ' like
doing double the work they had been doing, or doing
it doubly as well.'
Recalling what he was in himself, what he was to his
fellow- workers, and what he was to the present and future
of the Church in Japan, his own daily life appears to me
the fulfilment of the striking sentence in his last words
written in Japan : ' How important it is that each one of us
should redeem the opportunity which each day offers as it
passes, remembering the great teaching of our Advent
season, that ' the time is short and the Master near.' In
view of the loss he is to his own family, who leant upon
him and looked up to him, to the councils of the Church
at large, and very specially to missions in Japan, it is less
easy to sympathise fully with his words in the earlier part of
the same sentence : ' It is perhaps well for us to be reminded
how little the work of any one person is essential to the
certain final triumph of the Kingdom of Christ.'
Yours sincerely,
ISABELLA L. BISHOP.
.397
CHAPTER XI
INTELLECTUAL STANDPOINT
' A few have fallen away from us, whom may God restore ! but on the
other hand many who had before accepted their religious opinions on the
authority of their teachers have been led to apprehend with more explicit an
certain conviction how entirely the Catholic Creed rests on the Incarnation of
the Son of God, and how all religious systems alike, which deny this verity,
are antitheses of the Gospel as understood and taught by the Church since
apostolic days. They have learnt too and the lesson is worth laying to
heart that the Gospel of the Incarnation and the Cross is not to be defended
as an abstract system of doctrine but in vital connection with the Sacraments
and means of grace through which its blessings are brought home to believing
souls ; in other words, that the Person and acts of the Lord, not primarily
His words, are the substance of the Gospel, and that in consequence to be a
Christian is not merely to believe in His teaching, but to believe in Himself
and to be united with Him in the sacred society of which He is the Life and
Head. Those who have been able to occupy this standpoint are on a vantage
ground for the defence of their faith.' Address of Bishop EDWARD
BiCKERSTETH to Fourth Biennial Synod of the Nippon Sei Kokwai, Novem-
ber 29, 1893.
THE early love of reading which marked Edward Bicker-
steth's boyhood grew with his growth and ensured that he
would become richer in knowledge and riper in judgment
as the years ran on. The theological bent of his mind
made it no hard thing for him, even before his ordi-
nation, ' to apply himself wholly to this one thing, and to
draw all his cares and studies this way.' The veriest
fragments of time he would turn to account, not only
while waiting for a train, but even while being whisked
along in a jinriksha, he would dive into some of the
volumes, a bag of which invariably accompanied him on
all his journeys whether short or long. He was seldom
398 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
without a book in his hand. In this way he got through
an enormous quantity of reading, not only of patristic
theology and of standard works, but also of more ephemeral
literature, though he never greatly cared for novels.
Passages like the following abound in his home
letters :
To his Father
August 2, 1889.
I have nearly got through one or two books which
have been some time on hand one a book by Gratry on
the Creed. He was a Gallican of remarkable parts and
powers. I fear Ultramontanism is crushing out such
men. Then I have all but completed Origen's ' De
principiis.' Truly he was an inquisitive soul. It is tire-
some to have so little of the original Greek. Also, I have
reached the I5th chapter of Evans's 'Commentary on
i Corinthians.' I see that the author, whom I met at
Bishop Auckland last October, died a few weeks ago. He
was a remarkable Greek scholar shortly before you at
Cambridge, who failed to pass the mathematical, and so
could not enter for the classical, tripos.
To his Sister May
August 2, 1889.
I have nearly finished Gratry. It is interesting to see
how an able and devout Gallican slips over and round the
difficulties of the Roman system indulgences, for instance.
It is impossible that what he says about the Blessed Virgin
should be true, and so vast a system not have left a trace
in the apostolic writings or primitive documents.
To his Father
Haruna : August 31, 1889.
It is a big party here, 1 a thing most inimical to reading,
and I have read nothing during the week but part of
Mozley on ' Predestination ' a stiff subject and volume,
but one which I have long wished to study. Also I got
through in French part of De Sacy's ' Commentary on
i and 2 Timothy.' De Sacy and Quesnel (to judge from
1 He was then the guest of the Ladies' Institute at their holiday home.
INTELLECTUAL STANDPOINT 399
the extracts from the latter in Sadler), the two Port
Royalist commentators, are both still worth study. The
criticism of the day was, of course, defective, but the
substantial truth is often excellently illustrated. Matthew
Henry is said to have been much indebted to Quesnel,
and to have made scant, if any, acknowledgment.
To Miss M. Forsyth
Nevin, North Wales : July 29, 1893.
Yesterday I began reading a French theological book
with May, which seems interesting. The subject is early
Christian worship, and the author Duchesne. He is the
only really learned person (of the type of Lightfoot, who
had a great respect for him, among Anglicans) whom the
Galilean Church has produced for many years. I suppose
that the hope of an ultimately reunited Christendom lies
very largely in the results of Christian scholarship and
study, especially antiquarian and historical study. At
least it is bound up with this, as bringing out what
primitive conceptions of the Church and her worship and
work were ; where there have been legitimate develop-
ments, and where mere incongruous and harmful additions
to the original idea and methods.
To his Father
Kobe: May I, 1890
I am thinking of Dr. Westcott as probably to-day
being consecrated to Durham. It is pleasant to think how
the traditions of the See will be maintained. I suppose he
will continue the clergy school plan in part of Auckland
Castle. How your friends have mostly reached the
episcopate! I travelled down last night from Tokyo. I
brought with me several books : Bishop Eraser's ' Man-
chester Life,' which seems interesting but rather spun out
His was not the kind of mind which attracts me, though I
admire him. ' Lux Mundi,' which I am curious to read
the book seems to mark a cleft between the old and new
High Churchmen and the Bishop of Durham's 'Hebrews,'
which is sure to be crammed with thought. I have written
to him saying that though we cannot expect many com-
mentaries, he ought to publish his lectures on doctrine,
which I know he has ready or nearly so.
400 BISHOP EDWARD I3ICKERSTETH
To his Sister May
May 14, 1890.
I have finished Bishop Eraser's ' Manchester Life.' He
certainly was a noble example of a man who brought the
faith to bear on social problems, but he does not interest
me like the men who study the problems of the faith
itself (the Bishop of Durham, Dean Church, &c.). All
these he put on one side with the remark that nothing
could be known.
To his Father
Kobe : March 20, 1890.
I have been reading the second volume of Burgon's
' Twelve Good Men.' It is a very entertaining book. I
doubt if quite a like book could be compiled of Cambridge
life, and certainly there is no second Burgon.
Bishop Westcott's ' Commentary on the Epistle to the
Hebrews,' alluded to above, became one of his most
favourite books, as will be gathered from the following
extracts :
To Miss M. Forsyth
Exeter : July 18, 1893.
I was enjoying half-an-hour this morning over the
Bishop of Durham's ' Hebrews.' He always seems to me
to penetrate right to the heart of things, even if in doing
so he touches ' great deeps,' where his paths become in-
distinct and hard for his pupils to follow him in. But with
all his minute learning he never becomes small or narrow,
and so his teaching is always inspiring and uplifting. I
was reading him on our Lord's Priesthood ' His ability
to help,' which it shall be ours, I trust, always to know
and prove.
To his Wife
Kobe : March 1 8, 1895.
Bishop Westcott's ' Commentary on the Hebrews ' is
quite one of my favourites, though I do not think it is
generally appreciated. The stress the Bishop has laid on
those two doctrines you mention ' the absolute motive,' as
he calls it, of the Incarnation (do you know his essay on
INTELLECTUAL STANDPOINT 401
this at the end of his ' Commentary on the ist Epistle of
St. John ' ?), and the true meaning of TO alpa rov Xpia-rov
is one of his greatest services to theology. Not that in
the latter of these two the old meaning is wrong only
insufficient though, of course, the old was often wrongly
stated.
To his Father
Tokyo: January 12, 1894.
Have you seen Dr. Hort's ' The Way, the Truth, and the
Life ' ? It seems to me very helpful. Even the Bishop of
Durham's preface scarcely explains the long delay in
bringing out the lectures. The Cambridge love of perfec-
tion is sometimes an enemy of ' the good,' if it occasionally
produces ' the best.' I am glad to have known what I did
of Professor Hort, and should have valued further acquain-
tance. One wonders what Cambridge theology will become
without its leaders, in what direction it will tend ?
I also occasionally get a short time over St. Athanasius.
Especially on Sunday afternoon I have, if I am at home,
a short read of him. Certainly the old Greek Fathers had
a very strong hold of the Creed in a way to which later
times have scarcely attained, and so their writings seem
especially useful for modern missions in the East.
This belief in the value of the early Fathers to a modern
missionary was the fruit of an earlier conviction, he having
written to me some years previously (November 2, 1887) :
Whatever else evolution teaches, it reveals a great unity
of nature such as we did not before conceive of ; but from
the Christian point of view this unity leads up to and is
summed up in the Person of Christ. If, then, the fourth
century Fathers (Athanasius, Basil, Gregory of Nyssa) can
tell us something more about the meaning and the bearing
of the truth of Christ's Person, then what they knew and
taught will have a direct relation to meeting the difficulties
and assimilating the teachings of modern discovery. I
doubt -if we have got beyond what their keen Greek
intellects saw and the Greek language expressed ; intellect
and language being both instruments of a fervid piety. I
express badly what I only see imperfectly, but I think this
is true as far as it goes.
D D
402 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
To his Father
Tokyo: July 27, 1890.
I am reading in my patristic studies some treatises on
the Lord's Prayer. I have read Cyprian and Tertullian.
I mean to read Origen, Gregory of Nyssa, and Augustine.
The series is remarkable. I know no very good book of
modern times, do you ? I have not seen the late Bishop
of Salisbury's. Tertullian is certainly a master of
phrases for instance, when he calls the Prayer ' Evangelii
Breviarium.'
Being a missionary to such nimble-witted people as
the Japanese, he also, as in duty bound, read largely
books of criticism, whether they took the form of direct or
indirect attacks on the faith, though he wrote (August 23,
1893) : ' I have never been able to take so much interest in
mere critical studies as in those which are more positive
and constructive.'
To his Sister May
1889.
I am reading Laing's ' Modern Science and Modern
Thought,' l a heavy attack on the faith, or rather, so far as
as I have yet seen, on the faith misapprehended. This is
the usual case. Well, we Christians have largely ourselves
to blame when it is so, and should be thankful for being
made to state our creed more carefully. In this 'respect
such books as ' The Historic Faith ' and ' The Faith of the
Gospel ' are an immense advance. Only may we live by
what we learn more and more.
Again :
Haruna : Ninth Sunday after Trinity, 1889.
I have had a week here and have enjoyed it. During
it I have read through ' Robert Elsmere.' It might do
1 In his Lenten Pastoral (1890), Note I, he wrote : 'This book collects
in a convenient form a series of the latest objections to Christianity, scientific
and critical. Its summary of the results of modern scientific discovery is
brilliant and interesting, though, I am told, inaccurate. This fault is certainly
very apparent in its attempted estimate of the Christian argument.'
INTELLECTUAL STANDPOINT 403
some good, perhaps, to unbelievers of the Huxley type, or
a Broad Churchman who was untrue to the Church and her
teaching.
To the ordinary Churchman I fear it would often do
harm, but much less harm than the excellent telling of the
story, the description of the characters, and knowledge of
various spiritual states on the part of the authoress might
in themselves have produced, because nothing could be
thinner or less satisfying than the proposed substitute for
the faith (inferior to Hinduism). Also the historical argu-
ment is mis-stated twenty times e.g. the proposed com-
parison of the Gospel miracles with others, real or alleged,
in the first century only leads to the conviction of the
solitary supremacy of those of our Lord. But it is part of
the cruelty of the book that it hints at difficulties in
general terms which would have been seen to be unreal
and baseless had the particulars been filled in.
Part of the line taken by Mrs. H. Ward has, I think,
been given occasion to by false methods of evidence on
the part of Christian apologists e.g. the right order of
things is this : (a) The general historic truth of the Bible,
leading to a belief in (#) revelation, justifying, and making
possible a consideration of (c} inspiration. Mrs. Ward
assumes throughout that the true order is inspiration, truth,
revelation ; and much Christian writing does the same, but
most mistakenly. Again, like Paley, the squire claims to
appeal to reason only, all else is condemned as mysticism ;
but in truth the faith appeals to man's whole complex
being, including feeling and heart, with the senses of
reverence, fear, love, dissatisfaction, &c. Lastly, I conceive
that the God on whom Elsmere ultimately falls back is
the Christian God, and that the love which is predicated
of Him essentially demands some such doctrine as the
Incarnation as its complement.
The book is therefore illogical, except in the character
of the squire, which is the last thing Mrs. H. W. would
like to admit.
N biography of any eminent man made a stir in
England, but we could count on his criticism as soon as
the mails had given him time to read it and write about
it. I may give as instances the following :
404 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
To his Mother -in- Law
Tokyo : January 3, 1895.
It is the day of the S.P.G. Annual Conference here, but
Imust not let the mail go out without just a few lines to
thank you for the volume of Dr. Pusey's Life which you
so lovingly sent me. I am reading it with great interest.
It is quite a history of the Church of England during the
long years of his life, as there were very few events of any
importance in which he had not some share, if only by way
of expression of opinion. One feels on reading the book
with what a very holy soul one is brought into touch ; as a
teacher he was in no way original, and varied tiresomely at
different stages of his career, but as a saint he was always
an example which one is thankful to have set before one.
To his Sister May
Karuizawa : September 9, 1896.
I have read Manning with deepest interest. I feel
(1) That the book does nothing towards bridging the
gulf from the true position ' God wills to lead us through
His Church ' to the assumed position ' God wills to lead us
through the Pope of Rome.'
Manning leapt the chasm, but I cannot see that he did
anything to bridge it.
(2) That which was best in him as a Roman (e.g. his
insistence on the great truths of the creed) he learnt as an
Anglican. Even to the end, he was not a mere Roman
Catholic. The last chapter is, I think, the most instructive.
His tribute to the Church of England in his last paper is
remarkable.
But if the Church of England wishes to retain men of
that stamp it really must be freer to do its work than it is
now, and I think that in time she will be. Already there
is a great difference between our condition now and in
1830.
To his Sister May
Karuizawa : September 21, 1896.
Best thanks for yours on Manning. How extraordinary
it is that he did not see that when an CEcumenical Council
INTELLECTUAL STANDPOINT 405
became for the time impossible, God could still guide His
Church to real decisions, and did do so.
Thus, for instance, the Anselmic doctrine of satisfaction,
the Lutheran doctrine of the imputation of Christ's active
obedience, the Calvinistic doctrine of election, are all quite
as dead as if an (Ecumenical Council had decided against
them.
It looks so like mere impatience to jump without proof
to an infallible City or Pope, because one mode of decision
is, owing to our sins, for the time being debarred us.
The above extracts, a few out of many, are a sample
of his habit and tone of mind, and justify the assertion
that in books he found unfailing companionship. The
Japanese seldom failed to remark on this love of reading
evinced by their Bishop, and there is no doubt that his
reputation for a wide knowledge made them the more
ready to accept his leadership in crucial times and in,
critical cases.
If reading makes a full man, we know on high authority
that writing makes an exact one ; and the Bishop,
although not fond of writing and finding it a real labour,
since he was never satisfied without much revision and re-
revision, yet would never grudge the time to set down his
views in black and white, especially when asked to do
so by younger men or by those who had a right to look
to him for guidance.
When I was at St. John's College, Oxford, and, after
taking my degree, was preparing for Holy Orders, I
remember well the help and comfort it was to me to
receive from him the following carefully thought out
statement on the doctrine of the Atonement, a subject
about which I had written to ask him for guidance.
Cambridge Mission, Delhi : March 28, 1881.
My dearest Sam, This paper has been due to you a
long time. I have written it out in haste, but hope you
406 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
will be able to read it. Whether it will convey to you
what it does to me, I do not know. When one has
thought long over a subject, scraps may be useful which
are almost useless to another. Only may we not, in
thinking of what the Atonement was, cool in any way
through a mere intellectualism in love towards the Atoner.
I feel myself the great danger of this.
If there is anything you care for in this paper, copy it
out and then please return it to me again. Remember it
is speculation, not Gospel Gospel being fact, not explana-
tion of fact. St. Francis of Assisi preached the Cross
through Italy and to the Moslem, I doubt if he ever
thought of the ' why ' thereof. Still, to do so is a duty to
our day, as Origen thought it to his. . . . Tell me the day
of your ordination. I suppose Trinity Sunday. That
day I shall be preaching an ordination sermon at Amballa,
D.V., at Lefroy's ordination. Be assured of my prayers.
Your very affectionate Brother,
EDW. BICKERSTETH.
The Atonement
All theories of Atonement seem to be reducible ulti-
mately to two, which may be called (I.) the logical or legal,
and (II.) the moral theories.
I. The logical theory, or the theory of substituted
punishment (whether quantitative or infinite), is commonly
founded on certain texts in Isa. liii., Rom. Hi., and the use
of the preposition av-ri
Difficulties in the way of its acceptance are:
(a) That it does not seem clear that justice is thereby
satisfied, or that the means whereby it is proposed to
satisfy divine justice is otherwise than itself unjust.
() That it is very difficult to apprehend what the
character of the punishment supposed to have been borne
by our Lord was; if (i) temporal death plainly Christ
did not bear this by way of substitution ; if (2) eternal
death our Lord did not bear this at all ; if (3) the
temporary wrath of God a division of will between the
Father and the Son is implied which is inconsistent with
the unity of the Godhead ; if (4) the sense of having sinned
(which is itself to the truest minds the chief part of all
INTELLECTUAL STANDPOINT 407
punishment), the idea is inconsistent with our Lord's
sinlessness.
(V) The theory takes no account of the constant
expressions of Scripture, (i) 'dying with Christ,' 'being
buried with Him,' and their equivalents ; indeed, it seems
almost to exclude the possibility of their rightful use ; also
(2) ' the Son of Man,' ' the second Adam,' which imply the
unity of Christ with humanity and its summing-up
(avaKs$a\aiio<Tis} in Him, which is inconsistent with mere
substitution.
1 1. The moral theory of Atonement, which holds that
the life and death of Christ were :
1. A supreme revelation of God's love.
2. An exhibition of sin in its true character.
3. A satisfaction of the broken law of holiness. (See
Norris's ' Rudiments ' &c.)
4. A supreme act of repentance and confession of sin
on the part of the representative man, the second Adam
' He died to sin.' (McLeod Campbell, passim?)
5. An acknowledgment in a typical instance (i.e. by the
Head of the race) of the justice of the punishment of
death originally imposed as the penalty of sin, sis svSstgiv
rijs Si/caiocrvvtjs, Rom. iii. 25, 26.
6. The elevation of the whole human race through
suffering borne on its behalf. (See Mozley, ' Sermon on
Atonement')
7. The fontal source of repentance and true faith in
those in whom the mind of Christ towards both sin and
God is reproduced, through a true and real union with
Him, wrought in them by the indwelling of the Holy
Spirit and the grace of the sacraments.
Some scattered points connected with the above theory :
(a) This theory is founded on the belief that the Atoner
was :
(1) True Man.
(2) THE Man, the second Adam (otherwise He
would have atoned for Himself alone).
(3) Sinless (otherwise a perfect realisation of
and repentance for sin in its essential character would
have been impossible).
408 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
(fr) Probably the easiest way of representing the theory
is to consider the position of Adam immediately after the
fall. Two ways were open to him : the way of continued
sinning, issuing in death and wrath ; the way of repentance,
issuing in forgiveness, death, and glory. Either way
involved the infliction of the original sentence of death.
Grace prevented him from taking the first, but, the sin
which he had committed involving weakness, prevented
his taking the second. Christ, being sinless, submitted to
death with a full recognition of the justice of the penalty
on the human race, and so won forgiveness and glory
for all who die with Him (-Tria-rsvsiv sis avvQavziv avv}.
That which man unaided could not do, he can now since
the cross perform sv Xpurrqj, Rom. viii. 3.
From II. 3, 4, 5, the Atonement may rightly be said
to have been a satisfaction of God's claim on sinners, and
5 may partly explain the connection of Christ's death in
Scripture with the forgiveness of sins. (See Creed.)
III. Two defective theories.
(a) The theory of those who confine the whole idea of
Atonement to a revelation of the love of God ; but to die
in order to display love, if there were no other adequate
cause for dying, would be to reduce the Atonement to a
mere pageant.
(#) The theory of Mr. McCleod Campbell, which (i) is
founded on the thought of the spirit of sonship displayed
in the life of Christ to the practical exclusion of the
thought of His essential Sonship and of Headship of
humanity, (2) excludes all definite reference to sacra-
mental means and channels, (3) attaches no special signifi-
cance to our Lord's death as distinguished from His
life.
IV. No theory can be complete mystery must always
remain around (i) the relation of Christ to sin ; (2) the
effect of Atonement on the mind of God ; (3) the origin of
sin. Of these (i) is to us wholly insoluble, and (2) and (3)
are strictly dependent on the other mysteries of the
Incarnation and the Trinity.
' The mystery of Adam is the mystery of the Messiah '
Jewish Rabbi.
( Jesus Christus Victima sacerdoti suo, et sacerdos suae
Victimae.' St. Paulinus.
INTELLECTUAL STANDPOINT 409
. v - vlos -> irpwroroKos rfjs KTUTSWS, o trpmros
avupcorros Aoa^t, o scr^aroy 'ASa/ct, i\acrr^piov, airo\VTpa)<ris
--* y, KaraX\,aryt}, TT/JCDTOTOACOS sic rwv veicpwv, rfjs TTI'O-TSCOS
IQV Kal TfXaam?!/.' St. Paulus.
O Xpiffrbs evrjitSptairija-ev, 'iva QeoTroirjQmfjisv.' St.
AtJianasius.
Subsequently my brother supplemented this paper by
the addition of the following : x
Sacrifice and Atonement
Essential Idea of Sacrifice, surrender of will (self-life)
to God.
Heb. x. 4-10 : TJKO) rov Troifj<rai TO 6e\i)/jid <rov.
This idea :
A. Foreshadowed in Levitical Law in tripartite form.
(a) Burnt offering (the primary sacrifice) of 'sweet
savour ' life (voluntarily) rendered back to its Author.
(If) Sin offering life surrendered to God in view of its
forfeiture through sin.
(c) Peace offering life surrendered in order to complete
communion with God.
B. Fulfilled in the Death of Christ.
Christ meets sin in its supreme act deicide without
any deflection of His own (human) will from that of the
Father, and surrenders His life on man's behalf, thus at
the same time perfectly revealing both : (i) Love. St. John
iii. 1 6. (ii) Righteousness especially in relation to pre-
Incarnation history. Rom. iii. 25.
C. The Results of the Fulfilment.
(a] iXaaTijptov ; (<) tcaraXXaytj ; (c) aTro\vrpa>(ris ', (d
(a) Propitiation, Rom. iii. 25. Negatively, cessation of
wrath or the essential alienation between God and sinners ;
positively, recovery of access through Christ ('Himself
man ') having exhibited in life and death the ' mind '
(Phil. ii. 6) which God required. This Propitiation is said
1 See also Appendix C, p. 490, for another paper on ' Sacrifice.'
4IO BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
to be sv T&> aifjiaTt avrov that is, in His life laid down and
taken again. St John x. 28.
() Reconciliation, Rom. v. n. The spiritual relation
having been restored between God and man which man
had broken.
(c) Redemption. Man's salvation having been accom-
plished not by a fiat of omnipotence, but at the cost of
Christ's sufferings and death.
(d} Forgiveness. Release from the consequences of
sin ; immediately as regards acceptance, adoption, and
union with God in Christ (Eph. i. 5) ; progressively, as
regards the attainment of holiness (2 Peter iii. 18) ;
finally, as regards the redemption of the body (Rom.
viii. 23).
[N.B. The phrase alpsiv ri]v afMtprlav rov
(St. John i. 29) involves a mystery insoluble to us, as
being correlative with the mystery of the assumption of
humanity by the Word. The Atonement not a bearing of
the wrath of the Father by the Son, nor of an equivalent
punishment for sin, for there is no such phrase in the New
Testament as these theories would demand (e.g. Kara^dcrasiv
roi' 0s6i') i\aa6ai TOV #eoz>). The ^inpov is not said to be
paid to the Father (Calvin) or to Satan (Origen) ; &ia\\ayij
(&ta- involves equivalence) is not used.]
D. The Extent of tlie Efficacy of Sacrifice so considered.
Potentially, by virtue of the unique personality of
Christ, Son of God and son of Man, the Word. Actually,
ol TTUTTOI i.e. those who, having been baptised into the
Divine Nature (St. Matt, xxviii. 19), die to sin (fAerdvoia,
Rom. vi. 2^!), and live in Christ Risen.
Cf. Clement R. vii. : -rravrl TOJ Koauup psravoias yapiv
E. The Perpetuation of the Sacrifice.
(i) h Tols Trovpavioi.s. The Presence of Christ in
heaven, perfected through suffering and resurrection
ceaselessly (sis TO Sirjvstces, Heb. x. 12 ; KU^ rjufyav, Heb.
vii. 26) pleads on man's behalf (Heb. vii. 25), and is ' the
constant display before the Father, and inner repetition, of
the one sacrifice ' of the Cross.
INTELLECTUAL STANDPOINT 411
Cf. ispevs els TOV alwva. Heb. v. 6.
dvayicalov e%civ Tticai TOVTOV o TrpotreveyKr). Heb. viii. 3.
s^o/jisv Bvaiaartjpiov. Heb. xiii. 10.
apviov &>y eaffra'y /JLSVOV. Rev. v. 6.
(ii) The Church on earth in and through her Head
pleads the sacrifice of Calvary, and offers herself to God.
Rom. xii. i, 2 ; cf. Eph. V. 27 ; Heb. xiii. 12, 13. .Of this
sacrificial worship the Eucharist is the chief act and
collective expression. I Cor. xi. 25, 26. Other acts are
efficacious only so far as they partake in the same principle
e.g. praises (Heb xiii. 15); good deeds and alms (Heb.
xiii. 1 6 ; cf. Acts x. 4). (The unconsecrated bread and
wine are not the characteristic sacrifice of the New Cove-
nant. This would be a reversion to Judaism.) Christians
are severally consecrated to take part as priests in the
sacrificial acts of the Church by the laying on of hands
following on baptism (Acts ii. 38 ; viii. 17 ; cf. I Peter
ii. 9). The official ministry of the Church, in succession
from the Apostles, is set apart by a second use of the same
sign (Acts vi. 6 ; 2 Tim. i. 6). The Eucharist feast follows
(as in the typical system) on the sacrificial oblation.
This sacrifice is in principle identical throughout, from
its earliest anticipation to its fullest and latest accomplish-
ment.
Bishop Bickersteth was intensely interested in such
efforts as were made in ' Lux Mundi ' to interpret the faith,
so it might be better understood ' in an age of profound
transformation ' He followed the criticisms and rejoinders
to the criticisms with unfailing attention, jotting down his
own impressions from a country inn or wayside station.
With regard to Canon Gore's contributions to the
controversy in ' Lux Mundi ' and in the Bampton Lectures
of 1891 as to the Holy Spirit and Inspiration, he wrote :
To his Father
Tokyo : June 10, 1890.
In itself I feel it is just one of those questions on which
it is wisdom to allow large liberty. The penalty of over-
statement on either side is to be upset by some more scholarly
412 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
mind and more balanced judgment. It is not a matter for
ecclesiastical censure. Do you agree with me ?
Again :
Gore is perfectly clear on the infallibility of our Lord,
but thinks He did not authorise any view of the authority
of Old Testament books. I disagree with him, but still
the two main questions involved seem to me very difficult.
1. The effect, if any, of the assumption of humanity
on our Lord's Divine Nature.
2. The communication, if any or more or less, of divine
knowledge to His human mind directly, or whether His
superhuman knowledge was rather Sia TOV TrvsvfjLaTos.
On the first there seems but little light of any kind.
On the second a full study of the Gospels ought to throw
some, but I have seen nothing satisfactory. Please tell me
if you have any thoughts on these deep matters. I thought
of writing a pastoral in the autumn.
The Bishop enjoyed and valued some personal friend-
ship with Canon Gore, of whom he wrote :
To his Fattier
June 1892.
I have got as far as Gore's sixth Lecture. If Arch-
deacon Hare was right that a poet is the greatest gift God
gives to a nation, I suppose a theologian is among the
greatest gifts to a Church ; and though I fancy he has got
off the lines on a point or two, yet I cannot but think that
Gore may really be counted among the few masters in
theology.
On the difficult question of Old Testament criticism
his natural disinclination to write or speak strongly where
he had not deeply studied for himself the authorities on
either side led him always to qualify his judgment and
to take a place among the Ephectici, the men who in every
age have been ready to suspend their judgment. But as a
missionary Bishop he was well aware of the duty inseparable
from his office to act as watchman as well as steward of
INTELLECTUAL STANDPOINT 413
the Divine deposit of truth, and with this view he carried
out his intention mentioned above of referring in a Pastoral
to the higher criticism, regarding it solely from the mis-
sionary's standpoint. A passage from a letter to his sister
May, as well as some extracts from the Pastoral, are here
given :
Inland Sea, October 15, 1890.
I agree with what you say on the Inspiration question.
I do not believe that we shall lose any of the Old Testament
though parts may be symbolical or dramatic which had
been taken to be purely historical. What I would wish
people to see more and more, and to get a continually
stronger hold on, is that the development of the Kingdom
of God and the revelation of the catholic faith in their
majesty and beauty are so surprising, marvellous, and
lovable, if once they are seen and recognised in their true
character, as to dwarf all questions about the literary
medium through which the knowledge of them has come
down to us. I do not say that such questions have not
their own great importance, but it is the greatness of hills
compared to great mountain ranges.
Also in his Advent Pastoral 1890 he thus wrote :
On one subject I had hoped to write something at The
length, but must not now attempt it in the short time that e^'^f
remains to me before leaving Japan. I refer to the higher the new
criticism of the Old Testament, and may I say that I am criticism
a little disappointed that there are not as yet, as far as I ? n ^
/ i_ , i Japanese
am aware, any among ourselves who are giving sustained church
and serious study to the Old Testament with the view of
eventually forming opinions as to the new questions raised.
Mere study of the negative criticism by itself would indeed
be of little value ; but it might be a serious danger to us in
time to come if some of us were not prepared by positive
knowledge to act as guides in fields which till recently
have only been very partially open to investigation. No
doubt the mature judgment of the Church may ultimately
re j ec t_as I myself anticipate many of the theories which
are now somewhat confidently declared to be proven. At
the same time, we cannot afford to neglect or ignore views
414 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH '
of Holy Scripture which come to us accredited by the
names of men who are not only eminent linguists and
critics, but hold the Nicene faith with unwavering loyalty.
We are bound to take count of them, if only for the sake of
those committed to our charge. That the new criticism
must have an important bearing on the work of the Church
in Japan seems to me certain. Among Japanese Christians
are an exceptional number of inquiring men, widely rather
than deeply read, of the class to whom critical uncertainty
is especially likely to suggest spiritual doubt. In a young
Church, too, very serious might be the shock to the faith
of the uninquiring majority, if theories of the Old Testa-
ment were accepted which are radically different to the
traditional view in regard to its historical truthfulness.
For the most part their faith has been cast into the form,
' The Bible is God's Word. This is what the Bible says,'
and they have not as a rule gone behind the former of the
two statements. For the sake, then, alike of both divisions
of our flock, the subject demands our diligent and careful
attention.
Men have From one point of view, whatever be the result of the
thaTthe 11 controversy, I can see valuable compensation to ourselves ;
question namely, if it lead us to a reconsideration of the best mode
of inspira- o f presenting Christian truth to heathen minds. Plainly,
low's after ^ e moc ^ e now chiefly in vogue was inapplicable in the
that of earliest days. Belief could not then have been held to be
revelation normally the outcome of either a predetermination on, or a
literary investigation into, the claims of the Church's Sacred
Writings. Conviction was due to the character and sub-
stance of what was presented to the acceptance of faith,
not to an opinion about the manner or vehicle in which it
was conveyed. This was matter for later consideration.
The question of inspiration was subsequent to that of
revelation. We, perhaps, on the other hand, while rightly
valuing the Sacred Record, have too much forgotten that
' the faith claims to be a Gospel, a message of glad
tidings addressed directly to the toiling, the sorrowing, the
sinning ; that it claims to speak to the soul with a voice
immediately intelligible, and fitted to call out an answer of
joyful allegiance, that it claims to open springs of power,
which are able to quicken and purify, in the daily conduct
of life, every energy of our being.' In the words of another,
' the central object of the faith is not the Bible, but our
INTELLECTUAL STANDPOINT 415
Lord.' If the present distress and uncertainty in the minds
of some leads us back to a more confident use of this
earlier and better method of presenting our message, the
trial will not have been borne in vain.
The far-reaching importance to the future of Japanese
Christianity of teaching all the articles of the Apostles'
Creed in their simplicity and in their fulness, without
addition and without subtraction, was always present to
him, and made him shy of all forms of Christian teaching
which were not re-statements of the facts of the creed or
legitimate developments of the doctrines which elucidated
the meaning of the facts.
Within a few months of his landing in Japan he came
across proofs of how the American Nonconformists needed
the steadying influence of the creed, and he wrote to his
father from Nagasaki, December 28, 1886 :
On the way the catechist told me of some Christian
preachers (not Church-people) who have recently been
preaching a spiritual resurrection of Christ as a substitute
for the old doctrine of the creed. This is the result of
the weak doctrinal teaching of the Nonconformist sects,
and will be a fruitful cause of trouble in the future, I fear.
But truly our own missionaries need more doctrinal
accuracy.
The part which the two sacraments ordained of Christ
in the Gospel were meant to play as safeguards of the
creed, made him critical of the books which issued from
another school of Cambridge thought, much as he
revered the character of its exponents, because in his
judgment they failed to give their proper place to those
sacraments.
To this he refers in another passage of the letter
quoted above :
I read Moule's little book on ' Union with Christ '-
very devotional and fervent in tone, as all his papers
416 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
are but his doctrine, both of atonement and sacraments,
seems to me erroneous. The latter he only makes signs
of a pre-existing covenant, which, as he admits, puts them
on a level with the ' signs ' of the Old Testament ; but if
so they would plainly have no place in the religion of
' grace and truth,' ' old things were done away.' As they
were instituted, they must have the characteristics of the
' new.'
He also felt the danger of diluting the truth in the so-
called ' Keswick teaching,' to which he alludes as follows :
To his Father
Kobe : March 5, 1890.
is a little influenced with the so-called Keswick
teaching, which runs perhaps near a heresy, and yet has
sufficient in it to quicken some lives. The truth of it seems
to be St. Paul's Xpia-ros ev vplv, as distinguished from a
semi-Pelagian notion of the believer merely assisted by
Christ, and the heresy a sort of quietism. Moreover, all
big meetings, as distinguished from quiet gatherings in
churches and oratories, seem to me to have a tendency to
degenerate.
The Langham Street Conference on ' Reunion ' held
in 1889, which was presided over by Lord Nelson, and
attended by such Churchmen as B. F. Westcott, John
Gott, Charles Gore, and by such Nonconformists as Henry
Allen, H. R. Reynolds, J. B. Paton, was concerned with
the Christian Faith, Christian Morality, Christian Dis-
cipline, Christian Worship, Christian Sacraments, and
Christian Ministry, on all of which points theses were agreed
upon and published. While the Bishop was greatly in-
terested in its conclusions and printed and circulated them
among his clergy, he found fault with them on the ground
that in their opening words (' We agree in accepting the
general teaching of the Apostles' Creed and the Nicene
Creed ') they failed to do justice to the inflexible character
INTELLECTUAL STANDPOINT 417
of a creed. He wrote : ' The phrase " acceptance of the
general teaching of the creed " is unfortunate. A creed,
from the nature of the case, is either accepted or denied.
Such a term would be applicable rather to a sermon.'
With regard to the possibility of reunion with the
great see of the West, he indulged in no delusions, though
he was free from Protestant prejudice. The following
letter written within a year of his death to his friend and
chaplain, the Rev. L. B. Cholmondeley, who had written
to him while on a holiday to ask his opinion on the Pope's
Encyclical, shows his attitude :
Karuizawa : August 31, 1896.
My dear Cholmondeley, I need not say that I read
the Pope's Encyclical with greatest interest. It is really a
blessed thing to have a Pope who can write in so dignified
a tone and so wholly Christian a spirit, so very different
from the rhapsodical style of his predecessor. All the
earlier part of the document expresses what all Anglicans
believe ; with the latter part, of course, we disagree. Its
weak part certainly is the quotations. Even those from
Holy Scripture are in some cases misunderstood. Not
only is the ' Tu es Petrus* taken in the sense which the
majority of the Fathers deny without any mention of the
disagreement, but other texts are strangely misinterpreted.
Thus, 'the gates of hell shall not prevail against it' does not
refer to the authority of the Church, as the Pope supposes,
but to its success in aggressive action on hostile powers
(gates = fortresses). Again, the words '/ have prayed
for thee that thy faith fail not ' certainly did not insure
the infallibility of St. Peter. As a matter of fact, St. Peter's
faith did fail. But the word is JaXtV^ = fail not utterly.
But the quotations from the Fathers are even more
open to criticism than those from Holy Scripture. The
only second century quotation is from St. Irenaeus. Un-
fortunately the passage only exists in the Latin trans-
lation. But it is practically certain that it has no such
meaning as the Pope assigns to it. It has been discussed
times without number by Lightfoot (if I remember right
in his ' Ignatius '), Puller, &c.
E E
41 8 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
Again, the Roman references in St. Cyprian are particu-
larly doubtful. The letters were so constantly interpolated.
But if the one which the Pope quotes stands, it cannot
mean what he makes of it ; for nothing is more certain
than that St. Cyprian admonished a Pope of his day
(Stephen), and declared his judgment null and void again
and again.
The fact is that while the Fathers, especially after the
middle of the fourth century, often used extravagant lan-
guage in making appeals for the support of the Roman see,
their real opinions can only be ascertained by taking into
account their whole attitude and action, as well as their
words under special circumstances. And when this is
done it becomes plain that the conception of the Roman
Pontiff as a divinely appointed universal umpire had no
place among them. In the Gnostic and Arian contro-
versies, if ever, the appeal would have been made, but it
was not. This absence of practical action when it would
have been most in place is fatal, I believe, to the theory of
the Vatican Council.
To take only one other point, the Pope's statements in
reference to his predecessors' action in relation to Councils.
He says : ' Leo the Gftat rescinded the acts of the Concilia-
bulum of Ephesus? Well ! He refused to accept them, as
did other Bishops. The Council was the Latrocinium.
' Damascus rejected the Acts of Rimini! So (and far
more important) did St. Athanasius. The Fathers of that
Council had been beguiled into semi-Arianism.
' The 28//z Canon of the Council of Chalcedon, by the very
fact that it lacks the assent and approval of the apostolic
see, is admitted by all to be worthless' On the contrary,
the greatest stress has been laid upon it by the Eastern
Church ever since. The Papal legate's protest at the
Council was disallowed. Moreover, it was the Council at
Chalcedon which only accepted the doctrinal accuracy of
the Pope's letters (the ' Tome ') after examination, thus
placing itself above the Pope. When Leo XIII. refers
to the words which the Council used, 'Peter has spoken
through Leo' he seems to have forgotten this.
But I must not go on. The latter part of the Ency-
clical you will gather I feel to be on a sandy basis. Still,
it is something yes, a great deal that the appeal is
made to history : and that without any such boastings as
INTELLECTUAL STANDPOINT 419
other Pontiffs have indulged in. Such an appeal cannot
be without result, even on the Roman Church. Not that
I expect any great change at once ; but I do think that
the new tone and method augur happily for the future.
Affectionately yours,
EDW. BICKERSTETH, Bishop.
The Bishop never lost sight of the fact that the way in
which the Church of England settled her own problems
at home must react on their solution by the Missionary
Church abroad. This tax of responsibility, the inevitable
result of a mother Church being a trustee for her children's
interest, was due, as he clearly saw, to ' the imperial posi-
tion of the Church of England and of England herself,'
to quote his own phrase at the Birmingham Church Con-
gress. Speaking there (October 5, 1893) he threw out a
spirited challenge to the home Church to rise to the
responsibility of her position, which made imitation of her
methods either a strength or a weakness to her daughter
Churches :
In conclusion, I should like to add one thing only. I
have said that the Japanese will never join the Church
of England ; but still, may I ask, have you in England
realised how immense is your responsibility in being a
mother Church? Churches which will never dream of
amalgamation with you will be influenced during the next
hundred years by what you are and do beyond estimate of
words. ' How do they manage this or that in England ? '
is a question I am constantly asked on matters of Church
organisation ; and if to mention only two or three points
which are, or will be directly, as much to the front with us
in Japan as ever they can be in England (will you
pardon my straight speech) I have to reply that your
system of patronage is disgraceful, your synodical organi-
sation antiquated, your Church courts only the bad legacy
of a bygone age, your Canons utterly inapplicable to the
circumstances of the day, your discipline in abeyance,
your clergy badly paid, your Churchmanship sometimes
grievously at fault, coquetting now with Rome and now
E E2
420 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
with Dissent, and by the mere fact that you do so inde-
finitely delaying all hope of future reunion, the result in
the East is very bad. I implore you to realise the im-
perial position and influence of the Church of England
and of England herself to-day. The day of insular isola-
tion is gone by. And while you do all you can to extend
direct evangelistic agencies, remember also that it is quite
as important that you should offer in the English Church
to India and China and Japan in the nearest future an
example which they may rightly follow, as it was important
a generation or two since to gather the first converts into
the fold of Christ.
Long residence in the East had slowly matured this
conviction in his mind. Three years before he had
written to his father (September 9, 1890) :
What we want, I think, is limited (legalised) noncon-
formity all liberty within wide limits, and no transgres-
sion. At the same time, I feel that all else is a palliative
until the Church makes up her mind to demand new
courts and the power of revising her ojd laws. To
suppose that sixteenth century rules, many of which are
uncertain in language and meaning, can be suitable or
enforced in the nineteenth century seems in itself un-
reasonable, almost like a forgetfulness of the abiding
Spirit.
Again, December 26, 1890:
I cannot but think that the surest foundation for ritual
peace would be laid (i) by the admission that the interpre-
tation of the Ornaments Rubric which permits the old vest-
ments is correct. The opposite interpretation has fallen
with the practical demolition of the authority of the
Elizabethan Advertisements ; (2) by claiming that even
legal revivals ought not to be made wholly motu suo by
individual clergy without their Bishop's cognisance ; (3)
by the Bishops pledging themselves to aim steadily at new
law courts. This seems essential, yet years pass without
any step being taken.
Accordingly, the need of ChurcJi Reform was strongly
felt by him. In October 1894 my father presided at the
INTELLECTUAL STANDPOINT 421
Church Congress at Exeter, and in the previous April my
brother wrote :
I think your address should be on one subject, 'The
Reform of Church Organisation as distinguished from
Church Doctrine the work of the next decade, as that of
Church Doctrine was the work of a period in the six-
teenth century.' This is the thought which is always
uppermost in my mind when I think of the Church of
England. To begin with, it is immensely needed, and
then it is the true Church Defence. A real enthusiasm
for reform would sweep Liberationism out of the country.
Our danger still seems to be contentedness with evil. But
I dare say I am all wrong in this. One's vision gets dis-
turbed at the distance of half the world, and what looks
possible here may really be out of place and range. Still,
I cannot help feeling that if ' Reform, Reform, Reform '
were the united cry of the Church it could be done.
This incidental proof of the Bishop's keen interest in
the fortunes of his mother Church is such as is not always
shown by those living at so great a distance from the
scene of her activities, and it witnesses to the discriminat-
ing loyalty of his affection for her. Certainly events in
the past five years have proved that the Bishop's perspec-
tive was not much out, and show that each year the
Church has refused to face the thorny question of reform,
she has only increased her own difficulty in handling it.
There may prove to be something prophetic in his fore-
cast of the danger of still further delays :
To his Father
Tokyo : Easter Eve 1894.
I am very glad you are going only to act in your own
court in the ritual matters. The source of the difficulties
seems to me to lie in the practical disuse of the Church's
synodical and legal system. Convocations only imper-
fectly represent the Church, and their power is too re-
stricted. The existing courts were condemned with
practical unanimity by the Ecclesiastical Courts Commis-
422 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
sion. The result is that law is set at naught partly
because it is antiquated and the machinery which should
renew it cannot, partly because its natural vindicators, the
courts, if they are put in action, at once supply the culprit,
however guilty, with a case and a good one. He may
have broken the Church's law a thousand times, but that
does not make it right or wise that he should be tried in a
bad or defective court. I think and have long thought
that the right thing to do is to bend all energies to
strengthening convocation and reforming the courts. If
the Supreme Court is such a difficulty, still I think that
that might well be left on one side, while thoroughly
good diocesan and provincial courts were established. I
doubt if the decision of a really good provincial court
would be challenged ; if it were, the result would almost
certainly be the same as in the Lincoln case. If Lord
Salisbury gets in for another term of office, and some
reforms are not carried through, it will seem to many, I
fear, that disestablishment is the lesser of two ills, and
that the Church will deserve her loss of temporal goods
for her supineness in matters of greater importance.
Anyhow, I feel sure that the present state of things cannot
go on for long without disaster ; while action on the part
of a body like the Church Association, of which the
members err as much by deficiency as the right wing of
the Ritualists by excess, only makes the matter much
worse. The Bishops are the right people to move, and
the Government would support them if they were agreed,
do you not think ? I did not mean to write this long
scrawl ; only you asked my opinion. Don't trouble to
decipher it !
And in a postscript :
Is there any harm in ' Stations of the Cross ' if the
legendary ones (Veronica &c.) are omitted ? No one
would object to them in windows, perhaps two feet higher
on the wall. I rather should accept them, as part of what
Ruskin calls ' the People's Bible.' Shrines of the Blessed
Virgin cannot claim an inch of Catholic standing for
themselves. It really is disgraceful that they should be
put up in our churches, and, as you say, without leave.
But if there was one article of the Creed more than
INTELLECTUAL STANDPOINT 433
another which was the inspiration of his own joy, and in
the defence of which he found an unfailing spring of glad-
ness, it was that which affirms the Resurrection of our
Lord.
' If the Resurrection was accepted, the believer would
not care to dispute the other miracles of Christ ; if it was
denied, there was nothing to be gained by maintaining
them ' that was the way in which he was wont to state
the argument. On the eve of his return home to the
Lambeth Conference of 1888, the English paper most
widely circulated among the official classes in Japan con-
tained a series of articles against miracles and the creed
under the title, ' The Japanese in Search of a Basis of
Morals.' They were founded on an article which Pro-
fessor Huxley had contributed the previous autumn to
the ' Contemporary Review,' in which he had maintained
that the moral teaching of Christianity can only be main-
tained by the sacrifice of its doctrines. The Bishop felt
the need of combating such views, and he wrote the
following letter, which was courteously inserted by the
editor of the 'Japan Mail.' The allusion 'to the member
of the collegiate body (Pembroke College, Cambridge) to
which he had the honour to belong,' was to Professor
Sir George Stokes, F.R.S. :
CHRISTIANITY ITSELF A MIRACLE
To the Editor of the 'JAPAN MAIL'
Sir, The leading articles in your issues of March I
to 5 have contained extracts and summaries of the
opinions of various writers in Europe and the East on
the subject of miracles. All the writers whom you quote
or refer to are adverse to the reality of miraculous
occurrences. It would be easy to make a catena of
quotations on the other side. If Professor Huxley denies
the miraculous, a member of the collegiate body to which
424 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
I have the honour to belong, his no less illustrious suc-
cessor in the Presidency of the Royal Society, is a devout
believer in it. But I will not attempt to pursue this mode
of reply. I, too, entirely agree with your remark what
Christian would do otherwise who had regard to the early
history of his faith ? that ' the method of deciding a
controversy by numbers has been shown to be untrust-
worthy over and over again.'
Still less do I propose to make any reply to Professor
Huxley's accusation against Christians of intellectual
inveracity. Intellectual and moral inveracity are in-
separable, and as we do not charge them against our
opponents, so we know that when they are charged
against us the accusation is best refuted by the strength
of its own recoil.
I would rather, if you can afford me the space, venture
to state in my own words what I conceive to be the
fundamental Christian position on this question.
(i) Christianity, then, as I understand it, like the
natural and mental sciences, rests on an assumption. The
assumption of natural science is the existence of the
external universe ; of mental science, the trustworthiness
of the mental processes ; and of theology, the being of
God. Each assumption in turn has been denied ; but
each has maintained its place in human belief, as requisite
to any complete view of the life of man, as essential to
the co-ordination of all the facts at our disposal ; as, if I
may so term it, part of an original Credo on which argu-
ment is only admitted by courtesy. With this assump-
tion, Professor Huxley, following Mr. Mill, admits that all
a priori objection to miracle falls to the ground. As
Mr. Sugiura and those for whom he speaks are in search
of a religion, it is possible that they may be prepared to
accompany me so far. If not, it may be at least worth
their while to consider that the repudiation of atheism by
the East has been as emphatic as by the West. On this
point the rejection in India of the original atheistic
system of Gautama the Buddha and the acceptance by
the later Buddhism of a belief in the supernatural, before
it became a power in Central Asia or in this country, are
irreproachable evidence. If the history of thought in the
past is any guide, the present tendency to give exclusive
regard to the investigations and results of the natural
INTELLECTUAL STANDPOINT 425
sciences can only in an eastern land be due to temporary
causes.
(2) But, further, starting from a belief in God, Chris-
tianity proposes itself as the final solution of what
Professor Huxley justly calls 'the terrible problems of
existence.' It would not be difficult to enumerate these,
but let me be content to point out that the greatest of
them all, the answer to which if given will illuminate the
rest, is a problem not of life's course but of its ending.
What is the right view to hold and the meaning which we
are to attach to the fact of death ? If death is the end of
conscious existence, then not the noble guesses of the
Phaedrus, but the philosophy of the later Epicureans and
the pessimism of Schopenhauer have a great deal to say
for themselves. If, on the other hand, there is reason to
think that it is not so, then Hedonism and pessimism have
but little standing ground. And Christianity dares to
base its whole claim for acceptance on having answered
this question in one way. It asserts that One who acted
entirely during His life on earth under the conditions of
our humanity, carried His human nature in its complete-
ness through the shock of death into another and loftier
sphere of being. It maintains that this fact is unique, and
differs entirely from Jewish and Greek speculations on the
immortality of the soul. If it be accepted, it involves the
consequence that life here has an eternal not a transitory
significance, and there is nothing unreasonable in holding
it to be an education for another. Moreover, where it is
fully held it will commonly carry with it the acceptance of
the whole Catholic Creed.
Accordingly around the fact, as they held it to be,
of the Resurrection of Christ, the first Christian teachers
grouped an abundance of contemporary testimony which
would be more than sufficient to establish the occurrence
of any event not claiming a miraculous character. And
against the undoubted a priori improbability of miracle
must in this case be set two considerations: (i) the time
in the world's history at which, according to Christian
belief, the Resurrection occurred. It was the moment ' of
fulness alike of despair and hope ' in the old world. At
the Christian era Greek thought had ended in universal
scepticism, and in Rome the worship of the Emperor was
about to supersede all other devotions. On the other hand
426 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETII
a section of the Jewish nation had been prepared by every
form of discipline to be the messenger of a new hope to the
nations. It was a moment when the direct interference of
God in man's affairs was rather to be expected than other-
wise. And (2) the evidential value of the one admittedly
perfect Life, the Life which all men alike turn to as the one
point of shadeless light and perfect beauty in the chequered
moral history of their race. The Christian finds it no
strain to believe that a life which itself has no parallel,
ended unlike other lives, especially when the alternative is
to hold that the moral teachings of Christianity are inextri-
cably mingled with fraud.
It was as supported by this evidence, and set in this
environment, that Christianity first presented itself to the
world. It was capable of dogmatic statement, but it
claimed to be essentially not a system of doctrine sup-
ported by miracle, but itself a new and supernatural life,
life in union with Him who had won the one victory ; life
which already \n part reflected His, and of necessity like
His had only its beginning here ; life which united all who
shared it into a new and regenerate society, capable of
taking the place of those which were just passing away.
As regards the miracles which accompanied the appearance
of its Founder and the teaching of His first disciples, it laid
but little evidential stress on them, except as facts which
harmonised with their whole entourage. They were for the
most part the natural ' works ' of one like Christ when in
touch with sorrow or suffering. If the Resurrection was
accepted, the believer would not desire to dispute them ; if
it was denied, there was nothing to be gained by main-
taining them. But at all times and everywhere the first
faith was content, in the words of its greatest teacher, to
' commend itself to men's consciences in the sight of God.'
It claimed to be self-evidencing, like light in the natural
universe. At the same time, from the nature of the case
it did not expect to be universally accepted. As was
made an objection to it as early as the days of Celsus, it
appealed to one class only of the community, to men who
were in search not for a moral basis, but for a moral ideal,
who lamented their own failures, and, in the more ancient
phrase of the Jewish Psalmist, were ' athirst for God.' It
took comparatively little account of mere conformity to an
external rule of ethics. It conceived a larger hope for
passionate sin than for Pharisaic integrity.
INTELLECTUAL STANDPOINT 427
On the results which followed its first proclamation
I must not ask to be allowed to dwell.
But I may venture to point out that my view of the
essential meaning of Christianity is so different from that
of the authors whom you quote as to render comparison
impossible. They hold it to be mainly a system of
doctrine, I a new life in a divine society. They rest their
denial of it on the want of external evidence for such
miracles as that of the withering of the fig tree; I for
other reasons believe in the miracle, but hold that if the
required evidence were forthcoming, it would have little or
nothing to do with the real point at issue. They demand
a quasi mathematical proof of its veracity ; I hold that if
this were possible, the loss would be far greater than the
gain. They desire to conserve the ethical system of
Christianity ; I fail to find any such system in the New
Testament apart from the life and Resurrection of Christ,
and if it were there, should not set great store by it if
dissevered from some motive power which might secure its
practice. But I will not do more than ask of your courtesy
to let my conception stand over against theirs.
I am, Sir, your faithful and obliged Servant,
EDW. BlCKERSTETH, Bishop.
St. Andrew's House, Shiba :
March 6, 1888.
Two years later he preached 1 to the English congre-
gation of St. Andrew's Church, Shiba, Tokyo, on 'The
Witness of the Church to the Resurrection,' from Acts x.
40, 41. After enumerating three things which were quite
certain, on the testimony alike of friend and foe : (i) that
the Jewish nation really went through a unique training,
and exhibited an exceptional type of national life, and so
was the organ of the divine ; (2) that the character of
Jesus Christ is a great fact, quite impossible of delineation
unless it had been exhibited ; and (3) that the Christian
societies undoubtedly arose in the first century, and that
the basis of their common belief was that Christ had risen
from the dead he passed on to ask his hearers ' to put
back the fact of the Resurrection among these clustered
1 A sermon which was printed at the request of those who heard it.
428 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
certainties,' and, thus thinking of it, to see that the
evidence for the Resurrection was something very much
more than the page of a book ; that if it was said by some,
' We should like another form of evidence/ then let them
note that one form of evidence did not cease to be good
and cogent because another form might have been granted
them. They had the evidence of the Church : the Resur-
rection was not less true because they had not the evidence
of the world.
In conclusion, the Bishop said :
But brethren, this Easter morning let us answer our
critics no longer. To us the Resurrection is as sure a fact
as those others on the ground of which we ask them to
believe it. We add ourselves in faithful confidence to-day
to the long unfaltering line of the faithful who have
preceded us. t And what follows? We have seen that it is
the Church, not the world, which is the witness of the
Lord's Resurrection ; but none the less it is to the world
that its witness is borne. Are we in such a sense that the
world can understand it bearing our witness to His Resur-
rection to-day ? If so, all experience tells that it is by life
and deed more than by mere argument that we are bringing
home to others what we believe ourselves. From the
nature of the case there is no statement of the Christian
creed at the end of which you can write the words which
close a theorem of Euclid, but equally certainly men are so
made as not seldom to yield to the force of an unwaver-
ing conviction when exemplified in a life of love. Christ
manifested in the life of the Church is both the primary
evidence of the Resurrection of Christ and the means of
the Church's extension.
It was so in earlier days. It was impossible for men to
deny that a great change had come over the first disciples,
over their thought, motives, principles, conduct. They had
to win their daily bread as other men, but their treasure
was in another world than this. They owed obedience to
Emperor and magistrates, as did others, and, as they confi-
dently affirmed, they were the best subjects in the State ;
but, all the same, their ' citizenship was in heaven.' They
were tempted as others, but on the whole they overcame
INTELLECTUAL STANDPOINT 429
as others did not. They suffered as much or more than
other men, but they took their sufferings gladly. They
sorrowed as did others at human griefs, but the grace of
resignation grew up amid their tears. ' Once I was not ;
now I am not ; I know nothing about it ; it does not con-
cern me/ ran an inscription on the tomb of a heathen.
' Here lieth Maria, summoned by the angels,' ' Eternal
Peace be to thee, Timothea, in Christ,' ' are the quiet,
restful words which tell of the faith inspired by the Resur-
rection. As one of themselves put it, they were ' pressed
on every side yet not straitened, perplexed yet not unto
despair, pursued yet not forsaken, smitten down yet not
destroyed, always bearing about in the body the dying of
Jesus, that the life also of Jesus ' the life which He re-
sumed at Easter ' might be manifested in their body.'
It was only natural that one who thus strove vividly
to grasp the reality of the Resurrection, and the present
activity of the Risen Lord, should regard the Holy Com-
munion not as a service held in memory of an absent Lord,
but as a means of grace wherein a present and risen Lord
imparted to His Church more of the fulness of His life.
The Bishop was therefore keenly aware of the great
influence for good or evil which certain habits of the religious
life, each closely connected with the Holy Communion,
must have on Christian worship and Christian workers,
such as (i) private confession prior to the reception of the
Holy Communion, (2) non-communicating attendance at the
celebration of the Divine Mysteries, and (3) fasting Com-
munion. His personal standpoint with regard to the
historic schools of thought in the Church of England could
hardly be better illustrated than by his treatment of these
matters, which have been so prominently thrust forward
of late years, and towards which, as will be seen, he took
up a position founded on primitive custom but safeguarded^
1 For the first and third of these inscriptions I am indebted to Canon
Farrar's Lives of the Fatlwrs, i. 17-18. The second I observed some years
since in the collection of copies in the Lateran Museum.
43O BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
by common sense from those encroachments on Christian
liberty to which piety in every age has been prone.
Here are passages from two letters, one written in 1889
and the other in 1 896, which, together with a paper drawn
up and sent to England for one who had sought his
guidance (1891), clearly show what he believed and taught
on the subject of Confession :
St. Andrew's House, Tokyo : September 27, 1889.
Nothing much more strikes me to say about confes-
sion. It should only be adopted from the deliberate Con-
viction that it is good for oneself, not because others urge
it as a duty. Such arguments as that there is no true self-
abasement in confession to GOD are not worthy a reply.
It would mean that David was not truly humble when he
wrote the 5ist Psalm, only when he was in the presence of
Nathan !
More or less of direction is a matter of spiritual ex-
pediency. 'To direct others is no doubt consonant with
the office of a pastor of souls, but that is all that can
be said. Is there not a bit of danger in being misled by
words ? Suppose that for ' confession ' was read ' acknow-
ledgment of sins,' and for ' direction ' ' counselling,' would
not tlie case sometimes be clearer ?
Exeter : Quinquagesima, 1896.
Is not the absolution, whether public or private, what
it is answerably to the spiritual state of those who receive
it ? That is not very clear I mean that to the forgiven
it is a seal of forgiveness, to the penitent a channel
of forgiveness, so that it is never inoperative, but brings
with it what each needs.
Notes on Confession, 1891
These points about Confession may be useful :
1. It should not be confounded in thought with Abso-
lution.
2. To absolve in some way or other is the very duty
and work of the Church, for which in large part she exists.
This duty she must perform, as she does others, ordinarily
through her ordained ministers (cf. the body and the
hands), though there may be exceptions. (St. Louis and
INTELLECTUAL STANDPOINT
431
his armour-bearer absolving one another is the classical
instance.)
3. The method of absolution varies. Its greatest exer-
cise is in Holy Baptism. Holy Communion, again, has
attached to it promises of forgiveness. So, again, there
are public and private absolutions provided in the service-
books of all orthodox Churches.
4. The result of absolution must vary in relation to the
spiritual state of the recipient. To the unrepentent it
brings added condemnation ; to the penitent, forgiveness ;
to the forgiven, assurance.
On the divine side i.e. as regards the grace conferred
there is absolutely no difference between absolution said
publicly to a congregation or privately to an individual.
5. Confession, on the other hand, does not demand the
aid of the Church's priesthood as a matter of ordinary
necessity. The child may and ought to confess to its
parent when it has done wrong. The only case in which
the Church can demand confession is after excommunica-
tion. At the same time, the pastoral relationship of the
clergy to their people renders them the natural recipients
of their confidence.
It is, then, on the one hand, a most unwarrantable
infringement of the liberty of the children of God secured
to them in their baptism to make Confession a necessary
condition for Holy Communion, i.e., as all Christians are
presumably communicants, compulsory. This the Church
of Rome does in all cases, with the exception of persons
of spiritual attainment so rare as not to be worth taking
into account.
On the other hand, it is a mistake either to forbid
Confession or to confine the permission for it to certain
persons of presumably the very weakest character. Experi-
ence shows that this is not the case. Very strong and
noble natures have found the greatest help in it.
From the above it is plain that the responsibility of
confessing sins to another or not rests with the penitent ;
also, that when confession is made to a priest he has no
right to demand the divulging of all secrets.
The Prayer Book compilers seem to have been provi-
dentially guided in this, as in so much else, to conclusions
which fit the Church of England for her mission to the
nineteenth century.
432 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
In answer to further question he wrote :
January 30, 1892.
Confession is both allowed and practised at St. Andrew's
and St. Hilda's. But while it is allowed, it is not enforced
either by rule or precept. I heartily approve of it for
many persons, but I am equally sure it is not, like the two
great sacraments, incumbent on all or good for all. Its use
or non-use should, I hold, depend on character, circum-
stances, training, &c. It would be hopeless to reconcile
either antiquity or the English Church with the view that
it is compulsory in the sense of the two sacraments ; and,
on the other hand, its practical disuse has greatly weakened
the Church's efficiency and lowered, in many cases, the
standard of spiritual life.
I do not think that I shall change or even modify my
opinion in the matter. I hold it to be the duty of Anglican
Bishops just now to guard the liberty of those who do and
alike of those who do not use this special discipline.
t
The ' deliberate conviction ' mentioned above as being
a distinct factor in determining its use or non-use led him
personally to avail himself of its occasional use, as will be
seen by the following letter written to one with whom he
was very intimate :
Tokyo : April 4, 1892.
You have written to me so much on the subject that I
wish to tell you that I made use for myself of Confession
for the first time this Lent. Several reasons weighed with
me. Among them was not that I had changed my views
materially on the subject at all, nor any doubt of the entire
validity of public absolutions in the Eucharistic service,
nor any belief that confession to a priest ought to be
imposed on all alike, but partly the increasing number of
those who seek my help in this way ; partly, and far more,
the sense that it would be good for myself, specially as a
Bishop with the temptations of a Bishop's office ; partly
the opportunity offered. . . . None of these reasons need
apply, you see, to you or many others, but I shall, I have
no doubt, continue it for myself from time to time, as I feel
that the definiteness which it gives to self-examination
and effort is valuable to myself. This does not alter
INTELLECTUAL STANDPOINT 433
my opinion that the immense growth of the practice
requires careful guarding in the Church of England. I put
' Private ' above, but do not mind reasonable people knowing
what I think in these matters. They are best avoided with
the unreasonable, and those who would be only grieved at
hearing opinions other than their own.
Notwithstanding all the reckless writing on either side,
the Bishop never swerved from his position of condemning
the compulsory use of Confession, while sure of its help-
fulness and allowableness for himself and many others.
When told shortly before his death how a young priest at
a retreat had differentiated between the gift of public and
private absolution, he looked up quickly and said, ' How
these young men do talk. It is inconceivable that the
Church should have gone unabsolved for just 1,300 years.'
On the subject of ' Non-communicating Attendance,'
he acutely pointed out in a note in his addresses to
Japanese Divinity students now reprinted in English, and
published under the title ' of ' Our Heritage in the Church '
that ' It was not customary in the early Church to have more
than one celebration in one church on the same day. There
is no analogy, therefore, to be found in antiquity to the
modern practice of attending more than one Eucharist on
the same day.'
On this subject he wrote : .
April u, 1890.
In my judgment non-communicating attendance is not
to be forbidden to devout persons on occasions. No sacra-
mental grace is to be obtained through it, still less a parti-
cipation in the sacramental commemoration of Christ's
sacrifice before God. This last is participated in by feeding
on Christ's Body and Blood and not elsewise cf. through-
out the Levitical sacrifices, in which feeding was the means
of participation to the offerer. All that can be said is that
it is a favourable time of devotion in concert with others.
1 See Note 74 on p. 173 of Our Heritage in the Church.
F F
434 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
The idea of some Anglican people that they go to
Communion at 8 and to the Sacrifice at 11.45 is a travesty
of the Primitive and Catholic Eucharist, never heard of till
(not mediaeval times, but) yesterday.
And against 'the fierce insistence ' upon l Fasting Com-
munion advocated sometimes, he wrote :
The suggestion that a person who takes a cup of tea
should be required to ' notably diminish ' the number of
his Communions requires no comment except that our
Jerusalem is not Mount Sinai in Arabia.
With regard to Fasting Communion, the following
paper will not entirely please either those who insist on or
those who protest against this custom, but none the less it
is expressive of his way of looking out for historical pre-
cedent, and of allowing for the consequences of the im-
partial application of a great principle :
Fasting Communion
1. There is evidence that the earliest custom of the
Church was to celebrate after a meal, as at the Institution.
Therefore there is no essential irreverence in prior
taking of food : or ipso facto spiritual gain in not doing so.
2. There is evidence that the Eucharist was celebrated
early in Asia Minor at the end of the second century, and
also at Rome a generation later, on the Lord's Day. Pre-
sumably these celebrations were before a regular meal.
There is no contrary evidence.
It is probable that a custom thus widely spread, and the
complete disappearance of an earlier custom, were due to
Apostolic suggestion or command. But to think that the
Apostles enacted a law of perpetual obligation for the
whole Church in the matter is to misconceive the spirit of
the Apostolic Age (cf. Col. ii., and notice that St. Paul set
aside at Corinth even the decree of Jerusalem). The new
custom (i Cor. x., xi.) rested on the moral obligation of
' disengagedness ' (Archbishop Benson) at the charac-
teristic Christian worship.
1 Cf. Archbishop Benson's Seven Gifts, p. 97 : ' Let us not corrupt
Reverence into Superstition by a fierce insistence upon Fasting Communion.'
INTELLECTUAL STANDPOINT 435
3. There is evidence that celebrations, whether early
or late, were fasting in the time of Tertullian (A.D. 200),
Augustine, and Chrysostom (A.D. 400), and probably in
the whole Church (though see Scudamore on this point
suggesting exceptions), and this rule obtained till the
sixteenth century.
There is no evidence whatever that the Apostles
established the distinction between festal and ferial cele-
brations.
On the whole, Early Communions may be called a
counsel which has in its favour ancient prescription and
practical spiritual gain, and which (apart from argument)
commends itself now, as in earlier days, to the Catholic
mind. A rule of fasting (where it does not engender a
dulness of spiritual faculties or bodily illness) is a safe-
guard in the maintenance of the right spiritual disposition.
But no authority of absolute law can be pleaded : nor
are formal dispensations requisite as conditions of relief,
though they may be granted when desired.
To sum up. It will be seen that he felt the duty of
Anglican Bishops was clearly defined by the fact that they
ought to act as moderators in times of controversy, and
also as trustees of the faith, so to prevent times of contro-
versy becoming times of loss.
When called upon himself to act as a spiritual guide
he was found by those who sought his aid to be searching,
inspiring, and, above all, determined not to allow the
wasteful luxury of depression.
A few extracts are given from his letters of counsel :
I preached yesterday on ' Knowing God.' People
make Lent too much, too exclusively a season of trying to
know themselves, and so defeat their own end. . . .
Either plan which you mention would be satisfactory.
Interruptions are fewest before breakfast. The main point
is regularity. Insensibly spiritual strength grows with
continual exercise of spiritual faculties. If you have not
been accustomed to try, you will find it hard to attain to
great precision in devotional practices ; but it is well worth
436 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
the effort. One thing which you will prove is that other
duties must be attended to quite punctually too, or they
will crowd out devotion. The day only goes well when it
is all kept to time. I am sure that you will aim at this,
because it has an immediate bearing on your highest life.
Of course no rules are of cast iron. Interruptions will
come, and when they are unavoidable, to go from prayer
to another duty is to go ' from God to God.' But they
should be kept well in check.
Yours in our Lord,
EDW. BICKERSTETH, Bishop.
Thursday before Easter.
Dear , I send you a book of devotion, which you
will find it, I think, a help to use regularly. I should use
it just as it is for awhile, except that you might add certain
petitions and intercessions, but of the subjects of these I
should make a list. Begin by a real effort to realise the
Presence of God, and a petition just one sentence against
wandering thoughts. It will, perhaps, not be long before
you will be able to give yourself greater freedom ; but even
if it is, be not discouraged. Remember that, if it may be
said with reverence, our Lord takes special interest in lives
which have in them conflict and difficulties.
May you have much comfort and help this week and a
bright Easter.
Yours in our Lord,
EDW. BICKERSTETH, Bishop.
Easter Eve.
Dear , I have a few minutes to spare so must
just write you a few lines.
I hope that you will have a really happy Easter
I hope that you will try, as I said to you, partly for
your own comfort's sake, to look more at the bright side
of your own spiritual life, the times God helps you, the
victories, the happy days and hours, and to give thanks
for them and, again, to meet all troubles and battle all
temptations in the strength of Christ Risen not by your-
self. May God be with you, and give you much to do for
Him in this country.
Yours in Christ,
EDW. BICKERSTETH, Bishop.
INTELLECTUAL STANDPOINT 437
My favourite text in times of depression is ' I will lift
\ip mine eyes to the hills, whence cometh my help ? My
help cometh even from the Lord.' It was only when the
Psalmist looked away from himself to the great mountain
tops that he knew whence strength came. His own foot-
prints would never have taught it him. Of this the New
Testament version is ' I apprehend, yea rather I was
apprehended by (or <?/") Him.' St. Paul goes straight
through the thought of himself and his own faith and his
own needs, to the thought of God and God's care for him
and God's grasp of him.
It was his constant aim to be a true father in God to
men of all opinions among his clergy. All of them knew
they could rely on his sympathy. Mrs. Bishop, in her
reminiscences 1 recorded in this volume, and the Rev. F.
Armine King, in his sketch at the end of this chapter, both
alike, from two different standpoints, record their apprecia-
tion of his power of throwing himself into the joys and
sorrows of those who sought him for advice or counsel.
When he went to stay with his clergy, especially if there
were children in the house, he was probably at his very
best. As a guest he tried to give as little trouble as
possible, and whenever he could, he delighted in doing
good by stealth. He would devise some way of easing a
domestic burden which might unconsciously have been
revealed to him, or of securing a respite from work for
some over-tired worker, so that he was united to his clergy
.arid their families by a true bond of sympathy.
The ideal of the episcopal office which he set before
himself could be filled in, if it were desirable, from quota-
tions in his MS. book of devotion from all sorts of writers,
ancient and modern, in which he grouped together the chief
functions which a Bishop might fulfil. That ideal no
doubt towered above him like a mountain peak hard to
1 See chapter x. p. 390.
438 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
scale, but a combination of calm strength and innate
vigour, and the maintenance of a just proportion between
affection and thought, between feeling and truth, was his
aim. The questions of self-examination which he drew
up for himself were thorough and piercing, and he headed
them, ' Amplius lava me, Domine.' ' Devotion to be kept
pure needs ideas as well as feelings,' was a thought of
Dean Church l which was dear to him, as also St. Austin's
' Oratio sine meditatione tepida est.'
He tried to remember the rule, 'Praedicatio Evangelii
est praecipuum munus episcoporum ' (Concil. Trid. de Ref.
ii.), and he felt the office of a Bishop was to be like
Christ's in preaching constantly and diligently the truth
which he had received. The picture of Bishop Hamilton
(of Salisbury) dying with a map of his diocese before
him was an incentive to him, as well as the thought of
the Cure d'Ars, ' It is an awful thing to pass from the
cure of souls to the tribunal of God.' He was as ready to
cull some inspiration from Charles Spurgeon's words:
' Some of us could honestly say that we are seldom a
quarter of an hour without speaking to God, and that not
as a duty but as an instinct, a habit of the new nature
for which we claim no more credit than a babe does for
crying after its mother,' as to gather a lesson from the
following passage of Charles Borromeo :
Multum interest ut ab initio earn tibi vitas formam
rationemque constituas, quam in postremum perpetuo
sequaris, nihilque de recto vivendi modo quern inchoaveris
remittas aut relaxes ; deinde etiam istud omnino enitaris
et efficias ut des certas et statas horas lectioni, meditationi.
orationi, quas neque salutationes interrumpere nee alia
externa negotia minus urgentia impedire possunt.
Perhaps by giving one of the latest pages just as it
1 Lecture on Pascal's Pense'es, by Dean Church.
INTELLECTUAL STANDPOINT 439
stands from his MS. book of devotions used in preparing
for Holy Communion, I may best convey an idea of how
the work of watching unto prayer begun by him at Delhi
was maintained to the end :
' Mundamini qui fertis vasa Domini.'
' Episcopum oportet judicare, interpretari, consecrare,
ordinare, offerre, baptizare, et confirmare.' ' Pontificate
Romanuml p. 78.)
Ep. Munera.
Ordination
Confirmation
Teaching
Adminstration
Visitation (dicpi{3sia)
Discipline (Si/catoavvr), s\sos)
Ministration of Sacra- 1
ments (Jus liturgicum, L (svcreftsia)
&c.) j
Ep. Examen.
Humility Energy
Self-sacrifice Gentleness
Wisdom Sympathy
Firmness Detachment
Moderation Patience
Constancy Justice
Recollectedness Fatherliness
Dignity, reticence correspondence
Reserve ryr study
Boldness (e.g. in reproof) L *' episcopal duties
Calmness I devotion
Zeal for souls
Sense of responsibility.
Episcopate a call to perfection.
Ember seasons time of fasting and prayer
' Vacare meditationi.'
Work in spirit of prayer subservient to spiritual life.
Fervent in intercession.
Bishop of whole diocese, not of party.
Personal knowledge of clergy.
Liberal in discharge of public functions.
440 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
Hospitable to clergy.
Elder clergy as fathers, younger as brethren.
Relying on gift of God the Holy Ghost (His grace for
office).
Looking to the reward.
Vows of priesthood and consecration.
' Nos autem orationi et ministerio verbi instantes
erimus.'
' Only unto the tribe of Levi He gave no inheritance.
The sacrifices of the Lord God of Israel made by fire are
their inheritance, as he said unto them.'
D'jnn -IUT fN*n tibn.. Ezek. xxxiv. 2.
' Fort comme le diamant, plus tendre qu'une mere.'
Lacordaire of a priest.
' Make his life to be more holy than that of any of his
people without any deviation.' Ordination of a Bishop
and Priest, Canons of Hippolytus.
The effect of such an inner life was to make him, as a
Bishop, ' grave but joyous,' to quote Archbishop Benson's
phrase about Cyprian, and the children whom he came
across were quick to notice this union of two qualities
not always combined. As a matter of fact, he was greatly
devoted to children, and as a rule they to him. Like is
known by like, and so it needed perhaps the simplicity
and insight of the child-heart to see as deeply and truly
into the character of this child of God as a boy in
Japan showed himself capable of doing. This little
lad (about seven or eight years old) and his sister were
overheard learning the article of the Creed ' I believe in the
communion of saints,' and to her puzzled objection, ' Oh,
but there are no saints now,' came the instant rejoinder, ' Oh
yes, there are ; Bishop Bickersteth is one, you can see it in
his face.'
I cannot do better than close this chapter by giving a
INTELLECTUAL STANDPOINT 441
triple appreciation of the Bishop's character (i) from the
pen of his friend and fellow-missionary, the Rev. F. Armine
King ; (2) from a priest of the Japanese Church ; and (3)
from the Bishop of St. Andrews.
Memories of Bishop Edward Bickersteth
I felt a strong attachment for our Bishop from the very
first Just before my first interview with him in London
in 1888 I went to hear him give a missionary address in
St. Paul's Cathedral, and was greatly struck with it. There
was a simplicity and pleasing plaintiveness in his appeal
that quite won my heart, and that brief sermon did much
to strengthen my resolve to go to Japan if the way were
clear. At the interview afterwards I remember being
attracted by his wonderful gentleness of manner ; indeed,
he was ever ready to deal tenderly, and from that day
onward I can recall no instance of harshness or even stern-
ness towards myself, though I fear I sometimes provoked
him. And yet, though I say this, it is true he knew well
how to rebuke firmly and sharply.
His illness in 1891 was a pecularly trying one, just as
his last long illness must have been. His strong, quick,
ever-active brain suffered only a brief weariness, when he
was glad to lie still and do nothing. After that he felt full
of his usual intellectual vigour, and had no pain of body
It was this that made the strict dieting and yet stricter rule
of lying still exceedingly trying. Nevertheless, there was
the constant self-reminding that it was God's will, and that
his duty was implicitly to obey doctors' orders, even though
they seemed unduly on the side of caution and care. The
extreme sensitiveness of his nature made him open to
annoyance from little things that others would hardly
notice. But even when he could not refrain from showing
what was an irritation to him, it was always clear that the
strong rein of self-restraining recollectedness was keeping
his thoughts and words in check.
It seems to me, looking back, that the gifts of character
our Bishop had were rather the rarer gifts. On this
account he could not, in the usual sense of the term, be a
popular man ; rather among the many he was respected,
among those who took any pains to observe his work and
442 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
character he was revered and valued, and by the few he
was loved.
The rarer gifts he possessed were such as these.
Intellectually, he was a man of singular power and exact-
ness ; his fine discernment and freedom from exaggeration
made him in all matters of an intellectual kind a safe guide
and leader. He was an exact scholar and diligent reader,
with a fairly wide range of study : and he had a retentive
memory for facts as well as for lines of argument.
In particular, he showed a refinement of mind, a
delicacy of thought, that enabled him to see subtle
differences others hardly thought of. And the same
refinement was a marked characteristic of his whole self.
It was felt by all who had even but a brief acquaintance
with him. The sensitive delicacy of mind passed over into
his inner heart also. You saw it in the striking pureness
of his life and conversation, in the total inability to give
even a hesitating smile to the joke that bordered on the
vulgar. Yes, and in some degrees it was a trial to him,
making him feel more than most any misinterpretations of
his work for God.
The Bishop had a distinct gift of courage ; not so much of
natural courage, though he was not wanting in that, but of
moral courage. This was seen very clearly in the time of the
Japanese Church Synod. The Bishop never swerved when
he felt any principle was at stake ; careless what his hearers
might say or think of him, with all boldness he spoke out
his mind. And this courage was the more valuable a gift
as it never led him to be careless of other people's feelings,
or to refuse compromise where he felt he could con-
scientiously accept it.
This gift of courage took also the form of persistency
and perseverence in the face of apparent failure. Some of
us in the field have stood by and wondered, not so much
at the Bishop's bold schemes of work as at his undaunted
spirit that met every reverse and every failure with ready
resource and renewed energy.
He had also the gift of discerning the times. More
quickly and surely than most, he saw whither things were
tending in the country and what was wanted in the Church.
And all these special powers and gifts of character made
him singularly fitted for the special work to which we now
think we can see he was called when consecrated missionary
INTELLECTUAL STANDPOINT 443
Bishop for Japan. That work, in a word, was the bringing
together of all the Christians attached to the missions of
the Anglican Church in Japan into one organisation, with
its Canons and completed Prayer Book. While we should
by no means ignore the fact that he had able co-operators
in this, we may safely say he was the leading spirit in it all
during the eleven years of his episcopate, and we can
hardly over-estimate the importance of his labours in this
direction.
His interests, however, in Church organisation and
kindred objects cannot be said to have really turned his
attention from the central work of evangelisation. This,
after all, was nearest to his heart. It was more with purely
evangelistic aims than any love of organisation that he
pressed for the extension of the episcopate in Japan till he
saw his own original sphere of work shared by three other
Bishops from England. It was from the same love of souls
that he so constantly pleaded for more workers from
England. Nothing gave him greater joy than to hear of
souls being brought in to Christ ; nothing saddened him
more than to find, in busy Tokyo for instance, how slowly
the number of converts increased. He often reproached
himself for sharing so little in direct evangelistic work, but
indeed it hardly seemed that as things were he could have
spent his time more wisely than he did.
Perhaps the scheme for evangelistic extension most near
to his heart, as being specially his own creation and all
along under his own immediate control and direction, was
that which he was enabled to carry out in Tokyo through
the founding of the St. Andrew's and the St. Hilda's
Missions. With his quick comprehensive glance the
Bishop saw when he first came to Japan that the one real
centre and capital of the country was Tokyo, and that
there, at all hazards, the Church should be strongly
represented in all its manifold ways of witness and work.
Very far in those early days was it from being so
represented.
The Bishop's ideal was something higher and nobler
than he was ever permitted to see realised, so far as the
two Community Missions are concerned. In the very last
letter he wrote for the Guild Paper, he reminded the
members of the Guild of St. Paul that neither St. Andrew's
nor St. Hilda's Mission was yet equipped with more than
444 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
half the number of workers he desired to see. The scheme,
the ideal, was undeniably noble ; and even though during
the eleven years of attempt to realise it we recognise in
the actual working of both missions some failure other
than that traceable to lack of numbers, we cannot but
thank God for the measure of success which has been
vouchsafed to them.
Until his marriage in 1893, the Bishop resided, when in
Tokyo and not visiting other parts of his jurisdiction,
in St. Andrew's House, Shiba, with the members of
St. Andrew's Mission. Looking back to that time one
remembers not so much individual sayings or acts of the
Bishop such as might be recorded for the further filling in
of his portrait ; rather there comes back to my mind a
general recollection of his even temperament, his gentle
control of conversation at meals, his quiet reproof, his long
suffering. As a lesser point, I recall with pleasure his love
of a brisk afternoon walk with one of us when his head
was tired with overmuch writing or study. It seemed to
rest him more than anything else.
To all of us he set a good example in the study of
Japanese : and he certainly had his reward, even if he
could hardly be called a really good speaker in that most
difficult language.
Those who wished to speak with him seriously on any
difficulties of belief would always find a patient listener
who never interrupted. His strong intellectual power,
combined as it was with a truly sympathetic tenderness of
manner, helped some at least to see things clearer. Those
who sought for spiritual counsel certainly found in him a
true father in God, a wise and gentle shepherd of souls.
As a preacher he was, as a rule, I am inclined to think,
too much lacking in simplicity of language and subject to
appeal to the many, but there were signal exceptions to
this. His addresses on Quiet Days were always able and
often most helpful. The Bishop himself specially de-
lighted at those times in treating of some subject bearing
closely on the mystery of our Lord's Incarnation, and
many precious thoughts he left with us on this and other
mysteries of the faith. In all such teaching it was
noticeable how careful he was to be strictly accurate in
his handling of any passages of Holy Scripture ; he was
a specially close student of the New Testament Greek.
INTELLECTUAL STANDPOINT 445
I may supplement what I said about his preaching by
saying that the Japanese valued his sermons much I am
myself witness, and have the witness of others to this
They generally felt he was a true teacher among them
telling them something it did them good to hear in a
special way they were ready to sit at his feet as willino-
learners and listeners.
The Bishop was a High Churchman who had reached
his opinions rather by intellectual conviction than by
obedience to the authority of the Church as such. It
was easily noticeable, however, that any modification in
his views during the years we knew him was in the direc-
tion of more pronounced Church teaching, rather than in
that of the broad school of theology. On the subject of
the New Criticism he was specially well read, but on
principle had not formed any final opinions. He desired
above all things to see a patient hearing given to all that
the new critics might have to say, and he believed that
while some years must elapse before a balanced judgment
of the whole question would be forthcoming, the result
could not, whichever way it went, affect the essentials of
the faith.
His constitution made it most difficult for him to
observe rules of fasting, though he did not ignore them.
He never pressed them at all strongly on others. His
whole cast of mind was against laying stress on the strict
observance of the letter in connection with Church rules.
With regard to the Daily Office, he was strong in urging
the clergy to say it at least privately when not duly
hindered ; and he viewed it as a serious loss to the
Japanese Church that the rule on the subject as found in
the English Prayer Book (though not in the American)
did not meet with enough support to enable it to be
introduced into the present Japanese Prayer Book at the
last revision. His anxiety to have this rule made authori-
tative and observed by all the clergy of the Japanese
Church was real.
To gather up into one sentence the weight and
beauty of his character, those who came into close contact
with him were aware not only of a great reserve of
strength lying behind the outward gentleness of his man-
ner and conversation, but of something more than that
of a deep purity of soul which constrained them to
446 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
recognise that in his innermost being he was continually
walking with God.
ARMINE F. KING,
St. Andrew's House, Shiba, Tokyo.
June 22, 1898.
Recollections ! by the Rev. John Jmai, Priest of the
Nippon Set Kokwai
I look back these ten years in which our dear late
Bishop was with us, and during which days I had the
privilege of being with him in intimate contact, and as I
look back it is like thinking of the days of childhood.
For those years are the days of my childhood, not of my
natural life, but of the new-born life in the Christian faith.
There is one who bare me in it, but it was the Bishop to
a great extent who brought me up in its ministerial life.
I bless those days gone by, and turn to them with
inexpressible feelings of tenderness and love.
I had already been a catechist some years when the
Bishop came to Tokyo, and though I was not doing much
work with responsibility I was already enlisted among the
workers, and my work was to teach or preach to Christians
and heathen. But how scanty and poor was my own self-
instruction in the devotional life at that time, and how the
Bishop opened before me a higher ideal of the Christian
life, can be seen in an incident which, though it may seem
a commonplace matter to many, yet to me it was a time
of spiritual awakening. One day we were together in his
study, where I often was called in for private instruction or
prayer ; he asked me how I prepared myself for the Holy
Communion, and how I tried to advance in the devotional
life. I told him plainly what I did and what I did not
know. The Bishop understood me to be in ignorance of
proper method in these important duties. After telling
me what I ought to do, and how I ought to be systematic
in self-examination, he gave me a small volume of Pre-
bendary Sadler's, called ' The Communicant's Manual.' I
obeyed his instructions and used the manual, and felt
myself in quite a new atmosphere, in which I found a
deeper sense of my own sinfulness as well as higher mean-
1 These recollections were written in English, and are given with but few
verbal alterations.
INTELLECTUAL STANDPOINT 447
ings of the Divine Presence and Mysteries in the Sacra-
ment I also found myself in touch with such portions of
the Bible where I can learn more of the Divine Love in
the Sacrament This may seem strange to my readers
[ was myself a sample of Christian workers eleven
years ago ; the teachers were simpler and more ignorant
than a child beginning to learn his catechism. The
Bishop had to educate such child-like workers to a higher
devotional life and deeper knowledge of the Christian
faith before he could lead them to the battlefield to begin
more systematic and organised fight against unbelief and
sin. Well, I felt ashamed of my own ignorance and shallow-
ness, I felt joy to see the way opened before me, and at
the same time I felt deepest sympathy with my fellow-
workers and Christians who, because of their ignorance of
the English language, could not receive the benefit of such
light either from the Bishop himself, who knew not enough
Japanese then, or from books. This sympathy stirred me
to edit a manual of private devotion in the Japanese
language, and a few years afterwards I was able to offer
to the Church a little volume, entitled the ' Inori no Sono '
(Garden of Prayer).
But such instructions on the part of the Bishop were
but a small matter compared to the living voice heard by
those around him in the devotional loftiness of his private
life. I used often to be with him in his study, and very
seldom said good-bye without kneeling down together
quietly. And when we rose up he used to look like one
returned from a furious conflict in which he fought for
someone else ; the moisture in his eyes and tender
expression of his countenance told his burning zeal in
devotion for one of his flock, and I always felt ashamed to
think that he prayed for me more intensely than I did for
myself. No one who was not constantly placing himself
before the Throne of Grace could pray as our Bishop did.
The following story will give a glimpse of his devotional
life.
Eight or nine years ago the Bishop used to take with
him his servant, Masajiro, on his journeys, and often in
poor village inns he used to attend his master. The
Bishop, perhaps, had walked the whole morning over
broken roads or mountain passes ; he had seen Christians
and inquirers from this and neighbouring villages during
448 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
the afternoon, they having called on him one after the
other, so that always someone was talking with him ; in
the evening the Bishop had preached to a congregation,
some of whom had stayed behind for further talk till quite
late in the night. Towards midnight the Bishop is free
and alone for the first time ; Masajiro expects his master
to retire to bed and get his needed rest. The village and
the inn itself are all quiet ; he goes to see if the Bishop is
asleep, but finds him standing straight and still without
moving. The servant goes back to his own quarters, and
after some time past steals again to the Bishop's room and
looks through the screen where the paper is torn ; the
Bishop is still standing in the same position. Time passes
on, and at last, after having been in vain several times, he
finds the Bishop in bed. Masajiro failed to understand
this, but came to the conclusion that it must be a kind of
religious duty, a Gio (the tortures inflicted by heathen
priests on their bodies to make them holy) ; but when the
servant himself began to understand the Christian faith
he knew that the Bishop had been quietly spending his
lonely hours with God in prayer and meditation. Such
stories connected with his private life cannot but influence
others towards higher spiritual holiness ; how much more
to those who have seen such incidents actually before their
eyes !
I also remember the Bishop as most studious in
reading, specially Bible-study. His knowledge of the
Bible was felt by all who knew him ; no one whom I
have known has been able to quote the Bible so freely and
easily, and yet, as he told me himself, he never ceased to
read some commentary every morning. He was already
well read in theology, but I found him always diligent in
reading. When he travelled he carried many volumes
with him, and he never ceased to read in trains, jin-
rikshas, and in inns. I remember one day going to his
study and finding him deeply immersed in reading. I
said I wished he would take care of himself more ; he
answered with tender graveness : 'You see, it is not an easy
thing to be a Bishop ; one must read hard to be able to
teach others.' I knew he told me this in order to remind
me, as he always told his workers, that I myself ought to
study more as a teacher of God's Truth.
I was called ' Bishop's mouth ' by himself. I had the
INTELLECTUAL STANDPOINT 449
privilege of being his interpreter in early days at synodical
meetings and when he preached. Many friends, both
foreign and Japanese, have said how difficult it must be
to interpret for the Bishop, because of his deep discourses,
long sentences, difficult words, and way of pronunciation.
But I used always to tell them that of all foreigners for
whom I had to interpret the Bishop was the easiest, and
my reason was always the same. To quote my own
words : An interpreter must be first inspired by the
preacher himself before he can convey the meaning to
others. And nobody is able to inspire me and to stir up
the zeal and life in me as our Bishop does. When I
interpret for him, it is no longer someone else's words
and convictions that come out of my mouth, but I feel as
if I were speaking my own conviction and belief, so that
I can interpret with life and zeal. In the case of other
foreigners, I often forget the words I am listening to
because I am occasionally drawn into criticism, opposition
of thought, or even fear of not doing much benefit ; and
the very endeavour to keep down such thoughts distracts
my faculties.' I write this to show how the Bishop's
sermons and addresses were powerful and effective with
his audience no less than his personal influence.
I need not say that he had a wonderful memory and
gifts as a linguist. His progress in the Japanese language
was simply marvellous. But sometimes mistaken words
told him were also well remembered ! I remember on
one occasion, when suddenly asked, telling him the wrong
words, and when some weeks after I mentioned the right
words for the same thing, the Bishop asked me if that
word had exactly the same meaning as the one I had told
him before. I had to privately warn his Japanese teacher :
' Mind you tell the Bishop the right words, because he will
never forget what once he has been taught, and if wrong
words are told him he will carry them with him, to his
great disadvantage.'
Everyone who sat with him in the first synod at
Osaka, when the Nippon Sei Kokwai was duly constituted,
was astonished at his great power of understanding what
was going on in the midst of the hot debates in the
Japanese language. He often stood up in the midst of
much excited debate to express his own opinion. And
when he spoke he never missed the points which were in
G G
450 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
hot discussion. It was quite wonderful, because no one
had time to tell him what was going on, and he had not
then been in Japan more than twelve months. We all
thought him to be a born president We were able more
fully to know his ability on this point when he presided
over later synods, when his knowledge of the language
enabled his power to show itself.
The Bishop was the hardest worker I ever knew.
Though he was constantly fighting against fatigue and
weariness, he worked on and on. It seemed as if work
were not only duty to him, but even rest. Once when I
was with him an English gentleman came in. Seeing the
Bishop very tired and overworked, he spoke to him of the
great need of taking care of himself and of rest. ' But what
is life ? ' said the Bishop. ' Life is work . . . life without
work is unworthy of being lived.' I hope to remember
these words all my life. Some years ago I read Dr.
Westcott's pastoral, in which he says : ' Life is an oppor-
tunity for service,' and I thought how our Bishop realised
the idea of the master, of whom he always spoke with
great admiration and love.
It is no wonder that such a man as he should be always
filled with burning enthusiasm for God's glory and the
kingdom of Christ. Nay, the fire in him was the source
from which his work and devotion were produced. To be
with him was to be in touch with a consuming fire. In
persons of such enthusiasm there is often a tendency to
impatience. But I was often as much struck with the
Bishop's patience and contentedness as with his zeal and
energy. I was often impatient and precipitate, and ex-
pressed my feelings unreservedly before the Bishop. To
speak plainly, I was sometimes annoyed at seeing the
Bishop patient and hopeful in the midst of small begin-
nings. I wished for grand foundations, for some great
beginning, to attract the attention of the surrounding
heathen. It made me the more impatient because I
believed in the greatness of his power, position, and ability.
But whenever I poured out my hot, indignant protests, the
Bishop met me with unfailing tenderness and patience. I
remember his often -repeated words : ' If it is only begun
if it be continued it will surely grow and be enlarged.'
I confess I was often disappointed with these words. But
now I thank God for the Bishop's exhortations, not only
INTELLECTUAL STANDPOINT 451
to zeal, but to humility and patience, to entire trust in the
Almighty Providence, and to firmest conviction of the
final conquest of the Church. Yes, he was patient and
contented, because he knew 'the work, once begun will
be perfected.' How often he looked like a mighty con-
queror commanding a conquered nation, even in the midst
of failure and difficulties in the Church's work. He was
patient and obedient on his death-bed, and died a
conqueror's death, but lived a martyr-life in the martyr-
spirit, most becoming a disciple of Him Who said : ' Be
of good cheer, I have overcome the world.'
JOHN TOSHIMICHI IMAI.
July 27, 1898.
Recollections by the Right Rev. G. H. Wilkinson,
Bishop of St. Andrews
Pitfour, Glencarse, Perthshire, N.B. : July 28, 1899.
My dear Bickersteth, I gladly comply with your
request that I should write a few words for the biography
of your brother, the late Bishop of South Tokyo.
I will not here refer to his intellectual gifts' the far-
seeing wisdom, the power of counsel and organisation,' of
which the Bishop of Durham has spoken in his preface to
' Our Heritage in the Church.' I will confine myself to
certain characteristics which seem to account, in part at
any rate, for his influence at home and abroad, and, in the
truest sense of the words, his successful life.
I. There was a whole-hearted devotion to a living
Saviour. He had learned in his own experience what is
meant by the burden of sin and the peace of a realised for-
giveness. He knew the price at which that blessing of
acceptance with God had been purchased even the agony
and bloody sweat, the cross and passion, of the Incarnate
God. So he had yielded himself entirely to his Saviour.
At all times and in all places, in sickness and in health,
in joy and in sorrow, in hours of recreation no less than in
days of active effort, our Lord Jesus Christ was the ever
present Ruler of his life.
Those who knew him best could not fail to recognise
how the inner force of his life was the constraining love of
Jesus Christ. ' The life which I now live,' he might have
452 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
said, ' I live in faith, the faith which is in the Son of God,
Who loved me, and gave up Himself for me.'
II. This recognition of the Presence of a living Lord
made him hold fast to every portion of the divine revelation
which he had once received. He was thus saved from the
abandonment of old truths and the exaggeration of new
teaching. He believed that every fragment of truth was
precious, because it came from Him who is emphatically
' THE Truth,' and who has promised by the Holy Spirit to
guide us into all the Truth. For instance, the individual
relation to God of every soul which has been baptised into
Christ, the free access of the children of God to their
Heavenly Father through the one Mediator, the privilege
and responsibility of exercising the individual judgment
in dependence on the Holy Spirit these and similar
truths, once apprehended, held their own place in his heart
and mind to the end of his life.
And yet what is technically called Catholic teaching
as to the Church and her sacraments, as to the power
entrusted by God to a fully ordained ministry, these facts
in the divine economy were held with a firm grasp and
taught with unhesitating courage. As the result of this God-
given sincerity, he seemed to be ' ever increasing in the
knowledge of God and growing up, in all things, unto Him
who is the Head, even Christ.'
III. To this same realisation of the Presence of the
crucified and living Lord, we may ascribe his brave and
patient perseverance. These characteristics have been
noted in the history of his public work alike at Delhi and
in Japan. I had rather the opportunity of watching their
manifestation in his individual life. Two illustrations alike
of his patience and perseverance may suffice.
A. There was patience.
When the will of his Lord was clearly revealed and he
was obliged by illness to give up his work at Delhi, he
submitted himself to what seemed to be the demand of his
King. He came home to England, and, in his English
parish, he laboured as if his soul had never been kindled
by the fire of missionary zeal, as if he had never known the
glory of witnessing for God in the outposts of Christendom.
It was a hard trial, as those know to whom he was
accustomed to write unreservedly ; but he endured because
he saw ' Him who is invisible,' and recognised the severe
INTELLECTUAL STANDPOINT 453
discipline as the outcome of His Divine Will. So also in
his last illness, again and again he faced the possibility
of being obliged to resign the diocese which he loved so
dearly. He shrank from the trial. He prayed that if it
were possible the cup might pass away. But that prayer
was always followed by the utterance of his yielded will
' Nevertheless, not my will, but Thine be done.'
B. There was steadfast, unflinching perseverance.
Through all the quiet of his work in England he held
fast to the hope that, once more, he might venture his all
on foreign service. The moment that leave was given he
went out, carrying his life in His hands. So also, when
the end was approaching, he never lost the conviction that
a message had been given him by his Lord, which must be
delivered. So he went up from his bed of sickness, and
with real courage faced the strain of the last Lambeth
Conference, and spoke the strong words which some of his
brethren will never forget. Then, having finished his
work on earth, he went away into the quiet country home
in which his spirit was to be yielded up to the God who
gave it.
It was a noble life courageous, enduring, surrendered.
God help us all to follow his example.
Affectionately yours,
GEORGE ST. ANDREWS.
454 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
CHAPTER XII
THE CALL HOME
' For your constant hospitality, loyal support and loving co-operation
during these years, accept my sincere and heartfelt thanks. The earliest ex-
tant Pastoral of an English Bishop, Aelfric, of Ravensbury, 994 A.D. , closes
with these words, " Christ saith of His ministers who serve Him that they
shall always be with Him in bliss, where He Himself is, in life truly so called."
May the words be indeed fulfilled to you and to me.' Pastoral Letter to his
Clergy by BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH, Advent 1892.
IT only remains to put on record the circumstances
attending ' the calling home ' of Bishop Edward Bicker-
steth at the comparatively early age of forty-seven, as well
as some of the comments made on hearing of his death by
those who knew and loved him, and had worked with
him or had watched his work from a distance. In a sense,
death at his age is premature, and yet in his case the con-
current though independent testimony which saw in his
death a completion rather than a cutting-off is remarkable.
This was the feeling of those who had known him in
Japan, as is shown by the following extract from
Archdeacon Shaw's letter. Writing to me from Tokyo on
September 7, 1897, the Archdeacon said :
. . . The feeling of our loss comes on one again and
again with renewed and overwhelming force. We were so
dependent on him, his strong intellect and clear judgment.
His life, however, does give one a sense of completeness.
His great work here which God had raised him up to do
was finished in the organisation of the native Church and
its division into dioceses.
THE CALL HOME 455
While to his father, the Bishop of Durham wrote from
Robin Hood's Bay, Yorks (August 6, 1897) :
My dear Brother.-This is the Festival of the Transfigu-
ration, and that revelation will speak all I could wish to say
to you in your great and unlooked-for sorrow. Thoughts of
work ended have been very near to me for some time, and
Edward has had the great joy of seeing fruits of his work
which multiply. Your book made me think of Banningham
again, where I saw him as a baby. How wonderfully God
uses us. ... Since Cambridge days Edward has been con-
stantly in my mind. He gave shape to one of my most
earnest desires. With deepest sympathy,
Ever yours affectionately,
B. F. DUNELM.
On the day before he died, many of his own disjointed
words, spoken when he was quite unconscious, were yet
full of characteristic force. Once he turned to me, and
with eyes fixed full on me, he said, ' What is the Hindustani
for achieving your purpose ? ' and after a minute's pause he
repeated what I take to have been the word which his failing
powers of memory were trying to recover. This shows
that his own mind was turning on that same subject the
thought of work accomplished which found its most
sublime and only perfect utterance in our Lord's own cry
of triumph, * It is finished.' Possibly this also was the
reason which caused him on the day he died, when he had
passed quite beyond any power of recognising us, to take
off his episcopal ring and lay it quietly on his breast
When the Bishop, however, left Japan in December
1896 he had no presentiment that he would not return,
and even when, more than six months later (July 1897), he
left London and the Lambeth Conference for Chisledon,
where he died after ten days, he still was apparently with-
out any feeling that his course was run. Many of those,
however, who saw him in London felt that his days of
456 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
earthly work were numbered, and the Bishops assembled
at the Lambeth Conference observed with much concern
the great effort which it cost him to take part in their
earlier discussions. He intervened more than once, but on
the one occasion when he formally introduced the subject
on which the late Archbishop Benson more than a year
previously had asked him to speak, his mental vigour was
unimpaired, but his bodily frailty was apparent to all. He
so handled his theme that many of the Bishops present
said they never could forget the impression left by his
words, and as one of them wrote : ' He touched the whole
subject of foreign missions with the fire of the Lord, and
set the note vibrating that sounded as the predominant
blessing of our recent gathering.'
As regards those last months and days on earth, no
one can write with the same authority as his wife.
I am thankful to be allowed to give the following account,
written by Mrs. Edward Bickersteth :
We left Japan on Friday, December 4, 1896, travelling
via Vancouver and New York, as the doctors wished us to
avoid the Tropics. The' sea-air seemed at once to revive
my husband, and though he could hardly stand when we
went on board, by Sunday he insisted on taking service,
and when we landed at Vancouver he seemed almost
himself, and received congratulations from the kind
captain and officers of the ' Empress of India.' But the
journey across Canada in the bitter winter was too much
for the newly acquired strength, and there were two
relapses, first at Ottawa (where we were the guests of
Bishop and Mrs. Hamilton), and then at New York. At
this latter city we spent Christmas Day, and my husband's
old friend, Dr. Body, most kindly came to celebrate the
Holy Communion in our room at the hotel, so that we
should not lose the Christmas Feast. The following day
we sailed for England, which we reached on January 2,
much cheered by the improvement caused by the short
voyage. But then followed a weary three months of con-
THE CALL HOME 457
finement to bed and sofa, with perpetual hopes of real con-
valescence which always proved illusory, and were followed
by a fresh relapse. We were staying at my father's house
in Rutland Gate, and many were the friends and relations
who found their way to my husband's room and helped
to cheer the tedious hours. Among these he specially
valued the visits of the Bishop of St. Andrews, the Rev.
G. A. Lefroy (on furlough from Delhi), and Canon Body of
Durham. There was all through this time of hope deferred
a patient cheerfulness, an entire trustfulness, and a keen
interest in all around which struck all who came to that
sick-room. Letters from Japan were eagerly looked for,
and every detail of diocesan work was dear as ever to the
Bishop's heart. Much writing was forbidden by the
doctors, but the following extracts from letters to the Rev.
A. F. King are given.
6 1 Rutland Gate, S.W. : Jan. 31, 1897.
My dear King, This will only be a very few lines.
At the beginning of last week I got a severe relapse, from
which I am only just recovering I am forbidden all work
till April or May. But I have much to be thankful for :
an excellent doctor, and (I need not say) all else that
alleviates illness, certainly not least, visits from my dear
friend the Btehop of St. Andrews, who is taking his winter
holiday in London.
I had meant to write a letter to the diocese for the
' Nichiyo Soshi ' l on Lent, but have never liked to tax my
head. If this reaches you in time write a few lines from me
to the effect that I earnestly desire God's special blessing
on all workers and people in Lent, and hope that to this
end the season will be observed in all our stations by
special services, and that each member of the Church
will give thoughtful attention both to the needs of his own
spiritual life and of the congregation to which he belongs.
Assure them of my sympathy and prayers,
Ever affectionately yours,
EDWARD BICKERSTETH, Bishop.
6 1 Rutland Gate, S.W. : March 26, 1897.
My dear King I am still kept lying down and
drinking milk, but on the whole am certainly stronger anc
1 A church magazine published monthly in Japanese.
458 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
hope next week to get to Exeter. We have had no letters
or papers for three weeks, so that I am still quite ignorant
of what took place at the Bishops' meeting. But I suppose
Bishop Awdry will be here now in a few days. . . .
Lent will be over by the time that this reaches you.
Would that we could have spent our Easter with you.
But the gaudia Paschalia are the same and a true bond in
East or West.
Ever affectionately yours, and with loving greetings to
all, EDWARD BICKERSTETH, Bishop.
His interest in political matters and in questions
affecting the Church at home and abroad was keen as ever,
and books were an unfailing source of delight. In spite of
exhortations not to overtax his brain, he had always some
theological work on hand (marks remain in unfinished
copies of Strong's ' Christian Ethics ' and Hort's ' Christian
Ecclesia ') ; but there was also enjoyment of general
literature, specially when read aloud, and I find mention
in my journal of such books as Lord Roberts' ' Twenty-
one Years in India,' Justin McCarthy's ' History of Our
Own Times,' Nansen's ' Furthest North,' Lord Selborne's
' Life,' Archbishop Benson's ' Cyprian,' and others.
One source of pleasure and interest was the arrival of
the first copies of the ' South Tokyo Diocesan Magazine,' a
new venture to which the Bishop attached importance both
as a sign of ' the excellent spirit of brotherly love and unity
among us,' for which he expressed his thankfulness, and
as a pledge and means of its continuance, for it contains
accounts of all Church work within the diocese, irre-
spective of parties or societies.
My husband's engagement book bears witness to his
strong desire and to his efforts to be at work again, for
again and again there are entries of sermons promised and
meetings arranged on behalf of his diocese only to be
cancelled as the time approached, or transferred to a later
date which never came.
At the end of Lent, however, we were able to move to
Exeter, and during the bright Eastertide there seemed
real hopes of recovery. On Easter Day my husband made
his Communion at the Cathedral altar, and during
that week he much enjoyed a visit from his friend and
brother Bishop (now his successor), Bishop Awdry, when
THE CALL HOME 459
the talk between the two of future work together in the
land of their adoption was eager and hopeful. He rejoiced
in the loving home circle which surrounded us at Exeter,
and the drives in the Devonshire lanes in their spring
loveliness were a source of keen pleasure. Early in May
we settled in a flat in Westminster, and towards the end
of the month we went up to Scotland to pay a long-planned
visit to the Bishop of St. Andrews, then living at Birnam.
Here a long-continued and severe relapse brought great
disappointment and trial, cheered and softened though it
was by the exceeding kindness and unfailing thoughtful-
ness and sympathy of our hosts. The visit, planned for a
week, extended itself to a month, and it was not till the
end of June that we were able to return to London. From
his sick-bed at Birnam my husband had dictated the paper
he hoped to read at the S.P.G. meeting in St. James's Hall
on June 25, but at the last moment he had to give up the
hope of being present, and his paper was read for him by
his brother, the Vicar of Lewisham.
All through the months of illness the goal of the
Bishop's hopes had been the Lambeth Conference, and
though he was too weak to attempt any of the preliminary
gatherings at Ebbsfleet or Canterbury, yet by God's great
mercy the wish of his heart was granted, and he was able
to take his place among his brother Bishops on July 4, the
opening day of the Conference itself. For four days he
attended the sessions, following the debates with keenest
interest, and on July 7 he was able to speak on the subject
allotted him : ' The Development of Native Churches.' On
his return that evening he was full of joyous thankfulness
at having been allowed to plead the cause he loved so well,
and he gave his whole mind to the problems which would be
discussed the following week by the committees on which he
was appointed to serve. But before those committees met
a sudden return of illness while on a visit to the Vicarage,
Lewisham, made all work impossible, and there was fur-
ther the disappointment of having to forgo a meeting
on behalf of Church work in Japan which had been planned
from his sick-bed in the early spring, and at which all
1 The meeting was held at the Church House on July 12, under the presi-
dency of the Bishop of St. Andrews, and speeches were made by the Bishops
of North Tokyo, Kiushiu, and Osaka, who on that day four weeks met rou
the grave of him who had planned that day's gathering.
460 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
six dioceses in Japan were to be represented, either by
their Bishops in person or by their commissaries.
During these days of renewed illness many friends
came to our rooms, and much pleasure was given by the
visits of Bishop McKim (the American Bishop of Tokyo,
whose warm personal friendship was of many years'
standing), Archdeacon Warren of Osaka (who has quite
recently been called to his rest), the Bishop of St, Andrews,
Bishop Evington, Bishop Awdry, the Rev. S. S. Allnutt,
from Delhi, Dr. Body, from New York, and many others.
We noticed afterwards how many old links were reknit and
strengthened during those days. As always, the Bishop's
father and stepmother and the brothers and sisters came con-
tinually, and were gladly welcomed. On Sunday, July 25,
the Bishop of Exeter came to celebrate the Holy Com-
munion for us, and thus the Bread of Life was received
for the last time with full consciousness from the hands of
the father always so tenderly loved and so deeply honoured.
On July 20 there had been a consultation of doctors, who
gave the most hopeful verdict as to ultimate recovery, but
who prescribed a further year of complete rest, and a winter
in the Canary Islands. This was a severe blow to the
eager spirit of the Bishop, longing to return to his work
and his people ; but those who were with him will never
forget the immediate and unhesitating acceptance of the
will of God, and the brave cheerfulness with which he
threw himself into plans for the most unwelcome holiday.
Real help in this trial was brought by a kind note from
the Archbishop of Canterbury, who with delicate sympathy
reminded his suffragan that he was bound to rest ' for the
sake of his work.'
On Monday, July 26, we went down to a house which
my father had taken for the summer in the little village of
Chisledon, under the Wiltshire downs. The heat in London
had been very great, and my husband expressed much
pleasure in his new surroundings, in the flowers which
rilled his room, and in the fresh air which came in at the
windows. But there was no return of strength, and though
at first we hoped that it was only the fatigue of the journey
which confined him to bed, yet a new development of the
illness and increase of fever filled us with grave anxiety.
Even listening to reading seemed to tire his head, and he
chiefly enjoyed quiet talks and the constant visits to his room
THE CALL HOME 461
of my mother and sister, for whom he had tender affection.
His diocese was constantly in his thoughts and prayers, and
he was most anxious for news of the Lambeth Conference.
On Monday, August 2 (the day of the concluding service
in St. Paul's Cathedral of the Lambeth Conference, and
the anniversary of his mother's death), came the first fore-
boding of immediate danger, and my husband's next
brother (who has written this biography) came down to
us and brought all possible strength and comfort. The
following day the Bishop of Exeter and our sister May
arrived, and were joyfully welcomed in an interval of
consciousness. For God in His tender mercy spared His
servant all pain of parting, and all anxiety as to the future
of his beloved mission. Before any thought of danger had
come to us the fever had clouded the weary brain ; and
so all through the hours that followed, though there was
much eager talk (generally of Japan or of the Conference)
and many gleams of loving recognition, many broken words
of faith and prayer, yet there was no realisation of our
sorrow, there was never a cloud on his face, it was all a
passing onwards into light, and the Valley of the Shadow
cast no reflection as he went through. Knowing what would
be his wish, on the Wednesday morning I tried to tell him
that the call had come ; the trend of his life showed itself
in the immediate response : ' If God calls, of course we
should like to follow, but how do we know He calls and
where ? ' and it was with a calm surprise that he repeated
the answer ' To Paradise.' Earlier in the morning he had
suddenly said to me : ' My hearty thanks to all who have
supplied my lack of service, yes, my hearty thanks to all, if
it is not too much trouble ; ' and in answer to a question as
to whether he sent his blessing to the ' Nippon Sei Kokwai,'
he said ' Yes ' very clearly and brightly.
On that morning my brother-in-law felt justified in
celebrating the Holy Communion as we all knelt round
(the dear father pronouncing with broken voice the final
Benediction), and my husband certainly followed a great
part of the service and consciously received the Holy
Mysteries, the ' alimenta vitalia ' as he wrote of them in
his MS. book of devotion. During most of the day I read
to him poems from the ' Christian Year,' and other hymns
and passages of Holy Scripture. They always soothed
him, and at times as I ceased his voice repeated the well
462 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
known words. Sometimes he would speak in Japanese,
and once in Hindustani. All the wandering showed the
intensity of his purpose, and the trained nurse told us
that never before had she known such concentration of
the whole being on work, and at the same time such un-
failing patience and thankfulness for the smallest service.
As the strength waned the power of speech lessened, and
for hours there had been silence when suddenly, at midday
on Thursday, August 5 (the eve of the Transfiguration, as
it has since helped us to remember), he repeated several
times the names of Alice and Irene (the two sisters who
had been gathered home twenty-five years before) ; and
then quietly and imperceptibly, as our brother read the
Commendatory Prayer, the breath ceased, the tired soldier
laid down his weapons, and God took him to Himself.
All then and afterwards was most peaceful and beauti-
ful. Everything in his room spoke of life, not death.
Flowers were everywhere, and over him as he lay at rest
we laid his Bishop's robes, stole and pectoral cross,
and placed his chalice and paten at his feet. To the
Vicar of Chisledon (the Rev. Charles Gott) and his wife
is owed a debt of gratitude which can never be repaid
for their thoughtful sympathy, which found an echo in that
of their villager, and from far and near . came expressions
and tokens of love and reverence.
The funeral service was simple, but most beautiful,
both in its surroundings and in its sure signs of Christian
hope. Many who would have wished to be present were
far away, owing to the summer holidays ; but some and
those representative people who might easily have been
far distant were there, having been brought together in
England either by the Lambeth Conference or by the
wish to attend the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. Thus,
besides the members of the family, not only the English
Bishops of Kiushiu and Osaka were able to come to
Chisledon, and Bishop McKim of North Tokyo (repre-
senting the American Church), but also Sir Ernest Satow,
the British representative at the Court of the Mikado, who
was at home on furlough, came to show his affection for
THE CALL HOME 463
the Bishop. Archdeacon Warren (C.M.S.) of Osaka, who
has since been called to his rest, was there, and Miss
Bullock, the member in charge of St Hilda's, Tokyo.
At one o'clock on August 9, there having been an early
celebration of the Holy Communion, the funeral procession
was formed. First came a cross-bearer leading the village
choir of Chisledon and some of the neighbouring clergy,
then the Vicar of the parish (the Rev. Charles Gott),
followed by the three Bishops of the Nippon Sei Kokwai
(Dr. McKim, Dr. Evington, Dr. Awdry) walking abreast,
next a second processional cross preceding the village bier,
on which rested the body of the Bishop followed by his
wife, his father, and other chief mourners. As the pro-
cession left the lovely grounds of Chisledon House, the
hymn ' Lord, her watch Thy Church is keeping ' was sung,
and as it wound its way down into the picturesque village,
where the cottagers lined the road, the choir took up the
strains of 'Jesus shall reign where'er the sun,' with its
suggestive reference to the sure and certain triumph of
Christianity, for to the eye of faith ' the kingdoms of this
world are become the Kingdom of our Lord, and He shall
reign for ever and ever.'
When the lych-gate was reached a note of gladness
was sounded, and the words ' Alleluia, Alleluia, hearts to
Heaven and voices raise,' floated out over the quiet village
nestling under the shelter of the Wiltshire downs, for
Christian believers sorrow not like those sitting in dark-
ness and the shadow of death, who in bereavement have
no hope. In the churchyard the voice of Bishop Awdry
was heard as with deepest feeling he recited the opening
sentences of the Burial Service. The appointed lesson was
read by Bishop McKim, and while the body was carried
from its resting-place before the altar the hymn ' Now the
labourer's task is o'er ' reminded the congregation that the
464 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and that no
torment shall touch them.
The little churchyard being closed, a new cemetery
(Kotfjirjrrjpiov') had been recently consecrated, and thither
the procession in the same order now wended its way. As
the steep ascent leading to the cemetery was climbed the
hymn ' For all the saints who from their labours rest ' was
sung, foretelling the day when from earth's wide bounds
and ocean's furthest coasts, through the witness borne to
the Christ by many missionaries in every land, would
stream in countless converts to the Christian faith. Thus
compassed about with the thought of so great a cloud of
witnesses, the ear could better hear, and the heart
better respond to, the prayers which at the graveside
were offered up by Bishop Evington, who pronounced
the closing Benediction. One more pathetic incident
completed the simple beauty of this Christian service, in
itself such a striking contrast to what Hindu rites and
Buddhist or Shinto ceremonies can provide for stricken
hearts ; that was the singing of my father's well-known
hymn, ' Peace, perfect peace,' as he stood at the head of
his eldest son's open grave. This hymn, so often quoted
in the hour of death or sung on the day of burial, was
never more appropriate, and it also struck a note of
Christian hope as in low-breathed tones the choir gave the
words :
Peace, perfect peace, death shadowing us and ours,
JESUS has vanquished death and all its powers.
Close to his graveside the early harvest was being
gathered fully ripe, and a shepherd could be seen folding
his flock.
In Delhi the news of the Bishop's death awoke many
memories, as is proved by the address already quoted ; ' but
1 See chapiter iv. p. 108.
THE CALL HOME 465
in Tokyo, and elsewhere in Japan, it was received by those
with whom he had so recently worked with the keen sorrow
inseparable from the sharpness of death. The Japanese
Christians sent to the Bishop's wife the following character-
istic proof of the sincerity of their grief, one among several
other letters of sympathy from the Japanese :
From the Japanese Congregation of St. Michael's
Church, Kobe
St. Michael's Day, 1897.
Dear Madam, At the beginning of August a brief
message reached us that Bishop Edward Bickersteth of
Japan had been called to his rest, and we could but wait
with closed eyes and bowed heads, hoping that the tidings
would prove false ; but when it became more and more
certain that the news was true, with overflowing hearts, our
feelings too deep for words, we seemed as in a dream,
moaning in uncontrollable grief.
Alas ! alas ! When we reflect upon what is past, we
cannot but remember that when he first entered upon his
duties as Bishop here the Church in Japan was but in an
embryo state, everything was weak and unsettled ; but
Bishop Bickersteth suddenly came forward, framed a con-
stitution and Canons, summoned a synod, and the Church
of Japan was then and there born. Not only so, but in
evangelisation, in education, in works of mercy, he ever
took the lead, always himself giving liberally to help
forward such undertakings. Without sparing himself, he
sailed to the south and journeyed to the north for confirma-
tions and consecration of churches with hardly a day for
rest. Moreover, on such matters as the revision of the
Prayer Book he bestowed no little mental labour and
anxious thought. We doubt not but that the Church of
Japan is what she is through the protection and blessing of
the Most High, but we cannot but acknowledge that the
instrumentality used was the wisdom and energy of Bishop
Bickersteth, with his self-denying, whole-hearted zeal for
the welfare of the Church.
In Churches like this of ours, what can we say ? The
sacred building was consecrated by him ; from him most
of us have received the laying on of hands ; is it not natural
II H
466 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
that we should long have looked up to his high and holy
character with love and veneration ? And now our Bishop
has departed from us to the world unseen. Alas ! Alas !
Our grief seems boundless ; but though we shed tears
of blood our father cannot return. Death and life are as
God in Heaven wills, and no man can say Him nay.
Though he is gone, the foundations he has planned
remain firm, and the living power of God's Word will
ere long spread through the land. He has run the race
that was set before him, he has finished the work that was
given him to do, and now he is at rest in the garden of
Paradise, where flowers ever bloom and birds ever sing.
Let us not then ignorantly weep ; rather let us pray that
we may again meet each other face to face in the Halls of
Heaven !
P. R. Tsujll, v For the
Catechist-in-Charge. I members of
T. MISHIMA, St. Michael's
Churchwarden. > Church.
To Mrs. Bickersteth.
The news of the Bishop's death reached Japan on
August 9, and next day 1 the ' Japan Daily Mail, 1 the
leading journal of Tokyo, said :
Bishop Bickersteth was a man of deep erudition, wide
sympathies, and profound religious convictions. Ill-health
never succeeded in impairing the even geniality of his
temper or narrowing the range of his interests. His in-
fluence for good owed little to his personality, but he pre-
sented to all that knew him a fine symmetry of mind and
character, strong without exaggeration, steadfast without
intolerance ; and the simple, unostentatious, and unselfish
zeal that he brought to the discharge of every duty as a
priest and every obligation as a friend, hallowed the sphere
in which he moved, and elevated and purified those with
whom he came in contact. We deeply mourn his loss, and
sympathise keenly with the sorrow of his young widow.
Memorial services were held on the I3th at the health
resort of Karuizawa, where many of the missionaries were
assembled, and on the I4th at St. Andrew's, Tokyo, where
1 See also Appendix A., p. 475.
THE CALL HOME
the Rev. John Imai was the preacher, and among those
present were the Yen. Archdeacon Shaw, Rev. A. F. King,
L. F. Ryde, A. E. Webb, W. F. Madeley, W. C. Gemmill,'
C. N. Yoshizawa, P. S. Yamada, A. G. Shimada, S. M.'
Tomita, and Mr. C. H. B. Woodd,of the English Mission ;
Bishop Williams, Rev. C. H. Evans, Dr. Motoda, M. Tai,'
G. Sugiura, K. Seito, and S. H. Kobayashi, of the
American Mission. 1
At Karuizawa, in a little church, which owed its
existence largely to the Bishop's liberality, the Venerable
Archdeacon Shaw delivered an address, from which the
following are extracts :
It has pleased God to take from amongst us, in the
fulness of his power and in the midst of his work, one
whose death no one who had been brought into contact
with him while here can help acknowledging to be a great
and, to human discerning, a well-nigh irreparable loss to
the work of God's Church in this land. His great intel-
lectual powers, his wide knowledge of the history of re-
ligion, his strong hold and deep insight into the founda-
tion doctrine of Christianity the Incarnation of the Son of
God with all its far-reaching and glorious consequences
for man, made him a fit leader in bearing forward the
Standard of the Cross, and a well-equipped champion in
the face of this heathen world in repelling infidel attacks
upon the faith.
Trained under, and an earnest follower of, the theo-
logical methods of the late and present Bishops of Durham,
Bishop Lightfoot and Bishop Westcott, he possessed in no
slight degree the painstaking and polished scholarship,
the keen critical acumen, and the unswerving devotion
to truth, the intellectual honesty, which distinguished both
1 From a Canadian priest in Japan.' Since that dreadful tele-
gram came, and specially since our Christians have asked me to write you
a letter in their name, I have thought and thought what I can say. Al-
though our Memorial Service was at ^ A.M. because of the great heat,
it was attended by more Christians than any service this year except the
confirmation in April. The catechists at the out-stations each had his own
service, but from other places where there is no catechist they came some of
them over ten miles on foot, leaving home at 2. 30 and 3 in the morning.
H H 2
468 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
his masters. These are matters which lay upon the
surface, open to all who cared to see them. To those
whose privilege it was to know him with personal intimacy
(as it was mine), there was revealed in his character an
affectionate tenderness, a helpfulness, a playful humour,
which endeared him to all around, and at the same
time a depth of devotional feeling, of humble piety, of
transparent sincerity in all his life, which could not but
have a strengthening and purifying influence on all with
whom he was brought in contact. . . .
During the eleven years of his life and work in Japan,
amidst the constant interruptions of ill-health, he gave
himself with single-hearted and unceasing devotion to his
Master's work. He never spared himself, but worked in
every cause he took in hand to the limit of his powers, and
beyond his powers, in a manner which should, now more
than ever, in these sad days which have come upon us, be
an inspiration and example to those he has left behind.
It fell to his lot to be instrumental in consolidating the
work of the Church in this country, and it is largely due to
him, to his wisdom and his energy, that the scattered
congregations of the various missions of the English and
American Episcopal Churches are now organised into one
body, and that the number of the Bishops has increased
from two to five. These are the outward and visible
manifested results of his unceasing toil and care. Of the
inward spiritual results of his life and work, of the example
of his personal character and piety, and of his direct teach-
ing, no one can speak they are known to God alone.
They have passed into the lives of so many who came
under his influence. They are the immortal fruit formed
in the souls of men by contact with him who was himself
in contact with ' the Head, even Christ,' and who himself
drank deeply day by day from the Fountain of living waters.
Nor was his love and sympathy confined to his own
communion. To no one whom I have known was the
idea and hope of union among all who name the Name of
Christ dearer than to him. It was a subject of his daily
prayers and often of his active effort. . . .
He was then such a one a leader in Israel, pure in
heart, strong in intellect, earnest and self-sacrificing in
effort. And we are called upon to-day to face the in-
scrutable mystery of his early death to face the fact
THE CALL HOME
that when to human eyes his life was so greatly needed,
he has been taken from among us-to face the fact that
we who were about him shall no longer have the stay of
his strong intellect, the sympathy of his loving heart the
example of his pure and blameless life. Thank God that
though we have not the key to these mysteries of life and
death and earthly sorrow, and though now in this time of
our sojourn here, we see but as in a glass darkly, we know
with a certainty that passes knowledge that in Christ all is
well well with him and well with us. He is the faithful
soldier who has accomplished his warfare and has entered
into his rest. He has finished the work in the vineyard of
God which it was given him to do, and if we seem to be
left the weaker and the poorer for his absence, we know
that it really is not and cannot be so. God has other
work in his heavenly kingdom larger, freer, fuller for
him whom in his passage through this world He had trained
and disciplined and made fit to receive the vision of His
eternal glory. And we may be assured that in the nearer
approach to his divine Master which has been granted to
him, and in that fuller knowledge in the ways and purposes
of God's Providence which he possesses, he remembers,
and will remember with unceasing love and prayer, us his
fellow-workers in our weakness, our failure, our dis-
appointment, until the time of God's waiting be fulfilled
and the number of His elect accomplished.
On September 15 a special Chihokwai (Diocesan
Synod) was held, thirteen priests, eight deacons, and sixteen
catechists and lay delegates being present, with the Rev.
J. T. Imai as chairman, when a resolution of sympathy with
the family of Bishop Edward Bickersteth was passed, in
which was 'placed on record the synod's sense of the
eminent services rendered by the Bishop to the Church of
Japan during the eleven years of his episcopate, by the
single-minded devotion to her service of his great intellec-
tual gifts and powers of organisation, and by the high and
noble example of piety, holiness, and zeal which he had
left to her as a precious memorial and inheritance.'
On the evening of the same day as the synod, the
47O BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
1 5th, a kinenkwai (memorial meeting) was held in the St.
Andrew's Divinity School, of which Archdeacon Shaw
wrote to me :
Tokyo, Japan : September 22, 1897
My dear Mr. Bickersteth, We have now received full
details of our dear Bishop's death and of the funeral. I
cannot realise that I shall see his face no more here. At
the synod, which as Chairman of the Standing Committee
I called last Wednesday, the I5th inst., resolutions of
sympathy were passed, copies of which are being sent to
Mrs. Bickersteth and the Bishop of Exeter.
In the evening of the same day as the synod we held
a memorial meeting attended by numbers of Japanese
Christians from the churches of our communion in Tokyo.
Addresses were given by several Japanese and myself on
the subject so near our hearts, and I had taken the liberty
of having your beautiful and pathetic letter written from
our dear Bishop's dying room translated into Japanese. It
was read by Yoshizawa San, one of our priests, and made
a very deep impression. One told me that listening to
sermons all his life would not have the same effect as the
story so told of the death-bed of our blessed saint.
The Japanese purpose to raise some memorial here
according to their means. I should like, however, to make
an appeal at home for funds to maintain two scholarships
or exhibitions in the Divinity School here to be called the
Bishop Bickersteth Scholarships or Exhibitions. From
35<D/. to 4OO/. would be needed for this purpose, and if an
appeal were made at once there ought to be no difficulty
in raising this. I can conceive of no memorial better suit-
able, or that the Bishop would be better pleased with, than
one like this that would aid in establishing the living
Church in Japan. Of course, I leave it entirely to your
decision. Only if you consider the idea a proper one will
you see that the appeal is made, using my name in any
way that you think advisable ?
I remain,
Gratefully and affectionately yours in Christ,
A. C. SHAW.
The memorial took the form suggested in this letter, a
similar wish having been already expressed in England,
THE CALL HOME 47 r
and the sum of 500?. was raised within a very few weeks
and is held in trust by the Society for the Propagation of
the Gospel for the object of maintaining in perpetuity
'Bickersteth Memorial Studentships' at St. Andrew's
Divinity School, Tokyo. In Exeter Cathedral the Bishop
erected to the memory of his son a brass tablet, for which
the Dean and Chapter found a place immediately facing
the private door which leads from the palace into the
cathedral, and a facsimile of which is given at the close of
this chapter.
Also at St. Andrew's Church, Tokyo, a memorial brass
has been affixed to the chancel wall ; and at Delhi the
Cambridge Brotherhood purpose to place a brass in their
chapel for which, at their request, Canon A. J. Mason,
Lady Margaret Reader in Divinity at Cambridge, has
written the following inscription :
EDWARDUS BICKERSTETH
COLLEGII PEMBROCHIANI APUD CANTABRIGIENSES SOCIUS
ANNO SALUTIS MDCCCLXXII
AMPLISSIMORUM VIRORUM LIGHTFOOT WESTCOTT FRENCH
DOCTRINA HORTATIONIBUSQUE PERMOTUS
EXAMEN PRINCIPALS EDUXIT
AD OPUS HUIUS SCROLL CONDEND^E
CUI CUM SEPTEM ANNIS CUM MAXIMA OMNIUM UTILITATE PfUE-
FUISSET
NASCENTI JAPONIORUM ECCLESI^ PRjPOSITUS
ANIMAM LABORUM MORBORUMQUE PERPESSIONE
ENECATAM EXPIRAVIT
ANNO INCARNATI DOMINI MDCCCXCVII
^TATIS SWE XLVII
ACERRIMO FUIT ANIMO IDEMQUE DULCISSIMO
DOCTUS SAGAX AUDAX
MEDIOCRITATIS ANGLICANS CANTABRIGIENSISQUE TENAX
CATHOLICS LIBERTATIS STRENUUS PROPUGNATOR
HANC TABULAM FRATRES DELHIENSES
HONORIS DESIDERIIQUE CAUSA POSUERUNT
My brother's death which was followed five days
later by that of Bishop Walsham How of Wakefield made
472 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
the first gap in the ranks of the Bishops attending the
Lambeth Conference of that year. Many of them wrote
to the Bishop of Exeter to express their sense of the value
of his son's ' work and noble example/ some alluding to
' his gallant effort to join and help the conference/
to which another thus referred : ' One listened to no
voice at the conference with greater attention and interest
than to his, which is now hushed for us who remain.'
Perhaps nothing would have caused greater thankfulness
to Bishop Edward Bickersteth himself than the sentence
added by the present Bishop of Ely : ' I have always felt
drawn to your son because we were consecrated together
at St. Paul's, and have always remembered him and his
chtirch in my intercessions^ The ' Guardian ' 2 newspaper
at the close of an obituary article wrote : ' Thus has ended
the life of a modern missionary Bishop, who has surely
been raised up by God to do for the islands of Japan a
work similar to that done in these (British) islands centuries
ago by Columba, Aidan, or Augustine men of whom the
Church has rightly heard so much during this memorable
year.'
One of the clergy of the C.M.S. in Japan wrote thus :
I am sure that there are none who knew the Bishop
well who will not feel what a sad and serious blow we
have all received, and how sorely he will be missed in the
counsels of our native Church. Notwithstanding some un-
avoidable differences of opinion, I am glad to be able ta
testify to the uniform kindness, courtesy, and considerate-
ness, as well as warm sympathy, manifested towards us
who were privileged to serve our common Master under
his leadership.
And from another of his clergy came this testimony,,
' Never before have I quite known such gentleness, when
all the time there was such strength and courage to rebuke
1 See chap. v. p. 148. 2 See Guardian, August n, 1897.
THE CALL HOME
lying behind it.' Also many kindly expressions of sym-
pathy and appreciation of the Bishop's character came
from Nonconformist bodies in Japan.
Nearly two years later the Sixth General Synod of the
Nippon Sei Kokwai assembled in Trinity Hall, Tsukiji,
Tokyo, and on the first day of the synod (April 20, 1899)
the following resolution was passed. Bishop McKim, as
senior Bishop, presided, and after introducing with words of
welcome Bishops Fyson and Foss, a Kushiu Dogi (urgent
motion) was proposed by the Reverends Terasawa, Naida,
Motoda, Ogawa, Ko and Imai (i.e. six priests respectively
of the six dioceses in Japan), and supported by a sym-
pathetic and touching address from the presiding Bishop,
after which the whole House stood solemnly and reverently
and passed the motion, which read thus :
That this, the Sixth General Synod of the Nippon Sei
Kokwai, feels the deepest sorrow at not being able to see
in this House the late Right Rev. Edward Bickersteth, D.D.,
who at the period of founding and organising this Church
laboured at the task, and in its government for a long
time presided as the chairman of the General Synods. The
House therefore orders that this motion should be pre-
served in its Minutes, in order to remember all his labour
and merits for the years to come.
In bringing this biography to a close it is impossible
not to feel how surprised Bishop Edward Bickersteth
would have been at the thought that an account of his life
would have been published, or that his letters, written amid
the press of work, would be ever reproduced.
In the twentieth century, now coming on apace, mis-
sionary enterprise is surely destined to find its greatest
opportunity. The current encyclical of the Lambeth Con-
ference (1897), and its ringing challenge to take up the
missionary's burden, has committed the Anglican com-
munion throughout the world to that large measure of
474
BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
responsibility which belongs to a clear call and to the
noble expectation that every Churchman will do his duty.
The watchword of the Student Volunteer Missionary
Union, ' the evangelisation of the world in this generation,'
has already proved an inspiration to multitudes outside the
Anglican communion. The actual results already given
to the earnest labours of a comparatively few men and
women have been described 'as samples surely of what
awaits the labours of an awakened Church.'
If it should please God to use this biography to quicken
missionary enthusiasm, and direct it along the channels
which ' a sound rule of faith and a sober standard of feeling,
of so much consequence in matters of practical religion,'
alike help to define, then I am sure my brother would
pardon the publicity which a biographer must necessarily
give even to the private side of a public life, and would say
Non nobis, Domine.
DW^RDBICKRSTTH
SON OF CDWflRD HtNUV BISHOP OF EXE1
iiTra
SflKCUND THE GOS1
MEMORIAL BRASS PLACED BY THE BISHOP OF EXETER IN EXETER CATHEDRAL.
THE BISHOP'S GRAVE, CHISLKDON, WILTS.
APPENDICES
APPENDIX A
At the General Committee of the Church Missionary Society
(August 10) the following resolution was adopted :
That the committee learn with much regret of the death of the
Right Rev. Edward Bickersteth, Bishop of the Church of England
in South Tokyo, Japan. They recall with thankfulness to God
the devotion and missionary zeal which characterised the late
Bishop's life and ministry. His visitations of the mission stations,
accomplished often at an expenditure of no small measure of
physical fatigue, were ever occasions of deep spiritual profit and
enjoyment to the Society's missionaries and native agents. His
sympathy and interest in all the problems and difficulties, as well
as the joys and successes, of the work made the bond between
him and them a very close and warm one. He was mainly
instrumental in organising the Nippon Sei Kokwai, or 'Japan
Church ' : to his initiative and energy also was due the formation
of the dioceses of Kiushiu and Hokkaido ; and the division of
the Main Island into four episcopal jurisdictions, to receive,
pending the attainment of maturity by the native Church, two
Bishops from the American Church and two from the Church of
England, was owing to his active efforts in conjunction with the
American Bishop, Dr. McKim. That the secretaries be instructed
to express the committee's deep sympathy with the widow of
the late Bishop, and also to assure the Bishop of Exeter, his
honoured father, their old and true friend, of their respectful and
affectionate sorrow with him in the bereavement which, in God's
Providence, he has been called to bear.
The appreciation in which the Society for the Propagation
of the Gospel held the Bishop's work found expression in the
resolution passed by the Standing Committee on October 15,
1897:
The Society, at this its first meeting after the decease of the
late Bishop of South Tokyo, desires to place on record its sense
of the great loss sustained by the young Church in the Empire of
476 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
Japan by the removal of one whose far-seeing mind and states-
manlike judgment had done so much in laying the foundations of
that distant offshoot of the mother Church.
In 1877 Mr. Bickersteth was one of the two Cambridge
graduates whom the University of Cambridge sent to the Society's
old mission at Delhi. Seven years of fruitful work proved his
constitutional unfitness for work in India. For a few months he
was Vicar of Framlingham, a benefice in the gift of his college,
but in 1886 Archbishop Benson sent him to Japan, which has
been the scene of his wise and abundant labours for more than
eleven years.
APPENDIX B
CANONS OF THE NIPPON SEI KOKWAI '
CANON I
Of the Admission of Candidates for Holy Orders
i. Every person seeking admission to the ministry of this
Church shall lay before the Bishop and before the Standing
Committee 2 testimonials in the following words : ' We, whose
names are hereunder written, testify, from our personal knowledge
and belief, that A. B. is pious, sober, and honest, that he is
attached to the doctrine and discipline and worship of the
Nippon Sei Kokwai, and that he is a communicant of the said
Church in good standing ; and do furthermore declare that in
our opinion he possesses such qualifications as fit him for
entrance on a course of study for the Holy Ministry.' Such
testimonials shall be signed by his Spiritual Pastor and the
Vestry of the congregation to which he belongs ; or in circum-
stances justifying such alternative, by at least one Presbyter and
six laymen, communicants of the Church.
2. The Standing Committee on receipt of such testimonials,
being satisfied with regard to the physical, intellectual, moral,
and religious qualifications of the person so applying, may
proceed to recommend him to the Bishop by a certificate bearing
1 In this copy of the Canons I have incorporated some additions made at
subsequent synods, though not those made this year (1899). S. B.
2 Canon IX.
APPENDICES
477
the signature of a majority of all the members of the committee
in the following words :
'We, whose names are hereunder written, do certify that
(from personal knowledge or from testimonials laid before us as
the case may be) we believe A. B. to be pious, sober, and honest ;
that he is attached to the doctrine, discipline, and worship of the
Nippon Sei Kokwai, and that he is a communicant of the said
Church in good standing ; and do furthermore declare that,
in our opinion, he possesses such qualifications as fit him for
entrance on a course of preparation for the Holy Ministry.'
3. It is always understood, and it is also at proper
opportunities to be made known to the candidate, for whatever
order of the ministry, and enforced upon his consideration by
the Bishop and Standing Committee, that the Church expects of
all such candidates, what can never be brought to the test of any
outward standard an inward fear and worship of Almighty God,
a love of religion and a sensibility to its holy influences, a habit
of devout affection, and, in short, a cultivation of all those graces
which are called in Scripture the fruits of the Spirit, and by
which alone His sacred influences can be manifested.
4. The Bishop on receipt of such certificates may admit
the person recommended by the Standing Committee as a
candidate for Deacon's Orders, and shall thereupon record his
name with the date of admission, and the names of the Presbyters
signing such certificate, in a book to be kept for that purpose, and
notify the candidate of such record, and inform him at the same
time of the course of study which is required of him, and of the
texts of Scripture upon which he is expected to prepare discourses
for presentation at his examination.
If the Bishop and the majority of the Standing Committee
are not in agreement in regard to the acceptance of any candi-
date the question shall be referred to all the Bishops who are
members of the Synod, and their decision shall be final.
5. An examination of the literary qualifications of a candi-
date shall extend to his knowledge of the Japanese Language
and Literature, of the first principles and general outlines of
Geography, History, Mental and Moral Philosophy, Logic,
Physics, and of Chinese and English. It is most desirable that
he present himself also for examination in Greek and Hebrew.
The Bishop may, for sufficient reasons, after consulting his
478 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
Standing Committee, dispense a candidate from examination
in particular subjects.
The examination shall be conducted by the Bishop's examin-
ing chaplains.
CANON II
Of Admitted Candidate
i. The superintendence of a candidate for Holy Orders
and direction of his theological studies pertain in consultation
with the tutor or tutors (if any) with whom he is studying to the
Bishop during the year preceding his ordination.
2. A report to the Bishop of the progress and manner of life
of each candidate for Holy Orders shall be made by his tutor, or,
if studying privately, by himself once in every six months.
CANON III
Of Examinations for Ordination
i. Every candidate for Deacon's Orders shall undergo an
examination, partly oral, partly written, conducted by the examin-
ing chaplains the Bishop at his discretion being present and
taking part in such examination.
2. The subjects shall be as follows : (i) A general knowledge
of the Holy Scriptures. (2) Selected books of the Old and New
Testaments. (3) The Book of Common Prayer, its History and
Contents. (4) Church History and Polity. (5) Pastoral Theo-
logy. (6) Christian Doctrine, including the three Creeds and
the Articles of Religion. (7) Evidences of Christianity. (8)
Christian Ethics.
Note i. Such candidate shall be examined as to his ability
to conduct with reverence the services of the Church and deliver
sermons.
Note 2. The Bishop may, for sufficient reasons, after consult-
ing with his Standing Committee, dispense a candidate from
examination in particular subjects, with the exception of the
Holy Scriptures in the Japanese language, the Prayer Book, and
the Articles.
Note 3. To every candidate for Priest's Orders books shall
be assigned by the Bishop, for examination in which he shall
present himself when required.
APPENDICES
479
CANON IV
Of Ordination
i. No person shall be admitted to Holy Orders until he
shall have subscribed the following declaration : ' I do believe
the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the
Word of God, and to contain all things necessary to salvation ;
and I do solemnly engage to conform to the doctrines and
worship of the Nippon Sei Kokwai.'
2. A candidate for Holy Orders shall not be ordained
within three years from his admission as a candidate, unless the
Bishop for special reasons shall see fit to ordain him after a
shorter period of probation.
3. No person shall be ordained Deacon in this Church
unless he lay before the Bishop and Standing Committee
testimonials from two Presbyters (of whom it is desirable that
one be his Spiritual Pastor) and two-thirds of the Vestry of the
congregation of which he is a member, or, if occasion so require,
six laymen, communicants of the Church, testifying to his piety
and good conduct in the following words : ' We do certify that
A. B. for the space of three years last past hath lived piously,
soberly, and honestly; and hath not, so far as we know or
believe, written, taught, or held anything contrary to the doctrine
or discipline of the Nippon Sei Kokwai ; and moreover we think
him a fit person to be admitted to the Sacred Order of Deacons.
' These testimonials are founded on our personal knowledge of
the said A. B. for one year last past, and for the residue of the
said time upon evidence that is satisfactory to us. In witness
whereof we have hereunto set our hands this day of in the
year of Our Lord '
If these testimonials should be deemed satisfactory by the
Bishop and Standing Committee, the Bishop may proceed to
ordain the candidate.
4. Deacon's Orders shall not be conferred on any person
under the age of twenty-one years.
5. No person shall be ordained Priest until he shall have
laid before the Bishop and Standing Committee testimonials
similar to those required by 3 of this Canon.
480 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
6. Priest's Orders shall not be conferred on any person
until he shall have attained the age of twenty-four years.
7. Foreign clergy who desire to exercise their ministry in the
Nippon Sei Kokwai shall sign a declaration in the following
terms : ^1 do solemnly engage to conform to the doctrine and
worship of the Nippon Sei Kokwai.' Of the declaration one
copy shall be retained by the Bishop, and one sent to the Stand-
ing Committee of the District in which the Foreign clergyman is
licensed.
CANON V
General Regulations
i. Wherever there is a congregation of this Church under
the charge of a licensed minister or lay agent, he shall not
permit any person to officiate in the public services of the Church
without sufficient evidence of his being duly authorised to
minister therein, nor to preach in opposition to the wishes of the
Vestry.
2. The right to elect a minister to any church or congre-
gation shall rest with the Vestry thereof and a Patronage
Committee, 1 who having agreed upon a name shall forward it to
the Bishop. The Bishop, if he be satisfied that the person so
chosen is a qualified minister of the Nippon Sei Kokwai, shall
institute him in the customary manner, provided that the Bishop
shall not institute to the care of such church or congregation
until he has received a letter from the Vestry in the following
terms :
'We, the undersigned members of the congregation of ,
do guarantee a salary of for A. B.'
3. The minister, or, if there be no minister, the Vestry of
each congregation, shall keep a list of the families and adult
persons belonging to the same ; and a Register of Baptisms,
Confirmations, Communicants, Offerings, Marriages, Funerals,
Services and Sermons, and transmit an annual report thereof in
January to the Bishop, together with a statement showing the
condition of Sunday and Day Schools connected therewith.
4. A member of this Church or a catechumen removing
from one congregation to another shall procure from the minister
1 Canon X. 6.
APPENDICES 4 8r
and Vestry of the congregation of his last residence a com-
mendatory letter in the following form :
'We do hereby commend our beloved in Christ A. B. (or
A. B. a catechumen) now removing from this congregation to
the kind offices of every member of Christ's Holy Church, and
especially to the pastoral care of our brother the Rev.
Minister of
Signed
Minister of
The day of 18 '
Note. This Canon might be suitably observed in the case of
persons on a journey who may wish to attend the Services and
receive the Holy Communion in other Churches.
5. The ministers of this Church shall be diligent in
instructing the members of their congregation in the Holy
Scriptures, the Prayer Book, the Catechism, and the Constitution
of the Church, and also in the duty of observing the Lord's Day
and the festivals and fasts of the Church.
6. Every minister shall on all ordinary occasions of Public
Worship use the Book of Common Prayer.
CANON VI
Of Bishops
i. As soon as the progress of the Church in Japan or any
part thereof shall allow, Territorial Dioceses shall be established
under the jurisdiction of Japanese Bishops.
2. Such Bishops shall be elected by the clergy and laity
of the proposed dioceses, voting by orders.
3. Bishops of this Church shall be consecrated by at least
three Bishops in communion therewith.
4. No person shall be consecrated Bishop who is not at
least thirty years of age.
Note. Before the consecration of any such Bishop, Canons
with regard to election, (jurisdiction, &c., shall be drawn up and
approved by the Synod.
I I
482 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
CANON VII
Of Unordained Agents
i. A lay communicant of this Church may receive from
the Bishop a written license: (i) to minister to a congregation
not provided with an Ordained Pastor, and to read services and
preach in church ; (2) to teach ; (3) to act as an Evangelist to
the heathen. This license may be revoked at the discretion of
the Bishop.
Note. Communicants of this Church desiring to obtain such
a license are required to have the following qualifications : (i) He
shall have been baptised at least two full years. (2) He must
have a testimonial from the Pastor and one-third of the Vestry of
his own Church or from any six communicants of the Nippon
Sei Kokwai. (3) He must have passed a general examination in
Holy Scripture, Prayer Book, Expositions of the Creed, General
Outline of Church History and Polity, and of Christian Evidences,
unless specially exempted by the Bishop.
2. He shall not use the Absolution nor the Benediction,
nor the offices of the Church, except those for the Burial of the
Dead and for the Visitation of the Sick and of Prisoners :
omitting in these last the Absolutions and Benedictions.
3. A Bishop shall not license an unordained agent to
minister to a congregation which undertakes to provide his
salary (wholly or in part) without a letter signed by its principal
members in the following terms : ' We, the undersigned members
of the congregation of , do guarantee a salary of for A. B.'
4. Every such agent shall be diligent in visiting both
Christians and unbelievers in the district assigned to him, and
shall submit written reports of his work at short intervals to the
minister in charge. If there be no minister in charge, the
report shall be made to the Bishop.
5. Every licensed unordained agent shall work under the
direction of a minister appointed by the Bishop, or under the
Bishop himself; and no such agent|or catechist shall in the
presence of a minister of this Church say any of the services of
the same, save at such minister's request.
The Bishop shall appoint a Presbyter to administer the Sacra-
APPENDICES
ment, and shall determine the minimum number of times the
Holy Communion shall be administered during the year.
6. Women, communicants of this Church, may receive from
the Bishop a written license to visit among both heathen and
Christian women, to hold meetings for Christian instruction in
private houses and unconsecrated buildings, or to nurse the sick.
The license may be revoked at the discretion of the Bishop.
They shall act under the supervision of the minister to whose
district or mission they are attached.
CANON VIII
Of Discipline
i. Every minister for offences committed by him shall be
amenable to the Bishop, it being provided that he be tried by a
court of Presbyters.
2. Five communicants of the Church, of whom two shall
be Presbyters, may present a minister to the Standing Com-
mittee.
3. If in the opinion of the majority of the Standing
Committee there be sufficient ground for so doing, they shall
present the said minister to the Bishop. The Bishop shall then
proceed in the manner hereafter to be provided.
Upon the receipt of the foregoing presentment, the Bishop
shall nominate five Presbyters unconnected with the accused by
relationship or marriage and not parties to the original present-
ment, and not members of the Standing Committee, and shall
communicate their names to the accused, who shall have a right
to object to any two of the same. Should he make no objection,
or object to only one, the Bishop shall nominate three of those to
whom no objection has been made, who shall form the Court.
Should he object to two, the remaining three shall form the Court.
If one be unable to serve the Bishop shall nominate two others, of
whom the accused shall have a right to object to one. If he
make no objection the Bishop shall select one of the two.
4. The Bishop shall cause a written notice of the time and
place appointed for the trial to be served on the accused and also
on one of the presenters, at least thirty days previous thereto.
5. All accusations and citations shall be in writing, and all
I I 2
484 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
testimony shall be in writing, or if given verbally shall be reduced
to writing and signed by the witness.
6. If a Clergyman presented shall at any time before the
commencement of the trial confess the fact charged in the pre-
sentment, the Bishop shall, with the consent and approval of the
Clerical members of the Standing Committee, proceed to pass
sentence ; otherwise he shall be considered as denying them.
7. The three Presbyters having duly met, they shall receive
such evidence as may be adduced in accordance with the pro-
visions of this Canon, and, having deliberately considered the
same, shall declare in a writing signed by them, or a majority of
them, their verdict on the several charges and specifications
contained in the presentment, distinctly stating whether the
accused is guilty or not guilty of each, respectively, and stating
also the sentence which in their opinion should be pronounced.
A copy of such verdict shall, without delay, be communicated to
the accused, and the original verdict, together with the evidence,
shall be delivered to the Bishop, who shall pronounce such
Canonical sentence thereon as shall appear to him proper, provided
the same exceed not in severity the sentence awarded by the Court,
and such sentence shall be final.
Provided, however, that the Bishop, and if there be no Bishop
the Ecclesiastical authority, may grant a new trial to the accused.
If a new trial should be granted the Court shall be constituted of
other members than those sitting at the former trial, to be
selected in the same manner as is provided in . 3. Not more
than one new trial shall be granted.
8. Every minister of this Church shall be liable to present-
ment and trial for the following offences, viz. : i. Crime or
immorality. 2. Holding and teaching publicly or privately and
advisedly any doctrine contrary to that held by the Nippon
Sei Kokwai. 3. Violation of the Constitution or Canons of this
Church after warning by the Bishop of the diocese. 4. Any act
which involves a breach of his ordination vows.
And on being found guilty he shall be admonished, suspended,
or degraded, according to the Canons.
9. If any Minister of the Church shall declare in writing to
the Bishop his renunciation of the ministry of the Church, it
shall be the duty of the Bishop, in the presence of two or more
Presbyters, after waiting such time as in his discretion shall be
APPENDICES 485
desirable, to pronounce and record that the person so declaring
has been deposed from the ministry of this Church.
10. If any person in this Church offend the brethren by any
wickedness of life or denial of the Christian Faith, such person
shall be repelled by the Presbyter from the Holy Communion.
Any Presbyter so repelling from the Holy Communion shall
make a report thereof to the Bishop, stating whether in his
opinion it be also needful that the offender be publicly excom-
municated. The Bishop shall then proceed in the matter
according to his discretion, providing that before authorising
the public excommunication of any person he shall afford him an
opportunity of making a statement, should he so desire, orally or
by writing, in his own defence.
The above rule is not to be understood as prohibiting the
Presbyter from administering the Sacraments to a penitent person
in imminent danger of death.
CANON IX
Of Standing Committees
In each district there shall be a Standing Committee consist-
ing of four members, two Presbyters and two laymen ; one of the
Presbyters shall be appointed by the Bishop or Bishops in charge of
the district, and the other three members shall be elected by the
Local Council at their Annual Meeting. The duties of the Stand-
ing Committee shall be to act in all matters for which provision is
made in these Canons and to assist the Bishop as a Council of
Advice ; and so far as is practicable it shall be the Ecclesiastical
Authority in the absence of the Bishop. The representation of
Japanese and foreigners on the Standing Committee shall be as
far as possible equal.
CANON X
Of Local Councils
i. Each Local Council shall consist of representatives
elected annually by the adult members of the congregations in
an assigned district, and shall meet at least annually.
Note i. Tokyo, Osaka, Kumamoto, and Hakodate shall be
considered centres of districts for Local Councils.
486 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
Note 2. All delegates to Local Councils shall be adult male
communicants in good standing.
2. All ordained missionaries, pastors, and unordained
agents licensed to minister to congregations shall be ex officio
members of the council.
3. Each congregation numbering twenty communicants
shall be entitled to send one representative ; and a congregation
numbering forty or more communicants shall be entitled to send
two representatives to the council.
Note i. In the case of a congregation not being sufficiently
large to be entitled to send a delegate to the council it may
unite with one or more congregations similarly circumstanced to
send one representative, or, such congregation being isolated,
may with the assent of the council be affiliated for the time being
with a large congregation for the purpose of voting.
Note 2. Communicants who without sufficient reason have
not received the Holy Communion for a year shall not be counted
among the present communicants.
4. The Bishop if present shall preside, and in his absence
a Presbyter, to be elected by the council.
The council shall elect two secretaries and two treasurers.
5. The clergy and laity shall sit and vote together, provided
that on the demand of two Presbyters or two laymen a vote
shall be taken by orders.
6. The duties of a Local Council shall be :
a. To deliberate on matters relating to the welfare of the
Church in the district.
b. The election of clerical and lay delegates to the General
Synod.
Note i. The lay delegates shall be equal in number to the
clerical delegates in the district, and shall be elected by the laity
only, out of nominees of the congregations who shall be commu-
nicants. Clerical delegates to be elected by clergy only.
Note 2. Only communicants in good standing shall be
eligible.
Note 3. Where there are ten or less clergy in a district all shall
attend the Synod, but in cases where they exceed ten, ten only
shall be sent as delegates. The clerical delegates shall be elected
by the clergy.
c. The election of a Patronage Committee.
APPENDICES 487
Note.-- This committee shall consist of two Presbyters and
two laymen.
d. The election of a Local Missionary Committee as pro-
vided for in Canon XII.
CANON XI
Of Vestries
i. The Vestry of a congregation shall consist of the pastor
or licensed agent in charge and of at least three and not more
than five lay male communicants, to be elected in the second
week of each year by the communicants of the congregation.
Note i. It is desirable that the Vestry meet at least once a
month.
Note 2. No licensed agent or catechist other than the agent
in charge shall be a member of the Vestry.
2. The pastor or licensed agent shall be ex officio chair-
man, and have a casting vote. In his absence a member shall
be elected by the Vestry to act in his place.
3. The duties of a Vestry shall be :
a. The management of the temporalities of the congrega-
tion.
b. The collection of funds and the auditing of accounts.
c. The superintendence and repairing of buildings.
d. On the vacancy of a pastorate, in conjunction with the
Church Patronage Committee after taking counsel with
the communicants of the congregation, to nominate a
pastor.
e. When a congregation in. charge of a licensed agent
requires the services of a minister for any ecclesiastical
purpose, the Vestry shall make application to a minister
holding the Bishop's license.
CANON XII
Of the Missionary Society
i. This society shall be called 'The Missionary Society of
the Nippon Sei Kokwai.'
2. -The society shall consist of all members of the Church
who subscribe to the funds of the society.
488 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
3. There shall be a Board of Managers, consisting of the
Bishops and six members appointed by each Synod, of whom, so
long as a grant is received from foreign sources, three shall be
Japanese and three foreigners. The headquarters of the board
shall be in Tokyo, and all the members of the board shall be
residents in Tokyo.
4. The senior Bishop present shall be chairman of the
meetings of the board, and in the absence of a Bishop the
meeting shall elect its own chairman.
The board shall elect annually two treasurers and two
secretaries, of whom one treasurer and one secretary shall be
a Japanese, and one treasurer and one secretary shall be a
foreigner.
5. The duties of the Board shall be :
a. To take charge of all funds collected by the congrega-
tions or contributed from other sources for the society.
b. To receive applications from the Local Committees for
grants in aid, and to make grants to them.
c. To make general regulations for the guidance of the
Local Committees.
d. To appoint inspectors of the missionary work in the
various missionary districts.
e. To prepare and publish annually a statement of accounts,
and make a report to the Synod of the general progress
of the work.
6. There shall be Local Committees appointed by the Local
Councils, and each committee shall consist of an equal number
of Japanese and foreigners, so long as it receives a grant in aid
from foreign sources.
7. The Local Committee shall elect its own chairman and
two treasurers and two secretaries, of whom one treasurer and one
secretary shall be a Japanese, and one treasurer and one secretary
a foreigner.
8. The duties of the Local Committee shall be :
a. To receive and disburse the grants made by the board.
b. To appoint missionary agents and to superintend their
work.
c. To make quarterly reports to the secretaries of the
board.
d. To collect subscriptions from members of the Society.
APPENDICES 489
9. No agent shall be employed by the Local Committee
without a license from the Bishop.
CANON XIII
Of Consecrated Buildings
i. No church shall be consecrated until the Bishop shall
have been sufficiently certified that the building is free from debt
and adequately secured from the danger of alienation from the
Nippon Sei Kokwai. And no consecrated building shall be sold
or otherwise parted with, without the consent of the Bishop,
acting with the advice of his Standing Committee.
2. No consecrated building shall be used for any other
purpose than the services of the Church and the worship of
Almighty God.
Note. This section does not refer to the Vestry or other
room contiguous to the church.
CANON XIV
Of Marriage and Divorce (Deferred) l
CANON XV
Of the Requisites of a Quorum
In all meetings of the Synod, Standing Committee, or any
other body, consisting of several members, a majority of the
members (the whole having been duly cited to meet) shall be a
quorum : and a majority of the quorum so convened shall be
competent to act.
1 This subject was discussed, but the drafting of the Canon again deferred
at the General Synod, April 20, 1899.
490 BISHOP EDWARD BICKERSTETH
APPENDIX C l
As a further illustration of the care with which he would write
himself clear on any subject submitted to him, the following
paper on Sacrifice may be given.
Sacrifice
3.T"pll6* )
1. The .. [type of sacrifice, as of all positive truth, is in
the essential Trinity ; that is, as we conceive of it in the relation
of the Divine Persons, of the Son to the Father through the
Spirit. N.B. St. John i. i.
Sacrifice may be defined as the return to God the Father of
that which originates in Him (17 -mjyr) T>?S ^CO'T^TOS). As such it
includes :
1. Koivowa (cf. St. Austin : Sacrificium id opus est quo
agitur ut quasi divina societate inhsereamus in Deo).
2. npocr</>opa.
But the two are ultimately identical.
2. economically.
(a) Sacrifice was foreshadowed in the Law under three
forms :
1. Burnt offering consecration.
2. Sin offering reconciliation.
3. Peace offering communion.
(b) The life and death of the Incarnate was the absolute
and ideal embodiment and exhibition of Sacrifice under
this threefold form. N.B. In Him the distinction of
form can only be maintained in thought, not in fact.
(c) The sacrificial life is continued under new conditions in
the unseen order by 'the High Priest for ever.' His
1 For another paper on this subject see chapter xi. p. 409.
APPENDICES
491
Divine Humanity is still the one burnt offering, the sin
offering (now by way of representation and remembrance),
and the peace offering. Cf. tloyXOev tydirag c/x^avwr^mt,
Heb. ix. 12, 24.
(d) The Church is the extension to the elect, and ideally to
humanity, of the Incarnation. Cf. ts Iva KOIVOV avOpwirov,
Eph. ii. 15.
This prerogative position involves her in like sacrificial
offices with her Head. Cf. i Peter ii. 5.
1. In Him she offers herself (prayers, praises, suffer-
ings, alms) to the Father. Burnt offering.
2. In Him she pleads the sacrifice of His death. Sin
offering, so far as now possible or needed. Cf.
Mozley on sacrifice in subordinate sense.
3. In Him she holds communion with God. Peace
offering.
[N.B. Sacrifice as burnt offering and peace offering in accord-
ance with the eternal purpose of God and dependent on the
Incarnation. Sacrifice as sin offering due to the fall, con-
summated on the cross, represented in Heaven.]
(f) The Eucharist gathers up in one outward act of the
Christian society all her characteristic functions. Its
sacrificial aspect is not to be found mere 
